Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Studies on rat testicular cells in tissue culture.

Summary. The preparation of morphologically distinct monolayers of cells by tissue culture of dissected seminiferous tubules and of the intertubular fraction of the adult rat testis is reported. The cells comprising the monolayers obtained by tissue culture of the intertubular fraction of the testis represent interstitial cells, identification being based on light microscopy, 3-\g=b\ hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase histochemistry, electron microscopy and the ability of the cells to localize 125I-labelled lh. The cell monolayers obtained from the dissected seminiferous tubules arise from the immediate peritubular tissue consisting of myoid cells and lymphatic endothelium. The cells show weak histochemical reactions for 3-\g=b\ hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity and ultrastructural features of myoid cells and fibroblasts. No localization of either 125I\x=req-\ labelled fsh or lh could be demonstrated in these cells by autoradiography.
Comparison of the 6-minute walk test with established parameters for assessment of cardiopulmonary capacity in adults with complex congenital cardiac disease

Background: Objective assessment of the cardiopulmonary capacity in patients with complex congenital cardiac disease often remains difficult in clinical practice. The cardiopulmonary exercise test and determination of the levels of brain natriuretic peptide in the plasma are established tests, but expensive. The 6-minute walk test is also validated, but has not often been used in patients with heart failure due to congenital heart disease, nor compared with other tests. We sought to compare its value with the results of cardiopulmonary exercise testing and measuring the levels of brain natriuretic peptide in the plasma. Methods: We carried out a standardized 6-minute walk test in 31 patients with complex congenital cardiac disease on the same day that they underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing and determination of levels of brain natriuretic peptide in the plasma. Of the patients, 7 had functionally univentricular hearts, 9 had transposition, 9 had tetralogy of Fallot, 3 had common arterial trunk, and 3 had pulmonary atresia with intact interventricular septum. Uptakes of oxygen at peak exercise, and at the anaerobic threshold, were determined using cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and classified as suggested by Weber. The 6-minute walk test was performed according to a standard protocol. Results: There was a significant correlation between brain natriuretic peptide, oxygen uptakes at peak exercise and 6-minute walk. The correlation between the 6-minute walk test and oxygen uptakes at the anaerobic threshold, however, was not significant. Conclusions: The 6-minute walk test can be performed easily, is inexpensive, widely available, and correlates well with measurements of brain natriuretic peptide and cardiopulmonary exercise testing, even in patients with corrected or palliated congenital cardiac malformations. A cut-off value of 450 metres in the 6-minute walk test allows a semi-quantitative classification in analogy to the classification suggested by Weber for cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and to a level of brain natriuretic peptide in the plasma of less or more than 100 picograms per millilitre.
Development of a tool to guide referral of patients with neuromuscular disorders to allied health services. Part two

Purpose. The Perceived Limitations and Needs Questionnaire (PLAN-Q) was developed to guide referral for a one-off consultation by occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and speech therapy (ST) consultation, to provide a tailor-made advice on allied health interventions. This article reports on the testing of validity and reliability of the PLAN-Q. Methods. In the validation study, 208 patients with a broad spectrum of neuromuscular disorders completed the PLAN-Q, Medical Outcome Study short-form 36-item version (SF-36), and the Impact of Participation on Autonomy (IPA) questionnaires. A subsection of 51 patients, whose physical condition was stable, participated in the evaluation of the intra-rater reliability of the questionnaire. The theoretical construct was tested with factorial analysis, subscales were constructed and reliability and validity of the PLAN-Q subscales were assessed. Results. Factorial analysis resulted in an 18-item self-report questionnaire. Items were grouped into four subscales (‘physical capacity’, ‘transferring’, ‘oropharyngeal capacity’, and ‘hand-use’), each with two dimensions (‘capacity’ and ‘need for help’). The internal consistency of all subscales was good (Cronbach's α: 0.77 – 0.94) as well as the intra-rater reliability of the subscales ‘physical capacity’ and ‘transferring’ in the ‘capacity’ dimension (Kappa: 0.70 – 0.75). The ‘need’ dimension showed poor intra-rater reliability suggesting that ‘need for help’ is a variable phenomenon that changes between two points of measurement. The construct validity of the subscales against the SF-36 and the IPA was satisfactory. Conclusion. The PLAN-Q is a valid self-report instrument that measures patients' perception of capacity and needs in domains relevant to referral for a one-off OT, PT, or ST consultation.
Oocyte-specific linker histone H1foo is an epigenomic modulator that decondenses chromatin and impairs pluripotency

