Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Glycerolipid signals alter mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2) to diminish insulin signaling

Increased flux through the glycerolipid synthesis pathway impairs the ability of insulin to inhibit hepatic gluconeogenesis, but the exact mechanism remains unknown. To determine the mechanism by which glycerolipids impair insulin signaling, we overexpressed glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase-1 (GPAT1) in primary mouse hepatocytes. GPAT1 overexpression impaired insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of Akt-S473 and -T308, diminished insulin-suppression of glucose production, significantly inhibited mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2) activity and decreased the association of mTOR and rictor. Conversely, in hepatocytes from Gpat1−/− mice, mTOR-rictor association and mTORC2 activity were enhanced. However, this increase in mTORC2 activity in Gpat1−/− hepatocytes was ablated when rictor was knocked down. To determine which lipid intermediate was responsible for inactivating mTORC2, we overexpressed GPAT1, AGPAT, or lipin to increase the cellular content of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), phosphatidic acid (PA), or diacylglycerol (DAG), respectively. The inhibition of mTOR/rictor binding and mTORC2 activity coincided with the levels of PA and DAG species that contained 16:0, the preferred substrate of GPAT1. Furthermore, di-16:0-PA strongly inhibited mTORC2 activity and disassociated mTOR/rictor in vitro. Taken together, these data reveal a signaling pathway by which phosphatidic acid synthesized via the glycerol-3-phosphate pathway inhibits mTORC2 activity by decreasing the association of rictor and mTOR, thereby down-regulating insulin action. These data demonstrate a critical link between nutrient excess, TAG synthesis, and hepatic insulin resistance.
Nitrogen management in zero-tillage cum surface seeded wheat at Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal

An experiment was conducted at the experiment field of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal in 1999/2000 to assess the effect of mulch and the timing of nitrogen application on the performance of surface seeded wheat crop under zero-tillage condition. The experiment consisted of eight treatments that included 1/2 dose of N at sowing and 1/2 at crown root initiation (CRI) stage; 1/2 dose of N at 11 days after sowing and 1/2 at CRI; whole dose of N at CRI stage; and 1/2 dose of N at CRI and 1/2 40 days after sowing, with and without mulch using rice straw @ 4 ton/ha. The result showed that mulch was effective in conserving soil moisture, suppressing weeds and enhancing yield and yield attributing parameters. Similarly, application of nitrogen at two splits i.e. 1/2 dose of N at CRI and 1/2 at 40 days after sowing with mulch produced significantly higher grain yield (4547 kg/ha) whereas significantly lower grain yield (2267 kg/ha) was obtained from the treatment of 1/2 dose of N at sowing and 1/2 at CRI without mulch. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3126/ajn.v1i0. 7547 Agronomy Journal of Nepal (Agron JN) Vol. 1: 2010 pp.85-93
Downward Counterfactual Thinking 1 Running Head : DOWNWARD COUNTERFACTUAL THINKING Looking on the Bright Side : Downward Counterfactual Thinking in Response to Stressful Life Events

Although the literature has identified both a self-enhancement and a self-improvement function of counterfactual thinking, most evidence points to situations in which the self-improvement function predominates. The current research spotlights a set of factors that increase the role of self-enhancement in counterfactual thinking. Threatening experiences such as chronic illness (Study 1) and the terrorist attacks of 9-11 (Study 2) were a ssociated with more downward than upward counterfactuals. In Study 3, among those more motivated to self-enhance, a manipulation of event severity led to the generation of more downward than upward counterfactuals. Cultural background (Studies 3, 4, & 5), manipulated motives (Study 4), and the opportunity for self-affirmation (Study 5) also were related to the self-enhancing function of counterfactual thoughts. Downward Counterfactual Thinking 3 We have, without any doubt, the best Police Department, the best Fire Department, the best police officers, the best fire officers, the best emergency workers of any place in the whole world. And, although today's tragedy is going to be enormous, and there's no way to minimize it, if it weren't for them, this tragedy would be far worse…without our Police Department, our Fire Department, our EMS, and the kinds of people we have, many of whom lost their lives, there would be double or triple the number of casualties. People often respond to events in their lives by considering alternative scenarios of " what might have been, " and Mayor Giuliani's statement illustrates this type of thinking with respect to a particularly traumatic event. The process of generating such thoughts is called counterfactual thinking (e.g., Kahneman & Miller, 1986) because it involves the mental simulation of events that are counter to what actually transpired. The generation of alternative scenarios that are better than what actually happened is labeled " upward counterfactual thinking, " whereas the generation of alternative scenarios that are worse than what actually occurred is labeled " downward counterfactual thinking " McMullen, 1993; see Roese & Olson, 1995a for a review). Giuliani was understandably using downward counterfactuals in an attempt to alleviate the feelings of threat and despair that had been thrust upon his fellow New Yorkers. Although little research has examined the conditions under which counterfactuals are used to make the self feel better, poignant examples such as this suggest that simulating possible worse worlds may be one way in which people cope. One widely supported view of counterfactual thinking is that …
Regulation of the Actin Cytoskeleton by an Interaction of IQGAP Related Protein GAPA with Filamin and Cortexillin I

