Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neurons with cholinergic phenotype in the visual system of Drosophila

The optic lobe of Drosophila houses about 60,000 neurons that are organized in parallel, retinotopically arranged columns. Based on the Golgi‐staining method, Fischbach and Dittrich ([1989] Cell Tissue Res 258:441–475) determined that each column contains about 90 identified cells. Each of these cells is supposed to release one or two different neurotransmitters. However, for most cells the released neurotransmitter is not known. Here we characterize the vast majority of the neurons in the Drosophila optic lobe that release acetylcholine (Ach), the major excitatory neurotransmitter of the insect central nervous system. We employed a promoter specific for cholinergic neurons and restricted its activity to single or a few cells using the MARCM technique. This approach allowed us to establish an anatomical map of neurons with a cholinergic phenotype based on their branching pattern. We identified 43 different types of neurons with a cholinergic phenotype. Thirty‐one of them match previously described members of nine different subgroups: Transmedullary (Tm), Transmedullary Y (TmY), Medulla intrinsic (Mi, Mt, and Pm), Bushy T (T), Translobula Plate (Tlp), and Lobula intrinsic (Lcn and Lt) neurons (Fischbach and Dittrich [1989]). Intriguingly, 12 newly identified cell types suggest that previous Golgi studies were not saturating and that the actual number of different neurons per column is higher than previously thought. This study and similar ones on other neurotransmitter systems will contribute towards a columnar wiring diagram and foster the functional dissection of the visual circuitry in Drosophila. J. Comp. Neurol. 519:162‐176, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Invasive Haemophilus influenzae disease in India: a preliminary report of prospective multihospital surveillance. IBIS (Invasive Bacterial Infections Surveillance) Group.

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency, clinical characteristics and outcome of acute invasive infections caused by Haemophilus influenzae. DESIGN Prospective hospital-based surveillance. SETTING Six large academic referral hospitals in India. PARTICIPANTS Three thousand four hundred forty-one patients from infancy to adulthood with pneumonia, meningitis or suspected bacterial sepsis. RESULTS Preliminary data from 24 months of surveillance are presented. There were 58 H. influenzae isolates, of which 96% were serotype b. Nearly all isolates were from infants and children <5 years old, and most of the childhood isolates were from infants <1 year of age. Meningitis cases accounted for 69% of isolates. Overall case fatality was 11%. More than 50% of isolates were resistant to chloramphenicol, and up to 40% were resistant to ampicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole or erythromycin. There was no resistance to third-generation cephalosporins. CONCLUSIONS These preliminary data from six hospitals suggest a substantial burden of severe, preventable H. influenzae infections in India. The distribution of clinical syndromes and the ages of our Hib patients are fairly similar to data from North America and Europe.
Idea work: Lessons of the extraordinary in everyday creativity

Jean-Luc Arrègle, EMLYON Business School (editor) Laure Cabantous, Cass Business School (editor) Stewart Clegg, University of Technology, Sydney (editor) Olivier Germain, Université du Québec à Montréal (editor, book reviews) Karim Mignonac, Université de Toulouse 1 (editor) Philippe Monin, EMLYON Business School (editor) Tyrone Pitsis, University of Newcastle (editor) José Pla-Barber, Universidad de València (editor) Michael Tushman, Harvard Business School (editor)
Improved growth and water use efficiency of cherry saplings under reduced light intensity

Cherry (Prunus avium L.) saplings were grown under natural sunlight (controls) or moderate shading (up to 30%, depending on the incident light intensity and the hour of the day). Reduced light intensity increased the dry mass of each of the plant components studied. Consequently, the total dry mass of shaded plants was significantly greater than that of controls at the end of the growing season. However, the diurnal trend in the level of photosynthesis (per unit of leaf area) of shaded plants was similar to the controls in August, but lower in September. As the growing season proceeded, reduced photosynthetic rates, thinner mesophyll and larger specific leaf area in the shaded plants indicated that leaf development had adapted to shaded conditions throughout the growing season. It is suggested that increased growth of shaded plants was caused by a higher initial relative growth rate and a greater whole-plant photosynthesis. Shading consistently reduced transpiration over the season, therefore improving water use efficiency of shaded leaves. Our results suggest that a moderate reduction in light intensity can be a useful method for improving growth and saving water in hot and dry environments.
Pb(II) distributions at biofilm–metal oxide interfaces

