Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigating expectation and reward in human opioid addiction with [11C]raclopride PET

The rewarding properties of some abused drugs are thought to reside in their ability to increase striatal dopamine levels. Similar increases have been shown in response to expectation of a positive drug effect. The actions of opioid drugs on striatal dopamine release are less well characterized. We examined whether heroin and the expectation of heroin reward increases striatal dopamine levels in human opioid addiction. Ten opioid‐dependent participants maintained on either methadone or buprenorphine underwent [11C]raclopride positron emission tomography imaging. Opioid‐dependent participants were scanned three times, receiving reward from 50‐mg intravenous heroin (diamorphine; pharmaceutical heroin) during the first scan to generate expectation of the same reward at the second scan, during which they only received 0.1‐mg intravenous heroin. There was no heroin injection during the third scan. Intravenous 50‐mg heroin during the first scan induced pronounced effects leading to high levels of expectation at the second scan. There was no detectable increase in striatal dopamine levels to either heroin reward or expectation of reward. We believe this is the first human study to examine whether expectation of heroin reward increases striatal dopamine levels in opioid addiction. The absence of detectable increased dopamine levels to both the expectation and delivery of a heroin‐related reward may have been due to the impact of substitute medication. It does however contrast with the changes seen in abstinent stimulant users, suggesting that striatal dopamine release alone may not play such a pivotal role in opioid‐maintained individuals.
Treatment of multiple myeloma bone disease: experimental and clinical data

Introduction: Bone survival rate. In addition to suppression of osteoclastogenesis, there have been developments made in terms of the therapeutic agents available, such as novel immunomodulating agents, proteasome and receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand inhibitors. Areas covered: Areas covered include in vitro, in vivo and clinical evidence was collected using MEDLINE® (1950 – May 2014), EMBASE (1980 – May 2014) and Google Scholar (1980 – May 2014) databases. Expert opinion: Bisphosphonates are the mainstay of myeloma bone disease treatment. Oral clodronate and intravenous pamidronate and zoledronic acid are currently used drugs and seem to have comparable results in preventing skeletal-related events of the disease. Zoledronate can also have survival benefits and based on the available evidence is the superior bisphosphonate; however, its side effects have to be monitored. Denosumab had comparable results with zoledronate on myeloma bone disease treatment; its use has not been completely proven yet. There is an expanding set of drugs, proteasome inhibitors, under investigation with great potential to reduce the negative effects of myeloma cells on bone. Future clinical studies should compare both the catabolic and anabolic effects of these agents on bone.
Light Use Efficiency over Two Temperate Steppes in Inner Mongolia, China

