Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reasons for failure of immunization: A cross-sectional study among 12-23-month-old children of Lucknow, India

Background: Roughly 3 million children die every year of vaccine preventable diseases and a significant number of these children live in developing countries. The present study was conducted to assess the reasons for failure of immunization among 12-23-month-old children of Lucknow city in India. Materials and Methods: Out of all villages in rural areas and mohallas in urban areas of Lucknow district, eight villages and eight mohallas were selected by simple random sampling. A community based cross-sectional study was done among 450 children aged 12-23 months. The immunization status of the child was assessed by vaccination card and by mother′s recall. A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to elicit information on reasons for failure of immunization. Data was analysed using statistical package for social services (SPSS) version 11.5. Chi square test was used to find out the significant association. Results: Overall, 62.7% children were fully immunized, 24.4% children were partially immunized, and 12.9% children were not immunized. The major reasons for failure of immunization were postponing it until another time, child being ill and hence not brought to the centre for immunization, unaware of the need of immunization, place of immunization being too far, no faith in immunization, unaware of the need to return for 2 nd and 3 rd dose, mother being too busy, fear of side reactions, wrong ideas about immunization, and polio was considered only vaccine, and others. Conclusion: More awareness should be generated among the people living in rural and urban areas to immunize their children.
Endogenous peripheral oxytocin measures can give insight into the dynamics of social relationships: a review

The neuropeptide, oxytocin, receives increasing attention due to its role in stress regulation and promoting affiliative social behavior. Research across mammals points to a complex pattern whereby social context and individual differences moderate the central release of oxytocin as well as moderate the effects that exogenous administration of oxytocin has on social behavior. In addition, it is becoming evident that measuring endogenous peripheral oxytocin levels is an informative tool. This is particularly so when oxytocin can be measured from non-invasively collected samples, such as in urine. Although it is still debated as to whether peripheral measures of oxytocin relate to central measures of oxytocin, anatomical and functional evidence indicate a link between the two. We argue that non-invasive measures of peripheral oxytocin hold several research and potential therapeutic advantages. Principally, study subjects can be sampled repeatedly in different social contexts where social history between interaction partners can be taken into account. Several hormones can be measured simultaneously allowing examination of the influence of oxytocin interactions with other hormones on motivational states. Valence of relationships as well as changes in relationship quality over time can be measured through endocrine responses. Also, the approach of identifying natural social contexts that are associated with endogenous oxytocin release offers the potential of behavioral therapy as an addition or alternative to chemical therapy in the field of mental health.
Discovery of Bile Salt Hydrolase Inhibitors Using an Efficient High-Throughput Screening System

The global trend of restricting the use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) in animal production necessitates the need to develop valid alternatives to maintain productivity and sustainability of food animals. Previous studies suggest inhibition of bile salt hydrolase (BSH), an intestinal bacteria-produced enzyme that exerts negative impact on host fat digestion and utilization, is a promising approach to promote animal growth performance. To achieve the long term goal of developing novel alternatives to AGPs, in this study, a rapid and convenient high-throughput screening (HTS) system was developed and successfully used for identification of BSH inhibitors. With the aid of a high-purity BSH from a chicken Lactobacillus salivarius strain, we optimized various screening conditions (e.g. BSH concentration, reaction buffer pH, incubation temperature and length, substrate type and concentration) and establish a precipitation-based screening approach to identify BSH inhibitors using 96-well or 384-well microplates. A pilot HTS was performed using a small compound library comprised of 2,240 biologically active and structurally diverse compounds. Among the 107 hits, several promising and potent BSH inhibitors (e.g. riboflavin and phenethyl caffeate) were selected and validated by standard BSH activity assay. Interestingly, the HTS also identified a panel of antibiotics as BSH inhibitor; in particular, various tetracycline antibiotics and roxarsone, the widely used AGP, have been demonstrated to display potent inhibitory effect on BSH. Together, this study developed an efficient HTS system and identified several BSH inhibitors with potential as alternatives to AGP. In addition, the findings from this study also suggest a new mode of action of AGP for promoting animal growth.
On the particular vulnerability of face recognition to aging: a review of three hypotheses

Age-related face recognition deficits are characterized by high false alarms to unfamiliar faces, are not as pronounced for other complex stimuli, and are only partially related to general age-related impairments in cognition. This paper reviews some of the underlying processes likely to be implicated in theses deficits by focusing on areas where contradictions abound as a means to highlight avenues for future research. Research pertaining to the three following hypotheses is presented: (i) perceptual deterioration, (ii) encoding of configural information, and (iii) difficulties in recollecting contextual information. The evidence surveyed provides support for the idea that all three factors are likely to contribute, under certain conditions, to the deficits in face recognition seen in older adults. We discuss how these different factors might interact in the context of a generic framework of the different stages implicated in face recognition. Several suggestions for future investigations are outlined.
HER-2 Gene Amplification Correlates with Higher Levels of Angiogenesis and Lower Levels of Hypoxia in Primary Breast Tumors

