Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vitro Propagation and Chemical and Biological Studies of the Essential Oil of Salvia przewalskii Maxim

The procedure of Salvia przewalskii shoot multiplication and the ability of regenerated plants to produce essential oil is reported. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation from leaves and flowering stems of field-grown plants, and their chemical composition was examined by GC, GC-MS and 1H NMR. The differences in yield as well as qualitative and quantitative composition between the oils isolated from in vitro and in vivo plants were observed. S. przewalskii essential oil was tested for its antimicrobial and cytotoxic properties. It was found that cytotoxicity against human leukemia HL-60 cells and antimicrobial activity (especially, against Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis strains) of oils isolated from in vitro plants were higher than those for oils from in vivo S. przewalskii plants.
The Cognitive and Neural Development of Face Recognition in Humans

Conventional wisdom has long held that face recognition develops very slowly throughout infancy, childhood, and adolescence, with perceptual experience as the primary engine of this development. However, striking new findings from just the last few years have overturned much of this traditional view by demonstrating genetic influences on the face recognition system as well as impressive face discrimination abilities present in newborns and in monkeys who were reared without ever seeing a face. Nevertheless, experience does play a role, for example in narrowing the range of facial subtypes for which discrimination is possible and perhaps also increasing discrimination abilities within that range. Here we first describe the cognitive and neural characteristics of the adult system for face recognition, and then we chart the development of this system over infancy and childhood. This review identifies a fascinating new puzzle to be targeted in future research: all qualitative aspects of adult face recognition measured behaviorally are present very early in development (by 4 yrs of age; all that have been tested are also present in infancy) – yet fMRI and ERP evidence shows very late maturity of face-selective neural responses (with the fusiform face area increasing substantially in volume between age 7 and adulthood).
Mental representation and motor imagery training

Research in sports, dance and rehabilitation has shown that basic action concepts (BACs) are fundamental building blocks of mental action representations. BACs are based on chunked body postures related to common functions for realizing action goals. In this paper, we outline issues in research methodology and an experimental method, the structural dimensional analysis of mental representation (SDA-M), to assess action-relevant representational structures that reflect the organization of BACs. The SDA-M reveals a strong relationship between cognitive representation and performance if complex actions are performed. We show how the SDA-M can improve motor imagery training and how it contributes to our understanding of coaching processes. The SDA-M capitalizes on the objective measurement of individual mental movement representations before training and the integration of these results into the motor imagery training. Such motor imagery training based on mental representations (MTMR) has been applied successfully in professional sports such as golf, volleyball, gymnastics, windsurfing, and recently in the rehabilitation of patients who have suffered a stroke.
Learning with Multiple Similarity Functions

Kernel functions have become an extremely popular tool in ma chine learning, with many applications and an attractive theory [1, 12, 10]. There has also bee n substantial work on learning kernel functions from data [7, 11, 2]. A sufficient condition for a ke rn l to allow for good generalization on a given learning problem is that it induce a large margin of se paration between positive and negative classes in its implicit space. In recent work [4, 5, 3] we have developed a theory that more broadly holds for general similarity functions that are not necessa rily legal kernel functions. In particular, we have introduced a notion of a good similarity function for a given learning problem that (a) is fairly natural and intuitive (it does not require an implici t space and allows for functions that are not positive semi-definite), (b) is a sufficient condition for le arning well, and (c) strictly generalizes the notion of a large-margin kernel function in that any such ker nel is also a good similarity function, though not necessarily vice-versa. We also have partial pro gress on extending the theory of learning with multiplekernel functions to this more general notion. In this note, w describe the main definitions and results of [4], give our results on learning with multiple similarity functions, and present several open questions.
Pathology of GM2 Gangliosidosis in Jacob Sheep

The GM2 gangliosidoses are a group of lysosomal storage diseases caused by defects in the genes coding for the enzyme hexosaminidase or the GM2 activator protein. Four Jacob sheep from the same farm were examined over a 3-year period for a progressive neurologic disease. Two lambs were 6-month-old intact males and 2 were 8-month-old females. Clinical findings included ataxia in all 4 limbs, proprioceptive deficits, and cortical blindness. At necropsy, the nervous system appeared grossly normal. Histologically, most neurons within the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral ganglia were enlarged, and the cytoplasm was distended by foamy to granular material that stained positively with Luxol fast blue and Sudan black B stains. Other neuropathologic findings included widespread astrocytosis, microgliosis, and scattered spheroids. Electron microscopy revealed membranous cytoplasmic bodies within the cytoplasm of neurons. Biochemical and molecular genetic studies confirmed the diagnosis of GM2 gangliosidosis. This form of GM2 gangliosidosis in Jacob sheep is very similar to human Tay-Sachs disease and is potentially a useful animal model.
Patients’ receptiveness for Medical students during consultation in Out patient department of a teaching hospital in Karachi Pakistan

