Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human nasal mucosal changes after exposure to urban pollution.

Millions of people worldwide are living in areas where ozone (O3) concentrations exceed health standards (an hourly average of 235 micrograms/m3/0.12 ppm, not to be exceeded more than once per year). Ozone induces acute nasal inflammatory responses and significant epithelial lesions in experimental animals and humans. To determine the nasal effects of a 15-day exposure to an urban polluted atmosphere with O3 as the main pollutant, we studied a population of healthy, young males newly arrived to southwest metropolitan Mexico City (SWMMC). The study included 49 non-smoking residents in an unpolluted port, Veracruz City; 14 subjects stayed in the port and served as controls, while 35 subjects traveled to SWMMC and had serial nasal lavages at different times after arriving in SWMMC. Subjects had exposures to ambient O3 an average of 10.2 hr/day, with a total cumulative O3 exposure of 10.644 ppm.hr. Nasal inflammatory responses, polymorphonuclear leukocyte PMN-CD11b surface expression, rhinoscopic changes, and respiratory symptoms were evaluated. Exposed subjects had massive nasal epithelial shedding and significant responses in PMN nasal influx (p < 0.00001) and in PMN-CD11b expression (p < 0.05). Cumulative O3 exposure correlated with respiratory symptoms, PMNs (rs = 0.2374, p < 0.01), and CD11b (rs = 0.3094, p < 0.01); 94% of exposed subjects experienced respiratory symptoms, and 97% left the city with an abnormal nasal mucosa by rhinoscopy. Nasal epithelial changes persisted 2 weeks after the exposed subjects returned to their nonpolluted environment. Exposure to an urban polluted atmosphere induces significant and persistent nasal epithelial alterations in healthy subjects. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) ImagesFigure 1.Figure 2. AFigure 2. BFigure 2. CFigure 2. DFigure 2. EFigure 2. FFigure 3. AFigure 3. BFigure 4. AFigure 4. BFigure 5. AFigure 5. B
Functional evidence that cell surface galectin-3 mediates homotypic cell adhesion.

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a beta-galactoside-binding protein with M(r) approximately 30,000. Cell surface Gal-3 is postulated to be involved in homotypic aggregation of tumor cells in the circulation during metastasis through attachment to a complementary serum glycoprotein(s), which serves as a cross-linking bridge between adjacent cells. To test this hypothesis a recombinant strain of baculovirus encoding Gal-3 was used to infect Sf9 insect cells, which lack endogenous Gal-3. Immunoblotting and indirect immunofluorescence studies revealed that the infection with recombinant virus conferred Gal-3 expression on Sf9 cells, and the Gal-3 was localized on the cell surface as well as in the cytoplasm. Sf9 cells infected with recombinant virus underwent homotypic aggregation in the presence of exogenous glycoprotein (i.e., asialofetuin), whereas control cells uninfected or infected with wild-type virus did not. Lactose and Fab' fragments of anti-Gal-3 antibodies markedly inhibited the cell-cell aggregation. Moreover, cosuspension of Sf9 cells infected with the recombinant virus with uninfected cells in the presence of asialofetuin resulted in a preferential cell-cell adhesion of the Gal-3-expressing cells. These results directly demonstrate the ability of cell surface Gal-3 molecules to mediate homotypic cell adhesion by bridging through branched, soluble complementary glycoconjugates.
Learnability of Embedded Syntactic Structures Depends on Prosodic Cues

The ability to process center-embedded structures has been claimed to represent a core function of the language faculty. Recently, several studies have investigated the learning of center-embedded dependencies in artificial grammar settings. Yet some of the results seem to question the learnability of these structures in artificial grammar tasks. Here, we tested under which exposure conditions learning of center-embedded structures in an artificial grammar is possible. We used naturally spoken syllable sequences and varied the presence of prosodic cues. The results suggest that mere distributional information does not suffice for successful learning. Prosodic cues marking the boundaries of the major relevant units, however, can lead to learning success. Thus, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that center-embedded syntactic structures can be learned in artificial grammar tasks if language-like acoustic cues are provided.
Racquet string tension directly affects force experienced at the elbow: implications for the development of lateral epicondylitis in tennis players

