Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tauroursodeoxycholic Acid Improves the Survival and Function of Nigral Transplants in a Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease

There is accumulating evidence showing that the majority of cell death in neural grafts results from apoptosis when cells are implanted into the brain. Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), a taurine-conjugated hydrophilic bile acid, has been found to possess antiapoptotic properties. In the present study we have examined whether the supplementation of TUDCA to cell suspensions prior to transplantation can lead to enhanced survival of nigral grafts. We first conducted an in vitro study to examine the effects of TUDCA on the survival of dopamine neurons in serum-free conditions. The number of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons in the TUDCA-treated cultures was significantly greater than that of control cultures 7 days in vitro. In addition, a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay showed that the number of apoptotic cells in the TUDCA-treated cultures was dramatically smaller than that in the control cultures. In the transplantation study, a 50 μM concentration of TUDCA was added to the media when nigral tissue from Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats was trypsinized and dissociated. Two microliters of cell suspension containing TUDCA was then stereotaxically injected into the striatum of adult SD rats subjected to an extensive unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesion of the nigrastriatal dopamine pathway. At 2 weeks after transplantation, the rats that received a cell suspension with TUDCA exhibited a significant reduction in amphetamine-induced rotation scores when compared with pretransplantation value. There was a significant increase (approximately threefold) in the number of TH-positive cells in the neural grafts for the TUDCA-treated group when compared with the controls 6 weeks postgrafting. The number of apoptotic cells was much smaller in the graft areas in the TUDCA-treated groups than in the control group 4 days after transplantation. These data demonstrate that pretreatment of the cell suspension with TUDCA can reduce apoptosis and increase the survival of grafted cells, resulting in an improvement of behavioral recovery.
Developing an h-index for OSS developers

The public data available in Open Source Software (OSS) repositories has been used for many practical reasons: detecting community structures; identifying key roles among developers; understanding software quality; predicting the arousal of bugs in large OSS systems, and so on; but also to formulate and validate new metrics and proof-of-concepts on general, non-OSS specific, software engineering aspects. One of the results that has not emerged yet from the analysis of OSS repositories is how to help the “career advancement” of developers: given the available data on products and processes used in OSS development, it should be possible to produce measurements to identify and describe a developer, that could be used externally as a measure of recognition and experience. This paper builds on top of the h-index, used in academic contexts, and which is used to determine the recognition of a researcher among her peers. By creating similar indices for OSS (or any) developers, this work could help defining a baseline for measuring and comparing the contributions of OSS developers in an objective, open and reproducible way.
Predicting postfire sediment yields at the hillslope scale: Testing RUSLE and Disturbed WEPP

High‐severity wildfires can increase hillslope‐scale sediment yields by several orders of magnitude. Accurate predictions of postfire sediment yields are needed to guide management decisions and assess the potential impact of soil loss on site productivity and downstream aquatic resources. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and Disturbed WEPP are the most commonly used models to predict postfire sediment yields at the hillslope scale, but neither model has been extensively tested against field data. The objectives of this paper are to (1) compare predicted sediment yields from RUSLE and Disturbed WEPP against 252 plot years of data from nine fires in the Colorado Front Range; and (2) suggest how each model might be improved. Predicted and measured sediment yields were poorly correlated for RUSLE (R2 = 0.16) and only slightly better correlated for Disturbed WEPP (R2 = 0.25). Both models tended to over‐predict sediment yields when the measured values were less than 1 Mg ha−1 yr−1 and to under‐predict higher sediment yields. Model accuracy was not improved by increasing the soil erodibility (K) factor in RUSLE and was only slightly improved by slowing the vegetative recovery sequence in Disturbed WEPP. Both models much more accurately predicted the mean sediment yields for hillslopes grouped by fire and severity (R2 = 0.54 to 0.66) than for individual plots. The performance of RUSLE could be improved by incorporating an erosivity threshold and a nonlinear relationship between rainfall erosivity and sediment yields. The performance of WEPP could be improved by reducing the effective hydraulic conductivity in sites that have recently burned at high severity. The results suggest that neither model can fully capture the complexity of the different controlling factors and the resultant plot‐scale variability in sediment yields.
Self-Management for Unified Heterogeneous Radio Access Networks

