Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Direct observations of muscle arterioles and venules following contraction of skeletal muscle fibres in the rat.

Direct observations have been made of responses of individual arterioles and venules of rat spinotrapezius muscle to contraction of the skeletal muscle fibres. Stimuli of 4‐6 V intensity, 0.1 ms duration, delivered via a micro‐electrode inserted into the spinotrapezius, evoked contraction of a small bundle of skeletal muscle fibres, followed by vasodilatation which was limited to all those arterioles and venules which crossed or ran alongside activated muscle fibres. Since venules outside the region of contraction, but supplied by dilating arterioles, were not passively distended by the attendant rise in intravascular pressure, it is concluded that both the arterioles and venules dilated actively in response to muscle contraction. All arterioles responded to a single twitch contraction, the terminal arterioles (7‐13 micron i.d.) showing the largest increase in diameter. Collecting venules (9‐18 micron i.d.) responded to just two twitches in 1 s and larger venules to five twitches in 1 s. When twitch contractions were continuously evoked for 10 s, the responses in individual arterioles and venules were graded with twitch frequency, the fastest and largest response occurring at 6‐8 Hz. Tetanic contraction, at 40 Hz for 1 s, produced faster responses in all vessels, a maximum 55% increase from resting internal diameter being attained in only 8 s in some terminal arterioles. In all vessels the responses to tetanic contraction were equal to the maximal dilatation induced by papaverine. These results, in contrast with conclusions drawn from indirect estimates of venous responses, show that venules, like arterioles, dilate actively in response to muscle contraction. Venule dilatation may reduce the rise in capillary hydrostatic pressure, thereby limiting the outward filtration of fluid.
Cutting Edge: Tlr5−/− Mice Are More Susceptible to Escherichia coli Urinary Tract Infection1

Although TLR5 regulates the innate immune response to bacterial flagellin, it is unclear whether its function is essential during in vivo murine infections. To examine this question, we challenged Tlr5−/− mice transurethrally with Escherichia coli. At 2 days postinfection, wild-type mice exhibited increased inflammation of the bladder in comparison to Tlr5−/− mice. By day 5 postinfection, Tlr5−/− mice had significantly more bacteria in the bladders and kidneys in comparison to wild-type mice and showed increased inflammation in both organs. In addition, flagellin induced high levels of cytokine and chemokine expression in the bladder that was dependent on TLR5. Together, these data represent the first evidence that TLR5 regulates the innate immune response in the urinary tract and is essential for an effective murine in vivo immune response to an extracellular pathogen.
Moving in and Out of Financial Distress: Evidence for Newly Founded Service Sector Firms

The determinants of transitions between different states of financial distress are analyzed using two versions of Markov chain models: a multinomial logit model without random effects and a multinomial logit model capturing such unobservable factors. The empirical analysis is based on a panel data set containing information on 15,538 East German firms founded between 1994 and 1999. The estimation results indicate that the effect of limited liability depends upon firms' starting state, the existence of corporate shareholders improves firms' financial performance, multiple credit relationships have negative effects and product diversification as well as positive macroeconomic conditions improve firms' financial performance.
Inhalation provocation tests in chronic bird fancier's lung.

