Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Core2 1-6-N-Glucosaminyltransferase-I Deficiency Protects Injured Arteries From Neointima Formation in ApoE-Deficient Mice

Objective—Core2 1 to 6-N-glucosaminyltransferase-I (C2GlcNAcT-I) plays an important role in optimizing the binding functions of several selectin ligands, including P-selectin glycoprotein ligand. We used apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-deficient atherosclerotic mice to investigate the role of C2GlcNAcT-I in platelet and leukocyte interactions with injured arterial walls, in endothelial regeneration at injured sites, and in the formation of arterial neointima. Methods and Results—Arterial neointima induced by wire injury was smaller in C2GlcNAcT-I–deficient apoE−/− mice than in control apoE−/− mice (a 79% reduction in size). Compared to controls, apoE−/− mice deficient in C2GlcNAcT-I also demonstrated less leukocyte adhesion on activated platelets in microflow chambers (a 75% reduction), and accumulation of leukocytes at injured areas of mouse carotid arteries was eliminated. Additionally, endothelial regeneration in injured lumenal areas was substantially faster in C2GlcNAcT-I–deficient apoE−/− mice than in control apoE−/− mice. Endothelial regeneration was associated with reduced accumulation of platelet factor 4 (PF4) at injured sites. PF4 deficiency accelerated endothelial regeneration and protected mice from neointima formation after arterial injury. Conclusions—C2GlcNAcT-I deficiency suppresses injury-induced arterial neointima formation, and this effect is attributable to decreased leukocyte recruitment to injured vascular walls and increased endothelial regeneration. Both C2GlcNAcT-I and PF4 are promising targets for the treatment of arterial restenosis.
Constrained Bayesian Networks: Theory, Optimization, and Applications

We develop the theory and practice of an approach to modelling and probabilistic inference in causal networks that is suitable when application-specific or analysis-specific constraints should inform such inference or when little or no data for the learning of causal network structure or probability values at nodes are available. Constrained Bayesian Networks generalize a Bayesian Network such that probabilities can be symbolic, arithmetic expressions and where the meaning of the network is constrained by finitely many formulas from the theory of the reals. A formal semantics for constrained Bayesian Networks over first-order logic of the reals is given, which enables non-linear and non-convex optimisation algorithms that rely on decision procedures for this logic, and supports the composition of several constrained Bayesian Networks. A non-trivial case study in arms control, where few or no data are available to assess the effectiveness of an arms inspection process, evaluates our approach. An open-access prototype implementation of these foundations and their algorithms uses the SMT solver Z3 as decision procedure, leverages an open-source package for Bayesian inference to symbolic computation, and is evaluated experimentally.
Regulating the Mobile Telecommunications Industry: The Case of Australia

The adoption of mobile services has achieved a spectacular growth in many countries around the world. However, regulators in these countries are finding that existing regulatory frameworks are not suitable for dealing with these services. This paper employs qualitative evidence to investigate how regulation can affect mobile services in the Australian mobile telecommunications industry and draws from it to propose an innovative regulatory framework. The framework is comprised of five major components: consumer and intellectual property protection, market and resources access, and environmental protection. These components encompass the interests of the stakeholders operating in mobile industry and given its dynamic and complex nature, co-regulation is an effective approach that can be used to minimize costs and enhance compliance.
University of Groningen Model-Based Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning

This paper describes a novel multi-objective reinforcement learning algorithm. The proposed algorithm first learns a model of the multi-objective sequential decision making problem, after which this learned model is used by a multiobjective dynamic programming method to compute Pareto optimal policies. The advantage of this model-based multi-objective reinforcement learning method is that once an accurate model has been estimated from the experiences of an agent in some environment, the dynamic programming method will compute all Pareto optimal policies. Therefore it is important that the agent explores the environment in an intelligent way by using a good exploration strategy. In this paper we have supplied the agent with two different exploration strategies and compare their effectiveness in estimating accurate models within a reasonable amount of time. The experimental results show that our method with the best exploration strategy is able to quickly learn all Pareto optimal policies for the Deep Sea Treasure problem.
IL-2-Activated CD8+CD44high Cells Express Both Adaptive and Innate Immune System Receptors and Demonstrate Specificity for Syngeneic Tumor Cells 1

