Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Capacitation Is Associated with Tyrosine Phosphorylation and Tyrosine Kinase-Like Activity of Pig Sperm Proteins1

Abstract Capacitation represents the final maturational steps that render mammalian sperm competent to fertilize, either in vivo or in vitro. Capacitation is defined as a series of events that enables sperm to bind the oocyte and undergo the acrosome reaction in response to the zona pellucida. Although the molecular mechanisms involved are not fully understood, sperm protein phosphorylation is associated with capacitation. The hypothesis of this study is that protein tyrosine phosphorylation and kinase activity mediate capacitation of porcine sperm. Fresh sperm were incubated in noncapacitating or capacitating media for various times. Proteins were extracted with SDS, subjected to SDS-PAGE, and immunoblotted with an antiphosphotyrosine antibody. An Mr 32 000 tyrosine-phosphorylated protein (designated as p32) appeared only when the sperm were incubated in capacitating medium and concomitant with capacitation as assessed by the ionophore-induced acrosome reaction. The p32 was soluble in Triton X-100. Fractionation of sperm proteins with Triton X-114 demonstrated that after capacitation, this tyrosine phosphoprotein is located in both the cytosol and the membrane. Enzyme renaturation of sperm proteins was conducted in gels with or without either poly glu:tyr (a tyrosine kinase substrate) or kemptide (a protein kinase A substrate). An Mr 32 000 enzyme with kinase behavior was observed in all gels but was preferentially phosphorylated on tyrosine, as assessed by phosphorimagery and by thin layer chromotography to identify the phosphoamino acids. Indirect immunolocalization showed that the phosphotyrosine residues redistribute to the acrosome during capacitation, which is an appropriate location for a protein involved in the acquisition of fertility.
Attenuation of Candida albicans virulence with focus on disruption of its vacuole functions

The objective of the present review is to discuss if the yeast vacuole can be used as a target for attenuation of Candida albicans virulence. Literature searches were made electronically using predetermined inclusion criteria. The main searches were made through a systematic strategy in PubMed and authoritative journals in microbiology. It appeared that C. albicans virulence may be reduced by inhibiting vacuolar proton-translocating ATPase (V-ATPase) functions and acidification of the yeast vacuole by V-ATPase inhibitors, by seeking the synergistic effect of antifungals and non-antifungals affecting yeast vacuolar functions, and by inhibiting filament production – also regulated by the vacuole. Accordingly, we may impair C. albicans virulence by inhibiting functions of its vacuole, which plays essential roles during colonization and invasion of the host. Except for drugs where indications for clinical use can be redefined, such interventions may be closer to theory than to reality at the moment. But since the yeast is so difficult to eradicate by antifungal treatment, it could be rewarding to seek new strategies for reducing its virulence rather than trying to eradicate it completely from the microbiota, which often turns out to be impossible.
Murder-Suicide in New Hampshire, 1995–2000

Combined murder-suicide is defined as homicide(s) followed by the perpetrator’s suicide within 1 week of the homicide(s). This phenomenon is observed worldwide with generally similar incidence rates. The authors report data from New Hampshire, a population distinguished from those in previous United States studies by its location, racial homogeneity, nonurban character, and low homicide rate. Sixteen murder-suicide events occurred in New Hampshire between October 1995 and October 2000. This represents an incidence of 0.26 per 100,000 person-years, a rate similar to previously reported values. Murder-suicide events accounted for 14.7% of all homicides in the state, higher than previous studies but not unexpected in view of the state’s lower homicide rate. Most perpetrators were male (94%), and most victims were female (88%), often in a spousal or consortial relationship. Firearms accounted for the majority of deaths. Various cofactors are examined, and a comparison of two recently proposed classification systems is discussed.
Activation of group II mGlu receptors blocks the enhanced drug taking induced by previous exposure to amphetamine

