Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Murray's law and the hydraulic vs mechanical functioning of wood

Summary 1. Murray’s law states that the hydraulic conductance per blood volume of the cardiovascular system is maximized when the sum of the vessel radii cubed ( Σ r 3 ) is conserved. 2. We hypothesize that Murray’s law will apply to xylem conduits as long as they only transport water and do not also help support the plant. Specifically, the less volume of wood occupied by conduits, the more the conduits should conform to Murray’s law. 3. We tested the applicability of Murray’s law along a continuum of decreasing conduit fraction from coniferous (91% conduits) to diffuse-porous (24% conduits) to ring-porous wood (12% conduits), using anatomical and functional tests. The anatomical test compared the Σ r 3 conservation across branch points by direct measurements of conduit radii. The functional test compared the hydraulic conductivity between branches of different ages. 4. As predicted, Murray’s law was rejected in conifer wood where hydraulic function is coupled to mechanical support. The angiosperm wood did not deviate as strongly from Murray’s law, especially the ring-porous type. For comparison we report previously published results from compound leaves and vines which showed general agreement with Murray’s law. 5. Deviation from Murray’s law was associated with fewer, narrower conduits distally causing a decrease in Σ r 3 distally. Although less efficient hydraulically, this configura
Spin and orbital occupation and phase transitions in V 2 O 3

Polarization dependent x-ray-absorption measurements were performed on pure and Cr-doped V 2O3 single crystals in the antiferromagnetic insulating, paramagnetic insulating, and metallic phases. The orbital occupation of the V 3d ion is found to depend appreciably on the phase, but always with the S51 character, requiring an explanation which is beyond the elegant simplicity of the pure one-band Hubbard model or of models in which thea1g orbital is projected out by means of a simple dimerization. The results reveal the critical role of the spin and orbital dependence of the on-site 3 d-3d Coulomb energy, and a mechanism is proposed to explain the closing or opening of the band gaps which are of much higher energy scale than the transition temperatures.
Immediate Epileptogenesis after Kainate-Induced Status Epilepticus in C57BL/6J Mice: Evidence from Long Term Continuous Video-EEG Telemetry

The C57BL/6J mouse as a model of seizure/epilepsy is challenging due to high mortality and huge variability in response to kainate. We have recently demonstrated that repeated administration of a low dose of kainate by intraperitoneal route can induce severe status epilepticus (SE) with 94% survival rate. In the present study, based on continuous video-EEG recording for 4-18 weeks from epidurally implanted electrodes on the cortex, we demonstrate that this method also induces immediate epileptogenesis (<1-5 days post-SE). This finding was based on identification of two types of spontaneous recurrent seizures; behavioral convulsive seizures (CS) and electrographic nonconvulsive seizures (NCS). The identification of the spontaneous CS, stage 3-5 types, was based on the behaviors (video) that were associated with the EEG characteristics (stage 3-5 epileptiform spikes), the power spectrum, and the activity counts. The electrographic NCS identification was based on the stage 1-2 epileptiform spike clusters on the EEG and their associated power spectrum. Severe SE induced immediate epileptogenesis in all the mice. The maximum numbers of spontaneous CS were observed during the first 4-6 weeks of the SE and they decreased thereafter. Mild SE also induced immediate epileptogenesis in some mice but the CS were less frequent. In both the severe and the mild SE groups, the spontaneous electrographic NCS persisted throughout the 18 weeks observation period, and therefore this could serve as a chronic model for complex seizures. However, unlike rat kainate models, the C57BL/6J mouse kainate model is a unique regressive CS model of epilepsy. Further studies are required to understand the mechanism of recovery from spontaneous CS in this model, which could reveal novel therapeutic targets for epilepsy.
Bandwidth allocation policies for unicast and multicast flows

Using multicast delivery to multiple receivers reduces the aggregate bandwidth required from the network compared to using unicast delivery to each receiver. To encourage the use of multicast delivery, a higher amount of bandwidth should be allocated to a multicast row as compared to a unicast row that share the same bottleneck, but without starving the unicast flow. We investigate three bandwidth allocation policies for multicast flows and evaluate their impact on the bandwidth received by the individual receivers. The policy that allocates the available bandwidth as a logarithmic function of the number of receivers downstream of the bottleneck achieves the best trade-off between maximizing the receiver satisfaction and keeping fairness high.
Oophorectomy after Menopause and the Risk of Breast Cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutation Carriers

