Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Widespread Neurotrophin Receptor Expression in the Immune System and Other Nonneuronal Rat Tissues

Abstract: RNase protection analysis using p75, trk A, and trk B RNA probes was used to examine mRNA expression in rat tissues, with particular emphasis on the immune system. Every tissue examined, with the exception of postnatal day 0 spleen, expressed p75 mRNA. Trk A mRNA was observed in tissues previously reported to be negative for the trk A receptor, such as kidney, thymus, lymph node, muscle, and lung. Neuronal tissues expressed only the long form of trk A, whereas nonneuronal tissues expressed both trk A forms. Trk B mRNA was expressed by the same tissues as trk A, plus heart and spleen. Neuronal tissues expressed full‐length and truncated trk B, whereas nonneuronal tissues only expressed truncated trk B. During development of the thymus p75 mRNA levels increased and trk A mRNA levels decreased. Similarly, for the spleen, p75 mRNA levels increased and those of trk B decreased during development. The expression of p75, trk A and trk B was localized primarily to the stroma of the thymus and spleen, but there was some expression by the splenocytes and thymocytes. The widespread expression of neurotrophin receptors in areas not known to be targets for neurotrophins suggests broader functions for neurotrophins outside of the nervous system.
Improved robust H∞ control for uncertain systems with state and input delays

This paper addresses the problem of delay-dependent robust H∞ control for uncertain systems with state and input delays. By using the delay partitioning technique, an improved criterion is proposed for uncertain systems with state and input delays in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), which guarantees the time-delay systems satisfy a prescribed H∞ norm bound constraint for admissible uncertainties. Moreover, based on this criterion, the expressions of the desired state feedback controllers are obtained such that the closed-loop system is robustly stable with an H∞ norm bound g. A numerical example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method given in the paper.
Climate‐driven uncertainties in modeling terrestrial gross primary production: a site level to global‐scale analysis

We used a land surface model to quantify the causes and extents of biases in terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) due to the use of meteorological reanalysis datasets. We first calibrated the model using meteorology and eddy covariance data from 25 flux tower sites ranging from the tropics to the northern high latitudes and subsequently repeated the site simulations using two reanalysis datasets: NCEP/NCAR and CRUNCEP. The results show that at most sites, the reanalysis‐driven GPP bias was significantly positive with respect to the observed meteorology‐driven simulations. Notably, the absolute GPP bias was highest at the tropical evergreen tree sites, averaging up to ca. 0.45 kg C m−2 yr−1 across sites (ca. 15% of site level GPP). At the northern mid‐/high‐latitude broadleaf deciduous and the needleleaf evergreen tree sites, the corresponding annual GPP biases were up to 20%. For the nontree sites, average annual biases of up to ca. 20–30% were simulated within savanna, grassland, and shrubland vegetation types. At the tree sites, the biases in short‐wave radiation and humidity strongly influenced the GPP biases, while the nontree sites were more affected by biases in factors controlling water stress (precipitation, humidity, and air temperature). In this study, we also discuss the influence of seasonal patterns of meteorological biases on GPP. Finally, using model simulations for the global land surface, we discuss the potential impacts of site‐level reanalysis‐driven biases on the global estimates of GPP. In a broader context, our results can have important consequences on other terrestrial ecosystem fluxes (e.g., net primary production, net ecosystem production, energy/water fluxes) and reservoirs (e.g., soil carbon stocks). In a complementary study (Barman et al., ), we extend the present analysis for latent and sensible heat fluxes, thus consistently integrating the analysis of climate‐driven uncertainties in carbon, energy, and water fluxes using a single modeling framework.
Development toxicity of functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes on rare minnow embryos and larvae

Abstract Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are widely used in industrial and commercial applications, but few studies systematically evaluate their developmental toxicity on aquatic organism. Using rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus) at early life stages as experimental models, developmental toxicity of functionalized single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) was investigated following exposure to 0–320 mg/L for 144 h. Results revealed that significantly increased in mortality and malformation was only observed after hatching. Decreased body length, heart rate and swimming speed provide a concentration-dependent manner on larvae; values of 144 h LC50 and EC50 were 140.8 and 109.8 mg/L, respectively. Antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione S-transferase) and antioxidant enzyme related mRNA expressions were significant changed; cell apoptosis activities (caspase-3, -8, -9) and cell apoptosis related mRNA expressions were significant up-regulated; reactive oxygen species and DNA damage were significantly induced when the concentration of SWCNTs above 100 mg/L. Fluorescence and electron microscopy sliced observation show that SWCNTs were well dispersed in larvae within 0.5 h, eventually cleared from the larvae at 144 h. This is the first study to define uptake kinetics and to focus on behavioral consequences, physiological changes and mRNA expression following SWCNTs exposure in the early life stages of fish. The results obtained in the present study demonstrated that functionalized SWCNTs have the potential to affect aquatic life when released into the aquatic environment and reached high concentration. In the increasing economical context of SWCNTs, complementary studies must be undertaken, especially including mechanistic and environmental investigations.
The Journal of Values-Based Leadership The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