Purpose: This study investigated the connection among HER-2 gene amplification, HER-2 protein expression, and markers of tumor angiogenesis and oxygenation in patients with operable, invasive breast tumors. Experimental Design: From 1988 to 1995, 425 patients with metastatic breast cancer were enrolled in a study of high-dose chemotherapy with autologous transplant. Primary tumor blocks were obtained and evaluated using immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of vessels with von Willebrand factor antibody. Mean microvessel densities (MVD) were determined by counting von Willebrand factor stained cells in three separate “vascular hot spots” using image analysis. Tumor samples were also stained for HER-2 by IHC, HER-2 gene amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization, carbonic anhydrase 9 by IHC, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) by IHC. Plasma from 36 patients with primary tumor samples had VEGF (R&D Systems, MN) and d-dimer (American Diagnostica, Greenwich, CT) levels determined. Results: There was a significant positive correlation between HER-2 gene amplification and both maximum and average MVD (Spearman coefficient = 0.51 and 0.50; P = 0.03 and 0.05, respectively). There was an inverse correlation with HER-2 gene amplification and expression of the tumor hypoxia marker CA-9 (χ2 P = 0.02). The level of HER-2 gene amplification correlated with plasma d-dimer levels (Spearman coefficient = 0.43; P = 0.021). Interestingly, tumors with HER-2 by IHC had decreased amounts of VEGF staining (χ2 = 5.81; P = 0.01). There was no correlation between HER-2 by IHC and MVD or d-dimer. Of all of the variables examined, only average (P = 0.0016) and maximum MVD (P = 0.0128) predicted disease-free survival (Cox univariate model). Conclusions: HER-2-amplified breast cancers have increased amounts of angiogenesis, decreased amounts of hypoxia, and increased markers of fibrin degradation. These findings have prognostic, predictive, and therapeutic implications in breast cancer treatment.
Persistent region-dependent neuroinflammation, NMDA receptor loss and atrophy in an animal model of penetrating brain injury.

Dynamic changes in neuroinflammation and glutamate NMDA receptors (NMDAR) have been noted in traumatic and ischemic brain injury. AIM Here we investigate the time course and regional distribution of these changes and their relationship with atrophy in a rat model of penetrating brain injury. MATERIALS METHODS Quantitative autoradiography, with the neuroinflammation marker [3H]PK11195 and the NMDAR antagonist [125I]iodoMK801, was performed on brains of animals subjected to a unilateral wireknife injury at the level of striatum and killed 3 - 60 days later. Regional atrophy was measured by morphometry. RESULTS The injury produced large increases in [3H]PK11195 binding density in cortical and septal regions adjacent to the knife track by day 7, with modest increases in the striatum. [125I]iodoMK801 binding was reduced in cor tical and hippocampal regions showing marked neuroinflammation, which showed marked atrophy at subsequent time points. CONCLUSION These results indicate that neuroinflammaton and loss of NMDAR precede and predict tissue atrophy in cortical and hippocampal regions.
Genomic Sequence of Bacteriophage ATCC 8074-B1 and Activity of Its Endolysin and Engineered Variants against Clostridium sporogenes

ABSTRACT Lytic bacteriophage ATCC 8074-B1 produces large plaques on its host Clostridium sporogenes. Sequencing of the 47,595-bp genome allowed the identification of 82 putative open reading frames, including those encoding proteins for head and tail morphogenesis and lysis. However, sequences commonly associated with lysogeny were absent. ORF 22 encodes an endolysin, CS74L, that shows homology to N-acetylmuramoyl-l-alanine amidases, and when expressed in Escherichia coli, the protein causes effective lysis of C. sporogenes cells when added externally. CS74L was also active on Clostridium tyrobutyricum and Clostridium acetobutylicum. The catalytic domain expressed alone (CS74L1–177) exhibited a similar activity and the same host range as the full-length endolysin. A chimeric endolysin consisting of the CS74L catalytic domain fused to the C-terminal domain of endolysin CD27L, derived from Clostridium difficile bacteriophage ΦCD27, was produced. This chimera (CSCD) lysed C. sporogenes cells with an activity equivalent to that of the catalytic domain alone. In contrast, the CD27L C-terminal domain reduced the efficacy of the CS74L catalytic domain when tested against C. tyrobutyricum. The addition of the CD27L C-terminal domain did not enable the lysin to target C. difficile or other CD27L-sensitive bacteria.
Downregulation of a novel long noncoding RNA TRPM2-AS promotes apoptosis in non–small cell lung cancer