Mammalian oocytes contain the histone H1foo, a distinct member with low sequence similarity to other members in the H1 histone family. Oocyte-specific H1foo exists until the second embryonic cell stage. H1foo is essential for oocyte maturation in mice; however, the molecular function of this H1 subtype is unclear. To explore the function of H1foo, we generated embryonic stem (ES) cells ectopically expressing H1foo fused to an EGFP (H1foo-ES). Interestingly, ectopic expression of H1foo prevented normal differentiation into embryoid bodies (EBs). The EB preparations from H1foo-ES cells maintained the expression of pluripotent marker genes, including Nanog, Myc and Klf9, and prevented the shift of the DNA methylation profile. Because the short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown of H1foo-EGFP recovered the differentiation ability, H1foo was involved in preventing differentiation. Furthermore, ChIP analysis revealed that H1foo-EGFP bound selectively to a set of hypomethylated genomic loci in H1foo-ES, clearly indicating that these loci were targets of H1foo. Finally, nuclease sensitivity assay suggested that H1foo made these target loci decondensed. We concluded that H1foo has an impact on the genome-wide, locus-specific epigenetic status.
Studies of gastrointestinal interactions.

Jejunal flows and intestinal mean transit times in man were calculated after a marked test meal. The procedure involved continuous and successive infusion of three modifications of vitamin B12 into proximal duodenum and measuring the concentrations 65 cm down the jejunum. A simple relation was found between the flow of indicator and change in mean transit time Δtm. tm could be calculated directly from the relation between time and per cent single to total indicator. Flow could be calculated secondarily. Flow could also be calculated directly by means of an iteration procedure and tm secondarily. The methods were tested in a model.
An ultra-wideband dielectrically loaded quad-ridged feed horn for radio astronomy

We present a broadband dielectrically loaded quad-ridged feed horn for illuminating reflector antennas. The feed horn combines a central dielectric spear with a corrugated skirt to achieve a near constant beam width over a 6:1 bandwidth from 0.7-4.2GHz. The feed accepts two linear polarizations which are differentially fed. We present the directivity of the feed measured in an anechoic chamber. The feed exhibits a directivity of 12dB±1.5 and a measured return loss of greater than 14dB across the frequency band.
An implementation of a distributed scheme for managing the dynamic coexistence of Wireless Body Area Networks

We present a novel implementation of a distributed scheme for Dynamic Coexistence Management (DCM) of Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) of inertial sensors. WBANs are comprised of sensors placed on or implanted inside a person's body to collect physiological signals, activity or environmental data. Since WBANs are mobile systems by design, they can dynamically interfere with other WBANs when their users come within each other's transmission ranges. This situation which is referred to as homogeneous coexistence may result in loss of data as well as increased power consumption and transmission latencies. In this paper we present an implementation of the DCM mechanism for WBANs of inertial sensors that are designed for real-time activity monitoring and gesture recognition. The proposed scheme is implemented and evaluated on sensors that use Nordic wireless transceivers for communication; however, it can be adapted to other types of lowpower wireless standards such as IEEE 802.15. 4. Our results indicate that using DCM we can achieve a close to perfect performance with 15-20% more successfully received frames when WBANs are exposed to dynamic coexistence.
Surface-Potential-Based Drain Current Model of Polysilicon TFTs With Gaussian and Exponential DOS Distribution

An explicit approximation for surface potential as a function of terminal voltages is developed for partially depleted polysilicon thin-film transistors. The resulting model has taken both Gaussian deep states and exponential tail states into account, which provides a complete modeling for surface potential. Furthermore, a drain current model based on terms of surface potential is proposed. Surface potential and drain current calculations are successfully verified by comparisons with numerical and experimental ones.
HIV-1 Entry Cofactor: Functional cDNA Cloning of a Seven-Transmembrane, G Protein-Coupled Receptor

