Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nitric Oxide Regulates Renin Release During Salt Depletion but Does Not Alter Angiotensin Responses in Normal Humans

Background: Animal studies suggest that nitric oxide regulates the renin-angiotensin- aldosterone system, but this effect varies among species. The effects of nitric oxide on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in humans were assessed using L-nitrosomonomethyl arginine (L-NMMA), an antagonist of nitric oxide synthase. Methods and Results: In experiment 1, subjects were pretreated with furosemide to induce salt depletion and received placebo-controlled infusions of L-NMMA followed by measure ments of plasma renin activity. In experiment 2, subjects were given angiotensin I and II intravenously with and without L-NMMA to assess the effects of nitric oxide on systemic pressor and aldosterone responses. In experiment 3, brachial arterial infusions of angio tensin I and II were given with and without L-NMMA, and forearm blood flow was mea sured to assess the effects of nitric oxide on vascular responses to the angiotensin peptides. During salt depletion, L-NMMA infusion resulted in significantly higher plasma renin activ ity. L-NMMA had no effect on systemic or forearm pressor responses or aldosterone responses to angiotensin I and II infusions. Conclusions: These results indicate that nitric oxide regulates the renin response to salt depletion in healthy humans but does not affect responses to angiotensin.
The effect of biofertilizers, nitrogen fertilizer and farmyard manure on grain yield and seed quality of sunflower (Helianthus annus L.).

2823.3 kg ha -1 and 9917.9 kg ha -1 were obtained with the F3 treatment, respectively. The results revealed that biofertilizer improved plant productivity and quality in sunflower seed. The application of biofertilizer (I1) decreased the saturated fatty acids (palmitic and stearic) and increased unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic acid and oleic acid) and oil content, compared with untreated plants I0. The highest linolenic acid (53.28%) and oleic acid (40.65%) were observed in F3 and F1 treatments respectively.
Resonance Raman scattering by confined LO and TO phonons in GaAs-AlAs superlattices.

It is shown that in GaAs-AlAs superlattices the confined longitudinal-optic Raman phonons created via either deformation-potential or Frohlich electron-phonon interaction are different. This effect is demonstrated by comparison of resonance and off-resonance Raman spectra. Phonons of A 1 symmetry (point group D 2d ) dominate in resonance, while B 2 phonons are stronger in the off-resonance case. The resonance profile of the A 1 modes is discussed. We also report the observation of confined transverse-optic phonons under extremely resonant conditions.
Skin rash and good performance status (PS) predict improved survival with gefitinib for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

7097 Background: Gefitinib (Iressa®) is active as a single agent for the treatment of advanced NSCLC patients who have failed prior chemotherapy. For optimal utilization of gefitinib, effective methods to identify sub-sets of patients likely to benefit from treatment are necessary. We analyzed patients treated with gefitinib on an Expanded Access Program at our institutions to detect possible predictive factors for patient selection to future studies. METHODS Patients (N=178) with advanced NSCLC were treated with gefitinib (250 mg PO QD) upon progression from chemotherapy. Patients with ECOG PS of ≤ 2, adequate bone marrow, hepatic and renal function were eligible. RESULTS Baseline patient characteristics were: Median age: 68 years (range 29-100); males - 56%; Adenocarcinoma -49%, squamous -21%, bronchioloalveolar-6%, other -24%. Objective partial responses were noted in 4 (2.4%) and disease stabilization in 28 (17%) patients. The median survival (MS) was 6.1 months (95% CI 4.42-7.21) and median time to progression was 3 months (95% CI 2.0-3.0). The predictive factors analyzed were gender, skin rash, diarrhea and PS. Patients who developed a skin rash (any grade) had a MS of 11 months compared to 4.5 months for patients without a rash (P < 0.0001, log rank test). Patients with PS 0/1 and 2 had a MS of 5.8 months and 2.9 months respectively (P < 0.0001). Other factors did not impact survival. CONCLUSIONS Occurence of skin rash and baseline PS of 0/1were associated with significantly improved survival for advanced NSCLC patients who failed prior chemotherapy, upon treatment with gefitinib. [Table: see text].
An Improved Uniplanar Front-Directional Antenna for Dual-Band RFID Readers