Vegetation light use efficiency (LUE) is a key parameter of Production Efficiency Models (PEMs) for simulating gross primary production (GPP) of vegetation, from regional to global scales. Previous studies suggest that grasslands have the largest inter-site variation of LUE and controlling factors of grassland LUE differ from those of other biomes, since grasslands are usually water-limited ecosystems. Combining eddy covariance flux data with the fraction of photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by the plant canopy from MODIS, we report LUE on a typical steppe and a desert steppe in Inner Mongolia, northern China. Results show that both annual average LUE and maximum LUE were higher on the desert steppe (0.51 and 1.13 g C MJ−1) than on the typical steppe (0.34 and 0.88 g C MJ−1), despite the higher GPP of the latter. Water availability was the primary limiting factor of LUE at both sites. Evaporative fraction (EF) or the ratio of actual evapotranspiration to potential evapotranspiration (AET/PET) can explain 50–70% of seasonal LUE variations at both sites. However, the slope of linear regression between LUE and EF (or AET/PET) differed significantly between the two sites. LUE increased with the diffuse radiation ratio on the typical steppe; however, such a trend was not found for the desert steppe. Our results suggest that a biome-dependent LUEmax is inappropriate, because of the large inter-site difference of LUEmax within the biome. EF could be a promising down-regulator on grassland LUE for PEMs, but there may be a site-specific relationship between LUE and EF.
Increased Expression of Interleukin-36, a Member of the Interleukin-1 Cytokine Family, in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background:Interleukin (IL)-36 (IL-36&agr;, IL-36&bgr;, and IL-36&ggr;) is a recently reported member of the IL-1 cytokine family. In this study, we investigated IL-36 expression in the inflamed mucosa of patients with inflammatory bowel disease and characterized the proinflammatory actions of IL-36 cytokines in human colonic epithelial cells. Methods:IL-36 mRNA expression was evaluated using real-time PCR. IL-36 protein expression was analyzed using immunoblotting and immunohistochemical technique. Intracellular signaling pathways were evaluated by immunoblotting and by specific siRNA-transfected cells. Results:The mRNA expression of IL-36&agr; and IL-36&ggr;, but not of IL-36&bgr;, was enhanced in the inflamed mucosa of patients with inflammatory bowel disease, in particular, in ulcerative colitis. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that T cells, monocytes, and plasma cells are the source of IL-36&agr; and IL-36&ggr; in colonic mucosa. DNA microarray analysis indicated that IL-36&agr; induces the mRNA expression of CXC chemokines and acute phase proteins in intestinal epithelial cell line, HT-29 cells. IL-36&agr; and IL-36&ggr; dose-dependently and time-dependently induced the mRNA and protein expression of CXC chemokines (CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL3 etc.) in HT-29 and Widr cells. Stimulation with IL-36&agr; and IL-36&ggr; assembled MyD88 adaptor proteins (MyD88, TRAF6, IRAK1, and TAK1) into a complex and induced the activation of NF-&kgr;B and AP-1 and also the phosphorylation of MAPKs. MAPK inhibitors and siRNAs specific for NF-&kgr;B and c-Jun AP-1 significantly reduced IL-36–induced CXC chemokine expression. Conclusions:IL-36&agr; and IL-36&ggr; may play a proinflammatory role in the pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel disease through induction of CXC chemokines and acute phase proteins.
Do Right-Handed Monkeys Use the Right Cheek Pouch before the Left?

There can be several factors that are likely to have played a role in the evolution of hand preference in humans and non-human primates, which the existing theories do not consider. There exists a possibility that hand preference in non-human primates evolved from the pre-existing lateralities in more elementary brain functions and behavior, or alternatively, the two coevolved. A basic example can be a hand-mouth command system that could have evolved in the context of ingestion. In the present study, we examined the relationship between lateralities in prehension and mastication processes, that is, hand and cheek pouch usage, in free-ranging bonnet macaques, Macaca radiata. The macaques preferentially used one hand–the ‘preferred’ hand, to pick up the bananas lying on the ground. Lateralities in hand and cheek pouch usage (for both filling and emptying) were positively related with each other, that is, the macaques used the cheek pouch corresponding to the preferred hand predominantly and before the other. Moreover, when the macaques used the non-preferred hand to pick up the bananas, the frequency of contralateral cheek pouch usage was higher than the frequency of ipsilateral cheek pouch usage, that is, the combined structure of hand, mouth, and food did not influence the relationship between laterality in hand usage and laterality in cheek pouch usage. These findings demonstrate laterality in a relatively more involuntary function than those explored previously in any non-human primate species (e.g., facial expressions and manual gestures).
Difference in Feeding Behaviors of Two Invasive Whiteflies on Host Plants with Different Suitability: Implication for Competitive Displacement

