Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of Age on Compensatory Renal Growth in Rats

ABSTRACT. Rats were nephrectomized (nx) or shamoperated (s) at the age of 5 days (young) or 55 days (adult). Nx and s rats from the same litters were studied at various times 5-75 days after surgery with determination of kidney weight and of renal cortical DNA and protein content. In some protocols protein and DNA content were determined in a more homogenous population of proximal tubular cells. In s rats body weight, kidney weight, renal cortical DNA content, and protein/DNA ratio increased until at least 80 days of age. Body growth was the same in nx and s rats. In young nx rats the remnant kidney was significantly enlarged 5 days after surgery. The difference in kidney size between nx and s rats increased continuously at least until the age of 80 days. The remnant kidney was 125 ± 9% enlarged 3 wk after nx and 175 ± 18% enlarged 8 wk after nx. Five days after nx there was no increase in cortical DNA content but a significant increase in protein/DNA ratio. From 2 wk after nx on, the DNA content was significantly higher in nx than in s rats but the protein/ DNA ratio was the same in nx and s rats. In adult nx rats, the remnant kidney was enlarged to the same extent 3 and 8 wk after surgery (130 ± 7 and 132 ± 8%, respectively). The increase in kidney weight 8 wk after nx was significantly smaller in adult than in young rats. The cortical DNA content and protein/DNA ratio were both moderately but significantly increased in adult rats 8 wk after nx. In conclusion this study has established age-dependent differences regarding the degree, the nature and the duration of compensatory renal growth. These differences can probably be attributed to the high mitotic capacity that is unique in the young kidney.
Accuracy and precision of plane wave vector flow imaging for laminar and complex flow in vivo

In this study, a comparison between velocity fields for a plane wave 2-D vector flow imaging (VFI) method and a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is made. VFI estimates are obtained from the scan of a flow phantom, which mimics the complex flow conditions in the carotid artery. Furthermore, the precision of the VFI method is investigated under laminar and complex flow conditions in vivo. The carotid bifurcation of a healthy volunteer was scanned using both fast plane wave ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The acquired MRI geometry of the bifurcation was used for fabricating an anthropomorphic flow phantom, which was also ultrasound scanned. The same geometry was used in a CFD simulation to calculate the velocity field. Results showed that similar flow patterns and vortices were estimated using CFD and VFI in the phantom. Velocity magnitudes were estimated with a mean difference within 15 %, however, it was 23 % in the external branch. For the in vivo scan, the precision in terms of mean standard deviation (SD) of estimates aligned to the cardiac cycle was highest in the center of the common carotid artery (SD 4.7° for angles) and lowest in the external branch and close to the vessel wall (SD 15.0° for angles).
Evaluation of Carvedilol for the Treatment of Portal Hypertension

Development of bleeding gastroesophageal varices is a serious consequence of portal hypertension secondary to cirrhosis. Nonselective β‐blockers have been used to reduce portal pressures and prevent primary and secondary bleeding episodes. However, up to two thirds of patients may not respond appropriately to these agents. Nonselective β‐blockers combined with vasodilatory drugs result in enhanced lowering of portal pressures by targeting several mechanisms involved in this process. Unfortunately, this practice is associated with increased adverse effects, such as hypotension, and minimal reductions in mortality. Carvedilol possesses both nonselective β‐antagonist and α1‐receptor antagonist activity. Given its combined mechanism of action, carvedilol presents a potential option for lowering portal pressures. Its effects on lowering portal pressures and its role in therapy are undefined. Using MEDLINE (1966–2003) and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970–2003), the English‐language literature was searched to identify human studies assessing carvedilol's effects on lowering portal pressure. In general, carvedilol therapy was associated with mean reductions of 16–43% in portal pressure, assessed by the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) after single and multiple doses. Studies comparing carvedilol with propranolol revealed equal or enhanced efficacy in lowering HVPG. Large percentages of patients had significant HVPG reductions to levels that prevent variceal bleeding. Carvedilol also was associated with substantial symptomatic hypotension, especially in patients with ascites or Child‐Pugh class B or C cirrhosis. Efficacy and adverse effects generally seem to be dose related. Carvedilol appears to be a potentially viable option for treating portal hypertension. Further multiple‐dose trials comparing carvedilol with standard therapy are needed to assess the agent's long‐term safety and effectiveness in preventing variceal bleeding.
A discrete event modelling framework for simulation of long-term outcomes of sequential treatment strategies for ankylosing spondylitis

