pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Imaging and modeling the cardiovascular system

Understanding cardiac pumping function is crucial to guiding diagnosis, predicting outcomes of interventions, and designing medical devices that interact with the cardiovascular system. In turn, better diagnostics and treatment of cardiovascular function would improve the prognosis of cardiovascular diseases, which account for 31% of all global deaths. The heart and the vascular system are strongly coupled, and changes in arterial properties that occur with age and in the presence of pathologies have a significant impact on cardiac function. Because of the complexity of the cardiovascular system and the diversity of disease processes, it is not always possible to understand the role played by each part of the system in the final outcome. Computer simulations of hemodynamics can show how the system is influenced by changes in single or multiple cardiovascular parameters and can be used to test clinically relevant hypotheses. In addition, methods for the detection and quantification of important markers such as elevated arterial stiffness would help reduce the morbidity and mortality related to cardiovascular disease.



The general aim of this thesis work was to improve understanding of cardiovascular physiology and develop new methods for assisting clinicians during diagnosis and follow- up of treatment in cardiovascular disease. Both computer simulations and medical imaging were used to reach this goal.



In the first study, a new cardiac model based on piston-like motions of the atrioventricular plane was developed in order to deepen the understanding of the forces responsible for filling and emptying of the cardiac chambers. In the second study, the presence of the anatomical basis needed to generate hydraulic forces during diastole was assessed in heathy volunteers. In the third study, a previously validated lumped-parameter model was used to quantify the contribution of arterial and cardiac changes to blood pressure during aging. In the fourth study, in-house software that measures arterial stiffness by ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE) was developed and validated against mechanical testing.



The studies showed that longitudinal movements of the atrioventricular plane can well explain cardiac pumping and that the macroscopic geometry of the heart enables the generation of hydraulic forces that aid ventricular filling. Additionally, simulations showed that structural changes in both the heart and the arterial system contribute to the progression of blood pressure with age. Finally, the SWE technique was validated to accurately measure stiffness in arterial phantoms. Future ex vivo and in vivo studies are needed to determine the technique’s sensitivity and applicability to clinical measurements
Rethinking healthcare building design quality : an evidence-based strategy.

Healthcare buildings play a significant role in delivering healthcare services and outcomes (e.g. quality, suitability, cleanliness, patient experience, value for money and risk mitigation). However, the current diffusion of responsibilities in England between central government and healthcare trusts has created gaps and weaknesses in the evidence base, knowledge, skills and tools for creating and assessing healthcare building design quality. How can a national healthcare building design quality improvement strategy be created? This question is explored in relation to policy, strategy and organizational issues. Four evaluation studies and four action research studies indicate the complexity and responsibilities in defining a design quality improvement strategy. It is found that the interdisciplinary development of national standards and tools requires centralized investment to facilitate nationwide learning and improvements in evidence and outcomes. In addition, the inevitable health policy changes made by successive governments require a sustainable and strategic response. The creation and maintenance of capacity and capabilities will require a dedicated team of professionals and a wide interdisciplinary network of long-term contributors who are motivated by a long-term desire to improve healthcare building design quality
Current evidence and future perspectives on HuR and breast cancer development, prognosis and treatment

Hu-antigen R (HuR) is an RNA-binding post-transcriptional regulator that belongs to the Hu/ELAV family. HuR expression levels are modulated by a variety of proteins, microRNAs, chemical compounds or the microenvironment and in turn HuR affects mRNA stability and translation of various genes implicated in breast cancer formation, progression, metastasis and treatment. The aim of the present review is to critically summarise the role of HuR in breast cancer development and its potential as a prognosticator and a therapeutic target. In this aspect, all the existing English literature concerning HuR expression and function in breast cancer cell lines, in vivo animal models and clinical studies is critically presented and summarized. HuR modulates many genes implicated in biological processes crucial for breast cancer formation, growth and metastasis, while the link between HuR and these processes has been demonstrated directly in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, clinical studies reveal that HuR is associated with more aggressive forms of breast cancer and is a putative prognosticator for patients’ survival. All the above indicate HuR as a promising drug target for cancer therapy; nevertheless, additional studies are required to fully understand its potential and determine against which types of breast cancer and at which stage of the disease a therapeutic agent targeting HuR would be more effective
Alfvén wave phase-mixing in flows: Why over-dense, solar coronal, open magnetic field structures are cool?

