Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using locations to store shape: an indirect effect of a lesion.

This study had three general points. First, it examined possible visual consequences of frontal lesions. A patient with focal damage to the subcortical regions of the left frontal lobe, and a small amount of damage near Broca's area, was predicted to have impaired brain function in posterior regions that are anatomically connected to the damaged site. Second, it showed the utility of using positron emission tomography (PET) in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging to characterize "functional lesions. " PET revealed reduced metabolism in posterior cortical loci that are innervated by fibers from the damaged regions. Some of the affected areas are hypothesized to be involved in visual functions, specifically the encoding of lines and edges. Third, a series of tests was designed to document that the patient had difficulty encoding visual stimuli, and then to distinguish among alternative possible causes of this deficit. The results suggested that the patient encoded shapes as sets of filled locations if possible, which allowed him to use intact processes subserved by brain areas that were not affected by the damage. The data were best explained if the lesion slowed processing in the ventral system (which encodes object properties), allowing the dorsal system (which encodes spatial properties) to produce a response more quickly than the ventral system.
Performance evaluation of solar photovoltaic system using maximum power tracking algorithm with battery backup

A simple and cost effective control technique has been proposed for MPPT from the photovoltaic array under varying climatic conditions (Irradiance w/m2 of the photovoltaic). This paper proposes an energy system combing solar photovoltaic with battery backup as a small-scale alternative source of electricity in rural areas. The proposed system is an attractive owing to its simplicity, ease of control and reliability. The paper also discusses about the in detail results for low and average irradiance cases are presented and analyzed in order to determine, how output power and other quantities are affected by changes in solar irradiance. In this, the solar cell is delivering power to both AC and DC loads with battery backup. The role of MPPT algorithm is to charge battery quickly, maximum utilization of solar power and also uninterrupted power supply when solar power fails. The system performance is analyzed with and without MPPT algorithm, if failure in solar power how the system responds with and without battery backup were evaluated using MATLAB/SIMULINK.
A novel function of IL-12p40 as a chemotactic molecule for macrophages.

IL-12p70 plays a pivotal role in regulating the Th1/Th2 balance in the initial stage of immune responses. In contrast, IL-12p40, which is produced excess over IL-12p70, has been known to down-regulate IL-12p70-mediated responses by acting as an antagonist. To investigate in vivo function of IL-12p40, RH7777 rat hepatoma cells were engineered to inducibly express mouse IL-12p40 under the tight control of doxycycline (dox). In the absence of dox, s.c. injection of these cells into syngeneic rat was shown to generate tumors. However, the induction of IL-12p40 by dox was sufficient for inhibiting tumor formation, as well as for tumor regression. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that macrophages, but not CD4+ T, CD8+ T, and NK cells, were predominantly recruited into tumor sites as early as 3 days after IL-12p40 induction. These results were further supported by the observation that IL-12p40, but not C-terminal deletion mutants by more than 5 amino acids, was able to chemoattract peritoneal macrophages in vitro, suggesting that IL-12p40, when produced in a large excess over IL-12p70 in vivo, can initially amplify the immune responses against tumors by directly recruiting macrophages. Our findings indicate that IL-12p40 may function as an effector molecule as well as an antagonist of IL-12p70.
Special Issue on Bipolar Disorder

