Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes in glucose and cholesterol levels in patients with schizophrenia treated with typical or atypical antipsychotics.

OBJECTIVE The association of hyperglycemia and hypercholesterolemia with use of atypical antipsychotics has been documented in case reports and uncontrolled studies. The authors' goal was to assess the effects of clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, and haloperidol on glucose and cholesterol levels in hospitalized patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder during a randomized double-blind 14-week trial. METHOD One hundred fifty-seven patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who were inpatients at four hospitals were originally included in the study. The 14-week trial consisted of an 8-week fixed-dose period and a 6-week variable-dose period. Planned assessments included fasting glucose and cholesterol, which were collected at baseline and at the end of the 8-week period and the following 6-week period. RESULTS One hundred eight of the 157 patients provided blood samples at baseline and at least at one point after random assignment to clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, or haloperidol during the treatment trial. Seven of these patients had diabetes; their glucose levels were >125 mg/dl at baseline. Data from 101 patients were used for statistical analyses. During the initial 8-week period there was an overall significant increase in mean glucose levels. There were significant increases in glucose levels at the end of the 8-week fixed-dose period for patients given clozapine (N=27) and those given haloperidol (N=25). The olanzapine group showed a significant increase of glucose levels at the end of the 6-week variable-dose period (N=22). Fourteen of the 101 patients developed abnormal glucose levels (>125 mg/dl) during the trial (six with clozapine, four with olanzapine, three with risperidone, and one with haloperidol). Cholesterol levels were increased at the end of the 8-week fixed-dose period for the patients given clozapine (N=27) and those given olanzapine (N=26); cholesterol levels were also increased at the end of the 6-week variable-dose period for patients given olanzapine (N=22). CONCLUSIONS In this prospective randomized trial, clozapine, olanzapine, and haloperidol were associated with an increase of plasma glucose level, and clozapine and olanzapine were associated with an increase in cholesterol levels. The mean changes in glucose and cholesterol levels remained within clinically normal ranges, but approximately 14% of the patients developed abnormally high glucose levels during the course of their participation in the study.
Bimodal modulation by nicotine of anxiety in the social interaction test: role of the dorsal hippocampus.

In conditions generating moderate levels of anxiety in the social interaction test (low light, unfamiliar arena or high light, familiar arena), parenteral administration of nicotine had bimodal actions, low doses (0.01 and 0.1 mg/kg i.p.) had anxiolytic effects and high doses (0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg i.p.) had anxiogenic effects. In test conditions where anxiety was lowest (low light, familiar arena) and highest (high light, unfamiliar arena), nicotine was without effect after intraperitoneal or hippocampal administration. Thus, nicotine plays a modulatory role in which the activity of other neurotransmitters is crucial to its expression. After bilateral administration to the dorsal hippocampus, nicotine (0.1-8.0 microg) had anxiogenic effects in conditions of moderate anxiety; mecamylamine (30 ng) was silent in these conditions, indicating no intrinsic tone. Our results show that the dorsal hippocampus is one area that can mediate anxiogenic effects in the social interaction test, but the brain region mediating anxiolytic effects remains to be identified.
Associations Between Cognitive Function, Schizophrenic Symptoms, and Functional Outcome in Early-onset Schizophrenia With and Without a Familial Burden of Psychosis.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the present study was to assess the relationship between various domains of cognitive functions, the intensity of psychopathological symptoms, and the general functional outcome in adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia. METHOD 33 adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) were investigated in their partial symptom remission period. The control group consisted of 30 healthy adolescents. Schizophrenia was diagnosed on the basis of ICD-10 criteria. Psychopathological symptoms were assessed with the use of the PANSS (Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale) scale. General functioning was evaluated with the use of the CGAS (Children's Global Assessment Scale) scale. RESULTS Significant dysfunctions of various aspects of working memory, executive functions, and verbal memory were found in the group of EOS adolescents, as compared to the control group. Working memory and executive function deficits were significantly more severe in patients with a greater intensity of negative schizophrenia symptoms. EOS patients with a familial burden of psychosis presented greater cognitive deficits than patients without such a burden. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that visual working memory and verbal memory deficits with a higher intensity of negative and positive symptoms proved to be significant predictors of poor functioning. Limitations of the study are discussed.
Loss of HIV-1-derived cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitopes restricted by protective HLA-B alleles during the HIV-1 epidemic