Accepted for publication in Astron. Astrophys. -- final accepted versionThe motivation for this study is to include the effect of plasma flow in Alfv\'en wave (AW) damping via phase mixing and to explore the observational implications. Our magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations and analytical calculations show that, when a background flow is present, mathematical expressions for the AW damping via phase mixing are modified by the following substitution: $C_A^\prime(x) \to C_A^\prime(x)+V_0^\prime(x)$, where $C_A$ and $V_0$ are AW phase and the flow speeds, and the prime denotes a derivative in the direction across the background magnetic field. In uniform magnetic fields and over-dense plasma structures, where $C_A$ is smaller than in the surrounding plasma, the flow, which is confined to the structure and going in the same direction as the AW, reduces the effect of phase-mixing, because on the edges of the structure $C_A^\prime$ and $V_0^\prime$ have opposite signs. Thus, the wave damps by means of slower phase-mixing compared to the case without the flow. This is the result of the co-directional flow that reduces the wave front stretching in the transverse direction. We apply our findings to addressing the question why over-dense solar coronal open magnetic field structures (OMFS) are cooler than the background plasma. Observations show that the over-dense OMFS (e.g. solar coronal polar plumes) are cooler than surrounding plasma and that, in these structures, Doppler line-broadening is consistent with bulk plasma motions, such as AW. If over-dense solar coronal OMFS are heated by AW damping via phase-mixing, we show that, co-directional with AW, plasma flow in them reduces the phase-mixing induced-heating, thus providing an explanation of why they appear cooler than the background.Computational facilities: Astronomy Unit, Queen Mary University of London and UK’s STFC Dirac-2 HPC via UKMHD consortium. The author was financially supported by STFC consolidated Grant No. ST/J001546/1 and Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant No. RPG-311. The author would also like to thank Dr. T. R. Arter for providing crucially important IT support
Evidence for the Decay X(3872) → ψ(2S)γ

Evidence for the decay mode X(3872) → ψ(2S)γ in B[superscript +] → X(3872)K[superscript +] decays is found with a significance of 4.4 standard deviations. The analysis is based on a data sample of proton–proton collisions, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb[superscript −1], collected with the LHCb detector, at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. The ratio of the branching fraction of the X(3872) →ψ (2S)γ decay to that of the X(3872) → J/ψγ decay is measured to be [B(X(3872) → ψ(2S)γ) over B(X(3872)→J/ψγ)] = 2.46 ± 0.64 ± 0.29, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The measured value does not support a pure D[bar over D]⁎ molecular interpretation of the X(3872) state.National Science Foundation (U.S.
Turán type inequalities for Struve functions

Some Turán type inequalities for Struve functions of the first kind are deduced by using various methods developed in the case of Bessel functions of the first and second kind. New formulas, like Mittag–Leffler expansion, infinite product representation for Struve functions of the first kind, are obtained, which may be of independent interest. Moreover, some complete monotonicity results and functional inequalities are deduced for Struve functions of the second kind. These results complement naturally the known results for a particular case of Lommel functions of the first kind, and for modified Struve functions of the first and second kind
Mitochondrial uncoupling protein-2 is not involved in palmitate-induced impairment of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in INS-1E insulinoma cells and is not needed for the amplification of insulin release

