Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neurotoxicity of the psychedelic amphetamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine.

The neurochemical effects of the unique psychedelic agent, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), indicate it may be a serotonergic neurotoxin related to agents such as p-chloroamphetamine. MDMA had a biphasic effect on cortical serotonin concentrations beginning with an acute depletion of the transmitter which reached a maximum between 3 and 6 hr after drug administration. This early phase of depletion was reversible because cortical serotonin concentrations had recovered to control levels by 24 hr. However, transmitter concentrations were reduced significantly 1 week later, indicating a second phase of depletion. The latter phase of depletion was associated with a decrease in synaptosomal [3H]serotonin uptake due to a loss in the number of uptake sites with no change in the affinity of the carrier for serotonin. This neurotoxic effect of MDMA was found to be a property of the (+)-stereoisomer of the drug as only this enantiomer produced the depletion of cortical serotonin and the decrease in synaptosomal serotonin uptake at 1 week. In contrast to this, both stereoisomers of the drug could produce the acute depletion of cortical serotonin measured 3 hr after drug administration. Coadministration of the selective serotonin uptake inhibitor, fluoxetine, completely blocked the reduction in cortical serotonin concentrations 1 week after MDMA. Administration of fluoxetine at various times after MDMA revealed that the long-term effects of the drug developed independently of the acute depletion of serotonin and could be partially blocked by the uptake inhibitor as long as 6 hr after drug administration. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Online Social Support Received by Patients With Cancer

Patient education in the public healthcare system does not necessarily meet the needs of patients with cancer. Because of this, they may turn to the Internet, or they are guided to electronic sources of social support. The purposes of this study were to describe what kind of social support patients with cancer receive from the Internet and its meaning for them. The data were collected using an online survey that consisted of open-ended questions based on a theory of online social support. The data were analyzed using an inductive content analysis. Online social support consisted of three categories: disease-related information from reliable sources, supportive interaction enhancing positive emotions, and practical tips for daily life with cancer. Three major categories related to the meaning of online social support were identified: peers helping make life easier, empowerment, and inadequate support. The findings can be utilized in tailoring educational interventions for patients with cancer. In the future, the long-lasting effects of online social support need to be examined.
Diversity of spore‐forming bacteria in cattle manure, slaughterhouse waste and samples from biogas plants

Aims: As biowaste intended for biogas production can contain pathogenic micro‐organisms, the recommended treatment is pasteurization at 70°C for 60 min. This reduces pathogens such as Salmonella spp. , whereas spore‐forming bacteria (Bacillus spp. and Clostridium spp.) survive. Most spore‐forming bacteria are harmless, but some can cause diseases such as blackleg, botulism and anthrax. In this study, the effect of the biogas process on Bacillus spp. and Clostridium spp. was investigated.
Brain regions concerned with the identification of deceptive soccer moves by higher-skilled and lower-skilled players

Expert soccer players are able to utilize their opponents' early body kinematics to predict the direction in which the opponent will move. We have previously demonstrated enhanced fMRI activation in experts in the motor components of an action observation network (AON) during sports anticipation tasks. Soccer players often need to prevent opponents from successfully predicting their line of attack, and consequently may try to deceive them; for example, by performing a step-over. We examined how AON activations and expertise effects are modified by the presence of deception. Three groups of participants; higher-skilled males, lower-skilled males, and lower-skilled females, viewed video clips in point-light format, from a defender's perspective, of a player approaching and turning with the ball. The observer's task in the scanner was to determine whether the move was normal or deceptive (involving a step-over), while whole-brain functional images were acquired. In a second counterbalanced block with identical stimuli the task was to predict the direction of the ball. Activations of AON for identification of deception overlapped with activations from the direction identification task. Higher-skilled players showed significantly greater activation than lower-skilled players in a subset of AON areas; and lower-skilled males in turn showed greater activation than lower-skilled females, but females showed more activation in visual cortex. Activation was greater for deception identification than for direction identification in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, medial frontal cortex, anterior insula, cingulate gyrus, and premotor cortex. Conversely, greater activation for direction than deception identification was found in anterior cingulate cortex and caudate nucleus. Results are consistent with the view that explicit identification of deceptive moves entails cognitive effort and also activates limbic structures associated with social cognition and affective responses.
Nurse practitioners and the Ottawa Ankle Rules: comparisons with medical staff in requesting X-rays for ankle injured patients.

