Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Acute Phase Response Is a Prominent Renal Proteome Change in Sepsis in Mice

(1) Background: Sepsis-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) is the most common form of acute kidney injury (AKI). We studied the temporal profile of the sepsis-induced renal proteome changes. (2) Methods: Male mice were injected intraperitoneally with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or saline (control). Renal proteome was studied by LC-MS/MS (ProteomeXchange: PXD014664) at the early phase (EP, 1.5 and 6 h after 40 mg/kg LPS) and the late phase (LP, 24 and 48 h after 10 mg/kg LPS) of LPS-induced AKI. Renal mRNA expression of acute phase proteins (APP) was assessed by qPCR. (3) Results: Renal proteome change was milder in EP vs. LP. APPs dominated the proteome in LP (proteins upregulated at least 4-fold (APPs/all): EP, 1.5 h: 0/10, 6 h: 1/10; LP, 24 h: 22/47, 48 h: 17/44). Lipocalin-2, complement C3, fibrinogen, haptoglobin and hemopexin were the most upregulated APPs. Renal mRNA expression preceded the APP changes with peak effects at 24 h, and indicated renal production of the majority of APPs. (4) Conclusions: Gene expression analysis revealed local production of APPs that commenced a few hours post injection and peaked at 24 h. This is the first demonstration of a massive, complex and coordinated acute phase response of the kidney involving several proteins not identified previously.
Priming Effects of Water Immersion on Paired Associative Stimulation-Induced Neural Plasticity in the Primary Motor Cortex

We aimed to verify whether indirect-wave (I-wave) recruitment and cortical inhibition can regulate or predict the plastic response to paired associative stimulation with an inter-stimulus interval of 25 ms (PAS25), and also whether water immersion (WI) can facilitate the subsequent PAS25-induced plasticity. To address the first question, we applied transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to the M1 hand area, while alternating the direction of the induced current between posterior-to-anterior and anterior-to-posterior to activate two independent synaptic inputs to the corticospinal neurons. Moreover, we used a paired stimulation paradigm to evaluate the short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI) and short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI). To address the second question, we examined the motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitudes before and after PAS25, with and without WI, and used the SAI, SICI, and MEP recruitment curves to determine the mechanism underlying priming by WI on PAS25. We demonstrated that SAI, with an inter-stimulus interval of 25 ms, might serve as a predictor of the response to PAS25, whereas I-wave recruitment evaluated by the MEP latency difference was not predictive of the PAS25 response, and found that 15 min WI prior to PAS25 facilitated long-term potentiation (LTP)-like plasticity due to a homeostatic increase in cholinergic activity.
Shape-controlled single-crystal growth of InP at low temperatures down to 220 °C

Significance A method is developed for enabling direct growth of shape-controlled single-crystal III–Vs on a wide range of substrates, including amorphous and/or low thermal budget substrates. Integration onto such substrates was previously limited by the high growth temperatures and lattice-match requirements of traditional deposition processes. Single-crystalline InP patterns are grown with substrate temperatures down to 220 °C by employing a templated liquid-phase crystallization method. InP grown by this method exhibits high electron mobilities and good optoelectronic properties, as demonstrated by the fabrication of high-performance transistors and light-emitting devices. The growth mode presents important practical implications for a broad spectrum of applications, as high-quality III–Vs can now be grown on virtually any substrate. III–V compound semiconductors are widely used for electronic and optoelectronic applications. However, interfacing III–Vs with other materials has been fundamentally limited by the high growth temperatures and lattice-match requirements of traditional deposition processes. Recently, we developed the templated liquid-phase (TLP) crystal growth method for enabling direct growth of shape-controlled single-crystal III-Vs on amorphous substrates. Although in theory, the lowest temperature for TLP growth is that of the melting point of the group III metal (e.g., 156.6 °C for indium), previous experiments required a minimum growth temperature of 500 °C, thus being incompatible with many application-specific substrates. Here, we demonstrate low-temperature TLP (LT-TLP) growth of single-crystalline InP patterns at substrate temperatures down to 220 °C by first activating the precursor, thus enabling the direct growth of InP even on low thermal budget substrates such as plastics and indium-tin-oxide (ITO)–coated glass. Importantly, the material exhibits high electron mobilities and good optoelectronic properties as demonstrated by the fabrication of high-performance transistors and light-emitting devices. Furthermore, this work may enable integration of III–Vs with silicon complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processing for monolithic 3D integrated circuits and/or back-end electronics.
Validation of Health Education Material for Youth: A Step to Ensure Implementation Fidelity in Community-Based Interventions

