Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Methylmercury-Induced Increase of Intracellular Ca2+ Increases Spontaneous Synaptic Current Frequency in Rat Cerebellar Slices

The relationship between increased intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) and changes in spontaneous synaptic current frequency caused by the neurotoxicant methylmercury (MeHg) was examined in Purkinje cells of cerebellar slices using confocal microscopy and whole-cell recording. MeHg (10–100 μM) stimulated and then suppressed completely the frequency of spontaneous excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs and sIPSCs). Current amplitude was also initially increased. The same MeHg concentrations markedly increased fluorescence of the Ca2+ indicator Fluo-4 throughout the molecular layer as well as the granule cells. No changes in fluorescence occurred in Purkinje cell soma, although fluorescence increased in their subplasmalemmal shell. Simultaneous confocal imaging and whole-cell recording revealed that time to onset of MeHg-induced increase in fluorescence in the molecular layer correlated with that of increased sEPSC and sIPSC frequency in Purkinje cells. Pretreatment with the intracellular Ca2+ chelator 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid (BAPTA) significantly suppressed the MeHg-induced increase in sIPSC frequency, further suggesting that MeHg-induced elevation of [Ca2+]i is partially responsible for its early stimulatory effects on spontaneous synaptic responses. However when spontaneous synaptic currents ceased with MeHg, Fluo-4 fluorescence remained elevated. Thus synaptic transmission cessation is apparently not related to changes in [Ca2+]i. It may result from effects of MeHg on transmitter release or sensitivity of postsynaptic receptors. The lack of effect of MeHg on Purkinje cell somal fluorescence reinforces that they are more resistant to MeHg-induced elevations of [Ca2+]i than other cells, including cerebellar granule cells.
Current Experience With CTLA4-blocking Monoclonal Antibodies for the Treatment of Solid Tumors

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) specific for cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA4) are a novel form of immunotherapy for treatment of patients with advanced cancers. These anti-CTLA4 mAbs prevent normal downregulation of the immune system, thus prolonging and enhancing T-cell activation and potentially promoting an antitumor immune response. Clinical studies in patients with advanced cancers have indicated that CTLA4 blockade with mAbs is associated with antitumor activity in a small percentage of patients and has a manageable toxicity profile. The key limitations for broader applicability of this mode of therapy are better definition of the mechanism that leads to tumor rejection and the validation of favorable observations in single-arm studies into prospectively randomized clinical trials.
Passage retrieval revisited

Ranking based on passages addresses some of the shortcomings ofwhole-document ranking. It provides convenient units of text toreturn to the user, avoids the difficulties of comparing documentsof different length, and enables identification of short blocks ofrelevant material amongst otherwise irrelevant text. In this paperwe explore the potential of passage retrieval, based on anexperimental evaluation of the ability of passages to identifyrelevant documents. We compare our scheme of arbitrary passageretrieval to several other document retrieval and passage retrievalmethods; we show experimentally that, compared to these methods,ranking via fixed-length passages is robust and effective. Ourexperiments also show that, compared to whole-document ranking,ranking via fixed-length arbitrary passages significantly improvesretrieval effectiveness, by 8% for TREC disks 2 and 4 and by18%-37% for the Federal Register collection.
Expression of CD 44 and prostate stem cell antigen and their prognostic significance in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

CD44 and prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) have been investigated as two biomarkers for various cancers. However, either CD44 or PSCA expression alone has limited clinical value. In the present study, the expression of CD44 and PSCA in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and their values in prognosis were investigated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Kaplan-Meier method. The results suggested that CD44 and PSCA were significantly upregulated in pancreatic tumor tissue. No significant association were observed between CD44 expression and PSCA expression (r=0.15, P=0.03). High expression of CD44 was significantly correlated with poor tumor differentiation (P=0.021), and indicated a poor outcome (P=0.003). Expression of PSCA was positively related to tumor size (P=0.027) and nodal metastasis (P=0.030). Co-expression of CD44 and PSCA significantly indicated a poor outcome (P=0.005). Moreover, multivariate survival analysis demonstrated that positive co-expression of CD44 and PSCA was an independent indicator for PDCA prognosis (P=0.040). Therefore, our data indicated that co-staining of CD44 and PSCA should be recommended in PDCA patients for predicting prognosis.
Providing Live Supervision Via Teleconferencing Improves Acquisition of Motivational Interviewing Skills After Workshop Attendance

