Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of Persistent and Resurgent Sodium Currents in Spiral Ganglion Neurons Cultured from the Mouse Cochlea

Abstract In spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs), the afferent single units of the auditory nerve, high spontaneous and evoked firing rates ensure preservation of the temporal code describing the key features of incoming sound. During postnatal development, the spatiotemporal distribution of ion channel subtypes contributes to the maturation of action potential generation in SGNs, and to their ability to generate spike patterns that follow rapidly changing inputs. Here we describe tetrodotoxin (TTX)-sensitive Na+ currents in SGNs cultured from mice, whose properties may support this fast spiking behavior. A subthreshold persistent Na+ current (INaP) and a resurgent Na+ current (INaR) both emerged prior to the onset of hearing and became more prevalent as hearing matured. Navβ4 subunits, which are proposed to play a key role in mediating INaR elsewhere in the nervous system, were immunolocalized to the first heminode where spikes are generated in the auditory nerve, and to perisomatic nodes of Ranvier. ATX-II, a sea anemone toxin that slows classical Na+ channel inactivation selectively, enhanced INaP five-fold and INaR three-fold in voltage clamp recordings. In rapidly-adapting SGNs under current clamp, ATX-II increased the likelihood of firing additional action potentials. The data identify INaP and INaR as novel regulators of excitability in SGNs, and consistent with their roles in other neuronal types, we suggest that these nonclassical Na+ currents may contribute to the control of refractoriness in the auditory nerve.
Plasmid profile analysis of multidrug resistant E. coli isolated from UTI patients of Nagpur City, India

Infections caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli) have become a significant worldwide public health problem with India being no exception. Furthermore, the situation is worsening due to advent of increased antibiotic resistance due to the evolution of multi-resistant antibiotic plasmid genes. Extended Spectrum B-lactmases (ESBLs) are plasmid mediated and these enzyme producing organisms exhibit co resistance to many other classes of antibiotics. The wide spread presence of drug resistant E. coli and other pathogens in our environment necessitates regular monitoring of antibiotics susceptibility trends in the clinical isolates obtained from different regions to provide the basis for developing National and International prescription programs that can be used for delineating guidelines to maintain the desired effectiveness of antibiotics. In the present study, out of 135 isolates, 76 isolates were of E.coli. These isolates were tested for antibiotic resistance and plasmid profiles. The results revealed that more than 50% of the isolates exhibited multi-drug resistance. Out of 76 E.coli isolates, 40(52.6%) were found to possess plasmids. Some isolates possess single sized plasmid while other had multiple plasmids with different size ranged from 2.3 kb to 26 kb, very high antibiotic resistance was detected from isolates possessing high molecular weight plasmids (23kb). The studies show good prospects for further research in the same area to explore and assign definite cause for antibiotic resistance and multi drug resistance.
Training valence, instrumentality, and expectancy scale (T‐VIES‐it): Factor structure and nomological network in an Italian sample

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to validate, in an Italian sample, a multidimensional training motivation measure (T‐VIES‐it) based on expectancy (VIE) theory, and to examine the nomological network surrounding the construct.Design/methodology/approach – Using a cross‐sectional design study, 258 public sector employees in Northeast Italy (participating in a range of employer‐sponsored training programs) filled out the T‐VIES‐it and questionnaires on goal orientation, job support for learning, and intention to transfer learning gained through training to the workplace. To validate the T‐VIES‐it and test its nomological network confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations models were used.Findings – Results showed acceptable confirmatory factor analysis fit indices and psychometric properties of the T‐VIES‐it. Acceptable fit indexes were also found for the structural equations models tested. The modified model showed significant relations between learning goal orientation and the three dimen.
Les accidents de la route impliquant des enfants piétons : analyse spatiale des risques potentiels et des risques perçus pour une meilleure prévention

