Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epileptiform activity induces distance‐dependent alterations of the Ca2+ extrusion mechanism in the apical dendrites of subicular pyramidal neurons

The cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie acquired changes in Ca2+ dynamics of different neuronal compartments are important in the induction and maintenance of epileptiform activity. Simultaneous electrophysiology and Ca2+ imaging techniques were used to understand the basic properties of dendritic Ca2+ signaling in rat subicular pyramidal neurons during epileptiform activity. Distance‐dependent changes in the Ca2+ decay kinetics locked to spontaneous epileptiform discharges and back‐propagating action potentials were observed in the apical dendrites. A decrement in the mean τ value of Ca2+ decay was observed in distal parts (95–110 μm) of the apical dendrites compared with proximal segments (30–45 μm) in in‐vitro epileptic conditions but not in control. Pharmacological agents that block Ca2+ transporters, i.e. Na+/ Ca2+ exchangers (Benzamil), plasma membrane Ca2+‐ATPase pumps (Calmidazolium) and smooth endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+‐ATPase pumps (Thapsigargin), were applied locally to the proximal and distal part of the apical dendrites in both experimental conditions to understand the molecular aspects of the Ca2+ extrusion mechanisms. The relative contribution of Na+/Ca2+ exchangers in Ca2+ extrusion was higher in the distal apical dendrites in the in‐vitro epileptic condition and this property modulated the excitability of the neuron in simulation. The Ca2+ homeostatic mechanisms that restore normal Ca2+ levels could play a major neuroprotective role in the distal dendrites that receive synaptic inputs.
Synthesis and characterization of a selective peptide antagonist of neuropeptide Y vascular postsynaptic receptors

1 A cyclic dimeric nonapeptide neuropeptide Y (NPY) receptor antagonist, 1229U91, was synthesized by Fmoc chemistry and dimerised in solution. Its effects were assayed in mesenteric arteries from rats and mice, and in rat vas deferens. 2 Mesenteric arteries were cannulated and pressurised to 55 mmHg and the external diameters continuously measured. NPY, PYY, Leu31Pro34NPY and NPY(13–36) each caused concentration‐related contractions with the order of potency PYY≥Leu31Pro34NPY = NPY>NPY (13–36), consistent with the Y1 receptor subtype. 3 1229U91 had no agonist activity in the arteries but caused a concentration‐related rightward shift of NPY (mouse arteries) or Leu31Pro34NPY (rat) concentration‐response curves. The antagonism was competitive with pATBs of 7.69±0.15 and 7.47±0.13 in the mouse and rat arteries, respectively. 4 Sympathetic nerves in the vas deferens were stimulated with a single electrical field pulse every 20 s and the twitch responses recorded. NPY, PYY, Leu31Pro34NPY and NPY(13–36) inhibited the twitches with the order of potency PYY>NPY>NPY(13–36)> > Leu31Pro34NPY, consistent with the Y2 receptor subtype. 5 1229U91 inhibited the vas deferens twitch with a shallow concentration‐response curve and a time‐course of inhibition distinct from that of NPY. 1229U91 (30 μm) did not cause a rightward shift of the NPY concentration‐response curve. 1229U91 is at least 5 orders of magnitude less potent in the vas deferens than in rat brain Y2 binding assays reported by others, suggesting that the brain and vas deferens Y2 receptors are different. 6 It is concluded that 1229U91 is a competitive antagonist of NPY Y1 vascular receptors and has additional properties that inhibit the electrically evoked twitch of the rat vas deferens.
Supervised and Unsupervised Sequence Modelling for Drum Transcription

We discuss in this paper two post-processings for drum transcription systems, which aim to model typical properties of drum sequences. Both methods operate on a symbolic representation of the sequence, which is obtained by quantizing the onsets of drum strokes on an optimal tatum grid, and by fusing the posterior probabilities produced by the drum transcription system. The first proposed method is a generalization of the N -gram model. We discuss several training and recognition strategies (style-dependent models, local models) in order to maximize the reliability and the specificity of the trained models. Alternatively, we introduce a novel unsupervised algorithm based on a complexity criterion, which finds the most regular and wellstructured sequence compatible with the acoustic scores produced by the transcription system. Both approaches are evaluated on a subset of the ENST-drums corpus, and yield performance improvements.
Kainic Acid, NMDA and Bicuculline Induce Elevation in Concentrations of Glutathione and Amino Acids in Vivo: Biomarkers for Seizure Predisposition?

