Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teaching is … opening up spaces to explore academic work in fluid and volatile times

ABSTRACT Universities are built upon the collaborative work of academic staff and students, yet the nature of this work has been undergoing profound and rapid change. Pressures within Australia’s higher education sector have led to a fracturing of traditional academic roles and growing feelings of disconnection. While there have been many narrative, ethnographic and autoethnographic explorations of academic work, few studies have employed visual arts-informed methodologies to interrogate the ways in which academics represent their teaching, research and community engagement work. In this article we outline findings about academics’ views of their teaching work. These findings surfaced from an arts-informed participatory research project, that sought to open up a space for (re)presentations of academic work. With a focus on teaching, three through lines emerged during the analysis: voicing absences and resistances; initiating layers of reflexive moments and expressing complexity through collage. We argue that the academics’ responses allow us to trace the emotional terrain of contemporary academic work. They also open up ways to unpack, express and make visible academics’ complex thoughts, feelings and ideas about teaching practices.
Vascular endothelial growth factor induces manganese‐superoxide dismutase expression in endothelial cells by a Racl‐regulated NADPH oxidase‐dependent mechanism

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent vascular endothelial cell‐specific mitogen that modulates endothelial cell function. In the present study, we show that VEGF induces manganese‐superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) mRNA and protein in human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC) and pulmonary artery endothelial cells. VEGF‐mediated induction of MnSOD mRNA was inhibited by pretreatment with the NADPH oxidase inhibitors, diphenyleneiodonium (DPI), and 4‐(2‐aminoethyl)‐benzenesulfonyl fluoride, but not with the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L‐NAME (N‐monomethyl‐L‐arginine) or the xanthine oxidase inhibitor allopurinol. VEGF stimulation of MnSOD was also inhibited by adenoviral‐mediated overexpression of catalase Cu, Zn‐SOD and a dominant‐negative form of the small GTPase component of NADPH oxidase Rac1 (Rac1N17). Treatment of HCAEC with VEGF resulted in a transient increase in ROS production at 20 min, as measured by 2′,7′‐dichlorodihydrofluorescein oxidation. This effect was abrogated by expression of Rac1N 17. Taken together, these findings suggest that VEGF induces MnSOD by an NADPH oxidase‐dependent mechanism and that VEGF signaling in the endothelium is coupled to the redox state of the cell.
Chemically consistent evolution of galaxies II. Spectrophotometric evolution from zero to high redshift

The composite stellar populations of galaxies comprise stars of a wide range of metallicities. Subsolar metallicities become increasingly important, both in the local universe when going from early towards later galaxy types as well as for dwarf galaxies and for all types of galaxies towards higher redshifts. We present a new generation of chemically consistent evolutionary synthesis models for galaxies of various spectral types from E through Sd. The models follow the chemical enrichment of the ISM and take into account the increasing initial metallicity of successive stellar generations using recently published metallicity dependent stellar evolutionary isochrones, spectra and yields. Our first set of closed-box 1-zone models does not include any spatial resolution or dynamics. For a Salpeter initial mass function (IMF) the star formation rate (SFR) and its time evolution are shown to successfully parameterise spectral galaxy types E,. , Sd. We show how the stellar metallicity distribution in various galaxy types build up with time to yield after ∼12 Gyr agreement with stellar metallicity distributions observed in our and other local galaxies. The models give integrated galaxy spectra over a wide wavelength range (90.9 A-160 μm), which for ages of ∼12 Gyr are in good agreement not only with observed broad band colours but also with template spectra for the respective galaxy types. Using filter functions for Johnson-Cousins U, B, V, R C , I C , as well as for HST broad band filters in the optical and Bessel & Brett's NIR J, H, K filter system, we calculate the luminosity and colour evolution of model galaxies over a Hubble time. Including a standard cosmological model (H 0 = 65, Ω 0 = 0.1) and the attenuation by intergalactic hydrogen we present evolutionary and cosmological corrections as well as apparent luminosities in various filters over the redshift range from z ∼ 5 to the present for our galaxy types and compare to earlier models using single (=solar) metallicity input physics only. We also resent a first comparison of our cc models to HDF data. A more detailed comparison with Hubble Deep Field (HDF) and other deep field data and an analysis and interpretation of high redshift galaxies in terms of ages, metallicities, star formation histories and, galaxy types will be the subject of a forthcoming paper.
Applications of microlocal analysis to some hyperbolic inverse problems

