Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of sperm DNA vaccine on fertility of female mice

Our laboratory has identified a sperm‐specific dodecamer peptide sequence, designated as YLP12, vaccination with which causes a long‐term reversible immunocontraceptive effect in female mice. In the present study, the effects of YLP12 DNA vaccine were examined. YLP12 36 bp cDNA was cloned into pVAX1 vector to prepare the DNA vaccine. Two additional vaccine constructs were made by in frame cloning of one and two CpG repeats in the YLP12‐cDNA vaccine. Five groups of female mice were immunized intradermally by using gene gun with YLP12‐cDNA, YLP12‐cDNA‐CpG, YLP12‐cDNA‐CpG‐CpG, YLP12‐cDNA mixed with exogenous synthetic CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN), or vector DNA alone, respectively. Vaccination with all three constructs and the YLP12 vaccine mixed with exogenous ODN raised antibody response both in the sera as well as locally in the vaginal tract. There was no antibody response in the mice injected with the vector alone. In sera, the highest titers were obtained for the IgG class for all constructs and formulation followed by IgA class. In vaginal washings the highest titers were obtained for the IgA class followed by IgG class. Within the IgG class, the titers for the IgG2a subclass were significantly greater than the IgG1 subclass. Immunization with all constructs and formulation caused a significant (P < 0.05 to <0.001) reduction (20–43%) in fertility of female mice. The highest reductions were seen in mice immunized with YLP12‐cDNA‐CpG‐CpG (two repeats) (43% reduction) and with the YLP12 vaccine administered with exogenous CpG ODN (42% reduction). T lymphocytes obtained from DNA‐vaccinated mice showed clearly distinguished comparative RT‐PCR analysis of cytokine mRNA expression for Th1 and Th2 immune responses compared to T lymphocytes obtained from control animals injected with vector DNA. Expression of both Th1 cytokines (IL‐2 and IFN‐gamma) and Th2 cytokines (IL‐4 and IL‐10) was enhanced after DNA vaccination as compared to controls, with a bias towards Th1 response. The immunocontraceptive effects were long‐lasting observed up to 1.3 years of the observation period and increased with time. These novel findings indicate that the intradermal immunization with a sperm‐specific DNA vaccine causes a long‐term circulating and local immune response resulting in immunocontraceptive effects in female mice. Mol. Reprod. Dev. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
BID-mediated release of mitochondrial SMAC dampens XIAP-mediated immunity against Shigella

Maria Andree, Jens M. Seeger, Stephan Schüll, Oliver Coutelle, Diana Wagner-Stippich, Katja Wiegmann, Claudia Wunderlich, Kerstin Brinkmann, Pia Broxtermann, Axel Witt, Melanie Fritsch, Paola Martinelli, Harald Bielig, Tobias Lamkemeyer, Elena I. Rugarli, Thomas Kaufmann, Anja Sterner-Kock, F. Thomas Wunderlich, Andreas Villunger, L. Miguel Martins, Martin Krönke, Thomas A. Kufer, Olaf Utermöhlen and Hamid Kashkar
Meniscal Allograft Transplantation for Unicompartmental Arthritis of the Knee

Sixty-seven meniscal allografts were transplanted in the knees of 63 patients between 1988 and 1994. Before surgery, all patients experienced refractory disabling knee pain secondary to a prior total meniscectomy with advanced unicompartmental osteoarthritic changes as verified by arthroscopy. At a mean followup of 31 months (range, 1.0-5.5 years), 58 knees (86.6%) attained a good to excellent result. Twenty-one knees received isolated meniscal allografts, with 19 achieving good to excellent results (90.5%). Five knees received a medial or lateral meniscal allograft with an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, and 4 (80.0%) obtained good to excellent results. Thirty-four knees received a meniscal allograft in combination with either a valgus high tibial osteotomy, varus high tibial osteotomy, or varus distal femoral osteotomy to correct for preoperative varus or valgus deformities, with 29 (85.3%) attaining good to excellent results. The remaining 7 knees underwent a combined medial meniscal allograft, valgus high tibial osteotomy, and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with 6(85.7%) attaining good to excellent results. The most frequent complication was a traumatic posterior horn tear in 6 knees at a mean of 21 months after surgery (range, 9-43 months), most likely the consequence of unsuccessful healing of the posterior horn of the graft.
CNTRICS: Bringing Clinical Treatment Trials Closer to the Brain.

