Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Critical role of calpain in spinal cord degeneration in Parkinson's disease

While multiple molecular mechanisms contribute to midbrain nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD), the mechanism of damage in non‐dopaminergic sites within the central nervous system, including the spinal cord, is not well‐understood. Thus, to understand the comprehensive pathophysiology underlying this devastating disease, postmortem spinal cord tissue samples (cervical, thoracic, and lumbar segments) from patients with PD were analyzed compared to age‐matched normal subjects or Alzheimer's disease for selective molecular markers of neurodegeneration and inflammation. Distal axonal degeneration, relative abundance of both sensory and motor neuron death, selective loss of ChAT+ motoneurons, reactive astrogliosis, microgliosis, increased cycloxygenase‐2 (Cox‐2) expression, and infiltration of T cells were observed in spinal cord of PD patients compared to normal subjects. Biochemical analyses of spinal cord tissues revealed associated inflammatory and proteolytic events (elevated levels of Cox‐2, expression and activity of μ‐ and m‐calpain, degradation of axonal neurofilament protein, and concomitantly low levels of endogenous inhibitor – calpastatin) in spinal cord of PD patients. Thus, pathologically upregulated calpain activity in spinal cords of patients with PD may contribute to inflammatory response‐mediated neuronal death, leading to motor dysfunction.
Stimulation of functional recovery via the mechanisms of neurorepair by S-nitrosoglutathione and motor exercise in a rat model of transient cerebral ischemia and reperfusion.

PURPOSE Stroke disability stems from insufficient neurorepair mechanisms. Improvement of functions has been achieved through rehabilitation or therapeutic agents. Therefore, we combined exercise with a neurovascular protective agent, S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), to accelerate functional recovery. METHODS Stroke was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion for 60 min followed by reperfusion in adult male rats. Animals were treated with vehicle (IR group), GSNO (0.25 mg/kg, GSNO group), rotarod exercise (EX group) and GSNO plus exercise (GSNO+EX group). The groups were studied for 14 days to determine neurorepair mechanisms and functional recovery. RESULTS Treated groups showed reduced infarction, decreased neuronal cell death, enhanced neurotrophic factors, and improved neurobehavioral functions. However, the GSNO+EX showed greater functional recovery (p < 0.05) than the GSNO or the EX group. A GSNO sub group, treated 24 hours after IR, still showed motor function recovery (p < 0.001). The protective effect of GSNO or exercise was blocked by the inhibition of Akt activity. CONCLUSIONS GSNO and exercise aid functional recovery by stimulating neurorepair mechanisms. The improvements by GSNO and exercise depend mechanistically on the Akt pathway. A combination of exercise and GSNO shows greater functional recovery. Improved recovery with GSNO, even administered 24 hours post-IR, demonstrates its clinical relevance.
Prevalence of insomnia and its relationship to menopausal status in middle‐aged Korean women

Abstract Although the prevalence of insomnia and the association of insomnia with menopause have been well reported, not much work has been conducted in population‐based research on insomnia and menopause in Korea. The purpose of the present report was to determine overall and different prevalence of insomnia by menopausal status, and the relationship between insomnia and menopause in a population‐based sample of middle‐aged Korean women. A total of 96.1% of 2497 randomly selected middle‐aged Korean women participated. Insomnia was defined as occurring three times a week or more in the previous month. Subjects were categorized into three groups: premenopaues, perimenopause, and postmenopause. The overall prevalence of insomnia in middle‐aged Korean women was 14.3%. The most common symptom of insomnia was difficulty maintaining sleep (9.7%), followed by difficulty initiating sleep (7.9%), and early morning awakening (7.5%). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that menopause was independently associated with insomnia after adjusting for confounding factors such as age, income, and depression. Perimenopause was significantly associated with a dramatic increase in the risk of insomnia, but there was no significant association for postmenopause. The major finding is that insomnia is significantly associated with the menopausal transition. The prevalence of insomnia increases significantly by the transition from premenopause to perimenopause, but not to postmenopause. A further prospective study is needed to investigate the influence of menopause on insomnia.
Neuronal Ensemble Synchrony during Human Focal Seizures

