Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Feeding Kinematics, Suction, and Hydraulic Jetting Performance of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina)

The feeding kinematics, suction and hydraulic jetting capabilities of captive harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) were characterized during controlled feeding trials. Feeding trials were conducted using a feeding apparatus that allowed a choice between biting and suction, but also presented food that could be ingested only by suction. Subambient pressure exerted during suction feeding behaviors was directly measured using pressure transducers. The mean feeding cycle duration for suction-feeding events was significantly shorter (0.15±0.09 s; P<0.01) than biting feeding events (0.18±0.08 s). Subjects feeding in-water used both a suction and a biting feeding mode. Suction was the favored feeding mode (84% of all feeding events) compared to biting, but biting comprised 16% of feeding events. In addition, seals occasionally alternated suction with hydraulic jetting, or used hydraulic jetting independently, to remove fish from the apparatus. Suction and biting feeding modes were kinematically distinct regardless of feeding location (in-water vs. on-land). Suction was characterized by a significantly smaller gape (1.3±0.23 cm; P<0.001) and gape angle (12.9±2.02°), pursing of the rostral lips to form a circular aperture, and pursing of the lateral lips to occlude lateral gape. Biting was characterized by a large gape (3.63±0.21 cm) and gape angle (28.8±1.80°; P<0.001) and lip curling to expose teeth. The maximum subambient pressure recorded was 48.8 kPa. In addition, harbor seals were able to jet water at food items using suprambient pressure, also known as hydraulic jetting. The maximum hydraulic jetting force recorded was 53.9 kPa. Suction and hydraulic jetting where employed 90.5% and 9.5%, respectively, during underwater feeding events. Harbor seals displayed a wide repertoire of behaviorally flexible feeding strategies to ingest fish from the feeding apparatus. Such flexibility of feeding strategies and biomechanics likely forms the basis of their opportunistic, generalized feeding ecology and concomitant breadth of diet.
Characterization of a Novel, Water-Soluble Hydrogen Sulfide–Releasing Molecule (GYY4137): New Insights Into the Biology of Hydrogen Sulfide

Background— The potential biological significance of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has attracted growing interest in recent years. The aim of this study was to characterize a novel, water-soluble, slow-releasing H2S compound [morpholin-4-ium 4 methoxyphenyl(morpholino) phosphinodithioate (GYY4137)] and evaluate its use as a tool to investigate the cardiovascular biology of this gas. Methods and Results— The acute vasorelaxant effect of drugs was assessed in rat aortic rings and perfused rat kidney in vitro and in the anesthetized rat in vivo. The chronic effect of GYY4137 on blood pressure in normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats was determined by tail-cuff plethysmography. GYY4137 released H2S slowly both in aqueous solution in vitro and after intravenous or intraperitoneal administration in anesthetized rats in vivo. GYY4137 caused a slow relaxation of rat aortic rings and dilated the perfused rat renal vasculature by opening vascular smooth muscle KATP channels. GYY4137 did not affect rat heart rate or force of contraction in vitro. GYY4137 exhibited antihypertensive activity as evidenced by ability to reduce NG-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester–evoked hypertension in the anesthetized rat and after chronic (14-day) administration in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Conclusions— These results identify GYY4137 as a slow-releasing H2S compound with vasodilator and antihypertensive activity. GYY4137 is likely to prove useful in the study of the many and varied biological effects of H2S. GYY4137 may also prove of therapeutic value in cardiovascular disease.
Microenvironmental regulation of the sinusoidal endothelial cell phenotype in vitro

Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) differ, both structurally and functionally, from endothelial cells (ECs) lining blood vessels of other tissues. For example, in contrast to other ECs, LSECs possess fenestrations, have low detectable levels of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 expression, and in rat tissue, they distinctively express a cell surface marker recognized by the SE‐1 antibody. These unique phenotypic characteristics seen in hepatic tissue are lost over time upon culture in vitro; therefore, this study sought to systematically examine the effects of microenvironmental stimuli—namely, extracellular matrix and neighboring cells, on the LSEC phenotype in vitro. In probing the role of the underlying extracellular matrix, we identified collagen I and collagen III as well as mixtures of collagen I/collagen IV/fibronectin as having a positive effect on LSEC survival. Furthermore, using a stable hepatocellular model (hepatocyte–fibroblast) we were able to prolong the expression of both SE‐1 and phenotypic functions of LSEC such as factor VIII activity and AcLOL uptake in cocultured LSECs through the production of short‐range paracrine signals. In the course of these experiments, we identified the antigen recognized by SE‐1 as CD32b. Conclusion: Collectively, this study has identified several microenvironmental regulators of liver sinusoidal endothelial cells that prolong their phenotypic functions for up to 2 weeks in culture, enabling the development of better in vitro models of liver physiology and disease. (HEPATOLOGY 2009.)
Infrared spectroscopy of the largest known trans-neptunian object 2001 KX76

We report complete near-infrared (0.9-2.4 $\mu$m) spectral observations of the largest know trans-neptunian objects (TNO) 28976 = 2001 KX$_{76}$ taken in two different nights using the new Near Infrared Camera Spectrometer (NICS) attached to the 3.56m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG). The spectra are featureless and correspond to a neutral colored object. Our observations indicate that the surface of 2001 KX$_{76}$ is probably highly evolved due to long term irradiation, and that collisional resurfacing processes have not played an important role in its evolution.
A comparative study of the use of the generalized hold function for HDDs

This work is concerned with the application of H/sub /spl infin// control with the generalized hold function (GHF) to track-following control of hard disk drives (HDDs). In HDDs, the sampling frequency is limited primarily by the fact that a high sampling frequency tends to decrease the available data storage capacity of the devices, since the position error signal (PES) must be stored on the disk. Under such conditions, GHF provides a possible way to enhance servo performance without requiring more PES data. We investigate its possibility, comparing the results with other conventional H/sub /spl infin// control design results, including continuous/discrete-time and single/multirate control. Our results show that this controller has better performance due to the nature of the control input of the GHF.
Do Ponds Cause Arsenic-Pollution of Groundwater in the Bengal Basin ? An Answer from West Bengal

S . S E N G U P T A , † J . M . M C A R T H U R , * , ‡ A . S A R K A R , † M . J . L E N G , § P . R A V E N S C R O F T , | , # R . J . H O W A R T H , ‡ A N D D . M . B A N E R J E E ⊥ Department of Geology and Geophysics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal 721 302, India, Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K., NERC Isotope Geoscience Laboratory, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, U.K. and School of Geography, University of Nottingham, NG7 2RD, U.K., Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge CB2 3EN, U.K., and Department of Geology, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007, India
Synchronous shared experience: Architecture for synchronization support

In the era of distributed computing, different components of distributed application need to be synchronized. For instance, two users watching a football match at geographically distinct location require synchronous multimedia display on their screens for synchronous shared experience. Inter-destination Synchronization (IDS) mechanism is a fundamental requirement for synchronous shared experience. Existing IDS mechanisms work well with stream-based media when users have similar computing and network resources. However, in situations where users have varied resources they do not work well. Document-based media provides functionality of alternative content selection on the basis of available resources. This makes document-based media a potential solution for IDS, when users of synchronous shared experience have varied network and computing resources. This paper investigates IDS techniques for stream-based media and adapts them to work with document-based media. We present design and implementation of a scalable and efficient architecture which provides synchronization support to the users of synchronous shared experience. We present implementation and evaluation of a specific techniques, with encouraging results.
Some new lower bounds for the minimum eigenvalue of the Hadamard product of an M-matrix and its inverse.

Abstract. For the Hadamard product A ◦ A of an M -matrix A and its inverse A, some new lower bounds for the minimum eigenvalue of A ◦ A are given. These bounds improve the results of [H.B. Li, T.Z. Huang, S.Q. Shen, and H. Li. Lower bounds for the minimum eigenvalue of Hadamard product of an M -matrix and its inverse. Linear Algebra Appl. , 420:235-247, 2007] and [Y.T. Li, F.B. Chen, and D.F. Wang. New lower bounds on eigenvalue of the Hadamard product of an M -matrix and its inverse. Linear Algebra Appl. , 430:1423-1431, 2009].
Stromal cell derived factor-1 (CXCL12) chemokine gene variant in myeloid leukemias.

