Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Induction of ICAM-1 expression on human airway epithelial cells by inflammatory cytokines: effects on neutrophil-epithelial cell adhesion.

Inflammation of the human airways in diseases such as chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis with Pseudomonas endobronchial infection, and possibly asthma during late-phase reactions involves a local influx of neutrophils (PMN) that may participate in airway epithelial injury. PMN-mediated cellular injury is most efficient under conditions of PMN-target cell adhesion. PMN express adhesive glycoproteins of the CD11/CD18 family that are counter-receptors for intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), found on various cell types. We proposed that adherence by PMN to human airway epithelial cells via ICAM-1 might be an important mechanism in inflammatory airway diseases. We found that although PMN adhere poorly (less than 5%) to monolayers of human tracheal epithelial cells (TEC) in primary culture, they adhere readily (45 to 50%) to an SV40-immortalized line of human TEC, designated 9HTEo-. We also found 6-fold greater surface expression of ICAM-1 on 9HTEo- compared with primary TEC. Blocking surface ICAM-1 on 9HTEo- cells with specific monoclonal antibody inhibited PMN adherence by about 50%. Thus, ICAM-1 plays a major role in this adherence, although it is possible that other epithelial ligands contribute also. Antibodies to CD11a, CD11b, and CD18 on PMN also inhibited PMN-epithelial adherence. Treatment of primary TEC monolayers with the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 (IL-1) or tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) caused a 3- to 4-fold increase in both cell surface ICAM-1 expression and support of PMN adhesion. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Adaptive diversity maintenance and convergence guarantee in multiobjective evolutionary algorithms

The issue of obtaining a well-converged and well-distributed set of Pareto optimal solutions efficiently and automatically is crucial in multiobjective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs). Many studies have proposed different evolutionary algorithms that can progress towards Pareto optimal sets with a wide-spread distribution of solutions. However, most mathematically convergent MOEAs desire certain prior knowledge about the objective space in order to efficiently maintain widespread solutions. We propose, based on our novel E-dominance concept, an adaptive rectangle archiving (ARA) strategy that overcomes this important problem. The MOEA with this archiving technique provably converges to well-distributed Pareto optimal solutions without prior knowledge. ARA complements the existing archiving techniques, and is useful to both researchers and practitioners.
Owning the Other Tongue: The English Language in Southern Africa

Who owns English? is one of the issues brought about by the spread of the language around the world (Wardhaugh, 1987; Widdowson, 1994). This issue has received considerable attention in curr, with some arguing for the ownership to be open to all who use the language, as natives or as non-natives (e.g. Kachru, 1983, 1986; Smith & Sridhar, 1992). Others argue explicitly or implicite Englishes are illegitimate varieties, deviations from the native form, and that therefore only native speakers can claim ownership of English (Prator, 1968; Quirk, 1988, 1990). This paper ais this issue from the perspective of non-native Englishes in Southern Africa, with a focus on the linguistic processes that underpin the owning of English in this part of the world. It is sugge language is dynamic regardless of the contextin which itis used,to claim ownership of English in the African context means to make English carry as Achebe (1975: 62) puts it the weight of mye. and make it become a new English,still in communion with its ancestral home but altered to suit its new African surroundings.
The Structure of Argumentation in Health Product Messages

This paper presents an analysis of argumentation in direct-to-consumer health product ads in Newsweek that brings out special features of the arguments used in the ads, including practical reasoning, chained arguments, enthymemes, and prolepsis. A way to help overcome deficiencies in techniques of tailored health communication in consumer health informatics is shown by using argumentation schemes, argument visualisation tools, and dialogue models to frame these persuasive communication messages. The evidence collected is shown to be useful to allow the health informatics communicator and the person to whom message was directed to interact in a dialogue format where arguments can be put forward by both parties in a way that responds to the previous arguments and questions of the other party.
Chebyshev Polynomials and G-Distributed Functions of F-Distributed Variables

We address a more general version of a classic question in probability theory. Suppose X ∼ Np(μ,Σ). What functions of X also have the Np(μ, Σ) distribution ? For p = 1, we give a general result on functions that cannot have this special property. On the other hand, for the p = 2, 3 cases, we give a family of new nonlinear and non-analytic functions with this property by using the Chebyshev polynomials of the first, second and the third kind. As a consequence, a family of rational functions of a Cauchy-distributed variable are seen to be also Cauchy distributed. Also, with three iid N(0, 1) variables, we provide a family of functions of them each of which is distributed as the symmetric stable law with exponent 12. The article starts with a result with astronomical origin on
Fifteen Years of Doing Qualitative Research on Psychotherapy.

