Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effective fiber hypertrophy in satellite cell-depleted skeletal muscle

An important unresolved question in skeletal muscle plasticity is whether satellite cells are necessary for muscle fiber hypertrophy. To address this issue, a novel mouse strain (Pax7-DTA) was created which enabled the conditional ablation of >90% of satellite cells in mature skeletal muscle following tamoxifen administration. To test the hypothesis that satellite cells are necessary for skeletal muscle hypertrophy, the plantaris muscle of adult Pax7-DTA mice was subjected to mechanical overload by surgical removal of the synergist muscle. Following two weeks of overload, satellite cell-depleted muscle showed the same increases in muscle mass (approximately twofold) and fiber cross-sectional area with hypertrophy as observed in the vehicle-treated group. The typical increase in myonuclei with hypertrophy was absent in satellite cell-depleted fibers, resulting in expansion of the myonuclear domain. Consistent with lack of nuclear addition to enlarged fibers, long-term BrdU labeling showed a significant reduction in the number of BrdU-positive myonuclei in satellite cell-depleted muscle compared with vehicle-treated muscle. Single fiber functional analyses showed no difference in specific force, Ca2+ sensitivity, rate of cross-bridge cycling and cooperativity between hypertrophied fibers from vehicle and tamoxifen-treated groups. Although a small component of the hypertrophic response, both fiber hyperplasia and regeneration were significantly blunted following satellite cell depletion, indicating a distinct requirement for satellite cells during these processes. These results provide convincing evidence that skeletal muscle fibers are capable of mounting a robust hypertrophic response to mechanical overload that is not dependent on satellite cells.
Bimanual simultaneous movements and hemispheric dominance: Timing of events reveals hard-wired circuitry for action, speech, and imagination

The evidence that speech is the marker of hemisphere of action is overwhelming. Thus, contrary to the commonly accepted belief, the evidence indicates that both sides of the body are under the same command (major hemisphere) and that the nondominant side of the body is a callosum-width farther from the major hemisphere. Substantial controversy exists, however, as to the best method for determining the laterality of motor control in an individual case. According to the new understanding, ie, the one-way callosal traffic circuitry underpinning laterality of motor control, the larger excursions of effectors located opposite (contralateral to) the command center while performing bimanual simultaneous drawing tasks provides the best noninvasive and inexpensive approach for demonstrating the laterality of the major hemisphere of a person (who is able to perform such tasks). Here, it is documented pictorially that bimanual simultaneous drawing of geometrical designs or straight lines, as well as moving the arms simultaneously from side to side (or up and down) while noting the difference of speed of the two arms (represented by the distance between the two index fingers), both provide a reliable indication of the laterality of a person’s major hemisphere. In all these maneuvers the nondominant side of the body (even the diaphragms) lags behind the dominant side by an interval equal to the interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT). This lagging behind of the nondominant side of the body in bimanual simultaneous movements is the footprint of directionality of callosal traffic underpinning the laterality of motor control evidenced by worsening of the delay of the nondominant side following callosotomy (uncoupling). Here, the historical precedence of a novel understanding in motor control together with its neurological implications in daily life as well as in laterality of seizure onset are briefly addressed, pointing out the deleterious effects of Sir Isaac Newton’s influence in neurological research on interhemispheric connectivity by suggesting symmetrical representation of visual sense of space in the human brain.
Radionuclides and Radiation Indices of High Background Radiation Area in Chavara-Neendakara Placer Deposits (Kerala, India)

