Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tricarboxylic acid cycle of glia in the in vivo human brain

In the brain, acetate is exclusively oxidized by glia. To determine the contribution of glial metabolism to the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), 1‐13C‐acetate was infused in six studies in three normal adult subjects and one epileptic receiving valproic acid for seizure control. Ten grams of 99% 1‐13C labeled acetate were infused intravenously as a 3.3% w/v solution over 60 min, during which in vivo 13C MR spectra of the brain were acquired. As expected, 13C label rapidly enriched cerebral bicarbonate, glutamate and glutamine C5. The mean rate of acetate oxidation calculated from steady‐state 13C enrichment of bicarbonate in fasted normal subjects was 0.13 ± 0.03 µmol/g/min (n = 4), approximately 20% of the total cerebral TCA cycle rate. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Study on Sixth-Grade Turkish Students' Spatial Visualization Ability.

The aim of this study is to evaluate sixth-grade Turkish students’ spatial visualization ability and to determine the strategies that students employ and the mistakes that they make while solving the problems requiring spatial reasoning. Therefore, the study examined the following achievements: visualizing different view images of three-dimensional structures made from unit cubes, interpreting twodimensional pictorial representations of three-dimensional objects and finding the faces of the cube. In this study, spatial visualization behaviors were limited to the achievements covered by the Turkish primary education mathematics curriculum. Data were collected by means of the Block of Cubes Test, which was designed to measure student achievements about the ability to mentally visualize differentperspective views of three-dimensional structures made from unit cubes, to interpret two-dimensional pictorial representations of threedimensional structures and to find the visible faces of the cube. The findings were based on the scores received by a total of 60 participant students from this test and the clinical interviews conducted with 21 students chosen randomly among the participants in order to identify the challenges experienced by them in the test. One definition of spatial ability is the combination of abilities to visualize spatial objects, recognize their different perspective views, and move them as a whole or their parts separately. Research on spatial ability has significant implications for science, geometry, engineering and architecture. Evidence suggests that spatial ability is closely associated with mathematics achievement (Battista, 1990;
Fragile-X syndrome: genetic aspects and stomatologic evaluations.

AIM OF THE WORK The fragile-X syndrome is the most common cause of inherited mental retardation and it is associated with the FMR1 gene on X chromosome. The origin of anatomic anomalies of maxillo-facial complex is still discussed in literature. The authors describe the syndrome and report a clinical case. METHODS Genetical and clinical aspects and the incidence of caries, periodontal disease and occlusal abrasion are reviewed. Occlusal conditions, particularly openbite and crossbite, are considered. RESULTS The incidence of fragile-X syndrome is 1: 2000 in males and 1:4000 in females, despite this the syndrome is diagnosed with a lot of difficulties yet, because of extreme variability of the phenomenological aspects. Patients often show severe mental retardation, linked to a peculiar profile of cognitive, behavioural, and emotional dysfunction and to distinctive anatomic features, which become more evident after puberty. Concerning oral characteristics, it doesn't seem to be a significant association between the syndrome and the incidence of caries or periodontal diseases, while an ogival shaped palate is peculiar. CONCLUSIONS Literature review suggests that when male patients with severe mental retardation without well-known cause are visited, the ipothesis of X-fragile syndrome should be considered. Even though the diagnostic hypothesis may arise from the observation of typical somatic features, the diagnosis can be confirmed only by genetical tests.
Interactions between emotional attention, encoding, and retrieval of ambiguous information: an eye-tracking study

Attention and memory are components of human cognition intricately related to emotional well-being. The emotional biases in attention and memory have conventionally been studied as separate topics such that the interactions between these processes are poorly understood. Despite recent advances in knowledge on how attention at encoding regulates emotional long-term memory (e.g., Everaert, Duyck, & Koster, 2014; Talmi & McGarry, 2012), little is known about the role of attention during emotional memory retrieval. This study (Everaert & Koster, in press at Emotion) investigated how emotional biases in memory are related to biases in different attentional mechanisms during retrieval. Forty-nine individuals encoded emotionally positive and negative meanings derived from ambiguous information (items presented in a scrambled sentences test; Wenzlaff & Bates, 1998), and then searched their memory for encoded meanings in response to a set of retrieval cues. The remember/know/new procedure was used to classify memories as recollection- or familiarity-based (Tulving, 1985; Yonelinas, Aly, Wang, & Koen, 2010 ), and gaze behavior was monitored throughout the tasks to measure attentional allocation. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that a bias in sustained attention during recollection-based, but not familiarity-based, retrieval predicted subsequent memory bias toward positive vs. negative material even after controlling for encoding bias. Thus, during emotional memory retrieval, attention affects controlled forms of retrieval (i.e., recollection), but does not modulate relatively automatic, familiarity-based retrieval. These findings enhance understanding of how distinct components of attention regulate the emotional content of memories. Implications for theoretical models and emotion regulation will be discussed.
Inhibitors of TLR8 Reduce TNF Production from Human Rheumatoid Synovial Membrane Cultures1

