Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lesbian Tomboys and “Evolutionary Butch”

ABSTRACT Lesbian tomboy development occurs within a psychosexual experiential field on a continuum from childhood gender dissonance to evolutionary butch in adulthood. Through the process of integrating gender development, sexual orientation, and identity development, tomboy lesbians learn how to maintain a sense of self and organize desire within a complicated familial/socio/cultural/context. Traversing these complications usually brings adolescent and adult lesbians into therapy where they need clinicians who understand this unique course of development.
Acetylcholine‐related proteins in non‐neoplastic appearing colonic mucosa from patients with colorectal neoplasia

The pathogenesis of colorectal neoplasia (CRN) has been associated with altered non‐neuronal acetylcholine (ACh) metabolism. The aim of this study was to characterize expression, function, and cellular location of ACh‐related proteins in biopsies obtained from endoscopic normal‐appearing sigmoid colon in patients with and without CRN. Messenger‐RNA (mRNA) levels of 17 ACh‐related proteins were quantified by rt‐qPCR. Functional responses to ACh, measured as electrogenic transepithelial short circuit current (SCC), were recorded using the Ussing chamber technique. Finally, cellular localization of choline transporter‐like proteins (CTLs) and butyryl‐cholinesterase enzyme (BChE) was determined by immunohistochemistry. mRNA expression of CTL1 and CTL4 was increased in patients with CRN (P = 0.002 and P = 0.04, respectively). In functional experiments, baseline SCC was increased in CRN patients. ACh induced rapid biphasic changes in SCC. An initial decreasing phase was observed in the minority of CRN patients versus the majority of controls (25% vs 69%, respectively, P = 0.031). For the second increasing phase of SCC, data indicated ACh‐activation of two receptors. For both parts of the biphasic response, the half maximal effective concentration and maximal responses showed no difference between patient groups. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated CTL1, 3 and 4 and BChE to be localized to colonic crypt cells. We conclude that CRN is associated with increased expression of CTL1 and CTL4, augmented basal prostaglandin‐dependent secretion, and altered functional channel response to ACh in human endoscopic normal‐appearing colonic mucosa. The immunohistochemical findings support CTL1, CTL3, CTL4, and BChE to be involved in non‐neuronal mucosal ACh metabolism.
Fault arc propagation on aircraft wires under different environmental pressure conditions

Fault ares occurred in damageo wires have been identified as a failure reason for many aircraft accidents. As there are hundreds of kilometers of wiring in a commercial aircraft, the damaged wires are extremely difficult to be detected at aircraft maintenance. Thus more attention on the performance of applied wire insulation in aircraft in the stage of development of the wire insulation is necessary. To cope with the fault type "arc failure" and in order to increase the aircraft safety, various of arc resistance test methods have been developed by different organisations in the last years. But all of them have not taken into account the environmental conditions in an aircraft. Therefore a new test method considering the environmental pressure conditions has been developed. According to this new method, more than 300 fault are tests have-been performed with typical aircraft wire insulations under different environmental conditions. The test results show that the environmental conditions have an important influence on the fault arc behaviour. The detailed test results are presented and discussed in this paper.
Real-Time Feature Descriptor Matching via a Multi-Resolution Exhaustive Search Method

Feature descriptor matching plays an important role in many computer vision applications. This paper presents a novel fast linear exhaustive search algorithm combined with a multi-resolution candidate elimination technique to deal with this problem efficiently. The proposed algorithm is inspired from the existing multi-resolution image retrieval approaches, but releasing the requirement on a norm-sorted database with pre-computed multi-resolution tables. This helps to increase the applicability of the proposed method. Moreover, the computations of candidate elimination are fully performed using a simple L 1 distance metric, which is able to speedup the entire search process without loss of accuracy. This property leads to an accurate feature descriptor matching algorithm with real-time performance, which will be validated in the experiments by testing with the matching of SURF descriptors.
A prospective study of endogenous estrogens and breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

