Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PACAP Functions as a Neurotrophic Factor a

In addition to classical neurotrophic factors, neurotransmitters and neuropeptides also exhibit neurotrophic activities. ' The central nervous system (CNS) contains a variety of neuropeptides in neurons and nonneuronal cells. These peptides and their receptors appear in early developmental stages, often transiently expressed at a peak level, suggesting a possible physiological role as modulators of growth and differentiation of neurons. Neurotrophic actions of a number of neuropeptides have been reported. In particular, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), which is a preganglionic neurotransmitter in the sympathetic nervous system of the adult rat,* was shown to exert multiple actions on developing sympathetic neuroblasts in culture, including stimulation of neuronal mitosis, survival, and process o~tgrowth . ~ VIP also increases the survival of cultured spinal cord neurons during a critical period of de~elopment . ~ . ~ Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) was first isolated from ovine hypothalamic tissues during an attempt to isolate a novel hypophysiotropic hormone based on the ability to activate adenylate cyclase in rat pituitary cell cultures. Two forms of PACAP, one with 38 residues (PACAP38) and a truncated form with 27 residues (PACAP27), were isolated from the ovine hypothalamic PACAP is a new member of secretin-glucagon-VIP family with 60% sequence homology with VIP, but its adenylate cyclase stimulating activity in cultured pituitary cells is 1000 times greater than Immunohistochemical
Revision 2 ( FGE . 24 Rev 2 )

The Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids of the European Food Safety Authority was requested to evaluate 24 flavouring substances in the Flavouring Group Evaluation 24, Revision 2, using the Procedure in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1565/2000. This revision was made required owing to the inclusion of the assessment of new toxicity data on one supporting substance, 2-acetylpyrrole [FL-no: 14.047], to support the re-evaluation of one candidate substance, 2-acetyl-5-methylpyrrole [FL-no: 14.085]. Nine of the original 33 candidate substances [FL-no: 13.100, 14.002, 14.023, 14.094, 14.107, 14.138, 14.145, 14.163 and 14.169], for which additional data were requested, are no longer supported by Industry for use as flavouring substances in Europe and will therefore not be considered any further. None of the 24 substances were considered to have genotoxic potential. These candidate substances were evaluated through a stepwise approach that integrates information on the structure-activity relationships, intake from current uses, toxicological threshold of concern, and available data on metabolism and toxicity. The Panel concluded that the 24 substances [FL-no: 14.085, 14.088, 14.089, 14.092, 14.093, 14.103, 14.104, 14.105, 14.106, 14.110, 14.115, 14.116, 14.117, 14.118, 14.120, 14.124, 14.125, 14.131, 14.134, 14.135, 14.136, 14.140, 14.143 and 14.150] do not give rise to safety concern at their levels of dietary intake, estimated on the basis of the MSDI approach. Besides the safety assessment of these flavouring substances, the specifications for the materials of commerce have also been considered. Adequate specifications including complete purity criteria and identity for the materials of commerce have been provided for all 24 candidate substances. © European Food Safety Authority, 2013
Expression of Distinct α Subunits of GABAA Receptor Regulates Inhibitory Synaptic Strength

Distinct α subunit subtypes in the molecular assembly of GABAA receptors are a critical determinant of the functional properties of inhibitory synapses and their modulation by a range of pharmacological agents. We investigated the contribution of these subunits to the developmental changes of inhibitory synapses in cerebellar granule neurons in primary cultures from wild-type and α1 subunit −/− mice. The decay time of miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs) halved between 6 days in vitro (DIV6) and DIV12. This was paralleled by the decrease of α2 and α3 subunits, the increase of α1 and α6 subunits expression at synapses, and changes in the action of selective α subunit modulators. A small but significant shortening of mIPSCs was observed with development in cells from −/− mice together with a decrease in the expression of α3 subunit. In contrast, the expression of α2 subunit at inhibitory synapses in −/− cells was significantly higher than in +/+ cells at DIV11-12. α5 subunit was not detected,.
An Immune Algorithm Based Node Scheduling Scheme of Minimum Power Consumption and No Collision for Wireless Sensor Networks

