Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regression of Glomerular and Tubulointerstitial Injuries by Dietary Salt Reduction with Combination Therapy of Angiotensin II Receptor Blocker and Calcium Channel Blocker in Dahl Salt-Sensitive Rats

A growing body of evidence indicates that renal tissue injuries are reversible. We investigated whether dietary salt reduction with the combination therapy of angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker (ARB) plus calcium channel blocker (CCB) reverses renal tissue injury in Dahl salt-sensitive (DSS) hypertensive rats. DSS rats were fed a high-salt diet (HS; 4% NaCl) for 4 weeks. Then, DSS rats were given one of the following for 10 weeks: HS diet; normal-salt diet (NS; 0.5% NaCl), NS + an ARB (olmesartan, 10 mg/kg/day), NS + a CCB (azelnidipine, 3 mg/kg/day), NS + olmesartan + azelnidipine or NS + hydralazine (50 mg/kg/day). Four weeks of treatment with HS diet induced hypertension, proteinuria, glomerular sclerosis and hypertrophy, glomerular podocyte injury, and tubulointerstitial fibrosis in DSS rats. A continued HS diet progressed hypertension, proteinuria and renal tissue injury, which was associated with inflammatory cell infiltration and increased proinflammatory cytokine mRNA levels, NADPH oxidase activity and NADPH oxidase-dependent superoxide production in the kidney. In contrast, switching to NS halted the progression of hypertension, renal glomerular and tubular injuries. Dietary salt reduction with ARB or with CCB treatment further reduced blood pressure and partially reversed renal tissues injury. Furthermore, dietary salt reduction with the combination of ARB plus CCB elicited a strong recovery from HS-induced renal tissue injury including the attenuation of inflammation and oxidative stress. These data support the hypothesis that dietary salt reduction with combination therapy of an ARB plus CCB restores glomerular and tubulointerstitial injury in DSS rats.
Dose‐dependent inhibition of demyelination and microglia activation by IVIG

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is an established treatment for numerous autoimmune conditions. Clinical trials of IVIG for multiple sclerosis, using diverse dose regimens, yielded controversial results. The aim of this study is to dissect IVIG effector mechanisms on demyelination in an ex vivo model of the central nervous system (CNS)‐immune interface.
Cognitive Medium Access: A Protocol for Enhancing Coexistence in WLAN Bands

In this paper we propose cognitive medium access (CMA), a protocol aimed at improving coexistence with a set of independently evolving WLAN bands. A time-slotted physical layer for the cognitive radio is considered and CMA is derived based on experimental models. By recasting the problem as a constrained Markov decision process (CMDP), throughput is optimized while keeping interference below some given constraint. The optimal control policy is obtained via linear programming. In addition, we show that optimal CMA admits structured solutions which are computationally less expensive and allow further insight into the problem. Numerical results are presented for typical coexistence setups and show a significant performance improvement.
Effect of Intra-row Spacing on Growth and Development of Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill) Var. Roma VF, at the experimental site of Wollo University, South Wollo, Ethiopia

A field experiment was conducted at Wollo University experimental site during March to June 2013 cropping season. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of intra-row spacing on the growth and development of tomato. The experiment was conducted on a randomized complete block design with three replication. Only one variety Roma VF was used on the experiment. The treatment used are 20, 25, 30,35cms spacing between plants with an inter-row spacing of 70cm. Growth and development parameters were recorded and analyzed by using ANOVA. The result revealed that tomato plants planted at 30 and 35cms had higher branch number, flower and fruit number per plant but shorter in plant height. In general this research indicated that high plant density (narrow) spacing greatly affected plant. Significant effects (p≤0.05) of intra row spacing were observed for number of flower per plant. The wider spacing (30cm,35cm) had the highest flower per plant (53 and 56) and the lower spacing (20cm an 25cm) had lowest flower per plant ( 21 and 26). Significant effect (p≤0.05) of in the intra-row spacing was observed for number of branches per plant. A significant effect (p≤0.05) of intra row spacing was observed for plant height. The maximum height was recorded from lower spacing (20cm, 25cm) i.e. 51 and 44 and the minimum plant height were recorded from wider spacing i.e. 40 and 39. Highly significant effects (p≤0.01) of intra row spacing were observed for number of fruit and leaf area. The wider spacing (30cm and 35cm) had the highest fruit per plant (43 and 44) and the lower spacing (20cm an 25cm) had lowest fruit per plant (10 and 12cms).
Life-Threatening Hypocalcemia following Subtotal Parathyroidectomy in a Patient with Renal Failure and Previous Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery

Background. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) can result in calcium and vitamin D deficiency. Parathyroid surgery carries the risk of immediate and long-term hypocalcemia. Methods and Results. We describe a 54-year-old woman with history of end-stage renal disease and gastric bypass surgery who developed calciphylaxis requiring a 3.5-gland parathyroidectomy. Seven weeks later, she presented with weakness, perioral numbness, leg cramps, a positive Chvostek's sign, hypotension, prolonged QT-interval, and serum calcium of 5.4 mg/dL. Oral and intravenous calcium, calcitriol, and high calcium bath hemodialysis were given. She required 18 days of intravenous calcium and an outpatient maintenance regimen of calcitriol 6 mcg/day, calcium carbonate 8 grams/day, calcium citrate 1.2 grams/day, and ergocalciferol 50,000 IU/week. Conclusion. The patient's life-threatening prolonged hypocalcemia and large requirements of calcium and calcitriol were due to a combination of malabsorption, hypoparathyroidism, and renal failure. Special considerations should be given to bariatric surgery patients undergoing neck exploration.
Rethinking parafoveal processing in reading: Serial-attention models can explain semantic preview benefit and N+2 preview effects

During reading, some information about the word to the right of fixation in the parafovea is typically acquired prior to that word being fixated. Although some degree parafoveal processing is uncontroversial, its precise nature and extent are unclear. For example, can it advance up to the level of semantic processing? Additionally, can it extend across more than two spatially adjacent words? Affirmative answers to either of these questions would seemingly be problematic for serial-attention models of eye-movement control in reading, which maintain that attention is allocated to only one word at a time (see Reichle, 2011). However, in this paper we report simulation results using one such model, E-Z Reader (Reichle, Pollatsek, Fisher, & Rayner, 1998), to examine the two preceding questions. These results suggest the existence of both semantic preview and N+2 preview effects, indicating that they are not incompatible with serial-attention models. We discuss the implications of these findings for models of eye-movement control in reading and provide a new theoretical framework for conceptualizing parafoveal processing during reading and its influence on eye movement behaviour.
Cognitive functioning in people with epilepsy plus severe learning disabilities: a systematic analysis of predictors of daytime arousal and attention

