Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lung recruitment during small tidal volume ventilation allows minimal positive end-expiratory pressure without augmenting lung injury.

OBJECTIVES Ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) above the inflection point (P(inf)) has been shown to reduce lung injury by recruiting previously closed alveolar regions; however, it carries the risk of hyperinflating the lungs. The present study examined the hypothesis that a new strategy of recruiting the lung with a sustained inflation (SI), followed by ventilation with small tidal volumes, would allow the maintenance of low PEEP levels (<P(inf)) without inducing additional lung injury. DESIGN Prospective, randomized, controlled ex vivo study. SETTING An animal laboratory in a university setting. SUBJECTS Isolated nonperfused lungs of adult Sprague-Dawley rats. INTERVENTIONS We studied the effect on compliance and lung injury in four groups (n = 10 per group) of lavaged rat lungs. One group (group 1) served as a control; their lungs were inflated at PEEP < P(inf) but not ventilated. The other three groups were ventilated with small tidal volumes (5 to 6 mL/kg) for 2 hrs with the following interventions: group 2, PEEP < P(inf) without SI; group 3, PEEP < P(inf) after a SI to 30 cm H2O for 30 secs; and group 4, PEEP > P(inf). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS In groups 2 and 4, static compliance decreased after ventilation (p < .01). Histologically, group 2 (PEEP < P(inf) without SI) showed significantly greater injury of small airways, but not of terminal respiratory units, compared with group 1. Group 3 (PEEP < P(inf) after a SI), but not group 4, showed significantly less injury of small airways and terminal respiratory units compared with group 2. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that small tidal volume ventilation after a recruitment maneuver allows ventilation on the deflation limb of the pressure/volume curve of the lungs at a PEEP < P(inf). This strategy a) minimizes lung injury as well as, or better than, use of PEEP > P(inf), and b) ensures a lower PEEP, which may minimize the detrimental consequences of high lung volume ventilation.
A Circularly Polarized Switched-Beam Antenna Array

This letter introduces a novel, inexpensive, and low-insertion-loss switch feeding network for beam steering of antenna array. The proposed network uses only a single-pole multithrow (SPMT) microwave p-i-n switch to steer the main beam to different angles with high gains. In theory, arbitrary angles and an arbitrary number of steering beams can be realized with this structure. This type of switch feeding network is used to successfully design a 2×3 circular polarization microstrip antenna array, and the experimental results are presented and discussed. Good agreements between simulation and testing are achieved.
Indicators of sustainable development performance: Case study of European Union countries

Abstract A sustainable development strategy is an essential long-term strategy that aims to bring about a balance of three key policy factors: sustainable economic growth and economic and technological development, sustainable development of society based on social equality, and environmental protection with a rational use of natural resources. The sustainable development strategy is very complex and contains a large number of indicators, so one of the statistical methods that can be used for this complex problem is the I-distance method. It was created as a need to rank countries according to the level of socio-economic development and the problem was how to take advantage of all the indicators in order to calculate a synthetic indicator which would represent the rank. The I-distance method in this paper is used for the ranking of 18 countries of the European Union based on ten indicators that have been selected in accordance with the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. The used headline indicators come from the following areas: socio-economic development, sustainable consumption and production, social inclusion, demographic changes, public health, climate change and energy, sustainable transport, and global partnership. By analysing the initial set of indicators and their correlation coefficients with the found I-distance values, the following most important indicators were found: official development assistance as a share of the gross national income, employment rate of older workers, healthy life years and life expectancy at birth (males), energy consumption of transport relative to GDP etc. Countries that occupied the top three places were Sweden, Luxembourg, and Finland while Croatia, Poland, and Slovenia occupied the last three places.
Titanium Particles Stimulate Bone Resorption by Inducing Differentiation of Murine Osteoclasts