Objective To develop a modelling framework which can simulate long-term quality of life, societal costs and cost-effectiveness as affected by sequential drug treatment strategies for ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods Discrete event simulation paradigm was selected for model development. Drug efficacy was modelled as changes in disease activity (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI)) and functional status (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI)), which were linked to costs and health utility using statistical models fitted based on an observational AS cohort. Published clinical data were used to estimate drug efficacy and time to events. Two strategies were compared: (1) five available non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (strategy 1) and (2) same as strategy 1 plus two tumour necrosis factor α inhibitors (strategy 2). 13 000 patients were followed up individually until death. For probability sensitivity analysis, Monte Carlo simulations were performed with 1000 sets of parameters sampled from the appropriate probability distributions. Results The models successfully generated valid data on treatments, BASDAI, BASFI, utility, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and costs at time points with intervals of 1–3 months during the simulation length of 70 years. Incremental cost per QALY gained in strategy 2 compared with strategy 1 was €35 186. At a willingness-to-pay threshold of €80 000, it was 99.9% certain that strategy 2 was cost-effective. Conclusions The modelling framework provides great flexibility to implement complex algorithms representing treatment selection, disease progression and changes in costs and utilities over time of patients with AS. Results obtained from the simulation are plausible.
Responses of Neonatal Rat Islets to Streptozotocin: Limited B-Cell Regeneration and Hyperglycemia

Streptozotocin (SZ) was given to 2-day-old neonatal rats, and, during their subsequent development, the interrelationships between plasma glucose, plasma insulin, pancreatic islet morphology, and hormone content were examined. At 4 days of age, a peak of hyperglycemia was observed (SZ, 349 ± 8 mg/dl versus control (C), 127 ± 2) that was associated with a marked reduction of B-cell numbers (SZ, 26.5 ± 2.6% B-cell per islet versus C, 72.8 ± 0.8%). By 10 days of age the SZ animals became normoglycemic with partial recovery of the B-cell number (SZ, 39.6 ± 2.1% versus C, 64.0 ± 2.6%). By 6 weeks hyperglycemia returned (SZ, 345 ± 5.2 mg/dl versus C, 171 ± 6.2) with B-cell number of the SZ being 72% of the C (SZ, 48.8 ± 2.4% versus C, 67.5 ± 1.5%). This hyperglycemia and reduced B-cell number persisted to at least 13 wk age. Despite a marked reduction of pancreatic insulin content observed during development, there was little effect upon glucagon or somatostatin content. At 6 wk of age, the plasma insulin concentration was only 30% of C, which suggests an insulin secretory defect beyond that which could be accounted for by the modest B-cell reduction. The present study indicates that even though active regeneration of B-celle occurred after early injury, the capacity for ultimate normalization was limited. The resultant moderate reduction in B-cell number may be associated with a functional defect in glucose-stimulated insulin secretion.
A study of a stable autonomous driving method using modified Otsu algorithm

A robust image processing method with modified Otsu algorithm to recognize the road lane for a real-time autonomous vehicle was presented. The main objective of a proposed method was to drive an autonomous vehicle safely irrespective of road image qualities. For a possible real-time controlled autonomous vehicle steering, a detection area was predefined by lane segment, with previously obtained frame data, and the edges are detected on the basis of a lane width. For stable as well as psudo-robust autonomous driving with "good", "shady" or even "bad" road profiles, the variable threshold with modified Otsu algorithm in the image histogram, is utilized to obtain a binary image from each frame. Also Hough transform was utilized to extract the lane segment. Whether the image is "good", "shady" or "bad", always robust and reliable edges were obtained from the algorithms applied in this paper in a real-time basis. For verifying the adaptability of the proposed algorithm, a miniature vehicle with a camera was constructed and tested with various road conditions to prove its adaptability. Also, many highway road images were analyzed with proposed algorithm to prove its usefulness.
Custom IP cores for robust data analysis and pattern recognition algorithms used in gas applications

This paper presents an overview of a PhD research project, completed tasks and future work. The aim of the research is to contribute to the improvement of gas identification systems at different levels by designing and implementing dedicated IP cores for data analysis, pre-processing, dimensionality reduction and pattern recognition algorithms. This PhD dissertation research is part of an ongoing funded research project by NPRP-Qatar Foundation which consists of the development of a low power reconfigurable self-calibrated multi-sensing platform for gas applications.
Improving the landing precision of an MSL-class vehicle

Prior to Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), Mars landers flew ballistic entry trajectories. Improvements in landing accuracy (from ~150 km from the target for Mars Pathfinder to ~30-40 km for Mars Exploration Rover and Phoenix) were solely due to improved approach navigation. MSL will fly the first guided-entry trajectory to Mars, further improving accuracy to ~10-12 km from the target by modifying the trajectory in the atmosphere using a lift created by slightly offsetting the vehicle center-of-mass. EDL systems of future Mars lander missions are likely to substantially resemble MSL to maximize heritage and minimize cost. Further improvements in landing accuracy are desired for these missions, motivating an investigation into improvements in landing accuracy with minimal impact to the MSL EDL system architecture.
Dynamically Adaptive I-Cache Partitioning for Energy-Efficient Embedded Multitasking

