Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of a Novel Population of Multipotent Stem Cells Derived from Skin Fibroblasts as Donor Cells in Bovine SCNT

Undifferentiated stem cells are better donor cells for somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), resulting in more offspring than more differentiated cells. While various stem cell populations have been confirmed to exist in the skin, progress has been restricted due to the lack of a suitable marker for their prospective isolation. To address this fundamental issue, a marker is required that could unambiguously prove the differentiation state of the donor cells. We therefore utilized magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) to separate a homogeneous population of small SSEA-4+ cells from a heterogeneous population of bovine embryonic skin fibroblasts (BEF). SSEA-4+ cells were 8-10 μm in diameter and positive for alkaline phosphatase (AP). The percentage of SSEA-4+ cells within the cultured BEF population was low (2-3%). Immunocytochemistry and PCR analyses revealed that SSEA-4+ cells expressed pluripotency-related markers, and could differentiate into cells comprising all three germ layers in vitro. They remained undifferentiated over 20 passages in suspension culture. In addition, cloned embryos derived from SSEA-4 cells showed significant differences in cleavage rate and blastocyst development when compared with those from BEF and SSEA-4− cells. Moreover, blastocysts derived from SSEA-4+ cells showed a higher total cell number and lower apoptotic index as compared to BEF and SSEA-4– derived cells. It is well known that nuclei from pluripotent stem cells yield a higher cloning efficiency than those from adult somatic cells, however, pluripotent stem cells are relatively difficult to obtain from bovine. The SSEA-4+ cells described in the current study provide an attractive candidate for SCNT and a promising platform for the generation of transgenic cattle.
Quantitation and Identification of Intact Major Milk Proteins for High-Throughput LC-ESI-Q-TOF MS Analyses

Cow’s milk is an important source of proteins in human nutrition. On average, cow’s milk contains 3.5% protein. The most abundant proteins in bovine milk are caseins and some of the whey proteins, namely beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin, and serum albumin. A number of allelic variants and post-translationally modified forms of these proteins have been identified. Their occurrence varies with breed, individuality, stage of lactation, and health and nutritional status of the animal. It is therefore essential to have reliable methods of detection and quantitation of these proteins. Traditionally, major milk proteins are quantified using liquid chromatography (LC) and ultra violet detection method. However, as these protein variants co-elute to some degree, another dimension of separation is beneficial to accurately measure their amounts. Mass spectrometry (MS) offers such a tool. In this study, we tested several RP-HPLC and MS parameters to optimise the analysis of intact bovine proteins from milk. From our tests, we developed an optimum method that includes a 20-28-40% phase B gradient with 0.02% TFA in both mobile phases, at 0.2 mL/min flow rate, using 75°C for the C8 column temperature, scanning every 3 sec over a 600–3000 m/z window. The optimisations were performed using external standards commercially purchased for which ionisation efficiency, linearity of calibration, LOD, LOQ, sensitivity, selectivity, precision, reproducibility, and mass accuracy were demonstrated. From the MS analysis, we can use extracted ion chromatograms (EICs) of specific ion series of known proteins and integrate peaks at defined retention time (RT) window for quantitation purposes. This optimum quantitative method was successfully applied to two bulk milk samples from different breeds, Holstein-Friesian and Jersey, to assess differences in protein variant levels.
Analysis of LGR4 Receptor Distribution in Human and Mouse Tissues