Background: Loosening of orthopaedic implants is mediated by cytokines that elicit bone resorption and are produced in response to phagocytosis of implant-derived wear particles. This accelerated bone resorption could be due to increased osteoclastic activity, survival, or differentiation. Although a number of in vitro studies have shown that wear particles increase osteoclastic activity, the increase was less than twofold in all cases. The objective of the current study was to test the hypothesis that wear particles stimulate bone resorption by inducing osteoclast differentiation. Methods: Conditioned media were prepared from murine marrow cells or human peripheral blood monocytes incubated in the presence or absence of titanium particles. The effects of conditioned media on osteoclast differentiation were examined with use of a recently developed assay in which osteoclast precursors are co-cultured with mesenchymal support cells. Results: The present study showed that titanium particles induced both murine marrow cells and human peripheral blood monocytes to produce factors that stimulated osteoclast differentiation. The mean increase in osteoclast differentiation was 29.3 ± 9.4-fold. The stimulation of osteoclast differentiation led to a parallel increase in bone resorption. The amount of stimulation was regulated in a dose-dependent manner by the concentration of both titanium particles and conditioned media. The stimulation of osteoclast differentiation required interactions between the cells and the particles themselves and, therefore, was not due to metal ions, soluble contaminants released from the particles, or submicrometer particles. In contrast, conditioned media from control cells incubated in the absence of titanium particles had no detectable effect on any of the examined parameters. Conclusions: The present study showed that titanium particles stimulate in vitro bone resorption primarily by inducing osteoclast differentiation. In contrast, the titanium particles had only small effects on osteoclast activity or survival. Clinical Relevance: The present study provides strong support for the hypothesis that osteoclast differentiation is an important factor in the development of aseptic loosening. The development of therapeutic interventions to reduce osteoclast differentiation may be a useful approach for improving the performance of orthopaedic implants.
The effects of methidathion on liver: role of vitamins E and C

Methidathion (MD) is one of the most widely used organophosphate insecticides (OPIs) for public health programmes and agricultural purposes. However it causes side effects such as liver disorders. We examined the ameliorating effects of a combination of vitamins E and C against MD induced liver toxicity in rats. MD was given orally with a single dose of 8 mg/kg body weight at 0 h. Vitamin E and vitamin C were injected 30 min after the treatment of MD at doses of 150 mg/kg body weight i.m. and 200 mg/kg body weight i.p., respectively. Liver tissue samples were taken 24 h after the MD administration. In MD treated group, some histopathological changes like infiltration with mono-nuclear cells at parenchymal tissue, sinusoidal dilatation, focal necrotic areas, granular degeneration and picnotic nuclei in the hepatocytes were observed. The severity of these lesions was reduced by administration of vitamins. It is concluded that MD caused liver damage and single-dose treatment with a combination therapy of vitamins E and C after the administration of MD can reduce the toxic effects of MD on liver tissue of rats.
The U.S. Financial crisis: A long day’s journey into night

Introduction Chiara Guglielmatti Part I: The Global Economic Crisis and Its Impacts on SMEs 1. The US Financial Crisis: A Long Day's Journey into Night Steven Rosefielde 2. The EU Crisis Seen from the Bottom: The Perspective of Vulnerable Economies on Eurozone Troubles Bruno Dallago and Chiara Guglielmetti 3. Financial Crises and Labour Markets: Comparative Evidences Marcello Signorelli 4. European Policis to Promote the Access to Finance of SMEs Elisabetta Pederzini Part II: SMEs' Vulnerability and Resilience 5. Vulnerable or Resilient? - SMEs and the Economic Crisis in the UK 6. Access to Finance, Access to Markets, Excess of Bureaucracy: The Three Problems of SME Development Andrej Rus 7. Polish and Hungarian SMEs Facing the Crisis Karoly Attila Soos 8. Riding the Economic Downturn: Cooperatives in Europe Michele Rondinelli and Anna Sarateanu Part III: SMEs and Local Development 9. Industrial Districts in Front of the Financial Crisis. Network Structure, Variety, Risk Sharing and Resilience Giulio Cainelli, Sandro Montressor and Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti 10. Economic Structure, Reaction to the Crisis and Entrepreneurs' Expectations in a Mature Regional Economy: The Case of Lombardia Donatella Baiardi and Marco Percoco 11. Who are the Entrepreneurs that Help the Economy Emerge from Crisis? Ferran Vendrell-Herrero, Jose Luis Gonzalez-Pernia and Inaki Pena-Legazkue 12. Federal Grants for Local Development to Stop Economic Decline? Lessons from Germany Peter Haug and Martin T.W. Rosenfeld
Prognostic aspects of 18F-FDG PET kinetics in patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma receiving FOLFOX chemotherapy.

