Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Activation of hypothalamic NPY, AgRP, MC4R, AND IL-6 mRNA levels in young Lewis rats with early-life diet-induced obesity.

OBJECTIVE Obesity represents a low-grade inflammatory disease and appears a risk factor for insulin resistance, but little is known on whether this may contribute to the development of autoimmune inflammatory diseases. The aim of this work was to study the early-life diet-induced obesity in Lewis rats which are known to be highly susceptible to autoimmunity. METHODS Obesity was induced by reduced litter size (4 pups per litter) followed by high-fat diet (SHF rats). Control rats (8 pups per litter) were fed with standard diet (CN rats). Oral glucose tolerance test (3 g glucose per kg b.w.) was performed by intra-gastric tube in conscious rats after 12 h fast. Adipocyte size was assessed by light microscope after collagenase digestion. Hypothalamic arcuate (ARC) and paraventricular nuclei (PVN) were isolated by the punching technique. Target mRNAs were quantified by real-time PCR with the use of TaqMan probes and primers. Serum hormones (leptin, ghrelin, adiponectin, visfatin and insulin) were assayed by specific RIAs . RESULTS During the experimental period SHF rats had the same body weight gain and caloric intake as CN rats. At the age of 8 weeks SHF rats showed increased epididymal fat mass and adipocyte volume, impaired glucose tolerance, normal basal fasting insulin, visfatin, and ghrelin level, but decreased adiponectin and high leptin level. In the ARC, the SHF rats showed increased expression of mRNA for orexigenic neuropeptide Y (NPY), agouti-related protein (AgRP) and anorexigenic pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6. In the PVN, the SHF rats showed increased expression of mRNA for anorexigenic melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) and IL-6. CONCLUSION Overexpression of orexigenic NPY and AgRP in the ARC indicates leptin resistance in SHF rats. The increased expression of MC4R in PVN points to the activation of melanocortin anorexigenic system which, along with increased hypothalamic IL-6, might prevent the animals from overfeeding. Higher adiposity in these rats results from the high fat-diet composition and not from increased caloric intake. Furthermore, enhanced leptin production appears the main factor indicating the predisposition to autoimmunity in these overfed rats.
Tibial plateau fractures: a review of operative treatment using AO technique

In a retrospective review of 80 tibial plateau fractures, 28 fractures were treated nonoperatively with a variety of closed methods and 52 were treated with open reduction and internal fixation using AO technique. At an average follow up of 24 months, a satisfactory result was obtained in 87% of the operatively treated patients and in 66% of those treated nonoperatively. It appears that stable, minimally displaced fractures do equally well with closed or open treatment. Patients with depressed, displaced, or unstable fractures did better with operative treatment. When operative treatment is planned the principles and techniques of internal fixation should be carefully followed.
Negative bone scan in a femoral neck stress fracture

quently are diagnostic only when callus formation is seen at the site of the fracture. A bone scan is recommended for diagnosis of a stress fracture that is not evident on standard radiographs because it is virtually 100% sensitive for detection of this injury.5,10,12,14,15,19 Although negative bone scans have been reported in impending tibial stress fractures, 13 a literature search revealed no published reports of a femoral neck stress fracture with a false-negative bone scan. We are reporting the case of a competitive runner with a stress fracture of the femoral neck that was not evident on bone scan, and ultimately was diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Plague outbreaks in prairie dog populations explained by percolation thresholds of alternate host abundance

