Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The MLK Family Mediates c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Activation in Neuronal Apoptosis

ABSTRACT Neuronal apoptotic death induced by nerve growth factor (NGF) deprivation is reported to be in part mediated through a pathway that includes Rac1 and Cdc42, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases 4 and 7 (MKK4 and -7), c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs), and c-Jun. However, additional components of the pathway remain to be defined. We show here that members of the mixed-lineage kinase (MLK) family (including MLK1, MLK2, MLK3, and dual leucine zipper kinase [DLK]) are expressed in neuronal cells and are likely to act between Rac1/Cdc42 and MKK4 and -7 in death signaling. Overexpression of MLKs effectively induces apoptotic death of cultured neuronal PC12 cells and sympathetic neurons, while expression of dominant-negative forms of MLKs suppresses death evoked by NGF deprivation or expression of activated forms of Rac1 and Cdc42. CEP-1347 (KT7515), which blocks neuronal death caused by NGF deprivation and a variety of additional apoptotic stimuli and which selectively inhibits the activities of MLKs, effectively protects neuronal PC12 cells from death induced by overexpression of MLK family members. In addition, NGF deprivation or UV irradiation leads to an increase in both level and phosphorylation of endogenous DLK. These observations support a role for MLKs in the neuronal death mechanism. With respect to ordering the death pathway, dominant-negative forms of MKK4 and -7 and c-Jun are protective against death induced by MLK overexpression, placing MLKs upstream of these kinases. Additional findings place the MLKs upstream of mitochondrial cytochromec release and caspase activation.
Low Back Pain due to Lumbar Facet Joint Arthropathy and its Management

Low back pain is a very common problem which brings a patient to orthopedic clinic or pain clinic. It is estimated that it affects about 60–80% of general population in the whole life and facet joints are responsible for back pain in 15%–45% of such cases. Multimodal approach including analgesics and back strengthening exercise are primary treatments. However, sustained relief can be achieved by radiofrequency ablation after proper diagnosis.
Teacher and student responses to interdisciplinary aspects of sustainability education: what do we really know?

That the value of interdisciplinarity in sustainability education is largely taken for granted reflects widely held views about the inherent complexity and uncertainty of sustainability issues and the need for holistic responses to them. Although there is an extensive literature on interdisciplinarity, there has been relatively little investigation of the ways in which teachers and learners deal with and respond to this central aspect of sustainability education. This paper presents data from two case studies of masters course in sustainability education, one in an English university and one in a Chinese university, and examines some of the contextual factors that support or limit their attempts to go beyond the bounded ways of thinking associated with more traditional academic disciplines. While some learners respond enthusiastically to interdisciplinarity, others experience forms of ‘cognitive dissonance’. Interdisciplinarity requires individual teachers to operate as members of teams and to find ways of promoting dialogue between different perspectives, discourses and methods of approaching problems. The key to interdisciplinarity is an open attitude, a willingness to learn and an ability to engage with different ways of thinking about issues we face in common.
Coverage metrics for verification of concurrent SystemC designs using mutation testing

Design verification has grown to dominate the cost of electronic system design; however, designs continue to be released with latent bugs. A verification test suite developed for a sequential program is not adequate for a concurrent program. A major problem with design verification of concurrent systems is the lack of good coverage metrics. Coverage metrics are heuristic measures of the exhaustiveness of a test suite. High coverage, in general, implies fewer bugs. SystemC is the most popular concurrent system level modeling language used for designing SoCs in the industry. We propose to attack the verification quality problem for concurrent SystemC programs by developing novel mutation testing based coverage metrics. Mutation testing has successfully been applied in software testing and RTL designs. In this paper, we develop a comprehensive set of mutation operators for concurrency constructs in SystemC. Our approach is also unique in that we define a novel concurrent coverage metric considering multiple execution schedules that a concurrent program can generate. This metric allows us to adequately measure the coverage for concurrent programs. We performed experiments with various designs including a large industrial design and obtained favorable results on multiple applications.
Nurr1: a new lnsight to protects dopaminergic neurodegeneration in parkinson’s disease

