Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CALL FOR PAPERS Mitochondria in Cardiovascular Physiology and Disease Mechanisms that match ATP supply to demand in cardiac pacemaker cells during high ATP demand

Yaniv Y, Spurgeon HA, Ziman BD, Lyashkov AE, Lakatta EG. Mechanisms that match ATP supply to demand in cardiac pacemaker cells during high ATP demand. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 304: H1428 –H1438, 2013. First published April 19, 2013; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00969. 2012. —The spontaneous action potential (AP) firing rate of sinoatrial node cells (SANCs) involves high-throughput signaling via Ca -calmodulin activated adenylyl cyclases (AC), cAMP-mediated protein kinase A (PKA), and Ca / calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII)-dependent phosphorylation of SR Ca cycling and surface membrane ion channel proteins. When the throughput of this signaling increases, e.g., in response to -adrenergic receptor activation, the resultant increase in spontaneous AP firing rate increases the demand for ATP. We hypothesized that an increase of ATP production to match the increased ATP demand is achieved via a direct effect of increased mitochondrial Ca (Ca m) and an indirect effect via enhanced Ca -cAMP/PKA-CaMKII signaling to mitochondria. To increase ATP demand, single isolated rabbit SANCs were superfused by physiological saline at 35 0.5°C with isoproterenol, or by phosphodiesterase or protein phosphatase inhibition. We measured cytosolic and mitochondrial Ca and flavoprotein fluorescence in single SANC, and we measured cAMP, ATP, and O2 consumption in SANC suspensions. Although the increase in spontaneous AP firing rate was accompanied by an increase in O2 consumption, the ATP level and flavoprotein fluorescence remained constant, indicating that ATP production had increased. Both Ca m and cAMP increased concurrently with the increase in AP firing rate. When Ca m was reduced by Ru360, the increase in spontaneous AP firing rate in response to isoproterenol was reduced by 25%. Thus, both an increase in Ca m and an increase in Ca activated cAMP-PKA-CaMKII signaling regulate the increase in ATP supply to meet ATP demand above the basal level.
Plasma concentrations of the antioxidants beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol in relation to lung function.

OBJECTIVE To study the association between plasma antioxidants (beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol) and lung function in Dutch adults aged 20-59 y. DESIGN Cross-sectional. SETTING Population-based study. SUBJECTS A random sample (n=367) was drawn from all participants (men and women) aged 20-59 y with reproducible lung function measurements in 1995. INTERVENTION Completion of general questionnaire and physical examination. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS Forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and plasma levels of beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol. RESULTS SUBJECTS with a high plasma beta-carotene level (90th percentile, that is 0.57 micromol/L) tended to have a higher FEV1 (73 ml, s.e.m. 60 ml; P=0.22) and a higher FVC (147 ml, s.e.m. 76 ml; P=0.05) than subjects with a low plasma beta-carotene level (10th percentile, that is 0.11 micromol/L) after adjustment for age, height, gender, smoking status, pack-years of smoking and alcohol consumption. There was no difference in lung function between subjects with high and low plasma alpha-tocopherol concentrations. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that subjects with a high plasma beta-carotene tended to have a higher FVC than subjects with a low plasma beta-carotene concentration which was borderline statistically significant. The difference for FEV1 between high and low levels of plasma beta-carotene tended to be in the same positive direction as that of FVC but did not reach the pre-set statistical significance level. There is no relation between plasma alpha-tocopherol and lung function. SPONSORSHIP Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports of the Netherlands and the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment.
Gender as a moderator of the fair process effect

This paper examines gender as a moderator of the fair-process effect in an ultimatum game setting. Results from games with 112 German high-school students support the hypothesis that fair procedures can decrease rejection behavior in unfair human allocation decisions. Furthermore, procedural fairness results in a statistically significant difference for women in accepting an unfair distribution. In contrast, procedural fairness appears to have no significant impact on men’s rejection behavior. However, we found no significant gender differences in the perception of procedural fairness. We conclude that, although men perceive procedural fairness similarly to women, this aspect is less important for determining their subsequent behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
DENSE CORES IN THE PIPE NEBULA: AN IMPROVED CORE MASS FUNCTION