The wireless sensor network and artificial immune system are both self-managed distributed systems. This paper aims at finding a better solution to the global optimization problem of power consumption of the sensor network. First, this paper sums up the node scheduling scheme of minimum power consumption and no collision for wireless sensor network into the flexible scheduling problem. Then regard one data transmission at a certain moment as an antigen, and potential routes as antibody, and the power consumption by the node sequence as the fitness, respectively. Finally, the proposed algorithm eliminates the disabled nodes using the immune stabilization to reconstruct the network topology structure and builds the vaccine library by the secondary reaction of artificial immune. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can not only avoid the collision among sensor nodes when forwarding data packets, but also solve the global optimization problem of power consumption with fast convergence speed.
Satellite PHY-layer selector design for video applications in tropical areas

This paper aims at providing different cost-efficient solutions for the channel impairments in tropical areas. In order to extend service to isolated areas, we propose an hybrid architecture based on DVB-S2/RCS + Wi-Fi networks. In this scenario, the delay of the ACM reaction to fade changes can affect the quality of the video transmission, especially because of the characteristics of tropical deep fading events. In order to avoid QoS reduction, we focus on the DVB PHY-layer shifted threshold, which we study not only for different Amazon areas and different rain conditions, but also for different reaction delays. The performance of the PHY-layer selector is evaluated in terms of video quality (PSNR), packet error rate and bandwidth efficiency.
Comparison and analysis of the animal models used to study the effect of morphine on tumour growth and metastasis

The effect of opioids on tumour growth and metastasis has been debated for many years, with recent emphasis on the possibility that they might influence the rate of disease‐free survival after tumour resection when used in the perioperative pain management of cancer surgery patients. The literature presents conflicting and inconclusive in vitro and in vivo data about the potential effect of opioids, especially morphine, on tumour growth and metastasis. To inform clinical practice, appropriate animal models are needed to test whether opioids alter the course of tumour growth and metastasis. Here, we review the literature on animal‐based studies testing the effect of morphine on cancer so far, and analyse differences between the models used that may explain the discrepancies in published results. Such analysis should elucidate the role of opioids in cancer and help define ideal pre‐clinical models to provide definitive answers.
Hydrophilic and Amphiphilic Forms of Drosophila Choline Acetyltransferase are Encoded by a Single mRNA

We have previously shown that the enzyme choline‐O‐acetyltransferase (ChAT) exists in a hydrophilic and an amphiphilic form in Drosophila head. A complementary DNA clone of 4.2 kb containing the entire coding region of ChAT was isolated from a cDNA library of Drosophila heads. The cDNA was subcloned in an expression vector and injected into the nucleus of Xenopus oocytes. Injected oocytes expressed high levels of ChAT activity. This activity was inhibited by bromoacetylcholine, a specific inhibitor of the enzyme. In the present study the non‐ionic detergent Triton X‐114 was used to analyse whether the expression of hydrophilic and amphiphilic ChAT was or was not directed by a single cDNA. The two forms of ChAT were found to be synthesized in injected oocytes. Approximately 9% of the recombinant enzyme partitioned as amphiphilic activity. This value was similar to that found for native amphiphilic ChAT in Drosophila heads. Sedimentation in sucrose gradients of amphiphilic enzyme was found to be influenced by the type of detergent present in the gradient whereas this was not the case for hydrophilic ChAT. Hydrophilic and amphiphilic enzyme activities differed in some of their biochemical properties. Amphiphilic ChAT was less sensitive to inhibition by the product acetylcholine than was hydrophilic ChAT. Moreover, amphiphilic ChAT was found to be more resistant than hydrophilic ChAT to heat inactivation at 45°C. These properties were observed for the native as well as for recombinant ChAT. These results demonstrate that the hydrophilic and amphiphilic forms of ChAT are derived from one mRNA.
Matching theory for backhaul management in small cell networks with mmWave capabilities

