Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Journalist's Albatross: Objectivity, Critical Reporting and Social Responsibility

In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote of a sailor who, having shot an albatross of good luck and brought misfortune to his ship, was forced to wear the bird’s carcass about his neck. In this essay I want to examine a journalistic albatross-the critical function of the press. I will argue simply that our definition of social responsibility, grounded in an adulation of objectivity, is insufficient. I will further argue that a broader and more socially relevant definition would lead to a redefinition of the role of the journalist as a reflective and uncompromising critic of American life, power and status at an institutional level. This, in turn, would suggest the necessity of re-evaluating the role of the university and professional journalism schools as the principal institutions charged with training future journalists. Accomplishing this task requires that I construct an argument premised in both the social nature of journalism and of ethical practice. I contend here that we have lost these roots and have replaced them with an unsatisfactory substitute-professionalism. The reasons that we have failed to recognize this shift, however, stems from our refusal (or inability) to acknowledge the
Overlap Syndrome of Cardiac Sodium Channel Disease in Mice Carrying the Equivalent Mutation of Human SCN5A-1795insD

Background— Patients carrying the cardiac sodium channel (SCN5A) mutation 1795insD show sudden nocturnal death and signs of multiple arrhythmia syndromes including bradycardia, conduction delay, QT prolongation, and right precordial ST-elevation. We investigated the electrophysiological characteristics of a transgenic model of the murine equivalent mutation 1798insD. Methods and Results— On 24-hour continuous telemetry and surface ECG recordings, Scn5a1798insD/+ heterozygous mice showed significantly lower heart rates, more bradycardic episodes (pauses ≥500 ms), and increased PQ interval, QRS duration, and QTc interval compared with wild-type mice. The sodium channel blocker flecainide induced marked sinus bradycardia and/or sinus arrest in the majority of Scn5a1798insD/+ mice, but not in wild-type mice. Epicardial mapping using a multielectrode grid on excised, Langendorff-perfused hearts showed preferential conduction slowing in the right ventricle of Scn5a1798insD/+ hearts. On whole-cell patch-clamp analysis, ventricular myocytes isolated from Scn5a1798insD/+ hearts displayed action potential prolongation, a 39% reduction in peak sodium current density and a similar reduction in action potential upstroke velocity. Scn5a1798insD/+ myocytes displayed a slower time course of sodium current decay without significant differences in voltage-dependence of activation and steady-state inactivation, slow inactivation, or recovery from inactivation. Furthermore, Scn5a1798insD/+ myocytes showed a larger tetrodotoxin-sensitive persistent inward current compared with wild-type myocytes. Conclusions— Mice carrying the murine equivalent of the SCN5A-1795insD mutation display bradycardia, right ventricular conduction slowing, and QT prolongation, similar to the human phenotype. These results demonstrate that the presence of a single SCN5A mutation is indeed sufficient to cause an overlap syndrome of cardiac sodium channel disease.
Periarterial lymphoid sheath in the rat spleen: A light, transmission, and scanning electron microscopic study

The periarterial lymphoid sheath (PALS) in the rat spleen was studied by light, transmission, and scanning electron microscopy. The PALS was divided into three regions: the central region, peripheral region, and marginal zone bridging channel. In the central region, lymphocytes were easily washed away by perfusion. Large spaces were found between flat reticular cells or in large meshworks of stellate reticular cells; these may be deep lymphatic vessels. True lymphatic vessels were found in the central region near the hilus. In the marginal zone bridging channel, flat reticular cells surrounded the central artery in a circumferential pattern and formed channel‐like spaces between the flat reticular cells. These spaces were connected with the meshwork of the red pulp reticular cells and may be a route for lymphocytes between the deep lymphatic vessels and the red pulp. In the peripheral region of the PALS, it was usually difficult to wash away free cells by perfusion, and free cells were found among the reticular cells. In places in the peripheral region, however, free cells were washed away. It is suggested that the lymph flow may start from the region surrounding the PALS, and that the peripheral region of the PALS may also be another route for lymphocyte migration.
On the Way to Water-tight Mesh

