Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning-Related Facilitation of Rhinal Interactions by Medial Prefrontal Inputs

Much data suggests that hippocampal–medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) interactions support memory consolidation. This process is thought to involve the gradual transfer of transient hippocampal-dependent memories to distributed neocortical sites for long-term storage. However, hippocampal projections to the neocortex involve a multisynaptic pathway that sequentially progresses through the entorhinal and perirhinal regions before reaching the neocortex. Similarly, the mPFC influences the hippocampus via the rhinal cortices, suggesting that the rhinal cortices occupy a strategic position in this network. The present study thus tested the idea that the mPFC supports memory by facilitating the transfer of hippocampal activity to the neocortex via an enhancement of entorhinal to perirhinal communication. To this end, we simultaneously recorded mPFC, perirhinal, and entorhinal neurons during the acquisition of a trace-conditioning task in which a visual conditioned stimulus (CS) was followed by a delay period after which a liquid reward was administered. At learning onset, correlated perirhinal-entorhinal firing increased in relation to mPFC activity, but with no preferential directionality, and only after reward delivery. However, as learning progressed across days, mPFC activity gradually enhanced rhinal correlations in relation to the CS as well, and did so in a specific direction: from entorhinal to perirhinal neurons. This suggests that, at late stages of learning, mPFC activity facilitates entorhinal to perirhinal communication. Because this connection is a necessary step for the transfer of hippocampal activity to the neocortex, our results suggest that the mPFC is involved in the slow iterative process supporting the integration of hippocampal-dependent memories into neocortical networks.
Matrix Metalloproteinases in Dog Brains Exhibiting Alzheimer‐Like Characteristics

Abstract: We have previously reported that the amount of the neuronal matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) MMP‐9, capable of cleaving β‐amyloid1–40 predominantly at Leu34‐Met35, is increased in a latent form in hippocampal specimens from AD patients and have suggested that the lack of activation of this enzyme may contribute to the deposition of β‐amyloid in plaques. The current study addresses whether similar matrix proteinases are detectable in amyloid‐positive and ‐negative brain specimens of aged beagles. Using quantitative zymography, three major neutral proteinases with molecular masses of 60, 95, and 280 kDa were readily detected. These enzymes have the characteristics of MMPs because they were inhibited by EDTA and 1,10‐phenanthroline, and their activities were restored by addition of both Ca2+ and Zn2+. The 95‐ and 280‐kDa proteinases cross‐reacted with specific monoclonal antibodies to human MMP‐9 (gelatinase B; EC 3.4.24.35). Canine MMP‐9 was latent because activation by organomercurial treatment resulted in a characteristic decrease in molecular mass. Statistical analysis revealed no difference in the 60‐kDa proteinase activity in amyloid‐positive and ‐negative brain specimens. However, significantly increased amounts of latent MMP‐9 were observed in amyloid‐positive brain specimens (p≤ 0.05) compared with amyloid‐negative brain specimens. The observations document that changes in MMP‐9 expression in amyloid‐positive beagle brains are similar to those reported in the human Alzheimer's disease hippocampus and suggest the possibility that insufficient activation of MMP‐9 may contribute to β‐amyloid accumulation, a hypothesis that needs to be further investigated.
Pre-Settlement Behavior in Larval Bryozoans: The Roles of Larval Age and Size

Larval behaviors prior to settlement are important for both dispersal and the likelihood that larvae will encounter settlement habitat. The role of endogenous factors such as larval age and size are likely to be important in determining pre-settlement behavior but are less well understood than exogenous factors. In a simple experiment we explored the role of larval age and size on pre-settlement behavior in two species of bryozoan. We then used the results of this experiment to develop a theoretical model, which explored potential fitness benefits associated with phenotype-dependent changes in larval behavior (i.e., behaviors that changed depending on larval age or larval size) in a heterogeneous environment. In the experiment we delayed the metamorphosis of larvae of Bugula neritina andWatersipora arcuata and assessed the changes in the behavior of individual larvae (exploring the substratum vs. swimming away from it) as a function of larval age and size. In B. neritina, larval size had no effect on larval swimming behavior, but the youngest and oldest larvae spent more time exploring the substrate than did larvae of intermediate age. In W. arcuata, larval size and age had interactive effects on larval behavior. Our theoretical model predicted that phenotype-dependent behaviors carried a fitness benefit relative to phenotype-independent behaviors, but this depended strongly on the availability and quality of habitat elsewhere. We suggest that, taken together, larval age and size are important endogenous factors that act to affect pre-settlement larval behavior and that changes in behavior may act to increase fitness.
Using example generation to explore undergraduates conceptions of real sequences: a phenomenographic study

