Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of the maturational changes induced by a GnRH analogue in the rat ovarian follicle.

The GnRH analogue [D-Ser(t-Bu)6]des-Gly10-GnRH-N-ethylamide (GnRHa, 2 micrograms/rat) or hCG (4 i.u./rat) was administered to hypophysectomized, PMSG-primed immature female rats. Oocyte maturation was initially detected by 2 h after GnRHa administration but the response to hCG was observed only after 4 h. Initiation of GnRHa-induced ovulation also preceded the response to hCG by 2 h. Maximal response to both these hormones was obtained at 10 and 14 h after hormone administration for oocyte maturation and ovulation respectively. The number of oocytes ovulated after GnRHa was significantly lower than that with hCG (29 +/- 4 and 50 +/- 7 per rat respectively; P less than 0.05). Expansion of the cumulus mass and secretion of mucoid material, which are characteristic responses to LH, were also observed after GnRHa administration. However, while the action of 5 micrograms ovine LH/ml on the cumulus cells was mediated by cAMP, no accumulation of the nucleotide could be detected in follicles exposed to GnRHa (10(-7) M). We conclude that even though GnRHa and LH/hCG seem to elicit similar responses in the ovarian follicle they differ in their kinetics, their efficiency and the mediator of their action.
GREEN: an active queue management algorithm for a self managed Internet

In this paper we introduce a new active queue management (AQM) algorithm called GREEN. GREEN provides high link utilization whilst maintaining low delay and packet loss. GREEN enables low latency interactive applications such as telephony and network games. GREEN is shown to outperform the current AQM algorithms. Certain performance problems with current AQMs are discussed.
The LOGIC negotiation model

Successful negotiators prepare by determining their position along five dimensions: Legitimacy, Options, Goals, Independence, and Commitment, (LOGIC). We introduce a negotiation model based on these dimensions and on two primitive concepts: intimacy (degree of closeness) and balance (degree of fairness). The intimacy is a pair of matrices that evaluate both an agent's contribution to the relationship and its opponent's contribution each from an information view and from a utilitarian view across the five LOGIC dimensions. The balance is the difference between these matrices. A relationship strategy maintains a target intimacy for each relationship that an agent would like the relationship to move towards in future. The negotiation strategy maintains a set of Options that are in-line with the current intimacy level, and then tactics wrap the Options in argumentation with the aim of attaining a successful deal and manipulating the successive negotiation balances towards the target intimacy.
Wnt signaling: a common theme in animal development.

Wnt proteins are now recognized as one of the major families of developmentally important signaling molecules, with mutations in Wnt genes displaying remarkable phenotypes in the mouse, Caenorhabditis elegans, and Drosophila. Among functions provided by Wnt proteins are such intriguing processes as embryonic induction, the generation of cell polarity, and the specification of cell fate. Until recently, our knowledge of the molecular mechanism of Wnt signaling was very limited, but over the past year, several major gaps have been filled. These include the identification of cell-surface receptors and a novel mechanism of relaying the signal to the cell nucleus. In addition, several components of Wnt signaling are implicated in the genesis of human cancer. These insights have come from different corners of the animal kingdom and have converged on a common pathway. At this junction in this rapidly evolving field, we review our current understanding of Wnt function and signaling mechanisms, doing so in a comparative approach. We have put emphasis on the latest findings, highlighting novelty and underscoring questions that remain. For additional literature, we refer to several previous reviews (McMahon 1992; Nusse and Varmus 1992; Klingensmith and Nusse 1994; Miller and Moon 1996; Moon et al. 1997). We have limited the number of references, particularly in the tables. Fully referenced forms of these tables can be found on the Wnt homepage (http://wwwleland.stanford.edu/∼rnusse/wntwindow.html).
Multi-layered Annotation of Non-textual Data for Spatial Information

Spatial and spatio-temporal information is often carried by non-textual data such as maps, diagrams, tables, or pictures, both still and moving, either embedded in a text or standalone. The annotation of nontextual data raises the following questions: (i) what are the markables and how should they be coded? (ii) how should relevant information be inferred which is implicit in the data? We answer these questions with a multilayered approach.
Recommended Steps for Thematic Synthesis in Software Engineering

Thematic analysis is an approach that is often used for identifying, analyzing, and reporting patterns (themes) within data in primary qualitative research. 'Thematic synthesis' draws on the principles of thematic analysis and identifies the recurring themes or issues from multiple studies, interprets and explains these themes, and draws conclusions in systematic reviews. This paper conceptualizes the thematic synthesis approach in software engineering as a scientific inquiry involving five steps that parallel those of primary research. The process and outcome associated with each step are described and illustrated with examples from systematic reviews in software engineering.
Theory for Designing Nature Reserves for Single Species