This paper presents a new approach to generate water-tight surface mesh. In comparison with the two famous water-tight mesh generation algorithms: Tight Cocone (Dey and Goswami, 2003) and Power Crust (Amenta, Choi and Kolluri, 2001), our method shows a significant quality on the resulted models due to the efficient preand postprocessing. We choose our previously published online mesh generation method, for it reduces the very large point-clouds very fast and effective, which is suitable for our applications: reconstruction of historical buildings and online digitalisation of small scale objects. To optimisation the resulted mesh, we apply a fast and automatic preand post-processing to fill the holes effectively. It consists of six steps: mesh segmentation, filtering of noise, hole detection, filling of holes, triangles subdivision and surface smoothing. The whole process is integrated in one and is performed fully automatically . Validation of our method is based on the digitalisation of small objects with a hand-guided multi-sensory device and 3D-reconstruction of cultural heritage.
Gradient-Based Power Minimization in MIMO Broadcast Channels With Linear Precoding

We study the problem of minimizing the sum transmit power in mutliple-input multiple-output (MIMO) downlink channels with linear transceivers if per-user quality of service (QoS) constraints (expressed in terms of rates) have to be fulfilled. To find a suboptimal solution of the arising non-convex optimization problem, we introduce new auxiliary variables representing the di- vision of the per-user rate constraints into per-stream rate targets, and we optimize these variables by means of gradient-projection steps. This new method is combined with alternating updates of the transmit and receive filters. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm ensures that the mean square error (MSE) matrices of all users are diagonal, and in the course of the execution of the algorithm, it is possible that inactive streams get activated if this leads to a decreased sum transmit power. In numerical simulations, the new algorithm turns out to be superior to the various existing methods since these methods either lead to a higher sum transmit power than the proposed scheme or have a higher computational complexity or make restrictive assumptions on the system parameters.
Intracellular Distribution of Pancreatic Tumor Antigen Purified from BHP‐Induced Adenocarcinomas in Syrian Hamsters

Pancreatic tumor antigen (PTA) was purified to apparent homogeneity from hamster pancreatic adenocarcinomas by a rapid and simple procedure using column chromatography on Mono P and Superose 6. Amino acid analysis indicated essential similarities between hamster PTA and human pancreatic cancer-associated antigen (PCAA, PCAAc), although differences in the contents of several amino acid residues between the two proteins did suggest species variation. Investigation of the binding pattern of antibody raised against PTA by peroxidase-labeled antibody immunocytochemistry revealed that, whereas PTA is absent or only faintly expressed in normal epithelium, it is very strongly positive in transplantable hamster pancreatic adenocarcinomas induced by nitrosamines. PTA was found to be distributed over the entire surface of neoplastic cells and it was concluded that the presence of PTA on the basolateral surface of malignant pancreatic epithelial cells, where it. might have access to the blood circulation, could be one explanation for the observed elevated concentrations of PTA in the serum. PTA is thus a potential marker for hamster neoplastic pancreatobiliary duct-type cells.
Multiple system atrophy (MSA) with massive macrophage infiltration in the ponto‐cerebellar afferent system

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is characterized pathologically by a systemic degeneration of the olivopontocerebellar (OPC), striatonigral (SN) and autonomic systems. Massive glial cytoplasmic inclusions (GCIs) are specific for this disease. Massive lipid‐laden macrophage infiltration in the degenerating tracts has not been described up to now. We here report a case of MSA with this rare event in the ponto‐cerebellar (cerebellopetal) fibers. The patient, 54‐year‐old housewife, developed ataxia. At the age of 55 years, she was diagnosed as having MSA by cerebellar ataxia, extrapyramidal signs, autonomic failure and Horner syndrome. She died from asphyxia at the age of 57. The autopsy revealed OPC and SN system atrophy, degeneration and numerous GCIs, compatible with MSA. Numerous lipid‐laden macrophages were seen in the pontine nuclei and its transverse fibers including the white matter of the cerebellum, which has not been reported up to now. There was no macrophage infiltration in the other areas. Transient ischemia, infarction and wallerian degeneration do not account for this rare event. The ponto‐cerebellar (cerebellopetal) tract pathology, as observed by postmortem neuropathological study, may occur in the context of MSA.
Functional signature for the recognition of specific target mRNAs by human Staufen1 protein