Filamin and Cortexillin are F-actin crosslinking proteins in Dictyostelium discoideum allowing actin filaments to form three-dimensional networks. GAPA, an IQGAP related protein, is required for cytokinesis and localizes to the cleavage furrow during cytokinesis. Here we describe a novel interaction with Filamin which is required for cytokinesis and regulation of the F-actin content. The interaction occurs through the actin binding domain of Filamin and the GRD domain of GAPA. A similar interaction takes place with Cortexillin I. We further report that Filamin associates with Rac1a implying that filamin might act as a scaffold for small GTPases. Filamin and activated Rac associate with GAPA to regulate actin remodelling. Overexpression of filamin and GAPA in the various strains suggests that GAPA regulates the actin cytoskeleton through interaction with Filamin and that it controls cytokinesis through association with Filamin and Cortexillin.
Nonlinear analysis of the phase noise in the OFDM communication system

For the detailed analysis of OFDM system, we present a novel approach of the nonlinear approximation including the second order term of phase noise. Phase noise of PLL (phase locked-loop) frequency synthesizer is analyzed when the commercial components of the PLL are considered for the practical analysis. It is shown that BER results by analytical approach closely match with simulation results of the OFDM communication system using QPSK and 16QAM modulation. DF (degradation factor) that is the ratio of SNR without phase noise ((S/N)/sub without{/spl Phi/}/) to SNR with phase noise ((S/N)/sub with{/spl Phi/}/) is used for the performance measure. When the phase noise variances controlled by the PLL closed- loop bandwidth are 0.005, 0.008, and 0.012 respectively, it can be shown that there are about 0.6 dB, 1.0 dB and 1.7 dB power penalties in QPSK scheme and about 1.9 dB, 3.2 dB, and 6.7 dB in 16QAM scheme to meet BER=10/sup -4/ in AWGN channel than OFDM communication system without phase noise. Furthermore, BER performance of QPSK-OFDM communication system is considerably degraded when phase noise variance is bigger than 0.03. Difference between the results of this work and the previous work is shown more obvious if the phase noise variance exceeds 0.02.
Mpt5p, a Stress Tolerance- and Lifespan-Promoting PUF Protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Acts Upstream of the Cell Wall Integrity Pathway

