Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coping with Intense Reproductive Aggression in Male Arctic Ground Squirrels: The Stress Axis and Its Signature Tell Divergent Stories

We tested the adaptive stress hypothesis that male arctic ground squirrels (Urocitellus parryii) exhibit a stress response over the course of the breeding season that is characterized by increasing free cortisol concentrations, increasing mobilization of stored energy, and decreasing physical condition. We assessed the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis by measuring cortisol levels in response to the stress of capture and in response to a hormone challenge protocol (dexamethasone suppression and adrenocorticotropic hormone stimulation). We measured blood glucose levels, free fatty acids, white blood cells, and hematocrit to assess the downstream physiological responses to cortisol. Immediately after spring emergence, male arctic ground squirrels had ample free abdominal fat and few signs of wounding. By the end of the breeding season 3 wk later, visible fat reserves were almost entirely gone, and most males had extensive wounds. Total plasma cortisol concentrations increased over this period, but so did corticosteroid-binding capacity, resulting in no change in the free cortisol response to capture. We found no significant changes in how the animals responded to our hormone challenges, contrary to our prediction that the stress axis should increase free cortisol production. Even though we found no change in the functioning of the stress axis, all of the downstream measures suggested that male arctic ground squirrels are chronically exposed to high cortisol concentrations. Over the breeding season, blood glucose increased, fat stores and circulating free fatty acids were depleted, and both hematocrit levels and white blood cell counts decreased significantly. Our data suggest that a more complex relationship between the stress axis and downstream measures of stress exists than that proposed by the adaptive stress hypothesis. We propose several nonexclusive, testable mechanisms that could explain our observations.
Advances in Brief The Incidence of p 53 Mutations Increases with Progression of Head and Neck Cancer

To establish a genetic model of the progression of head and neck squamous carcinoma we have defined the incidence and timing of p53 mutations in this type of cancer. We sequenced the conserved regions of the p53 gene in 102 head and neck squamous carcinoma lesions. These included 65 primary invasive carcinomas and 37 noninvasive archival specimens consisting of 13 severe dysplasias and 24 carcinoma in situ lesions. The incidence of p53 mutations in noninvasive lesions was 19% (7/37) and increased to 43 % (28/65) in invasive carcinomas. These data suggest that p53 mutations can precede invasion in primary head and neck cancer. Furthermore, the spectrum of codon hotspots is similar to that seen in squamous carcinoma of the lung and 64% of mutations are at G nucleotides, implicating carcinogens from tobacco smoke in the etiology of head and neck squamous carcinoma.
On Pairwise Cost for Multi-Object Network Flow Tracking

Multi-object tracking has been recently approached with the min-cost network flow optimization techniques. Such methods simultaneously resolve multiple object tracks in a video and enable modeling of dependencies among tracks. Min-cost network flow methods also fit well within the "tracking-by-detection" paradigm where object trajectories are obtained by connecting per-frame outputs of an object detector. Object detectors, however, often fail due to occlusions and clutter in the video. To cope with such situations, we propose to add pairwise costs to the min-cost network flow framework. While integer solutions to such a problem become NP-hard, we design a convex relaxation solution with an efficient rounding heuristic which empirically gives certificates of small suboptimality. We evaluate two particular types of pairwise costs and demonstrate improvements over recent tracking methods in real-world video sequences.
THE IMPACT OF THE INDUSTRIAL INTERNET OF THINGS ON ESTABLISHED BUSINESS MODELS

