Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anticipatory Activity Rhythms under Daily Schedules of Water Access in the Rat

Rats anticipate a fixed daily feeding time by entrainment of a component of their multioscillatory circadian system. The range of stimuli capable of entraining this component is little studied. Previous studies suggest that restricted water access is not an effective entrainment stimulus, as measured by general locomotion. The present study re-examined the issue, using two other measures of activity: wheel running and activity at a food-water delivery bin. Rats restricted to 1 hr of water each day in the middle of the light and to food in the 12-hr dark period showed no anticipation of this event in the wheel-running measure, but some rats did show anticipation in the delivery bin activity measure. Rats (bin activity measure only) restricted to 1 hr of water and 1 hr of food separated by intervals of 7, 10, or 12 hr, in either the light or the dark, showed consistent anticipation of food access time but little or no anticipation of water access time. Water access time also did not sustain food anticipatory rhythms in animals whose food-water schedules were reversed. However, deprivation of water or of both food and water for 72 or 90 hr was usually associated with specific increases in bin activity at both the usual feeding and drinking times. Water access, like food, appears to provide cues capable of entraining an anticipatory circadian mechanism. Differences in the type and amount of anticipatory activity preceding these events may reflect differences in the strengths of the two entrainment cues and/or in the activity levels or specific behavioral strategies promoted by hunger and thirst.
In vivo MRI and its histological correlates in acute adoptive transfer experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. Quantification of inflammation and oedema.

In vivo proton MRI was carried out on a 7 Tesla system at 2-3 day intervals over 10 days in rats with adoptive transfer experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (AT-EAE), an animal model of some aspects of multiple sclerosis. In order to assess the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), MRI was performed by acquiring quantitative MR-relaxation time T1 images of the AT-EAE rat brain before and after i.v. injection gadolinium-diethylene triaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) using an ultrafast MRI technique. The MRI findings were compared with the immunohistochemical stain of T cells, macrophages and albumin and, in addition, apoptosis of T cells was assessed using in situ nick translation (ISNT). Prior to injection of Gd-DTPA, an increase of T1 times in the brain of the AT-EAE rats was observed, which paralleled the time course of albumin in histological sections. These were MRI findings observed well before the onset of major cellular infiltration and before the onset of clinical signs. After i.v. injection of Gd-DTPA the observed decrease of T1 times paralleled macrophage activation, and less closely T-cell infiltration. Our results provide evidence that using MRI, it is possible to assess quantitatively the breach of the BBB and to distinguish in vivo between two components of the early phase of the lesion, inflammatory infiltrates and vasogenic oedema.
Choroidal Venous Pulsations at an Arterio-venous Crossing in Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy

It has been reported that pulsations in abnormal vessels are observed on indocyanine green (ICG) angiography in half of patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), although the mechanism of the pulsation is unknown. In this study, we report a case of PCV showing venous pulsations at an arterio-venous (A-V) crossing, and discuss a possible mechanism of polypoidal vessel formation and pulsations in PCV. A 66-year-old female presented with a reddish-orange elevated lesion and serous retinal detachment in the macula of her left eye, and was diagnosed as PCV. She was treated with photodynamic therapy (PDT), and followed-up through routine examinations, including ICG angiography. ICG angiography at presentation showed a branching vascular network and choroidal venules with dye leakage (polypoidal vessels) in the left eye. Pulsations, supposedly of venous origin, were observed at an A-V crossing in the abnormal vessels. Within 3 months after PDT, the polypoidal vessel ceased to leak and the pulsations vanished. The reddish-orange lesion gradually decreased in size with complete disappearance of retinal detachment. This study suggests that an unusual compression at an A-V crossing may make a venule polypoidal, and fluctuations of blood flow and pressure in the venule may cause pulsatile movements of the vessel wall.
Hip fractures: public perceptions.

