Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Virtual and augmented reality as spatial ability training tools

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR -- overlaying virtual objects onto the real world) offer interesting and wide spread possibilities to study different components of human behaviour and cognitive processes. One aspect of human cognition that has been frequently studied using VR technology is spatial ability. Research ranges from training studies that investigate whether and/or how spatial ability can be improved by using these new technologies to studies that focus on specific aspects of spatial ability for which VR is an efficient investigational tool. In this paper we first review studies that used VR technologies to study different aspects of spatial ability. Then results and findings will be presented from one of the first large-scale studies (215 students) that investigated the potential of an AR application to train spatial ability.
Akt1 signaling coordinates BMP signaling and β-catenin activity to regulate second heart field progenitor development

Second heart field (SHF) progenitors exhibit continued proliferation and delayed differentiation, which are modulated by FGF4/8/10, BMP and canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling. PTEN-Akt signaling regulates the stem cell/progenitor cell homeostasis in several systems, such as hematopoietic stem cells, intestinal stem cells and neural progenitor cells. To address whether PTEN-Akt signaling is involved in regulating cardiac progenitors, we deleted Pten in SHF progenitors. Deletion of Pten caused SHF expansion and increased the size of the SHF derivatives, the right ventricle and the outflow tract. Cell proliferation of cardiac progenitors was enhanced, whereas cardiac differentiation was unaffected by Pten deletion. Removal of Akt1 rescued the phenotype and early lethality of Pten deletion mice, suggesting that Akt1 was the key downstream target that was negatively regulated by PTEN in cardiac progenitors. Furthermore, we found that inhibition of FOXO by Akt1 suppressed the expression of the gene encoding the BMP ligand (BMP7), leading to dampened BMP signaling in the hearts of Pten deletion mice. Cardiac activation of Akt also increased the Ser552 phosphorylation of β-catenin, thus enhancing its activity. Reducing β-catenin levels could partially rescue heart defects of Pten deletion mice. We conclude that Akt signaling regulates the cell proliferation of SHF progenitors through coordination of BMP signaling and β-catenin activity. Summary: The deletion of Pten reveals that Pten/Akt signaling coordinates BMP signaling and β-catenin to regulate the proliferation and differentiation of second heart field progenitors.
The apical complex protein Pals1 is required to maintain cerebellar progenitor cells in a proliferative state

Through their biased localization and function within the cell, polarity complex proteins are necessary to establish the cellular asymmetry required for tissue organization. Well-characterized germinal zones, mitogenic signals and cell types make the cerebellum an excellent model for addressing the crucial function of polarity complex proteins in the generation and organization of neural tissues. Deletion of the apical polarity complex protein Pals1 in the developing cerebellum results in a remarkably undersized cerebellum with disrupted layers in poorly formed folia and strikingly reduced granule cell production. We demonstrate that Pals1 is not only essential for cerebellum organogenesis, but also for preventing premature differentiation and thus maintaining progenitor pools in cerebellar germinal zones, including cerebellar granule neuron precursors in the external granule layer. In the Pals1 mouse mutants, the expression of genes that regulate the cell cycle was diminished, correlating with the loss of the proliferating cell population of germinal zones. Furthermore, enhanced Shh signaling through activated Smo cannot overcome impaired cerebellar cell generation, arguing for an epistatic role of Pals1 in proliferation capacity. Our study identifies Pals1 as a novel intrinsic factor that regulates the generation of cerebellar cells and Pals1 deficiency as a potential inhibitor of overactive mitogenic signaling. Summary: Mouse Pals1 mutants show defects in cerebellar organogenesis, with disrupted laminar organisation and impaired proliferation of cerebellar progenitors.
Pak3 regulates apical-basal polarity in migrating border cells during Drosophila oogenesis

Group cell migration is a highly coordinated process that is involved in a number of physiological events such as morphogenesis, wound healing and tumor metastasis. Unlike single cells, collectively moving cells are physically attached to each other and retain some degree of apical-basal polarity during the migratory phase. Although much is known about direction sensing, how polarity is regulated in multicellular movement remains unclear. Here we report the role of the protein kinase Pak3 in maintaining apical-basal polarity in migrating border cell clusters during Drosophila oogenesis. Pak3 is enriched in border cells and downregulation of its function impedes border cell movement. Time-lapse imaging suggests that Pak3 affects protrusive behavior of the border cell cluster, specifically regulating the stability and directionality of protrusions. Pak3 functions downstream of guidance receptor signaling to regulate the level and distribution of F-actin in migrating border cells. We also provide evidence that Pak3 genetically interacts with the lateral polarity marker Scribble and that it regulates JNK signaling in the moving border cells. Since Pak3 depletion results in mislocalization of several apical-basal polarity markers and overexpression of Jra rescues the polarity of the Pak3-depleted cluster, we propose that Pak3 functions through JNK signaling to modulate apical-basal polarity of the migrating border cell cluster. We also observe loss of apical-basal polarity in Rac1-depleted border cell clusters, suggesting that guidance receptor signaling functions through Rac GTPase and Pak3 to regulate the overall polarity of the cluster and mediate efficient collective movement of the border cells to the oocyte boundary. Highlighted article: Migrating border cells lacking the Pak3 kinase show defects in both forward-rear and apicobasal polarity. Pak3 acts in a pathway with Rac and JNK to regulate polarity protein localisation.
Survey Description of Stress of Parents Bereaved from a Child Killed in a Traffic Accident. A Retrospective Study of a Victim Support Group

