Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of sensory activity on chemospecific populations of interneurons in the adult olfactory bulb

The olfactory bulb (OB) retains a remarkable capacity to renew its interneuronal populations throughout the lifespan of animals. Neuronal precursors giving rise to the bulbar interneurons are generated in the subventricular zone and have to migrate long distances before reaching the OB. In the adult OB these neuronal precursors differentiate into distinct neuronal types, including GABAergic cells located in the granule cell layer and a diverse set of neurons in the glomerular layer comprising GABAergic and dopaminergic interneurons, as well as other neuronal subtypes expressing calretinin and calbindin. While the role of sensory activity in the integration and/or survival of newly generated cells in the olfactory system is well established, very little is known about how odorant‐induced activity affects fate specification of newborn cells as well as survival and fate maintenance of preexisting neuronal populations generated in adulthood. The present study demonstrates that sensory deprivation diminishes not only the number of newborn cells in the OB, but also reduces the density of granule and periglomerular cells generated before nostril occlusion. It also shows that sensory activity has an important influence on the development and expression of dopaminergic, but not GABAergic, calretinin or calbindin phenotypes. Our data reveal that odorant‐induced activity is important for the survival of both newborn and preexisting OB interneurons generated at adulthood and suggests that these chemospecific populations are differentially affected by sensory deprivation. J. Comp. Neurol. 518:1847–1861, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Information-Seeking in Cancer Survivors: Application of the Comprehensive Model of Information Seeking to HINTS 2007 Data

Despite health care providers' best efforts, many cancer survivors have unmet informational and support needs. As a result, cancer survivors often have to meet these needs themselves, and how they approach this process is poorly understood. The authors aimed to validate and extend the Comprehensive Model of Information Seeking to examine information-seeking behaviors across a variety of channels of information delivery and to explore the impact of health-related factors on levels of information seeking. The data of 459 cancer survivors were drawn from the National Cancer Institute's 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the associations among health-related factors, information-carrier factors, and information-seeking behavior. Results confirmed direct effects of direct experience, salience, and information-carrier characteristics on information-carrier utility. However, the direct impact of demographics and beliefs on information-carrier utility was not confirmed, nor were the effects of information-carrier factors on information-seeking behavior. Contrary to expectations, salience had direct effect on information-seeking behavior and on information-carrier characteristics. These results show that understanding antecedents of information seeking will inform the development and implementation of systems of care that will help providers better meet cancer survivors' needs.
Protecting intellectual property in cyberspace

In order to accommodate the increased Internet traffic of the past several years, the infrastructure of the Internet has grown, and has subsequently become more and more complex. The technological subtleties of expanding the Internet are not the only nor even the greatest problems associated with the growing cyberspace population. More troubling (to the Internet pioneers and purists) are the different visions these new Internet users have for the building of the global information infrastructure of the future. Businessmen, politicians, and entrepreneurs see in the Internet the potential for a rapidfire global marketplace; but in this digital world, content would have to be tightly controlled. This is a world far different from the highly unregulated infant Internet, in which the free flow of information was of fundamental importance. There is now a palpable tension between the users and the providers of information on the Internet. The providers require measures to protect their property, and users desire (at the very minimum), fair use of the content they download from the Internet. Aside from a few militant Internet aficionados, most people agree that regulatory devices should be implemented to protect intellectual property on the Internet to at least a limited extent. How then, can intellectual property owners assert some control over their property in the digital world without impinging upon users' basic rights?
Stent graft treatment for infra‐inguinal arterial disease for either instent‐restenosis and denovo lesions associated with very high rates of failure

FDA approved the Gore Viabahn (WL Gore, Flagstaff, AZ, USA) stent for both femoro‐popliteal arterial denovo and instent restenosis (ISRS) lesions. To date there is little data on Viabahn stent graft outcomes in ISRS arterial disease.
IGSF1 deficiency syndrome

