Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardiac Sympathetic Neurotransmission in Hypertensive Rats Noradrenergic Cell Specific Gene Transfer with Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase Reduces Noradrenergic Cell Specific Gene Transfer with Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase Reduces Cardiac Sympathetic Neurotransmission in Hypertensive Rats Materials 

—Nitric oxide– cGMP pathway can inhibit cardiac norepinephrine (NE) release. Sympathetic hyper-responsiveness in hypertension may result from oxidative stress impairing this pathway. We tested the hypothesis that the gene transfer of neuronal NO synthase (nNOS) could restore sympathetic balance in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). An adenovirus (5ϫ10 10 particles) constructed with a noradrenergic neuron-specific promoter (PRS ϫ8) encoding nNOS (Ad.PRS-nNOS) or enhanced green fluorescence protein (Ad.PRS-eGFP) was targeted to the right atrial wall by percutaneous injection in age-matched male SHRs and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. Five days after transduction, right atria were removed, and evoked [ 3 H] norephinephrine (NE) release, NOS activity, and cGMP were measured. In the Ad.PRS-eGFP treated group, tissue levels of cGMP were significantly lower in the SHR compared with the WKY atria. NE release was also greater in the SHR, and soluble guanylate cyclase inhibition did not alter evoked [ 3 H] NE release in the Ad.PRS-eGFP–treated SHR. All atria treated with Ad.PRS-nNOS had enhanced nNOS activity when compared with Ad.PRS-eGFP atria. Ad.PRS-nNOS in WKY rats reduced NE release compared with the Ad.PRS-eGFP group. Guanylate cyclase inhibition enhanced NE release in both Ad.PRS-nNOS– and Ad.PRS-eGFP–treated WKY atria. Ad.PRS-nNOS restored cGMP levels in the SHR to those seen in the WKY atria. In the SHR, Ad.PRS-nNOS also attenuated NE release compared with Ad.PRS-eGFP group. This was reversed by guanylate cyclase inhibition. We conclude that artificial upregulation of sympathetic nNOS via gene transfer with a noradrenergic promoter may provide a novel approach for correcting peripheral sympathetic hyperactivity in hypertension. Key Words: nitric oxide Ⅲ gene transfer Ⅲ autonomic nervous system Ⅲ norepinephrine Ⅲ hypertension Ⅲ cyclic GMP I n hypertension, cardiac autonomic impairment is an important contributor to the pathophysiological phenotype of the disease. Much evidence supports the observation that the activity of the sympathetic nervous system increases dramatically both in hypertensive patients 1– 4 and in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). 5,6 The mechanism causing enhanced neurohumoral activation is unknown, but may be directly related to oxidative stress caused by hypertension disrupting nitric oxide (NO)– cGMP modulation of norepi-nephrine (NE) release in central autonomic nuclei 7 and peripheral varicosities. 8 Neuronal production of NO affects cardiac excitability through its action as a neuromodulator of postganglionic sympathovagal transmission. 8 –10 Both endog-enous and exogenous NO inhibits evoked NE release during cardiac sympathetic nerve stimulation in the rat in vitro. 11 Functionally, NO or the membrane-permeable cGMP analogue …
Strategic Resource Dependence

We consider a situation where an exhaustible-resource seller faces demand from a buyer who has a substitute but there is a time-to-build delay for the substitute. We find that in this simple framework the basic implications of the Hotelling model (1931) are reversed: over time the stock declines but supplies increase up to the point where the buyer decides to switch. Under such a threat of demand change, the supply does not reflect the current resource scarcity but it compensates the buyer for delaying the transition to the substitute. The analysis suggests a perspective on costs of oil dependence.
Regulatory effect of thiamin pyrophosphate on pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.