Homan, Andrew J. PhD, Purdue University, May 2015. Applications of Microlocal Analysis to Some Hyperbolic Inverse Problems. Major Professor: Plamen Stefanov. This thesis compiles my work on three inverse problems: ultrasound recovery in thermoacoustic tomography, cancellation of singularities in synthetic aperture radar, and the injectivity and stability of some generalized Radon transforms. Each problem is approached using microlocal methods. In the context of thermoacoustic tomography under the damped wave equation, I show uniqueness and stability of the problem with complete data, provide a reconstruction algorithm for small attenuation with complete data, and obtain stability estimates for visible singularities with partial data. The chapter on synthetic aperture radar constructs microlocally several infinite-dimensional families of ground reflectivity functions which appear microlocally regular when imaged using synthetic aperture radar. Finally, based on a joint work with Hanming Zhou, we show the analytic microlocal regularity of a class of analytic generalized Radon transforms, using this to show injectivity and stability for a generic class of generalized Radon transforms defined on analytic Riemannian manifolds.
Brain structure abnormalities in adolescent girls with conduct disorder

Background Conduct disorder (CD) in female adolescents is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including teenage pregnancy and antisocial personality disorder. Although recent studies have documented changes in brain structure and function in male adolescents with CD, there have been no neuroimaging studies of female adolescents with CD. Our primary objective was to investigate whether female adolescents with CD show changes in grey matter volume. Our secondary aim was to assess for sex differences in the relationship between CD and brain structure. Methods Female adolescents with CD (n = 22) and healthy control participants matched in age, performance IQ and handedness (n = 20) underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging. Group comparisons of grey matter volume were performed using voxel-based morphometry. We also tested for sex differences using archive data obtained from male CD and control participants. Results Female adolescents with CD showed reduced bilateral anterior insula and right striatal grey matter volumes compared with healthy controls. Aggressive CD symptoms were negatively correlated with right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex volume, whereas callous-unemotional traits were positively correlated with bilateral orbitofrontal cortex volume. The sex differences analyses revealed a main effect of diagnosis on right amygdala volume (reflecting reduced amygdala volume in the combined CD group relative to controls) and sex-by-diagnosis interactions in bilateral anterior insula. Conclusions We observed structural abnormalities in brain regions involved in emotion processing, reward and empathy in female adolescents with CD, which broadly overlap with those reported in previous studies of CD in male adolescents.
Valuations in Gödel Logic, and the Euler Characteristic

Using the lattice-theoretic version of the Euler characteristic introduced by V. Klee and G. -C. Rota in the Sixties, we define the Euler characteristic of a formula in G\"{o}del logic (over finitely or infinitely many truth-values). We then prove that the information encoded by the Euler characteristic is classical, i.e. coincides with the analogous notion defined over Boolean logic. Building on this, we define many-valued versions of the Euler characteristic of a formula $\varphi$, and prove that they indeed provide information about the logical status of $\varphi$ in G\"{o}del logic. Specifically, our first main result shows that the many-valued Euler characteristics are invariants that separate many-valued tautologies from non-tautologies. Further, we offer an initial investigation of the linear structure of these generalised characteristics. Our second main result is that the collection of many-valued characteristics forms a linearly independent set in the real vector space of all valuations of G\"{o}del logic over finitely many propositional variables.
Alkaline Phosphatase in Stem Cells

Alkaline phosphatase is an enzyme commonly expressed in almost all living organisms. In humans and other mammals, determinations of the expression and activity of alkaline phosphatase have frequently been used for cell determination in developmental studies and/or within clinical trials. Alkaline phosphatase also seems to be one of the key markers in the identification of pluripotent embryonic stem as well as related cells. However, alkaline phosphatases exist in some isoenzymes and isoforms, which have tissue specific expressions and functions. Here, the role of alkaline phosphatase as a stem cell marker is discussed in detail. First, we briefly summarize contemporary knowledge of mammalian alkaline phosphatases in general. Second, we focus on the known facts of its role in and potential significance for the identification of stem cells.
Civil liberties and Volunteering in Six Former Soviet Union Countries

To contribute to the debate as to whether volunteering is an outcome of democratization rather than a driver of it, we analyze how divergent democratization pathways in six countries of the former Soviet Union have led to varied levels of volunteering. Using data from the European Values Study, we find that Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia—which followed a Europeanization path—have high and increasing levels of civil liberties and volunteering. In Russia and Belarus, following a pre-emption path, civil liberties have remained low and volunteering has declined. Surprisingly, despite the Orange Revolution and increased civil liberties, volunteering rates in Ukraine have also declined. The case of Ukraine indicates that the freedom to participate is not always taken up by citizens. Our findings suggest it is not volunteering that brings civil liberties, but rather that increased civil liberties lead to higher levels of volunteering.
Mechanisms of arterial remodeling in hypertension: coupled roles of wall shear and intramural stress.

