Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Paleomagnetic Secular Variation and Relative Paleointensity During the Holocene in South China—Huguangyan Maar Lake Revisited

The scarcity of reliable paleomagnetic secular variation (PSV) records from East Asia especially from low‐latitude regions impedes better understanding of global PSV mechanisms. Here we report on a radiocarbon‐dated Holocene PSV record from a composite ~6.7‐m‐long core collected from the high‐sedimentation‐rate Huguangyan Maar Lake (HML) in subtropical‐tropical South China. Rock magnetic results demonstrate that the natural remanent magnetization resides in single‐domain magnetite. Alternating field demagnetization experiments at 1‐cm spacing on u‐channel samples reveal six distinct inclination highs at ~7,500 BCE, ~5,100 BCE, ~4,600 BCE, ~3,600–3,400 BCE, ~1,600–1,200 BCE, and 600–800 CE; three inclination lows at ~4,800 BCE, ~600–300 BCE, and ~1,000–1,300 CE; and three eastward declination trends at ~3,600–3,200 BCE, ~2,600–2,400 BCE, and 400 BCE to 200 CE. The similarity between the HML PSV record and other independently dated records from East Asia and geomagnetic field models corroborates the robustness of our age model and Holocene PSV record. Strikingly, centennial‐ to millennial‐scale PSV features of the HML are comparable, within age uncertainties, with other Holocene records from Europe, North America, and Canada, suggesting that such directional patterns are likely to be hemispheric in scale. Although relative paleointensity data of HML are affected by environmental factors (e.g., organic matter diagenesis), the record still provides a regionally important new PSV reference curve whose conspicuous features may serve as stratigraphic markers for East Asian paleorecords.
Interactive Disparity Map Post-processing

Disparity estimation has been investigated for decades. Fully automatic methods have problems in texture-less regions, around object boundaries and in occlusions regions. In this paper, we exploit user input to address these problematic areas interactively. By drawing contours and polygons, we achieve sharp disparity discontinuities and smooth disparity planes in the disparity maps. Annotations are tracked quite accurately over a number of frames. Experimental results on Middlebury data set and our own stereo video suggest that the accuracy of disparity maps can be improved significantly with limited user input.
Theory of fluctuations in non-equilibrium electron—hot-phonon system

A new type of correlation caused by fluctuations is resolved in coupled nonequilibrium (hot) electron-phonon system described by Boltzmann and Planck statistics. The kinetic equation for equal-time electron-phonon correlation function is obtained from the first principles by diagram technique. The correlation is demonstrated through Monte Carlo simulation of hot-electron-hot-phonon interaction in GaN subjected to a strong electric field. Hot-phonon lifetime can be obtained from hot-electron fluctuations.
Anti-graft-versus-host disease effect of DT390-anti-CD3sFv, a single-chain Fv fusion immunotoxin specifically targeting the CD3 epsilon moiety of the T-cell receptor.

