Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of interleukin-1β in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy

Aim: To examine the role of cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in retinal capillary cell death in diabetes. Methods: The effect of glucose on the expression of IL-1β was measured in the bovine retinal endothelial cells. The role of IL-1β in the accelerated endothelial cell loss was determined by investigating the effect of human recombinant IL-1β on their apoptosis in normal and high glucose conditions, and was confirmed using interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra). Results: High glucose increased IL-1β expression by 60% compared with cells incubated in 5 mM glucose (p<0.05). Incubation of cells with IL-1β increased NO levels by about 80% and activated NF-κB by 40%. In the same cells apoptosis was increased by 70% and caspase-3 activity was increased by 40%. Supplementation of IL-1β in 20 mM glucose medium further increased nitric oxide and NF-κB, and accelerated apoptosis, and addition of IL-1ra significantly decreased glucose induced abnormalities and apoptosis. Conclusions: IL-1β accelerates apoptosis of retinal capillary cells via activation of NF-κB, and the process is exacerbated in high glucose conditions. These studies suggest a possible role of IL-1β in the development of retinopathy in diabetes, and offer a possible rationale to test IL-1β receptor antagonists to inhibit the development of diabetic retinopathy.
piR-651 and its function in 95-D lung cancer cells

PIWI-associated RNAs (piRNAs or piRs), a new-found class of small non-coding RNAs, which are mainly expressed in germline cells and partly in somatic lines, have a vital role in carcinogenesis by maintaining genomic integrity and regulation of epigenetics. The previous studies have confirmed that the expression of piR-651 is upregulated in several cancer tissue and cell lines, including lung cancer. However, the mechanism of carcinogenesis and piR-651 remains to be elucidated. Therefore, the present study assessed the 95-D high metastasis human lung cancer cell line to detect the effect of piR-651 on carcinogenesis. Firstly, piR-651 promoted the high metastasis characteristic of the 95-D cell lines by Transwell and wound-healing assays. The influence of piR-651 on tumor cell proliferation and apoptosis was detected by the MTT assay and flow cytometry. In conclusion, piR-651 may be an oncogene in lung cancer formation and development. Therefore, piR-651 regulated carcinogenesis by influencing cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion, and may be a potential tumor marker and therapeutic target.
The analgesic effect of interscalene block using clonidine as an analgesic for shoulder arthroscopy: where is the catheter?

We congratulate Iskandar et al. for performing this study with the interesting topic of the analgesic effect of clonidine applied in the interscalene space (1). The results of this study are important, since they completely disagree with those found by Sia et al. (2). With respect to known literature (2,3) and the methods described by the authors, the presented results may raise concern. The scientific description of the chosen approach to the interscalene space and a detailed explanation of the catheter insertion procedure have not been described. It would be of great interest to have more data about the nerve stimulator settings (milliseconds, hertz), other than just that the output had to be lower than 0.7 mA. Very important information is also lacking about how far the catheter was threaded past the tip of the needle. All these points lead directly to our main concern: there is in this study no validation of the correct placement of the catheter before commencement of surgery. This would have been easily performed with a short acting local anesthetic bolus. Without this, we can only speculate whether the catheter was placed correctly or not, and therefore, we do not really know whether the drug given through the catheter may have any effect at all on the nerves, making the validity of the results doubtful. Another point to mention is the imprecise description of the authors’ management of remifentanil at the end of surgery. The timing and mode in which remifentanil is stopped on completion of surgery is very important for the postoperative pain setting, since its rapid discontinuation produces a hyperalgesic state (4). Concerning the statistics, post hoc tests for correction of repeated measurements are lacking, as well as a power analysis.
The “Actors” of Modern Society: The Cultural Construction of Social Agency*

Much social theory takes for granted the core conceit of modern culture, that modern actors—individuals, organizations, nation states—are autochthonous and natural entities, no longer really embedded in culture. Accordingly, while there is much abstract metatheory about “actors” and their “agency,” there is arguably little theory about the topic. This article offers direct arguments about how the modern (European, now global) cultural system constructs the modern actor as an authorized agent for various interests via an ongoing relocation into society of agency originally located in transcendental authority or in natural forces environing the social system. We see this authorized agentic capability as an essential feature of what modern theory and culture call an “actor,” and one that, when analyzed, helps greatly in explaining a number of otherwise anomalous or little analyzed features of modern individuals, organizations, and states. These features include their isomorphism and standardization, their internal decoupling, their extraordinarily complex structuration, and their capacity for prolific collective action.
Fluid biopsy in patients with metastatic prostate, pancreatic and breast cancers