CD8+ T cells depend on the αβ TCR for Ag recognition and function. However, Ag-activated CD8+ T cells can also express receptors of the innate immune system. In this study, we examined the expression of NK receptors on a population of CD8+ T cells expressing high levels of CD44 (CD8+CD44high cells) from normal mice. These cells are distinct from conventional memory CD8+ T cells and they proliferate and become activated in response to IL 2 via a CD48/CD2-dependent mechanism. Before activation, they express low or undetectable levels of NK receptors but upon activation with IL-2 they expressed significant levels of activating NK receptors including 2B4 and NKG2D. Interestingly, the IL-2-activated cells demonstrate a preference in the killing of syngeneic tumor cells. This killing of syngeneic tumor cells was greatly enhanced by the expression of the NKG2D ligand Rae-1 on the target cell. In contrast to conventional CD8+ T cells, IL-2-activated CD8+CD44high cells express DAP12, an adaptor molecule that is normally expressed in activated NK cells. These observations indicate that activated CD8+CD44high cells express receptors of both the adaptive and innate immune system and may play a unique role in the surveillance of host cells that have been altered by infection or transformation.
Cognitive functioning in euthymic bipolar I and bipolar II patients.

OBJECTIVE There is growing evidence of cognitive impairment as a trait factor in bipolar disorder. The generalizability of this finding is limited because previous studies have either focussed exclusively on bipolar I disorder or have analysed mixed patient groups. Thus, it is still largely unknown whether bipolar II patients perform differently from bipolar I patients on measures of cognitive functioning. METHODOLOGY A total of 65 patients with bipolar I disorder, 38 with bipolar II disorder, and 62 healthy controls participated in the study. Patients had to be euthymic for at least one month. Clinical and demographic variables were collected in a clinical interview and with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Cognitive functioning was assessed using a neuropsychological battery. Univariate and multivariate analyses of variance were conducted for analyzing possible differences between the groups. RESULTS The multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) indicated overall differences in neuropsychological performance between the three groups (Pillai Spur: F 1.96, p = 0.003). Post hoc comparisons revealed that patients with bipolar I disorder showed significantly lower scores in psychomotor speed, working memory, verbal learning, delayed memory, and executive functions than healthy controls. Patients with bipolar II disorder showed significant deficits in psychomotor speed, working memory, visual/constructional abilities, and executive functions compared to controls, but not on verbal learning and delayed memory. The two patient groups did not differ significantly from each other on any domain tested. CONCLUSION These results support a similar pattern of cognitive deficits in both subtypes of bipolar disorder.
Correlations between forced oscillation technique parameters and pulmonary densitovolumetry values in patients with acromegaly

The aims of this study were to evaluate the forced oscillation technique (FOT) and pulmonary densitovolumetry in acromegalic patients and to examine the correlations between these findings. In this cross-sectional study, 29 non-smoking acromegalic patients and 17 paired controls were subjected to the FOT and quantification of lung volume using multidetector computed tomography (Q-MDCT). Compared with the controls, the acromegalic patients had a higher value for resonance frequency [15.3 (10.9-19.7) vs 11.4 (9.05-17.6) Hz, P=0.023] and a lower value for mean reactance [0.32 (0.21-0.64) vs 0.49 (0.34-0.96) cm H2O/L/s2, P=0.005]. In inspiratory Q-MDCT, the acromegalic patients had higher percentages of total lung volume (TLV) for nonaerated and poorly aerated areas [0.42% (0.30-0.51%) vs 0.25% (0.20-0.32%), P=0.039 and 3.25% (2.48-3.46%) vs 1.70% (1.45-2.15%), P=0.001, respectively]. Furthermore, the acromegalic patients had higher values for total lung mass in both inspiratory and expiratory Q-MDCT [821 (635-923) vs 696 (599-769) g, P=0.021 and 844 (650-945) vs 637 (536-736) g, P=0.009, respectively]. In inspiratory Q-MDCT, TLV showed significant correlations with all FOT parameters. The TLV of hyperaerated areas showed significant correlations with intercept resistance (rs=−0.602, P<0.001) and mean resistance (rs=−0.580, P<0.001). These data showed that acromegalic patients have increased amounts of lung tissue as well as nonaerated and poorly aerated areas. Functionally, there was a loss of homogeneity of the respiratory system. Moreover, there were correlations between the structural and functional findings of the respiratory system, consistent with the pathophysiology of the disease.
On dynamic speculative thread partitioning and the MEM-slicing algorithm

