Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Angiotensin II Type 2 Receptors Stimulate Collagen Synthesis in Cultured Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Previously, we and others have shown that angiotensin II enhances vascular smooth muscle cell extracellular matrix synthesis via stimulation of the angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor. Recently, expression of the type 2 (AT2) receptor has been confirmed in the adult vasculature, but its role has not yet been fully defined. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of stimulation of AT2 receptors on collagen synthesis in vascular smooth muscle cells. Retroviral gene transfer was used to supplement adult vascular smooth muscle cells with AT2 receptors to mimic the vasculature in vivo. The treatment of these cells with the AT2 receptor agonist CGP42212A (10−7 mol/L) alone did not cause a significant change in p42/p44 MAP kinase activity but caused a modest (30% to 50%) decrease in protein tyrosine phosphatase activity. Treatment with CGP42112A also caused a dose- and time-dependent increase in both cell-associated and secretory collagen synthesis (148±17% of control at 48 hours, P <0.05), which was completely inhibited by the AT2 receptor antagonist PD123319, unaffected by the AT1 receptor antagonist losartan, and attenuated by treatment with pertussis toxin or G&agr;i antisense oligonucleotides. Interestingly, studies in other cell lines demonstrated that CGP42112A caused similar results in transfected mesangial cells but had essentially opposite effects in fibroblasts (NIH-3T3-AT2). These results suggest that AT2 receptor stimulation can increase collagen synthesis in vascular smooth muscle cells via a G&agr;i-mediated mechanism and provide evidence for heterogeneity in the effects of AT2 receptor stimulation in different tissues.
Dendritic sampling across processing streams in monkey striate cortex

Cytochrome oxidase (CO) dense blobs in primate striate cortex provide a striking example of parallel processing of visual information. The level of isolation of the blobs from the surrounding interblob tissue was investigated in the present study by combining CO staining with Golgi impregnation of dendritic arbors in the same tissue sections. The data are based on material from two marmoset and three squirrel monkeys. The analysis was conducted on two types of Golgi preparations. In the first preparation, dense networks of overlapping dendrites were impregnated over blob margins. The results of analyzing these networks with transmission and confocal microscopy revealed that dendritic arbors penetrate freely through blob margins. Statistical analysis revealed that the density of dendritic crossings at blob margins was similar to that found at blob and interblob centers. In the second type of Golgi preparation, single, isolated neurons were impregnated. Studies of such neurons revealed occasional examples of dendritic arbors that appeared to reflect back from blob margins, but counter examples were equally abundant. Bias index analysis indicated that dendritic arbors were generally unaffected by the presence of a nearby blob margin. Scanning a large number of impregnated arbors indicated that at least half of the population of blob‐related neurons had dendrites in both blob and interblob territory.
Reaching Across the Aisle: The Benefits of Interdisciplinary Work in Graduate School

As most graduate students know, earning a master’s or a PhD can be an isolating experience. Students take the same classes, from the same faculty, with the same cohort of students. Furthermore, the goal of advanced degrees is to develop a focused and specialized expertise in the field. As a result, many graduate students become entrenched in the I-O world and miss opportunities to step out of this specialization and experience the value offered by psychologists from different fields.
The social construction of the cultural mind

How does cultural knowledge shape the development of human minds and, conversely, what kind of species-specific social-cognitive mechanisms have evolved to support the intergenerational reproduction of cultural knowledge? We critically examine current theories proposing a human-specific drive to identify with and imitate conspecifics as the evolutionary mechanism underlying cultural learning. We summarize new data demonstrating the selective interpretive nature of imitative learning in 14-month-olds and argue that the predictive scope of existing imitative learning models is either too broad or too narrow to account for these findings. We outline our alternative theory of a human-specific adaptation for ‘pedagogy’, a communicative system of mutual design specialized for the fast and efficient transfer of new and relevant cultural knowledge from knowledgeable to ignorant conspecifics. We show the central role that innately specified ostensive-communicative triggering cues and learner-directed manner of knowledge manifestations play in constraining and guiding selective imitation of relevant cultural knowledge that is both new and cognitively opaque to the naive learner.
Hybrid user interfaces: breeding virtually bigger interfaces for physically smaller computers

