Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
C-banding and fluorescent in situ hybridization with rDNA sequences in chromosomes of Cycloneda sanguinea Linnaeus (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae)

The aim of this study was to describe mitotic and meiotic chromosomes of Cycloneda sanguinea using C-banding, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) rDNA probes, and sequential FISH/Ag-NOR staining. The chromosome number was 2n = 18 + XX for females and 2n = 18 + Xy for males. The X chromosome was metacentric and the Y chromosome was very small. During meiosis, the karyotypic meioformula was n = 9 + Xyp, and sex chromosomes configured a parachute at metaphase I. At the beginning of pachytene, bivalents were still individualized, and sex chromosomes were associated end-to-end through the heteropycnotic region of the X chromosome. Later in pachytene, further condensation led to the formation of a pseudo-ring by the sex bivalent. All chromosomes showed pericentromeric heterochromatin. FISH and sequential FISH/Ag-NOR staining evidenced the location of the nucleolar organizer region in one pair of autosomes (at spermatogonial metaphase). During meiosis, these genes were mapped to a region outside the sex vesicle by FISH, although Xyp was deeply stained with silver at metaphase I. These results suggest that these argyrophilic substances are of a nucleolar protein nature, and seem to be synthesized by a pair of autosomes and imported during meiosis (prophase I) to the sex pair, during the association of the sex chromosomes.
Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematical Beliefs: What Is the Relationship in Elementary Pre-Service Teachers?

Three hundred-one pre-service teachers enrolled in elementary teacher education program were administered two surveys to measure mathematics anxiety and mathematical beliefs. Results of the study revealed that there were significant differences between third year and fourth year pre-service teachers regarding their mathematics anxiety and mathematical beliefs. They held strong beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics that were aligned with the teacher education program. The results suggested that the pre-service teachers who held stronger beliefs and felt less anxious were more confident about their abilities to teach mathematics effectively. Thus, the significant relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematical beliefs should be acknowledged.
DNA ploidy of ovarian granulosa cell tumors. Lack of correlation between DNA index or proliferative index and outcome in 40 patients

Background. Most cases of granulosa cell tumor of the ovary are characterized by relatively good outcome; however, some tumors behave aggressively, and some tend to recur many years after the initial diagnosis. Because DNA ploidy has been shown to predict biologic behavior better than conventional prognostic variables in many types of genitourinary tumors, the DNA ploidy of granulosa cell tumors was studied to determine if this test correlates with recurrence or survival.
Differential Pharmacologies of Mecamylamine Enantiomers: Positive Allosteric Modulation and Noncompetitive Inhibition

(±)-Mecamylamine is a racemic mixture of a widely used brain-permeant noncompetitive inhibitor of muscle-type and neuronal nicotinic receptors (NNRs). The present studies evaluated whether the stereoisomers of this drug show different profiles for inhibition of the high-sensitivity (HS) and low-sensitivity (LS) isoforms of the human α4β2 NNR subtype expressed in subclonal human epithelial 1 cells. We found that at low concentrations (micromolar range), TC-5214 [S-(+)-mecamylamine] was more effective than TC-5213 [R-(-)-mecamylamine] in inhibiting the LS α4β2 NNRs. In addition, we demonstrated that TC-5214 potentiated and TC-5213 inhibited agonist-induced activation of HS α4β2 NNRs. The stereoselectivity of mecamylamine enantiomers at HS and LS α4β2 receptors demonstrates that TC-5214 is the preferred stereoisomer for selective activation of HS, whereas it is more effective in suppressing LS receptor function. This feature could be relevant to therapeutic applications where such a selective mechanism of action is required.
Using an L2 blog to enhance learners' participation and sense of community

