Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cerebellar CB(1) receptor mediation of Delta(9)-THC-induced motor incoordination and its potentiation by ethanol and modulation by the cerebellar adenosinergic A(1) receptor in the mouse.

The effect of intracerebellar microinfusion of antisense oligodeoxynucleotide to Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta(9)-THC) and other naturally occurring cannabinoid receptor (CB(1)) mRNA on Delta(9)-THC-induced motor impairment was investigated in mice. Delta(9)-THC (15-30 microgram/microliter intracerebellar) resulted in a significant motor impairment in a dose-related manner. The intracerebellar pretreatment with antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (3.0 microgram/100 nl/12 h; six administrations/mouse) virtually abolished Delta(9)-THC (15 and 25 microgram/1 microliter intracerebellar)-induced motor impairment. However, intracerebellar pretreatment with the mismatched oligodeoxynucleotide in exactly the same manner as the antisense was completely ineffective in altering the Delta(9)-THC-induced motor impairment. These results strongly suggest the involvement of CB(1) receptor in the expression of Delta(9)-THC-induced motor impairment. The intracerebellar microinfusion of adenosine A(1)-selective agonist, N(6)-cyclohexyladenosine (CHA) (4 ng/100 nl) significantly enhanced Delta(9)-THC-induced motor impairment, suggesting a cerebellar A(1) adenosinergic modulation of motor impairment. A pretreatment with the antisense and the mismatched oligodeoxynucleotide also markedly attenuated and did not alter, respectively, the cerebellar A(1) adenosinergic modulation (enhancement) of Delta(9)-THC-induced motor impairment. There was no change in the normal motor coordination due to intracerebellar pretreatment with antisense and its mismatch, in the presence as well as absence of intracerebellar CHA indicating the selectivity of interactions with Delta(9)-THC. The Delta(9)-THC-induced motor incoordination was also significantly enhanced dose-dependently by systemic (i.p.) ethanol administration suggesting behavioral synergism between the two psychoactive drugs. Pretreatment (intracerebellar) with pertussis toxin (PTX) markedly attenuated Delta(9)-THC- and Delta(9)-THC+CHA-induced motor incoordination suggesting coupling of CB(1) receptor to PTX-sensitive G-protein (G(i)/G(o)). These data suggested co-modulation by cerebellar cannabinoid and adenosine system of Delta(9)-THC-induced motor impairment. Conversely, the results in the present study also suggested co-modulation by cerebellar adenosine A(1) and CB(1) receptors of ethanol-induced motor impairment, thereby indicating a possible common signal transduction pathway in the expression of motor impairment produced by Delta(9)-THC as well as ethanol.
Lipschitz representations of subsets of the cube

We show that for any class of uniformly bounded functions H with a reasonable combinatorial dimension, the vast majority of small subsets of the n-dimensional combinatorial cube cannot be represented as a Lipschitz image of a subset of H, unless the Lipschitz constant is very large. We apply this result to the case when H consists of linear functionals of norm at most one on a Hilbert space.
Measuring the Reliability of Picture Story Exercises like the TAT

As frequently reported, psychometric assessments on Picture Story Exercises, especially variations of the Thematic Apperception Test, mostly reveal inadequate scores for internal consistency. We demonstrate that the reason for this apparent shortcoming is not caused by the coding system itself but from the incorrect use of internal consistency coefficients, especially Cronbach’s α. This problem could be eliminated by using the category-scores as items instead of the picture-scores. In addition to a theoretical explanation we prove mathematically why the use of category-scores produces an adequate internal consistency estimation and examine our idea empirically with the origin data set of the Thematic Apperception Test by Heckhausen and two additional data sets. We found generally higher values when using the category-scores as items instead of picture-scores. From an empirical and theoretical point of view, the estimated reliability is also superior to each category within a picture as item measuring. When comparing our suggestion with a multifaceted Rasch-model we provide evidence that our procedure better fits the underlying principles of PSE.
Pregnancy in women receiving renal dialysis or transplantation in Japan: a nationwide survey.

