Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantitative studies on the malignant transformation of mouse prostate cells by carcinogenic hydrocarbons in vitro

A quantitative system for producing malignant transformation of adult C3H mouse ventral prostate cells in culture with carcinogenic hydrocarbons has been developed. Aneuploid cell lines derived from mouse prostate are plated at a low density on a feeder layer and treated with various hydrocarbons for different lengths of time; other dishes are treated with 0.5% dimethyl sulfoxide (the solvent for the hydrocarbons) as controls. After 8 days some dishes are fixed and stained and the colonies are counted for total plating efficiency. Two weeks later other dishes are also fixed and stained. In the DMSO controls, the cells remain as a monolayer. In the carcinogen‐treated dishes, piled‐up multilayered colonies are seen and their frequency is scored. It has been shown that each of such piled‐up colonies gives rise to fibrosarcomas in mice, whereas the cells obtained from the monolayer areas of treated dishes do not cause tumors. Thus, these piled‐up colonies represent malignant transformation, under conditions where no spontaneous malignant transformation occurs. There is an excellent quantitative correlation between the carcinogenic activities of eight hydrocarbons and the transformation frequencies they produce in this system. Malignant transformation has been produced by treatment with methylcholanthrene for only one day. The acquisition of heat sensitivity is an early consequence of malignant transformation in this system.
Probabilistic estimation of software project duration

In this paper uncertainty in effort estimates are linked to a project This paper presents a framework for the representation of uncertainty work breakdown structure in an effort to achieve two purposes. Initially, in the estimates for software design projects for use throughout the the method described in this paper can be utilised during the entire project lifecycle. The framework is flexible in order to development of a tender submission for a software project. Typically in accommodate uncertainty in the project and utilises Monte Carlo this circumstance, a project effort estimate will be made using a number simulation to compute the propagation of uncertainty in effort estimates of methods, such as expert opinion or a parametric model. It is possible towards the total project uncertainty and therefore gives a project that some companies will base a bid/no-bid decision on this single manager the means to make informed decisions throughout the project estimate without any deeper analysis of the risks involved. The tool life. The framework also provides a mechanism for accumulating project detailed in this paper, developed in Excel using a freely available addknowledge through the use of a historical database, allowing effort in, SimuiAr (Machain, 2005), allows uncertainty in estimates to be estimates to be informed by, or indeed based upon the outcome of captured and use of Monte-Carlo simulation provides an indication of previous projects. Initial results using simulated data are presented the range of likely outcomes, not just a single estimate. The bid/no-bid and avenues for further work are discussed. decision can therefore be informed by pessimistic, optimistic and realistic estimates. In addition, the analysis of the data allows the areas of
Experiences of a primary health care rehabilitation programme. A focus group study of persons with chronic pain

Purpose. The objective of the study was to describe participants' experiences of a rehabilitation programme for persons with chronic pain. Method. A qualitative design with focus group methodology was used. The sample consisted of 24 individuals with chronic pain who were divided into six focus groups. The rehabilitation programme, which was led by an occupational therapist and a physiotherapist, took place at a healthcare centre and comprised 12 group sessions. Results. The qualitative themes described the programme as a meaningful place to which to belong and as an encouraging environment. They also included a criticism of the format and content of the programme. The participants had, however, not reflected over their possibility of influencing parts of the programme, as they took for granted that it was predetermined. The themes furthermore described the participants' expectations of being regarded as sick, but also their valuing of their own contribution in taking responsibility for carrying out the programme and for having integrated the content and becoming aware of their limitations. Conclusions. The participants' experiences of the design, content and format of the programme were positioned between two extremes: A passive and an active role; their own responsibility and that of the leaders; weakness and ego-strength; and commitment and lack of commitment.
Passive antibody protection of cats against feline immunodeficiency virus infection