Hematologic spread of carcinoma results in incurable metastasis; yet, the basic characteristics and travel mechanisms of cancer cells in the bloodstream are unknown. We have established a fluid phase biopsy approach that identifies circulating tumor cells (CTCs) without using surface protein-based enrichment and presents them in sufficiently high definition (HD) to satisfy diagnostic pathology image quality requirements. This ‘HD-CTC’ assay finds >5 HD-CTCs mL−1 of blood in 80% of patients with metastatic prostate cancer (n = 20), in 70% of patients with metastatic breast cancer (n = 30), in 50% of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer (n = 18), and in 0% of normal controls (n = 15). Additionally, it finds HD-CTC clusters ranging from 2 HD-CTCs to greater than 30 HD-CTCs in the majority of these cancer patients. This initial validation of an enrichment-free assay demonstrates our ability to identify significant numbers of HD-CTCs in a majority of patients with prostate, breast and pancreatic cancers.
Antisocial Behavior in Adolescence

The study deals with the relationship between antisocial behavior in early adolescence and family environment. Sample consisted of 2,856 adolescents (53% girls, mean age 13.5 years, SD = 1.1) from urban areas in the Czech Republic. The Social and Health Assessment (SAHA), a school survey, was used to measure sociodemographic characteristics of the family, parent-child interactions, and antisocial behavior. K-means cluster analysis on the items of Antisocial Behavior Scale was used to identify types of adolescents differentiated on the basis of antisocial behavior. Four major clusters of adolescents were identified. Subsequently, adolescents from different clusters were compared on sociodemographic variables (Pearson’s chi-square) and aspects of upbringing (analysis of variance [ANOVA]). While there were no substantial differences between adolescents from the different clusters in sociodemographic characteristics of their family (parental education, parents employment, family structure), there were significant differences in aspects of upbringing (consistence, involvement, control, warmth) between adolescents from clusters differentiated by antisocial behavior.
Early psychopharmacology and the rise of modern brain research

Some of the basic concepts of psychopharmacology were first formulated by Moreau de Tours (1845), a French psychiatrist who happened to travel a lot. In Egypt, he came in contact with hashish. He was very enthusiastic about this drug. When he returned to Paris he and others formed a hashish club. Among the well-known people in that club are Charles Baudelaire, Honore de Balzac and Alexandre Dumas. They took hashish in large doses and had some very striking experiences. On that basis Moreau came up with the interesting idea that some natural substances had the power to affect the brain and consequently mental function. The immediate result could be well-defined mental illness, usually transitory, but sometimes lengthy or even permanent. He also expressed the view that when you have certain feelings under the influence of hashish, for example a feeling of joy, maybe the underlying process in the brain could be the same as when you have the same feeling, for natural reasons. These were probably the first formulations of basic concepts of psychopharmacology first published, it can be noted, as early as 1845.
Two is better than one: distinct roles for familiarity and recollection in retrieving palimpsest memories

Storing a new pattern in a palimpsest memory system comes at the cost of interfering with the memory traces of previously stored items. Knowing the age of a pattern thus becomes critical for recalling it faithfully. This implies that there should be a tight coupling between estimates of age, as a form of familiarity, and the neural dynamics of recollection, something which current theories omit. Using a normative model of autoassociative memory, we show that a dual memory system, consisting of two interacting modules for familiarity and recollection, has best performance for both recollection and recognition. This finding provides a new window onto actively contentious psychological and neural aspects of recognition memory.
Deconstructing difference: Gender, splitting, and transitional space

Apparently a straightforward elaboration of anatomical difference, “gender”; is symbolically tied to many kinds of cultural representations, which, in turn, set the terms not only for understanding the relations between women and men but for organizing self‐experience. Consequently, problems of self may come to be coded in terms of gender, and those of gender, in terms of the self. Using a clinical example, I speak of gender less as a determinate category than as something resembling a force field, that is, as a set of complex and shifting relations among multiple contrasts or differences. This multiplicity, in turn, generates some technical recommendations about gender and splitting. Recapturing split‐off parts of the self therefore requires inhabiting its transitional spaces, including that in which gender is not a given but is in question. Moreover, I suggest, counterintuitively, that gender identity both seals the package of self and preserves all the self must lose and thus bridges undifferentiated a.
Prevention of recurrent depression with cognitive behavioral therapy: preliminary findings.

