Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification, localization and metal-catalyzed induction of specific metallothionein isoforms expressed by the adult human lens

Identification, Localization and Metal Catalyzed Induction of Specific Metallothionein Isoforms expressed by the Adult Human Lens Brian P. Oppermann Purpose: Metallothioneins (MTs) are a large family of proteins involved in multiple protective pathways, including binding of toxic metals, free radical scavenging, and oxidative stress. We have previously detected increased expression of the MT IIA gene in age-related human cataractous lenses relative to normal, suggesting a role for MTs in the maintenance of lens transparency. The MT family consists of many closely related isoforms grouped into four classes (I-IV). As a first step towards defining the function of MTs in the lens, we sought to establish the range and expression patterns of those MT isoforms expressed by the adult human lens. We also sought to identify those toxic heavy metals that induce MT IIA in cultured human lens epithelial cells (HLEs). Methods: Normal human lenses were microdissected into epithelia and fiber cells. Primers specific for individual MT isoforms were designed. MT transcripts were monitored in whole lenses, epithelia and fibers by RT-PCR and confirmed to be authentic by sequencing. MT protein levels were evaluated by immunoblotting and by immunostaining. Northern analysis, RT-PCR and quantitative mimic RT-PCR were used to characterize MT IIA transcript levels in cultured human lens epithelial cells (SRA 01/04) treated with CuCl2, ZnCl2 and CdCl2 at sub-lethal concentrations known to induce MT in other tissues. Results: Transcripts encoding MT classes I and II but not III or IV were detected in adult human lenses. In addition to MT IIA, five other MT transcripts were identified including IE, IF, IG, IH and IL. MT IIA was detected almost exclusively in the lens epithelium while the class I isoforms were detected at high levels in both lens epithelia and fibers. MT protein was detected almost exclusively in the lens epithelium. CdCl2 and ZnCl2, but surprisingly not CuCl2, induced expression of MT IIA in HLEs. Levels of induction were dependent on metal concentration. The highest levels of MT IIA were detected after 8 hrs of Cd treatment and 3 hours of ZnCl2 treatment. CdCl2 treatment induced MT IIA 1020-fold above basal levels and ZnCl2 induced MT IIA 2-4-fold above basal levels. Conclusions: The present report establishes the spectrum of MTs expressed by the adult human lens, defines their spatial expression patterns in lens epithelia and fibers and demonstrates that MT protein is abundantly present in the lens epithelium. This work also establishes that MT IIA is highly and rapidly induced by CdCl2 and ZnCl2 but surprisingly not by CuCl2 in cultured HLE cells. These data suggest a role for different isoforms of MT in different portions of the lens and also suggests that regulation of MT transcription may play an important role in lens homeostasis and cataract.
Acute Effect of Static Stretching in Agonist Muscle on the Levels of Activation and on Strength Performance of Trained Men

The investigation of the effects of muscle stretching on the neural acute response has become a fairly attractive issue on current research when it is considered that strength performance is closely related to alterations on the levels of muscle activation. This study assessed the effects of 10 to 40 seconds of static stretching on the muscle activation as well as strength performance preceded by a repetition maximum test of trained subjects. 20 men, mean age of 21.75 (± 3.9), randomized in four groups according to the following stretching times: RT10s, RT20s, RT30s, RT40s – where RT corresponds to Resistance Training, were assessed. In the Control phase (C), the subjects were submitted to the repetition maximum test in the bench press with dumbbells exercise. In the Experimental Phase (E), they were submitted to static stretching with intensity of 10% of 1RM followed by the repetition maximum test. Muscle activation was assessed in the two phases with surface electromyography. One-way ANOVA was applied for statistical assessment, comparing anthropometric and functional characteristics of the groups, t test was used for paired samples, comparing control and experimental ones (p < 0.05). Results: Statistically significant differences have not been found (p > 0.05) in strength performance or levels of agonist activation when the different studied times and intensities in the (E) phase and the experiment with no stretching in the (C) phase were compared. Conclusion: Stretching exercise in the studied times and intensities does not seem to acutely affect the levels of activation in order to boost strength performance in a repetition maximum test. Therefore, different stretching intensities can be investigated with the aim to positively modulate these outcomes.
Microhardness Of Metals And Semiconductors

