Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A DIGE approach for the assessment of rat soleus muscle changes during unloading: effect of acetyl‐L‐carnitine supplementation

After hind limb suspension, a remodeling of postural muscle phenotype is observed. This remodeling results in a shift of muscle profile from slow‐oxidative to fast‐glycolytic. These metabolic changes and fiber type shift increase muscle fatigability. Acetyl‐L‐carnitine (ALCAR) influences the skeletal muscle phenotype of soleus muscle suggesting a positive role of dietary supplementation of ALCAR during unloading. In the present study, we applied a 2‐D DIGE, mass spectrometry and biochemical assays, to assess qualitative and quantitative differences in the proteome of rat slow‐twitch soleus muscle subjected to disuse. Meanwhile, the effects of ALCAR administration on muscle proteomic profile in both unloading and normal‐loading conditions were evaluated. The results indicate a modulation of troponin I and tropomyosin complex to regulate fiber type transition. Associated, or induced, metabolic changes with an increment of glycolytic enzymes and a decreased capacity of fat oxidation are observed. These metabolic changes appear to be counteracted by ALCAR treatment, which restores the mitochondrial mass and decreases the glycolytic enzyme expression, suggesting a normalization of the metabolic shift observed in unloaded animals. This normalization is accompanied by a maintenance of body weight and seems to prevent a switch of fiber type.
Montgolfier: Latency-aware power management system for heterogeneous servers

Heterogeneous servers have long been introduced to improve energy efficiency in warehouse-scale computers(WSCs). However, running latency-critical web-services on heterogeneous servers is still challenging because the overheads of transition between such servers heavily impact overall benefits and performance. We propose Montgolfier, a runtime power management system based on a latency-aware feedback control mechanism. It consolidates wimpy and brawny servers into composite nodes to improve energy efficiency while ensuring QoS for latency-critical applications. Montgolfier effectively mitigates the effect of transition overhead between servers with dynamically load prediction and accurately provides thin-provisioned configurations in fine-grain manner for fluctuating loads. Our evaluation results show that Montgolfier reduces energy consumption by up to 34.9% without violating any QoS constraints.
Learning your way in a city: experience and gender differences in configurational knowledge of one’s environment

Males tend to outperform females in their knowledge of relative and absolute distances in spatial layouts and environments. It is unclear yet in how far these differences are innate or develop through life. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether gender differences in configurational knowledge for a natural environment might be modulated by experience. In order to examine this possibility, distance as well as directional knowledge of the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands was assessed in male and female inhabitants who had different levels of familiarity with this city. Experience affected the ability to solve difficult distance knowledge problems, but only for females. While the quality of the spatial representation of metric distances improved with more experience, this effect was not different for males and females. In contrast directional configurational measures did show a main gender effect but no experience modulation. In general, it seems that we obtain different configurational aspects according to different experiential time schemes. Moreover, the results suggest that experience may be a modulating factor in the occurrence of gender differences in configurational knowledge, though this seems dependent on the type of measurement. It is discussed in how far proficiency in mental rotation ability and spatial working memory accounts for these differences.
Fatigue Mechanisms Determining Exercise Performance Impaired calcium release during fatigue

Allen DG, Lamb GD, Westerblad H. Impaired calcium release during fatigue. J Appl Physiol 104: 296 –305, 2008. First published October 25, 2007; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00908. 2007. —Impaired calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) has been identified as a contributor to fatigue in isolated skeletal muscle fibers. The functional importance of this phenomenon can be quantified by the use of agents, such as caffeine, which can increase SR Ca release during fatigue. A number of possible mechanisms for impaired calcium release have been proposed. These include reduction in the amplitude of the action potential, potentially caused by extracellular K accumulation, which may reduce voltage sensor activation but is counteracted by a number of mechanisms in intact animals. Reduced effectiveness of SR Ca channel opening is caused by the fall in intracellular ATP and the rise in Mg concentrations that occur during fatigue. Reduced Ca available for release within the SR can occur if inorganic phosphate enters the SR and precipitates with Ca . Further progress requires the development of methods that can identify impaired SR Ca release in intact, bloodperfused muscles and that can distinguish between the various mechanisms proposed.
An Instrument Development Study of Men's Planning for Career and Family: Contributions of Parental Attachment and Gender Role Conflict