BACKGROUND Patients with chronic bird fancier's lung (BFL) can be classified into two types. One group of patients develops chronic disease with fluctuating acute episodes, including low-grade fever, mild exertional dyspnea, and cough (fluctuating chronic BFL; formerly termed recurrent and relapsing chronic BFL). The other group of patients shows no history of acute episodes (insidious chronic BFL). The diagnosis of chronic BFL is difficult, since the onset of chronic BFL may be insidious, with few if any symptoms during the early stages of the disease process. STUDY OBJECTIVE To attempt to diagnose the conditions of these patients more precisely, inhalation provocation tests were conducted using avian dropping extracts. DESIGN Retrospective chart review. SETTING The Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital in Japan. PATIENTS Eleven patients with chronic BFL (6 with fluctuating chronic BFL and 5 with insidious chronic BFL) and 6 control subjects (4 asymptomatic bird owners and 2 idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients) were evaluated. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS Inhalation provocation tests using avian dropping extracts were conducted. All BFL patients were evaluated as positive or probable by inhalation challenge, whereas control subjects were evaluated as negative. A peripheral leukocytosis, an increase of alveolar-arterial oxygen pressure difference, an increase of body temperature, and the development of respiratory symptoms including cough and dyspnea were more frequently observed in chronic BFL patients than in control subjects. All the BFL patients had an increase in neutrophils in BAL fluids following inhalation challenge. CONCLUSIONS We validated the utility of inhalation challenge for the diagnosis of chronic BFL, including fluctuating and insidious BFL. We also demonstrated that neutrophilia in BAL fluids following inhalation challenge could be added to the diagnostic criteria for chronic BFL.
Learning to Recognize Agent Activities and Intentions

Psychological research has demonstrated that subjects shown animations consisting of nothing more than simple geometric shapes perceive the shapes as being alive, having goals and intentions, and even engaging in social activities such as chasing and evading one another. While the subjects could not directly perceive affective state, motor commands, or the beliefs and intentions of the actors in the animations, they still used intentional language to describe the moving shapes. The purpose of this dissertation is to design, develop, and evaluate computational representations and learning algorithms that learn to recognize the behaviors of agents as they perform and execute different activities. These activities take place within simulations, both 2D and 3D. Our goal is to add as little hand-crafted knowledge to the representation as possible and to produce algorithms that perform well over a variety of different activity types. Any patterns found in similar activities should be discovered by the learning algorithm and not by us, the designers. In addition, we demonstrate that if an artificial agent learns about activities through participation, where it has access to its own internal affective state, motor commands, etc., it can then infer the unobservable affective state of other agents.
Diabetes Mellitus as a Primary Manifestation of Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 2B

Abstract A 22-year-old-man presenting with diabetes mellitus was found to suffer from multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B (MEN B). The characteristic phenotype including mucosal neuromas, musculoskeletal abnormalities and a marfanoid habitus led us to suspect this diagnosis, which was confirmed by the genetic analysis showing the typical mutation in the RET proto-oncogene at codon 918. Subsequently, diagnoses of bilateral phaeochromocytoma and medullary thyroid carcinoma were made. The patient underwent first a laparoscopic removal of bilateral phaeochromo-cytoma and a radical thyroidectomy three months later. Both operations were uneventful. After operation, diabetes resolved, an effect partly explainable by an improvement of insulin sensitivity. Thus, clinicians should be aware of a diagnosis of MEN 2B in a young patient presenting with diabetes, a typical phenotype, symptoms of phaeochromocy-toma or a nodule in the thyroid.
Prevalence of adrenal insufficiency in critically ill patients with AIDS.

BACKGROUND The most common endocrine disorder in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is adrenocortical dysfunction. The prevalence of adrenal insufficiency in patients with AIDS is unclear; partly due to different tests, doses of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), and criteria used. In addition, there is controversy regarding the assessment of adrenal insufficiency in patients with and without critical illness. OBJECTIVE To help clarify the prevalence of adrenal insufficiency in patients with AIDS both in critical and non-critical illness, the authors compared the prevalence based on the high-dose ACTH stimulation test. MATERIAL AND METHOD There were 26 patients with AIDS (19 males and 7 females) with a mean age of 33.6 years (range: 22-46 years). Twelve and 14 patients were in critical and non-critical illness, respectively. RESULT Overall, the prevalence of adrenal insufficiency was 19.2% (5 of 26) and 30.8% (8 of 26) when a peak stimulated cortisol level of < 18 microg/dL and < 25 microg/dL was defined, respectively. The prevalence was 8.3% and 28.6% in critically and non-critically ill patients; respectively, when a peak stimulated cortisol level of < 18 microg/dL was defined. Finally, when a peak stimulated cortisol level of < 25 microg/dL was defined, the prevalence was 16.7% and 42.9% in critically and non-critically ill patients, respectively. CONCLUSION Adrenal insufficiency in patients with AIDS is more prevalent than those without HIV infection, no matter what criteria of cortisol response after ACTH test are defined An adrenal testing should be performed in all hospitalized patients with AIDS, both in critical and non-critical illness.
Constricted Flux through the Branched-Chain Amino Acid Biosynthetic Enzyme Acetolactate Synthase Triggers Elevated Expression of Genes Regulated by rpoS and Internal Acidification