Thank you very much for downloading microhardness of metals and semiconductors. As you may know, people have look hundreds times for their chosen readings like this microhardness of metals and semiconductors, but end up in infectious downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon, instead they are facing with some malicious bugs inside their desktop computer. microhardness of metals and semiconductors is available in our digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can get it instantly. Our books collection hosts in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Merely said, the microhardness of metals and semiconductors is universally compatible with any devices to read.
RECEPTORS AND ENDOCYTOSIS OF COXSACKIEVIRUS A 9 by Outi Heikkilä

Outi Heikkilä Receptors and endocytosis of coxsackievirus A9 Department of Virology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland Annales Universitatis Turkuensis Turku 2013 Coxsackievirus A9 (CV-A9) belongs to human enteroviruses within family Picornaviridae, which are the main cause of aseptic meningitis. In addition, CV-A9 causes a wide range of other clinical manifestations of acute disease including respiratory infections, myocarditis, encephalitis and severe generalized infections in newborns. In this study, the functions of integrins αVβ6 and αVβ3 in the attachment and cellular entry of CV-A9 were analyzed. Further, virus and cell surface interactions and endocytosis of CV-A9 were studied in specific cell lines. Also, a method for production of GFP-expressing CV-A9 particles by long PCR-mediated mutagenesis and in vivo transcription was developed. The results indicated that RGD-motif (arginine-glycine-asparagine) that resides in the viral capsid is important for CV-A9 infection particularly in cell lines expressing integrin αVβ6 and that this integrin serves as a high affinity attachment receptor for the virus. CV-A9 is also capable of infecting certain cell lines independently of αV-integrins by binding to the cell surface HSPA5 protein. Regardless of the attachment stage, the internalization of the virus occurs via the same entry pathway and is dependent on β2M, dynamin, and Arf6 but independent of clathrin and caveolin-1. Furthermore, the virus internalization occurs within Arf6-containing vesicles suggesting that Arf6 is central mediator of CV-A9 endocytosis. While in this study the results of CV-A9 endocytosis were based on microscopical visualization within individual fixed cells, a rapid method for generation of a virus for real-time imaging was also described.
Supplementary Material for “ Do Better ImageNet Models Transfer Better ? "

To test for superiority of one model over another on a given dataset, we constructed permutations where, for each example, we randomly exchanged the predictions of the two networks. For each permutation, we computed the difference in accuracy between the two networks. (For VOC2007, we considered the accuracy of predictions across labels.) We computed a p-value as the proportion of permutations where the difference is at least as extreme as the observed difference in accuracy. For top-1 accuracy, this procedure is equivalent to a binomial test sometimes called the "exact McNemar test," and a p-value can be computed exactly. For mean per-class accuracy, we approximated a p-value based on 10,000 permutations. These tests assess whether one trained model performs better than another on data drawn from the test set distribution. However, they are tests between trained models, rather than tests between architectures, since we do not measure variability arising from training networks from different random initializations or from different orderings of the training data.
An Exploratory Study on the Antecedents of Occupational Commitment among Hospitality Educators in Hong Kong

