Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Chloroquine on Circulating Platelet Survival in the Rat

Background: Chloroquine inhibits platelet aggregation. Because platelet aggregation may lead to the lysis of platelets, the effect of chloroquine administration on circulating platelet survival was studied. Methods and Results: Platelets harvested from the blood of male inbred (WAG) rats were labeled with 111Indium oxine and returned to other inbred rats. At timed intervals, blood samples were drawn from the rats and taken for radioactivity estimation. In some experi ments, the rats (n = 10) received chloroquine (10 mg/kg) intraperitoneally daily for 3 days. Control rats (n = 10) received normal saline. Indium-labeled platelets disappeared expo nentially in control and test rats. The fraction of indium disappearing/h was significantly less in chloroquine-treated rats than in control rats (0.0368 ± 0.0016 vs 0.0520 ± 0.0016, mean ± SEM; P < .001). In all, 99% of the labeled platelets disappeared in 5.3 days in chloro quine-treated rats and 3.7 days in control rats. Conclusions: Chloroquine administration increases the life span of circulating platelets in rats. If the results are confirmed in humans, chloroquine may prevent the shortened platelet survival and thrombocytopenia common in malarial infection and other thrombotic disorders.
Outcome of cluster endophthalmitis in western plain region of Nepal.

BACKGROUND Post-operative endophthalmitis remains one of the most visually devastating complications of cataract surgery. Cluster endophthalmitis is defined as five or more cases of endophthalmitis occurring on a particular day in a single operating room in one centre. Excessive inflammation, particularly in the early post-operative phase, should be regarded as infective endophthalmitis. Early diagnosis and immediate intervention in such case, lead to salvage of eye as well as better visual outcome. OBJECTIVE To find out the causative organisms and visual outcome after an outbreak of post-operative endophthalmitis in high volume cataract surgical centre. MATERIALS AND METHODS Retrospective, interventional case series of 19 patients with acute post-operative endophthalmitis after manual small incision cataract surgery in a single day, underwent vitreous tap and received intravitreal Vancomycin, amikacin and Dexamethasone. Subconjunctival vancomycin was given at the end of the procedure. Vitreous samples were stained using Grams stain, Giemsa stain and KOH mount. Samples were sent to the hospital's microbiology laboratory for culture and sensitivity testing. All patients received intravenous ciprofloxacin for 3 days and oral ciprofloxacin for 7 days. Topical Prednisolone acetate, Ofloxacin, Gentamycin and atropine were given to all patients. Patients were followed up till 6 weeks. RESULTS 10 eyes had vitreous tap culture negative (52.6%) where as 9 eyes (47.4%) had bacterial culture growth. The culture reports showed 4 cases (21%) of Staphylococcus epidermidis, 3 cases (15.8%) of Staphylococcus aureus and 2 cases (10.5%) of mixed growth. 48 hours after the intervention, 15 patients improved clinically. On sixth week follow up, 7 eyes (37%) had visual acuity better than 6/18, 7 eyes had 6/18 to 6/60 and 5 eyes had visual acuity between 1/60 to 5/60. CONCLUSION Intravitreal antibiotics and steroid, along with systemic ciprofloxacin and subconjunctival vancomycin has good visual outcome for post operative cluster endophthalmitis.
Dot‐like Hemosiderin Spots on Gradient Echo T2*‐Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging Are Associated With Past History of Small Vessel Disease in Patients With Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Background and Purpose. Lipohyalinosis is considered an important cause of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), including hypertensive intracerebral hematoma (ICH) and lacunar infarction. Dot‐like low‐intensity spots (dot‐like hemosiderin spots [dotHSs]) on gradient‐echo T2*‐weighted (T2*‐w) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been histologically diagnosed as old microbleeds associated with microangiopathies (lipohyalinosis, amyloid angiopathy) and located in territories of perforating arteries (deep dotHSs) and subcortical regions (subcortical dotHSs). If dotHSs indicate the severity of lipohyalinosis, larger numbers of deep dotHSs may be associated with past history of SVD.Methods. The number of dotHSs was investigated in 213 patients with deep ICH (106 men, 107 women, 37 to 94 years old, mean age = 65.8 ± 11.2 years). Patients were divided into 2 subgroups according to past history of SVD. Odds ratio (OR) for the history was estimated from logistic regression analyses of the number of deep or subcortical dotHSs, as well as other factors.Results. Of 213 patients, 36 had a past history of SVD (symptomatic deep ICH in 18, symptomatic lacunar infarction in 17, and both in 1). An increased rate of history of SVD was found for patients with subcortical dotHSs. The OR per 1 subcortical dotHS was 1.09 (95% confidence internal (CI), 1.03–1.17;P= . 005), and per deep dotHS, the OR was 1.07 (95% CI, 1.00–1.13;P= .039). Conclusions. The findings suggest that deep and subcortical dotHSs on T2*‐w MRI may indicate the severity of microangiopathy and may predict recurrence of SVD in patients with deep ICH.
Neurons Can Maintain Multiple Classes of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Distinguished by Different Subunit Compositions (*)

