Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Growth Cone Turning Induced by Direct Local Modification of Microtubule Dynamics

Pathfinding by nerve growth cones depends on attractive and repulsive turning in response to a variety of guidance cues. Here we present direct evidence to demonstrate an essential and instructive role for microtubules (MTs) in growth cone steering. First, both growth cone attraction and repulsion induced by diffusible cues in culture can be completely blocked by low concentrations of drugs that specifically inhibit dynamic microtubule ends in the growth cone. Second, direct focal photoactivated release of the microtubule-stabilizing drug taxol on one side of the growth cone consistently induces attraction (turning toward the site of application). Using the focal pipette application method, we also show that local MT stabilization by taxol induces growth cone attraction, whereas local MT destabilization by the microtubule-disrupting drug nocodazole induces repulsion (turning away). Finally, the microtubule-initiated attractive turning requires the participation of the actin cytoskeleton: local microtubule stabilization induces preferential protrusion of lamellipodia before the attractive turning, and the attraction can be abolished by inhibition of either actin polymerization or the Rho family GTPases. Together, these results demonstrate a novel steering mechanism for growth cones in which local and selective modification of dynamic microtubules can initiate and instruct directional steering. With the subsequent concerted activity of the actin cytoskeleton, this microtubule-initiated mechanism provides the growth cone with the additional means to efficiently navigate through its environment.
Acid production and base balance in patients on chronic haemodialysis.

Acid generation and elimination processes were compared with total base (bicarbonate plus metabolizable anions) turnover in 18 anuric patients undergoing post-dilutional haemofiltration. The study was conducted during the second haemodialysis session of the week by means of a whole-body base balance technique. The results showed that the mean rates of base loss and base gain during dialysis did not differ (i.e. the dialysis base balance approximated to zero). The concurrent mean rate of intestinal base absorption was 66+/-26 mmol/2 days, as calculated from the whole-body balance of the various inorganic cation and anion differences in a metabolic steady state. This level of intestinal base absorption would be capable of neutralizing the 59+/-21 mmol of H(+) ions/2 days that is contributed by sulphuric acid, which is the most important endogenous acid produced in anuric patients. In spite of the fact that intestinal base supply was adequate to neutralize endogenous acid production completely, our patients presented with pre-dialysis non-carbonic acidosis. The depression of plasma bicarbonate levels could not, however, be explained by increased concentrations of the anion gap and organic acids, which were within normal limits both before and after dialysis. We suggest as an alternative hypothesis that this pre-dialysis acidosis may represent an isotonic dilution acidosis that is induced by the ingestion of base-free tap water in order for plasma tonicity to be protected from the accumulation of impermeant dietary solutes, which takes place during the interdialysis period in anuric patients.
Germline mutations in the CHEK2 kinase gene are associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer

Germline mutations in CHEK2 have been associated with a range of cancer types but little is known about disease risks conveyed by CHEK2 mutations outside of the context of breast and prostate cancer. To investigate whether CHEK2 mutations confer an increased risk of bladder cancer, we genotyped 416 unselected cases of bladder cancer and 3,313 controls from Poland for 4 founder alleles in the CHEK2 gene, each of which has been associated with an increased risk of cancer at other sites. A CHEK2 mutation (all variants combined) was found in 10.6% of the cancer cases and in 5.9% of the controls (OR = 1.9; 95%CI 1.3–2.7; p = 0.0003). We conclude that CHEK2 mutations increase the risk of bladder cancer in the population. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sexual Dysfunction in Women with Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an increasing health concern throughout the world. DM is categorized as either type 1 (DM-1) or type 2 (DM-2), where DM-1 represents a lack of insulin production, and DM-2 is characterized by a relative lack of insulin (i.e., decreased sensitivity to the effect of insulin). DM has long been considered a risk factor for sexual dysfunction in men and women, although the evidence in women is less clear. This review attempts to give an overview of female sexual dysfunction in women with DM. Although women with DM are at higher risk of developing sexual dysfunction than women without DM, there is great variability in results across studies, with the incidence of sexual dysfunction in women with DM generally linked less to organic factors and more to psychological factors, especially coexisting depression. This review hypothesizes several presumed causes for such variation in findings across studies and uses these explanations as the basis for a discussion of differences between men's and women's sexuality.
What's the Impediment?: Structural and Legal Constraints to Shared Governance in the Community College.

