Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Production of extremely low volatile organic compounds from biogenic emissions: Measured yields and atmospheric implications

Significance Extremely low volatility organic compounds (ELVOC) are suggested to promote aerosol particle formation and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) production in the atmosphere. We show that the capability of biogenic VOC (BVOC) to produce ELVOC depends strongly on their chemical structure and relative oxidant levels. BVOC with an endocyclic double bond, representative emissions from, e.g., boreal forests, efficiently produce ELVOC from ozonolysis. Compounds with exocyclic double bonds or acyclic compounds including isoprene, emission representative of the tropics, produce minor quantities of ELVOC, and the role of OH radical oxidation is relatively larger. Implementing these findings into a global modeling framework shows that detailed assessment of ELVOC production pathways is crucial for understanding biogenic secondary organic aerosol and atmospheric CCN formation. Oxidation products of monoterpenes and isoprene have a major influence on the global secondary organic aerosol (SOA) burden and the production of atmospheric nanoparticles and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Here, we investigate the formation of extremely low volatility organic compounds (ELVOC) from O3 and OH radical oxidation of several monoterpenes and isoprene in a series of laboratory experiments. We show that ELVOC from all precursors are formed within the first minute after the initial attack of an oxidant. We demonstrate that under atmospherically relevant concentrations, species with an endocyclic double bond efficiently produce ELVOC from ozonolysis, whereas the yields from OH radical-initiated reactions are smaller. If the double bond is exocyclic or the compound itself is acyclic, ozonolysis produces less ELVOC and the role of the OH radical-initiated ELVOC formation is increased. Isoprene oxidation produces marginal quantities of ELVOC regardless of the oxidant. Implementing our laboratory findings into a global modeling framework shows that biogenic SOA formation in general, and ELVOC in particular, play crucial roles in atmospheric CCN production. Monoterpene oxidation products enhance atmospheric new particle formation and growth in most continental regions, thereby increasing CCN concentrations, especially at high values of cloud supersaturation. Isoprene-derived SOA tends to suppress atmospheric new particle formation, yet it assists the growth of sub-CCN-size primary particles to CCN. Taking into account compound specific monoterpene emissions has a moderate effect on the modeled global CCN budget.
The effects of antibiotics and cancer chemotherapeutic agents on the cellular transport and antitumor activity of methotrexate in L1210 murine leukemia.

Summary The effect of the simultaneous addition of a number of clinically useful antibiotics and cancer chemotherapeutic agents on the transport of 2 × 10-6m methotrexate (4-amino-10-methylpteroyl-glutamic acid; MTX) was studied in L1210 murine leukemia cells in vitro. The results were correlated with the effects of these agents on the antitumor activity of MTX in BALB/cAnN × C57BL/KaLwN F1 mice bearing L1210 leukemia cells using optimal dose levels and schedules. Utilizing doses that are estimates of achievable peak blood levels in man after conventional single i.v. doses, corticosteroids, cephalothin, l-asparaginase, and the Vinca alkaloids showed the greatest effects on MTX uptake by L1210 leukemia cells, while hydroxyurea, bleomycin, penicillin, and kanamycin appeared to have lesser but significant activities. For example, hydrocortisone at 10-5 and 10-3m inhibited MTX transport 20 and 65%, respectively. Competitive and dose-related inhibition was clearly evident for this agent. Vincristine and vinblastine at 10-5m uniquely increased MTX transport by 66 and 49%, respectively, with the effect of vincristine still being significant at 10-9m. Efflux of MTX-3H from preloaded L1210 leukemia cells was not significantly altered suggesting little effect by any of these agents on intracellular binding of MTX to dihydrofolate reductase enzyme. The transport inhibitors, hydrocortisone and l-asparaginase, antagonized the antitumor activity of MTX in L1210 leukemia-bearing mice. When hydrocortisone (175 mg/kg i.p. every 4 days, five times) preceded MTX (25 mg/kg i.p. every 4 days, five times) treatment by 180 min, the mean survival time was decreased by 7 days. Conversely, when treatment with the transport enhancer vincristine (1.5 mg/kg i.p. every 4 days, four times) preceded MTX (25 mg/kg i.p. every 4 days, four times) by 30 min, the mean survival time was increased from 23 to 43 days with 30% cures. The time course effects (interval between drug and MTX doses) appear to implicate other factors in addition to transport effects in the antagonism or enhancement of MTX antitumor activity in vivo. These studies suggest that the concurrent use of cancer chemotherapeutic agents and antibiotics may significantly alter cellular transport and ultimately antitumor activity of MTX.
SVM based speaker recognition: harnessing trials with multiple enrollment sessions

