julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Groundwater protection: What can we learn from Germany?
2008-03-01

For drinking water security the German waterworks proceed on a comprehensive concept, i.e., the protection of all the regions from the recharge area to the client. It includes the protection of the recharge area by a precautionary management, a safe water treatment, a strict maintenance of the water distribution network, continuous control and an intensive training of staff. Groundwater protection zones together with effective regulations and control play a very important role. Three protection zones with different restrictions in land-use are distinguished. Water in reservoirs and lakes is also protected by Surface Water Protection Zones. Within the surrounding area the land-use is controlled, too. Special treatment is necessary if acidification happens caused by acid rain, or eutrophication caused by the inflow of sewage. Very important is the collaboration between waterworks and the farmers cultivating land in the recharge area in order to execute water-protecting ecological farming with the aim to reduce the application of fertilizers and plant protection agents. Probable financial losses have to be compensated by the waterworks.
Post-stroke exercise rehabilitation: What we know about retraining the motor system and how it may apply to retraining the heart
2008-03-01

A plateau in recovery within the first few months of rehabilitative therapy was assumed to be the norm in stroke survivors. Recent studies in our laboratory examined the effect of 6 months of treadmill exercise training in chronically disabled stroke survivors. Treadmill exercise improves fitness and walking ability in patients when initiated 6 months or more following their index stroke. Functional imaging studies show that such exercise also induces subcortical reorganization in these patients. Future investigations will explore the relationship between these functional and structural effects and characterize the therapeutic mechanisms of post-stroke rehabilitation. Nonetheless, treadmill exercise appears to have motor, cardiac, and daily functional benefits in stroke survivors.
Primary anaplastic ganglioglioma with a small-cell glioblastoma component
2008-03-01

Gangliogliomas usually present as benign tumors corresponding to World Health Organization (WHO) Grade I. Very rarely, gangliogliomas show histological features of malignancy and are then classified as anaplastic gangliogliomas of WHO Grade III or IV. In most cases, anaplastic gangliogliomas developed after radiation therapy or progression from a pre-existing low-grade ganglioglioma. Here, we report the case of a 77-year-old male patient who was operated on a primary ganglioglioma with a highly anaplastic glial component corresponding to a small-cell glioblastoma. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a primary anaplastic ganglioglioma with a small-cell glioblastoma component.
Verification of Temporal Properties in Automotive Embedded Software
2008-03-01

The amount of software in embedded systems has increased significantly over the last years and, therefore, the verification of embedded software is of fundamental importance. One of the main problems in embedded software is to verify variables and functions based on temporal properties. Formal property verification using model checker often suffers from the state space explosion problem when a large software design is considered. In this paper, we propose two new approaches to integrate assertions in the verification of embedded software using simulation-based verification. Firstly, we extended a SystemC hardware temporal checker with interfaces in order to monitor the embedded software variables and functions that are stored in a microprocessor memory model. Secondly, we derived a SystemC model from the original C program in order to integrate directly with the SystemC temporal checker. We performed a case study on an embedded software from automotive industry which is responsible for controlling read and write requests to a non-volatile memory.
On the Taste of the Regions
2008-03-01

Regional culinary 'specialities' are usually considered as indicative of the culture of specific areas, of their traditions and ways of life. Only recently has research begun to focus on the processes that constitute regional food cultures. This article traces the use of 'culinary heritage' as a concept in regional practices and European politics, developing an analysis of how everyday food practices are transformed first into cultural heritage, and then into cultural property. It then presents a comparative ethnographic project aiming at a cultural analysis of procedures involved in the EU food quality assurance system. In conclusion, the article proposes perspectives that may help fill the gaps in research identified in this context.
Activity of the lipoxygenase inhibitor 1-phenyl-3-pyrazolidinone (phenidone) and derivatives on the inhibition of adhesion molecule expression on human umbilical vascular endothelial cells
2008-03-01