In a recent study, we showed that an immunotoxin (IT) made with a conventional monoclonal antibody targeting the CD3 epsilon moiety of the T-cell receptor (TCR) had a potent, but partial, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) effect (Vallera et al, Blood 86:4367, 1995). Therefore, in this current study, we determined whether a fusion immunotoxin made with anti-CD3 single-chain Fv (sFv), the smallest unit of antibody recognizing antigen, would have anti-GVHD activity. A fusion protein was synthesized from a construct made by splicing sFv cDNA from the hybridoma 145-2C11 to a truncated form of the diphtheria toxin (DT390) gene. DT390 encodes a molecule that retains full enzymatic activity, but excludes the native DT binding domain. The DT390-anti-CD3sFv hybrid gene was cloned into a vector under the control of an inducible promoter. The protein was expressed in Escherichia coli and then purified from inclusion bodies. The DT390 moiety of the protein had full enzymatic activity compared with native DT and DT390-anti-CD3sFv, with an IC50 of 1 to 2 nmol/L against phytohemagglutinin-stimulated and alloantigen-stimulated T cells. Specificity was shown (1) by blocking the IT with parental anti-CD3 antibody, but not with a control antibody; (2) by failure of DT390-anti-CD3sFv to inhibit lipopolysaccharide-stimulated murine B cells; (3) by failure of an Ig control fusion protein, DT390-Fc, to inhibit T-cell responses; and (4) with in vivo immunohistochemisty studies. GVHD was studied in a model in which C57BL/6 (H-2b)-purified lymph node T cells were administered to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigen disparate unirradiated C.B. -17 scid (H-2d) mice to assess GVHD effects in the absence of irradiation toxicity. Flow cytometry studies showed that donor T cells were expanded 57-fold and histopathologic analysis showed the hallmarks of a lethal model of GVHD. Control mice receiving phosphate-buffered saline showed 17% survival on day 80 after bone marrow transplantation, and mice receiving 2 micrograms DT390-Fc fusion toxin control administered in 2 daily doses for 6 days (days 0 through 5) had a 43% survival rate. In contrast, 86% of mice receiving the same dose of DT390-anti-CD3sFv were survivors on day 80, a significant improvement, although survivors still showed histopathologic signs of GVHD. These findings suggest that new anti-GVHD agents can be genetically engineered and warrant further investigation of fusion proteins for GVHD treatment.
Classic and desmoplastic medulloblastoma: Complete case reports and characterizations of two new cell lines

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common type of brain tumor affecting children. These tumors are a significant cause of childhood mortality and morbidity, and more effective and less invasive treatment options are urgently required. To achieve these aims, it will be critical to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of MB. At present, there are relatively few well‐characterized MB cell lines available to the research community for the study of MB molecular and cellular biology. Here we present the case reports of two children diagnosed with classic and desmoplastic MB, and describe the characteristics of two new MB cell lines derived from these individuals. A number of genes encoding components of the sonic hedgehog (SHH) and WNT pathways were up‐regulated in the desmoplastic relative to the classic MB cell line consistent with aberrant activation of these pathways in desmoplastic MB. These cell lines represent an additional resource for the analysis of diverse aspects of MB biology.
Modeling Exploration of Intrinsically Diverse Search Tasks as Markov Decision Processes

Online learning of ranking models based on user interactions has attracted considerable attention in recent years. However, these models are mainly designed to optimize search results for one-time queries, while intrinsically diverse search tasks where the goal is to explore all aspects of an information need generally require search page navigation. The goal in such search scenarios is to utilize user interactions with results in order to optimize the whole search session. To provide the user with the next page of search results, the search system, on the one hand, should exploit all feedback information about the query, obtained from the user. On the other hand, to fully satisfy the user’s information need, the search system needs to cover all aspects of the information need in the search results, while the available feedback may be on some, but not all, aspects. The search system thus needs to explore and provide a diversified search results. with the aim of covering all aspects of the information need. Therefore, in each interaction, the search system has to resolve the exploration-exploitation tradeoff. We hypothesize that this tradeoff depends on the state of the search session, defined by properties such as the number of aspects identified thus far by the user. We thus propose a new approach that casts the defined search task as a Markov decision process (MDP). The parameters of MDP are initially unknown to the search engine. It therefore has to learn these parameters through user interactions, thus resulting in an approximate MDP, and then find the optimal policy for the learned MDP. Alternatively, the search engine might put its efforts to directly learn (an approximately) optimal policy from the interactions. The first approach is usually referred to as model-based learning in MDPs, whereas the second is called model-free. In this paper, we adopt the second approach. This research is supported by DARPA grant FA8750-14-2-0226 and NSF CAREER AWARD IIS-1453721.
Correlation between levels of physical activity and the occurrence of depression among patients in family medicine clinics

