Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Voltage‐dependent ebselen and diorganochalcogenides inhibition of 45Ca2+ influx into brain synaptosomes

By mediating the Ca2+ influx, Ca2+ channels play a central role in neurotransmission. Chemical agents that potentially interfere with Ca2+ homeostasis are potential toxic agents. In the present investigation, changes in Ca2+ influx into synaptosomes by organic forms of selenium and tellurium were examined under nondepolarizing and depolarizing conditions induced by high KCl concentration (135 mM) or by 4‐aminopyridine (4‐AP). Under nondepolarizing conditions, ebselen (400 μM) increased Ca2+ influx; diphenyl ditelluride (40–400 μM) decreased Ca2+ in all concentrations tested; and diphenyl diselenide decreased Ca2+ influx at 40 and 100 μM, but had no effect at 400 μM. In the presence of KCl as depolarizing agent, ebselen and diphenyl ditelluride decreased Ca2+ influx in a linear fashion. In contrast, diphenyl diselenide did not modify Ca2+ influx into isolated nerve terminals. In the presence of 4‐AP (3 mM) as depolarizing agent, ebselen (400 μM) caused a significant increase, whereas diphenyl diselenide and diphenyl ditelluride inhibited Ca2+ influx into synaptosomes. The results can be explained by the fact that the mechanism through which 4‐AP and high K+ induced elevation of intracellular Ca2+ is not exactly coincident. The mechanism by which diphenyl ditelluride and ebselen interact with Ca2+ channel is unknown, but may be related to reactivity with critical sulfhydryl groups in the protein complex. The results of the present study indicate that the effects of organochalcogenides were rather complex depending on the condition and the depolarizing agent used. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 17:154–160, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/jbt.10073
High-Pulse-Performance Diode-Pumped Actively Q-Switched c-cut $\hbox{Nd:Lu}_{0.1}\hbox{Y}_{0.9}\hbox{VO}_{4}$ Self-Raman Laser

We demonstrated 1175-nm acousto-optic (A-O) Q-switched self-Raman laser performance of a-cut and c-cut mixed vanadate crystals, Nd:Lu<sub>0.1</sub>Y<sub>0.9</sub>VO<sub>4</sub> , for the first time. With a large pump beam radius of 800 μm , the thermal effect was effectively mitigated, and the maximum average output powers of a-cut and c-cut samples were 1.85 and 1.52 W, corresponding to conversion efficiencies of 11.9% and 10.1%, respectively. Combining the advantages of mixed vanadate crystal and c-cut orientation, the c-cut Nd:Lu<sub>0.1</sub>Y<sub>0.9</sub>VO<sub>4</sub> crystal exhibited prominent self-Raman laser characteristics, such as 101-μJ single pulse energy, 1.3-ns pulsewidth, and 78-kW peak power.
Role of serum levels of irisin and oxidative stress markers in pregnant women with and without gestational diabetes

Abstract Irisin regulates glucose levels, lipid levels, insulin sensitivity, and low-grade inflammation. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common metabolic complication of pregnancy, and is associated with increased rates of perinatal problems. Oxidative stress biomarkers have a role in the pathogenesis of patients with GDM. In total, 94 patients were included in our study including 46 control patients and 48 patients with GDM. Fasting blood glucose, HOMA-IR, total oxidative stress (TOS), irisin, and oxidative stress index (OSI) levels of the patients were measured. Serum OGTT, OSI, irisin HOMA, TOS, and insulin levels were statistically significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group. This was the first study to investigate the relation between serum irisin levels and oxidative stress markers in patients with GDM. The results revealed that irisin is an oxidative stress marker and a metabolic protective hormone.
Liver targeting and the delayed drug release of the nanoparticles of adriamycin polybutylcyanoacrylate in mice.

