Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding the effects of stress and alcohol cues on motivation for alcohol via behavioral economics.

BACKGROUND Psychological stress and alcohol cues are common antecedents of both ongoing drinking and relapse. One candidate mechanism of risk from these factors is acute increases in craving, but experimental support for this hypothesis is mixed. Furthermore, the combination of stress and cues has been largely unstudied. The current study employed a behavioral economic approach to investigate the combined roles of psychosocial stress and alcohol cues on motivation for alcohol. METHODS In a sample of 84 adult heavy drinkers, we examined the effects of an acute laboratory stress induction and an alcohol cue exposure on subjective craving and stress, arousal, and behavioral economic decision making. Primary dependent measures included an intertemporal cross-commodity multiple-choice procedure (ICCMCP), incorporating both price and delay elements, an alcohol purchase task (APT), measuring alcohol demand, and a monetary delay discounting task, measuring intertemporal choice. RESULTS The stress induction significantly increased stress, craving, and the incentive value of alcohol on the ICCMCP and APT. Stress-related increases in value on the ICCMCP were mediated by increased alcohol demand. Exposure to alcohol cues only significantly affected craving, APT breakpoint, and arousal. Delay discounting was not affected by either stress or cues. CONCLUSIONS These results reveal unique behavioral economic dimensions of motivation for alcohol following acute stress and an alcohol cue exposure. More broadly, as the first application of this approach to understanding the role of stress in drug motivation, these findings support its utility and potential in future applications.
Pseudomonas cepacia susceptibility to sulbactam

For 25 of 32 Pseudomonas cepacia isolates, predominantly from sputum of adult patients, agar dilution MICs of sulbactam were 2.5 micrograms/ml, and for only one was the MIC more than 80 micrograms/ml. Susceptibility was reliably predicted by response to a commercial sulbactam-ampicillin disk.
Lycorine is a novel inhibitor of the growth and metastasis of hormone-refractory prostate cancer

Lycorine, a natural alkaloid extracted from the Amaryllidaceae plant family, has been reported to exhibit a wide range of physiological effects, including the potential effect against cancer. However, the anti-prostate cancer (PCa) efficacy of Lycorine remains unrevealed. In this context, we figured out Lycorine's anti-proliferative and anti-migratory properties for PCa treatment. Lycorine inhibited proliferation of various PCa cell lines, induced cell apoptosis and cell death. Here we showed that Lycorine decreased proliferation, migration, invasion, survival and EMT of prostate cancer cell lines. Subcutaneous and orthotopic xenotransplantations by ectopic implantation of the human hormone-refractory PC-3M-luc cells were used to confirm in vivo anticancer effects of Lycorine. Lycorine inhibited both growth and metastasis in multiple organs (liver, lung, kidney, spleen and bone) in vivo and improved mice survival. Lycorine prevented EGF-induced JAK/STAT signaling. Importantly, anti-cancer effects of Lycorine were dependent on STAT expression. We suggest that Lycorine is a potential therapeutic in prostate cancer.
Hormonal predictors of prostate cancer: a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE Although there is strong circumstantial evidence that androgens are implicated in the etiology of prostate cancer, epidemiologic investigations have failed to demonstrate consistently that one or more steroid hormones are implicated. In contrast, recent epidemiologic studies unequivocally link serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels with risk for prostate cancer. METHODS We have performed the first meta-analysis of all previously published studies on hormonal predictors of risk for prostate cancer. RESULTS A meta-analysis restricted to studies that performed mutual adjustment for all measured serum hormones, age, and body mass index indicated that men whose total testosterone is in the highest quartile are 2.34 times more likely to develop prostate cancer (95% confidence interval, 1.30 to 4.20). In contrast, levels of dihydrotestosterone and estradiol do not seem to play a role of equal importance. The only study that provides multivariably adjusted sex hormone-binding globulin data indicates that this binding protein is inversely related to prostate cancer risk (odds ratio, 0.46; 95% confidence interval, 0.24 to 0.89). Finally, all three studies that examined the role of serum IGF-1 have consistently demonstrated a positive and significant association with prostate cancer risk that is similar in magnitude to that of testosterone. CONCLUSION Men with either serum testosterone or IGF-1 levels in upper quartile of the population distribution have an approximately two-fold higher risk for developing prostate cancer.
Determination of oxidative stress in vitiligo by measuring superoxide dismutase and catalase levels in vitiliginous and non-vitiliginous skin.