A recently uncovered X-linked syndrome, caused by loss-of-function of IGSF1, is characterized by congenital central hypothyroidism and macroorchidism, variable prolactin deficiency, occasional growth hormone deficiency, delayed pubertal testosterone secretion and obesity. We propose to call this endocrinopathy “IGSF1 deficiency syndrome. ” Based on an estimated incidence of isolated congenital central hypothyroidism of 1:65,000, we predict that the incidence of IGSF1 deficiency related hypothyroidism is approximately 1:100,000. IGSF1 encodes a plasma membrane immunoglobulin superfamily glycoprotein that is highly expressed in pituitary and testis, but is of unknown function. The variable profile of pituitary dysfunction suggests that IGSF1 may play a role in pituitary paracrine regulation. The clinical significance of the syndrome, particularly the clinical consequences of untreated hypothyroidism, justifies screening family members of patients with IGSF1 mutations for carriership and to study potential carriers of IGSF1 mutations, including patients with idiopathic central hypothyroidism, combined GH and TSH deficiency, macroorchidism or delayed puberty.
The MreB-Like Protein Mbl of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) Depends on MreB for Proper Localization and Contributes to Spore Wall Synthesis

ABSTRACT Most bacteria with a rod-shaped morphology contain an actin-like cytoskeleton consisting of MreB polymers, which form helical spirals underneath the cytoplasmic membrane to direct peptidoglycan synthesis for the elongation of the cell wall. In contrast, MreB of Streptomyces coelicolor is not required for vegetative growth but has a role in sporulation. Besides MreB, S. coelicolor encodes two further MreB-like proteins, Mbl and SCO6166, whose function is unknown. Whereas MreB and Mbl are highly similar, SCO6166 is shorter, lacking the subdomains IB and IIB of actin-like proteins. Here, we showed that MreB and Mbl are not functionally redundant but cooperate in spore wall synthesis. Expression analysis by semiquantitative reverse transcription-PCR revealed distinct expression patterns. mreB and mbl are induced predominantly during morphological differentiation. In contrast, sco6166 is strongly expressed during vegetative growth but switched off during sporulation. All genes could be deleted without affecting viability. Even a ΔmreB Δmbl double mutant was viable. Δsco6166 had a wild-type phenotype. ΔmreB, Δmbl, and ΔmreB Δmbl produced swollen, prematurely germinating spores that were sensitive to various kinds of stress, suggesting a defect in spore wall integrity. During aerial mycelium formation, an Mbl-mCherry fusion protein colocalized with an MreB-enhanced green fluorescent protein (MreB-eGFP) fusion protein at the sporulation septa. Whereas MreB-eGFP localized properly in the Δmbl mutant, Mbl-mCherry localization depended on the presence of a functional MreB protein. Our results revealed that MreB and Mbl cooperate in the synthesis of the thickened spore wall, while SCO6166 has a nonessential function during vegetative growth.
Towards Physical-Layer Vibration Sensing with RFIDs

Conventional vibration sensing systems, equipped with specific sensors (e.g., accelerometer) and communication modules, are either expensive or cumbersome in deployment. In recent years, the community revisits this classic topic by taking advantage of off-the-shelf RFIDs. However, limited by lower reading rate and larger wavelength, current RFID based solutions can only sense low-frequency (e.g. below 100Hz) mechanical vibrations with larger amplitude (e.g. (>) 5mm). To address this issue, this work presents TagSound, an RFID-based vibration sensing system that explores a tag’s harmonic backscattering to recover high-frequency and tiny mechanical vibrations accurately. The key innovations are in two aspects: harmonics based sensing and a new recovery scheme. We implement TagSound with USRP platforms. Our comprehensive evaluation shows TagSound can achieve a mean error of 0.37 Hz when detecting vibrations at frequencies below 100Hz, and a mean error of 4.2 Hz even when the vibration frequency is up to 2500Hz.
Tetramethylpyrazine Analogue CXC195 Protects against Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in the Rat by an Antioxidant Action via Inhibition of NADPH Oxidase and iNOS Expression

