Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Light microscopic variation of fiber cell size, shape and ordering in the equatorial plane of bovine and human lenses.

PURPOSE A rapid means was sought to visualize and quantify the cross-sectional areas of fiber cells, the variations of cell area, and the regularity of packing in the equatorial plane of normal adult bovine and normal aged human lenses. METHODS Vibratome sections of bovine and human lenses were fixed, embedded in LR White resin, and sectioned for light microscopic observation. Image analysis was performed to determine the cross-sectional areas of fiber cells in selected nuclear regions. RESULTS Examination of bovine lenses revealed a pattern of cell size and shape in each region that was similar to that recently reported for normal human lenses (1). In the equatorial plane of bovine lenses, average cross-sectional areas were 20 +/- 6 micron2 in the adult nucleus, 43 +/- 19 micron2 in the fetal nucleus, and 63 +/- 61 micron2 in the embryonic nucleus. Light microscopy of human lenses was consistent with our previous electron microscopic observations. Moreover, in both bovine and human lenses, the distribution of cell sizes and the number of cell layers was readily available for each region. Overviews of the equatorial plane demonstrated a gradual improvement in the regular packing of radial cell columns proceeding from the relatively disordered embryonic and fetal nuclei through the well-ordered adult nucleus to the highly regular cortical region. CONCLUSIONS Light microscopy revealed the highly irregular packing and large average size of cells in the embryonic nucleus and the gradual reduction in size and progressive improvements in regularity of packing in the outer layers. The methods used here have the advantage of rapidly giving a continuous view of the fiber cell structure and arrangement which is not available using electron microscopy.
Transport and drift-driven plasma flow components in the Alcator C-Mod boundary plasma

Boundary layer flows in the Alcator C-Mod tokamak are systematically examined as magnetic topology (upper versus lower-null) and plasma density are changed. Utilizing a unique set of scanning Langmuir–Mach probes, including one on the high-field side (HFS) midplane, the poloidal variation of plasma flow components in the parallel, diamagnetic and radial directions are resolved in detail. It is found that the plasma flow pattern can be decomposed into two principal parts: (1) a drift-driven component, which lies within a magnetic flux surface and is divergence-free and (2) a transport-driven component, which gives rise to near-sonic parallel flows on the HFS scrape-off layer (SOL). Toroidal rotation, Pfirsch–Schlüter and transport-driven contributions are unambiguously identified. Transport-driven parallel flows are found to dominate the HFS particle fluxes; the total poloidal-directed flow accounts for ∼1/3 to all of the ion flux arriving on the inner divertor. As a result, heat convection is found to be an important player in this region, consistent with the observation of divertor asymmetries that depend on the direction of B × ∇B relative to the active x-point. In contrast, the poloidal projection of parallel flow in the low-field SOL largely cancels with Er × B flow; toroidal rotation is the dominant plasma motion there. The magnitude of the transport-driven poloidal flow is found to be quantitatively consistent with fluctuation-induced radial particle fluxes on the low-field side (LFS), identifying this as the primary drive mechanism. Fluctuation-induced fluxes on the HFS are found to be essentially zero, excluding turbulent inward transport as the mechanism that closes the circulation loop in this region.
Schwann Cell Mitochondrial Metabolism Supports Long-Term Axonal Survival and Peripheral Nerve Function

