Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simultaneous Determination of Seven Anthraquinone Aglycones of Crude and Processed Semen Cassiae Extracts in Rat Plasma by UPLC–MS/MS and Its Application to a Comparative Pharmacokinetic Study

Semen cassiae is the ripe seed of Cassia obtusifolia L. or Cassia tora L. of the family Leguminosae. In traditional Chinese medicine, the two forms of Semen cassiae are raw Semen cassiae (R-SC) and parched Semen cassiae (P-SC). To clarify the processing mechanism of Semen cassiae, the pharmacokinetics of R-SC and P-SC extracts were examined. A simple, rapid, sensitive ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectroscopy (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of seven anthraquinone aglycones of Semen cassiae (aurantio-obtusin, obtusifolin, questin, 2-hydroxyemodin-1-methyl-ether, rhein, emodin, 1,2,7-trimethoxyl-6,8-dihydroxy-3-methylanthraquinone) to compare the pharmacokinetics of raw and parched Semen cassiae in rat plasma. Compared with the R-SC group, Cmax and AUC0-12 tended to be higher in the P-SC group. In particular, Cmax values for aurantio-obtusin, obtusifolin, questin, 2-hydroxyemodin-1-methyl-ether and rhein were significantly higher in the P-SC group (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, Tmax and MRT0-12 tended to be lower in the P-SC group. Specifically, Tmax for aurantio-obtusin and 2-hydroxyemodin-1-methyl-ether and MRT0-12 for obtusifolin and rhein were significantly higher in the P-SC group (p < 0.05).
African Indigenous Religions and Disease Causation: From Spiritual Beings to Living Humans

African Indigenous Religions and Disease Causation: From Spiritual Beings to Living Humans. By David Westerlund. Studies of Religion in Africa 28. Leiden: Brill, 2006. Pp. viii, 237. $99.00/euro76 paper. As a historian of religion, Westerlund aims to find a middle ground that combines the utility of locally based studies of religion with larger-scale attempts to understand religion more generally. In this case, his topic is "African indigenous religions," and he uses the lens of disease causation in order to compare five different religious systems. The premise of the book is an interesting one that is reminiscent of some of the great classics in the field of African religions, while acknowledging the faults and limitations of those earlier studies. Westerlund's book is divided into an introduction and nine chapters, followed by an appendix. In the Introduction, he focuses a good deal on theories of religion and lays the foundation for his practical understanding of religion, which he traces back to Evans-Pritchard. Then, he proceeds to lay out his choice to examine five different cultural groups from the African continent - San, Maasai, Sukuma, Kongo, and Yoruba- while repeatedly asserting the need to acknowledge the significant variety within each of these groups, especially when it comes to religious beliefs and practices as well as understandings of disease. Building on G. M. Foster's well-known distinction between "personalistic" and "naturalistic" disease etiologies, Westerlund proposes three "ideal types" of disease etiology that apply to African indigenous religions: "religious (suprahuman), social (human) and natural (mainly physical)" (p. 6). In analyzing each of the five groups, he seeks to identify the role that different forces play in causing illness, focusing especially on the role of God, divinities, spirits, ancestors, and witchcraft/witchery. His analysis suggests that the foraging San and the pastoralist Maasai have traditionally demonstrated relatively little focus on social or human sources of disease. In contrast, Westerlund finds the social or human dimension of disease causation to be much more pronounced among the Sukuma, Kongo, and Yoruba. Westerlund points out that, among these groups, ancestors, spirits, and divinities traditionally were understood to be significant actors affecting health. Thus, his main analytical argument assumes, rather implicitly, a connection between religious forms and economic/subsistence systems. However, in what the subtitle suggests is a more central theme, a strong argument running throughout the text asserts that human agents may have become increasingly common disease agents as a result of the processes of "modernization. " According to Westerlund, the Kongo, Sukuma, and Yoruba have been most subject to these processes, but even the San and the Maasai have experienced the effects, primarily through contact with others and as a result of economic and political changes. …
A Discriminative Global Training Algorithm for Statistical MT

