Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Accelerated alveolar bone loss in HLA-b27 transgenic rats: an adult onset condition.

OBJECTIVE Patients with arthritis and Crohn's disease may be more susceptible to periodontitis associated alveolar bone loss (ABL). HLA-B27 transgenic (TG) rats spontaneously develop arthritis and colitis. Based on the hypothesis that TG rats would also be susceptible to ABL, we compared the naturally occurring ABL in TG and Fischer 344 wild-type (WT) rats. METHODS Eighteen TG and 18 WT virgin female rats were used. Pairs (I TG, I WT) were housed in suspended wire cages. At age 2.6, 6, and 11 months, 8, 5, and 5 pairs were sacrificed, respectively. ABL was measured as exposed molar root surface area (mm2). Western blotting was used for analysis of serum reactivity against bacteria associated with arthritis, colitis, and periodontitis development. RESULTS At 2.6 months of age, there was no difference in ABL between TG and WT rats. At 6 and 11 months ABL was significantly greater in TG animals by 28% and 53%, respectively. For TG rats, ABL was significantly different between the 3 age groups. For WT rats, ABL was not significantly different between 6 and 11 months. Western blotting revealed distinct TG serum reactivity against extracts of Bacteroides vulgatus, B. fragilis, Prevotella intermedia, and to a lesser extent against extracts of B. forsythus. CONCLUSION The accelerated ABL in HLA-B27 TG rats is an adult onset condition, independent of husbandry conditions or parity status. HLA-B27 rats exhibit strong immunoreactivity against bacteria implicated in arthritis, colitis, and periodontitis.
Sclerotia of the acellular (true) slime mould Fuligo septica as a model to study melanization and anabiosis

Acellular (true) slime moulds (Myxomycetes) are capable of a transition to the stage of sclerotium — a dormant form of plasmodium produced under unfavourable environmental conditions. In this study, sclerotia of Fuligo septica were analyzed by means of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The moulds were cultivated in vitro on filter paper, fed with oat flour, and kept until the plasmodia began to produce sclerotia. The obtained sclerotia differed in colour from yellow through orange to dark-brown. The EPR spectra revealed a free radical, melanin-like signal correlated with the depth of the colour; it was strongest in the dark sclerotia. Sclerotization only took place when the plasmodia were starved and very slowly dried. Only the yellow sclerotia were able to regenerate into viable plasmodia. This suggests that myxomycete cytoplasm dehydration is an active process regulated metabolically. Plasmodial sclerotization may therefore serve as a convenient model system to study the regulation of cytoplasmatic water balance, and sclerotia as a convenient material for EPR measurements, combining the quality of plasmodia with the technical simplicity of the measurements characteristic of dry spores. Darkening of the sclerotia is most probably a pathological phenomenon connected with the impairment of water balance during sclerotization.
Research on Productivity Efficiency of Scale-Farms in Favorable Pig-Producing Areas of China

Based on panel data of 2007—2010,this paper have analyzed the production efficiency of the favorable areas' scale-farms of pig in China,taking the method of combining multi-stage DEA and the Malmquist.The study found that total factor productivity of medium-scale pig farms have reduced because of the invalid technological change during the review periods.In addition to Jiangxi,Guangxi,Sichuan and Yunnan,there have been negative growths of total factor productivity in large-scale pig farms attributing to the invalid of technological change and technical efficiency change in other provinces(Urban).
Scan-phase antenna diversity for digital satellite radio (SDARS) in a single automotive side mirror

The reception of satellite digital audio radio services (SDARS) by vehicular receivers with a single antenna is usually only possible using a rooftop mounting position due to very strict specifications by the service provider. In cars where rooftop mounting is not an option alternative mounting positions have to be found. In most situations a single receiving antenna is not sufficient due to shadowing, attenuation, and strict size constraints leading to small ground planes in these positions. A single side mirror is used for mounting a diversity antenna set which is combined with a scan-phase diversity system in the work described in this paper. Signal recordings of such a scenario are analysed statistically and compared for test drive data of a shadowed and a non-shadowed antenna positioning due to the driving direction. Measurement results of the audio availability in real Rayleigh-fading scenarios show that the diversity system outperforms a single standard antenna on the rooftop of a car in this new configuration even though the car's shadowing of the antenna is considered.
Intra-Operative Cap Repositioning in Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE) for Enhanced Visual Recovery