ABSTRACT Pumilio family (PUF) proteins affect specific genes by binding to, and inhibiting the translation or stability of, their transcripts. The PUF domain is required and sufficient for this function. One Saccharomyces cerevisiae PUF protein, Mpt5p (also called Puf5p or Uth4p), promotes stress tolerance and replicative life span (the maximum number of doublings a mother cell can undergo before entering into senescence) by an unknown mechanism thought to partly overlap with, but to be independent of, the cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway. Here, we found that mpt5Δ mutants also display a short chronological life span (the time cells stay alive in saturated cultures in synthetic medium), a defect that is suppressed by activation of CWI signaling. We found that Mpt5p is an upstream activator of the CWI pathway: mpt5Δ mutants display the appropriate phenotypes and genetic interactions, display low basal activity of the pathway, and are defective in activation of the pathway upon thermal stress. A set of mRNAs that specifically bind to Mpt5p was recently reported. One such putative target, LRG1, encodes a GTPase-activating protein for Rho1p that directly links Mpt5p to CWI signaling: Lrg1p inhibits CWI signaling, LRG1 mRNA contains a consensus Mpt5p-binding site in its putative 3′ untranslated region, loss of Lrg1p suppresses the temperature sensitivity and CWI signaling defects of mpt5Δ mutants, and LRG1 mRNA abundance is inhibited by Mpt5p. We conclude that Mpt5p is required for normal replicative and chronological life spans and that the CWI pathway is a key and direct downstream target of this PUF protein.
Tools for Computing the Capacitance of the Unit Cube and Laplace Eigenfunctions on the Sphere

Calculating the capacitance of a unit cube requires the numerical solution of a Laplace boundary value problem (BVP). However, current methods observe a slow algebraic error convergence. In this paper, we suggest the method of particular solutions (MPS) with domain decomposition technique to the BVP, which can handle the corner singularity of the cube and is spectrally accurate. The 2D analogous problem of calculating the capacity of the unit square with MPS is demonstrated, and for the 3D problem we focus on accurate methods to compute the needed basis functions based at the corner of the cube. This involves solving a Dirichlet boundary eigenvalue problem on 7/8 of a sphere. Fast algorithms for evaluating the required associated Legendre function are also discussed. We have obtained 15 digits accuracy in computing the capacity of the unit square with an exponential error convergence. For the related Dirichlet eigenvalue problem, we got 5 digits accuracy for the eigenvalues on the sphere.
A Zero-IF Sub-Harmonic Mixer with High LO-RF Isolation using 0.18 μm CMOS Technology

In this study, the authors introduce a zero-IF sub-harmonic mixer with high isolation in the 5GHz band using 0. 18μm CMOS technology. Placing an LC-tank between the class AB stage and the mixer core improves the isolation between the LO and RF ports. The measured isolation is obtained with a 48 dB between LO and RF ports; and a 9.5dB conversion gain is acquired while consuming 7mA at 2.5V supply voltage
Aeolian blowout dynamics in subarctic lapland based on decadal levelling investigations

Abstract. Aeolian processes in the subarctic ecocline were investigated by measuring present‐day erosion and deposition rates over a decade in blowouts scoured into stabilized Early to Mid‐Holocene dunes. Four localities from different vegetation zones in Finnish Lapland were surveyed using precision levelling (infrared tachymeter) along eight transects at 1‐m intervals. During an 11‐year observation period, a total of 1439 observation points were monitored in three measurement campaigns, in 1993, 1994 and 2004. Together with dating results reported elsewhere, the results demonstrate the relative quiescence of these subarctic blowouts compared to many coastal dunes. On average, the deflation rate of the studied basins was 8.8 mm a‐1, which corresponds well with the age and depth of the blowouts. Net deposition had taken place at 30% of the observation points, and one of the eight studied transects showed net deposition as the transect average. Symmetrical, smooth basins showed more consistent changes than basins with a complex form, indicating that internal factors are important in blowout formation under the Lapland climatic range. The deepest part of a blowout was generally found in the upwind end. The erosion/deposition patterns of the transects over a one‐year monitoring period were interpreted with Fourier analysis revealing along‐transect cyclicity, possibly reflecting the movement of small migrating bedforms in the blowouts. Generally, deflation rates at the latitudinal pine forest line were smaller than at those well outside the pine forest suggesting that the coniferous forest at the subarctic ecocline affects the intensity of present‐day aeolian activity in Fennoscandia.
Observation of quantum interference in the plasmonic Hong-Ou-Mandel effect