This paper reports on part of a study of 354 consecutive attendances to an Accident and Emergency (A&E) department by patients with ankle injuries. The aim of this study was to examine the percentage of X-ray photographs requested by nurse practitioners compared to those requested by medical practitioners. The study took place in an A&E department where nurse practitioners have the authority to request X-rays photographs for ankle injuries, either at triage assessment or at the subsequent treatment stage. Nurse practitioners applied the Ottawa Ankle Rules (OAR) in 187 patients. The results show that nurse practitioners requested X-rays for 61.5% of patients assessed using the OAR. This is compared with 80.4% for patients assessed by medical practitioners. The difference is highly significant. Detection rates show that fractures were identified in 29.6% of patients sent for X-ray by nurse practitioners compared with 22.8% in patients seen by medical practitioners, although this difference is not significant. Although nurse practitioners applied the OAR appropriately in all 187 cases, four patients who were assessed by nurse practitioners and judged not to need an X-ray photograph were subsequently found to have a fracture.
Expression of ceramide kinase in hematopoietic cells

To the Editor: It is now established that sphingolipids derived from the so-called sphingomyelin cycle are active participants in a wide variety of cellular functions (1). Ceramide (Cer), the initial metabolite derived from sphingomyelin by sphingomyelinase in activated cells, has been shown to play important roles, including but not limited to differentiation, apoptosis, and senescence (1). While acting as a signaling molecule itself, Cer is converted to sphingosine by the action of ceramidase, which removes the acyl moiety of Cer (1). Furthermore, Cer can be phosphorylated into Cer 1-phosphate (Cer-1-P) by Cer kinase (1, 2). As can be expected from the fact
Formulation of Failure Strain according to Average Stress Triaxiality of Low Temperature High Strength Steel (EH36)

Average stress triaxiality 평균 응력 삼축비, Equivalent plastic strain 등가 소성 변형률, Failure strain 파단변형률, Average true stress 평균 진응력 dealt with the effect of the average stress triaxiality on the failure strain of a typical low-temperature high-strength marine structural steel, EH36. Tensile tests were carried out on flat specimens with different notches, from relatively smooth to very sharp levels. Numerical simulations of each specimen were performed by using ABAQUS. The failure initiation points in numerical simulations were identified from a comparison of the engineering stress vs. strain curves obtained from experiments with simulated ones. The failure strain curves for various dimensionless critical energy levels were established in the average stress triaxiality domain and compared with the identified failure strain points. It was observed that most of the failure initiation points were approximated with a 100% dimensionless critical energy curve. It was concluded that the failure strains were well expressed as a function of the average stress triaxiality.
Dry Sliding Friction and Wear Behaviour of Titanium Alloy (Ti-6Al-4V)

Friction and wear are the most commonly encountered industrial problems leading to the replacement of components and assemblies in engineering. There have been great advances in the development of aerospace technology because of the use of titanium alloys. Titanium alloys have wide range of applications for which they have received considerable interest recently because they show an astonishing range of mechanical properties. The present investigation covers the study of dry sliding friction and wear of the Ti6Al4V alloy, which alone covers about 50% of the total world production of titanium alloys. The main objective of this study is to investigate the dry sliding friction and wear behaviour of titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) sliding against EN31 steel. The results show that the wear rate of the Ti6Al4V alloy decreases with increasing sliding velocity and decreasing normal load with few exceptions thus showing typical transition characteristics. The average coefficient of friction decreases as the normal load increases with few exceptions. Also the average coefficient of friction increases as the sliding distance increases for all loads and sliding velocities. The average length of biggest, medium and smallest wear debris was found to be 1.026 μm, 0.711 μm and 0.401 μm respectively.
Facilitating the exploration of interface design alternatives: the HUMANOID model of interface design

HUMANOID is a user interface design tool that lets designers express abstract conceptualizations of an interface in an executable form, allowing designers to experiment with scenarios and dialogues even before the application model is completely worked out. Three properties of the HUMANOID approach allow it to do so: a modularization of design issues into independent dimensions, support for multiple levels of specificity in mapping application models to user interface constructs, and mechanisms for constructing executable default user interface implementations from whatever level of specificity has been provided by the designer.
How retellings shape younger and older adults' memories

The way a story is retold influences the way it is later remembered; after retelling an event in a biased manner, people subsequently remember the event in line with their distorted retelling. This study tested the hypothesis that this should be especially true for older adults. To test this, older and younger adults retold a story to be entertaining, to be accurate, or did not complete an initial retelling. Later, all participants recalled the story as accurately as possible. On this final test, younger adults were unaffected by how they had previously retold the story. In contrast, older adults had better memory for the story's content and structure if they had previously retold the story accurately. Furthermore, for older adults, greater usage of story-telling language during the retelling was associated with lower subsequent recall. In summary, retellings exerted a greater effect on memory in older, compared with younger, adults.
Changes in hemorheological and biochemical parameters following short-term and long-term smoking cessation induced by nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).