Highly lethal pathogens (e.g., hantaviruses, hendra virus, anthrax, or plague) pose unique public-health problems, because they seem to periodically flare into outbreaks before disappearing into long quiescent phases. A key element to their possible control and eradication is being able to understand where they persist in the latent phase and how to identify the conditions that result in sporadic epidemics or epizootics. In American grasslands, plague, caused by Yersinia pestis, exemplifies this quiescent–outbreak pattern, because it sporadically erupts in epizootics that decimate prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies, yet the causes of outbreaks and mechanisms for interepizootic persistence of this disease are poorly understood. Using field data on prairie community ecology, flea behavior, and plague-transmission biology, we find that plague can persist in prairie-dog colonies for prolonged periods, because host movement is highly spatially constrained. The abundance of an alternate host for disease vectors, the grasshopper mouse (Onychomys leucogaster), drives plague outbreaks by increasing the connectivity of the prairie dog hosts and therefore, permitting percolation of the disease throughout the primary host population. These results offer an alternative perspective on plague's ecology (i.e., disease transmission exacerbated by alternative hosts) and may have ramifications for plague dynamics in Asia and Africa, where a single main host has traditionally been considered to drive Yersinia ecology. Furthermore, abundance thresholds of alternate hosts may be a key phenomenon determining outbreaks of disease in many multihost-disease systems.
Regulation of the KNOX-GA Gene Module Induces Heterophyllic Alteration in North American Lake Cress[W]

A gene module responsible for morphological diversification of leaf form within a species may have been co-opted during plant evolution to regulate morphological variation among species. Plants show leaf form alteration in response to changes in the surrounding environment, and this phenomenon is called heterophylly. Although heterophylly is seen across plant species, the regulatory mechanisms involved are largely unknown. Here, we investigated the mechanism underlying heterophylly in Rorippa aquatica (Brassicaceae), also known as North American lake cress. R. aquatica develops pinnately dissected leaves in submerged conditions, whereas it forms simple leaves with serrated margins in terrestrial conditions. We found that the expression levels of KNOTTED1-LIKE HOMEOBOX (KNOX1) orthologs changed in response to changes in the surrounding environment (e.g., change of ambient temperature; below or above water) and that the accumulation of gibberellin (GA), which is thought to be regulated by KNOX1 genes, also changed in the leaf primordia. We further demonstrated that exogenous GA affects the complexity of leaf form in this species. Moreover, RNA-seq revealed a relationship between light intensity and leaf form. These results suggest that regulation of GA level via KNOX1 genes is involved in regulating heterophylly in R. aquatica. The mechanism responsible for morphological diversification of leaf form among species may also govern the variation of leaf form within a species in response to environmental changes.
Tax Credits and Small Firm R&D Spending

In 2004, Canada changed the eligibility rules for its Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SRED) tax credit, which provides tax incentives for R&D conducted by small private firms. Difference-in-difference estimates show a 17 percent increase in total R&D among eligible firms. The impact was larger for firms that took the tax credits as refunds because they had no current tax liability. Contract R&D expenditures were more elastic than the R&D wage bill. The response was also greater for firms that invested in R&D capital before the policy change. (JEL D22, G32, H25, L25, O32, O38)
Intracellular citrate or externally applied tetraethylammonium ions produce calcium‐dependent action potentials in an insect motoneurone cell body

1. Electrophysiological observations have been made upon the cell body of an identified motoneurone of the cockroach, Periplaneta americana. Normal responses were compared with those observed after intracellular injection of citrate anions or when the preparation was bathed in solutions containing tetraethylammonium ions (TEA+).
Ro/SS‐A‐reactive B lymphocytes in salivary glands and peripheral blood of patients with Sjögren's syndrome

The aim of this study was to investigate the production of anti‐Ro/SS‐A antibodies in labial salivary glands (LSG) and peripheral blood (PB) of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) patients. The ELISPOT method was performed to quantify the frequency of LSG lymphocytes and PB lymphocytes spontaneously secreting anti‐Ro/SS‐A antibodies. The total number of IgG‐, IgA‐ and IgM‐producing cells was also quantified. The bovine Ro 60‐kD protein was used as target antigen. Six of six primary SS patients had LSG B cells producing anti‐bovine Ro 60 kD of the IgG isotype, and two of two primary SS patients had in addition PB lymphocytes producing anti‐bovine Ro 60 kD of the IgG isotype. The six patients who had IgG antibodies against the Ro/SS‐A antigen in LSG all had focus scores of ≥ 7 in biopsies of LSG. The results indicate that SS patients with a high degree of local inflammation in LSG have B cells producing anti‐Ro/SS‐A antibodies in both LSG and PB. Thus, the anti‐Ro/SS‐A antibodies may have pathogenic importance in the progression of the exocrinopathy of SS.
Interleukin-1β Messenger Ribonucleic Acid and Protein Levels after Fluid-Percussion Brain Injury in Rats: Importance of Injury Severity and Brain Temperature.

