Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of Experimental Myopia in Chicks in a Natural Environment

Purpose The hypothesis that outdoor exposure might protect against myopia has generated much interest, although available data find only modest clinical efficacy. We tested the effect of outdoor rearing on form-deprivation myopia in chicks, a myopia model markedly inhibited by high-intensity indoor laboratory lighting. Methods Unilaterally goggled cohorts of White Leghorn chicks were maintained in a species-appropriate, outdoor rural setting during daylight hours to the extent permitted by weather. Control chicks were reared indoors with incandescent lighting. Besides ocular refraction and ultrasound, we determined dopamine and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) content in retina and vitreous and measured mRNA expression levels of selected clock and circadian rhythm-related genes in the retina/RPE. Results Myopia developed in the goggled eyes of all cohorts. Whereas outdoor rearing lessened myopia by 44% at 4 days, a protective effect was no longer evident at 11 days. Outdoor rearing had no consistent effect on retinal or vitreous content of dopamine or DOPAC. Conforming to prior data on form-deprivation myopia, retina and vitreous levels of DOPAC were reduced in goggled eyes. Compared with contralateral eyes, the retinal expression of clock and circadian rhythm-related genes was modestly altered in myopic eyes of chicks reared indoors or outdoors. Conclusions Outdoor rearing of chicks induces only a partial decrease of goggle-induced myopia that is not maintained, without evidence that retinal dopamine metabolism accounts for the partial myopia inhibition under these outdoor conditions. Although modest, alterations in retinal gene expression suggest that studying circadian signals might be informative for understanding refractive mechanisms.
Mimicry : a social perspective

This dissertation examines the 'when' and 'why' of mimicry. In the first chapter, after presenting evidence for the automaticity of mimicry, a social function of mimicry will be proposed. Then, an overview of the empirical chapters will be given and their role in supporting a social perspective on mimicry will be discussed. In the first part, evidence will be presented that people indeed have a tendency to do what others do, and it will be shown that this is a general and unintentional tendency, not directed at a specific goal. Specifically, in Chapters 2 and 3, studies which examine several moderators of our automatic tendency to mimic are described. In the second part of this dissertation, the adaptive value of mimicry is investigated. Specifically, studies in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 illustrate the beneficial role mimicry plays in human interactions
Calling Party Pays or Receiving Party Pays? The Diffusion of Mobile Telephony with Endogenous Regulation

This paper analyzes the impact on mobile telephony diffusion patterns of the two predominant payment regimes, calling party pays (CPP) and receiving party pays (RPP), for mobile termination services. By applying instrumental variable techniques to panel data we account for a possible interdependency of penetration rates and regulatory interventions. For this purpose we use data on political and institutional factors to instrument endogenous regulatory decisions. We conclude from our empirical analysis that there is no significant impact of either RPP or CPP on penetration rates. Therefore an application of RPP in order to obviate regulation of termination fees would be feasible.
Transition to Skilled Birth Attendance: Is There a Future Role for Trained Traditional Birth Attendants?

A brief history of training of traditional birth attendants (TBAs), summary of evidence for effectiveness of TBA training, and consideration of the future role of trained TBAs in an environment that emphasizes transition to skilled birth attendance are provided. Evidence of the effectiveness of TBA training, based on 60 studies and standard meta-analytic procedures, includes moderate-to-large improvements in behaviours of TBAs relating to selected intrapartum and postnatal care practices, small significant increases in women's use of antenatal care and emergency obstetric care, and small significant decreases in perinatal mortality and neonatal mortality due to birth asphyxia and pneumonia. Such findings are consistent with the historical focus of TBA training on extending the reach of primary healthcare and a few programmes that have included home-based management of complications of births and the newborns, such as birth asphyxia and pneumonia. Evidence suggests that, in settings characterized by high mortality and weak health systems, trained TBAs can contribute to the Millennium Development Goal 4—a two-thirds reduction in the rate of mortality of children aged less than 14 years by 2015—through participation in key evidence-based interventions.
Genetic contributions to circadian activity rhythm and sleep pattern phenotypes in pedigrees segregating for severe bipolar disorder