The development of self-management solutions for (multi-technology, multi-layer) mobile communication networks is driven by their increasing operational complexity. Initial stand-alone SON (Self-Organizing Networks) solutions are already available, but are not sufficient to handle the networks of tomorrow. In this paper we present our approach at developing a unified management framework that integrates the existing and future advanced SON functions across several radio access technologies. The envisioned self-management system comprises (i) an integrated SON management system, in charge of policy transformation/supervision and conflict detection/handling; (ii) advanced multi-RAT/layer SON functions; and (iii) a Decision Support System providing measurement-based assistance for residual operational tasks, such as timely recommendations for targeted new site deployments.
Developing Performance-Portable Molecular Dynamics Kernels in OpenCL

This paper investigates the development of a molecular dynamics code that is highly portable between architectures. Using OpenCL, we develop an implementation of Sandia's miniMD benchmark that achieves good levels of performance across a wide range of hardware: CPUs, discrete GPUs and integrated GPUs. We demonstrate that the performance bottlenecks of miniMD's short-range force calculation kernel are the same across these architectures, and detail a number of platform-agnostic optimisations that improve its performance by at least 2x on all hardware considered. Our complete code is shown to be 1.7x faster than the original miniMD, and at most 2x slower than implementations individually hand-tuned for a specific architecture.
Retrieving leaf chlorophyll content in wheat and corn using Landsat-8 imagery

The purpose of this study is to develop a method of modeling crop leaf chlorophyll content (Chlab) using remote sensing data with a physically-based modelling approach. During the 2013 growing season, ground data were collected at 28 corn and wheat sites near Stratford, Ontario. Effective leaf area index, hyperspectral leaf reflectance and transmittance, and chemically extracted Chlab were acquired at each site. A two-step inversion process was developed to model crop Chlab using Landsat-8. In this process, a look-up-table (LUT) was developed using SAIL, a bidirectional radiative-transfer model, to simulate canopy reflectance. The LUT was then utilized to calculate leaf-level reflectance and input into PROSPECT, a leaf-level radiative transfer model, to estimate Chlab. Validation of PROSPECT with ground-based Chlab using simulated Landsat-8 bands shows an R2= 0.83 and RMSE=8.48 μg/cm2. Validation using the LUT shows an R2=0.64 at the leaf level and R2= 0.87 at the canopy level.
Atomic and electronic structure transformations of silver nanoparticles under rapid cooling conditions

The structural evolution and dynamics of silver nanodrops Ag2869 (4.4 nm in diameter) under rapid cooling conditions have been studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations and electronic density of state calculations. The interaction of silver atoms is modelled by a tight-binding semiempirical interatomic potential proposed by Cleri and Rosato. The pair correlation functions and the pair analysis technique are used to reveal the structural transition in the process of solidification. It is shown that Ag nanoparticles evolve into different nanostructures under different cooling processes. At a cooling rate of 1.5625 × 1013 K s−1 the nanoparticles preserve an amorphous-like structure containing a large amount of 1551 and 1541 pairs which correspond to icosahedral symmetry. For a lower cooling rate (1.5625 × 1012 K s−1), the nanoparticles transform into a crystal-like structure consisting mainly of 1421 and 1422 pairs which correspond to the face centred cubic and hexagonal close packed structures, respectively. The variations of the electronic density of states for the differently cooled nanoparticles are small, but in correspondence with the structural changes.
Plant form and function from an ecohydrological perspective in the Australian arid zone, with reference to mine-site rehabilitation

