Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neurodegeneration of Somatostatin‐immunoreactive Neurons in HIV Encephalitis

Recent studies have suggested that neuronal populations that contain glutumate receptors are vulnerable to damage mediated by the human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1). Somatostatin-immunoreactive neurons contain, among other elements, glutamate receptors, and might therefore be susceptible to HIV-mediated damage. In order to test this hypothesis, we compared patterns of somatostatin immunoreactivity in the cortex and subcortex of autopsied AIDS cases with and without HIV encephalitis (HIVE). Somatostatin immunoreactivity in the frontal cortex interneurons, hippocampal pyramidal and nonpyramidal cells, and globus pallidus was significantly reduced in HIVE. Radioimmunoassay demonstrated a comparable decrease in somatostatin levels in the neocortex of HIVE cases. The decrease in somatostatin immunoreactivity in the neocortex was inversely correlated with the severity of HIVE and global cognitive performance, but not with the extent of the astroglial reaction. These findings indicate that somatostatin-immunoreactive neurons in the cortex are susceptible to damage mediated by HIV and that deficient functioning of this neuronal population might contribute to the cognitive dysfunction observed in AIDS patients.
The Effects of Neurofeedback Training on Memory Performance in Elderly Subjects

Neurofeedback or electroencephalographic operant conditioning (EEG-OC) is an EEG biofeedback technique used to train individuals to control or modify their cortical activity through learned self-regulation. Initially used for treating a variety of pathologies, neurofeedback has been employed more recently to improve the physical or cognitive performance of human beings. The purpose of this study is to assess the hypothesis of the effect of neurofeedback (the ‘awakened mind’ model) on the memory performance of subjects aged over 65. 30 participants were shared equally between 3 groups: an experimental group that underwent 4 neurofeedback training sessions; a non-neurofeedback group trained at relaxation; and a ‘waiting list’ control group. Results showed that the members of the Neurofeedback group learned to increase the spectral power of the alpha frequency range as well as the alpha/theta ratio, and that compared with the members of the two other groups, neurofeedback training resulted in a more pronounced decrease, albeit without any relation to changes in EEG activity and the level of stress and anxiety of participants undergoing such training. Yet contrary to expectations, no improvement of memory performance (differed recall of words and learning of lists of words) was observed. These mixed results, which suggest a wide range of applications, underline the need for a more systematic assessment of the potential applications of NFB training in elderly humans in order to be better able to specify the effects of the retained protocol on cognitive performance.
Biotypic Variation Among North American Russian Wheat Aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae) Populations

Abstract The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Mordvilko) (Homoptera: Aphididae), has been a major economic pest of small grains in the western United States since its introduction in 1986. Recently, a new Russian wheat aphid biotype was discovered in southeastern Colorado that damaged previously resistant wheat, Triticum aestivum L. Biotype development jeopardizes the durability of plant resistance, which has been a cornerstone for Russian wheat aphid management. Our objective was to assess the relative amount of biotypic diversity among Russian wheat aphid populations collected from cultivated wheat and barley, Hordeum vulgare L. We conducted field surveys from May through June 2002 and August 2003 from seven counties within Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming. Based upon a foliar chlorosis damage rating, three new Russian wheat aphid biotypes were identified, one of which was virulent to all characterized sources of Russian wheat aphid resistance. The future success of Russian wheat aphid resistance breeding programs will depend upon the continual monitoring of extant biotypic diversity and determination of the ecological and genetic factors underlying the development of Russian wheat aphid biotypes.
Endettement, accords implicites et capital organisationnel : vers une théorie organisationnelle de la structure financière

La premiere partie de ce document expose le cadre conceptuel permettant d'apprehender le capital organisationnel et son lien avec la structure financiere. La deuxieme partie propose un modele reliant la formation de capital organisationnel et la structure financiere, lorque la valeur de la firme ne depend que de la capacite a faire emerger des accords implicites. La troisieme partie compare les resultats du modele avec ceux des theories contractuelles de la structure financiere. La quatrieme partie introduit la possibilite de liquidation. Dans la cinquieme partie, la prise en compte d'un environnement non stationnaire offre un role particulier a l'endettement en vue d'une renegociation optimale des accords implicites. La derniere partie discute les implications empiriques de la theorie et conclut.
Acts of Gaiety: LGBT Performance and the Politics of Pleasure

