Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Treatment of Mice with the Neutrophil-Depleting Antibody RB6-8C5 Results in Early Development of Experimental Lyme Arthritis via the Recruitment of Gr-1− Polymorphonuclear Leukocyte-Like Cells

ABSTRACT Recently, we demonstrated that blocking the entry of neutrophils into Borrelia burgdorferi-infected joints in mice deficient in the chemokine receptor CXCR2 prevented the development of experimental Lyme arthritis. Neutrophils were marginalized in blood vessels at the site of infection but could not enter the joint tissue. In the present study, we treated both genetically arthritis-resistant DBA/2J (DBA) and arthritis-susceptible C3H/HeJ (C3H) mice with the neutrophil-depleting monoclonal antibody RB6-8C5 (RB6) to determine the effect on arthritis development. Surprisingly, both DBA and C3H mice treated with RB6 developed arthritis at 1 week postinfection, approximately 1 week earlier than the control-treated C3H mice. The early development of arthritis in the RB6-treated mice was accompanied by an influx into the joints of cells with ring-shaped polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) cell morphology that were negative for the Gr-1 neutrophil maturation marker. RB6 treatment of mice also resulted in increased numbers of B. burgdorferi cells in the joints at 7 days postinfection and earlier expression of the chemokines KC and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 in the joints compared to control-treated animals. Together, these results suggest that recruitment of neutrophils or PMN-like cells into an infected joint is a key requirement for Lyme arthritis development and that altered recruitment of these cells into the joints of arthritis-resistant mice can exacerbate the development of pathology.
MFCC compensation for improved recognition of filtered and bandlimited speech

The paper addresses the problem of bandwidth expansion for the purpose of robust speech recognition. We show that an HMM-based ASR engine trained with full spectrum range data (0-8 kHz) can successfully perform speech recognition tasks over band-filtered test data compensated by means of a series of simple MFCC parameter corrector functions. The problem is important when ASR is employed for audio streams of unknown frequency bandwidth, common in spoken document retrieval. Evaluation is based on recognition rates. Accuracy varies depending on the width and spectral regions eliminated, but the system shows great advantages over the use of uncompensated filtered test data. The theoretical maximum recognition rates using corrector functions over filtered test data are very close to the base rate (unfiltered data) even when the greatest part of the spectrum of the original data is suppressed. These rates are even better than those obtained in the matched train/test HMMs with filtered data.
Brain activation of eye movements in subjects with refractive error.

PURPOSE Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have described reorganized activation of the oculomotor and visual cortex after focal brain lesions. These studies are based on comparison with healthy individuals who may have a very heterogenous refractive error. The influence of refractive error on the cortical control of an oculomotor task such as a prosaccade trial, however, is unknown. METHODS To investigate the influence of visual acuity on changes of cortical oculomotor control, we studied the representation of visually guided prosaccades in nine subjects with refractive error and 11 normally sighted subjects using fMRI. Correction of refractive error was not allowed during fMRI. Differences in activation between rest and saccades as well as between subjects with refractive error vs subjects with normal vision were assessed with statistical parametric mapping. RESULTS In both groups, activation of a frontoparietal network was observed. Subjects with refractive errors showed increased activation compared to normally sighted subjects, with overactivation in bilateral frontal and parietal eye fields, supplementary eye fields, as well as in the bilateral extrastriate cortex. CONCLUSIONS This group of subjects with refractive error showed increased activation in an extended oculomotor and visual network to maintain performance during simple prosaccades. This observation underlines the importance of using appropriate control groups in fMRI-studies after brain lesions.
Intraoperative Wavefront Aberrometry for Toric Intraocular Lens Placement in Eyes With a History of Refractive Surgery.