UNLABELLED We evaluated quantitative measurement series (MS) with 18F-FDG and PET and compared different quantification methods for prediction of individual survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer receiving chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil, folinic acid, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX). METHODS The study comprised 25 patients. All patients were examined before the onset of FOLFOX therapy and after completion of the first and fourth cycles. SUV, fractal dimension (FD), a 2-compartment model with computation of k1, k2, k3, and k4, and vascular fraction (VB) were used for data evaluation. Survival data served as a reference for the PET data. Discriminant analysis (DA), regression, and best-subset analysis were applied to the data. RESULTS Twenty of 25 patients died up to 801 d after the first PET study. A cutoff of 1 y (364 d) was used to classify the patients into 2 a priori groups, namely the short- and long-term survival groups. DA was used to predict the 2 categories using SUV and kinetic parameters of 18F-FDG metabolism as predictor variables. SUV provided a correct classification rate (CCR) ranging from 62% to 69%. SUV of the third MS resulted in a CCR of 69% as a single parameter. The best results were yielded by the use of kinetic parameters (k1, k3, VB, and FD) as predictor variables. CCR was 78% using kinetic 18F-FDG parameters of the first and third MS, in comparison with 69% for the corresponding SUVs. A multiple linear regression model was applied to the data to assess the relationship between individual survival and the PET data. The best-subset method revealed a correlation coefficient of 0.850 for the kinetic parameters of the first (k3, k4, VB, and FD) and third (k1, k2, k4, and VB) MS. CONCLUSION The combination of kinetic parameters of the first and the third MS is acceptable for classification into a short or long survival class. Furthermore, even an individual prognosis of survival can be achieved using kinetic 18F-FDG parameters of the first and third MS.
Variable-Version Lovász Local Lemma: Beyond Shearer's Bound

A tight criterion under which the abstract version Lov&#xe1;sz Local Lemma (abstract-LLL) holds was given by Shearer [41] decades ago. However, little is known about that of the variable version LLL (variable-LLL) where events are generated by independent random variables, though variable- LLL naturally models and is enough for almost all applications of LLL. We introduce a necessary and sufficient criterion for variable-LLL, in terms of the probabilities of the events and the event-variable graph specifying the dependency among the events. Based on this new criterion, we obtain boundaries for two families of event-variable graphs, namely, cyclic and treelike bigraphs. These are the first two non-trivial cases where the variable-LLL boundary is fully determined. As a byproduct, we also provide a universal constructive method to find a set of events whose union has the maximum probability, given the probability vector and the event-variable graph.Though it is #P-hard in general to determine variable- LLL boundaries, we can to some extent decide whether a gap exists between a variable-LLL boundary and the corresponding abstract-LLL boundary. In particular, we show that the gap existence can be decided without solving Shearer&#x2019;s conditions or checking our variable-LLL criterion. Equipped with this powerful theorem, we show that there is no gap if the base graph of the event-variable graph is a tree, while gap appears if the base graph has an induced cycle of length at least 4. The problem is almost completely solved except when the base graph has only 3-cliques, in which case we also get partial solutions.A set of reduction rules are established that facilitate to infer gap existence of a event-variable graph from known ones. As an application, various event-variable graphs, in particular combinatorial ones, are shown to be gapful/gapless.
Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan Is a Mechanosensor on Endothelial Cells