Background Lateral epicondylitis (LE) occurs in almost half of all tennis players. Racket-string tension is considered to be an important factor influencing the development of LE. No literature yet exists that substantiates how string-tension affects force transmission to the elbow, as implicated in LE development. We establish a quantitative relationship between string-tension and elbow loading, analyzing tennis strokes using rackets with varying string-tensions. Methods Twenty recreational tennis players simulated backhand tennis strokes using three rackets strung at tensions of 200 N, 222 N and 245 N. Accelerometers recorded accelerations at the elbow, wrist and racket handle. Average peak acceleration was determined to correlate string-tension with elbow loading. Results Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed when average peak acceleration at the elbow at 200 N string-tension (acceleration of 5.58 m/s2) was compared with that at 222 N tension (acceleration of 6.83 m/s2) and 245 N tension (acceleration of 7.45 m/s2). The 200 N racket induced the least acceleration at the elbow. Conclusions Although parameters determining force transmission to the elbow during a tennis stroke are complex, the present study was able to control these parameters, isolating the effect of string-tension. Lower string-tensions transmit less force to the elbow in backhand strokes. Reducing string-tension should be considered favourably with respect to reducing the risk of developing LE.
Fault detection enhancement in cache memories using a high performance placement algorithm

The data integrity of words coming out of caches needs to be checked to assure their correctness. This paper proposes a cache placement scheme, which provides high performance as well as high fault detection coverage. In this scheme, the cache space is divided into sets of different sizes. Here, the length of tag fields associated with each set is unique and is different from the other sets. The other remained bits of tags are used for protecting the tag using a fault detection scheme e.g., generalized parity. This leads to protection of the cache without compromising performance and area with respect to the similar fully associative cache. The results obtained from simulating some standard trace files reveal that the proposed scheme exhibits a performance near to fully associative but achieves a considerable fault detection coverage which is suitable for use in dependable computing.
Effects of renal impairment on the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and safety of rivaroxaban, an oral, direct Factor Xa inhibitor.

AIM This study evaluated the effects of impaired renal function on the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and safety of rivaroxaban (10mg single dose), an oral, direct Factor Xa inhibitor. METHODS Subjects (n= 32) were stratified based on measured creatinine clearance: healthy controls (≥80ml min(-1) ), mild (50-79mlmin(-1) ), moderate (30-49mlmin(-1) ) and severe impairment (<30mlmin(-1) ). RESULTS Renal clearance of rivaroxaban decreased with increasing renal impairment. Thus, plasma concentrations increased and area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) LS-mean values were 1.44-fold (90% confidence interval [CI] 1.1, 1.9; mild), 1.52-fold (90% CI 1.2, 2.0; moderate) and 1.64-fold (90% CI 1.2, 2.2; severe impairment) higher than in healthy controls. Corresponding values for the LS-mean of the AUC for prolongation of prothrombin time were 1.33-fold (90% CI 0.92, 1.92; mild), 2.16-fold (90% CI 1.51, 3.10 moderate) and 2.44-fold (90% CI 1.70, 3.49 severe) higher than in healthy subjects, respectively. Likewise, the LS-mean of the AUC for Factor Xa inhibition in subjects with mild renal impairment was 1.50-fold (90% CI 1.07, 2.10) higher than in healthy subjects. In subjects with moderate and severe renal impairment, the increase was 1.86-fold (90% CI 1.34, 2.59) and 2.0-fold (90% CI 1.44, 2.78) higher than in healthy subjects, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Rivaroxaban clearance is decreased with increasing renal impairment, leading to increased plasma exposure and pharmacodynamic effects, as expected for a partially renally excreted drug. However, the influence of renal function on rivaroxaban clearance was moderate, even in subjects with severe renal impairment.
PERCIRS: a PERsonalized Collaborative Information Retrieval System

