Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adrenomedullin 2 Enhances Beiging in White Adipose Tissue Directly in an Adipocyte-autonomous Manner and Indirectly through Activation of M2 Macrophages*

Adrenomedullin 2 (ADM2) is an endogenous bioactive peptide belonging to the calcitonin gene-related peptide family. Our previous studies showed that overexpression of ADM2 in mice reduced obesity and insulin resistance by increasing thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue. However, the effects of ADM2 in another type of thermogenic adipocyte, beige adipocytes, remain to be understood. The plasma ADM2 levels were inversely correlated with obesity in humans, and adipo-ADM2-transgenic (tg) mice displayed resistance to high-fat diet-induced obesity with increased energy expenditure. Beiging of subcutaneous white adipose tissues (WAT) was more noticeably induced in high-fat diet-fed transgenic mice with adipocyte-ADM2 overexpression (adipo-ADM2-tg mice) than in WT animals. ADM2 treatment in primary rat subcutaneous adipocytes induced beiging with up-regulation of UCP1 and beiging-related marker genes and increased mitochondrial uncoupling respiration, which was mainly mediated by activation of the calcitonin receptor-like receptor (CRLR)·receptor activity-modifying protein 1 (RAMP1) complex and PKA and p38 MAPK signaling pathways. Importantly, this adipocyte-autonomous beiging effect by ADM2 was translatable to human primary adipocytes. In addition, M2 macrophage activation also contributed to the beiging effects of ADM2 through catecholamine secretion. Therefore, our study reveals that ADM2 enhances subcutaneous WAT beiging via a direct effect by activating the CRLR·RAMP1-cAMP/PKA and p38 MAPK pathways in white adipocytes and via an indirect effect by stimulating alternative M2 polarization in macrophages. Through both mechanisms, beiging of WAT by ADM2 results in increased energy expenditure and reduced obesity, suggesting ADM2 as a novel anti-obesity target.
THE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF INFANT RHESUS MONKEYS TO POLIOMYELITIS VIRUS ADMINISTERED BY MOUTH

Although rhesus monkeys have been generally regarded as refractory to infection with poliomyelitis virus administered by the oral route, two of seven infant rhesus developed paralytic poliomyelitis when fed murine-adapted strains of virus. Preliminary intranasal treatment with zinc sulfate and negative serial sections of the olfactory bulbs of the positive animals ruled out the possibility that infection occurred by way of the olfactory pathway. Studies on the distribution of virus in the tissues of the infected animals yielded positive results in one animal only. In this instance, virus was widely distributed throughout the body being isolated from spinal cord, buccal mucosa, duodenal wall, colon contents, superficial lymph nodes, spleen, heart, and adrenals.
Experimental Semiotics: A Review

In the last few years a new line of research has appeared in the literature. This line of research, which may be referred to as experimental semiotics (ES; Galantucci, 2009; Galantucci and Garrod, 2010), focuses on the experimental investigation of novel forms of human communication. In this review we will (a) situate ES in its conceptual context, (b) illustrate the main varieties of studies thus far conducted by experimental semioticians, (c) illustrate three main themes of investigation which have emerged within this line of research, and (d) consider implications of this work for cognitive neuroscience.
Effect of enhancement of interface performance on mechanical properties of shape memory alloy hybrid composites

Abstract Effect of enhancement of interface performance on mechanical properties of shape memory alloy hybrid composites (SMAHCs) was investigated in this work. Composite laminates without Ni-Ti shape memory alloy (SMA) fibers, with Ni-Ti SMA fibers polished, corroded and modified by silane coupling agent KH550 were taken into comparison to investigate the effect of surface treatments. Surface morphology of Ni-Ti fibers under different treatments were observed with scanning electron microscope. The mechanical performance of specimens without Ni-Ti fibers and with Ni-Ti fibers under different treatments were investigated through tensile, three-point bending and low-velocity experiments. The morphology and micromorphology were observed to study the effect of different surface treatment methods. The conclusion shows that embedded Ni-Ti SMA fibers can enhance the mechanical performance of composite laminates. However, the performance of Ni-Ti SMA fibers was restrained by the poor interface performance. After surface treatments, SMAHCs illustrate better mechanical performance owing to the enhanced interface performance. Among all the surface treatment methods, modification with silane coupling agent KH550 shows the best effect.
Contemporary Temperature Fluctuation in Urban Areas of Pakistan

