Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience Integrative Neuroscience

The earliest physiology studies on the neural basis of vocal communication focused on sensory neurons in the auditory cortex of awake squirrel monkeys Many of these studies sought to determine whether " call detector " neurons existed in this the auditory cortex. After several years, the line of work was abandoned in large part due to the lack of evidence for such neurons (Newman, 2003). But interest in the topic did not entirely abate. Several years later, Rauschecker et al. (1995) recorded from neurons in both primary auditory cortex and lateral belt of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) during presentation of vocalizations to anesthetized rhesus monkeys. They observed that neurons in lateral belt were driven more strongly by complex stimuli such as vocalizations, while A1 neurons responded most strongly to pure tones. Neurons in A1, however, appear to encode acoustic features specific to vocalizations as well. Single-units in common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) primary auditory cortex were shown to be more responsive to forward played vocalizations than those in reverse for their own species-specific calls, while cat auditory cortex neurons showed no difference between these two classes of marmoset call stimuli (Wang and Kadia, 2001). A multi-unit neurophysiology study of area CM in medial belt showed that neurons are responsive to species-specific vocalizations suggesting that several areas of primate auditory cortex are may contribute to aspects of vocalization processing (Kajikawa et al., 2008). Building
High Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency in Pregnant Women: A National Cross-Sectional Survey

An increasing number of studies suggest that vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is associated with multiple adverse health outcomes in mothers, neonates and children. There are no representative country data available on vitamin D status of pregnant women in Europe. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among Belgian pregnant women and to assess the determinants of vitamin D status in the first and third trimester of pregnancy. The women were selected via a multi-stage proportionate-to-size sampling design. Blood samples were collected and a questionnaire was completed face-to-face. 55 obstetric clinics were randomly selected and 1311 pregnant women participated in the study. The median serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25-(OH)D] concentration was significantly lower in the first trimester (20.4 ng/ml) than in third trimester (22.7 ng/ml). Of all women, 74.1% (95%CI = 71.8–76.5%) were vitamin D insufficient (25-(OH)D <30 ng/ml), 44.6% (95%CI = 41.9–47.3%) were vitamin D deficient (25-(OH)D <20 ng/ml), while 12.1% (95%CI = 10.3–13.8%) were severely vitamin D deficient (25-(OH)D <10 ng/ml). Of all women included, 62.0% reported taking vitamin D-containing multivitamins, of which only 24.2% started taking those before pregnancy. The risk of vitamin D deficiency (25-(OH)D <20 ng/ml) was significantly higher for less educated women and women who reported not going on holidays to sunny climates. The risk of severe vitamin D deficiency (25-(OH)D <10 ng/ml) decreased for women who reported alcohol consumption during pregnancy, decreased with more frequent use of sunscreen lotion and increased for smokers and women who reported preference for shadow. In conclusion, vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent among pregnant women in Belgium and this raises concerns about the health consequences for the mother and the offspring. A targeted screening strategy to detect and treat women at high risk of severe vitamin D deficiency is needed in Belgium and in Europe.
Distinct pharmacological properties of ET-1 and ET-3 on astroglial gap junctions and Ca2+signaling.

Astrocytes represent a major target for endothelins (ETs), a family of peptides that have potent and multiple effects on signal transduction pathways and can be released by several cell types in the brain. In the present study we have investigated the involvement of different ET receptor subtypes on intercellular dye diffusion, intracellular Ca2+homeostasis, and intercellular Ca2+ signaling in cultured rat astrocytes from hippocampus and striatum. Depending on the ET concentration and the receptor involved, ET-1- and ET-3-induced intracellular Ca2+ increases with different response patterns. Both ET-1 and ET-3 are powerful inhibitors of gap junctional permeability and intercellular Ca2+ signaling. The nonselective ET receptor agonist sarafotoxin S6b and the ETB receptor-selective agonist IRL 1620 mimicked these inhibitions. The ET-3 effects were only marginally affected by an ETA receptor antagonist but completely blocked by an ETB receptor antagonist. However, the ET-1-induced inhibition of gap junctional dye transfer and intercellular Ca2+ signaling was only marginally blocked by ETA or ETB receptor-selective antagonists but fully prevented when these antagonists were applied together. The ET-induced inhibition of gap junction permeability and intercellular Ca2+ signaling indicates that important changes in the function of astroglial communication might occur when the level of ETs in the brain is increased.
Nitric oxide in the regulation of vasomotor tone in human skeletal muscle.