Cellular messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are associated to proteins in the form of ribonucleoprotein particles. The double-stranded RNA-binding (DRB) proteins play important roles in mRNA synthesis, modification, activity and decay. Staufen is a DRB protein involved in the localized translation of specific mRNAs during Drosophila early development. The human Staufen1 (hStau1) forms RNA granules that contain translation regulation proteins as well as cytoskeleton and motor proteins to allow the movement of the granule on microtubules, but the mechanisms of hStau1-RNA recognition are still unclear. Here we used a combination of affinity chromatography, RNAse-protection, deep-sequencing and bioinformatic analyses to identify mRNAs differentially associated to hStau1 or a mutant protein unable to bind RNA and, in this way, defined a collection of mRNAs specifically associated to wt hStau1. A common sequence signature consisting of two opposite-polarity Alu motifs was present in the hStau1-associated mRNAs and was shown to be sufficient for binding to hStau1 and hStau1-dependent stimulation of protein expression. Our results unravel how hStau1 identifies a wide spectrum of cellular target mRNAs to control their localization, expression and fate.
Ultrasound Diagnosis of Hepatic Steatosis as a Surrogate for Atherosclerosis

Abstract Introduction: Ultrasonography has become available to most physicians in primary care. Increasingly hepatic steatosis becomes a chance finding, which has been shown to be associated with cardiovascular risk factors, surrogates of vascular disease, and vascular events. This study tries to answer the question whether it is justified to recommend a cardiovascular workup in response to the incidental finding of hepatic steatosis in asymptomatic healthy individuals. Methods: The data of 259 healthy women and 561 men aged 19–93 years, who consecutively underwent a primary preventive check-up, were retrospectively analyzed. Ultrasonography for diagnosis of hepatic steatosis, determination of the maximal intima media thickness (IMT) and plaques of the carotid arteries was performed by a single certified physician according to conventional criteria. Results: Hepatic steatosis was found in 28.3% men and 7.7% women. In 88% the steatosis was judged to be mild. These individuals differed from those without hepatic steatosis in body mass index, ALAT, GGT, HbA1c, fasting glucose, triglycerides, HDL and lipoprotein(a). The IMT was higher and plaques were more prevalent. In logistic regression analysis hepatic steatosis was a highly significant predictor of the presence of an IMT>0.8 mm or carotid plaques besides age and sex. This was also the case in analyses including BMI, or multiple risk factors, which added only lipoprotein(a) as a predictor. Conclusion: The incidental diagnosis of hepatic steatosis is a strong indicator for the presence of cardiovascular risk factors and even signs of developing atherosclerosis. Thus, the recommendation of further cardiovascular workups seems appropriate.
Remifentanil vs fentanyl with a target controlled propofol infusion in patients undergoing craniotomy for supratentorial lesions.

AIM Remifentanil hydrochloride is an ultra-short acting m-opioid receptor agonist. This study compared the use of remifentanil with that of fentanyl during elective supratentorial craniotomy in a target controlled infusion (TCI)-propofol anesthesia regimen and evaluated the quality of recovery from anesthesia. METHODS After written informed consent for this prospective study, 40 adult patients were randomly divided into 2 groups: in group F analgesia was provided with fentanyl 2-3 mg kg(-1) h(-1) and in group R with remifentanil 0.25 mg kg(-1) h(-1). Anesthesia was induced with thiopental and pancuronium bromide, and maintained with propofol-TCI, pancuronium, air and oxygen and fentanyl (group F) or remifentanil (group R), respectively. After tracheal intubation, infusion rate of remifentanil was reduced and then adjusted to maintain stable hemodynamics. Hemodynamics and recovery time were monitored for 60 min after surgery. Analgesic requirements, propofol intraoperative consumption, nausea and vomiting in postoperative period were monitored. Recovery was evaluated according to a modified Aldrete score. RESULTS Baseline hemodynamics were similar in both groups. Mean arterial pressure differed between the 2 groups (P<0.05) with the greatest decrease in group R during dura opening (P<0.001). Postoperative mean arterial pressure was higher in group R. Patients in group R exhibited a faster recovery. The incidence of nausea and vomiting was similar in the 2 groups. Noteworthy, there was a reduction in the amount of propofol used in group R. CONCLUSIONS Remifentanil appears to be a reasonable alternative to fentanyl during elective surgery of supratentorial lesions.
Protection of Human Left Ventricular Myocardium From Cutting Injury With 2,3 -Butanedione Monoxime

