Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detecting compaction disequilibrium with anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility

In clay‐rich sediment, microstructures and macrostructures influence how sediments deform when under stress. When lithology is fairly constant, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) can be a simple technique for measuring the relative consolidation state of sediment, which reflects the sediment burial history. AMS can reveal areas of high water content and apparent overconsolidation associated with unconformities where sediment overburden has been removed. Many other methods for testing consolidation and water content are destructive and invasive, whereas AMS provides a nondestructive means to focus on areas for additional geotechnical study. In zones where the magnetic minerals are undergoing diagenesis, AMS should not be used for detecting compaction state. By utilizing AMS in the Santa Barbara Basin, we were able to identify one clear unconformity and eight zones of high water content in three cores. With the addition of susceptibility, anhysteretic remanent magnetization, and isothermal remanent magnetization rock magnetic techniques, we excluded 3 out of 11 zones from being compaction disequilibria. The AMS signals for these three zones are the result of diagenesis, coring deformation, and burrows. In addition, using AMS eigenvectors, we are able to accurately show the direction of maximum compression for the accumulation zone of the Gaviota Slide.
Poor outcome from peritonitis is caused by disease acuity and organ failure, not recurrent peritoneal infection.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study is to determine whether organ failure develops in patients despite control of peritoneal infection and whether the process is, in part, neutrophil (polymorphonuclear leukocyte [PMN]) mediated. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA Peritonitis generally responds to prompt surgical intervention and systemic antibiotics; however, some patients continue a septic course and progress to organ failure and death. METHODS One hundred five consecutive patients with peritonitis between 1988 and 1996 who required operation and a postoperative hospital stay greater than 10 days were studied. Mice were injected with a monoclonal anti-PMN antibody 24 hours before cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) to deplete PMNs. RESULTS Thirty-eight patients died, and all but 1 had identified organ failure. Seventy-seven patients had either pulmonary failure alone (25 patients) or as a component of multisystem organ failure (52 patients). All but one of these patients showed resolution of their intraperitoneal infection as evident by clinical course, abdominal computed tomographic scan, second-look laparotomy, or autopsy. Recurrent intra-abdominal infection developed in 15 patients, but only 1 had organ failure, and 2 died. At 18 hours after CLP, lung injury, PMN content, interleukin-1 mRNA expression, and liver injury were significantly reduced by anti-PMN treatment, whereas serum endotoxin levels actually increased. CONCLUSIONS Disease acuity and organ failure, and not recurrent peritoneal infection, are the major causes of adverse outcome in patients with peritonitis. The authors' experimental data indicate that such organ injury is, in part, PMN mediated but not endotoxin mediated. Attraction of PMNs toward the site of primary infection, and thereby away from remote organs, is a logical future therapeutic approach in such patients who are critically ill with peritonitis.
Cascade Generalization with Reweighting Data for Handling Imbalanced Problems

Many data sets exhibit skewed class distributions in which most cases are allocated to a class and far fewer cases to a smaller one. A classifier induced from an imbalanced data set has usually a low error rate for the majority class and an unacceptable error rate for the minority class. This paper provides a review on various methodologies that have tried to handle this problem. Afterwards, it presents an experimental study of these methodologies with a proposed cascade generalization ensemble that is applied in reweighted data and it concludes that such a framework can be a more effective solution to the problem. Our method improves the identification of a difficult small class, while keeping the classification ability of the other class in an acceptable level.
Hemodynamic Consequences of Stenosis Remodeling During Coronary Angioplasty