In China, Bemisia tabaci Q (commonly known as biotype Q) has rapidly displaced B (commonly known as biotype B) in the past 6 years. The mechanisms underlying such phenomenon have been studied extensively in recent years; however, we have not come to a definitive conclusion yet. In the present study, the differences in host suitability between B and Q whitefly adults to five host plants (cabbage, cotton, cucumber, poinsettia, and tomato) were evaluated based on their respective feeding behaviors using a direct-current electrical penetration graph (DC-EPG) system. Pair-wise comparisons of B. tabaci B and Q feeding on each of the five host plants clearly indicate that Q feeds better than B on tomato, cotton and poinsettia, while B feeds better than Q on cabbage and cucumber. The EPG parameters related to both phloem and non-phloem phases confirm that cabbage and cucumber are best suited to B, while tomato, cotton, and poinsettia are best suited to Q. Our present results support the contention that host suitability and adult feeding behavior contribute to the competitive displacement of biotype B by biotype Q. The discrepancy between field (previous studies) and laboratory results (this study), however, suggests that 1) whitefly displacement is apparently contributed by multiple factors; and 2) factor(s) other than the host plant suitability may play a vital role in dictating the whitefly biotypes in the field.
Flexibility of event boundaries in autobiographical memory

Events have clear and consistent boundaries that are defined during perception in a manner that influences memory performance. The natural process of event segmentation shapes event definitions during perception, and appears to play a critical role in defining distinct episodic memories at encoding. However, the role of retrieval processes in modifying event definitions is not clear. We explored how such processes changed event boundary definitions at recall. In Experiment 1 we showed that distance from encoding is related to boundary flexibility. Participants were more likely to move self-reported event boundaries to include information reported beyond those boundaries when recalling more distant events compared to more recent events. In Experiment 2 we showed that age also influenced boundary flexibility. Older Age adults were more likely to move event boundaries than College Age adults, and the relationship between distance from encoding and boundary flexibility seen in Experiment 1 was present only in College Age and Middle Age adults. These results suggest that factors at retrieval have a direct impact on event definitions in memory and that, although episodic memories may be initially defined at encoding, these definitions are not necessarily maintained in long-term memory.
Competition between shear banding and wall slip in wormlike micelles.

The interplay between shear band (SB) formation and boundary conditions (BC) is investigated in wormlike micellar systems (CPyCl-NaSal) using ultrasonic velocimetry coupled to standard rheology in Couette geometry. Time-resolved velocity profiles are recorded during transient strain-controlled experiments in smooth and sandblasted geometries. For stick BC standard SB is observed, although depending on the degree of micellar entanglement temporal fluctuations are reported in the highly sheared band. For slip BC wall slip occurs only for shear rates larger than the start of the stress plateau. At low entanglement, SB formation is shifted by a constant Delta gamma, while for more entangled systems SB constantly "nucleate and melt. " Micellar orientation gradients at the walls may account for these original features.
The Default Mode of Human Brain Function Primes the Intentional Stance

Humans readily adopt an intentional stance to other people, comprehending their behavior as guided by unobservable mental states such as belief, desire, and intention. We used fMRI in healthy adults to test the hypothesis that this stance is primed by the default mode of human brain function present when the mind is at rest. We report three findings that support this hypothesis. First, brain regions activated by actively adopting an intentional rather than nonintentional stance to a social stimulus were anatomically similar to those demonstrating default responses to fixation baseline in the same task. Second, moment-to-moment variation in default activity during fixation in the dorsomedial PFC was related to the ease with which participants applied an intentional—but not nonintentional—stance to a social stimulus presented moments later. Finally, individuals who showed stronger dorsomedial PFC activity at baseline in a separate task were generally more efficient when adopting the intentional stance and reported having greater social skills. These results identify a biological basis for the human tendency to adopt the intentional stance. More broadly, they suggest that the brain's default mode of function may have evolved, in part, as a response to life in a social world.
Effect of cleft lip palate repair on craniofacial growth

