Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Psychometric Data on the Group Embedded Figures Test for Turkish Undergraduate Students

Normative data of the Group Embedded Figures Test for a sample of Turkish undergraduate students was provided. Participants were 534 undergraduates from the Departments of Education of two universities in Turkey. Effects of sex and socioeconomic status on the students' cognitive style performance were investigated. Performance and distribution characteristics of the Turkish sample and American adults as reported in the manual of the original test were compared. A Turkish version was developed. Item analyses, reliability, and practice effects were assessed. No sex difference, except in Section 2, was found. Socioeconomic status also was not significantly related to cognitive style performance. Norms reported for American adults in the manual were significantly different from those of the present Turkish adults. These findings suggest that use in different cultures, especially in those other than western cultures, requires caution. Scores obtained from these cultures should be carefully interpreted.
A Prospective Incidence Study of Febrile Convulsions

ABSTRACT. A prospective epidemiological study of febrile convulsions (FC) was performed during a 20‐month period. 128 children with FCs were identified. The annual first attendance rate and annual incidence rate were 500/100 000 and 460/100 000 respectively, in the age group 0–4 years. The cumulative incidence was 4.1%. FCs were more common among boys, with a male to female ratio of 1.72 to 1. The median and mean age for first FC was for boys 16 and 19.9 months respectively, and for girls 18 and 19.7 months respectively. During an average follow‐up period of 20 months, 18% had another FC and 10% had two or more FCs. 8.6% had an initial complicated FC. Four children had FCs within two weeks after being vaccinated by combined vaccine against morbilli, rubella and parotitis. Three of these had earlier had an FC.
Collecting Cyclic Distributed Garbage Using Heuristics to Control Migration

Distributed systems with a large number of nodes use internode reference counting for timely and fault-tolerant garbage collection. However, this fails to collect cyclic garbage distributed across nodes. One fix is to migrate all objects on a garbage cycle to a single node, where they can be collected by the tracing-based local collector. Existing proposals based on this technique have practical problems due to unnecessary migration of objects. We propose a scheme that avoids migration of live objects, batches objects to avoid a cascade of migration messages, and short-cuts the migration path to avoid multiple migrations. We use simple estimates to detect objects that are highly likely to be cyclic garbage and to select a node to which such objects are migrated. The scheme collects all distributed cyclic garbage, has low overhead, and preserves the decentralized and fault-tolerant nature of distributed reference counting and migration.
Constrained Optimization of Functionals with Search Theory Applications

We find necessary and sufficient conditions for maximizing a wide class of nonlinear, nonseparable functionals under separable constraints. The crucial restriction on the functionals is that they have a Gateaux differential which is a linear functional with a kernel. The conditions obtained can be applied to a large variety of optimal search problems involving moving targets when effort is infinitely divisible in space. Moreover, the conditions have been used to construct very efficient algorithms for solving these problems. It is conjectured that these results are useful in a general class of optimization problems that extend well beyond the search theory examples presented in this paper.
Splenectomy in mantle cell lymphoma with leukaemia: a comparison with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Summary. We reviewed data on 63 patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) with leukaemia (n = 16) and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL, n = 47), splenectomized over a 10‐year period. Primary indications for surgery were cytopenia(s) or autoimmune phenomena and progressive or refractory disease with splenomegaly. The spleens removed were on average larger in MCL (median 2·6 kg) than in CLL (1·0 kg). Splenectomy improved the blood counts in 62% of patients with MCL and 47% with stage C CLL, both with cytopenias. The MCL patients showed a decrease in the leucocytosis (medians 60·3–29·1 × 109/l before and after splenectomy), whereas there was an increase in the leucocytosis in CLL (medians 24·2–44 × 109/l). With a median follow up post splenectomy of 10 months (range: < 1–128), 18 patients (four MCL and 14 CLL) have not required further therapy for up to 66 months. We conclude that splenectomy is a useful treatment in MCL and advanced CLL for the correction of cytopenias, reducing the leucocyte count and allowing prolonged periods of clinical remission without therapy. Differences seen between MCL and CLL in spleen size, and in response of the leucocytosis suggest a central role for the spleen in the evolution of MCL with leukaemia.
[Significance of emergency care in the elderly patient].

