Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oxidative stress and life histories: unresolved issues and current needs

Abstract Life‐history theory concerns the trade‐offs that mold the patterns of investment by animals between reproduction, growth, and survival. It is widely recognized that physiology plays a role in the mediation of life‐history trade‐offs, but the details remain obscure. As life‐history theory concerns aspects of investment in the soma that influence survival, understanding the physiological basis of life histories is related, but not identical, to understanding the process of aging. One idea from the field of aging that has gained considerable traction in the area of life histories is that life‐history trade‐offs may be mediated by free radical production and oxidative stress. We outline here developments in this field and summarize a number of important unresolved issues that may guide future research efforts. The issues are as follows. First, different tissues and macromolecular targets of oxidative stress respond differently during reproduction. The functional significance of these changes, however, remains uncertain. Consequently there is a need for studies that link oxidative stress measurements to functional outcomes, such as survival. Second, measurements of oxidative stress are often highly invasive or terminal. Terminal studies of oxidative stress in wild animals, where detailed life‐history information is available, cannot generally be performed without compromising the aims of the studies that generated the life‐history data. There is a need therefore for novel non‐invasive measurements of multi‐tissue oxidative stress. Third, laboratory studies provide unrivaled opportunities for experimental manipulation but may fail to expose the physiology underpinning life‐history effects, because of the benign laboratory environment. Fourth, the idea that oxidative stress might underlie life‐history trade‐offs does not make specific enough predictions that are amenable to testing. Moreover, there is a paucity of good alternative theoretical models on which contrasting predictions might be based. Fifth, there is an enormous diversity of life‐history variation to test the idea that oxidative stress may be a key mediator. So far we have only scratched the surface. Broadening the scope may reveal new strategies linked to the processes of oxidative damage and repair. Finally, understanding the trade‐offs in life histories and understanding the process of aging are related but not identical questions. Scientists inhabiting these two spheres of activity seldom collide, yet they have much to learn from each other.
CD4 CD25 T Regulatory Cells Dependent on ICOS Promote Regulation of Effector Cells in the Prediabetic Lesion

CD4 CD25 T regulatory cells (Tregs) prevent autoimmune disease, yet little is known about precisely where they exert their influence naturally in a spontaneous autoimmune disorder. Here, we report that Tregs and T effector cells (Teffs) coexist within the pancreatic lesion before type 1 diabetes onset. We find that BDC2.5 T cell receptor transgenic animals contain a small subset of FoxP3 positive CD4 CD25 CD69 cells in the pancreas, actively turning over, expressing the clonotypic receptor, and containing functional regulatory activity. Gene expression profiling confirms that the CD4 CD25 CD69 cells in pancreatic tissue express transcripts diagnostic of regulatory cells, but with significantly higher levels of interleukin 10 and inducible costimulator (ICOS) than their lymph node counterparts. Blockade of ICOS rapidly converts early insulitis to diabetes, which disrupts the balance of Teffs and Tregs and promotes a very broad shift in the expression of the T regulatory–specific profile. Thus, CD4 CD25 69 Tregs operate directly in the autoimmune lesion and are dependent on ICOS to keep it in a nondestructive state.
A Comparative Study of Visual Evoked Potential between Dominant and Non-Dominant Eyes in Males.

The objective was to study the P100 latency and amplitude in Visual Evoked Potentials (VEPs) with dominant and non-dominant eye individuals. VEPs were recorded in 30 dominant and non-dominant eye males using a Neuropack machine. Latency and Amplitude of VEPs (P100) were measured and analyzed statistically. The effect of eye dominance as seen in was that the latency of P100 was less in the dominant eye compared to the non-dominant eye. The results were consistent in the right and left eye dominance but were not statistically significant. The amplitude of N75-P100 was increased in the dominant eye and was statistically significant (p<0.05) compared to the non-dominant eye. The V E P recordings from the dominant eye showed that P100 component latency is decreased and amplitude is increased as compared to non-dominant eye. The amplitude and latency differences between dominant and non-dominant eyes provide objective electrophysiological evidence of lateralization in the central nervous system. V E P is affected in eye dominance. It should be taken into account while comparing V E P’s of two eyes of the same subject.
Measurement of temperature field in the region near to the radiator by using digital holography

A simple method for measurement of temperature field in the region near to the metal plate of the radiator is demonstrated by using digital holography in the Lensless Fourier transform configuration (LFT). The temperature is measured within the boundary layer of the convective flow field. The deviation of the temperature produced by this method, from that obtained by the thermocouple is rather small. It has shown that the method is reasonable and efficient.
Pharmacy- and Diagnosis-Based Risk Adjustment for Children With Medicaid

