Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Examination of Radiation Hormesis Mechanisms Using a Multistage Carcinogenesis Model

A multistage cancer model that describes the putative rate-limiting steps in carcinogenesis is developed and used to investigate the potential impact on cumulative lung cancer incidence of the hormesis mechanisms suggested by Feinendegen and Pollycove. In the model, radiation and endogenous processes damage the DNA of target cells in the lung. Some fraction of the misrepaired or unrepaired DNA damage induces genomic instability and, ultimately, leads to the accumulation of malignant cells. The model explicitly accounts for cell birth and death processes, the clonal expansion of initiated cells, malignant conversion, and a lag period for tumor formation. Radioprotective mechanisms are incorporated into the model by postulating dose and dose-rate-dependent radical scavenging. The accuracy of DNA damage repair also depends on dose and dose rate. As currently formulated, the model is most applicable to low-linear-energy-transfer (LET) radiation delivered at low dose rates. Sensitivity studies are conducted to identify critical model inputs and to help define the shapes of the cumulative lung cancer incidence curves that may arise when dose and dose-rate-dependent cellular defense mechanisms are incorporated into a multistage cancer model. For lung cancer, both linear no-threshold (LNT-), and non-LNT-shaped responses can be obtained. If experiments demonstrate that the effects of DNA damage repair and radical scavenging are enhanced at least three-fold under low-dose conditions, our studies would support the existence of U-shaped responses. The overall fidelity of the DNA damage repair process may have a large impact on the cumulative incidence of lung cancer. The reported studies also highlight the need to know whether or not (or to what extent) multiply damaged DNA sites are formed by endogenous processes. Model inputs that give rise to U-shaped responses are consistent with an effective cumulative lung cancer incidence threshold that may be as high as 300 mGy (4 mGy per year for 75 years) for low-LET radiation.
Shock Induction by Arterial Hypoperfusion of the Gut Involves Synergistic Interactions between the Peripheral Enkephalin and Nitric Oxide Systems

To determine whether critical splanchnic artery hypoperfusion can provoke systemic shock and to identify the roles of the peripheral opioid and nitric oxide (NO) systems in this process, various degrees of superior mesenteric artery hypoperfusion (SMA-H) were produced in anesthetized adult rabbits (n=40), and hemodynamic and metabolic indices were measured. Metabolic acidosis and irreversible hypodynamic shock occurred with SMA-H at levels representing 25–20% of mean baseline SMA blood flow. In 112 other rabbits subjected to SMA-H at 20% (SMA-H20%), we studied plasma NO and enkephalin (ENK) levels, cardiovascular reactivity to selected physiological agonists, effects of ENKs on plasma NO levels, and effects of peripheral opioid receptor blockade and inducible NO synthase (iNOS) inhibition. SMA-H20% progressively increased systemic blood levels of NO and ENKs. Exogenous ENK administration accentuated SMA-H20%-induced increases in plasma NO levels, and their cardiovascular depressing effects were significantly greater when they were administered during SMA-H20% (vs. administration under baseline conditions). Selective blockade of cardiovascular δ-opioid receptors improved hemodynamics, prevented shock irreversibility and reduced plasma NO levels; similar effects were obtained by selective iNOS inhibition. These findings demonstrate that critical arterial hypoperfusion of the gut can induce hypodynamic systemic shock through ENK-induced hyperactivation of cardiovascular δ-opioid receptors, which leads to increased plasma levels of NO related in part to increased iNOS activity. Since pronounced splanchnic artery hypoperfusion occurs in all advanced systemic shock states, selective δ-opioid receptor antagonists and/or iNOS inhibitors may prove to be useful in improving shock hemodynamics and metabolic derangements and/or preventing progression toward irreversibility.
Genetic and Non-Genetic Inheritance of Natural Antibodies Binding Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin in a Purebred Layer Chicken Line

