Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two distinct membrane currents activated by cyclopiazonic acid‐induced calcium store depletion in single smooth muscle cells of the mouse anococcygeus

1 By use of the whole‐cell configuration of the patch‐clamp technique, membrane currents induced by cyclopiazonic acid (CPA; an inhibitor of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) calcium‐ATPase) were investigated in single smooth muscle cells freshly dispersed from the mouse anococcygeus. Voltage‐dependent calcium currents were blocked with extracellular nifedipine and caesium and tetraethylammonium chloride were used to block voltage‐dependent potassium currents. 2 At a holding potential of −40 mV, CPA (10 μm) activated an inward current that consisted of two distinct components. The first was an initial transient current with an amplitude of 19.6±1.9 pA while the second was sustained and had an amplitude of 3.5±0.3 pA. 3 The current‐voltage (I‐V) relationship for the transient current showed marked outward rectification. The current had a reversal potential of 9.1±1.1 mV which was shifted to 29.0±4.2 mV when the extracellular chloride concentration was lowered from 148.4 to 58.4 mM. The sustained current had a near‐linear I‐V relationship and a reversal potential of 31.0±2.7 mV. Removal of extracellular calcium had no effect on the transient current, but shifted the reversal potential of the sustained current to 18.2±5.7 mV. 3 The initial transient current was abolished in cells bathed in extracellular solutions containing the chloride channel blockers, 4,4′ diisothiocyanato‐stilbene‐2,2′‐disulphonic acid (DIDS; 1 mM) or anthracene‐9‐carboxylic acid (A‐9‐C; 1 mM), and was absent in cells containing the calcium buffers EGTA (1 to 5 mM) or BAPTA (10 mM). The second sustained current was unaffected by either the chloride channel blockers or the intracellular calcium buffers. 4 Treatment of the cells with caffeine (10 mM) produced similar inward currents to those produced by CPA. In the presence of caffeine, CPA (10 μm) induced no further inward current. 5 In organ bath studies, CPA (10 μm)‐induced contractions of the mouse anococcygeus were inhibited by cadmium and nickel (both 50–400 μm) and the general calcium entry blocker, SKF 96365 (10 μm); lanthanum and gadolinium had no effect at concentrations up to 400 μm. The pharmacology of the CPA‐induced non‐selective cation current mirrored that of the CPA‐induced whole muscle contraction being reversed by cadmium (100 μm) and SKF 96365 (10 μm), but unaffected by lanthanum (400 μm). The initial chloride conductance was unaffected by cadmium, SKF 96365 or lanthanum. 6 It is concluded that CPA activates a transient calcium‐dependent chloride current as a consequence of calcium release from intracellular stores; this current would result in depolarization and opening of voltage‐operated calcium channels, which mediate the nifedipine‐sensitive component of muscle contraction. In addition, as a result of emptying the SR, CPA activates a non‐selective cation conductance which may underlie the nifedipine‐insensitive calcium entry process utilised during sustained contraction.
Nutrition and breast cancer risk: Review of recent studies

The association between nutrition and cancer in general had been a controversial issue between scientists in the last three decades, because some argued that there is a relationship and some nutrients can help in preventing cancer occurrence, although this has not been a consistent finding by other studies. Studies were identified through a systematic review of literature available on PubMed in between 1st January 2010 to 31st December 2013. We included all studies that assessed nutrition or diet with occurrence or mortality of breast cancer. Out of 42 articles, we included 8 articles in our screening and discussion. Among these 8 studies, there were 2 case-controls, 3 cohort and 3 randomized control trials (RCT) studies. Although most studies reported that nutrition isassociated with decreased risk, some reported the contrary,whereas others reported no relation. It was demonstrated a conflict between the included papers in regards of the association between nutrition and breast cancer. These finding needs to be re-evaluated in future studies.
Creatol, an oxidative product of creatinine in hemodialysis patients

