Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early development of the myotome in the mouse

The structure and development of the myotome has been extensively studied in birds and amphibians but few studies have systematically addressed its development in mammals. We have used a transgenic mouse carrying an nLacZ marker coupled to a myosin light chain 3F promoter to describe the structure of the developing mammalian myotome. Through studies of transgene expression pattern, coupled with immunohistochemistry for the muscle structural proteins desmin and slow myosin heavy chain we describe a gradient of maturity for the cells within the developing myotome. Our results show that the earliest myocytes of the mammalian myotome span the rostrocaudal extent of the somite and have single large nuclei which localise centrally within the myotome. Throughout the period of study the myotome is more mature ventrally than dorsally and cells comprising the medial aspect of the myotome are younger than those lying laterally. Immunohistochemistry for the earliest expressed muscle regulatory factor (myf‐5) is used to define areas of the myotome contributing new myogenic cells. In the early myotome small, round, myf‐5‐expressing cells are found extensively within the dorsomedial aspect of the dermamyotome and also within the entire rostral and caudal dermamyotomal lips. They subsequently appear within the central zone of the myotome, adjacent to the medially curled rostral and caudal dermamyotomal lips, and there begin to elongate symmetrically. As the myotome enlarges, myf‐5 expression is always restricted to the most medial aspect of the myotome, adjacent to the least mature myocytes, marking the site of addition of new myogenic cells. Together, these results allow development of a model of mammalian myotome formation where growth occurs medially by addition of new cells from both rostral and caudal dermamyotome lips, while more mature myocytes are displaced laterally. Furthermore, early myotomal myocytes differentiate in the absence of MyoD expression, unlike later myotomal myocytes. This, along with their distinct morphology, suggests these cells may form a separate lineage of pioneer myogenic cells. Dev Dyn 1999;216:219–232. ©1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Evaluation of biophysical and clinical parameters of skin barrier function among hospital workers

The goal of this study was to evaluate biophysically and clinically the hand skin of nurses working in the operating room in comparison with the hand skin of a control group of female administrative employees. 19 nurses and 14 employees were included in this trial. Transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and stratum corneum (SC) hydration were evaluated on 4 different test sites − dominant and non‐dominant pulse, and dominant and non‐dominant hand dorsum. The clinical score Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and subjective evaluation of skin sensitivity were also recorded. In comparison with the control group, TEWL values among nurses were significantly higher on all test sites, while SC hydration was significantly lower on 3 of the 4 test sites. In addition, clinical score showed the presence of irritant contact dermatitis (ICD). DLQI reported a higher level of disability among the nurses group, while the subjective evaluation of skin sensitivity was identical in both groups. The results suggest the presence of skin barrier alterations and clinical signs of chronic ICD on the hands of nurses working in operating room units.
Analysis of pocket profile deactivation and its impact on Vth variation for Laser annealed device using an atomistic kinetic Monte Carlo approach

An analysis of pocket profile deactivation and its impact on Vth variation for Laser annealed devices using an atomistic kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) approach are shown. The Carbon co-implant impacts on pFET extension/pocket are also modeled using an atomistic KMC. KMC clarified that although B-pocket in nFET shows significant deactivation, As-pocket in pFET does not show deactivation with thermal budget scaling. pFET device shows smaller thermal budget scaling dependence of Vt mismatch than that of nFET. The difference of pocket deactivation is one of important reason for higher Vth mismatch for nFET than for pFET.
Cities drifting apart: Heterogeneous outcomes of decentralizing public education

Abstract Looking at the decentralized provision of public education in a middle-income country, this paper estimates the impact of local autonomy on service quality, finding large heterogeneity in the effect across different levels of local development. In the year 2002, Colombian municipalities were entrusted with autonomous management of their local public education based solely on a population threshold. I estimate the impact that autonomy has had on education performance across the territory, using a municipality and time fixed-effects model. I find a quality gap arising between highly developed and low-developed autonomous municipalities, in a trend that reinforces over time: the reform has induced regional inequality in education quality. I am able to support the hypothesis that autonomous and nonautonomous municipalities were on similar performance trends before decentralization was implemented, even when looking within different local development ranges. Based on the analysis of detailed municipal balance sheet data and administration indicators, I argue that local administration capacity represents the most likely explanation of why the autonomy-related discrepancies have been arising.
Overexpression of HOXB7 and homeobox genes characterizes multiple myeloma patients lacking the major primary immunoglobulin heavy chain locus translocations