BACKGROUND Circumstantial evidence links endogenous estrogens to increased risk of breast cancer in women, but direct epidemiologic support is limited. In particular, only a few small prospective studies have addressed this issue. PURPOSE Our purpose was to assess breast cancer risk in relation to circulating levels of the two major endogenous estrogens, estrone and estradiol, measured before the clinical onset of the disease. METHODS The association between serum levels of estrogens and the risk of breast cancer was examined in a prospective cohort study of 14,291 New York City women, 35-65 years of age, who received screening for breast cancer at the time of blood sampling and who had not been diagnosed with breast cancer. During the first 5 1/2 years of study, we identified 130 breast cancers among the postmenopausal group (7063 women, 35,509 person-years). The case subjects and twice as many postmenopausal control subjects were included in a case-control study nested within the cohort. Biochemical analyses for percent free estradiol, percent estradiol bound to sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), total estradiol, estrone, and follicle-stimulating hormone were performed on sera that had been kept at -80 degrees C since sampling. RESULTS For increasing quartiles of total estradiol, the odds ratio (ORs) of breast cancer, as adjusted for Quetelet index (weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters), were 1.0, 0.9, 1.8, and 1.8 (P value for trend = .06); the ORs for increasing quartiles of estrone were 1.0, 2.2, 3.7, and 2.5 (P value for trend = .06). For increasing quartiles of free estradiol, defined as the fraction of estradiol that is not bound to proteins, the Quetelet index-adjusted ORs of breast cancer were 1.0, 1.4, 3.0, and 2.9 (P value for trend < .01). When we considered the percent of estradiol bound to SHBG, the Quetelet index-adjusted ORs were 1.0, 0.70, 0.40, and 0.32 (P value for trend < .01), thus suggesting a strong protective effect. These associations persisted or became even stronger when analyses were restricted to women whose samples had been drawn 2 or more years before breast cancer diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS These data represent the first confirmation in a large prospective epidemiologic study of a link between circulating estrogens and breast cancer risk. Although estrogen levels appeared to fall within the conventional limits of normality in all women under study, those who subsequently developed breast cancer tended to show higher levels of estrone, total estradiol, and free estradiol, and a lower percent of estradiol bound to SHBG than women who remained free of cancer. IMPLICATIONS Factors that increase endogenous estrogen production or reduce the binding of estradiol to SHBG may increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer later in life.
GENETIC DIVERSITY AND STRUCTURE OF SLOVAK DOMESTIC GOOSE BREEDS

Knowledge of the genetic diversity and structure is particulary important in the case of endagered breeds. The preliminary characterization of the genetic diversity and structure were assessed in two critically endangered national goose breeds Suchovska and Slovak, based on 6 microsatellite loci analysis in a total population of 50 birds. A total of 31 alleles were found across 6 microsatellite loci with a mean number of 5.17 alleles per locus. The mean observed heterozygosity was 0.33 in Suchovska and 0.39 in Slovak. The degree of inbreeding of Suchovska and Slovak calculated as a mean FIS was 0.13 and 0.15 respectively. The FST value between Suchovska and Slovak breeds was 0.058. Nei ́s genetic distance between Suchovska and Slovak goose was 0.093. The low level of diversity indicated as heterozygosity deficiency coupled with low population size confirm, that Slovak national breeds of geese are critically endangered and required attention for the preservation.
Effect of growth and maturation on membrane‐initiated actions of 1,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3—II: Calcium transport, receptor kinetics, and signal transduction in intestine of female chickens