Eyes with a history of refractive surgery render intraocular lens (IOL) power selection particularly difficult, but intraoperative wavefront aberrometry has shown promising results. 1,2 Although it is uncommon for eyes to have significant residual corneal astigmatism after refractive surgery, such cases do exist and present an extra challenge. We retrospectively assessed the accuracy of the ORA system for toric IOL power selection in eyes with a history of refractive surgery and significant residual astigmatism. More than 200 records of eyes that underwent cataract surgery with the ORA system were reviewed and 15 eyes were identified that underwent toric IOL implantation. Twelve eyes had a history of myopic LASIK and three of hyperopic LASIK. The ORA predictive accuracy was compared to the SRK-T formula using axial length measurements from the IOLMaster (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA) and keratometry values from the IOLMaster or corneal topography and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) online calculator. Preoperative cylinder power and axis were calculated using the Alcon AcrySof or the Abbott Medical Optics toric calculators. Postoperatively, corrected distance visual acuity and manifest refraction 1 month after cataract surgery were recorded. Axial length ranged from 22.67 to 27.72 mm and average keratometry values from 38.87 to 48.29 D. The IOL spherical power changed from the preoperative plan in 11 eyes, with a 1.50-D or greater change in 3 eyes. The IOL cylindrical power changed in 5 eyes Mean preoperative keratometric astigmatism was 2.09 ± 0.67 D. The mean residual astigmatic prediction using the ORA system
High-level synthesis of low-power control-flow intensive circuits

In this paper, we present a comprehensive high-level synthesis system that is geared toward reducing power consumption in control-flow intensive as well as data-dominated circuits. An iterative improvement framework allows the system to search the design space by examining the interaction between the different high-level synthesis tasks. In addition to incorporating traditional high-level synthesis tasks such as scheduling, module selection and resource sharing, we introduce a new optimization that performs power-conscious structuring of multiplexer networks, which are predominant in control-flow intensive circuits. The scheduler employed is capable of loop optimizations within and across loop boundaries. We also introduce a fast power estimation technique, based on switching activity matrices, to drive the synthesis process. Experimental results for a number of control-flow intensive and data-dominated benchmarks demonstrate power reduction of up to 62% (58%) when compared to V/sub dd/-scaled area-optimized (delay-optimized) designs. The area overheads over area-optimized designs are less than 39%, whereas the area savings over delay-optimized designs are up to 40%.
Pre-service Teachers’ Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding School-Based Bullying Katrina Craig University of Western Ontario

Pre-service teachers responded to two questionnaires exploring perceptions of school violence. Responses to the “Teachers’ Attitudes about Bullying” and “Trainee Teachers’ Bullying Attitudes” questionnaires suggest that teachers across all academic divisions view bullying as a serious concern with implications for their role within the profession. There were considerable differences regarding what was defined as bullying, with variability related to the potential of intervening to end the violence. Covert forms of bullying including relational, homophobic, and cyber were viewed as less serious than overt violence and therefore less worthy of attention. The research findings point to the importance of providing pre-service teachers with training regarding anti-violence strategies.
FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE-SUBUNIT FOR HETERODIMERIC P-TYPE ATPases DAR

We have reviewed the structural and functional role of the -subunit in a subfamily of the P-ATPases known as the / -heterodimeric, cation-exchange ATPases. The subfamily consists of the various isoforms of Na+/K+ATPase and H+/K+-ATPase, both of which pump a cation out of the cell (Na+ or H+, respectively) in recycle exchange for K+. Much of the earlier work has emphasized the functional activities of the -subunit, which shares many characteristics with the broader P-ATPase family. It is now clear that the glycosylated -subunit is an essential component of the cation-exchange ATPase subfamily. All -subunit isoforms have three highly conserved disulfide bonds within the extracellular domain that serve to stabilize the -subunit, / interaction and functional activity of the holoenzyme. Evidence strongly suggests that the -subunit is involved in the K+-dependent reactions of the enzymes, such as the E1–E2 transition and K+ occlusion, and that the extracellular domain of the -subunit plays an important role in determining the kinetics of K+ interaction. In most vertebrate cells, the unassociated subunit is restricted to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and assembly of the / complex occurs within the ER. Signals for exiting the ER and directing the correct intracellular trafficking are primarily determined by the subunit; Na+/K+-ATPase typically terminates in the plasma membrane facing the basolateral membrane, whereas all isoforms of H+/K+-ATPase terminate in the apical membrane. The C-terminal extracellular domain of the subunit is important for proper interaction with the subunit and for correct intracellular trafficking. Oligosaccharides on the -subunit are not essential for enzyme function, but do serve to enhance the efficiency of / association by increasing the lifetime of the unassociated -subunit and the stability of the / complex to tryptic attack. We propose that highly specialized glycosylation on the -subunit of the gastric H+/K+-ATPase may help to protect that enzyme from the harsh extracellular environment of the stomach.
A Sheathless Retrograde Approach Via the Popliteal Artery Is Useful and Safe for Treating Chronic Total Occlusions in the Superficial Femoral Artery