Health education materials such as flipbooks enhance learning and deliver key messages in a captivating mode. Validation of such materials is crucial to ensuring implementation fidelity. We conducted a study to achieve two objectives: (a) to develop two flipbooks, one each for adolescents and young married women (YMW); (b) to validate the flipbooks using five parameters, namely, content validity, construct validity, concurrent validity, relevance, and face validity. The study was a part of a community-based peer-led intervention on health, nutrition, and hygiene. The content validity and relevance were assessed by interviewing outreach workers (ORWs, n = 42) using self-administered five-point Likert scale-based tools. A pre- and post-intervention assessment of knowledge among adolescents (n = 100) and YMW (n = 50) across six out of 13 intervention sites was done to evaluate the construct validity. The two flipbooks contained 12 structured sessions with five key messages per session, in addition to illustrations, discussion points, and theme-based stories at the end of each session. The content and relevancy indices were ranked above 80% by ORW. There was a statistically significant increase in the knowledge scores of adolescents (p < 0.001) and YMW (p < 0.001) post intervention. The validation process helps in assessing the relevance and appropriateness of the education content for greater acceptance and responsiveness by the users.
Trends in pregnancy rates among women with human immunodeficiency virus

OBJECTIVE: To describe factors associated with pregnancy and trends in pregnancy rates among women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) before and after the release of U.S. Public Health Service Guidelines for the Use of Zidovudine and the Increased Availability of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy. METHODS: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected women aged 15 to 44 years who were enrolled in the Adult/Adolescent Spectrum of HIV Disease Project, a medical records cohort study of HIV-infected persons conducted in more than 100 U.S. health care facilities. RESULTS: Among 8,857 women, there were 1,185 incident pregnancies during 21,617 person-years of follow-up from 1992 through 2001. Pregnancy rate at enrollment was 16%; thereafter, an average of 5.5%of women became pregnant annually. Pregnancies were more likely to occur in women aged 15 to 24 years (adjusted rate ratio [RR] 9.2; 95%confidence interval [CI] 7.4, 11.3) and 25 to 34 years (adjusted RR 4.0; 95%CI 3.3, 4.9) than in women aged 35 to 44 years. Pregnancies were less likely to occur in women with a history of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) opportunistic illness (adjusted RR 0.4; 95%CI 0.3, 0.5) or a CD4 count below 200 cells/μL and no opportunistic illness (adjusted RR 0.6; 95%CI 0.5, 0.7) than in women with HIV but not AIDS. Higher rates of pregnancy were observed for women prescribed highly active antiretroviral therapy (adjusted RR 1.3; 95%CI 1.0, 1.6) than women prescribed other regimens of antiretroviral therapy. There were significantly higher rates of pregnancy during 1997 through 2001. CONCLUSION: The increase in pregnancy rates during the era of widespread use of highly active antiretroviral therapy illustrates the continued need for comprehensive prevention and treatment services.
STUDY OF COMPRESSED PLYWOOD STRUCTURE AND DENSITY VARIANCES

