Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Limb and Trunk Mechanisms for Balance Control during Locomotion in Quadrupeds

In quadrupeds, the most critical aspect of postural control during locomotion is lateral stability. However, neural mechanisms underlying lateral stability are poorly understood. Here, we studied lateral stability in decerebrate cats walking on a treadmill with their hindlimbs. Two destabilizing factors were used: a brief lateral push of the cat and a sustained lateral tilt of the treadmill. It was found that the push caused considerable trunk bending and twisting, as well as changes in the stepping pattern, but did not lead to falling. Due to postural reactions, locomotion with normal body configuration was restored in a few steps. It was also found that the decerebrate cat could keep balance during locomotion on the laterally tilted treadmill. This postural adaptation was based on the transformation of the symmetrical locomotor pattern into an asymmetrical one, with different functional lengths of the right and left limbs. Then, we analyzed limb and trunk neural mechanisms contributing to postural control during locomotion. It was found that one of the limb mechanisms operates in the transfer phase and secures a standard (relative to the trunk) position for limb landing. Two other limb mechanisms operate in the stance phase; they counteract distortions of the locomotor pattern by regulating the limb stiffness. The trunk configuration mechanism controls the body shape on the basis of sensory information coming from trunk afferents. We suggest that postural reactions generated by these four mechanisms are integrated, thus forming a response of the whole system to perturbation of balance during locomotion.
Obstáculos técnicos y arancelarios frente a la internacionalización del sector textil colombiano

In a globalized world where countries freely exchanged goods and services to meet the needs of consumption and where Government worldwide policies tend to the reduction of tariffs and the Elimination of trade barriers between countries in order to boost international trade and thus achieve that every one of the Nations could produce goods and services that are competitive in the rest of the world based on quality, minimization of costs of production and logistics of distribution, maximization of resources both physical as human capital and thus achieve a fair competition between Nations in which who generates the biggest competitive advantage is who make best use of those resources; However in countries like Colombia the Government as regulator in its own territory establishes protectionist measures and tariff barriers to third countries in order to safeguard a sector that for years has been one of the most traditional and representative and has contributed to a large percentage of the economy. This essay raises the main theories of free trade, the different concepts of global organizations such as the WTO, fundamentals with the Colombian Government with the implementation of these mechanisms and the results obtained so far in order to examine whether the objectives of the State and the current situation of the sector have been achieved.
Contribution of Long Polar Fimbriae to the Virulence of Rabbit-Specific Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a major of cause of diarrhea among children in developing countries. Although EPEC is a human specific pathogen, some related strains are natural pathogens of animals, including laboratory-bred rabbits. We have identified two chromosomal loci in rabbit-specific EPEC (REPEC) O15:H− strain 83/39, which are predicted to encode long polar fimbriae (LPF). lpfR154 was identical to a fimbrial gene cluster, lpfO113, identified previously in enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) O113:H21. The second locus, lpfR141, comprised a novel sequence with five predicted open reading frames, lpfA to lpfE, that encoded long fine fimbriae in nonfimbriated E. coli ORN103. The predicted products of lpfR141 shared identity with components of the lpfABCC′DE gene cluster from EHEC O157:H7, and the fimbriae were similar in morphology and length to LPF from EHEC O157:H7. Interruption of lpfR141 resulted in significant attenuation of REPEC 83/39 for rabbits with respect to the early stages of colonization and severity of diarrhea. However, there was no significant difference in the number of bacteria shed at later time points or in overall body weight and mortality rate of rabbits infected with lpfR141 mutant strains or wild-type REPEC 83/39. Although rabbits infected with the lpfR141 mutants did not develop severe diarrhea, there was evidence of attaching and effacing histopathology, which was indistinguishable in morphology, location, and extent compared to rabbits infected with wild-type REPEC 83/39. The results suggested that lpfR141 contributes to the early stages of REPEC-mediated disease and that this is important for the development of severe diarrhea in susceptible animals.
Dystypia: Isolated Typing Impairment without Aphasia, Apraxia or Visuospatial Impairment