In recent years, the growth in hospitality management programmes and the demand for hospitality educators in Hong Kong has increased dramatically. The hospitality industry, educational institutions and hospitality students also have high expectations of hospitality educators. Due to an increased need to recruit and retain qualified hospitality educators, this research seeks to understand the occupational commitment of hospitality educators in Hong Kong. Occupational commitment is an important indicator of a number of factors. It is found that occupational commitment is closely related to work-related stress, job satisfaction and occupational retention (Jamal, 1990; Borg et al., 1991; Jepson and Forrest, 2006; Klassen and Chiu, 2010). However, there is lack of research investigating the occupational commitment or its antecedents of hospitality educators. Therefore the study aims to gain an insight into the occupational commitment of hospitality educators in Hong Kong. This research identifies the key antecedents affecting occupational commitment and investigates which of these antecedents influence the occupational commitment of hospitality educators in Hong Kong. It also explores the reasons why hospitality educators are committed to hospitality education profession in Hong Kong. The research presented in this paper is one element of wider study. For this part, a qualitative research method and purposive sampling is adopted. Four focus groups comprised of twenty hospitality educators currently working in Hong Kong have been conducted. The results found that the flexibility of hospitality education work, non-shift work pattern, the self-actualization needs in education, career opportunities and occupational image are the key antecedents of occupational commitment of hospitality educators in Hong Kong.
Transmission time delays organize the brain network synchronization

The timing of activity across brain regions can be described by its phases for oscillatory processes, and is of crucial importance for brain functioning. The structure of the brain constrains its dynamics through the delays due to propagation and the strengths of the white matter tracts. We use self-sustained delay-coupled, non-isochronous, nonlinearly damped and chaotic oscillators to study how spatio-temporal organization of the brain governs phase lags between the coherent activity of its regions. In silico results for the brain network model demonstrate a robust switching from in- to anti-phase synchronization by increasing the frequency, with a consistent lagging of the stronger connected regions. Relative phases are well predicted by an earlier analysis of Kuramoto oscillators, confirming the spatial heterogeneity of time delays as a crucial mechanism in shaping the functional brain architecture. Increased frequency and coupling are also shown to distort the oscillators by decreasing their amplitude, and stronger regions have lower, but more synchronized activity. These results indicate specific features in the phase relationships within the brain that need to hold for a wide range of local oscillatory dynamics, given that the time delays of the connectome are proportional to the lengths of the structural pathways. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Nonlinear dynamics of delay systems’.
The Removal of Endo- and Enterotoxins From Bacteriophage Preparations

The production of phages for therapeutic purposes demands fast, efficient and scalable purification procedures. Phage lysates have a wide range of impurities, of which endotoxins of gram-negative bacteria and protein toxins produced by many pathogenic bacterial species are harmful to humans. The highest allowed endotoxin concentration for parenterally applied medicines is 5 EU/kg/h. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of different purification methods in endotoxin and protein toxin removal in the production of phage preparations for clinical use. In the purification assays, we utilized three phages: Escherichia phage vB_EcoM_fHoEco02, Acinetobacter phage vB_ApiM_fHyAci03, and Staphylococcus phage vB_SauM_fRuSau02. The purification methods tested in the study were precipitation with polyethylene glycol, ultracentrifugation, ultrafiltration, anion exchange chromatography, octanol extraction, two different endotoxin removal columns, and different combinations thereof. The efficiency of the applied purification protocols was evaluated by measuring phage titer and either endotoxins or staphylococcal enterotoxins A and C (SEA and SEC, respectively) from samples taken from different purification steps. The most efficient procedure in endotoxin removal was the combination of ultrafiltration and EndoTrap HD affinity column, which was able to reduce the endotoxin-to-phage ratio of vB_EcoM_fHoEco02 lysate from 3.5 × 104 Endotoxin Units (EU)/109 plaque forming units (PFU) to 0.09 EU/109 PFU. The combination of ultrafiltration and anion exchange chromatography resulted in ratio 96 EU/109 PFU, and the addition of octanol extraction step into this procedure still reduced this ratio threefold. The other methods tested either resulted to less efficient endotoxin removal or required the use of harmful chemicals that should be avoided when producing phage preparations for medical use. Ultrafiltration with 100,000 MWCO efficiently removed enterotoxins from vB_SauM_fRuSau02 lysate (from 1.3 to 0.06 ng SEA/109 PFU), and anion exchange chromatography reduced the enterotoxin concentration below 0.25 ng/ml, the detection limit of the assay.
The Transition Between Slow-Wave Sleep and REM Sleep Constitutes an Independent Sleep Stage Organized by Cholinergic Mechanisms in the Rostrodorsal Pontine Tegmentum

