Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Water ADC, extracellular space volume, and tortuosity in the rat cortex after traumatic injury

The diffusion parameters in rat cortex were studied 3–35 days following a cortical stab wound, using diffusion‐weighted MR to determine the apparent diffusion coefficient of water (ADCW) in the tissue, and the real‐time iontophoretic tetramethylammonium (TMA) method to measure the extracellular space (ECS) diffusion parameters: ECS volume fraction α and the ADC of TMA+ (ADCTMA). Severe astrogliosis was found close to the wound, and mild astrogliosis was found in the ipsilateral but not the contralateral cortex. Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG) expression was increased throughout the ipsilateral cortex. In the hemisphere contralateral to the wound, α, ADCTMA, and ADCW were not significantly different from control values. ECS volume fraction was increased only in the vicinity of the wound, in the region of cell death and severe astrogliosis, at 3 and 7 days after injury. However, both ADCTMA and ADCW were significantly decreased after lesion in the vicinity of the wound as well as in the rest of the ipsilateral hemisphere distant from the wound. Thus, both ADCW and ADCTMA decreased in regions wherein α did not change but CSPG increased. An increase in extracellular matrix expression may therefore impose diffusion barriers for water as well as for TMA molecules. Magn Reson Med 48:994–1003, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A neutrophil elastase inhibitor prevents bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice

Neutrophil elastase plays pivotal roles in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. The neutrophil elastase inhibitor, sivelestat, could alleviate pulmonary fibrosis; however, the antifibrotic mechanisms have not yet been clarified. We examined the antifibrotic mechanisms, mainly focusing on a key fibrotic cytokine, transforming growth factor (TGF)-&bgr;1, in this study. To elucidate the antifibrotic mechanisms of sivelestat, we examined a murine model of bleomycin-induced early-stage pulmonary fibrosis. After intratracheal instillation of bleomycin, sivelestat was administered intraperitoneally once a day for 7 or 14 days. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and lung samples were examined on day 7 or day 14 after bleomycin instillation. In the bleomycin-induced early-stage pulmonary fibrosis model, the neutrophil elastase level was increased in the lungs. Sivelestat significantly inhibited the increase in lung collagen content, fibrotic changes, the numbers of total cells (including macrophages, neutrophils and lymphocytes), the levels of the active form of TGF-&bgr;1 and phospho-Smad2 in bleomycin-induced early-stage pulmonary fibrosis. The total TGF-&bgr;1 levels and relative changes of TGF-&bgr;1 mRNA expression, however, were not decreased significantly by sivelestat. These results suggest that sivelestat alleviated bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis via inhibition of both TGF-&bgr; activation and inflammatory cell recruitment in the lung.
Recognizing affect from non-stylized body motion using shape of Gaussian descriptors

In this paper, we address the problem of recognizing affect from non-stylized human body motion. We utilize a novel feature descriptor which is based on the shape of signal probability density function framework to represent the motion capture data. Combining the feature representation scheme with support vector machine classifier, we detect implicitly communicated affect in human body motion. We test our algorithm using a comprehensive database of affectively performed motion. Experiment results show state-of-the-art performance compared with the existing methods.
Epitopes of streptococcal M proteins shared with cardiac myosin

We present evidence that M proteins from three different serotypes of group A streptococci share epitopes with cardiac myosin. Rabbit antisera evoked by a purified fragment of type 5 M protein crossreacted with myosin, but not alpha-tropomyosin, actin, or myosin light chains. In enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, the myosin-crossreactive antibodies were totally inhibited by type 5 M protein and partially inhibited by types 6 and 19 M proteins. The affinity-purified myosin antibodies opsonized type 5 streptococci, indicating that they were directed against protective M protein epitopes on the surface of the organisms. Immunoblot analyses demonstrated the binding of the crossreactive antibodies to myosin heavy chains. Sera from patients with acute rheumatic fever showed significantly stronger reactions with myosin than did sera from their siblings, hospitalized controls, or patients with poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis.
The Action-Sentence Compatibility Effect: It's All in the Timing