In this paper we extend a variation of the trial-based SVM speaker veriﬁcation work proposed by Cumani et al to exploit multiple enrollment sessions. Speciﬁcally, Cumani proposed the use of a 2nd order SVM kernel for the binary classiﬁcation of basic trials. In this new work, trials with multiple enrollment sessions are modelled by stacking the i-vectors of the test and enrollment sessions. We further exploit the fact that the score should be independent of the enrollment recording order and present a simpliﬁed 2nd order polynomial kernel scoring function accordingly. Inthesecond part of this work we examine the utility of enrollment pruning for multi-session enrollments. Past work demonstrates that pruning can be beneﬁcial for PLDA based systems. We examine the effects of enrollment pruning in the context of the proposed SVM model. The results demonstrate that the multi-session enrollment SVM kernel is generally better than the model trained using single sessions. The model is also comparable in performance to the PLDA based approach. Further gains are observed through combination of the PLDA and SVM scores.
Hand dermatitis in primary care: A nurse practitioner's role in management

Purpose: Discuss chronic hand contact dermatitis (CD) and its management by nurse practitioners (NPs) in primary care. Data Sources: Clinical studies, practice guideline, and clinic case. Conclusion: Hand CD is a common form of dermatitis in primary care. Recognition and avoidance of irritants and allergens, proper hand protection, and topical treatments can alleviate this chronic problem, significantly relieve symptoms, and promote skin health. Implications for Practice: A national shortage of dermatologists has caused more patients to seek treatment for skin disorders in primary care. NPs need to be prepared to diagnose and manage common skin problems in primary care.
Fosfomycin Enhances the Active Transport of Tobramycin in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

ABSTRACT Elevated levels of mucins present in bronchiectatic airways predispose patients to bacterial infections and reduce the effectiveness of antibiotic therapies by directly inactivating antibiotics. Consequently, new antibiotics that are not inhibited by mucins are needed to treat chronic respiratory infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. In these studies, we demonstrate that fosfomycin synergistically enhances the activity of tobramycin in the presence of mucin. The bactericidal killing of a novel 4:1 (wt/wt) combination of fosfomycin-tobramycin (FTI) is superior (>9 log10 CFU/ml) relative to its individual components fosfomycin and tobramycin. Additionally, FTI has a mutation frequency resulting in an antibiotic resistance >3 log10 lower than for fosfomycin and 4 log10 lower than for tobramycin for P. aeruginosa. Mechanistic studies revealed that chemical adducts are not formed, suggesting that the beneficial effects of the combination are not due to molecular modification of the components. FTI displayed time-kill kinetics similar to tobramycin and killed in a concentration-dependent fashion. The bactericidal effect resulted from inhibition of protein biosynthesis rather than cell wall biosynthesis. Studies using radiolabeled antibiotics demonstrated that tobramycin uptake was energy dependent and that fosfomycin enhanced the uptake of tobramycin in P. aeruginosa in a dose-dependent manner. Lastly, mutants resistant to fosfomycin and tobramycin were auxotrophic for specific carbohydrates and amino acids, suggesting that the resistance arises from mutations in specific active transport mechanisms. Overall, these data demonstrate that fosfomycin enhances the uptake of tobramycin, resulting in increased inhibition of protein synthesis and ultimately bacterial killing.
USE OF THE PROBIOTIC Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 IN THE PREVENTION OF ANTIBIOTIC-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS IN HOSPITALIZED BULGARIAN CHILDREN: A RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIAL

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 for the prevention of antibioticassociated diarrhoea and Clostridium difficile-related infections in hospitalized children in a Bulgarian hospital. Study design: Children (n=100, aged 3 to 12 years) admitted to the hospital for acute infections were enrolled in a randomized, double- blind, placebo-controlled trial. They were assigned to receive either a probiotic supplement containing 1 x 10 8 CFU Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 in the form of one chewable tablet once per day (n=49) (BioGaia AB, Stockholm, Sweden) or placebo (n=48). The probiotic or placebo was taken 2 hours after lunch each day, during the entire period of antibiotic treatment at the hospital and for additional 7 days. Results: Data from 97 children were included in the final analysis. The incidence of diarrhoea (defined as at least 3 loose or watery stools per day in a 48-hour period that occurred during or up to 21 days after cessation of antibiotic treatment) was unexpectedly low in both groups - L. reuteri (n=1) versus placebo (n=1): 2,04 vs. 2,1 per 100 (p>0,05, risk ratio 1,02, 95% CI 0,7-1,4). L reuteri DSM 17938 did not significantly affect the incidence or severity of AAD diarrhoea and Clostridium difficile infection. We found unusually high colonisation rate of non-symptomatic C. difficile measured by toxin-specific ELISA. There was no difference between the probiotic and placebo groups for any of the other secondary outcomes (i.e., incidence of mild diarrhoea, frequency of stool samples positive for C. difficile toxin A and B at the beginning and at the end of study period, frequencies of other gastrointestinal symptoms in the same study period) (p<0,05). No adverse events were reported. Conclusion: Due to the low incidence of antibioticassociated diarrhoea in both groups, no conclusion can be made on the efficacy of L. reuteri DSM 17938 on AAD in hospitalized Bulgarian children. The probiotic did not affect the non-symptomatic high rate of C. difficile colonisation (33.3% in the placebo and 38.8% in the L. reuteri group at baseline) in this population. There was also no difference between groups regarding different gastrointestinal side effects.
ERK signaling couples nutrient status to antiviral defense in the insect gut

Significance A unique facet of arthropod-borne virus infection is that the pathogens are orally acquired by insects during the taking of a blood meal. Hence, there is a direct link between nutrient acquisition and pathogen challenge. We found that the classic nutrient-responsive ERK pathway is a molecular determinant of this “midgut barrier”; ERK signaling is essential for antiviral defense in the insect intestinal epithelial cells. Surprisingly, we also found vertebrate insulin, which activates ERK signaling during a blood meal, both restricts viral infection in insect cells and protects against viral invasion of the gut epithelium. ERK signaling in the insect intestines restricts viral infection, suggesting that insects may take advantage of cross-species signals in the meal to preemptively activate antiviral immunity. A unique facet of arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) infection is that the pathogens are orally acquired by an insect vector during the taking of a blood meal, which directly links nutrient acquisition and pathogen challenge. We show that the nutrient responsive ERK pathway is both induced by and restricts disparate arboviruses in Drosophila intestines, providing insight into the molecular determinants of the antiviral “midgut barrier. ” Wild-type flies are refractory to oral infection by arboviruses, including Sindbis virus and vesicular stomatitis virus, but this innate restriction can be overcome chemically by oral administration of an ERK pathway inhibitor or genetically via the specific loss of ERK in Drosophila intestinal epithelial cells. In addition, we found that vertebrate insulin, which activates ERK in the mosquito gut during a blood meal, restricts viral infection in Drosophila cells and against viral invasion of the insect gut epithelium. We find that ERK’s antiviral signaling activity is likely conserved in Aedes mosquitoes, because genetic or pharmacologic manipulation of the ERK pathway affects viral infection of mosquito cells. These studies demonstrate that ERK signaling has a broadly antiviral role in insects and suggest that insects take advantage of cross-species signals in the meal to trigger antiviral immunity.
The Importance of Epistemology: A Response to Rosenstein’s Commentary

