Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regulation of estrogen receptors and MMP-2 expression by estrogens in human retinal pigment epithelium.

PURPOSE Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) is characterized by progressive thickening and accumulation of various lipid-rich extracellular matrix (ECM) deposits under the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). ECM dysregulation probably contributes to the pathologic course of ARMD. By activating estrogen receptors (ERs), estrogens regulate the expression of genes relevant in the turnover of ECM, among them matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2. Estrogen deficiency may predispose to dysregulated synthesis and degradation of ECM, leading to accumulation of collagens and other proteins between the RPE and its basement membrane. The purposes in the current study were to confirm the expression of ERs in human RPE, to elucidate whether these ERs are functional, and to test whether 17beta-estradiol (E(2)) regulates expression of ERs and MMP-2. METHODS Expression of ERs was examined in freshly isolated human RPE monolayer and in cultured human RPE cells, by using total RNA for RT-PCR and protein extracts for Western blot analysis. Supernatants were collected from freshly isolated human RPE and from cultured human RPE to assess MMP-2 activity by zymography and protein expression by Western blot. The transcriptional activity of ERs was studied in transfection experiments with an estrogen-responsive reporter construct. All these studies were preformed in the presence or absence of E(2) (10(-11) and 10(-7) M). RESULTS Human RPE isolated from female and male individuals expressed both ER subtypes alpha and beta at the mRNA and protein levels. Treatment of cultured RPE cells with 10(-10) M E(2) increased expression of mRNA and protein of both receptor subtypes. E(2) (10(-10) M) also increased MMP-2 activity (approximately 2.2-fold) and protein expression (approximately 2.5-fold). In contrast, there was no change in ER levels and MMP-2 activity at higher E(2) concentrations (10(-8) M), compared with baseline. Preincubation of cells with 10(-7) M pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (PDTC), an inhibitor of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB, abolished the increase in MMP-2 activity and protein expression induced by E(2) at 10(-10) M. CONCLUSIONS Both ER subtypes are expressed in RPE and regulated in a dose-dependent fashion by E(2). Estrogens similarly regulate MMP-2. This estrogen-induced effect is, at least in part, mediated through NF-kappaB. These data support the hypothesis that estrogens may exert biological function in RPE through ERs and that estrogen deficiency or excess may cause dysregulation of molecules that influence the turnover of ECM in Bruch's membrane associated with ARMD.
Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology: A Historical and Biographical Sourcebook

Foreword by Stanley Krippner Editor's Introduction Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology: An Overview The Historical and Scientific Background of Humanistic Psychology The Historical and Cultural Context of Humanistic Psychology: Ike, Annette, and Elvis by Donald Moss The Scientific and Philosophical Context of Humanistic Psychology by Donald Moss Abraham Maslow and the Emergence of Humanistic Psychology by Donold Moss Major Schools and Theorists in Humanistic Psychology Carl Rogers, the Person-Centered Approach, and Experiential Therapy by Donald Moss Gestalt Therapy: The Once and Future King by Paul Shane The Humanistic Psychology of Self-Disclosure, Relationship, and Community by Donald Moss Body-Therapies in Humanistic Psychology by Donald Moss and Paul Shane Existential-Phenomenological Psychology by Steen Halling and Alex Carroll Feminist Psychology and Humanistic Psychology by Hendrika VandeKemp and Tamara L. Anderson Biofeedback, Mind-Body Medicine, and the Higher Limits of Human Nature by Donald Moss Beyond the Person: Spiritual and Transpersonal Psychologies Christian Humanistic Psychology by Harold Ellens and Donald E. Sloat Transpersonal Psychology: The Fourth Force by Arthur Hastings The Heritage and the Promise of Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology The Continuing Need for a Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology by Donald Moss Biographical and Critical Essays on Central Figures in Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology Diana Baumrind: Researcher and Critical Humanist by Hendrika VandeKemp James F.T. Bugental: Continuity and Change by Steen Halling Moshe Feldenkrais and Functional Integration by Paul Shane Erich Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis by Daniel Burston Amedeo Giorgi and the Project of a Human Science by Frederick J. Wertz and Christopher Aanstoos On Psychology as a Person-Centered Science: William James' Relation to the Humanistic Tradition by Eugene Irvine Taylor, Jr. Sidney Jourard: Disclosing to Ourselves and Others by Donadrian Rice Ronald Laing: Existentialism and Psychoanalysis by Daniel Burston Abraham Maslow: Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Yesteryear by Mike Arons Rollo May: Liberator and Realist by Kirk Schneider Fritz Perls and Paul Goodman: When Ahasueras Met Erasmus by Paul Shane Laura Perls and Gestalt Therapy: Her Life and Values by Ilene Ava Serlin and Paul Shane Carl Rogers: Client Heal Thyself by Donadrian Rice Ida P. Rolf and Structural Integration (Rolfing) by Paul Shane Erwin Straus: The Individual, the Senses, and the Beloved Earth by Donald Moss Ken Wilber: Mapping the Evolution of Consciousness by Kaisa Puhakka Index
An FPGA Implementation of Explicit-State Model Checking

