Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Suprachiasmatic GABAergic Inputs to the Paraventricular Nucleus Control Plasma Glucose Concentrations in the Rat via Sympathetic Innervation of the Liver

Daily peak plasma glucose concentrations are attained shortly before awakening. Previous experiments indicated an important role for the biological clock, located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), in the genesis of this anticipatory rise in plasma glucose concentrations by controlling hepatic glucose production. Here, we show that stimulation of NMDA receptors, or blockade of GABA receptors in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) of conscious rats, caused a pronounced increase in plasma glucose concentrations. The local administration of TTX in brain areas afferent to the PVN revealed that an important part of the inhibitory inputs to the PVN was derived from the SCN. Using a transneuronal viral-tracing technique, we showed that the SCN is connected to the liver via both branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The combination of a blockade of GABA receptors in the PVN with selective removal of either the sympathetic or parasympathetic branch of the hepatic ANS innervation showed that hyperglycemia produced by PVN stimulation was primarily attributable to an activation of the sympathetic input to the liver. We propose that the daily rise in plasma glucose concentrations is caused by an SCN-mediated withdrawal of GABAergic inputs to sympathetic preautonomic neurons in the PVN, resulting in an increased hepatic glucose production. The remarkable resemblance of the presently proposed control mechanism to that described previously for the control of daily melatonin rhythm suggests that the GABAergic control of sympathetic preautonomic neurons in the PVN is an important pathway for the SCN to control peripheral physiology.
Inhibition of PIKfyve by YM-201636 Dysregulates Autophagy and Leads to Apoptosis-Independent Neuronal Cell Death

The lipid phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(3,5)P 2), synthesised by PIKfyve, regulates a number of intracellular membrane trafficking pathways. Genetic alteration of the PIKfyve complex, leading to even a mild reduction in PtdIns(3,5)P 2, results in marked neurodegeneration via an uncharacterised mechanism. In the present study we have shown that selectively inhibiting PIKfyve activity, using YM-201636, significantly reduces the survival of primary mouse hippocampal neurons in culture. YM-201636 treatment promoted vacuolation of endolysosomal membranes followed by apoptosis-independent cell death. Many vacuoles contained intravacuolar membranes and inclusions reminiscent of autolysosomes. Accordingly, YM-201636 treatment increased the level of the autophagosomal marker protein LC3-II, an effect that was potentiated by inhibition of lysosomal proteases, suggesting that alterations in autophagy could be a contributing factor to neuronal cell death.
A Printed, Broadband Luneburg Lens Antenna

The design of a 2D broadband, Luneburg lens antenna implemented using printed circuit board techniques is detailed. The refractive index of the lens is controlled through a combination of meandering crossed microstrip lines and varying their widths. The 12. 4λ° diameter lens is designed to operate in the transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode at 13 GHz. The lens antenna was designed, fabricated, and measured. The measured half power beamwidth of the experimental antenna is 4.34°.
Protests under Occupation: The Spring inside Western Sahara

The emergence and empowerment of Sahrawi civil protests and pro-independence activism inside the Western Sahara territory under Moroccan occupation have to be seen in the context of varying sets of opportunity structures which this peripheral movement has actively seized in the past two decades by symbiotically combining domestic non-violent resistance and international ‘diplomatic’ activities. Different forms of recognition received from the two reference centres – the Moroccan state and the Polisario Front – plus the international community have been crucial in this process, with the last representing the most significant achievement of the movement. The Arab Spring has been a particularly fruitful window of opportunity in this regard.
Use of selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors and platelet aggregation inhibitors among individuals with co-occurring atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and depression or anxiety

Objective: Medications commonly used to treat heart disease, anxiety, and depression can interact resulting in an increased risk of bleeding, warranting a cautious approach in medical decision making. This retrospective, descriptive study examined the prevalence and the factors associated with the use of both selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor and platelet aggregation inhibitor among individuals with co-occurring atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and anxiety or depression. Methods: Respondents aged 22 years and older, alive throughout the study period, and diagnosed with co-occurring atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and anxiety or depression (n = 1507) in years 2007 through 2013 of the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey were included. The use of treatment was grouped as follows: selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor and platelet aggregation inhibitor, selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor or platelet aggregation inhibitor, and neither selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor nor platelet aggregation inhibitor. Results: Overall, 16.5% used both selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor and platelet aggregation inhibitor, 61.2% used selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor or platelet aggregation inhibitor, and 22.3% used neither selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor nor platelet aggregation inhibitor. Respondents aged over 65 years (adjusted odds ratio = 1.93 (95% confidence interval = 1.08–3.45)) and having a diagnosis of diabetes (adjusted odds ratio = 1.63 (95% confidence interval = 1.15–2.31)) and hypertension (adjusted odds ratio = 1.84 (95% confidence interval = 1.04–3.27)) were more likely to be prescribed the combination. Conclusion: The drug interaction was prevalent in patients who are already at higher risk of health disparities and worse outcomes thus requiring vigilant evaluation.
Left Ventricular Stiffness Associated with Chronic Pressure and Volume Overloads in Man

