Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Four-cell stage mouse blastomeres have different developmental properties

Blastomeres of the early mouse embryo are thought to be equivalent in their developmental properties at least until the eight-cell stage. However, the experiments that have led to this conclusion could not have taken into account either the spatial origin of individual blastomeres or the spatial allocation and fate of their progeny. We have therefore readdressed this issue having defined cell lineages in mouse embryos undergoing different patterns of cleavage in their second division cycle. This has enabled us to identify a major group of embryos in which we can predict not only the spatial origin of each given four-cell blastomeres, but also which region of the blastocyst is most likely to be occupied by its progeny. We show that a pattern of second cleavage divisions in which a meridional division is followed by one that is equatorial or oblique allows us to identify blastomeres that differ in their fate and in their developmental properties both from each other and from their cousins. We find that one of these four-cell stage blastomeres that inherits some vegetal membrane marked in the previous cleavage cycle tends to contribute to mural trophectoderm. The progeny of its sister tend to donate cells to part of the ICM lining the blastocyst cavity and its associated trophectoderm. Chimaeras made entirely of these equatorially or obliquely derived blastomeres show developmental abnormalities in both late preimplantation and early postimplantation development. By contrast, chimaeras made from four-cell stage blastomeres from early meridional divisions develop normally. The developmental defects of chimaeras made from the most vegetal blastomeres that result from later second cleavages are the most severe and following transplantation into foster mothers they fail to develop to term. However, when such individual four-cell blastomeres are surrounded by blastomeres from random positions, they are able to contribute to all embryonic lineages. In conclusion, this study shows that while all four-cell blastomeres can have full developmental potential, they differ in their individual developmental properties according to their origin in the embryo from as early as the four-cell stage.
Variation in Voiced Stop Prenasalization in Greek

Ancient Greek clusters of nasal (N) plus voiceless unaspirated (T) or voiced stop (D), merged to ND in Middle Greek, yielding ND or D in different modern dialects. Impressionistic studies suggest that currently there is stylistic variation between D and ND in all dialects, with ND as the high variant. Our study reveals that age, not style, is the most important factor in ND/D variation, with speakers under 40 using dramatically fewer ND tokens than older speakers; at the same time NT, a variant which reflects spelling conventions and is possible only across word boundaries, emerges as a careful style marker. This abrupt change of pattern coincides with important sociopolitical changes in Greece, such as the official demise of Katharevousa, the high variety of Greek diglossia. Thus, this change in apparent time suggests a real sound change in progress away from the previous pattern of stable variation. * (Modern Greek, diglossia, voiced stop prenasalization, stop-voicing)
Internal Tin ${\hbox {Nb}}_{3}{\hbox {Sn}}$ Conductors Engineered for Fusion and Particle Accelerator Applications

The critical current density (J<sub>c</sub>) of Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn strand has been significantly improved over the last several years. For most magnet applications, high J<sub>c</sub> internal tin has displaced bronze process strand. The highest J<sub>c</sub> values are obtained from distributed barrier strands. We have continued development of strands made with Nb-47 wt%Ti rods to supply the dopant, and have achieved J<sub>c</sub> values of 3000 A/mm<sup>2</sup> (12 T, 4.2 K). Such wires have very good higher field performance as well, reaching 1700 A/mm<sup>2</sup> at 15 T. To reduce the effective filament diameter in these high J<sub>c</sub> strands, the number of subelement rods incorporated into the final restack billet has been increased to 127 in routine production, and results are presented on experimental 217 stacks. A new re-extrusion technique for improving the monofilament shape is also described. For fusion applications such as ITER, we have developed single-barrier internal tin strands having non-Cu J<sub>c</sub> values over 1100 A/mm<sup>2</sup> (12 T, 4.2 K) with hysteresis losses less than 700 mJ/cm<sup>3</sup> over non-Cu volume. The J<sub>c</sub>-strain behavior of such composites is also presented.
Spatio-temporal learning with arrays of analog nanosynapses

Emerging nanodevices such as resistive memories are being considered for hardware realizations of a variety of artificial neural networks (ANNs), including highly promising online variants of the learning approaches known as reservoir computing (RC) and the extreme learning machine (ELM). We propose an RC/ELM inspired learning system built with nanosynapses that performs both on-chip projection and regression operations. To address time-dynamic tasks, the hidden neurons of our system perform spatio-temporal integration and can be further enhanced with variable sampling or multiple activation windows. We detail the system and show its use in conjunction with a highly analog nanosynapse device on a standard task with intrinsic timing dynamics-the TI-46 battery of spoken digits. The system achieves nearly perfect (99%) accuracy at sufficient hidden layer size, which compares favorably with software results. In addition, the model is extended to a larger dataset, the MNIST database of handwritten digits. By translating the database into the time domain and using variable integration windows, up to 95% classification accuracy is achieved. In addition to an intrinsically low-power programming style, the proposed architecture learns very quickly and can easily be converted into a spiking system with negligible loss in performance-all features that confer significant energy efficiency.
Androgen levels in adult females: changes with age, menopause, and oophorectomy.

