Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social state representation in prefrontal cortex

Abstract One of the cardinal mental faculties of humans and other primates is social brain function, the collective name assigned to the distributed system of social cognitive processes that orchestrate our sophisticated adaptive social behavior. These must include processes for recognizing current social context and maintaining an internal representation of the current social state as a reference for decision-making. But how and where the brain processes such social-state information is unknown. To home in on the neural substrates of social-state representation, the activity of 196 prefrontal (PFC) neurons was recorded from two monkeys simultaneously during a food-grab task under varying social conditions. Of PFC neurons, 39% showed activity modulation during movement-free periods and seemed to be representing current social state. The direction of modulation was opposite between the dominant and submissive monkeys: During social engagement, PFC activity increased in the dominant monkey and was suppressed in the submissive monkey. The modulation was consistently observed in additional PFC neurons (27/72) in additional pairings with two other monkeys. Notably, PFC activity in one formerly submissive monkey switched to dominant modulation mode when he was paired with a new monkey of lower social status. These findings suggest that PFC, as part of a larger social brain network, maintains a multistate classification of social context for use as a behavioral reference for social decision-making.
Action of the fluorescent dye, acridine orange, on radiation‐induced leukocytosis in mice

The action of the fluorescent dye acridine orange, which is known to bind selectively to nucleic acids in cells, was tested on radiation‐induced leukocytosis in 2‐month‐old female Strong “A” strain mice. The toxic effect of different doses of the dye for the animals was determined, as was the whole‐body X‐ray irradiation dose that induced leukocytosis in the animals. Irradiated animals developing this disease were injected with a single dose of acridine orange (0.3 μg/20 g body weight) 30 or 45 days after irradiation. In both cases the blood picture, extended life‐span of the animals and histological examination of the tissues after such treatment indicated a strong inhibitive action of acridine orange on this radiation‐induced disease.
System of systems interoperability types and characteristics in joint command and control

The United States Department of Defense and their Joint Vision 2010 and 2020 articulates the necessity for multinational and interagency cooperation and interdependent command and control for a full range of capabilities. Joint vision relies on system of systems to bridge participant systems with interoperability as a key enabler. To achieve this key enabler, this paper discusses the need for interoperability implementation at the programmatic, constructive, and operational levels. The system of systems interoperability must take into account its unbounded characteristics and engineer constituent systems for syntactic and semantic interoperability and to be system of systems enabled for an omnipresent environment. This paper demonstrates why systems must be managed and engineered as system of systems centric versus systems centric. System readiness levels and integration readiness levels are suggested to manage the constituent systems within a system of systems
East is east and West is west: perspectives on the menopause in Asia and The West

Abstract There is a school of thought that believes that menopausal symptoms are a peculiarly ‘Western’ phenomenon, not experienced by women from other regions and particularly not from Asia where, it has been claimed, dietary, social and cultural factors afforded protection for women living in that region. More recently, studies conducted in multi-ethnic communities living in Western countries as well as in Asian communities have found that the menopause and its consequences are similar world-wide. Ethnic differences within Asia account for small differences in endogenous hormone levels and age at menopause between Asian and Western women, and the type of menopause symptoms and their prevalence also differ between those two communities. However, like in the West and perhaps because of a Western influence, the long-term health problems of postmenopausal women including cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and breast cancer are of major importance to Asian women and health services in the 21st century.
Psychometric assessment of psychiatric disorders in people with learning difficulties (mental handicap): a review of measures

SYNOPSIS Instruments designed to assess psychiatric disorders in people with learning difficulties (mental handicap) were critically reviewed from a psychometric perspective. Major trends were found in the assessment of psychopathology related to DSM-III and depressive disorders although research in other areas was patchy. Although some psychometrically sophisticated measures were identified the area was characterized by an absence of important psychometric data for many measures. Future research should attend to developing assessments of schizophrenia, psycho-sexual disorders, adjustment disorders and the validation of screening procedures and instrument formats. Future studies should include more people with severe and profound learning difficulties.
Hematological reference ranges among healthy Ugandans