This thesis uses an example generation task to explore undergraduate students' understanding of basic sequence properties in Real Analysis. First, a review of the literature looks at three areas of research: the transition to studying mathematics at the tertiary level, examples and the process of example generation, and the learning of Real Analysis. It notes a lack of research on how students interact with simpler de nitions in Analysis, and suggests that an example generation task is an ideal research tool for this purpose. Then, two pilot studies are reported. The rst gave 101 students an example generation task during a lecture. In this task, students were asked to generate examples of sequences that satis ed certain combinations of properties. In the second pilot study a similar task was given to six students in an interview setting with a `think-aloud' protocol. These pilot studies found that many students gave sequences that did not satisfy the requested properties, whilst other students gave examples that were not sequences. The thesis then reports on a main study in which the example generation task was completed by 15 students during an interview, and 147 students during classes. The interview data is analysed phenomenographically, with results presented along four dimensions of variation, where each dimension describes di erent ways of experiencing an aspect of sequence example generation: Using De nitions, Representation of Sequences, Sequence Construction Strategies, and Justi cations. The larger-scale class data is then analysed by Rasch Analysis to objectively rank the questions in order of their di culty, and to show that the interview-based responses re ect those in the wider cohort. By asking students to generate their own examples of sequences, this thesis has furthered what is known about student understanding in two areas. The rst area is how students understand content related to sequences in Analysis. The thesis considers students' understanding of how sequences can be represented, how sequence property de nitions can be combined and how de nitions a ect sequences in di erent ways. The second area is how students interact with example generation tasks, the approaches that are e ective when students are trying to generate examples, and the ways students justify or check their answers.
Comparative respiratory morphology: Themes and principles in the design and construction of the gas exchangers

Along the evolutionary continuum, a kaleidoscope of gas exchangers has evolved from the simple cell membrane of the primeval unicells. The most momentous events in this process were: the intensification of molecular oxygen in the biosphere and its appropriation into aerobic metabolism, the rise of multicellular organisms, the development of a circulatory system and carrier pigments in blood, the advocacy of air breathing, adoption of suctional breathing, and the shift to endothermy. To satisfy species‐specific needs for oxygen, some constraints were overcome through transactions that obliged certain compromises and trade‐offs. Optimal designs of the gas exchangers for particular phylogenetic levels of development, habitat, and lifestyle have developed only so far as to satisfy prescribed needs. The efficiency of the human lung, for example, falls well below those of certain taxa that are considered to be relatively “less advanced. ” Utilizing different resources and strategies, in fascinating processes of conformity, different groups of animals have developed similar respiratory structures. In most cases, the analogy reflects evolutionary convergence in response to corresponding selective pressures rather than common ancestry. Anat Rec (New Anat) 261:25–44, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Low aromatase activity in microsomes from complete hydatidiform mole.

The complete hydatidiform mole (CHM) is characterized by the presence of aberrant placenta, with hyperplasia of cyto- and syncytiotrophoblasts and the absence of maternal genetic information. Steroidogenesis in this condition is, thus, of special interest. In this study we investigated the kinetic parameters of aromatase in microsomes from CHM compared with those in normal early placenta (NEP). The enzyme activity was determined by measuring the conversion of [3H] testosterone to [3H]estradiol plus [3H]estrone. The Km value for testosterone was 33 nmol/L in CHM and 17 nmol/L in NEP of similar gestational ages. Aminoglutethimide, a nonsteroidal inhibitor, decreased in a dose-dependent manner and with the same potency the aromatization of testosterone in both tissues (ID50, 2 vs. 1 mumol/L in CHM and NEP, respectively). These results suggest that the enzymes from the two sources are kinetically similar. However, the enzyme efficiency, expressed as the maximum velocity/Km ratio, was 17-fold lower in CHM than in NEP tissue (1.22/33 vs. 10.68/17 min/mg.mL). These findings suggest that in molar pregnancy the decreased capacity of trophoblast tissue for the formation of estrogen could increase the testosterone concentration inside the molar vesicle, which, in turn, as we previously reported, inhibits progesterone formation. All of these data could provide an explanation for the low circulating level of progesterone, which may directly or indirectly affect the spontaneous expulsion of this aberrant tissue in the second trimester of pregnancy.
Dynamic Modeling and Performance Prediction for Dual-Channel Switched Reluctance Machine Considering Mutual Coupling

