Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patterned Activity via Spinal Dorsal Quadrant Inputs Is Necessary for the Formation of Organized Somatosensory Maps

The normal development of the somatosensory system requires intact sensory inputs from the periphery during a critical window of time early in development. Here we determined how the removal of only part of the ascending spinal inputs early in development affects the anatomical and neurophysiological development of the somatosensory system. We performed spinal overhemisections in rat pups at C3/C4 levels on the third day after birth. This procedure hemisects the spinal cord on one side and transects the dorsal funiculus on the other side. When the rats were 6-8 months old, the responsiveness and somatotopy of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) contralateral to the hemisection were determined using standard multiunit mapping techniques. Sections of the flattened cortex were processed for cytochrome oxidase activity, Nissl substance, or myelin. We found that histologically apparent modules that are normally present in the regions of the forepaw and the hindpaw representations were absent, whereas the lateral barrel field representing the face was completely normal. The neurons in the forepaw regions of S1 either did not respond to the stimulation of the skin of any region of the body or responded to the stimulation of the upper arm afferents that enter the spinal cord rostral to the site of the lesion. The results show that a lack of normal sensory inputs via ascending pathways in the dorsal spinal cord during early development results in massive anatomical and neurophysiological abnormalities in the cortex. Intact crossed spinothalamic pathways are unable to support the normal development of the forepaw barrels.
USING HPLC TO DETERMINATION THE COMPOSITION AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF BERBERIS VULGARIS

The Berberis vulgaris (BV) plant has been extensively used as a traditional medicine in some part of Asian region especially in Western Asia. The BV fruits is claimed also to have anti-viral activities, and as a treatment for chronic candidiasis, indigestion and parasites. The present study was conducted to evaluate the antioxidative activity, nutritional and antinutritional composition of Berberis vulgaris fruit. The antioxidant activity was determined by using thiobarbituric acid (TBA method). Absolute ethanol, absolute methanol and aqueous solution (distilled water) were used as a solvent in this study. Result shows significantly differences (P< 0.05). The antioxidant activity of ethanol extract was the highest (27.26 ±1.07 %), followed by BHT (20.29 ±0.23 %), methanol extract (16.80 ±0.23 %), Vitamin E (6.68 ±0.25 %) and the lowest was the aqueous extract (6.53 ±0.29 %). Besides antioxidant activity, Berberis vulgaris also contains nutritional and antinutritional composition namely vitamin C, malic acid and Tannin. Vitamin C and malic acid also shows antioxidative properties. Vitamin C and malic acid also showed antioxidative properties and act synergistically to each other as antioxidants. The presence of antinutritional such as Tannin which can act as a medium to prevent nutritional composition from being absorbed by the body also has been detected. The amount of nutritional and antinutritional detected in 100g of berberry were 11102. 81μg ± 2.01 of Vitamin C, 116. 03μg ± 1.12 of Malic acid and 20. 51μg ± 0.59 of Tannin.
International Journal of General Medicine Dovepress Glucose-lowering Effect of Dlbs3233 Is Mediated through Phosphorylation of Tyrosine and Upregulation of Pparγ and Glut4 Expression

Background: DLBS3233 is a standardized extract combination containing Lagerstroemia speciosa and Cinnamomum burmannii. The effect of DLBS3233 on glucose uptake, adiponectin secretion, and insulin signaling was examined in this study. Methods: 3T3 Swiss albino preadipocytes and adipocytes were used to investigate gene expression detected using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction method. Immunoblotting assay and in vitro glucose uptake assay were also carried out in the experiment. Results: DLBS3233 was seen to increase phosphorylation at the tyrosine residue of the insulin receptor substrate. DLBS3233 was also found to enhance the expression of genes associated with increased insulin signaling and sensitivity, such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase, Akt, and glucose transporter 4. In addition, glucose transporter 4 protein levels were seen to increase as a result of DLBS3233 administration. The combination of extracts also increased glucose uptake and adiponectin secretion, and decreased resistin secretion significantly relative to control cells. Moreover, DLBS3233 administered to insulin-resistant Wistar rats showed an ability to control blood sugar, insulin levels, and other lipoproteins, including high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and total cholesterol. Conclusion: DLBS3233, as a combination of herbal extracts, holds promise in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, and possibly also in prevention of the disease.
Analysis of Clustering and Routing Overhead for Clustered Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

