Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
VARIATION IN BIOAVAILABILITY OF DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON AMONG STREAM HYPORHEIC FLOWPATHS

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) dominates the flux of organic matter in most stream ecosystems, but the proportion susceptible to microbial degradation is often presumed to be low. The fraction of bulk DOC contributing to microbial metabolism was assessed in five streams representing the regional range in surface-water DOC concentration in eastern New York State, USA (range 0.5–7.7 mg/L; n = 82). Transects of shallow wells along two hyporheic flowpaths (i.e., saturated sediments found below and lateral to the open-stream channel in active exchange with surface waters) in each of five streams were sampled monthly at baseflow to determine changes in subsurface DOC and dissolved oxygen concentrations. Hyporheic DOC concentrations ranged from 50% to 100% of surface-water concentrations and decreased along hyporheic flowpaths in four of five streams. Dissolved oxygen losses along hyporheic flowpaths paralleled DOC loss, and bacterial activity on tiles incubated at points along the flowpaths generally declined as hyporheic DOC was depleted. DOC losses along natural flowpaths exceeded the quantity of DOC lost during laboratory bottle incubations, even when samples were amended with inorganic nutrients. Hyporheic mesocosms were used to examine the fate of stream-derived DOC along replicated flowpaths under controlled hydrologic conditions. The overall patterns of DOC losses along mesocosm flowpaths supplied with water from previously studied streams were similar to DOC losses along natural flowpaths. DOC declines were paralleled by declines in bacterial activity and dissolved oxygen. Mesocosm results indicated that variation in percentage of DOC loss along natural flowpaths was not a function of dilution, residence time, or initial DOC concentration and that subsurface DOC dynamics were linked to variation in microbial metabolism. The fraction of total DOC available for metabolism varied markedly among regional streams and was independent of initial DOC concentration. DOC near the end of hyporheic flowpaths was not subject to further degradation, regardless of the bioavailability of surface-water DOC entering these flowpaths. Hence, in streams with significant hyporheic exchange, the amount and bioavailability of DOC transported to downstream ecosystems may be affected by subsurface metabolism. DOC depletion during hyporheic transport may provide a general in situ measure of bioavailable DOC in surface water and be a powerful predictor of rates of heterotrophic activity in sediments at the reach level.
Distribution of laminin in the murine pituitary

The distribution and cellular localization of the glycoprotein laminin were investigated by light and electron microscopic immunocytochemistry in the adult murine pituitary gland. Immunoblots confirmed that laminin was the only protein in the pituitary gland of the adult male mouse to react with antilaminin serum. Laminin immunoreactivity was demonstrated at the light microscopic level simultaneously with that of β‐follicle stimulating hormone (β‐FSH) and β‐luteinizing hormone (β‐LH). In addition to its distribution is basal laminae, laminin immunoreactivity was coincidently expressed in gonadotrophs with the immunoreactivities of β‐FSH and β‐LH. Electron microscopic immunocytochemistry was employed on aldehyde‐fixed sections embedded in L.R. White. Sites of binding of primary antisera to laminin were identified with affinity‐purified secondary antisera directly coupled to 20 nm particles of colloidal gold. Three antisera recognizing laminin were compared and found to result in an identical pattern of immunoreactivity. Laminin was found extracellulary only in formed basal laminae in all three lobes of the pituitary and was not found in extracellular matrices of connective tissue. Laminin immunoreactivity was also found intracellularly in gonadotrophs but in none of the other endocrine or non‐endocrine cells of the anterior lobe. Within gonadotrophs, only secretory granules were labeled. The majority, but not all, secretory granules were labeled in each of the gonadotrophs examined, and the proportion of granules labeled with laminin could not be increased by doubling the concentration of anti‐laminin serum. Laminin immunocreactivity segregated with the subset of secretory granules containing β‐FSH. In contrast, laminin immunoreactivity was absent in the smaller subset of secretory granules that contain serotonin. No secretory granules were labeled within the endocrine cells of the intermediate lobe, nor within secretory granules of neural elements in the posterior lobe.
Denosumab reduces the risk of osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women, particularly in those with moderate to high fracture risk as assessed with FRAX