Objective: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare craniofacial growth among operated and unoperated unilateral cleft lip and palate non-syndromic subjects. Materials and Methods: A sample of 180 subjects of Indian origin was selected. Of them, 90 were operated, and 90 were unoperated complete unilateral cleft lip and palate individuals. The subjects were divided into three age groups of 3-5, 8-10, and 20-25 years comprised of 30 patients in each group. The following measurements were evaluated: Angle and length of the cranial base; maxillary spatial positioning and length; mandibular spatial positioning; morphology and length; maxillomandibular relationship. Comparative analysis of the means between the groups was performed with Student′s t-test at the significance levels of 5%. The ANOVA test has been performed to test the effect of time. Results: No significant differences were observed between the measurements that represented the angle and length of the cranial base of unoperated and the operated patients (P>0.05). There was statistically significant decrease ( P˂0.05) in the maxillary length (Co-A; 69.00 mm in 3-5 years, 68.33 mm in 8-10 years, and 67.17 mm in 20-25 years age group), and SNA angle (74.83Ί in 3-5 years, 74.17 Ί in 8-10 years and 73.17 Ί in 20-25 years age group) in operated group. No significant difference noticed on cephalometric values of the mandible, except Ar-Go-Me angle ( P˂0.05), which showed vertical growth pattern in unoperated patients (132.50 Ί in 3-5 years, 132.00 Ί I 8-10 years and 138.33 Ί in 20-25 years age group). Conclusion: Lip and palate repair has a significant influence on the maxilla and resulting in retarded growth of maxilla, which causes midface deficiency beyond acceptable sagittal limits. The Gonial angle showed vertical growth pattern in unoperated patients, but the cranial base angle and length of unoperated and the operated patients were similar.
Human Metapneumovirus and Severity of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Disease

We screened 23 children with severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease and 23 children with mild RSV disease for human metapneumovirus (HMPV). Although HMPV was circulating in Connecticut, none of the 46 RSV-infected patients tested positive for HMPV. In our study population, HMPV did not contribute to the severity of RSV disease.
Peri-Implant Bone Regeneration Using rhPDGF-BB, BMSCs, and β-TCP in a Canine Model.

BACKGROUND The presence of insufficient bone volume remains a major clinical problem for dental implant placement to restore oral function. Tissue engineering provides a promising approach for inducing bone regeneration and enhancing osseointegration in dental implants. PURPOSE The tissue-engineered bone consisting of recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor (rhPDGF-BB), bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs), and beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) particles was validated for the first time in a preclinical large animal canine model in terms of its ability to promote new bone formation around the implants, as well as osseointegration between the tissue-engineered bone and dental implants. MATERIALS AND METHODS Proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of canine BMSCs treated with rhPDGF-BB were evaluated with an MTT, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, Alizarin Red staining, and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis of osteogenic genes. The therapeutic potential of tissue-engineered bone consisting of rhPDGF-BB/BMSCs/β-TCP in bone repair was evaluated in mesial-implant defects of immediate postextraction implants in the canine mandible. RESULTS rhPDGF-BB treatment significantly increased proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of canine BMSCs. Furthermore, the tissue-engineered bone consisting of rhPDGF-BB/BMSCs/β-TCP significantly enhanced bone formation and osseointegration. CONCLUSION This study provides important evidence that supports the potential application of rhPDGF-BB/BMSCs/β-TCP tissue-engineered bone in immediate implantation for oral function restoration.
Control of parturition in domestic animals.

In the past decade major advances in our understanding of the mechanism of the initiation of labor have originated from experimental studies in sheep. In this review we shall attempt to summarize these findings, but in addition, we shall consider how the sheep model applies to other domestic animals such as the goat, cow and pig. This will represent more than simply a cross-species comparison. We are demanding in these other species, in which the major site of progesterone production is the corpus luteum, that a signal from the fetus causes regression of the corpus luteum and thus parturition. As we shall see, the task is somewhat simpler in the sheep where the fetus only needs to modify placental steroidogenesis to effect its own delivery. In contrast, in the goat, cow and pig, the maintenance of pregnancy is dependent on the continued function of the corpus luteum. Delivery is dependent on regression of the corpus luteum. We shall attempt to explain how activation of the fetal hypothalamo-pituitaryadrenal axis causes luteal regression and the subsequent delivery of the fetus and placenta.
Unique Properties of the Rabbit Prion Protein Oligomer