Background:Risk adjustment is useful for adjusting health care payments based on patients’ health status. Objective:This work seeks to examine how well pharmacy- and diagnosis-based risk adjusters predict child health expenditures in Medicaid populations. Research Design:We used 1994–1995 Medicaid claims files for all children ages 0–18 years who were not covered by managed care in 3 states: Georgia, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. We examined separately 6 risk adjustment methods, 2 pharmacy-based and 4 diagnosis-based. We compared predictive accuracy of the methods for the whole sample and stratified by state and Medicaid enrollment category. Findings:Models with risk adjustment (either diagnosis- or pharmacy-based) had better predictive accuracy than demographic models. The pharmacy and diagnosis-based models had similar predictive accuracy. Risk adjuster performance differed by Medicaid enrollment category and state. Risk-adjusted models generally underpredict expenditures in populations with worse health status (eg, those in the Supplemental Security Income program [SSI]). The pharmacy-based models performed well for children in SSI relative to children in foster care. Conclusions:Both pharmacy- and diagnosis-based risk adjustment improved the prediction of health expenditures compared models without risk adjustment. No single risk adjuster performed best in all situations, suggesting that optimal choices of risk adjusters may differ by purpose and context.
Premature Pubarche before One Year of Age: Distinguishing between Mini-Puberty Variants and Precocious Puberty

Background The aim of this study was to facilitate the distinction between the benign “mini-puberty of early infancy” and precocious puberty (PP). Material/Methods We compared 59 patients (21 boys and 38 girls) seen for pubic hair development before one year of age diagnosed as mini-puberty to 13 patients (2 boys) in whom pubertal development before one year revealed a PP. Results The boys with mini-puberty presented with pubic hair development and prepubertal testicular volume, with low plasma testosterone concentrations. Their gonadotropin responses to gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) test showed predominant luteinising hormone increase in 9/13. The girls presented with pubic hair development that was accompanied by breast development in 47% of cases, with low plasma estradiol concentrations. Their gonadotropin responses showed predominant follicle-stimulating hormone increase in the 17 evaluated. The patients with PP had organic central PP (5 hypothalamic hamartoma) or idiopathic central PP (n=6), or peripheral PP (one ovarian tumor and one congenital adrenal hyperplasia). The diagnosis was challenging only in 3 girls with idiopathic central PP presenting with prepubertal plasma estradiol concentrations and responses to GnRH test. Conclusions The diagnosis of PP was easily determined based on the clinical presentation and the pubertal concentrations of testosterone in boys or of estradiol in girls, as was the diagnosis of central or peripheral origin of PP based on gonadotropin response to the GnRH test. Once PP is excluded, these patients need careful follow–up and physician consultation is needed if clinical pubertal signs progress.
Geometrically non-linear analysis of adhesively bonded double containment cantilever joints

Under an increasing load, the adhesively bonded joints may undergo large rotations and displacements while strains are still small and even all joint members are elastic. In this case, the linear elasticity theory cannot predict correctly the nature of stress and deformation in the adhesive joints. In this study, an attempt was made to develop an analysis method considering the large displacements and rotations in the adhesive joints, assuming all joint members to be still elastic. An incremental finite element method was used in the application of the small strain-large displacement theory to the adhesively bonded joints. An adhesively bonded double containment cantilever (DCC) joint was analysed using this incremental finite element method under two different loadings: a tensile loading at the horizontal plate free end, Px. and one normal to the horizontal plate plane, Py. The adhesive and plates were assumed to have elastic properties, and some amount of adhesive, called spew fillet, that accumulated a.
Controlled Auxotonic Twitch in Papillary Muscle: A New Computer-Based Control Approach

Based on new advancements in digital technology, we developed a PC- and DSP-based measurement and control system for isolated papillary muscle experiments. High flexibility was obtained through a three level control. Length or force was controlled real-time with a sample frequency of 5000 Hz. Muscle length and up to three segment lengths were measured simultaneously and each of these lengths could be chosen as feedback variable. Individual algorithms were implemented for different twitch types. Batches of twitches were organized in experiment protocols. The system included a new twitch type, namely a controlled auxotonic twitch. In this twitch, the muscle acted against a virtual ideal spring, giving a proportional change in developed force and shortening. The value of the virtual spring constant could be set on-line or defined in the experiment protocol. An increasing virtual spring constant represented a smooth transition from isotonic to isometric conditions.
Genetic and morphological differentiation in Populus nigra L.: isolation by colonization or isolation by adaptation?

