Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuroanatomical and electrophysiological recovery in the contralateral intact cortex following transient focal cerebral ischemia in rats

Abstract Objectives Focal cerebral ischemia may induce synaptic, electrophysiological, and metabolic dysfunction in remote areas. We have shown that the remote dendritic spine density changes and electrophysiological diaschisis in the acute and subacute stages after stroke previously. Here, we further evaluated electrophysiological outcomes and synapto-dendritic plasticity in long-term recovery in the contralateral cortex following focal cerebral ischemia. Methods Male Sprague–Dawley rats were subjected to intraluminal suture occlusion for 90 min or sham-occlusion. Somatosensory electrophysiological recordings (SSEPs) and neurobehavioral tests were recorded each day for 28 days. Postmortem brains were sectioned and subjected to Nissl staining and Golgi–Cox impregnation through a 28-day period following ischemic stroke. Results In the ipsilateral cortex, infarct size in the cortex and striatum was decreased after the subacute stage; the brains showed reduced swelling in the cortex and stratum 3 days after ischemic insults. Dendritic spine density and SSEP amplitude decreased significantly during a 28-day recovery period. In the contralateral cortex, dendritic spine density and SSEP amplitude decreased significantly for 21 days after ischemic stroke, but recovered to baseline by day 28. The deterioration of the dendritic spine (density reduction) in the ischemic cortex was observed; however, this increased neuroplasticity in the contralateral cortex in the subacute stage. Discussion Focal cerebral ischemia–reperfusion induces time-dependent reduction of dendritic spine density and electrophysiological depression in both the ipsilateral and contralateral cortices and intact brain. This neuroanatomical and electrophysiological evidence suggests that neuroplasticity and functional re-organization in the contralateral cortex is possible following focal cerebral ischemia.
Correlations between Exhaled Nitric Oxide Levels and pH-Metry Data in Asthmatics with Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux

Background: In gastro-oesophageal reflux (GER), micro-aspirations of gastric fluid may damage the epithelial surface of the airways, an important source of endogenous nitric oxide (NO). Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the possible influence of GER on fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) release. Methods: FENO levels were compared in two age-matched groups of allergic children: (1) 20 with mild asthma, responding to standard anti-asthma pharmacologic therapy (asthmatic children) and (2) 12 with mild ‘asthma-like symptoms’ and GER. Results: No differences in pulmonary functions parameters (FEV1, FVC and FEF25–75%) were found between the two groups of children (p > 0.1); FENO levels were higher in asthmatic children compared with GER children (p = 0.0001). GER children underwent 24-hour oesophageal pH-metry, and possible correlations between pH-metry data, pulmonary functions and FENO levels were evaluated. No correlations were found between pulmonary functions and pH-metry data (p > 0.05, each correlation). In contrast, correlations were observed between FENO levels and pH-metry data, including (1) percentage of study time with pH < 4 (r = –0.80, p = 0.008), (2) number of episodes with pH < 4 (r = –0.76, p = 0.012), and (3) number of episodes >5 min with pH < 4 (r = –0.69, p = 0.02). Conclusions: Thus, FENO levels are lower in allergic children with ‘asthma-like symptoms’ and GER as compared to asthmatic children. The correlations between FENO levels and pH-metry data suggest that inhalation of acid gastric content may interfere with NO production in the airways.
Effective Detection of Toxigenic Clostridium difficile by a Two-Step Algorithm Including Tests for Antigen and Cytotoxin

ABSTRACT We evaluated a two-step algorithm for detecting toxigenic Clostridium difficile: an enzyme immunoassay for glutamate dehydrogenase antigen (Ag-EIA) and then, for antigen-positive specimens, a concurrent cell culture cytotoxicity neutralization assay (CCNA). Antigen-negative results were ≥99% predictive of CCNA negativity. Because the Ag-EIA reduced cell culture workload by ≈75 to 80% and two-step testing was complete in ≤3 days, we decided that this algorithm would be effective. Over 6 months, our laboratories' expenses were US$143,000 less than if CCNA alone had been performed on all 5,887 specimens.
Panel of Prototypical Raltegravir-Resistant Infectious Molecular Clones in a Novel Integrase-Deleted Cloning Vector

