Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The ultrastructural localization of acid mucopolysaccharides in the intestine after irradiation.

Subcellular localization of acid mucopolysaccharide (AMPS) was only slightly discernible in normal rat intestinal absorptive cells. Immediately after 1000 R of whole-body X-irradiation the Golgi complex of the absorptive cell possessed AMPS, but the thin enteric surface coat did not. At 5 hours after exposure the Golgi complex was lightly stained and a thick, AMPS-rich surface coat was present. These observations sugest that the Golgi complex participates in the final synthesis of AMPS that becomes a component of the enteric surface coat.
Women's economic activity trajectories over the life course: implications for the self-rated health of women aged 64+ in England

Background Previous research has highlighted the importance of accumulated life-course labour market status and the balancing of multiple roles for understanding inequalities in health in later life. This may be particularly important for women, who are increasingly required to balance work and family life in liberal welfare contexts, such as in Britain. Methods This study analyses retrospective life history data for 2160 women aged 64+ years (born 1909–1943) from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, collected in 2006–2007 as part of an ongoing panel study. Optimal matching and cluster analyses are used to produce a taxonomy of women's life-course economic activity trajectories based on their experiences between ages 16 and 64 years. This classification is then used in logistic regression analysis to investigate associations with self-rated health in later life. Results A set of five trajectories emerge as the dominant patterns of women's economic activity over the life course for those cohorts of English women born prior to 1943: (1) full-time workers; (2) family carers; (3) full-time returners; (4) part-time returners; (5) atypical/inactive. Regression analyses show that women who experience defined periods of full-time work both before and after focusing on family life appear to have the most favourable later life health outcomes. Conclusions The findings are discussed with reference to the accumulation of social and economic resources over the life course and the balancing of multiple roles in work and family domains. In conclusion, the development of policies that facilitate women, if they wish, to successfully combine paid employment with family life could have a positive impact on their health in later life.
Comparison of Standards for Determining Losses and Efficiency of Three-Phase Induction Motors

The efficiency of induction motors has emerged as having the biggest potential in saving energy consumption. This is important to South Africa where energy saving has risen as a major concern. This paper looks at the different motor efficiency standards that are available and attempts to compare them. The paper discusses results obtained from tests done on a 3kW high efficient motor. Three standards used were the CSA-390 a Canadian standard, IEEE 112 an American standard and the new European standard, the IEC 61971. Results show that the IEEE and CSA-390 produce higher efficiencies than the IEC standards. The reasons for this are discussed. The effects of equipment accuracy and supply harmonics are discussed in brief. A suggestion for a South African Standard with aspects drawn from the standards is put down as the present SANS IEC 60034-2 (1972) is outdated.
Progression of Pro 23 His Retinopathy in a Miniature Swine Model of Retinitis Pigmentosa

Progression of Pro23His Retinopathy in a Miniature Swine Model of Retinitis Pigmentosa Patrick A. Scott, Juan P. Fernandez de Castro, Paul J. DeMarco, Jason W. Ross, Josephat Njoka, Eric Walters, Randall S. Prather, Maureen A. McCall, and Henry J. Kaplan 1 Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA 2 Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA 3 Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA 4 Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA 5 Division of Animal Science, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, USA 6 Department of National Swine Resource and Research Center, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, USA 7 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA
EVIDENCE FOR A CLUMPY, ROTATING GAS DISK IN A SUBMILLIMETER GALAXY AT z = 4

We present Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array observations of the CO(2–1) emission in the z = 4.05 submillimeter galaxy (SMG) GN20. These high-resolution data allow us to image the molecular gas at 1.3 kpc resolution just 1.6 Gyr after the big bang. The data reveal a clumpy, extended gas reservoir, 14 ± 4 kpc in diameter, in unprecedented detail. A dynamical analysis shows that the data are consistent with a rotating disk of total dynamical mass 5.4 ± 2.4 × 1011 M☉. We use this dynamical mass estimate to constrain the CO-to-H2 mass conversion factor (αCO), finding αCO = 1.1 ± 0.6 M☉(K km s−1 pc2)−1. We identify five distinct molecular gas clumps in the disk of GN20 with masses a few percent of the total gas mass, brightness temperatures of 16–31K, and surface densities of >3200–4500 × (αCO/0.8) M☉ pc−2. Virial mass estimates indicate they could be self-gravitating, and we constrain their CO-to-H2 mass conversion factor to be <0.2–0.7 M☉(K km s−1 pc2)−1. A multiwavelength comparison demonstrates that the molecular gas is concentrated in a region of the galaxy that is heavily obscured in the rest-frame UV/optical. We investigate the spatially resolved gas excitation and find that the CO(6–5)/CO(2–1) ratio is constant with radius, consistent with star formation occurring over a large portion of the disk. We discuss the implications of our results in the context of different fueling scenarios for SMGs.
Vascular (humoral) rejection in human cardiac allograft biopsies: relation to circulating anti-HLA antibodies.