Seizures are classically characterized as the expression of hypersynchronous neural activity, yet the true degree of synchrony in neuronal spiking (action potentials) during human seizures remains a fundamental question. We quantified the temporal precision of spike synchrony in ensembles of neocortical neurons during seizures in people with pharmacologically intractable epilepsy. Two seizure types were analyzed: those characterized by sustained gamma (∼40–60 Hz) local field potential (LFP) oscillations or by spike-wave complexes (SWCs; ∼3 Hz). Fine (<10 ms) temporal synchrony was rarely present during gamma-band seizures, where neuronal spiking remained highly irregular and asynchronous. In SWC seizures, phase locking of neuronal spiking to the SWC spike phase induced synchrony at a coarse 50–100 ms level. In addition, transient fine synchrony occurred primarily during the initial ∼20 ms period of the SWC spike phase and varied across subjects and seizures. Sporadic coherence events between neuronal population spike counts and LFPs were observed during SWC seizures in high (∼80 Hz) gamma-band and during high-frequency oscillations (∼130 Hz). Maximum entropy models of the joint neuronal spiking probability, constrained only on single neurons' nonstationary coarse spiking rates and local network activation, explained most of the fine synchrony in both seizure types. Our findings indicate that fine neuronal ensemble synchrony occurs mostly during SWC, not gamma-band, seizures, and primarily during the initial phase of SWC spikes. Furthermore, these fine synchrony events result mostly from transient increases in overall neuronal network spiking rates, rather than changes in precise spiking correlations between specific pairs of neurons.
An Analysis of Disciplinary Suspensions.

Student punishment has received increased scrutiny; one of the concerns is that not all students are punished equally. This paper presents findings of a study that investigated whether race, gender, or existence of student disability affected punishment practices in an eastern Kentucky school district. Since corporal punishment had been banned in the district, there was interest in the incidence and resolution of behavioral problems. Analysis of the records of 465 students who were suspended during the 1994-95 school year indicated that no suspensions were tabulated for minority students (one percent of student population) . Male adolescents developed more conduct problems than did females and younger students. Almost 20 percent of the suspensions were given to students categorized as disabled; disabled students composed 14 percent of the student body. Although the overall number of male suspensions increased by school level, the proportion of suspended males with disabilities tended to decrease as students moved from elementary school to the secondary level. It is recommended that the district explore conflict-resolution strategies that teach appropriate behavior. (LMI) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. ********************************************************************* An Analysis of Disciplinary Suspensions Daniel Fasko, Jr. Deborah J. Grubb
Source memory and divided attention: reciprocal costs to primary and secondary tasks.

Source memory, in comparison with item memory, is more sensitive to frontal lesions and may require more strategic processing. Divided attention was used to restrict attentional resources and strategic processing on memory tasks. Participants encoded and retrieved items (i.e., words) and source (i.e., voice or spatial location) while concurrently performing a finger-tapping (FT) or visual reaction-time (VRT) task. Memory accuracy costs under divided attention were greater for retrieval of source than item and were greater with VRT than FT. Similarly, costs to the secondary task were greater when concurrently retrieving source as opposed to item and were greater for VRT than FT. Effects were stronger when spatial location was used as the source task. Findings support the idea that processing source information requires more attentional resources and effort than processing item information. Furthermore, concurrent performance of VRT produced greater interference with a task that was more dependent on intact frontal functioning and better simulated the performance of patients with frontal dysfunction.
Low-dose terlipressin during long-term hyperdynamic porcine endotoxemia: Effects on hepatosplanchnic perfusion, oxygen exchange, and metabolism*

