Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endocytic Activities of Sertoli Cells in the Rat a

Following the description of the cellule ramiJicate or branched cell in human seminiferous tubules by Sertoli in 1865,' the main function assigned to them was that of being supportive or sustentacular of the various germinal cells that compose the seminiferous epithelium. In 1901, Regaud2 added to this supportive role a capacity to phagocytose the residual cytoplasmic bodies that detach from the late spermatids. Thus the first cytophysiological function proposed for the Sertoli cells was a capacity to endocytose and eliminate cytoplasmic debris from the seminiferous epithelium. With the development of electron microscopic techniques, cell culture methodologies, and biochemical analytical methods combined with a growing interest in reproductive biology, the Sertoli cells became, over the past twenty years, the focus of attention for many cell biologists. One of the initial findings of this period that stimulated interest in these cells was the demonstration by Fawcett and colleaguesGs of the structural basis of the so-called blood testis barrier postulated by the physiologist^. ^. ^ It was shown at that time that lateral veil-like processes of adjacent Sertoli cells bound to each other by means of linear tight junctions. It was demonstrated that such junctions formed a barrier that was impermeable to certain macromoleculess and thus created two distinct compartments within the seminiferous epithelium, that is, the basal and the adluminal compartments each having a characteristic cellular, molecular, and ionic composition. This interSertoli cell bamer was not absolutely tight, however, because clones of spermatocytes entering meiosis traversed it at regular intervals. The linear tight junctions that attach Sertoli cells to each other are not different from those found at the interface of many epithelial cells at the level of the terminal bars. In the case of the latter, tight junctions also constitute barriers that demarcate distinct compartments, that is, a laterobasal compartment in continuity with connective tissue spaces and a luminal compartment. As in these epithelia, the tight junctions between Sertoli cells demarcate plasma membrane domains that may have distinct properties. More recently, many other aspects of the biology of Sertoli cells have been analyzed. Sertoli cells have been shown to be involved in the biosynthesis and secretion of many g l y c o p r o t e i n ~ ~ ~ ~ among which the following have been better studied: androgen-binding protein, ceruloplasmin, testicular transferrin, plasminogen activator, and a sulfated glycoprotein SPG2.10 It was further emphasized that this secretory activity of Sertoli cells varied significantly during the cycle of
Free-radical Scavenging Activity of some European Polyporales

The ethanol extracts of 30 mushroom species from the order Polyporales were tested for their free radical scavenging activities by means of the DPPH free-radical scavenging and hydrogen peroxide-induced luminol chemiluminescence assays. In the DPPH radical scavenging test, 7 species gave EC50 values of less than 1 mg/mL. The highest activity was exhibited by Fomitopsis pinicola (0.09 mg/mL). However, in the hydrogen peroxide-induced luminol chemiluminescence assay, only 4 species had EC50 values of less than 1 mg/mL, with the highest activity being exhibited also by F. pinicola (0.26 mg/mL). When compared with known antioxidants, all the mushroom extracts exhibited relatively low activity in both assays. The free radical scavenging results appeared not to be correlated with the total phenol contents of the extracts.
Rapid Differentiation of Aspergillus Species from Other Medically Important Opportunistic Molds and Yeasts by PCR-Enzyme Immunoassay

ABSTRACT We developed a PCR-based assay to differentiate medically important species of Aspergillus from one another and from other opportunistic molds and yeasts by employing universal, fungus-specific primers and DNA probes in an enzyme immunoassay format (PCR-EIA). Oligonucleotide probes, directed to the internal transcribed spacer 2 region of ribosomal DNA from Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus, Aspergillus ustus, and Aspergillus versicolor, differentiated 41 isolates (3 to 9 each of the respective species; P < 0.001) in a PCR-EIA detection matrix and gave no false-positive reactions with 33 species of Acremonium, Exophiala, Candida, Fusarium, Mucor, Paecilomyces, Penicillium, Rhizopus, Scedosporium, Sporothrix, or other aspergilli tested. A single DNA probe to detect all seven of the most medically important Aspergillus species (A. flavus, A. fumigatus, A. nidulans, A. niger, A. terreus, A. ustus, and A. versicolor) was also designed. Identification of Aspergillus species was accomplished within a single day by the PCR-EIA, and as little as 0.5 pg of fungal DNA could be detected by this system. In addition, fungal DNA extracted from tissues of experimentally infected rabbits was successfully amplified and identified using the PCR-EIA system. This method is simple, rapid, and sensitive for the identification of medically important Aspergillus species and for their differentiation from other opportunistic fungi.
SOLID FREEFORM FABRICATION OF TRANSPARENT FUSED QUARTZ USING A FILAMENT FED PROCESS