While virtual worlds offer a compelling alternative to conventional interfaces, the technologies these systems currently use do not provide sufficient resolution and accuracy to support detailed work such as text editing. We describe a pragmatic approach to interface design that provides users with a large virtual world in which such high-resolution work can be performed. Our approach is based on combining heterogeneous display and interaction device technologies to produce a hybrid user interface. Display and interaction technologies that have relatively low resolution, but which cover a wide (visual and interactive) field are used to form an information surround. Display and interaction technologies that have relatively high resolution over a limited visual and interaction range are used to present concentrated information in one or more selected portions of the surround. These high-resolution fields are embedded within the low-resolution surround by choosing and coordinating complementary devices that permit the user to see and interact with both simultaneously. This allows each embedded high-resolution interface to serve as a “sweet spot” within which intonation may be preferentially processed, We have developed a preliminary implementation, described in this paper, that uses a Reflection Technology Private Eye display and a Polhemus sensor to provide the secondary low-resohttion surround, and a flat-panel display and mouse to provide the primary high-resolution interface.
Petri Nets Based Coordination Mechanisms for Multi-Workflow Environments

The coordination of cooperative workflows is a problem that occurs in parallel to that of the definition of a common communications infrastructure among organizations. In this paper, we present a library of coordination mechanisms modeled with Petri Nets. These mechanisms specify and control the interaction between workflow processes. The separation between activities and dependencies, managed by the coordination mechanisms, allows the reuse of these mechanisms in other environments and also the use of different coordination policies in the same environment.
Deubiquitylation Machinery Is Required for Embryonic Polarity in Caenorhabditis elegans

The Caenorhabditis elegans one-cell embryo polarizes in response to a cue from the paternally donated centrosome and asymmetrically segregates cell fate determinants that direct the developmental program of the worm. We have found that genes encoding putative deubiquitylating enzymes (DUBs) are required for polarization of one-cell embryos. Maternal loss of the proteins MATH-33 and USP-47 leads to variable inability to correctly establish and maintain asymmetry as defined by posterior and anterior polarity proteins PAR-2 and PAR-3. The first observable defect is variable positioning of the centrosome with respect to the cell cortex and the male pronucleus. The severity of the polarity defects correlates with distance of the centrosome from the cortex. Furthermore, polarity defects can be bypassed by mutations that bring the centrosome in close proximity to the cortex. In addition we find that polarity and centrosome positioning defects can be suppressed by compromising protein turnover. We propose that the DUB activity of MATH-33 and USP-47 stabilizes one or more proteins required for association of the centrosome with the cortex. Because these DUBs are homologous to two members of a group of DUBs that act in fission yeast polarity, we tested additional members of that family and found that another C. elegans DUB gene, usp-46, also contributes to polarity. Our finding that deubiquitylating enzymes required for polarity in Schizosaccharomyces pombe are also required in C. elegans raises the possibility that these DUBs act through an evolutionarily conserved mechanism to control cell polarity.
Remifentanil by bolus injection: a safety, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and age effect investigation in human volunteers.

