Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characteristics of Delayed Rectifier Potassium Channels Exposed to 3 mT Static Magnetic Field

To investigate the characteristics of delayed rectifier potassium channel of cells under moderate intensity static magnetic field, the delayed rectifier potassium channel currents (IK) of acutely isolated mouse prefrontal cortex pyramidal neurons were examined. IK was measured and recorded after the neurons were exposed to 3 mT static magnetic field for 15,30, and 60 min. The results demonstrated that the 3 mT static magnetic field can change the characteristics of delayed rectifier potassium channel and reduce the amplitudes of IK. The maximum activated current densities of control group and 30 min exposure group were respectively 173.61 ± 30.68 pA/pF and 111.80 ± 17.17 pA/pF (n = 10, P <; 0.05). The half-activation voltage of the activation curves changed from -1.08 ± 2.17 mV to 10.63 ± 1.51 mV (n = 10, P <; 0.05) and the slope factor changed from 22.26 ± 2.99 mV to 17.90 ± 1.85 mV (n = 10, P <; 0.05). No change was noted in the inactivation process. The results show that moderate-intensity static magnetic field can change the characteristics of delayed rectifier potassium channel on the cell membrane, and further it may affect the physiological functions of neurons.
Intellectual and motor development of young adults with congenital hypothyroidism diagnosed by neonatal screening.

CONTEXT Long-term follow-up data on cognitive and motor functioning in adult patients with congenital hypothyroidism, diagnosed by neonatal screening, are scarce. Hence, it is still unclear whether the frequently reported cognitive and motor deficits observed during childhood persist in adulthood. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to examine cognitive and motor functioning in young adults with congenital hypothyroidism, born in the first 2 yr after the introduction of the Dutch neonatal screening program. DESIGN/SETTING/PATIENTS Seventy patients were tested (mean age, 21.5 yr); 49 of them were previously tested at 9.5 yr. The median age at the start of treatment was 28 d (range, 4-293 d). Congenital hypothyroidism was classified as severe, moderate, or mild, according to pretreatment T(4) concentrations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENT The main outcome measurement was the influence of the severity of congenital hypothyroidism and age at which T(4) supplementation was started on cognitive and motor outcome. RESULTS Patients, particularly those with severe congenital hypothyroidism, had significantly higher (i.e. worse) motor scores (total score, 7.8; ball skills, 2.0; balance, 4.1) compared with controls (total score, 3.2; ball skills, 0.7; balance, 1.1), and lower full-scale (95.8), verbal (96.4), and performance (95.6) intelligence quotient (IQ) scores than the normal population. No significant change in IQ from childhood to adulthood was found, and for the majority of patients, motor score classification remained the same. The severity of congenital hypothyroidism, but not the starting day of treatment, was correlated with IQ and motor scores. CONCLUSIONS It is concluded that the severity of congenital hypothyroidism, but not the timing of treatment initiation, is an important factor determining long-term cognitive and motor outcome. Clearly, detrimental effects on developmental outcome in patients with congenital hypothyroidism persist over time.
Biogas Production from Vietnamese Animal Manure, Plant Residues and Organic Waste: Influence of Biomass Composition on Methane Yield

Anaerobic digestion is an efficient and renewable energy technology that can produce biogas from a variety of biomasses such as animal manure, food waste and plant residues. In developing countries this technology is widely used for the production of biogas using local biomasses, but there is little information about the value of these biomasses for energy production. This study was therefore carried out with the objective of estimating the biogas production potential of typical Vietnamese biomasses such as animal manure, slaughterhouse waste and plant residues, and developing a model that relates methane (CH4) production to the chemical characteristics of the biomass. The biochemical methane potential (BMP) and biomass characteristics were measured. Results showed that piglet manure produced the highest CH4 yield of 443 normal litter (NL) CH4 kg−1 volatile solids (VS) compared to 222 from cows, 177 from sows, 172 from rabbits, 169 from goats and 153 from buffaloes. Methane production from duckweed (Spirodela polyrrhiza) was higher than from lawn grass and water spinach at 340, 220, and 110.6 NL CH4 kg−1 VS, respectively. The BMP experiment also demonstrated that the CH4 production was inhibited with chicken manure, slaughterhouse waste, cassava residue and shoe-making waste. Statistical analysis showed that lipid and lignin are the most significant predictors of BMP. The model was developed from knowledge that the BMP was related to biomass content of lipid, lignin and protein from manure and plant residues as a percentage of VS with coefficient of determination (R-square) at 0.95. This model was applied to calculate the CH4 yield for a household with 17 fattening pigs in the highlands and lowlands of northern Vietnam.
EB1 Recognizes the Nucleotide State of Tubulin in the Microtubule Lattice