Objectives: To assess parents' views of the care and support received at the time of the child's accident. To examine the presence of traumatic grief and general psychiatric distress among parents. Methods: Data were obtained from a self-help group of parents who lost a child in a traffic accident. Eighty-five parents responded to a survey including items about circumstances of the death, satisfaction with death handling and standardized questionnaires. Results: Parents reported insufficient satisfaction with services immediately following the death of their child. Even after considerable time they continued to show strong symptoms of traumatic grief and high levels of general psychiatric distress. Conclusion: Confrontation with the death of a child killed in a vehicular crash increases the risk of prolonged psychiatric distress in bereaved parents. A closer immediate follow-up is needed, and long-term support should be provided when needed.
Non-centrosomal epidermal microtubules act in parallel to LET-502/ROCK to promote C. elegans elongation

C. elegans embryonic elongation is a morphogenetic event driven by actomyosin contractility and muscle-induced tension transmitted through hemidesmosomes. A role for the microtubule cytoskeleton has also been proposed, but its contribution remains poorly characterized. Here, we investigate the organization of the non-centrosomal microtubule arrays present in the epidermis and assess their function in elongation. We show that the microtubule regulators γ-tubulin and NOCA-1 are recruited to hemidesmosomes and adherens junctions early in elongation. Several parallel approaches suggest that microtubule nucleation occurs from these sites. Disrupting the epidermal microtubule array by overexpressing the microtubule-severing protein Spastin or by inhibiting the C. elegans ninein homolog NOCA-1 in the epidermis mildly affected elongation. However, microtubules were essential for elongation when hemidesmosomes or the activity of the Rho kinase LET-502/ROCK were partially compromised. Imaging of junctional components and genetic analyses suggest that epidermal microtubules function together with Rho kinase to promote the transport of E-cadherin to adherens junctions and myotactin to hemidesmosomes. Our results indicate that the role of LET-502 in junctional remodeling is likely to be independent of its established function as a myosin II activator, but requires a microtubule-dependent pathway involving the syntaxin SYX-5. Hence, we propose that non-centrosomal microtubules organized by epidermal junctions contribute to elongation by transporting junction remodeling factors, rather than having a mechanical role. Summary: During C. elegans embryonic elongation, microtubules nucleate at adjerens junctions and hemidesmosomes, and are important for the transport of junctional proteins.
Measuring denial Of service

Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks significantly degrade service quality experienced by legitimate users, by introducing large delays, excessive losses, and service interruptions. The main goal of DoS defenses is to neutralize this effect, and to quickly and fully restore quality of various services to levels acceptable by the users. To objectively evaluate a variety of proposed defenses we must be able to precisely measure damage created by an attack, i.e., the denial of service itself, in controlled testbed experiments. Current evaluation methodologies measure DoS damage superficially and partially by measuring a single traffic parameter, such as duration, loss or throughput, and showing divergence during the attack from the baseline case. These measures do not consider quality-of-service requirements of different applications and how they map into specific thresholds for various traffic parameters. They thus fail to measure the service quality experienced by the end users.We propose a series of DoS impact metrics that are derived from traffic traces gathered at the source and the destination networks. We segment a trace into higher-level user tasks, called transactions, that require a certain service quality to satisfy users' expectations. Each transaction is classified into one of several proposed application categories, and we define quality-of-service (QoS) requirements for each category via thresholds imposed on several traffic parameters. We measure DoS impact as a percentage of transactions that have not met their QoS requirements and aggregate this measure into several metrics that expose the level of service denial. We evaluate the proposed metrics on a series of experiments with a wide range of background traffic and our results show that our metrics capture the DoS impact more precisely then partial measures used in the past.
The Effect of Prunus cerasus (Sour Cherry) Kernel Seed Extract on QT Interval of Heart and its Histopathology in Biliary Cirrhosis Induced by Bile Duct Ligation in Rats

