Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of gap junctions in chronic pain

Gap junctions are specialized transmembrane channels that allow rapid electrical signalling and direct intercellular communication for maintenance and coordination of normal cellular activities and homeostasis. Although gap junction channels in the nervous system mediate intercellular coupling between glial cells and between neurons, they also contribute to the spread of secondary damage and inflammation under pathological conditions. There is now evidence of the involvement of gap junctions in chronic pain caused by nervous system damage or tissue inflammation. In this Mini‐Review, we highlight recent studies demonstrating the dynamic plasticity of gap junctions in response to nervous system injury and the effects of gap junction blockade on neuronal survival and modulation of pain in animal models of neuropathic and inflammatory pain. The involvement of dorsal root ganglia and spinal cord gap junctions in mediating chronic pain and the potential for targeting connexins as a novel modality for the treatment of intractable pain syndromes arising from nervous system injury and disorders are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Factors influencing the quality of implementation of a positive youth development program in Hong Kong

Abstract This study examines how social workers collaborate with school teachers in implementing a school-based positive youth development program in Hong Kong. Individual and focus group interviews are conducted with social workers cooperating with school teachers in implementing the Project P.A. T.H. S. in a school context. Through the interviews, strategies for establishing inter-disciplinary collaboration and factors that hinder or facilitate program implementation are identified. This case study highlights factors that facilitate the collaboration between social workers and school teachers, including the following: 1) sufficient training for instructors, 2) sharing of the practice wisdom and teaching experiences, 3) building up mutual support among different parties, 4) use of proactive communication, and 5) demonstration of self-disclosure.
Short-Selling Bans around the World: Evidence from the 2007–09 Crisis

Table IA.V: Cross-country regressions whose dependent variables are the country-specific estimated coefficients on the ban variables in the regressions from Table VI of the paper. The 18 observations used in the regression shown in column 1 include the estimated coefficients on the covered ban dummy for Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, where the estimate for the naked ban dummy would also be available. This choice is dictated by the fact that in Italy and the Netherlands the covered ban lasted much longer than the naked ban (which in the Netherlands lasted only two weeks), and in Switzerland financials were always subject to a covered ban (and nonfinancials to a naked ban).
Activity/Stability of Human Pepsin: Implications for Reflux Attributed Laryngeal Disease

Objectives/Hypothesis: Exposure of laryngeal epithelia to pepsin during extra‐esophageal reflux causes depletion of laryngeal protective proteins, carbonic anhydrase isoenzyme III (CAIII), and squamous epithelial stress protein Sep70. The first objective of this study was to determine whether pepsin has to be enzymatically active to deplete these proteins. The second objective was to investigate the effect of pH on the activity and stability of human pepsin 3b under conditions that might be found in the human esophagus and larynx.
How effective is ultrasound-based screening for trisomy 18 without the addition of biochemistry at the time of late first trimester?

Abstract Trisomy 18 (T18) remains the second most common aneuploidy. It is associated with multiple congenital anomalies and causes intrauterine fetal demise in the most severe cases. Objectives: To examine the screening performance of ultrasound-based protocols for detecting T18, we aimed to determine the most common signs and their prevalence in fetuses with T18 to develop logistic regression model. Methods: This was a prospective study based on singleton pregnancies examined at gestation 11+0 to 13+6. The referrals constituted 6210 patients. Scan protocol enclosed a systematic review of the entire early fetal anatomy, including fetal cardiac evaluation and sonographic signs of aneuploidy. Results: Our study population comprised 5650 pregnancies: 5613 cases with a normal karyotype and 37 cases with T18. The mean nuchal translucency (NT) thickness in the subgroup of euploidy was 1.7 and in the subgroup of T18 it was 5.4. No statistically significant differences were found in terms of maternal age. One case of T18 (2.7%) demonstrated no markers of aneuploidy as opposed to 5111 cases of euploidy (91.1%). Extracardiac malformations were identified in 13 cases of T18 (35.1%) and in 48 cases of euploidy (0.8%). Congenital heart defects were observed in 26 cases of T18 (70.3%) and in 27 cases of euploidy (0.5%). Conclusions: Our results showed good screening performance of ultrasound-based risk calculation models. When the first trimester pattern of T18 is considered, an increased NT, tricuspid regurgitation, single umbilical artery, omphalocele and right dominant heart should be specifically searched for.
Ictal SPECT