In this paper, we derive an improved core mass function (CMF) for the Pipe Nebula from a detailed comparison between measurements of visual extinction and molecular-line emission. We have compiled a refined sample of 201 dense cores toward the Pipe Nebula using a two-dimensional threshold identification algorithm informed by recent simulations of dense core populations. Measurements of radial velocities using complimentary C18O (1–0) observations enable us to cull out from this sample those 43 extinction peaks that are either not associated with dense gas or are not physically associated with the Pipe Nebula. Moreover, we use the derived C18O central velocities to differentiate between single cores with internal structure and blends of two or more physically distinct cores, superposed along the same line of sight. We then are able to produce a more robust dense core sample for future follow-up studies and a more reliable CMF than was possible previously. We confirm earlier indications that the CMF for the Pipe Nebula departs from a single power-law-like form with a break or knee at M ∼ 2.7 ± 1.3 M☉. Moreover, we also confirm that the CMF exhibits a similar shape to the stellar initial mass function (IMF), but is scaled to higher masses by a factor of ∼4.5. We interpret this difference in scaling to be a measure of the star formation efficiency (22% ± 8%). This supports earlier suggestions that the stellar IMF may originate more or less directly from the CMF.
Epidemiology of Cleft Palate in Europe: Implications for Genetic Research

Objective To describe the epidemiology of cleft palate (CP) in Europe. Design and Setting A descriptive epidemiological study on 3852 cases of CP, identified (1980 through 1996) from more than 6 million births from the EUROCAT network of 30 registers in 16 European countries. Results Significant differences in prevalence in Europe between registries and within countries were observed. A total of 2112 (54.8%) CP cases occurred as isolated, 694 (18.0%) were associated with other defects such as multiple congenital anomalies, and 1046 (27.2%) were in recognized conditions. The study confirmed the tendency toward female prevalence (sex ratio [SR] = 0.83), particularly among isolated cases (SR = 0.78) even if SR inversion is reported in some registries. A specific association with neural tube defects (NTDs) in some registers is reported. Conclusion The differences identified in Europe (prevalence, sex, associated anomalies) can be only partially explained by methodological reasons because a common methodology was shared among all registries for case ascertainment and collection, and CP is an easy detectable condition with few induced abortions. The complex model of inheritance and the frequently conflicting results in different populations on the role of genes that constitute risk factors suggest the presence of real biological differences. The association of CP/NTD in an area with a high prevalence of NTDs can identify a group of conditions that can be considered etiologically homogeneous. The epidemiological evaluation can guide genetic research to specify the role of etiological factors in each different population
A REVIEW OF RESEARCH ON THE SENSITIVITY OF THE CORNEA *

Depuis le developpement des lentilles de contact, nous avons redecouvert la sensibilite de la cornee qui est le tissu le plus sensible du corps humain. Cette hypersensibilite de la cornee est importante pour la proteger des agressions et pour son metabolisme et sa transparence. La cornee est essentiellement sensible au toucher et a la douleur. La sensibilite a la temperature n'est pas demontree avec certitude. L'apprehension peut influencer la sensibilite corneenne car le seuil central est 18% plus haut dans la lumiere que dans le noir. Cette sensibilite diminue avec l'eccentricite, et avec l'âge. La sensibilite est plus forte chez les yeux clairs, sauf pour les albinos. Autres facteurs: l'heure de la journee, menstruation, gestation, temperature, conditions pathologiques. Les mecanismes de la perte de sensibilite corneenne en lentilles de contact sont egalement analyses
Towards an Integrated Management System (IMS), harmonizing the ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 20000-2 standards

