Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Family system outcome following acquired brain injury: clinical and research perspectives

Objectives : To investigate family system outcome following acquired brain injury (ABI) using the Family Assessment Measure-III (FAM-III). Research design : Clients and families referred to the Family Support Service completed the FAM-III, a measure of family system functioning. Methods and procedures : Forty-three persons and 92 family members completed the FAM-III as part of intake. FAM-III scores were calculated and compared within the family, between subscales, and with established norms. Results : FAM-III scores of the family member sample were significantly elevated compared to individuals with ABI and compared to the norm across all seven domains of family functioning. No significant relationship was found between family member relationship status or time post-injury and overall FAM-III scores. Conclusions : Family members identified distressed family functioning across all domains compared to survivors and compared to population norms. The FAM-III provides clinical utility in assessing family system functioning and shows promise as a family system outcome measure.
Edge Corrections for Strip and Disc Capacitors

We present a precise numerical method for calculating the edge correction for a long rectangular plate capacitor, and compare the results with available approximate formulas. We give numerical results for the disc capacitor which are much more accurate than the approximate formulas at low capacitances (a/h <100, where a = radius and h = separation). These results match or surpass the precision of present-day capacitance bridges. We discuss the difficulties encountered in attempting to extend the work to larger a/h ratios.
Bone marrow stromal dysfunction in mice administered cytosine arabinoside

Abstract: Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate ex‐vivo the bone marrow (BM) stroma of mice under conditions of low‐ and high‐dose cytosine arabinoside (Ara‐C), a cycle‐specific drug (S‐phase) and to assess possible stromal damage, apart from the killing of hematopoietic cells. Stroma consists of mesenchymal elements generally not in the cell cycle; therefore it could not be a target for the killing effect of Ara‐ C. Materials and Methods: The stromal function was studied by the following: the incidence of stromal stem cells, i.e. CFU‐F; formation of stromal layers under growth conditions of long‐term culture (LTC) followed by irradiation and overlayering of test cells in contact and non‐contact co‐cultures; subsequent culture of the test cells in a semi‐solid medium to assay the incidence of hyperproliferative potential cells (HPPC); production of GM‐CSF, IL‐3, IL‐4, IL‐6 and IFNγ in the conditioned medium (CM) of confluent stromal layers. All tests and assays were carried out on BM specimens, 1–4 d after Ara‐C administration and on controls. Results: Low‐dose Ara‐C induces a marked decrease of CFU‐F, compensated by cycle induction of pre‐CFU‐F, young‐type stromal stem cells. High‐dose Ara‐C causes a CFU‐F decrease to almost zero level. The time length to layer confluency is normal after low‐dose Ara‐C (∼10 d) and prolonged after a high dose (∼30 d). The confluent layers from mice receiving low‐ or high‐dose Ara‐C support hematopoiesis adequately. Among the growth factors and cytokines assayed, only IL‐6 is detected in CM layers. IL‐6 decreases after a low dose of Ara‐C and increases after a high dose. The cause of IL‐6 fluctuations is yet to be investigated. It is, however, evident that IL‐6 is not an essential factor in support of hematopoiesis. Conclusions: Taken together, the current study in mice indicates that Ara‐C administration, in particular a high dose, induces bone marrow stromal damage and/or disfunction. The long period of time to reach layer confluency after a high Ara‐C dose might reflect the in‐vivo situation of slow stromal regeneration.
The upregulation of acetylcholine release at endplates of alpha‐bungarotoxin‐treated rats: its dependency on calcium.

