Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Planning to Avoid Risk or Planning for a Positive Life

Following release from prison, offenders face a variety of challenges reintegrating back into the community. As a result, many high-risk offenders fail quickly. Research has shown that good quality release plans—plans to address offenders’ basic needs in the community—are related to reduced rates of recidivism during this risky time. But what makes a good plan? The current study examines release plan valence: whether plans are approach-oriented or avoidance-oriented. Although it was hypothesized that approach plans would be related to better outcomes, the results showed no relationship between release plan valence and reoffending rates. These results indicate that planning for a positive life and plans for risk management are equally important in reducing risk in the community.
Discovery of endogenous opioid systems: what it has meant for the clinician's understanding of pain and its treatment

Abstract Before the discovery of the endogenous opioid system in the 1970s, opioids were understood only through the lens of opioid drug effects. Opium produced sleep, pain relief, and addiction. Once a variety of opioids had been extracted from opium, and still others synthesized chemically, it became clear that there must be endogenous receptors to explain differential drug effects. So, the search was on to identify the receptors, and subsequently their endogenous ligands. Even then, the consequential ways in which the endogenous opioid system influences the way we respond to the environment and survive took time to unravel. Today's understanding extends far beyond simply accepting pain relief and addiction as separate processes, to the realization that the endogenous opioid system achieves constant adjustments between punishment (pain) and reward in communicating areas of the brain previously thought to subserve separate functions. The system also plays a crucial role in socialization. Taken together, these 2 lines of research have led to new insights into why the endogenous opioid system is so important in terms of evolution, individual survival and day-to-day function, and how important it is to consider opioid medications within the context of these critical natural functions.
Cellular localisation of the kinin B1R in the pancreas of streptozotocin-treated rat and the anti-diabetic effect of the antagonist SSR240612

Abstract The mechanism by which kinin B1 receptor (B1R) contributes to type 1 diabetes is addressed by determining the impact of its inhibition on diabetes and on its pancreatic expression and cellular localisation on immunocompetent cells and primary sensory C-fibres. Rats were made diabetic with streptozotocin (STZ). On day 4, they were treated daily for 7 days with a B1R antagonist (SSR240612, 10 mg/kg) or its vehicle. The surviving β-cells were measured by immunostaining. The expression of B1R, iNOS, TNF-α, macrophages, TCD4+, CGRP and TRPV1 was measured by Western blotting, qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence. Macrophages and TCD4+ lymphocytes were absent in control, but distributed abundantly in the pancreas of STZ-diabetic rats. B1R was upregulated on these immune cells infiltrating the diabetic rat pancreas while it was not expressed on primary sensory C-fibres even if the expression of TRPV1 and CGRP was enhanced. SSR240612 prevented the infiltration of macrophages and TCD4+ lymphocytes and the upregulation of B1R, iNOS, TNF-α and TRPV1. SSR240612 corrected hyperglycaemia and hypoinsulinaemia by improving the Langerhans islets survival or regeneration. It is concluded that kinin B1R antagonism exerts anti-diabetic action by preventing the infiltration of immune cells in the pancreas and by preserving the integrity of Langerhans islets β-cells.
Newborn hearing screening in the limiar clinic in Porto Velho Rondônia

Abstract With the universal hearing screening we can prevent auditory disorders in children. Aim To characterize the program of neonatal auditory screening into a population of neonates. Materials and Methods longitudinal cohort study. We surveyed the clinic's database on neonatal auditory screening in the city of Porto Velho, Rondônia. Results Among the 6,889 newborns in the database, 5,700 (82.7%) passed and 1,189 (17.3%) failed the first screening. Of the group which failed 900 (75.7 %) returned for retesting. Among these, 15 (0.22 %) newborns had hearing loss confirmed. The most prevalent was neural hearing loss with 46.7% confirmed cases; they had hyperbilirubinemia as the most prevalent risk factor. Conclusion hyperbilirubinemia was the most prevalent risk factor found in the group of hearing impaired children. The prevalence of hearing loss was of 2 in 1,000 newborns. It is important to highlight the relevant association between neural hearing loss caused by hyperbilirubinemia and sensorineural hearing loss of unknown causes.
Abnormalities in glucose homeostasis in critically Ill children*

