Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Local modulation of neurotransmitter release in bovine splenic vein.

Bovine splenic vein has an abundant sympathetic innervation. Isolated strips were used to examine whether autoinhibition of norepinephrine release from the noradrenergic nerve terminals could be demonstrated under various experimental conditions and whether additional local regulatory modulators of transmitter release could also be implicated. In particular, the possibility of a histamine interaction with presynaptic inhibitory receptors was examined because ultrastructural evidence disclosed a close spatial relationship between mast cells and noradrenergic nerve terminals in the vessel wall. To investigate the presence of presynaptic alpha-receptors the competitive blocking agent phentolamine was included in the superfusion medium at concentrations ranging from 1 to 50 microM during electrical field stimulation at frequencies between 1 and 10 Hz. Transmitter outflow was measured as fractional tritium release. Low frequency stimulation (1 Hz) with 1 microM phentolamine resulted in the typical increase in norepinephrine release characteristics for presynaptic alpha-receptor inhibition. In contrast, high frequency (10 Hz) stimulation in the presence of 50 microM phentolamine caused an unexpected decrease in norepinephrine outflow. This unusual result can be explained by additional pharmacological actions of phentolamine unrelated to alpha-receptor blockade, e.g. histamine release from the mast cells which subsequently can act on presynaptic inhibitory histamine receptors. This effect, manifested at higher phentolamine concentrations, would overcome the alpha-receptor blockade. The presence of histamine receptors was supported by the results from electrical stimulation in the presence of exogenous histamine. Histamine decreased norepinephrine outflow while increasing basal tension and the contractile response of the vein strip. Unexpectedly, these effects appeared to be mediated by histamine receptors of the H1-type because they were reduced after pyrilamine but unaffected by agonists and antagonists to receptors of the H2-type. It is speculated that interactions between mast cells and noradrenergic nerve terminals may serve to maintain homeostasis in the bovine splenic vein.
How Women Got Their Curves and Other Just-So Stories

Oscar Wilde once wrote, “Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood. ” In How Women Got Their Curves and Other Just-So Stories, David P. Barash and Judith Eve Lipton counter Wilde and try to understand the mysteries of women. In the course of the book, they speculate about phenomena such as menstruation, orgasms, and curves. Although the premise of the book is interesting and the writing style inviting, the book suffers from an overemphasis on hot hypotheses at the expense of more logical ones and a general tendency to ramble too much without a cogent argument. The book’s title derives from Rudyard Kipling’s Just-So Stories, a collection of tales to explain natural phenomena such as how leopards got their spots. Similarly, the husband and wife team of Barash (an evolutionary biologist) and Lipton (a clinical psychiatrist) seek explanations for uniquely female features and functions. As one example, they discuss the role and importance of menstruation, an important question that has received increasing attention recently due to the development of a birth control pill that reduces the number of periods a woman has in a year. Some people have expressed concerns that suppressing menstruation could have long-term physiological consequences (none have been reported so far, aside from an increased risk for blood clotting, while on most forms of birth control). Others, however, have argued that menstruation carries no clear biological benefits for women and it makes sense to dispense with the monthly discomfort. Barash and Lipton present several hypotheses to explain menstruation, but they seem particularly fixated on the possibility that menstruation serves to “cleanse” the reproductive tract of harmful pathogens. While the authors write honestly about the lack of evidence to support this idea, they undermine themselves by admitting that they favor it, despite its flaws. They reject an alternate and more plausible hypothesis, namely that menstruation occurs because it is metabolically inefficient to maintain a thick endometrial lining, because it does not “place the phenomenon [menstruation] itself front and center as the apple of evolution’s eye. ” Evolution does not have an agenda, and this statement both misinterprets natural selection and suggests the authors are more interested in being trendy than accurate. Subsequent chapters on invisible ovulation, the purpose of curves, the orgasm, and menopause follow a similar format with numerous theories being thrown around and discussed, some more substantively than others. Often, Barash and Lipton propose follow-up experiments that would provide evidence for or against a particular hypothesis. The authors deserve credit for enthusiastically tackling complex and often awkward aspects of human biology and for writing in an accessible style. Unfortunately, though, they take their title too literally and their “just-so stories” end up being as defined: delightful, but empty.
Caracterización de los procesos cognoscitivos y competencias involucrados en los niveles de comprensión lectora en Estudiantes Universitarios

