Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regional peak mucosal cooling predicts the perception of nasal patency

Nasal obstruction is the principal symptom that drives patients with rhinosinus disease to seek medical treatment. However, patient perception of obstruction often bears little relationship to actual measured physical obstruction of airflow. This lack of an objective clinical tool hinders effective diagnosis and treatment. Previous work has suggested that the perception of nasal patency may involve nasal trigeminal activation by cool inspiratory airflow; we attempt to derive clinically relevant variables following this phenomenon.
Schizophrenia and the environment: speculative interventions

Summary Objective – Starting from research on environmental factors that influence schizophrenia, the author speculates on innovations that could reduce the occurrence of the illness, improve its course and enhance the quality of life of sufferers and their relatives. Results – Ranging from education about obstetric risks to a stigma-reducing campaign, the suggestions could be of interest, not only to clinicians, but also to advocates, policy-makers and communications specialists. Conclusions – Several of the suggestions, which would be innovative in the United States, are already established features of Italian mental health care. These features include social enterprises, family support payments and a disability pension system without severe disincentives to work. Riassunto Scopo – Partendo dalla ricerca dei fattori ambientali che influenzano la schizofrenia, l'autore prende in considerazione le innovazioni che potrebbero ridurre la comparsa della malattia, migliorare il suo decorso e la qualita della vita dei pazienti e dei loro familiari. Risultati – Questi suggerimenti, che riguardano vari aspetti, dall'educazione relativa ai rischi ostetrici fino alia campagna per ridurre lo stigma, potrebbero interessare non solo i clinici, ma anche gli autori, i politici e gli specialisti della comunicazione. Conclusioni – Molti dei suggerimenti, contenuti in questo lavoro, che rappresenterebbero una novità negli Stati Uniti, sono caratteristiche acquisite nella psichiatria italiana. Tali caratteristiche includono imprese sociali, spese per fornire supporto alia famiglia ed un sistema pensionistico di invalidita privo di pesanti disincentivi al lavoro.
Bacterial Bloodstream Infection in Neutropenic Adult Patients after Myeloablative Cord Blood Transplantation: Experience of a Single Institution in Japan

Bacterial infection is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality after unrelated cord blood transplantation (CBT). In the present study, we studied 101 adult patients with respect to the incidence, outcome, and risk factors for bacterial bloodstream infection (BSI) within 30 days after CBT using a myeloablative conditioning regimen. Bacterial BSI occurred in 12 patients within 30 days after CBT The cumulative incidence of bacterial BSI was 12%. The median time of onset was day +6 (range, day -1 to day +13) after CBT. In all patients, the neutrophil count was 0/µL at the onset of bacterial BSI. Eight (67%) and 4 (33%) of the isolates were Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, respectively. Only 2 (17%) of the 12 patients who had bacterial BSI died within 100 days after CBT. No risk factors for the occurrence of bacterial BSI within 30 days after CBT were identified. The low mortality rate for bacterial BSI in the neutropenic period appeared to be associated with the low incidence (6%) of transplantation-related death at day +100 in our study patients. Early diagnosis of bacterial BSI and prompt treatment with effective antibiotics are necessary for neutropenic adult patients after myeloablative CBT. cr 2007 The Japanese Society of Hematology
Characterization of the Endoproteases Appearing during Wheat Grain Development

The pattern of endoproteolytic activities occurring during wheat (Triticum aestivum, cultivar Chinese Spring) grain development was investigated. Total endoprotease activity, assayed in solution with azocasein as a substrate, increased during the early stages of grain development to reach a maximum at 15 d postanthesis that was maintained until the grain was mature. Endoprotease activity was also assayed in gradient polyacrylamide gels co-polymerized with gelatin. The increase in endoproteolytic activity was due to the appearance of up to 18 endoproteolytic bands that were arbitrarily classified into five groups (A, B, C, D, and E). The presence of serine, aspartic, metallo, and, to a lesser extent, thiol proteases in developing wheat grains was demonstrated by the use of class-specific protease inhibitors. The appearance of the different classes of endoproteases during seed development was subject to temporal control; serine proteases were more abundant at early stages and aspartic and metallo proteases were more abundant at later stages. At intermediate stages of development (15–20 d postanthesis), most of the endoproteases were localized in the aleurone, testa, and embryo. The content of acidic thiol proteases was low in the developing starchy endosperm.
De Novo Assembly of Chickpea Transcriptome Using Short Reads for Gene Discovery and Marker Identification