We examine the question of the optimal number of reserves that should be established to maximize the persistence of a species. We assume that the mean time to extinction of a single population increases as a power of the habitat area, that there is a certain amount of habitat to be reserved, and that the aim is to determine how this habitat is most efficiently divided. The optimal configuration depends on whether the management objective is to maximize the mean time to extinction or minimize the risk of extinction. When maximizing the mean time to extinction, the optimal number of independent reserves does not depend on the amount of available habitat for the reserve system. In contrast, the risk of extinction is minimized when individual reserves are equal to the optimal patch size, making the optimal number of reserves linearly proportional to the amount of available habitat. A model that includes dispersal and correlation in the incidence of extinction demonstrates the importance of considering the relative rate at which these two factors decrease with distance between reserves. A small number of reserves is optimal when the mean time to extinction increases rapidly with habitat area or when risks of extinction are high.
Perceptual Control Theory for Engagement and Disengagement of Users in Public Spaces

This paper presents Perceptual Control Theory-a model that explains behaviour as an attempt to keep sensory inputs in a desired range and demonstrates that it can be used to develop an approach designed to make robots capable of human interaction. In particular, we present an approach that embodies the most salient features of the theory through a feedback loop. This approach has been implemented on a Pepper robot, and a preliminary experiment has been performed by deploying the robot in the entrance hall of a university building. The results show that the robot effectively engages and disengages the attention of people in 43% and 39% of cases, respectively. This result has been obtained in a fully natural setting where people were unaware of being involved in an experiment and therefore behaved spontaneously.
Inactivation of the gbpA Gene of Streptococcus mutans Alters Structural and Functional Aspects of Plaque Biofilm Which Are Compensated by Recombination of the gtfB andgtfC Genes

ABSTRACT Inactivation of the gbpA gene of Streptococcus mutans increases virulence in a gnotobiotic rat model and also promotes in vivo accumulation of organisms in which gtfBand gtfC have recombined to reduce virulence (K. R. O. Hazlett, S. M. Michalek, and J. A. Banas, Infect. Immun. 66:2180–2185, 1998). These changes in virulence were hypothesized to result from changes in plaque structure. We have utilized an in vitro plaque model to test the hypothesis that the absence of GbpA alters S. mutans plaque structure and that the presence of gtfBC recombinant organisms within agbpA background restores a wild-type (wt)-like plaque structure. When grown in the presence of sucrose within hydroxyapatite-coated wells, the wt S. mutans plaque consisted primarily of large aggregates which did not completely coat the hydroxyapatite surface, whereas the gbpA mutant plaque consisted of a uniform layer of smaller aggregates which almost entirely coated the hydroxyapatite. If 25% of the gbpAmutants used as inoculum were also gtfBC recombinants (gbpA/25%gtfBC), a wt-like plaque was formed. These changes in plaque structure correlated with differences in susceptibility to ampicillin; gbpA plaque organisms were more susceptible than organisms in either the wt orgbpA/25%gtfBC plaques. These data allow the conclusion that GbpA contributes to S. mutans plaque biofilm development. Since the changes in plaque structure detailed in this report correlate well with previously observed changes in virulence, it seems likely that S. mutans biofilm structure influences virulence. A potential model for this influence, which can account for the gtfBC recombination compensatinggbpA inactivation, is that the ratio of glucan to glucan-binding protein is a critical factor in plaque development.
Loss of Catalytically Inactive Lipid Phosphatase Myotubularin-related Protein 12 Impairs Myotubularin Stability and Promotes Centronuclear Myopathy in Zebrafish

X-linked myotubular myopathy (XLMTM) is a congenital disorder caused by mutations of the myotubularin gene, MTM1. Myotubularin belongs to a large family of conserved lipid phosphatases that include both catalytically active and inactive myotubularin-related proteins (i.e., “MTMRs”). Biochemically, catalytically inactive MTMRs have been shown to form heteroligomers with active members within the myotubularin family through protein-protein interactions. However, the pathophysiological significance of catalytically inactive MTMRs remains unknown in muscle. By in vitro as well as in vivo studies, we have identified that catalytically inactive myotubularin-related protein 12 (MTMR12) binds to myotubularin in skeletal muscle. Knockdown of the mtmr12 gene in zebrafish resulted in skeletal muscle defects and impaired motor function. Analysis of mtmr12 morphant fish showed pathological changes with central nucleation, disorganized Triads, myofiber hypotrophy and whorled membrane structures similar to those seen in X-linked myotubular myopathy. Biochemical studies showed that deficiency of MTMR12 results in reduced levels of myotubularin protein in zebrafish and mammalian C2C12 cells. Loss of myotubularin also resulted in reduction of MTMR12 protein in C2C12 cells, mice and humans. Moreover, XLMTM mutations within the myotubularin interaction domain disrupted binding to MTMR12 in cell culture. Analysis of human XLMTM patient myotubes showed that mutations that disrupt the interaction between myotubularin and MTMR12 proteins result in reduction of both myotubularin and MTMR12. These studies strongly support the concept that interactions between myotubularin and MTMR12 are required for the stability of their functional protein complex in normal skeletal muscles. This work highlights an important physiological function of catalytically inactive phosphatases in the pathophysiology of myotubular myopathy and suggests a novel therapeutic approach through identification of drugs that could stabilize the myotubularin-MTMR12 complex and hence ameliorate this disorder.
Antibodies are not essential for the resolution of primary cytomegalovirus infection but limit dissemination of recurrent virus