The past two decades have seen a burgeoning of interest in Bipolar Disorder. This has been marked by a wealth of new research evidence but also by an increasing understanding of the significant impact that this illness has, not only for sufferers and their carers, but also for society. Bipolar Disorder is common. Bipolar Type I and Type II sub-types have a lifetime prevalence of between 1% and 2% and the Bipolar spectrum, a category about which much remains unknown, is found in up to an additional 5%. The World Health Organization has estimated that Bipolar Disorder is the 6th leading cause of disability worldwide among young adults (Murray & Lopez, 1997) underlining that Bipolar Disorder is a serious public health concern. Many patients make a relatively good symptomatic recovery from Bipolar Disorder but functional recovery lags well behind that. A recent pan European study revealed that two thirds of Bipolar patients have a moderate or poor outcome and employment rates in Bipolar Disorder are disappointingly low, particularly when the predicted trajectory of employment for many patients is taken into consideration (Goetz et al., 2007). Despite the large burden of Bipolar Disorder on patients, carers and society, research on Bipolar Disorder was relatively limited until about 10–15 years ago. In 2003, Clement and colleagues published a paper showing that the number of publications, grants and clinical trials in Bipolar Disorder up to the year 2000 was about a third of that of schizophrenia (Clement, Singh, & Burns, 2003). However, this situation has changed dramatically in the last decade and major advances are being made in the understanding of the disorder and its natural history and in the elucidation of its aetiopathogenesis and neurobiology. There has also been a large increase in the number of clinical trials and an improving evidence base for treatment. At the end of this decade it is timely that this special issue of the Journal of Mental Health is published and it includes four papers reviewing selected areas of exciting new research in Bipolar Disorder which illustrate the progress made. Bipolar Disorder has been a relative latecomer to the studies which utilize developments in neuroimaging. The paper by Cousins and Palaniyappan summarizes some of the new data in this field with a particular focus on the issue that Bipolar Disorder may be a disorder of network connectivity. There has been a considerable interest in studies which have shown that Bipolar patients, even when euthymic, have neurocognitive abnormalities, particularly in executive function tasks which link to the frontal cortex. However, studies have shown
The epidemiology of contact allergy in the general population – prevalence and main findings

A substantial number of studies have investigated the prevalence of contact allergy in the general population and in unselected subgroups of the general population. The aim of this review was to determine a median prevalence and summarize the main findings from studies on contact allergy in the general population. Published research mainly originates from North America and Western Europe. The median prevalence of contact allergy to at least 1 allergen was 21.2% (range 12.5–40.6%), and the weighted average prevalence was 19.5%, based on data collected on all age groups and all countries between 1966 and 2007. The most prevalent contact allergens were nickel, thimerosal, and fragrance mix. The median nickel allergy prevalence was 8.6% (range 0.7–27.8%) and demonstrates that nickel was an important cause of contact allergy in the general population and that it was widespread in both men and women. Numerous studies demonstrated that pierced ears were a significant risk factor for nickel allergy. Nickel was a risk factor for hand eczema in women. Finally, heavy smoking was associated with contact allergy, mostly in women. Population‐based epidemiological studies are considered a prerequisite in the surveillance of national and international contact allergy epidemics.
A longitudinal study of infant faecal microbiota during weaning.

For infants, the introduction of food other than breast milk is a high risk period due to diarrheal diseases, and may be corroborated with a shift in the faecal microbiota. This longitudinal study was the first undertaken to understand the effect of the supplementation on the infant's faecal microbiota and particularly the bifidobacteria. Eleven infants were enrolled. Their faecal microbiota were analysed using temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE) with bacterial and bifidobacterial primers. In parallel, bifidobacterial counts were followed using competitive PCR. Three periods were distinguished: exclusive breastfeeding (Bf period), weaning (i.e. formula-milk addition, W period) and postweaning (i.e. breastfeeding cessation, Pw period). The bifidobacterial counts were not modified, reaching 10.5 (Log10 cells g(-1) wet weight). In the TTGE profiles, the main identified bands corresponded to Escherichia coli, Ruminococcus sp. and Bifidobacterium sp. , more precisely Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium infantis and Bifidobacterium breve. For both TTGE profiles, the analysis of the distance suggested a maturation of the faecal microbiota but no correlation could be established with the diet. Despite a high interindividual variability, composition of the faecal microbiota appeared more homogenous after weaning and this point may be correlated with the cessation of breastfeeding.
Rule-based business collaboration development and management