Chickpea ranks third among the food legume crops production in the world. However, the genomic resources available for chickpea are still very limited. In the present study, the transcriptome of chickpea was sequenced with short reads on Illumina Genome Analyzer platform. We have assessed the effect of sequence quality, various assembly parameters and assembly programs on the final assembly output. We assembled ∼107million high-quality trimmed reads using Velvet followed by Oases with optimal parameters into a non-redundant set of 53 409 transcripts (≥100 bp), representing about 28 Mb of unique transcriptome sequence. The average length of transcripts was 523 bp and N50 length of 900 bp with coverage of 25.7 rpkm (reads per kilobase per million). At the protein level, a total of 45 636 (85.5%) chickpea transcripts showed significant similarity with unigenes/predicted proteins from other legumes or sequenced plant genomes. Functional categorization revealed the conservation of genes involved in various biological processes in chickpea. In addition, we identified simple sequence repeat motifs in transcripts. The chickpea transcripts set generated here provides a resource for gene discovery and development of functional molecular markers. In addition, the strategy for de novo assembly of transcriptome data presented here will be helpful in other similar transcriptome studies.
Central L-cysteine induces sleep, and D-cysteine induces sleep and abnormal behavior during acute stress in neonatal chicks.

L-cysteine (L-Cys) is a non-essential and glycogenic amino acid. Previously, we reported that the intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of L-Cys induced sedative effects under isolation-induced stress in neonatal chicks. L-Cys has an optical isomer, D-Cys. The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of L-Cys and D-Cys during a stressful condition in chicks. The i.c. v. injection of L-Cys and D-Cys (0.84 micromol) decreased both distress vocalization and spontaneous activity induced by isolation. However, the two cysteine isomers induced different behaviors. L-Cys increased sleep-like behavior while D-Cys caused abnormal behavior including syncope as well as sleep-like behavior. In conclusion, while both L-Cys and D-Cys caused a sedative effect when injected i.c. v, D-Cys caused abnormal behavior and may be detrimental to neonatal chicks.
The S.pombe mei2 gene encoding a crucial molecule for commitment to meiosis is under the regulation of cAMP.

The complete nucleotide sequence of the mei2 gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, which is essential for initiation of meiosis, is presented and four transcriptional start sites assigned. Transcription of mei2 and other genes involved in life cycle control of S. pombe, which is inducible by nitrogen starvation, is inhibited by addition of cAMP, suggesting that cAMP can mediate the signal of nitrogen supply in S.pombe. mei2 is the furthest downstream among target genes regulated by cAMP and genetic or physiological factors so far shown to block uncontrolled meiosis in S.pombe, which is provoked by inactivation of the part1 gene product, are either mutations at the mei2 locus or inhibitors of its expression. Cooperation of two regulatory pathways, one leading to the inactivation of pat1 activity and the other to the supply of the mei2 product, appears to commit cells to meiosis in S.pombe.
Finding missing edges and communities in incomplete networks

Many algorithms have been proposed for predicting missing edges in networks, but they do not usually take account of which edges are missing. We focus on networks which have missing edges of the form that is likely to occur in real networks, and compare algorithms that find these missing edges. We also investigate the effect of this kind of missing data on community detection algorithms.
Adaptive Quality Estimation for Machine Translation and Automatic Speech Recognition