This research examines the legal foundations and bases for shared or co-governance in the community college through an examination of gov- ernment legislation and institutional collective agreements between col- leges and faculty in two countries, Canada and the U.S. This multi-case investigation identifies impediments to shared governance, and con- cludes that except in one legal jurisdiction, shared governance is either impeded legally or not supported by government legislation.
Promoting and Preventing Political Change Through Internationally Funded NGO Activity

A growing percentage of international aid is distributed through local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Scholarship is divided on how that aid affects domestic politics. One side argues that aid to NGOs reinforces the status quo. As NGOs become dependent on external funding, they lose sight of their original goals. The other side contends that channeling funds to NGOs generates associational activity, producing political change by empowering previously marginalized groups. We test these competing hypotheses in Rondonia, Brazil, measuring the impact of internationally funded NGO activity on voting behavior. We find that the impact of aid varies with the institutional environment. At the state level, more votes for the conservative governor came from municipalities whose NGOs received project money. In contrast, the same municipalities registered a significant shift to leftist candidates at the presidential level. The findings have broad implications for the impact international aid has on political competition, political change, and democracy. Actualmente, una creciente porción de ayuda financiera internacional se distribuye a través de organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONGs). La literatura académica se encuentra dividida en el análisis de los efectos que este tipo de ayuda financiera tiene en la política doméstica. Por un lado, se argumenta que la ayuda a las ONGs refuerza el status quo. Mientras que las ONGs devienen dependientes del financiamento externo, pierden de vista sus objetivos originales. Por otro lado, se argumenta que la distribución de financiamiento internacional a través de las ONGs genera actividades asociativas, las cuales a su vez fortalecen grupos previamente marginados produciendo cambio político. En este trabajo, evaluamos ambas hipótesis en Rodonia, Brasil, midiendo el impacto que las actividades de ONGs financiadas internacionalmente han tenido en el comportamiento electoral municipal. Encontramos que el impacto varía de acuerdo al contexto institucional. Los municipios con ONGs financiadas internacionalmente registraron una mayor cantidad de votos para los candidatos a gobernador conservadores a nivel estadual. Sin embargo, los mismos municipios registraron una mayor cantidad de votos para los candidatos de izquierda a nivel presidencial. En términos generales, nuestra investigación ilumina el impacto que la ayuda financiera internacional a ONGs tiene en cuanto a competencia electoral, cambio político y democracia.
Monocyte Levels in Atherosclerosis in Mice

human and murine atherosclerosis. Treatment of apolipoprotein E–deficient (Apoe) mice with a CD137 agonist strongly increased vascular CD8 T cell infiltration, associated with exacerbated atherosclerosis. In addition, we and others also demonstrated drastically elevated CD8 T cell levels and atherosclerotic lesion formation in LdlrPd1 mice, further suggesting a proatherogenic role of CD8 T cells in atherogenesis. Similarly, CD8 T cell activation by antigen-presenting
Increased expression of estrogen‐related receptor α (ERRα) is a negative prognostic predictor in human prostate cancer

The nuclear receptor ERRα (estrogen‐related receptor α) is known to modulate the estrogen‐signaling pathway, but the biological significance of ERRα in the prostate remains unclear. We investigated the expression of ERRα in human prostate tissues and cancer cell lines to evaluate the potential roles of the receptor in prostate cancer (PC). Western blot analysis of ERRα was performed in three cell lines of human PC (LNCaP, DU145 and PC‐3). The expressions of ERRα in cancerous lesions (n = 106) and benign foci (n = 99) of 106 surgically obtained prostate specimens were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The relationships between the ERRα expression and clinicopathological features were evaluated. Western blot analysis using the polyclonal anti‐ERRα antibody detected a 52 kD band in all three PC cell lines. Positive immunostaining of ERRα in the nuclei was found in 73 (69%) cancerous and 47 (47.5%) benign epithelium, whereas the stromal tissues were negative for ERRα. The mean immunoreactivity score (IR score) of the cancerous lesions (3.5 ± 2.6) was significantly higher than that of the benign foci (1.8 ± 2.1) (p < 0.0001). The IR score of the cancerous lesions significantly correlated with the Gleason score (p = 0.0135). Univariate and multivariate hazard analyses revealed significant correlations between elevated ERRα expression and poor cancer‐specific survival (p = 0.0141 and 0.0367, respectively). The enhanced expression of ERRα might play a role in the development of human PC and serve as a significant prognostic factor for the disease. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Evolution Spectrographs: visualizing punctuated change in software evolution

Software evolution is commonly characterized as a slow process of incremental change. Researchers have observed that software systems also exhibit characteristics of punctuation (sudden and discontinuous change) during their evolution. We analyze punctuated evolution from the perspective of structural change. We developed a color-coded visualization technique called the Evolution Spectrograph (ESG). ESG can be applied to highlight conspicuous changes across a historical sequence of software releases. We describe evolution spectrographs and present the empirical results from our studies of three open source software systems: OpenSSH, PostgreSQL, and Linux. We show that punctuated change occurred in the evolution of these three systems, and we validate our empirical results by examining related software documents such as change logs and release notes.
The Impact of Student Teaching and Internship Programs On Preservice Teachers' Pupil Control Perspectives, Anxiety Levels, and Teaching Concerns

