Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased levels of interleukin-6 exacerbate the dystrophic phenotype in mdx mice

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is characterized by progressive lethal muscle degeneration and chronic inflammatory response. The mdx mouse strain has served as the animal model for human DMD. However, while DMD patients undergo extensive necrosis, the affected muscles of adult mdx mice rapidly regenerates and regains structural and functional integrity. The basis for the mild effects observed in mice compared with the lethal consequences in humans remains unknown. In this study, we provide evidence that interleukin-6 (IL-6) is causally linked to the pathogenesis of muscular dystrophy. We report that forced expression of IL-6, in the adult mdx mice, recapitulates the severe phenotypic characteristics of DMD in humans. Increased levels of IL-6 exacerbate the dystrophic muscle phenotype, sustaining inflammatory response and repeated cycles of muscle degeneration and regeneration, leading to exhaustion of satellite cells. The mdx/IL6 mouse closely approximates the human disease and more faithfully recapitulates the disease progression in humans. This study promises to significantly advance our understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms that lead to DMD.
A GOAL/QUESTION/METRIC RESEARCH PROPOSAL TO MONITOR USER INVOLVEMENT AND PARTICIPATION IN ERP IMPLEMENTATION PROJECTS

ERP implementation project success is influenced by a large number of factors, which most of the time are difficult to measure objectively. User involvement and participation is one of the most cited critical success factors in ERP implementation projects, and one of the most critical ones for their satisfactory outcome. This study attempts to define a set of metrics for monitoring user involvement and participation within ERP implementation projects by using the Goals/Questions/Metrics method. The results of this work are twofold. First, a literature review is presented on the user involvement and participation topic as related with ERP implementation projects. And second, the use of the Goals/Questions/Metrics method is proposed to develop a metrics plan to monitor and control user involvement and participation within ERP implementation projects.
A long hard look at MCG–6-30-15 with XMM-Newton

We present the first results from a 325-ks observation of the Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG–6-30-15 with XMM-Newton and BeppoSAX. The strong, broad, skewed iron line is clearly detected and is well characterized by a steep emissivity profile within 6rg (i.e. 6GM/c2) and a flatter profile beyond. The inner radius of the emission appears to lie at about 2rg, consistent with results reported from both an earlier XMM-Newton observation of MCG–6-30-15 by Wilms et al. and part of an ASCA observation by Iwasawa et al. when the source was in a lower flux state. The radius and steep emissivity profile do depend however on an assumed incident power-law continuum and a lack of complex absorption above 2.5 keV. The blue wing of the line profile is indented, either by absorption at about 6.7 keV or by a hydrogenic iron emission line. The broad iron line flux does not follow the continuum variations in a simple manner.
Olfactory Imprinting of Amino Acids in Lacustrine Sockeye Salmon

Juvenile salmon have an olfactory ability to imprint their natal stream odors, but neither the odor properties of natal stream water nor the imprinting timing and duration have been clarified as yet. Here we show, using electrophysiological and behavioral experiments, that one-year-old lacustrine sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) can be imprinted around the stage of parr-smolt transformation (PST) by a single amino acid, 1 µM L-proline (Pro), or L-glutamic acid (Glu). We also show by real-time PCR that changes occur in mRNA levels of the salmon olfactory imprinting-related gene (SOIG) around PST. The electro-olfactogram (EOG) responses of test fish exposed to Pro in March (before PST) and April–June (during PST) for 2 weeks were significantly (1.7-fold) greater than those of non-exposed control fish, but not those of test fish exposed in July (after PST). When Pro and control water were added to the water inlets of a two-choice test tank during the spawning season 2 years after the test water exposure, 80% of maturing and matured test fish exposed before and during PST showed a preference for Pro, whereas those exposed after PST did not. The EOG response of test fish exposed to Pro or Glu for 1 hour, 6 hours, 1 day, 7 days, or 14 days in May revealed that only the response after 14 days of exposure was significantly (1.8-fold) greater than the control. The expression levels of SOIG mRNA increased before and during PST, and decreased after PST. We conclude that one-year-old lacustrine sockeye salmon can be imprinted by a single amino acid before and during PST, and that imprinting requires exposure for at least 14 days.
Shock Formation in a Multidimensional Viscoelastic Diffusive System

