Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modification of Enrofloxacin Treatment Regimens for Poultry Experimentally Infected with Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium DT104 To Minimize Selection of Resistance

ABSTRACT We hypothesized that higher doses of fluoroquinolones for a shorter duration could maintain efficacy (as measured by reduction in bacterial count) while reducing selection in chickens of bacteria with reduced susceptibility. Chicks were infected with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium DT104 and treated 1 week later with enrofloxacin at the recommended dose for 5 days (water dose adjusted to give 10 mg/kg of body weight of birds or equivalence, i.e., water at 50 ppm) or at 2.5 or 5 times the recommended dose for 2 days or 1 day, respectively. The dose was delivered continuously (ppm) or pulsed in the water (mg/kg) or by gavage (mg/kg). In vitro in sera, increasing concentrations of 0.5 to 8 μg/ml enrofloxacin correlated with increased activity. In vivo, the efficacy of the 1-day treatment was significantly less than that of the 2- and 5-day treatments. The 2-day treatments showed efficacy similar to that of the 5-day treatment in all but one repeat treatment group and significantly (P < 0.01) reduced the Salmonella counts. Dosing at 2.5× the recommended dose and pulsed dosing both increased the peak antibiotic concentrations in cecal contents, liver, lung, and sera as determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography. There was limited evidence that shorter treatment regimens (in particular the 1-day regimen) selected for fewer strains with reduced susceptibility. In conclusion, the 2-day treatment would overall require a shorter withholding time than the 5-day treatment and, in view of the increased peak antibiotic concentrations, may give rise to improved efficacy, in particular for treating respiratory and systemic infections. However, it would be necessary to validate the 2-day regimen in a field situation and in particular against respiratory and systemic infections to validate or refute this hypothesis.
Seasonal pattern in the onset of polymyalgia rheumatica

Plantar fasciitis, a special type of a soft tissue rheumatic syndrome, is a common painful condition which often becomes chronic. Its aetiopathology is not completely understood.1 Being over weight and standing work are regarded as predisposing factors.2 Microtrauma, nerve entrapment (Baxter’s nerve), or limited ankle dorsiflexion are thought to be responsible.3,4 Most patients can be treated with physical therapy, local glucocorticoid injections, insoles, acupuncture, and extracorporeal shock wave therapy.5,6 However, this treatment cannot improve the pain in all cases and can require a lot of time on the part of both patient and therapist. Surgery is controversial and should be restricted to patients who do not respond to conservative treatment. It is not yet clear whether treatment of …
A Posteriori Error Estimators for Regularized Total Variation of Characteristic Functions

We consider a nonuniformly elliptic double obstacle problem arising from "convexifying" and regularizing a minimization of a functional with total variation in the set of characteristic functions. We derive a posteriori estimators for the discretization error with linear finite elements, which are uniform in the regularization, incorporate computable and local information on the conditioning, vanish in the intersection of discrete and exact contact sets, and are not affected by possible nonuniqueness. Moreover, we integrate these estimators in an adaptive algorithm and illustrate their properties by various numerical experiments.
Clinical inquiries. What is the best treatment for Osgood-Schlatter disease?

Osgood-Schlatter disease is a common cause of pain and tenderness at the tibial tuberosity in active adolescents. It is typically a self-limited condition that waxes and wanes, but which often takes months to years to resolve entirely. It is best managed with conservative measures (activity modification, ice, anti-inflammatory agents) and time (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, several case series and retrospective studies).
Neural correlates of empathic accuracy in adolescence