Homeobox (HOX) gene transcription factors are frequently deregulated in hematologic malignancies and involved in leukemogenic transformation [1]. Moreover, their overexpression has been associated with tumoral-induced neoangiogenesis in solid cancer [2]. The expression and the role of these genes have not yet been completely elucidated in multiple myeloma (MM). Recently, we reported that a small fraction of MM patients shows a HOXB7 overexpression as compared with normal samples and that HOXB7 expression correlates with bone marrow angiogenesis and the production of the proangiogenic factors by MM cells [3]. Other authors previously reported that HOXA cluster genes are expressed in a small fraction of MM patients [4]. Herein, we extended our previous evidences with the evaluation of the expression level of HOXB7 and the other gene family members in a large number of primary MM cells in relationship with the different molecular subgroups of MM and the presence of specific chromosome translocations. We found that HOXB7 and other genes of HOX family have a preferential distribution based on the characteristics of molecular MM subtypes based on the translocations/cyclins (TC) classification, suggesting a potential relationship between HOX genes expression, angiogenesis, and molecular features of MM patients.
Increasing the Level of Automation in the Forestry Logging Process with Crane Trajectory Planning and Control

Working with forestry machines requires a great deal of training to be sufficiently skilled to operate forestry cranes. In view of this, it would be desirable within the forestry industry to introduce automated motions, such as those seen in robotic arms, to shorten the training time and make the work of the operator easier. Motivated by this fact, we have developed two experimental platforms for testing control systems and motion‐planning algorithms in real time. They correspond to a laboratory setup and a commercial version of a hydraulic manipulator used in forwarder machines. The aim of this article is to present the results of this development by providing an overview of our trajectory‐planning algorithm and motion‐control method, with a subsequent view of the experimental results. For motion control, we design feedback controllers that are able to track reference trajectories based on sensor measurements. Likewise, we provide arguments to design controllers in an open‐loop for machines that lack sensing devices. Relying on the tracking efficiency of these controllers, we design time‐efficient reference trajectories of motions that correspond to logging tasks. To demonstrate performance, we provide an overview of extensive testing done on these machines.
Blind speech source localization, counting and separation for 2-channel convolutive mixtures in a reverberant environment

In this paper, the tasks of speech source localization, source counting and source separation are addressed for an unknown number of sources in a stereo recording scenario. In the first stage, the angles of arrival of individual source signals are estimated through a peak finding scheme applied to the angular spectrum which has been derived using non-linear GCC-PHAT. Then, based on the known channel mixture coefficients, we propose an approach for separating the sources based on Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimation. The predominant source in each time-frequency bin is identified through ML assuming a diffuse noise model. The separation performance is improved over a binary time-frequency masking method. The performance is measured by obtaining the existing metrics for blind source separation evaluation. The experiments are performed on synthetic speech mixtures in both anechoic and reverberant environments.
Desarrollo de una Herramienta de Procesamiento de Imágenes Médicas en MATLAB y su Integración en Medical GiD

