Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assembly of cytoskeletal proteins into cleavage furrows of tissue culture cells

We review results obtained after fluorescent actin and myosin II probes were microinjected into interphase and prophase PtK2 and LLC‐PK tissue culture cells to follow the changing distribution of these cytoskeletal proteins in the live cells during division. The fluorescent probes first begin to assemble into the future furrow region during mid‐anaphase before any sign of initial contractions. The total concentrations of F‐actin and myosin in the cleavage furrow begin to decrease a few minutes after the onset of furrow contraction. The cell's shape and the position of its mitotic spindle affect the deposition of cytoskeletal proteins in the forming cleavage furrow. In cells with two spindles, contractile proteins were recruited not only to the cortex bordering the former metaphase plates but also to the cortex midway between each pair of adjacent non‐daughter poles or centrosomes. The furrowing between adjacent poles seen in these cultured cells are similar to the furrows observed by Rappaport [(1961) J Exp Zool 148:81–89] when echinoderm eggs were manipulated into a torus shape so that the poles of two mitotic spindles were adjacent to one another. These observations on injected tissue culture cells suggest that vertebrate cells share common mechanisms for the establishment of the cleavage furrow with echinoderm cells. Microsc. Res. Tech. 49:190–201, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Insulin dose adjustments with add-on glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists in clinical practice

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are gaining ground as therapeutic modalities in combination with insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Exploiting the multiple benefits of incretin-based therapies in certain patient populations, especially in those who would benefit most from potential weight loss or prevention of body weight gain, has provided a valuable add-on option in diabetes management. However, caution needs to be exercised when initiating such a double injectable therapy, as evidence indicates that, in most instances, the insulin dose needs to be re-adjusted. The majority of published studies suggest reduction of insulin dose, especially related to the ‘bolus’ component; however, some have also recommended that insulin dose should actually be increased, but we found no credible evidence to support the latter. An important determinant of the titration process is the insulin formulation already in use at baseline. As more potent and long-acting GLP-1RAs are introduced, optimal insulin dose scaling is a major challenge, especially in a primary setting. We provide an overview of the current knowledge in this rapidly changing field. Based on currently reported evidence, a reduction of basal insulin by 10% and a decrease of prandial insulin by 30 – 40% is recommended on addition of GLP-1RAs.
Number of genes controlling a quantitative trait in a hybrid zone of the aposematic frog Ranitomeya imitator

The number of genes controlling mimetic traits has been a topic of much research and discussion. In this paper, we examine a mimetic, dendrobatid frog Ranitomeya imitator, which harbours extensive phenotypic variation with multiple mimetic morphs, not unlike the celebrated Heliconius system. However, the genetic basis for this polymorphism is unknown, and not easy to determine using standard experimental approaches, for this hard-to-breed species. To circumvent this problem, we first develop a new protocol for automatic quantification of complex colour pattern phenotypes from images. Using this method, which has the potential to be applied in many other systems, we define a phenotype associated with differences in colour pattern between different mimetic morphs. We then proceed to develop a maximum-likelihood method for estimating the number of genes affecting a quantitative trait segregating in a hybrid zone. This method takes advantage of estimates of admixture proportions obtained using genetic data, such as microsatellite markers, and is applicable to any other system where a phenotype has been quantified in an admixture/introgression zone. We evaluate the method using extensive simulations and apply it to the R. imitator system. We show that probably one or two, or at most three genes, control the mimetic phenotype segregating in a R. imitator hybrid zone identified using image analyses.
The effects of reduced non-verbal communication in Parkinson's disease.

The first impressions formed by 19 senior speech therapy students shown silent video recordings of four patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) and four with ischaemic heart disease were measured using visual analogue scales directed at aspects of mood, personality and intellect. Although both patient groups showed no abnormalities in terms of affect, personality and intelligence by standardised psychological tests, the PD patients appeared more anxious, hostile, suspicious, depressed, bored and tense than the controls; they seemd less intelligent, more introverted and passive and looked as if they enjoyed and maintained their part of the conversation less well. They appeared to relate less well to the interviewer although there was no apparent difference in the interviewer's behaviour to the two different disease groups. Overall they were rated as less likeable. the speech therapists' responses did not differ significantly from a previous study of other health professionals. the findings are re.
Heuristics for advancing the theory of restructured electricity industries

Electricity industry restructuring involves reorganizing a formally centralized monopoly in a way that facilitates the participation of the private sector while also ensuring that the industry is planned and operated in a way that benefits society. This occurs in an environment that lacks the sound theoretical basis that other forms of engineering are able to leverage. The purpose of this paper is to consider the issues inherent in the organisation of a restructured industry from a conceptual perspective, with particular emphasis on the areas that assists in the formulation of mathematical models of restructured electricity industries. Where possible linkages to concepts arising in systems theory are observed. It is not contended that systems theory is capable of addressing all aspects of the electricity industry restructuring process; instead it is hoped that new insights into the restructuring process may be gained if the concepts are pursued rigorously
The perceived destination image of Indonesia: An assessment on travel blogs written by the industry’s top markets