BACKGROUND Liver targeting drug delivery systems can improve the curative effects and relieve the cytotoxicity of the chemotherapy drugs in the treatment of liver diseases. Nanoparticles carrying therapeutic drugs are currently under hot investigation with great clinical significance. This study was aimed to investigate the different tissue distribution of the adriamycin polybutylcyanoacrylate nanoparticle (ADM-PBCA-NP) in the mice body after an injection via lateral tail vein, and to study the liver targeting effects of ADM-PBCA-NP in different diameters on normal mice liver. METHODS One hundred and eighty Kunming mice were randomly divided into 6 groups with 30 mice in each group (5 treatment groups of ADM-PBCA-NP in the different diameter ranges, non-conjugated free adriamycin injection was employed as the control group). A single dose of either conjugated or free adriamycin equaled 2 mg/kg of body weight was delivered via the tail vein. Five mice in each trail were sacrificed at 5, 15, 30 minutes, 1, 5 and 12 hours postinjection, respectively. The adriamycin concentrations in the respectively collected liver, kidney, spleen, heart, lung and plasma were demonstrated using a high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detector. RESULTS Compared with the control group, adriamycin was hardly detected in the heart muscle of the treatment groups (P < 0.05). The nanoparticle-conjugated adriamycin was cleaned up quickly from the kidney tissue. The adriamycin concentrations of the mice liver and spleen in the experimental groups were significantly higher than that in the control group, except for the group with the nanoparticles diameters of (22.3 +/- 6.2) nm (P < 0.05). The ADM-PBCA-NP in (101.0 +/- 20.3) nm diameter had the highest liver distribution, and the second highest adriamycin distribution in liver was the group of (143.0 +/- 23.5) nm diameter (P < 0.05). Moreover, adriamycin was released slowly in the liver during the detection period in the experimental groups. ADM-PBCA-NP in (22.3 +/- 6.2) nm diameter was not distributed in the tissue of the liver, kidney, heart, spleen, and lung. CONCLUSIONS ADM-PBCA-NP in 100 - 150 nm diameter range has the best liver targeting with a characteristic of slow medicine release. It also decreases the medicine distribution in the heart, kidney and lung. In the treatment of liver cancer, the polybutylcyanoacrylate nanoparticles system has a good liver targeting ability, which increases the anticancer activity and markedly decreases the toxicity of adriamycin.
Plaque, caries level and oral hygiene habits in young patients receiving orthodontic treatment.

OBJECTIVE To assess plaque, caries, and oral hygiene habits amongst patients receiving fixed-orthodontic treatment at the Dental-Clinic, Universidad-El-Bosque, Bogotá, Colombia. BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN Test-group: 74 12-29-year-olds receiving fixed-orthodontic treatment; reference-group: 63 12-29-year-olds before they started the orthodontic treatment. Visual examinations (one examiner) recorded the following: Ortho-plaque-Index (OPI) expressed per patient as good, fair and poor-oral-hygiene. Caries was scored with the modified-ICDAS-II criteria as: 0-sound; 1B/1W-brown/white-opacity-after-air-drying; 2B/2W-brown/white-opacity-without-air-drying; 3-microcavity; 4-underlying-shadow; 5/6-distinct/extensive-cavity. Filled/missing surfaces due-to-caries and caries-lesions on buccal surfaces at three sites around the brackets were recorded. A 7-item self-administered oral-hygiene habits' questionnaire was used. RESULTS Chi-square test revealed that the oral-hygiene level was significantly better in the reference group compared to the test group (p < 0.05). The traditional mean DMF-S was 6.7 +/- 6.3 in the test- and 6.2 +/- 5.9 in the reference-group (p > 0.05). When adding modified-ICDAS-II lesions scores 1-4, the figure increased to 23.6 +/- 9.4 in the test- and to 13.6 +/- 10.3 in the reference-group (p < 0.001). A total of 96% had > or = 1 white-opacity in the test group versus 56% in the reference group (P < 0.001). In the test-group the buccal-surfaces accounted for most white-opacities and close to 1/3 of these lesions on the upper-anterior teeth were located around the brackets. The questionnaire disclosed that 58% in the test- vs. 44% in the reference-group did not accept having dental caries lesions during the orthodontic treatment. CONCLUSIONS The results showed a high prevalence of white-opacities related to orthodontic appliances and indicate the need to implement preventive programmes at the dental clinic.
A novel channel identification method for downlink multicarrier CDMA systems

