Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preclinical studies of opioids and opioid antagonists on gastrointestinal function

Opioid receptors in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract mediate the effects of endogenous opioid peptides and exogenously administered opioid analgesics, on a variety of physiological functions associated with motility, secretion and visceral pain. The studies reviewed or reported here describe a range of in vivo activities of opioid receptor antagonists upon GI function in rodents, focusing on µ receptors. Naloxone, and the peripherally acting µ‐opioid receptor antagonists alvimopan and methylnaltrexone, reverse morphine‐induced inhibition of GI transit in mice and rats, and morphine‐ or loperamide‐induced inhibition of castor oil‐induced diarrhoea in mice. At doses producing maximal reversal of morphine‐induced effects upon GI transit, only the central nervous system (CNS) penetrant antagonist naloxone was able to reverse morphine‐induced analgesia. Both central and peripheral opioid antagonists may affect GI function and/or visceromotor sensitivity in the absence of exogenous opioid analgesics, suggesting a constitutive role for endogenous opioid peptides in the control of GI physiology. Furthermore, in contrast to naloxone, alvimopan does not produce hypersensitivity to the visceromotor response induced by nociceptive levels of colorectal distension in a rodent model of postinflammatory colonic hypersensitivity, suggesting that in the periphery endogenous μ‐opioid receptor‐mediated mechanisms do not regulate colonic sensitivity. The data support the hypothesis that peripherally acting opioid antagonists may be able to selectively block opioid receptors in the GI tract, thereby preserving normal GI physiology, while not blocking the effects of endogenous opioid peptides or exogenous opioid analgesics in the CNS. These findings suggest that the primary sites of action of µ‐opioid agonists with respect to inhibition of GI function are in the periphery, whereas analgesic activity resides primarily in the CNS.
Eddy formation in obstructed fluid flow: A molecular-dynamics study.

L'ecoulement bidimensionnel autour d'un obstacle circulaire est simule au niveau microscopique a l'aide d'une approche de dynamique moleculaire. Pour des nombres de Reynolds suffisamment eleves le champ d'ecoulement presente des caracteristiques communes aux fluides reels en particulier l'apparition de tourbillons, des decollements de tourbillon et un sillage oscillatoire
Agar disk diffusion susceptibility characteristics of azlocillin, carbenicillin, mezlocillin, piperacillin, and ticarcillin

The agar disk diffusion susceptibility of Enterobacteriaceae to mezlocillin and piperacillin was correlated with agar minimal inhibitory concentrations and compared with the susceptibility to carbenicillin. The agar disk susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to azlocillin, mezlocillin, and piperacillin was correlated with agar minimal inhibitory concentrations and compared with the susceptibility to carbenicillin and ticarcillin. Criteria are offered for the zones of inhibition to provide information about resistant and susceptible isolates that correlate with known serum levels.
The Major Antenna Complex of Photosystem II Has a Xanthophyll Binding Site Not Involved in Light Harvesting*

We have characterized a xanthophyll binding site, called V1, in the major light harvesting complex of photosystem II, distinct from the three tightly binding sites previously described as L1, L2, and N1. Xanthophyll binding to the V1 site can be preserved upon solubilization of the chloroplast membranes with the mild detergent dodecyl-α-d-maltoside, while an IEF purification step completely removes the ligand. Surprisingly, spectroscopic analysis showed that when bound in this site, xanthophylls are unable to transfer absorbed light energy to chlorophyll a. Pigments bound to sites L1, L2, and N1, in contrast, readily transfer energy to chlorophyll a. This result suggests that this binding site is not directly involved in light harvesting function. When violaxanthin, which in normal conditions is the main carotenoid in this site, is depleted by the de-epoxidation in strong light, the site binds other xanthophyll species, including newly synthesized zeaxanthin, which does not induce detectable changes in the properties of the complex. It is proposed that this xanthophyll binding site represents a reservoir of readily available violaxanthin for the operation of the xanthophyll cycle in excess light conditions.
Silicene as a new potential DNA sequencing device