ABSTRACT Purpose: To study the role of intra-operative cap repositioning in acute visual recovery after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE). Materials and methods: Ninety-four eyes of 47 patients underwent the SMILE procedure for correction of myopic refractive error. Manifest refraction and visual quality parameters (optical quality analysis system) were evaluated before surgery. The Bowman’s membrane was imaged using a handheld spectral domain optical coherence tomography device. All patients underwent an uneventful SMILE surgery by a single experienced surgeon. Intra-operative cap repositioning was done in the “right” eye of all patients (repositioned group) and the “left” eye of each patient served as controls (non-repositioned group). Visual acuity and optical quality were assessed 1 day and 1 week after surgery. Results: Bowman’s membrane microdistortions were found in 21.3% of eyes in the repositioned group and 59.57% of the eyes in the non-repositioned group (p = 0.003) on the first day after surgery. Comparison of optical quality parameters was carried out between eyes where repositioning was done and control eyes (with and without microdistortions). On the first day after surgery, the modulation transfer function (MTF) and Strehl’s ratio (SR) were significantly better in the repositioned group when compared with the controls (p = 0.002 and p = 0.003, respectively). Refractive error and lenticule thickness in eyes with microdistortions were similar (p > 0.05) between the two groups indicating other contributors to acute optical quality postoperatively. Conclusions: Although the refractive error before surgery determines the extent of microdistortions, intra-operative cap repositioning can reduce them, thereby expediting acute visual recovery after SMILE.
Noise evaluation of Compton camera imaging for proton therapy

Compton Cameras emerged as an alternative for real-time dose monitoring techniques for Particle Therapy (PT), based on the detection of prompt-gammas. As a consequence of the Compton scattering process, the gamma origin point can be restricted onto the surface of a cone (Compton cone). Through image reconstruction techniques, the distribution of the gamma emitters can be estimated, using cone-surfaces backprojections of the Compton cones through the image space, along with more sophisticated statistical methods to improve the image quality. To calculate the Compton cone required for image reconstruction, either two interactions, the last being photoelectric absorption, or three scatter interactions are needed. Because of the high energy of the photons in PT the first option might not be adequate, as the photon is not absorbed in general. However, the second option is less efficient. That is the reason to resort to spectral reconstructions, where the incoming γ energy is considered as a variable in the reconstruction inverse problem. Jointly with prompt gamma, secondary neutrons and scattered photons, not strongly correlated with the dose map, can also reach the imaging detector and produce false events. These events deteriorate the image quality. Also, high intensity beams can produce particle accumulation in the camera, which lead to an increase of random coincidences, meaning events which gather measurements from different incoming particles. The noise scenario is expected to be different if double or triple events are used, and consequently, the reconstructed images can be affected differently by spurious data. The aim of the present work is to study the effect of false events in the reconstructed image, evaluating their impact in the determination of the beam particle ranges. A simulation study that includes misidentified events (neutrons and random coincidences) in the final image of a Compton Telescope for PT monitoring is presented. The complete chain of detection, from the beam particle entering a phantom to the event classification, is simulated using FLUKA. The range determination is later estimated from the reconstructed image obtained from a two and three-event algorithm based on Maximum Likelihood Expectation Maximization. The neutron background and random coincidences due to a therapeutic-like time structure are analyzed for mono-energetic proton beams. The time structure of the beam is included in the simulations, which will affect the rate of particles entering the detector.
Treatment of port wine stains with photodynamic therapy, using pulsed dye laser as a Light Source, Compared With Pulsed dye laser alone: A pilot study

Laser‐induced photo thermal damage has been combined with photodynamic therapy (PDT) using a systemic photosensitiser to treat vascular lesions. The efficacy of PDT using systemic 5‐aminolaevulinic acid (5‐ALA) as the photosensitiser and pulsed dye laser (PDL) as the light source in port wine stains (PWS) is unknown.
k-means nearest neighbor classifier for voice pathology

The noninvasive acoustical analysis of normal and pathological voices help speech specialists to perform accurate diagnose of diseases. Pathological voices show higher vocal noise level due to malfunctioning of vocal cords. Addition of noise component in speech has found to change the spectral properties. In this study, we show the use of energy spectrum which is obtained from 21-channel filter-bank outputs, for the classification of pathological voices. A simple k-means nearest neighbor classifier based on spectral distance is designed and a good classification results have been reported.
Reconstitution of CPSF active in polyadenylation: recognition of the polyadenylation signal by WDR33

Cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor (CPSF) is the central component of the 3′ processing machinery for polyadenylated mRNAs in metazoans. Schönemann et al. determined that four polypeptides (CPSF160, CPSF30, hFip1, and WDR33) are necessary and sufficient to reconstitute a CPSF subcomplex active in AAUAAA-dependent polyadenylation. WDR33 is required for binding of reconstituted CPSF to AAUAAA-containing RNA and can be specifically UV cross-linked to such RNAs.
Scalable Image Retrieval with Optimal Configuration for P2P Network Database