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has gained much attention in practice and research over the last years. It serves as a novel manufacturing paradigm ensuring flexibility and adaptability of production systems and value chains in order to maintain the future global competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises. Its implicated technological change will additionally result in extensive organizational consequences; existing value chains will change resulting in opportunities for new business models (BM). Consequently, established BMs have to be reflected critically. In general, the IIoT constitutes a relatively young research field. While prior literature concentrated on technological aspects, economic has a backlog compared to technical research. Nevertheless, some authors are already dealing with potential influences of the IIoT on BMs in general, but merely focus on specific aspects and have to be regarded in the respective light of their field of research. Thus, there is no comprehensive picture about the impact of the IIoT on established BMs. Hence, this paper addresses this research gap by answering the research question: In what way does academic literature address the impact of the IIoT on BMs of established manufacturers? For this purpose, a systematic literature review is chosen as research method. After a structured selection process with regard to high quality and subject relevance, we eventually identified 87 articles of journals, collected editions, as well as studies of research institutions published between 2011 and 2015, which are analyzed in detail. Subsequently, these were synthesized according to the nine components of the BM Canvas by Osterwalder and Pigneur serving as the analytical framework of this review. International Association for Management of Technology IAMOT 2016 Conference Proceedings
The role of Pleistocene refugia and rivers in shaping gorilla genetic diversity in central Africa

The role of Pleistocene forest refugia and rivers in the evolutionary diversification of tropical biota has been the subject of considerable debate. A range-wide analysis of gorilla mitochondrial and nuclear variation was used to test the potential role of both refugia and rivers in shaping genetic diversity in current populations. Results reveal strong patterns of regional differentiation that are consistent with refugial hypotheses for central Africa. Four major mitochondrial haplogroups are evident with the greatest divergence between eastern (A, B) and western (C, D) gorillas. Coalescent simulations reject a model of recent east–west separation during the last glacial maximum but are consistent with a divergence time within the Pleistocene. Microsatellite data also support a similar regional pattern of population genetic structure. Signatures of demographic expansion were detected in eastern lowland (B) and Gabon/Congo (D3) mitochondrial haplogroups and are consistent with a history of postglacial expansion from formerly isolated refugia. Although most mitochondrial haplogroups are regionally defined, limited admixture is evident between neighboring haplogroups. Mantel tests reveal a significant isolation-by-distance effect among western lowland gorilla populations. However, mitochondrial genetic distances also correlate with the distance required to circumnavigate intervening rivers, indicating a possible role for rivers in partitioning gorilla genetic diversity. Comparative data are needed to evaluate the importance of both mechanisms of vicariance in other African rainforest taxa.
A note on contractive mappings

then there exists a unique fixed point of A, i.e. a point x such that Ax=x. The problem of defining a family of functions F = { a(x, y) } satisfying 0 <a(x, y) <1, sup a(x, y) = 1 and such that Banach's theorem holds when the constant a is replaced with any a(x, y) CF, was suggested to the author by Professor H. Hanani, and two theorems to that effect are proved in the present paper. In the first, additional conditions requiring compactness of the mapping are imposed; the second holds for any complete metric space, irrespective of the compactness of the mapping. DEFINITION 1. A mapping A of a metric space X into itself is said to be contractive if for every two distinct points x, y GX
Sequential PDEVS architecture

Parallel Discrete Event System Specification (PDEVS) is a well-known formalism used to model and simulate Discrete Event Systems. This formalism uses an abstract simulator that defines a set of abstract algorithms that are parallel by nature. To implement simulators using these abstract algorithms, several architectures were proposed. Most of these architectures follow distributed approaches that may not be appropriate for single core processors or microcontrollers. In order to reuse efficiently PDEVS models in this type of systems, we define a new architecture that provides a single threaded execution by passing messages in a call/return fashion to simplify the execution time analysis.
A New First Step in Activation of Steroid Receptors

We have identified a new first step in the hormonal activation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Rather than causing immediate dissociation of the cytoplasmic GR heterocomplex, binding of hormone-induced substitution of one immunophilin (FKBP51) for another (FKBP52), and concomitant recruitment of the transport protein dynein while leaving Hsp90 unchanged. Immunofluorescence and fractionation revealed hormone-induced translocation of the hormone-generated GR·Hsp90·FKBP52·dynein complex from cytoplasm to nucleus, a step that precedes dissociation of the complex within the nucleus and conversion of GR to the DNA-binding form. Taken as a whole, these studies identify immunophilin interchange as the earliest known event in steroid receptor signaling and provide the first evidence of differential roles for FKBP51 and FKBP52 immunophilins in the control of steroid receptor subcellular localization and transport.
Neurotransmitter Synthesis by Neuroblastoma Clones