The distribution of aqueous Pb(II) sorbed at the interface between Burkholderia cepacia biofilms and hematite (α-Fe2O3) or corundum (α-Al2O3) surfaces has been probed by using an application of the long-period x-ray standing wave technique. Attached bacteria and adsorbed organic matter may interfere with sorption processes on metal oxide surfaces by changing the characteristics of the electrical double layer at the solid–solution interface, blocking surface sites, or providing a variety of new sites for metal binding. In this work, Pb Lα fluorescence yield profiles for samples equilibrated with 10−7 to 10−3.8 M Pb(II) were measured and modeled to determine quantitatively the partitioning of Pb(II) at the biofilm–metal oxide interface. Our data show that the reactive sites on the metal oxide surfaces were not passivated by the formation of a monolayer biofilm. Instead, high-energy surface sites on the metal oxides form the dominant sink for Pb(II) at submicromolar concentrations, following the trend α-Fe2O3 (0001) > α-Al2O3 (11̄02) > α-Al2O3 (0001), despite the greater site density within the overlying biofilms. At [Pb] > 10−6 M, significant Pb uptake by the biofilms was observed.
Ketamine Does Not Reduce Postoperative Morphine Consumption After Tonsillectomy in Children

BackgroundTonsillectomy is one of the most frequently performed operations in children and frequently associated with moderate-to-severe pain. ObjectivesThe aim of the present study was to assess the effect of a subhypnotic dose of ketamine on postoperative pain and morphine consumption after tonsillectomy in children. MethodsThis randomized double-blind study involved 84 children, 2 to 12-year-olds, undergoing elective outpatient tonsillectomy. Children were assigned to 2 groups. Group K received morphine and ketamine, 0.25 mg/kg, at induction and Group M received morphine. Modified Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (mCHEOP) scale was used to evaluate postoperative pain. Pain, morphine consumption, and unwanted side effects were recorded for a 24-hour period. One-way analysis of variance and χ2 tests were used for statistical analysis. ResultsPain scores and adverse events were similar between the 2 groups. Although morphine consumption was less in the ketamine group during the immediate postoperative period, total morphine consumption over the course of the study was not significantly different between the 2 groups. Fewer patients in the ketamine group required supplementary oral analgesia in the postoperative surgical unit. ConclusionsThe addition of ketamine 0.25 mg/kg at induction of anesthesia did not decrease postoperative morphine consumption in children undergoing tonsillectomy.
Reflections on the Quality of the Dichotomous Early Childhood Education and Care System in Greece

