Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vitamin D Receptor Activators and Clinical Outcomes in Chronic Kidney Disease

Vitamin D deficiency appears to be an underestimated risk factor for cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease. Evidence from both basic science and clinical studies supports the possible protective role of vitamin D beyond its effect on mineral metabolism. Toxicity of pharmacologic doses of active vitamin D metabolites, in particular calcitriol, is mainly due to the possibility of positive calcium and phosphorus balance. Therefore, vitamin D analogs have been developed, which suppress PTH secretion and synthesis with reduced calcemic and phosphatemic effects. Observational studies suggest that in hemodialysis patients the use of a vitamin D receptor (VDR) activator, such as calcitriol, doxercalciferol, paricalcitol, or alfacalcidol, is associated with a reduced mortality when compared with nonusers of any VDR activator. In this article the existing literature on the topic is reviewed, although a more robust answer to the question of whether or not VDR activators have beneficial effects in hemodialysis patients will hopefully come from a randomized controlled trial.
Effect of permanent magnet stirring on internal quality of steel

Permanent magnet stirring (PMS) featuring low power dissipation and high-intensity magnetic field was investigated as a means of decreasing internal solidification defects. In this study, the magnetic Taylor number (Ta) was used to quantify the melt ﬂow. Initial research of PMS involved a laboratory study of the solidification of Sn–20 wt-% Pb alloy. An industrial plant trial with continuously cast tire cord steel confirmed that PMS, in accord with the laboratory findings, produced an improvement in central cavities in the cast product. Moreover, it was established that PMS is an alternative method for reducing carbon macrosegregation in tire cord steel billets with different section sizes. It was also found that PMS (Ta = 8.97 × 107) was more effective for improving central carbon macrosegregation of tire cord steel than electromagnetic stirring (Ta = 6.33 × 107) due to the larger Ta related to the driven-flow intensity of the residual melt.
Articulatory-to-acoustic relations in response to speaking rate and loudness manipulations.

PURPOSE In this investigation, the authors determined the strength of association between tongue kinematic and speech acoustics changes in response to speaking rate and loudness manipulations. Performance changes in the kinematic and acoustic domains were measured using two aspects of speech production presumably affecting speech clarity: phonetic specification and variability. METHOD Tongue movements for the vowels /ia/ were recorded in 10 healthy adults during habitual, fast, slow, and loud speech using three-dimensional electromagnetic articulography. To determine articulatory-to-acoustic relations for phonetic specification, the authors correlated changes in lingual displacement with changes in acoustic vowel distance. To determine articulatory-to-acoustic relations for phonetic variability, the authors correlated changes in lingual movement variability with changes in formant movement variability. RESULTS A significant positive linear association was found for kinematic and acoustic specification but not for kinematic and acoustic variability. Several significant speaking task effects were also observed. CONCLUSION Lingual displacement is a good predictor of acoustic vowel distance in healthy talkers. The weak association between kinematic and acoustic variability raises questions regarding the effects of articulatory variability on speech clarity and intelligibility, particularly in individuals with motor speech disorders.
Nursing Doctorates in Brazil: research formation and theses production

OBJECTIVE: to analyze the formation of nursing doctorates in Brazil, from theses production, disciplines and other strategies focusing on research offered by courses. METHOD: a descriptive and analytical study of the performance of 18 doctoral courses in nursing, running from 1982 to 2010, and defended their theses between 2010-2012. RESULTS: 502 theses were defended in this period, most linked to the online research process of health and nursing care. There are gaps in the knowledge of theoretical and philosophical foundations of care, nursing history and ethics. There are also weaknesses in the methodological design of the theses, with a predominance of descriptive and/or exploratory studies. This was consistent with international standards set with regards to the proposition of research of disciplines and complementary strategies in forming the doctorate. CONCLUSION: despite the efforts and advances in research formation, it is essential to expand to more robust research designs with a greater impact on production knowledge that is incorporated into practice.
ER-associated mitochondrial division links the distribution of mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA in yeast

Mitochondrial division is important for mitochondrial distribution and function. Recent data have demonstrated that ER–mitochondria contacts mark mitochondrial division sites, but the molecular basis and functions of these contacts are not understood. Here we show that in yeast, the ER–mitochondria tethering complex, ERMES, and the highly conserved Miro GTPase, Gem1, are spatially and functionally linked to ER-associated mitochondrial division. Gem1 acts as a negative regulator of ER–mitochondria contacts, an activity required for the spatial resolution and distribution of newly generated mitochondrial tips following division. Previous data have demonstrated that ERMES localizes with a subset of actively replicating mitochondrial nucleoids. We show that mitochondrial division is spatially linked to nucleoids and that a majority of these nucleoids segregate prior to division, resulting in their distribution into newly generated tips in the mitochondrial network. Thus, we postulate that ER-associated division serves to link the distribution of mitochondria and mitochondrial nucleoids in cells. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.00422. 001
Nitrate repression of the Escherichia coli pfl operon is mediated by the dual sensors NarQ and NarX and the dual regulators NarL and NarP