The ever increasing importance of battery-powered devices coupled with high performance requirements and shrinking process geometries have further exacerbated the problem of energy efficiency in modern embedded systems. The cache memories are a major contributor to the system power consumption, and as such have been a primary target for energy reduction techniques. Recent advances in configurable cache architectures have enabled an entirely new set of approaches for application-driven energy- and cost-efficient cache resource utilization. We propose a run-time and adaptive instruction cache partitioning methodology, which leverages configurable cache architectures to achieve an energy- and performance-conscious adaptive mapping of instruction cache resources to tasks in dynamic multi-task workloads sharing a processor core trough preemptive multitasking. Sizable leakage and dynamic power reductions are achieved with only a negligible and system-controlled performance impact. The methodology assumes no prior information regarding the dynamics and the structure of the workload. As the proposed dynamic cache partitioning alleviates the adverse effects of cache interference, performance is maintained very close to the baseline case, while achieving 50%-80% reductions in dynamic and leakage power for the on-chip instruction cache memory.
LIST and LINT: Sentences and numbers for quantifying speech understanding in severely impaired listeners for Flanders and the Netherlands

A Dutch sentence test (LIST) and a Dutch number test (LINT) have been developed and validated for the accurate measurement of speech reception thresholds (SRT) in quiet and in noise with severely hearing-impaired individuals and cochlear implant recipients in Flanders and the Netherlands. The LIST consists of 35 lists of 10 sentences of equal known difficulty uttered by a female speaker; while the LINT consists of 400 numbers (1–100) by two male and two female speakers. Normative values were determined at fixed S/N ratios and using the adaptive method (Plomp & Mimpen, ), yielding identical results for SRT and slope. For the LIST, average fitted SRTs were 27.1 (0.9) dB SPL in quiet and −7.8 dB (0.2) SNR in noise. In addition, the LIST in noise displayed a steep discrimination function (17%/dB) and good reliability (within-subject standard deviation=1.2 dB). For the LINT average fitted SRTs in quiet were 20.7 (0.9) dB SPL and about −9.0 dB SNR in noise. Again, the slopes of the performance intensity functions were relatively steep, i.e. 8.5%/dB in quiet and 15.2%/dB in noise, suggesting that the LINT is accurate and efficient and thus capable of reflecting subtle changes in performance. First data with cochlear implanted subjects show that both LIST and LINT are feasible and are capable of mapping a large range of hearing disabilities.
Is COX-2 a perpetrator or a protector? Selective COX-2 inhibitors remain controversial

AbstractAim:COX-2(cyclooxygenase-2) has sparked a surge in pharmaceutical interest since its discovery at the beginning of the 1990s. Several COX-2 selective inhibitors that avoid gastrointestinal side effects have been successfully launched into the market in recent years. The first selective COX-2 inhibitor, celecoxib, entered the market in December 1999. However, there are a few organs that physiologically and functionally express COX-2, particularly the glomeruli of the kidney and the cortex of the brain. Inhibition of COX-2 expression in these organs possibly causes heart attack and stroke in long-term COX-2 inhibitor users. Recently, a USA Food and Drug Agency (FDA) advisory panel re-evaluated COX-2 inhibitors and unanimously concluded that the entire class of COX-2 inhibitors increase the risk of cardiovascular problems. Thus the use of COX-2 inhibitors is still controversial, and there is a challenge for not only pharmacologists, but also the pharmaceutical industry, to develop improved painkilling and anti-inflammatory drugs. This may involve exploring a new generation of COX-2 inhibitors with different inhibitory mechanisms through computer-aided design, screening different sources of inhibitors with lower selectivity, or seeking completely new targets. Synthetic COX-2 inhibitors have high selectivity and the advantage of irreversible inhibition, whereas naturally derived COX-2 inhibitors have lower selectivity and fewer side effects, with the medical effects in general not being as striking as those achieved using synthetic inhibitors. This review discusses the mechanism of COX-2 inhibitor therapy and a possible new way of exploration in the development of anti-inflammatory, analgetic, and antipyretic drugs.
Identification of Macrophage Genotype and Key Biological Pathways in Circulating Angiogenic Cell Transcriptome

Background Circulating angiogenic cells (CAC) have been identified as important regulators of vascular biology. However, there is still considerable debate about the genotype and function of CAC. Methods and Results Data from publicly available gene expression data sets were used to analyse the transcriptome of in vitro cultured CAC (CACiv). Genes and pathways of interest were further evaluated using qPCR comparing CACiv versus CD14+ monocytic cells. The CACiv transcriptome strongly related to tissue macrophages, and more specifically to regulatory M2c macrophages. The cytokine expression profile of CACiv was predominantly immune modulatory and resembled the cytokine expression of tumor-associated macrophages (TAM). Pathway analysis revealed previously unrecognized biological processes in CACiv, such as riboflavin metabolism and liver X receptor (LXR)/retinoid X receptor (RXR) and farnesoid X receptor (FXR)/retinoid X receptor (RXR) pathways. Analysis of endothelial-specific genes did not show evidence for endothelial transdifferentiation. Conclusions CACiv are genotypically similar to regulatory M2c macrophages and lack signs of endothelial differentiation.
A Comparative Study of 68Gallium-Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Lymph Node Staging in High Risk Prostate Cancer Patients: An Initial Experience