Annual temperature data from thirty meteorological stations in Pakistan’s major urban areas were selected to investigate trends in annual average and maximum temperature during 1970–2009. A combination of parametric and non-parametric tests including linear regression, the Mann-Kendall trend test and Sen’s slope estimator was used for the analysis. Annual average and maximum temperature series showed an overall increasing trend for 90% of the stations and a decreasing trend for 10% of the stations in the study area. The highest significant increment of annual average temperature was observed at Gilgit, Hyderabad, Quetta and Lasbela stations at the rate of 0.49 °C per decade. The highest increment of annual maximum temperature was obtained at Chitral, Gilgit, Nawabshah and Quetta at the rate of 0.31 °C per decade. According to simple linear regression and the Mann-Kendall test, the annual average temperature showed a significant increasing trend for 43% of the stations (at a 0.001 level of significance) and 23% of the stations (at the 0.05 level). Annual maximum temperature showed a significant increasing trend for 26% of the stations (at the 0.001 level of significance) and 23% of the stations (at the 0.05 level). In general, the results showed increasing trends for the considered parameters, although annual average temperature showed a higher increasing rate than annual maximum temperature during the study period.
The Ionic Basis of Electrical Activity in Embryonic Cardiac Muscle

The intracellular sodium concentration reported for young, embryonic chick hearts is extremely high and decreases progressively throughout the embryonic period, reaching a value of 43 mM immediately before hatching. This observation suggested that the ionic basis for excitation in embryonic chick heart may differ from that responsible for electrical activity of the adult organ. This hypothesis was tested by recording transmembrane resting and action potentials on hearts isolated from 6-day and 19-day chick embryos and varying the extracellular sodium and potassium concentrations. The results show that for both young and old embryonic cardiac cells the resting potential depends primarily on the extracellular potassium concentration and the amplitude and rate of rise of the action potential depend primarily on the extracellular sodium concentration.
Frequency-time domain transmit power adaptation for a multicarrier system in fading channels

A multicarrier system, which is under consideration for high data rate transmission in the future, offers robustness to multipath fading in a wireless channel. We develop the optimal transmit power adaptation method to maximize the channel capacity of a multicarrier system, considering both frequency and time domains. The optimal transmit power adaptation policy with average transmit power constraint is found to be "water-pouring" in the frequency-time domain. We also show that the channel capacity with the frequency-time domain transmit power adaptation is greater than that with only the frequency domain transmit power adaptation.
The Co-Twin Methodology and Returns to Schooling - Testing a Critical Assumption

Twins-based estimates of the return to schooling have featured prominently in the economics of education literature. Their unbiasedness hinges critically on the assumption that within-pair variation in schooling is explained by factors unrelated to wage earning ability. This paper develops a framework for testing this assumption and shows, in a large sample of monozygotic twins, that the twins-based estimated return to schooling falls if adolescent IQ test scores are included in the wage equation. Using birth weight as an alternative proxy for ability yields qualitatively similar results. Our results thus cast doubt on the validity of twins-based estimates.
Appropriateness of physicians’ lumbosacral MRI requests in private and public centers in Tehran, Iran

