Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Histological analysis of cat muscle spindles following direct observation of the effects of stimulating dynamic and static motor axons.

1. Eleven cat tenuissimus spindles have been analysed mainly by cutting serial, transverse, 1 micrometer thick sections following direct observation of the effects of dynamic motor (gamma or beta) stimulation. 2. Histological results from these spindles were also used to interpret the effects of static fusimotor stimulation of other spindles. 3. Dynamic motor stimulation usually produced contractions seen as convergent movements of sarcomeres in single bag fibres, identified as bag1 fibres for reasons given in the text. 4. In one spindle a single dynamic axon produced a translational movement in one pole of a bag1 fibre and a convergent movement in each pole of a bag2 fibre, together with movements in other unidentified (presumably chain) fibres. Subsequent analysis showed that besides innervating both bag fibres the axon also supplied two chain fibres. 5. Contrary to expectation, motor endings on the bag1 fibres seldom occurred at the sites of convergent movement. Only two cases of coincidence occurred among sixteen foci and twenty‐one motor endings; otherwise focus and nearest ending were separated by distances of 0.85‐‐2.5 mm. 6. Most of the convergent movements of sarcomeres observed in bag1 fibres occurred in a region of the pole that is ultrastructurally distinct from the region where most of the motor endings were located. The possible relevance of this to the production of contractions in the bag1 fibre is discussed. 7. Convergent movement foci in bag2 fibres produced by the stimulation of static axons occurred largely within the same regions of the pole as the motor endings were located, though, whereas foci were observed in both intra‐ and extracapsular regions, most of the endings were intracapsular.
Disparities found in chemotherapy administration for human immunodeficiency virus‐associated lymphoma

A recent study has found that disparities exist in the delivery of chemotherapy to patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) who are positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (Cancer. 2016;122:2689-2697). HIV-associated NHL is a serious complication of HIV infection, but in the era of highly effective combination antiretroviral therapy, data from several studies separate from the current one have indicated that its incidence has decreased and survival has increased. The authors of the current study set out to investigate chemotherapy use in the community, to correlate it with survival, and to compare it with recent changes in demographics and survival.
NO‐dependent Smooth Muscle Vasodilatation is Reduced in NIDDM Patients with Peripheral Sensory Neuropathy

In order to determine the involvement of denervation in endothelium‐independent, nitric oxide (NO)‐dependent smooth muscle vasodilatation, we have measured vascular endothelial and smooth muscle function in three groups of age‐ and sex‐matched patients: 8 patients with non‐insulin‐dependent (Type 2) diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) with neuropathy; 7 NIDDM patients without neuropathy; and 10 non‐diabetic control subjects. Laser Doppler probes were used to measure blood flow in the dorsum of the left foot. Vascular endothelial response was assessed by measuring vasodilatory responses to iontophoretic application of acetylcholine to the dorsum of the foot. Vascular smooth muscle activity was assessed by the response to iontophoresis of sodium nitroprusside (SNP)—a NO donor and direct vasodilator. The vasodilator response to acetylcholine, expressed as the ratio of peak to basal blood flow, was significantly reduced in both diabetic groups when compared to non‐diabetic controls (geometric mean ×/÷ anti‐logged SD 9.81 ×/÷ 1.65 versus patients with neuropathy 3.50 ×/÷ 2.03, p < 0.005 and diabetic non‐neuropathic subjects 3.49 ×/÷ 1.67, p < 0.005). The difference between the two groups of diabetic patients was not significant. In contrast, the vasodilatation to nitroprusside was significantly reduced only in the diabetic neuropathic patients, significantly lower than in either the non‐neuropathic diabetic controls or the non‐diabetic controls (2.1 ×/÷ 2.0 versus 6.42 ×/÷ 1.56 and 7.02 ×/÷ 2.05, p < 0.005). This indicates that neuropathy is important in abnormalities of endothelium‐independent vasodilatation. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Synergy between Anions and Farnesyldiphosphate Competitive Inhibitors of Farnesyl:Protein Transferase*