Purpose To compare the safety and success of a retrograde approach using a microcatheter vs. a sheath in the treatment of superficial femoral artery (SFA) chronic total occlusions (CTOs). Methods From April 2007 to December 2012, 188 consecutive patients underwent EVT for 229 de novo SFA CTOs using the retrograde approach in 68 patients (35 men; mean age 72 years). This cohort was divided into cases performed with a 4-F or 6-F sheath (n=28, 36 limbs) and those with a 2.1-F microcatheter (n=35, 49 limbs). The primary outcomes were mean time to hemostasis and number of intra- and postoperative puncture site complications, as well as the success of popliteal artery puncture, lesion crossing, and reperfusion. Results There were no significant differences between two groups in baseline characteristics. PA puncture was successful in all limbs, and the success in crossing the lesion with the wire was not significantly different (91.9% in the sheath group vs. 89.8% in the microcatheter group). Mean time to hemostasis was 8.9±8.8 minutes in the microcatheter group vs. 47.7±13 minutes in the sheath group (p<0.0001). There was a significant difference in intraoperative and postoperative complications (22.2% in the sheath group vs. 2.0% in the microcatheter group, p=0.002). Conclusion Based on this retrospective analysis, the use of a microcatheter for SFA CTO retrograde access appears to be superior to 4-F or 6-F sheaths in terms of shorter time to hemostasis and fewer complications.
CER4 Encodes an Alcohol-Forming Fatty Acyl-Coenzyme A Reductase Involved in Cuticular Wax Production in Arabidopsis1[W]

A waxy cuticle that serves as a protective barrier against uncontrolled water loss and environmental damage coats the aerial surfaces of land plants. It is composed of a cutin polymer matrix and waxes. Cuticular waxes are complex mixtures of very-long-chain fatty acids and their derivatives. We report here the molecular cloning and characterization of CER4, a wax biosynthetic gene from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Arabidopsis cer4 mutants exhibit major decreases in stem primary alcohols and wax esters, and slightly elevated levels of aldehydes, alkanes, secondary alcohols, and ketones. This phenotype suggested that CER4 encoded an alcohol-forming fatty acyl-coenzyme A reductase (FAR). We identified eight FAR-like genes in Arabidopsis that are highly related to an alcohol-forming FAR expressed in seeds of jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis). Molecular characterization of CER4 alleles and genomic complementation revealed that one of these eight genes, At4g33790, encoded the FAR required for cuticular wax production. Expression of CER4 cDNA in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) resulted in the accumulation of C24:0 and C26:0 primary alcohols. Fully functional green fluorescent protein-tagged CER4 protein was localized to the endoplasmic reticulum in yeast cells by confocal microscopy. Analysis of gene expression by reverse transcription-PCR indicated that CER4 was expressed in leaves, stems, flowers, siliques, and roots. Expression of a β-glucuronidase reporter gene driven by the CER4 promoter in transgenic plants was detected in epidermal cells of leaves and stems, consistent with a dedicated role for CER4 in cuticular wax biosynthesis. CER4 was also expressed in all cell types in the elongation zone of young roots. These data indicate that CER4 is an alcohol-forming FAR that has specificity for very-long-chain fatty acids and is responsible for the synthesis of primary alcohols in the epidermal cells of aerial tissues and in roots.
On Aristotelian Universals and Individuals: The “Vink” that is in Body and May Be In Me

