Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A chemically induced new pea (Pisum sativum) mutant SGECdt with increased tolerance to, and accumulation of, cadmium.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS To date, there are no crop mutants described in the literature that display both Cd accumulation and tolerance. In the present study a unique pea (Pisum sativum) mutant SGECd(t) with increased Cd tolerance and accumulation was isolated and characterized. METHODS Ethylmethane sulfonate mutagenesis of the pea line SGE was used to obtain the mutant. Screening for Cd-tolerant seedlings in the M2 generation was performed using hydroponics in the presence of 6 microm CdCl2. Hybridological analysis was used to identify the inheritance of the mutant phenotype. Several physiological and biochemical characteristics of SGECd(t) were studied in hydroponic experiments in the presence of 3 microm CdCl2, and elemental analysis was conducted. KEY RESULTS The mutant SGECd(t) was characterized as having a monogenic inheritance and a recessive phenotype. It showed increased Cd concentrations in roots and shoots but no obvious morphological defects, demonstrating its capability to cope well with increased Cd levels in its tissues. The enhanced Cd accumulation in the mutant was accompanied by maintenance of homeostasis of shoot Ca, Mg, Zn and Mn contents, and root Ca and Mg contents. Through the application of La(+3) and the exclusion of Ca from the nutrient solution, maintenance of nutrient homeostasis in Cd-stressed SGECd(t) was shown to contribute to the increased Cd tolerance. Control plants of the mutant (i.e. no Cd treatment) had elevated concentrations of glutathione (GSH) in the roots. Through measurements of chitinase and guaiacol-dependent peroxidase activities, as well as proline and non-protein thiol (NPT) levels, it was shown that there were lower levels of Cd stress both in roots and shoots of SGECd(t). Accumulation of phytochelatins [(PCcalculated) = (NPT)-(GSH)] could be excluded as a cause of the increased Cd tolerance in the mutant. CONCLUSIONS The SGECd(t) mutant represents a novel and unique model to study adaptation of plants to toxic heavy metal concentrations.
A cellular and spatial map of the choroid plexus across brain ventricles and ages

The choroid plexus (ChP), located in each brain ventricle, produces cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and forms the blood-CSF barrier, but is under-characterized. Here, we combine single cell RNA-Seq and spatial mapping of RNA and proteins to construct an atlas of each ChP in the developing and adult mouse brain. Each ChP comprises of epithelial, endothelial, mesenchymal, immune, neuronal, and glial cells, with distinct subtypes, differentiation states and anatomical locations. Epithelial, fibroblast, and macrophage populations had ventricle-specific, regionalized gene expression programs across the developing brain. Key cell types are retained in adult, with loss of developmental signatures and maturation of ventricle-specific regionalization in the epithelial cells. Expression of cognate ligand-receptor pairs across cell subtypes suggests substantial cell-cell interactions within the ChP. Our atlas sheds new light on the development and function of the ChP brain barrier system, and will facilitate future studies on its role in brain development, homeostasis and disease.
Molecular signalings in keloid disease and current therapeutic approaches from natural based compounds