We recently reported (Larsson and Nemere [2003]: Endocrinology 144:1726) the effects of growth and maturation on 1,25(OH)2D3‐membrane initiated effects in the intestine of male chickens. Here we extend our observations to studies on females with two stages of high calcium demand: growth (7–14 weeks) and egg laying (28–58 weeks). The rapid stimulatory effect of 130 pM 1,25(OH)2D3 on calcium transport was assessed as a physiological response in perfused duodena of 7‐, 14‐, 28‐, and 58‐week‐old chickens, and determined to be 308%, 184%, 170%, and 153%, respectively, of corresponding controls after 40 min. Saturation analyses of [3H]1,25(OH)2D3 binding to nuclear vitamin D receptor (VDR) indicated an absence of cooperative binding, no changes in dissociation constant (Kd) with age, and an increase in maximum binding capacity (Bmax) between 7‐week birds and older age groups. Analyses of saturable binding of [3H]1,25(OH)2D3 to the membrane associated rapid response steroid binding protein (1,25D3‐MARRS bp) in basal lateral membranes (BLM), indicated cooperative binding, and an increase in both Bmax and Kd with age. No changes in the age‐related expression of 1,25D3‐MARRS bp were found, as judged by Western analyses, suggesting that a shift in ligand binding to lower affinity membrane components accounted for the increase in calculated Bmax. Basal levels of protein kinase C (PKC) activity decreased with age, as did hormone enhancement of activity. Basal levels of protein kinase A (PKA) activity remained constant with age, while the magnitude of hormone stimulation increased. Comparison of dose‐response curves for ion transport and kinase activities in 7‐week chicks suggested that PKC mediates phosphate transport while PKA mediates calcium transport. Thus, the age‐related loss of calcium transport is most likely related to loss of PKC‐mediated phosphate transport. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Planar superconducting YBCO microwave mixer employing an engineered grain boundary weak link junction

A microstrip transmission line was patterned from a superconducting YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-x/ film which was laser deposited on a SrTiO/sub 3/ bicrystal substrate. A microbridge in the microstrip was then patterned at the bicrystal interface to fabricate a superconducting grain boundary junction. Microwave mixing was observed with an input local oscillator frequency of 9.000 GHz, and an input signal frequency of 9.941 GHz. The output signal at 941 MHz was detected as a transmitted signal. The junction was current biased slightly above the critical current I/sub c/. The measured conversion loss was compared to the calculated value based upon a numerical solution of the equation for a superconducting weak link junction. <<ETX>>
Direct visualization of HIV-1-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes during primary infection

ObjectiveHIV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are believed to play an important role in containing viral replication throughout HIV-1 infection. Previous studies have attempted to quantify the HIV-1-specific CTL precursor frequency during primary HIV infection by using limiting dilution analysis, which almost certainly underestimates the true CTL frequency. Here we use a relatively new technique to quantify HIV-specific CD8 T cells in primary HIV infection. MethodsWe have used soluble tetrameric complexes of HLA class I molecules complexed with HIV epitope peptides to study the dynamics and frequency of HIV-specific CD8 T cells in relation to plasma viral load in early HIV infection, in three patients with a highly focused HIV-specific CTL response. ResultsWe show that the frequencies of HIV-1-specific CD8 T cells in acute infection are significantly higher than previously documented and can be demonstrated well before full seroconversion. These studies also confirm the immunodominance of the B27-restricted response in HIV infection and demonstrate a close temporal relationship between the numbers of circulating HIV-specific CD8 T cells and viral load. ConclusionsThese findings strongly suggest that HIV-1-specific CD8 T cells are responding directly to the level of viral replication in early HIV infection and are a major factor in its control. In addition, the data indicate that immunodominance for CD8 T-cell responses is established in the acute phase of HIV infection.
Enhancing the Near-Infrared Spectral Response of Silicon Optoelectronic Devices via Up-Conversion

A silicon-based optoelectronic device that exhibits an enhanced response to subbandgap light is described. The device structure consists of a bifacial silicon solar cell with an up- converting (UC) layer attached to the rear. Erbium-doped sodium yttrium fluoride (NaY<sub>0.8</sub>F<sub>4</sub> : Er<sub>0.2</sub> <sup>3+</sup>) phosphors are the optically active centers responsible for the UC luminescence. The unoptimized device is demonstrated to respond effectively to wavelengths (lambda) in the range of 1480-1580 nm with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 3.4% occurring at 1523 nm at an illumination intensity of 2.4 W/cm<sup>2</sup> (EQE = 1.4 times 10<sup>-2</sup> cm<sup>2</sup>/W). An analysis of the optical losses reveals that the luminescence quantum efficiency (LQE) of the device is 16.7% at 2.4 W/cm<sup>2</sup> of 1523-nm excitation (LQE = 7.0 times 10<sup>-2</sup> cm<sup>2</sup>/W), while further potential device improvements indicate that an EQE of 14.0% (5.8 times 10<sup>-2</sup> cm<sup>2</sup>/W) could be realistically achieved.
Chemical Defense of Leguminosae. Are Quinolizidine Alkaloids Part of the Antimicrobial Defense System of Lupins?