Natural antibodies (NAb) are defined as antibodies present in individuals without known antigenic challenge. Levels of NAb binding keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) in chickens were earlier shown to be heritable, and to be associated with survival. Selective breeding may thus provide a strategy to improve natural disease resistance. We phenotyped 3,689 white purebred laying chickens for KLH binding NAb of different isotypes around 16 weeks of age. Heritabilities of 0.12 for the titers of total antibodies (IgT), 0.14 for IgM, 0.10 for IgA, and 0.07 for IgG were estimated. We also estimated high, positive genetic, and moderate to high, positive phenotypic correlations of IgT, IgM, IgA, and IgG, suggesting that selective breeding for NAb can be done on all antibody isotypes simultaneously. In addition, a relatively substantial non-genetic maternal environmental effect of 0.06 was detected for IgM, which may reflect a transgenerational effect. This suggests that not only the genes of the mother, but also the maternal environment affects the immune system of the offspring. Breaking strength and early eggshell whiteness of the mother’s eggs were predictive for IgM levels in the offspring, and partly explained the observed maternal environmental effects. The present results confirm that NAb are heritable, however maternal effects should be taken into account.
Introduction to Phytoremediation

ii Notice The EPA through its ORD produced this document. It has been subjected to the Agency's peer and administrative review and has been approved for publication as an EPA document. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. iii Foreword The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is charged by Congress with protecting the Nation's land, air, and water resources. Under a mandate of national environmental laws, the Agency strives to formulate and implement actions leading to a compatible balance between human activities and the ability of natural systems to support and nurture life. To meet this mandate, EPA's research program is providing data and technical support for solving environmental problems today and building a science knowledge base necessary to manage our ecological resources wisely, understand how pollutants affect our health, and prevent or reduce environmental risks in the future. The National Risk Management Research Laboratory is the Agency's center for investigation of technicological and management approaches for reducing risks from threats to human health and the environment. The focus of the Laboratory's research program is on methods for the prevention and control of pollution to air, land, water and subsurface resources; protection of water quality in public water systems; remediation of contaminated sites and ground water; and prevention and control of indoor air pollution. The goal of this research effort is to catalyze development and implementation of innovative, cost-effective environmental technologies; develop scientific and engineering information needed by EPA to support regulatory and policy decisions; and provide technical support and information transfer to ensure effective implementation of environmental regulations and strategies. This publication has been produced as part of the Laboratory's strategic long-term research plan. It is published and made available by EPA's Office of Research and Development to assist the user community and to link researchers with their clients. Abstract Phytoremediation is the name given to a set of technologies that use different plants as a containment, destruction, or an extraction technique. Phytoremediation as a remediation technology that has been receiving attention lately as the results from field trials indicate a cost savings compared to conventional treatments. The U.S. EPA has a dual role in which it seeks to protect human health and the environment associated with hazardous waste sites, while encouraging development of innovative technologies that might more efficiently clean up these sites. This Introduction is intended to provide a tool …
Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for BPD

SUMMARY Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) is a modified psychodynamic psychotherapy, based on object relations theory of personality and psychoanalytic principles of the dynamic unconscious, the importance of transference and counter-transference, and the reliance upon interpretation of the transference as the dominant therapeutic intervention. TFP has been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms and improving reflective function in a randomized clinical trial with borderline patients. Beyond initial symptom reduction, TFP has as a goal the integration of identity through interpretative elaboration of split off internalized representations of self and others that underlie the DSM IV-TR descriptive phenomena of borderline personality disorder.
Low-power, enhanced-gain adaptive-biasing-based Operational Transconductance Amplifiers

A symmetrical PMOS OTA (Operational Transconductance Amplifier) is used to build an advanced rail-to-rail amplifier with improved DC-gain and reduced power consumption. By using the adaptive biasing circuit for two differential inputs, a low stand-by current can be achieved, reducing power consumption, while the DC-gain of the proposed OTA is improved by adding a partial feedback loop. Simulation shows that the OTA has a low static power consumption of 57.6 µW and a high FoM of 5.13 [(V/µs.pF)/µW] for a load capacitor of 10pF. The circuit is designed in a STM 90nm CMOS process.
Molecular regulation of atrioventricular valvuloseptal morphogenesis.

