Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aquaporin-10 Represents an Alternative Pathway for Glycerol Efflux from Human Adipocytes

Background Glycerol outflow from adipocytes has been considered for a decade to be mediated by aquaporin-7, an aquaglyceroporin highly expressed in the adipose tissue. Its involvement in glycerol metabolism has been widely studied also in humans. Recent studies in different aquaporin-7 KO mice models pose two different questions 1) the exact localization of aquaporin-7 in human white adipose tissue; 2) the existence of other aquaglyceroporins that work with aquaporin-7 to guarantee glycerol efflux and thus a normal adiposity in humans. To this purpose we investigated the expression, the localization and the functioning of aquaglyceroporin-10 in subcutaneous white adipose tissue, in isolated and cultured differentiated adipocytes. Methodology/Principal Findings Aquaporin-7 and -10 were expressed in the white adipose tissue both at mRNA and at protein level. Immunofluorescence revealed aquaporin-7 and -10 labelling in the human adipose tissue both to the plasma membrane and to a thin rim of cytoplasm of adipocytes. Aquaporin-7, but not aquaporin-10, colocalized with the endothelial marker CD34. Human cultured differentiated adipocytes showed an aquaporin-7 and -10 labelling mainly in the cytoplasm and in the lipid droplets with insulin reinforcing the lipid droplets staining and isoproterenol inducing its translocation to the plasma membrane compartment. Water and glycerol permeability measurements using adipocytes and adipose membrane vesicles confirmed the presence of functioning aquaglyceroporins. Aquaporin-10 silencing in human differentiated adipocytes resulted in a 50% decrease of glycerol and osmotic water permeability. Conclusions/Significance The results indicate that aquaporin-7, differently from mice, is present in both adipocyte and capillary plasma membranes of human adipose tissue. Aquaporin-10, on the contrary, is expressed exclusively in the adipocytes. The expression of two aquaglyceroporins in human adipose tissue is particularly important for the maintenance of normal or low glycerol contents inside the adipocyte, thus protecting humans from obesity.
Characterization of Fitzroy River Virus and Serologic Evidence of Human and Animal Infection

In northern Western Australia in 2011 and 2012, surveillance detected a novel arbovirus in mosquitoes. Genetic and phenotypic analyses confirmed that the new flavivirus, named Fitzroy River virus, is related to Sepik virus and Wesselsbron virus, in the yellow fever virus group. Most (81%) isolates came from Aedes normanensis mosquitoes, providing circumstantial evidence of the probable vector. In cell culture, Fitzroy River virus replicated in mosquito (C6/36), mammalian (Vero, PSEK, and BSR), and avian (DF-1) cells. It also infected intraperitoneally inoculated weanling mice and caused mild clinical disease in 3 intracranially inoculated mice. Specific neutralizing antibodies were detected in sentinel horses (12.6%), cattle (6.6%), and chickens (0.5%) in the Northern Territory of Australia and in a subset of humans (0.8%) from northern Western Australia.
Non-destructive Determination of Shikimic Acid Concentration in Transgenic Maize Exhibiting Glyphosate Tolerance Using Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Hyperspectral Imaging

The development of transgenic glyphosate-tolerant crops has revolutionized weed control in crops in many regions of the world. The early, non-destructive identification of superior plant phenotypes is an important stage in plant breeding programs. Here, glyphosate-tolerant transgenic maize and its parental wild-type control were studied at 2, 4, 6, and 8 days after glyphosate treatment. Visible and near-infrared hyperspectral imaging and chlorophyll fluorescence imaging techniques were applied to monitor the performance of plants. In our research, transgenic maize, which was highly tolerant to glyphosate, was phenotyped using these high-throughput non-destructive methods to validate low levels of shikimic acid accumulation and high photochemical efficiency of photosystem II as reflected by maximum quantum yield and non-photochemical quenching in response to glyphosate. For hyperspectral imaging analysis, the combination of spectroscopy and chemometric methods was used to predict shikimic acid concentration. Our results indicated that a partial least-squares regression model, built on optimal wavelengths, effectively predicted shikimic acid concentrations, with a coefficient of determination value of 0.79 for the calibration set, and 0.82 for the prediction set. Moreover, shikimic acid concentration estimates from hyperspectral images were visualized on the prediction maps by spectral features, which could help in developing a simple multispectral imaging instrument for non-destructive phenotyping. Specific physiological effects of glyphosate affected the photochemical processes of maize, which induced substantial changes in chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics. A new data-driven method, combining mean fluorescence parameters and featuring a screening approach, provided a satisfactory relationship between fluorescence parameters and shikimic acid content. The glyphosate-tolerant transgenic plants can be identified with the developed discrimination model established on important wavelengths or sensitive fluorescence parameters 6 days after glyphosate treatment. The overall results indicated that both hyperspectral imaging and chlorophyll fluorescence imaging techniques could provide useful tools for stress phenotyping in maize breeding programs and could enable the detection and evaluation of superior genotypes, such as glyphosate tolerance, with a non-destructive high-throughput technique.
Testing Normality in Designs With Many Parameters