This paper presents a new blind channel identification method for downlink multicarrier CDMA (MC-CDMA) systems. This technique uses subspace decomposition for channel identification and exploits the orthogonality property between the noise subspace and the received user codes to obtain a channel identification algorithm. It is shown that in order to increase the number of simultaneous users, and to still have a good estimation of the channel, a modification of the MC-CDMA system has to be considered by using codes larger than the spreading gain. The performance of this algorithm is analyzed by deriving a theoretical expression of the mean square error (MSE) estimation. This expression is compared with numerical results of some computer simulations to illustrate the validity of the analysis. The paper also introduces a linear detector for this environment.
Zeroing of six-component handrim dynamometer for biomechanical studies of manual wheelchair locomotion

A six-component handrim dynamometer (HRD) is a dynamometer that rotates around the wheel axle during measurements. For this kind of dynamometer, static zero level calibration is insufficient because the proportion of the forces (i.e. handrim weight and centrifugal force) measured by each sensor varies according to the angular position and velocity of the dynamometer. The dynamic calibration presented in this paper is based on the direct correction of the sensor signals using Fourier's polynomials that take into account the influences of both the handrim weight distribution on the sensors with respect to the wheel's angular position and the effect of the wheel's angular velocity. When these corrections were applied to the signals produced by the sensors while the HRD was rotating and no effort was being exerted on the handrim, the calculated forces and torques remained close to zero, as expected. Based on these results, the wheel dynamometer can be confidently used for studying manual wheelchair locomotion under various real conditions. The method could also be applied in other situations in which a dynamometer rotates during measurements.
Hyperghrelinemia in Prader‐Willi syndrome begins in early infancy long before the onset of hyperphagia

Circulating total ghrelin levels are elevated in older children and adults with Prader‐Willi syndrome (PWS). However, the presence or absence of hyperghrelinemia in young children with PWS remains controversial. We hypothesized that a more robust way to analyze appetite‐regulating hormones in PWS would be by nutritional phases rather than age alone. Our objectives were to compare total serum ghrelin levels in children with PWS by nutritional phase as well as to compare total ghrelin levels in PWS (5 weeks to 21 years of age) to normal weight controls and individuals with early‐onset morbid obesity (EMO) without PWS. Fasting serum total ghrelin levels were measured in 60 subjects with PWS, 39 subjects with EMO of unknown etiology, and in 95 normal non‐obese sibling controls of PWS or EMO subjects (SibC) in this 12 year longitudinal study. Within PWS, total ghrelin levels were significantly (P < 0.001) higher in earlier nutritional phases: phase 1a (7,906 ± 5,887); 1b (5,057 ± 2,624); 2a (2,905 ± 1,521); 2b (2,615 ± 1,370) and 3 (2,423 ± 1,350). Young infants with PWS also had significantly (P = 0.009) higher total ghrelin levels than did the sibling controls. Nutritional phase is an important independent prognostic factor of total ghrelin levels in individuals with PWS. Circulating ghrelin levels are elevated in young children with PWS long before the onset of hyperphagia, especially during the early phase of poor appetite and feeding. Therefore, it seems unlikely that high ghrelin levels are directly responsible for the switch to the hyperphagic nutritional phases in PWS. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Effects of Propofol, Small-Dose Isoflurane, and Nitrous Oxide on Cortical Somatosensory Evoked Potential and Bispectral Index Monitoring in Adolescents Undergoing Spinal Fusion

In this study we compared the effects of propofol, small-dose isoflurane, and nitrous oxide (N2O) on cortical somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) and bispectral index (BIS) monitoring in adolescents undergoing spinal fusion. Twelve patients received the following anesthetic maintenance combinations in a randomly determined order: treatment #1: isoflurane 0.4% + N2O 70% + O2 30%; treatment #2: isoflurane 0.6% + N2O 70% + O2 30%; treatment #3: isoflurane 0.6% + air + O2 30%; treatment #4: propofol 120 &mgr;g · kg−1 · min−1 + air + O2 30%. Cortical SSEP amplitudes measured during anesthesia maintenance with treatment #3 (isoflurane 0.6%/air) were more than those measured during maintenance with treatment #1 (isoflurane 0.4%/N2O 70%) (P < 0.0001) and treatment #2 (isoflurane 0.6%/N2O 70%) (P < 0.0052). Cortical SSEP amplitudes measured during treatment #4 (propofol 120 &mgr;g · kg−1 · min−1/air) were more than treatment #1 (isoflurane 0.4%/N2O 70%) (P < 0.0001), treatment #2 (Iso 0.6%/N2O 70%) (P < 0.0007), and treatment #3 (isoflurane 0.6%/air) (P < 0.0191). In addition, average BIS values measured during treatments 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 62, 62, 61, and 44 respectively. Only treatment #4 (propofol 120 &mgr;g · kg−1 · min−1/air) uniformly maintained BIS values less than 60. Our study demonstrates that propofol better preserves cortical SSEP amplitude measurement and provides a deeper level of hypnosis as measured by BIS values than combinations of small-dose isoflurane/N2O or small-dose isoflurane alone.
Evaluation of the pap smear test status of Turkish women and related factors.

