Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Review of Techniques for Detection of Movement Intention Using Movement-Related Cortical Potentials

The movement-related cortical potential (MRCP) is a low-frequency negative shift in the electroencephalography (EEG) recording that takes place about 2 seconds prior to voluntary movement production. MRCP replicates the cortical processes employed in planning and preparation of movement. In this study, we recapitulate the features such as signal's acquisition, processing, and enhancement and different electrode montages used for EEG data recoding from different studies that used MRCPs to predict the upcoming real or imaginary movement. An authentic identification of human movement intention, accompanying the knowledge of the limb engaged in the performance and its direction of movement, has a potential implication in the control of external devices. This information could be helpful in development of a proficient patient-driven rehabilitation tool based on brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). Such a BCI paradigm with shorter response time appears more natural to the amputees and can also induce plasticity in brain. Along with different training schedules, this can lead to restoration of motor control in stroke patients.
Sex differences in lipid and lipoprotein metabolism: it's not just about sex hormones.

It is commonly thought that sex hormones are important regulators of plasma lipid kinetics and are responsible for sexual dimorphism in the plasma lipid profile. Here we discuss the findings from studies evaluating lipid and lipoprotein kinetics in men and women in the context of what we know about the effects of exogenous sex hormone administration, and we conclude that it is more complicated than that. It has become clear that normal physiological alterations in the hormonal milieu (i.e. due to menopause or throughout the menstrual cycle) do not significantly affect plasma lipid homeostasis. Furthermore, parenterally administered estrogens have either no effect or only very small beneficial effects, whereas orally administered estrogens raise plasma triglyceride concentrations--a phenomenon that is not consistent with the observed sex differences and likely results from the hepatic "first-pass effect. " The effects of progestogens and androgens mimic only in part the differences in plasma lipids between men and women. Thus, the underlying physiological modulators of plasma lipid metabolism responsible for the differences between men and women remain to be elucidated.
Sexual orientation, gender, and racial differences in illicit drug use in a sample of US high school students.

OBJECTIVES We evaluated drug use differences between sexual minority and heterosexual students, including interactions with gender and race/ethnicity. METHODS We used 2005 and 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data pooled from Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Delaware; Maine; Massachusetts; New York City, New York; Rhode Island; and Vermont to evaluate drug use (marijuana, cocaine, inhalants, heroin, methamphetamine, and MDMA [Ecstasy]) using 2 aspects of sexual orientation (identity and sex of sexual partners). RESULTS Sexual minority students had higher prevalence of drug use than did heterosexuals on both sexual orientation dimensions, and differences were particularly pronounced among bisexual students on both dimensions. Differences between sexual minority and heterosexual male students in prevalence were generally larger than were differences between sexual minority and heterosexual female students. Racial minority students generally reported lower prevalence of drug use. However, the protective effect of African American race was less pronounced for some sexual minorities. CONCLUSIONS Sexual minority youths are at increased risk for drug use. Intervention is needed at the institutional and individual levels to address these disparities.
Prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism during treatment for cancer: questionnaire survey

Venous thromboembolism is common in patients with cancer and is often the cause of death.1 Patients receiving treatment for cancer are at even greater risk of thromboembolism. Thromboembolism occurs in 5% of patients receiving chemotherapy for early breast carcinoma,2 and up to 17.6% of patients receiving chemotherapy for metastatic breast disease are affected.3 Patients with node-negative breast cancer taking tamoxifen were six times more likely to develop venous thromboembolism.4 Adjuvant use of tamoxifen carries a relative risk of 1.22 compared with no treatment. Combining methods of treatment further increases the risk of thromboembolism. Chemotherapy with tamoxifen increases risk by 3.5 times compared with chemotherapy alone,5 and preoperative radiotherapy for rectal carcinoma doubles the postoperative risk of venous thrombosis.5 Low doses (1 mg) of warfarin …
Psychometric properties of the Mental Health Recovery Star