An important and direct consequence of the motorisation of our society may be measured by the impact of road accidents on pedestrians and more particularly on children since their physical and cognitive vulnerability increases the severity and long-term consequences of their injuries. However, the methods and the analyses used in road safety researches focus too often on individual characteristics of the victims or the collision sites. This gap in research oriented our thoughts that seek a global understanding of the relation between children and the urban environment in which they interact every day, particularly when they to go the school. The main question of this thesis studies the influence of the family and school living environment on child pedestrian accident risk. Three objectives are proposed: to investigate and model the objective risk near schools by taking into account the spatial distribution of accidents; to study the influence of various environmental and individual variables on parents' perception of risk; and to analyze the differences in parental knowledge, beliefs and risk perceptions according to their children' s school environment. The pursuit of these objectives should improve the knowledge concerning children in an urban context rarely addressed until now, the school environment. One of the strength of this thesis relies on the combination of two methodological approaches. The first one, based on geographic information science, implies the integration of diverse datasets describing the urban environment around schools in a geographical information system. The second, related to questionnaires and psychometric methods, involves the analysis of parental knowledge, beliefs and risk perceptions in school context by measuring various family variables (parents and children) related to mobility and road risk on the way to school. The subsequent analyses used spatial analysis and statistical
Examining continuance usage of mobile Internet services from the perspective of resistance to change

Retaining users and facilitating their continuance usage are critical for mobile Internet service providers. From the perspective of resistance to change, this research identified the factors affecting continuance usage of mobile services. We collected data among mobile Internet users and conducted data analysis with structural equation modeling. The results indicated that trust and switching costs have strong effects on resistance to change, which in turn affects continuance usage. In addition, trust affects perceived usefulness and flow experience. The results indicate that mobile service providers need to increase users’ resistance to change in order to facilitate their continuance usage.
Speed Trends in Male Distance Running

The major cycling “Grand Tours” have shown an attenuation of performance over the last decade. This has been interpreted as circumstantial evidence that newer anti-doping strategies have reduced the use of performance-enhancing drugs. To examine this idea under more controlled conditions, speed trends for world class 5000 m, 10000 m, and marathon performances by men from 1980 to 2013 were analyzed. We obtained comprehensive records from the International Association of Athletics Federations, Association of Road Racing Statisticians, and the Track and Field All-time Performances database webpages. The top 40 performances for each event and year were selected for regression analysis. For the three distances, we noted cumulative performance improvements in the 1990s thru the mid-2000s. After the peak speed years of the mid 2000 s, there has been limited improvement in the 5000 m and 10,000 m and world records set during that time remain in place today, marking the longest period of time between new records since the early 1940s. By contrast marathon speed continues to increase and the world record has been lowered four times since 2007, including in 2013. While the speed trends for 5000 m and 10000 m track results parallel those seen in elite cycling, the marathon trends do not. We discuss a number of explanations other than improved anti-doping strategies that might account for these divergent findings.
Student satisfaction and learning outcomes in e-learning : an introduction to empirical research

Student Satisfaction and Learning Outcomes in E-Learning: An Introduction to Empirical Research will help introduce instructors, researchers, practicing managers, and graduate students in the e-learning community do research on effective e-learning practices. This book provides insights from previous research on effective instructional practices for new instructors entering the e-learning realm. Even experienced educators will examine and conduct their work more thoroughly as they engage with research on online teaching and learninguand begin to contribute to it themselves.
Analysis of the vertical ground reaction forces and temporal factors in the landing phase of a countermovement jump.