La presente investigacion de caracter descriptivo tuvo como objetivo caracterizar los procesos cognoscitivos involucrados en la lectura y su relacion con los distintos niveles de comprension lectora. Para ello, se estudio una muestra de 124 estudiantes universitarios, quienes cursaban primer semestre de Psicologia; los participantes fueron hombres y mujeres, con edades de entre 16 y 30 anos de edad, residentes en la ciudad Bogota. Para caracterizar las operaciones cognoscitivas se uso el Cuestionario de Evaluacion de la Comprension Lectora de Arenas (2007). Los resultados con respecto a los niveles de comprension fueron analizados con el modelo de Rasch. Ademas, se uso la metodologia Angoff para la especificacion de los niveles de competencias. Se concluyo que existen cinco niveles de comprension lectora. Asi mismo, se encontro que la mayor parte de los estudiantes se clasifican en los niveles de lectura literal e inferencial. Finalmente, se discuten los hallazgos y limitaciones del estudio
Prevention of coronary heart disease by raising high-density lipoprotein cholesterol?

Consistent with several potentially anti-atherogenic activities of high-density lipoproteins in vitro, low plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol are associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. In addition to genes, lifestyle factors (e.g. smoking, being overweight and physical inactivity) strongly affect plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Moreover, a low level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol interacts with other risk factors. Raising of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol by either adjustments of lifestyle or drug intervention as well as elimination of additional risk factors are thus thought to affect coronary risk. Here, we summarize the outcomes of observational and interventional studies as well as genetic and experimental research which have recently much advanced our understanding of the function and regulation of high-density lipoprotein metabolism. We conclude from the data that changes in the kinetics and functionality of high-density lipoprotein rather than changes in plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels per se will affect the anti-atherogenicity of therapeutic interference with high-density lipoprotein metabolism.
Imbalance of antioxidant enzymes in tumor cells and inhibition of proliferation and malignant features by scavenging hydrogen peroxide

The aim of this study was to evaluate the endogenous alterations of the antioxidant enzymes in tumor cells and to specifically compensate the resulting changes in the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) to control the malignant growth. We determined and compared the activities of antioxidant enzymes and the levels of superoxide anion (${\rm O}_{\rm 2}^{ \cdot - }$) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in tumor cell lines with different degrees of malignancy, paired with regard to their origin (PB/CH72T4, PDV/PDVC57, and HBL‐100/MCF‐7). An increase in superoxide dismutase activity and a decrease in the activities of H2O2‐detoxifying enzymes, as a function of malignancy, coupled with a rise in H2O2 and a decrease in ${\rm O}_{\rm 2}^{ \cdot - }$ were demonstrated. Treatment of cells with exogenous catalase showed a dose‐dependent inhibition of proliferation. This inhibition was also demonstrated in several cell lines of different tissue origin and species, suggesting a general role of H2O2 in cell proliferation. Moreover, stable expression of human catalase in MCF‐7 cells inhibited proliferation and also reverted malignant features. We conclude that H2O2 played a crucial and general role in the regulation of proliferation and that an endogenous imbalance in antioxidant enzymes could be a relevant event in the carcinogenesis process. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate alleviates the malignant phenotype in A-431 epidermoid and SK-BR-3 breast cancer cell lines

Abstract In this study, we evaluated the effects of epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG) in two cancer cell lines, A-431 overexpressing ErbB1 and SK-BR-3, overexpressing ErbB2. EGCG treatment showed dose-dependent collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm), increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, changes in nuclear morphology and reduced viability. Flow cytometry data indicated that EGCG partially decreases the phosphorylation of several proteins involved in cell proliferation and survival: pErbB1(Y1173, Y1068), pAkt(S473) and pERK(Y204). EGCG affected the clonogenic growth in both cell lines with an EC50 of 2.5 and 5.4 µM for A-431 and SK-BR-3, respectively. Wound scratch assay demonstrated that EGCG inhibited the healing in dose-dependent manner and the effect was correlated with partial reduction in phosphorylation of pFAK(S910). Our data suggest that EGCG administration might reduce the unfavourable traits, particularly associated with ErbB1/EGFR overexpression.
A Di-aromatic Motif in the Cytosolic Tail of the Mannose Receptor Mediates Endosomal Sorting*

