Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aspirin prevents colorectal cancer metastasis in mice by splitting the crosstalk between platelets and tumor cells

We investigated whether platelets prime colon cancer cells for metastasis and whether pharmacological inhibition of platelet function may prevent it. Coculturing HT29 human colon carcinoma cells with human platelets led to the induction of mesenchymal-like cancer cells characterized by downregulation of E-cadherin and upregulation of Twist1, enhanced cell mobility and a proaggregatory action on platelets. These changes were prevented by different antiplatelet agents, aspirin[an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase(COX)-1], DG-041[an antagonist of prostaglandin(PG)E2 EP3 receptor] and ticagrelor (a P2Y12 receptor antagonist). The injection of HT29 cells, exposed to platelets in vitro, into the tail vein of humanized immunodeficient mice led to higher incidence of lung metastasis compared to the injection of untreated HT29 cells. This effect was associated with enhanced systemic biosynthesis of thromboxane(TX)A2 and PGE2 in vivo. Platelet COX-1 inhibition by aspirin administration to mice prevented the increased rate of metastasis as well as the enhanced production of TXA2 and PGE2 induced by the in vitro priming of HT29 cells by platelets. In conclusion, targeting platelet COX-1 with low-dose aspirin exerts an antimetastatic action by averting the stem cell mimicry of cancer cells associated with enhanced proaggregatory effects induced by platelet-tumor cell interactions. These effects may be shared by other antiplatelet drugs.
ACE2 deficiency increases NADPH‐mediated oxidative stress in the kidney

Angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is highly expressed in the kidney and hydrolyzes angiotensin II (Ang II) to Ang(1–7). Since Ang II is a strong activator of oxidative stress, we reasoned that ACE2 could be involved in the regulation of renal oxidative stress by governing the levels of Ang II. We, therefore, assessed levels of oxidative stress in kidney cortex of ACE2 knockout and wild‐type littermate mice under baseline conditions. We found multiple markers of increased oxidative stress in ACE2KO mice. NADPH oxidase activity was increased in kidney cortex from ACE2KO mice as compared to WT (227 ± 24% vs.100 ± 19%, P < 0.001). However, kidney catalase and superoxide dismutase activities were not different between groups. Exogenous Ang II was degraded less efficiently by kidneys from ACE2KO mice than WT mice, and administration of an AT1R blocker (losartan 30 mg/kg/day) resulted in normalization of NADPH oxidase activity in the ACE2KO. These findings suggest that an AT1R‐dependent mechanism contributes to increased ROS observed in the ACE2KO. This study demonstrates that genetic deficiency of ACE2 activity in mice fosters oxidative stress in the kidney in the absence of overt hypertension and is associated with reduced kidney capacity to hydrolyze Ang II. ACE2KO mice serve as a novel in vivo model to examine the role of overactivity of NADPH oxidase in kidney function.
Selection constrains phenotypic evolution in a functionally important plant trait

A long-standing idea is that the macroevolutionary adaptive landscape – a ‘map’ of phenotype to fitness – constrains evolution because certain phenotypes are fit, while others are universally unfit. Such constraints should be evident in traits that, across many species, cluster around particular modal values, with few intermediates between modes. Here, I compile a new global database of 599 species from 94 plant families showing that stomatal ratio, an important functional trait affecting photosynthesis, is multimodal, hinting at distinct peaks in the adaptive landscape. The dataset confirms that most plants have all their stomata on the lower leaf surface (hypostomy), but shows for the first time that species with roughly half their stomata on each leaf surface (amphistomy) form a distinct mode in the trait distribution. Based on a new evolutionary process model, this multimodal pattern is unlikely without constraint. Further, multimodality has evolved repeatedly across disparate families, evincing long-term constraint on the adaptive landscape. A simple cost-benefit model of stomatal ratio demonstrates that selection alone is sufficient to generate an adaptive landscape with multiple peaks. Finally, phylogenetic comparative methods indicate that life history evolution drives shifts between peaks. This implies that the adaptive benefit conferred by amphistomy – increased photosynthesis – is most important in plants with fast life histories, challenging existing ideas that amphistomy is an adaptation to thick leaves and open habitats. I conclude that peaks in the adaptive landscape have been constrained by selection over much of land plant evolution, leading to predictable, repeatable patterns of evolution.
VLBI observations of the CORALZ sample: young radio sources at low redshift

