Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mark My Words: Tone of Voice Changes Affective Word Representations in Memory

The present study explored the effect of speaker prosody on the representation of words in memory. To this end, participants were presented with a series of words and asked to remember the words for a subsequent recognition test. During study, words were presented auditorily with an emotional or neutral prosody, whereas during test, words were presented visually. Recognition performance was comparable for words studied with emotional and neutral prosody. However, subsequent valence ratings indicated that study prosody changed the affective representation of words in memory. Compared to words with neutral prosody, words with sad prosody were later rated as more negative and words with happy prosody were later rated as more positive. Interestingly, the participants' ability to remember study prosody failed to predict this effect, suggesting that changes in word valence were implicit and associated with initial word processing rather than word retrieval. Taken together these results identify a mechanism by which speakers can have sustained effects on listener attitudes towards word referents.
Motor Skills Training Enhances Lesion-Induced Structural Plasticity in the Motor Cortex of Adult Rats

To assess behavioral experience effects on synaptic plasticity after brain damage, the present study examined the effects of complex motor skills training (the acrobatic task) on synaptic changes in layer V of the motor cortex opposite unilateral damage to the forelimb sensorimotor cortex (FLsmc). Adult male rats were given lesions or sham operations followed by 28 d of training on the acrobatic task [acrobat condition (AC)]. As a motor activity control [motor control (MC)], lesion and sham animals were given simple repetitive exercise. Previously, FLsmc lesions and acrobatic training have independently been found to result in increases in synapse to neuron ratios in the intact motor cortex relative to controls, and both of these effects were replicated in the present study. In addition, acrobat training after lesions significantly increased layer V synapses per neuron relative to sham–AC and lesion–MC rats. Thus, the combination of acrobatic training and lesions resulted in an enhanced synaptogenic response. Synapse subtypes were also differentially affected by the conditions. Lesion–MC and sham–AC primarily had increases in the number of synapses per neuron formed by multiple synaptic boutons in comparison to sham–MC. In contrast, lesion–AC had increases in both multiple and single synapses. Multiple synaptic spines and perforated synapses were also differentially affected by training versus lesions. On tests of coordinated forelimb use, lesion–AC rats performed better than lesion–MC rats. In addition to supporting a link between behavioral experience and structural plasticity after brain damage, these findings suggest that adaptive neural plasticity may be enhanced using behavioral manipulations as “therapy. ”
EGF stimulates glioblastoma metastasis by induction of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in an EGFR-dependent mechanism

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) and EGF receptor (EGFR) play prominent roles in the metastasis of glioblastoma (GBM). However, the molecular mechanisms for the function of EGF and EGFR in GBM metastasis have not been elucidated. Herein, we demonstrate that coactivation of EGF and EGFR drives tumor metastasis in a matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9)–dependent manner. Expression levels of EGF, EGFR, and MMP-9 were substantially upregulated in the GBM and edema zones of patients, compared with those of paired unaffected participants. Secretion of EGF and MMP-9 was reduced in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) after removing GBM for 2 weeks by operation. To the mechanism, MMP-9 was upregulated by activating EGF and EGFR via PI3K/AKT- and ERK1/2-dependent pathways. Moreover, signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 and STAT5 mediated the activation of NF-κB by PI3K/AKT and ERK1/2 pathways. This resulted in transactivation of MMP-9 in GBM. Finally, MMP-9 induction facilitated abnormal proliferation, migration, and invasion of cells, which contributed to GBM metastasis.
Decreased bone formation and increased osteoclastogenesis cause bone loss in mucolipidosis II

Mucolipidosis type II (MLII) is a severe multi‐systemic genetic disorder caused by missorting of lysosomal proteins and the subsequent lysosomal storage of undegraded macromolecules. Although affected children develop disabling skeletal abnormalities, their pathogenesis is not understood. Here we report that MLII knock‐in mice, recapitulating the human storage disease, are runted with accompanying growth plate widening, low trabecular bone mass and cortical porosity. Intralysosomal deficiency of numerous acid hydrolases results in accumulation of storage material in chondrocytes and osteoblasts, and impaired bone formation. In osteoclasts, no morphological or functional abnormalities are detected whereas osteoclastogenesis is dramatically increased in MLII mice. The high number of osteoclasts in MLII is associated with enhanced osteoblastic expression of the pro‐osteoclastogenic cytokine interleukin‐6, and pharmacological inhibition of bone resorption prevented the osteoporotic phenotype of MLII mice. Our findings show that progressive bone loss in MLII is due to the presence of dysfunctional osteoblasts combined with excessive osteoclastogenesis. They further underscore the importance of a deep skeletal phenotyping approach for other lysosomal diseases in which bone loss is a prominent feature.
Prevalence and Clinical Picture of Diamine Oxidase Gene Variants in Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Pilot Study