The developmental transcription factors are important in early neuron specification and differentiation often remains expressed in the adult brain for regulation and maintenances of essential neurophysiological functions. The involvement of transcription factors required for the regulation of long-term survival of central dopaminergic neurons may provide new insight into the etiology and molecular mechanisms leading to dopaminergic cell deaths in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Nurr1, a transcription factor belonging to the orphan nuclear receptor super-family play a vital role in the development, maintenance and survival of dopaminergic neurons. It appears to regulate the expression of dopaminergic markers, and synthesis, transport and storage of dopamine. Decreased Nurr1 expression is found in the autopsied PD midbrains, particularly in neurons containing Lewy bodies, as well as in peripheral lymphocytes of patients with PD. Several variants in Nurr1 gene have been reported in association with PD, in this review we proposed that Nurr1is an essential factor for the maintenance of dopaminergic neuron functions, but it may also play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of PD.
Noninvasive Magnetic Resonance Imaging Evaluation of Endothelial Permeability in Murine Atherosclerosis Using an Albumin-Binding Contrast Agent

Background— Endothelial dysfunction promotes atherosclerosis and precedes acute cardiovascular events. We investigated whether in vivo magnetic resonance imaging with the use of an albumin-binding contrast agent, gadofosveset, could detect endothelial damage associated with atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E–deficient (ApoE−/−) mice. Furthermore, we tested whether magnetic resonance imaging could noninvasively assess endothelial function by measuring the endothelial-dependent vasodilation in response to acetylcholine. Methods and Results— ApoE−/− mice were imaged at 4, 8, and 12 weeks after commencement of a high-fat diet. Statin-treated ApoE−/− mice were scanned after 12 weeks of a high-fat diet. Wild-type mice were imaged before and 48 hours after injection of Russell's viper venom, an endothelial toxin. Delayed enhancement magnetic resonance imaging and T1 mapping of the brachiocephalic artery, 30 minutes after injection of gadofosveset, showed increased vessel wall enhancement and relaxation rate (R1) with progression of atherosclerosis in ApoE−/−(R1 [s−1]: R4 weeks 2.42±0.35, R8 weeks 3.45±0.54, R12 weeks 3.83±0.52) and Russell's viper venom–injected wild-type mice (R1=4.57±0.86). Conversely, wild-type (R1=2.15±0.34) and statin-treated ApoE−/− (R1=3.0±0.65) mice showed less enhancement. Uptake of gadofosveset correlated with Evans blue staining, morphological changes of endothelial cells, and widening of the cell-cell junctions, suggesting that uptake occurs in regions of increased vascular permeability. Endothelial-dependent vasomotor responses showed vasoconstriction of the arteries of the ApoE−/− (−22.22±7.95%) and Russell's viper venom–injected (−10.37±17.60%) mice compared with wild-type mice (32.45±12.35%). Statin treatment improved endothelium morphology and function (−8.12±8.22%). Conclusions— We demonstrate the noninvasive assessment of endothelial permeability and function with the use of an albumin-binding magnetic resonance contrast agent. Blood albumin leakage could be a surrogate marker for the in vivo evaluation of interventions that aim to restore the endothelium.
Multi-person Tracking with Overlapping Cameras in Complex, Dynamic Environments

This paper presents a multi-camera system to track multiple persons in complex, dynamic environments. Position measurements are obtained by carving out the space defined by foreground regions in the overlapping camera views and projecting these onto blobs on the ground plane. Person appearance is described in terms of the colour histograms in the various camera views of three vertical body regions (head-shoulder, torso, legs). The assignment of measurements to tracks (modelled by Kalman filters) is done in a non-greedy, global fashion based on ground plane position and colour appearance. The advantage of the proposed approach is that the decision on correspondences across cameras is delayed until it can be performed at the object-level, where it is more robust. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach using data from three cameras overlooking a complex outdoor setting (train platform), containing a significant amount of lighting and background changes.
Effect of uncertainties in modeling interferences in spectrum sensing

