Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nonprice incentives and energy conservation

Significance We investigate the effectiveness of nonprice incentives to motivate conservation behavior. We test whether tailored information about environmental and health damages produces behavior change in the residential electricity sector. In a randomized controlled trial with real-time appliance-level energy metering over 8 mo, we find that environment and health-based information strategies outperform monetary savings information to drive energy conservation. Environment and health-based messages, which communicate the environmental and public health externalities of electricity production—such as pounds of pollutants, childhood asthma, and cancer—motivated 8% energy savings versus control. This strategy was particularly effective on families with children, who achieved 19% energy savings. However, we do not study the persistence of these behavioral changes after the conclusion of the study. In the electricity sector, energy conservation through technological and behavioral change is estimated to have a savings potential of 123 million metric tons of carbon per year, which represents 20% of US household direct emissions in the United States. In this article, we investigate the effectiveness of nonprice information strategies to motivate conservation behavior. We introduce environment and health-based messaging as a behavioral strategy to reduce energy use in the home and promote energy conservation. In a randomized controlled trial with real-time appliance-level energy metering, we find that environment and health-based information strategies, which communicate the environmental and public health externalities of electricity production, such as pounds of pollutants, childhood asthma, and cancer, outperform monetary savings information to drive behavioral change in the home. Environment and health-based information treatments motivated 8% energy savings versus control and were particularly effective on families with children, who achieved up to 19% energy savings. Our results are based on a panel of 3.4 million hourly appliance-level kilowatt–hour observations for 118 residences over 8 mo. We discuss the relative impacts of both cost-savings information and environmental health messaging strategies with residential consumers.
An in vitro chemoresponse assay defines a subset of colorectal and lung carcinomas responsive to cetuximab

Cetuximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) that may provide benefit to select cancer patients; however, identification of the characteristics of those patients who may benefit from its use is not complete. The ChemoFx® drug response marker (DRM) is an in vitro assay that can provide drug response data on tumor specimens before any patient treatment is initiated. We determined the feasibility of using the ChemoFx DRM to test tumor samples for sensitivity to cetuximab. We exposed four non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cell lines (H358, H520, HCC827, and H1666) to cetuximab and determined their sensitivity using the ChemoFx DRM and, in parallel, EGFR status using immunocytochemistry, Western blotting, and In-Cell WesternTM analysis. We used the ChemoFx DRM to determine cetuximab sensitivity of primary NSCLC and colorectal tumor samples. The ChemoFx DRM distinguished between cetuximab-sensitive and -resistant cell lines. Cetuximab sensitivity was not dependent on EGFR mutational status; H358 cells were non-responsive to cetuximab yet contain wild-type EGFR, whereas H1666 cells were intermediately responsive to cetuximab and contain wild-type EGFR. HCC827 (EGFR-mutant) cells were intermediately responsive and, as expected, H520 cells (EGFR-null) were non-responsive to cetuximab. ChemoFx-determined cetuximab sensitivity of primary NSCLC and colorectal tumor samples was 9.0% and 7.5%, respectively. Use of the ChemoFx DRM is feasible for determining cetuximab sensitivity. The ChemoFx-determined cetuximab responses of primary NSCLC and colorectal tumor specimens were similar to published response rates of patients to treatment with cetuximab monotherapy.
[Protective effects of tanshinone IIA on injured primary cultured rat hepatocytes induced by CCl4].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of tanshinone IIA on carbon tetrachloridlde (CCl4) intoxicated primary cultured rat hepatocytes. METHODS The rat hepatocytes were separated by perfusion with collagenase solution. Tanshinone IIA was added to the cultured medium after incubating the rat hepatocytes for 36 hours. At the same time, CCl4 was added to induce hepatocytes injury for 1 h. The levels of ALT, LDH, NO, SOD, MDA and cell viability after cultivation for 3 h were determined respectively. RESULT Tanshinone IIA significantly improved cell viability, inhibited the decrease of SOD activity and the increase of ALT, LDH, MDA, NO levels CONCLUSION Tanshinone IIA protected effectively the primary cultured rat hepatocytes against CCl4-induced injury.
Evaluation of peptide vaccine immunogenicity in draining lymph nodes and peripheral blood of melanoma patients