Vascular or humoral rejection (as defined by linear deposits of immunoglobulin and complement in myocardial capillaries) and the presence of circulating lymphocytotoxic anti-HLA antibodies are each associated with reduced long-term graft or patient survival. The relationship between these two factors has not been determined. We used immunofluorescent techniques to study 46 cardiac biopsy specimens in 16 patients from 15 to 412 days after transplantation. Biopsy specimens were selected from the first 2 months, and at approximately 6 and 12 months after transplantation and did not include episodes of acute cellular rejection. Each specimen studied was compared to a serum sample drawn an average of 1.8 days (range, 0 to 9 days) from the time of biopsy to assay for circulating anti-HLA antibodies. Of the specimens obtained at or near a positive anti-HLA antibody test, 90% (27 of 30) were found to have linear deposits of immunoglobulin (not necessarily with complement) versus 75% (12 of 16) of specimens obtained at the time of a negative test. Twenty-one cases of vascular rejection were documented. Both immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G were deposited along with complement in 13 instances; immunoglobulin M and complement were deposited in eight cases; no case had only immunoglobulin G and complement. The presence of circulating anti-HLA antibody in the serum was associated with 14 of the 21 cases of vascular rejection. Linear deposits of immunoglobulin in the capillaries of myocardium were frequently observed when anti-HLA antibodies were present in the serum. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Selective Excision of AZTMP by Drug-Resistant Human Immunodeficiency Virus Reverse Transcriptase

ABSTRACT Two distinct mechanisms can be envisioned for resistance of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT) to nucleoside analogs: one in which the mutations interfere with the ability of HIV-1 RT to incorporate the analog, and the other in which the mutations enhance the excision of the analog after it has been incorporated. It has been clear for some time that there are mutations that selectively interfere with the incorporation of nucleoside analogs; however, it has only recently been proposed that zidovudine (AZT) resistance can involve the excision of the nucleoside analog after it has been incorporated into viral DNA. Although this proposal resolves some important issues, it leaves some questions unanswered. In particular, how do the AZT resistance mutations enhance excision, and what mechanism(s) causes the excision reaction to be relatively specific for AZT? We have used both structural and biochemical data to develop a model. In this model, several of the mutations associated with AZT resistance act primarily to enhance the binding of ATP, which is the most likely pyrophosphate donor in the in vivo excision reaction. The AZT resistance mutations serve to increase the affinity of RT for ATP so that, at physiological ATP concentrations, excision is reasonably efficient. So far as we can determine, the specificity of the excision reaction for an AZT-terminated primer is not due to the mutations that confer resistance, but depends instead on the structure of the region around the HIV-1 RT polymerase active site and on its interactions with the azido group of AZT. Steric constraints involving the azido group cause the end of an AZT 5′-monophosphate-terminated primer to preferentially reside at the nucleotide binding site, which favors excision.
Dose-dependent effects of acute exercise on PKC levels in rat heart: is PKC the heart's prophylactic?

UNLABELLED Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that chronic exercise is cardioprotective, and recent evidence from our laboratory suggests a key role for protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent pathways, at least in part, as a cellular basis for this response. However, the dose-response relationship linking exercise volume and the time course of isoform-specific PKC activation are poorly understood. AIM The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of acute exercise of varying durations on PKC subcellular distribution and phosphorylation in the rat left ventricle. METHODS Adult (5 months) male Fischer-344 more rats were subjected to a single bout (OB) or 7 days (SB) of treadmill running (n = 6/group; 23 m min-1, 20 min), and compared with sedentary controls (SED; n = 8). Hearts were isolated immediately after [early window (EW); n = 3/group] or 24 h after the last exercise bout [late window (LW); n = 3/group] in OB and SD, respectively. Total PKC and subcellular distribution for the alpha, delta, epsilon, betaI, and betaII isoforms, as well as phosphorylated (phospho-) PKC epsilon (pSer729), PKC alpha (pSer657) and PKCdelta (pThr507) levels were assessed by western blotting. Protein kinase C epsilon and PKC alpha mRNA levels were assessed by real time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS Following OB, PKCbetaI protein levels were reduced, while total phospho-PKC epsilon (pSer729), PKC alpha (pSer657) and PKC delta (pThr507) levels were increased during EW (P < 0.05). Interestingly, total PKC delta (31%) and membrane-associated PKC alpha (24%) levels decreased from EW to LW (P < 0.05). In contrast, SB yielded chronic increases in total PKC epsilon (80.5%) levels and PKC delta (20.0%) levels (P < 0.03), with reversal of effects on phospho-PKC epsilon (Ser729), phospho-PKC alpha (Ser657) and phospho-PKC delta (Thr507) levels observed with OB. Reductions in total phospho-PKC alpha (Ser657) persisted at SB (26.1%; P < 0.02). Interestingly, mRNA levels for PKC epsilon were significantly increased following SB while PKC alpha mRNA levels were reduced, respectively. CONCLUSION These data suggest that divergent patterns of PKC activation occur following OB and SB at both the transcriptional and translational levels. That similar patterns of PKC translocation are observed in experimental models of ischaemic preconditioning and genetic PKC manipulation provide evidence for a dose-dependent cardioprotective phenotype induced by physical activity.
Unrelatedness of groups of yeasts within the Candida haemulonii complex

