Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coherent alpha oscillations link current and future receptive fields during saccades

Significance Humans and other primates make frequent eye movements to inspect their surroundings. Consequently, stimuli that are stable in the environment are constantly changing position on the retina. One way for the brain to compensate for these changes is a mechanism called receptive field remapping, which allows individual neurons to encode the same object both before and after each saccade. Here, we provide a possible mechanism for remapping: Simultaneous recordings from cortical sites encoding the presaccadic and postsaccadic locations of a visual stimulus reveal coherent oscillations in the alpha frequency band. Because coherent oscillations are thought to play a role more generally in routing information within the brain, our findings provide a framework for understanding stable visual perception during eye movements. Oscillations are ubiquitous in the brain, and they can powerfully influence neural coding. In particular, when oscillations at distinct sites are coherent, they provide a means of gating the flow of neural signals between different cortical regions. Coherent oscillations also occur within individual brain regions, although the purpose of this coherence is not well understood. Here, we report that within a single brain region, coherent alpha oscillations link stimulus representations as they change in space and time. Specifically, in primate cortical area V4, alpha coherence links sites that encode the retinal location of a visual stimulus before and after a saccade. These coherence changes exhibit properties similar to those of receptive field remapping, a phenomenon in which individual neurons change their receptive fields according to the metrics of each saccade. In particular, alpha coherence, like remapping, is highly dependent on the saccade vector and the spatial arrangement of current and future receptive fields. Moreover, although visual stimulation plays a modulatory role, it is neither necessary nor sufficient to elicit alpha coherence. Indeed, a similar pattern of coherence is observed even when saccades are made in darkness. Together, these results show that the pattern of alpha coherence across the retinotopic map in V4 matches many of the properties of receptive field remapping. Thus, oscillatory coherence might play a role in constructing the stable representation of visual space that is an essential aspect of conscious perception.
Assessing the exposure of lion tamarins (Leontopithecus spp.) to future climate change

Understanding how biodiversity will respond to climate change is a major challenge in conservation science. Climatic changes are likely to impose serious threats to many organisms, especially those with narrow distribution ranges, small populations and low dispersal capacity. Lion tamarins (Leontopithecus spp.) are endangered primates endemic to Brazilian Atlantic Forest (BAF), and all four living species are typical examples of these aggravating conditions. Here, we integrate ecological niche modeling and GIS‐based information about BAF remnants and protected areas to estimate the exposure (i.e., the extent of climate change predicted to be experienced by a species) of current suitable habitats to climate change for 2050 and 2080, and to evaluate the efficacy of existing reserves to protect climatically suitable areas. Niche models were built using Maxent and then projected onto seven global circulation models derived from the A1B climatic scenario. According to our projections, the occurrence area of L. caissara will be little exposed to climate change. Western populations of L. chrysomelas could be potentially exposed, while climatically suitable habitats will be maintained only in part of the eastern region. Protected areas that presently harbor large populations of L. chrysopygus and L. rosalia will not retain climatic suitability by 2080. Monitoring trends of exposed populations and protecting areas predicted to hold suitable conditions should be prioritized. Given the potential exposure of key lion tamarin populations, we stress the importance of conducting additional studies to assess other aspects of their vulnerability (i.e., sensitivity to climate and adaptive capacity) and, therefore, to provide a more solid framework for future management decisions in the context of climate change. Am. J. Primatol. 76:551–562, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice Domains and Evidence-Based Practice Competencies: A Matrix of Influence

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to describe master's-level evidence-based practice (EBP) competencies as determined by a national consensus panel and present an EBP matrix that illustrates the influence that the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) practice can have on driving EBP change. Background: Evidence-based practice is a growing and necessary paradigm for nursing care. The ACE Star Model conceptualizes the knowledge transformation that must occur in an EBP environment as 5 distinct points: discovery, summary, translation, integration, and evaluation. Master's-level EBP competencies based on these 5 steps were established by a national consensus panel. The CNS's practice can be organized around 5 domains: expert practitioner, researcher, consultant, educator, and leader. The master's-level EBP competencies can be transposed on a crosswalk of the ACE Star Model and the 5 CNS practice domains to form a matrix representing the influence that CNSs can have over the EBP process. Implications: Each competency falls well within the practice domains of the CNS, making the CNS an ideal person to lead the EBP movement forward, providing tangible outcomes to further demonstrate the need for the CNS role.
Anthrax Toxin Components Stimulate Chemotaxis of Human Polymorphonuclear Neutrophils