Glass is a critical material for many scientific and engineering applications including optics, communications, electronics, and hermetic seals. Despite this technological relevance, there has been minimal research toward Additive Manufacturing (AM) of glass, particularly optically transparent glass. Additive Manufacturing of transparent glass offers potential advantages for lower processing costs for small production volumes, increased design freedom, and the ability to locally vary the optical properties of the part. Compared to common soda lime glass, fused quartz is better for AM since it has lower thermal expansion and higher index homogeneity. This paper presents a study of additive manufacturing of transparent fused quartz by a filament fed process. A CW CO2 laser (10.6 μm) is used to melt glass filaments layer by layer. The laser couples to phononic modes in the glass and is well absorbed. The beam and melt pool are stationary while the work piece is scanned using a standard lab motion system. Representative parts are built to explore the effects of variable laser power on the properties of printed fused quartz. During printing the incandescent emission from the melt pool is measured using a spectrometer. This permits process monitoring and identifies potential chemical changes in the glass during printing. After deposition, the printed parts are polished and the transmission measured to calculate the absorption/scattering coefficient. Finally, a low-order thermal analysis is presented and correlated to experimental results, including an energy balance and finite volume analysis using Fluent. These results suggest that optical quality fused quartz parts with low absorption and high index of refraction uniformity may be printed using the filament-fed process.
Spine Bull’s-Eye Robot Guidewire Placement With Pedicle Standard Axis View for Thoracic and Lumbar Pedicle Screw Fixation

Study Design: Prospective. Objective: To explore the feasibility and accuracy of thoracic and lumbar pedicle guidewire placement using a newly developed Spine Bull’s-Eye Robot with the pedicle standard axis view (PSAV). Summary of Background Data: Placement of pedicle screws in the thoracic spine is considered to be particularly risky surgery and is associated with a relatively high rate of screw misplacement. Use of robot-assisted surgery may improve the accuracy of pedicle screw placement. Methods: The study included 204 pedicles (T1–L5) from 6 human vertebrae and 5 pedicles from 3 patients. Computed tomographic reconstruction of target vertebrae was performed for surgical planning. Using the PSAV, a guidewire (1.2 mm diameter, 13.5 cm length) was inserted into the “bull’s-eye” (the center of the pedicle circular projection) using the remotely operated Spine Bull’s-Eye Robot. After surgery, vertebral body axial and lateral radiographs, and computed tomographic scans were used to assess the guidewire trajectory. Planned and actual (postoperative) measures for transverse section angle, sagittal section angle, and the superior/inferior and medial/lateral vertical distances from the entry point were compared. Results: The PSAV was acquired clearly in 203 of 209 (97.1%) pedicles; the guidewire was successfully inserted in each of these pedicles. There were no significant differences between any of the planned and actual (postoperative) measures. All of the pedicles for which guidewire placement was abandoned (because of lack of bull’s-eye resolution in the PSAV) were small upper thoracic specimens, exhibiting evidence of decalcification, presumably because of preservation procedures. None of the patients experienced complications associated with guidewire placement. Conclusions: Use of the Spine Bull’s-Eye Robot with PSAV seems be an accurate and feasible approach for guidewire (and thus pedicle screw) placement in the thoracic and lumbar spine.
Spirometric-Gated Computed Tomography Quantitative Evaluation of Lung Emphysema in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Comparison of 3 Techniques

Objective: To compare the quantitative assessment of pulmonary emphysema with spirometric-gated computed tomography (gated CT) using 3 different acquisition techniques and to determine if low-current spiral CT could be used effectively to quantitate emphysema. Methods: Eleven patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) underwent gated CT and pulmonary function tests (PFTs). Spiral whole-lung 10-mm collimation acquisitions at standard (146 mAs) and low (43 mAs) current and sequential 3-slice 1-mm collimation high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) acquisitions at standard current were obtained at 90% of the patient’s vital capacity. The mean lung density (MLD) and the pixel index (PI) derived from the 3 data sets were compared using one-way analysis of variance and correlated with PFTs using linear regression. Moreover, the radiation dose associated with each technique was measured. Results: The MLDs were not significantly different. The PIs calculated from the standard- and low-current spiral acquisitions were similar, and both were significantly different from that of HRCT. The MLDs correlated with the PFTs in standard-current spiral and HRCT but not in low-current spiral acquisitions, whereas the PIs correlated with the PFTs in all 3 techniques. High-resolution computed tomography implied the lowest dose (0.08 mSv) compared with low-current (1.2 mSv) and standard-current (4 mSv) spiral techniques. Conclusions: Low- and standard-dose spiral CT provides similar lung density data in COPD. The combination of low-dose whole-lung spiral CT and 3-slice HRCT represents the best compromise between the amount of information provided and radiation exposure to the patient and could be substituted for standard-dose spiral CT for quantitative evaluation of COPD.
Amount and type of alcohol and risk of dementia