Many peptide epitopes for cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) have been identified from melanocytic differentiation proteins. Vaccine trials with these peptides have been limited mostly to those associated with HLA‐A2, and immune responses have been detected inconsistently. Cases of clinical regression have been observed after peptide vaccination in some trials, but melanoma regressions have not correlated well with T‐cell responses measured in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs). We vaccinated stage IV melanoma patients with a mixture of gp100 and tyrosinase peptides restricted by HLA‐A1 (DAEKSDICTDEY), HLA‐A2 (YLEPGPVTA and YMDGTMSQV) and HLA‐A3 (ALLAVGATK) in an emulsion with GM‐CSF and Montanide ISA‐51 adjuvant. CTL responses were assessed in PBLs and in a lymph node draining a vaccine site (sentinel immunized node, SIN). We found CTL responses to vaccinating peptides in the SIN in 5/5 patients (100%). Equivalent assays detected peptide‐reactive CTLs in PBLs of 2 of these 5 patients (40%). CTLs expanded from the SIN lysed melanoma cells naturally expressing tyrosinase or gp100. We demonstrated immunogenicity for peptides restricted by HLA‐A1 and ‐A3 and for 1 HLA‐A2 restricted peptide, YMDGTMSQV. Immune monitoring of clinical trials by evaluation of PBLs alone may under‐estimate immunogenicity; evaluation of SIN provides a new and sensitive approach for defining responses to tumor vaccines and correlating these responses with clinical outcomes. This combination of an immunogenic vaccine strategy with a sensitive analysis of CTL responses demonstrates the potential for inducing and detecting anti‐tumor immune responses in the majority of melanoma patients. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Diversification of response to hsp65 during the course of autoimmune arthritis is regulatory rather than pathogenic

Summary: Determinant spreading has been implicated in the pathogenesis of certain autoimmune diseases in animal models. We have observed that during the course of adjuvant arthritis (AA) in the Lewis rat, there is ‘diversification’ of response to the bacterial 65‐kDa heat shock protein (Bhsp65) towards its carboxy‐terminal determinants (BCTD). Strikingly, pretreatment of naive Lewis rats with BCTD affords significant protection from AA. Our preliminary studies indicate that the diversification of response to BCTD in the Lewis rat is probably triggered in vivo by the induction and enhanced processing of self(rat) hsp65. Thus, the self hsp65‐directed T‐cell responses appear to be involved in mediating natural remission from acute inflammatory arthritis induced by a foreign antigen, Myco‐bacterium tuberculosis. This the first report describing that the new T‐cell specificities arising during the course of an autoimmune disease are regulatory/protective rather than pathogenic. Moreover, our results suggest that a final common mechanism involving BCTD might be recruited by other rac strains which either are resistant to AA (WKY rats) or whose susceptibility to AA is modulated significantly by microbial flora (Fisher rats). The results of this study would contribute significantly to understanding of the pathogenesis of human rheumatoid arthritis, and in devising new therapeutic strategies for this disease.
Pulmonary microvascular changes during sepsis: evaluation using intravital videomicroscopy.