The mannose receptor (MR), the prototype of a new family of multilectin receptor proteins important in innate immunity, undergoes rapid internalization and recycling from the endosomal system back to the cell surface. Sorting of the MR in endosomes prevents the receptor from entering lysosomes where it would be degraded. Here, we focused on a diaromatic sequence (Tyr18-Phe19) in the MR cytoplasmic tail as an endosomal sorting signal. The subcellular distribution of chimeric constructs between the MR and the cation-dependent mannose 6-phosphate receptor was assessed by Percoll density gradients and cell surface assays. Unlike the wild type constructs, mutant receptors with alanine substitutions of Tyr18-Phe19 were highly missorted to lysosomes, indicating that the di-aromatic motif of the MR cytoplasmic tail mediates sorting in endosomes. Within this sequence Tyr18is the key residue with Phe19 contributing to this function. Moreover, Tyr18 was also found to be essential for internalization, consistent with the presence of overlapping signals for internalization and endosomal sorting in the cytosolic tail of the MR. A di-aromatic amino acid sequence in the cytosolic tail has now been shown to function in two receptors known to be internalized from the plasma membrane, the MR and the cation-dependent mannose 6-phosphate receptor. This feature therefore appears to be a general determinant for endosomal sorting.
Time for bed: parent-set bedtimes associated with improved sleep and daytime functioning in adolescents.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To determine the proportion of adolescents whose bedtime is set by their parents and to evaluate whether parent-set bedtimes are associated with earlier bedtimes, more sleep, and better daytime functioning. PARTICIPANTS 385 adolescents aged 13-18 years (mean = 15.6, SD = 0.95; 60% male) from 8 socioeconomically diverse schools in South Australia. MEASUREMENTS AND METHODS Adolescents completed the School Sleep Habits Survey during class time and then completed an 8-day Sleep Diary. The Flinders Fatigue Scale was completed on the final day of the study. RESULTS 17.5% of adolescents reported a parent-set bedtime as the main factor determining their bedtime on school nights. Compared to adolescents without parent-set bedtimes, those with parent-set bedtimes had earlier bedtimes, obtained more sleep, and experienced improved daytime wakefulness and less fatigue. They did not differ significantly in terms of time taken to fall asleep. When parent-set bedtimes were removed on weekends, sleep patterns did not significantly differ between groups. CONCLUSIONS Significant personal and public health issues, such as depression and accidental injury and mortality, are associated with insufficient sleep. Converging biological and psychosocial factors mean that adolescence is a period of heightened risk. Parent-set bedtimes offer promise as a simple and easily translatable means for parents to improve the sleep and daytime functioning of their teens.
Human metapneumovirus in paediatric patients

ABSTRACT Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children worldwide, but the aetiology of many ARTIs is still unknown. In 2001, researchers in The Netherlands reported the discovery of a previously unidentified pathogen called human metapneumovirus (hMPV). Since its initial description, hMPV has been associated with ARTI in Europe (Italy, France, Spain, the UK, Germany, Denmark, Finland and Norway), America (the USA, Canada, Argentina and Brazil), Asia (India, Japan, China and Singapore), Australia and South Africa in individuals of all ages. The incidence of infection varies from 1.5% to 25%, indicating that hMPV is a ubiquitous virus with a worldwide distribution. hMPV seems to play an important role as a cause of paediatric upper and lower respiratory tract infection, with similar, but not identical, epidemiological and clinical features to those of respiratory syncytial virus and influenza virus. Moreover, the socio-economic impact of hMPV-infected children on their families seems to be considerable, which suggests that, like influenza virus, hMPV infection may be a substantial public health problem for the community. It may be associated with significant morbidity and mortality in pre-term infants and children with underlying clinical conditions, although more adequately controlled studies are needed to confirm its importance in such patients. Many fundamental questions concerning the pathogenesis of hMPV disease and the host's specific immune response remain to be answered. Further studies are also required to properly define hMPV diagnosis, treatment and prevention strategies.
Computing the convex hull for a set of spheres on a GPU

The convex hull is useful for detecting collisions between several objects in Virtual Reality system. It also is essential to define the boundary of an object that consists of several geometric primitives. There have been many researches on computing the convex hull of a set of points, but only a few researches consider the case when a set of spheres is given. Bradford et al. [Bradford et al. 1996] proposed quickhull algorithm, where it computes the convex hull of a point cloud by incrementally finding the extreme points and removing the inner points inside the region defined by the extreme points.
Weight Loss Self-Efficacy and Modelled Behaviour: Gaining Competence through Example.

The Weight Efficacy Life-Style Questionnaire (WEL) and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) assessed self-efficacy and physical activity for 124 volunteers aged 17–61. It was administered before and after participants attended a video modelling workshop. Half of the participants in the treatment and control groups were given copies of the videos to review at home. Predictions were that self-efficacy would increase most for participants who took home the videos after the group-based intervention that was built on models of successful weight loss behaviours. Self-efficacy was also expected to lead to increased physical activity. Results demonstrated that weight loss self-efficacy can be increased by watching successful models. Physical activity, however, did not increase.
Altered ubiquitin causes perturbed calcium homeostasis, hyperactivation of calpain, dysregulated differentiation, and cataract