We examine a model for non-Fickian “sorption overshoot” behavior in diffusive polymer-penetrant systems. The equations of motion proposed by Cohen and White [SIAM J. Appl. Math., 51 (1991), pp. 472–483] are solved for two-dimensional problems using matched asymptotic expansions. The phenomenon of shock formation predicted by the model is examined and contrasted with similar behavior in classical reaction-diffusion systems. Mass uptake curves produced by the model are examined and shown to compare favorably with experimental observations.
Factors associated with recurrent stroke and recanalization in patients presenting with isolated symptomatic carotid occlusion

Patients with symptomatic internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion constitute a small proportion of stroke/transient ischaemic attack patients who are at increased risk of early stroke recurrence and poor outcome. The optimal medical treatment for patients with symptomatic ICA occlusion who are ineligible for thrombolysis or thrombectomy is unknown.
Physiological arousal as a function of imagined, vicarious, and direct stress experiences.

The study examined the extent to which skin conductance (SC), heart rate (HR), and respiration rate (RR) indexes indicated similarities and differences among arousal patterns to direct aversive stimulation, observing another experiencing the situation, and imagining oneself in the situation. Holding one's hand in 2° C. water provided the aversive situation. 36 male and 36 female unselected undergraduates underwent the 3 experiences in balanced orders. The results indicated that the direct experience was the most arousing, but the imaginative and vicarious experiences could not be clearly distinguished from one another when the magnitude of change was considered. Qualitative differentiation appeared in HR changes with the direct and imagined experiences producing HR acceleration and the vicarious experience producing deceleration. The implications of the findings for desensitization procedures and social learning theory were discussed.
On the impact of crosscutting concern projection on code measurement

Many concern metrics have been defined to quantify properties of crosscutting concerns, such as scattering, tangling, and dedication. To quantify these properties, concern metrics directly rely on the projection (assignment) of concerns into source code. Although concern identification tools have emerged over the last years, they are still rarely used in practice to support concern projection and, therefore, it is a task often performed manually. This means that the results of concern metrics are likely to be influenced by how accurately programmers assign concerns to code elements. Even though concern assignment is an important and long-standing problem in software engineering, its impact on accurate measures of crosscutting concerns has never been studied and quantified. This paper presents a series of 5 controlled experiments to quantify and analyse the impact of concern projection on crosscutting concern measures. A set of 80 participants from 4 different institutions projected 10 concern instances into the source code of two software systems. We analyse the accuracy of concern projections independently made by developers, and their impact on a set of 12 concern metrics. Our results suggest that: (i) programmers are conservative when projecting crosscutting concerns, (ii) all concern metrics suffer with such conservative behaviour, and (iii) fine-grained tangling measures are more sensitive to different concern projections than coarse-grained scattering metrics.
A New Measurement of The

A novel scheme for measuring the cross section of the 7Be(p,γ)8B reaction, the major source of high energy neutrinos from the sun, is presented. The scheme involves a strictly uniform particle beam and overcomes some of the recognized experimental uncertainties of previous measurements. A new measurement of σ[7Li(d,p)8Li] has been carried out using this setup, and the present value of σ[7Li(d,p)8Li] = 155(8) mbarn at the top of the Ed(lab.) = 776 keV resonance is compared to previous measurements. A new issue regarding both the (d,p) and (p,γ) reactions has been examined: reaction-product nuclei which are backscattered out of the target. Measurements and simulations carried out in the course of this investigation are presented and discussed in the context of possible effects on the measured cross sections of these reactions. PACS Numbers: 95.30. Cq; 96.60. Kx; 25.45. Hi
Natural entrainment of collocated mechanical systems via decentralized multi-agent feedback