Objective: Patients’ attitude towards medical students’ presence during treatment depends on the cultural values of the society. This study was conducted to find out the patients’ receptiveness in our society to be involved in teaching process for medical students during consultation in out patient department of a teaching hospital in Karachi Pakistan. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted in the surgical Out Patient Department (OPD) at Dow University Hospital from May 2012 to June 2012. Four hundred and eleven patients consented for participation through non probability purposive sampling, in which 279 patients were from morning clinics in the presence of students for clinical teaching, while 132 patients participated through evening clinics of surgery, when students were not present for comparison in specific dimensions of care for patients’ satisfaction. Results: Majority of patients 293 (71%) agreed with the teaching of students during consultation and they feel they are contributing in future doctor’s teaching, only 24% patients disagreed. Fifty two percent of patients who disagreed reported interference in privacy, 34% reported interference in consultation and 43% felt it resulted in prolong waiting time due to teaching. Conclusion: Majority of the patients agree to be part of teaching for medical students and this study can be used to assess the educational interventions designed to improve the patient based teaching.
Depressive Symptoms in the Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by anxiety, excessive and uncontrollable worry, and somatic symptoms such as muscle tension and difficulty concentrating (DSM-IV-TR, American Psychiatric Association, 2000). GAD is linked to symptoms of depression both theoretically and empirically, but there is currently no consensus as to how co-occurring depressive symptoms affect GAD treatment outcome. Dugas and colleagues have developed an efficacious cognitive-behavioural treatment (CBT) based on a model of GAD that centres upon intolerance of uncertainty. This CBT program has demonstrated consistent reductions in GAD symptom severity by posttreatment (e.g., Dugas et al., 2010); however, not all individuals achieve full remission of GAD for reasons that are currently unclear. The first goal of this study was to determine the relationship between depressive symptoms and short- and long-term GAD treatment outcome. The second goal was to determine the relationship between depressive symptoms and GAD treatment engagement. The results indicated that depressive symptoms at pretreatment were largely unrelated to posttreatment severity of GAD, worry, and somatic anxiety or to treatment engagement. Posttreatment depressive symptoms were not related to the severity of overall GAD symptoms, worry, and somatic anxiety at 18-month follow-up. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
Developing School Counseling Students' Social Justice Orientation through Service Learning.

Counselor educators must examine the quality and intentionality of coursework and field experiences offered to their students as the role of school counselors continues to transform. The emphasis in the field on school counselors as social justice agents and advocates should be reflected in school counselor training programs. The authors present a two-course sequence using pre-practicum service learning as a valuable program component for assisting school counseling students to develop a social justice orientation.
Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease Conference: Writing Group I: epidemiology.

Our knowledge of the epidemiology of coronary heart disease (CHD) is extensive. Although CHD mortality peaked in the 1960s and then declined dramatically,1,2 CHD remains the leading cause of death in both men and women in the United States. The aging of the United States population contributes to the high prevalence of CHD. By the year 2020, it is estimated that ischemic heart disease will be the number one cause of disability and death worldwide.3 Data on noncoronary atherosclerotic vascular disease (AVD) are far less available than data on CHD. Studies of the atherosclerotic process underlying ischemic stroke are hampered by the differing vascular mechanisms that lead to stroke, including large-artery atherosclerosis with occlusion and distal embolization and small penetrating arterial disease with lacunar infarction. Also, there are a considerable number of ischemic stroke events for which the mechanism is unclear and the infarct is of undetermined cause. What is known about the epidemiology of atherosclerotic disease in different territories tends to come from snapshots based on several prevalence studies, which often reflect a medical milieu very different from the one today in which many preventive interventions, including lipid-lowering therapy, hypertension control, and antiplatelet therapies, are more widely used. Epidemiologic, pathophysiological, and therapeutic studies of noncoronary atherosclerotic disease have tended to focus on individual territories rather than on the vascular tree in its totality. Although it is still important to understand critical differences among the different territories, it is also important that basic, epidemiologic, and clinical investigators recognize the links among vascular territories (namely, that atherosclerosis is a systemic disease) and that collection of current prevalence and incidence data for both clinical and subclinical vascular disease allows for robust comparisons and improved understanding of both the similarities and differences in atherosclerosis in different vascular territories. The barriers that …
Novel roles for GATAe in growth, maintenance and proliferation of cell populations in the Drosophila renal tubule