Denosumab has been shown to reduce the incidence of vertebral, nonvertebral, and hip fractures. The aim of the current study was to determine whether the antifracture efficacy of denosumab was dependent on baseline fracture probability assessed by FRAX. The primary data of the phase 3 FREEDOM study of the effects of denosumab in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis were used to compute country‐specific probabilities using the FRAX tool (version 3.2). The outcome variable comprised all clinical osteoporotic fractures (including clinical vertebral fractures). Interactions between fracture probability and efficacy were explored by Poisson regression. At baseline, the median 10‐year probability of a major osteoporotic fracture (with bone mineral density) was approximately 15% and for hip fracture was approximately 5% in both groups. In the simplest model adjusted for age and fracture probability, treatment with denosumab over 3 years was associated with a 32% (95% confidence interval [CI] 20% to 42%) decrease in clinical osteoporotic fractures. Denosumab reduced fracture risk to a greater extent in those at moderate to high risk. For example, at 10% probability, denosumab decreased fracture risk by 11% (p = 0.629), whereas at 30% probability (90th percentile of study population) the reduction was 50% (p = 0.001). The reduction in fracture was independent of prior fracture, parental history of hip fracture, or secondary causes of osteoporosis. A low body mass index (BMI) was associated with greater efficacy. Denosumab significantly decreased the risk of clinical osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women. Overall, the efficacy of denosumab was greater in those at moderate to high risk of fracture as assessed by FRAX. © 2012 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Reproducibility of Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness Measurements Using Optical Coherence Tomography in Silicone Oil-Filled Eyes

Purpose: To evaluate the reproducibility of nerve fiber layer (NFL) thickness measurements by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in individuals with silicone oil-filled eyes. Methods: Eighteen patients who had undergone pars plana vitrectomy and silicone oil tamponade for retinal detachment were enrolled in a prospective, case-controlled clinical study. Each patient underwent OCT measurement of NFL thickness. Five repetitions of a series of scans on five separate occasions within a 0.5-month period were performed. Each eye was scanned at two different nerve head programs [radius (R) = 1.5 and R = 1.73]. The contralateral healthy eye was used as control. For each option (R = 1.5 and R = 1.73) and region (superior, inferior, temporal, nasal and overall mean), variance components and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were determined using repeated-measures regression. In these models, NFL thickness, as measured by OCT, was considered to have three variance components: intersubject, intervisit (within subject, between dates), and intravisit (within subject, within date). The ICC (intersubject variance/total variance) was used as a measure of reliability. Results: The contralateral healthy eye provided a higher degree of reproducibility than the silicone oil-filled eye (p = 0.0001). Reproducibility was higher in a given eye on a given visit than from visit to visit. Reproducibility as measured by ICCs was as follows: R = 1.5, 0.54/0.30 (control eyes/silicone oil-filled eyes); R = 1.73, 0.51/0.30. Conclusions: Reproducibility results for OCT measurement of NFL thickness are different in healthy eyes and silicone oil-filled eyes. NFL thickness measurement is not reliable in silicone oil-filled eyes.
Asas da Imaginação - Por Que HA Tantas Teorias Sobre a Consciência?

Examina-se a origem da consciencia sob o enfoque da evolucao da imaginacao. Propoe-se que o imaginario seja processo e resultado da relacao organismo-objeto, e fonte da capacidade de imaginacao. Com base em Castoriadis e Damasio, lanca-se a hipotese de um terceiro nivel para o fluxo de imagens para explicar a evolucao da imaginacao, e esboca-se um cenario para a sua evolucao na especie humana. Examina-se o status da representacao, gerada pelo imaginario, concluindo-se que e, ao mesmo tempo, real e ficticio. Analisa-se o papel do imaginario na educacao, arte e ciencia, e sugere-se que a capacidade de imaginacao e essencial para se compreender a forma criativa com que o ser humano apreende e (re)constroi a sua realidade.
Intracerebroventricular Administration of the Rat Growth Hormone (GH) Receptor Antagonist G118R Stimulates GH Secretion: Evidence for the Existence of Short Loop Negative Feedback of GH