Background The Mental Health Recovery Star (MHRS) is a popular outcome measure rated collaboratively by staff and service users, but its psychometric properties are unknown. Aims To assess the MHRS's acceptability, reliability and convergent validity. Method A total of 172 services users and 120 staff from in-patient and community services participated. Interrater reliability of staff-only ratings and test–retest reliability of staff-only and collaborative ratings were assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Convergent validity between MHRS ratings and standardised measures of social functioning and recovery was assessed using Pearson correlation. The influence of collaboration on ratings was assessed using descriptive statistics and ICCs. Results The MHRS was relatively quick and easy to use and had good test–retest reliability, but interrater reliability was inadequate. Collaborative ratings were slightly higher than staff-only ratings. Convergent validity suggests it assesses social function more than recovery. Conclusions The MHRS cannot be recommended as a routine clinical outcome tool but may facilitate collaborative care planning.
Concomitant Loss of p120-Catenin and β-Catenin Membrane Expression and Oral Carcinoma Progression with E-Cadherin Reduction

The binding of p120-catenin and β-catenin to the cytoplasmic domain of E-cadherin establishes epithelial cell-cell adhesion. Reduction and loss of catenin expression degrades E-cadherin-mediated carcinoma cell-cell adhesion and causes carcinomas to progress into aggressive states. Since both catenins are differentially regulated and play distinct roles when they dissociate from E-cadherin, evaluation of their expression, subcellular localization and the correlation with E-cadherin expression are important subjects. However, the same analyses are not readily performed on squamous cell carcinomas in which E-cadherin expression determines the disease progression. In the present study, we examined expression and subcellular localization of p120-catenin and β-catenin in oral carcinomas (n = 67) and its implications in the carcinoma progression and E-cadherin expression using immunohitochemistry. At the invasive front, catenin-membrane-positive carcinoma cells were decreased in the dedifferentiated (p120-catenin, P < 0.05; β-catenin, P < 0.05) and invasive carcinomas (p120-catenin, P < 0.01; β-catenin, P < 0.05) and with the E-cadherin staining (p120-catenin, P < 0.01; β-catenin, P < 0.01). Carcinoma cells with β-catenin cytoplasmic and/or nuclear staining were increased at the invasive front compared to the center of tumors (P < 0.01). Although the p120-catenin isoform shift from three to one associates with carcinoma progression, it was not observed after TGF-β, EGF or TNF-α treatments. The total amount of p120-catenin expression was decreased upon co-treatment of TGF-β with EGF or TNF-α. The above data indicate that catenin membrane staining is a primary determinant for E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion and progression of oral carcinomas. Furthermore, it suggests that loss of p120-catenin expression and cytoplasmic localization of β-catenin fine-tune the carcinoma progression.
Comparison of the Lumbosacral Plexus Nerves Formation in Pampas Fox (Pseudalopex gymnocercus) and Crab‐Eating Fox (Cerdocyon thous) in Relationship to Plexus Model in Dogs

In this study, the spinal nerves that constitute the lumbosacral plexus (LSP) were dissected in two species of South American wild canids (pampas fox—Pseudalopex gymnocercus, and crab‐eating fox—Cerdocyon thous). The nerves origin and distribution in the pelvic limb were examined and compared with the LSP model of the dog described in the literature. The LSP was formed by whole ventral branches of L5 at L7 and S1, and a contribution of a one branch from S2, divided in three trunks. The trunk formed by union from L5‐6 and S1 was divided into the cranial (cutaneus femoris lateralis nerve) medial (femoralis nerve) and lateral branches (obturatorius nerve). At the caudal part of the plexus, a thick branch, the ischiadicus plexus, was formed by contributions from L6‐7 and S1‐2. This root gives rise to the nerve branches which was disseminated to the pelvic limb (nerves gluteus cranial and gluteus caudal, cutaneus femoris caudalis and ischiadicus). The ischiadicus nerve was divided into fibularis communis and tibialis nerves. The tibialis nerve emits the cutaneus surae caudalis. The fibularis communis emits the cutaneus surae lateralis, fibularis superficialis and fibularis profundus. The pudendus nerve arises from S2 with contributions of one branch L7‐S1 and one ramus of the cutaneus femoris lateralis. Still, one branch of S2 joins with S3 to form the rectales caudales nerve. These data provides an important anatomical knowledge of a two canid species of South American fauna, besides providing the effective surgical and clinical care of these animals. Anat Rec, 299:361–369, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
An evaluation of directory schemes for cache coherence

