Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The potential effects of cholecalciferol on bone regeneration in dogs.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the potential effects of the systemically delivered combination of calcium supplementation and cholecalciferol and of the locally applied biphasic calcium alloplast on the surgically produced alveolar sockets at the early healing stage in a dog model. MATERIALS AND METHODS The mandibular pre-molars of nine Beagle dogs were extracted first. Three months later, four standardized sockets with a 4 mm in diameter and 6 mm deep cylinder were created bilaterally at healed extraction sites. The sockets on one side were grafted with biphasic calcium phosphate alloplast, whereas the defects on the other side were left un-grafted. The dogs were then randomly divided into two groups; five dogs received oral calcium and cholecalciferol combination (Vit.D/Ca) and were assigned to the test group (Vit.D/Ca Group). The other four dogs without Vit.D/Ca supplement were distributed to the control group (Non-Vit.D/Ca Group). The bone density (Density) and the implant stability quotient (ISQ) at prepared sites were measured 4 weeks later. The drawn bone cores were examined by a histomorphometric analysis for measurement of new bone formation (NBF). The amount of vertical ridge resorption (VRR) was evaluated. RESULTS The Vit.D/Ca-treated subjects revealed significantly more NBF (P < 0.05), higher bone density (P < 0.05) and significantly less vertical ridge reduction (P < 0.05) in the healing sockets than those without Vit.D/Ca treatment. The non-grafted sockets demonstrated significantly more NBF (P < 0.05), higher bone density (P < 0.05), better ISQ value (P < 0.05) and more vertical ridge reduction (P < 0.05) than those in the grafted sockets. There was no significant difference between the serum data determined before and 4 weeks after experiment in Vit.D/Ca Group or Non-Vit.D/Ca Group. However, the changed value (post-op vs. pre-op) between the two groups was significant in the serum level of phosphate and parathyroid hormone (P = 0.05). CONCLUSION The results of the present study indicated that the examined calcium phosphate alloplast may perform a function in alveolar ridge preservation while reducing the potential of NBF potential in the healing extraction socket. Also, the combination of calcium supplementation and cholecalciferol may have systemic effects on accelerating bone regeneration.
The M Cell:

Characteristics of the M Cell. The discovery and characterization of the M cell, a unique cell type residing in the deep layers of the ventricular myocardium, has opened a new door in our understanding of the electrophysiology and pharmacology of the heart in both health and disease. The hallmark of the M cell is the ability of its action potential to prolong much more than that of other ventricular myocardial cells in response to a slowing of rate and/or in response to agents that act to prolong action potential duration. Our goal in this review is to provide a comprehensive characterization of the M cell, its contribution to transmural heterogeneity, and its role in the normal electrical function of the heart, in the inscription of the ECG (particularly the T wave), and in the development of QT dispersion, T wave alternans, long QT intervals, and cardiac arrhythmias, such as torsades de pointes. Our secondary goal is to address the controversy that has arisen relative to the functional importance of the M cell in the normal heart. The controversy derives largely from the failure of some investigators to demonstrate transmural heterogeneity of repolarization in the dog in vivo under control conditions and after administration of quinidine. The inability to demonstrate transmural heterogeneity under these conditions may he due to the use of bipolar recording techniques that, in our experience, seriously underestimate transmural dispersion of repolarization (TDK). The use of sodium pentobarhital and α‐chloralose as anesthesia also is problematic, because these agents reduce or eliminate TDR by affecting a variety of ion channel currents. Finally, attempts to amplify transmural dispersion of repolarization with an agent such as quinidine must take into account that relatively high concentrations can result in effects opposite to those desired due to drug inhibition of multiple ion channels. These observations may explain the inability of earlier studies to detect the M cell.
Effect of vitamin D supplementation on wintertime and overall bone loss in healthy postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVES To determine whether relative vitamin D deficiency during the winter months contributes to age-related bone loss and whether rates of change in hard- and soft-tissue mass vary during the year. DESIGN Double-blind, placebo-controlled, 1-year trial in 249 women in which equal numbers of women were randomized to either placebo or 400 IU of vitamin D daily. All women received 377 mg/d of supplemental calcium largely as calcium citrate malate. PATIENTS Healthy, ambulatory postmenopausal women with usual intakes of vitamin D of 100 IU/d. MEASUREMENTS Duplicate spine and whole-body scans were done by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry at 6-month intervals that were timed to periods when 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were highest and lowest. Period 1 was June-July to December-January and period 2 was December-January to the next June-July. Serum parathyroid hormone and plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were measured during periods 1 and 2. MAIN RESULTS In the placebo group, spinal bone mineral density increased in period 1, decreased in period 2, and sustained no net change. Women treated with vitamin D had a similar spinal increase in period 1 (1.46% compared with 1.40% in placebo), less loss in period 2 (-0.54% compared with -1.22%, CI for the difference, 0.05% to 1.31%, P = 0.032) and a significant overall benefit (0.85% compared with 0.15%, CI for the difference, 0.03% to 1.37%, P = 0.04). In period 2, 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were lower and parathyroid hormone levels were higher in the placebo than in the vitamin D group. Whole-body lean and fat tissue and bone mineral density varied during the year but did not change overall. CONCLUSIONS At latitude 42 degrees, healthy postmenopausal women with vitamin D intakes of 100 IU daily can significantly reduce late wintertime bone loss and improve net bone density of the spine over one year by increasing their intake of vitamin D to 500 IU daily. A long-term benefit of preventing vitamin D insufficiency in the winter seems likely although it remains to be shown. Observed changes in bone as well as in fat and lean tissue appear to be related to season.
The endogenous erythropoietin response and the erythropoietic response to blood loss anemia: the effects of age and gender.