Reference values are essential for the interpretation of hematologic data in clinical practice and research studies. Symptom-free human immunodeficiency virus antibody-negative Ugandan adults (183 subjects, aged 15 to 74 years, 37.7% women and 62.3% men) were studied to establish hematological reference ranges. The central 95% areas under the distribution curves were 1,453 to 4,448 cells per microliters for the absolute lymphocyte count, 559 to 2,333 cells per microliters for the absolute CD4 count, 253 to 1,396 cells per microliters for the absolute CD8 count, and 0.68 to 4.4 for the CD4/CD8 ratio. Women had significantly higher mean absolute lymphocyte counts (2,826 versus 2,568/microliters), absolute CD4 counts (1,425 versus 1,154/microliters) and absolute CD4/CD8 ratios (2.58 versus 1.88) than did men. These reference ranges differ from those reported for populations outside Africa.
Novelty detection for time series data analysis in water distribution systems using support vector machines

The sampling frequency and quantity of time series data collected from water distribution systems has been increasing in recent years, giving rise to the potential for improving system knowledge if suitable automated techniques can be applied, in particular, machine learning. Novelty (or anomaly) detection refers to the automatic identification of novel or abnormal patterns embedded in large amounts of “normal” data. When dealing with time series data (transformed into vectors), this means abnormal events embedded amongst many normal time series points. The support vector machine is a data-driven statistical technique that has been developed as a tool for classification and regression. The key features include statistical robustness with respect to non-Gaussian errors and outliers, the selection of the decision boundary in a principled way, and the introduction of nonlinearity in the feature space without explicitly requiring a nonlinear algorithm by means of kernel functions. In this research, support vector regression is used as a learning method for anomaly detection from water flow and pressure time series data. No use is made of past event histories collected through other information sources. The support vector regression methodology, whose robustness derives from the training error function, is applied to a case study.
Cancer risks in men who had children with different partners from the Swedish Family-Cancer Database

We used the nation-wide Swedish Family-Cancer Database to analyse cancer risks in men who had had children with more than one woman. Cancer cases were retrieved from the Swedish Cancer Registry from years 1961–1998. A total of 2.9 million men and 298 134 cancer cases were covered. For men having children with two, three or more women, increasing risk trends were shown for upper aerodigestive tract, lung, urinary bladder and oesophageal cancers. Decreasing trends were observed for tumours of the colon, skin (squamous cell and melanoma), nervous system and endocrine glands and against myeloma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The present results indicated that men who had had children with multiple women showed an excess of smoking- and alcohol consumption-related cancers. The decreased risks for colon cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and melanoma were possibly related to lifestyle factors connected with economic deprivation, less obesity and physical fitness. These ill-defined protected factors may be a challenge to epidemiological studies.
Stability of lipid/DNA complexes during agitation and freeze-thawing.

It is well established that cationic liposomes facilitate the delivery of DNA and offer substantial advantages over viral-based delivery systems. However, these synthetic vectors readily aggregate in liquid formulations which in clinical trials requires preparation of lipid/DNA complexes at the bedside immediately before injection. This temporal requirement could be eliminated if complexes were formulated as stable preparations that could be shipped, stored, and administered as needed. To this end, our study investigates the stability of lipid/DNA complexes during physical stresses that might be encountered during shipping and storage, i.e., agitation and freeze-thawing. Our data show that agitation significantly reduces transfection rates in complexes prepared with three different commercially available lipid formulations. Additional experiments indicate that slow freezing is more damaging than rapid freezing, and that sucrose is able to preserve transfection and complex size during freeze-thawing. These results are consistent with previous reports and demonstrate that frozen formulations may be suitable for maintaining transfection rates of lipid/DNA complexes. Under certain conditions, we observe a reproducible 3-fold increase in transfection after freeze-thawing that is prevented by high concentrations of sucrose. Together, these data suggest that physical stresses can alter structural characteristics of lipid/DNA complexes that can markedly affect rates of DNA delivery.
Psychotropic drug prescribing in the United States: extent, costs, and expenditures.