Silicene, a hexagonal buckled 2D allotrope of silicon, shows potential as a platform for numerous new applications, and may allow for easier integration with existing silicon-based microelectronics than graphene. Here, we show that silicene could function as an electrical DNA sequencing device. We investigated the stability of this novel nano-bio system, its electronic properties and the pronounced effects on the transverse electronic transport, i.e., changes in the transmission and the conductance caused by adsorption of each nucleobase, explored by us through the non-equilibrium Green’s function method. Intriguingly, despite the relatively weak interaction between nucleobases and silicene, significant changes in the transmittance at zero bias are predicted by us, in particular for the two nucleobases cytosine and guanine. Our findings suggest that silicene could be utilized as an integrated-circuit biosensor as part of a lab-on-a-chip device for DNA sequencing.
Understanding the Influence of Cybercrime Risk on the E-Service Adoption of European Internet Users

Cybercrime is a pervasive threat for today’s Internet-dependent society. While the real extent and economic impact is hard to quantify, scientists and officials agree that cybercrime is a huge and still growing problem. A substantial fraction of cybercrime’s overall costs to society can be traced to indirect opportunity costs, resulting from unused online services. This paper presents a theoretically derived model that utilizes technology acceptance research and insights from Criminology to identify factors that reduce Internet users’ intention to use online services. We hypothesize that avoidance of online banking, online shopping and online social networking is increased by prior cybercrime victimization and media reports. The effects are mediated by perceived risk of cybercrime and moderated by the user’s confidence online. We test our hypotheses using a structural equation modeling analysis of a representative pan-European sample. Our empirical results confirm the ∗Corresponding author.
Mechanical regulation of mesenchymal stem cell differentiation

Biophysical cues play a key role in directing the lineage commitment of mesenchymal stem cells or multipotent stromal cells (MSCs), but the mechanotransductive mechanisms at play are still not fully understood. This review article first describes the roles of both substrate mechanics (e.g. stiffness and topography) and extrinsic mechanical cues (e.g. fluid flow, compression, hydrostatic pressure, tension) on the differentiation of MSCs. A specific focus is placed on the role of such factors in regulating the osteogenic, chondrogenic, myogenic and adipogenic differentiation of MSCs. Next, the article focuses on the cellular components, specifically integrins, ion channels, focal adhesions and the cytoskeleton, hypothesized to be involved in MSC mechanotransduction. This review aims to illustrate the strides that have been made in elucidating how MSCs sense and respond to their mechanical environment, and also to identify areas where further research is needed.
Frequency of conversion to overt hypothyroidism in patients with and without subclinical hypothyroidism.

BACKGROUND Sub-clinical hypothyroidism (SCO) poses diagnostic and management difficulties for pathologists and clinicians. Cases of SCO are now diagnosed with increasing frequencies worldwide mainly because of availability of more sensitive methods for serum TSH, total T3 and free T4 assays. The rate of progression of SCO to overt hypothyroidism varies in different populations. Sub-clinical hypothyroidism has been suggested as a risk factor for hypothyroid complications. There is a need to identify and treat patients with SCO before they convert to overt hypothyroidism and develop complications. Objective was to compare the development of overt hypothyroidism in a cohort of patients of sub-clinical hypothyroidism and in subjects with normal thyroid function tests. METHODS It was Cohort study conducted at Department of Chemical Pathology and Endocrinology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi. Hundred patients of SCO and almost equal number of age and sex-matched subjects with normal Thyroid function test (TFT) were enrolled as healthy controls. Subclinical hypothyroid patients and controls were followed for a period of one year on six monthly bases. The patients were examined for signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism and serum TSH, total T3 and free T4 were estimated. The clinical history, physical examination and thyroid function tests were recorded on the pre-designed Performa. RESULTS Fourteen (14%) out of 100 cases of the SCO patients developed overt hypothyroidism, SCO had 2.8 times more risk for conversion to overt hypothyroidism as compared to healthy controls. Moreover female gender and initial levels of serum TSH were the most important predictors for conversion of SCO to overt hypothyroidism. CONCLUSION The frequency of conversion to overt hypothyroidism in SCO patients approaches 14% and was more commonly observed in female patients.
Review of Bolted Connection Monitoring

