Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Female Homo erectus Pelvis from Gona, Ethiopia

Analyses of the KNM-WT 15000 Homo erectus juvenile male partial skeleton from Kenya concluded that this species had a tall thin body shape due to specialized locomotor and climatic adaptations. Moreover, it was concluded that H. erectus pelves were obstetrically restricted to birthing a small-brained altricial neonate. Here we describe a nearly complete early Pleistocene adult female H. erectus pelvis from the Busidima Formation of Gona, Afar, Ethiopia. This obstetrically capacious pelvis demonstrates that pelvic shape in H. erectus was evolving in response to increasing fetal brain size. This pelvis indicates that neither adaptations to tropical environments nor endurance running were primary selective factors in determining pelvis morphology in H. erectus during the early Pleistocene.
Acceleration Control for Dynamic Manipulation of a Robot Turning Over Objects

This study deals with dynamic object manipulation by a robot using a tool. In order to keep the contact between the held spatula and the manipulated object, a variety of movements satisfying conditions in acceleration dimension should be planned. However, it is quite difficult to assure the acceleration to stay in a certain range in case disturbances exist. Therefore, this study proposes a control architecture for acceleration control and discusses how to develop a controller suitable for dynamic object manipulation. Comparison through simulation and experimental results reveals the features of the proposed control system.
Comparision of uroprotective activity of reduced glutathione with Mesna in Ifosfamide induced hemorrhagic cystitis in rats

Background: Ifosfamide (IFO) is widely used DNA-alkylating agents in cancer chemotherapy for management of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. However, hemorrhagic cystitis limits the use of IFO. Objectives: To compare the efficiency of reduced glutathione with 2-Mesna in reducing Ifosfamide (IFO) induced hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) in wistar rats. Materials and Methods: Ifosfamide and 2-Mesna were dissolved in sterile water for injection and administered to wistar rats of albino strains. The rats were randomly assigned to one of the four groups of 6 rats each: Group I: Vehicle control; Group II: 120 mg/kg of IFO alone by intraperitoneal injection (i.p); Group III: 40 mg/kg Mesna i.p., at the same time and at 4 and 8 h after IFO administration; Group IV: 500 mg/kg of glutathione i.p., 30 min prior to IFO as above. The animals were observed for 5 days. On 6th day, rats were sacrificed by dissecting the intrajugular vein. The bladders were macroscopically and histopathologically evaluated. Results: Control animals had normal bladders with assigned scores of ‘0’ for the three parameters of edema, hemorrhage and histopathological changes. All the animals receiving IFO (group II) had evidence of HC as evidenced by alterations of edema and hemorrhages. These alterations were almost abolished (P < 0.001) by the glutathione (group III) or Mesna (group IV) in IFO-treated animals. Conclusion: Glutathione could be as useful as Mesna in the preventive management of IFO-induced HC.
Genetic control of retinal ganglion cell projections

We have assessed the effects of 15 pigmentation mutations on the development of retinal ganglion cell projections in mice in two ways: (1) by analyzing the pattern of innervation of the ipsilateral lateral geniculate nucleus as mapped in autoradiograms of brains of animals killed 12 days after intravitreal injection of 3H‐proline into one eye and (2) by determining the ratio of axonally transported radioactive protein in the contralateral and ipsilateral optic tracts after similar intravitreal injections. Analysis of the ratio of transported protein in the two optic tracts provides a new and useful assay of the degree of decussation in experimental animals. The effects of the mutations on eye pigmentation, whole eye melanin content and relative tyrosinase activity also were examined. The degree of ipsilateral innervation generally correlates with the degree of pigmentation of the retinal pigment epithelium and with tyrosinase activity. However, discrepancies have been found in ch and ce mutants. In these animals the pigment epithelium is well pigmented, and the area of ipsilateral innervation in the lateral geniculate nucleus is extensive, despite a high ratio of label in contralateral to ipsilateral optic tracts and low tyrosinase activity. Furthermore, mice heterozygous for the c2J allele have pigmentation and optic projections that are normal even though tyrosinase is reduced to 40% of normal. The few anomalous results suggest that alternative or additional factors may control optic axon projections.
Interferon-Alpha Inhibits Proliferation and Induces Apoptosis of Merkel Cell Carcinoma In Vitro