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a common cause of peripheral neuropathies. While the role of neuron and axonal mitochondria in peripheral nerve disease is well appreciated, whether Schwann cell (SC) mitochondrial deficits contribute to peripheral neuropathies is unclear. Here, we examine how SC mitochondrial dysfunction affects axonal survival and contributes to the decline of peripheral nerve function by generating mice with SC-specific mitochondrial deficits. These mice (Tfam-SCKOs) were produced through the tissue-specific deletion of the mitochondrial transcription factor A gene (Tfam), which is essential for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) transcription and maintenance. Tfam-SCKOs were viable, but as they aged, they developed a progressive peripheral neuropathy characterized by nerve conduction abnormalities as well as extensive muscle denervation. Morphological examination of Tfam-SCKO nerves revealed early preferential loss of small unmyelinated fibers followed by prominent demyelination and degeneration of larger-caliber axons. Tfam-SCKOs displayed sensory and motor deficits consistent with this pathology. Remarkably, the severe mtDNA depletion and respiratory chain abnormalities in Tfam-SCKO mice did not affect SC proliferation or survival. Mitochondrial function in SCs is therefore essential for maintenance of axonal survival and normal peripheral nerve function, suggesting that SC mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to human peripheral neuropathies.
A Comparison Between Recent Experimental Results and Existing Correlations for Microfin Tubes for Refrigerant and Nanolubricants Mixtures Two Phase Flow Boiling

Driven by higher energy efficiency targets, there is critical need for major heat transfer enhancements in heat exchangers. Nanolubricants, that is, nanoparticles dispersed in the non-volatile component of a mixture, have the potential to increase the heat transfer coefficient by 20% or more for two-phase flow boiling with small or no penalization on the two-phase flow pressure drop. The present work builds upon these intriguing yet unexplained findings, which were documented in the experiments of the present study for one type of nanolubricant, but for which a theory still does not exist. This paper presents a comparison between existing models in the literature and recent new experimental data for two-phase flow boiling in a microfin tube of refrigerant R410A and nanolubricants mixtures. Alumina Oxide (? -Al2O3) based nanolubricants with 40 nominal particle diameter of approximately spherical shape were investigated. The nanoparticles concentration in the lubricant varied from 10 to about 20 in mass percentage, and the lubricant concentration varied from 0 up to 3% in mass percentage. The models available in the open domain literature were not able to capture the effects of the nanoparticles on the two-phase flow heat transfer coefficient. The augmented thermal conductivity of the lubricant due to the addition of highly conductive nanoparticles was not the main mechanism responsible for the heat transfer enhancements. The discrepancy between the simulation results and the experimental data was postulated to be due to non-Newtonian behaviors due to the presence of nanoparticles and surfactants. The flow development of the liquid phase of the mixture and the localized thickening and thinning of the liquid film thickness around the inner walls of the tube can alter the film local convective thermal resistance.
Mg, Ba and Eu abundances in thick disk and halo stars

Our sample of cool dwarf stars from previous papers (Mashonkina & Gehren 2000, 2001) is extended in this study including 15 moderately metal-deficient stars. The samples of halo and thick disk stars have overlapping metallicities with (Fe/H) in the region from −0. 9t o−1.5, and we compare chemical properties of these two kinematically different stellar popu- lations independent of their metallicity. We present barium, europium and magnesium abundances for the new sample of stars. The results are based on NLTE line formation obtained in differential model atmosphere analyses of high resolution spectra observed mainly using the UVES spectrograph at the VLT of the European Southern Observatory. We confirm the overabun- dance of Eu relative to Mg in halo stars as reported in our previous papers. Eight halo stars show (Eu/Mg) values between 0.23 and 0.41, whereas stars in the thick and thin disk display a solar europium to magnesium ratio. The (Eu/Ba) values found in the thick disk stars to lie between 0.35 and 0.57 suggest that during thick disk formation evolved low-mass stars started to enrich the interstellar gas by s-nuclei of Ba, and the s-process contribution to barium thus varies from 30% to 50%. Based on these results, and using the chemical evolution calculations by Travaglio et al. (1999), we estimate that the thick disk stellar population formed on a timescale between 1.1 to 1.6 Gyr from the beginning of the protogalactic collapse. In the halo stars the (Eu/Ba) values are found mostly between 0.40 and 0.67, which suggests a duration of the halo formation of about 1.5 Gyr. For the whole sample of stars we present the even-to-odd Ba isotope ratios as determined from hyperfine structure seen in the Ba  resonance line λ 4554. As expected, the solar ratio 82 : 18 (Cameron 1982) adjusts to observations of the Ba  lines in the thin disk stars. In our halo stars the even-to-odd Ba isotope ratios are close to the pure r-process ratio 54 : 46 (Arlandini et al. 1999), and in the thick disk stars the isotope ratio is around 65 : 35 ( ±10%). Based on these data we deduce for thick disk stars the ratio of the s/r-process contribution to barium as 30 : 70 (±30%), in agreement with the results obtained from the (Eu/Ba) values.
Surface Reconstruction by Voronoi Filtering

