Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigation of sleep–wake rhythm in non-human primates without restraint during data collection

To understand sleep mechanisms and develop treatments for sleep disorders, investigations using animal models are essential. The sleep architecture of rodents differs from that of diurnal mammals including humans and non-human primates. Sleep studies have been conducted in non-human primates; however, these sleep assessments were performed on animals placed in a restraint chair connected via the umbilical area to the recording apparatus. To avoid restraints, cables, and other stressful apparatuses and manipulations, telemetry systems have been developed. In the present study, sleep recordings in unrestrained cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) and common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) were conducted to characterize normal sleep. For the analysis of sleep–wake rhythms in cynomolgus monkeys, telemetry electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), and electrooculography (EOG) signals were used. For the analysis of sleep–wake rhythms in marmosets, telemetry EEG and EOG signals were used. Both monkey species showed monophasic sleep patterns during the dark phase. Although non-rapid eye movement (NREM) deep sleep showed higher levels at the beginning of the dark phase in cynomolgus monkeys, NREM deep sleep rarely occurred during the dark phase in marmosets. Our results indicate that the use of telemetry in non-human primate models is useful for sleep studies, and that the different NREM deep sleep activities between cynomolgus monkeys and common marmoset monkeys are useful to examine sleep functions.
Bone Substitute Fabrication Based on Dissolution-Precipitation Reactions

Although block- or granular-type sintered hydroxyapatite are known to show excellent tissue responses and good osteoconductivity, apatite powder elicits inflammatory response. For the fabrication of hydroxyapatite block or granules, sintering is commonly employed. However, the inorganic component of bone and tooth is not high crystalline hydroxyapatite but low crystalline B-type carbonate apatite. Unfortunately, carbonate apatite powder cannot be sintered due to its instability at high temperature. Another method to fabricate apatite block and/or granule is through phase transformation based on dissolution-precipitation reactions using a precursor phase. This reaction basically is the same as a setting and hardening reaction of calcium sulfate or plaster. In this paper, apatite block fabrication methods by phase transformation based on dissolution-precipitation reactions will be discussed, with a focus on the similarity of the setting and hardening reaction of calcium sulfate.
Differential Expression Profile and Genetic Variants of MicroRNAs Sequences in Breast Cancer Patients

The technology available for cancer diagnosis and prognosis is not yet satisfactory at the molecular level, and requires further improvements. Micro RNAs (miRNAs) have been recently reported as useful biomarkers in diseases including cancer. We performed a miRNA expression profiling study using peripheral blood from breast cancer patients to detect and identify characteristic patterns. A total of 100 breast cancer patients and 89 healthy patients were recruited for miRNA genotyping and expression profiling. We found that hs-miR-196a2 in premenopausal patients, and hs-miR-499, hs-miR-146a and hs-miR-196a2 in postmenopausal patients, may discriminate breast cancer patients from healthy individuals. In addition, we found a significant association between two microRNA polymorphisms (hs-miR-196a2 and hs-miR-499) and breast cancer risk. However, no significant association between the hs-miR-146a gene and breast cancer risk was found. In summary, the study demonstrates that peripheral blood miRNAs and their expression and genotypic profiles can be developed as biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer.
The HIV Nef protein modulates cellular and exosomal miRNA profiles in human monocytic cells