ABSTRACT The first common enzyme of isoleucine and valine biosynthesis, acetolactate synthase (ALS), is specifically inhibited by the herbicide sulfometuron methyl (SM). To further understand the physiological consequences of flux alterations at this point in metabolism,Escherichia coli genes whose expression was induced by partial inhibition of ALS were sought. Plasmid-based fusions of randomE. coli DNA fragments to Photorhabdus luminescens luxCDABE were screened for bioluminescent increases in actively growing liquid cultures slowed 25% by the addition of SM. From more than 8,000 transformants, 12 unique SM-inducible promoter-lux fusions were identified. Thelux reporter genes were joined to seven uncharacterized open reading frames, f253a, f415,frvX, o513, o521, yciG, and yohF, and five known genes, inaA,ldcC, osmY, poxB, andsohA. Inactivation of the rpoS-encoded sigma factor, ςS, reduced basal expression levels of six of these fusions 10- to 200-fold. These six genes defined four new members of the ςS regulon, f253a, ldcC,yciG, and yohF, and included two known members,osmY and poxB. Furthermore, the weak acid salicylate, which causes cytoplasmic acidification, also induced increased bioluminescence from seven SM-inducible promoter-lux fusion-containing strains, namely, those with fusions of the ςS-controlled genes and inaA. The pattern of gene expression changes suggested that restricted ALS activity may result in intracellular acidification and induction of the ςS-dependent stress response.
Specific mRNAs in Sertoli and germinal cells of testes from stage synchronized rats.

A treatment which used vitamin A depletion followed by vitamin A repletion was used to synchronize seminiferous tubules to a few related stages of the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium. The success of the synchronization procedure was dependent on the age and size of the rat at the initiation of the experiment (20 days of age and 35-40 g) and the extent to which the vitamin A deficiency had progressed. Administration of retinol was done when the only viable germinal cells in the testis were preleptotene spermatocytes and type A spermatogonia but if the deficiency was prolonged spermatogenesis did not recover. Once established synchrony appeared to be sustained at least through several consecutive cycles. A combination of molecular probes was used to determine if the synchronized testes displayed stage specific variations in Sertoli cell and germinal cell mRNA levels as has been reported for normal asynchronized rats. Sertoli cells in the synchronized testes were shown by quantitative in situ hybridization and by Northern blot analysis to have stage specific variations in the levels of mRNA for transferrin, sulfated glycoprotein-1, and sulfated glycoprotein-2. The mRNA levels in the different stages were qualitatively similar to those in equivalent stages previously reported for testes from asynchronous rats. The germinal cell content of the synchronized testes were examined with Northern blots probed with nick-translated protamine 1 and transition protein 1 cDNAs. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The cytologic criteria of malignancy

