Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Source monitoring deficits in patients with schizophrenia; a multinomial modelling analysis

Background. Schizophrenia patients, particularly those with symptoms such as thought insertion, passivity experiences and hallucinations, may share an underlying cognitive deficit in monitoring the generation of their own thoughts. This deficit, which has been referred to as ‘autonoetic agnosia’, may result in the conclusion that self-generated thoughts come from an external source. Previous work supports this notion, yet the statistical approaches that have been used have not enabled a distinction between specific deficits suggesting autonoetic agnosia and more general cognitive dysfunction. Methods. Autonoetic agnosia was assessed using source-monitoring paradigms in 28 patients with schizophrenia and 19 control subjects. Multinomial model analyses, which allow the distinction between deficits in recognizing information, remembering its source, and response biases, were applied to the data. Results. Schizophrenia patients were impaired in discriminating between words that came from two external sources, from two internal sources, and one internal and one external source. In a condition requiring subjects to distinguish between words they had heard from those they had imagined hearing, when schizophrenic patients did not remember the source of the information, they showed a stronger bias than controls to report that it had come from an external source. Conclusions. The application of multinomial models to source monitoring data suggests that schizophrenia patients have source monitoring deficits that are not limited to the distinction between internally-generated and externally-perceived information. However, when schizophrenia patients do not remember the source of information, they may be more likely than controls to report that it came from an external source.
Perceptions of Service Providers and Community Members on Intimate Partner Violence Within a Latino Community

This study examined perceptions regarding intimate partner abuse (IPV) in a largely Latino community in NewJersey through focus groups with Latino communitymembers and key informant interviews with providers of services to this population. Questions examined definitions of partner abuse; perceptions of factors contributing to, or protecting against, IPV; and barriers to reporting IPV both for the victim and the community at large. Atlas.ti, a qualitative data package, was used to analyze transcripts for themes drawn from the literature and preliminary review of transcripts. Findings point to both similarities and some potentially important differences between the perspectives of community members and service providers in such areas as definitions of partner abuse, factors associated with abuse, and barriers to reporting. Although both community members and service providers can individually offer important insights with regard to IPV, a more complete picture emerges when the views of both groups are considered.
Mosquito protective textiles - A review

The review outlines the use of different textile materials for protection against the mosquito menace. Textile based mosquito protection is one the popular methods of protection against mosquito with the use in the form of nets, uniforms, garments etc. The current trends in the preparation and use of insecticide infused textile materials and the various limitations and challenges are discussed in detail. The use of natural products especially the essential oil incorporated textile materials and the effective method of microencapsulation for increasing the longevity of the protection is also discussed in this review. The engineering of fabric with or without insecticide for effective protection against mosquito is the need of the hour.
Reactive site in human alpha 2-macroglobulin: circumstantial evidence for a thiolester.

The reaction of methylamine with alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha 2M) results in the covalent modification of one glutamic residue per subunit as gamma-glutamylmethylamide [Swenson, R. & Howard, J. B. (1979) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76, 4313--4316]. Furthermore, alpha 2M can undergo specific peptide autolysis involving the same reactive glutamic residue [Howard, J. B. , Vermeulen, M. & Swenson, R. (1980) J. Biol Chem. 255, 3820--3823]. During both reactions, a cysteinyl thiol is exposed and can be alkylated by iodoacetic acid. After alpha 2M was modified with [14C]methylamine and iodo[2-3H]acetic acid, a tryptic peptide was isolated that contained both labels in the same ratio as in the original protein. From the chymotryptic digest of the tryptic peptide, a single radiolabeled peptide was isolated. The amino acid sequence of the chymotryptic peptide was the same as that previously reported to include gamma-glutamylmethylamide. This is circumstantial evidence for a thiolester between the cysteine and a glutamic acid located three residues away in the primary sequence. A reaction mechanism involving a pyroglutamyl intermediate derived from the thiolester is suggested to explain the autolysis. Kinetic analysis of the autolysis reaction is consistent with this intermediate and mechanism.
CLoNe is a new method to target single progenitors and study their progeny in mouse and chick