Objective: To assess whether amount or type of alcohol is associated with risk of dementia. Methods and subjects: Case-control nested in a cohort study among participants in the third Copenhagen City Heart Study (1991 to 1994), aged 65 years or more, who where screened using the Mini-Mental State Examination and subsequently examined for dementia. There were 83 subjects diagnosed with dementia and the remaining 1,626 nondemented subjects were included as controls. The two groups were compared with regard to alcohol intake and type of alcohol assessed 15 years before. Results: Average weekly total alcohol intake had no significant effect on risk of dementia. Monthly and weekly intake of wine was significantly associated with a lower risk of dementia. For beer and spirits, only a monthly intake of beer was significantly associated with an increased risk of dementia. The effect of alcohol on risk of dementia did not differ between men and women. Conclusions: Monthly and weekly intake of wine is associated with a lower risk of dementia. The results do not indicate that people should start drinking or increase wine consumption to avoid dementia, but instead suggest that certain substances in wine may reduce the occurrence of dementia.
Nonmodulation as the mechanism for salt sensitivity of blood pressure in individuals with hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

CONTEXT It is assumed that in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), blood pressure sensitivity to salt intake and the frequency of a low renin state are both increased compared with the nondiabetic population. However, studies supporting these assumptions may have been confounded by participant inclusion criteria, and study results may reflect target organ damage. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to examine in a cohort of T2DM 1) the frequency of salt sensitivity of blood pressure and 2) whether alterations of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) contribute to salt sensitivity in this population. DESIGN, PATIENTS, AND METHODS Within participants of the HyperPATH cohort, four groups were analyzed: 1) T2DM with hypertension (HTN), n=51; 2) T2DM without HTN, n=30; 3) HTN only, n=451; and 4) normotensive, n=209. Phenotype studies were conducted after participants completed two dietary phases: liberal sodium (200 mmol/d) and low sodium (10 mmol/d) for 7 d each. Participants were admitted overnight to a clinical research center after each diet, and supine measurements of the RAAS before and after a 60-min angiotensin II infusion (3 ng/kg·min) were obtained. RESULTS Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that T2DM status (all individuals with T2DM vs. individuals without T2DM) was not associated with the change in mean arterial pressure between the low and liberal sodium diets after accounting for age, gender, body mass index, race, and baseline blood pressure (T2DM status, P=0.5). Furthermore, two intermediate phenotypes of altered RAAS, low renin, and nonmodulation (NMOD), were associated with salt-sensitive blood pressure but occurred at different frequencies in the T2DM-HTN and HTN groups (low renin, 12% T2DM-HTN vs. 29% HTN; NMOD, 41% T2DM-HTN vs. 27% HTN; P=0.01). CONCLUSION The frequency of NMOD in participants with T2DM was significantly higher compared with HTN, suggesting that the salt sensitivity often seen in T2DM is driven by NMOD.
Determination of spin-label orientation within the myosin head.

Current methods of analyzing EPR spectra of spin-labeled muscle fibers allow the determination of spin-label orientation within the fiber, rather than the orientation of the myosin head itself. In order to describe the orientational distribution of spin labeled myosin heads within the muscle fibers, the orientation of the spin label within the myosin head must be known. The iodoacetamide label orientation in the myosin head was determined to be (16.8 degrees, 28.3 degrees, 4.2 degrees) or (16.6 degrees, 72.0 degrees, 4.3 degrees). These Eulerian angles were obtained from the analysis of EPR spectra of fibers decorated with labeled myosin heads in the absence of ATP, with the assumption that the head's tilt angle is 40 degrees, as observed in a recent EM study [Pollard, T. , Bhandari, D. , Maupin, P., Wachsstock, D. , Weeds, A. & Zot, H. (1993) Biophys. J. 64, 454-471]. Knowledge of spin-label orientation will allow for quantitative determination of myosin head orientation in the various states of the contractile cycle.
The contribution of Frugality and Material Values to Product Disposition: An exploratory study

This paper postulates the results of an exploratory exercise in a contemporary but largely unexamined researched area — the relationship between Frugality, Material Values and Product Disposition Strategies employed by Indian consumers. Material Value Scale and Frugality Scale based questionnaires were used to understand the economic attitude of respondents. Subsequently, the disposition strategies adopted by respondents were examined through formal unstructured interviews and through questionnaires. The investigation was done in the spirit of exploratory research. The disposition strategies were studied vis-à-vis three electronic goods. Analysis of the data clearly suggests that Indian Consumers score high on both Material Value Scale and Frugality Scale. The typology clearly reflects consumer evolution and value seeking behaviour.
Areas of Attention for Image Captioning — Supplementary Material —

