Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Importance of timing of olfactory receptor‐axon outgrowth for glomerulus development in Manduca sexta

In the moth Manduca sexta, development of glomeruli in the antennal (olfactory) lobes (ALs) follows a precise timetable and involves interactions of olfactory receptor cell (ORC) axons with AL glial cells and neurons. To study the importance of timing for these intercellular interactions, we experimentally desynchronized the development of the ALs and the ORCs by altering the temperature of the developing antenna and brain for defined periods of time during development. Selective cooling of the antenna relative to the body resulted in a delay of ORC‐axon outgrowth, and slightly warming the antenna while cooling the body caused precocious ingrowth of axons into the AL. Whereas cooling of the antenna for 24 hours caused only a delay in the formation of glomeruli, cooling for 48 hours led to significant disruption of glomerular development. Glial cells did not form normal glomerular borders, and glomeruli were shaped abnormally. Axons of pheromone‐specific ORCs projected to their correct target, but terminal branches within the macroglomerular complex (MGC) were not clearly segregated. The results suggest that proper formation of glial glomerular borders requires interaction of ORC axons and glial cells within a sensitive period, whereas targeting of ORC axons appears to be effective over extended periods in development. Precocious ingrowth of ORC axons after warming the antenna and cooling the body for 48 hours resulted in enlarged protoglomeruli. Glial borders formed normally, but a subpopulation of MGC‐specific ORC axons grew past the MGC. The decreased accuracy of targeting in these cases suggests that targeting mechanisms are not fully developed before the time when ORC axons normally would enter the brain. J. Comp. Neurol. 425:233–243, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Role Of Innovation Attributes In Explaining Intention And Adoption: A Case Of The IRCTC Mobile Ticketing Application In The Indian Context

This study aims at presenting an investigation on the role of innovation attributes in significantly influencing consumers’ behavioural intentions and actual adoption of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation’s mobile ticketing application. Both, the adopters and non-adopters of this technology were targeted to attain the suitable data for empirically testing the proposed model for this study. A series of tests were performed using the SPSS analysis tool. These findings suggested that relative advantage, compatibility, trialability, and observability considerably influenced consumers’ use intentions. The Findings also helped reveal that affordable cost and low risk associations to this technology significantly favoured the adoption intentions, and in turn, the actual adoption of this application. With no earlier publications on this technology yet, this study offers the researchers an insight into the behaviour of different attributes that considerably impact its overall adoption. The tests bring to light its low adoption rate and the lack awareness of its positives amongst its potential consumers, indicating the increased need for its effective promotion to attract more consumers.
Caveolin‐1 Knockout Mice Have Increased Bone Size and Stiffness

The skeletal phenotype of the cav‐1−/− mouse, which lacks caveolae, was examined. μCT and histology showed increased trabecular and cortical bone caused by the gene deletion. Structural changes were accompanied by increased mechanical properties. Cell studies showed that cav‐1 deficiency leads to increased osteoblast differentiation. These results suggest that cav‐1 helps to maintain osteoblast progenitors in a less differentiated state.
A particle algorithm for sequential Bayesian parameter estimation and model selection

We describe a particle algorithm for the sequential Bayesian estimation of unknown static parameters. The algorithm combines sequential importance sampling (SIS) and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to achieve computational efficiency and stability. In its most general form, the algorithm has three components: i) SIS; ii) a rejuvenation test; and iii) MCMC. Measurements are processed sequentially (with an artificial "time-line" if there is no natural one associated with the measurements) by SIS, which is computationally inexpensive. After each measurement is processed, the rejuvenation test checks whether the resulting SIS particles have to be rejuvenated. When indicated by the test, the particles are completely rejuvenated by MCMC, which removes errors that accumulate from SIS due to the finite number of particles, thus ensuring stability. Whenever possible, the SIS particles can be used to advantage in the MCMC. There is flexibility in the choice of the rejuvenation test as well as the MCMC method, with potential to increase the usefulness of the algorithm. In particular, by using reversible-jump MCNIC with multiple models, the algorithm can perform simultaneous model selection and parameter estimation. In this paper, we use a rejuvenation test based on a Kullback-Leibler distance that is easy to compute, and our choice of MCNIC is independent Metropolis-Hastings with a Gaussian proposal density. With these choices, we illustrate the use of the algorithm in two signal processing applications (passive source localization with angle-of-arrival and simultaneous weak signal detection and parameter estimation) involving both simulated and real data. The results demonstrate the algorithm's stability, its built-in protection against model overfitting, and tolerance to model mismatch.
Sex roles and sexual attitudes of young Iranian women: implications for cross-cultural counseling.