BACKGROUND Vitiligo is an acquired disorder characterized by circumscribed depigmented macules devoid of identifiable melanocytes. Complex genetic, immunological, neural and self destructive mechanisms interplay in its pathogenesis. According to autocytotoxic hypothesis, oxidative stress has been suggested to be the initial pathogenic event in melanocyte degeneration. AIMS The aim of our investigation was to evaluate the role of oxidative stress by measuring levels of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in lesional and normal skin of patients with vitiligo and in the skin of normal controls. METHODS We determined the activity of SOD in lesional and non-lesional skin and CAT in lesional skin only of 25 vitiligo patients and 25 controls by using the spectrophotometric assay and Aebi's method, respectively. RESULTS There was statistically significant increase in the levels of SOD in vitiliginous and non vitiliginous skin of patient group compared to the control group (P < 0.001). No significant difference was found between the levels of SOD in lesional skin and non-lesional skin of vitiligo patients. The levels of CAT in the skin of patients were found to be significantly lower than those of controls (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS There is increased oxidative stress in vitiligo as is indicated by high levels of SOD and low levels of CAT in the skin of vitiligo patients.
Modeling Multivariate Binary Responses with Multiple Levels of Nesting Based on Alternating Logistic Regressions: an Application to Caries Aggregation

Clustered binary responses are commonly encountered in dental research. Data analysis may include modeling both the marginal response probabilities (i.e., risk) and the dependence structure between pairs of responses (i.e., aggregation). While second-order generalized estimating equations (GEE2) is a well-known approach for such data, alternating logistic regressions (ALR) is a computationally efficient alternative method, especially for large clusters. We illustrate ALR with an application to caries aggregation using a dataset with 3 levels of nesting: tooth surfaces within an interproximal (IP) region, IP regions within a jaw, and jaws within a subject. Caries lesions appear to aggregate strongly within subjects with a spatially distributed risk. The minimum within-IP-region odds ratio (OR) was 2.25 (95% confidence interval 1.15, 4.41), and the within-IP-region ORs were always greater than the between-IP-region ORs. ALR is a convenient and useful regression technique for explicit modeling of the dependence structure, and may be applicable to other dental research problems involving clustered or nested responses.
IL-33 Exacerbates Eosinophil-Mediated Airway Inflammation

IL-33 has emerged as an important mediator in the immunopathogenesis of allergy and asthma. However, the role of IL-33 in eosinophil-mediated inflammation has not been fully explored. In this article, we report that IL-33 directly stimulates eosinophil differentiation from CD117+ progenitors in an IL-5–dependent manner. Although resting eosinophils expressed moderate levels of the IL-33R α-chain (ST2L), eosinophils that accumulated in the airways of mice with OVA-induced asthma expressed increased amounts of ST2L. In vitro, IL-33 and GM-CSF are potent inducers of ST2L expression on eosinophils, and IL-33 induced the production of IL-13, CCL17, and TGF-β by eosinophils. In adoptive-transfer experiments, IL-33 exacerbated eosinophil-mediated airway inflammation by increasing the levels of eosinophils, macrophages, lymphocytes, IL-13, TGF-β, CCL3, CCL17, and CCL24 in the lungs. IL-33 also enhanced the eosinophil-mediated differentiation of airway macrophages toward the alternatively activated macrophage phenotype in an IL-13–dependent manner. Taken together, this study demonstrates that the IL-33/ST2 signaling pathway activates airway eosinophils that exacerbate airway inflammation in an autocrine and paracrine manner.
Détection des positions de la battue dans les signaux musicaux à l ’ aide de la matrice “ Delta-Phase ”