Summary: The localizing value of ictal single‐photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) performed with cerebral blood flow agents in patients with epilepsy is based on cerebral metabolic and perfusion coupling. Ictal hyperperfusion is used to localize the epileptogenic zone noninvasively, and is particularly useful in magnetic resonance (MR)‐negative partial epilepsy and focal cortical dysplasias. Subtraction ictal SPECT coregistered with MRI (SISCOM) improves the localization of the area of hyperperfusion. Ictal SPECT should always be interpreted in the context of a full presurgical evaluation. Early ictal SPECT injections minimize the problem of seizure propagation and of nonlocalization due to an early switch from ictal hyperperfusion to postictal hypoperfusion during brief extratemporal seizures. The degree of thresholding of SISCOM images affects the sensitivity and specificity of ictal SPECT. Ictal hypoperfusion may reflect ictal inhibition or deactivation. Postictal and interictal SPECT studies are less useful to localize the ictal‐onset zone. Statistical parametric mapping analysis of groups of selected ictal–interictal difference images has the potential to demonstrate the evolution of cortical, subcortical, and cerebellar perfusion changes during a particular seizure type, to study seizure‐gating mechanisms, and to provide new insights into the pathophysiology of seizures.
Magnesium Uptake by CorA Is Essential for Viability of the Gastric Pathogen Helicobacter pylori

ABSTRACT We show here that Mg2+ acquisition by CorA is essential for Helicobacter pylori in vitro, as corA mutants did not grow in media without Mg2+ supplementation. Complementation analysis performed with an Escherichia coli corA mutant revealed that H. pylori CorA transports nickel and cobalt in addition to Mg2+. However, Mg2+ is the dominant CorA substrate, as the corA mutation affected neither cobalt and nickel resistance nor nickel induction of urease in H. pylori. The drastic Mg2+ requirement (20 mM) of H. pylori corA mutants indicates that CorA plays a key role in the adaptation to the low-Mg2+ conditions predominant in the gastric environment.
Molecular characterization of Vibrio cholerae O1 and non-O1 from human and environmental sources in Malaysia

A total of 31 strains of Vibrio cholerae O1 (10 from outbreak cases and 7 from surface water) and non-O1 (4 from clinical and 10 from surface water sources) isolated between 1993 and 1997 were examined with respect to presence of cholera enterotoxin (CT) gene by PCR-based assays, resistance to antibiotics, plasmid profiles and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. All were resistant to 9 or more of the 17 antibiotics tested. Identical antibiotic resistance patterns of the isolates may indicate that they share a common mode of developing antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, the multiple antibiotic resistance indexing showed that all strains tested originated from high risk contamination. Plasmid profile analysis by agarose gel electrophoresis showed the presence of small plasmids in 12 (7 non-O1 and 5 O1 serotypes) with sizes ranging 1·3–4·6 MDa. The CT gene was detected in all clinical isolates but was present in only 14 (6 O1 serotype and 8 non-O1 serotype) isolates from environmental waters. The genetic relatedness of the clinical and environmental Vibrio cholerae O1 and non-O1 strains was investigated by RAPD fingerprinting with four primers. The four primers generated polymorphisms in all 31 strains of Vibrio cholerae tested, producing bands ranging from <250 to 4500 bp. The RAPD profiles revealed a wide variability and no correlation with the source of isolation. This study provides evidence that Vibrio cholerae O1 and non-O1 have significant public health implications.
Approximately Efficient Double Auctions with Strong Budget Balance

