Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of low concentrations of ethanol on gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines

Chronic alcohol consumption has been identified as a significant risk factor for cancer in humans. The aim of the study was to analyze the influence of low concentrations of ethanol on gastric adenocarcinoma cell viability, apopto- sis, and changes in the expression of alcohol dehydrogenase with ethanol treatment. Gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines (MGC803, MGC823 and SGC7901) were treated with different concentrations of ethanol (0.03125%, 0.0625%, 0.125%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, and 4%). An MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay and flow cytometry were used to analyze the effect of ethanol treatment on cell viability and apoptosis. Western blotting was used to analyze the expression of alcohol dehydrogenase in gastric carcinoma cells. Ethanol treatment inhibited cell proliferation in gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines in a significant dose-dependent manner. Ethanol was also able to induce the apoptosis of gastric adenocarcinoma cells in a dose-dependent manner. Alcohol dehydrogenase activity of gastric adenocarcinoma cells increased with the increase in the concentration of ethanol. Ethanol inhibited cell viability and growth of gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines. Low concentrations of ethanol also induced apoptosis and increased the expression of alcohol dehydrogenase of the gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines.
Meta-Analysis of The Prevalence of Genital Infections Among Hiv Carriers and Uninfected Women

The risk factors in acquiring genital co-infections associated with HIV infection still present many questions. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the prevalence of genital infection among HIV-infected and uninfected women.We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Scielo for the relevant studies up until October 2017. Data were collected from the included studies and methodologically assessed. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were pooled using fixed or random-effects models.Thirty-six articles involving 23,863 women with retroviruses were included. HIV-infected women were significantly more diagnosed with the following genital infections:Herpes simplexvirus type 2 (HSV-2) (OR 3.70; 95% CI: 2.42–5.65),Neisseria gonorrhoeae(GC) (OR 4.18; 95% CI: 2.15-8.13),Chlamydia trachomatis(CT) (OR 2.25; 95% CI: 1.20-4.23) and Human papillomavirus (HPV) (OR 3.99, 95% CI: 3.35-4.75). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis (OR 1.09; 95% CI: 0.91-1.30),Candida sp. (OR 1.51; 95% CI: 0.71-3.25),Treponema pallidum(OR 1.56; 95% CI: 1.00-2.45) andTrichomonas vaginalis(OR 1.00; 95% CI: 0.47-2.15). The prevalence of HPV, HSV-2, GC and CT genital infection was significantly higher among HIV-positive women.
Losing the Predator—Prey Space Race Leads to Extirpation of Woodland Caribou from Pukaskwa National Park

Abstract: Persistence for woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in Pukaskwa National Park (PNP, Ontario, Canada; 1878 km2) was tied to females finding safe calving areas on offshore islands with a water barrier created by Lake Superior. During 1975–1988, PNP caribou fluctuated around a carrying capacity of 24, but after 1988 the population declined, falling to 5 individuals by 2009. Caribou are now likely extirpated from PNP, even in the absence of any local or increased anthropogenic disturbance since the protected area was created in 1978. As moose (Alces alces) in the region declined concurrently, their relative density remained higher along the Lake Superior coastal strip than further inland, the reverse of the situation during 1975–1988; moose especially held to the coast during heavy snow years. Wolves (Canis lupus) accordingly shifted more of their hunting effort to the coast, likely encountering both moose and caribou with increasing search efficiency. These behaviours are described as a predator—prey “space race” that wolves eventually won.
Reference Airspeed Setting For Time Constrained Descent at Idle Thrust

This paper addresses the issue of computing a reference airspeed for time constrained descent at idle thrust. More specifically, we will assume a futuristic 4D trajectory application where the air traffic controller will ask an aircraft to overfly a meter fix at a specific time; this time is assumed to be specified by the air traffic controller to settle properly the arrival sequence and could be given for example through an Arrival Manager (AMAN). In addition, this clearance is assumed to be given after the Top Of Descent (TOD) of the aircraft. The aircraft is assumed to descent at idle thrust and has to overfly the meter fix at a given altitude and airspeed to be correctly prepared to land. Idle thrust enables to reduce noise, fuel burn and emissions. A BADA model of an Airbus A320 is used to illustrate the proposed design.
Review: Mechanobiology of the Aortic Heart Valve