Background: To evaluate the effect of the cumulative number of ovulatory cycles and its contributing components on the risk of breast cancer among BRCA mutation carriers. Methods: We conducted a matched case–control study on 2,854 pairs of women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the association between the number of ovulatory cycles and various exposures and the risk of breast cancer. Information from a subset of these women enrolled in a prospective cohort study was used to calculate age-specific breast cancer rates. Results: The annual risk of breast cancer decreased with the number of ovulatory cycles experienced (ρ = −0.69; P = 0.03). Age at menarche and duration of breastfeeding were inversely related with risk of breast cancer among BRCA1 (Ptrend < 0.0001) but not among BRCA2 (Ptrend ≥ 0.28) mutation carriers. The reduction in breast cancer risk associated with surgical menopause [OR, 0.52; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.40–0.66; Ptrend < 0.0001] was greater than that associated with natural menopause (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.62–1.07; Ptrend = 0.14). There was a highly significant reduction in breast cancer risk among women who had an oophorectomy after natural menopause (OR, 0.13; 95% CI, 0.02–0.54; P = 0.006). Conclusions: These data challenge the hypothesis that breast cancer risk can be predicted by the lifetime number of ovulatory cycles in women with a BRCA mutation. Both pre- and postmenopausal oophorectomy protect against breast cancer. Impact: Understanding the basis for the protective effect of oophorectomy has important implications for chemoprevention. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 21(7); 1089–96. ©2012 AACR.
An 11-bit high-resolution and adjustable-range CMOS time-to-digital converter for space science instruments

An 11-bit time-to-digital converter (TDC) with high time resolution implemented in CMOS VLSI is presented. The TDC operates with a wide and clock-adjustable resolution of LSB = 50 ps to 1 ns, and with good power supply, temperature, and environmental effects compensation. The dead time of the measurement is as low as 0.5 /spl mu/s and the event rate can be as high as 1 MEvents/s. The power dissipation is a function of event rate and clock frequency; the TDC dissipates <10 mW at an event rate of 100 kEvents/s and LSB=100 ps. The TDC was incorporated in a complete time-of-flight (TOF) system on a chip that in addition included front-end analog signal processing. The TOF chip is already flying onboard the HENA (High Energy Neutral Atoms) instrument of the IMAGE NASA mission, launched in 2000, and is part of many other instruments such as particles, X-ray, and the laser altimeter of the Messenger spacecraft.
Stroke Severity Determines Body Temperature in Acute Stroke

Background and Purpose — Several studies have claimed that temperature on admission is of prognostic significance in acute stroke. Experimental studies showing that hyperthermia increases infarct size have lent credibility to this assumption. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that initial body temperature is of importance for stroke outcome. Methods — This prospective study included 725 consecutive patients, 584 with cerebral infarcts and 141 with intracerebral hemorrhages, admitted to an acute stroke unit within 6 hours of stroke onset. Time of stroke onset and time of admission were recorded. Body temperature was measured on admission and every 2 hours during the first 24 hours. Patients were divided into 2 groups on the basis of stroke severity on admission: Scandinavian Stroke Scale Score (SSS) ≤25 was defined as major stroke, and SSS >25 was defined as mild to moderate stroke. Results — On admission, mean body temperature was normal. In the major stroke patients, body temperature started to rise 4 to 6 hours after stroke onset. At 10 to 12 hours after stroke onset, increased body temperature was found to be related to poor outcome. In mild to moderate stroke, there was no significant rise in temperature. Initial temperature >37.5°C was not related to stroke severity or stroke outcome. Conclusions — In major stroke, a significant rise in temperature occurred hours after stroke onset. Severe infarcts and intracerebral hemorrhages caused temperature to rise, whereas initially increased temperature had no influence on stroke severity. Elevated body temperature on admission within 6 hours of stroke onset had no prognostic influence on stroke outcome at 3 months.
Winter Temperature Affects the Prevalence of Ticks in an Arctic Seabird

The Arctic is rapidly warming and host-parasite relationships may be modified by such environmental changes. Here, I showed that the average winter temperature in Svalbard, Arctic Norway, explained almost 90% of the average prevalence of ticks in an Arctic seabird, the Brünnich’s guillemot Uria lomvia. An increase of 1°C in the average winter temperature at the nesting colony site was associated with a 5% increase in the number of birds infected by these ectoparasites in the subsequent breeding season. Guillemots were generally infested by only a few ticks (≤5) and I found no direct effect of tick presence on their body condition and breeding success. However, the strong effect of average winter temperature described here clearly indicates that tick-seabird relationships in the Arctic may be strongly affected by ongoing climate warming.
EPS8 Inhibition Increases Cisplatin Sensitivity in Lung Cancer Cells