Mechanism design for one-sided markets is an area of extensive research in economics and, since more than a decade, in computer science as well. Two-sided markets, on the other hand, have not received the same attention despite the numerous applications to web advertisement, stock exchange, and frequency spectrum allocation. This work studies double auctions, in which unit-demand buyers and unit-supply sellers act strategically. An ideal goal in double auction design is to maximize the social welfare of buyers and sellers with individually rational (IR), incentive compatible (IC) and strongly budget-balanced (SBB) mechanisms. The first two properties are standard. SBB requires that the payments charged to the buyers are entirely handed to the sellers. This property is crucial in all the contexts that do not allow the auctioneer retaining a share of buyers' payments or subsidizing the market. Unfortunately, this goal is known to be unachievable even for the special case of bilateral trade, where there is only one buyer and one seller. Therefore, in subsequent papers, meaningful trade-offs between these requirements have been investigated. Our main contribution is the first IR, IC and SBB mechanism that provides an O(1)-approximation to the optimal social welfare. This result holds for any number of buyers and sellers with arbitrary, independent distributions. Moreover, our result continues to hold when there is an additional matroid constraint on the sets of buyers who may get allocated an item. To prove our main result, we devise an extension of sequential posted price mechanisms to two-sided markets. In addition to this, we improve the best-known approximation bounds for the bilateral trade problem.
Imaging glial cell activation with [11C]-R-PK11195 in patients with AIDS

Glial cell activation occurs in response to brain injury and is present in a wide variety of inflammatory processes including dementia associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV-infected glial cells release cytokines and chemokines that, along with viral neurotoxins, contribute to neuronal damage and apoptosis. The purpose of this study was to determine if glial cell activation in HIV-positive (HIV+) patients could be detected noninvasively, in vivo, using [11C]-R-PK11195 with positron emission tomography (PET). [11C]-R-PK11195 is a selective radioligand for the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR), and is known to reflect the extent of glial cell activation. A subaim was to determine if nondemented HIV+ patients could be distinguished from those with HIV-associated dementia (HAD) on the basis of [11C]-R-PK11195 binding. Five healthy volunteers and 10 HIV+ patients underwent PET with [11C]-R-PK11195. Time-radioactivity curves (TACs) were generated from dynamic PET images in nine regions of interest (ROIs) drawn on coregistered magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. The average radioactivity was calculated in each ROI and was normalized to the average radioactivity in white matter. Patients with HAD showed significantly higher [11C]-R-PK11195 binding than controls in five out of eight brain regions (P < .05, Mann-Whitney U test). Nondemented HIV+ patients did not show significantly increased binding compared to controls. HIV+ patients overall (demented and nondemented) showed significantly higher radioligand binding than controls in five brain regions (P <0.05). Patients with HAD did not show significant differences in binding when compared to HIV+ nondemented patients. The findings of this pilot study support a role for glial cell activation in HAD, and that PET with [11C]-R-PK11195 can detect the concomitants of neuronal damage in individuals infected with HIV.
Men's attitudes to condoms and female controlled means of protection against HIV and STDs in south-western Uganda

There is widespread demand for the development of female controlled methods of protection against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV. The success of such methods will not only depend on their acceptability to women but also to their male partners. This paper reports on men's attitudes to female controlled methods in south west Uganda. Data was gathered in individual interviews with 50 men and 7 focus group discussions with 42 men. Male attitudes to the male condom, the female condom and female controlled methods of protection generally were characterized by ambiguity and anxiety. They liked the male condom because it protects against infection and unwanted pregnancy, but were worried by rumours that it was unreliable. The central theme in the discussions was men's anxiety about retaining control over their female partners. The men wanted women to be protected (and therefore safe as potential partners) but they also wanted to remain in control, at least to some extent, of the means of protection. Once suitable female controlled methods have been identified, it will be necessary to use education and social marketing in such a way that men can be reassured of the positive benefits of these products to them, as well as to women.
A Proteome Comparison Between Physiological Angiogenesis and Angiogenesis in Glioblastoma

