Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cause-specific mortality in psychiatric patients after deinstitutionalisation

Background Since the late 1970s, the psychiatric service system in Norway has been changed gradually according to the principles of deinstitutionalisation. Aims To document the mortality of psychiatric patients in a deinstitutionalised service system. Methods The case register of a psychiatric hospital covering the period 1980–1992 was linked to the Central Register of Deaths. Age-adjusted death rates and standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) were computed. Results Patients with organic psychiatric disorders had significantly higher mortality regardless of cause of death. SMRs ranged from 0.9 for death by cancer in women to 36.3 for suicide in men. For unnatural death, SMRs were highest in the first year after discharge. Compared to the periods 1950–1962 and 1963–1974, there has been an increase in SMRs for cardiovascular death and suicide in both genders. Conclusions Deinstitutionalisation seems to have had as its cost a relative rise both in cardiovascular death and unnatural deaths for both genders, but most pronounced in men.
Dexamethasone-induced autophagy mediates muscle atrophy through mitochondrial clearance

Glucocorticoids, such as dexamethasone, enhance protein breakdown via ubiquitin–proteasome system. However, the role of autophagy in organelle and protein turnover in the glucocorticoid-dependent atrophy program remains unknown. Here, we show that dexamethasone stimulates an early activation of autophagy in L6 myotubes depending on protein kinase, AMPK, and glucocorticoid receptor activity. Dexamethasone increases expression of several autophagy genes, including ATG5, LC3, BECN1, and SQSTM1 and triggers AMPK-dependent mitochondrial fragmentation associated with increased DNM1L protein levels. This process is required for mitophagy induced by dexamethasone. Inhibition of mitochondrial fragmentation by Mdivi-1 results in disrupted dexamethasone-induced autophagy/mitophagy. Furthermore, Mdivi-1 increases the expression of genes associated with the atrophy program, suggesting that mitophagy may serve as part of the quality control process in dexamethasone-treated L6 myotubes. Collectively, these data suggest a novel role for dexamethasone-induced autophagy/mitophagy in the regulation of the muscle atrophy program.
Development of Behaviors in Preterm Infants: Relation to Sleeping and Waking

BackgroundAlthough nurse clinicians and researchers use infant behaviors to indicate the responses of preterm infant to stimulation, little is known about how the biological factors of development, sleeping and waking states, infant characteristics, and infant illness severity affect preterm infant behaviors. ObjectiveThis study examined the development of eight infant behaviors over the preterm period and determined the relation of these behaviors to sleeping and waking and to infant characteristics and illness severity. MethodsSeventy-one preterm infants were observed once per week from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. from the time they were no longer critical until term or discharge. The occurrence of four sleep-wake states and eight behaviors were recorded every 10 seconds during the observations. ResultsNegative facial expressions increased over the preterm period; sighs, startle/jerks, jitters, and the likelihood of having hiccups decreased. Infant characteristics had only minor effects: boys had more negative facial expressions, and longer mechanical ventilation was associated with more sighs and jitters. All behaviors showed state-related differences in frequency. In addition, only startle/jerks and jitters showed the same developmental patterns within each state. ConclusionsSignificant development of infant behaviors occurs over the preterm period but involves changes not only in the absolute percentage of each behavior but also in the percentages within each sleeping and waking state. Thus, preterm infant behaviors cannot be used clinically for assessment without consideration of the state in which they occur.
Increasing the Impact of Vicarious Learning Experiences through the Use of Small Group Discussions and Question Prompts

This study examined, in a vicarious learning environment, the effects of group discussions and question prompts on pre-service teachers’ knowledge/skills and self-efficacy judgments for technology integration. Sixty-five students enrolled in an introductory educational technology course at a large Midwestern university participated in the study. Vicarious experiences for technology integration were delivered through VisionQuest , a Web site that provided examples of successful technology integration. A 2×2 factorial research design was implemented with the use of group discussions and question prompts as independent variables. Dependent variables were students’ perceptions of knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy for technology integration measured through pre and post surveys. While three of the four conditions showed significant increases in perceptions of knowledge and skills, ANOVA results showed no significant differences among treatments. Results suggest that vicarious experiences alone can be effective, and that the addition of more conditions may have distracted students from the content/message of the teacher models highlighted in VisionQuest .
The Relationship Between Pit Membrane Ultrastructure and Chemical Impregnability of Wood

Summary The woods of Alder and Eucalypt were examined by light microscopy before and after a chemical treatment by the Indurite process to increase the hardness of the wood. The pattern of wood cell impregnation for Alder differed significantly from Eucalypt in some respects. In Alder wood all cell types eg. vessels, fibres and rays, were impregnated in similar proportions. In comparison, in Eucalypt wood the impregnation material was largely confined to ray cells and the lumina of vessels; other cell types were either not impregnated or impregnated in very small numbers. Transmission electron microscopy of Alder and Eucalypt woods suggests that ultrastructural differences in the texture and porosity of pit membranes may be the main reason for the observed differences between these wood species with regard to their impregnability by the impregnation material used.
Enhanced conflict monitoring via a short-duration, video-assisted deep breathing in healthy young adults: an event-related potential approach through the Go/NoGo paradigm