Cisplatin, a commonly used chemotherapeutic, is associated with ototoxicity, renal toxicity and neurotoxicity, thus identifying means to increase the therapeutic index of cisplatin may allow for improved outcomes. A SNP (rs4343077) within EPS8, discovered through a genome wide association study of cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs), provided impetus to further study this gene. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the role of EPS8 in cellular susceptibility to cisplatin in cancerous and non-cancerous cells. We used EPS8 RNA interference to determine the effect of decreased EPS8 expression on LCL and A549 lung cancer cell sensitivity to cisplatin. EPS8 knockdown in LCLs resulted in a 7.9% increase in cisplatin-induced survival (P = 1.98×10−7) and an 8.7% decrease in apoptosis (P = 0.004) compared to control. In contrast, reduced EPS8 expression in lung cancer cells resulted in a 20.6% decrease in cisplatin-induced survival (P = 5.08×10−5). We then investigated an EPS8 inhibitor, mithramycin A, as a potential agent to increase the therapeutic index of cisplatin. Mithramycin A decreased EPS8 expression in LCLs resulting in decreased cellular sensitivity to cisplatin as evidenced by lower caspase 3/7 activation following cisplatin treatment (42.7%±6.8% relative to control P = 0.0002). In 5 non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cell lines, mithramycin A also resulted in decreased EPS8 expression. Adding mithramycin to 4 NSCLC cell lines and a bladder cancer cell line, resulted in increased sensitivity to cisplatin that was significantly more pronounced in tumor cell lines than in LCL lines (p<0.0001). An EGFR mutant NSCLC cell line (H1975) showed no significant change in sensitivity to cisplatin with the addition of mithramycin treatment. Therefore, an inhibitor of EPS8, such as mithramycin A, could improve cisplatin treatment by increasing sensitivity of tumor relative to normal cells.
Advanced Stencil-Code Engineering (Dagstuhl Seminar 15161)

This report documents the program and the outcomes of Dagstuhl Seminar 15161 "Advanced Stencil-Code Engineering". The seminar was hosted by the DFG project with the same name (ExaStencils for short) in the DFG priority programme "Software for Exascale Computing" (SPPEXA). It brought together experts from mathematics, computer science and applications to explore the challenges of very high performance and massive parallelism in solving partial differential equations. Its aim was to lay the basis for a new interdisciplinary research community on high-performance stencil codes.
An Access Control Model for Location based Services

In this paper we propose an access control model for use by a trusted middleware infrastructure, which is part of an architecture that supports the operation of Location Based Services (LBSs) over the Internet. This access control model provides users with increased security, and particularly privacy, by enabling them to create two different types of permissions based on how their location information is being used. These permissions specify which users and LBSs are entitled to obtain location information about which other users, under what circumstances the location information is released to the users and LBSs, and the accuracy of any location information that is released to the users and LBSs.
On agnostic boosting and parity learning

The motivating problem is agnostically learning parity functions, i.e., parity with arbitrary or adversarial noise. Specifically, given random labeled examples from an *arbitrary* distribution, we would like to produce an hypothesis whose accuracy nearly matches the accuracy of the best parity function. Our algorithm runs in time 2O(n/log n), which matches the best known for the easier cases of learning parities with random classification noise (Blum et al, 2003) and for agnostically learning parities over the uniform distribution on inputs (Feldman et al, 2006). Our approach is as follows. We give an agnostic boosting theorem that is capable of nearly achieving optimal accuracy, improving upon earlier studies (starting with Ben David et al, 2001). To achieve this, we circumvent previous lower bounds by altering the boosting model. We then show that the (random noise) parity learning algorithm of Blum et al (2000) fits our new model of agnostic weak learner. Our agnostic boosting framework is completely general and may be applied to other agnostic learning problems. Hence, it also sheds light on the actual difficulty of agnostic learning by showing that full agnostic boosting is indeed possible.
In vitro evaluation of bacterial leakage along the implant-abutment interface of different implant systems.

PURPOSE Microbial leakage and colonization between implants and their abutments may cause inflammatory reactions in the peri-implant tissues. This study evaluated microbial leakage at the implant-abutment interface with a new in vitro model. MATERIALS AND METHODS Bacterial leakage was tested during dynamic loading in a 2-axis chewing simulator. The authors theorized that dynamic loading would decrease the stability of the implant-abutment connections and thereby lead to bacterial penetration along the gap. Five different implant systems with 8 standard implant-abutment combinations for single molar crowns were tested. The internal aspects of the implants were inoculated with a bacterial suspension and connected to the superstructure with the recommended torque. The specimens were immersed in a nutrient solution and loaded with 1,200,000 cycles of 120 N in the chewing simulator. RESULTS Statistically significant differences (P < or = .05) between implant systems with respect to number of chewing cycles until bacterial penetration were found. DISCUSSION The degree of penetration in a specific implant system presumably is a multifactorial condition dependent on the precision of fit between the implant and the abutment, the degree of micromovement between the components, and the torque forces used to connect them. CONCLUSION It was concluded that the newly developed test model is a sensitive tool for the detection of differences between current implant systems with respect to their ability to prevent bacterial penetration at the implant-abutment interface under dynamic loading conditions.
Abh and AbrB Control of Bacillus subtilis Antimicrobial Gene Expression