BACKGROUND The Pap smear has an important value in the early diagnosis of cervical cancer, a serious problem in womens health. This study aimed to determine the status of Turkish women regarding participation in Pap smear testing and affecting factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS This descriptive study was conducted on married women between 18-61 years of age selected from those who applied to the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Polyclinic of Ataturk University in Erzurum between June-August 2010 for any reason. Data were collected using a questionnaire determining socio-demographic features and analyzed by descriptive statistics (mean, Sd, range, frequency, percentage) and Chi-square test. A level of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS Sixty six of the 301 women (21.9%) indicated that they heard a Pap smear test and 16.6% of women had experienced a test. The number of women participating increased with age, duration of marriage, number of births, knowledge about the Pap smear and perception of risk for cervical cancer. CONCLUSIONS The importance of the Pap smear test needs to be explained to Turkish women by health staff, to increase awareness and participation in regular screening.
Investigating the impact of reading techniques on the accuracy of different defect content estimation techniques

Software inspections have established an impressive track record for early defect detection and correction. To increase their benefits, recent research efforts have focused on two different areas: systematic reading techniques and defect content estimation techniques. While reading techniques are to provide guidance for inspection participants on how to scrutinize a software artifact in a systematic manner, defect content estimation techniques aim at controlling and evaluating the inspection process by providing an estimate of the total number of defects in an inspected document. Although several empirical studies have been conducted to evaluate the accuracy of defect content estimation techniques, only few consider the reading approach as an influential factor. The authors examine the impact of two specific reading techniques: a scenario based reading technique and checklist based reading, on the accuracy of different defect content estimation techniques. The examination is based on data that were collected in a large experiment with students of the Vienna University of Technology. The results suggest that the choice of the reading technique has little impact on the accuracy of defect content estimation techniques. Although more empirical work is necessary to corroborate this finding, it implies that practitioners can use defect content estimation techniques without any consideration of their current reading technique.
Social Work Training Curriculum in Disaster Management

This article describes training approaches in disaster recovery for social workers, allied workers, and volunteers. Recovery workers from diverse disciplines require specific training in the theoretical constructs, interventions, tasks, and policy to undertake their roles. The article links the knowledge and skills base of disaster recovery to core social work professional education. Current debates in disaster recovery practice are discussed. An undergraduate and postgraduate program developed for Singaporean social work students is outlined in detail. Other models of training are described, including interagency programs, ongoing professional development, workshops after impact, specific training for volunteers, and training for the community itself.
Pharmacokinetics, protein binding, and predicted extravascular distribution of moxalactam in normal and renal failure subjects

Ten normal subjects and ten patients with chronic renal failure requiring hemodialysis were given intravenous infusions of moxalactam ranging from 500 mg to 2 g. Serum and urine concentrations were measured for up to 12 h. Renal failure subjects were given doses both during and between hemodialysis treatments. Protein binding of moxalactam in both normal and uremic serum was determined by ultracentrifugation. The serum half-life in normal subjects was 2.1 and 2.3 h for the 1- and 2-g doses, respectively. The half-life of moxalactam in patients with renal failure was 13.9 h on the 500-mg dose and 13.3 h on the 1.0-g dose. During hemodialysis the serum half-life fell to 4.4 and 5.7 h, respectively. Moxalactam protein binding ranged from 52% in normal serum to 36% in renal failure patient serum. Unbound moxalactam appeared to distribute with the entire body water based on the serum pharmacokinetics and antibiotic serum protein binding determined in this study.
Establishment of a negative-positive threshold optical density value for the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect soluble antigen of Renibacterium salmoninarum in Alaskan Pacific salmon