Merkel cell carcinoma is a tumor with aggressive biological behavior and limited response to chemotherapy. The present study investigated the effect of interferon (IFN)-α on growth and apoptosis of Merkel carcinoma cells in vitro. Proliferation of MCC-1 cell line was reduced dose-dependently by IFN-α and diminished when higher IFN-α concentrations were used. Additionally, IFN-α potently decreased DNA-synthesis and Ki67/MIB-1 proliferation index of MCC-1 cultures. Furthermore, IFN-α induced dose-dependently apoptosis of MCC-1 cells as shown by caspase-3 activation, and detection of apoptotic DNA strand breaks and fragmented nuclei. These findings suggest that IFN-α may have antitumor activity against Merkel cell carcinoma.
Marketing and the Modernization of China

In 1979, China introduced a policy of "economic readjustment. " Although China remains a planned economy, the role of marketing in the Chinese economy has changed dramatically. While the structure of the planning process remains quite similar to that in place before 1979, economic readjustment has resulted in freer markets, increased interaction with foreign firms, and a new interest in all aspects of marketing. However, China9s efforts to develop modern marketing practices are creating additional problems.
Chlamydia trachomatis PCR (Cobas Amplicor) in women: endocervical specimen transported in a specimen of urine versus endocervical and urethral specimens in 2-SP medium versus urine specimen only

The sensitivity of Roche Cobas Amplicor Chlamydia trachomatis polymerase chain reaction (PCR) including the internal control (IC) programme to identify inhibition, was investigated on 3 different samples from women: (1) swab samples from the urethra and the cervix pooled in 2-SP transport medium, (2) swab sample from the cervix transported in a urine sample from the same patient, and (3) urine sample alone. Out of the 2412 patients, 193 (8.0%) were chlamydia positive and in 14 of these the results showed discrepancies between sampling methods. The sensitivity of PCR on urethra/cervix, urine/cervix and urine was 98.4% (190/193), 97.9% (189/193) and 93.3% (180/193) respectively. The higher sensitivity of PCR on urethra/cervix and urine/cervix as compared with urine alone was statistically significant. Without the IC, the sensitivity of PCR on urethra/ cervix, urine/cervix and urine would have been 95.9% (185/193), 94.8% (183/193) and 90.7% (175/193) respectively. Factors influencing the rate of inhibition were also studied.
Prevalence and COPD phenotype for a suboptimal peak inspiratory flow rate against the simulated resistance of the Diskus® dry powder inhaler.

BACKGROUND Patients who exhibit a suboptimal peak inspiratory flow rate (PIFR) against the resistance (resist) of a dry powder inhaler (DPI) may not be able to effectively inhale the medication into their lower respiratory tract. PIFRresist was measured using the In-Check DIAL(®) to simulate the resistance of the Diskus(®) DPI in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who were ≥ 60 years of age and had forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1) of ≤ 50% predicted. Our objectives were to: establish the prevalence of a suboptimal PIFRresist (< 60 L/min) in this population; identify a phenotype of patients with COPD who exhibit a suboptimal PIFRresist; and assess test-retest reliability of PIFRresist. METHODS PIFRresist and inspiratory capacity (IC) were measured after spirometry was performed in patients with advanced COPD. Repeat measurement of PIFRresist was performed in a subset of patients who returned for scheduled follow-up appointments. RESULTS The prevalence of a PIFRresist of <60 L/min was 19% among 213 patients. The clinical phenotype of these 41 patients included predominantly female gender (80%), shorter height, and lower values for forced vital capacity (FVC) and IC as percentage predicted compared with the 172 patients with PIFRresist of > 60 L/min. Multivariate regression analysis performed on all patients demonstrated that age, gender, height, FVC % predicted, and IC % predicted were independent predictors of PIFRresist (R(2)=36%). Repeat testing showed no difference between the PIFRresist values. CONCLUSIONS Approximately one out of five patients with advanced COPD and ≥ 60 years of age exhibited a suboptimal PIFRresist against the Diskus. For the first time, a clinical phenotype of such patients with a suboptimal PIFRresist was identified. It is reasonable to measure a patient's PIFR against the simulated resistance of a specific DPI if there is concern about clinical benefit using the dry powder medication.
IL1A rs1800587 associates with chronic noncrisis pain in sickle cell disease.

