Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular Characterization of the Regenerative Response Induced by Intrarenal Transplantation of Selected Renal Cells in a Rodent Model of Chronic Kidney Disease

Dedifferentiation and proliferation of resident tubular epithelial cells is a mechanism of action potentially contributing to repair and regeneration in kidneys presenting with ischemic or chronic disease. To more efficiently develop cell and tissue engineering technologies for the kidney, we have developed molecular assays to evaluate the acquisition of a pluripotent state associated with stem/progenitor cell phenotype during induction of a regenerative response within the kidneys of rats with chronic kidney disease (CKD) following therapeutic intervention. Intrarenal delivery of selected bioactive renal cells leads to significant upregulation of pluripotency-associated SOX2 mRNA within the diseased kidney tissue from 1 to 24 weeks after treatment. The overall regenerative response index was assessed by quantitative composite expression of CD24, NODAL and LEFTY1 proteins, which were induced within 1 week of cell treatment and peaked at 12 weeks after treatment, reaching statistical significance (p < 0.05) compared to untreated CKD controls. Molecular assays that incorporate the assessment of SOX2 and the regenerative response index may prove to be valuable tools for the detection and monitoring of the tissue response after the delivery of regenerative treatments for CKD, thereby significantly shortening the developmental timelines associated with such therapies.
Characteristics of Smoking in Low-Income Pregnant Latina and White Women

Smoking during pregnancy is hazardous as it poses numerous risks to both the mother and the unborn child. Formerly, interventions that were successful for White smokers were thought to be equally appropriate for all smokers. It is now acknowledged that there is a need to tailor interventions for distinct ethnic and cultural groups. This study¹ was designed to identify variables that are associated with smoking status in a low-income sample of pregnant Latina and White women. Results indicate that Latinas had lower levels of addiction to cigarettes and were less likely to have partners who smoked than White women. Identifying differences in the characteristics of ethnically diverse pregnant smokers will assist in the development of interventions that are tailored for women who attend prenatal clinics.
Semantic acquisition without memories: evidence from transient global amnesia

Transient global amnesia (TGA), characterised by a profound anterograde amnesia, is a model of interest to study the acquisition of novel meanings independent of episodic functioning. Three patients were tested during a TGA attack, two in the early recovery phase and the third during the acute phase of TGA, with a semantic priming task involving a restructuring process of conceptual knowledge. During TGA, all patients demonstrated priming effects. Results obtained the day after the episode with the same task showed that these effects persisted at least one day. Episodic memory seems not to be critical for the formation of novel connections among unrelated semantic representations, in accordance with Tulving's model of memory, i.e. episodic memory is not necessary for the acquisition of semantic information.
MAHARISHI ' S GLOBAL IDEAL SOCIETY CAMPAIGN : IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE IN RHODE ISLAND THROUGH THE TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAM

This study tested the prediction that when the number of participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program exceeds a certain threshold an influence of coherence is created in the collective consciousness of society, resulting in a profound and measurable improvement in the quality of life. This prediction was tested by measuring the effects of an experimental intervention in the state of Rhode Island, U.S.A. during the summer of 1978, when, as part of Maharishi's "Global Ideal Society Campaign,,, a sufficient number of practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program moved temporarily to Rhode Island.
Measuring the Relative Information in Allele‐Sharing Linkage Studies

Summary. In the context of allele‐sharing methods, this article investigates ways of measuring the information in the marker data relative to the amount of information that would have been available if the identity‐by‐descent (IBD) process were known. Such measures are needed to decide whether new markers can substantially modify the evidence for excess sharing. We propose new measures that take advantage of the properties of the exponential model introduced by Kong and Cox (1997, American Journal of Human Genetics61, 1179–1188). These measures are related to Fisher Information and hence are also efficiency measures. Large‐sample and small‐sample properties of the new and previously proposed measures of information are examined.
“sternberg‐reed” giant cells of hodgkin's disease: Cultivation in vitro, heterotransplantation, and characterization as neoplastic macrophages

Cells from the involved spleens of 25 patients with Hodgkin's disease have been grown in long‐term culture and compared with normal spleen macro‐phage cultures from control cases. The Hodgkin's spleen cell culture contained mono‐, bi‐, and multinucleate giant cells, many closely resembling Sternberg‐Reed cells, which were adherent, phagocytically active and neoplastic by the dual criteria of aneuploidy and heterotransplantability. Lysozyme secretion was consistently observed in all Hodgkin's cultures tested. The giant cells possessed both Fc and complement (C3b) receptors, and lacked lymphocyte markers such as C3d receptors, surface IgM, and the capacity to form E‐rosettes. Binucleate and multinucleate cells, as well as mononuclears, were capable of active DNA synthesis, and binuclear mitotic figures were observed. It is concluded that these cells are the in vitro descendants of the Sternberg‐Reed and Hodgkin neoplastic cell population, and that they are derived from macrophages or closely related cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system.
p53 expression in human breast cancer related to survival and prognostic factors: An immunohistochemical study