The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of NMDA, bicuculline and kainic acid (KA) on the extracellular concentration of glutathione, phosphoethanolamine (PEA) and taurine in rat hippocampus in vivo. Rats were implanted with intrahippocampal microelectrodes perfused with free-glucose Krebs-Ringer solution and allowed to recover for about 2 h. After assaying baseline concentrations of amino acids, NMDA or bicuculline was administered intrahippocampally, whereas KA was given systemically. Either treatment resulted in significant high extracellular concentrations of glutathione, but only NMDA or KA resulted in high concentrations of PEA and taurine. Interestingly, the increase in glutathione concentration due to KA was followed by a delayed increase of glutamate and PEA. Our results demonstrated that increased efflux of glutathione, a common consequence of different neuroexcitotoxic agents, occurs in vivo. Given that the agents used in the present study were also convulsunts, the implication of the findings on seizure predisposition was also considered.
Radiative transfer modeling of three-dimensional clumpy AGN tori and its application to NGC 1068

Recent observations of NGC 1068 and other AGN support the idea of a geometrically and optically thick dust torus surrounding the central supermassive black hole and accretion disk of AGN. In type 2 AGN, the torus is seen roughly edge-on, leading to obscuration of the central radiation source and a silicate absorption feature near $10~{\rm\mu m}$. While most of the current torus models distribute the dust smoothly, there is growing evidence that the dust must be arranged in clouds. We describe a new method for modeling near- and mid-infrared emission of 3-dimensional clumpy tori using Monte Carlo simulations . We calculate the radiation fields of individual clouds at various distances from the AGN and distribute these clouds within the torus region. The properties of the individual clouds and their distribution within the torus are determined from a theoretical approach of self-gravitating clouds close to the shear limit in a gravitational potential. We demonstrate that clumpiness in AGN tori can overcome the problem of over-pronounced silicate features. Finally, we present model calculations for the prototypical Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068 and compare them to recent high-resolution measurements. Our model is able to reproduce both the SED and the interferometric observations of NGC 1068 in the near- and mid-infrared.
Evening types are prone to depression

Certain preferences for the timing of daily activities (chronotype) may predispose an individual to sleep problems and mood disorders. In this study, we have examined the link between chronotypes and depression. Participants (N = 6071) were recruited from a random sample of the general population aged 25 to 74 yrs living in defined geographical areas, as part of the National FINRISK Study in 2007 in Finland. Chronotype assessment was based on six items from the original Horne-Östberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Depression was assessed with four self-reported items, including two probes for a diagnosis of a major depressive episode, diagnosed or treated depression, and use of antidepressants. We also analyzed correlations between chronotype and several health indicators, such as systolic and diastolic blood pressures, resting heart rate, weight, and waist circumference. The odds ratios for a range of indicators of depression were higher for evening types (2.7- to 4.1-fold) and intermediate types (1.5- to 1.9-fold) than for morning types. Our results suggest that individuals having a preference for evening hours to carry out their daily activities are prone to depression. (Author correspondence: ilona.merikanto@helsinki.fi)
SNR estimation in Nakagami fading with diversity for turbo decoding

In this paper, we propose an online SNR estimation scheme for Nakagami-m fading channels with equal gain diversity combining. We derive the SNR estimates based on the statistical ratio of certain observables over a block of received data. An online SNR estimator for an AWGN channel has been derived by Summers and Wilson (1998). Previously, we derived an SNR estimation scheme for Nakagami-m fading channels without diversity combining and used this estimate in the decoding of turbo codes. Now, we extend the work and solve the SNR estimation problem on Nakagami fading channels with L-branch equal gain diversity combining. We use our SNR estimates in the iterative decoding of turbo codes on Rayleigh fading channels (m=1) with 2-branch equal gain combining. We show that the turbo decoder performance using our SNR estimates is quite close (within 0.5 dB) to the performance using perfect knowledge of the SNR and the fade amplitudes.
Coupled K-SVD dictionary training for super-resolution