INTRODUCTION Hip fractures are common injuries in elderly patients presenting to the trauma surgeon. Mortality following such injuries approaches 10% at one month, rising to 30% at one year. Of those who survive, most experience a decrease in mobility and independence. The authors believe that the general public are not aware of these facts and in particular do not perceive hip fractures to be injuries of serious consequence. SUBJECTS AND METHODS This study aims to assess the perception of hip fractures amongst the general public. Subjects were recruited from a population attending a general orthopaedic clinic in a district general hospital during March 2008. All participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire relating to their perception of hip fracture epidemiology, aetiology, presentation, treatment and both physical and social outcomes. RESULTS A total of 142 people completed a questionnaire. Of those, 27 (19%) had been filled out by either hip fracture patients or their relatives. A significant majority of subjects underestimated both the hospital length of stay and mortality figures; however, most people did know that some form of surgery would be required. CONCLUSIONS This study underlines the need for detailed counselling of the patient and relatives following a hip fracture in order to create realistic expectations and to allow those involved to prepare for potential outcomes. Written patient information may also be useful to allow patients and relatives the opportunity to digest relevant information and to pose questions relating to what they have read.
Experimental characterization of mutually synchronized voltage edges in point-coupled tunnel diode transmission lines

We investigate experimentally the mutual synchronization of oscillating pulse edges developed in dissipatively point-coupled transmission lines periodically loaded with tunnel diodes (TDs). Based on the phasereduction scheme, the mutually synchronized edges are shown to pass simultaneously the connected points. It then becomes possible to design the phase difference between synchronized edges by the arrangement of connected points. Using test TD lines fabricated on breadboards, the fundamental properties of mutually synchronized edges are successfully validated.
Intra-Industry Adjustment to Import Competition: Theory and Application to the German Clothing Industry

This paper uses an oligopoly model with heterogeneous firms to examine how an industry adjusts to rising import competition. The model predicts that in the short run the least efficient firms in the industry become inactive, surviving firms face a fall in output, mark-ups and profits, and the average productivity of survivors increases. These pro-competitive effects of import penetration on the domestic industry disappear in the long run. The predictions for the short run are confirmed in an empirical study of the German clothing industry.
Accumulation of Enkephalin, Proenkephalin mRNA, and Neuropeptide Y in Immunologically Denervated Rat Adrenal Glands: Evidence for Divergent Peptide Regulation

Abstract: To investigate transsynaptic effects on peptides of adrenal chromaffin cells in the rat, presynaptic sympathetic terminals were destroyed by intravenous injection of monoclonal antibodies to acetylcholinesterase. At several times thereafter, neuropeptide Y (NPY)‐like immunoreactivity (NPY‐IR) and methionine‐enkephalin‐like immunoreactivity (Met‐Enk‐IR) were measured by radioimmunoassay. Within 2 days of antibody injection, adrenal Met‐Enk‐IR increased five‐ to 10‐fold and NPY‐IR increased 50%. These effects were accompanied by large increases in proenkephalin A mRNA assayed by polymerase chain reaction. The peptide responses could reflect either an acute activation, as presynaptic terminals degenerated, or a chronic synaptic inactivation after terminal degeneration. To test the possibilities, muscarinic and nicotinic receptors were inhibited by repeated injection of atropine (1 mg/kg) and chlorisondamine (5 mg/kg). Measurements of urinary free catecholamine excretion showed that this treatment prevented the paroxysmal release of norepinephrine and reduced the release of epinephrine that normally followed injection of acetylcholinesterase antibodies. When the drugs were given alone for 2 or 4 days, adrenal Met‐Enk‐IR increased modestly and NPY‐IR remained steady or declined. When given together with acetylcholinesterase antibodies, the cholinergic antagonists blocked the increase of NPY‐IR but not Met‐Enk‐IR. Adding naloxone (1 mg/kg) to the treatment regimen enhanced the blockade of epinephrine excretion and largely prevented the antibody‐induced increase in Met‐Enk‐IR. These findings indicate that adrenal NPY and enkephalin are not regulated identically. Adrenal NPY behaves as though controlled by transsynaptic cholinergic input. On the other hand, adrenal enkephalin may be regulated by additional or different mechanisms, possibly involving peptidergic transmission or synaptic inactivation.
Production and cell surface anchoring of functional fusions between the SLH motifs of the Bacillus anthracis S‐layer proteins and the Bacillus subtilis levansucrase

