Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Muscarinic M1 and M2 receptor subtype selective drugs modulate neocortical EEG via thalamus

THE present study was designed to investigate the effects of infusions into reticular nucleus of thalamus (NRT) or intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) infusions of muscarinic M1 and M2 receptor subtype selective drugs on thalamocortically generated neocortical high voltage spindles (HVSs) in awake immobile rats. NRT administration of 2.0 and 20.0 μg McN-A-343, a muscarinic M1 agonist, and 20.0 μg methoctramine, a muscarinic M2 antagonist, suppressed HVSs. The results suggest that the blockade of presynaptic M2 receptors and activation of post-synaptic M1 receptors in the NRT suppress thalamo-cortical oscillations and increase neocortical electrical arousal.
Genetic relatedness and female spatial organization in a solitary carnivore, the raccoon, Procyon lotor

Among mammals, some of the most common types of cohesive social groupings originate from natal philopatry through the extended mother family. This retention of females within social groups (i.e. the nonrandom dispersion of female relatives in space) should affect population genetic structure. We examined the relationship between genetic relatedness and female spatial organization in a wild population of the North‐American raccoon, Procyon lotor, a solitary carnivore in east Tennessee. Multilocus genetic band‐sharing data and 3½ years of radiotelemetry observations were used to study the spatial and genetic relationships among 38 adult females. DNA amplification employing primers of arbitrary sequence (random amplified polymorphic DNA; RAPD) indicated that female philopatry in raccoons led to a greater likelihood of neighbours being more related than expected by chance. Genetic distance based on RAPD band frequency was positively correlated with spatial distance among females (P = 0.0001) and genetic similarity was positively correlated with the extent of home‐range overlap (P = 0.0028). Philopatry seemed biased towards females; average female–female similarities were greater than average male–male similarities (P = 0.0001), or average male–female similarities (P = 0.0001). High home‐range overlap among some females with low or moderate levels of band sharing indicated that maternal inheritance of space was not a prerequisite for establishing or sharing home ranges. Female philopatry was the most probable explanation for the nonrandom spatial and genetic association of raccoons in east Tennessee.
Urban megaprojects, nation-state politics and regulatory capitalism in Central and Eastern Europe: The Belgrade Waterfront project

In this paper, we explore how state-led regulatory planning is utilised to push for delivery of an urban megaproject (UMP) in the specific context of post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe. Our focus is on the large-scale brownfield redevelopment project ‘Belgrade Waterfront’ under implementation in the Serbian capital, a joint venture between the Republic of Serbia and Abu Dhabi-based investor Eagle Hills. We show this UMP to be an extreme example of state-led regulatory intervention, characterised by lack of transparency and haste in decision-making processes, all of which serve to prioritise private investors’ interests in project delivery above the principles of representative democracy. Through analysis of legislative and planning documents, expert reports and media coverage from the period between 2012 and 2017, we explore the legislative mechanisms, contractual strategies and modes of governance involved in the project’s delivery. This provides two insights: first, it reveals that, in contrast with the active role of local governments in conceiving entrepreneurial strategies that is often assumed today, in the case of Belgrade Waterfront, the national government has instead played the decisive role; second, it shows how modifications to national law were instrumental in defining public interest, in enabling certain types of contracts to become technically legal, and in minimising risks for the private investor. We conclude by highlighting the need to further conceptualise nation-state politics and autocratic rule as driving forces of urban development processes.
The 3′ Untranslated Region of Pea Enation Mosaic Virus Contains Two T-Shaped, Ribosome-Binding, Cap-Independent Translation Enhancers