Pulsatile growth hormone (GH) secretion is regulated by three hypothalamic factors, growth hormone‐releasing hormone (GHRH), somatostatin and the natural ligand for the GH secretagogue receptor (Ghrelin). These factors and their effects are, in turn, affected by short loop feedback of GH itself. To test the hypothesis that hypothalamic GH receptors are involved in the ultradian rhythmicity of pituitary GH secretion, the rat GH receptor antagonist (G118R) was administered to adult male rats by intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection and the effects on spontaneous GH secretion were studied. Normal saline was administered i.c. v. to eight control rats. Mean GH concentrations increased significantly in the rat treated with G118R compared to rats that received normal saline. The pulse amplitude rose by a mean of 33.3 ng/ml and the total area under the curve increased by a mean of 15 061 ng/ml × min. The number of GH peaks did not change significantly following G118R. These data suggest that GH regulates its own secretion by acting directly on hypothalamic GH receptors.
A full block S-procedure application to distributed control

This paper concerns the problem of distributed controller synthesis for a class of systems which we call “decomposable systems”. These systems have a special property that makes it possible to decompose them into a set of modal systems and approach the distributed control problem in an easy and effective way. In a recent paper of ours, we have shown a suboptimal H∞ controller synthesis method based on the use of the multi-objective optimization technique making use of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs); in this article we show that another suboptimal approach is possible, which exploits robust control techniques, namely the full block S-procedure. In the end we also briefly show a method based on small gain H∞ robust performance synthesis, and the results of the three different methods are compared on a couple of test cases.
Impact of a media campaign for disaster mental health counseling in post-September 11 New York.

OBJECTIVE After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYOMH) initiated a three-phase multifaceted, multilingual media campaign that advertised the availability of counseling services. This study evaluated the association between patterns of spending within this campaign and the volume of calls received and referred to a counseling program. METHODS Spending on television, radio, print, and other advertising was examined, as was the corresponding volume of calls to the NetLife hotline seeking referrals to counseling services. RESULTS From September 2001 to December 2002, $9.38 million was spent on Project Liberty media campaigns. Call volumes increased during months when total monthly expenditures peaked. Initially, flyers, billboards, and other material items accounted for most monthly expenses. Over time, spending for television and radio advertisements increased, whereas other advertising declined. Temporal patterns show that in periods after an increase in media spending, call volumes increased independently of other sentinel events such as the one-year anniversary of the attacks. CONCLUSIONS Sustained advertising through multiple media outlets appeared to be effective in encouraging individuals to seek mental health services.
The Believability Gene in Virtual Bots

Video game development is not only one of the most profitable entertainment industries but also represents a very interesting field of research. Particularly in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it provides many interesting (and hard to tackle) challenges. One of them consists in creating artificial bots (i.e., game characters not controlled by a human) that mimic human behavior or, at least, show a believable behavior. This paper deals with this issue by describing two very different approaches that were proposed for creating believable bots and applied, with some degree of success, in the context of a first-person shooter (FPS) game. One approach is based on the idea of imitating human player behavior, and the other one consists of automatically creating bots via an interactive evolutionary algorithm. The paper analyzes the performance of these proposals and introduces different forms of hybridizing both approaches for future applications.
Monitoring effects of direct FXa-inhibitors with a new one-step prothrombinase-induced clotting time (PiCT) assay: comparative in vitro investigation with heparin, enoxaparin, fondaparinux and DX 9065a.