The relative effects of chronic pressure overload and chronic volume overload on left ventricular diastolic chamber stiffness were examined using a combined hemodynamic and ultrasonic technique in 27 patients. The slope of the left ventricular pressure-diameter relation in late diastole was measured and found to be steep in the groups with pressure or volume overload (9.0 ± 1.8 mm Hg/mm for pressure overload, 5.6 ± 0.9 mm Hg/mm for volume overload) compared with a control group (2.2 ± 0.2 mm Hg/mm). When this slope was normalized for either pressure or diameter, chamber stiffness remained high in the pressure-overloaded ventricles but was only slightly increased in the volume-overloaded ventricles compared with control. Ventricular wall thickness was much greater in pressure-overloaded ventricles (15.6 ± 1.0 mm) than it was in normal (9.0 ± 0.4 mm) ventricles but only slightly increased in volume-overloaded ventricles (10.6 ± 0.9 mm). The large increases in both effective and normalized diastolic stiffness indexes associated with chronic pressure overload suggest an increase in intrinsic left ventricular chamber stiffness, possibly related to an increase in wall thickness. In contrast, chronic volume overload results in only slight increases in normalized diastolic stiffness indexes and wall thickness. It is suggested that differences in the pattern of hypertrophy, which result in a significant disparity in ventricular wall thickness between the two conditions, best account for the observed differences in diastolic left ventricular chamber stiffness.
Automatic Learning of the Frequencies of Occurrence of Stimulus Features

Whether people automatically learn the relative frequency of occurrence of stimulus features when they attend to instances of a concept was investigated. College students viewed instances of a concept defined by a conjunction of two stimulus features. The frequency of stimulus features was varied systematically. The instructions or orienting task given to subjects and the rate of stimulus presentation during learning were manipulated. Following learning, subjects estimated the frequencies of stimulus features. To measure concept learning, a recognition test (consisting of old instances, new instances, and new noninstances) and a definition test were given. Contrary to the view that feature frequencies are learned automatically, instructions and rate of presentation both affected subjects' knowledge of features occurring with high frequency. These plus other findings in the literature suggest that feature-frequency learning is neither automatic nor effortful. An alternative to the dichotomy of automatic versus effortful processes is discussed.
User Response to an Online Information System: A Field Experiment

This study examines the impact of an information system on user attitudes and perceptions of job characteristics. These impacts were assessed with a quasi-experimental research design for a sample of nurses in a major urban hospital. After testing for and rejecting possible confounding influences of the pretest scores, comparisons were made between pre-implementation and post-implementation attitudes and perceptions. Results showed little change in job perceptions and no significant change in attitudes toward the system. The importance of thee findings is discussed within the context of alternative models for explaining the organizational impacts of information systems.
Chest compression pauses during defibrillation attempts

Purpose of reviewThis article summarizes current knowledge of the causes and consequences of interruption of chest compressions during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Recent findingsPauses in chest compressions occur during analysis of the heart rhythm, delivery of ventilation, interventions such as intubation, and gaining intravenous access, but pauses may also be unprompted. Pauses related to defibrillation are because of preshock pauses for rhythm analysis and charging, and postshock pauses to evaluate the outcome of the shock. Prolonged pauses, mainly preshock pauses (>10 s) are associated with decreased survival to discharge in retrospective analyses. Measures to reduce preshock and postshock pauses include resuming chest compressions during defibrillator charging, continued chest compression during defibrillation by mechanical chest compression devices or during manual chest compression with sufficiently insulating gloves for the rescuer, and eliminating postshock rhythm and pulse checks. New filtering techniques may allow rhythm analysis during chest compressions. SummaryIt is important to avoid any unnecessary pause in chest compressions before and after a defibrillation shock. Pauses should be kept to an absolute minimum, preferably to less than 10 s.
Alignment of the two domains of the hairpin ribozyme-substrate complex defined by interdomain photoaffinity crosslinking.

