Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vivo metoclopramide protection of cholinesterase from paraoxon inhibition: direct comparison with pralidoxime in subchronic low‐dose exposure

The benzamide compound metoclopramide (MCP) protects against cholinesterase inhibition by paraoxon (POX) both in vitro and in vivo. This study evaluates MCP‐conferred protection of enzyme activity head to head against the therapeutic gold standard pralidoxime (PRX). Six groups of rats were used. All substances were applied i.p. daily for 5 days, followed by a 2‐day rest. The 7‐day cycle was repeated eight times. Group 1 received 100 nM POX, group 2 received 50 µM MCP, group 3 received 100 nM POX + 50 µM MCP, group 4 received 50 µM PRX, group 5 received 100 nM POX + 50 µM PRX and group 6 received saline. Red blood cell acetylcholinesterase (RBC‐AChE) measurements were performed at baseline and on day 5 of each 7‐day cycle. The sums of enzyme activities over time (weekly values expressed as % of baseline of 100%) were compared using the Mann–Whitney rank order test. A Bonferroni correction of 4 for multiple comparisons was applied. Paraoxon signiﬁcantly reduced enzyme activities when compared with saline (Σ = 535 ± 25 vs 902 ± 42). Metoclopramide conferred statistically signiﬁcant in vivo protection from inhibition of RBC‐AChE by POX (Σ = 640 ± 58). The extent of protection was signiﬁcantly less than that conferred by the gold standard PRX (Σ = 765 ± 57). Metoclopramide, in addition to being less effective as an RBC‐AChE protective agent, also caused a failure to thrive in the POX+MCP‐exposed rats, as evidenced by the changes in body weight. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
AC cables strengthening railway low frequency AC power supply systems — A deepened study

In railway power supply systems using AC frequencies lower than the public grids of 50/60 Hz, high voltage AC overhead transmission lines in railway grid frequency are used as one measure of strengthening the systems. An increased resistance to overhead high voltage AC transmission lines, may motivate cables for future railway power systems. With the frequency of 50/60 Hz, reactive power produced in lowly utilized cables imposes an obstacle. For low frequency AC, this issue is less significant. Moreover, in converter-fed railways, no reactive power will leak into the feeding public grid. This paper studies AC cables in low-frequency AC railway. Two reinforcement cable solutions are compared with no reinforcement. A simplified load model of trains, with thyristor bridges and DC motors, is used.
The XRCC1 phosphate-binding pocket binds poly (ADP-ribose) and is required for XRCC1 function

Poly (ADP-ribose) is synthesized at DNA single-strand breaks and can promote the recruitment of the scaffold protein, XRCC1. However, the mechanism and importance of this process has been challenged. To address this issue, we have characterized the mechanism of poly (ADP-ribose) binding by XRCC1 and examined its importance for XRCC1 function. We show that the phosphate-binding pocket in the central BRCT1 domain of XRCC1 is required for selective binding to poly (ADP-ribose) at low levels of ADP-ribosylation, and promotes interaction with cellular PARP1. We also show that the phosphate-binding pocket is required for EGFP-XRCC1 accumulation at DNA damage induced by UVA laser, H2O2, and at sites of sub-nuclear PCNA foci, suggesting that poly (ADP-ribose) promotes XRCC1 recruitment both at single-strand breaks globally across the genome and at sites of DNA replication stress. Finally, we show that the phosphate-binding pocket is required following DNA damage for XRCC1-dependent acceleration of DNA single-strand break repair, DNA base excision repair, and cell survival. These data support the hypothesis that poly (ADP-ribose) synthesis promotes XRCC1 recruitment at DNA damage sites and is important for XRCC1 function.
Relationship of Distress and Perceived Control to Coping With Perceived Racial Discrimination Among Black Youth