CONTEXT Changes in androgen levels across the adult female life span and the effects of natural menopause and oophorectomy have not been clearly established. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to document the effects of age on androgen levels in healthy women and to explore the effects of natural and surgical menopause. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A cross-sectional study was conducted of 1423 non-healthcare-seeking women, aged 18-75 yr, randomly recruited from the community over 15 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Serum levels by age of total testosterone (T), calculated free T, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, and androstenedione in a reference group of women free of confounding factors. Women in the reference group had no usage of exogenous steroid therapy; no history of tubal ligation, hysterectomy, or bilateral oophorectomy; and no hyperprolactinemia or polycystic ovarian syndrome. The effects of natural and surgical menopause on sex steroid levels were also examined. RESULTS In the reference population (n = 595), total T, calculated free T, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, and androstenedione declined steeply with age (P < 0.001), with the decline of each being greater in the earlier than the later decades. Examination of serum androgen levels by year in women aged 45-54 yr showed no independent effect of menopausal status on androgen levels. In women aged 55 yr or older, those who reported bilateral oophorectomy and were not on exogenous steroids had significantly lower total T and free T levels than women 55 yr or older in the reference group. CONCLUSIONS We report that serum androgen levels decline steeply in the early reproductive years and do not vary because a consequence of natural menopause and that the postmenopausal ovary appears to be an ongoing site of testosterone production. These significant variations in androgens with age must be taken into account when normal ranges are reported and in studies of the role of androgens in women.
Mechanical characterization and application of Weibull statistics to the strength of softwood lignin-based carbon fibers

Mechanical characterization of the first generation of softwood kraft lignin-based carbon fibers (CF) was carried out. The single-fiber tensile tests of filaments with different diameters and length were performed to evaluate stiffness and strength of carbon fibers. The average mechanical properties were measured as follows: tensile strength of approximately 300 MPa, the elastic modulus of 30 GPa and a strain at failure within interval of 0.7–1.2%. The fiber strength data was evaluated by the two-parameter Weibull statistics and parameters of this distribution were obtained. Although strength of the produced fibers is still significantly lower than that of commercially available, the experimental results and predictions based on Weibull statistics show a fairly good fit. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 3689–3697, 2013
Phantoms in the brain

After amputation many people experience vivid sensations of the body part they have lost.1 These “sensory ghosts” can arise within hours of the loss of the limb and are often painful. Such phenomena have been a mysterious part of medical lore for over a century, but recent research suggests that phantoms can teach us substantial lessons about the organisation and plasticity of the brain. Fig 1. How amputees perceive their phantoms (Credit: ALEXA WRIGHT) ! [][1] We stand to learn most from phantoms if we attend closely to patients' subjective reports. One innovative study, for example, has made use of digital photography to depict how amputees perceive their phantoms (fig 1) (A Wright et al, Wellcome Trust Sci Art Project, 1997). By remaining true to patients' own experiences, the researchers found it … [1]: /embed/graphic-2.gif
TinyDB : An Acquisitional Query Processing System for Sensor Networks 1

In the past few years, smart sensor devices have matured to the point that it is now feasible to deploy large, distributed networks of such devices [Pottie and Kaiser 2000; Hill et al. 2000; Mainwaring et al. 2002; Cerpa et al. 2001]. Sensor networks are differentiated from other wireless, battery-powered environments in that they consist of tens or hundreds of autonomous nodes that operate without human interaction ( e.g.,configuration of network routes, recharging of batteries, or tuning of parameters) for weeks or months at a time. Furthermore, sensor networks are often embedded into some (possibly remote) physical environment from which they must monitor and collect data. The long-term, low-power nature of sensor networks, coupled with their proximity to physical phenomena, leads to a significantly altered view of software systems compared to more traditional mobile or distributed environments. In this article, we are concerned with query processing in sensor networks. Researchers have noted the benefits of a query processor-like interface to sensor networks and the need for sensitivity to limited power and computational resources [Intanagonwiwat et al. 2000; Madden and Franklin 2002; P.Bonnet et al. 2001; Yao and Gehrke 2002; Madden et al. 2002]. Prior systems, however, tend to view query processing in sensor networks simply as a power-constrained version of traditional query processing: given some set of data, they
Preliminary evaluation of a remote mobile collaborative environment