The hairpin ribozyme-substrate complex contains two independently folding domains that interact with one another to form a catalytic complex. However, little is known about the key structural elements involved in these tertiary interactions. Here, we report the use of a photochemical crosslinking method to investigate the relative proximity and orientation of the two domains of the hairpin ribozyme. This method allows the incorporation of a photochemical azidophenacyl group at specified positions within synthetic oligoribonucleotides. Photocrosslinking was performed following the assembly of four RNA oligonucleotides into active ribozyme-substrate complexes. Two photoagent attachment sites in the substrate binding strand within domain A (between positions A7-G8 and A10-G11) and three in the 5' strand of domain B (A20-G21, A22-A23 and A24-C25) were studied. Several crosslinks between the substrate binding strand and the 5' segment of domain B were detected. All of the photo agent-specific crosslinked species were dependent upon proper assembly and folding of the ribozyme-substrate complex. In addition, a substrate base mutation (G+1 to A+1) that prevents the docking of the two domains, blocks the crosslink formation. Four interdomain crosslinks (A7-G8/C25-A26 (two species); A10-G11/A22 and A24-C25/C12-G13) have been shown to retain catalytic activity. Taken together, these results indicate that the characterized crosslinks provide important information concerning the alignment of the two domains and accurately reflect the active docked conformation of the molecule.
Delayed Effect of Acupuncture Treatment in OA of the Knee: A Blinded, Randomized, Controlled Trial

To assess the efficacy in providing improved function and pain relief by administering 8 weeks of acupuncture as adjunctive therapy to standard care in elderly patients with OA of the knee. This randomized, controlled, blinded trial was conducted on 55 patients with OA of the knee. Forty-one patients completed the study (26 females, 15 males, mean age ± SD 71.7 ± 8.6 years). Patients were randomly divided into an intervention group that received biweekly acupuncture treatment (n = 28) and a control group that received sham acupuncture (n = 27), both in addition to standard therapy, for example, NSAIDS, cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, acetaminophen, intra-articular hyaluronic acid and steroid injections. Primary outcomes measures were changes in the Knee Society Score (KSS) knee score and in KSS function and pain ratings at therapy onset, at 8 weeks (closure of study) and at 12 weeks (1 month after last treatment). Secondary outcomes were patient satisfaction and validity of sham acupuncture. There was significant improvement in all three scores in both groups after 8 and 12 weeks compared with baseline (P < .05). Significant differences between the intervention and control groups in the KSS knee score (P = .036) was apparent only after 12 weeks. Patient satisfaction was higher in the intervention group. Adjunctive acupuncture treatment seems to provide added improvement to standard care in elderly patients with OA of the knee. Future research should determine the optimal duration of acupuncture treatment in the context of OA.
Written emotional disclosure following first-episode psychosis: effects on symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

OBJECTIVE This paper examined whether written emotional disclosure reduces psychosis-related post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in a small clinical sample recovering from a first episode of psychosis. METHOD Approximately 2.5 years after their first episode of psychosis, 22 people completed measures of traumatic symptoms, recovery style, insight, anxiety and depression. Participants then wrote about the most stressful aspects of their illness (N = 12) or about emotionally neutral topics (N = 10) for 15 minutes on three separate occasions. Approximately 5 weeks later, participants re-completed the same dependent measures. RESULTS Participants who wrote about their psychotic experiences showed less overall severity and avoidance of traumatic symptoms compared with participants who did not write about their psychotic experiences. There were no effects on the other dependent measures. CONCLUSIONS Preliminary evidence with a small clinical sample suggests that providing people who are recovering from a psychotic episode with an opportunity to disclose the most stressful aspects of their illness and treatment may lessen the traumatic impact of these experiences. However, this finding requires replication with a larger sample.
Digital Piracy Justification

The literature has shown that digital piracy is more rampant in Asia and Asians are often found to have a more favorable attitude toward digital piracy in research. This study examines the attitude toward justifying digital piracy in light of the techniques of neutralization. A comparison is made between Asian international students and American students. The result shows Asian international students are significantly more likely to justify digital piracy, but their general morality is not significantly different from American students. This finding supports neutralization theory in that people do not need to change their moral belief to favor criminal behavior as long as they can apply the techniques of neutralization to justify it. Moreover, Asian Americans, among all racial groups in the American sample, are the only group that does not show significant difference in their digital piracy justification, compared to the Asian international students. Considering that Asian Americans and Asian international students rarely share the same social environment in their upbringing, this finding further suggests there is something about being Asian, rather than social factors, that endorses digital piracy justification.
A Prospective Analysis of Meat Mutagens and Colorectal Cancer in the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study

