Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Regulation of Nitric Oxide Synthase Isoform Expression in Mouse and Human Fallopian Tubes: Potential Insights for Ectopic Pregnancy

Nitric oxide (NO) is highly unstable and has a half-life of seconds in buffer solutions. It is synthesized by NO-synthase (NOS), which has been found to exist in the following three isoforms: neuro nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). NOS activity is localized in the reproductive tracts of many species, although direct evidence for NOS isoforms in the Fallopian tubes of mice is still lacking. In the present study, we investigated the expression and regulation of NOS isoforms in the mouse and human Fallopian tubes during the estrous and menstrual cycles, respectively. We also measured isoform expression in humans with ectopic pregnancy and in mice treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Our results confirmed the presence of different NOS isoforms in the mouse and human Fallopian tubes during different stages of the estrous and menstrual cycles and showed that iNOS expression increased in the Fallopian tubes of women with ectopic pregnancy and in LPS-treated mice. Elevated iNOS activity might influence ovulation, cilia beats, contractility, and embryo transportation in such a manner as to increase the risk of ectopic pregnancy. This study has provided morphological and molecular evidence that NOS isoforms are present and active in the human and mouse Fallopian tubes and suggests that iNOS might play an important role in both the reproductive cycle and infection-induced ectopic pregnancies.
Characterization of highly crystalline lead iodide nanosheets prepared by room-temperature solution processing

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting materials are particularly appealing for many applications. Although theory predicts a large number of 2D materials, experimentally only a few of these materials have been identified and characterized comprehensively in the ultrathin limit. Lead iodide, which belongs to the transition metal halides family and has a direct bandgap in the visible spectrum, has been known for a long time and has been well characterized in its bulk form. Nevertheless, studies of this material in the nanometer thickness regime are rather scarce. In this article we demonstrate an easy way to synthesize ultrathin, highly crystalline flakes of PbI2 by precipitation from a solution in water. We thoroughly characterize the produced thin flakes with different techniques ranging from optical and Raman spectroscopy to temperature-dependent photoluminescence and electron microscopy. We compare the results to ab initio calculations of the band structure of the material. Finally, we fabricate photodetectors based on PbI2 and study their optoelectronic properties.
Evidence of the Impact of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Purposes

This paper identifies a need for empirical studies to validate the purposes of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and reports the results of an investigation into one purpose based on one definition. The SoTL movement needs to be seen to be scholarly and to be engaging in evidence-based practice. More evidence is needed on whether SoTL is achieving its purposes and whether those purposes are worthwhile. The study was designed to address this issue by assessing whether one acknowledged purpose of SoTL (to enhance students’ experience of learning) is being achieved. Questionnaires on SoTL and approaches to teaching were used to capture the experiences of 56 faculty. It is concluded that when teaching is seen as scholarly and inquiring and when it is made public and peer reviewed, there is a stronger likelihood that the improving student learning purposes of SoTL are being achieved.
Divergent Roles of Tumor Necrosis Factor and Platelet-Activating Factor in Endotoxin-Induced Release of Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein 1 and Macrophage Inflammatory Protein 1β in Chimpanzees

ABSTRACT A platelet-activating factor receptor antagonist reduced the release of macrophage inflammatory protein 1β (MIP-1β) during endotoxemia in chimpanzees but did not influence the secretion of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1). Anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha monoclonal antibody completely prevented MCP-1 release and simultaneously enhanced the secretion of MIP-1β. Levels of MIP-1β and MCP-1 release were differentially regulated during endotoxemia.
Distributed learning and multi-objectivity in traffic light control

Traffic jams and suboptimal traffic flows are ubiquitous in modern societies, and they create enormous economic losses each year. Delays at traffic lights alone account for roughly 10% of all delays in US traffic. As most traffic light scheduling systems currently in use are static, set up by human experts rather than being adaptive, the interest in machine learning approaches to this problem has increased in recent years. Reinforcement learning (RL) approaches are often used in these studies, as they require little pre-existing knowledge about traffic flows. Distributed constraint optimisation approaches (DCOP) have also been shown to be successful, but are limited to cases where the traffic flows are known. The distributed coordination of exploration and exploitation (DCEE) framework was recently proposed to introduce learning in the DCOP framework. In this paper, we present a study of DCEE and RL techniques in a complex simulator, illustrating the particular advantages of each, comparing them against standard isolated traffic actuated signals. We analyse how learning and coordination behave under different traffic conditions, and discuss the multi-objective nature of the problem. Finally we evaluate several alternative reward signals in the best performing approach, some of these taking advantage of the correlation between the problem-inherent objectives to improve performance.
Evolutionary Selection of Network Structure and Function

