Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of myocardial injury by ischemic postconditioning during reperfusion: comparison with ischemic preconditioning.

Ischemic preconditioning (Pre-con) is an adaptive response triggered by a brief ischemia applied before a prolonged coronary occlusion. We tested the hypothesis that repetitive ischemia applied during early reperfusion, i.e., postconditioning (Post-con), is cardio-protective by attenuating reperfusion injury. In anesthetized open-chest dogs, the left anterior descending artery (LAD) was occluded for 60 min and reperfused for 3 h. In controls (n = 10), there was no intervention. In Pre-con (n = 9), the LAD was occluded for 5 min and reperfused for 10 min before the prolonged occlusion. In Post-con (n = 10), at the start of reperfusion, three cycles of 30-s reperfusion and 30-s LAD reocclusion preceded the 3 h of reperfusion. Infarct size was significantly less in the Pre-con (15 +/- 2%, P < 0.05) and Post-con (14 +/- 2%, P < 0.05) groups compared with controls (25 +/- 3%). Tissue edema (% water content) in the area at risk was comparably reduced in Pre-con (78.3 +/- 1.2, P < 0.05) and Post-con (79.7 +/- 0.6, P < 0.05) versus controls (81.5 +/- 0.4). Polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) accumulation (myeloperoxidase activity, Deltaabsorbance.min-1.g tissue-1) in the area at risk myocardium was comparably reduced in Post-con (10.8 +/- 5.5, P < 0.05) and Pre-con (13.4 +/- 3.4, P < 0.05) versus controls (47.4 +/- 15.3). Basal endothelial function measured by PMN adherence to postischemic LAD endothelium (PMNs/mm2) was comparably attenuated by Post-con and Pre-con (15 +/- 0.6 and 12 +/- 0.6, P < 0.05) versus controls (37 +/- 1.5), consistent with reduced expression of P-selectin on coronary vascular endothelium in Post-con and Pre-con. Endothelial function assessed by the maximal vasodilator response of postischemic LAD to acetylcholine was significantly greater in Post-con (104 +/- 6%, P < 0.05) and Pre-con (109 +/- 5%, P < 0.05) versus controls (71 +/- 8%). Plasma malondialdehyde (microM/ml), a product of lipid peroxidation, was significantly less at 1 h of reperfusion in Post-con (2.2 +/- 0.2, P < 0.05) versus controls (3.2 +/- 0.3) associated with a decrease in superoxide levels revealed by dihydroethidium staining in the myocardial area at risk. These data suggest that Post-con is as effective as Pre-con in reducing infarct size and preserving endothelial function. Post-con may be clinically applicable in coronary interventions, coronary artery bypass surgery, organ transplantation, and peripheral revascularization where reperfusion injury is expressed.
A review of the history, properties, and use of the immunomodulatory compound lenalidomide

Lenalidomide (REVLIMID™), an immunomodulatory compound targeting both cancer cells and their microenvironment, has substantial activity in several difficult‐to‐manage hematological malignancies. In previously treated multiple myeloma, lenalidomide produces high‐quality responses combined with sustained disease control. Recently, several randomized studies have demonstrated a clinical benefit of continuous lenalidomide treatment in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. In many patients with refractory anemia associated with lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes and a 5q chromosome deletion, lenalidomide leads to transfusion independence, considerably improving quality of life. It has a manageable safety profile, and its oral formulation reduces the burden on patients. Several phase III trials are ongoing in other indications currently underserved by conventional therapy, such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia, non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma, and prostate cancer. Several early‐stage studies are exploring lenalidomide alone and in combination across different hematological malignancies, solid tumors, and immune‐related disorders.
A biologically plausible embodied model of action discovery

