Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Graos de polen de especies ocorrentes na unidade de conservacao Parque Estadual do Espinilho, Barra do Quarai, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

The vegetation “Savana Estepica Parque” in “Parque Estadual do Espinilho” have its only remaining in Brazil, at the westernmost portion of the Rio Grande do Sul, in the Barra Quarai municipality. This study is aimed to analyze the pollen morphology of angiosperm species present in the study area of the “Unidade de Conservacao Parque Estadual do Espinilho”. Botanical material was collected, and herbaria were consulted to obtain pollen material, processed by acetolysis technique. Pollen grains of the 45 species are presented (one magnoliid, five monocots and 39 eudicots). Among the species are Prosopis affinis Spreng. , Prosopis nigra Hieron. , Vachellia caven (Molina) Seigler & Ebinger and Aspidosperma quebracho - blanco Schltdl that characterize the formation “Savana Estepica Parque”. The results of this work contribute to studies of Quaternary palynology under development in “Savana Estepica Parque” vegetation, besides enabling the determination of the areas once cov ered by the “Savana Estepica Parque” in the past, in Rio Grande do Sul, since it is estimated that the area of occurrence of this vegetation decreased significantly from the begi n n ing of Holocene
Swedish word accents in a ‘confirmation’ context

An exploratory study on the prosodic signaling of ‘confirmation’ in Swedish is presented. Pairs of subjects read short dialogs, constructed around selected target words, in a conversational style. The target utterances were produced with a rising-falling intonation, lacking any typical ‘focal accent’ (FA). Qualitative observations and acoustic measurements reveal that the signaling of the word accent contrast appears to be, to a certain degree, optional in a confirmation context. The results support the view that no tonal target needs to be assumed for accent I, and further suggest that utterance-level prominence can be realized by other means than the FA.
Regulation Mechanism of the Lateral Diffusion of Band 3 in Erythrocyte Membranes by the Membrane Skeleton

Mechanisms that regulate the movement of a membrane spanning protein band 3 in erythrocyte ghosts were investigated at the level of a single or small groups of molecules using single particle tracking with an enhanced time resolution (0.22 ms). Two-thirds of band 3 undergo macroscopic diffusion: a band 3 molecule is temporarily corralled in a mesh of 110 nm in diameter, and hops to an adjacent mesh an average of every 350 ms. The rest (one-third) of band 3 exhibited oscillatory motion similar to that of spectrin, suggesting that these band 3 molecules are bound to spectrin. When the membrane skeletal network was dragged and deformed/translated using optical tweezers, band 3 molecules that were undergoing hop diffusion were displaced toward the same direction as the skeleton. Mild trypsin treatment of ghosts, which cleaves off the cytoplasmic portion of band 3 without affecting spectrin, actin, and protein 4.1, increased the intercompartmental hop rate of band 3 by a factor of 6, whereas it did not change the corral size and the microscopic diffusion rate within a corral. These results indicate that the cytoplasmic portion of band 3 collides with the membrane skeleton, which causes temporal confinement of band 3 inside a mesh of the membrane skeleton.
Modelling early events in Francisella tularensis pathogenesis

2 Computational models can provide valuable insights into the mechanisms of infection and 3 be used as investigative tools to support development of medical treatments. We develop a 4 stochastic, within-host, computational model of the infection process in the BALB/c mouse, 5 following inhalational exposure to Francisella tularensis SCHU S4. The model is mechanistic 6 and governed by a small number of experimentally veriﬁable parameters. Given an initial dose, 7 the model generates bacterial load proﬁles corresponding to those produced experimentally, 8 with a doubling time of approximately 5 hours during the ﬁrst 48 hours of infection. Analytical 9 approximations for the mean number of bacteria in phagosomes and cytosols for the ﬁrst 10 twenty-four hours post-infection are derived and used to verify the stochastic model. In our 11 description of the dynamics of macrophage infection, the number of bacteria released per 12 rupturing macrophage is a geometrically-distributed random variable. When combined with 13 doubling time, this provides a distribution for the time taken for infected macrophages to 14 rupture and release their intracellular bacteria. The mean and variance of these distributions 15 are determined by model parameters with a precise biological interpretation, providing new 16 mechanistic insights into the determinants of immune and bacterial kinetics. Insights into the 17 dynamics of macrophage suppression and activation gained by the model can be used to explore 18 the potential beneﬁts of interventions that stimulate macrophage activation.
Genome-wide Linkage Analysis of Mandibular Prognathism in Korean and Japanese Patients