UNLABELLED Selective, direct factor Xa-inhibitors are an emerging new class of antithrombotic drugs but their application in therapy may require adequate laboratory monitoring. A recently introduced assay for monitoring anti-FXa-activity using Russell's viper venom is based on the prothrombinase-induced clotting time (PiCT). In this study comparative data on the performance of PiCT using direct and indirect FXa-inhibitors and measurements of FXa-activity and aPTT are reported. METHODS Whole citrated blood samples from six healthy volunteers were preincubated with UFH (0-1.0 IU/ml), enoxaparin (0-10 microg/ml), fondaparinux (0-1.0 microg/ ml) and DX 9065a (0-10 microg/ml). PTT, FXa-activity and PiCT in plasma were determined on an ACL coagulation analyzer. PiCT was done with both a 180-sec incubation period before recalcification (2-step), and without (1-step). FXa-activity was based on a chromogenic assay (S2222). RESULTS FXa-activity was reduced 10-40% by the lowest concentration and by 80-95% by the highest concentration of all agents. At the highest concentration the maximum prolongation in aPTT exceeded 120 sec with UFH, enoxaparin and DX 9065a but was only marginally prolonged (increase 39 +/- 3 sec) by fondaparinux. Prolongation in PiCT was significantly different when the two PiCT-methods were compared e.g. at 1.0 IU/ml UFH, 137 +/- 25 (1-step) vs. 187 +/- 32 sec (2-step) (p < 0.001); at 10 microg/ml enoxaparin 83 +/- 9 sec vs. 130 +/- 15 (p < 0.001); at 1.0 microg/ml fondaparinux 48 +/- 5 sec vs. 73 +/- 9 sec (p < 0.001); at 10 microg/ml DX 9065a 28 +/- 3 vs. 25 +/- 2 (p < 0.01), respectively. The 2-step method was unable to detect a prolongation in the effects of DX 9065a, and at concentrations < 5 microg/ml clotting times were even shorter (e.g. 13 +/- 1 sec at 1.0 microg/ml DX 9065a) than the baseline readings (20 +/- 2 sec). CONCLUSIONS Only the 1-step method (i.e. without pre-incubation) seems suitable for the monitoring of new, direct selective FXa-inhibitors.
Distribució territorial i característiques sociodemogràfiques de la població de nacionalitat estrangera en àmbits urbans: el cas de la ciutat de Barcelona

Des d'inicis de la decada dels noranta, l'acceleracio dels fluxos migratoris internacionals ha comportat un rapid creixement dels residents estrangers a les ciutats del sud d'Europa. En el cas de Barcelona, aquest creixement es d'especial intensitat des de finals dels noranta, multiplicant per nou la poblacio estrangera present, que actualment supera el 15% dels seus residents. En aquest treball ens interessa coneixer, a partir de les dades del Cens de 2001, el proces d'assentament de la poblacio de nacionalitat estrangera en el territori. Les caracteristiques sociodemografiques dels migrants conjuntament amb una situacio marcada per una primera arribada a la ciutat es configuren com els principals factors explicatius d'una insercio caracteritzada per una forta heterogeneitat de situacions, on el mercat de l'habitatge i la jerarquia socioeconomica dels barris barcelonins acaben d'explicar les pautes d'insercio, combinant les caracteristiques del territori amb les de la poblacio que hi resideix.
Weak sense of coherence predicts depression: 1-year and 9-year follow-ups of the Finnish Outcomes of Depression International Network (ODIN) sample

Background. Previous studies show conflicting results on the role of weak sense of coherence (SOC) as a risk factor for depression. Aims. The aim of this work was to study whether a weak SOC predicts depressive symptoms in a non-depressive population sample in the short or long perspective. Method. Participants without depressive symptoms (n = 1645) in the Finnish sample of the Outcomes of Depression International Network (ODIN) study were assessed at 1-year and 9-year follow-up. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and SOC by the 13-item Orientation to Life Questionnaire (SOC-13). Logistic regression analysis was used to test the association between baseline SOC and depressive symptoms measured at the follow-ups. Results. In univariate analysis, there was a significant inverse association between baseline SOC and depressive symptoms at 1 year (p = 0.000) and at 9 years (p = 0.000). In multivariate analysis, weak SOC continued to predict depressive symptoms at 1 year (p = 0.022) and 9 years (p = 0.015). Conclusions. Weak SOC predicted depressive symptoms in the short and long perspective. It seems likely that a strong SOC represents a protective function, not only absence of current depression.
Distribution of Volumes of Individual Glomeruli in Kidneys at Autopsy: Association with Physical and Clinical Characteristics and with Ethnic Group

