Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Nebivolol on Endothelial Nitric Oxide and Peroxynitrite Release in Hypertensive Animals: Role of Antioxidant Activity

We tested the activity of nebivolol, a β1-selective blocker with respect to nitric oxide (NO) and peroxynitrite (ONOO−) generation in the endothelium of normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY rats) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). The endothelial effects of nebivolol and its 2 optical enantiomers were correlated with its antioxidant activity and compared to another β-blocker, atenolol, and 2 agonists of nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), calcium ionophore (CI) and acetylcholine (ACh). The effects of nebivolol on the bioavailability of NO and ONOO−, indicators of endothelial function and dysfunction, respectively, were measured in vitro using nanosensors placed in mesenteric arteries. Compared with WKY rats, treatment of SHR vessels either with ACh (1 μmol/L) or CI (1 μmol/L) showed marked deficiencies (>40%, P < 0.01) in bioavailable NO concomitant with increased ONOO− levels (>50%, P < 0.01). The [NO]/[ONOO−] ratio measured after stimulation with CI was 2.77 ± 0.05 in WKY rats and much lower (1.14 ± 0.11) in SHR indicating significant eNOS uncoupling and endothelial dysfunction in hypertensive animals. Treatment with nebivolol (10 μmol/L) inhibited eNOS uncoupling and reduced endothelial dysfunction in SHR, as evidenced by an increase in the [NO]/[ONOO−] ratio to 3.09 ± 0.04. The basis for nebivolol activity is attributed to its unique membrane interactions as determined by small-angle x-ray diffraction, as well as its antioxidant activity at nanomolar to micromolar levels. The antioxidant effects of nebivolol and its enantiomers were not reproduced by atenolol. These results demonstrate that nebivolol inhibits endothelial dysfunction through a potent antioxidant mechanism attributed to its physicochemical interactions with the membrane, independent of β1-blockade activity.
An Effective Nonchemical Treatment for Head Lice: A Lot of Hot Air

OBJECTIVES. Head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) are a major irritant to children and their parents around the world. Each year millions of children are infested with head lice, a condition known as pediculosis, which is responsible for tens of millions of lost school days. Head lice have evolved resistance to many of the currently used pediculicides; therefore, an effective new treatment for head lice is needed. In this study we examined the effectiveness of several methods that use hot air to kill head lice and their eggs. METHODS. We tested 6 different treatment methods on a total of 169 infested individuals. Each method delivers hot air to the scalp in a different way. We evaluated how well these methods kill lice and their eggs in situ. We also performed follow-up inspections to evaluate whether the sixth, most successful, method can cure head louse infestations. RESULTS. All 6 methods resulted in high egg mortality (≥88%), but they showed more-variable success in killing hatched lice. The most successful method, which used a custom-built machine called the LouseBuster, resulted in nearly 100% mortality of eggs and 80% mortality of hatched lice. The LouseBuster was effective in killing lice and their eggs when operated at a comfortable temperature, slightly cooler than a standard blow-dryer. Virtually all subjects were cured of head lice when examined 1 week after treatment with the LouseBuster. There were no adverse effects of treatment. CONCLUSIONS. Our findings demonstrate that one 30-minute application of hot air has the potential to eradicate head lice infestations. In summary, hot air is an effective, safe treatment and one to which lice are unlikely to evolve resistance.
Relation between private health insurance and high rates of caesarean section in Chile: qualitative and quantitative study

