Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structural and Functional Evolution of Glucose Transporter 4 (GLUT4): A Look at GLUT4 in Fish

The insulin-responsive glucose transporter GLUT4 was first described in 1988 as a result of studies on the regulation of glucose metabolism by insulin [1]. Soon after the discovery of GLUT4, several groups cloned GLUT4 in the human [2], rat [3,4] and mouse [5]. Since its discovery, GLUT4 has received, together with GLUT1, more experimental attention than any other single membrane transport protein. Structurally, GLUT4 follows the predicted model for class I glucose transporters. GLUT4 has a high affinity for glucose, with a Km of approximately 5 mM [6], and also transports mannose, galactose, dehydroascorbic acid and glucosamine [7-10]. In mammals, GLUT4 is mainly expressed in cardiac and skeletal muscle, brown and white adipose tissue, and brain [6,11,12]. GLUT4 plays a pivotal role in whole body glucose homeostasis, mediating the uptake of glucose regulated by insulin [13,14]. GLUT4 is responsible for the reduction in the postprandial rise in plasma glucose levels [6]. Insulin acts by stimulating the translocation of specific GLUT4-containing vesicles from intracellular stores to the plasma membrane (PM) resulting in an immediate increase in glucose transport [6,15]. The disruption of GLUT4 expression has been extensively associat‐ ed with pathologies of impaired glucose uptake and insulin resistance such as type 2 diabetes and obesity [13,16-18].
Comparative Study between the Quality Management Indicators, Marker of Major Psychiatric Disorders in Evolution

Indicators of quality management are represented by: accounting hospitalization days (duration of stay); mortality rate; the rate of nosocomial infections; patients readmitted in 30 days; the percentage patients transferred; inconsistent diagnoses. The hospitalization period is a marker of evolution. The present study reflects comparative data between duration and the number of hospitalisations in patients with major psychiatric disorders. Introduction. Medical Psychiatry as a discipline has developed a specialized approach in the treatment of mental diseases, a phenomenon linked to the progress of knowledge ofpsychopathology and the increasing complexity of methods of diagnosis and treatment. The history of psychiatric patients reflects not only changes in scientific understanding of mental disorder, but also the beliefs of political, social and economic interests of that period [1,2]. Objectives. We analised the duration and number of hospitalisation in patients with schizophrenia, psychotic disorders compared to those with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder in Psychiatric clinic from Craiova between 2006-2010. Method. Retrospective study during 2006-2010 took into account 8234 patients aged between 20-65 years from the Psychiatric Clinic Craiova constituting four groups: group N1=989 patients belonging to the schizophrenia group; group N2=1222 patients with psychotic disorders, group N3=918 patients with bipolar disorder and group N4=5101 with major depressive disorder.For data processing we used Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, USA), together with the suite for MS Excel XLSTAT (Addinsoft SARL, Paris, France) and IBM SPSS Statistics programme 20.0 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). Results. Schizophrenia being defined as a chronic disease was noted that 85.4 % of the patients from the first group received at least two admissions during the trial. Females have better prognosis, having a lower share in the group with multiple hospital admissions. The duration of the stay was longer than two weeks for 61,7% in the N1 group. Group N2 patients, bipolar disorder, have received at least two admissions, the share between the sexes is similar, the duration of hospitalisation not exceeding 7 days for 54,2% of patients with bipolar disorder. Women with more than 14 hospitalisation days had a share of 21.6%. Duration of hospitalization with the N3 group was of maximum two weeks at 71,4%, the group of major depressive disorders N4 had a number of short admissions of 44,4%. Conclusion. Statistically significantly high differences (p =0,000233<0.001) in favor of the schizophrenia and psychotic disorders group compared with the group of disorders of affectivity, in terms of the number and the duration of hospitalizations, marker of the evolution on the long term.
Oxygen‐induced frequency shifts in hyperoxia: a significant component of BOLD signal