Objective and design:HIV-1 is known to adapt to the human immune system, leading to accumulation of escape mutations during the course of infection within an individual. Cross-sectional studies have shown an inverse correlation between the prevalence of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles in a population and the number of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) escape mutations in epitopes restricted by those HLA alleles. Recently, it was demonstrated that at a population level HIV-1 is adapting to the humoral immune response, which is reflected in an increase in resistance to neutralizing antibodies over time. Here we investigated whether adaptations to cellular immunity have also accumulated during the epidemic. Methods:We compared the number of CTL epitopes in HIV-1 strains isolated from individuals who seroconverted at the beginning of the HIV-1 epidemic and from individuals who seroconverted in recent calendar time. Results:The number of CTL epitopes in HIV-1 variants restricted by the most common HLA alleles in the population did not change significantly during the epidemic. In contrast, we found a significant loss of CTL epitopes restricted by HLA-B alleles associated with a low relative hazard of HIV-1 disease progression during the epidemic. Such a loss was not observed for CTL epitopes restricted by HLA-A alleles. Conclusion:Despite the large degree of HLA polymorphism, HIV-1 has accumulated adaptations to CTL responses within 20 years of the epidemic. The fact that such adaptations are driven by the HLA-B molecules that provide best protection against HIV-1 disease progression has important implications for our understanding of HIV evolution.
An Efficient Method for Generating Transgenic Mice Using NaOH-Treated Spermatozoa1

Abstract Transgenic (Tg) animals are widely used in researching the characteristics of exogenous genes. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)-mediated transgenesis (ICSI-Tr) has been a useful method for generating Tg animals, especially in the mouse. However, the original methods using freeze-thawed spermatozoa showed severe chromosomal damage and low offspring rates after embryo transfer. Herein, we describe an improved method to generate Tg mice efficiently using a simple pretreatment of spermatozoa with 10 mM NaOH. These spermatozoa lost their plasma membrane and tail, while still maintaining nuclear integrity. Sperm heads were mixed with 0.5–5 ng/μl of the transgene for enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) for 3 min to 1 h at room temperature and were then microinjected into oocytes by ICSI. The best results were obtained when treated spermatozoa were incubated with 2 ng/μl of EGFP for 10 min; 55.6% of injected embryos developed to the blastocyst stage, and more than half (56.9%) of them displayed EGFP fluorescence. Under these conditions, 12 pups of 34 offspring were positive for the transgene after transfer at the 2-cell stage into pseudopregnant recipient mice (a high rate [10.2%] from manipulated embryos). This method was found to be suitable for hybrid and inbred strains of mouse such as C57BL/6 and 129X1/Sv. Thus, a simple sperm pretreatment with NaOH before ICSI-Tr resulted in an efficient insertion of an exogenous gene into the host genome. This method allows for easy production of Tg mice, requiring fewer oocytes for micromanipulation than classical methods.
The Application of a Modified Differential Evolution Strategy to Some Array Pattern Synthesis Problems

A high convergence rate and a robust exploration ability constitute a contradiction in modern heuristic optimization techniques. This paper describes a modified differential evolution strategy (MDES) that builds up a balanced relationship between the two contradictive elements by introducing several modifications into the conventional differential evolution strategy (DES). The novel MDES opens up an effective and robust approach for global optimization problems. Several representative mathematical functions are minimized using various optimization methods and the convergence rates are compared to evaluate the performance of MDES. Moreover, array synthesis examples which can be formulated as non-convex problems are presented, including the optimal synthesis of sum and difference patterns and the synthesis of unequally spaced arrays. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed approach improves the performance of the algorithm significantly, in terms of both the convergence rate and the exploration ability.
GLYCOGEN CONTENT AND CONTRACTILE RESPONSIVENESS TO T‐SYSTEM DEPOLARIZATION IN SKINNED MUSCLE FIBRES OF THE RAT

1. Glycogen content (determined microfluorometrically), response capacity to transverse tubular (T) system depolarization and the relationship between these two parameters were examined in single, mechanically skinned fibres from rat extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle in the presence of high and constant concentrations of ATP and creatine phosphate.
Long range wideband channel measurements at 81–86 GHz frequency range

This paper presents a long range channel measurement system at 81–86 GHz frequency range along with initial channel characterization results. The measurement system enables channel measurements with link distances of several hundreds of meters. It utilizes a synthesizer sweeper and a frequency multiplier in the transmitter and the signal is measured in the receiver after a mixer with a vector network analyzer. As the long measurement distance requirement limits the usage of cables between the transmitter and receiver, only amplitude information is acquired from the channel. Instead, the phase information is acquired from the amplitude of the received signal using Hubert transformation. The channel measurements were performed in two different scenarios which were roof-to-street and street canyon measurement. The results reveal that 1) the measurement system operated well with link distances up to 685 m, 2) the repeatability of the measurement system is very good, and 3) according to the measurement results the line of sight component is dominant in the radio channel and the first multipath component at least 20 dB lower than the line of sight component.
COMPARISON OF TRANSIENT AND STEADY‐STATE METHODS *