In exploring the meaning of quality in early childhood care and education, we immediately encounter a conflict in terms of the dichotomy between care and education. Aren't care and education two sides of the same coin? In many countries, however, a distinction is drawn between child care and early education. While the goal of the former is to nurture and respond to physical needs, the latter takes a pedagogic approach. In some cases, this distinction may be helpful. However, research increasingly points toward a holistic approach, as including education with the care is critical to ensuring quality. In this article, the author examines the dichotomy between care and education in Greece, identifies the obstacles it presents, and makes recommendations for a brighter future in her country.
The limited impact of involved surface area and surgical débridement on survival in Fournier's gangrene.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the influence of involved surface area (extent of disease) and the number and timing of surgical débridements on survival in patients with Fournier's gangrene. PATIENTS AND METHODS The medical records of 30 patients with Fournier's gangrene treated over a 15-year period were reviewed. The extent of disease was quantified and expressed as a percentage of the body surface area by applying a modified diagram used to assess burn injuries. The number of surgical débridements and their timing with respect to initial presentation and to each other were also analysed. Patients were stratified by outcome (survival or death) and the data evaluated by Student's t-test, Fisher's exact test and regression analysis. RESULTS Of 30 patients treated 13 died (43%) and 17 survived (57%). The mean surface area involved by disease among survivors was 4.3% (range 1-16.5%) and 7.2% (range 5-20.5%) for non-survivors (P = 0.10). Whilst no direct correlation between death rate and extent of disease existed, patients with < 5% surface area involvement were more likely to survive (P = 0.014). Every patient underwent surgical débridement of the involved area (mean 1.72 procedures per patient). Survivors underwent from one to four débridements (mean 1.79) and non-survivors one to three débridements (mean 1.63); the mean number of débridements did not influence outcome (P = 0.68). The performance of more than one débridement did not affect survival (P = 1.00). The initial débridement was performed within 24 h of presentation in 10 of 13 patients who died and 11 of 17 survivors and had no effect on outcome (P = 0.69). A second débridement was performed after a mean of 6.8 days (range 1-12) among the six survivors and 5.4 days (range 2-16) among the five non-survivors; this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.65). Four survivors required a third débridement, one required a fourth and one patient who succumbed underwent a third débridement. CONCLUSION The mortality rate from Fournier's gangrene continues to be substantial (43% in our series). Although no linear correlation existed, the quantified extent of disease may affect outcome as patients with > 5% of body surface area involved were more likely to succumb to the disease. Finally, the number of surgical débridements, even if first performed within 24 h of presentation, had no impact on outcome in patients with Fournier's gangrene.
Evaluating and comparing the performance of DYMO and OLSR in MANETs and in VANETs

This paper evaluates and compares the performance of two routing protocols, one is reactive, Dynamic MANET On-Demand (DYMO) and other is proactive, Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) in Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) and Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs). Performance of these protocols is analyzed using three performance metrics; Packet Delivery Ratio, Normalized Routing Overhead and End-to-End Delay against varying scalabilities of nodes. We perform these simulations with NS-2 using TwoRayGround propagation model. The SUMO simulator is used to generate a random mobility pattern for VANETs. From the extensive simulations, we observe that DYMO performs better than OLSR for both VANETs and MANETs at the cost of delay. Moreover, DYMO performs better in VANETs as compared to MANETs.
Giant magnons in the D1-D5 system

We study giant magnons in the the D1-D5 system from both the boundary CFT and as classical solutions of the string sigma model in AdS(3) x S-3 x T-4. Re-examining earlier studies of the symmetric product conformal field theory we argue that giant magnons in the symmetric product are BPS states in a centrally extended SU(1 vertical bar 1) x SU(1 vertical bar 1) superalgebra with two more additional central charges. The magnons carry these additional central charges locally but globally they vanish. Using a spin chain description of these magnons and the extended superalgebra we show that these magnons obey a dispersion relation which is periodic in momentum. We then identify these states on the string theory side and show that here too they are BPS in the same centrally extended algebra and obey the same dispersion relation which is periodic in momentum. This dispersion relation arises as the BPS condition for the extended algebra and is similar to that of magnons in N = 4 Yang-Mills Yang-Mills.
The role of tactile sensation mediated by the infraorbital branch of the trigeminal nerve (V) on sexual behaviour of male and female rats

This thesis examines Beach's hypothesis that the sexual behaviour of male rats is under multisensory control and is resistant to the loss of tactile information from the vibrissae. The loss of perioral sensation was found to profoundly disrupt sexual behaviour in sexually inexperienced males tested with females showing five ascending levels of precopulatory behaviour. Males did not copulate with females displaying presenting, presenting and hopping, hopping and darting levels of proceptive behaviour. However, males paired with darting females displaying the highest level level of proceptive behaviour did copulate in the presence of perioral anapsis caused by intramystacial injection of lidocaine. Injection of lidocaine intraperitoneally and intramasseterically showed that this effect was not due to systemic toxicity. Prior sexual experience was found to attenuate the effect of perioral anapsis and males given three prior copulatory trials copulated with presenting females in the presence of perioral perioral anapsis. Males given one prior copulatory trial also copulated with presenting females in the presence of perioral anapsis. These results complement recent research which has called for a revision of the multisensory hyopothesis and indicate that trigeminally mediated tactile information from the vibrissae plays an important role in the initiation of sexual behaviour in the naive male rat.
A review of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder from the perspective of brain networks