The pfl operon is expressed at high levels anaerobically. Growth of Escherichia coli in the presence of nitrate or nitrite led to a 45% decrease in expression when cells were cultivated in rich medium. Nitrate repression, however, was significantly enhanced (sevenfold) when the cells were cultured in minimal medium. Regulation of pfl expression by nitrate was dependent on the NarL, NarP, NarQ, and NarX proteins but independent of FNR, ArcA, and integration host factor, which are additional regulators of pfl expression. Strains unable to synthesize any one of the NarL, NarP, NarQ, or NarX proteins, but retaining the capacity to synthesize the remaining three, exhibited essentially normal nitrate regulation. In contrast, narL narP and narX narQ double null mutants were devoid of nitrate regulation when cultured in rich medium but they retained some nitrate repression (1.3-fold) when grown in minimal medium. By using lacZ fusions, it was possible to localize the DNA sequences required to mediate nitrate repression to the pfl promoter-regulatory region. DNase I footprinting studies identified five potential binding sites for the wild-type NarL protein in the pfl promoter-regulatory region. Specific footprints were obtained only when NarL was phosphorylated with acetyl phosphate before the binding reaction was performed. Each of the protected regions contained at least one heptamer sequence which has been deduced from mutagenesis studies to be essential for NarL binding (K. Tyson, A. Bell, J. Cole, and S. Busby, Mol. Microbiol. 7:151-157, 1993).
Geolocation and Stereo Height Estimation Using TerraSAR-X Spotlight Image Data

We have studied the geographic position of several high-resolution spotlight TSX images by investigating the location of deployed radar corner reflectors. Results show that the geolocation accuracy is better than the resolution cell in both azimuth and range directions. The same corner reflectors as well as distinct points on buildings are used to estimate the absolute height from stereo viewing spotlight TSX images to within a few decimeters accuracy.
Designing collaborative musical experiences for broad audiences

This paper reports on the design and audience evaluation of a collaborative interactive music system titled Polymetros. Designed for broad audiences, Polymetros aims to enable users without musical skills to experience collaborative music-making. First, we describe our design approach with reference to related research. A particular interest was to investigate how to provide novices with individual musical control within a collaborative context. We then present an audience evaluation that was conducted during an exhibition at a major art museum in the UK attended by large numbers of the general public across the age range. The results lead us to evaluate our design approach and reflect on implications for facilitating collaborative music-making for broad audiences. Furthermore, the findings provide interesting indications how the context of a public exhibition setting affects the audience interaction with such an interactive multi-player experience.
Effect of molecular architecture on single polymer adhesion.

Several applications require strong noncovalent adhesion of polymers to substrates. Graft and branched polymers have proven superior to linear polymers, but the molecular mechanism is still unclear. Here, this question is addressed on the single molecule level with an atomic force microscopy (AFM) based method. It is determined how the presence of side chains and their molecular architecture influence the adhesion and the mobility of polymers on solid substrates. Surprisingly, the adhesion of mobile polymers cannot significantly be improved by side chains or their architecture. Only for immobile polymers a significantly higher maximum rupture force for graft, bottle-brush, and branched polymers compared to linear chains is measured. Our results suggest that a combination of polymer architecture and strong molecular bonds is necessary to increase the polymer-surface contact area. An increased contact area together with intrachain cohesion (e.g., by entanglements) leads to improved polymer adhesion. These findings may prove useful for the design of stable polymer coatings.
The Globus project: a status report

The Globus project is a multi-institutional research effort that seeks to enable the construction of computational grids providing pervasive, dependable, and consistent access to high-performance computational resources, despite geographical distribution of both resources and users. Computational grid technology is being viewed as a critical element of future high-performance computing environments that will enable entirely new classes of computation-oriented applications, much as the World Wide Web fostered the development of new classes of information-oriented applications. The authors report on the status of the Globus project as of early 1998. They describe the progress that has been achieved to date in the development of the Globus toolkit, a set of core services for constructing grid tools and applications. They also discuss the Globus Ubiquitous Supercomputing Testbed (GUSTO) that they have constructed to enable large-scale evaluation of Globus technologies, and they review early experiences with the development of large-scale grid applications on the GUSTO testbed.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN REGIONAL SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES IN AUSTRALIA 1

The recognition that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is important for business sustainability has focused the bulk of research on explicit normative arguments for its adoption by large corporations. This ignores the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the investigation of how such firms actually perform CSR activities. This study begins with the premise that SMEs may design appropriate CSR strategies to address issues in local communities. SMEs operate within these communities and subsequently are more aware of community and environmental issues than their larger counterparts. From this emerges the aim of examining the reality of this proposition from the particular perspective of a regional city in Australia. The results show a gap between normative CSR proposals and the actual operation of CSR processes in this cohort of SMEs in a regional community. What is exposed is the complexity of CSR ‘on the ground at the business frontline’.
Topological Obstructions to Submanifold Stabilization