All six cats passively immunized with sera from either feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)-vaccinated cats or cats infected with FIV (Petaluma strain) were protected from homologous FIV infection at a challenge dose that infected all six control cats. Passive immunization with sera from cats vaccinated with uninfected allogeneic T cells used to grow the vaccine virus did not protect either of two cats against the same FIV challenge. These results suggest that antiviral humoral immunity, perhaps in synergy with anticellular antibodies, may be responsible for previously reported vaccine protection.
Common and distinct neural substrates for the perception of speech rhythm and intonation

The present study examines the neural substrates for the perception of speech rhythm and intonation. Subjects listened passively to synthesized speech stimuli that contained no semantic and phonological information, in three conditions: (1) continuous speech stimuli with fixed syllable duration and fundamental frequency in the standard condition, (2) stimuli with varying vocalic durations of syllables in the speech rhythm condition, and (3) stimuli with varying fundamental frequency in the intonation condition. Compared to the standard condition, speech rhythm activated the right middle superior temporal gyrus (mSTG), whereas intonation activated the bilateral superior temporal gyrus and sulcus (STG/STS) and the right posterior STS. Conjunction analysis further revealed that rhythm and intonation activated a common area in the right mSTG but compared to speech rhythm, intonation elicited additional activations in the right anterior STS. Findings from the current study reveal that the right mSTG plays an important role in prosodic processing. Implications of our findings are discussed with respect to neurocognitive theories of auditory processing. Hum Brain Mapp, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Uncoupling of reactive oxygen species accumulation and defence signalling in the metal hyperaccumulator plant Noccaea caerulescens.

The metal hyperaccumulator plant Noccaea caerulescens is protected from disease by the accumulation of high concentrations of metals in its aerial tissues, which are toxic to many pathogens. As these metals can lead to the production of damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS), metal hyperaccumulator plants have developed highly effective ROS tolerance mechanisms, which might quench ROS-based signals. We therefore investigated whether metal accumulation alters defence signalling via ROS in this plant. We studied the effect of zinc (Zn) accumulation by N. caerulescens on pathogen-induced ROS production, salicylic acid accumulation and downstream defence responses, such as callose deposition and pathogenesis-related (PR) gene expression, to the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola. The accumulation of Zn caused increased superoxide production in N. caerulescens, but inoculation with P. syringae did not elicit the defensive oxidative burst typical of most plants. Defences dependent on signalling through ROS (callose and PR gene expression) were also modified or absent in N. caerulescens, whereas salicylic acid production in response to infection was retained. These observations suggest that metal hyperaccumulation is incompatible with defence signalling through ROS and that, as metal hyperaccumulation became effective as a form of elemental defence, normal defence responses became progressively uncoupled from ROS signalling in N. caerulescens.
Incidencia de coleópteros perforadores en formaciones de quercíneas del suroeste peninsular:: evaluación de daños y propuestas para la conservación

Entre las Medidas Compensatorias asociadas a la construccion del embalse de la Brena II, en el entorno de la Sierra Morena cordobesa, y para favorecer la conservacion de las formaciones de Quercineas que sustentan el patrimonio bio-ecologico de la zona, se incluyo un proyecto de investigacion cuyo objetivo principal fue conocer la incidencia de danos producidos por coleopteros perforadores y proponer las adecuadas medidas de gestion para el control de estos insectos en la zona. Los resultados mas destacables del proyecto, que constituye el nucleo principal de la presente tesis, son los siguientes: 1.La masa forestal que se asienta en el area esta constituida por un bosque mixto de Quercineas, con predominio de la encina sobre el alcornoque y el quejigo. En conjunto, son arboles de mediana edad y buen diagnostico fitosanitario exceptuando Mesas Bajas, Las Mesas, Cerro del Trigo, Llanos de la Iglesia y Mezquitilla, cuyos niveles de infestacion para uno o varios de los perforadores objeto de estudio aconsejan la aplicacion de medidas preventivas y/o paliativas en la gestion. En relacion a la incidencia de los insectos defoliadores y a la de formadores de agallas, los danos resultan muy bajos, sin que ocasionen una reduccion significativa de la superficie foliar. 2.Se ha identificado a la termita Reticulitermes cf. grassei Clement como agente causante de un nuevo tipo de lesiones (hasta el momento inedito) observado en alcornoques y se ha realizado una descripcion detallada que permite el diagnostico diferencial del dano. 3.Se ha constatado que el incremento termico aumenta la probabilidad de supervivencia y reduce el tiempo de desarrollo de Coroebus florentinus Herbst (Col. Bruprestidae), xilofago habitual en la zona de estudio. Los modelos predictivos elaborados a partir de los resultados tienen una clara aplicacion practica, ya que permiten realizar un mejor ajuste de las practicas selvicolas al tiempo que permiten predecir el efecto del cambio climatico sobre las poblaciones de estos insectos. 4.La concentracion de clorofila en hojas no ha resultado un parametro aplicable para evaluar el estado fitosanitario general de las Quercineas de la zona, ya que las variaciones observadas en respuesta al estres biotico no responden a un patron constante, sino que varian en funcion de la especie vegetal, del tipo de agente nocivo y de las posibles interacciones entre varios agentes.
Inner speech in the learning context and the prediction of students’ learning strategy and academic performance