During development, animals can spontaneously discover action-outcome pairings enabling subsequent achievement of their goals. We present a biologically plausible embodied model addressing key aspects of this process. The biomimetic model core comprises the basal ganglia and its loops through cortex and thalamus. We incorporate reinforcement learning (RL) with phasic dopamine supplying a sensory prediction error, signalling “surprising” outcomes. Phasic dopamine is used in a cortico-striatal learning rule which is consistent with recent data. We also hypothesized that objects associated with surprising outcomes acquire “novelty salience” contingent on the predicability of the outcome. To test this idea we used a simple model of prediction governing the dynamics of novelty salience and phasic dopamine. The task of the virtual robotic agent mimicked an in vivo counterpart (Gancarz et al., 2011) and involved interaction with a target object which caused a light flash, or a control object which did not. Learning took place according to two schedules. In one, the phasic outcome was delivered after interaction with the target in an unpredictable way which emulated the in vivo protocol. Without novelty salience, the model was unable to account for the experimental data. In the other schedule, the phasic outcome was reliably delivered and the agent showed a rapid increase in the number of interactions with the target which then decreased over subsequent sessions. We argue this is precisely the kind of change in behavior required to repeatedly present representations of context, action and outcome, to neural networks responsible for learning action-outcome contingency. The model also showed cortico-striatal plasticity consistent with learning a new action in basal ganglia. We conclude that action learning is underpinned by a complex interplay of plasticity and stimulus salience, and that our model contains many of the elements for biological action discovery to take place.
Analysis of spatial distribution in tropospheric temperature trends

Regional patterns in tropospheric and sea surface temperature (SST) trends are examined for the period 1979–2001 using MSU, NCEP‐NCAR, ECMWF reanalyses, NOAA OI SST, and the CARDS radiosonde data set. Trends are estimated using a nonparametric approach. Substantial regional variability in temperature trends is seen in all data sets, with the magnitude of the variability (including substantial regions with cooling trends) far exceeding the average warming trend. The global analyses from MSU and reanalyses are used to identify sampling problems in using radiosonde network to infer global trends. Analysis of tropospheric temperature trends concurrent with trends in SST shows regions where the signs disagree for both surface cooling and warming. Interpretation of these differing trends using the reanalyses suggest that the models used for the reanalyses are simulating the necessary dynamics/thermodynamics that could lead to a tropospheric cooling in contrast to a surface warming (and vice versa).
Comparative Study of Surface Energies of Native Oxides of Si(100) and Si(111) via Three Liquid Contact Angle Analysis

The effects of crystal orientation and doping on the surface energy, γ^T, of native oxides of Si(100) and Si(111) are measured via Three Liquid Contact Angle Analysis (3LCAA) to extract γ^T, while Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) is used to detect Oxygen. During 3LCAA, contact angles for three liquids are measured with photographs via the “Drop and Reflection Operative Program (DROP™). DROP™ removes subjectivity in image analysis, and yields reproducible contact angles within < ±1°. Unlike to the Sessile Drop Method, DROP can yield relative errors < 3% on sets of 20-30 drops. Native oxides on 5 x 10^13 B/cm^3 p^- doped Si(100) wafers, as received in sealed, 25 wafer teflon boats continuously stored in Class 100/ISO 5 conditions at 24.5°C in 25% controlled humidity, are found to be hydrophilic. Their γ^T, 52.5 ± 1.5 mJ/m^2, is reproducible between four boats from three sources, and 9% greater than γ^T of native oxides on n^- doped Si(111), which averages 48.1 ± 1.6 mJ/m^2 on four 4” Si(111) wafers. IBA combining ^16O nuclear resonance with channeling detects 30% more oxygen on native oxides of Si(111) than Si(100). While γ^T should increase on thinner, more defective oxides, Lifshitz-Van der Waals interactions γ^LW on native oxides of Si(100) remain at 36 ± 0.4 mJ/m^2, equal to γ^LW on Si(111), 36 ± 0.6 mJ/m^2, since γ^LW arises from the same SiO_2 molecules. Native oxides on 4.5 x 10^18 B/cm^3 p^+ doped Si(100) yield a γ^T of 39 ± 1 mJ/m^2, as they are thicker per IBA. In summary, 3LCAA and IBA can detect reproducibly and accurately, within a few %, changes in the surface energy of native oxides due to thickness and surface composition arising from doping or crystal structure, if conducted in well controlled clean room conditions for measurements and storage.
Identification of Patients With Developing Ulcerative Colitis–associated Neoplasia by Nitrative DNA Damage Marker 8-Nitroguanin Expression in Rectal Mucosa