Growth of 6 bacteria (Serratia marcescens, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus viridis, Micrococcus luteus, and Mycobacterium phlei) was inhibited by 50% if the growth medium contained sparteine at concentrations between 0.5-10mᴍ. Total growth inhibition, which was bacteriostatic in nature, was achieved at 20 mᴍ. The growth of 6 phytopathogenic fungi was also affected: at a sparteine concentration of 15 mᴍ the growth of Alternaria porri was reduced by 40% as compared to the untreated control. Respective values were 18% inhibition for Piricularia oryzae, 33% for Helminthosporium carbonum, 15% for Rhizoctonia solani, 5% for Fusarium oxysporum, and 42% for Asperquillus oryzae. Since the concentrations of quinolizidine alkaloids range from 1-200 mᴍ (roots, leaves, or stems) or 10-200 mmol/kg (seeds) in Leguminosae, it is discussed whether quinolizidine alkaloids are involved in the antimicrobial defense of lupins, in addition to their potential role as allelopathic or herbivore repellent defense compounds.
Interstitial Pneumonia in Progressive Systemic Sclerosis: Serial High-Resolution CT Findings with Functional Correlation

Purpose The aim of our study was to assess the serial high-resolution CT findings and their correlation with the results of pulmonary function tests in patients with progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) and interstitial pneumonia. Method The study included 40 patients with symptoms or signs of PSS and interstitial pneumonia, who underwent serial high-resolution CT scans (mean follow-up period 39 months). Seventeen patients simultaneously had serial pulmonary function tests (mean follow-up period 40 months). On high-resolution CT, the pattern and extent of parenchymal abnormalities were retrospectively analyzed. Serial changes on high-resolution CT were correlated with the changes of pulmonary function tests. Results On initial CT, areas of ground-glass opacity (mean ± SD extent 17.7 ± 12.3% in all patients), irregular linear opacity (4.4 ± 4.4% in 36 patients), small nodules (3.9 ± 12.5% in 28), consolidation (1.9 ± 4.2% in 13), and honeycombing (1.9 ± 3.8% in 12) were seen. The total disease extent (p = 0.042) and extents of ground-glass opacity (18.9 ± 15.5%; p = 0.04) and honeycombing (5.0 ± 7.2%; p = 0.002) increased significantly on follow-up CT. Both forced vital capacity (from 2.4 ± 0.4 to 2.0 ± 0.4 L; p = 0.002) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (from 2.0 ± 0.4 to 1.6 ± 0.3 L; p = 0.013) decreased significantly on follow-up examination. The increase in the extent of honeycombing on CT correlated significantly with the decrease in diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (r = −0.411, p = 0.049). Conclusion In patients with PSS and interstitial pneumonia, the overall extent of disease and extents of honeycombing and ground-glass opacity increase significantly on follow-up CT. Increase of honeycombing correlates well with decrease of diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide.
DEVELOPMENT OF RAPID MICROPROPAGATION METHOD OF ALOE

