Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tactile Acuity Charts: A Reliable Measure of Spatial Acuity

For assessing tactile spatial resolution it has recently been recommended to use tactile acuity charts which follow the design principles of the Snellen letter charts for visual acuity and involve active touch. However, it is currently unknown whether acuity thresholds obtained with this newly developed psychophysical procedure are in accordance with established measures of tactile acuity that involve passive contact with fixed duration and control of contact force. Here we directly compared tactile acuity thresholds obtained with the acuity charts to traditional two-point and grating orientation thresholds in a group of young healthy adults. For this purpose, two types of charts, using either Braille-like dot patterns or embossed Landolt rings with different orientations, were adapted from previous studies. Measurements with the two types of charts were equivalent, but generally more reliable with the dot pattern chart. A comparison with the two-point and grating orientation task data showed that the test-retest reliability of the acuity chart measurements after one week was superior to that of the passive methods. Individual thresholds obtained with the acuity charts agreed reasonably with the grating orientation threshold, but less so with the two-point threshold that yielded relatively distinct acuity estimates compared to the other methods. This potentially considerable amount of mismatch between different measures of tactile acuity suggests that tactile spatial resolution is a complex entity that should ideally be measured with different methods in parallel. The simple test procedure and high reliability of the acuity charts makes them a promising complement and alternative to the traditional two-point and grating orientation thresholds.
Activity and the Commensal Microbiota Hepcidin Depending on Erythropoietic Expression of the Iron-Regulating Hormone Intestinal Inflammation Modulates

States of chronic inflammation such as inflammatory bowel disease are often associated with dysregulated iron metabolism and the consequent development of an anemia that is caused by maldistribution of iron. Abnormally elevated expression of the hormone hepcidin, the central regulator of systemic iron homeostasis, has been implicated in these abnormalities. However, the mechanisms that regulate hepcidin expression in conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease are not completely understood. To clarify this issue, we studied hepcidin expression in mouse models of colitis. We found that dextran sulfate sodium–induced colitis inhibited hepcidin expression in wild-type mice but upregulated it in IL-10–deficient animals. We identified two mechanisms contributing to this difference. Firstly, erythropoietic activity, as indicated by serum erythropoietin concentrations and splenic erythropoiesis, was higher in the wild-type mice, and pharmacologic inhibition of erythropoiesis prevented colitis-associated hepcidin downregulation in these animals. Secondly, the IL-10 knockout mice had higher expression of multiple inflammatory genes in the liver, including several controlled by STAT3, a key regulator of hepcidin. The results of cohousing and fecal transplantation experiments indicated that the microbiota was involved in modulating the expression of hepcidin and other STAT3-dependent hepatic genes in the context of intestinal inflammation. Our observations thus demonstrate the importance of erythropoietic activity and the micro-biota in influencing hepcidin expression during colitis and provide insight into the dysregulated iron homeostasis seen in inflam-matory diseases. I nflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other chronic in-flammatory conditions can lead to dysregulation of iron ho-meostasis and the consequent development of an iron-refrac-tory anemia known as the anemia of inflammation (AI) (1). The pathogenesis of AI is related to abnormally elevated expression of the peptide hormone hepcidin, which is secreted by the liver and functions as the central regulator of systemic iron metabolism (2). Hepcidin acts by binding to the macrophage and enterocyte plasma membrane protein ferroportin, causing it be internalized and degraded (3). Because ferroportin is the sole means by which iron that is absorbed from the diet or recycled from aged eryth-rocytes is exported into the circulation, hepcidin-dependent alterations in ferroportin levels play a major role in controlling serum iron concentrations. The expression of hepcidin itself, which is regulated exclusively at the level of transcription (4), is induced by increased tissue and serum iron and inhibited by conditions such as anemia and hypoxia that raise iron requirements. Thus, the hepcidin– ferroportin axis is a key component of a negative-feedback loop that maintains systemic …
Fouling reefal communities on artificial reefs: Does age matter?

Man-made submerged structures, including shipwrecks, offering substrata for fouling organisms and fish, have been classified secondarily as artificial reefs (ARs). The current approach in AR design is that of low-profile structures placed on the seabed and attempting to mimic natural reef (NR) communities with the aim of mitigating degraded marine ecosystems. To examine the validity of this concept, a long-term comparison of the developing AR fouling communities to those of nearby NRs is required. A survey of the fouling reefal organisms was conducted on seven shipwrecks (Red Sea, Egypt), comprising three young (ca 20 years old) and four old ( > 100 years old) unplanned ARs, in comparison to nearby NR communities. The hypothesis tested was that the age of the ARs shapes the structure of their fouling coral communities. The results demonstrated distinct differences between ARs and NRs and between young and old ARs. While the species composition on ARs may resemble that of NRs after approximately 20 years, obtaining a similar extent of coral cover may require a full century. Moreover, differences in structural features between ARs and NRs may lead to differences in species composition that persist even after 100 years.
The Antiviral Activities and Mechanisms of Marine Polysaccharides: An Overview