In spite of the high prevalence of epilepsy and the importance of preserving cognitive function in people with learning disabilities, this population has received relatively little research attention. This study sets out systematically to investigate possible predictive factors of inter-ictal states of arousal and attention. The daytime function of 28 people with epilepsy and severe learning disabilities was assessed by performance on a two-choice reaction time vigilance task, behavioural analysis of time-sampled video recordings taken in naturalistic settings, and carer ratings on visual analogue scales. This methodology yielded eight discrete functional measures, from which two further index measures were derived after principal components analysis. A range of clinical and psychosocial assessments was completed and subjects had 36 hour ambulatory EEG and sleep EEG monitoring. Regression models identified significant predictors of cognitive function from a range of potential explanatory variables i.e. demographic, clinical, pharmacological, background EEG rhythms and sleep parameters. Results indicated that greater severity of learning disability, longer bedtime periods, poor sleep efficiency, frequent seizures and antiepileptic drug polytherapy were significant predictor variables. Explained variance (adjusted R2) was greater than 50% for six of 10 outcome variables (range up to 85%). Furthermore, significant regression equations (P < 0.05) were obtained for all but one variable. Thus, these results appear reasonably robust. Results support an interactional model of daytime arousal and attention in people with epilepsy plus severe learning disabilities. Inter-ictal cognitive function appears to be mediated by a combination of organic, circadian (sleep wake), clinical and pharmacological factors.
The Complex Regulation of Tanshinone IIA in Rats with Hypertension-Induced Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Tanshinone IIA has definite protective effects on various cardiovascular diseases. However, in hypertension-induced left ventricular hypertrophy (H-LVH), the signaling pathways of tanshinone IIA in inhibition of remodeling and cardiac dysfunction remain unclear. Two-kidney, one-clip induced hypertensive rats (n = 32) were randomized to receive tanshinone IIA (5, 10, 15 mg/kg per day) or 5% glucose injection (GS). Sham-operated rats (n = 8) received 5%GS as control. Cardiac function and dimensions were assessed by using an echocardiography system. Histological determination of the fibrosis and apoptosis was performed using hematoxylin eosin, Masson’s trichrome and TUNEL staining. Matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases type 2 (TIMP2) protein expressions in rat myocardial tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. Rat cardiomyocytes were isolated by a Langendorff perfusion method. After 48 h culture, the supernatant and cardiomyocytes were collected to determine the potential related proteins impact on cardiac fibrosis and apoptosis. Compared with the sham rats, the heart tissues of H-LVH (5%GS) group suffered severely from the oxidative damage, apoptosis of cardiomyocytes and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition. In the H-LVH group, tanshinone IIA treated decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content and increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Tanshinone IIA inhibited cardiomyocytes apoptosis as confirmed by the reduction of TUNEL positive cardiomyocytes and the down-regulation of Caspase-3 activity and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Meanwhile, plasma apelin level increased with down-regulation of APJ receptor. Tanshinone IIA suppressed cardiac fibrosis through regulating the paracrine factors released by cardiomyocytes and the TGF-β/Smads signaling pathway activity. In conclusion, our in vivo study showed that tanshinone IIA could improve heart function by enhancing myocardial contractility, inhibiting ECM deposition, and limiting apoptosis of cardiomyocytes and oxidative damage.
Investigating the Efficacy of a Web‐Based Early Reading and Professional Development Intervention for Young English Learners

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI), a professional development and early reading intervention program delivered via webcam technology, could support the early reading progress of English learners (ELs). Participants for the current study were drawn from a larger three-year randomized controlled trial and included 108 ELs from 47 classrooms randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. Teachers in treatment classrooms used the TRI in one-on-one sessions in the regular classroom for approximately 15 minutes per day. Weekly, and later biweekly, webcam coaching sessions between a TRI coach and each classroom teacher allowed the coach to interact with both the teacher and students in real time and allowed classroom teachers to receive real-time feedback from the coach. Two-level hierarchical linear models suggested that ELs struggling with learning to read in intervention classrooms significantly outperformed their peers in control classrooms on word-level measures of early reading, with effect sizes of . 43 and . 45, but not on text-level measures. Results also suggested that ELs struggling with learning to read were gaining at the same rate as their nonstruggling peers but were unable to catch up within the study year.
The Induction of Tolerance by Dendritic Cells That Have Captured Apoptotic Cells

What makes a protein immunogenic, particularly for strong T cell–mediated immunity? To a first approximation, this determination seems to be made by dendritic cells (DCs). Immature DCs, as in skin ([1][1])([2][2])([3][3])([4][4]), lung ([5][5]), blood ([6][6])([7][7]), and spleen ([7][7])([8][8
Proteomic indicators of oxidation and hydration state in colorectal cancer