Leukocyte adhesion contributes to perfusion abnormalities and tissue damage during trauma, shock or overwhelming inflammation. This study was performed to determine whether the lipoxygenase inhibitor phenidone and derivatives decrease the expression of adhesion molecules on tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) stimulated endothelial cells and attenuate leukocyte-endothelial interactions under flow in vitro. TNF-alpha stimulated human umbilical venous endothelial cells (HUVECs) were incubated with phenidone, 4-methyl-phenidone, 4-4-dimethyl-phenidone, 5-methyl-phenidone, 5-phenyl-phenidone, and 5-methyl-1,(2,5-di-chloro-phenyl)-3-pyrazolidone. We tested the inhibition of adhesion molecule expression at different inhibitor concentrations before, during, and after the stimulation of HUVECs. The inhibition of endothelial cell expression on HUVECs was measured by flow cytometry. Rolling and firm adhesion of leukocytes to pretreated endothelium was examined in a parallel plate flow chamber. Phenidone inhibited the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and endothelial-leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 on HUVECs when added prior to HUVEC stimulation. The inhibitory effect of phenidone was still observed when added simultaneously, but not when added after HUVEC stimulation. 4-4-dimethyl-phenidone and 5-phenyl-phenidone inhibited the expression of adhesion molecules more effectively than phenidone. The attenuation of leukocyte rolling under flow conditions was also significantly more effective with 4-4-dimethyl-phenidone than with phenidone. Lipoxygenase inhibitors might be of therapeutically interest for the treatment of overwhelming systemic inflammation during shock, trauma, and sepsis.
Direct and Natural Killer cell‐mediated anti‐tumor effects of low‐dose Bortezomib in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
2008-03-01

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) displays a particular resistance to conventional cytostatic agents. Therefore, alternative treatment strategies focus on novel substances exhibiting anti‐neoplastic and/or immunomodulatory activity enhancing e.g. NK cell reactivity. However, the tumor‐associated ligands engaging activating NK cell receptors are largely unknown. Exceptions are the NKG2D ligands (NKG2DL) of the MIC and ULBP families. We here studied the consequences of proteasome inhibition with regard to direct and NK cell‐mediated effects against primary human hepatocytes (PHH) from different donors and hepatoma cells. Bortezomib treatment inhibited hepatoma cell growth with IC 50 values between 2.4 and 7.7 nM. These low doses increased MICA/B mRNA levels and protein expression in hepatoma cells, which stimulated cytotoxicity and IFN‐γ production of cocultured NK cells. Importantly, while IFN‐γ production of NK cells was concentration‐dependently reduced, low‐dose Bortezomib neither induced NKG2DL expression or cell death in PHH nor altered NK cell cytotoxicity. Thus, low‐dose Bortezomib mediates a specific dual anti‐tumor effect in HCC by inhibiting proliferation and by priming hepatoma cells for NK cell anti‐tumor reactivity. Our data suggest the clinical evaluation of Bortezomib treatment in HCC, especially in combination with immunotherapeutic approaches like adoptive NK cell transfer.
Explaining the Violence Pattern of the Algerian Civil War
2008-03-01

I draw a geographically and temporally disaggregated model of the location and course of the Algerian civil war, using new battle event and location data from press reports. I show that the war was located in areas and at moments in time in which both the rebels and the government were about equally strong, according to my novel relative strength index. Additional factors that can robustly predict high location-specific war intensity are the severity of violence at a location in the past period, and unemployment. Finally, violence is unlikely to take place in unpopulated areas.
The usual suspects: the effects of attention on journalists’ stock recommendations
2008-03-01