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorder in childhood, which affects more than 5% of the population worldwide. ADHD is characterized by developmentally inappropriate behaviors of inattention, and/or impulsivity and hyperactivity. These behavioral manifestations contribute to diminished academic, occupational and social functioning, and have neurobiological bases. Neuronal deficits, especially in the attention and executive function processing networks, have been implicated in both children and adults with ADHD by using sophisticated structural and functional neuroimaging approaches. These structural and functional abnormalities in the brain networks have been associated with the impaired cognitive, affective, and motor behaviors seen in the disorder. The goal of this review is to summarize and integrate emerging themes from the existing neuroimaging connectivity studies based on advanced imaging techniques, applied in data of structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI), diffusion tensor imaging, electroencephalography and event related potential; and to discuss the results of these studies when considering future directions for understanding pathophysiological mechanisms and developmental trajectories of the behavioral manifestations in ADHD. We conclude this review by suggesting that future research should put more effort on understanding the roles of the subcortical structures and their structural/functional pathways in ADHD.
Fidelity and Error Specificity of the α Catalytic Subunit of Escherichia coli DNA Polymerase III*

Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III holoenzyme is the replicative enzyme primarily responsible for the duplication of the E. coli chromosome. This process occurs with high accuracy, less than 10−9 to 10−10 errors being committed per base pair per round of replication. As a first step in understanding the mechanisms responsible for the high fidelity of this process, we have purified the polymerase III α catalytic subunit, free of exonuclease activity, and analyzed its fidelity in vitro. We employed a newly developed gap-filling assay using the N-terminal 250 bases of the lacI gene as a forward mutational target. When synthesizing across this target, α subunit produced mutations at a frequency of 0.6%. DNA sequencing revealed that the mutants created in vitro consisted mostly of frameshift mutations, although some base substitutions were also observed. The frameshifts, occurring at more than 120-fold above the background, consisted largely of −1 deletions. Among them, about 80% were the deletion of a purine template base with a pyrimidine 5′-neighbor. These results suggest that the α subunit (i) has a relatively low ability to extend from misincorporated bases, accounting for the low level of observed base substitutions, and (ii) has a relatively high capability of extension after misalignment of a misincorporated base on the next (complementary) template base, accounting for the high level of frameshift mutations. This model is supported by an experiment in which α subunit was required to initiate DNA synthesis from a terminal mispair in a sequence context that allowed slippage on the next template base. Among the products of this reaction, frameshifts outnumbered base pair substitutions by greater than 70-fold. A comparison to in vivo mutational spectra suggests that the pol III accessory factors may play a major role in modulating the fidelity of DNA synthesis.
Reduced Number of Pigmented Neurons in the Substantia Nigra of Dystonia Patients? Findings from Extensive Neuropathologic, Immunohistochemistry, and Quantitative Analyses

