Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Selective Postsynaptic Inhibition of Tonic-firing Neurons in Substantia Gelatinosa by &mgr;-Opioid Agonist

Background:Spinal substantia gelatinosa (SG) is a site of action of administered and endogenous opioid agonists and is an important element in the system of antinociception. However, little is known about the types of neurons serving as specific postsynaptic targets for opioid action within the SG. To study the spinal mechanisms of opioidergic analgesia, the authors compared the action of &mgr;-opioid agonist [D-Ala2, N-Me-Phe4, Gly5-ol]-enkephalin (DAMGO) on SG neurons with different intrinsic firing properties. Methods:Whole cell patch clamp recordings from spinal cord slices of Wistar rats were used to study the sensitivity of SG neurons to DAMGO. Results:Three groups of neurons with distinct distributions in SG were classified: tonic-, adapting-, and delayed-firing neurons. DAMGO at 1 &mgr;m concentration selectively hyperpolarized all tonic-firing neurons tested, whereas none of the adapting- or delayed-firing neurons were affected. The effect of DAMGO on tonic-firing neurons was due to activation of G protein–coupled inward-rectifier K+ conductance, which could be blocked by 500 &mgr;m Ba2+ and 500 &mgr;m Cs+ but increased by 50 &mgr;m baclofen. As a functional consequence of DAMGO action, a majority of tonic-firing neurons changed their pattern of intrinsic firing from tonic to adapting. Conclusions:It is suggested that tonic-firing neurons, presumably functioning as excitatory interneurons, are primary postsynaptic targets for administered and endogenous opioid agonists in spinal SG. Functional transition of cells in this group from tonic to adapting firing mode may represent an important mechanism facilitating opioidergic analgesia.
Selective Costimulation Modulators: A Novel Approach for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

T cells have a central role in the orchestration of the immune pathways that contribute to the inflammation and joint destruction characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The requirement for a dual signal for T-cell activation and the construction of a fusion protein that prevents engagement of the costimulatory molecules required for this activation has led to a new approach to RA therapy. This approach is mechanistically distinct from other currently used therapies; it targets events early rather than late in the immune cascade, and it results in immunomodulation rather than complete immunosuppression. The fusion protein abatacept is a selective costimulation modulator that avidly binds to the CD80/CD86 ligands on an antigen-presenting cell, resulting in the inability of these ligands to engage the CD28 receptor on the T cell. Abatacept dose-dependently reduces T-cell proliferation, serum concentrations of acute-phase reactants, and other markers of inflammation, including the production of rheumatoid factor by B cells. Recent studies have provided consistent evidence that treatment with abatacept results in a rapid onset of efficacy that is maintained over the course of treatment in patients with inadequate response to methotrexate and anti–tumor necrosis factor therapies. This efficacy includes patient-centered outcomes and radiographic measurement of disease progression. Abatacept has also demonstrated a very favorable safety profile to date. This article reviews the rationale for this therapeutic approach and highlights some of the recent studies that demonstrate the benefits obtained by using abatacept. This clinical experience indicates that abatacept is a significant addition to the therapeutic armamentarium for the management of patients with RA.
Epidermal growth factor inhibits large granulosa cell apoptosis by stimulating progesterone synthesis and regulating the distribution of intracellular free calcium.