RESUME. Pendant que le volume d'information augmente, l'importance de la recherche d’information augmente. La CIR (Collaborative Information Retrieval) est l'une des approches conventionnelles dans les systemes de recherche d’information. Un systeme de CIR enregistre les interactions des utilisateurs pour repondre aux questions suivantes plus efficacement. Mais les buts et les caracteristiques de deux utilisateurs peuvent etre differents; ainsi quand ils envoient la meme requete a un systeme de CIR, ils peuvent etre interesses par deux listes de documents differentes. Dans cet article nous traitons le probleme de personnalisation dans les systemes de CIR en construisant le profil pour chaque utilisateur. Nous proposons trois nouvelles approches pour calculer la similitude des profils d'utilisateurs que nous les emploierons dans notre algorithme personnalise de CIR.
The experience of homeless women: An exploration of housing histories and the meaning of home

Abstract The exploratory study with homeless women presented in this paper aims to highlight two shortcomings in the current literature on homelessness, which accompany the predominant conceptualisation of ‘home’ as a place of safety and security, and homelessness as a primarily structural issue characterised by ‘residential instability’. The first is the paucity of research on homeless women in their own right and the second the lack of studies which examine underlying reasons for residential instability from homeless women's own perspectives. An intensive, small sample interview study was carried out with 12 regular women users of a day centre for homeless people (Brighton, south of England). They were asked about their patterns of residence, reasons for moving, definitions of ‘house’, ‘home’, and ‘ideal home’, and they gave their housing histories in some detail. In a quantitative analysis, their patterns of moving and definitions of ‘home’ were compared to those of a group of securely housed women. Nu.
Warfarin‐associated multiple digital necrosis complicating heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia and Raynaud's phenomenon after aortic valve replacement for adenocarcinoma‐associated thrombotic endocarditis

Necrosis of the digits is a rare complication of warfarin therapy of obscure pathogenesis. We report a 61‐year‐old woman with a 12‐month history of Raynaud's phenomenon who developed multiple digital necrosis following aortic valve replacement with mechanical prosthesis for aortic insufficiency caused by nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis. Exacerbation of Raynaud's phenomenon occurred during the postoperative period, with daily episodes of ischemia of the fingers and toes that improved with local warming. However, coincident with the occurrence of immune heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia, and while undergoing routine warfarin anticoagulation because of the mechanical valve prosthesis, the patient abruptly developed progression of digital ischemia to multiple digital necrosis on postoperative day 8, at the time the international normalized ratio reached its peak value of 4.3. All limb pulses were readily palpable, and vascular imaging studies showed thrombosis only in the superficial femoral and popliteal veins of the right leg. Coagulation studies showed greatly elevated levels of thrombin–antithrombin complexes and prothrombin fragment F1.2 levels, consistent with uncontrolled thrombin generation. After vitamin K administration, no abnormalities of the protein C anticoagulant pathway were identified, consistent with previous studies of other patients with warfarin‐induced necrosis complicating heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia. Subsequently, the patient was shown to have metastatic breast adenocarcinoma, which explained the patient's initial presentation with nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis. This patient case suggests that multiple digital gangrene can result from the interaction of various localizing and systemic factors, including compromised microvascular blood flow (Raynaud's phenomenon), increased thrombin generation (heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia, adenocarcinoma), and warfarin‐induced failure of the protein C natural anticoagulant pathway. Am. J. Hematol. 75:56–62, 2004. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An Efficient Approach for the Design of Transparent Fuzzy Rule-Based Classifiers

In the last few years a number of studies have proposed algorithms that can obtain fuzzy systems which are simple and easy to read, while maintaining quite a high level of accuracy. Following this philosophy, the paper presents a simple, new approach based on Genetic Algorithms, with the aim of selecting the features and tuning the parameters of a fuzzy classification algorithm. From the results obtained by the optimized classifier a transparent, efficient fuzzy system is generated using simple heuristic methods. The main features of the approach are accuracy, scalability, adaptability and expandability. Comparative examples based on three data sets well known in the pattern classification field are given, showing that the approach leads to classifiers with a small number of transparent, readable rules, which are less complex than those reported in the literature with comparable or better accuracy.
abd-A Regulation by the iab-8 Noncoding RNA