BACKGROUND Cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) of residual symptoms after successful pharmacotherapy yielded a substantially lower relapse rate than did clinical management in patients with primary major depressive disorders. The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of this approach in patients with recurrent depression (> or = 3 episodes of depression). METHODS Forty patients with recurrent major depression who had been successfully treated with antidepressant drugs were randomly assigned to either CBT of residual symptoms (supplemented by lifestyle modification and well-being therapy) or clinical management. In both groups, during the 20-week experiment, antidepressant drug administration was tapered and discontinued. Residual symptoms were measured with a modified version of the Paykel Clinical Interview for Depression. Two-year follow-up was undertaken, during which no antidepressant drugs were used unless a relapse ensued. RESULTS The CBT group had a significantly lower level of residual symptoms after discontinuation of drug therapy compared with the clinical management group. At 2-year follow-up, CBT also resulted in a lower relapse rate (25%) than did clinical management (80%). This difference attained statistical significance by survival analysis. CONCLUSIONS These results challenge the assumption that long-term drug treatment is the only tool to prevent relapse in patients with recurrent depression. Although maintenance pharmacotherapy seems to be necessary in some patients, CBT offers a viable alternative for other patients. Amelioration of residual symptoms may reduce the risk of relapse in depressed patients by affecting the progression of residual symptoms to prodromes of relapse.
Transport of cephalosporin antibiotics in rat renal basolateral membranes

Abstract— Transport mechanisms of cephalosporin antibiotics in rat renal basolateral membranes have been studied in isolated membrane vesicles. Uptake of [14C]p‐aminohippurate, a typical organic anion, by basolateral membrane vesicles was enhanced when membrane vesicles were preloaded with unlabelled p‐aminohippur‐ate (counter‐transport). Cephalosporins such as cephradine, cephalexin, and cefazolin inhibited the counter‐transport of [14C]p‐aminohippurate, as did unlabelled p‐aminohippurate and probenecid. In contrast, cephalexin did not affect the uptake of [3H]tetraeth‐ylammonium, an organic cation, by basolateral membrane vesicles. These results suggest that most cephalosporins are transported via organic anion transport systems in rat renal basolateral membranes.
Incidence and Factors Predicting the Detection of Prostate Cancer after Transurethral Resection of the Prostate for Clinically Benign Disease

Introduction: Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is commonly performed as the surgical management of lower urinary tract symptoms due to clinically benign disease. However, prostate cancer is not uncommonly diagnosed after such a procedure. We, therefore, determined in a retrospective study the incidence and factors that might predict the detection of prostate cancer after TURP. Patients and Methods: Between June 2005 and June 2007, a total of 476 men underwent TURP at our department. Of these, 411 men (86%) were thought to have benign disease and were included in the study. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses using age, serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA), urinary retention status, prostate resection weight, FBC and U&E were performed to determine whether prostate cancer could be predicted. Results: A total of 47 men (11.4%) were diagnosed with prostate cancer [24/47 with pT1a (51%) and 23/47 with pT1b (49%)]. Furthermore, the Gleason scores ranged from 5 to 9. Univariate logistic regression analyses revealed that only age (mean: 76 years, range: 54–90 vs. mean: 71 years, range: 49–91 for prostate cancer and non-cancer cases, respectively) and serum PSA (mean: 14.9 ng/ml, range: 0.4–78.0 vs. mean: 7.4 ng/ml, range: 0.2–90.0 for prostate cancer cases and non-cancer cases, respectively) were able to distinguish between cancer and non-cancer cases. In addition, using multivariate logistic regression, age and serum PSA were also the only variables that separated the two groups with a ROC-AUC of 70%. Conclusions: Our retrospective study has demonstrated that a substantial percentage of men are unexpectedly found to have prostate cancer after TURP. In addition, age and serum PSA were independent predictors of those who are likely to have prostate cancer.
Mesangial cells organize the glomerular capillaries by adhering to the G domain of laminin α5 in the glomerular basement membrane

In developing glomeruli, laminin α5 replaces laminin α1 in the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) at the capillary loop stage, a transition required for glomerulogenesis. To investigate domain-specific functions of laminin α5 during glomerulogenesis, we produced transgenic mice that express a chimeric laminin composed of laminin α5 domains VI through I fused to the human laminin α1 globular (G) domain, designated Mr51. Transgene-derived protein accumulated in many basement membranes, including the developing GBM. When bred onto the Lama5 −/− background, Mr51 supported GBM formation, preventing the breakdown that normally occurs in Lama5 −/− glomeruli. In addition, podocytes exhibited their typical arrangement in a single cell layer epithelium adjacent to the GBM, but convolution of glomerular capillaries did not occur. Instead, capillaries were distended and exhibited a ballooned appearance, a phenotype similar to that observed in the total absence of mesangial cells. However, here the phenotype could be attributed to the lack of mesangial cell adhesion to the GBM, suggesting that the G domain of laminin α5 is essential for this adhesion. Analysis of an additional chimeric transgene allowed us to narrow the region of the α5 G domain essential for mesangial cell adhesion to α5LG3-5. Finally, in vitro studies showed that integrin α3β1 and the Lutheran glycoprotein mediate adhesion of mesangial cells to laminin α5. Our results elucidate a mechanism whereby mesangial cells organize the glomerular capillaries by adhering to the G domain of laminin α5 in the GBM.
Achieving Alignment of Perspectival Framings in Problem-Solving Discourse