Spectrum sensing is one of the major functions of cognitive radio. Its goal is to detect and classify spectrum holes, i.e., regions of the spectrum space that can be used by secondary users. A realistic assumption with the design of a spectrum sensor is that the channel model is incompletely known, i.e., only partial knowledge is available about the observation statistics. Under these conditions, one may consider using a detector designed under the assumption of a known model, and examining the loss in performance caused by the modeling uncertainties. One may suppose for example that the additive noise has a known statistics, except for its power which ranges in a certain interval. In this case, it is shown in [1] that model uncertainties impose fundamental limitations on sensing performance, and these limitations cannot be overcome by increasing the sensing duration. This approach leads to the concept of SNR wall, which is the SNR level below which a spectrum sensor fails to yield an acceptable detector performance, no matter how long it can observe the channel.
Comparison of renal sympathetic baroreflex effects of rilmenidine and alpha‐methylnoradrenaline in the ventrolateral medulla of the rabbit

Objective To determine the influence of imidazoline receptors and α2-adrenoceptors in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) on the renal sympathetic baroreflex. Methods The effects of rilmenidine (4 nmol) and α-methylnoradrenaline (α-MNA, 80 nmol) micro-injected into the RVLM of urethane-anaesthetized rabbits previously implanted with renal nerve recording electrodes were examined before and after micro-injection of the imidazoline receptor/α2-adrenoceptor antagonist idazoxan and the α2-adrenoceptor antagonist 2-methoxyidazoxan (2-MI). Results Rilmenidine and α-MNA both lowered mean arterial pressure (MAP) by 28% and renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) by 35%, and reduced RSNA upper plateaus and ranges by 30–70%. Rilmenidine decreased both sympathetic burst frequency and amplitude while α-MNA reduced amplitude only. Rilmenidine shifted the RSNA baroreflex curve to the left while α-MNA shifted the curve to the right. Idazoxan (13 nmol) reversed the hypotension and all RSNA effects of rilmenidine, while 2-MI (4 nmol) increased MAP 18% above the control and also reversed all RSNA parameters. By contrast, 2-MI reversed the α-MNA-induced hypotension and partially restored RSNA and the upper plateau of the RSNA baroreflex curve. Idazoxan treatment only partially reversed the hypotension after α-MNA and had no effect on any of the baroreflex curves. Conclusion Both α-MNA and rilmenidine injected into the RVLM of rabbits produce renal sympathetic inhibition, but differences in the location of the baroreflex curve and the pattern of effects on burst amplitude and frequency suggest different mechanisms of action. The effects of idazoxan suggest that rilmenidine acts via imidazoline receptors. Since 2-MI reversed the actions of α-MNA and also rilmenidine, this suggests that α2-adrenoceptor hypotension can be produced in the rabbit RVLM and that rilmenidine may activate α2-adrenoceptors, possibly as a result of activating imidazoline receptors.
Surgical Treatment for Esophageal Cancer

Esophageal cancer is one of the most difficult malignancies to cure. The prognosis remains unsatisfactory despite significant advances in surgical techniques and perioperative management. The optimal treatment strategy for localized esophageal cancer has not yet been established. Surgical resection remains the mainstay of treatment for esophageal cancer, and curative resection is the most important surgery. Extended esophagectomy with three-field lymphadenectomy provides the highest quality of tumor clearance and prolongation of patient survival. There has been intense effort in developing novel strategies to treat patients with resectable esophageal cancer. Various combined-modality approaches have been attempted to improve treatment outcomes. Definitive chemoradiotherapy has an impact on long-term survival in patients with resectable esophageal cancer. Accordingly, there are three main combined-modality approaches: esophagectomy with adjuvant chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy; primary definitive chemoradiotherapy with or without salvage esophagectomy, and preoperative chemoradiotherapy followed by planned esophagectomy. Recently, owing to the remarkable advances in optical technology, minimally invasive esophagectomy using endoscopic instruments has been introduced into esophageal cancer surgery. This article reviews recent changes in the treatment of esophageal cancer surgery, and considers the role of esophagectomy.
Analysis of yggX and gshA Mutants Provides Insights into the Labile Iron Pool in Salmonella enterica