Repeated exposure to amphetamine (AMPH) leads to the development of behavioural sensitization that can be demonstrated in rats as enhanced locomotor responding to and self‐administration of the drug. Glutamate systems are known to participate in the induction and expression of sensitization by psychostimulants. Group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), because they negatively regulate both vesicular and nonvesicular glutamate release, are thus well positioned to gate its expression. Here we report that the expression of locomotor sensitization by AMPH is completely prevented by a systemic injection of the selective group II mGluR agonist LY379268 at a dose that produced no effects when administered alone. The activation of group II mGluRs in AMPH‐sensitized rats also reduced the enhanced overflow of both dopamine and glutamate normally observed in the nucleus accumbens, a brain region critical for the generation of locomotor and drug self‐administration behaviours. To directly determine the effect of group II mGluR activation on enhanced drug self‐administration, AMPH‐sensitized rats were allowed to self‐administer a mixture of LY379268 and AMPH. These rats continued to self‐administer but did not exhibit the enhanced work output and drug intake observed in AMPH‐sensitized rats self‐administering AMPH alone. Thus, activating group II mGluRs prevents the expression of different manifestations of AMPH sensitization including enhanced self‐administration of the drug. These receptors may represent a potentially important target for therapeutic intervention directed at drugs of abuse.
Sex-Role Stereotypes and Their Relationship to Respondents' Age and Sex

The relationship of an individual's age and sex to his sex-role stereotypes was investigated using the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. The 140 males and 276 females differed significantly in their view of the masculine but not the feminine role; males held a more traditional view of the masculine sex role than females. In contrast age differences occurred only on the feminine sex role with subjects over 25 yr. of age consistently expressing a less stereotyped view of the feminine role.
Demyelination in a transgenic mouse: A model for multiple sclerosis

A transgenic mouse containing 70 copies (ND4) of the transgene encoding DM20, a myelin proteolipid protein, appeared clinically normal up to 3 months of age. By 8–10 months, it showed tremors, unsteady gait, and dies shortly thereafter. We concluded that the clinical symptoms correlated with demyelination based on the following criteria: (1) at 10 months of age only 17% of the amount of myelin obtained from normal mice was isolated from the ND4 mice; (2) astrogliosis, a prominent feature of demyelinating disease was minimal at 3 months of age but prominent by 10 months; (3) at the electron microscopic level disrupted myelin was seen at 8 months of age in the ND4 mice and ingested myelin debris was found in astrocytes; (4) lymphocytic infiltration in association with endothelial cells was observed routinely in the ND4 mice; (5) sections through optic nerves showed denuded and thinly myelinated axons in the 8 month old ND4 mice.
Invasive Evaluation (Coronary Arteriography) of the Coronary Artery Disease Patient: Clinical, Economic and Social Issues

Radionuclide techniques have greatly enhanced noninvasive evaluation in the patient with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). Although these techniques have high sensitivity and specificity, the published data contain significant inconsistencies and inaccuracies. Coronary arteriography remains the definitive method of determining the presence, site, severity and operability of CAD. Although the procedure is invasive, recent studies have shown that complication rates have been reduced to an acceptably low level, particularly in laboratories with extensive experience. The economic aspects of coronary arteriography are complex. Survey data acquired in early 1981 from 54 active cardiac catheterization laboratories around the country showed that the mean technical charge billed by the hospital for coronary angiographic procedures was $760 (range $307–1470). Analysis of the actual costs of the procedure to the hospital indicates that in most cases, these costs far exceed $760. Hospital budgeting practices in many states fail to create any incentive to match charges with costs. The mean professional fee billed by physicians for coronary arteriography was $640 (range $200–1200). An estimated 275,000 coronary arteriograms are performed annually in the United States, yielding a total cost of $577,500,000. Opportunities for significant cost cutting are limited, and seem to lie primarily in improving the utilization of existing laboratories that are underutilized. Unresolved economic, ethical and social issues pertaining to coronary arteriography include: centralizing the procedure in a smaller number of centers around the country; self-referral of patients for coronary arteriography; establishing training standards for coronary angiographers and performance standards for angiographic equipment; acceptable levels of sensitivity in noninvasive screening for suspected CAD; and utilization of coronary arteriography throughout the country.
On Students' Strategy-Preferences for Managing Difficult Course Work