Prion diseases, also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), are a group of fatal neurodegenerative disorders infecting both humans and animals. Recent works have demonstrated that the soluble prion protein oligomer (PrPO), the intermediate of the conformational transformation from the host-derived cellular form (PrPC) to the disease-associated Scrapie form (PrPSc), exerts the major neurotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. Rabbits show strong resistance to TSEs, the underlying mechanism is unclear to date. It is expected that the relative TSEs-resistance of rabbits is closely associated with the unique properties of rabbit prion protein oligomer which remain to be addressed in detail. In the present work, we prepared rabbit prion protein oligomer (recRaPrPO) and human prion protein oligomer (recHuPrPO) under varied conditions, analyzed the effects of pH, NaCl concentration and incubation temperature on the oligomerization, and compared the properties of recRaPrPO and recHuPrPO. We found that several factors facilitated the formation of prion protein oligomers, including low pH, high NaCl concentration, high incubation temperature and low conformational stability of monomeric prion protein. RecRaPrPO was formed more slowly than recHuPrPO at physiological-like conditions (< 57°C, < 150 mM NaCl). Furthermore, recRaPrPO possessed higher susceptibility to proteinase K and lower cytotoxicity in vitro than recHuPrPO. These unique properties of recRaPrPO might substantially contribute to the TSEs-resistance of rabbits. Our work sheds light on the oligomerization of prion proteins and is of benefit to mechanistic understanding of TSEs-resistance of rabbits.
Vertebroplasty With High-Viscosity Polymethylmethacrylate Cement Facilitates Vertebral Body Restoration In Vitro

Study Design. In vitro biomechanical study on 6 fresh frozen human thoracolumbar spine specimens. Objective. Using a novel high viscosity polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) cement and vertebroplasty kit to correct the kyphosis angle of wedge compression fractures (AO/ASIF 1.2). Summary of Background Data. Vertebroplasty is typically used to stabilize vertebral compression fractures in situ without correcting kyphosis, with the main target to reduce pain and disability. The vertebroplasty system investigated in this study comprises a high viscosity PMMA cement and uses a hydrostatic pressure hand piece for enhanced cement allocation and flow control. A recent clinical trial demonstrated a significantly reduced incidence of cement leakage with this system. Methods. Six spinal segments (Th11-L1 and Th12-L2) were loaded in a spine tester with pure moments of 7.5 Nm in lateral bending, flexion/extension and axial rotation. The segmental range of motion (ROM) was continuously recorded. The tested states of the specimens were: intact (a), fractured (b), treated with vertebroplasty (c), after loading with 50 to 250 N (d), 50 to 450 N (e) and 50 to 650 N (f) of 1000 cycles each. In each state (a–f), the kyphosis angle was documented fluoroscopically. Results. Kyphosis angle was significantly reduced between intact and fractured states (P < 0.02). Between treated and fractured states, we found highly significant difference (P < 0.001), indicating full correction. During 3000 loading cycles (50–250, 50–450, and 50–650 N), the kyphosis angle remained constant compared to the treated state (P = 1.0). We noted a logistic relationship between injected cement volume and extent of kyphosis correction (R = 0.89, P < 0.001). In the fractured state, the ROM in flexion/extension increased to 252% of the intact state (P < 0.001). The vertebroplasty treatment decreased ROM to 72% of fractured state in flexion/extension (P < 0.001). Macroscopic inspection of the vertebrae after testing showed an intact interface and tight mechanical interlocking of cement filling and trabecular bone. Conclusion. High viscosity vertebroplasty effectively reduced and stabilized thoracolumbar wedge compression fractures and may represent a one-step solution for restoring vertebral body dimensions following thoracolumbar compression fractures, while minimizing the risk of cement leakage and associated complications in vivo.