In the learning based super-resolution (SR), one of the most important issue is how to learn the relationship between the high resolution (HR) and low resolution (LR) images. Sparse representation has provided dictionary learning methods to describe the relationship. This work presents a coupled dictionary training algorithm named coupled K-singular value decomposition (K-SVD) for SR problem. In this algorithm, the best low-rank approximation provided by singular value decomposition (SVD) is utilized to update the LR and HR dictionaries. Experiments demonstrate that our algorithm converges stably and achieves superior SR results.
Expression of an idiotype (Id-460) during in vivo anti-dinitrophenyl antibody responses. III. Detection of Id-460 in normal serum that does not bind dinitrophenyl

Using an anti-idiotypic antibody previously characterized as specific for the hapten binding site of the 2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP)-binding BALB/c myeloma protein MOPC-460, we have detected substantial amounts of this idiotype (Id-460) in the serum of normal mice. Whereas the idiotypic material in DNP-immune serum binds to DNP, the Id-460- positive material in normal mouse serum is not specific for DNP. The material in normal serum appears to be immunoglobulin. Furthermore, Id- 460-positive, non-DNP-binding monoclonal immunoglobulins that completely inhibit our assay for Id-460 are repeatedly isolated when hybridomas are prepared from LPS-activated normal spleen cells. These data are interpreted in the context of Jerne's network hypothesis. It is our conclusion that the non-DNP-binding form of Id-460 is the inherited form and that this form establishes an idiotypic network favoring the production of anti-DNP bearing Id-460. Thus, the paradox of finding an inherited idiotype in the antibody response to the nonpathogen DNP may be resolved by proposing that the true form of Id- 460 is specific for an environmental pathogen and that Id-460 dominance in the anti-DNP response is simply a consequence of idiotype-specific regulatory events preconditioned by Id-460-bearing immunoglobulin specific for antigenic determinants unrelated to DNP.
The Role of Personality in Understanding Job Stress and Employee Selection of Staff in Hospitality Industry

Copyright: © 2012 Tse WS. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The provision of high-quality, caring, and optimal services is important for success in the field of hospitality and tourism. However, when employees deliver too many demanded services, many of them develop symptoms of depression [1] and burnout [2]. As a result, the quality of service and employees’ organizational involvement may be reduced. Stress symptoms are traditionally attributable to contextual factors, such as long work hours, demanding customers, lack of organizational support, and lack of autonomy. However, the effects of individual factors on these symptoms have been seldom examined.
Estimation of blood-brain barrier crossing of drugs using molecular size and shape, and H-bonding descriptors.

The influence of physicochemical properties, including lipophilicity, H-bonding capacity and molecular size and shape descriptors on brain uptake has been investigated using a selection of marketed CNS and CNS-inactive drugs. It is demonstrated that the polar surface area of a drug can be used as a suitable descriptor for the drugs' H-bonding potential. A combination of a H-bonding and a molecular size descriptor, i.e., the major components of lipophilicity and permeability, avoiding knowledge of distribution coefficients, is proposed to estimate brain penetration potential of new drug candidates. Previously reported experimental surface activity data appear to be strongly correlated to molecular size of the drug compounds. Present analysis offers a modern basis for property-based design and targeting of CNS drugs.
Metabotropic glutamate receptor‐mediated inhibition and excitation of substantia nigra dopamine neurons