ABSTRACT Many plant viruses without 5′caps or 3′ poly(A) tails contain 3′ proximal, cap-independent translation enhancers (3′CITEs) that bind to ribosomal subunits or translation factors thought to assist in ribosome recruitment. Most 3′CITEs participate in a long-distance kissing-loop interaction with a 5′ proximal hairpin to deliver ribosomal subunits to the 5′ end for translation initiation. Pea Enation Mosaic Virus (PEMV) contains two adjacent 3′CITEs in the center of its 703-nucleotide 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR), the ribosome-binding, kissing-loop T-shaped structure (kl-TSS) and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding Panicum mosaic virus-like translation enhance (PTE). We now report that PEMV contains a third, independent 3′CITE located near the 3′ terminus. This 3′CITE is composed of three hairpins and two pseudoknots, similar to the TSS 3′CITE of the carmovirus Turnip crinkle virus (TCV). As with the TCV TSS, the PEMV 3′TSS is predicted to fold into a T-shaped structure that binds to 80S ribosomes and 60S ribosomal subunits. A small hairpin (kl-H) upstream of the 3′TSS contains an apical loop capable of forming a kissing-loop interaction with a 5′ proximal hairpin and is critical for the accumulation of full-length PEMV in protoplasts. Although the kl-H and 3′TSS are dispensable for the translation of a reporter construct containing the complete PEMV 3′UTR in vitro, deleting the normally required kl-TSS and PTE 3′CITEs and placing the kl-H and 3′TSS proximal to the reporter termination codon restores translation to near wild-type levels. This suggests that PEMV requires three 3′CITEs for proper translation and that additional translation enhancers may have been missed if reporter constructs were used in 3′CITE identification. IMPORTANCE The rapid life cycle of viruses requires efficient translation of viral-encoded proteins. Many plant RNA viruses contain 3′ cap-independent translation enhancers (3′CITEs) to effectively compete with ongoing host translation. Since only single 3′CITEs have been identified for the vast majority of individual viruses, it is widely accepted that this is sufficient for a virus's translational needs. Pea Enation Mosaic Virus possesses a ribosome-binding 3′CITE that can connect to the 5′ end through an RNA-RNA interaction and an adjacent eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding 3′CITE. We report the identification of a third 3′CITE that binds weakly to ribosomes and requires an upstream hairpin to form a bridge between the 3′ and 5′ ends. Although both ribosome-binding 3′CITEs are critical for virus accumulation in vivo, only the CITE closest to the termination codon of a reporter open reading frame is active, suggesting that artificial constructs used for 3′CITE identification may underestimate the number of CITEs that participate in translation.
Green Driver: Travel Behaviors Revisited on Fuel Saving and Less Emission

Road transportation is the main energy consumer and major contributor of ever-increasing hazardous emissions. Transportation professionals have raised the idea of applying the green concept in various areas of transportation, including green highways, green vehicles and transit-oriented designs, to tackle the negative impact of road transportation. This research generated a new dimension called the green driver to remediate urgently the existing driving assessment models that have intensified emissions and energy consumption. In this regard, this study aimed to establish the green driver’s behaviors related to fuel saving and emission reduction. The study has two phases. Phase one involves investigating the driving behaviors influencing fuel saving and emission reduction through a systematic literature review and content analysis, which identified twenty-one variables classified into four clusters. These clusters included the following: (i) FE f1 , which is driving style; (ii) FE f2 , which is driving behavior associated with vehicle transmission; (iii) FE f3 , which is driving behavior associated with road design and traffic rules; and (iv) FE f4 , which is driving behavior associated with vehicle operational characteristics. The second phase involves validating phase one findings by applying the Grounded Group Decision Making (GGDM) method. The results of GGDM have established seventeen green driving behaviors. The study conducted the Green Value (GV) analysis for each green behavior on fuel saving and emission reduction. The study found that aggressive driving (GV = 0.16) interferes with the association between fuel consumption, emission and driver’s personalities. The research concludes that driver’s personalities (including physical, psychological and psychosocial characteristics) have to be integrated for advanced in-vehicle driver assistance system and particularly, for green driving accreditation.
Grid optimization based methods for estimating and tracking doubly spread underwater acoustic channels

In this paper, the methods for estimating and tracking sparse doubly spread channels in single-carrier coherent communications are investigated. The sparse doubly spread channel is parameterized by a few paths with different delays, Doppler scales, and gains. Based on the model, a low-complexity channel estimation algorithm is proposed. The channel estimation is divided into two stages, the first for path delays, and the second for the corresponding residual Dopplers and gains. In either stage, parameters are estimated iteratively with the help of adaptive grid optimization, which can dramatically reduce computational complexity. We also propose a channel tracking algorithm, which takes advantage of the estimation result from the previous frame, to further reduce the complexity. Simulation results have demonstrated that the proposed method can achieve a comparable performance with much lower complexity compared to the existing two-stage approach with OMP.
Dermal exposure: a decade of real progress.