Significance Characterizing the abnormalities in sleep and activity that are associated with bipolar disorder (BP) and identifying their causation are key milestones in unraveling the biological underpinnings of this severe and highly prevalent disorder. We have conducted the first systematic evaluation of sleep and activity phenotypes in pedigrees that include multiple BP-affected members. By delineating specific sleep and activity measures that are significantly heritable in these families, and those whose variation correlated with the BP status of their members, and by determining the chromosomal position of loci contributing to many of these traits, we have taken the first step toward discovery of causative genetic variants. These variants, in turn, could provide clues to new approaches for both preventing and treating BP. Abnormalities in sleep and circadian rhythms are central features of bipolar disorder (BP), often persisting between episodes. We report here, to our knowledge, the first systematic analysis of circadian rhythm activity in pedigrees segregating severe BP (BP-I). By analyzing actigraphy data obtained from members of 26 Costa Rican and Colombian pedigrees [136 euthymic (i.e., interepisode) BP-I individuals and 422 non–BP-I relatives], we delineated 73 phenotypes, of which 49 demonstrated significant heritability and 13 showed significant trait-like association with BP-I. All BP-I–associated traits related to activity level, with BP-I individuals consistently demonstrating lower activity levels than their non–BP-I relatives. We analyzed all 49 heritable phenotypes using genetic linkage analysis, with special emphasis on phenotypes judged to have the strongest impact on the biology underlying BP. We identified a locus for interdaily stability of activity, at a threshold exceeding genome-wide significance, on chromosome 12pter, a region that also showed pleiotropic linkage to two additional activity phenotypes.
Ternary SNARE Complexes Are Enriched in Lipid Rafts during Mast Cell Exocytosis

Lipid rafts are membrane microdomains rich in cholesterol and glycosphingolipids that have been implicated in the regulation of intracellular protein trafficking. During exocytosis, a class of proteins termed SNAREs mediate secretory granule–plasma membrane fusion. To investigate the role of lipid rafts in secretory granule exocytosis, we examined the raft association of SNARE proteins and SNARE complexes in rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) mast cells. The SNARE protein SNAP‐23 co‐localized with a lipid raft marker and was present in detergent‐insoluble lipid raft microdomains in RBL cells. By contrast, only small amounts (<20%) of the plasma membrane SNARE syntaxin 4 or the granule‐associated SNARE vesicle‐associated membrane protein (VAMP)‐2 were present in these microdomains. Despite this, essentially all syntaxin 4 and most of VAMP‐2 in these rafts were present in SNARE complexes containing SNAP‐23, while essentially none of these complexes were present in nonraft membranes. Whereas SNAP‐23 is membrane anchored by palmitoylation, the association of the transmembrane protein syntaxin 4 with lipid rafts was because of its binding to SNAP‐23. After stimulating mast cells exocytosis, the amount of syntaxin 4 and VAMP‐2 present in rafts increased twofold, and these proteins were now present in raft‐associated phospho‐SNAP‐23/syntaxin 4/VAMP‐2 complexes, revealing differential association of SNARE fusion complexes during the process of regulated exocytosis.
Community College Programs for the Human Services: A Continuing Challenge for Social Work Education and Practice.

A national survey of 2-year human services programs in community colleges revealed the current status of these programs and identified significant trends in areas such as program number, curriculum design, standard-setting mechanisms, student composition and career paths, and faculty affiliation. Of particular interest was the relationship of these programs and their graduates to social work education and the social services job market. Among the principal findings were (a) these programs are in a period of renewed growth and (b) a need and an opportunity exist for the social work profession, particularly social work education, to be constructively involved in this level of education.
Double Trouble? Potential for Hyperexcitability Following Both Channelopathic up- and Downregulation of Ih in Epilepsy

Studies of pathological ion channel regulation as an underlying mechanism of epilepsy have revealed alterations in the h-current in several animal models. While earlier reports indicate that downregulation of the h-current is pro-excitatory on the single neuron level, we found an upregulation of Ih in hyperexcitable CA1 pyramidal neuron dendrites following experimental febrile seizures. In addition, in several CA1 pyramidal neuron computational models of different complexity, h-current upregulation has been shown to lead to pro-excitable effects. This focused review examines the complex impact of altered h-current on neuronal resting membrane potential (RMP) and input resistance (Rin), as well as reported interactions with other ionic conductances.
Synthesis of human rotavirus polypeptides in cell culture

The replication strategy of a human serotype 1 rotavirus, adapted to rapid growth in CV‐1 cells, was investigated. A single cycle growth curve revealed eclipse and latent periods of 3 and 4 hours, respectively. Although the extent of reduction of host cell protein synthesis was directly related to the multiplicity of infection of the virus, incorporation of actinomycin D and excess NaCl into the medium resulted in significant reduction in host cell background and enabled observation of viral polypeptides as early as 2 hours post infection. Five polypeptides were found to be structural components of the virion, and a further eight appeared to be nonstructural proteins or intermediates. Five polypeptides were glycosylated during virus replication, but only one of these, VP7, was a definite structural glycoprotein. Pulse‐chase experiments revealed that four low molecular weight polypeptides underwent posttranslational modifications.
The X-ray view of giga-hertz peaked spectrum radio galaxies