Abstract Objectives: To explore the circumstances and factors that explain the association between private health insurance cover and a high rate of caesarean sections in Chile. Design: Qualitative analysis of audiotaped in-depth interviews with obstetricians and pregnant women; quantitative analysis of data from face to face semistructured interview survey conducted postnatally (with women who had given birth in the previous 24-72 hours), and of a review of medical notes at a public hospital, a university hospital, and a private clinic. Setting: Santiago, Chile. Participants: Qualitative arm: 22 obstetricians, 21 pregnant women; quantitative arm: 540 postnatal women. Main outcome measures: Rates of caesarean section in different types of institutions; consultants' views on private practice; work patterns in private practice; women's reasons for choosing private care; women's preferences on method of delivery. Results: Private health insurance cover requires the primary maternity care provider to be an obstetrician. In the postnatal survey, women with private obstetricians showed consistently higher rates of caesarean section (range 57-83%) than those cared for by midwives or doctors on duty in public or university hospitals (range 27-28%). Only a minority of women receiving private care reported that they had wanted this method of delivery (range 6-32%). With the diversification in the healthcare market, most obstetricians now have demanding peripatetic work schedules. Private maternity patients are a lucrative source of income. The obstetrician is committed to attend these private births in person, and the “programming” (or scheduling) of births is a common time management strategy. The rate of elective caesarean sections was 30-68% in women with private obstetricians and 12-14% in women not attended by private obstetricians. Conclusions: Policies on healthcare financing can influence maternity care management and outcomes in unforeseen ways. The prevailing business ethos in health care encourages such pragmatism among those doctors who do not have a moral objection to non-medical caesarean section.
[Gene transfection of magnetic nanocomposite loading plasmid modified by folic acid targeted to nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the molecular targeting capacity and gene transfection efficiency of magnetic nanocomposite coupling with folic acid (FA) of PEG-PEI (-FA) -Alg-Fe3O4 adsorbing plasmid to folate receptor (FR) positive nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell. METHODS The phagocytosis of magnetic nanocomposite was examined in FR positive NPC HNE-1 and FR negative NPC CNE-2 cells. Prussian blue staining, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and flow cytometry were employed to analyze its gene transfection efficiency by observing the plasmid expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) in two cell types. Nude mice with implanted HNE-1 and CNE-2 tumor received a tail vein injection of magnetic nanocomposite. And the phagocytosis of magnetic nanocomposite was observed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), iron staining and TEM. RESULTS HNE-1 cell could effectively ingest magnetic nanocomposite, there was a strong intracellular expression of GFP and the gene transfection efficiency was approximately 40.0% ± 3.0%. However, CNE-2 cell had virtually no uptake of magnetic nanocomposite, there was a weak intracellular expression of GFP and the gene transfection efficiency was approximately 4.5% ± 1.5%. The implanted HNE-1 tumor cell could efficiently swallow magnetic nanocomposite, but there was little phagocytosis of magnetic nanocomposite in implanted CNE-2 tumor cell. CONCLUSION The magnetic nanocomposite coupling with FA of PEG-PEI (-FA) -Alg-Fe3O4 adsorbing plasmid has excellent molecular targeting capacity and higher gene transfection efficiency.
Cascading Failures in Spatially-Embedded Random Networks

Cascading failures constitute an important vulnerability of interconnected systems. Here we focus on the study of such failures on networks in which the connectivity of nodes is constrained by geographical distance. Specifically, we use random geometric graphs as representative examples of such spatial networks, and study the properties of cascading failures on them in the presence of distributed flow. The key finding of this study is that the process of cascading failures is non-self-averaging on spatial networks, and thus, aggregate inferences made from analyzing an ensemble of such networks lead to incorrect conclusions when applied to a single network, no matter how large the network is. We demonstrate that this lack of self-averaging disappears with the introduction of a small fraction of long-range links into the network. We simulate the well studied preemptive node removal strategy for cascade mitigation and show that it is largely ineffective in the case of spatial networks. We introduce an altruistic strategy designed to limit the loss of network nodes in the event of a cascade triggering failure and show that it performs better than the preemptive strategy. Finally, we consider a real-world spatial network viz. a European power transmission network and validate that our findings from the study of random geometric graphs are also borne out by simulations of cascading failures on the empirical network.
Ambient Air Pollution and Low Birth Weight in Connecticut and Massachusetts

Background Several studies have examined whether air pollution affects birth weight; however results vary and many studies were focused on Southern California or were conducted outside of the United States. Objectives We investigated maternal exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter < 10, < 2.5 μm (PM10, PM2.5), sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide and birth weight for 358,504 births in Massachusetts and Connecticut from 1999 to 2002. Methods Analysis included logistic models for low birth weight (< 2,500 g) and linear models with birth weight as a continuous variable. Exposure was assigned as the average county-level concentration over gestation and each trimester based on mother’s residence. We adjusted for gestational length, prenatal care, type of delivery, child’s sex, birth order, weather, year, and mother’s race, education, marital status, age, and tobacco use. Results An interquartile increase in gestational exposure to NO2, CO, PM10, and PM2.5 lowered birth weight by 8.9 g [95% confidence interval (CI), 7.0–10.8], 16.2 g (95% CI, 12.6–19.7), 8.2 g (95% CI, 5.3–11.1), and 14.7 g (95% CI, 12.3–17.1), respectively. Lower birth weight was associated with exposure in the third trimester for PM10, the first and third trimesters for CO, the first trimester for NO2 and SO2, and the second and third trimesters for PM2.5. Effect estimates for PM2.5 were higher for infants of black mothers than those of white mothers. Conclusions Results indicate that exposure to air pollution, even at low levels, may increase risk of low birth weight, particularly for some segments of the population.
Spectral Domain Decomposition Method for Physically-Based Rendering of Royaumont Abbey