Context. Young radio-loud active galactic nuclei form an important tool to investigate the evolution of extragalactic radio sources. To study the early phases of expanding radio sources, we have constructed CORALZ, a sample of 25 compact ( θ< 2 �� ) radio sources associated with nearby (z < 0.16) galaxies. Aims. In this paper we determine the morphologies, linear sizes, and place first constraints on the lobe expansion speeds of the sources in the sample. Methods. We observed the radio sources from the CORALZ sample with MERLIN at 1.4 GHz or 1.6 GHz, the EVN at 1.6 GHz, and global VLBI at 1.6 GHz and/or 5.0 GHz. Results. Radio maps, morphological classifications, and linear sizes are presented for all sources in the CORALZ sample. We have determined a first upper limit to the expansion velocity of one of the sources, which is remarkably low compared to the brighter GPS sources at higher redshifts, indicating a relation between radio luminosity and expansion speed, in agreement with analytical models. In addition we present further strong evidence that the spectral turnovers in GPS and CSS sources are caused by synchrotron self-absorption (SSA): the CORALZ sources are significantly offset from the well-known correlation between spectral peak frequency and angular size, but this correlation is recovered after correcting for the flux-density dependence, as predicted by SSA theory.
A Self Localization Scheme with Relay Nodes for Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks

Up to now a considerable number of studies have been conducted on the localization methods for stationary wireless sensor networks (WSNs). However little attention has been given to the localization scheme for a mobile wireless sensor network (MWSN) where all sensor nodes are moving. In this paper, we propose a self-localization scheme with relay nodes which transmit the information from an anchor node to a sensor node over a communication range of one-hop from an anchor node. The main idea in our scheme is to select a relay node as the one which maintains proximity with an anchor node longest along its moving direction. Our idea can be used widely for the applications on tracking mobile objects continuously. Our scheme enables the reduction of energy consumption in MWSN and records accurate positions of each node.
Cooperative Caching based on File Popularity Ranking in Delay Tolerant Networks

Increasing storage sizes and WiFi/Bluetooth capabilities of mobile devices have made them a good platform for opportunistic content sharing. In this work we propose a network model to study this in a setting with two characteristics: 1. delay tolerant; 2. lack of infrastructure. Mobile users generate requests and opportunistically download from other users they meet, via Bluetooth or WiFi. The difference in popularity of different web content induces a non-uniform request distribution, which is usually a Zipf's law distribution. We evaluate the performance of different caching schemes and derive the optimal scheme using convex optimization techniques. The optimal solution is found efficiently using a binary search method. It is shown that as the network mobility increases, the performance of the optimal scheme far exceeds the traditional caching scheme. To the best of our knowledge, our work is the first to consider popularity ranking in performance evaluation.
Effects of Ramadan Fasting on Biochemical and Anthropometric Parameters in Physically Active Men