Lack of physical activity is associated with the causes of illness, death and incapacitation. To determine the level of physical activity and the presence of depression, and level of correlation between physical activity and the appearance of depression in patients. In clinic family medicine, with pilot study, in the first half of 2010 years, through the Interview with 141 patients, completed the questionnaires: International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The data were processed according to the instructions for questionnaires for PHQ-9 and IPAQ. The tested patients were aged 1869 years, median 44 years (± 14.3). Of the total number of respondents 104 (73.76%) had values of PHQ-9 score ≤ 4. The largest number of respondents during the week 73 (51.77%) had moderate 23 (16.31%) low and 45 (31.91%), vigorous physical activity. Low levels of physical activity is present in people with depression PHQ-9 score of ≥ 5, which require treatment, as compared to subjects whose PHQ-9 score for depression ≤ 4 but no statistically significant difference p>0.05 (χ²=2.477; df=2). With increasing physical activity in patients with PHQ-9 score ≤ 4, increases are the value of the correlation is R2 = 0.85. And vice versa in patients whose PHQ-9 score above 5, with increasing PHQ-9 score reduces the variables for physical activity (R2 = 0.90). Moderate physical activity is associated with a reduction of depression. Physical activity in all age groups is essential for the promotion of health.
Protein Long Disordered Region Prediction Based on Profile-Level Disorder Propensities and Position-Specific Scoring Matrixes

Identification of long disordered regions in protein sequence is important for understanding protein function. In this work, a class of novel propensities at profile level is presented, namely, the order profile disorder propensities, which use the evolutionary information of profile for protein long disorder prediction. These propensities, combined with position-specific scoring matrixes, are inputted to the Logistic Regression (LR) for the prediction of protein long disordered regions. In 5-fold cross-validation test, our method can achieve an area of 97.5% under the ROC cure. Testing on a blind-test set, our method is significantly more accurate than several existing disorder predictors.
Low complexity MMSE precoding and decoding for Multiuser MIMO

Precoding and decoding for Multiuser MIMO has drawn many researchers' attention. Block Diagonolization (BD) is a competition algorithm for its low-complexity. BD algorithms usually uses the Zero-Forcing criterion, so the performance degrades especially when the noise is strong. The consideration of noise leads to the MMSE criterion. But for multiuser MIMO, there are no methods implementing MMSE both at Tx and Rx yet. This paper proposes an MMSE approach which implements the linear MMSE criteria both at Tx end and Rx end. The proposed algorithm brings the negligible complexity increase compared with the ZF based BD algorithms but outperforms them.
Activation of Muscarinic Cholinergic Receptors on Human SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells Enhances Both the Influx and Efflux of K+ under Conditions of Hypo-Osmolarity

The ability of receptor activation to regulate osmosensitive K+ fluxes (monitored as 86Rb+) in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma has been examined. Incubation of SH-SY5Y cells in buffers rendered increasingly hypotonic by a reduction in NaCl concentration resulted in an enhanced basal efflux of Rb+ (threshold of release, 200 mOsM) but had no effect on Rb+ influx. Addition of the muscarinic cholinergic agonist, oxotremorine-M (Oxo-M), potently enhanced Rb+ efflux (EC50 = 0.45 μM) and increased the threshold of release to 280 mOsM. Oxo-M elicited a similarly potent, but osmolarity-independent, enhancement of Rb+ influx (EC50 = 1.35 μM). However, when incubated under hypotonic conditions in which osmolarity was varied by the addition of sucrose to a fixed concentration of NaCl, basal- and Oxo-M-stimulated Rb+ influx and efflux were demonstrated to be dependent upon osmolarity. Basal- and Oxo-M-stimulated Rb+ influx (but not Rb+ efflux) were inhibited by inclusion of ouabain or furosemide. Both Rb+ influx and efflux were inhibited by removal of intracellular Ca2+ and inhibition of protein kinase C activity. In addition to Oxo-M, agonists acting at other cell surface receptors previously implicated in organic osmolyte release enhanced both Rb+ efflux and influx under hypotonic conditions. Oxo-M had no effect on cellular K+ concentration in SH-SY5Y cells under physiologically relevant reductions in osmolarity (0–15%) unless K+ influx was blocked. Thus, although receptor activation enhances the osmosensitive efflux of K+, it also stimulates K+ influx, and the latter permits retention of K+ by the cells.
A cultura e o ambiente de inovação: estudo em uma multinacional varejista