To prevent dissection injury when cutting strip preparations from human left ventricular papillary muscle tissue, dissections were carried out with 2,3-butanedione monoxime (30 mM) added to Krebs-Ringer solution and followed by washout with normal solution. Eleven muscle strip preparations were dissected from left ventricular papillary muscle tissue of five patients undergoing mitral valve replacement surgery. The average muscle strip length was 6.8 ± 1.4 mm, and cross-section area was 0.49 ± 0.16 mm2. Peak twitch tension was 2.02 ± 1.33 g/mm2 and ranged from 0.67 to 5.5 g/mm2 at an extracellular calcium concentration of 2.5 mM (21° C, 0.16 Hz). In one muscle strip, which was stored in Krebs-Ringer plus 2,3-butanedione monoxime solution for 20 hours, peak twitch tension in normal Krebs-Ringer solution was 1.85 g/mm2. When temperature was increased from 21° C, there was a continuous increase in peak twitch tension (by 38%) up to about 28° C; then peak twitch tension decreased so that at 37° C (n =3) average peak twitch tension was lower than at 21° C by 47%. The force-frequency relation exhibited a broad force plateau between 40 and 120 beats/min at 37° C. The plateau was markedly narrowed at 30° C and 24° C. Thermopile heat measurements revealed appropriate waveform characteristics in high-resolution single-beat heat records indicating minimal surface cell damage. Thus, cardioplegia with 2,3-butanedione monoxime protects human left ventricular myocardium from dissection injury facilitating dissection and preservation of strip preparations with extraordinarily low cross-sectional areas and high peak twitch tensions. These preparations are suitable for myothermal and mechanical measurements.
Different Genetic Features Associated with Colon and Rectal Carcinogenesis

Purpose: The issue of whether colon and rectal cancer should be considered as a single entity or two distinct entities is still debated, and there is a need to improve studies addressing the heterogeneity of the pathogenetic pathway leading to sporadic colorectal cancers (SCRCs) as well as to identify biological and/or molecular differences between colon and rectal cancers. Experimental Design: Specimens of SCRCs were analyzed for somatic mutations in APC, K-ras, and TP53 genes and loss-of-heterozygosity of chromosome 18. Results: Eleven SCRCs showed microsatellite instability. APC mutation frequency was significantly lower in microsatellite instability (MIN+) than in MIN− SCRCs. All MIN− SCRCs showed β-catenin overexpression. A combined analysis of the biomarkers revealed two pathways mainly represented by MIN− SCRCs and differently followed on the basis of tumor location, APC-K-ras-TP53-Ch18q and APC-TP53-Ch18q. Conclusions: The APC-β-catenin pathway is inactivated in MIN− SCRCs and represents the first hit of SCRC development. Two preferential pathways followed by SCRCs occur, one K-ras dependent, in agreement with the Fearon and Vogelstein model, and the other K-ras independent. Significant differences between colon and rectal tumors occur in our series of MIN− SCRCs. The different pathways observed and their distribution can be summarized as follows: (a) K-ras mutations were more commonly detected in colon than in rectum; (b) the number of mutations detected was significantly higher in colon than in rectal tumors; and (c) a mutational pattern restricted to the APC gene was more common in rectal than in colon tumors. This molecular characterization can be translated into a clinical setting to improve diagnosis and to direct a rationale pharmacological treatment.
Deep Brain Stimulation: Description and Implications for Motor Speech

Abstract Purpose: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical option which has been demonstrated to be effective for treatment of many symptoms in several movement disorders. The purpose of this paper is to describe this surgical option and to discuss its effects on motor speech. Method: The literature is reviewed to provide a summary of the information available to describe DBS surgery and its effects on motor speech in neurological disorders. Primary focus is placed on DBS as a treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD) and Essential Tremor (ET). Results and Conclusions: DBS surgery is a relatively low-risk, common, and reversible surgery used to treat the motor symptoms in many movement disorders, especially PD and ET. It is not currently used as a treatment for any motor speech disorder. Dysarthria is a commonly reported side-effect of bilateral more than unilateral DBS surgery. The reported frequency of motor speech difficulties varies, and few studies have specifically examined motor speech with reliable.
Evaluation of efflux pumps gene expression in resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates in an Iranian referral hospital