Plus-end-tracking proteins (+TIPs) are localized at the fast-growing, or plus end, of microtubules, and link microtubule ends to cellular structures. One of the best studied +TIPs is EB1, which forms comet-like structures at the tips of growing microtubules. The molecular mechanisms by which EB1 recognizes and tracks growing microtubule ends are largely unknown. However, one clue is that EB1 can bind directly to a microtubule end in the absence of other proteins. Here we use an in vitro assay for dynamic microtubule growth with two-color total-internal-reflection-fluorescence imaging to investigate binding of mammalian EB1 to both stabilized and dynamic microtubules. We find that under conditions of microtubule growth, EB1 not only tip tracks, as previously shown, but also preferentially recognizes the GMPCPP microtubule lattice as opposed to the GDP lattice. The interaction of EB1 with the GMPCPP microtubule lattice depends on the E-hook of tubulin, as well as the amount of salt in solution. The ability to distinguish different nucleotide states of tubulin in microtubule lattice may contribute to the end-tracking mechanism of EB1.
Adaptation of Morph-Based Speech Recognition for Foreign Names and Acronyms

In this paper, we improve morph-based speech recognition system by focusing adaptation efforts on acronyms (ACRs) and foreign proper names (FPNs). An unsupervised language model (LM) adaptation framework based on two-pass decoding is used. Vocabulary adaptation is applied alongside unsupervised LM adaptation. The aim is to improve both language and pronunciation modeling for FPNs and ACRs. A smart selection algorithm is used to find the most likely topically related foreign words and acronyms from in-domain text. New pronunciation rules are generated for the selected words. Different kinds of morpheme adaptation operations are also evaluated on the ACR and FPN candidate words, to ensure optimal results are gained from pronunciation adaptation. Statistically significant improvements in average word error rate (WER), and term error rate (TER), are achieved using a combination of unsupervised LM adaptation with vocabulary adaptation focused on ACRs and FPNs.
The Gap between Public Preferences and Policies on Immigration: A Comparative Examination of the Effect of Politicisation on Policy Congruence

The existence of a gap between public preferences for more restrictive immigration policies and relatively expansive immigration policy in Western democracies has received considerable attention. Sometimes, this gap has been explained by the nature of immigration policies: dominated by elites while the public remained uninterested. In many countries, however, immigration has gained considerable salience among the public. There are competing expectations and accounts relating to whether policy-makers ignore or follow public demands on immigration. In this article we examine the potential drivers of variations in the opinion–policy gap on immigration in seven countries (1995–2010). We analyse the effect of the politicisation of immigration on this opinion–policy gap. The strength of anti-immigrant parties is unrelated to the opinion–policy gap on immigration. The salience of the issue and the intensity of the public debate are associated with the opinion–policy gap, and the combination of negative attitudes with extensive media coverage seems particularly conducive to policy congruence.
Aptamer‐based downstream processing of his‐tagged proteins utilizing magnetic beads

Aptamers are synthetic nucleic acid‐based high affinity ligands that are able to capture their corresponding target via molecular recognition. Here, aptamer‐based affinity purification for His‐tagged proteins was developed. Two different aptamers directed against the His‐tag were immobilized on magnetic beads covalently. The resulting aptamer‐modified magnetic beads were characterized and successfully applied for purification of different His‐tagged proteins from complex E. coli cell lysates. Purification effects comparable to conventional immobilized metal affinity chromatography were achieved in one single purification step. Moreover, we have investigated the possibility to regenerate and reuse the aptamer‐modified magnetic beads and have shown their long‐term stability over a period of 6 months. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2011;108: 2371–2379. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Role of Autonomic Nervous System and Orexinergic System on Adipose Tissue

Adipose tissue, defined as white adipose tissue (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT), is a biological caloric reservoir; in response to over-nutrition it expands and, in response to energy deficit, it releases lipids. The WAT primarily stores energy as triglycerides, whereas BAT dissipates chemical energy as heat. In mammals, the BAT is a key site for heat production and an attractive target to promote weight loss. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) exerts a direct control at the cellular and molecular levels in adiposity. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) provides a complex homeostatic control to specifically coordinate function and crosstalk of both fat pads, as indicated by the increase of the sympathetic outflow to BAT, in response to cold and high-fat diet, but also by the increase or decrease of the sympathetic outflow to selected WAT depots, in response to different lipolytic requirements of these two conditions. More recently, a role has been attributed to the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) in modulating both adipose tissue insulin-mediated glucose uptake and fatty free acid (FFA) metabolism in an anabolic way and its endocrine function. The regulation of adipose tissue is unlikely to be limited to the autonomic control, since a number of signaling cytokines and neuropeptides play an important role, as well. In this review, we report some experimental evidences about the role played by both the ANS and orexins into different fat pads, related to food intake and energy expenditure, with a special emphasis on body weight status and fat mass (FM) content.
An evidence-based assessment of federal guidelines for overweight and obesity as they apply to elderly persons.