Designing cost-effective and scalable backhaul solutions is one of the main challenges for emerging wireless small cell networks (SCNs). In this regard, millimeter wave (mmW) communication technologies have recently emerged as an attractive solution to realize the vision of a high-speed and reliable wireless small cell backhaul network (SCBN). In this paper, a novel approach is proposed for managing the spectral resources of a heterogeneous SCBN that can exploit simultaneously mmW and conventional frequency bands via carrier aggregation. In particular, a new SCBN model is proposed in which small cell base stations (SCBSs) equipped with broadband fiber backhaul allocate their frequency resources to SCBSs with wireless backhaul, by using aggregated bands. One unique feature of the studied model is that it jointly accounts for both wireless channel characteristics and economic factors during resource allocation. The problem is then formulated as a one-to-many matching game and a distributed algorithm is proposed to find a stable outcome of the game. The convergence of the algorithm is proven and the properties of the resulting matching are studied. Simulation results show that under the constraints of wireless backhauling, the proposed approach achieves substantial performance gains, reaching up to 30% compared to a conventional best-effort approach.
Electrical characteristics of Al foil/Si junctions by surface activated bonding method

We successfully fabricated Al-foil/p-Si junctions by surface activated bonding (SAB). We found that the junctions revealed Schottky properties by measuring their current-voltage characteristics. We also found that the reverse-bias current of the junctions was decreased, i.e., their electrical characteristics were improved by annealing at temperatures below 200 °C. These results demonstrate that the bonding of metal foils should be useful for fabricating several-ten-μm-thick electrodes.
ERK signaling and amphetamine-induced potentiation of conditioned cue effects on reward seeking

Reward-seeking behaviors can be potentiated by exposure to cues that have been paired with a reward. This phenomenon is called Pavlovian instrumental transfer (PIT). PIT-like effects are thought to contribute to relapse of drug intake upon exposure to drug-associated cues. PIT was shown to be enhanced by prior exposure to psychostimulants; however, the molecular mechanisms involved are unknown. We previously found that extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation within the nucleus accumbens (NAc) critical for PIT. Here we examine a possible involvement of NAc ERK signaling in the potentiation of PIT by prior exposure to psychostimulants. Rats underwent Pavlovian conditioning to associate a tone with food delivery, then underwent instrumental training to press a lever for food, and finally were tested for PIT. After each Pavlovian session half of the rats were treated with amphetamine (1mg/kg; i.p.) and the rest with saline (1ml/kg; i.p.). Some rats received Pavlovian conditioning only to assess the effect of prior amphetamine exposure specifically on cue-evoked ERK activation in the NAc. To determine the importance of timing of amphetamine exposure in relation to the Pavlovian conditioning training, some rats were treated with drug or saline 6 hrs after the daily session. Amphetamine treatment after daily Pavlovian training increased cue-evoked NAc ERK activation, without affecting basal ERK activation or discriminative food cup approach. Amphetamine exposure caused a marked increase in PIT accompanied by an increase in cue-evoked ERK activation. There were no drug effects on basal lever pressing, inactive lever pressing, or discriminative food cup approach during the PIT test. The effect of prior amphetamine exposure on cue-evoked NAc ERK activation and PIT were observed when amphetamine was administered immediately after the daily Pavlovian conditioning but not when it was administered 6 hrs later. These findings are consistent with a role for cue-evoked NAc ERK activation in the enhancement of PIT observed days after repeated exposure to amphetamine. Potentiation dependence on the timing of amphetamine administration relative to Pavlovian conditioning argues against an explanation in terms of general sensitization but instead suggests a drug effect on the consolidation of the cue-reward association.
Xpert MTB/RIF assay for the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Xpert MTB/RIF (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) is endorsed for the detection of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the accuracy of Xpert for the detection of extrapulmonary TB. We searched multiple databases to October 15, 2013. We determined the accuracy of Xpert compared with culture and a composite reference standard (CRS). We grouped data by sample type and performed meta-analyses using a bivariate random-effects model. We assessed sources of heterogeneity using meta-regression for predefined covariates. We identified 18 studies involving 4461 samples. Sample processing varied greatly among the studies. Xpert sensitivity differed substantially between sample types. In lymph node tissues or aspirates, Xpert pooled sensitivity was 83.1% (95% CI 71.4–90.7%) versus culture and 81.2% (95% CI 72.4–87.7%) versus CRS. In cerebrospinal fluid, Xpert pooled sensitivity was 80.5% (95% CI 59.0–92.2%) against culture and 62.8% (95% CI 47.7–75.8%) against CRS. In pleural fluid, pooled sensitivity was 46.4% (95% CI 26.3–67.8%) against culture and 21.4% (95% CI 8.8–33.9%) against CRS. Xpert pooled specificity was consistently >98.7% against CRS across different sample types. Based on this systematic review, the World Health Organization now recommends Xpert over conventional tests for diagnosis of TB in lymph nodes and other tissues, and as the preferred initial test for diagnosis of TB meningitis. Xpert MTB/RIF can improve the diagnosis of lymph node TB and TB meningitis http://ow.ly/uFvjZ
Synchoronous PWM with single voltage vector per sector in voltage source inverter