The advent of anti-TNF biologicals has been a seminal advance in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and has confirmed the important role of TNF in disease pathogenesis. However, it is unknown what sustains the chronic production of TNF. In this study, we have investigated the anti-inflammatory properties of mianserin, a serotonin receptor antagonist. We discovered mianserin was able to inhibit the endosomal TLRs 3, 7, 8, and 9 in primary human cells and inhibited the spontaneous release of TNF and IL-6 from RA synovial membrane cultures. This suggested a role for these TLRs in production of TNF and IL-6 from RA which was supported by data from chloroquine, an inhibitor of endosomal acidification (a prerequisite for TLRs 3, 7, 8, and 9 activation) which also inhibited production of these cytokines from RA synovial cultures. Only stimulation of TLR 3 or 8 induced TNF from these cultures, indicating that TLR7 and TLR9 were of less consequence in this model. The key observation that indicated the importance of TLR8 was the inhibition of spontaneous TNF production by imiquimod, which we discovered to be an inhibitor of TLR8. Together, these data suggest that TLR8 may play a role in driving TNF production in RA. Because this receptor can be inhibited by small m.w. molecules, it may prove to be an important therapeutic target.
Ibuprofen binding to secondary sites allosterically modulates the spectroscopic and catalytic properties of human serum heme–albumin

The ibuprofen primary binding site FA3–FA4 is located in domain III of human serum albumin (HSA), the secondary clefts FA2 and FA6 being sited in domains I and II. Here, the thermodynamics of ibuprofen binding to recombinant Asp1–Glu382 truncated HSA (tHSA)–heme‐Fe(III) and nitrosylated tHSA–heme‐Fe(II), encompassing domains I and II only, is reported. Moreover, the allosteric effect of ibuprofen on the kinetics of tHSA–heme‐Fe(III)‐mediated peroxynitrite isomerization and nitrosylated tHSA–heme‐Fe(II) denitrosylation has been investigated. The present data indicate, for the first time, that the allosteric modulation of tHSA–heme and HSA–heme reactivity by ibuprofen depends mainly on drug binding to the FA2 and FA6 secondary sites rather than drug association with the FA3–FA4 primary cleft. Thus, tHSA is a valuable model with which to investigate the allosteric linkage between the heme cleft FA1 and the ligand‐binding pockets FA2 and FA6, all located in domains I and II of (t)HSA.
Trade liberalization and tuberculosis incidence: a longitudinal multi-level analysis in 22 high burden countries between 1990 and 2010

Background Trade liberalization is promoted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) through a complex architecture of binding trade agreements. This type of trade, however, has the potential to modify the upstream and proximate determinants of tuberculosis (TB) infection. We aimed to analyse the association between trade liberalization and TB incidence in 22 high-burden TB countries between 1990 and 2010. Methods and findings A longitudinal multi-level linear regression analysis was performed using five different measures of trade liberalization as exposure [WTO membership, duration of membership, trade as % of gross domestic product, and components of both the Economic Freedom of the World Index (EFI4) and the KOF Index of Globalization (KOF1)]. We adjusted for a wide range of factors, including differences in human development index (HDI), income inequality, debts, polity patterns, conflict, overcrowding, population stage transition, health system financing, case detection rates and HIV prevalence. None of the five trade indicators was significantly associated with TB incidence in the crude analysis. Any positive effect of EFI4 on (Log-) TB incidence over time was confounded by differences in socio-economic development (HDI), HIV prevalence and health financing indicators. The adjusted TB incidence rate ratio of WTO member countries was significantly higher [RR: 1.60; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.12–2.29] when compared with non-member countries. Conclusion We found no association between specific aggregate indicators of trade liberalization and TB incidence. Our analyses provide evidence of a significant association between WTO membership and higher TB incidence, which suggests a possible conflict between the architecture of WTO agreements and TB-related Millennium Development Goals. Further research is needed, particularly on the relation between the aggregate trade indices used in this study and the hypothesized mediators and also on sector-specific indices, specific trade agreements and other (non-TB) health outcomes.
Preeclampsia: the Death of Goliath

In this review, a novel and unifying pathophysiologic mechanism of preeclampsia is presented whereby a minimal excess of placental immune complex production versus removal causes a proinflammatory autoamplification cascade of trophoblast apoptosis/necrosis and oxidative stress, culminating in clinical preeclampsia. This concept immediately leads to a plethora of new and robust therapeutic strategies.
The Effect of Increased Women's Representation in Parliament: The Case of Rwanda

