Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Layer VI in cat primary auditory cortex: Golgi study and sublaminar origins of projection neurons

The organization of layer VI in cat primary auditory cortex (AI) was studied in mature specimens. Golgi‐impregnated neurons were classified on the basis of their dendritic and somatic form. Ipsilateral and contralateral projection neurons and the corticogeniculate cells of origin were labeled with retrograde tracers and their profiles were compared with the results from Golgi studies. Layer VI was divided into a superficial half (layer VIa) with many pyramidal neurons and a deeper part (layer VIb) that is dominated by horizontal cells. Nine types of neuron were identified; four classes had subvarieties. Classical pyramidal cells and star, fusiform, tangential, and inverted pyramidal cells occur. Nonpyramidal neurons were Martinotti, multipolar stellate, bipolar, and horizontal cells. This variety of neurons distinguished layer VI from other AI layers. Pyramidal neuron dendrites contributed to the vertical, modular organization in AI, although their apical processes did not project beyond layer IV. Their axons had vertical, intrinsic processes as well as corticofugal branches. Horizontal cell dendrites extended laterally up to 700 μm and could integrate thalamic input across wide expanses of the tonotopic domain. Connectional experiments confirmed the sublaminar arrangement seen in Nissl material. Commissural cells were concentrated in layer VIa, whereas corticocortical neurons were more numerous in layer VIb. Corticothalamic cells were distributed more equally. The cytological complexity and diverse connections of layer VI may relate to a possible role in cortical development. Layer VI contained most of the neuronal types found in other layers in AI, and these cells form many of the same intrinsic and corticofugal connections that neurons in other layers will assume in adulthood. Layer VI, thus, may play a fundamental ontogenetic role in the construction and early function of the cortex. J. Comp. Neurol. 404:332–358, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
125I-labeled human epidermal growth factor. Binding, internalization, and degradation in human fibroblasts

125I-labeled human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) binds in a specific and saturable manner to human fibroblasts. At 37 degrees C, the cell- bound 125I-hEGF initially may be recovered in a native form by acid extraction; upon subsequent incubation, the cell-bound 125I-hEGF is degraded very rapidly, with the appearance in the medium of 125I- monoiodotyrosine. At 0 degrees C, cell-bound 125I-hEGF is not degraded but slowly dissociates from the cell. The data are consistent with a mechanism in which 125I-hEGF initially is bound to the cell surface and subsequently is internlized before degradation. The degradation is blocked by inhibitors of metabolic energy production (azide, cyanide, dinitrophenol), some protease inhibitors (Tos-Lys-CH2Cl, benzyl guanidobenzoate), a lysosomotropic agent (chloroquine) various local anesthetics (cocaine, lidocaine, procaine), and ammonium chloride. After the binding and degradation of 125I-hEGF the fibroblasts are no longer able to rebind fresh hormone. The binding capacity of these cells is restored by incubation in a serum-containing medium; this restoration is inhibited by cycloheximide or actinomycin D.
Bacterial Insecticidal Toxins

Over the years it has been important for humans to control the populations of harmful insects and insecticides have been used for this purpose in agricultural and horticultural sectors. Synthetic insecticides, owing to their various side effects, have been widely replaced by biological insecticides. In this review we attempt to describe three bacterial species that are known to produce insecticidal toxins of tremendous biotechnological, agricultural, and economic importance. Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) accounts for 90% of the bioinsecticide market and it produces insecticidal toxins referred to as delta endotoxins. The other two bacteria belong to the genera Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus, which are symbiotically associated with entomopathogenic nematodes of the families Heterorhabditidae and Steinernematidae respectively. Whereas, Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus exist in a mutualistic association with the entomopathogenic nematodes, BT act alone. BT formulations are widely used in the field against insects; however, over the years there has been a gradual development of insect resistance against BT toxins. No resistance against Xenorhabdus or Photorhabdus has been reported to date. More recently BT transgenic crops have been prepared; however, there are growing concerns about the safety of these genetically modified crops. Nematodal formulations are also used in the field to curb harmful insect populations. Resistance development to entomopathogenic nematodes is unlikely due to the physical macroscopic nature of infection. Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus transgenes have not yet been prepared; but are predicted to be available in the near future. In this review we start with an overview of the synthetic insecticides and then discuss Bacillus thuringiensis, Xenorhabdus nematophilus, and Photorhabdus luminescens in greater detail.
Nanomechanical and scaling behavior of nanoporous gold