An efficient micropropagation method has been developed using shoot tip explants in Aloe vera L. The process involves subsequent in vitro morphogenesis and rooting of the in vitro proliferated shoots and transplantation of regenerated plants under ex vitro condition. Shoot proliferation was found best in MS medium containing BA 2.0 mg/l, KIN 0.5 mg/l and NAA 0.2 mg/l. Maximum 98.96% shoots were proliferated in this media composition. This media composition is best comparing to other treatment used in this study. Highest shoot number per explant was also achieved in the same medium within 5 weeks. In case of adventitious rooting, MS medium containing NAA 0.2 mg/l and NAA 0.5 mg/l was found to be the best. Maximum 80.25% rooting and highest number of root per culture (6.71) was obtained in this media composition. After transplanting the 20 days old rooted shoots into mixture of garden soil, compost and sand (2:1:1), 80% of survivability after 5 weeks was an achieved. Regenerated plants after acclimatization were transferred to soil and they showed 82% survival. The regenerated plants were morphologically similar to the mother plants.
The Convergence of Lexicalist Perspectives in Psycholinguistics and Computational Linguistics

In the last fifteen years, there has been a striking convergence of perspectives in the fields of linguistics, computational linguistics, and psycholinguistics regarding the representation and processing of grammatical information. First, the lexicon has played an increasingly important role in the representation of the syntactic aspects of language. This is exemplified by the rise of grammatical formalisms that assign a central role to the lexicon for characterizing syntactic forms, e.g., LFG (Bresnan and Kaplan 1982), HPSG (Pollard and Sag 1994), CCG (Steedman 1996), Lexicon-Grammars (Gross 1984), LTAG (Joshi and Schabes 1996), Link Grammars (Sleator and Ternperley 1991) and the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1995). Second, theories of language processing have seen a shift away from 'rule-governed' approaches for grammatical decision-making toward statistical and constraintbased approaches. In psycholinguistics, this has been characterized by a strong interest in connectionist and activation-based models (e.g., Lewis 1993, McRae, Spivey-Knowlton and Tanenhaus 1998, Stevenson 1994, Tabor, Juliano and Tanenhaus 1996). In computational linguistics, this is found in the explosion of work with stochastic approaches to structural processing (cf. Church and Mercer 1993, Marcus 1995). In linguistics, this interest is most apparent in the development of Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky 1997). In this paper, we highlight how the shift to lexical and statistical approaches has affected theories of sentence parsing in both psycholinguistics and computational linguistics. In particular, we present an integration of ideas developed across these two disciplines, which builds upon a specific proposal from each. Within psycholinguistics, we discuss the development of the Constraint-Based Lexicalist (CBL) theory of sentence processing (MacDonald, Pearlmutter and Seidenberg 1994, Trueswell and Tanenhaus 1994).
Progress in various crosslinking modification for acellular matrix

Objective To review the current crosslinking strategies for acelluar matrix scaffold, laying the foundation for subsequent experiment. Data sources Data were mainly obtained from recent papers published in PubMed or indexed by Web of Science, with keyword like crosslinking. Results Various crosslinking strategies, including chemical, physical and biological methods, have been introduced to facilitate the performance of fresh acellular matrix. Chemical crosslinking reagents, involved in synthetic and naturally derived agents, need to be eliminated before implantation in case of their potential biotoxicity, although several crosslinking agents with less toxicity and specific characteristics have been developed. Physical crosslinking methods present to be safe, additive‐free and relatively controllable for rapid surface functionalization with no consideration of remaining radioactivity. Biological crosslinking strategies have attracted great interest, and have been demonstrated to enhance collagen‐based crosslinking since their preparations do not need toxic or potentially biologically contaminated substances and can be carried out under physiological conditions. Conclusions Kinds of crosslinking methods with its potential advantages have been developed to modify raw acelluar matrix, of which the performance are promising after being crosslinked by several crosslinking treatments. Further preclinical and clinical evaluations should be taken to vertify their safety and efficacy for the tissues and organs substitutes in tissue and regenerative medicine.
Newtonian limit of axially symmetric spacetimes.

We illustrate how Ehlers' formal mathematical definition of the Newtonian limit requires additional information to successfully determine the Newtonian limit. This information can be obtained through the physical arguments of Cooperstock's definition. We show that Ehlers' formalism is equivalent to Cooperstock's derivation of the Newtonian limit when the physical arguments are included in the former definition.