AIM Pain is prevalent in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients who display great heterogeneity in pain severity and frequency. Hypothesizing that inflammatory factors are involved in the pathogenesis of SCD pain, we focused on the IL1A C/T polymorphism rs1800587 that is an SNP located in a cis-transcriptional regulatory region. METHODS We genotyped IL1A rs1800587 and performed association studies with phenotype data obtained by a multidimensional pain assessment tool using the PAINReportIt® Questionnaire. RESULTS Each T allele was associated with a 3.9 increase in composite pain index score (p = 0.04) as determined by multiple linear regression. CONCLUSION IL1A rs1800587 may influence chronic pain in SCD.
Bilateral testicular tumors: A report of nine cases with long‐term follow‐up

Background : The incidence and clinical features of bilateral germ cell testicular tumor (GCTT) in the Japanese population are not fully characterized. We examined the incidence, clinical features, management and outcome, sexual status, hormonal environment, implication of androgen replacement, and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing of bilateral GCTT.
Characterization of GTP-binding proteins coupled to inhibition of adenylyl cyclase in guinea pig tracheal epithelial cells.

Many important airway epithelial cell functions are regulated by intracellular cAMP. Adenylyl cyclase, the enzyme that synthesizes cAMP, is under dual regulation in many cells, but muscarinic agonists have not been shown to inhibit adenylyl cyclase in human and dog epithelial cells, despite the presence of muscarinic receptors. We question whether the lack of inhibition was related to the absence of a component of the inhibitory pathway or a lack of coupling between the components. The GTP-binding regulatory proteins (G proteins) that regulate adenylyl cyclase activity in airway epithelium have not been well characterized. We used primary cultures of guinea pig tracheal epithelial cells as a model system and identified the G proteins that modulate adenylyl cyclase activity. Immunoblot analysis demonstrated the presence of alpha subunits corresponding to stimulatory (Gs alpha) and inhibitory [Gi alpha (2) and Gi alpha (3)] G proteins as well as beta chains. These G proteins were functionally coupled to stimulation and inhibition of adenylyl cyclase in epithelial membrane preparations. Pertussis toxin-catalyzed [32P]ADP-ribosylation of Gi alpha was significantly reduced by 100 microM GTP gamma S (78.4 +/- 3.6% of control), by 100 mM NaF (41.9 +/- 9.1% of control), and by carbachol (100 microM) (29.2 +/- 9.0% of control). Atropine (10 microM) inhibited the carbachol effect by greater than 90%, suggesting that the muscarinic receptors were functionally coupled to Gi proteins. beta-Adrenergic agonists increased adenylyl cyclase activity, but muscarinic agonists failed to inhibit this enzyme. In summary, guinea pig tracheal epithelial membranes contain muscarinic receptors, Gi alpha (2) and adenylyl cyclase, which are appropriately coupled. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Population paths implied by the mean number of pairwise nucleotide differences among mitochondrial DNA sequences

Scenarios, such as populations experiencing a bottleneck or an exponential growth, have been suggested as candidates for explaining the observed differences among mitochondrial DNA sequences in a sample of a given population closed to migrations. Here, population size is considered as capable of varying, and the set of the at least 95% most probable population paths capable of producing the observed mean number of pairwise nucleotide differences is delineated. To do this, the mean and the variance of coalescence times of two genes taken in an n‐genes sample with varying population size are expressed. The observed mean coalescence time already echoed a set of population paths due to the variance associated to the coalescent process, but only specific scenarios have been studied, such as the bottleneck or the exponential function. However, mitochondrial DNA data does not reflect a single scenario, after the effect of the variance. These scenarios implied by pairwise nucleotide differences are described through a set‐valued function, the ‘regulation map’, a convenient way to represent temporal population paths.
Nd: YAG Laser Endometrial Ablation Histological Aspects of Uterine Healing