Nous proposons un algorithme simple mais efficace pour la détection des positions de la battue dans les signaux musicaux. Le concept de matrice “DeltaPhase” est présenté. Il s’agit de représenter l’évolution de la phase de la battue par rapport à la période correspondant à un tempo estimé au préalable. Le chemin optimal dans la matrice “delta-phase” est déterminé grâce à de la programmation dynamique, afin de s’assurer d’obtenir une battue relativement régulière. Le nombre d’erreur de phase est minimisé par un choix judicieux de périodes candidates. L’algorithme proposé est évalué sur une base de données contenant 474 extraits musicaux, couvrant divers genres. Nous obtenons des résultats du niveau de, voire supérieurs à, l’état de l’art. BEAT TRACKING USING THE DELTA-PHASE MATRIX Jan Weil, Thomas Sikora Technische Universität Berlin lastname@nue.tu-berlin.de Jean-Louis Durrieu, Gaël Richard Institut Télécom; Télécom ParisTech; CNRS LTCI firstname.lastname@telecom-paristech.fr
Gallbladder selection for histopathological analysis based on a simple method: a prospective comparative study.

INTRODUCTION After a cholecystectomy, the current and traditional practice is to send each resected gallbladder to the pathologist for analysis. Some reports have suggested the possibility of selecting only those gallbladders that need to be analysed. The purpose of this study was to show a simple method for selecting which gallbladders should be sent to the pathologist. METHODS A prospective comparative study was carried out. Two 'tests' were performed in 150 patients to detect or rule out gallbladder cancer. The first test included the patient's variables and a macroscopic gallbladder analysis performed by the surgeon (MGAS). The second test was the analysis performed by the pathologist. The results were compared. RESULTS Of the 150 patients, 132 were women and 18 men; 130 were under 60 years old. One patient had inflammatory bowel disease, seven had changes on ultrasonography and in four cases intra-operative disturbances were observed. During the MGAS, disturbances were found in 30 patients. Eighty-one cases (54%) had at least one or more risk factors for gallbladder cancer.
Functional conservations of the alkaline nuclease of herpes simplex type 1 and human cytomegalovirus.

The herpes simplex virus type 1 UL12 gene product, alkaline nuclease (AN), appears to be involved in viral DNA processing and capsid egress from the nucleus (Shao, L., Rapp, L. M., and Weller, S. K., Virology 196, 146-162, 1993). Although the HSV-1 AN is not absolutely essential for viral replication in tissue culture, conservation of the AN gene in all herpesviruses suggests an important role in the life cycle of herpesviruses. The counterpart of HSV-1 AN for human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the UL98 gene product. To examine whether the HCMV AN could substitute for HSV-1 AN, we performed trans-complementation experiments using a HSV-1 amplicon plasmid carrying the HCMV UL98 gene. Our results indicate (i) HCMV AN can complement the growth of the HSV-1 AN deletion mutant UL12lacZ virus in trans; (ii) a new recombinant virus, UL12laZcUL98/99, appears to be generated by the integration of the HCMV UL98 gene into the HSV-1 UL12lacZ viral genome; (iii) in contrast to its parental HSV-1 UL12lacZ virus, capsids formed in UL12lacZUL98/99-infected Vero cells were able to transport from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and mature into infectious viruses. Our results demonstrate a functional conservation of AN between HSV-1 and HCMV.
Properties and applications of the annular filtration on Khovanov homology

The first part of this thesis is on properties of annular Khovanov homology. We prove a connection between the Euler characteristic of annular Khovanov homology and the classical Burau representation for closed braids. This yields a straightforward method for distinguishing, in some cases, the annular Khovanov homologies of two closed braids. As a corollary, we obtain the main result of the first project: that annular Khovanov homology is not invariant under a certain type of mutation on closed braids that we call axis-preserving. The second project is joint work with Adam Saltz. Plamenevskaya showed in 2006 that the homology class of a certain distinguished element in Khovanov homology is an invariant of transverse links. In this project we define an annular refinement of this element, , and show that while  is not an invariant of transverse links, it is a conjugacy class invariant of braids. We first discuss examples that show that  is non-trivial. We then prove applications of  relating to braid stabilization and spectral sequences, and we prove that  provides a new solution to the word problem in the braid group. Finally, we discuss definitions and properties of  in the reduced setting.
Looking Forward: Toward an Understanding of the Nature and Definition of IT Acceptance