The kinetic behavior of pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) containing bound endogenous thiamin pyrophosphate (TPP) was affected by exogenous TPP. In the absence of exogenous TPP, a lag phase of the PDC reaction was observed. TPP added to the PDC reaction medium containing Mg2+ led to a disappearance of the lag phase, inducing strong reduction of the Km value for pyruvate (from 76.7 to 19.0 microM) but a more moderate decrease of Km for CoA (from 12.2 to 4.3 microM) and Km for NAD+ (from 70.2 to 33.6 microM), with no considerable change in the maximum reaction rate. Likewise, thiamin monophosphate (TMP) decreased the Km value of PDC for pyruvate, but to a lesser extent (from 76.7 to 57.9 microM) than TPP. At the unsaturating level of pyruvate, the A50 values for TPP and TMP were 0.2 microM and 0.3 mM, respectively. This could mean that the effect of TPP on PDC was more specific. In addition, exogenous TPP changed the UV spectrum and lowered the fluorescence emission of the PDC containing bound endogenous TPP in its active sites. The data obtained suggest that TPP plays, in addition to its catalytic function, the important role of positive regulatory effector of pig heart PDC.
Double-talk robust VSS-NLMS algorithm for under-modeling acoustic echo cancellation

Most of the adaptive algorithms used for acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) are designed assuming an exact modeling scenario (i.e., the acoustic echo path and the adaptive filter have the same length) and a single-talk context (i.e., the near-end speech is absent). In real-world AEC applications, the adaptive filter works most likely in an under-modeling situation, i.e., its length is smaller than the length of the acoustic impulse response, so that the under-modeling noise is present. Also, the double-talk case is almost inherent, so that a double-talk detector (DTD) is usually involved. Both aspects influence and limit the algorithm's performance. Taking into account these two practical issues, a double-talk robust variable step size normalized least-mean- square (VSS-NLMS) algorithm is proposed in this paper. This algorithm is nonparametric in the sense that it does not require any information about the acoustic environment, so that it is robust and easy to control in practice.
The Rehabilitation Complexity Scale version 2: a clinimetric evaluation in patients with severe complex neurodisability

Objective To evaluate the clinimetric properties of the Rehabilitation Complexity Scale (RCS) in a neurorehabilitation inpatient sample. Design Observational cohort analysis in a tertiary specialist setting. Subjects 179 consecutive patients (mean age 44.5 years (SD 15 years), males:females 110:69) with complex neurological disabilities, mainly following acquired brain injury. Methods Repeat RCS ratings of the level of care, nursing, therapy and medical interventions were examined for dimensionality, repeatability, consistency and responsiveness, and compared with the Northwick Park Nursing and Therapy Dependency Scales, the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) and Barthel Index, recorded at the start and end of treatment. Results The test–retest reliability confirmed the RCS to be repeatable (κ 0.93 to 0.96) and moderately responsive to changes in levels of intervention over the course of the programme, suggesting the need for serial evaluation. Coefficient-α was 0.76 and item-total correlations all >0.50, with moderate to high loadings on the first principal component. Factor analysis revealed two clear factors (‘Nursing/medical care,’ and ‘Therapies’). The RCS demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity with the Northwick Park Nursing and Therapy Dependency Scales but some ceiling effect. FIM motor and Barthel scores correlated well with basic care and nursing scores (Spearman rho −0.65 to −0.79) but less well with therapy (rho −0.26) and medical (rho −0.28 to −0.33) scores. Conclusion In this cohort, the RCS provided a reliable, valid and moderately responsive profile of rehabilitation interventions, separating into two main subscales. It usefully identified medical and therapy inputs not captured by the FIM and Barthel Index, which are commonly used to define case complexity in rehabilitation.
PEDIATRIC RADIATION DOSE DURING CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION PROCEDURES IN SUDAN

Children are more radio sensitive than adult. This study aims to assess radiation doses and the associated hazards to pediatric during cardiac catheterization procedures. Radiation dose for 112 patients was estimated in the biggest cardiac center in Sudan. The median KAP in Gy cm2, CK in mGy, number of frames and fluoroscopy time in minutes were (4.6, 29.0, 340.4, 13.5) and (6.0, 35.0, 318, 9.8) for the diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac procedures, respectively. The median (KAP in Gy cm2, effective dose in mSv) for different age groups in the intervals of less than 1 year, 1-<5 years, 5-<10 years and 10-15 years old were (2.2, 4.4), (2.5, 5.0), (4.2, 5.1) and (8.5, 4.1) respectively. Including all the procedures using the multiplicative model of ICRP 60, the mean attributable lifetime risk for stochastic effect was 0.08 and 0.05% for girls and boys, respectively. Training is needed to raise staff awareness about radiation protection.
Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission VIII. CoRoT-7b: the first Super-Earth with measured radius