In most common bilateral landings of vertical jumps, there are two peak forces (F1 and F2) in the force-time curve. The combination of these peak forces and the high frequency of jumps during sports produce a large amount of stress in the joints of the lower limbs which can be determinant of injury. The aim of this study was to find possible relationships between the jump height and F1 and F2, between F1 and F2 themselves, and between F1, F2, the time they appear (T1 and T2, respectively) and the length of the impact absorption phase (T). Thirty semi-professional football players made five countermovement jumps and the highest jump of each player was analyzed. They were instructed to perform the jumps with maximum effort and to land first with the balls of their feet and then with their heels. All the data were collected using a Kistler Quattro Jump force plate with a sample rate of 500 Hz. Quattro Jump Software, v.1. 0.9. 0. , was used. There was neither significant correlation between T1 and F1 nor between T1 and F2. There was a significant positive correlation between flight height (FH) and F1 (r = 0.584, p = 0.01) but no significant correlation between FH and F2. A significant positive correlation between F1 and T2 (r = 0.418, p < 0.05) and a significant negative correlation between F2 and T2 (r = -0.406, p < 0.05) were also found. There is a significant negative correlation between T2 and T (r = -0. 443, p < 0.05). T1 has a little effect in the impact absorption process. F1 increases with increasing T2 but F2 decreases with increasing T2. Besides, increasing T2, with the objective of decreasing F2, makes the whole impact absorption shorter and the jump landing faster. Key pointsIn the landing phase of a jump there are always sev-eral peak forces. The combination of these peaks forces and the high frequency of jumps during sports produces a large amount of stress in the joints of the lower limbs which can be determinant of injury.In the most common two-footed landings usually appear two peak forces (F1 and F2) in the force-time curve and the second one is usually related to injury's risk. In this article it is shown that increasing the time F2 appears decrease F2.Increasing landing times could be counterproductive with respect to the goals of the sport. In this article it is shown that increasing the time F2 appears makes, however, the whole impact absorption shorter in du-ration.
Risk factors for surgical site infections in abdominal surgery: a study in Nepal.

BACKGROUND Surgical site infection (SSI) remains a major clinical problem for developing countries in terms of morbidity, mortality, and hospital cost. Little is known about the epidemiology of SSI in Nepal. We conducted a study in Nepal to identify the various pre- and intra-operative risk factors for SSIs that are accessible to interventions. METHODS The study was a prospective study done on all eligible patients who underwent abdominal surgery in the surgical wards of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) in Kathmandu, Nepal, from January 2011 to June 2011. We evaluated some patient-related as well as intra-operative variables that could be risk factors for SSIs. We assessed the association between these risk factors and SSI with the Fisher exact test and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS Of the 230 patients included in the study, 53 were identified as having a SSI, resulting in an overall rate of SSI of 23%. Multivariable analysis identified the following factors as independent risk factors for SSI: (1) Low hemoglobin concentrations (<12 g/dL) (odds ratio [OR] 2.5; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-6.1); (2) overweight (OR 7.6; 95% CI 2.1-27.0); and (3) surgery performed by residents (OR 3.4; 95% CI 1.4-8.3). CONCLUSIONS Surgical site infection is common among patients undergoing abdominal surgery at TUTH. This study identified some preventable risk factors associated with SSI at TUTH. Identification of such risk factors is expected to help surgeons improve patient care and decrease mortality and morbidity as well as the hospital-care cost of surgical patients.
State knowledge and recurring patterns of state phobia

This paper identifies some key underlying assumptions of critical political analysis by examining two moments that have brought these assumptions to the fore: the Klaus Croissant affair in West Germany and France in the late 1970s, and Edward Snowden’s revelations in the 21st century regarding the activities of the US National Security Agency. Interesting parallels can be identified between ‘distinction-collapsing discourses’ prominent in the two contexts. The core argument of the paper is that understanding Michel Foucault’s critical stance toward the description of West Germany as ‘fascist’ in 1977 and 1978, and more broadly, toward what he called ‘state phobia’, can help us resist undifferentiated condemnation of state representations under the sign of ‘post-politics’ today. An account of the 1977 Croissant affair, the critical discourses prominent at the time, and Foucault’s critical stance toward the notion of fascism provides an historical parallel for a critical reading of Badiou’s discussion of the state in Being and Event and other works. The final section briefly surveys a number of recent forms of epistemic activism that illustrate the shortcomings of a one-sided reading of state knowledge such as that offered by Badiou and seemingly confirmed by the NSA scandal.
Long-term Variability of GDx VCC Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness Measurements