Radio frequency identification (RFID) excelled in automatic identification and data collection industry through its speed, agility, and endurance. In this letter, an improved uniplanar antenna for handheld RFID reader applications covering free ISM bands of 2.45 and 5.8 GHz is presented. The antenna is composed of a microstrip feeding line, two unsymmetrical ground planes, and a folded strip with a small top branch. The folded strips generate radiations in resonances and the ground, which act as reflectors, force the radiation in the endfire direction. The impedance matching and bandwidth of the antenna is improved by inserting optimized triangular periodic open-end stub (POES) cells on the top edge of the coplanar ground. A good impedance bandwidth of 320 MHz is achieved in measurement (from 2.35 to 2.67 GHz for the lower band), while the upper band covers 310 MHz (from 5.60 to 5.91 GHz). Also, good polarization purity, front-to-back ratio, and gain are found, which makes the antenna a strong candidate for compact handheld RFID reader applications.
Salt and Blood Pressure in Various Populations

A relationship between salt intake and blood pressure has been described in cross-sectional studies of several populations. However, serious methodological problems in many studies could have resulted in erroneous results. In the present studies, the blood pressure profiles of a Kenyan tribe have been shown to differ according to environment, being lower in rural and higher in urban communities. Although several factors could explain the observed blood pressure differences, dietary factors, including sodium and potassium intake, could be important determinants of the observed differences. A within-population study of 1,737 rural male subjects was carried out in which it was found that systolic and diastolic pressures correlated positively with urinary sodium/potassium ratios. In this rural group, within subject day-to-day variations in dietary electrolytes are small, as indicated from multiple urinary collections, and are less than those observed in Western societies. We have demonstrated in this rural population that casual samples of urine correlate well with average sodium and potassium excretion over a 7-day period. Preliminary results are reported of a longitudinal study of migrants from a low to a high blood pressure environment and a nonmigrant population. The blood pressure rise consequent to migration was related independently to changes in body weight and urinary electrolytes. The implications of these observations for active intervention studies are discussed.
Anti-&agr;4 integrin therapy for multiple sclerosis: Mechanisms and rationale

The symptoms, severity, and course of multiple sclerosis (MS) vary among patients, leading to complex treatment issues. In recent years, research has focused on specific adhesion molecules that participate in the activation and function of lymphocytes, especially the migration of these cells to sites of inflammation. In particular, the integrin, very late activation antigen (VLA)-4, has been implicated in mediating adhesion and migration of immune cells through interaction with its ligand, vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1. VLA-4 is comprised of &agr;4/&bgr;1 and is critical in mediating Th-1 cell migration in the animal model of MS, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, and has been the target of several recent clinical trials in MS. The humanized monoclonal antibody to &agr;4 integrin, natalizumab (Tysabri, Biogen Idec/Elan), was recently approved in the United States for the treatment of relapsing MS. The authors discuss the mechanisms by which &agr;4 integrins alter lymphocyte function as a rationale for anti-&agr;4 integrin use in MS.
Multi-Rate Uplink Channel Prediction and Enhanced Link Adaptation for VoLTE

The paper presents an improvement of the long term evolution (LTE) link adaptation for voice over LTE (VoLTE). The underlying problem is associated with the speech frame structure of VoLTE, where the transmissions are typically scheduled every 40 ms, provided that discontinuous reception (DRX) is on. The channel estimates of each user are hence outdated each time a new uplink scheduling decision is made. The paper therefore suggests the application of channel prediction for slowly moving mobiles. A special challenge is then the fact that the channel measurements may be sampled by the rates 1 ms, 8 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms and 160 ms, in case of segmentation, retransmission, a normal speech frame, DRX and voice inactivity, respectively. A new optimal and adaptive channel prediction algorithm is developed to solve this multi-rate prediction problem. The algorithm combines a continuous time autoregressive (AR) model with the recursive least squares algorithm. An extensive system simulation study shows capacity improvements of 5-10% for Doppler frequencies below 10 Hz. The measured voice quality is also improved. No performance degradation appears in any of the simulated scenarios.
A safety mnemonic for pediatric oncology patients: Knowledge, confidence and skills accuracy during simulation

