Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vivo Imaging of Retrogradely Transported Synaptic Vesicle Proteins in Caenorhabditis elegans Neurons

Axonal transport is an essential process that carries cargoes in the anterograde direction to the synapse and in the retrograde direction back to the cell body. We have developed a novel in vivo method to exclusively mark and dynamically track retrogradely moving compartments carrying specific endogenous synaptic vesicle proteins in the Caenorhabditis elegans model. Our method is based on the uptake of a fluorescently labeled anti‐green fluorescent protein (GFP) antibody delivered in an animal expressing the synaptic vesicle protein synaptobrevin‐1::GFP in neurons. We show that this method largely labels retrogradely moving compartments. Very little labeling is observed upon blocking vesicle exocytosis or if the synapse is physically separated from the cell body. The extent of labeling is also dependent on the dyenin–dynactin complex. These data support the interpretation that the labeling of synaptobrevin‐1::GFP largely occurs after vesicle fusion and the major labeling likely takes place at the synapse. Further, we observe that the retrograde compartment carrying synaptobrevin contains synaptotagmin but lacks the endosomal marker RAB‐5. This labeling method is very general and can be readily adapted to any transmembrane protein on synaptic vesicles with a GFP tag inside the vesicle and can also be extended to other model systems.
Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Type II (GnRH-II) Agonist Regulates the Motility of Human Decidual Endometrial Stromal Cells: Possible Effect on Embryo Implantation and Pregnancy1

ABSTRACT Invasion of the maternal decidua by extravillous trophoblast is an important process for embryo implantation and placentation in humans. Motile behavior of decidual endometrial stromal cells has been considered of critical importance for embryo implantation and programming of human pregnancy. The gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) effects in endometrium have raised concerns in reproduction. In the present study, we examined the action of GnRH-II agonist-promoted motility of human decidual endometrial stromal cells and the mechanisms of the action, indicating the role of GnRH-II agonist in embryo implantation and early pregnancy. Human decidual endometrial stromal cells were isolated from the decidual tissue from healthy women undergoing elective pregnancy termination of a normal pregnancy at 6- to 12-wk gestation, after informed consent. Cell motility was estimated by invasion and migration assay. Zymography and immunoblot analysis were performed to investigate the mechanisms of the GnRH-II action. The GnRH-I receptor (GnRH-IR) was expressed in human decidual tissue and endometrial stromal cells. The GnRH-II agonist promoted cell motility. Mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors abolished GnRH-II agonist-induced cell motility and activation of MMP-2 and MMP-9. GnRH-II agonist-mediated cell motility was suppressed by knockdown of endogenous GnRH-IR, MMP (matrix metalloproteinase)-2, and MMP-9 with small interfering RNA and MMP inhibitors. Our study demonstrates that the GnRH-II agonist promoted the cell motility of human decidual endometrial stromal cells through the GnRH-IR and the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 and JNK-dependent activation of MMP-2 and MMP-9. Our findings represent a new concept regarding the mechanisms of GnRH-II-promoted cell motility, suggesting that GnRH-II agonist has strong effects on embryo implantation and decidual programming of human pregnancy.
Weakly-supervised deep self-learning for face recognition

For recent years, state-of-the-art deep learning systems for face recognition task completely use supervised training. Their performances depend critically on the amount of manually-labeled examples and the correctness of label data. In real life, however, it is very costly and time-consuming to collect and label such database. Therefore, we intend to build a feasible self-learning system, handling the face images which are unlabeled. In this paper, we first build a challenging unlabeled database and propose an efficient Self-Learning DCNN structure (SL-DCNN) to handle weakly-supervised training for face recognition using complicated and unlabeled training data. Our main contribution is that we introduce a novel modification signal as an ingenious supervision to distinguish the misclassifications, and to correctly reduce intra-class variations and enlarge inter-class distances in combination with identification-verification. Then, we investigate the method of feature merging and whether rich identity improves feature learning under unlabeled data. Finally, 97.47% face verification accuracy on LFW [1] is impressively achieved by our method, which is much higher than state-of-the-art methods under noise.
Climatic variations on Mars: 2. Evolution of carbon dioxide atmosphere and polar caps