This paper presents a novel training algorithm for a linearly-scored block sequence translation model. The key component is a new procedure to directly optimize the global scoring function used by a SMT decoder. No translation, language, or distortion model probabilities are used as in earlier work on SMT. Therefore our method, which employs less domain specific knowledge, is both simpler and more extensible than previous approaches. Moreover, the training procedure treats the decoder as a black-box, and thus can be used to optimize any decoding scheme. The training algorithm is evaluated on a standard Arabic-English translation task.
Spectrum of Clinical Illness in Hospitalized Patients with “Common Cold” Virus Infections

Abstract The viruses associated most frequently with the “common cold” are rhinoviruses and coronaviruses. The first prospective cohort study to determine the prevalence of rhinovirus and coronavirus infections in patients of all ages hospitalized for acute respiratory illnesses is described. Hospital admissions for acute respiratory illnesses were identified, and cell culture for rhinovirus and serologic assays on paired sera for coronaviruses 229E and OC43 were performed. A total of 61 infections with rhinoviruses and coronaviruses were identified from 1198 respiratory illnesses (5.1%); in addition, 9 additional infections associated with ≥1 other respiratory viruses were identified. Of those infected with only rhinovirus or coronavirus, underlying cardiopulmonary diseases were present in 35% of the patients aged <5 years, in 93% aged between 5 and 35 years, and in 73% aged >35 years. The predominant clinical syndromes varied by age: pneumonia and bronchiolitis in children aged <5 years; exacerbations of asthma in older children and young adults; and pneumonia and exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure in older adults. Therefore, rhinovirus and coronavirus infections in hospitalized patients were associated with lower respiratory tract illnesses in all age groups.
Delineation of Urban Footprints From TerraSAR-X Data by Analyzing Speckle Characteristics and Intensity Information

With a spatial resolution of up to 1 m, the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X (TSX) has significantly increased the usability of spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery in the context of urban applications. This paper presents an approach toward the semiautomated detection of built-up areas (BAs) based on single-polarized TSX images. The proposed methodology includes a specific preprocessing of the SAR data and an automated image analysis procedure. The preprocessing focuses on the analysis of local speckle characteristics in order to provide a texture layer that highlights BAs. In the context of an object-oriented image analysis, this texture layer is used along with the original intensity information to automatically extract settlements. The technique is tested on the basis of 12 TSX scenes covering representative urban agglomerations distributed throughout the world. Overall, accuracies between 76% and 96% for the derived city footprints demonstrate the high potential of both the TSX imagery and the proposed analysis approach in detecting BAs. In order to demonstrate the robustness and transferability of the image analysis concept, we finally transferred the classification strategy from the object-oriented domain to a more general and simplified pixel-based approach.
Targeting motifs and functional parameters governing the assembly of connexins into gap junctions

To study the assembly of gap junctions, connexin--green-fluorescent-protein (Cx--GFP) chimeras were expressed in COS-7 and HeLa cells. Cx26-- and Cx32--GFP were targeted to gap junctions where they formed functional channels that transferred Lucifer Yellow. A series of Cx32--GFP chimeras, truncated from the C-terminal cytoplasmic tail, were studied to identify amino acid sequences governing targeting from intracellular assembly sites to the gap junction. Extensive truncation of Cx32 resulted in failure to integrate into membranes. Truncation of Cx32 to residue 207, corresponding to removal of most of the 78 amino acids on the cytoplasmic C-terminal tail, led to arrest in the endoplasmic reticulum and incomplete oligomerization. However, truncation to amino acid 219 did not impair Cx oligomerization and connexon hemichannels were targeted to the plasma membrane. It was concluded that a crucial gap-junction targeting sequence resides between amino acid residues 207 and 219 on the cytoplasmic C-terminal tail of Cx32. Studies of a Cx32E208K mutation identified this as one of the key amino acids dictating targeting to the gap junction, although oligomerization of this site-specific mutation into hexameric hemichannels was relatively unimpaired. The studies show that expression of these Cx--GFP constructs in mammalian cells allowed an analysis of amino acid residues involved in gap-junction assembly.
Semi)simple exercises in quantum cohomology