Switched reluctance machines (SRMs) are normally designed and applied as 6/4 or 8/6 single-channel SRMs. However, recent efforts with 12/8 dual-channel SRMs (DCSRMs) have spurred interest. The 12/8 DCSRM is driven by two independent sets of power electronic circuits with dual control channels, and the two channels would have strong interactions between each other due to the magnetic mutual coupling for each channel. We propose a dynamic modeling strategy that accounts for the effect of mutual coupling of a DCSRM. First, we illustrate the flux patterns of a DCSRM under different operation modes. Then, we use an indirect experimental procedure to measure the static self and mutual flux linkages for the DCSRM. By using the measured flux linkage data, we describe a simulation model for a DCSRM operating in single-channel mode and dual-channel mode in which the mutual coupling is considered. We predict and compare the dynamic performance characteristics such as phase currents, flux linkages, energy conversion, and static torque under different operation modes and excitation conditions. Finally, we compare the simulation and experimental results for four operating conditions in DCSRM systems in single-channel mode and dual-channel mode. The proposed modeling strategy for the DCSRM is quite accurate.
Treatment with Nonmitogenic Anti-CD3 Monoclonal Antibody Induces CD4+ T Cell Unresponsiveness and Functional Reversal of Established Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis1

In vivo administration of anti-CD3 Ab induces both immune tolerance and undesirable side-effects resulting from nonspecific proinflammatory cytokine production. In the current study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of two structurally altered forms of the anti-CD3 Ab in ameliorating established experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Administration of either a chimeric (NM-IgG3) or digestion product (NM-F(ab′)2) form of the anti-CD3 Ab during established experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis conferred significant protection from clinical disease progression and was associated with decreased Ag-specific T cell proliferation, cytokine production, and CNS inflammation. Interestingly, while this protection correlated with an increase in the frequency of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells, neither prior depletion of regulatory T cells nor anti-TGF-β treatment abrogated the treatment’s efficacy. Importantly, both treatments induced normal levels of intracellular Ca2+-flux, but significantly diminished levels of TCR signaling. Consequent to this decreased level of TCR-mediated signaling were alterations in the level of apoptosis and CD4+ T cell trafficking resulting in a profound lymphopenia. Collectively, these results indicate that nonmitogenic anti-CD3 directly induces a state of immune unresponsiveness in primed pathogenic autoreactive effector cells via mechanisms that may involve the induction of T cell tolerance, apoptosis, and/or alterations in cell trafficking.
Contaminated Communities: Coping With Residential Toxic Exposure, Second Edition

Investigates the social, psychological, and emotional impacts of toxic exposure for individuals, families, and communities. In this wholly revised Second Edition, Michael Edelstein draws on his thirty years as a community activist to provide a much-expanded theoretical foundation for understanding the psychosocial impacts of toxic contamination. Informed by social psychological theory and an extensive survey of documented cases of toxic exposure, and enlivened by excerpts drawn from more than a thousand interviews with victims, Contaminated Communities presents a candid portrayal of the toxic victim's experience and the key stages in the course of toxic disaster. The Second Edition introduces dozens of new cases and provides expanded considerations of environmental justice, environmental racism, environmental turbulence, and environmental stigma, as well as a fully articulated theory of "lifescape. " The new edition moves past the well-charted role of reactive environmentalism to explore issues for a proactivist approach that employs a "third path" of social learning, sustainable innovation, consensus building, and community empowerment.
Telephone Talk: Effects of Timing and Use of a Floorholder Message on Telephone Conversations Using Synthesized Speech

Telephone interaction remains a challenging form of communication for many who use speech-generating devices (SGDs). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of delayed starts and floorholder information at the beginning of synthesized-speech telephone calls to local businesses. Calls were placed to 100 randomly selected businesses asking for business hours. Each call was randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: a floorholder present with no delay, a floorholder present with a delay, floorholder absent and no delay, and floorholder absent with a delay. Overall, 76% of the calls were unsuccessful because the participant hung up or otherwise did not provide the information requested. The majority of successful calls occurred in the floorholder present and no delay condition.
Forward Basis Selection for Sparse Approximation over Dictionary

Recently, forward greedy selection method has been successfully applied to approximately solve sparse learning problems, characterized by a trade-off between sparsity and accuracy. In this paper, we generalize this method to the setup of sparse approximation over a pre-fixed dictionary. A fully corrective forward selection algorithm is proposed along with convergence analysis. The periteration computational overhead of the proposed algorithm is dominated by a subproblem of linear optimization over the dictionary and a subproblem to optimally adjust the aggregation weights. The former is cheaper in several applications than the Euclidean projection while the latter is typically an unconstrained optimization problem which is relatively easy to solve. Furthermore, we extend the proposed algorithm to the setting of non-negative/convex sparse approximation over a dictionary. Applications of our algorithms to several concrete learning problems are explored with efficiency validated on benchmark data sets.
Immediate Auditory Repetition of Words and Nonwords: An ERP Study of Lexical and Sublexical Processing