OF DISSERTATION NANOMECHANICAL AND SCALING BEHAVIOR OF NANOPOROUS GOLD Nanoporous metals have recently been drawn significant interest in various fields of research. Their high surface-to-volume ratio present a strong potential for applications in sensing, catalysis, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and even in the medical field. However, the mechanical properties of nanoporous metals have not yet been well determined, as conducting mechanical tests was found to be challenging. Scaling relations linking the mechanical properties of porous materials to those of their dense counterparts are successfully and widely used for many porous metals. However, their applicability to nanoporous metals have recently been questioned, as estimations from the classic scaling relations were found no to agree with experimental determinations. In this study, the mechanical properties of nanoporous gold will be measured by conducting tensile testing of single crystalline, millimeter-scale specimens, for the first time. Results did not agree with the predictions from the classic scaling relations. Using experimental results from these tensile tests, new nanoindentation testing and data reported in the literature, a new scaling relation for the yield strength of nanoporous gold is proposed. This new relation is found to correctly describe the mechanical properties of nanoporous gold. In addition, compression tests are conducted on polycrystalline nanoporous gold, and the results were found to agree very well with the proposed scaling relation.
Representation of rare diseases in health information systems: The orphanet approach to serve a wide range of end users

Rare disorders are scarcely represented in international classifications and therefore invisible in information systems. One of the major needs in health information systems and for research is to share and/or to integrate data coming from heterogeneous sources with diverse reference terminologies. ORPHANET (www.orpha.net) is a multilingual information portal on rare diseases and orphan drugs. Orphanet information system is supported by a relational database built around the concept of rare disorders. Representation of rare diseases in Orphanet encompasses levels of increasing complexity: lexical (multilingual terminology), nosological (multihierarchical classifications), relational (annotations—epidemiological data—and classes of objects—genes, manifestations, and orphan drugs—integrated in a relational database), and interoperational (semantic interoperability). Rare disorders are mapped to International Classification of Diseases (10th version), SNOMED CT, MeSH, MedDRA, and UMLS. Genes are cross‐referenced with HGNC, UniProt, OMIM, and Genatlas. A suite of tools allow for extraction of massive datasets giving different views that can be used in bioinformatics to answer complex questions, intended to serve the needs of researchers and the pharmaceutical industry in developing medicinal products for rare diseases. An ontology is under development. The Orphanet nomenclature is at the crossroads of scientific data repositories and of clinical terminology standards, and is suitable to be used as a standard terminology. Hum Mutat 33:803–808, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Predictors of Neurobehavioral Symptoms in a University Population: A Multivariate Approach Using a Postconcussive Symptom Questionnaire

Abstract Several factors have been linked to severity of postconcussive-type (neurobehavioral) symptoms. In this study, predictors of neurobehavioral symptoms were examined using multivariate methods to determine the relative importance of each. Data regarding demographics, symptoms, current alcohol use, history of traumatic brain injury (TBI), orthopedic injuries, and psychiatric/developmental diagnoses were collected via questionnaire from 3027 university students. The most prominent predictors of symptoms were gender, history of depression or anxiety, history of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or learning disability diagnosis, and frequency of alcohol use. Prior mild TBI was significantly related to overall symptoms, but this effect was small in comparison to other predictors. These results provide further evidence that neurobehavioral symptoms are multi-determined phenomena, and highlight the importance of psychiatric comorbidity, demographic factors, and health behaviors to neurobehavioral symptom presentation after mild TBI. (JINS, 2013, 19, 1–9)
Clinical Outcomes of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy in Patients With Secondary Lymphedema: A Pilot Study

Objective To investigate the clinical effect of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) in patients with secondary lymphedema after breast cancer treatment. Methods In a prospective clinical trial, ESWT was performed consecutively 4 times over two weeks in 7 patients who were diagnosed with stage 3 secondary lymphedema after breast cancer treatment. Each patient was treated with four sessions of ESWT (0.056-0.068 mJ/mm2, 2,000 impulses). The parameters were the circumference of the arm, thickness of the skin and volume of the arm. We measured these parameters with baseline values before ESWT and repeated the evaluation after each ESWT treatment. Subjective data on skin thickness, edema and sensory impairment were obtained using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Results The mean volume of the affected arm after four consecutive ESWT was significantly reduced from 2,332 to 2,144 mL (p<0.05). The circumference and thickness of the skin fold of the affected arm were significantly decreased after the fourth ESWT (p<0.05). The three VAS scores were significantly improved after the fourth ESWT. Almost all patients were satisfied with this treatment and felt softer texture in their affected arm after treatment. Conclusion ESWT is an effective modality in the treatment of stage 3 lymphedema after breast cancer treatment. ESWT reduced the circumference and the thickness of arms with lymphedema and satisfied almost all patients with lymphedema. Therefore, this treatment provides clinically favorable outcome to patients with breast cancer-related lymphedema.
Clopidogrel for Coronary Stenting Response Variability, Drug Resistance, and the Effect of Pretreatment Platelet Reactivity