SummaryLaser ablation of the endometrium performed under hysteroscopic control is a novel procedure for the conservative management of menorrhagia in cases of dysfunctional uterine bleeding. The effect this has on the uterine cavity and the mechanism of reepithelialisation and endometrial regeneration have been examined by means of histological examination of endometrial biopsies and four hysterectomy specimens obtained for various indications at varying time intervals after laser endometrial ablation. During the first 3 months, fragments of necrotic and granulation tissue are found surrounded by a limited polymorph response. By 3 months, the uterine cavity appears to be completely reepithelialised. After 6 months, areas of normal-appearing endometrium may persist, but in other areas there is an attenuated cuboidal surface epithelium closely applied, to the underlying myometrium. Stromal fibrosis reminiscent of Asherman syndrome is also apparent.
Effect of the strongest multipath component on indoor MIMO performance

We have investigated experimentally the effect of the strongest multipath component on the achievable LOS/NLOS MIMO capacity in an indoor environment. Our results demonstrate the effect of the contribution of the strongest component on indoor MIMO capacity. The contribution of the strongest multipath component is represented by the Rician K factor. The LOS component is indeed detrimental for an indoor MIMO system to achieve high throughput due to the increased spatial correlation of the MIMO channel. In addition, the measured MIMO capacities are all less than that of the ideal uncorrelated i.i. d channels. The indoor MIMO capacity increases with the decrease in the Rician K factor.
An effective spam filtering technique based on active feedback and Maximum entropy

Currently more and more people are suffering from ever-increasing unexpected e-mails (named spam), as well as the virus and worms introduced by spam. A lot of researchers and studies have focused on spam filtering. In this paper, we firstly present a new anti-spam technique, which include a users' active feedback mechanism, and Maximum entropy based spam filtering approach. Secondly we propose a prototype based on the methods and evaluate the technique by using both well-known mail corpus and real dataset collected from the mail server of our institute. The results demonstrate that the new technique can effectively identify more spam than traditional techniques.
Estimation of glance from EEG for cursor control

The variations in the electrooculogram (EOG) caused by eye motion are roughly proportional to the instantaneous horizontal and vertical glance angle. This linear correlation is exploited in systems using EOG to control software, and hardware such as artificial limbs, or wheelchairs. In these approaches, the drift in the electronics is commonly compensated by applying a high-pass filter. Consequently, the remaining EOG signal contains only blinks and rapid eye movement. However, repeating these eye gestures voluntarily is exhausting. This paper presents an algorithm that estimates the instantaneous glance of a subject from EEG signals. The subject is seated in front of a computer screen to control an application by glance. Because the visual field of interest, in this setting, is the limited area of the monitor, we can compensate the error in the glance estimate by detecting outliers. Because no high-pass filter is applied to the data, the user controls the applications by eye glance, which is comfortable and can be performed over extended periods of time. The numerical evaluation of the experiments with 12 volunteers, and video recordings of EOG controlled applications demonstrate the accuracy of our algorithm.
Adherence in people living with HIV/AIDS, mental illness, and chemical dependency: a review of the literature

Adherence to antiretroviral medications is central to reducing morbidity and mortality among people living with HIV/AIDS. Relatively few studies published to date address HIV adherence among special populations. The purpose of this article is to review the existing literature on HIV antiretroviral adherence, with an emphasis on studies among the triply diagnosed population of people living with HIV/AIDS, mental illness, and chemical dependency. In order to reflect the most current information available, data from conference proceedings, federally funded studies in progress, and the academic literature are presented for consideration.
Unlocking Chain Exchange in Highly Amphiphilic Block Polymer Micellar Systems: Influence of Agitation