Virus shedding from the epithelial cells of the serous acini of salivary glands is a major source for the horizontal transmission of cytomegalovirus. These cells are, different to other tissues, exempt from CD8 T lymphocyte control. CD4 T lymphocytes are essential to terminate the productive infection. Here, we prove that T-B cooperation and the production of antibodies are not required for this process. For the infection with murine cytomegalovirus, mutant mice were used which do not produce antibodies because of a disrupted membrane exon of the immunoglobulin mu chain gene. Also, in these mice the virus clearance from salivary glands is a function of CD4 T lymphocytes. However, these mice clear the virus and establish viral latency with a kinetics that is distinguishable from normal mice. Reactivation from virus latency is the only stage at which the absence of antibodies alters the phenotype of infection. In immunoglobulin-deficient mice, virus recurrence results in higher virus titers. The adoptive serum transfer proved that antibody is the limited factor that prevents virus dissemination in the immunodeficient host.
Role of Interleukins in the Prognosis of Cancer

Tobacco products are known carcinogens. Chemicals presents in the tobacco products are poisonous and addictive. Interleukins synthesized by helper CD4, T lymphocytes, monocytes, macrophages, and endothelial cells are markers of malignancies. Interleukins can be utilized for markers of immune system activation in prognosis of cancer. The present study was designed to study and correlate oxidative stress markers IL6, 8 and MDA in the different tobacco consumption pattern with benign and malignant conditions in male and female population.
Prediction and ranking of co-change candidates for clones

Code clones are identical or similar code fragments scattered in a code-base. A group of code fragments that are similar to one another form a clone group. Clones in a particular group often need to be changed together (i.e., co-changed) consistently. However, all clones in a group might not require consistent changes, because some clone fragments might evolve independently. Thus, while changing a particular clone fragment, it is important for a programmer to know which other clone fragments in the same group should be consistently co-changed with that particular clone fragment. In this research work, we empirically investigate whether we can automatically predict and rank these other clone fragments (i.e., the co-change candidates) from a clone group while making changes to a particular clone fragment in this group. For prediction and ranking we automatically retrieve and infer evolutionary coupling among clones by mining the past clone evolution history. Our experimental result on six subject systems written in two different programming languages (C, and Java) considering both exact and near-miss clones implies that we can automatically predict and rank co-change candidates for clones by analyzing evolutionary coupling. Our ranking mechanism can help programmers pinpoint the likely co-change candidates while changing a particular clone fragment and thus, can help us to better manage software clones.
Firearms and adolescent suicide. A community case-control study.

OBJECTIVE To assess the association between firearms in the home and adolescent suicide. RESEARCH DESIGN Matched, case-control. SETTING Population-based community sample. SUBJECTS Sixty-seven adolescent suicide victims and a demographically matched group of 67 living community controls. SELECTION PROCEDURE The series of adolescent suicide victims was consecutive, with an overall participation rate of 74% (67/91). MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS The presence, type (hand-gun vs long-gun), number, and method of storage (locked vs unlocked, loaded vs unloaded) of firearms in the home were compared between the suicide victims and controls. Even after adjusting for differences in rates of psychiatric disorders between suicide victims and controls, the association between suicide and both any gun (odds ratio [OR] = 4.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.1 to 17.5) and handguns (OR = 9.4, 95% CI = 1.7 to 53.9) in the home were both highly significant. Long-guns in the home were associated with suicide only in rural areas, whereas handguns were more closely associated with suicide in urban areas. Handguns (OR = 12.9, 95% CI = 1.5 to 110.9) and loaded guns (OR = 32.3, 95% CI = 2.5 to 413.4) in the home were particularly significant risk factors for suicide in those with no apparent psychiatric disorder. CONCLUSIONS When pediatricians are faced with a suicidal adolescent, they should insist on the removal of firearms from the home. Pediatricians should also inform parents that the presence of firearms may be associated with adolescent suicide even in the absence of clear psychiatric illness.
SuperSized VLSI : A Recipe for Disaster