ABSTRACT Strains of Salmonella enterica lacking YggX and the cellular reductant glutathione exhibit defects similar to those resulting from iron deficiency and oxidative stress. Mutant strains are sensitive to hydrogen peroxide and superoxide, deregulate the expression of the Fur-regulated gene entB, and fail to grow on succinate medium. Suppression of some yggX gshA mutant phenotypes by the cell-permeable iron chelator deferoxamine allowed the conclusion that increased levels of cellular Fenton chemistry played a role in the growth defects. The data presented are consistent with a scenario in which glutathione acts as a physiological chelator of the labile iron pool and in which YggX acts upstream of the labile iron pool by preventing superoxide toxicity.
Finite satisfiability of UML class diagrams with constrained class hierarchy

Models lie at the heart of the emerging model-driven engineering approach. In order to guarantee precise, consistent, and correct models, there is a need for efficient powerful methods for verifying model correctness. Class diagram is the central language within UML. Its correctness problems involve issues of contradiction, namely the consistency problem, and issues of finite instantiation, namely the finite satisfiability problem. This article analyzes the problem of finite satisfiability of class diagrams with class hierarchy constraints and generalization-set constraints. The article introduces the FiniteSat algorithm for efficient detection of finite satisfiability in such class diagrams, and analyzes its limitations in terms of complex hierarchy structures. FiniteSat is strengthened in two directions. First, an algorithm for identification of the cause for a finite satisfiability problem is introduced. Second, a method for propagation of generalization-set constraints in a class diagram is introduced. The propagation method serves as a preprocessing step that improves FiniteSat performance, and helps developers in clarifying intended constraints. These algorithms are implemented in the FiniteSatUSE tool [BGU Modeling Group 2011b], as part of our ongoing effort for constructing a model-level integrated development environment [BGU Modeling Group 2010a].
Smart RFID Antenna System for Indoor Tracking and Behavior Analysis of Small Animals in Colony Cages

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is more and more adopted in a wide range of applicative scenarios. Nevertheless, in many applications, commercial and general-purpose solutions can be unsuitable as in the case of the tracking of small-size living animals for the behavior analysis. In such a case, the whole RFID hardware, as well as the control software, should be opportunely tailored for the particular application. In this paper, a novel RFID-based approach enabling an effective localization and tracking of small-sized laboratory animals is proposed. It is mainly based on a near-field (NF) RFID multiantenna system working in the UHF bandwidth, to be placed below the animal's cage, and able to rigorously identify the NF RFID tags implanted in laboratory animals. Once the requirements of the reader antenna have been individuated, an antenna system composed of a matrix of specifically designed segmented loops has been prototyped. Moreover, to improve the effectiveness of the whole tracking system, a properly algorithm based on the measured received signal strength indication has been developed and integrated. It aims at removing potential minor ambiguities of the data captured by the multiantenna system. The whole animal tracking system has been then largely tested on phantom mice to verify its ability to precisely localize each subject and to reconstruct its path. Additionally, a first test performed on living mice has been presented. The achieved and discussed results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Can Quality of Family Day Care Provision in England Be Assessed Accurately Using the Family Day Care Rating Scale? A report on reliability

Abstract The Family Day Care Rating Scale (FDCRS; Harms & Clifford, 1989) was developed in the USA. The scale attempts to define quality in family day care for pre‐schoolers and to provide a standardised way of assessing it. The FDCRS has been shown to have good reliability and validity in the USA and Canada. However, the rating scale has never been used to assess quality of family day care in the UK. This paper describes data collected from 104 family day care providers (childminders) in England using the FDCRS. It reports on the internal consistency of the FDCRS subscales and the validity of aggregating the subscales to derive one single measure of quality. Analyses suggest that the scale may provide a useful global measure of quality. However, not all subscales yielded good internal consistency. Recommendations are made as to how the FDCRS could be modified for effective use as a research tool in England.
What's an Elite to Do? The Threat of Populism from Left, Right and Centre