Cell lineage analysis enables us to address pivotal questions relating to: the embryonic origin of cells and sibling cell relationships in the adult body; the contribution of progenitors activated after trauma or disease; and the comparison across species in evolutionary biology. To address such fundamental questions, several techniques for clonal labelling have been developed, each with its shortcomings. Here, we report a novel method, CLoNe that is designed to work in all vertebrate species and tissues. CLoNe uses a cocktail of labelling, targeting and transposition vectors that enables targeting of specific subpopulations of progenitor types with a combination of fluorophores resulting in multifluorescence that describes multiple clones per specimen. Furthermore, transposition into the genome ensures the longevity of cell labelling. We demonstrate the robustness of this technique in mouse and chick forebrain development, and show evidence that CLoNe will be broadly applicable to study clonal relationships in different tissues and species.
Syntrophs Dominate Sequences Associated with the Mercury Methylation-Related Gene hgcA in the Water Conservation Areas of the Florida Everglades

ABSTRACT The mechanisms and rates of mercury methylation in the Florida Everglades are of great concern because of potential adverse impacts on human and wildlife health through mercury accumulation in aquatic food webs. We developed a new PCR primer set targeting hgcA, a gene encoding a corrinoid protein essential for Hg methylation across broad phylogenetic boundaries, and used this primer set to study the distribution of hgcA sequences in soils collected from three sites along a gradient in sulfate and nutrient concentrations in the northern Everglades. The sequences obtained were distributed in diverse phyla, including Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, and Methanomicrobia; however, hgcA clone libraries from all sites were dominated by sequences clustering within the order Syntrophobacterales of the Deltaproteobacteria (49 to 65% of total sequences). dsrB mRNA sequences, representing active sulfate-reducing prokaryotes at the time of sampling, obtained from these sites were also dominated by Syntrophobacterales (75 to 89%). Laboratory incubations with soils taken from the site low in sulfate concentrations also suggested that Hg methylation activities were primarily mediated by members of the order Syntrophobacterales, with some contribution by methanogens, Chloroflexi, iron-reducing Geobacter, and non-sulfate-reducing Firmicutes inhabiting the sites. This suggests that prokaryotes distributed within clades defined by syntrophs are the predominant group controlling methylation of Hg in low-sulfate areas of the Everglades. Any strategy for managing mercury methylation in the Everglades should consider that net mercury methylation is not limited to the action of sulfate reduction.
Functional and total IGFBP3 for the assessment of disorders of the GH/IGF1 axis in children with chronic kidney disease, GH deficiency, or short stature after SGA status at birth.

OBJECTIVE IGFBP3 immunoreactivity may appear elevated in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), in part due to accumulation of low molecular fragments. The importance of these IGFBP3 variants for binding and inactivation of IGF1 and their relevance for the impaired growth of uremic children are unclear. Nevertheless, IGFBP3, measured as total (t-)IGFBP3, is frequently used as a diagnostic parameter in pediatric CKD patients. A new assay for functional (f-)IGFBP3 exclusively detects IGFBP3 capable of IGF binding. The aim of the study was to evaluate the significance of f-IGFBP3 measurements for the assessment of uremic abnormalities of the GH/IGF1 axis. DESIGN Prospective cross-sectional study. METHODS t-IGFBP3, f-IGFBP3, and IGF1 were measured in pediatric CKD patients, including patients with CKD stage 3-4 not on dialysis (CKD, n=33), on dialysis treatment (DT, n=26), patients after renal transplantation (RTx, n=89), healthy children (n=29), children with GH deficiency (GHD, n=42), and small for gestational age (SGA) children (SGA, n=34). RESULTS Mean t-IGFBP3 SDS was elevated in CKD, DT, and RTx children compared with controls and GHD patients (P≤0.0004). Highest values were reached in DT (P<0.0001 vs all groups). In contrast, mean f-IGFBP3 was similar in all groups (P=0.30). CONCLUSIONS Pediatric CKD patients displayed elevated serum concentrations of t-IGFBP3 but not f-IGFBP3, supporting the hypothesis that IGFBP3 fragments not binding IGF1 accumulate during uremia. f-IGFBP3 is an indicator of IGFBP3 fragmentation and seems to reflect IGF1 binding in CKD better than t-IGFBP3. However, the role of f-IGFBP3 for the diagnosis of disturbances of the GH/IGF hormonal axis appears to be limited.
Purification and Characterization of Two Small Heat Shock Proteins from Anabaena sp. PCC 7120

