Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling anxiety-like states: pharmacological characterization of the chick separation stress paradigm

While previous research has sought to validate the chick separation stress paradigm as an anxiolytic screening assay, it is unknown whether the paradigm better models a nonspecific anxiety-like state or something similar to panic disorder or generalized anxiety disorder. To characterize the anxiety model pharmacologically, cockerels were administered drug probes that were either: (1) only effective for treating panic disorder (phenelzine 3.125–25.0 mg/kg), (2) effective for treating both panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder (alprazolam 0.065–0.5 mg/kg; clonidine 0.1–0.25 mg/kg; imipramine 1.0–15.0 mg/kg), (3) only effective for treating generalized anxiety disorder (buspirone 2.5–10.0 mg/kg; trazodone 0.1–3.0 mg/kg) or (4) capable of exacerbating symptoms of panic disorder in humans (yohimbine 0.1–3.0 mg/kg). At 7 days after hatch, chicks received either vehicle or drug probe intramuscularly 15 min prior to social separation under a mirror (low-stress) or no-mirror (high-stress) condition for a 180-s observation period. Dependent measures were distress vocalizations to index separation stress and sleep-onset latency to index sedation. Phenelzine, alprazolam, imipramine and clonidine were able to attenuate distress vocalizations (at doses without significant sedation) whereas buspirone and trazodone did not. Paradoxically, yohimbine modestly attenuated distress vocalizations. These results suggest that the chick separation stress paradigm better models panic disorder than generalized anxiety disorder as an anxiolytic screen.
Trapeziectomy and ligament reconstruction tendon interposition for isolated scaphotrapeziotrapezoid osteoarthritis of the wrist

Isolated osteoarthritis of the scaphotrapeziotrapezoid joint is rather rare compared with thumb trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the outcome of 15 consecutive patients treated with trapeziectomy/ligament reconstruction tendon interposition for isolated scaphotrapeziotrapezoid osteoarthritis of the wrist. After a mean follow-up of 54 months, 14 patients (15 wrists) were available for clinical and radiological examination. The median pain intensity was 0 on a 0–10 visual analogue scale, both at rest and with activity, mean grip strength averaged 24 kg, pinch strength 5 kg. The disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) score was 16, and a modified Mayo Wrist Score 84. Correlation between the degree of scaphotrapezoid osteoarthritis and pain at rest, pain with activity, and DASH score was not significant. The findings from our study suggest that trapeziectomy/ligament reconstruction tendon interposition is an effective procedure for treating isolated scaphotrapeziotrapezoid osteoarthritis, and that additional partial trapezoid excision is not necessary.
Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: Validity of Clinical and Radiological Features

Data regarding validity of clinical and radiographic findings in diagnosing patellofemoral pain syndrome are inconclusive. We prospectively assessed how sensitive and specific key patellofemoral physical examination tests are, and evaluated the prevalence of physical examination and radiographic findings. Sixty-one infantry soldiers with patellofemoral pain syndrome and 25 control subjects were evaluated. The sensitivity of the patellar tilt, active instability, patella alta, and apprehension tests was low (less than 50%); specificity ranged between 72% and 100%. Although the prevalence of positive patellar tilt and active instability tests was significantly greater in subjects with patellofemoral pain syndrome, there were no significant differences between the groups in the results of the other two tests. Soldiers with patellofemoral pain syndrome presented with increased quadriceps angle, lateral and medial retinacular tenderness, patellofemoral crepitation, squinting patella, and reduced mobility of the patella. There were no differences between the groups in the prevalence of lower limb and foot posture alignment and knee effusion. Plain radiography showed increased patellar subluxation in soldiers with patellofemoral pain syndrome. Other radiographic measures (sulcus angle, Laurin angle, Merchant angle, and Insall-Salvati index) were similar in both groups. We provide evidence regarding the validity of clinical and radiographic features commonly used for diagnosing patellofemoral pain syndrome. Physical examinations were more useful than plain radiography.Level of Evidence: Diagnostic study, Level I. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
CoCaml: Functional Programming with Regular Coinductive Types