In the past two decades the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has successfully catalyzed a large number of studies related to IT usage or intentions toward that usage. However, we argue that the focus of these studies has been on a narrow aspect of usage (typically, extent or frequency of use). Moreover, we suggest that, these studies implicitly include the notion that “IT acceptance” be construed as simply the relationship between antecedent factors such as perceived usefulness and ease of use that target or predict that particular type of intention connected to amount of IT usage. Rather than continuing studies for additional antecedents or contexts that moderate this particular mode of use, we suggest a reflexive pause regarding the notion of IT acceptance itself. Specifically, we encourage broadening our understanding of IT acceptance toward a wider constellation of behavioral usage and its psychological counterparts. Other aspects of usage behavior or post hoc usage evaluation such as infusion, routinization, substantive use, exploitive usage, or faithfulness of appropriation have recently emerged and will likely require/involve other psychological notions of acceptance (Sundaram et al, forthcoming; Jones et al. 2002; Jasperson et al. 2005; Burton-Jones and Straub, 2006; Chin, et al. 1997). The call for this expansion is only made more salient by recent studies that indicate that the traditional TAM antecedents do not necessarily relate to these other forms of usage (Jones et al. 2002) and, furthermore, that these alternative notions of usage such as routinization or infusion may have stronger connection to performance outcomes (Sundaram et al., forthcoming).
Increased O-linked &bgr;-N-acetylglucosamine levels on proteins improves survival, reduces inflammation and organ damage 24 hours after trauma-hemorrhage in rats

Objective: To evaluate the effects of O-linked &bgr;-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) levels on survival, inflammation, and organ damage 24 hrs after trauma-hemorrhage. We have previously shown that increasing protein O-GlcNAc levels by different mechanisms reduced inflammatory responses and improved organ function 2 hrs after trauma-hemorrhage. Design: Prospective, randomized, controlled study. Setting: Animal research laboratory. Subjects: Male, adult Sprague-Dawley rats. Interventions: Overnight fasted animals were subjected to either sham surgery or trauma-hemorrhage and during the resuscitation phase received glucosamine (270 mg/kg) to increase O-GlcNAc synthesis or O-(2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranosylidene) amino N-phenyl carbamate (PUGNAc, 7 mg/kg) to inhibit O-GlcNAc removal, or mannitol as control. Measurements and Main Results: Survival was followed up for 24 hrs. Surviving rats were euthanized and inflammatory responses, and end organ injuries were assessed. Both glucosamine and PUGNAc increased 24-hr survival compared with controls (control: 53%, GN: 85%, PUGNAc: 86%, log-rank test, p < .05). PUGNAc attenuated the trauma-hemorrhage-induced increase in serum interleukin-6 (sham surgery: 8 ± 6, control: 181 ± 36, PUGNAc: 42 ± 22 pg/mL, p < .05), alanine transaminase (sham surgery: 95 ± 14, control: 297 ± 56, PUGNAc: 126 ± 21 IU, p < .05), aspartate transaminase (sham surgery: 536 ± 110, control: 1661 ± 215, PUGNAc: 897 ± 155 IU, p < .05), and lactate dehydrogenase (sham surgery: 160 ± 18, control: 1499 ± 311, PUGNAc: 357 ± 99 IU, p < .05); however, glucosamine had no effect on these serum parameters. Furthermore, PUGNAc but not glucosamine maintained O-GlcNAc levels in liver and lung and significantly attenuated the NF-&kgr;B DNA activation in the liver. In the liver and heart, increased inducible nitric oxide synthase expression was also attenuated in the PUGNAc-treated group. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that increasing O-GlcNAc with either glucosamine or PUGNAc improved 24-hr survival after trauma-hemorrhage. However, only PUGNAc treatment attenuated significantly the subsequent tissue injury and inflammatory responses, suggesting that inhibition of O-GlcNAc removal may represent a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of hypovolemic shock.
Protein and the critically ill; do we know what to give?