Recently, the studies on the antiviral activities of marine natural products, especially marine polysaccharides, are attracting more and more attention all over the world. Marine-derived polysaccharides and their lower molecular weight oligosaccharide derivatives have been shown to possess a variety of antiviral activities. This paper will review the recent progress in research on the antiviral activities and the mechanisms of these polysaccharides obtained from marine organisms. In particular, it will provide an update on the antiviral actions of the sulfated polysaccharides derived from marine algae including carrageenans, alginates, and fucans, relating to their structure features and the structure–activity relationships. In addition, the recent findings on the different mechanisms of antiviral actions of marine polysaccharides and their potential for therapeutic application will also be summarized in detail.
Cardiovascular Consequences of Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Caveolin-1 prevents sustained angiotensin II-induced resistance artery constriction and obesity-induced high blood pressure

Czikora I, Feher A, Lucas R, Fulton DJ, Bagi Z. Caveolin-1 prevents sustained angiotensin II-induced resistance artery constriction and obesity-induced high blood pressure. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 308: H376–H385, 2015. First published December 15, 2014 doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00649. 2014. —The type 1 angiotensin II (ANG II) receptor (AT1R) undergoes internalization following stimulation by ANG II. Internalization reduces cell surface AT1Rs, and it is required for AT1R resensitization. In this process AT1R may interact with caveolin-1 (Cav1), the main scaffolding protein of caveolae. We hypothesized that the interaction between Cav1 and AT1R delays AT1R resensitization and thereby prevents sustained ANG II-induced resistance artery (RA) constriction under normal conditions and in experimental obesity. In rat and mouse skeletal muscle RA (diameter: 90–120 m) ANG II-induced constrictions were reduced upon repeated (30-min apart) administrations. Upon disruption of caveolae with methyl-cyclodextrin or in RA of Cav1 knockout mice, repeated ANG II applications resulted in essentially maintained constrictions. In vascular smooth muscle cells, AT1R interacted with Cav1, and the degree of cell surface interactions was reduced by long-term (15-min), but not short-term (2-min), exposure to ANG II. When Cav1 was silenced, the amount of membrane-associated AT1R was significantly reduced by a short-term ANG II exposure. Moreover, Cav1 knockout mice fed a high-fat diet exhibited augmented and sustained RA constriction to ANG II and had elevated systemic blood pressure, when compared with normal or high-fat fed wild-type mice. Thus, Cav1, through a direct interaction, delays internalization and subsequent resensitization of AT1R. We suggest that this mechanism prevents sustained ANG II-induced RA constriction and elevated systemic blood pressure in diet-induced obesity.
Synchronic variation in the expression of French negation: A Distributed Morphology approach

ABSTRACT This article discusses ne-variation in French sentential negation based on the phonologically transcribed corpus T-zéro (cf. Meisner, in preparation) which allows a new interpretation of the facts. In the last decades, sociolinguistic and stylistic approaches to linguistic variation in French (cf. Armstrong, 2001) have shown that extra-linguistic factors, such as the speaker's age, sex, social background or geographic origin as well as the communication situation may have considerable influence on variable ne-omission. However, in contrast to most sociolinguistic studies dedicated to this phenomenon (cf. Ashby, 1976, 1981, 2001; Armstrong and Smith, 2002; Coveney, 2002) we will focus on the linguistic factors influencing ne-variation, since their importance is empirically evident but not yet fully exploited on a theoretical level. One leading assumption with respect to ne-variation in literature is that the particle ne is most frequently retained in combination with a proper name or a full DP and is commonly omitted when combined with clitic subjects. However, there are many exceptions to this rule which, as we argue, can be better explained by considering the phonological form of the involved subject. Ne-realisation is treated here as an inner-grammatical phenomenon that is triggered by context sensitivity with regard to the element to its left, i.e. usually the grammatical subject, and not as a consequence of ‘code-switching’ between two grammars nor as a sociolinguistic variable characterising certain groups of speakers in the Labovian sense (cf. Labov, 1972), since we seek to describe general variational tendencies, present in nearly all speakers of contemporary European French. Our analysis, which is implemented in a Distributed Morphology framework (Halle & Marantz, 1994), is compatible, however, with stylistic approaches to ne-variation, such as audience design (cf. Bell, 1984, 2001).
Diversity and origin of Desulfovibrio species: phylogenetic definition of a family