This paper presents an analysis of the control overhead involved in clustering and routing for one-hop clustered mobile ad hoc networks. Previous work on the analysis of control overhead incurred by clustering algorithms focused mainly on the derivation of control overhead in the Knuth big-O notation with respect to network size. However, we observe that the control overhead in a clustered network is closely related to different network parameters, e.g. node mobility, node transmission range, network size, and network density. We present an analysis that captures the effects of different network parameters on the control overhead. The results of our work can provide valuable insights into the amount of overhead that clustering algorithms may incur in different network environments. This facilitates the design of efficient clustering algorithms in order to minimize the control overhead.
Geostationary Satellite Observation of Precipitable Water Vapor Using an Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) based Reconstruction Technique over Eastern China

Water vapor, as one of the most important greenhouse gases, is crucial for both climate and atmospheric studies. Considering the high spatial and temporal variations of water vapor, a timely and accurate retrieval of precipitable water vapor (PWV) is urgently needed, but has long been constrained by data availability. Our study derived the vertically integrated precipitable water vapor over eastern China using Multi-functional Transport Satellite (MTSAT) data, which is in geostationary orbit with high temporal resolution. The missing pixels caused by cloud contamination were reconstructed using an Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) decomposition method over both spatial and temporal dimensions. GPS meteorology data were used to validate the retrieval and the reconstructed results. The diurnal variation of PWV over eastern China was analyzed using harmonic analysis, which indicates that the reconstructed PWV data can depict the diurnal cycle of PWV caused by evapotranspiration and local thermal circulation.
Therapy of neuroendocrine tumors with radiolabeled somatostatin-analogues.

UNLABELLED Peptide receptor scintigraphy with the radioactive somatostatin-analogue [111In-DTPA0]octreotide (DTPA = diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid) is a sensitive and specific technique to show in vivo the presence and abundance of somatostatin receptors on various tumors. With this technique primary tumors and metastases of neuroendocrine cancers as well as of many other cancer types can be localised. A new application is the use of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy, administrating high doses of 111In- or 90Y-labeled octreotide-analogues. PRECLINICAL: We investigated the radiotherapeutic effect of 90Y- and 111In-labeled [DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotide (DOTA = tetraazacyclododecanetetraacetic acid) or [111In-DTPA0]octreotide in Lewis rats bearing the somatostatin receptor-positive rat pancreatic tumor CA20948 in A) the flank or B) in the liver. PATIENTS Thirty end-stage patients with mostly neuroendocrine progressing tumors were treated with [111In-DTPA0]octreotide, up to a maximal cumulative patient dose of about 74 GBq, in a phase 1 trial. PRECLINICAL RESULTS: A) Flank model: at least two 111MBq injections of [111In-DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotide were needed to reach tumor response, in 40% of the animals complete tumor remission was found after a follow-up period of 10 months. One or two injections of [90Y-DOTA0,Tyr3] octreotide yielded transient stable disease. B) Liver model: we found that peptide receptor radionuclide therapy is only effective if somatostatin receptors are present on the tumors, and is therefore receptor-mediated. High radioactive doses of 370 MBq [111In-DTPA0]octreotide or 93 MBq [90Y-DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotide can inhibit the growth of somatostatin receptor-positive metastases. CLINICAL RESULTS There were no major clinical side effects after up to 2 years treatment, except that a transient decline in platelet counts and lymphocyte subsets can occur. Promising beneficial effects on clinical symptoms, hormone production and tumor proliferation were found. Of the 21 patients with progressive disease at baseline and who received a cumulative dose of more than 20 GBq [111In-DTPA0]octreotide, 8 patients showed stabilisation of disease and 6 other patients a reduction in size of tumors. There is a tendency towards better results in patients whose tumors have a higher accumulation of the radioligand. CONCLUSION Radionuclide therapy with octreotide-derivatives is feasible, both with 111In and 90Y as radionuclides.
Error Analysis of Statistical Machine Translation Output