In a study of 90 breast cancer patients, tumour p53 protein expression was determined by immunohistochemistry using the monoclonal antibody PAb1801. Patient lymph node status and Bloom's grade were determined, and both oestrogen and progesterone status assessed, also by immunohistochemistry. Lymph node status, tumour grade, and progesterone receptor status all had a significant influence on survival. Patients with p53‐positive tumours showed poorer survival but this did not achieve significance. p53 protein expression showed a significant relationship to high tumour grade and a weak correlation with negative oestrogen receptor status. The data suggest taht p53 protein expression may be a marker of more aggressive carcinomas but that the prognostic power of expression is likely to be weak and unlikely, therefore, to be of clinical value. The results do not resolve whether detectable p53 protein expression represents a random product of dedifferentiation, or an important feature of the malignant phenotype, playing a key role in tumour behaviour. The number of patients in our study is small, however, and investigation of a larger series is clearly indicated.
Immunohistopathology of the contralateral testis of rats undergoing experimental torsion of the spermatic cord.

AIM To evaluate the immunohistopathological changes in the contralateral testis of rats after an experimental spermatic cord torsion. METHODS Male Sprague-Dawley rats of 45-50 days old were subjected to a 720 degree unilateral spermatic cord torsion for 10, 30 and 80 days (experimental group, E), respectively or sham operation (control group, C). Histopathology of the contralateral testis as well as germ cell apoptosis were studied using the Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase Biotin-dUTP Nick End Labeling (TUNEL) technique. The number of testicular lymphocytes, mast cells and macrophages, and the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and its receptor (TNFR1) in testicular cells of the contralateral testis were quantified by histochemistry and immunohistochemistry. TNF-alpha concentration in testicular fluid was determined by ELISA. RESULTS In the contralateral testis of rats from the E group, the maximal degree of damage of the germinal epithelium was seen 30 days after torsion. At this time we observed in the E group vs. the C group increases: (i) the number of testicular T-lymphocytes; (ii) the number of testicular mast cells and macrophages; (iii) the percentage of macrophages expressing TNF-alpha; (iv) TNF-a concentration in testicular fluid; (v) the number of apoptotic germ cells; and (vi) the number of TNFR1+ germ cells. CONCLUSION Experimental spermatic cord torsion induces, in the contralateral testis, a focal damage of seminiferous tubules characterized by apoptosis and sloughing of germ cells. Results suggest humoral and cellular immune mediated testicular cell damage in which macrophages and mast cells seem to be involved in the induction of germ cell apoptosis through the TNF-alpha/TNFR1 system and in the modulation of the inflammatory process.
Revision of Convection and Vertical Diffusion Schemes in the NCEP Global Forecast System

A new physics package containing revised convection and planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes in the National Centers for Environmental Prediction’s Global Forecast System is described. The shallow convection (SC) scheme in the revision employs a mass flux parameterization replacing the old turbulent diffusion-based approach. For deep convection, the scheme is revised to make cumulus convection stronger and deeper to deplete more instability in the atmospheric column and result in the suppression of the excessive grid-scaleprecipitation. The PBL model was revised to enhance turbulence diffusion in stratocumulus regions. A remarkable difference between the new and old SC schemes is seen in the heating or cooling behavior in lower-atmospheric layers above the PBL. While the old SC scheme using the diffusion approach produces a pair of layers in the lower atmosphere with cooling above and heating below, the new SC scheme using the mass-flux approach produces heating throughout the convection layers. In particular, the new SC scheme does not destroy stratocumulus clouds off the west coasts of South America and Africa as the old scheme does. On the other hand, the revised deep convection scheme, having a larger cloud-base mass flux and higher cloud tops, appears to effectively eliminate the remaining instability in the atmospheric column that is responsible for the excessive grid-scale precipitation in the old scheme. The revised PBL scheme, having an enhanced turbulence mixing in stratocumulus regions, helps prevent too much low cloud from forming. An overall improvement was found in the forecasts of the global 500-hPa height, vector wind, and continental U.S. precipitation with the revised model. Consistent with the improvement in vector wind forecast errors, hurricane track forecasts are also improved with the revised model for both Atlantic and eastern Pacific hurricanes in 2008.
Identifying Important Entities in a Protein-Protein Interaction Network using Topological Graph Features CS 224 W-Analysis of Networks Final Report