ABSTRACT We created an HIV-1 cloning vector, pNL4. 3ΔIN, to generate recombinant infectious molecular clones for analysis of patient-derived HIV-1 integrase coding regions. Using this vector, we constructed a panel of clinically derived viruses with the canonical patterns of raltegravir resistance mutations and submitted the panel to the NIH AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program. Investigational integrase inhibitors with activity against these clones are likely to retain activity against the most clinically relevant raltegravir-resistant variants.
Cognitive Abilities, Monitoring Confidence, and Control Thresholds Explain Individual Differences in Heuristics and Biases

In this paper, we investigate whether individual differences in performance on heuristic and biases tasks can be explained by cognitive abilities, monitoring confidence, and control thresholds. Current theories explain individual differences in these tasks by the ability to detect errors and override automatic but biased judgments, and deliberative cognitive abilities that help to construct the correct response. Here we retain cognitive abilities but disentangle error detection, proposing that lower monitoring confidence and higher control thresholds promote error checking. Participants (N = 250) completed tasks assessing their fluid reasoning abilities, stable monitoring confidence levels, and the control threshold they impose on their decisions. They also completed seven typical heuristic and biases tasks such as the cognitive reflection test and Resistance to Framing. Using structural equation modeling, we found that individuals with higher reasoning abilities, lower monitoring confidence, and higher control threshold performed significantly and, at times, substantially better on the heuristic and biases tasks. Individuals with higher control thresholds also showed lower preferences for risky alternatives in a gambling task. Furthermore, residual correlations among the heuristic and biases tasks were reduced to null, indicating that cognitive abilities, monitoring confidence, and control thresholds accounted for their shared variance. Implications include the proposal that the capacity to detect errors does not differ between individuals. Rather, individuals might adopt varied strategies that promote error checking to different degrees, regardless of whether they have made a mistake or not. The results support growing evidence that decision-making involves cognitive abilities that construct actions and monitoring and control processes that manage their initiation.
THE DENSITY OF THE ISE AND LOCAL LIMIT LAWS FOR EMBEDDED TREES

It has been known for a few years that the occupation measure of several models of embedded trees converges, after a suitable normalization, to the random measure called ISE (integrated SuperBrownian excursion). Here, we prove a local version of this result: ISE has a (random) Milder continuous density, and the vertical profile of embedded trees converges to this density, at least for some such trees. As a consequence, we derive a formula for the distribution of the density of ISE at a given point. This follows from earlier results by Bousquet-Melou on convergence of the vertical profile at a fixed point. We also provide a recurrence relation defining the moments of the (random) moments of ISE.
Multimorbidity and patterns of chronic conditions in a primary care population in Switzerland: a cross-sectional study

Objective To characterise in details a random sample of multimorbid patients in Switzerland and to evaluate the clustering of chronic conditions in that sample. Methods 100 general practitioners (GPs) each enrolled 10 randomly selected multimorbid patients aged ≥18 years old and suffering from at least three chronic conditions. The prevalence of 75 separate chronic conditions from the International Classification of Primary Care-2 (ICPC-2) was evaluated in these patients. Clusters of chronic conditions were studied in parallel. Results The final database included 888 patients. Mean (SD) patient age was 73.0 (12.0) years old. They suffered from 5.5 (2.2) chronic conditions and were prescribed 7.7 (3.5) drugs; 25.7% suffered from depression. Psychological conditions were more prevalent among younger individuals (≤66 years old). Cluster analysis of chronic conditions with a prevalence ≥5% in the sample revealed four main groups of conditions: (1) cardiovascular risk factors and conditions, (2) general age-related and metabolic conditions, (3) tobacco and alcohol dependencies, and (4) pain, musculoskeletal and psychological conditions. Conclusion Given the emerging epidemic of multimorbidity in industrialised countries, accurately depicting the multiple expressions of multimorbidity in family practices’ patients is a high priority. Indeed, even in a setting where patients have direct access to medical specialists, GPs nevertheless retain a key role as coordinators and often as the sole medical reference for multimorbid patients.
Immigration, Search, and Redistribution: A Quantitative Assessment of Native Welfare