Although 10 genes have been cloned encoding putative subunits of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, little is known about the variety or subunit composition of such receptors expressed by individual neurons. Chick ciliary ganglion neurons express five of the known genes and assemble a class of synaptic-type receptors collectively containing gene products from three of them: α3, β4, and α5. Using subunit-specific monoclonal antibodies, we show here that all of the synaptic-type acetylcholine receptors having α3 also have β4 subunits and vice versa. In addition, most, if not all, of the α5 gene product present in fully assembled receptors is associated with both α3 and β4 subunits. Although the receptors may be homogeneous in these respects, only about 20% of them also contain the fourth gene product, β2, newly identified in the ganglion; essentially all of the neurons express the β2 gene. No β2 subunits are found coassembled with the fifth acetylcholine receptor gene product expressed by the neurons, α7, which has been shown previously to comprise a class of abundant, nonsynaptic receptors on the cells. The identification of three acetylcholine receptor subtypes distinguished by subunit composition on the same neurons provokes questions about their individual physiological roles.
Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene in coke oven workers relative to exposure, alcohol consumption, and metabolic enzymes

OBJECTIVES To investigate the influence of personal lifestyle—such as smoking and alcohol consumption—on urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) concentrations in coke oven workers exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and to evaluate the association of 1-OHP concentrations with the genetic polymorphism of several metabolic enzymes including cytochrome P-450 (CYP) 1A1 and glutathione S-tranferases (GSTs). METHODS The study population contained 162 coke oven workers and 58 controls employed at the largest iron and steel factory in China. Personal data were collected at the interview. 1-OHP in urine was measured with high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Genetic polymorphisms were identified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. RESULTS A positive association between excretion of urinary 1-OHP and the levels of exposure to PAHs was confirmed. Those people who consumed ⩾50 g/day ethanol had significantly higher 1-OHP excretion than did other coke oven workers (p<0.01). No significant difference in urinary 1-OHP was found between smokers and non-smokers, in both controls and exposed subjects. The variant homozygotes at exon 7 of the CYP1A1 gene had significantly higher urinary 1-OHP concentrations than other CYP1A1 genotypes among the exposed workers (p=0.03). There was less association between the concentrations of 1-OHP and the GSTM1, GSTP1, or GSTT1 polymorphism. CONCLUSIONS The present study confirmed that urinary 1-OHP is a good biomarker for exposure to PAHs. Alcohol consumption affected urinary 1-OHP excretion. The variant genotypes of the CYP1A1 gene may result in the enhancement of PAH metabolites. It is helpful to understand the role of individual susceptibility on metabolism of carcinogens. These findings suggest that the modulating effect of individual lifestyle factors or genetic nature should be considered in future studies on occupational exposure to PAHs and in evaluating the health risk from harmful chemicals.
Muscle tenderness and peak torque changes after downhill running following a prior bout of isokinetic eccentric exercise.