Investigation of the comparative activities of various inhibitors of farnesyl:protein transferase (FPTase) has led to the observation that the presence of phosphate or pyrophosphate ions in the assay buffer increases the potency of farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) competitive inhibitors. In addition to exploring the phenomenon of phosphate synergy, we report here the effects of various other ions including sulfate, bicarbonate, and chloride on the inhibitory ability of three FPP competitive compounds: Cbz-His-Tyr-Ser(OBn)TrpNH2 (2), Cbz-HisTyr(OPO4 2−)-Ser(OBn)TrpNH2(3), and α-hydroxyfarnesyl phosphonic acid (4). Detailed kinetic analysis of FPTase inhibition revealed a high degree of synergy for compound 2 and each of these ions. Phosphorylation of 2 to give 3 completely eliminated any ionic synergistic effect. Moreover, these ions have an antagonistic effect on the inhibitory potency of compound 4. The anions in the absence of inhibitor exhibit non-competitive inhibition with respect to FPP. These results suggest that phosphate, pyrophosphate, bicarbonate, sulfate, and chloride ions may be binding at the active site of both free enzyme and product-bound enzyme with normal substrates. These bound complexes increase the potency of FPP competitive inhibitors and mimic an enzyme:product form of the enzyme. None of the anions studied here proved to be synergistic with respect to inhibition of geranylgeranyl transferase I. These findings provide insight into the mechanism of action of FPP competitive inhibitors for FPTase and point to enzymatic differences between FPTase and geranylgeranyl transferase I that may facilitate the design of more potent and specific inhibitors for these therapeutically relevant target enzymes.
HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT OF MASS RADIOLOGICAL CASUALTIES: REASSESSING EXPOSURES FROM CONTAMINATED VICTIMS OF AN EXPLODED RADIOLOGICAL DISPERSAL DEVICE

One of the key issues in the aftermath of an exploded radiological dispersal device from a terrorist event is that of the contaminated victim and the concern among healthcare providers for the harmful exposures they may receive in treating patients, especially if the patient has not been thoroughly decontaminated. This is critically important in the event of mass casualties from a nuclear or radiological incident because of the essential rapidity of acute medical decisions and that those who have life- or limb-threatening injuries may have treatment unduly delayed by a decontamination process that may be unnecessary for protecting the health and safety of the patient or the healthcare provider. To estimate potential contamination of those exposed in a radiological dispersal device event, results were used from explosive aerosolization tests of surrogate radionuclides detonated with high explosives at the Sandia National Laboratories. Computer modeling was also used to assess radiation dose rates to surgical personnel treating patients with blast injuries who are contaminated with any of a variety of common radionuclides. It is demonstrated that exceptional but plausible cases may require special precautions by the healthcare provider, even while managing life-threatening injuries of a contaminated victim from a radiological dispersal device event.
Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus-Encoded Viral IRF3 Modulates Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II (MHC-II) Antigen Presentation through MHC-II Transactivator-Dependent and -Independent Mechanisms: Implications for Oncogenesis

ABSTRACT Evasion of immune T cell responses is crucial for persistent viruses to establish a normal carrier state. Most studies on active immune modulation mechanisms have focused on the stage of virus production in infected cells, when large numbers of viral antigens and potential immune modulators are expressed. For oncogenic viruses such as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), which is carried as a lifelong infection, usually with little harmful effect, but can cause various tumors, the immune evasion strategies can also be relevant in the context of tumorigenesis. Here we report that the virus-encoded interferon regulatory factor 3 (vIRF3) latent viral gene expressed in KSHV-related tumors functions as a potent immunevasin. Expression of vIRF3 downregulates surface major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) DR expression with slow kinetics but, more importantly, can substantially inhibit recognition by KSHV-specific CD4 T cells prior to its effects on MHC-II DR downregulation in model cell systems. This property of vIRF3 is only partly due to its ability to inhibit the transcription of CIITA and, thus, MHC-II expression; CIITA-independent inhibition of MHC-II transcripts and another as yet unidentified posttranscriptional mechanism are also involved in qualitatively modulating the availability of specific peptide/MHC-II complexes at the cell surface. Consistent with these observations, the vIRF3-expressing KSHV-associated primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) lines are generally resistant to recognition by KSHV-specific CD4 T cells. Interestingly, some PEL lines exhibit small subpopulations with lower vIRF3 expression that can be recognized. These data implicate vIRF3 as a critical determinant of the MHC-II antigen presentation function in KSHV-associated PELs that is likely to be important in the pathogenesis of these tumors.
Role of oral rapamycin to prevent restenosis in patients with de novo lesions undergoing coronary stenting: results of the Argentina single centre study (ORAR trial)