The majority of congenital heart defects arise from abnormal development of valvuloseptal tissue. The primordia of the valve leaflets and membranous septa of the heart are the cardiac cushions. Remodeling of the cushions is associated with a transitional extracellular matrix that includes sulfated proteoglycans and the microfibrillar proteins fibulin and fibrillin. Cushion formation is restricted to the AV canal and ventricular outflow tract regions of the primary heart tube. The proper placement of the cushions may be the result of the development of the primary heart tube as a segmented organ, as well as the subsequent looping of the heart. Segmentation of the heart tube may be demonstrated by the alternating molecular expression pattern along the longitudinal axis. In support of this hypothesis is the restricted expression of BMP-4 and msx-2 to the AV canal and ventricular outflow tract. The importance of looping for cushion positioning may imply that the iv and inv genes and retinoic acid are important for the proper patterning of the heart. The cells of the cushions evolve from endocardial cells that undergo an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transformation. This developmental event is regulated by the myocardium and is probably due to the production of protein complexes, present within the cardiac jelly of the cushion-forming regions, that consist of fibronectin and the ES proteins. Both the cushion mesenchyme and its endocardial cell antecedents express JB3, an ECM protein. JB3 expression is also featured within the heart-forming fields of the primary mesoderm, from which the endocardial progenitors of the cushion cells originate. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A Novel Real Time Scheduling Frame-work for CORBA-Based Applications

Many real-time application domains can benefit from flexible and open distributed architectures, such as those defined by the CORBA specification. Although CORBA is well-suited for conventional request/response applications, it is not yet suitable for realtime applications due to the lack of key Quality of Service (QoS) features and performance optimizations. This paper explains the design and implementation of a real-time scheduling service that can provide QoS guarantees for deterministic real-time CORBA applications. The scheduling service deals with multiprocessor task scheduling in a distributed environment. It involves a global scheduler and a local scheduler. The global scheduler schedules the tasks based on the Schedulability analysis and the request priority of the tasks. It uses genetic algorithms for intelligent multiprocessor scheduling of the tasks. The Run-Time Scheduler or the Local Scheduler maps client requests for particular servant operations into priorities that are understood by the local OS dispatcher. This Real-time Scheduling Service is implemented as a CORBA object that is responsible for allocating system resources to meet the QoS needs of the applications. It thus brings about extensibility and interoperability in a distributed object system.
Relation between periodontitis and helicobacter pylori infection.

OBJECTIVE The correlation between periodontitis and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in the mouth was analyzed. METHOD 70 elderly patients with periodontitis treated at our hospital from January 2013 to December 2014 were recruited. Dental plaques and gargle were collected for H. pylori detection using PCR technique. Periodontal health status of the patients was recorded. 70 control cases with healthy periodontium were also included. The symptoms of H. pylori infection in the mouth were compared between the two groups, and the results were analyzed statistically. RESULTS The positive rate of urease C gene of H. pylori in the periodontitis group was 71.4%; the positive rate of cagA gene was 35.7%. The positive rate of urease C gene of H. pylori in the control group was 34.3% and that of cagA gene was 12.9%. The two groups did not show significant differences in these two indicators (P<0.05). The positive detection rate of urease C gene of H. pylori in subgingival plaques was higher than that in supragingival plaques, and the difference was of statistical significance (P<0.05). The positive detection rate of H. pylori in patients with moderate and severe periodontitis was obviously higher than that of patients with mild periodontitis (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Periodontal health status of elderly people with periodontitis correlated with H. pylori infection in the stomach.
PREWEANING SURVIVAL IN SWINE: HERITABILITY OF DIRECT AND MATERNAL EFFECTS ~

