Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Region‐specific tolerance to cocaine‐regulated cAMP‐dependent protein phosphorylation following chronic self‐administration

Chronic cocaine self‐administration can produce either tolerance or sensitization to certain cocaine‐regulated behaviours, but whether differential alterations develop in the biochemical response to cocaine is less clear. We measured cocaine‐induced phosphorylation of multiple cAMP‐dependent and ‐independent protein substrates in mesolimbic dopamine terminal regions following chronic self‐administration. Changes in self‐administering rats were compared to changes produced by passive yoked injection to identify reinforcement‐related regulation, whereas acute and chronic yoked groups were compared to identify the development tolerance or sensitization in the biochemical response to cocaine. Microwave‐fixed brain tissue was collected immediately following 4 h of intravenous cocaine administration, and subjected to Western blot analysis of phosphorylated and total protein substrates. Chronic cocaine produced region‐ and substrate‐specific tolerance to cAMP‐dependent protein phosphorylation, including phosphorylation in striatal and amygdala subregions and phosphorylation in the CA1 subregion of the hippocampus. Tolerance also developed to cAMP‐independent phosphorylation in the prefrontal cortex. In contrast, sensitization to presynaptic regulation of synapsinS9 phosphorylation developed in the hippocampal CA3 subregion while cAMP‐dependent tyrosine hydroxylaseS40 phosphorylation decreased in striatal dopamine terminals. Cocaine‐induced ERK and CREBS133 phosphorylation were dissociated in many brain regions and failed to develop either tolerance or sensitization with chronic administration. Positive reinforcement‐related correlations between cocaine intake and protein phosphorylation were found only in self‐administering animals, while negative dose‐related correlations were found primarily with yoked administration. These regional‐ and substrate‐specific adaptations in cocaine‐induced protein phosphorylation are discussed in view of their potential impact on the development of cocaine addiction.
A conversive hidden non-Markovian model based structure for discriminating spatio-temporal movement trajectories

We present a new modelling approach for spatio-temporal movement trajectories that is based on the stochastic model class called conversive hidden non-Markovian models (CHnMMs). The approach is improving previous work by facilitating the automatic creation of these models from examples. Created models can be utilised for trajectory classification and verification tasks which is explained with a possible procedure. The use of CHnMMs allows for an explicit modelling of temporal dynamics which allows the discrimination of trajectories by shape and execution speed. The presented approach is evaluated with touch gesture recognition experiments and compared to the $1 unistroke recogniser and the dynamic time warping method. The results show better recognition rates for movements that are only discriminable by their temporal behaviour and very good recognition rates, especially regarding the discrimination of similar shaped trajectories that only differ in their temporal dynamics.
LONG TERM ORAL ETOPOSIDE AS SECOND-LINE THERAPY IN RECURRENT EPITHELIAL CARCINOMA OF THE OVARY

There is a continuing need to identify new agents that are active in ovarian cancer. Etoposide is a derivative of the plant alkaloid epipodophyllotoxin. The availability of etoposide in oral preparation allows prolonged administration by the oral route. In this study, activity and toxicity of etoposide in women with recurrent ovarian cancer are described from a case series of women with recurrent ovarian cancer who had measurable disease. All patients had prior platinum-based chemotherapy and developed progressive disease. Oral etoposide was given as 50 mg/day for 21 days every 4 weeks until progression of disease or prohibitive toxicity. From December 1999 to January 2004, 32 patients were enrolled in this study. Thirty patients received a total of 133 cycles of etoposide. Median age of patients was 49 years (range, 19 to 75). The median number of etoposide cycles was 4 (range, 1 to 12). There were 5 partial responses (16.6%). The mean response duration was 4.8 months (range, 3.5 to 6); median progression-free interval was 7 months (range, 3 to 13) and median survival time was 12.5 months (range, 1.3 to 36). The major toxicity was leukopenia. One patient required red blood cell transfusions and the main non-hematologic toxicity was nausea and vomiting. There were no treatment-related mortalities. Although etoposide appears to exhibit modest activity in recurrent ovarian cancer after platinum-based therapy, response and survival durations are short.
Efficacy of QuadroPulse rTMS for improving motor function after spinal cord injury: Three case studies