OBJECTIVE Posttraumatic temperature manipulations have been reported to significantly influence the inflammatory response to traumatic brain injury (TBI). The purpose of this study was to determine the temporal and regional profiles of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression and protein levels for the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), after moderate or severe TBI. The effects of posttraumatic hypothermia (33 degrees C) or hyperthermia (39.5 degrees C) on these consequences of TBI were then determined. METHODS Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent fluid-percussion brain injury. In the first phase of the study, rats were killed 15 minutes or 1, 3, or 24 hours after moderate TBI (1.8-2.2 atmospheres), for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis. Other groups of rats were killed 1, 3, 24, or 72 hours after moderate or severe TBI (2.4-2.7 atmospheres), for protein analysis. In the second phase, rats underwent moderate fluid-percussion brain injury, followed immediately by 3 hours of posttraumatic normothermia (37 degrees C), hyperthermia (39.5 degrees C), or hypothermia (33 degrees C), and were then killed, for analyses of protein levels and mRNA expression. Brain samples, including cerebral cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, and cerebellum, were dissected and stored at -80 degrees C until analyzed. RESULTS The findings indicated that mRNA levels were increased (P < 0.05) as early as 1 hour after TBI and remained elevated up to 3 hours after moderate TBI. Although both moderate and severe TBI induced increased levels of IL-1beta (P < 0.05), increased protein levels were also noted in remote brain structures after severe TBI. Posttraumatic hypothermia attenuated IL-1beta protein levels, compared with normothermia (P < 0.05), although the levels remained elevated in comparison with sham values. In contrast, hyperthermia had no significant effect on IL-1beta levels, compared with normothermic values. Posttraumatic temperature manipulations had no significant effect on IL-1beta mRNA levels. CONCLUSION Injury severity determines the degree of IL-1beta protein level elevation after TBI. The effects of posttraumatic hypothermia on IL-1beta protein levels (an important mediator of neurodegeneration after TBI) may partly explain the established effects of posttraumatic temperature manipulations on inflammatory processes after TBI.
ROCK inhibition with Y27632 activates astrocytes and increases their expression of neurite growth‐inhibitory chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans

Inhibition of Rho‐kinase (ROCK) with Y27632 stimulates sprouting by injured corticospinal tract and dorsal column tract axons, and accelerates functional recovery. However, regeneration of these axons across the glial scar was not observed. Here we examined the effects of Y27632 treatment on chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG) expression by astrocytes, which are a key component of the reactive gliosis inhibiting axonal regeneration. In vivo, rats underwent a dorsal column transection and were treated with Y27632 via intrathecal pump infusion. Compared with controls, Y27632‐treated injury sites displayed exaggerated upregulation of glial fibrillary acid protein and neurocan immunoreactivity along the lesion edge. In vitro, astrocytes assumed a reactive morphology (stellate shape) and increased their expression of CSPGs after Y27632 treatment. Neurite growth by dissociated cortical neurons decreased when cultured on the extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from Y27632‐treated astrocytes. This decrease in neurite growth was reversed with chondroitinase‐ABC (ChABC) digestion, indicating that the inhibition was due to CSPG depositions within the ECM. Interestingly, conditioned medium (CM) from untreated astrocytes was inhibitory to neurite growth, which was overcome by ChABC digestion. Such inhibitory activity was not found in the CM of Y27632‐treated astrocytes. Taken together, these data support a model where ROCK inhibition by Y27632 modifies astrocytic processing of CSPGs, and increases the presence of CSPGs within the ECM while reduces CSPGs in the CM (cerebrospinal fluid in vivo). This increased expression of inhibitory CSPGs in the ECM of the glial scar may counteract the growth promoting effects of ROCK inhibition on axonal growth cones. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Effects of Hydroalchoholic Extract of Teucrium polium L. on Hypertension Induced by Angiotensin II in Rats