The NIMH has been funding research initiatives with lots of catchy acronyms in the last few years, like CATIE, STEP-BD, MATRICS, and TURNS. We have discussed several of the cognitively oriented ones in this column, and there is a new one worth learning. The Cognitive Neuroscience Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia, or CNTRICS is an NIMH-sponsored initiative that takes the sophisticated cognitive neuroscience tools that have proliferated in the past decade and turn them toward drug discovery, development, and eventual improvements in treatments for schizophrenia.
Motion and force control for multiple cooperative manipulators

The authors address the problem of motion and force control of multiple robot arms manipulating an object. A general control paradigm that decouples the motion and force control problems is introduced. For motion control, different control strategies are constructed on the basis of control input variables. There are three natural choices: joint torques, arm tip force vectors, and the acceleration of a generalized coordinate. The first choice allows relatively model-independent control by exploiting the Hamiltonian structure of the open-loop system. The latter two require the full model information but produce simpler control design problems. The motion control determines the joint torque only to within a manifold, owing to the multiple-arm kinematic constraint. To resolve the nonuniqueness of the joint torques, two methods are introduced. If the arm and object models are available, the allocation of the desired end-effector control force to the joint actuators can be optimized. The other possibility is to control the internal force about some set point. Effective force regulation can be achieved with little model information. <<ETX>>
Influenza case definitions need to be fit for purpose.

The authors concluded that the revised World Health Organization (WHO) influenza-like illness (ILI) definition was an improvement on alternative definitions used by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), based on its higher positive predictive value (PPV) and higher likelihood ratio for a positive test. However, these are not necessarily the most important measures of success for all ILI case definitions, and different definitions will be required for different purposes. Identify-ing influenza for surveillance, for case finding during activities to prevent spread during an epi-demic, and for case finding for participation in research studies of treatment or prevention of transmission will require different case definitions.
Music-elicited EEG Activity and Emotional Responses are Altered in Schizophrenia

Studies of patients with schizophrenia using facial affect recognition and voice discrimination tasks have identified emotional dysfunction as a prominent clinical feature. In the present study we examine whether emotion processing in patients is also impaired in a less explicitly social context -continuous self-report of emotions during music using a two-dimensional (pleasantness X activation) emotion space. Electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was also recorded during this task since previous studies using EEG measures have found underlying cortical processes related to emotion. Twelve patients with schizophrenia and eleven controls listened to five 25second songs. These songs included J.S. Bach‟s Invention #13 in A minor (BWV 784) (designated the original piece), and four computer-generated pieces of which two were designed to be similar to the original, and two were designed to be different. While no significant effects were found in the activation dimension of the self-report measures, the pattern of pleasantness ratings was significantly less differentiated among songs in the patient group than in controls. EEG asymmetry indices at frontal and central electrodes provided evidence of greater hemispheric activation asymmetry (with higher activation on the left) in controls than in patients, a difference that was significant at the central electrodes (C3 and C4). These findings indicate that individuals with schizophrenia interpret emotion-eliciting music differently than do controls, even in a relatively non-social setting, possibly because of less differentiated hemispheric representations.
Functional Accounts of Emotions

In this article we outline the history, elements, and variations of functional accounts of emotions. Summarising diverse theories and observations, we propose that functional accounts of emotions: (1) address why humans have emotions; (2) de® ne emotions as solutions to problems and opportunities related to physical and social survival; (3) treat emotions as systems of interrelated components; and (4) focus on the bene® cial consequences of emotions. This conceptual approach to emotion is complemented by several empirical strategies, including the study of emotion dysfunction, the effects of emotions on others, and the relations between emotions and personal and social outcomes. We conclude by considering how functional accounts of emotion vary, including in terms of their level of analysis, speci® city, manner of organisation, and range of focus, and the implications functional accounts have for the study of emotion.
High gain spiral antenna with conical wall

This paper presents design for a spiral antenna with conical wall to realize the high gain. To improve the axial ratio and the gain of spiral antenna, the conical wall and the optimized Archimedean slit on ground plane are novel designed for the conventional antenna with the circular cavity wall and with the 4.5-turn slit. The good axial ratio of 1.9 dB below and the improved gain of 9.5 dBi above are measured by the added conical wall and the novel designed slit on ground plane, respectively. The measured E-field radiation patterns and main beam directivity toward +z axis direction are agreed well with the simulated results.The proposed antenna will be applied for the NLJD system.
Food-Borne Diseases and Techniques to Detect Food-Borne Pathogens and Their Limitations

Food safety is a global health concern. Food is one of the major sources of microbial pathogens in the developing regions. Food borne diseases or infections have increased over a year and ultimately resulted into severe health problems. Different type of food borne infections is detected by different type of microbes or pathogens contaminating the food items. Therefore, it is required to detect the pathogens in foods and recognition of problems associated with health and safety. Hence, variety of techniques has already been developed to detect food borne pathogens or microbes as it is important in analysing the food samples. The detection of food borne pathogens by conventional methods is time consuming, tedious and laborious whereas rapid methods are time efficient, sensitive and much more specific. In general, these techniques play a vital role in preventing and treating the food borne diseases. The aim of this comprehensive literature is to give an overview in the field of food borne pathogen detection.
PRECISENESS OF TEMPORAL COMPENSATION IN JAPANESE MORA TIMING