Creatol (CTL) is a product resulting from the reaction of creatinine (Cr) with the hydroxyl radical and is identified as a precursor of methylguanidine (MG), a uremic toxin. In this study, we investigated serum CTL levels together with those of Cr and MG in 66 patients who were on maintenance hemodialysis (HD). Prior to dialysis, the mean serum levels of Cr, CTL and MG were 967 (=11.1 mg/dl) ±267 μM, 11.1 ± 4. 8μM and 5.8±2.9 μM, respectively. The mean CTL level was about 1.1% that of Cr, and the CTL plus MG level was about 1.4% that of the Cr level. The reduction rates of Cr, CTL and MG by a single HD were 62.6±6.1%, 71.0±10.3% and 51.9±11.6%, respectively. The CTL level at 0.5, 1 and 6h after HD increased rapidly by 20.7±8.7%, 31.7±14.7% and 80.1±27.3%, respectively. There was a significant correlation between CTL or CTL/Cr and parathyroid hormone in patients who had just undergone parathyroidectomy. No significant correlation was found between CTL or CTL/Cr and those factors which seems to be related to the predialysis levels of reactive oxygen. Therefore, because of the good clearance of CTL and its rapid conversion to MG, its usefulness for the estimation of hydroxyl radical generation in HD patients is limited.
Exploring the effects of gender, age, income and employment status on consumer response to mobile advertising campaigns

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects gender, age, income and employment status on consumer response to short message service (SMS)‐oriented direct‐response requests or a call‐to‐action tactic in a television advertisement or program, consumer's participation in SMS sweepstakes or other competitions, and consumer uptake of mobile services such as ringtones, logos, screensavers and wallpapers ordered by SMS message.Design/methodology/approach – The data used in this study were collected via an online survey. A total of 4,062 consumers responded to this survey. Cross‐tabulation and binary logistic regression were used to examine the associations between the explanatory variables and responses to mobile advertising campaigns.Findings – The results suggest that women are more active than men in their responses to SMS call‐to‐action campaigns. In addition, the results indicate that mobile advertising is not only for teenagers. For instance, consumers in the 36‐45 age group were most lik.
C-terminal Sequences outside the Tetratricopeptide Repeat Domain of FKBP51 and FKBP52 Cause Differential Binding to Hsp90*

Hsp90 assembles with steroid receptors and other client proteins in association with one or more Hsp90-binding cochaperones, some of which contain a common tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) domain. Included in the TPR cochaperones are the Hsp70-Hsp90-organizing protein Hop, the FK506-binding immunophilins FKBP52 and FKBP51, the cyclosporin A-binding immunophilin CyP40, and protein phosphatase PP5. The TPR domains from these proteins have similar x-ray crystallographic structures and target cochaperone binding to the MEEVD sequence that terminates Hsp90. However, despite these similarities, the TPR cochaperones have distinctive properties for binding Hsp90 and assembling with Hsp90·steroid receptor complexes. To identify structural features that differentiate binding of FKBP51 and FKBP52 to Hsp90, we generated an assortment of truncation mutants and chimeras that were compared for coimmunoprecipitation with Hsp90. Although the core TPR domain (approximately amino acids 260–400) of FKBP51 and FKBP52 is required for Hsp90 binding, the C-terminal 60 amino acids (∼400-end) also influence Hsp90 binding. More specifically, we find that amino acids 400–420 play a critical role for Hsp90 binding by either FKBP. Within this 20-amino acid region, we have identified a consensus sequence motif that is also present in some other TPR cochaperones. Additionally, the final 30 amino acids of FKBP51 enhance binding to Hsp90, whereas the corresponding region of FKBP52 moderates binding to Hsp90. Taking into account the x-ray crystal structure for FKBP51, we conclude that the C-terminal regions of FKBP51 and FKBP52 outside the core TPR domains are likely to assume alternative conformations that significantly impact Hsp90 binding.
Charge-controlled magnetism in colloidal doped semiconductor nanocrystals