Quality estimation (QE) approaches aim to predict the quality of an automatically generated output without relying on manually-crafted references. Having access only to the system's input and output, a QE module assigns a score or a label to each (input, output) pair. In this thesis we develop approaches to predict the quality of outputs of two types of natural language processing (NLP) systems: machine translation (MT) and automatic speech recognition (ASR). The work presented here can be divided into three parts. The first part presents advances on the standard approaches to MT QE. We describe a general feature extraction framework, several quality indicators dependent and independent from MT systems that generate the translations, and new quality indicators that approximate the cross-lingual mapping between the meaning of source and translated sentences. Such advances result in state-of-the-art performance in two official evaluation campaigns on the MT QE problem. In the second part we show that the standard MT QE approaches suffer from domain drift problems due to the high specificity of labeled data currently available. In the standard MT QE framework, models are trained on data from a specific text type, with translations produced by one MT system and with labels obtained over the work of specific individual translators. Such models present poor performance when one or more of these conditions change. The ability of a system to adapt and cope with such changes is a facet of the QE problem that so far has been disregarded. To address these issues and deal with the noisy conditions of real-world translation workflows, we propose adaptive approaches to QE that are robust to both the diverse nature of translation jobs and differences between training and test data. In the third part, we propose and define an ASR QE framework. We identify useful quality indicators and show that ASR QE can be performed without having access to the ASR system, by only exploring information of its inputs and outputs. We apply a subset of the same adaptive techniques developed for MT QE and show that the ASR QE setting can also benefit from robust adaptive learning algorithms.
A Silicon-Polymer Hybrid Modulator—Design, Simulation and Proof of Principle

Optimal dimensions are found for the silicon waveguide in an electro-optic (EO) polymer cladding-based silicon waveguide modulator. The confinement factor as well as the effective index of the mode are taken into account. The influence of the coplanar electrode spacing and electrode height on performance are examined and a figure of merit formula for choosing the optimal device geometry is shown. The design space for both 1550 nm and 1310 nm wavelengths is explored. With the optimal 275 nm waveguide width and 4 μm electrode spacing, a Vπ of a few volts can be achieved even with moderate r33 EO polymers. Experimental results on a fabricated modulator are shown and compared with the predicted performance.
LA RESOLUCION DE LOS PROBLEMAS DE TRADUCCION DESDE UNA PERSPECTIVA POPPERIANA Translation Problem-Solving Based on Popper's Approach

The present work describes a critique of Quine’s thesis of Indeterminacy of Translation. However, from the author’s point of view, this is a merely sceptic, relativist and pessimistic view which can be regarded as faulty. Therefore, he then goes on to suggest another methodological framework to approach translation, namely the one developed in Sir Karl Popper’s epistemology of empirical sciences. Quines then tries to find objective reasons to understand why a new translation is a better approach towards the truth than (a) previous translation(s). Based on the development of the aforementioned epistemological assumption, the author tries to resume with the optimistic view that critically objective and rational discussions, translation and science are grounded in plurivocal dialogue rather than a competitive race in which there would always be winners and losers.
High‐resolution cryo‐SEM allows direct identification of F‐actin at the inner nuclear membrane of Xenopus oocytes by virtue of its structural features

The nuclear envelope of Xenopus laevis stage VI oocytes was studied in a high‐resolution field emission cryo‐scanning electron microscope to compare the level of structural preservation obtainable by different procedures of specimen preparation. All approaches generally allowed frequent detection of long filaments of about 10 nm in diameter that were attached to the nuclear envelope's inner membrane facing the nuclear interior. Structural details of these 10‐nm filaments, however, could not be unveiled by standard procedures of specimen preparation and analysis, including critical point drying and imaging at room temperature. In contrast, after freeze‐drying and imaging at −100°C, the 10‐nm filament type was found to be composed of distinct globular subunits of approximately 5 nm in diameter that were arranged in a helical manner with right‐handed periodicity. Stereoscopic images showed that some of these filaments were lying directly on the membrane whereas others appeared to hover at a certain distance above the nuclear envelope. The appearance of these filaments was highly similar to that of in vitro polymerized F‐actin analysed in parallel, and closely resembled the structural characteristics of F‐actin filaments described earlier. By virtue of their structural features we therefore conclude that these filaments at the nuclear periphery represent F‐actin. The high level of structural resolution obtainable by field emission cryo‐SEM illustrates the potential of this method for studying details of biological structures in a subcellular context.
Efficacy of Fluoroquinolones against Leptospira interrogans in a Hamster Model