Background Dystonias (Dys) represent the third most common movement disorder after essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson's disease (PD). While some pathogenetic mechanisms and genetic causes of Dys have been identified, little is known about their neuropathologic features. Previous neuropathologic studies have reported generically defined neuronal loss in various cerebral regions of Dys brains, mostly in the basal ganglia (BG), and specifically in the substantia nigra (SN). Enlarged pigmented neurons in the SN of Dys patients with and without specific genetic mutations (e.g., GAG deletions in DYT1 dystonia) have also been described. Whether or not Dys brains are associated with decreased numbers or other morphometric changes of specific neuronal types is unknown and has never been addressed with quantitative methodologies. Methods Quantitative immunohistochemistry protocols were used to estimate neuronal counts and volumes of nigral pigmented neurons in 13 SN of Dys patients and 13 SN of age-matched control subjects (C). Results We observed a significant reduction (∼20%) of pigmented neurons in the SN of Dys compared to C (p<0.01). Neither significant volumetric changes nor evident neurodegenerative signs were observed in the remaining pool of nigral pigmented neurons in Dys brains. These novel quantitative findings were confirmed after exclusion of possible co-occurring SN pathologies including Lewy pathology, tau-neurofibrillary tangles, β-amyloid deposits, ubiquitin (ubiq), and phosphorylated-TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (pTDP43)-positive inclusions. Discussion A reduced number of nigral pigmented neurons in the absence of evident neurodegenerative signs in Dys brains could indicate previously unconsidered pathogenetic mechanisms of Dys such as neurodevelopmental defects in the SN.
The immunosuppressive and toxic effects of FK-506 are mechanistically related: pharmacology of a novel antagonist of FK-506 and rapamycin

FK-506 inhibits Ca(2+)-dependent transcription of lymphokine genes in T cells, and thereby acts as a powerful immunosuppressant. However, its potential therapeutic applications may be seriously limited by several side effects, including nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity. At present, it is unclear whether these immunosuppressive and toxic effects result from interference with related biochemical processes. FK-506 is known to interact with FK-binding protein-12 (FKBP-12), an abundant cytosolic protein with cis-trans peptidyl-prolyl isomerase activity (PPIase) activity. Because rapamycin (RAP) similarly binds to FKBP-12, although it acts in a manner different from FK-506, by inhibiting T cell responses to lymphokines, such an interaction with FKBP-12 is not sufficient to mediate immunosuppression. Recently, it was found that the complex of FKBP-12 with FK-506, but not with RAP, inhibits the phosphatase activity of calcineurin. Here, we used L-685,818, the C18-hydroxy, C21-ethyl derivative of FK-506, to explore further the role of FKBP-12 in the immunosuppressive and toxic actions of FK-506. Although L-685,818 bound with high affinity to FKBP-12 and inhibited its PPIase activity, it did not suppress T cell activation, and, when complexed with FKBP-12, did not affect calcineurin phosphatase activity. However, L-685,818 was a potent antagonist of the immunosuppressive activity of both FK-506 and RAP. Moreover, L-685,818 did not induce any toxicity in dogs and rats or in a mouse model of acute FK-506 nephrotoxicity, but it blocked the effect of FK-506 in this model. Therefore, FK-506 toxicity involves the disruption of biochemical mechanisms related to those implicated in T cell activation. Like immunosuppression, this toxicity is not due to the inhibition of the PPIase activity of FKBP-12, but may be linked to the inhibition of the phosphatase activity of calcineurin by the drug FKBP-12 complex.
Nonparametric Image Registration of Airborne LiDAR, Hyperspectral and Photographic Imagery of Wooded Landscapes

There is much current interest in using multisensor airborne remote sensing to monitor the structure and biodiversity of woodlands. This paper addresses the application of nonparametric (NP) image-registration techniques to precisely align images obtained from multisensor imaging, which is critical for the successful identification of individual trees using object recognition approaches. NP image registration, in particular, the technique of optimizing an objective function, containing similarity and regularization terms, provides a flexible approach for image registration. Here, we develop a NP registration approach, in which a normalized gradient field is used to quantify similarity, and curvature is used for regularization (NGF-Curv method). Using a survey of woodlands in southern Spain as an example, we show that NGF-Curv can be successful at fusing data sets when there is little prior knowledge about how the data sets are interrelated (i.e., in the absence of ground control points). The validity of NGF-Curv in airborne remote sensing is demonstrated by a series of experiments. We show that NGF-Curv is capable of aligning images precisely, making it a valuable component of algorithms designed to identify objects, such as trees, within multisensor data sets.