Objectives: To study the prevalence of hyperglycemia (blood glucose >126mg/dL [>7 mmol/L]) in critically ill children older than 1 month in the first week of PICU stay and to determine its effect on mortality, organ dysfunction, and the length of PICU stay. We also determined the prevalence of glucose variability and hypoglycemia and studied their effect on mortality and morbidity. Design: Prospective, observational cohort study. Setting: PICU of a tertiary care hospital. Patients: Children admitted to the PICU older than 1 month of age (January 2009 to June 2010). Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Blood glucose values, clinical and laboratory data to calculate Pediatric Index of Mortality-2 and Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction scores, caloric and carbohydrate intake, vasoactive drugs, and steroid and insulin usage for upto 7 days were recorded. Out of 170 critically ill children admitted to the PICU, hyperglycemia (blood glucose >126mg/dL [7 mmol/L]) was observed in 78.24% children (95% confidence interval 72–84.4). On adjusted analysis, blood glucose level >180mg/dL (10 mmol/L) was associated with increased mortality. Blood glucose >126mg/dL (7 mmol/L) was not associated with mortality or PICU length of stay but was associated with multiple organ dysfunction. Hypoglycemia and glucose variability also occurred frequently in critically ill children; these were associated with occurrence of multiple organ failure. Conclusions: Hyperglycemia (blood glucose >126mg/dL [7 mmol/L]) is common in critically ill children, and values >180mg/dL (10 mmol/L) are associated with mortality. We also noted that hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia (blood glucose <40mg/dL [2.2 mmol/L]), and glucose variability were associated with multiple organ dysfunction.
Effect of trapidil, an antiplatelet and vasodilator agent on gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats.

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of trapidil, an antiplatelet and vasodilator drug, on the nephrotoxicity by an aminoglycoside, gentamicin, in rats. Forty female Wistar rats were divided into six different groups. One group served as a control group and the other groups were treated as follows: gentamicin (50 mg kg(-1) twice daily)-treated, gentamicin plus trapidil (4 or 20 mg kg(-1) daily)-treated and only trapidil-treated (4 or 20 mg kg(-1) daily) groups. Serum urea, creatinine and nitrite/nitrate levels were measured. Moreover, histopathological as well as electron microscopic examinations were performed. At a lower dose (4 mg kg(-1)) trapidil did not prevent the development of renal tubular damage by gentamicin. However, a higher dose of trapidil (20 mg kg(-1)) inhibited the ability of gentamicin to increase the levels of creatinine and urea. Furthermore, both light and electron microscopic evaluation confirmed the nephroprotective effect of the higher dose of trapidil. The level of the stable nitric oxide (NO) metabolite, nitrite, was also increased by trapidil. In conclusion, trapidil at a higher dose may protect against gentamicin nephrotoxicity. The mechanism underlying trapidil nephroprotection is not known, but may result from the antagonism of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), vasodilatation, inhibition of trombosit aggregation, and/or NO release.
Automatic Activation of Multiplication Facts: Evidence from the Nodes Adjacent to the Product

Adult observers are widely assumed to be equipped with a specific memory store containing arithmetic facts. The present study was aimed at exploring the possibility of obtaining an automatic activation of multiplication facts by using the number-matching paradigm (LeFevre, Bisanz, & Mrkonjic, 1988), in which mental arithmetic is task irrelevant. In particular, we were interested in exploring whether the nodes that precede or follow the product node in the multiplication table can also be automatically activated as a consequence of the mere presentation of two numbers. In Experiments 1 and 2, we showed that participants were slower in responding “no“ to probes that were numbers adjacent to the product in the table related to the first operand of the initial pair than to probes that were unrelated to the initial pair. In Experiments 3 and 4, we showed a similar pattern for probes that were numbers adjacent to the product in the table related to the second operand of the initial pair. Experiments 5 and 6 ruled out alternative accounts and confirmed the results of the previous experiments. Taken together the present findings suggest that multiplication facts are stored in a highly related network in which activation spreads from the product node to adjacent nodes.
Specificity of corticospinal axon arbors sprouting into denervated contralateral spinal cord