Purpose The aim of this study was to assess the effects of Ramadan fasting on several biochemical and anthropometric parameters in physically active men by comparing fasters and nonfasters before, during, and after Ramadan. Methods Eighteen physically active men (10 fasters and 8 nonfasters) participated in this study. Subjects visited the laboratory for a total of four sessions on the following occasions: three days before Ramadan (Bef-R), the 15th day of Ramadan (Mid-R), the 29th day of Ramadan (End-R), and 21 days after Ramadan (Post-R). During each session, subjects underwent anthropometric measurements, completed a dietary questionnaire and provided a fasting blood sample. Results Body weight and body fat percentage decreased in fasters by 1.9% (P<0.001) and 6.2% (P=0.003), respectively, but increased in nonfasters by 2.2% (P<0.001) and 10.2% (P=0.001), respectively, from Bef-R to End-R. Fasters’ hematocrit and hemoglobin increased by 5.3% (P<0.001) and 6.3% (P=0.01), respectively, from Bef-R to End-R, while neither of these parameters changed in nonfasters. Fasters experienced an increase in the following parameters from Bef-R to End-R: urea (8.7%; P<0.001), creatinine (7.5%; P<0.001), uric acid (12.7%; P<0.001), serum sodium (1.9%; P<0.001), serum chloride (2.6%; P<0.001) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (27.3%; P<0.001). Of these parameters, only creatinine increased (4.4%; P=0.01) in nonfasters. Conclusion We conclude that Ramadan fasting lowers body weight and body fat percentage and can elevate high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in physically active men. However, practicing aerobic exercise during a hot and humid Ramadan month can induce a state of dehydration marked by an increase in some renal function markers and serum electrolytes.
Modelling conditional heteroskedasticity: Application to stock return lndex "IBEX-35

This paper compares alternative time-varying volatility models for daily stock-returns using data from Spanish equity index IBEX-35. Specifically, we have estimated a parametric family of models of generalized autoregressive heteroskedasticity (which nests the most popular symmetric and asymmetric GARCH models, a semiparametric GARCH model, the stochastic volatility model SV(l), the Poisson jump diffusion process and finally, a non-parametric mode! We obtain that those models which use conditional standard deviation produce better fits than all other GARCH models. We also compare all models using a standard efficiency test (which compares within sample predictive power and conclude that general GARCH models (specifically the TGARCH(1,ll model perform better than all others.
Caffeine suppresses homologous recombination through interference with RAD51-mediated joint molecule formation

Caffeine is a widely used inhibitor of the protein kinases that play a central role in the DNA damage response. We used chemical inhibitors and genetically deficient mouse embryonic stem cell lines to study the role of DNA damage response in stable integration of the transfected DNA and found that caffeine rapidly, efficiently and reversibly inhibited homologous integration of the transfected DNA as measured by several homologous recombination-mediated gene-targeting assays. Biochemical and structural biology experiments revealed that caffeine interfered with a pivotal step in homologous recombination, homologous joint molecule formation, through increasing interactions of the RAD51 nucleoprotein filament with non-homologous DNA. Our results suggest that recombination pathways dependent on extensive homology search are caffeine-sensitive and stress the importance of considering direct checkpoint-independent mechanisms in the interpretation of the effects of caffeine on DNA repair.
Approaches in Evaluations of Internet Topology Modeling

An effective approach to evaluate Internet topology model was mainly studied in this paper. SLS (Signless Laplacian Spectra), is used to quantitatively identify the topology properties of the Internet generated by the model and the Internet out of real measuring. SLS eigenvectors could be gained out of this procedure, then a cross-correlation algorithm was performed on the eigenvectors to give the difference identification in a quantitative way. With this, a specific way of using the estimation approach within a Genetic Algorithm was finally given.
Positive Definite Maps, Representations and Frames

We present a unitary approach to the construction of representations and intertwining operators. We apply it to the C*-algebras, groups, Gabor-type unitary systems and wavelets. We give an application of our method to the theory of frames, and we prove a general dilation theorem which is in turn applied to specific cases, and we obtain in this way a dilation theorem for wavelets.
A Web-based evolutionary model for Internet data caching

Caching is a standard solution to the problem of insufficient bandwidth caused by the rapid increase of information circulation across the Internet. Cache consistency mechanisms are a crucial component of each cache scheme influencing the cache usefulness and reliability. The paper presents a model for optimizing Internet cache content by the use of a genetic algorithm and examines the model by trace-driven experiments. Cached data are considered as a population evolving over simulated time by a number of successive cache "generations". The model is tested by the use of traces provided by a Squid proxy cache server. Using trace-driven caching, we show that the proposed evolutionary mechanisms improve cache nonstaleness and consistency and result in an updated cache content.
Beyond the Visualization Pipeline : The Visualization Cascade