This article describes the experience of integrating a class blog into an advanced Italian course, in order to provide an out-of-class forum for language practice and for sharing course-related ideas and information. It also reports on an evaluation of the blog's effectiveness, drawing on an analysis of the students' blog contributions and their responses to questionnaires. We argue that blogs can play a significant role in promoting learners' interaction and nurturing a sense of class community. For this to happen, however, careful attention to two key aspects is required: the way in which the use of the blog is integrated into the course content and structure, and the teachers' role in moderating and facilitating blog interaction.
Capacity of Second-Order Cyclostationary Complex Gaussian Noise Channels

In this paper, we derive the capacity of a continuous-time, single-input single-output (SISO), frequency-selective, band-limited, linear time-invariant (LTI) channel, whose output is corrupted by a second-order cyclostationary (SOCS) complex Gaussian noise. By using a pair of invertible, linear-conjugate linear time-varying operators called a properizing FREquency SHift (p-FRESH) vectorizer and a p-FRESH scalarizer, it is shown that, whether the complex noise is proper or improper, the SISO channel can always be converted to an equivalent multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) LTI channel whose output is now corrupted by a proper-complex vector wide-sense stationary noise. A variational problem is then formulated in the frequency domain to find the optimal input distribution that maximizes the throughput of the equivalent MIMO channel. It turns out that the optimal input to the SISO channel, obtained through a procedure similar to the water filling, is an SOCS complex Gaussian random process with the same cycle period as the noise. It is shown that this procedure, named cyclic water filling, significantly outperforms ordinary water filling by effectively utilizing the spectral correlation of the cyclostationary noise.
PERSPECTIVE: THE SIZE‐COMPLEXITY RULE

Abstract It is widely accepted that bigger entities have a greater division of labor than smaller ones and this is reflected in the fact that larger multicellular organisms have a corresponding increase in the number of their cell types. This rule is examined in some detail from very small organisms to large animals, and plants, and societies. Compared to other size‐related rules, the size‐complexity rule is relatively rough and approximate, yet clearly it holds throughout the whole range of living organisms, as well as for societies. The relationship between size and complexity is analyzed by examining the effects of size increase and decrease: size increase requires an increase in complexity, whereas size decrease permits, and sometimes requires, a decrease in complexity. Conversely, an increase or decrease in complexity permits, but does not require changes in size. An especially compelling argument for the close relation between size and complexity can be found in size quorum sensing in very small multicellular organisms.
Immunological Abnormalities in the Sera of IgA‐Deficient Blood Donors

Abstract. Immunological abnormalities of 163 IgA‐deficient blood donors were studied. Anti‐IgA antibodies were found in 15, anti‐IgG antibodies (measured by the Ripley test) in 34, latex test positivity in 21, anti‐IgM antibodies in 9 and antibodies against bovine milk in 41 sera. These numbers differed significantly from the control groups of normal blood donors. In the studies of thyroglobulin antibodies, antinuclear antibodies and blood group A and B isoagglutinins there was no difference from the controls.
Thrombelastography: Current clinical applications and its potential role in interventional cardiology

Thrombelastography is a bedside blood test used to assess patients’ haemostatic status. It has a well-established role in hepatobiliary and cardiac surgery and is also used in obstetrics and trauma medicine to assess coagulation and identify the causes of post-operative bleeding. It is not routinely used in the diagnosis or treatment of thrombosis although recently it has been shown to predict thrombotic events post-operatively and after percutaneous intervention (PCI). In cardiovascular medicine the importance of the platelet in the pathophysiology of vascular events is increasingly apparent. As a result antiplatelet therapy is a cornerstone of the treatment for coronary disease, particularly in the setting of acute coronary syndromes. The increasing utilization of stents, particularly drug-eluting devices, in PCI has also necessitated widespread use of antiplatelet agents to minimize the risk of stent thrombosis. A quick, accurate and reliable test to measure the effect of platelet inhibition by antiplatelet agents on clotting in an individual patient would be of profound clinical value. The results from such a test could provide prognostic information, allow treatment with antiplatelet agents to be tailored to the individual and identify resistance to one or more of these agents. Optimization and tailoring of anti-platelet therapy in patients with cardiovascular disease, particularly those undergoing PCI, using such a test may reduce morbidity and mortality from thrombotic and haemorrhagic complications. Current methods of assessing platelet activity measure platelet count and function in isolation. Optical aggregation is the most widely used method for assessing platelet function but it is relatively time consuming, measures platelet function in isolation rather than in the context of clot formation and is not a bedside test. By contrast the modified thrombelastograph platelet mapping kit marketed by Haemoscope can be used to assess the effects of antiplatelet agents on ex vivo blood clotting, thus giving a measurement more relevant to in vivo responses. This represents a potentially powerful tool to assess response of individual patients to antiplatelet therapy, particularly in the context of PCI.
Experimental first-trimester amniocentesis in nonhuman primates.

