Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interpretation of bronchodilator response in patients with obstructive airways disease. The Dutch Chronic Non-Specific Lung Disease (CNSLD) Study Group.

BACKGROUND: There is no agreement on how a bronchodilator response should be expressed. Ideally, the index used should be able to distinguish asthma from chronic obstructive lung disease and be independent of initial FEV1. METHODS: Two hundred and seventy four adults (aged 18-60 years) outpatients with obstructive airways disease were studied. Patients were divided into syndrome groups on the basis of a standardised history: asthma (n = 99), asthmatic bronchitis (n = 88), and chronic obstructive lung disease (n = 51); 36 subjects could not be attributed to any subgroup. FEV1 was measured before and 20 minutes after inhalation of 1000 micrograms terbutaline. Different expressions of bronchodilator response (delta FEV1) were compared with respect to their dependence on initial FEV1 and their efficacy in separating subjects with asthma from those with chronic obstructive lung disease. delta FEV1 was expressed as a percentage of initial FEV1 (delta FEV1%init), absolute value (delta FEV1[1]), percentage of predicted FEV1 (delta FEV1%pred), standardised residual (delta SR-FEV1), and percentage of maximal possible increase (delta FEV1%[pred-init]). RESULTS: delta FEV1%init was more dependent on initial FEV1 (p = -0.405) than delta FEV1[1] (r = -0.145), delta FEV1%pred (r = -0.166), and delta SR-FEV1 (r = -0.127). delta FEV1%[pred-init] reached infinity when initial FEV1 approached predicted levels. delta FEV1%pred had a higher likelihood ratio (1.71) for separating patients with asthma from those with chronic obstructive lung disease than other expressions of bronchodilator response. Asthmatic patients had larger mean bronchodilator responses than patients in other subgroups; this difference was largest for delta SR-FEV1 (F = 9.19) and delta FEV1%pred (F = 9.03); it was much smaller for delta FEV1%init (F = 5.89). Despite significant differences in mean response, there was a large overlap of individual responses between diagnostic subgroups. The bronchodilator response was continuously and unimodally distributed for all expressions. CONCLUSIONS: delta FEV1%pred appears to be the most useful method of expressing bronchodilator response, both for clinical and for research purposes. Reversibility of airways obstruction in response to a bronchodilator is a continuous variable and not a dichotomous triat. Any cut off level of a "positive" bronchodilator response is therefore arbitrary.
Origin, radiation, dispersion and allopatric hybridization in the chub Leuciscus cephalus

The phylogenetic relationships of 492 chub (Leuciscus cephalus) belonging to 89 populations across the species' range were assessed using 600 base pairs of cytochrome b. Furthermore, nine species belonging to the L. cephalus complex were also analysed (over the whole cytochrome b) in order to test potential allopatric hybridization with L. cephalus sensu stricto (i.e. the chub). Our results show that the chub includes four highly divergent lineages descending from a quick radiation that took place three million years ago. The geographical distribution of these lineages and results of the nested clade analysis indicated that the chub may have originated from Mesopotamia. Chub radiation probably occurred during an important vicariant event such as the isolation of numerous Turkish river systems, a consequence of the uplift of the Anatolian Plateau (formerly covered by a broad inland lake). Dispersion of these lineages arose from the changes in the European hydrographic network and, thus, the chub and endemic species of the L. cephalus complex met by secondary contacts. Our results show several patterns of introgression, from Leuciscus lepidus fully introgressed by chub mitochondrial DNA to Leuciscus borysthenicus where no introgression at all was detected. We assume that these hybridization events might constitute an important evolutionary process for the settlement of the chub in new environments in the Mediterranean area.
Results Human Lung Cancer Cell Lines Migrate Toward BDNF Secreted from Lymph Node Fibroblasts