BACKGROUND Although remifentanil's short-acting pharmacokinetic profile makes it well suited for procedures during which a brief period of intense analgesia is required, setting up an infusion pump for brief procedures is inconvenient. The clinical pharmacology of remifentanil administered by bolus injection, a more convenient alternative, has not been explored in detail. The primary aim of this study was to examine the safety of single bolus doses of remifentanil in conscious, healthy, adult volunteers breathing room air. Secondary aims included the evaluation of remifentanil pharmacokinetics and analgesic effects after bolus injection and a comparison of these issues in younger vs older adults. METHODS Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation, crossover study design, 64 subjects (16 over 60 years old) received remifentanil or placebo by bolus injection in a fixed unit dose separated by a 1 h washout period. Respiratory effects were assessed using a respiratory intervention scale. Analgesic effects were assessed using pressure algometry. A population pharmacokinetic model was constructed using non-linear, mixed-effects modelling techniques based on arterial blood samples. Computer simulations were performed to illustrate the clinical application of the pharmacokinetic model. RESULTS Dose-related increases in both respiratory and analgesic effects were observed. In general, the respiratory depression observed was mild and easily treated with requests to breathe or the administration of oxygen, although the older cohort (and some younger subjects) experienced more substantial respiratory depression at lower doses. The pharmacokinetics of bolus-dose remifentanil were adequately described by a two-compartment model. The pharmacokinetic simulations illustrated the potential utility of bolus-dose remifentanil. CONCLUSIONS Bolus injection could potentially be a safe and effective means of administering remifentanil in clinical situations requiring a brief period of intense analgesia. Because some subjects, both old and young, experienced significant respiratory depression even at low doses, careful monitoring of respiratory function is essential.
Under what conditions does intergroup contact improve intergroup harmony

This chapter is about Elliot Aronson and also about Gordon Allport, both of whom I met in the fall of 1959 when I became a new graduate student in Harvard’s Department of Social Relations. Elliot would surely have been my PhD advisor had he not moved to Minnesota in 1962. That was when Gordon Allport took pity on me because not only Elliot but everyone else with whom I had worked during my first few years at Harvard had departed to other academic pastures. My starting motivation for PhD training was to avoid being drafted into the U.S. Army. America was not then at war, but the Cold War fueled an active military draft. By national policy, student deferments were used to encourage men toward socially useful careers. If there had been a draft deferment for aspiring bebop trumpet players, I would not now be writing this chapter. (What, I wonder, would have been the societal and scientific effect if there had been a draft for women, who would then have sought the deferment shelter of graduate schools at a rate similar to men? ) Harvard’s Social Relations Department reflected an interdisciplinary spirit that took similar form at several other universities, combining sociology, social anthropology, social psychology, and clinical psychology. (That combination existed as a Harvard department from 1946 until the early 1970s, at which time the partnering disciplines gave up
THE "TERRORIST": SELFHOOD DENIED AND FRAGMENTED

stify their atypical nature by virtue of embodying highly desirable personality traits. The researcher who plunged into the depths of investigating these near-perfect personality traits was Abraham Maslow. Born of uneducated parents Maslow speculated intensively on how dearth of care and love particularly at the hands of his mother spurred him in to the search for, the ‘angelic’ people. Through vigorous hard work of compiling large amounts of information via interviews, observations and partial testing coupled with impeccable deductions Maslow (1971) was able to sketch the picture of “S elf Actualized” individuals. These Self Actualized(SA) persons displayed fifteen characteristics that appeared favorable and five negative i.e. appeared unfavorable to the common man and are described as follows:An accurate perception of reality with whole hearted acceptance of self, others and life in general are the hallmark of Self Actualization. They have an uncanny ability to detect the fake and dishonest. Self Actualizers have satisfactorily met the basic needs of food, shelter and sex. It’s the pull of the higher order virtues such as seeking beauty, truth and justice which form the essence of their existence. They prefer simplicity, resist identification with internal stereotypes and are able to marvel and enjoy the good things in life with childlike spontaneity. A very typical characteristic is the fellow feeling or strong interest in the welfare of others which is the anti thesis to the typical terrorist personality. The life of self actualizers is dispersed with mystical peak experiences which are characterized by feelings of limitless horizons opening up.
Performance in Motor Imagery Tasks can be improved by Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation

Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) attracts more and more attention nowadays, especially in the territory of cognitive function. In this paper, we chose Mental Rotation Tasks as a reflex of the influence of this kind of electrical stimulation on motor imagery ability. As a result, we found that alpha and beta rhythm stimulation optimized response time, i.e. enhanced motor imagery ability. Possible mechanism is that beta rhythm stimulation was related to excitability of primary motor cortex, and the alpha rhythm stimulation had something to do with motor educability.
Cortical Cell Orientation Selectivity Fails to Develop in the Absence of ON-Center Retinal Ganglion Cell Activity

Neuronal activity is necessary for the normal development of visual cortical cell receptive fields. When neuronal activity is blocked, cortical cells fail to develop normal ocular dominance and orientation selectivity. Patterned activity has been shown to play an instructive, rather than merely permissive, role in the segregation of geniculocortical afferents into ocular dominance columns. To test whether normal patterns of activity are necessary to instruct the development of cortical orientation selectivity, we studied ferrets raised without ON-center retinal ganglion cell activity. The ON-center blockade was produced by daily intravitreal injections ofdl-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (APB). Effects of this treatment on the development of orientation selectivity in primary visual cortex were assessed using extracellular electrode recordings and optical imaging. In animals raised with an ON-center blockade starting after visual cortical cells are visually driven but still poorly tuned for orientation, cortical cell responsivity was maintained, but no maturation of orientation selectivity was seen. No recovery of orientation tuning was seen in animals treated with APB during the normal period of orientation development and then allowed several months of development without treatment. These results suggest that patterns of neuronal activity carried in the separate ON- and OFF-center visual pathways are necessary for the development of orientation selectivity in visual cortical neurons of the ferret and that there is a critical period for this development.
Optimization of Ribosome Structure and Function by rRNA Base Modification

Background Translating mRNA sequences into functional proteins is a fundamental process necessary for the viability of organisms throughout all kingdoms of life. The ribosome carries out this process with a delicate balance between speed and accuracy. This work investigates how ribosome structure and function are affected by rRNA base modification. The prevailing view is that rRNA base modifications serve to fine tune ribosome structure and function. Methodology/Principal Findings To test this hypothesis, yeast strains deficient in rRNA modifications in the ribosomal peptidyltransferase center were monitored for changes in and translational fidelity. These studies revealed allele-specific sensitivity to translational inhibitors, changes in reading frame maintenance, nonsense suppression and aa-tRNA selection. Ribosomes isolated from two mutants with the most pronounced phenotypic changes had increased affinities for aa-tRNA, and surprisingly, increased rates of peptidyltransfer as monitored by the puromycin assay. rRNA chemical analyses of one of these mutants identified structural changes in five specific bases associated with the ribosomal A-site. Conclusions/Significance Together, the data suggest that modification of these bases fine tune the structure of the A-site region of the large subunit so as to assure correct positioning of critical rRNA bases involved in aa-tRNA accommodation into the PTC, of the eEF-1A•aa-tRNA•GTP ternary complex with the GTPase associated center, and of the aa-tRNA in the A-site. These findings represent a direct demonstration in support of the prevailing hypothesis that rRNA modifications serve to optimize rRNA structure for production of accurate and efficient ribosomes.
Randomised controlled trial of dual blockade of renin-angiotensin system in patients with hypertension, microalbuminuria, and non-insulin dependent diabetes: the candesartan and lisinopril microalbuminuria (CALM) study