The effects of amniocentesis prior to palate closure were investigated in Macaca irus embryos. Nine embryos were used as operated controls, being obtained by hysterotomy on consecutive days from 39 to 47 of development; nine animals composed the experimental group, in which amniocentesis was carried out via a laparotomy approach from day 39 to 47, and the fluid used for cytological investigations; nine unoperated pregnant animals, chosen at random from consecutive births in the colony, provided a further control group. Radiographs of experimental fetuses at regular intervals after amniocentesis revealed one instance of postural moulding which assumed a normal position within 2 months. Histological examination of the operated control embryos confirmed that experimental amniocentesis covered the 9 days immediately preceding palate closure. All nine of the animals in the amniocentesis group were delivered by Cesarean section at term, and found free of gross abnormalities. From birth until 6 months these were compared with the normal controls. Birth weights and sizes fell within the normal range, and at 6 months there were no features to distinguish between the experimental and control groups in any aspect of growth or development.
The indirect association of human T-cell leukemia virus tax protein with DNA results in transcriptional activation

trans-activator p40tax of human T-cell leukemia virus type I activates specific enhancers and stimulates transcription of the viral and some cellular genes but does not bind directly to the enhancer sequences. We demonstrated here that a fusion protein of p40tax and GAL4 DNA binding domain activated transcription dependent on the GAL4-binding site in the reporter plasmid. Mutants of p40tax were also tested in the fusion protein, and their activities were found to be in parallel with those of their free forms on the original target long terminal repeat. This activation with GAL4 fusion protein was interfered with by the free form of p40tax. These results suggest that p40tax associates with DNA through interaction with DNA binding protein(s) and also interacts with another transcription factor(s) to elicit the activation.
On the continuum limit for a semidiscrete Hirota equation

In this paper, we propose a new semidiscrete Hirota equation which yields the Hirota equation in the continuum limit. We focus on the topic of how the discrete space step δ affects the simulation for the soliton solution to the Hirota equation. The Darboux transformation and explicit solution for the semidiscrete Hirota equation are constructed. We show that the continuum limit for the semidiscrete Hirota equation, including the Lax pair, the Darboux transformation and the explicit solution, yields the corresponding results for the Hirota equation as δ→0.
The antibody paradigm: present and future development as a scaffold for biopharmaceutical drugs

Abstract Early studies of the humoral immune response revealed an apparent paradox: an infinite diversity of antibody specificities encoded within a finite genome. In consequence antibodies became a focus of interest for biochemists and geneticists. It resulted in the elucidation of the basic structural unit, the immunoglobulin (Ig) domain, comprised of ~ 100 amino acid residues that generate the characteristic “immunoglobulin (Ig) fold”. The Ig fold has an anti-parallel ß-pleated sheet (barrel) structure that affords structural stability whilst the ß-bends allow for essentially infinite structural variation and functional diversity. This versatility is reflected in the Ig domain being the most widely utilised structural unit within the proteome. Human antibodies are comprised of multiple Ig domains and their structural diversity may be enhanced through the attachment of oligosaccharides. This review summarizes our current understanding of the immunoglobulin structure/function relationships and the application of protein and oligosaccharide engineering to further develop the Ig domain as a scaffold for the generation of new and novel antibody based therapeutics.
Effect of Colicine Production on Escherichia coli in the Normal Human Intestine