1. The presynaptic component of an adaptive feedback mechanism leading to increased acetylcholine (ACh) release was studied in endplates of diaphragms from rats treated chronically with alpha‐bungarotoxin (alpha BTX). 2. Quantal contents were calculated ‘directly’ from the amplitude of miniature endplate potentials (MEPPs) and endplate potentials (EPPs) which were recorded after mu‐conotoxin treatment to prevent muscle action potentials. 3. In vitro application of the Ca2+ channel blockers nifedipine (10 microM) or omega‐conotoxin (40 nM) had no significant effect on the increased quantal content of endplates from alpha BTX‐treated rats. 4. At control endplates, in vitro block of presynaptic K+ channels by 5 microM 3,4‐diaminopyridine did increase the quantal content to a level which was similar to that found in endplates of alpha BTX‐treated rats but also induced a broadening of EPPs, which was not found at endplates after alpha BTX treatment. 5. The difference between quantal contents of alpha BTX‐treated and control rats was highly dependent on the [Ca2+]o/[Mg2+]o ratio when [Mg2+]o was fixed at 1 mM. At low [Ca2+]o, the quantal content of endplates from alpha BTX‐treated rats was lower than that of controls while at [Ca2+]o in the normal and high range this was reversed. However, changing the [Ca2+]o/[Mg2+]o ratio by means of [Mg2+]o, at a fixed [Ca2+]o of 2 mM, did not influence the relative increase of quantal contents at endplates from alpha BTX‐treated rats. Double logarithmic plots of the ‘toxin‐induced’ myasthenia gravis (TIMG) and control quantal content versus [Ca2+]o had an approximately linear part between 0.2 and 1.5 mM [Ca2+]o. The slopes of the TIMG and control lines were 1.81 and 0.96, indicating that the ACh release in TIMG muscles was more sensitive to changes of [Ca2+]o than controls. 6. At normal [Ca2+]o and [Mg2+]o, the depression of EPP amplitude during stimulation of the phrenic nerve at 30‐50 Hz was somewhat larger at endplates from alpha BTX‐treated rats than at control endplates. At low [Ca2+]o, the potentiation of EPP amplitudes during a stimulus train was much larger at endplates from alpha BTX‐treated rats than from controls. 7. The results do not support the idea that the increased release of ACh is caused via regulatory effects on the presynaptic Ca2+ or K+ channels. Instead, the anomalous dependency of ACh release on Ca2+ in muscles of alpha BTX‐treated rats suggests that a cytoplasmic, Ca(2+)‐dependent, component is involved in the adaptive change of transmitter release.
Bioactive compounds and encapsulation of Yanang (Tiliacora triandra) leaves.

BACKGROUND Yanang (Tiliacora triandra) has been known as vegetable and herbal in northeast Thailand and Lao People's Democratic Republic. Extracts from Yanang leaves contain high amounts of polyphenol constituents possessing antioxidant activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS This work investigated bioactive compounds of Yanang extracts prepared by infusion with water, ethanol and acetone. Furthermore, this paper reports the design of the experimental method for optimization of Yanang encapsulation using three independent variables: the ratio of core material (Yanang), to wall material (gum Arabic), gum Arabic concentration and inlet temperature of spray drying on bioactive compounds stability. The stability of bioactive compounds was evaluated using phenolic compounds, total antioxidant, carotenoids and chlorophyll. RESULTS The study of the bioactivity of Yanang extracts found that extraction with water was the appropriate application. The study of Yanang encapsulation demonstrated that gum Arabic, as coating agents, protected bioactive compounds of Yanang. Optimized condition for the encapsulation was at the ratio of core to wall {1:4}, in gum Arabic concentration 10% (w/v), and inlet temperature at 160▯C. The results show that the bioactive compounds were mainly affected by the ratio of core to wall material. Besides, moisture content and particle size of encapsulation depend on inlet temperature of spray drying, and gum Arabic concentration, respectively. This optimization reveals that the encapsulation process did not lose the bioactive compounds. CONCLUSION Yanang extract with water was the main phenolic compound and showed high antioxidant activities. This study demonstrates the potentials of using spray drying process and optimization for the encapsulation of herbal products.
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons generate interacting rhythms in multiple time domains.