Network biology: In the past decade, there has been an increasing interest to understand the interactions between biological entities. A major focus of network biology consists in building graphs representing the interactions between entities in diverse organisms. In particular, protein-protein interaction networks are crucial for cellular information processing and decision-making. Gaining insight on interactions between proteins is key to understanding the mechanisms that underlie the action of drugs and diseases.
Distributed Video Coding for Video Communication on Mobile Devices and Sensors

In the context of digital video coding, recent insights have led to a new video coding paradigm called Distributed Video Coding, or DVC, characterized by low-complexity encoding and high-complexity decoding, which is in contrast to traditional video coding schemes. This chapter provides a detailed overview of DVC by explaining the underlying principles and results from information theory and introduces a number of application scenarios. It also discusses the most important practical architectures that are currently available. One of these architectures is analyzed step-by-step to provide further details of the functional building blocks, including an analysis of the coding performance compared to traditional coding schemes. Next to this, it is demonstrated that the computational complexity in a video coding scheme can be shifted dynamically from the encoder to the decoder and vice versa by combining conventional and distributed video coding techniques. Lastly, this chapter discusses some currently important research topics of which it is expected that they can further enhance the performance of DVC, i.e., side information generation, virtual channel noise estimation, and new coding modes.
The effect of Asthma on Phonation: A Controlled study of 34 Patients

The effect of upper respiratory tract diseases on phonation has been reviewed, but little is known about the influence of lower respiratory tract diseases. In particular, the effect of asthma as a reversible obstructive small-airway disease on phonatory variables is not yet clear. We conducted a cross-sectional controlled study to evaluate the quality of phonation in a group of 34 adults with untreated mild to severe persistent asthma who were seen at the Ghaem Hospital in Mashhad, Iran. Patients with sinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, or primary laryngeal disease were ineligible for study participation. For comparison purposes, we identified a group of nonasthmatic, age- and sex-matched healthy controls. We evaluated eight voice parameters: basal voice frequency at the glottic level (F0), jitter, shimmer, breathiness, harshness, hoarseness, normalized noise energy (NNE), and S/Z ratio. These parameters were measured by a voice meter with Dr. Speech statistical software. We found that values for F0, jitter, and shimmer were very similar in the two groups, but there were statistically significant differences in values for harshness, hoarseness, NNE, S/Z ratio (all p 0.01), and breathiness (p = 0.015). Our findings suggest that lower airway diseases such as asthma can impair phonation, and we recommend future studies with larger populations to further explore this issue.
A computational model for grounding words in the perception of agents

In this paper we present a computational model for incremental word meaning acquisition. It is designed to rapidly build category representations which correspond to the meaning of words. In contrast to existing approaches, our model further extracts word meaning-relevant features using a statistical learning technique. Both category learning and feature extraction are performed simultaneously. To achieve the contradictory needs of rapid as well as statistical learning, we employ mechanisms inspired by Complementary Learning Systems theory. Therefore, our framework is composed of two recurrently coupled components: (1) An adaptive Normalized Gaussian network performs a one-shot memorization of new word-scene associations and uses the acquired knowledge to categorize novel situations. The network further reactivates memorized associations based on its internal representation. (2) Based on the reactivated patterns an additional component subsequently extracts features which facilitate the categorization task. An iterative application of the learning mechanism results in a gradual memory consolidation which let the internal representation of a word meaning become more efficient and robust. We present simulation results for a scenario in which words for object relations concerning position, size, and color have been trained. The results demonstrate that the model learns from few training exemplars and correctly extracts word meaning-relevant features.
An Adaptive Strategy Applied to Memetic Algorithms

Memetic algorithms(MAs) represent one of the promising areas of evolutionary algorithms. However, there are many issues to be solved to design a robust MA. In this paper, we introduce an adaptive memetic algorithm, named GADEDHC, which combines a genetic algorithm and a differential evolution algorithm as global search methods with a directional hill climbing algorithm as local search method. In addition, a novel strategy is proposed to balance the intensity of global search methods and local search method, as well as the ratio between genetic algorithm and differential evolution algorithm. Experiments on several benchmark problems of diverse complexities have shown that the new approach is able to provide highly competitive results compared with other algorithms.
A Conformal Surface-Impedance Boundary Condition for the Modeling of Curved Lossy Surfaces in 3-D FIT/FDTD Techniques

