Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Procoagulant Platelets Form an α-Granule Protein-covered “Cap” on Their Surface That Promotes Their Attachment to Aggregates*

Background: Phosphatidylserine-expressing platelets do not have active integrin αIIbβ3 but somehow retain fibrinogen. Results: The adhesive α-granule proteins fibrinogen and thrombospondin are concentrated in a fibrin polymerization-dependent “cap” on phosphatidylserine-expressing platelets that promotes their incorporation into thrombi. Conclusion: This suggests a revised model for the adhesive properties of phosphatidylserine-expressing platelets. Significance: The role of phosphatidylserine-expressing platelets in thrombus formation and its mechanism are re-evaluated. Strongly activated “coated” platelets are characterized by increased phosphatidylserine (PS) surface expression, α-granule protein retention, and lack of active integrin αIIbβ3. To study how they are incorporated into thrombi despite a lack of free activated integrin, we investigated the structure, function, and formation of the α-granule protein “coat. ” Confocal microscopy revealed that fibrin(ogen) and thrombospondin colocalized as “cap,” a single patch on the PS-positive platelet surface. In aggregates, the cap was located at the point of attachment of the PS-positive platelets. Without fibrin(ogen) retention, their ability to be incorporated in aggregates was drastically reduced. The surface fibrin(ogen) was strongly decreased in the presence of a fibrin polymerization inhibitor GPRP and also in platelets from a patient with dysfibrinogenemia and a fibrinogen polymerization defect. In contrast, a fibrinogen-clotting protease ancistron increased the amount of fibrin(ogen) and thrombospondin on the surface of the PS-positive platelets stimulated with collagen-related peptide. Transglutaminases are also involved in fibrin(ogen) retention. However, platelets from patients with factor XIII deficiency had normal retention, and a pan-transglutaminase inhibitor T101 had only a modest inhibitory effect. Fibrin(ogen) retention was normal in Bernard-Soulier syndrome and kindlin-3 deficiency, but not in Glanzmann thrombasthenia lacking the platelet pool of fibrinogen and αIIbβ3. These data show that the fibrin(ogen)-covered cap, predominantly formed as a result of fibrin polymerization, is a critical mechanism that allows coated (or rather “capped”) platelets to become incorporated into thrombi despite their lack of active integrins.
Policy Rules for Inflation Targeting

Policy rules that are consistent with inflation targeting are examined in a small macroeconomic model of the US economy. We compare the properties and outcomes of explicit instrument rules' as well as targeting rules. ' The latter, which imply implicit instrument rules, may be closer to actual operating procedures of inflation-targeting central banks. We find that inflation forecasts are central for good policy rules under inflation targeting. Some simple instrument and targeting rules do remarkably well relative to the optimal rule; others, including some that are often used as representing inflation targeting, do less well.
RESEARCH ON STRATEGY-MAKING.

This article examines the theory and literature of strategy-making in management research. It states that there is little empirical research on the subject. It claims that the strategy-making theory falls into three modes: the planning mode, where strategy-making is depicted as a systematic, neatly integrated process; the adaptive mode, characterized by incremental, disjointed steps in reaction to external pressures; and the entrepreneurial mode, in which the powerful strategy-maker takes bold, positive steps in the face of uncertainty. It states that there has been little attempt either to address the contradictions among these three modes or to subject these abstract depictions of the strategy-making process to empirical research.
Aqua(2,2′-bipyridine-κ2 N,N′)[2-(3-thienyl)malonato-κ2 O,O′]zinc(II) dihydrate

In the crystal structure of the title compound, [Zn(C7H4O4S)(C10H8N2)(H2O)]·2H2O, the ZnII ion assumes a trigonal–bipyramidal coordination geometry completed by two N atoms from a 2,2′-bipyridine ligand, two O atoms from a 2-(3-thienyl)malonate anion and a water molecule. The S atom of the 2-(3-thienyl)malonate ligand is disordered over two sites with an occupancy ratio of 0.701 (5):0.299 (5). Intermolecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonding is present in the crystal structure.
Reticulated Platelets in Egyptian Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Infection