The present paper describes a detailed study on the distribution of radionuclides along Chavara – Neendakara placer deposit, a high background radiation area (HBRA) along the Southwest coast of India (Kerala). Judged from our studies using HPGe gamma spectrometric detector, it becomes evident that Uranium (238U), Thorium (232Th) and Potassium (40K) are the major sources for radioactivity prevailing in the area. Our statistical analyses reveal the existence of a high positive correlation between 238U and 232Th, implicating that the levels of these elements are interdependent. Our SEM-EDAX analyses reveal that titanium (Ti) and zircon (Zr) are the major trace elements in the sand samples, followed by aluminum, copper, iron, ruthenium, magnesium, calcium, sulphur and lead. This is first of its kind report on the radiation hazard indices on this placer deposit. The average absorbed dose rates (9795 nGy h−1) computed from the present study is comparable with the top-ranking HBRAs in the world, thus offering the Chavara-Neendakara placer the second position, after Brazil; pertinently, this value is much higher than the World average. The perceptibly high absorbed gamma dose rates, entrained with the high annual external effective dose rates (AEED) and average annual gonadal dose equivalent (AGDE) values existing in this HBRA, encourage us to suggest for a candid assessment of the impact of the background radiation, if any, on the organisms that inhabit along this placer deposit. Future research could effectively address the issue of the possible impact of natural radiation on the biota inhabiting this HBRA.
Antibiotic treatment and intestinal colonization by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cancer patients

To determine whether antibiotic treatment increases the risk of colonization by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, we performed a case-control study comparing antibiotic exposure in cancer patients colonized by P. aeruginosa and in noncolonized controls. Of 88 patients, 76 had been exposed to at least one antibiotic, but colonization was not statistically associated with exposure to any specific antibiotic treatment, administered orally or parenterally, alone or in combination.
Cyclic vomiting syndrome: diagnostic approach and current management strategies

Cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS) is a disorder characterized by episodes of nausea and vomiting lasting for 1–5 days followed by asymptomatic periods. The etiology of CVS is unknown, but it shares similar characteristics to migraine headaches. CVS is generally classified as having four phases: prodromal, acute/vomiting/hyperemesis, recovery, and remission/interepisodic. Current management strategies include trigger avoidance, abortive and prophylactic medication therapies, and supportive care. The goal of therapy for the remission phase is prophylaxis of further episodes. Antidepressant, antiepileptic, and antimigraine medications show an overall reduction or remission of CVS symptoms in more than 70% of patients. This article provides a summary of diagnostic strategies and reviews current management strategies for CVS.
Adding Insult to Injury

Intimates regularly confront their partners to motivate them to change undesirable behaviors. Nevertheless, contextual perspectives suggest that qualities of the partner may determine the implications of such attempts. Consistent with these ideas, a pilot study of romantic relationships, an observational study of newlyweds, and a diary study of married couples demonstrated that partner depression moderates the association between confrontational partner-regulation behaviors and partners’ motivation, such that confrontational behaviors were associated with marginally greater motivation to resolve problems among partners who were experiencing relatively few depressive symptoms, but significantly less motivation among partners who were experiencing relatively more depressive symptoms. Furthermore, Study 2 provided evidence for the mechanism of these effects—relationship self-efficacy. Finally, these studies also demonstrated that benevolent behaviors were particularly motivating for partners who were experiencing more depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the important roles played by depression, relationship self-efficacy, and context in interpersonal communication.
Monitoring autocorrelated processes using a distribution-free tabular CUSUM chart with automated variance estimation

We formulate and evaluate distribution-free statistical process control (SPC) charts for monitoring shifts in the mean of an autocorrelated process when a training data set is used to estimate the marginal variance of the process and the variance parameter (i.e., the sum of covariances at all lags). Two alternative variance estimators are adapted for automated use in DFTC-VE, a distribution-free tabular CUSUM chart, based on the simulation-analysis methods of standardized time series and a simplified combination of autoregressive representation and non-overlapping batch means. Extensive experimentation revealed that these variance estimators did not seriously degrade DFTC-VE's performance compared with its performance using the exact values of the marginal variance and the variance parameter. Moreover, DFTC-VE's performance compared favorably with that of other competing distribution-free SPC charts. [Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of IIE Transactions for the following free supplementary resource: Appendix]
Ultrastructural detection of DNA strand breaks in apoptotic neural cells by in situ end‐labelling techniques