We explore the relationship between evolved neural network structure and function, by applying graph theoretical tool s to the analysis of the topology of artificial neural networks known to exhibit evolutionary increases in dynamical neural complexity. Our results suggest a synergistic convergence between network structures emerging due to physical constraints, such as wiring length and brain volume, and optimal network topologies evolved purely for function in the absence of physical constraints. We observe increases in clusterin g coefficients in concert with decreases in path lengths that together produce a driven evolutionary bias towards smallworld networks relative to comparable networks in a passive null model. These small-world biases are exhibited during the same periods that evolution actively selects for increa sing neural complexity (also during which the model’s agents are behaviorally adapting to their environment), thus strengt hening the association between small-world network structures and complex neural dynamics.
Assessing the accuracy and reliability of ultrasonographic three-dimensional parathyroid volume measurement in a patient with secondary hyperparathyroidism: a comparison with the two-dimensional conventional method

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy and reliability of the semi-automated ultrasonographic volume measurement tool, virtual organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL), for measuring the volume of parathyroid glands. Methods Volume measurements for 40 parathyroid glands were performed in patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism caused by chronic renal failure. The volume of the parathyroid glands was measured twice by experienced radiologists by two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) methods using conventional sonograms and the VOCAL with 30°angle increments before parathyroidectomy. The specimen volume was also measured postoperatively. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and the absolute percentage error were used for estimating the reproducibility and accuracy of the two different methods. Results The ICC value between two measurements of the 2D method and the 3D method was 0.956 and 0.999, respectively. The mean absolute percentage error of the 2D method and the 3D VOCAL technique was 29.56% and 5.78%, respectively. For accuracy and reliability, the plots of the 3D method showed a more compact distribution than those of the 2D method on the Bland-Altman graph. Conclusion The rotational VOCAL method for measuring the parathyroid gland is more accurate and reliable than the conventional 2D measurement. This VOCAL method could be used as a more reliable follow-up imaging modality in a patient with hyperparathyroidism.
Inequality in pre-school education and care in Germany: an analysis by social class and immigrant status

In recent years, early childhood education and care have gained increasing public attention. This has led to an expansion of education and care programmes. Yet, little is known about how parents use different options of education and care. Take, for example, kin care, paid caregivers and out-of-kindergarten activities. Drawing on social reproduction theory, we argue that parents organise their children’s lives depending on their social class. In addition, we hypothesise that immigrant status plays a role in how parents set up their children’s education and care. We use logit regression models to analyse the education and care arrangements of n = 2400 parents with 3–5 year-olds in Germany. The findings show that parents from the middle and upper classes make more use of ‘enrichment activities’ than lower and working class parents. When it comes to the influence of immigrant status and to informal care arrangements, the findings add to a more complex picture.
Regional difference of lipid distribution in brain of apolipoprotein E deficient mice

According to recent knowledge, apolipoprotein E (apo E) plays a significant role in the homeostasis of intracellular cholesterol level in various tissues. Apo E deficient mice develop hyperlipidemia, and suffer from atherosclerosis in extracerebral blood vessels and neurodegeneration in the central nervous system. Furthermore, Walker et al. (Am. J. Path., 1997;151:1371–1377) demonstrated cerebral xanthomas of various sizes in the brain of apo E deficient mice.
Human imprinted retrogenes exhibit non-canonical imprint chromatin signatures and reside in non-imprinted host genes

Imprinted retrotransposed genes share a common genomic organization including a promoter-associated differentially methylated region (DMR) and a position within the intron of a multi-exonic ‘host’ gene. In the mouse, at least one transcript of the host gene is also subject to genomic imprinting. Human retrogene orthologues are imprinted and we reveal that human host genes are not imprinted. This coincides with genomic rearrangements that occurred during primate evolution, which increase the separation between the retrogene DMRs and the host genes. To address the mechanisms governing imprinted retrogene expression, histone modifications were assayed at the DMRs. For the mouse retrogenes, the active mark H3K4me2 was associated with the unmethylated paternal allele, while the methylated maternal allele was enriched in repressive marks including H3K9me3 and H4K20me3. Two human retrogenes showed monoallelic enrichment of active, but not of repressive marks suggesting a partial uncoupling of the relationship between DNA methylation and repressive histone methylation, possibly due to the smaller size and lower CpG density of these DMRs. Finally, we show that the genes immediately flanking the host genes in mouse and human are biallelically expressed in a range of tissues, suggesting that these loci are distinct from large imprinted clusters.
The Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Fludarabine Phosphate in Patients with Renal Impairment: A Prospective Dose Adjustment Study