Quantitative hemodynamic assessment during various endovascular interventions including balloon angioplasty is lacking. Translesional pressure drops measured by angio plasty catheters can cause flow blockage and thus lead to inaccurate estimates of prein tervention and postintervention flow rates. A new analytical model of the flow rate- pressure drop relation across vascular stenoses is utilized that is nonlinear yet relatively simple in principle, easily applicable in vivo, and compatible with the presence of catheters. The model incorporates in vitro experimental evidence, angiographic data on the dimensions and shapes of coronary arterial stenoses before and after balloon angio plasty, reported translesional pressure gradients, and measurements of coronary flow reserve. Reasonable estimates of mean coronary artery flow rates and translesional pressure drops in the absence of angioplasty catheters are obtained. Prior to angioplasty significant flow restriction across a 68% diameter stenosis exists during hyperemic flow conditions. Following successful balloon dilation, increased minimal cross-sectional area (residual 40% diameter stenosis) results in an improved flow rate-pressure drop relation. Despite minimal flow restriction during hyperemic conditions following angioplasty remodeling, residual luminal constriction leads to elevated wall shear stress levels within the entry region of the stenosis. The flow analysis described may be of clinical utility in evaluating the hemodynamic significance of the anatomic severity of stenoses in coronary and peripheral arteries before and after endovascular therapeutic interventions.
IL-24 Induces Apoptosis of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia B Cells Engaged into the Cell Cycle through Dephosphorylation of STAT3 and Stabilization of p53 Expression

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by the accumulation of long-lived monoclonal B cells mostly arrested at the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle. CLL cells strongly express intracellular melanoma differentiation-associated gene-7 (MDA7)/IL-24. However, adenovirus-delivered MDA7 was reported to be cytotoxic in several tumor cell lines. We report herein that rIL-24 alone had no effect; however, sequential incubation with rIL-2 and rIL-24 reduced thymidine incorporation by 50% and induced apoptosis of CLL cells in S and G2/M phases of the cell cycle, but not of normal adult blood or tonsil B cells. IL-24 stimulated STAT3 phosphorylation in IL-24R1-transfected cells but not in normal or CLL B cells. In contrast, IL-24 reversed the IL-2-induced phosphorylation of STAT3 in CLL, and this effect was neutralized by anti-IL-24 Ab. Phospho- (P)STAT3 inhibition induced by IL-24 was reversed by pervanadate, an inhibitor of tyrosine phosphatases. The addition of rIL-24 to IL-2-activated CLL B cells resulted in increases of transcription, protein synthesis. and phosphorylation of p53. The biological effects of IL-24 were reversed by the p53 inhibitor pifithrin-α and partly by the caspase inhibitor zvad. Troglitazone (a protein tyrosine phosphatase, PTP1B activator) phosphatase inhibited PSTAT3 and augmented p53 expression. PSTAT3 is a transcriptional repressor of p53, and therefore IL-24 induction of p53 secondary to PSTAT3 dephosphorylation may be sensed as a stress signal and promote apoptosis in cycling cells. This model explains why IL-24 can protect some resting/differentiated cells and be deleterious to proliferating cells.
Nitric oxide, adenosine deaminase, xanthine oxidase and superoxide dismutase in patients with panic disorder: alterations by antidepressant treatment

In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether nitric oxide (NO) levels and activities of xanthine oxidase (XO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and adenosine deaminase (ADA) are associated with Panic disorder (PD) as well as impact of psychopharmacological treatments on NO, SOD, ADA, and XO levels in PD.
Improvement in Cardiac Function following Transplantation of Human Umbilical Cord Matrix-Derived Mesenchymal Cells

Objectives: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal cells (hUCM) can be easily obtained and processed in a laboratory. These cells may be considered as a suitable source in the repair of heart failure diseases. We, therefore, examined whether these cells may contribute to heart regeneration following an acute experimental myocardial infarction (MI). Methods: MI-induced animals received 5 × 106 hUCM cells, 5 × 106 5-azacytidine-treated cells (dhUCM), or PBS alone, subepicardially. A group of animals with MI and no other former intervention served as controls. dhUCM cells were assessed for F-actin, myogenin and troponin-I expression. Results: dhUCM cells appeared as binucleated cells with extensive cytoplasmic processes. These differentiated cells were F-actin and myogenin positive. Thirty days after LAD ligation, left ventricular ejection fraction and the percentage of fractional shortening improved significantly in cell-receiving animals. In addition, the amount of scar tissue was significantly reduced in hUCM and dhUCM groups compared to MI group (p < 0.05). These parameters were comparable between hUCM and dhUCM groups. Histopathological evaluations revealed that some engrafted cells adjacent to and remote from the MI area expressed troponin-I, F-actin and connexin43. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated the potential therapeutic use of either differentiated or undifferentiated hUCM cells in treatment of heart failure conditions.
Modeling of Multiple TCP Segment Losses in Slow Start and Congestion Avoidance Phases