Teleconferencing Supervision is a method for training community-based substance abuse clinicians in Motivational Interviewing (MI). Following a 2-day workshop, 13 clinicians received live supervision via telephone during 5 counseling sessions conducted at their community treatment facilities. Clinicians were assessed for skill level at post-workshop, at post-training, and 3 months later; learning was assessed using the MI Treatment Integrity instrument. All summary scores and therapist behavior frequency counts improved by post-training or by the 3 month follow-up, although some gains were not statistically significant. Teleconferencing Supervision may help facilitate the proficient use of MI community clinicians following workshop instruction.
CaR-FOREST: Joint Classification-Regression Decision Forests for Overlapping Audio Event Detection

This report describes our submissions to Task2 and Task3 of the DCASE 2016 challenge. The systems aim at dealing with the detection of overlapping audio events in continuous streams, where the detectors are based on random decision forests. The proposed forests are jointly trained for classification and regression simultaneously. Initially, the training is classification-oriented to encourage the trees to select discriminative features from overlapping mixtures to separate positive audio segments from the negative ones. The regression phase is then carried out to let the positive audio segments vote for the event onsets and offsets, and therefore model the temporal structure of audio events. One random decision forest is specifically trained for each event category of interest. Experimental results on the development data show that our systems significantly outperform the baseline on the Task2 evaluation while they are inferior to the baseline in the Task3 evaluation.
Attitude stabilization control of an aerial manipulator using a quaternion-based backstepping approach

Aerial manipulation is a new research area that extends the potential of aerial vehicles, allowing them to physically interact with the environment. Modeling and control of such a system is not a trivial problem due to the coupled dynamics of the aerial vehicle and the robotic manipulator. This paper presents a robust and non linear control system for a Hexacopter equipped with a two-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm. The proposed mathematical model, which is based on a quaternion representation, takes into account the changing inertia and the mass distribution, depending on the arm configuration. We show how the attitude control, using a quaternion-based backstepping, is able to react to the disturbances caused by the arm. In the backstepping design, we introduce a command filter, which contributes to reduce the computational complexity of the algorithm. Finally, we present simulation results that demonstrate the stability of our approach and provide a comparison to a standard PD control.
Evolution of vertebrate viviparity and specializations for fetal nutrition: A quantitative and qualitative analysis

Phylogenetic analyses indicate that viviparity (live‐bearing reproduction) has originated independently in more than 150 vertebrate lineages, including a minimum of 115 clades of extant squamate reptiles. Other evolutionary origins of viviparity include 13 origins among bony fishes, nine among chondrichthyans, eight in amphibians, one in Paleozoic placoderms, six among extinct reptiles, and one in mammals. The origins of viviparity range geologically from the mid‐Paleozoic through the Mesozoic to the Pleistocene. Substantial matrotrophy (maternal provision of nutrients to embryos during pregnancy) has arisen at least 33 times in these viviparous clades, with most (26) of these origins having occurred among fishes and amphibians. Convergent evolution in patterns of matrotrophy is widespread, as reflected by multiple independent origins of placentotrophy, histotrophy, oophagy, and embryophagy. Specializations for nutrient transfer to embryos are discontinuously distributed, reflecting the roles of phylogenetic inertia, exaptation (preadaptation), and constraint. Ancestral features that function in gas exchange and nutrition repeatedly and convergently have been co‐opted for nutrient transfer, often through minor modification of their components and changes in the timing of their expression (heterochrony). Studies on functional and evolutionary morphology continue to play a central role in our attempts to understand viviparity and mechanisms of fetal nutrition. J. Morphol. 276:961–990, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Differential Activities of the Ubiquitin–Proteasome System in Neurons versus Glia May Account for the Preferential Accumulation of Misfolded Proteins in Neurons

A variety of neurological disorders and polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases are caused by misfolded proteins. The common feature of these diseases is late-onset cellular degeneration that selectively affects neurons in distinct brain regions. polyQ diseases, including Huntington's disease (HD), present a clear case of selective neurodegeneration caused by polyQ expansion-induced protein misfolding, which also leads to predominant inclusions in neuronal nuclei. It remains unclear how these ubiquitously expressed disease proteins selectively kill neurons. In HD, mutant huntingtin accumulates in both neurons and glia, but more neuronal cells display huntingtin aggregates. These aggregates colocalize with components of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), which plays a critical role in clearing misfolded proteins. Using fluorescent reporters that reflect cellular UPS activity, we found that UPS activity in cultured neurons and glia decreases in a time-dependent manner. Importantly, UPS activity is lower in neurons than in glia and also lower in the nucleus than the cytoplasm. By expressing the UPS reporters in glia and neurons in the mouse brain, we also observed an age-dependent decrease in UPS activity, which is more pronounced in neurons than glial cells. Although brain UPS activities were similar between wild-type and HD 150Q knock-in mice, inhibiting the UPS markedly increases the accumulation of mutant htt in cultured glial cells. These findings suggest that the lower neuronal UPS activity may account for the preferential accumulation of misfolded proteins in neurons, as well as their selective vulnerability.
Tlx Controls Proliferation and Patterning of Lateral Telencephalic Progenitor Domains