C ontroversy surrounding the extent of prescribing and use of psychotropic drugs V including the beneﬁt-risk balance and the dollar expenditures V has been ongoing both nationally and inter-nationally for many decades. 1 Y 18 This article presents currently available data on psychotropic drug prescribing in the United States. On a yearly basis, the journal Drug Topics V a publication for pharmacy professionals V provides data on the top 200 drugs based on total prescriptions for generic and branded (brand-name) drugs, as well as the top 200 generic and branded drugs based on retail dollars. According to Drug Topics , the source of the information is ‘‘SDI/Verispan, VONA. ’’ SDI/Verispan is a private health care analytics corporation, and VONA is an acronym for Vector One National Audit. The data do have signiﬁcant limitations. Because only retail prescriptions are included, institu- tional drug use is not likely to be captured. Use of drugs not appearing in the top 200 will also not be captured. Therefore, the overall numbers will underestimate the actual extent of drug use. Further- more, the source does not distinguish between new and reﬁll prescriptions, and the number of dose units per prescription is not available. Finally, information is not available on the age distribution of the patients ﬁlling the prescriptions. Despite the limitations, the data source provides a telling snapshot of psychotropic drug use and expenditures in the United States. We divided the various psychotropic drugs into their traditional categories based on pharmaco-logic properties and labeled indications: anxiolytic, hypnotic, antidepressant, and antipsychotic. The data source did not allow determination of ‘‘off-label’’ use, and we did not consider drugs primarily labeled as anticonvulsants for off-label prescribing as antidepressants or mood stabilizers. The most recently available data (for calendar year 2009) indicate total retail prescriptions for psychotropic drugs exceeding 380 million, at a net dollar cost just over $22 billion (Table 1). Generics accounted for 77% of the prescription
Low Plasma Levels of Fibroblast Growth Factor-21 in Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease

Aim: Fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21) is a metabolic regulator with beneficial effects on glucolipid metabolism. Since FGF-21 has lipid-lowering, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, it may play a protective role against atherosclerosis. However, blood FGF-21 levels in coronary artery disease (CAD) or peripheral artery disease (PAD) have not been elucidated. Methods: We measured plasma FGF-21 levels in 417 patients undergoing coronary angiography, who also had ankle-brachial index test for PAD screening. Results: CAD was found in 224 patients (1-vessel [1-VD], n = 92; 2-vessel [2-VD], n = 65; 3-vessel disease [3-VD], n = 67). No significant difference was found in the FGF-21 levels between 224 patients with CAD and 193 without CAD (median 26.0 vs. 25.9 pg/mL). FGF-21 levels in 4 groups of CAD(−), 1-VD, 2-VD, and 3-VD were 25.9, 37.2, 19.4, and 0.0 pg/mL. FGF-21 tended to be highest in 1-VD and lowest in 3-VD, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. PAD was found in 38 patients. Compared to the 379 patients without PAD, 38 with PAD had CAD more often (87% vs. 50%), especially 3-VD (P < 0.001). FGF-21 levels were lower in patients with PAD than in those without PAD (0.0 vs. 30.7 pg/mL, P < 0.02). In multivariate analysis, the FGF-21 level was an independent factor for PAD, but not for CAD. Odds ratio for PAD was 2.13 (95%CI= 1.01–4.49) for a low FGF-21 level (< 15.6 pg/mL). Conclusion: No significant difference was found in the FGF-21 levels between patients with and without CAD. However, FGF-21 levels were low in patients with PAD, and were a factor for PAD independent of atherosclerotic risk factors.
The relationship between hepatic immunoglobulin production and CD154 expression in chronic liver diseases

Abstract: Background: CD40–CD154 is a receptor–ligand pair that provides key communication signals between cells of the adaptive immune system in states of inflammation and autoimmunity. The CD40 receptor is expressed constitutively on B lymphocytes, for which it provides important signals regulating clonal expansion and antibody production. CD154 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily, which is primarily expressed by activated T cells.
The relationship between affect, uses of music, and music preferences in a sample of South African adolescents