This paper covers fundamental of simulating the facial textures of reconstituted veneers. Based on the behaviors of plywood under compressive deformation in a single-arc mold, three regions of bottom surface of molded plywood were proposed and their scopes were developed respectively through regressive analysis. The effects of mould geometry on the curved structure and compression rate of molded plywood were investigated, and the molded veneer curvature and density models were established using cubic spline curves. This makes possible to use computers to simulate the reconstitution of fast-growing species as a replacement of naturally rare thin veneers.
Self-Managing Conflict Resolution for Autonomous Taxiing Tugs: An Initial Survey

Local conflict resolution, or designating priority to one vehicle over another, is a critical task necessary for managing safe and efficient airport ground movements. Air traffic controllers use a variety of information cues to inform this decision. New technologies such as autonomous taxiing tugs will likely be introduced to the ground operations problem in order to minimize aircraft fuel consummation. The introduction of such vehicles will create situations that have never been seen before, such as conflicts between two autonomous tugs. This research aims to solicit feedback from air traffic controllers on the decision cue strategy for prioritizing between two tugs. An online study featuring 73 different types of scenarios based on five different decision cues was designed. Seventeen participants from Europe and North America reporting evaluating one cue at a time until a decision was made. Results showed that participants typically always chose the tug that was closest to the intersection. If both tugs were of equal distance form the intersection, then participants would likely prioritize the tug with a trailing aircraft over a single tug. If this cue did not discriminate, then the tug that was closest to its parking destination was favored over that which was farther away. However, the order of these cues is not universal and as such, future work should continue investigating this strategy and other decision strategies. Furthermore, future research should account for participants’ origins, as slight differences between French and non-French air traffic controllers were observed. No significant changes to cue usage or priority were determined between participants from small or large airports, or with greater than or less than 15 years of ground controller experience. The results of this research could be applied to the operational policies of a multi-agent system or for decision support.
Lévy Stable Distributions in the Theory of Probability

Stable distributions are a fascinating and fruitful area of research in probability theory; furthermore, nowadays, they provide valuable models in physics, astronomy, economics, and communication theory, see e.g. . The general class of stable distributions was introduced and given this name by the French mathematician Paul Lévy in the early 1920’s, see Lévy (1923,1924,1925). Formerly, the topic attracted only moderate attention from the leading experts, though there were also enthusiasts, of whom the Russian mathematician Alexander Yakovlevich Khintchine should be mentioned first of all. The inspiration for Lévy was the desire to generalize the celebrated Central Limit Theorem, according to which any probability distribution with finite variance belongs to the domain of attraction of the Gaussian distribution. The concept of stable distributions took full shape in 1937 with the appearance of Lévy’s monograph [63], soon followed by Khintchine’s monograph [46].
OPERATIONALIZING RISK MANAGEMENT FOR MACHINE LEARNING : BUILDING A PROTOCOL-DRIVEN SYSTEM FOR PERFORMANCE , EXPLAINABILITY , & FAIRNESS

Teams of data scientists are often required to build machine learning models at a rapid pace. This speed of execution, together with the complexity of machine learning techniques and the novelty and progression of the field as a whole, introduces a large degree of risk to these projects. At QuantumBlack, we have found three areas are especially prone to risk for teams building models: performance, explainability, and fairness. Here, “risk” refers to potential mistakes that practitioners can make that result in adverse outcomes in any of these three areas. Teams can make mistakes that critically affect the ability of their model to: maintain strong performance upon deployment, provide sufficient explainability to satisfy regulatory or business requirements, or avoid discriminatory biases against minority groups.
Biomphalaria glabrata Granulin Increases Resistance to Schistosoma mansoni Infection in Several Biomphalaria Species and Induces the Production of Reactive Oxygen Species by Haemocytes