A variety of pulmonary microvascular changes occur during sepsis. These include abnormal vascular reactivity, leukocyte sequestration, and leakage of protein into the alveoli. Based on intravital videomicroscopy we have developed a method to directly assess in vivo the changes that occur in the pulmonary microcirculation in a rat model of sepsis. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to control or sepsis groups. Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and perforation. Twenty four hours later, rats were anesthetized, mechanically ventilated, and their lung prepared for intravital videomicroscopy. A specially designed transparent thoracic window was inserted into the chest wall. The dependent surface of the lung was superfused with saline solution and visualized with an inverted microscope. Vascular contractility, to phenylephrine, (PE) and hypoxia of small (15-25 microm in diameter) and medium (40-50 microm) arterioles was examined. Leukocyte traffic in the pulmonary microcirculation was studied after in vivo labeling of leukocytes with Rhodamine and visualized with fluorescence microscopy. Leak of albumin into the alveolar space was measured with FITC-labeled albumin and fluorescence microscopy. Both small and medium sized pulmonary arterioles in septic animals exhibited attenuated vascular contractility to phenylephrine, but only medium-sized arterioles displayed hypocontractility to hypoxia. Further, in septic animals there was an increase in both the number of stationary leukocytes in the pulmonary microcirculation and an increase in alveolar capillary protein leak. We conclude: (1) direct visualization of the pulmonary microvascular pressor response to hypoxia and PE in the rat is possible using this technique, (2) similar to previous in vitro studies with larger vessels, pulmonary arterioles have an attenuated contractile response to PE and hypoxia in sepsis, and (3) there is an increase in both the number of stationary leukocytes and protein leak into the alveolus in the lungs of septic animals.
Identification of the timing of S phase and the patterns of cell proliferation during hair cell regeneration in the chick cochlea

Birds respond to hair cell loss by stimulating cell division in the otherwise mitotically quiescent sensory epithelium and by generating new hair cells. We examined cell proliferation during hair cell regeneration in chick basilar papilla by using 5‐bromo‐2′ ‐deoxyuridine (BrdU). Chicks were noise exposed for 4 or 24 hours and injected with BrdU, and cochleae were immunohistochemically labeled to detect BrdU. Immunoreactivity after short‐term postinjection survival identified when cells entered S phase. For both 4 and 24 hour exposures, cells in S phase were first detected in the sensory epithelium after an injection at 18 hours after the onset of exposure and were also present after injections at 24, 30, 36, 42, 48, 72, 96, 120, and 144 hours. The most cells in S (or G2) phase were detected at 42 and 72 hours for 24 hour exposures and at 48 hours for 4 hour exposures. Chicks that survived for long periods after injection had BrdU‐labeled hair cells indicating that precursor cells that divided in the presence of BrdU generated new hair cells. Moreover, labeled hair cells and supporting cells were grouped into discrete clusters, suggesting that cells within each cluster are clonally related. Support for this hypothesis was provided by experiments showing that the number of labeled cells increased when chicks survived for longer periods after a single BrdU injection. These findings suggest that progenitors within the sensory epithelium may undergo several rounds of division to generate the appropriate number of new hair cells and supporting cells.
bIgG time for large eaters: monocytes and macrophages as effector and target cells of antibody‐mediated immune activation and repression

The mononuclear phagocytic system consists of a great variety of cell subsets localized throughout the body in immunological and non‐immunological tissues. While one of their prime tasks is to detect, phagocytose, and kill intruding microorganisms, they are also involved in maintaining tissue homeostasis and immune tolerance toward self through removal of dying cells. Furthermore, monocytes and macrophages have been recognized to play a critical role for mediating immunoglobulin G (IgG)‐dependent effector functions, including target cell depletion, tissue inflammation, and immunomodulation. For this, monocyte and macrophage populations are equipped with a complex set of Fc‐receptors, enabling them to directly interact with pro‐ or anti‐inflammatory IgG preparations. In this review, we will summarize the most recent findings, supporting a central role of monocytes and macrophages for pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory IgG activity.
Reliability Evaluation of a Wind Power Delivery System Using an Approximate Wind Model