Stem Cell Program, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston MA 02115; Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, MA 02138; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115; Department of Cell Biology and The Paul F. Glenn Laboratories for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115; Department of Pediatric Oncology and Cancer Biology, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115; Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115; Cancer Biology Program, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305; Department of Medical Oncology and Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115; Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115; Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115; Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115; and Department of Genetics and Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305
A critically compassionate intellectualism for Latina/o students: Raising voices above the silencing in our schools

Julio Cammarota is an assistant professor and Augustine Romero is a graduate student in the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology and the Mexican-American Studies and Research Center at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. Latina/o students often experience coursework that is remedial and unchallenging––benign at best, a dumbing-down at worst (Solórzano & Yosso, 2001). This potential limiting curriculum is not only failing to provide Latinas/os with the credentials necessary to advance economically, but their education denies them the opportunity to develop the critical voices and intellectual capacities necessary to do something about it. To borrow the words of Carter G. Woodson (1977), there is a “mis-education of Latinas/os,” in which their voices and potentialities to challenge an unjust world is suppressed by the consistent battery of standardized tests, rote learning, and curricular content that has little bearing on their everyday struggles as young people of color. Thus, the standard educational experience for young Latinas/os tends to submerge them into silence, where they are taught to be quiet and avoid independent and critical thinking. This is a dangerous lesson for them to learn, and it is dangerous for everyone. Young Latinas/os are the next generation that will signifi cantly change the composition of our society. And if they are encouraged to become silent adults, this new burgeoning majority will not have the capacity to effect social change that moves toward an egalitarian reality for all people. In this article, we present an educational model based on a critically compassionate intellectualism that can foster the liberation of Latinas/os as well as A Critically Compassionate Intellectualism for Latina/o Students:
A Complexity Dichotomy for Partition Functions with Mixed Signs

\emph{Partition functions}, also known as \emph{homomorphism functions}, form a rich family of graph invariants that contain combinatorial invariants such as the number of $k$-colourings or the number of independent sets of a graph and also the partition functions of certain ``spin glass'' models of statistical physics such as the Ising model. Building on earlier work by Dyer and Greenhill (2000) and Bulatov and Grohe (2005), we completely classify the computational complexity of partition functions. Our main result is a dichotomy theorem stating that every partition function is either computable in polynomial time or \#P-complete. Partition functions are described by symmetric matrices with real entries, and we prove that it is decidable in polynomial time in terms of the matrix whether a given partition function is in polynomial time or \#P-complete. While in general it is very complicated to give an explicit algebraic or combinatorial description of the tractable cases, for partition functions described by a Hadamard matrices --- these turn out to be central in our proofs --- we obtain a simple algebraic tractability criterion, which says that the tractable cases are those ``representable'' by a quadratic polynomial over the field $\ensuremath{\mathbb{F}_2}$.
Indy knockdown in mice mimics elements of dietary restriction

A new mouse knock-out of the Indy gene sheds light on the mechanisms by which a reduction in Indy may lead to a healthier life. Mutations in the Indy gene (for I'm not dead yet) were first described in flies where they dramatically extend life span without a loss in fertility, physical activity, flight velocity or metabolic rate [1, 2]. The Indy gene codes for a high-affinity dicarboxylate/citrate plasma membrane transporter found most abundantly at the plasma membrane of adult fat body, oenocytes and midgut cells, the primary sites of intermediary metabolism in the fly [3]. In support of the hypothesis that the Indy mutation might be altering metabolism in a manner similar to dietary restriction (DR), it has been shown that DR down-regulates Indy in normal flies and that Indy long-lived flies share several phenotypes with long-lived DR flies, including decreased insulin-like signaling, lipid storage, weight gain, and resistance to starvation, and an increase in spontaneous physical activity [4]. In a new report in Cell Metabolism [5], knock-out of a mammalian homolog of Indy (mINDY; SLC13A5) shows dramatic effects in protecting mice from the adiposity and insulin resistance that develop with high-fat feeding or aging, and leads to phenotypes similar to those seen in DR. mINDY-deleted mice exhibit increased hepatic mitochondrial biogenesis, lipid oxidation, and energy expenditure, with a concomitant decrease in hepatic de novo lipogenesis and a reduction in ATP/ADP ratio, leading to activation of hepatic AMPK, induction of PGC-1alpha, inhibition of ACC-2, and reduction of SREBP-1c. These mice have reduced body weight, and preserve normal insulin signaling in the face of a high-fat diet or aging, demonstrating that some of the positive effects of Indy in flies can be extended to mammals. The profound beneficial effects on mammalian energy metabolism suggest that Indy is a potential target for treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. By focusing on the potential role of mammalian INDY in prolonging healthy life span, we stand to obtain new agents for extending healthy life span and to gain valuable insight into the genetic underpinnings of normal aging.
Deriving an information flow checker and certifying compiler for Java