In recent times, and in order to maintain an integrated, efficient and homogeneous policy, Integrated Management Systems (IMS) have emerged as an opportunity to improve processes related to Information Technology (IT) in organizations in a way that is modular, consistent and orderly. The ISO 27001 and ISO 20000 standards provide good practices for creating and/or strengthening management infrastructure whose purpose is information security and IT services. In an attempt to provide information on how these standards are related, as well as to facilitate their integration under a single IMS, this article presents the harmonization strategy and results of the harmonization of standards ISO 27001 and ISO 20000 in an organization. The work thereby supports organizations which are interested in knowing how to carry out the harmonization of these models. It also provides a detailed analysis of their similarities and differences, showing an example of how to carry out the integration of related practices between ISO 27001 and ISO 20000-2. In addition, some benefits achieved by the organization are presented.
Geophysical inversion with a neighbourhood algorithm—II. Appraising the ensemble

SUMMARY Monte Carlo direct search methods, such as genetic algorithms, simulated annealing etc., areoften used to explore a ﬁnite dimensional parameter space. They require th e solving of theforward problem many times, that is, making predictions of observables from an earth model.The resulting ensemble of earth models represents all ‘information’ collected in the searchprocess. Search techniques have been the subject of much study in geophysics; less attention isgiven to the appraisal of the ensemble. Often inferences are based on only a small subset of theensemble, and sometimes a single member.This paper presents a new approach to the appraisal problem. To our knowledge this is the ﬁrsttime the general case has been addressed, that is, how to infer information from a completeensemble, previously generated by any search method. The essence of the new approach is touse the informationin the available ensembleto guidea resamplingofthe parameterspace. Thisrequires no further solving of the forward problem, but from the new ‘resampled’ ensemblewe are able to obtain measures of resolution and trade-off in the model parameters, or anycombinations of them.The new ensemble inference algorithm is illustrated on a highly non-linear waveform inversionproblem.It is shownhow the computationtime and memoryrequirements scale with the dimen-sion of the parameter space and size of the ensemble. The method is highly parallel, and mayeasily be distributed across several computers. Since little is assumed about the initial ensembleof earth models, the technique is applicable to a wide variety of situations. For example, it maybe applied to perform ‘error analysis’ using the ensemble generated by a genetic algorithm, orany other direct search method.Key words: numerical techniques, receiver functions, waveform inversion.
Robot Navigation in Cluttered 3-D Environments Using Preference-Based Fuzzy Behaviors

Autonomous navigation systems for mobile robots have been successfully deployed for a wide range of planar ground-based tasks. However, very few counterparts of previous planar navigation systems were developed for 3-D motion, which is needed for both unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles. A novel fuzzy behavioral scheme for navigating an unmanned helicopter in cluttered 3-D spaces is developed. The 3-D navigation problem is decomposed into several identical 2-D navigation subproblems, each of which is solved by using preference-based fuzzy behaviors. Due to the shortcomings of vector summation during the fusion of the 2-D subproblems, instead of directly outputting steering subdirections by their own defuzzification processes, the intermediate preferences of the subproblems are fused to create a 3-D solution region, representing degrees of preference for the robot movement. A new defuzzification algorithm that steers the robot by finding the centroid of a 3-D convex region of maximum volume in the 3-D solution region is developed. A fuzzy speed-control system is also developed to ensure efficient and safe navigation. Substantial simulations have been carried out to demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can smoothly and effectively guide an unmanned helicopter through unknown and cluttered urban and forest environments.
Identifying Distinct Components of a Multi-author Document

Given a multi-author document, we use unsupervised methods to identify distinct authorial threads. Although this problem is of great practical interest for security and forensic reasons, as well as for commercial purposes, this paper is, to the best of our knowledge, the first presentation of a general-purpose method for solving it.
Gliptins and Cardiovascular Outcomes: A Comparative and Critical Analysis after TECOS