We use a concept of framing to explain 3 cases in which participants initially lacked mutual understanding but then achieved significant mutual understanding. The cases were all consistent with a pattern of positional framing that includes a human participant who is inquiring, which we call a listener, and a source, which may be another human participant or a non-human system. Participants with these different positionings have different perspectives that shape the interpretations and functions of their contributions. We hypothesize that achievement of mutual understanding also depends on participants having epistemological and conceptual framings that are sufficiently aligned. We distinguish between cases in which the participants achieved alignment of conceptual framing by adopting a schema that was in their common ground, cases in which the participants co-constructed a coherent framing without the benefit of a prefabricated schema (by constraint satisfaction, we hypothesize), and cases in which mutual understanding involved a refinement that did not require reframing. We argue that our hypotheses qualify as explanatory mechanisms, and we explicate this in an appendix. Our general goal is to contribute to the growing body of scientific studies that include concepts and methods for understanding cognitive structures and processes integrated with concepts and methods for understanding interaction that people have with each other and with other material and informational systems. [Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of the Journal of the Learning Sciences for the following free supplemental resource: “A Mechanistic Analysis of Discourse,” which presents an analysis of an episode from Case #1 of this article as a more detailed example of the kind of mechanism we have hypothesized in our more general accounts of interaction presented in the article. ]
Choosing sides: The genetics of why we go with the loudest

Recent developments in spatial voting have moved beyond finding the most appropriate utility function and started to assess individual differences in decision strategy. The question is not if a proximity or directional worldview performs better in general, rather under what conditions do people pick one strategy over the other? We draw on psychological theories to develop a survey-based measure of individual decision strategy and take a behavior genetic route to explaining the individual differences. We argue that dispositional traits shape whether an individual develops a directional or proximity worldview of the political arena. Utilizing a classical twin design, we capitalize on the documented relationship between partisanship and a directionalist worldview. We find that, in the Minnesota Twin Political Survey, both the strength of party identification and directional voting are moderately (~20 percent) but significantly (p < 0.05) heritable with no socialized component contributing to the variance. The covariation between the two traits is predominantly driven by common underlying genetic effects (p < 0.01). Implications for the rational voter models are discussed in light of the findings.
Rational model and justification model in ‘outcome bias’

The authors of this study suggest that the harm-punishment link (‘outcome bias’) can be explained by the activation of different judgment processes depending on the outcome severity of an offense: (1) a rational model for mild outcomes in which punishment is necessarily linked to responsibility of the perpetrator; (2) a justification model for severe outcomes in which punishment and responsibility are linked only when assessment order allows the latter to rationalize the former. Participants (126 university students) considered an unintentional road accident with mild or severe outcomes and made judgments of responsibility, punishment, and perceived seriousness of the offense. The results support the authors' hypothesis. In the discussion, the authors suggest different motives of punishment (preventive or compensative justice) which explain why responsibility and punishment are not necessarily linked. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Gendered Perspective on the Arrival and Settlement of Colombian Refugees in the United Kingdom

Colombia has a long history of political violence which, in recent decades, has been exacerbated by other types of violence related to the illegal drugs trade and growing socio-economic inequalities. As a result, large sectors of the Colombian population have been displaced internally or abroad. Despite this, little is known about Colombian refugees, especially those coming to Europe. This article seeks to partly remedy this by analysing the experiences of Colombian refugees living in London from a gendered perspective, based on qualitative fieldwork carried out between 2003 and 2007. First, it shows that these migration flows are remarkably heterogeneous and include threatened political activists in search of refuge, and asylum-seekers and others escaping insecurity and more-generalised violence, thus differing from more-traditional Latin American refugee movements to Europe. Secondly, it focuses on how gender, contexts of exit and arrival, class, type of refugee migration and life course, combine to frame the migration experiences of refugees in industrialised countries.
Mother-Daughter Similarity on the Kuder Vocational Interest Scales

IN 1943, Strong (8, pp. 680-681) reported a study of the similarity in interests of fathers and sons. A total of 110 pairs of fathers and sons were evaluated on 22 scales of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank. Correlations on the 22 scales ranged between . 11 and . 48 with an average correlation of . 29. The latter coefficient was found to be statistically significant. When, as a control device, each older man was paired with an unrelated younger one, a statistically nonsignificant correlation of -. 03 was obtained. Strong declined to speculate on the relevance of these data to the nature-nurture con-