Summary The heritabilities of direct and maternal effects on litter survival to weaning (LS) were estimated from records of 1,243 litters of pigs from the Nebraska Gene Pool population born from 1968 to 1981. Heritabilities were estimated by: (1) weighted least-squares regressions of average survival for litters of sons on average survival for litters of their sire, (2) nested analysis of variance with LS fitted to a model including year-line and sire of litter, (3) weighted least-squares regression of average survival for the litter of daughters" on the survival of the litter of their dam and (4) nested analysis of variance with LS fitted to a model including year-line and sire of dam of litter. Analyses were conducted with and without adjustment for litter size born. Estimates of the heritability of direct effects from methods 1 and 2 were negative. Adjustment to a common litter size born had no effect. If direct effects are considered to be negligible, as indicated by these analyses, then LS may be considered a trait of the dam. The heritability of maternal effects estimated from daughter-dam regression was . 01 +- . 02. The estimate of heritability of maternal effects obtained from analysis 4 was . 07 + . 03. Again, there were no effects from adjustment to a common litter size born. These estimates were not significantly different and the pooled estimate was . 03 + . 02. These analyses indicate that some additive genetic variance might exist for maternal effects but none for direct effects on LS. Selection for increased survival is not expected to be successful.
Sympathetic Neural Outflow and Chemoreflex Sensitivity Are Related to Spontaneous Breathing Rate in Normal Men

Respiration contributes importantly to short-term modulation of sympathetic nerve activity. However, the relationship between spontaneous breathing rate, chemoreflex function, and direct measures of sympathetic traffic in healthy humans has not been studied previously. We tested the hypothesis that muscle sympathetic nerve activity and chemoreflex sensitivity are linked independently to respiratory rate in normal subjects. We studied 69 normal male subjects aged 29.6±8.1 years. Subjects were subdivided according to the tertiles of respiratory rate distributions. Mean respiration rate was 10.6 breaths/min in the first tertile, 14.8 breaths/min in the second tertile, and 18.0 breaths/min in the third tertile. Subjects from the third tertile (faster respiratory rate) had greater sympathetic activity than subjects from the first tertile (slower respiratory rate; 29±3 versus 17±2 bursts/min; P<0.001). Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis revealed that only respiratory rate was linked independently to sympathetic activity (r=0.42; P<0.001). In comparison to subjects with slow respiratory rate, subjects with fast respiratory rate had greater increases in minute ventilation during both hypercapnia (7.3±0.8 versus 3.2±1.0 L/min; P=0.005) and hypoxia (5.7±0.8 versus 2.4±0.7 L/min; P=0.007). Muscle sympathetic nerve activity and chemoreflex sensitivity are linked to spontaneous respiratory rate in normal humans. Faster respiratory rate is associated with higher levels of sympathetic traffic and potentiated responses to hypoxia and hypercapnia. Spontaneous breathing frequency, central sympathetic outflow, and chemoreflex sensitivity exhibit significant and hitherto unrecognized interactions in the modulation of neural circulatory control.
Endogenous Growth, Productivity and Economic Policy: A Progress Report

In recent years, our understanding of the sources of growth has been strongly influenced by endogenous growth theory. In the first article, Peter Howitt of Brown University, one of the leading researchers in the field, provides a progress report on the current state of the endogenous growth literature. Among the many policy insights discussed by Howitt are that policies fostering technology transfer provide countries with the ability to converge to the productivity growth rate of the technological leaders; that educational attainment, the health of the population, public infrastructure and tax policy are all important drivers of productivity growth; and that competition policy can actually spur innovation and hence growth through a variety of channels, including a desire on the part of firms to escape competition by remaining at the technological frontier.
Peripheral Blood Mitochondrial DNA Damage as a Potential Noninvasive Biomarker of Diabetic Retinopathy