Functional languages offer a high level of abstraction, which results in programs that are elegant and easy to understand. Central to the development of functional programming are inductive and coinductive types and associated programming constructs, such as pattern-matching. Whereas inductive types have a long tradition and are well supported in most languages, coinductive types are subject of more recent research and are less mainstream. We present CoCaml, a functional programming language extending OCaml, which allows us to define recursive functions on regular coinductive datatypes. These functions are defined like usual recursive functions, but parameterized by an equation solver. We present a full implementation of all the constructs and solvers and show how these can be used in a variety of examples, including operations on infinite lists, infinitary γ-terms, and p-adic numbers.
Non-particulate inheritance revisited: evolution in systems with Parental Variability-Dependent Inheritance

1Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44, Prague, Czech Republic 2Department of Stochastic Informatics, Institute of Information Theory and Automation, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Pod Vodárenskou věží 4, 182 08, Prague, Czech Republic 3Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Trojanova 13, 120 00, Prague, Czech Republic 4Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44, Prague, Czech Republic
Protective effect of resveratrol against light-induced retinal degeneration in aged SAMP8 mice

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the protective effects of Resveratrol (RESV) on acute bright light-induced retinal degeneration in aged senescence accelerated mouse strain. Methods Ten three-month-old male SAMP8 mice (prone to aging) were randomly assigned to two experimental dietary groups: one untreated group and one RESV treatment group (n=20 eyes for each group). After 30 days of treatment, mice were exposed to intense bright light. Ten male SAMR1 mice (resistant to aging) served as control (n=20 eyes). The protective effects of RESV administration on light-induced retinal degeneration in SAMP8 strain as well as the effect of bright light damage in the retinas of SAMP8 mice were analyzed by electroretinography (ERG), retinal histology, mRNA, protein and lipid profile. Results 68%-85% of a-wave amplitude and 72%-92% of b-wave amplitude were persevered by RESV in SAMP8 mice that were exposed to light damage. Also, RESV preserved their photoreceptor nuclei. mRNA expression of neuroprotective factors leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), oncostatin M (OSM), cardiotrophin 1(CT-1) and cardiotrophin-like cytokine (CLC) were up-regulated 28, 8, 7, 5 and 9-fold in SAMP8 mice after RESV treatment. In addition, RESV could suppress the NF-κB pathway by down-regulating the expression of pIκB. Light damage led to increase of saturated FA, monoenoic FA, n6 PUFA and n6/n3 ratio and decrease of Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). There was no significant difference on DHA and the ratio of n6/n3-FA between the untreated and RESV treated SAMP8 mice. Conclusions Collectively, our study provides evidence that RESV prevents light-induced retinal damage associated with aging.
Beneficial effect of acetylcysteine on cisplatin nephrotoxicity in rats

The influence of acetylcysteine (ac‐cys) on cisplatin (CP) nephrotoxicity was investigated in female Wistar rats. Administration of 0.6 mg CP 100 g−1 body wt. was followed by oliguria and proteinuria, as well as a significant increase of blood urea nitrogen concentration. The i.p. administration of 0.6 mg CP 100 g−1 body wt. concomitantly with 100 mg ac‐cys 100 g−1 body wt. s.c. completely abolished the nephrotoxic effects of CP. However, following this, the Pt concentration in kidney was decreased significantly by ac‐cys treatment. This was caused by the enhanced urinary excretion of Pt. The same effect on CP nephrotoxicity appeared when CP and ac‐cys were dissolved together in solution prior to injection. It could be shown that in this solution a ligand exchange reaction of CP by ac‐cys started immediately, resulting in increased renal excretion and decreased Pt concentration in kidney.
Sonic Hedgehog–Modified Human CD34+ Cells Preserve Cardiac Function After Acute Myocardial Infarction