Goal: To clarify whether the expression of nitrative and oxidative DNA damage markers in the rectal mucosa of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) could be used to predict UC-associated neoplasia. Background: A longer duration of UC can increase the risk of developing UC-associated cancer (UCAC). Effective diagnostic markers are being sought to provide more selective screening and treatment strategies for patients with long-standing UC. Study: A total of 141 patients with UC who underwent a proctocolectomy were enrolled in this study. The expression of 8-nitroguanine (8-NG), 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the rectal mucosa were evaluated using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and assessed relative to the pathogenesis of UC-associated neoplasia. Results: Eighteen patients (12.8%) had UC-associated neoplasia including low-grade or high-grade dysplasia and UCAC. IHC scores of 8-NG in UC-associated neoplasia group was significantly higher than in non-neoplasia group (P<0.0001). In contrast, IHC score of 8-oxodG in non-neoplasia group was significantly decreased compared with UC-associated neoplasia group (P=0.0028). In logistic regression analysis, duration of disease >8 years, high IHC scores of 8-NG, and low 8-oxodG in the rectal mucosa were significantly associated with the development of UC-associated neoplasia (P<0.01). The expression of 8-NG was more frequently observed in patients with UCAC than in patients with sporadic colorectal cancer (P<0.01). Conclusion: These results suggest that evaluating the expression levels of 8-NG in the rectal mucosa may be a useful biomarker for detecting patients with UC-associated neoplasia.
The symbolic model-checking for real-time systems

It is important to verify timing conditions in real time systems. In particular, symbolic model checking is promising for verifying a large system. But in dense time models, symbolic model checking based on BDD causes the state explosion problem because of generating a region graph from the specification. We propose symbolic model checking based on BDD in a dense time model, which does not use a region graph. In our proposed symbolic model checker, we represent state spaces by both BDD and DBM (Difference Bound Matrices). We have realized an effective symbolic model checker based on BDD in dense time model with the proposed method.
Graft‐Free Maxillary Sinus Floor Elevation: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

BACKGROUND This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to investigate survival rates of dental implants placed simultaneously with graft-free maxillary sinus floor elevation (GFSFE). Factors influencing amount of vertical bone gain (VBG), protruded implant length (PIL) in sinus at follow-up (PILf), and peri-implant marginal bone loss (MBL) are also evaluated. METHODS Electronic and manual searches for human clinical studies on simultaneous implant placement and GFSFE using the lateral window or transcrestal approach, published in the English language from January 1976 to March 2016, were conducted. The random-effects model and mixed-effect meta-regression were used to analyze weighted mean values of clinical parameters and evaluate factors that influenced amount of VBG. RESULTS Of 740 studies, 22 clinical studies were included in this systematic review. A total of 864 implants were placed simultaneously with GFSFE at edentulous sites having mean residual bone height of 5.7 ± 1.7 mm. Mean implant survival rate (ISR) was 97.9% ± 0.02% (range: 93.5% to 100%). Weighted mean MBL was 0.91 ± 0.11 mm, and it was significantly associated with the postoperative follow-up period (r = 0.02; R2 = 43.75%). Weighted mean VBG was 3.8 ± 0.34 mm, and this parameter was affected significantly by surgical approach, implant length, and PIL immediately after surgery (PILi) (r = 2.82, 0.57, 0.80; R2 = 19.10%, 39.27%, 83.92%, respectively). Weighted mean PILf was 1.26 ± 0.33 mm (range: 0.3 to 2.1 mm). CONCLUSION Within limitations of the present systematic review, GFSFE with simultaneous implant placement can achieve satisfactory mean ISR of 97.9% ± 0.02%.
Is intensive care monitoring necessary after coil embolization of unruptured intracranial aneurysms?