Language-based security provides a means to enforce end-to-end confidentiality and integrity policies in mobile code scenarios, and is increasingly being contemplated by the smart-card and mobile phone industry as a solution to enforce information flow and resource control policies. Two threads of work have emerged in research on language-based security: work that focuses on enforcing security policies for source code, which is tailored towards developers that want to increase confidence in their applications, and work that focuses on efficiently verifying similar policies for byte-code, which is tailored to code consumers that want to protect themselves against hostile applications. These lines of work serve different purposes - and thus have been developed independently - but connecting them is a key step towards the deployment of language-based security in practical applications. This paper introduces a systematic technique to connect source code and bytecode security type systems. The technique is applied to an information flow type system for a fragment of Java with exceptions, thus confronting challenges in both control and data flow tracking
Behavior Problems Among Inner-City Children With Asthma: Findings From a Community-Based Sample

OBJECTIVE. Previous studies have suggested a relationship between childhood asthma and behavior problems. However, few studies have used community-based samples to assess the prevalence of behavior problems among urban children with asthma symptoms. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between asthma symptoms and behavior among a population-based sample of inner-city children and to determine the prevalence of behavioral comorbidity among children with asthma symptoms. METHODS. In 2003, parents of children who were entering kindergarten in the city of Rochester completed a detailed survey regarding the child's background, medical history (with specific questions about asthma symptoms), and behavior. We compared children with no asthma symptoms, intermittent symptoms, and persistent symptoms with regard to positive peer social skills (eg, makes friends easily), negative peer social skills (eg, fights with other children), task orientation (eg, concentrates well), and shy/anxious behavior (eg, is withdrawn) (validated scales; range: 1–4). We used multivariate regression to determine the independent association between symptom severity and behavioral outcomes. RESULTS. A total of 1619 children were included (response rate: 80%; mean age: 5.1 year), and 15% had asthma symptoms (8% persistent, 7% intermittent). Average negative peer scores were worse for children with persistent asthma symptoms compared with children with intermittent and no symptoms (mean scores: 1.88, 1.70, and 1.65). Children with persistent symptoms also scored worse than children with no symptoms on the assessment of task orientation (2.85 vs 3.03) and shy/anxious behavior (2.11 vs 1.89). Among children with persistent asthma symptoms, >20% scored >1 SD below average on 2 or more scales, compared with 16% of children with intermittent symptoms and 10% with no symptoms. CONCLUSIONS. Urban children with persistent asthma symptoms demonstrate more behavior problems across several domains compared with children with no symptoms. These findings suggest a clear need for an early biopsychosocial approach to care for vulnerable children with asthma.
Entailment-based Axiom Pinpointing in Debugging Incoherent Terminologies

One of the major problems of axiom pinpointing for incoherent terminologies is the precise positioning within the conflict axioms. In this paper we present a formal notion for the entailment-based axiom pinpointing of incoherent terminologies, where the parts of an axiom is defined by atomic entailment. Based on these concepts, we prove the one-to-many relationship between existing axiom pinpointing with the entailment-based axiom pinpointing. For its core task, calculating minimal unsatisfiable entailment, we provide algorithms for OWL DL terminologies using incremental strategy and Hitting Set Tree algorithm. The feasibility of our method is shown by case study and experiment
Optimal Consensus Intuitive Hand Gesture Vocabulary Design