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended that nutrition support in seriously-ill or injured patients should start at ⩽50% of the estimated target energy and protein needs. This recommendation has caused some concern, since taking the NICE approach leads to these sick individuals receiving an initial N provision of only ⩽0·12 g N/kg per d, as opposed to levels of approximately 0·25 g N/kg per d that have been widely recommended by other expert groups. The basis of the recommendation for higher levels of N provision is that feeding at levels of ≥0·25 g N/kg per d reduces the inevitable net N loss of catabolism and hence minimises overall lean tissue wasting. However, although it has always been assumed that better N balance must equate with better outcome, there are teleological arguments that question the wisdom of providing more N to sicker patients and studies that imply that best N balance might not equate with best clinical progress. Furthermore, current evidence suggests that in most critical illness low initial intakes of both energy and N lead to improved survival. It therefore seems logical to aim, in the first instance, to feed the seriously ill at only modest levels. Further research is required to determine whether lower-energy higher-N feeding would prove better or worse than this approach in terms of clinical benefit rather than just better N retention. Investigations to explore the use of feeds that are specifically designed to match the amino acid needs of illness are also required.
The Picture Theory of Mental Images

The view that mental images are significantly picture-like (hereafter the picture theory) has a long and distinguished philosophical history, including among its adherents such diverse philosophers as Aristotle, Descartes, and Locke. ' Despite its widespread acceptance, the picture theory of mental images was left largely unexplained in the traditional philosophical literature. Admittedly most of those who accepted the theory held that mental images copy or resemble what they represent. But little more was said. The picture theory has become less popular in philosophy in recent years in part because it has been recognized that the claim that mental images are pictorial is really very puzzling. After all, mental images are not viewed with real eyes. They cannot be hung on real walls. They have no objective weight or color. A related reason for the diminishing support of the picture theory is that it is now widely acknowledged that a simple appeal to resemblance will not illuminate the basic thesis, since everything resembles everything in some respect or other. Moreover, it is of no real help to say that mental images closely resemble the objects that they represent, unless some account is supplied of the shared characteristics in virtue of which there is such a resemblance. There are, I think, two further reasons for the decline of the picture theory in philosophy. The first of these is that the theory has seemed to rest primarily on the evidence afforded by introspection. And today introspection is taken to reveal a good deal less about the mind than was traditionally supposed. This attitude towards introspection has manifested itself in the case of imagery in the view that what introspection really shows about imagery is not that mental images are pictorial but only that what goes on in imagery is much like what goes on in seeing. Thus, a mental image
Tumor R2* is a prognostic indicator of acute radiotherapeutic response in rodent tumors

To test the prognostic potential of tumor R2* with respect to radiotherapeutic outcome. Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) MRI images are sensitive to changes in deoxyhemoglobin concentration through the transverse MRI relaxation rate R2* of tissue water, hence the quantitative measurement of tumor R2* may be related to tissue oxygenation.
Quantitative MRI of cartilage and bone: degenerative changes in osteoarthritis

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and quantitative image analysis technology has recently started to generate a great wealth of quantitative information on articular cartilage and bone physiology, pathophysiology and degenerative changes in osteoarthritis. This paper reviews semiquantitative scoring of changes of articular tissues (e.g. WORMS = whole‐organ MRI scoring or KOSS = knee osteoarthritis scoring system), quantification of cartilage morphology (e.g. volume and thickness), quantitative measurements of cartilage composition (e.g. T2, T1rho, T1Gd = dGEMRIC index) and quantitative measurement of bone structure (e.g. app. BV/TV, app. TbTh, app. Tb.N, app. Tb.Sp) in osteoarthritis. For each of these fields we describe the hardware and MRI sequences available, the image analysis systems and techniques used to derive semiquantitative and quantitative parameters, the technical accuracy and precision of the measurements reported to date and current results from cross‐sectional and longitudinal studies in osteoarthritis. Moreover, the paper summarizes studies that have compared MRI‐based measurements with radiography and discusses future perspectives of quantitative MRI in osteoarthritis. In summary, the above methodologies show great promise for elucidating the pathophysiology of various tissues and identifying risk factors of osteoarthritis, for developing structure modifying drugs (DMOADs) and for combating osteoarthritis with new and better therapy. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.