Abstract Effects of the three-component toxin of Bacillus anthracis on chemotaxis of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) were investigated in an effort to determine the basis of the reported antiphagocytic effect of the toxin. The three toxin components, edema factor (EF), protective antigen (PA), and lethal factor (LF), were tested alone and in various combinations for their effect on PMN chemotaxis under agarose to formyl peptides and zymosan-activated serum. No component was active alone; combinations of EF + PA, LF + PA, and EF + LF + PA markedly stimulated chemotaxis (directed migration), but had little or no effect on unstimulated random migration. The toxin components were not themselves chemoattractants. EF in combination with PA had previously been identified as an adenylate cyclase in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. We found that EF + PA produced detectable cyclic adenosine 3′-5′ monophosphate (cAMP) in PMN, but the level of cAMP was less than 1% of that produced in CHO cells by EF + PA, and in PMN by other bacterial adenylate cyclases. LF + PA (which stimulated chemotaxis to an equivalent extent) had no effect on cAMP levels. Thus, the enhancement of chemotaxis by anthrax toxin (at least by LF + PA) does not seem to be related to adenylate cyclase activity.
In vivo expansion of gene‐modified hematopoietic cells by a novel selective amplifier gene utilizing the erythropoietin receptor as a molecular switch

In vivo expansion of gene‐modified cells would be a promising approach in the field of hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy. To this end, we previously developed a selective amplifier gene (SAG), a chimeric gene encoding the granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF) receptor (GCR), as a growth‐signal generator and the hormone‐binding domain of the steroid receptor as a molecular switch. We have already reported that hematopoietic cells retrovirally transduced with the SAG can be expanded in a steroid‐dependent manner in vitro and in vivo in mice and nonhuman primates. In this study, we have developed a new‐generation SAG, in which the erythropoietin (EPO) receptor (EPOR) is utilized instead of the steroid receptor as a molecular switch.
Nonlinear Technique for Energy Exchange Optimization in Piezoelectric Actuators

Applications of piezoelectric actuators have increased dramatically during the past few decades. However, the capacitive nature of such devices makes their use delicate, especially in terms of power supply, as the instantaneous power may be much greater than the average effective power. This paper places particular focus on the description of a nonlinear technique for piezoelectric actuator control. This technique enables us to significantly increase the energy transfer efficiency of the device by reducing the reactive part of the power. Such an approach has the inverse effect of the well-known synchronized switch damping technique developed to reduce vibrations in smart structures. The proposed solution consists in disconnecting the driving voltage source from the piezoelectric element and switching the system to a passive electrical network at each occurrence of a voltage extremum. This switching strategy is designed to annihilate the reactive energy supplied by the voltage source and to decrease the active energy while ensuring a constant output power. Suppressing the reactive energy is particularly interesting for limiting the dimensions and energy requirements of power supplies. Compared to classical methods, the direct supply of both simulations and experimental validations has demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed technique for eliminating all of the reactive energy and reducing the active power at frequencies close to the resonant one, while maintaining similar mechanical performances.
Efficient Incorporation of HLA Class II onto Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Requires Envelope Glycoprotein Packaging

ABSTRACT HLA class II DR is one of the most abundant cell surface proteins incorporated onto human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) during budding. The mechanism for HLA class II protein incorporation is not known and may involve a viral protein. To determine whether Env affects HLA class II protein incorporation, HIV-1 virions, either with or without Env on their surface, were produced from HLA class II-expressing cells and analyzed by whole-virus immunoprecipitation with antisera against HLA class II proteins. HLA class II proteins were detected on virions only when wild-type Env was incorporated, while similar experiments showed that HLA class I proteins were incorporated independent of Env packaging. Therefore, the packaging of HIV-1 Env protein is required for the efficient incorporation of HLA class II but not class I proteins into the virion. Analysis of two Env mutants revealed that the presence of a 43-amino-acid sequence between amino acids 708 and 750 in the gp41TM cytoplasmic tail was required for efficient incorporation of HLA class II proteins. These data show that HIV-1 actively incorporates HLA class II proteins in a process that, either directly or indirectly, requires Env.
A Rule-Based Model for Normalization of SMS Text

SMS are short-length text documents written in a colloquial style. SMS text processing is challenging because of low signal-to-noise ratio and multi-varied text composition in terms of language, vocabulary, style and quality. These challenges can be overcome by robust text normalization, which is a necessary step before any technique can be applied and evaluated on such data. In this paper, we present a rule-based model for multi-lingual SMS text normalization focusing on messages written in Romanized Urdu and English. Urdu in contrast to English is a morphologically rich language (MRL), i.e. it produces a very large number of word forms for a given root form, while Romanized Urdu is a way of writing Urdu in Latin script which does not follow standard rules for systematic communication. Hence, normalization or standardization of multi-lingual SMS text offers challenges associated with SMS text, multi-lingualism, MRLs and Latin script. Our SMS standardizer is based upon a tuned set of rules that range over various domains of natural language processing, and which tackle the challenges mentioned above effectively. We then implement the standardizer in the application of Keyword Extraction from SMS messages, where it produces significant improvement in performance by upto 23% in F-measure.
Efficient real-time single image dehazing based on color cube constraint