Course work plagiarism among university students is often attributed to ignorance about plagiarism or an assignment's level of difficulty. Students submit other people's work when they are unable to solve an assignment themselves. This study, based on 233 student responses from four cultural regions, investigates three aspects of academic dishonesty. First, the study identifies students' preferred strategies for managing perceptually too difficult course work. Second, students' preferences for responding to help from fellow students are investigated. Finally, the study measures students' preferences for choosing side in ethical conflicts. Seven strategies for managing difficult course work, six strategies for responding to requests for help, and five key parties in ethical conflicts are studied using a pair-wise comparison method. The results show that students prefer to collaborate and use the Internet. The impact of the teacher is smaller than expected. Factors including cultural origin, gender, level of study, and field of study have limited impact.
Analysis of Generation and Detection of Surface and Bulk Acoustic Waves by Interdigital Transducers

Ahrroct-A method of analysis which uses a combination of analyti- coupling hasso far only been solved for the specific cases of an cal and numerical techniques has been developed to obtain an accurate infinite uniform array on a semi-infinite substrate [l 11 and a solution to the coupled electromagnetic and acoustic fields set up by an long uniform array on a rectangular substrate [ 131. This latter interdigital transducer on the surface of a piezoelectric substrate. Full account is taken of the coupling to bulk modes as well as surface modes, and the solution for the charge on the electrodes includes both electrostatic charge and piezoelectrically regenerated charge. Programs have been written for interdigital arrays with uniform aperture but varying electrode width and pitch and arbitrary electrical connections. The theory is also valid for arbitrary crystal orientations. Generation and detection may be analyzed separately with information being provided on the partition of power into the various acoustic modes and the external load impedance, and the bulk wave radiation patterns are also computed. The program may also be used to find the insertion loss of a pair of transducers. Results are presented for the BleusteinGulyaev orientation of PZT-4 ceramic and the YZ and 41” rotated YX orientations of lithium niobate.
Management of hyperuricemia through dietary polyphenols as a natural medicament: A comprehensive review

ABSTRACT Hyperuricemia, a condition due to high serum uric acid level and is notorious to health. It is considered to be a potent risk factor for gout and dramatically associated in the development of many chronic diseases such as malignant tumor, cardiovascular disorders and renal failure. Modern innovative medicinal and therapeutic interventions are underlying these days to combat hyperuricemia. Previously reported studies revealed the significant impact of dietary polyphenols (e.g. anthocyanins, phenolic acids, flavonoids etc.) against hyperurecemia disorder. Dietary plant polyphenols, unlike anti- hyperuricemic agents, are not reported to have any side effects in curing hyperuricemia. The current comprehensive review figure outs the use of dietary polyphenols as a natural remedy for the management of hyperuricemia. The sources, affiliated pathways, mode of actions and factors affecting their efficiency to prevent hyperuricemia are deeply discussed in this article. Additionally, limitations and suggestions regarding previously reported studies are also highlighted.
Access, continuity of care and consultation quality: which best predicts urgent cancer referrals from general practice?

BACKGROUND For some cancers, late presentation is associated with poor survival. In England, less than half of patients are diagnosed following a general practitioner-initiated urgent referral. We explore whether particular practice or practitioner characteristics are associated with use of the urgent referral system. METHODS The study sample was 603/614 practices in the East Midlands. Logistic regression models were fitted to investigate relationships between cancer detection rate, how easy it is to book appointments quickly, in advance or with a preferred doctor, and whether patients have confidence and trust in the doctor. RESULTS The percentage of patients who definitely have confidence and trust in the doctor was positively associated with the cancer detection rate [odds ratio = 1.08 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01, 1.15) per 10 percentage points]. When all four survey variables were modelled together, the percentage of patients who were able to see a preferred doctor was negatively associated with the cancer detection rate [odds ratio = 0.93 (95% CI 0.88, 0.98) per 10 percentage points]. CONCLUSIONS Our analyses suggest that in the UK National Health Service, confidence and trust in the doctor may be more important in cancer detection than the ease of access or whether there is choice of doctor.
Effect of selected antibiotics on Staphylococcus aureus present in milk from infected mammary glands.