A dynamic speculative multithreaded processor automatically extracts thread level parallelism from sequential binary applications without software support. The hardware is responsible for partitioning the program into threads and managing inter-thread dependencies. Current published dynamic thread partitioning algorithms work by detecting loops, procedures, or partitioning at fixed intervals. Research has thus far examined these algorithms in isolation from one another. This paper makes two contributions. First, it quantitatively compares different dynamic partitioning algorithms in the context of a fixed architecture. The architecture is a single-chip shared memory multiprocessor enhanced to allow thread and value speculation. Second, this paper presents a new dynamic partitioning algorithm called MEM-slicing. Insights into the development and operation of this algorithm are presented. The technique is particularly suited to irregular, non-numeric programs, and greatly outperforms other algorithms in this domain. MEM-slicing is shown to be an important tool to enable the automatic parallelization of irregular binary applications. Over SPECint95, an average speedup of 3.4 is achieved on 8 processors.
Imaging of recurrent lung cancer

Local, regional and distant tumor recurrence is common following surgical resection for non-small cell lung cancer. It is important to be familiar with the patterns of recurrence and to differentiate them from the normal post-operative appearance and post-radiation changes. The risks and types of recurrence are influenced by various factors including preoperative tumor stage, histological type and type of surgical resection. Treated patients are at risk for developing a second lung primary, reported to be 1–4% per year, and therefore follow-up must be aimed at detecting not only recurrent cancer, but also a new, primary lung cancer. Different follow-up imaging strategies have been suggested, including conventional radiography, CT and/or PET scanning.
Comparative review study of reactive and proactive routing protocols in MANETs

Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) are generating a lot of interests due to 3G and 4G activities. The dynamic nature of these networks demands new set of network routing strategy protocols to be implemented in order to provide efficient end-to-end communication. Due to the diverse applications that use MANETs, such as battlefield, emergency services, and disaster discovery, MANETs offer many advantages to many organizations that need wireless roaming. For efficient and timely use, routing and synchronization are essential. Both are hot research topics in MANETs. This paper concentrates on routing, which is a challenging task and has seen a huge number of different strategies proposed, each claiming to provide an improvement over other strategies. These competing strategies make it quite difficult to determine which one may perform optimally under a number of different sets of network conditions as defined by their Quality of Service (QoS) offerings. This paper reviews some of the state-of-the-art and widely investigated MANET routing strategies in the literature. Moreover, a performance comparison of discussed routing protocol strategies is provided and suggestions are made to achieve improvement in performance of these protocols. This research is followed by presenting further research that will be pursued to define a radically most optimum set of strategies to satisfy different types of application domains.
Stereoselective Inhibition of Methotrexate Excretion by Glucuronides of Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs via Multidrug Resistance Proteins 2 and 4