Many surface proteins of Gram‐positive bacteria contain motifs, about 50 amino acids long, called S‐layer homology (SLH) motifs. Bacillus anthracis, the causal agent of anthrax, synthesizes two S‐layer proteins, each with three SLH motifs towards the amino‐terminus. We used biochemical and genetic approaches to investigate the involvement of these motifs in cell surface anchoring. Proteinase K digestion produced polypeptides lacking these motifs, and stable three‐motif polypeptides were produced in Escherichia coli that were able to bind the B. anthracis cell walls in vitrodemonstrating that the three SLH motifs were organized into a cell surface anchoring domain. We also determined the function of these SLH domains by constructing chimeric genes encoding the SLH domains fused to the normally secreted levansucrase of Bacillus subtilis. Cell fractionation and electron microscopy studies showed that each three‐motif domain was sufficient for the efficient anchoring of levansucrase onto the cell surface. Proteins consisting of truncated SLH domains fused to levansucrase were unstable and associated poorly with the cell surface. Surface‐exposed levansucrase retained its enzymatic and antigenic properties.
Photophysical and Lasing Properties of New Analogs of the Boron–dipyrromethene Laser Dye Pyrromethene 567 Incorporated into or Covalently Bounded to Solid Matrices of Poly(methyl methacrylate)¶

Abstract The photophysical, lasing and thermostability properties of newly synthesized analogs of the commercial dye pyrromethene 567 (PM567) have been measured in polymeric matrices of poly(methyl methacrylate) both when used as a dopant and when covalently bounded to the polymeric chain. These analogs have an acetoxy or a polymerizable methacryloyloxy group at the end of a polymethylene chain at Position 8 of the PM567 chromophore core. Clear correlations between photophysical and lasing characteristics are observed. Linking chain lengths with three or more methylene units give the highest fluorescence quantum yields (as high as 0.89) and lasing efficiencies (as high as 41%). The covalent linkage of the chromophore to the polymeric chain via the methacryloyloxy group improves the photostability of the PM567 chromophore.
Dose-Dense Sequentials Chemotherapy with Epirubicin and Paclitaxel in Advanced Breast Cancer

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the activity and toxicity profile of dose-dense sequential chemotherapy with epirubicin (EPI) and paclitaxel in advanced breast cancer (ABC). From January to September 1997, 41 patients with recurrent or metastatic (stage IV) breast cancer were enrolled in the study. Their median age was 57 (range, 33–77) years and median performance status 0 (range, 0–2). Twenty patients had received adjuvant chemotherapy. The chemotherapeutic regimen consisted of 4 cycles of EPI 110 mg/m2 every 2 weeks followed by 4 cycles of paclitaxel, 225 mg/m2 over 3 hours every 2 weeks. G-CSF was administered prophylactically on days 2–10 of each cycle. 34 (83.0%) patients completed all 8 cycles of chemotherapy. A total of 304 cycles were administered, 259 (85.0%) of them at full dose. Thirty (10.0%) cycles were delivered with a delay. The relative median dose intensities of EPI and paclitaxel were 0.95. Most common grade 3–4 side effects were anemia (15.0%) neutropenia (12.0%), thrombocytopenia (5.0%), nausea/vomiting (10.0%), febrile neutropenia (7.5%), and alopecia (90.0%). Overall, 8 (19.5%) patients achieved a complete and 15 (36.5%) a partial response. Median duration of response was 8.4 (range, 3.1–15.5+) months. After a median follow-up of 18.5 months, median time to progression was 8.7 (range, 0.5–21+) months; median survival has not been reached yet. Dose-dense sequential chemotherapy with EPI and paclitaxel shows promising activity as first-line treatment in ABC. Randomized studies comparing this type of chemotherapy with the classical administration of the two drugs together every 3 weeks are ongoing.
Prosody as a compensatory strategy in the conversations of people with agrammatism