Abstract The present study investigated whether and how learning-specific inner speech predicted students’ learning strategy and academic performance. Frequencies of inner speech use in specific learning settings were assessed. Four dimensions of inner speech including self-criticism, self-reinforcement, self-management, and social assessment were investigated and linked to the learning strategy and academic performance. Data were collected from both secondary school students and university students. The results indicated that both the cognitive regulative function (self-management) and the affective regulatory function (self-criticism or self-reinforcement) of inner speech contributed to students’ learning strategy, while only the cognitive regulative function of inner speech significantly predicted students’ academic performance. Furthermore, the prediction of inner speech to academic performance was partly mediated by the learning strategy.
Stability analysis of a 1 DOF haptic interface using the Routh-Hurwitz criterion

A haptic interface is a kinesthetic link between a human operator and a virtual environment. A way of studying the stability of a 1 degree-of-freedom (DOF) haptic interface using the Routh-Hurwitz criterion is presented in this brief. Parameter conditions that guarantee the stability of the system with a static virtual environment have been found. These conditions can help in the development and implementation of haptic devices. Finally, they have been confirmed by experimental results.
EFFICIENT NONPARAMETRIC ESTIMATION OF CAUSAL MEDIATION EFFECTS

An essential goal of program evaluation and scientific research is the investigation of causal mechanisms. Over the past several decades, causal mediation analysis has been used in medical and social sciences to decompose the treatment effect into the natural direct and indirect effects. However, all of the existing mediation analysis methods rely on parametric modeling assumptions in one way or another, typically requiring researchers to specify multiple regression models involving the treatment, mediator, outcome, and pre-treatment confounders. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel nonparametric estimation method for causal mediation analysis that eliminates the need for applied researchers to model multiple conditional distributions. The proposed method balances a certain set of empirical moments between the treatment and control groups by weighting each observation; in particular, we establish that the proposed estimator is globally semiparametric efficient. We also show how to consistently estimate the asymptotic variance of the proposed estimator without additional efforts. Finally, we extend the proposed method to other relevant settings including the causal mediation analysis with multiple mediators.
Role of cellular lipoteichoic acids in mediating adherence of serotype III strains of group B streptococci to human embryonic, fetal, and adult epithelial cells