Transient stimuli follow each other a t sufficiently long intervals that the visual system returns to its initial state before the next stimulus occurs. Steady-state stimuli are delivered at a greater rate, so that the response to one stimulus has not died away before the next stimulus is delivered. Transient stimulation gradually changes into steady-state stimulation over a range of stimulus repetition rates. The minimum stimulation rate for steady-state stimulation is the lowest rate for which appreciable overlap occurs between the response to one stimulus and the Occurrence of the next stimulus. This rate is different for different types of stimuli. For a linear system the transient response has a fixed relationship to the steady-state response. Consequently, transient and steady-state descriptions of a linear system’s behavior are equivalent, and can be regarded as alternative formulations of the same data. However, the visual and auditory pathways commonly show several types of nonlinear behavior. For example, when successive responses run into each other they may not summate even approximately linearly. In principle, therefore, transient and steady-state stimulation can produce responses that provide complementary information about the sensory system under test. However, this possibility has so far been little exploited. At the present time, the chief practical distinction between transient and steady-state evoked potentials lies in the trade-off of speed versus information. As discussed below, recording steady-state evoked potentials can be much speedier than recording transient evoked potentials, and can be accomplished for much lower signal levels even in adverse environments. For example, mains interference is usually no problem when recording steady-state evoked potentials, but care must be taken to minimize it when recording transient evoked potentials. The price that must be paid for these advantages is that, over a given recording time, steady-state evoked potentials provide less information than transient evoked potentials. As described below, steady-state evoked potentials can be quantified in a less arbitrary manner than transient evoked potentials. Steady-state evoked potentials can be split up into a small number of harmonic frequency components, each recorded by a separate Fourier analyzer. A Fourier analyzer’s output is equivalent to two numbers (namely, amplitude and phase), and these are quite unequivocal. In contrast, describing and measuring a transient evoked potential may not be straightforward, especially when the waveform is unusual or complex (FIGURE 2 illustrates one of the many problems). In such situations different experimenters may measure transient evoked potentials quite differently, may disagree as to whether an evoked potential is normal or abnormal, and may even disagree as to whether an evoked potential is
A Fuzzy method for the identification of the sources producing harmonic pollution in the electric network

The problem of identifying the sources injecting periodic disturbances in the electric systems is a critical point in the assessment of the electric Power Quality. The available methods, based on a deterministic approach, do not always provide correct results under the different possible operating conditions. This paper proposes an innovative method, based on a Fuzzy inference and shows significant simulation results.
Effect of long‐term nebulized colistin on lung function and quality of life in patients with chronic bronchial sepsis

Recurrent Gram‐negative bacterial infection is a significant cause of death in patients with bronchiectasis and severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Nebulized colistin in cystic fibrosis has shown maintenance of pulmonary function and improved symptom scores. We prospectively followed 18 patients with chronic bronchial sepsis treated with nebulized colistin 30 mg daily. Mean decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 s was significantly slower following commencement of inhaled colistin (44 mL/year vs 104 mL/year, P = 0.035). Mean decline in forced vital capacity was also significantly slower following commencement of colistin (48 mL/year vs 110 mL/year, P = 0.033). Patient‐reported quality of life improved following commencement of colistin (3.6 vs 6.2, P = 0.001). No patient had isolates resistant to colistin. No side‐effects were reported by patients in the cohort. Use of inhaled colistin in the treatment of bronchiectasis and severe (COPD) in patients with recurrent Gram‐negative infections is safe. Inhaled colistin may improve quality of life and slow decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced vital capacity.
Assessing Interventions to Reduce the Risk of Campylobacter Prevalence in Broilers

As part of a comprehensive risk assessment on the Campylobacter prevalence in the chicken production chain (from young born chicken till chicken fillet) in the Netherlands, we formulated a quantitative model on the transmission dynamics of Campylobacter at Dutch broiler farms. This model is used to quantify the risk of Campylobacter prevalence in broilers at the time that flocks leave the farm for processing. To this end, we assumed that the Campylobacter prevalence is primarily determined by two parameters, that is, the within‐ and between‐flock transmission. The within‐flock transmission was assessed fitting experimental data to a logistic growth model and the between‐flock transmission was assessed fitting field data to a generalized linear model (GLM), which included three possible infection routes: (1) via an infected flock in the previous cycle, (2) via other infected flocks present on the farm, and (3) from other sources. This model was applied to assess the efficacy of three control scenarios; (1) a ban on other livestock on broiler farms, (2) a ban on thinning, and (3) a reduction of the between‐flock transmission. In contrast to the other scenarios, the third one was shown to be most effective. Theoretically, this is accomplished by improved biosecurity. However, the impact of improved biosecurity cannot be specified into specific control measures, and therefore it is not clear what investments are needed. Finally, we also assessed the efficacy of scheduled treatment, that is, fresh meat production solely from test‐negative flocks. We found that the reliability of negative test results, which is crucial, strongly depends on the length of time between testing and slaughter. The sensitivity and specificity of the test appeared to be of minor importance.
Impact on clinical events and healthcare costs of adding telemedicine to multidisciplinary disease management programmes for heart failure: Results of a randomized controlled trial