"Acts of Gaiety" explores the mirthful modes of political performance by LGBT artists, activists, and collectives that have inspired and sustained deadly serious struggles for revolutionary change. The book explores antics such as camp, kitsch, drag, guerrilla theater, zap actions, rallies, manifestos, pageants, and parades alongside more familiar forms of "legitimate theater. " Against queer theory's long-suffering romance with mourning and melancholia and a national agenda that urges homosexuals to renounce pleasure if they want to be taken seriously by mainstream society, "Acts of Gaiety" seeks to reanimate notions of "gaiety" as a political value for LGBT activism. The book mines the archives of lesbian-feminist activism of the 1960s-70s, highlighting the outrageous gaiety that lay at the center of the social and theatrical performances of the era and uncovering original documents long thought to be lost. Juxtaposing historical figures such as Valerie Solanas and Jill Johnston with more recent performers and activists (including Hothead Paisan, Bitch & Animal, and the Five Lesbian Brothers), Warner shows how reclaiming this largely discarded and disavowed past elucidates possibilities for being and belonging. "Acts of Gaiety" explores the mutually informing histories of gayness as politics and as "joie de vivre," along with the centrality of liveliness to queer performance and protest.
Recruitment of volunteers for a home-delivered meals programme serving homebound older adults: a theoretically derived programme among faith communities

Abstract Objective Home-delivered nutrition programmes that are federally subsidized by the US Administration on Aging seek to ensure that socially isolated older adults who are unable to purchase and prepare their own food have nutritious meals delivered to them regularly by both employed and volunteer staff. Unfortunately, there are long waiting lists in some neighbourhoods that are often due to a shortage of volunteers. The present paper describes a theoretically driven community-based project designed to increase volunteer participation in serving Meals on Wheels (MOW) clients. Design A Support Team model was applied in the project wherein existing social capital among religious faith communities, and social networks within those organizations, was joined with a local MOW programme to create a sustainable meal delivery route to vulnerable homebound older adults. Setting The programme participants were in one underserved neighbourhood in Birmingham, Alabama, an urban city in the south-eastern USA. Subjects The subjects under consideration are both MOW clients and volunteers. MOW clients are those individuals aged 60 years and above who qualify for the service; the volunteers are from community churches. Results One volunteer route, comprising six congregations that delivered meals to sixteen homebound older adults, was created. The route served more than 2000 meals in 2006 (the year the programme began) and continues to serve clients today. Conclusions The programme’s successful implementation provides evidence that reliance on theory is critical in planning and developing effective community-based programme interventions.
O ct 2 00 0 A Field-Theoretic Approach to Connes ’ Gauge Theory on M 4 × Z 2

Connes’ gauge theory on M4 × Z2 is reformulated in the Lagrangian level. It is pointed out that the field strength in Connes’ gauge theory is not unique. We explicitly construct a field strength different from Connes’ one and prove that our definition leads to the generation-number independent Higgs potential. It is also shown that the nonuniqueness is related to the assumption that two different extensions of the differential geometry are possible when the extra one-form basis χ is introduced to define the differential geometry on M4 × Z2. Our reformulation is applied to the standard model based on Connes’ color-flavor algebra. A connection between the unimodularity condition and the electric charge quantization is then discussed in the presence or absence of νR.
Stress Beyond Translation: Poxviruses and More

Poxviruses are large double-stranded DNA viruses that form viral factories in the cytoplasm of host cells. These viruses encode their own transcription machinery, but rely on host translation for protein synthesis. Thus, poxviruses have to cope with and, in most cases, reprogram host translation regulation. Granule structures, called antiviral granules (AVGs), have been observed surrounding poxvirus viral factories. AVG formation is associated with abortive poxvirus infection, and AVGs contain proteins that are typically found in stress granules (SGs). With certain mutant poxviruses lack of immunoregulatory factor(s), we can specifically examine the mechanisms that drive the formation of these structures. In fact, cytoplasmic macromolecular complexes form during many viral infections and contain sensing molecules that can help reprogram transcription. More importantly, the similarity between AVGs and cytoplasmic structures formed during RNA and DNA sensing events prompts us to reconsider the cause and consequence of these AVGs. In this review, we first summarize recent findings regarding how poxvirus manipulates host translation. Next, we compare and contrast SGs and AVGs. Finally, we review recent findings regarding RNA- and especially DNA-sensing bodies observed during viral infection.
Composition Languages for Black-Box Components Position Paper

Supporting reuse of existing pieces of code is one of the main goals of software engineering. In the name of reuse, modulebased programming languages came to be, only to be surpassed by object-oriented technology. With the same motivation component-based solutions are overtaking objectoriented solutions. However, the delegation-only focus of component-based programming risks of resulting in the same problems that modular-based approaches ran into. To counter this, we claim that one of the important problems that should be addressed by component languages is the composition of components. More specifically, we see component languages where components are black-box abstractions, and with (one or more) composition languages to glue them together. As an example we show a functional (Piccola) and a logic (QSoul) composition approach.
Ultrastructural changes of corpus luteum after ovarian stimulation at implantation period.