Cytology and cell biology are two separate fields that share a focus on cancer. Cancer is still diagnosed based on morphology, and surprisingly little is known about the molecular basis of the defining structural features. Cytology uses the smallest possible biopsy for diagnosis by reducing morphologic “criteria of malignancy” to the smallest scale. To begin to develop common ground, members of the American Society of Cytopathology Cell Biology Liaison Working Group classify some of the “criteria of malignancy” and review their relation to current cell biology concepts. The criteria of malignancy are extremely varied, apparently reflecting many different pathophysiologies in specific microenvironments. Criteria in Group 1 comprise tissue‐level alterations that appear to relate to resistance to anoikis, alterations in cell adhesion molecules, and loss of apical–basal polarity. Criteria in Group 2 reflect genetic instability, including chromosomal and possibly epigenetic instability. Criteria in Groups 3 are subcellular structural changes involving cytoplasmic components, nuclear lamina, chromatin and nucleoli that cannot be accounted for by genetic instability. Some distinct criteria in Group 3 are known to be induced by cancer genes, but their precise structural basis remains obscure. The criteria of malignancy are not closely related to the histogenetic classification of cancers, and they appear to provide an alternative, biologically relevant framework for establishing common ground between cytologists and cell biologists. To understand the criteria of malignancy at a molecular level would improve diagnosis, and likely point to novel cell physiologies that are not encompassed by current cell biology concepts. J. Cell. Biochem. 110: 795–811, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Steady-state Signatures of Visual Perceptual Load, Multimodal Distractor Filtering, and Neural Competition

The perceptual load theory of attention posits that attentional selection occurs early in processing when a task is perceptually demanding but occurs late in processing otherwise. We used a frequency-tagged steady-state evoked potential paradigm to investigate the modality specificity of perceptual load-induced distractor filtering and the nature of neural-competitive interactions between task and distractor stimuli. EEG data were recorded while participants monitored a stream of stimuli occurring in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) for the appearance of previously assigned targets. Perceptual load was manipulated by assigning targets that were identifiable by color alone (low load) or by the conjunction of color and orientation (high load). The RSVP task was performed alone and in the presence of task-irrelevant visual and auditory distractors. The RSVP stimuli, visual distractors, and auditory distractors were “tagged” by modulating each at a unique frequency (2.5, 8.5, and 40.0 Hz, respectively), which allowed each to be analyzed separately in the frequency domain. We report three important findings regarding the neural mechanisms of perceptual load. First, we replicated previous findings of within-modality distractor filtering and demonstrated a reduction in visual distractor signals with high perceptual load. Second, auditory steady-state distractor signals were unaffected by manipulations of visual perceptual load, consistent with the idea that perceptual load-induced distractor filtering is modality specific. Third, analysis of task-related signals revealed that visual distractors competed with task stimuli for representation and that increased perceptual load appeared to resolve this competition in favor of the task stimulus.
An In Vitro Combined Antibiotic-Antibody Treatment Eliminates Toxicity from Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT Treating Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) gastrointestinal infections is difficult. The utility of antibiotics for STEC treatment is controversial, since antibiotic resistance among STEC isolates is widespread and certain antibiotics dramatically increase the expression of Shiga toxins (Stxs), which are some of the most important virulence factors in STEC. Stxs contribute to life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which develops in considerable proportions of patients with STEC infections. Understanding the antibiotic resistance profiles of STEC isolates and the Stx induction potential of promising antibiotics is essential for evaluating any antibiotic treatment of STEC. In this study, 42 O157:H7 or non-O157 STEC isolates (including the “big six” serotypes) were evaluated for their resistance against 22 antibiotics by using an antibiotic array. Tigecycline inhibited the growth of all of the tested STEC isolates and also inhibited the production of Stxs (Stx2 in particular). In combination with neutralizing antibodies to Stx1 and Stx2, the tigecycline-antibody treatment fully protected Vero cells from Stx toxicity, even when the STEC bacteria and the Vero cells were cultured together. The combination of an antibiotic such as tigecycline with neutralizing antibodies presents a promising strategy for future STEC treatments.
Marine downscaling of a future climate scenario in the North Sea and possible effects on dinoflagellate harmful algal blooms