Two small heat shock proteins (sHsps), Hsp17.8 and Hsp17.1, were identified in the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120. Recombinant Hsp17.8 and Hsp17.1 were overexpressed in Escherichia coli and characterized here. Hsp17.8 was purified by sequential chromatography on DEAE‐Sepharose and Superose 6 10/300 column, and Hsp17.1 was purified by Superose 6 10/300 column in 4 M urea. Size exclusion chromatography demonstrated that both purified proteins form large oligomers approximately 420 kDa and 410 kDa, respectively. Both Hsp17.8 and Hsp17.1 showed chaperone‐like activity to protect citrate synthase (CS) from thermal aggregation at 43°C. Furthermore, both proteins were found to form complexes with denatured CS at 45°C. Our study also demonstrated that despite a high degree of sequence homology and similar subunit size, Hsp17.1 showed higher hydrophobicity indicated by 8‐anilino‐1‐naphthalene sulfonate fluorescence and thus greater chaperone‐like activity. This is the first report of characterization and comparison of an sHsp system containing two chaperones in cyanobacteria. IUBMB Life, 57: 449‐454, 2005
Climate and competition affect growth and survival of transplanted sugar maple seedlings along a 1700‐km gradient

Plant species distributions, broadly shaped by climate, may also be constrained by other species. The degree to which biotic factors affect range limits is unclear, however, and few experimental studies have investigated both biotic and abiotic factors across and beyond a species’ range. We examined seedling survival and net growth for three years in contrasting canopy type (closed canopy vs. gap) and neighbor density (clipped versus unclipped) environments for northern, central and southern populations of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) representing a climate-of-origin gradient, experimentally planted from Arkansas, USA to Ontario, Canada at ten forested sites along a 1,700 km transect spanning beyond the species’ range. We hypothesized that each population's highest survival and growth would occur in its region of origin, with poorer performance in areas cooler or warmer. Refuting this hypothesis, seedlings of all three populations had greater growth and survival in sites increasingly warmer than their point of origin, although they did show poorer growth and survival at increasingly colder sites. We also hypothesized that maple survival and net growth near and beyond range margins are constrained primarily by cold temperature limitation in the north, where we expected neighbors to facilitate survival, and by competition in the south, where we expected to enhance survival and growth by reducing neighbor density. Results partially supported the hypothesis concerning biotic interactions: in canopy gaps, understory neighbors enhanced maple growth at the coolest sites but did not suppress growth as expected at the warmest sites. As the northern population grew and survived reasonably well beyond the northern range limit, and as all populations performed best at warmer sites, including beyond the southern range limit, there was tepid, if any, support for the hypothesis that climate regulated the northern limit and absolutely no support for the hypothesis that competition regulated the southern limit. Together, these three-year findings with juvenile trees suggest that sugar maple range limits may instead be constrained by factors besides climate and competition, by those factors at another life stage, and/or by climate events such as heat waves, droughts, and cold snaps that occur at longer return intervals. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Beyond Desensitization: Physiological Relevance of Arrestin-Dependent Signaling