Purpose To evaluate the long-term variability of GDx VCC retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness measurements. Methods The study enrolled a cohort of glaucoma suspects who did not develop any evidence of visual field damage or change in the appearance of the optic nerve during an average follow-up of 9.1±3.2 years. Subjects underwent ocular imaging using the commercially available GDx VCC scanning laser polarimeter. At each visit, each eye was imaged 3 times. Subjects underwent repeated testing with GDx VCC at approximately 12-month intervals during their follow-up. In total, 255 examinations were obtained in 31 eyes of 31 individuals during an average GDx VCC follow-up time of 26.0±8.9 months. A random effects analysis of variance model was used to estimate intraclass correlation coefficients and long-term and short-term variability estimates. Results Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.77 to 0.86 for GDx VCC parameters. Short-term variability estimates ranged from 2.45 to 3.89 μm for RNFL thickness parameters, whereas the short-term variability estimate for the parameter Nerve Fiber Indicator was 3.71. Long-term variability was slightly higher than short-term variability for all parameters. For RNFL thickness parameters, long-term variability estimates ranged from 3.21 to 4.97 μm, whereas for the parameter Nerve Fiber Indicator the long-term variability estimate was 4.93. Conclusions RNFL measurements obtained with the GDx VCC were found to be highly reproducible in a long-term test-retest situation, supporting the use of this instrument for longitudinal assessment of the RNFL.
Yucatán carnivorans shed light on the Great American Biotic Interchange

The Great American Biotic Interchange is considered to be a punctuated process, primarily occurring during four major pulses that began approximately 2.5 Ma. Central America and southeastern Mexico have a poor fossil record of this dynamic faunal history due to tropical climates. Exploration of submerged caves in the Yucatán, particularly the natural trap Hoyo Negro, is exposing a rich and remarkably well-preserved late Pleistocene fauna. Radiometric dates on megafauna range from approximately 38 400–12 850 cal BP, and extinct species include the ursid Arctotherium wingei and canid Protocyon troglodytes. Both genera were previously thought to be indigenous to and confined to South America and appear to represent an instance of large placental mammals, descended from North American progenitors, migrating back north across the Panama Isthmus. This discovery expands the distribution of these carnivorans greater than 2000 km outside South America. Their presence along with a diverse sloth assemblage suggests a more complex history of these organisms in Middle America. We suggest that landscape and ecological changes caused by latest Pleistocene glaciation supported an interchange pulse that included A. wingei, P. troglodytes and Homo sapiens.
Infectious complications in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma: A complication from the past?

Abstract Infectious complications are an important risk factor for early mortality in patients with multiple myeloma. However, data about the impact and severity of infections in these patients in the era of new therapies have not been properly analyzed. This review has reviewed the incidence and severity of infections complications and infection-related mortality during induction treatment in patients with newly diagnosed myeloma receiving regimens with new drugs within randomized trials. The results show that infections are still a major cause of morbidity, especially among elderly patients receiving immunomodulatory drugs seen in up to 28% of patients in some trials vs less than 10% among transplant-eligible patients. Overall infection-related mortality ranged from 0–7% in transplant-ineligible patients, with no infection-related deaths in the majority of the trials including younger patients. Strategies directed to further reduce these complications and a better knowledge of their impact in patients treated outside clinical trials are needed.
Pannexin 1 Constitutes the Large Conductance Cation Channel of Cardiac Myocytes