BACKGROUND The US Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults set the body mass index (BMI; weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) of 25 as the upper limit of ideal weight for all adults regardless of age. However, the prognostic importance of overweight and obesity in elderly persons (>/=65 years) is controversial. We sought to analyze the guidelines in the context of currently available evidence that is relevant to older adults. METHODS We searched MEDLINE for all English-language studies of the association between BMI and all-cause or cardiovascular mortality or coronary heart disease events from January 1966 through October 1999. Additional pertinent articles were identified through bibliographies of the MEDLINE articles. We selected studies for detailed review if they reported on the association between BMI and mortality for nonhospitalized subjects who were 65 years or older and had been followed up for at least 3 years. We controlled for age, smoking, and baseline health status. Of the 444 screened articles, 13 were selected to assess the guidelines. We extracted information regarding publication year, study design, population, recruitment period, follow-up duration, number of subjects, sex, age range, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and statistical models, including variables and end points. RESULTS These data do not support the BMI range of 25 to 27 as a risk factor for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among elderly persons. The results were not substantially different for men and women. Most studies showed a negative or no association between BMI and all-cause mortality. Three studies indicated overweight (BMI >/=27) as a significant prognostic factor for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among 65- to 74-year-olds, and one study showed a significant positive association between overweight (BMI >/=28) and all-cause mortality among those 75 years or older. Higher BMI values were consistent with a smaller relative mortality risk in elderly persons compared with young and middle-aged populations. CONCLUSIONS Federal guideline standards for ideal weight (BMI 18.7 to <25) may be overly restrictive as they apply to the elderly. Studies do not support overweight, as opposed to obesity, as conferring an excess mortality risk. Future guidelines should consider the evidence for specific age groups when establishing standards for healthy weight.
Contacting the Government among College Students

The literature on political participation indicates that initiating contacts with the government is a vital form of civic engagement. Using this criterion to define participation, some researchers claim that students in general are apathetic about government and have poor efficacy about public affairs. The present study examines this assumption by exploring 18 factors that may influence college-student-initiated contact with federal, state, and local governments. A survey is administered to a random sample of 3500 students in five American states, namely Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. Findings suggest that students are neither apathetic nor lacking efficacy as 64% of them have initiated at least one contact in a 12-month period and many have even contacted more than once. Using multiple regression reveals that 11 factors influence students' contacting, namely age, level at college, gender, needs, efficacy, political and civic affiliation, final recipient of services, goods and information, role of teachers, class discussions, campus environment, and availability of computers and the Internet. These findings and their implications are discussed in detail.
REGENERATIVE CAPACITY OF VENTRAL ROOTS AFTER AVULSION FROM THE SPINAL CORD

The object of this paper is to prove unfounded the prevailing assumption that ventral nerve roots cannot regenerate if avulsed from the spinal cord. That they do not regenerate in man is general clinical experience, certainly. Yet in exploring to their limits the regenerative capacities of various parts of the nervous system, one may find that clinical experience is a too conservative guide. One would like to know whether the failure to regenerate is primarily one of the nerve tissue or is secondarily due to obstacles interposed. If the latter, surgical intervention may be at least considered. If the former, the condition is perhaps still not irremediable, but the approach will be through other than surgical channels. The present report is concerned with demonstrating that in cats avulsion of ventral spinal roots is compatible with regenerative activity on the part of the neurons involved, even to the extent of functional
Survival advantage for elderly trauma patients treated in a designated trauma center.

BACKGROUND This article analyzes the effectiveness of designated trauma centers (DTCs) in Florida concerning reduction in the mortality risk of severely injured elderly trauma victims. METHODS Inpatient hospital data collected by the Agency for Health Care Administration were used to identify elderly trauma patients. An instrumental variables method was used to adjust for prehospital selection bias in addition to the influence of age, gender, race, risk of mortality, comorbidities, and type of injury. The model was estimated using a bivariate probit full information maximum likelihood model to determine the impact of triage to a trauma center as opposed to a nontrauma hospital. RESULTS After adjusting for confounding influences, treatment at a DTC was associated with a statistically significant reduction of 0.072, 0.040, and 0.036 in the probability of mortality for patients in the age groups 65 years to 74 years, 75 years to 84 years, and ≥ 85 years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Treatment of severely injured elderly trauma patients in DTCs is associated with statistically significant gains in the probability of survival.
Health-related quality of life and treatment satisfaction in patients with gout: results from a cross-sectional study in a managed care setting