Previous studies have found that young Iranian women in the US feel conflicted between their cultural traditions and adoption of American values. The present study investigated the hypothesis that the educational level of young Iranian women is strongly related to their attitudes regarding sex roles and intimate relationships. Study subjects included 81 Iranian women (mean age, 23 years) residing in Los Angeles, California, who had been away from Iran for an average of 8 years. The mean summed scores on questionnaire items measuring attitudes about these issues were 233.57, 264.79, 290.58, and 295.57 (with higher scores indicating more liberal views) for women attending or with a high school education, attending college, with a college degree, and in graduate programs or with a graduate degree, respectively, confirming the hypothesis. Also noted were a significant negative relationship between the women's age when they left Iran and test scores and a significant positive relationship between the number of years the women had been away from Iran and test scores. A similar liberalization in sex role-related attitudes following exposure to less traditional US norms has been observed among young Puerto Rican immigrants to the US. Counselors who work with young Iranian women in the US should be alerted to potential conflicts regarding the adoption or rejection of the American way of life.
Distinct chromosomal aberrations in Epstein-Barr virus-carrying gastric carcinomas tested by comparative genomic hybridization.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Approximately 10% of gastric adenocarcinomas carry the human pathogenic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The role of EBV in the pathogenesis of these carcinomas remains to be established. METHODS To obtain a comprehensive overview of chromosomal aberrations in EBV-carrying and EBV-negative gastric carcinomas we performed comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) on 44 gastric carcinomas, 10 EBV-positive, and 34 EBV-negative. Additionally, DNA flow cytometry was done. RESULTS Loss of chromosome 4p (P < 0.001) and of 11p (P < 0.02) was exclusively restricted to EBV-carrying gastric carcinomas. In addition, loss of 18q (P < 0.02) was significantly more frequent in EBV-carrying gastric carcinomas. The latter involves loci, which have already been linked to gastric carcinogenesis such as the DCC and SMAD4 gene. In contrast, the losses on chromosome 4 and 11 do not yet harbor a gene related to gastric carcinogenesis. No significant correlation was found between DNA-ploidy and the EBV-status. A number of chromosomal aberrations were found at comparable frequencies in both groups, i.e., losses of chromosome 17, 12q, and loss of 1p. Interestingly, gains of 13q (10/34) and 3q (5/34) and loss of 1q (5/34) were solely observed in EBV-negative gastric carcinomas. CONCLUSIONS These data indicate that EBV-carrying and EBV-negative gastric carcinomas have different pathogenetic pathways in which EBV might play a crucial role.
Methodological Challenges in Mendelian Randomization

We give critical attention to the assumptions underlying Mendelian randomization analysis and their biological plausibility. Several scenarios violating the Mendelian randomization assumptions are described, including settings with inadequate phenotype definition, the setting of time-varying exposures, the presence of gene–environment interaction, the existence of measurement error, the possibility of reverse causation, and the presence of linkage disequilibrium. Data analysis examples are given, illustrating that the inappropriate use of instrumental variable techniques when the Mendelian randomization assumptions are violated can lead to biases of enormous magnitude. To help address some of the strong assumptions being made, three possible approaches are suggested. First, the original proposal of Katan (Lancet. 1986;1:507–508) for Mendelian randomization was not to use instrumental variable techniques to obtain estimates but merely to examine genotype–outcome associations to test for the presence of an effect of the exposure on the outcome. We show that this more modest goal and approach can circumvent many, though not all, the potential biases described. Second, we discuss the use of sensitivity analysis in evaluating the consequences of violations in the assumptions and in attempting to correct for those violations. Third, we suggest that a focus on negative, rather than positive, Mendelian randomization results may turn out to be more reliable.
Percutaneous penetration and skin retention of topically applied compounds: an in vitro-in vivo study.

Radiolabeled compounds with varying partition coefficients (paraoxon, benzoic acid, parathion, and DDT) were chosen to study the percutaneous penetration and extent of dermal retention in pig skin both in vitro and in vivo. Radiolabel distributions within the skin were determined from 1 min to 24 h after application in ethanol. The distribution of radioactivity in the skin during the first 4 h was comparable between in vitro and in vivo experiments. At 24 h, radioactive residues in the dermis were significantly higher in vitro than in vivo for DDT, the most lipophilic compound. Increasing air flow over the skin surface significantly increased evaporative loss for volatile compounds (benzoic acid, N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, malathion, parathion, and DDT), significantly decreased the residues in the upper skin layer for N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, malathion, parathion, and DDT, significantly decreased the dermal residue for malathion, and significantly decreased the penetration of N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, malathion, and parathion. On a percentage basis, increasing the dose of parathion and paraoxon from 4 to 1000 micrograms/cm2 resulted in significantly lower residues in the dermis. When applied to the dermis, the more hydrophilic benzoic acid and paraoxon better penetrated the dermis than the more hydrophobic parathion and DDT. An ethanol vehicle facilitated the penetration of parathion into the dermis and receptor fluid. These results indicate that the dermis interacted with the penetrant during both in vitro and in vivo percutaneous absorption. Factors such as partition coefficient and dose of the penetrant, air flow over the skin, and vehicle changed the distribution of penetrants in the skin and percutaneous penetration. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Null subjects and polarity focus