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, surpassed only by heart disease [1] . Approximately 1.6 million Americans will receive treatment for a variety of cancers annually [2] . This increase in oncology nursing care opportunities highlights the need to ensure that nurses have the skills, knowledge, and tools that allow them to safely provide care. Because Undergraduate nursing education often does not provide in-depth coverage of the principles of safe oncology nursing care required for children or adults, this study addressed protocols used when caring for chemotherapy pediatric patients using a chemotherapy mnemonic. The purpose of this pilot study (N=85), using quasi experimental methods, was to investigate the effect of a teaching intervention using a “safety” mnemonic and high fidelity simulation to investigate the effect of the teaching intervention and mnemonic on students’ reported confidence, knowledge of oncology nursing care content, and skills accuracy. The CHEMO SAFE SOUND mnemonic was evaluated by oncology expert nurses for construct and content validity, and for accuracy of chronology (steps). Results demonstrated that students’ confidence was increased by the activity and the use of the mnemonic. Students scored high on the knowledge pre-test. Only 55% of the students (N=70) were able to perform a sterile procedures and 85% of the students (N=108) were able to state the full safety mnemonic accurately. Further research is needed to investigate how students perform on the skills prior to the simulation. An expansion of the methods should include a pre-intervention assessment of chemotherapy skills. A larger sample size should be used and repeated measures to capture retention should be implemented.
[Analyses on the trace elements of soils in geo-authentic and non-authentic production areas of Flos lonicearae].

OBJECTIVE To analyse the trace elements presented in the same germplasm of Flos Lonicerae with the soil in different producing areas of crude drugs and to investigate, the relationship between the trace elements and the characteristics of the geo-authentic Flos Lonicerae in the soil and crude drugs. METHOD The analyses on the trace elements of soil and crude drugs were made by ICP-AES. RESULT The contents of Sr, K, Na, Mg and Ca were higher in the geo-authentic areas, and the contents of Ca, Sr and Fe were higher, but the Cr and Pb were lower in the geo-authentic Flos Lonicerae. The geo-authentic crude drugs had a strong tendency to accumulate P and Cu. CONCLUSION There are no direct relationship between the concentrations of trace elements in Flos Lonicerae and those in their corresponding soil. There are good relationship between the absorption and accumulation of Ca and Cr, Co, Na and Fe; Zn and Co, Cr, Mn; Na and Co; Mg and Mn.
The Role of VC in Innovative Entrepreneurship and Technological Progress

In this paper we search for evidence signifying whether VC activity is demand or supply stimulated. Namely, we examine whether innovation and entrepreneurship are fostered by Venture Capital (VC) investments or whether innovative entrepreneurship is a precondition of a VC involvement. Based on a European panel of VC investments, we test the direction of causality between VC and innovation (proxied by annual patent applications at the European Patents Office). We present evidence indicating that causality runs from patents to VC suggesting that, in Europe, innovation seems to create a demand for VC and not VC a supply of innovation. In this sense, innovative ideas seem to lack more than funds in Europe. We explain our findings on the basis of information asymmetry issues and irreversibility considerations of VC investments.
Role of D1-His190 in proton-coupled electron transfer reactions in photosystem II: a chemical complementation study.