The initial study was designed to determine whether all granulosa cells (GCs) undergo apoptosis in vitro. GCs were isolated from immature rat ovaries and separated on a 15-45% Percoll gradient. Twelve fractions were collected, and GCs were pooled according to size: small GCs (approximately 50 mu 2; fractions 2-5) and large GCs (> or = 75 mu 2; fractions 6-8). GCs were cultured in serum-free medium for 24 h. After 24 h of culture, fragmented DNA, detected by in situ end labeling of the 3'OH ends of DNA fragments, was observed within 70-80% of large GCs. Similarly, in situ DNA staining demonstrated that at least 50% of large GCs possessed apoptotic nuclei. These degenerative changes in DNA were observed within < or = 5% of small GCs. These studies demonstrate that in serum-free medium, most large GCs die via an apoptotic mechanism within 24 h. Subsequent studies focused on the mechanism by which epidermal growth factor (EGF) inhibits large GC apoptosis. EGF reduced the percentage of large GCs with apoptotic nuclei from 47 +/- 1% for controls to 18 +/- 2% (p < 0.05). EGF also increased progesterone (P4) secretion from large GCs (6.3 +/- 0.7 for controls vs. 18.7 +/- 1.0 ng/ml for EGF treatment; p < 0.05). The effect of EGF on apoptosis was mimicked by P4 and attenuated by the P4 antagonist, RU 486, and aminoglutethimide (AG), an inhibitor of P4 synthesis. The effect of AG was overridden by P4. Therefore, EGF reduces large GC apoptosis by stimulating P4 synthesis, with P4 mediating its action through its receptor. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Power and the translator: Joseph Conrad in Chinese translations during the Republican era (1912-1937)

When he died in 1924, Joseph Conrad, who was named a ‘racist’ by Chinua Achebe (1977) and defended by others as taking an anti-imperialist stance (Brantlinger 1996), was a total stranger to the Chinese readers, whose country was made a semi-colony in the late nineteenth century. In the 1930s, however, four of his works were translated and published within four years, all commissioned by the Committee on Editing and Translation funded by the China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture. The thesis investigates the Chinese translations of Conrad’s works published during the Republican Era in 1912-1937, exploring the power relations between the translators as agents and the social structure in which they operated. The thesis is divided into six chapters. After the introduction, I describe, in Chapter 2, the translators’ practice in terms of their narrating positions on the textual and paratextual levels as reflected in the translations of the sea stories borrowing analytical models on narrative discourse devised by Gerard Genette and Roger Fowler. I proceed in Chapter 3 with an account of the commissioner, tracking down the organization of the China Foundation and the Committee on Editing and Translation which initiated the project of translating World Classics (including Conrad’s works) in the 1930s. In Chapter 4, I reassess the notion of ‘faithfulness’, a key concept in the discourse of translation in theory and criticism at the time. Using Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice as the theoretical framework, I argue that the practice of the translators, who created the image of Conrad through their translations, can be explained with reference to their relations with other agents (commissioners, theorists, critics, etc.) occupying different positions within the intellectual field, and the habitus which mediated their position and the social structure they were engaged in Chapter 5, followed by the conclusion.
Fixation of Segmental Subtrochanteric Fractures: A Biomechanical Study

Segmental subtrochanteric fractures have been associated with high rates of malunion, nonunion, and implant failure. Although the use of second generation intramedullary nails with proximal interlocking in the femoral head has been advocated for these fractures, shaft fractures at the tip of short second generation intramedullary rod nails in clinical studies raise concerns about the mechanical suitability of these implants. No biomechanical data are available on the strength of fixation and mode of failure of these newer implants. This study compares the strength and failure mode of segmental subtrochanteric fractures stabilized with 3 current implants. Eighteen anatomic specimen femurs were obtained. The 3 implants tested were the Russell-Taylor reconstruction nail, a short intramedullary hip screw, and a long intramedullary hip screw. Each femur was instrumented and a segmental subtrochanteric fracture was created. The femurs were loaded in a Materials Testing System. The strength of the reconstruction nail group (2869 ± 210 N) was significantly greater than for the short intramedullary rod hip screw (2330 ± 490 N), and the long intramedullary rod hip screw (2181 ± 244 N). The failure modes for the implants were: screw cut out of the femoral head for the reconstruction nail; fracture of the femoral shaft for the short intramedullary hip screw, and implant bending for the long intramedullary hip screw. This study suggests that the reconstruction nail is the superior implant for segmental subtrochanteric fractures of those tested. Implant bending and shaft fractures at lower loads make the 2 intramedullary rod hip screw implants less suitable.
EUS-guided mucosectomy for gastrointestinal cancer.