Lipoteichoic acids (LTA) of serotype III strains of group B streptococci (GBS) were shown to mediate adherence of these organisms to human embryonic (HEC), fetal (HFC), and adult buccal (HBEC) epithelial cells. The binding of GBS was temperature dependent, and maximum attachment occurred at 37 degrees C. HEC, HFC, and HBEC preincubated with purified LTA significantly inhibited attachment of GBS, whereas the group B and type III antigens had no effect. Under phosphate-limiting conditions in which cell-associated LTA could not be detected in these organisms, bacterial adherence did not take place. GBS (virulent) that were isolated from infected infants and previously shown to have significantly higher quantities of cell-associated LTA in comparison to GBS strains from asymptomatically colonized infants adhered with greater binding avidity to HEC and HFC and in greater numbers than to HBEC. It was determined that the mechanism of LTA-mediated adherence of GBS to HBEC differed from adherence to embryonic and fetal cells for both virulent and asymptomatic GBS strains bound to HBEC in a similar manner, enhanced by the lipid portion of the LTA. In contrast, the binding of GBS to HEC and HFC was mediated by hydrophobic as well as specific interactions due to the glycerolphosphate polymer of LTA. These results indicate that possible receptor sites for LTA present on cells in prenatal stages of development may differ from those of adult cells, which may result in increased susceptibility of newborn infants to group B streptococcal disease. The implications of LTA-mediated adherence of GBS and their possible role as virulence factors are discussed.
3-D FEM Analysis of Effect of Twist Pitch and Shielding Layer on Multi-Layered HTS Power Cable

3-D finite element analysis of current distribution taking account of the nonlinear E-J characteristic is carried out. In order to study the ac loss of multi-layered HTS power cable, the analysis region is considerably reduced by modeling spirally wound superconducting tapes as conductors having an anisotropic conductivity and using the periodic boundary condition. By using this model, the effect of the twist pitch on the current distribution of multi-layered HTS power cable with a shield layer is illustrated and the structure with low ac loss is discussed
MRI-guided tumor tracking in lung cancer radiotherapy

Precise tracking of lung tumor motion during treatment delivery still represents a challenge in radiation therapy. Prototypes of MRI–linac hybrid systems are being created which have the potential of ionization-free real-time imaging of the tumor. This study evaluates the performance of lung tumor tracking algorithms in cine-MRI sagittal images from five healthy volunteers. Visible vascular structures were used as targets. Volunteers performed several series of regular and irregular breathing. Two tracking algorithms were implemented and evaluated: a template matching (TM) algorithm in combination with surrogate tracking using the diaphragm (surrogate was used when the maximum correlation between the template and the image in the search window was less than specified), and an artificial neural network (ANN) model based on the principal components of a region of interest that encompasses the target motion. The mean tracking error ē and the error at 95% confidence level e95 were evaluated for each model. The ANN model led to ē = 1.5 mm and e95 = 4.2 mm, while TM led to ē = 0.6 mm and e95 = 1.0 mm. An extra series was considered separately to evaluate the benefit of using surrogate tracking in combination with TM when target out-of-plane motion occurs. For this series, the mean error was 7.2 mm using only TM and 1.7 mm when the surrogate was used in combination with TM. Results show that, as opposed to tracking with other imaging modalities, ANN does not perform well in MR-guided tracking. TM, however, leads to highly accurate tracking. Out-of-plane motion could be addressed by surrogate tracking using the diaphragm, which can be easily identified in the images.
Small Noncoding RNAs in Cells Transformed by Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1: a Role for a tRNA Fragment as a Primer for Reverse Transcriptase