The power generated by a wind turbine generator depends mainly on the wind speed, and varies randomly with time. It could be very useful from a practical application point of view if an approximate wind power generation model can be developed, which is relatively simple to use in a reliability study, and requires relatively little wind data for the site of interest. Large wind farms are installed in locations with good wind resources, and they need to be connected to a power system grid. This paper presents a simplified wind speed model that can generate wind speed probability distributions for multiple wind farm sites if their annual mean wind speed and standard deviation values are known. The developed wind speed model can be combined with the wind turbine generator characteristics to obtain a simplified wind farm generation model that can be further modified to incorporate the effect of the transmission line on wind power delivery. The results from reliability studies on a test system are presented. The effects on the system reliability of different system parameters, such as the system load levels, and the size and length of the transmission line are analyzed
Chromatin regulators in neurodevelopment and disease: Analysis of fly neural circuits provides insights

Disruptions in chromatin regulator genes are frequently the cause of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Chromatin regulators are widely expressed in the brain, yet symptoms suggest that specific circuits can be preferentially altered when they are mutated. Using Drosophila allows targeted manipulation of chromatin regulators in defined neuronal classes, lineages, or circuits, revealing their roles in neuronal precursor self‐renewal, dendrite and axon targeting, neuron diversification, and the tuning of developmental signaling pathways. Phenotypes arising from chromatin regulator disruption are context dependent – defined by interaction networks between the regulators, transcription factors, and chromatin remodeling complex partners. Future challenges are to determine the complexity of partner interactions, and to ascertain the degree to which cognitive deficits are due to loss of chromatin regulator activity in building a circuit or in maintaining homeostasis and activity within it.
Kinetics of CO uptake and diffusing capacity in transition from rest to steady-state exercise.

In the transition from rest to steady-state exercise, O2 uptake from the lungs (VO2) depends on the product of pulmonary blood flow and pulmonary arteriovenous O2 content difference. The kinetics of pulmonary blood flow are believed to be somewhat faster than changes in pulmonary arteriovenous O2 content difference. We hypothesized that during CO breathing, the kinetics of CO uptake (VCO) and diffusing capacity for CO (DLCO) should be faster than VO2 because changes in pulmonary arteriovenous CO content difference should be relatively small. Six subjects went abruptly from rest to constant exercise (inspired CO fraction = 0.0005) at 40, 60, and 80% of their peak VO2, measured with an incremental test (VO2peak). At all exercise levels, DLCO and VCO rose faster than VO2 (P less than 0.001), and DLCO rose faster than VCO (P less than 0.001). For example, at 40% VO2peak, the time constant (tau) for DLCO in phase 2 was 19 +/- 5 (SD), 24 +/- 5 s for VCO, and 33 +/- 5 s for VO2. Both VCO and DLCO increased with exercise intensity but to a lesser degree than VO2 at all exercise intensities (P less than 0.001). In addition, no significant rise in DLCO was observed between 60 and 80% VO2peak. We conclude that the kinetics of VCO and DLCO are faster than VO2, suggesting that VCO and DLCO kinetics reflect, to a greater extent, changes in pulmonary blood flow and thus recruitment of alveolar-capillary surface area. However, other factors, such as the time course of ventilation, may also be involved. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A Pulse Width Modulation technique for reducing switching frequency for modular multilevel converter

In this paper, a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technique for modular multilevel converter has been explored. The PWM technique is implemented using carrier based level shifted PWM strategy. It does not necessitate the calculation of duty cycles, and can be easily implemented in a DSP. With the proposed technique, harmonics in the phase voltage is shifted to twice the switching frequency. Thus, the devices of the converter can be switched at a reduced switching frequency to maintain the same output voltage quality. A detailed explanation of the carrier based level shifted PWM for implementing the proposed technique is included in the paper. This is verified by computer simulation on a 6.6kV, 6MW drive system.
Concentration of trace elements in human semen and relation to spermatozoa quality