G. E. L. Owen, in his infl uential paper “Inherence,” talks of “vink,” a name he has created for a particular shade of the color pink, and this “vink” serves as an individual in the Aristotelian category of quality. Owen was one of the fi rst to aim to discredit the belief that J. L. Ackrill and his camp espoused, the belief that Aristotle thought that “general attributes are not in individuals, particular attributes are not in more than one individual. ” I postulate that there is nothing here that does not preclude the existence of transferable nonsubstantial particulars, and base this view on passages from Aristotle’s Categories and certain examples found in Ammonius’s commentary and On Colors. Given this, a nonsubstantial particular of “vink” would not have to rely on having inhered in just one particular body to have existence, however, it would have to inhere in at least one particular body.
How Best-Self Activation Influences Emotions, Physiology and Employment Relationships

It may be possible to offer people a new understanding of their best-self concepts, leading to positive personal and social change. We developed theory about how best-self activation can lead to both immediate and long-term outcomes through recursion, interaction, and subjective construal between the self concept and the social system. In two lab experiments and a field experiment in a global consulting firm, we tested the hypotheses by offering people reflections on times they were at their best. Results confirmed that best-self activation inspired improvements in people’s emotions, resistance to disease, resilience to stress and burnout, creative problem solving, performance under pressure, and relationships with their employer. Results also revealed that best-self activations are more effective in creating improvements when they feature information from one’s social network rather than personal reflections.
Role of insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis in the progression of fibrosis and response to treatment in hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is a common cause of chronic viral infection of the liver. It is associated with insulin resistance and the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is also associated with the development of hepatic steatosis. The presence of hepatic steatosis is associated with an increased risk of having hepatic fibrosis. This is also associated with the severity of insulin resistance. These findings are specifically germane for those with genotype1 infection. Genotype 3 infection independently causes steatosis and successful treatment of the virus is followed by resolution of steatosis. In genotype 1 infection, the presence of hepatic steatosis is also a risk factor for failure to respond to pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy. Unfortunately efforts to treat insulin resistance prior to antiviral therapy have not been very successful. Newer efforts focused on the role of specific micro RNAs in mediating the metabolic effects of hepatitis C virus infection may provide to ameliorate the metabolic risks of HCV infection.
Change Detection Based on Deep Siamese Convolutional Network for Optical Aerial Images

In this letter, we propose a novel supervised change detection method based on a deep siamese convolutional network for optical aerial images. We train a siamese convolutional network using the weighted contrastive loss. The novelty of the method is that the siamese network is learned to extract features directly from the image pairs. Compared with hand-crafted features used by the conventional change detection method, the extracted features are more abstract and robust. Furthermore, because of the advantage of the weighted contrastive loss function, the features have a unique property: the feature vectors of the changed pixel pair are far away from each other, while the ones of the unchanged pixel pair are close. Therefore, we use the distance of the feature vectors to detect changes between the image pair. Simple threshold segmentation on the distance map can even obtain good performance. For improvement, we use a $k$ -nearest neighbor approach to update the initial result. Experimental results show that the proposed method produces results comparable, even better, with the two state-of-the-art methods in terms of F-measure.
Photoperiod affects estrogen receptor α, estrogen receptor β and aggressive behavior