Recent models for water oxidation in photosystem II propose that His190 of the D1 polypeptide facilitates electron transfer from tyrosine YZ to P680+ by accepting the hydroxyl proton from YZ. To test these models, and to further define the role of D1-His190 in the proton-coupled electron transfer reactions of PSII, the rates of P680+ reduction, YZ oxidation, QA- oxidation, and YZ* reduction were measured in PSII particles isolated from several D1-His190 mutants constructed in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. These measurements were conducted in the absence and presence of imidazole and other small organic bases. In all mutants examined, the rates of P680+ reduction, YZ oxidation, and YZ* reduction after a single flash were slowed dramatically and the rate of QA- oxidation was accelerated to values consistent with the reduction of P680+ by QA- rather than by YZ. There appeared to be little correlation between these rates and the nature of the residue substituted for D1-His190. However, in nearly all mutants examined, the rates of P680+ reduction, YZ oxidation, and YZ* reduction were accelerated dramatically in the presence of imidazole and other small organic bases (e.g., methyl-substituted imidazoles, histidine, methylamine, ethanolamine, and TRIS). In addition, the rate of QA- oxidation was decelerated substantially. For example, in the presence of 100 mM imidazole, the rate of electron transfer from YZ to P680+ in most D1-His190 mutants increased 26-87-fold. Furthermore, in the presence of 5 mM imidazole, the rate of YZ* reduction in the D1-His190 mutants increased to values comparable to that of Mn-depleted wild-type PSII particles in the absence of imidazole. On the basis of these results, we conclude that D1-His190 is the immediate proton acceptor for YZ and that the hydroxyl proton of YZ remains bound to D1-His190 during the lifetime of YZ*, thereby facilitating the reduction of YZ*.
Mechanical beam-steerable elliptical dome lens

This paper presents a new mechanical beam steering antenna concept, consisting of a collimated beam lens which pivots in front of a single stationary feed, without the use of rotary joints. An elliptical dome lens is used to form the collimated beam since it enables to point it along the lens axis, almost independently from its orientation with respect to the stationary feed axis. Simple tilting of the lens and its rotation about the feed axis allows elevation and azimuth scan of the beam. A prototype was designed to use the unlicensed spectrum from 57 GHz to 66 GHz, with an overall gain above 20 dBi. The antenna presents an acceptable 2 dB scanning loss when tilting the beam from −25° to 25°. The solution is simple, low cost and compact, with a reduced size of 3×3×3 cm3 and weighing just 5 g.
Understanding and isolating the noise in the Linux kernel

Scientific applications are interrupted by the operating system far too often. Historically, operating systems have been optimized to time-share a single resource, the CPU. We now have an abundance of cores, but we are still swapping out the application to run other tasks and therefore increasing the application’s time to solution. In addition, with parallel applications the probability of one of the tasks entering a synchronization point late due to one of these interrupts increases with increasing system scale, which further increases the application turn-around time. This paper reviews measures that can be taken to reduce application interruption using only compile and run time configurations in a recent unmodified Linux kernel. Although these measures have been available for some time, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, they have never been implemented in a high-performance computing context. We then introduce our invasive method, where we remove the involuntary preemption induced by task scheduling. Our experiments show that parallel applications benefit from these modifications even at relatively small scales. At the modest scale of our testbed, we see a 1.91% improvement in a bulk-synchronous-parallel application that should project into higher benefits at extreme scales.
Determination of pitaya seeds as a natural antioxidant and source of essential fatty acids

The antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content of seeds of three types of pitaya namely Hylocereus polyrhizus, Hylocereus undatus and Selenicereus megalanthus and the fatty acid content of pitaya seeds oil were examined in this study. The ethanolic extracts of H. polyrhizus seeds showed significantly high (p<0.05) total phenolic (43.9 mg GAE/100g dry weight) and flavonoid (50.8 mg CAE /100g dry weight) contents as compared to H. undatus and S. megalanthus and its aqueous extracts. DPPH assay showed similar trend showing that H. polyrhizus seeds had significantly higher (p<0.05) scavenging capacities (46.6%). FRAP test also indicated that the ethanolic extracts of H. polyrhizus seeds had significantly higher (p<0.05) reducing capacity (59.1mg Trolox/100g dry weight). The main fatty acids of pitaya seeds oil were C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 with an exceptional high level of linoleic acid, up to 660 g/kg for S. megalanthus, 540 g/kg for H. undatus and 480 g/ kg for H. polyrhizus. Keyword: antioxidant, pitaya seeds, essential fatty acid, H.polyrhizus, H.undatus, S.megalanthus
Differences in risk factors for cervical dysplasia with the applied diagnostic method in Serbia.