Goodness-of-fit tests are proposed for the assumption of normality of random errors in experimental designs where the variance of the response may vary with the levels of the covariates. The exact distribution of standardized residuals is used to make the probability integral transform for use in tests based on the empirical distribution function. A different mean and variance is estimated for each level of the covariate; corresponding large sample theory is provided. The proposed tests are robust to a possible misspecification of the model and permit data collected from several similar experiments to be pooled to improve the power of the test.
Effect of anxiety and depression on blood pressure: 11-year longitudinal population study

Background The long-term effect of anxiety and depression on blood pressure is unclear. Aims To examine the prospective association of anxiety and depression with change in blood pressure in a general population. Method Data on 36530 men and women aged 20–78 years participating in the Nord-Tr⊘ndelag Health Study (HUNT) in Norway in 1984–86 were re-examined 11 years later. Results A high symptom level of anxiety and depression at baseline predicted low systolic blood pressure (< 10th percentile) at follow-up (OR=1.30, 95% CI 1.08–1.57) when those with low systolic blood pressure at baseline were excluded. Change in symptom level of anxiety and depression between baseline and follow-up was inversely associated with change in systolic blood pressure. For diastolic blood pressure, the findings were weaker or non-significant. Conclusions Symptoms of anxiety and depression predicted lower blood pressure 11 years later.
Is there a place for ultrasound in neuraxial anesthesia

This article addresses how ultrasonography, which is commonly used by anesthesia providers for regional anesthesia as well as for vascular access, may be useful for neuraxial anesthesia. It begins with an overview of the uses of ultrasonography by anesthesiologists and the evolution of equipment, followed by its uses in preprocedural and real-time ultrasonography for neuraxial anesthesia. It includes a critical review of the limitations of this technology and describes future trends regarding its use. The aim of this article is to discuss the introduction and the place of ultrasonography in neuraxial anesthesia for day-to-day practice as well as for complex cases. This will focus on two main topics: preprocedural ultrasound scanning as well as real-time ultrasound scanning. It will also provide an overview of the evolving technology in this area and a critical appraisal of the current and future use of ultrasonography in neuraxial anesthesia. It will hopefully help the reader appreciate both the shortcomi.
Duality in Diversity: Cultural Heterogeneity, Language, and Firm Performance

How does cultural heterogeneity in an organization relate to its underlying capacity for execution and innovation? Existing literature often understands cultural diversity as presenting a trade-off between task coordination and creative problem-solving. This work assumes that diversity arises primarily through cultural differences between individuals. In contrast, we propose that diversity can also exist within persons such that cultural heterogeneity can be unpacked into two distinct forms: interpersonal and intrapersonal. We argue that the former tends to undermine coordination and portends worsening firm profitability, while the latter facilitates creativity and supports greater patenting success and more positive market valuations. To evaluate these propositions, we use unsupervised learning to identify cultural content in employee reviews of nearly 500 publicly traded firms on a leading company review website and then develop novel, time-varying measures of cultural heterogeneity. Our empirical results lend support for our two core propositions, demonstrating that a diversity of cultural beliefs in an organization does not necessarily impose a trade-off between operational efficiency and creativity.
DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2010 SIFT-ME : A New Feature for Human Activity Recognition

Action representation for robust human activity recognition is still a challenging problem. This thesis proposed a new feature for human activity recognition named SIFTMotion Estimation (SIFT-ME). SIFT-ME is derived from SIFT correspondences in a sequence of video frames and adds tracking information to describe human body motion. This feature is an extension of SIFT and is used to represent both translation and rotation in plane rotation for the key features. Compare with other features, SIFT-ME is new as it uses rotation of key features to describe action and it robust to the environment changes. Because SIFT-ME is derived from SIFT correspondences, it is invariant to noise, illumination, and small view angle change. It is also invariant to horizontal motion direction due to the embedded tracking information. For action recognition, we use Gaussian Mixture Model to learn motion patterns of several human actions (e.g., walking, running, turning, etc) described by SIFT-ME features. Then, we utilize the maximum log-likelihood criterion to classify actions. As a result, an average recognition rate of 96.6% was achieved using a dataset of 261 videos comprised of six actions performed by seven subjects. Multiple comparisons with existing implementations including optical flow, 2D SIFT and 3D SIFT were performed. The SIFT-ME approach outperforms the other approaches which demonstrate that SIFT-ME is a robust method for human activity recognition.
Patterning of ultrathin YBCO nanowires using a new focused-ion-beam process