INTRODUCTION the only way of improving prognosis and survival in gastrointestinal cancer is early diagnosis, with intramucosal localization as confirmed by endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) or 20-MHz miniprobes (MPs) (T1) being most appropriate. Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) has proven effective in the treatment of this sort of lesions. PATIENTS AND METHOD in a group (18 cases) with 15 cases of superficial gastrointestinal cancer and 3 cases of severe gastric dysplasia, 9 cases (3 esophageal, 4 gastric, 2 rectal) underwent a classic EMR following EUS or a 7.5- and 20-MHz miniprobe exploration. RESULTS ultrasonographic studies showed a T1 in all but one esophageal case (Tis), and in both gastric dysplasias, with no changed layer structure being demonstrated in the latter (T0). No complications arose with classic EMR, and all 9 patients are alive and free from local or metastatic recurrence, except for one esophageal case, which recurred distally to the esophageal lesion (metachronous). CONCLUSIONS echoendoscopically-assisted EMR is a safe, effective technique in the endoscopic management of superficial gastrointestinal (esophageal, gastric, colorectal) cancer. Recurrence most likely depends upon cancer multiplicity.
Antimicrobials in Animal Agriculture: Parables and Policy

In addition to the scientific, economic, regulatory and other policy factors that impact on antimicrobial decision‐making in different jurisdictions around the world, there exist ethical, social and cultural bases for the contemporary use of these products in animal agriculture. Thus, the use of the word ‘parable’ to describe the contemporary moral stories that help to guide ethical antimicrobial use practices and broader policy decisions in animal agriculture is appropriate. Several of these stories reflect difficult decisions that arise from conflicting moral imperatives (i.e. both towards animal welfare and towards human health). Understanding the factors that combine to define the past and present paradigms of antimicrobial usage is crucial to mapping a path forward. There exist barriers, as well as opportunities, for advancing scenarios for reducing antimicrobial usage under a variety of voluntary, regulatory and legal policy frameworks. Any new approaches will ideally be structured to extend the use of present‐day antimicrobials into the future, to provide novel alternatives for regulating any newly introduced antimicrobial products so as to maximize their useful life span and to ensure the optimal use of these products in animal agriculture to protect not only the health of animals and the interests of animal health/agriculture stakeholders, but also the human health and the interests of the public at large. A full range of policy approaches, which span the realm from strictly enforced regulations and laws to voluntary guidelines and compliance, should be explored with respect to their risks and benefits in a variety of worldwide settings and in full consideration of a range of stakeholder values.
Human sperm responses to calcitonin, angiotensin II and fertilization-promoting peptide in prepared semen samples from normal donors and infertility patients.

BACKGROUND Fertilization-promoting peptide (FPP), angiotensin II (AII) and calcitonin, present in seminal plasma, have significant effects on mouse sperm function in vitro. This study investigated responses of uncapacitated and capacitated human sperm to these peptides, initially using samples from donors with normal semen parameters and then samples from men attending infertility clinics. METHODS Prepared suspensions were incubated in the presence/absence of a range of peptide concentrations and assessed using chlortetracycline (CTC) analysis and the hamster oocyte penetration test. RESULTS In uncapacitated suspensions, maximal stimulatory responses (CTC) were obtained with calcitonin at 0.5-15 nmol/l and AII at 0.3-100 nmol/l; FPP is known to be most effective at 100 nmol/l. All peptides also significantly stimulated sperm penetrating ability. Combinations of peptides at low concentrations, having no detectable effect when used singly, elicited significant responses, suggesting that they work via the same signalling pathway. In suspensions incubated in the presence of fucose to accelerate capacitation and acrosome reactions, both FPP and calcitonin, but not AII, inhibited acrosome loss; however, AII did not interfere with responses to FPP and calcitonin. Unlike samples from 15 donors, some samples from >70 patients had high proportions of capacitated and/or acrosome-reacted cells when assessed immediately following preparation. Even so, the peptides usually elicited responses similar to those obtained with donor samples and combinations of peptides inhibited spontaneous acrosome loss for at least 3 h. CONCLUSIONS The responses obtained in vitro suggest that these peptides could have significant effects on human sperm function in vivo and could also be used effectively in infertility clinics.
Creating Segments and Effects on Comics by Clustering Gaze Data

