Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanisms underpinning climatic impacts on natural populations: altered species interactions are more important than direct effects

Shifts in species' distribution and abundance in response to climate change have been well documented, but the underpinning processes are still poorly understood. We present the results of a systematic literature review and meta‐analysis investigating the frequency and importance of different mechanisms by which climate has impacted natural populations. Most studies were from temperate latitudes of North America and Europe; almost half investigated bird populations. We found significantly greater support for indirect, biotic mechanisms than direct, abiotic mechanisms as mediators of the impact of climate on populations. In addition, biotic effects tended to have greater support than abiotic factors in studies of species from higher trophic levels. For primary consumers, the impact of climate was equally mediated by biotic and abiotic mechanisms, whereas for higher level consumers the mechanisms were most frequently biotic, such as predation or food availability. Biotic mechanisms were more frequently supported in studies that reported a directional trend in climate than in studies with no such climatic change, although sample sizes for this comparison were small. We call for more mechanistic studies of climate change impacts on populations, particularly in tropical systems.
Determinants of plasma HDL-cholesterol in hypertriglyceridemic patients. Role of cholesterol-ester transfer protein and lecithin cholesteryl acyl transferase.

Hypertriglyceridemic patients commonly have low levels of HDL cholesterol. Elevated triglycerides per se may be one cause of low HDL levels, but other factors also may be involved. The current study was designed to define the role of cholesterol-ester transfer protein (CETP) in causation of a low HDL cholesterol in hypertriglyceridemic patients; in addition other factors-lecithin cholesterol acyl transferase (LCAT), hepatic triglyceride lipase (HTGL), and lipoprotein lipase (LPL)-were examined. Plasma activities of CETP and LCAT were measured in 137 male patients with moderate hypertriglyceridemia (plasma triglycerides [TGs] 200 to 500 mg/dL and LDL cholesterol < 160 mg/dL). Results were compared with those from 50 normolipidemic men of similar age and body habitus. In addition, lipase activities in postheparin plasma were measured in 118 of the subjects with hypertriglyceridemia. The activities of CETP and LCAT were 17% (P < .01) and 7% (P < .05), respectively, higher in the hypertriglyceridemic group than in control subjects. By stepwise regression analysis CETP appeared to contribute 15.2% and LCAT 9.8% to variation in HDL-cholesterol levels. Activities of LPL and HTGL together contributed an additional 14.1% to HDL-cholesterol variation. In contrast, levels of plasma TG accounted for only 5.4% of the variation. There were no differences in relative contributions of these parameters in patients with and those without coronary heart disease. This study indicates that several factors contribute to the variation in HDL-cholesterol levels in hypertriglyceridemic patients, and five factors-CETP, LCAT, HTGL, LPL, and triglyceride levels-account for almost half of this variation.
Importance of All Movement Behaviors in a 24 Hour Period for Overall Health

Physical inactivity and childhood obesity are well-recognized public health concerns that are associated with a range of adverse health outcomes. Historically, the benefits of physical activity (e.g., moderate-to-vigorous physical activity—MVPA) to overall health have dominated discussions and emerging evidence indicates that a broader, more integrated approach is needed to better understand and address current public health crises. Existing guidelines for children and youth around the world only focus on MVPA, and recently sedentary behavior, despite an accumulating body of evidence showing that light-intensity physical activity (LPA) such as walking can provide important health benefits. Furthermore, there is accumulating support for the importance of adequate sleep and that these behaviors moderate the health impact of each other. Ignoring the other components of the movement continuum (i.e., sleep, sedentary time, LPA) while focusing efforts exclusively on MVPA (accounting for <5% of the time in a 24 h period) limits the potential to optimize the health benefits of movement behaviors. In order to address this limitation, experts in Canada are currently developing the world’s first Integrated 24 Hour Movement Behaviour Guidelines for Children and Youth to help advance an integrated healthy active living agenda that has the potential to significantly improve the overall health and well-being of children and youth.
Modified Scan Flip-Flop for Low Power Testing

Scanning of test vectors during testing causes unnecessary and excessive switching in the combinational circuit compared to that in the normal operation. In this paper, we propose a modified design of a scan flip-flop which eliminates the power consumed due to unnecessary switching in the combinational circuit during scan shift, with a little impact on performance. The new scan flip-flop disables the slave latch during scan, and uses an alternate low cost dynamic latch in the scan path instead. Methods for generating slave latch disable control signal are also presented.
Notice of RetractionStudy on safety system for road transportation of dangerous chemicals