The paper is dedicated to the study of algebraic manifolds whose quantum cohomology or a part of it is a semisimple Frobenius manifold. Theorem 1.8. 1 says, roughly speaking, that the sum of $(p,p)$--cohomology spaces is a maximal Frobenius submanifold that has chances to be semisimple. Theorem 1.8. 3 provides a version of the Reconstruction theorem, assuming semisimplicity but not $H^2$--generation. Theorem 3.6. 1 establishes the semisimplicity for all del Pezzo surfaces, providing an evidence for the conjecture that semisimplicity is related to the existence of a full system of exceptional sheaves of the appropriate length. Finally, in \S 2 we calculate special coordinates for three families of Fano threefolds with minimal cohomology.
Designing and Developing Programs for Gifted Students.

Acknowledgments About the Editor About the Contributors Introduction - Joan Franklin Smutny 1. From Needs and Goals to Program Organization: A Nuts-and-Bolts Guide - Joan Franklin Smutny and Cheryl Lind 2. Developing and Designing Programs Serving Young Gifted Children - Joan Franklin Smutny 3. Identifying and Selecting Teachers - Norman J. Mirman 4. Special Programs at the Elementary Level: Content and Methods - Mary K. Pleiss 5. Designing and Implementing Curriculum for Programs: Elementary and Middle School Levels - Cheryll M. Adams and Sara Delano Moore 6. Designing Math Curriculum to Encourage Inductive Thinking by Elementary and Middle-School Students: Basic Principles to Follow - Christopher M. Freeman 7. Reflections on Special Programming for the Disadvantaged Students - Eileen Kelble 8. University School's Community Talent Development Program - Patricia L. Hollingsworth 9. The Prevention and Enrichment Program for Families with Gifted Children - Ruth Erken 10. Role of Programs: Relationships With Parents, Schools, and Communities - Maria Lucia Sabatella 11. The Role of Summer Programs: Providing Support for Students, Parents, and Schools - Pam Piskurich 12. Support for Gifted Programs: Parents, School, and Community - Deborah E. Bordelon 13. Assessment: Impact on Children, Parents, and Teachers - Cheryll M. Adams Concluding Thoughts - Joan Franklin Smutny Other Resources References Organizations Publishers and Publications Index
Translating Research into Clinical Scale Manufacturing of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

It sounds simple to obtain sufficient numbers of cells derived from fetal or adult human tissues, isolate and/or expand the stem cells, and then transplant an appropriate number of these cells into the patient at the correct location. However, translating basic research into routine therapies is a complex multistep process which necessitates product regulation. The challenge relates to managing the expected therapeutic benefits with the potential risks and to balance the fast move to clinical trials with time-consuming cautious risk assessment. This paper will focus on the definition of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), and challenges and achievements in the manufacturing process enabling their use in clinical studies. It will allude to different cellular sources, special capacities of MSCs, but also to current regulations, with a special focus on accessory material of human or animal origin, like media supplements. As cellular integrity and purity, formulation and lot release testing of the final product, validation of all procedures, and quality assurance are of utmost necessity, these topics will be addressed.
Teacher Overinvolvement and Student Depression among Junior High School Students in Taiwan

This study examines depression in students at public high schools in Taiwan. The purpose of this study is to examine which student-level and teacher-level variables affect student depression due to teacher emotional overinvolvement and other factors. A survey instrument adapted and translated from existing surveys was distributed to 1,479 Taiwanese adolescents aged 13—15 years and 172 teachers from 10 public junior high schools in the city of Taipei. The hierarchical linear model (HLM) was used for a cross-level analysis of the data. The HLM shows that student-level measures account for most of the variance. Teacher emotional overinvolvement and core self-evaluations are the preponderant influences on student ratings. In terms of teacher-level variables, the effects of teacher involvement, teacher depression, and teacher educational background on student-level variables are strong and significant. The findings of this study recommend the development of a comprehensive counseling system for teachers and students.
Impairment of GLP1‐induced insulin secretion: role of genetic background, insulin resistance and hyperglycaemia