Rationale: Ischemic cardiovascular disease represents one of the largest epidemics currently facing the aging population. Current literature has illustrated the efficacy of autologous, stem cell therapies as novel strategies for treating these disorders. The CD34+ hematopoetic stem cell has shown significant promise in addressing myocardial ischemia by promoting angiogenesis that helps preserve the functionality of ischemic myocardium. Unfortunately, both viability and angiogenic quality of autologous CD34+ cells decline with advanced age and diminished cardiovascular health. Objective: To offset age- and health-related angiogenic declines in CD34+ cells, we explored whether the therapeutic efficacy of human CD34+ cells could be enhanced by augmenting their secretion of the known angiogenic factor, sonic hedgehog (Shh). Methods and Results: When injected into the border zone of mice after acute myocardial infarction, Shh-modified CD34+ cells (CD34Shh) protected against ventricular dilation and cardiac functional declines associated with acute myocardial infarction. Treatment with CD34Shh also reduced infarct size and increased border zone capillary density compared with unmodified CD34 cells or cells transfected with the empty vector. CD34Shh primarily store and secrete Shh protein in exosomes and this storage process appears to be cell-type specific. In vitro analysis of exosomes derived from CD34Shh revealed that (1) exosomes transfer Shh protein to other cell types, and (2) exosomal transfer of functional Shh elicits induction of the canonical Shh signaling pathway in recipient cells. Conclusions: Exosome-mediated delivery of Shh to ischemic myocardium represents a major mechanism explaining the observed preservation of cardiac function in mice treated with CD34Shh cells.
Childhood asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: outcomes until the age of 50

Purpose of reviewThere has been recent interest in understanding the origins of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Epidemiological studies suggest that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease clearly has other causes apart from tobacco smoke. Recent findingsCross-sectional studies of adult cohorts with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease highlight that childhood asthma is a risk factor. A recent longitudinal childhood cohort study of children from childhood to the age of 50 years describes that children with severe asthma are at increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and that the deficit in lung function can be tracked back to early years. SummaryChildren with severe asthma are at increased risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Aging and ethanol metabolism

The effect of aging on the distribution and elimination of ethanol was studied in a group of 50 healthy subjects ranging in age from 21 to 81 yr (mean, 53.3). Ethanol was administered in a continuous 1‐hr infusion at a mean rate of 375 mg/m2 body surface area/min (equivalent to a mean dose of 0.57 gm/kg body weight). Serial blood samples for the determination of ethanol concentration were obtained at 15‐ to 30‐min intervals for up to 4 hr post irifusion. Ethanol elimination and distribution were evaluated with the aid of a two‐compartment model. Rates of ethanol elimination were not affected by age. Peak ethanol concentration in blood water at the end of the infusion period was correlated with age (r = 0.55, p ‐ 0.001). Lean body mass and total volume of distribution of the ethanol were negatively correlated with age. The smaller volume of distribution, in association with the decreased lean body mass, most likely explains the higher peak ethanol concentration found in the blood after administration of an ethanol dose on the basis of surface area in the old as compared with the young subjects. This study demonstrates that age‐related changes in body composition are important factors in the study of ethanol metabolism and its pharmacologic effects.
Low‐rank magnetic resonance fingerprinting

PURPOSE Magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) is a relatively new approach that provides quantitative MRI measures using randomized acquisition. Extraction of physical quantitative tissue parameters is performed offline, without the need of patient presence, based on acquisition with varying parameters and a dictionary generated according to the Bloch equation simulations. MRF uses hundreds of radio frequency (RF) excitation pulses for acquisition, and therefore, a high undersampling ratio in the sampling domain (k-space) is required for reasonable scanning time. This undersampling causes spatial artifacts that hamper the ability to accurately estimate the tissue's quantitative values. In this work, we introduce a new approach for quantitative MRI using MRF, called magnetic resonance fingerprinting with low rank (FLOR). METHODS We exploit the low-rank property of the concatenated temporal imaging contrasts, on top of the fact that the MRF signal is sparsely represented in the generated dictionary domain. We present an iterative recovery scheme that consists of a gradient step followed by a low-rank projection using the singular value decomposition. RESULTS Experimental results consist of retrospective sampling that allows comparison to a well defined reference, and prospective sampling that shows the performance of FLOR for a real-data sampling scenario. Both experiments demonstrate improved parameter accuracy compared to other compressed-sensing and low-rank based methods for MRF at 5% and 9% sampling ratios for the retrospective and prospective experiments, respectively. CONCLUSIONS We have shown through retrospective and prospective experiments that by exploiting the low-rank nature of the MRF signal, FLOR recovers the MRF temporal undersampled images and provides more accurate parameter maps compared to previous iterative approaches.
What Does Monetary Policy Do