Background: Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) in cooked meats may play a role in colorectal cancer (CRC) development. Objectives: We aimed to prospectively examine the association between estimated intakes of HCAs and meat-derived mutagenicity (MDM) in two cohorts of health professionals, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) and the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS). Methods: In 29,615 men and 65,875 women, intake of the HCAs 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo(4,5-j)quinoxaline (MeIQx), 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo(4,5-b)pyridine (PhIP), 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo(4,5-f)quinoxaline (DiMeIQx), and MDM was estimated using a 1996 cooking questionnaire, the 1994 food frequency questionnaire, and an online database. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and to adjust for potential confounders. Estimates for both cohorts were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. Results: Between 1996 and 2010, 418 male and 790 female CRC cases were identified. Meat mutagen intake was not statistically significantly associated with risk of CRC [highest vs. lowest quintile, pooled HR (95% CI) for MeIQx: 1.12 (0.93, 1.34), p for trend 0.23; PhIP: 1.10 (0.90, 1.33), p for trend 0.35; MDM: 1.03 (0.86, 1.24), p for trend 0.75] or subtypes of CRC defined by tumor location (proximal or distal colon, or rectum). When analyzed by source of meat, PhIP from red but not from white meat was nonsignificantly positively associated with CRC and significantly positively associated with proximal cancers [HR (95% CI) per standard deviation increase of log-transformed intake: PhIP red meat: CRC: 1.06 (0.99, 1.12), proximal: 1.11 (1.02, 1.21); PhIP white meat: CRC: 0.99 (0.94, 1.04), proximal: 1.00 (0.93, 1.09)]. Conclusions: Estimated intakes of meat mutagens were not significantly associated with CRC risk over 14 years of follow-up in the NHS and HPFS cohorts. Results for PhIP from red but not from white meat warrant further investigation. Citation: Le NT, Michels FA, Song M, Zhang X, Bernstein AM, Giovannucci EL, Fuchs CS, Ogino S, Chan AT, Sinha R, Willett WC, Wu K. 2016. A prospective analysis of meat mutagens and colorectal cancer in the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Environ Health Perspect 124:1529–1536; http://dx.doi. org/10.1289/EHP238
Deeply Penetrating Banded Zonal Flows in the Solar Convection Zone

Helioseismic observations have detected small temporal variations of the rotation rate below the solar surface that correspond to the so-called "torsional oscillations" known from Doppler measurements of the surface. These appear as bands of slower- and faster-than-average rotation moving equatorward. Here we establish, using complementary helioseismic observations over 4 yr from the GONG network and from the MDI instrument on board SOHO, that the banded flows are not merely a near-surface phenomenon: rather, they extend downward at least 60 Mm (some 8% of the total solar radius) and thus are evident over a significant fraction of the nearly 200 Mm depth of the solar convection zone.
Comparison of Cyfra 21–1, Tpa and Tps in Lung Cancer, Urinary Bladder Cancer and Benign Diseases

Recently CYFRA 21–1, a new tumor marker measuring a fragment of cytokeratin 19, was introduced and proved to be suitable for therapy monitoring and follow-up of non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC), in particular squamous cell carcinomas. Besides CYFRA 21–1 there are two other tumor markers, tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA) and tissue polypeptide-specific antigen (TPS), which also measure various cytokeratins in serum. In a retrospective study we investigated the clinical significance of these three cytokeratin markers in lung cancer and in carcinoma of the urinary bladder. For this purpose we investigated the sera of 50 healthy persons, 273 patients with various benign diseases, 218 patients with histologically proven lung cancer and 88 patients with carcinoma of the urinary bladder. In a first step the specificity was established for the different reference groups and the cutoff values were fixed at a specificity of 95%. In lung cancer the single and combined sensitivities were calculated versus benign lung diseases (n = 58) as reference group. With single determinations CYFRA 21–1 proved to have the highest sensitivity in lung cancer in general (61%), in non-small cell lung carcinomas (64%), in squamous cell carcinomas (79%), in adenocarcinomas (54%) and in large cell carcinomas (65%). In small cell lung carcinomas (SCLC) NSE was confirmed to be the marker of choice (55%). With combined determinations a clear increase in sensitivity could only be reached in large cell carcinomas (CYFRA 21–1 + TPA: 77%) and in small cell carcinomas (CYFRA 21–1 + NSE: 62%). In cancer of the urinary bladder the sensitivities were established versus benign urological diseases (n = 73). CYFRA 21–1 showed with 38% true positive test results the highest sensitivity compared to TPA (27%) and TPS (23%). From our investigations it was evident that TPA detects at least partially the same substance as CYFRA 21–1 (the sensitivities compared to the markers TPS, CEA, SCC and NSE were rather high, but not as high as for CYFRA 21–1) whereas TPS represents a completely different parameter of clinical chemistry (lowest number of true positive test results over the whole investigation), which apparently measures something completely different. These findings cleary correspond with the very recent results of immunoblotting comparing CYFRA 21–1, TPA and TPS.