The aortic valve, positioned between the left ventricle and aortic root, prevents retrograde flow of blood into the ventricle during diastole. Opening and closing of the valve occurs passively in response to inertial forces exerted on the valve leaflets by the surrounding blood. The forces exerted by the blood on the aortic valve leaflets are sizeable and result in shear stresses, pressure loads, and flexural deformations that are unlike those experienced by any other tissue in the body. The mechanical behavior of the aortic valve has been well studied, particularly as it relates to the design and failure analysis of mechanical and bioprosthetic valves (1,2). Diseases of native aortic valves have also been linked to mechanical factors, largely through observations that lesions occur at sites that correlate spatially with distinct local mechanical environments. For example, the sclerotic lesions that occur in calcific aortic valve disease occur preferentially in the subendothelial space on the aortic side of the leaflet, a region that is exposed to low shear stress and disturbed patterns of blood flow (3,4). Further, calcified lesions tend to occur in regions that experience the highest bending stresses that is, along the line of leaflet coaptation or radially from the area of leaflet attachment (Fig. 1) (5). Traditionally, it has been presumed that the forces applied in these regions disrupt the endothelium that lines the surface of the valve leaflets (6) or damage the interstitial matrix (7), leading to lesion formation. This ‘wear and tear’ mechanism has also been used to explain the early occurrence of sclerosis in patients with bicuspid valves, which experience hemodynamic and biomechanical stresses that differ significantly from tricuspid valves (8). This traditional view of aortic sclerosis that mechanical ‘wear and tear’ contributes to passive valve degeneration secondary to aging is challenged by recent studies which demonstrate convincingly that aortic sclerosis is not a passive, unregulated process, but rather is an active cell-mediated process involving chronic inflammation (3,9) and active calcification (6,10-12). Consistent with this new understanding of the pathogenesis of valve disease is increasing evidence that mechanical forces may contribute to valve disease by actively regulating valve cell biology. Valvular endothelial cells and valvular interstitial cells are exquisitely sensitive to mechanical forces, often responding with unique behaviors that distinguish them from seemingly similar cells. In this review, new insights into these mechanobiological responses are Address for correspondence: Dr. James N. Warnock, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Mississippi State University, Box 9632, Mississippi State, MS 39762-9632, USA e-mail: jwarnock@abe.msstate. edu
Molecular dynamics simulation of a solid platinum nanowire under uniaxial tensile strain: Temperature and strain-rate effects

Nanoscale research have been an area of active research over the past fifteen years. This is due to the overall enhanced properties of nanomaterials due to size effects, surface effects and interface effects, which typically showed up in materials with characteristics size of smaller than 100 nm. This study focuses on the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of an infinitely long, cylindrical platinum nanowire, with an approximate diameter of 1.4 nm. The nanowire was subjected to uniaxial tensile strain along the [001] axis. The changes in crystal structure during deformation were analyzed and its mechanical properties were deduced from the simulation. Classical MD simulation was employed in this study, with the empirical Sutton-Chen pair functional used to describe the interatomic potential between the platinum atoms. The Berendsen loose-coupling thermostat was selected for finite temperature control of the simulated system, with a time constant of 25% of the total relaxation time during each strain increment. The nanowire was subjected to strain rates of 0.04% ps, 0.4% ps and 4.0% ps, at simulation temperatures of 50K and 300K, in order to study the effects of different strain rates and thermal conditions on the deformation characteristics and mechanical properties of the nanowire. It was found that the stress-strain response of the nanowire showed clear periodic, step-wise dislocation-relaxationrecrystallization behavior at low temperature and strain rate, where crystal order and stability was highly preserved. The onset of amorphous crystal deformation occurred at 0.4% ps, and fully amorphous deformation took place at 4.0% ps, with amorphous melting detected at 300K. Due to higher entropy of the nanowire at higher temperature and strain rate, periodic stress-strain behavior became less clearly defined, and superplasticity behavior was observed. This characteristic was significantly enhanced due to the development of a single-walled helical substructure at 300K, when the nanowire was deformed at a lower strain rate. The Young’s modulus was found to be about 50% to 75% that of its bulk counterpart, while the Poisson ratio was not significantly changed at nanoscale.
Physical factors influencing the distribution of a top predator in a subtropical oligotrophic estuary