ABSTRACT The Bacillus subtilis abh gene encodes a protein whose N-terminal domain has 74% identity to the DNA-binding domain of the global regulatory protein AbrB. Strains with a mutation in abh showed alterations in the production of antimicrobial compounds directed against some other Bacillus species and gram-positive microbes. Relative to its wild-type parental strain, the abh mutant was found deficient, enhanced, or unaffected for the production of antimicrobial activity. Using lacZ fusions, we examined the effects of abh upon the expression of 10 promoters known to be regulated by AbrB, including five that transcribe well-characterized antimicrobial functions (SdpC, SkfA, TasA, sublancin, and subtilosin). For an otherwise wild-type background, the results show that Abh plays a negative regulatory role in the expression of four of the promoters, a positive role for the expression of three, and no apparent regulatory role in the expression of the other three promoters. Binding of AbrB and Abh to the promoter regions was examined using DNase I footprinting, and the results revealed significant differences. The transcription of abh is not autoregulated, but it is subject to a degree of AbrB-afforded negative regulation. The results indicate that Abh is part of the complex interconnected regulatory system that controls gene expression during the transition from active growth to stationary phase.
Use of a Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Model to Identify Exposures Consistent With Human Biomonitoring Data for Chloroform

Biomonitoring data provide evidence of human exposure to environmental chemicals by quantifying the chemical or its metabolite in a biological matrix. To better understand the correlation between biomonitoring data and environmental exposure, physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling can be of use. The objective of this study was to use a combined PBPK model with an exposure model for showering to estimate the intake concentrations of chloroform based on measured blood and exhaled breath concentrations of chloroform. First, the predictive ability of the combined model was evaluated with three published studies describing exhaled breath and blood concentrations in people exposed to chloroform under controlled showering events. Following that, a plausible exposure regimen was defined combining inhalation, ingestion, and dermal exposures associated with residential use of water containing typical concentrations of chloroform to simulate blood and exhaled breath concentrations of chloroform. Simulation results showed that inhalation and dermal exposure could contribute substantially to total chloroform exposure. Next, sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo analysis were performed to investigate the sources of variability in model output. The variability in exposure conditions (e.g., shower duration) was shown to contribute more than the variability in pharmacokinetics (e.g., body weight) to the predicted variability in blood and exhaled breath concentrations of chloroform. Lastly, the model was used in a reverse dosimetry approach to estimate distributions of exposure consistent with concentrations of chloroform measured in human blood and exhaled breath.
Depressive Symptoms and Health-Related Quality of Life Among Prostate Cancer Survivors

Background: Prostate cancer is a global health problem; its incidence is on the rise in Chinese and usually fraught with both physical and psychological symptomatology. Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the relationships among demographic and disease characteristics, resourcefulness, depressive symptoms, and health related quality of life (HRQOL). Methods: A descriptive, correlational design was used. A total of 200 individuals with prostate cancer were recruited. The participants completed a self-report regarding their depressive symptoms and HRQOL. Using a structural equation modeling approach, all relationships among the factors, mediators, depressive symptoms, and HRQOL were analyzed. Results: The more resourcefulness that participants perceived, the more likely they were to report better HRQOL. The best-fitted structural equation model included individual demographics and disease characteristics and resourcefulness as significant predictors of HRQOL. Moreover, this structural model explained 72%, 76%, and 57% of the variance in physical quality of life, mental quality of life, and depressive symptoms, respectively. In addition, resourcefulness had a positive mediating effect on increasing the physical and mental quality of life and decreasing the depressive symptoms for patients with prostate cancer. Conclusions: Resourcefulness helps patients with prostate cancer build a positive attitude and that it is crucial for enhancing the HRQOL of patients. By using the proper resourcefulness strategy, that is, either personal (self-help) or social (help-seeking), nursing professionals can substantially contribute to enhancing the HRQOL for patients with PC. Implications for Practice: Knowledge of risk factors for HRQOL would be useful for nursing professional in detecting health problems and treatment options.
Topic Segmentation and Evaluation Measures for E-learning based on Domain and Pedagogical Ontology

Block level segments obtained from e-learning material should form cohesive blocks of e-learning content not only from continuity perspective but also from concept coverage perspective. Therefore in this work two new evaluation measures specificity and proximity have been proposed to evaluate the segments from this concept coverage perspective. These two methods of segmentation have been compared using the standard evaluation measure pk and the two new proposed evaluation measures. Block level text segmentation for elearning material has been implemented using texttiling method based on domain and pedagogical ontology and this has been compared with hierarchical Latent Dirichlet Allocation based on domain and pedagogical ontology.