Abstract. We give a simple combinatorial algorithm that computes a piecewise-linear approximation of a smooth surface from a finite set of sample points. The algorithm uses Voronoi vertices to remove triangles from the Delaunay triangulation. We prove the algorithm correct by showing that for densely sampled surfaces, where density depends on a local feature size function, the output is topologically valid and convergent (both pointwise and in surface normals) to the original surface. We briefly describe an implementation of the algorithm and show example outputs.
Trunk Muscle Endurance and Low Back Pain in Female Dance Students

Low back pain (LBP) is often cited as a common condition at all levels of dance. Evidence suggests that reduced endurance of the trunk muscles can predispose an individual to LBP. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in trunk muscle endurance in a sample of tertiary level dance students with and without LBP. Seventeen full-time female dance students were divided into two groups: dance students with LBP (N = 11), and without LBP (N = 6). All participants provided informed consent, and the study was approved by an institutional ethics review board. Participants performed four isometric tests that assess trunk muscle endurance: the right and left side plank, double straight leg raise (DSLR), and the Sorensen test. A modified version of the Osaka City University test was used to assess the presence of LBP. A significant difference (p < 0.05) between groups was observed for the right and left side plank, as well as the DSLR test, and students with LBP displayed lower levels of endurance compared to those without. No other significant differences were found. This study offers some evidence that reduced trunk muscle endurance is present among dancers with LBP and provides direction for future research into back health among dancers.
Dickkopf-1: a suitable target for the management of myeloma bone disease

Bone disease remains a major problem in the management of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and is characterized by the presence of lytic lesions due to increased osteoclastic activity and reduced osteoblast function. Wingless-type and integrase 1 (Wnt)/β-catenin signaling is a central pathway for bone development and homeostasis. Dickkopf-1 (Dkk-1) is a soluble inhibitor of Wnt, which disrupts osteoblast differentiation and action. Dkk-1 is produced by myeloma cells and overexpressed in myeloma microenvironment of patients with extensive bone disease. In addition to its direct inhibitory effect of Dkk-1 on osteoblasts, Dkk-1 disrupts the Wnt3a-regulated osteoprotegerin and receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) expression in osteoblasts and thus it indirectly enhances osteoclast function in MM. Dkk-1 serum and bone marrow plasma levels are increased in MM patients and correlated with advanced International Staging System stage and presence of osteolytic lesions. Preclinical studies in mouse myeloma models showed that targeting Dkk-1 with neutralizing anti-Dkk-1 antibodies resulted in increased numbers of osteoblasts, reduced numbers of multinucleated osteoclasts and increased bone volume. The bone anabolic effect of anti-Dkk-1 may also be associated with reduced myeloma burden. These data show that Dkk-1 has a pivotal role in bone health and disease and is a novel target for the management of myeloma patients with lytic bone disease.
A Proper Generalized Decomposition Approach for Fuel Cell Polymeric Membrane Modeling

Modeling polymeric proton-exchange membranes (PEM) at the heart of fuel cells requires the solution of highly nonlinear partial differential equations in very thin and flat domains. Recently, the Proper Generalized Decomposition methods have emerged as particularly promising methods for these types of problems. This paper introduces the basics of this novel class of approaches to PEM modeling and highlights their potential benefits.
Software monitor of vital functions for a mannequin realized on tablet PC