Unaccustomed exercise (usually of an eccentric nature) is often followed by delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Previous studies have found that prior eccentric activity produces a training effect which reduces DOMS and morphological changes. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a prior bout of maximal isokinetic eccentric exercise on DOMS, strength loss and plasma creatine kinase (CK) changes following a downhill run. Ten male subjects with a mean (+/- S.D.) age of 22.5 +/- 2.8 years, body mass of 62.67 +/- 0.05 kg and height of 176 +/- 3 cm were allocated to either a treatment group or a control group. The treatment group performed 100 maximal eccentric activations of the knee extensors in the dominant leg at 0.52 rad s-1. Two weeks later, the downhill run was performed on a motor-driven treadmill. This consisted of five bouts of 8 min at a gradient of -10% at a speed corresponding to 80% of the predicted maximal heart rate. The untrained group performed the downhill run as above but without the prior isokinetic session. Tenderness measurements, plasma CK activity and concentric and eccentric isokinetic peak torque measurements of the knee extensors at 0.52 and 2.83 rad s-1 were recorded prior to, immediately following and 2, 4 and 7 days after each protocol. The isokinetic protocol caused an increase (P < 0.01) in CK and tenderness and a decrease (P < 0.05) in concentric and eccentric torque at both speeds in the treatment group. Following the downhill run, a reduction in peak torque (P < 0.01) was observed in the eccentric and concentric modes at both isokinetic speeds in the control group. For the treatment group, the decrease in peak torque occurred only at the faster eccentric speed. With the exception of the faster eccentric speed, the decrement in peak torque was greater in the control group in all post-exercise isokinetic strength tests. There was less tenderness (P < 0.01) in the trained knee extensor muscle group. Peak torque also returned to pre-downhill values earlier for the trained group. Although plasma CK activity increased in both groups after downhill running, it was much lower (P < 0.01) in the trained group. The results suggest that a prior bout of isokinetic eccentric training reduces muscle damage, reduces the amount of strength loss and decreases the sensation of DOMS after downhill running.
Progressive increase of frontostriatal brain activation from childhood to adulthood during event‐related tasks of cognitive control

Higher cognitive inhibitory and attention functions have been shown to develop throughout adolescence, presumably concurrent with anatomical brain maturational changes. The relatively scarce developmental functional imaging literature on cognitive control, however, has been inconsistent with respect to the neurofunctional substrates of this cognitive development, finding either increased or decreased executive prefrontal function in the progression from childhood to adulthood. Such inconsistencies may be due to small subject numbers or confounds from age‐related performance differences in block design functional MRI (fMRI). In this study, rapid, randomized, mixed‐trial event‐related fMRI was used to investigate developmental differences of the neural networks mediating a range of motor and cognitive inhibition functions in a sizeable number of adolescents and adults. Functional brain activation was compared between adolescents and adults during three different executive tasks measuring selective motor response inhibition (Go/no‐go task), cognitive interference inhibition (Simon task), and attentional set shifting (Switch task). Adults compared with children showed increased brain activation in task‐specific frontostriatal networks, including right orbital and mesial prefrontal cortex and caudate during the Go/no‐go task, right mesial and inferior prefrontal cortex, parietal lobe, and putamen during the Switch task and left dorsolateral and inferior frontotemporoparietal regions and putamen during the Simon task. Whole‐brain regression analyses with age across all subjects showed progressive age‐related changes in similar and extended clusters of task‐specific frontostriatal, frontotemporal, and frontoparietal networks. The findings suggest progressive maturation of task‐specific frontostriatal and frontocortical networks for cognitive control functions in the transition from childhood to mid‐adulthood. Hum Brain Mapp, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Scoliosis and vertebral anomalies: Additional abnormal phenotypes associated with chromosome 16p11.2 rearrangement