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a influencia da cultura organizacional sobre o ambiente de inovacao em uma empresa multinacional varejista. Para tal, aplicou-se o questionario adaptado de Hofstede (1980) e de Bates et al. (1995), referente a cultura, e o de Machado, Carvalho e Heinzmann (2012) sobre o ambiente de inovacao. A amostra foi de 156 respondentes. Os dados foram analisados por meio de modelagem de equacoes estruturais. Os resultados indicaram que houve relacao positiva na influencia da cultura organizacional sobre o ambiente de inovacao. Para pesquisas futuras, indica-se ampliar a amostra para outras empresas e estabelecer uma relacao entre inovacao e cultura.
Timing of referral to inpatient palliative care services for advanced cancer patients and earlier referral predictors in mainland China

Abstract Objective: Routine early integration of palliative care with advanced cancer management is not yet a part of standard practice in many countries, including mainland China. Whether patients in China suffering from advanced cancer are referred to palliative care services in a timely manner remains unclear. We sought to investigate the timing of palliative care referral of Chinese cancer patients at our center and its predictors. Method: Retrospective medical data including demographic characteristics and referral information were collected for analysis. A total of 759 patients referred to our palliative care unit (PCU) from January of 2007 to December of 2013 were included in the final analysis. Results: The mean age of the 759 patients included in the study was 62.89 years (range 61.95–63.82). Some 369 patients (48.6%) were male and 559 (73.6%) Shanghainese (indigenous). Lung cancer (17.9%) was the most common diagnosis. The time interval since enrollment into the PCU until a patient's death (length of stay, LOS) was calculated. A longer LOS indicated earlier referral to inpatient PC services. The median LOS was 21 days (CI 95% = 19.79–22.21). Multivariate analysis showed that whether or not the patient was indigenous (p = 0.002) and younger than 65 (p = 0.031) were independent factors for a longer LOS. Such other characteristics as gender and primary cancer type bore no relationship to LOS. Significance of results: Our findings demonstrate that Chinese cancer patients are referred relatively late in the course of their disease to inpatient palliative care services. To overcome the barriers to early integration of palliative care into a patient's treatment plan, accurate information about palliative care must be provided to both oncologists and patients via comprehensive and systematic educational programs.
Home environment and severe asthma in adolescence: a population based case-control study

Abstract Objective: To investigate the effects of the home environment on the risk of severe asthma during adolescence. Design: A questionnaire based case-control study drawn from a cross sectional survey of allergic diseases among secondary school pupils in Sheffield in 1991. Subjects: 763 children whose parents had reported that over the previous 12 months they had suffered either 12 or more wheezing attacks or a speech limiting attack of wheeze. A further 763 children were frequency matched for age and school class to act as controls. Analysis was restricted to 486 affected children and 475 others born between 1975 and 1980 who had lived at their present address for more than three years. Results: Independent associations with severe wheeze were seen for non-feather bedding, especially foam pillows (odds ratio 2.78; 95% confidence interval 1.89 to 4.17), and the ownership of furry pets now (1.51; 1.04 to 2.20) and at birth (1.70; 1.20 to 2.40). These estimates were derived from subjects whose parents denied making changes in the bedroom or avoiding having a pet because of allergy. Parental smoking, use of gas for cooking, age of mattress, and mould growth in the child's bedroom were not significantly associated with wheezing. Conclusions: Either our study questionnaire failed to detect the avoidance or removal of feather bedding by allergic families or there is some undetermined hazard related to foam pillows. Synthetic bedding and furry pets were both widespreadin this population and may represent remediable causes of childhood asthma.
Ageing — a cross-cutting research and policy challenge