Abstract Empathy, the ability to understand others’ emotions, can occur through perspective taking and experience sharing. Neural systems active when adults empathize include regions underlying perspective taking (e.g. medial prefrontal cortex; MPFC) and experience sharing (e.g. inferior parietal lobule; IPL). It is unknown whether adolescents utilize networks implicated in both experience sharing and perspective taking when accurately empathizing. This question is critical given the importance of accurately understanding others’ emotions for developing and maintaining adaptive peer relationships during adolescence. We extend the literature on empathy in adolescence by determining the neural basis of empathic accuracy, a behavioral assay of empathy that does not bias participants toward the exclusive use of perspective taking or experience sharing. Participants (N = 155, aged 11.1–15.5 years) watched videos of ‘targets’ describing emotional events and continuously rated the targets’ emotions during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Empathic accuracy related to activation in regions underlying perspective taking (MPFC, temporoparietal junction and superior temporal sulcus), while activation in regions underlying experience sharing (IPL, anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula) related to lower empathic accuracy. These results provide novel insight into the neural basis of empathic accuracy in adolescence and suggest that perspective taking processes may be effective for increasing empathy.
Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding the Human Papillomavirus and HPV Vaccine Among College Students: A Gender Comparison Study

Objective: Both young men and women should obtain the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in order to reach its intended public health benefits. Because men are behind in this vaccination campaign, this study compared knowledge and attitudes regarding HPV and the vaccine among college-aged men and women in order to improve vaccination strategies among this at-risk population. Methods: A convenience sample of 95 university students, 40 men and 55 women, ages 18 to 26 (mean age of 20.2) completed self-administered pencil-and-paper questionnaires with approximately 40 questions that assessed the desired variables. Knowledge was measured through multiple choice and true/false questions. Attitudes were measured by Likert scale responses following theoretical framework. Data were analyzed and summarized through descriptive statistics using SPSS software. Results: Awareness of the HPV vaccine’s availability for men was significantly low for both genders, particularly for men. Health practitioners’ and parents’ approval both play a pivotal role in considering the vaccine. For men, peers’ approval was also important in this decision-making process. Overall, females showed higher rates of awareness in HPV and the vaccine and indicated more positive social norms associated with obtaining the vaccine. Conclusions: According to the results of this study, the HPV vaccine is still prevalently associated with female health and therefore detracting from the male consumer. In order to increase uptake of the HPV vaccine in both genders, a gender neutral vaccine campaign that does not focus on one specific health issue is suggested. vii
Mammographic breast density by area of residence: possible evidence of higher density in urban areas

ABSTRACT Objectives: A comparison of mammographic breast densities of women living in London with those of women living in rural and suburban areas. Design and methods: Using the standard four American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BIRADS) categories of mammographic density, 318 mammograms of women from London and 654 mammograms of women from outside the capital aged 27–87 years who had received mammography at the Princess Grace Hospital, London, were assessed for density. The association between having any dense tissue and area of residence was assessed using both ordered and standard logistic regression, giving odds ratio estimates of relative risk of dense tissue adjusting for age. Results: Adjusting for age, London residents had significantly higher levels of density (OR = 1.32, 95% CI 1.04–1.70, p = 0.02). The major difference occurred in the age group 45–54 years and was most strongly manifested as a higher rate in London for density of 25% or more (BIRADS categories 2–4) as compared to almost entirely fatty (BIRADS 1) (OR = 2.22, 95% CI 1.05–4.68, p = 0.035). Conclusion: The higher density is likely to be due to a different prevalence of risk factors in the London population. This study cannot ascertain the reason for the higher density in this urban population, but the result is a cause for concern given that screening uptake is lower in London. Increased attention to screening in urban areas and attention to screening quality for dense breast tissue might be prudent.
Mitochondrial ND5 T12338C, tRNACys T5802C, and tRNAThr G15927A variants may have a modifying role in the phenotypic manifestation of deafness‐associated 12S rRNA A1555G mutation in three Han Chinese pedigrees