Diverse data collected over the past 4 decades suggest the existence of a mechanical homeostasis across multiple length and time scales in the vasculature. For example,1 stress fibers within endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells appear to disassemble and then reassemble in a mechanically preferred manner when perturbed from a normal value of mechanical stress or strain; focal adhesions in smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts tend to increase in area in response to local increases in mechanical loading so as to maintain the stress constant at a preferred value; fibroblasts tend to increase the tractions that they exert on the extracellular matrix when external loads are decreased from a preferred value, thus suggesting an attempt to enforce a “tensional homeostasis”; vascular smooth muscle cells tend to relengthen to their normal, preferred values when an arteriole is forced into a vasoconstricted state for an extended period; and arteries tend to decrease in caliber in response to sustained decreases in flow-induced wall shear stress, to increase in thickness in response to sustained increases in pressure-induced circumferential stress, and to lengthen in response to extension-induced increases in axial stress. Although changes in the cytoskeleton and integrins occur within minutes, changes at the cell-cell and cell-matrix levels occur over hours, and those at the vessel level occur over days to weeks or months. Hence, despite marked differences in length scales (dimensions from nanometers to centimeters) and time scales (durations from minutes to months), mechanobiological control mechanisms in the vasculature tend to restore values of stress or strain toward preferred (homeostatic) values in response to diverse perturbations from normal.2–5 Biomechanics and mechanobiology thus play key roles in vascular development, tissue maintenance in maturity, normal adaptations, aging, disease progression, and responses to injury or clinical interventions. A current challenge in hypertension research is to …
Regeneration of fungiform taste buds: Temporal and spatial characteristics

The gross morphology of the tongue of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguicultatus), the location of papillae and taste buds, and the normal innervation pattern of the tongue asnd taste buds were determined. The chorda tympani nerve was interrupted to produce degeneration of fungiform taste buds. Regenerating chorda tympani axons followed the original nerve pathways in the tongue en route to the furniform papillae in the epithelium where they initiated the regeneration of taste buds. The spastial distribution of reinnervated fungiform papillae and reformed taste buds was examined 7 to 19 days following surgery. Beginning at eight days following chorda tympani interruption there was a progressive increase, first, in the proportion of fungiform papillae that were reinnervated, and later in the number of reformed taste buds. On the basis of these measures it was concluded that a taste bud is reformed one to two days after reinnervation of its papilla. From the time course of reinnervation of the fungiform papillae it was calculated thast some fibers regenerated at rates in excess of 2mm/day. Regeneration was precise and systematic. The regenerating chorda tympani fibers accurately returned to the fungiform papillae; they did not follow the pasthways of lingual nerve axons. In the initial stages of recovery both reinnervated papillae and reformed taste buds weere preferentially located toward the front of the tongue; the reinnervation of posterior fungiform papillae was delayed.
High Frequency of CD4+ T Cells Specific for the TB10.4 Protein Correlates with Protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

ABSTRACT TB10.4 is a newly identified antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis recognized by human and murine T cells upon mycobacterial infection. Here, we show that immunization with Mycobacterium bovis BCG induces a strong, genetically controlled, Th1 immune response against TB10.4 in mice. BALB/c and C57BL/6 strains behave as high and low responders to TB10.4 protein, respectively. The TB10.4:74-88 peptide was identified as an immunodominant CD4+ T-cell epitope for H-2d mice. Since recent results, as well as the present study, have raised interest in TB10.4 as a subunit vaccine, we analyzed immune responses induced by this antigen delivered by a new vector, the adenylate cyclase (CyaA) of Bordetella pertussis. CyaA is able to target dendritic cells and to deliver CD4+ or CD8+ T-cell epitopes to the major histocompatibility complex class II/I molecule presentation pathways, triggering specific Th1 or cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses. Several CyaA harboring either the entire TB10.4 protein or various subfragments containing the TB10.4:20-28 CTL epitope were shown to induce TB10.4-specific Th1 CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses. However, none of the recombinant CyaA, injected in the absence of adjuvant, was able to induce protection against M. tuberculosis infection. In contrast, TB10.4 protein administered with a cocktail of strong adjuvants that triggered a strong Th1 CD4+ T-cell response induced significant protection against M. tuberculosis challenge. These results confirm the potential value of the TB10.4 protein as a candidate vaccine and show that the presence of high frequencies of CD4+ T cells specific to this strong immunogen correlates with protection against M. tuberculosis infection.
Title Mesenchymal chondroprogenitor cell origin and therapeuticpotential

