Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Angiopeptin Inhibits Intimal Hyperplasia After Angioplast in Porcine Coronary Arteries

BackgroundRestenosis is mediated by uncontrolled neointimal growth at the site of coronary angioplasty. Angiopeptin is an octapeptide analogue of somatostatin that has been shown to decrease the experimental intimal hyperplasia associated with vascular injury in rats and rabbits. The study purpose was to determine if angiopeptin inhibits the development of intimal hyperplasia in normolipemic swine coronary arteries after overstretch-balloon injury. Methods and ResultsOverstretch-balloon injury was performed in normolipemic swine coronary arteries using a 3.5-mm angioplasty balloon. Treated animals received angiopeptin (50 μ g/kg) 1 hour before and at the time of balloon injury. Angiopeptin was administered at 100 (ν g/kg)/day SQ in two divided doses for 14 days. Animals were killed at 14 and 28 days (2 weeks after cessation of angiopeptin) after balloon injury. Treatment animals were compared with control animals receiving balloon injury alone. Angiopeptin significantly limited the experimental intimal hyperplasia estimated by the maximal intimal thickness and residual lumen (lumen area/lumen area+intimal area) compared with controls. ConclusionAngiopeptin inhibits the development of intimal hyperplasia in swine coronary arteries after balloon injury. The beneficial effect was detectable 2 weeks after cessation of angiopeptin therapy.
An Examination of PTSD Factor Structure in Filipino Trauma Survivors: A Comparison of Ten Models Across Three Regional Groups

DSM-IV-TR organized PTSD Symptoms into three clusters. However, numerous studies questioned the validity of its structure and offered alternative models (e.g., Elhai, Biehn et al., 2011; King, Leslin, King, and Weathers, 1998). The current study investigated PTSD factor structure from 10 models using respondents exposed to wide-ranging trauma events. The results on the series of confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a fivefactor model (intrusion, avoidance, numbing, dysphoric arousal, and anxious arousal) fit the data best in contrast to other models. Moreover, multi-group confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the five-factor model achieved configural and metric invariances across three regional groups (Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao).
The role of G protein-coupled receptors in the early evolution of neurotransmission and the nervous system

The origin and evolution of the nervous system is one of the most intriguing and enigmatic events in biology. The recent sequencing of complete genomes from early metazoan organisms provides a new platform to study the origins of neuronal gene families. This review explores the early metazoan expansion of the largest integral transmembrane protein family, the G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which serve as molecular targets for a large subset of neurotransmitters and neuropeptides in higher animals. GPCR repertories from four pre-bilaterian metazoan genomes were compared. This includes the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis and the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, which have primitive nervous systems (nerve nets), the demosponge Amphimedon queenslandica and the placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens, which lack nerve and muscle cells. Comparative genomics demonstrate that the rhodopsin and glutamate receptor families, known to be involved in neurotransmission in higher animals are also widely found in pre-bilaterian metazoans and possess substantial expansions of rhodopsin-family-like GPCRs. Furthermore, the emerging knowledge on the functions of adhesion GPCRs in the vertebrate nervous system provides a platform to examine possible analogous roles of their closest homologues in pre-bilaterians. Intriguingly, the presence of molecular components required for GPCR-mediated neurotransmission in pre-bilaterians reveals that they exist in both primitive nervous systems and nerve-cell-free environments, providing essential comparative models to better understand the origins of the nervous system and neurotransmission.
Exon-Enriched Libraries Reveal Large Genic Differences Between Aedes aegypti from Senegal, West Africa, and Populations Outside Africa