This paper reviews the research of monitoring technologies for bolted structural connections. The acoustoelastic effect based method, the piezoelectric active sensing method, and the piezoelectric impedance method are the three commonly used to monitor bolted connections. The basic principle and the applications of these three methods are discussed in detail in this paper. In addition, this paper presents a comparison of these methods and discusses their suitability for in situ or real-time bolt connection monitoring.
The Effect of Physiotherapy on Standing Balance in Chronic Anterior Cruciate Ligament Insufficiency

Body sway movements in the frontal plane in a single- limbed stance test were used to assess postural control in 26 patients with chronic anterior cruciate ligament insufficiency. The injured and the noninjured legs were tested before the patients were committed to physio therapy for 3 to 6 months. Follow-up tests were made after 3, 12, and 36 months. Significant disturbance of the balance of both legs was found before training, com pared with a reference group of normal subjects. Values of the noninjured leg were normalized after 3 months of training, but the injured leg still showed an increased body sway. Normal balance parameters on the injured side were found at examination after 12 months. Follow-up examination after 36 months proved persis tent normalization of the single-limbed balance on both sides.
Detailed Analysis of Patients with Bilateral Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries

To better understand anatomic and other possible pre disposing factors for anterior cruciate ligament injuries, we retrospectively studied 31 patients with noncontact, bilateral injuries of this ligament. The 31 patients were carefully matched by age, sex, height, weight, and ac tivity level with 23 control subjects who had no history of knee injury. All 54 subjects underwent a full clinical knee examination, joint hypermobility tests, a hamstring tightness assessment, a computerized tomography scan analysis, and a plain view radiographic analysis, and were asked to provide a complete immediate-family history of knee ligament injury. In addition, the 31 pa tients in the experimental group underwent a KT-1000 arthrometer knee laxity examination and were also asked to provide an injury profile, including mechanism of injury, treatment received for each injury, and the time interval between injuries. Measurements obtained from the computerized tomography scan analysis demon strated a significantly wider lateral femoral condyle in the experimental group compared with the control group, indicating that certain anatomic factors may pre dispose people to anterior cruciate ligament injury. A significant difference was also found in the incidence rate of anterior cruciate ligament injury in the family his tory of the experimental group compared with the con trol group, indicating a possible congenital aspect of this injury.
Elucidating Mechanisms of Osteogenesis in Human Adipose-Derived Stromal Cells via Microarray Analysis

Introduction: The osteogenic potential of human adipose-derived stromal cells (hASCs), the ease of cell procurement, and the shortcomings of conventional skeletal reconstruction call for further analysis of the molecular mechanisms governing hASC osteogenic differentiation. We have examined the expression profile of the human transcriptome during osteogenic differentiation of ASCs using microarray. Subsequently, we analyzed those genes related to osteogenesis that have not been previously studied about hASCs. We have preliminarily assessed the role of IGFBP3, TGF-B3, TNC, CTGF, DKK-1, and PDGFRB in hASC osteogenic differentiation. Methods: We compared the expression profile of undifferentiated hASCs to that of hASCs treated with osteogenic differentiation medium for 1, 3, or 7 days using the Human Exonic Evidence-Based Oligonucleotide chip. Genes significantly overexpress or underexpressed were validated with quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The osteogenic capability of ASCs was verified by Alizarin Red staining. Results: IGFBP3, TGF-B3, TNC, CTGF, and PDGFRB were all upregulated in early osteogenesis, and TGF-B3, TNC, and PDGFRB were upregulated in late osteogenesis by microarray and quantitative reverse transcription analysis. In contrast, DKK-1 was downregulated in early and late osteogenesis. Alizarin Red staining showed a significant increase in mineralization in hASCs, even after 1 day in osteogenic differentiation medium. Conclusions: Factors that commit hASCs to an osteogenic pathway remain largely unknown. We have described 6 genes that play key roles in hASC osteogenic differentiation. We plan to further exploit these data via in vitro treatment of hASCs with these soluble cytokines and in vivo translation using a nude mouse calvarial defect model.
Trends in adolescent sexual behavior, impact of information, and attitudes about HIV/AIDS in Portugal