Optical signals are increasingly used to transfer and process information, because of their high speed, bandwidth, and propagation distances in transparent optical networks. However, the miniaturization of photonic devices faces a hard block: the diffraction limit. One proposed means to go beyond this limit is to use surface plasmons polaritons (SPPs), charge density waves at the interface between a metal and a dielectric, which can be excited with light, as the carrier of the information [1]. It has been demonstrated that SPPs can be confined in sub-wavelength volumes. So far, the study of plasmons has been confined to the classical regime, but recently more attention is given to the quantum regime. Indeed, several interesting devices taking advantage of the large field confinement provided by SPPs have been proposed, such as single photon switches or transistors [2]. However, at this stage, little is known about the behaviour of SPPs in the quantum regime, i.e. when they are excited one at a time for instance. In this presentation, we report direct evidence of the bosonic nature of SPPs in a scattering-based beamsplitter, in one of the most simple experiments of quantum optics - done using SPPs instead of photons propagating in air. A parametric down-conversion source is used to produce two indistinguishable photons, each of which is converted into a SPP on a metal-stripe waveguide and then made to interact through a semitransparent Bragg mirror. In this plasmonic analog of the Hong-Ou-Mandel experiment, we measure a coincidence dip with a visibility of 72%, a key signature that SPPs are bosons and that quantum interference is clearly involved [3].
Electrophysiology and infrastructure of Canine Subendocardial Purkinje Cells Isolated From Control and 24-Hour Infarcted Hearts

Ventricular arrhythmias that accompany myocardial infarction in dogs may be secondary to the altered electrophysiological properties of the subendocardial Purkinje fibers that survive 24 hours after the coronary occlusion. To better understand the ionic mechanisms that underlie the altered electrical activity of these fibers, we have dispersed, using an enzymatic technique, Purkinje cells from the subendocardium of the infarcted ventricle (IZPCs) and compared their electrical and structural properties to Purkinje cells dispersed from fiber strands (SPCs) and from the subendocardium of the noninfarcted ventricle (NZPCs). Ultrastructural analysis of these cells shows that IZPCs contain an increased number of lipid droplets when compared with the SPCs and NZPCs. In addition, transmembrane action potentials of IZPCs have reduced resting potentials, action potential amplitudes, and upstroke velocity and are increased in duration when compared with either SPCs or NZPCs. Input resistance of IZPCs is increased over that measured in control cells (SPCs and NZPCs). Furthermore, the time course of the process of electrical restitution of action potential duration is altered in IZPCs with long action potentials. Finally, using K+M-sensitive microelectrode techniques, we have determined that intracellular free K+ activity (aK1) in IZPCs (93.7 ± 15 niM) is not significantly different from control aK1 measurements (SPC, 106 ± 13 mM; NZPC, 103 ± 12 mM). Thus a reduction in aK1 does not provide a basis for the reduced resting potentials observed in IZPCs. By studying the relation between the resting potential and log [K+]o we determined that in IZPCs with reduced resting potentials, there is a significant increase in the PNa/PK ratio when compared with control. In summary, to better understand the cellular basis of ventricular arrhythmias postinfarction, we have developed a single cell model that will allow for more rigorous electrophysiological studies of the specific ionic currents that underlie the abnormal electrophysiology.
Long Term Streptomycin Toxicity in the Treatment of Buruli Ulcer: Follow-up of Participants in the BURULICO Drug Trial

Background Buruli Ulcer (BU) is a tropical infectious skin disease that is currently treated with 8 weeks of intramuscular streptomycin and oral rifampicin. As prolonged streptomycin administration can cause both oto- and nephrotoxicity, we evaluated its long term toxicity by following-up former BU patients that had received either 4 or 8 weeks of streptomycin in addition to other drugs between 2006 and 2008, in the context of a randomized controlled trial. Methods Former patients were retrieved in 2012, and oto- and nephrotoxicity were determined by audiometry and serum creatinine levels. Data were compared with baseline and week 8 measurements during the drug trial. Results Of the total of 151 former patients, 127 (84%) were retrieved. Ototoxicity was present in 29% of adults and 25% of children. Adults in the 8 week streptomycin group had significantly higher hearing thresholds in all frequencies at long term follow-up, and these differences were most prominent in the high frequencies. In children, no differences between the two treatment arms were found. Nephrotoxicity that had been detected in 14% of adults and in 13% of children during treatment, was present in only 2.4% of patients at long term follow-up. Conclusions Prolonged streptomycin administration in the adult study subjects caused significant persistent hearing loss, especially in the high frequency range. Nephrotoxicity was also present in both adults and children but appeared to be transient. Streptomycin should be given with caution especially in patients aged 16 or older, and in individuals with concurrent risks for renal dysfunction or hearing loss.
Spatially Variable Exhumation Rates in Orogenic Belts: An Andean Example