Background The role of telemedicine in the management of patients with chronic heart failure (HF) has not been fully elucidated. We hypothesized that multidisciplinary comprehensive HF care could achieve better results when it is delivered using telemedicine. Methods and results In this study, 178 eligible patients with HF were randomized to either structured follow-up on the basis of face-to-face encounters (control group, 97 patients) or delivering health care using telemedicine (81 patients). Telemedicine included daily signs and symptoms based on telemonitoring and structured follow-up by means of video or audio-conference. The primary end-point was non-fatal HF events after six months of follow-up. The median age of the patients was 77 years, 41% were female, and 25% were frail patients. The hazard ratio for the primary end-point was 0.35 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.20–0.59; p-value < 0.001) in favour of telemedicine. HF readmission (hazard ratio 0.39 (0.19–0.77); p-value=0.007) and cardiovascular readmission (hazard ratio 0.43 (0.23–0.80); p-value=0.008) were also reduced in the telemedicine group. Mortality was similar in both groups (telemedicine: 6.2% vs control: 12.4%, p-value > 0.05). The telemedicine group experienced a significant mean net reduction in direct hospital costs of €3546 per patient per six months of follow-up. Conclusions Among patients managed in the setting of a comprehensive HF programme, the addition of telemedicine may result in better outcomes and reduction of costs.
Enjoyment of Mediated Fright and Violence: A Meta-Analysis

In this meta-analysis, we synthesized data from published journal articles that investigated viewers' enjoyment of fright and violence. Given the limited research on this topic, this analysis was primarily a way of summarizing the current state of knowledge and developing directions for future research. The studies selected (a) examined frightening or violent media content; (b) used self-report measures of enjoyment or preference for such content (the dependent variable); and (c) included independent variables that were given theoretical consideration in the literature. The independent variables examined were negative affect and arousal during viewing, empathy, sensation seeking, aggressiveness, and the respondents' gender and age. The analysis confirmed that male viewers, individuals lower in empathy, and those higher in sensation seeking and aggressiveness reported more enjoyment of fright and violence. Some support emerged for Zillmann's (1980, 1996) model of suspense enjoyment. Overall, the results demonstrate the importance of considering how viewers interpret or appraise their reactions to fright and violence. However, the studies were so diverse in design and measurement methods that it was difficult to identify the underlying processes. Suggestions are proposed for future research that will move toward the integration of separate lines of inquiry in a unified approach to understanding entertainment.
Genetic analysis of the floral initiation process (FLIP) in Arabidopsis

Within the Arabidopsis inflorescence, two distinct developmental phases exist. The early inflorescence phase is characterized by nodes bearing coflorescences and leaves, and the late inflorescence phase by nodes bearing flowers. Four genes, TERMINAL FLOWER 1, LEAFY, APETALA1 and APETALA2 are necessary to initiate the switch from formation of early to formation of late inflorescence nodes at the appropriate time. We have investigated the relative roles of these genes in development by isolating and characterizing new alleles of TERMINAL FLOWER 1, LEAFY and APETALA1, and by constructing double mutants to test gene interactions. We suggest that the TERMINAL FLOWER 1 gene product is part of a mechanism that controls the timing of phase- switching in Arabidopsis. We propose that this mechanism involves factor(s) whose activity changes in response to shoot development and environmental variation. TERMINAL FLOWER 1 influences phase transitions in Arabidopsis, and appears to regulate the timing of expression of LEAFY, APETALA1 and APETALA2. LEAFY, APETALA1 and APETALA2 have partially redundant functions in initiating the floral program. In the absence of any one of the three genes, there is a gradual transition from coflorescence to flower-like lateral shoots. This suggests that (1) LEAFY, APETALA1 and APETALA2 are required in combination to ensure that the floral program is initiated rapidly and completely and (2) in the absence of one of the three genes, the others are activated slowly in response to the mechanism controlling timing of phase switching. Besides their role in establishing the floral program, phenotypes of flower-like lateral shoots in mutant inflorescences suggest that all three, LEAFY, APETALA1 and APETALA2, influence expression of whorl identity genes. Loss of LEAFY results in decreased Class B gene expression, as well as altered expression patterns of Class A and Class C genes. In the absence of either APETALA2 or APETALA1, reproductive organs develop in the perianth whorls, suggesting that both genes should be considered Class A organ identity genes, restricting Class C gene expression to inner whorls.