Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antidepressant-Like Effect of Lipid Extract of Channa striatus in Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress Model of Depression in Rats

This study evaluated the antidepressant-like effect of lipid extract of C. striatus in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model of depression in male rats and its mechanism of action. The animals were subjected to CUMS for six weeks by using variety of stressors. At the end of CUMS protocol, animals were subjected to forced swimming test (FST) and open field test followed by biochemical assay. The CUMS protocol produced depressive-like behavior in rats by decreasing the body weight, decreasing the sucrose preference, and increasing the duration of immobility in FST. The CUMS protocol increased plasma corticosterone and decreased hippocampal and prefrontal cortex levels of monoamines (serotonin, noradrenaline, and dopamine) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Further, the CUMS protocol increased interleukin-6 (in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex) and nuclear factor-kappa B (in prefrontal cortex but not in hippocampus). The lipid extract of C. striatus (125, 250, and 500 mg/kg) significantly (p < 0.05) reversed all the above parameters in rats subjected to CUMS, thus exhibiting antidepressant-like effect. The mechanism was found to be mediated through decrease in plasma corticosterone, increase in serotonin levels in prefrontal cortex, increase in dopamine and noradrenaline levels in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, increase in BDNF in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, and decrease in IL-6 and NF-κB in prefrontal cortex.
Analysis and interpretation of a fast limb CME with eruptive prominence, C-flare, and EUV dimming

Aims. Coronal mass ejections or CMEs are large dynamical solar-corona events. The mass balance and kinematics of a fast limb CME, including its prominence progenitor and the associated flare, will be compared with computed magnetic structures to look for their origin and effect. Methods: Multi-wavelength ground-based and spaceborne observations are used to study a fast W-limb CME event of December 2, 2003, taking into account both on and off disk observations. Its erupting prominence is measured at high cadence with the Pic du Midi full H? line-flux imaging coronagraph. EUV images from SOHO/EIT and CORONAS-F/SPIRIT space instruments are processed including difference imaging. SOHO/LASCO images are used to study the mass excess and motions. Computed coronal structures from extrapolated surface magnetic fields are compared to observations. Results: A fast bright expanding coronal loop is identified in the region recorded slightly later by GOES as a C7.2 flare, followed by a brightening and an acceleration phase of the erupting material with both cool and hot components. The total coronal radiative flux dropped by ~7% in the 19.5 nm channel and by 4% in the 17.5 nm channel, revealing a large dimming effect at and above the limb over a 2 h interval. The typical 3-part structure observed 1 h later by the Lasco C2 and C3 coronagraphs shows a core shaped similarly to the eruptive filament/prominence. The total measured mass of the escaping CME (~1.5×1016 g from C2 LASCO observations) definitely exceeds the estimated mass of the escaping cool prominence material although assumptions made to analyze the H? erupting prominence, as well as the corresponding EUV darkening of the filament observed several days before, made this evaluation uncertain by a factor of 2. This mass budget suggests that the event is not confined to the eruption region alone. From the current free extrapolation we discuss the shape of the magnetic neutral surface and a possible scenario leading to an instability, including the small scale dynamics inside and around the filament.
Association of the SLC6A4 gene 5HTTLPR polymorphism and ADHD with epilepsy, gestational diabetes, and parental substance abuse in Mexican mestizo children

Introduction. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neuropsychiatric conditions in childhood and a multifactorial condition attributable to genetic and/or environmental influence. Allelic variants in the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) have been associated to lower transcriptional efficiency, changes in serotonin concentration in several brain regions, and ADHD development. Objective. To identify the association between the SLC6A4 alleles and ADHD diagnosis and risk factor phenotypes in children from a Mexican mestizo population. Method. In this study, 134 unrelated children were included and evaluated for ADHD, genotypification for the 5HTTLPR polymorphism, and identification of multiple phenotypes from their clinical records and family background for association analysis. Results. The following distribution of genotypes was observed: 23% SS, 49% SL, and 28% LL. From the phenotypes evaluated in the present study, gestational diabetes mellitus (p = .045), history of epilepsy (p = .047), and parental substance abuse (p = .033) showed an association with ADHD development in regression analysis along with the S variant. Discussion and conclusion. Results suggest that interaction of the S allele and some of the phenotypes analyzed may play a relevant role in the development of ADHD in the studied population.
Dynamical Organization of Syntaxin-1A at the Presynaptic Active Zone