The issue related to macrovascular outcomes and intensive glycemic control was hotly debated after the publication of landmark trials like ACCORD, ADVANCE, and VADT. The only benefits seem to come from intervening early on in the disease process as indicated by the 10-year UKPDS follow-up. To complicate matters USFDA made it mandatory for modern drugs to conduct cardiovascular safety trials in high-risk populations after the 2008 rosiglitazone scare. This led to all the modern group of drugs designing cardiovascular safety trials (gliptins, GLP-1 agonists, and SGLT-2 inhibitors) to meet USFDA regulatory requirements. We saw publication of the first 2 randomized trials with gliptins published a year and a half back. On the face value SAVOR TIMI and EXAMINE satisfied the primary composite CV end-points. However, issues related to significant increase in heart failure and all-cause 7-day on-treatment mortality created a lot of confusion. FDA reanalysis of these data (especially SAVOR) raises a lot of doubts as far as CV safety of these groups of drugs was concerned. Hence, all eyes were on TECOS, which was published this year. We take a microscopic look at these trials trying to understand where we stand as from now on this issue.
An Examination of Social Anxiety, Social Skills, Social Adjustment, and Self-Construal in Chinese and American Students at an American University

Ollendick, T. H. , Goza, A. B. , Ingman, K. A. , & Seligman, L. D. (1997). Anxiety disorders in youth: Interventions for children and families. In G. M. Mills, C. S. Al-Mateen, & E. B. Freeman (Eds.), Children and Adolescents with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Virginia Beach Conference (p. 5). Richmond, VA: Commonwealth Institute for Child and Family Studies, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University. Ingman, K. A. & Ollendick, T. H. (1996). Family environment in internalizing and externalizing children. In C. R. Ellis & N. N. Singh (Eds.), Children and Adolescents with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Virginia Beach Conference (p. 68). Richmond, VA: Commonwealth Institute for Child and Family Studies, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University. Ingman, K. A. & Ollendick, T. H. (1996). Cross-cultural aspects of fears in African children and adolescents. In C. R. Ellis & N. N. Singh (Eds.), Children and Adolescents with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Virginia Beach Conference (p. 67). Richmond, VA: Commonwealth Institute for Child and Family Studies, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University. Ingman, K. A. , & Ollendick, T. H. (1995). Family environment in internalizing and externalizing children. In C. R. Ellis & N. N. Singh (Eds.), Children and Adolescents with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Virginia Beach Conference (p. 78). Richmond, VA: Commonwealth Institute for Child and Family Studies, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Olfactory Bulb External Tufted Cells Are Synchronized by Multiple Intraglomerular Mechanisms

In rat olfactory bulb slices, external tufted (ET) cells spontaneously generate spike bursts. Only ET cells affiliated with the same glomerulus exhibit significant synchronous activity, suggesting that synchrony results mainly from intraglomerular interactions. The intraglomerular mechanisms underlying their synchrony are unknown. Using dual extracellular and patch-clamp recordings from ET cell pairs of the same glomerulus, we found that the bursting of ET cells is synchronized by several mechanisms. First, ET cell pairs of the same glomerulus receive spontaneous synchronous fast excitatory synaptic input that can also be evoked by olfactory nerve stimulation. Second, they exhibit correlated spontaneous slow excitatory synaptic currents that can also be evoked by stimulation of the external plexiform layer. These slow currents may reflect the repetitive release of glutamate via spillover from the dendritic tufts of other ET or mitral/tufted cells affiliated with the same glomerulus. Third, ET cells exhibit correlated bursts of inhibitory synaptic activity immediately after the synchronous fast excitatory input. These bursts of IPSCs were eliminated by CNQX and may therefore reflect correlated feedback inhibition from periglomerular cells that are driven by ET cell spike bursts. Fourth, in the presence of fast synaptic blockers, ET cell pairs exhibit synchronous slow membrane current oscillations associated with rhythmic spikelets, which were sensitive to the gap junction blocker carbenoxolone. These findings suggest that coordinated synaptic transmission and gap junction coupling synchronize the spontaneous bursting of ET cells of the same glomerulus.
An assessment of prognostic factors in soft-tissue sarcoma of the head and neck.