Image degraded by haze is a critical aspect in today's environment while getting a high-quality haze-free image remains an important task in computer vision. In recent year, many works have been done to improve the visibility of image taken under bad weather. Conventional designs use multiple image and/ or single image to deal with haze removal. In this paper, we use a simple but effective prior, a variation of distance (VoD) prior, to estimate the transmission map and remove haze from a single input image. The VoD prior is developed based on the idea that the outdoor visibility of images taken under hazy weather conditions seriously reduced when the distance increases. The thickness of the haze can be estimated effectively and a haze-free image can be recovered by adopting the VoD prior and the new haze imaging model. Our method is stable to image local regions containing objects in different depths. Our experiments showed that the proposed method achieved better results than several state-of-the-art methods, and it can be implemented very quickly. Our method due to its fast speed and the good visual effect is suitable for real-time applications. This work confirms that estimating the transmission map using the distance information instead the color information is a crucial point in image enhancement and especially single image haze removal.
Granzyme N, a Novel Granzyme, Is Expressed in Spermatocytes and Spermatids of the Mouse Testis1

Abstract We cloned a cDNA for a novel granzyme, granzyme N (Gzmn), from a mouse testes cDNA library. The testes contained two distinct species of Gzmn mRNA, one of which codes for a complete protein of 248 amino acids with three essential residues required for catalytic activity. The Gzmn mRNA was specifically expressed in the testes of adult mice. The Gzmn expression was found to initiate in the testes at 3 wk of age and to become more prominent as the animal reached sexual maturity. In situ hybridization analysis revealed that both spermatocytes and spermatids of the adult mouse testes express Gzmn mRNA. Consistent with these findings, the protein was immunohistochemically detected in the spermatocytes and spermatids, although some of the germ cells showed no positive staining. Gzmn was demonstrated to be a secretory and N-glycosylated protein that exists in two protein forms in the testes extract. In the cryptorchid testes, the expression of Gzmn transcript was drastically reduced on Postoperative Day 10, whereas the protein level was gradually decreased starting on Day 6. The local heating (43°C, 20 min) of the testes did not change the Gzmn expression level at either 8 or 16 h after treatment. These results suggest that Gzmn is not involved in the process of germ cell apoptosis induced by heat shock, but that it may be involved in spermatogenesis in the mouse testes.
A Forkhead Transcription Factor Is Important for True Hyphal as well as Yeast Morphogenesis in Candida albicans

ABSTRACT Candida albicans is an important pathogen of immunocompromised patients which grows with true hyphal, pseudohyphal, and yeast morphologies. The dynamics of cell cycle progression are markedly different in true hyphal relative to pseudohyphal and yeast cells, including nuclear movement and septin ring positioning. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, two forkhead transcription factors (ScFKH1 and ScFKH2) regulate the expression of B-cyclin genes. In both S. cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, forkhead transcription factors also influence morphogenesis. To explore the molecular mechanisms that connect C. albicans morphogenesis with cell cycle progression, we analyzed CaFKH2, the single homolog of S. cerevisiae FKH1/FKH2. C. albicans cells lacking CaFkh2p formed constitutive pseudohyphae under all yeast and hyphal growth conditions tested. Under hyphal growth conditions levels of hyphae-specific mRNAs were reduced, and under yeast growth conditions levels of several genes encoding proteins likely to be important for cell wall separation were reduced. Together these results imply that Fkh2p is required for the morphogenesis of true hyphal as well as yeast cells. Efg1p and Cph1p, two transcription factors that contribute to C. albicans hyphal growth, were not required for the pseudohyphal morphology of fkh2 mutants, implying that Fkh2p acts in pathways downstream of and/or parallel to Efg1p and Cph1p. In addition, cells lacking Fkh2p were unable to damage human epithelial or endothelial cells in vitro, suggesting that Fkh2p contributes to C. albicans virulence.
Stimulant treatment over five years: adherence, effectiveness, and adverse effects.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of adherence and medication status on effectiveness and adverse effects of stimulant use in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) over 5 years. METHOD Seventy-nine of 91 participants in a 12-month randomized controlled trial of methylphenidate and parent groups enrolled in a follow-up study. Adherence to stimulants, treatment response, and adverse effects were evaluated annually for 5 years. Changes in teacher-reported symptoms and parent-reported adverse effects were compared at 2, 3, 4, and 5 years for 3 groups: adherents, nonadherents on medication, or nonadherents off medication. Controlling for age, gender, and baseline severity, adherence status and medication status were evaluated as correlates of teacher-reported ADHD symptom scores at each year using multiple regression analyses. RESULTS At 2 years, adherents (n = 41) showed greater improvement in teacher-reported symptoms than those off medication (n = 16) and equivalent response to nonadherents on stimulants (n = 16) (p =.02). At 5 years, adherents (n = 16) showed greater improvement in teacher-reported symptoms than nonadherents on stimulants (n = 15) and those off medication (n = 14) (p =.04). At year 2 medication status (beta = 4.67 [0.40-8.95, p =.033]) and at year 5 adherence status (beta = 7.23 [3.01-11.44, p =.001]) correlated with higher teacher-reported symptom scores. Clinically significant adverse effects were present for 5 years, most commonly loss of appetite. CONCLUSIONS Psychostimulants improve ADHD symptoms for up to 5 years, but adverse effects persist.
Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA is more frequent in advanced than in mild atherosclerosis lesions