AbstractWe have recently shown that overnight exposure of INS-1E insulinoma cells to palmitate in the presence of high glucose causes defects in both mitochondrial energy metabolism and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS). Here we report experiments designed to test the involvement of mitochondrial uncoupling protein-2 (UCP2) in these glucolipotoxic effects. Measuring real-time oxygen consumption in siRNA-transfected INS-1E cells, we show that deleterious effects of palmitate on the glucose sensitivity of mitochondrial respiration and on the coupling efficiency of oxidative phosphorylation are independent of UCP2. Consistently, palmitate impairs GSIS to the same extent in cells with and without UCP2. Furthermore, we knocked down UCP2 in spheroid INS-1E cell clusters (pseudoislets) to test whether or not UCP2 regulates insulin secretion during prolonged glucose exposure. We demonstrate that there are no differences in temporal GSIS kinetics between perifused pseudoislets with and without UCP2. We conclude that UCP2 is not involved in palmitate-induced impairment of GSIS in INS-1E insulinoma cells and is not needed for the amplification of insulin release. These conclusions inform ongoing debate on the disputed biochemical and physiological functions of the beta cell UCP2
Simple homotopy types and finite spaces

AbstractWe present a new approach to simple homotopy theory of polyhedra using finite topological spaces. We define the concept of collapse of a finite space and prove that this new notion corresponds exactly to the concept of a simplicial collapse. More precisely, we show that a collapse X↘Y of finite spaces induces a simplicial collapse K(X)↘K(Y) of their associated simplicial complexes. Moreover, a simplicial collapse K↘L induces a collapse X(K)↘X(L) of the associated finite spaces. This establishes a one-to-one correspondence between simple homotopy types of finite simplicial complexes and simple equivalence classes of finite spaces. We also prove a similar result for maps: We give a complete characterization of the class of maps between finite spaces which induce simple homotopy equivalences between the associated polyhedra. This class describes all maps coming from simple homotopy equivalences at the level of complexes. The advantage of this theory is that the elementary move of finite spaces is much simpler than the elementary move of simplicial complexes: It consists of removing (or adding) just a single point of the space
Determining Residual CO2 Saturation Through a Dissolution Test-results from the CO2CRC Otway Project

AbstractResidual CO2 trapping (Sgr-CO2) is a key mechanism for geological CO2 storage. The CO2CRC undertook a sequence of field tests with the aim of comparing different ways of determining Sgr-CO2 including a dissolution test. Dissolution test results show an unexpectedly early breakthrough and low maximum CO2 concentrations in the back- produced water making the data inconclusive when using traditional data interpretation. Here, we consider two conditions to explain the observations: Firstly, residual CO2 is vertically unevenly distributed and, secondly, the fluid and residual CO2 are not in equilibrium. Furthermore, we postulate localised flow channels have formed during the 3- month test period caused by advective flow of CO2-saturated, low pH water leading to transport-controlled mineral dissolution
Parahippocampal cortex is involved in material processing via echoes in blind echolocation experts

AbstractSome blind humans use sound to navigate by emitting mouth-clicks and listening to the echoes that reflect from silent objects and surfaces in their surroundings. These echoes contain information about the size, shape, location, and material properties of objects. Here we present results from an fMRI experiment that investigated the neural activity underlying the processing of materials through echolocation. Three blind echolocation experts (as well as three blind and three sighted non-echolocating control participants) took part in the experiment. First, we made binaural sound recordings in the ears of each echolocator while he produced clicks in the presence of one of three different materials (fleece, synthetic foliage, or whiteboard), or while he made clicks in an empty room. During fMRI scanning these recordings were played back to participants. Remarkably, all participants were able to identify each of the three materials reliably, as well as the empty room. Furthermore, a whole brain analysis, in which we isolated the processing of just the reflected echoes, revealed a material-related increase in BOLD activation in a region of left parahippocampal cortex in the echolocating participants, but not in the blind or sighted control participants. Our results, in combination with previous findings about brain areas involved in material processing, are consistent with the idea that material processing by means of echolocation relies on a multi-modal material processing area in parahippocampal cortex
Rapid Evolution of the Cerebellum in Humans and Other Great Apes

