Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TGF-β and RPE-Derived Cells in Taut Subretinal Strands from Patients with Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy

Purpose TO investigate the distribution of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and cells derived from the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) as a major source for TGF-β in subretinal strands (SRSs), originating from patients with proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) and proliferative diabetic vitreoretinopathy (PDVR). Methods Nine SRSs (PVR: n = 6 and PDVR: n = 3) were obtained during pars plana vitrectomy. Specimens were processed for immunohistochemical analysis in paraffin wax or studied by transmission electron microscopy. Results Staining for TGF-β was consistent in all specimens. The content of RPE-derived cells identified by anticytokeratin staining revealed considerable differences, ranging from <10 to >90%. Conclusions The widespread immunoreactivity for TGF-β in SRSs suggests a significant role of this group of cytokines in the pathologic course of PVR.
Presidentialism, Electoral Identifiability, and Budget Balances in Democratic Systems

This paper examines the impact of the form of government—presidential or parliamentary—on fiscal outcomes in democratic systems. Based on data for democracies in 98 countries between 1970 and 2002, it shows that the gross domestic product ratio of the central government budget balance is higher in presidential than in parliamentary democracies. It also shows that this impact is not due to the fact that presidential systems are not subject to the “costs of coalition” that allegedly afflict parliamentary democracies: the coalition and status of the government are of no consequence for budget balances in either presidential or parliamentary systems. Presidential systems matter for budget balances because they generate relatively high incentives for governments to keep budgets under control. They do so because in presidential systems, unlike in parliamentary systems, voters are by design able to identify and punish those responsible for economic policies. Presidents, however, vary in their capacity to affect budget policies. This paper demonstrates that presidential systems in which presidents are constitutionally able to dominate the budget process or to effectively veto legislation tend to have higher budget balances than those in which the budget process is dominated by the legislature or the president is unable to exercise existing veto powers.
The expression of feelings.

There is a ubiquitous and seldom critically examined belief that discharge of affect has therapeutic value. Its history and a review of pertinent experimental literature are presented. Questionable generalizations and methodologic problems involving the internal state, the method, and recipient of the affect discharge, and associated phenomena are discussed. A recognition of these complexities is needed for adequate investigation and more precise application of this concept.
Evidence for Chain Molecules Enriched in Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen in Comet Halley

In situ measurements of the composition and spatial distribution of heavy thermal positive ions in the coma of comet Halley were made with the heavy-ion analyzer RPA2-PICCA aboard the Giotto spacecraft. Above 50 atomic mass units an ordered series of mass peaks centered at 61, 75, 91, and 105 atomic mass units were observed. Each peak appears to be composed of three or more closely spaced masses. The abundances decrease and the dissociation rates increase smoothly with increasing mass. These observations suggest the presence of chain molecules that are enriched in carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, such as polyoxymethylene (polymerized formaldehyde), in comet Halley.
Solving Sparse Least Squares Problems with Preconditioned Cgls Method on Parallel Distributed Memory Computers

Abstract In this paper we study the parallel aspects of PCGLS, a basic iterative method based on the conjugate gradient method with preconditioner applied to normal equations and Incomplete Modified Gram-Schmidt (IMGS) preconditioner, for solving sparse least squares problems on massively parallel distributed memory computers. The performance of these methods on this kind of architecture is usually limited because of the global communication required for the inner products. We will describe the parallelization of PCGLS and IMGS preconditioner by two ways of improvement. One is to accumulate the results of a number of inner products collectively and the other is to create situations where communication can be overlapped with computation. A theoretical model of computation and communication phases is presented which allows us to determine the optimal number of processors that minimizes the runtime. Several numerical experiments on the Parsytec GC/PowerPlus are presented.
Lung cancer inhibitory activity of dietary berries and berry polyphenolics