Two hydrodynamic and ecological models were used to investigate the effects of climate change—according to the IPCC A1b emission scenario – on the primary productivity of the North Sea and on harmful algal blooms. Both models were forced with atmospheric fields from a regional downscaling of General Circulation Models to compare two sets of 20-year simulations representative of present climate (1984–2004) conditions and of the 2040s. Both models indicated a general warming of the North Sea by up to 0.8°C and a slight freshening by the 2040s. The models suggested that the eastern North Sea would be subjected to more temperature and salinity changes than the western part. In addition, the ecological modules of the models indicated that the warming up of the sea would result in a slightly earlier spring bloom. The one model that also computes the distribution of four different phytoplankton groups suggests an increase in the abundance of dinoflagellates, whereas the abundance of diatoms, flagellates and Phaeocystis sp. remains comparable to current levels, or decrease. Assuming that Dinophysis spp. would experience a similar increase in abundance as the modelled group of dinoflagellates, it is hypothesised that blooms of Dinophysis spp. may occur more frequently in the North Sea by 2040. However, implications for shellfish toxicity remain unclear.
Demographics, Employment, Income, and Networks: Differential Characteristics of Rural Populations

ABSTRACT This paper reviews the key demographic, employment, income, and social capital features of rural Canada. Rural populations have different characteristics that are typically a direct result of “rurality”—i.e., long distances and low population density. Jobs that require a high-density population (such as a professional hockey player) are not available to individuals who live at a distance from a metro center. Rural Canada may have an agricultural landscape (or a forestry or mining landscape) but the vast majority of rural workers do not work in primary sectors. Manufacturing employment is larger. Rural Canada is competitive in manufacturing—rural areas are gaining a larger share of Canada's manufacturing workforce. Rural incomes are lower, on average. But lower living costs mean that the rural incidence of low incomes is similar to urban. In rural communities, the existence of social networks does not always imply that these networks are used. Networks are complementary—one network does not always substitute for another. However, local strength in one network can be used to build capacity in another network.
Heterogeneous Nucleation Experiments Bridging the Scale from Molecular Ion Clusters to Nanoparticles

Generation, investigation, and manipulation of nanostructured materials are of fundamental and practical importance for several disciplines, including materials science and medicine. Recently, atmospheric new particle formation in the nanometer-size range has been found to be a global phenomenon. Still, its detailed mechanisms are mostly unknown, largely depending on the incapability to generate and measure nanoparticles in a controlled way. In our experiments, an organic vapor (n-propanol) condenses on molecular ions, as well as on charged and uncharged inorganic nanoparticles, via initial activation by heterogeneous nucleation. We found a smooth transition in activation behavior as a function of size and activation to occur well before the onset of homogeneous nucleation. Furthermore, nucleation enhancement for charged particles and a substantial negative sign preference were quantitatively detected.
Impact of the owner-pet and client-veterinarian bond on the care that pets receive.

I 2006, a task force representing a dozen companion-animal health industry suppliers, medical providers, and associations gathered to discuss how companion-animal practices would maintain growth amidst ongoing struggles with static service growth and poor compliance results. The group questioned the level of consumer willingness to undertake veterinarian care for sick or injured pets as well as to maintain wellness programs involving ongoing examinations, vaccinations, preventive dental care, and other products and services. Until now, virtually no national comprehensive research had been conducted on the perceptions and attitudes of consumers toward veterinary care and their willingness to purchase related products and services. The task force commissioned BNResearch of Portland, Ore, to conduct a national study of pet owners to research their perceptions and attitudes. The Industry Task Force includes the AVMA; Banfield, The Pet Hospital; Bayer HealthCare LLC; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc; IDEXX Laboratories Inc; Mars Symbioscience; Merial Ltd; National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues; Novartis Animal Health; Pfizer Animal Health; and VCA Animal Hospitals. The primary objective of the study reported here was to uncover detailed information about the relationships between owners and their pets and the impact those relationships have on the veterinary care pets receive. Also studied were perceptions and attitudes pet owners have toward veterinarians and the price awareness and sensitivity of owners toward purchasing veterinary products and services.