Abstract— The objective of this study was to test whether a glycosaminoglycan component of the surface glycocalyx layer is a fluid shear stress sensor on endothelial cells (ECs). Because enhanced nitric oxide (NO) production in response to fluid shear stress is a characteristic and physiologically important response of ECs, we evaluated NOx (NO2− and NO3−) production in response to fluid shear stress after enzymatic removal of heparan sulfate, the dominant glycosaminoglycan of the EC glycocalyx, from cultured ECs. The significant NOx production induced by steady shear stress (20 dyne/cm2) was inhibited completely by pretreatment with 15 mU/mL heparinase III (E.C.4.2.2.8) for 2 hours. Oscillatory shear stress (10±15 dyne/cm2) induced an even greater NOx production than steady shear stress that was completely inhibited by pretreatment with heparinase III. Addition of bradykinin (BK) induced significant NOx production that was not inhibited by heparinase pretreatment, demonstrating that the cells were still able to produce abundant NO after heparinase treatment. Fluorescent imaging with a heparan sulfate antibody revealed that heparinase III treatments removed a substantial fraction of the heparan sulfate bound to the surfaces of ECs. In summary, these experiments demonstrate that a heparan sulfate component of the EC glycocalyx participates in mechanosensing that mediates NO production in response to shear stress. The full text of this article is available online at http://www.circresaha. org.
Acquisition performance of an ultra wide-band communications system over a multiple-access fading channel

The ultra wide-band time-hopping communications are expected to be a practical scheme in the near future, yet the acquisition analysis of the UWB signals over multipath channels has not been adequately addressed. We propose and analyze a non-consecutive search and global maximum-selection and threshold crossing (MAX/TC) algorithm for the acquisition of a UWB signal over a multiple-access multipath fading channel. The correlator output statistics and the acquisition performance are accurately analyzed, taking into account the effects of multiple interferers, multipath fading, data rate, signal-to-interference-and-noise (SINR) ratio, etc. Some simulation results are presented.
Elevated exhaled nitric oxide in high-risk neonates precedes transient early but not persistent wheeze.

RATIONALE Elevated fractional exhaled nitric oxide (Fe(NO)) concentration has been suggested to predict early childhood wheeze and sensitization. OBJECTIVES To investigate the association between Fe(NO) in asymptomatic neonates and the development of wheeze patterns and atopic intermediary phenotypes in the first 6 years of life. METHODS We measured Fe(NO) in 253 healthy 1-month-old neonates from the Copenhagen Prospective Study on Asthma in Childhood birth cohort and monitored prospectively wheezy episodes by daily diary cards during the first 6 years of life. Total IgE, specific IgE, and blood eosinophil count were assessed at age 6 months, 4 years, and 6 years. Associations were studied by Cox regression, logistic regression, and generalized linear models. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Increased neonatal Fe(NO) level was significantly associated with the development of recurrent wheeze in the first year of life (hazard ratio, 2.63; 95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 6.2; P = 0.026) but not thereafter. The association was unaffected by environmental tobacco smoke exposure. Fe(NO) was not associated with elevated levels of total IgE, specific IgE, or blood eosinophil count at any age point and was unrelated to neonatal lung function. CONCLUSIONS An elevated Fe(NO) level in asymptomatic neonates born to mothers with asthma preceded the development of transient early wheezing, but not persistent wheezing during preschool age, and was unrelated to atopy. This suggests an early disease process other than small airway caliber contributing to the transient wheezing phenotype.
Role of nuclear Lamin A/C in cardiomyocyte functions

