Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Control of discontinuous gas exchange in Samia cynthia: effects of atmospheric oxygen, carbon dioxide and moisture

SUMMARY The evolution of discontinuous gas exchange (DGE) in insects is highly controversial. Adaptive hypotheses which have obtained experimental support include a water savings mechanism for living in dry environments (hygric hypothesis), a reduction in oxidative damage due to a high-performance oxygen delivery system (oxidative damage hypothesis), and the need for steep intratracheal partial pressure gradients to exchange gases under the hypercapnic and/or hypoxic conditions potentially encountered in subterranean environments (chthonic hypothesis). However, few experimental studies have simultaneously assessed multiple competing hypotheses within a strong inference framework. Here, we present such a study at the species level for a diapausing moth pupa, Samia cynthia. Switching gas conditions from controlled normoxic, normocapnic and intermediate humidity to either high or low oxygen, high or low moisture, elevated carbon dioxide, or some combination of these, revealed that DGE was abandoned under all conditions except high oxygen, and high or low gas moisture levels. Thus, support is found for the oxidative damage hypothesis when scored as maintenance of DGE. Modulation of DGE under either dry or hyperoxic conditions suggested strong support for the oxidative damage hypothesis and some limited support for the hygric hypothesis. Therefore, this study demonstrates that the DGE can be maintained and modulated in response to several environmental variables. Further investigation is required using a strong-inference, experimental approach across a range of species from different habitats to determine how widespread the support for the oxidative damage hypothesis might be.
Cooperative spectrum sensing scheduling optimization in multi-channel dynamic spectrum access networks

Dynamic spectrum access (DSA) for secondary networks improves the spectrum utilization by finding spectrum opportunities and exploiting them efficiently. A key factor to design a DSA network is the spectrum sensing algorithms for multiple channels with multiple users. Multi-user cooperative channel sensing reduces the sensing time, thus increasing the transmission throughput. However, in a multi-channel system, the problem becomes more complex since a sensing schedule, indicating to each user the channel that it must sense at different sensing moments, must be created to optimize system performance. In this paper, we first propose a general sensing strategy to schedule the users according to network parameters. We propose three sensing strategies, and within each one of them several solutions striking a balance between throughput performance, memory usage, and computational complexity are proposed. In addition, we show that the proposed sequential sensing strategy is the one to be preferred when the sensing time is small, the number of channels is large, and the number of users is small. For all the other cases, the parallel sensing strategy is recommended in terms of throughput performance. We also show that a proposed hybrid sequential-parallel sensing strategy achieves the best performance in all scenarios at the cost of extra complexity.
Canine Genetics Offers New Mechanisms for the Study of Human Cancer

In this month's CEBP , Antuofermo et al. ([1][1]) offer new insights into spontaneous intraepithelial lesions using the dog as a discovery tool. In humans, ∼500,000 intraepithelial lesions are diagnosed every year, generally through mammographic screening ([2][2]). Intraepithelial lesions include
The relationship of angiogenic factors to maternal and neonatal manifestations of early‐onset and late‐onset preeclampsia

An imbalance between angiogenic and antiangiogenic factors has been implicated in the pathogenesis and severity of preeclampsia. In this study, we evaluated serum levels of an angiogenic factor and an antiangiogenic factor – placental growth factor (PlGF) and soluble fms‐like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt‐1), respectively – in pregnant women with preeclampsia, as well as evaluating the impact of those factors on maternal and fetal outcomes.
EFFECTS OF SUBSTANCE P INJECTED INTO THE SUBSTANTIA NIGRA