The endogenous erythropoietin (EPO) response and the erythropoietic response to anemia in the elderly, as compared with that in younger subjects, is controversial. We therefore studied autologous blood donors undergoing aggressive phlebotomy to determine the effect of age and gender on the EPO response to blood loss anemia, along with the erythropoietic response to endogenous EPO and to exogenous recombinant human EPO therapy. Seventy-one patients underwent phlebotomy, up to 6 units over 3 weeks, and received either placebo (n = 18), EPO 150 U/kg (n = 16), EPO 300 U/kg (n = 18), or EPO 600 U/kg (n = 19) at each of the six visits. Linear regression analysis of the hemoglobin/log EPO relationship for 18 placebo patients revealed no differences in the endogenous EPO response to phlebotomy, as determined by the slopes and intercepts, for males versus females or as a function of age. We found no differences in endogenous EPO-stimulated red blood cell (RBC) volume expansion for males and females (7.06 +/- 2.4 and 7.22 +/- 2.2 ml/kg, respectively, p = 0.88) or as a function of age (estimated rate of change = -0.58 +/- 0.33 ml/kg for every 10 years of life, p = 0.10). Similarly, we found no differences in RBC response to EPO for males versus females (1.4 +/- 0.3 ml/kg vs 1.5 +/- 0.3 ml/kg per 1000 U/kg EPO, respectively, p = 0.80) or as a function of age (estimated rate of change = 0.051 +/- 0.15 ml/kg per 1000 U/kg EPO for every 10 years of life, p = 0.74). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Dynamic pairwise key establishment algorithm for wireless sensor networks

A new dynamic pair-wise key establishment algorithm without requiring keys pre-distribution is proposed. In the scheme, each node does not require any pre-assigned keys before deployment, and after deployment, for any two nodes, they will establish a different direct pair-wise key between them dynamically during each session. Theoretic analysis and simulation results show that the probability of direct pair-wise key establishment of our new algorithm is 100%, which is much higher than those previous traditional pairwise key establishment methods. Furthermore, it is distributed and has good security performance also.
In Search of Spatial Interdependence of US Outbound FDI in the MENA Region