We report a 60-year-old right-handed Japanese man who showed an isolated persistent typing impairment without aphasia, agraphia, apraxia or any other neuropsychological deficit. We coined the term ‘dystypia’ for this peculiar neuropsychological manifestation. The symptom was caused by an infarction in the left frontal lobe involving the foot of the second frontal convolution and the frontal operculum. The patient’s typing impairment was not attributable to a disturbance of the linguistic process, since he had no aphasia or agraphia. The impairment was not attributable to the impairment of the motor execution process either, since he had no apraxia. Thus, his typing impairment was deduced to be based on a disturbance of the intermediate process where the linguistic phonological information is converted into the corresponding performance. We hypothesized that there is a specific process for typing which branches from the motor programming process presented in neurolinguistic models. The foot of the left second frontal convolution and the operculum may play an important role in the manifestation of ‘dystypia’.
Systemic Iridovirus Infection in the Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon Kauderni Koumans 1933)

Iridoviruses infect food and ornamental fish species from a wide range of freshwater to marine habitats across the globe. The objective of the current study was to characterize an iridovirus causing systemic infection of wild-caught Pterapogon kauderni Koumans 1933 (Banggai cardinalfish). Freshly frozen and fixed specimens were processed for histopathologic evaluation, transmission electron microscopic examination, virus culture, molecular virologic testing, microbiology, and in situ hybridization (ISH) using riboprobes. Basophilic granular cytoplasmic inclusions were identified in cytomegalic cells often found beneath endothelium, and hexagonal virus particles typical of iridovirus were identified in the cytoplasm of enlarged cells by transmission electron microscopy. Attempts at virus isolation in cell culture were unsuccessful; however, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based molecular testing resulted in amplification and sequencing of regions of the DNA polymerase and major capsid protein genes, along with the full-length ATPase gene of the putative iridovirus. Virus gene sequences were then used to infer phylogenetic relationships of the P. kauderni agent to other known systemic iridoviruses from fishes. Riboprobes, which were transcribed from a cloned PCR amplification product from the viral genome generated hybridization signals from inclusions within cytomegalic cells in histologic sections tested in ISH experiments. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of a systemic iridovirus from P. kauderni. The pathologic changes induced and the genomic sequence data confirm placement of the Banggai cardinalfish iridovirus in the genus Megalocytivirus family Iridoviridae. The ISH provides an additional molecular diagnostic technique for confirmation of presumptive infections detected in histologic sections from infected fish.
The importance of residues in substrate recognition site 3 for the catalytic function of CYP2D25 (vitamin D 25-hydroxylase).

Porcine CYP2D25, microsomal vitamin D(3) 25-hydroxylase, catalyzes the essential first step in the bioactivation of the prohormone vitamin D(3). Although CYP2D25 shows a high degree of sequence identity with other members of the CYP2D subfamily, such as human CYP2D6, the vitamin D(3) 25-hydroxylase activity is a unique property among CYP2D enzymes. In addition to 25-hydroxylation, CYP2D25 also metabolizes the drug tolterodine. In this study, CYP2D25 was functionally expressed in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae W(R) strain and site-directed mutagenesis was used to study the role of substrate recognition site 3 (SRS-3) for the catalytic specificity of CYP2D25. Five residues in SRS-3 of CYP2D25 were simultaneously mutated to the equivalent residues in CYP2D6, an enzyme not active in 25-hydroxylation. Western blot analysis of microsomes from transformed yeast cells showed that both the wild-type and mutant CYP2D25 were expressed at comparable levels. The 25-hydroxylase activity of recombinant mutant CYP2D25 was completely lost whereas the activity toward tolterodine remained virtually unaffected. The results implicate that residues in SRS-3 of CYP2D25 are important determinants for its function in vitamin D(3) metabolism.
Interferon Alpha Induction of Stat1 and Stat2 and Their Prognostic Significance in Carcinoid Tumors