Summary To re-evaluate the effect of colicine production on Escherichia coli in the normal human intestine, the E. coli flora of 5 healthy individuals was studied for 6 months. Each isolate was identified as to serotype or hyperimmune antisera were prepared to check similar but less readily identifiable strains. The E. coli isolates were assayed for colicine production using organisms isolated from one month against organisms isolated the preceding month and against the colicine indicator strain, E. coli phi, by the chloroform and simultaneous pour plate methods. Results indicate that there was an association between multiplicity of serotypes and little or no colicine production as compared with few serotypes and high colicine production. Also, resident serotypes produced colicine more consistently than did transient serotypes. It is suggested that the ability of some E. coli strains to maintain themselves in the human intestine as dominant residents is associated with the production of colicines.
Cognitive-behavioural group therapy versus guided self-help for compulsive buying disorder: a preliminary study.

Compulsive buying (CB) is defined as extreme preoccupation with buying/shopping and frequent buying that causes substantial negative psychological, social, occupational and financial consequences. There exists preliminary evidence that group cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is effective in the treatment of CB. The present pilot study made a first attempt to compare group CBT for CB with telephone-guided self-help (GSH). Fifty-six patients were allocated randomly to one of the three conditions: (1) group CBT (n = 22); (2) GSH (n = 20); and (3) a waiting list condition (n = 14). The results indicate that face-to-face group CBT is superior not only to the waiting list condition but also to GSH. Patients who received GSH tended to have more success in overcoming CB compared with the waiting list controls. Given the sample size, the results must be considered as preliminary and further research is needed to address the topic whether GSH also could be a helpful intervention in reducing CB.
Plant Phenology And Distribution In Relation To Recent Climate Change

Abstract This paper summarizes a broad range of studies that have examined influences of recent climate change on plant phenology or distribution. Spring events such as leafing and flowering have typically advanced, some by several weeks, with median advances of 4–5 d per degree Celsius. Autumn events, such as leaf coloring or leaf fall, have usually become delayed, though with more variability than spring events. Changes in summer events have been mixed. Phenological changes have varied geographically, as have recent temperature changes. Most studies of at least several decades duration show the initiation of rapid changes in the 1970s or 1980s, paralleling patterns of temperature change. Plants and animals in a given area have often responded at different rates to temperature change, which is likely to change patterns of interaction between plants and their pollinators and herbivores. Altitudinal changes in plant distributions have been demonstrated in several areas, especially in Scandinavia and in Mediterranean Europe, though these changes lag the measured temperature changes. Latitudinal changes in plant distribution have been demonstrated in only a few instances and it has been suggested that precipitation changes may have limited range shifts in response to warming in some areas. The observed and predicted changes in plant distribution and phenology have major implications for various ecological and evolutionary phenomena, including ecosystem productivity, species interactions, community structure, and conservation of biodiversity.
Sparse Graphs Are Not Flammable

In this paper, we consider the following $k$-many firefighter problem on a finite graph $G=(V,E)$. Suppose that a fire breaks out at a given vertex $v \in V$. In each subsequent time unit, a firefighter protects $k$ vertices which are not yet on fire, and then the fire spreads to all unprotected neighbors of the vertices on fire. The objective of the firefighter is to save as many vertices as possible. The surviving rate $\rho_k(G)$ of $G$ is defined as the expected percentage of vertices that can be saved when a fire breaks out at a uniformly random vertex of $G$. Let $\tau_k = k+2-\frac {1}{k+2}$. We show that for any $\varepsilon >0$ and $k \ge 2$, each graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with the average degree at most $\tau_k-\varepsilon$ is not flammable; that is, $\rho_k(G) > \frac {2\varepsilon}{5\tau_k} > 0$. Moreover, a construction of a family of flammable random graphs is proposed to show that the constant $\tau_k$ cannot be improved.
Decreasing landing forces in children: the effect of instructions.