(.) En este informe, se presenta los avances alcanzados en el desarrollo e implementacion de una herramienta de software en su version prototipo para el procesamiento de imagenes medicas y la obtencion de modelos geometricos, realizado durante la estancia de investigacion de postgrado en el area de Biomedicina del Centro Internacional de Metodos Numericos en Ingenieria (CIMNE), con el apoyo y la orientacion de Eduardo Soudah y Jorge Suit Perez, investigadores del centro. La herramienta fue desarrollada en Matrix Laboratory (MATLAB) [1] con la integracion de librerias de codigo libre proporcionadas por Insight Segmentation and Registration Toolkit (ITK) [2] a traves de Matlab and ITK (MATITK) [3] y Visualization Toolkit (VTK) [4]. Los resultados obtenidos fueron almacenados en un formato de archivo legible por el software GiD [5] con la finalidad de realizar un postprocesamiento de los modelos geometricos y generar modelos discretos para un posterior analisis a traves de los metodos numericos. Asimismo se utilizaron otras herramientas de visualizacion para validar los modelos geometricos obtenidos como el software de codigo libre ParaView [6]. El informe se ha dividido en cinco secciones. En la seccion 1, se describe el objetivo general y los objetivos especificos planteados. En la seccion 2, se detallan las funcionalidades desarrolladas e implementadas en esta herramienta, guiados por los principales procesos implicados en el procesamiento de imagenes medicas: La adquisicion y lectura de las imagenes medicas; el filtrado o mejora de las imagenes para reducir ruido, acentuar detalles de interes, etc.; segmentacion o extraccion de regiones de interes en 2D y 3D para su posterior analisis; y la visualizacion de las regiones segmentadas en vistas adecuadas (volumen, superficie, malla) para su manipulacion por parte del usuario. En la seccion 3, se presentan los resultados obtenidos al aplicar los procesos mencionados anteriormente en tres casos diferentes: Primer caso: Segmentacion y visualizacion del ventriculo izquierdo, musculo miocardio y posible cicatriz isquemica en pacientes con cardiopatia isquemica para el posterior analisis numerico de la patologia. Segundo caso: Segmentacion y visualizacion de imagenes de Tomografia Computarizada craneofaciales para obtener el volumen del hueso mandibular y maxilar en los que se realice un analisis numerico que permita aplicar procesos quirurgicos para el tratamiento de patologias. Tercer caso: Procesamiento de imagenes de mamografia, para localizar y visualizar areas sospechosas y microcalcificaciones en las glandulas mamarias que faciliten al medico un diagnostico de ciertas patologias. En las secciones 4 y 5 se presentan las conclusiones y propuestas de trabajos futuros, respectivamente. Los resultados obtenidos nos permitieron validar algoritmos y librerias que seran posteriormente incorporadas a traves de nuevos modulos en el software en etapa de desarrollo Medical GiD.
Inter-organizational network formation and sense-making: Initiation and management of public-private collaboration

The paper analyses the initiation and management of inter-organisational networks, spanning both the public and private domain. Specifically, bracketing the institutional level and combining literature on communities-of-practice and network management, we turn our attention to managerial activities which are no longer de-contextualized but understood as highly situated activities. By doing so, the paper elucidates the crucial role boundary spanners have in alleviating discontinuities across institutional boundaries. Furthermore, we untangle the temporal process which led to the successful formation of an innovative network, namely stabilising the network, initiating a cognitive shift towards a network strategy, and developing a supportive culture and practices. These ideas are developed by presenting a processual account of an interpretive case study on inter-organisational network formation which was part of a research programme for designing and studying the feasibility and implications of electronic government/industry interaction.
Flavonoids—a new direction for the treatment of fluid retention?

Flavonoid extracts are important for the health of the micro‐blood vessel network and are clinically exploited in this way by medical herbalists and physicians in mainland Europe. In the present review, we provide preliminary evidence that suggests that plant flavonoid extracts from dietary sources facilitate the repair of vessel damage responsible for ‘small blood vessel permeability’. Correction of this pathophysiological abnormality is known to lead to a reduction in symptoms of diffuse benign fluid retention including swollen limbs, fingers, breasts and the tissue surrounding the eye area. There is currently little orthodox treatment for this type of fluid retention except diuretics which are not without side effects and fail to address the underlying cause of the disorder. This paper marshals available data including some preliminary studies that suggest that detailed scientific study of this clinical area and its treatment through flavonoid intervention is warranted. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Polarimetric SAR image classification using EM method and G0p Model

We propose a polarimetric SAR image classification method using the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm. It is a semi-supervised algorithm with random initialization that only requires the number of clases to be identified as initial information. We apply the proposed algorithm to simulated and real Multilook Complex (MLC) polarimetric data, assuming a Gp0 mixture model. The classification performance is evaluated by means of the confusion matrix and the kappa index. Finally, we compare the results to those obtained by other authors via SEM (Stochastic EM) method using the same model and data set.
Comparison of PCB congeners and pesticide levels between serum and milk from lactating women.