In comparison to the well‐documented significance of intravascular deoxyhemoglobin (deoxyHgb), the effects of dissolved oxygen on the blood‐oxygen‐level‐dependent (BOLD) signal have not been widely reported. Based on the fact that the prolonged inspiration of high oxygen fraction gas can result in up to a sixfold increase of the baseline tissue oxygenation, the current study focused on the influence of dissolved oxygen on the BOLD signal during hyperoxia. As results, our in vitro study revealed that the r1 and r2 (relaxivities) of the oxygen‐treated serum were 0.22 mM−1 · s−1and 0.19 mM−1 · s−1, respectively. In an in vivo experiment, hyperoxic respiration induced negative BOLD contrast (i.e. signal decrease) in 18–42% of measured brain regions, voxels with accompanying significant decreases in both the T2* (−12.1% to −19.4%) and T1 (−5.8% to −3.3%) relaxation times. In contrast, the T2* relaxation time significantly increased (11.2% to 14.0%) for the voxels displaying positive BOLD contrast (in 41–50% of the measured brain), which reflected a hyperoxygenation‐induced reduction in tissue deoxyHgb concentration. These data imply that hyperoxia‐driven BOLD signal changes are primarily determined by the counteracting effects of extravascular oxygen and intravascular deoxyHgb. Oxygen‐induced magnetic susceptibility was further demonstrated by the study of 1 min hypoxia, which induced BOLD signal changes opposite to those under hyperoxia. Vasoconstriction was more common in voxels with negative BOLD contrast than in voxels with positive contrast (% change of blood volume, −9.8% to −12.8% versus 2.0% to 2.2%), which further suggests that negative BOLD contrast is mainly evoked by an increase in extravascular oxygen concentration. Conclusively, frequency shifts, which are induced by the accumulation of oxygen molecules and associated magnetic field inhomogeneity, are a significant source of the negative BOLD contrast during hyperoxia. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Pleiotropy in the melanocortin system: expression levels of this system are associated with melanogenesis and pigmentation in the tawny owl (Strix aluco)

The adaptive function of melanin‐based coloration is a long‐standing debate. A recent genetic model suggested that pleiotropy could account for covariations between pigmentation, behaviour, morphology, physiology and life history traits. We explored whether the expression levels of genes belonging to the melanocortin system (MC1R, POMC, PC1/3, PC2 and the antagonist ASIP), which have many pleiotropic effects, are associated with melanogenesis (through variation in the expression of the genes MITF, SLC7A11, TYR, TYRP1) and in turn melanin‐based coloration. We considered the tawny owl (Strix aluco) because individuals vary continuously from light to dark reddish, and thus, colour variation is likely to stem from differences in the levels of gene expression. We measured gene expression in feather bases collected in nestlings at the time of melanin production. As expected, the melanocortin system was associated with the expression of melanogenic genes and pigmentation. Offspring of darker reddish fathers expressed PC1/3 to lower levels but tended to express PC2 to higher levels. The convertase enzyme PC1/3 cleaves the POMC prohormone to obtain ACTH, while the convertase enzyme PC2 cleaves ACTH to produce α‐melanin‐stimulating hormone (α‐MSH). ACTH regulates glucocorticoids, hormones that modulate stress responses, while α‐MSH induces eumelanogenesis. We therefore conclude that the melanocortin system, through the convertase enzymes PC1/3 and PC2, may account for part of the interindividual variation in melanin‐based coloration in nestling tawny owls. Pleiotropy may thus account for the covariation between phenotypic traits involved in social interactions (here pigmentation) and life history, morphology, behaviour and physiology.
Mutation and psychosis: a suggested explanation of seasonality of birth