BACKGROUND In the etiology of cervical cancer not only HPV infection is important, but also other factors such as demographic influences and sexual and reproductive health attitudes, as well as others related to preventive measure usage (or non usage). The aim of this study was to examine factors associated with cervical dysplasia in asymptomatic women who were examined by routine cytology and cervical biopsy for early detection of cervical cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS Socio-demographic and other characteristics were obtained from medical files of 85 examinees with pathologic cytologic findings (Pap test) and histopathologic (HP) findings after biopsy. RESULTS According to the Pap test result, a greater probability for development of cervical dysplasia was noted with examinees having a larger number of sexual partners (OR= 5.01, 95% CI 1.04-24.10), and those who are afraid of the Pap finding. Risk factors for development of cervical dysplasia according to the bioptic finding were early beginning with sexual activities, presence of any STD in personal medical history and fear of the Pap test finding. CONCLUSIONS The only risk factor found to be important for both methods was fear of the Pap testing finding.
EFFECT OF SELECTED RECOVERY CONDITIONS ON PERFORMANCE OF REPEATED BOUTS OF INTERMITTENT CYCLING SEPARATED BY 24 HOURS

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of active recovery (AR), massage (MR), and cold water immersion (CR) on performance of repeated bouts of high-intensity cycling separated by 24 hours. For each recovery condition, subjects were asked to take part in 2 intermittent cycling sessions; 18 minutes of varying work intervals performed in succession at a resistance of 80 g/kg body weight separated by 24 hours. One of four 15-minute recovery conditions immediately followed the first session and included: (a) AR, cycling at 30% VO2max; (b) CR, immersion of legs in a 15° C water bath; (c) MR, massage of the legs; and (d) control, seated rest. Only the control condition showed a significant decline in the total work completed between the first and second exercise sessions (108.1 ± 5.4 kJ vs. 106.0 ± 5.0 kJ, p < 0.05). Thus, AR, MR, and CR appeared to facilitate the recovery process between 2 high-intensity, intermittent exercise sessions separated by 24 hours.
Binary Classification from Positive-Confidence Data

Can we learn a binary classifier from only positive data, without any negative data or unlabeled data? We show that if one can equip positive data with confidence (positive-confidence), one can successfully learn a binary classifier, which we name positive-confidence (Pconf) classification. Our work is related to one-class classification which is aimed at "describing" the positive class by clustering-related methods, but one-class classification does not have the ability to tune hyper-parameters and their aim is not on "discriminating" positive and negative classes. For the Pconf classification problem, we provide a simple empirical risk minimization framework that is model-independent and optimization-independent. We theoretically establish the consistency and an estimation error bound, and demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method for training deep neural networks through experiments.
[Does subcutaneous cellular tissue exist?].

BACKGROUND The definition of the "subcutaneous cellular tissue" is still debated. METHODS In order to establish the localisation and composition of this tissue, or, merely its existence, we interviewed French dermatologists and conducted a bibliographic study on the historical definitions of the so-called "subcutaneous cellular tissue". A questionnaire was sent to French professors of dermatology to assess their definition of the "subcutaneous cellular tissue". They were also asked to make a simple cartoon showing the anatomy of the skin and "subcutaneous cellular tissue". RESULTS We obtained 37 answers which could be classified in three main categories: 1) "subcutaneous cellular tissue" and hypodermis are synonymous, 2) "subcutaneous cellular tissue" is an autonomous tissue which separates the hypodermis from the tissues below and 3) "subcutaneous cellular tissue" designates all structures located below the hypodermis. In an historic perspective, the "cellular system" was a macroscopic concept described in the eighteenth century as whitish fibrils delimitating "cells". It was renamed loose connective tissue in the twentieth century and thus "cellular" became obsolete. The definition of skin, and of "subcutaneous cellular tissue" in particular, has greatly changed over time. In the eighteenth century, only epidermis and dermis were considered as belonging to the skin, although some included the tela subcutanea. In the twentieth century, the "subcutaneous cellular tissue" is considered either as a part of the hypodermis, or as the hypodermis itself or as a tissue located between the hypodermis and the fascia. DISCUSSION The difficulty in defining "subcutaneous cellular tissue" is the result of a French semantic problem. The "cellular tissue" became loose connective tissue. For French dermatologists, the skin is composed of epidermis, dermis and hypodermis and the hypodermis can therefore not be subcutaneous. In order to check whether an autonomous tissue could be evidenced under the skin, we conducted an histologic study, which is presented in a second article.