Abstract Context: Keloid is an excessive dermal scar occurring in response to skin injuries. Several therapeutic strategies have been proposed to ease the aggressiveness of keloid scarring. Even though the principle mechanism underlying the disease propagation still remains unidentified, several signaling pathways were highly focused as plausible pathways involving keloid formation, including transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), and integrin pathways. Natural compounds containing multiple bioeffective properties such as quercetin, asiaticoside, Astragalus membranaceus Bunge. (Leguminosae), and Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. (Lamiaceae) extracts, curcuminoids, oxymatrine, madecassoside, and Aneilema keisak Hassk. (Commelinaceae) are claimed as candidates for therapeutic treatment against keloid disorder. Objective: This review investigates current mechanisms regarding keloid formation and provides scientific evidence supporting the therapeutic potential of natural compounds. Methods: This review obtained and analyzed a number of literature data items from various databases including Pubmed, ScienceDirect, and Elton B. Stephens Company (EBSCO). Result: Several phytochemical compounds are able to suppress keloid scar development through manipulating various components in the complex signaling cascades. Conclusion: The present review may be helpful to future studies that further examine the molecular mechanism of keloid etiology as well as investigate the anti-keloid property in natural compounds.
Kinetics of specific immunoglobulins M, E, A, and G in congenital, primary, and secondary cytomegalovirus infection studied by antibody-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Antibody-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using enzyme-labeled cytomegalovirus (CMV) nuclear antigen is a reliable and easily performed test suitable for routine use. As the serologic response to CMV infection may, however, vary considerably among patients, we have studied the kinetics of CMV-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM), IgE, IgA, and IgG antibodies in 352 sera from 61 patients by using antibody-capture ELISA and complement fixation (CF) tests. In a CMV mononucleosis group (n = 17), most patients had antibodies of all four immunoglobulin classes, but antibody levels decreased rapidly, with half the patients having a borderline-positive or a negative reaction for all classes, except IgG, 2 months after the appearance of symptoms. Twelve patients with a primary CMV infection after renal or bone marrow transplantation also developed all immunoglobulin-class antibodies. In only two patients did CMV IgM and IgE antibodies precede seroconversion of CF antibodies, and in one patient, these antibodies lagged months behind. Most patients had all classes of CMV antibodies, except IgA, for a year or more. Among 10 transplant patients with a secondary CMV infection, 50% had long-lasting IgM antibodies, and very few had IgE or IgA antibodies, but all had IgG antibodies to CMV. In 13 infected infants, the CMV-specific serologic response was also characterized by long-lasting IgM, IgE, and IgG antibodies. Two patients did not develop detectable IgM antibodies, and one of these did not show IgE antibodies either. The IgA response in infants as a whole was lacking; a few, however, were borderline positive. Of the nine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients with CMV infection studied during their last year of life, only one had antibodies in all four classes, the rest had only CF antibodies, and all except for one had IgG-class antibodies. All sera studied were also tested against a control antigen produced from noninfected cell nuclei. It was found that some patients developed antibodies to nuclear antigens in parallel with the rise in specific antibodies. The nonspecific antibodies occurred in all four classes, but most often they were of the IgM class. Addition of unlabeled control antigen to the conjugates was not always sufficient to abort this nonspecific reaction.
Sparse Contribution Feature Selection and Classifiers Optimized by Concave-Convex Variation for HCC Image Recognition

Accurate classification of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) image is of great importance in pathology diagnosis and treatment. This paper proposes a concave-convex variation (CCV) method to optimize three classifiers (random forest, support vector machine, and extreme learning machine) for the more accurate HCC image classification results. First, in preprocessing stage, hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) pathological images are enhanced using bilateral filter and each HCC image patch is obtained under the guidance of pathologists. Then, after extracting the complete features of each patch, a new sparse contribution (SC) feature selection model is established to select the beneficial features for each classifier. Finally, a concave-convex variation method is developed to improve the performance of classifiers. Experiments using 1260 HCC image patches demonstrate that our proposed CCV classifiers have improved greatly compared to each original classifier and CCV-random forest (CCV-RF) performs the best for HCC image recognition.
A novel method for initial radius selection of sphere decoding

Sphere decoding is an effective method for the maximum-likelihood (ML) detection for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, but its initial radius selection is still a problem. This paper proposes a novel method for this selection and thus solves the problem. In this method, by making use of the MMSE solution of the received signal, a proper initial radius can be obtained, by which the sphere decoder achieves not only the no-failure decoding but also a low computational complexity. The analysis shows that this proposed initial radius is the statistically shortest one for no-failure sphere decoding. Simulation results indicate that the proposed initial radius achieves both the no-failure decoding of the sphere decoder and a lower computational complexity.
Current iodine status In Turkey