Context/objective: To examine the effects of repetitive QuadroPulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMSQP) on hand/leg function after spinal cord injury (SCI). Design: Interventional proof-of-concept study. Setting: University laboratory. Participants: Three adult subjects with cervical SCI. Interventions: Repeated trains of magnetic stimuli were applied to the motor cortical hand/leg area. Several exploratory single-day rTMSQP protocols were examined. Ultimately we settled on a protocol using three 5-day trials of (1) rTMSQP only; (2) exercise only (targeting hand or leg function); and (3) rTMSQP combined with exercise. Outcome measures: Hand motor function was assessed by Purdue Pegboard and Complete Minnesota Dexterity tests. Walking function was based on treadmill walking and the Timed Up and Go test. Electromyographic recordings were used for neurophysiological testing of cortical (by single- and double-pulse TMS) and spinal (via tendon taps and electrical nerve stimulation) excitability. Results: Single-day rTMSQP application had no clear effect in the 2 subjects whose hand function was targeted, but improved walking speed in the person targeted for walking, accompanied by increased cortical excitability and reduced spinal excitability. All 3 subjects showed functional improvement following the 5-day rTMSQP intervention, an effect being even more pronounced after the five-day combined rTMSQP + exercise sessions. There were no rTMSQP-associated adverse effects. Conclusion: Our findings suggest a functional benefit of motor cortical rTMSQP after SCI. The effect of rTMSQP appears to be augmented when stimulation is accompanied by targeted exercises, warranting expansion of this pilot study to a larger subject population.
Using Vignettes To Build and Assess Teacher Understanding of Instructional Strategies.

In the last fifty years, the use of stories in education has included vignettes as an effective stimulus for discussion of real-life contexts and problems. However, vignettes have rarely been used as an assessment tool and there is no reported consensus on their definition and design. This article documents the use of vignettes as an effective method of assessing pedagogical understanding in our teacher development courses from 1995-2003, suggesting that vignettes are significantly correlated with more traditional forms of assessment, are highly predictive of course-ending project performances, and represent an episode of learning in their own right. Finally, we propose a more concise definition and a more rigorous course of study for vignette development and implementation. A critical theme of institutions of higher education in t he preparation and c ontinuing education of teachers is that educational research informs and i s informed b y pr actice. Identifying and assessing what and how teachers learn during their professional development is an i mportant component in assisting them to better teach their students. The use of stories in various formats has long been a powerful and successful method for modeling, teaching, and researching behavior and understanding in general education, health sciences, social sciences, and behavioral sciences. One type of story, the vignette, has been used
Significance of Perioperative Infection in Survival of Patients With Ovarian Cancer

Objectives Perioperative infectious diseases comprise some of the most common causes of surgical mortality in women with ovarian cancer. This study was aimed to evaluate the significance of perioperative infections in survival of patients with ovarian cancer. Methods Patients who underwent primary cytoreductive surgery were included in the analysis (n = 276). The enumeration and speciation of pathogens, antimicrobial agents used, and sensitivity assay results were culled from medical records and correlated to clinicopathologic demographics and survival outcomes. Perioperative infection was determined as a positive microbiology result obtained within a 6-week postoperative period. Results The incidence of perioperative infection was 15.9% (common sites: urinary tract, 57.3%, and surgical wound, 21.4%). Commonly isolated pathogens were Enterococcus species (22.4%) and Escherichia coli (19.4%) in urinary tract infection, and Bacteroides fragilis, E. coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae (all, 16%) in surgical wound infection. Imipenem represents one of the least resistant antimicrobial agents commonly seen in urinary tract and surgical wound infections in our institution. Perioperative infection was associated with diabetes, serous histology, lymph node metastasis, bowel resection, decreased bicarbonate, and elevated serum urea nitrogen in multivariate analysis. Perioperative infections were associated with increased surgical mortality, delay in chemotherapy treatment, decreased chemotherapy response, shorter progression-free survival (median time, 8.4 vs 17.6 months; P < 0.001), and decreased overall survival (29.0 vs 51.8 months; P = 0.011). Multivariate analysis showed that perioperative infections other than urinary tract infection remained a significant risk factor for decreased survival (progression-free survival, P = 0.02; and overall survival, P = 0.019). Conclusion Perioperative infectious disease comprises an independent risk factor for survival of patients with ovarian cancer.
Comparison Of Moderate And Severe Hospitalized Pediatric 2009 H1N1 Influenza Cases

Since its discovery in 2009, H1N1 influenza (H1N1) has spread globally. Predictive factors for severe disease in children are not well defined. Our retrospective data collection and logistic regression analysis on 137 patients hospitalized between April 2009 and February 2010 at Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland describe clinical and epidemiologic features of H1N1 in children and determines predictors of severe disease.
An Ultra-Wideband Spatial Filter for Time-of-Arrival Localization in Tunnels

An ultra-wideband (UWB) spatial filter is proposed to mitigate multipath effects in a one-way time-of-arrival (TOA) localization system that localizes along one dimension inside a tunnel. The spatial filter is a two-dimensional weighted array of judiciously placed antennas that exploits the fact that electromagnetic waves propagate as modes in a tunnel by selectively extracting these mode(s). The design of several spatial filters is presented alongside vigorous analyses to characterize the localization performance afforded by them in a noisy environment. The filters are evaluated using data from an analytical equation waveguide model, a ray tracer model and measurements. These spatial filters deliver accurate localization estimates across distance and well-designed filters can operate at higher signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) than single sensors and their performance is comparable to basic time-reversal (TR) systems. Moreover, the use of the spatial filter in the localization system allows for relatively simple signal processing of received signals in comparison to alternative receiver architectures, such as Rake and TR. Insights into successful spatial filter design are provided in this contribution and this spatial filtering technique has created a new branch of multipath-aware localization systems.
Optimising e-marketing criteria for customer communication in food and drink sector in Greece