Background and Objectives: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is one of the most important causes of nosocomial infections and has an intrinsic resistance to many antibiotics. Among all the resistance-nodulation-division (RND) pumps of P. aeruginosa, MexAB-OprM is the first efflux pump found to target multiple classes of antibiotics. This study was aimed to evaluate the expression level of genes expressing MexAB-OprM in clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa. Materials and Methods: In this study, 45 P. aeruginosa strains were isolated from patients admitted to Children’s Medical Center Hospital, an Iranian referral hospital. Disk diffusion and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) methods were used for determination of the patterns of resistance to antibiotics. Real-time PCR was used to investigate the expression level of genes of MexAB-OprM efflux pump. Results: Among 45 resistant PA isolates, the frequency of genes overexpression was as follows: MexA (n=25, 55.5%), MexB (n=24, 53.3%) and OprM (n=16, 35.5%). In addition, in 28 strains (62%) overexpression was observed in one of the studied three genes of MexAB-OprM efflux pump. Conclusion: In our study 28 isolates (62%) had increased expression level of efflux pumps genes, MexAB-OprM. Although the efflux pumps play important roles in increasing the resistance towards different antibiotics but the role of other agents and mechanisms in evolution of resistance should not be ignored. Since the concomitant overproduction of other Mex efflux systems might have additive effects on antibiotic resistance, the co-expressing of a multicomponent efflux pump is recommended. On the other hand, the concomitant overproduction of two Mex pumps might have additive effects on resistance to antibiotic. Therefore co-expressing of Mex efflux systems is recommended.
Robust Transceiver with Tomlinson-Harashima Precoding for Amplify-and-Forward MIMO Relaying Systems

In this paper, robust transceiver design with Tomlinson-Harashima precoding (THP) for multi-hop amplify-and-forward (AF) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relaying systems is investigated. At source node, THP is adopted to mitigate the spatial intersymbol interference. However, due to its nonlinear nature, THP is very sensitive to channel estimation errors. In order to reduce the effects of channel estimation errors, a joint Bayesian robust design of THP at source, linear forwarding matrices at relays and linear equalizer at destination is proposed. With novel applications of elegant characteristics of multiplicative convexity and matrix-monotone functions, the optimal structure of the nonlinear transceiver is first derived. Based on the derived structure, the transceiver design problem reduces to a much simpler one with only scalar variables which can be efficiently solved. Finally, the performance advantage of the proposed robust design over non-robust design is demonstrated by simulation results.
The declarative/procedural model and the shallow structure hypothesis

Clahsen and Felser (CF) have written a beautiful and important paper. I applaud their integrative empirical approach, and believe that their theoretical account is largely correct, if not in some of its specific claims, at least in its broader assumptions. CF directly compare their shallow structure hypothesis (SSH) with a model that my colleagues and I have proposed for aspects of the neurocognition of first and second language: the “declarative/procedural” (DP) model. Although some of CF's discussion accurately depicts the DP model and its relation to the data, they also make a few critical errors.Here, I first summarize the DP model in both first language (L1) and adult-learned second language (L2), in order to be able to contrast it with the SSH, and then address the relevant problems in CF. For further details on the DP model and L1, see Ullman (2001a, 2001c, 2004) and Ullman et al. (1997). For the model as it applies to L2, see Ullman (2001b, 2005).
Entrepreneurship among Business Graduates: Does a Major in Entrepreneurship Make a Difference?.

Entrepreneurship has become a widely taught subject in universities and business schools. However, only a very small number of studies have investigated the effect of entrepreneurship education. The present research compares the behaviour of business graduates with a major in entrepreneurship and graduates with other majors from a Norwegian business school. The results indicate that graduates with an entrepreneurship major are more likely to start new businesses and have stronger entrepreneurial intentions than other graduates.