Introduction Patients with an unruptured intracranial aneurysm treated with coil embolization are routinely admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after the procedure; however, this practice is questionable. The purpose of this study was to determine if routine admission to the ICU is necessary for patients undergoing coil embolization of an unruptured intracranial aneurysm. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all patients undergoing elective endovascular treatment of an unruptured intracranial aneurysm between 2005 and 2012 at our institution. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of outcome. Cost savings analysis compared ICU admission to step-down or telemetry unit admission. Results 311 unruptured intracranial aneurysms were treated by coil embolization (190), balloon remodeling (13), or stent-assisted coiling (108). Eleven (3.5%) neurologic complications were noted; 5 (1.6%) of these were permanent. Multivariate regression analysis identified female sex (p=0.028), hypercoagulability (p=0.021), aneurysm size >2 cm (p=0.003), and intraoperative rupture (p<0.001) as predictors of a post-procedural neurologic complication. Cost savings were 57% for admission to a step-down unit and 32% for admission to a telemetry unit compared with ICU admission. Conclusions Neurologic complications are rare in the treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms, suggesting that routine ICU admission after treatment may not be necessary. Female sex, history of hypercoagulability, aneurysm size >2 cm, and an intraprocedural rupture were predictive of a postoperative complication. ICU monitoring in these subgroups may therefore be warranted.
Exosomal microRNA: a diagnostic marker for lung cancer.

PURPOSE To date, there is no screening test for lung cancer shown to affect overall mortality. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small noncoding RNA genes found to be abnormally expressed in several types of cancer, suggesting a role in the pathogenesis of human cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS We evaluated the circulating levels of tumor exosomes, exosomal small RNA, and specific exosomal miRNAs in patients with and without lung adenocarcinoma, correlating the levels with the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) disease stage to validate it as an acceptable marker for diagnosis and prognosis in patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung. RESULTS To date, 27 patients with lung adenocarcinoma AJCC stages I-IV and 9 controls, all aged 21-80 years, were enrolled in the study. Small RNA was detected in the circulating exosomes. The mean exosome concentration was 2.85 mg/mL (95% CI, 1.94-3.76) for the lung adenocarcinoma group versus 0.77 mg/mL (95% CI, 0.68-0.86) for the control group (P < .001). The mean miRNA concentration was 158.6 ng/mL (95% CI, 145.7-171.5) for the lung adenocarcinoma group versus 68.1 ng/mL (95% CI, 57.2-78.9) for the control group (P < .001). Comparisons between peripheral circulation miRNA-derived exosomes and miRNA-derived tumors indicated that the miRNA signatures were not significantly different. CONCLUSION The significant difference in total exosome and miRNA levels between lung cancer patients and controls, and the similarity between the circulating exosomal miRNA and the tumor-derived miRNA patterns, suggest that circulating exosomal miRNA might be useful as a screening test for lung adenocarcinoma. No correlation between the exosomal miRNA levels and the stage of disease can be made at this point.
NHS Direct: consistency of triage outcomes

Objectives: To examine the consistency of triage outcomes by nurses using four types of computerised decision support software in NHS Direct. Methods: 119 scenarios were constructed based on calls to ambulance services that had been assigned the lowest priority category by the emergency medical dispatch systems in use. These scenarios were presented to nurses working in four NHS Direct call centres using different computerised decision support software, including the NHS Clinical Assessment System. Results: The overall level of agreement between the nurses using the four systems was “fair” rather than “moderate” or “good” (κ=0.375, 95% CI: 0.34 to 0.41). For example, the proportion of calls triaged to accident and emergency departments varied from 22% (26 of 119) to 44% (53 of 119). Between 21% (25 of 119) and 31% (37 of 119) of these low priority ambulance calls were triaged back to the 999 ambulance service. No system had both high sensitivity and specificity for referral to accident and emergency services. Conclusions: There were large differences in outcome between nurses using different software systems to triage the same calls. If the variation is primarily attributable to the software then standardising on a single system will obviously eliminate this. As the calls were originally made to ambulance services and given the lowest priority, this study also suggests that if, in the future, ambulance services pass such calls to NHS Direct then at least a fifth of these may be passed back unless greater sensitivity in the selection of calls can be achieved.
Testing the Ability of Using Cement Kilns Waste for Removing Acid Dyes Wastewater by Adsorption