Gastropod molluscs, which have co-evolved with parasitic digenean trematodes for millions of years, utilize circulating heamocytes as the primary method of containing and killing these invading parasites. In order to do so, they must generate suitable amounts of haemocytes that are properly armed to kill parasitic worms. One method by which they generate the haemocytes required to initiate the appropriate cell mediated immune response is via the production and post-translational processing of granulins. Granulins are an evolutionarily conserved family of growth factors present in the majority of eukaryotic life forms. In their pro-granulin form, they can elicit cellular replication and differentiation. The pro-granulins can be further processed by elastase to generate smaller granulin fragments that have been shown to functionally differ from the pro-granulin precursor. In this study, we demonstrate that in vivo addition of Biomphalaria glabrata pro-granulin (BgGRN) can reduce Schistosoma mansoni infection success in numerous Biomphalaria sp. when challenged with different S. mansoni strains. We also demonstrate that cleavage of BgGRN into individual granulin subunits by elastase results in the stimulation of haemocytes to produce reactive oxygen species.
Fast Dissolving Sublingual Strips: A Novel Approach for the Delivery of Isosorbide Dinitrate

Background: Isosorbide dinitrate (ISDN) is used for treating the angina attacks. In addition, oral ISDN is available in immediate and sustained release formulations and the bioavailability of ISDN is about 20-25% when taken orally. Further, the ISDN films are developed for sublingual drug delivery by improving drug bioavailability. The present study aimed to design and evaluate the physicochemical properties of the film formulation for sublingual delivery of ISDN. Methods: In the present study, sublingual films were prepared by the solvent casting technique using the hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) polymers (i.e., 100, 150 and 200 mg) with a different drug to polymer ratios (i.e., 1:5, 1:7.5 and 1:10). Then, ISDN was evaluated for the film appearance, drug content, surface pH, mucoadhesion force, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), in vitro drug release, and ex vivo permeability. Results: Based on the results, F3 formulation (1:10 ISDN to HPMC ratio) showed acceptable thickness (0.93 mm), weight (11.14 mg), surface pH (7.82), moisture absorption capacity (6.08%), elasticity (>200), mucoadhesion force (18.05 N/cm2), and drug content (6.22%). Furthermore, the results demonstrated that HPMC polymer improved the characteristics of the films, modified the bioadhesiveness, and finally, enhanced elasticity. However, DSC thermogram failed to show any crystalline drug substance in the films except for F1 (immediate release) and the endothermic peak of ISDN was absent in F2 and F3 films. Therefore, the drug which was entrapped into the film was in an amorphous or disturbed-crystalline phase of the molecular dispersion or dissolved in the melted polymer in the polymeric matrix. Moreover, the drug release from the films was faster compared to the tablet® (P<0.05). Conclusion: In general, the formulation of F1 was observed to be an appropriate candidate for developing the sublingual film for the remedial use.
Learning to ‘Think on Our Feet’: Producing a New Digital Resource for Teaching Social Work Students about Reflective Decision-making in Child Protection Practice in Australia

This paper outlines an innovative approach to preparing students for practising in situations in which they are facing disclosures of abuse and neglect involving child protection. Funding was made available following a successful grant from The Australian Government (Office of Learning and Teaching) to produce a series of filmed case scenarios in a bachelor of social work degree. The design of the case scenarios draws from Lipsky’s theorising about the use of discretion by human service practitioners and is guided by authentic learning principles. In higher education embedding online digital resources depicting complex decision-making is an underutilised teaching technique rarely included in the social work curriculum. The methodology for the project involved interviewing experienced child protection social workers about their practice to assemble composite case studies. The case studies aimed to demonstrate the application of theory and legal principles in practice to enable students to build confidence in using discretion in their fieldwork placements. Through authentic learning opportunities in the final year of a bachelor of social work degree, the wider intention was to promote resilience and work readiness when students go out to work in rural and remote communities in Australia. The implications for social work education are discussed.
Return-Oriented Programming Detection and Prevention Utilizing a Hardware and Software Adaptation

This publication describes techniques aimed at detecting and preventing return-oriented programming (ROP) attacks. The techniques consist of a software adaptation which enables supplemental hardware, specifically a system on a chip (SoC), to chronologically log return (ret) addresses of pushed stack frames and compare those logged ret addresses to ret commands executed by a central processing unit (CPU) of a computing system. When the SoC determines that ret commands executed by the CPU have deviated from the logged ret addresses, then the SoC can take action to thwart a ROP attack.
Chinese herbal remedies affecting thrombosis and hemostasis: A review

