Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Nuclear Hormone Receptor Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor β/δ Potentiates Cell Chemotactism, Polarization, and Migration

ABSTRACT After an injury, keratinocytes acquire the plasticity necessary for the reepithelialization of the wound. Here, we identify a novel pathway by which a nuclear hormone receptor, until now better known for its metabolic functions, potentiates cell migration. We show that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β/δ (PPARβ/δ) enhances two phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-dependent pathways, namely, the Akt and the Rho-GTPase pathways. This PPARβ/δ activity amplifies the response of keratinocytes to a chemotactic signal, promotes integrin recycling and remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton, and thereby favors cell migration. Using three-dimensional wound reconstructions, we demonstrate that these defects have a strong impact on in vivo skin healing, since PPARβ/δ−/− mice show an unexpected and rare epithelialization phenotype. Our findings demonstrate that nuclear hormone receptors not only regulate intercellular communication at the organism level but also participate in cell responses to a chemotactic signal. The implications of our findings may be far-reaching, considering that the mechanisms described here are important in many physiological and pathological situations.
‘We haven’t got a seat on the bus for you’ or ‘all the seats are mine’: narratives and career transition in professional golf

In this article we explore how the stories an athlete tells throughout life in sport affect her career transition experiences. We base our enquiry on a social constructionist conception of narrative theory which holds that storytelling is integral to the creation and maintenance of identity and sense of self. Life stories were gathered through interviews with two professional women golfers (Christiana and Kandy) over a six‐year period. Through a narrative analysis of structure and form we explored each participant’s stories of living in and withdrawing from professional golf. We suggest Christiana told monological performance‐oriented stories which, while aligning with the culture of elite sport, resulted in an exclusive athletic identity and foreclosure of alternative selves and roles. On withdrawal, Christiana experienced narrative wreckage, identity collapse, mental health difficulties and considerable psychological trauma. In contrast, Kandy told dialogical discovery‐oriented stories which, while being in tension with the dominant performance narrative, created and sustained a multidimensional identity and self. Her stories and identity remained intact, authentic and continuous on withdrawal from tournament golf and she experienced few psychological problems.
All-pairs bottleneck paths for general graphs in truly sub-cubic time

In the all-pairs bottleneck paths (APBP) problem (a.k.a. all-pairs maximum capacity paths), one is given a directed graph with real non-negative capacities on its edges and is asked to determine, for all pairs of vertices s and t, the capacity of a single path for which a maximum amount of flow can be routed from s to t. The APBP problem was first studied in operations research, shortly after the introduction of maximum flows and all-pairs shortest paths. We present the first truly sub-cubic algorithm for APBP in general dense graphs. In particular, we give a procedure for computing the (max, min)-product of two arbitrary matrices over R ∪ (∞,-∞) in O(n2+Ω/3) ≤ O(n2.792) time, where n is the number of vertices and Ω is the exponent for matrix multiplication over rings. Using this procedure, an explicit maximum bottleneck path for any pair of nodes can be extracted in time linear in the length of the path.
The impact of escitalopram on vagally mediated cardiovascular function to stress and the moderating effects of vigorous physical activity: a randomized controlled treatment study in healthy participants

Recent concerns over the impact of antidepressant medications, including the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), on cardiovascular function highlight the importance of research on the moderating effects of specific lifestyle factors such as physical activity. Studies in affective neuroscience have demonstrated robust acute effects of SSRIs, yet the impact of SSRIs on cardiovascular stress responses and the moderating effects of physical activity remain to be determined. This was the goal of the present study, which involved a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial of a single-dose of escitalopram (20 mg) in 44 healthy females; outcomes were heart rate (HR) and its variability. Participants engaging in at least 30 min of vigorous physical activity at least 3 times per week (regular exercisers) showed a more resilient cardiovascular stress response than irregular vigorous exercisers, a finding associated with a moderate effect size (Cohen's d = 0.48). Escitalopram attenuated the cardiovascular stress response in irregular exercisers only (HR decreased: Cohen's d = 0.80; HR variability increased: Cohen's d = 0.33). HR during stress under escitalopram in the irregular exercisers was similar to that during stress under placebo in regular exercisers. These findings highlight that the effects of regular vigorous exercise during stress are comparable to the effects of an acute dose of escitalopram, highlighting the beneficial effects of this particular antidepressant in irregular exercisers. Given that antidepressant drugs alone do not seem to protect patients from cardiovascular disease (CVD), longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate the impact of exercise on cardiovascular stress responses in patients receiving long-term antidepressant treatment.
Comparative analysis of the impact of risk profile and of drug therapy on survival in CML using Sokal's index and a new score