We present PHAST, a pipelined hardware accelerated explicit-state model checker. The algorithms and methodologies used to perform the state checking in PHAST are based on the Mur¿ verifier, developed at Stanford University. Mur¿ has been used to verify hardware and protocols, cache coherency protocols in particular. Mur¿ is used in industry due to its success in finding errors in real designs. Until now, Mur¿ and other model checkers have been solely performed in software. PHAST takes advantage of the flexible memory architecture on FPGA chips and the inherent concurrency available in hardware designs to accelerate model checking. Using PHAST in simulation, we achieved over 200× application speedup over Mur¿ on an example of a counter.
Estrogenic Regulation of the GnRH Neuron

Reproductive function is regulated by the secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone from the pituitary and the steroid hormones from the gonads. The dynamic changes in the levels of the reproductive hormones regulate secondary sex characteristics, gametogenesis, cellular function, and behavior. Hypothalamic GnRH neurons, with cell bodies located in the basal hypothalamus, represent the final common pathway for neuronally derived signals to the pituitary. As such, they serve as integrators of a dizzying array of signals including sensory inputs mediating information about circadian, seasonal, behavioral, pheromonal, and emotional cues. Additionally, information about peripheral physiological function may also be included in the integrative signal to the GnRH neuron. These signals may communicate information about metabolic status, disease, or infection. Gonadal steroid hormones arguably exert the most important effects on GnRH neuronal function. In both males and females, the gonadal steroid hormones exert negative feedback regulation on axis activity at both the level of the pituitary and the hypothalamus. These negative feedback loops regulate homeostasis of steroid hormone levels. In females, a cyclic reversal of estrogen feedback produces a positive feedback loop at both the hypothalamic and pituitary levels. Central positive feedback results in a dramatic increase in GnRH secretion (Moenter et al., 1992; Xia et al., 1992; Clarke, 1993; Sisk et al., 2001). This is coupled with an increase in pituitary sensitivity to GnRH (Savoy-Moore et al., 1980; Turzillo et al., 1995), which produces the massive surge in secretion of LH that triggers ovulation. While feedback regulation of the axis in males is in part mediated by estrogen receptors (ER), there is not a clear consensus as to the relative role of ER versus AR signaling in males (Lindzey et al., 1998; Wersinger et al., 1999). Therefore, this review will focus on estrogenic signaling in the female.
The inflammatory reaction in chemical injury. 3. Leucocytosis and other histological changes induced by superficial injury.