The different nutritional properties of several Desulfovibrio desulfuricans strains suggest that either the strains are misclassified or there is a high degree of phenotypic diversity within the genus Desulfovibrio. The results of partial 16S rRNA and 23S rRNA sequence determinations demonstrated that Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ATCC 27774 and "Desulfovibrio multispirans" are closely related to the type strain (strain Essex 6) and that strains ATCC 7757, Norway 4, and El Agheila Z are not. Therefore, these latter three strains of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans are apparently misclassified. A comparative analysis of nearly complete 16S rRNA sequences in which we used a least-squares analysis method for evolutionary distances, an unweighted pair group method, a signature analysis method, and maximum parsimony was undertaken to further investigate the phylogeny of Desulfovibrio species. The species analyzed were resolved into two branches with origins deep within the delta subdivision of the purple photosynthetic bacteria. One branch contained five deep lineages, which were represented by (i) Desulfovibrio salexigens and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans El Agheila Z; (ii) Desulfovibrio africanus; (iii) Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ATCC 27774, Desulfomonas pigra, and Desulfovibrio vulgaris; (iv) Desulfovibrio gigas; and (v) Desulfomicrobium baculatus (Desulfovibrio baculatus) and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans Norway 4. A correlation between 16S rRNA sequence similarity and percentage of DNA relatedness showed that these five deep lineages are related at levels below the minimum genus level suggested by Johnson (in Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, vol. 1, 1984). We propose that this branch should be grouped into a single family, the Desulfovibrionaceae. The other branch includes other genera of sulfate-reducing bacteria (e.g., Desulfobacter and Desulfococcus) and contains Desulfovibrio sapovorans and Desulfovibrio baarsii as separate, distantly related lineages.
Type 1 fimbrial shafts of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae influence sugar-binding specificities of their FimH adhesins

The type 1 fimbriae of enterobacteria comprise FimA, which constitutes most of the fimbrial shaft, and a cassette of three minor ancillary subunits including FimH, the mannose-binding moiety. The sugar-binding specificities of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae type 1 fimbriae were examined by determining the relative activities of two aromatic mannosides in inhibiting the yeast aggregation caused by the fimbriated bacteria. 4-Methylumbelliferyl alpha-mannoside (MeUmb alpha Man) was approximately 10-fold more effective than p-nitrophenyl alpha-mannoside (p-NP alpha Man) in inhibiting the yeast aggregation caused by the recombinant expressing native E. coli type 1 fimbriae. In contrast, MeUmb alpha Man was only fourfold more effective than p-NP alpha Man in assays employing the recombinant expressing native K. pneumoniae type 1 fimbriae. In order to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the sugar-binding specificities of type 1 fimbriae in the two species, transcomplementation studies were performed and resulted in the creation of recombinants expressing two types of hybrid fimbriae: one consisting of a cassette of minor subunits of E. coli fimbriae borne on a filamentous shaft of K. pneumoniae FimA subunits and the other consisting of a cassette of K. pneumoniae minor fimbrial subunits borne on a shaft of E. coli FimA subunits. Although the heterologous FimH was incorporated into the fimbrial filaments in amounts comparable to those observed in native fimbriae, the hemagglutination activities of recombinants expressing hybrid fimbriae were significantly lower than those of their counterparts bearing native fimbriae. The sugar-binding specificity of the recombinant expressing hybrid fimbriae consisting of an E. coli shaft bearing K. pneumoniae FimH was different from those of recombinants expressing native K. pneumoniae fimbriae in its affinity for the two aromatic sugars but was remarkably similar to the specificities exhibited by recombinants expressing native E. coli fimbriae. Conversely, the sugar-binding specificity of the recombinant expressing hybrid fimbriae consisting of a K. pneumoniae shaft bearing E. coli FimH was different from that of the recombinant expressing native E. coli fimbriae but was very similar to those of recombinants expressing native K. pneumoniae fimbriae. We conclude that the differences in the sugar-binding specificity between E. coli and K. pneumoniae FimH fimbrial subunits is influenced by the fimbrial shafts which carry the adhesin molecules in a functionally competent form at the distal tips.
Methods for Measuring Aggregate Costs of Conflict

This paper reviews the methods for measuring the economic co st of conflict. Estimating the economic costs of conflict requires a counterfactual calculation, which makes this a very difficult task. Social researchers have resorted to di fferent estimation methods depending on the particular effect in question. The method use d in each case depends on the units being analyzed (firms, sectors, regions or countri es), the outcome variable under study (aggregate output, market valuation of firms, market s hares, etc.) and data availability (a single cross-section, time series or panel data). Thi s paper reviews existing methods used in the literature to assess the economic impact of confli t: cost accounting, crosssection methods, time series methods, panel data methods, g ravity models, event studies, natural experiments and comparative case studies. The pape r ends with a discussion of cost estimates and directions for further research. Mailing address: Javier Gardeazabal, Universidad del País Vasco, Lehendakari Aguirre 83, E-48015 Bilbao, Spain. E-mail: javier.gardeazabal@ehu.es †I would like to thank Alberto Abadie, Esteban Klor, the edito rs Michelle Garfinkel and Stergios Skaperdas and seminar participants at the “Global Cost of Conflict Work shop” held at DIW, Berlin, Februrary 2010 for their helpful comments. Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science (ECO2009-09120) is gratefully acknowledged.
Measurement of Lung Hyperelastic Properties Using Inverse Finite Element Approach