BACKGROUND To achieve multiple oocytes for in vitro fertilization, ovulation induction is induced by gonadotropins; however, it has several effects on oocytes and embryo quality and endometrium receptivity. The aim of this study was to assess ultrastructural changes of corpus luteum after ovarian induction using human menopausal gonadotropin (HMG) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) during luteal phase at implantation period. METHODS Female NMRI mice (6-8 weeks) were divided into control and stimulated groups. In the control group, the mice were rendered pseudopregnant and in the ovarian induction group, the mice were rendered pseudopregnant after the ovarian induction. The samples were obtained from the ovary in each group at the same time during luteal phase at implantation period. Ultrastructural changes were assessed using electron microscopy study. RESULTS Our results displayed some identifiable changes in ultrastructure of corpus luteum in ovarian induction group. These changes included enhancement of the apoptosis and intercellular space, whereas the angiogenesis was decreased. The findings indicated a decline in organelle density in the cytoplasm of ovarian induction, such as mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and polyribosome. Furthermore, chromatin condensation of nuclei was observed in some cells. CONCLUSION The ovarian induction using HMG and HCG resulted in some ultrastructural changes on the corpus luteum at implantation period, which could affect on the pregnancy rate.
Rotor Speed-Based Bearing Fault Diagnosis (RSB-BFD) Under Variable Speed and Constant Load

This paper addresses the application of rotor speed signal for the detection and diagnosis of ball bearing faults in rotating electrical machines. Many existing techniques for bearing fault diagnosis (BFD) rely on vibration signals or current signals. However, vibration- or current-based BFD techniques suffer from various challenges that must be addressed. As an alternative, this paper takes the initial step of investigating the efficiency of rotor speed monitoring for BFD. The bearing failure modes are reviewed and their effects on the rotor speed signal are described. Based on this analysis, a novel BFD technique, the rotor speed-based BFD (RSB-BFD) method under variable speed and constant load conditions, is proposed to provide a benefit in terms of cost and simplicity. The proposed RSB-BFD method exploits the absolute value-based principal component analysis (PCA), which improves the performance of classical PCA by using the absolute value of weights and the sum square error. The performance and effectiveness of the RSB-BFD method is demonstrated using an experimental setup with a set of realistic bearing faults in the outer race, inner race, and balls.
Contribution of major diseases to disparities in mortality.

BACKGROUND Mortality from all causes is higher for persons with fewer years of education and for blacks, but it is unknown which diseases contribute most to these disparities. METHODS We estimated cause-specific risks of death from data from the National Health Interview Survey conducted from 1986 through 1994 and from linked vital statistics. Using these risk estimates, we calculated potential years of life lost and potential gains in life expectancy related to specific causes, with stratification according to education level and race. RESULTS Persons without a high-school education lost 12.8 potential life-years per person in the population, as compared with 3.6 for persons who graduated from high school (ratio, 3.5; P<0.001). Ischemic heart disease contributed most (11.7 percent) to the difference according to education in potential life-years lost (with all cardiovascular diseases accounting for 35.3 percent). All cancers accounted for 26.5 percent, including 7.7 percent due to lung cancer; other lung diseases and pneumonia contributed 10.1 percent of the total, whereas human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease accounted for none of the difference according to education. The pattern of disparities according to level of income was similar to that according to level of education. Blacks and whites lost 7.0 and 5.2 potential life-years per person, respectively, as a result of deaths from any cause (ratio, 1.35; P<0.001). Cardiovascular diseases accounted for one third of this disparity, in large part because of hypertension (15.0 percent); HIV disease (11.2 percent) contributed almost as much as ischemic heart disease (5.5 percent), stroke (2.8 percent), and cancer (3.4 percent) combined; trauma and diabetes mellitus accounted for 10.7 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Although many conditions contribute to socioeconomic and racial disparities in potential life-years lost, a few conditions account for most of these disparities - smoking-related diseases in the case of mortality among persons with fewer years of education, and hypertension, HIV, diabetes mellitus, and trauma in the case of mortality among black persons. These findings have important implications for targeting efforts to reduce existing disparities in mortality rates.
Segmentation of human upper body movement using multiple IMU sensors

This paper proposes an approach for the segmentation of human body movements measured by inertial measurement unit sensors. Using the angular velocity and linear acceleration measurements directly, without converting to joint angles, we perform segmentation by formulating the problem as a classification problem, and training a classifier to differentiate between motion end-point and within-motion points. The proposed approach is validated with experiments measuring the upper body movement during reaching tasks, demonstrating classification accuracy of over 85.8%.
Metalib and Google Scholar: a user study