The existence of familial aggregation of mandibular prognathism (MP) suggests that genetic components play an important role in its etiology. In this study, a genome-wide linkage analysis to identify loci susceptible to MP was conducted with 90 affected sibling-pairs in 42 families, comprised of 40 Korean sibling-pairs and 50 Japanese sibling-pairs. Two non-parametric linkage analyses, GENEHUNTER-PLUS and SIBPAL, were applied and detected nominal statistical significance of linkage to MP at chromosomes 1p36, 6q25, and 19p13.2. The best evidence of linkage was detected near D1S234 (maximum Zlr = 2.51, P = 0.0012). In addition, evidence of linkage was observed near D6S305 (maximum Zlr = 2.23, P = 0.025) and D19S884 (maximum Zlr = 1.93, P = 0.0089). Identification of the susceptible genes in the linkage regions will pave the way for insights into the molecular pathways that cause MP, especially overgrowth of the mandible, and may lead to the development of novel therapeutic tools.
Workshop on Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning in ITSs

In this paper, we discuss lessons learned from an evaluation of the EACoach, an Intelligent Tutoring System that aims to foster meta-cognitive skills during analogical problem solving. The evaluation of the EA-Coach demonstrated that overall, it is effective in its pedagogical approach, but that there are instances where its scaffolding for meta-cognition is too subtle. We discuss implications of this finding in terms of refining the system’s support.
Late and very late mortality in 5‐year survivors of childhood cancer: Changing pattern over four decades—Experience from the Nordic countries

Long‐term survivors of childhood cancer suffer from a higher mortality than the general population. Here we evaluate late and very late mortality, and patterns of causes of death, in 5‐year survivors after childhood and adolescent cancer in cases diagnosed during four decades in the five Nordic countries. The study is population‐based and uses data of the nationwide cancer registries and the cause of death registers. There were in all 37,515 incident cases, diagnosed with cancer before the age of 20 years, between 1960 and 1999. The 5‐year survivor cohort used in the mortality analyses consisted of 21,984 patients who were followed up for vital status until December 31, 2005 (Norway, Sweden) or 2006 (Denmark, Finland, Iceland). At the latest follow‐up, 2,324 patients were dead. The overall standardized mortality ratio was 8.3 and the absolute excess risk was 6.2 per 1,000 person‐years. The pattern of causes of death varied markedly between different groups of primary cancer diagnosis, and was highly dependent on time passed since diagnosis. With shorter follow‐up the mortality was mainly due to primary cancer, while with longer follow‐up, mortality due to second cancer and noncancer causes became more prominent. Mortality between 5 and 10 years after diagnosis continued to decrease in patients treated during the most recent period of time, 1990–1999, compared to previous periods, while mortality after 10 years changed very little with time period. We conclude that improvement of definite survival demands not only reducing early but also late and very late mortality.
On the nature of extraversion: variation in conditioned contextual activation of dopamine-facilitated affective, cognitive, and motor processes

