Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Expression Cloning of a Rat Hypothalamic Galanin Receptor Coupled to Phosphoinositide Turnover*

The neuropeptide galanin is widely distributed throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems and participates in the regulation of processes such as nociception, cognition, feeding behavior, and insulin secretion. Multiple galanin receptors are predicted to underlie its physiological effects. We now report the isolation by expression cloning of a rat galanin receptor cDNA distinct from GALR1. The receptor, termed GALR2, was isolated from a rat hypothalamus cDNA library using a125I-porcine galanin (125I-pGAL) binding assay. The GALR2 cDNA encoded a protein of 372 amino acids exhibiting 38% amino acid identity with rat GALR1. Binding of125I-pGAL to transiently expressed GALR2 receptors was saturable (K D = 0.15 nm) and displaceable by galanin peptides and analogues in rank order: porcine galanin ≃ M32 ≃ M35 ≃ M40 ≥ galanin-(1–16) ≃ M15 ≃ [d-Trp2]galanin-(1–29) > C7 ≫ galanin-(3–29). This profile resembles that of the rat GALR1 receptor with the notable exception that [d-Trp2]galanin exhibited significant selectivity for GALR2 over GALR1. Activation of GALR2 receptors with porcine galanin and other galanin analogues increased inositol phospholipid turnover and intracellular calcium levels in stably transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells and generated calcium-activated chloride currents in Xenopus oocytes, suggesting that the rat GALR2 receptor is primarily coupled to the activation of phospholipase C.
Silencing of ILK attenuates the abnormal proliferation and migration of human Tenon's capsule fibroblasts induced by TGF-β2

The cytokine, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), plays a key role in wound healing and tissue repair. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a downstream factor of the TGF-β signaling pathway. Research on ILK has mainly focused on its role in the invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. However, little has been reported on the effects of ILK in human Tenon's capsule fibroblasts (HTFs). In this study, we investigated the role of ILK in the proliferation and migration of HTFs exposed to TGF-β2. A lentiviral vector targeting ILK was screened from three candidates and the experimental result indicated that RNA interference can be used to inhibit ILK expression at both the mRNA and protein level. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to assess ILK mRNA expression. Cell proliferation was quantified by MTT assay and cell cycle progression was detected by flow cytometric analysis. Migration was measured by wound healing assay. It was observed that the silencing of ILK suppressed the TGF-β2-induced proliferation of HTFs and led to G1 phase cell cycle arrest and the significant downregulation of cyclin D1 expression. The migration ability of the HTFs decreased following the silencing of ILK, while the downregulation of α-smooth muscle actin expression and the upregulation of E-cadherin expression were observed. The findings of our study indicate that the silencing of ILK attenuates the abnormal proliferation and migration of HTFs induced by TGF-β2, which reveals the therapeutic potential of ILK inhibition in the prevention of scarring following glaucoma filtration surgery.
Attitudes to wetland restoration in Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire, UK

Contemporary attitudes to wetlands were examined in two sites in Britain, to assess perceptions and thus educational failings as a barrier to wetland restoration. Results showed that adults' attitudes were more positive than previous literature suggests: 56% were aware of the importance of wetlands for biodiversity, and 73% were supportive of their restoration. Social groups had significantly different attitudes to wetlands (p < 0.002), which may result largely from a difference between farmers and the public (p < 0.001). Additionally a near-significant difference (p < 0.08) was detected between genders, with woman possibly more positive. Motivation for wetland conservation tended to be ethical, with 74% willing to pay, and 71% willing to vote, for wetland conservation. Whilst larger surveys are required to assess the generality of these results, there is reason for optimism that some form of education is improving public perception, despite concerns about negative conditioning amongst children (Anderson .
Constructing the frame in intrasentential codeswitching