This paper considers the design of feedback controllers for a class of collocated mechanical systems, aiming to achieve a natural mode of oscillation as a stable limit cycle of the closed-loop system. Motivated by recent results on central pattern generators, the controller is formed as a collection of multiple identical agents without direct communications to each other. Each agent is described as a transfer function followed by a static nonlinearity, and is placed between a sensor/actuator pair. Several simple linear dynamics are considered for the agents. The method of multivariable harmonic balance (MHB) is used to obtain approximate conditions for achieving entrainment to a natural oscillation, and numerical examples suggest that the proposed design conditions are fairly reliable in spite of sinusoidal approximations adopted in the MHB method. It is found that a band-pass filtering property is essential for the linear dynamics of each agent to achieve entrainment to an arbitrarily specified mode of natural oscillation.
A Fully-Integrated 16-Element Phased-Array Receiver in SiGe BiCMOS for 60-GHz Communications

A fully-integrated 16-element 60-GHz phased-array receiver is implemented in IBM 0.12-μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The receiver employs RF-path phase-shifting and is designed for multi-Gb/s non-line of sight links in the 60-GHz ISM band (IEEE 802.15.3c and 802.11ad). Each RF front-end includes variable-gain LNAs and phase shifters with each front-end capable of 360° variable phase shift (11.25° phase resolution) from 57 GHz to 66 GHz with coarse/fine gain steps. A detailed analysis of the noise trade-offs in the receiver array design is presented to motivate architectural choices. The hybrid active and passive signal-combining network in the receiver uses a differential cross-coupled Gysel power combiner that reduces combiner loss and area. Each array front-end has 6.8-dB noise figure (at 22°C ) and the array has -10 dB to 58 dB programmable gain from single-input to output. Sixteen 60-GHz aperture-coupled patch-antennas and the RX IC are packaged together in multi-layer organic and LTCC packages. The packaged RX IC is capable of operating in all four IEEE 802.15.3c channels (58.32 to 64.8 GHz). Beam-forming and beam-steering measurements show good performance with 50-ns beam switching time. 5.3-Gb/s OFDM 16-QAM and 4.5 Gb/s SC 16-QAM links are demonstrated using the packaged RX ICs. Both line-of-sight links (~7.8 m spacing) and non-line-of-sight links using reflections (~9 m total path length) have been demonstrated with better than -18 dB EVM. The 16-element receiver consumes 1.8 W and occupies 37.7 mm2 of die area.
Diversity in causes and characteristics of drug-induced deaths in an urban setting

Aims: To assess demographic characteristics, treatment utilization and circumstances of death among those who died from drug-induced deaths in an urban setting and to identify possible subpopulations that should be targeted specifically to further develop preventive public health policies. Methods: Subjects (N = 231) who died, from drug-induced deaths, in the Norwegian capital Oslo (2006–2008) were identified through the National Cause of Death Registry. Data on toxicology, prison release and contact with health and social services in Oslo were collected. Results: Majority of cases were men (78%) and the mean age was 37 years. Nearly all cases (90%) were polydrug intoxications. Heroin was implicated in 67%. Residential address was the most common place of death (67%). Most cases (82%) had been in contact with health and social services in the year before death. Women were 4 years older, more often Oslo residents (82% vs. 64%) and fewer died from heroin intoxication. Non-Oslo residents were younger and more likely to have been found outdoors with heroin as the main intoxicant. Other identified subpopulations were those who died after prison release and those discharged from drug treatment. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the majority of cases could have been available for preventive measures through their contacts with health and social services. Yet, the heterogeneity among cases indicates that such measures need to be multifaceted. Finally, it is important for policymakers and health and social workers in various countries to consider subpopulations such as women and non-city residents when developing public health interventions to prevent overdose deaths.
Organizational Innovation