Objectives: To evaluate the current nationwide iodine status in Turkey by determining urinary iodine concentrations (UIC) and household salt iodine content. A follow-up monitoring study was also conducted in 30 urban areas. Methods: A school-based survey was conducted in 2007 by using multistage ‘proportionate to population size’ (PPS) cluster sampling method. The study population was composed of 900 school-age children (SAC) from different urban, suburban, and rural areas. UIC and iodine content of the table salt used at home were analyzed. Results: Median UIC was 107 μg/l (147 in urban, 42 in suburban and rural areas, p<0.001). There were severe iodine deficiency (ID) in 7.2%, moderate and mild ID in 20.6% and 19.3%, of the SAC, respectively. UIC was sufficient (>100 μg/l) in 50% of the study population, whereas it was excessive (>300 μg/l) in 10.5% of them. Of the 900 salt samples, 662 (73.5%) were iodized and 508 samples (56.5%) contained adequately iodized salt (iodine content >15 ppm). UIC of the study population and salt iodine levels correlated well (r=0.42, p<0.001). Conclusions: Moderate to severe ID still exists in 27.8% of the Turkish population, which is much better compared to 1997 and 2002 surveys (i.e. 58%, 38.9%, respectively). The follow-up monitoring study (in 2007) demonstrated that ID has been eliminated in 20 of 30 cities surveyed, and median UIC was 130 μg/l. ID has been eliminated in most of the urban population, however, it is still an important problem in rural areas and in particular geographical regions, which should be the target of future programs.
Intrinsic formation control of regular polyhedra for reduced attitudes

This paper addresses formation control of reduced attitudes in which a continuous protocol is proposed for achieving and stabilizing all regular polyhedra (also known as Platonic solids) under a unified framework. The protocol contains only relative reduced attitude measurements and does not depend on any particular parametrization as is usually used in the literature. A key feature of the control proposed is that it is intrinsic in the sense that it does not need to incorporate any information of the desired formation. Instead, the achieved formation pattern is totally attributed to the geometric properties of the space and the designed inter-agent connection topology. Using a novel coordinates transformation, asymptotic stability of the desired formations is proven by studying stability of a constrained nonlinear system. In addition, a methodology to investigate stability of such constrained systems is also presented.
Compensating Hand Function in Chronic Stroke Patients Through the Robotic Sixth Finger

A novel solution to compensate hand grasping abilities is proposed for chronic stroke patients. The goal is to provide the patients with a wearable robotic extra-finger that can be worn on the paretic forearm by means of an elastic band. The proposed prototype, the Robotic Sixth Finger, is a modular articulated device that can adapt its structure to the grasped object shape. The extra-finger and the paretic hand act like the two parts of a gripper cooperatively holding an object. We evaluated the feasibility of the approach with four chronic stroke patients performing a qualitative test, the Frenchay Arm Test. In this proof of concept study, the use of the Robotic Sixth Finger has increased the total score of the patients by two points in a five points scale. The subjects were able to perform the two grasping tasks included in the test that were not possible without the robotic extra-finger. Adding a robotic opposing finger is a very promising approach that can significantly improve the functional compensation of the chronic stroke patient during everyday life activities.
University of Groningen Ovarian cancer gene therapy

Similar to most human malignancies, ovarian cancer is a result of multiple genetic alterations. Advances in molecular biology, tumor biology, immunology, virology and other branches of science have helped in defining specific genes and molecular pathways altered in ovarian cancer. Therefore correcting these genetic alterations by gene therapy is a rational approach. Ovarian cancer is particularly ideal for a gene therapy approach because of its containment of disease mostly to abdominal cavity and easy access to the peritoneal cavity for the delivery of genes. On this basis, many gene therapy strategies have been endeavored to target these altered genes and pathways for the therapy of ovarian carcinoma. This review provides an overview of existing gene therapy strategies for ovarian carcinoma and attempts to develop strategies for their targeted delivery to ovarian carcinoma to increase the therapeutic index of gene therapy.
Intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions in fine‐needle aspiration smears of papillary thyroid carcinoma: A study of its morphological forms, association with nuclear grooves, and mode of formation

Intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusion (INCI) and nuclear grooves in fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) smears of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) represent cytoplasmic invaginations into the nucleus. Although formation of INCIs is linked to nuclear grooves, they seldom exist together. This study was undertaken to find out the various morphological forms of INCIs, their relation to nuclear grooves, and mode of formation. FNA smears of 54 PTC cases were studied for various forms of INCI, nuclear chromatin pattern, nuclear grooves, and nuclear notches. A differential count of INCIs was made in 19 cases having ≥10 INCIs per 200 neoplastic cells. INCIs were present in 48 (88.9%) of 54 PTC cases. Round INCIs were present in 46 (85.2%) cases, followed by oval (48.1%), tear drop/flask‐shaped (18.5%), irregular (14.8%), planoconvex/semicircular (13%), rectangular (9.3%), spindle‐shaped (3.7%), and bilobed (3.7%). A differential count of INCIs also showed that the round form was the commonest (76.3%). The oval and other forms constituted 19.5 and 4.2%, respectively. INCIs and nuclear grooves were present together in a cell in 15 (27.8%) cases. The formation of INCIs as a cytoplasmic invagination into the nucleus was shown cytomorphologically in rare cells. For the first time in this study, the various morphological forms of INCIs, and the extent of their coexistence with nuclear grooves, (have been highlighted) and showed their mode of formation shown at a light microscopic level. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2005;32:264–268. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Money for structural reforms in the eurozone: making sense of contractual arrangements. Egmont Paper 57, May 2013

Executive Summary. Both the Commission’s proposal for a ‘Competitiveness and Convergence Instrument’ and the ‘contractual arrangement’ presented by President Van Rompuy share a common concept: associating EU money with national structural reforms under a binding arrangement. The targeted ‘structural reforms’ are the labour market reforms and product and services market reforms in eurozone ‘peripheral’ countries facing the most severe external imbalances. Their implementation would speed up and facilitate the ‘internal devaluation’ process of these countries. In the worst case scenario, failure to adopt the necessary reforms and to adjust wages and prices downwards may lead the most vulnerable countries to leave the eurozone under social and political pressure. Contracts seek to reduce this risk by increasing compliance with the country-specific recommendations for structural reforms issued by the EU institutions within the European Semester, and in particular with the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure (MIP). As for the financial support, it follows two different, albeit overlapping rationales. First, the perspective of obtaining EU funding would incentivize the governments of vulnerable countries to adopt reforms that would bear a high political and social cost in the short term. That is, without some form of incentive, it is unlikely that the necessary reforms would be undertaken and this could have significant negative consequences for the EMU as a whole. The second rationale amounts to outright solidarity: EU support is needed to cushion the inevitable socio-economic costs implied not only by the structural reform, but also by the internal devaluation taking place. To make sense of contractual arrangements, some points should be considered in future discussions: 1. Contracts on a voluntary basis only: Contracts cannot be mandatory unlike initially suggested in the Van Rompuy report. This stems not only from the inherent definition of a ‘contract’ – where mutual consent is key – but also from the non-binding nature of the preventive arm of the MIP. Making the country-specific recommendations issued by the EU institutions systematically binding would imply transfers of sovereignty from the national to the EU level that go well beyond the present discussion. Instead, contracts would introduce the possibility of making the preventive arm binding for some countries where corrections are most needed and urgent for the EMU as a whole.
Notice of RetractionThe performance evaluation of junior county-level civil servants: Problems and countermeasures: Based on the investigation of 11 counties in Jiangxi Province