A conformal first-order surface-impedance boundary condition (SIBC) for the modeling of lossy curved surfaces in a Cartesian grid is presented for the finite-integration technique (FIT). Alternatively, the model can be derived using the contour-path formulation of the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method. The SIBC is based on a lumped-element representation of the impedance combined with a conformal modeling scheme.
Changes in refractive error over a 5-year interval in the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

PURPOSE To examine changes in spherical equivalent over a 5-year period in persons 43 to 84 years of age. METHODS All people 43 to 84 years of age and living in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, in 1988 were invited for a baseline examination (1988-1990) and a 5-year follow-up examination (1993-1995). Refractions were determined according to the same protocol at both examinations. Aphakic and pseudophakic eyes were excluded as well as eyes with best corrected Snellen visual acuity of 20/40 and worse. After exclusions, refraction was obtained on 3007 right eyes and 3012 left eyes of the 3684 people participating in both examinations. RESULTS Right and left eyes behaved similarly. Spherical equivalent became more positive in the youngest subjects and more negative in older subjects. After adjusting for other factors, the 5-year change in spherical equivalent of those 45, 55, 65, and 75 years of age was +0.15, +0.18, +0.10, and -0.07D, respectively. Severity of nuclear sclerosis was related to the amount of change. Those with mild nuclear sclerosis at baseline had a change of +0.2 D, whereas those with severe nuclear sclerosis had a change of -0.5 D. The amount of change was also related to gender, diabetes, and age at onset of myopia. It was unrelated to education and baseline spherical equivalent. CONCLUSIONS Changes in spherical equivalent over a 5-year period were small. Before the age of 70, people became more hyperopic. After the age of 70, people became more myopic. Much of the myopic change may be related to increasing nuclear sclerosis.
NMR structural characterization of the CDK inhibitor p 19 INK 4 d

p19 INK4d is a 165 amino acid protein that belongs to the INK4 family of CDK4 and CDK6 inhibitors. Assignments of 1 H, 15 N and 13 C resonances have enabled the determination of the secondary structure of the protein which is largely K-helical (residues 14^18, 21^29, 54^62, 77^83, 87^95, 110^116, 120^128, 142^148 and 152^160). The protein comprises five 32-amino acid ankyrin-like repeats; each ankyrin repeat contains a helix-Lturn-helix core. The exception is the second ankyrin repeat, which lacks the first helix. All L-turns have a central glycine residue flanked by two residues in L-conformations. There is also a high conservation of Ala at position 8 in the first helix and LeuLeu(Val) at positions 17^18 of the second helix in all ankyrin repeats of p19. The location of the helix-turn-helix segments found in p19 should be general for all other members of the INK4 family, including, for example, a homologous tumor suppressor p16 INK4a . 1 H15 N heteronuclear steady-state NOE measurements on p19 indicate that most of the backbone of p19 INK4d exists in a well defined structure of limited conformational flexibility on the nanoto picosecond time scale.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) No Evidence of Narrowly Defined Cognitive Penetrability in Unambiguous Vision

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Spectral properties and signal-to-distortion ratio of arbitrary spectrum Gaussian signals in the presence of nonlinearities

This paper presents an analytical model for the evaluation of nonlinear effects in the presence of Gaussian input signals with arbitrary spectrum. A simple relationship between the output signal power spectrum and the nonlinear device characteristic is given. The signal-to-distortion ratio (SDR) is also derived to show the impact of in-band and out-of-band distortion. The methodology is applied to estimate the accuracy of third and fifth-order models for a typical MMIC RF power amplifier.
Theoretical Performance of Space-Time Adaptive Processing for Ship Detection by High-Frequency Surface Wave Radars

In this paper, we analyze the levels of performance of the (full or reduced versions of) space-time adaptive processing (STAP) algorithms applied to high-frequency surface wave radars (HFSWRs) for marine target detection to verify whether this family outperforms the usual moving target indication (MTI) algorithms. In fact, STAP algorithms have well-known drawbacks (e.g., large amount of secondary data). The propagation and backscattering of radar signals are included in the covariance matrix calculation. Since the propagation and backscattering have to be derived from physical features of the sea (e.g., sea Doppler) and the atmosphere, we also include the difference induced by the waveform (pulsed radar/chirp) in our study. Moreover, since the inverse covariance matrix is used in the target detection algorithms, matrix conditioning is also inspected for practical implementation reasons. We numerically detail the performance (signal noise clutter ratio and conditioning number of the STAP algorithms) with regards to the MTI performance for several configurations of radar and sea state. These results show that the improvements of signal noise clutter ratio are counterbalanced by a raise of the conditioning number, except in the case of eigencanceler approach. The sea-state parameters have few effects on the performance unlike to radar parameters.