Business collaboration is about cooperation between organisations by linking their business processes and exchanging messages. Collaborative business process development requires loose coupling between individual business processes so that they can interact freely across the internet; and that the collaboration can be established in a highly dynamic fashion and on-demand basis. Unfortunately, the current web service development and management solutions including the de facto standard Business Process Execution Language for Web Service (WS-BPEL) are too narrowly focused and not capable of addressing the requirements of business collaboration that demand agility and dynamics. To remedy this situation, we advocate an approach in which rules are used to develop and maintain the business collaboration. We first introduce a Business Collaboration Context Framework (BCCF), which provides enterprises with the context required for business collaboration.We then show how enterprises can capture this context via a modelling process. Following these preliminaries, we demonstrate how the modelling endeavour is controlled by rules, and how consistency can be assessed by these rules. Lastly, we demonstrate the feasibility of the approach in the form of a prototype called Icarus.
Lessons Learned Using Video Games in the Constructivist Undergraduate Engineering Classroom

As constructivism gains more popularity in undergraduate engineering classrooms, video games are used with more frequency for instructional purposes. In fact, many of the principles of constructivism are practiced in the classroom through the use of video games. Since the beginning of this educational trend, several studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect that some learning or recreational games have had on learners and on their mastery of learning objectives. Many of these studies have focused on specific sets of skills that specific video games can promote. Nevertheless, there is evidence that any type of video game, regardless of its learning or recreational nature, can help students develop certain knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) that could be useful for engineering education. This literature review will describe the KSAs that could be obtained in constructivistoriented classrooms when learners engage in any type of video game. The following research questions have guided this review: What KSAs do students learn when playing any type of video games? Why can video games be considered constructivist instructional materials? This research paper looks forward to demonstrating that beyond learning objectives that can be assigned to specific video games in the classroom, video games can teach KSAs that are implicit in each gaming opportunity, such as high-order thinking and decision-making skills, persistence, socialization, leadership skills, self-confidence, and autonomy and self-regulation.
The uptake and disposition of dl-norepinephrine in perfused rat lung.

The fate of dl -norepinephrine-H 3 (NE-H 3 ) in lung was examined after perfusion of the amine through the rat lung in vitro . Lung tissues concentrated tritium after perfusion with NE-H 3 ; however, chromatographic analysis showed that only 20% of retained radio-activity was due to unchanged NE, the remainder consisting of methylated and deaminated products. Treatment with both pargyline and tropolone significantly increased the total amount of tritium found in the lungs after perfusion with NE-H 3 and increased to 97% the activity associated with unchanged amine. Uptake of NE-H 3 was inhibited by cocaine. Experiments involving increasing concentrations of NE, perfused for 2, 5 or 10 minutes, showed that the uptake was saturable and had an apparent K m of 143 x 10 -7 M and V max of 360 ng (215 x 10 -3 mol) per mm per g. The uptake of epinephrine-H 3 was qualitatively similar to that for NE-H 3 , but the process appeared to have a much greater affinity for NE-H 3 . The loss of accumulated radioactivity was examined in control lungs and in those exposed to pargyline and tropolone. The curves for loss of tritium from control lungs were best described by a three-exponential-component system, whereas the curves from drug-treated lungs could be fitted adequately by a two-component system. It was calculated that accumulated NE is distributed between two functionally distinct sites. Autoradiographic and electron microscope studies indicated that accumulation of NE occurred mainly in the peripheral portions of the vascular and respiratory system, possibly in both endothelial and adventitial surfaces of capillaries. It is proposed that capillary endothelial cells may be important sites for inactivation of circulating NE and that, in the lung, both monoamine oxidase and catechol-O-methyltransferase play significant roles in the overall inactivation process.
Young adult e-cigarette users’ reasons for liking and not liking e-cigarettes: A qualitative study