Manufacturing superconducting circuits out of ultrathin films is a challenging task when it comes to patterning complex compounds, which are likely to be deteriorated by the patterning process. With the purpose of developing high-Tc superconducting photon detectors, we designed a novel route to pattern ultrathin YBCO films down to the nanometric scale. We believe that our method, based on a specific use of a focused-ion beam, consists of locally implanting Ga3 + ions and/or defects instead of etching the film. This protocol could be of interest for engineering high-Tc superconducting devices (SQUIDS, SIS/SIN junctions and Josephson junctions), as well as to treat other sensitive compounds.
BMP2-loaded hollow hydroxyapatite microspheres exhibit enhanced osteoinduction and osteogenicity in large bone defects

The regeneration of large bone defects is an osteoinductive, osteoconductive, and osteogenic process that often requires a bone graft for support. Limitations associated with naturally autogenic or allogenic bone grafts have demonstrated the need for synthetic substitutes. The present study investigates the feasibility of using novel hollow hydroxyapatite microspheres as an osteoconductive matrix and a carrier for controlled local delivery of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), a potent osteogenic inducer of bone regeneration. Hollow hydroxyapatite microspheres (100±25 μm) with a core (60±18 μm) and a mesoporous shell (180±42 m2/g surface area) were prepared by a glass conversion technique and loaded with recombinant human BMP2 (1 μg/mg). There was a gentle burst release of BMP2 from microspheres into the surrounding phosphate-buffered saline in vitro within the initial 48 hours, and continued at a low rate for over 40 days. In comparison with hollow hydroxyapatite microspheres without BMP2 or soluble BMP2 without a carrier, BMP2-loaded hollow hydroxyapatite microspheres had a significantly enhanced capacity to reconstitute radial bone defects in rabbit, as shown by increased serum alkaline phosphatase; quick and complete new bone formation within 12 weeks; and great biomechanical flexural strength. These results indicate that BMP2-loaded hollow hydroxyapatite microspheres could be a potential new option for bone graft substitutes in bone regeneration.
Groningen Psychometric properties of Chronic Pain

Background: Theoretically, acceptance of chronic pain (CP) is an important determinant in the functional status and well-being of patients with CP. Several questionnaires that aim to measure acceptance of CP have been developed. An overview of the psychometric properties of these questionnaires is unavailable. Methods: A systematic review of the literature of the psychometric properties of questionnaires that aim to measure acceptance of CP was performed. Psychometric properties including content construct and criterion validity, internal consistency. agreement, reliability, responsiveness, floor/ceiling effects and interpretability, were assessed using a standardized protocol. All studies were assessed by two observers independent from each other. Results: A total of 23 studies including 4 questionnaires or subscales were identified. The questionnaires/ subscales included were the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ), Illness Cognitions Questionnaire (ICQ), Pain Solutions Questionnaire (PASOL) and Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS) adapted to pain. When applying the criteria of the protocol, results indicate that none of the questionnaires are currently able to meet all 9 criteria for psychometric quality. Individual questionnaires met between 0 and 3 of the criteria. Conclusions: If strict psychometric quality criteria are applied, none of the questionnaires are currently able to meet all nine criteria for psychometric quality, but overlooking the cumulative results over all the studies conducted, especially for the CPAQ, it can be concluded that information on several important characteristics has been reported and a fairly clear picture emerges about the psychometric properties of the CPAQ. 2009 European Federation of International Association for the Study of Pain Chapters. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
MT-spike: A multilayer time-based spiking neuromorphic architecture with temporal error backpropagation

Modern deep learning enabled artificial neural networks, such as Deep Neural Network (DNN) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), have achieved a series of breaking records on a broad spectrum of recognition applications. However, the enormous computation and storage requirements associated with such deep and complex neural network models greatly challenge their implementations on resource-limited platforms. Time-based spiking neural network has recently emerged as a promising solution in Neuromorphic Computing System designs for achieving remarkable computing and power efficiency within a single chip. However, the relevant research activities have been narrowly concentrated on the biological plausibility and theoretical learning approaches, causing inefficient neural processing and impracticable multilayer extension thus significantly limitations on speed and accuracy when handling the realistic cognitive tasks. In this work, a practical multilayer time-based spiking neuromorphic architecture, namely “MT-Spike”, is developed to fill this gap. With the proposed practical time-coding scheme, average delay response model, temporal error backpropagation algorithm and heuristic loss function, “MT-Spike” achieves more efficient neural processing through flexible neural model size reduction while offering very competitive classification accuracy for realistic recognition tasks. Simulation results well validate that the algorithmic power of deep multilayer learning can be seamlessly merged with the efficiency of time-based spiking neuromorphic architecture, demonstrating great potentials of “MT-Spike” in resource and power constrained embedded platforms.
γ‐Aminobutyric Acid and Benzodiazepine Receptor Changes Induced by Unilateral 6‐Hydroxydopamine Lesions of the Medial Forebrain Bundle