The typical chromosome 16p11.2 rearrangements are estimated to occur at a frequency of approximately 0.6% of all samples tested clinically and have been identified as a major cause of autism spectrum disorders, developmental delay, behavioral abnormalities, and seizures. Careful examination of patients with these rearrangements revealed association with abnormal head size, obesity, dysmorphism, and congenital abnormalities. In this report, we extend this list of phenotypic abnormalities to include scoliosis and vertebral anomalies. We present detailed characterization of phenotypic and radiological data of 10 new patients, nine with the 16p11.2 deletion and one with the duplication within the coordinates chr16:29,366,195 and 30,306,956 (hg19) with a minimal size of 555 kb. We discuss the phenotypical and radiological findings in our patients and review 5 previously reported patients with 16p11.2 rearrangement and similar skeletal abnormalities. Our data suggest that patients with the recurrent 16p11.2 rearrangement have increased incidence of scoliosis and vertebral anomalies. However, additional studies are required to confirm this observation and to establish the incidence of these anomalies. We discuss the potential implications of our findings on the diagnosis, surveillance and genetic counseling of patients with 16p11.2 rearrangement. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Inhibits DNA Damage-Triggered Apoptosis by a Nef-Independent Mechanism

ABSTRACT It is controversial whether the accessory human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Nef protein inhibits or enhances apoptosis. To address this issue, we investigated the effect of Nef on programmed cell death with vectors or proviral HIV-1 constructs coexpressing Nef and green fluorescent protein from single bicistronic RNAs. This approach allows us to readily identify transfected or infected cells and to correlate cell death directly with Nef expression levels. We demonstrate that Nef does not significantly affect apoptosis in transfected or HIV-1-infected Jurkat T cells or primary human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Unexpectedly, however, both nef+ and nef-defective HIV-1 infection blocked apoptosis in cells treated with UV light or etoposide but not cell death induced by CD95 antibody, TRAIL, Ly294002, or serum starvation. Our results show that HIV-1 infection inhibits DNA damage-induced but not death receptor-dependent cell death by a Nef-independent mechanism.
A randomized study of primary bleomycin, vincristine, mitomycin and cisplatin (BOMP) chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone in stage IIIB and IVA squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix.

BACKGROUND To determine whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy would improve disease control and clinical outcome of patients with locally advanced cervical cancer undergoing radiotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty-one patients with primary invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix of stage IIIB or IVA were randomized to receive either three courses of chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy (CT + RT) or radiotherapy alone (RT). The chemotherapy regimen consisted of bleomycin, vincristine, mitomycin and cisplatin (BOMP). The radiotherapy was carried out by the use of a combination of external beam radiation and intracavitary brachytherapy. RESULTS The response rate of the chemotherapy (complete or partial response) in the CT + RT group was 72% (3 + 20 out of 32). The 5-year survival rates were 52% in RT group and 43% in the CT + RT group with no significant difference. Recurrence outside the irradiated field occurred in 17% (5 out of 29) in the RT group, whereas it was 25% (8 out of 32) in the CT + RT group. CONCLUSION Despite the high response rate of BOMP chemotherapy, the combination (CT + RT) failed to improve the survival of patients with locally advanced cervical cancer when compared with radiotherapy alone. It was also noteworthy that the incidence of distant metastasis was not reduced by the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
Position control of a mobile inverted pendulum system using radial basis function network

This article presents the implementation of position control of a mobile inverted pendulum (MIP) system by using the radial basis function (RBF) network. The MIP has two wheels to move on the plane and to balance the pendulum. The MIP is a nonlinear system whose dynamics is nonholonomic. The goal of this study was to control the MIP to maintain the balance of the pendulum while tracking a desired position of the cart. The reference compensation technique scheme is used as a neural network control method for the MIP. The back-propagation learning algorithm of the RBF network is derived for online learning and control. The control algorithm has been embedded on a DSP 2812 board to achieve real-time control. Experimental results are conducted and show successful control performances of both balancing and tracking the desired position of the MIP.
Extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields enhance chemically induced formation of apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites in A172 cells