The role of nitric oxide (NO) as a regulator of vasomotor tone has been investigated in resting and exercising human skeletal muscle. At rest, NO synthase (NOS) inhibition by intra-arterial infusion of N G-monomethyl-l-arginine decreased femoral artery blood flow (FABF, ultrasound Doppler) from 0.39 ± 0.08 to 0.18 ± 0.03 l/min ( P < 0.01), i.e., by ∼52%, and increased leg O2 extraction from 62.1 ± 9.8 to 100.9 ± 4.5 ml/l ( P < 0.004); thus leg O2 uptake (V˙o 2, 22 ± 4 ml/min, ∼0.75 ml ⋅ min-1 ⋅ 100 g-1) was unaltered [not significant ( P = NS)]. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) increased by 8 ± 2 mmHg ( P < 0.01). Heart rate (HR, 53 ± 3 beats/min) was unaltered ( P = NS). The NOS inhibition had, however, no effect on the initial rate of rise or the magnitude of FABF (4.8 ± 0.4 l/min, ∼163 ml ⋅ min-1 ⋅ 100 g-1), MAP (117 ± 3 mmHg), HR (98 ± 5 beats/min), or legV˙o 2 (704 ± 55 ml/min, ∼24 ml ⋅ min-1 ⋅ 100 g-1, P = NS) during submaximal, one-legged, dynamic knee-extensor exercise. Similarly, FABF (7.6 ± 1.0 l/min, ∼258 ml ⋅ min-1 ⋅ 100 g-1), MAP (140 ± 8 mmHg), and leg V˙o 2(1,173 ± 139 ml/min, ∼40 ml ⋅ min-1 ⋅ 100 g-1) were unaffected at termination of peak effort ( P = NS). Peak HR (137 ± 3 beats/min) was, however, lowered by 10% ( P < 0.01). During recovery, NOS inhibition reduced FABF by ∼34% ( P< 0.04), which was compensated for by an increase in the leg O2 extraction by ∼41% ( P < 0.04); thus legV˙o 2 was unaltered ( P = NS). In conclusion, these findings indicate that NO is not essential for the initiation or maintenance of active hyperemia in human skeletal muscle but support a role for NO during rest, including recovery from exercise. Moreover, changes in blood flow during rest and recovery caused by NOS inhibition are accompanied by reciprocal changes in O2 extraction, and thusV˙o 2 is maintained.
Effect of immune response on gene transfer to the lung via systemic administration of cationic lipidic vectors.

Cationic lipid-mediated intravenous gene delivery shows promise in treating pulmonary diseases including lung tumor metastases, pulmonary hypertension, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Nevertheless, clinical applications of cationic lipidic vectors via intravenous administration are limited by their transient gene expression. In addition, repeated dosing is not effective at frequent intervals. In an effort to elucidate the mechanism of gene inactivation, we report in this study that cationic lipid-protamine-DNA (LPD) complexes, but not each component alone, can induce a high level of cytokine production, including interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α. Furthermore, we demonstrate that LPD administration triggers apoptosis in the lung, a phenomenon that may be mediated in part by the two cytokines. Treatment of mice with antibodies against the two cytokines prolongs the duration of gene expression and also improves lung transfection on a second administration of LPD. Although the mechanism underlying LPD-induced cytokine production is unclear, methylation of the DNA significantly decreased the level of both interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α, suggesting that unmethylated CpG sequences in plasmid DNA play an important role. These data suggest that decreasing the CpG-mediated immune response while not affecting gene expression may be a useful therapeutic strategy to improve cationic lipid-mediated intravenous gene delivery to the lung.
The Best Rank-One Approximation Ratio of a Tensor Space