Aims: This study was conducted to investigate the protective effects of CXC195, a tetramethylpyrazine analogue, in acute focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats and to elucidate the potential mechanism. Methods: Middle cerebral artery occlusion for 2 h followed by reperfusion for 24 h was conducted in male Wistar rats and different doses of tetramethylpyrazine and CXC195 were intraperitoneally injected at 30 min after reperfusion. Results: Our results demonstrated that CXC195 at the dosage of 3 and 10 mg/kg significantly reduced the neurological deficit score and the infarct volume compared to the vehicle-treated group. In addition, CXC195 exhibited a protective effect against hippocampus neuronal cell death and significantly restored the brain ATP content. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and total antioxidative capability (T-AOC), as well as production of malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were assayed in ipsilateral hemisphere homogenates to evaluate the redox status after I/R injury. Treatment with CXC195 significantly attenuated the decrease of SOD, GPx and T-AOC activities and inhibited the elevation of MDA content and ROS generation. Furthermore, CXC195 prevented the upregulation of the NADPH oxidase (NOX) 2 and NOX4, and reduced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) induction and production of nitric oxide induced by I/R. Conclusion: These results suggest that CXC195 has a neuroprotective effect in transient focal ischemia, which is most likely due to its antioxidant activity by inhibiting NOX and iNOS expression.
Molecular study of congenital erythrocytosis in 70 unrelated patients revealed a potential causal mutation in less than half of the cases (Where is/are the missing gene(s)?)

Congenital erythrocytosis can be classified as primary, when the defect is intrinsic to the RBC progenitors and independent of the serum erythropoietin (Epo) concentration, or secondary, when the erythrocytosis is the result of an upregulation of Epo production. Primary erythrocytosis is associated with mutations in the EPOR gene, secondary CE can de due to mutations that stabilize the hemoglobin in the oxygenated form or to mutations in the genes that control the transcriptional activation of the EPO gene – VHL, EGLN1, EPAS1. Chuvash polycythemia, caused by mutations in VHL gene, shares features of both primary and secondary erythrocytosis, with increased Epo production but also hypersensitivity of progenitors to Epo.
EffEct of thE addition of SPIRULINA PLATENSIS on thE productivity and somE blood paramEtErs on growing pigs

Nedeva, R. , G. JoRdaNova, e. KistaNova, K. shumKov, B. GeoRGiev, d. aBadGieva, d. Kacheva, a. shimKus and a. shimKiNe, 2014. effect of the addition of Spirulina platensis on the productivity and some blood parameters on growing pigs. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 20: 680-684 A scientific economic experiment with a total number of 48 Danube White pigs, divided into 3 groups of 16 pigs each, spread into 8 pig pens in two repetitions was carried out at the Agricultural institute – Shumen. The experiment was started with 12.15-12.471 kg live weight and finished with 30.9-33.9 kg. The experiment period was 47 days. the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of the addition of spirulina platensis on the productivity, some blood parameters and health status on growing pigs. the addition of microalgae Spirulina platensis (2 and 3 g/capita daily) in the compound feed of growing pigs (from 12.1512.471kg to 30.9-33.9 kg live weight) from Danube White breed, significantly (p≤0.05) increases the growth intensity with 12.50 % and 14.25 % and reduces the compound feed conversion and nutrients. the addition of Spirulina platensis effects insignificantly on the hemopoiesis stimulation – the number of erythrocytes and hemoglobin are higher with 15 % and 13 % respectively in animals fed with 3 g/capita daily microalgae. there is a tendency of small number of sick animals (2.40 % and 2.13 %) fed with Spirulina platensis compared with those in the control group (5.40 %).
Interleukin‐27 enhances the production of tumour necrosis factor‐α and interferon‐γ by bone marrow T lymphocytes in aplastic anaemia

