Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Rac activator Tiam1 is required for α3β1-mediated laminin-5 deposition, cell spreading, and cell migration

The Rho-like guanosine triphosphatase Rac1 regulates various signaling pathways, including integrin-mediated adhesion and migration of cells. However, the mechanisms by which integrins signal toward Rac are poorly understood. We show that the Rac-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor Tiam1 (T-lymphoma invasion and metastasis 1) is required for the integrin-mediated laminin (LN)-5 deposition, spreading, and migration of keratinocytes. In contrast to wild-type keratinocytes, Tiam1-deficient (Tiam1−/−) keratinocytes are unable to adhere to and spread on a glass substrate because they are unable to deposit their own LN5 substrate. Both Tiam1 and V12Rac1 can rescue the defects of Tiam1−/− keratinocytes, indicating that these deficiencies are caused by impaired Tiam1-mediated Rac activation. Tiam1−/− cells are unable to activate Rac upon α3β1-mediated adhesion to an exogenous LN5 substrate. Moreover, Tiam1 deficiency impairs keratinocyte migration in vitro and reepithelialization of excision wounds in mouse skin. Our studies indicate that Tiam1 is a key molecule in α3β1-mediated activation of Rac, which is essential for proper production and secretion of LN5, a requirement for the spreading and migration of keratinocytes.
Are offshore financial centres the product of global markets? A sociological response

Clearly the globalization of finance has provided opportunities for OFCs to emerge. From a sociological perspective it is argued, however, that closer analysis demands respect for their diversity and even idiosyncrasy. Analytical concepts are offered to situate this diversity and to develop a more reflexive understanding of the processes through which the system of OFCs continues to develop. We arrive at a distinctive approach for theorizing OFCs under conditions of globalization.
Short‐chain fatty acids reduce expression of specific protein kinase C isoforms in human colonic epithelial cells

LIM1215 colon cancer cells were used as a model of human colonic epithelium to examine the effects of butyrate on protein kinase C (PKC) activity and isoform expression. On Western blot analysis, LIM1215 cells express the PKC isoforms α, β, ε, ζ, and λ, but not γ, θ, or μ. Treatment with 2 mM butyrate for 48 h reduced cellular PKC activity up to 50% and specifically reduced the expression of PKCα and PKCε. Similar results were obtained using Caco‐2 colon cancer cells. These effects were neither a consequence of the induction of differentiation itself nor the result of direct or indirect activation of PKC. Although dependent on gene transcription and protein synthesis, the effect was not due to a reduction in the synthesis of PKC protein. Butyrate's effect was independent of its β‐oxidation but was mimicked, at least in part, by trichostatin A, an inhibitor of histone deacetylase. J. Cell. Physiol. 182:222–231, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Every Picture Tells A Story—Or Does It?

In a previous study by the author, it was reported that South African children in Grades 2 and 3 used very different picture interpretation skills than did a group of British children and showed different patterns of change as they progressed through school. The present study replicates the South African results but uses a larger sample and investigates the picture interpretation skills of South African children more fully in their own right. Results replicated those of the previous study in every detail. In addition, the effects of schooling were more notable than were those of age, and achievement in home language held significant predictive power with regard to all of the categories examined. However, these effects were generally in the opposite direction from those reported for children in the developed world, consolidating and extending the view that children from different cultures may use pictures in rather different ways.
Feasibility of a Customized, In-Home, Game-Based Stroke Exercise Program Using the Microsoft Kinect® Sensor

The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of a 6-week, game-based, in-home telerehabilitation exercise program using the Microsoft Kinect® for individuals with chronic stroke. Four participants with chronic stroke completed the intervention based on games designed with the customized Mystic Isle software. The games were tailored to each participant’s specific rehabilitation needs to facilitate the attainment of individualized goals determined through the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure. Likert scale questionnaires assessed the feasibility and utility of the game-based intervention. Supplementary clinical outcome data were collected. All participants played the games with moderately high enjoyment. Participant feedback helped identify barriers to use (especially, limited free time) and possible improvements. An in-home, customized, virtual reality game intervention to provide rehabilitative exercises for persons with chronic stroke is practicable. However, future studies are necessary to determine the intervention’s impact on participant function, activity, and involvement.
Multimodal map making with young children: exploring ethnographic and participatory methods

Researching the ‘insider’ perspectives of young children requires a readiness to not only tune into different modes of communication but also to create opportunities for this knowledge to be communicated to others. This research is based on a longitudinal study involving young children and adults in the design and review of learning environments. This article first explores mapmaking, one of the methods used in the Mosaic approach as a site of multi-modal communication. Second, it investigates how the maps, as informant-led representations can promote ‘cultural brokerage’ (Chalfen and Rich, 2007) by facilitating the exchange of meanings within learning communities and beyond. This applied ethnographic and participatory research raises questions about the importance of making visible these opportunities for meaning-making across generational and professional boundaries.
Evolution of contrast agents for ultrasound imaging and ultrasound-mediated drug delivery