Abstract: Quantitative autoradiography was used to ascertain alterations in [3H]muscimol, [3H]flunitrazepam (FLU), [3H]naloxone, [3H]d‐alanine‐d‐leucine‐enkephalin (DADL), and [3H]spiroperidol binding in basal ganglia 1 week, 4 weeks, and 5 months after unilateral 6‐hydroxydopamine lesions of the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) in the rat. At 1 and 4 weeks following lesions, [3H]spiroperidol binding increased 33% in striatum. At 5 months, [3H]spiroperidol was only nonsignificantly increased above control. At 1 week, [3H]muscimol binding decreased 39% in ipsilateral globus pallidus (GP), but increased 41% and 11% in entopeduncular nucleus (EPN) and substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr), respectively. At 4 weeks, [3H]muscimol binding was reduced 19% in striatum and 44% in GP and remained enhanced by 32% in both EPN and SNr. These changes in [3H]muscimol binding persisted at 5 months. [3H]FLU binding was altered in the same direction as [3H]muscimol binding; however, changes were slower in onset and became significant (and remained so) only at 4 weeks after lesions. Decreases in [3H]naloxone and [3H]DADL binding were seen in striatum, GP, EPN, and SNr. Scatchard analyses revealed that only receptor numbers were altered. This study provides biochemical evidence for differential regulation of striatal GABAergic output to GP and EPN/SNr.
Consciousness-Raising, Error Correction and Proofreading.

The paper discusses the impact of developing a consciousness-raising approach in error correction at the sentence level to improve students' proofreading ability. Learners of English in a foreign language environment often rely on translation as a composing tool and while this may act as a scaffold and provide some support, it frequently leads to predictable and persistent errors. Such fossilization can cause inaccuracies that detract from student composition and that require instruction and repeated practice in order to eradicate the errors. The current paper reports on an experiment in consciousness-raising about specific categories of errors with a group of 30 students in the Faculty of Education in Zayed University, Dubai during the spring semester 2014. Post-test results compared with those on a pre-test indicate a significant improvement in students' performance as a result of structured input (specially prepared grammar materials) and focused instruction (teaching that focuses on each specific grammar point identified as problematic).
Yeast Functional Genomic Screens Lead to Identification of a Role for a Bacterial Effector in Innate Immunity Regulation

Numerous bacterial pathogens manipulate host cell processes to promote infection and ultimately cause disease through the action of proteins that they directly inject into host cells. Identification of the targets and molecular mechanisms of action used by these bacterial effector proteins is critical to understanding pathogenesis. We have developed a systems biological approach using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae that can expedite the identification of cellular processes targeted by bacterial effector proteins. We systematically screened the viable yeast haploid deletion strain collection for mutants hypersensitive to expression of the Shigella type III effector OspF. Statistical data mining of the results identified several cellular processes, including cell wall biogenesis, which when impaired by a deletion caused yeast to be hypersensitive to OspF expression. Microarray experiments revealed that OspF expression resulted in reversed regulation of genes regulated by the yeast cell wall integrity pathway. The yeast cell wall integrity pathway is a highly conserved mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, normally activated in response to cell wall perturbations. Together these results led us to hypothesize and subsequently demonstrate that OspF inhibited both yeast and mammalian MAPK signaling cascades. Furthermore, inhibition of MAPK signaling by OspF is associated with attenuation of the host innate immune response to Shigella infection in a mouse model. These studies demonstrate how yeast systems biology can facilitate functional characterization of pathogenic bacterial effector proteins.
Incivility and Student and Faculty Relationships: Implications for Revising Mentorship Programs for Nurse Educators

Negative relationships between students and educators are faculty becoming a focus in higher education, this is due in part to the impact on student learning [1,2]. Emerging evidence also reveals that these poor relationships in academic environments are often the cause of educator attrition, [3,4] and nurse educators who experience these deteriorating relationships have an increased likelihood of leaving their employment or nursing altogether [5-8]. In order to better understand student and nurse educator relationships (commonly referred in the literature as student and faculty incivility), research was examined to determine how and why ineffective interactions occur using an integrative review method [9]. All the studies portrayed incivility as a multifaceted complex problem in student and faculty relationships with psychological and sociological foundations, but few offered tangible strategies for resolution. The purpose of this study was to utilize identified themes prevalent in the literature to develop a set of strategies that can be used in designing mentorship programs, and to improve interactions between students and nurse educators in both the classroom and clinical settings. Evidence-based strategies need to be implemented that foster positive relationships between students and educators to reduce the devastating effects of these disruptive behaviors. Nurse educators have the responsibility to provide an environment for learning that optimizes learner success.