Neuroblastoma clones were examined for choline acetyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.6), tyrosine hydroxylase (EC 1.14.3.a), acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7), and also for neurite formation. One clone does not form axons or dendrites. Three types of clones were found with respect to neurotransmitter synthesis: cholinergic, adrenergic, and clones that do not synthesize acetylcholine or catechols. All clones contain acetylcholinesterase. These results show that genes determining neurotransmitter species can be expressed in dividing cells, that the parental programs of gene expression are inherited, and that dividing cells can be programmed with respect to their ability to communicate with other cells.
Should we screen children with type 1 diabetes for Addison's disease?

Children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) are at a higher risk of developing other autoimmune diseases. The National Institute of Clinical Excellence guidance in 2009 included recommendations about screening for thyroid disease (TD) and coeliac disease (CD) in children with T1DM, but there was no guidance regarding screening for autoimmune Addison's disease (AD). 1 Symptoms of AD in children with T1DM include recurrent hypoglycaemia with falling insulin requirements and/or salt craving. Eight per cent of patients with AD require annual hospital treatment for adrenal crisis.2 This …
Analysis of continuous diaphragm electromyographic signal: Results from a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Introduction: Analysis of continuous diaphragm electromyography (dEMG) has not been well studied. We describe a system of analyzing continuous dEMG using implanted electrodes. Methods: dEMG signal was acquired via two pairs of electrodes near the diaphragm motor points. Raw bursts of dEMG signal were compared to externally captured electrocardiogram (ECG) using adaptive filtering in order to remove cardiac contamination. Differential energy levels were used to identify each dEMG burst, and average amplitude and area values from both hemidiaphragms were aggregated and averaged for the duration of the recording. Results: A 64‐year‐old patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis underwent three serial dEMG studies every 6 months. An average of three tracings were collected per visit, and all had excellent intertest reliability (κ > 0.8). Average dEMG area correlated with forced vital capacity and mean inspiratory pressure (r2 > 0.9). Conclusions: The approach described represents a comprehensive method for capturing and analyzing continuous diaphragm EMG signal. Muscle Nerve, 2011
Expression of the long non-coding RNA HOTAIR as a prognostic factor in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are often dysregulated in cancer tissue and seem to play an important role in neoplastic processes. Recent studies have shown that the HOX transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) may play a role as a marker of prognosis in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). The aim of this study was to perform a meta-analysis of studies focused on the prognostic role of HOTAIR in SCCHN. Results At the end of the selection process, four studies were considered eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis, comprising a total of 271 patients. Meta-analysis revealed that high expression of HOTAIR was associated with poor overall survival (HR, 1.90; 95% CI: [1.42, 2.53]; p < 0,0001), advanced tumor stage (OR, 3.44; 95% CI: [1.84, 6.43]; p < 0,001) and lymph-node metastasis (OR, 3.31; 95% CI: [1.24, 8.79]; p = 0,02). Materials and Methods The literature search was performed in the following databases: PUBMED, SCOPUS, EMBASE and Web of Science, in order to find studies that met the inclusion criteria. Conclusions Findings from this systematic review and meta-analysis revealed that HOTAIR represents a potential biomarker of prognosis in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
Reducing antibiotic prescribing for children with respiratory tract infections in primary care: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in children are common and often result in antibiotic prescription despite their typically self-limiting course. AIM To assess the effectiveness of primary care based interventions to reduce antibiotic prescribing for children with RTIs. DESIGN AND SETTING Systematic review. METHOD MEDLINE(®), Embase, CINAHL(®), PsycINFO, and the Cochrane library were searched for randomised, cluster randomised, and non-randomised studies testing educational and/or behavioural interventions to change antibiotic prescribing for children (<18 years) with RTIs. Main outcomes included change in proportion of total antibiotic prescribing or change in 'appropriate' prescribing for RTIs. Narrative analysis of included studies was used to identify components of effective interventions. RESULTS Of 6301 references identified through database searching, 17 studies were included. Interventions that combined parent education with clinician behaviour change decreased antibiotic prescribing rates by between 6-21%; structuring the parent-clinician interaction during the consultation may further increase the effectiveness of these interventions. Automatic computerised prescribing prompts increased prescribing appropriateness, while passive information, in the form of waiting room educational materials, yielded no benefit. CONCLUSION Conflicting evidence from the included studies found that interventions directed towards parents and/or clinicians can reduce rates of antibiotic prescribing. The most effective interventions target both parents and clinicians during consultations, provide automatic prescribing prompts, and promote clinician leadership in the intervention design.
Cytologic diagnosis of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women