We report here on the clinical, genetic, and molecular characterization of three Han Chinese pedigrees with aminoglycoside‐induced and nonsyndromic hearing loss. Clinical evaluation revealed the variable phenotype of hearing impairment including severity, age‐at‐onset, audiometric configuration in these subjects. The penetrance of hearing loss in WZD8, WZD9, and WZD10 pedigrees were 46%, 46%, and 50%, respectively, when aminoglycoside‐induced deafness was included. When the effect of aminoglycosides was excluded, the penetrance of hearing loss in these pedigrees were 23%, 31%, and 37.5%, respectively. Mutational analysis of the complete mitochondrial genomes showed the homoplasmic A1555G mutation and distinct sets of mitochondrial DNA variants belonging to haplogroups D4b2b, B5b1, and F2, respectively. Of these, the tRNACys T5802C, tRNAThr A15924C, and ND5 T12338C variants are of special interest as these variants occur at positions which are highly evolutionarily conserved nucleotides of tRNAs or amino acid of polypeptide. These homoplasmic mtDNA variants were absent among 156 unrelated Chinese controls. The T5802C and G15927A variants disrupted a highly conserved A‐U or C‐G base‐pairing at the anticodon‐stem of tRNACys or tRNAThr, while the ND5 T12338C mutation resulted in the replacement of the translation‐initiating methionine with a threonine, and also located in two nucleotides adjacent to the 3′ end of the tRNALeu(CUN). Thus, mitochondrial dysfunctions, caused by the A1555G mutation, would be worsened by these mtDNA variants. Therefore, these mtDNA mutations may have a potential modifier role in increasing the penetrance and expressivity of the deafness‐associated 12S rRNA A1555G mutation in those Chinese pedigrees. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Medical Management and Sublingual Immunotherapy Practices in Patients with House Dust Mite-Induced Respiratory Allergy: A Retrospective, Observational Study

The primary objective of this study is to retrospectively describe the treatment regimens (initiation, maintenance, dosage and duration) in sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) with house dust mite (HDM) extracts in routine practice in France. The secondary objectives include a description of the respiratory allergies that led to treatment and an evaluation of the treatment's efficacy and safety, patient satisfaction and compliance (as assessed by the physician) and patient management practices. Randomly-selected allergy specialists each included ten patients over the age of five with a respiratory allergy and proven sensitization to HDM (positive skin test and/or specific IgE >0.7 kUI) and in whom SLIT had been initiated in 2002 or 2005. The participants were monitored for at least two years. A total of 139 physicians participated in the study and contributed data from 1,289 patients (57% of whom were under the age of 18). More than 70% of the patients suffered from moderate-to-severe allergic rhinitis and 50% also suffered from asthma. More than 60% of the patients were polysensitized. A shift to shorter SLIT protocols was observed over time. Longer protocols tended to be used in children. Compliance was deemed good or very good in 84% of the patients. Treatment was deemed effective or very effective in 82% of the patients. Symptoms of rhinitis and/or asthma improved in 66% and 63% of the patients respectively, with a concomitant reduction in symptomatic medication intake. The majority of the patients were satisfied with their treatment, which was well tolerated. The results of this large, retrospective, observational study confirm the efficacy and tolerability of HDM SLIT in routine French practice in a “real-world” setting.
Cell adhesion molecules regulate guidance of dorsal root ganglion axons in the marginal zone and their invasion into the mantle layer of embryonic spinal cord.

In order to elucidate the mechanisms regulating the projections of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) axons in the dorsal funiculus and invasion into target regions in the mantle layer (prospective gray matter) of the spinal cord, we examined the interactions between DRG axons and spinal cord. DRG neurons were dissociated from chick embryos and cultured for 1-2 days on cryostat sections of the spinal cord at embryonic day 5 (E5) or at E9. E5 and E9 DRG neurons extended neurites onto both marginal zone (prospective white matter) and mantle layer (prospective gray matter) of the spinal cord, suggesting that both of these regions are permissive for neurite growth. When E5 DRG neurites approached cryosections of E5 spinal cord from outside, most of them ran in the marginal zone without invading the mantle layer. In contrast, about half of E9 DRG neurites entered the mantle layer after crossing the marginal zone of E9 spinal cord. These growth patterns of DRG neurites on spinal marginal zone and mantle layer are similar to the pathway formation of DRG axons at comparable stages in vivo; DRG axons run exclusively in the prospective dorsal funiculus before E6, and enter the mantle layer (prospective dorsal horn) to reach the target regions by E9. Perturbation of functions of Ng-CAM, Nr-CAM, and axonin-1/SC2 by adding the specific antibodies in the culture medium increased the ratio of DRG neurites entering the mantle layer of E5 spinal cord, suggesting that these cell adhesion molecules are involved in keeping DRG neurites in the marginal zone. Taken together with the expression of Ng-CAM, Nr-CAM, and axonin-1/SC2, these CAMs on DRG axons may regulate the guidance of these axons in the marginal zone before E6, and the subsequent decrease in the relative levels of these CAMs might allow DRG axons to invade the target mantle layer.
IDDM, Counterregulation, and the Brain