In modern societies, internet has become |the key to success| for businesses, as it offers various advantages and benefits in e-commerce through e-marketing. The case of Greece was selected, as there are many enterprises in the food and drinks sector that have already created a web presence in various stages of maturity. This paper studies the use of e-marketing criteria in e-market places in the internet that support e-commerce activities referring to modern network applications and ways of promotion and function of enterprises. Therefore, the paper aims to optimise and evaluate them qualitatively and quantitatively according to six e-marketing criteria using the multicriteria method of PROMETHEE II and further to classify them in groups. Finally we can identify and describe the optimum group of e-market places to be used as a model for designers of websites promoting e-commerce activities within the wider area of food and drinks with enhanced customer communication services.
Adverse drug reaction monitoring—cost and benefit considerations. Part II: cost and preventability of adverse drug reactions leading to hospital admission

Although adverse drug reactions (ADR) are common, there is little knowledge on their direct, indirect and intangible costs. Our study is focused on the direct costs caused by ADR leading to hospital admission. The objective is to quantify the achievable financial benefits if avoidable ADRs were actually prevented by appropriate measures. A literature search on two subjects was done, first on length of stay (LOS) of hospital admissions due to ADR as a proxy measure for direct costs and second on their preventability. Thirteen studies on the length of stay of hospital admissions due to ADR, published between 1975 and 1996, were identified. The median LOS is 8.7 days (lower quartile=8.0 days; upper quartile=12.3 days). Assuming 4.5 million admissions to departments of internal medicine in Germany with a cost of DM 465 per hospital day and a median proportion of 5.8% of medical hospital admission to be due to ADR this yields direct costs of 1050 million DM per year in Germany. A cost table for other regions is provided. Preventability of ADR was the subject of 14 publications that revealed about 30% of all ADRs to be preventable. With regard to Germany this means that 350 million DM per year could be saved by preventing adverse drug reactions. These conservative estimates—no indirect and intangible costs, no ADRs that occur during hospital stay, no ADRs in outpatient care are included—show a considerable economic burden of ADRs. As about 30% of these ADRs are considered avoidable policy‐makers are asked to invest more into ADR monitoring and preventive measures. Their benefit would surmount costs and at the same time increase the quality of care. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Nucleotide sequence of noncoding regions in Rous-associated virus-2: comparisons delineate conserved regions important in replication and oncogenesis

The nucleotide sequence of the regions flanking the long terminal repeat of Rous-associated virus-2 has been determined. The region analyzed spans the ends of the viral genome and includes the terminus of the env gene, the 3' noncoding region, the 5' noncoding region, and the beginning of the gag gene. These data have been compared with sequences available from other avian retroviruses. The comparisons reveal sections which are highly conserved and others which are quite variable. Sequence homologies within the conserved regions suggest details concerning the mode of origin of the src-transducing viruses. Included in the variable section is a region (XSR) found only in certain strains of Rous-derived virus. Its absence from other oncogenic viruses indicates that these sequences are not required to elicit disease.
Observing the Average Trajectories of Single Photons in a Two-Slit Interferometer

An experiment determined the trajectories of single photons through a two-slit interferometer. A consequence of the quantum mechanical uncertainty principle is that one may not discuss the path or “trajectory” that a quantum particle takes, because any measurement of position irrevocably disturbs the momentum, and vice versa. Using weak measurements, however, it is possible to operationally define a set of trajectories for an ensemble of quantum particles. We sent single photons emitted by a quantum dot through a double-slit interferometer and reconstructed these trajectories by performing a weak measurement of the photon momentum, postselected according to the result of a strong measurement of photon position in a series of planes. The results provide an observationally grounded description of the propagation of subensembles of quantum particles in a two-slit interferometer.
Characteristics and significance of prodromes of coronary care unit patients.