This paper proposes the synchronous PWM whose number of the sampling per sector is one for high speed drive system. A synchronous PWM has already been introduced in high power-low switching system to reduce the harmonic frequency components of the modulated voltage. However, some methods are only implemented in an open loop V/F control and other methods need a complicated structure for the closed loop control. In this paper, three different types of the single vector modulation per sector are considered for a high speed drive system. One is the boundary sampling synchronized at 0o. The other strategies are the center sampling synchronized at 30o with the continuous PWM and discontinuous PWM. Without any an over modulation algorithm, the magnitude of the phase voltage can be from zero to the maximum value in 2 level inverter. Three modulation strategies can be implemented in the closed loop control and the simulation results are shown.
A Constraint Programming Based Energy Aware Resource Management Middleware for Clouds Processing MapReduce Jobs with Deadlines

This paper concerns guarantees on system performance through Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliance and focuses on devising energy aware resource management techniques based on Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) used by resource management middleware in clouds that handle MapReduce jobs. This research formulates the resource management problem as an optimization problem using Constraint Programming (CP). Experimental results presented in the paper demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique.
On Effect of Additive White Gaussian Noise ( AWGN ) on the Transmitted

Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) is common to every communication channels, which is the statistically random radio noise characterized by a wide frequency range with regards to a signal in the communications channel. This assignment describes two aspects of telecommunications engineering: i) the basic understanding of MATLAB, and ii) the effect of Additive white Gaussian Noise (AWGN) on the transmitted data using based-band simulation under different values of signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio with this tool. In my experiment, I use MATLAB tools to generate the noise sequence, the data sequence, the both data and noise sequence and add them together, recover signal from noisy received data and calculate noise power, calculate SNR and BER and then plot them with different SNR values. Finally, I draw a conclusion from my experiment.
Imaging of Inflammation by PET, Conventional Scintigraphy, and Other Imaging Techniques

Nuclear medicine imaging procedures play an important role in the assessment of inflammatory diseases. With the advent of 3-dimensional anatomic imaging, there has been a tendency to replace traditional planar scintigraphy by CT or MRI. Furthermore, scintigraphic techniques may have to be combined with other imaging modalities to achieve high sensitivity and specificity, and some may require time-consuming labeling procedures. On the other hand, new developments such as combined SPECT/CT increase the diagnostic power of scintigraphy. Also, the advent of PET had a considerable impact on the use of nuclear medicine imaging techniques. In this review, we aim to provide nuclear medicine specialists and clinicians with the relevant information on rational and efficient use of nuclear medicine imaging techniques in the assessment of patients with osteomyelitis, infected vascular prostheses, metastatic infectious disease, rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, inflammatory bowel disease, sarcoidosis, and fever of unknown origin.
Targeting CD20+ Aggressive B-cell Non–Hodgkin Lymphoma by Anti-CD20 CAR mRNA-Modified Expanded Natural Killer Cells In Vitro and in NSG Mice