This paper presents a model to explain structural constraints on codeswitching. A major claim is that codeswitching, like other naturallyoccurring language data, follows principles which are internally present äs part of the Speaker* s grammatical competence. The model relies crucially on making a distinction in codeswitching between the matrix language, which has the dominant role, and the embedded language(s). It also explains codeswitching data in terms of a distinction between content and System morphemes. Empirical data Support these Claims.
The effect of transmitter antagonists on phasic respiratory neurons

The activity of inspiratory neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) and of expiratory neurons in the nucleus retroambigualis (NRA) was recorded during the iontophoresis of L‐glutamate, bicuculline, and strychnine in chloralose‐urethane‐anesthetized cat. Bicuculline methoxide caused increased activity of NTS and NRA neurons during their active or burst phases. Neither bicuculline nor strychnine caused increased activity during the silent phases of NTS or NRA neurons. When neurons were driven to fire during their silent phase by L‐glutamate, the application of bicuculline methoxide caused a diminution of the evoked activity. It is concluded that both inspiratory and expiratory neurons receive inhibitory inputs during both their active and silent phases. Gamma‐aminobutyric acid appears to be gating both the excitatory and inhibitory information to NTS and NRA neurons. Strychnine was generally ineffective in changing the firing patterns of inspiratory and expiratory neurons suggesting a limited role of glycine, taurine, and L‐alanine in the respiratory network.
Book Review: Barrie Needham, Dutch Land Use Planning: Planning and Managing Land Use in the Netherlands, the Principles and the Practice. The Hague: SDU Publishers, 2007, 299 pp., ISBN 9789012120685, 40.00 Euros (pbk)

This book was written to instruct; Needham’s aim here was to ‘explain . how land use planning in the Netherlands actually works’, and he has succeeded. Its success is due to the book’s well-grounded theoretical base, its clear structure, its comprehensive coverage (from national planning and policy to detailed project implementation) and its lucid exposition, supported by real case vignettes and concrete illustrations. As his theoretical framework, the author explicitly adopts an institutionalist perspective (Teitz, 2007), identifying the formal land use planning system as the critical factor for understanding Dutch land use planning and explaining its results. Other relevant elements in the institutional landscape include the structure of the building industry, how property development is organized and financed, and the structure of Netherlands’ public administration. Its clear framework makes this book of interest to planning theorists in showing the link between theoretical premises and practical understanding. My own bias is not the only reason I call this institutionalist approach ‘wellgrounded’: it serves excellently as an analytic and expository tool, and is most appropriate to its subject and its task. I invite planning theorist readers to subject my judgment to their critical review: how would Dutch land use planning look from a Foucaultian or Bourdieuian point of view? But my approval is not unqualified: as well as the merits of his institutionalist framework, Needham (unintentionally, of course) reveals its limitations. Sociological-historical institutional analysis is well-suited to explaining stability, evolutionary change, and consensus – and thus a very useful lens for examining the Dutch planning system. But it tends to treat conflict as an aberration, and, if denial fails, to explain it as a failure in institutional design. The Foucaultian perspective suffers from the opposite flaw, seeing everything in terms of conflict and power, and I doubt its utility as an overall perspective for viewing the Dutch planning system. But Flyvberg (2001) makes a strong case for the countervailing advantages of Foucaultian heuristic case study, and this book would have benefited from a small dose of this (in its case studies) to dilute its consistent institutionalism.
The diversification of begomovirus populations is predominantly driven by mutational dynamics