Some null-subject languages cannot drop the subject pronoun in the second conjunct in sentences which translate as They say that John doesn’t speak French, but he does, where the pronoun is coreferent with John. Among the null-subject languages which do not allow a null subject in this context are Chinese (various dialects), Finnish and European Portuguese. Among the languages that allow it are Japanese, Persian, and Spanish. An explanation is proposed of this variation, based on the following correlation: The languages which do not allow a null subject standardly reply to yes/no-questions by repeating the finite verb of the question. The languages which allow a null subject standardly reply by using a special affirmation particle ‘yes’. The connection between these two properties is that both involve polarity focus. The proposal is that a null subject in the second conjunct is prohibited in the former class because of a competition of derivations involving ellipsis. This hypothesis is based on the theory of polarity focus in Finnish articulated in Holmberg (2001).
Upper aerodigestive tract metastases in disseminated malignant melanoma.

Cutaneous malignant melanoma sometimes metastasizes to the upper respiratory and digestive tracts. It may cause significant local symptoms such as airway obstruction and dysphagia, and, in some cases, may represent the initial manifestation of disseminated disease. Of the 8,823 patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma seen at The University of Texas-M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute at Houston between 1944 and 1983, metastases to this region developed in 54 patients. The most common sites involved were the tonsil, tongue, nasopharynx, larynx, and lip. Five of ten cases in which an autopsy was performed were noted to have previously undiagnosed metastatic mucosal lesions. We conclude that metastases to the upper aerodigestive tract in patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma is a distinct possibility. Melanoma patients who manifest symptoms localized to this region should be carefully examined to exclude the possibility of metastatic tumor, since alternative treatment may be required. Local endoscopic treatment may be necessary to relieve airway or digestive tract obstruction.
Behaviour of autonomous mobile agents using linear cyclic pursuit laws

In this paper, the behaviour of a group of autonomous mobile agents under cyclic pursuit is studied. Cyclic pursuit is a simple distributed control law, in which the agent i pursues agent i + 1 modulo n. The equations of motion are linear, with no kinematic constraints on motion. Behaviourally, the agents are identical, but may have different controller gains. We generalize existing results in the literature and show that by selecting these gains, the behavior of the agents can be controlled. They can be made to converge at a point or be directed to move in a straight line. The invariance of the point of convergence with the sequence of pursuit is also shown
Minimum motor losses point tracking for a stand-alone photovoltaic pumping system

Solar photovoltaic energy has been, for many years now, a promising alternative in the diversification of global energetic sources. Although photovoltaic energy has many advantages, it has not yet become commercially popular, because it is still an expensive alternative. In fact, studies have already shown that the investment in such systems are paid back, but it is still hard to find people willing to wait five or six years to have their money back. The aim of this work is to reduce the payback time of photovoltaic stand-alone pumping systems, optimizing not only the efficiency of the photovoltaic conversion, using a maximum power point tracking algorithm, but also minimizing the losses in the induction motor. Based on the design procedures described in this paper, a prototype has been developed and experimental results with the optimizing strategy are shown.
The current state of colonoscopy training in family medicine residency programs.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The US Preventive Services Task Force has recommended that all adults ages 50 and over be screened for colorectal cancer. Colonoscopy is the most accurate screening procedure, but the feasibility of colonoscopy as a screening tool is limited by the number of physicians trained to perform it. This study determined the current state of colonoscopy training in US family medicine residency programs. METHODS We surveyed program directors of all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-approved family medicine residency programs regarding colonoscopy training. RESULTS The response rate was 94% (426 of 455). Forty-eight percent (n=201) of directors reported that their program offered colonoscopy training, but only 18% (n=75) of all respondents had actually trained one or more residents to do colonoscopies. Nationally, the mean number of colonoscopies performed per resident was 42.6 +/- 3.9. Regional differences were reported; residents trained in the western United States performed a mean of 69.8 +/- 12.8 colonoscopies per resident. Gastroenterologists in hospital-based gastroenterology suites trained approximately 75% of family medicine residents. Fifteen percent (n=64) of directors reported that 133 (4%) of their July 2002 graduates sought credentials to perform colonoscopy. CONCLUSIONS Only a minority of family medicine graduates seek credentials to perform colonoscopy, and significant regional differences in training exist.
Klotho protein deficiency and aging