Purpose In the development of diabetic retinopathy, retinal mitochondria become dysfunctional, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is damaged. Because retinopathy is a progressive disease, and circulating glucose levels are high in diabetes, our aim was to investigate if peripheral blood mtDNA damage can serve as a potential biomarker of diabetic retinopathy. Methods Peripheral blood mtDNA damage was investigated by extended-length PCR in rats and mice, diabetic for 10 to 12 months (streptozotocin-induced, type 1 model), and in 12- and 40-week-old Zucker diabetic fatty rats (ZDF, type 2). Mitochondrial copy number (in gDNA) and transcription (in cDNA) were quantified by qPCR. Similar parameters were measured in blood from diabetic patients with/without retinopathy. Results Peripheral blood from diabetic rodents had significantly increased mtDNA damage and decreased copy numbers and transcription. Lipoic acid administration in diabetic rats, or Sod2 overexpression or MMP-9 knockdown in mice, the therapies that prevent diabetic retinopathy, also ameliorated blood mtDNA damage and restored copy numbers and transcription. Although blood from 40-week-old ZDF rats had significant mtDNA damage, 12-week-old rats had normal mtDNA. Diabetic patients with retinopathy had increased blood mtDNA damage, and decreased transcription and copy numbers compared with diabetic patients without retinopathy and nondiabetic individuals. Conclusions Type 1 diabetic rodents with oxidative stress modulated by pharmacologic/genetic means, and type 2 animal model and patients with/without diabetic retinopathy, demonstrate a strong relation between peripheral blood mtDNA damage and diabetic retinopathy, and suggest the possibility of use of peripheral blood mtDNA as a noninvasive biomarker of diabetic retinopathy.
Occupational Therapy for Children

As stated by the editors, this book is intended as a basic pediatric textbook. Well organized and fu 11 of clinical examples, it effectively covers many important aspects of clinical practice in pediatrics, providing an introduction to the roles and functions of the occupational therapist in pediatric practice. Several chapters deserve special mention. The chapter "01' in Pediatrics" clearly describes the human development through occupation as a generic model for pediatric practice; the chapters on play/recreation and sensory integration offer valuable, clearly written background information with applied clinical examples One criterion for evaluating a textbook is the amount of new information presented (i.e., information not included in other standard textbooks such as Willard & Spackman's Occupational Therapy Unfortunately, the editors have included several sections that review development, health care delivery, general medical information and evaluations without expanding on or adding to the available information. Some sections are a mere summary of the literature, charts, and lists; they do not present the authors' clinical perspectives. Fortunately, other chapters include up dated information and reflect the insights of the various authors. Included are many charts, lists, evaluation forms, and clinical examples that entry level therapists (as well as students) will find helpful Chapters are well referenced. The discussion of treatment related to specific diagnostic conditions includes clearly described appropriate intervention Case studies support the authors' views and clarify specific treatment approaches. The occupational therapist's knowledge of the developmental process, use of activities, skills with activity analysis and adaptation, and concern for the quality of life are supported throughout the text. The editors have accomplished their goal of proViding a comprehensive text for basic professional education in occupational therapy for children thereby fulfilling an important need in our profession. Jim Hinojosa
Mesopic Contrast Measured with a Computational Model of the Retina

In the mesopic range, cones and rods of the retina are simultaneously responsible for visual perception. They do not have the same physiological behaviour, both in their response to light and in their temporal comportment. But after the retinal processing, they share the same circuitries to the brain. The aim of this work is to develop a computational model that simulates the physiological mechanisms occurring in retinal cells in mesopic lighting conditions. This computational retina should be able to react to images of visual scenes in the same way as the eye does in front of the real scene. It is built of spatiotemporal filters that mimic the functioning of the retinal layers. In order to validate our approach, this paper compares our results to the results of the new recommended system for mesopic photometry based on visual performance.