Purpose - This paper aims to understand how students experience the search tools Google Scholar and Metalib and the role of prior instruction. Design/methodology/approach - A total of 32 undergraduate students searched academic articles for their thesis work. Searches were recorded using Morae software and were analysed along with the number of articles saved and responses to a questionnaire. All searched with both tools. Half of the students received training before searching. Findings - Google Scholar performed better in almost all measures. Training had a positive effect on the amount and quality of articles saved. Responses to Google Scholar were more positive than to Metalib. However, the students were not overwhelmingly enthusiastic about either of the tools. Research limitations/implications - Each Metalib implementation is to some extent unique, which limits the extent to which results can be generalised to other implementations. Practical implications - Training is valuable for both tools. The user interface to Metalib does not conform with students' expectations and needs further improvement. Both tools strive to be a first alternative search tool for academic literature but neither performed well enough in this study to recommend it to be used in that role in an academic library setting. Originality/value - These tools are important to academic libraries but few user studies have been published, particularly on Google Scholar. To one's knowledge no other user study on these tools has looked at the effects of instruction.
Cyclothiazide: a subunit‐specific inhibitor of GABAC receptors

We tested the effects of cyclothiazide (CTZ), an agent used to block desensitization of AMPA‐type glutamate receptors, on heterologously expressed GABAC receptors formed by homomeric ρ subunits. CTZ inhibition of GABAC receptors was subunit specific; it produced a dose‐dependent reduction of the GABA‐elicited current on homomeric ρ2 receptors with an IC50 of about 12 μm, but had no significant effect on homomeric ρ1 receptors. This differential sensitivity was attributable to a single amino acid located on the second transmembrane domain of the ρ subunits. Mutating the residue at this position from serine to proline on the ρ2 subunit eliminated CTZ sensitivity, whereas switching proline to serine on the ρ1 subunit made the receptor CTZ sensitive. The inhibitory properties of CTZ were consistent with its action as a channel blocker on the receptors formed by ρ2 subunits. The effect showed a small degree of voltage dependence, and was due mainly to a non‐competitive mechanism that reduced the maximum response elicited by GABA. In addition, the prominent membrane current rebound when co‐application of GABA and CTZ was terminated suggests that the binding site for CTZ on the GABAC receptor is distinct from that for GABA, and that CTZ acts as a non‐competitive antagonist on the GABAC receptor. CTZ inhibited the open channel of the GABAC receptor with a time constant of about 0.4 s, but the kinetics were ∼10‐fold slower when GABA is absent. The ability of CTZ to interact with various types of neurotransmitter receptors indicates that the drug has multiple actions in the CNS.
Direct pelletization in a rotary processor controlled by torque measurements. III. Investigation of microcrystalline cellulose and lactose grade

The aim of the present study was to investigate the use of different grades of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and lactose in a direct pelletization process in a rotary processor. For this purpose, a mixed 2- and 3-level factorial study was performed to determine the influence of the particle size of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), (≈60 and 105 μm) and lactose (≈30, 40, and 55 μm), as well as MCC type (Avicel and Emcocel) on the pelletization process and the physical properties of the prepared pellets. A 1∶4 mixture of MCC and lactose was applied, and granulation liquid was added until a 0.45 Nm increase in the torque of the friction plate was reached. All combinations of the 3 factors resulted in spherical pellets of a high physical strength. The particle size of MCC was found to have no marked effect on the amount of water required for agglomerate growth or on the size of the resulting pellets. An increasing particle size of lactose gave rise to more spherical pellets of a more narrow size distribution as well as higher yields. The MCC type was found to affect both the release of the model drug from the prepared pellets and the size distribution. Generally, the determined influence of the investigated factors was small, and direct pelletization in a rotary processor was found to be a robust process, insensitive to variations in the particle size and type of MCC and the particle size of lactose.
Novel gene ashwin functions in Xenopus cell survival and anteroposterior patterning

The novel gene ashwin was isolated in a differential display screen for genes activated or up‐regulated early in neural specification. ashwin is expressed maternally and zygotically, and it is up‐regulated in the neural ectoderm after the midgastrula stage. It is expressed in the neural plate and later in the embryonic brain, eyes, and spinal cord. Overexpression of ashwin in whole embryos leads to anterior truncations and other defects. However, a second Organizer does not form, and the secondary axial structures may result from splitting of the Organizer, rather than axis duplication. Morpholino oligonucleotide‐mediated reduction in ashwin expression leads to lethality or abnormalities in gastrulation, as well as significant apoptosis in midgastrula embryos. Apoptosis is also observed in midgastrula embryos overexpressing ashwin. Coexpression of ashwin with the bone morphogenetic protein‐4 antagonist noggin has a synergistic effect on neural‐specific gene expression in isolated animal cap ectoderm. Ashwin has no previously characterized domains, although two nuclear localization signals can be identified. Orthologues have been identified in the human, mouse, chicken, and pufferfish genomes. Our results suggest that ashwin regulates cell survival and anteroposterior patterning. Developmental Dynamics 235:1895–1907, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.