The problem of cache coherence in shared-memory multiprocessors is addressed using two basic approaches: directory schemes and snoopy cache systems. Directory schemes for cache coherence are potentially attractive in large multiprocessor systems that are beyond the scaling limits of the snoopy cache schemes. Slight modifications to directory schemes can make them competitive in performance with snoopy cache schemes for small multiprocessors. Trace-driven simulation, using data collected from several real multiprocessor applications, is used to compare the performance of standard directory schemes, modifications to these schemes, and snoopy cache protocols. In addition, the simulations show that most blocks that are written into are present in only a small number of other caches, which makes broadcast invalidates inefficient. This result suggests that a directory structure that stores with each block only a small number of pointers to caches containing the block is sufficient. <<ETX>>
Age-Associated Cardiac Dysfunction in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract— The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has served as a valuable model/organism for the study of aging and was the first organism possessing a circulatory system to have its genome completely sequenced. However, little is known about the function of the heartlike organ of flies during the aging process. We have developed methods for studying cardiac function in vivo in adult flies. Using 2 different cardiovascular stress methods (elevated ambient temperature and external electrical pacing), we found that maximal heart rate is significantly and reproducibly reduced with aging in Drosophila, analogous to observations in elderly humans. We also describe for the first time several other aspects of the cardiac physiology of young adult and aging Drosophila, including an age-associated increase in rhythm disturbances. These observations suggest that the study of declining cardiac function in aging flies may serve as a genetically tractable model for genome-wide mutational screening for genes that participate in or protect against cardiac aging and disease.
Further constraints on the evolution of Ks-selected galaxies in the GOODS/CDFS field

We have selected and analysed the properties of a sample of 2905 K-s = 2.5. We also analysed the colours and number density evolution of galaxies with different stellar masses. Within our sample, and in contrast to what is observed for less massive systems, the vast majority (similar to 85-90 per cent) of the most massive (M > 2.5 x 10(11) M-circle dot) local galaxies appear to be in place before redshift z similar to 1. Around 65-70 per cent of the total assemble between redshifts z= 1 and 3 and most of them display extremely red colours, suggesting that plausible star formation in these very massive systems should mainly proceed in obscured, short-time-scale bursts. The remaining fraction (up to similar to 20 per cent) could be in place at even higher redshifts z= 3-4, pushing the first epoch of formation of massive galaxies beyond the limits of current near-IR surveys.
Phosphatidylinositol 3′-Kinase Activity Is Critical for Initiating the Oxidative Burst and Bacterial Destruction during CEACAM3-mediated Phagocytosis*

Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 3 (CEACAM3) is an immunoglobulin-related receptor expressed on human granulocytes. CEACAM3 functions as a single chain phagocytotic receptor recognizing Gram-negative bacteria such as Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which possess CEACAM-binding adhesins on their surface. The cytoplasmic domain of CEACAM3 contains an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM)-like sequence that is phosphorylated upon receptor engagement. Here we show that the SH2 domains of the regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3′-kinase (PI3K) bind to tyrosine residue 230 of CEACAM3 in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. PI3K is rapidly recruited and directly associates with CEACAM3 upon bacterial binding as shown by FRET analysis. Although PI3K activity is not required for efficient uptake of the bacteria by CEACAM3-transfected cells or primary human granulocytes, it is critical for the stimulated production of reactive oxygen species by infected phagocytes and the intracellular degradation of CEACAM-binding bacteria. Together, our results highlight the ability of CEACAM3 to coordinate signaling events that not only mediate bacterial uptake, but also trigger the killing of internalized pathogens.
The Major Histocompatibility Complex: Influence on Immune Reactivity and T‐Lymphocyte Activation