Survival times in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) may vary widely depending on the risk profiles of patients. This fact is frequently not, or not sufficiently, considered in evaluating survival in CML, and some studies do not report risk profiles. Therefore we analysed the relative impact of risk profile and therapy on survival using the median survival times of therapy groups and of risk groups of the three‐arm randomized German CML Study I (interferon alpha v hydroxyurea v busulphan; median survival times 65 v 56 v 45 months, n=490, median observation time 70.4 months). The impact of risk profile (Sokal) on survival as determined by the survival difference between high and low risk patients (40 months) was twice the maximum survival difference between treatment groups (20 months). A similar ratio was obtained after stratification for therapy and for risk profile. Since Sokal's index has been reported to prognostically discriminate IFN‐treated patients less well than chemotherapy‐treated patients, a new score with better discrimination of IFN‐treated patients was also used. The results were similar for both scores. We conclude that the risk profile at diagnosis is still more important for survival of CML patients than therapy. Therefore patients should be stratified according to risk profile for comparisons of survival times between studies and treatment arms.
Iron(III) hydroxamate transport in Escherichia coli K-12: FhuB-mediated membrane association of the FhuC protein and negative complementation of fhuC mutants

Iron(III) hydroxamate transport across the cytoplasmic membrane is catalyzed by the very hydrophobic FhuB protein and the membrane-associated FhuC protein, which contains typical ATP-binding domains. Interaction between the two proteins was demonstrated by immunoelectron microscopy with anti-FhuC antibodies, which showed FhuB-mediated association of FhuC with the cytoplasmic membrane. In addition, inactive FhuC derivatives carrying single amino acid replacements in the ATP-binding domains suppressed wild-type FhuC transport activity, which arose either from displacement of active FhuC from FhuB by the mutated FhuC derivatives or from the formation of mixed inactive FhuC multimers between wild-type and mutated FhuC proteins. Inactive FhuC derivatives containing internal deletions and insertions showed no phenotypic suppression, indicating conformational alterations that rendered the FhuC derivatives unable to displace wild-type FhuC. It is concluded that the physical interaction between FhuC and FhuB implies a coordinate activity of both proteins in the transport of iron(III) hydroxamates through the cytoplasmic membrane.
Headscarves in the Headlines! What Does This Mean for Educators

This article explores teachers' approaches to issues of student diversity in the post September 11 era, specifically in reference to their treatment of Muslim students. It highlights the cases of 3 teachers who have ideologically different approaches to negotiating these issues in an urban high school with a predominantly Muslim student population. Qualitative data from semistructured interviews with participants reveal that their different viewpoints serve to impact their perceptions of their Muslim students, as well as their educational practices. Implications for teaching are discussed.
IEEE 802.11 ad hoc networks: performance measurements

In this paper we investigate the performance of IEEE 802.11 ad hoc networks by means of an experimental study. Measurements on IEEE 802.11 ad hoc networks confirm previous simulative results (e.g., TCP connections may actually experience significant throughput unfairness). The analysis of IEEE 802.11b reveals several aspects that are usually neglected in simulative studies. Firstly, since different transmission rates are used for control and data frames, different transmission ranges and carrier-sensing ranges may exist at the same time in the network. In addition, the transmission ranges are in practice much shorter than usually assumed in simulative analysis, and are not constant but highly variable, even in the same session.
Blockade of Focal Clustering and Active Conformation in β2-Integrin-Mediated Adhesion of Eosinophils to Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 Caused by Transduction of HIV TAT-Dominant Negative Ras1

We transduced dominant negative (dn) HIV TAT-Ras protein into mature human eosinophils to determine the signaling pathways and mechanism involved in integrin-mediated adhesion caused by cytokine, chemokine, and chemoattractant stimulation. Transduction of TAT-dnRas into nondividing eosinophils inhibited endogenous Ras activation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation caused by IL-5, eotaxin-1, and fMLP. IL-5, eotaxin-1, or fMLP caused 1) change of Mac-1 to its active conformation and 2) focal clustering of Mac-1 on the eosinophil surface. TAT-dnRas or PD98059, a pharmacological mitogen-activated protein/ERK kinase inhibitor, blocked both focal surface clustering of Mac-1 and the change to active conformational structure of this integrin assessed by the mAb CBRM1/5, which binds the activation epitope. Eosinophil adhesion to the endothelial ligand ICAM-1 was correspondingly blocked by TAT-dnRas and PD98059. As a further control, we used PMA, which activates ERK phosphorylation by postmembrane receptor induction of protein kinase C, a mechanism which bypasses Ras. Neither TAT-dnRas nor PD98059 blocked eosinophil adhesion to ICAM-1, up-regulation of CBRM1/5, or focal surface clustering of Mac-1 caused by PMA. In contrast to β2-integrin adhesion, neither TAT-dnRas nor PD98059 blocked the eosinophil adhesion to VCAM-1. Thus, a substantially different signaling mechanism was identified for β1-integrin adhesion. We conclude that H-Ras-mediated activation of ERK is critical for β2-integrin adhesion and that Ras-protein functions as the common regulator for cytokine-, chemokine-, and G-protein-coupled receptors in human eosinophils.
Whispered Speech Detection in Noise Using Auditory-Inspired Modulation Spectrum Features