In order to ensure the safety of road transportation of dangerous chemicals, study model for safety system of road transportation of dangerous chemicals is established from the perspective of accident prevention, safety guarantee, safety assessment and accident rescue, a comprehensive and effective safety system of road transportation of dangerous chemicals is built up, which is composed of four parts, safety assurance system, safety check system, safety assessment system and emergency rescue system, each part is self-links. This laid a theoretical foundation for safety guarantee, accident prevention and accident rescue for road transportation of dangerous chemicals, but also provides a theoretical basis for safety management for road transportation of dangerous chemicals.
Imaging second messenger dynamics in developing neural circuits

A characteristic feature of developing neural circuits is that they are spontaneously active. There are several examples, including the retina, spinal cord, and hippocampus, where spontaneous activity is highly correlated among neighboring cells, with large depolarizing events occurring with a periodicity on the order of minutes. One likely mechanism by which neurons can “decode” these slow oscillations is through activation of second messenger cascades that either influence transcriptional activity or drive posttranslational modifications. Here, we describe recent experiments where imaging has been used to characterize slow oscillations in the cAMP/PKA second messenger cascade in retinal neurons. We review the latest techniques in imaging this specific second messenger cascade, its intimate relationship with changes in intracellular calcium concentration, and several hypotheses regarding its role in neurodevelopment. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol, 2008
Amygdala, Long-term Potentiation, and Fear Conditioning

Fear conditioning, during which emotional significance is attached to an initially biologically insignificant conditioned stimulus, when such neutral stimulus is paired with an aversive unconditioned stimulus, provides an experimental paradigm that is most commonly used to study fear learning. The amygdala, a sub-cortical nuclear group, is a brain structure critically important for fear conditioning. Recent studies indicate that both fear conditioning-induced neuronal plasticity and LTP at the amygdala synapses share common mechanisms of induction and expression. These findings provide the most direct evidence yet available that the mechanisms of LTP are recruited in the experimental animals during behavioral training and that such mechanisms might be utilized for memory storage.
Sicherheitsaspekte in rechnergesteuerten Kommunikationssystemen / Security aspects in computer controlled communication systems

Mit der Einführung von rechnergestützten Kommunikationsund Informationssystemen ergeben sich neuartige Probleme bezüglich der Sicherheit. Die verschiedenen Sicherheitsaspekte in automatischen Systemen werden erläutert. Symmetrische und unsymmetrische Verschlüsselungssysteme und ihre Anwendung in rechnergestützten Systemen werden beschrieben. Darüber hinaus werden aber auch die anderen Sicherheitsaspekte, wie Authentizität, Vertragssicherheit, Gruppenzugriff und Identifikation der Person durch das System, diskutiert.
Chorale Synthesis by the Multidimensional Scaling of Pitches

This paper outlines a unique algorithmic model of chorale synthesis based on mathematics, speci cally on algebra and geometry. There were four distinct stages in its development, 1. algebraic formulae (1978) for the quanti cation of the harmonicity of pitch intervals and of the rhythmic relevance or indispensability of the pulses in a multiplicative meter, 2. the computer program package Autobusk (1986) using the harmonicity formula for the interpretation of a pitch set or musical scale as a ratio matrix, 3. multidimensionally scaling (2001) a scale ratio matrix into a Cartesian chart of two or more dimensions and 4. chorale synthesis (2012) by rules based on the multidimensional scaling of pitch sets and on the pulse indispensability formula. These four stages will each be outlined in a separate section.
Amplification of c‐ras‐ki oncogene in human ovarian tumours

Amplification of the c‐ras‐Ki oncogene has been the most consistent finding reported in studies on oncogene activation in ovarian cancer, but for the most part the studies have been small and the results conflicting. In order to determine whether amplification occurred de novo in primary tumours or was associated with tumour progression and metastasis, 81 tumour samples from different sites in 26 patients with ovarian tumours and 7 xenografted ovarian tumour cell lines were assayed. Amplification of c‐ras‐Ki occurred infrequently and was apparent in a single metastatic site in a patient with poorly differentiated serous cystadenocarcinoma of the ovary. Ten‐fold amplification of the c‐ras‐Ki oncogene was also evident in a benign ovarian fibroma. Amplification of the c‐ras‐Ki oncogene is rare in ovarian tumours and does not appear to play a fundamental role in tumour development or progression.
Colon Cleansing

Intestinal inflammation and leaky gut syndrome can be at the root of many health problems. Colon cleansing is a popular therapy among alternative practitioners, but many myths surround it. The scientifically inaccurate way many traditional healers try to explain therapeutic mechanisms is one of the obstacles that inhibits dialog between traditional healers and practitioners of modern medicine. The therapy actually has clinical value, but the explanations used to promote the therapies are the stuff of herbal legends, not scientific fact. The concept of cleansing is actually a metaphorical explanation for a therapy that improves detoxification via the liver and gastrointestinal tract and reduces inflammation or irritation to mucous membranes of the GI tract.
Explanations of AD in Ethnic Minority Participants Undergoing Cognitive Screening