We study the effects of immigration on native welfare in a general equilibrium model featuring two skill types, search frictions, wage bargaining, and a redistributive welfare state. Our quantitative analysis suggests that, in all 20 countries studied, immigration attenuates the effects of search frictions. These gains tend to outweigh the welfare costs of redistribution. Immigration has increased native welfare in almost all countries. Both high-skilled and low-skilled natives benefit in two thirds of countries, contrary to what models without search frictions predict. Average total gains from immigration are 1.25% and 1.00% for high and low skilled natives, respectively.
ON TOOLS AND ALGORITHMS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND ANALYSIS OF SYSTEMS

In the event that a system does not satisfy a specification, a model checker will typically automatically produce a counterexample trace that shows a particular instance of the undesirable behavior. Unfortunately, the important steps that follow the discovery of a counterexample are generally not automated. The user must first decide if the counterexample shows genuinely erroneous behavior or is an artifact of improper specification or abstraction. In the event that the error is real, there remains the difficult task of understanding the error well enough to isolate and modify the faulty aspects of the system. This paper describes a (semi-) automated approach for assisting users in understanding and isolating errors in ANSI C programs. The approach, derived from Lewis’ counterfactual approach to causality, is based on distance metrics for program executions. Experimental results show that the power of the model checking engine can be used to provide assistance in understanding errors and to isolate faulty portions of the source code.
Online Support for Intentional, Teacher Community of Practice

The term Community of Practice (CoP) is often used rather loosely to describe many types of instructional settings that support more constructivist or social learning settings. This study differentiates CoP from other learning communities with greater discipline in defining CoP, as characterized by sustained self-organization for example. Such a CoP sits quite apart from the typical intent of instructional settings. The literature on intentional CoP suggests that the greatest challenges are a sense of interdependence among CoP members, the authenticity of the practice or purpose, and a trajectory for the CoP’s future. The purpose of this case study was to attend to these issues with an online initiative to nurture CoP among practicing teachers in a reading-specialist, graduate program. For the course under study, learners engaged only in cooperative projects with the support of a community worksite (Sakai). Throughout the term, the worksite was promoted as a community place independent of the course and program, a place where they could continue to share indefinitely; and they were encouraged to think of what formal and informal activities the system could support, and how. The study explored how participants responded verbally and behaviorally to the community worksite and the other technologies employed to better support their group work and sharing of knowledge in general. The group’s technical skills, competing cultures and practices, and the level of authenticity were all significant challenges. The study’s findings challenge the application of this learning theory at the course level of academics, and they inform future design of online support for intentional CoP.
'This Would Be Much Funner in Person': A Qualitative Grounded Theory Analysis of Cybergrooming

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. For more information, please contact pdxscholar@pdx.edu. Recommended Citation Gauz, Maurice Jason, "'This Would Be Much Funner in Person': A Qualitative Grounded Theory Analysis of Cybergrooming" (2014). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 1802.
Restructuring consciousness –the psychedelic state in light of integrated information theory