OBJECTIVES To analyse the statistical and characteristics of the attendance to the elderly patient at the Emergency Department of a General Hospital. METHODS Retrospective study of patients > or = 65 years assisted at the Emergency Department of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos (Madrid), during 1998, taking into consideration different parameters as age, sex, time of year, referred pathology and final destination; results were compared with data relating to the population under 65. RESULTS Over 28.4% of the 129,586 subjects that attended the Emergency Department were elderly people. Those ones aged between 65-74 years demanded assistance more frequently, being women's requests higher, particularly among the eldest patients. Assistance requests were higher in winter time, being the most common reason for consultation medical and surgical general troubles (76.4%), followed by trauma emergencies (12.35%). Hospital admission's percentage of elderly people was three times higher than the non-elderly ones, needing more admissions men than women (29 vs 22.7%). CONCLUSIONS The high statistical of urgent attendance to the elderly patient compared with younger people as well as the higher number of admissions due to this assistance, seem to make necessary the implantation of Geriatric Evaluation Units at the hospital's Emergency Departments.
Role of Aged Garlic Extract Against Radiation Induced Oxidative Stress Associated with Some Biochemical Disorders in Male Albino Rats

This study was conducted to clarify the potential role of AGE against damages induced in rats due to exposure to gamma radiation. Adult male albino rats (214-230g). Eight groups, five healthy male rats each were used (20 irradiated and 20 Sham Irradiated), among which some were receiving via gavages distilled water, the others AGE at different doses (25 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg) and the rest vitamin E+Alpha Lipoic Acid. Blood samples were collected at day 8 post irradiation for biochemical assay. Exposure of rats to gamma radiation caused a significant increase in the level of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), LDL-Cholesterol, Malondialdehyde (MDA), Nitrite (NO 2- ), Creatinine and AST, ALT, ALP and Bilirubin (Total Serum Bilirubin, Direct Bilirubin and Unconjugated Bilirubin)while a significant decrease was recorded in HDL-Cholesterol, serum total proteins, glutathione content (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) activities and total protein level in organs tissues. In rats treated with AGE then exposed to radiation, the results showed an improvement in all previous parameters. It could be concluded that AGE might reduce the biological hazards in rats induced by gamma irradiation.
A mutualistic symbiosis between a parasitic mite and a pathogenic virus undermines honey bee immunity and health

Significance The parasitic mite Varroa destructor and the deformed wing virus (DWV) are linked in a mutualistic symbiosis. The mite acts as vector of the viral pathogen, whereas the DWV-induced immunosuppression in honey bees favors mite feeding and reproduction. This functional interaction underpins a rapidly escalating immunosuppression, which can be primed and/or aggravated by a wealth of stress factors that co-trigger colony losses. Our experimental results explain the pivotal role proposed for the Varroa–DWV association in the induction of honey bee colony losses. Here we provide a functional framework for studying the dynamics of this multifactorial syndrome and defining effective strategies to reduce its negative impact on the beekeeping industry. Honey bee colony losses are triggered by interacting stress factors consistently associated with high loads of parasites and/or pathogens. A wealth of biotic and abiotic stressors are involved in the induction of this complex multifactorial syndrome, with the parasitic mite Varroa destructor and the associated deformed wing virus (DWV) apparently playing key roles. The mechanistic basis underpinning this association and the evolutionary implications remain largely obscure. Here we narrow this research gap by demonstrating that DWV, vectored by the Varroa mite, adversely affects humoral and cellular immune responses by interfering with NF-κB signaling. This immunosuppressive effect of the viral pathogen enhances reproduction of the parasitic mite. Our experimental data uncover an unrecognized mutualistic symbiosis between Varroa and DWV, which perpetuates a loop of reciprocal stimulation with escalating negative effects on honey bee immunity and health. These results largely account for the remarkable importance of this mite–virus interaction in the induction of honey bee colony losses. The discovery of this mutualistic association and the elucidation of the underlying regulatory mechanisms sets the stage for a more insightful analysis of how synergistic stress factors contribute to colony collapse, and for the development of new strategies to alleviate this problem.
Studies on the electrolytes and microelements in Wistar rat following multiple exposures to acetamiprid