Identifying processes underlying the genetic and morphological differences among populations is a central question of evolutionary biology. Forest trees typically contain high levels of neutral genetic variation, and genetic differences are often correlated with geographic distance between populations [isolation by distance (IBD)] or are due to historic vicariance events [isolation by colonization (IBC)]. In contrast, morphological differences are largely due to local adaptation. Here, we examined genetic (microsatellite) and morphological (from a common garden experiment) variation in Populus nigra L. , European black poplar, collected from 13 sites across western Europe and grown in a common garden in Belgium. Significant genetic differentiation was observed, with populations from France displaying greater admixture than the distinct Spanish and central European gene pools, consistent with previously described glacial refugia (IBC). Many quantitative traits displayed a bimodal distribution, approximately corresponding to small‐leaf and large‐leaf ecotypes. Examination of nine climatic variables revealed the sampling locations to have diverse climates, and although the correlation between morphological and climatic differences was significant, the pattern was not consistent with strict local adaptation. Partial Mantel tests based on multivariate summary statistics identified significant residual correlation in comparisons of small‐leaf to large‐leaf ecotypes, and within the small‐leaf samples, but not within large‐leaf ecotypes, indicating that variation within the small‐leaf morphotype in particular may be adaptive. Some small‐leaf populations experience climates very similar to those in large‐leaf sites. We conclude that adaptive differentiation and persistent IBC acted in combination to produce the genetic and morphological patterns observed in P. nigra.
Impulsiveness as the intermediate link between the dopamine receptor D2 gene and alcohol dependence

Objectives Reinforcement and reward processes have been proposed as being an intermediate link between the risk for alcohol dependence and the gene coding for the dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2). This hypothesis remains open to speculation, and personality traits such as impulsiveness, a core dimension in addictive disorders, should also be taken into account. For instance, recent evidence in rats showed that DRD2 antagonists might increase impulsivity in decreasing the value of delayed rewards. Methods Considering the pro‐impulsiveness role of ethanol observed in clinical practice and epidemiological studies, we analysed the Barratt impulsiveness scores in a sample of 92 alcohol‐dependent French patients (57 men and 35 women), according to the TaqI A polymorphism of the DRD2 gene. Results A2/A2 and A1/A2 genotypes were significantly associated with a higher global impulsiveness than A1/A1 genotype (P = 0.02 and P =0.03, respectively). Conclusions We propose that reward‐related impulsiveness may constitute a risk factor for alcohol dependence, and that this core temperament could be partly mediated by the DRD2 gene.
On the efficient evaluation of Fourier patterns for nanoparticles and clusters

Samples made of an isotropically oriented ensemble of atomic clusters or structures that are not large crystals (i.e. extended less than 10 periods in each direction) are at the frontier of today's material science and chemistry. Examples are nanoparticles, nanotubes, amorphous matter, polymers, and macromolecules in suspension. For such systems the computation of powder diffraction patterns (which may provide an efficient characterization) is to be performed the hard way, by summing contributions from each atom pair. This work deals with performing such computation in the most practical and efficient way. Three main points are developed: how to encode the enormous array of interatomic distances (which increase as the square or higher powers of the cluster diameter) to a much smaller array of equispaced values on a coarse grid (whose size increases linearly with the diameter); how to perform a fast computation of the diffraction pattern from this equispaced grid; how to optimize the grid step to obtain an arbitrarily small error on the computed diffraction pattern. Theory and examples are jointly developed and presented. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 27: 995–1008, 2006
Peer-to-peer communications in a cellular network

This paper describes a practical peer-to-peer (P2P) communication architecture applied to the conventional cellular network. It enables efficient coexistence of P2P connections with cellular connections while sharing the same wireless spectrum. The design achieves both proximity discovery and P2P communication under a cellular architecture with a particular emphasis on building an RF blueprint that reflects the RF relationship between devices to ensure power and spectral efficiency, as well as interference and quality of service control of P2P communications.
The use of flat-ended projectiles for determining dynamic yield stress I. Theoretical considerations

It has long been known that metals may be subjected momentarily to stresses for exceeding their static yield stress without suffering plastic strain. One of the simplest methods for subjecting a metal to a high stress for a short time is to form it into a cylindrical specimen and fire this at a steel target. The front part of this projectile crumples up, but the rear part is left undeformed. If the target is rigid the distance which this portion travels while it is being brought to rest may be taken as the difference between the initial length and the length of the deformed specimen after impact. Knowing the velocity of impact, a minimum possible value can be assigned to the maximum acceleration of the material, and from this a minimum value for the yield stress can be calculated. The actual yield stress is considerably greater than this minimum, and methods are given for calculating a more probable value.
THE PSYCHO-SPATIAL DIMENSION OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