Abstract The conduct of qualitative research in psychology goes against the grain of customary praxis and thus raises many challenges. The author summarises the experience of having spent a large part of his academic career using the grounded theory form of qualitative research. In the account, he indicates how he became interested in this methodology and describes his experience of using, publishing and teaching it. These considerations are contextualised in the sociology of research praxis in psychology. The appraised is made that a movement toward acceptance of qualitative research is currenuy under way in the counselling and psychotherapy research community, albeit cautiously in some quarters. Some implications of this development are addressed.
Extreme longevity in proteinaceous deep-sea corals

Deep-sea corals are found on hard substrates on seamounts and continental margins worldwide at depths of 300 to ≈3,000 m. Deep-sea coral communities are hotspots of deep ocean biomass and biodiversity, providing critical habitat for fish and invertebrates. Newly applied radiocarbon age dates from the deep water proteinaceous corals Gerardia sp. and Leiopathes sp. show that radial growth rates are as low as 4 to 35 μm year−1 and that individual colony longevities are on the order of thousands of years. The longest-lived Gerardia sp. and Leiopathes sp. specimens were 2,742 years and 4,265 years, respectively. The management and conservation of deep-sea coral communities is challenged by their commercial harvest for the jewelry trade and damage caused by deep-water fishing practices. In light of their unusual longevity, a better understanding of deep-sea coral ecology and their interrelationships with associated benthic communities is needed to inform coherent international conservation strategies for these important deep-sea habitat-forming species.
Cosmological D-instantons and cyclic universes

For models of gravity coupled to hyperbolic sigma models, such as the metric-scalar sector of IIB supergravity, we show how smooth trajectories in the ‘augmented target space’ connect FLRW cosmologies to non-extremal D-instantons through a cosmological singularity. In particular, we find closed cyclic universes that undergo an endless sequence of big-bang to big-crunch cycles separated by instanton ‘phases’. We also find ‘big-bounce’ universes in which a collapsing closed universe bounces off its cosmological singularity to become an open expanding universe.
Development of Three Multiplex PCR Assays Targeting the 21 Most Clinically Relevant Serogroups Associated with Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli Infection in Humans

Escherichia coli serogroups O5, O15, O26, O45, O55, O76, O91, O103, O104, O111, O113, O118, O121, O123, O128, O145, O146, O157, O165, O172, and O177 are the O-antigen forms of the most clinically relevant Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) serotypes. In this study, three multiplex PCR assays able to specifically detect these 21 serogroups were developed and validated. For this purpose, the O-antigen gene clusters of E. coli O5 and O76 were fully sequenced, their associated genes were identified on the basis of homology, and serogroup-specific primers were designed. After preliminary evaluation, these two primer pairs were proven to be highly specific and suitable for the development of PCR assays for O5 and O76 serogroup identification. Specific primers were also designed for serogroups O15, O45, O55, O91, O104, O113, O118, O123, O128, O146, O157, O165, O172, and O177 based on previously published sequences, and previously published specific primers for serogroups O26, O103, O111, O121, and O145 were also included. These 21 primer pairs were shown to be specific for their target serogroup when tested against E. coli type strains representing 169 known O-antigen forms of E. coli and Shigella and therefore suitable for being used in PCR assays for serogroup identification. In order to validate the three multiplex PCR assays, 22 E. coli strains belonging to the 21 covered serogroups and 18 E. coli strains belonging to other serogroups were screened in a double-blind test and their sensitivity was determined as 1 ng chromosomal DNA. The PCR assays developed in this study could be a faster, simpler, and less expensive strategy for serotyping of the most clinically relevant STEC strains in both clinical microbiology and public health laboratories, and so their development could benefit for clinical diagnosis, epidemiological investigations, surveillance, and control of STEC infections.
Estimating Hurricane Wind Structure in the Absence of Aircraft Reconnaissance

New objective methods are introduced that use readily available data to estimate various aspects of the two-dimensional surface wind field structure in hurricanes. The methods correlate a variety of wind field metrics to combinations of storm intensity, storm position, storm age, and information derived from geostationary satellite infrared (IR) imagery. The first method estimates the radius of maximum wind (RMW) in special cases when a clear symmetric eye is identified in the IR imagery. The second method estimates RMW, and the additional critical wind radii of 34-, 50-, and 64-kt winds for the general case with no IR scene–type constraint. The third method estimates the entire two-dimensional surface wind field inside a storm-centered disk with a radius of 182 km. For each method, it is shown that the inclusion of infrared satellite data measurably reduces error. All of the methods can be transitioned to an operational setting or can be used as a postanalysis tool.
It's Fascinating Research