This paper uses a single time frame and data set to present and analyze the results that have emerged from the recent empirical literature on the effects of monetary policy. It uses statistical methods that allow the analysis of larger models than appear previously in this literature. Monetary policy actions are shown to be largely systematic responses to the state of the economy. Consequently, there is more uncertainty about the effects of monetary policy than might be thought on the basis of simple graphical or narrative approaches to assessing the evidence. JEL Classifications: E3, E4, E5  1996 by THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION. This document may be freely reproduced for educational and research purposes provided that i) this copyright notice is included with each copy, ii) no changes are made in the document, and iii) copies are not sold, but retained for individual use or distributed free. 1 Indiana University, Yale University, and Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, respectively. A draft of this paper is available by ftp from ftp://ftp.econ.yale.edu/pub/sims/bpea or by http from http://ezinfo.ucs. indiana.edu/~eleeper/home.htm. The authors would like to acknowledge what they have learned about the implementation of monetary policy from conversations with Lois Berthaume, Will Roberds, and Mary Rosenbaum of the Atlanta Fed, Charles Steindel of the New York Fed, Marvin Goodfriend of the Richmond Fed, and Sheila Tschinkel. David Petersen of the Atlanta Fed helped both in locating data and in discussions of the operation of the money markets.
Osteocyte Lacuna Population Densities in Sheep, Elk and Horse Calcanei

Osteocytes, the most prevalent cell type in bone, appear to communicate via gap junctions. In limb-bone diaphyses, it has been hypothesized that these cellular networks have the capacity to monitor habitual strains, which can differ significantly between cortical locations of the same bone. Regional differences in microdamage associated with prevalent/predominant strain mode (tension, compression, or shear) and/or magnitude may represent an important ‘variable’ detected by this network. This hypothesis was indirectly addressed by examining bones subjected to habitual bending for correlations of osteocyte lacuna population densities (n/mm2 bone area, Ot.Lc.N/B.Ar) with locations experiencing high and low strain, and/or prevalent/predominant tension, compression, and shear. We examined dorsal (‘compression’), plantar (‘tension’), and medial/lateral (‘shear’ or neutral axis) cortices of mid-diaphyseal sections of calcanei of adult sheep, elk, and horses. Ot.Lc. N/B.Ar data, quantified in backscattered electron images, were also evaluated in a context of various additional structural and material variables (e.g. % ash, cortical thickness, porosity, and secondary osteon population). Results showed significant differences in dorsal versus plantar comparisons with the highest Ot.Lc. N/B.Ar in dorsal cortices of sheep and elk (p < 0.0001); but this was a statistical trend in the equine calcanei (p = 0.14). There were no consistent transcortical (pericortical to endocortical) differences, and Ot.Lc. N/B.Ar in neutral axes was not consistently different from dorsal/plantar cortices. Correlations of Ot.Lc. N/B.Ar with structural and material parameters were also poor and/or inconsistent within or between species. These results provide little or no evidence that the number of osteocyte lacunae has a functional role in mechanotransduction pathways that are typically considered in bone adaptation. Although dorsal/plantar differences may be adaptations for prevalent/predominant strain modes and/or associated microdamage, it is also plausible that they are strongly influenced by differences in the bone formation rates that produced the tissue in these locations.
Next generation mothers: Maternal control of germline development in zebrafish