Abstract Skin sites treated by the application of xylol, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform and 1/7-1/9 phenol were examined histologically after the application of these chemicals for ½-1 min. Degenerative changes in the first 5 min. progressed to necrosis of the cells of the epidermis and upper dermis in about 12 hr, the necrosis tissue later being undermined by regenerating epidermis. Within about 10 min. of applying the chemical irritants, the sub-epidermal capillary plexus became dilated and engorged with blood in parallel with the development of erythema. With mild irritation, this engorgement lessened in the 1st hr and became minimal in 2-8 hr, the latter period corresponding with the interval between the early and late phases of increased vascular permeability, when the sub-epidermal vessels were usually empty, though still dilated. With stronger irritation, the initial congestion was replaced by vascular stasis, but such lesions exhibited only a single strong phase of increased permeability. Stasis was sometimes associated with evidence of vascular damage. The small veins of the mid-dermis were initially congested. Between 3-8 hr, the sub-epidermal capillaries were usually dilated, but empty or in stasis; the mid-dermal veins contained increasing numbers of leucocytes which were mainly neutrophils, with less eosinophils and monocytes. Numerous neutrophils emigrated into the adjacent tissue when the lesions were 2-6 hr old. The intensity of the neutrophil response paralleled the amount of epidermal necrosis, the white cells being noticeably confined to the dermis overlain by necrotic epidermis or to the necrotic epidermis itself. During the late phase of increased permeability induced by mild irritants, the dermal vessels again became filled with blood, but the number of neutrophils in the perivascular tissues was declining before the onset of the late phase of increased permeability. Organoid arterio-venous anastomoses in the panniculus adiposus exhibited no changes. Guinea-pig skin normally contained varying numbers of eosinophils, in parallel with the number in the peripheral blood. In chemical injury, eosinophils accumulated and emigrated in step with the neutrophils, remained further removed from the necrotic epidermis, and appeared to survive longer than the neutrophils. Monocytes accumulated in blood vessels at the same time as neutrophils, but were not “labelled” and therefore not counted after migration into the injured tissues. After chemical injury and prior to the late permeability response, injected histamine rapidly increased permeability, presumably of the engorged vessels in the lower dermis and panniculus adiposus; re-application at this stage of a chemical irritant evoked no permeability response. The results strongly suggest that the phasic nature of erythema and increased vascular permeability is determined by diversion of blood flow from the vessels of the upper dermis to vessels of the deep dermis, panniculus adiposus and panniculus carnosus.
Are Schools in Tune with Disaffected Youth

The establishment of the UK government’s OFSTED (school inspection service), published league tables, standardised testing, the literacy and numeracy strategy, imposed external targets for improvement, performance related pay and the gifted and talented programme, show the present government’s concerns with educational improvement. Schools have tended to concentrate on those young people who will be successful, (Blyth and Milner, 1993; TES, 3-4-98). This is inevitable, for within the current educational climate, emphasis on academic performance leads to local and national credibility. However, for some young people, academic achievement is not always possible. For them, the way forward is to seek attention through aspects of poor behaviour. Such young people can be loosely labelled ‘disaffected’.
Applications of Microlensing to Stellar Astrophysics

Over the past decade, microlensing has developed into a powerful tool to study stellar astrophysics, especially stellar atmospheres, stellar masses, and binarity. I review this progress. Stellar atmospheres can be probed whenever the source in a microlensing event passes over the caustic (contour of infinite magnification) induced by the lens because the caustic effectively resolves the source. Broadband observations of four events have yielded limb‐darkening measurements, which in essence map the atmospheric temperature as a function of depth. And now, for the first time, spectroscopic observations of one event promise much richer diagnostics of the source atmosphere. In the past 2 years, a practical method has finally been developed to systematically measure the lens masses in microlensing events. This will permit a census of all massive objects, both dark and luminous, in the Galactic bulge, including low‐mass stars, brown dwarfs, white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. The method combines traditional ground‐based photometry with astrometric and photometric measurements by the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) in solar orbit. Using a related technique, SIM can also obtain accurate (≲1%) mass measurement of a dozen or so nearby stars, thus enabling precision tests of stellar models. Binary lenses can give rise to dramatic and easily detectable microlensing signatures, even for large mass ratios. This makes microlensing a potentially powerful probe of the companion mass distribution, especially in the Galactic bulge, where this function is difficult to probe by other techniques.
Medial Prefrontal Theta Oscillations Track the Time Course of Interference during Selective Memory Retrieval