Electrical control over the magnetic states of doped semiconductor nanostructures could enable new spin-based information processing technologies, but the relatively weak interactions between dopants and charge carriers have so far suggested that such gated magnetism will be limited to cryogenic temperatures. This talk will describe the observation of a large, reversible, room-temperature magnetic response to charge injection in free-standing colloidal ZnO nanocrystals doped with Mn(II) ions. Injected electrons are found to delocalize throughout the entire nanocrystal, and to activate new ferromagnetic Mn(II)-Mn(II) exchange interactions that are strong enough to overcome antiferromagnetic coupling between nearest-neighbor Mn(II) ions, making the full magnetic moments of all dopants observable upon charging. Removal of the electron causes the system to revert to its original form, allowing reversible charge-controlled manipulation of room-temperature nanocrystal magnetism. The physical properties of these charged, doped nanocrystals are directly analogous to those of bound magnetic poltroons (BMPs) postulated to underlie high-temperature ferromagnetic ordering in the bulk forms of this and related diluted magnetic oxides. This discovery of charge-controlled magnetism in free-standing colloidal nanocrystals that is large, reversible, and stable at room temperature presents new opportunities for fundamental studies and raises interesting possibilities for the development of spin-based information processing technologies from solution-processable semiconductor nanostructures.
Network-based Humanoid ‘MAHRU’ as Ubiquitous Robotic Companion

Abstract The paper proposes ‘Network-based Humanoid', that is, a humanoid endowed with its perception capability and intelligence by an external computer system connected with wireless network. The network-based humanoid is composed of a humanoid test-bed, an internal control system and an external computer system. The internal distributed control system is composed of two parts. One is responsible for motion control of the humanoid following commands from the external computer system while the motion control is done by a CAN-based distributed motor controller. The other is for real-time data transmission of image data, voice data, and sensor data for motion control by wireless network to the external computer system. The external computer system, a network-based distributed control system, processes the transmitted data, decides the final action command for the humanoid, and transmits the action command to the internal control system. A network-based humanoid, whose name is ‘MAHRU', is developed successfully. The humanoid can walk using two legs with the maximum speed of 0.9 Km/h. It is noted that the humanoid can recognize faces, gestures of human beings in real-time, three-dimensional objects, and 100 voice words with the help of the external computer system connected through wireless network. And, the humanoid interacts with human beings via a stereo camera, a microphone, and force/torque sensors.
Review: nuclear lamins--structural proteins with fundamental functions.

The nuclear lamina is located between the inner nuclear membrane and the peripheral chromatin. It is composed of both peripheral and integral membrane proteins, including lamins and lamina-associated proteins. Lamins can interact with one another, with lamina-associated proteins, with nuclear scaffold proteins, and with chromatin. Likewise, most of the lamina-associated proteins are likely to interact directly with chromatin. The nuclear lamina is required for proper cell cycle regulation, chromatin organization, DNA replication, cell differentiation, and apoptosis. Mutations in proteins of the nuclear lamina can disrupt these activities and cause genetic diseases. The structure and assembly of the nuclear lamina proteins and their roles in chromatin organization and cell cycle regulation were recently reviewed. In this review, we discuss the roles of the nuclear lamina in DNA replication and apoptosis and analyze how mutations in nuclear lamina proteins might cause genetic diseases.
Climatic signal in annual growth variation of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) and spruce (Picea abies Karst.) from the French Permanent Plot Network (RENECOFOR)