Research supports an association between extraversion and dopamine (DA) functioning. DA facilitates incentive motivation and the conditioning and incentive encoding of contexts that predict reward. Therefore, we assessed whether extraversion is related to the efficacy of acquiring conditioned contextual facilitation of three processes that are dependent on DA: motor velocity, positive affect, and visuospatial working memory. We exposed high and low extraverts to three days of association of drug reward (methylphenidate, MP) with a particular laboratory context (Paired group), a test day of conditioning, and three days of extinction in the same laboratory. A Placebo group and an Unpaired group (that had MP in a different laboratory context) served as controls. Conditioned contextual facilitation was assessed by (i) presenting video clips that varied in their pairing with drug and laboratory context and in inherent incentive value, and (ii) measuring increases from day 1 to Test day on the three processes above. Results showed acquisition of conditioned contextual facilitation across all measures to video clips that had been paired with drug and laboratory context in the Paired high extraverts, but no conditioning in the Paired low extraverts (nor in either of the control groups). Increases in the Paired high extraverts were correlated across the three measures. Also, conditioned facilitation was evident on the first day of extinction in Paired high extraverts, despite the absence of the unconditioned effects of MP. By the last day of extinction, responding returned to day 1 levels. The findings suggest that extraversion is associated with variation in the acquisition of contexts that predict reward. Over time, this variation may lead to differences in the breadth of networks of conditioned contexts. Thus, individual differences in extraversion may be maintained by activation of differentially encoded central representations of incentive contexts that predict reward.
Use of alternative therapies by older adults with osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE To examine the rates of use and expenditures on alternative therapies by adults with osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS Adults with OA recruited from the community to participate in a randomized clinical trial recorded alternative and traditional health care use on postcard diaries. General and arthritis-specific quality of life was assessed by questionnaires. RESULTS More than 47% of participants reported using at least one type of alternative care during the 20-week intervention period. Among alternative care consumers, the most commonly used treatments were massage therapy (57%), chiropractic services (20.7%), and nonprescribed alternative medications (17.2%). Four percent of subjects reported using only alternative care during the study period. Expenditures for alternative therapy averaged $1,127 per year, compared with $1,148 for traditional therapies. CONCLUSION Use of and expenditures for alternative care were high among this cohort of older adults with OA. Clinicians may want to inquire about use of these therapies before recommending treatments for this condition.
Evolutionary plasticity of segmentation clock networks

The vertebral column is a conserved anatomical structure that defines the vertebrate phylum. The periodic or segmental pattern of the vertebral column is established early in development when the vertebral precursors, the somites, are rhythmically produced from presomitic mesoderm (PSM). This rhythmic activity is controlled by a segmentation clock that is associated with the periodic transcription of cyclic genes in the PSM. Comparison of the mouse, chicken and zebrafish PSM oscillatory transcriptomes revealed networks of 40 to 100 cyclic genes mostly involved in Notch, Wnt and FGF signaling pathways. However, despite this conserved signaling oscillation, the identity of individual cyclic genes mostly differed between the three species, indicating a surprising evolutionary plasticity of the segmentation networks.
Aging and Environmental Exposures Alter Tissue-Specific DNA Methylation Dependent upon CpG Island Context

Epigenetic control of gene transcription is critical for normal human development and cellular differentiation. While alterations of epigenetic marks such as DNA methylation have been linked to cancers and many other human diseases, interindividual epigenetic variations in normal tissues due to aging, environmental factors, or innate susceptibility are poorly characterized. The plasticity, tissue-specific nature, and variability of gene expression are related to epigenomic states that vary across individuals. Thus, population-based investigations are needed to further our understanding of the fundamental dynamics of normal individual epigenomes. We analyzed 217 non-pathologic human tissues from 10 anatomic sites at 1,413 autosomal CpG loci associated with 773 genes to investigate tissue-specific differences in DNA methylation and to discern how aging and exposures contribute to normal variation in methylation. Methylation profile classes derived from unsupervised modeling were significantly associated with age (P<0.0001) and were significant predictors of tissue origin (P<0.0001). In solid tissues (n = 119) we found striking, highly significant CpG island–dependent correlations between age and methylation; loci in CpG islands gained methylation with age, loci not in CpG islands lost methylation with age (P<0.001), and this pattern was consistent across tissues and in an analysis of blood-derived DNA. Our data clearly demonstrate age- and exposure-related differences in tissue-specific methylation and significant age-associated methylation patterns which are CpG island context-dependent. This work provides novel insight into the role of aging and the environment in susceptibility to diseases such as cancer and critically informs the field of epigenomics by providing evidence of epigenetic dysregulation by age-related methylation alterations. Collectively we reveal key issues to consider both in the construction of reference and disease-related epigenomes and in the interpretation of potentially pathologically important alterations.
Integrative network analysis of signaling in human CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells by global phosphoproteomic profiling using TiO2 enrichment combined with 2D LC‐MS/MS and pathway mapping