Background: Back pain is a common patients’ complaint, and its etiology is important because of different potential treatment approaches (based on causes). For a better diagnosis, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used in clinical settings that may result in inappropriate requests. This study aims to evaluate the appropriateness of the lumbosacral MRI requests in patients with back pain in two public/referral and private imaging centers in Tehran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 279 patients from both centers were recruited in 2014. A checklist was developed based on the internationally recognized clinical guidelines (NICE, and AHRQ) for determining the indications. An expert panel of related specialties finalized them. Patients’ demographic and some anthropometric measures, as well as MRI reports, were collected. Results: The mean±SD age of patients was 47.9±14.78 years with a dominance of females (M/F=38.4/61.6). About 77% (n=214) of lumbosacral MRIs were requested in accordance with the guidelines. Indicated MRI requests were significantly higher in the private imaging center (p=0.019, OR=2.087, CI 95%: 1.13-3.85). In the private center, 80.6% and in the public center, 70.4% of the MRI requests were in accordance with the guidelines. Conclusion: The proportion of non-indicated MRI requests based on the valid guidelines is about ¼ of all requests that is compatible with some other studies mostly from developed countries.
Patterns of sulfur isotope fractionation during microbial sulfate reduction

26 Studies of microbial sulfate reduction have suggested that the magnitude of sulfur isotope 27 fractionation varies with sulfate concentration. Small apparent sulfur isotope fractionations 28 preserved in Archean rocks have been interpreted as suggesting Archaean sulfate concentrations 29 of less than 200 μM, while later larger fractionations have been interpreted to require higher 30 sulfate concentrations. In this work, we demonstrate that isotope fractionation can sometimes 31 vary with sulfate concentrations over a large range of concentrations, but that this relationship 32 depends on the organism being studied. Two sulfate reducing bacteria grown in continuous 33 culture between 0.1 and 6 mM sulfate showed markedly different relationships between sulfate 34 concentration and isotope fractionation. Desulfovibrio vulgaris str. Hildenborough cultures 35 showed a large and relatively constant isotope fractionation (εSO4-H2S ≅ 25‰) over the 36 experimental range of sulfate concentrations. Over the same concentration range, fractionation 37 by Desulfovibrio alaskensis strain G20 strongly correlated with sulfate. Both data sets can be 38 modeled as Michaelis-Menten (MM) type relationships but with very different MM constants, 39 suggesting that the fractionations imposed by these organisms respond in dramatically different 40 ways to sulfate concentrations. 41 These data reveal complexity in the sulfate concentration-fractionation relationship. 42 Sulfur isotope fractionation during sulfate reduction relates to environmental sulfate 43 concentrations but also to strain-specific physiological parameters such as the affinity of sulfate44 reducing microorganisms for sulfate and electron donors. Previous studies have suggested that 45 the relationship between sulfate concentration and isotope fractionation is best fit with a MM fit. 46 suggested We present a simple model, grounded in the physiology of sulfate reduction, in which 47 the ratio of MM relationships for sulfate and electron donor uptake produces the relationships 48 seen in experimental studies: a MM relationship with sulfate concentration, and a hyperbolic 49 relationship with growth rate. 50 Since both environmental and biological factors influence the fractionation recorded in 51 geological samples, understanding their relationship is critical to interpreting the sulfur isotope 52 record. As the acquisition machinery for sulfate and electron acquisition has been subject to 53 selective pressure over Earth history, its evolution may complicate efforts to uniquely reconstruct 54 ambient sulfate concentrations from a single sulfur isotopic composition. 55 Patterns of SRB S-isotope fractionation 2 56
Stockholm Natural Radiocarbon Measurements I.