Objective: To assess the role of oral rapamycin in the prevention of coronary restenosis in patients undergoing coronary stenting. Methods: From December 2001 through February 2003, 76 patients with 103 de novo lesions treated percutaneously with bare stents received a loading dose of oral rapamycin 6 mg followed by a daily dose of 2 mg during 28 days in phase I (49 arteries in 34 patients) and 2 mg/day plus 180 mg/day of diltiazem in phase II (54 arteries in 42 patients). Rapamycin blood concentrations were measured in all patients. A six month follow up angiogram was performed in 82.5% (85 of 103 arteries). Follow up angiographic binary restenosis (> 50%), target vessel revascularisation, late loss, treatment compliance, and major adverse cardiovascular events were analysed and correlated with rapamycin concentrations. Results: Rapamycin was well tolerated and only three patients discontinued the treatment for mild side effects. Angiographic restenosis was found in 15% of the arteries with angiographic restudy (13 of 85). The target vessel had been revascularised at follow up in 13.6% of the 103 vessels initially treated (14 of 103) and in 18.4% of the 76 patients (14 of 76). In-stent restenosis in phase I was 19% compared with 6.2% in phase II (p = 0.06). Angiographic in-stent restenosis in lesions of patients with rapamycin blood concentrations ⩾ 8 ng/ml was 6.2% and with rapamycin concentrations < 8 ng/ml was 22% (p = 0.041). Late loss was also significantly lower when rapamycin concentrations were ⩾ 8 ng/ml (0.6 mm v 1.1 mm, p = 0.031). A Pearson test showed a linear correlation between follow up late loss and rapamycin blood concentration (r = −0.826, p = 0.008). Conclusion: Oral rapamycin administered for one month after percutaneous coronary intervention was safe and with few minor side effects. High rapamycin blood concentrations were associated with significantly lower late loss and angiographic in-stent restenosis.
Housing Privatization in Eastern Europe

Introduction Analyzing Housing Privatization by David Clapham and Keith Kintrea Disintegration of the East European Housing Model by Jozsef Hegedus and IVAn Tosics The New Lander of Germany by Jorgi Kohli and Keith Kintrea Hungary by Jozsef Hegedus, Katie Mark, Csilla Sarkany and IVAn Tosics The Russian Federation by Mikhail Berezin, Olga Kaganova, Nodezdha Kosareva, Andrey Pritkov and Raymond Struyk Bulgaria by Sasha Tsenkova, George Georgiev, Stoicho Motev and Dimitar Dimitrov Poland by Edward Kozlowski Czechoslovakia by Peter Michalovic Slovenia by Srna Mandic The Patterns of Housing Privatization in Eastern Europe by David Clapham and Keith Kintrea
The Weil Osteotomy of the Lesser Metatarsals: a Clinical and Pedobarographic Follow-up Study