IFN-α has been shown to elicit antitumor activity in carcinoid tumors. In the present study the effects of IFN-α on the protein expression involved in the IFN-α signaling, which were recognized as signal transducer and activators of transcription (Stats), were investigated. Archive specimens from 45 carcinoid patients, 33 before IFN-α and 45 during treatment, were studied. The tissues were immunostained for protein expression by using monoclonal anti-Stat1 and anti-Stat2 antibodies. Results showed that Stat1 and Stat2 immunostaining were significantly increased during IFN-α treatment. Stats scores were significantly increased only in patients with objective response as well as those with stable disease but not in those with progressive disease. The induction of Stats correlated with the survival rates of the patients. In addition, both Stat scores significantly correlated with the p68 protein expression. In a carcinoid tumor cell line, Bon1, IFN-α dose-dependently increased the Stat expression. Analysis of cell fractions showed that IFN-α increased Stat protein both in cytoplasm and nucleoplasm of the cells. Furthermore, IFN-α enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of Stat1 and Stat2. Thus, the antitumor effect, in vivo and in vitro, in IFN-α-treated carcinoid tumors seems to be mediated via upregulation of Stat proteins and enhancement of phosphorylation of these proteins.
A Phase II study targeting amyloid-β with 3APS in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer disease

Background: As a potential disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer disease (AD), 3-amino-1-propanesulfonic acid (3APS) is a compound that binds to amyloid β (Aβ), a toxic protein known to aggregate, leading to amyloid plaque deposition in the brain. Methods: We assessed the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic effect of 3APS in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase II study in which 58 subjects with mild-to-moderate AD were randomly assigned to receive placebo or 3APS 50, 100, or 150 mg BID for 3 months. At the end of the double-blind phase, 42 of these subjects entered an open-label phase in which they received 3APS 150 mg BID for 17 months. Assessments included plasma and CSF 3APS concentrations, CSF levels of Aβ (Aβ40 and Aβ42), and total tau, as well as cognitive (Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale–cognitive subscale, Mini-Mental State Examination) and clinical (Clinical Dementia Rating scale–Sum of Boxes) measures. Results: 3APS had no significant impact on vital signs or laboratory test values. The most frequent side effects were nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, which were intermittent and mild to moderate in severity. Seven 3APS-treated subjects discontinued because of side effects (all causalities) over the course of the study, and there were no 3APS-related serious adverse events. 3APS crossed the blood–brain barrier, and dose-dependently reduced CSF Aβ42 levels after 3 months of treatment. There were no psychometric score differences between groups over the 3-month double-blind period. Conclusion: Long-term administration of 3-amino-1-propanesulfonic acid is safe, tolerated and reduces CSF Aβ42 levels in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer disease.
Using Tests of False Belief with Children with Autism: How Valid and Reliable are they?

Twenty-two children with autism were given four tests of false belief understanding: the Sally-Anne task, two variants of the deceptive box task, and the three boxes task. The overall consistency of the children’s performance was high, 77 percent of the participants either passing or failing all of the tasks. The convergent validity (across-task consistency) of the deceptive box and the three boxes paradigms was high, and the convergent validity of the three boxes and Sally-Anne tasks was also acceptable. However, a weaker level of convergent validity was found for the deceptive box and Sally-Anne tasks, suggesting that these paradigms test slightly different aspects of cognition. The reliability (within-child consistency) of the children’s performances across two versions of the deceptive box task was high. These findings are discussed in terms of their practical implications for practitioners and researchers.
Detection of Genetic Alterations in Pancreatic Cancers by Comparative Genomic Hybridization Coupled with Tissue Microdissection and Degenerate Oligonucleotide Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction

The aim of this study was to elucidate cytogenetic changes in pancreatic cancers (PCs) and to examine their clinical implications. We screened for genetic alterations in 32 primary PCs including 4 cases with distant organ metastasis using comparative genomic hybridization coupled with tissue microdissection and degenerate oligonucleotide primed polymerase chain reaction (DOP-PCR). The present study revealed frequent gains of chromosomes 13q and 15q and a loss of Xq in addition to a high prevalence of chromosomal imbalances. The average number of total genetic alterations and gains tended to be higher in N1 tumors (TNM classification) than in N0 tumors. The average number of amplifications was significantly higher in M1 tumors than in M0 tumors (p = 0.024). Gain/amplification of 20q was more frequently observed in M1 tumors than in M0 tumors (p = 0.016), and this change was also detected in all of 4 distant metastatic lesions. Losses of 6q, 8p, 9p, 17p, and 18q were recurrent in N0 and M0 tumors, and these alterations were also retained in N1 and M1 tumors. These observations suggest that these genetic losses contribute to the development of PCs and that increases in the DNA copy number confer an aggressive character on cancer cells. Especially, gain/amplification of 20q was associated with the potential of distant organ metastasis of tumor cells.
Combined plane wave — Point source near-field far-field transformation for short measurement distances

The radiation behavior of an antenna can be characterized by a measurement in its radiating near field followed by a near-field far-field transformation. Many transformation algorithms utilize source expansions employing higher order Hankel functions. These Hankel functions are known to become singular for small arguments corresponding to short measurement distances or to a low frequency of the respective antenna excitation. In this paper a point source modeling approach is discussed which relates the measured field samples by direct evaluation of the Green's function. In this way the formulation remains stable even for very close measurements. In order to reduce the computational effort of the technique for larger problems it is combined with the plane wave based near-field far-field transformation algorithm, which handles those measurement points with sufficient separation from the antenna under test.
Fetal origins of developmental plasticity: Are fetal cues reliable predictors of future nutritional environments?

Evidence that fetal nutrition triggers permanent adjustments in a wide range of systems and health outcomes is stimulating interest in the evolutionary significance of these responses. This review evaluates the postnatal adaptive significance of fetal developmental plasticity from the perspective of life history theory and evolutionary models of energy partitioning. Birthweight is positively related to multiple metabolically costly postnatal functions, suggesting that the fetus has the capacity to distribute the burden of energy insufficiency when faced with a nutritionally challenging environment. Lowering total requirements may reduce the risk of negative energy balance, which disproportionately impacts functions that are not essential for survival but that are crucial for reproductive success. The long‐term benefit of these metabolic adjustments is contingent upon the fetus having access to a cue that is predictive of its future nutritional environment, a problem complicated in a long‐lived species by short‐term ecologic fluctuations like seasonality. Evidence is reviewed suggesting that the flow of nutrients reaching the fetus provides an integrated signal of nutrition as experienced by recent matrilineal ancestors, which effectively limits the responsiveness to short‐term ecologic fluctuations during any given pregnancy. This capacity for fetal nutrition to minimize the growth response to transient ecologic fluctuations is defined here as intergenerational “phenotypic inertia,” and is hypothesized to allow the fetus to cut through the “noise” of seasonal or other stochastic influences to read the “signal” of longer‐term ecologic trends. As a mode of adaptation, phenotypic inertia may help the organism cope with ecologic trends too gradual to be tracked by conventional developmental plasticity, but too rapid to be tracked by natural selection. From an applied perspective, if a trait like fetal growth is designed to minimize the effects of short‐term fluctuations by integrating information across generations, public health interventions may be most effective if focused not on the individual but on the matriline. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 17:5–21, 2005. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Analyse De L'Impact De L'Energie Electrique Sur La Croissance Economique Du Togo

The purposes of this paper are to investigate empirically the impact of electric power on Togo's aggregate and economic branch levels (primary, secondary, tertiary) production growth, with a model that relies on a neoclassical production function and to test the causality between that electric power and the growth of aggregate production and economic branch levels. The empirical methodology is based on the (ARMA) maximum likelihood and Granger causality tests. The obtained results indicate that the impact of electricity consumption on Togo's aggregate and economic branch levels (secondary, tertiary) production in the long-run is positive and significant. The results show also a significant existence of circular causality between electricity consumption and aggregate production growth, while that the causality goes from electricity consumption to the agricultural, services sectors , and from industrial sector to electricity consumption according to Granger.
Food Addiction and Binge Eating: Lessons Learned from Animal Models