We showed previously that the orphan nuclear receptor Tlx is required for the correct establishment of the pallio-subpallial boundary. Loss of Tlx results in a dorsal expansion of ventral markers (e.g., the homeodomain protein GSH2) into the ventralmost pallial region, i.e., the ventral pallium. We also observed a disproportionate reduction in the size of the Tlx mutant lateral ganglionic eminence (LGE) from embryonic day 14.5 onward. Here we show that this reduction is caused, at least in large part, by a proliferation defect. Interestingly, in Tlx mutants, the LGE derivatives are differentially affected. Although the development of the Tlx mutant striatum is compromised, an apparently normal number of olfactory bulb interneurons are observed. Consistent with this observation, we found that Tlx is required for the normal establishment of the ventral LGE that gives rise to striatal projection neurons. This domain is reduced by the dorsal and ventral expansion of molecular markers normally confined to progenitor domains flanking the ventral LGE. Finally, we investigated possible genetic interactions between Gsh2 and Tlx in lateral telencephalic development. Our results show that, although Gsh2 and Tlx have additive effects on striatal development, they differentially regulate the establishment of ventral pallial identity.
Relationship Between Metabolic Syndrome and Familial History of Hypertension/Stroke, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease

This research analyzes the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in Korea and examines how the presence of a familial history of diseases related to MS, such as hypertension/stroke, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, affect the development of MS in Koreans. The prevalence of MS and its components, as defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel guidelines, were evaluated in nationally representative samples of non-institutionalized civilian Koreans. This analysis is based on the 2001 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which used a stratified multistage probability sampling design. The final study included 5,742 adults who had completed the necessary health examinations and met the diagnosis of MS. The prevalence of MS was 25.5% in men and 28.7% in women. Odds ratio for MS among men with a familial history of hypertension/stroke was higher than that among men who did not have this history. The OR for MS among women with a familial history of hypertension/stroke or diabetes was higher than that among women who had no familial history of these diseases. These results show that familial history of hypertension/stroke and diabetes was significantly related to the presence of MS in both young men and women.
Elaborate Mimetic Vocal Displays by Female Superb Lyrebirds

Some of the most striking vocalizations in birds are made by males that incorporate vocal mimicry in their sexual displays. Mimetic vocalization in females is largely undescribed, but it is unclear whether this is because of a lack of selection for vocal mimicry in females, or whether the phenomenon has simply been overlooked. These issues are thrown into sharp relief in the superb lyrebird, Menura novaehollandiae, a basal oscine passerine with a lek-like mating system and female uniparental care. The spectacular mimetic song display produced by courting male lyrebirds is a textbook example of a sexually selected trait, but the vocalizations of female lyrebirds are largely unknown. Here, we provide the first analysis of the structure and context of the vocalizations of female lyrebirds. Female lyrebirds were completely silent during courtship; however, females regularly produced sophisticated vocal displays incorporating both lyrebird-specific vocalizations and imitations of sounds within their environment. The structure of female vocalizations varied significantly with context. While foraging, females mostly produced a complex lyrebird-specific song, whereas they gave lyrebird-specific alarm calls most often during nest defense. Within their vocal displays females also included a variety of mimetic vocalizations, including imitations of the calls of dangerous predators, and of alarm calls and song of harmless heterospecifics. Females gave more mimetic vocalizations during nest defense than while foraging, and the types of sounds they imitated varied between these contexts, suggesting that mimetic vocalizations have more than one function. These results are inconsistent with previous portrayals of vocalizations by female lyrebirds as rare, functionless by-products of sexual selection on males. Instead, our results support the hypotheses that complex female vocalizations play a role in nest defense and mediate female-female competition for breeding territories. In sum, this study reveals elaborate female vocal displays in a species widely depicted as an example of sexual selection for male extravagance, and thus highlights the hidden complexity of female vocalizations.
Attacks and Comments on Several Recently Proposed Key Management Schemes

In this paper, we review three problematic key management (KM) schemes recently proposed, including Kayam’s scheme for groups with hierarchy [10], Piao’s group KM scheme [14], Purushothama’s group KM schemes [17]. We point out the problems in each scheme. Kayam’s scheme is not secure to collusion attack. Piao’s group KM scheme is not secure. The hard problem it bases is not really hard. Purushothama’s scheme has a redundant design that costs lots of resources and doesn’t give an advantage to the security level and dynamic efficiency of it. We also briefly analyze the underlying reasons why these problem emerge.
A comparison of plant communities in mitigation and reference wetlands in the mid-appalachians