BACKGROUND: Blueberry (BB) and black raspberry (BRB) have been shown to be chemopreventive against estrogenmediated breast cancer in pre-clinical studies. However, therapeutic efficacy of these berries against lung cancer is not known. METHODS: In this study we investigated i) relative efficacy of individual anthocyanidins vs. respective anthocyanins, ii) relative antiproliferative activity of mixture of anthocyanidins compared to individual anthocyanidins, iii) antitumor activity of dietary BB, iv) Tumor inhibitory activity of diet supplemented with BB, alone and in combination with BRB, against lung tumor xenograft using nude mice, and finally, v) the efficacy of select polyphenolics present in BB and BRB against lung tumor xenograft. RESULTS: Our findings indicated that individual anthocyanidins (aglycones) were significantly more potent (2-3 fold lower IC50) in inhibiting the non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell growth vs. respective anthocyanins (glycones). Further, anthocyanidins mixture at equimolar concentrations exhibited synergistic antiproliferative activity vs. individual anthocyanidins. When tested against NSCLC (A549 and H1299) cells in nude mice, dietary BB (7.5%, w/w) showed >40% reduction in tumor volume against H1299 xenografts. The maximal growth inhibition occurred with 5% BB dose, with no additional protection occurring at a higher dose (7.5%). However, somewhat lower protection was found when the BB diet initiated prior to tumor cell inoculation. The mixture of BB (5%, w/w) and BRB (2.5%) resulted in higher inhibition of tumor growth vs. BB alone (71% vs 42%). Likewise, a combination of delphinidin (bioactive of BB) and punicalagins (a bioactive of BRB, which gets converted to ellagic acid in vivo) showed higher tumor growth inhibition compared to delphinidin. CONCLUSIONS: The therapeutic effects of the berries and berry polyphenolics observed against lung cancer in this study are highly encouraging. Further investigation into the mechanism of action of the combinations of the berry bioactives will be valuable for clinical use of this potent natural product against lung cancer.
Disinhibition of rat hippocampal pyramidal cells by GABAergic afferents from the septum.

1. Slices were prepared from rat forebrain to include both the septum and the hippocampus in order to examine the effects of septal stimulation on hippocampal inhibitory circuits. 2. Repetitive stimulation of septo‐hippocampal fibres caused a maintained decrease in the frequency of spontaneous IPSPs recorded from CA3 pyramidal cells in the presence of antagonists of excitatory amino acid receptors and of muscarine receptors. 3. In records made from pyramidal cells with CsCl‐filled electrodes, IPSPs were examined at potentials both more positive and more negative than their reversal potential. Single septal stimuli hyperpolarized pyramidal cells when IPSPs were depolarizing events and depolarized them when IPSPs were hyperpolarizing. The GABAA receptor antagonist picrotoxin abolished the effects of septal stimulation. 4. Activation of septal afferents initiated an IPSP in hippocampal inhibitory cells but not in pyramidal cells. Septal IPSPs had similar kinetics to those initiated by local hippocampal stimulation and could suppress inhibitory cell discharge. 5. In pyramidal cells recorded with potassium acetate‐filled electrodes, septal stimuli initiated a depolarization that increased with the driving force for Cl‐ and that could cause firing. 6. Rhythmic stimulation of septo‐hippocampal fibres at 5 Hz initiated, in the hippocampus, a maintained out‐of‐phase oscillation of pyramidal cell discharge and inhibitory cell firing, as detected by the occurrence of spontaneous IPSPs. 7. These results suggest that GABAergic septo‐hippocampal afferents selectively inhibit hippocampal inhibitory cells and so disinhibit pyramidal cells. This disinhibition could contribute to the transmission of the theta rhythm from the septum to the hippocampus.
Inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis by an immunoneutralizing monoclonal antibody to human vascular endothelial growth factor/vascular permeability factor121.