We consider the problem of local asymptotic feedback stabilization-via a continuously differentiable feedback law-of a control system ẋ = f(x,u) defined in Euclidean space Rn (with f being continuously differentiable) to a compact, connected, oriented m-dimensional submanifold M of Rn with codimension strictly larger than one. We obtain necessary conditions on the topology of M for such a stabilizing feedback law to exist. This extends the work done in, where only the codimension one case was treated. We also briefly discuss the case where the control is only assumed continuous.
Effect of Smoking History on [ 3 H]nicotine Binding in Human Postmortem Brain 1

Chronic nicotine administration in animal models evokes a dose-dependent increase in brain nicotinic receptor numbers. Genetically determined variability in nicotinic receptor number in different mouse strains has also been reported, which is thought to affect sensitivity to nicotine, as well as the development of tolerance. Humans self-administer nicotine principally in the form of cigarettes and other tobacco products. The present study compared [ 3 H]nicotine binding in human post-mortem brain from thalamus and hippocampus of nonsmoking subjects, subjects who had variable lifelong smoking histories and subjects who had quit smoking. A significant increase was seen in [ 3 H]nicotine binding in both hippocampus and thalamus of subjects with lifelong smoking histories. In the hippocam-pus, this change resulted from a change in total receptor number (B max), with no change in receptor affinity (K d). There was also a positive correlation between the degree of smoking, as measured by the average reported packs smoked per day, and the number of nicotine binding sites found in both the hip-pocampus and thalamus, showing that humans exhibit a dose-dependent increase in brain nicotinic receptor binding. Receptor levels in these brain regions after smoking cessation were at or below those found in the control population, which indicated that smoking-induced changes are reversible after cessation of nicotine treatment. These results suggest that increases in nicotinic receptor levels in the human brain may underlie nicotine tolerance and addiction in smokers. Chronic treatment with agonists for most neurotransmit-ter receptor systems results in a decrease in receptor number (Creese and Sibley, 1981). However, it has been demonstrated that chronic nicotine treatment in mice (Bhat et al. 1985) will elicit a dose-dependent increase in brain [ 3 H]nico-tine and [ 125 I]␣BTX binding sites (Marks et al., 1983, 1986b). High-affinity nicotine binding is up-regulated at a lower dose than that required to elicit changes in the [ 125 I]␣BTX site; however, at an adequate dose, the number of [ 125 I]␣BTX sites increases more rapidly (Miner and Collins, 1989). The up-regulation of [ 3 H]nicotine binding is not permanent, with binding levels returning to control values within 7 to 10 days in mouse (Marks et al., 1985) and in 15 to 20 days in rat (Collins et al., 1990) after cessation of nicotine treatment. The levels of [ 125 I]␣BTX binding return to control levels within 2 to 4 days after nicotine treatment is discontinued in both rat and mouse …
Identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms in candidate genes for growth and reproduction in a nonmodel organism; the Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua

Recent technological developments have facilitated intensified searches for genetic markers under selection in nonmodel species. Here, we present an approach for the identification of candidate gene variation in nonmodel organisms. We report on the characterization of 82 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and on the development of a specific genotyping assay for 30 SNPs in 18 candidate genes for growth and reproduction in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). These markers can be used for scanning natural populations for signatures of selection in both contemporary and archived historical samples, for example in retrospective studies assessing the effects of environmental changes, such as increasing temperatures, and selection imposed by high fishing pressure. Furthermore, these gene markers may be of interest to aquaculture, serving as a starting point for linking phenotypic traits important for productivity with genotypes and potentially be of use for marker‐assisted selection in the future. This study demonstrates that the candidate gene approach is a valuable and targeted complement to the more random approach for discovering genetic variation in the genome and transcriptome applied through high throughput methods in nonmodel species.
Bounds on heavy sterile neutrinos revisited

We revise the bounds on heavy sterile neutrinos, especially in the case of their mixing with muon neutrinos in the charged current. We summarize the present experimental limits and we reanalyze the existing data from accelerator neutrino experiments and from Super-Kamiokande to set new bounds on a heavy sterile neutrino in the range of masses from 8 MeV to 390 MeV. We also discuss how the future accelerator neutrino experiments can improve the present limits.
Sika Deer Antler Collagen Type I-Accelerated Osteogenesis in Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells via the Smad Pathway