Background Clopidogrel is administered to prevent stent thrombosis; however, the uniformity of platelet inhibition after treatment and the influence of pretreatment reactivity on drug response have not been described. Methods and Results Platelet aggregation (5 and 20 μmol/L ADP), the activation of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (PAC‐1 antibody), and the expression of P‐selectin were measured in patients undergoing elective coronary stenting (n=96) at baseline and at 2 hours, 24 hours, 5 days, and 30 days after stenting. All patients received aspirin (325 mg). Clopidogrel (300 mg) was administered in the catheterization laboratory and followed by 75 mg daily. There was marked interindividual variability in drug response as measured by all markers that showed a normal distribution. Resistance, defined as baseline aggregation (%) minus posttreatment aggregation (%) ≤10% by 5 μmol/L ADP, was present in 31% and 15% of patients at 5 and 30 days, respectively. Patients with the highest pretreatment platelet reactivity remained the most reactive at 24 hours after treatment (P<0.0001). Conclusions Interindividual variability in the platelet inhibitory response from clopidogrel occurs in patients undergoing elective coronary stenting. Patients with high pretreatment reactivity are least protected. Alternative pharmacological strategies and the association of adverse ischemic events should be investigated in these patients. (Circulation. 2003; 107:2908‐2913.)
The SOL time theory: a formalization of structured temporal objects and repetition

We propose to formally represent time with structured temporal objects. Structured temporal objects denote related time intervals (and recursively, related temporal objects) which are conceived as structured objects, rather than relations among such intervals. The major emphasis in this approach is on temporal repetition. To that effect, a new temporal object, the time loop, is defined. The intent of a time loop is to capture a structured notion of repetition. We propose a first order theory formalizing these objects. The building blocks of this formalism are time intervals and Allen's qualitative interval relations. We prove a number of key desirable results including the consistency of the theory, and extensively compare expressions in this theory with previous related work. We argue that this theory presents temporality and temporal repetition in a simple, commonsense manner. Furthermore, we argue that it presents an alternative, succinct and more general view than previous proposals to represent temporal repetition.
Ryanodine Inhibits the Release of Calcium from Intracellular Stores in Guinea Pig Aortic Smooth Muscle

We have examined the effects of ryanodine, an inhibitor of the release of sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium in cardiac muscle, on contractile tension and calcium-45 movement in aortic smooth muscle of guinea pigs to learn whether this agent also modifies the release of stored calcium in vascular smooth muscle. Ryanodine (3–100 μM) suppressed the phasic contractions induced by caffeine and norepinephrine in calcium-free medium and prevented the stimulation of calcium-45 efflux by these agonists. Ryanodine did not significantly alter either the contractile response or the increased cellular influx of calcium-45 caused by high potassium in more than 1 mM calcium, suggesting that this agent does not affect depolarization-induced calcium entry into the cells. In a calcium-free, high potassium solution, the addition of calcium at concentrations of 1 mM and less resulted in a contraction which appeared to depend largely on the release of calcium from intracellular stores. This contraction was blocked by ryanodine. These data areconsistent with the hypothesis that ryanodine causes a diminished release of calcium from the intracellular store in vascular smooth muscle, as it does in cardiac muscle. Moreover, our results indicate that a calcium-induced calcium release may exist in smooth muscle, and that this release is antagonized by ryanodine.
The development of the rod photoresponse from dark-adapted rats.