The molecular pathways involved in neovascularization of regenerating tissues and tumor angiogenesis resemble each other. However, the regulatory mechanisms of neovascularization under neoplastic circumstances are unbalanced leading to abnormal protein expression patterns resulting in the formation of defective and often abortive tumor vessels. Because gliomas are among the most vascularized tumors, we compared the protein expression profiles of proliferating vessels in glioblastoma with those in tissues in which physiological angiogenesis takes place. By using a combination of laser microdissection and LTQ Orbitrap mass spectrometry comparisons of protein profiles were made. The approach yielded 29 and 12 differentially expressed proteins for glioblastoma and endometrium blood vessels, respectively. The aberrant expression of five proteins, i.e. periostin, tenascin-C, TGF-beta induced protein, integrin alpha-V, and laminin subunit beta-2 were validated by immunohistochemistry. In addition, pathway analysis of the differentially expressed proteins was performed and significant differences in the usage of angiogenic pathways were found. We conclude that there are essential differences in protein expression profiles between tumor and normal physiological angiogenesis.
A WARNING ON THE FREQUENCY OF ENDOTHRIX TINEA CAPITIS AMONG THE ABORIGINAL AND PART‐ABORIGINAL POPULATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Sydney, is gratefully acknowledged. Considerable help was given by Mr. E. Scott of the Institute of Child Health, Sydney, in the preparation of the mental health questionnaire and the interpretation of the results. Mouse protection tests against Murray Valley encephalitis virus were done by Dr. G. Anderson, Melbourne. The findings have been discussed with the Council of the Australian School of Pacific Administration. The paper is published with the permission of the Minister for Territories and the Director-General of Health, Commonwealth of Australia. References. BLACK, R. H. (1959), "Health and Living Conditions in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea; From the Point of View of the European Resident", Department of Territories, Commonwealth of Australia. DEPARTMENT OF TERRITORIES (1958), "Careers with a Challenge; The Public Service of Papua and New Guinea", Commonwealth of Australia publication. FORBES, B. R. V. , and WANNAN, J. S. (1955), "Leptospiral Infection in Natives of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea", Aust. Ann. Med., 4: 64. SINCLAIR, A. (1957) , "Field and Clinical Survey Report of the Mental Health of the Indigenes of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea", Port Moresby Government Printer. STOUFFER, S. A. , GUTTMAN, L. , SUCHMAN, E. A. , LAZARFELD, P. R. , STAR, S. A. , and CLAUSEN, J. A. (1950), "Measurement and Prediction", Volume 4 of "Studies in Social Psychology in World War II", Princeton University Press. •
Microsatellite instability and hMLH1/hMSH2 expression in young endometrial carcinoma patients: Associations with family history and histopathology

Endometrial cancer is the second most common malignancy in patients with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC). The age at diagnosis of HNPCC‐associated endometrial cancer is approximately 15 years younger than for sporadic endometrial cancer. Our current study was undertaken to determine the frequency of microsatellite instability (MSI) and absence of hMLH1 or hMSH2 protein expression in young patients with endometrial carcinoma and to correlate these findings with histopathologic and clinical features. Endometrial carcinoma from 62 women (23–52 years, median age 46) were assessed for MSI. Twenty‐one of the 62 (34%) tumors demonstrated MSI. Of the 21 tumors demonstrating MSI, 12 showed an absence of hMLH1 expression, 4 showed an absence of hMSH2 expression, and 5 demonstrated normal expression of both proteins. All 41 tumors without MSI demonstrated normal hMLH1 and hMSH2 expression. Two patients with MSI tumors fulfilled the Amsterdam criteria for HNPCC, while 2 had histories suggestive of HNPCC. None of the patients with tumors without MSI had a personal or family cancer history suggestive of HNPCC. The MSI phenotype was associated (p < 0.05) with high FIGO stage and grade, cribriform growth pattern, mucinous differentiation and necrosis. Our findings suggest that the frequency of HNPCC in young endometrial cancer patients is relatively low when compared with the frequency of HNPCC in young colorectal cancer patients. Defects of the MMR proteins hMSH2 or hMLH1 account for MSI in most but not all endometrial cancers from young patients. Int. J. Cancer 86:60–66, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Clinical prognostic rules for severe acute respiratory syndrome in low- and high-resource settings.