This date list includes samples and sample series finished between January and November 1962. It does not include samples from series not yet been completed, or samples of very limited scientific interest. Since the technical description of our dating system was published (Ostlund, 1957a) a continuous development has been carried out both for improvement of the outfit, and considerable expansion of the facilities. In our date lists (Stockholm I, II, III, IV) we have mentioned only briefly some of the improvements. For the immediate future we do not anticipate any major technical changes, and therefore take the opportunity of giving a summary of our carbon-dioxide proportional-counting system as of fall 1962.
The Association of Low Birthweight and Chronic Renal Failure among Medicaid Young Adults with Diabetes and/or Hypertension

Objective. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of low birthweight on chronic renal failure among young Medicaid patients with diabetes and/or hypertension. Methods. The study included Caucasian and African American young adults, aged 18–50, who enrolled in the Medicaid program from 1993 to 1996 in South Carolina and were diagnosed with diabetes and/or hypertension. The odds of chronic renal failure by low birthweight (<2,500 grams) was estimated using logistic regression. Results. Of the 7,505 Medicaid patients with diabetes and/or hypertension, 179 (2.4%) were diagnosed with chronic renal failure. These patients were younger (mean age of 33.9 vs. 37.6, p=0.0024) and had a higher proportion of low birthweight (15.1% vs. 11.4%, p=0.07) compared with the 7,326 patients without renal failure. The odds ratio of chronic renal failure for low birthweight was significantly higher compared with normal birthweight (2,500-3,999 grams) (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.56, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.0, 2.4). The association between low birthweight and chronic renal failure was stronger among the 888 patients with both diabetes and hypertension (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.3, 5.7) than the 1,812 diabetes or the 4,805 hypertension patients. Conclusions. The odds of chronic renal failure by low birthweight was highest in patients with both diabetes and hypertension, suggesting that the mechanism(s) involved in the disease progression to chronic renal failure may have a fetal early life origin.
Ethanol Exposure Induces Neonatal Neurodegeneration by Enhancing CB1R Exon1 Histone H4K8 Acetylation and Up-regulating CB1R Function causing Neurobehavioral Abnormalities in Adult Mice

Background: Ethanol exposure to rodents during postnatal day 7 (P7), which is comparable to the third trimester of human pregnancy, induces long-term potentiation and memory deficits. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these deficits are still poorly understood. Methods: In the present study, we explored the potential role of epigenetic changes at cannabinoid type 1 (CB1R) exon1 and additional CB1R functions, which could promote memory deficits in animal models of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Results: We found that ethanol treatment of P7 mice enhances acetylation of H4 on lysine 8 (H4K8ace) at CB1R exon1, CB1R binding as well as the CB1R agonist-stimulated GTPγS binding in the hippocampus and neocortex, two brain regions that are vulnerable to ethanol at P7 and are important for memory formation and storage, respectively. We also found that ethanol inhibits cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element-binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation and activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc) expression in neonatal and adult mice. The blockade or genetic deletion of CB1Rs prior to ethanol treatment at P7 rescued CREB phosphorylation and Arc expression. CB1R knockout mice exhibited neither ethanol-induced neurodegeneration nor inhibition of CREB phosphorylation or Arc expression. However, both neonatal and adult mice did exhibit enhanced CREB phosphorylation and Arc protein expression. P7 ethanol-treated adult mice exhibited impaired spatial and social recognition memory, which were prevented by the pharmacological blockade or deletion of CB1Rs at P7. Conclusions: Together, these findings suggest that P7 ethanol treatment induces CB1R expression through epigenetic modification of the CB1R gene, and that the enhanced CB1R function induces pCREB, Arc, spatial, and social memory deficits in adult mice.
Characteristics and diagnosis of NAFLD/NASH