Traditional comics are increasingly being augmented with digital effects, such as recoloring, stereoscopy, and animation. An open question in this endeavor is identifying where in a comic panel the effects should be placed. We propose a fast, semi-automatic technique to identify effects-worthy segments in a comic panel by utilizing gaze locations as a proxy for the importance of a region. We take advantage of the fact that comic artists influence viewer gaze towards narrative important regions. By capturing gaze locations from multiple viewers, we can identify important regions and direct a computer vision segmentation algorithm to extract these segments. The challenge is that these gaze data are noisy and difficult to process. Our key contribution is to leverage a theoretical breakthrough in the computer networks community towards robust and meaningful clustering of gaze locations into semantic regions, without needing the user to specify the number of clusters. We present a method based on the concept of relative eigen quality that takes a scanned comic image and a set of gaze points and produces an image segmentation. We demonstrate a variety of effects such as defocus, recoloring, stereoscopy, and animations. We also investigate the use of artificially generated gaze locations from saliency models in place of actual gaze locations.
A prospective randomized, controlled trial of intravenous versus oral iron for moderate iron deficiency anaemia of pregnancy

Abstract. Khalafallah A, Dennis A, Bates J, Bates G, Robertson IK, Smith L, Ball MJ, Seaton D, Brain T, Rasko JEJ Launceston General Hospital (LGH), Australia; University of Tasmania, Australia; and Centenary Institute, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia) A prospective randomized, controlled trial of intravenous versus oral iron for moderate iron deficiency anaemia of pregnancy. J Intern Med 2010; 268: 286–295.
Formación y ejercicio profesional del periodista en la España del siglo XXI dentro del marco de la Unión Europea: memoria para optar al grado de doctor

El quehacer social del periodista ve peligrar su continuidad y subsistencia, debido a su inacabada transicion desde la condicion de oficio hasta el rango de la profesion, mas acorde con la mayor trascendencia y responsabilidad comunitaria que ostenta el Periodismo. Es por ello que se ha de reivindicar la definitiva configuracion del Periodismo como una autentica profesion. La estructura de la investigacion se divide en dos partes: por un lado se aborda el asunto del ejercicio profesional y, por otro, lo referente a la formacion. Se parte del concepto de profesion y los rasgos que la constituyen para, posteriormente, responder a unas cuestiones primordiales que todavia hoy no parecen estar suficientemente clarificadas: ? que es ser periodista? Quien es periodista? Cuales son los actos propios del ejercicio periodistico? Seguidamente, se analiza cual es la situacion actual del Periodismo y de sus periodistas tanto en Espana como en los demas paises de la UE. Este examen permite establecer cuan lejos o cerca esta el Periodismo del oficio o de la profesion. Al tiempo que capacita para observar las similitudes o diferencias que presentan los distintos estados, de cara a implantar una libre circulacion de periodistas real y efectiva. La cuestion de la formacion del periodista resulta vital para la conformacion de la profesion. De igual modo, el estudio contempla el estado presente de la ensenanza del Periodismo en Espana y el resto de paises de la UE. Ante el reto de la constitucion del Espacio Europeo de Educacion Superior, los diferentes estados deberan disenar titulaciones si no homogeneas si, al menos, convergentes para facilitar la libre circulacion de profesionales. Los datos recogidos contemplan las desigualdades esenciales que se deberan superar para lograr este objetivo. Finalmente, se formulan, desde la optica espanola, unos criterios con el fin de promover dicho acercamiento.
The Effects of Premature Birth on Children Education