Historically, agrammatism, a symptom of Broca's aphasia, has been associated with dysprosody, on account of speakers' slow, halting, and effortful speech. Almost all investigations of this phenomenon use experimental methods (reading, repetition). Thus, little is known about how prosody is used by speakers with agrammatism and understood by their interlocutors in everyday conversations. This paper takes an interactional approach to prosody, using Conversation Analysis to explore everyday conversations between three speakers with agrammatism and their family members/friends, recorded in the home. A distinct prosodic pattern is revealed in their talk, whereby non‐final words in an agrammatic utterance are produced with mid‐level or minor rising pitch, and final words with a prominent pitch excursion. The analysis shows that conversation partners orient to terminal pitch movement as a signal of turn completion. Conversely, they do not take the floor when pitch signals continuation, despite significant pausing and severe grammatical disruption. Thus, prosody appears to function to regulate turn taking in the same way as it does in typical (non‐language disordered) conversation. For these three speakers, intact prosodic skills appear to compensate for impaired grammatical ability, by packaging a series of haltingly produced words into an utterance, the meaning of which is responded to by the conversation partner as the sum of its agrammatic parts.
Integration of [11C]Methionine-Positron Emission Tomographic and Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Image-guided Surgical Resection of Infiltrative Low-grade Brain Tumors in Children

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the interest of integrating positron emission tomography (PET) images with the radiolabeled tracer [11C]methionine (Met) into the image-guided navigation planning of infiltrative low-grade brain tumors (LGBTs) in children. METHODS: Twenty-two children underwent combined Met-PET with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans in the planning of a navigation procedure. These children presented an LGBT (astrocytomas, 10; oligodendrogliomas, 4; ependymomas, 4; gangliogliomas, 4) located close to functional areas. Tumor boundaries were ill-defined on MRI (including T2-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery scans) and could not be clearly identified for allowing a complete, or at least a large, image-guided resection. The PET tracer Met was chosen because of its higher sensitivity and specificity than MRI to detect tumor tissue. The level and extension of MET uptake were analyzed to define the PET contour, subsequently projected onto MRI scans to define a final target contour for volumetric resection. The quality of tumor resection was assessed by an early postoperative MRI and Met-PET workup. RESULTS: In 20 of the 22 children with ill-defined LGBTs, PET improved tumor delineation and contributed to define a final target contour different from that obtained with MRI alone. Met-PET guidance allowed a total resection of Met uptake in 17 cases that were considered total tumor resections because the operative margin left in place contained nontumor tissue. CONCLUSION: These data suggested that Met-PET guidance could help to improve the number of total resections and the amount of tumor removed in infiltrative LGBTs in children.
Beneficial and harmful effects of augmented feedback on physicians' clinical‐teaching performances

PURPOSE: To evaluate whether clinical-teaching skills could be improved by providing teachers with augmented student feedback. METHOD: A randomized, controlled trial in 1994 included 42 attending physicians and 39 residents from the Department of Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine who taught 110 students on medicine ward rotations for one-month periods. Before teaching rotations, intervention group teachers received norm-referenced, graphic summaries of their teaching performances as rated by students. At mid-month, intervention group teachers received students' ratings augmented by individualized teaching-effectiveness guidelines based on the Stanford Faculty Development Program framework. Linear models were used to analyze the students' mean ratings of teaching behaviors at mid-month and end-of-month. Independent variables included performance ratings, intervention status, teacher status, teaching experience, and interactions with baseline ratings. RESULTS: Complex interactions with baseline performance were found for most teaching categories at mid-month and end-of-month. The intervention-group teachers who had high baseline performance scores had higher student ratings than did the control group teachers with similar baseline scores; the intervention group teachers who had low baseline performance scores were rated lower than were the control group teachers with comparable baseline scores. The residents who had medium or high baseline scores were rated higher than were the attending physicians with comparable baseline scores; the performance of the residents who had low baseline scores was similar to that of the attending physicians with comparable baseline scores. CONCLUSION: Baseline performance is important for targeting those teachers most likely to benefit from augmented student feedback. Potential deterioration in teaching performance warrants a reconsideration of distributing students' ratings to teachers with low baseline performance scores.
The trend of integrated reporting practice in South Africa: ceremonial or substantive?