When participants are asked to make sensibility judgments on sentences that describe action toward the body (i.e., "Mark dealt the cards to you") or away from the body (i.e., "You dealt the cards to Mark"), they are faster to respond when the response requires an arm movement in the same direction as the action described by the sentence. This congruence effect is known as the Action-Sentence Compatibility Effect (ACE). This study reports 4 experiments that extend our understanding of the ACE by exploring how the time at which one prepares the motor response required for the sensibility judgment affects the magnitude of the ACE. Results show that the ACE arises only when participants have the opportunity to plan their motor response while they are processing the sentence.
Collision Course: Federal Education Policy Meets State and Local Realities

What happens when federal officials try to accomplish goals that depend on the resources and efforts of state and local governments? Focusing on the nation's experience with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Manna's engaging case study considers just that question. Beyond the administrative challenges NCLB unleashed, "Collision Course" examines the dynamics at work when federal policymakers hold state and local governments accountable for results. Ambitions for higher performance collide with governing structures and practices. Were the collisions valuable for their potential to transform education policy, or has the law inflicted too much damage on state and local institutions responsible for educating the nation's youth? The results have been both positive and negative. As Manna points to increased capabilities in states and localities, he also looks at expanded bureaucratic requirements. "Collision Course" offers a balanced and in-depth assessment of a policy that has sparked heated debate over a broad expanse of time- from NCLB's adoption through its implementation to the Obama administration's attempts to shift away. Federalism, the policymaking process, and the complexity of education policy all get their due in this accessible and analytical supplement.
New perspectives on the welfare state in Europe

Not since the 1940s has there been such comprehensive scope for uncertainty within and about Europe. New Perspectives on the Welfare State in Europe offers an appraisal of comparative social policy and applies it to current uncertainties concerning European communities and European-North American and East Asian relationships. Including contributions from Deakin, Klein, Leibfried, Mishra and Rose the work should provide essential reading for students, researchers, lecturers and policy makers in social policy, politics and sociology.
Effect of Wolbachia on Replication of West Nile Virus in a Mosquito Cell Line and Adult Mosquitoes

ABSTRACT Wolbachia as an endosymbiont is widespread in insects and other arthropods and is best known for reproductive manipulations of the host. Recently, it has been shown that wMelpop and wMel strains of Wolbachia inhibit the replication of several RNA viruses, including dengue virus, and other vector-borne pathogens (e.g., Plasmodium and filarial nematodes) in mosquitoes, providing an alternative approach to limit the transmission of vector-borne pathogens. In this study, we tested the effect of Wolbachia on the replication of West Nile Virus (WNV). Surprisingly, accumulation of the genomic RNA of WNV for all three strains of WNV tested (New York 99, Kunjin, and New South Wales) was enhanced in Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti cells (Aag2). However, the amount of secreted virus was significantly reduced in the presence of Wolbachia. Intrathoracic injections showed that replication of WNV in A. aegypti mosquitoes infected with wMel strain of Wolbachia was not inhibited, whereas wMelPop strain of Wolbachia significantly reduced the replication of WNV in mosquitoes. Further, when wMelPop mosquitoes were orally fed with WNV, virus infection, transmission, and dissemination rates were very low in Wolbachia-free mosquitoes and were completely inhibited in the presence of Wolbachia. The results suggest that (i) despite the enhancement of viral genomic RNA replication in the Wolbachia-infected cell line the production of secreted virus was significantly inhibited, (ii) the antiviral effect in intrathoracically infected mosquitoes depends on the strain of Wolbachia, and (iii) replication of the virus in orally fed mosquitoes was completely inhibited in wMelPop strain of Wolbachia.
Function and distribution of three types of rectifying channel in rat spinal root myelinated axons.