PURPOSE To study electroretinographic a- and b-wave responses of rats at the ages during which rod outer segment length (ROS) and rhodopsin content increase. METHODS Electroretinographic responses to brief, full-field stimuli were recorded from dark-adapted young (ages 12 to 30 days) and adult rats. The amplitude of the a-wave and the amplitude and implicit time of the b-wave were examined as a function of stimulus intensity. Sensitivity (S), saturated amplitude (RmP3), and delay (td) of the rod cell responses were calculated from the a-waves. RESULTS The developmental increase in saturated a-wave amplitude parallels, but lags behind, growth of outer segment length, whereas the saturated b-wave amplitude increases with about the same course as rhodopsin content of the retina. The sensitivity, S, depends on rhodopsin content, and the developmental decrease in the flash energy required to produce a half-maximum b-wave amplitude is inversely proportional to the developmental increase in rhodopsin content. No significant age-dependent variation in td can be detected. CONCLUSION During development, ROS length and rhodopsin content of the retina are significant determinants of a- and b-wave response parameters.
Detecting errors using multi-cycle invariance information

Ensuring reliable computation at the nanoscale requires mechanisms to detect and correct errors during normal circuit operation. In this paper we propose a method for designing efficient online error detection schemes for circuits based on the identification of invariant relationships in hardware. More specifically, we present a technique that automatically identifies multi-cycle gate-level invariant relationships-where no knowledge of high-level behavioral constraints is required to identify the relationships-and generates the checker logic that verifies these implications. Our results show that cross-cycle implications are particularly useful in discovering difficult-to-detect errors near latch boundaries, and can have a significant impact on boosting error detection rates.
Implementation of a Wireless ECG Acquisition SoC for IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee) Applications

This paper presents a wireless biosignal acquisition system-on-a-chip (WBSA-SoC) specialized for electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring. The proposed system consists of three subsystems, namely, 1) the ECG acquisition node, 2) the protocol for standard IEEE 802.15. 4 ZigBee system, and 3) the RF transmitter circuits. The ZigBee protocol is adopted for wireless communication to achieve high integration, applicability, and portability. A fully integrated CMOS RF front end containing a quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator and a 2.4-GHz low-IF (i.e., zero-IF) transmitter is employed to transmit ECG signals through wireless communication. The low-power WBSA-SoC is implemented by the TSMC 0.18-μm standard CMOS process. An ARM-based displayer with FPGA demodulation and an RF receiver with analog-to-digital mixed-mode circuits are constructed as verification platform to demonstrate the wireless ECG acquisition system. Measurement results on the human body show that the proposed SoC can effectively acquire ECG signals.
Experimental Investigation of Mechanical Behavior of an Oxide/Oxide Ceramic Composite in Interlaminar Shear and under Combined Tension-Torsion Loading

Abstract : Creep behavior in interlaminar shear of an oxide-oxide ceramic composite, Nextel(trade mark) 720/aluminosilicate (N720/AS), was investigated at 1100 deg C in laboratory air and in steam. The interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) was determined as 7.65 MPa. The creep behavior was examined for interlaminar shear stresses in the 2-6 MPa range. Primary and secondary creep regimes were observed in all tests conducted in air and in steam. Tertiary creep was noted in the tests performed at 6 MPa. Larger creep strains and higher creep strain rates were produced in steam. Surprisingly, the presence of steam had a beneficial effect on creep lifetimes. It appears that matrix strengthening occurred in steam, which resulted in longer creep lifetimes in interlaminar shear. Additionally, exploratory tension-torsion tests of thin-walled tubular specimens of N720/AS were performed at room temperature in air. The failure stress levels determined in tension-torsion tests and in compression tests were used together with data from literature to construct a biaxial failure envelope. The efficacy of Tsai-Wu and Tsai-Hill multiaxial failure theories was also explored.
Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of extended-spectrum beta- lactamase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates in an Indian tertiary hospital

Objective: There is an increased prevalence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESBL-KP) worldwide including India, which is a major concern for the clinicians, especially in intensive care units and pediatric patients. This study aims to determine the prevalence of ESBL-KP and antimicrobial sensitivity profile to plan a proper hospital infection control program to prevent the spread of resistant strains. Methods: KP isolates obtained from various clinical samples were evaluated to detect the production of ESBL by phenotypic methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility profile was also determined of all the isolates. Findings: Of 223 nonduplicate isolates of K. pneumoniae, 114 (51.1%) were ESBL producer and antimicrobial susceptibility profile showed the isolates were uniformly sensitive to imipenem and highly susceptible to beta-lactamase inhibitor combination drugs (67–81%) and aminoglycosides (62–76%), but less susceptible to third generation cephalosporins (14–24%) and non-β-lactam antibiotics such as nitrofurantoin (57%), fluoroquinolones (29–57%), piperacillin (19–23%), and aztreonam (15–24%). Conclusion: This study found that beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations are effective in treatment of such infections due to ESBL-KP thus these drugs should be a part of the empirical therapy and carbapenems should be used when the antimicrobial susceptibility tests report resistance against inhibitors combinations.