The clinical results with pedobarographic analysis were assessed in 32 patients (59 metatarsals) who underwent a distal metatarsal shortening (Weil) osteotomy for either intractable plantar keratoses or chronically dislocated lesser metatarsal phalangeal joints. All patients had increased pressure under the involved metatarsal heads. Thirty three of the 59 metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joints were chronically dislocated. At an average follow-up of 30 months, patients rated the result as excellent or good for 32 of the 37 feet (86%). The mean preoperative AOFAS score was 59 (maximum 100), which improved to 81 postoperatively. This difference is significant : p= 0,00001 (with t-test). Comparison of the pre and post-operative pedobarographic measurements showed a significant decreased load under the affected metatarsal heads (p = 0.05). A complete disappearance of the callus was noted under 44 operated metatarsals (75%) and partial disappearance under 12 metatarsals (20%). Two symptomatic transfer lesions occurred under an adjacent metatarsal head. Recurrent dislocations occurred in 5 joints (15%). While metatarsophalangeal joint range of motion was significantly diminished, toe strength was maintained. Average metatarsal shortening was 5.9 mm with no nonunions, delayed unions, or malunions. The Weil shortening osteotomy is a simple and reliable procedure which can effectively reduce the load under the lesser metatarsophalangeal joints and is helpful for the reduction of dorsally dislocated MTP joints.
Neonatal mortality risks among preterm births in a rural Bangladeshi cohort.

BACKGROUND Preterm birth leads to an estimated 35% of neonatal deaths worldwide. Our study analyses neonatal mortality risks among preterm births in rural Bangladesh. METHODS Trained community health workers (CHW) prospectively collected data between June 2007 and September 2009. RESULTS Among 32 126 livebirths, 22.3% were preterm (delivered at <37 weeks gestation) and almost half (46.4%) of all neonatal deaths occurred among preterm babies. Preterm babies who were born as the first child {[risk ratio (RR) 1.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1, 1.8]} and in the poorest households [RR 1.7; 95% CI 1.2, 2.4] were at higher mortality risk. Birth and newborn care preparedness was associated with lower risk of mortality [RR 0.3; 95% CI 0.2, 0.4] while preterm infants who had symptoms of infection [RR 5.6; 95% CI 4.3, 7.1] or whose mother suffered antenatal complications [RR 1.4; 95% CI 1.1, 1.8] were at higher mortality risk. Elimination of excess neonatal deaths caused by preterm would decrease population-level neonatal mortality rate by 31.0% [95% CI 27.60%, 34.5%]. CONCLUSION Given that 87% of preterm births and 60% of preterm deaths were in late or moderate preterm infants, and that 87% preterm babies received a visit from CHW within third day of life, a home-based essential care package delivered by CHWs for sick preterm infants, specifically focused on birth preparedness, skin-to-skin care, immediate breast feeding, early recognition of danger signs, and linked through referral to intensive and quality care in health facilities, could be an effective approach in low resource settings.
Increased signalling effort when survival prospects decrease: male–male competition ensures honesty

For signalling to be honest the handicap principle claims that signals must impose fitness costs so that only the best individuals can afford the most exaggerated signals. The cost of signalling in terms of reduced survival decreases, however, towards the end of an individual's lifetime, which can induce an increase in signalling effort as a terminal effort. I show for the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, that a decrease in survival prospects through impaired condition leads to an increase in red nuptial coloration that makes the signal less reliable as an indicator of male parental ability. Males in poor condition with a large signal sometimes cannibalized all the eggs they received, probably to start a new breeding cycle with a higher energy reserve. However, the inclusion of socially imposed costs of signalling through male-male competition during courtship increased the honesty of the signal, as some males in poor condition and of poor parental ability decreased their signal expression. Some cheaters still occurred, but the signalling system was honest on average. This implies that socially imposed costs are important in the maintenance of honest sexual signalling. Dishonesty may occur under favourable conditions when the cost of signalling is reduced. This emphasizes the importance of considering the environmental conditions experienced by individuals when investigating the evolution and maintenance of honest sexual signals. Copyright 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
Spectral meta-learner for regression (SMLR) model aggregation: Towards calibrationless brain-computer interface (BCI)