Abstract In many animals, factors deposited by the mother into the egg control the earliest events in development of the zygote. These maternal RNAs and proteins play critical roles in oocyte development and the earliest steps of embryogenesis such as fertilization, cell division and embryonic patterning. Here, this article summarizes recent discoveries made on the maternal control of germline specification in zebrafish. Moreover, this review will discuss the major gaps remaining in our understanding of this process and highlight recent technical innovations in zebrafish, which allow tackling some of these questions in the near future.
Feature set comparison for automatic bird species identification

This paper deals with the automated bird species identification problem, in which it is necessary to identify the species of a bird from its audio recorded song. This is a clever way to monitor biodiversity in ecosystems, since it is an indirect non-invasive way of evaluation. Different features sets which summarize in different aspects the audio properties of the audio signal are evaluated in this paper together with machine learning algorithms, such as probabilistic, instance-based, decision trees, neural networks and support vector machines. Experiments are conducted in a dataset of recorded songs of three bird species. The experimental results compare the performance of the features sets and different classifiers showing that it is possible to obtain very promising results in the automated bird species identification problem.
Approximation from shift-invariant spaces by integral operators

We investigate approximation from shift-invariant spaces by using certain integral operators and discuss various applications of this approximation scheme. We assume that our integral operators commute with shift operators and that their kernel functions decay at a polynomial rate. We prove that the approximation order provided by such an integral operator is m if and only if the integral operator reproduces polynomials of degree up to m-1, where m is a positive integer. Using this result, we characterize the approximation order provided by a finitely generated shift-invariant space whose generators decay in a polynomial rate and have stable shifts. We also review some already well-studied approximation schemes such as projection, cardinal interpolation, and quasi-interpolation by considering them as special cases of integral operators.
[Susceptibility of 570 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains to 11 antimicrobial agents and the mechanism of its resistance to fluoroquinolones].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) to 11 antimicrobial agents and the mechanism of its resistance to fluoroquinolones (FQs). METHODS The susceptibility of 570 strains of P. aeruginosa isolated clinically to 11 antimicrobial agents were detected by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 111 strains thereof to two FQs was determined by agar dilution method. 80 strains resistant to ciprofloxacin (MIC >or= 4 mg/L) were studied for the presence of point mutations in the gyrA and parC gene by direct sequencing and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP) method. RESULTS The resistance rates of P. aeruginosa to cefepine, imipenem, amikacin, and ceftazidine, and aztreonam were 10.9%, 11.1%, 11.8%, 12.5%, and 16.6% respectively. The resistance rates to ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, cefoperazone/sulbactam, and piperacillin were 29.2%, 32.9%, 23.5% and 33.7% respectively. The resistance rates to gentamycin and cefotaxime were 35.7% and 41.1% respectively. More than 60% of the ciprofloxacin resistant strains and the intensive care units (ICU) isolates were multidrug resistant. Among the 80 ciprofloxacin resistant strains, 66 (75%) had a mutation in gyrA codon: Thr83 (ACC)-->Ile (ATC), 52 strains (65%) had a mutation at parC codon: Ser87 (TCG)-->Leu (TTG), and 52 strains (65%) had both the above mentioned gyrA and parC mutations; while gyrA or parC mutation was not observed in the 31 ciprofloxacin susceptible strains. The MIC of ciprofloxacin for the 52 strains with mutations in both gyrA and parC genes was 19.80 mg/L +/- 2.11 mg/L, significantly higher than those for the 14 strains with mutation only in gyrA gene (11.88 mg/L +/- 2.73 mg/L, P < 0.05) and the 143 strains without gyrA and parC gene mutants (11.89 mg/L +/- 2.12 mg/L, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Resistance to antimicrobial agents of P. aeruginosa strains remains a problem. In particular, those ciprofloxacin resistant strains and ICU isolates are resistant to most of the antimicrobial agents. The resistance to fluoroquinolones of the clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa is mainly due to the mutations in gyrA and parC genes encoding the target enzyme of fluoroquinolones.