Milk from a mammary gland infected with Staphylococcus aureus Newbould 305 was collected and dispensed into sterile tubes. Selected antibiotics were added at 2, 4, or 32 times the MIC, and the percentage survival of S. aureus at various times through 24 h after addition of each antibiotic was determined. Percentage survival of the same S. aureus strain grown in vitro and added to 1) Mueller-Hinton broth and 2) ultrahigh temperature pasteurized milk with the same concentration of antibiotics was also determined. Percentage survival observed after 24 h in milk from the infected quarter at 2, 4, and 32 times MIC, respectively, were: penicillin: 12, 9.4, and 13%; cephapirin 43, 50, and 30%; erythromycin: 120, 95, and 82%; pirlimycin: > 1000, 148, and 38%; tilmicosin: > 1000, > 1000, and 9%; ciprofloxacin: 458, 6, and 3%; norfloxacin: 40, 10, and < 1%; rifampicin: < 1, < 1, and < 1%; and novobiocin: 20, 41, and 5%. By comparison, percentage survival observed after 24 h for in vitro grown S. aureus tested in Mueller-Hinton broth at 2, 4, and 32 times MIC, respectively, were < 1% for penicillin, cephapirin, pirlimycin, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, and rifampicin, and < 10% for erythromycin, novobiocin, and tilmicosin. UHT milk had minimal effect on percentage survival compared to Mueller-Hinton broth for S. aureus 305 when tested against penicillin or cephapirin. Increased survival was noted in UHT milk for erythromycin, pirlimycin, and tilmicosin at all antibiotic concentrations and for ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, rifampicin, and novobiocin at 2 times the MIC. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Right atrial preventive and antitachycardia pacing for prevention of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in patients without bradycardia: a randomized study.

AIMS To investigate the efficacy of preventive and antitachycardia pacing (ATP) in patients with symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) without bradyarrhythmias. METHODS AND RESULTS In this randomized cross-over pilot study, we randomized 38 symptomatic paroxysmal AF patients 'without' bradyarrhythmias to atrial pacing lower rate 70 ppm and prevention and ATP therapies ON or to atrial pacing lower rate 34 ppm and prevention and ATP therapies OFF during 12 weeks with a 4 week washout period in between. The atrial lead was preferably placed in the inter-atrial septum. Antiarrhythmic drugs were continued during the study. Primary endpoint was AF burden. Mean age was 62 +/- 9 years and 27 (71%) patients had lone AF. Septal lead placement was accomplished in 26 (68%) patients. During the treatment ON, there was a trend for AF burden reduction [from median 3.3% (1.0-15.2) to 2.4% (0.2-12.2), P = 0.06, reduction 27%]. If septal lead placement was accomplished, AF burden reduction was statistically significant [44% reduction, from median 2.5% (1.0-8.0) to 1.4% (0.2-8.4), P = 0.03]. Quality of life and symptoms did not change, also not in the septal group. CONCLUSION A hybrid therapy of preventive and ATP pacing and antiarrhythmic drugs may significantly reduce but not abolish AF burden if septal pacing is realized.
Evaluation of the Effects of Dose on Lung Ventilation Calculated from 4D-CT using Deformable Image Registration - An Application of a Ventilation Calculation Algorithm based on 4D-CT

Ventilation derived from 4D-CT using deformable image registration (DIR) has been found correlate to the result from a conventional modality very well. How radiation affects ventilation in lungs is still not clearly studied. In this paper, ventilation versus radiation dose is investigated using IV method, a ventilation calculation algorithm based on 4D-CT and DIR. Diffeomorphic morphons was used as the DIR tool. Tidal volume normalized ventilation was used in this study. A total of 20 SBRT lung cancer patientsâ 4D-CT and planning dose data were retrospectively analysed. All the patients had two sets of 4D-CT, one at pre-treatment and one post treatment. Ventilation distributions were calculated based on the two sets of 4D-CT for each case. The two ventilation data sets were aligned using DIR. Radiation dose distributions were resampled to match the resolution of CT images. A ventilation (or ventilation change) and dose values were thus associated to each voxel of the CT images. A function (ventilation change) â dose â volume surface was generated for each case. Average ventilation was found degraded in higher than 20 Gy dose regions for 16 out of the 20 cases. This result can be applied in treatment planning to spare functional lung volumes.
Multi-Task Learning for Prosodic Structure Generation Using BLSTM RNN with Structured Output Layer