Verbal irony is nonliteral language that makes salient a discrepancy between expectations and reality. For researchers who study verbal irony, a critical question is: How do we grasp the meaning of ironic language? The parallel-constraint-satisfaction approach holds promise as an answer to this question. By this account, multiple cues to ironic intent, such as tone of voice, incongruity, and knowledge of the speaker, are processed rapidly and in parallel and this information is coordinated with the utterance itself in order to construct a coherent interpretation that is the best fit for the activated information. Recently, research with individuals who struggle with irony comprehension (typically developing children, individuals with autism-spectrum disorder, individuals with brain injury) has provided new clues about the complex process by which ironic meaning is inferred.
C O ] 2 9 N ov 2 00 6 Some statistics on permutations avoiding generalized patterns ∗

In the last decade a huge amount of articles has been published studying pattern avoidance on permutations. From the point of view of enumeration, typically one tries to count permutations avoiding certain patterns according to their lengths. Here we tackle the problem of refining this enumeration by considering the statistics “first/last entry”. We give complete results for every generalized patterns of type (1, 2) or (2, 1) as well as for some cases of permutations avoiding a pair of generalized patterns of the above types.
Blurred Image Restoration Using Canny Edge Detection and Blind Deconvolution Algorithm

Restoring the original image from blurred or degraded image due to motion blur, noise or camera misfocus has long been a challenging problem in digital imaging. Image restoration is thus a process of recovering the actual image from the degraded image. The purpose of the paper is to restore the blurred/degraded images using blind deconvolution algorithm with canny edge detector. The task of image deblurring is to deconvolute the degraded image with the point spread function (PSF) that describes the distortion. Firstly the original image is degraded using degradation model. It can be done by low pass filters like Gaussian filter or others to blur an image. The ringing effect at the edges of blurred image can be detected using Canny Edge Detection method. Blind deconvolution algorithm is applied to the blurred image where image recovery is performed with little or no prior knowledge of the degrading PSF.
Cellular Senescence Promotes Adverse Effects of Chemotherapy and Cancer Relapse.

Cellular senescence suppresses cancer by irreversibly arresting cell proliferation. Senescent cells acquire a proinflammatory senescence-associated secretory phenotype. Many genotoxic chemotherapies target proliferating cells nonspecifically, often with adverse reactions. In accord with prior work, we show that several chemotherapeutic drugs induce senescence of primary murine and human cells. Using a transgenic mouse that permits tracking and eliminating senescent cells, we show that therapy-induced senescent (TIS) cells persist and contribute to local and systemic inflammation. Eliminating TIS cells reduced several short- and long-term effects of the drugs, including bone marrow suppression, cardiac dysfunction, cancer recurrence, and physical activity and strength. Consistent with our findings in mice, the risk of chemotherapy-induced fatigue was significantly greater in humans with increased expression of a senescence marker in T cells prior to chemotherapy. These findings suggest that senescent cells can cause certain chemotherapy side effects, providing a new target to reduce the toxicity of anticancer treatments. SIGNIFICANCE Many genotoxic chemotherapies have debilitating side effects and also induce cellular senescence in normal tissues. The senescent cells remain chronically present where they can promote local and systemic inflammation that causes or exacerbates many side effects of the chemotherapy. Cancer Discov; 7(2); 165-76. ©2016 AACR.This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 115.
Target Extraction and Imaging of Maritime Targets in the Sea Clutter Spectrum Using Sparse Separation

Detection and imaging of endoclutter maritime targets is a difficult problem, because the signal return of the target and the clutter overlap in both Doppler frequency and time. Consequently, traditional Doppler filtering is severely limited in terms of extracting the target signature for further processing. This letter proposes a new sparsity-based Doppler filtering and extraction paradigm for maritime radar where the different backscattered signals are separated in the endoclutter region based on their Doppler bandwidths rather than their Doppler frequencies. The novelty of this letter is successful extraction of the target profiles in the endoclutter region using the application of morphological component analysis with time–frequency transforms. Illustrative results of the proposed approach for boat Doppler profile extraction and inverse synthetic aperture image formation outperform traditional range-Doppler processing in endoclutter. The method represents a new paradigm for target detection and imaging in sea clutter.
Determination of Thickness of Silver Coatings on Brass by Measuring the Impedance of a Thin Elliptic Coil

To measure the impedance of a thin elliptically shaped coil, in presence of a flat plate with a coat of metal, can be an instrument for determination of the cladding thickness. An electromagnetic field from the coil is then forced to the object, producing eddy currents inside the object. These are influenced by the characteristics of the object and the coil and give rise to an impedance change, which can be detected and correlated to the thickness of the coating. An electromagnetic model accounting for the impedance of the elliptic coil with different values on the numerical eccentricity and the coating thickness is described. The model is based on a dyadic Green function formulation of the problem from which the electric field and hence the impedance is evaluated by utilizing the method of scattering super position. Numerical calculations based on the model and experimental measurements have been taken. An example shows how the model can be used to model a brass surface with a coat of silver to find expected impedance as function of the coating thickness
The makeover: a new logic in leadership development in England