There is a recent decline in HIV in a significant number of countries due to the adoption of preventive sexual behaviors, which demonstrates that HIV reduction is possible. The goal of this research was to deepen knowledge of preventive sexual behavior in adolescents, including knowledge and attitudes about HIV/AIDS, and assessing whether they changed from 2002 to 2010. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire from the Portuguese sample of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children, a collaborative WHO study. The study provided national representative data of 10,587 Portuguese adolescents attending 8th and 10th grade. In terms of preventive behaviors, results showed an increasing trend regarding the percentage reporting first sexual intercourse at 14 years old or more and condom use at last intercourse and a stabilized trend concerning having had intercourse, contraceptive pill use at last intercourse and having had intercourse under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Nevertheless, results showed a systematic decreasing trend in terms of knowledge and attitudes. This suggested that sex education programs are still too limited to teaching sessions, strongly homogenized in their content and inadequate to enhance knowledge and attitudes regarding HIV, let alone personal and social skills of different target groups.
Molecular and Morphological Characterization of Aphelenchoides fuchsi sp. n. (Nematoda: Aphelenchoididae) Isolated from Pinus eldarica in Western Iran

Abstract Aphelenchoides fuchsi sp. n. is described and illustrated from bark and wood samples of a weakened Mondell pine in Kermanshah Province, western Iran. The new species has body length of 332 to 400 μm (females) and 365 to 395 μm (males). Lip region set off from body contour. The cuticle is weakly annulated, and there are four lines in the lateral field. The stylet is 8 to 10 μm long and has small basal swellings. The excretory pore is located ca one body diam. posterior to metacorpus valve or 51 to 62 μm from the head. The postuterine sac well developed (60–90 μm). Spicules are relatively short (15–16 μm in dorsal limb) with apex and rostrum rounded, well developed, and the end of the dorsal limb clearly curved ventrad like a hook. The male tail has usual three pairs of caudal papillae (2+2+2) and a well-developed mucro. The female tail is conical, terminating in a complicated step-like projection, usually with many tiny nodular protuberances. The new species belongs to the Group 2 sensu Shahina, category of Aphelenchoides species. Phylogenetic analysis based on small subunit (SSU) and partial large subunit (LSU) sequences of rRNA supported the morphological results.
Directed forgetting in the list method affects recognition memory for source

The effects of list-method directed forgetting on recognition memory were explored. In Experiment 1 (N = 40), observers were instructed to remember words and their type-cases; in Experiment 2 (N = 80), the instruction was to remember words and their colours. Two lists of 10 words were presented; after the first list, half of the observers (forget) were instructed to forget that list, and the other half (remember) were not given the forget instruction. Recognition of items (words) as well as source (encoding list + case/colour) was measured for forget and remember observers. The forget instruction affected case/colour memory more consistently than item and list memory; a multinomial analysis indicated that source information was affected by the forget instructions. The results indicated that recognition of source information may be a more sensitive indicator of forgetting than recognition of items.
Improvement of Self-regulated Learning in Mathematics through a Hypermedia Application: Differences based on Academic Performance and Previous Knowledge