A significant number of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Waldenström's macroglobulinemia patients, treated with fludarabine phosphate (fludarabine), are elderly with diminished renal function. Since the kidney eliminates approximately 60% of fludarabine's primary metabolite (F-ara-A), dose modification is necessary for all patients with impaired renal function including elderly patients. In this study, 22 patients with varying levels of renal function received a single intravenous dose of fludarabine (25 mg/m3), followed one week later by five (one per day) doses that were adjusted according to three predefined creatinine clearance (CLcr) levels. Relationships between renal function and F-ara-A clearance, F-ara-A exposure and F-ara-A -related toxicities were examined. The results demonstrate that total F-ara-A clearance correlated with CLcr and that F-ara-A exposure levels and patient toxicity profiles were similar across treatment groups. In conclusion, the CLcr-based fludarabine dose adjustments used in this study provided reasonably equivalent F-ara-A exposure with acceptable safety in patients with varying degrees of renal function.
Reproductive Coercion by Male Sexual Partners: Associations With Partner Violence and College Women’s Sexual Health

Reproductive coercion (RC) involves indirect and direct partner behaviors that interfere with effective contraceptive use. RC has been identified as a correlate of intimate partner violence (IPV) among ethnically diverse women sampled from urban health clinics or shelters. Research is needed to determine whether RC is experienced more generally by young women and, if so, whether RC is associated with IPV, multiple indicators of sexual health, or both. In the present study, sexually active undergraduate women (N = 223, 80% Caucasian/White) provided self-report data on their sexual health and behaviorally specific lifetime experiences of both RC and partner physical violence. About 30% reported experiencing RC from a male sexual partner. Most commonly, RC involved condom manipulation or refusal within an adolescent dating relationship. Experiences of RC and partner violence were not independent; half of the women who reported RC also reported experiencing partner physical violence. Women with a history of RC reported a significantly reduced rate of contraceptive use during last vaginal sex and lower contraceptive and sexual self-efficacy. Additional research on the sociocultural and relational contexts of RC is needed.
Häppchen oder Hauptgericht? Zeichen der Stagnation in der deutschen Mehrsprachigkeitsdidaktik

Die vorliegende Studie untersucht die Diskrepanz zwischen mehrsprachiger Ideologie, politischer Anforderung und Lehrpraxis in Bezug auf die Mehrsprachigkeit von SchulerInnen im deutschen Klassenzimmer. In einem Vergleich zwischen offiziellen Anforderungen durch Bund und Lander und zugelassenen Lehrwerken fur die 1. -10. Klasse wird deutlich, dass die Unterstutzung mehrsprachiger Kompetenzen zwar erstrebt wird, jedoch noch nicht erfolgreich in die Lehrwerkpraxis eingegangen ist. The present paper focuses on the gap between ideology, official curricula and classroom practice regarding acceptance of students’ multilingualism and possibilities for capitalizing on their language resources. Concentrating on official national and state guidelines in Germany and the state-approved textbooks for German classes in Grades 1-10, it becomes apparent that steps towards supporting plurilingual competencies have produced some well-meaning concepts but fail at the border to the classroom. Schlagworter: Mehrsprachigkeit, Lehrwerkanalyse, Bildungsstandards, Herkunftssprachen
Cognitive Impairment and Its Structural Correlates in the Parkinsonian Subtype of Multiple System Atrophy

Background/Aims: Previous studies indicate that patients with the parkinsonian subtype of multiple system atrophy (MSA-P) experience cognitive impairment. This study aimed to identify the existence of cognitive impairments and the different topographic patterns of morphological changes in MSA-P by means of imaging analysis, and also whether these morphological changes could be associated with cognitive dysfunctions in MSA-P. Methods: We recruited 15 nondemented probable MSA-P patients and 32 normal controls (NC) for neuropsychological testing and MRI. We analyzed morphological changes using cortical thickness analysis, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and cerebellar volumetry. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation of each cognitive score with the mean thickness of significant cortical-thinning clusters, mean gray-matter density of VBM clusters and cerebellar volume. Results: The scores on the Digit Span Test, the Seoul Verbal Learning Test (immediate and delayed), the phonemic Controlled Oral Word Association Test and the Stroop color test were significantly lower in the MSA-P group than in the NC group. We found two clusters exhibiting significant cortical thinning in the right paracentral lobule and parahippocampal gyrus. VBM analysis revealed significant gray-matter atrophy in the MSA-P group in the bilateral basal ganglia, cerebellum and temporal and frontal cortical areas. Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that cognitive dysfunction correlated significantly with thinning in the neocortex, cerebellum and striatum. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that cortical and cerebellar atrophy and striatal degeneration are associated with cognitive impairment in patients with MSA-P.
GLABRA2 Directly Suppresses Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factor Genes with Diverse Functions in Root Hair Development