1 Behavioural and biochemical effects of substance P (SP, 1 to 10 μg) administered in a small volume to discrete areas of the rat's brain were studied by means of a refined microinjection technique. 2 SP injected unilaterally into the zona reticulata of the substantia nigra elicited dose‐dependent contraversive circling and an increase in dopamine turnover in the ipsilateral striatum. SP applied to the zona compacta or zona lateralis, or to the medial lemniscus, evoked ipsiversive turning with a fall in dopamine turnover and a rise in 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT) turnover in the corresponding striatum. 3 In both cases the onset of turning was immediate, reached a peak at about 5 min and lasted for 10 min. Both types of behaviour were blocked by haloperidol and exaggerated by nialamide. 4 Unilateral injections of SP given into the crus cerebri, zona incerta, caudate nucleus, putamen or globus pallidus did not modify the animal's behaviour. 5 In rats pretreated with apomorphine or amphetamine, SP induced contraversive circling which was followed by locomotion in the opposite direction. 6 Turning responses to a second dose of SP were diminished at 3 h and reproducible at 24 h after the first injection. 7 Bacitracin (50 ng) injected into the zona reticulata caused ipsiversive turning. Larger intranigral doses of bacitracin (10 μg), as with intracisternal SP (10 μg), evoked ‘barrel rotation’. 8 No changes in the free concentrations of aspartate, glutamate, γ‐aminobutyric acid, glycine or alanine were detected in any brain region following an intracisternal injection of 10 μg SP, although glutamine levels were elevated throughout the brain 30 to 60 min later.
Vorkommen von Antikörpern gegen das bovine Immunschwächevirus bei Rindern in Bayern

Zusammenfassung Im Rahmen einer epidemiologischen Untersuchung zur Infektion mit dem bovinen Immunschwächevirus (BIV) bei Rindern in Oberbayern erfolgten zwei Studien, in denen Serum mittels indirektem ELISA auf BIV-Antikörper untersucht wurde. Die ELISA-Ergebnisse der BIV-positiven Tiere der Studie I wurden mittels Western Blot bestätigt. In Studie I wurde Blut von 173 ungezielt ausgewählten Rinderpatienten der II. Medizinischen Tierklinik der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München untersucht. Von diesen waren acht Tiere BIV-infiziert. Das entspricht einer Prävalenz von 4,6%. Alle positiven Tiere waren über zwei Monate alt. In Studie II wurden 550 Kühe aus 11 oberbayerischen landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben untersucht. Hiervon waren 11 Tiere BIVAntikör-perpositiv. Dies entspricht einer Prävalenz von 2,0%. Die positiven Tiere stammten aus fünf Betrieben mit Boxenlaufstallhaltung. Kein Tier aus Betrieben mit Anbindehaltung war positiv. In Studie II lag das Durchschnittsalter der Kühe aus den Betrieben ohne BIV-infizierte Tiere signifikant höher als in den Betrieben mit BIV-infizierten Tieren. Die Prävalenz von BIV-Antikörpern war zwar unter den kranken Probanden aus Studie I signifikant höher als bei den klinisch unauffälligen Rindern der Studie II, die pathogene Bedeutung des BIV erscheint jedoch fraglich.
Plant aquaporins.

Aquaporins are ubiquitous membrane channel proteins that facilitate and regulate the permeation of water across biological membranes. Aquaporins are members of the MIP family and some of them seem to be also able to transport other molecules such as urea or glycerol. In the plant kingdom, a single plant expresses a considerably large number of MIP homologues. These homologues can be subdivided into four groups (PIP, TIP, NIP, SIP) with highly conserved amino acid sequences and intron positions in each group. Since their discovery, advancing knowledge of their structure led to an understanding of the basic features of the water transport mechanism. An optimal water balance is essential to the homeostasis of most organisms, and aquaporins may be one of the mechanisms involved under changing environmental and developmental conditions. In fact, this may be one reason for the abundance and diversity of aquaporins, in particular in plants. In addition, exposure to different types of stress alters water relations and thus, aquaporins may be involved in stress responses as well. The transcriptional and/or post-translational regulation of aquaporins would determine changes in membrane water permeability. Both phosphorylation and translocation to/from vesicles have been reported as post-translational mechanisms. However, translocation in plants has not yet been shown. Although significant advances have been achieved, complete understanding of aquaporin function and regulation remains elusive.
Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells

Mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells are derived from mouse blastocyst and are able to generate all embryonic tissues in vitro. This propensity of ES cells has acquired considerable attention in recent years due to the promising potential for future cell replacement–based therapies. Therefore, it is of fundamental interest to establish protocols that allow the differentiation of ES cells into specific cell types. In recent years, several such differentiation procedures have been described for mouse and human embryonic stem cells. This unit describes a simple procedure that promotes the neuronal differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells and yields a high proportion of midbrain dopaminergic neurons. Furthermore, this procedure permits the isolation of neural stem cell lines from mouse ES cells. Curr. Protoc. Neurosci. 47:3.6. 1‐3.6. 21. © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Predictive control of MultiCell converters

The new power converter topologies based on the serial and parallel association of classical commutation cells are a good way for increasing the quality of the output signals while the power driven by the converters increases. The control strategies used with this type of converters must be able to ensure good control of the internal variables, such as differential currents in the parallel connection or voltages in flying capacitors, in order to get a correct behavior of the structure. This paper presents the application of the Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy and an innovative strategy based on MPC but using variable commutation instants in a power converter topology with two Flying Capacitor (FC) converters connected in parallel. Some points of comparison between the two strategies are also mentioned.
Applications of high efficiency lithium acetate transformation of intact yeast cells using single‐stranded nucleic acids as carrier

The highly efficient yeast lithium acetate transformation protocol of Schiestl and Gietz (1989) was tested for its applicability to some of the most important need of current yeast molecular biology. The method allows efficient cloning of genes by direct transformation of gene libraries into yeast. When a random gene pool ligation reaction was transformed into yeast, the LEU2, HIS3, URA3, TRP1 and ARG4 genes were found among the primary transformations at a frequency of approximately 0·1%. The RAD4 gene, which is toxic to Escherichia coli, was also identified among the primary transformants of a ligation library at a frequency of 0·18%. Non‐selective transformation using this transformation proctocol was shown to increase the frequency of gene disruption three‐fold. Co‐transformation showed that 30–40% of the transformation‐competent cells take up more than one DNA molecule which can be used to enrich for integration and delection events 30‐ to 60‐fold. Co‐transformation was used in the construction of simultaneous double gene disruptions as well as disrupting both copies of one gene in a diploid which occurred at 2–5% the frequency of the single event.
A note on recursive functions

In this paper, we propose a new and elegant definition of the class of recursive functions, which is analogous to Kleene's definition but differs in the primitives taken, thus demonstrating the computational power of the concurrent programming language introduced in Walters (1991), Walters (1992) and Khalil and Walters (1993). The definition can be immediately rephrased for any distributive graph in a countably extensive category with products, thus allowing a wide, natural generalization of computable functions.
New Vessels after Stroke: Postischemic Neovascularization and Regeneration

The formation of new blood vessels after acute ischemic stroke is one of the most promising approaches to future therapies in the emerging field of stroke medicine. Angiogenesis and postnatal vasculogenesis are the underlying mechanisms of the formation of new blood vessels. Bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are thought to play an important role in neovascularization and during the regenerative processes after a vascular injury as well as in the maintenance of endothelial integrity. This review summarizes possible mechanisms of angiogenesis, postischemic neovascularization and regeneration with a focus on the potential role of EPCs as a risk marker and as a therapeutic target in stroke medicine.
Lifetime extended cooperative MAC protocol for wireless LANs

Cooperative communication techniques exploit diversity gain to improve the network throughput based on cooperation of multiple data transmissions. In wireless local area networks (WLAN), the whole network throughput can be increased by letting high-rate stations relay traffic from low-rate stations. However, such kind of strategy may lead to a shorter network lifetime due to additional energy consumption. In this paper, we propose a MAC protocol, namely Lifetime Extended Cooperative MAC protocol (LECMAC), to maximize both the network lifetime and throughput. In our MAC protocol, a dynamic score is assigned to each station for evaluating its availability and performance when acting as a relay station. Based on the score of each station, a scoring scheme is designed to determine whether a relay station is needed or not, and which station is the best choice for relaying traffic in the packet transmission. Extensive analysis and simulation results demonstrate that the throughput can be increased significantly with the extended network lifetime by the proposed LECMAC.
A 952MS/s Max-Log MAP Decoder Chip using Radix-4 × 4 ACS Architecture