A cofactor for HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus-type 1) fusion and entry was identified with the use of a novel functional complementary DNA (cDNA) cloning strategy. This protein, designated “fusin,” is a putative G protein-coupled receptor with seven transmembrane segments. Recombinant fusin enabled CD4-expressing nonhuman cell types to support HIV-1 Env-mediated cell fusion and HIV-1 infection. Antibodies to fusin blocked cell fusion and infection with normal CD4-positive human target cells. Fusin messenger RNA levels correlated with HIV-1 permissiveness in diverse human cell types. Fusin acted preferentially for T cell line-tropic isolates, in comparison to its activity with macrophage-tropic HIV-1 isolates.
Increased Antigen Cross-Presentation but Impaired Cross-Priming after Activation of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ Is Mediated by Up-Regulation of B7H11

Dendritic cells are able to take up exogenous Ags and present Ag-derived peptides on MHC class I molecules, a process termed cross-presentation. The mannose receptor (MR), an endocytic receptor expressed on a variety of APCs, has been demonstrated to target soluble Ags exclusively toward cross-presentation. In this study, we investigated the role of the murine nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), a ligand-activated transcription factor with immunomodulatory properties, in MR-mediated endocytosis and cross-presentation of the model Ag OVA. We could demonstrate both in vitro and in vivo that activation of PPARγ resulted in increased MR expression, which in consequence led to enhanced MR-mediated endocytosis and elevated cross-presentation of soluble OVA. Concomitantly, activation of PPARγ in dendritic cells induced up-regulation of the coinhibitory molecule B7H1, which, despite enhanced cross-presentation, caused an impaired activation of naive OVA-specific CD8+ T cells and the induction of T cell tolerance. These data provide a mechanistic basis for the immunomodulatory action of PPARγ which might open new possibilities in the development of therapeutic approaches aimed at the control of excessive immune responses, e.g., in T cell-mediated autoimmunity.
Increase Characteristics of the Cumulated Excess-CO2 and the Lactate Concentration During Exercise

The so-called excess-CO2 in physical exertion results stoichiometrically directly from the quantity of protons bound in bicarbonate buffering. This situation is used in determining the ventilatory threshold (VT). However, the extent to which the degree and increase characteristics of excess-CO2 can be used as an equivalent to blood lactate concentrations is uncertain. To investigate this relationship, 21 healthy men exercised on a cycle ergometer (starting at 50 watt, increases of 50 watt every 3 minutes) to subjective exhaustion. To evaluate the characteristics of this increase, a slope constant lambda was calculated in relation to performance for both the blood lactate concentration (lambda lactate) and the cumulated excess-CO2 (lambda CO2 excess). The start of the lactate increase (LT) and excess-CO2 (VT) showed good intercorrelation (VT=2.27+0.98 x LT; r=0.914; P<0.001). Mean lambda lactate and lambda CO2 excess were of similar dimensions in all subjects (69.3 +/- 39.8 watt vs. 80.11 +/- 15.7 watt), but a minority of the subjects (n=7) showed a considerably more gradual increase for the excess-CO2 to the maximum. Since in addition there was no significant correlation between the absolute values for maximum lactate concentrations and the cumulative excess-CO2, an interindividual prediction of lactate concentrations from the excess-CO2 would be difficult. It is an open question, however, whether perhaps additional performance-limiting factors, such as the ventilation or the buffering capacity, may be included when measuring the excess-CO2 so that this parameter could be more a measure for the formation rate of new lactate than the blood lactate concentration alone.
The Role of Agriculture and Human Capital in Economic Growth: Farmers, Schooling, and Health