The paper investigates the spatial interdependence of US MNE investments in the MENA region. Given the variations in resource endowments, governance structures and degree of infrastructure availability in MENA countries, one would expect these variables to affect an MNE's choice of FDI location. We do find that domestic nonâ€ spatial factors such as own country inflation and governance measured by bureaucratic quality as well as infrastructure affect a host country's inward FDI. We also found that only one measure of natural resource endowment; that is, oil and gas exports were instrumental in attracting FDI. This nonâ€ spatial result is generally robust and invariant to the two methodologies employed in this study, that is the spatially autoregressive (SAR) model and the spatial Durbin model (SDM). We found that neighbouring countriesâ€™ infrastructure availability measured either by â€œelectricity usedâ€ or â€œenergy usedâ€ affected FDI inflows in a host country. However, this spatial impact was found only in the SDM model. The spatial effects of neighbouring countriesâ€™ economic and political conditions and resource endowments were, however, not observed on a host country's inward FDI. The insignificance of both the surrounding market potential and the spatially weighted FDI suggests a purely horizontal motive of MNE investments in the MENA region.
Looking Beyond Aid to Fund Africa’s Development

The paper calls on African countries to explore more intensely supplementary vehicles of development finance, including the national budget; domestic capital markets; remittances; other diasporean capital; foreign direct investment; future foreign exchange flows; and ‘reverse capital flight. ’ The paper also makes the point that the post-2015 agenda goes beyond long-term finance and that, more importantly, it embraces a new global partnership and international cooperation.
GLB prevents tumor metastasis of Lewis lung carcinoma by inhibiting tumor adhesion actions

AbstractAim:To investigate the inhibitory effect of a new compound of GLB on tumor metastasis in vivo and analyze its actions on tumor cell adhesion to clarify its mechanism.Methods:The effect of GLB on tumor metastasis was analyzed by Lewis lung carcinoma model. The pathological morphology of lung alveolar was evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin staining. The effect of GLB on the proliferation of human prostate cancer cell (PC-3M, with a high metastatic characteristic) was studied using the MTT method, and its actions on PC-3M cell adhesion to human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and laminin were analyzed in vitro.Results:GLB (100 mg·kg−1·d−1 for 28 d, ig) reduced the number of lung colonies of Lewis lung carcinoma metastasis significantly (P < 0.05). Simultaneously, GLB could mitigate the damage of lung alveolar caused by metastasic tumor deposits. In vitro, GLB inhibited dramatically the adhesion of PC-3M cells to HUVEC (P < 0.01) and laminin (P < 0.05), without cytotoxic or anti-proliferative action on PC-3M cells.Conclusion:GLB has anti-tumor metastatic activity, which partly depends on its inhibition of tumor adhesion.
Effects of endurance training and long distance running on blood viscosity.

The effect of endurance training on blood viscosity was studied by comparing blood rheological properties in control subjects (untrained) and endurance trained subjects. The effect of running on blood viscosity was studied in the 33 endurance trained subjects before and after a 48-km mountain race (Sandia Wilderness Crossing Research Run). Runners started at an altitude of 1700 m, ran 26 km to 3300 m, then descended 22 km to finish at 1900 m. Venous blood viscosity (eta b) and plasma viscosity (eta p) were measured at 37 degrees C at shear rates of 11.25, 22.5, 45, 90, and 225.s-1, using a cone-plate viscometer. Endurance trained subjects had significantly higher pre-race blood viscosity at 11.25 and 22.5. s-1 than control subjects but similar plasma viscosity and hematocrits. Following the race, there was no significant change in mean hematocrit, but eta b increased significantly at all shear rates except 225.s-1. Plasma viscosity at 225.s-1 increased significantly from 1.44 to 1.53 cP following the run. Since eta b did not increase, an increase in red cell deformability is inferred. The mechanism of the increase in eta b at lower shear rates in runners is due in part to the higher plasma viscosity. An additional mechanism at lower shear rates is in an increase in red cell aggregation. Increased plasma fibrinogen was measured in six of six resting subjects taken from 1600 m to 3300 m and is speculated to be the mechanism of enhanced aggregation and deformability in the runners.
γTub23C Interacts Genetically With Brahma Chromatin-Remodeling Complexes in Drosophila melanogaster