This Study deals with a development of a virtual patient monitor for a mannequin. We have included the virtual patient simulator into the education and we have developed the application of software monitor to increase the interest of the students about the exercises. The application is developed for a PC tablet and the data of vital functions, such as heart rate, saturation of blood by oxygen, partial pressure of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the arterial blood, are transferred from the simulator into the mobile patient monitor. Application is developed in LabVIEW environment and Data Dashboard application from National Instruments is used for displaying the data. Transfer of data between control computer with model and tablet is realized by Shared Variables Engine.
The effects of leader-member exchange and employee wellbeing towards employee turnover intention

Research studies the role of employee wellbeing in relationship of LMX and turnover intention. Academicians from the community colleges, Malaysia were the respondents and structural equation modelling (SEM) was used. Results indicated that LMX is significantly predicts turnover intention and revealed the relationship between LMX and turnover intention decreases when factor on employee wellbeing is amended.
Continuous Activation of Autoreactive CD4+ CD25+ Regulatory T Cells in the Steady State

Despite a growing interest in CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells (Treg) that play a major role in self-tolerance and immunoregulation, fundamental parameters of the biology and homeostasis of these cells are poorly known. Here, we show that this population is composed of two Treg subsets that have distinct phenotypes and homeostasis in normal unmanipulated mice. In the steady state, some Treg remain quiescent and have a long lifespan, in the order of months, whereas the other Treg are dividing extensively and express multiple activation markers. After adoptive transfer, tissue-specific Treg rapidly divide and expand preferentially in lymph nodes draining their target self-antigens. These results reveal the existence of a cycling Treg subset composed of autoreactive Treg that are continuously activated by tissue self-antigens.
Multiple Sink and Relay Placement in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks are subject to failures. Deployment planning should ensure that when a sink or sensor node fails, the remaining network can still be connected, and so may require placing multiple sinks and relay nodes in addition to sensors. For network performance requirements, there may also be path-length constraints for each sensor node. We propose two local search algorithms, GRASP-MSP and GRASP-MSRP, to solve the problem of multiple sink placement and the problem of multiple sink and relay placement, respectively. GRASP-MSP minimises the deployment cost, while ensuring that each sensor node in the network is double-covered, i.e. it has two length-constrained paths to two sinks. GRASP-MSRP deploys sinks and relays to minimise the deployment cost and to guarantee that all sensor nodes in the network are doublecovered and noncritical. A sensor node is noncritical if upon its removal, all remaining sensor nodes still have length-constrained paths to sinks. We evaluate the algorithms empirically and show that both GRASP-MSP and GRASP-MSRP outperform the closely-related algorithms from the literature for the lowest total deployment cost.
Domestication reduces alternative splicing expression variations in sorghum

Domestication is known to strongly reduce genomic diversity through population bottlenecks. The resulting loss of polymorphism has been thoroughly documented in numerous cultivated species. Here we investigate the impact of domestication on the diversity of alternative transcript expressions using RNAseq data obtained on cultivated and wild sorghum accessions (ten accessions for each pool). In that aim, we focus on genes expressing two isoforms in sorghum and estimate the ratio between expression levels of those isoforms in each accession. Noticeably, for a given gene, one isoform can either be overexpressed or underexpressed in some wild accessions, whereas in the cultivated accessions, the balance between the two isoforms of the same gene appears to be much more homogenous. Indeed, we observe in sorghum significantly more variation in isoform expression balance among wild accessions than among domesticated accessions. The possibility exists that the loss of nucleotide diversity due to domestication could affect regulatory elements, controlling transcription or degradation of these isoforms. Impact on the isoform expression balance is discussed. As far as we know, this is the first time that the impact of domestication on transcript isoform balance has been studied at the genomic scale. This could pave the way towards the identification of key domestication genes with finely tuned isoform expressions in domesticated accessions while being highly variable in their wild relatives.
Infarction Moderate Hypothermia in the Treatment of Patients With Severe Middle Cerebral Artery