Protein kinase signaling regulates human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC) fate, yet little is known about critical pathway substrates. To address this, we have developed and applied a large‐scale, empirically optimized phosphopeptide affinity enrichment strategy with high‐throughput 2D LC‐MS/MS screening to evaluate the phosphoproteome of an isolated human CD34+ HSPC population. We first used hydrophilic interaction chromatography as a first dimension separation to separate and simplify protein digest mixtures into discrete fractions. Phosphopeptides were then enriched off‐line using TiO2‐coated magnetic beads and subsequently detected online by C18 RP nanoflow HPLC using data‐dependent MS/MS high‐energy collision‐activated dissociation fragmentation on a high‐performance Orbitrap hybrid tandem mass spectrometer. We identified 15 533 unique phosphopeptides in 3574 putative phosphoproteins. Systematic computational analysis revealed biological pathways and phosphopeptide motifs enriched in CD34+ HSPC that are markedly different from those observed in an analogous parallel analysis of isolated human T cells, pointing to the possible involvement of specific kinase‐substrate relationships within activated cascades driving hematopoietic renewal, commitment, and differentiation.
Clinical outcomes of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt for portal hypertension: Korean multicenter real-practice data

Background/Aims This retrospective study assessed the clinical outcome of a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure for managing portal hypertension in Koreans with liver cirrhosis. Methods Between January 2003 and July 2013, 230 patients received a TIPS in 13 university-based hospitals. Results Of the 229 (99.6%) patients who successfully underwent TIPS placement, 142 received a TIPS for variceal bleeding, 84 for refractory ascites, and 3 for other indications. The follow-up period was 24.9±30.2 months (mean±SD), 74.7% of the stents were covered, and the primary patency rate at the 1-year follow-up was 78.7%. Hemorrhage occurred in 30 (21.1%) patients during follow-up; of these, 28 (93.3%) cases of rebleeding were associated with stent dysfunction. Fifty-four (23.6%) patients developed new hepatic encephalopathy, and most of these patients were successfully managed conservatively. The cumulative survival rates at 1, 6, 12, and 24 months were 87.5%, 75.0%, 66.8%, and 57.5%, respectively. A high Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score was significantly associated with the risk of death within the first month after receiving a TIPS (P=0.018). Old age (P<0.001), indication for a TIPS (ascites vs. bleeding, P=0.005), low serum albumin (P<0.001), and high MELD score (P=0.006) were associated with overall mortality. Conclusions A high MELD score was found to be significantly associated with early and overall mortality rate in TIPS patients. Determining the appropriate indication is warranted to improve survival in these patients.
Importance of Conserved N-domain Residues Thr441, Glu442, Lys515, Arg560, and Leu562 of Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Ca2+-ATPase for MgATP Binding and Subsequent Catalytic Steps

Nine single mutations were introduced to amino acid residues Thr441, Glu442, Lys515, Arg560, Cys561, and Leu562 located in the nucleotide-binding domain of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase, and the functional consequences were studied in a direct nucleotide binding assay, as well as by steady-state and transient kinetic measurements of the overall and partial reactions of the transport cycle. Some partial reaction steps were also examined in mutants with alterations to Phe487, Arg489, and Lys492. The results implicate all these residues, except Cys561, in high affinity nucleotide binding at the substrate site. Mutations Thr441 → Ala, Glu442 → Ala, and Leu562 → Phe were more detrimental to MgATP binding than to ATP binding, thus pointing to a role for these residues in the binding of Mg2+ or to a difference between the interactions with MgATP and ATP. Subsequent catalytic steps were also selectively affected by the mutations, showing the involvement of the nucleotide-binding domain in these reactions. Mutation of Arg560 inhibited phosphoryl transfer but enhanced the E1PCa2 → E2P conformational transition, whereas mutations Thr441 → Ala, Glu442 → Ala, Lys492 → Leu, and Lys515 → Ala inhibited the E1PCa2 → E2P transition. Hydrolysis of the E2P phosphoenzyme intermediate was enhanced in Glu442 → Ala, Lys492 → Leu, Lys515 → Ala, and Arg560 → Glu. None of the mutations affected the low affinity activation by nucleotide of the phosphoenzyme-processing steps, indicating that modulatory nucleotide interacts differently from substrate nucleotide. Mutation Glu442 → Ala greatly enhanced reaction of Lys515 with fluorescein isothiocyanate, indicating that the two residues form a salt link in the native protein.
Hypersphere distribution discriminant analysis