This paper examines the dynamic and multi-level relationship between organization and innovation from three different but interdependent perspectives: a) the relationship between organizational structural forms and innovativeness; b) innovation as a process of organizational learning and knowledge creation; and c) organizational capacity for change and adaptation. It provides a critical review of the literature, focusing especially on the question of whether organizations can change and adapt to major discontinuous technological change and environmental shifts, or whether radical transformation in organizational forms occurs principally at the population level through the process of selection. This is discussed with reference to organizational ecology theories, the punctuated equilibrium model and theories of strategic adaptation and continuous change. The paper argues that organizational innovation may be a necessary pre-condition for technological innovation, and thus it is important to take greater account of the role of endogenous organizational forces such as capacity for learning, values, interests and power in shaping organizational transformation and technological change.
This information is current as Murine Peritoneal Macrophages-Dependent Pathway of Differentiation for β Identification of a Tissue-Specific , C / EBP

Macrophages and dendritic cells (DC) are distributed throughout the body and play important roles in pathogen detection and tissue homeostasis. In tissues, resident macrophages exhibit distinct phenotypes and activities, yet the transcriptional pathways that specify tissue-specific macrophages are largely unknown. We investigated the functions and origins of two peritoneal macrophage populations in mice: small and large peritoneal macrophages (SPM and LPM, respectively). SPM and LPM differ in their ability to phagocytose apoptotic cells, as well as in the production of cytokines in response to LPS. In steady-state conditions, SPM are sustained by circulating precursors, whereas LPM are maintained independently of hematopoiesis; however, both populations are replenished by bone marrow precursors following radiation injury. Transcription factor analysis revealed that SPM and LPM express abundant CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP)-b. Cebpb 2/2 mice exhibit elevated numbers of SPM-like cells but lack functional LPM. Alveolar macrophages are also missing in Cebpb 2/2 mice, although macrophage populations in the spleen, kidney, skin, mesenteric lymph nodes, and liver are normal. Adoptive transfer of SPM into Cebpb 2/2 mice results in SPM differentiation into LPM, yet donor SPM do not generate LPM after transfer into C/EBPb-sufficient mice, suggesting that endogenous LPM inhibit differentiation by SPM. We conclude that C/EBPb plays an intrinsic, tissue-restricted role in the generation of resident macrophages. A nimal tissues contain macrophages and dendritic cells (DC) that constitute a network of cells dubbed the mononuclear phagocyte system (1). Among tissues, resident phagocytes exhibit substantial phenotypic heterogeneity, likely reflecting tissue-specific function (2). Macrophage diversity is thought to result from environmental cues in tissues that induce distinct differentiation programs in macrophages or their precursors. However, the differentiation pathways that generate tissue-specific macrophages are largely unknown (3). Moreover, recent studies have challenged the long-standing hypothesis that tissue-resident macrophages arise from circulating monocytes (1), instead indicating that some mac-rophage compartments are established by fetal precursors and maintained independently of hematopoiesis (4, 5). Macrophages of the murine peritoneal cavity are among the best-studied tissue macrophage compartments. Peritoneal macrophages play important roles in clearing apoptotic cells (6) and coordinating inflammatory responses (7–9). A recent study (10) demonstrated that mouse peritoneal macrophages can be divided into two subsets: large peritoneal macrophages and small peritoneal macro-phages (LPM and SPM, respectively). LPM make up the majority of peritoneal macrophages and express high levels of F4/80, CD11b, and CD93 but lack MHC class II (MHCII); SPM, in contrast, express lower levels of F4/80, CD11b, …
NODULE INCEPTION Directly Targets NF-Y Subunit Genes to Regulate Essential Processes of Root Nodule Development in Lotus japonicus

