Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trophic Effects of Platelets on Cultured Endothelial Cells are Mediated by Platelet-associated Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 (FGF-2) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)

Summary In addition to their role in primary hemostasis, platelets serve to support and maintain the vascular endothelium. Platelets contain numerous growth factors including the potent angiogenic inducers VEGF and FGF-2. To characterize the function of these two plateletassociated growth factors, the effects of the addition of purified platelets to cultured endothelial cells were examined. The survival and proliferation of endothelial cells were markedly stimulated (2-3-fold and 5-15-fold respectively) by the addition of gel-filtered platelets. Acetylsalicylic acid-treated or lyophilized fixed-platelets were ineffective in supporting endothelial cell proliferation. In Transwell assays, the stimulatory effect of platelets on endothelial cells was preserved, consistent with an effect mediated by secreted factors. The combined inhibition of VEGF and FGF-2 by neutralizing antibodies, in contrast to inhibition of either alone, abrogated both platelet-induced endothelial cell survival and proliferation. FGF-2 isoforms were detected in platelet lysates, as well as in the releasates of agonist-stimulated platelets. Megakaryocytes generated by ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic progenitor cells with kit ligand and thrombopoietin were analyzed for expression of FGF-2. Punctate cytoplasmic staining but no nuclear staining was observed by immunocytochemistry consistent with possible localization of the growth factor to cytoplasmic granules. The addition of platelets to cultured endothelial cells activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in a dose and time-dependent manner. This effect was abrogated by both anti-FGF-2 and anti-VEGF antibody. Since FGF-2 and VEGF are potent angiogenic factors and known endothelial cell survival factors, their release by platelets provides a plausible mechanism for the platelet support of vascular endothelium.
Cadmium Levels in Urine and Mortality among U.S. Adults

Background Cadmium exposure has been associated with increased all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular disease mortality. However, studies investigating this association have included participants with considerably higher levels of cadmium than those found in the general population. Objective We aimed to evaluate the association of creatinine-corrected urinary cadmium levels with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in the U.S. general population. Methods We analyzed the relationship between cadmium measured in 13,958 adults who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 1988–1994 and were followed through 31 December 2000, and all-cause, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and coronary heart disease mortality. Results The geometric mean levels of urinary cadmium per gram of urinary creatinine in study participants were 0.28 and 0.40 μg/g for men and women, respectively (p < 0.001). After multivariable adjustment, including smoking, a major source of cadmium exposure in nonoccupationally exposed populations, the hazard ratios [95% confidence interval (CI)] for all-cause, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and coronary heart disease mortality associated with a 2-fold higher creatinine-corrected urinary cadmium were, respectively, 1.28 (95% CI, 1.15–1.43), 1.55 (95% CI, 1.21–1.98), 1.21 (95% CI, 1.07–1.36), and 1.36 (95% CI, 1.11–1.66) for men and 1.06 (95% CI, 0.96–1.16), 1.07 (95% CI, 0.85–1.35), 0.93 (95% CI, 0.84–1.04), and 0.82 (95% CI, 0.76–0.89) for women. Conclusions Environmental cadmium exposure was associated with an increased risk of all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular disease mortality among men, but not among women. Additional efforts are warranted to fully explain gender differences on the impact of environmental cadmium exposure.
Do mountain pine beetle outbreaks change the probability of active crown fire in lodgepole pine forests

Disturbance interactions have received growing interest in ecological research in the last decade. Fire and bark beetle outbreaks have recently increased in severity and extent across western North America, raising concerns about their possible interactions. Although it is often presumed that bark beetle outbreaks increase probability of active crown fire by producing high loads of surface and canopy dead fuels, empirical data are scarce and results are ambivalent. We combined field measurements and modeling to address the following question: How do fuel characteristics, microclimate, and potential fire behavior change with time since a severe mountain pine beetle outbreak in Pinus contorta forests of Greater Yellowstone (Wyoming, USA)? We measured surface and canopy fuels, and soil surface temperature in a time-since-beetle-outbreak chronosequence (n = 35 sites) from undisturbed to 36 years post-outbreak, including stands in red- and gray-needle stages (respectively, 1–2 and 3–5 years post-outbreak). Fie.
An unstable truth: how massive stars get their mass