Hyperelastic properties of deflated lung tissue have been characterized via an inverse finite element approach. Such properties are useful in many medical diagnosis and treatment applications where tissue deformation can be modeled to account for during the procedure. Several indentation experiments were conducted on various porcine lungs' tissue specimens resected immediately from different regions and lobes after the animals were sacrificed. Three different strain energy models, namely Ogden, Yeoh, and Polynomial, were used and respective hyperelastic parameters were obtained. The parameters for each model were estimated through an optimization process where the experimental force-displacement profiles of indentation were fitted to those obtained from finite element simulations performed specifically for the samples' geometries. Results obtained in this investigation for all the three models indicate convergence with reasonably low average fitting errors ranging from 2.3% to 6.2%. Independent tests were also performed to assess the effects of samples' heterogeneities on the obtained parameters. The outcome of these tests was encouraging and confirmed small impact of tissue inhomogeneities on the estimated parameters. The reported hyperelastic properties can, accordingly, pave the way for more accurate biomechanical modeling of the lung's soft tissue in the emerging applications of minimally invasive medical intervention for lung cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Simultaneous Detection of Circulating Autoreactive CD8+ T-Cells Specific for Different Islet Cell–Associated Epitopes Using Combinatorial MHC Multimers

OBJECTIVE Type 1 diabetes results from selective T-cell–mediated destruction of the insulin-producing β-cells in the pancreas. In this process, islet epitope–specific CD8+ T-cells play a pivotal role. Thus, monitoring of multiple islet–specific CD8+ T-cells may prove to be valuable for measuring disease activity, progression, and intervention. Yet, conventional detection techniques (ELISPOT and HLA tetramers) require many cells and are relatively insensitive. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Here, we used a combinatorial quantum dot major histocompatibility complex multimer technique to simultaneously monitor the presence of HLA-A2 restricted insulin B10–18, prepro-insulin (PPI)15–24, islet antigen (IA)-2797–805, GAD65114–123, islet-specific glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic subunit–related protein (IGRP)265–273, and prepro islet amyloid polypeptide (ppIAPP)5–13–specific CD8+ T-cells in recent-onset diabetic patients, their siblings, healthy control subjects, and islet cell transplantation recipients. RESULTS Using this kit, islet autoreactive CD8+ T-cells recognizing insulin B10–18, IA-2797–805, and IGRP265–273 were shown to be frequently detectable in recent-onset diabetic patients but rarely in healthy control subjects; PPI15–24 proved to be the most sensitive epitope. Applying the “Diab-Q-kit” to samples of islet cell transplantation recipients allowed detection of changes of autoreactive T-cell frequencies against multiple islet cell–derived epitopes that were associated with disease activity and correlated with clinical outcome. CONCLUSIONS A kit was developed that allows simultaneous detection of CD8+ T-cells reactive to multiple HLA-A2–restricted β-cell epitopes requiring limited amounts of blood, without a need for in vitro culture, that is applicable on stored blood samples.
Irritable bowel syndrome

#### Summary points Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the commonest gastrointestinal conditions encountered in primary or secondary care. The disorder is more common in younger people, and women. The diagnosis should be reached using symptom based clinical criteria, rather than excluding underlying organic disease by exhaustive investigation. There is no single known unifying cause, but biological markers have been identified. Treatment should be directed towards relief of the predominant symptom (or symptoms) reported, although these may change over time. Since there is no medical therapy established to alter the natural history of IBS in the longer term, the disorder represents a considerable financial burden to the health service, owing to medical consultations and the consumption of other valuable resources. Since the publication of management guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in 2008,w1 there have been some significant developments in terms of synthesis of existing evidence, as well as emerging therapies. We therefore summarise recent systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and randomised controlled trials in order to provide a general update as to how to effectively identify and manage this disorder. #### Sources and selection criteria We searched Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, …
Koro-like symptom in a Non-Chinese Subject

‘KORO’ (head of turtle) or ‘suk-yeong’ (shrinking penis) names a symptom characterized by the belief that: 1. the penis is shrinking; 2. it will disappear into the abdomen; 3. it will cause death. It is usually accompanied by intense fear and by preventive manoeuvres such as tying or clamping or grasping the penis. It tends to be short-lived and may affect single individuals or groups.