Title of Document: AN INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT STUDY OF MEN’S PLANNING FOR CAREER AND FAMILY: CONTRIBUTIONS OF PARENTAL ATTACHMENT AND GENDER ROLE CONFLICT Ethan H. Mereish, Master of Arts, 2008 Directed By: Dr. Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas, Department of Counseling and Personnel Services The present study first investigated the factor structure and assessed the psychometric properties of a scale that measures the degree to which future family responsibilities are considered by men when making career decisions. The study then examined the contributions of parental attachment and gender role conflict in predicting men’s career and family planning. Participants included 205 college men. The findings suggested that two subscales comprise the measure: the Incorporating Future Family in Career Plans subscale (IFFCP; α = .80) and the Choosing a Career Independent of Future Family subscale (CCIFF; α = .80). Convergent validity was supported through a negative correlation among the IFFCP subscale and career aspirations. Discriminant validity was supported, in which the IFFCP subscale lacked a correlation and the CCIFF subscale had a low correlation with the career decision-making self-efficacy. Attachment to father positively predicted incorporating future family considerations in career planning, and gender role conflict in the success, power and competition domain positively predicted choosing a career independent of future family considerations. AN INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT STUDY OF MEN’S PLANNING FOR CAREER AND FAMILY: CONTRIBUTIONS OF PARENTAL ATTACHMENT AND GENDER ROLE CONFLICT
Estimation of Genetic Parameters for Real-time Ultrasound Measurements for Hanwoo Cows at Different Ages and Pregnancy Status

The purpose of this study was to estimate genetic parameters of ultrasound measurements for longissimus dorsi muscle area (LMA), backfat thickness (BFT), and marbling score (MS) in Hanwoo cows (N = 3,062) at the ages between 18 and 42 months. Data were collected from 100 Hanwoo breeding farms in Gyeongbuk province, Korea, in 2007 and 2008. The cows were classified into four different age groups, i.e. 18 to 22 months (the first pregnancy period), 23 to 27 (the first parturition), 28 to 32 (the second pregnancy), and 33 to 42 (the second parturition), respectively. For each age group, a multi-trait animal model was used to estimate variance components and heritabilities of the three traits. The averages of LMA, BFT, and MS measurements across the cows of all age groups were 50.1 cm2, 4.62 mm, and 3.04, respectively and heritability estimates were 0.09, 0.10, and 0.08 for the respective traits. However, when the data were analyzed in different age groups, heritability estimates of LMA and BFT were 0.24 and 0.47, respectively, for the cows of 18 to 22 months of age, and 0.21 for MS in the 28 to 32 months old cows. When the cows of all age groups were used, the estimates of genetic (phenotypic) correlations were 0.43 (0.35), −0.06 (0.34) and 0.21 (0.32) between LMA and BFT, LMA and MS, and BFT and MS, respectively. However, in the cow age group between 28 and 32 (18 and 22) months, the estimates of genetic (phenotypic) correlations were 0.05 (0.29), −0.15 (0.24) and 0.38 (0.24), for the respective pairs of traits. These results suggest that genetic, environmental, and phenotypic variations differ depending on cow age, such that care must be taken when ultrasound measurements are applied to selection of cows for meat quality.
Monounsaturated fatty acyl-coenzyme A is predictive of atherosclerosis in human apoB-100 transgenic, LDLr−/− mice Published, JLR Papers in Press, February 4, 2007.