The ageing population is a global phenomenon. Understanding its consequences is of key importance for our common future and will affect economic and social structures. It will also affect welfare systems and healthcare and the role of the elderly in society. With much better health and longer life expectancy they will play increasingly important political and cultural roles – and much more active ones. In Sweden the population over age 65 has doubled and the proportion of age groups of 80+ has quadrupled since the 1950s. In 2020, when the large birth cohorts of the 1940s reach age 80 and beyond, their numbers will grow by 45% in just a decade. In the years 2040–50 the proportion of the elderly will increase from 17% of today to 25% of the
SUBJECTIVE WELL – BEING AND BIOMARKERS OF HEALTH

An association between inflammation and mood deterioration has been proposed as a potential explanatory mechanism underlying many pathologies. Previous research attributes this consistently reoccurring connection between inflammation and psychopathology that is often reported within the literature, to a relationship between the HPA axis, the body’s stress response system and the immune system. There is evidence of a bidirectional feedback loop between end-products of the immune system and the HPA-axis such as cytokines and cortisol. This is supported by research reporting that components of subjective well-being such as positive affect, optimism and life satisfaction can produce beneficial health outcomes by potentially targeting this feedback loop. The present longitudinal study tested if higher positive affect independently corresponds to lower levels of inflammatory markers Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) and HPA axis marker cortisol. The study further tested if higher subjective well-being decreases levels of IL-6 and CRP as well as cortisol. The study employed a subsample of participants from the Midlife in Japan (MIDJA) Biomarker project (n=174) that underwent testing at two separate time points across a period of 4 years. The data included subjective well-being, positive affect, IL-6, CRP, cortisol, perceived stress, neuroticism and demographic variables. Positive affect was not associated with any inflammatory marker or cortisol. Subjective well-being had no effect on CRP but reduced IL-6 and cortisol even when controlling for all control and demographic variables. It is concluded that subjective well-being may be linked to lower inflammation and HPA axis activity.
The organization of the turtle inner retina. II. Analysis of color‐coded and directionally selective cells

Color coding and directional selectivity (DS) of retinal neurons were studied in the Pseudemys turtle by using similar intracellular recording and staining techniques as in the preceding paper (J. Ammermüller and H. Kolb, 1995, J. Comp. Neurol. 358:1–34). Color‐coded responses were elicited by red (621 or 694 nm), green (525 or 514 nm), and blue (455 nm) light flashes. In addition to red/green and yellow/blue types of chromaticity horizontal cells, in our sample of 305 identified cells we found that 17% of bipolar cells, 6.5% of amacrine cells, and 18% of ganglion cells exhibit color‐coded responses. DS responses were found in 37% of the tested ganglion cells and 41% of the tested amacrine cells.
Comparison of retinoic acid and phorbol myristate acetate as inducers of monocytic differentiation

Several human myeloid leukemia cell lines growing in vitro can be induced to differentiate to more mature monocyteJ. macrophage‐like cells by treatment with protein kinase C‐activating phorbol esters, such as PMA. In addition to PMA, cells of the THP‐I myeloid leukemia cell line acquire macro‐phage‐like characteristics after treatment with all‐trans retinoic acid (RA). To analyze the signal transduction mechanisms induced by RA, we first compared the effects of PMA and RA on the expression of genes which are known to be regulated during monocytic differentiation. Both RA and PMA effectively down‐regulated c‐myc expression, while c‐myb expression decreased only after PMA treatment. Expression of the β2‐integrin genes. CDIIa and CDIIb, was clearly increased after both of these treatments. Their effects on the src‐family tyrosine kinase genes were different: hck expression was similarly induced by these agents but lyn expression was stronger and more rapid after RA treatment. RA also enhanced lyn mRNA production rapidly in HL‐60, indicating that the activation of lyn gene expression is common in monocytic and granulocytic maturation of myeloid leukemia cells. To examine whether the AP‐1 enhancer activity is involved in RA‐induced monocytic differentiation, THP‐1 cells were transiently transfected with a chloramphenicol acetyi transferase (CAT)‐reporter gene containing S copies of the AP‐1 binding sites. In contrast to PMA, RA did not induce any CAT activity in these cells, thus suggesting that the RA‐induced changes in the expression of those genes described above were not dependent on the AP‐1 enhancer activity. © Wiley‐Liss, Inc.