The UCD community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters! (@ucd_oa) Some rights reserved. For more information, please see the item record link above. Abstract Mesenchymal progenitor cells, a multipotent adult stem cell population, have the ability to differentiate into cells of connective tissue lineages including fat, cartilage, bone and muscle, and therefore generate a great deal of interest for their potential use in regenerative medicine. During development endochondral bone is formed from a template of cartilage that transforms into bone, however, mature articular cartilage remains in the articulating joints where its principal role is reducing friction and dispersing mechanical load. Articular cartilage is prone to damage from sports injuries or ageing which regularly progresses to more serious joint disorders such as osteoarthritis (OA). OA is a degenerative joint disease characterized by the thinning and eventual wearing of articular cartilage, and affects millions of people worldwide. Due to low chondrocyte motility and proliferative rates, and complicated by the absence of blood vessels, cartilage has a limited ability to self-repair. Current pharmaceutical and surgical interventions fail to generate repair tissue with the mechanical and cellular properties of native host cartilage. The long term success of cartilage repair will therefore depend on regenerative methodologies resulting in the restoration of articular cartilage that closely duplicates the native tissue. For cell-based therapies, the optimal cell source must be readily accessible with easily isolated, abundant cells capable of collagen type II and sulfated proteoglycan production in appropriate proportions. Although a cell source with these therapeutic properties remains elusive, mesenchymal chondroprogenitors retain their expansion capacity with the promise of reproducing the structural or biomechanical properties of healthy articular cartilage. As current knowledge regarding chondroprogenitors is relatively limited, this review will focus on their origin and therapeutic application. 3 Introduction Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic disease of the joints characterized by progressive destruction of articular cartilage resulting in painful, limited joint movement. In the European Union over 39 million people exhibit symptoms of OA, a number anticipated to double in the next decade, creating an imperative for the timely development of effective treatments for the disease [1]. Current clinical therapies such as pharmaceutical interventions, bone marrow stimulation techniques or microfracture do not result in regeneration of healthy cartilage tissue [2-3], but focuses on the short-term relief of OA symptoms. When pharmaceutical intervention fails, clinicians regularly revert to invasive …
Three-dimensional echocardiography vs. computed tomography for transcatheter aortic valve replacement sizing.

AIMS The accuracy of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) sizing using three-dimensional transoesophageal echocardiography (3D-TEE) compared with the gold-standard multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) remains unclear. We compare aortic annulus measurements assessed using these two imaging modalities. METHODS AND RESULTS We performed a single-centre prospective cohort study, including 53 consecutive patients undergoing TAVR, who had both MSCT and 3D-TEE for aortic annulus sizing. Aortic annular dimensions, expected transcatheter heart valve (THV) oversizing, and hypothetical valve size selection based on CT and TEE were compared. 3D-TEE and CT cross-sectional mean diameter (r = 0.69), perimeter (r = 0.70), and area (r = 0.67) were moderately to highly correlated (all P-values <0.0001). 3D-TEE-derived measurements were significantly smaller compared with MSCT: perimeter (68.6 ± 5.9 vs. 75.1 ± 5.7 mm, respectively; P < 0.0001); area (345.6 ± 64.5 vs. 426.9 ± 68.9 mm(2), respectively; P < 0.0001). The percentage difference between 3D-TEE and MSCT measurements was around 9%. Agreement between MSCT- and 3D-TEE-based THV sizing (perimeter) occurred in 44% of patients. Using the 3D-TEE perimeter annular measurements, up to 50% of patients would have received an inappropriate valve size according to manufacturer-recommended, area-derived sizing algorithms. CONCLUSION Aortic annulus measurements for pre-procedural TAVR assessment by 3D-TEE are significantly smaller than MSCT. In this study, such discrepancy would have resulted in up to 50% of all patients receiving the wrong THV size. 3D-TEE should be used for TAVR sizing, only when MSCT is not available or contraindicated. The clinical impact of this information requires further study.
Endangered Species Research Endang Species Res

INTRODUCTION Wildlife crime can be defined as the illegal taking, possession, trade or movement of animals and plants or their derivatives in contravention of international, regional, or national legislation (Cooper & Cooper 2007, Lawton & Cooper 2009). Some add to this definition the infliction of cruelty to and the persecution of wild animals, both free-living and in captivity. In this paper the term 'wildlife crime' is used in a narrower sense from that given above. The emphasis is on the unlawful taking, possession, trade or movement of animals and their derivatives. When such breaches of the law occur, or are suspected, investigation of the crime scene is central to investigations that may lead to arrest and prosecution. In particular, the proper collection, handling and analysis of evidence gathered at such a site will enhance the chances of securing a conviction and/or preventing/discouraging further breaches of the law. The wildlife crime scene presents many special, sometimes unusual and unexpected, challenges, some of which are very different from those pertaining to other legal investigations. Nevertheless, careful planning, systematic and meticulous examination, coupled with the use of the correct and properly calibrated equipment, deployment of appropriate field techniques and the selective application of modern technology, can go a long way towards countering the difficulties. Background. The international nature of wildlife crime means that the 'scene' may encompass several countries and include locations ranging from tropical forest, isolated coastline, desert or tundra (where animals have been hunted), to establishments such as the