Microiontophoretic drug application and extracellular recording techniques were used to evaluate the effects of the selective metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) agonist (1S,3R)‐1‐aminocyclopentane‐1,3‐dicarboxylate (1S,3R‐ACPD) on dopamine (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra zona compacta (SNZC) of chloral hydrateanesthetized rats. 1S,3R‐ACPD had a biphasic effect on the firing rate of DA cells, initially decreasing, then increasing the firing rate. 1S,3R‐ACPD also increased the burst‐firing activity of DA neurons. Application of the ionotropic receptor (iGluR) agonists (R,S)‐α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methylisoxazole‐4‐propionic acid (AMPA) or N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) increased the firing rates of neurons which had responded to 1S,3R‐ACPD, indicating that mGluRs and iGluRs reside on the same neurons. The initial inhibitory period was not antagonized by systemic haloperidol or iontophoretic bicuculline, indicating a lack of DA or γ‐amino‐n‐butyric acid (GABA) involvement in this effect. Combined application of the AMPA or γ‐amino‐n‐butyric acid (GABA) involvement in this effect. Combined application of the AMPA antagonist, 2,3‐dihydroxy‐6‐nitro‐7‐sulfamoyl‐benzo(f)quinoxaline (NBQX), and the NMDA antagonist, (I)‐3‐(2‐carboxypiperazin‐4‐yl)propyl‐1‐phosphoric acid (CPP), at currents which antagonized AMPA and NMDA, did not antagonize either the inhibitory or excitatory effects of 1S,3R‐ACPD. Application of the metabotropic antagonist (S)‐4‐carboxy‐phenylglycine antagonized both the inhibitory and excitatory effects of 1S‐3R‐ACPD. These results indicate that mGluRs may play a role in the modulation of dopaminergic activity in the SNZC. Synapse 26:184–193, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Non-parametric permutation thresholding for adaptive nonlinear beamformer analysis on MEG revealed oscillatory neuronal dynamics in human brain

Adaptive nonlinear beamformer technique for analyzing magnetoencephalography (MEG) data has been proved to be powerful tool for both brain research and clinical applications. A general method of analyzing multiple subject data with a formal statistical treatment for the group data has been developed and applied for various types of MEG data. Our latest application of this method was frontal midline theta rhythm (Fmθ), which indicates focused attention and appears widely distributed over medial prefrontal areas in EEG recordings. To localize cortical generators of the magnetic counterpart of Fmθ precisely and identify cortical sources and underlying neural activity associated with mental calculation processing (i.e., arithmetic subtraction), we applied adaptive nonlinear beamformer and permutation analysis on MEG data. As a result, it was indicated that Fmθ is generated in the dorsal anterior cingulate and adjacent medial prefrontal cortex. Gamma event-related synchronization is as an index of activation in right parietal regions subserving mental subtraction associated with basic numerical processing and number-based spatial attention. Gamma desynchronization appeared in the right lateral prefrontal cortex, likely representing a mechanism to interrupt neural activity that can interfere with the ongoing cognitive task. We suggest that the combination of adaptive nonlinear beamformer and permutation analysis on MEG data is quite powerful tool to reveal the oscillatory neuronal dynamics in human brain.
Dietary patterns and breast-feeding in Australian children

Abstract Objective To determine the dietary patterns of a national sample of 2–8-year-old Australian children and to establish whether breast-feeding is associated with dietary patterns in this age group. Design Cross-sectional study using 24 h recall data from the 2007 Australian National Children's Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. Setting Australia. Subjects A total of 2287 children aged 2–8 years. Results Principal component factor analysis identified three distinct patterns. The ‘Non-core food groups’ pattern included food groups such as whole-fat dairy products, cheese, medium–high sugar-sweetened breakfast cereals and sweet biscuits, no fruit, reduced/low-fat dairy products and wholegrain bread/rolls. The ‘Healthy, meat and vegetable’ pattern included vegetables, red meat, fruit and wholegrain bread/rolls and was inversely associated with take-away foods and carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages. The ‘Combination’ pattern contained many food groups including candy (not chocolate based), pasta/rice products, nuts/seeds, cakes and chocolate, but no fruit or vegetables. Of the 2287 children, 2064 (89·3 %) had been breast-fed. A positive association was found between breast-feeding and the healthy, meat and vegetable pattern (r = 0·267) but not with the other two patterns. Higher scores on this pattern were also associated with younger age, lower BMI, higher birth weight, high likelihood of being in the less-disadvantaged Socio-economic Indexes for Areas category and less likelihood of the child's parents having a lower educational level. Conclusions These results provide suggestive evidence that breast-feeding during infancy is associated with a healthy dietary pattern in childhood and offers a likely pathway to explain the previously reported association between breast-feeding and chronic disease.
Identification of TGF-β 1-dependent signalling cascades mediating radiation-induced ATM activity