Chu and colleagues show that K562-mbIL15-41BBL–expanded peripheral blood NK cells, modified with mRNA nucleofection of an anti-CD20 CAR, significantly enhanced cytotoxicity against CD20+B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, extended survival time, and reduced tumor size in xenografted NSG mice. The prognosis is very dismal for patients with relapsed CD20+ B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL). Facilitating the development of alternative novel therapeutic strategies is required to improve outcomes in patients with recurrent/refractory CD20+ B-NHL. In this study, we investigated functional activities of anti-CD20 CAR-modified, expanded peripheral blood NK cells (exPBNK) following mRNA nucleofection against CD20+ B-NHL in vitro and in vivo. CAR+ exPBNK had significantly enhanced in vitro cytotoxicity, compared with CAR− exPBNK against CD20+ Ramos (P < 0.05), Daudi, Raji, and two rituximab-resistant cell lines, Raji-2R and Raji-4RH (P < 0.001). As expected, there was no significant difference against CD20− RS4;11 and Jurkat cells. CD107a degranulation and intracellular IFNγ production were also enhanced in CAR+ exPBNK in response to CD20+ B-NHL–specific stimulation. In Raji-Luc and Raji-2R-Luc xenografted NOD/SCID/γ-chain−/− (NSG) mice, the luciferase signals measured in the CAR+ exPBNK-treated group were significantly reduced, compared with the signals measured in the untreated mice and in mice treated with the CAR− exPBNK. Furthermore, the CAR exPBNK-treated mice had significantly extended survival time (P < 0.001) and reduced tumor size, compared with those of the untreated and the CAR− exPBNK-treated mice (P < 0.05). These preclinical data suggest that ex vivo–exPBNK modified with anti-CD20 CAR may have therapeutic potential for treating patients with poor-risk CD20+ hematologic malignancies. Cancer Immunol Res; 3(4); 333–44. ©2014 AACR.
A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Psychoeducational Program in Postpartum Support Groups

A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Psychoeducational Program in Postpartum Support Groups by Marina Pesserl MA, Siena Heights University, 2006 BA, Institute of the Sacred Heart, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1981 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Psychology
Influence of Oxygen and Boron Distribution on the Superconducting Characteristics of Nanostructural Mg-B-O Ceramics

The superconducting characteristics, such as the critical current density and the critical magnetic fields, of MgB2-based materials, which in fact belong to the Mg-B-O system because of the high concentration of admixed oxygen (up to 17 wt. %), depend on the inhomogeneity of the oxygen and boron distribution, which can be controlled by the synthesis temperature (600-1200 oC) and pressure (up to 2 GPa) as well as by SiC and Ti additions (10 wt%). With increasing manufacturing temperature grain boundary pinning transforms into point pinning, which is well correlated with the transformation of discontinuous oxygen enriched layers into separately located Mg-B-O inclusions in the MgB2 nanostructure and with a reduction of the size and amount of inclusions of higher magnesium borides MgBX (X>2). Ti or SiC additions can influence the oxygen and boron distribution as SEM and Auger structural studies showed.
Ethnic Goods and Immigrant Assimilation

Some immigrants try to keep their ethnicity hidden while others become ever deeply more mired in their home culture. We argue that among immigrants this struggle manifests itself in the ethnic goods they choose to consume. Different types of ethnic goods have vastly different effects on immigrant assimilation. We develop a simple theoretical model useful for capturing the consequences of this struggle, illustrating it with examples of Central Asian assimilation into the Muscovite economy.
Requirement of Watson-Crick Hydrogen Bonding for DNA Synthesis by Yeast DNA Polymerase η

ABSTRACT Classical high-fidelity DNA polymerases discriminate between the correct and incorrect nucleotides by using geometric constraints imposed by the tight fit of the active site with the incipient base pair. Consequently, Watson-Crick (W-C) hydrogen bonding between the bases is not required for the efficiency and accuracy of DNA synthesis by these polymerases. DNA polymerase η (Polη) is a low-fidelity enzyme able to replicate through DNA lesions. Using difluorotoluene, a nonpolar isosteric analog of thymine unable to form W-C hydrogen bonds with adenine, we found that the efficiency and accuracy of nucleotide incorporation by Polη are severely impaired. From these observations, we suggest that W-C hydrogen bonding is required for DNA synthesis by Polη; in this regard, Polη differs strikingly from classical high-fidelity DNA polymerases.