Objectives Practitioners of mindfulness are reported to have greater cognitive control especially in conflict monitoring, response inhibition and sustained attention. However, due to the various existing methods in each mindfulness practices and also, the high commitment factor, a barrier still exists for an individual to pick up the practices. Therefore, the effect of short duration deep breathing on the cognitive control is investigated here. Methods Short duration guided deep breathing videos consisting of 5, 7 and 9 min respectively were created and used on subjects training. The effect on cognitive control was assessed using a Go/NoGo task along with event-related potential (ERP) measurements at Fz, Cz, and Pz. Results From the study, the significant outcome showed at the follow-up session in which participants engaged for 5 min deep breathing group showed a profound NoGo N2 amplitude increment as compared to the control group, indicating an enhanced conflict monitoring ability. An inverse relationship between the NoGo N2 amplitude and the breathing duration is observed as well at the follow-up session. Conclusion These results indicated the possibility of performing short duration deep breathing guided by a video to achieve an enhanced conflict monitoring as an alternative to other mindfulness practices and 5 min is found to be the optimum practice duration. Significant This study is the first to establish a relationship between deep breathing and conflict monitoring through ERP. The study population of young adults taken from the same environment reduces the variance in ERP results due to age and environment. Limitation A larger sample size would provide a greater statistical power. A longer duration of deep breathing should be investigated to further clarify the relationship between the practice duration and the NoGo N2 amplitude. The result can be split by gender and analyzed separately due to the different brain structure of males and females.
Wood surface discolouration of three Hungarian hardwood species due to simulated indoor sunlight exposure.

Colour changes of wood caused by sunlight exposure in indoor applications are a major down-grading factor and have a substantial economical impact on high valuable wood products. In this study, the most traded wood species in Hungary, two hybrid poplars, namely Poplar I 214 and Poplar Pannonia, and Robinia were exposed to simulated indoor sunlight irradiation and the wood surface discolouration was analysed. Th e samples were exposed for a maximum irradiation time of 96 hours to a xenon-arc lamp equipped with a 3 mm window glass fi lter in order to simulate natural sunlight behind a window glass. Colour measurements were performed by means of a colorimetric device. Using CIE-L*a*b* colour measuring system wood surface discolouration was measured and calculated according to ΔL*, Δa*, Δb* and ΔE* values. An impression of the diff erent behaviour of these wood species and how they relate to each other is now given.
Synaptic plasticity in multiple sclerosis and in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Approximately half of all patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience cognitive dysfunction, including learning and memory impairment. Recent studies suggest that hippocampal pathology is involved, although the mechanisms underlying these deficits remain poorly understood. Evidence obtained from a mouse model of MS, the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), suggests that in the hippocampus of EAE mice long-term potentiation (LTP) is favoured over long-term depression in response to repetitive synaptic activation, through a mechanism dependent on enhanced IL-1β released from infiltrating lymphocytes or activated microglia. Facilitated LTP during an immune-mediated attack might underlie functional recovery, but also cognitive deficits and excitotoxic neurodegeneration. Having identified that pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β can influence synaptic function and integrity in early MS, it is hoped that new treatments targeted towards preventing synaptic pathology can be developed.
N -acetylcysteine Improves In Vitro The Function of Macrophages from Mice With Endotoxin-induced Oxidative Stress

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and proinflammatory cytokines produced by immune cells cause the oxidative stress involved in septic shock induced by endotoxin. This oxidative stress can be controlled to a certain degree by antioxidants, which is specially important for a type of immune cell, i.e. the phagocyte, that uses ROS to kill microorganisms and needs antioxidants in order to support its functions. In a previous study we have observed changes in several functions of peritoneal macrophages from BALB/c mice with lethal endotoxic shock caused by intraperitoneal injection of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (100 u mg/kg), which were associated with a high production of superoxide anion. N -acetylcysteine (NAC) is a thiolic antioxidant that improves the immune response, and we have observed that when administered intraperitoneally (150 u mg/kg) at 30 u min after LPS injection it counteracts the effects of LPS on macrophages and lymphocytes. In the present work, we have studied the in vitro effect of several concentrations of NAC (0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 2.5 u mM) on the following functions: adherence to substrate, chemotaxis, ingestion of particles, ROS production and the release of tumor necrosis factor (TNF f ) of peritoneal macrophages from BALB/c mice at 2, 4, 12 and 24 u h after LPS injection. The results show that the administration of NAC (especially at 0.1 u mM) decreases raised adherence, ingestion, ROS production and TNF f levels in macrophages from animals injected with LPS, bringing these functions to values near those of control animals. These effects which seem to be linked to a modulation of NF- s B, suggest that the improvement of immune functions observed in previous work after injection of NAC to animals with endotoxic shock could be due to a direct action of this thiol antioxidant on immune cells.
Differential Modulation by IL-17A of Cholangitis versus Colitis in IL-2Rα Deleted Mice