This investigation deals with the use of cement kiln dusts waste (CKD) as adsorbent for removal two kind of acid dyes from simulated wastewater. cement kiln dusts waste prepared by dried at 60C°. The effect of pH: 2-12, contact time: 20- 180 min, sorbent weight: 0.5- 4.0 g were considered. The optimal pH value for acid dyes adsorption was found to be 2.5 for acid red dyes(ARD)and 6.5 for acid blue dyes (ABD). The equilibrium data were analyzed using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Freundlich model was found to fit the equilibrium data very well with high-correlation coefficient (R2). The adsorption kinetics was found to follow pseudo-second-order rate kinetic model, with a good correlation (R2 > 0.95 and 0.94) for acid red dyes(ARD) and acid blue dyes (ABD). respectively. The results showed that the cement kiln dusts waste was found to be an attractive low cost adsorbent for the treatment of wastewater.
Epigenetics and precision medicine in cardiovascular patients: from basic concepts to the clinical arena

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of mortality worldwide and also inflict major burdens on morbidity, quality of life, and societal costs. Considering that CVD preventive medications improve vascular outcomes in less than half of patients (often relative risk reductions range from 12% to 20% compared with placebo), precision medicine offers an attractive approach to refine the targeting of CVD medications to responsive individuals in a population and thus allocate resources more wisely and effectively. New tools furnished by advances in basic science and translational medicine could help achieve this goal. This approach could reach beyond the practitioners 'eyeball' assessment or venerable markers derived from the physical examination and standard laboratory evaluation. Advances in genetics have identified novel pathways and targets that operate in numerous diseases, paving the way for 'precision medicine'. Yet the inherited genome determines only part of an individual's risk profile. Indeed, standard genomic approaches do not take into account the world of regulation of gene expression by modifications of the 'epi'genome. Epigenetic modifications defined as 'heritable changes to the genome that do not involve changes in DNA sequence' have emerged as a new layer of biological regulation in CVD and could advance individualized risk assessment as well as devising and deploying tailored therapies. This review, therefore, aims to acquaint the cardiovascular community with the rapidly advancing and evolving field of epigenetics and its implications in cardiovascular precision medicine.
Kajian Karakteristik Kimia dan Fisika Abu Layang yang Menjadi Penentu Kekuatan Mekanik Perekat Geopolimer Berbahan Dasar Abu Layang

Conversion of fly ash into geopolymers is one of the right ways to reduce the problem of coal ash waste which is hazardous and poisonous waste while its production continues to increase every year. In this study, fly ash from Pacitan power plant, Semen Gresik, Petrokimia Gresik, and Australia were used as the raw materials for making geopolymers. The geopolymers were made based on previous research. Geopolymer compressive strength that was measured at 7 days after curing was 46.71; 42.6; 42.6; 9.55 MPa, respectively. Analyses of phase composition and crystallinity, morphology and particle size and composition of fly ash constituents showed that the factor that had the strongest influence in this study was the size of fly ash particles. Fly ash with the largest particle size produces geopolymers with the lowest compressive strength. High calcium content produces a short setting time and all geopolymers that have high compressive strength are made from fly ash with a high content of Fe 2 O 3
Hierarchical Clustering with CUDA/GPU

Graphics processing units (GPUs) are powerful computational devices tailored towards the needs of the 3-D gaming industry for high-performance, real-time graphics engines. Nvidia Corporation provides a programming language called CUDA for general-purpose GPU programming. Hierarchical clustering is a common method used to determine clusters of similar data points in multidimensional spaces; if there are n data points, it can be computed in O(n) to O(n log n) sequential time, depending on the distance metrics employed. The present work explores parallel computation of hierarchical clustering with CUDA/GPU, and obtains an overall speed-up of up to 48 times over sequential computation with an Intel Pentium CPU.
The evolution of the HP/Convex Exemplar

The Exemplar X-Class is the second generation SPP from HP/Convex. It is a ccNUMA (cache coherent nonuniform memory access) architecture comprised of multiple nodes. We describe the evolution from the first generation systems to the current S- and X-class systems. Each node may contain up to 16 PA-8000 processors, 16 Gbytes of memory and 8 PCI busses. The peak performance of each node is 11.5 Gflops. Memory access is UMA within each node and is accomplished via a nonblocking crossbar. Each node can be correctly considered as a symmetric multiprocessor. The interconnect between nodes is a derivative of the IEEE standard, SCI, which permits up to 32 nodes to be connected in a 2 dimensional topology. The system includes features to aid high performance engineering/scientific computations. Among these are a hardware bcopy engine, interconnect caches, and memory and cache based semaphores.