To facilitate the transition of brain-computer interface (BCI) systems from laboratory settings to real-world application, it is very important to minimize or even completely eliminate the subject-specific calibration requirement. There has been active research on calibrationless BCI systems for classification applications, e.g., P300 speller. To our knowledge, there is no literature on calibrationless BCI systems for regression applications, e.g., estimating the continuous drowsiness level of a driver from EEG signals. This paper proposes a novel spectral meta-learner for regression (SMLR) approach, which optimally combines base regression models built from labeled data from auxiliary subjects to label offline EEG data from a new subject. Experiments on driver drowsiness estimation from EEG signals demonstrate that SMLR significantly outperforms three state-of-the-art regression model fusion approaches. Although we introduce SMLR as a regression model fusion in the BCI domain, we believe its applicability is far beyond that.
WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS: EXPLORING THE ROLE OF NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF HOMICIDE IN SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTING DANGEROUS PLACES *

While much research has been conducted concerning the coverage of crime by the media, little is known about the spatial aspect of this coverage. Specifically, media research has failed to determine whether the coverage of crime by the media is truly representative of where crime occurs, or whether media coverage presents crime as occurring disproportionately in certain areas of a city. Building on earlier research, and utilizing an exhaustive spatial data set and advanced spatial statistics, this research attempts to determine the degree to which newspaper coverage of homicide is spatially representative of the true homicide picture. Findings indicate that actual homicide hot spots near the city center are more likely to be covered than those on the periphery of the city and that celebrated news coverage is focused largely within the city center. In addition to trends in the spatial coverage of homicides, important social implications relating to fear of crime will be discussed.
Can You See the (Linguistic) Difference? Exploring Mass/Count Distinction in Vision

This work explores the linguistic distinction between count and mass nouns in the visual modality. Since the former class typically refers to well-deﬁned, countable objects, with the latter proto-typically including less countable substances, we explore to which extent the linguistic distinction is grounded in the visual representations of the entities denoted by count/mass nouns. Using visual features extracted from a state-of-the-art Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), we show that the entities referred to as mass exhibit a lower variance both internally (i.e. intra-image) and externally (i.e. inter-image) compared to count . That is, various instances of substances are internally more homogeneous and externally more consistent to each other than are count. We compare variance across various CNN layers and show that it is indicative of the categorization when low-level features of the images are used, whereas any effect disappears when experimenting with higher-level, more abstract representations.
Cultured Rabbit Corneal Epithelium Elicits Levofloxacin Absorption and Secretion

Evidence for carrier‐mediated transport of levofloxacin in the isolated rabbit cornea has been found. However, it is not known whether this mechanism is located in the epithelium or the endothelium. To resolve this question, we have measured the kinetics of levofloxacin uptake in primary cultures of rabbit corneal epithelial cells.
A FAST FRACTIONAL DIFFERENCE ALGORITHM

We provide a fast algorithm for calculating the fractional difference of a time series. In standard implementations, the calculation speed (number of arithmetic operations) is of order T2, where T is the length of the time series. Our algorithm allows calculation speed of order TlogT. For moderate and large sample sizes, the difference in computation time is substantial. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Novel Programming Method to Refresh a Long-Cycled Phase Change Memory Cell

Degradation of device characteristics as a presage of the 'stuck to SET' failure of a long-cycled phase change memory device was investigated to illuminate its cause and to propose a novel programming method that can cure the problem for an extended device life time. From the finding that the degraded RESET characteristics could be cured by reverse RESET current pulses, field-induced atomic migration was confirmed to play a determining role. It was vividly demonstrated that life time of a phase change memory device could be greatly extended by periodically imposing reverse RESET current pulses during normal operations.
GWmodel: An R Package for Exploring Spatial Heterogeneity Using Geographically Weighted Models

Spatial statistics is a growing discipline providing important analytical techniques in a wide range of disciplines in the natural and social sciences. In the R package GWmodel we present techniques from a particular branch of spatial statistics, termed geographically weighted (GW) models. GW models suit situations when data are not described well by some global model, but where there are spatial regions where a suitably localized calibration provides a better description. The approach uses a moving window weighting technique, where localized models are found at target locations. Outputs are mapped to provide a useful exploratory tool into the nature of the data spatial heterogeneity. Currently, GWmodel includes functions for: GW summary statistics, GW principal components analysis, GW regression, and GW discriminant analysis; some of which are provided in basic and robust forms.