The feeding process is required for basic life, influenced by environment cues and tightly regulated according to demands of the internal milieu by regulatory brain circuits. Although eating behaviour cannot be considered “addictive” under normal circumstances, people can become “addicted” to this behaviour, similarly to how some people are addicted to drugs. The symptoms, cravings and causes of “eating addiction” are remarkably similar to those experienced by drug addicts, and both drug-seeking behaviour as eating addiction share the same neural pathways. However, while the drug addiction process has been highly characterised, eating addiction is a nascent field. In fact, there is still a great controversy over the concept of “food addiction”. This review aims to summarize the most relevant animal models of “eating addictive behaviour”, emphasising binge eating disorder, that could help us to understand the neurobiological mechanisms hidden under this behaviour, and to improve the psychotherapy and pharmacological treatment in patients suffering from these pathologies.
Formulating and Implementing an Institutional OER Policy to Improve Practice: A Study of Progress of an OER Based M.Ed Programme at IDE, Uniswa

Higher education students require knowledge, skills and values to succeed and transition to work and life. Their education is to equip them to participate effectively in a growing knowledge-based economy. It is also necessary for students to learn a wide array of essential transferrable skills for success in today’s world. Open Educational Resources (OER) are increasingly becoming more accessible and their affordances are being exploited for effective teaching and learning. The OER movement has revolutionised higher education academic practices. The University of Swaziland (UNISWA) has embarked upon innovations through OER that are aimed at transforming teaching and learning in such a way that students are more likely to attain their intended learning outcomes or to acquire required functional and critical thinking skills.
Idiopathic esophagopathies resembling gastroesophageal reflux disease in dogs

Summary ObjectivePathologic gastroesophageal reflux (GER) has been demonstrated experimentally in dogs, and it is suspected to occur naturally in dogs, yet its clinical significance is unknown. The aim of the study was to demonstrate clinical indicators of pathologic GER in dogs with idiopathic esophagopathies. Materials and methods: Dogs with clinical signs suggestive for esophageal disease (regurgitation, ptyalism, or dysphagia) and where extraesophageal and specific esophageal diseases had been ruled out, were retrospectively diagnosed with idiopathic esophagopathies. History, physical examination findings, clinicopathologic, radiographic, and endoscopic data, and treatment results were obtained from medical records, reviewed and evaluated. Results: Out of 67 dogs with anamnestic esophageal signs, 12 (17.4%) dogs were identified as having idiopathic esophagopathies and were included in the study. Median age was 3.0 years (range 1.0–11.0), and median bodyweight was 28.2 kg (range 8.2–44.0). The most frequent anamnestic esophageal signs were ptyalism (10/12 dogs), regurgitation (8/12 dogs), signs of discomfort, pain (8/12 dogs), and cough (5/12 dogs). The most common radiographic abnormality was segmental esophageal dilation (8/12 dogs). Esophagoscopy revealed single mucosal surface defects at the gastroesophageal junction in 3/12 dogs. In dogs with altered esophageal motility, cytological and microbiological examinations of bronchial aspirates showed goblet cell hyperplasia (8/8 dogs), neutrophilic infiltration (5/8 dogs) and culturable bacteria (4/8 dogs), respectively. All dogs were treated with omeprazole (median 0.7 mg/kg once per day, range 0.5-1.2). Reported median treatment duration until remission of the main clinical signs was 20.0 days (range 8.0–54.0 days). This endpoint was reached in 11/12 dogs. Conclusion and clinical relevance: Results suggest that in some dogs with esophageal clinical signs, and where no primary disease could be identified, clinical indicators of pathologic GER such as pain, mucosal lesions and motility disturbances of the esophagus, respiratory complications, and response to therapy can be observed.