A large conductance (∼300 picosiemens) channel (LCC) of unknown molecular identity, activated by Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, particularly when augmented by caffeine, has been described previously in isolated cardiac myocytes. A potential candidate for this channel is pannexin 1 (Panx1), which has been shown to form large ion channels when expressed in Xenopus oocytes and mammalian cells. Panx1 function is implicated in ATP-mediated auto-/paracrine signaling, and a crucial role in several cell death pathways has been suggested. Here, we demonstrate that after culturing for 4 days LCC activity is no longer detected in myocytes but can be rescued by adenoviral gene transfer of Panx1. Endogenous LCCs and those related to expression of Panx1 share key pharmacological properties previously used for identifying and characterizing Panx1 channels. These data demonstrate that Panx1 constitutes the LCC of cardiac myocytes. Sporadic openings of single Panx1 channels in the absence of Ca2+ release can trigger action potentials, suggesting that Panx1 channels potentially promote arrhythmogenic activities.
Cystatin C and the risk of death and cardiovascular events among elderly persons.

BACKGROUND Cystatin C is a serum measure of renal function that appears to be independent of age, sex, and lean muscle mass. We compared creatinine and cystatin C levels as predictors of mortality from cardiovascular causes and from all causes in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a cohort study of elderly persons living in the community. METHODS Creatinine and cystatin C were measured in serum samples collected from 4637 participants at the study visit in 1992 or 1993; follow-up continued until June 30, 2001. For each measure, the study population was divided into quintiles, with the fifth quintile subdivided into thirds (designated 5a, 5b, and 5c). RESULTS Higher cystatin C levels were directly associated, in a dose-response manner, with a higher risk of death from all causes. As compared with the first quintile, the hazard ratios (and 95 percent confidence intervals) for death were as follows: second quintile, 1.08 (0.86 to 1.35); third quintile, 1.23 (1.00 to 1.53); fourth quintile, 1.34 (1.09 to 1.66); quintile 5a, 1.77 (1.34 to 2.26); 5b, 2.18 (1.72 to 2.78); and 5c, 2.58 (2.03 to 3.27). In contrast, the association of creatinine categories with mortality from all causes appeared to be J-shaped. As compared with the two lowest quintiles combined (cystatin C level, < or =0.99 mg per liter), the highest quintile of cystatin C (> or =1.29 mg per liter) was associated with a significantly elevated risk of death from cardiovascular causes (hazard ratio, 2.27 [1.73 to 2.97]), myocardial infarction (hazard ratio, 1.48 [1.08 to 2.02]), and stroke (hazard ratio, 1.47 [ 1.09 to 1.96]) after multivariate adjustment. The fifth quintile of creatinine, as compared with the first quintile, was not independently associated with any of these three outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Cystatin C, a serum measure of renal function, is a stronger predictor of the risk of death and cardiovascular events in elderly persons than is creatinine.
Nine traditional Chinese herbal formulas for the treatment of depression: an ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and pharmacology review

Depression is a major mental disorder, and is currently recognized as the second-leading cause of disability worldwide. However, the therapeutic effect of antidepressants remains unsatisfactory. For centuries, Chinese herbal formulas (CHFs) have been widely used in the treatment of depression, achieving better therapeutic effects than placebo and having fewer side effects than conventional antidepressants. Here, we review the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and pharmacology studies of nine common CHFs: “banxia houpo” decoction, “chaihu shugansan”, “ganmaidazao” decoction, “kaixinsan”, “shuganjieyu” capsules, “sinisan”, “wuling” capsules, “xiaoyaosan”, and “yueju”. Eight clinical trials and seven meta-analyses have supported the theory that CHFs are effective treatments for depression, decreasing Hamilton Depression Scale scores and showing few adverse effects. Evidence from 75 preclinical studies has also elucidated the multitarget and multipathway mechanisms underlying the antidepressant effect of the nine CHFs. Decoctions, capsules, and pills all showed antidepressant effects, ranked in descending order of efficacy. According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, these CHFs have flexible compatibility and mainly act by soothing the liver and relieving depression. This review highlights the effective treatment choices and candidate compounds for patients, practitioners, and researchers in the field of traditional Chinese medicine. In summary, the current evidence supports the efficacy of CHFs in the treatment of depression, but additional large-scale randomized controlled clinical trials and sophisticated pharmacology studies should be performed.