OBJECTIVE This study evaluates the outcome, patterns of failure, and prognostic factors in head and neck soft-tissue sarcoma in the adult. DESIGN A retrospective evaluation of 73 patients treated recently for this rare disease. The minimum follow-up for all patients was 3 years with the living patients having a mean follow-up of 4.6 years. SETTING All patients were treated between January 1980 and December 1988, at the Princess Margaret Hospital-Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, the major sarcoma referral center for a population in excess of 3 million. PATIENTS OR PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS: Fifty-two patients were treated with curative intent: 10 by surgery without radiotherapy and 42 with surgery and radiotherapy. Twelve patients received adjuvant chemotherapy. OUTCOME MEASURES Five-year cause-specific survival, local relapse, and distant failure rates were calculated by the product limit method. Comparisons between survival curves were carried out by the log-rank statistic and Cox regression analysis was performed to assess the influence of prognostic factors. RESULTS The 5-year cause-specific survival was 62%, with a local relapse rate of 41% and distant relapse rate of 31%. Extension to adjacent structures, high grade, and large lesion size were associated with poorer survival. Gross residual tumor also was associated with high local failure (75% failure) despite the addition of radiation therapy. Those with clear surgical margins or only microscopic involvement fared much more favorably and had similar local control rates (26% and 30% failure, respectively) provided adjuvant radiotherapy was given. However, 68% of patients dying as a result of their sarcoma had uncontrolled local disease because of the high incidence (27%) of gross residuum following surgery in this series. CONCLUSIONS This series highlights the absolute necessity for resection of all overt disease with planned adjunctive radiotherapy and appropriate reconstruction in most cases. This is achieved more easily in the setting of a specialized sarcoma treatment unit.
The characteristics of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus.

SUMMARY: A study of 94 strains of lactobacilli was made. These were divided into three groups by ‘sugar’ fermentations and tolerance of sodium chloride and sodium tauroglycocholate. Strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus fermented amygdalin, cellobiose, salicin and sucrose, were variable in their action on dextrin and maltose, but grew in 2% sodium chloride or sodium tauroglycocholate. Strains of L. bulgaricus fermented none of these sugars and failed to grow in 2% sodium chloride or in 2% sodium tauroglycocholate. A third intermediate group failed to ferment amygdalin, cellobiose, salicin or sucrose, but all fermented dextrin and maltose and grew in 2% sodium chloride. They failed to grow in 2% sodium tauroglycocholate.
Impaired Clearance of Apoptotic Cells Promotes Synergy between Atherogenesis and Autoimmune Disease

To clarify the link between autoimmune disease and hypercholesterolemia, we created the gld.apoE −/− mouse as a model of accelerated atherosclerosis. Atherosclerotic lesion area was significantly increased in gld.apoE −/− mice compared with apoE −/− mice. gld.apoE −/− mice also displayed increases in lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, and autoantibodies compared with gld mice, and these effects were exacerbated by high cholesterol diet. gld.apoE −/− mice exhibited higher levels of apoptotic cells, yet a reduced frequency of engulfed apoptotic nuclei within macrophages. Infusion of lysophosphatidylcholine, a component of oxidized low density lipoprotein, markedly decreased apoptotic cell clearance in gld mice, indicating that hypercholesterolemia promotes autoimmune disease in this background. These data suggest that defects in apoptotic cell clearance promote synergy between atherosclerotic and autoimmune diseases.
Academic and Locus of Control Enhancement in a Freshman Study Skills and College Adjustment Course

From a previous regression analysis, 70 of 250 freshmen were identified as showing academic risk and enrolled in a study skills and college adjustment course. These students obtained higher grades than predicted, while grades of students not enrolled did not differ from predicted. Obtained GPAs for those not in the course were negatively correlated with locus of control; GPAs for students in the course were not so correlated. Examination of locus of control measures for a subset of the two groups indicated that enrolled students who initially scored external scored significantly more internal at the end of the semester. Results are discussed in terms of both GPA enhancement and taking personal responsibility for college success.