The Cordillera Real of the Bolivian Andes is a large, tectonically active mountain range that dominates sediment influx into the Amazon Basin, but rates of exhumation in the orogen are poorly known. We present 20 new apatite fission track ages from two valleys in the Cordillera Real to constrain patterns of mountain range exhumation over 106–107 yr. We interpret these and previously published data from a third valley using a 2‐D thermal model that accounts for topographic and advective influences on measured cooling ages. Exhumation rates in the Cordillera Real are ∼0.2–0.6 mm/yr, comparable to rates in parts of Denali, the Washington Cascades, the Olympic Mountains, and the European Alps and an order of magnitude slower than rates in Taiwan, Nanga Parbat, the Greater Himalaya of Nepal, and the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Three‐ to fourfold cooling age variations in the Cordillera Real imply at least twofold exhumation rate variations within and between valleys over distances of only tens of kilometers. Topography in the cross‐valley dimension affects exhumation rate estimates by 20%–30% in the downstream portions of two sample transects. Along‐valley topographic effects are less significant in this setting, affecting exhumation rate estimates by <15%. The most significant along‐valley topographic effects are associated with long‐wavelength mountain shape, including both retreat of the closure temperature isotherm near the mountain crest and compression of low‐temperature isotherms farther down the mountain flank. Locally varying phenomena (e.g., subregional structural history or transient patterns of local channel incision) must exert important controls on long‐term erosion patterns in order to produce observed short‐wavelength exhumation rate variations. Comparison of exhumation rate estimates with modern erosion rates suggests that long‐term and short‐term average erosion rates likely vary by less than twofold.
Screening mechanisms in sedimentation

This paper considers a mixture of sedimenting particles at low Reynolds numbers and volume fractions. Simple theoretical arguments have long suggested that for a random suspension of particles in an infinite system, the fluctuations in the velocity about the mean should diverge with system size. On the other hand, experiments have shown no such divergence. The primary goal of this paper is to examine the effect of side walls on the predicted divergence in fluctuations, through theory, scaling arguments, and numerical simulations. Side walls lead to important modifications of the standard arguments. A scaling argument (based on wall effects) is presented to rationalize recent experiments by Segre et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 2574 (1997)]. The paper also briefly discusses the role of inertia in screening fluctuations in infinite systems when the particle Reynolds number is very low, and also the coupling between the velocity fluctuations and the mean sedimenting velocity. A physical argument suggests that i.
Protein Nutrition Index as a Function of Patient Survival Rate in Peritoneal Dialysis

Background/Aims: Protein-energy wasting (PEW) is a well-known risk factor of long-term survival in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Serum albumin is a measure of visceral protein, lean body mass is a measure of somatic protein stores and normalized protein nitrogen appearance is a measure of daily protein intake. A protein nutrition index (PNI) that combined these 3 factors was designed and tested as a function of survival in PD patients. Methods: We enrolled 552 PD patients for this study. Demographic, biochemical, nutritional markers, comorbidity and dialysis-related data were obtained. The PNI was calculated. All patients were followed up to investigate the risks for mortality. Results: Patients with probable PEW/low-average nutrition were older and had lower serum creatinine (Cr) and blood urea nitrogen, lower adequacy data and higher D4/P4 Cr compared with patients with high-average/good nutrition. 108 patients (19.6%) died during the observational period. By multivariate analysis, we found only age, comorbidity index and PNI (relative risk = 0.84, confidence interval: 0.76–0.93, p = 0.001) to be independent predictors of mortality. Conclusion: The PNI at the start of PD is associated with all-cause mortality, and each increase by a score of 1 in PNI leads to a 16% decrease in the risk of mortality. Predialysis evaluation of this scoring system is recommended for further research in order to improve outcomes in PD patients.