The impact of ethics on recent leadership practices has assumed a prominent role in both practical and theoretical discussions of organizational leadership successes and failures. A leader's ability to affect followers' attitudes and behaviors is important in this pursuit because it can result in greater job performance (Tanner, Brugger, Van Schie, & Lebherz, 2010). Ethical leadership may provide an effective approach for fostering positive employee outlooks and actions. Employees respond positively to the ethical leader's principled leadership, altruism, empowerment, and reward systems, suggesting that improved employee attitudes and work-related behaviors may follow (Brown & Trevino, 2006). Three established measures of attitudes and behaviors are employee job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior. The following research study examined the potential of ethical leadership to foster higher levels of these outcomes and found that employees led by highly ethical leaders reported greater job satisfaction and organizational commitment than did employees led by less ethical leaders. No significant difference was reported among employees regarding the impact of ethical leadership on their level of organizational citizenship behavior. These findings suggest both theoretical and practitioner level insights.
Morphology of female guinea pig Harderian gland during postnatal development - secretory endpieces

The main objective of this study was to investigate the morphological aspects of the development of the Harderian gland (HG) in the female guinea pig. A total number of thirty animals were used and divided according to age into groups, five animals each. Specimens were taken at the following ages; birth, one week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks and two months postnatal. Histological, histochemical and immunohistochemical techniques were used. The gland was constituted of secretory end pieces and a duct system formed of intra- and extra-parenchymal ducts. At birth, the female guinea pig HG was active in the secretion of lipid and neutral mucin and the differentiation of several populations of cells (light and dark) was possible. However, its histological structure was still incomplete. The lining cells revealed many free ribosomes, a few and small organelles and large irregularly shaped nuclei and numerous mitotic figures. The secretory cells reached maturity by the age of three weeks, but growth in size continued up to the age of two months. They were light or dark; the light cells presented three forms that exhibited different morphological features. All modes of secretion (apocrine, merocrine and holocrine) were detected.
Biosynthesis of D‐xylulose 5‐phosphate from D‐xylose and polyphosphate through a minimized two‐enzyme cascade

Sugar phosphates cannot be produced easily by microbial fermentation because negatively‐charged compounds cannot be secreted across intact cell membrane. D‐xylulose 5‐phosphate (Xu5P), a very expensive sugar phosphate, was synthesized from D‐xylose and polyphosphate catalyzed by enzyme cascades in one pot. The synthetic enzymatic pathway comprised of xylose isomerase and xylulokinase was designed to produce Xu5P, along with a third enzyme, polyphosphate kinase, responsible for in site ATP regeneration. Due to the promiscuous activity of the ATP‐based xylulokinase from a hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritima on polyphosphate, the number of enzymes in the pathway was minimized to two without polyphosphate kinase. The reactions catalyzed by the two‐enzyme and three‐enzyme pathways were compared for Xu5P production, and the reaction conditions were optimized by examining effects of reaction temperature, enzyme ratio and substrate concentration. The optimized two‐enzyme system produced 32 mM Xu5P from 50 mM xylose and polyphosphate after 36 h at 45°C. Biosynthesis of less costly Xu5P from D‐xylose and polyphosphate could be highly feasible via this minimized two‐enzyme pathway. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 275–282. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Alternative perspective on photonic tunneling

A relativistic quantum-mechanical description of guided waves is given, based on which we present an alternative way to describe and interpret the propagation of electromagnetic wave packets through an undersized waveguide. In particular, we show that the superluminal phenomenon of evanescent modes is actually a known conclusion in quantum field theory, and it preserves a quantum-mechanical causality.
Phosphorylation of TPP1 regulates cell cycle-dependent telomerase recruitment

Telomere maintenance is essential for organisms with linear chromosomes and is carried out by telomerase during cell cycle. The precise mechanism by which cell cycle controls telomeric access of telomerase and telomere elongation in mammals remains largely unknown. Previous work has established oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide binding (OB) fold-containing telomeric protein TPP1, formerly known as TINT1, PTOP, and PIP1, as a key factor that regulates telomerase recruitment and activity. However, the role of TPP1 in cell cycle-dependent telomerase recruitment is unclear. Here, we report that human TPP1 is phosphorylated at multiple sites during cell cycle progression and associates with higher telomerase activity at late S/G2/M. Phosphorylation of Ser111 (S111) within the TPP1 OB fold appears important for cell cycle-dependent telomerase recruitment. Structural analysis indicates that phosphorylated S111 resides in the telomerase-interacting domain within the TPP1 OB fold. Mutations that disrupt S111 phosphorylation led to decreased telomerase activity in the TPP1 complex and telomere shortening. Our findings provide insight into the regulatory pathways and structural basis that control cell cycle-dependent telomerase recruitment and telomere elongation through phosphorylation of TPP1.
Behavioral and Descriptive Forms of Choice Models