We used longline fishing to determine the effects of distance from the ocean, season, and short‐term variation in abiotic conditions on the abundance of juvenile bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) in an estuary of the Florida Everglades, U.S.A. Logistic regression revealed that young‐of‐the‐year sharks were concentrated at a protected site 20 km upstream and were present in greater abundance when dissolved oxygen (DO) levels were high. For older juvenile sharks (age 1+), DO levels had the greatest influence on catch probabilities followed by distance from the ocean; they were most likely to be caught at sites with >3.5 mg L−1 DO and on the main branch of the river 20 km upstream. Salinity had a relatively small effect on catch rates and there were no seasonal shifts in shark distribution. Our results highlight the importance of considering DO as a possible driver of top predator distributions in estuaries, even in the absence of hypoxia. In Everglades estuaries hydrological drivers that affect DO levels (e.g., groundwater discharge, modification of primary productivity through nutrient fluxes) will be important in determining shark distributions, and the effects of planned ecosystem restoration efforts on bull sharks will not simply be mediated by changing salinity regimes and the location of the oligohaline zone. More generally, variation in DO levels could structure the nature and spatiotemporal pattern of top predator effects in the coastal Everglades, and other tropical and subtropical estuaries, because of interspecific variation in reliance on DO within the top predator guild.
Temporal trends in age and size at maturation of four North Sea gadid populations : cod , haddock , whiting , and Norway pout

Younger ages and smaller sizes at maturation have been observed in commercial fish stocks over the last century. We establish that age and length at 50% proportion mature (i.e. the proportion of mature individuals in a population or the probability that an individual is mature) decreased from the 1970s to the 2000s in North Sea cod Gadus morhua, haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus and whiting Merlangius merlangus, but not in Norway pout Trisopterus esmarkii. The potential contributions of demography, phenotypic plasticity and evolution to these trends were assessed. First, maturation trends were extricated from demographic effects and growth-dependent plasticity by estimating probabilistic maturation reaction norms (PMRNs). PMRN midpoints have significantly shifted downwards at most ages for cod, haddock and whiting, but not for Norway pout. Second, increased temperature and food abundance, loosened trophic competition and relaxed social pressure may also trigger growth-independent plasticity in maturation. Principal component regression of PMRN midpoints on annual estimates of relevant environmental variables exhibiting a temporal trend suggest that, despite some evidence of environmental effects, PMRN trends were mostly independent of growth-independent plasticity in haddock, whiting and male cod, but not in female cod. According to these findings, evolution of maturation, potentially in response to fishing, is plausible in haddock, whiting and male cod, but unlikely for Norway pout, and does not explain trends in female cod maturation. In agreement with life-history theory, the maturation response was larger in fast-growing, lateand large-maturing species exhibiting moderate reproductive effort.
Power of Pausing: Advancing Understanding of Thermalization in Experimental Quantum Annealers

We investigate alternative annealing schedules on the current generation of quantum annealing hardware (the D-Wave 2000Q), which includes the use of forward and reverse annealing with an intermediate pause. This work provides new insights into the inner workings of these devices (and quantum devices in general), particular into how thermal effects govern the system dynamics. We show that a pause mid-way through the anneal can cause a dramatic change in the output distribution, and we provide evidence suggesting thermalization is indeed occurring during such a pause. We demonstrate that upon pausing the system in a narrow region shortly after the minimum gap, the probability of successfully finding the ground state of the problem Hamiltonian can be increased by several orders of magnitude. We relate this effect to relaxation (i.e. thermalization) after diabatic and thermal excitations that occur in the region near to the minimum gap. For a set of large-scale problems of up to 500 qubits, we demonstrate that the distribution returned from the annealer very closely matches a (classical) Boltzmann distribution of the problem Hamiltonian, albeit one with a temperature at least 1.5 times higher than the (effective) temperature of the annealer. Moreover, we show that larger problems are more likely to thermalize to a classical Boltzmann distribution.
Robust high-fidelity coherent control of two-state systems by detuning pulses