Evaluation of automatic translation output is a difficult task. Several performance measures like Word Error Rate, Position Independent Word Error Rate and the BLEU and NIST scores are widely use and provide a useful tool for comparing different systems and to evaluate improvements within a system. However the interpretation of all of these measures is not at all clear, and the identification of the most prominent source of errors in a given system using these measures alone is not possible. Therefore some analysis of the generated translations is needed in order to identify the main problems and to focus the research efforts. This area is however mostly unexplored and few works have dealt with it until now. In this paper we will present a framework for classification of the errors of a machine translation system and we will carry out an error analysis of the system used by the RWTH in the first TC-STAR evaluation.
Drip irrigation scheduling for annual crops in an impermeable saline-sodic soil with an improved method

A two-year field experiment was conducted to reclaim a highly saline-sodic soil for growing annual crops in the Ningxia Plain, northwest China. The surface layer of this highly saline-sodic soil (known as “takyric solonetz”) had an electrical conductivity (ECe) of 12.3 dS m−1, a sodium (Na) adsorption ratio (SAR) of 44.1 (mmol L−1)0.5, and a saturated soil paste pH (pHs) of 9.3, with a very low saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks < 0.1 mm d−1 [0.004 in day−1]). To increase the soil infiltration rate, very low-flow drip irrigation was used, and the original soil beneath the drip tape was replaced with sand in grooves that were 0.15 m (0.50 ft) wide and 0.15 m deep. The drip lines were placed on beds covered with straw into which oil sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seeds were planted in 2013 and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) seedlings in 2014. Five water treatments were based on the soil matric potential (SMP), which was measured with tensiometers installed 0.2 m (0.7 ft) beneath an emitter. The tensiometers triggered an irrigation of 2 mm (0.08 in) at a SMP of −5, −10, −15, −20, or −25 kPa (−0.73, −1.45, −2.18, −2.90, or −3.63 psi). The salinity and SAR of the applied water were 2.03 dS m−1 and 5.89 (mmol L−1)0.5, respectively. Considerable reclamation was achieved in two years. The low-salinity, low-pH, and low-SAR zone that formed under the drip line during the first year enlarged in the following year. The average ECe within the 0 to 40 cm (0 to 16 in) depth in the ridge zone of the bed decreased with increasing SMP, and the final ECe for all five treatments was less than 3.0 dS m−1. The final pHs decreased to approximately 8.2 beneath the drip line, and the low-pH region of the −5 and −10 kPa treatments were larger than those of the −15, −20, and −25 kPa treatments. The final average SAR at the depth of 0 to 30 cm (0 to 12 in) beneath the emitters was in the range 10.2 to 12.8 (mmol L−1)0.5 except for the SMP treatment of −25 kPa, for which the average SAR was 19.5 (mmol L−1)0.5. The maximum yield for both crops occurred when SMP was −10 kPa; however, there were no significant differences among treatments, and the yields were close to those achieved in local farmland. The findings indicated that a sand-filled groove in the soil surface beneath drip emitters could facilitate the reclamation of saline-sodic wasteland with farming annual crops, such as oil sunflower and tomato. Furthermore, a SMP of −10 kPa could be used effectively to trigger drip irrigation in the first two years.
Paediatric pulmonary drug delivery: considerations in asthma treatment

Aerosol therapy, the preferred route of administration for glucocorticosteroids and short-acting β2-adrenergic agonists in the treatment of paediatric asthma, may be given via nebulisers, metered-dose inhalers and dry powder inhalers. For glucocorticosteroids, therapy with aerosolised medication results in higher concentrations of drug at the target organ with minimal systemic side effects compared with oral treatments. The dose of drug that reaches the airways in children with asthma is dependent on both the delivery device and patient-related factors. Factors that affect aerosol drug delivery are reviewed briefly. Advantages and disadvantages of each device and device-specific factors that influence patient preferences are examined. Although age-based device recommendations have been made, the optimal choice for drug delivery is the one that the patient or caregiver prefers to use, can use correctly and is most likely to use consistently.
Plasmolysis in Bacillus megaterium