Empirical work on choice models, especially work on relatively new topics or data sets, often starts with descriptive, or what is often colloquially referred to as "reduced form", results. Our descriptive form formalizes this process. It is derived from the underlying behavioral model, has an interpretation in terms of fit, and can sometimes be used to quantify biases in agents' expectations. We consider estimators for the descriptive form of discrete choice models with (and without) interacting agents that take account of approximation errors as well as unobservable sources of endogeneity. We conclude with an investigation of the descriptive form of two period entry models.
Expression of Glucocorticoid Receptor in Human Myometrium during Pregnancy and Labour

Inflammatory events have been implicated in the process of labour. Glucocorticoids mediate strong antiinflammatory effects through binding to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), which on activation translocates to the nucleus and increases or decreases the expression of responsive genes thereby suppressing inflammation. We characterised the expression profile of GR protein and mRNA in human non-pregnant (n=10), term pregnant non-labouring (n=10) and labouring (n=10) myometrium, as well as in first trimester, second trimester and preterm labouring myometrium (n=5-10), by Western blotting, immunofluorescent staining, and RT-PCR. GR-? and GR-? protein were detected in all samples. Compared to non-pregnant myometrium, levels of both isoforms were lower in pregnant myometrium (p<0.05 for GR-? , p<0.01 for GR-? ). No differences were found between labouring vs. non-labouring and upper vs. lower segment myometrium. While immunofluorescent staining for GR was predominantly nuclear in non-pregnant myometrium, staining was more evenly distributed across the nuclei and cytoplasmic compartments in term pregnant samples. Compared to non-pregnant and term pregnant myometrium, levels of GR-? mRNA were lower in term labouring myometrium (p<0.001 ad p<0.01 respectively). In contrast, GR-? mRNA was only detected in a small number of myometrial samples. It is possible that the observed alterations in GR expression may contribute to the sequence of inflammatory events implicated in parturition.
Detection of Legionella spp. in cooling tower water by the polymerase chain reaction method

The presence of Legionella spp. in cooling tower water was investigated by using the polymerase chain reaction. Total Legionella spp. detection was performed with 20-mer 5S rRNA complementary DNA sequence primers, and specific Legionella pneumophila detection was performed with 20-mer and then 21-mer macrophage infectivity potentiator gene sequence primers. Of 27 cooling tower water samples, 25 were positive for Legionella spp. , and 14 of these contained L. pneumophila.
Activation of p44 and p42 MAP Kinases is not Essential for the Survival of Rat Sympathetic Neurons

We have examined whether activation of MAP kinases [or extracellular signal‐regulated kinases (ERKs)] is required for the survival of rat sympathetic neurons by comparing the actions of three survival factors whose survival‐promoting actions can be blocked by neutralizing Fab fragments to p21 ras (Nobes and Tolkovsky, 1995, Eur. J. Neurosci., 7, 344–350), nerve growth factor (NGF), the cytokines ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF), and the cyclic AMP analogue 4‐(8‐chlorophenylthio)cAMP (CPTcAMP). NGF‐induced survival was accompanied by an intense (15‐ to 30‐fold) and steady (>24 h) activation of p44 and p42 ERKs which waned rapidly (t1/2∼30 min) upon NGF withdrawal. However, concentrations of NGF that induced a weak (4‐ to 5‐fold) stimulation of the ERKs were not sufficient to maintain long‐term survival. Moreover, prolonged and intense stimulation of the ERKs by NGF for up to 15.5 h was unable to confer long‐term survival, since withdrawal of NGF after this time resulted in neuronal death that was kinetically indistinguishable from the death of neurons that had not been exposed to NGF. By contrast, CNTF and LIF continued to support survival for up to 3 days after eliciting only transient (<30 min and 1 h respectively) activation of p44 and p42 ERKs, while CPTcAMP induced survival for several days without any measurable activation of the ERKs. Taken together, these data suggest that ERK activation perse is neither necessary nor sufficient for survival and that alternative pathways exist for effecting long‐term survival of rat sympathetic neurons.
Clinical and endoscopic features of Chinese reflux esophagitis patients.