There is little information on either the transition state occurring between slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, as well as about its neurobiological bases. This transition state, which is known as the intermediate state (IS), is well-defined in rats but poorly characterized in cats. Previous studies in our laboratory demonstrated that cholinergic stimulation of the perilocus coeruleus α nucleus (PLCα) in the pontine tegmentum of cats induced two states: wakefulness with muscle atonia and a state of dissociated sleep we have called the SPGO state. The SPGO state has characteristics in common with the IS, such including the presence of ponto-geniculo-occipital waves (PGO) and EEG synchronization with δ wave reduction. Therefore, the aims of the present study were (1) to characterize the IS in the cat and, (2), to study the analogy between the SPGO and the different sleep stages showing PGO activity, including the IS. Polygraphic recordings of 10 cats were used. In seven cats carbachol microinjections (20–30 nL, 0.01–0.1 M) were delivered in the PLCα. In the different states, PGO waves were analyzed and power spectra obtained for the δ, θ, α, and β bands of the EEG from the frontal and occipital cortices, and for the θ hippocampal band. Statistical comparisons were made between the values obtained from the different states. The results indicate that the IS constitutes a state with characteristics that are distinct from both the preceding SWS and the following REM sleep, and that SPGO presents a high analogy with the IS. Therefore, the SPGO state induced by administering carbachol in the PLCα nucleus seems to be an expression of the physiological IS of the cat. Consequently, we propose that the PLCα region, besides being involved in the mechanisms of muscle atonia, may also be responsible for organizing the transition from SWS to REM sleep.
Consortium of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Strains Suppresses Sweet Pepper Disease by Altering the Rhizosphere Microbiota

Beneficial microorganisms have been extensively used to make plants more resistant to abiotic and biotic stress. We previously identified a consortium of three plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) strains (Bacillus cereus AR156, Bacillus subtilis SM21, and Serratia sp. XY21; hereafter “BBS”) as a promising and environmentally friendly biocontrol agent. In this study, the effect of BBS on a soil-borne disease of sweet pepper was evaluated. Application of BBS significantly reduced the prevalence of phytophthora blight and improved fruit quality and soil properties relative to the control. BBS was able to alter the soil bacterial community: it significantly increased the abundances of Burkholderia, Comamonas, and Ramlibacter, which were negatively associated with disease severity, relative to the control. A redundancy analysis suggested that BBS-treated soil samples were dominated by Burkholderia, Comamonas, Ramlibacter, Sporichthya, Achromobacter, and Pontibacter; abundance of these genera was related to total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), ammonium nitrogen (AN), total potassium (TP), and available phosphorus (AP) contents. This suggests that BBS treatment shifted the microbe community to one that suppressed soil-borne disease and improved the soil chemical properties.
Individual Differences in Hatching Time Predict Alcohol Response in Zebrafish

There are significant individual differences in response to alcohol: some people seem to exhibit higher alcohol sensitivity, while others are more resistant. These differences are related to alcohol metabolism, inherited traits, environmental/social pressure, personal habits and other indeterminate causes. In order to test how individual differences in hatching time are related to behavioral response to different alcohol concentrations, we separated zebrafish larvae into two categories according to egg emergence time: eggs hatched between 48 and 72 hours post-fertilization (hpf) were considered early emerging (EE), while those hatched from 72 to 96 hpf were considered late emerging (LE). On the 30th day post fertilization, EE and LE fish were exposed to four alcohol concentrations: 0.00% (control), 0.10%, 0.25% and 0.50%, and behavior was recorded for 60 min. We observed average and maximum swimming speed, distance traveled, and freezing time (immobility that indicates state of anxiety). For EE fish, 0.10% alcohol did not change behavior, while 0.25% and 0.50% increased freezing and decreased locomotion. By contrast, LE fish increased locomotion when exposed to both 0.10 and 0.25% alcohol, and increased freezing time at 0.50% alcohol. These results show that zebrafish behavioral profiles exhibit different sensitivities to alcohol, likely due to traits that can be tracked from early life stages and may indicate individuals’ predisposition to alcohol tolerance and dependence.
Diminished HIV Infection of Target CD4+ T Cells in a Toll-Like Receptor 4 Stimulated in vitro Model