ABSTRACT Ciprofloxacin, gatifloxacin, and levofloxacin were evaluated for their abilities to prevent mortality in hamsters infected with a lethal inoculum of Leptospira interrogans serovar Portlandvere. Each agent produced a statistically significant survival advantage compared to no treatment and demonstrated survival similar to that seen with doxycycline therapy.
Residues in the Second Cysteine-rich Region of Protein Kinase C δ Relevant to Phorbol Ester Binding as Revealed by Site-directed Mutagenesis (*)

Phorbol esters bind with high affinity to protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes as well as to two novel receptors, n-chimaerin and Unc-13. The cysteine-rich regions present in these proteins were identified as the binding sites for the phorbol ester tumor promoters and the lipophilic second messenger sn-diacylglycerol. A 50-amino-acid peptide comprising the second cysteine-rich region of PKC , expressed in Escherichia coli as a glutathione S-transferase (GST)-fusion protein, bound phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu) with high affinity (K =0.8 nM). Using the cDNA of that cysteine-rich region as a template, a series of 37 point mutations was generated by site-directed mutagenesis, and the mutated proteins were analyzed quantitatively for binding of [H]PDBu and, as appropriate, for binding of the ultrapotent analog [H]bryostatin 1. Mutants displayed one of three patterns of behavior: phorbol ester binding was completely abolished, binding affinity was reduced, or binding was not significantly modified. As expected, five of the six cysteines as well as the two histidines involved in Zn coordination are critical for the interaction of the protein with the phorbol esters. In addition, mutations in several positions, including phenylalanine 3, tyrosine 8, proline 11, leucines 20, 21, and 24, tryptophan 21, glutamine 27, and valine 38 drastically reduced the interaction with the ligands. The effect of these mutations can be rationalized from the three-dimensional (NMR) structure of the cysteine-rich region. In particular, the C-terminal portion of the protein does not appear to be essential, and the loop comprising amino acids 20 to 28 is implicated in the binding activity.
Photoperiod-H 1 ( Ppd-H 1 ) Controls Leaf Size 1 [ OPEN ]

Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, D-50829 Cologne, Germany (B.D., M.v.K.); Institute of Plant Genetics, Heinrich-Heine-University, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany (B.D., M.v.K.); Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences “From Complex Traits Towards Synthetic Modules,” 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany (B.D., M.v.K.); Università degli Studi di Milano-DiSAA, 20133 Milan, Italy (E.T., G.V., L.R.); Department of Crop Production and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University, 7144165186 Shiraz, Iran (E.T.); Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Genomics Research Centre, 29017 Fiorenzuola d’Arda, Italy (A.T., L.C.); Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Protection and Application of Special Plants in Wu Ling Area of China, Key Laboratory of State Ethnic Affairs Commission for Biologica Technology, College of Life Science, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan 430074, China (X.X.); and Parco Tecnologico Padano, Loc. Cascina Codazza, 26900 Lodi, Italy (L.R.)
Vehicle control algorithms for cooperative driving with automated vehicles and intervehicle communications

Describes the technologies of cooperative driving with automated vehicles and intervehicle communications in the Demo 2000 cooperative driving. Cooperative driving, aiming at the compatibility of safety and efficiency of road traffic, means that automated vehicles drive by forming a flexible platoon over a couple of lanes with a short intervehicle distance while performing lane changing, merging, and leaving the platoon. The vehicles for the demonstration are equipped with automated lateral and longitudinal control functions with localization data by the differential global positioning system (DGPS) and the intervehicle communication function with 5.8-GHz dedicated short range communication (DSRC) designed for the dedicated use in the demonstration. In order to show the feasibility and potential of the technologies, the demonstration was held in November 2000, on a test track with five automated vehicles. The scenario included stop and go, platooning, merging, and obstacle avoidance.
Pelagic Larval Duration and Settlement Size of Apogonidae, Labridae, Scaridae, and Tripterygiidae Species in a Coral Lagoon of Okinawa Island, Southern Japan1