Isoenzyme and protein profiles of clinical isolates initially identified as Candida haemulonii demonstrated the presence of two distinct groups. DNA relatedness studies with representative cultures confirmed the presence of two species. Physiological features that can be used to separate two groups within C. haemulonii are reported.
Generalizing the PAC model: sample size bounds from metric dimension-based uniform convergence results

The probably approximately correct (PAC) model of learning from examples is generalized. The problem of learning functions from a set X into a set Y is considered, assuming only that the examples are generated by independent draws according to an unknown probability measure on X*Y. The learner's goal is to find a function in a given hypothesis space of functions from X into Y that on average give Y values that are close to those observed in random examples. The discrepancy is measured by a bounded real-valued loss function. The average loss is called the error of the hypothesis. A theorem on the uniform convergence of empirical error estimates to true error rates is given for certain hypothesis spaces, and it is shown how this implies learnability. A generalized notion of VC dimension that applies to classes of real-valued functions and a notion of capacity for classes of functions that map into a bounded metric space are given. These measures are used to bound the rate of convergence of empirical error estimates to true error rates, giving bounds on the sample size needed for learning using hypotheses in these classes. As an application, a distribution-independent uniform convergence result for certain classes of functions computed by feedforward neural nets is obtained. Distribution-specific uniform convergence results for classes of functions that are uniformly continuous on average are also obtained. <<ETX>>
Role of the Actin Cytoskeleton in T Cell Absorption and Internalization of Ligands from APC1

A feature of T-APC interaction is that, via either TCR or CD28, T cells can absorb molecules from APC on to the cell surface and then internalize these molecules. Here, using both normal and TCR-transgenic T cells, we investigated the mechanism of T cell absorption of molecules from APC and the role of the cytoskeleton. The results show that although activated T cells could absorb APC molecules in the form of cell fragments, uptake of molecules by resting T cells required direct T-APC interaction. Based on studies with latrunculin B, surface absorption of molecules by resting T cells was crucially dependent upon the actin cytoskeleton for both CD28- and TCR-mediated absorption. Significantly, however, TCR-mediated absorption became strongly resistant to latrunculin B when the concentration of MHC-bound peptide on APC was raised to a high level, implying that the actin cytoskeleton is only important for absorption when the density of receptor/ligand interaction is low. By contrast, in all situations tested, the actin cytoskeleton played a decisive role in controlling T cell internalization of ligands from the cell surface.
Does one model fit all? Exploring factors influencing the use of blogs, social networks, and wikis in the enterprise

ABSTRACT Enterprise social media (ESM) have become increasingly widespread, but many intranet communities barely survive, miss their initially planned targets, or are even terminated. Research on technology acceptance can be a useful approach to improve adoption rates, but more empirical research needs to be conducted to examine factors driving the adoption of enterprise social media. To address this gap, we develop a model of individual ESM adoption, including technological and individual factors based on findings from collaboration and knowledge-sharing research. Because different ESM tools, such as blogs, social networks, and wikis, can be employed for fundamentally different uses, we explain differences between individual adoptions of the three technologies by identifying their uses and gratifications from the perspective of employees. The model is tested in three parallel studies, one for blogs, social networks, and wikis each, among employees of an international technology company in the pre-implementation phase. We find substantial differences between the factors influencing the intention to adopt the three applications. This provides the basis to employ the applications in a more effective way by considering organizational and employee needs.
Activation of the β myosin heavy chain promoter by MEF‐2D, MyoD, p300, and the calcineurin/NFATc1 pathway