Introduction The HIV Nef protein is a multifunctional virulence factor that perturbs intracellular membranes and signalling and is secreted into exosomes. While Nef-containing exosomes have a distinct proteomic profile, no comprehensive analysis of their miRNA cargo has been carried out. Since Nef functions as a viral suppressor of RNA interference and disturbs the distribution of RNA-induced silencing complex proteins between cells and exosomes, we hypothesized that it might also affect the export of miRNAs into exosomes. Method Exosomes were purified from human monocytic U937 cells that stably expressed HIV-1 Nef. The RNA from cells and exosomes was profiled for 667 miRNAs using a Taqman Low Density Array. Selected miRNAs and their mRNA targets were validated by quantitative RT-PCR. Bioinformatics analyses were used to identify targets and predict pathways. Results Nef expression affected a significant fraction of miRNAs in U937 cells. Our analysis showed 47 miRNAs to be selectively secreted into Nef exosomes and 2 miRNAs to be selectively retained in Nef-expressing cells. The exosomal miRNAs were predicted to target several cellular genes in inflammatory cytokine and other pathways important for HIV pathogenesis, and an overwhelming majority had targets within the HIV genome. Conclusions This is the first study to report miRnome analysis of HIV Nef expressing monocytes and exosomes. Our results demonstrate that Nef causes large-scale dysregulation of cellular miRNAs, including their secretion through exosomes. We suggest this to be a novel viral strategy to affect pathogenesis and to limit the effects of RNA interference on viral replication and persistence.
Effects of Supplementation of Mulberry (Morus alba) Foliage and Urea-rice Bran as Fermentable Energy and Protein Sources in Sheep Fed Urea-treated Rice Straw Based Diet

A digestibility study was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplementing mulberry foliage and urea rice-bran as a source of fermentable energy and protein to 12 sheep fed diets based on urea-treated rice straw (TRS). The three dietary treatments were: T1, TRS with mulberry; T2, TRS with 50% mulberry replaced with rice bran and urea; and T3, TRS with rice bran and urea. The study was arranged in a completely randomized design with four replications for each treatment. The sheep were fed one of the three diets and the supplements were offered at 1.2% of the body weight (BW) and the TRS was provided ad libitum. There were no differences (p>0.05) among the three treatment groups with respect to dry matter (DM) intake (76.8±4.2 g/kg BW0.75) and DM, organic matter (OM), and crude protein (CP) digestibility (55.3±1.22; 69.9±0.85; 46.3±1.65% respectively for DM, OM, and CP). The digestibility of fiber (neutral detergent fiber [NDF] and acid detergent fiber) was significantly lower (p<0.05) for T3 (46.2 and 46.6 respectively) compared to T1 (55.8 and 53.7 respectively) and T2 (54.1 and 52.8 respectively). Nitrogen (N) intake by sheep on diet T3 was significantly (p<0.05) higher than sheep fed diet T1. However, N balance did not differ among the three diets (3.0±0.32 g/d). In contrast, the rumen ammonia (NH3-N) concentrations in sheep fed T2 and T3 were significantly (p<0.05) higher than in sheep fed T1. The NH3-N concentrations for all three diets were above the critical value required for optimum rumen microbial growth and synthesis. Total volatile fatty acid concentrations were highest (p<0.05) in T1 (120.3 mM), whilst the molar proportion of propionic acid was highest in T3 (36.9%). However, the microbial N supply in sheep fed T1 and T3 was similar but was significantly (p<0.05) higher than for sheep fed T2. It was concluded that mulberry foliage is a potential supplement of fermentable energy and protein for sheep fed TRS based diet. The suggested level of supplementation is 1.2% of BW or 32% of the total diet since it resulted in similar effects on the intake of DM, OM, and NDF, digestibility of DM, OM, and CP, N utilization and microbial supply when compared to rice bran and urea supplementation.
Phosphorylation‐dependent Akt–Inversin interaction at the basal body of primary cilia

A primary cilium is a microtubule‐based sensory organelle that plays an important role in human development and disease. However, regulation of Akt in cilia and its role in ciliary development has not been demonstrated. Using yeast two‐hybrid screening, we demonstrate that Inversin (INVS) interacts with Akt. Mutation in the INVS gene causes nephronophthisis type II (NPHP2), an autosomal recessive chronic tubulointerstitial nephropathy. Co‐immunoprecipitation assays show that Akt interacts with INVS via the C‐terminus. In vitro kinase assays demonstrate that Akt phosphorylates INVS at amino acids 864–866 that are required not only for Akt interaction, but also for INVS dimerization. Co‐localization of INVS and phosphorylated form of Akt at the basal body is augmented by PDGF‐AA. Akt‐null MEF cells as well as siRNA‐mediated inhibition of Akt attenuated ciliary growth, which was reversed by Akt reintroduction. Mutant phosphodead‐ or NPHP2‐related truncated INVS, which lack Akt phosphorylation sites, suppress cell growth and exhibit distorted lumen formation and misalignment of spindle axis during cell division. Further studies will be required for elucidating functional interactions of Akt–INVS at the primary cilia for identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying NPHP2.
The Knowledge-based Economy: Trends and Implications for Pakistan