Aplastic anaemia (AA) is considered as an immune‐mediated bone marrow failure syndrome. The mechanism is involved with a variety of immune molecules including interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ), tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) and interleukins (ILs). IL‐27 is a novel member of the IL‐12 family, which mediates T cell response and enhances the production of IFN‐γ. However, little is known about the role of IL‐27 in the development of AA. This study investigated the role of IL‐27 and its receptor IL‐27R in the pathogenesis of AA. Both the mRNA expression of IL‐27/IL‐27R subunits in the bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) and the levels of IL‐27 in the marrow plasma in AA were found to be higher than in controls. Increased IL‐27 correlated with the disease severity of AA. Subsequently, we stimulated marrow T lymphocytes with recombinant human (rh)IL‐27 and found that rhIL‐27 enhanced the production of TNF‐α and IFN‐γ in both CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes from AA patients. We also detected increased TNF‐α and IFN‐γ in the supernatants of BMMNCs from AA patients after IL‐27 stimulation. In conclusion, our data suggest that elevated IL‐27 and IL‐27‐induced TNF‐α and IFN‐γ overproduction might be involved in the pathogenesis of AA.
Developing research skills in medical students: AMEE Guide No. 69

This Guide has been written to provide guidance for individuals involved in curriculum design who wish to develop research skills and foster the attributes in medical undergraduates that help develop research. The Guide will provoke debate on an important subject, and although written specifically with undergraduate medical education in mind, we hope that it will be of interest to all those involved with other health professionals’ education. Initially, the Guide describes why research skills and its related attributes are important to those pursuing a medical career. It also explores the reasons why research skills and an ethos of research should be instilled into professionals of the future. The Guide also tries to define what these skills and attributes should be for medical students and lays out the case for providing opportunities to develop research expertise in the undergraduate curriculum. Potential methods to encourage the development of research-related attributes are explored as are some suggestions as to how research skills could be taught and assessed within already busy curricula. This publication also discusses the real and potential barriers to developing research skills in undergraduate students, and suggests strategies to overcome or circumvent these. Whilst we anticipate that this Guide will appeal to all levels of expertise in terms of student research, we hope that, through the use of case studies, we will provide practical advice to those currently developing this area within their curriculum.
Artificial Neural Networks: A Tutorial

Artificial neural nets (ANNs) are massively parallel systems with large numbers of interconnected simple processors. The article discusses the motivations behind the development of ANNs and describes the basic biological neuron and the artificial computational model. It outlines network architectures and learning processes, and presents some of the most commonly used ANN models. It concludes with character recognition, a successful ANN application.
Machinability of titanium aluminides: A review

Titanium aluminides are used in the aeronautical and automotive field as an alternative material to manufacture critical components exposed to high temperatures and corrosive environments. These alloys due to its intermetallic structure exhibit some special properties such as low density, high strength, high stiffness, corrosion resistance, and creep resistance. When these components are manufactured, surface integrity is one of the most relevant parameters used to evaluate the quality of the parts. Severe surface integrity problems are reported in the literature, defects such as microstructural alterations, work hardening, residual stresses, surface cracks, among others induced by the cutting process. The surface and sub-surface alteration induced by machining are critical because it will affect the parts performance. Some parameters affect the quality of machined surface. In particular cutting parameters, cutting tools material, tool wear and material properties are the most frequently investigated. Experimental and empirical studies are presented mainly in order to understand the surface integrity induced by machining. This paper provides an overview of the problems associated with the machining process of various types of titanium aluminides. The cutting tools, machining parameters, as well as processing parameters employed to improve machinability and reduce surface defects in titanium aluminides are analyzed and discussed. Particular focus was given to turning and milling process of gamma titanium aluminides. Also, some of the optimal parameters for machining titanium aluminides are presented offering a compilation of the most relevant information from the first to the most recent works that analyze the different aspects that affect the machining of these alloys.
Risk Preferences and Aging: The 'Certainty Effect' in Older Adults’ Decision Making