Histories were obtained of 154 consecutive patients admitted to the coronary care unit to ascertain the presence and duration of prodrome symptoms. Eighty-four percent of patients who proved to have myocardial infarction and 93 percent of patients with acute coronary insufficiency had prodromes. The infarct patients had more varied symptoms for longer periods of time (median two weeks) than the acute coronary insufficiency patients (median six days). Patients admitted after successful resuscitation of cardiac arrest had prodromes for a median time of one month. Symptoms included those of “impending infarction,” congestive failure and “low output syndrome. ” Most patients knew of their cardiovascular disease, and were under care. Since there is evidence that infarction might be prevented during the prodrome stage, patient education concerning certain symptoms is indicated.
Enhancing the efficiency of CIGS thin film solar cells by inserting novel back surface field (SnS) layer

In this work, we propose a novel structure of solar cell based on copper-indium-gallium-diselenide CuIn1-xGaxSe2 (CIGS) absorber layer by using SCAPS-1D (Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator of the University of Gent). This numerical simulation has been used to explore the possibility of higher efficiency and stable CdS/CIGS cell structures with (ZnO) as window layer, and (CdS) a buffer layer, (CIGS) absorber layer and (SnS) BSF layer. The optimal values to give maximum performance of the structure ZnO/CdS/CIGS/SnS, without and with the BSF layer (SnS), were determined. The study shows potential results for improvement of efficiency of solar cell when using the back surface field (BSF). It was observed that the proposed cell provided conversion efficiency of 25.29% (Voc = 0.79 V, Jsc = 36.43 mA/cm2, FF = 84.83). However the efficiency of cell reference (without BSF) is 17.99% (Voc = 0.62 V, Jsc = 36.03 mA/cm2, FF = 80.23 %).
DO CARBON MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ADOPTION ANNOUNCEMENTS AFFECT MARKET VALUE?

In this paper we conduct an event study to test the hypothesis that carbon management systems (CMS) are perceived by financial markets to be value-adding IS investments worth more than their costs. After populating a list of over 200 exchange-traded CMS adopters, we search newswires and specialty news outlets to identify 62 adoption announcements over a 10 year period. These are analyzed for a 3 day window starting with the announcement and we find that the mean cumulative abnormal returns (MCARs) from CMS announcements are 1.04%. A sub-analysis by firm size confirms earlier IS research results that smaller firms experience larger returns. Another subanalysis by industry finds a potentially surprising result that lower-C02 emission industries accrue larger MCARs than high-emitting industries, though further research will be required to establish this conclusively.
A Comparative Study of Carbonate Determination in Human Teeth Using Raman Spectroscopy

Carbonate determination in dental apatites such as dentine and enamel is important for studying the dynamics of dental caries and developmental defects of these tissues. Traditionally, these determinations have been performed by acidic digestion with the subsequent measurement of released carbon dioxide gas. As an alternative, Raman spectroscopy has been used for the determination of carbonate in synthetic carbonated apatites with at least four analytical methods published thus far. However, these methods have not been applied to biological apatites. The aim of this comparative study was to test the suitability of these four methods for the determination of B-type carbonate in human enamel and dentine. A method for determining the A-type carbonate content of enamel using the Raman technique is also presented. Raman spectra were obtained from 10 human enamel and dentine samples and analysed with each of the four methods using either a single or multiple ν1(PO43–) band spectral fitting model. Each of the methods resulted in a different determination for the carbonate content when using the same measurement data. The method that used the full-width-at-half-maximum of the ν1(PO43–) band to determine the B-type carbonate concentration was found to be in best agreement with (i) the results (using the acid digestion method) of teeth collected from the same sample population and (ii) previously reported values for both enamel and dentine. The use of a multiple-band spectral fitting model produced the highest determination precision (particularly in the case of dentine).
On the generality of the effect of experiencing prior gains and losses on the Iowa Gambling Task: A study on young and old adults

Prospect Theory predicts that people tend to be more risk seeking if their reference point is perceived as a loss and more risk averse when the reference point is perceived as a gain. In line with this prediction, Franken, Georgieva, Muris and Dijksterhuis (2006) showed that young adults who had a prior experience of monetary gains make more safe choices on subsequent decisions than subjects who had an early experience of losses. There are no experimental studies on how experiencing prior gains and losses differently influences young and older adults on a subsequent decision-making task (the Iowa Gambling Task). Hence, in the current paper, adapting the methodology employed by Franken et al.’s (2006), we intended to test the generality of their effect across the life span. Overall, we found that subjects who experienced prior monetary gains or prior monetary losses did not display significant differences in safe/risky choices on subsequent performance in the Iowa Gambling task. Furthermore, the impact of prior gains and losses on risky/safe card selection did not significantly differ between young and older adults. These results showed that the effect found in the Franken et al.’s study (2006) is limited in its generality.
The MTHFD1 Gene is not Involved in Cleft Lip with or Without Palate Onset Among the Italian Population

Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) is the most common orofacial malformation, having a non‐Mendelian and multifactorial aetiology. It has been shown that polymorphic variants of genes encoding key proteins of folate and methionine metabolism might be important maternal risk factors for having a child with these craniofacial anomalies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of two polymorphisms of the methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 1 (MTHFD1) gene, the A1958G and the G401A variants, on the risk of CL/P in the Italian population.