Weibull, Claes (Central Bacteriological Laboratory of Stockholm City, Stockholm, Sweden). Plasmolysis in Bacillus megaterium. J. Bacteriol. 89:1151–1154. 1965. —Sucrose solutions stronger than 1 m caused plasmolysis in Bacillus megaterium strain M, whereas concentrated NaCl and KNO3 solutions were ineffective. In plasmolyzed cells, mesosome bodies were found in pockets between the cytoplasmic membrane and the cell wall. After plasmolysis, the cytoplasmic membrane appeared as a triple-layered structure, a “unit membrane. ” Plasmolysis did not markedly influence the viability of the cells.
Decreasing Risk of Fatal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and Other Epidemiological Trends in the Era of Coiling Implementation in Australia

Background and purpose Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is associated with a high risk of mortality and disability in survivors. We examined the epidemiology and burden of SAH in our population during a time services were re-organized to facilitate access to evidence-based endovascular coiling and neurosurgical care. Methods SAH hospitalizations from 2001 to 2009, in New South Wales, Australia, were linked to death registrations to June 30, 2010. We assessed the variability of admission rates, fatal SAH rates and case fatality over time and according to patient demographic characteristics. Results There were 4,945 eligible patients admitted to hospital with SAH. The risk of fatal SAH significantly decreased by 2.7% on average per year (95% CI = 0.3–4.9%). Case fatality at 2, 30, 90, and 365 days significantly declined over time. The average annual percentage reduction in mortality ranged from 4.4% for 30-day mortality (95% CI −6.1 to −2.7) (P < 0.001) to 4.7% for mortality within 2 days (−7.1 to −2.2) (P < 0.001) (Table 3). Three percent of patients received coiling at the start of the study period, increasing to 28% at the end (P-value for trend <0.001). Females were significantly more likely to be hospitalized for a SAH compared to males [incident rate ratio (IRR) = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.23–1.44] (P < 0.001) and to die from SAH (IRR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.24–1.59) (P < 0.001). People born in South-East Asia and the Oceania region had a significantly increased risk of SAH, while the risk of fatal SAH was greater in South-East and North-East Asian born residents. People residing in areas of least disadvantage had the lowest risk of hospitalization (IRR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.74–0.92) and also the lowest risk of fatal SAH (0.81, 95% CI = 0.66–1.00) (P < 0.001 and P = 0.003, respectively). For every 100 SAH admissions, 20 and 15 might be avoided in males and females, respectively, if the risk of SAH in our population equated to that of the most socio-economically advantaged. Conclusion Our study reports reductions in mortality risk in SAH corresponding to identifiable changes in health service delivery and evolving treatments such as coiling. Addressing inequities in SAH risk and mortality may require the targeting of prevalent and modifiable risk factors to improve population outcomes.
Global monthly water stress: 1. Water balance and water availability

Surface fresh water (i.e., blue water) is a vital and indispensable resource for human water use in the agricultural, industrial, and domestic sectors. In this paper, global water availability is calculated by forcing the global hydrological model PCR‐GLOBWB with daily global meteorological fields for the period 1958–2001. To represent blue water availability, a prognostic reservoir operation scheme was included in order to produce monthly time series of global river discharge modulated by reservoir operations. To specify green water availability for irrigated areas, actual transpiration from the model was used. Thus, the computed water availability reflects the climatic variability over 1958–2001 and is contrasted against the monthly water demand using the year 2000 as a benchmark in the companion paper. As the water that is withdrawn to meet demand directly interferes with blue water availability along the drainage network, this paper evaluates model performance for three regimes reflecting different degrees of human interference: natural discharge, discharge regulated by reservoirs, and modified discharge. In the case of modified discharge, the net blue water demand for the year 2000 is subtracted directly from the regulated discharge, taking water demand equal to consumptive water use. Results show that model simulations of monthly river discharge compare well with observations from most of the large rivers. Exceptions are basins subject to large extractions for irrigation purposes, where simulated discharge exceeds the observations even when water demand is taken into account. Including the prognostic reservoir operation scheme results in mixed performance, with a poorer approximation of peak flows but with a marginally better simulation of low flows and persistence. A comparison of simulated actual evapotranspiration with that from the ERA‐40 reanalysis as a proxy for observed rates shows similar patterns over nonirrigated areas but substantial deviations over major irrigated areas. As expected, assimilated actual evapotranspiration over these areas includes water from alternative sources, whereas the simulations with PCR‐GLOBWB are limited by soil moisture, i.e., green water availability. On the basis of this evidence we conclude that the simulation provides adequate fields of water availability to assess water stress at the monthly scale, for which a separate validation is provided in the companion paper.
What Drives Offshoring Decisions ? Selection and Escape-Competition Mechanisms