Background: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder worldwide. The diamine oxidase enzyme (DAO) is responsible for the histamine gastrointestinal degradation. Its deficient functioning may implicate an excess of histamine in the body. The excess of histamine (histamine intolerance, HIT) has been related with a growing number of diseases and pseudo-allergic symptomatology. However, data on the relationship between the DAO enzyme, HIT, and ADHD are lacking. The main objective of this pilot is to study the prevalence of the four most relevant SNP variants of the AOC1 gene affecting DAO enzyme functionality in a sample of patients diagnosed with ADHD attending child and adolescent mental health services. Methods: In a cohort of 303 participants, we measured the SNP variants of the AOC1 gene. Results: The prevalence of having at least one minor dysfunctional allele was 78.8%. No relationship between ADHD severity and DAO deficiency was found. However, some AOC1 gene variants associated with DAO deficiency were related to several meaningful medical comorbidities. Furthermore, we found a strong association between DAO activity and the intelligence quotient, particularly in working memory. Conclusions: Some SNP variants of the AOC1 gene associated with DAO deficiency are related to some medical comorbidities and cognitive dysfunction in ADHD children and adolescents. Studies including patients with other diagnoses and healthy controls and bigger samples are warranted to confirm our preliminary results.
Projecting Canadian Prairie Runoff for 2041–2070 with North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) Data

The South Saskatchewan River Basin (SSRB) of Alberta, Canada, is semiarid and under severe water stress due to increasing human demands. We present the first examination of projected changes in SSRB runoff from a large set of North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program regional climate models (RCMs) plus one Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment RCM. We used six different runoff estimation methods: total surface and subsurface runoff (total runoff), surface runoff, and four estimations based on Budyko functions. Most RCM estimations showed substantial biases and distribution differences when compared to observed data; thus bias correction was necessary. Total runoff was the best of the six variables in modeling observed runoff for each of the four SSRB subbasins. Projected total runoff for 2041–2070 shows a geographic gradient in the SSRB, with possible drying in the southern Oldman River subbasin and possible increased runoff in the northernmost Red Deer River subbasin. A shift to an earlier spring peak in runoff and drier late summer, with a need for increased irrigation, should be expected. In a first examination of the important question of projected changes in interannual variability, we show increasing magnitude. This result further adds to adaptation challenges over the course of this century in this basin, which is already largely closed to further allocation.
On the capacity of frequency- selective channels in training-based transmission schemes

Communication systems transmitting over frequency-selective channels generally employ an equalizer to recover the transmitted sequence corrupted by intersymbol interference (ISI). Most practical systems use a training sequence to learn the channel impulse response and thereby design the equalizer. An important issue is determining the optimal amount of training: too little training and the channel is not learned properly, too much training and there is not enough time available to transmit data before the channel changes and must be learned anew. We use an information-theoretic approach to find the optimal parameters in training-based transmission schemes for channels described by a block-fading model. The optimal length of the training interval is found by maximizing a lower bound on the training-based channel capacity. When the transmitter is capable of providing two distinct transmission power levels (one for training and one for data transmission), the optimal length of the training interval is shown to be equal to the length of the channel. Further, we show that at high SNR, training-based schemes achieve the capacity of block-fading frequency selective channels, whereas at low SNR, they are highly suboptimal.
Food habits of sympatric pitvipers from the West Gulf Coastal Plain, USA

Widespread species that occupy multiple communities exhibit geographic variation in their natural history due to the ecological context of the local community. An animal’s food habitats are a central component to understanding its natural history and ecological role within its community—information that is critical to understanding resource needs of a species, mechanisms of species coexistence, and energy flow in food webs (Litvaitis 2000; Schalk et al. 2014). This information is also crucial for predicting the response of populations to changes in resource availability and, if necessary, inform mitigation strategies (Holycross and Mackessy 2002). The West Gulf Coastal Plain (WGCP) ecoregion is delineated as occurring west of the Mississippi Embayment and south of the Interior Highlands (MacRoberts and MacRoberts 2003). It is a region of poorly consolidated sediments of Miocene to Pleistocene age with low topographic relief extending inland from the Gulf of Mexico (Bernard and Leblanc 1965). The ecoregion includes significant portions of western Louisiana and eastern Texas, portions of southern Arkansas, and a limited portion of southeastern Oklahoma. Historically, the region was greatly influenced by a fire regime consisting of frequent, low intensity fires resulting in the widespread dominance of Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) and other pine species in the uplands (Bridges and Orzell 1989; Frost 2006). More mesic forests dominated by hardwood species tended to dominate in lower topographic areas (primarily along drainages) with a less intense fire regime. Four species of pitvipers occur in sympatry on the WGCP: Eastern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), Northern Cottonmouth (A. piscivorus), Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), and Pygmy Rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius). These species are broadly distributed across much of the southern/ central/eastern United States and utilize multiple habitat types across their range (Ernst and Ernst 2011). Their diet has been examined and synthesized across much of their range, yet there is little information on their feeding habitats from the WGCP. To contribute to the understanding of the geographic variation in natural history of these widespread pitvipers, we collected additional information on the feeding habitats of these four species in the WGCP through opportunistic fecal and stomach content analysis.
Modeling Self-Occlusions in Dynamic Shape and Appearance Tracking