ABSTRACT The GATA family of transcription factors is implicated in numerous developmental and physiological processes in metazoans. In Drosophila melanogaster, five different GATA factor genes (pannier, serpent, grain, GATAd and GATAe) have been reported as essential in the development and identity of multiple tissues, including the midgut, heart and brain. Here, we present a novel role for GATAe in the function and homeostasis of the Drosophila renal (Malpighian) tubule. We demonstrate that reduced levels of GATAe gene expression in tubule principal cells induce uncontrolled cell proliferation, resulting in tumorous growth with associated altered expression of apoptotic and carcinogenic key genes. Furthermore, we uncover the involvement of GATAe in the maintenance of stellate cells and migration of renal and nephritic stem cells into the tubule. Our findings of GATAe as a potential master regulator in the events of growth control and cell survival required for the maintenance of the Drosophila renal tubule could provide new insights into the molecular pathways involved in the formation and maintenance of a functional tissue and kidney disease. Summary: In the Malpighian tubules, GATAe is necessary not only for the morphology and function of the tubule but for the integrative physiology of the animal as a whole.
Biomechanics and Mechanotransduction in Cells and Tissues Cell type-specific response to growth on soft materials

Georges, Penelope C. , and Paul A. Janmey. Cell type-specific response to growth on soft materials. J Appl Physiol 98: 1547–1553, 2005; doi:10.1152/ japplphysiol.01121. 2004. —Many cell types respond to forces as acutely as they do to chemical stimuli, but the mechanisms by which cells sense mechanical stimuli and how these factors alter cellular structure and function in vivo are far less explored than those triggered by chemical ligands. Forces arise both from effects outside the cell and from mechanochemical reactions within the cell that generate stresses on the surface to which the cells adhere. Several recent reviews have summarized how externally applied forces may trigger a cellular response (Silver FH and Siperko LM. Crit Rev Biomed Eng 31: 255–331, 2003; Estes BT, Gimble JM, and Guilak F. Curr Top Dev Biol 60: 91–126, 2004; Janmey PA and Weitz DA. Trends Biochem Sci 29: 364–370, 2004). The purpose of this review is to examine the information available in the current literature describing the relationship between a cell and the rigidity of the matrix on which it resides. We will review recent studies and techniques that focus on substrate compliance as a major variable in cell culture studies. We will discuss the specificity of cell response to stiffness and discuss how this may be important in particular tissue systems. We will attempt to link the mechanoresponse to real pathological states and speculate on the possible biological significance of mechanosensing.
3D atlas describing the ontogenic evolution of the primary olfactory projections in the olfactory bulb of Xenopus laevis

The adult Xenopus presents the unique capability to smell odors both in water and air thanks to two different olfactory pathways. Nevertheless, the tadpole can initially perceive only water‐borne odorants, as the olfactory receptor neurons (ORN) that will detect air‐borne odorants develop later. Such a phenomenon requires major reorganization processes. Here we focused on the precise description of the neuroanatomical modifications occurring in the olfactory bulb (OB) of the tadpole throughout metamorphosis. Using both carbocyanine dyes and lectin staining, we investigated the evolution of ORN projection patterns into the OB from Stages 47 to 66, thus covering the period of time when all the modifications take place. Although our results confirm previous works (Reiss and Burd [1997] Semin Cell Dev Biol 8:171–179), we showed for the first time that the main olfactory bulb (MOB) is subdivided into seven zones at Stage 47 plus the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). These seven zones receive fibers dedicated to aquatic olfaction (“aquatic fibers”) and are conserved until Stage 66. At Stage 48 the first fibers dedicated to the aerial olfaction constitute a new dorsomedial zone that grows steadily, pushing the seven original zones ventrolaterally. Only the part of the OB receiving aquatic fibers is fragmented, reminiscent of the organization described in fish. This raises the question of whether such an organization in zones constitutes a plesiomorphy or is linked to aquatic olfaction. We generated a 3D atlas at several stages which are representative of the reorganization process. This will be a useful tool for future studies of development and function. J. Comp. Neurol. 489:403–424, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Plasma nitrate/nitrite and endothelin‐1 in patients with liver cirrhosis