We have demonstrated considerable variability in the volumes of different glomeruli in given individuals (individual glomerular volume: IGV) in a stereologic study of kidneys at forensic autopsy performed to investigate sudden or unexpected death in people without manifest kidney disease. We review some important associations of IGV by subject characteristics and by ethnic groups. IGVs were measured by the Cavalieri method in 30 glomeruli in each of 111 adult males who belonged to 4 ethnic groups, i.e. US Whites, African-Americans, Africans from Senegal, and Australian Aborigines. Correlations of pooled IGV values with certain subject characteristics were evaluated in the US Whites. Pooled IGV data were compared in subjects across the 4 ethnic groups. In US Whites, mean IGV and its variance were greater with higher age, lower nephron number, lower birth weight, and with gross obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular death. In comparisons by ethnic group, mean IGV and IGV ranges were higher in African-Americans and Australian Aborigines than in US Whites and African Senegalese subjects. We conclude that glomerular enlargement with volume heterogeneity marks more advanced age, relative nephron deficiency, lower birth weight, obesity, hypertension, and advanced cardiovascular disease. The findings in African-Americans and Australian Aborigines suggest that larger IGVs and volume heterogeneity might mark populations with accentuated susceptibility to hypertension and kidney disease, but the data need to be further examined in the context of the determining characteristics defined in the US Whites.
Tissue-specific transcription of the mouse alpha-fetoprotein gene promoter is dependent on HNF-1

Previous work identified four upstream cis-acting elements required for tissue-specific expression of the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) gene: three distal enhancers and a promoter. To further define the role of the promoter in regulating AFP gene expression, segments of the region were tested for the ability to direct transcription of a reporter gene in transient expression assay. Experiments showed that the region within 250 base pairs of the start of transcription was sufficient to confer liver-specific transcription. DNase I footprinting and band shift assays indicated that the region between -130 and -100 was recognized by two factors, one of which was highly sequence specific and found only in hepatoma cells. Competition assays suggested that the liver-specific binding activity was HNF-1, previously identified by its binding to other liver-specific promoters. Mutation of the HNF-1 recognition site at -120 resulted in a significant reduction in transcription in transfection assays, suggesting a biological role for HNF-1 in the regulation of AFP expression.
Spatial Modelling of Fire Drivers in Urban-Forest Ecosystems in China

Fires in urban-forest ecosystems (UFEs) are frequent with complex causes, posing a serious hazard to human lives and infrastructure. Thus, quantifying wildfire risks in UFEs and their spatial pattern is quintessential to develop appropriate fire management strategies. The aim of this study was to explore spatial (geographically weighted logistic regression, GWLR) versus non-spatial (logistic regression, LR) modelling approaches to determine the relationship between forest fire occurrence and driving factors in Yichun, a typical urban-forest ecosystem in China. As drivers of fire, 13 factors related to topographic, vegetation, infrastructure, meteorological and socio-economy were considered and regressed against fire occurrence data from 1980 to 2010. Results demonstrate the superiority of GWLR models over LR in terms of prediction accuracy, goodness of fit and model residuals. The GWLR model further captured the spatial variability of driving factors over a broad study area, and the fire likelihood maps identified areas with different zones of fire risk in the study area. In conclusion, the study demonstrates quantitatively and spatially the importance of accounting for local variation in drivers of fires, thereby improving fire management and prevention strategies. The findings also contribute to the emerged field of fire management and fire risk assessment in UFEs.
Age differences in the automatic accessibility of emotional words from semantic memory

Using a speeded word fragment completion task, we assessed age differences in the automatic accessibility of emotional versus neutral words from semantic memory. Participants were instructed to complete a series of single-solution word fragments as quickly as possible. The results demonstrate that older adults are biased against accessing both positive and negative words relative to neutral words, whereas young adults are biased against accessing positive words only. These findings suggest an arousal-based accessibility bias favouring neutral stimuli in older adults coupled with a valence-based bias accessing negative and neutral stimuli for young adults.