IFN-γ is a signature Th1 cell associated cytokine critical for the inflammatory response in autoimmunity with both pro-inflammatory and potentially protective functions. IL-17A is the hallmark of T helper 17 (Th17) cell subsets, produced by γδT, CD8+ T, NK and NKT cells. We have taken advantage of our colony of IL-2Rα−/− mice that spontaneously develop both autoimmune cholangitis and inflammatory bowel disease. In this model CD8+ T cells mediate biliary ductular damage, whereas CD4+ T cells mediate induction of colon-specific autoimmunity. Importantly, IL-2Rα−/− mice have high levels of interferon γ (IFN-γ), and interleukin-17A (IL-17A). We produced unique double deletions of mice that were either IL-17A−/−IL-2Rα−/− or IFN-γ−/−IL-2Rα−/− to specifically address the precise role of these two cytokines in the natural history of autoimmune cholangitis and colitis. Of note, deletion of IL-17A in IL-2Rα−/− mice led to more severe liver inflammation, but ameliorated colitis. In contrast, there were no significant changes in the immunopathology of double knock-out IFN-γ−/− IL-2Rα−/− mice, compared to single knock-out IL-2Rα−/− mice with respect to cholangitis or colitis. Furthermore, there was a significant increase in pathogenetic CD8+ T cells in the liver of IL-17A−/−IL-2Rα−/− mice. Our data suggest that while IL-17A plays a protective role in autoimmune cholangitis, it has a pro-inflammatory role in inflammatory bowel disease. These data take on particular significance in the potential use of anti-IL-17A therapy in humans with primary biliary cirrhosis.
Desirable Characteristics of an Ideal Online Learning Environment

The latest advances in Internet and multimedia have increased the popularity of online learning environments. Although every new online learning environment (OLE) claims to have introduced one or more novelties, not every OLE is successful in creating a long and lasting impact in learners' knowledge. In this article, we have analyzed the recent research literature relevant to online and e-learning as well as computer based instruction with the purpose of identifying the desirable characteristics of an ideal new generation OLE. Ultimately, this research aims to serve as a guideline for the creators of the existing and novel OLE's for superior teaching and learning experiences. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2015. v5n1p203
Emergence of Cooperation: State of the Art

This review presents a review of prevalent results within research pertaining to emergent cooperation in biologically inspired artificial social systems. Results reviewed maintain particular reference to biologically inspired design principles, given that current mathematical and empirical tools have provided only a partial insight into elucidating mechanisms responsible for emergent cooperation, and then only in systems of an abstract nature. This review aims to provide an overview of important and disparate research contributions that investigate utilization of biologically inspired concepts such as emergence, evolution, and self-organization as a means of attaining cooperation in artificial social systems. An introduction and overview of emergent cooperation in artificial life is presented, followed by a survey of emergent cooperation in swarm-based systems, the pursuit-evasion domain, and RoboCup soccer. The final section draws conclusions regarding future directions of emergent cooperation as a problem-solving methodology that is potentially applicable in a wide range of problem domains. Within each of these sections and their respective themes of research, the mechanisms deemed to be responsible for emergent cooperation are elucidated and their key limitations highlighted. The review concludes that current studies in emergent cooperative behavior are limited by a lack of situated and embodied approaches, and by the research infancy of current biologically inspired design approaches. Despite these limiting factors, emergent cooperation maintains considerable future potential in a wide variety of application domains where systems composed of many interacting components must cooperatively perform unanticipated global tasks.
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a slow‐release formulation of diltiazem after the administration of a single and repeated doses to healthy volunteers

Diltiazem is a calcium antagonist used in angina pectoris and hypertension. There is little information concerning the slow‐release (SR) formulation in the literature. The pharmacokinetics of diltiazem SR (120 mg) have been assessed over a 36 h period in healthy volunteers after single‐ (SD) and multiple‐dose (MD) administrations. Cmax, AUC0–36, and AUC0–∞ were significantly increased at steady state compared to the extrapolated SD values, suggesting accumulation of the drug.
Mechanism and function of Vav1 localisation in TCR signalling