The persistence of psychosis at a high and relatively constant prevalence in the various populations of the world is rendered difficult to explain by the absence of identified environmental precipitants and by reduced fertility of affected individuals. The problem is not confined to schizophrenia but applies also to affective disorder. The 'virogene' concept attempts to explain this paradox as follows. (1) Psychosis in general is, as suggested by Böök (1953) and Lewis (1958) for schizophrenia, associated with a high rate of mutation. (2) The new mutations occur at a specific site (a 'hot-spot') in the genome and consist of rearrangements (e.g. transpositions or new insertions occurring as a result of unequal recombination) in a sequence which has a degree of potential autonomy, i.e. an integrated pathogen or 'virogene'. (3) The mutations occur specifically in the courses of gametogenesis in the male. By its location in the scrotal sac and its extended time course, gametogenesis in the male is susceptible to insertional mutagenesis as a function of variations in environmental temperature. Such temperature-dependent mutations are reflected in the seasonality of birth seen in both schizophrenic and affective illnesses. The increased likelihood of such mutations occurring with time is held to account for the association of psychosis with increased paternal age. (4) Such new events are held responsible not only for 'sporadic' cases in individuals without a family history of psychosis, but also for increases in severity of illness between generations. Psychosis is viewed as a continuum extending from unipolar through bipolar affective disorder and schizoaffective illness to schizophrenia with increasing degrees of defect. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Acute posterolateral rotatory instability of the knee

Posterolateral rotatory instability of the knee, a poste rior rotational subluxation of the lateral tibial plateau in relation to the lateral femoral condyle, is an unusual condition. Twelve cases of acute posterolateral rotatory instability are presented with an average followup of 7.5 years after surgical repair. Clinical signs suggestive of this injury included posterolateral knee tenderness, and a contusion or abrasion over the anteromedial aspect of the tibia. Indications for operative repair in cluded a 2+ or greater varus instability of the knee at 30° flexion in association with a positive external rota tion recurvatum or posterolateral drawer test. At oper ation, the consistent finding was a tear in the arcuate ligament complex in all patients. Primary operative repair resulted in stable and func tional knees in 8 of 11 patients without evidence of degenerative joint disease at 7½ years postinjury. Roentgenographic evidence of degenerative joint dis ease was present in three patients, two of whom had some residual posterolateral laxity. Results were evaluated subjectively, objectively, and functionally. There were eight good, three fair, and no poor subjective results; eight good, two fair, and one poor objective results; and seven good, three fair and one poor functional results. The single objective and functional poor result had a deep infection postopera tively. Eight of the 11 patients participated in recreational sports following repair and no patients were limited in the activities of daily living.
Lateralization of language: Toward a biologically based model of language

Abstract If the biological basis of language is to provide insight for linguistic theory, description of the aspects of language that play a role in the determination of language lateralization is essential. This article will summarize what is known about the distribution of language across the hemispheres using information from the Wada procedure and comparing those results with those from investigations using newer less invasive methods like fMRI. This article will also describe what is known about the limits of language in the isolated right hemisphere when acquired during normal language development. The profile of language in the isolated right hemisphere may qualify as one model of an evolutionarily older “protolanguage. ” Questions posed in both of these areas provide a rich opportunity for interaction between linguists, psycholinguists, and neuropsychologists.
The social patterning of health, smoking and drinking in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland in 1994-2004

The Baltic countries share public health problems typical of most Eastern European transition economies: morbidity and mortality from non-communicable diseases is higher than in Western European countries. This situation has many similarities compared to a neighbouring country, Finland during the late 1960s. There are reasons to expect that health disadvantage may be increasing among the less advantaged population groups in the Baltic countries. The evidence on social differences in health in the Baltic countries is, however, scattered to studies using different methodologies making comparisons difficult. This study aims to bridge the evidence gap by providing comparable standardized cross-sectional and time trend analyses to the social patterning of variation in health and two key health behaviours i.e. smoking and drinking in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland in 1994-2004 representing Eastern European transition countries and a stable Western European country. The data consisted of similar cross-sectional postal surveys conducted in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004 on adult populations (aged 20–64 years) in Estonia (n=9049), Latvia (n=7685), Lithuania (n=11634) and Finland (n=18821) in connection with the Finbalt Health Monitor –project. The main statistical method was logistic regression analysis. Perceived health was found to be worse among both men and women in the Baltic countries than in Finland. Poor health was associated with older age and lower education in all countries studied. Urbanization and marital status were not consistently related to health. The existing educational inequalities in health remained generally stable over time from 1994 to 2004. In the Baltic countries, however, improvement in perceived health was mainly found among the better educated men and women. Daily smoking was associated with young age, lower education and psychological distress in all countries. Among women smoking was also associated with urbanisation in all countries except Estonia. Among Lithuanian women, the educational gradient in smoking was weakest, and the overall prevalence of smoking increased over time. Drinking was generally associated with young age among men and women, and with education among women. Better educated women were more often frequent drinkers and less educated binge drinkers. The exception was that in Latvian men and women both frequent drinking and binge drinking were associated with low education. In conclusion, the Baltic countries are likely to resemble Western European countries rather than other transition societies. While health inequalities did not markedly change, substantial inequalities do remain, and there were indications of favourable developments mainly among the better educated. Pressures towards increasing health inequalities may therefore be visible in the future, which would be in accordance with the results on smoking and drinking in this study.
Beyond memory problems: multiple obstacles to health and quality of life in older people seeking help for subjective memory complaints