Ultrasound (US) is one of the most frequently used diagnostic methods. It is a non-invasive, comparably inexpensive imaging method with a broad spectrum of applications, which can be increased even more by using bubbles as contrast agents (CAs). There are various different types of bubbles: filled with different gases, composed of soft- or hard-shell materials, and ranging in size from nano- to micrometers. These intravascular CAs enable functional analyses, e.g., to acquire organ perfusion in real-time. Molecular analyses are achieved by coupling specific ligands to the bubbles’ shell, which bind to marker molecules in the area of interest. Bubbles can also be loaded with or attached to drugs, peptides or genes and can be destroyed by US pulses to locally release the entrapped agent. Recent studies show that US CAs are also valuable tools in hyperthermia-induced ablation therapy of tumors, or can increase cellular uptake of locally released drugs by enhancing membrane permeability. This review summarizes important steps in the development of US CAs and introduces the current clinical applications of contrast-enhanced US. Additionally, an overview of the recent developments in US probe design for functional and molecular diagnosis as well as for drug delivery is given.
Comparison of In Vitro Susceptibility Characteristics of Candida Species from Cases of Invasive Candidiasis in Solid Organ and Stem Cell Transplant Recipients: Transplant-Associated Infections Surveillance Network (TRANSNET), 2001 to 2006

ABSTRACT Invasive fungal infections (IFI) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality among both solid organ transplant (SOT) and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients. Candida is the most common cause of IFI in SOT recipients and the second most common cause of IFI in HSCT recipients. We determined susceptibilities to fluconazole, voriconazole, itraconazole, posaconazole, amphotericin B, and caspofungin for 383 invasive Candida sp. isolates from SOT and HSCT recipients enrolled in the Transplant-Associated Infection Surveillance Network and correlated these results to clinical data. Fluconazole resistance in C. albicans, C. tropicalis, and C. parapsilosis isolates was low (1%), but the high percentage of C. glabrata and C. krusei isolates within this group of patients increased the overall percentage of fluconazole resistance to 16%. Voriconazole resistance was 3% overall but was 8% among C. glabrata isolates. On multivariable analysis, among HSCT recipients fluconazole nonsusceptibility was independently associated with C. glabrata, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigenemia, diabetes active at the time of the IFI, and any prior amphotericin B use; among SOT recipients, fluconazole nonsusceptibility was independently associated with any fluconazole use in the 3 months prior to the IFI, C. glabrata, ganciclovir use in the 3 months prior to the IFI, diabetes acquired since the transplant, and gender.
Digital curation and costs: approaches and perceptions

The production of large volumes of scientific information, considering its cost, requires approaches that ensure its maintenance, reuse and recovery. These concerns prompted the emergence of digital curation. We intend to discuss the relevant thinking concerning the costs of digital curation. This means addressing the definition of the concept and the issue of costs, based on the studies related to cost models. A literature review was conducted using B-On and RCAAP as research sources, exploring the perceptions of the authors regarding the digital curation and its costs. The views expressed were organized around a scheme based on the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) lifecycle and the reference model Open Archival Information System (OAIS). It is proposed a systematization of digital curation issues bridging the DCC life cycle view of the digital object curation to the OAIS reference model approach, using a cross view seized by cost models and plan/data management policies.
The need for assessing the outcome of common medical practices.

Medical innovations have not generally been subjected to rigorous evalu­ ation prior to their widespread use by the medical community (I, 2). As a result, a good deal of uncertainty and disagreement exists among physicians concerning the value of many common practices in all fields of medicine­ uncertainty and disagreement which is in tum reflected in the large varia­ tions in therapeutic practices among physicians and among groups of physi­ cians and in the large variations in the frequency with which therapeutic procedures are prescribed for one population or another. In this chapter we summarize the controversies concerning surgery for the treatment of common, noncancerous conditions. Based on epidemi­ ologic data, we estimate the costs associated with different frequencies of prescribing surgery. The varying probabilities that patients will undergo specific procedures, when summed across the populations living in geo­ graphically defined medical market areas (3, 4) [or counties (5), states (6),
Multiplexed Quantitation of Endogenous Proteins in Dried Blood Spots by Multiple Reaction Monitoring - Mass Spectrometry