When I received Rosenstein’s commentary on my article about the United States Air Force Academy, I was intrigued and, admittedly, pleased that someone had read my article with enough interest that she was compelled to write about her reaction. As I read Rosenstein’s commentary, I realized that several of her concerns were, in fact, simply reiterating the points that I had made in my article. Others appeared to be a misinterpretation of the points I made or a misunderstanding of the epistemological orientation that guided my manuscript. Nevertheless, I felt it was important to offer a response to her concerns to engage in the dialogue so vital for scholarly progress. In my reply, I will touch on each of the five issues raised by Rosenstein: control, data, sexual assault vs. sexual harassment, missing literature, and the nature of dysfunction.
Ocean doppler anomaly and ocean surface current from Sentinel 1 tops mode

Processing and analysis of Doppler information from Sentinel 1A Interferometric Wide (IW) and Extra Wide (EW) modes are performed for assessing the capabilities of mapping ocean surface current field. Data from Agulhas (South-Africa) and Norwegian Coast are used in combination with numerical models, higher-order satellite products, and Lagrangian drifters. Results show strong Doppler signal and dynamics from coastal areas caused by a mixture of surface current and wind/wave induced drifts at a spatial resolution of around 2 km2 in IW mode and 4km2 in EW mode. Doppler values of up to 70 Hz are observed, corresponding to a surface drift velocity of 3.5 m/s. The Sentinel 1 retrieved surface current component is in reasonable agreement with the circulation models and drifter measurements. Surface current values up to 1.5 m/s are observed in the central Agulhas current, with a standard deviation of around 0.39 m/s with respect to Lagrangian drifters.
Distributed data management for large scale applications

Improvements in data storage and network technologies, the emergence of new high-resolution scientific instruments, the widespread use of the Internet and the World Wide Web and even globalisation have contributed to the emergence of new large scale data-intensive applications. These applications require new systems that allow users to store, share and process data across computing centres around the world. Worldwide distributed data management is particularly important when there is a lot of data, more than can fit in a single computer or even in a single data centre. Designing systems to cope with the demanding requirements of these applications is the focus of the present work. This thesis presents four contributions. First, it introduces a set of design principles that can be used to create distributed data management systems for data-intensive applications. Second, it describes an architecture and implementation that follows the proposed design principles, and which results in a scalable, fault tolerant and secure system. Third, it presents the system evaluation, which occurred under real operational conditions using close to one hundred computing sites and with more than 14 petabytes of data. Fourth, it proposes novel algorithms to model the behaviour of file transfers on a wide-area network. This work also presents a detailed description of the problem of managing distributed data, ranging from the collection of requirements to the identification of the uncertainty that underlies a large distributed environment. This includes a critique of existing work and the identification of practical limits to the development of transfer algorithms on a shared distributed environment. The motivation for this work has been the ATLAS Experiment for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, where the author was responsible for the development of the data management middleware.
Comment on “Clovis and Western Stemmed: Population Migration and the Meeting of Two Technologies in the Intermountain West” by Charlotte Beck and George T. Jones

Abstract Beck and Jones (2010) assert that Clovis “was not first in the Intermountain West”; Western Stemmed points are older than fluted points; and the stemmed point makers derived from a hypothetical pre-13,000 cal B.P. Pacific Coast migration. A less tendentious review of the data suggests instead that Western Stemmed follows Clovis in this region, as previously inferred by Willig and Aikens.
Analysis of Gate Oxide Shorts in CMOS Circuits

The resistance dependence, voltage dependence, temperature dependence, and pattern dependence properties of CMOS logic gate operation in the presence of gate oxide shorts are analyzed. The analysis is based on realistic defect models that incorporate the resistive nature of gate oxide shorts and the difference between gate oxide shorts in n- and p-channel transistors. >
Strain differences in autotomy in mice after peripheral nerve transection or repair