The genetic region that influences graft rejection in animals and man is known as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The gene products of this complex (15) exert a profound influence on the activation of T lymphocytes. At least three effects of the MHC on T cells deserve special mention. First, the frequency of T lymphocytes that respond to cell surface alloantigens coded by the MHC is 100 to 1000 times greater than the frequency of T cells that respond to other antigens (27, 35). Second, the extent of a T‐cell response to certain antigens is controlled by genes that have been mapped in the I region of the MHC (3). Third, it has recently been shown that the MHC imposes constraints on the activities of sensitized T cells (7). The aim of this article is to review briefly some of the recent work performed in mice which allows the formulation of a model that may be used to explain tentatively the relationship between MHC gene products, T‐lymphocyte activation, and immune reactivity.
Acute Gastrointestinal Syndrome in High-Dose Irradiated Mice

Abstract The most detailed reports of the response of the gastrointestinal system to high dose acute radiation have focused mainly on understanding the histopathology. However, to enable medical countermeasure assessment under the animal rule criteria, it is necessary to have a robust model in which the relationship between radiation dose and intestinal radiation syndrome incidence, timing, and severity are established and correlated with histopathology. Although many mortality studies have been published, they have used a variety of mouse strains, ages, radiation sources, and husbandry conditions, all of which influence the dose response. Further, it is clear that the level of bone marrow irradiation and supportive care can influence endpoints. In order to create robust baseline data, the authors have generated dose response data in adult male mice maintained under identical conditions and exposed to either total or partial-body irradiation. Partial-body irradiation includes both extensive (40%) and minimal (5%) bone marrow sparing models, the latter designed to correlate with an established primate model and allow assessment of effects of any medical countermeasure on all three major radiation syndromes (intestinal, bone marrow, and lung) in the surviving mice. Lethal dose (LD30, LD50, and LD70) data are described in the various models, along with the impact of enteric flora and response to supportive care. Correlation with diarrhea severity and histopathology are also described. These data can be used to aid the design of good laboratory practice (GLP)-compliant Animal Rule studies that are reflective of the conditions following accidental radiation exposure.
Ultrastructural localization of glycoproteins in rabbit fibroblasts altered by Herpes simplex virus type 1 infection

The periodic acid-thiocarbohydrazide (SO2)--OsO4 method was used to examine the distribution of glycoproteins in rabbit fibroblast cells infected with Herpes simplex virus type 1. In non-infected cells, a low level of staining was seen over the plasma membrane and the membranes of the Golgi apparatus. At 17 hr post-infection, the intensity of reaction was increased to include not only a relatively heavy staining of the plasma membrane, including the numerous microvilli characteristic of infected cells, and of the newly proliferated Golgi membranes, but also the envelopes of intracytoplasmic and extracellular virions. A very faint but only occasional staining also was associated with the virus-induced reduplications of the inner nuclear membrane and the envelopes of associated enveloping nucleocapsids. We suggest that such differences in the intensity of staining may be related either to the amount of glycoproteins or to the sequential maturation of the viral glycoproteins. We also observed that the structurally modified portions of the Golgi membranes at the position where intracytoplasmic naked nucleocapsids bud into the Golgi cisternae usually exhibit a more intense reaction for glycoproteins than do the adjacent portions of the Golgi membranes. This supports the evidence for an envelopment of nucleocapsids in the cytoplasm, but it does not indicate whether this event obligatorily follows or only occasionally takes the place of the envelopment of nucleocapsids at the inner nuclear membrane. In either event, the envelopes of all mature virions exhibit a prominent reaction to glycoproteins.
Structure and Phase Transformations upon Carburisation of High-Speed Steel