Abstract Begomoviruses (single-stranded DNA plant viruses) are responsible for serious agricultural threats. Begomovirus populations exhibit a high degree of within-host genetic variation and evolve as quickly as RNA viruses. Although the recombination-prone nature of begomoviruses has been extensively demonstrated, the relative contribution of recombination and mutation to the genetic variation of begomovirus populations has not been assessed. We estimated the genetic variability of begomovirus datasets from around the world. An uneven distribution of genetic variation across the length of the cp and rep genes due to recombination was evident from our analyses. To estimate the relative contributions of recombination and mutation to the genetic variability of begomoviruses, we mapped all substitutions over maximum likelihood trees and counted the number of substitutions on branches which were associated with recombination (ηr) and mutation (ημ). In addition, we also estimated the per generation relative rates of both evolutionary mechanisms (r/μ) to express how frequently begomovirus genomes are affected by recombination relative to mutation. We observed that the composition of genetic variation in all begomovirus datasets was dominated by mutation. Additionally, the low correlation between the estimates indicated that the relative contributions of recombination and mutation are not necessarily a function of their relative rates. Our results show that, although a considerable fraction of the genetic variation levels could be assigned to recombination, it was always lower than that due to mutation, indicating that the diversification of begomovirus populations is predominantly driven by mutational dynamics.
Fence-free work stealing on bounded TSO processors

Work stealing is the method of choice for load balancing in task parallel programming languages and frameworks. Yet despite considerable effort invested in optimizing work stealing task queues, existing algorithms issue a costly memory fence when removing a task, and these fences are believed to be necessary for correctness. This paper refutes this belief, demonstrating work stealing algorithms in which a worker does not issue a memory fence for microarchitectures with a bounded total store ordering (TSO) memory model. Bounded TSO is a novel restriction of TSO~-- capturing mainstream x86 and SPARC TSO processors -- that bounds the number of stores a load can be reordered with. Our algorithms eliminate the memory fence penalty, improving the running time of a suite of parallel benchmarks on modern x86 multicore processors by 7%-11% on average (and up to 23%), compared to the Cilk and Chase-Lev work stealing queues.
A nanostructural basis for gloss of avian eggshells

The role of pigments in generating the colour and maculation of birds' eggs is well characterized, whereas the effects of the eggshell's nanostructure on the visual appearance of eggs are little studied. Here, we examined the nanostructural basis of glossiness of tinamou eggs. Tinamou eggs are well known for their glossy appearance, but the underlying mechanism responsible for this optical effect is unclear. Using experimental manipulations in conjunction with angle-resolved spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and chemical analyses, we show that the glossy appearance of tinamou eggshells is produced by an extremely smooth cuticle, composed of calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate and, potentially, organic compounds such as proteins and pigments. Optical calculations corroborate surface smoothness as the main factor producing gloss. Furthermore, we reveal the presence of weak iridescence on eggs of the great tinamou (Tinamus major), an optical effect never previously documented for bird eggs. These data highlight the need for further exploration into the nanostructural mechanisms for the production of colour and other optical effects of avian eggshells.
Uniqueness of Graph Square Roots of Girth Six

We prove that if two graphs of girth at least $6$ have isomorphic squares, then the graphs themselves are isomorphic. This is the best possible extension of the results of Ross and Harary on trees and the results of Farzad et al. on graphs of girth at least $7$. We also make a remark on reconstruction of graphs from their higher powers.
Efficiency enhanced Single-Inductor Boost-Inverting Flyback converter with Dual Hybrid Energy transfer media and a Bifurcation Free Comparator

A Dual Hybrid Energy transfer media (DHE) Single-Inductor Boost-Inverting Flyback (SIBIF) DC-DC Converter is presented. To increase the converter efficiency, two flying capacitors as well as an inductor are adopted as additional energy transfer media. Furthermore, in order to remove the bifurcation problem occurring in the SIMO type converter, a Bifurcation Free Comparator (BFC) is adopted. The proposed chip is implemented in a 0.5-μm power BCD process and operates at 1.25 MHz with a max efficiency of 89% at an output power of 600 mW.
Recent changes in the epidemiology and management of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae

Since 2000, Escherichia coli producing CTX-M enzymes (especially CTX-M-15) have emerged worldwide as important causes of community-onset urinary tract and blood stream infections due to extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing bacteria. Studies suggest that the sudden worldwide increase of CTX-M-15-producing E. coli is mostly due to a single clone named ST131 and that foreign travel to high-risk areas, such as the Indian subcontinent, play in part a role in the spread of this clone across different continents. Empiric antibiotic coverage for these resistant organisms should be considered in community patients presenting with sepsis involving the urinary tract, especially if a patient recently traveled to a high-risk area. If this emerging public health threat is ignored, it is possible that the medical community may be forced in the near future to use carbapenems as the first choice for the empirical treatment of serious infections associated with urinary tract infections originating in the community.
Load balancing and fault tolerance in workstation clusters migrating groups of communicating processes

In the past, several process migration facilities for distributed systems have been developed. Due to the complex nature of the subject, all those facilities have limitations that make them usable for only limited classes of applications and environments. We discuss some of the usual limitations and possible solutions. Specifically, we focus on migration of groups of collaborating processes between Unix systems without kernel modifications, and from this we derive the design for a migration system. First experiences with our implementation show that we reach performance figures for the migration that are close to those of real distributed operating system.
Avoiding cars and pedestrians using velocity obstacles and motion prediction

Vehicle navigation in dynamic environments is an important challenge, especially when the motion of the objects populating the environment is unknown. Traditional motion planning approaches are too slow to be applied in real-time to this domain, hence, new techniques are needed. Recently, iterative planning has emerged as a promising approach. Nevertheless, existing iterative methods do not provide a way to estimating the future behaviour of moving obstacles and to use the resulting estimates in trajectory computation. This paper presents an iterative planning approach that addresses these two issues. It consists of two complementary methods: 1) A motion prediction method which learns typical behaviours of objects in a given environment. 2) An iterative motion planning technique based on the concept of Velocity Obstacles.
Invisible Mediators of Action: Classification and the Ubiquity of Standards

This article is a methodological think piece about the ways in which classifications (and standards) impinge in myriad ways on our daily lives. We argue that although they are frequently invisible to us, they are highly political and ethically charged. We suggest 4 principles garnered from our own research and that of others that can together be used to give a picture of their scope and reach: recognizing their ubiquity, analyzing their material texture, examining ways in which they reconfigure our understanding of the past, and exploring their practical politics. Together, the principles suggest a "reverse engineering" of classification systems to reveal the multitude of local political and social struggles and compromises that go into the constitution of a "universal" classification.
Long-Term Cycles in the History of Life: Periodic Biodiversity in the Paleobiology Database

Time series analysis of fossil biodiversity of marine invertebrates in the Paleobiology Database (PBDB) shows a significant periodicity at approximately 63 My, in agreement with previous analyses based on the Sepkoski database. I discuss how this result did not appear in a previous analysis of the PBDB. The existence of the 63 My periodicity, despite very different treatment of systematic error in both PBDB and Sepkoski databases strongly argues for consideration of its reality in the fossil record. Cross-spectral analysis of the two datasets finds that a 62 My periodicity coincides in phase by 1.6 My, equivalent to better than the errors in either measurement. Consequently, the two data sets not only contain the same strong periodicity, but its peaks and valleys closely correspond in time. Two other spectral peaks appear in the PBDB analysis, but appear to be artifacts associated with detrending and with the increased interval length. Sampling-standardization procedures implemented by the PBDB collaboration suggest that the signal is not an artifact of sampling bias. Further work should focus on finding the cause of the 62 My periodicity.
An Internet-Based Intervention for Chronic Pain.