Abstract This study examines if journalists are affected by attention stimuli similar to that of individual investors. Applying logistic regression technique, we find that journalists focus on attention grabbing stocks when publishing their buy and sell recommendations. Thereby, journalists intensify the well-documented attention bias of individual investors. Notes 1 Besides general investment related information about capital markets, these magazines publish direct buy and sell recommendations for stocks based on self-contained research procedures. For the US, e.g. Barron's, Kiplinger and SmartMoney can be classified as PFMs. 2 In particular, these are Wertpapier, Effecten-Spiegel, Börse Online, Telebörse and Capital (Capitaldepesche). 3 The size matching is done at the beginning of each specific year. We drew the second-closest stock in terms of market capitalization for the group of pseudo recommendations if the stock of the pseudo recommendations (i) was already delisted on the day of recommendation, (ii) was also recommended by a PFM on that day or (iii) had insufficient data history. 4 This information is directly received from the editors of the covered PFMs. 5 Ad hoc announcements deal with corporate events which are likely to have a significant effect on the stock price like, e.g. changes in the executive board structure, earnings announcements and merger activities. To control for ad hoc announcements, we examine the database of the DGAP (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ad hoc-Publizität). 6 Market-adjusted returns are calculated by subtracting the return of the broad market index CDAX from the return of the recommended stock. 7 The dummy variable SPLIT is set to one if the adjustment factor (AF) provided by Datastream changed by the factor of 1.25 or more. This equals stock splits of at least 5 for 4 stocks. 8 This is done due to limited data on trading volumes. In particular, trading volumes are available for 64% of all recommendations from Datastream.
Myonuclear degeneration in LMNA null mice
2008-03-01

Lamins A/C, the major constituent of the nuclear lamina, confer mechanical stability to nuclei. We examined the myonuclei of LMNA null mice at the myotendinous junctions (MTJ), the site of longitudinal force transmission from contractile proteins to extracellular proteins. The right soleus and rectus femoris muscles of 5 null mutants aged 5–7 weeks and 2 wild type animals aged 5 weeks and 6 months were examined by electron microscopy. The myofibers merging into the tendons were assessed for nuclear disintegration and cytoplasmic degeneration. The myofibers of the wild type rectus femoris and soleus muscles revealed 19–27 nuclei per 50 myofibers and 5–8/20, respectively, with no signs of degeneration. The rectus femoris muscle fibers of the null mice contained 75–117 myonuclei/50 myofibers, the soleus muscle, 13–36 nuclei/20 myofibers. 11–21/50 myonuclei of the rectus femoris myonuclei showed chromatin clumping, nuclear fragmentation, nuclear inclusions and invaginations, and intranuclear filaments. The values were 12–19/50 for the soleus myonuclei. Moreover, 5–12/50 rectus femoris myofibers and 5–14/20, of the soleus myofibers showed cytoplasmic degeneration. None of these changes was found distal to the MTJ. These results favor the notion that myonuclei lacking a functional lamina are susceptible to mechanical stress in vivo . These alterations may contribute to the development of early joint contractures, a feature of ADEDMD.
Tumor‐derived soluble Glucocorticoid‐Induced TNF‐Related Protein (GITR) ligand diminishes anti‐tumor reactivity of NK cells
2008-03-01

Recently we reported that NK cells express GITR while tumor cells express GITR ligand (GITRL), and GITR‐GITRL interaction downregulates NK cell anti‐tumor immunity. Here we report that human tumor cells spontaneously release a soluble form of GITRL (sGITRL), which concentration‐dependently reduces NK cell cytotoxicity and IFN‐γ production in cocultures with tumor cells. While sGITRL does not induce apoptosis in NK cells, it diminishes nuclear localized RelB indicating that sGITRL negatively modulates NK cell NF‐κB activity. Furthermore, sGITRL was detected in 40 out of 50 sera of patients with various cancers, while no sGITRL was detectable in healthy volunteers. Addition of sGITRL containing patient sera to cocultures of NK cells and tumor cells significantly reduced NK cell cytotoxicity and IFN‐γ production. These inhibitory effects of sGITRL on NK cell effector functions could be restored by neutralization of sGITRL with a GITR‐Fc fusion protein. The strong correlation of tumor incidence and elevated sGITRL levels clearly suggests that sGITRL is released at significant amounts from malignant cells in vivo and may reduce immune surveillance of human tumors. Our data indicate that determination of sGITRL levels may be implemented as an immunological diagnostic marker in tumor patients, and GITRL‐neutralization may be employed in therapeutic strategies like adoptive NK cell transfer.
The kinase inhibitors Sunitinib and Sorafenib differentially affect reactivity of NK cells against Renal Cell Cancer
2008-03-01