In this paper we define the best rank-one approximation ratio of a tensor space. It turns out that in the finite dimensional case this provides an upper bound for the quotient of the residual of the best rank-one approximation of any tensor in that tensor space and the norm of that tensor. This upper bound is strictly less than one, and it gives a convergence rate for the greedy rank-one update algorithm. For finite dimensional general tensor spaces, third order finite dimensional symmetric tensor spaces, and finite biquadratic tensor spaces, we give positive lower bounds for the best rank-one approximation ratio. For finite symmetric tensor spaces and finite dimensional biquadratic tensor spaces, we give upper bounds for this ratio.
Acute effects of thyroid hormones on the production of adrenal cAMP and corticosterone in male rats.

The acute effects of thyroid hormones on glucocorticoid secretion were studied. Venous blood samples were collected from male rats after they received intravenous 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3) or thyroxine (T4). Zona fasciculata-reticularis (ZFR) cells were treated with adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), T3, T4, ACTH plus T3, or ACTH plus T4 at 37°C for 2 h. Corticosterone concentrations in plasma and cell media, and also adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) production in ZFR cells in the presence of 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, were determined. The effects of thyroid hormones on the activities of steroidogenic enzymes of ZFR cells were measured by the amounts of intermediate steroidal products separated by thin-layer chromatography. Administration of T3 and T4 suppressed the basal and the ACTH-stimulated levels of plasma corticosterone. In ZFR cells, both thyroid hormones inhibited ACTH-stimulated corticosterone secretion, but the basal corticosterone was inhibited only with T3>10-10 M or T4>10-8 M. Likewise, T3 or T4 at 10-7 M inhibited the basal- and ACTH-stimulated levels of intracellular cAMP. Physiological doses of T3 and T4 decreased the activities of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, 21-hydroxylase, and 11β-hydroxylase. These results suggest that thyroid hormones counteract ACTH in adrenal steroidogenesis through their inhibition of cAMP production in ZFR cells.
Virtual travel collisions

Travel methods are the most basic and widespread interaction method with virtual environments. They are the primary and often the only way the user interactively experiences the environment. We present a study composed of three experiments that investigates how virtual collisions methods and feedback impact user perception of the realism of collisions and the virtual environment. A wand-based virtual travel method was used to navigate maze environments in an immersive projective system. The results indicated that the introduction of collision handling significantly improved the user's perception of the realism of the environment and collisions. An effect of feedback on the perceived level of realism of collisions and solidity of the environment was also found. Our results indicate that feedback should be context appropriate, e.g. fitting to a collision with the object; yet, the modality and richness of feedback were only important in that traditional color change feedback did not perform as well as audio or haptic feedback. In combination, the experiments indicated that in immersive virtual environments the stop collision handling method produced a more realistic impression than the slide method that is popular in games. In total, the study suggests that feedback fitting the collision context, coupled with the stop handling method, provides the best perceived realism of collisions and scene.
Data locality optimizations for iterative numerical algorithms and cellular automata on hierarchical memory architectures

In order to mitigate the impact of the constantly widening gap between processor speed and main memory performance on the runtimes of application codes, today’s computer architectures commonly employ hierarchical memory designs including several levels of cache memories. Efficient program execution can only be expected if the underlying hierarchical memory architecture is respected. This is particularly true for numerically intensive codes. Unfortunately, current compilers are unable to introduce sophisticated cache-based code transformations. As a consequence, much of the tedious and error-prone optimization effort is left to the software developer. In the case of a parallel numerical application running on a cluster of workstations, for example, hierarchical memory optimization represents a crucial task that must be addressed in addition to typical parallelization objectives such as efficient load balancing and the minimization of communication overhead. The tuning of the utilization of the memory hierarchy covers a wide spectrum of techniques ranging from hardware-based technologies (e.g., data prefetching mechanisms) to compiler-based code transformations (e.g., restructuring loops) as well as fundamental algorithmic modifications. The latter may treat increased computational work for reduced memory costs, for example, and are a long way from being introduced automatically by a compiler. In general, achieving both high runtime efficiency and code portability represents a software engineering challenge that must be faced whenever designing numerical libraries. In this thesis, we will present approaches towards the optimization of the data locality of implementations of grid-based numerical algorithms. In particular, we will concentrate on multigrid methods based on structured meshes as well as cellular automata in both 2D and 3D. As a representative example of cellular automata, we will consider the lattice Boltzmann method for simulating fluid flow problems. Furthermore, we will discuss a novel approach towards inherently cache-aware multigrid methods. Our algorithm, which is based on the theory of the fully adaptive multigrid method, employs a patch-adaptive processing strategy. It is thus characterized by a high utilization of the cache hierarchy. Moreover, due to its adaptive update strategy, this scheme performs more robustly than classical multigrid algorithms in the case of singularly perturbed problems.
Products of Caddis-fly Larvae ( Trichoptera) Silk Glands as a New Natural Textile Fibre