A prevalent stereotype is that people become less risk taking and more cautious as they get older. However, in laboratory studies, findings are mixed and often reveal no age differences. In the current series of experiments, we examined whether age differences in risk seeking are more likely to emerge when choices include a certain option (a sure gain or a sure loss). In four experiments, we found that age differences in risk preferences only emerged when participants were offered a choice between a risky and a certain gamble but not when offered two risky gambles. In particular, Experiments 1 and 2 included only gambles about potential gains. Here, compared with younger adults, older adults preferred a certain gain over a chance to win a larger gain and thus, exhibited more risk aversion in the domain of gains. But in Experiments 3 and 4, when offered the chance to take a small sure loss rather than risking a larger loss, older adults exhibited more risk seeking in the domain of losses than younger adults. Both their greater preference for sure gains and greater avoidance of sure losses suggest that older adults weigh certainty more heavily than younger adults. Experiment 4 also indicates that older adults focus more on positive emotions than younger adults do when considering their options, and that this emotional shift can at least partially account for age differences in how much people are swayed by certainty in their choices.
Changes in expression of PACAP in rat sensory neurons in response to sciatic nerve compression

In the present study, expression of pituitary adenylate cyclase‐activating polypeptide (PACAP) in rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and sciatic nerve following experimental sciatic nerve compression was studied with the use of quantitative immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Previously, we have investigated changes in PACAP expression after nerve transection and, here, the far more frequently encountered condition of nerve compression injury is examined. Nerve compression was performed unilaterally on the rat sciatic nerve, at mid‐thigh level, by application of a narrow silicone tube around the nerve for 3, 7, 14 or 28 days, respectively. We detect a statistically significant upregulation in the number and density of PACAP mRNA expression in both small and large DRG neurons in response to nerve compression. An increased number of PACAP‐immunoreactive neurons is also found in the ipsilateral DRG. In addition, PACAP immunoreactivity is observed in the compressed sciatic nerve segment and adjacent nerve tissue after nerve compression. The present findings can be compared with previous studies where we have shown that PACAP expression is upregulated in DRG; in response to peripheral inflammation (primarily in small–medium neurons), and after axotomy (dramatic upregulation in medium–large neurons). In view of the recent findings of an increased PACAP expression in DRG after nerve compression, as well as the previous findings of a modulation of PACAP expression in response to axotomy and inflammation, it is likely that PACAP is also involved in the modulation of the response to peripheral nerve compression.
A survey of useful salt additives in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry of lipids: introducing nitrates for improved analysis.

RATIONALE Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) is a powerful technique for the direct analysis of lipids in complex mixtures and thin tissue sections, making it an extremely attractive method for profiling lipids in health and disease. Lipids are readily detected as [M+H](+), [M+Na](+) and [M+K](+) ions in positive ion MALDI mass spectrometry (MS) experiments. This not only decreases sensitivity, but can also lead to overlapping m/z values of the various adducts of different lipids. Additives can be used to promote formation of a particular adduct, improving sensitivity, reducing spectral complexity and enhancing structural characterization in collision-induced dissociation (CID) experiments. METHODS Li(+), Na(+), K(+), Cs(+) and NH(4)(+) cations were considered as a range of salt types (acetates, chlorides and nitrates) incorporated into DHB matrix solutions at concentrations between 5 and 80 mM. The study was extended to evaluate the effect of these additives on CID experiments of a lipid standard, after optimization of collision energy parameters. Experiments were performed on a hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight (QqTOF) instrument. RESULTS The systematic evaluation of new and existing additives in MALDI-MS and MS/MS of lipids demonstrated the importance of additive cation and anion choice and concentration for tailoring spectral results. CONCLUSIONS The recommended choice of additive depends on the desired outcomes of the experiment to be performed (MS or MS/MS). Nitrates are found to be particularly useful additives for lipid analysis.