Non–small cell lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer, and the prognosis of non–small cell lung cancer is still poor. Recent evidence has proved that long noncoding RNA is involved in tumorigenesis. For non–small cell lung cancer, the expression profile of long noncoding RNA has been studied. Here, we identified a novel long noncoding RNA TRPM2-AS from published dataset and found TRPM2-AS is widely upregulated in non–small cell lung cancer tissues compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues. Higher expression level of TRPM2-AS was correlated with higher TNM stages and larger tumor size. Patients with high TRPM2-AS expression level had poor survival than those with low TRPM2-AS level. We silenced TRPM2-AS by small interfering RNA and found that cell proliferation was significantly inhibited after knockdown of TRPM2-AS. Annexin V/propidium iodide staining and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling assay confirmed that cell apoptosis increased after TRPM2-AS knockdown. Further experiments showed that silence of TRPM2-AS upregulated SHC1 and silence of SHC1 partially reversed cell apoptosis after TRPM2-AS knockdown. In summary, the novel long noncoding RNA TRPM2-AS upregulated in non–small cell lung cancer, and downregulation of TRPM2-AS promotes apoptosis in vitro.
Behavioural Distinction between Strategic Control and Spatial Realignment during Visuomotor Adaptation in a Viewing Window Task

We must frequently adapt our movements in order to successfully perform motor tasks. These visuomotor adaptations can occur with or without our awareness and so, have generally been described by two mechanisms: strategic control and spatial realignment. Strategic control is a conscious modification used when discordance between an intended and actual movement is observed. Spatial realignment is an unconscious recalibration in response to subtle differences between an intended and efferent movement. Traditional methods of investigating visuomotor adaptation often involve simplistic, repetitive motor goals and so may be vulnerable to subject boredom or expectation. Our laboratory has recently developed a novel, engaging computer-based task, the Viewing Window, to investigate visuomotor adaptation to large, apparent distortions. Here, we contrast behavioural measures of visuomotor adaptation during the Viewing Window task when either gradual progressive rotations or large, sudden rotations are introduced in order to demonstrate that this paradigm can be utilized to investigate both strategic control and spatial realignment. The gradual rotation group demonstrated significantly faster mean velocities and spent significantly less time off the object compared to the sudden rotation group. These differences demonstrate adaptation to the distortion using spatial realignment. Scan paths revealed greater after-effects in the gradual rotation group reflected by greater time spent scanning areas off of the object. These results demonstrate the ability to investigate both strategic control and spatial realignment. Thus, the Viewing Window provides a powerful engaging tool for investigating the neural basis of visuomotor adaptation and impairment following injury and disease.
Surgical techniques for the treatment of ankyloglossia in children: a case series

This paper reports a series of clinical cases of ankyloglossia in children, which were approached by different techniques: frenotomy and frenectomy with the use of one hemostat, two hemostats, a groove director or laser. Information on the indications, contraindications, advantages and disadvantages of the techniques was also presented. Children diagnosed with ankyloglossia were subjected to different surgical procedures. The choice of the techniques was based on the age of the patient, length of the frenulum and availability of the instruments and equipment. All the techniques presented are successful for the treatment of ankyloglossia and require a skilled professional. Laser may be considered a simple and safe alternative for children while reducing the amount of local anesthetics needed, the bleeding and the chances of infection, swelling and discomfort.
The Governance of Military Police in Canada

The Military Police is a special federal police force in Canada with unique authority, designed to support military commanders both in operations and in garrison. However, it has historically been under the command of non-Military Police officers, and is consequently not governed like other police forces in Canada. Part of this arrangement can be explained by its special military duties, but much of it is the result of a tradition that is at odds with current societal norms. It is the position of the author that differences in norms between the Military Police and other Canadian police forces can only be justified by bona fide military requirements. This article proposes pragmatic changes that would see the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal, who is the senior Military Police officer of the Canadian Forces, command all Military Police. Their duties and functions, however, would be guided by a newly established Military Police Services Board. This Board would provide transparent policy guidance and require equally transparent accountability from the Military Police in a manner that respects the norms of Canadian law and other police services. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Early onset and effective inhibition of bone resorption in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with the tumour necrosis factor alpha antibody infliximab.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of the tumour necrosis factor alpha antibody infliximab on bone metabolism in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Twelve RA patients with active disease on a constant dose of methotrexate were treated with a single infusion of infliximab (10 mg/kg BW). Serum beta-CrossLaps and serum osteocalcin as markers of bone resorption and formation were measured two days and one day before and one and 14 days after infliximab infusion with an electrochemiluminiscence immunoassay. RA disease activity was determined using the Disease Activity Score (DAS) and the ACR-response criteria. RESULTS Infliximab treatment significantly reduced serum beta-CrossLaps levels from 0.29 +/- 0.13 (mean +/- SD) ng/ml at study entry to 0.17 +/- 0.09 pg/ml one day after infusion (p < 0.005). At day 14 serum beta-CrossLaps levels were still significantly lower compared to pre-treatment levels (0.24 +/- 0.13 pg/ml, p < 0.05). In contrast, serum osteocalcin levels remained unchanged during the observation period (17.8 +/- 9.8 vs 18.2 +/- 9.9 vs 18.6 +/- 12.1 ng/ml, respectively). All but one patient improved clinically after infliximab infusion and the DAS dropped significantly from 6.5 +/- 0.9 prior to treatment to 5.8 +/- 1.3 and 5.0 +/- 1.3 at Day one and 14 days after treatment, respectively. Four patients showed an ACR 20-response one day after therapy and 10 patients 14 days after therapy. CONCLUSION Infliximab might have potential to inhibit generalised bone loss in patients with RA in addition to its clinical efficacy in reducing disease activity and inhibiting joint destruction.
3D-microfluidic reactor in LTCC