Among the invertebrates, some insects are able to produce natural silk fibres which can serve as an alternative to the threads of the spider’s web. The larvae of the caddis-fly make use of a multifunctional silky floss in producing hunting nets and residential tubular structures. Many species of caddis-fly build their capture webs in fast-flowing rivers. Therefore we suggest that such fibres must be strong. However, these webs have been studied and researched previously, taking into consideration the webs’ shape and the geometry of the meshes. This paper presents preliminary results concerning some of the web material’s morphological properties and tensile strength. We investigated the product of silk gland coming from Hydropsyche pellucidula, which is one of the most common caddisflies in Polish lowland rivers. Our researches proved that a cross-section of caddisfly fibres is circular, with an average diameter of 10 µm. The mean tensile strength of the fibres investigated is 45 cN/tex (5.7 ⋅109 N/m2), and is comparable to the strength of most spider thread.
Paracrine upregulation of VEGF receptor mRNA in endothelial cells by hypoxia-exposed Hep G2 cells.

Although vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a role in the growth of hypervascular tumors, mechanisms for paracrine regulation of its receptor expression on vascular endothelial cells remain unknown. This study aimed to investigate whether VEGF released from hypoxia-exposed Hep G2 cells alters expression of the two distinct receptors, kinase insert domain-containing receptor (KDR) and fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 ( flt-1), in human umbilical venous endothelial cells (HUVEC). Hep G2 cells were cultured in 20% or 1% O2 for 16 h to examine induction of VEGF mRNA and its protein expression. Conditioned medium from Hep G2 cells (CM) was applied to HUVEC under normoxic conditions, and expression of mRNA for the VEGF receptors was determined by RT-PCR. In response to the hypoxic challenge, Hep G2 cells upregulated VEGF mRNA and the release of VEGF. Hypoxia-CM preferentially stimulated the mRNA expression of flt-1 but not that of KDR in HUVEC. When the VEGF release from hypoxia-exposed Hep G2 cells was blocked by its antisense oligodeoxynucleotide, the endothelial flt-1 mRNA upregulation elicited by the hypoxia-CM was still maintained. These results suggest that hypoxia-exposed Hep G2 cells not only produce VEGF but also evolve paracrine induction of flt-1 through VEGF-independent mechanisms.
Effects of low-intensity ultrasound combined with low-dose carboplatin in an orthotopic hamster model of tongue cancer: A preclinical study

Low-intensity ultrasound (LIUS) combined with chemotherapy is an innovative modality for cancer treatment, but its effect on orthotopic carcinoma remains unknown. Our previous study revealed that LIUS enhanced the growth inhibitory effects of several chemotherapeutic drugs in nude mice with transplanted tumors. In the present study, we used 7,12-dimethylbenz(alpha)anthracene to induce orthotopic tongue carcinogenesis in hamsters. We used the first-line chemotherapy drug for tongue cancer, carboplatin (CBP) in combination with LIUS to investigate the synergistic effect. The results revealed that LIUS combined with low-dose CBP enhanced the inhibitory effects of CBP on tumor growth, prolonged survival, and did not increase the incidence of side-effects. It also enhanced the inherent DNA damage caused by CBP, suppressed the expression of the DNA repair proteins O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) and Chk1, and increased the expression of DNA damage-inducible protein GADD45α. Furthermore, compared with CBP alone, LIUS combined with CBP reduced the expression of cyclin D1 and cyclin B1, induced the expression of caspase-3, cleaved caspase-3, caspase-8, Bax, and Bak, and inhibited the expression of Bcl-2. Examination of clinical samples revealed that MGMT, Chk1, and Gadd45α were higher in OTSCC than in adjacent normal tissue. Hence, our results indicated that LIUS enhanced the ability of low-dose CBP to damage DNA in an orthotopic hamster model of tongue cancer, induced apoptosis, inhibited tumor growth and progression, while it did not increase the toxic side-effects of the drug, suggesting additional clinical benefits for patients treated with the combination of CBP with LIUS.
Role of nitric oxide and cGMP in human septic serum-induced depression of cardiac myocyte contractility.