Abstract Background: Preliminary evidence suggests that older people who seek medical help for subjective memory complaints (SMC) may be at risk for depression, poor quality of life (QoL), and functional limitations. This study aims to: (1) further investigate bio-psycho-social characteristics, participation in personally meaningful activities and QoL of help-seekers; and (2) examine the relationship of these characteristics to QoL, and explore the unique contribution of participation to QoL. Methods: Cognitive, meta-cognitive, emotional, social, participation, and QoL measures were used to compare 51 help-seekers referred from geriatric clinics to 40 age-matched controls who did not seek help for memory problems. Results: Help-seekers exhibited lower participation and QoL, had lower mean cognitive scores, reported more memory mistakes and negative memory-beliefs, more depression, worse self-efficacy, and less positive social interaction than non-help-seekers. Quality of life in help-seekers was significantly correlated with most variables. Participation contributed to the explained variance of QoL in help-seekers, beyond that accounted for by cognition and emotional status. Discussion: Help-seekers with SMC exhibited a complex health condition that includes not only SMC, but also objective memory impairment, depression, functional restrictions, negative memory beliefs, low perception of memory abilities, reduced self-efficacy and insufficient social interactions, all associated with lower QoL. This multi-faceted condition should be considered in the treatment of help-seekers. Implications for Rehabilitation Older people who seek help for subjective memory complaints may be facing a larger problem involving bio-psycho-social factors, affecting participation in meaningful activities and quality of life. Quality of life may be improved via treatment of depression, functional restrictions, memory beliefs, self-efficacy, and positive social interactions. Participation in meaningful activities is an especially important target for improving health and quality of life in this population. Interventions for older adults seeking help for subjective memory complaints will benefit from adopting a bio-psycho-social rehabilitation perspective.
Effects of prednisone on eosinophilic bronchitis in asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis*,**

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect size of oral corticosteroid treatment on eosinophilic bronchitis in asthma, through systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: We systematically reviewed articles in the Medline, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, EMBASE, and LILACS databases. We selected studies meeting the following criteria: comparing at least two groups or time points (prednisone vs. control, prednisone vs. another drug, or pre- vs. post-treatment with prednisone); and evaluating parameters before and after prednisone use, including values for sputum eosinophils, sputum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), and sputum IL-5-with or without values for post-bronchodilator FEV1-with corresponding 95% CIs or with sufficient data for calculation. The independent variables were the use, dose, and duration of prednisone treatment. The outcomes evaluated were sputum eosinophils, IL-5, and ECP, as well as post-bronchodilator FEV1. RESULTS: The pooled analysis of the pre- vs. post-treatment data revealed a significant mean reduction in sputum eosinophils (↓8.18%; 95% CI: 7.69-8.67; p < 0.001), sputum IL-5 (↓83.64 pg/mL; 95% CI: 52.45-114.83; p < 0.001), and sputum ECP (↓267.60 µg/L; 95% CI: 244.57-290.63; p < 0.0001), as well as a significant mean increase in post-bronchodilator FEV1 (↑8.09%; 95% CI: 5.35-10.83; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with moderate-to-severe eosinophilic bronchitis, treatment with prednisone caused a significant reduction in sputum eosinophil counts, as well as in the sputum levels of IL-5 and ECP. This reduction in the inflammatory response was accompanied by a significant increase in post-bronchodilator FEV1.
Measuring Pay-per-Install: The Commoditization of Malware Distribution