Deer antler preparations have been used to strengthen bones for centuries. It is particularly rich in collagen type I. This study aimed to unravel part of the purported bioremedial effect of Sika deer antler collagen type I (SDA-Col I) on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. The results suggest that SDA-Col I might be used to promote and regulate osteoblast proliferation and differentiation. SDA-Col I might potentially provide the basis for novel therapeutic strategies in the treatment of bone injury and/or in scaffolds for bone replacement strategies. Finally, isolation of SDA-Col I from deer antler represents a renewable, green, and uncomplicated way to obtain a biomedically valuable therapeutic.
Role of satellite glial cells in gastrointestinal pain

Gastrointestinal (GI) pain is a common clinical problem, for which effective therapy is quite limited. Sensations from the GI tract, including pain, are mediated largely by neurons in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG), and to a smaller extent by vagal afferents emerging from neurons in the nodose/jugular ganglia. Neurons in rodent DRG become hyperexcitable in models of GI pain (e.g., gastric or colonic inflammation), and can serve as a source for chronic pain. Glial cells are another element in the pain signaling pathways, and there is evidence that spinal glial cells (microglia and astrocytes) undergo activation (gliosis) in various pain models and contribute to pain. Recently it was found that satellite glial cells (SGCs), the main type of glial cells in sensory ganglia, might also contribute to chronic pain in rodent models. Most of that work focused on somatic pain, but in several studies GI pain was also investigated, and these are discussed in the present review. We have shown that colonic inflammation induced by dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (DNBS) in mice leads to the activation of SGCs in DRG and increases gap junction-mediated coupling among these cells. This coupling appears to contribute to the hyperexcitability of DRG neurons that innervate the colon. Blocking gap junctions (GJ) in vitro reduced neuronal hyperexcitability induced by inflammation, suggesting that glial GJ participate in SGC-neuron interactions. Moreover, blocking GJ by carbenoxolone and other agents reduces pain behavior. Similar changes in SGCs were also found in the mouse nodose ganglia (NG), which provide sensory innervation to most of the GI tract. Following systemic inflammation, SGCs in these ganglia were activated, and displayed augmented coupling and greater sensitivity to the pain mediator ATP. The contribution of these changes to visceral pain remains to be determined. These results indicate that although visceral pain is unique, it shares basic mechanisms with somatic pain, suggesting that therapeutic approaches to both pain types may be similar. Future research in this field should include additional types of GI injury and also other types of visceral pain.
Acute and Chronic Intrarenal Alphaand Beta‐Adrenergic Receptor Stimulation of Renin Release in the Conscious Dog

SUMMARY The effect of continuous Intrarenal Infusion of noreplnephrine, Uoproterenol, and metboxaraine on renin release was studied in the uninephrectomized conscious dog. Chronic intrarenal infusion of noreplnephrine produced a biphasic curre of plasma renin actirity (PRA) and a sustained 25 mm Hg increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP). The initial increase in PRA peaked at 3 hours, after which PRA returned to control lerels. Alphaor beta-adrenergic antagonists did not attenuate the initial rise in PRA. The PRA Increased again after 48 hours of chronic intrarenal noreplnephrine Infusion and remained derated thereafter. The second rise in PRA was increased by 30% with alpha-adrenergic blockade. Chronic intrarenal isoproterenol administration produced a similar increase in PRA, which peaked at 3-5 hours and then returned to control levels. In contrast to norepinephrine, chronic Isoproterenol administration did not result in a second increase in PRA. At the end of the chronic Isoproterenol Infusion period, beta-adrenergic receptor refractoriness was demonstrated, as PRA did not increase significantly in response to a fourfold increase in the dose of isoproterenol. An Increase in PRA was produced by acute Intrarenal infusion of metboxamine. This increase in PRA was blocked by pbentolamlne, suggesting a vascular alpha-adrenergic receptor-mediated release of renin.
Production and processing of a 59-kilodalton exochitinase during growth of Streptomyces lividans carrying pCHIO12 in soil microcosms amended with crab or fungal chitin

Streptomyces lividans (pCHIO12), which carries the previously cloned Streptomyces olivaceoviridis exo-chiO1 gene on a multicopy vector, secretes a 59-kDa exochitinase, consisting of a catalytic domain (40 kDa), a central fibronectin type III-like module, and a chitin-binding domain (12 kDa). The propagation rate of S. lividans (pCHIO12) was higher in soil microcosms amended with fungal mycelia than in those containing crab chitin. Comparative biochemical and immunological studies allowed the following conclusions to be drawn. Within soil microcosm systems amended with crab shell chitin or chitin-containing Aspergillus proliferans mycelia, the strain expressed the clones exo-chiO1 gene and produced high quantities of a 59-kDa exochitinase. The enzyme was preferentially attached via its binding domain to the pellet from soil or liquid cultures. In contrast, truncated forms of 47, 40, and 25 kDa could be easily extracted from soil. The relative proportions of the 59-kDa enzyme and its truncated forms varied depending on the source of chitin and differed in soil and in liquid cultures.