The long-term variations in the atmospheric pressure and the polar cap temperature of Mars resulting from the obliquity oscillations (presented by W. R. Ward, 1974) are discussed. In performing these calculations, the assumption is made that the atmosphere is in equilibrium with perennial CO_2 ice deposits at the north pole, as is proposed by R. B. Leighton and B. C. Murray (1966). If heat transport by the atmosphere is neglected, the temperature of CO_2 ice at the poles ranges from ∼130°K to ∼160°K, the corresponding atmospheric pressure rising from a few tenths of a millibar to ∼30 mbar, respectively. The neglect of atmospheric heat transport probably underestimates the peak pressure. Because the altitude of the south cap is ∼2 km higher than that of the north cap, CO_2 ice is unstable there and will migrate to the north cap at a rate ∼10 g/cm^2 yr, the implication being that the south residual cap is water ice. A simplified model of the annual polar caps and pressure fluctuations is also presented. This indicates that when the obliquity is at its maximum, the annual caps may be greatly enlarged in both mass and maximum coverage. The modifications introduced by including significant atmospheric heat transport are then discussed. Finally, the implications of different past climatic conditions on the mechanism of eolian erosion are briefly considered.
Collection of food intake data: a reappraisal of criteria for judging the methods

The relationship between diet and the development of chronic disease still remains a controversial area. One major difficulty is to obtain a valid estimate of habitual pattern and level of food consumption for each individual. There is, in fact, a voluminous and largely negative literature on the validity of dietary assessment methods. In the present paper the utility of the most frequently used dietary assessment method in epidemiological studies is discussed in terms of precision and accuracy.
When TCP Starts Up With Four Packets Into Only Three Buffers

This memo is to document a simple experiment. The experiment showed that in the case of a TCP receiver behind a 9600 bps modem link at the edge of a fast Internet where there are only 3 buffers before the modem (and the fourth packet of a four-packet start will surely be dropped), no significant degradation in performance is experienced by a TCP sending with a four-packet start when compared with a normal slow start (which starts with just one packet).
Electronically tunable LTCC based multi-layer filter for mobile handset application

A novel tunable bandpass filter for mobile handset application is reported. Combline topology has been used for this filter and it has been implemented in LTCC multi-layer technology for small size. The filter can be tuned over DCS, PCS, and UMTS bands used in mobile communication without degrading the response. It has less than 4.3 dB insertion loss over the entire tuning range and has a small foot print. Simulated and measured responses of the filter show good correspondence.
Upregulation of microRNA-21 is a poor prognostic marker in patients with childhood B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

ABSTRACT Objectives: Many studies have demonstrated that microRNA-21 (miR-21) is an oncogene and is upregulated in tumor tissue. However, its association with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) remains poorly understood. Methods: The expression of miR-21 was detected by real-time quantitative PCR in 75 children with de novo B-ALL as well as in 50 healthy controls. This study was conducted to evaluate the miR-21 as a biomarker for risk assessment, diagnosis and prognosis. Results and discussion: Compared with normal controls, miR-21 expression was significantly upregulated in childhood B-ALL patients. Using the receiver operating characteristic curve 3.23 was selected as the cut-off value of miR-21 expression in distinguishing patients from controls. Patients group with High miR-21 expression was significantly associated with those aged <2 and >10 years, lower platelets count, more incidence of CNS infiltration and poorer treatment outcome also, they showed a significantly poorer disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) compared to those with low miR-21 expression group. Its expression was an independent prognostic marker according to multivariate analysis. Conclusion: This is the first report demonstrating the upregulation of miR-21 in childhood B-ALL, and its association with poor response to induction therapy, shorter DFS and OS. These results suggest that miR-21 upregulation represent an unfavorable prognostic marker in Childhood B-ALL.
Self-Reported Long-Term Needs After Stroke

Background and Purpose— Development of interventions to manage patients with stroke after discharge from the hospital requires estimates of need. This study estimates the prevalence of self-reported need in community-dwelling stroke survivors across the United Kingdom. Methods— We conducted a survey of stroke survivors 1 to 5 years poststroke recruited through Medical Research Council General Practice Research Framework general practices and 2 population-based stroke registers. Levels and type of need were calculated with comparisons among sociodemographic groups, disability level, and cognitive status using the &khgr;2 test or Fisher exact test, as appropriate. Results— From 1251 participants, response rates were 60% (national sample) and 78% (population registers sample) with few differences in levels of reported need between the 2 samples. Over half (51%) reported no unmet needs; among the remainder, the median number of unmet needs was 3 (range, 1 to 13). Proportions reporting unmet clinical needs ranged from 15% to 59%; 54% reported an unmet need for stroke information; 52% reported reduction in or loss of work activities, significantly more from black ethnic groups (P=0.006); 18% reported a loss in income and 31% an increase in expenses with differences by age, ethnic group, and deprivation score. In multivariable analysis, ethnicity (P=0.032) and disability (P=0.014) were associated with total number of unmet needs. Conclusions— Multiple long-term clinical and social needs remain unmet long after incident stroke. Higher levels of unmet need were reported by people with disabilities, from ethnic minority groups, and from those living in the most deprived areas. Development and testing of novel methods to meet unmet needs are required.
The relationship between metabolic rate and sociability is altered by food-deprivation