One major risk factor of type 2 diabetes is the impairment of glucose‐induced insulin secretion which is mediated by the individual genetic background and environmental factors. In addition to impairment of glucose‐induced insulin secretion, impaired glucagon‐like peptide (GLP)1‐induced insulin secretion has been identified to be present in subjects with diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance, but little is known about its fundamental mechanisms. The state of GLP1 resistance is probably an important mechanism explaining the reduced incretin effect observed in type 2 diabetes. In this review, we address methods that can be used for the measurement of insulin secretion in response to GLP1 in humans, and studies showing that specific diabetes risk genes are associated with resistance of the secretory function of the β‐cell in response to GLP1 administration. Furthermore, we discuss other factors that are associated with impaired GLP1‐induced insulin secretion, for example, insulin resistance. Finally, we provide evidence that hyperglycaemia per se, the genetic background and their interaction result in the development of GLP1 resistance of the β‐cell. We speculate that the response or the non‐response to therapy with GLP1 analogues and/or dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 (DPP‐IV) inhibitors is critically dependent on GLP1 resistance.
Arterial stiffness, functional decline and mortality risk in older adults

A hallmark of vascular aging, central arterial stiffness is the primary determinant of hypertension in older adults and an important predictor of cardiovascular events and mortality. Few studies of older adults have evaluated the longitudinal association of arterial stiffness with cognitive and physical declines, two common consequences of vascular disease. We sought to characterize the relationships among aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV), a measure of central arterial stiffness, cognitive and physical declines and mortality risk among community-dwelling older adults participating in the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) study. In an analysis of the Health ABC Cognitive Vitality Substudy, poorer performances in several cognitive domains were associated with accelerated gait speed decline, consistent with a shared cerebrovascular pathogenesis underlying cognitive and physical declines in aging. A second analysis of the substudy identified PWV as a predictor of longitudinal decline in psychomotor speed; this domain-specific association may reflect a vulnerability of the deep white matter to cerebral microvascular disease in the presence of aortic stiffness. In an analysis of the full Health ABC cohort, higher PWV was independently associated with slower gait at baseline and throughout the study period in participants with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), suggesting synergistic roles of arterial stiffness and PAD in mobility decline. Finally, in the full cohort rates of decline in the Modified Mini-Mental State Exam (3MS) and gait speed predicted mortality independent of each other, baseline performance and risk factors, demonstrating a prognostic value for repeated assessments of both cognitive and physical performance in initially well-functioning older adults. The public health relevance of these findings is the potentially clinically important influence of central arterial stiffness to both cognitive and physical function, two central facets of successful aging.
Convection waves : significant large-scale weather with medium range predictability ( if subgrid parameterizations work right )

Convection waves (such as the moist Kelvin wave) are predictable significant weather events with both scientific and practical interest. Theoretical models exist, but real-world observations have limited ability to incisively validate their idealized assumptions. An NWP framework could help, but requires full-physics models that simulate the basic phenomenon well enough to permit data assimilation and initialized forecast studies. One efficient way of improving model physics for this purpose is a linear-wave parameterization of the rest of the atmosphere (Kuang 2008a), used as a test harness in which to tune single-column model (SCM) schemes to interact with larger scales more like a periodic patch of cloud resolving model (CRM) does. Figure 1: A moist Kelvin wave in April-May 1998 (studied by Straub et al. 2006). Panels a and b show infrared images roughly at the places and times indicated on the time-longitude brightness temperature section c. (panel c courtesy of G. Kiladis). The black slanted reference line has a slope of 10 degrees per day, or 13 m/s.
Potential-based achievement goals.