The purpose of this study was to identify the optimal murine model for the study of peripheral nerve injury and nerve and limb transplantation. The degree of self‐mutilation (autotomy) following sciatic and saphenous nerve injury was assessed in four mouse strains, Balb/C, C57BL/6J, C57BL/10J, and C3HEB, commonly used in surgical research. Experimental groups included sciatic and saphenous nerve transection with repair (n = 9) or without repair (n = 9), as well as housing arrangements favoring social interaction vs. isolation. Autotomy was most prevalent in the Balb/c and C3H strains at 56% and 89% overall, respectively, and was much less frequently seen in the C57Bl/10 and C57Bl/6 strains (22% and 11%, respectively). Autotomy was found to correlate most strongly with mouse strain, and with social contact as well. Two strains, C57BL/6J and C57BL/10J, were found to be highly resistant to self‐mutilation, and are thus ideal animal models for peripheral‐nerve and whole‐limb transplant studies. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. MICROSURGERY 23:363–368 2003
Host Cell Fate on Cryptosporidium parvum Egress from MDCK Cells

ABSTRACT Cryptosporidium parvum is an intracellular protozoan parasite that causes a severe diarrheal illness of unclear etiology. Also unclear is the fate of the host cell upon parasite egress. We show in an MDCK cell model that the host cell is killed upon parasite egress; this death is necrotic, rather than apoptotic, in nature.
Framework of multi-agent information retrieval system based on ontology and its application

In order to improve performance of existing information retrieval technology based on keyword matching, this paper introduces a framework of multi-agent information retrieval system based on ontology according to ontology theory and multi-agent theory. The design thought of system, functions of every agent, circulating mechanism and entire searching process are described in detail. This system model is applied in the urgency management of communal burst event after domain ontology is established under the collaboration of domain experts with ontology constructing engineers, can effectively makes information retrieval ascend to semantic level from syntax level, save userpsilas searching cost, and increase searching efficiency.
DNA barcoding a regional fauna: Irish solitary bees

As the globally dominant group of pollinators, bees provide a key ecosystem service for natural and agricultural landscapes. Their corresponding global decline thus poses an important threat to plant populations and the ecosystems they support. Bee conservation requires rapid and effective tools to identify and delineate species. Here, we apply DNA barcoding to Irish solitary bees as the first step towards a DNA barcode library for European solitary bees. Using the standard barcoding sequence, we were able to identify 51 of 55 species. Potential problems included a suite of species in the genus Andrena, which were recalcitrant to sequencing, mitochondrial heteroplasmy and parasitic flies, which led to the production of erroneous sequences from DNA extracts. DNA barcoding enabled the assignment of morphologically unidentifiable females of the parasitic genus Sphecodes to their nominal taxa. It also enabled correction of the Irish bee list for morphologically inaccurately identified specimens. However, the standard COI barcode was unable to differentiate the recently diverged taxa Sphecodes ferruginatus and S. hyalinatus. Overall, our results show that DNA barcoding provides an excellent identification tool for Irish solitary bees and should be rolled out to provide a database for solitary bees globally.
Virological and serological analysis of rhinovirus infections during the first two years of life in a cohort of children

The occurrence of rhinovirus infections in a cohort of 329 children during the first 2 years of life was determined by virus detection and serological methods. Rhinovirus detection on nasopharyngeal aspirates and middle ear fluids comprised a combination of virus isolation in HeLa Ohio cells and a reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR)‐hybridization assay on the inoculated cell cultures. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected when the child was referred to the study clinic because of respiratory symptoms. Nasopharyngeal aspirates and middle ear fluids were collected after clinical diagnosis of an acute otitis media. Complement‐fixing antibodies to rhinovirus were determined from scheduled serum specimens collected at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age and from paired sera taken in the cases of acute otitis media. Rhinovirus infections were shown to be common in infants, 24% of the children had complement‐fixing antibodies at the age of 6 months and 22% had had at least one rhinovirus episode indicated by virus detection. At the age of 2 years, 91.3% of the children had rhinovirus‐specific antibodies, while 79% of the children had experienced rhinovirus infection as judged by the virus detection tests. However, the complement‐fixation assay was poor as a diagnostic test. Of 458 acute otitis media episodes studied, 41% were shown to be associated with a rhinovirus by RT‐PCR‐hybridization, while significant fourfold rise in rhinoviral antibodies was detected only in 7% of the cases. J. Med. Virol. 66:263–268, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.