Objective:To investigate whether the vasopressin analog terlipressin might induce hepatosplanchnic ischemia during long-term, hyperdynamic, volume-resuscitated porcine endotoxemia. Design:Prospective, randomized, controlled experimental study with repeated measures. Setting:Investigational animal laboratory. Subjects:Eighteen pigs were divided into two groups receiving either endotoxin alone (control group, n = 10) or endotoxin and terlipressin (n = 8). Interventions:Pigs were anesthetized, mechanically ventilated, and instrumented and received a continuous intravenous infusion of Escherichia coli endotoxin. Animals were resuscitated with hydroxyethyl starch targeted to maintain mean arterial pressure >60 mm Hg. Twelve hours after the start of the endotoxin infusion, terlipressin (5–15 &mgr;g·kg−1·hr−1 titrated to maintain mean arterial pressure at preendotoxin levels) or its vehicle was administered for 12 hrs. Measurements and Main Results:Terlipressin increased mean arterial pressure and systemic vascular resistances, which was affiliated with a decrease in cardiac output and global oxygen consumption. Terlipressin restored the hepatic artery buffer response, which led to an increase in hepatic artery flow, ultimately resulting in well-maintained liver oxygen delivery, oxygen uptake, and all other variables of regional metabolism and organ function. Terlipressin markedly attenuated the hepatosplanchnic venous acidosis but was associated with pronounced hyperlactatemia. Conclusions:During long-term hyperdynamic porcine endotoxemia, the well-known vasoconstrictor properties of terlipressin blunted the progressive decrease in mean arterial pressure without any detrimental effect on hepatosplanchnic perfusion, oxygen exchange, and metabolism. The marked terlipressin-induced hyperlactatemia did not originate from the hepatosplanchnic organs but from extrasplanchnic tissues, possibly muscle and skin.
Clash of Cultures? German Expatriates' Work‐Life Boundary Adjustment in South Korea

Managing work-life balance abroad is considered as one of the key challenges associated with expatriation. That is particularly true when the enactment of the work-life boundaries of expatriates' home and host countries diverge. Drawing from boundary theory, we investigate whether and how expatriates experience cross-cultural challenges in terms of their work-life boundaries abroad. We interviewed 28 German expatriates in South Korea because both cultures differ substantially in terms of their preferred work-life boundaries. Our study shows that perceived work-life boundary pressures in the foreign environment and willingness to adjust to the local work-life boundary culture vary substantially among expatriates. Based on a function of these two forces, we develop a typology of four work-life boundary adjustment styles and relate them to work-life balance satisfaction. Furthermore, we identify individual and organizational factors that influence expatriates' work-life boundary adjustment styles. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Serum IgG levels in IV immunoglobulin treated chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy

Objective To determine the variability of serum IgG in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Methods All 25 CIDP patients had active but stable disease and were treated with individually optimised fixed dose IVIg regimens. IgG was measured by turbidimetry and variability was defined as coefficient of variation (CV). Results The intra-patient variability of the pre-treatment IgG levels, post-treatment levels and increase in serum IgG shortly after IVIg (ΔIgG) was low (mean CV=3%, 4%, 10%). The inter-patient variability between patients treated with the same dose and interval was low in pre-treatment, post-treatment and ΔIgG level (mean CV=13%, 11%, 20%). The ΔIgG levels were associated with IVIg dosage (rs=0.78, p<0.001). Conclusions Clinically stable CIDP patients show a steady-state in serum IgG after serial IVIg infusions. The low intra- and inter-patient variability in IgG may indicate that constant levels are required to reach this stability.
Inhaled tert-Butyl Acetate and its Metabolite tert-Butyl Alcohol Accumulate in the Blood during Exposure

1 A continuous 5 h-exposure to approximately 440 ppm tert-butyl acetate in air (via a tracheal canule) resulted in continuously increasing concentrations of tert-butyl acetate and tert-butyl alcohol (metabolite of tert-butyl acetate) in the blood of rats. 2 This accumulation of tert-butyl acetate and tert-butyl alcohol was reproduced during a continuous exposure to about 900 ppm tert-butyl acetate in air over a period of 4 h and 15 min. After the inhalation approximately 50% of the blood level of tert-butyl acetate decreased within 45 min, but that of tert-butyl alcohol remained unchanged at a high level. 3 The accumulation of tert-butyl acetate and tert-butyl alcohol should be relevant for the health risk assessment at the workside.
Nucleotide inhibitors and activators of retinal guanylyl cyclase.