Previous studies have demonstrated the existence of a circulating myocardial depressant substance during human septic shock. We have recently identified this substance as a synergistic combination of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β). This study utilized an in vitro cardiac myocyte assay to evaluate the potential mechanistic role of nitric oxide (NO) and cGMP in depression of myocyte contractility induced by TNF-α, IL-1β, TNF-α + IL-1β (at low concentrations), and human septic shock serum (HSS). TNF-α, IL-1β, TNF-α + IL-1β, and each of 5 sera from patients with acute septic shock caused depression of both maximum extent and peak velocity of cardiac myocyte shortening and an increase in intracellular cGMP concentration during 30 min of exposure (minimum P < 0.01). NO synthetase (NOS) and guanylate cyclase inhibitors such as N-methyl-l-arginine (l-NMA) and methylene blue prevented these effects; an excess ofl-arginine withl-NMA restored them (minimum P < 0.01). In contrast,d-arginine failed to reestablish cytokine-induced myocyte depression and cGMP accumulation prevented byl-NMA. Exposure of myocytes to TNF-α, IL-1β, or TNF-α + IL-1β produced a concentration-dependent increase in intracellular cGMP that paralleled the depression of cardiac myocyte contractility (minimum P < 0.001). In addition, TNF-α, IL-1β, TNF-α + IL-1β, or HSS application to cardiac myocytes resulted in increased NO gas generation, which was inhibited byl-NMA (minimum P < 0.01). Furthermore, unstimulated cardiac myocytes were shown to harbor constitutive but not inducible NOS activity. These data suggest that the sequential generation of NO by a constitutive NOS and cGMP by guanylate cyclase represents an important mechanism of cardiac myocyte depression by TNF-α, IL-1β, TNF-α + IL-1β, and the myocardial depressant substance(s) of septic shock.
Diamond-based materials for biomedical applications

In undergoing this life, many people always try to do and get the best. New knowledge, experience, lesson, and everything that can improve the life will be done. However, many people sometimes feel confused to get those things. Feeling the limited of experience and sources to be better is one of the lacks to own. However, there is a very simple thing that can be done. This is what your teacher always manoeuvres you to do this one. Yeah, reading is the answer. Reading a book as this diamond based materials for biomedical applications and other references can enrich your life quality. How can it be?
Flying the RNA Nest: Drosophila Reveals Novel Insights into the Transcriptome Dynamics of Early Development

Early development is punctuated by a series of pervasive and fast paced transitions. These events reshape a differentiated oocyte into a totipotent embryo and allow it to gradually mount a genetic program of its own, thereby framing a new organism. Specifically, developmental transitions that ensure the maternal to embryonic control of developmental events entail a deep remodeling of transcriptional and transcriptomic landscapes. Drosophila provides an elegant and genetically tractable system to investigate these conserved changes at a dazzling developmental pace. Here, we review recent studies applying emerging technologies such as ribosome profiling, in situ Hi-C chromatin probing and live embryo RNA imaging to investigate the transcriptional dynamics at play during Drosophila embryogenesis. In light of this new literature, we revisit the main models of zygotic genome activation (ZGA). We also review the contributions played by zygotic transcription in shaping embryogenesis and explore emerging concepts of processes such as transcriptional bursting and transcriptional memory.