Objective: To gain an in-depth understanding of what young adult electronic- or e-cigarette users like or dislike about e-cigarettes. We aimed to determine the reasons that may encourage young adults to use e-cigarettes or discourage them from using e-cigarettes. Design: Twelve focus group discussions were conducted with 62 current daily e-cigarette users (63% men) of mean age = 25.1 years (standard deviation = 5.5). Data were analysed following principles of inductive content analysis. Results: Results indicated 12 categories of reasons for liking e-cigarettes (e.g. recreation, smoking cessation) and 6 categories of reasons for not liking e-cigarettes (e.g. poor product quality, poor smoking experience). Conclusions: Young adults’ motives for using or not using e-cigarettes appear to be varied and their relative importance in terms of predicting e-cigarette use initiation, dependence, and cigarette/e-cigarette dual use needs to be carefully studied in population-based, empirical studies. The current findings suggest that e-cigarettes may serve social, recreational, and sensory expectancies that are unique relative to cigarettes and not dependent on nicotine. Further, successful use of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation will likely need higher standards of product quality control, better nicotine delivery efficiency and a counselling component that would teach smokers how to manage e-cigarette devices while trying to quit smoking cigarettes.
Im Jahr danach - Bestandsaufnahme und Analyse der Arbeitsmarktentwicklung in Ostdeutschland

Der Beitrag enthalt eine Bestandsaufnahme und Analyse der ostdeutschen Arbeitsmarktentwicklung sowie eine quantitative Abschatzung einiger Ruckwirkungen der ostdeutschen Importnachfrage auf die westdeutsche Volkswirtschaft. Ausgehend von einer Schatzung der tatsachlichen Unterauslastung des Faktors Arbeit in Ostdeutschland werden unterschiedliche Ursachen der Arbeitslosigkeit untersucht und zum Teil quantifiziert. Ein besonderes Augenmerk wird der Analyse des Lohnbildungsprozesses in Ostdeutschland gewidmet.
Mutational patterns of hepatitis B virus genome and clinical outcomes after emergence of drug‐resistant variants during lamivudine therapy: Analyses of the polymerase gene and full‐length sequences

It remains unclear whether mutational patterns of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome are associated with the development of severe hepatitis after the emergence of tyrosine‐methionine‐aspartate‐aspartate (YMDD) variants during lamivudine treatment. Thirty patients with chronic hepatitis B who had YMDD variants during lamivudine therapy and were followed up subsequently while receiving lamivudine alone for at least 6 months were examined retrospectively. The lamivudine resistant mutations in the HBV polymerase gene were detected by a line probe assay, and the full‐length sequences of HBV DNA were determined in some patients. Between months 5 and 33 of therapy, mutations from methionine to isoleucine at rt204 (rtM204I) were detected in 18 patients, and mutations from methionine to valine at rt204 (rtM204V) were detected in 12. The rtM204V mutations were always accompanied by mutations from leucine to methionine at rt180 (rtL180M), while rtM204I mutations were not. Baseline characteristics, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, and HBV DNA levels within 6 months after the emergence of YMDD variants did not differ significantly between patients with rtM204I alone and those with rtL180M/rtM204V. No specific mutation was identified on full‐length sequence analysis in three patients with a hepatitis flare. During long term follow‐up, the addition of rtL180M to rtM204I was found in four patients 7–31 months after detecting the change at rt204 and was linked to increased ALT levels. In conclusion, mutational patterns of HBV DNA at the time of emergence of YMDD variants were apparently unrelated to the clinical outcomes in Japanese patients with chronic hepatitis B during lamivudine therapy. J. Med. Virol. 79:1664–1670, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Commodity Taxes, Wage Determination and Profits

We examine the effects of two different types of commodity taxation, specific and ad valorem, on wages and profits. We analyze two models of wage determination, one with efficiency wage setting and one with union-firm bargaining. In the former, a (locally) revenue-neutral shift from specific to ad valorem taxation leads to an increase in both employment and wages and a reduction in profitability. In the latter, the effect on wages and profits may be reversed: predominantly ad valorem taxation raises employment but lowers wages, and under certain circumstances, the net effect is an increase in profits. Copyright 2001 by Blackwell Publishing Inc.
Discriminating 3(10)- from alpha-helices: vibrational and electronic CD and IR absorption study of related Aib-containing oligopeptides.