This survey reviews the existing literature, identifying the contribution of agriculture, schooling, and nutrition to economic growth and development over time and across countries. Particular attention is paid to the roles of improvements in agricultural technology and of the human capital of farmers and farm people. Macroeconomic and microeconomic evidence related to the interactions between human capital, productivity and real income per capita have occurred over the past 250 years. We show that for most countries, development is a process of conversion from primarily agrarian economies to urban industrial and service economies. The evidence is that positive technology shocks to agriculture have played a key role in igniting a transition from traditional to modern agriculture and to long-term economic growth in almost all countries. Improvements in agricultural technologies improve labor productivity and create surplus agricultural labor that can provide workers for the growing urban areas. In some cases, improved nutrition helps raise labor productivity and allows individuals to work for longer hours, which makes human capital investments more attractive. The induced improvements in the skill level of a population have major implications for raising living standards, improving health standards, and altering time allocation decisions. In most currently poor and middle income countries, improved schooling has been more important than improved nutrition or caloric intake in explaining recent economic growth. Nevertheless, the poorest countries of the world continue to have a large share of their labor force in agriculture, and growth cannot occur until they experience their own agricultural transformation.
Analysis of lightning strike to overhead EHV 500 KV transmission system Jawa-Bali Crossing

One of the technical problems in the construction of overhead lines 500 kV EHV transmission system Jawa-Bali Crossing is lightning disturbance. The most dominant problem is the height of the crossing tower (376 m) and high density of lightning strikes at the tower site. The potential disruption caused by lightning in the tower leads to insulator flashover on towers that can cause a loss of power flow at 500 kV line system. Calculation and analysis of each potential lightning disturbance at 500 kV EHV overhead lines can be used as an adequate reference to technical measures in designing protection against lightning strikes for the overhead lines 500 kV EHV transmission system Jawa - Bali Crossing.
Comparative antirhinoviral activities of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and chimeric ICAM-1/immunoglobulin A molecule

We conducted a comparative study of the antirhinovirus activities of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and a chimeric ICAM-1/immunoglobulin A (IgA) molecule (ICI-5D/IgA) for nine major receptor group human rhinovirus (HRV) serotypes and for a variant of HRV-39 relatively resistant to inhibition by sICAM-1. ICI-5D/IgA inhibited the infectivity of eight of the nine wild-type HRVs and the resistant HRV-39 variant and was 60 to 170 times more potent than sICAM-1 on a molar basis. In contrast to sICAM-1, ICI-5D/IgA directly neutralized the infectivity of the representative HRVs by approximately 1 log10. These results expand on the antirhinovirus spectrum of ICI-5D/IgA, confirm that dimeric forms of sICAM-1 have a higher antirhinoviral potency than monomeric sICAM-1, and indicate that cross-linking of two adjacent receptor binding sites on the virus capsid by a divalent receptor enhances the direct inactivation of viral infectivity.
Use of a common standard improves the performance of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin-D

Background Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is becoming increasingly popular for measuring 25-hydroxyvitamin-D (25-OH-D). Results submitted to the International Quality Assessment Scheme (DEQAS) have shown poor interlaboratory agreement. We investigated whether the use of a common standard would reduce interlaboratory imprecision. Methods A commercial standard and two controls were distributed with the DEQAS samples in January 2008. Participants were asked to calculate the results of samples and controls using their usual standard and the commercial standard. A method questionnaire was also distributed. Results Use of a common standard reduced the mean interlaboratory imprecision (coefficient of variation [CV]) for total 25-OH-D from 16.4% (in-house standards) to 10.4% (common standard). For 25-OH-D3 and 25-OH-D2, the mean CVs were reduced from 16.7% and 21.1% to 8.5% and 12.6%, respectively. Mean values obtained for total 25-OH-D using the common standard were higher by 6.1%. Conclusions Use of a common standard improved agreement among laboratories using LC-MS/MS methods for 25-OH-D. This suggests that problems with assay standardization contribute to interlaboratory imprecision. This may be related to the nature of the matrix used for working standards or errors in the calibration of stock standard solutions of 25-OH-D. Some participants used a gravimetric method, others UV spectrophotometry, to establish the concentration of stock solutions. Among the latter group there was uncertainty over the molar absorption coefficient of 25-OH-D solutions. We conclude that LC-MS/MS is not yet sufficiently robust to become the reference method for 25-OH-D and that gas chromatography-mass spectrometry might be a more suitable candidate.
enter for oundations of ntelligent lystems CORNELL