This paper presents analytical modeling to systematically capture the characteristics of TCP fast retransmission and recovery. One of the novel contributions of this paper is to evaluate the conditions under which fast recovery can be successful in the slow start and in the congestion avoidance phases, respectively. Unlike previous works where they simply assume in a RTT round the packets following the first lost packet are all lost, we consider a more realistic case in which the packets following the first lost packet in the same RTT round may not be all lost. This consideration makes our analyses technically different from the previous works as described in [1] and [4-6]. Depending on N r [y], the number of packets successfully received at the (y + 1)th RTT round after the first lost packet was detected, we divide the analytical model into two cases: N r [y] ≥ k (the number of duplicate acknowledgments) and NV r [y] < k. For both cases, we have respectively revealed that there are certain necessary conditions for the fast retransmission to occur. The revealed necessary conditions are represented as a number of upper bounds, beyond which the lost packets can not be recovered using TCP fast retransmission algorithm. In addition, from the analytical results, we have shown that TCP Reno certainly leads to timeout if the number of packet losses in a TCP window exceeds two packets.
La descolonización de la economía política y los estudios postcoloniales: transmodernidad, pensamiento fronterizo y colonialidad global

This article discusses the epistemic implications of the de-colonial turn of the decolonization of the «global capitalism» concept, as it has been used in the paradigms of political economy and cultural studies. Other terms that are discussed include «colonization of power», «border epistemologies» and «transmodernity» to start thinking not in «new utopias»,but rather in «other utopias» based on a different cartography of global power relationships of the «world-system Europe/Euro-Northamerican modern/colonial capitalist/patriarchical». The article argues that there is a necessity to use the aforementioned concept (even though it is more extensive) and to abandon the category of «capitalist world-system» or «global capitalism».
Planar SAS for Sea Bottom and Subbottom Imaging: Concept Validation in Tank

The paper deals with a new concept of imaging technique based on planar synthetic aperture sonar (P-SAS). P-SAS processing takes advantage of the overlap of both ping-to-ping and track to track footprints to improve the imaging resolution in both directions. After describing the method, its implementation is discussed. The exact implementation [three-dimensional (3-D)] is defined and an approximated and faster approach [2timestwo-dimensional (2-D)] is then proposed. The gain in computation time and the possible loss in performances (resolutions, echo amplitude) are investigated by simulating a simple point target. The point spread function is studied in details. The new concept is finally validated by tank experiments (scale about 100) for both proud and buried target imaging
Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition: a potential mechanism for increasing the efficacy of bacillus calmette-guerin immunotherapy for bladder cancer.