Performance evaluation is the important and difficult in terms of the management of junior civil servants. Currently, the problems faced by performance evaluation of civil servants in county-level are that the design of evaluation index system is unscientific; the evaluation rules are poorly executed; the outcome of the evaluation is poorly accepted etc. So it is imperative for us to strengthen leaders' responsibilities in evaluation, put evaluation according to sorts and grades into practice, combine guiding standard evaluation systems with specific plans, put great emphasis on the evaluation of service objects, impose the application of the results of civil servants' evaluation so as to improve the performance evaluation of county-level civil servants and to enhance the performance of public service in county-level government.
Biologically Inspired Two-Stage Resource Management for Machine-Type Communications in Cellular Networks

Cellular technology has the potential to support large numbers of machine-type communications (MTC) devices for a variety of applications in fifth generation wireless systems. As MTC devices are a recent addition to cellular networks, a major concern is how to effectively manage and limit cellular resources for MTC data transmission without degrading traditional human-type communications (HTC) performance. To tackle this problem, a two-stage resource management framework is proposed with the goal of maintaining traffic equilibrium. In the first stage, an ecological prey-predator model is introduced to model the resource partition for the two types of devices. The steady-state properties of the traffic are analyzed, and the value regions of the allocated MTC resources for stable equilibrium points are derived. In the second stage, given an appropriate resource partition for MTC traffic, these devices are grouped based on their buffer conditions. The optimal resource allocation solution is derived so that the MTC traffic is stable. It is shown that to maintain MTC traffic stability, the resources can be allocated to only two groups. Furthermore, results are presented which show that HTC and MTC traffic can maintain a stable equilibrium using the two-stage resource management framework.
Envelope coding in the lateral superior olive. I. Sensitivity to interaural time differences.

1. Interaural level differences (ILDs), created by the head and pinna, have long been known to be the dominant acoustic cue for azimuthal localization of high-frequency tones. However, psychophysical experiments have demonstrated that human subjects can also lateralize complex high-frequency sounds on the basis of interaural time differences (ITDs) of the signal envelope. The lateral superior olive (LSO) is one of two pairs of binaural nuclei where the primary extraction of binaural cues for sound source location occurs. "IE" cells in LSO are inhibited by stimuli to the contralateral and excited by stimuli to the ipsilateral ear, and their response rate is therefore dependent on ILD. Anatomic specializations in the afferent pathways to the LSO suggest that this circuit also has a function in the detection of timing cues. We hypothesized that, besides ILD sensitivity, the IE property also conveys a sensitivity to ITDs of amplitude-modulated (AM) tones and could provide the physiological substrate for the psychophysical effect mentioned above. 2. In extracellular recordings from binaural LSO cells in barbiturate-anesthetized cats, response rate was a periodic function of ITDs of AM stimuli, i.e., all cells displayed ITD sensitivity. Binaural responses were smaller than responses to stimulation of the ipsilateral ear alone and were minimal when the envelopes in both ears were in-phase or nearly so. There was good correspondence between responses to ITDs and to dynamic interaural phase differences (IPDs), created by a difference in the envelope frequency to the two ears. Qualitatively, the responses were consistent with the outcome of an IE operation on temporally structured inputs. 3. To compare the relative importance of ILD and ITD, responses to combinations of the two cues were obtained. Despite robust ITD sensitivity in all binaural LSO cells encountered, the changes in response rate that would occur in response to naturally occurring ITDs were small in comparison with the changes expected for naturally occurring ILDs. The main limitation on ITD sensitivity was a steep decline in average discharge rate as the modulation frequency exceeded several hundred Hertz. 4. ITD sensitivity was also present to broadband stimuli, again with minimal rates occurring near 0 ITD. The sensitivity depended in a predictable fashion on the passband of filtered noise and was absent to binaurally uncorrelated noise bands. In response to clicks, ILDs interacted with ITD in a complicated fashion involving amplitude and latency effects. 5. Three low-characteristic frequency (CF) LSO cells were encountered that were IE and showed ITD sensitivity to the fine structure of low-frequency stimuli. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)