In the context of a virtual reconstitution of the destroyed Royaumont abbey church, this paper investigates computer sciences issues intrinsic to the physically-based image rendering. First, a virtual model was designed from historical sources and archaeological descriptions. Then some materials physical properties were measured on remains of the church and on pieces from similar ancient churches. We specify the properties of our lighting source which is a representation of the sun, and present the rendering algorithm implemented in our software Virtuelium. In order to accelerate the computation of the interactions between light-rays and objects, this ray-tracing algorithm is parallelized by means of domain decomposition techniques. Numerical experiments show that the computational time saved by a classic parallelization is much less significant than that gained with our approach.
A study on MPTCP for tolerating packet reordering and path heterogeneity in wireless networks

As a great step toward the 5G network that will comprise the set of revolutionary technologies designed to cope with the vast increase in demand for faster connectivity, speedier downloads and more reliable communication, Multipath Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP) promises higher bandwidth and higher resilience against network path failures by allowing multiple paths between two devices to be pooled and appear to the application as a single end-to-end transport connection. This paper studies the effect of out-of-order packets on the performance of MPTCP when at least one of the paths uses different wireless access technologies. The study identifies trade-offs between different congestion control algorithms in terms of aggregate throughput gain when different packet reordering recovery solutions are implemented. The paper also suggests the best reordering solution for MPTCP for different wireless network conditions in order to maximize link utilization. The results show that MPTCP suffers from a reordering problem and the TCP-DOOR is able to maximize path utilization and provides a substantial improvement in terms of aggregate throughput for symmetrical links whilst D-SACK is preferable for asymmetrical links.
Modulation of the enterohemorrhagic E. coli virulence program through the human gastrointestinal tract

Enteric pathogens must not only survive passage through the gastrointestinal tract but must also coordinate expression of virulence determinants in response to localized microenvironments with the host. Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), a serious food and waterborne human pathogen, is well equipped with an arsenal of molecular factors that allows it to survive passage through the gastrointestinal tract and successfully colonize the large intestine. This review will explore how EHEC responds to various environmental cues associated with particular microenvironments within the host and how it employs these cues to modulate virulence factor expression, with a view to developing a conceptual framework for understanding modulation of EHEC’s virulence program in response to the host. In vitro studies offer significant insights into the role of individual environmental cues but in vivo studies using animal models as well as data from natural infections will ultimately provide a more comprehensive picture of the highly regulated virulence program of this pathogen.
Integration of company responsibility, the learning process: the Autogrill case

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to provide an insight into the learning process leading to the integration of company responsibility, in companies that are moving from a generic approach of Corporate Social Responsibility towards a holistic approach of stakeholder management. The analysis of a case study of a multinational Italian company, Autogrill Group S.p.a. , will be explored as an organizational learning process using the framework of a recent approach of Total Responsibility Management.Design/methodology/approach – The method of qualitative research is based on the analysis of the theory of the subject and through the use of various techniques to study the case to give a longitudinal perspective.Findings – The use of the case study suggests that the path from a CSR perspective toward a stakeholder management model of responsibility is a “gradual” learning process that requires vision, commitment, integration, innovation, competence, management systems and resources. This learning process i.
Monoclonal antibody therapy with edrecolomab in breast cancer patients: monitoring of elimination of disseminated cytokeratin-positive tumor cells in bone marrow.

Despite current advances in antibody-based immunotherapy of breast and colorectal cancer, we have recently shown that the actual target cells (e.g., tumor cells disseminated to bone marrow) may express a heterogeneous pattern of the potential target antigens. Tumor antigen heterogeneity may therefore represent an important limitation of the efficacy of monospecific antibody therapy. To measure the efficacy of such a monospecific approach, we analyzed the elimination of tumor cells coexpressing the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) under therapy with murine monoclonal antibody 17-1A (Edrecolomab) directed against EpCAM. In bone marrow aspirates from 10 breast cancer patients with metastatic (n = 8) and locoregional recurrence (n = 2), tumor cells were identified with the antibody A45-B/B3 directed against the epithelial differentiation marker cytokeratin (CK) and simultaneously typed for EpCAM expression using the antibody 17-1A. Patients were treated with a single dose of 500 mg of Edrecolomab and monitored by bone marrow analyses before and at days 5-7 after antibody treatment. In all 10 patients, we assessed a marked reduction in the mean numbers of both CK+ cells (73 versus 15; P = 0.003, t test) and EpCAM+/CK+ cells (17 versus 1; P = 0.003, t test) per 10(6) bone marrow cells. Complete elimination of EpCAM+ cells was possible in four patients. We conclude that Edrecolomab can be used in breast cancer patients to target isolated EpCAM+/CK+ cancer cells. Using CK-based immunoassays, we reliably detected residual tumor cells in bone marrow and typed EpCAM expression. This allowed us to monitor the cytotoxic elimination of such cells after Edrecolomab application. Selection of EpCAM-/ CK+ tumor clones showed that further antibodies directed against tumor-associated antigens are warranted to improve the efficacy of monospecific approaches.
Partial-match retrieval using hashing and descriptors