Samples of blood and milk were obtained from lactating women participating in the New York State Angler study. A total of seven women gave one blood and one milk sample at time intervals between blood and milk collection different for each woman. The time between samples varied from 3 to 318 days. One subject provided a second milk sample 219 days after the first milk sample. The samples were analyzed for 69 PCB congeners, DDE (a metabolite of DDT), Mirex, and hexachlorobenzene (HCB). Lipid content was determined by gravimetric analysis. The congener profiles in serum and milk were similar for each individual but different among all subjects. The sum of the concentrations of the congeners present above the limit of detection was used to estimate the total PCB concentration that was in the range of 2.6 to 5.8 ng/g of serum and 3.5 to 14.1 ng/g of milk. The ratio of serum to milk concentrations varied from 0.18 to 1.66 with a mean of 0.65+/-0.49 showing no consistency among individuals prior to adjusting the data for lipid content. The total PCB levels normalized for lipid content were 320-728 ng/g of serum lipid and 239-428 ng/g of milk lipid. The range of the lipid adjusted serum/milk ratio was 1.1 to 2.8 and the mean+/-SD serum/milk ratio was 1.9+/-0.5. The ranges of lipid adjusted serum concentration of DDE, HCB, and Mirex were 95 to 591, 8 to 48, and 3 to 29 ng/g lipid, respectively. The ranges of lipid adjusted milk concentration of DDE, HCB, and Mirex were 90 to 577, 11 to 22, and 1 to 10 ng/g lipid, respectively. For DDE, HCB, and Mirex, the means of the individual lipid adjusted serum to milk ratios were 1.5+/-0.7, 2.5+/-1.5, and 5. 3+/-4.6, respectively. Considerable differences were found among lipid adjusted concentrations of these environmental pollutants in serum and milk samples from the same individual. This suggests that body burden estimates in lactating women using different matrices may not be equivalent even when lipid adjusted values are used.
An Assessment of the Utility of Universal and Specific Genetic Markers for Opium Poppy Identification

Abstract: The proper identification of illicit plants such as Papaver somniferum L (opium poppy) is important for law enforcement agencies. The identification of opium poppy was presently tested using 10 genetic markers that are universal for all plants or specific to a few poppy plants. The genetic distances of universal markers such as nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS), 18S rRNA, plastid rbcL, and trnL‐trnF intergenic spacer (IGS) of 14 species included in the Papaveraceae and Fumariaceae family were acquired by sequence comparisons. Both the ITS region and trnL‐trnF IGS showed high levels of interspecific divergence. Six Papaver genera‐specific markers were developed from coding regions involved in morphine biosynthesis. Three markers (TYDC, NCS, and BBE) produced amplicons only in opium poppy, providing a presence/absence test for opium poppy, while three additional markers (CYP80B1, SAT, and COR) were genus specific. These 10 markers might be useful for the forensic DNA analysis of opium poppy.
Membrane lipidome of an epithelial cell line

Tissue differentiation is an important process that involves major cellular membrane remodeling. We used Madin–Darby canine kidney cells as a model for epithelium formation and investigated the remodeling of the total cell membrane lipidome during the transition from a nonpolarized morphology to an epithelial morphology and vice versa. To achieve this, we developed a shotgun-based lipidomics workflow that enabled the absolute quantification of mammalian membrane lipidomes with minimal sample processing from low sample amounts. Epithelial morphogenesis was accompanied by a major shift from sphingomyelin to glycosphingolipid, together with an increase in plasmalogen, phosphatidylethanolamine, and cholesterol content, whereas the opposite changes took place during an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Moreover, during polarization, the sphingolipids became longer, more saturated, and more hydroxylated as required to generate an apical membrane domain that serves as a protective barrier for the epithelial sheet.
Design and Performance Analysis of a Novel High Gain and Compact Planar Patch Antenna for RFID Reader Application