Background: QT prolongation is a problem that increases the ventricular arrhythmias in the cirrhotic patients. Sour cherry seed extract has been reported to have potential anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. Objectives: This study aimed to find the effect of Prunus cerasus (sour cherry) kernel seed extract on QT interval of heart and its histopathological parameters in rats with biliary cirrhosis induced by bile duct ligation (BDL). Materials and Methods: Thirty-two male Sprague Dawley rats (200 - 250 g) were divided into 4 groups; negative control, cirrhotic, and 2 cirrhotic groups treated with sour cherry kernel extract in doses of 10 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg orally for 4 weeks. In all groups before BDL and 4 weeks after surgery animals were anesthetized and their electrocardiograms were recorded. After the required period of BDL, liver was isolated and immersed in 10% formalin solution and stained by hematoxylin and eosin for histological studies. Results: Results were analyzed by using Student t-test and one-way ANOVA. P < 0.05 was considered as significant level. The QT interval was calculated using the Bazettʼs formula and corrected QT (QTc) was obtained. Four weeks after BDL, the QTc and amount of total and direct bilirubin in cirrhotic group were found as 213.6 ± 6.8 ms, 10.5 ± 1.02 mg/dL, and 7.9 ± 0.7 mg/dL, respectively. These values significantly increased compared to the negative control group (119.9 ± 6.2 ms, 0.11 ± 0.00102 mg/dL, and 0.1 ± 0.0002 mg/dL) (P < 0.001). Histopathological parameters were reduced in cirrhotic groups treated with extract compared to control cirrhotic group. Conclusions: These results revealed that cirrhosis produce prolonged QT interval and sour cherry extract has an ameliorating effect on QT prolongation probably via its antiarrhythmic property.
Research in data warehouse modeling and design: dead or alive?

Multidimensional modeling requires specialized design techniques. Though a lot has been written about how a data warehouse should be designed, there is no consensus on a design method yet. This paper follows from a wide discussion that took place in Dagstuhl, during the Perspectives Workshop "Data Warehousing at the Crossroads", and is aimed at outlining some open issues in modeling and design of data warehouses. More precisely, issues regarding conceptual models, logical models, methods for design, interoperability, and design for new architectures and applications are considered.
Examining mentors' personal attributes

Final-year preservice teachers’ perceptions of their mentors’ personal attributes were gathered through a literature-based survey instrument from two separate studies. The two studies (n=331, n=60) provided an indication of the degree of “Personal Attributes” displayed by mentors while mentoring in a specific subject area (i.e., science). The key study results (n=331, from nine Australian universities involved in primary teacher education) indicated that on average 50% of mentors displayed “Personal Attributes” to facilitate effective mentoring practices (n=331, mean score range: 2.72 to 3.46; SD range: 1.22 to 1.31). The results were a little higher for the smaller study (n=60, mean score range: 2.69 to 3.93, SD range: 1.09 to 1.32). The study concludes that mentors’ personal attributes such as being supportive, attentive, and comfortable in talking to mentees, and personal attributes for instilling confidence and positive attitudes, and developing mentee’s reflective practices may more adequately assist the mentoring process for specific subject teaching.
Gene expression profiles uncover individual identities of gnathal neuroblasts and serial homologies in the embryonic CNS of Drosophila

The numbers and types of progeny cells generated by neural stem cells in the developing CNS are adapted to its region-specific functional requirements. In Drosophila, segmental units of the CNS develop from well-defined patterns of neuroblasts. Here we constructed comprehensive neuroblast maps for the three gnathal head segments. Based on the spatiotemporal pattern of neuroblast formation and the expression profiles of 46 marker genes (41 transcription factors), each neuroblast can be uniquely identified. Compared with the thoracic ground state, neuroblast numbers are progressively reduced in labial, maxillary and mandibular segments due to smaller sizes of neuroectodermal anlagen and, partially, to suppression of neuroblast formation and induction of programmed cell death by the Hox gene Deformed. Neuroblast patterns are further influenced by segmental modifications in dorsoventral and proneural gene expression. With the previously published neuroblast maps and those presented here for the gnathal region, all neuroectodermal neuroblasts building the CNS of the fly (ventral nerve cord and brain, except optic lobes) are now individually identified (in total 2×567 neuroblasts). This allows, for the first time, a comparison of the characteristics of segmental populations of stem cells and to screen for serially homologous neuroblasts throughout the CNS. We show that approximately half of the deutocerebral and all of the tritocerebral (posterior brain) and gnathal neuroblasts, but none of the protocerebral (anterior brain) neuroblasts, display serial homology to neuroblasts in thoracic/abdominal neuromeres. Modifications in the molecular signature of serially homologous neuroblasts are likely to determine the segment-specific characteristics of their lineages. Highlighted article: Characterisation of the neural stem cells in the gnathal head region completes the mapping of all individual neuroblasts that generate the Drosophila CNS.
Patterning of the Drosophila L2 vein is driven by regulatory interactions between region-specific transcription factors expressed in response to Dpp signalling