Gesture interfaces are needed for natural intuitive communication with machine devices. Hand gesture intuitiveness is the cognitive association between a command or intent, and its physical gestural expression. Using an automated tool we quantified intuitive indices for static gesture commands for a car navigation task. A small number of gestures were selected to express most of the commands with 1/3 used only by single individuals. This followed a power function analogous to Zipf's Law for languages. We found gesture preferences to be highly individualized, providing evidence to refute the hypothesis of the universality of gestures. A mathematical program was formulated to obtain a consensus gesture vocabulary for a car navigation system with the objective of maximizing total intuitiveness. We also introduced the notion of complex consensus gesture vocabularies in which multi-gestures are associated with single commands and multi-commands are associated with single gestures. We recommend hybrid gesture vocabularies, decided by consensus with several gestures selected individually.
Synthesizing objects

This paper argues that the current OO technology does not support reuse and configurability in an effective way. This problem can be addressed by augmenting OO analysis and design with feature modeling and by applying generative implementation techniques. Feature modeling allows capturing the variability of domain concepts. Concrete concept instances can then be synthesized from abstract specifications. Using a simple example of a configurable list component, we demonstrate the application of feature modeling and how to implement a feature model as a generator. We introduce the concepts of configuration repositories and configuration generators and show how to implement them using object-oriented, generic, and generative language mechanisms. The configuration generator utilizes C++ template metaprogramming, which enables its execution at compile-time.
Transcriptional Regulation of Nanog by OCT4 and SOX2*

Nanog, Sox2, and Oct4 are transcription factors all essential to maintaining the pluripotent embryonic stem cell phenotype. Through a cooperative interaction, Sox2 and Oct4 have previously been described to drive pluripotent-specific expression of a number of genes. We now extend the list of Sox2-Oct4 target genes to include Nanog. Within the Nanog proximal promoter, we identify a composite sox-oct cis-regulatory element essential for Nanog pluripotent transcription. This element is conserved over 250 million years of cumulative evolution within the eutherian mammals. A Nanog proximal promoter-EGFP (enhanced green fluorescent protein) reporter transgene recapitulates endogenous Nanog mRNA expression in embryonic stem cells and their differentiated derivatives. Sox2 and Oct4 interaction with the Nanog promoter was confirmed through mutagenesis and in vitro binding assays. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicate that the Sox2-Oct4 heterodimer forms more efficiently on the composite element within Nanog than the similar element within Fgf4. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, we show that Oct4 and Sox2 bind to the Nanog promoter in living mouse and human embryonic stem cells. Furthermore, by specific knockdown of Oct4 and Sox2 mRNA by RNA interference in embryonic stem cells, we provide genetic evidence for a link between Oct4, Sox2, and the Nanog promoter. These studies extend the understanding of the pluripotent genetic regulatory network within which the Sox2-Oct4 complex are at the top of the regulatory hierarchy.
Decentralized Coordination Control for Formation Stability of Autonomous Robotic Systems

Formation stability of a group of autonomous robotic systems is considered in the paper. We design cooperative control scheme in the framework of Lyapunov theorem for general linear dynamic systems. Decentralized control laws are explicitly constructed for individual systems with inter-system communications. Simulations show asymptotically tracking of a time-varying trajectory with pre-designated formation for a group of dynamic agents
Influence of Different Additives and Their Concentrations on Corneal Toxicity and Antimicrobial Effect of Benzalkonium Chloride