Genital inflammation is associated with increased HIV acquisition risk. Induction of an inflammatory response can occur through the recognition of pathogenic or commensal microbes by Toll-like receptors (TLRs) on various immune cells. We used a in vitro peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) system to understand the contribution of TLR stimulation in inducing inflammation and the activation of target T cells, and its effect on HIV susceptibility. PBMCs were stimulated with TLR agonists LPS (TLR4), R848 (TLR7/8), and Pam3CSK4 (TLR1/2), and then infected with HIV NL4-3 AD8. Multiplexed ELISA was used to measure 28 cytokines in cell culture supernatants. Flow cytometry was used to measure the activation state (CD38 and HLA-DR), and CCR5 expression on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Although TLR agonists induced higher cytokine and chemokine secretion, they did not significantly activate CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and showed decreased CCR5 expression relative to the unstimulated control. Despite several classes of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines being upregulated by TLR agonists, CD4+ T cells were significantly less infectable by HIV after TLR4-stimulation than the unstimulated control. These data demonstrate that the inflammatory effects that occur in the presence TLR agonist stimulations do not necessarily translate to the activation of T cells. Most importantly, the finding that TLR4-stimulation reduces rather than increases susceptibility of CD4+ T cells to HIV infection in this in vitro system strongly suggests that the increased chemokine and possible antiviral factor expression induced by these TLR agonists play a powerful although complex role in determining HIV infection risk.
Current Flow Cytometric Assays for the Screening and Diagnosis of Primary HLH

Advances in flow cytometry have led to greatly improved primary immunodeficiency (PID) diagnostics. This is due to the fact that patient blood cells in suspension do not require further processing for analysis by flow cytometry, and many PIDs lead to alterations in leukocyte numbers, phenotype, and function. A large portion of current PID assays can be classified as “phenotyping” assays, where absolute numbers, frequencies, and markers are investigated using specific antibodies. Inherent drawbacks of antibody technology are the main limitation to this type of testing. On the other hand, “functional” assays measure cellular responses to certain stimuli. While these latter assays are powerful tools that can be used to detect defects in entire pathways and distinguish variants of significance, it requires samples with robust viability and also skilled processing. In this review, we concentrate on hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), describing the principles and accuracies of flow cytometric assays that have been proven to assist in the screening diagnosis of primary HLH.
Neural Basis of Professional Pride in the Reaction to Uniform Wear

Professional pride is a positive emotion that includes self-reflection or evaluation and attitude toward one’s own occupational group. Uniforms can encourage the wearer to have professional pride. The current study aimed to elucidate the neural basis of professional pride using an experimental task related to the self in uniform and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The person-adjective matching task, in which a participant or other in uniform or casual wear was presented with positive and negative words, was used for scanning fMRI. Imaging data from 21 adults who had an occupation requiring a uniform were analyzed to identify the main and interaction effects of individual (self vs. other), clothes (uniform vs. casual wear), and valence (positive vs. negative). Identified brain activities were correlated with psychological scales including the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale and Group Environment Questionnaire. Whole brain analyses found that the interaction between individual and clothes was present in multiple regions such as the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left middle and inferior temporal gyri, left posterior superior temporal sulcus, right temporoparietal junction, left lingual gyrus, left calcarine cortex, right insula, left caudate, and right putamen. In particular, activities in the right VLPFC, left calcarine cortex, and right putamen in the self/uniform condition were positively correlated with several psychological scales. These results suggest that professional pride may be represented through multiple brain networks related to empathy, reward, and emotion regulation as well as the theory-of-mind network. The neural basis of professional pride is closely related to positive self-evaluation and group cohesion.