New integrative approaches are needed to harness the potential of rapidly growing datasets of protein expression and microbial community composition in colorectal cancer (CRC). Chemical and thermodynamic models offer theoretical tools to describe populations of biomacromolecules and their relative potential for formation in different microenvironmental conditions. The average oxidation state of carbon (ZC) can be calculated as an elemental ratio from the chemical formulas of proteins, and water demand per residue is computed by writing the overall formation reactions of proteins from basis species. Using reported results from clinical proteomic studies and microbial community profiling, many datasets exhibit higher mean ZC or of proteins in carcinoma or adenoma compared to normal tissue. Microbial protein compositions have lower ZC in bacteria enriched in fecal samples from cancer patients. In thermodynamic calculations, the potential for formation of the cancer-related proteins is energetically favored by changes in the chemical activity of H2O and fugacity of O2 that reflect the compositional differences. The compositional analysis suggests that a systematic shift in chemical composition is an essential feature of the cancer proteome, and the thermodynamic descriptions show that the observed proteomic transformations could be promoted by microenvironments shifted toward more oxidizing conditions and increased hydration levels.
Comparing the Number of Syntactic and Morphological Mechanisms Used by Nigerian Children with Features of Asd and Sli

The similarity between language impairments in people with ASD and those diagnosed with SLI appear controversial. This study compares the number of syntactic and morphological components (SMs) employed by Nigerian children with features of an autism spectrum disorder (FASD) and their peers with structural language impairments (SLI). Fourteen children with FASD were matched with 14 children with SLI for mean length of utterance (MLU), sex, socio-economic status and language spoken at home. All came from middle income backgrounds and spoke English as their primary language. They had a mean MLUm of 2.1 morphemes and ranged in age from 2-12 years. The male: female ratio was 9:5 in favour of boys. A spontaneous language sample was obtained from each child during a 2 hour play session. The results were analyzed non-parametrically. They adduced that with MLU held constant; children in the FASD condition were significantly older than those with SLI. The number of utterances (UU) were held constant. Significantly more SMs were utilized by children with SLI than those with FASD. A positive correlation was found between MLU / SMs and MLU /UU for both groups. The strength of these relationships varied for each group. These results were interpreted with caution given the small sample size. The hypothesis that language impairment in FASD sufferers follows equivalent patterns to that exhibited by people with SLI was not upheld. Studies have highlighted differences in the linguistic abilities of Nigerian children with FASD and reports from the West. Implications for further research were addressed.
Classification and identification of stocks using SOM and genetic algorithm based backpropagation neural network

Investment in stock market is one of the most popular type of investment. There are many conventional techniques being used and these include technical and fundamental analysis. The main aim of every investor is to earn maximum possible return on investments. The main issue with any approach is the proper weighting of criteria to obtain a list of stocks that are suitable for investments. This paper proposes an improved method for stock picking using self-organizing maps and genetic algorithm based backpropagation neural networks. The stock selected using self-organizing maps and genetic algorithm based backpropagation neural networks outperformed the BSE-30 Index by about 30.17% based on one and half month of stock data.
Postoperative Quality of Life after Total Gastrectomy Compared with Partial Gastrectomy: Longitudinal Evaluation by European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer-OG25 and STO22

Purpose The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality-of-life questionnaire-OG25 was developed to evaluate the quality of life in patients with stomach and esophageal cancer. The following are included in the OG25 but not in the STO22: odynophagia, choked when swallowing, weight loss, trouble eating with others, trouble swallowing saliva, trouble talking, and trouble with coughing. In this study, we evaluated the quality of life of gastrectomized patients using both, the OG25 and the STO22. Materials and Methods A total of 138 patients with partial gastrectomy (PG) (distal gastrectomy=91; pylorus-preserving gastrectomy= 47) and 44 patients with total gastrectomy (TG) were prospectively evaluated. Body weight and scores from the OG25 and STO22 were evaluated preoperatively and at 3 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after surgery. Results Patients with TG had significant weight loss compared to patients with PG. At 3 months, TG was associated with worse scores for dysphagia, eating, odynophagia, trouble eating with others, trouble with taste, and weight loss on the OG25. TG was also associated with dysphagia, eating restrictions, and anxiety on the STO22. The OG25 helped differentiate between the groups with respect to weight loss, odynophagia, choked when swallowing, and trouble eating with others. The OG25 scores changed over time and were significantly different. Conclusions The OG25 is a more sensitive and useful scale than the STO22 for evaluating the quality of life of gastrectomized patients, especially those with total gastrectomy.
Gibbs vs. Non-Gibbs in the Equilibrium Ensemble Approach to Disordered Systems