Current graph embedding frameworks of supervised dimensionality reduction often preserve the intraclass local structures and maximize the interclass variance. However, this strategy fails to provide adequate results when strict within-class multimodalities contradict between-class separations. In this paper, we propose Hypersphere Distribution Discriminant Analysis (HDDA), which determines the affinity by considering not only within-class local structure but also the heteropoint distribution in the neighborhood space. If the heteropoint distribution is relatively high in the feature space, this pair should be mapped apart to avoid mixing problems. By taking both the distribution of heteropoints and the distance into account, HDDA shows more effective results compared to the state-of-the-art methods.
Central role of mitochondria and p53 in Fas-mediated apoptosis of rheumatoid synovial fibroblasts.

OBJECTIVE Fas-mediated apoptosis is preferentially observed in synoviocytes of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and is associated with the pathophysiological process of RA. To clarify the molecular mechanisms of Fas-mediated apoptosis of RA synoviocytes, we investigated the role of the mitochondrial pathway and tumour suppressor p53 in this process. METHODS Cultured synovial fibroblasts were prepared from RA patients. After treatment of RA synovial fibroblasts with anti-Fas monoclonal antibody, the expression levels of activated caspase-9 and -3, Bid cleavage, cytochrome c release and phosphorylation of p53 at Ser15 were assessed using immunoblot analysis. The mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsim) was evaluated with a fluorescence-based detection assay. Apoptotic cells were determined by a DNA fragmentation assay in the presence or absence of caspase inhibitors. Expression of p53-regulated apoptosis-inducing protein 1 (p53AIP1) was measured by real-time PCR. RA synovial fibroblasts stably transfected with a dominant-negative (DN) p53 were prepared in order to investigate the role of p53 during Fas-induced apoptosis. RESULTS Fas ligation induced Bid cleavage, loss of DeltaPsim, cytochrome c release to the cytosol and activation of caspase-9 and -3 in RA synovial fibroblasts. Treatment with a caspase-9-specific inhibitor almost completely inhibited Fas-mediated apoptosis. Moreover, p53 activation after Fas ligation was evidenced by its phosphorylation at Ser15 and up-regulation of the p53 target gene p53AIP1. Fas-mediated apoptosis was significantly suppressed by anti-sense p53 oligonucleotides and by p53DN. CONCLUSION Our findings strongly suggest the involvement of mitochondria and p53 in Fas-mediated apoptosis of RA synovial fibroblasts.
Excitability of motor neurones in spinal shock in man.

The transient reflex depression caudal to a lesion of the spinal cord, 'spinal shock', can be due to depressed excitability of motor neurones and interneurones at the segmental level or to a decrease of fusimotor activity rendering the muscle spindles less sensitive to stretch or to both. In cats Hunt, Meltzer, and Landau (1963) reported a transient depression of fusimotor activity in that the afferent nerve volley to a brief stretch was diminished and associated with a depression of the reflex response. In the spinalized monkey depression of the reflex was not accompanied by a decrease in the afferent volley. In man early in spinal shock the ankle jerk was severely depressed or absent whereas the electrically evoked H-reflex was unaffected or slightly reduced, suggesting that fusimotor activity was depressed (Weaver, Landau, and Higgins, 1963). While the maximal H-reflex is a measure of the excitability of motor neurones to single afferent volleys, other abnormalities of excitability might be revealed by conditioning the H-reflex with a preceding stimulus. We have studied the recovery of the test H-reflex in patients one to four days after a lesion of the spinal cord when deep reflexes were absent or severely depressed. The examination was repeated both when the reflexes had returned and when there was spasticity. of a contact in the head of the hammer released the sweep of the oscilloscope.