1. The nature, distribution and function of rectifying channels in rat spinal root myelinated axons has been assessed with selective blocking agents and a variety of intracellular and extracellular recording techniques. 2. The electrotonic responses of roots poisoned with tetrodotoxin (TTX) to constant current pulses had fast (rise time much less than 1 ms) and slow components, which were interpreted in terms of Barrett & Barrett's (1982) revised cable model for myelinated nerve. Depolarization evoked a rapid outward rectification (time constant, tau approximately 0.5 ms), selectively blocked by 4‐aminopyridine (4AP, 1 mM), and a slow outward rectification (tau approximately 15 ms), selectively blocked by tetraethylammonium (TEA, 1 mM) or Ba2+ (0.5 mM). Hyperpolarization evoked an even slower inward rectification, selectively blocked by Cs+ (3 mM) but not by Ba2+. 3. From the different effects of the blocking agents on the fast and slow components of electrotonus, it was deduced (a) that the inward rectification is a property of the internodal axon, (b) that the slow outward rectifier is present at the nodes, and probably the internodes as well, and (c) that the 4AP‐sensitive channels have a minor nodal and a major internodal representation. 4. TEA and Ba2+ reduced the accommodation of roots and fibres not poisoned with TTX to long current pulses, whereas 4AP facilitated short bursts of impulses in response to a single brief stimulus. 5. TEA and Ba2+ also abolished a late hyperpolarizing after‐potential (peaking at 20‐80 ms), while 4AP enhanced the depolarizing after‐potential in normal fibres, and abolished an early hyperpolarizing after‐potential (peaking at 1‐3 ms) in depolarized fibres. Corresponding to the later after‐potentials were post‐spike changes in excitability and conduction velocity, which were affected similarly by the blocking agents. Cs+ increased the post‐tetanic depression attributable to electrogenic hyperpolarization. 6. The physiological roles of the three different rectifying conductances are discussed. It is also argued that the prominent ohmic 'leak conductance', usually ascribed to the nodal axon, must arise in an extracellular pathway in series with the rectifying internodal axon.
Initiation of ART during Early Acute HIV Infection Preserves Mucosal Th17 Function and Reverses HIV-Related Immune Activation

Mucosal Th17 cells play an important role in maintaining gut epithelium integrity and thus prevent microbial translocation. Chronic HIV infection is characterized by mucosal Th17 cell depletion, microbial translocation and subsequent immune-activation, which remain elevated despite antiretroviral therapy (ART) correlating with increased mortality. However, when Th17 depletion occurs following HIV infection is unknown. We analyzed mucosal Th17 cells in 42 acute HIV infection (AHI) subjects (Fiebig (F) stage I-V) with a median duration of infection of 16 days and the short-term impact of early initiation of ART. Th17 cells were defined as IL-17+ CD4+ T cells and their function was assessed by the co-expression of IL-22, IL-2 and IFNγ. While intact during FI/II, depletion of mucosal Th17 cell numbers and function was observed during FIII correlating with local and systemic markers of immune-activation. ART initiated at FI/II prevented loss of Th17 cell numbers and function, while initiation at FIII restored Th17 cell numbers but not their polyfunctionality. Furthermore, early initiation of ART in FI/II fully reversed the initially observed mucosal and systemic immune-activation. In contrast, patients treated later during AHI maintained elevated mucosal and systemic CD8+ T-cell activation post initiation of ART. These data support a loss of Th17 cells at early stages of acute HIV infection, and highlight that studies of ART initiation during early AHI should be further explored to assess the underlying mechanism of mucosal Th17 function preservation.
Separation and Determination of Fatty Acids from Lipid Fractions by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography: Cholesterol Esters of Umbilical Cord Arteries