The homeotic genes in Drosophila melanogaster are aligned on the chromosome in the order of the body segments that they affect. The genes affecting the more posterior segments repress the more anterior genes. This posterior dominance rule must be qualified in the case of abdominal-A (abd-A) repression by Abdominal-B (Abd-B). Animals lacking Abd-B show ectopic expression of abd-A in the epidermis of the eighth abdominal segment, but not in the central nervous system. Repression in these neuronal cells is accomplished by a 92 kb noncoding RNA. This “iab-8 RNA” produces a micro RNA to repress abd-A, but also has a second, redundant repression mechanism that acts only “in cis. ” Transcriptional interference with the abd-A promoter is the most likely mechanism.
Carbenoxolone Exerts Neuroprotection in an Animal Model of Parkinsonâ?Ts Disease Induced by Proteasome Inhibitor MG-132

Dysfunctions of ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS), intracellular protein degradation mechanism lead to the aggregation of aberrant proteins, which is a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Heat shock proteins (HSP) assist in refolding of misfolded proteins and in proper functioning of UPS. Thus, the neuroprotective potentials of carbenoxolone (Cbx), a HSP inducer were evaluated in a PD model generated by a single intranigral injection of a proteasome inhibitor MG-132 into rat brains. Cbx (20 mg/kg body weight) was given as post-treatment for 12 days. MG-132 destroyed dopaminergic neurons causing loss of dopamine and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) that resulted in impaired motor functions. Elevations in the markers of oxidative stress like LPO (Lipid peroxidation), protein carbonyl, NO (Nitric oxide) and citrulline was also observed in MG-132 treated animals. However, induction of HSP-70 by Cbx helped to combat the toxicity caused by proteasome inhibition. Reduction in oxidative stress was also observed after Cbx co-treatment which helped in preventing neuronal cell death. As a result, improvements in the dopamine levels and associated motor functions were also observed. Thus, all the assessed parameters provide the clear evidence that Cbx is a potential neuroprotector for PD.
Perception de la verticale avec un cadre visuel solidaire de la tête : implications pour l'utilisation des visiocasques

Les travaux presentes visent a determiner comment la presence de references visuelles fixes dans le referentiel de la tete peut influencer la perception de l’orientation spatiale. Une premiere experience etudie l’influence d’un cadre visuel cephalocentre sur la verticale subjective, lors d’inclinaison de la tete. Une seconde experience s’interesse aux effets d’un tel cadre visuel sur la verticale subjective et sur la performance dans une tâche de reorientation de la tete lors d’inclinaisons du corps entier. Les deux etudes mettent l’accent sur le role fondamental du referentiel cephalocentre dans le traitement des informations visuelles pour la perception de l’orientation spatiale. Elles suggerent qu’un cadre visuel cephalocentre tel qu’on peut le trouver dans un visiocasque peut contribuer a desorienter l’utilisateur, en particulier dans les environnements de realite augmentee.
Healthy lifestyle: even if you are doing everything right, extra weight carries an excess risk of acute coronary events.

Epidemiological, metabolic, and clinical studies conducted over the last few decades have identified important factors that contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Accordingly, several modifiable (smoking, blood pressure, lipid/lipoprotein and glucose levels, diabetes mellitus, poor diet, lack of physical activity/exercise, obesity, and psychosocial factors) and nonmodifiable (age, gender, and genetic predisposition) CVD risk factors are now recognized in contemporary clinical practice.1 The health hazards of obesity have been recognized for centuries,2 and in 1998, obesity was reported as a major modifiable risk factor for CVD by the American Heart Association.3 Article p 3062 In this issue of Circulation , Jensen et al4 report an analysis of the associations of obesity (defined by body mass index [BMI]) in combination with physical activity, smoking, and a Mediterranean diet with the risk of acute coronary syndrome (ACS; defined as unstable angina pectoris and nonfatal and fatal acute myocardial infarction) in a prospective, population-based study of 54 783 middle-aged men and women. The investigators found that the association between BMI and ACS was strong and graded, and the absolute risk was substantially higher among men. Behavioral risk factors such as smoking, relative physical inactivity, low adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and having the lowest alcohol intake were all associated with a higher risk of ACS. Of importance, BMI was associated with risk of ACS at all levels of classic behavioral lifestyle risk factors: physical inactivity, smoking, and unhealthy diet. These findings suggest that obesity is important even in subjects who adhere to an otherwise healthy lifestyle. In the present study, adiposity status was assessed by BMI, and physical activity was self-reported. Although this prospective study used validated end points, one must consider that assessments of adiposity and physical activity may have introduced biases, which are probably overcome by …
Do Contingencies with Tutor Behaviour Influence Song Learning in Zebra Finches