ACAT2, the enzyme responsible for the formation of cholesteryl esters incorporated into apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins by the small intestine and liver, forms predominantly cholesteryl oleate from acyl-CoA and free cholesterol. The accumulation of cholesteryl oleate in plasma lipoproteins has been found to be predictive of atherosclerosis. Accordingly, a method was developed in which fatty acyl-CoA subspecies could be extracted from mouse liver and quantified. Analyses were performed on liver tissue from mice fed one of four diets enriched with one particular type of dietary fatty acid: saturated, monounsaturated, n-3 polyunsaturated, or n-6 polyunsaturated. We found that the hepatic fatty acyl-CoA pools reflected the fatty acid composition of the diet fed. The highest percentage of fatty acyl-CoAs across all diet groups was in monoacyl-CoAs, and values were 36% and 46% for the n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated diet groups and 55% and 62% in the saturated and monounsaturated diet groups, respectively. The percentage of hepatic acyl-CoA as oleoyl-CoA was also highly correlated to liver cholesteryl ester, plasma cholesterol, LDL molecular weight, and atherosclerosis extent. These data suggest that replacing monounsaturated with polyunsaturated fat can benefit coronary heart disease by reducing the availability of oleoyl-CoA in the substrate pool of hepatic ACAT2, thereby reducing cholesteryl oleate secretion and accumulation in plasma lipoproteins.
Comparison of Granger Causality and Phase Slope Index

We recently proposed a new measure, termed Phase Slope Index (PSI), It estimates the causal direction of interactions robustly with respect to instantaneous mixtures of independent sources with arbitrary spectral content. We compared this method to Granger Causality for linear systems containing spatially and temporarily mixed noise and found that, in contrast to PSI, the latter was not able to properly distinguish truly interacting systems from mixed noise. Here, we extent this analysis with respect to two aspects: a) we analyze Granger causality and PSI also for non-mixed noise, and b) we analyze PSI for nonlinear interactions. We found a) that Granger causality, in contrast to PSI, fails also for non-mixed noise if the memory-time of the sender of information is long compared to the transmission time of the information, and b) that PSI, being a linear method, eventually misses nonlinear interactions but is unlikely to give false positive results.
Interpreting Change on ImPACT Following Sport Concussion

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric characteristics of Version 2.0 of ImPACT (Immediate Postconcussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing). The focus was on the stability of the test scores and the calculation of reliable change confidence intervals for the test-retest difference scores. A sample of 56 nonconcussed adolescents and young adults completed the test battery on two occasions. Test-retest coefficients, reliable change difference scores, and confidence intervals for measurement error are provided. These reliable change parameters were applied to a second sample of 41 concussed amateur athletes who were tested preseason and within 72 hr of injury. Applying these confidence intervals allows more precise determinations of deterioration, improvement, and recovery in the initial days following concussion.
Spinothalamic and spinohypothalamic tract neurons in the cervical enlargement of rats. II. Responses to innocuous and noxious mechanical and thermal stimuli.

1. The goal of this study was to gather data that would increase our understanding of nociceptive processing by spinothalamic tract (STT) neurons that receive inputs from the hand and arm. Fifty neurons in the cervical enlargement of urethan-anesthetized rats were antidromically activated from the contralateral posterior thalamus. A stimulating electrode was moved systematically within an anterior-posterior plane in the thalamus until a point was located where the smallest amount of current antidromically activated the neuron. The antidromic thresholds at each of these lowest threshold points was < or = 30 microA; the mean antidromic threshold was 15.4 +/- 1.0 (SE) microA. Lowest threshold points were found primarily in the posterior thalamic group (Po), zona incerta, and in or near the supraoptic decussation. 2. The recording sites of 47 neurons were marked and recovered. Recording sites were located in the superficial dorsal horn (SDH, n = 15), deep dorsal horn (DDH, n = 31), and ventral horn (n = 1). Recording sites were located across the mediolateral extent of the SDH. Within the DDH, recording sites were concentrated laterally in nucleus proprius and dorsally in the lateral reticulated area. The locations of the recording points confirm previous anatomic descriptions of STT neurons in the cervical enlargement. 3. Cutaneous excitatory receptive fields were restricted to the ipsilateral forepaw or forelimb in 67% (10/15) of the neurons recorded in the SDH and 42% (13/31) of the neurons recorded in the DDH. Neurons having larger, more complex receptive fields were also commonly encountered. Thirty-three percent (5/15) of the neurons recorded in the SDH and 58% (18/31) recorded in the DDH had receptive fields that were often discontinuous and included areas of the ipsilateral shoulder, thorax, and head, including the face. 4. Innocuous and noxious mechanical stimuli were applied to the receptive field of each neuron. Fifty percent (25/50) responded to innocuous mechanical stimuli but responded at higher frequencies to noxious stimuli (wide dynamic range, WDR). Forty-four percent (22/50) responded only to noxious stimuli (high threshold, HT). Six percent (3/50) responded preferentially to innocuous stimuli (low threshold, LT). WDR and HT neurons were recorded in both the SDH and DDH, including nucleus proprius, an area not typically associated with nociceptive transmission at other levels of the cord. Sixty percent (9/15) of the units recorded in the SDH were classified as WDR neurons; the other 40% (6/15) were classified HT. Forty-eight percent (15/31) of the units recorded in the DDH were classified as WDR neurons and 42% (13/31) as HT. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Diminished Foot and Ankle Muscle Volumes in Young Adults With Chronic Ankle Instability