SummaryHumans’ unique cognitive abilities are usually attributed to a greatly expanded neocortex, which has been described as “the crowning achievement of evolution and the biological substrate of human mental prowess” [1]. The human cerebellum, however, contains four times more neurons than the neocortex [2] and is attracting increasing attention for its wide range of cognitive functions. Using a method for detecting evolutionary rate changes along the branches of phylogenetic trees, we show that the cerebellum underwent rapid size increase throughout the evolution of apes, including humans, expanding significantly faster than predicted by the change in neocortex size. As a result, humans and other apes deviated significantly from the general evolutionary trend for neocortex and cerebellum to change in tandem, having significantly larger cerebella relative to neocortex size than other anthropoid primates. These results suggest that cerebellar specialization was a far more important component of human brain evolution than hitherto recognized and that technical intelligence was likely to have been at least as important as social intelligence in human cognitive evolution. Given the role of the cerebellum in sensory-motor control and in learning complex action sequences, cerebellar specialization is likely to have underpinned the evolution of humans’ advanced technological capacities, which in turn may have been a preadaptation for language
Estimating the Synaptic Current in a Multiconductance AMPA Receptor Model

AbstractSynaptic transmission starts after the presynaptic neuron has released diffusing neurotransmitters, leading to postsynaptic receptor activation and a postsynaptic current, mostly mediated by glutamatergic (AMPARs) receptors for excitatory neurons. Despite intense experimental and theoretical research, it is still unclear how factors such as the synaptic cleft geometry, the organization, the number and the multiconductance state of receptors, the geometry of postsynaptic density (PSD), and the neurotransmitter release location, shape the mean and the variance of the postsynaptic current and its plastic changes. To estimate the synaptic current amplitude and to account for the stochastic nature of synaptic transmission, we develop a semianalytical method in which we obtain a general expression for the coefficient of variation. The method uses the experimental data about the multiconductance channels. We find that PSD morphological changes can significantly modulate the synaptic current, which is maximally reliable (the coefficient of variation is minimal) for an optimal size of the PSD, that depends on the vesicular release active zone. We show that this optimal PSD size is due to nonlinear phenomena involving the receptor multibinding cooperativity. We conclude that changes in the PSD geometry can sustain a form of synaptic plasticity, independent of a change in the number of receptors
Exotic pairing in 1D spin-3/2 atomic gases with SO(4) symmetry

AbstractTuning interactions in the spin singlet and quintet channels of two colliding atoms could change the symmetry of the one-dimensional spin-3/2 fermionic systems of ultracold atoms while preserving the integrability. Here we find a novel SO(4) symmetry integrable point in the spin-3/2 Fermi gas and derive the exact solution of the model using the Bethe ansatz. In contrast to the model with SU(4) and SO(5) symmetries, the present model with SO(4) symmetry preserves spin singlet and quintet Cooper pairs in two sets of SU(2)⊗SU(2) spin subspaces. We obtain full phase diagrams, including the Fulde–Ferrel–Larkin–Ovchinnikov like pair correlations, spin excitations and quantum criticality through the generalized Yang–Yang thermodynamic equations. In particular, various correlation functions are calculated by using finite-size corrections in the frame work of conformal field theory. Moreover, within the local density approximation, we further find that spin singlet and quintet pairs form subtle multiple shell structures in density profiles of the trapped gas
p19ARFDeficiency Reduces Macrophage and Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Apoptosis and Aggravates Atherosclerosis