Aedes aegypti is one of the most studied mosquito species, and the principal vector of several arboviruses pathogenic to humans. Recently failure to oviposit, low fecundity, and poor egg-to-adult survival were observed when Ae. aegypti from Senegal (SenAae) West Africa were crossed with Ae. aegypti (Aaa) from outside of Africa, and in SenAae intercrosses. Fluorescent in situ hybridization analyses indicated rearrangements on chromosome 1, and pericentric inversions on chromosomes 2 and 3. Herein, high throughput sequencing (HTS) of exon-enriched libraries was used to compare chromosome-wide genetic diversity among Aaa collections from rural Thailand and Mexico, a sylvatic collection from southeastern Senegal (PK10), and an urban collection from western Senegal (Kaolack). Sex-specific polymorphisms were analyzed in Thailand and PK10 to assess genetic differences between sexes. Expected heterozygosity was greatest in SenAae. FST distributions of 15,735 genes among all six pairwise comparisons of the four collections indicated that Mexican and Thailand collections are genetically similar, while FST distributions between PK10 and Kaolack were distinct. All four comparisons of SenAae with Aaa indicated extreme differentiation. FST was uniform between sexes across all chromosomes in Thailand, but were different, especially on the sex autosome 1, in PK10. These patterns correlate with the reproductive isolation noted earlier. We hypothesize that cryptic Ae. aegypti taxa may exist in West Africa, and the large genic differences between Aaa and SenAae detected in the present study have accumulated over a long period following the evolution of chromosome rearrangements in allopatric populations that subsequently cause reproductive isolation when these populations became sympatric.
Language and Gender: An Analysis of English Textbooks Produced by Punjab Textbook Board for Elementary Level in Pakistan

Language is one of the strongest medium to represent gender ideas. The present study examined what sort of gender images were portrayed in the language of English textbooks produced by Punjab Textbook Board in Pakistan for elementary level. The study exclusively aimed at analyzing gender ideas in following four areas of language at words level: generic constructions, paired noun/ pronoun, adjectives and semantic roles. Using a mixture of quantitatively and qualitatively approaches; data was collected, tabulated (wherever possible) and analyzed. The findings of this study quite clearly revealed that language used in these texts was not free of gender biased ideas. All areas of language selected for this study, especially adjectives and semantic roles, represented males with typically accepted gender colours. Consequently, this study recommended that textbooks being used in Pakistani schools at all levels should be re-evaluated and revised for gender ideas manipulated through language with a strong vision to accomplish gender parity in education. Key w ords: Language, gender, textbooks, Pakistan, adjectives, semantic roles
Incidental Language TeachingA Critical Review

: Incidental language teaching refers to interactions between an adult and a child that arise naturally in an unstructured situation and are used systematically by the adult to transmit new information or give the child practice in developing a communication skill. The purposes of this paper are to review and critique current research on incidental language teaching, briefly discuss the theoretical reasons why incidental teaching might be expected to be effective, and to discuss directions for future research on this teaching approach with children who are language impaired and mentally retarded.
Researching Authenticity: The Relationship between Kindergarten Teachers' Espoused Theories and Their Actual Practices

This paper reports on a study that investigated the relationship between 12 Melbourne kindergarten teachers' espoused theories and their actual practices. The Framework of Perspectives and Descriptions of Practice (Raban et al., 2003a, 2003b) was used to guide the study. The theoretical perspectives of 10 out of the 12 teachers' did not match their actual practices. The teachers who espoused critical considerations involved children in more interactive and explorative pedagogical experiences than the teachers who did not espouse such thinking. Higher qualifications or more years of teaching experience were not linked to greater congruence between the teachers' espoused theories and observed practices.
Effect of metformin on plasma homocysteine, vitamin B12 and folic acid: a cross-sectional study in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of metformin on the levels of plasma homocysteine (Hcy), serum vitamin B12 and folic acid in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and the relationship between cumulative metformin exposure and levels of plasma homocysteine (Hcy). MATERIAL AND METHOD The cross sectional study was conducted to assess the effect of metformin treatment on plasma homocysteine (Hcy), serum vitamin B12 and folic acid in 152 type 2 diabetic out-patients aged between 35-65 years old at the Diabetes Clinic of The Makaruk Hospital, Kanchanaburi, Thailand Among those, 88 and 64 patients were categorised to the metformin and non-metformin group according to their records of receiving metformin treatment for a period of a minimal 6 consecutive months before the study. Fasting blood was drawn from each patient and analysed for plasma homocysteine using the Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay (FPIA) method (IMX Analyzer), and serum vitamin B12 and folic acid using the radioimmunoassay method RESULTS The plasma Hcy levels showed no significant difference (p = 0.544) among patients in the metformin group compared with those in the non-metformin group (10.6+/-5.8 mol/L vs 10.4+/-4.0 mol/L). There was a significant difference (p = 0.011) in the levels of serum vitamin B12 among patients in the metformin group and among those in the non-metformin group (318.0+/-192.2 pg/mL vs 434.3+/-300.7 pg/mL). However, there was no significant difference (p = 0.090) in serum folic acid levels between patients in the metformin and those in the non-metformin group (8.8+/-5.1 ng/mL vs 7.7+/-3.8 ng/mL). The plasma Hcy levels showed a significant correlation with the duration of metformin treatment (p = 0.014) and the amount of metformin received (p = 0.015) with the Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.260 and 0.258 respectively. CONCLUSION Even though the direct effect of metformin treatment on the plasma Hcy could not be concluded from the present study, it was found that there was a significant depletion of level of serum vitamin B12 among patients who had been on long-term metformin treatment. Therefore, vitamin B12 supplement is suggested for diabetic patients who are receiving metformin medication.
[Effect of chronic intermittent hypoxia on the expression of CXC chemokine ligand-10 in rat liver and the interventional effect of N-acetylcysteine].