There has been an increase of survival rates among children born premature. The rate of survival differs globally from developed countries to developing countries. Some follow-up studies of children born prematurely are concerned of the neurodevelopmental impact on children as they progress from infant through adulthood and they indicated the range of deficits that comes with premature children. This research addresses the gap of how the education of children born premature is affected. A survey methodology was utilized and questionnaires were distributed to teachers in five special needs schools and one normal school in the North West of the United Kingdom. The results of the special needs schools were compared to normal school with respect to awareness of children born premature in classes, the technologies used by the impaired children, and the educational improvement of impaired children using the technology. The results showed that 100% of teachers in both schools were unaware of children born premature in their classes, 100% of teachers in special needs schools are aware of the assistive technologies compared to only 25% of teachers in normal school and 100% teachers in special needs schools support the use of assistive technologies for educational improvement compared to 1% teachers in normal school.
Molecular evolutionary analysis and mutational pattern of full‐length genomes of hepatitis B virus isolated from Belgian patients with different clinical manifestations

Molecular evolutionary patterns of 62 HBV full‐length genomes obtained from Belgian patients were characterized. Phylogenetic analysis revealed diverse HBV subgenotypes including A2 and A6 (46.8%), D1–D4 (38.8%), E (9.7%), C1 (1.6%), and B2 (1.6%). The study population consisted of patients with different ethnic origin (Caucasian, Turkish, Asian, Arab, and African). One HBV D/C recombinant isolate was identified, which encoded subtype adw2. An HBV subgenotype D4 with an aberrant subtype ayw4 was detected. Although none of the genotypes was associated with a specific disease outcome, several nucleotide substitutions, deletions and insertions were observed within the HBV preS1/S and X genes, particularly among patients with active chronic hepatitis B infection and patients with cirrhosis. Within the immunological domain of the HBsAg gene, the most frequent substitutions were sT125M and sT118A. High rates of precore and basal core promoter mutations were detected in patients infected with genotype D of HBV. Almost half of the patients who received lamivudine therapy for at least 1 year had HBV variants associated with lamivudine drug resistance. In conclusion, the most common HBV genotypes in West Europe (A and D) also prevail in Belgium. The highest degree of genetic diversity was detected in HBV genotype D. In addition, this study reveals the circulation of exotic HBV genotypes B, C, and E in Belgium. J. Med. Virol. 82:379–389, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Phylogeny of the Main Bacterial 16S rRNA Sequences in Drentse A Grassland Soils (The Netherlands)

ABSTRACT The main bacteria in peaty, acid grassland soils in the Netherlands were investigated by ribosome isolation, temperature gradient gel electrophoresis, hybridization, cloning, and sequencing. Instead of using only 16S rDNA to determine the sequences present, we focused on rRNA to classify and quantify the most active bacteria. After direct ribosome isolation from soil, a partial amplicon of bacterial 16S rRNA was generated by reverse transcription-PCR. The sequence-specific separation by temperature gradient gel electrophoresis yielded soil-specific fingerprints, which were compared to signals from a clone library of genes coding for 16S rRNA. Cloned 16S rDNA sequences matching with intense bands in the fingerprint were sequenced. The relationships of the sequences to those of cultured organisms of known phylogeny were determined. Most of the amplicons originated from organisms closely related to Bacillus species. Such sequences were also detected by direct dot blot hybridization on soil rRNA: a probe specific for Firmicutes with low G+C content counted for about 50% of all bacterial rRNA. The bacterial activity in Drentse A grassland soil could be estimated by direct dot blot hybridization and sequencing of clones; it was found that about 65% of all the bacterial ribosomes originated from Firmicutes. The most active bacteria apparently were Bacillus species, from which about half of the sequences derived. Other sequences similar to those of gram-positive bacteria were only remotely related to known Firmicutes with a high G+C content. Other sequences were related to Proteobacteria, mainly the alpha subclass.