ObjectivesThe goal of this study was to investigate the role in atherosclerosis of the tumor suppressor protein ARF (human p14ARF, mouse p19ARF) encoded by the CDKN2Agene.BackgroundAtherosclerosis is characterized by excessive proliferation and apoptosis, 2 cellular processes regulated by CDKN2A. Although recent genome-wide association studies have linked atherosclerotic diseases to a genomic region in human chromosome 9p21 near the CDKN2Alocus, the mechanisms underlying this gene–disease association remain undefined, and no causal link has been established between CDKN2Aand atherosclerosis.MethodsAtherosclerosis-prone apolipoprotein E (apoE)-null and doubly deficient apoE-p19ARFmice were fed an atherogenic diet and sacrificed to quantify atherosclerosis burden in whole-mounted aortas and in aortic cross-sections. Proliferation and apoptosis were investigated in atherosclerotic lesions and in primary cultures of macrophages and vascular smooth muscle cells obtained from both groups of mice.ResultsGenetic disruption of p19ARFin apoE-null mice augments aortic atherosclerosis without affecting body weight, plasma lipoproteins, or plaque's proliferative activity. Notably, p19ARFdeficiency significantly attenuates apoptosis both in atherosclerotic lesions and in cultured macrophages and vascular smooth muscle cells, 2 major cellular constituents of atheromatous plaques.ConclusionsOur findings establish a direct link between p19ARF, plaque apoptosis, and atherosclerosis, and suggest that human genetic variants associated to diminished CDKN2Aexpression may accelerate atherosclerosis by limiting plaque apoptosis
CO2 Migration Monitoring Methodology in the Shallow Subsurface: Lessons Learned from the CO2FIELDLAB Project

AbstractA CO2 migration field laboratory for testing of monitoring methods has been established in the glaciofluvial-glaciomarine Holocene deposits of the Svelvik ridge, near Oslo. A shallow CO2 injection experiment was conducted in September 2011 in which approximately 1700kg of CO2 was injected at 18 m depth below surface. The objectives of this experiment were to (i) detect and, where possible, quantify migrated CO2 concentrations, (ii) evaluate the sensitivity of the monitoring tools and (iii) study the impact of the vadose zone on measurements. This paper describes the injection, discusses the joint interpretation of the results and suggests some recommendations for further work
Origin of the low-mass electron pair excess in light nucleus–nucleus collisions

AbstractWe report measurements of electron pair production in elementary p+p and d+p reactions at 1.25 GeV/u with the HADES spectrometer. For the first time, the electron pairs were reconstructed for n+p reactions by detecting the proton spectator from the deuteron breakup. We find that the yield of electron pairs with invariant mass Me+e−>0.15 GeV/c2 is about an order of magnitude larger in n+p reactions as compared to p+p. A comparison to model calculations demonstrates that the production mechanism is not sufficiently described yet. The electron pair spectra measured in C+C reactions are compatible with a superposition of elementary n+p and p+p collisions, leaving little room for additional electron pair sources in such light collision systems
Threshold resummation at N3LL accuracy and soft-virtual cross sections at N3LO

AbstractWe consider QCD radiative corrections to the production of colorless high-mass systems in hadron collisions. We show that the recent computation of the soft-virtual corrections to Higgs boson production at N3LO [1] together with the universality structure of soft-gluon emission can be exploited to extract the general expression of the hard-virtual coefficient that contributes to threshold resummation at N3LL accuracy. The hard-virtual coefficient is directly related to the process-dependent virtual amplitude through a universal (process-independent) factorization formula that we explicitly evaluate up to three-loop order. As an application, we present the explicit expression of the soft-virtual N3LO corrections for the production of an arbitrary colorless system. In the case of the Drell–Yan process, we confirm the recent result of Ref. [2]
Mitotic partitioning of endosomes and lysosomes

AbstractBackground: Some of the mechanisms underlying cell division and partitioning of the cellular components into the daughter cells are well known. Within the endomembrane system, there is a general cessation of membrane traffic, including endocytosis and endosome fusion, at the onset of mitosis. However, the fate of endosomes and lysosomes during mitosis has been less well studied.Results: Using video and confocal microscopy of living cells, we show here that endosomes and lysosomes remain intact and separate during mitosis. The segregation into daughter cells takes place by coordinated movements, and during cytokinesis, these organelles accumulate in the vicinity of the microtubule organization center. However, partitioning into daughter cells is not more accurate than a calculated stochastic distribution, despite the apparent order to the process.Conclusion: We conclude that partitioning of endosomes and lysosomes is an ordered, yet imprecise, process, and that the organelle copy number is maintained by the daughter cells