ERPs were elicited to (1) words, (2) pseudowords derived from these words, and (3) nonwords with no lexical neighbors, in a task involving listening to immediately repeated auditory stimuli. There was a significant early (P200) effect of phonotactic probability in the first auditory presentation, which discriminated words and pseudowords from nonwords; and a significant somewhat later (N400) effect of lexicality, which discriminated words from pseudowords and nonwords. There was no reliable effect of lexicality in the ERPs to the second auditory presentation. We conclude that early sublexical phonological processing differed according to phonotactic probability of the stimuli, and that lexically-based redintegration occurred for words but did not occur for pseudowords or nonwords. Thus, in online word recognition and immediate retrieval, phonological and/or sublexical processing plays a more important role than lexical level redintegration.
Concentration and Assembly of the Division Ring Proteins FtsZ, FtsA, and ZipA during the Escherichia coli Cell Cycle

ABSTRACT The concentration of the cell division proteins FtsZ, FtsA, and ZipA and their assembly into a division ring during the Escherichia coli B/r K cell cycle have been measured in synchronous cultures obtained by the membrane elution technique. Immunostaining of the three proteins revealed no organized structure in newly born cells. In a culture with a doubling time of 49 min, assembly of the Z ring started around minute 25 and was detected first as a two-dot structure that became a sharp band before cell constriction. FtsA and ZipA localized into a division ring following the same pattern and time course as FtsZ. The concentration (amount relative to total mass) of the three proteins remained constant during one complete cell cycle, showing that assembly of a division ring is not driven by changes in the concentration of these proteins. Maintenance of the Z ring during the process of septation is a dynamic energy-dependent event, as evidenced by its disappearance in cells treated with sodium azide.
Physician Health and Wellness

Physician health and wellness is a critical issue gaining national attention because of the high prevalence of physician burnout. Pediatricians and pediatric trainees experience burnout at levels equivalent to other medical specialties, highlighting a need for more effective efforts to promote health and well-being in the pediatric community. This report will provide an overview of physician burnout, an update on work in the field of preventive physician health and wellness, and a discussion of emerging initiatives that have potential to promote health at all levels of pediatric training. Pediatricians are uniquely positioned to lead this movement nationally, in part because of the emphasis placed on wellness in the Pediatric Milestone Project, a joint collaboration between the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the American Board of Pediatrics. Updated core competencies calling for a balanced approach to health, including focus on nutrition, exercise, mindfulness, and effective stress management, signal a paradigm shift and send the message that it is time for pediatricians to cultivate a culture of wellness better aligned with their responsibilities as role models and congruent with advances in pediatric training. Rather than reviewing programs in place to address substance abuse and other serious conditions in distressed physicians, this article focuses on forward progress in the field, with an emphasis on the need for prevention and anticipation of predictable stressors related to burnout in medical training and practice. Examples of positive progress and several programs designed to promote physician health and wellness are reviewed. Areas where more research is needed are highlighted.
BAYESIAN METHODS: GENERAL BACKGROUND ? An Introductory Tutorial

: We note the main points of history, as a framework on which to hang many background remarks concerning the nature and motivation of Bayesian/Maximum Entropy methods. Experience has shown that these are needed in order to understand recent work and problems. A more complete account of the history, with many more details and references, is given in Jaynes (1978)
Slime Mold as a model for numerical optimization

This work presents a novel approach to single objective optimization using the amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum (Dd), sometimes known as Slime Mold, as its basis. A short explanation of the biological background of Dd is presented. Inspirations taken from existing computational biology and educational simulation studies of Dd also are provided. Based upon previous works, an algorithm for optimization is constructed called the Slime Mold Optimization Algorithm.
Association of Breast Cancer DNA Methylation Profiles with Hormone Receptor Status and Response to Tamoxifen

We have generated DNA methylation profiles of 148 human breast tumors and found significant differences in hormone receptor (HR) status between clusters of DNA methylation profiles. Of 35 DNA methylation markers analyzed, the ESR1 gene, encoding estrogen receptor α, proved to be the best predictor of progesterone receptor status, whereas methylation of the PGR gene, encoding progesterone receptor, was the best predictor of estrogen receptor status. ESR1 methylation outperformed HR status as a predictor of clinical response in patients treated with the antiestrogen tamoxifen, whereas promoter methylation of the CYP1B1 gene, encoding a tamoxifen- and estradiol-metabolizing cytochrome P450, predicted response differentially in tamoxifen-treated and nontamoxifen-treated patients. High levels of promoter methylation of the ARHI gene, encoding a RAS-related small G-protein, were strongly predictive of good survival in patients who had not received tamoxifen therapy. Our results reveal an as yet unrecognized degree of interaction between DNA methylation and HR biology in breast cancer cells and suggest potentially clinically useful novel DNA methylation predictors of response to hormonal and non-hormonal breast cancer therapy.