The concept of a pipeline has become a quite common way of thinking about the process of visualizing data. In this article we discuss the inherent limits of this concept and argue for the need to expand this concept for achieving higher performance and convenience to the end user. While the traditional model of a visualization pipeline describes the execution of some data flow, it is most suitable for a static data-set. However for time-dependent data (e.g.) we intend visualizations to be as fast in time as they are in space. The pipeline model does not recognize similarity and repetition of operations which is essential to achieve the desired performance. The pipeline model thus needs to be extended to efficiently cover multiple traversals and caching of intermediate results, which we call the Visualization Cascade. It will be demonstrated in practice within its implementation in the VISH visualization environment.
Discrete-Time Fixed-Lag Smoothing Algorithms * ~ Algorithms

ON-LINE optimal estimation of signals in noise is of vital importance in control and communication systems. For the case of linear signal process models and additive white gaussian noise, the now widely used Kalman filter [1, 2] is the optimal online signal estimator. Here the term “on-line” is used in its strictest sense with the implication that the estimation of the signal is carried out simultaneously with its noisy measurement. For the case when a fixed time lag is allowed between measurement and estimation, the optimal estimator is termed a fixed-lag smoother [3–5] and consists of a Kalman filter with additional dynamics. Of course, there are many applications, especially to control systems, for which even a small delay in computing a signal estimate is intolerable, or, at least, destroys optimality [6]. On the other hand, there are many applications, particularly to communication systems [7] and to some extent to control systems [8], where a delay sufficient to yield a useful Improvement in estimation from smoothing, as opposed to filtering, is perfectly acceptable. In this connection, it is helpful to be aware that if the delay is of the order of two or three times the dominant time constant of the optimal filter, then effectively as much smoothing
On the shortest paths between two convex polyhedra

The problem of computing the Euclidean shortest path between two points in three-dimensional space bounded by a collection of convex and disjoint polyhedral obstacles having <italic>n</italic> faces altogether is considered. This problem is known to be NP-hard and in exponential time for arbitrarily many obstacles; it can be solved in <italic>O</italic>(<italic>n</italic><supscrpt>2</supscrpt>log <italic>n</italic>) time for a single convex polyhedral obstacle and in polynomial time for any fixed number of convex obstacles. In this paper Mount's technique is extended to the case of <italic>two</italic> convex polyhedral obstacles and an algorithm that solves this problem in time <italic>O</italic>(<italic>n</italic><supscrpt>3</supscrpt> · 2<supscrpt><italic>O</italic>{<italic>α</italic>(<italic>n</italic>)<supscrpt>4</supscrpt>}</supscrpt>log <italic>n</italic>) (where <italic>α</italic>(<italic>n</italic>) is the functional inverse of Ackermann's function, and is thus extremely slowly growing) is presented, thus improving significantly Sharir's previous results for this special case. This result is achieved by constructing a new kind of Voronoi diagram, called <italic>peeper's Voronoi diagram</italic>, which is introduced and analyzed in this paper, and which may be of interest in its own right.
Expert judgments about transient climate response to alternative future trajectories of radiative forcing

There is uncertainty about the response of the climate system to future trajectories of radiative forcing. To quantify this uncertainty we conducted face-to-face interviews with 14 leading climate scientists, using formal methods of expert elicitation. We structured the interviews around three scenarios of radiative forcing stabilizing at different levels. All experts ranked “cloud radiative feedbacks” as contributing most to their uncertainty about future global mean temperature change, irrespective of the specified level of radiative forcing. The experts disagreed about the relative contribution of other physical processes to their uncertainty about future temperature change. For a forcing trajectory that stabilized at 7 Wm-2 in 2200, 13 of the 14 experts judged the probability that the climate system would undergo, or be irrevocably committed to, a “basic state change” as ≥0.5. The width and median values of the probability distributions elicited from the different experts for future global mean temperature change under the specified forcing trajectories vary considerably. Even for a moderate increase in forcing by the year 2050, the medians of the elicited distributions of temperature change relative to 2000 range from 0.8–1.8 °C, and some of the interquartile ranges do not overlap. Ten of the 14 experts estimated that the probability that equilibrium climate sensitivity exceeds 4.5 °C is > 0.17, our interpretation of the upper limit of the “likely” range given by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Finally, most experts anticipated that over the next 20 years research will be able to achieve only modest reductions in their degree of uncertainty.
Nash Equilibria in Multi-Agent Motor Interactions