In the Great Sandy Desert, use of summer precipitation pulses does not necessarily lead to aboveground growth. Highly unpredictable rainfall frequency appears to favour perennial vegetation with low productivity rather than supporting an increase in foliage of deciduous species, annuals and forbs. Leaf area indices (LAI) were low by global comparisons. Site LAI was positively correlated with plant-available water (PAW), and was largely influenced by increases in Triodia hummock grasses. Soils with greater sand contents had a higher saturated hydraulic conductivity and supported a greater proportion of plants of higher stature than clay soils. These findings are in agreement with existing models, where coarse-textured soils with high drainage favour taller, deeper-rooted species like woody shrubs and finer-textured soils with greater water retention favour shallow-rooted species like grasses. Specific leaf areas were 62% and 70% lower than average values for the Australian continent and global averages. Specific leaf area increased with decreasing leaf size, indicative of the two traits as alternative means of reducing thermal stress. Specific leaf area was most strongly correlated with soil water content in the dry season, indicating that dry-season conditions (rather than favourable wet-season conditions) influence leaf morphology. The data suggests that soil hydraulic properties are important in the selection of plant species in a Great Sandy Desert environment, Western Australia.
Effect of antiadhesive agents on peritoneal carcinomatosis in an experimental model

Auto‐crosslinked polysaccharide hyaluronan‐based solution (Hyalobarrier®‐gel) prevents postoperative adhesions. However, its effect on tumour growth is still unknown. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the impact on survival of intra‐abdominally administered Hyalobarrier®‐gel, native hyaluronan (HA) and hyaluronan/carboxymethylcellulose (HA/CMC), after intraperitoneal tumour implantation.
Formal Systems for Tuple and Equality Generating Dependencies

We develop several formal systems for tuple and equality generating dependencies. There are three kinds of systems, based upon substitution, tuple elimination and transitivity. We specialize our systems to several subclasses: total dependencies, template dependencies and binary dependencies. We also show that finding a formal system for embedded multivalued dependencies is equivalent to solving the implication problem for that class.
The arylsulphatase A gene and molecular genetics of metachromatic leucodystrophy.

The lysosomal storage disorders share one common characteristic: the accumulation of a par-ticular substrate inside the lysosome. Each disorder in this group is caused either by the deficiency of a lysosomal enzyme responsible for one step of the degradation pathway of a substrate, lack of a transporter involved in the movement of a small molecule across the lysosomal membrane, or absence of a low molecular weight activator protein required for in vivo hydrolysis of a sphingolipid. There are now more than 30 lysosomal storage diseases where the biochemical defect is well known and fully characterised. In this group, metachromatic leucodystrophy (MLD) is an autosomal recessive disorder that has been ex-tensively studied over the past few decades. ' The overall incidence of MLD is estimated to be 1:40 0002 and the enzymatic defect associated with this disease was discovered in the 1960s. More recently, the molecular biology of MLD has been elucidated, adding to the well established biochemical knowledge. Systematic mutation analyses have been carried out in an attempt to establish genotype-phenotype relationships. A clear understanding ofthe molecular basis of this disease will be helpful in the genetic counselling of affected families.
Resistant mutants of Mycobacterium tuberculosis selected in vitro do not reflect the in vivo mechanism of isoniazid resistance