For sake of brevity we reported only the three metrics that are most commonly used in the recent captioning literature in the main paper, the same three as in e.g . [1, 8, 11]. While the evaluation of caption quality remains a challenging issue, the CIDEr-D metric [7] is generally considered to be correlating the best to human judgement. The BLEU metrics [6] are based on N-gram matching statistics. In particular, the BLEU1 metric completely disregards word ordering, and is thus of little interest to measure sentence quality. From the BLEU measures, BLEU4 (based on 4-grams) is most commonly used [7]. In tables 1, 2, and 3 provide the evaluation results including the BLEU 1–3 metrics. The conclusion of the comparisons among the variants of our model and to the state of the art remain unchanged. The tables here correspond to those with the same numbers in the main paper. We refer to the main paper for a full description of the experimental setup.
Traumatic Brain Injury and Hypopituitarism

Results of recent and ongoing studies have made it clear that brain injuries like Traumatic Brian Injury (TBI) pose substantial risk to pituitary function, perhaps even greater risk than previously believed. Patients with TBI should be screened both prospectively and retrospectively for isolated, multiple and even total pituitary deficits. It is well known that, patients with “classical” hypopituitarism (due to primary hypothalamic-pituitary pathologies) do benefit from hormonal replacement therapy. It has been suggested that patients with TBI-induced hypopituitarism may benefit with appropriate hormonal replacement receiving replacement therapy such as anti-diuretic hormone (ADH), glucocorticoid and thyroid hormones when needed. Gonadal and recombinant human Growth Hormone (rhGH) replacement therapy should also be introduced if there are deficiencies demonstrated and even reconfirmed in a second step. The signs and symptoms of post-TBI hypopituitarism may be masked by what has been assumed to be merely the post-traumatic syndrome. By increasing awareness among physicians of the risks of brain injuries–induced endocrinopathies and the need for appropriate endocrinological testing, it may be possible to improve the quality of life and enhance the rehabilitation prospects for these patients. In most instances, these patients are first seen and treated by trauma surgeons and neurosurgeons, and subsequently by rehabilitation physicians; they must be knowledgeable about the risks of hypopituitarism so that they can determine which patients are candidates for screening for hypopituitarism. In addition, endocrinologists and internists must be educated about TBI-induced hypopituitarism and encouraged to actively share their expertise with other physicians.
Digital Voting Pass: One step towards the digitalization of the entire voting process

The Dutch electoral voting system is designed in a way that does not fit in the current era of the digital transformation. Almost every procedure during the elections is done manually and change in policy is very difficult as it requires a change in legislation. This thesis explores a more trustworthy, transparent and less expensive way of verifying the suffrage of a citizen. In order to accomplish this, a literature review is presented about the election process in other countries and new possibilities with state of the art technology are reviewed. Based on these investigations, a solution that would make the current voting pass superfluous is presented. The presented solution in this thesis is built with blockchain and machine readable travel documents. Considering blockchain, this technology is a decentralized ledger of transactions, where every transaction is immutable and built following predefined rules. These transactions are visible and verifiable for anyone connected to the decentralized network. Due to this decentralized design, the network is resilient against DDoS attacks and has no single point of failure. Machine readable travel documents are used for the authentication. Dutch travel documents (passports, identity cards and driver’s licences) are designed according to the ICAO machine readable travel document standard, which also requires the presence of a biometric chip. This means that every citizen already has access to a PKI (public key infrastructure) key pair, which can be used to sign data. The presented solution combines these technologies and is first of its kind to link a machine readable travel document to a blockchain. These new possibilities can help solving the identity problem for all kinds of organizations
A Channel Rejection Method for Attenuating Motion-Related Artifacts in EEG Recordings during Walking

Recording scalp electroencephalography (EEG) during human motion can introduce motion artifacts. Repetitive head movements can generate artifact patterns across scalp EEG sensors. There are many methods for identifying and rejecting bad channels and independent components from EEG datasets, but there is a lack of methods dedicated to evaluate specific intra-channel amplitude patterns for identifying motion-related artifacts. In this study, we proposed a template correlation rejection (TCR) as a novel method for identifying and rejecting EEG channels and independent components carrying motion-related artifacts. We recorded EEG data from 10 subjects during treadmill walking. The template correlation rejection method consists of creating templates of amplitude patterns and determining the fraction of total epochs presenting relevant correlation to the template. For EEG channels, the template correlation rejection removed channels presenting the majority of epochs (>75%) correlated to the template, and presenting pronounced amplitude in comparison to all recorded channels. For independent components, the template correlation rejection removed components presenting the majority of epochs correlated to the template. Evaluation of scalp maps and power spectra confirmed low neural content for the rejected components. We found that channels identified for rejection contained ~60% higher delta power, and had spectral properties locked to the gait phases. After rejecting the identified channels and running independent component analysis on the EEG datasets, the proposed method identified 4.3 ± 1.8 independent components (out of 198 ± 12) with substantive motion-related artifacts. These results indicate that template correlation rejection is an effective method for rejecting EEG channels contaminated with motion-related artifact during human locomotion.