OBJECTIVES Cigarette smoking causes cardiovascular (CV) disease, but the relative roles of nicotine and other components of tobacco smoke remain unclear. We investigated the effect of stopping smoking by using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) on hemorheology parameters, on the cotinine and thiocyanate plasma concentrations and the exhaled carbon monoxide (CO). DESIGN Open, parallel-group trial (intervention group and control smokers). SUBJECTS 197 males, aged 25-45 years, smoking > 20 cigarettes per day (cpd). INTERVENTIONS 164 subjects were instructed to stop smoking and received NRT for 12 weeks and 33 acted as controls. After 12 weeks, NRT was discontinued and all subjects were followed-up at 26 weeks. Beginning with week 4, the treated subjects were divided into abstainers (self-reported, verified by exhaled CO < 10 ppm) and nonabstainers, not able to stay abstinent since baseline. The group of the nonabstainers was stratified in 2 subgroups, the reducers (smoked < 50% of baseline number of cpd) and relapsers (smoked 50-100% of baseline cpd). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Plasma viscosity, erythrocyte deformability, fibrinogen, transcutaneous partial oxygen tension (tcpO2), hematocrit, white blood cells, cotinine and thiocyanate plasma concentrations and exhaled CO, all assessed at 4, 8, 12 and 26 weeks. RESULTS After 6 months, plasma fibrinogen (228.2 vs. 275.4 mg/dl at baseline, p < 0.001), tcpO2 (50.4 vs. 34.9 mm mercury at baseline, p < 0.0001) were significantly improved in abstainers, but changes in plasma viscosity and erythrocyte deformability were inconclusive. Cotinine and thiocyanate (abstainers: 6.2 ng/ml at week 26 vs. 10.4 ng/ml at baseline, p < 0.0001) and expired CO (abstainers: 30.4 vs. 4.2 ppm, control vs. week 26, p < 0.0001) accurately followed the changes in smoking and/or NRT use in all of the groups. Other CV risk factors such as hematocrit and white blood cell count decreased to a greater extent in abstainers than in reducers and relapsers. Not only abstainers but also reducers did benefit of the temporarily stop smoking. CONCLUSIONS Smoking cessation improved CV parameters despite the measured cotinine and thiocyanate plasma levels, and use of nicotine medications did not negate these improvements. A smoking cessation for a short time and smoking of reduced cpd also improved these parameters temporarily.
Coordinated increase of nuclear tension and lamin-A with matrix stiffness outcompetes lamin-B receptor that favors soft tissue phenotypes

Tissue profiles and MSC transcriptomics separately indicate that LBR varies inversely with lamin-A,C. Such anti-correlations are recapitulated in MSC adipogenesis and osteogenesis as well as with matrix elasticity, knockdowns, overexpression, and myosin-II inhibition, which together suggest the competitive binding of lamin-A,C and LBR for lamin-B.
Quantitative set analysis for gene expression: a method to quantify gene set differential expression including gene-gene correlations

Enrichment analysis of gene sets is a popular approach that provides a functional interpretation of genome-wide expression data. Existing tests are affected by inter-gene correlations, resulting in a high Type I error. The most widely used test, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis, relies on computationally intensive permutations of sample labels to generate a null distribution that preserves gene–gene correlations. A more recent approach, CAMERA, attempts to correct for these correlations by estimating a variance inflation factor directly from the data. Although these methods generate P-values for detecting gene set activity, they are unable to produce confidence intervals or allow for post hoc comparisons. We have developed a new computational framework for Quantitative Set Analysis of Gene Expression (QuSAGE). QuSAGE accounts for inter-gene correlations, improves the estimation of the variance inflation factor and, rather than evaluating the deviation from a null hypothesis with a P-value, it quantifies gene-set activity with a complete probability density function. From this probability density function, P-values and confidence intervals can be extracted and post hoc analysis can be carried out while maintaining statistical traceability. Compared with Gene Set Enrichment Analysis and CAMERA, QuSAGE exhibits better sensitivity and specificity on real data profiling the response to interferon therapy (in chronic Hepatitis C virus patients) and Influenza A virus infection. QuSAGE is available as an R package, which includes the core functions for the method as well as functions to plot and visualize the results.
Modeling of electrical properties of composites

OF DOCTORAL DISSERTATION HELSINKI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY P.O. BOX 1000, FI-02015 TKK http://www.tkk. fi Author Liisi Jylhä Name of the dissertation Modeling of electrical properties of composites Manuscript submitted 22 October . 2007 Manuscript revised 21 February 2008 Date of the defence 14 March 2008 Monograph Article dissertation (summary + original articles) Faculty Faculty of Electronics, Communications and Automation Department Department of Radio Science and Engineering Field of research Electromagnetics Opponent(s) Doctor Luk Arnaut Supervisor Academy professor Ari Sihvola Instructor Academy professor Ari Sihvola Abstract Composites offer a way to design electromagnetic properties simultaneously with other material properties such as mechanical or thermal properties. This thesis describes studies pertaining to the modeling of effective electrical material properties of artificial composites of two separate material phases. This has practical importance because modeling reduces experimental effort when developing novel composites or improving the existing ones. The focus is on materials which have a disordered microstructure, and the scale of inhomogeneities is much smaller than the wavelength. In this thesis, a historical overview about modeling of electrical properties of composites is given. Then a novel method to reduce the computational cost of numerical modeling is introduced. Results are compared to experiments with polymer/ceramic composites. Some problems related to the modeling of the effective permittivity are also pointed out. Novel analytical methods for the modeling of electrical properties of composites are introduced. An equation, which combines desirable properties of two popular mixing equations, is derived. A new method to calculate the effective permittivity and the tunablity of a composite consisting of linear and non-linear dielectrics is given.
Effect of family history, body-fat distribution, and reproductive factors on the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer.