Previous studies have reported considerable plasticity in the rodent corticospinal pathway in response to injury. This includes sprouting of intact axons from the normal pathway into the contralateral spinal cord denervated by an early corticospinal lesion. We carried out the present study to obtain detailed information about the time course, origin, and degree of specificity of corticospinal axons sprouting in response to denervation. Hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) ranging in age from 5 to 23 days received unilateral lesions of the left medullary pyramidal tract. Two weeks after the lesion, small regions of the right sensorimotor cortex opposite the lesion were injected with the plant lectin Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin (PHA‐L). After a further 2 week survival period, immunohistochemistry was carried out on frozen sections of the fixed brains and spinal cords. Detailed morphological analysis of PHA‐L labeled corticospinal axons revealed that sprouting from the intact corticospinal pathway into the contralateral denervated spinal cord occurred only at local spinal levels and not at the pyramidal decussation. Arbors sprouting into the denervated cord frequently arose from corticospinal axons that branched into the normal side of the cord as well. Sprouting was maximal after early lesions (5 days) and declined with lesions at later ages up to 19 days. Sprouting corticospinal axons arborized with the same degree of functional and topographic specificity as previously reported for normal corticospinal arbors (Kuang and Kalil: J. Comp. Neurol. 292:585–598, '90), such that axons arising from somatosensory cortex projected only to the dorsal horn, those from motor cortex innervated only the ventral horn, and normal forelimb and hindlimb topography was preserved. Sprouting fibers also had normal branching patterns. Parallel studies of developing corticospinal arbors showed that sprouting could not be attributed to maintenance or expansion of early bilateral connections. These results suggest that local signals, most likely similar to those governing normal corticospinal development, elicit corticospinal sprouting and determine specificity of axon arbors.
Response of Vibrio parahaemolyticus 03:K6 to a hot water/cold shock pasteurization process

Vibrio vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus are natural inhabitants of estuarine environments world wide. Pathogenic strains of these bacteria are often transmitted to humans through consumption of raw oysters, which flourish in the same estuaries. Previous studies reported the effective use of hot water pasteurization followed by cold shock to eliminate from raw oysters naturally and artificially incurred environmental strains of V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus common to the Gulf of Mexico. The present study focused on the use of the same pasteurization method to reduce a highly process resistant Vibrio strain, V. parahaemolyticus O3:K6 to non-detectable levels. Oysters were artificially contaminated with 104 and 106 V. parahaemolyticus 03:K6 cfu g-1 oyster meat. Contaminated oysters were pasteurized between 50 and 52°C for up to 22 min. Samples of processed oysters were enumerated for V. parahaemolyticus O3:K6 at 2-min intervals beginning after the ‘come-up time’ to achieve an oyster internal temperature of at least 50°C. The D value (D 52°C) was 1.3-1.6 min. V. parahaemolyticus O3:K6 proved more process resistant than non-pathogenic environmental strains found in Gulf of Mexico waters. A total processing time of at least 22 min at 52°C was recommended to reduce this bacterium to non-detectable levels (<3 g-1 oyster meat).
Exercise training in dialysis patients: why, when, and how?