Sunitinib and Sorafenib are multi‐kinase inhibitors licensed for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell cancer (RCC) and target, among others, VEGF receptors, PDGF receptors, c‐kit and Flt3. Beyond that, Sorafenib inhibits c‐RAF and B‐RAF. Here we report that Sorafenib but not Sunitinib significantly (p&lt;0.05, Mann‐Whitney U‐test) reduce cell surface CD107a expression (about 50%) on NK cells as a surrogate marker for degranulation in response to tumor targets. In line, pharmacological levels of Sorafenib but not Sunitinib significantly (p&lt;0.05) diminish cytotoxicity of primary NK cells against the RCC cell lines A498, ACHN and CAKI‐2 (46% to 14%, 52% to 22% and 63% to 42%, respectively) in chromium release assays. While Sunitinib had no effect, Sorafenib, alike the specific c‐RAF inhibitor ZM336372 or the specific MEK inhibitor PD98059, markedly reduces ERK phosphorylation which regulates the movement of lytic granula towards target cells. Our results indicate that NK cell anti‐tumor reactivity is impaired by Sorafenib but not by Sunitinib due to the additional inhibitory effect of Sorafenib on the ERK pathway, which has been demonstrated to dictate NK cell cytotoxicity. We therefore conclude that Sunitinib is exquisitely suitable for combination with immunotherapeutic approaches in RCC patients.
Deep brain stimulation of the thalamus as a treatment of intractable Tourette Syndrome
2008-03-01

Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder characterised by multiple motor tics and one or more phonic (vocal) tics. 90% of patients have comorbid disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), self-injurious behaviours, depression and anxiety. Treatment of TS includes typical and atypical neuroleptics, alpha-adrenergic agonists, benzo-diazepines and behavioural interventions. Recently, a number of case reports and case series have demonstrated that deep brain stimulation (DBS) targeting the centromedian-parafascicular complex (CM-PF) of the thalamus, globus pallidus or internal capsule and nucleus accumbens may have beneficial effects on TS. The best evidence currently exists for the safety and efficacy of DBS targeted to the thalamus. Here, we report on the efficacious treatment of a 30 year old man with a 15 years history of medication resistant TS with a predominant complex, self-injurious motor tic of violent pounding his chin with the left hand (YGTSS 77/100), comorbid OCD (Y-BOCS 24/40) and moderate depression (HAM-D: 28) in bipolar disorder with bilateral DBS placed within the thalamus. Neuropsychological testing and positron emission tomography (PET) were performed before and after the start of treatment. Following the guidelines on DBS for neuropsychiatric disorders and the recent recommendations for DBS in TS, the local DBS-assessment committee ensured that all suggested medical, neurological and psychiatric criteria were met. After local ethics committee approval and written informed consent, two DBS electrodes were placed in the CM-PF complex of the thalamus under general anaesthesia.
Automatic synthesis of VLSI architectures for arbitrary lifting-based filter banks and transforms
2008-03-01

Recently, the conventional lifting scheme that is widely used for the construction of wavelets and 2-channel filter banks has been extended to M-channel filter banks (M > 2). This extension brings up the beneficial properties of the lifting scheme to a broader range of applications, like discrete cosine transforms. There exist many hand-crafted lifting-based VLSI architectures, which mostly concentrate on a single and specific target application having a fixed data throughput and resource consumption. However, the reusability of such architectures is limited due to the lack of scalability and flexibility. To overcome this issue, we present a novel design methodology for automatic synthesis of VLSI architectures that are suitable for arbitrary lifting-based M-channel filter banks and transforms. The methodology offers wide-ranging design space exploration with varying resource consumption and data throughput tradeoffs, as it is desired in modern system-on-chip design.
Identification of two early differentiated populations within CD4+ and CD8+ TEMRA T‐cells
2008-03-01