Recently developed techniques based on ‘in situ end‐labelling’ (ISEL) of DNA strand breaks may help to identify apoptotic cells in tissue sections. We have applied ISEL techniques at the electron microscopic (EM) level, in order to verify if ultrastructural features of apoptosis are indeed associated with evidence of DNA fragmentation, and whether cells committed to, but which have not yet entered the stage of cell death are also labelled. Terminal transferase and DNA polymerase assays were applied to thin sections of Araldite and LR Gold‐embedded medulloblastomas and embryonic mouse dorsal root ganglia. Digoxigenin‐labelled nucleotides were used; incorporation was demonstrated by immunogold staining. Apoptotic cells in various stages of the death process were easily labelled in both tissues. In addition, DNA fragmentation was demonstrated in cells with initial chromatin condensation, but otherwise indistinguishable from adjacent unstained cells. Our results show that EM‐ISEL techniques effectively demonstrate the occurrence of DNA strand breaks in apoptotic and possibly ‘pre‐apoptotic’ cells in neural tissues. Since the labelling is easily obtained on tissue that is routinely processed for electron microscopy, this technique may allow retrospective studies on archival material.
Achieving secure and scalable data access control in information-centric networking

Shifting from host-oriented to data-oriented, information-centric networking (ICN) adopts several key design principles, e.g., in-network caching, to cope with the tremendous internet growth. In the ICN setting, data to be distributed can be cached by ICN routers anywhere and accessed arbitrarily by customers without data publishers' permission, which imposes new challenges when achieving data access control: (i) security: How can data publishers protect data confidentiality (either data cached by ICN routers or data accessed by authorized users) even when an authorized user's decryption key was revoked or compromised, and (ii) scalability: How can data publishers leverage ICN's promising features and enforce access control without complicated key management or extensive communication. This paper addresses these challenges by using the new proposed dual-phase encryption that uniquely combines the ideas from one-time decryption key, proxy re-encryption and all-or-nothing transformation, while still being able to leverage ICN's features. Our analysis and performance show that our solution is highly efficient and provable secure under the existing security model.
Microtubule-independent secretion requires functional maturation of Golgi elements

ABSTRACT The Golgi complex is responsible for processing and sorting of secretory cargos. Microtubules are known to accelerate the transport of proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi complex and from the Golgi to the plasma membrane. However, whether post-Golgi transport strictly requires microtubules is still unclear. Using the retention using selective hooks (RUSH) system to synchronize the trafficking of cargos, we show that anterograde transport of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is strongly reduced without microtubules. We show that two populations of Golgi elements co-exist in these cells. A centrally located and giantin-positive Golgi complex that sustains trafficking, and newly formed peripheral Golgi mini-stacks that accumulate cargos in cells without microtubules. Using a genome-edited GFP–giantin cell line, we observe that the trafficking-competent Golgi population corresponds to the pre-existing population that was present before removal of microtubules. All Golgi elements support trafficking after long-term depletion of microtubules and after relocation of Golgi proteins to the ER after treatment with Brefeldin A. Our results demonstrate that functional maturation of Golgi elements is needed to ensure post-Golgi trafficking, and that microtubule-driven post-Golgi transport is not strictly required. Summary: Functional maturation of Golgi elements is necessary to make them competent for secretion. We highlight this process in cells without microtubules and show that the recycling of Golgi factors is essential.
Synaptic vesicle redistribution during hippocampal frequency potentiation and depression in young and aged rats