The pressure exerted by massive stars' radiation fields is an important mechanism regulating their formation. Detailed simulation of massive star formation therefore requires an accurate treatment of radiation. However, all published simulations have either used a diffusion approximation of limited validity; have only been able to simulate a single star fixed in space, thereby suppressing potentially-important instabilities; or did not provide adequate resolution at locations where instabilities may develop. To remedy this we have developed a new, highly accurate radiation algorithm that properly treats the absorption of the direct radiation field from stars and the re-emission and processing by interstellar dust. We use our new tool to perform three-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of the collapse of massive pre-stellar cores with laminar and turbulent initial conditions and properly resolve regions where we expect instabilities to grow. We find that mass is channeled to the stellar system via gravitational and Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instabilities, in agreement with previous results using stars capable of moving, but in disagreement with methods where the star is held fixed or with simulations that do not adequately resolve the development of RT instabilities. For laminar initial conditions, proper treatment of the direct radiation field produces later onset of instability, but does not suppress it entirely provided the edges of radiation-dominated bubbles are adequately resolved. Instabilities arise immediately for turbulent pre-stellar cores because the initial turbulence seeds the instabilities. Our results suggest that RT features are significant and should be present around accreting massive stars throughout their formation.
Acceleration and radiation of ultra-high energy protons in galaxy clusters

Context. Clusters of galaxies are believed to be capable of accelerating protons at accretion shocks to energies exceeding 10 18 eV. At these energies, the losses caused by interactions of cosmic rays with photons of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) begin to have an effect and determine the maximum energy of protons and the shape of the energy spectrum in the cutoff region. Aims. The aim of this work is to study both the formation of the energy spectrum of accelerated protons at accretion shocks of galaxy clusters and the characteristics of their broad band emission. Methods. The proton energy distribution is calculated self-consistently via a time-dependent numerical treatment of the shock acceleration process, which takes the proton energy losses due to interactions with the CMBR into account. We calculate the energy distribution of accelerated protons, as well as the flux of broad-band emission produced by secondary electrons and positrons via synchrotron and inverse Compton scattering processes. Results. We find that the downstream and upstream regions contribute almost at the same level to the emission. For the typical parameters characterising galaxy clusters, the synchrotron and IC peaks in the spectral energy distributions appear at comparable flux levels. Conclusions. For an efficient acceleration, the expected emission components in the X-ray and gamma-ray bands are close to the detection threshold of current generation instruments, and will possibly be detected with the future generation of detectors. Remarkably, the acceleration of iron at these shocks can proceed up to a particle energy of ≈10 20 eV, making clusters of galaxies possible contrib
Adaptive Very Deep Convolutional Residual Network for Noise Robust Speech Recognition

Although great progress has been made in automatic speech recognition, significant performance degradation still exists in noisy environments. Our previous work has demonstrated the superior noise robustness of very deep convolutional neural networks (VDCNN). Based on our work on VDCNNs, this paper proposes a more advanced model referred to as the very deep convolutional residual network (VDCRN). This new model incorporates batch normalization and residual learning, showing more robustness than previous VDCNNs.Then, to alleviate the mismatch between the training and testing conditions, model adaptation and adaptive training are developed and compared for the new VDCRN. This paper focuses on factor aware training (FAT) and cluster adaptive training (CAT). For FAT, a unified framework is explored. For CAT, two schemes are first explored to construct the bases in the canonical model; furthermore, a factorized version of CAT is designed to address multiple nonspeech variabilities in one model. Finally, a complete multipass system is proposed to achieve the best system performance in the noisy scenarios. The proposed new approaches are evaluated on three different tasks: Aurora4 (simulated data with additive noise and channel distortion), CHiME4 (both simulated and real data with additive noise and reverberation), and the AMI meeting transcription task (real data with significant reverberation). The evaluation not only includes different noisy conditions, but also covers both simulated and real noisy data. The experiments show that the new VDCRN is more robust, and the adaptation on this model can further significantly reduce the word error rate (WER). The proposed best architecture obtains consistent and very large improvements on all tasks compared to the baseline VDCNN or long short-term memory. Particularly, on Aurora4 a new milestone 5.67% WER is achieved by only improving acoustic modeling.
Development of a wearable haptic device that presents haptics sensation of the finger pad to the forearm

While many wearable tactile displays for the fingers, such as fingertip-type and glove-type displays, have been developed, their weight and size typically hinder the free movement of fingers, especially when considering the multi-finger scenario. We propose a method of presenting the haptics sensation of the fingertip on the forearm, not on the fingertip, to address this issue. A five-bar linkage mechanism was adopted to present a two-degree-of-freedom force. We conducted two experiments. In the first experiment, we presented a pressure sensation and a horizontal friction sensation perceived by the index finger to multiple sites of the forearm to search for a proper location of presentation, finding that the volar part of the wrist is optimal. On the basis of this result, we developed a device for the index finger and thumb, and conducted a second experiment to present the grasping force in a virtual reality environment. The realism of the experience in virtual reality was better when using the designed device than for no haptics cue or for vibration conditions.
Intimacy and Relational Communication in Online Counselling