Abstract There has been little research on the differential aspects of the local/global dichotomy, yet there is every suggestion that such a distinction could be crucially important in terms of understanding the public's perceptions and attitudes towards environmental problems as well as understanding their subsequent behaviour. This research sought to address three questions. First, are people only able to relate to environmental issues if they are concrete, immediate and local? Second, do people consider environmental problems to be more serious at a global or a local level? Third, what is the effect of the public's perceptions of the seriousness of environmental problems on their sense of responsibility for taking action? Three studies were undertaken in Australia, England, Ireland and Slovakia. The results of each study consistently demonstrate that respondents are not only able to conceptualize problems at a global level, but an inverse distance effect is found such that environmental problems are perceived to be more serious the farther away they are from the perceiver. An inverse relationship was also found between a sense of responsibility for environmental problems and spatial scale resulting in feelings of powerlessness at a global level. The paper concludes with a discussion of various psychological theories and perspectives which informs our analysis and understanding of what might be seen as environmental hyperopia.
End-User Privacy in Human–Computer Interaction

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we summarize research on the topic of privacy in Human–Computer Interaction (HCI), outlining current approaches, results, and trends. Practitioners and researchers can draw upon this review when working on topics related to privacy in the context of HCI and CSCW. The second purpose is that of charting future research trends and of pointing out areas of research that are timely but lagging. This work is based on a comprehensive analysis of published academic and industrial literature spanning three decades, and on the experience of both ourselves and of many of our colleagues.
Linear precoding aided blind equalization with independent component analysis in MIMO OFDM systems

We propose a novel blind equalization structure based on independent component analysis (ICA) for multiple input multiple output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. A linear precoding is exploited to resolve completely the phase and permutation ambiguity of the ICA model, by using the correlation between the source data and the reference data. Furthermore, iterative channel interpolation is employed to improve the channel estimation accuracy of ICA, and is incorporated with minimum mean square error (MMSE) based equalization and layered space-frequency equalization (LSFE) to enhance the system performance. Simulation results show that the proposed blind OFDM receivers significantly outperform the existing subspace method, and provide a performance close to the case with perfect channel state information (CSI).
Frameshift fidelity during replication of double-stranded DNA in HeLa cell extracts.

The processes by which minus-one frameshifts arise during replication of double-stranded DNA by a human replication apparatus were examined. Using M13mp2 DNA containing the simian virus 40 (SV40) origin of replication and a plus-one frameshift mutation in the lacZ alpha reporter gene, we performed replication reactions using a HeLa cell extract and the SV40 large T antigen. Frameshifts that restore the reading frame to give a blue-plaque phenotype include the loss of one of five consecutive A.T base pairs or any one of 36 non-reiterated base pairs. Although both types of deletions were generated at rates substantially above the background mutant frequency of unreplicated DNA, the rate was highest at the A.T run, suggesting the involvement of a misaligned replication intermediate at this homopolymeric sequence. The error rate for both types of deletions increased as the concentration of dNTPs was increased. A small increase in error rate at the run of A.T base pairs was also observed when a dNMP was added to the replication reaction. These results are consistent with the correction of frameshift intermediates during replication by exonucleolytic proofreading. To examine frameshift error rates on the leading and lagging strands, we compared reversion frequencies for two vectors containing the origin of replication close to, but on opposite sides of, the mutational target. To generate strand-specific errors, nucleotide substrate imbalances were used in replication reactions with these vectors. The results suggest that there is less than a 2-fold difference in the fidelity of leading- and lagging-strand synthesis for deletions at the run of A.T base pairs. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Evaluation of Punjabi Named Entity Recognition using Context Word Feature

Named Entity Recognition is the task of identifying and classifying Named Entities in the given text. In this paper evaluation of Named Entity Recognition in Punjabi language has been performed using context word feature. Words preceding and succeeding the target word are very helpful in determining its category. In this work context word feature of word window 7, 5 and 3 have been used. Experiments have been performed using different training and test sets. In this evaluation a Named Entity Tagset of 14 tags namely PERSON, ORGANIZATION, LOCATION, FACILITY, EVENT, RELATIONSHIP, TIME, DATE, DESIGNATION, TITLE-PERSON, NUMBER, MEASURE, ABBREVIATION and ARTIFACT has been used. It has been observed that word window 7 and 5 have given better results as compared to word window 3. Although F-scores and Precision values of word window 7 are slightly higher than that of word window 5 but recall of word window 7 was found to be lower than that word window 5. General Terms Natural Language Processing, Information Extraction, Named Entity Recognition