This study was motivated by a hypothesis that mora-timed Japanese would show a stronger tendency to keep CV length equal than other languages, because CV must not be too long in Japanese where CV and CVC / CVV have a durational contrast. Thus from this hypothesis, the magnitude and preciseness of the temporal compensation effect is expected to be larger for Japanese than those for other languages. Previous studies only examined the existence of temporal compensation; the issue of how differently temporal compensation is performed depending on a language has not been considered. Comparing Japanese with Korean and Chinese that have different timing patterns from Japanese, the results of this study confirmed the above hypothesis holds true at least within the speech context in this experiment. The magnitude of V changes to compensate for the C differences was larger in Japanese than the other two languages. Furthermore such temporal compensation was more consistently performed, resulting in stable CV length.
Looking beyond the obvious--a young woman with septic abortion and acute renal failure.

Renal artery stenosis (RAS) is a well-recognized cause of secondary hypertension. Acute renal failure and recurrent flash pulmonary oedema are some of its less frequent presenting features. A high index of suspicion is necessary to make this diagnosis, as the treatment is distinct from other causes. We report a young female who presented with severe hypertension and renal failure following abortion, that was diagnosed as being due to RAS. Successful revascularization led to resolution of all features. The case highlights the need to consider RAS, a reversible cause of severe hypertension and renal dysfunction in an appropriate clinical setting.
Eating habits, health status, and concern about health: a study among 1641 employees in the German metal industry.

BACKGROUND Nutrition has been found to be associated with sociodemographic characteristics and concern about health. There is limited knowledge, however, of associations between blue-collar worker's diet, morbidity, and health care utilization. METHODS We conducted a survey on eating habits, physical symptoms, health care utilization, health status, and concern about health in two German metal companies. A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to employees of whom 1641 participated in the study (response rate 54. 7%). RESULTS Most employees were characterized by a combination of healthy and unhealthy eating elements. Using linear regression analyses adjusted for age, gender, and occupational status, healthy eating was negatively associated with stomach aches and headaches, but not with cardiovascular disease. Restricted activity days and days in hospital were associated with healthy eating, but self-assessed health status and physician consultations were not. Using stepwise multiple regression analysis, age, gender, and concern about health were strongly and morbidity was weakly related to diet. Occupational status, marital status, and number of children were not associated with nutrition. CONCLUSIONS Health promotion programs should motivate younger and male employees to participate in and aim toward increasing concern about health.
F2: 3D stacking technologies for image sensors and memories

Three-dimensional (3D) stacking integration is offering many product benefits to SoC and memory: performance enhancements, product miniaturization and cost reduction. Besides, image sensors featuring 3D stacking of a specialized image sensor layer on the top of a deep submicron digital CMOS have just come to the market. The objective of this forum is to present applications and details of process integration, device techniques, circuits and system featuring 3D stacking integration. This will start with an overview of 3D stacking ICs, followed by a system perspective with scaling the memory wall. The next two talks will discuss challanges for power reduction with wide memory bandwidth, and performance gains through advanced packaging and chip stacking. This is followed by two talks covering challenges for foundry-specific issues and impact on device performance. The last two talks highlight how to integrate an imaging device on an SoC layer: technical issues and phenomenon of 3D stacked image sensor products, and evolution of 3D integration for imaging systems.
Evoked response audiometry in newborn infants.

The auditory evoked responses of normal infants during natural sleep were recorded using an averaging computer. The evoked responses had two prominent components (P2 and N2), which in deep sleep were of larger amplitude and of longer peak latency than in light sleep. The infants showed lower thresholds to lower frequency stimuli. The thresholds of infants less than two days old were higher than those of older infants. The peak latency of component N, was longer in younger infants especially in deep sleep. There was a significant air-bone gap in the thresholds of infants under two days old; this indicates a conductive hearing impairment in the early days after birth. Infant maturity cannot be determined precisely through study of the evoked resonpses because of their great variability.
Accurate circuit model for steady-state and dynamic performance of Lead-Acid AGM batteries

Electrochemical batteries are rapidly gaining wide-spread application in transportation systems as well as in the electric utility sector, and accurate battery models are need during the design stage of such systems to forecast future performance. This paper proposes a simple and yet accurate model of a sealed AGM battery. The model takes into account the nonlinear characteristics of the discharge curves, and its parameters are derived by using the manufacturer's data sheet in addition to a simple laboratory test on a 12 V, 89 Ah battery. Comparison between the measured and calculated responses to a number of different discharge profiles shows a comfortable degree of accuracy of the proposed battery model.
The molecular basis of the structure and function of the 5-HT 3 receptor: a model ligand-gated ion channel (Review)