Synaptic vesicle fusion is mediated by SNARE proteins forming in between synaptic vesicle (v-SNARE) and plasma membrane (t-SNARE), one of which is Syntaxin-1A. Although exocytosis mainly occurs at active zones, Syntaxin-1A appears to cover the entire neuronal membrane. By using STED super-resolution light microscopy and image analysis of Drosophila neuro-muscular junctions, we show that Syntaxin-1A clusters are more abundant and have an increased size at active zones. A computational particle-based model of syntaxin cluster formation and dynamics is developed. The model is parametrized to reproduce Syntaxin cluster-size distributions found by STED analysis, and successfully reproduces existing FRAP results. The model shows that the neuronal membrane is adjusted in a way to strike a balance between having most syntaxins stored in large clusters, while still keeping a mobile fraction of syntaxins free or in small clusters that can efficiently search the membrane or be traded between clusters. This balance is subtle and can be shifted toward almost no clustering and almost complete clustering by modifying the syntaxin interaction energy on the order of only 1 kBT. This capability appears to be exploited at active zones. The larger active-zone syntaxin clusters are more stable and provide regions of high docking and fusion capability, whereas the smaller clusters outside may serve as flexible reserve pool or sites of spontaneous ectopic release.
Role of RpoS in the Virulence of Citrobacter rodentium

ABSTRACT Citrobacter rodentium is a mouse enteropathogen that is closely related to Escherichia coli and causes severe colonic hyperplasia and bloody diarrhea. C. rodentium infection requires expression of genes of the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) pathogenicity island, which simulates infection by enteropathogenic E. coli and enterohemorrhagic E. coli in the human intestine, providing an effective model for studying enteropathogenesis. In this study we investigated the role of RpoS, the stationary phase sigma factor, in virulence in C. rodentium. Sequence analysis showed that the rpoS gene is highly conserved in C. rodentium and E. coli, exhibiting 92% identity. RpoS was critical for survival under heat shock conditions and during exposure to H2O2 and positively regulated the expression of catalase KatE (HPII). The development of the RDAR (red dry and rough) morphotype, an important virulence trait in E. coli, was also mediated by RpoS in C. rodentium. Unlike E. coli, C. rodentium grew well in the mouse colon, and the wild-type strain colonized significantly better than rpoS mutants. However, a mutation in rpoS conferred a competitive growth advantage over the wild type both in vitro in Luria-Bertani medium and in vivo in the mouse colon. Survival analysis showed that the virulence of an rpoS mutant was attenuated. The expression of genes on the LEE pathogenicity island, which are essential for colonization and virulence, was reduced in the rpoS mutant. In conclusion, RpoS is important for the stress response and is required for full virulence in C. rodentium.
Local unidirectional bias for smooth cutsize-delay tradeoff in performance-driven bipartitioning

Traditional multilevel partitioning approaches have shown good performance with respect to cutsize, but offer no guarantees with respect to system performance. Timing-driven partitioning methods based on iterated net reweighting, partitioning and timing analysis have been proposed [2], as well as methods that apply degrees of freedom such as retiming [7][5]. In this work, we identify and validate a simple approach to timing-driven partitioning, based on the concept of "V-shaped nodes". We observe that the presence of V-shaped nodes can badly impact circuit performance, as measured by maximum hopcount across the cutline or similar path delay criteria. We extend traditional KLFM approaches to directly eliminate or minimize "distance-k V-shaped nodes" in the bipartitioning solution, achieving a smooth trade-off between cutsize and path delay. Experiments show that in comparison to MLPart [4], our method can reduce the maximum hopcount by 39% while only slightly increasing cutsize and runtime. No previous method improves path delay in such a transparent manner.
Platelet-derived growth factor plays a key role in proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

PURPOSE The action of growth factors is thought to make a substantial contribution to the events leading to proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). In this study, the importance of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) was tested in a rabbit model of PVR. METHODS The approach was to compare the extent of PVR induced by cells that do or do not express the receptors for PDGF and therefore differ in their ability to respond to PDGF. RESULTS Mouse embryo fibroblasts derived from PDGF receptor knock-out embryos that do not express either of the two PDGF receptors induced PVR poorly when injected into the eyes of rabbits that had previously undergone gas vitrectomy. Re-expression of the PDGF beta receptor in these cells did not improve the ability of the cells to cause PVR. In contrast, injection of cells expressing the PDGF alpha receptor resulted in stage 3 or higher PVR in 8 of 10 animals. CONCLUSIONS These findings show that PDGF makes an important contribution to the development of PVR in this animal model. Furthermore, there is a marked difference between the two receptors for PDGF, and it is the PDGF alpha receptor that is capable of driving events that lead to PVR.
Superintegrable Oscillator and Kepler Systems on Spaces of Nonconstant Curvature via the St