This study examines the use of approach (e.g., seeking social support, problem solving) and avoidance (e.g., distancing, internalizing, externalizing) strategies for coping with perceived racial discrimination and their relationship to the subjective feelings of distress evoked by perceived experiences of discrimination and perceived control over discriminatory experiences among a small, relatively homogeneous sample of Black youth (N = 71). Results of hierarchical regression analyses support evidence from the general adolescent stress and coping literature that links avoidance coping to greater feelings of distress and approach coping to a greater sense of personal control. Greater self-reports of distress are related to greater use of internalizing and externalizing coping strategies. Greater self-reports of perceived control over discriminatory experiences are related to greater use of seeking social support and problem-solving coping strategies. Implications for promoting the successful coping of Black youth with perceived racial discrimination are discussed.
Peer Relations, Violence and School Attendance: Analyses of Bullying in Senior High Schools in Ghana

Abstract This article focuses on bullying among students and explores the ways it affects the attendance of senior high school students in Ghana. It explores whether having emotional problems, in addition to being bullied, incrementally affects the relationship between bullying and school attendance and the mitigating influence of peer friendships on these relationships. The results show gender differences in which absenteeism associated with bullying was mitigated by the support of friends for boys but not to the same degree for girls, especially those girls who had reported being psychologically bullied. Our findings suggest a school environment in which peer friendship and emotional wellbeing are intertwined in complex ways.
Handedness Shapes Children's Abstract Concepts

Can children's handedness influence how they represent abstract concepts like kindness and intelligence? Here we show that from an early age, right-handers associate rightward space more strongly with positive ideas and leftward space with negative ideas, but the opposite is true for left-handers. In one experiment, children indicated where on a diagram a preferred toy and a dispreferred toy should go. Right-handers tended to assign the preferred toy to a box on the right and the dispreferred toy to a box on the left. Left-handers showed the opposite pattern. In a second experiment, children judged which of two cartoon animals looked smarter (or dumber) or nicer (or meaner). Right-handers attributed more positive qualities to animals on the right, but left-handers to animals on the left. These contrasting associations between space and valence cannot be explained by exposure to language or cultural conventions, which consistently link right with good. Rather, right- and left-handers implicitly associated positive valence more strongly with the side of space on which they can act more fluently with their dominant hands. Results support the body-specificity hypothesis (Casasanto, 2009), showing that children with different kinds of bodies think differently in corresponding ways.
Generation and characterization of a humanized PPARδ mouse model

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Humanized mice for the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor δ (PPARδ), termed PPARδ knock‐in (PPARδ KI) mice, were generated for the investigation of functional differences between mouse and human PPARδ and as tools for early drug efficacy assessment.
Fluoroscopic epidural injections in cervical spinal stenosis: preliminary results of a randomized, double-blind, active control trial.

BACKGROUND Cervical spinal stenosis is a common disease that results in considerable morbidity and disability. There are multiple modalities of treatments, including surgical interventions and multiple interventional techniques including epidural injections. The literature on the effectiveness of cervical epidural steroids is sporadic. Emerging evidence for cervical interlaminar epidurals for various conditions in the cervical spine is positive; however, the effect of fluoroscopic epidural injections in cervical spinal stenosis has not been studied. STUDY DESIGN A randomized, double-blind, active control trial. SETTING A private interventional pain management practice, a specialty referral center in the United States. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effectiveness of cervical interlaminar epidural injections with local anesthetic with or without steroids in the management of chronic neck pain with upper extremity pain in patients with cervical central spinal stenosis. METHODS Patients with cervical central spinal stenosis were randomly assigned to one of 2 groups: injection of local anesthetic only or local anesthetic mixed with non-particulate betamethasone. Sixty patients were included in this analysis. Randomization was performed by computer-generated random allocation sequence by simple randomization. OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT Multiple outcome measures were utilized including the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), the Neck Disability Index (NDI), employment status, and opioid intake with assessment at 3, 6, and 12 months post-treatment. Significant pain relief or functional status was defined as a 50% or more reduction of NRS or NDI scores. RESULTS Significant pain relief was seen in 73% in Group I and 70% in Group II, in Group II showing both significat pain releif and functional status improvements. Group I's average relief per procedures was 11.3 ± 5.8 weeks; for Group II it was 8.6 ± 3.6 weeks, whereas after initial 2 procedures, average relief was 13.7 ± 8.7 weeks in Group I, and 13.6 ± 4.7 weeks in Group II. In the successful group, the average total relief in a one-year period was 42.2 ± 14.7 weeks in Group I and 34.3 ± 13.4 weeks in Group II, with 76% in Group I and 77% in Group II. LIMITATIONS Study limitations include the lack of a placebo group and that this is a preliminary report of only 60 patients, 30 in each group. CONCLUSION Patients who have chronic function-limiting pain that is secondary to cervical central stenosis might receive relief with cervical interlaminar epidurals of local anesthetic, whether with or without steroids. CLINICAL TRIAL NCT01071369.
Adapting the short form of the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations into Chinese