Treatment of patients with end-stage renal disease has evolved considerably over the past decade. Reported mortality rates have fallen because of a variety of factors, including prevention; earlier diagnosis and treatment of the acute event; improved management of complications such as anemia, secondary hyperparathyroidism, hypertension, cardiac disorders etc.; and widespread availability of therapeutic methods, such as hemodialysis, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), and transplantation. In addition, for each of these three strategies new technical developments have been helpful to improve mortality further (1). Despite the progress made, an aspect that has all too much been neglected until now is the enhancement of rehabilitation and quality of life (2,3). Dialysis patients commonly have poor exercise tolerance and debilitation symptoms and impaired quality of life (4). Functional capacity is mainly limited by fatigue, but dyspnea on exertion is also a contributing factor (5). Aerobic capacity, peripheral skeletal muscle strength, and endurance in hemodialysis patients are approximately half that of the corresponding healthy sedentary aged-matched men (4). Moreover, hostility, psychological disorders, dependency, and social isolation deteriorate their health-related quality of life (6). Anemia, deconditioning, cardiac dysfunction, impairment of autonomic balance, and mainly skeletal muscle weakness and fatigue, primarily because of uremic myopathy and neuropathy, are the main predisposing factors for their low functional ability (4,5,7). Moreover, the deleterious influence of both small and middle molecular weight uremic retention solutes, known as uremic toxins, plays an important role in these morphological and functional abnormalities (8). Recently, several reports have shown that there are functional and psychological benefits from using regular exercise training as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of dialysis patients (2,7,9,10). The underlying mechanisms responsible for the beneficial effects of exercise training are becoming apparent. Therefore, we offer in this review a summary of the current knowledge about the effects and benefits of exercise training in hemodialysis patients.
Mapping the glycation sites in the neoglycoconjugate from hexasaccharide antigen of Vibrio cholerae, serotype Ogawa and the recombinant tetanus toxin C-fragment carrier.

We report herein the glycation sites in a vaccine candidate for cholera formed by conjugation of the synthetic hexasaccharide fragment of the O-specific polysaccharide of Vibrio cholerae, serotype Ogawa, to the recombinant tetanus toxin C-fragment (rTT-Hc) carrier. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis of the vaccine revealed that it is composed of a mixture of neoglycoconjugates with carbohydrate : protein ratios of 1.9 : 1, 3.0 : 1, 4.0 : 1, 4.9 : 1, 5.9 : 1, 6.9 : 1, 7.9 : 1 and 9.1 : 1. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis of the tryptic and GluC V8 digests allowed identification of 12 glycation sites in the carbohydrate-protein neoglycoconjugate vaccine. The glycation sites are located exclusively on lysine (Lys) residues and are listed as follows: Lys 22, Lys 61, Lys 145, Lys 239, Lys 278, Lys 318, Lys 331, Lys 353, Lys 378, Lys 389, Lys 396 and Lys 437. Based on the 3-D representation of the rTT-Hc protein, all the glycation sites correspond to lysines located at the outer surface of the protein.
Safety Evaluation of Ocular Drug Delivery Formulations: Techniques and Practical Considerations

Development of new drug candidates and novel delivery techniques for treatment of ocular diseases has recently accelerated. Treatment of anterior-segment diseases has witnessed advances in prodrug formulations and permeability enhancers. Intravitreal, subconjunctival, and periocular routes of administration and sustained-release formulations of nanoparticles and microparticles, as well as nonbiodegradable and biodegradable implants to deliver drugs to the posterior segment of the eye, are becoming popular therapeutic approaches. Without adequate regulatory guidance for ocular drugs, such routes of administration and novel formulations can pose unique challenges to those involved in designing nonclinical programs, including considering clinical and nonclinical factors and choosing species, strains, and ocular toxicity parameters. Toxicologic pathologists also contribute practical experience to evaluating morphological effects of these novel formulations. Lastly, understanding species’ anatomical differences is useful for interpreting toxicological and pathological responses to the eye and is important for human risk assessment of these important new therapies for ocular diseases.
Serodiagnosis of trichinellosis by ELISA using recombinant nudix hydrolase of Trichinella spiralis.