Pulsatile release of GnRH is prerequisite for fertility. The possibility that multiple rhythms interact to generate GnRH pulses was raised by observations of changes in action potential firing and intracellular calcium levels occurring much more frequently than hormone pulses. To examine this further, we analyzed firing patterns from targeted extracellular recordings of green fluorescent protein-expressing GnRH neurons in acute brain slices prepared from adult ovariectomized and ovariectomized +estradiol mice. Fourier spectral analysis identified rhythms in multiple time domains, which we grouped into bursts (a period of <100 sec), clusters (100-1000 sec), or episodes (>1000 sec). Bursts were the fundamental unit of activity and consisted of trains of action currents (the currents during action potentials). Episodes and clusters were lower frequency changes in firing rate resulting from alterations in the time between bursts. Specifically, mean interburst interval during episode peaks was less than during nadirs. In contrast, neither burst duration nor action currents/burst differed between peaks and nadirs. Estradiol increased episode period by changing the patterning of bursts, not burst duration or action currents/burst. We propose a low frequency rhythm that is subject to external influences alters the patterning of a fundamental unit of activity to change ultimately GnRH pulse frequency.
Modeling of a Vertical Hybrid Plasmonic Switch With VO2 Fin Bragg Grating

A 3-D vertical hybrid plasmonic switch having vanadium oxide (VO<sub>2</sub>) Bragg grating element inside a silicon waveguide has been modeled and simulated in this letter. Narrow bandwidth (30 nm) switching has been achieved maintaining 11.14-dB extinction ratio (ER) at 1.55 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, effectively due to tailoring VO<sub>2</sub> refractive index via heat-induced phase transition. Furthermore, switching response has been assessed by tailoring the number of VO<sub>2</sub> fins within the silicon waveguide, oxide spacer dimension, width and height of the silicon waveguide as well, which have impact on the switch behaviour. From numerical simulations, we have found that for 933.4-nm device length with three VO<sub>2</sub> fins ~ 11.14-dB ER and 1.57 figure of merit at 1.55-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> wavelength can be obtained.
Peripheral Neuropathy in Children and Adolescents with Insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Objective Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a chronic immune-mediated disease. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is an important microvascular complication of T1DM. One of the most important risk factors for the development of DPN is poor glycemic control. We evaluated the prevalence of DPN among T1DM patients and determined the association between DPN and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level. Materials & Methods The subjects were recruited prospectively upon initial evaluation at Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad, Iran from Jan 2013 to Jan 2015. Patients with T1DM were selected based on the inclusion criteria (i.e., age of 6≤yr and absence of other co-morbidities). DPN was assessed through electrodiagnostic studies and neurological examinations, while diabetes control was evaluated by measuring the HbA1c level. Results Fifty patients with T1DM were enrolled in this study. The mean diabetes duration of patients was 8.38±3.79 yr (mean age16.68±6.68 yr). The mean HbA1c level was 8.6±2.1% in patients without DPN and 10.5±3 in those with DPN (P=0.016). Overall, 24% of the subjects were presented with DPN according to nerve conduction velocity study (NCV) findings. A positive correlation was found between NCV and clinical symptoms with signs (P<0.001, r=0.45 and P<0.001, r=0.644, respectively). Sensitivity and specificity of neurological examination for DPN diagnosis were 91.7% and 63.2%, respectively. Poor diabetes control is associated with DPN. Moreover, HbA1c level was used as an index for glycemic control over the past 3 months. Conclusion Rigid blood glucose control and periodic neurological examinations were the best strategies to prevent DPN.
Relationship between red blood cell distribution width and early-stage renal function damage in patients with essential hypertension

Background: Red cell distribution (RDW) has been suggested to be associated with cardiovascular mortality and mortality. However, few studies have yet investigated the possible association between RDW and early-stage renal function damage in patients with primary hypertension without receiving drug treatment. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to evaluate early-stage renal function status in patients with RDW levels. Results: The study included 513 primary hypertension patients (319 men and 194 women) without receiving drug treatment. Significant positive correlation was observed between albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) and RDW in hypertensive patients (r = 0.531, P < 0.001). In multivariate line regression analysis, night-time SBP (B = 0.042, P < 0.001), ACR (B = 0.005, P < 0.001), and uric acid (B = 0.001, P = 0.022) were positive predictors of RDW independent of age, sex, hemoglobin, and other indexes, whereas daytime SBP (B = −0.019, P < 0.001) was inversely associated with RDW. The receiver operating characteristics curves (ROC) explored the relationship between renal function status and RDW, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), serum creatinine, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. The area under the curve was 0.81 (95% CI: 0.77–0.85; P < 0.001), 0.45 (95% CI: 0.39–0.50; P = 0.049), 0.49 (95% CI: 0.43–0.54; P = 0.583), and 0.49 (95% CI: 0.44–0.55; P = 0.811), respectively. Using a cutoff point of 12.8, the RDW predicted renal function status (ACR) with a sensitivity of 76% and a specificity of 70%. Conclusion: RDW, as an easy and quick measurable index, can predict early-stage renal function damage in essential hypertensive patients without receiving drug treatment.
Insulin-induced phosphorylation of FKHR (Foxo1) targets to proteasomal degradation