Intimacy is very crucial to the success of any therapeutic relationship. In a counselling relationship, disclosure has been found to be a cornerstone for the relationship to be effective and for self-disclosure to be achieved. In counselling there should be trust, intimacy, and effective relational communication. Intimate relationships can only occur where there is trust, effective communication, and assurance of confidentiality. Lack of intimacy in a counselling relationship has been found to contribute to both physiological and psychological problems of a client. It is, therefore, important for any counsellor who is aspiring to make a remarkable impact in the practice of counselling to make the establishment of intimacy and relational communication a priority. Online counselling by its nature requires much more effort to establish intimacy and relational communication with the client than face-to-face counselling. This chapter posits that, apart from acquiring the necessary skills needed in becoming a professional counsellor, an online counsellor needs to acquire some level of proficiency in communication technologies, especially in the areas of handling computers and effective use of the Internet. Also, such a counsellor should be well equipped with the principles of effective communication. He/She should be familiar with some of the Internet languages often referred to as ‘net lingo’ and some emotional icons often referred to as ‘emoticons’ in order for him/her to establish and promote intimacy and relational communication in an online counselling relationship. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61350-204-4.ch005
Effect of Conventional Dose of Simvastatin on Plaque Regression and Vascular Remodeling in the Peristent Reference Segments of Normocholesterolemic Patients: A Serial Intravascular Ultrasound Assessment

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to assess the effect of simvastatin therapy on plaque regression and vascular remodeling in peristent reference segments of normocholesterolemic patients by using serial intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) observation. Subjects and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the poststenting and follow-up IVUS findings in 208 peristent (bare metal stent) reference segments of 108 normocholesterolemic patients (20 mg/day simvastatin group; n=62 vs. non-simvastatin group; n=46); 100 segments were proximal and 108 segments were distal to the stent. Quantitative volumetric IVUS analysis was performed for 5-mm vessel segments immediately proximal and distal to the stent. Results: Follow-up IVUS was performed at a mean of 8.7 months after stenting (range: 3-19 months). For the proximal edge, a significant decrease in the mean lumen area and mean external elastic membrane (EEM) area and a significant increase in the mean plaque and media (P&M) area were observed at follow-up in both simvastatin and non-simvastatin groups. However, the changes in EEM (simvastatin: -0.4±0.3 mm 2 vs. non-simvastatin: -0.4±0.4 mm 2 , p=0.983), lumen (simva-statin: -0.7 ±0.3 mm 2 vs. non-simvastatin: -1.0±0.5 mm 2 , p=0.114), and P&M area (simvastatin: 0.3±0.2 mm
Robust Template-Based Watermarking for DIBR 3D Images

Several depth image-based rendering (DIBR) watermarking methods have been proposed, but they have various drawbacks, such as non-blindness, low imperceptibility and vulnerability to signal or geometric distortion. This paper proposes a template-based DIBR watermarking method that overcomes the drawbacks of previous methods. The proposed method exploits two properties to resist DIBR attacks: the pixel is only moved horizontally by DIBR, and the smaller block is not distorted by DIBR. The one-dimensional (1D) discrete cosine transform (DCT) and curvelet domains are adopted to utilize these two properties. A template is inserted in the curvelet domain to restore the synchronization error caused by geometric distortion. A watermark is inserted in the 1D DCT domain to insert and detect a message from the DIBR image. Experimental results of the proposed method show high imperceptibility and robustness to various attacks, such as signal and geometric distortions. The proposed method is also robust to DIBR distortion and DIBR configuration adjustment, such as depth image preprocessing and baseline distance adjustment.
Ranolazine for Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation after Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) remains a major risk after cardiac surgery and is associated with an increased risk of stroke, length of stay, mortality, and cost. Ranolazine, an anti-anginal drug, also has anti-arrhythmic properties. The present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of ranolazine in preventing POAF after cardiac surgery. We searched the literature for clinical studies published up to August 2017 with a pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. We identified four studies with a total of 754 patients of which 300 patients received ranolazine; there was a 14% decrease in POAF occurrence following cardiac surgery compared to 32% in the control group. Although ranolazine is an effective therapy in prevention of POAF, larger, multi-center, randomized trials are warranted.
Osteoporosis‐like Changes in Walker Carcinoma 256‐Bearing Rats, Not Accompanied with Hypercalcemia or Parathyroid Hormone‐related Protein Production