Non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered to be a hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome. NAFLD has become an important public health issue because of its high prevalence. NAFLD consists of two clinicopathological entities: simple steatosis, which generally follows a benign non‐progressive clinical course, and non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which may progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The diagnosis of NAFLD is based on the following three criteria: non‐alcoholic, detection of steatosis either by imaging or by histology, and appropriate exclusion of other liver diseases. Alcoholic liver disease can occur when daily alcohol consumption exceeds 20 g in women or 30 g in men. Thus, non‐alcoholic indicates lower levels of these alcohol consumptions. However, there is still no clear consensus regarding the threshold alcohol consumption for defining non‐alcoholic liver disease. Then, there is the strong recommendation for a change in the nomenclature, such as use of the term metabolic fatty liver and metabolic steatohepatitis. NASH has emerged as a clinicopathological entity, and even now, a liver biopsy remains the gold standard for making a definitive diagnosis. However, liver biopsy has several drawbacks. In general practice, NAFLD is a convenient‐to‐use term for the diagnosis and management of these patients, and serum biomarkers that indicate the severity of fibrosis serve as clinically useful tools for the identification of NAFLD in patients with bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis. In the future, improved understanding of the pathogenesis of NASH and new technologies may contribute to the diagnostic process and provide reliable, non‐invasive alternatives to liver biopsy.
A systematic design approach for non-coherent Grassmannian constellations

In this paper, we develop a geometry-inspired methodology for generating systematic and structured Grassmannian constellations with large cardinalities. In the proposed methodology we begin with a small close-to-optimal “parent” Grassmann constellation. Each point in this constellation is augmented with a number of “children” points, which are generated along a set of geodesics emanating from that point. These geodesics are chosen to ensure close-to-maximal spacing. In particular, the directions of the geodesics and the distance that each “children” point is moved are chosen to maximize the pairwise Frobenius distance between the resulting constellation points. Although finding these directions directly seems difficult, by embedding the Grassmann manifold on a sphere of larger dimension, we were able to develop structures that are not only simple to generate but that also yield constellations that, under certain conditions, satisfy the maximum distance criterion and lie within a decaying gap from a tight upper bound. Numerical results suggest that the performance of the new constellations is comparable to that of the ones generated directly and significantly better than the performance of the ones generated using the exponential map.
Linking species abundance distributions in numerical abundance and biomass through simple assumptions about community structure

Species abundance distributions (SADs) are widely used as a tool for summarizing ecological communities but may have different shapes, depending on the currency used to measure species importance. We develop a simple plotting method that links SADs in the alternative currencies of numerical abundance and biomass and is underpinned by testable predictions about how organisms occupy physical space. When log numerical abundance is plotted against log biomass, the species lie within an approximately triangular region. Simple energetic and sampling constraints explain the triangular form. The dispersion of species within this triangle is the key to understanding why SADs of numerical abundance and biomass can differ. Given regular or random species dispersion, we can predict the shape of the SAD for both currencies under a variety of sampling regimes. We argue that this dispersion pattern will lie between regular and random for the following reasons. First, regular dispersion patterns will result if communities are comprised groups of organisms that use different components of the physical space (e.g. open water, the sea bed surface or rock crevices in a marine fish assemblage), and if the abundance of species in each of these spatial guilds is linked to the way individuals of varying size use the habitat. Second, temporal variation in abundance and sampling error will tend to randomize this regular pattern. Data from two intensively studied marine ecosystems offer empirical support for these predictions. Our approach also has application in environmental monitoring and the recognition of anthropogenic disturbance, which may change the shape of the triangular region by, for example, the loss of large body size top predators that occur at low abundance.
Optimal sign inverting control for time-delayed systems, a concept study with experiments

An intriguing control logic, sign inverting control (SIC) is considered for control systems with delayed feedback. It starts with a nominal control law formulated for non-delayed case and simply inverts the sign of the control gains for some surprising benefits when used with the delays. This operation sounds paradoxical as the sign inversion potentially harms the stability of the non-delayed dynamics. However, SIC with large delays may yield some complementary benefits to the nominal control logic from delay robustness perspective. The main question we address in this paper is ‘How to select the nominal control law so that such a contribution can be (a) feasible, (b) optimal in some sense? ’ A structured methodology is proposed to achieve this, starting with a linear quadratic regulator based controller. A single scaling factor on the corresponding control gains is used for one-dimensional optimisation. Experimental validation of the concept of this optimal SIC procedure is also reported on a single-axis manipulator.