A subacute toxicity study of acetamiprid was undertaken in 72 female Wistar rats randomly divided into four groups (18 each). Acetamiprid was administered orally at the dose rate of 0, 25, 100 and 200 mg/kg of body weight to rats of groups I, II, III and IV, respectively. Group I served as control. Calcium, phosphorous, sodium, potassium, chloride, zinc, copper, iron and cobalt concentrations in plasma were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased in acetamiprid administered groups. However, no alteration was observed in plasma manganese concentration in acetamiprid-treated rats. The repeated oral toxicity study on acetamiprid in present investigation suggested that it has toxic potential and it is a high-risk insecticide.
Human Coxal Bone Sexual Dimorphism and Multislice Computed Tomography: Geometric Morphometric Analysis of 65 Adults

Abstract: The authors studied sexually dimorphic differences in coxal shape using geometric morphometric analysis of 15 osteometric landmarks recorded by multislice computed tomography (MSCT), based on three‐dimensional reconstructions of 65 Caucasian adults. Geometric morphometric analysis, principal component analysis, canonical variates analysis, and other discriminant analysis (Goodall’s F‐test and Mahalanobis distance) were performed for the three separate bones of the left innominate (pubis, ilium, and ischium), the modified pubis (pubis and ischiopubic ramus), the modified ilium (ilium and ischial spine), three bone complexes (ischiopubic, iliopubic, and ilio‐ischial), and the complete innominate. A cross‐validation test was also performed. All areas studied were dimorphic, but results for sexual dimorphism in decreasing order were as follows: the modified pubis, followed by the ischiopubic complex, the iliopubic complex and the complete innominate, the pubis, the modified ilium, the ilio‐ischial complex, the ilium, and finally the ischium. These results show the potential of this approach for future anthropological research.
Dietary di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate-impaired glucose metabolism in experimental animals

The effects of chronic intake of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) on the main intermediate glycolytic metabolites in liver and gastrocnemius muscle were investigated in experimental animals. Male Wistar rats (90 -100 g) were fed for 21 days either with a standard chow or the same diet supplemented with 2% (w/w) of DEHP. The DEHP-fed rats had an altered in vivo glucose tolerance associated with abnormal glucose intermediate metabolite contents in liver and skeletal muscle. In these rats, the hepatic content of glucose-6 -phosphate (G-6 -P), fructose-6 -phosphate, pyruvate, lactate, glucose-1 -phosphate and glycogen decreased. At the same time, the G-6 -P content decreased while the pyruvate and lactate levels increased in skeletal muscle. These data, along with the high plasma glucose concentration and the normal lactate blood levels of this group, could indicate that DEHP-fed rats could present a deficiency in muscle glucose and lactate transport, a reduction of the flux through muscle hexokinase and hepatic glucokinase, and a reduction in glycogen synthesis.
Assessing the Regression of Barrett Esophagus: Don't Try It at Home

The discovery of a therapy to induce regression of intestinal metaplasia is one of the main objectives of clinical research in Barrett esophagus. As acid-control drugs have proved ineffective for this purpose, current interest is focused on antireflux surgery, particularly fundoplication. Several studies, including the one discussed in this commentary, have reported regression metaplasia and the absence of progression to high-grade dysplasia or adenocarcinoma after successful fundoplication, suggesting that this procedure is an effective approach for the management of patients with Barrett esophagus. The crucial question whether regression and absence of progression will result in the prevention of Barrett-associated adenocarcinoma may be answered by long-term follow-up of operated patients.
Probabilistic roadmaps in uncertain environments