Social interactions in classic cognitive games like the ultimatum game or the prisoner's dilemma typically lead to Nash equilibria when multiple competitive decision makers with perfect knowledge select optimal strategies. However, in evolutionary game theory it has been shown that Nash equilibria can also arise as attractors in dynamical systems that can describe, for example, the population dynamics of microorganisms. Similar to such evolutionary dynamics, we find that Nash equilibria arise naturally in motor interactions in which players vie for control and try to minimize effort. When confronted with sensorimotor interaction tasks that correspond to the classical prisoner's dilemma and the rope-pulling game, two-player motor interactions led predominantly to Nash solutions. In contrast, when a single player took both roles, playing the sensorimotor game bimanually, cooperative solutions were found. Our methodology opens up a new avenue for the study of human motor interactions within a game theoretic framework, suggesting that the coupling of motor systems can lead to game theoretic solutions.
Categorization in a Real-World Agent Using Haptic Exploration and Active Perception

An agent in the real world has to be able to make distinctions between diierent types of objects , i.e. it must have the competence of catego-rization. In mobile agents categorization is hard to achieve because there is a large variation in proximal sensory stimulation originating from the same object. In this paper we extend previous work on adaptive categorization in autonomous agents. The main idea of our approach is to include the agent's own actions into the classiica-tion process. In the experiments presented in this paper an agent equipped with an active vision and an arm-gripper system has to collect certain types of objects. The agent learns about the objects by actively exploring them. This exploration results in visual and haptic information that is used for learning. In essence, the categorization comes about via evolving reentrant connections between the haptic and the visual system. Results on the behavioral performance as well as the underlying internal dynamics are presented.
Cardiovascular Responses to the Induction of Mild Hypothermia in the Presence of Epidural Anesthesia

BackgroundThe combining of epidural anesthesia with general anesthesia impairs central and peripheral thermoregulatory control and therefore is often accompanied by unintended intraoperative hypothermia. However, little is known about the cardiovascular response to hypothermia during combined epidural and general anesthesia. The authors assessed the effects of hypothermia during such combined anesthesia. MethodsThe authors randomly assigned 30 mongrel dogs anesthetized with isoflurane (1.0%) to three groups of 10: control, receiving general anesthesia alone; thoracic injection, additionally receiving thoracic epidural anesthesia; and lumbar injection, additionally receiving thoracolumbar epidural anesthesia. Core temperature was lowered from 38.5°C to approximately 34°C (mild hypothermia) using a femoral arteriovenous shunt in an external cool water bath. During hypothermia, the authors measured heart rate, cardiac output, and plasma catecholamine concentrations in each group. Ejection fraction was also measured using echocardiography. ResultsCompared with measurements during baseline conditions (general anesthesia alone with no epidural injection and no hypothermia) in the control, thoracic, and lumbar injection groups, the injections followed by hypothermia produced 17, 32, and 41% decreases in heart rate; 22, 32, and 47% reductions in cardiac output; 66, 85, and 92% decreases in the epinephrine concentrations; and 27, 44, and 85% decreases in the norepinephrine concentrations. In contrast, ejection fraction did not change in any group. ConclusionMild hypothermia during combined epidural anesthesia and general anesthesia markedly reduced cardiac output in dogs, mainly by decreasing heart rate.
A formula for the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations based on a method of Chorin

Recently, A. Chorin has found a numerical scheme for solving the Navier-Stokes equations which has the pleasing feature of not breaking down at high Reynolds numbers R . The purpose of this announcement is to present a formula which is designed to establish the convergence of Chorin's time step iteration procedure, assuming that the relevant equations (heat equation and Euler's equations) are solved exactly at each step.