BACKGROUND Since a report on the first successful pregnancy of a woman on long-term haemodialysis in Japan in 1977, there has been a growing number of case reports on successful pregnancy in patients on dialysis. We undertook a nationwide survey on pregnancy in women on renal replacement therapy in 1996. METHODS A preliminary questionaire was sent to 2504 dialysis units and 143 renal transplant units in Japan. For each reported pregnancy, a more detailed questionaire was sent to collect nephrological, obstetric and neonatal information. RESULTS There were 172 pregnancies (0.44%) reported in 38889 women on dialysis, with 90 successful pregnancies (0.23%), and 194 pregnancies reported in 852 female renal transplant recipients. Detailed pregnancy information was collected from 74 women on dialysis and 194 renal transplant recipients. Of the 74 pregnancies in the women on dialysis, 36 (48.6%) resulted in surviving infants, nine (12.2%) in neonatal death, nine (12.2%) spontaneous abortions and 14 (18.9% elective abortions were reported. The outcome of six pregnancies (8.1%) was unknown. Of 194 pregnancies in renal transplant recipients, 159 (82.0%) resulted in surviving infants, two (1.4%) in neonatal death and 28 (14.4%) in spontaneous or elective abortion. In five cases the pregnancy outcome was not reported. No congenital anomalies were reported, except two infants with mental retardation and one with epilepsy. CONCLUSION The current survey revealed that the rate of successful pregnancy in women on dialysis has improved. More than half of the pregnancies resulted in infant survival. But, premature birth is a major problem for the children of women on dialysis and there is a higher rate of neonatal death. There are significant differences in gestational age, birth weight, frequency and severity of prematurity and rates of neonatal death between pregnancies of women undergoing dialysis and those who are renal transplant recipients.
Positive regulation of Shigella flexneri virulence genes by integration host factor

In Shigella flexneri, expression of the plasmid-encoded virulence genes is regulated via a complex cascade involving DNA topology, specific transactivators, and the nucleoid-associated protein H-NS, which represses transcription under inappropriate environmental conditions. We have investigated the involvement of a second nucleoid-associated protein, integration host factor (IHF), in virulence gene expression. We found that transcription of the invasion-specific genes is repressed in a strain harboring an ihfA mutation, particularly on entry into the stationary phase. Expression of the virB gene, whose product is required for the activation of these structural genes, is also enhanced by IHF in the stationary phase. In contrast, the virF gene, which encodes an activator of virB, is stimulated by IHF in both the logarithmic and early stationary phases of growth, as is another virF-regulated gene, icsA. We have identified regions of the virF, virB, and icsA promoters which form IHF-dependent protein-DNA complexes in vitro and have located sequences within these regions with similarity to the consensus IHF binding site. Moreover, results from experiments in which the virF or virB gene was expressed constitutively confirm that IHF has a direct input at the level of both virF and virB transcription. Finally, we provide evidence that at the latter promoter, the primary role of IHF may be to overcome repression by the H-NS protein. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a role for IHF in controlling gene expression in S. flexneri.
NUAK2: an emerging acral melanoma oncogene

Recent technological advances in cancer genomics make it possible to dissect complicated genomic aberrations of melanomas. In particular, several specific genomic aberrations including 11q13 amplification and KIT aberrations have been identified in acral melanomas. We recently identified NUAK2 at 1q32 as a promising oncogene in acral melanomas and reported its significant roles in tumorigenesis in melanoma cells using both in vitro and in vivo analyses. NUAK2 as a member of the AMPK family has several intriguing aspects both as an oncogene and as a tumor suppressor gene. Here we review genomic aberrations of melanomas focusing on acral melanomas to emphasize the possible roles of NUAK2 in tumorigenesis in general and suggest that NUAK2 has pivotal roles in acral melanomagenesis.
Natural Variation in Neuron Number in Mice Is Linked to a Major Quantitative Trait Locus on Chr 11