Pattern formation relies on the generation of transcriptional landscapes regulated by signalling pathways. A paradigm of epithelial patterning is the distribution of vein territories in the Drosophila wing disc. In this tissue, Decapentaplegic signalling regulates its target genes at different distances from the source of the ligand. The transformation of signalling into coherent territories of gene expression requires regulatory cross-interactions between these target genes. Here, we analyse the mechanisms generating the domain of knirps expression in the presumptive L2 vein of the wing imaginal disc. We find that knirps is regulated by four Decapentaplegic target genes encoding the transcription factors aristaless, spalt major, spalt-related and optix. The expression of optix is activated by Dpp and repressed by the Spalt proteins, becoming restricted to the most anterior region of the wing blade. In turn, the expression of knirps is activated by Aristaless and repressed by Optix and the Spalt proteins. In this manner, the expression of knirps becomes restricted to those cells where Spalt levels are sufficient to repress optix, but not sufficient to repress knirps. Summary: The position of vein L2 in the Drosophila wing is permanently and dynamically established through cross-interactions of Aristaless, Spalt mayor, Spalt-related and Optix, which modulate knirps expression.
CONCURRENT VALIDITY OF PATIENT RATING SCALES IN ASSESSMENT OF OUTCOME AFTER ROTATOR CUFF REPAIR

The purpose of this study was to compare the concurrent validity of four questionnaires in the assessment of outcome after rotator cuff repair. Sixty-two patients, who were at least two years post-rotator-cuff repair, completed three upper extremity scales: the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff (WORC) index, the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) and the Simple Shoulder Test (SST), and a measure of general health status (SF-36). Internal and external rotation ranges of motion and isometric strength were measured. Pearson correlations were used to evaluate the construct whereby scores should be related to the severity of measured impairments. One-way ANOVA was used to determine the ability of the questionnaires to discriminate between groups expected to have different outcomes based on measured impairment or worker's compensation status. The upper extremity questionnaires demonstrated similar response distributions and were highly correlated (0.88 < r < 0.91). The response distribution of the SF-36 was different from the other scales and its correlation with them was moderate (0.58 < r < 0.75). The upper extremity measures demonstrated better correlations with measured impairments (0.18 < r < 0.56) than the SF-36 (0 < r < 0.40). All the questionnaires were able to discriminate between levels of impairment and worker's compensation status. This study supported the validity of upper extremity scales to measure cuff-related disability and suggests that the use of both specific and general health measures provides a more comprehensive evaluation of patient outcome.
Mobility, accessibility and quality of later life

Older people today are more active and more mobile than previous generations. However, they continue to suffer a reduction in quality of life when giving up driving. This article reports research carried out to identify the role of mobility and accessibility in older people's self‐reported quality of life, through an in‐depth examination of older people's travel needs. A wholly qualitative approach, utilising a variety of data collection methods including focus groups, interviews and diary completion, was employed with 57 people aged over 65 in the UK, of which 26 were drivers and 31 had recently given up driving. The findings emphasise the importance of mobility for accessing services and shops. However, the reasons why older people travel and the importance of mobility go beyond accessibility to include the desire for independence, control, maintaining status, inclusion, ‘normalness’ and travel for its own sake. All these are related to an individual's perception of quality of life. When older people give up driving, their self‐reported quality of life is reduced and this seems very much related to a reduction in affective and aesthetic qualities of mobility that a car affords that walking and using public transport lack. It is suggested that policy and practice needs to consider such motives for travel.
A Case-Control Study of Aplastic Anaemia: Occupational Exposures

Background. Based on the national register of new cases of aplastic anaemia (AA) begun in France in 1984, a case-control study was conducted to explore the aetiology of the disease. Methods. Cases were all included in the French national register of AA. Two different groups of controls were derived with individual matching ; one group from hospitalized patients in the same hospital ; the other group from neighbours named by the case. A 15-year occupational history was collected through interview and then grouped into exposure categories by jobs done for one year or more. The study included 98 cases, 181 hospitalized controls, and 72 neighbours aged 18-70 years. Results. No differences appeared between the cases and both groups of controls relative to any group of occupation investigated. However, a borderline non-significant small excess for exposure to pesticides was observed among the cases when compared to hospitalized controls. Whatever the control group, no association was found between AA and exposure to solvents, ionizing radiation, fuel, oils and grease. A positive relationship between exposure to glues and AA was observed, as well as a trend towards an increased risk after exposure to paints. Conclusions. This large-scale case-control study confirmed the vanishing role of previously known toxic substances in the aetiology of AA. However, a higher proportion of AA patients reported exposure to paints and to glues, a relationship which needs further investigation because of the diversity of compounds included in these products.