Abstract Background. A family history of breast cancer reflects shared cultural factors, genetic predisposition, or both. There is evidence that the estimated risk associated with a family history of breast cancer increases multiplicatively in combination with other risk factors. We examined the combined effect of family history and anthropometric and reproductive factors on the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Methods. Using data from a prospective cohort study, we studied 37,105 women 55 to 69 years of age to determine whether known risk factors for breast cancer are modified by a reported family history at the time of entry into the study. Results. During the first four years of follow-up, 493 new breast cancers were diagnosed. The association of the waist-to-hip ratio (the circumference of the waist divided by that of the hips) with the risk of breast cancer was limited predominantly to women with a family history of breast cancer; the age-adjusted relative risk of breast cancer for the .
Consenting to Sexual Activity

This chapter explores how legal understandings of sexual consent have developed over fifty years. It begins with the immediate aftermath of DPP v Morgan, which controversially placed the defendant’s subjective perspective at the centre of criminal liability. Subsequent legal developments, leading up to and extending beyond the Sexual Offences Act are evaluated. The chapter asks why, despite a new, statutory definition of consent, the law on sexual consent remains highly contentious today. It explores possible answers through consideration of two particularly problematic areas – intoxicated consent and consent obtained by fraud – and asks whether the concept consent is adequate at all. Having examined the problems around the law on sexual consent, the chapter concludes by considering what the next steps
Sex-specific Mediation of Opioid-induced Hyperalgesia by the Melanocortin-1 Receptor

Background:N-Methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonists reverse hyperalgesia during morphine infusion in male mice only. Because the melanocortin-1 receptor can act as a female-specific counterpart to N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors in &kgr;-opioid analgesic mechanisms, the authors assessed the contribution of melanocortin-1 receptors to the sex-specific mechanisms underlying morphine hyperalgesia. Methods:The tail-withdrawal test was used to compare the nociceptive responses of male and female C57BL/6J (B6) mice with those of C57BL/6J-Mc1re/e (e/e) mice, spontaneous mutants of the B6 background lacking functional melanocortin-1 receptors, during continuous morphine infusion (1.6 and 40.0 mgkg−1 · 24 h−1). Separate groups of hyperalgesic B6 and outbred CD-1 mice were injected with MK-801 or MSG606, selective N-methyl-d-aspartate and melanocortin-1 receptor antagonists, respectively. Results:Morphine infusion (40.0 mg · kg−1 · 24 h−1) reduced baseline withdrawal latencies by 45–55% in B6 mice of both sexes, indicating hyperalgesia; this increased nociception was manifest in male e/e mice only. Although MK-801 reversed hyperalgesia in male mice only, increasing latencies by 72%, MSG606 increased latencies by approximately 60% exclusively in females. A lower morphine infusion dose (1.6 mg · kg−1 · 24 h−1) reduced baseline withdrawal latencies by 45–52% in B6 and e/e mice of both sexes, which was reversed by MK-801, but not MSG606, in both male and female B6 mice. Conclusions:The data indicate the sex-specific mediation of high-dose morphine-induced hyperalgesia by N-methyl-d-aspartate and melanocortin-1 receptors in male and female mice, respectively, suggesting a broader relevance of this known sexual dimorphism. The data further indicate that the neural substrates contributing to hyperalgesia are morphine dose-dependent.
Robust H∞ output-feedback control for path following of autonomous ground vehicles

This paper presents a robust H∞ output-feedback control strategy for the path following of autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs). Considering the vehicle lateral velocity is usually hard to measure with low cost sensors, a robust H∞ static output-feedback controller based on a mixed genetic algorithms (GA)/linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach is proposed to realize the path following without the information of the lateral velocity. The proposed controller is robust to the external disturbances and the uncertainties of the vehicle/environment parameters/states, including the tire cornering stiffness, vehicle longitudinal velocity, yaw rate and road curvature. Simulation results based on the CarSim-Simulink joint platform using a high-fidelity and full-car model have verified the effectiveness of the proposed control approach.