The authors focus on the investment into school leadership in England during the New Labour governments from 1997, and through this they make a contribution to an ongoing scholarly conversation about leadership development. They are concerned to both understand and explain leadership as a policy intervention into the professional practice and identities of the school workforce. They argue that one of the dominant genres of contemporary media – the makeover – has become part of the policy‐making “game”. The paper uses the metaphor of makeover to critically examine the current approach to leadership development and to examine the policy game at play in English education.
Acute Toxicity of Ropivacaine Compared with That of Bupivacaine

The acute central nervous and cardiovascular effects of the local anesthetics ropivacaine and bupivacaine were compared in 12 volunteers in a randomized double-blind manner with use of intravenous infusions at a rate of 10 mg/min up to a maximal dose of 150 mg. The volunteers were all healthy men. They were familiarized with the central nervous system (CNS) toxic effects of local anesthetics by receiving a preliminary intravenous injection of lidocaine. The infusions of ropivacaine and bupivacaine were given not < 7 days apart.CNS toxicity was identified by the CNS symptoms and the volunteers were told to request that the infusion be stopped when they felt definite but not severe symptoms of toxicity such as numbness of the mouth, lightheadedness, and tinnitus. In the absence of definite symptoms, the infusion was stopped after 150 mg had been given.Cardiovascular system (CVS) changes in conductivity and myocardial contractility were monitored using an interpretive electrocardiograph (which measured PR interval, QRS duration, and QT interval corrected for heart rate) and echocardiography (which measured left ventricular dimensions from which stroke volume and ejection fraction were calculated). Ropivacaine caused less CNS symptoms and was at least 25% less toxic than bupivacaine in regard to the dose tolerated. Both drugs increased heart rate and arterial pressure. Stroke volume and ejection fraction were reduced. There was no change in cardiac output. Although both drugs caused evidence of depression of conductivity and contractility, these appeared at lower dosage and lower plasma concentrations with bupivacaine than with ropivacaine.Ropivacaine is a less toxic compound than bupivacaine, but their relative therapeutic ratios must await the results of clinical trials in humans to assess the potency of ropivacaine compared with that of bupivacaine.
Landscape, law and justice – concepts and issues

This essay presents some of the highlights of the discussions of the Landscape, Law & Justice Research Group at the Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Oslo, during the academic year 2002–2003. Based on a series of seminars, workshops and conferences, and resultant literature, the essay summarizes the deliberations of the group on matters concerning landscape, custom and law, justice and just environments, language and landscape, old and new commons, and natural and cultural heritage. Unifying themes are historical concepts of landscape, continuity and change in the landscape, and legal implications and landscape impacts of environmental policies. Law, including customary law, is significant for the shaping of landscape; the earliest meaning of the term ‘landscape’ is linked to the role of legal institutions. Law and landscape are in turn both shaped by conceptions of justice, as well as by contestations over what is considered just and unjust in different societies.
A time-scale decomposition approach to measurement-based admission control

We propose a time-scale decomposition approach to measurement-based admission control (MBAC). We identify a critical time-scale T/spl tilde//sub h/ such that: (1) aggregate traffic fluctuation slower than T/spl tilde//sub h/ can be tracked by the admission controller and compensated for by flow admissions and departures; (2) fluctuations faster than T/spl tilde//sub h/ have to be absorbed by reserving spare bandwidth on the link. The critical time-scale is shown to scale as T/sub h///spl radic/n, where T/sub h/ is the average flow duration and n is the size of the link in terms of number of flows it can carry. A MBAC design is presented which filters aggregate measurements into low and high frequency components separated at the cutoff frequency 1/T/spl tilde//sub h/, using the low frequency component to track slow time-scale traffic fluctuations and the high frequency component to estimate the spare bandwidth needed. The analysis shows that the scheme achieves high utilization and is robust to traffic heterogeneity, multiple time-scale fluctuations and measurement errors. The scheme uses only measurements of aggregate bandwidth and does not need to keep track of per-flow information.
Genetic Control of the Antibody Response: Relationship between Immune Response and Histocompatibility (H-2) Type

The immune responses of inbred mice to a related series of three synthetic polypeptide antigens are genetically controlled traits which are closely correlated with the genotype for the major histocompatibility (H-2) locus. All strains of the same H-2 type exhibit the same pattern of immune response, independent of the remainder of a given strain's genetic background. There is marked antigen-specific polymorphism between strains of different H-2 types with respect to their patterns of response.