We describe the salient ideas of the equilibrium ensemble approach to disordered systems, paying due attention to the appearance of non-Gibbsian measures. A canonical scheme of approximations — constrained annealing — is described and characterised in terms of a Gibbs' variational principle for the free energy functional. It provides a family of increasing exact lower bounds of the quenched free energy of disordered systems, and is shown to avoid the use of non-Gibbsian measures. The connection between the equilibrium ensemble approach and conventional low-concentration expansions or perturbation expan- sions about ordered reference systems is also explained. Finally applications of the scheme to a number of disordered Ising models and to protein folding are briefly reviewed.
The Impact of Long-Term Exposure to Space Environment on Adult Mammalian Organisms: A Study on Mouse Thyroid and Testis

Hormonal changes in humans during spaceflight have been demonstrated but the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. To clarify this point thyroid and testis/epididymis, both regulated by anterior pituitary gland, have been analyzed on long-term space-exposed male C57BL/10 mice, either wild type or pleiotrophin transgenic, overexpressing osteoblast stimulating factor-1. Glands were submitted to morphological and functional analysis. In thyroids, volumetric ratios between thyrocytes and colloid were measured. cAMP production in 10−7M and 10−8M thyrotropin-treated samples was studied. Thyrotropin receptor and caveolin-1 were quantitized by immunoblotting and localized by immunofluorescence. In space-exposed animals, both basal and thyrotropin-stimulated cAMP production were always higher. Also, the structure of thyroid follicles appeared more organized, while thyrotropin receptor and caveolin-1 were overexpressed. Unlike the control samples, in the space samples thyrotropin receptor and caveolin-1 were both observed at the intracellular junctions, suggesting their interaction in specific cell membrane microdomains. In testes, immunofluorescent reaction for 3β- steroid dehydrogenase was performed and the relative expressions of hormone receptors and interleukin-1β were quantified by RT-PCR. Epididymal sperm number was counted. In space-exposed animals, the presence of 3β and 17β steroid dehydrogenase was reduced. Also, the expression of androgen and follicle stimulating hormone receptors increased while lutenizing hormone receptor levels were not affected. The interleukin 1 β expression was upregulated. The tubular architecture was altered and the sperm cell number was significantly reduced in spaceflight mouse epididymis (approx. −90% vs. laboratory and ground controls), indicating that the space environment may lead to degenerative changes in seminiferous tubules. Space-induced changes of structure and function of thyroid and testis/epididymis could be responsible for variations of hormone levels in human during space missions. More research, hopefully a reflight of MDS, would be needed to establish whether the space environment acts directly on the peripheral glands or induces changes in the hypotalamus-pituitary-glandular axis.
Polysomnography and self-reported sleep, pain, fatigue, and anxiety in children with active and inactive juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To compare polysomnography (PSG) and self-reported sleep, symptoms (pain and fatigue), and anxiety between children with active and inactive juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and examine relations among sleep, symptoms, and anxiety. METHODS Two consecutive nights of PSG, self-reported sleep, and symptoms were obtained in 70 children 6-11 years of age with active (n = 35) or inactive (n = 35) JRA. RESULTS On the second (study) night, PSG and self-reported sleep variables were not different, but pain and fatigue were significantly higher (both p <.02) in children with active compared to inactive disease. In a stepwise regression, age, medications, disease status, anxiety, evening pain, total sleep time, and arousals explained 36% of the variance in fatigue and age, disease status, and evening pain were significant (all p <.04) predictors of fatigue. All children showed longer sleep latency and reduced sleep efficiency on the first night in the laboratory. CONCLUSIONS Sleep was not altered in children with active JRA, however, the "first night effect" suggests that valid laboratory sleep assessments require an adaptation night.