Prosodic structure generation from text plays an important role in Chinese text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis, which greatly influences the naturalness and intelligibility of the synthesized speech. This paper proposes a multi-task learning method for prosodic structure generation using bidirectional long shortterm memory (BLSTM) recurrent neural network (RNN) and structured output layer (SOL). Unlike traditional methods where prerequisites such as lexicon word or even syntactic tree are usually required as the input, the proposed method predicts prosodic boundary labels directly from Chinese characters. BLSTM RNN is used to capture the bidirectional contextual dependencies of prosodic boundary labels. SOL further models correlations between prosodic structures, lexicon words as well as part-of-speech (POS), where the prediction of prosodic boundary labels are conditioned upon word tokenization and POS tagging results. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
ANTIDEPRESSANT ACTIVITY OF PHYLLANTHUS AMARUS ETHANOLIC EXTRACT IN EXPERIMENTAL ANIMAL MODEL

Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the antidepressant effect of Phyllanthus amarus ethanolic extract in Wistar albino rats. Methods: The ethanolic extract of leaves of Phyllanthus amarus [PAEE] at a dose of 100mg/kg/body weight was administered orally for ten days. On tenth day, after one hour, the animals were taken for forced swimming test, to assess the level of depression. Results: The results indicate PAEE has significant antidepressant activity Conclusions: The antidepressant activity of Phyllanthus amarus can be due to its effect on brain neurotransmitters or due to antioxidant property.
Enhancing Hydrogen Evolution Activity in Water Splitting by Tailoring Li+-Ni(OH)2-Pt Interfaces

Combining two different types of catalysts accelerated the hydrogen-generation step in water electrolysis. Improving the sluggish kinetics for the electrochemical reduction of water to molecular hydrogen in alkaline environments is one key to reducing the high overpotentials and associated energy losses in water-alkali and chlor-alkali electrolyzers. We found that a controlled arrangement of nanometer-scale Ni(OH)2 clusters on platinum electrode surfaces manifests a factor of 8 activity increase in catalyzing the hydrogen evolution reaction relative to state-of-the-art metal and metal-oxide catalysts. In a bifunctional effect, the edges of the Ni(OH)2 clusters promoted the dissociation of water and the production of hydrogen intermediates that then adsorbed on the nearby Pt surfaces and recombined into molecular hydrogen. The generation of these hydrogen intermediates could be further enhanced via Li+-induced destabilization of the HO–H bond, resulting in a factor of 10 total increase in activity.
Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) UL82 Gene Product (pp71) Relieves hDaxx-Mediated Repression of HCMV Replication

ABSTRACT This study examines the role of the cellular protein hDaxx in controlling human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) immediate-early (IE) gene expression and viral replication. Using permissive cell lines that either overexpress hDaxx or are depleted of hDaxx expression by the use of short hairpin RNA, we demonstrate that hDaxx functions as a repressor of HCMV IE gene expression and replication. In addition, we demonstrate that the impaired growth phenotype associated with the UL82 (pp71) deletion mutant is abolished when hDaxx knockdown cells are infected, suggesting that pp71 functions to relieve hDaxx-mediated repression during HCMV infection.
Capping layer effects in the structure and composition of Co nanoparticle ultrathin films

In this work, we present the correlation of the magnetic and structural properties of Co nanoparticles deposited by sputtering on Si3N4 substrates at different temperatures, and covered with different capping layers, two insulators, AlN and MgO, and a metal, Pt. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy shows the formation of CoPt3 and Co2N, for the Pt and AlN capping layers, respectively, giving to a significant change of the magnetic behavior. When using a cap of MgO, energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy shows an oxidized shell covering the Co nanoparticles with thickness decreasing as the deposition temperature increases, explaining the changes in the magnetic response induced by the MgO capping layer.