Memory retrieval is often challenged by other irrelevant competing memories that cause interference. This phenomenon is typically studied with the retrieval practice paradigm in which a category cue (e.g., Fruits) is presented together with an item-specific cue (e.g., Or::). Presentation of the category cue usually induces interference by reactivating competing memories (e.g., Banana, Apple, etc.), which is thought to be solved by means of inhibition, leading to retrieval-induced forgetting of these competing memories. Previous studies associated interference with an increase in medial prefrontal theta band (4–8 Hz) oscillations, but these studies could not disentangle the interference from the inhibition processes. We here used a retrieval practice procedure in which the category cue was presented before the item-specific cue to disentangle the interference from the inhibition signal. Furthermore, a competitive retrieval condition was contrasted with a noncompetitive condition. At a behavioral level, retrieval-induced forgetting was found in the competitive but not in the noncompetitive condition. At a neural level, presentation of the category cue elicited higher levels of theta power in the competitive condition, when compared with the noncompetitive retrieval condition. Importantly, this difference was localized to the ACC, which has been associated with the detection and mediation of interference. Additionally, theta power decreased upon presentation of the item-specific cue, and this difference was related to later forgetting. Our results therefore disentangle, for the first time, interference and inhibition in episodic memory retrieval and suggest that theta oscillations track the fine-grained temporal dynamics of interference during competitive memory retrieval.
Homomorphic plant sex chromosomes are coming of age

Sex chromosomes are a very peculiar part of the genome that have evolved independently in many groups of animals and plants (Bull ). Major research efforts have so far been focused on large heteromorphic sex chromosomes in a few animal and plant species (Chibalina & Filatov ; Zhou & Bachtrog ; Bellott et al. ; Hough et al. ; Zhou et al. ), while homomorphic (cytologically indistinguishable) sex chromosomes have largely been neglected. However, this situation is starting to change. In this issue, Geraldes et al. ( ) describe a small (~100 kb long) sex‐determining region on the homomorphic sex chromosomes of poplars (Populus trichocarpa and related species, Fig. ). All species in Populus and its sister genus Salix are dioecious, suggesting that dioecy and the sex chromosomes, if any, should be relatively old. Contrary to this expectation, Geraldes et al. ( ) demonstrate that the sex‐determining region in poplars is of very recent origin and probably evolved within the genus Populus only a few million years ago.
Social Inclusion and Sport: Culturally Diverse Women's Perspectives

Sport and recreation can help communities to build social inclusion and celebrate diversity. Yet some sport and recreation activities require conformity to social and cultural norms, risking suppressing difference and reinforcing inequality and exclusion. This paper explores these tensions by examining access and barriers to sport and recreation for a large group of Australian women: those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Qualitative data shows that while sport industry representatives justify catering primarily for a mainstream participant base, culturally diverse women identify barriers requiring strategic and targeted policy and program intervention. Implicating the spatial organisation of sport and recreation as sources of marginalisation, culturally diverse women highlight how access enhancing initiatives in public, commercial and community sport facilities can play key roles in promoting social inclusion.
Assessment of Content and Language in Light of the New Standards: Challenges and Opportunities for English Language Learners

Abstract:This article plays out an imagined scenario in 2017 (3 years hence) for the assessment of English language learners, based on assumptions about what the author knows of the Common Core State Standards and how this most recent wave of reform will impact state and local systems in the assessment of content and English language proficiency.
Exploring the impact of participatory music making on social determinants of health and wellbeing for refugees in Australia

This journal is published by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part of its D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program, and is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Press. They [do more than] Interrupt us from Sadness: Exploring the impact of participatory music making on social determinants of health and wellbeing for refugees in Australia N. Sunderland, L. Istvandity, A. Lakhani, C. Lenette, B. Procopis & P. Caballero
Uncoupling of the Cholera Toxin-GM1 Ganglioside Receptor Complex from Endocytosis, Retrograde Golgi Trafficking, and Downstream Signal Transduction by Depletion of Membrane Cholesterol*