Technical complexities associated with studies of defined synapses in the mammalian CNS have made it difficult to determine whether CNS synaptic vesicles respond to repetitive monosynaptic activation in the same ways as do PNS vesicles. Moreover, even in the PNS, the specific ultrastructural correlates of short-term synaptic potentiation are not well characterized. In the present studies, therefore, the Schaffer collateral-commissural fiber projection to field CA1 of the hippocampus was used as a model brain system in which to assess quantitative relations between dynamic vesicle patterns and frequency potentiation and depression. Anesthetized rats were perfused with aldehyde fixative during stimulation trains and concomitant microelectrode recording in order to study temporal correlations between physiology and synaptic structure. In addition, young and aged animals were compared to determine whether there are ultrastructural correlates of a previously described age-related impairment of hippocampal frequency potentiation. After 1 min of 10 Hz synaptic stimulation (stim), frequency potentiation of the population spike was correlated with increases in local vesicles (LV; within 150 nm of the active zone) and in vesicles directly apposed (AV) to the active zone membrane of CA 1 synapses. In addition, the ratio LVD: DVD of local-to-distant vesicle (DV; beyond 150 nm) densities was increased under all stimulation conditions. After 10 min of 10 Hz stim, or 1 min of 40 Hz stim, some vesicle depletion (approximately 25%) was present, as was some spike depression or decline from peak potentiation. However, LV depletion was not well correlated with degree of spike depression. Mean dendritic spine area was also increased in association with potentiation (at 1 min of 10 Hz stim) in young rats. Membrane infoldings similar to the cisternae described in other systems were seen with repetitive stimulation, providing evidence of vesicle recycling in these CNS terminals. In comparison to young control animals, terminals in non-stimulated aged group control rats exhibited a higher LVD:DVD ratio and a reduced DVD. In addition, the stimulation-induced increase in AV at 1 min of 10 Hz stim was not present in aged rat synapses. However, no age-related differences in vesicle-density measures were found at any stimulation point.
Wide and multi-band antenna design using the genetic algorithm to create amorphous shapes using ellipses

A method is demonstrated for generating compact, broadband and multi-band antennas using ellipses to create new amorphous shapes with greater bandwidth and less return loss that previously demonstrated. The genetic algorithm is used to optimize the design. Four example designs are given including amorphous patches and amorphous monopoles. FDTD is used to simulate the designs allowing the user to embed a low insertion loss design directly into a heterogenous structure or dielectric material.
Joint Calibration for Semantic Segmentation

Semantic segmentation is the task of assigning a class-label to each pixel in an image. We propose a region-based semantic segmentation framework which handles both full and weak supervision, and addresses three common problems: (1) Objects occur at multiple scales and therefore we should use regions at multiple scales. However, these regions are overlapping which creates conflicting class predictions at the pixel-level. (2) Class frequencies are highly imbalanced in realistic datasets. (3) Each pixel can only be assigned to a single class, which creates competition between classes. We address all three problems with a joint calibration method which optimizes a multi-class loss defined over the final pixel-level output labeling, as opposed to simply region classification. Our method outperforms the state-of-the-art on the popular SIFT Flow [18] dataset in both the fully and weakly supervised setting by a considerably margin (+6% and +10%, respectively).
Release of endogenous 5‐hydroxytryptamine from the myenteric plexus of the guinea‐pig isolated small intestine

1 The presence of 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT) and its metabolite 5‐hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5‐HIAA) in, and the release of these substances from, the myenteric plexus‐longitudinal muscle (MPLM) layer of the guinea‐pig isolated small intestine were investigated. 5‐HT and 5‐HIAA were measured by high performance liquid chromatography and electrochemical detection. 2 Freshly prepared MPLM contained measurable amounts of 5‐HT and 5‐HIAA. For the release experiments, the MPLM was incubated in a medium containing the 5‐HT uptake inhibitor fluoxetine and the monoamine oxidase inhibitor nialamide; this led to a decrease in the 5‐HIAA content of the MPLM whereas the 5‐HT content remained unchanged. 3 There was a spontaneous release of 5‐HT and 5‐HIAA from the MPLM. The release of 5‐HT was so small that it was just detectable; it seemed equivalent to about 0.8% of the tissue stores released per min. 4 Depolarization of the tissue by increasing the [K+] or by exposing it to veratridine enhanced the release of 5‐HT in a Ca2+‐dependent manner whereas the release of 5‐HIAA was not increased. Tetrodotoxin inhibited the veratridine‐evoked release of 5‐HT but did not affect the K+‐evoked release of 5‐HT. 5 The presence of 5‐HT in myenteric neurones and the characteristics of the release of 5‐HT from these neurones strongly support the hypothesis that 5‐HT is an enteric neurotransmitter.
Reliability of mycobacteria growth indicator tube for testing susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to ethambutol and streptomycin