Dried blood spot (DBS) sampling, coupled with multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (MRM-MS), is a well-established approach for quantifying a wide range of small molecule biomarkers and drugs. This sampling procedure is simpler and less-invasive than those required for traditional plasma or serum samples enabling collection by minimally trained personnel. Many analytes are stable in the DBS format without refrigeration, which reduces the cost and logistical challenges of sample collection in remote locations. These advantages make DBS sample collection desirable for advancing personalized medicine through population-wide biomarker screening. Here we expand this technology by demonstrating the first multiplexed method for the quantitation of endogenous proteins in DBS samples. A panel of 60 abundant proteins in human blood was targeted by monitoring proteotypic tryptic peptides and their stable isotope-labeled analogs by MRM. Linear calibration curves were obtained for 40 of the 65 peptide targets demonstrating multiple proteins can be quantitatively extracted from DBS collection cards. The method was also highly reproducible with a coefficient of variation of <15% for all 40 peptides. Overall, this assay quantified 37 proteins spanning a range of more than four orders of magnitude in concentration within a single 25 min LC/MRM-MS analysis. The protein abundances of the 33 proteins quantified in matching DBS and whole blood samples showed an excellent correlation, with a slope of 0.96 and an R2 value of 0.97. Furthermore, the measured concentrations for 80% of the proteins were stable for at least 10 days when stored at −20 °C, 4 °C and 37 °C. This work represents an important first step in evaluating the integration of DBS sampling with highly-multiplexed MRM for quantitation of endogenous proteins.
An update to the supercell composite and significant tornado parameters

The original formulations of the supercell composite parameter (SCP) and significant tornado parameter (STP), as documented in Thompson et al. 2003 (hereafter T03), have been modified to include the effective bulk shear and effective storm-relative helicity (SRH) developed by Thompson et al. 2004a and Thompson et al. 2004b, respectively. Other changes include the addition of a convective inhibition (CIN) term to the STP to provide a version that limits areal false alarms when viewed as a contoured planar field. The RUC model close proximity sounding sample described in T03 has been expanded to include cases from 2003 and 2004, increasing the sample size to 916 soundings.
Prisoners' Coping and Use of Family Support, and Impact of the Visiting Experience for Families

This review was focussed on three areas ( 1) theoretical concepts of stress, coping and social support; (2) explanations for the patterns of prisoners' perceptions of their support-seeking behavior; and (3) the impact on families providing support. Prisoners' patterns of support seeking in the prison environment appear more consistent with hierarchical organisations than the domestication model of unit management. For stressful, uncontrollable situations, emotional support is sought from families, who are difficult to access. The family obligation to provide the fiee service of support to prisoners has implications for prison management and policy. Priorities for future research are ( 1) the impact of incarceration and supportive interactions on families, both materially and psychologically, that currently serves to frustrate the supportive process, and (2) a comparison study of female prisoners and male family visitors. Prisoners Use of Family Support 3 Male prisoners' coping, social support and family The transition to prison and prison life can be stressful for prisoners, and for their families. How a prisoner copes with the stresses of imprisonment and adapts to prison life depends on a number of variables. Recent research conducted at Edith Cowan Ur.ivcrsity (ECU) has focussed on officers' perceptions of prisoners' help-seeking behaviour (Dear, Beers, Dastyar, Hall, Kordanovski, & Pritchard, 2002), prisoners' willingness to seek fonnal sources ofsupport(e.g., prison otlicers) (Hobbs & Dear, 2000), and prisoners' evaluations of available sources of support (fonnal and informal) (Hobbs, 2000; Hobbs & Dear, 2000). How prisoners' families cope with the stresses of having a family member imprisoned however, has been largely ignored within prison discourses. This is surprising, as the literature indicates that tamilies are an important source of support for prisoners (Brodsky, 1975: Hobbs, 2000; Homer,
Bridging theory and practice: How creative ideas flourish through personal and academic literacy practices

One of the key life skills advocated by the World Health Organization (1999) to be incorporated into any curriculum is ‘creativity’. With the advent of the notion of Applied ELT (Pishghadam, 2011), which considers ELT as an independent discipline now able to contribute to and enrich other domains of knowledge, the idea of life skills education was soon imported into the field of English language teaching. In this connection, it seems that figuring out ways to improve life skills, say, creativity in language learners should be given well-deserved attention. Be that as it may, this paper explores whether and to what extent reading and writing activities can provide abundant opportunities for creative ideas to flourish. Specifically, this study explored the extent to which extensive practice in academic and personal reading and/or writing would be related to high creative thinking. For this purpose, a sample of 300 intermediate EFL learners in Iran participated in this study by filling out a self-report questionnaire and completing the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA). The questionnaire inquires about the total courses taken in reading and writing as well as the total hours spent on reading and writing in both L1 and L2. The results revealed that learners who spent more time on reading and writing had a significantly better performance on the creativity test. That is, creative thinking scores (fluency, originality, elaboration, flexibility, and the Creativity Index) showed significant correlations with the amount of time spent on reading and writing.
Examining possible Relationships between mindfulness, stress, schooland sport performances and athlete burnout