Abstract: Pelagic larval duration and settlement sizes in species of Apogonidae, Labridae, Scaridae, and Tripterygiidae in a coral lagoon in southern Japan were examined. Sampling was conducted monthly from July 2004 to June 2005 in the coral lagoon and channel of the Oh-do Beach on Okinawa Island, Japan. Pelagic larval duration was estimated by the number of otolith increments. Mean standard length at settlement of apogonids ranged from 7.7 to 13.9 mm, and mean pelagic larval duration ranged from 14.0 to 30.6 days (14 species, 418 individuals). In labrids, mean standard length at settlement and pelagic larval duration varied greatly (mean standard length: 5.4–11.0 mm; pelagic larval duration: 18–57 days, four species, four individuals). Scarids showed consistent mean standard length at settlement and pelagic larval duration (mean standard length: 7.1–7.6 mm; pelagic larval duration: 29–42 days, five species, 25 individuals). In tripterygiids, pelagic larval duration was more consistent (range: 18–29 days, mean: 22.2 ± 2.1 days), but mean standard length at settlement ranged from 7.8 to 10.3 mm (six species, 32 individuals). These results suggest that the pelagic larval duration of Apogonidae and Tripterygiidae (nonpelagic egg spawning) is shorter than that of Labridae and Scaridae (pelagic egg spawning), and the dispersal strategy of labrids and scarids may include wider dispersal than that of apogonids and tripterygiids.
The effect of growth factors on the proliferation and differentiation of human nasal gland cells.

OBJECTIVE To elucidate a mechanism of proliferation and differentiation of nasal gland cells, we established a serum-free 3-dimensional culture system for human nasal gland (HNG) cells and examined the effects of epidermal growth factor, keratinocyte growth factor, and retinoic acid on proliferation and differentiation of cultured HNG cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS Nasal polyps were obtained from patients undergoing endoscopic endonasal sinus surgery. The HNG cells were cultured under a monolayer culture and transferred to a collagen-embedded culture using RPMI 1640 medium containing transferrin, insulin, hydrocortisone, retinoic acid, epidermal growth factor, and keratinocyte growth factor. Cell growth was measured by bromodeoxyuridine incorporation assays. To measure cell differentiation, the percentage of cells containing secretory granules, which were stained with Alcian blue in cytoplasm, was determined. RESULTS In the serum-free 3-dimensional culture, the HNG cells showed ductal structures containing secretory products in a lumen. The addition of epidermal growth factor promoted the proliferation of HNG cells in its optimal concentrations, and keratinocyte growth factor also enhanced the proliferation of HNG cells. Conversely, the differentiation of HNG cells was not dependent on epidermal growth factor and keratinocyte growth factor. Retinoic acid suppressed the proliferation, but promoted the differentiation of HNG cells. CONCLUSION Our culture system could be useful for studying the effects of various growth factors and cytokines on HNG proliferation and differentiation to better understand the mechanisms of growth and morphogenesis of nasal glands.
Circuitos de radiofrecuencia de banda ultra-ancha en tecnología planar integrada: aplicación a receptores de seis puertos

Se presenta el diseno, implementacion y evaluacion experimental de un demodulador I/Q de seis puertos analogico de altas prestaciones, capaz de operar en la banda de 3.1 a 10.6 GHz sin necesidad de tecnicas de calibracion. El objetivo es reducir en la medida de lo posible los requisitos tanto de la etapa de conversion analogico-digital, como de la etapa de post-procesado, lo que redundaria en una reduccion sustancial de la complejidad y del coste final de este tipo de demoduladores.
Individual Differences in Aging Minorities

To fully understand the differences present between various ethnic and racial groups, there must be an understanding of the heterogeneity that is represented within a given ethnic/racial group. The purpose of this article is to discuss the importance of an individual differences approach in studying the ethnic diversity of an aging population. Conceptual, methodological, and design issues are discussed with the goal of better understanding the developmental processes of aging minority elderly populations.