The brahma gene encodes the catalytic subunit of the Drosophila melanogaster BRM chromatin-remodeling complexes. Screening for mutations that interact with brahma, we isolated the dominant-negative Pearl-2 allele of γTub23C. γTub23C encodes one of the two γ-tubulin isoforms in Drosophila and is essential for zygotic viability and normal adult patterning. γ-Tubulin is a subunit of microtubule organizer complexes. We show that mutations in lethal (1) discs degenerate 4, which encodes the Grip91 subunit of microtubule organizer complexes, suppress the recessive lethality and the imaginal phenotypes caused by γTub23C mutations. The genetic interactions between γTub23C and chromatin-remodeling mutations suggest that γ-tubulin might have a role in regulating gene expression.
Stability of stochastic pricing models under volatility fluctuations

The standard theory of the stochastic models used to value financial derivatives contracts involves models whose input parameters are deterministic functions and often constants. Because of the random nature of the changes in the market prices of the financial instruments, the coefficients of these models are inevitably susceptible to random perturbations from their initial estimates. In this paper we will investigate the behavior of some of the most widely used models when small changes are applied to their volatility component. Starting with the Black-Scholes model for the price of a European call option, we will continue our analysis of the traditional models for pricing American options, Asian options, Barrier options, as well as some of the models for the short term rate of interest. In addition to obtaining convergence results for all of the models, we will examine a method of controlling the deviations in the volatility parameter of the Black-Scholes model and the resulting estimate can be used for further extensions on the topic. Moreover, we will present an example on how to calculate probabilities of rare events, using a technique called importance sampling. We will concentrate only on the case of discrete random variables but the same algorithm can be applied to estimate the probabilities of the deviations of the pricing functions of the models under question. The latter is left for future research.
Towards an Online Color Naming Model

Extensive research in color naming and color categorization has been more focused on a small number of consensual color categories than towards the development of more subtle color identifications. The work we present in this paper describes an online color-naming model. In this context we evaluated the performance of two probabilistic estimation algorithms for automatic assignment of CIELAB coordinates into an arbitrary number of color names. The algorithms were tested on data gathered in a sophisticated online color naming experiment detailed elsewhere and summarized here. Our methodology resulted in practical color naming models that can support natural language image segmentation, with a computational simplicity that makes them suitable for online applications. © 2010 Society for Imaging Science and Technology.
Infant Refraction and Accommodation

A reasonable amount of information concerning early refraction and accommodation has been accumulated. The measurements of refraction appear to be reliable and concurrently valid, although more attention should be devoted to both of those issues. There is also some evidence that the measurements can be developmentally significant since adults with histories of early spherical or cylindrical errors exhibit nonreversible visual deficits. The retrospective findings [11, 43] that evidenced this point do not necessarily imply that large refractive errors during infancy invariably yield visual deficits later on. To determine the significance of early errors, their predictive validity must be better estimated. Some evidence indicates that neonatal refractions predict refractions later in infancy. But the actual magnitude of the relationship between early and school aged or adult refractions is uncertain. Longitudinal studies of refraction from birth to at least the elementary school years would yield appropriate data. It is hoped that with the increasing interest in early visual function and the development of accurate, yet rapid techniques of measurement (such as photorefraction), such information will soon be forthcoming. It will be of special interest to unveil the mechanisms that control the development of refraction, in particular, to reveal the developmental relationship between refraction and accommodation.
Capsule-Transmitted Gut Symbiotic Bacterium of the Japanese Common Plataspid Stinkbug, Megacopta punctatissima