Recent years have seen extensive diversification of the "underground economy" associated with malware and the subversion of Internet-connected systems. This trend towards specialization has compelling forces driving it: miscreants readily apprehend that tackling the entire value-chain from malware creation to monetization in the presence of ever-evolving countermeasures poses a daunting task requiring highly developed skills and resources. As a result, entrepreneurial-minded miscreants have formed pay-per-install (PPI) services--specialized organizations that focus on the infection of victims' systems. In this work we perform a measurement study of the PPI market by infiltrating four PPI services. We develop infrastructure that enables us to interact with PPI services and gather and classify the resulting malware executables distributed by the services. Using our infrastructure, we harvested over a million client executables using vantage points spread across 15 countries. We find that of the world's top 20 most prevalent families of malware, 12 employ PPI services to buy infections. In addition we analyze the targeting of specific countries by PPI clients, the repacking of executables to evade detection, and the duration of malware distribution.
The angular bony defect as indicator of further alveolar bone loss.

The aim of the present retrospective study was to evaluate alterations of the alveolar bone level over a 10-year period at tooth sites with "angular" and "even" patterns of bone loss, in subjects who were not exposed to systematic periodontal therapy. A further objective was to evaluate whether the presence of an angular defect can serve as a predictor of additional bone loss. 201 subjects in ages 25-70 years were examined radiographically on 2 occasions 10 years apart. 194 were dentate on the 2nd examination. The radiographic bone height at the mesial and distal aspect of all teeth was assessed by measuring the distance between the cemento-enamel junction and the bone crest. The morphologic pattern of alveolar bone loss at baseline was assessed for each tooth site. Angular defects were classified as degree 1, 2 and 3, according to increasing defect depth. The change in periodontal bone height over the 10-year period was calculated for each site. The results demonstrated an increased frequency of tooth loss among teeth showing presence of an angular bony defect at baseline; whereas 13% of the teeth with an even pattern of bone loss were lost between the 2 examinations, this proportion was 22%, 46% and 68% for teeth with an angular defect of degree 1, degree 2 and degree 3, respectively. Longitudinal bone loss of greater than or equal to 2 mm occurred more often among sites showing an angular defect when compared to sites with an even alveolar bone morphology. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Socijalna distanca prema nacionalnim ili etničkim i religijskim skupinama

Rezultati teorijsko — komparativne analize i empirijskog dijela istraživanja u sklopu znanstvenoistraživackih projekata „Genealogija i transfer modela interkulturalizma” (1991.— 1996.) i „Skolski kurikulum i obilježja hrvatske nacionalne kulture” 1997. — 2002. ) upucuju na zakljucak kako ispitanici sebe vide primarno u okruženju nekih nacija: Hrvati, pa Amerikanci, Talijani, Nijemci i prema njima iskazujuj socijalnu blizinu. Kod nacija i etniciteta kod kojih je vise iskazano neprihvacanje: Srbi, Crnogorci, Romi. , ne može se govoriti o crno-bijelim odnosima, jer istovremeno nije zanemariv postotak odgovora koji upucuju na prihvacanje. Slican je trend prisutan u odnosu na socijalne udaljenosti prema vjerskim skupinama. Dobiveni rezultati mogu pomoci definirati obrazovnu politiku te mogu pridonijeti neposrednoj skolskoj praksi u procesu osuvremenjivanja odgojnog rada, i s gledista rasterecenja od nepotrebnih sadržaja, prema uvođenju inoviranih programa, poboljsanju kvalitete udžbenika i drugih izvora znanja, u kontekstu interkulturalne pedagoske komunikacije.