Individuals vary in the extent to which they associate with conspecifics, but little is known about the energetic underpinnings of this variation in sociability. Group-living allows individuals to find food more consistently, but within groups, there can be competition for food items. Individuals with an increased metabolic rate could display decreased sociability to reduce competition. Long-term food deprivation (FD) may alter any links between sociability and metabolic rate by affecting motivation to find food. We examined these issues in juvenile qingbo carp Spinibarbus sinensis, to understand how FD and metabolic rate affect sociability. Like many aquatic ectotherms, this species experiences seasonal bouts of FD. Individuals were either: (i) food-deprived for 21 days; or (ii) fed a maintenance ration (control). Fish from each treatment were measured for standard metabolic rate (SMR) and tested for sociability twice: once in the presence of a control stimulus shoal and once with a food-deprived stimulus shoal. Control individuals ventured further from stimulus shoals over a 30-min trial, while food-deprived fish did not change their distance from stimulus shoals as trials progressed. Control fish with a higher SMR were least sociable. Well-fed controls showed decreased sociability when exposed to food-deprived stimulus shoals, but there was evidence of consistency in relative sociability between exposures to different shoal types. Results contrast with previous findings that several days of fasting causes individuals to decrease associations with conspecifics. Prolonged FD may cause individuals to highly prioritize food acquisition, and the decreased vigilance that would accompany continuous foraging may heighten the need for the antipredator benefits of shoaling. Conversely, decreased sociability in well-fed fish with a high SMR probably minimizes intraspecific competition, allowing them to satisfy an increased energetic demand while foraging. Together, these results suggest that FD – a challenge common for many ectothermic species – can affect individual sociability as well as the attractiveness of groups towards conspecifics. In addition, the lack of a link between SMR and sociability in food-deprived fish suggests that, in situations where group membership is linked to fitness, the extent of correlated selection on metabolic traits may be context-dependent.
Assessment of livestock feed resources and feeding systems in Haramaya district, Eastern Ethiopia

The study was conducted in east Hararghe zone of Oromia regional state, eastern Ethiopia to assess the major available livestock feed resources. A total of 150 households with experience in livestock keeping practice for at least two years were selected. All respondents indicated that shortage of feed resources, dominance of unpalatable forages and low nutritive values of usable forages were the major feed problems. Overall, 73% of the respondents used cut and carry system as a grazing system and 93% indicated that feeding hay, crop residues and concentrates were the methods used to combat feed shortages. The major feed resources were crop residues, natural pastures and fodder trees/shrubs. Sorghum and maize were the main sources of crop residues, whereas leaves of Cordia Africana, Veranonia amygdalina, Erythrina burana, Combretum molle, Casimiroa edulis and Olea Africana were the major indigenous fodder trees used to supplement livestock species in the dry season. Adequate conservation, improvement and utilization of hay and crop residues as well as the introduction of potential forage production (e.g. planting multipurpose fodders and producing improved forages), and use of animal source as supplement need to be practiced to overcome feed shortage and optimize production. Regulation policies of land use need to be employed in the area to ensure land units for livestock feed production, which will allow the livestock sector contribute to poverty eradication and encourage smallholder farmer to be a food secured household. Key words: Feed resource, crop residues, fodder tree, forage production.
CT angiography of the cerebral venous system: anatomic structure, pathologic features, and pitfalls: resident and fellow education feature.

1From the Department of Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 75390-8896. Presented as an education exhibit at the 2013 RSNA Annual Meeting. Received April 1, 2014; revision requested September 12 and received October 15; accepted December 15. All authors have disclosed no relevant relationships. Address correspondence to D.P.C. (e-mail: david.chason@ utsouthwestern.edu). The full digital presentation is available online.
Nurse-led asthma education and childhood asthma readmission rates

Editor,—Wesseldine and colleagues showed a significant decrease in asthma readmission rates in children whose parents received 20 minutes of structured asthma education before their child was discharged from hospital.1 In October 1992, a community based, nurse-led, children’s asthma service was established in Central Manchester, UK with the aim of informing and empowering asthmatic children and their parents to undertake day to day management of asthma through a structured education programme.2 Over a third of the educational encounters take place in the patient’s home. Parents and teenagers …
The Role of Statins in Preventing Contrast-Induced Acute Kidney Injury