ABSTRACT The Japanese common plataspid stinkbug, Megacopta punctatissima, deposits small brown particles, or symbiont capsules, on the underside of the egg mass for the purpose of transmission of symbiotic bacteria to the offspring. We investigated the microbiological aspects of the bacteria contained in the capsule, such as microbial diversity, phylogenetic placement, localization in vivo, and fitness effects on the host insect. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of 16S ribosomal DNA clones revealed that a single bacterial species dominates the microbiota in the capsule. The bacterium was not detected in the eggs but in the capsules, which unequivocally demonstrated that the bacterium is transmitted to the offspring of the insect orally rather than transovarially, through probing of the capsule content. Molecular phylogenetic analysis showed that the bacterium belongs to the γ-subdivision of the Proteobacteria. In adult insects the bacterium was localized in the posterior section of the midgut. Deprivation of the bacterium from the nymphs resulted in retarded development, arrested growth, abnormal body coloration, and other symptoms, suggesting that the bacterium is essential for normal development and growth of the host insect.
Protego : Cloud-Scale Multitenant

Virtual cloud network services let users have their own private networks in the public cloud. IPsec gateways are growing in importance accordingly as they provide VPN connections for customers to remotely access these private networks. Major cloud providers offer IPsec gateway functions to tenants using virtual machines (VMs) running a software IPsec gateway inside. However, dedicating individual IPsec gateway VMs to each tenant results in significant resource waste due to the strong isolation mechanism of VMs. In this paper, we design Protego, a distributed IPsec gateway service designed for multitenancy. By separating the control plane and the data plane of an IPsec gateway, Protego achieves high availability with active redundancy. Furthermore, Protego elastically scales in and out by seamlessly migrating IPsec tunnels between the data nodes without compromising their throughput. Our evaluation and simulation based on production data show that Protego together with a simple resource provisioning algorithm saves more than 80% of the resources compared with allocating independent VMs.
Effect of aging on aortic morphology in populations with high and low prevalence of hypertension and atherosclerosis. Comparison between occidental and Chinese communities.

A comparative morphologic study of aortic changes with aging was conducted in different populations in an attempt to separate the effects of hypertension and atherosclerosis. Chinese and the occidental populations were chosen, as they are known to have a high prevalence of hypertension and atherosclerosis, respectively. Aortic tissue was collected from occidental (American and Australian) and Chinese populations from three geographic locations. Postmortem specimens were obtained from four fixed locations: ascending aorta (A), descending thoracic aorta (B), and abdominal aorta (suprarenal [C] and above the aortic bifurcation [D]). Histologic sections were used to measure aortic circumference, medial thickness, intimal thickness, and grade of atherosclerosis. Kidney sections were used to confirm the presence or absence of hypertension. A total of 302 cases (age range, 19 to 104 years; Male-to-female ration, 2:1) were studied: 112 Americans, 80 Australians, and 110 Chinese. Cases were divided into three age groups: 19 to 44; 45 to 64; and 65 years and older. The aortic circumference progressively decreased from sites A to D in all populations and age groups. The aortic circumference increased with age, and the increase was independent of the aortic location. When the populations were separated, however, the greater increase was at location A in the Chinese (P = .008) and locations D in the occidental (P = .13), a population contrast that was significant only in location A. Intimal thickness increased with advancing age and was maximal in the abdominal aorta. The population differences also were significant for intimal thickness and were significantly greater in the occidental population in B, C, and D locations, whereas for atherosclerosis significance was only seen in location D. Hypertension (as defined by the morphologic changes in the kidney) after adjusting for age, height, and weight resulted in no statistical significant effect on aortic circumference or on intimal thickness, but did show a significant increase in atherosclerosis score at locations B, C, and D. Also after adjusting for age, height, and weight, the Chinese had a significantly larger aortic circumference in location A compared with the occidental population, whereas in location D the occidentals with hypertension had a significantly larger circumference compared with Chinese, probably due to an interaction of atherosclerosis and hypertension. After similar adjustments, the medial thickness in locations A and C, the intimal thickness in B, C, and D, and atherosclerosis score in D were significantly greater in occidental than Chinese populations. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)