Aims. We report the discovery of very shallow (ΔF/F ≈ 3.4× 10 −4 ), periodic dips in the light curve of an active V = 11.7 G9V star observed by the CoRoT satellite, which we interpret as caused by a transiting companion. We describe the 3-colour CoRoT data and complementary ground-based observations that support the planetary nature of the companion. Methods. We used CoRoT colours information, good angular resolution ground-based photometric observations in- and out- of transit, adaptive optics imaging, near-infrared spectroscopy, and preliminary results from radial velocity measurements, to test the diluted eclipsing binary scenarios. The parameters of the host star were derived from optical spectra, which were then combined with the CoRoT light curve to derive parameters of the companion. Results. We examined all conceivable cases of false positives carefully, and all the tests support the planetary hypothesis. Blends with separation >0.40 �� or triple systems are almost excluded with a 8 × 10 −4 risk left. We conclude that, inasmuch we have been exhaustive, we have discovered a planetary companion, named CoRoT-7b, for which we derive a period of 0.853 59 ± 3 × 10 −5 day and a radius of Rp = 1.68 ± 0.09 REarth . A nalysis of preliminary radial velocity data yields an upper limit of 21 MEarth for the companion mass, supporting the finding. Conclusions. CoRoT-7b is very likely the first Super-Earth with a measured radius. This object illustrates what will probably become a common situation with missions such as Kepler, namely the need to establish the planetary origin of transits in the absence of a firm radial velocity detection and mass measurement. The composition of CoRoT-7b remains loosely constrained without a precise mass. A very high surface temperature on its irradiated face, ≈1800–2600 K at the substellar point, and a very low one, ≈50 K, on its dark face assuming no atmosphere, have been derived.
Adjunctive intravitreal dexamethasone in the treatment of acute endophthalmitis following cataract surgery

Purpose Controversy exists regarding the use of intravitreal dexamethasone (IVD) as an anti-inflammatory adjunct to intravitreal antibiotics in patients with acute endophthalmitis following cataract surgery. The purpose of this project was to evaluate our experience regarding the effect of adjunctive IVD use on visual outcomes in such patients. Design Retrospective, comparative case series. Methods Study population: Patients treated for acute endophthalmitis following cataract surgery from 1995–2004. Intervention: In addition to standard intravitreal antibiotic treatment, some patients also received a single adjunctive injection of IVD. Primary outcome measures: Median visual acuity at last follow-up and percentage of patients achieving a ≥3-line improvement in visual acuity. Secondary outcome measures: Inflammatory index scoring, including amount of cell and flare, height of hypopyon, and presence of fibrin as a function of time after treatment. Results Twenty-six eyes were treated with and 38 eyes without adjunctive IVD. Median presenting visual acuity was Hand Motion in both groups. Median visual acuity at last follow-up measured 20/40 in the IVD group and 20/50 in the No-IVD group (p = 0.75). Seventy-three percent of patients in the IVD group and 82% of patients in the No-IVD group achieved a ≥3-line improvement in visual acuity (p = 0.42). No significant difference was detected between the IVD and No-IVD groups for any of the three measures of inflammation. Conclusion The use of IVD did not significantly improve the final median visual acuity, the chance of achieving a ≥3-line improvement in visual acuity, or the amount of intraocular inflammation. Based on these findings, and the possible detrimental effect of IVD on visual outcomes previously reported in the literature, the use of IVD does not appear to be warranted as a routine adjunctive treatment in postoperative endophthalmitis.
Roles of macrophages and neutrophils in the early response to Bacillus anthracis spores in a mouse model of infection , Infection and Immunity