The authors have noted that in cervical cytology specimens from perimenopausal and postmenopausal women, the diagnosis of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC‐US), as defined in the Bethesda system, is often not associated with a clinically evident lesion on follow‐up. Reflex human papillomavirus (HPV) testing provides an opportunity to distinguish cytologic features of significance from those within the spectrum of benign cellular change in this age group.
Forced use treatment of childhood hemiparesis.

OBJECTIVE Forced use, or constraint-induced, movement therapy has shown some efficacy in the rehabilitation of adults with chronic hemiparesis as a result of stroke. We used restraint of the unimpaired arm to ascertain whether this would improve function of the paretic arm in children with chronic (>1 year) hemiparesis. METHODS Twelve hemiparetic treatment children (age 1-8 years) received a plaster cast on the unimpaired arm for 1 month; 13 hemiparetic control children did not. Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (PDMS) were performed on all treatment and control children immediately before and after casting and again 6 months later when controls crossed over to receive casts. Thus, PDMS were performed at entry, then 1 month, 6 months, and 7 months after entry. Any noted change in functional ability was also elicited by parental report. The frequency of visits to physical and occupational therapy was recorded. RESULTS The 12 treatment (casted) children improved 12.6 PDMS points after 1 month of casting; the 13 control children improved 2.5 points. Improved PDMS scores persisted 6 months later when 7 treatment children returned. Similar results were obtained in the crossover when 10 control children received casts. Parental report corroborated improvement in casted children (22 of 22 parents) and its persistence at follow-up (21 of 22 parents). Receiving ongoing physical/occupational therapy did not seem to account for these results: control children received more (2.1 visits/wk) than treatment children (1.4 visits/wk). CONCLUSIONS Forced use can be an effective rehabilitation technique in children with chronic hemiparesis.
Colony‐stimulating factor‐1 expression in the human fetus and newborn

Colony‐stimulating factor‐1 (CSF‐1) is a hematopoietic growth factor that regulates the survival, proliferation, and differentiation of mononuclear phagocytes. Because this cellular compartment undergoes major changes during fetal and neonatal life, we examined concurrent CSF‐1 expression during human development. While levels increased dramatically after full‐term birth, CSF‐1 concentrations steadily declined in the preterm circulation from 2.7 to 1.9 times adult values as gestational age increased. CSF‐1 was already detectable at 10 weeks gestation in spleen, intestine, lung, kidney, heart, and liver in order of decreasing concentration, but a positive correlation with gestational age was seen only in lung and intestine. Although a 4.4‐kb CSF‐1 mRNA was detectable in all tissues at all gestational ages, increased expression with advancing gestational age was observed in lung and kidney, whereas a rise and fall was observed in spleen. We conclude that CSF‐1 concentration in the human circulation is developmentally regulated and that its expression in fetal tissues is compatible with its role in regulating the development of tissue mononuclear phagocytes.
Context-Dependent Sensitivity to Mutations Disrupting the Structural Integrity of Individual EGF Repeats in the Mouse Notch Ligand DLL1