1,2 MD, Lecturer of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt Corresponding Author Noha H Boshnak Email: nhboshnak@hotmail.com, Mobile no.: 002 01222932829 ABSTRACT Background: Thrombocytopenia, a frequent problem in patients with chronic hepatitis C, occurs due to several factors. The aim of this study is to evaluate reticulated platelets percent (RP%) in patients with chronic hepatitis C as an indicator of platelet production. Method: Reticulated platelets were analyzed with flow cytometry using whole-blood, which is dual-labelled with monoclonal anti-glycoprotein (GP)-III antibody (CD61) for platelet identification and thiazole orange as platelet mRNA stain. Results: Forty four patients with chronic hepatitis C were enrolled in this study, 32 of them were thrombocytopenic and 12 were non-thrombocytopenic. The median age was 50 years (range: 23 – 67 years), 59.1% were females and 40.9% were males. The RP% was significantly higher in thrombocytopenic than nonthrombocytopenic patients (P < 0.001). Highly significant inverse correlation was found between RP% and platelet count. Furthermore, Platelet count correlated directly with serum albumin levels and inversely with each of INR values and serum ALT levels. About 96.9% of the thrombocytopenic patients had splenomegaly, while non-thrombocytopenic patients had normal size of the spleen. Conclusion: Our data demonstrates that measurement of RP% could be useful screening test in thrombocytopenic patients with chronic hepatitis C to evaluate platelet production.
Process-Variation-Aware Rule-Based Optical Proximity Correction for Analog Layout Migration

Optical proximity correction (OPC) is invaluable to precise layout manufacturing in the advanced nanometer technologies. However, lack of research activity on OPC for analog integrated circuits has currently led to sole dependence on digital solutions. In this paper, we propose a rule-based OPC (RB-OPC) methodology with process variation (PV) consideration, which is integrated into an analog layout migration process. Based on the unique features of analog layouts, the accuracy limitation of RB-OPC is compensated by local wire widening and wire shifting operations during layout migration. Moreover, innovative PV-band shifting is deployed to preserve analog circuit performance against PV. According to our experimental results, the proposed analog layout migration with PV-aware RB-OPC can achieve much higher efficiency with an even lower mask complexity and an acceptable edge placement error compared to some well-known commercial and academic digital solutions. The circuit performance by using our proposed methodology is also better than that from alternative methods in the mismatch scenarios due to our special PV-band handling on transistor gates.
Reducing the phosphorus concentration in diets for turkeys between 10 and 22 weeks of age

1. An experiment lasting for 13 weeks was started at the beginning of week 10 with male turkeys weighing 5·38 kg. The experiment comprised three subsequent periods with adjusted metabolisable energy (ME) and nutrient concentrations from weeks 10 to 13, 14 to 17, and 18 to 22. Seven pens of 12 birds each were allocated to each of 5 treatments. Treatments differed in dietary phosphorus concentration and phytase supplementation (500 U/kg) only. Total phosphorus varied between treatments from 4·9 to 8·0 g/kg (weeks 10 to 13), from 4·4 to 7·5 g/kg (weeks 14 to 17) and from 3·5 to 7·0 g/kg (weeks 18 to 22). Phosphorus concentration was adjusted by different inclusions of monocalcium phosphate. Diets were pelleted and offered ad libitum. 2. A final body weight of, on average, 22·3 kg was achieved at the end of week 22. Body weight gain, feed consumption, feed conversion, toe ash, toe phosphorus and toe calcium were not significantly affected by dietary phosphorus concentration. There was no indication of an effect on mortality or on broken or deformed bones. 3. Phosphorus concentrations (g/kg diet) of 5·9, 5·4 and 4·4 without microbial phytase and of 4·9, 4·4 and 3·5 with microbial phytase, respectively, were sufficient in the three periods. As compared with the control, a reduction in phosphorus excretion of turkeys by 0·4 without phytase and by 0·5 with phytase was achieved without negative effects on turkeys. 4. Because the data demonstrate the great potential for a reduction in dietary phosphorus concentration, detailed requirement and availability studies with turkeys should follow.
Impacts of single‐walled carbon nanotubes on microbial community structure in activated sludge