MCEs (Mobile Collaborative Environments) are systems designed to allow users to collaborate any time and anywhere using wireless networks and mobile devices. In this paper we report on our findings from the development and testing of a fully functional MCE photo-conferencing service that enables seamless synchronous collaboration between remote mobile users over existing 3G cellular networks. Key to the development of MCEs is an understanding of the effects of remote gestural interactions between mobile participants. We report on the results of an initial evaluation of our photo-conferencing service, examining the effects of two remote gestural interactions, 'Pointing' and 'Scaling', assessing their impact on performance measurements. Our findings begin to inform the design of future mobile collaborative environments.
Intranasal Oxytocin Selectively Modulates Large-Scale Brain Networks in Humans

Abstract A growing body of evidence indicates that the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) alters the neural correlates of socioemotional and salience processing. Yet the effects of OT over important large-scale networks involved in these processes, such as the default mode (DM), ventral attention (VA), and cingulo-opercular (CO) networks, remain unknown. Therefore, we conducted a placebo-controlled crossover study with intranasal 24 IU OT in 38 healthy male subjects using a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm to investigate its impact over these three networks candidates. To understand the underlying mechanisms of the neuropeptide, we compared the intranetwork connectivity for each network candidate and also the internetwork connectivity across all networks between both treatment conditions. Based on the relevance of interindividual factors for OT effects, we correlated individual network changes with behavioral performance in a decision-making task and with impulsivity scores. Our results show that OT mainly alters connectivity in the VA, on one side reducing the coupling to regions that typically form the nodes of DM, an introspective and self-referential network, and on the other side increasing the coupling to the edges of the CO, which is involved in salience processing. The results of the internetwork analyses confirmed the specificity of the OT effects. Indeed, we observed significant correlations with the erroneous performance during decision-making but not with the obtained impulsivity scores. Overall, our data support that the modulation of functional connectivity within the VA is a basic mechanism by which OT directs attentional resources from internal to external cues, preparing the brain for context-dependent salience processing.
Use of Information Technology for Community Empowerment: Transforming Geographic Information Systems into Community Information Systems

GIS has emerged as an elitist, anti‐democratic technology by virtue of its technological complexity and cost. The question of democratizing this technology has been addressed in the GIS and Society literature. This paper addresses the thorny issue of uneven access to GIS and the associated social power it confers. Following the principle that effective access to information leads to better government as well as to community empowerment, this paper explores the issues of providing equitable access to GIS at the grass‐roots level. The paper discusses a university/community partnership with the distressed, inner city neighborhood of Metcalfe Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In this project, the members of an inner‐city neighborhood organization were given training in GIS for accessing public information, creating new databases from their own surveys, and analyzing these databases, with the purpose of making them able and active adjuncts to the conduct of city management and the formation of public policy. The paper evaluates the successes and failures of the project. It also explores the nature of GIS usage in this resource poor community organization between 1993–2000.
Parathyroid Pathology : Its Relation to Choice of Operation for Hyperparathyroidism

Multichannel autoanalyzers have diagnosed many unsuspected, largely asymptomatic cases of primary hyperparathyroidism. The age of onset of the disease and its rate of progression are not well understood. Surgical restoration of the eucalcemic state is associated with the healing of bone pathology, but many patients are not relieved of hypertensive or renal disease, and sometimes these problems continue to develop in the postoperative period, resulting in continued morbidity and mortality despite "successfid" surgery. Conflicting opinions regarding the differentiation between parathyroid adenomas, hyperplasia, and normal glands appear to be resolving as newer data, both retrospective and prospective, reemphasize the pathologic importance of the clinically enlarged or abnormal glands. Parathyroid surgery for renal osteodystrophy of secondary hyperparathyroidism and for persisting hypercalcemia of tertiary hyperparathyroidism may be modified by autotransplantation. Carcinoma of the parathyroid glands is rare, but operative findings merit review. A variety of surgical approaches have been proposed. The surest method for restoring normal . calcium levels with minimal permanent hypocalcemia is identification of 4 parathyroid glands and removal of those which are grossly abnormal. For patients with multiple endocrine adenomatosis or familial hyperparathyroidism, subtotal parathyroidectomy is preferred. Additional surgical guidelines are reviewed and the development of a parathyroid registry to ensure 9 ~_doser follow-up is suggested.
Detection of hard cuts and gradual transitions from video using fuzzy logic