Abstract Objectives: To assess and compare the effects of candesartan or lisinopril, or both, on blood pressure and urinary albumin excretion in patients with microalbuminuria, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. Design: Prospective, randomised, parallel group, double blind study with four week placebo run in period and 12 weeks' monotherapy with candesartan or lisinopril followed by 12 weeks' monotherapy or combination treatment. Setting: Tertiary hospitals and primary care centres in four countries (37 centres). Participants: 199 patients aged 30-75 years. Interventions: Candesartan 16 mg once daily, lisinopril 20 mg once daily. Main outcome measures: Blood pressure and urinary albumin:creatinine ratio. Results: At 12 weeks mean (95% confidence interval) reductions in diastolic blood pressure were 9.5 mm Hg (7.7 mm Hg to 11.2 mm Hg, P<0.001) and 9.7 mm Hg (7.9 mm Hg to 11.5 mm Hg, P<0.001), respectively, and in urinary albumin:creatinine ratio were 30% (15% to 42%, P<0.001) and 46% (35% to 56%, P<0.001) for candesartan and lisinopril, respectively. At 24 weeks the mean reduction in diastolic blood pressure with combination treatment (16.3 mm Hg, 13.6 mm Hg to 18.9 mm Hg, P<0.001) was significantly greater than that with candesartan (10.4 mm Hg, 7.7 mm Hg to 13.1 mm Hg, P<0.001) or lisinopril (mean 10.7 mm Hg, 8.0 mm Hg to 13.5 mm Hg, P<0.001). Furthermore, the reduction in urinary albumin:creatinine ratio with combination treatment (50%, 36% to 61%, P<0.001) was greater than with candesartan (24%, 0% to 43%, P=0.05) and lisinopril (39%, 20% to 54%, P<0.001). All treatments were generally well tolerated. Conclusion: Candesartan 16 mg once daily is as effective as lisinopril 20 mg once daily in reducing blood pressure and microalbuminuria in hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes. Combination treatment is well tolerated and more effective in reducing blood pressure.
Genetic versus Rearing-Environment Effects on Phenotype: Hatchery and Natural Rearing Effects on Hatchery- and Wild-Born Coho Salmon

With the current trends in climate and fisheries, well-designed mitigative strategies for conserving fish stocks may become increasingly necessary. The poor post-release survival of hatchery-reared Pacific salmon indicates that salmon enhancement programs require assessment. The objective of this study was to determine the relative roles that genotype and rearing environment play in the phenotypic expression of young salmon, including their survival, growth, physiology, swimming endurance, predator avoidance and migratory behaviour. Wild- and hatchery-born coho salmon adults (Oncorhynchus kisutch) returning to the Chehalis River in British Columbia, Canada, were crossed to create pure hatchery, pure wild, and hybrid offspring. A proportion of the progeny from each cross was reared in a traditional hatchery environment, whereas the remaining fry were reared naturally in a contained side channel. The resulting phenotypic differences between replicates, between rearing environments, and between cross types were compared. While there were few phenotypic differences noted between genetic groups reared in the same habitat, rearing environment played a significant role in smolt size, survival, swimming endurance, predator avoidance and migratory behaviour. The lack of any observed genetic differences between wild- and hatchery-born salmon may be due to the long-term mixing of these genotypes from hatchery introgression into wild populations, or conversely, due to strong selection in nature—capable of maintaining highly fit genotypes whether or not fish have experienced part of their life history under cultured conditions.
A globally convergent approach for blind MIMO adaptive deconvolution

We address the deconvolution of MIMO linear mixtures. The approach is based on the construction of a hierarchical family of composite criteria involving CM criterion and second order statistics constraint. Although, the criteria are based on fourth order statistics, we give a complete proof of convergence of this structure. We show that each cost function leads to the restoration of one single source. Moreover the approach is naturally robust with respect to the channels order estimation. An adaptive algorithm is derived for the simultaneous estimation of all sources.
How categories come to matter

In a study of users' interactions with Siri, the iPhone personal assistant application, we noticed the emergence of overlaps and blurrings between explanatory categories such as "human" and "machine". We found that users work to purify these categories, thus resolving the tensions related to the overlaps. This "purification work" demonstrates how such categories are always in flux and are redrawn even as they are kept separate. Drawing on STS analytic techniques, we demonstrate the mechanisms of such "purification work. " We also describe how such category work remained invisible to us during initial data analysis, due to our own forms of latent purification, and outline the particular analytic techniques that helped lead to this discovery. We thus provide an illustrative case of how categories come to matter in HCI research and design.