OBJECTIVE To explore the effect of chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) on liver injury and to examine the expression of liver CXC chemokine ligand-10 (CXCL10) in the rats, and to explore the effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC). METHODS A total of 21 male SD rats were randomly divided into a control group, a CIH group and a CIH+NAC group (n=7 in each group). The control group exposed to normal gaseous environment, the other 2 groups were exposed to CIH for 5 weeks (8 h/d); the control group and the CIH group were given daily saline lavage, the CIH+NAC group daily received NAC solution. After the end of 5 weeks, the rats were killed, and the MDA content and SOD activity in rat liver tissues were detected. The liver sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and the liver pathology was observed. The expression of CXCL10 in the liver tissues was detected by immunohistochemical method. RESULTS Compared with the control group, the MDA levels in rat liver tissues were increased (P<0.05), and the SOD levels were decreased (P<0.05) in the CIH group and the CIH+NAC group. Compared with the CIH group, the SOD levels in the rat liver tissues were increased (P<0.05), and the MDA levels were decreased in the CIH+NAC group. Compared with the control group, the hepatic steatosis and inflammatory reactions were more severe in the CIH group and the CIH+NAC group (both P<0.01). Compared with the CIH group, the hepatic steatosis and inflammatory reactions were reduced in the CIH+NAC group (P<0.05). The liver damage in the CIH+NAC group was less than that in the CIH group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the CXCL10 expression in the CIH group and the CIH+NAC group was increased (both P<0.01). The CXCL10 expression in the CIH+NAC group was down-regulated compared with that in the CIH group (P<0.01). CONCLUSION CIH can lead to liver injury and induce CXCL10 expression in rat liver tissues. The NAC can alleviate rat liver oxidative stress and inflammation caused by CIH, and in turn to improve the liver injury in rats.
Effect of Clostridium difficile Toxin A on Human Colonic Lamina Propria Cells: Early Loss of Macrophages Followed by T-Cell Apoptosis