The purpose of this study was to describe and compare explanations of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) of African American, Afro-Caribbean, and European American older adults undergoing cognitive screening. Participants were asked a series of open-ended questions regarding what they knew about AD and if they were experiencing memory problems. Responses were coded and quantized for analysis. Forty percent reported experiencing memory problems. Afro-Caribbeans made significantly more incorrect statements about AD and were less likely to identify memory loss as a symptom. Half the participants said they would seek their physician’s advice if the screening was positive; none mentioned a memory disorder center. Misconceptions about AD included the effect of aluminum, brain collapse, relaxed brain, shaking, tremors, and physical illness. More Afro-Caribbeans, all of whom were first generation, had misconceptions about AD. Campaigns to educate the public about AD need to provide culturally sensitive and appropriate information to ethnic minority populations.
Age and sex discriminations in five- and six-month-old infants.

Summary Two experiments investigated the ability of five- and six-month-old Guatemalan infants to discriminate human faces visually and to associate faces and voices differing in age and sex. The 32 infants in Experiment I discriminated between photographs of a man, a woman, and a seven-year-old boy. They did not, however, discriminate between photographs of two men, two women, or of two seven-year-old boys. The 24 infants in Experiment II were presented three different pairs of photographs of faces. One pair consisted of a man and a woman, another of a woman and a child, and the third of a man and a child. Voices appropriate to each pair of photographs accompanied the presentation of the visual stimulus. Looking at the woman and child seemed to be influenced by the presentation of a woman's voice and a boy's voice. Appropriate voices did not alter looking behavior with regard to the woman and man or the man and child.
Sex Preferences in Jeju Pony Foals (Equus caballus) for Mutual Grooming and Play-Fighting Behaviors

Abstract We investigated mutual grooming by Jeju pony (Equus caballus) foals to determine whether male foals preferentially interact with potential future sexual partners or competitors. We predicted that relative to female foals, male foals would exchange grooming more frequently with young mares and that in general, foals would mutually groom more frequently with the opposite sex rather than the same sex. Observing 53 foals between April and October 1998, we recorded 113 mutual grooming events. Male foals exchanged grooming with yearling mares more frequently than with their mother, while female foals exchanged grooming with their mother more frequently than with yearling mares. Contrary to the prediction, foals were not more likely to mutually groom with a foal of the opposite sex than with a foal of the same sex. In our study, 21 instances of play-fighting behavior followed mutual grooming between peers. Relative to intersexual grooming events, play-fighting was more likely to follow intrasexual mutual grooming, and male foals were much more likely to play fight than female foals. These results provide evidence that Jeju pony foals develop and maintain social relationships at the earliest stage of their lives. We suggest that early social experiences might influence social bonding later when the male foal begins to form a harem after separation from its mother.
A Spreadsheet Tool for Creating Web Applications Using Online Data

We present a tool called Gneiss that extends the familiar spreadsheet model to support creating data-drive web applications that use data from the Internet. Gneiss allows the user to extract data from arbitrary REST web services to a spreadsheet and send spreadsheet data to web services dynamically without writing conventional code. It provides new spreadsheet functions and interface elements to support using and manipulating structured data and streaming data. Moreover, Gneiss allows users to create not only visualizations but also full-fledged interactive web applications that can present and modify the spreadsheet data.
Substitution therapy for alcoholism: time for a reappraisal?

A number of compounds already in use as medications for various indications substitute for ethanol at clinically relevant brain pathways, in particular, at gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors. Nevertheless, although substitute medications have been recognized for heroin and tobacco dependence, patients with alcohol dependence are rarely offered an analogous approach. Benzodiazepines may have paradoxical effects, and abuse and dependence are known. Baclofen (GABAB agonist) has not been associated with dependence or misuse and has been effective in several trials in preventing relapse, although research is required to establish the optimal dosing regimen. GABA-ergic anticonvulsants, helpful in treating withdrawal, have yet to emerge as effective in relapse prevention. Clomethiazole and sodium oxybate, the latter having been shown to be effective in relapse prevention, have incurred a reputation for dependence and abuse. However, data have emerged showing that the risk of abuse of sodium oxybate is lower than many clinicians had foreseen. For a condition where existing therapies are only effective in a proportion of patients, and which has high morbidity and mortality, the time now seems right for reappraising the use of substitute prescribing for alcohol dependence.
Age dependency of central and peripheral systolic blood pressures: Cross-sectional and longitudinal observations in European populations