A peer-to-peer content-based image retrieval system (P2P CBIR) is proposed in this paper. To co-operate with the highly regular P2P network and peer operations, the retrieval unit in one peer is designed to perform multi-instance image query with heterogeneous features and transmit relevant images to its source peer. The peer internal architecture is designed to perform the P2P image retrieval in a regular and scalable approach. The query peer can present the best retrieval results at any time, which is a compromise between the Time-To-Live (TTL) of the query message and the recall rate. Experiments show that the query efficiency (recall-rate/query-scope) of the scalable retrieval approach is better than previous methods, i.e., firework query model and bread first search. Furthermore, an optimal system configuration method is proposed to provide the highest recall rate for a certain number of on-line users. Simulations demonstrate that recall rates can be improved to 1.5 to 2.5 times larger while the retrieval processing time is reduced to 50% of the original, under the same number of on-line users.
PGC-1α protects skeletal muscle from atrophy by suppressing FoxO3 action and atrophy-specific gene transcription

Maintaining muscle size and fiber composition requires contractile activity. Increased activity stimulates expression of the transcriptional coactivator PGC-1α (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α), which promotes fiber-type switching from glycolytic toward more oxidative fibers. In response to disuse or denervation, but also in fasting and many systemic diseases, muscles undergo marked atrophy through a common set of transcriptional changes. FoxO family transcription factors play a critical role in this loss of cell protein, and when activated, FoxO3 causes expression of the atrophy-related ubiquitin ligases atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 and profound loss of muscle mass. To understand how exercise might retard muscle atrophy, we investigated the possible interplay between PGC-1α and the FoxO family in regulation of muscle size. Rodent muscles showed a large decrease in PGC-1α mRNA during atrophy induced by denervation as well as by cancer cachexia, diabetes, and renal failure. Furthermore, in transgenic mice overexpressing PGC-1α, denervation and fasting caused a much smaller decrease in muscle fiber diameter and a smaller induction of atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 than in control mice. Increased expression of PGC-1α also increased mRNA for several genes involved in energy metabolism whose expression decreases during atrophy. Transfection of PGC-1α into adult fibers reduced the capacity of FoxO3 to cause fiber atrophy and to bind to and transcribe from the atrogin-1 promoter. Thus, the high levels of PGC-1α in dark and exercising muscles can explain their resistance to atrophy, and the rapid fall in PGC-1α during atrophy should enhance the FoxO-dependent loss of muscle mass.
A Survey on the training quality for teacher on the basic education in China

A survey centered on the quality of teachers who have attended to the elementary and secondary school teacher training in China conducted by CIEFR(China Institute for Educational Finance Research)in 2010 shows that the training quality of the basic education in the present is not optimistic,some of the most prominent problems are as following: The analysis of demand investigation has been neglected,the content has little relevant with the teacher's professional development and the demand of teaching practice;The training method relys on the traditional "giving lecture,listening and evaluating the lesson" style,can't give full play to the participation of the trainees;The resource of the training is lack of optimization,and the trainer team is not professional;The supervision and the evaluation of the training mainly focuses on the response assessment and the learning outcome assessment,however,less concern the long-term impact on the improvement in trainee's behavior.
Towards Equality and Renewal: Women's Groups, Diversity and Democracy in

Discussion of union equality and democracy usually locates women’s group (WG) organizing as a special representative form within unions. This study focuses on the extent to which WGs themselves address the interests of diverse constituent groups. Data from a national survey of Trades Union Congress affiliates were used to map WGs across unions and analyse the attention they give to group diversity relative to gender in pursuit of equality and better interest representation. It emerged that most members belong to unions where WGs tackle diversity to some extent. Implications for WG and union renewal strategy, research and theory are examined.
A new sonar localization strategy using receiver beam characteristics

Sonar localization is addressed in this paper and solved for a system equipped with one emitter and two receivers with known directivity. The latter, along with the spectra of the received echoes, is used to estimate the orientation of the target with respect to the sonar system, while time of flight is measured to calculate the distance. In particular, the difference and the ratio of the right and left receivers' spectra are compared to those of the beam patterns of the two receivers. The orientation at which their values are equal is chosen as that of the target. Simulations are performed making use of the acoustic simulation of a bat's beam pattern to test the method. In noisy conditions, i. e. SNR = 50dB, most of the orientations are estimated with an error of 0°.
Use-dependent block of excitatory amino acid currents in cultured neurons by ketamine.