Aims: Single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are likely to become increasingly widespread and yet their environmental impact is not well understood. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the impact of SWNTs on microbial communities in a ‘sentinel’ environmental system, activated sludge batch‐scale reactors.
Macrophage Control of Mycobacterial Growth Induced by Picolinic Acid Is Dependent on Host Cell Apoptosis1

The effects of picolinic acid (PA) on the intramacrophagic growth of Mycobacterium avium were studied. PA reduced M. avium growth inside mouse macrophages and led to a complete control of mycobacterial growth when added together with IFN-γ. The mechanism involved did not require TNF-α, NO, or the respiratory burst, and was not dependent on either iron or zinc withholding. The mycobacteriostatic activity of the macrophages was associated with the induction of morphological changes that culminated in apoptosis at day 4 of treatment. PA alone induced apoptosis in macrophages, and this effect was increased by IFN-γ treatment. Apoptosis at day 4 of infection was reduced by inhibiting macrophage activation with the prostaglandin 15 deoxy-prostaglandin J2 or by treating the cells with the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine. Mycobacterial growth was partially restored in macrophages treated with PA and IFN-γ when 15 deoxy-prostaglandin J2 was added, concomitant with a delay in apoptosis. N-Acetylcysteine or glutathione could also completely revert the mycobacteriostatic effects of PA or PA plus IFN-γ.
Specialized scanning ion‐conductance microscope for imaging of living cells

A specialized scanning ion conductance microscope (SICM) for imaging living cells has been developed from a conventional patch‐clamp apparatus, which uses a glass micropipette as the sensitive probe. In contrast with other types of scanning probe microscope, the SICM probe has significant advantages for imaging living cells: it is most suitable for imaging samples immersed in water solutions; and since the probe senses ion current and does not need physical contact with the sample during the scan, any preliminary preparation of cells (fixation or adherence to a substrate) is unnecessary. We have successfully imaged murine melanocytes in growth medium. The microscope images the highly convoluted surface structures without damaging or deforming them, and reveals the true, three‐dimensional relief of the cells. This instrument has considerable ability to operate, potentially simultaneously, in applications as diverse as real‐time microscopy, electrophysiology, micromanipulation and drug delivery.
Critical Practitioner Inquiry : Working against the grain

As you all know, we successfully completed the first year of the M.Ed. in Critical Practitioner Inquiry, known for short as CPI programme. The CPI programme is part of the UNESCO-IICBA’s initiatives of training and upgrading teacher educators through the distance mode. It is a Masters of Education programme developed and implemented through collaboration between the Umea University (Sweden) and UNESCO-IICBA. The programme officially began in Addis Ababa/Ethiopia in May 2003.
Tocotrienols, the Unsaturated Forms of Vitamin E, Can Function as Antioxidants and Lipid Protectors in Tobacco Leaves[W]

Vitamin E is a generic term for a group of lipid-soluble antioxidant compounds, the tocopherols and tocotrienols. While tocotrienols are considered as important vitamin E components in humans, with functions in health and disease, the protective functions of tocotrienols have never been investigated in plants, contrary to tocopherols. We took advantage of the strong accumulation of tocotrienols in leaves of double transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants that coexpressed the yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) prephenate dehydrogenase gene (PDH) and the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase gene (HPPD) to study the antioxidant function of those compounds in vivo. In young leaves of wild-type and transgenic tobacco plants, the majority of vitamin E was stored in thylakoid membranes, while plastoglobules contained mainly δ-tocopherol, a very minor component of vitamin E in tobacco. However, the vitamin E composition of plastoglobules was observed to change substantially during leaf aging, with α-tocopherol becoming the major form. Tocotrienol accumulation in young transgenic HPPD-PDH leaves occurred without any significant perturbation of photosynthetic electron transport. Tocotrienols noticeably reinforced the tolerance of HPPD-PDH leaves to high light stress at chilling temperature, with photosystem II photoinhibition and lipid peroxidation being maintained at low levels relative to wild-type leaves. Very young leaves of wild-type tobacco plants turned yellow during chilling stress, because of the strongly reduced levels of chlorophylls and carotenoids, and this phenomenon was attenuated in transgenic HPPD-PDH plants. While sugars accumulated similarly in young wild-type and HPPD-PDH leaves exposed to chilling stress in high light, a substantial decrease in tocotrienols was observed in the transgenic leaves only, suggesting vitamin E consumption during oxygen radical scavenging. Our results demonstrate that tocotrienols can function in vivo as efficient antioxidants protecting membrane lipids from peroxidation.
Letting girls learn : promising approaches in primary and secondary education