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the ophthalmic additives responsible for modulating acute corneal epithelial toxicity induced by benzalkonium chloride (BAC) and investigate the ability of polyoxyethylene hydrogenated castor oil 40 (HCO-40) and polysorbate 80 (PS-80) to reduce the corneal toxicity and antimicrobial effects of BAC. Methods: Cytotoxicity of the additives, which included glycerin, polyvinyl alcohol, propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, and PS-80, on rabbit corneal epithelial cells was examined using the cell proliferation assay in the presence and absence of 0.02% BAC. The corneal transepithelial electrical resistance change after a 60-second exposure to HCO-40 or PS-80 mixed with 0.02% BAC was measured in living rabbits. Corneal damage was examined using scanning electron microscopy. The antimicrobial activities of HCO-40 and PS-80 with 0.02% BAC against Staphylococcus aureus, Propionibacterium acnes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Streptococcus pneumoniae were assessed. Results: Of all the tested additives, only PS-80 could prevent the BAC-induced cytotoxicity. Corneal epithelial barrier function disorder caused by 0.02% BAC was significantly alleviated by either PS-80 or HCO-40 in a concentration-dependent manner. Scanning electron microscopy images showed an improvement of BAC-induced corneal epithelial toxicity after the addition of HCO-40 or PS-80. The antimicrobial effect of the BAC against P. aeruginosa, E. coli, and S. pneumoniae was reduced after adding HCO-40 or PS-80. Conclusions: HCO-40 and PS-80 reduce acute corneal toxicity and the antimicrobial effect of BAC. Possible interactions between BAC and other additives should be taken into consideration when evaluating the toxicity and antibacterial properties of BAC.
Relation between myocardial function and expression of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase in failing and nonfailing human myocardium.

Expression of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca(2+)-ATPase was shown to be reduced in failing human myocardium. The functional relevance of this finding, however, is not known. We investigated the relation between myocardial function and protein levels of SR Ca(2+)-ATPase in nonfailing human myocardium (8 muscle strips from 4 hearts) and in myocardium from end-stage failing hearts with dilated (10 muscle strips from 9 hearts) or ischemic (7 muscle strips from 5 hearts) cardiomyopathy. Myocardial function was evaluated by the force-frequency relation in isometrically contracting muscle strip preparations (37 degrees C, 30 to 180 min-1). In nonfailing myocardium, twitch tension rose with increasing rates of stimulation and was 76% higher at 120 min-1 compared with 30 min-1 (P < .02). In failing myocardium, there was no significant increase in average tension at stimulation rates above 30 min-1. At 120 min-1, twitch tension was decreased by 59% (P < .05) in dilated cardiomyopathy and 76% (P < .05) in ischemic cardiomyopathy compared with nonfailing myocardium. Protein levels of SR Ca(2+)-ATPase, normalized per total protein or per myosin, were reduced by 36% (P < .02) or 32% (P < .05), respectively, in failing compared with nonfailing myocardium. SR Ca(2+)-ATPase protein levels were closely related to SR Ca2+ uptake, measured in homogenates from the same hearts (r = .70, n = 16, and P < .005). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Eco‐driving in urban traffic networks using traffic signals information

The problem of eco‐driving is analyzed for an urban traffic network in presence of signalized intersections. It is assumed that the traffic light timings are known and available to the vehicles via infrastructure‐to‐vehicle communication. This work provides a solution to the energy consumption minimization while traveling through a sequence of signalized intersections and always catching a green light. The optimal‐ control problem is non‐convex because of the constraints coming from the traffic lights; therefore, a sub‐optimal strategy to restore the convexity and solve the problem is proposed. Firstly, a pruning algorithm aims at reducing the optimization domain by considering only the portions of the traffic light's green phases that allow to drive in compliance with the city speed limits. Then, a graph is created in the feasible region in order to approximate the energy consumption associated with each available path in the driving horizon. Lastly, after the problem convexity is recovered, a simple optimization problem is solved on the selected path to calculate the optimal crossing times at each intersection. The optimal speeds are then suggested to the driver. The proposed sub‐optimal strategy is compared with the optimal solution provided by dynamic programming for validation purposes. It is also shown that the low computational load of the presented approach enables robustness properties and results very appealing for online use. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.