PURPOSE Intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) therapy is the principal treatment for high risk, noninvasive urothelial carcinoma and carcinoma in situ of the bladder. However, up to 40% of patients fail to respond to this treatment. In this study the potential for inhibition of PGE2 production by BCG treated dendritic cells (DCs) was studied in the context of preferential polarization of the immune response toward a cancer clearing T-helper type 1 immune response. MATERIALS AND METHODS Murine bone marrow derived DCs were cultured with interleukin (IL)-4 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. After 7 days the cells were stimulated with BCG. Cell surface expression of co-stimulatory molecules and phagocytic ability were measured by flow cytometry analysis to verify cell activation. The production of IL-10 and IL-12 was measured after DC stimulation with BCG in the presence of IL-10, prostaglandin E2(Cayman Chemical, Ann Arbor, Michigan), antiIL-10 antibody (Insight Biotechnology, Wembley, United Kingdom), NS-398 and indomethacin (Sigma, Poole, United Kingdom). RESULTS Prostaglandin E2 stimulated a dose dependent increase in the levels of IL-10 produced by BCG activated DCs (p <0.01). IL-10 significantly decreased IL-12 production (p <0.001), while IL-10 blockade significantly increased IL-12 levels (p <0.05). The COX-2 selective inhibitor NS-398 caused a dose dependent increase in the concentration of IL-12 produced by BCG activated DCs (p <0.01). This effect was also seen with the partially selective COX-1 inhibitor indomethacin (p <0.05). CONCLUSIONS The inhibition of PGE2 synthesis by COX inhibition favored the production of IL-12 by BCG activated DC. This potentially will result in the generation of a T-helper type 1, polarized T-cell response that may improve the efficacy of BCG therapy.
Efficiency comparison of three methods for extracting genomic DNA of the pathogenic oomycete Pythium insidiosum.

BACKGROUND The fungus-like organism Pythium insidiosum is the causative agent of a life-threatening tropical infectious disease, pythiosis, which has high rates of morbidity and mortality. A lack of reliable diagnostic tools and effective treatments for pythiosis presents a major challenge to healthcare professionals. Unfortunately, surgical removal of infected organs remains the default treatment for pythiosis. P. insidiosum is an understudied organism. In-depth study of the pathogen at the molecular level could lead to better means of infection control High quality genomic DNA (gDNA) is needed for molecular biology-based research and application development, such as: PCR-assisted diagnosis, population studies, phylogenetic analysis, and molecular genetics assays. OBJECTIVE To evaluate quality and quantity of the P. insidiosum gDNA extracted by three separate protocols intended for fungal gDNA preparation. MATERIAL AND METHOD Seven P. insidiosum isolates were subjected to gDNA extraction by using conventional-extraction, rapid-extraction, and salt-extraction protocols. RESULTS The conventional protocol offered the best gDNA in terms of quality and quantity, and could be scaled up. The rapid-extraction protocol had a short turnaround time, but the quality and quantity of the gDNA obtained were limited. The salt-extraction protocol was simple, rapid, and efficient, making it appealing for high throughput preparation of small-scale gDNA samples. CONCLUSION Compared to rapid-extraction protocol, both conventional-extraction and salt-extraction protocols provided a better quality and quantity of gDNA, suitable for molecular studies of P. insidiosum. In contrast to the other two methods, the salt-extraction protocol does not require the use of hazardous and expensive materials such as phenol, chloroform, or liquid nitrogen.
A Comparison Between the Vaginal Ring and Oral Contraceptives

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether contraceptive vaginal ring use results in similar estimated genital symptoms, signs, examination, and laboratory findings compared with oral contraceptive use. METHODS: Women were randomly assigned to either contraceptive vaginal ring or a 20 μg ethinyl estradiol oral contraceptive pill use for 3 consecutive 28-day cycles, directly followed by 3 cycles of the study drug not initially assigned. Subjects scored genital symptoms on a daily diary using a 0–4 scale and underwent a baseline, cycle 2, cycle 4, and exit pelvic examination including vaginal discharge evaluation, vaginal Gram stain and white cell count, and culture for yeast and Lactobacillus, including colony count and hydrogen peroxide production. RESULTS: Of the 40 subjects assigned to each arm, 33 (82.5%) subjects in the ring-first arm and 31 (77.5%) subjects in the pill-first arm completed all study visits (P = .58). Most subjects reported few genital symptoms with either method, but 63% of subjects reported vaginal wetness during ring use compared with 43% during pill use. During ring use larger numbers of Lactobacillus colonies present were positive for hydrogen peroxide production (fold difference 2.67, 95% confidence interval 1.49, 4.78, P < .001). All other laboratory data, including yeast colony counts, Nugent Gram stain score, vaginal white blood cell count, vaginal pH, and discharge weight, were not significantly different by method. CONCLUSION: Some women may notice an increase in vaginal wetness during contraceptive ring use yet the method is well tolerated and appears to improve the vaginal flora. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: I
The association of ambient air pollution with twice daily peak expiratory flow rate measurements in children.