BACKGROUND An accurate prognostic model for patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) could provide a practical clinical decision aid. We developed and validated prognostic rules for both high- and low-resource settings based on data available at the time of admission. METHODS We analyzed data on all 1755 and 291 patients with SARS in Hong Kong (derivation cohort) and Toronto (validation cohort), respectively, using a multivariable logistic scoring method with internal and external validation. Scores were assigned on the basis of patient history in a basic model, and a full model additionally incorporated radiological and laboratory results. The main outcome measure was death. RESULTS Predictors for mortality in the basic model included older age, male sex, and the presence of comorbid conditions. Additional predictors in the full model included haziness or infiltrates on chest radiography, less than 95% oxygen saturation on room air, high lactate dehydrogenase level, and high neutrophil and low platelet counts. The basic model had an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.860 in the derivation cohort, which was maintained on external validation with an area under the ROC curve of 0.882. The full model improved discrimination with areas under the ROC curve of 0.877 and 0.892 in the derivation and validation cohorts, respectively. CONCLUSION The model performs well and could be useful in assessing prognosis for patients who are infected with re-emergent SARS.
Does it Really Pay to Be Good, Everywhere? A First Step to Understand the Corporate Social and Financial Performance Link in Latin American Controversial Industries

Most research studying the corporate social performance (CSP)–corporate financial performance (CFP) link has utilized developed country samples. Also, this literature has generally focused on a wide variety of industries, ignoring the fact that certain sectors – such as controversial industries – have graver social and environmental issues. Hence, a gap exists in this tradition when it comes to emerging markets and controversial industries. This paper attempts to fill this void by providing preliminary evidence and insight on the matter. Based on an exploration in six Latin American countries and five controversial industries, we find a negative bidirectional association (or a non‐significant one at best) between CSP and CFP. These results tend to contradict the mainstream conclusion of a positive bidirectional link, suggesting that institutional and market‐level forces play a major role in shaping this relationship.
Problems of test-driven aspect-oriented development

Problems of test-driven aspect-oriented development Test-driven development and aspect-oriented programming are relatively new development techniques each having its own benefits. However, using aspect-oriented language like AspectJ in test-driven development leads to new types of problems that do not appear if these two approaches are applied separately. These problems arise mainly because aspect-oriented paradigm breaks encapsulation principle - behaviour of class is not implemented just in class itself like in traditional object-oriented programming but can be heavily affected by many external aspects. Traditional unit tests designed to test a single unit are not sufficient any more because behaviour being tested is distributed through several units at once, so test design becomes more complicated. In order to efficiently use these two techniques together such problems have to be identified and ways to workaround them have to be discovered. This paper focuses on those problems, describing the most notable ones. Problem descriptions are based on experience with AspectJ, but most of them are common to any aspect-oriented language with similar features. Some empirically discovered principles are provided that help softening negative impact of those problems.
Global observability analysis of the SR Motor under sensorless operation

This paper presents a global observability analysis of the Switched Reluctance Motor under sensorless operation i.e., only the stator current and voltages are measured. The main contribution of this work is the formal statement of the indistinguishable dynamics of this machine, which describe for the first time, the initial conditions and inputs that cause the loss of observability in this operation condition. The analysis presented concludes that it is impossible to design an observer for every trajectory of the motor. Additionally, there exist singular inputs i.e., inputs that does not distinguish between two initial conditions from the measurements. To illustrate the loss of observability of the Switched Reluctance Motor, some examples are presented.