To induce toxicity, cholera toxin (CT) must first bind ganglioside GM1 at the plasma membrane, enter the cell by endocytosis, and then traffic retrograde into the endoplasmic reticulum. We recently proposed that GM1provides the sorting motif necessary for retrograde trafficking into the biosynthetic/secretory pathway of host cells, and that such trafficking depends on association with lipid rafts and lipid raft function. To test this idea, we examined whether CT action in human intestinal T84 cells depends on membrane cholesterol. Chelation of cholesterol with 2-hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin or methyl β-cyclodextrin reversibly inhibited CT-induced chloride secretion and prolonged the time required for CT to enter the cell and induce toxicity. These effects were specific to CT, as identical conditions did not alter the potency or toxicity of anthrax edema toxin that enters the cell by another mechanism. We found that endocytosis and trafficking of CT into the Golgi apparatus depended on membrane cholesterol. Cholesterol depletion also changed the density and specific protein content of CT-associated lipid raft fractions but did not entirely displace the CT-GM1 complex from these lipid raft microdomains. Taken together these data imply that cholesterol may function to couple the CT-GM1 complex with raft domains and with other membrane components of the lipid raft required for CT entry into the cell.
Challenges in Designing Input Method Editors for Indian Lan-guages: The Role of Word-Origin and Context

Back-transliteration based Input Method Editors are very popular for Indian Languages. In this paper we evaluate two such Indic language systems to help understand the challenge of designing a back-transliteration based IME. Through a detailed error-analysis of Hindi, Bangla and Telugu data, we study the role of phonological features of Indian scripts that are reflected as variations and ambiguity in the transliteration. The impact of word-origin on back-transliteration is discussed in the context of codeswitching. We also explore the role of word-level context to help overcome some of these challenges.
Antifungal activity of volatile compounds generated by essential oils against fungi commonly causing deterioration of bakery products.

AIMS To investigate the volatile fractions of 16 essential oils for activity against the more common fungi causing spoilage of bakery products, Eurotium amstelodami, E. herbariorum, E. repens, E. rubrum, Aspergillus flavus, A. niger and Penicillium corylophilum. METHODS AND RESULTS The study applied 50 microl of pure essential oils in a sterilized filter paper, were carried out at pH 6 and at different water activity levels (0.80-0.90). First, a wheat flour based agar medium was used, where cinnamon leaf, clove, bay, lemongrass and thyme essential oils where found to totally inhibit all microorganisms tested. These five essential oils were then tested in sponge cake analogues, but the antifungal activity detected was much more limited. CONCLUSION Five essential oils showed potential antifungal capacity against all species tested, over a wide range of water availability. Their activity, however, seems to be substrate-dependent. More research is needed to make them work in real bakery products, as in the preliminary study limited effectiveness was found. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY The potential of the cinnamon leaf, clove, bay, lemongrass and thyme essential oils against species belonging to Eurotium, Aspergillus and Penicillium genus has been demonstrated.
A bayesian reinforcement learning approach for customizing human-robot interfaces

Personal robots are becoming increasingly prevalent, which raises a number of interesting issues regarding the design and customization of interfaces to such platforms. The particular problem addressed by this paper is the use of learning methods to improve the quality and effectiveness of human-machine interaction onboard a robotic wheelchair. In support of this, we present a method for learning and adapting probabilistic models with the aid of a human operator. We use a Bayesian reinforcement learning framework, that allows us to mix learning and execution, as well as take advantage of prior information about the world. We address the problems of learning, handling a partially observable environment, and limiting the number of action requests. We demonstrate empirical feasibility of our approach on an interface for an autonomous wheelchair.
Plain Talk about Neurodevelopmental Epistemology

This paper is based on a theory being developed in collaboration with Seymour Papert [Note 1] in which we view the mind as an organized society of intercommunicating "agents". Each such agent is, by itself, very simple. The subject of this paper is how that simplicity affects communication between different parts of a single mind and, indirectly, how it may affect interpersonal communications.