The tourist gaze theory suggests that tourists are taught by the destination marketing organisation to know how, when, and where to look. However, the birth of travel blogs has challenged this image as they offer the public “unfiltered” information. Travel bloggers have become more powerful in influencing the decision making of potential tourists. This study employs textual and photographic content analysis to investigate the destination image of Indonesia held by the industry’s key markets; Singapore and Australia. 106 blog entries and over 1,500 pictures were content analysed, and the results suggest that overall tourists tended to have positive images of Indonesia. International tourists are still very much concentrated in the traditionally popular places such as Bali and Jakarta. Negative images of Indonesia include inadequate infrastructure, ineffective wildlife protection, and westernisation of Bali. Natural and cultural resources are proven in this thesis to be Indonesia’s top tourism products. Influenced by their cultural backgrounds, Singaporean and Australian bloggers have demonstrated a dissimilar tourist gaze. The current study also analysed the bloggers’ image of Indonesia as opposed to the image projected by the government through the national tourism brand “Wonderful Indonesia”. The results indicate a narrow gap between the two images. Implications for Indonesian tourism practitioners include stronger law enforcement to preserve local culture and natural attractions, and recognising the market’s preference to promote other destinations. Recommendations for future research are discussed.
Factors Affecting Outcome in Acute Hypertriglyceridemic Pancreatitis Treated with Plasma Exchange: An Observational Cohort Study

Objectives The optimal therapy for hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis, especially the role of plasma exchange (PE), is not entirely clear. The aim of our large, single-center, observational, cohort study was to analyze the factors affecting outcome in hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis treated with PE. Methods We included 111 episodes of hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis treated with PE, which occurred in 103 different patients. The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score, triglycerides, delay to first PE, and PE treatment details were retrospectively obtained from the patients’ records. The main outcome measures were length of hospitalization and in-hospital mortality. Results The patients were 47±9 years old and the median APACHE II score at first PE was 4 (inter-quartile range (IQR) 2–7). There was a seasonal variation in the incidence of hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis, and the recurrence rate was 1.6% per year. Triglycerides at presentation did not correlate with APACHE II or influence the outcome. The mean reduction in triglycerides during PE was 59% (from 44±31 to 18±15 mmol/l), which was twice the reduction observed during conservative treatment (27% daily). The median hospital stay was 16 days (IQR 10–24) and in-hospital mortality was 5%. The median delay to first PE was 35 hours (IQR 24–52), and there was no difference in mortality in the early and late PE groups (7% vs. 6%, p = 0.79). The group with citrate anticoagulation during PE had a significantly lower mortality than the group with heparin anticoagulation (1% vs. 11%, p = 0.04), and citrate was an independent predictor also in the multivariate model (p = 0.049). Conclusions PE effectively reduced serum triglycerides faster than could be expected with conservative treatment. The delay in PE therapy did not influence survival. We found that citrate anticoagulation during PE was associated with reduced mortality, which should be confirmed in a randomized study.
Table II . MAO activity in human blood platelets from controls and glaucoma subjects

rich with LAF, identified as a macrophage product. However, different mononuclear cell subpopulations might be responsible for the higher production of LAF and KAF under similar conditions. This possibility is under investigation, with the use of purified populations of lymphocytes or macrophages obtained from human peripheral blood. The conditions that affect corneal wound healing at the molecular level are still obscure. The existence of an interaction between epithelial and stromal cells in alkali-burned rabbit corneas has been demonstrated. Fur thermore , a possible regulatory influence of the epithelial cells on keratocyte metabolism in vitro has been observed. 10 The data reported in this study show that the metabolic activity of keratocytes is influenced markedly by products of activated leukocytes. These findings are suggestive of a possible role of the lymphoid cells in the modulation of corneal wound healing. Activation of the keratocyte DNA and protein synthesis can be interpreted as a repair mechanism. However, some of the proteins synthesized might be also involved in catabolic processes. This possibility along with the influence of lymphokines on corneal epithelial and endothelial cells is under consideration.
Emotional and Temporal Aspects of Situation Model Processing during Text Comprehension: An Event-Related fMRI Study