The current study examined the relationship between individual differences in uses of music (i.e. motives for listening to music), music preferences (for different genres), and positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), thus linking two areas of past research into a more comprehensive model. A sample of 193 South African adolescents (ages 12–17) completed measures of the above constructs and data were analyzed via correlations and structural equation modeling (SEM). Significant correlations between affect and uses of music were tested using SEM; a model whereby PA influenced background and cognitive uses of music, NA influenced emotional use of music, and higher uses of music led to increased preferences for music styles was supported. Future research for uses of music and music preferences are discussed.
Microscopic evaluation of spontaneous emission- and Auger-processes in semiconductor lasers

A fully microscopic approach is used to compute the losses in semiconductor lasers due to spontaneous emission and Auger recombination. The model is based on the semiconductor-Bloch equations and generalized quantum-Boltzmann type scattering equations in the second Born-Markov approximation. As input the theory only needs the structural layout and fundamental bulk-bandstructure parameters. It is demonstrated that such a comprehensive model that calculates gain/absorption, spontaneous emission and Auger processes on the same microscopic level can reliably predict these usually dominant loss processes. Examples of the results are compared to measurements on lasers in the 1.3-1.5 /spl mu/m range demonstrating very good agreement without empirical fitting.
Adjuncts to levodopa therapy

The classical role of dopamine agonists in Parkinson's disease (PD) therapy is adjunctive treatment to levodopa once "wearing-off" fluctuations or more malignant types of "on-off" swings have developed. Dopamine agonists reduce the frequency, severity, and duration of "off" periods while allowing the levodopa dose to be reduced. Interest is growing in the role of dopamine agonists as primary monotherapy in PD. Studies of early monotherapy have shown that, even with sustained treatment, drug-induced dyskinesias rarely develop. However, this approach is successful for more than 3 years in only about 30% of all PD patients. Continuous dopaminergic stimulation via subcutaneous dopamine agonist infusions is being investigated as a way to control levodopa-associated peak-dose dyskinesias. Early combined treatment with levodopa has been suggested as effective while avoiding long-term complications, but the therapy remains controversial. Despite the entry of several new dopamine agonists into clinical practice, the ideal agonist, with long duration of action and efficacy equal to that of levodopa, is still lacking. The clinical pharmacology of dopamine agonists is reviewed.
Conjunctivodacryocystorhinostomy using silicone rubber lacrimal tubes.

A series of 12 patients who have had conjunctivodacryocystorhinostomies performed with silicone rubber lacrimal tubes is described. In all cases the tubes were removed, and the status of the created fistulas was evaluated. Seven patients had good results, three fair results, and there were two failures. The procedure is of value in lacrimal problems associated with closure of the canaliculi. The prospect of improved materials for working with these problems offers increasing promise in the alleviation of these difficult lacrimal cases.
Transcriptional and translational mapping and nucleotide sequence analysis of a vaccinia virus gene encoding the precursor of the major core polypeptide 4b

We prepared antiserum that reacted with a major core polypeptide of approximately 62,000 daltons (62K polypeptide), designated 4b, and its 74K precursor, designated P4b. A cell-free translation product of vaccinia virus late mRNA that comigrated with P4b was specifically immunoprecipitated. The late mRNA encoding P4b hybridized to restriction fragments derived from the left end of the HindIII A fragment and to a lesser extent from the right side of the HindIII D fragment. A polypeptide that comigrated with P4a, the precursor of another major core polypeptide, was synthesized by mRNA that hybridized to DNA segments upstream of the P4b gene. Complete nucleotide sequence analysis of the P4b gene revealed an open reading frame, entirely within the HindIII A fragment, that was sufficient to encode a 644-amino-acid polypeptide of 73K. The 5' end of the P4b mRNA was located at or just above the translational initiation site.
Modeling of solute transport in snow using conservative tracers and artificial rain‐on‐snow experiments