Objectives The Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) is a measurement tool for evaluating stress that has good psychometric properties. We investigated the applicability of a short-form version of the CISS in a large sample of Chinese university students. Methods Nine hundred and seventy-two Chinese university students aged 18–30 years (mean =20.15, standard deviation =3.26) were chosen as subjects, of whom 101 were randomly selected to be retested after a 2-week interval. Results The results of a confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the root mean square error of approximation of a four-factor model was 0.06, while the comparative fit index was 0.91, the incremental fit index was 0.93, the non-normed fit index was 0.91, and the root mean residual was 0.07. The Cronbach’s α coefficients for the task-oriented, emotion-oriented, distraction, and social diversion coping subscales were 0.81, 0.74, 0.7, and 0.66, respectively. The 2-week test–retest reliability was 0.78, 0.74, 0.7, and 0.65 for the task-oriented, emotion-oriented, distraction, and social diversion coping subscales, respectively. In the Chinese version of the CISS short form, task-oriented coping was positively correlated with positive affect and extraversion and negatively correlated with neuroticism; emotion-oriented coping was negatively correlated with extraversion and positively correlated with negative affect, anxiety, and neuroticism; distraction coping was positively correlated with neuroticism, extroversion, anxiety, positive affect, and negative affect and negatively correlated with psychoticism; and social diversion coping was positively correlated with extroversion and positive affect and negatively correlated with psychoticism. Conclusion The Chinese version of the CISS short form is satisfactorily valid and reliable among Chinese university students.
Clinicopathological significance of Bcl-2 and Bax protein expression in human pancreatic cancer.

AIM To assess the clinicopathological significance of the expression of the apoptosis-inhibitory Bcl-2 protein (pBcl-2) and the apoptosis-promoting Bax protein (pBax) in human invasive ductal carcinomas (IDCs) of the pancreas. METHODS Fifty-nine surgical specimens of IDCs of the pancreas were stained immunohistochemically to detect pBcl-2 and pBax expressions whose correlation to tumor classification, staging, and prognosis was analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS The expression of pBcl-2 and pBax was detected in 21 of 59 (35.6%) and in 29 of 59 (49.2%) patients with IDCs of the pancreas, respectively. Neither pBcl-2 nor pBax alone was correlated to TNM staging and differentiation degree of IDCs of the pancreas according to univariate analysis. By Mantel-Cox test, the median survival time after surgery for pBcl-2(+) and pBcl-2(-) groups were 14.3 and 7.3 mo, respectively (chi(2) = 9.357, P = 0.002) and that for pBax(+) and pBax(-) groups were 12.9 and 10.2 mo, respectively (chi(2) = 0.285, P>0.05). Contingency coefficient between pBcl-2 and pBax expression was 0.298, indicating that there was correlation between them (chi(2) = 5.74, P<0.05). The median survival time after surgery for pBcl-2(+)pBax(+) and pBcl-2(+)pBax(-) groups were 14.3 and 14.1 mo, respectively, and that for pBcl-2(-)pBax(+) and pBcl-2(-)pBax(-) groups were 5.9 and 9.9 mo, respectively. There was a significant difference between pBcl-2(+)pBax(+) and pBcl-2(-)pBax(+) (chi(2) = 5.06, P<0.05), such was the case for pBcl-2(+)pBax(+) and pBcl-2(-)pBax(-) (chi(2) = 7.18, P<0.01). Cox proportional hazards model for multivariate analysis was applied, indicating that pBcl-2, TNM staging, age and pBax were high risk factors of post-surgical survival time. CONCLUSION Both pBcl-2 and pBax have high expression in IDCs of the pancreas, indicating that co-expression of pBcl-2 and pBax is a good indicator of favorable prognosis in IDCs of the pancreas.
MASSIVE CLUSTERS IN THE INNER REGIONS OF NGC 1365: CLUSTER FORMATION AND GAS DYNAMICS IN GALACTIC BARS