A stratified sample of 83 children living in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, reported twice daily peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) measurements on 3,582 child-days during the summer of 1990. Upon arising and before retiring, each child recorded the time, three PEFR measurements, and the presence of cold, cough, or wheeze symptoms. Ambient air pollution, including particle-strong acidity, was measured separately during the day (8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and at night. Each child's maximum PEFR for each session was expressed as the deviation from his or her mean PEFR over the study and adjusted to a standard of 300 liters/minute. The session-specific average deviation was then calculated across all of the children. A second-order autoregressive model for PEFR was developed, which included a separate intercept for evening measurements, trend, temperature, and 12-hour average air pollutant concentration weighted by the number of hours each child spent outdoors during the previous 12-hour period. The results are expressed in terms of the interquartile range for each pollutant. A 12-hour exposure to a 125-nmol/m3 increment in particle-strong acidity was associated with a -2.5 liters/minute deviation in the group mean PEFR (95% confidence interval (CI) -4.2 to -0.8) and with increased cough incidence (odds ratio (OR) = 1.6, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.4). A 30-ppb increment in ozone for 12 hours was associated with a similar deviation in PEFR levels (-2.8, 95% CI -67 to 1.1). The association between PEFR and particle-strong acidity was observed among the 60 children who were reported as symptomatic on the prior symptom questionnaire (-2.5, 95% CI -4.5 to -0.5). The authors conclude that summer occurrences of excessive acid aerosol and particulate pollution are associated with declines in peak expiratory flow rates in children.
Regional differences in the contractile and intracellular Ca2+ responses of the guinea‐pig vas deferens to neurotransmitters and excess K+

The contractile responses to various concentrations of noradrenaline (NA), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), acetylcholine (ACh) and excess external K+ in the epididymal, middle and prostatic portions of the guinea‐pig vas deferens were investigated by measuring the isotonic contraction, and the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) using fura‐2 fluorescence. In the epididymal portion, the contractions evoked by each of these agonists were biphasic, comprising a transient followed by a tonic phase. In the middle portion, NA and ACh evoked biphasic contractions, whereas the ATP‐induced contraction was an almost monophasic transient. In contrast, in the prostatic portion, only transient contractions were evoked by ACh and ATP, while the NA‐induced contraction was oscillatory. The responses to each of the neurotransmitters in the three portions were not affected by pretreatment with TTX. The maximal responses of tonic contraction in response to each of the neurotransmitters were largest in the epididymal portion, decreased in the middle and were almost absent in the prostatic portion. These regional differences in the contractile properties of the vas deferens were also evident upon stimulation with excess external K+. As with the contractile responses, regional differences in the [Ca2+]i increases were observed during exposure to all the stimulants. It is suggested that the regional differences in the contractile responses of the vas deferens to various neurotransmitters and excess external K+ may involve variation in the mechanisms of Ca2+ homeostasis and in the sensitivity of the contractile apparatus to intracellular Ca2+ ions.
Reconciliation between experimental and Monte Carlo-based simulation of the pore size distribution in mesoporous silicon

It is demonstrated for the first time that mesoporous PS structures obtained by the electrochemical etching of p+(100) oriented silicon wafers might assume the peculiarity of invariance of the first peak positions in their pore size distribution curves, albeit for current densities far from the electropolishing region and at constant electrolyte composition. A new Monte Carlo-based simulation model is presented that predicts reasonably the pore size distribution of the PS layers and the observed invariance of peak position with respect to changes in current density. The main highlight of the new model is the introduction of a ‘light avalanche breakdown’ process in a mathematical fashion. The model is also able to predict an absolute value of 4.23 Å for the smallest pore created experimentally. It is discussed that the latter value has an exact physical meaning: it corresponds with great accuracy to the width of a void created on the surface due to the exclusion of one Si atom.