We report a study of solute transport in snow, using artificial rain‐on‐snow experiments with conservative anions (F−, Br−, and SO42−). The tracers were mixed into tap water and sprayed onto the snow surface from two water supply tanks. The water flux out of the base of the snowpack was recorded, and discharge samples were collected and analyzed for the three tracers. The chemical concentration of tracers in the discharge was negatively associated with the water flux. The objectives of the experiment were to test whether the mobile‐immobile model (MIM) with variable mobile‐immobile water exchange coefficient can simulate both positive and negative concentration‐discharge relationships in this and previous tracer experiments. By simulating our experimental data, we confirm that it is necessary for the exchange coefficient to increase with water velocity. In addition, we use the model to show that with a diurnal variation of clean water flux, a negative concentration‐discharge relationship occurs when solutes are evenly distributed in the mobile and immobile fluids, while a positive relationship occurs when the solutes were present only in the immobile fluid near the surface. This result may help in explaining the complicated concentration‐discharge relationships observed in catchments.
Modelización de elementos lineales de hormigón armado incluyendo el efecto del esfuerzo cortante

La gran mayoria de estructuras de hormigon armado compuestas por elementos lineales desarrolla esfuerzos combinados que incluyen el esfuerzo cortante. Ademas, algunos colapsos estructurales han sido debidos a situaciones de acoplamiento de esfuerzos que han llevado a la estructura a un fallo fragil a cortante. Por ello, resulta necesario disponer de modelos de analisis de elementos lineales que incluyan al efecto del esfuerzo cortante correctamente. El analisis y el dimensionamiento de las estructuras de hormigon armado se ha realizado tradicionalmente tratando por separado los esfuerzos aplicasdos. En la actualidad, existen pocos elementos unidimensionales de analisis no lineal que capten adecuadamente el efecto queproduce el esfuerzo cortante. La fisura diagonal, la transmision del cortante a traves de la armadura transversal o la zona no fisurada, y el fallo final del elemento, son aspectos que un modelos de cortante debe incluir eficazmente. El objetivo de esta tesis doctoral es el de modelizar el comportamiento resistente de elementos lineales de hormigon armado incluyendo el efecto del esfuerzo cortante. Se presenta un modelo teorico que considera simultaneamente los esfuerzos axil, flector y cortante. Se propone una nueva hipotesis cinematica para el comportamiento seccional que permite estudiar el efecto de acoplamiento entre las tensiones normales y tangenciales. Esta nueva hipotesis recibe el nombre de hipotesis cinematica para el comportamiento seccional que permite estudiar el efecto de acoplamiento entre las tensiones normales y tanagenciales. Esta nueva hipotesis de correcion de cortante por ser el termino dependiente del esfuerzo cortante el que se corrige. La hipotesis de correccion de cortante incluye una funcion de interpolacion general, que configura el denominado modelo general de correccion de cortante. Ademas, se plantea otra funcion de interpolacion mas sencilla.
Further Characterization of Serum Amyloid A4 as a Minor Acute Phase Reactant and a Possible Nutritional Marker

Abstract A constitutive isotype of human serum amyloid A, serum amyloid A4 (SAA4), is distributed into plasma lipoproteins, primarily in high density lipoproteins. Its physiological function is unknown; its serum concentration has no relationship with those of other major apolipoproteins. In this study, changes in SAA4 concentrations were further characterized. Variations in healthy individuals were negligible. In subjects under-going renal allograft transplantation, SAA4 changed in parallel with acute phase SAA, although its magnitude was not larger than a three-fold increase. This confirmed that SAA4 is a minor acute phase reactant in humans. SAA4 concentrations showed a good agreement with serum pseudocholinesterase activity in healthy subjects and patients with lowered pseudocholinesterase when patients with elevated acute phase SAA were excluded. These results suggest that SAA4 can be an indicator of nutrition or of hepatic protein synthesis in the absence of inflammation.