The psychological state elicited by the classic psychedelics drugs, such as LSD and psilocybin, is one of the most fascinating and yet least understood states of consciousness. However, with the advent of modern functional neuroimaging techniques, the effect of these drugs on neural activity is now being revealed, although many of the varied phenomenological features of the psychedelic state remain challenging to explain. Integrated information theory (IIT) is one of the foremost contemporary theories of consciousness, providing a mathematical formalization of both the quantity and quality of conscious experience. This theory can be applied to all known states of consciousness, including the psychedelic state. Using the results of functional neuroimaging data on the psychedelic state, the effects of psychedelic drugs on both the level and structure of consciousness can be explained in terms of the conceptual framework of IIT. This new IIT-based model of the psychedelic state provides an explanation for many of its phenomenological features, including unconstrained cognition, alterations in the structure and meaning of concepts and a sense of expanded awareness. This model also suggests that whilst cognitive flexibility, creativity, and imagination are enhanced during the psychedelic state, this occurs at the expense of cause-effect information, as well as degrading the brain's ability to organize, categorize, and differentiate the constituents of conscious experience. Furthermore, the model generates specific predictions that can be tested using a combination of functional imaging techniques, as has been applied to the study of levels of consciousness during anesthesia and following brain injury.
Strong, reliable and precise synaptic connections between thalamic relay cells and neurones of the nucleus reticularis in juvenile rats

The thalamic reticular nucleus (nRT) is composed entirely of GABAergic inhibitory neurones that receive input from pyramidal cortical neurones and excitatory relay cells of the ventrobasal complex of the thalamus (VB). It plays a major role in the synchrony of thalamic networks, yet the synaptic connections it receives from VB cells have never been fully physiologically characterised. Here, whole‐cell current‐clamp recordings were obtained from 22 synaptically connected VB‐nRT cell pairs in slices of juvenile (P14‐20) rats. At 34‐36 °C, single presynaptic APs evoked unitary EPSPs in nRT cells with a peak amplitude of 7.4 ± 1.5 mV (mean ±s.e.m.) and a decay time constant of 15.1 ± 0.9 ms. Only four out of 22 pairs showed transmission failures at a mean rate of 6.8 ± 1.1 %. An NMDA receptor (NMDAR)‐mediated component was significant at rest and subsequent EPSPs in a train were depressed. Only one out of 14 pairs tested was reciprocally connected; the observed IPSPs in the VB cell had a peak amplitude of 0.8 mV and were completely abolished in the presence of 10 μm bicuculline. Thus, synaptic connections from VB cells to nRT neurones are mainly ‘drivers’, while a small subset of cells form closed disynaptic loops.
A TOOL FOR 2+1D PHASE UNWRAPPING: APPLICATION EXAMPLES

This paper is focused on a new 3D phase unwrapping procedure, named 2+1D unwrapping, which works on large stacks of differential interferometric SAR data. The procedure firstly performs a 2D phase unwrapping, which is followed by a kind of 1D phase unwrapping, i.e. the phases are unwrapped by connecting them along the time. For this reason the entire procedure performs a 2+1D phase unwrapping. The paper starts with a description of the phase unwrapping strategy, which is based on iterative least squares and an ad hoc outlier rejection procedure that take advantage of the nature of the phase unwrapping errors. The effectiveness of the procedure is illustrated by analysing different examples based on Envisat ASAR and Terrasar-X SAR data processed by the Institute of Geomatics and the Earth Sciences Department of the Universita degli Studi di Milano.
A Partially Structured Species of β2-Microglobulin Is Significantly Populated under Physiological Conditions and Involved in Fibrillogenesis*

The folding of β2-microglobulin (β2-m), the protein forming amyloid deposits in dialysis-related amyloidosis, involves formation of a partially folded conformation named I2, which slowly converts into the native fold, N. Here we show that the partially folded species I2 can be separated from N by capillary electrophoresis. Data obtained with this technique and analysis of kinetic data obtained with intrinsic fluorescence indicate that the I2 conformation is populated to ∼14 ± 8% at equilibrium under conditions of pH and temperature close to physiological. In the presence of fibrils extracted from patients, the I2 conformer has a 5-fold higher propensity to aggregate than N, as indicated by the thioflavine T test and light scattering measurements. A mechanism of aggregation of β2-m in vivo involving the association of the preformed fibrils with the fraction of I2 existing at equilibrium is proposed from these results. The possibility of isolating and quantifying a partially folded conformer of β2-m involved in the amyloidogenesis process provides new opportunities to monitor hemodialytic procedures aimed at the reduction of such species from the pool of circulating β2-m but also to design new pharmaceutical approaches that consider such species as a putative molecular target.
Undiminished immunologic tolerance to contact sensitivity in mast cell-deficient W/Wv and Sl/Sld mice.