We elucidated the relationship between vascular endothelial growth factor/vascular permeability factor (VEGF/VPF), which is a potent angiogenic factor, and the growth of primary and metastatic tumors using an immunoneutralizing monoclonal antibody against human VEGF/VPF121. The monoclonal antibody, MV303, suppressed the growth of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) induced by VEGF/VPF121 or VEGF/VPF165 but did not inhibit its growth induced by basic fibroblast growth factor. MV303 inhibited the binding of 125I-VEGF/VPF121 to HUVEC. We examined the effects of MV303 on tumor angiogenesis using a membrane chamber packed with the human fibrosarcoma cell line HT-1080 and implanted s.c. into BALB/c mice. The neovascularization induced by HT-1080 was inhibited by the i.v. injection of MV303 at a dose of 100 micrograms/mouse. Furthermore, the growth of solid tumors of s.c. implanted HT-1080 in BALB/c nude mice was almost completely inhibited by the i.v. and s.c. administration of MV303 ten times from day 1 at a dose of 100 micrograms/mouse (T/C values of tumor volume at day 18 were 0.20 and 0.18, respectively). Tumor growth was suppressed when MV303 was administered, even from eight days after tumor inoculation. MV303 suppressed the increase in lung weight caused by experimental metastasis with i.v. inoculation of cultured HT-1080 cells to BALB/c nude mice. The life spans of the mice treated with MV303 were significantly prolonged. These results indicated that VEGF/VPF played an important role in both primary and metastatic tumor growth as a tumor angiogenesis factor. MV303, an immunoneutralizing monoclonal antibody against VEGF/VPF, potently inhibited both primary and metastatic tumor growth with no marked side effects.
Peripheral nerve adjustment for postherpetic neuralgia: a randomized, controlled clinical study.

OBJECTIVE To observe the therapeutic effect of peripheral nerve adjustment for the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). METHODS One hundred and two patients with PHN were randomly assigned to three groups; the control group (A), the experimental group (B), which was subjected to peripheral nerve adjustment, and patients who received a sham peripheral nerve adjustment, thus serving as a positive control group (C). The patients' Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and total oral rescue dosage for pain management were recorded at days 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 following treatment. Quality of life (QOL), 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), and side effects were recorded following treatment. RESULTS We observed that the average VAS score was significantly lower in the treatment group (B) than in the control groups A and C following treatment (P < 0.05). In addition, the QOL and SF-36 scores for group B improved substantially following treatment compared to groups A and C, and this effect was maintained up to 180 days after treatment (P < 0.05). The average dosage of pain medication was also lower in group B, compared to groups A and C, following treatment (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS We conclude that peripheral nerve adjustment can relieve PHN pain and improve patients' quality of life. The possible mechanisms involved may include the reduction of both peripheral and central sensitization, the modulation of nerve plasticity, and an increase in endogenous analgesic molecules.
« C'était comme se séparer de soi-même »

A partir des resultats d’une recherche-formation, la contribution vise a analyser la pluralite des representations d’un genre minoritaire de separation : l’incertain. Concu comme une rupture relationnelle entre le sujet et les routines du quotidien, l’incertain implique un processus de reconfiguration du sens et de l’identite. Ce processus peut amener la personne a se concevoir comme ex de soi-meme. Dans cette direction, la contribution s’adosse a une posture epistemologique et methodologique de type comprehensive-transactionnelle pour explorer les transactions identitaires de jeunes etudiantes face a l’incertain. Quatre formes de separation et quatre figures d’ex-soi-meme sont envisagees afin de souligner la diversite des postures actionnelles assumees pendant des situations d’incertitude.
Mysterious Mystacina: how the New Zealand short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) locates insect prey