Wetland destruction has plagued the U.S. for decades, but the need to compensate for these losses has only been embraced within the last 20 years. Because so many compensatory mitigation wetlands have been created, there is a need to assess the function of these valuable ecosystems relative to natural wetlands. The goal of this study was to evaluate the functional equivalency of mitigation wetlands in West Virginia in supporting hydrophytic plant communities. A series of nested quadrats was used to compare plant community structure among eleven mitigation and four naturally occurring reference wetlands. For all species combined, mean total percent cover across all sampling quadrats per wetland was similar between mitigation and reference wetlands. Species richness, evenness, and diversity were greater in mitigation than in reference wetlands. Mean weighted averages of plant communities calculated using cover values and wetland indicator status were similar between mitigation and reference wetlands. There were, however, major differences in species composition. Mitigation sites tended to have more pioneer species, non-native dominants, and species with relatively lower conservation quality. Ordination analyses suggested that compositional differences become smaller as mitigation sites age. Both mitigation and natural wetlands met criteria for hydrophytic vegetation according to the 1987 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual. These data suggest that the mitigation wetlands investigated in this study adequately support hydrophytic vegetation and appear to be developing vegetation similar to reference standards.
Factors Associated With Motor Fluctuations and Dyskinesia in Parkinson Disease: Potential Role of a New Melevodopa Plus Carbidopa Formulation (Sirio)

Parkinson disease is a progressive movement disorder caused by loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Of unknown etiology, Parkinson disease is characterized by 4 cardinal symptoms: tremor at rest, bradykinesia, postural instability, and rigidity. The current criterion-standard drug used in the management of parkinsonian symptoms is levodopa (l-dopa). However, long-term l-dopa therapy is associated with the development of motor complications; approximately 50% to 80% of patients will develop motor complications within 5 to 10 years of l-dopa treatment initiation. Motor complications can be divided into motor fluctuations, caused largely through pulsatile dopamine stimulation and low l-dopa concentrations, and dyskinesia, associated more often with peak l-dopa concentrations. Ultimately, the main goal was to provide steady l-dopa concentrations, without peaks and troughs. Empirical investigations using parenteral infusions of l-dopa and highly soluble l-dopa prodrugs have shown that there is benefit in ameliorating the peaks and troughs associated with traditional oral l-dopa formulations. Recently, the development of highly soluble oral l-dopa prodrugs has facilitated rapid, regular, and reliable l-dopa availability. This review evaluates some of the pharmacologic strategies in the management of motor complications in Parkinson disease and therapy optimization, with a focus on the use of CHF 1512 (Sirio), a combination of melevodopa (l-dopa methylester, a highly soluble prodrug of l-dopa) plus carbidopa in an effervescent tablet formulation.
How do family physicians measure blood pressure in routine clinical practice? National survey of Canadian family physicians.

OBJECTIVE To describe the techniques currently used by family physicians in Canada to measure blood pressure (BP) for screening for, diagnosing, and treating hypertension. DESIGN A Web-based cross-sectional survey distributed by e-mail. SETTING Stratified random sample of family physicians in Canada. PARTICIPANTS Family physician members of the College of Family Physicians of Canada with valid e-mail addresses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Physicians' self-reported routine methods for recording BP in their practices to screen for, diagnose, and manage hypertension. RESULTS A total of 774 valid responses were received, for a response rate of 16.2%. Respondents were similar to nonrespondents except for underrepresentation of male physicians. Of 769 respondents, 417 (54.2%) indicated that they used manual office BP measurement with a mercury or aneroid device and stethoscope as the routine method to screen patients for high BP, while 42.9% (330 of 769) reported using automated office BP (AOBP) measurement. The method most frequently used to make a diagnosis of hypertension was AOBP measurement (31.1%, 240 of 771), followed by home BP measurement (22.4%, 173 of 771) and manual office BP measurement (21.4%, 165 of 771). Ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) was used for diagnosis by 14.4% (111 of 771) of respondents. The most frequently reported method for ongoing management was home BP monitoring (68.7%, 528 of 769), followed by manual office BP measurement (63.6%, 489 of 769) and AOBP measurement (59.2%, 455 of 769). More than three-quarters (77.8%, 598 of 769) of respondents indicated that ABPM was readily available for their patients. CONCLUSION Canadian family physicians exhibit overall high use of electronic devices for BP measurement, However, more efforts are needed to encourage practitioners to follow current Canadian guidelines, which advocate the use of AOBP measurement for hypertension screening, ABPM and home BP measurement for making a diagnosis, and both AOBP and home BP monitoring for ongoing management.