Robustness to ambient noise, varying vocal effort, and availability of only short-duration test utterances represent big challenges for developers of automated speech-enabled applications. Recent studies have proposed the use of vocal effort-matched speaker models as a potential solution to such challenges. However, detecting whispered speech in extremely noisy environments is not a trivial task. This letter proposes the use of auditory-inspired modulation spectral-based features as a method of separating speech from environment-based components, thus resulting in accurate whispered speech detection at signal-to-noise ratios as low as 0 dB. Experimental results show the proposed detection algorithm outperforming two benchmark approaches.
Home video game playing in schoolchildren: a study of incidence and patterns of play

Abstract The recent increase in the home video games market has resulted in the ready availability of such games. This study attempted to quantify the extent of home video game playing in a typical population of 11-16-year-olds (429 males and 387 females). Of the children questioned 77.2% played video games. The most common pattern of play was daily with most of the players playing for between one half and one hour per day. A small population of players (7·5% of players: 5·7% of total sample) was identified whose behavior might be considered to be addictive.
Preschoolers' likability as cause or consequence of their social behavior

Are preschoolers' likability and prosocial behavior consequences of their earlier prosocial behavior or their earlier likability? Teachers' ratings of positive and negative social behavior, as well as peer-rated sociometric likability, were assessed For 43 preschoolers over a 10-month period (average initial age = 45 months). Early in peer reputation formation, likability was associated with peer behavior. Friendlier, more cooperative, less aggressive, and less difficult children were more well liked. Later likability was predicted by earlier likability, not prosocial behavior; peer reputation appeared to be emerging as more important than social behavior in peers'judgments of likability. Although later prosocial behavior was found not to be a consequence of earlier likability, it was predicted by concurrent likability
Lipid-based capsaicin-loaded nano-colloidal biocompatible topical carriers with enhanced analgesic potential and decreased dermal irritation

Abstract Capsaicin (CP), a recent FDA-approved drug for the topical treatment of neuropathic pain, is associated with several side effects like irritation, burning sensation, and erythema, resulting in poor patient compliance. The present study is an attempt to study the effect of CP encasement in nano-lipoidal carriers (NLCs) on skin-transport characteristics, in vivo pharmacological performance, skin compliance, and stability of the finished product. The study also compares two methods of NLC preparation, namely microemulsification and rotary-evaporation for various attributes. The results demonstrated that microemulsion technique produced smaller nanoparticles vis-à-vis the rotary-evaporation method. Out of the various studied solid lipids, NLCs from stearic acid offered smallest size and the highest negative zeta potential. The NLC-gel offered higher skin permeation and skin retention of CP across LACA mice skin as compared with the conventional cream. The analgesic effect was observed to be enhanced substantially than that of the conventional cream when tested on a radiant mouse tail-flick model. The most alarming problems of skin-irritation and redness were successfully taken care by NLC-gel while the mice group receiving conventional cream showed marked changes in the skin histopathology. Besides the enhanced efficacy and decreased skin-irritation, the developed CP-NLCs also found to be stable and rheologically accepted formulation for the treatment of pain-associated disorders.
Cooperation between Mast Cells and Neurons Is Essential for Antigen-Mediated Bronchoconstriction1

Mast cells are important sentinels guarding the interface between the environment and the body: a breach in the integrity of this interface can lead to the release of a plethora of mediators that engage the foreign agent, recruit leukocytes, and initiate adaptive physiological changes in the organism. While these capabilities make mast cells critical players in immune defense, it also makes them important contributors to the pathogenesis of diseases such as asthma. Mast cell mediators induce dramatic changes in smooth muscle physiology, and the expression of receptors for these factors by smooth muscle suggests that they act directly to initiate constriction. Contrary to this view, we show herein that mast cell-mediated bronchoconstriction is observed only in animals with intact innervation of the lung and that serotonin release alone is required for this action. While ablation of sensory neurons does not limit bronchoconstriction, constriction after Ag challenge is absent in mice in which the cholinergic pathways are compromised. Linking mast cell function to the cholinergic system likely provides an important means of modulating the function of these resident immune cells to physiology of the lung, but may also provide a safeguard against life-threatening anaphylaxis during mast cell degranulation.
Decoupled zero-compressed memory