Common genetic polymorphisms—as opposed to rare mutations—generate almost all heritable differences in the size and structure of the CNS. Surprisingly, these normal variants have not previously been mapped or cloned in any vertebrate species. In a recent paper (Williams et al., 1996a), we suggested that much of the variation in retinal ganglion cell number in mice, and the striking bimodality of strain averages, are caused by one or two quantitative trait loci (QTLs). To test this idea, and to map genes linked to this variable and highly heritable quantitative trait, we have counted ganglion cells in 38 recombinant inbred strains (BXD and BXH) derived from parental strains that have high and low cell numbers. A genome-wide search using simple and composite interval-mapping techniques revealed a major QTL on chromosome (Chr) 11 in a 3 cM interval between Hoxband Krt1 (LOD = 6.8; genome-wide p = 0.001) and possible subsidiary QTLs on Chr 2 and Chr 8. The Chr 11 locus,neuron number control 1 (Nnc1), accounts for one third of the genetic variance among BXH strains and more than half of that among BXD strains, but Nnc1 has no known effects on brain weight, eye weight, or total retinal cell number. Three strong candidate genes have been mapped previously to the same region asNnc1. These genes—Rara,Thra, and Erbb2— encode receptors for retinoic acid, thyroxine, and neuregulin, respectively. Each receptor is expressed in the retina during development, and their ligands affect the proliferation or survival of retinal cells.
Multifunctional nanocomposite foams based on polypropylene with carbon nanofillers

This work considers the preparation and characterization of polypropylene foams with variable concentrations of graphene and carbon nanofibres, focussing on the influence of the foaming process and the nanofillers on the microstructural and dynamic-mechanical-thermal properties of the foams. Great differences were found in terms of foam morphology depending on the type of foaming process, with foams prepared by physical foaming showing a vertically deformed cell structure, while chemical foams presented an isotropic-like cellular structure. The addition of graphene resulted in foams with higher cell densities and more uniform cellular structures when compared to the ones with nanofibres. Direct result of the combination of their particular cellular structure and higher expansion, polypropylene foams obtained by physical foaming presented a higher orientation of the α-monoclinic polypropylene crystal perpendicular to the foam’s surface and higher exfoliation of the nanofillers, resulting in foams with improved mechanical properties. All these considerations are of extreme importance, as some of the most promising applications of these polymer foams require a good electromagnetic interference shielding efficiency, which greatly depends on the developed foam morphology.
Minimal Models for 2-coverings of Elliptic Curves

This paper concerns the existence and algorithmic determination of minimal models for curves of genus 1, given by equations of the form y = Q(x) where Q(x) has degree 4. These models are used in the method of 2-descent for computing the rank of an elliptic curve. Our results are complete for unramified extensions ofQ2 and Q3 and for all p-adic fields for p > 5. Our primary motivation is to complete the results of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer [2], which are incomplete in the case of Q2. Our results in this case (when applied to 2-coverings of elliptic curves over Q) yield substantial improvements in the running times of the 2-descent algorithm implemented in the program mwrank [5]. The paper ends with a section on implementation and examples, and an appendix gives constructive proofs in sufficient detail to be used for implementation.
Electronic transport properties of some liquid semiconductor

Electronic transport properties like electrical resistivity (ρ) and thermoelectric power (Q) of liquid semiconductor (Si, Ga, Ge, In, Sn, Tl and Bi) are calculated in the present study. Our well established single parametric model potential alongwith Percus Yevick hard sphere (PYHS) reference system are used to describe the structural information. To see the influence of exchange and correlation effect, Hartree, Taylor and Sarkar et al local field correlation functions are used. From present results, it is seen that good agreements between present results and experimental data have been achieved. Lastly we conclude that our model potential successfully produces the data of electronic transport properties for some liquid semiconductor (Si, Ga, Ge, In, Sn, Tl and Bi).
Analysis of structural relationships for hierarchical cluster labeling