BACKGROUND Acute and chronic myeloid leukemia are initiated and sustained by a small, self-renewing population of leukemic stem cells, which produce progeny of a heterogeneous population of progenitor cells. CXCL12, a chemokine abundantly produced by the bone marrow microenvironment, and its receptor CXCR4 have crucial roles in malignant cell trafficking. We set out to determine the CXCL12 gene polymorphism at codon G801A and evaluate its influence on malignant cell dissemination and tissue infiltration in myeloid leukemias. METHODS Genotyping for CXCL12 was done by restriction PCR-RFLP for 48 myeloid leukemia patients: 38 de novo AML and 10 CML. Fifty age and gender matched volunteers were evaluated as controls. RESULTS Regarding AML patients, the frequency of wild genotype was 50% and the heterozygous genotype was 50%. In CML patients, the frequency of wild genotype was 30% while the heterozygous genotype was 70%. In the control group, 57.2% had wild genotype while 42.8% had heterozygous genotype with no significant difference detected between myeloid leukemia patients and the control group. There was a statistically insignificant association between wild and heterozygous genotypes regarding clinical, laboratory data and extramedullary dissemination. CONCLUSIONS CXCL12 polymorphism is not associated with either increased myeloid leukemia risk or extramedullary blast dissemination.
Hypotensive, hypoglycaemic and antioxidant effects of consuming a cocoa product in moderately hypercholesterolemic humans.

OBJECTIVE The health benefits of dietary fiber and polyphenols in reducing cardiovascular risk have been evidenced. Cocoa husks are a good source of both components and a considerable by-product. A cocoa product rich in cocoa fiber (CP) has been produced from cocoa husks and this study assessed whether its regular consumption may be a strategy to improve lipid profile, serum glucose and antioxidant activity as well as blood pressure in moderately hypercholesterolemic subjects. METHODS In this free-living, non-controlled, non-randomized, two-month-long, open intervention trial. 21 volunteers consumed daily two servings of CP, which provided 12 g of dietary fiber and 283 mg of soluble polyphenols. Subjects were moderately hypercholesterolemic (>200 mg dl(-1)), non-vegetarian, non-smoker, women and men between 18 and 45 years old, with a body mass index under 30 kg m(-2), not suffering from any other chronic pathology. Blood samples were drawn and anthropometric measurements, systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressures were evaluated at the baseline, and at weeks 2, 4, and 8. Serum lipids, creatinine, uric acid, glucose, C-reactive protein, ferric reducing/antioxidant power and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were analyzed. RESULTS Glucose (p = 0.019), SBP (p = 0.001), DBP (p = 0.001) and MDA (p = 0.036) decreased, HDL-cholesterol slightly increased, whereas the rest of the parameters remained similar. CONCLUSIONS This preliminary study suggests that CP might be considered part of a dietary approach or a functional food or ingredient for the food industry to achieve hypotensive and hypoglycemic effects in moderately hypercholesterolemic subjects without inducing changes in body weight and waist circumference, although results should be confirmed in a longer, controlled human study.
Self-Awareness & Causal Attribution: A Dual Systems Theory

Preface. 1. Introduction & Overview. 2. Self & Self-Focused Attention. 3. Standards of Correctness. 4. Dynamics of the Comparison System. 5. Causal Attribution. 6. Intersecting the Comparison & Attribution Systems. 7. Evaluation & Behavior. 8. Dispositional Self-Awareness. 9. Effects of Self-Awareness on Affect. 10. Effects of Affect on Self-Awareness. 11. Evaluating Other Theories. References. Author Index. Subject Index.
Quasi-isometric rigidity for the solvable