Calcium is a key element in intracellular signaling in skeletal muscle. Changes in intracellular calcium levels are thought to mediate the fast‐to‐slow transformation of muscle fiber type. One factor implicated in gene regulation in adult muscle is the nuclear factor of activated T‐cells (NFAT) isoform c1, whose dephosphorylation by the calcium/calmodulin‐dependent phosphatase calcineurin facilitates its nuclear translocation. Here, we report that differentiated C2C12 myotubes predominantly expressing fast‐type MyHCII protein undergo fast‐to‐slow transformation following calcium‐ionophore treatment, with several transcription factors and a transcriptional coactivator acting in concert to upregulate the slow myosin heavy chain (MyHC) β promoter. Transient transfection assays demonstrated that the calcineurin/NFATc1 signaling pathway is essential for MyHCβ promoter activation during transformation of C2C12 myotubes but is not sufficient for complete fast MyHCIId/x promoter inhibition. Along with NFATc1, myocyte enhancer factor‐2D (MEF‐2D) and the myogenic transcription factor MyoD transactivated the MyHCβ promoter in calcium‐ionophore‐treated myotubes in a calcineurin‐dependent manner. To elucidate the mechanism involved in regulating MyHCβ gene expression, we analyzed the −2.4‐kb MyHCβ promoter construct for cis‐regulatory elements. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs), chromatin immunoprecipitation assays (ChIP), and nuclear complex coimmunoprecipitation (NCcoIP) assays, we demonstrated calcium‐ionophore‐induced binding of NFATc1 to a NFAT consensus site adjacent to a MyoD‐binding E‐box. At their respective binding sites, both NFATc1 and MyoD recruited the transcriptional coactivator p300, and in turn, MEF‐2D bound to the MyoD complex. The calcium‐ionophore‐induced effects on the MyHCβ promoter were shown to be calcineurin‐dependent. Together, our findings demonstrate calcium‐ionophore‐induced activation of the β MyHC promoter by NFATc1, MyoD, MEF‐2D, and p300 in a calcineurin‐dependent manner. J. Cell. Physiol. 211: 138–148, 2007. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Indicators of amyloid burden in a population-based study of cognitively normal elderly

Objectives: Secondary prevention trials in subjects with preclinical Alzheimer disease may require documentation of brain amyloidosis. The identification of inexpensive and noninvasive screening variables that can identify individuals who have significant amyloid accumulation would reduce screening costs. Methods: A total of 483 cognitively normal (CN) individuals, aged 70–92 years, from the population-based Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, underwent Pittsburgh compound B (PiB)–PET imaging. Logistic regression determined whether age, sex, APOE genotype, family history, or cognitive performance was associated with odds of a PiB retention ratio >1.4 and >1.5. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) evaluated the discrimination between PiB-positive and -negative subjects. For each characteristic, we determined the number needed to screen in each age group (70–79 and 80–89) to identify 100 participants with PiB >1.4 or >1.5. Results: A total of 211 (44%) individuals had PiB >1.4 and 151 (31%) >1.5. In univariate and multivariate models, discrimination was modest (AUROC ∼0.6–0.7). Multivariately, age and APOE best predicted odds of PiB >1.4 and >1.5. Subjective memory complaints were similar to cognitive test performance in predicting PiB >1.5. Indicators of PiB positivity varied with age. Screening APOE ε4 carriers alone reduced the number needed to screen to enroll 100 subjects with PIB >1.5 by 48% in persons aged 70–79 and 33% in those aged 80–89. Conclusions: Age and APOE genotype are useful predictors of the likelihood of significant amyloid accumulation, but discrimination is modest. Nonetheless, these results suggest that inexpensive and noninvasive measures could significantly reduce the number of CN individuals needed to screen to enroll a given number of amyloid-positive subjects.
Bio-inspired annelid robot: a dielectric elastomer actuated soft robot

Biologically inspired robots with inherent softness and body compliance increasingly attract attention in the field of robotics. Aimed at solving existing problems with soft robots, regarding actuation technology and biological principles, this paper presents a soft bio-inspired annelid robot driven by dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) that can advance on flat rigid surfaces. The DEA, a kind of soft functional actuator, is designed and fabricated to mimic the axial elongation and differential friction of a single annelid body segment. Several (at least three) DEAs are connected together into a movable multi-segment robot. Bristles are attached at the bottom of some DEAs to achieve differential friction for imitating the setae of annelids. The annelid robot is controlled by periodic square waves, propagating from the posterior to the anterior, which imitate the peristaltic waves of annelids. Controlled by these waves, each DEA, one-by-one from tail to head, anchors to the ground by circumferential distention and pushes the front DEAs forward by axial elongation, enabling the robot to advance. Preliminary tests demonstrate that a 3-segment robot can reach an average speed of 5.3 mm s−1 (1.871 body lengths min−1) on flat rigid surfaces and can functionally mimic the locomotion of annelids. Compared to the existing robots that imitate terrestrial annelids our annelid robot shows advantages in terms of speed and bionics.