LGR4 is an R-spondin receptor with strong positive effect on Wnt signaling. It plays a critical role in development as its ablation in the mouse led to total embryonic/neonatal lethality with profound defects in multiple organs. Haplotype insufficiency of LGR4 in human was associated with several diseases, including increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, reduced birth weights, electrolyte imbalance, and decreased levels of testosterone, which are similar to the phenotypes of LGR4-hypomorphic mice. Tissue distribution of LGR4 was extensively analyzed in the mouse using gene-trap reporter enzyme alleles. However, its expression pattern in human tissues remained largely unknown. We have developed LGR4-specific monoclonal antibodies and used them to examine the expression of LGR4 in selected adult human and mouse tissues by immunohistochemical analysis. Intense LGR4-like immunoreactivity was observed in the epidermis and hair follicle of the skin, pancreatic islet cells, and epithelial cells in both the male and female reproductive organs. Of particular interest is that LGR4 is highly expressed in germ cells and pancreatic islet cells, which have important implications given the role of R-spondin-LGR4 signaling in the survival of adult stem cells. In addition, the majority of colon tumors showed elevated levels of LGR4 receptor. Overall, the expression pattern of LGR4 in human tissues mapped by this IHC analysis is similar to that in the mouse as revealed from gene trap alleles. Importantly, the pattern lends strong support to the important role of LGR4 in the development and maintenance of skin, kidney, reproductive systems, and other organs.
Laparoscopy-assisted Distal Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer Patients With Comorbid Diseases: Is it contraindicated for Patients With Systemic Comorbidity?

Background This study was carried out to evaluate the safety and feasibility of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) for gastric cancer patients with systemic comorbidity. Materials and Methods Two hundred and seventy-six patients who had undergone LADG by a single surgeon were given a physical status classification as defined by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA class) and then divided into 2 criteria groups: criteria I group (ASA 1 vs ASA 2,3,4) and criteria II group (ASA 1,2 vs ASA 3,4). The clinicopathologic data of each patient were reviewed retrospectively and grouped by criteria. Results The percentage of patients with a comorbid disease was 8.1% (11 cases) in ASA class 1, 71.7% (86 cases) in class 2, 95.0% (19 cases) in class 3, and 100% (1 case) in class 4. No statistical difference was found between criteria I and II in terms of operative and postoperative results, operative time, estimated blood loss, transfusion rate, tumor size, total and positive number of dissected lymph nodes, proximal resection margin from lesion, the rate of open conversion, the duration of hospital stay, the time required before resuming a liquid diet, and the rate of complications, except the distal resection margin in criteria II (all P >0.05). There were no cases of mortality in any criteria group. Conclusions LADG would be a safe and feasible operation for patients with gastric cancer with systemic comorbidity, without reducing radicality, losing the advantages of minimally invasive surgery, or increasing operative risk.
Models of police probationer career progression: preconceptions of the psychological contract

This paper discusses findings that suggest disparity between supervisors' and police probationers' models of expected career advancement. Probationer police officers (n=163) from a north-west constabulary and their immediate supervisors were asked to comment on their expectations of each probationer's likely hierarchical advancement within the police force. A number of variables were examined in order to establish which variables, for probationers and their supervisors, predicted expected career advancement. These data suggest disparity between the probationers' model of expected career advancement and that of their supervisors such that probationers regard educational qualifications as most likely to predict future career advancement while supervisors regard the problem-solving skills of probationers as being predictive of career advancement. Specifically it is argued that the probationers appear to operate a rational model of career advancement that is based on the recognition of human capital or ‘universals’ (Smith 1994) such as qualifications and overall performance at assessment. Supervisors, on the other hand, appear to value ‘relational’ and ‘occupational’ (Smith 1994) competencies for predicting career advancement of probationers under their supervision. This disparity is considered in relation to the establishment and maintenance of a coherent psychological contract (Herriot 1992).
Police Culture and the Integration of Women Officers in India

Broad social changes in developing countries such as India have resulted in the increased representation of women officers. The philosophy governing their integration into the police is that they should be treated equally to men and they should be provided with the same opportunities to undertake the same tasks. The influx of new cohorts of women into the police in recent years in India, resulting from its 1997 labour law legislation which required that 33 per cent of new hires for government organisations be women, provides the opportunity to examine how well women have been integrated into performing police tasks, how contented they are with their roles, how their male counterparts judge their performance and whether they accept women as equal partners. Using a survey questionnaire and an unstructured interview schedule, this study gathered data in 2010 from 222 men and 218 women police constables with 13 years or less service in the Tamil Nadu Police. The main finding of the study is that, in spite of the increased representation of women in the police force and their broad exposure to a wide range of duties, they are still negatively perceived by their male counterparts. This negative perception seems to have been internalised by women, many of whom reported that they prefer a traditional policing role. These findings suggest that the police should re-evaluate their gender integration policies, perhaps to include more gender-sensitive allocation of duties.
Loss and bereavement in childbearing (2nd ed.)