For each computer system generation, there are always applications or workloads for which the main memory size is the major limitation. On the other hand, in many cases, one could free a very significant portion of the memory space by storing data in a compressed form. Therefore, a hardware compressed memory is an attractive way to artificially increase the amount of data accessible in a reasonable delay. Among the data that are highly compressible are null data blocks. Previous work has shown that, on many applications null blocks represent a significant fraction of the working set resident in main memory. We propose to leverage this property through the use of a hardware compressed memory that only targets null data blocks, the decoupled zero-compressed memory, or DZC memory. Main memory is managed as a decoupled sectored cache with physical pages treated as sectors and 64-byte memory blocks treated as subblock. Null memory blocks are represented through a single bit, thus freeing physical memory space for the applications. Our experiments show that for many applications, the DZC memory allows to artificially enlarge the main memory, i.e. it reduces the effective physical memory size needed to accommodate the working set of an application without excessive page swapping. Moreover, through caching null memory blocks in the memory controller, the DZC memory also decreases the average access time to the main memory for many applications.
Making the Most of Collaboration: Exploring the Relationship Between Partnership Synergy and Partnership Functioning

Considering the challenges inherent to collaboration and the time it takes to achieve measurable outcomes, partnerships need a way to determine, at an early stage, whether they are making the most of collaboration. The authors have developed a new measure, partnership synergy, which assesses the degree to which a partnership’s collaborative process successfully combines its participants’ perspectives, knowledge, and skills. This article reports the results of a national study designed to examine the relationship between partnership synergy and six dimensions of partnership functioning: leadership, administration and management, partnership efficiency, nonfinancial resources, partner involvement challenges, and community-related challenges. Data were collected from 815 informants in 63 partnerships. Results of regression analysis conducted with partnership-level data indicated that partnership synergy was most closely related to leadership effectiveness and partnership efficiency. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.
Towards a Set of Application Independent Clustering Criteria within an Architecture Recovery Approach

Architecture recovery is usually supported by a set of tools that implement techniques, such as concept analysis, clustering, data mining and pattern matching for abstracting low-level source code elements into higher-level architectural elements. However, the decision making in this process usually depends on a previously defined high-level model of the system architecture or on criteria that are application dependent. In this paper we present a set of application independent clustering criteria to support architectural elements definition. These criteria help the user in his decision making and can be reused in many different contexts.
Increased Basal Glucose Production and Utilization in Children With Recent Obesity Versus Adults With Long-Term Obesity

To characterize the abnormalities of glucose homeostasis and insulin action early in the course of human obesity, we studied in vivo glucose kinetics in seven children who were recently massively overweight. At time of study they were gaining weight at a rate of 13.5 ± 1.4 kg/yr. They were compared with six age-matched control subjects. Six adults with long-term obesity and five normal adults were studied in parallel. The obese children and adults were normoglycemic and hyperinsulinemic. We found that glucose production and utilization were remarkably higher in obese children (295 ± 18 mg/min; 7.6 mg · kg−1 lean body mass · min−1) than in control children (129 ± 13 mg/min; 4.4 mg · kg−1 lean body mass · min−1 P < .01) and obese adults (151 ± 8 mg/min; 3.1 ± 0.3 mg · kg−1 lean body mass · min−1 , P < .01). Obese adults had normal rates of glucose production and utilization. Insulin- and non-insulin-mediated glucose uptake, estimated with somatostatin-induced suppression of endogenous insulin secretion, contributed almost equally to the excess glucose utilization observed in the obese children. When studied with the euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp, obese children could not increase glucose disposal to the same extent as normal children and were not able to adequately suppress their endogenous glucose production. Recently obese children are therefore characterized by an increased basal glucose turnover rate and an already established insulin resistance of the liver and probably the skeletal muscles.
Model competition: a strategy based on model based teaching and learning theory

The purpose of this study is to develop a theoretical framework for describing different teaching strategies that can foster student model construction in large group discussions. Such a framework is necessary for developing new instructional principles about how to build mental models in large classroom settings. This particular paper focuses on a mode of interaction call model competition as one possible strategy. The teacher has an opportunity to promote model competition when the students contribute to a discussion with ideas that are contradictory to each other. The presence of these different kinds of ideas fosters dissatisfaction in the students’ minds that can be productive. We follow the strategies a teacher uses to support this and other important modes of learning, such as model evolution, in a case study of classroom learning in the area of respiration. We believe that the teacher played a key role during the teacher/student co-construction process described in the present study. The teacher participated by constantly diagnosing the students’ ideas and attempting to introduce dissatisfaction by suggesting constraints that led the students to evaluate and modify their ideas, producing cycles of model construction and criticism. In this way she was able to guide students toward targeted content goals. The learning model we develop includes nested teacher-student interaction organization patterns that the teacher used in order to encourage the students to disconfirm, recombine, restructure, or tune their ideas and to generate successive intermediate mental models. These patterns have been analyzed from the perspective of a theoretical framework of model construction theory. We believe that this framework can provide a set of lenses that complements other cognitive and sociological frameworks for analyzing classroom discussions.