Estrogens have important effects on male and female social behavior. Despite growing knowledge of the anatomy and behavioral effects of the two predominant estrogen receptor subtypes in mammals (ERα and ERβ), relatively little is known about how these receptors respond to salient environmental stimuli. Many seasonally breeding species respond to changing photoperiods that predict seasonal changes in resource availability. We characterized the effects of photoperiod on aggressive behavior in two species of Peromyscus that exhibit gonadal regression in short days. P. polionotus (old field mice) were more aggressive than P. maniculatus (deer mice) and both species were more aggressive in short days. We used immunocytochemistry and real‐time polymerase chain reaction to characterize the effects of photoperiod on ERα and ERβ expression. In both species ERα‐immunoreactive staining in the posterior bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) was increased in short vs. long days. Both species had reduced ERβ‐immunoreactive expression in the posterior BNST in short days. In the medial amygdala ERβ immunoreactivity was increased in long days for both species. Using real‐time polymerase chain reaction on punch samples that included the BNST, we observed that ERα mRNA was increased and ERβ mRNA was decreased in short days. These data suggest that the effects of photoperiod on ERα and ERβ expression may thus have important behavioral consequences.
Comportamiento evolutivo y decisiones financieras. Percepciones sobre la tasa de descuento

La exposicion de sujetos a estimulos eroticos provoca un cambio en su perspectiva temporal, otorgando mayor valor al momento presente frente al futuro. Diferentes modelos intentan explicar este fenomeno como bien pueden ser la teoria de los factores viscerales o la psicologia evolutiva. La teoria evolutiva, concretamente, propone el analisis de las razones ultimas como variables explicativas de la conducta. Desde la perspectiva de la teoria evolutiva, se proponen tres experimentos en los cuales se demuestra como la exposicion a imagenes de estimulos eroticos, en primer lugar, ejerce una influencia en la percepcion del riesgo de manera diferente en hombres y mujeres. En el segundo, se amplia el enfoque, centrando el analisis solo en las mujeres, los resultados ponen en evidencia como dicha percepcion sera diferente segun el objetivo perseguido a la hora de establecer una relacion sentimental. El tercer experimento analiza la relacion entre el estimulo erotico y la percepcion sobre la tasa de descuento en funcion de los niveles hormonales de la mujer. En este sentido, la naturaleza biologica de las mujeres condiciona su propension al riesgo y la toma de decisiones tras recibir estimulos eroticos.
Impact of Gender and Age on Executive Functioning: Do Girls and Boys With and Without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Differ Neuropsychologically in Preteen and Teenage Years?

ADHD is known to have neuropsychological correlates, characterized mainly by executive function (EF) deficits. However, most available data are based on studies of boys through age 12. Our goal was to assess whether girls with ADHD express neuropsychological features similar to those found in boys, and whether these impairments are found in both preteen and teen samples. Participants were 101 girls and 103 boys with DSM-–III-–R ADHD, and 109 comparison girls and 70 boys without ADHD, ages 9 to 17 years. Information on neuropsychological performance was obtained in a standardized manner blind to clinical status. Primary regression analyses controlled for age, socioeconomic status, learning disability, and psychiatric comorbidity. Girls and boys with ADHD were significantly more impaired on some measures of EFs than healthy comparisons but did not differ significantly from each other. With the exception of 1 test score there were no significant Sex �× Diagnosis interactions. Moreover, there were no more significant interactions among age, gender, and diagnosis than would be expected by chance. Neuropsychological measures of EFs were comparably impaired in girls compared to boys with ADHD, and these impairments are found at ages 9 to 12 and ages 13 to 17. These findings suggest that executive dysfunctions are correlates of ADHD regardless of gender and age, at least through the late teen years.
Fabrication of HfSiON gate dielectrics by plasma oxidation and nitridation, optimized for 65 nm mode low power CMOS applications

Fabrication process of HfSiON gate dielectrics by plasma oxidation of CVD Hf silicate followed by plasma nitridation was developed. Thanks to the high quality ultrathin interfacial layer formed by internal plasma oxidation, electron mobility of 240 cm/sup 2//Vs@0.8 MV/cm (85% of SiO/sub 2/) and hole mobility of 73 cm/sup 2//Vs@0.5 MV/cm (93% of SiON) were successfully achieved. The developed process will be promising for the production of low power CMOS devices in the near future.