Coherent control of two-state systems is traditionally achieved by resonant pulses of specific Rabi frequency and duration, by adiabatic techniques using level crossings or delayed pulses, or by sequences of pulses with precise relative phases (composite pulses). Here we develop a method for high-fidelity coherent control which uses a sequence of detuning pulses. By using the detuning pulse areas as control parameters, and driving on an analogy with composite pulses, we report a great variety of detuning pulse sequences for broadband and narrowband transition probability profiles.
PROBABILISTIC INTEGRATION OF SEISMIC , HYDROACOUSTIC AND INFRASONIC DATA USING THE DEMPSTER-SHAFER RULES FOR COMBINING EVIDENCE

Identification of suspicious events as nuclear explosions or events of other types is commonly based on incomplete and contradictory data. Although in CTBT monitoring most of the evidence comes from seismic sources, other types of data (hydoacoustic, infrasonic) are often helpful in the classifying an event. The major issue is the manner of merging information from such diverse sources. During this work the Dempster-Shafer (DS) calculus has been implemented as a vehicle for merging information in multidiscriminant schemes. The main motivation for this was that, unlike full Bayesian calculus, DS does not require full knowledge of the conditional probabilities and priors in the problem, the algorithm accepts various combinations of joint probability estimates, and it can merge the information from various independent source regardless of the order of the merging of the data. The final outcome of such calculations is an evidential interval consisting of the support (evidence for) and the plausibility (1-the support against) of simple and composite propositions. Propositions (hypotheses in the parlance of DS) are either simple (the event is an earthquake) or composite, (the event is some kind of explosion). The development of the solutions can be followed as the algorithm processes the various discriminants successively.
EXISTENCE AND STABILITY OF MULTIPLE SPOT SOLUTIONS FOR THE GRAY-SCOTT MODEL IN R 2 JUNCHENG

In this paper, we rigorously prove the existence and stability of multiple spot patterns for the Gray-Scott system in a two dimensional domain which are far from spatial homogeneity. The Green’s function and its derivatives together with two nonlocal eigenvalue problems both play a major role in the analysis. We establish a threshold behavior for stability: If a certain inequality for the parameters holds then we get stability, otherwise we get instability of multiple spot solutions. The exact asymptotics of the critical thresholds are obtained.
The Relationship between Hepatitis C Genotypes and Viral Load: a study on hepatitis C patients in Kerman, Iran using Real-time PCR

Abstract Background: Distribution of hepatitis C virus genotypes varies geographically and can be associated with clinical aspects. The virus has six major genotypes and eleven sub-genotypes. According to the recent studies, in hepatitis C patients, treatment duration and ribavirin dosage should be determined based on the type of virus genotype. Because of contradictory results reported in different countries and races, the present study aimed to determine the genotype of hepatitis C and its relationship with viral load in HCV patients in Kerman, Iran. Methods: The study included 106 patients with hepatitis C referred to Dr. Bazrafshani Medical Genetic Lab. in Kerman. Patients’ blood plasma was collected and used for virus genotyping and viral load determination by Real-Time PCR technique. Results: From 106 studied patients, 82 ones were male (77.4%) and 24 ones were female (22.6%). Most frequent genotypes were respectively genotype 3 (55.7%) and genotype 1(44.3%). Viral load in genotype1 was greater than that in genotype 3 (P=0.011). Conclusions: In this study, the predominant genotype was genotype 3. Therefore, treatment strategies should go towards type 3 virus. On the other hand, copy number of genotype 1virus was higher than that of type 3 that should be considered very important in determining the treatment duration in HCV patients.
Complementarity, Impatience, and the Resilience of Natural-Resource - Dependent Economies