The Stackel transform is applied to the geodesic motion on Euclidean space, through the harmonic oscillator and Kepler{Coloumb potentials, in order to obtain ma- ximally superintegrable classical systems on N-dimensional Riemannian spaces of noncon- stant curvature. By one hand, the harmonic oscillator potential leads to two families of superintegrable systems which are interpreted as an intrinsic Kepler{Coloumb system on a hyperbolic curved space and as the so-called Darboux III oscillator. On the other, the Kepler{Coloumb potential gives rise to an oscillator system on a spherical curved space as well as to the Taub-NUT oscillator. Their integrals of motion are explicitly given. The role of the (flat/curved) Fradkin tensor and Laplace{Runge{Lenz N-vector for all of these Hamiltonians is highlighted throughout the paper. The corresponding quantum maximally superintegrable systems are also presented.
Compliance gaps and the failed promises of religious freedoms

ABSTRACT Previous research has established the striking disconnect between states’ constitutional promises of religious freedoms and their actual practices for supporting such freedoms. Yet, past research has not fully explained, measured, or tested the extent of why the disconnect occurs for protections of religious freedom. Using the Religion and State Collection (Round 3) and other country level data, we construct two measures for the discrepancy between constitutional promises of religious freedom and the level of restrictions placed on religions. Building on previous research and theory, we argue, that these discrepancies represent a compliance gap, and can be explained through social, economic, governance, and global dimensions. We conclude that although promises of religious freedom signal a commitment to protections, upholding these promises is reliant on the religious economy of the nation (e.g. social pressures) and the specific types of governance used (e.g. free elections and an independent judiciary). Despite the influence of global and economic factors in explanations of other compliance gaps, these were insignificant in understanding why religious freedom compliance gaps emerge.
Methodological Perspective on Second Language Prosody

The stress-timed vs. syllable-timed dichotomy between English and other languages (e.g. French), is at the origin of a major challenge for teachers and students of English L2 alike. Lexical stress –not a free parameter in English words– plays a fundamental role in the intelligibility of the message. As the rhythmic, basic beatbearer of the utterance, its absence or misplacement can dramatically impair interaction with a native speaker. The experimentation described in this paper is based on an original pedagogical approach targeted at the acquisition of rhythm, using a metronome frequently during oral production tasks in class. An identical test was used, before and after the work with the metronome, enabling the measurement and analysis of progressrelated data. The productions of 75 students were recorded during the test, so as to build a corpus. A preliminary single case study is related here. Using PRAAT software, measures were made and the collected data analyzed in order to determine whether there was progress. First results show definite progress in some parameters (vowel duration, pitch) and stagnation in others (intensity, vowel quality). This preliminary study paves the way to a future broader study based on part, or all, of the recorded corpus.
Domain‐General Cognitive Ability Predicts Bilingual Children's Receptive Vocabulary in the Majority Language

This study investigated the influence of cognitive ability on bilingual children's vocabulary development in both their languages. Sixty‐nine bilingual immigrant children participated, with data collected at three annual intervals. At Time 1, the participants were 5 or 6 years old. Receptive vocabulary was tested in the minority (Turkish, Tarifit) and majority (Dutch) languages. Cognitive measures targeted working memory, selective attention, and executive attention. Cross‐lagged correlations were computed to establish the directionality of relationships. Significant partial correlations were followed by stepwise multiple regression analyses in which further control was exerted. Results showed that cognitive ability predicted receptive vocabulary 1 year later. Sequential relationships were found for the majority language only, and attention was more important than working memory. The differential patterns for the two languages set the stage for future research comparing the impact of context, timing, and type of learning on the relationship between cognition and vocabulary development.
Mobile Phones Bridging the Digital Divide for Teens in the US?

In 2009, just 27% of American teens with mobile phones reported using their devices to access the internet. However, teens from lower income families and minority teens were significantly more likely to use their phones to go online. Together, these surprising trends suggest a potential narrowing of the digital divide, offering internet access to those without other means of going online. This is an important move, as, in today’s society, internet access is central to active citizenship in general and teen citizenship in particular. Yet the cost of this move toward equal access is absorbed by those who can least afford it: Teenagers from low income households. Using survey and focus group data from a national study of “Teens and Mobile Phone Use” (released by Pew and the University of Michigan in 2010), this article helps identify and explain this and other emergent trends for teen use (as well as non-use) of the internet through mobile phones.
Temporal Associations between Daytime Physical Activity and Sleep in Children