Background Patient satisfaction with treatment directly impacts adherence to medication. Objective The objective was to assess and compare treatment satisfaction with the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM), gout-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) with the Gout Impact Scale (GIS), and generic HRQoL with the SF-12v2® Health Survey (SF-12) in patients with gout in a real-world practice setting. Methods This cross-sectional mail survey included gout patients enrolled in a large commercial health plan in the US. Patients were ≥18 years with self-reported gout diagnosis, who filled ≥1 prescription for febuxostat during April 26, 2012 to July 26, 2012 and were not taking any other urate-lowering therapies. The survey included the TSQM version II (TSQM vII, score 0–100, higher scores indicate better satisfaction), GIS (score 0–100, higher scores indicate worse condition), and SF-12 (physical component summary and mental component summary). Patients were stratified by self-report of currently experiencing a gout attack or not to assess the discriminant ability of the questionnaires. Results A total of 257 patients were included in the analysis (mean age, 54.9 years; 87% male). Patients with current gout attack (n=29, 11%) had worse scores than those without gout attack on most instrument scales. Mean differences between current attack and no current attack for the TSQM domains were: −20.6, effectiveness; −10.6, side effects; −12.1, global satisfaction (all P<0.05); and −6.1, convenience (NS). For the GIS, mean differences were: 30.5, gout overall concern; 14.6, gout medication side effects; 22.7, unmet gout treatment needs; 11.5, gout concern during attack (all P<0.05); and 7.9, well-being during attack (NS). Mean difference in SF-12 was −6.6 for physical component summary (P<0.05) and −2.9 for mental component summary (NS). Correlations between several TSQM and GIS scales were moderate. Conclusion The TSQM and GIS were complementary in evaluating the impact of gout flare on treatment satisfaction and HRQoL. Correlations between the two instruments supported the relationship between treatment satisfaction and HRQoL.
Selection for Staphylococcus aureus small-colony variants due to growth in the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Opportunistic infections are often polymicrobial. Two of the most important bacterial opportunistic pathogens of humans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, frequently are coisolated from infections of catheters, endotracheal tubes, skin, eyes, and the respiratory tract, including the airways of people with cystic fibrosis (CF). Here, we show that suppression of S. aureus respiration by a P. aeruginosa exoproduct, 4-hydroxy-2-heptylquinoline-N-oxide (HQNO), protects S. aureus during coculture from killing by commonly used aminoglycoside antibiotics such as tobramycin. Furthermore, prolonged growth of S. aureus with either P. aeruginosa or with physiological concentrations of pure HQNO selects for typical S. aureus small-colony variants (SCVs), well known for stable aminoglycoside resistance and persistence in chronic infections, including those found in CF. We detected HQNO in the sputum of CF patients infected with P. aeruginosa, but not in uninfected patients, suggesting that this HQNO-mediated interspecies interaction occurs in CF airways. Thus, in all coinfections with P. aeruginosa, S. aureus may be underappreciated as a pathogen because of the formation of antibiotic-resistant and difficult to detect small-colony variants. Interspecies microbial interactions, analogous to those mediated by HQNO, commonly may alter not only the course of disease and the response to therapy, but also the population structure of bacterial communities that promote the health of host animals, plants, and ecosystems.
Roger W. Shuy and Anna Shnukal (eds.), Language use and the uses of language . Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1980. Pp. viii + 296.

Ekman, P. (1979). About brows: Emotional and conversational signals. In M. von Cranach, K. Foppa, W. Lepenies, & E. Ploog (eds.), Human ethology. Cambridge University Press. 169-202. Ekman, P. & Friesen, W. (1978). The facial action coding system. Palo Alto, Ca. : Consulting Psychologists' Press. Griffin, D. (1981). The question of animal awareness: Evolutionary continuity of mental experience (Revised edition). New York: Rockefeller University Press. McNeill, D. (1979). The conceptual basis of language. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Osgood, C. (1979). What is a language? In D. Aaronson & R. Rieber (eds.), Psycholinguistic research: Past, present, and future. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Posner, R. (1980). Semantics and pragmatics of sentence connectives in natural language. In F. Kiefer & J. Searle (eds.), Speech act theory and pragmatics. Dordrecht: D. Reidel. Sebeok, T. (1979). A semiotic canter from Clever Hans to signing apes. In T. Sebeok (ed.), The sign and its masters. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Trashing with Trollope: A Deconstruction of the Postal Rules in Contract

The English' law of contract contains rules whereby (simplifying somewhat) an offeree's letter of acceptance to the offeror is effective on posting, whilst an offeror's letter of revocation to the offeree is effective only on delivery. The decisions which established these rules offered various justifications for them, but it has for some time been accepted that these justifications are not wholly successful. It has proved harder, however, to find satisfactory alternative explanations. This article2 looks at some possible theses, above all in terms of the way the postal service was perceived at the time of the seminal decisions-some illumination of which can be found in the writing of Anthony Trollope.