Cluster label quality is crucial for browsing topic hierarchies obtained via document clustering. Intuitively, the hierarchical structure should influence the labeling accuracy. However, most labeling algorithms ignore such structural properties and therefore, the impact of hierarchical structures on the labeling accuracy is yet unclear. In our work we integrate hierarchical information, i.e. sibling and parent-child relations, in the cluster labeling process. We adapt standard labeling approaches, namely Maximum Term Frequency, Jensen-Shannon Divergence, Chi Square Test, and Information Gain, to take use of those relationships and evaluate their impact on 4 different datasets, namely the Open Directory Project, Wikipedia, TREC Ohsumed and the CLEF IP European Patent dataset. We show, that hierarchical relationships can be exploited to increase labeling accuracy especially on high-level nodes.
The Turkish Spatial Wage Curve

The wage curve for Turkey revisited considering the spatial spillovers of the regional unemployment rates using individual level data for a period of 2004–2013 at the 26 NUTS-2 level by employing FE-2SLS models. The unemployment elasticity of real wages is −0.07 without excluding any group of workers unlike previous studies. There is strong evidence on spatial effects of unemployment rate of contiguous regions on wage level, which is larger, in absolute value, than the effect of own-regional unemployment rate, −0.087 and −0.056, respectively. Male workers are slightly more responsive to the own-region unemployment rate than female workers. However, female workers are more responsive to the neighboring regions’ unemployment rate. Furthermore, using group-specific unemployment rates in the estimation of the wage curve for various groups, we find that unemployment elasticity of pay for female workers has become smaller and lost its significance, whereas unemployment elasticity for male workers has changed slightly. However, introducing group-specific unemployment rate results in losing significance in estimates for female workers. The findings in this paper suggest that individual wages are more responsive to the unemployment rates of the proximate regions than that of an individual’s own region. Also, the wage curve estimates are sensitive to the group-specific unemployment rates.
A Cutoff Invariant Two-Scale Model in Electromagnetic Scattering From Sea Surfaces

The two-scale model (TSM) is one of the most frequently employed approaches in scattering from multiscale surfaces such as ocean surfaces. It consists of combining geometrical optics (GO) with the small-perturbation model (SPM) to be able to cope with both the small- and large-scale components of the surface. However, well-known shortcomings of this method are the arbitrariness of the dividing scale and the sensitivity of the scattering cross section to the choice of this parameter. We propose to replace SPM with the first-order small-slope approximation (SSA1) to treat the small-scale roughness and derive the formulas for the corresponding TSM, referred to as GO-SSA. We show that GO-SSA is robust to the choice of the frequency cutoff and give a numerical illustration for the sea surface.
Trypanosoma vivax Infections: Pushing Ahead with Mouse Models for the Study of Nagana. II. Immunobiological Dysfunctions

Trypanosoma vivax is the main species involved in trypanosomosis, but very little is known about the immunobiology of the infective process caused by this parasite. Recently we undertook to further characterize the main parasitological, haematological and pathological characteristics of mouse models of T. vivax infection and noted severe anemia and thrombocytopenia coincident with rising parasitemia. To gain more insight into the organism's immunobiology, we studied lymphocyte populations in central (bone marrow) and peripherical (spleen and blood) tissues following mouse infection with T. vivax and showed that the immune system apparatus is affected both quantitatively and qualitatively. More precisely, after an initial increase that primarily involves CD4+ T cells and macrophages, the number of splenic B cells decreases in a step-wise manner. Our results show that while infection triggers the activation and proliferation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells, Granulocyte-Monocyte, Common Myeloid and Megacaryocyte Erythrocyte progenitors decrease in number in the course of the infection. An in-depth analysis of B-cell progenitors also indicated that maturation of pro-B into pre-B precursors seems to be compromised. This interferes with the mature B cell dynamics and renewal in the periphery. Altogether, our results show that T. vivax induces profound immunological alterations in myeloid and lymphoid progenitors which may prevent adequate control of T. vivax trypanosomosis.
Amino Acid Substitutions in the Putative MHC Class II “Dimer of Dimers” Interface Inhibit CD4+ T Cell Activation