Abstract Self-regulation on behalf of the student is crucial in learning Mathematics through hypermedia applications and is an even greater challenge in these IT environments. Two aims are formulated. First, to analyze the effectiveness of a hypermedia tool in improving perceived knowledge of self-regulatory strategies and the perceived usage of the planning, executing and assessment strategy on behalf of students with low, medium and high levels of academic performance. Second, to analyze the effectiveness of the hypermedia tool in improving perceived usage of the strategy for planning, monitoring and evaluating on behalf of students with a perceived knowledge (low, medium and high). Participants were 624 students (aged 10–13), classified into a treatment group (TG; 391) and a comparative group (CG; 233). They completed a questionnaire on perceived knowledge (Perceived Knowledge of Self-Regulatory Strategies) and another one on perceived usage of the strategy for planning, performing and evaluating (Inventory of Self-regulatory Learning Processes). Univariate covariance analyses (ANCOVAs) and Student-t tests were used. ANCOVA results were not statistically significant. However, the linear contrast indicated a significant improvement in perceived knowledge of strategies among the TG with low, medium and high academic performance (p ≤ .001). Results are discussed in the light of past and future research.
The absence of neuromuscular transmission failure in sustained maximal voluntary contractions.

1. Muscle mass action potentials (M waves) were evoked by supramaximal single shocks to the ulnar nerve given at 5‐10 s intervals throughout sustained isometric maximal voluntary contractions (m.v.c.) of the adductor pollicis and first dorsal interosseous muscles. Both muscles were fatigued simultaneously. Recordings were made from the muscle surface and also intramuscularly. 2. During a maximal contraction lasting for 60 s there was 30‐50% loss of force. No decline was observed in intramuscularly recorded M wave amplitude, while the areas of the total and half M wave forms increased due to a slowing in conduction velocity. The area measured over a fixed time period declined. No evidence was obtained that these M wave potentials were contaminated by electrical activity arising in adjacent muscles. The size of the single unit potentials appeared to remain unaltered during maximal voluntary activity. 3. We conclude that neuromuscular block is not a cause of force loss during this type of fatiguing voluntary contraction.
Definitive surgery for breast cancer performed on an outpatient basis.

OBJECTIVE More than 160,000 women will develop breast cancer in the United States during the next year. Traditionally, their definitive surgery has been performed on an inpatient basis, with postoperative hospital stays ranging from 1 to 7 days. DESIGN Retrospective review of cases and results. PATIENTS Two hundred twenty-one patients underwent 223 definitive surgical procedures for carcinoma of the breast, entirely on an outpatient basis, between September 1990 and June 1992. Operations included 31 modified radical mastectomies, 101 partial mastectomies with radical axillary node dissections, 11 total mastectomies, 69 partial mastectomies, and 11 radical axillary dissections. RESULTS There were no deaths, and no serious complications. No patient required hospitalization for any reason. There were no wound infections. Patient satisfaction was high, and compliance was excellent. CONCLUSIONS Most operations for carcinoma of the breast can be performed on an outpatient basis, without increasing the risk of complications.
Genetic risk factors for cerebral small-vessel disease in hypertensive patients from a genetically isolated population

Background Asymptomatic cerebral lesions on MRI such as white matter lesions (WML), lacunes and microbleeds are commonly seen in older people. We examined the role of a series of candidate genes involved in blood pressure regulation and amyloid metabolism. Materials and Methods The study was embedded in a family-based cohort sampled from a Dutch genetically isolated population. We selected individuals between 55 and 75 years of age with hypertension (N=129). Volumes of WML and presence of lacunes and microbleeds were assessed with MRI. We studied three genes involved in blood pressure regulation (angiotensin, angiotensin II type 1 receptor, α-adducin) and two genes involved in the amyloid pathway (apolipoprotein E (APOE) and sortilin-related receptor gene (SORL1)). Results All participants had WML (median volume, 3.1 ml; interquartile range, 1.5–6.5 ml); lacunar infarcts were present in 15.5% and microbleeds in 23.3%. Homozygosity for the APOE ε4 allele was associated with lacunes (OR, 4.8; 95% CI, 1.2 to 19.3). Individuals carrying two copies of the variant allele of four single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) located at the 3′-end of SORL1 (rs1699102, rs3824968, rs2282649, rs1010159) had significantly more often microbleeds (highest OR, 6.87; 95% CI, 1.78 to 26.44). Conclusion The association of SORL1 with microbleeds suggests that the amyloid cascade is involved in the aetiology of microbleeds in populations with hypertension.