Social interaction with a song tutor is often found to be important for the song learning process in songbirds, but the mechanism is still unclear. The main aim of this study is to find indications for contingencies between singing and interactive behaviours, between and within tutors and tutees, which might influence the song learning process of zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). To this end we observed the interactions of eleven juvenile zebra finch males with their fathers (the tutors) and their mothers during the sensitive phase for song learning, and examined four different types of possible contingencies. The evidence for these contingencies was not very strong: (1) We found some weak indications that a tutee can anticipate tutor song by preceding tutor behaviour. There were no indications that (2) tutor song is contingent upon subsequent behaviour of the tutor, that (3) juvenile males can control singing of their tutor by preceding operant social behaviour, or that (4) social behaviour of the tutor reinforces singing of the tutee. We found some indications that the juvenile males attend actively to the tutor song. Furthermore, we found that the juvenile males maintained more mutual interactions with their father than with their mother. In general, we did not find any clear relationship between aspects of social interaction and song copying in zebra finches.
Parallel ON and OFF Cone Bipolar Inputs Establish Spatially Coextensive Receptive Field Structure of Blue-Yellow Ganglion Cells in Primate Retina

In the primate retina the small bistratified, “blue-yellow” color-opponent ganglion cell receives parallel ON-depolarizing and OFF-hyperpolarizing inputs from short (S)-wavelength sensitive and combined long (L)- and middle (M)-wavelength sensitive cone photoreceptors, respectively. However, the synaptic pathways that create S versus LM cone-opponent receptive field structure remain controversial. Here, we show in the macaque monkey retina in vitro that at photopic light levels, when an identified rod input is excluded, the small bistratified cell displays a spatially coextensive receptive field in which the S-ON-input is in spatial, temporal, and chromatic balance with the LM-OFF-input. ON pathway block with l-AP-4, the mGluR6 receptor agonist, abolished the S-ON response but spared the LM-OFF response. The isolated LM component showed a center-surround receptive field structure consistent with an input from OFF-center, ON-surround “diffuse” cone bipolar cells. Increasing retinal buffering capacity with HEPES attenuated the LM-ON surround component, consistent with a non-GABAergic outer retina feedback mechanism for the bipolar surround. The GABAa/c receptor antagonist picrotoxin and the glycine receptor antagonist strychnine did not affect chromatic balance or the basic coextensive receptive field structure, suggesting that the LM-OFF field is not generated by an inner retinal inhibitory pathway. We conclude that the opponent S-ON and LM-OFF responses originate from the excitatory receptive field centers of S-ON and LM-OFF cone bipolar cells, and that the LM-OFF- and ON-surrounds of these parallel bipolar inputs largely cancel, explaining the small, spatially coextensive but spectrally antagonistic receptive field structure of the blue-ON ganglion cell.
Dynamic Portfolio Choice under Model Uncertainty

This paper studies the effect of uncertainty about stochastic diffusion model on dynamic portfolio choice of an investor who maximizes utility of terminal portfolio wealth. It applies stochastic control method to obtain the closed-form solution of optimal dynamic portfolio, and uses the Bayesian rule to estimate the model parameters to do an empirical study on two different samples of Shanghai Exchange Composite Index. Results show, model uncertainty results in positive or negative hedging demand of portfolio, which depends on investor’s attitude toward risk; the effect of model uncertainty is more significant with the increasing of investment horizon, the decreasing of investor’s risk-aversion degree, and the decreasing of information; return’s predictability enhances the effect of model uncertainty.