A novel realisation of high gain and compact slotted planar patch antenna for the radio frequency identification (RFID) application is presented here. The antenna was printed on a dielectric Flame Retardant FR-4 Epoxy substrate of dielectric constant (εr=4.3). Simulated results obtained for this antenna exhibits resonant frequency of 5.8 GHz, better return loss of -36.91 dB, high gain of 8.308 dBi, consistent omnidirectional radiation pattern and 43 MHz impedance bandwidth within the RFID frequency range. Further parametric analysis of dimension of slots and feed line was done to acquire the required reflection coefficient, gain and 50Ω impedance of feed line. The simulation tool ZELAND IE3D version 15.20, which is based on method of moment was used to analyze and optimize the proposed antenna.
Mechanism for Mutational Inactivation of the Tumor Suppressor Smad2

ABSTRACT Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) is a potent natural antiproliferative agent that plays an important role in suppressing tumorigenicity. In numerous tumors, loss of TGF-β responsiveness is associated with inactivating mutations that can occur in components of this signaling pathway, such as the tumor suppressor Smad2. Although a general framework for how Smads transduce TGF-β signals has been proposed, the physiological relevance of alterations of Smad2 functions in promoting tumorigenesis is still unknown. Here, we show that expression of Smad2.P445H, a tumor-derived mutation of Smad2 found in human cancer, suppresses the ability of the Smads to mediate TGF-β-induced growth arrest and transcriptional responses. Smad2.P445H is phosphorylated by the activated TGF-β receptor at the carboxy-terminal serine residues and associates with Smad3 and Smad4 but is unable to dissociate from the receptor. Upon ligand-induced phosphorylation, Smad2.P445H interacts stably with wild-type Smad2, thereby blocking TGF-β-induced nuclear accumulation of wild-type Smad2 and Smad2-dependent transcription. The ability of the Smad2.P445H to block the nuclear accumulation of wild-type Smad2 protein reveals a new mechanism for loss of sensitivity to the growth-inhibitory functions of TGF-β in tumor development.
Polyphenols from aerial parts of Polygonum bellardii and their biological activities

Abstract Context: Polygonum species have been used in the treatment of several types of inflammatory disorders and cancer. Nevertheless, there are no reports related to the anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative activities of Polygonum bellardii All. (Polygonaceae). Objective: This study investigated the chemical composition of the methanol extract of P. bellardii. The anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of methanol, n-butanol, ethyl acetate extracts and isolated polyphenols were determined. Materials and methods: The chemical structure of the isolated compounds was elucidated using different spectral techniques. MTT assay was used to evaluate the anti-proliferative activity in HeLa, MCF-7 and HepG-2 cells. Inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) activity and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production in stimulated HepG-2 cells were used to assess the anti-inflammatory activity. Results: The present study resulted in isolation of five compounds (new for the species). They were identified as gallic acid (1), quercetin (2), myricetin (3), quercetin-3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (5) and myricetin-3-O-α-arabinofuranoside (7). Additionally, a couple of previously isolated compounds such as quercetin-3-O-(5″-acetyl-α-arabinofuranoside) (4) and myricetin-3-O-(5″-acetyl-α-arabinofuranoside) (6) were detected. The n-butanol extract has the highest cytotoxicity in HeLa, MCF-7 and HepG-2 cells, with IC50 values of 15.26, 50.66 and 30.09 µg/ml, respectively. Compound 6 exhibited a marked cytotoxicity in HeLa (IC50 75.04 µg/ml) and HepG-2 (IC50 41.03 µg/ml) cells. Crude extracts and pure compounds inhibited the 5-LOX activity and PGE2 production in a dose-dependent manner (0.1–250 µg/ml). Discussion and conclusion: These results explain the traditional uses of P. bellardii and indicate that polyphenols, despite structural similarity, have different cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory effects.