Over the recent years our laboratory could demonstrate that the radiation-induced terminal differentiation of the fibroblast cell system, i.e. the induced differentiation of progenitor fibroblasts to postmitotic highly collagen synthesizing fibrocytes, is the key event in the induction and manifestation of the fibrotic tissue remodelling mainly independent of the radiation quality used. Molecular biological studies into the basic mechanisms of radiation, i.e. photon and heavy ion radiation induced terminal fibroblast differentiation revealed that the cytokine TGF-β1 is a key mediator regulating radiation-induced differentiation [1]. As a consequence of both photon and heavy ion irradiation in the previous research period, it could be postulated that radiation (photon and heavy ion radiation) rather leads to the proteolytic activation of latent TGF-β1 (LTGF-β1) to the active form of this cytokine than to a stimulation of gene expression [2]. For practical reasons, this hypothesis was tested first in photon-irradiated cells by the use of a specific inhibitor of the protease furin, which is known to be a major component of the proteolytic activation process of LTGF-β1 to TGF-β1. Preincubation with the furin inhibitor CMK resulted in a significant decrease of the phosphorylation of Smad-2 and – 3 proteins involved in the intracellular TGF-β1 receptordependent signal transduction. Although not yet analyzed, it can be assumed that heavy ion irradiation will lead to a similar effect if not more pronounced activation of LTGFβ1 as shown for photon irradiation [2].
A21 HIV-1 sub-subtype F1 outbreak among MSM in Belgium

Current antiretroviral therapies for HIV-1 are not curative because a small number of CD4þT-cells remain infected with a latent, replication-competent provirus that contributes to viral rebound after the cessation of therapy. Several approaches to purge persistent HIV-1 reservoirs are in the beginning phases of clinical trials. To ensure future curative therapies target replication-competent HIV-1 proviruses for eradication, a thorough understanding of the distribution of replication-competent HIV1 within T-cell subsets and how activation and proliferation of these cells contribute to the maintenance of the replicationcompetent HIV-1 reservoir is required. This study will employ a full-length single-proviral sequencing assay based on Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) techniques to sequence the entire HIV-1 genome of proviruses isolated from CD4þT-cell subsets (central, transitional, and effector) sorted from peripheral blood and lymphoid tissue after 5–15 years of suppressive therapy from two groups of participants (1) three participants who initiated therapy during acute/early infection and (2) three participants who initiated therapy during chronic infection. Replication-competent proviruses will be identified by the absence of deletions and APOBEC3G induced hypermutation. The infection rates of replication-competent proviruses located in specific cell populations between participants will be compared along with the frequencies of replication-competent proviruses between different T-cell populations and within tissuederived cells from these participants. This important study will allow us to determine whether specific cellular compartments harbour replication-competent HIV-1 and will provide valuable information for future curative HIV-1 clinical trials.
Distribution and Evolution of CH4, N2, and CO Ices on Pluto's Surface: 1995 to 1998

Abstract We present new near-infrared spectra of the planet Pluto obtained at Lowell Observatory on 83 nights during 1995–1998. The dense temporal sampling of our observations enables us to measure with unprecedented detail cyclical changes in the depths of methane, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen ice absorption bands, modulated by Pluto's diurnal rotation. We show that CO, N 2 , and weak CH 4 absorption band depths exhibit rotational patterns very different from those of Pluto's visible lightcurve, unlike the strong CH 4 absorption bands which are closely correlated with the visible lightcurve. Our observations are used to constrain the longitudinal distributions of the three ice species on Pluto's surface. The data also reveal a subtle, longer term strengthening of Pluto's strong near-infrared CH 4 bands, which is used to constrain the latitudinal distribution of CH 4 ice. We simulate the observed diurnal and seasonal spectral and photometric behavior of Pluto by means of model distributions of three terrain types. We see no evidence for changes in the distributions of Pluto's surface ices during the 1995–1998 interval.