Background: Antispasmodic and vasorelaxant effects of Teucrium polium L. (TP) were mentioned in former studies, so we attempted to evaluate the eventual preventive effect of TP in an acute experimental model of hypertension induced by angiotensin II (Ang II). Methods: Forty-eight male Wistar rats were divided randomly into six groups (n = 8); control Group (C), which received only saline, group Ang II; which received Ang II (300 ng/min, IV), group losartan (Los); which received Los (10 mg/kg, IV) before Ang II injection, three groups of TP 100, TP 200, and TP 400; which received different doses of TP extract (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg, IP, respectively) before Ang II application. After cannulation of the femoral artery, mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) was continuously measured and recorded during the experiments. Comparisons were performed using t-test with SPSS software, version 16 (SPSS, Chicago, IL). Results: MAP and HR in Ang group were significantly higher than the control group (P < 0.001), MAP in group Los significantly was lower than Ang group (P < 0.001) and pretreatment with three doses of TP extract also inhibited increasing of MAP after Ang II injection (P < 0.001). Los also inhibited the increase of HR due to Ang II (P < 0.001), but none of three doses of TP extract had a protective effect on tachycardia induced by Ang II. Conclusions: It seems TP extract could be effective in preventing of high blood pressure induced by Ang II pathway activation but could not have remarkable efficacy for improving the created tachycardia.
DETERMINANTS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AMONG YOUTH. A PRELIMINARY STUDY

RESUMEN Este estudio pretende probar la hipótesis de que tres formas de participación (convencional, no convencional y social) pueden proceder de los mismos determinantes. El estudio se llevó a cabo con 705 estudiantes de la universidad que completaron un cuestionario de auto-evaluación. Las variables independientes incluidas en el análisis fueron: confianza en la institución, interés político, eficacia política, cinismo hacia la política, socialización política, variables sociodemográficas, tales como género, edad e ingresos y variables políticas. Los resultados indican que las tres formas de participación no son mutuamente excluyentes, de forma que la implicación en una no supone obligatoriamente la exclusión de las otras dos. No obstante, no pueden atribuirse a un conjunto común de antecedentes: el modelo propuesto sólo ayuda a explicar la participación política; pero la participación social permanece principalmente inexplicada. ABSTRACT The present study is aimed at testing the hypothesis of three forms of participation (namely political conventional, political unconventional, and social) and that they can be traced back to the same determinants. The study was carried out on 705 college students who completed a self-evaluation questionnaire. Independent variables included in the analysis were; institution trustworthiness, political interest, political efficacy, a cynicism towards politics, political socialization, socio-demographic variables such as gender, age and income, and political variables. Results show that the three forms of participation are not mutually exclusive, so that the involvement in one does not necessarily entail the exclusion of the other two. Nevertheless, they cannot be traced back to a common pool of antecedents: the model proposed can only be supported for political, and not for social participation, which remains largely unexplained.
Old Rules and New Realities: Corporate Tax Policy in a Global Setting

This paper reassesses the burden of the current U.S. international tax regime and reconsiders well-known welfare benchmarks used to guide international tax reform. Reinventing corporate tax policy requires that international considerations be placed front and center in the debate on how to tax corporate income. A simple framework for assessing current rules suggests a U.S. tax burden on foreign income in the neighborhood of $50 billion a year. This sizeable U.S. taxation of foreign investment income is inconsistent with promoting efficient ownership of capital assets, either from a national or a global perspective. Consequently, there are large potential welfare gains available from reducing the U.S. taxation of foreign income, a direction of reform that requires abandoning the comfortable, if misleading, logic of using similar systems to tax foreign and domestic income.
Dynamics of Structural and Functional Changes in Gut Microbiota during Treatment with a Microalgal β-Glucan, Paramylon and the Impact on Gut Inflammation