Dermal exposure assessment explores the dynamic interaction between environmental contaminants and the skin. Phenol poisonings due to percutaneous absorption were recognized as an occupational health hazard as early as 1880, and the introduction of tetraethyl lead as a gasoline additive in the 1920’s resulted in multiple fatalities due to occupational skin exposure (Diechmann, 1949; Hamilton et al., 1925). The recent fatal poisoning of a university researcher in the United States from absorption of dimethyl mercury drew public attention not only to the ability of chemicals to move through healthy skin, but also to the inadequacy of gloves often used for protection in laboratory settings (Smith, 1997). Despite these dramatic events, dermal exposure assessment has remained a nascent field of scientific inquiry for most of the 20 century, caught as it is between the serious problem of occupational dermatitis and occupational hygiene’s primary focus on respiratory health hazards. Yet substantial advances in the science of dermal exposure assessment have occurred during the past ten years. If the 1980s were a time of widespread recognition of the importance of skin exposure in modern industrial and residential environments, the 1990s have seen the beginnings of a systematic characterization of the field. This issue of theAnnalspresents the findings of a group of dedicated occupational health scientists from across the European Community, and provides a timely update of conceptual and methodological advances in workplace dermal exposure assessment. The genesis of this effort can be found in a workshop on dermal exposure at the 1992 meeting of International Occupational Hygiene Association in Brussels, Belgium (Marquart et al., 1994). A subsequent
Solid parotid tumors: an individual and integrative analysis of various ultrasonographic criteria. A prospective and observational study.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of the study is to identify and validate ultrasound criteria for parotid tumors evaluation, as well as to elaborate a multimodal, multi-criteria and integrative ultrasound approach for allowing tumor discrimination in a non-invasive manner. MATERIAL AND METHOD Twenty patients with solid parotid tumors (12 benign, 8 malignant) were examined by ultrasound: real-time "grey scale" ultrasound, Doppler ultrasound, elastography, harmonic ultrasound imaging with i.v. contrast (CEUS). The study focused on tumor morphology and circulation. The analysis of the results was observational, enhanced by statistical methods and artificial intelligence (decision trees). RESULTS All malignant tumors showed increased hypoechogenicity, tumoral cervical adenopathies, increased stiffness and "in block" mobility with the parotid gland upon palpation with the transducer, uneven distribution of the contrast material during the arterial phase (8/8). To varying degrees, they showed imprecise delineation (7/8), structural heterogeneity (6/8) and disorganized flow pattern (6/8). All cases of benign tumors showed heterogeneous echostructure, clear delineation and no capsule (12). They also showed moderate hypoechogenicity (9/12), no cervical lymph nodes (11/12) and variable rigidity (increased 6/12; low 3/12). A selection and ranking of relevant ultrasound parameters was also made. Some of them were included in a transparent and easy-to-use decision tree model with 100% data accuracy. CONCLUSIONS The characterization and discrimination of solid parotid tumors require a multimodal and multicriteria approach. Ultrasound criteria can be divided into criteria of certainty and criteria of diagnosis probability. CEUS examination of parotid tumors did not reveal significant differences between benign and malignant circulatory bed. Decision trees discovered by artificial intelligence from the data may represent intelligent diagnosis support systems with very high accuracy, up to 100%.
Reciprocal induction of human dermal microvascular endothelial cells and human mesenchymal stem cells: time‐dependent profile in a co‐culture system

Angiogenesis is closely associated with osteogenesis where reciprocal interactions between endothelial and osteoblast cells play an important role in bone regeneration. For these reasons, the aim of this work was to develop a co‐culture system to study in detail any time‐dependent interactions between human mesenchymal stem cells (HMSC) and human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMEC), co‐cultured in a 2D system, for 35 days.
Cost-effectiveness of universal screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea in US jails

Universal screening for the sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) of chlamydia and gonorrhea on intake in jails has been proposed as the most effective strategy to decrease morbidity in inmates and to reduce transmission risk in communities after release. Most inmates come from a population that is at elevated risk for STDs and has limited access to health care. However, limited resources and competing priorities force decision makers to consider the cost of screening programs in comparison to other needs. The costs and cost-effectiveness of universal screening in correctional settings have not been documented. We estimated the incremental cost-effectiveness of universal urine-based screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea among inmates on intake in US jails compared to the commonly used practice of presumptive treatment of symptomatic inmates without laboratory testing. Decision analysis models were developed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of screening alternatives and were applied to hypothetical cohorts of male and female inmates. For women, universal screening for chlamydia only was cost-saving to the health care system, averting more health care costs than were incurred in screening and treatment. However, for men universal chlamydia screening cost $4,856 more per case treated than presumptive treatment. Universal screening for both chlamydia and gonorrhea infection cost the health care system $3,690 more per case of pelvic inflammatory disease averted for women and $650 more per case of infection treated for men compared to universal screening for chlamydia only. Jails with a high prevalence of chlamydia and gonorrhea represent an operationally feasible and cost-effective setting to universally test and treat women at high risk for STDs and with limited access to care elsewhere.
Special symposium: fixation and tissue processing models