Economic history has witnessed transformation from Agriculture based to Manufacturing based economies over the time. This transformation had its effects on social structure of the communities, as new types of jobs were created in the manufacturing industries, and new life styles of metropolitan culture evolved. A similar transformation is now taking place as; business has grown global over the last years, making the present business atmosphere further competitive, fast and fluid. Technological and political events taking place across the world affect us as strongly as something happening in our neighbourhood. The two most recent and prominent developments of present times that have changed our economic activities are: (1) Globalisation; (2) Increase in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Globalisation is most obvious, as the volume of global trade and products has expanded manyfold. The world economies are opening up to new world horizons. Developments in Information Technology has increased the pace of the events, bringing new products to markets from all over the world, increasing the global watch and reach of the organisations. As a result of this, the companies are forced to reduce the costs and product development time of their products. Second prominent development taking place during this time is the increase in ICT. These ICTs (particularly Intranets/Internet) have provided new channels and means of acquiring knowledge and opened new doors of promising opportunities like e-business. Sharp decrease in cost of computer hardware and software, plus improvement in software development has been responsible for increasing number of firms using computers in their business processes. Computer has proved itself to be a revolutionary tool for management, its data and information processing capabilities has improved management in all domains.
A relationally complete visual query language for heterogeneous data sources and pervasive querying

In this paper we introduce and formally define Query by Browsing (QBB), a scalable, relationally complete visual query language based on the desktop user interface paradigm and tuple relational calculus that allows the formulation of complex queries over relational, entity-relationship, object-oriented and XML data sources on a variety of handheld and desktop platforms. It is to our knowledge the first visual query language to combine the important characteristics of usability, scalability, expressive power and flexibility. We support these claims by demonstrating the similarity of the QBB paradigm to the popular desktop user interface paradigm, by relating it to relational calculus and relational algebra and by describing Chiromancer II, a Web-based implementation of the QBB paradigm for handheld devices. We also discuss ways in which non-relational sources can be represented and queried and compare QBB to related work in the area of visual query languages for a variety of data models. We finally offer conclusions and thoughts for future work.
Increasing Income Inequality, External Habits, and Self-Reported Happiness

In this short paper we take a first look at the question of whether the increasing income inequality that the US has witnessed in the past 25 years has generated increasing unhappiness in those who have been falling behind, despite their real income has risen markedly. If an individual's utility depends not only on the level of her own consumption but also on how that level compares with the consumption of others, then the observed widening of the income distribution may have implications for the happiness of different groups that go beyond those associated with the changes in their respective incomes. We find that people's happiness appears to depend positively on how well their socio-economic group is doing relative to the average in their geographic area, even after controlling for the level of their own income. In addition, we find some evidence that the relationship is much stronger for people whose group has above-average income than for people whose group has below-average income; it would thus appear that relative concerns do not become an issue until a person has attained a certain place within the income distribution.
Ca2+ and frequency dependence of exocytosis in isolated somata of magnocellular supraoptic neurones of the rat hypothalamus