Teacher preparation programs have received considerable criticism in recent years. One criticism has been that preservice teachers do not acquire sufficient practical experience prior to entry into the profession. In response, educators have been encouraged, and in some cases mandated, to provide preservice teacher candidates with early, more continuous and extensive clinical experiences. An assumption underlying the call for more extensive experiences is that more equal better; that is, more clinical experiences will produce a better beginning teacher. However, this assumption is debatable, particularly in light of empirical evidence which raise questions about the efficacy of traditional types of clinical experiences such as student teaching. For instance, while several researchers report positive effects (e.g., Lantz, 1964; Ishler, 1967; Dumas, 1969; Copeland, 1978), other studies have found that students, by the end of their student teaching experience, exhibit more negative attitudes toward children and teaching in general (Weinstock & Peccolo, 1970), are more authoritarian, rigid and impersonal (Jacobs, 1968), more restrictive of student behavior, less accepting of pupil ideas (Matthews, 1967), and more custodial and bureaucratic
The Information Society: An International

This article presents a conceptual research framework for in-vestigatingvirtualsocieties. As this subjectareais relativelynew to the research world, this paper presents a framework for studying virtualsocieties. To date, much of the relevantresearchhas been in the area of telecommuting or teleworking. But the changes to people’s lives that may be a result of the movement to virtual societies encompass far more than alterations to the way we perform work in the future. The framework portrays the driving forces and the issues related to the study of this ensuing societalform. A review of the driving forces and issues of the virtual society stimulated the development of the research framework. It identi-® es technology as the enabler that is paving the way for society to be transformedinto virtual communities, but does not dwell solely on the technology. Our endeavors focus on identifying the critical forces and issues within a global context in order to provide a foundation for future research.
Healthy relationships and building developmental assets in middle school students

This action research project was designed to have the majority of middle school students engage in healthy relationships with their peers and teachers as the data suggested the need for improved interactions with others. Students contributed to team building lessons; implemented school community service learning projects; participated in an advisory mentoring program on healthy relationships and conflict resolution; and wrote journal reflections. Analysis of the data indicated an increased rate of students demonstrating and acknowledging the need for positive attributes to build healthy relationships with their peers and teachers. Key words: Social responsibility, community service learning, adolescent development, school relationships
The Transformed Self: The Psychology of Religious Conversion

1. Haven of Last Resort: Conversion and the Search for Relief. - 2. The Relationship with Authority: Conversion and the Quest for the Perfect Father. - 3. The Infatuation with the Group: Conversion and Social Influence. - 4. Adolescent Conversion and the Search for Identity. - 5. Merger with the Perfect Object: Conversion and the Narcissistic Condition. - 6. Conversion and the Quest for Meaning. - 7. The Transformed Self: Summary and Implications. - Appendix I. Interview. - Appendix II. Interview Scoring. - Appendix III. Discrete Emotions: Scoring Rules. - References.
Variation of the neurofilament medium KSP repeat sub-domain across mammalian species: implications for altering axonal structure

SUMMARY The evolution of larger mammals resulted in a corresponding increase in peripheral nerve length. To ensure optimal nervous system functionality and survival, nerve conduction velocities were likely to have increased to maintain the rate of signal propagation. Increases of conduction velocities may have required alterations in one of the two predominant properties that affect the speed of neuronal transmission: myelination or axonal diameter. A plausible mechanism to explain faster conduction velocities was a concomitant increase in axonal diameter with evolving axonal length. The carboxy terminal tail domain of the neurofilament medium subunit is a determinant of axonal diameter in large caliber myelinated axons. Sequence analysis of mammalian orthologs indicates that the neurofilament medium carboxy terminal tail contains a variable lysine–serine–proline (KSP) repeat sub-domain flanked by two highly conserved sub-domains. The number of KSP repeats within this region of neurofilament medium varies among species. Interestingly, the number of repeats does not change within a species, suggesting that selective pressure conserved the number of repeats within a species. Mapping KSP repeat numbers onto consensus phylogenetic trees reveals independent KSP expansion events across several mammalian clades. Linear regression analyses identified three subsets of mammals, one of which shows a positive correlation in the number of repeats with head–body length. For this subset of mammals, we hypothesize that variations in the number of KSP repeats within neurofilament medium carboxy terminal tail may have contributed to an increase in axonal caliber, increasing nerve conduction velocity as larger mammals evolved.
Repellency of 29 Synthetic and Natural Commercial Topical Insect Repellents Against Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) in Central Mexico