In this study the concentrations of trace elements such as lead, cadmium, iron, nickel, copper and zinc in the human semen (n = 47), occurrence of pathological spermatozoa, and correlations of these elements to pathological forms were investigated. For each sample of human spermatozoa at least 500 spermatozoa were evaluated. Metal contents were determined by the voltametric method and flame absorption spectrophotometry method. The concentrations of trace elements in human semen were: lead 1.49 ± 0.40 mg.kg− 1, cadmium 0.13 ± 0.15 mg.kg− 1, iron 2.59 ± 0.21 mg.kg− 1, nickel 0.40 ± 0.07 mg.kg− 1, copper 0.28 ± 0.06 mg.kg− 1, and zinc 153.93 ± 67.08 mg.kg− 1, respectively. The total percentage of pathological spermatozoa was 41.61 ± 9.80% with predominancy of broken flagellum, flagellum torso and separated flagellum. In relation to trace elements the analysis showed correlation between copper and lead (r = −0.47), nickel and iron (r = 0.36), lead and flagellum ball (r = −0.39), cadmium and large heads (r = 0.37) and between iron and other forms of pathological spermatozoa (r = −0.32). Results of this study describe possible effects of trace elements on the spermatozoa quality in normal human sperm.
Never Enough Sleep: A Brief History of Sleep Recommendations for Children

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: There is a common belief that children are not getting enough sleep and that children’s total sleep time has been declining. Over the century, many authors have proposed sleep recommendations. The aim of this study was to describe historical trends in recommended and actual sleep durations for children and adolescents, and to explore the rationale of sleep recommendations. METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify recommendations for children’s sleep requirements and data reporting children’s actual total sleep time. For each recommendation identified, children’s actual sleep time was determined by identifying studies reporting the sleep duration of children of the same age, gender, and country in the same years. Historical trends in age-adjusted recommended sleep times and trends in children’s actual sleep time were calculated. A thematic analysis was conducted to determine the rationale and evidence-base for recommendations. RESULTS: Thirty-two sets of recommendations were located dating from 1897 to 2009. On average, age-specific recommended sleep decreased at the rate of –0.71 minute per year. This rate of decline was almost identical to the decline in the actual sleep duration of children (–0.73 minute per year). Recommended sleep was consistently ∼37 minutes greater than actual sleep, although both declined over time. CONCLUSIONS: A lack of empirical evidence for sleep recommendations was universally acknowledged. Inadequate sleep was seen as a consequence of “modern life,” associated with technologies of the time. No matter how much sleep children are getting, it has always been assumed that they need more.
Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome in Housewives Due to a Bleach–Hydrochloric Acid Mixture

The sudden onset of asthmalike symptoms and persistence of airway reactivity following an acute exposure to an irritant gas or vapor has been termed reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS). A mixture of sodium hypochlorite (bleach, 40%) and hydrochloric acid (18%) is commonly used as a household cleaning solution in our region. From this mixture, chlorine gas is produced, which can cause airway damage and ensuing RADS. Here we describe findings of patients with RADS due to this cleaning mixture, and determine factors associated with a favorable outcome. Data were collected retrospectively on 55 symptomatic patients presenting to our emergency department after inhalation exposure to a mixture of bleach and hydrochloric acid. Symptoms, past medical and smoking history, details of the exposure, initial peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and oxygenation, and acute reversibility of airways obstruction were documented. All patients met previously defined criteria for the diagnosis of RADS, but did not undergo methacholine challenge testing and bronchoalveolar lavage or histopathologic study. Fifty patients were followed over the course of 3 mo. The majority of exposures (64%) occurred in the bathroom or kitchen. Only 21 of 55 (38%) patients showed an improvement in PEFR of 15% or greater following two β2-agonist inhalation treatments. In follow-up, 48 patients (87%) improved clinically and functionally (FEV1). Seven patients (13%) deteriorated, with ARDS developing in two, one of whom died from respiratory failure. Advanced age, initial low PEFR, exposure in a small enclosed area, use immediately after mixing, and prolonged short- and long-term exposures were associated with a poorer prognosis. This descriptive study is the largest case series in the literature of RADS developing after exposure to a bleach–hydrochloric acid mixture. The optimum acute treatment and long-term outcomes for patients with RADS due to this combination still need to be determined.