The highly conserved Notch-signaling pathway mediates cell-to-cell communication and is pivotal for multiple developmental processes and tissue homeostasis in adult organisms. Notch receptors and their ligands are transmembrane proteins with multiple epidermal-growth-factor-like (EGF) repeats in their extracellular domains. In vitro the EGF repeats of mammalian ligands that are essential for Notch activation have been defined. However, in vivo the significance of the structural integrity of each EGF repeat in the ligand ectodomain for ligand function is still unclear. Here, we analyzed the mouse Notch ligand DLL1. We expressed DLL1 proteins with mutations disrupting disulfide bridges in each individual EGF repeat from single-copy transgenes in the HPRT locus of embryonic stem cells. In Notch transactivation assays all mutations impinged on DLL1 function and affected both NOTCH1 and NOTCH2 receptors similarly. An allelic series in mice that carried the same point mutations in endogenous Dll1, generated using a mini-gene strategy, showed that early developmental processes depending on DLL1-mediated NOTCH activation were differently sensitive to mutation of individual EGF repeats in DLL1. Notably, some mutations affected only somite patterning and resulted in vertebral column defects resembling spondylocostal dysostosis. In conclusion, the structural integrity of each individual EGF repeat in the extracellular domain of DLL1 is necessary for full DLL1 activity, and certain mutations in Dll1 might contribute to spondylocostal dysostosis in humans.
Pyrethroid Insecticides: Advances and Challenges in Biomonitoring

Pyrethroid insecticides have a wide variety of applications throughout the world. They are structurally diverse chemicals that are synthetically derived from naturally occurring pyrethrin insecticides. Significant advances in analytical chemistry have led to the development of biomarkers of exposure to pyrethroids, and these methods are currently being applied to study exposure in the general population. This article reviews the chemistry and toxicology of pyrethroid insecticides, with an emphasis on the development of biomarkers to assess environmental exposure. Future challenges in the application of these biomarkers in epidemiological studies are explored, as is a need for improved understanding of the toxicokinetics of pyrethroids in humans.
Treatment of Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Talus: Use of the Mosaicplasty Technique—A Preliminary Report

A one-stage autogenous osteochondral grafting technique for the treatment of talar dome osteochondritis dissecans is described. Eleven patients with osteochondritis dissecans lesions, 10 mm or greater in diameter, were operated on using the mosaicplasty autogenous osteochondral transplantation technique. Osteochondral cylindrical grafts from the ipsilateral knee were delivered into the talar defect using specially designed tube chisels. These procedures were done by arthrotomy. With follow-up of 12 to 28 months (mean, 16 months), the patients returned to full activities and the results, using the Hannover scoring system, have been excellent.
A multi-centre and cross-sectional study of dentine hypersensitivity in China.

AIM The objective of this study was to establish the prevalence of dentine hypersensitivity (DH) in Chinese urban adults and the possible effects of smoking on DH. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 2640 subjects were distributed equally in 12 communities in Chengdu and Xian City, respectively, and of all age groups (10 years for an age group) including the same number of male and female subjects in each community. Each subject completed a structured interview and the subjects who reported hypersensitivity symptoms were examined with cold air from a dental triple syringe in order to confirm the diagnosis of DH. Attachment loss and gingival recession of sensitive teeth were measured by a Williams periodontal probe. RESULTS The diagnosis of DH established following a clinical assessment yielded an overall prevalence of 25.5%. The 50-59-year-old age group had the greatest number of subjects with DH (p<0.05). 78.6% and 31.4% of sensitive teeth were associated with attachment loss and gingival loss, respectively. Subjects who smoked did not have more sensitive teeth on average than subjects who did not smoke (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of DH in a selected community population was 25.5%.