Aging is inevitable; however, the molecular mechanism of aging has not been fully elucidated. Investigations into aging are facing difficulties because aging is influenced by complex factors such as circumstances, living habits and genetic background. Recently, a variety of animals, such as Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila and mice, that have aberrations in their lifespan, have been investigated and a large number of genes related to aging have been found, one of which is α‐klotho. The α‐Klotho mouse (α‐kl−/− mouse), which has a defect of the α‐klotho gene expression, was established a decade ago. It is of great interest because the α‐kl−/− mouse shows various phenotypes resembling human aging. The relationship between aging and α‐klotho protein function is gradually becoming clear. This review covers the recent advance in α‐klotho protein research. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2010; 10 (Suppl. 1): S80–S87.
The Role of Bone Scan and Radiography in the Diagnostic Evaluation of Suspected Pedal Osteomyelitis

The authors reviewed the three-phase bone scans and radiographs of 24 patients with suspected pedal osteomyelitis who also had histologic confirmation of the diagnosis. Twenty patients had a pedal ulcer, cellulitis, or necrosis. Sensitivity and specificity of bone scanning were 70% and 43% respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of radiography were 70% and 50% respectively. The non-invasive diagnosis of pedal osteomyelitis remains problematic due to the poor specificity of bone scans and radiographs.
TECHNICAL AIDS FOR DAILY ACTIVITIES: A REGIONAL SURVEY OF 204 DISABLED CHILDREN

Home‐care of even severely disabled children is strongly favoured today. However, the role of technical aids for daily activities has not been emphasised in the assessment of the needs of families with disabled children. This study evaluated the extent of help needed for daily living among 204 disabled children and the uses and role of and need for technical aids for eating, dressing, toileting and bathing. The children needed much help. Severely disabled children and their parents benefited most from the use of aids. The structured interview unexpectedly revealed many problems, including a considerable need for extra aids for dressing, bathing and toileting. The parents were ready to accept technical aids, but needed more information on their possibilities, benefits and therapeutic aspects. The authors conclude that the need for technical aids for daily activities is not readily recognised during outpatient or hospital visits.
Thermodynamic stability of hydrogen clathrates

The stability of the recently characterized type II hydrogen clathrate [Mao, W. L. , Mao, H. -K. , Goncharov, A. F. , Struzhkin, V. V. , Guo, Q. , et al. (2002) Science 297, 2247–2249] with respect to hydrogen occupancy is examined with a statistical mechanical model in conjunction with first-principles quantum chemistry calculations. It is found that the stability of the clathrate is mainly caused by dispersive interactions between H2 molecules and the water forming the cage walls. Theoretical analysis shows that both individual hydrogen molecules and nH2 guest clusters undergo essentially free rotations inside the clathrate cages. Calculations at the experimental conditions – 2,000 bar (1 bar = 100 kPa) and 250 K confirm multiple occupancy of the clathrate cages with average occupations of 2.00 and 3.96 H2 molecules per D-512 (small) and H-51264 (large) cage, respectively. The H2–H2O interactions also are responsible for the experimentally observed softening of the H—H stretching modes. The clathrate is found to be thermodynamically stable at 25 bar and 150 K.
Mapping Brain Networks Engaged by, and Changed by, Learning

Major goals of research into the neurobiology of learning and memory are to identify (1) brain areas/circuitries that subserve different mnemonic functions and (2) chemistries that encode the memory trace. The discovery that activity modulates neuronal gene expression provided techniques attendant to the first goal and candidates for cellular changes pertinent to the second. Studies in our laboratories have exploited activity-regulated changes in c-fos gene expression to map regions engaged in two-odor discrimination learning, with particular interest in neuronal groups in hippocampus and amygdala. The results of these studies demonstrate that the subdivisions of hippocampus and amygdala do not act in concert across behaviors but are differentially activated depending on task demands. In hippocampus, preferential activation of field CA3 was uniquely associated with initial learning of an odor pair, whereas predominant activation of CA1 occurred with exploration of a novel field and with overtrained responding to odors. The reappearance of precisely the same balance of subfield activation within disparate behavioral contexts was taken to suggest that the hippocampus has basic modes of function that recur in different circumstances and make rather generalized contributions to behavior. Within the amygdala, the basolateral division was most prominently active during task acquisition but not during performance of the well-learned discrimination. Indeed, the amygdala appeared to play the dominant role relative to hippocampus in the early stages of associating positive and negative valences with discriminative cues. These results demonstrate that the balance of neuronal activity both within and between limbic structures changes across sequential stages of odor learning in a fashion that is likely to define behavioral output.