Objectives The high prevalence of isoniazid-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis is often explained by a high mutation rate for this trait, although detailed information to support this theory is absent. We studied the development of isoniazid resistance in vitro, making use of a laboratory strain of M. tuberculosis. Methods Spontaneous isoniazid-resistant mutants were characterized by molecular methods allowing identification of the most commonly encountered resistance-conferring mutations. Additionally, we determined the in vitro mutation rates for isoniazid and rifampicin resistance, and characterized the genome of a triple-resistant strain. Results Results confirm that the in vitro mutation rate for isoniazid resistance (3.2 × 10−7 mutations/cell division) is much higher than the rate for rifampicin resistance (9.8 × 10−9 mutations/cell division). However, in the majority of the in vitro mutants katG was partially or completely deleted and neither of the two most common in vivo mutations, katG-S315T or inhA-C(-)15T, were found in 120 isogenic mutants. This implies that clinically prevalent resistance mutations were present in <0.8% of isoniazid-resistant strains selected in vitro (95% CI 0%–2.5%). The triple-resistant strain had acquired isoniazid resistance via a 49 kbp deletion, which included katG. Apart from previously identified resistance-conferring mutations, three additional point mutations were acquired during sequential selection steps. Conclusions These outcomes demonstrate that the in vivo mechanism of isoniazid resistance is not reflected by in vitro experiments. We therefore conclude that the high in vitro mutation rate for isoniazid resistance is not a satisfactory explanation for the fact that isoniazid monoresistance is significantly more widespread than monoresistance to rifampicin.
Episodic Exposure to Fine Particulate Air Pollution Decreases Circulating Levels of Endothelial Progenitor Cells

Rationale: Acute and chronic exposures to airborne particulate matter (PM) have been linked in epidemiological studies to a wide spectrum of cardiovascular disorders that are characterized by a dysfunctional endothelium. The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying these associations are unclear. Objective: To examine whether exposure to fine PM with an aerodynamic diameter of <2.5 &mgr;m (PM2.5) affects the circulating levels of endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) populations, systemic inflammation and coagulation. Methods and Results: Phenotypically distinct EPC populations were quantified by flow cytometry in young (18 to 25 years) adult humans exposed to episodic increases in PM2.5 along the Wasatch Mountain Front in Utah. In addition, Sca-1+/Flk-1+ cells were measured in the peripheral blood of mice exposed to concentrated particles from ambient air in Louisville, Ky. In both studies, PM exposure was negatively correlated with circulating EPC levels. In humans, statistically significant associations between PM2.5 exposure and the plasma levels of platelet–monocyte aggregates, high-density lipoprotein, and nonalbumin protein were also observed. Episodic increases in PM2.5 did not change plasma levels of C-reactive protein, interleukin-1&bgr;, interleukin-6, fibrinogen, or serum amyloid A. Conclusions: Episodic exposure to PM2.5 induces reversible vascular injury, reflected in part by depletion of circulating EPC levels, and increases in platelet activation and the plasma level of high-density lipoprotein. These changes were also accompanied by an increase in nonalbumin protein and may be related to mechanisms by which exposure to particulate air pollution increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and adverse cardiovascular events.
Architecture and Physical Implementation of Reconfigurable Multi-Port Physical Unclonable Functions in 65 nm CMOS

SUMMARY In modern cryptographic systems, physical unclonable functions (PUFs) are efficient mechanisms for many security applications, which extract intrinsic random physical variations to generate secret keys. The classical PUFs mainly exhibit static challenge-response behaviors and generate static keys, while many practical cryptographic systems need reconfigurable PUFs which allow dynamic keys derived from the same circuit. In this paper, the concept of reconfigurable multi-port PUFs (RMPUFs) is proposed. RM-PUFs not only allow updating the keys without physically replacement, but also generate multiple keys from different ports in one clock cycle. A practical RM-PUFs construction is designed based on asynchronous clock and fabricated in TSMC low-power 65 nm CMOS process. The area of test chip is 1.1 mm 2 , and the maximum clock frequency is 0.8 GHz at 1.2 V. The average power consumption is 27.6 mW at 27 ◦ C. Finally, test results show that the RM-PUFs generate four reconfigurable 128-bit secret keys, and the keys are secure and reliable over a range of
Analysis and Improvement Wireless Network of LEACH Based on Energy

Using energy efficient way transmission is very important for extend the life of the sensor network. LEACH is a based on cluster protocol, it uses the local cluster random rotation mechanism will be the energy load is evenly distributed to all sensor nodes in the network. The cluster head will be collected and fusion data for base station. This paper proposes an improved scheme, using the random clusters algorithm for sensor node in the network into clusters, clusters of process thinking of sensor nodes remaining energy and the distance between the cluster and the cluster head nodes. By analyzing and simulating results that the new algorithm is more effective than LEACH by energy and send more data.
The Study to Understand Mortality and Morbidity in COPD (SUMMIT) study protocol