Lymph node staging plays an important role in planning initial management in nonmetastatic prostate cancer. This article compares the role of 68Gallium (68Ga)-prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which is considered the standard staging modality. Out of 39 high-risk prostate cancer patients who underwent 68Ga-PSMA PET-CT for staging (December 2014–December 2015), 12 patients underwent radical prostatectomy along with ePLND and were included in the analysis. Findings of the PSMA PET and MRI were compared with final histopathology. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predicative value (PPV), negative predicative value (NPV), and accuracy of 68Ga-PSMA PET-CT and MRI were calculated for numbers of patients and pelvic lymph node metastasis. Chi-square test, McNemar's test, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were also done. 68Ga-PSMA PET-CT and MRI sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy for number of patients detection were 100%, 80%, 87.5%, 100%, 91.67%, and 57.14%, 80%, 80%, 57.4%, 66.67%, respectively. For detection of metastatic lymph node, it was 66.67%, 98.61%, 85.71%, 95.95%, 95.06% and 25.93%, 98.61%, 70%, 91.42%, 90.53%, respectively. Difference of lymph nodal detectability was statistically significant on Chi-square test. On McNemar's test,P value was statistically insignificant for number of patient detection (P = 0.250) but statistically significant for lymph nodal detection (P = 0.001) for 68Ga-PSMA PET-CT. In ROC analysis, area under the curve was also significantly high for lymph node detectability by 68Ga-PSMA PET-CT. Our initial experience shows that 68GaPSMA PET-CT is a very promising tracer for N staging in the initial workup of prostate cancer. It has the potential to impact patient's initial management and can up- and down-stage effectively.
Expert views on the field of international communication

International communication is a recognised field of study, with academic sections in the International Association for Media & Communication Research (IAMCR) and some other international research organisations. Over the years, changes in the environment of inquiry of international communication and interest in that environment from other fields and disciplines have raised questions about the position of the field. The International Communication Section (ICS) of IAMCR has a particular interest in examining views on the position of the field, in the context of changing geopolitical and techno-cultural conditions, new developments in social theory and expanding interest by other fields and disciplines in the same constellations of 'objects of inquiry' as those that are of interest to the field of international communication. It was in this context that Professor Sujatha Sosale, Head of ICS, commissioned the Chief Investigator, at the IAMCR Conference in Stockholm in 2008, to undertake a Delphi study in order to seek a consensus view on key issues related to the field of international communication. This report consists of a statement of objectives, an outline of the Delphi technique that was employed as the research method, results for three rounds of the Delphi questions, and a discussion and conclusion.1
Does Human Capital Play a Role in Economic Growth? A Time Series Study in India

The study examines the impact of human capital on economic growth in India for the period 1960 to 2004. Assuming that the mechanism for developing human capital is formal education, we examine the long-run relationship between gross enrolment ratios at different level of education and per capita gross domestic product to find out a relationship between human capital and economic growth. Time series techniques are used to look at the long-run causal relationships among the variables. Johansen Cointegration Test (Johansen, 1988) has been applied to identify the presence of long-run relationship among the variables. To determine the direction of causal relationship Granger Causality Test in the Vector Error Correction Framework (Granger, 1988) is used. The results indicate long-run relationship among human capital and economic growth. However, the same relationship is absent in the short-run. A unidirectional causal relationship between per capita GDP and human capital has been identified from per capita GDP to the human capital formation.
The role of informal and formal networks: how professionals can be innovative in a constrained fiscal environment

One way of circumventing issues associated with constricted resources is to use organisational social resources embedded within both formal and informal social networks to provide increased support for proactive and innovative employee behaviour. Social exchange theorists argue that informal working relationships with non-line management provides an additional power source alongside traditional management relationships to foster proactive and innovative behaviour even when resources are scarce. About 272 Australian engineers, asset managers and technical employees were surveyed from public and private sector organisations, and data was examined using structural equation modelling. The findings depict that formal and informal leader–employee, organisational–employee relationships explained almost 53% of resource adequacy and resource adequacy explained 60.5% of the proactive engineering asset management organisational culture and 28.1% of innovative behaviour. This paper contributes insight into another hierarchical workplace relationship that employees can use to gain access to resources, and be proactive and innovative in the workplace.