Does the brain of a person with IDDM respond to hypoglycemia differently than the brain of someone without diabetes? This is one of several questions raised by the provocative article by George et al. (1) in this issue. Recognition of hypoglycemia and the counterregulatory defenses against hypoglycemia are thought to be mediated primarily through discrete brain regions (2,3)If this thinking is correct, might the observation by George and colleagues be explained as an effect of IDDM on the brain signaling? Importantly, experimental studies in animals and humans suggest that both diabetes (2) and hypoglycemia (3) may exert potentially deleterious effects on the brain. The study by George et al. (1) concludes that those with IDDM recover awareness of hypoglycemia more rapidly than do those without diabetes. In this study, moderate hyperglycemia was maintained between hypoglycemic challenges. Two days after a brief period of hypoglycemia, eight subjects with uncomplicated diabetes showed normal responses (except for the peak and threshold norepinephrine response) to being rechallenged with hypoglycemia. This recovery is more rapid than the recovery the authors previously found in nondiabetic subjects. To begin addressing the questions raised by this study, we must understand its clinical background. We also need to review the pathophysiology of how both diabetes and hypoglycemia affect the brain. The important clinical backdrop for this study relates to the good news/bad news conundrum raised by the data from the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) (4) and other similar studies, such as the Stockholm Diabetes Intervention Study (5). The good news, of course, is that substantial and clinically relevant reductions in risk for all of the major chronic metabolic complications of IDDM are achieved with intensive insulin therapy that attains close to normal levels of HbAk (~7%) when compared to less closely regulated glycemia (~9% HbAlc). The less welcome observation is that a threefold increase in the risk of serious hypoglycemia occurs in those with intensive treatment. Serious hypoglycemia in IDDM subjects commonly occurs at night or without typical sympathoadrenal warning symptoms (hypoglycemia unawareness) that permit patients to rectify glucose levels by taking dextrose or other remedies. These observations have led Cryer (6) to assert that hypoglycemia is the limiting factor in control of IDDM, a judgment now widely accepted. The hypothesis that excess glucose or some factor closely allied with it is toxic is now much better defended than ever; the concern about hypoglycemia is, however, heightened.
Evaluation de la toxicité d’un extrait aqueux de Sacoglottis gabonensis (Baille) Urban (Humiriaceae) chez les rongeurs, une plante utilisée dans le traitement de l’ulcère de Buruli en Côte d’Ivoire

Sacoglottis gabonensis est une plante medicinale qui est utilisee dans le traitement traditionnel de l’ulcere de Buruli en Cote d’Ivoire. En vue d’etablir l’innocuite de ce traitement, des tests de toxicite aigue et subaigue ont ete realises. A cet effet, la DL50 a ete determinee chez la souris, ainsi que les parametres hematologiques et biochimiques apres administration repetee des doses de 3,5 ; 35 et 350 mg/kg de pc de l’extrait aqueux de Sacoglottis gabonensis a des rats pendant 28 jours. La DL50 obtenue a ete superieure a 5000 mg/kg de pc et l’extrait aqueux a ete sans effet sur la plupart des parametres sanguins doses. Ces etudes ont revele que l’extrait total aqueux de Sacoglottis gabonensis est atoxique a toutes les doses testees. Mots cles : Sacoglottis gabonensis, Ulcere de Buruli, Innocuite, DL50, Parametres sanguins.
Efficient Multi-User Detection for Uplink Grant-Free NOMA: Prior-Information Aided Adaptive Compressive Sensing Perspective