Heptahelical G protein-coupled receptors are the most diverse and therapeutically important family of receptors in the human genome. Ligand binding activates heterotrimeric G proteins that transmit intracellular signals by regulating effector enzymes or ion channels. G protein signaling is terminated, in large part, by arrestin binding, which uncouples the receptor and G protein and targets the receptor for internalization. It is clear, however, that heptahelical receptor signaling does not end with desensitization. Arrestins bind a host of catalytically active proteins and serve as ligand-regulated scaffolds that recruit protein and lipid kinase, phosphatase, phosphodiesterase, and ubiquitin ligase activity into the receptor-arrestin complex. Although many of these arrestin-bound effectors serve to modulate G protein signaling, degrading second messengers and regulating endocytosis and trafficking, other signals seem to extend beyond the receptor-arrestin complex to regulate such processes as protein translation and gene transcription. Although these findings have led to a re-envisioning of heptahelical receptor signaling, little is known about the physiological roles of arrestin-dependent signaling. In vivo, the duality of arrestin function makes it difficult to dissociate the consequences of arrestin-dependent desensitization from those that might be ascribed to arrestin-mediated signaling. Nonetheless, recent evidence generated using arrestin knockouts, G protein-uncoupled receptor mutants, and arrestin pathway-selective “biased agonists” is beginning to reveal that arrestin signaling plays important roles in the retina, central nervous system, cardiovascular system, bone remodeling, immune system, and cancer. Understanding the signaling roles of arrestins may foster the development of pathway-selective drugs that exploit these pathways for therapeutic benefit.
Neonatal Seizures in Very Preterm and Very Low Birthweight Infants: Mortality and Handicaps at Two Years of Age in a Nationwide Cohort*

In a nationwide, prospective survey on very preterm and/or very low birthweight infants (less than 32 weeks of gestational age and/or less than 1500 g birthweight) we studied the outcome at the corrected age of two years of children with neonatal seizures. Of the 1338 infants, originally enrolled in the study, 72 had neonatal seizures; of these 44 died and 11 developed a major handicap. Using a multivariate statistical method, a significantly increased risk of death as well as handicap was found in infants with seizures compared to infants without seizures. Nevertheless, 16 of the 28 survivors with neonatal seizures were considered normal at the corrected age of two years.
Complementation of nitrogen-regulatory (ntr-like) mutations in Rhodobacter capsulatus by an Escherichia coli gene: cloning and sequencing of the gene and characterization of the gene product

In vivo genetic engineering by R' plasmid formation was used to isolate an Escherichia coli gene that restored the Ntr+ phenotype to Ntr- mutants of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus (formerly Rhodopseudomonas capsulata; J. F. Imhoff, H. G. Trüper, and N. Pfenning, Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 34:340-343, 1984). Nucleotide sequencing of the gene revealed no homology to the ntr genes of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Furthermore, hybridization experiments between the cloned gene and different F' plasmids indicated that the gene is located between 34 and 39 min on the E. coli genetic map and is therefore unlinked to the known ntr genes. The molecular weight of the gene product, deduced from the nucleotide sequence, was 30,563. After the gene was cloned in an expression vector, the gene product was purified. It was shown to have a pI of 5.8 and to behave as a dimer during gel filtration and on sucrose density gradients. Antibodies raised against the purified protein revealed the presence of this protein in R. capsulatus strains containing the E. coli gene, but not in other strains. Moreover, elimination of the plasmid carrying the E. coli gene from complemented strains resulted in the loss of the Ntr+ phenotype. Complementation of the R. capsulatus mutations by the E. coli gene therefore occurs in trans and results from the synthesis of a functional gene product.
Dendrochronologie du chêne (quercus robur, quercus petraea), influences des facteurs stationnels et climatiques sur la croissance radiale, cas des sols hydromorphes et des climats atlantiques : applications paleo-ecologiques aux bois subfossiles du marais de brière (loire-atlantique)