Forkhead transcription factor FKHR (Foxo1) is a key regulator of glucose homeostasis, cell-cycle progression, and apoptosis. It has been shown that FKHR is phosphorylated via insulin or growth factor signaling cascades, resulting in its cytoplasmic retention and the repression of target gene expression. Here, we investigate the fate of FKHR after cells are stimulated by insulin. We show that insulin treatment decreases endogenous FKHR proteins in HepG2 cells, which is inhibited by proteasome inhibitors. FKHR is ubiquitinated in vivo and in vitro, and insulin enhances the ubiquitination in the cells. In addition, the signal to FKHR degradation from insulin is mediated by the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway, and the mutation of FKHR at the serine or threonine residues phosphorylated by protein kinase B, a downstream target of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, inhibits the ubiquitination in vivo and in vitro. Finally, efficient ubiquitination of FKHR requires both phosphorylation and cytoplasmic retention in the cells. These results demonstrate that the insulin-induced phosphorylation of FKHR leads to the multistep negative regulation, not only by the nuclear exclusion but also the ubiquitination-mediated degradation.
A Graph-to-Sequence Model for AMR-to-Text Generation

The problem of AMR-to-text generation is to recover a text representing the same meaning as an input AMR graph. The current state-of-the-art method uses a sequence-to-sequence model, leveraging LSTM for encoding a linearized AMR structure. Although being able to model non-local semantic information, a sequence LSTM can lose information from the AMR graph structure, and thus facing challenges with large-graphs, which result in long sequences. We introduce a neural graph-to-sequence model, using a novel LSTM structure for directly encoding graph-level semantics. On a standard benchmark, our model shows superior results to existing methods in the literature.
Effects of intraocular tetrodotoxin on the development of the retinocollicular pathway in the syrian hamster

The developing uncrossed retinocollicular projection in the Syrian hamster undergoes a characteristic set of changes during the first 2 postnatal weeks. The retinal fibres, which initially project across the whole superior colliculus, withdraw from the caudal part and their terminals become clustered into deep, discrete clumps rostrally. Coincident with these afferent changes, there is substantial retinal ganglion cell death. To examine whether neuronal activity plays a role in these changes, we made daily injections of the sodium channel blocker tetrodotoxin (TTX) into one or both eyes from postnatal day 2 or 4 up to day 12.
A system architecture for context-aware mobile computing