Language comprehension in everyday life requires the continuous integration of prior discourse context and general world knowledge with the current utterance or sentence. In the neurolinguistic literature, these so-called situation model building processes have been ascribed to the prefrontal cortex or to the right hemisphere. In this study, we use whole-head event-related fMRI to directly map the neural correlates of narrative comprehension in context. While being scanned using a spin-echo sequence, 20 participants listened to 32 short stories, half of which contained globally inconsistent information. The inconsistencies concerned either temporal or chronological information or the emotional status of the protagonist. Hearing an inconsistent word elicited activation in the right anterior temporal lobe. The comparison of different information aspects revealed activation in the left precuneus and a bilateral frontoparietal network for chronological information. Emotional information elicited activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the extended amygdaloid complex. In addition, the integration of inconsistent emotional information engaged the dorsal frontomedial cortex (Brodmann's area 8/9), whereas the integration of inconsistent temporal information required the lateral prefrontal cortex bilaterally. These results indicate that listening to stories can elicit activation reflecting content-specific processes. Furthermore, updating of the situation model is not a unitary process but it also depends on the particular requirements of the text. The right hemisphere contributes to language processing in context, but equally important are the left medial and bilateral prefrontal cortices.
Geochemical characteristics of zircons in the Ashizuri A‐type granitoids: An additional granite topology tool for detrital zircon studies

Zircon is resistant to alteration over a wide range of geological environments, and isotopic ratios within the mineral provide constraints on ages and their parental magmas. Trace element compositions in zircon are also expected to reflect those of their parent magmas, and have a potential as essential indicators for their host rocks. Because most detrital zircons that accumulate at river mouths are derived primarily from granitoids, the classification of zircon within granitoids is potentially meaningful. This study employs the conventional classification scheme of granites (I‐, S‐, M‐, and A‐types). To clarify geochemical characteristics of zircons in A‐type granites, trace element compositions of zircons extracted from the A‐type Ashizuri granitoids were examined. Zircons from the Ashizuri granitoids commonly show enrichments of heavy rare earth elements and positive Ce anomalies, indicating that these zircons were igneous in origin. In addition, zircons in these A‐type granites are characterized by enrichments of Nb, Y, Ta, Th, and U and strong negative Eu anomalies, which exhibit good positive correlations with those in their whole rocks. This fact indicates that these signatures in zircons reflect well those in their parental bodies and are useful in identifying zircons derived from A‐type granite. Based on compilations of available data, zircons from A‐type granites can be clearly discriminated from other‐types of granites within Nb/Sr–Eu anomaly, U/Sr–Eu anomaly, Nb/Sr–U/Sr, and Nb/Sr–Ta/Sr cross‐plots. All indices used in these diagrams were selected based on the geochemical features of both zircon and whole rock of A‐type granites. Application of these discrimination diagrams to detrital zircons will likely provide further insights. For example, some Hadean detrital zircons plot in similar fields to A‐type granites, implying the existence of A‐type magmatism in the Earth's earliest history.
Hypopituitarism is uncommon after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage

Objective Aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) has recently been reported as a common cause of chronic hypopituitarism, and introduction of routine neuroendocrine screening has been advocated. We aimed at estimating the risk of hypopituitarism after SAH using strict criteria including confirmatory testing in case of suggested insufficiency.
Activation Pattern of Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STAT) Factors in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

OBJECTIVES:Cytokine signaling pathways involving transcription factors of the signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) family play a key role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). STAT proteins are latent cytoplasmic transcription factors that induce transcription upon phosphorylation, dimerization, and nuclear translocation. However, their activation pattern in IBD is poorly understood. The aim of our study was to characterize STAT-expression in IBD.METHODS:Mononuclear cells were isolated from 36 colonic specimens of Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or from control patients. Cells were stimulated overnight with antibodies against human CD2 and CD28 and mononuclear cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. Alternatively, CD4+ T cells were immunomagnetically separated and then assessed by flow cytometry. Intracellular stainings of the following transcription factors were performed: STAT-1, STAT-2, STAT-3, STAT-4, and STAT-6. In addition, immunofluorescence staining on cryosections for phosphorylated STAT-1 and STAT-3 was performed.RESULTS:Average expression of the IFN-γ inducible transcription factor STAT-1 was increased in Crohn's disease as compared to patients with ulcerative colitis and control patients. However, levels of phospho-STAT-1 were surprisingly not markedly upregulated in IBD as compared to controls. In contrast, STAT-3 and phospho-STAT-3 levels were significantly increased in IBD patients as compared to controls (p < 0.01). No differences could be detected in STAT-6 levels. Finally, average expression of STAT-2, which is involved in type I interferon signalling, was downregulated in IBD as compared to control patients.CONCLUSIONS:The analysis of STAT activation patterns could serve as a helpful tool to characterize intestinal inflammation. Furthermore, the IL-6/STAT-3 rather than the IFN-γ/STAT-1 signaling pathway emerges as a key target for the development of future therapeutic concepts in IBD.
Boys With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: 1-Year Locomotor Changes in Relation to a Control Group