Combined administration of methotrexate (MTX) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can result in a decreased systemic clearance of MTX. To date, inhibition of renal uptake via organic anion transporters and efflux via multidrug resistance–associated protein (MRPs) by NSAIDs has been recognized as possible sites of drug interaction between MTX and NSAIDs. Although most NSAIDs are glucuronidated in kidney tissue and excreted mainly as glucuronide conjugates, it is not fully known whether the glucuronides of NSAIDs (NSAIDs-Glu) inhibit MTX excretion via MRP2 and MRP4. The purpose of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effects of the glucuronides of several NSAIDs (diclofenac, R- and S-ibuprofen, R- and S-flurbiprofen, and R- and S-naproxen), as well as the parent NSAIDs on MTX uptake using human MRP2- and MRP4-expressing inside-out vesicles. Results confirm that all NSAIDs and NSAIDs-Glu examined exhibited stereoselective and concentration-dependent inhibitory effects on MTX uptake via MRP2 and MRP4. Notably, NSAIDs-Glu potently inhibited MTX uptake via MRP2 and MRP4 compared with the corresponding parent NSAIDs except for naproxen in MRP2 and S-flurbiprofen in MRP4. The present results support that the glucuronides of NSAIDs, as well as the parent NSAIDs, are involved in the inhibition of urinary excretion of MTX via MRP2 and MRP4.
An Investigation of Cardiovascular Risks in a Group of Children and Adolescents Who Use Atypical Antipsychotics

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to identify the metabolic parameters and body measurements associated with cardiovascular risks in a group of children and adolescents who as part of inpatient treatment received atypical antipsychotics at a psychiatric hospital in Turkey. Body mass indexes (BMIs), waist circumferences (WCs), diastolic blood pressures (DBPs), systolic blood pressures (SBPs) and heart rates (HRs) of the patients were evaluated during hospitalization and at discharge. A statistically significant difference was found among the mean BMIs, WCs, DBPs and HRs of the patients at the stages of their hospitalization and discharge (p < 0.05). On the basis of the study findings, it is recommended that mental health nurses evaluate these risk factors in children and adolescents and provide education on this subject to the patients and their families.
Parameter Optimization for SVM using Sequential Number Theoretic for Optimization

In this paper, we propose a support vector machine (SVM) meta-parameter optimization method which uses sequential number theoretic optimization (SNTO) and gradient information for better optimization performance. SNTO is a new global optimization approach whose foundation is numeric and statistic theory. This method has less computation time than genetic algorithm (GA) based and grid search based methods and better performance on finding global optimal value than gradient based methods. Simulations demonstrate that it is robust and works effectively and efficiently on a variety of problems
The Effect of Personal Disclosure within Teams: Can Faultlines in Geographically-Dispersed Teams Be Bridged?

Differences between members within teams can align to create potential faultlines. Faultlines have the potential to significantly disrupt performance due to the creation of intergroup bias. In geographically-dispersed teams, due to dispersed locations and other diversity characteristics, potential intergroup bias could be a major issue in Global Virtual Teams (GVT's) that needs to be more fully understood. This study examines whether public self-disclosure via weblogs can alleviate intergroup bias in geographically-dispersed teams by enabling the development of personal relationships. An experimental study of 34 4-person student teams found that public self-disclosure does not have a direct effect on reducing intergroup bias but has a mediated effect through social attraction. That is, as team members disclose their personal information and out-group team members are attracted to such disclosure, perceived in-group and out-group differences are diminished. Overall, findings support the common in-group identity model and highlight the potential benefits of socialization via weblogs in dispersed teams.
Mixed‐longitudinal growth of breastfeeding children in Moroto District, Uganda (Karamoja subregion). A loss of biological resiliency?

This study examines the pattern of growth, underlying growth velocity and nutritional status in a sample of thirty breastfeeding Karimojong children, aged from birth to three years. A mixed‐longitudinal structure was adopted for the study, which was carried out between August and December, 2004, in two communities in Moroto District, Uganda. Monthly anthropometric and health examinations were administered to mothers and children during this interval. Children in the study were small at birth but grew relatively rapidly for their first six months. Thereafter they experienced falling off of growth in weight, length, and head circumference. Loss of growth velocity and deterioration in nutritional status after six months was a result of physiologic stress arising from high parasite loads, introduction of inappropriate weaning foods, and psychosocial stress associated with patterns of maternal behavior. Environmental and maternal effects on child growth were exacerbated by widespread armed violence and related subsistence change in these communities. Growth of these children reflects loss of growth plasticity resulting from worsening environmental and social conditions in Moroto in 2004. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
In Vitro Antileukemic Activity of Xanthosoma sagittifolium (Taioba) Leaf Extract