We present a method to track the precise shape of a dynamic object in video. Joint dynamic shape and appearance models, in which a template of the object is propagated to match the object shape and radiance in the next frame, are advantageous over methods employing global image statistics in cases of complex object radiance and cluttered background. In cases of complex 3D object motion and relative viewpoint change, self-occlusions and dis-occlusions of the object are prominent, and current methods employing joint shape and appearance models are unable to accurately adapt to new shape and appearance information, leading to inaccurate shape detection. In this work, we model self-occlusions and dis-occlusions in a joint shape and appearance tracking framework. Experiments on video exhibiting occlusion/dis-occlusion, complex radiance and background show that occlusion/dis-occlusion modeling leads to superior shape accuracy compared to recent methods employing joint shape/appearance models or employing global statistics.
Integrating the Unofficial Economy into the Dynamics of Post-Socialist Economies: A Framework of Analysis and Evidence

Over a third of economic activity in theformer Soviet countries was estimated to occur in the unofficial economy by the mid-1990s; in Central and Eastern Europe, the average is close to one-quarter. Intraregional variations are great: in some countries 10 to 15 percent of economic activity is unofficial, and in some more than half of it. The growth of unofficial activity in most post-socialist countries, and its mitigating effect on the decline in official output during the early stages of the transition, have been marked. In this paper, the authors challenge the conventional view of how post-socialist economies function by incorporating the unofficial economy into an analysis of the full economy. Then they advance a simple framework for understanding the evolution of the unofficial economy, and the links between both economies, highlighting the main characteristics of"officialdom,"contrasting conventional notions of"informal"or"shadow"economies, and focusing on what determines the decision to cross over from one segment to another. The initial empirical results seem to support hypothetical explanations of what determines the dynamics of the unofficial economy. The authors emphasize the speedy liberalization of markets, macro stability, and a stable and moderate tax regime. Although widespread, most"unofficialdom"in the region is found to be relatively shallow--subject to reversal by appropriate economic policies. The framework and evidence presented here have implications for measurement, forecasting, and policymaking--calling for even faster liberalization and privatization than already advocated. And the lessons in social protection and taxation policy differ from conventional advice.
Long‐period long‐duration seismic events during hydraulic fracturing: Implications for tensile fracture development

Long‐period long‐duration (LPLD) seismic events are observed from a microseismic data set acquired by surface receivers in the Eagle Ford Shale. These events are characterized by low frequencies of 10–60 Hz and long durations of 30–60 s. The seismograms are dominated with P waves, and the frequency spectra have peaks at several isolated frequencies, similar to volcanic tremors. The LPLD events are located close to the horizontal hydraulic treatment well and migrate away from the well with time. These observations suggest that the LPLD events are related to hydraulic fracturing and are possibly caused by the jerky opening and resonance of fluid‐filled cracks. Imaging this type of LPLD events can potentially map fluid flow and tensile fracture development during hydraulic fracturing.
SERUM THYROGLOBULIN IN THE DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT OF THYROID CARCINOMA

Serum thyroglobulin (Tg) was measured by radioimmunoassay in sixty‐two control subjects, 173 euthyroid patients with nodular goitre and eighty‐one patients with previously treated differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Tg was elevated in 65% of nodular goitres and failed to fall with thyroxine treatment in ten/fifteen patients treated. A diagnosis of differentiated carcinoma was confirmed in fourteen/sixty‐four of these patients and Tg was elevated in twelve. Of sixty‐five treated thyroid carcinoma patients without evidence of residual tumour, serum Tg was undetectable in thirty‐nine, normal in twenty‐four and elevated in two. There was evidence of residual tissue in the thyroid in seventeen of the patients with detectable Tg. Of the sixteen patients with residual tumour or metastases Tg was elevated in fifteen. There was a positive correlation between goitre size and Tg levels in multinodular goitre, and thyroid carcinomas of large bulk were associated with higher Tg levels. Serum Tg was normal in medullary carcinoma and in two patients with thyroid metastases from extra‐thyroidal malignancies. High Tg levels in patients with residual metastases from thyroid carcinoma following thyroid ablation indicates Tg production by tumour tissue. Measurement of serum Tg of limited value in the differential diagnosis of nodular thyroid disease. It is particularly useful following surgery and 131I therapy for differentiated thyroid carcinoma. In these patients it gives confirmation of thyroid ablation and may provide evidence of residual tumour tissue when other tests are negative.
Assessing efficacy of jojoba crushed seed and oil cake on growth vigor, nutritional status of Superior grapevine cuttings and controlling the root-knot nematode