This paper explores the growth/climate relationships in earlywood, latewood and total ring-width chronologies of five Norway spruce (Picea abies) and six silver fir (Abies alba) stands sampled in the French permanent plot network (RENECOFOR) (327 trees). The relationships between climate and ring widths were analyzed using extreme growth years, simple correlations and response functions analysis (bootstrapped coefficients). Monthly climatic regressors were derived by a physiological water balance model that used daily climatic data and stand parameters to estimate soil water deficits. Pointer years underline the high sensitivity to winter frosts (1956, 1986) and exceptional annual droughts (1962, 1976, 1991) for both species. For those years, growth variations were higher for Abies alba than for Picea abies. For each species, the climate information of tree ring series is not modified by local site characteristics (altitude, slope, aspect, soil water reserve). Moreover, strong specific differences appear among species. Earlywood and latewood spruce growth mainly depends on current summer soil water deficit conditions. For silver fir, winter and early summer temperatures, as well as the water supply of the previous year (August to October) play a major role for the production of earlywood, after which the current early summer water supply influences mainly latewood width. RésuméCet article présente les relations entre le climat et les variations des largeurs du bois initial, du bois final et du cerne complet pour cinq peuplements d’épicéa commun (Picea abies) et six peuplements de sapin pectiné (Abies alba) échantillonnés dans le réseau national de suivi à long terme des écosystèmes forestiers (RENECOFOR) (327 arbres). L’effet du climat sur la largeur des cernes a été analysé à partir de l’étude des années caractéristiques et l’établissement des fonctions de réponse. Les régresseurs climatiques mensuels pris en compte sont issus d’un modèle de bilan hydrique à base écophysiologique qui utilise comme variables d’entrée des données météorologiques journalières et les caractéristiques du peuplement. Les années caractéristiques montrent la forte sensibilité aux froids extrêmes (1956, 1986) et aux sécheresses intenses (1962, 1976, 1991) des deux espèces avec néanmoins des variations de croissance plus marquées pour le sapin pectiné. Pour chaque espèce, les caractéristiques écologiques locales (altitude, pente, exposition, etc.) ne modifient pas la réponse au climat. Cependant, le comportement des deux espèces apparaît très différent. Pour l’épicéa, la mise en place du bois initial et du bois final dépend essentiellement du déficit hydrique estival de l’année en cours. Pour le sapin, la largeur du bois initial dépend à la fois du régime thermique hivernal et du début d’été de l’année en cours et de la sécheresse de la fin de saison précédente (août à octobre). Par la suite, la sécheresse estivale de l’été en cours influence la mise en place du bois final.
Estimating business and residential water supply interruption losses from catastrophic events

Following man‐made or natural catastrophes, widespread and long‐lasting disruption of lifelines can lead to economic impacts for both business and residential lifeline users. As a result, the total economic losses caused by infrastructure damage may be much higher than the value of damage to infrastructure itself. In this paper, we consider the estimation of economic impacts on businesses and residential consumers resulting from water supply disruption. The methodology we present for estimating business interruption losses assumes that marginal losses are increasing in the severity of disruption and that there may be a critical water availability cutoff below which business activity ceases. To estimate residential losses from water supply interruption, we integrate consumers' demand curves, calibrated to water agency price and quantity data. Our methodologies are spatially disaggregated and explicitly account for the time profile of infrastructure repair and restoration. As an illustration, we estimate the economic losses to business and residential water users of one of the major water supply systems of the San Francisco Bay Area of California resulting from two potential earthquake scenarios, a magnitude 7.9 event on the San Andreas Fault and a magnitude 7.1 event on the Hayward Fault. For the business loss estimation, our modeling framework is general enough to calculate and compare losses using loss functions from several previous studies. Estimated business and residential losses for the San Andreas event are $14.4 billion and $279 million, respectively. For the Hayward event, estimated business and residential losses are $9.3 billion and $37 million, respectively.
An Empirical Test of the Contingency Approach to User Participation in Information Systems Development