Background: Patients with chronic ankle instability (CAI) have demonstrated altered neuromuscular function and decreased muscle strength when compared with healthy counterparts without a history of ankle sprain. Up to this point, muscle volumes have not been analyzed in patients with CAI to determine whether deficits in muscle size are present following recurrent sprain. Purpose: To analyze intrinsic and extrinsic foot and ankle muscle volumes and 4-way ankle strength in young adults with and without CAI. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Five patients with CAI (mean age, 23.0 ± 4 years; 1 male, 4 females) and 5 healthy controls (mean age, 23.8 ± 4.5 years; 1 male, 4 females) volunteered for this study. Novel fast-acquisition magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to scan from above the femoral condyles through the foot and ankle. The perimeter of each muscle was outlined on each axial slice and then the 2-dimensional area was multiplied by the slice thickness (5 mm) to calculate the muscle volume. Plantar flexion, dorsiflexion, inversion, and eversion isometric strength were measured using a handheld dynamometer. Patients with CAI were compared with healthy controls on all measures of muscle volume and strength. Extrinsic muscle volumes of patients with CAI were also compared with a normative database of healthy controls (n = 24) by calculating z scores for each muscle individually for each CAI subject. Results: The CAI group had smaller total shank, superficial posterior compartment, soleus, adductor hallucis obliqus, and flexor hallucis brevis muscle volumes compared with healthy controls as indicated by group means and associated 90% CIs that did not overlap. Cohen d effect sizes for the significant group differences were all large and ranged from 1.46 to 3.52, with 90% CIs that did not cross zero. The CAI group had lower eversion, dorsiflexion, and 4-way composite ankle strength, all with group means and associated 90% CIs that did not overlap. No other significant differences were identified. Conclusion: Patients with CAI demonstrate atrophy of intrinsic and extrinsic foot and ankle musculature accompanied by lower ankle strength. Clinical Relevance: Clinicians should be aware of the muscle atrophy and strength deficits when prescribing rehabilitation for patients with lateral ankle sprain or CAI.
Speaking up when feeling job insecure: The moderating role of punishment and reward sensitivity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which felt job insecurity facilitates or hinders employees from raising voice (i.e. speaking up to their authority). The authors introduce punishment and reward sensitivity, two constructs of reinforcement sensitivity theory, as dispositional factors that might lead employees to appraise felt job insecurity as a hindrance vs challenge stressor. The authors propose employees high on punishment sensitivity to feel more constrained in raising voice because felt job insecurity to them is akin to a threat. Employees high on reward sensitivity should see felt job insecurity as a challenge, making it more likely that they will speak up. Design/methodology/approach – Hypotheses were tested using moderated structural equation modeling analysis. The sample consisted of 232 employees confronted with organizational change. Findings – The results are in line with the view of felt job insecurity as a hindrance stressor. Felt job insecurity negatively a.
Cognitive Pathways: Analysis of students' written texts for science understanding