In this paper, we introduce a novel approach for the detection and classification of shot boundaries based on interval type-2 fuzzy logic. We consider fuzzy low level features (Fuzzy Histogram (FH) and Fuzzy Co-occurrence Matrix (FCM)) and evaluate a fuzzy rule base modelled by interval type-2 sets to detect cut boundaries. After detection of cuts, a recovery mechanism is used to reduce false positives caused by illumination variation (e.g., camera flash light). The fuzzy rules used for gradual transition form a unified approach to detect various types gradual transitions like dissolves, fades and wipes, by a single method. Test results indicate that very high precision and recall could be achieved for the test videos, particularly the recall value of gradual transitions.
Cerebral blood flow and cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease

In Parkinson's disease, there is high prevalence of dementia, reduction of the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), and neuronal loss and Alzheimer-like pathologic changes in cerebral cortex. Since rCBF is also decreased in Alzheimer's dementia, it is theoretically possible that both decreases in rCBF and cognitive impairment in parkinsonians are caused by a similar mechanism, eg, reduced metabolic demand or loss of cholinergic neurons innervating cortex and microvessels. We therefore measured rCBF using the 133Xenon inhalation technique and evaluated cognitive function with a detailed neuropsychological test battery in 48 patients with Parkinson's disease. Mean brain, hemispheric, and regional flows were decreased in parkinsonians as compared with those in age-matched controls. Most of the cognitive functions were impaired in patients as compared with those in normal subjects. However, there was no correlation between the magnitude of rCBF reduction and the presence and severity of intellectual deterioration in parkinsonians, suggesting that each may be caused by a different mechanism.
[Myocardial remodeling and immunologic activation in patients with heart failure].

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Immune response-mediated regulation of myocardial collagen remains poorly understood. Our objective was to investigate the relationship between ventricular remodeling and immunologic activation in patients with heart failure (HF) by comparing dilated and ischemic cardiomyopathy. METHODS We studied 94 patients with HF and dilated cardiomyopathy (n=46) or ischemic cardiomyopathy (n=48). We recorded left ventricular (LV) volumes, E/A ratio, and ejection fraction. Plasma concentrations of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), soluble TNFa receptor I (sTNF-RI), sTNF-RII, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-10 were measured. The serum procollagen type-III amino-terminal propeptide (PIIINP) level was also obtained. RESULTS Ventricular volumes were greater in the dilated cardiomyopathy than in the ischemic cardiomyopathy group (P< .05). However, sTNF-RI, sTNF-RII and PIIINP levels were higher in the ischemic group (P< .05). In this group, there were significant correlations between ventricular volumes and IL-10 and sTNF-RII levels. There was also a significant correlation between PIIINP and sTNF-RII levels (r=0.30; P< .05). In the dilated cardiomyopathy group, there was a significant correlation between ventricular volumes and IL-10 level, and between PIIINP level and IL-6 (r=0.32; P< .05) and sTNF-RII levels (r=0.32; P< .05). Multiple linear regression analysis, which included cytokine levels, age, sex and ventricular function, showed that the sTNF-RII level was an independent predictor of the PIIINP level (adjusted r(2)=0.16; P< . 0001) and of ventricular volumes (LV end-systolic volume index, adjusted r(2)=0.034; P< . 05; and LV end-diastolic volume index, adjusted r(2)=. 048; P< . 05) in both groups. CONCLUSIONS In HF, there is an interaction between proinflammatory cytokines and the extracellular matrix. Immunologic implications vary according to disease etiology. The elevation in proinflammatory cytokine and PIIINP levels is greater in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. Multiple regression analysis showed that the sTNF-RII level was an independent predictor of ventricular remodeling.
Normal clinical and ultrasound findings indicate a low risk to sustain jumper’s knee patellar tendinopathy: a longitudinal study on Swedish elite junior volleyball players

Background: Jumper’s knee patellar tendinopathy is well known to be a common and difficult injury in volleyball. Knowledge about its aetiology and pathogenesis is sparse. Objective: To prospectively follow clinical status, tendon structure and vascularity in elite junior volleyball players. Methods: 22 volleyball players (44 patellar tendons) beginning their first grade at the Swedish National Centre for high school volleyball were continuously evaluated clinically and by ultrasonography (US) and power Doppler (PD) over the 3 school years. Results: At inclusion, there were 44 tendons being assessed. Jumper’s knee was diagnosed clinically in eight patellar tendons (seven of eight had structural changes and vascularity on US+PD). There were 27 normal (clinical and US+PD) tendons. At 3 years, there were 36 tendons still being assessed. Four individuals (eight tendons) had been excluded. Jumper’s knee had developed in 2 of 25 (2 were excluded) tendons that were normal (clinical and US+PD) at inclusion. Jumper’s knee (clinical and US+PD) was also present in six tendons. Conclusions: Normal clinical tests and ultrasound findings at the start indicated a low risk for these elite junior volleyball players to sustain jumper’s knee during three school years with intensive training and playing.