The increasing demand for environmental protection and sustainable food production requires increasing towards the use of natural and non-toxic materials for agriculture. Thus, the target of the current research was assessing the efficacy of jojoba crushed seed, oil cake (seed after compressing) and bio-nematicide (Nema-Foo ® ) on growth and nutritional status of Superior grapevine cuttings as well as controlling Meloidogyne incognita in the Pomology greenhouse at NRC, Dokki, Giza, under Egyptian conditions during two successive seasons (2015-2016). Eleven treatments were done on Superior grapevine cuttings (one year old) as jojoba crushed seed and jojoba oil cake (3 and 6 g, for each) with or without infection, Nema-Foo ® (5 %) with infection were added, in addition to untreated control (infected and uninfected plants). Generally, our results showed that all studied growth parameters, nutritional status and resistance to nematodes of Superior grapevine cuttings were affected by various treatments. Jojoba crushed seed and oil cake had a promotion effect as they increased most of the growth parameters, leaf nutrient contents and controlling root-knot nematode. The higher dose of these materials (6 g) showed higher effect on the previous measurements. It is worth mentioning that jojoba crushed seed were more effective than jojoba oil cake in this regard.
Pre-TCR Signaling Transcription Factors Downstream of Enhancer Activation by Inducible Tcra

The Tcra enhancer (E a ) is essential for pre-TCR–mediated activation of germline transcription and V(D)J recombination. E a is considered an archetypical enhanceosome that acts through the functional synergy and cooperative binding of multiple transcription factors. Based on dimethylsulfate genomic footprinting experiments, there has been a long-standing paradox regarding E a activation in the absence of differences in enhancer occupancy. Our data provide the molecular mechanism of E a activation and an explanation of this paradox. We found that germline transcriptional activation of Tcra is dependent on constant phospholipase C g , as well as calcineurin- and MAPK/ERK-mediated signaling, indicating that inducible transcription factors are crucially involved. NFAT, AP-1, and early growth response factor 1, together with CREB-binding protein/p300 coactivators, bind to E a as part of an active enhanceosome assembled during pre-TCR signaling. We favor a scenario in which the binding of lymphoid-restricted and constitutive transcription factors to E a prior to its activation forms a regulatory scaffold to recruit factors induced by pre-TCR signaling. Thus, the combinatorial assembly of tissue- and signal-speciﬁc transcription factors dictates the E a function. This mechanism for enhancer activation may represent a general paradigm in tissue-restricted and stimulus-responsive gene regulation. The Journal of Immunology , 2012, 188: 3278–3293.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Subtypes. Transitions over Time

Background Although subtypes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are recognized, it is unknown what happens to these subtypes over time. Our objectives were to assess the stability of cluster-based subtypes in patients with stable disease and explore changes in clusters over 1 year. Methods Multiple correspondence and cluster analysis were used to evaluate data collected from 543 stable patients included consecutively from 5 respiratory outpatient clinics. Results Four subtypes were identified. Three of them, A, B, and C, had marked respiratory profiles with a continuum in severity of several variables, while the fourth, subtype D, had a more systemic profile with intermediate respiratory disease severity. Subtype A was associated with less dyspnea, better health-related quality of life and lower Charlson comorbidity scores, and subtype C with the most severe dyspnea, and poorer pulmonary function and quality of life, while subtype B was between subtypes A and C. Subtype D had higher rates of hospitalization the previous year, and comorbidities. After 1 year, all clusters remained stable. Generally, patients continued in the same subtype but 28% migrated to another cluster. Together with movement across clusters, patients showed changes in certain characteristics (especially exercise capacity, some variables of pulmonary function and physical activity) and changes in outcomes (quality of life, hospitalization and mortality) depending on the new cluster they belonged to. Conclusions Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease clusters remained stable over 1 year. Most patients stayed in their initial subtype cluster, but some moved to another subtype and accordingly had different outcomes.