In addition to action potential‐evoked exocytotic release at neurohypophysial nerve terminals, the neurohormones arginine vasopressin (aVP) and oxytocin (OT) undergo Ca2+‐dependent somatodendritic release within the supraoptic and paraventricular hypothalamic nuclei. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie this release have not been elucidated. In the present study, the whole‐cell patch‐clamp technique was utilized in combination with high‐time‐resolved measurements of membrane capacitance (Cm) and microfluorometric measurements of cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) to examine the Ca2+ and stimulus dependence of exocytosis in the somata of magnocellular neurosecretory cells (MNCs) isolated from rat supraoptic nucleus (SON). Single depolarizing steps (≥20 ms) that evoked high‐voltage‐activated (HVA) Ca2+ currents (ICa) and elevations in intracellular Ca2+ concentration were accompanied by an increase in Cm in a majority (40/47) of SON neurones. The Cm responses were composed of an initial Ca2+‐independent, transient component and a subsequent, sustained phase of increased Cm (termed ΔCm) mediated by an influx of Ca2+, and increased with corresponding prolongation of depolarizing step durations (20–200 ms). From this relationship we estimated the rate of vesicular release to be 1533 vesicles s−1. Delivery of neurone‐derived action potential waveforms (APWs) as stimulus templates elicited ICa and also induced a ΔCm, provided APWs were applied in trains of greater than 13 Hz. A train of APWs modelled after the bursting pattern recorded from an OT‐containing neurone during the milk ejection reflex was effective in supporting an exocytotic ΔCm in isolated MNCs, indicating that the somata of SON neurones respond to physiological patterns of neuronal activity with Ca2+‐dependent exocytotic activity.
FUSE Observations of a Full Orbit of Hercules X-1: Signatures of Disk, Star, and Wind

We observed an entire 1.7 day orbit of the X-ray binary Hercules X-1 with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). Changes in the O VI λλ1032, 1037 line profiles through eclipse ingress and egress indicate a Keplerian accretion disk spinning prograde with the orbit. These observations may show the first double-peaked accretion disk line profile to be seen in the Hercules X-1 system. Doppler tomograms of the emission lines show a bright spot offset from the Roche lobe of the companion star HZ Her, but no obvious signs of the accretion disk. Simulations show that the bright spot is too far offset from the Roche lobe to result from uneven X-ray heating of its surface. The absence of disk signatures in the tomogram can be reproduced in simulations including absorption from a stellar wind. We attempt to diagnose the state of the emitting gas from the C III λ977, C III λ1175, and N III λ991 emission lines. The latter may be enhanced through Bowen fluorescence.
Diacritization: A Challenge to Arabic Treebank Annotation and Parsing

Arabic diacritization (referred to sometimes as vocalization or vowelling), defined as the full or partial representation of short vowels, shadda (consonantal length or germination), tanween ( nunation or definiteness), and hamza (the glottal stop and its support letters), is still largely understudied in the current NLP literature. In this paper, the lack of diacritics in standard Arabic texts is presented as a major challenge to most Arabic natural language processing tasks, including parsing. Recent studies (Messaoudi, et al. 2004; Vergyri & Kirchhoff 2004; Zitouni, et al. 2006 and Maamouri, et al. forthcoming) about the place and impact of diacritization in text-based NLP research are presented along with an analysis of the weight of the missing diacritics on Treebank morphological and syntactic analyses and the impact on parser development.
Reproduction, neonatal weights, and first-year survival of Mongolian gazelles (Procapra gutturosa)

Mongolian gazelles Procapra gutturosa were observed, hand-captured and radio-monitored in the eastern steppe of Mongolia during 1998–2003 to understand better their reproduction and survival. During early June, 92% (range = 87–96%) of adult (≥ 2 years old) females observed (mean n = 735/year) were pregnant, and nearly all gave birth during a 10-day interval (24 June–3 July) each year. Mean mass of neonate (1–2 days old) calves (mean n = 47/year) was greater for males than for females, and masses were directly correlated with mean monthly temperatures the previous winter (December–April). Survival during the first 10 days of life for 111 radio-marked neonate calves monitored during 2000–03 (n = 9–55/year) was 0.83 and did not seem to vary with birth weight. Also, deaths owing to hypothermia, abandonment, or unknown causes (interval cause-specific mortality rate = 0.16) outnumbered deaths owing to predation (0.02) during this interval. Survival rates were similar during the rest of the year (0.86 for 355 days) when most mortalities were owing to predation (interval mortality rate = 0.12 vs 0.01). Annual survival of calves was 0.71 (95% CI = 0.61–0.82). Gazelle births are highly synchronous, probably to take most advantage of the short summer growing season, and perhaps to avoid deleterious spring weather and to minimize predation. High fecundity and relatively high calf survival, especially during the first weeks of life, support the notion that gazelle populations can recover fairly quickly from demographic catastrophes.
Exhaled Breath Analysis with a Colorimetric Sensor Array for the Identification and Characterization of Lung Cancer