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often coexists with other chronic diseases and comorbidities that can markedly influence patients' health status and prognosis. This is particularly true for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, there have been no trials assessing the effect of COPD medications on CVD in patients with both diseases. The “Study to Understand Mortality and Morbidity in COPD” (SUMMIT) aims at determining the impact of fluticasone furoate/vilanterol combination and the individual components on the survival of patients with moderate COPD and either a history of CVD or at increased risk for CVD. SUMMIT is a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial of 16 000 patients with moderate COPD randomly assigned to once daily treatment with fluticasone furoate/vilanterol (100/25 &mgr;g), fluticasone furoate (100 &mgr;g), vilanterol (25 &mgr;g) or matched placebo; mortality is the primary end-point. The study is an event-driven trial powered by the comparison of furoate/vilanterol versus placebo. Secondary end-points are decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 s and effect on a composite cardiovascular end-point. This article describes the design of the SUMMIT study.
MicroRNAs in Kidney Fibrosis and Diabetic Nephropathy: Roles on EMT and EndMT

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of small, noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression in diverse biological and pathological processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and carcinogenesis. As a result, miRNAs emerged as major area of biomedical research with relevance to kidney fibrosis. Fibrosis is characterized by the excess deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) components, which is the end result of an imbalance of metabolism of the ECM molecule. Recent evidence suggests that miRNAs participate in the fibrotic process in a number of organs including the heart, kidney, liver, and lung. Epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) and endothelial mesenchymal transition (EndMT) programs play vital roles in the development of fibrosis in the kidney. A growing number of the extracellular and intracellular molecules that control EMT and EndMT have been identified and could be exploited in developing therapeutics for fibrosis. This review highlights recent advances on the role of miRNAs in the kidney diseases; diabetic nephropathy especially focused on EMT and EndMT program responsible for the development of kidney fibrosis. These miRNAs can be utilized as a potential novel drug target for the studying of underlying mechanism and treatment of kidney fibrosis.
Changes in alcohol drinking patterns and their consequences among Norwegian doctors from 2000 to 2010: a longitudinal study based on national samples.

AIMS To describe changes in the patterns and consequences of alcohol use among Norwegian doctors from 2000 to 2010. METHODS Longitudinal study based on data from nation-wide postal surveys in 2000 and 2010 among a representative sample of 682 doctors in Norway. The Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) was used to measure the changes in drinking patterns (frequency of drinking, frequency of heavy drinking and quantity of drinking), symptoms of alcohol dependence and adverse consequences of drinking. A score above 8 was defined as hazardous drinking. RESULTS From 2000 to 2010, the proportion of doctors who used alcohol twice a week or more significantly increased from 31.4 (27.9-34.9) % to 48.7 (44.9-48.7) %, and the proportion of those who drank to intoxication weekly or more decreased significantly from 6.6 (4.7-8.6) % to 2.5 (1.3-1.7) %. The proportion who scored above 8 on the AUDIT decreased from 10.7 (8.4-13.0) % in 2000 to 8.2 (6.2-10.3) % in 2010. There was a significant increase in the partial AUDIT-score for drinking patterns (t = 2.4; P = 0.016), and a significant decrease in the partial AUDIT-score for adverse consequences of drinking (t = -3.6; P < 0.001). The partial AUDIT-score for symptoms of alcohol dependence did not change significantly (t = -1.6; P = 0.112). There were gender differences in drinking patterns. Females had less frequent alcohol consumption and fewer episodes of heavy and hazardous drinking in 2000 and 2010. CONCLUSION The drinking pattern of Norwegian doctors has changed over the past decade towards more moderate alcohol consumption and less negative alcohol-related consequences. Changes in the attitude towards alcohol consumption may to a certain extent explain these findings.