The incidence of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) is rising due to increased use of coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention. Many agents, including statins, have been evaluated in several studies for the prevention of CI-AKI. To date, there have been 14 prospective randomized studies regarding the efficacy of statins on the patient. Most of these studies and 3 recent meta-analyses have concluded that statins should be used for this purpose, even in patients with reduced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. However, there are also conflicting results, most likely due to marked heterogeneity of patient characteristics, dosage and administration patterns of statins, definition of CI-AKI, and different statistical analyses. In conclusion, it is uncertain whether statins should be prescribed to prevent CI-AKI in the absence of other indications.
Industrial Policy Cuts Two Ways: Evidence from Cotton-Spinning Firms in Japan, 1956–1964

A number of studies have revealed a negative effect of industrial policy on productivity growth. Is this because industrial policy fails to control the activities of firms or because it can effectively control them? This paper attempts to answer these questions, using firm-level data from the cotton-spinning industry in Japan for the period 1956–64. We determine that industrial policy cut two ways during this period. Industrial policy effectively controlled the output of cotton-spinning firms, which contributed to the establishment of a stable market structure during the period. On the flip side, such policy constrained the reallocation of resources from less productive large firms to more productive small firms. Combined with the negative productivity growth in large firms during this period, industrial policy resulted in negative productivity growth in the industry.
Some effects of statins on ischemic stroke: A review

Stroke is widely effect on health quality around the world. High incidence of stroke, make this disease as a problem for health providers. Recently, some advantages of statins about prophylaxis from stroke incidence and neuroprotective effects are discussed. Beyond the lipid lowering effect of statins, these drugs have other benefits for patients that have risk factors of stroke or chance of recurrent stroke. This review will discuss the some advantages of statins application in stroke patients. We summarized the common statins mediated mechanisms in ischemic stroke patients such as anti-oxidative effect, effect on Matrix metalloproteases, Pathway of eNOS-mediated, nitric oxide, blood pressure and atherosclerosis, and also lipid lowering levels.
ECONOMICAL EVALUATION OF USE OF SECOND HAND MACHINERY IN PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY (CASE STUDY: IRANIAN

The high cost of purchasing high technology and severe sanctions imposed on Iran over the last decade are the reasons why economical alternatives should be assessed, such as the use of second hand technology. There is evidence to show that in Iran the use of second-hand equipment in the petrochemical industry has become commonplace in recent years. Polypropylene (PP) and Methyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether (MTBE) are produced using second hand machinery purchased from a German company and recently used machinery transferred from an Indian company was utilized in the production line of Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK). In this research the three above-mentioned projects were evaluated to determine whether or not the use of second-hand machinery was economically justifiable. The method of research is descriptive analysis and output data will be estimated with Comfar software. The conclusion is that PP and MTBE projects could be justified from an economic perspective, but the MEK project failed in terms of profitability in the examined years.
Chained form and sliding mode control of farm vehicles in presence of sliding

The problem of lateral control of autonomous farm vehicles in presence of sliding is addressed in this paper. First a kinematic model is built in which sliding effects are integrated in form of additive disturbances to the ideal kinematic model. To make vehicles robust to those sliding effects, a sliding mode controller is designed by transforming the kinematic model into a perturbed chained system. With the help of natural algebraic structures of chained systems, the stability of the proposed lateral sliding mode controller is proven which guarantees convergence of lateral deviations and bounded orientation errors. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed control law can provide high path-following accuracy even in presence of sliding.
Regulation of glutamine synthetase by regulatory protein PII in Klebsiella aerogenes mutants lacking adenylyltransferase

A mutation of Klebsiella aerogenes causing production of an altered PII regulatory protein which stimulates overadenylylation of glutamine synthetase and also prevents its derepression was combined with mutations abolishing the activity of adenylyltransferase. The results support the idea that PII plays a role in the regulation of the level of glutamine synthetase which is independent of its interaction with adenylyltransferase.
Teaching method competencies used by extensionists in transferring the good agricultural practices to Malaysian farmers.

The purpose of this study is to determine level of teaching method competency and extensionists’ job performance. Furthermore this study aimed to determine relationship between teaching method competencies and extensionists’ job performance in relation to the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) among Malaysian extensionists at the Department of Agriculture (DOA). This study focused on extensionists transferring the GAP to the farmers using variety of extension teaching methods. The study employed stratified random sampling technique. Samples are chosen with a technique called proportional sample allocation. The sample consisted of 210 extensionists from the Department of Agriculture in four states of Malaysia. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis. Extensiosists reported high level of teaching methods competency and job performance. The findings supported a positive relationship between teaching method competencies and job performance.