AIM To analyze the clinical and endoscopic features of Chinese patients with reflux esophagitis (RE). METHODS A total of 1405 RE patients were analyzed retrospectively. Data on gender, age, presence/absence of H pylori infection and associated esophageal hiatal hernia were collected. Esophagitis was divided into different grades according to Los Angeles Classification. RESULTS Of 18823 patients, 1405 were diagnosed as RE. The ratio of male to female patients was 1.75:1 (P < 0.01). The mean age of male and female patients was significantly different (P = 0.01). The peak age at onset of the disease was 40-60 years. According to Los Angeles Classification, there were significant differences in the age of patients with grades A and B compared to patients with grades C and D (P < 0.01). Two hundred and seventy-seven patients were infected with H pylori, the infection rate was low (P < 0.01). Complication of esophageal hiatal hernia was found to be significantly associated with the severity of esophagitis and age in 195 patients (P < 0.01). Esophageal mucosa damages were mainly located at the right esophageal wall. CONCLUSION The peak age of onset of RE is 40-60 years and higher in males than in females. The mean age of onset of RE is lower in males than in females. The infection rate of H pylori is significantly decreased in patients with esophagitis. Old age and esophageal hiatal hernia are associated with more severe esophagitis. Right esophageal mucosal damage can occur more often in RE patients.
Local serotonergic modulation of calcium-dependent potassium channels controls intersegmental coordination in the lamprey spinal cord.

1. The intersegmental coordination during undulatory locomotion in lamprey is characterized by a constant phase lag between consecutive segments, that is, the ratio between the intersegmental time lag and the cycle duration remains constant. It is shown that the spinal 5-HT (serotonin) system can, in a graded fashion, control the phase lag value from a rostrocaudal to a caudorostral lag corresponding to a reversed direction of swimming. These effects can be explained by a 5-HT-induced depression of Ca(2+)-dependent K+ channels (KCa channels) in network neurons. 2. The actions of the spinal 5-HT system were analyzed in the lamprey spinal cord preparation in vitro. Fictive swimming was induced by bath application of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA). The intersegmental phase lag between ventral root burst activities was measured along the ipsilateral side of the spinal cord. The chamber with the preparation was partitioned into two pools so that the rostral and caudal halves of the preparation could be perfused independently with solutions containing the same level of NMDA (100-150 microM) with or without additional 5-HT or a 5-HT uptake blocker (citalopram). 3. Addition of 5-HT to one of these partitioned pools changed the intersegmental phase lag in this pool, whereas the cycle duration remained unchanged. It was determined by the activity in the "non-5-HT" pool. Addition of 5-HT to the caudal pool resulted in an increased rostrocaudal phase lag. When 5-HT was added to the rostral pool, on the other hand, the phase lag shifted direction to a backward coordination. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The Burden of Herpes Zoster and Postherpetic Neuralgia in the United States

Abstract Herpes zoster (shingles), a painful and disabling disease, affects an estimated 1 million individuals in the United States annually and results in significant morbidity, lost productivity, and diminished quality of life. Herpes zoster constitutes the reactivation of varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox. After resolution of chickenpox, VZV remains dormant in dorsal root ganglia. Varicella-zoster–specific cell-mediated immunity wanes naturally with advancing age or earlier in the setting of an altered immune status, which can result in the reactivation of VZV as herpes zoster. The pain associated with the rash caused by herpes zoster is often described as burning, stabbing, itching, or aching. Postherpetic neuralgia, the most common complication of herpes zoster, occurs after the zoster rash has resolved, affecting up to a third of patients. Herpes zoster is associated with significant morbidity, especially in the elderly. Herpes zoster is both more common and more severe among older adults. In both acute herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia, pain is the primary cause of morbidity.
Spiritual Consciousness in Banking Managers and its Impact on Job Satisfaction

Work spirituality has become a significant aspect of organizational culture in most of the business organizations today. The values of spirituality greatly enhance the sense of accomplishment in employees’ which resultantly impacts on the overall productivity and growth of the organizations. For the purpose of study, the responses of 121 Branch managers , Area managers and Regional managers are recorded on an independent spirituality assessment scale (iSAS) developed by Rojas (2002). The results have shown a significant impact of spirituality on job satisfaction. The managerial implications, limitations and future guide lines for research have also been discussed.
The Efficiency Research on Stock Index Derivatives in a Bear Market — The Evidences from Hangseng Index Derivatives Markets

This paper examines the relationships among Hangseng index and its related derivatives in a bear market. The Johansen Co-integration and vector error correction model are used to analyze the relationships between markets. The main results are as follows: 1) The lead-lag relationships show that Hangseng index futures and option markets play a more important price discovery role; 2) The pricing efficiency test demonstrates that both Hangseng index futures and options markets are all efficient; 3) It proves that the existence of Hangseng index option market has a huge promotion effect to Hangseng cash and futures markets and increases their liquidity. This conclusion gives evidence that China should launch the stock index options with the same underlying index in due time and form a pattern that stock index futures and option markets develop in parallel.