Context. This paper presents the X-ray properties of a flux- and volume-limited complete sample of 16 giga-hertz peaked spectrum (GPS) galaxies. Aims. This study addresses three basic questions in our understanding of the nature and evolution of GPS sources: a) What is the physical origin of the X-ray emission in GPS galaxies? b) Which physical system is associated with the X-ray obscuration? c) What is the "endpoint" of the evolution of compact radio sources? Methods. We discuss in this paper the results of the X-ray spectral analysis, and compare the X-ray properties of the sample sources with radio observables. Results. We obtain a 100% (94%) detection fraction in the 0.5-2 keV (0.5-10 keV) energy band. GPS galaxy X-ray spectra are typically highly obscured (less than N-H(GPS)greater than = 3 x 10(22) cm(-2); sigma(NH) similar or equal to 0.5 dex). The X-ray column density is larger than the HI column density measured in the radio by a factor 10 to 100. GPS galaxies lie well on the extrapolation to high radio powers of the correlation between radio and X-ray luminosity known in low-luminosity FR I radio galaxies. On the other hand, GPS galaxies exhibit a comparable X-ray luminosity to FR II radio galaxies, notwithstanding their much larger radio luminosity. Conclusions. The X-ray to radio luminosity ratio distribution in our sample is consistent with the bulk of the high-energy emission being produced by the accretion disk, as well as with dynamical models of GPS evolution where X-rays are produced by Compton upscattering of ambient photons. Further support to the former scenario comes from the location of GPS galaxies in the X-ray to O[III] luminosity ratio versus N-H plane. We propose that GPS galaxies are young radio sources, which would reach their full maturity as classical FR II radio galaxies. However, column densities greater than or similar to 10(22) cm(-2) could lead to a significant underestimate of dynamical age determinations based on the hotspot recession velocity measurements.
Attitude and behavior change of correctional clientele: A three year follow-up.

Fifty offenders incarcerated in a minimum security provincial institution participated in a variety of group programs with community volunteers. Inmates were randomly assigned to one of four treatment regimes or to a control group condition. The experiment subjects participated in community group discussions with either trained or untrained volunteers, and a concurrent activity, either a self-control program or a recreational group. A test battery was administered in a pre/post fashion and follow-up recidivism was monitored. Two-by-two factorial analyses of the treatment programs revealed a significant interaction between activities. Inmates who had participated in discussion groups with trained volunteers and in a self-control program showed the most improvement on the test battery variables. This treatment effect generalized to inmates’institutional behavior, as measured by staff ratings and disciplinary offences. However, program participation was not related to postrelease success. Nonetheless, correlations between attitude change during the period of incarceration and recidivism were found. Among offenders who increased in their identification with the delinquent subculture, those who also increased in self-esteem experienced less follow-up success than those who decreased in self-esteem. These results are discussed in terms of the complex relation between client characteristics, treatment, and other program services that must be considered in evaluating correctional programs.
Feeling Included and Valued: How Perceived Respect Affects Positive Team Identity and Willingness to Invest in the Team

Previous research has documented that intra‐group respect fosters individual engagement with work teams or organizations. The authors extend this work by empirically distinguishing between perceived inclusion of the self in the team and perceived value of the self for the team as separate psychological consequences of respect. Based on a social identity analysis, it is predicted that perceived inclusion facilitates the development of a positive team identity (how the individual feels about the team), while perceived value elicits the willingness to invest in the team (what the individual is willing to do for the team). Support for these predictions is obtained with structural equation modelling among two independent samples of professional soldiers working in military teams (n = 495). Reports of individual team members about positive team identity and willingness to invest in the team correlated with supervisor ratings of the team's action readiness.
(CAD)$^2$RL: Real Single-Image Flight without a Single Real Image

Deep reinforcement learning has emerged as a promising and powerful technique for automatically acquiring control policies that can process raw sensory inputs, such as images, and perform complex behaviors. However, extending deep RL to real-world robotic tasks has proven challenging, particularly in safety-critical domains such as autonomous flight, where a trial-and-error learning process is often impractical. In this paper, we explore the following question: can we train vision-based navigation policies entirely in simulation, and then transfer them into the real world to achieve real-world flight without a single real training image? We propose a learning method that we call CAD$^2$RL, which can be used to perform collision-free indoor flight in the real world while being trained entirely on 3D CAD models. Our method uses single RGB images from a monocular camera, without needing to explicitly reconstruct the 3D geometry of the environment or perform explicit motion planning. Our learned collision avoidance policy is represented by a deep convolutional neural network that directly processes raw monocular images and outputs velocity commands. This policy is trained entirely on simulated images, with a Monte Carlo policy evaluation algorithm that directly optimizes the network's ability to produce collision-free flight. By highly randomizing the rendering settings for our simulated training set, we show that we can train a policy that generalizes to the real world, without requiring the simulator to be particularly realistic or high-fidelity. We evaluate our method by flying a real quadrotor through indoor environments, and further evaluate the design choices in our simulator through a series of ablation studies on depth prediction. For supplementary video see: this https URL
Intergenerational relations: Theory, research, and policy