The interactions of legumes with symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria cause the formation of specialized lateral root organs called root nodules. It has been postulated that this root nodule symbiosis system has recruited factors that act in early signaling pathways (common SYM genes) partly from the ancestral mycorrhizal symbiosis. However, the origins of factors needed for root nodule organogenesis are largely unknown. NODULE INCEPTION (NIN) is a nodulation-specific gene that encodes a putative transcription factor and acts downstream of the common SYM genes. Here, we identified two Nuclear Factor-Y (NF-Y) subunit genes, LjNF-YA1 and LjNF-YB1, as transcriptional targets of NIN in Lotus japonicus. These genes are expressed in root nodule primordia and their translational products interact in plant cells, indicating that they form an NF-Y complex in root nodule primordia. The knockdown of LjNF-YA1 inhibited root nodule organogenesis, as did the loss of function of NIN. Furthermore, we found that NIN overexpression induced root nodule primordium-like structures that originated from cortical cells in the absence of bacterial symbionts. Thus, NIN is a crucial factor responsible for initiating nodulation-specific symbiotic processes. In addition, ectopic expression of either NIN or the NF-Y subunit genes caused abnormal cell division during lateral root development. This indicated that the Lotus NF-Y subunits can function to stimulate cell division. Thus, transcriptional regulation by NIN, including the activation of the NF-Y subunit genes, induces cortical cell division, which is an initial step in root nodule organogenesis. Unlike the legume-specific NIN protein, NF-Y is a major CCAAT box binding protein complex that is widespread among eukaryotes. We propose that the evolution of root nodules in legume plants was associated with changes in the function of NIN. NIN has acquired functions that allow it to divert pathways involved in the regulation of cell division to root nodule organogenesis.
Identification of Multiple-Input Systems with Highly Coupled Inputs: Application to EMG Prediction from Multiple Intracortical Electrodes

A robust identification algorithm has been developed for linear, time-invariant, multiple-input single-output systems, with an emphasis on how this algorithm can be used to estimate the dynamic relationship between a set of neural recordings and related physiological signals. The identification algorithm provides a decomposition of the system output such that each component is uniquely attributable to a specific input signal, and then reduces the complexity of the estimation problem by discarding those input signals that are deemed to be insignificant. Numerical difficulties due to limited input bandwidth and correlations among the inputs are addressed using a robust estimation technique based on singular value decomposition. The algorithm has been evaluated on both simulated and experimental data. The latter involved estimating the relationship between up to 40 simultaneously recorded motor cortical signals and peripheral electromyograms (EMGs) from four upper limb muscles in a freely moving primate.The algorithm performed well in both cases:it provided reliable estimates of the system output and significantly reduced the number of inputs needed for output prediction. For example, although physiological recordings from up to 40 different neuronal signals were available, the input selection algorithm reduced this to 10 neuronal signals that made signicant contributions to the recorded EMGs.
Department of Economics and Finance Working Paper Series @bullet the Effects of Inflation and Demographic Change on Property Crime: a Structural Time Series Approach

This paper extends previous empirical research on the determinants of aggregate property crime rates in two dimensions. First, we examine the effect of inflation on property crime rates. Then, using a structural time-series approach we show that it is possible to estimate consistently the effects of exogenous macroeconomic variables on aggregate property crime rates without introducing endogenous deterrence to the model. Inflation is statistically significant, positive, and persistent for all property crime rates examined. We conclude that price stability contributes considerably to the reduction of property crimes. for their assistance and helpful comments through the evolution of this paper. Any remaining errors are our own. -1
Advances in ion back-flow reduction in cascaded gaseous electron multipliers incorporating R-MHSP elements

We present and discuss in details a concept for the reduction of ion back-flow in GEM-based cascaded gaseous electron multipliers, by incorporating Micro-Hole & Strip Plate (MHSP) elements operating in reversed-bias mode (R-MHSP). About an order of magnitude reduction in ion back-flow is achieved by diverting back-drifting ions from their original path. A R-MHSP/2GEM/MHSP cascaded multiplier operated at total gain of ~ 1.5 × 105 yielded ion back-flow fractions of 1.5 × 10-3 and 4 × 10-4, at drift fields of 0.5 and 0.1 kV/cm, respectively. A 2R-MHSP/MHSP cascaded multiplier operated at a total gain of ~ 105, yielded an ion back-flow fraction of 3 × 10-3. We discuss the concept for trapping back-flowing ions in these cascaded multipliers and the relevance to gaseous photomultiplier and TPC applications; directions for future developments are outlined.