Trichinella spiralis nudix hydrolase (TsNd) gene encoding a 46 kDa protein was expressed in Escherichia coli and the potential of recombinant TsNd protein (rTsNd) as an antigen for the serodiagnosis of trichinellosis was investigated by ELISA and compared with those of ELISA with T. spiralis muscle larval excretory–secretory (ES) antigens. The sensitivity of both ELISA was 100% (30/30), for the detection of anti-Trichinella IgG antibodies in sera of the experimentally infected mice, and the specificity of rTsNd-ELISA and ES-ELISA was 100% (54/54) and 98% (53/54), respectively (P>0.05). Serum anti-Trichinella antibodies were firstly detected by rTsNd-ELISA at 14 days post infection (dpi), then continued to increase with a detection rate of 100% at 36 dpi. The anti-Trichinella antibody levels at different times after infection were statistically different (P<0.05). The results showed that the rTsNd might be a potential candidate antigen for specific serodiagnosis of trichinellosis. But, it needs to be further evaluated with sera of the patients with trichinellosis and other helminthiasis.
Presynaptic nitric oxide/cGMP facilitates glutamate release via hyperpolarization‐activated cyclic nucleotide‐gated channels in the hippocampus

In hippocampal neurons, synaptic transmission is affected by a variety of modulators, including nitric oxide (NO), which was proposed as a retrograde messenger as long as two decades ago. NO signals via two NO‐sensitive guanylyl cyclases (NO‐GCs) (NO‐GC1 and NO‐GC2) and the subsequent increase in cGMP. Lack of long‐term potentiation in mice deficient in either one of the two NO‐GCs demonstrates the involvement of both NO‐GCs in synaptic transmission. However, the physiological consequences of NO/cGMP and the cellular mechanisms involved are unknown. Here, we analyzed glutamatergic synaptic transmission, most likely reflecting glutamate release, in the hippocampal CA1 region of NO‐GC knockout mice by single‐cell recording, and found glutamate release to be reduced under basal and stimulated conditions in the NO‐GC1 knockout mice, but restorable to wild‐type‐like levels with a cGMP analog. Conversely, an inhibitor of NO/cGMP signaling, ODQ, reduced glutamate release in wild‐type mice to knockout‐like levels; thus, we conclude that presynaptic cGMP formed by NO‐GC1 facilitates glutamate release. In this pathway, NO is supplied by endothelial NO synthase. In search of a cGMP target, we found that two mechanistically distinct blockers of hyperpolarization‐activated cyclic nucleotide‐gated (HCN) channels (ZD7288 and DK‐AH269) abolished the cGMP‐induced increase in glutamate release, suggesting that cGMP either directly or indirectly signals via HCN channels. In summary, we unravel a presynaptic role of NO/cGMP most likely in glutamate release and propose that HCN channels act as effectors for cGMP.
Working memory and the strategic control of attention in older and younger adults.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of aging on the strategic control of attention and the extent to which this relationship is mediated by working memory capacity (WMC). This study also sought to investigate boundary conditions wherein age differences in selectivity may occur. METHOD Across 2 studies, the value-directed remembering task used by Castel and colleagues (Castel, A. D., Balota, D. A., & McCabe, D. P. (2009). Memory efficiency and the strategic control of attention at encoding: Impairments of value-directed remembering in Alzheimer's Disease. Neuropsychology, 23, 297-306) was modified to include value-directed forgetting. Study 2 incorporated valence as an additional task demand, and age differences were predicted in both studies due to increased demands of controlled processing. Automated operation span and Stroop span were included as working memory measures, and working memory was predicted to mediate performance. RESULTS Results confirmed these predictions, as older adults were less efficient in maximizing selectivity scores when high demands were placed on selectivity processes, and working memory was found to mediate performance on this task. DISCUSSION When list length was increased from previous studies and participants were required to actively forget negative-value words, older adults were not able to selectively encode high-value information to the same degree as younger adults. Furthermore, WMC appears to support the ability to selectively encode information.
Economic Development and Number of Business Entities

The paper focuses on the development of the Czech economy and the economic entities in the Czech Republic in the years 1990 - 2012. The first, the descriptive part follows the analysis of the development of economic entities and their interdependence on selected macroeconomic quantities represented growth of GDP at constant prices and the General unemployment rate. Special emphasis is placed on the birth and the death of joint-stock companies and limited liability companies. A noticeable increase in the number of economic entities at the time of expansion or significant decrease in a time of recession is not statistically proven.