This paper analyses the benefits from female education (who gains and in what ways) and the constraints (direct and opportunity costs, reflecting economics and tradition). It then outlines promising approaches for increasing female education. The demand for female education can be strengthened gradually through economic and sectoral policies that increase the returns. But, this paper focuses on education policies, many of which could be adopted now, to lower the costs, improve the quality, and increase access to education in ways that will allow more girls to attend school. It reports evidence of effectiveness and gives examples, particularly from projects involving the World Bank. Especially in poor countries, projects succeed best when they include a "package approach" to address what are typically multiple and powerful constraints to female education. The paper calls for increased monitoring and testing the cost-effectiveness of the kind of innovative packages now being tried in several developing countries.
Endometrial cancer: experimental models useful for studies on molecular aspects of endometrial cancer and carcinogenesis.

There is definitely a need for the development of new drugs for the treatment and cure of endometrial cancer. In addition there are various new drugs or phyto-remedies under development which are intended for use in the treatment and prevention of breast cancer, for the treatment of menopausal symptoms and for hormone replacement therapy. The efficacy of novel drugs targeting steroid receptors in endometrial cancers has to be evaluated and the safety of other endocrine measures on endometrial cancers or on endometrial carcinogenesis has to be assessed. For these experimental purposes five main classes of experimental models are available: spontaneous endometrial tumorigenesis models in inbred animals (Donryu rats, DA/Han rats, BDII/Han rats), inoculation tumors from chunks of tumors (rat EnDA-tumor, human EnCa 101 tumor) or from inoculated tumor cell lines (rat RUCA-I cells, human Ishikawa and ECC-1 cells), developmental estrogenic exposure or chemical carcinogen exposure of CD-1 and ICR mice, transgenic approaches such as mice heterozygous regarding the tumor suppressor gene PTEN (pten(+/-)-mice) and endometrial tumor cell lines cultured under conditions promoting in vivo-like morphology and functions e.g. cell culture on reconstituted basement membrane. Although the number of models is comparatively small, most aspects related to functions of estrogenic or gestagenic substances are assessable, particularly if various experimental models are combined. Whereas models based on human endometrial adenocarcinoma cells are widely used, the properties and advantages of animal-derived models have mainly been ignored so far.
Is Extension Still Reaching Stakeholders? An Assessment of Minor Crop Producers’ Educational Needs and Use of Cooperative Extension Services

Stakeholder engagement is critical for extension education to fulfill the land–grant mission of extending the university to the public. A survey of a stratified random sample of minor crop producers in Oklahoma determined how and from whom producers obtained crop production information. Findings indicated the land–grant university remains relevant and is accomplishing its mission of extending research–based knowledge to its intended audience. Field days were the most frequently attended event and a majority of the producers worked with university personnel to learn about new production practices. Most producers (67%) used Cooperative Extension Service (CES) to obtain crop production information; however, many other sources were also used, including crop consultants. Extension specialists were contacted; however, extension educators had not sufficiently engaged stakeholders to assess their preferences of receiving educational programs and materials, indicating producers seek deeper knowledge than what is provided by county educators. It is recommended that the university continue to host field days and workshops for producers and CES educators continuously strive to engage minor crop producers and devise relevant workshops, programs, and publications which address their preferred method of receiving information from the land–grant university.
Down-regulation of osmotin (PR5) gene by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) leads to susceptibility of resistant Piper colubrinum Link. to the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora capsici Leonian.