Chain exchange between block polymer micelles in highly selective solvents, such as water, is well-known to be arrested under quiescent conditions, yet this work demonstrates that simple agitation methods can induce rapid chain exchange in these solvents. Aqueous solutions containing either pure poly(butadiene-b-ethylene oxide) or pure poly(butadiene-b-ethylene oxide-d4) micelles were combined and then subjected to agitation by vortex mixing, concentric cylinder Couette flow, or nitrogen gas sparging. Subsequently, the extent of chain exchange between micelles was quantified using small angle neutron scattering. Rapid vortex mixing induced chain exchange within minutes, as evidenced by a monotonic decrease in scattered intensity, whereas Couette flow and sparging did not lead to measurable chain exchange over the examined time scale of hours. The linear kinetics with respect to agitation time suggested a surface-limited exchange process at the air–water interface. These findings demonstrate the strong influence of processing conditions on block polymer solution assemblies.
Function of Polypeptide Chain Release Factor RF-3 in Escherichia coli

Two protein release factors (RFs) showing codon specificity, RF-1 (UAG, UAA) and RF-2 (UAA, UGA), are required for polypeptide chain termination in Escherichia coli. We recently reported the localization and characterization of the gene encoding RF-3 (prfC), a third protein component previously described as stimulating termination without codon specificity. RF-3 is a GTP-binding protein that displays much sequence similarity to elongation factor EF-G. In a termination assay in vitro, RF-3 lowers the Kfor terminator trinucleotides and is thought to act in termination signal recognition. The gene prfC was identified by transposon insertion mutagenesis leading to enhanced nonsense suppression of UGA. We report here that (i) RF-3 inactivation significantly enhances the suppression of termination in vivo only at UGA-dependent stop signals; (ii) the codon-dependent contribution to the stimulation of fMet release in vitro by RF-3 is significantly greater with UGA termination triplet than UAG termination triplet; (iii) RF-3 increases dramatically the affinity of RF-2 to the UGA termination complex in vitro but not that of RF-1 to the UAG termination complex; (iv) RF-3 inactivation leads to a positive feedback on the autoregulation of RF-2 synthesis in vivo, dependent on the competition between frameshifting and termination. These findings are discussed in terms of the mechanism of involvement of RF-3 in translation termination.
Adenovirus-mediated Gene Transfer of cGMP-dependent Protein Kinase Increases the Sensitivity of Cultured Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells to the Antiproliferative and Pro-apoptotic Effects of Nitric Oxide/cGMP*

Studies in vitro have underestimated the importance of cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) in the modulation of vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation and apoptosis in vivo. This is attributable, in part, to a rapid decline in PKG levels as vascular SMC are passaged in culture. We used a recombinant adenovirus encoding PKG (Ad.PKG) to augment kinase activity in cultured rat pulmonary artery SMC (RPaSMC). Incubation of Ad.PKG-infected RPaSMC (multiplicity of infection = 200) with 8-Br-cGMP decreased serum-stimulated DNA synthesis by 85% and cell proliferation at day 5 by 74%. The effect of 8-Br-cGMP on DNA synthesis in Ad.PKG-infected RPaSMC was blocked by KT5823 (PKG inhibitor), but not by KT5720 (cAMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitor). A nitric oxide (NO) donor compound,S-nitrosoglutathione, at concentrations as low as 100 nm, inhibited DNA synthesis in Ad.PKG-infected RPaSMC, but not in uninfected cells or in cells infected with a control adenovirus. In addition, 8-Br-cGMP and S-nitrosoglutathione induced apoptosis in serum-deprived RPaSMC infected with Ad.PKG, but not in uninfected cells or in cells infected with a control adenovirus. These results demonstrate that modulation of PKG levels in vascular SMC can alter the sensitivity of these cells to NO and cGMP. Moreover, these observations suggest an important role for PKG in the regulation of vascular SMC proliferation and apoptosis by NO and cGMP.