The purpose of this paper is to examine the trend of integrated reporting (IR) practice following the introduction of an “apply or explain” IR requirement in South Africa. In particular, the authors examine whether the IR practice is ceremonial or substantive in the context of a soft regulatory environment. ,By way of content analyses, the authors examine the extent and quality of IR practice using an IR checklist developed based on normative understanding of existing IR guidelines. The evidence is drawn from 246 integrated reports of large South African companies over a three-year period (2011-2013), following the introduction of IR requirement in South Africa. ,The results show a significant increase in the extent and quality of IR practice. The findings also reveal significant improvements in individual IR categories such as connectivity of information, materiality determination process and reliability and completeness of the integrated reports. However, despite the increasing trend and evidence of both symbolic and substantive IR practice, the authors conclude that the current IR practice is largely ceremonial in nature, produced to acquire organisational legitimacy. ,For academics, the authors argue that there is a need to move away from the “what” and “why” aspects of the IR agenda to “how” IR should work inside organisations. In particular, academics should engage with firms through interventionist research to help firms implement integrated thinking and substantive reporting practices. For organisations, the findings draw attention to specific aspects of IR that require improvement. For policymakers, the study provides evidence based on the developmental stage of IR practice and draws attention to certain areas that need clarification. In particular, the International Integrated Reporting Council and Integrated Reporting Committee of South Africa should provide detailed guidelines on connectivity of information, material issues and disclosure of multiple capitals and their trade-offs. Finally, for educators, in line with the ACCA’s embedment of IR in its accounting courses, there is a need to incorporate IR in the curriculum; in particular, the authors argue that the best way to advance IR is in a “ubiquitous” spread in accounting and management courses. ,This study provides empirical account of IR practice over time in the context of a regulatory IR environment. The construction of an IR checklist developed based on normative understanding of local and international IR guidelines is another novel approach of this study.
Literature Review on HR Practice in Banking Sector

Presently the competition was going on sky high in the banking industry. Merely tough competitors can persist under these prompt changes. Every single bank wished to face this situation and emerge as victorious, but it was not as easy as one could imagine. But this could be possible somewhat if a desire to work all together for transformation was made. Fast moving and complex world of new techniques &skills had forced banks to consider it and to adjust themselves to the changing banking environment. There was a requirement to advance competencies i.e. skill, knowledge and approach among the bank employees to make them more appropriate to the altering circumstances. Since every human being had potential to do remarkable things and to support him to understand, develop and utilize his/her potential, the bank should provide them knowledge and emerging climate as well as prospects. And this was possible only if efficient and effective Human Resource Practices, which would maximize value and minimize cost within the organization should be applied. But there was no single practice to which all organizations should aspire, but to some extent, each firm must have a distinguishing Human Resource Management System that represents core competencies required for the survival and sustainability of that particular organization. Best for one firm may not be best for other. The best technique applied last month may not be best for today. Hence in this present competitive world, management of human resources had been a matter of crucial determination of success for the banking industry. Better management of human resource had been more earnestly felt as a vital, in recent decade as before. Thus, with a view of the inevitability of Human Resource in the banking sector, the aim of this study was to examine HRM Practices followed by public & private sector banks & to provide some suggestions.