Abstract Fixation and processing of tissue to paraffin blocks permit thin (4-5 µm) sections of tissues to be cut. Tissues and their subcellular components and surrounding stroma are visualized by cutting thin sections and staining them histochemically or immunohistochemically and viewing the sections using a bright field microscope. During the last century, anatomists and pathologists have used fixation with 10% neutral buffered formalin (10% NBF) as the fixative of choice. Also, both human and veterinary pathologists have trained to use fixation with 10% NBF, so these professionals are reluctant to change the familiar microscopic appearance of diagnostic tissues by using different fixatives. In addition, the effects of tissue processing on the microscopic appearance of tissue essentially has been ignored in most studies. Archives of paraffin blocks of pathological tissue contain essentially paraffin blocks fixed in 10% NBF. Therefore, if retrospective studies use archival paraffin blocks to correlate the molecular features of diseases with their outcomes, the studies must be based on tissue fixed in 10% NBF. Studies of how fixation in 10% NBF interacts with histochemical and immunohistochemical staining are limited in number and most are based on relatively long fixation times (≥36 h). Currently, fixation times in 10% NBF have been reduced to <24 h. Little is known about fixation in 10% NBF and its interaction with tissue processing for any period of fixation, especially short times. Less is known about how fixation of tissues with 10% NBF interacts with more modern assays using immunohistochemistry, real time quantitative polymerise chain reaction (PCR), and techniques that depend on analysis of proteins extracted from paraffin blocks including multiplex immunoassays or mass spectrometry. In general, multiple antibody–antigen combinations are reported not to work in tissues fixed in 10% NBF, i.e., loss of immunorecognition is nearly complete for such antibody–antigen combinations as Ki67/MIB, estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and Progesterone receptor (PR), and partial for Bcl-2. Several models have been developed to study the interactions of tissue fixation and immunorecognition, but most have viewed the problem with immunorecognition as completely caused by fixation. Also, some of the models discussed in this special symposium do not predict the effects of fixation on frozen tissues fixed in 10% NBF and not processed to paraffin blocks. This article is a brief review of issues attending the use of 10% NBF combined with tissue processing as an interrelated process to study biomarkers identified by immunohistochemistry.
Immunolabelling of intervessel pits for polysaccharides and lignin helps in understanding their hydraulic properties in Populus tremula × alba.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The efficiency and safety functions of xylem hydraulics are strongly dependent on the pits that connect the xylem vessels. However, little is known about their biochemical composition and thus about their hydraulic properties. In this study, the distribution of the epitopes of different wall components (cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectins and lignins) was analysed in intervessel pits of hybrid poplar (Populus tremula × alba). METHODS Immunogold labelling with transmission electron microscopy was carried out with a set of antibodies raised against different epitopes for each wall polysaccharide type and for lignins. Analyses were performed on both immature and mature vessels. The effect of sap ionic strength on xylem conductance was also tested. KEY RESULTS In mature vessels, the pit membrane (PM) was composed of crystalline cellulose and lignins. None of the hemicellulose epitopes were found in the PM. Pectin epitopes in mature vessels were highly concentrated in the annulus, a restricted area of the PM, whereas they were initially found in the whole PM in immature vessels. The pit border also showed a specific labelling pattern, with higher cellulose labelling compared with the secondary wall of the vessel. Ion-mediated variation of 24 % was found for hydraulic conductance. CONCLUSIONS Cellulose microfibrils, lignins and annulus-restricted pectins have different physicochemical properties (rigidity, hydrophobicity, porosity) that have different effects on the hydraulic functions of the PM, and these influence both the hydraulic efficiency and vulnerability to cavitation of the pits, including ion-mediated control of hydraulic conductance. Impregnation of the cellulose microfibrils of the PM with lignins, which have low wettability, may result in lower cavitation pressure for a given pore size and thus help to explain the vulnerability of this species to cavitation.
Non‐selective cation channel activity is required for lysophosphatidylcholine‐induced monocyte migration

Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) is a major atherogenic lipid which stimulates the recruitment of monocytes to atherosclerotic lesions. The physiological mechanisms underlying LPC‐induced monocyte migration are poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that LPC activates non‐selective cation channels, which are significantly involved in LPC‐induced chemotaxis of monocytes. External LPC elicited the activation of non‐selective cation currents in THP‐1 monocytes, which occurred in a G protein and phospholipase C‐independent manner. LPC‐activated currents were almost completely inhibited by Gd3+, La3+, and TRAM‐34. Furthermore, currents were partially reduced by either 2‐aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2‐APB) or ruthenium red, while combined application of 2‐APB and ruthenium red abolished LPC‐activated currents. The 2‐APB‐sensitive current component was potentiated by flufenamic acid and Ca2+‐free extracellular solution, while the ruthenium red‐sensitive current component was abolished by capsazepine. This pharmacological profile suggests that LPC simultaneously activates TRPC6 and TRPV1 channels in monocytes. Furthermore, in the presence of Gd3+, La3+, TRAM‐34, 2‐APB, ruthenium red or capsazepine, LPC‐induced chemotaxis of monocytes was substantially inhibited, indicating that activation of both channel types is required for optimal migration of LPC‐stimulated monocytes. Thus, ion channel inhibition may represent a powerful strategy to attenuate the progression of atherosclerosis by reducing monocyte infiltration. J. Cell. Physiol. 221: 325–334, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.