Purpose: To detect the effects of extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields, the number of apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites in human glioma A172 cells was measured following exposure to ELF magnetic fields. Materials and methods: The cells were exposed to an ELF magnetic field alone, to genotoxic agents (methyl methane sulfonate (MMS) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)) alone, or to an ELF magnetic field with the genotoxic agents. After exposure, DNA was extracted, and the number of AP sites was measured. Results: There was no difference in the number of AP sites between cells exposed to an ELF magnetic field and sham controls. With MMS or H2O2 alone, the number of AP sites increased with longer treatment times. Exposure to an ELF magnetic field in combination with the genotoxic agents increased AP-site levels compared with the genotoxic agents alone. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the number of AP sites induced by MMS or H2O2 is enhanced by exposure to ELF magnetic fields at 5 millitesla (mT). This may occur because such exposure can enhance the activity or lengthen the lifetime of radical pairs.
Axon guidance during establishment of electroreceptor innervation in the catfish Kryptopterus

The principles were studied, according to which the characteristic electroreceptor distribution pattern consisting of organ rows and clusters on the tail of the catfish Kryptopterus spec. is formed. As each electroreceptor is induced by its future afferent (‘electrosensory’) nerve fibre at the site where the outgrowing fibre reaches the epidermis, it is the fibre navigation which controls the organ distribution. Three navigation principles of the outgrowing electrosensory fibres were found. (i) The electrosensory fibre courses are bound to the tail segmentation. Nerve displacement experiments suggest that the fibres are guided by the intersegmental connective tissue sheaths, i.e. the myosepta and myocommata. (ii) The individual fibres have no specificity for a certain route or target area on the tail, but can grow in any direction and into any tail area and induce organs there. This is indicated by experiments with nerve elimination and nerve deflection. (iii) An outgrowing fibre's only orientation is towards a nearby ‘free site’; i.e. it aims for a place in clusters with fewer organs than their actual capacity allows. The capacity increases continuously with the specimen's age, so that free sites progressively develop. So, it depends on chance which outgrowing fibre occupies which ‘free site’; a free site is targeted by whatever outgrowing fibre happens to be the nearest. The mechanisms of development of the somatotopic projection of the electrosensory fibres to the central nervous system (CNS) are discussed.
Circadian time of morning light administration and therapeutic response in winter depression.

BACKGROUND We investigated a possible mechanism of action for the antidepressant response to light-phase advances of the circadian clock-by measuring the onset of melatonin secretion before and after light treatment in the morning or evening. METHODS Plasma melatonin was sampled in 42 patients with seasonal affective disorder, in the evening or overnight while depressed and after 10 to 14 days of light therapy (10 000 lux for 30 minutes) when symptoms were reassessed. RESULTS Morning light produced phase advances of the melatonin rhythm, while evening light produced delays, the magnitude depending on the interval between melatonin onset and light exposure, or circadian time (morning, 7.5 to 11 hours; evening, 1.5 to 3 hours). Delays were larger the later the evening light (r = 0.40), while advances were larger the earlier the morning light (r = 0.50). Although depression ratings were similar with light at either time of day, response to morning light increased with the size of phase advances up to 2.7 hours (r = 0.44) regardless of baseline phase position, while there was no such correlation for evening light. In an expanded sample (N = 80) with the sleep midpoint used as a reference anchor for circadian time, early morning light exposure was superior to late morning and to evening exposure. CONCLUSION The antidepressant effect of light is potentiated by early-morning administration in circadian time, optimally about 8.5 hours after melatonin onset or 2.5 hours after the sleep midpoint.
Local Obesity Prevalence and Corporate Policies

Consistent with prior findings that obese individuals tend to be more risk-averse and myopic, we find that firms located in areas with higher obesity rates invest less, grow more slowly, are less profitable, and have higher stock volatility. We mitigate identification concerns by using an instrumental variables approach, testing for local managers and local shareholders as channels for these effects, and ruling out several alternative explanations, thereby favoring a causal interpretation of our results. Finally, both genetic and environmental factors appear to contribute to these effects. Our findings suggest that physical characteristics of the local population also affect the policies of local firms.