There is an increasing amount of work on whether a higher level of women’s representation in parliament leads to a different style of parliamentary politics. To date, most studies have focused on Western cases, and the results have been mixed. Women add new dimensions to the policy agenda, but there is little evidence that increased women’s representation changes policy outputs. The little work that has been conducted outside the Western context confirms the mixed nature of these findings. In sub-Saharan Africa, women have added issues such as HIV/AIDS and property rights to the policy agenda, but there is little evidence to suggest that increased women’s representation has altered policy outcomes. In this article, we examine the case of Rwanda, which now has the highest level of women’s representation in parliament in the world at 48.75 per cent. Based on face-to-face interviews with women representatives in the Rwandan parliament, we confirm that the Western-based work has validity in a developing world context. In Rwanda, women representatives considered themselves to have a greater concern with grassroots politics, although there was also some divergence of views on the matter; there has been no change in the working hours or calendar of parliament. In terms of the policy agenda, women’s issues are now raised more easily and more often than before, and there has been a strong advocacy of ‘international feminism’ by many deputies. However, increased women’s representation has had little effect on policy outputs.
Is Energy Conservation Education Effective? An Evaluation of the PowerSave Schools Program

To strengthen energy conservation knowledge and behaviors in youth, the PowerSave Schools Program (PSP) instructs students using hands-on projects. However, there is a lack of empirical support for the PSP. The present study is the first to use a repeated measures design to assess its effectiveness in two school districts. In District 1, there was significant improvement in energy conservation knowledge and specific behaviors; however, there was no significant improvement in District 2. Reasons for this variability are discussed, emphasizing weaknesses in the current implementation of the PSP curriculum. The article concludes by discussing suggestions for improving efficacy of the PSP.
Preferring “Housewives” To “Feminists”: Categorization and the Favorability of Attitudes Toward Women

Four studies are described outlining the favorability of attitudes toward women. In Study 1, participants indicated their attitudes toward women and men and their construal of the term “women. ” The results revealed that women were evaluated more favorably than men, but that male right-wing authoritarians (RWAs) who construed women as referring primarily to feminists were least favorable in their attitudes. In Study 2, participants indicated their attitudes toward both “housewives” and “feminists. ” The results revealed that feminists were evaluated less favorably than housewives, and that the most negative attitudes toward feminists were expressed by authoritarian men. Study 3 revealed that high-RWA males held more negative symbolic beliefs concerning feminists (i.e., beliefs that feminists failed to promote participants' values) and that these beliefs accounted for variation in attitudes among high RWAs and much of the RWA-attitude relation. Finally, Study 4 revealed that high RWAs perceived greater value dissimilarity between themselves and feminists. The implications of the findings for future research are discussed.
Trainable Generation of Big-Five Personality Styles through Data-Driven Parameter Estimation

Previous work on statistical language generation has primarily focused on grammaticality and naturalness, scoring generation possibilities according to a language model or user feedback. More recent work has investigated data-driven techniques for controlling linguistic style without overgeneration, by reproducing variation dimensions extracted from corpora. Another line of work has produced handcrafted rule-based systems to control specific stylistic dimensions, such as politeness and personality. This paper describes a novel approach that automatically learns to produce recognisable variation along a meaningful stylistic dimension— personality—without the computational cost incurred by overgeneration techniques. We present the first evaluation of a data-driven generation method that projects multiple personality traits simultaneously and on a continuous scale. We compare our performance to a rule-based generator in the same domain.
Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant System in Periodontitis

Periodontitis is a common inflammatory disease, which is initiated by bacterial infection and subsequently progressed by aberrant host response. It can result in the destruction of teeth supporting tissues and have an influence on systemic health. When periodontitis occurs, reactive oxygen species, which are overproduced mostly by hyperactive neutrophils, could not be balanced by antioxidant defense system and cause tissues damage. This is characterized by increased metabolites of lipid peroxidation, DNA damage and protein damage. Local and systemic activities of antioxidants can also be influenced by periodontitis. Total antioxidant capacity, total oxidant status and oxidative stress index have been used to evaluate the oxidative stress associated with periodontitis. Studies have confirmed that inflammatory response in periodontitis is associated with an increased local and systemic oxidative stress and compromised antioxidant capacity. Our review focuses on increased oxidative stress in periodontal disease, specifically, on the relationship between the local and systemic biomarkers of oxidative stress and periodontitis and their association with the pathogenesis of periodontitis. Also, the relationship between periodontitis and systemic inflammation, and the effects of periodontal therapy on oxidative stress parameters will be discussed.
Rapid Encoding and Perception of Novel Odors in the Rat