Computer applications traditionally expect a static execution environment. However, this precondition is generally not possible for mobile systems, where the world around an application is constantly changing. This thesis explores how to support and also exploit the dynamic configurations and social settings characteristic of mobile systems. More specifically, it advances the following goals: (1) enabling seamless interaction across devices; (2) creating physical spaces that are responsive to users; and (3) and building applications that are aware of the context of their use. Examples of these goals are: continuing in your office a program started at home; using a PDA to control someone else's windowing UI; automatically canceling phone forwarding upon return to your office; having an airport overhead-display highlight the flight information viewers are likely to be interested in; easily locating and using the nearest printer or fax machine; and automatically turning off a PDA's audible e-mail notification when in a meeting. The contribution of this thesis is an architecture to support context-aware computing; that is, application adaptation triggered by such things as the location of use, the collection of nearby people, the presence of accessible devices and other kinds of objects, as well as changes to all these things over time. Three key issues are addressed: (1) the information needs of applications, (2) where applications get various pieces of information and (3) how information can be efficiently distributed. A dynamic environment communication model is introduced as a general mechanism for quickly and efficiently learning about changes occurring in the environment in a fault tolerant manner. For purposes of scalability, multiple dynamic environment servers store user, device, and, for each geographic region, context information. In order to efficiently disseminate information from these components to applications, a dynamic collection of multicast groups is employed. The thesis also describes a demonstration system based on the Xerox PARCTAB, a wireless palmtop computer.
Weight reduction programmes at a rehabilitation centre and a health centre based on group counselling and individual support: short- and long-term follow-up study.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of two weight reduction programmes on moderately and severely obese subjects over a period of five years. The subjects were randomly divided into a rehabilitation centre group (RC group) and a health centre group (HC group). Treatment in the RC group consisted of a three-week in-patient weight reduction programme at a rehabilitation centre and in the HC group of a ten-week out-patient weight reduction course at a health centre. Treatment in both groups continued for up to 24 months with an individual follow-up at 1-2-month intervals by a general practitioner (GP) at the health centre. The subjects were 42 women and 10 men. The mean weight of women at the onset of the study was 104 kg and the mean BMI 39.5 kg/m2 and the respective means of men 121 kg and 40.1 kg/m2. The mean age of both sexes was 40 years. In the RC group the mean weight loss at 6, 12 and 24 months was 11.5, 9.1 and 5.9 kg in women, and 19.0, 18.3 and 11.2 kg in men, respectively. In the HC group the respective values were 5.5, 4.8 and 3.2 kg in women and 12.2, 6.7 and 2.8 kg in men. At the five-year follow-up the mean weight change from baseline was -6.8 kg in the men and $0.3 kg in the women of the RC group. In the HC group the mean weight returned to baseline level in both sexes. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Observation Status or Inpatient Admission: Impact of Patient Disposition on Outcomes and Utilization Among Emergency Department Patients With Chest Pain

OBJECTIVES to compare healthcare utilization including coronary angiography, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), rehospitalization, and rate of subsequent acute myocardial infarction (AMI) within 30 days, among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain admitted as short-term inpatient (≤2 days) versus observation (in-ED observation units combined with in-hospital observation). METHODS We identified adults diagnosed with acute chest pain in the ED from 2010 to 2014 using administrative claims from privately insured and Medicare Advantage. Patients having AMI during the index visit were excluded. One-to-one propensity-score matching and logistic regression were used. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported. RESULTS A total of 774,017 chest pain visits were included. After matching, healthcare utilization was lower among observation versus short inpatient, with 10.9% versus 24.4% (OR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.36 to 0.39) undergoing cardiac catheterization and 1.8% versus 7.6% (OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.21 to 0.24) having PCI. The incidence of subsequent AMI within the following 30 days was similar in patients admitted as observation versus short inpatient (0.23% vs. 0.21%; OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 0.84 to 1.42). CONCLUSIONS There were higher rates of cardiac catheterization and PCI among those admitted as a short inpatient compared to observation, while the incidence of subsequent AMI within 30 days was similar.
Fibrinolytic Enzyme System and Pregnancy

The effect of pregnancy on the components of the fibrinolytic enzyme system was determined by serial observations on 10 healthy women during normal pregnancy, labour, and the puerperium. The plasminogen level was substantially increased in the third trimester; the increase occurred pari passu with a pronounced increase in fibrinogen concentration. After allowing for the expansion of plasma volume in pregnancy a twofold increase in the absolute amounts of circulating fibrinogen and plasminogen was found. In late pregnancy and during labour the level of plasminogen activator was greatly decreased, whereas a normal or increased level was present in the first week of the puerperium. No alteration in the levels of inhibitors of plasminogen activation by urokinase was found during normal pregnancy. The thrombin time and platelet count remained unchanged during pregnancy and labour but the platelet count rose significantly during the first week of the puerperium. The haemostatic mechanism in pregnancy appears to be altered towards an enhanced capacity to form fibrin and a diminished ability to lyse fibrin. These changes may be a physiological development to ensure the integrity of the foetal and maternal circulations and provide rapid and effective haemostasis in the uterus during and after placental separation. Nevertheless, the changes may also establish a vulnerable state for intravascular fibrin deposition.