The aims of this study were to examine the plasma nitrate/nitrite (NOx; two end products of nitric oxide metabolism) and endothelin‐1 (ET‐1) concentrations in patients with liver cirrhosis, and to investigate whether there is a relationship between these two vasoactive parameters and the course of disease. Twenty‐eight patients with liver cirrhosis (11 HBV‐related, four HCV‐related, four alcohol‐related, and nine with idiopathic etiology) and 25 healthy subjects (controls) were included in the study. The venous plasma concentrations of NOx and ET‐1 were significantly higher (P<0.01 and P<0.001) in the patients with cirrhosis than in the controls. A significant increase in ET‐1 was observed in the Child B subgroup vs. Child A (P<0.05), and in the Child C subgroup vs. either subgroup A or B (P<0.05). There were no statistical differences between study subgroups (Child A–C) in the mean of NOx values. Plasma NOx and ET‐1 were significantly increased in patients with ascites compared to those without ascites (P<0.05 and P<0.01). Increased nitric oxide synthesis may be a compensation mechanism against endothelial injury. The highest ET‐1 levels in Child C and moderately increased ET‐1 levels in Child B, and the lower increase of ET‐1 levels in Child A patients suggest that plasma ET‐1 increases with the progression of the disease. The fact that NOx and ET‐1 levels were higher in patients with decompensated cirrhosis (patients with ascites) than in those with compensated cirrhosis (patients without ascites), and the presence of a strong correlation between ET‐1, NOx, and the degree of varices, supports the suggestion that there is a relationship between NOx, ET‐1, and portal hypertension. Our study demonstrates that increased ET and nitric oxide metabolism is associated with the hemodynamic alterations induced by portal hypertension. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 19:177–181, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Identification of Joint Interventional Distributions in Recursive Semi-Markovian Causal Models

This paper is concerned with estimating the effects of actions from causal assumptions, represented concisely as a directed graph, and statistical knowledge, given as a probability distribution. We provide a necessary and sufficient graphical condition for the cases when the causal effect of an arbitrary set of variables on another arbitrary set can be determined uniquely from the available information, as well as an algorithm which computes the effect whenever this condition holds. Furthermore, we use our results to prove completeness of do-calculus [Pearl, 1995], and a version of an identification algorithm in [Tian, 2002] for the same identification problem. Finally, we derive a complete characterization of semi-Markovian models in which all causal effects are identifiable.
Parent-of-Origin-Specific Binding of Nuclear Hormone Receptor Complexes in the H19-Igf2 Imprinting Control Region

ABSTRACT Parent-of-origin-specific expression of the mouse insulin-like growth factor 2 gene (Igf2) and the closely linked H19 gene located on distal chromosome 7 is regulated by a 2.4-kb imprinting control region (ICR) located upstream of the H19 gene. In somatic cells, the maternally and paternally derived ICRs are hypo- and hypermethylated, respectively, with the former binding the insulator protein CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) and acting to block access of enhancers to the Igf2 promoter. Here we report on a detailed in vivo footprinting analysis—using ligation-mediated PCR combined with in vivo dimethyl sulfate, DNase I, or UV treatment—of ICR sequences located outside of the CTCF binding domains. In mouse primary embryo fibroblasts carrying only maternal or paternal copies of distal chromosome 7, we have identified five prominent footprints specific to the maternal ICR. Each of the five footprinted areas contains at least two nuclear hormone receptor hexad binding sites arranged with irregular spacing. When combined with fibroblast nuclear extracts, these sequences interact with complexes containing retinoic X receptor alpha and estrogen receptor beta. More significantly, the footprint sequences bind nuclear hormone receptor complexes in male, but not female, germ cell extracts purified from fetuses at a developmental stage corresponding to the time of establishment of differential ICR methylation. These data are consistent with the possibility that nuclear hormone receptor complexes participate in the establishment of differential ICR methylation imprinting in the germ line.
The Word Retrieval Fluency Test: what does it assess?

The term fluency in aphasia is ambiguous. It can relate to the rate of speech--normal vs. laborious or the ability to retrieve words. In this report, to avoid confusion we refer to fluency in a word retrieval task. Different authors have ascribed defective performance on these tasks to Frontal Lobe Syndrome or Aphasia. Our patient material adds dementia as a causative condition. To determine whether subnormal test performance is due to generalized brain dysfunction or only to left hemisphere disorders, we tested left hemisphere damaged patients, without aphasia as well as right hemisphere damaged patients, obtaining non-significant differences between the two groups. This supports our experience that such a test is highly sensitive to generalized brain dysfunction i.e. to a variety of cerebral disorders and therefore seems not to be highly pathognomonic of aphasia.
Motion vector prediction methods considering prediction continuity in HEVC

In video coding standards such as H.265/HEVC and H.264/AVC using motion compensation, motion vector prediction (MVP) refers to motion vectors predicted from the neighboring encoded or decoded blocks. However, if the reference block is encoded in intra prediction mode, the motion vector cannot be acquired because the block has no motion information. This decreases motion vector prediction efficiency in AMVP (Advanced Motion Vector Prediction) mode and motion compensation efficiency in Merge mode. To address this problem, this paper describes a new motion vector prediction method we propose that considers prediction continuity. The method improves coding efficiency by setting a MVP candidate list to a block encoded in intra prediction mode, which the blocks that follow it refer when MVP is performed. Experiment results show that the method provides up to 1.0% rate-distortion improvement over HM16.6.