Planning under uncertainty is a common requirement of robot navigation. Probabilistic roadmaps are an efficient method for generating motion graphs through the robot's configuration space, but do not inherently represent any uncertainty in the environment. In this thesis, the physical domain is abstracted into a graph search problem where the states of some edges are unknown. This is modelled as a decision-theoretic planning problem described through a partially observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP). It is shown that the optimal policy can depend on accounting for the value of information from observations. The model scalability and the graph size that can be handled is then extended by conversion to a belief state Markov Decision Process. Approximations to both the model and the planning algorithm are demonstrated that further extend the scalability of the techniques for static graphs. Experiments conducted verify the viability of these approximations by producing near-optimal plans in greatly reduced time compared to recent POMDP solvers. Belief state approximation in the planner reduces planning time significantly while producing plans of equal quality to those without this approximation. This is shown to be superior to other techniques such as heuristic weighting which is not found to give any significant benefit to the planner.
A small segment of the MAT alpha 1 transcript promotes mRNA decay in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: a stimulatory role for rare codons

Differences in decay rates of eukaryotic transcripts can be determined by discrete sequence elements within mRNAs. Through the analysis of chimeric transcripts and internal deletions, we have identified a 65-nucleotide segment of the MAT alpha 1 mRNA coding region, termed the MAT alpha 1 instability element, that is sufficient to confer instability to a stable PGK1 reporter transcript and that accelerates turnover of the unstable MAT alpha 1 mRNA. This 65-nucleotide element is composed of two parts, one located within the 5' 33 nucleotides and the second located in the 3' 32 nucleotides. The first part, which can be functionally replaced by sequences containing rare codons, is unable to promote rapid decay by itself but can enhance the action of the 3' 32 nucleotides (positions 234 to 266 in the MAT alpha 1 mRNA) in accelerating turnover. A second portion of the MAT alpha 1 mRNA (nucleotides 265 to 290) is also sufficient to destabilize the PGK1 reporter transcript when positioned 3' of rare codons, suggesting that the 3' half of the MAT alpha 1 instability element is functionally reiterated within the MAT alpha 1 mRNA. The observation that rare codons are part of the 65-nucleotide MAT alpha 1 instability element suggests possible mechanisms through which translation and mRNA decay may be linked.
Ceramide Biosynthesis Is Required for the Formation of the Oligomeric H+-ATPase Pma1p in the Yeast Endoplasmic Reticulum*

The yeast plasma membrane H+-ATPase Pma1p is one of the most abundant proteins to traverse the secretory pathway. Newly synthesized Pma1p exits the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) via COPII-coated vesicles bound for the Golgi. Unlike most secreted proteins, efficient incorporation of Pma1p into COPII vesicles requires the Sec24p homolog Lst1p, suggesting a unique role for Lst1p in ER export. Vesicles formed with mixed Sec24p-Lst1p coats are larger than those with Sec24p alone. Here, we examined the relationship between Pma1p biosynthesis and the requirement for this novel coat subunit. We show that Pma1p forms a large oligomeric complex of >1 MDa in the ER, which is packaged into COPII vesicles. Furthermore, oligomerization of Pma1p is linked to membrane lipid composition; Pma1p is rendered monomeric in cells depleted of ceramide, suggesting that association with lipid rafts may influence oligomerization. Surprisingly, monomeric Pma1p present in ceramide-deficient membranes can be exported from the ER in COPII vesicles in a reaction that is stimulated by Lst1p. We suggest that Lst1p directly conveys Pma1p into a COPII vesicle and that the larger size of mixed Sec24pLst1p COPII vesicles is not essential to the packaging of large oligomeric complexes.
Trend in ice moistening the stratosphere-constraints from isotope data of water and methane

Abstract. Water plays a major role in the chemistry and radiative budget of the stratosphere. Air enters the stratosphere predominantly in the tropics, where the very low temperatures around the tropopause constrain water vapour mixing ratios to a few parts per million. Observations of stratospheric water vapour show a large positive long-term trend, which can not be explained by change in tropopause temperatures. Trends in the partitioning between vapour and ice of water entering the stratosphere have been suggested to resolve this conundrum. We present measurements of stratospheric H2O, HDO, CH4 and CH3D in the period 1991–2007 to evaluate this hypothesis. Because of fractionation processes during phase changes, the hydrogen isotopic composition of H2O is a sensitive indicator of changes in the partitioning of vapour and ice. We find that the seasonal variations of H2O are mirrored in the variation of the ratio of HDO to H2O with a slope of the correlation consistent with water entering the stratosphere mainly as vapour. The variability in the fractionation over the entire observation period is well explained by variations in H2O. The isotopic data allow concluding that the trend in ice arising from particulate water is no more than (0.01±0.13) ppmv/decade in the observation period. Our observations suggest that between 1991 and 2007 the contribution from changes in particulate water transported through the tropopause plays only a minor role in altering in the amount of water entering the stratosphere.
Residence of Adenylyl Cyclase Type 8 in Caveolae Is Necessary but Not Sufficient for Regulation by Capacitative Ca2+Entry*