BACKGROUND Persons with chronic pain can be treated effectively with acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). In this trial, we examined the effectiveness of guided and unguided ACT-based online treatment (ACTonPain) for chronic pain patients. METHODS 302 individuals were randomly assigned to ACTonPain with or without guidance (n = 100/101) or to a waiting-list control group (n=101). The primary outcome was pain interference as measured by the Multidimensional Pain Inventory. The secondary outcomes were physical and emotional functioning, pain intensity, ACT process variables, quality of life, satisfaction with the intervention, adherence, and participants' rating of overall improvement. The online measurements were carried out before randomization (T0) and 9 weeks and 6 months after randomization (T1 and T2, respectively). Intention-to-treat (ITT) data analysis was supplemented with additional per-protocol analyses. RESULTS The guided ACTonPain group showed significantly less pain interference than the control group in the ITT analysis (p = 0.01), with a moderate effect size at T1 and T2 (d = 0.58 respectively), corresponding to a number needed to treat (NNT) of 3.14 for both time points. Participants in the guided ACTonPain group also indicated higher pain acceptance (T1: d = 0.59; T2: d = 0.76). The unguided ACTonPain group showed to be significantly less depressed in comparison to the control group at at time T2 (d = 0.50). No significant differences with respect to effectiveness were found between the two ACTonPain groups (p>0.05). CONCLUSION The online intervention ACTonPain is effective for persons with chronic pain when the program is guided. Further research in a variety of settings of health care is needed in order to determine whether and how ACTonPain can be implemented.
Post‐stroke depression and functional independence: a conundrum

Brown C, Hasson H, Thyselius V, Almborg A‐H. Post‐stroke depression and functional independence: a conundrum. Acta Neurol Scand: 2012: 126: 45–51. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.
Hydrodynamic characteristics of two oscillating fins in series with heave-pitch coupled motions

Autonomous underwater gliders have rapidly become mature technologies in recent years. They have also been proved to be a successful tool for ocean sampling with an even wider range of future possibilities. An underwater glider is propelled by a buoyancy engine to adjust the difference between buoyancy and weight, combining with the lift induced by the wing. In general, an underwater glider can ascend and descend obliquely on a sawtooth trajectory but it lacks capability to move horizontally. Due to this reason, a concept design of biomimetic propulsor with two serial oscillating fins for enhancing the horizontal mobility of an underwater glider was proposed. The propulsor consists of a flapping fore fin acting as a leading edge vortex generator, and a flapping rear fin acting as a vortex manipulator. It was found in the previous paper that both thrust and efficiency can be improved significantly in comparing with the single fin model. However, the propulsion efficiency of the serial fins oscillating with only pitch motion is still not sufficient for practical use; even it has been enhanced by an added fore fin. Two oscillating fins in series with heave-pitch coupled motions are expected to have much higher propulsion efficiency. The investigations on its hydrodynamic characteristics via CFD simulations are conducted in the present paper. The rear-fin effects and the fore-fin contributions on propulsive performance are clarified. The optimal oscillating modes of the fore fin on enhancing the propulsion efficiency are discussed and their corresponding wake mechanisms are demonstrated. It is known that the optimal thrust coefficient and efficiency of the present two-fin model increase approximately 26% and 20% higher than the single fin model and their magnitudes reach 1.26 and 79.52%, respectively.
Equal Opportunities in the Field of Sports - An Investigation of History, Environmental Factors, Facility Network and Organisational Circumstances in Cross-Country Skiing and Canoeing in Finland

Equal Opportunities in the Field of Sports - An Investigation of History, Environmental Factors, Facility Network and Organisational Circumstances in Cross-Country Skiing and Canoeing in Finland Services in the field of sports as a public service and as a voluntary-based civil initiative are developing on the grounds of national, regional history, environmental factors, and governmental policy, which then educate expert personnel, provide directly or induce indirectly finance for operation and facility construction. In this article the authors analyse whether equal opportunity exists in practising cross-country skiing or canoeing in Finland. Finland is one of the richest countries in Europe when it comes to natural space. The legislative basis to practice nature-based, outdoor recreational and competitive sports is laid down in the "Everyman's Right". Both of the examined sports have a long history in Finland. The weather and environment are more than suitable for practising either of these sports. The facility network is well developed for cross-country skiing but insufficient for canoeing. A magnitude difference to be found in the popularity of the two sports. By utilising the historical and natural resources and bettering organisational effectiveness, development has broad perspectives in canoeing.