Walker carcinoma 256 (W256) was reported to induce hypercalcemia dependent on bone metastasis and/or parathyroid hormone‐related protein (PTHrP) in the rat, providing a model of the humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy. In this study, after the subcutaneous inoculation of cells of the W256/S line, which is maintained in this laboratory, into young female Wistar Imamichi rats (6 weeks old), serum calcium and phosphorus levels changed only within the control range, whereas serum alkaline phosphatase activity and urinary calcium level significantly increased and urinary phosphorus decreased during the tumor growth, resulting in hypercalciuria and hypophosphaturia. W256/S did not express PTHrP‐mRNA, whereas LLC‐W256 cells did express it. Serum PTHrP level was not changed in W256/S‐bearing rats. Osteoporosis‐like changes, bone weight loss, low contents of bone calcium and phosphorus, and a decrease in the bone mineral density (BMD), were observed in the femur 14 days after the tumor inoculation. There was a pronounced decrease in the serum 17β‐estradiol level during the tumor growth. The reduction of BMD of femurs in W256/S‐bearing rats was significantly inhibited by treatment with salmon calcitonin or 17β‐estradiol. On the basis of these results, W256/S carcinoma‐bearing rats seem to be a useful model for osteoporosis of hypoovarianism.
Metformin selectively affects human glioblastoma tumor-initiating cell viability

Cancer stem cell theory postulates that a small population of tumor-initiating cells is responsible for the development, progression and recurrence of several malignancies, including glioblastoma. In this perspective, tumor-initiating cells represent the most relevant target to obtain effective cancer treatment. Metformin, a first-line drug for type II diabetes, was reported to possess anticancer properties affecting the survival of cancer stem cells in breast cancer models. We report that metformin treatment reduced the proliferation rate of tumor-initiating cell-enriched cultures isolated from four human glioblastomas. Metformin also impairs tumor-initiating cell spherogenesis, indicating a direct effect on self-renewal mechanisms. Interestingly, analyzing by FACS the antiproliferative effects of metformin on CD133-expressing subpopulation, a component of glioblastoma cancer stem cells, a higher reduction of proliferation was observed as compared with CD133-negative cells, suggesting a certain degree of cancer stem cell selectivity in its effects. In fact, glioblastoma cell differentiation strongly reduced sensitivity to metformin treatment. Metformin effects in tumor-initiating cell-enriched cultures were associated with a powerful inhibition of Akt-dependent cell survival pathway, while this pathway was not affected in differentiated cells. The specificity of metformin antiproliferative effects toward glioblastoma tumor-initiating cells was confirmed by the lack of significant inhibition of normal human stem cells (umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells) in vitro proliferation after metformin exposure. Altogether, these data clearly suggest that metformin exerts antiproliferative activity on glioblastoma cells, showing a higher specificity toward tumor-initiating cells, and that the inhibition of Akt pathway may represent a possible intracellular target of this effect.
Condition Evaluation of the Contaminated Insulators by Visible Light Images Assisted With Infrared Information

Pollution flashover is harmful and has caused huge economic losses. Thus, it is important to evaluate the contamination condition of insulators to prevent the pollution flashover. The objective of this paper is to discriminate the insulator contamination grades by the noncontact method. In this paper, a method of visible light images assisted with infrared information is proposed. The proposed method evaluates the contamination condition using the visible light images, and is corrected by the infrared information in the wet environment. A mathematical model is established to study the relationship between the equivalent salt deposit density (ESDD) (mg/cm2) and the color features. The influences of illumination L and relative humidity (RH) on the color features are analyzed and their eliminated methods are proposed. The infrared image information is proposed to assist the visible light image method when RH ≥ 60%. In the experiment, the visible light images of the artificial polluted insulators are acquired by a digital camera under different illuminations L and RHs, and the average value of V component $V_{ave}$ in the YUV color space is selected for the discrimination of contamination grades. In the test, the proposed method gives an 84% accuracy rate when RH < 60% and gives an 89% accuracy rate when RH ≥ 60%. Finally, naturally polluted insulators were tested. The general test error of ESDD is about 0.0119 mg/cm2. Therefore, it might be concluded the condition of naturally polluted insulators could be evaluated by the proposed method of visible light images assisted with infrared information.
Software Feature Life Cycles: Insights From a Value-Based Typology of Software Feature Innovation

Most software products developed for the market are in perpetual beta mode. Product managers are in a never-ending race to differentiate their products from competition by introducing new product features. However, feature innovations can be risky. Feature innovations that are transitory result in wasted development effort, delay in time-to-market, and increased complexity, maintenance and operational costs of the software product. In this multidisciplinary longitudinal study we propose a typology of feature innovation using the two types of value provided by a product feature innovation to the user—utilitarian and hedonic. This value-based typology integrates concepts from human–computer interactions, information systems and product development literatures. It was tested with actual users of a software product and the results supported the proposed typology. The typology has interesting applications for practice and future research including prediction of software feature life cycles and identification of durable feature innovations.