ABSTRACT We have previously shown that Clostridium difficiletoxin A induces detachment of human colonic epithelial cells from the basement membrane and subsequent cell death by apoptosis. Because these cells require adhesion-dependent signalling from the extracellular matrix for survival, their detachment from the basement membrane by other means also induces apoptosis. The role of toxin A in the induction of apoptosis therefore remains to be determined. In addition, sensitivities to C. difficiletoxin A of lamina propria lymphocytes, macrophages, and eosinophils, which lie below the surface epithelium, are not known. In contrast to epithelial cells, these lamina propria cells do not require adhesion-dependent signalling from the extracellular matrix for survival, and this may allow the mechanisms of toxin A-induced cell death to be further investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of purified C. difficile toxin A on human colonic lamina propria T cells, macrophages, and eosinophils. We show that C. difficile toxin A induces loss of viability in isolated colonic lamina propria cell preparations containing the three different cell types in a dose- and time-dependent fashion. Exposure to high concentrations of the toxin led to loss of macrophages within 72 h. T-lymphocyte and eosinophil cell death was prominent at later time points and occurred by apoptosis. Exposure to toxin A also induced the production of tumor necrosis factor alpha by the isolated colonic lamina propria cells. However, the presence of neutralizing antibodies to this cytokine did not influenceC. difficile toxin A-induced T-cell apoptosis. Moreover, purified T cells also underwent apoptosis following exposure to toxin A, implying that apoptosis occurred as a consequence of a direct interaction between T cells and the toxin. Our studies suggest that C. difficile toxin A is capable of suppressing human colonic mucosal immune responses by inducing early loss of macrophages followed by T-cell apoptosis.
Overcoming Barriers in the Management of Hypertension: The Experience of the Cardiovascular Health Program in Chilean Primary Health Care Centers

Objective. To assess the blood pressure control and cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) in a population of hypertensive patients with access to care under a government-financed program, the Cardiovascular Health Program (CHP). Design. A cross-sectional and multicenter study. Setting. 52 primary care centers, metropolitan area of Santiago, Chile. Participants. 1,194 patients were selected by a systematic random sampling from a universe of 316,654 hypertensive patients. Key Measurements. Demographic information, blood pressure (BP) measurements, and CVRF were extracted from medical records of patients followed for a 12-month period. Results. 59.7% of patients reached target BP <140/90 mmHg. More women were captured in the sampling (2.1 : 1), achieving better BP control than men. Diabetic patients (26.4%) had worse BP control than nondiabetics. Antihypertensive medications were used in 91.5%, with multidrug therapy more frequent in patients with higher BP and more difficult control. Conclusions. The success in improving the BP control to values <140/90 mmHg from 45.3% to 59.7% underscores the contribution of this program in the Chilean primary care cardiovascular preventive strategies. However, fewer hypertensive men than women were captured by this program, and it is of concern the underperforming of BP control observed in diabetics.
Urinary Bladder Dysfunction in Transgenic Sickle Cell Disease Mice

Background Urological complications associated with sickle cell disease (SCD), include nocturia, enuresis, urinary infections and urinary incontinence. However, scientific evidence to ascertain the underlying cause of the lower urinary tract symptoms in SCD is lacking. Objective Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate urinary function, in vivo and ex vivo, in the Berkeley SCD murine model (SS). Methods Urine output was measured in metabolic cage for both wild type and SS mice (25-30 g). Bladder strips and urethra rings were dissected free and mounted in organ baths. In isolated detrusor smooth muscle (DSM), relaxant response to mirabegron and isoproterenol (1nM-10μM) and contractile response to (carbachol (CCh; 1 nM-100μM), KCl (1 mM-300mM), CaCl2 (1μM-100mM), α,β-methylene ATP (1, 3 and 10 μM) and electrical field stimulation (EFS; 1-32 Hz) were measured. Phenylephrine (Phe; 10nM-100μM) was used to evaluate the contraction mechanism in the urethra rings. Cystometry and histomorphometry were also performed in the urinary bladder. Results SS mice present a reduced urine output and incapacity to produce typical bladder contractions and bladder emptying (ex vivo), compared to control animals. In DSM, relaxation in response to a selective β3-adrenergic agonist (mirabegron) and to a non-selective β-adrenergic (isoproterenol) agonist were lower in SS mice. Additionally, carbachol, α, β-methylene ATP, KCl, extracellular Ca2+ and electrical-field stimulation promoted smaller bladder contractions in SS group. Urethra contraction induced by phenylephrine was markedly reduced in SS mice. Histological analyses of SS mice bladder revealed severe structural abnormalities, such as reductions in detrusor thickness and bladder volume, and cell infiltration. Conclusions Taken together, our data demonstrate, for the first time, that SS mice display features of urinary bladder dysfunction, leading to impairment in urinary continence, which may have an important role in the pathogenesis of the enuresis and infections observed the SCD patients.
A Proximal-Projection Bundle Method for Lagrangian Relaxation, Including Semidefinite Programming