Designing a large integrated circuit is difficult. As transistor counts increase, the task of designing a SuperSized chip that is two, four, or eight times larger than current chips seems insurmountable. In this paper, we argue that the level of difficulty for such a task is irrelevant–it is unwise to even attempt it. Problems related to interconnect delay are well known, and have become a barrier to larger “monolithic” circuit designs. In response to this, there has been a surge in interest in designs that have multiple relatively independent processing cores; while design size scaling in this manner is sometimes portrayed as a new concept, it in fact has more than thirty years of commercial failure behind it. In contrast to most semiconductor roadmaps, we argue that total transistor counts on typical chips will remain stable, or even decrease–despite an increase in fabrication capacity. The semiconductor industry is undergoing a fundamental change; design problems cannot be approached as “more of the same, but larger. ”
Integer-Forcing Receiver with Practical Binary Codes and Its Performance Analysis

A new practical coding scheme for integer- forcing (IF) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)systems is proposed. In order to utilize practical binary codes for IF, the proposed scheme is based on multilevel coding, in which multilevel encoding composed of binary linear codes is employed at the transmitter and multistage decoding suitably adapted to the IF operation is employed at the receiver. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated both analytically and numerically, showing that the gain of IF over conventional receivers is indeed achievable with practical binary codes. Specifically, it is shown that the proposed IF receiver can significantly outperform conventional linear receivers especially when the channel correlation is severe and/or target spectral efficiency is high.
Maternal Depression and Early Intervention: A Call for an Integration of Services

Depression is a serious disorder with severe and far-reaching consequences. Two decades of observational research have shown robust associations between maternal depression and adverse consequences on offspring (S. Campbell et al., 2004; S. Campbell, P. Matestic, C. von Stauffenberg, R. Mohan, & T. Kirchner, 2007; S. Campbell, A. Morgan-Lopez, M. Cox, & V. McLoyd, 2009; National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2009). Depressive symptoms may pose particular risk to infants and toddlers with neurodevelopmental disabilities, whose long-term outcomes depend heavily on the provision of early intervention (EI). EI is most effective with active parental engagement. Maternal depressive symptoms may reduce parental engagement, thereby limiting EI benefits to the child (B. N. Gaynes et al., 2005; O'Hara & Swain, 1996). At present, maternal mental health is not directly addressed in EI. The purpose of this article is to discuss the literature and significance of maternal depression and apply that evidence to mothers of children with developmental delays and disabilities. We conclude that maternal mental health and well-being are currently insufficiently addressed in the EI population. An increased integration of mental health and EI services is needed to serve the unique needs of families who face an increased risk of stress and depression, while coping with their child's special needs.
Laplace-spectra as fingerprints for shape matching

This paper introduces a method to extract fingerprints of any surface or solid object by taking the eigenvalues of its respective Laplace-Beltrami operator. Using an object's spectrum (i.e. the family of its eigenvalues) as a fingerprint for its shape is motivated by the fact that the related eigenvalues are isometry invariants of the object. Employing the Laplace-Beltrami spectra (not the spectra of the mesh Laplacian) as fingerprints of surfaces and solids is a novel approach in the field of geometric modeling and computer graphics. Those spectra can be calculated for any representation of the geometric object (e.g. NURBS or any parametrized or implicitly represented surface or even for polyhedra). Since the spectrum is an isometry invariant of the respective object this fingerprint is also independent of the spatial position. Additionally the eigenvalues can be normalized so that scaling factors for the geometric object can be obtained easily. Therefore checking if two objects are isometric needs no prior alignment (registration/localization) of the objects, but only a comparison of their spectra. With the help of such fingerprints it is possible to support copyright protection, database retrieval and quality assessment of digital data representing surfaces and solids.
Lasmiditan for the treatment of migraine

ABSTRACT Introduction: Migraine is one of the most common diseases in the world, with high economical and subjective burden. Migraine acute therapy is nowadays based on specific and non-specific drugs but up to 40% of episodic migraineurs still have unmet treatment needs and over 35% do not benefit from triptans administration. Serotonin-1F receptors have been identified in trigeminal system and became an ideal target for anti-migraine drug development as potential trigeminal neural inhibitors. Lasmiditan, a novel serotonin1F receptor agonist, showed specific affinity in vitro for the receptor without any vasoconstrictive action and inhibited markers associated with electrical stimulation of trigeminal ganglion in migraine animal models. Areas covered: This article reviews both preclinical and clinical studies on lasmiditan as a potential acute therapy for migraine, as well as pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic features. It also summarizes safety and tolerability data gathered in the various human studies. Expert opinion: The absence of vasoconstrictive effects makes lasmiditan a promising novel migraine acute therapy. Although preclinical and Phase I and II studies established a significant efficacy, the limited knowledge about pharmacokinetics and metabolism, the high rate of non-serious central nervous system side effects and the lack of larger studies remain still a matter of concern that should be addressed in future studies.