Model peptides based on -(Aib-Ala)(n)-, and (Aib)(n)-Leu-(Aib)(2) sequences, which have varying amounts of 3(10)-helical character, were studied by use of vibrational and electronic circular dichroism (VCD and ECD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) absorption spectroscopies to test the correlation of spectral response and conformation. The data indicate that these peptides, starting from a length of about four to six residues, predominantly adopt a 3(10)-helical conformation at room temperature. The longest model peptides, depending on the series, may evidence some alpha-helical contribution to the spectra, while the shorter ones, with less than six residues, have much less order. The IR absorption spectra (as supported by theory) showed only small frequency changes between 3(10)- and alpha-helices. By contrast, solvent effects are a source of much bigger perturbations. The ECD results show that the intensity ratio for the approximately 222-nm to approximately 208-nm bands, while useful for distinguishing between these two helical types in some sequences, may have a narrower range of application than VCD. However, the VCD data presented here continue to support the proposed discrimination between alpha- and 3(10)-helices based on qualitative amide I and II bandshape differences. The present study shows the intensities of the 3(10)-helical amide I (peak-to-peak) to its amide II VCD to be of the same order and useful for discriminating them from alpha-helices, whose amide I dominates the amide II in intensity. This qualitative result is experimentally independent of the amount of alphaMe-substituted residues in the sequence. These experimental VCD results are consistent in detail with theoretical spectral simulations for Ac-(Ala)(8)-NH(2), Ac-(Aib-Ala)(4)-NH(2), and Ac-(Aib)(8)-NH(2) in 3(10)- and alpha-helical conformations.
Time delay and coherence bandwidth measurements at 60 GHz in an indoor environment for WLANs

This work presents measurement results and characterization of a wideband radio channel at 60 GHz in an indoor environment. Time delay values are evaluated while the coherence bandwidth of the channel is derived by the frequency correlation function. The mean excess delay ranges from 1.13 to 29.26 ns and the rms delay spread from 4.28 to 35.92 ns for the entire laboratory environment. The coherence bandwidth of the channel yielded for 0.9-correlation varies from 3.77 to 49.37 MHz with a mean value of 19.08 MHz.
Analytical model of adhesion for analyzing biological and synthetic nanostructured fibrillar adhesive pads

Geckos are well recognized for their ability to cling to any type of surface. Previous studies reveal that thousands of fibrils on the toe tip of these animals produce enough force to carry their body weight by employing Van der Waals forces. Various mechanical models have been developed to describe these specific fiber-array structures. Almost in all of them fiber-array structures are assumed as array of cylindrical contact elements with constant height and similar length in contact with smooth surface. The present study demonstrates a novel analytical model capable of studying the effects of natural variations of contact elementspsila diameter and uneven contact surface on the total pull-off force produced. The results produced by this model show good agreement with previous experimental and natural observations.
Chronic Elevation of Estradiol in Young Ovariectomized Rats Causes Aging-Like Loss of Steroid-Induced Luteinizing Hormone Surges1

Abstract This study was designed to test the hypothesis that the loss of LH surges in response to the stimulatory actions of estradiol and progesterone in middle-aged, persistent-estrous (PE) rats may be caused by chronic elevations in circulating estradiol. Five groups of regularly cycling young rats received an s.c. estradiol implant immediately after ovariectomy (Day 0). For determination of LH surges, blood samples were collected hourly between 1200–1900 h from each of the five groups at one of the following times: 3 days, or 1, 2, 4, or 8 wk later. On the next day, either progesterone (0.5 mg/100 g BW) or corn oil was injected s.c. at 1200 h, and samples were obtained as before. Incidence and amplitude of estradiol-induced LH surges decreased during the first 2 wk of estradiol treatment, after which no surges occurred. Progesterone enhanced the incidence and amplitude of estradiol-induced LH surges thus delaying their disappearance. These results support our hypothesis and demonstrate that the stimulatory actions of estradiol and progesterone on the LH surge sequentially diminish with time after exposure to estradiol in young rats. Thus, young rats chronically treated with estradiol may be a useful model for studying the mechanisms whereby LH surges are abolished in middle age during the hyperestrogenic state of PE.