Significance Eye lens opacification or cataract is the most prevalent age-related disease, blinding 18 million people. Cataractogenesis involves accumulation and precipitation of damaged proteins from the normally clear lens. The ubiquitin proteolytic system is the main cytoplasmic degradative pathway that is charged with selectively removing damaged proteins. Ubiquitin has seven lysines. Although lysine 6 is involved in less than 3% of ubiquitin conjugates and we find few changes in lens proteins when lysine 6 is unavailable, we observed that mutating ubiquitin lysine 6 alters cell coupling, resulting in Ca2+ elevation, hyperactivation of calpain, and associated cleavage of substrates, culminating in developmental defects and a cataractous lens. The data show previously unidentified connections between ubiquitin proteasome systems (UPSs) and calpain-based degradative systems and illuminate roles for ubiquitin lysine 6 in development. Although the ocular lens shares many features with other tissues, it is unique in that it retains its cells throughout life, making it ideal for studies of differentiation/development. Precipitation of proteins results in lens opacification, or cataract, the major blinding disease. Lysines on ubiquitin (Ub) determine fates of Ub-protein substrates. Information regarding ubiquitin proteasome systems (UPSs), specifically of K6 in ubiquitin, is undeveloped. We expressed in the lens a mutant Ub containing a K6W substitution (K6W-Ub). Protein profiles of lenses that express wild-type ubiquitin (WT-Ub) or K6W-Ub differ by only ∼2%. Despite these quantitatively minor differences, in K6W-Ub lenses and multiple model systems we observed a fourfold Ca2+ elevation and hyperactivation of calpain in the core of the lens, as well as calpain-associated fragmentation of critical lens proteins including Filensin, Fodrin, Vimentin, β-Crystallin, Caprin family member 2, and tudor domain containing 7. Truncations can be cataractogenic. Additionally, we observed accumulation of gap junction Connexin43, and diminished Connexin46 levels in vivo and in vitro. These findings suggest that mutation of Ub K6 alters UPS function, perturbs gap junction function, resulting in Ca2+ elevation, hyperactivation of calpain, and associated cleavage of substrates, culminating in developmental defects and a cataractous lens. The data show previously unidentified connections between UPS and calpain-based degradative systems and advance our understanding of roles for Ub K6 in eye development. They also inform about new approaches to delay cataract and other protein precipitation diseases.
Marketing schools and consumer choice

States that the concept of marketing is regarded with suspicion by many in education because of its commercial implications. Marketing is seen as a potential tool for the application of market forces and is therefore regarded as ethically undesirable. Argues that the methods and ideology of commercial marketing, if properly understood and correctly applied by professionals in education, can be beneficial rather than harmful, and may be imperative for schools and colleges wishing to attract students and to offer them the most relevant provision.
The Challenge of Defining Bleeding Among Patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes

Advances in the management of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), specifically, the use of combined pharmacotherapy with antithrombotic and antiplatelet therapies and routine percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), have greatly reduced rates of thrombotic outcomes and mortality in these patients. However, these same therapies also can increase the risk of bleeding and transfusion use, which are predictive of poor outcomes in patients with ACS. Accurate assessment of the risk‐to‐benefit ratio for any therapy depends on the use of clinically relevant, preferably standardized, definitions of endpoint events. Unfortunately, clinical trials of antithrombotic therapies have used various definitions for bleeding, most of which were originally developed for trials of fibrinolytic therapy in acute myocardial infarction (MI). These variations in bleeding definitions have complicated cross‐study comparisons and assessments of drug class effects. Further, it is unclear whether these definitions remain clinically relevant in the era of routine PCI and aggressive antithrombotic therapy for ACS. Although an argument can be made for development of a standardized bleeding definition, a more prudent approach may be to develop standardized data elements, which can then be used to tailor bleeding definitions according to the goals of future clinical investigations. Copyright © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Hungarian Dependency Treebank

Herein, we present the process of developing the first Hungarian Dependency TreeBank. First, short references are made to dependency grammars we considered important in the development of our Treebank. Second, mention is made of existing dependency corpora for other languages. Third, we present the steps of converting the Szeged Treebank into dependency-tree format: from the originally phrase-structured treebank, we produced dependency trees by automatic conversion, checked and corrected them thereby creating the first manually annotated dependency corpus for Hungarian. We also go into detail about the two major sets of problems, i.e. coordination and predicative nouns and adjectives. Fourth, we give statistics on the treebank: by now, we have completed the annotation of business news, newspaper articles, legal texts and texts in informatics, at the same time, we are planning to convert the entire corpus into dependency tree format. Finally, we give some hints on the applicability of the system: the present database may be utilized ― among others ― in information extraction and machine translation as well.