identified as a hidden theme: the issue of waiting. Waiting is a powerful reality both for those who are dying and for their families who are caught between grasping at any hope for life and the humane intent to end suffering. Waiting, however, also shapes the medical reality for doctors as they strive to stave off death with pharmacological and technical interventions. The possibility that death can be deferred and more time, even if it is not quality time, given to patients is a dominant feature of waiting for outcomes by health care staff. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in end of life care in institutional settings.
What response properties do individual neurons need to underlie position and clutter "invariant" object recognition?

Primates can easily identify visual objects over large changes in retinal position--a property commonly referred to as position "invariance. " This ability is widely assumed to depend on neurons in inferior temporal cortex (IT) that can respond selectively to isolated visual objects over similarly large ranges of retinal position. However, in the real world, objects rarely appear in isolation, and the interplay between position invariance and the representation of multiple objects (i.e., clutter) remains unresolved. At the heart of this issue is the intuition that the representations of nearby objects can interfere with one another and that the large receptive fields needed for position invariance can exacerbate this problem by increasing the range over which interference acts. Indeed, most IT neurons' responses are strongly affected by the presence of clutter. While external mechanisms (such as attention) are often invoked as a way out of the problem, we show (using recorded neuronal data and simulations) that the intrinsic properties of IT population responses, by themselves, can support object recognition in the face of limited clutter. Furthermore, we carried out extensive simulations of hypothetical neuronal populations to identify the essential individual-neuron ingredients of a good population representation. These simulations show that the crucial neuronal property to support recognition in clutter is not preservation of response magnitude, but preservation of each neuron's rank-order object preference under identity-preserving image transformations (e.g., clutter). Because IT neuronal responses often exhibit that response property, while neurons in earlier visual areas (e.g., V1) do not, we suggest that preserving the rank-order object preference regardless of clutter, rather than the response magnitude, more precisely describes the goal of individual neurons at the top of the ventral visual stream.
Novel Role for CFTR in Fluid Absorption from the Distal Airspaces of the Lung

The active absorption of fluid from the airspaces of the lung is important for the resolution of clinical pulmonary edema. Although ENaC channels provide a major route for Na+ absorption, the route of Cl− transport has been unclear. We applied a series of complementary approaches to define the role of Cl− transport in fluid clearance in the distal airspaces of the intact mouse lung, using wild-type and cystic fibrosis ΔF508 mice. Initial studies in wild-type mice showed marked inhibition of fluid clearance by Cl− channel inhibitors and Cl− ion substitution, providing evidence for a transcellular route for Cl− transport. In response to cAMP stimulation by isoproterenol, clearance was inhibited by the CFTR inhibitor glibenclamide in both wild-type mice and the normal human lung. Although isoproterenol markedly increased fluid absorption in wild-type mice, there was no effect in ΔF508 mice. Radioisotopic clearance studies done at 23°C (to block active fluid absorption) showed ∼20% clearance of 22Na in 30 min both without and with isoproterenol. However, the clearance of 36Cl was increased by 47% by isoproterenol in wild-type mice but was not changed in ΔF508 mice, providing independent evidence for involvement of CFTR in cAMP-stimulated Cl− transport. Further, CFTR played a major role in fluid clearance in a mouse model of acute volume-overload pulmonary edema. After infusion of saline (40% body weight), the lung wet-to-dry weight ratio increased by 28% in wild-type versus 64% in ΔF508 mice. These results provide direct evidence for a functionally important role for CFTR in the distal airspaces of the lung.
Processing and Properties of Amorphous NiW Reinforced Crystalline Ni Matrix Composites

Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) are used as structural materials because of their ability to have a combination of high strength and good ductility. A common problem with MMCs utilizing vastly different materials is the difficulty in forming a strong matrix/reinforcement interface without suffering extensive dissolution, debonding, or chemical reactions between the components. In this work, a nickel base amorphous particulate reinforced crystalline nickel matrix composite is processed. The reinforcement, an equimolar NiW amorphous powder, was synthesized using the mechanical alloying process. The amorphous and crystalline nickel powders were blended in varying volume fractions and then consolidated using hot-isostatic pressing (HIP). This work reveals that the amorphous NiW reinforcement provides strength and hardness to the ductile Ni matrix while simultaneously maintaining a strong interfacial bond due to the similar chemistry of the two components. The strengthening achieved in the composite is attributed to the particulate/matrix boundary strengthening.
Socio-Demographic and Dietary Factors Associated with Excess Body Weight and Abdominal Obesity among Resettled Bhutanese Refugee Women in Northeast Ohio, United States

Studies of obesity and related health conditions among the Bhutanese, one of the largest refugee groups resettled in the United States in the past five years, are limited. This study examined the factors associated with excess body weight (body mass index ≥ 23 kg/m2) and abdominal obesity (waist circumference > 80 cm) in a community-based sample of 18–65 year old Bhutanese refugee women in Northeast Ohio. A Nepali-language questionnaire was used to measure socio-demographic and dietary factors. Height, weight, and waist circumference were measured to define excess body weight and abdominal obesity. The mean (±standard deviation) age of the 108 participants was 36.5 (±12.2) years and length of time in the U.S. was 19.4 (±11.9) months. Overall, 64.8% and 69.4% of the women had excess body weight and abdominal obesity, respectively. Age was significantly associated with both excess body weight (odds ratio: 1.10; 95% confidence interval: 1.05–1.16) and abdominal obesity (1.09; 1.04–1.14). Consuming meat (4.01; 1.14–14.60) was significantly associated with excess body weight but not abdominal obesity. These findings suggest the need for lifestyle and dietary change education programs among this new and vulnerable group to reduce the prevalence of excess body weight and abdominal obesity and their health consequences.
Size at birth of live‐born Saudi infants

Summary. Anthropometric measurements were done on 967 singleton live‐born Saudi infants of gestational age 33 to 42 weeks who belonged to the high and middle social classes and who were born consecutively in Riyadh University Hospital. The 914 infants born at term (≥37 weeks) had a mean birthweight of 3.31 kg (SD 0.45), a mean length of 49.74 cm (SD 2.5) and a mean head circumference of 34.4 cm (SD 1.4). Values were significantly higher in males than females. Effect of sex in this study was not apparent until 40 weeks and later. Difference in body size was significant between the first‐born and second infants but the trend was unimpressive with greater parity. Fifty‐three (5.5%) of the infants were born preterm. Twenty‐one of the preterm babies and 18 of the term infants weighed <2500 g, an overall incidence of low birthweight of 4%. Results were compared with studies from Saudi Arabia and other countries. It is concluded that there was no significant difference between birthweights of upper‐class Saudis and Europeans.
Sustained ventricular arrhythmias and mortality among patients with acute myocardial infarction: results from the GUSTO-III trial.