User participation in information systems development is considered the key to system success in organizations. The empirical evidence, however, does not support this. A review of the literature suggests that one critical weakness in empirical investigations is inadequacy of operational measures of participation to gauge user influence on system design. Furthermore, there is also a growing consensus that the contradictory evidence may be due to a contingent, rather than a direct, relationship between participation and system success. This conception asserts that the outcome of user participation may depend on various contextual variables.One variable in particular--users' system-related functional expertise--is believed to moderate the outcome of participation. This paper derives the contingent effect of user expertise and reports the results of a controlled laboratory experiment and a field survey conducted to test it. The data suggest that users who perceive themselves as functional experts, relative to others, are unlikely to accept a system unless they exerted a substantive influence on its design. On the other hand, users who perceive themselves as functional nonexperts, relative to others, are likely to accept a system regardless of the extent of their influence on its design. This finding suggests user expertise as a useful criterion for selecting participants to serve on design teams and for determining the appropriate extent of a participant user's influence on system design.
FcγRIIB Regulates Autoreactive Primary Antibody-Forming Cell, but Not Germinal Center B Cell, Activity1

The low-affinity FcR for IgG FcγRIIB suppresses the development of IgG autoantibodies and autoimmune disease in normal individuals, but how this effect is mediated is incompletely understood. To investigate this issue, we created FcγRIIB-deficient versions of two previously described targeted BCR-transgenic lines of mice that contain follicular B cells with specificity for the hapten arsonate, but with different levels of antinuclear autoantigen reactivity. The primary development and tolerance of both types of B cells were unaltered by the absence of FcγRIIB. Moreover, the reduced p-azophenylarsonate-driven germinal center and memory responses characteristic of the highly autoreactive clonotype were not reversed by an intrinsic FcγRIIB deficiency. In contrast, the p-azophenylarsonate-driven primary Ab-forming cell responses of both clonotypes were equivalently increased by such a deficiency. In total, our data do not support the idea that FcγRIIB directly participates in the action of primary or germinal center tolerance checkpoints. In contrast, this receptor apparently contributes to the prevention of autoimmunity by suppressing the production of autoreactive IgGs from B cells that have breached tolerance checkpoints and entered the Ab-forming cell pathway due to spontaneous, or cross-reactive, Ag-mediated activation.
Visual Language Discrimination in Infancy

This study shows that 4- and 6-month-old infants can discriminate languages (English from French) just from viewing silently presented articulations. By the age of 8 months, only bilingual (French-English) infants succeed at this task. These findings reveal a surprisingly early preparedness for visual language discrimination and highlight infants' selectivity for retaining only necessary perceptual sensitivities.
CAN MINOR MERGING ACCOUNT FOR THE SIZE GROWTH OF QUIESCENT GALAXIES? NEW RESULTS FROM THE CANDELS SURVEY

The presence of extremely compact galaxies at z ∼ 2 and their subsequent growth in physical size has been the cause of much puzzlement. We revisit the question using deep infrared Wide Field Camera 3 data to probe the rest-frame optical structure of 935 galaxies selected with 0.4 < z < 2.5 and stellar masses M* > 1010.7 M☉ in the UKIRT Ultra Deep Survey and GOODS-South fields of the CANDELS survey. At each redshift, the most compact sources are those with little or no star formation, and the mean size of these systems at fixed stellar mass grows by a factor of 3.5 ± 0.3 over this redshift interval. The data are sufficiently deep to identify companions to these hosts whose stellar masses are ten times smaller. By searching for these around 404 quiescent hosts within a physical annulus 10 h−1 kpc < R < 30 h−1 kpc, we estimate the minor merger rate over 0.4 < z < 2. We find that 13%–18% of quiescent hosts have likely physical companions with stellar mass ratios of 0.1 or greater. Mergers of these companions will typically increase the host mass by 6% ± 2% per merger timescale. We estimate the minimum growth rate necessary to explain the declining abundance of compact galaxies. Using a simple model motivated by recent numerical simulations, we then assess whether mergers of the faint companions with their hosts are sufficient to explain this minimal rate. We find that mergers may explain most of the size evolution observed at z ≲ 1 if a relatively short merger timescale is assumed, but the rapid growth seen at higher redshift likely requires additional physical processes.