GLABRA2 targets and suppresses five basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor genes with diverse functions in root hair development during root hair pattern formation of Arabidopsis thaliana. The Arabidopsis thaliana GLABRA2 (GL2) gene encodes a transcription factor involved in the cell differentiation of various epidermal tissues. During root hair pattern formation, GL2 suppresses root hair development in non-hair cells, acting as a node between the gene regulatory networks for cell fate determination and cell differentiation. Despite the importance of GL2 function, its molecular basis remains obscure because the GL2 target genes leading to the network for cell differentiation are unknown. We identified five basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor genes (ROOT HAIR DEFECTIVE6 [RHD6], RHD6-LIKE1 [RSL1], RSL2, Lj-RHL1-LIKE1 [LRL1], and LRL2) as GL2 direct targets using transcriptional and posttranslational induction systems. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis confirmed GL2 binding to upstream regions of these genes in planta. Reporter gene analyses showed that these genes are expressed in various stages of root hair development and are suppressed by GL2 in non-hair cells. GL2 promoter-driven GFP fusions of LRL1 and LRL2, but not those of the other bHLH proteins, conferred root hair development on non-hair cells. These results indicate that GL2 directly suppresses bHLH genes with diverse functions in root hair development.
Performance, Rewards, and Perceptions of Sex Discrimination Among Male and Female Faculty

Data from male and female faculy at the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois, matched by department and rank, reveal that (1) rewards are influenced by marital status but in opposite directions for men and women, (2) rewards are not higher in fields with a smaller proportion of women, and (3) perception of sex discrimination is more realistic among women than men.
‘I am the person now I was always meant to be’: Identity reconstruction and narrative reframing in therapeutic community prisons

Drawing upon semi-ethnographic research, this article explores desistance in process among serious offenders residing in democratic therapeutic communities. It is argued that offender rehabilitation in therapeutic communities involves a process of purposive and agentic reconstruction of identity and narrative reframing, so that a ‘new’ and ‘better’ person emerges whose attitudes and behaviours cohere with long-term desistance from crime. This is possible because the prison-based therapeutic community, with its commitment to a radically ‘different’ culture and mode of rehabilitation, socially enables, produces and reinforces the emergence of someone ‘different’. The article therefore develops existing understandings of change in forensic therapeutic communities, and reaffirms theories of desistance which emphasize the importance of pro-social changes to the offender’s personal identity and self-narrative.
How Loss of Meaning with Preservation of Phonological Word Form Affects Immediate Serial Recall Performance: A Linguistic Account

We present HP, a patient who following the occurrence of herpes simplex encephalitis, lost the ability to understand a subset of words while others remained preserved. Of particular interest is the fact that the meaningless items retained their lexical status. HP’s immediate serial recall of meaningless words was thus compared with that of meaningful words to assess the unique contribution of semantic knowledge without the confounding influence of phonological word (lexical) form. The results revealed a clear recall advantage for meaningful over meaningless words, indicating a specific contribution to recall from the semantic level of representation. Furthermore, an error analysis showed that phonemic errors were most common when semantic information was lacking. Interestingly, the same error pattern was found for pseudo-words that shared phonological elements with meaningless words. These findings support a linguistic and interactive activation account of short-term serial recall, which assumes that all levels of representation, including semantic knowledge about words, contribute to recall performance. In addition, the findings provide preliminary evidence that this view may be extended to the recall of pseudo-words, as there appear to be some influences of semantic representation on pseudo-word recall.
The achievement and antecedents of labelling

ABSTRACT The achievement of labelling was investigated in a longitudinal study of one mother–infant dyad, using video-recordings of their free play in a period between 0; 8 and 1; 6. Analysis of joint picture-book reading revealed that this activity had very early on the structure of a dialogue. The child's lexical labels might be regarded as more adult-like substitutes for earlier communicative forms that he had utilized in the dialogue. These were smiling, reaching, pointing and babbling vocalizations, all of which were consistently interpreted by the mother as expressing the child's intention of requesting a label or providing one. Participating in a ritualized dialogue, rather than imitation, was found to be the major mechanism through which labelling was achieved.
On orientifolds, discrete torsion, branes and M theory

We find some lifts to M-theory of orientifold and orbifold planes including the O1, O3 and O5 planes of type IIB and their transformations under SL(2,). The possible discrete torsion variants (or K-theory classes) are explored, and are interpreted as arising from brane intersections with planes. We find new variants of the O0 and of an orbifold line (OF1) and determine their tensions in some cases. A systematic review of orientifolds, M orientifolds, and known M-lifts, with some new clarifications is included together with a discussion of the role of T-duality.