ABSTRACT Preeclampsia is accompanied by an extensive remodeling of the extracellular matrix of umbilical cord. It is associated with an increase in collagen content in the umbilical cord artery. Furthermore, preeclampsia distinctly reduces proteolytic and gelatinolytic activity, especially after activation with various agents. We decided to develop a method for separation and determination of fatty acids from different tissues by high-performance liquid chromatography. That method allowed us to determine cholesteryl ester composition and content in umbilical cord arteries. Studies were performed on the umbilical cord arteries taken from 10 newborns delivered by healthy mothers and 10 newborns delivered by mothers with preeclampsia. Cholesteryl esters were isolated by thin layer chromatography. Fatty acids were liberated by basic hydrolysis and analyzed by HPLC of their p-bromophenacyl derivatives using detection at 254 nm. It was found that saturated fatty acids were the main group of fatty acids incorporated to cholesteryl esters in all control and preeclamptic umbilical cord arteries. Preeclampsia caused a significant increase in cholesteryl ester content in the umbilical cord arteries. An increase of neutral lipid content in vessel walls of newborns delivered by mothers with preeclampsia may be one of the factors that evoke the initiation of hypertension in utero and its amplification throughout childhood and adult life. The described method reduces time and cost consumption and allows us to determine almost all fatty acids forming cholesteryl esters contained in the tissue sample.
Supporting Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy with Mobile Phone Reminders: Results from a Cohort in South India

Background Adherence is central to the success of antiretroviral therapy. Supporting adherence has gained importance in HIV care in many national treatment programs. The ubiquity of mobile phones, even in resource-constrained settings, has provided an opportunity to utilize an inexpensive, contextually feasible technology for adherence support in HIV in these settings. We aimed to assess the influence of mobile phone reminders on adherence to antiretroviral therapy in South India. Participant experiences with the intervention were also studied. This is the first report of such an intervention for antiretroviral adherence from India, a country with over 800 million mobile connections. Methods Study design: Quasi-experimental cohort study involving 150 HIV-infected individuals from Bangalore, India, who were on antiretroviral therapy between April and July 2010. The intervention: All participants received two types of adherence reminders on their mobile phones, (i) an automated interactive voice response (IVR) call and (ii) A non-interactive neutral picture short messaging service (SMS), once a week for 6 months. Adherence measured by pill count, was assessed at study recruitment and at months one, three, six, nine and twelve. Participant experiences were assessed at the end of the intervention period. Results The mean age of the participants was 38 years, 27% were female and 90% urban. Overall, 3,895 IVRs and 3,073 SMSs were sent to the participants over 6 months. Complete case analysis revealed that the proportion of participants with optimal adherence increased from 85% to 91% patients during the intervention period, an effect that was maintained 6 months after the intervention was discontinued (p = 0.016). Both, IVR calls and SMS reminders were considered non-intrusive and not a threat to privacy. A significantly higher proportion agreed that the IVR was helpful compared to the SMS (p<0.001). Conclusion Mobile phone reminders may improve medication adherence in HIV infected individuals in this setting, the effect of which was found to persist for at least 6 months after cessation of the intervention.
Reconstructing the Savings Glut: The Global Implications of Asian Excess Saving

East Asian, and primarily Chinese and Japanese, excess saving has been comparatively large and controversial since the 1980s. That it has contributed to the decline in the global “natural” rate of interest is consistent with Bernanke’s much debated “savings glut” hypothesis for the decade after 1998, empirical explorations of which have proved unconvincing. In this paper it is argued that the comparatively integrated global market for long bonds is suggestive of trends in the “world” natural rate and that the longer term evidence supports a leading role for Asia’s contribution to the expansion of ex ante global saving in explaining the declining trend in real long yields. Evidence is presented that trends in US 10 year bond yields are indeed representative of those in the “world” natural rate. The relationship between these yields and excess saving in China and Japan is then explored using a VECM that accounts for US monetary policy. The results support a negative long term relationship between 10-year yields and the current account surpluses of China and Japan. Projections using the same model then suggest that a feasible range of future pathways for those current accounts could cause the path of long rates to deviate by 330 basis points over the next decade.
Dynamic segmentation of vocal extract for Assamese Speech to Text Conversion using RNN