Anthony Painter's report for Policy Network correctly describes populism as a ‘democratic argument’ which sets up a morally pure ‘people’ against vilified ‘elites’, in binary opposition. This is an argument which is increasingly prominent in political discourse, whether the elites in question are political, financial or technocratic. Painter focuses on the now-familiar ‘radical right-wing’ version of populism, as reflected across Europe in the rise of parties such as the UKIP. He omits discussion of other types of populism (of the left and centre), which perhaps represent the future for populist politics.
Setting government priorities in preventing HIV / AIDS.

Since no cure has yet been found for AIDS and an effective vaccine is far off, preventing HIV infection by changing individual behavior is the key to stopping the AIDS epidemic in developing countries. People who have many sex partners and do not use condoms, and people who inject drugs and share unsterilized injecting equipment have the greatest risk of contracting HIV and infecting others. How quickly and extensively an HIV/AIDS epidemic spreads in a given population depends largely upon the extent to which people with many sex partners mix with people with fewer partners. A World Bank research report has, however, found that people who engage in high-risk behavior act to reduce their risk of contracting and spreading HIV when they have the knowledge and means to do so and a supportive community. The report highlights the following strategies to reduce risky behavior: providing information, lowering the costs of safer behavior, and raising the costs of risky behavior. Governments' main responsibilities in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS are reducing the negative externalities of high-risk behavior and producing public goods. Without government action, individuals and firms will not have the incentives to do what is necessary. The need to act now and mobilizing political support are discussed.
High School Students’ Attitudes Towards Spiders: A cross‐cultural comparison

Spiders are traditionally considered to be among the least popular of animals. Current evidence suggests that a negative attitude towards spiders could be influenced by both cultural and evolutionary pressures. Some researchers suggest that science education activities could positively influence students’ perceptions of spiders. Their evidence is, however, ambivalent. Using a five‐point score Likert‐type questionnaire in which the items were developed in a similar way to four of Kellert’s categories of attitude (scientistic, negativistic, naturalistic, and ecologistic) towards invertebrates, we compared the level of knowledge of and attitudes towards spiders of high school students from two countries, Slovakia (n = 354) and South Africa (n = 382). The students represented different cultures and followed dissimilar science education curricula. Only among the Slovakian students there was a statistically significant but low correlation between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.30). The South African students scored higher in the categories of scientistic, naturalistic, and ecologistic attitudes. Comparison of attitude towards spiders of indigenous Africans from coeducational Catholic schools revealed that South African students have greater fear of spiders than Slovakian students, supporting the biological preparedness hypothesis. This hypothesis predicts a greater fear of spiders in South Africa than in Europe since several South African spiders possess venoms that are dangerous to humans. The results of this study are discussed from science education, cultural, and evolutionary perspectives.
The subordination effect: Evidence from self-paced reading and recall

Engelkamp and Rummer (2002) demonstrated that auditorily presented subordinate causal sentences are better retained than coordinate sentences. This subordination effect was explained by suggesting that subordinate sentences are merged more easily in memory than coordinate sentences. The present paper enlarges Engelkamp and Rummer's findings with respect to three aspects. First, it demonstrates that the subordination effect can only be found if a verbatim but not a content related recall score is used. Second, using self-paced reading, it demonstrates a processing advantage for subordinate sentences. This reading time advantage was only observed if the subordinate clause preceded the matrix clause. Third, it excludes an alternative explanation of the subordination effect which attributes memory differences to the fact that the critical causal conjunction word was presented earlier in subordinate than in coordinate sentences. In sum, our findings suggest a direct contribution of syntactic information to sentence regeneration.