The purpose of this study was to reconstruct writers' reasoning process as reflected in their written texts. The codes resulting from the text analysis were related to cognitive operations, ranging from simple to more sophisticated ones. The sequence of the cognitive operations as the text unfolded represents the writer's cognitive pathway at the time the text was produced. This type of analysis was used to study the impact that three different types of inquiries had on the reasoning process of low‐achieving and high‐achieving students when performing their laboratory activity using the Science Writing Heuristic. The researchers found that the reasoning pathways for both low‐achieving and high‐achieving students were similar for each type of inquiry, characterized as being decision‐making, descriptive/speculative, and application. The reasoning pathways for the decision‐making and application inquiries appear to be more structured than the pathways for the descriptive/speculative activity. The dependence between students' achievement levels and the type of inquiry in relation to specific use of thinking operations was tested using a chi‐square analysis, with the results indicating that the reasoning operations performed by the students are independent of their achievement level and dependent on the inquiry type. Higher‐order operations were extensively used in the decision‐making inquiry and less used in the application activity. Low‐order cognitive operations, such as observations and comparisons, were extensively used in the descriptive/speculative inquiry while being less used in the decision‐making inquiry activity.
Identifying genetic relatives without compromising privacy

The development of high-throughput genomic technologies has impacted many areas of genetic research. While many applications of these technologies focus on the discovery of genes involved in disease from population samples, applications of genomic technologies to an individual’s genome or personal genomics have recently gained much interest. One such application is the identification of relatives from genetic data. In this application, genetic information from a set of individuals is collected in a database, and each pair of individuals is compared in order to identify genetic relatives. An inherent issue that arises in the identification of relatives is privacy. In this article, we propose a method for identifying genetic relatives without compromising privacy by taking advantage of novel cryptographic techniques customized for secure and private comparison of genetic information. We demonstrate the utility of these techniques by allowing a pair of individuals to discover whether or not they are related without compromising their genetic information or revealing it to a third party. The idea is that individuals only share enough special-purpose cryptographically protected information with each other to identify whether or not they are relatives, but not enough to expose any information about their genomes. We show in HapMap and 1000 Genomes data that our method can recover first- and second-order genetic relationships and, through simulations, show that our method can identify relationships as distant as third cousins while preserving privacy.
Authors' reply – Re: Wang et al. Controversial role of the possible oxyntic stem cell marker ASPM in gastric cancer

We thank Wang et al for their interest in our article ‘Genome-wide analysis of the oxyntic proliferative isthmus zone reveals ASPM as a possible gastric stem/progenitor cell marker over-expressed in cancer’ [1]. In their letter to the editor, ‘Controversial role of the possible oxyntic stem cell marker ASPM in gastric cancer’, Wang et al raise questions about the role of ASPM as a possible novel oxyntic stem/progenitor cell marker in gastric carcinogenesis, based on additional dataset analysis. They have re-analysed ASPM in dataset GSE13911 and, similarly to us, found that ASPM is more highly expressed in gastric cancer samples than in normal mucosa. However, in a further subanalysis using the TCGA database [2], they found significantly (p= 0.0204) lower expression of ASPM in poorly than in moderately differentiated tumours. Then, using the Kaplan–Meier Plotter online tool (http://kmplot.com/ analysis/) [3], they showed that patients with gastric
Pressure Measurement Made by the Utilization of Ruby Sharp-Line Luminescence

A rapid, convenient technique for precision pressure measurement in the diamond-anvil high-pressure cell, which makes use of the sharp-line (R-line) luminescence of ruby, has been developed. The observed shift is -0.77 �0.03 reciprocal centimeters per kilobar for R1 and -0.84� 0.03 reciprocal centimeters per kilobar for R2 to lower energy and is approximately linear in the range studied (to 22 kilobars). Line-broadening has been observed in some instances and has been tentatively identified with nonhydrostatic conditions surrounding the ruby sample.