BACKGROUND Self-based achievement goals use one's own intrapersonal trajectory as a standard of evaluation, and this intrapersonal trajectory may be grounded in one's past (past-based goals) or one's future potential (potential-based goals). Potential-based goals have been overlooked in the literature to date. AIMS The primary aim of the present research was to address this oversight within the context of the 3 × 2 achievement goal framework. SAMPLES The Study 1 sample was 381 US undergraduates; the Study 2 sample was 310 US undergraduates. METHODS In Study 1, we developed scales to assess potential-approach and potential-avoidance goals and tested their factorial validity with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. In Study 2, we used confirmatory factor analysis to test both the separability of past-based and potential-based goals and their higher order integration within the self-based category. RESULTS Study 1 supported the factorial validity of the potential-approach and potential-avoidance goal scales. Study 2 supported the separability of past-based and potential-based goals, as well as their higher order integration within the self-based category. CONCLUSIONS This research documents the utility of the proposed distinction and paves the way for subsequent work on antecedent and consequences of potential-approach and potential-avoidance goals. It highlights the importance of focusing on distinct types of growth-based goals in the achievement goal literature.
Effects of APOE on brain white matter microstructure in healthy adults

Objectives: APOE is related to cholesterol transport and clearance and brain white matter (WM) properties involving myelin, of which cholesterol is a major component. Diffusion tensor imaging enables in vivo investigations of brain WM, and could increase our understanding of the pathways leading to Alzheimer disease. The main objective was to investigate the association between APOE and diffusion tensor imaging–derived indices of WM microstructure. Methods: Healthy participants were assessed on a range of neuropsychological measures, genotyped, and underwent MRI. A total of 203 volunteers (aged 21.1–69.9 years, mean = 47.6, SD = 14.9) with APOE genotypes ϵ2/ϵ3 (n = 30), ϵ3/ϵ3 (n = 113), and ϵ3/ϵ4 (n = 60) were included. Results: There were widespread increases in mean and radial diffusion in carriers of the ϵ3/ϵ4 alleles compared with ϵ3/ϵ3 with medium to strong effect sizes (Cohen's d = 0.77–0.79). No interactions between genotype and age were observed, indicating relatively stable differences from early adulthood. The results were independent of presence of dementia in close family. We also observed increased mean and radial diffusion and decreased fractional anisotropy in carriers of the ϵ2/ϵ3 alleles compared with ϵ3/ϵ3 carriers. No significant differences were found between ϵ2/ϵ3 and ϵ3/ϵ4. Conclusions: APOE affects microstructural properties of the brain WM from early adulthood, but the specific allelic effects do not directly reflect the associated risk of developing Alzheimer disease. The role of APOE in cholesterol transport, the high density of cholesterol in myelin, and the specific effects on radial diffusivity support a putative functional role of APOE in modulating myelin-related processes in the brain.
Effects of increasing intercellular resistance on transverse and longitudinal propagation in sheep epicardial muscle.

Propagation in cardiac muscle is faster in the longitudinal than in the transverse axis of the cells. Yet, as a result of the larger upstroke velocity of action potentials propagating transversely, it has been suggested that longitudinal propagation is more vulnerable to block. To study the relation between conduction velocity and maximal upstroke velocity (Vmax), as well as the time course of conduction delay and block in the transverse vs. longitudinal direction, thin square pieces of sheep epicardial muscle were superfused with the cellular uncoupler heptanol (1.5 mM). Action potentials were recorded with microelectrodes at opposite corners of the preparation while stimulating alternately in the longitudinal or transverse direction with bipolar electrodes located at contralateral corners. In all cases, block occurred more promptly for transverse than for longitudinal propagation. The decrease in conduction velocity was greater than expected for Vmax decay and, in some cases, Vmax increased while conduction velocity decreased. In the presence of high grade conduction impairment, foot potentials appeared and the upstrokes became "notched. " We conclude that when intercellular coupling is impaired, transverse propagation is more vulnerable to block, and need not be dependent on changes in Vmax.