We give a proximal bundle method for minimizing a convex function $f$ over a convex set $C$. It requires evaluating $f$ and its subgradients with a fixed but possibly unknown accuracy $\epsilon>0$. Each iteration involves solving an unconstrained proximal subproblem and projecting a certain point onto $C$. The method asymptotically finds points that are $\epsilon$-optimal. In Lagrangian relaxation of convex programs, it allows for e-accurate solutions of Lagrangian subproblems and finds e-optimal primal solutions. For semidefinite programming problems, it extends the highly successful spectral bundle method to the case of inexact eigenvalue computations.
Airborne Hyperspectral Data Predict Fine-Scale Plant Species Diversity in Grazed Dry Grasslands

Semi-natural grasslands with grazing management are characterized by high fine-scale species richness and have a high conservation value. The fact that fine-scale surveys of grassland plant communities are time-consuming may limit the spatial extent of ground-based diversity surveys. Remote sensing tools have the potential to support field-based sampling and, if remote sensing data are able to identify grassland sites that are likely to support relatively higher or lower levels of species diversity, then field sampling efforts could be directed towards sites that are of potential conservation interest. In the present study, we examined whether aerial hyperspectral (414–2501 nm) remote sensing can be used to predict fine-scale plant species diversity (characterized as species richness and Simpson’s diversity) in dry grazed grasslands. Vascular plant species were recorded within 104 (4 m × 4 m) plots on the island of Oland (Sweden) and each plot was characterized by a 245-waveband hyperspectral data set. We used two different modeling approaches to evaluate the ability of the airborne spectral measurements to predict within-plot species diversity: (1) a spectral response approach, based on reflectance information from (i) all wavebands, and (ii) a subset of wavebands, analyzed with a partial least squares regression model, and (2) a spectral heterogeneity approach, based on the mean distance to the spectral centroid in an ordinary least squares regression model. Species diversity was successfully predicted by the spectral response approach (with an error of ca. 20%) but not by the spectral heterogeneity approach. When using the spectral response approach, iterative selection of important wavebands for the prediction of the diversity measures simplified the model but did not improve its predictive quality (prediction error). Wavebands sensitive to plant pigment content (400–700 nm) and to vegetation structural properties, such as above-ground biomass (700–1300 nm), were identified as being the most important predictors of plant species diversity. We conclude that hyperspectral remote sensing technology is able to identify fine-scale variation in grassland diversity and has a potential use as a tool in surveys of grassland plant diversity.
Mining Differential Hubs in Homogenous Networks

Networks have been extensively used to model various complex systems such as online social networks, co-authorship and citation networks and gene networks. Due to different kinds of variations such as temporal, spatial, topic and phenotypic variations, several variants of the same network may exist. For several practical problems, identifying the nodes that are changing between the networks provide vital information regarding the dynamics of the network states. Given two networks where the nodes are the same in both networks, but the edges are different, we consider the problem of identifying a set of hubs that best explain the differences between the two networks. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to address the problem of finding the differential hubs. To address this problem, we propose a novel ranking algorithm, DiffRank, which ranks the nodes of two networks based on their differential behavior between the two networks. We define new measures such as differential connectivity and differential centrality for each node. These measures are propagated through the network and are optimized to capture the local and global structural changes between two networks. We demonstrate the effectiveness of DiffRank on synthetic datasets and real-world applications including collaboration and biological networks. We show that DiffRank identifies meaningful and practically valuable information compared to some of the baseline methods that can be used for such a task.
The Philosophy of the Limit

In The Philosophy of the Limit Drucilla Cornell examines the relationship of deconstruction to questions of ethics, justice and legal interpretation. She argues that renaming deconstruction "the philosophy of the limit" will allow us to be more precise about what deconstruction actually is philosophically and hence to articulate more clearly its significance for law. Cornell's focus on the importance of the limit and the centrality of the gender hierarchy allows her to offer a view of jurisprudence different from both the critical social theory and analytic jurisprudence.