Several mast cell-derived mediators, when tested individually, have actions that may be considered immunosuppressive or anti-inflammatory. Yet evidence concerning the importance of mast cells to the down regulation of T cell-dependent immune responses in vivo is scanty and contradictory. To test directly the net contribution of intact mast cells to the suppression of delayed hypersensitivity reactions in vivo, we attempted to elicit tolerance to contact sensitivity in W/Wv or Sl/Sld mast cell-deficient mice, and compared their responses with those of littermate control mice with normal numbers of mast cells. By using three different measures of delayed hypersensitivity (ear swelling, weight ratios of challenged and control ears, and 125I-IUDR-labeled leukocyte infiltration into challenged and control ears), we detected no deficiency in the 24 hr contact sensitivity reactions to DNFB in control (nontolerized) W/Wv or Sl/Sld mice. We thus confirmed previous work indicating that mast cells are not essential for the induction and elicitation of delayed hypersensitivity. Furthermore, mast cell-deficient and control mice developed equivalent levels of tolerance to contact sensitivity. This was true for tolerance induced by DNBS administered i.v. 7 days before epicutaneous sensitization with DNFB, and for tolerance induced by supraoptimal sensitization with DNFB. W/Wv and Sl/Sld mice also served as suitable donors and recipients for putative suppressor T cells (Ts) induced by i.v. DNBS. We conclude that mast cells make little or no contribution to the modulation of Ts activity in two different models of Ts-dependent tolerance to contact sensitivity.
Down-Regulation of Hydrogen Sulfide Biosynthesis Accompanies Murine Interstitial Cells of Cajal Dysfunction in Partial Ileal Obstruction

Purpose To investigate the role of endogenous hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in partial obstruction-induced dysfunction of the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in mice ileum. Materials and Methods Partial intestinal obstruction was induced surgically in male imprinting control region (ICR) mice. ICC networks were studied by Immunohistochemistry. Electrical activity was recorded by intracellular recording techniques. The expression of ICC phenotype marker c-kit receptor tyrosine kinase (c-kit), membrane binding stem cell factor (mSCF), the endogenous H2S biosynthesis enzymes cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS) and cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE) was studied by Western blotting. The expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) mRNA was observed by using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results Partial intestinal obstruction resulted in ICC networks were disrupted above obstruction 14 days after the operation. The slow waves of intestinal smooth muscles in the dilated region were significantly suppressed and their amplitude and frequency were reduced, whilst the resting membrane potentials were depolarized. The expression of c-kit and mSCF was significantly decreased, also suggesting the disruption of the ICC network. The expression of TNF-α was significantly increased in the tunica muscularis of the obstructed intestine. Treatment of cultured intestinal smooth muscle cells with TNF-α caused dramatic down regulation of mSCF. The expression of CBS and CSE was significantly decreased in the tunica muscularis of the obstructed intestine. Intraperitoneal injection (i.p) of DL-propargylglycine, an irreversible inhibitor of CSE, and aminooxyacetic acid, an inhibitor of CBS, elevated the expression of TNF-α mRNA in the tunica muscularis of the ileum. Obstruction-induced over expression of TNF-α was significantly improved by supplementation of NaHS, but not the expressions of mSCF and c-kit. Conclusions The down regulation of endogenous H2S biosynthesis is related to over expression of TNF-α in obstructed small intestine. TNF-α-mediated mSCF down-regulation is not the only reason of partial intestinal obstruction-induced loss of ICC.