Previously, we have shown that oral administration of yeast derived β-1,3/1,6-d-glucan enhances immune regulation and alters the composition of the gut microbiota. However, it is not known if other structurally distinct β-glucans have similar properties. Here, using C57BL/6 mice, we show the potential of a microalgae derived β-1,3-d-glucan, paramylon (PM), in shaping the gut microbiota and modulating the susceptibility to colitis. The community structure within the gut microbiota showed progressive changes including selective enrichment of specific communities and lowered community richness and diversity during prolonged oral treatment with PM. Compared to control mice, the gut microbiota of PM-treated mice had significantly higher abundance of Verrucomicrobia and lower abundance of Firmicutes. Specific taxa that were significantly more abundant in PM-treated mice include Akkermansia muciniphila and several Bacteroides members. Predictive functional analysis revealed overrepresentation of carbohydrate metabolism function in the fecal microbiota of PM recipients compared to controls, and this function was linked to Bacteroides spp. Prolonged pretreatment with PM not only diminished susceptibility to dextran sulfate sodium induced colitis severity, but also caused enhanced immune regulation. Overall, this study demonstrates the prebiotic properties of PM and the potential benefits of its prolonged oral consumption to gut health.
Enumerating interdistances in space

In this paper, we study the enumerative versions of the interdistance in terdis stance ranking and selection problems in space, namely, the fixed-radius near neighbors and interdistance enumeration problems, respectively. The input to the fixed-radius near neighbors problem is a set of n points S⊆ℜd and a nonnegative real number δ, and the output consists of all pairs of points within interdistance δ. We give an algorithm which, after an O(n log n) time preprocessing step, answers a fixed-radius near neighbors query with respect to an Lp metric in O(n+ρ(δ)) time, where ρ(δ) is the rank of δ. The space needed is O(n). The input to the interdistance enumeration problem is a set of n points S⃄ℜd and an integer k, , and the output is a set of point pairs, each corresponding to an interdistance having length less than or equal to the interdistance with rank k. We offer an O(n log n+k) time, O(n+k) space algorithm for this problem. This algorithm also works for any Lp metric.
Neuronal death and synapse elimination in the olivocerebellar system: III. Cell counts in the inferior olive of developing rats X‐irradiated from birth

The change with age of cell number in the developing inferior olivary nucleus (ION) of the normal rat, compared to the time course of the regression of the polyneuronal innervation of Purkinje cells by olivary axons (i.e., the climbing fibers), suggests that the involution of the redundant olivocerebellar contacts is caused by a reduction of axonal branching rather than by degeneration of the parent cells, this being also suggested by the normal size of the olivary population in adult rodents whose Purkinje cells retain polyneuronal innervation. However, the similar size of the adult ION population does not necessarily imply that the developmental history is the same in normal and multiply innervated adult rodents. Therefore, cell counts were performed in developing rats which had been repeatedly X‐irradiated from birth until postnatal day 14 and which retained polyneuronal innervation. The results show that, although less marked than during normal development, the evolution of the ION population is also characterized by a phase of cell loss followed by a slow increase. However, the number of cells in X‐irradiated rats is higher than in their controls from birth to postnatal day 15 but becomes identical at 20 days and later. These data confirm that cell death in the ION does not play a major role in the shaping of olivocerebellar connections.
Analysis of US Veterans Health Administration comprehensive evaluations for traumatic brain injury in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans

Objective: To describe neurobehavioural symptoms in Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans evaluated for traumatic brain injury (TBI) through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) TBI screening and evaluation programme. Design: An observational study based on VHA administrative data for all veterans who underwent TBI Comprehensive Evaluation between October 2007 and June 2010. Results: 55,070 predominantly white, non-Hispanic, male Veterans with a positive TBI screen had comprehensive TBI evaluations completed during the study period. Moderate-to-severe symptoms were common in the entire sample, both in those with and without a clinician-diagnosed TBI. However, the odds of reporting symptoms of this severity were significantly higher in those diagnosed with TBI compared to those without a TBI diagnosis, with odds ratios ranging from 1.35–2.21. TBI-specialty clinicians believed that in the majority of diagnosed TBI cases both behavioural health conditions and TBI contributed to patients’ symptom presentation. Conclusions: The VHAs TBI screening and evaluation process is identifying individuals with ongoing neurobehavioural symptoms. Moderate-to-severe symptoms were more prevalent in veterans with TBI-specialty clinician determined TBI. However, the high rate of symptom reporting also present in individuals without a confirmed TBI suggest that symptom aetiology may be multi-factorial in nature.