Kldney tissues from 5231 chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and 3793 coho salmon 0. kisutch adults used for spawnlng were examined for soluble antigen of Renibacterium salmo11inarum (Rs) by the enzyme-linked lmmunosorbent assay (ELISA). The purpose of this study was to develop an extens~ve data base for establishing a negative-positive threshold optical density value for Rs-negative and -positive fish uslng commercially available ELISA reagents. Statistical evaluation of the estimated distribution of Rs-negative optical density values from coho and chinook salmon indicated the preliminary estimated negative-positive threshold value of 0.1 was not conservative enough. i.e. there was an unacceptably high probability that a large number of low-level Rs-positive fish were not identified. Consequently, a more conservative threshold value of 0.095 was chosen that erred in ~dentifying an acceptably low number of negative fish a s positive. At this threshold optical density value the ELISA could detect about 20 ng of Rs antigen ml-l of kidney homogenate.
Advances and trends in bibliographic research: Examples of new technological applications for the cataloguing of the georeferenced library heritage

In the age of digital archives and online data consultation, bibliographic research is considered as a key tool for supporting scientific research and study. The online catalogue allows the achievement of more ambitious aims and global interest thanks to its ability to associate data relating to the geographic contextualization of the catalogued editorial products (deduced from the title and content) with the search for more traditional bibliographic data through the inclusion of a specific and standardized ‘field’. Successively, the locations identified by the cataloguer are georeferenced by using GIS applications, which allows the simultaneous view of the distribution of global and local geographical contexts specific for each item owned by a library, archive or museum. The usefulness of such an application lies in the possibility for the library to have a greater awareness of its collection, thus permitting the acquisition of an additional element of evaluation in the management and planning of purchases and donations. In this way, the ability to filter the information from OPAC search will be combined with the basic research carried out by the user by selecting only the libraries in possession of works related to a specific geographical context, involved in different specific studies (literature, landscape, environment). Although this ability is still limited to a few specific studies, the use of tools that allow an overview of the geographical distribution of places could represent an operating standard through the definition of a special protocol. These tools are now used mostly in experimental studies in which the use of open source software has enabled the creation of maps. This paper shows the state of the art of the applications worldwide presenting experimental case studies (i.e. Coos Bay, Oregon; Basilicata, Italy) and also suggests different applications in the field of national and international protocols of library cataloguing.
Caffeine Attenuates Decreases in Leg Power Without Increased Muscle Damage

Abstract Ribeiro, BG, Morales, AP, Sampaio-Jorge, F, Barth, T, de Oliveira, MBC, Coelho, GMdO, and Leite, TC. Caffeine attenuates decreases in leg power without increased muscle damage. J Strength Cond Res 30(8): 2354–2360, 2016—Caffeine ingestion has been shown to be an effective ergogenic aid in several sports. Caffeine administration may increase exercise capacity, which could lead to a greater degree of muscle damage after exercise. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study. Six male handball athletes ingested placebo (PLA) or caffeine (CAF) (6 mg·kg−1 body mass) capsules on 2 different occasions. Sixty minutes after ingestion of the capsules, serum CAF levels were evaluated. Thereafter, all participants performed a protocol of vertical jumps (VJs). The protocol consisted of 4 sets of 30 seconds of continuous VJs with 60 seconds of recovery between sets. Blood lactate (LAC) and creatine kinase (CK) levels were determined before and after the protocol. We found significant differences in serum CAF levels between PLA (0.09 ± 0.18 µg·ml−1) vs. CAF (6.59 ± 4.44 µg·ml−1) (p < 0.001). Caffeine elicited a 5.23% (p ⩽ 0.05) improvement in the leg power compared with PLA. The CAF trial displayed higher LAC (p ⩽ 0.05) compared with PLA (6.26 ± 2.01 vs. 4.39 ± 2.42 mmol·L−1, respectively) after protocol of VJs, whereas no difference in CK was observed between trials (p > 0.05). These results indicate that immediate ingestion of CAF (6 mg·kg−1 body weight) can reduce the level of muscle fatigue and preserve leg power during the test, possibly resulting in increase in LAC. There was no increase in muscle damage, which indicates that immediate administration of (6 mg·kg−1 body weight) CAF is safe. Thus, nutritional interventions with CAF could help athletes withstand a greater physiological overload during high-intensity training sessions. The results of this study would be applicable to sports and activities that require repetitive leg power.