ABSTRACT The present study employed mass sequencing of small RNA libraries to identify the repertoire of small noncoding RNAs expressed in normal CD4+ T cells compared to cells transformed with human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), the causative agent of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL). The results revealed distinct patterns of microRNA expression in HTLV-1-infected CD4+ T-cell lines with respect to their normal counterparts. In addition, a search for virus-encoded microRNAs yielded 2 sequences that originated from the plus strand of the HTLV-1 genome. Several sequences derived from tRNAs were expressed at substantial levels in both uninfected and infected cells. One of the most abundant tRNA fragments (tRF-3019) was derived from the 3′ end of tRNA-proline. tRF-3019 exhibited perfect sequence complementarity to the primer binding site of HTLV-1. The results of an in vitro reverse transcriptase assay verified that tRF-3019 was capable of priming HTLV-1 reverse transcriptase. Both tRNA-proline and tRF-3019 were detected in virus particles isolated from HTLV-1-infected cells. These findings suggest that tRF-3019 may play an important role in priming HTLV-1 reverse transcription and could thus represent a novel target to control HTLV-1 infection. IMPORTANCE Small noncoding RNAs, a growing family of regulatory RNAs that includes microRNAs and tRNA fragments, have recently emerged as key players in many biological processes, including viral infection and cancer. In the present study, we employed mass sequencing to identify the repertoire of small noncoding RNAs in normal T cells compared to T cells transformed with human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), a retrovirus that causes adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. The results revealed a distinct pattern of microRNA expression in HTLV-1-infected cells and a tRNA fragment (tRF-3019) that was packaged into virions and capable of priming HTLV-1 reverse transcription, a key event in the retroviral life cycle. These findings indicate tRF-3019 could represent a novel target for therapies aimed at controlling HTLV-1 infection.
Trauma-associated lung injury differs clinically and biologically from acute lung injury due to other clinical disorders*

Objective:Patients with trauma-associated acute lung injury have better outcomes than patients with other clinical risks for lung injury, but the mechanisms behind these improved outcomes are unclear. We sought to compare the clinical and biological features of patients with trauma-associated lung injury with those of patients with other risks for lung injury and to determine whether the improved outcomes of trauma patients reflect their baseline health status or less severe lung injury, or both. Design, Setting, and Patients:Analysis of clinical and biological data from 1,451 patients enrolled in two large randomized, controlled trials of ventilator management in acute lung injury. Measurements and Main Results:Compared with patients with other clinical risks for lung injury, trauma patients were younger and generally less acutely and chronically ill. Even after adjusting for these baseline differences, trauma patients had significantly lower plasma levels of intercellular adhesion molecule-1, von Willebrand factor antigen, surfactant protein-D, and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-1, which are biomarkers of lung epithelial and endothelial injury previously found to be prognostic in acute lung injury. In contrast, markers of acute inflammation, except for interleukin-6, and disordered coagulation were similar in trauma and nontrauma patients. Trauma-associated lung injury patients had a significantly lower odds of death at 90 days, even after adjusting for baseline clinical factors including age, gender, ethnicity, comorbidities, and severity of illness (odds ratio, 0.44; 95% confidence interval, 0.24–0.82; p = .01). Conclusions:Patients with trauma-associated lung injury are less acutely and chronically ill than other lung injury patients; however, these baseline clinical differences do not adequately explain their improved outcomes. Instead, the better outcomes of the trauma population may be explained, in part, by less severe lung epithelial and endothelial injury.
A low‐cost technique to manufacture a container to process meiofauna for scanning electron microscopy

An easy and low‐cost method to elaborate a container to dehydrate nematodes and other meiofauna in order to process them for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is presented. Illustrations of its elaboration, step by step, are included. In addition, a brief methodology to process meiofauna, especially nematodes and kinorhynchs, and illustrations are provided. With this methodology it is possible to easily introduce the specimens, to lock them in a closed chamber allowing the infiltration of fluids and gases (ethanol, acetone, carbon dioxide) but avoiding losing the specimens. After using this meiofauna basket for SEM the results are efficient. Examples of nematode and kinorhynch SEM pictures obtained using this methodology are also included. Microsc. Res. Tech. 78:771–776, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Musculoskeletal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract: Extraintestinal manifestations develop in ≈25% of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Musculoskeletal symptoms are the most common extraintestinal manifestations of IBD, often associated with colonic involvement, and present as either articular (arthritis) or periarticular inflammation including enthesitis, myositis, or soft tissue rheumatism (fibromyalgia). Musculoskeletal manifestations can precede or be synchronous with the development of bowel disease or develop following the diagnosis of IBD. Their clinical course often correlates with IBD activity but it can also be independent of the activity of bowel disease. Controlling intestinal inflammation remains the cornerstone therapeutic approach for the musculoskeletal manifestations of IBD. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2009)