Antigen‐experienced T‐cells can be divided into functionally distinct populations, according to the expression of different cell surface markers, such as CD45RA, CCR7, CD27 and CD28. Effector T‐cells re‐expressing CD45RA and lacking the chemokine receptor CCR7 (TEMRA cells), are considered to be late differentiated cells, with limited proliferative but high functional capacity. Using 10‐color flow cytometry, we subdivided circulating CD4+ and CD8+ effector memory (EM) (CCR7−, CD45RA−) and TEMRA (CCR7−, CD45RA+) cells of healthy individuals and cancer patients according to their surface expression of CD27 and CD28, as well as CD57, a marker up‐regulated on very late‐differentiated T‐cells. In both cohorts, we identified two subsets of early differentiated CD27+CD28+ and CD27+CD28‐lymphocytes, with very low CD57 expression in both the CD4+ and CD8+ TEMRA population, whereas most of the CD28−CD27− TEMRA cells were strongly positive for this putative marker of T cell senescence. Further functional analysis, combined with cell surface phenotyping showed that these two CD27+ TEMRA populations represent early‐differentiated T‐cells with higher proliferative capacity and lower IFN‐γ secretion compared to the late differentiated CD28−CD27− TEMRA cells. This work was supported by EC‐LSHG‐CT‐2007–036894 “LifeSpan” and DFG‐SFB685‐B4.
Comment on “Weakly and Strongly Consistent Formulations of Irreversible Processes”
2008-03-03

A Comment on the Letter by Hans Christian Öttinger, [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 130602 (2007)]. The author of the Letter offers a Reply.Received 17 November 2007DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.098901©2008 American Physical Society
Probing the ground state in gauge theories
2008-03-03

We consider two very different models of the flux tube linking two heavy quarks: a string linking the matter fields and a Coulombic description of two separately gauge invariant charges. We compare how close they are to the unknown true ground state in compact U(1) and the SU(2) Higgs model. Simulations in compact U(1) show that the string description is better in the confined phase but the Coulombic description is best in the deconfined phase; the last result is shown to agree with analytical calculations. Surprisingly in the non-abelian theory the Coulombic description is better in both the Higgs and confined phases. This indicates a significant difference in the width of the flux tubes in the two theories.
Discovery of VHE γ-rays from the high-frequency-peaked BL Lacertae object RGB J0152+017
2008-03-04

Aims. The BL Lac object RGB J0152+017 (z=0.080) was predicted to be a very high-energy (VHE; &gt;100 GeV) -ray source, due to its high X-ray and radio fluxes. Our aim is to understand the radiative processes by investigating the observed emission and its production mechanism using the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) experiment.&#13;\\nMethods. We report recent observations of the BL Lac source RGB J0152+017 made in late October and November 2007 with the HESS array consisting of four imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. Contemporaneous observations were made in X-rays by the Swift and RXTE satellites, in the optical band with the ATOM telescope, and in the radio band with the Nançay Radio Telescope.&#13;\\nResults. A signal of 173 -ray photons corresponding to a statistical significance of 6.6 was found in the data. The energy spectrum of the source can be described by a powerlaw with a spectral index of . The integral flux above 300 GeV corresponds to ~2% of the flux of the Crab nebula. The source spectral energy distribution (SED) can be described using a two-component non-thermal synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) leptonic model, except in the optical band, which is dominated by a thermal host galaxy component. The parameters that are found are very close to those found in similar SSC studies in TeV blazars.&#13;\\nConclusions. RGB J0152+017 is discovered as a source of VHE -rays by HESS The location of its synchrotron peak, as derived from the SED in Swift data, allows clear classification as a high-frequency-peaked BL Lac (HBL).
Meeting Report: cGMP MattersA report on the 3rd International Conference on cGMP Generators, Effectors and Therapeutic Implications, Dresden, Germany, 15 to 17 June 2007.
2008-03-04

The second messenger cyclic guanosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cGMP) controls many cellular functions ranging from growth to contractility. Generated from guanylyl cyclases in response to natriuretic peptides or nitric oxide, cGMP transduces its effects through a number of cGMP effectors, including cGMP-regulated phosphodiesterases and protein kinases. Drugs that modulate cGMP levels are emerging as promising therapies, particularly for cardiovascular disorders. This report summarizes new data on the molecular mechanisms, (patho)physiological relevance, and therapeutic potential of the cGMP signaling system that were presented at the 3rd cGMP meeting held in June 2007 in Dresden, Germany.