The basic properties of soundness, extensibility, and stability required from a verification system V taken in full yield the necessity of having a reflection rule in every such V. However, the reflection rule based on the Gödel provability predicate (implicit provability predicate) leads to a "reflection tower" of theories which cannot be formally verified. The paper introduces an explicit reflection mechanism which can be verified inside the system. This circumvents the reflection tower and provides a strict justification for the verification process. On the practical side, the paper gives specific recommendations concerning the verification of inference rules and building a verifiable reflection mechanism for a theorem proving system.
Propolis allergy

Propolis or bee‐glue, a resinous bee‐hive product, is the cause of an increasing number of cases of allergic contact dermatitis. Formerly only observed in bee‐keepers, propolis allergy today is mainly seen in individuals who use propolis in bio‐cosmetics and self treatment of various diseases. Nearly 200 cases are summarized in an overview, including the first description of ‘poplar bud’ contact, dermatitis from 1887. As practically all flavonoid aglycones and most of the other phenolics present in propolis are identical with the bud secretion of poplars, evidence is given that the poplar bud constituents are responsible for propolis hypersensitivity.
Therapeutic effects of laparoscopic splenectomy and esophagogastric devascularization on liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension in 204 cases.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects and technical points of laparoscopic splenectomy and esophagogastric devascularization (LS+ED) for portal hypertension (PH) due to liver cirrhosis. SUBJECTS AND METHODS In total, 204 PH patients who underwent LS+ED from January 2008 to April 2013 in the Southwest Hospital of the Third Military Medical University were enrolled in this study. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data and the key technical points and compared the results with other researchers. RESULTS LS+ED was successfully carried out on 188 patients. The mean duration of surgery was 232±59 minutes, the mean intraoperative blood loss was 189±137 mL, the rate of blood transfusion was 19.6% (40/204), and no deaths occurred during surgery. The mean postoperative interval to passing of flatus was 3.5±0.9 days, and the mean postoperative hospital stay was 8.7±2.2 days. Operative complications occurred in 100 patients, of whom 78 had portal vein system thrombosis (PVST). During a postoperative follow-up period of 2-65 months, 15 cases were lost to follow-up, esophagogastric variceal bleeding re-occurred in 7 patients, encephalopathy occurred in 2 patients, and secondary liver cancer occurred in 3 patients. Five patients died during this period. CONCLUSIONS The technical points of LS+ED include a combined surgical approach, a reasonable surgical procedure, and an appropriate laparoscopic operating plane. LS+ED is a safe and effective treatment for minimal trauma and rapid recovery. PVST is a common and potentially life-threatening complication after LS+ED, and anticoagulation therapy should be given early.
Isoelectric focusing of catalase from acatalasemic mouse and human blood, and cultured human skin fibroblasts

Hemolysates of normal, heterozygous hypocatalasemic and acatalasemic mice and of Japanese acatalasemic subjects were separated into three fractions, A, B and C, by DEAE‐cellulose column chromatography, and pI values of A, B and C fractions were determined by isoelectric focusing. The pI value of catalase in the A, B and C fractions increased in the order of normal, hypocatalasemic and acatalasemic mouse blood. The results obtained from Japanese acatalasemic blood samples showed that the pI values of catalase in the A, B and C fractions were similar to those in normal blood. Catalase in Japanese acatalasemic cultured skin fibroblasts was also analyzed by isoelectric focusing. The pI values of catalase in the extract from the cultured skin acatalasemic fibroblasts was similar to that in normal fibroblasts.
Literature Survey : Pivot-based Machine Translation

Current statistical machine translation systems heavily rely on the availability of parallel corpora between the language pair involved. The good quality parallel corpus is not always available. This creates a bottleneck. One solution to solve this bottleneck is to introduce third language, named pivot language for which there exist good quality source-pivot and pivot-target bilingual corpora.