In this paper, a high-speed Max-Log MAP decoder is presented for soft-in and soft-out trellis decoding. The high throughput is achieved with a two-dimensional ACS design on the high-radix trellis structure, resulting in a highly parallel and area-efficient decoder. We further apply the retiming technique to reduce the critical path delay of ACS operation. After 0.13 mum CMOS chip implementation, the decoder occupies 1.96 mm2 area containing 220 K gates. The estimated timing under the 1.08 V supply and the worst case corner shows that the test chip can achieve the maximum 952 MS/s throughput. To our knowledge, the present Max-Log MAP decoder has the highest throughput with the modest hardware cost.
Engineering of the α‐amylase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus US100 for detergent incorporation

AmyUS100ΔIG is a variant of the most thermoactive and thermostable maltohexaose forming α‐amylase produced by Geobacillus stearothermophilus sp.US100. This enzyme which was designed to improve the thermostability of the wild‐type enzyme has acquired a very high resistance to chelator agents. According to modeling structural studies and with the aim of enhancing its resistance towards chemical oxidation, a mutant (AmyUS100ΔIG/M197A) was created by substituting methionine 197 to alanine. The catalytic proprieties of the resulting mutant show alterations in the specific activity and the profile of starch hydrolysis. Interestingly, AmyUS100ΔIG/M197A displayed the highest resistance to oxidation compared to the AmyUS100ΔIG and to Termamyl300®, the well‐known commercial amylase used in detergent. Further, performance of the engineered α‐amylase was estimated in the presence of commonly used detergent compounds and a wide range of commercial detergent (liquid and solid). These studies indicated a high compatibility and performance of AmyUS100ΔIG/M197A, suggesting its potential application in detergent industry. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;102: 380–389. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PM2.5 Speciation Trends Network: Evaluation of Whole-System Uncertainties Using Data from Sites with Collocated Samplers

Abstract The objectives of this paper are to contrast the relative variability of replicate laboratory measurements of selected chemical components of fine particulate matter (PM) with total variability from collocated measurements and to compare the magnitudes of the uncertainties determined from collocated sampler data with those currently being provided to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Air Quality System (AQS) database by RTI International (RTI). Pointwise uncertainty values are needed for modeling and data analysis and should include all the random errors affecting each data point. Total uncertainty can be decomposed into two primary components: analytical measurement uncertainty and sampling uncertainty. Analytical measurement uncertainties are relatively easy to calculate from routine quality control (QC) data. Sampling uncertainties, on the other hand, are comparatively difficult to measure. In this paper, the authors describe data from collocated samplers to provide a snapshot of whole-system uncertainty for several important chemical species. The components of uncertainty were evaluated for key species from each of the analytical methods employed by the PM2.5 Speciation Trends Network (STN) program: gravimetry, ion chromatography (IC), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and thermal-optical analysis for organic carbon and elemental carbon. The results show that the laboratory measurement uncertainties are typically very small compared with uncertainties calculated from the differences between samples collected from collocated samplers. These differences are attributable to the “field” components uncertainty, which may include contamination and/or losses during shipping, handling, and sampling, as well as other distortions of the concentration level due to flow and sample volume variations. Uncertainties calculated from the collocation results were found to be generally similar to the uncertainties currently being loaded into EPA’s AQS system, with some exceptions described below.
Cytoarchitectonic study of the brain of a perciform species, the sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). II. The diencephalon