SUMMARY The New Zealand short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata evolved in the absence of terrestrial mammals and initially with few potential predators. Unusual among bats, it is well adapted for the capture of prey on the ground. Bats from Fiordland, New Zealand had relatively low wing loadings and aspect ratios adapted for flight in cluttered habitats. We predicted that M. tuberculata would locate prey in air (uncluttered space) by echolocation. Echolocation call sequences associated with prey capture (terminal buzzes) were heard in the field, and bats detected and localized prey suspended on fishing line by echolocation in a flight cage. The bats emitted brief, multiharmonic echolocation calls at low duty cycle during search phase, and 64% of calls contained most energy in the fundamental harmonic. Approach- and terminal-phase calls were also broadband and multiharmonic. We predicted that bats would not use echolocation to locate prey hidden on the ground in leaf litter (cluttered space). Bats seemed unable to locate hidden prey precisely from the air and instead hunted for such prey while crawling. Echolocation calls were emitted at a low repetition rate on the ground, suggesting that here echolocation was used for orientation and not for prey detection. We experimentally removed cues available to the bats and showed that bats located mealworms in leaf litter by listening for prey-generated noises and possibly by olfaction.
Behavioural approach for a bipedal robot stepping motion gait

This paper deals with the decision mechanism analysis and the design of bipedal trajectories, for the stepping motion. For that we have used biomechanical model of the human body and dynamic control scheme previously developed by Gorce. We based our study on an experimental protocol, in order to determine behavioural laws for the task execution. We have developed a biped trajectory generation process, taking into account the biped height and the obstacle dimensions. Furthermore, we characterize the stepping motion feasibility by introducing a security notion, and we define an “Admissible control Domain”, which relies on the relative position of the biped to the obstacle and the obstacle dimensions. This domain definition has led us to define the biped behavioural strategies facing an obstacle: the biped executes the task at an accurate “chosen distance”, or stops or takes another way. Experimentations have allowed to validate simulations results.
DataGraft Beta v2: New Features and Capabilities

In this demonstrator, we will introduce the latest features and capabilities added to DataGraft – a Data-as-a-Service platform for data preparation and knowledge graph generation. DataGraft provides data transformation, publishing and hosting capabilities that aim to simplify the data publishing lifecycle for data workers (i.e., Open Data publishers, Linked Data developers, data scientists). This demonstrator highlights the recent features added to DataGraft by exemplifying data publication of statistical data – going from the raw data published at a public portal to published and accessible Linked Data with the help of the tools and features of the platform.
Nucleic Acid Chaperone Activity of the ORF1 Protein from the Mouse LINE-1 Retrotransposon

ABSTRACT Non-LTR retrotransposons such as L1 elements are major components of the mammalian genome, but their mechanism of replication is incompletely understood. Like retroviruses and LTR-containing retrotransposons, non-LTR retrotransposons replicate by reverse transcription of an RNA intermediate. The details of cDNA priming and integration, however, differ between these two classes. In retroviruses, the nucleocapsid (NC) protein has been shown to assist reverse transcription by acting as a “nucleic acid chaperone,” promoting the formation of the most stable duplexes between nucleic acid molecules. A protein-coding region with an NC-like sequence is present in most non-LTR retrotransposons, but no such sequence is evident in mammalian L1 elements or other members of its class. Here we investigated the ORF1 protein from mouse L1 and found that it does in fact display nucleic acid chaperone activities in vitro. L1 ORF1p (i) promoted annealing of complementary DNA strands, (ii) facilitated strand exchange to form the most stable hybrids in competitive displacement assays, and (iii) facilitated melting of an imperfect duplex but stabilized perfect duplexes. These findings suggest a role for L1 ORF1p in mediating nucleic acid strand transfer steps during L1 reverse transcription.
Measles in developing countries. Part II. The predicted impact of mass vaccination