Les etudes dendrochronologiques ont abouti, dans la moitie nord de la France, a la constitution de nombreux «etalons de datation du chene (q. Robur, petraea) pour les periodes historiques mais ils restent peu developpes pour la prehistoire. La decouverte en Briere (44) de 130 troncs de chene subfossiles a permis la constitution d'une reference datee de 1358 a 978 av. J. -c. Et les restes de bois provenant des sites archeologiques de lorraine d'une autre reference qui s’etend de 1519 a 885 av. J. -C. Ces deux chronologies montrent que l'influence des facteurs regionaux sur la croissance radiale permet de synchroniser des series de largeurs de cerne provenant de climats atlantiques sur celles issues de climats plus continentaux. Les bois provenant de zones climatiques differentes et eloignees des references deja construites, nous avons developpe les aspects methodologiques de la datation dendrochronologique. L'utilisation de ces outils permet d'obtenir des resultats de datation ameliores entre les references de Briere et de Lorraine ainsi qu'avec les standards europeens des laboratoires de Neuchâtel et Stuttgart. Les chenes decouverts en Briere se sont developpes sur un sol tourbeux. Leur croissance radiale pressente des sequences de cernes etroits qui ont ete attribuees, dans des conditions analogues, a des remontees de la nappe dans le sol provoquant une asphyxie racinaire. Des observations sedimentaires et des analyses palynologiques etayent cette hypothese. Nous pouvons completer cette argumentation par une analyse dendroecologique de jeunes chenes colonisant actuellement des sols plus ou moins tourbeux. Le developpement d'une chenaie sur la tourbiere de Briere implique un abaissement du niveau moyen de la nappe qui definit un evenement regressif qui debute avant 1275 av. J-C. Et se termine par la disparition progressive de la chenaie vers 1000 av. J-C.
Information processes in support of innovation

This paper presents a case study of information processes in the regional office of a multi-national energy company which repositioned the company from exploration to gas storage. The information flows show the dissemination of "rich" information in and between project groups due to the small scale of the regional site with many long-standing members of staff. Formal methods of constituting an organisational memory are actively discouraged as corporate policy is that records, which are not legally required must be destroyed. The authors conclude that while the organisation has been successful in innovation to a certain level, current processes act against the institutionalisation of innovation. This may be assisted by the introduction of "joint information platforms" or summary project documents, accessed by groupware systems. Such dynamic systems would supplement the current information dissemination processes, while underpinning the creation of a learning environment.
Bioinspired Control of Walking With Toe-Off, Heel-Strike, and Disturbance Rejection for a Biped Robot

Human-like features, like toe-off, heel-strike, and disturbance rejection, can enhance the performance of bipedal robots. However, the required control strategies for these motions influence each other, and few studies have considered them simultaneously. Humans can walk stably with toe-off and heel-strike even after experiencing disturbances. Thus, we can study human control strategies, and then, apply them to a bipedal robot. This paper proposes a bioinspired control method to realize stable walking with toe-off and heel-strike for a bipedal robot even after disturbances. First, we analyze human walking and obtain some control strategies. Then, we propose a pattern generator and a walking controller to mimic these strategies. The pattern generator can predefine the zero-moment-point to plan the center of mass trajectory and determine appropriate foot placement. The controller adjusts torso acceleration to make the support leg compliant with the external disturbances. The controller also achieves toe-off and heel-strike in cooperation with the pattern generator. Finally, the validity of the proposed method is confirmed through simulations and experiments.
In vitro dissolution of plasma-sprayed hydroxyapatite coatings with different characteristics: experimental study and modeling

The dissolution of plasma-sprayed hydroxyapatite (PHA) coatings with different characteristics, produced by various spraying conditions, in a Tris-buffered solution at pH 7.4 was experimentally studied through the measurement of the release of calcium ions. The phase composition of the coatings at surface and interface, and the porosity were evaluated. The analytical modeling revealed that the calcium dissolution process was composed of two stages. The first stage was found to be both surface and diffusion controlled. The second stage was an exactly diffusion-controlled dissolution. In the first stage, the rate of dissolution and the solubility of the coatings with minimum contents of impurity phases were mainly influenced by the contents of recrystallized HA (RHA) and amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP). It is suggested that the optimized values of the ACP and the RHA at the coating surface can tend to encourage the early fixation properties of the PHA coatings.