To gain insight into which parameters of neural activity are important in shaping the perception of odors, we combined a behavioral measure of odor perception with optical imaging of odor representations at the level of receptor neuron input to the rat olfactory bulb. Instead of the typical test of an animal's ability to discriminate two familiar odorants by exhibiting an operant response, we used a spontaneously expressed response to a novel odorant—exploratory sniffing—as a measure of odor perception. This assay allowed us to measure the speed with which rats perform spontaneous odor discriminations. With this paradigm, rats discriminated and began responding to a novel odorant in as little as 140 ms. This time is comparable to that measured in earlier studies using operant behavioral readouts after extensive training. In a subset of these trials, we simultaneously imaged receptor neuron input to the dorsal olfactory bulb with near-millisecond temporal resolution as the animal sampled and then responded to the novel odorant. The imaging data revealed that the bulk of the discrimination time can be attributed to the peripheral events underlying odorant detection: receptor input arrives at the olfactory bulb 100–150 ms after inhalation begins, leaving only 50–100 ms for central processing and response initiation. In most trials, odor discrimination had occurred even before the initial barrage of receptor neuron firing had ceased and before spatial maps of activity across glomeruli had fully developed. These results suggest a coding strategy in which the earliest-activated glomeruli play a major role in the initial perception of odor quality, and place constraints on coding and processing schemes based on simple changes in spike rate.
Genetic control of immune responses to Schistosoma japonicum antigen

Summary A high‐titre IgE‐antibody response to Schistosoma japonicum antigen (Sj) is obtained if helper T cells are appropriately induced by the infection. The antibody responses were found to be regulated by a gene(s) linked to the major histocompatibility complex. Strains of H‐2a and H‐2k haplotypes were high responders, whereas H‐2d, H‐2b and H‐2s strains were not. Results obtained by using intra‐H‐2 recombinant strains suggested that the immune‐response (Ir) gene was mapped in the I‐E subregion, although a possibility of the presence of complementary genes was not excluded. Interestingly, in low responders such as BALB/c mice, Sj‐specific carrier effect could be demonstrated when mice were infected with S. japonicum before challenge immunization with dinitrophenylated Sj (DNP‐Sj). Moreover, BALB/cas well as C3H/He was a high responder to Sj in proliferation of peritoneal exudate T‐lymphocyte enriched cells in vitro, whereas B10.S was not. Based on these observations, possible roles of Ir genes in immune responses to Sj are discussed.
Prenatal Cocaine/Polydrug Exposure and Infant Performance on an Executive Functioning Task

Executive functioning in cocaine/polydrug (marijuana, alcohol, tobacco) exposed infants was assessed in a single session, occurring between 9.5 and 12.5 months of age. In an A-not-B task, infants searched, after performance-adjusted delays, for an object hidden in a new location. Overall, the cocaine-exposed (CE) infants did not differ from non-CE controls recruited from the same at-risk population. However, comparison of heavier-CE (n = 9) to the combined group of lighter-CE (n = 10) and non-CE (n = 32) infants revealed significant differences on A-not-B performance, as well as on global tests of mental and motor development. Covariates investigated included socioeconomic status, marital status, race, maternal age, years of education, weeks of gestation, birth weight, as well as severity of prenatal marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco exposure. The relationship of heavier-CE status to motor development was mediated by length of gestation, and the relationship of heavier-CE status to mental development was confounded with maternal gestational use of cigarettes. The relationship of heavier-CE status to A-not-B performance remained significant after controlling for potentially confounded variables and mediators, but was not statistically significant after controlling for the variance associated with global mental development.
Insight and psychosis: Functional and anatomical brain connectivity and self‐reflection in Schizophrenia

Impaired insight into illness, associated with worse treatment outcome, is common in schizophrenia. Insight has been related to the self‐reflective processing, centred on the medial frontal cortex. We hypothesized that anatomical and functional routes to and from the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) would differ in patients according to their degree of impaired insight. Forty‐five schizophrenia patients and 19 healthy subjects performed a self‐reflection task during fMRI, and underwent diffusion tensor imaging. Using dynamic causal modelling we observed increased effective connectivity from the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), inferior parietal lobule (IPL), and dorsal mPFC (dmPFC) towards the vmPFC with poorer insight and decrease from vmPFC to the IPL. Stronger connectivity from the PCC to vmPFC during judgment of traits related to self was associated with poorer insight. We found small‐scale significant changes in white matter integrity associated with clinical insight. Self‐reflection may be influenced by synaptic changes that lead to the observed alterations in functional connectivity accompanied by the small‐scale but measurable alterations in anatomical connections. Our findings may point to a neural compensatory response to an impairment of connectivity between self‐processing regions. Similarly, the observed hyper‐connectivity might be a primary deficit linked to inefficiency in the component cognitive processes that lead to impaired insight. We suggest that the stronger cognitive demands placed on patients with poor insight is reflected in increased effective connectivity during the task in this study. Hum Brain Mapp 36:4859–4868, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.