Activation of T lymphocytes is dependent on multiple ligand-receptor interactions. The possibility that TCR dimerization contributes to T cell triggering was raised by the crystallographic analysis of MHC class II molecules. The MHC class II molecules associated as double dimers, and in such a way that two TCR (and two CD4 molecules) could bind simultaneously. Several subsequent studies have lent support to this concept, although the role of TCR cross-linking in T cell activation remains unclear. Using DRA cDNAs modified to encode two different C-terminal tags, no evidence of constitutive double dimer formation was obtained following immunoprecipitation and Western blotting from cells transiently transfected with wild-type DRB and tagged DRA constructs, together with invariant chain and HLA-DM. To determine whether MHC class II molecules contribute actively to TCR-dependent dimerization and consequent T cell activation, panels of HLA-DR1β and H2-Ek cDNAs were generated with mutations in the sequences encoding the interface regions of the MHC class II double dimer. Stable DAP.3 transfectants expressing these cDNAs were generated and characterized biochemically and functionally. Substitutions in either interface region I or III did not affect T cell activation, whereas combinations of amino acid substitutions in both regions led to substantial inhibition of proliferation or IL-2 secretion by human and murine T cells. Because the amino acid-substituted molecules were serologically indistinguishable from wild type, bound antigenic peptide with equal efficiency, and induced Ag-dependent CD25 expression indicating TCR recognition, the reduced ability of the mutants to induce full T cell activation is most likely the result of impaired double dimer formation. These data suggest that MHC class II molecules, due to their structural properties, actively contribute to TCR cross-linking.
Role of the translationally controlled tumor protein in DNA damage sensing and repair

The translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is essential for survival by mechanisms that as yet are incompletely defined. Here we describe an important role of TCTP in response to DNA damage. Upon exposure of normal human cells to low-dose γ rays, the TCTP protein level was greatly increased, with a significant enrichment in nuclei. TCTP up-regulation occurred in a manner dependent on ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase and the DNA-dependent protein kinase and was associated with protective effects against DNA damage. In chromatin of irradiated cells, coimmunoprecipitation experiments showed that TCTP forms a complex with ATM and γH2A. X, in agreement with its distinct localization with the foci of the DNA damage-marker proteins γH2A. X, 53BP1, and P-ATM. In cells lacking TCTP, repair of chromosomal damage induced by γ rays was compromised significantly. TCTP also was shown to interact with p53 and the DNA-binding subunits, Ku70 and Ku80, of DNA-dependent protein kinase. TCTP knockdown led to decreased levels of Ku70 and Ku80 in nuclei of irradiated cells and attenuated their DNA-binding activity. It also attenuated the radiation-induced G1 delay but prolonged the G2 delay. TCTP therefore may play a critical role in maintaining genomic integrity in response to DNA-damaging agents.
CAMERA CALIBRATION COMBINING IMAGES WITH TWO VANISHING POINTS

Single image calibration is a fundamental task in photogrammetry and computer vision. It is known that camera constant and principal point can be recovered using exclusively the vanishing points of three orthogonal directions. Yet, three reliable and well-distributed vanishing points are not always available. On the other hand, two vanishing points basically allow only estimation of the camera constant (assuming a known principal point location). Here, a camera calibration approach is presented, which exploits the existence of only two vanishing points on several independent images. Using the relation between two vanishing points of orthogonal directions and the camera parameters, the algorithm relies on direct geometric reasoning regarding the loci of the projection centres in the image system (actually a geometric interpretation of the constraint imposed by two orthogonal vanishing points on the ‘image of the absolute conic’). Introducing point measurements on two sets of converging image lines as observations, the interior orientation parameters (including radial lens distortion) are estimated from a minimum of three images. Recovery of image aspect ratio is possible, too, at the expense of an additional image. Apart from line directions in space, full camera calibration is here independent from any exterior metric information (known points, lengths, length ratios etc.). Besides, since the sole requirement is two vanishing points of orthogonal directions on several images, the imaged scenes may simply be planar. Furthermore, calibration with images of 2D objects and/or ‘weak perspectives’ of 3D objects is expected to be more precise than single image approaches using 3D objects. Finally, no feature correspondences among views are required here; hence, images of totally different objects can be used. In this sense, one may still refer to a ‘single-image’ approach. The implemented algorithm has been successfully evaluated with simulated and real data, and its results have been compared to photogrammetric bundle adjustment and plane-based calibration.