1. Mouse hippocampal neurons grown in dissociated cell culture were patch clamped using a whole cell voltage clamp (discontinuous switching clamp) technique. The currents generated by pressure applications of excitatory amino acids were studied over a wide range of holding potentials, and current-voltage curves were plotted. Excitatory amino acids that activated the N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor demonstrated some degree of desensitization with repeated applications, whereas the currents observed in response to kainic acid (KAI) did not. Desensitization could be minimized by keeping the frequency of application sufficiently low (i.e., less than 0.1 Hz). 2. The short-acting dissociative anaesthetic, ketamine (2-50 microM), selectively blocked L-aspartic acid (L-Asp), NMDA, and L-glutamic acid (L-Glu) currents while sparing those in response to KAI. Therefore, ketamine is a relatively selective blocker of the NMDA response versus that (those) activated by KAI. 3. The block by ketamine of excitatory amino acid currents is highly voltage dependent. Concentrations of ketamine that had little effect on outward current responses at depolarized potentials were quite effective at blocking inward current responses at hyperpolarized potentials. In contrast, DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV) was equally effective at blocking both inward and outward currents (voltage independent). The voltage dependence of ketamine (a positively charged molecule) could be accounted for if ketamine blocked the NMDA response by binding to a site that experienced 55% of the membrane field. 4. In the presence of ketamine, peak inward currents evoked by repeated applications of NMDA, L-Asp, or L-Glu progressively declined to a steady-state level of block (use-dependent block). This decrement occurred at frequencies much lower than those that were employed to demonstrate desensitization (in the absence of ketamine). Moving the membrane potential to depolarized values did not, in itself, relieve the ketamine block. However, if the appropriate excitatory amino acid (L-Asp, NMDA, L-Glu) was applied during the period of depolarization, a relief of the block could be demonstrated. No recovery from the blockade occurred with periods of rest (no amino acid application) as long as 5 min. Furthermore, no recovery was observed even when ketamine was washed out of the bathing solution until the appropriate agonist was applied. Thus recovery from blockade, like development of blockade, was use dependent. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Temperate rain forest species partition fine-scale gradients in light availability based on their leaf mass per area (LMA).

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Ecologists are increasingly using plant functional traits to predict community assembly, but few studies have linked functional traits to species' responses to fine-scale resource gradients. In this study, it was tested whether saplings of woody species partition fine-scale gradients in light availability based on their leaf mass per area (LMA) in three temperate rain forests and one Mediterranean forest in southern Chile. METHODS LMA was measured under field conditions of all woody species contained in approx. 60 plots of 2 m2 in each site, and light availability, computed as the gap light index (GLI), was determined. For each site, species' pairwise differences in mean LMA (Δ LMA) and abundance-weighted mean GLI (Δ light response) of 2 m2 plots were calculated and it was tested whether they were positively related using Mantel tests, i.e. if species with different LMA values differed in their response to light availability. Additionally linear models were fitted to the relationship between plot-level mean LMA and GLI across plots for each site. KEY RESULTS A positive and significant relationship was found between species' pairwise differences in mean LMA and differences in light response across species for all temperate rain forests, but not for the Mediterranean forest. The results also indicated a significant positive interspecific link between LMA and light availability for all forests. This is in contrast to what is traditionally reported and to expectations from the leaf economics spectrum. CONCLUSIONS In environments subjected to light limitation, interspecific differences in a leaf trait (LMA) can explain the fine-scale partitioning of light availability gradients by woody plant species. This niche partitioning potentially facilitates species coexistence at the within-community level. The high frequency of evergreen shade-intolerant species in these forests may explain the positive correlation between light availability and LMA.
Frequency-Domain ILC Approach for Repeating and Varying Tasks: With Application to Semiconductor Bonding Equipment

Iterative learning control (ILC) enables high performance for exactly repeating tasks in motion systems. Besides such tasks, many motion systems also exhibit varying tasks. In such cases, ILC algorithms are known to deteriorate performance. An example is given by bonding equipment in semiconductor assembly processes, which contains motion axes with tasks that can vary slightly. The aim of this paper is to develop an ILC approach that obtains high machine performance for possibly varying tasks, while enabling straightforward and effective industrial design rules. In particular, a frequency-domain-based design of ILC filters is pursued, which is combined with basis functions to cope with variations in tasks. Application to a high-speed axis of an industrial wire bonder shows that high servo performance is obtained for both repeating and varying tasks.
Paediatric pseudoxanthoma elasticum with cardiovascular involvement

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is characterized by aberrant mineralization of connective tissues, causing considerable morbidity and mortality. The disease is typically of late onset, the skin manifestations first being noted in the teens or later. Another aberrant mineralization disorder, generalized arterial calcification of infancy (GACI), is present at birth and can demonstrate a phenotypic overlap with PXE.