The dramatic increase in life expectancy and lowered fertility, especially in more advantaged countries, has resulted in people living longer and in more complex family structures. Other important changes affecting the family include greater geographical mobility, increased racial and ethnic diversity, new patterns of immigration and identity reformulation, as well as changing work and family roles. With reduced governmental resources available, it is especially important to understand the changing nature of multigenerational family structures, functioning, and roles in individual well-being in order to maximize the effectiveness of informal and formal supports available to those in need. This special issue addresses basic factors related to multigeneration support systems that will be needed to anticipate, understand, and design support programs to cope with the challenges facing individuals in all generation positions, families, and communities in the United States and around the world.
A Method for Chorioretinal Oxygen Tension Measurement

Purpose: To report an optical imaging system that was developed to measure oxygen tension (pO2) in the chorioretinal vasculatures. The feasibility of the system for the measurement of changes in pO2 separately in the retinal and choroidal vasculatures was established in rat eyes by varying the fraction of inspired oxygen and inhibiting nitric oxide activity. Methods: Our optical section phosphorescence imaging system was modified to provide quantitative measurements of pO2 separately in the retinal and choroidal vasculatures. A narrow laser line was projected at an angle on the retina after intravenous injection of an oxygen-sensitive probe (Pd-porphyrin), and phosphorescence emission was imaged. A frequency-domain approach allowed measurements of the phosphorescence lifetime by varying the phase relationship between the modulated excitation laser light and sensitivity of the imaging camera. Chorioretinal pO2 was measured while varying the fraction of inspired oxygen and during intravenous infusion of Nω-nitro-L-arginine (Nω-NLA), a nonselective nitric oxide synthase inhibitor. Results: The systemic arterial pO2 varied according to the fraction of inspired oxygen. The pO2 in the retinal and choroidal vasculatures increased as the fraction of inspired oxygen was increased. Compared with baseline, choroidal pO2 decreased during infusion of Nω-NLA, whereas the pO2 in the retinal vasculatures remained relatively unchanged. The choroidal pO2 decreased markedly with each incremental increase in Nω-NLA infusion rate, in the range 1–6 mg/min, and there was no additional change in the choroidal pO2 at Nω-NLA infusion rates above 6 mg/min. Conclusions: An optical method combining pO2 phosphorescence imaging with chorioretinal optical sectioning was established that can potentially be applied for better understanding of retinal and choroidal oxygen dynamics in physiologic and pathologic states.
Developing Seeds of Arabidopsis Store Different Minerals in Two Types of Vacuoles and in the Endoplasmic Reticulum Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.010486.

Mineral-accumulating compartments in developing seeds of Arabidopsis were studied using high-pressure-frozen/freeze-substituted samples. Developing seeds store minerals in three locations: in the protein storage vacuoles of the embryo, and transiently in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and vacuolar compartments of the chalazal endosperm. Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and enzyme treatments suggest that the minerals are stored as phytic acid (myo-inositol-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexakisphosphate) salts in all three compartments, although they differ in cation composition. Whereas embryo globoids contain Mg, K, and Ca as cations, the chalazal ER deposits show high levels of Mn, and the chalazal vacuolar deposits show high levels of Zn. The appearance of the first Zn-phytate crystals coincides with the formation of network-like extensions of the chalazal vacuoles. The core of these networks consists of a branched network of tubular ER membranes, which are separated from the delineating tonoplast membranes by a layer of cytosolic material. Degradation of the networks starts with the loss of the cytosol and is followed by the retraction of the ER, generating a network of collapsed tonoplast membranes that are resorbed. Studies of fertilized fis2 seeds, which hyperaccumulate Zn-phytate crystals in the chalazal vacuolar compartments, suggest that only the intact network is active in mineral sequestration. Mineral determination analysis and structural observations showed that Zn and Mn are mobilized from the endosperm to the embryo at different developmental stages. Thus, Zn appears to be removed from the endosperm at the late globular stage, and Mn stores appear to be removed at the late bent-cotyledon stage of embryo development. The disappearance of the Mn-phytate from the endosperm coincides with the accumulation of two major Mn binding proteins in the embryo, the 33-kD protein from the oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II and the Mn superoxide dismutase. The possible functions of transient heavy metal storage in the chalazal endosperm are discussed. A model showing how phytic acid, a potentially cytotoxic molecule, is transported from its site of synthesis, the ER, to the different mineral storage sites is presented.