We compared the timed performance and compensatory movements of 32 boys (mean age = 10.0 years) with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and 38 healthy boys (mean age = 9.2 years) on 10 -meter walking and four-step stair work (climbing and descending). Dependent measures were digital scores on the Functional Evaluation Scale for DMD obtained by watching the boys on film. Groups were compared initially and after 6 and 12 months, using General Linear Models analysis (for two groups and three assessments). Results showed no significant timed performance differences between groups on 10 -m walking at the initial assessment; but boys with DMD showed longer times after 6 and 12 months, and boys with DMD engaged in more compensatory movements while walking. For stair climbing, boys with DMD were significantly slower than healthy controls when both climbing and descending steps in all assessments.
Computational Analysis of an Autophagy/Translation Switch Based on Mutual Inhibition of MTORC1 and ULK1

We constructed a mechanistic, computational model for regulation of (macro)autophagy and protein synthesis (at the level of translation). The model was formulated to study the system-level consequences of interactions among the following proteins: two key components of MTOR complex 1 (MTORC1), namely the protein kinase MTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) and the scaffold protein RPTOR; the autophagy-initiating protein kinase ULK1; and the multimeric energy-sensing AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Inputs of the model include intrinsic AMPK kinase activity, which is taken as an adjustable surrogate parameter for cellular energy level or AMP:ATP ratio, and rapamycin dose, which controls MTORC1 activity. Outputs of the model include the phosphorylation level of the translational repressor EIF4EBP1, a substrate of MTORC1, and the phosphorylation level of AMBRA1 (activating molecule in BECN1-regulated autophagy), a substrate of ULK1 critical for autophagosome formation. The model incorporates reciprocal regulation of mTORC1 and ULK1 by AMPK, mutual inhibition of MTORC1 and ULK1, and ULK1-mediated negative feedback regulation of AMPK. Through analysis of the model, we find that these processes may be responsible, depending on conditions, for graded responses to stress inputs, for bistable switching between autophagy and protein synthesis, or relaxation oscillations, comprising alternating periods of autophagy and protein synthesis. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the prediction of oscillatory behavior is robust to changes of the parameter values of the model. The model provides testable predictions about the behavior of the AMPK-MTORC1-ULK1 network, which plays a central role in maintaining cellular energy and nutrient homeostasis.
Multimodality Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring during Onyx Embolization of Cerebrovascular Malformations

ABSTRACT General anesthesia prohibits neurological examination during embolization of cerebrovascular malformations when provocative testing prior to pedicle occlusion is needed. Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) has the potential to fill this gap but remains relatively unexplored. We conduct a retrospective review of consecutive patients with cerebrovascular malformations treated with Onyx® (ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide) embolization under general anesthesia with IONM from 2009 to 2012. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs), transcranial motor evoked potentials (TcMEPs), visual evoked potential (VEPs), auditory brainstem response (ABR), and electroencephalography (EEG) were used selectively in all patients depending on the location of the malformation. Provocative testing combined with IONM was performed in 28 patients over 75 sessions. Three patients demonstrated changes in TcMEPs or ABR during provocative testing, which halted the planned embolization. Two patients demonstrated changes in baseline SSEPs after embolization, despite normal IONM during provocative testing, correlating with postprocedural contralateral weakness. Six patients developed visual deficits after arterial occlusion despite unchanged VEPs and occipital EEG during provocative testing and embolization. We therefore conclude that the sensitivity of TcMEPs and SSEPs is preferable to EEG, and we strongly caution against relying on occipital recorded VEPs to predict visual deficits.
Composition and abundance of fish assemblage in Khor Al-Zubair lagoon, North West of Arabian Gulf

The present study describes the fish assemblages in Khor Al-Zubair lagoon which was located in North West region of Arabian Gulf. The present research was carried out from August 2012 to July 2013 by using various nets. Two environmental factors viz., temperature and salinity were measured during the study period. The total number of individuals collected was 2964. The highest number (513) was recorded in August month and the lowest number (31) was observed in January. Thirty eight species belonging to 28 families of Osteichthyes and two species of Chondrichthyes (Aetobatus narinari and Chiloseyllium grisum) were collected in the region, Mastacemblus mastacembelus and Tilapia zillii were recorded for the first time. The highest number of species (19) was recorded in September while the lowest (8) was noticed in the February month. Three species viz., Thryssa whiteheadi, Liza klunzingeri and L. subviridis formed 43.65 % of the total fish catch. The overall value of diversity index (H), Eveness (D) and Richness (J) were 2.5, 3.4 and 0.8 respectively.