Summary The antigen-specific binding of T cells to antigen presenting cells results in recruitment of signalling proteins to microclusters at the cell-cell interface known as the immunological synapse (IS). The Vav1 guanine nucleotide exchange factor plays a critical role in T cell antigen receptor (TCR) signalling, leading to the activation of multiple pathways. We now show that it is recruited to microclusters and to the IS in primary CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Furthermore, we show that this recruitment depends on the SH2 and C-terminal SH3 (SH3B) domains of Vav1, and on phosphotyrosines 112 and 128 of the SLP76 adaptor protein. Biophysical measurements show that Vav1 binds directly to these residues on SLP76 and that efficient binding depends on the SH2 and SH3B domains of Vav1. Finally, we show that the same two domains are critical for the phosphorylation of Vav1 and its signalling function in TCR-induced calcium flux. We propose that Vav1 is recruited to the IS by binding to SLP76 and that this interaction is critical for the transduction of signals leading to calcium flux.
Efficient Java exception handling in just-in-time compilation

The Java language provides exceptions in order to handle errors gracefully. However, the presence of exception handlers complicate the job of a JIT (Just-in-Time) compiler, including optimizations and register allocation, even though exceptions are rarely used in most programs. This paper describes some mechanisms for removing overheads imposed by the existence of exception handlers, including on-demand translation of exception handlers, which expose more optimization opportunities in normal flow. In addition, we also minimize the exception handling overhead for frequently thrown exceptions by jumping directly from the exception throwing point into the exception handler through a technique called exception handler prediction. Experiments show that the existence of exception handlers indeed does not interfere with the translation of normal flow using our exception handling mechanisms. Also, the results reveal that frequently thrown exceptions are efficiently handled with exception handler prediction.
Analyzing ion distributions around DNA: sequence-dependence of potassium ion distributions from microsecond molecular dynamics

Microsecond molecular dynamics simulations of B-DNA oligomers carried out in an aqueous environment with a physiological salt concentration enable us to perform a detailed analysis of how potassium ions interact with the double helix. The oligomers studied contain all 136 distinct tetranucleotides and we are thus able to make a comprehensive analysis of base sequence effects. Using a recently developed curvilinear helicoidal coordinate method we are able to analyze the details of ion populations and densities within the major and minor grooves and in the space surrounding DNA. The results show higher ion populations than have typically been observed in earlier studies and sequence effects that go beyond the nature of individual base pairs or base pair steps. We also show that, in some special cases, ion distributions converge very slowly and, on a microsecond timescale, do not reflect the symmetry of the corresponding base sequence.
HLA class II regulation and structure. Analysis with HLA-DR3 and HLA-DP point mutants

Point mutations that affect HLA-DR structure or expression have not previously been described. In the present study, we isolated such mutants by immunoselection of an ethyl methanesulfonate-mutagenized HLA- DR3 cell line with an anti-HLA-DR3 monoclonal antibody, 16.23. To facilitate analysis, we used a parent cell line with a preexisting deletion of one haplotype encompassing DR and DQ alpha and beta. The selection yielded two sets of mutants, one with defects in DR3 structure, the other with defects in different steps leading to DR expression. Of the expression-defective mutants, one had undergone a second deletion removing the remaining DR alpha gene but no other class II genes. It had a normal abundance of DR beta mRNA but had lost binding of DR monomorphic antibodies, indicating that DR beta chains do not form noncognate dimers. A second mutant had an abnormally large DR alpha mRNA, probably resulting from a splice site mutation. Several mutants had marked reductions in DR beta mRNA levels; in two of these, the lesion appeared to be transcriptional because the reduction in DR beta mRNA was paralleled by an altered methylation pattern of one of the DR beta genes. Other expression-defective mutants had different posttranscriptional defects. Some of the mutations were similar to those that have been found in mouse strains defective in I-E expression, whereas others have no known natural counterpart. The matrix of reactivities of anti-HLA class II monomorphic antibodies with these and similar mutants allowed us to define the gene products recognized by these antibodies. A set of seven mutants were "epitope defective," that is, they expressed normal or near normal levels of HLA- DR3 but no longer bound 16.23. Unexpectedly, each of the epitope mutants had decreased DR dimer stability. These mutants should be useful in localizing the DR3 alloepitope and in elucidating its contribution as a restriction element in the presentation of soluble antigen to immune T cells.
Cyclic-by-row approximation of iterative polynomial EVD algorithms

A recent class of sequential matrix diagonalisation (SMD) algorithms have been demonstrated to provide a fast converging solution to iteratively approximating the polynomial eigenvalue decomposition of a parahermitian matrix. However, the calculation of an EVD, and the application of a full unitary matrix to every time lag of the parahermitian matrix in the SMD algorithm results in a high numerical cost. In this paper, we replace the EVD with a limited number of Givens rotations forming a cyclic-by-row Jacobi sweep. Simulations indicate that a considerable reduction in computational complexity compared to SMD can be achieved with a negligible sacrifice in diagonalisation performance, such that the benefits in applying the SMD are maintained.