Ca2+-sensitive adenylyl cyclases (ACs) depend on capacitative Ca2+ entry (CCE) for their regulation. Residence of the endogenous Ca2+-inhibitable adenylyl cyclase of C6-2B glioma cells in cholesterol-enriched caveolae is essential for its regulation by CCE (Fagan, K. A., Smith, K. E., and Cooper, D. M. F. (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275, 26530–26537). In the present study, we established that depletion of cellular cholesterol ablated the regulation by CCE of a Ca2+-stimulable adenylyl cyclase, AC8, heterologously expressed in HEK293 cells. We considered the possibility that a calmodulin-binding domain in the N terminus of AC8, which is not required for in vitro regulation by Ca2+, might play a targeting role. Deletion and mutation of the N terminus did attenuate the enzyme's sensitivity to CCE without altering its in vitro responsiveness to Ca2+/calmodulin. Both N terminus-deleted AC8 and wild type AC8 were expressed at the plasma membrane, as shown by imaging analysis of green fluorescence protein-tagged constructs. However, not only wild type AC8 but also the CCE-insensitive mutants occurred in caveolar fractions of the plasma membranes, even though a Ca2+-insensitive adenylyl cyclase, AC7, was excluded from caveolae. Finally, the AC8 mutants were no more responsive to nonphysiological elevation of Ca2+ than the wild type. We conclude that (i) not all adenylyl cyclases reside in caveolae, (ii) the calmodulin-binding domain in the N terminus of AC8 does not play a role in caveolar targeting, (iii) the N terminus does play a role in associating AC8 with factors that confer sensitivity to CCE, and (iv) residence of Ca2+-sensitive adenylyl cyclases in caveolae is essential but not sufficient for regulation by CCE.
Neutrophil cytoskeletal rearrangements during capillary sequestration in bacterial pneumonia in rats.

RATIONALE Neutrophils accumulate in pulmonary capillaries during acute inflammation. Initial events in injury recognition and sequestration do not occur through selectin-mediated rolling. Cytoskeletal rearrangements, as assessed by submembrane F-actin rims, result in poorly deformable neutrophils that may not pass through capillaries. OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that neutrophils sequestering during pneumonia contain F-actin rims and to determine the roles of CD11/CD18, L-selectin expression, and neutrophil-platelet adhesion in neutrophil sequestration. METHODS Neutrophils were compared in blood obtained simultaneously from venous and arterial sites before and 4 h after instillation of Streptococcus pneumoniae or Escherichia coli in rats. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS At 4 h of pneumonia, the number of neutrophils was greater in the venous blood entering the lungs than in the arterial blood leaving the lungs, indicating that neutrophil sequestration was occurring. More neutrophils entering the lungs contained F-actin rims than did neutrophils exiting, and the venous-arterial difference in F-actin-rimmed neutrophil counts completely accounted for sequestration. In E. coli pneumonia, in which neutrophil adhesion is mediated by CD11/CD18, CD18 blockade 15 min before blood samples were obtained did not prevent this sequestration of F-actin-rimmed neutrophils. Neutrophils expressing high or low levels of L-selectin or of neutrophils that bound platelets while circulating did not preferentially sequester. CONCLUSIONS Neutrophils with cytoskeletal rearrangements preferentially sequester within the lungs during pneumonia, and this sequestration is not due to CD11/CD18-mediated adhesion, L-selectin expression, or platelet adhesion to neutrophils, suggesting that cytoskeletal rearrangements result in sequestration of neutrophils.