The current work proposes a prototype Speech to Text Conversion System (STSC) in Assamese language using Linear Predictive Coding (LPC) and Recurrent Neural Network(RNN). The LPC features are extracted from utterances of isolated phonemes of Assamese language (a major language of North-East India). These are used to train a RNN by a proposed dynamic method. The proposed method segments an utterance with an optimal dynamic criterion to improve the success scores during testing of the STCS system. The proposed method dynamically adjusts the length of the windows required for recognizing different phonemes. The performance of the proposed method is compared with a conventional static RNN based STCS system which is trained using prior knowledge about length of windows required for recognizing different phonemes.
On the convergence of a matrix splitting algorithm for the symmetric linear complementarity problem

We consider a matrix splitting algorithm for the linear complementarity problem where the matrix is symmetric positive semi-definite. We show that if the splitting is regular, then the iterates generated by the algorithm are well defined and converge to a solution. This result resolves in the affirmative a long standing question about the convergence of the point SOR method for solving this problem. We also extend this result to related iterative methods. As direct consequences, we obtain convergence of the methods of, respectively, Aganagic, Cottle et al., Mangasarian, Pang, and others, without making any additional assumption on the problem.
The Wage Scar from Youth Unemployment

In this paper we utilise the National Child Development Survey to analyse the impact of unemployment during youth upon the wage of individuals up to twenty years later. We find a large and significant wage penalty, even after controlling for educational achievement, region of residence and a wealth of family and individual specific characteristics. We employ an instrumental variables technique to ensure that our results are not driven unobserved individual heterogeneity. Our estimates are robust to the test, indicating that the relationship estimated between youth unemployment and the wage in later life is a causal relationship. Our results suggest a scar from early unemployment in the magnitude of 12% to 15% at age 42. However, this penalty is lower, at 8% to 10%, if individuals avoid repeat incidence of unemployment.
Electrical tree propagation along barrier-interfaces in epoxy resin

The propagation of electrical trees along interfaces in epoxy resin is described. The electrical trees grew in needle-plane samples with and without internal barriers up to the final breakdown. The barrier materials glass, mica and PTFE had been chosen because they have significantly different bond mechanisms to the epoxy resin as well as being common materials in various composite high voltage insulation systems. The mechanical strength of the epoxy resin-barrier material systems was determined for the materials tested. The results show that the propagation of the tree along the barrier is dependent on the type of chemical bond and the shear strength between the epoxy resin and the barrier material. The higher the bond strength between the barrier and the epoxy the higher the resistance to electrical tree propagation. Furthermore it appears that the wettability of the barrier materials plays a minor role in tree propagation along them. The results give a better understanding of the failure mechanism of certain composite insulating materials exposed to high voltage.
Opening access to knowledge in Southern African universities : a report to the Southern African Regional Universities Association

The tipping point for African research and innovation will not be merely the ability to fully access and use the new abundance of global knowledge and ideas but to make an active and significant contribution to its creation. This study has identified key constraints in access to knowledge in universities in the SADC Region and builds on the findings from two earlier studies of SARUA, A Status Review of ICT in Universities in the SADC Region (2006), and Science and Technology: A Baseline Study on Science and Technology and Higher Education in the SADC Region (2007). Not only do the authors show that the presence of research from Africa in leading international peer reviewed journals is diminishing, but just as importantly it also highlights the obstacles that prevent the majority of Africa research from ever receiving an adequate profile or readership within African research communities, let alone internationally. Many of the restrictions on access to knowledge in Africa, but particularly in the Southern Africa Region, revolve around restrictive copyright practices and regulations, a lack of access to Internet-based technologies, out-dated paradigms for knowledge collection and dissemination, and the lack of creative and effective government supported enabling environments within higher education to match the vision of African leaders for knowledge and innovation in Africa in the 21st century. The report offers a series of recommendations to address these challenges, both at a policy level and with regard to research and dissemination (e.g. an ‘open knowledge platform’ for the region). These are of sufficient magnitude that a paradigm shift is required in thinking, knowledge generation and dissemination. Sufficient critical and concerted action will be necessary in order to produce a series of ‘break throughs’.