Summary A mathematical model is developed to mimic the transmission dynamics of the measles virus in communities in the developing world with high population growth rates and high case fatality rates. The model is used to compare the impacts of different mass vaccination programmes upon morbidity and mortality arising from infection by measles virus. Analyses identify three conclusions of practical significance to the design of optimal vaccination programmes. First, there is no single optimum age at which to vaccinate children for all urban and rural communities in developing countries. For a given community the best age at which to vaccinate depends critically on the age distribution of cases of infection prior to the introduction of control measures. Second, numerical studies predict that the introduction of mass vaccination will induce a temporary phase of very low incidence of infection before the system settles to a new pattern of recurrent epidemics. Mass vaccination acts to lengthen the inter-epidemic period in the postvaccination period when compared with that prevailing prior to control. Third, numerical simulations suggest that two-phase and two-stage vaccination programmes are of less benefit than one-stage programmes (achieving comparable coverage) aimed at young children. The paper ends with a discussion of the needs for: improved programmes of data collection; monitoring of the impact of current vaccination programmes; and the development of models that take account of viral transmission dynamics, host demography and economic factors.
Flying the Unfriendly Skies?: The Role of Forgiveness and Race in the Experience of Racial Microaggressions

ABSTRACT Because even subtle forms of racial discrimination can damage well-being, identifying individual differences that shape this stress process is important. Dispositional forgiveness has been shown to influence how people perceive and react to interpersonal transgressions, yet its role in the context of racial discrimination has not received much research attention. In the current study, participants completed an initial measure of dispositional forgiveness and then considered a scenario that could be deemed racially discriminatory. Next, participants' perceptions of the scenario, negative affect, and cognitive performance were assessed. Dispositional forgiveness predicted all three outcomes such that more forgiving individuals were less likely to view the event as racially discriminatory and showed lower negative affect and greater cognitive performance after reading the scenario. Moreover, race moderated these relationships such that forgiveness played a more beneficial role for ethnic minorities than for whites.
Tumor targeting using magnetic nanoparticle Hsp70 conjugate in a model of C6 glioma.

BACKGROUND Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), due to their unique magnetic properties, have the ability to function both as magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agents, and can be used for thermotherapy. SPIONs conjugated to the heat shock protein Hsp70 that selectively binds to the CD40 receptor present on glioma cells, could be used for MR contrast enhancement of experimental C6 glioma. METHODS The magnetic properties of the Hsp70-SPIONs were measured by NMR relaxometry method. The uptake of nanoparticles was assessed on the C6 glioma cells by confocal and electron microscopes. The tumor selectivity of Hsp70-SPIONs being intravenously administered was analyzed in the experimental model of C6 glioma in the MRI scanner. RESULTS Hsp70-SPIONs relaxivity corresponded to the properties of negative contrast agents with a hypointensive change of resonance signal in MR imaging. A significant accumulation of the Hsp70-SPIONs but not the non-conjugated nanoparticles was observed by confocal microscopy within C6 cells. Negative contrast tumor enhancement in the T2-weighted MR images was higher in the case of Hsp70-SPIONs in comparison to non-modified SPIONs. Histological analysis of the brain sections confirmed the retention of the Hsp70-SPIONs in the glioma tumor but not in the adjacent normal brain tissues. CONCLUSION The study demonstrated that Hsp70-SPION conjugate intravenously administered in C6 glioma model accumulated in the tumors and enhanced the contrast of their MR images.
Active Semi-supervised Learning Using Optimum-Path Forest

The development of effective and efficient ways of handling real-world applications is becoming increasingly widespread, yet it still faces a number of practical challenges. First and foremost, we have the limited availability of labeled data in contrast to an unbounded number of unlabeled ones. Despite some efforts in active semi-supervised learning, their success depends on an approach suitable to be applied to real massive data. In this paper, we introduce a novel integration of semi-supervised learning and a priori-reduction and organization criteria for active learning based on Optimum-Path Forest classifiers. Encouraging results on both public and real data show the synergy of these strategies jointly. Our approach iteratively generates semi-supervised classifiers that attain high accuracy by selecting the most representative labeled set, while decreasing the propagated errors on the unlabeled set. In addition, it is able to identify samples from all classes quickly while keeping user interaction to a minimum throughout the learning iterations.