Objectives We examined temporal associations between objectively-measured physical activity (PA) during the day and in the evening, and sleep quantity and quality. Study Design PA and sleep were measured by actigraphs for an average of one week in an epidemiological cohort study of 275 eight-year-old children. Results For each one standard deviation (SD) unit of increased PA during the day, sleep duration was decreased by 0.30, sleep efficiency by 0.16, and sleep fragmentation increased by 0.08 SD units that night. For each one SD unit increase in sleep duration and efficiency the preceding night, PA the following day decreased by 0.09 and 0.16 SD units, respectively. When we contrasted days with a high amount of moderate to vigorous activity during the day or in the evening to days with a more sedentary profile, the results were essentially similar. However, moderate to vigorous PA in the evening shortened sleep latency. Conclusions The relationship between a higher level of PA and poorer sleep is bidirectional. These within-person findings challenge epidemiological findings showing that more active people report better sleep. Since only a few studies using objective measurements of both PA and sleep have been conducted in children, further studies are needed to confirm/refute these results.
Application of proteomic technology in identifying pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor variants in urine of patients with pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND Although the analysis of genetic variability has traditionally been performed with molecular genetic techniques, the development of proteomic technology has raised the possibility of analyzing genetic variants at the protein level. This method provides additional information about posttranslational modifications and differences in expression. We used mass spectrometry to characterize 3 variants of the peptide encoded by the serine protease inhibitor Kazal type 1 (SPINK1) gene, pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor (PSTI). A genetic variant of PSTI, N34S, is associated with the development of pancreatitis. METHODS We used a quadrupole/time-of-flight hybrid mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization source to analyze the molecular identity of PSTI purified from the urine of 12 patients with pancreatitis and from 3 controls. We also developed a rapid small-scale capture procedure to isolate and analyze PSTI from small volumes of urine. RESULTS The mutations responsible for mass shifts of different PSTI variants could be verified. We observed differences in the expression of different variants as well as a novel proteolytic fragment of PSTI. Small-scale magnetic bead-mediated immunoaffinity chromatography PSTI enabled easy and rapid purification from small urine volumes, facilitating mass spectrometric analysis with adequate sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS Pancreatitis-related PSTI variants occurring at nanomolar concentrations in urine can be detected and quantified by immunoaffinity purification and mass spectrometry. In addition, the N34S variant occurs at higher concentrations than the wild type. This finding casts new light on the possible role of PSTI as a cause of hereditary pancreatitis.
Causative-inchoative Alternation in the Language of Jordanian EFL Learners

Causative-inchoative construction is a pair of verbs discussing the same notion, which is a state of change with a different form for each verb. It has been noted that causative-inchoative alternation constitutes a learnability problem for Arab EFL learners and very few studies addressed this language form among Arab learners and more specifically Jordanian learners of English. The present study is an attempt to measure the perception and production of English causative-inchoative alternations by learners whose native language is Arabic. In collecting the required data for the study, grammaticality judgement and correction task was used. A total of 24 Jordanian English majors partook in the study. Having analyzed the data statistically, the study results depicted that comprehending and producing causative and inchoative constructions by Jordanian English majors is not an easy task. It was also found that causative structures are more readily to acquire than their inchoative counterparts. More precisely, it could be argued that Jordanian learners of English acquire the causative form earlier than the inchoative form. Finally, the results revealed that language transfer is the driving force of acquiring causative-inchoative structures, where a great deal of errors can be traced back to Arabic. The study arrived at the conclusion that the participants have a weak competence of causative-inchoative forms which is best exhibited in their responses to the items of grammaticality judgement task. This conclusion could be attributed to the fact that Arabic and English vary greatly with respect to encoding causative-inchoative forms.
Bootstrapping Z? Estimators

We prove a general bootstrap theorem for possibly innnite-dimensional Z? estimators which builds on the recent innnite-dimensional Z? theorem due to Van der Vaart (1995). Our result extends nite-dimensional results of this type for the bootstrap due to Arcones and Gin e (1992), Lele (1991), and Newton and Raftery (1994). We sketch three examples of models with innnite-dimensional parameter spaces as applicatons of our general theorem.
Whole brain myelin mapping using T1- and T2-weighted MR imaging data

Despite recent advancements in MR imaging, non-invasive mapping of myelin in the brain still remains an open issue. Here we attempted to provide a potential solution. Specifically, we developed a processing workflow based on T1-w and T2-w MR data to generate an optimized myelin enhanced contrast image. The workflow allows whole brain mapping using the T1-w/T2-w technique, which was originally introduced as a non-invasive method for assessing cortical myelin content. The hallmark of our approach is a retrospective calibration algorithm, applied to bias-corrected T1-w and T2-w images, that relies on image intensities outside the brain. This permits standardizing the intensity histogram of the ratio image, thereby allowing for across-subject statistical analyses. Quantitative comparisons of image histograms within and across different datasets confirmed the effectiveness of our normalization procedure. Not only did the calibrated T1-w/T2-w images exhibit a comparable intensity range, but also the shape of the intensity histograms was largely corresponding. We also assessed the reliability and specificity of the ratio image compared to other MR-based techniques, such as magnetization transfer ratio (MTR), fractional anisotropy (FA), and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR). With respect to these other techniques, T1-w/T2-w had consistently high values, as well as low inter-subject variability, in brain structures where myelin is most abundant. Overall, our results suggested that the T1-w/T2-w technique may be a valid tool supporting the non-invasive mapping of myelin in the brain. Therefore, it might find important applications in the study of brain development, aging and disease.