The cytoarchitecture of nuclei in the preoptic area, ventral thalamus, dorsal thalamus, epithalamus, hypothalamus, posterior tuberculum, synencephalon, and pretectum and the accessory optic nuclei was analyzed in a perciform teleost, the sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax, by using serial sections stained with cresyl‐violet. In general, the cytoarchitecture of the preoptic area, ventral and dorsal thalamus, epithalamus, and synencephalon resembles the histological pattern of other teleosts. However, the parvocellular preoptic nucleus of sea bass has been subdivided into parvocellular and anteroventral parts for morphological and functional reasons. The hypothalamus of the sea bass seems to differ slightly from that of other teleosts. An elaborated lateral tuberal nucleus, with five subdivisions, and three different nuclei around the lateral recesses were recognized. A medial nucleus of the inferior lobe, which has been reported previously in the perciform Sparus aurata, is also present in the hypothalamus of sea bass but has not been described before in another advanced teleost. The organization of the pretectum and the accessory optic system is essentially similar in sea bass to that described in other perciforms with highly developed vision. The migrated portion of the posterior tuberculum of sea bass appears to differ from this region of the diencephalon in other teleosts. In sea bass, three cell masses that have been described previously only in the perciform Sparus aurata have been assigned to the migrated area of the posterior tuberculum. This study will provide the neuroanatomical basis for future morpho‐functional studies to be done in the sea bass brain. J. Morphol. 247:229–251, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Living Close to a Person With Cancer: A Review of the International Literature and Implications for Social Work Practice

To help family caregivers (FCs), social workers need to understand the complexity of FC’s experiences and challenges. For this systematic review, several relevant, multidisciplinary electronic databases were searched. Of 1,643 titles identified, 108 articles met the inclusion criteria and are included in this review. Various experiences, symptoms, and burden related to caregiving responsibilities are described and discussed. The understanding evolving from this study about the FC’s own health risk, caregiver burden, and experiences over time can enhance a social worker’s awareness of an FC’s challenging situation and the potential impact this has on the FC’s ability to provide care to the patient.
The role of somatic mutation in determining the affinity of anti‐DNA antibodies

Combinatorial antibody libraries were constructed from the spleen of a patient with concomitant systemic lupus erythematosus and idiopathic thrombocytopenia. Following selection of the libraries with DNA, a panel of 15 anti‐DNA Fabs was isolated. Sequence analysis of these antibodies coupled with measurements of their affinities for ss‐ and dsDNA were used to investigate the role of somatic mutation in affinity maturation of the anti‐DNA response. Examination of the germline genes used by these Fabs supports previous studies that suggest there is no restriction of the gene usage in the anti‐DNA response. However, data are presented indicating that VH3 genes and the A27 V paired with the J1 may be over‐expressed in the anti‐DNA repertoire. Analysis of the role of somatic mutation in increasing affinity for DNA indicates that affinity maturation has occurred and suggests that the CDR1 and CDR2 of the heavy chain are of importance in this process.
Design for diagnosability of CMOS circuits

This paper presents a new approach to improving the diagnosability of a CMOS circuit by dividing it into independent partitions and using a separate power supply for each partition. This technique makes it possible to implement multiple I/sub DDQ/ measurement points. As a result, the diagnosability of the circuit can be improved. The problem of partitioning a circuit is addressed and optimum and heuristic solutions are proposed. The effectiveness of our approach is demonstrated through experimental results.
Impact of the spectrum, location and interconnection between solar cells in the annual production of photovoltaic energies in photovoltaic concentration systems

In this work we study the use of independently connected tandem solar cells (MJSC-IC) which are less sensitive to changes in the solar spectrum than series connected tandem solar cells (MJSC-SC). The efficiency of the maximum annual energy production has been calculated taking into account the variation in the spectrum and the efficiency of the cells. The results confirm the MJSC-IC have an annual energy production efficiency greater than the MJSC-SC. These suggest that it may be better to develop a 5-union MJSC-IC rather than increase the number of solar cells from 5 to 6 in the MJSC-SCs.