Abstract In Mexico, the use of repellents to prevent insects from landing and biting is a common practice. However, variation in the efficiency of natural and synthetic repellents has been observed. In this study, we evaluated the repellency and protection time of 16 synthetic and 13 natural-based commercial products against Aedes aegypti (L.) from an endemic dengue area (Jojutla, Morelos) in Central Mexico. The “arm exposure” cage test was used to assess the efficacy of the repellents. Tests were conducted by three adult volunteers. Results showed that DEET (N, N-Diethyl-3-methylbenzamide) repellents provided the highest protection and duration times against Ae. aegypti. However, low repellency and short-time protection was observed (when compared with the manufacturers' protection times). Natural-based products did not repel (either landing or biting) mosquitoes for >30 min. These results show that most of the repellent products did not provide satisfactory levels of personal protection against mosquito bites. Frequent reapplication of repellents (synthetic and natural-based) may compensate for their short duration of action. Repellent efficacy data must be integrated into the decision-making process for an optimal response to the local (or specific region) situation.
Distributed MAC Strategy for Exploiting Multi-user Diversity in Multi-rate IEEE 802.11 Wireless LANs

Fast rate adaptation has been established as an effective way to improve the PHY-layer raw date rate of wireless networks. However, within the current IEEE 802.11 legacy, MAC-layer throughput is dominated by users with the lowest data rates, resulting in underutilization of spectrum bandwidth. In this paper, we propose a novel distributed MAC strategy, referred to as rate-aware DCF (R-DCF), to leverage the potential of rate adaptation in IEEE 802.11 WLANs. The key feature of R-DCF is that by introducing different mini slots according to the instantaneous channel conditions, only contending stations with the highest data rate can actually access the channel. In this way, the R-DCF protocol not only effectively exploits multi-user diversity in a fully distributed manner but also drastically reduces the loss of throughput due to collisions. Through analysis, we derive a closed-form network throughput expression for R-DCF. Based on the analysis, we further derive the maximal throughput that can be achieved by R-DCF. For practical implementation, an offline adaptive backoff method is developed for R-DCF to achieve a close-to-optimal performance at low runtime complexity. The superiority of R-DCF is proven by extensive analyses and simulations.
The measurement of radiation.

The various fluxes of radiation to and from the Earth’s surface are among the most important variables in the heat economy of the Earth as a whole and at any individual place at the Earth’s surface or in the atmosphere. Radiation measurements are used for the following purposes: (a) To study the transformation of energy within the Earth-atmosphere system and its variation in time and space; (b) To analyse the properties and distribution of the atmosphere with regard to its constituents, such as aerosols, water vapour, ozone, and so on; (c) To study the distribution and variations of incoming, outgoing and net radiation; (d) To satisfy the needs of biological, medical, agricultural, architectural and industrial activities with respect to radiation; (e) To verify satellite radiation measurements and algorithms.
OVERVIEW ON NATIVE CELLULOSE AND MICROCRYSTALLINE CELLULOSE I STRUCTURE STUDIED BY X-RAY DIFFRACTION (WAXD): COMPARISON BETWEEN MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

The crystalline structure of cellulose has been studied for a long time. It is well known that crystallinity of cellulose can be measured using quite a number of methods, X-ray diffraction, solid state 13 C CP-MAS NMR, Fourier transforminfrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The solid state 13 C CP-MAS NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy considers contributions from both crystalline and non-crystalline cellulose regions resulting in relative values, while the alternative X-ray diffraction approach gives more detailed data on features of crystalline and less on the non-crystalline fraction of cellulose. Raman spectroscopy is also used to study cellulose crystallinity. This paper gives an overview on the crystallinity of three cellulose samples, cotton linters, microcrystalline cellulose (cotton linters) and Avicel powder cellulose (Avicel PH101) determined by wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). The study compares literature data with our data for the apparent crystallinity (%) of the mentioned samples from different sources to demonstrate the dissimilarities that can be obtained using different X-ray methods. For the crystallinity analysis, assumption had to be made that all cotton linters and Avicel PH-101 used in the literature were of the same quality, even though it has been reported that the quality of both samples can vary between batches and production locations. The reported crystallinity values of cotton linters were between 56-78 %, for microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), crystallinity varied within the range 65-83 % and Avicel PH-101 powder gave crystallinity values between 37-93 % dependent on the Xray methods and experimental mode used.
Does treatment work with internet sex offenders? Emerging findings from the Internet Sex Offender Treatment Programme (i-SOTP)

Abstract The increase in convictions for internet-related sexual offending has led to new challenges for treatment providers. By 2005 nearly one-third of all sexual convictions in England and Wales were for internet-related sexual offending. In late 2006 a treatment programme for internet-related sexual offending (the i-SOTP) was given accreditation for use in the community by the National Probation Service (England and Wales). This paper reports on the clinical impact as assessed following completion of psychometric assessments pre- and post-treatment by a sample of 264 convicted offenders. Findings suggest an improvement in deficits concerning socio-affective functioning and a decrease in pro-offending attitudes. These changes are encouraging and support the view that widescale delivery of the programme should be continued.