BACKGROUND In many patients, ventricular arrhythmias will develop early after acute myocardial infarction. We studied the incidence, timing, and outcomes of such arrhythmias in the international Global Utilization of Streptokinase and TPA (alteplase) for Occluded Coronary Arteries (GUSTO)-III trial. METHODS We identified independent predictors of inhospital ventricular fibrillation (VF) and ventricular tachycardia (VT) and compared 30-day and 1-year mortality rates of patients who did (n = 1121) and did not (n = 13,921) have these arrhythmias during the index hospitalization. RESULTS Significant independent predictors of inhospital VF were higher Killip class, lower baseline systolic pressure, intravenous preenrollment lidocaine use, shorter time to thrombolysis, and beta-blocker use <2 weeks before enrollment; independent predictors of inhospital VT were lower baseline systolic pressure, intravenous lidocaine use before enrollment, higher Killip class, faster baseline heart rate, and advanced age. The 30-day mortality rate was 31% in patients with VF, 24% in those with VT, 44% in those with both, and 6% in those with neither (P =.001). The corresponding 1-year mortality rates were 34%, 29%, 49%, and 9% (P =.001). The 30-day and 1-year mortality rates were higher for patients with late (>48 hours after enrollment) versus early arrhythmias (< or =48 hours after enrollment). CONCLUSIONS Despite thrombolysis, inhospital ventricular arrhythmias are associated with higher 30-day and 1-year mortality rates after acute myocardial infarction, particularly when occurring later during the initial hospitalization. Better therapies are needed to improve outcomes of these arrhythmias.
Broadband Operation of High-Speed All-Optical Gated Wavelength Shifter

We report an extensive experimental wavelength characterization of a scheme for all-optical gated wavelength shifting operation. This scheme is suitable for dynamic wavelength routing and add or drop operation in wavelength-division multiplexing systems and optical packet switched networks. A single semiconductor-optical amplifier Mach–Zehnder interferometer with a multi-inputs configuration is exploited. We demonstrate an error-free operation in the case of 10 Gb/s NRZ-OOK data with moderate power penalties <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$({<}{\rm 1.7}~{\rm dB})$</tex></formula> over the entire C-band.
Ultrasound recorded axillary artery blood flow during elbow-flexion exercise.

PURPOSE To characterize and evaluate the repeatability of ultrasound recorded blood flow in the axillary artery during one-arm dynamic elbow flexion. METHOD 11 healthy women (23 +/- 0.9 yr, 168 +/- 1.7 cm, 63 +/- 1.1 kg) performed 90 degrees elbow flexion in supine position. Mean maximum blood velocity was recorded by ultrasound during and after two submaximal loads, representing 16 and 24% of maximal voluntary contraction, and after exhaustion (.VO(2peak))Axillary artery diameter was measured after each workload. Each subject was examined two times 8 wk apart. Oxygen uptake was measured during exercise. Values are mean +/- SE. RESULTS Flow was not different in the two tests. Flow was 25% higher immediately after than during exercise at the submaximal workloads. Flow immediately after . VO(2peak) was 1420 +/- 79 mL.min(-1). Axillary artery diameter after . VO(2peak) was 8% larger than at rest. Coefficient of variation ranged from 11 to 23%, coefficient of repeatability ranged from 230 mL.min(-1) at rest to 940 mL.min(-1) after exercise. Coefficient of repeatability for artery diameter was 0.09 cm; coefficient of variation for diameter was about 4% at all recording times. CONCLUSION The present study showed that ultrasound recordings of blood flow during dynamic elbow-flexion exercise were reproducible. The method can be used to study training-induced flow changes and can detect differences of about 130 mL.min(-1). Artery diameter seemed to increase as flow and load increased.
Receptivity to sexual offers as a function of sex, socioeconomic status, physical attractiveness, and intimacy of the offer

The present research examined sex differences in the willingness to accept hypothetical sexual offers by different potential partners. In 2 experiments, participants were asked to imagine that 1 person with moderate socioeconomic status (SES) and moderate physical attractiveness was their current partner. In Experiment 1, 2 potential partners were either depicted as physically attractive or as having a high SES. For each of the 2 partners, American participants were asked to report their willingness to date, to kiss, to make out, to have sexual intercourse, and to leave their current partners. Results revealed that men always reported a greater willingness to accept the offer when the potential partner was physically attractive. Given a short-term involvement, women also preferred the potential partner who was physically attractive. In contrast, given a long-term involvement, they were equally willing to accept the offer of potential partners with high SES or with high physical attractiveness. In addition, whereas men reported a very similar willingness toward all kinds of offers, women reported a greater willingness to accept a less intimate, as opposed to an intimate, sexual offer. In a second experiment, these results were replicated with German respondents.