Abstract Background. As arteries become stiffer with ageing, reflected waves move faster and augment late systolic pressure. We investigated the age dependency of peripheral and central systolic pressure, pressure amplification (peripheral systolic blood pressure − central systolic blood pressure), and peripheral and central systolic augmentation (maximal systolic pressure minus the first peak of the pressure wave). Methods. We randomly recruited 1420 White Europeans (mean age, 41.7 years). peripheral systolic blood pressure and central systolic blood pressure were measured by means of an oscillometric sphygmomanometer and pulse wave analysis, respectively. Results. In cross-sectional analyses (731 women, 689 men), central systolic blood pressure and central systolic augmentation increased more with age than peripheral systolic blood pressure and peripheral systolic augmentation. These age-related increases were greater in women than men. The age-related decrease in pressure amplification was similar in both sexes. In longitudinal analyses (208 women, 190 men), the annual increases in central systolic blood pressure and central systolic augmentation were steeper (p < 0.001) than those in peripheral systolic blood pressure and peripheral systolic augmentation with no sex differences (p ≥ 0.068), except for peripheral systolic augmentation, which was larger in women (p = 0.002). Longitudinally, pressure amplification decreased more with age in women than men (p = 0.012). In multivariable-adjusted analyses, age was the overriding determinant of peripheral systolic blood pressure and central systolic blood pressure. Conclusion. With ageing, peripheral systolic blood pressure approximates to central systolic blood pressure. This might explain why in older subjects peripheral systolic blood pressure becomes the main predictor of cardiovascular complications.
Non-imaging optics for LED-lighting

In this report, several methods are investigated to rapidly compute the light intensity function, either in the far field or on a finite-distance screen, of light emanating from a light fixture with a given shape. Different shapes are considered, namely polygonal and (piecewise) smooth. In the first case, analytic methods are sought to circumvent the use of Monte Carlo methods and ray-tracing with large sample size. In the second case, refinements of the Monte Carlo method (notably using a bootstrap procedure) are devised to minimize the number of samples needed for a good approximation of the intensity function.
Targeted ultrasound contrast agents for ultrasound molecular imaging and therapy

Abstract Ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) are used routinely in the clinic to enhance contrast in ultrasonography. More recently, UCAs have been functionalised by conjugating ligands to their surface to target specific biomarkers of a disease or a disease process. These targeted UCAs (tUCAs) are used for a wide range of pre-clinical applications including diagnosis, monitoring of drug treatment, and therapy. In this review, recent achievements with tUCAs in the field of molecular imaging, evaluation of therapy, drug delivery, and therapeutic applications are discussed. We present the different coating materials and aspects that have to be considered when manufacturing tUCAs. Next to tUCA design and the choice of ligands for specific biomarkers, additional techniques are discussed that are applied to improve binding of the tUCAs to their target and to quantify the strength of this bond. As imaging techniques rely on the specific behaviour of tUCAs in an ultrasound field, it is crucial to understand the characteristics of both free and adhered tUCAs. To image and quantify the adhered tUCAs, the state-of-the-art techniques used for ultrasound molecular imaging and quantification are presented. This review concludes with the potential of tUCAs for drug delivery and therapeutic applications.
Polyomavirus JC infection inhibits differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells

Reactivation of the human polyomavirus JC (JCV) in the CNS results in a fatal demyelinating disease, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). The lytic destruction of oligodendrocytes, which occurs at the terminal stage of the viral infection cycle, is considered a critical factor in the development of demyelination and the pathogenesis of PML. However, knowledge is limited about interaction of JCV with oligodendrocytes and its impact on the denudation of axons at the early stage of viral reactivation and prior to the destruction of the infected cells. We have developed an in vitro neuroprogenitor cell culture using human fetal brain that can be differentiated to the oligodendrocyte lineage to investigate interactions of JCV with its host cells. Results show that infection with JCV delays oligodendrocyte maturation as shown by reduced levels of oligodendrocytic markers, including myelin basic protein, proteolipid protein, and platelet‐derived growth factor receptor‐α. Furthermore, replication of JCV in these cells caused substantial dysregulation of several chemokines, including CCL5/RANTES, GRO, CXCL1/GROα, CXCL16, CXCL8/IL‐8, CXCL5/ENA‐78, and CXCL10/IP‐10, all of which play a role in cell growth and differentiation. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Mood, pattern sensitivity and headache: a longitudinal study

Synopsis Fifteen persons who admitted to chronic worry were asked to complete morning and evening diaries in which they reported the occurrence of headaches, assessed their mood, and observed a visually stressful pattern, noting the illusions it induced. Results showed an association between both trait and state measures of mood and headache occurrence, and between trait and state measures of headache occurrence and illusion susceptibility. However, mood and illusion susceptibility did not appear themselves to be associated either as trait or state variables. The implications of these results for remediation of headaches are discussed.