The development of new approaches to combat anthrax requires that the pathogenesis and host response to Bacillus anthracis spores be better understood. We investigated the roles that macrophages and neutrophils play in the progression of infection by B. anthracis in a mouse model. Mice were treated with a macrophage depletion agent (liposome-encapsulated clodronate) or with a neutrophil depletion agent (cyclophosphamide or the rat anti-mouse granulocyte monoclonal antibody RB6-8C5), and the animals were then infected intraperitoneally or by aerosol challenge with fully virulent, ungerminated B. anthracis strain Ames spores. The macrophage-depleted mice were significantly more susceptible to the ensuing infection than the salinepretreated mice, whereas the differences observed between the neutropenic mice and the saline-pretreated controls were generally not significant. We also found that augmenting peritoneal neutrophil populations before spore challenge did not increase resistance of the mice to infection. In addition, the bacterial load in macrophage-depleted mice was significantly greater and appeared significantly sooner than that observed with the saline-pretreated mice. However, the bacterial load in the neutropenic mice was comparable to that of the saline-pretreated mice. These data suggest that, in our model, neutrophils play a relatively minor role in the early host response to spores, whereas macrophages play a more dominant role in early host defenses against infection by B. anthracis spores.
Decitabine in patients with newly diagnosed and relapsed acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract Treatment options for older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and for patients with relapsed/refractory AML are limited, and outcomes are poor. Decitabine, a hypomethylating agent, is active in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and AML, but its optimal dose and schedule are unknown. We report the efficacy and safety of repeated 10-day cycles of decitabine 20 mg/m2 administered intravenously over 1 h in 52 newly diagnosed and 102 relapsed/refractory patients. Repeated 10-day cycles of decitabine produced a complete response (CR) in 40% of newly diagnosed older patients with AML, many of whom had adverse prognostic features. The median overall survival (OS) was 318 days but there was prolonged survival in responders of 481 days. Relapsed/refractory patients had a CR rate of 15.7% with a median OS of 177 days. Extramedullary toxicity was mild and the regimen was well tolerated for ongoing post-remission, outpatient maintenance cycles. Responses were durable for over 1 year.
Protein Trans-Splicing of Multiple Atypical Split Inteins Engineered from Natural Inteins

Protein trans-splicing by split inteins has many uses in protein production and research. Splicing proteins with synthetic peptides, which employs atypical split inteins, is particularly useful for site-specific protein modifications and labeling, because the synthetic peptide can be made to contain a variety of unnatural amino acids and chemical modifications. For this purpose, atypical split inteins need to be engineered to have a small N-intein or C-intein fragment that can be more easily included in a synthetic peptide that also contains a small extein to be trans-spliced onto target proteins. Here we have successfully engineered multiple atypical split inteins capable of protein trans-splicing, by modifying and testing more than a dozen natural inteins. These included both S1 split inteins having a very small (11–12 aa) N-intein fragment and S11 split inteins having a very small (6 aa) C-intein fragment. Four of the new S1 and S11 split inteins showed high efficiencies (85–100%) of protein trans-splicing both in E. coli cells and in vitro. Under in vitro conditions, they exhibited reaction rate constants ranging from ∼1.7×10−4 s−1 to ∼3.8×10−4 s−1, which are comparable to or higher than those of previously reported atypical split inteins. These findings should facilitate a more general use of trans-splicing between proteins and synthetic peptides, by expanding the availability of different atypical split inteins. They also have implications on understanding the structure-function relationship of atypical split inteins, particularly in terms of intein fragment complementation.
Efectos de intervención educativa sobre el conocimiento de la enfermedad en pacientes con diabetes mellitus

La prevencion de diabetes y sus complicaciones es un desafio para el equipo de salud. El objetivo de esta investigacion fue evaluar el efecto de accion educativa sobre el conocimiento de la enfermedad en pacientes portadores de diabetes tipo 2. Fue realizado ensayo clinico aleatorizado con 62 pacientes registrados en servicio de referencia en tratamiento de la hipertension arterial en 2010. Los datos fueron obtenidos a traves de un cuestionario aplicado a los grupos Intervencion (GI) y Control (GC), al inicio y al final del estudio. El GI participo de actividades educativas grupales, utilizando la metodologia problematizadora. Los resultados muestran un aumento significativo del conocimiento sobre la diabetes en pacientes del GI, en todas las cuestiones (p<0,05). En el GC, algunas alteraciones observadas, fueron mucho menores cuando comparadas al GI. Se concluye que fue posible elevar los conocimientos sobre la enfermedad por medio de realizacion de actividades educativas. Numero del Registro clinico, Identificador primario: RBR-58n26hDescriptores: Enfermeria en Salud Comunitaria; Educacion en Salud; Diabetes Mellitus; Autocuidado.Rev. Latino-Am. Enfermagem
Determinants of plant establishment success in a multispecies introduction experiment with native and alien species