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is an emerging research topic in the future fifth generation wireless communication networks, which is expected to support massive connectivity for massive machine-type communications (mMTC). Due to the sporadic communication nature of mMTC, the grant-free transmission methodology is highly expected in uplink NOMA systems, to drastically reduce the transmission latency and signaling overhead. Exploiting the inherent sparsity nature of user activity, compressive sensing (CS) techniques have been applied for efficient multi-user detection in the uplink grant-free NOMA. In this paper, we propose a prior-information-aided adaptive subspace pursuit (PIA-ASP) algorithm to improve the multi-user detection performance. In this algorithm, a parameter evaluating the quality of the prior-information support set is introduced, in order to exploit the intrinsically temporal correlation of active user support sets in several continuous time slots adaptively. Then, to mitigate the incorrect estimation effect of the prior support quality information, a robust PIA-ASP algorithm is further proposed, which adaptively exploits the prior support based on the corresponding support quality information in a conservative way. It is noted that both of the two proposed algorithms do not require the knowledge of the user sparsity level, while most of the state-of-the-art CS-based multi-user detection algorithms usually need. Moreover, for the two proposed algorithms, the upper bound of the signal detection error and the computational complexity is derived. Simulation results demonstrate that the two proposed algorithms are capable of achieving much better performance than that of the existing CS-based multi-user detection algorithms with a similar computational complexity.
Conditional Disruption of Raptor Reveals an Essential Role for mTORC1 in B Cell Development, Survival, and Metabolism

Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a serine-threonine kinase that coordinates nutrient and growth factor availability with cellular growth, division, and differentiation. Studies examining the roles of mTOR signaling in immune function revealed critical roles for mTOR in regulating T cell differentiation and function. However, few studies have investigated the roles of mTOR in early B cell development. In this study, we found that mTOR is highly activated during the pro- and pre-B stages of mouse B cell development. Conditional disruption of the mTOR coactivating protein Raptor in developing mouse B cells resulted in a developmental block at the pre-B cell stage, with a corresponding lack of peripheral B cells and loss of Ag-specific Ab production. Pre-B cell survival and proliferation were significantly reduced in Raptor-deficient mice. Forced expression of a transgenic BCR or a BclxL transgene on Raptor-deficient B cells failed to rescue B cell development, suggesting that pre-BCR signaling and B cell survival are impaired in a BclxL-independent manner. Raptor-deficient pre-B cells exhibited significant decreases in oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis, indicating that loss of mTOR signaling in B cells significantly impairs cellular metabolic capacity. Treatment of mice with rapamycin, an allosteric inhibitor of mTOR, recapitulated the early B cell developmental block. Collectively, our data reveal a previously uncharacterized role for mTOR signaling in early B cell development, survival, and metabolism.
Timing of the Developmental Switch in GABAA Mediated Signaling from Excitation to Inhibition in CA3 Rat Hippocampus Using Gramicidin Perforated Patch and Extracellular Recordings

Summary: The timing of the developmental switch in the GABAA mediated responses from excitatory to inhibitory was studied in Wistar rat CA3 hippocampal pyramidal cells using gramicidin perforated patch‐clamp and extracellular recordings. Gramicidin perforated patch recordings revealed a gradual developmental shift in the reversal potential of synaptic and isoguvacine‐induced GABAA mediated responses from –55 ± 4 mV at postnatal days P0–2 to −74 ± 3 mV at P13–15 with a midpoint of disappearance of the excitatory effects of GABA at around P8. Extracellular recordings in CA3 pyramidal cell layer revealed that the effect of isoguvacine on multiple unit activity (MUA) switched from an increase to a decrease at around P10. The effect of synaptic GABAA mediated responses on MUA switched from an increase to a decrease at around P8. It is concluded that the developmental switch in the action of GABA via GABAA receptors from excitatory to inhibitory occurs in Wistar rat CA3 pyramidal cells at around P8–10, an age that coincides with the transition from immature to mature hippocampal rhythms. We propose that excitatory GABA contributes to enhanced excitability and ictogenesis in the neonatal rat hippocampus.