Infarction Moderate Hypothermia in the Treatment of Patients With Severe Middle Cerebral Artery Print ISSN: 0039-2499. Online ISSN: 1524-4628 Copyright © 1998 American Heart Association, Inc. All rights reserved. is published by the American Heart Association, 7272 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75231 Stroke doi: 10.1161/01.STR. 29.12. 2461 1998;29:2461-2466 Stroke. http://stroke.ahajournals. org/content/29/12/2461 World Wide Web at: The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is located on the
Secondary anisotropies of the CMB

The Cosmic Microwave Background fluctuations provide a powerful probe of the dark ages of the universe through the imprint of the secondary anisotropies associated with the reionization of the universe and the growth of structure. We review the relation between the secondary anisotropies and the primary anisotropies that are directly generated by quantum fluctuations in the very early universe. The physics of secondary fluctuations is described, with emphasis on the ionization history and the evolution of structure. We discuss the different signatures arising from the secondary effects in terms of their induced temperature fluctuations, polarization and statistics. The secondary anisotropies are being actively pursued at present, and we review the future and current observational status.
Avian and Human Seasonal Influenza Hemagglutinin Proteins Elicit CD4 T Cell Responses That Are Comparable in Epitope Abundance and Diversity

ABSTRACT Avian influenza viruses remain a significant concern due to their pandemic potential. Vaccine trials have suggested that humans respond poorly to avian influenza vaccines relative to seasonal vaccines. It is important to understand, first, if there is a general deficiency in the ability of avian hemagglutinin (HA) proteins to generate immune responses and, if so, what underlies this defect. This question is of particular interest because it has been suggested that in humans, the poor immunogenicity of H7 vaccines may be due to a paucity of CD4 T cell epitopes. Because of the generally high levels of cross-reactive CD4 T cells in humans, it is not possible to compare the inherent immunogenicities of avian and seasonal HA proteins in an unbiased manner. Here, we empirically examine the epitope diversity and abundance of CD4 T cells elicited by seasonal and avian HA proteins. HLA-DR1 and HLA-DR4 transgenic mice were vaccinated with purified HA proteins, and CD4 T cells to specific epitopes were identified and quantified. These studies revealed that the diversity and abundance of CD4 T cells specific for HA do not segregate on the basis of whether the HA was derived from human seasonal or avian influenza viruses. Therefore, we conclude that failure in responses to avian vaccines in humans is likely due to a lack of cross-reactive CD4 T cell memory perhaps coupled with competition with or suppression of naive, HA-specific CD4 T cells by memory CD4 T cells specific for more highly conserved proteins.
DETECTING AFLATOXIN IN SINGLE CORN KERNELS BY TRANSMITTANCE AND REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY

Transmittance spectra (500 to 950 nm) and reflectance spectra (550 to 1700 nm) were analyzed to determine if they could be used to distinguish aflatoxin contamination in single whole corn kernels. Spectra were obtained on whole corn kernels exhibiting various levels of bright greenish–yellow fluorescence. Afterwards, each kernel was analyzed for aflatoxin following the USDA–FGIS Aflatest affinity chromatography procedures. Spectra were analyzed using discriminant analysis and partial least squares regression. More than 95% of the kernels were correctly classified as containing either high (>100 ppb) or low (<10 ppb) levels of aflatoxin. Classification accuracy for kernels between 10 and 100 ppb was only about 25%, but these kernels do not usually affect total sample concentrations and are not as important. Results were similar when using either transmittance or reflectance, and when using either discriminant analysis or partial least squares regression. The two–feature discriminant analysis of transmittance data gave the best results. However, for automated high–speed detection and sorting, instrumentation that uses single–feature reflectance spectra may be more practically implemented. This technology should provide the corn industry with a valuable tool for rapidly detecting aflatoxin in corn.