Determinants of plant establishment and invasion are a key issue in ecology and evolution. Although establishment success varies substantially among species, the importance of species traits and extrinsic factors as determinants of establishment in existing communities has remained difficult to prove in observational studies because they can be confounded and mask each other. Therefore, we conducted a large multispecies field experiment to disentangle the relative importance of extrinsic factors vs. species characteristics for the establishment success of plants in grasslands. We introduced 48 alien and 45 native plant species at different seed numbers into multiple grassland sites with or without experimental soil disturbance and related their establishment success to species traits assessed in five independent multispecies greenhouse experiments. High propagule pressure and high seed mass were the most important factors increasing establishment success in the very beginning of the experiment. However, after 3 y, propagule pressure became less important, and species traits related to biotic interactions (including herbivore resistance and responses to shading and competition) became the most important drivers of success or failure. The relative importance of different traits was environment-dependent and changed over time. Our approach of combining a multispecies introduction experiment in the field with trait data from independent multispecies experiments in the greenhouse allowed us to detect the relative importance of species traits for early establishment and provided evidence that species traits—fine-tuned by environmental factors—determine success or failure of alien and native plants in temperate grasslands.
Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein cIAP2 Is Essential for Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Macrophage Survival

ABSTRACT The cellular inhibitor of apoptosis 2 (cIAP2/HIAP1) is a potent inhibitor of apoptotic death. In contrast to the other members of the IAP family, cIAP2 is transcriptionally inducible by nuclear factor-κB in response to multiple triggers. We demonstrate here that cIAP2−/− mice exhibit profound resistance to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced sepsis, specifically because of an attenuated inflammatory response. We show that LPS potently upregulates cIAP2 in macrophages and that cIAP2−/− macrophages are highly susceptible to apoptosis in a LPS-induced proinflammatory environment. Hence, cIAP2 is critical in the maintenance of a normal innate immune inflammatory response.
Article Omission in Dutch Children with SLI: A Processing Approach

Children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) show difficulties with grammatical morphology. Based on the data from 12 Dutch children with SLI, an information-theoretical model is proposed in which the noun-article set dependency is modeled as a channel. We propose that reduced capacity of this channel is responsible for article omission. The Kullback-Leibler divergence between input and output distribution of article production provides an index of the channel capacity, which is shown to correlate with the percentage of article omission and to lag behind in SLI development as compared to typically developing children.
Energy transfer in organic systems VI. Fluorescence response functions and scintillation pulse shapes

Expressions are derived for the fluorescence response functions of organic solution systems in which non-radiative energy transfer occurs and obeys either Stern-Volmer or Forster kinetics. Scintillation pulse shapes are evaluated for typical crystals, binary and ternary liquid solutions, and binary plastic solutions. The scintillation decay time is inadequate to describe the time characteristics of a solution system, and alternative parameters are introduced. Criteria for a fast solution scintillator are established, and binary liquid and plastic scintillators with improved time characteristics are proposed.
Communication/Computation Tradeoffs in Consensus-Based Distributed Optimization

We study the scalability of consensus-based distributed optimization algorithms by considering two questions: How many processors should we use for a given problem, and how often should they communicate when communication is not free? Central to our analysis is a problem-specific value r which quantifies the communication/computation tradeoff. We show that organizing the communication among nodes as a k-regular expander graph [1] yields speedups, while when all pairs of nodes communicate (as in a complete graph), there is an optimal number of processors that depends on r. Surprisingly, a speedup can be obtained, in terms of the time to reach a fixed level of accuracy, by communicating less and less frequently as the computation progresses. Experiments on a real cluster solving metric learning and non-smooth convex minimization tasks demonstrate strong agreement between theory and practice.