This article investigates the impact of mindfulness on stress, perceived performance in school and sports, and on athlete burnout. In the present investigation 483 Norwegian junior athletes from seven different schools for elite sports were invited to partake in an online survey of which 382 athletes responded (79%). The athletes were from different sports such as cross country skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping, volleyball, handball, track and field, ice hockey, biathlon, cycling and orienteering. We tested whether mindfulness affected stress, perceived performance in school and sports, and athlete burnout utilizing structural equation modeling. As hypothesized, mindfulness was negatively related with stress and burnout, whereas stress was positively related with burnout and negatively related with perceived performances in school and sports. Mindfulness was positive related with perceived performances in sports and in school, whereas perceived performances in sports where negatively related with burnout. Hence, for this investigation it seemed that mindfulness was an important stress buffer and may help elite youth athletes to avoid burnout and perform better. The results are discussed in regard of applied implications and possible future research.
A morphological analysis of the transition between the embryonic primitive intestine and yolk sac in bovine embryos and fetuses

The yolk sac (YS) is the main source of embryonic nutrition during the period when the placenta has not yet formed. It is also responsible for hematopoiesis because the blood cells develop from it as part of the primitive embryonic circulation. The objective of this study was to characterize the transitional area between the YS and primitive gut using the techniques of light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and immunohistochemistry to detect populations of pluripotent cells by labeling with Oct4 antibody. In all investigated embryos, serial sections were made to permit the identification of this small, restricted area. We identified the YS connection with the primitive intestine and found that it is composed of many blood islands, which correspond to the vessels covered by vitelline and mesenchymal cells. We identified large numbers of hemangioblasts inside the vessels. The mesenchymal layer was thin and composed of elongated cells, and the vitelline endodermal membrane was composed of large, mono‐ or binucleated cells. The epithelium of the primitive intestine comprised stratified columnar cells and undifferentiated mesenchymal cells. The transitional area between the YS and the primitive intestine was very thin and composed of cells with irregular shapes, which formed a delicate lumen containing hemangioblasts. In the mesenchyme of the transitional area, there were a considerable number of small vessels containing hemangioblasts. Using Oct4 as a primary antibody, we identified positive cells in the metanephros, primordial gonad, and hepatic parenchyma as well as in YS cells, suggesting that these regions contain populations of pluripotent cells. Microsc. Res. Tech. 76:756–766, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Unemployment

1. Involuntarily imposed work cessation is a very stressful event and represents the loss of one of the central roles and functions of life. 2. Involuntary unemployment, or its anticipation, can lead directly or synergistically to psychological and physical health consequences and behavioral maladaptations, which may be manifest overtly or appear insidiously over time. 3. Occupational health services, in collaboration with community resources and social services, can help prevent negative effects on family and community wellness from the stress of an unemployed family member or the collective stress experienced by aggregates of terminated workers in the community.
Markov-Nash equilibria in mean-field games with discounted cost

In this paper, we consider discrete-time dynamic games of the mean-field type with a finite number, N, of agents subject to an infinite-horizon discounted-cost optimality criterion. The state space of each agent is a locally compact Polish space. At each time, the agents are coupled through the empirical distribution of their states, which affects both the agents' individual costs and their state transition probabilities. We introduce the solution concept of Markov-Nash equilibrium, under which a policy is player-by-player optimal in the class of all Markov policies. Under mild assumptions, we demonstrate the existence of a mean-field equilibrium in the infinite-population limit, N → 1, and then show that the policy obtained from the mean-field equilibrium is approximately Markov-Nash when the number of agents N is sufficiently large.
Silymarin Improves Vascular Function of Aged Ovariectomized Rats

Both aging and estrogen depletion lead to endothelial dysfunction, which is the main reason of many cardiovascular diseases. Previous reports have shown that cell protective effect of silymarin (SM) depends on its antioxidant and phytoestrogenic properties. We investigated the effect of SM on vascular stiffness of aged menopausal rats and the involvement of estrogenic activity in this effect. Isolated rat aortas were obtained from 22‐month‐old rats, after 18 months of ovariectomy (OVX) follow‐up. Each ring was incubated in tissue bath either with SM (50 mg/L) and 17β‐estradiol (10 μM, E2) or in the presence of SM/fulvestrant (50 mg/L, 10 μM). Endothelium‐intact rings were precontracted with phenylephrine (0.001–30 μM) or high potassium (40 mM); endothelium‐dependent/independent relaxant responses were obtained using acetylcholine (0.001–30 μM) and sodium nitroprusside (0.0001–3 μM), respectively. While phenylephrine sensitivity was significantly increased in OVX rats, relaxations were significantly less in aged OVX rats compared with young rats. In spite of the presence of estrogen antagonist, immediate SM treatment restored the endothelial function and vascular tone better than estrogen replacement. Additionally, as a complementary and alternative medicine, it does not cause estrogenic side effects when taken acutely. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.