We study how society's preferences affect the resilience of economies that depend on more than one type of natural resource. In particular, we analyze whether the degree of complementarity of natural resources in consumer preferences may give rise to multiple steady states and path dependence even when resources are managed optimally. We find that, for a given social discount rate, society tends to be less willing to buffer exogenous shocks if resource good are complements in consumption than if they are substitutes. The stronger the complementarity between the various types of natural resources, the less resilient the economy is, and even more so the higher is the social discount rate.
Feature Extraction and Classification of Hyperspectral Image Based on 3D- Convolution Neural Network

Deep learning has huge potential for hyperspectral image (HSI) classification. In order to fully exploit the information in HSI and improve the classification accuracy, a new classification method based on 3D-convolutional neural network (3D-CNN) is proposed. In the meantime, virtual samples are introduced to solve the problem of insufficient samples of HSI. The experimental results show that the proposed method has a good application prospect in HSI classification.
Calm technology for biofeedback : why and how?

We discuss several possibilities and fundamental difficulties when designing biofeedback systems based on calm technology. As a carrier for the discussion we develop a novel biofeedback installation based on heart rate variability. The system is built-in to an elegant table and gives visual feedforward or feedback for relaxation based on breathing. When in feed-forward mode, the system will show a sine wave of about 7 cycles per second, close to the well-known resonant breathing frequency. Alternatively, the amplitude of the movement can give feedback on the heart rate variability level, which is known to be directly associated with a reduced level of mental stress. The demonstrator has a pulse- plethysmography sensor which measures the beat-to-beat intervals of successive heart beats. The mechanical design of the actuator is designed to operate completely noise-less. Both the adaptive algorithm and the actuator are new to the best of our knowledge. Still new fundamental questions arise.
Regional Socioeconomic Changes Affecting Rural Area Livelihoods and Atlantic Forest Transitions

Centuries of colonization of the Atlantic Forest biome in Brazil have led its native vegetation cover to be reduced to only 11.7%. On the other hand, regional land changes have fostered natural forest regeneration, since the 1960s, in the region of Paraíba Valley. A fieldwork survey in rural properties was conducted in three municipalities (n = 90, thirty in each municipality), to assess how forest transition is affected by the region’s socioeconomic development and biophysical dimensions of the landscape. To select the municipalities among thirty-four, we applied the modified Thompson Tau technique to detect outlier values for three selected variables: Natural forest cover, eucalyptus plantation cover, and municipal revenue. The outliers were dropped from consideration and the municipality with the maximum value for each variable was selected. Based on the survey and GIS analysis using land-cover maps, topography, and hydrology variables, we concluded that the diminished land-use pressure in the Paraíba Valley, a response to the regional economic development (e.g., increasing labor demand in urban areas pushing rural migration), resulted in the increase of the Atlantic forest cover. Interestingly enough, a counter-migration of people moving to rural areas as a newly valued amenity has the potential to reshape the rural landscape with positive outcomes to the Atlantic forest cover.
Alternative therapeutic strategies to fight bacterial infections

In spite of the large arsenal of antibiotherapies that have help humanities fighting bacterial infections, we are still facing diseases, hospitalization, and death caused by pathogenic agents [1-8]. The advent of the first sulfa drugs in the mid-thirties has launched almost a century of race toward the discoveries of new therapeutic agents by the pharmaceutical industries. The development of the Gram +ve linezolid in 2000 as the first family members of oxazolidinones as well as the Gram-negative lipopeptide antibiotic daptomycin, first discovered by Eli Lilly in 1980 but commercialized in the US in 2003 (23 years gap) have successfully lifted the long innovation gap in the medicinal chemistry era (Figure 1). Ceftaroline, a member of the fifth-generation cephalosporins discovered in 2010 is known to be particularly active against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (SARM), thus marking the beginning of alternative weapons against this particularly resilient infectious agent.