Piper colubrinum Link. , a distant relative of Piper nigrum L. , is immune to the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora capsici Leonian that causes 'quick wilt' in cultivated black pepper (P. nigrum). The osmotin, PR5 gene homologue, earlier identified from P. colubrinum, showed significant overexpression in response to pathogen and defense signalling molecules. The present study focuses on the functional validation of P. colubrinum osmotin (PcOSM) by virus induced gene silencing (VIGS) using Tobacco Rattle Virus (TRV)-based vector. P. colubrinum plants maintained under controlled growth conditions in a growth chamber were infiltrated with Agrobacterium carrying TRV empty vector (control) and TRV vector carrying PcOSM. Three weeks post infiltration, viral movement was confirmed in newly emerged leaves of infiltrated plants by RT-PCR using TRV RNA1 and TRV RNA2 primers. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR confirmed significant down-regulation of PcOSM gene in TRV-PcOSM infiltrated plant compared with the control plants. The control and silenced plants were challenged with Phytophthora capsici which demonstrated that knock-down of PcOSM in P. colubrinum leads to increased fungal mycelial growth in silenced plants compared to control plants, which was accompanied by decreased accumulation of H2O2 as indicated by 3,3'-diaminobenzidine (DAB) staining. Thus, in this study, we demonstrated that Piper colubrinum osmotin gene is required for resisting P. capsici infection and has possible role in hypersensitive cell death response and oxidative burst signaling during infection.
A technique for reducing the size of amplifiers using defected ground structure

A defected ground structure (DGS) on the ground plane of transmission lines, such as microstrips and coplanar waveguides, provides slow-wave characteristics caused by its equivalent inductive and capacitive components. Due to this slow-wave effect, the electrical lengths of the microstrip lines, which are combined by DGS in matching networks, are longer than the original ones. Therefore, the physical length of microstrip line can be shortened by inserting a DGS in order to keep the original electrical length. The resultant lengths of the microstrip lines with DGS are only 54% and 56% of the original lines in input and output matching networks, respectively. Additionally, because the microstrip lines with DGS have rejection characteristics slightly at the harmonic band, while standard transmission lines have a very wide passband only, the magnitude of the second harmonic is less than that of the original amplifier. The technique for size reduction of amplifiers using DGS is also applied to a coplanar waveguide (CPW) amplifier. The resultant lengths of CPW lines combined by DGS in matching networks are only 50% of the original lengths.
Design of ADPLL system for WiMAX applications in 40-nm CMOS

We present an all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL)-based frequency synthesizer for WiMAX applications implemented in 40-nm CMOS. Via frequency planning and design of multiple capacitor-banks in a digitally-controlled oscillator (DCO), the ADPLL covers dual bands of 2.3-2.7 GHz and 3.3-3.8 GHz, while achieving a fine frequency resolution of 25 Hz. The time-to-digital converter (TDC) achieves a resolution of better than 13 ps. Several techniques have been proposed to improve system performance. The whole system is simulated via Verilog-AMS with digital circuits at the gate level. The ADPLL achieves an integrated phase noise of better than -40 dBc from 1 kHz to 10 MHz, and settling time is within 15 us.
Multi-Agent System Based Wireless Sensor Network for Crisis Management

During a crisis situation, the incident commanders have to tackle several problems simultaneously, e.g., (1) the monitoring of a crisis evolution, (2) guiding and tracking of rescue persons and intervention robots, (3) monitoring rescue persons' health, etc. Thus, several solutions based on wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and cellular networks have been proposed. However, the real life experience has proved that the cellular networks' base stations may be collapsed or unreachable during a crisis situation. In addition, the WSNs have been generally deployed for one application, e.g., monitoring of an occurring event. However, today technologies offer sensor nodes (SN) with higher processing and communication capacity. Based on these capacities, this paper proposes a WSN solution, for crisis management, which is not based on any base station infrastructure. This solution proposes a tracking and data aggregation methods that could be run simultaneously to treat the three above mentioned problems. It is also empowered by a multi-agent system (MAS), which allows the SNs to cooperate and to better manage their batteries. Finally, the proposed solution has proved, through successive simulations, its efficiency in terms of tracking precision, end-to-end communication delay and power optimization.