Lamin A/C is a structural protein of the nuclear envelope (NE) and cardiac involvement in Lamin A/C mutations was one of the first phenotypes to be reported in humans, suggesting a crucial role of this protein in the cardiomyocytes function. Mutations in LMNA gene cause a class of pathologies generically named ‘Lamanopathies’ mainly involving heart and skeletal muscles. Moreover, the well‐known disease called Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria Syndrome due to extensive mutations in LMNA gene, in addition to the systemic phenotype of premature aging, is characterised by the death of patients at around 13 typically for a heart attack or stroke, suggesting again the heart as the main site sensitive to Lamin A/C disfunction. Indeed, the identification of the roles of the Lamin A/C in cardiomyocytes function is a key area of exploration. One of the primary biological roles recently conferred to Lamin A/C is to affect contractile cells lineage determination and senescence. Then, in differentiated adult cardiomyocytes both the ‘structural’ and ‘gene expression hypothesis’ could explain the role of Lamin A in the function of cardiomyocytes. In fact, recent advances in the field propose that the structural weakness/stiffness of the NE, regulated by Lamin A/C amount in NE, can ‘consequently’ alter gene expression.
Active filtering capability of WECS with DFIG for grid power quality improvement

A doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) with active filtering capability is presented. We proposed to make use of the DFIG and the associated rotor side converter (RSC) to control stator active and reactive power and simultaneously compensate the most significant and troublesome harmonic currents of the utility grid. We presented a new high selectivity harmonic isolator based on self tuning filter (STF). Simulation results when filtering the harmonic component of the grid current validate the performances of the harmonic isolator principle and the active filtering capability of the DFIG.
The phoP locus influences processing and presentation of Salmonella typhimurium antigens by activated macrophages

The destruction and processing of bacteria by activated macrophages facilitates the presentation of antigens to T cells and thereby promotes the induction of specific immunity. The PhoP‐PhoQ regulatory system that controls the synthesis of many Salmonella proteins required for virulence and survival within macrophages is one mechanism that this particular intracellular pathogen has evolved to resist destruction. To address whether the phoP locus also influences antigen processing during the interaction of Salmonella typhimurium with macrophages, we tested the effect of phoP mutations on the processing and presentation of model antigens expressed by the bacteria. Activated macrophages processed phoP− bacteria with greater efficiency than wild‐type bacteria, as measured by the response of antigen‐specific T‐hybridoma cells; Salmonella constitutively expressing PhoP were processed even less efficiently than wild‐type Salmonella. After heat‐inactivation, however, both wild‐type and phoP− bacteria were efficiently processed. The altered processing and presentation efficiency was not due to differences in the level of antigen expressed by the bacteria or differences in the level of bacterial uptake by the macrophages. In addition, phoP‐regulated gene expression was shown to influence processing of antigen phagocytosed independently of the bacteria. Thus, phoP‐regulated gene products decrease the processing and presentation of S. typhimurium antigens, demonstrating a rote 1or this virulence locus in the inhibition of the induction of specific immunity.
Reduced the Risk in Agriculture Management for Government Using Support Vector Regression with Dynamic Optimization Parameters

A good agricultural policy can reduce the risk of agricultural management. In the past, the traditional statistical methods were always used for assisting agricultural management. However, the assumptions of traditional methods might not fit for real life data, that would affect the decision of agricultural management. For this reason, this paper uses big data analysis to propose a novel prediction model without any assumption to forecast agricultural output for reducing the risk. According to the result, the proposed model is better than the existing models in terms of prediction accuracy. Accordingly, the proposed model can be suggested for reducing the risk of agricultural management of government.
Asymmetric Business Cycle Risk and Government Policy

This paper studies the business-cycle variation in higher-order income riskâ€”risks that are captured by moments higher than the variance. A key focus is the extent to which such risks can be smoothed within households or with government policies. To provide a broad perspective on these questions, we study panel data on individuals and households from the United States, Germany, and Sweden, covering more than three decades of data for each country. We find that the underlying variation in higher-order risk is remarkably similar across these countries that differ in many details of their labor markets. In particular, in all three countries, the variance of earnings changes is almost entirely constant over the business cycle, whereas the skewness of these shocks becomes much more negative in recessions. Government provided insurance, in the form of unemployment insurance, welfare benefits, aid to low income households, and the like, plays a more important role reducing downside risk in all three countries; the effectiveness is weakest in the United States, and most pronounced in Germany. The welfare benefits of social insurance policies for stabilizing skewness risk over the business cycle range from 1% of annual consumption for the US to 4.5% for Sweden.