The study and verification of fluids and chemical reactions in the macroscopic range is widespread in the pharmacy, in the chemical engineering and in the medical and biotechnological industry. By transferring the reactor structures in microfluidic solutions the process parameters can be improved, analyses optimized as well as new ranges of applications opened. The preliminary works of our department show that the thick layer technology and especially the multilayer technology by means of Low Temperature Cofiring Ceramic (LTCC) offer a promising possibility for the miniaturizations of fluidic devices. The aim of this work was the conversion of parameter specifications from the chemical engineering in a first pattern construction of a LTCC microreactor. Thereby sensors for the measurement of the fluidic characteristics had to be integrated into this compound and their utilizability had to be proved.
A neuroanatomically grounded Hebbian-learning model of attention–language interactions in the human brain

Meaningful familiar stimuli and senseless unknown materials lead to different patterns of brain activation. A late major neurophysiological response indexing ‘sense’ is the negative component of event‐related potential peaking at around 400 ms (N400), an event‐related potential that emerges in attention‐demanding tasks and is larger for senseless materials (e.g. meaningless pseudowords) than for matched meaningful stimuli (words). However, the mismatch negativity (latency 100–250 ms), an early automatic brain response elicited under distraction, is larger to words than to pseudowords, thus exhibiting the opposite pattern to that seen for the N400. So far, no theoretical account has been able to reconcile and explain these findings by means of a single, mechanistic neural model. We implemented a neuroanatomically grounded neural network model of the left perisylvian language cortex and simulated: (i) brain processes of early language acquisition and (ii) cortical responses to familiar word and senseless pseudoword stimuli. We found that variation of the area‐specific inhibition (the model correlate of attention) modulated the simulated brain response to words and pseudowords, producing either an N400‐ or a mismatch negativity‐like response depending on the amount of inhibition (i.e. available attentional resources). Our model: (i) provides a unifying explanatory account, at cortical level, of experimental observations that, so far, had not been given a coherent interpretation within a single framework; (ii) demonstrates the viability of purely Hebbian, associative learning in a multilayered neural network architecture; and (iii) makes clear predictions on the effects of attention on latency and magnitude of event‐related potentials to lexical items. Such predictions have been confirmed by recent experimental evidence.
Three essays examining the influence of goal progress on subsequent goal pursuit

This dissertation comprises three essays that investigate how goal progress influences information processing and subsequent goal pursuit. Essay 1 demonstrates how perceived goal progress influences construal level. I propose that people perceiving low progress will pay more attention to specific means or subacts, which are required to effectively achieve their goals (a lower level of construal), whereas people perceiving high progress will consider the general meaning or value of their goal (a higher level of construal). Based on this relationship between goal progress and construal level, I further predict that fit between goal progress and goal construal (i.e., abstract vs. concrete goal construal) will enhance self-regulation as a result of increasing engagement. Across various domains of self-regulation, I show that fit between goal progress and goal construal increases engagement, which in turn influences subsequent self-regulation. Extending the motivational influence of fit between goal progress and construal level, essay 2 shows how to effectively persuade people to pursue their goals depending on goal progress. Based on the relationship between goal progress and construal level in essay 1, I propose that fit between goal progress and the construal level of message framing leads to greater persuasion than would nonfit. Three studies reveal that as people perceive greater progress, messages framed in an abstract, high construal level are perceived to be more persuasive than messages framed in a concrete, low construal level. Finally, essay 3 demonstrates how goal progress affects subsequent goal pursuit, specifically perceptions of and preferences for means that serve a single (i.e., unifinal means) or multiple goals (i.e., multifinal means). Based on cognitive theories of goals and motivation, I show that greater goal progress leads people to structure goals more