Acute coronary syndrome, stroke and other ischemic events continue to be the most common causes of mortality and morbidity in the world, and their incidence is rapidly increasing in the developing nations. These cardiovascular disorders clinically manifest as acute atherothrombotic events. Application of oral antiplatelet drugs is a milestone in the therapy of cardiovascular diseases. However, the limited efficacy of these drugs in the setting of arterial thrombosis, their unfavorable side effects, cost-to-benefit issues and the drug resistance phenomenon substantiate the need for the development of new and more efficacious antithrombotic drugs. In recent years, with the progress in the study of the Chinese medicine pharmacology, many Chinese herbs and formulas, as well as active constituents have been reported to possess not only effects on platelet aggregation and activation but also beneficial roles in vascular functions. Compared with currently used antithrombotic agents, herb remedies exert antithrombotic effects in a multi-pathway and multi-target manner. This paper will cover the progress in research on the ameliorating effects of herbal remedies on thrombosis, with focusing on their protection of vascular endothelial cells and inhibition of platelet activation.
Partial tonsillectomy vs tonsillectomy with coblation in children with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome

Objective:To investigate the difference of therapeutic effects between coblation treatment of partial tonsillectomy and bolo-tonsillectomy in children with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome.Method:One hundred and sixty children with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome were divided randomly into two groups as experimental group(coblation treatment of partial tonsillectomy) and control group(bolo-tonsillectomy). The sleep Monitoring results,pain scores and therapeutic effects were evaluated.Result:After operation 1 week and 3 months,the sleep Monitoring results were improved remarkably both in experimental group and control group.But there were no significant differences in the sleep Monitoring results between the experimental group and control group after operation.The pain scores were lower in experimental group than control group within 4 days after operation.There were no significant differences of pain scores between the experimental group and control group above 5 days after operation.There were no significant differences in the time of pseudomembrane ablate.In control group,8 patients occurred Secondarily bleeding within 1 week and 16 patients lymphatic tissue hyperplasia compensatorily within half a year after operation.There was no similar complication occurred in experimental group.Conclusion:Coblation treatment of partial tonsillectomy in children with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome can reduce bleeding volume,improve obstruct syndrome apparently,relieve pain and reserve function of Tonsil.It is suitable for children of different age groups with hypertrophy of tonsils.
On the History of the Radiation Reaction1

Apparently, Kepler considered the pointing of comets’ tails away from the Sun as evidence for radiation pressure of light [2]. Following Newton’s third law (see p. 83 of [3]), one might suppose there to be a reaction of the comet back on the incident light. However, this theme lay largely dormant until Poincaré (1891) [37, 41] and Planck (1896) [46] discussed the effect of “radiation damping” on an oscillating electric charge that emits electromagnetic radiation. Already in 1892, Lorentz [38] had considered the self force on an extended, accelerated charge e, finding that for low velocity v this force has the approximate form (in Gaussian units, where c is the speed of light in vacuum), independent of the radius of the charge,
Visual analytics of flight trajectories for uncovering decision making strategies

In air traffic management and control, movement data describing actual and planned flights are used for planning, monitoring and post-operation analysis purposes with the goal of increased efficient utilization of air space capacities (in terms of delay reduction or flight efficiency), without compromising the safety of passengers and cargo, nor timeliness of flights. From flight data, it is possible to extract valuable information concerning preferences and decision making of airlines (e.g. route choice) and air traffic managers and controllers (e.g. flight rerouting or optimizing flight times), features whose understanding is intended as a key driver for bringing operational performance benefits. In this paper, we propose a suite of visual analytics techniques for supporting assessment of flight data quality and data analysis workflows centred on revealing decision making preferences.