The ligand-gated ion channel superfamily of neurotransmitter receptors are proteins responsible for rapid transmission of nerve impulses at the synapse and have, therefore, been the subject of intensive research for many years. The cys-loop family, of which the 5-HT3 receptor is a member, includes the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, the GABAA receptor and the glycine receptor. A diverse range of endogenous and artificial ligands activate these receptors, but, nevertheless, the family shares many similarities of structure and function. Several important questions, however, still remain to be determined, including the mechanism of agonist recognition at the binding site, the nature of the connection between the agonist binding and channel domains, the structure of the transmembrane regions and the mechanism of ion permeation and s electivity. This article reviews recent advances in the characterization of the molecular properties ofthe 5-HT3 receptor and their role in its function, and assesses its suitability as a model system for the study of the above questions.
Influence of rotor magnet variations in concentrated winding IPMSM

This report describes the performance of an interior permanent magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM) with concentrated winding designed to operate at constant power over a wide speed range. The machine model is optimized using finite element simulation model with analytical method. Three different cases based on magnet orientation making different angles between magnet bars in the same pole and one different PM strength in the rotor of PMSM have been investigated for core losses in a wide speed range under loaded and no-loaded condition. Voltage, torque, and power have been made effective for all the cases under loaded condition. Finally, effect on efficiency due to different core loss components and joule losses which are the result of design variation, are depicted.
Development of a Composite Revenue Sharing-Quantity Flexibility Contract

In supply chain management, the supply contract can induce collaboration and coordination among the supply chain members in order to optimize supply chain performance. Numerous supply contracts have been examined; however, some difficulties related to the application of these contracts still occur. One of the solutions is to apply the composite supply contract which can assist in the supply chain coordination. This research examines the composite contract of the revenue sharing and quantity flexibility contracts in a two-stage supply chain, which comprises a retailer and a supplier. In this research, a mathematical model of the composite contract is developed; then, the applicability of the proposed composite contract is examined by investigating its capability in terms of supply chain coordination and profit allocation. In the numerical experiments, the composite revenue sharing-quantity flexibility contract showed that it is superior to both component contracts in terms of supply chain coordination and profit allocation among supply chain members.
Ventricular Tachycardia

Chronic exposure to silica is a recognized health hazard. Manifestations of pulmonary and extrapulmonary silicosis are well described. Secondary pulmonary arterial hypertension and pericardial involvement are described, but myocardial involvement has not been reported. In this case of newly diagnosed pulmonary silicosis, ventricular tachycardia results are shown from pathological involvement of ventricular myocardium. (Level of Difficulty: Beginner.)
Explicit Variational Forms for the Inverses of Integral Logarithmic Operators Over an Interval

We introduce explicit and exact variational formulations for the weakly singular and hypersingular operators over an open interval as well as for their corresponding inverses. Contrary to the case of a closed curve, these operators no longer map fractional Sobolev spaces in a dual fashion but degenerate into different subspaces depending on their extensibility by zero. We show that an average and jump decomposition leads to precise coercivity results and characterize the mismatch occurring between associated functional spaces. Through this setting, we naturally define Calderon-type identities with their potential use as preconditioners. Moreover, we provide an interesting relation between the logarithmic operators and one-dimensional Laplace Dirichlet and Neumann problems. This work is a detailed and extended version of the article “Variational Forms for the Inverses of Integral Logarithmic Operators over an Interval” by Jerez-Hanckes and Nedelec [C.R. Acad. Sci. Paris Ser. I, 349 (2011), pp. 547--552].
Melatonin stimulates osteointegration of dental implants

Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the topical application of melatonin on osteointegration of dental implants in Beagle dogs 14 days after their insertion. In preparation for subsequent insertion of dental implants, upper and lower premolars and molars were extracted from 12 Beagle dogs. Each mandible received cylindrical screw implants of 3.25 mm in diameter and 10 mm in length. The implants were randomly assigned to the mesial and distal sites on each side of the mandible. Prior to implanting, 1.2 mg lyophylized powdered melatonin was applied to one bone hole at each side of the mandible. None was applied at the control sites. Eight histological sections per implant were obtained for histomorphometric studies. After a 2‐wk treatment period, melatonin significantly increased the perimeter of bone that was in direct contact with the treated implants (P < 0.0001), bone density (P < 0.0001), new bone formation (P < 0.0001) and inter‐thread bone (P < 0.05) in comparison with control implants. Topical application of melatonin may act as a biomimetic agent in the placement of endo‐osseous dental implants.