Cluster formation and gas dynamics in the central regions of barred galaxies are not well understood. This paper reviews the environment of three 107 M☉ clusters near the inner Lindblad resonance (ILR) of the barred spiral NGC 1365. The morphology, mass, and flow of H i and CO gas in the spiral and barred regions are examined for evidence of the location and mechanism of cluster formation. The accretion rate is compared with the star formation rate to infer the lifetime of the starburst. The gas appears to move from inside corotation in the spiral region to looping filaments in the interbar region at a rate of ∼6 M☉ yr−1 before impacting the bar dustlane somewhere along its length. The gas in this dustlane moves inward, growing in flux as a result of the accretion to ∼40 M☉ yr−1 near the ILR. This inner rate exceeds the current nuclear star formation rate by a factor of 4, suggesting continued buildup of nuclear mass for another ∼0.5 Gyr. The bar may be only 1–2 Gyr old. Extrapolating the bar flow back in time, we infer that the clusters formed in the bar dustlane outside the central dust ring at a position where an interbar filament currently impacts the lane. The ram pressure from this impact is comparable to the pressure in the bar dustlane, and both are comparable to the pressure in the massive clusters. Impact triggering is suggested. The isothermal assumption in numerical simulations seems inappropriate for the rarefaction parts of spiral and bar gas flows. The clusters have enough lower-mass counterparts to suggest they are part of a normal power-law mass distribution. Gas trapping in the most massive clusters could explain their [Ne ii] emission, which is not evident from the lower-mass clusters nearby.
Modulation of transfer RNA-methylating enzyme activities in murine leukemic cells.

Summary The activities of those processing enzymes responsible for the methylation of tRNA in murine leukemic cells were compared in sublines selected for their sensitivity and resistance to various antineoplastic agents. With one exception, the capacity and extent of tRNA methylation were elevated in the drug-resistant sublines. The following order of activities was demonstrated: L1210/cytoxan > L1210/cytosine arabinoside > L1210; L5178Y/actinomycin D > L5178Y; L5178YF/l-asparaginase > L5178YF; but P388 > P388/vincristine. These results suggest that the methylation of tRNA in murine leukemic cells may be modulated in cells with drug-resistant properties.
Women, men, and type of talk: What makes the difference?

ABSTRACT In a study of dyadic conversations between four female and four male pairs of friends, the use of the phrase you know and questions are examined within three types of discourse. Women and men are found to use these features with equal frequency; and all speakers, regardless of sex or gender, use them in comparable ways. Although these particular discourse features have been previously associated with a female speech style, the results of this study show that it is the particular requirements associated with the three types of talk that motivate their use, and not the sex or gender of the individual speaker. The problems of generalizing about the characteristics of female or male speech, outside of a particular conversational context, are discussed; and it is shown that a gendered style cannot be adequately defined by counting individual speech variables removed from the specifics of the talk context. (Gender, questions, tag questions, discourse analysis, conversation analysis)
A Domain-Independent, Transferable and Timely Analysis Approach to Assess Student Collaboration