I present a model of offshoring decisions with heterogeneous firms, random adjustment costs, and endogenous markups. The model proposes a tractable probabilistic framework that goes beyond the conventional view of self-selection of more productive firms into offshoring. By characterizing the offshoring decision as a lumpy investment decision subject to heterogeneous adjustment costs, the model obtains an inverted-U relationship between firm-level productivity and the probability of offshoring. A tougher competitive environment (due, for example, to trade liberalization in final goods) has two opposing effects on firm-level offshoring likelihood: the conventional selection effect—accounting for the negative effect of competition on offshoring profits—and an escape-competition effect—accounting for the effect of competition on the opportunity cost of offshoring. In addition, the model highlights strong complementarities between offshoring and exporting decisions. JEL Classification: F12, F23
Cryobiopsy: Should This Be Used in Place of Endobronchial Forceps Biopsies?

Forceps biopsies of airway lesions have variable yields. The yield increases when combining techniques in order to collect more material. With the use of cryotherapy probes (cryobiopsy) larger specimens can be obtained, resulting in an increase in the diagnostic yield. However, the utility and safety of cryobiopsy with all types of lesions, including flat mucosal lesions, is not established. Aims. Demonstrate the utility/safety of cryobiopsy versus forceps biopsy to sample exophytic and flat airway lesions. Settings and Design. Teaching hospital-based retrospective analysis. Methods. Retrospective analysis of patients undergoing cryobiopsies (singly or combined with forceps biopsies) from August 2008 through August 2010. Statistical Analysis. Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results. The comparative analysis of 22 patients with cryobiopsy and forceps biopsy of the same lesion showed the mean volumes of material obtained with cryobiopsy were significantly larger (0.696 cm3 versus 0.0373 cm3, P = 0.0014). Of 31 cryobiopsies performed, one had minor bleeding. Cryopbiopsy allowed sampling of exophytic and flat lesions that were located centrally or distally. Cryobiopsies were shown to be safe, free of artifact, and provided a diagnostic yield of 96.77%. Conclusions. Cryobiopsy allows safe sampling of exophytic and flat airway lesions, with larger specimens, excellent tissue preservation and high diagnostic accuracy.
Nicotinic α7 receptor activation selectively potentiates the function of NMDA receptors in glutamatergic terminals of the nucleus accumbens

We here provide functional and immunocytochemical evidence supporting the co-localization and functional interaction between nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptors (NMDARs) in glutamatergic terminals of the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Immunocytochemical studies showed that a significant percentage of NAc terminals were glutamatergic and possessed GluN1 and α7-containing nAChR. A short-term pre-exposure of synaptosomes to nicotine (30 µM) or choline (1 mM) caused a significant potentiation of the 100 µM NMDA-evoked [3H]D-aspartate ([3H]D-Asp) outflow, which was prevented by α-bungarotoxin (100 nM). The pre-exposure to nicotine (100 µM) or choline (1 mM) also enhanced the NMDA-induced cytosolic free calcium levels, as measured by FURA-2 fluorescence imaging in individual NAc terminals, an effect also prevented by α-bungarotoxin. Pre-exposure to the α4-nAChR agonists 5IA85380 (10 nM) or RJR2429 (1 µM) did not modify NMDA-evoked ([3H]D-Asp) outflow and calcium transients. The NMDA-evoked ([3H]D-Asp) overflow was partially antagonized by the NMDAR antagonists MK801, D-AP5, 5,7-DCKA and R(-)CPP and unaffected by the GluN2B-NMDAR antagonists Ro256981 and ifenprodil. Notably, pre-treatment with choline increased GluN2A biotin-tagged proteins. In conclusion, our results show that the GluN2A-NMDA receptor function can be positively regulated in NAc terminals in response to a brief incubation with α7 but not α4 nAChRs agonists. This might be a general feature in different brain areas since a similar nAChR-mediated bolstering of NMDA-induced ([3H]D-Asp) overflow was also observed in hippocampal synaptosomes.