The reliability of mycobacterial growth indicator tubes (MGIT) for testing susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to ethambutol and streptomycin was evaluated by comparing MGIT results to those obtained by the radiometric BACTEC TB system and the method of proportion. The method of proportion was considered the reference method. To resolve discrepancies, all three testing methods were repeated. For the 74 isolates evaluated, initial ethambutol results agreed by all three methods for 64 (86.5%) of them; 58 were susceptible and 6 were resistant. MGIT and method-of-proportion results agreed for 67 isolates, and BACTEC results agreed with method-of-proportion results for 71 (P = 0.096). Initial streptomycin results obtained by all three methods agreed for 69 (93.2%) isolates: 55 were susceptible and 14 were resistant. MGIT and method-of-proportion results were concordant for 69 isolates, and BACTEC and method-of-proportion results agreed for 73 (P = 0.049). The mean times to MGIT results were 5.58 +/- 0.10 days (range, 3 to 9 days) for ethambutol and 5.47 +/- 0.11 days (range, 3 to 9 days) for streptomycin, compared to a mean of 7.41 +/- 0.20 days (range, 4 to 12 days) for both drugs with the BACTEC system (P < 0.001).
Validation of a short food frequency questionnaire specific for iodine in U.K. females of childbearing age.

BACKGROUND Widespread subclinical iodine insufficiency has recently been reported in Europe, based on urinary iodine using World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization criteria, in particular among young women. Although urinary iodine concentration (UIC) is a useful measurement of the iodine status in a population, it does not provide an insight into the habitual iodine intake of this population. This is compounded by the fact that very few iodine-specific food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) have been validated so far. The present study aimed to develop and validate a new, simple, rapid survey tool to assess dietary iodine exposure in females of childbearing age. METHODS Iodine was measured in a duplicate 24-h urine collection. Iodine intake was measured with duplicate 4-day semi-quantitative food diaries and the FFQ. Correlation, cross-classification and Bland-Altman analyses were used to estimate agreement, bias and the reliability of the method. The triangular (triad) method was used to calculate validity coefficients. RESULTS Forty-three women, aged 19-49 years, took part in the validation of the 17-items FFQ. Median (interquartile range) UIC was 74 (47-92) μg L(-1) , which is indicative of mild iodine insufficiency. The FFQ showed good agreement with food diaries with respect to classifying iodine intake (82% of subjects were classified in the same or adjacent quartile). The FFQ was moderately correlated with the food diaries (rs = 0.45, P = 0.002) and urinary excretion in μg L(-1) (rs = 0.34, P = 0.025) but not in μg day(-1) (P = 0.316). The validity coefficients were 0.69, 0.66 and 0.52 for the food diaries, FFQ and urinary iodine excretion, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The FFQ provides a rapid and reliable estimate of dietary iodine exposure to identify those population subgroups at risk of iodine deficiency.
FIRST HARD X-RAY DETECTION OF THE NON-THERMAL EMISSION AROUND THE ARCHES CLUSTER: MORPHOLOGY AND SPECTRAL STUDIES WITH NuSTAR

The Arches cluster is a young, densely packed massive star cluster in our Galaxy that shows a high level of star formation activity. The nature of the extended non-thermal X-ray emission around the cluster remains unclear. The observed bright Fe Kα line emission at 6.4 keV from material that is neutral or in a low ionization state can be produced either by X-ray photoionization or by cosmic-ray particle bombardment or both. In this paper, we report on the first detection of the extended emission around the Arches cluster above 10 keV with the NuSTAR mission, and present results on its morphology and spectrum. The spatial distribution of the hard X-ray emission is found to be consistent with the broad region around the cluster where the 6.4 keV line is observed. The interpretation of the hard X-ray emission within the context of the X-ray reflection model puts a strong constraint on the luminosity of the possible illuminating hard X-ray source. The properties of the observed emission are also in broad agreement with the low-energy cosmic-ray proton excitation scenario.