Xanthosoma sagittifolium Schott is a herb of the Araceae family, popularly known as taioba, which is consumed as food in some regions of Brazil, Africa, and Asia. This species has already been evaluated for the antifungal activities. However, based on its potential antitumor activity, the present study further aimed to examine the antitumor, as well as chelation, activity of X. sagittifolium leaf extract. Results showed that hydroethanolic extract of X. sagittifolium leaves (HEXs-L) exhibits cytotoxic effects against the immortalized line of human T-lymphocytic (Jurkat) and myelogenous (K562) leukemia cells, but not nontumor RAW 264.7 macrophages or NIH/3T3 fibroblasts. HEXs-L inhibited 50.3% of Jurkat cell proliferation, reducing by 20% cells in G2/M phase, but increasing cells in sub-G1 phase, thereby inducing apoptosis by 54%. In addition, HEXs-L inhibited NO production by 59%, as determined by Griess reaction, and chelated 93.8% of free Fe(II), as demonstrated by ferrozine assay. Phytochemical studies were carried out by ESI-MS, identifying apigenin di-C-glycosides as major compounds. Overall, this work revealed that leaf extract of Xanthosoma sagittifolium presented chelating activity and in vitro antitumor activity, arresting cell cycle and inducing apoptosis of leukemia cells, thus providing evidence that taioba leaves may have practical application in cancer therapy.
Cellular and serological responses in resistant and susceptible mice exposed to repeated infection with Heligmosomoides polygyrus bakeri

An experiment was carried out to compare the parasitological and immunological responses of SWR and CBA mice to trickle (repeated) infection with Heligmosomoides polygyrus. Male mice were given 125 L3 once per week and were killed in groups, together with naïve control mice, weekly until week 8. Worm burdens accumulated in CBA, stabilizing in week 5 in excess of 400 worms and remaining high until week 8. In contrast in SWR worm burdens peaked in week 3 at a mean worm burden of 129 and then fell sharply so that by week 6, despite continuing re‐infection, no more worms were recovered from these mice. SWR mice showed a marked mast cell and mMCP‐1 response, peaking in weeks 2–3, whereas in CBA mice these responses were slower, and even at their height in week 8 still less intense than those in SWR mice. Both strains responded initially with a very similar goblet cell response, which declined in SWR mice as worms were eliminated, but was sustained in CBA mice until week 8. Serum TNFα concentrations were higher in SWR mice throughout the experiment. Infection elicited strong serological responses against adult and L4 antigens in both SWR and CBA mice, involving all the isotypes tested (IgG1, IgA and IgE). Anti‐L3 responses were examined only for IgG1. However, only two responses differed significantly between the strains: the IgE response to L4 antigens was more intense in SWR mice, and interestingly and unexpectedly, the IgG1 response to adult worm antigens was more intense in CBA mice. These results reflect the activation of predominantly Th2‐driven effector mechanisms, that may be associated with host‐protective immunity developing under the trickle infection protocol exploited in these experiments.
High training workloads alone do not cause sports injuries: how you get there is the real issue

Clinicians or strength and conditioning professionals who prescribe training workloads aim for workloads that are high enough to improve fitness (ie, performance), but not so high as to risk injury. At the extremes, no training results in an unprepared athlete, whereas an overuse injury is, by definition, an error in training prescription.1 Banister et al 2 first described an athlete's training state as the difference between positive (ie, ‘fitness’) and negative (ie, ‘fatigue’) influences. To quantify this concept, ‘fitness’ was represented as the workload (an arbitrary ‘training impulse’) of the athlete over a 3–6 weeks period and ‘fatigue’ was represented by the workload performed over a shorter time frame of 1 week. We recommend the terms ‘chronic workload’ for the longer window of training (ie, Banister's ‘fitness’) and ‘acute workload’ for the immediate window of training (ie, Banister's ‘fatigue’) (figure 1). High chronic workloads (ie, intense training), combined with reductions in acute workloads before important competition (ie, taper), would be expected to improve sporting performance.2 Figure 1 Acute and chronic workloads and the calculation of the acute:chronic workload ratio as a …