STUDY DESIGN Randomized controlled experimental design. OBJECTIVES To examine the effects of verbal instructions related to control of joint kinematics and auditory feedback on lowering the vertical peak ground reaction forces associated with landing from a jump in children. BACKGROUND The majority of children's injuries are associated with activities that involve jumping and landing. Instructions related to joint motion may assist children in decreasing landing forces and thus reduce the chances of sustaining an injury. METHODS AND MEASURES Sixty-one school children whose mean (+/- SD) age was 9 (+/- 0.89) years participated. The children were randomly assigned (by school) to either experimental (received instruction on lower limb position and auditory cues) or control (received no instruction) groups. Participants were required to step off a box 300 mm in height and land on a force plate. The testing procedure involved 5 sessions. The first 4 sessions were performed over 3 days in the same week, while session 5 was performed approximately 3 months later to assess retention of the skill. The main outcome measure was the peak vertical ground reaction force recorded at foot strike. RESULTS After instructions, subjects in the experimental group produced lower peak ground reaction forces (P<0.05) during landing compared to their control counterparts (ie, sessions 2-4). There was no significant difference (P<0.05) between groups at session 5 (3 months postinstruction). CONCLUSIONS Children are capable of assimilating precise instruction to minimize forces on the lower limbs during landing from a jump. Providing further opportunity (ie, more than 1 session) to perform the skill does not alter the magnitude of the effect observed after the initial session of instruction. However, the improvements in landing performance were temporary.
Usefulness of Four Different Echinococcus granulosus Recombinant Antigens for Serodiagnosis of Unilocular Hydatid Disease (UHD) and Postsurgical Follow-Up of Patients Treated for UHD

ABSTRACT Four different recombinant antigens derived from Echinococcus granulosus, designated B1t, B2t, E14t, and C317, were tested with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for the detection of specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) in patients with unilocular hydatid disease (UHD). The results were compared to those obtained with hydatid fluid and were subjected to receiver operator characteristic analysis. The diagnostic performance of the above-listed proteins was defined with respect to their specificity, sensitivity, and predictive values (PV); the influence of cyst location; and usefulness in the follow-up of surgical treatment for UHD and in the determination of whether or not patients have been surgically cured of UHD. The best diagnostic results were obtained with the anti-B2t IgG ELISA, with 91.2% sensitivity, 93% specificity, and high positive and negative PV (89.4 and 94.2, respectively). In addition, this diagnostic tool proved to be useful for the follow-up of surgically treated UHD patients. The anti-B2t IgG ELISA may find an application in the serodiagnosis of UHD in clinical laboratories.
Hypophysectomy Produces Analgesia and Paraventricular Lesions Have No Effect on Formalin-Induced Pain

Chemical destruction of the pituitary gland has been shown to alleviate severe cancer pain in a substantial proportion of patients. The underlying mechanisms, however, remain controversial. The present study investigated the effects of hypophysectomy in the formalin test, which provides an animal model of tonic pain, and attempted to determine a possible neural mechanism to explain the effectiveness of the procedure. Hypophysectomized rats displayed significantly less pain behavior in the formalin test than control rats that underwent a sham hypophysectomy, implicating the pituitary gland in the modulation of tonic pain. Since the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) provides a major source of input to the pituitary gland, the effects of electrolytic lesions of the PVN on tonic pain were examined. The results failed to show a significant effect of PVN lesions on pain responses in the formalin test. The results suggest that the pituitary gland modulates tonic pain in the formalin test and that the test provides an animal model to study possible mechanisms which underlie the relief of severe cancer pain by hypophysectomy. However, since PVN lesions did not affect the response of rats in the formalin test, it is possible that the PVN is only one of multiple interacting neural and endocrine structures that influence the functions of the pituitary.