Introduction: The pattern of exhaled breath volatile organic compounds represents a metabolic biosignature with the potential to identify and characterize lung cancer. Breath biosignature-based classification of homogeneous subgroups of lung cancer may be more accurate than a global breath signature. Combining breath biosignatures with clinical risk factors may improve the accuracy of the signature. Objectives: To develop an exhaled breath biosignature of lung cancer using a colorimetric sensor array and to determine the accuracy of breath biosignatures of lung cancer characteristics with and without the inclusion of clinical risk factors. Methods: The exhaled breath of 229 study subjects, 92 with lung cancer and 137 controls, was drawn across a colorimetric sensor array. Logistic prediction models were developed and statistically validated based on the color changes of the sensor. Age, sex, smoking history, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were incorporated in the prediction models. Results: The validated prediction model of the combined breath and clinical biosignature was moderately accurate at distinguishing lung cancer from control subjects (C-statistic 0.811). The accuracy improved when the model focused on only one histology (C-statistic 0.825–0.890). Individuals with different histologies could be accurately distinguished from one another (C-statistic 0.864 for adenocarcinoma versus squamous cell carcinoma). Moderate accuracies were noted for validated breath biosignatures of stage and survival (C-statistic 0.785 and 0.693, respectively). Conclusions: A colorimetric sensor array is capable of identifying exhaled breath biosignatures of lung cancer. The accuracy of breath biosignatures can be optimized by evaluating specific histologies and incorporating clinical risk factors.
In Search of Explanations for the Consulting Explosion. A Critical Perspective on Managers' Decisions to Contract a Consultancy

2Abstract: An attempt is made in this article to explain the amazing growth of the consultancy market. Five different perspectives are chosen: a sociological view on the growing complexity of the environment, an analysis of what functions consultants perform for their clients and of how they enhance the demand for these services, a discussion of what difficulties clients may face when trying to evaluate the consultants’ performance and, finally, a psychological view on managers’ decision to increasingly and repeatedly contract consultants. A model is then proposed that draws on this analysis and offers a dynamic explanati on of the “consulting explosion”. The Consulting Explosion Banks do it. Energy providers do it. Consumer goods manufacturers do it. Even universities and art museums do it. They all seek the advice of consultants. Even if definitions of what is to be considered consulting remain blurry and reliable statistics are hard to come by, observers agree that the management consultancy industry has enjoyed a spectacular growth for the past two or three decades. Most estimates accredit a double digit increase in yearly revenues which ranges between 10 and 30 percent, varying by source and country (BDU, 1998; Hasek, 1997; Rassam and Oates, 1991). Compared to most industries’ or to GDP growth rates, this means that advisers often grow at least twice as fast as their clients. The entire market volume is now estimated to be 62 billion dollars worldwide (Consultants News, 1999) . While in 1980, less than five consultancy firms with more than 1000 consultants existed, in 1997 there were more than 30. In simple terms, this implies that 80 percent of all consulting experience was generated in the years between 1980 and 1997 and only 20 percent in the period from 1886 (when the first consultancy was started) to 1980 (Canback, 1998) . We are facing a veritable burst of consulting activities. This consulting explosion is impressive enough by itself. What makes it even more remarkable, however, is the fact that nobody actually has to employ a consultant: Unlike lawyers or accountants, consultants may be contracted or not, and while many companies seem not to be able to do without them, a few (such as General Electric or Procter and Gamble) pride themselves on hardly using them at all (Wooldridge, 1997). What we are observing is a growth phenomenon that seems to exhibit a self-sustaining inherent dynamic, and which is puzzling many observers.