Diffusion effects of alloying elements on the structure and phase transformation during thermo-chemical treatment in AISI M2 high-speed steel additionally alloyed with vanadium, titanium and niobium have been investigated. The results of metallographic, X-ray diffraction, and electron microprobe analyses of the steels after casting, annealing, hot plastic deformation, carburising, quenching and tempering are discussed. The redistribution of alloying elements between the metallic matrix and carbide phases upon high-temperature treatment due to diffusion was shown to result in the structure and phase transformations in the steels studied.
Transcriptomic Profiling and Physiological Responses of Halophyte Kochia sieversiana Provide Insights into Salt Tolerance

Halophytes are remarkable plants that can tolerate extremely high-salinity conditions, and have different salinity tolerance mechanisms from those of glycophytic plants. In this work, we investigated the mechanisms of salinity tolerance of an extreme halophyte, Kochia sieversiana (Pall.) C. A. M, using RNA sequencing and physiological tests. The results showed that moderate salinity stimulated the growth and water uptake of K. sieversiana and, even under 480-mM salinity condition, K. sieversiana maintained an extremely high water content. This high water content may be a specific adaptive strategy of K. sieversiana to high salinity. The physiological analysis indicated that increasing succulence and great accumulations of sodium, alanine, sucrose, and maltose may be favorable to the water uptake and osmotic regulation of K. sieversiana under high-salinity stress. Transcriptome data indicated that some aquaporin genes and potassium (K+) transporter genes may be important for water uptake and ion balance, respectively, while different members of those gene families were employed under low- and high-salinity stresses. In addition, several aquaporin genes were up-regulated in low- but not high-salinity stressed roots. The highly expressed aquaporin genes may allow low-salinity stressed K. sieversiana plants to uptake more water than control plants. The leaf K+/root K+ ratio was enhanced under low- but not high-salinity stress, which suggested that low salinity might promote K+ transport from the roots to the shoots. Hence, we speculated that low salinity might allow K. sieversiana to uptake more water and transport more K+ from roots to shoots, increasing the growth rate of K. sieversiana.
Time-dependent Benioff strain release diagrams

New time-dependent Benioff strain (TDBS) release diagrams were analyzed for acoustic emission during various loading tests and for electromagnetic (EM) radiation emanating during compression and, tension, which end in failure. TDBS diagrams are Benioff diagrams that are built consecutively, each time using a greater number of events (acoustic or EM emissions) using the last event as if it were associated with the ‘actual failure’. An examination of such TDBS diagrams shows that at a certain time point (this time point is denoted by the term ‘alarm’ time), a comparatively short interval prior to actual collapse, their decreasing part is broken by a positive ‘bulge’. This ‘bulge’ is quantified and an algorithm proposed for its assessment. Using the alarm time and other parameters of the failure process (fall, bulge size and escalation factors, bulge slope and slope fall time), a criterion for estimating the time of the actual collapse is developed and shown to agree well with laboratory experimental results.
G Protein γ Subunits with Altered Prenylation Sequences Are Properly Modified When Expressed in Sf9 Cells*

The γ subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins undergo post-translational prenylation and carboxylmethylation after formation of the βγ dimer, modifications that are essential for α-βγ, βγ-receptor, and βγ-effector interactions. We have determined the specific prenyl group present on the β1γ1, β1γ2, and β1γ3 dimers purified from baculovirus-infected Sf9 cells by specific binding to G protein α subunits immobilized on agarose. These recombinant dimers undergo the same post-translational modifications determined for γ1 and γ2 isolated from mammalian tissues. Furthermore, infection of Sf9 cells with a recombinant baculovirus encoding an alteration of the γ1 CaaX sequence (γ1-S74L) resulted in geranylgeranylation of the resulting γ1 subunit, and alteration of the γ2 CaaX sequence to CAIS (γ2-L71S) resulted in farnesylation. Both of these altered γ subunits were able to associate stably with β1, and the resulting βγ dimer bound tightly to α-agarose and eluted specifically with aluminum fluoride. These results indicate that Sf9 insect cells properly process the CaaX motif in G protein γ subunits and are a useful model system to study the role of prenylation in the protein-protein interactions in which the βγ subunits participate.