This paper studies a partial-match retrieval scheme based on hash functions and descriptors. The emphasis is placed on showing how the use of a descriptor file can improve the performance of the scheme. Records in the file are given addresses according to hash functions for each field in the record. Furthermore, each page of the file has associated with it a descriptor, which is a fixed-length bit string, determined by the records actually present in the page. Before a page is accessed to see if it contains records in the answer to a query, the descriptor for the page is checked. This check may show that no relevant records are on the page and, hence, that the page does not have to be accessed. The method is shown to have a very substantial performance advantage over pure hashing schemes, when some fields in the records have large key spaces. A mathematical model of the scheme, plus an algorithm for optimizing performance, is given.
Power consumption aware software architecture for M-health applications with adaptive security of network protocols

The goal of this paper is development of software architecture for mobile devices, which is able to trade-off between security levels and power consumption. The analysis of the influence of different security protocols on power consumption is given. The proposed architecture is described in detail. Three different security levels with corresponding cipher suites are proposed: low, medium and high. The architecture is implemented on Android platform. The difference in power consumptions of the cipher suites in high and low security/power profiles is around 8.2% for WiFi, and 9.6% for 3G network. In order to further reduce the power consumption during network communication, the delay between sending two successive packets is analyzed. The proposed architecture is capable of stalling packets and sending them in burst-mode, letting the network interface to stay in low-power mode for a longer period of time. The power consumption in this mode is reduced for additional 25%.
Gender differences in the association between conduct problems and other problems among adolescents

The present paper examines whether there are gender differences in the associations between various dimensions of conduct problems and other problems in adolescence. Other problems studied are both of an externalizing nature (substance use) and an internalizing nature (suicidal behavior and emotional problems). Data stemmed from a large general population sample of Norwegian adolescents (N=9 342). On the basis of earlier studies, conduct problems were decomposed into three dimensions, labeled ‘Theft and vandalism’, ‘School opposition’ and ‘Covert behavior’. The first dimension includes different kinds of stealing and violence against objects, whereas the second includes school-related conduct problems of an overt aggressive kind. The last dimension reflects avoidance of arenas under adult control. Whether or not gender differences were detected, depended on the kind of conduct problems considered. We observed stronger associations between two dimensions of conduct problems, theft and vandalism and school opposition, and other problems among girls than among boys. There were no male/female differences in the associations between covert behavior and other problems.
Reconstruction of rigid body models from motion distorted laser range data using optical flow

The setup of tilting a 2D laser range finder up and down is a widespread strategy to acquire 3D point clouds. This setup requires that the scene is static while the robot takes a 3D scan. If an object moves through the scene during the measurement process and one does not take into account these movements, the resulting model will get distorted. This paper presents an approach to reconstruct the 3D model of a moving rigid object from the inconsistent set of 2D measurements by the help of a camera. Our approach utilizes optical flow in the camera images to estimate the motion in the image plane and point-line constraints to compensate the missing information about the motion in depth. We combine multiple sweeps and/or views into to a single consistent model using a point-to-plane ICP approach and optimize single sweeps by smoothing the resulting trajectory. Experiments obtained in real outdoor scenarios with moving cars demonstrate that our approach yields accurate models.
Gender in Politics

Women’s political participation and representation vary dramatically within and between countries. We selectively review the literature on gender in politics, focusing on women’s formal political participation. We discuss both traditional explanations for women’s political participation and representation, such as the supply of women and the demand for women, and newer explanations such as the role of international actors and gender quotas. We also ask whether women are distinctive—does having more women in office make a difference to public policy? Throughout the review we demonstrate that a full understanding of women’s political representation requires both deep knowledge of individual cases such as the United States and broad knowledge comparing women’s participation across countries. We end with four recommended directions for future research: (a) globalizing theory and research, (b) expanding data collection, (c) remembering alternative forms of women’s agency, and (d ) addressing intersectionality.
How Is a Statistical Link Established Between a Human Outcome and a Genetic Variant?

The objective of this article is to provide a nontechnical and intuitive introduction to the basic concepts and techniques that are used to establish statistical connections between genetic variants and human phenotypes. Depressive symptoms and delinquent behaviors that are of interest to sociologists are a subset of such human phenotypes. This article focuses on basic linkage analysis and association studies, the essential ideas behind the methods, and a very limited amount of molecular genetics needed for understanding the ideas. The article is written with those social scientists in mind who are interested in the topic but not yet ready to engage the vast and rapidly developing primary literature (journal articles).