There is growing evidence of an association between Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and atherosclerosis. By using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we detected the presence of C. pneumoniae DNA in 16 of 92 (17%) arterial specimens with severe atherosclerotic lesions, and in 3 of 109 (3%) such specimens with mild atherosclerotic lesions (p<0.01) from 49 cases with an autopsy diagnosis of cardiac death and 5 patients who underwent vascular reconstructive surgery. 14 of the 54 cases (28%) were C. pneumoniae-positive in at least 1 vascular sample. 12 of the 14 (86%) PCR positive cases were aged 60 y or older. Normal pulmonary artery specimens from 24 autopsy cases, used as a methodological control, tested negative. The levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly lower in the PCR-positive cases than in the PCR-negative cases (p<0.05). Importantly, 11 of the 14 PCR-positive cases had only 1 risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, whereas all PCR-negative cases had multiple risk factors (p<0.05). Our data support the idea that C. pneumoniae may be involved in the development of atherosclerosis in humans, especially in cases where classic risk factors are not identified to explain the incidence of atherosclerotic vascular disease.
STAT3-mediated SMAD3 activation underlies Oncostatin M-induced Senescence

ABSTRACT Cytokines in the developing tumor microenvironment (TME) can drive transformation and subsequent progression toward metastasis. Elevated levels of the Interleukin-6 (IL-6) family cytokine Oncostatin M (OSM) in the breast TME correlate with aggressive, metastatic cancers, increased tumor recurrence, and poor patient prognosis. Paradoxically, OSM engages a tumor-suppressive, Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3)-dependent senescence response in normal and non-transformed human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC). Here, we identify a novel link between OSM-activated STAT3 signaling and the Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathway that engages senescence in HMEC. Inhibition of functional TGF-β/SMAD signaling by expressing a dominant-negative TGF-β receptor, treating with a TGF-β receptor inhibitor, or suppressing SMAD3 expression using a SMAD3-shRNA prevented OSM-induced senescence. OSM promoted a protein complex involving activated-STAT3 and SMAD3, induced the nuclear localization of SMAD3, and enhanced SMAD3-mediated transcription responsible for senescence. In contrast, expression of MYC (c-MYC) from a constitutive promoter abrogated senescence and strikingly, cooperated with OSM to promote a transformed phenotype, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and invasiveness. Our findings suggest that a novel STAT3/SMAD3-signaling axis is required for OSM-mediated senescence that is coopted during the transformation process to confer aggressive cancer cell properties. Understanding how developing cancer cells bypass OSM/STAT3/SMAD3-mediated senescence may help identify novel targets for future “pro-senescence” therapies aiming to reengage this hidden tumor-suppressive response.
Oral controlled‐release morphine sulfate. Analgesic efficacy and side effects of a 100‐mg tablet in cancer pain patients

Fifty‐one cancer pain patients with limited opioid exposure participated in a randomized, double‐blind, repeated‐dose, parallel‐group comparison of two dosage strengths of the controlled‐release morphine preparation, MS Contin tablets (The Purdue Frederick Company, Norwalk, CT). The patients were first stabilized on immediate‐release oral morphine 30 mg every 4 hours, with 15 mg available every 2 hours as needed for breakthrough pain (“rescue” dose). Each patient then received either one 100 mg MS Contin tablet or three 30‐mg MS Contin tablets every 12 hours, with rescue medication as needed, for 3 days. Analysis of study power revealed sufficient sensitivity to detect clinically relevant differences in pain intensity and use of rescue medication. The two tablet strengths yielded similar pain relief, use of rescue medication, and frequency of side effects. In addition, pain and use of rescue medication did not change from the beginning to the end of the 12‐hour dosing intervals in either group. In the study population as a whole, pain intensity was lower and total morphine intake higher during the period on controlled‐release morphine. These data establish comparable analgesic efficacy and side effect potential of these two dosage strengths and confirm a 12‐hour duration of effect for both. The improved analgesia on the controlled‐release morphine may be attributable to increased consumption of drug resulting from improved compliance.