Collaborative learning environments require intensive, regular and frequent analysis of the increasing amount of interaction data generated by students to assess that collaborative learning takes place. To support timely assessments that may benefit students and teachers the method of analysis must provide meaningful evaluations while the interactions take place. This research proposes machine learning-based techniques to infer the relationship between student collaboration and some quantitative domain-independent statistical indicators derived from large-scale evaluation analysis of student interactions. This paper (i) compares a set of metrics to identify the most suitable to assess student collaboration, (ii) reports on student evaluations of the metacognitive tools that display collaboration assessments from a new collaborative learning experience and (iii) extends previous findings to clarify modeling and usage issues. The advantages of the approach are: (1) it is based on domain-independent and generally observable features, (2) it provides regular and frequent data mining analysis with minimal teacher or student intervention, thereby supporting metacognition for the learners and corrective actions for the teachers, and (3) it can be easily transferred to other e-learning environments and include transferability features that are intended to facilitate its usage in other collaborative and social learning tools.
IgE levels in external secretions.

IgE levels were measured in serum and various external secretions from normals and patients with respiratory, intestinal, gynecological and dermatologic diseases. No IgE was detected in cervicovaginal secretions. The small intestinal secretions also had no detectable IgE, but did have a substance that inhibited the precipitation of IgE – anti-IgE, and was possibly a degradation product of IgE. The IgE:IgG ratio in sputum, nasal washings and saliva was greater than that of serum, suggesting that IgE is a secretory immunoglobulin. IgE levels were highest in these secretions and in serum of patients with extrinsic asthma and neurodermatitis.
Thermochronological constraints on the timing and magnitude of Miocene and Pliocene extension in the central Wassuk Range, western Nevada

Apatite fission track and (U‐Th)/He thermochronological data provide new constraints on the timing of faulting and exhumation of the Wassuk Range, western Nevada, where east dipping normal faults have accommodated large‐magnitude ENE‐WSW oriented extension. Extensional deformation has resulted in the exhumation of structurally coherent fault blocks that expose sections of preextensional mostly granitic upper crust in the Grey Hills and central Wassuk Range. These fault blocks display westward tilts of ∼60° and expose preextensional paleodepths of up to ∼8.5 km, based on the structural reconstruction of tilted preextensional Tertiary andesite flows that unconformably overlie Mesozoic basement rocks. Apatite fission track and (U‐Th)/He thermochronological data from the fault blocks constrain the onset of rapid footwall exhumation at ∼15 Ma. Fission track modeling results indicate rapid fault block exhumation occurred between ∼15 and 12 Ma, which is in agreement with Miocene volcanic rocks that bracket the tilting history. In addition, fission track and (U‐Th)/He data suggest reduced rates of cooling following major extension, as well as renewed cooling related to active, high‐angle faulting along the present‐day range front starting at ∼4 Ma. Thermochronological data from structurally restored fault blocks indicate a preextensional Miocene geothermal gradient of 27° ± 5°C/km. The thermochronological constraints on the timing of extensional faulting and the eruptive history in the Wassuk Range imply a model for extension where crustal heating and volcanism precede the onset of rapid large magnitude extension, and where synextensional magmatism is suppressed during the highest rates of extension.
Estimation of omnidirectional camera model from epipolar geometry

We generalize the method of simultaneous linear estimation of multiple view geometry and lens distortion, introduced by Fitzgibbon at CVPR 2001, to an omnidirectional (angle of view larger than 180/spl deg/) camera. The perspective camera is replaced by a linear camera with a spherical retina and a nonlinear mapping of the sphere into the image plane. Unlike the previous distortion-based models, the new camera model is capable to describe a camera with an angle of view larger than 180/spl deg/ at the cost of introducing only one extra parameter. A suitable linearization of the camera model and of the epipolar constraint is developed in order to arrive at a quadratic eigenvalue problem for which efficient algorithms are known. The lens calibration is done from automatically established image correspondences only. Besides rigidity, no assumptions about the scene are made (e.g. presence of a calibration object). We demonstrate the method in experiments with Nikon FC-E8 fish-eye converter for COOLPIX digital camera. In practical situations, the proposed method allows to incorporate the new omnidirectional camera model into RANSAC - a robust estimation technique.