Introduction Gromov's Polynomial Growth Theorem [Gro81] characterizes the class of virtually nilpotent groups by their asymptotic geometry. Since Gromov's theorem it has been a major open question (see, e.g. [GH91]) to find an appropriate generalization for solvable groups. This paper gives the first step in that direction. One fundamental class of examples of finitely-generated solvable groups which are not virtually nilpotent are the solvable Baumslag-Solitar groups BS(1, n) = a, b bab −1 = a n where n ≥ 2. Our main theorem characterizes the group BS(1, n) among all finitely-generated groups by its asymptotic geometry. Theorem A (Quasi-isometric rigidity). Let G be any finitely generated group. If G is quasi-isometric to BS(1, n) for some n ≥ 2, then there is a short exact sequence where N is finite and Γ is abstractly commensurable to BS(1, n). In fact we will describe the precise class of quotient groups Γ which can arise, and will classify all torsion-free G; see section 5 in the outline below. Theorem A complements the main theorem of [FM97], where it is shown that BS(1, n) is quasi-isometric to BS(1, m) if and only if they are abstractly 1 commensurable, which happens if and only if m, n are positive integer powers of the same positive integer. Theorem A says that every finitely generated group quasi-isometric to BS(1, n) can be obtained from BS(1, n) by first passing to some abstractly commensurable group and then to some finite extension. We describe this phenomenon by saying that the group BS(1, n) is quasi-isometrically rigid. This property is even stronger than what we know for nilpotent groups, for while Gromov's theorem says that the class of nilpotent groups is a quasi-isometrically rigid class, outside of a few low-dimensional cases it is not known whether an individual nilpotent group must always be quasi-isometrically rigid. Comparison with lattices Recent work on lattices in semisimple Lie groups has established the quasi-isometric classification of all such lattices. In the case of a nonuniform lattice Λ in a semisimple Lie group G = SL(2, R), quasi-isometric rigidity of Λ follows from the deep fact that the quasi-isometry group QI(Λ) is the commensurator group of Λ in G, a count-able group (see [Sch96b], [Sch96a], [FS96], [Esk96], or [Far96] for a survey). In contrast, for uniform lattices Λ in the isometry group of X = H n or CH n , the quasi-isometry group …
Measuring Distraction at the Levels of Tactical and Strategic Control: The Limits of Capacity-Based Measures for Revealing Unsafe Visual Sampling Models

The control theory of driving suggests that driver distraction can be analyzed as a breakdown of control at three levels. Common approach for analyzing distraction experimentally is to utilize capacity-based measures to assess distraction at the level of operational control. Three driving simulation experiments with 61 participants were organized to evaluate which kind of measures could be used to analyze drivers' tactical visual sampling models and the related effects of distraction while searching textual information on in-car display. The effects of two different text types were evaluated. The utilized capacity-based measures seemed to be insufficient for revealing participants' tactical behaviors or effects of text type. The measures of workload or performance did not indicate reliably the differences found between participants' visual sampling strategies or which text type is better for enabling safer task timing behaviors. Visual sampling measures did indicate effects of text type on participants' tactical abilities. Differences in participants' visual sampling strategies leading to different levels of systematicity in visual behaviors can explain the variances in visual sampling efficiency. Displays encouraging unsystematic glance allocation behaviors were found potentially the most distracting in relation to safe visual sampling of in-vehicle displays.
Effects of Ocean Acidification on Learning in Coral Reef Fishes

Ocean acidification has the potential to cause dramatic changes in marine ecosystems. Larval damselfish exposed to concentrations of CO2 predicted to occur in the mid- to late-century show maladaptive responses to predator cues. However, there is considerable variation both within and between species in CO2 effects, whereby some individuals are unaffected at particular CO2 concentrations while others show maladaptive responses to predator odour. Our goal was to test whether learning via chemical or visual information would be impaired by ocean acidification and ultimately, whether learning can mitigate the effects of ocean acidification by restoring the appropriate responses of prey to predators. Using two highly efficient and widespread mechanisms for predator learning, we compared the behaviour of pre-settlement damselfish Pomacentrus amboinensis that were exposed to 440 µatm CO2 (current day levels) or 850 µatm CO2, a concentration predicted to occur in the ocean before the end of this century. We found that, regardless of the method of learning, damselfish exposed to elevated CO2 failed to learn to respond appropriately to a common predator, the dottyback, Pseudochromis fuscus. To determine whether the lack of response was due to a failure in learning or rather a short-term shift in trade-offs preventing the fish from displaying overt antipredator responses, we conditioned 440 or 700 µatm-CO2 fish to learn to recognize a dottyback as a predator using injured conspecific cues, as in Experiment 1. When tested one day post-conditioning, CO2 exposed fish failed to respond to predator odour. When tested 5 days post-conditioning, CO2 exposed fish still failed to show an antipredator response to the dottyback odour, despite the fact that both control and CO2-treated fish responded to a general risk cue (injured conspecific cues). These results indicate that exposure to CO2 may alter the cognitive ability of juvenile fish and render learning ineffective.
COMMUNITY ASSOCIATED METHICILLINRESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS

Abstract Community associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is an emergent infectious pathogen that might become an important public-health problem. Indeed, unique strains of S. aureus that combine specific virulence factors with resistance against frequently used antibiotics have been associated with severe community acquired infections in otherwise healthy and often younger people. This is especially the case in the USA, were these strains now represent a major part of staphylococcal infections in the outpatient setting. But, severe infections with CA-MRSA strains have already been reported in Belgium as well. This article summarizes the current knowledge on CA-MRSA as an emergent pathogen and discusses its clinical management.
Lack of Association between Hsa-miR-149 rs2292832 Polymorphism and Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis of 12 Studies

Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) participate in various cellular processes such as cell growth, differentiation, cell death and play an important role in a variety of diseases, especially in cancer. Recently, a number of studies have investigated the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on the hsa-miR-149 rs2292832 and susceptibility to cancer; however, the results remain inconclusive. Methodology/Principal Findings We carried out a meta-analysis of 12 studies including 5937 cases and 6081 controls from PubMed to assess the association between the hsa-miR-149 rs2292832 and cancer risk by pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). However, our results showed that genotype distribution of the hsa-miR-149 rs2292832 was not associated with cancer risk in all genetic models. Subgroup analysis by cancer type, ethnicity or study design showed no significant association either. Conclusion Results of this meta-analysis suggest that the hsa-miR-149 rs2292832 polymorphism is not associated with cancer risk in spite of the potentially protective role of C allele in hepatocellular carcinoma and male gastric cancer.
Pilates in heart failure patients: a randomized controlled pilot trial.

BACKGROUND Conventional cardiac rehabilitation program consist of 15 min of warm-up, 30 min of aerobic exercise and followed by 15 min calisthenics exercise. The Pilates method has been increasingly applied for its therapeutic benefits, however little scientific evidence supports or rebukes its use as a treatment in patients with heart failure (HF). PURPOSE Investigate the effects of Pilates on exercise capacity variables in HF. METHODS Sixteen pts with HF, left ventricular ejection fraction 27 ± 14%, NYHA class I-II were randomly assigned to conventional cardiac rehabilitation program (n = 8) or mat Pilates training (n = 8) for 16 weeks of 30 min of aerobic exercise followed by 20 min of the specific program. RESULTS At 16 weeks, pts in the mat Pilates group and conventional group showed significantly increase on exercise time 11.9 ± 2.5 to 17.8 ± 4 and 11.7 ± 3.9 to 14.2 ± 4 min, respectively. However, only the Pilates group increased significantly the ventilation (from 56 ± 20 to 69 ± 17 L/min, P = 0.02), peak VO(2) (from 20.9 ± 6 to 24.8 ± 6 mL/kg/min, P = 0.01), and O(2) pulse (from 11.9 ± 2 to 13.8 ± 3 mL/bpm, P = 0.003). The Pilates group showed significantly increase in peak VO(2) when compared with conventional group (24.8 ± 6 vs. 18.3 ± 4, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS The result suggests that the Pilates method may be a beneficial adjunctive treatment that enhances functional capacity in patients with HF who are already receiving standard medical therapy.
Imaging of Aortic Aneurysms and Dissection: CT and MRI

There are numerous approaches to the diagnosis of aortic aneurysms and aortic dissection. Echocardiography, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have enthusiastic proponents promoting each technique, which to some extent obscures the real value of each technique. This review examines the role of these techniques in the diagnosis of aortic disease, with special reference to the most recent published literature and an emphasis on the use of CT and MRI. For most patients with chronic aortic disease, MRI is the most appropriate investigation. In acute situations, CT scanning is usually the most useful technique, with echocardiography added for those with ascending aortic disease or cardiac complications.