The restoration of the dark state in retinal rod cells following illumination is due in part to resynthesis of cGMP. Retinal guanylyl cyclase specifically catalyzes the cyclization of GTP into cGMP in vivo. The reaction has been shown to involve the inversion of the configuration on the phosphate atom as demonstrated by conversion of the (SP) isomer of GTP alpha S to (RP)-cGMPS by guanylyl cyclase [Senter, P. D. , Eckstein, F. , Mülsch, A. , & Böhme, E. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 6741-6745]. Since (RP-cGMPS is not a substrate for retinal phosphodiesterase, we were able to measure cyclase activity with greater reliability using this novel assay as opposed to other published procedures. This assay has allowed us to reinvestigate the effects of adenylyl nucleotides on cyclase activity and to search for selective inhibitors of the rod-specific enzyme. We have measured the cyclase activity using homogenates of rod outer segments and a reconstituted system composed of guanylyl cyclase in washed rod outer segment membranes and the purified guanylyl cyclase activating protein. Our results indicate that 100-200 microM ATP (and other adenylyl nucleotides) stimulates guanylyl cyclase activity approximately 2-fold and that the observed stimulation of enzyme activity is independent of the free calcium concentration. In contrast to other particulate guanylyl cyclases, which are synergistically stimulated by a peptide ligand and ATP, guanylyl cyclase activating protein does not potentiate the effect of ATP, suggesting that retinal guanylyl cyclase may be regulated differently. ATP changes the Vmax of retinal guanylyl cyclase without changing the Km for (SP)-GTP alpha S. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The Differential Effect of War on Liberal and Conservative Judges on the US Courts of Appeals

Recent research reveals judicial tendencies to decide cases more conservatively during times of war. Building on studies in political psychology, we use the observed movement in favor of increased security versus liberty in times of war on the courts to investigate differences in how liberals and conservatives are motivated by threat concerns. We find that war mainly conditions decision making by liberal judges in criminal and civil liberties cases. The results furthermore suggest that ideological differences play little role in wartime decision making for civil liberties cases.
TRAF Family Member-associated NF-κB Activator (TANK) Is a Negative Regulator of Osteoclastogenesis and Bone Formation*

Background: Osteoclasts and osteoblasts are major players in bone metabolism. Results: TRAF family member-associated NF-κB activator (TANK) is induced during osteoclastogenesis and osteoblastogenesis. RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis was increased in TANK-deficient cells. Osteoblastogenesis was also increased in TANK-deficient mice. Conclusion: TANK is a negative feedback regulator of osteoclastogenesis and osteoblastogenesis. Significance: TANK is a novel suppressor of bone degradation and formation. The differentiation of bone-resorbing osteoclasts is induced by RANKL signaling, and leads to the activation of NF-κB via TRAF6 activation. TRAF family member-associated NF-κB activator (TANK) acts as a negative regulator of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling by inhibiting TRAF6 activation. Tank−/− mice spontaneously develop autoimmune glomerular nephritis in an IL-6-dependent manner. Despite its importance in the TCRs and BCR-activated TRAF6 inhibition, the involvement of TANK in RANKL signaling is poorly understood. Here, we report that TANK is a negative regulator of osteoclast differentiation. The expression levels of TANK mRNA and protein were up-regulated during RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis, and overexpression of TANK in vitro led to a decrease in osteoclast formation. The in vitro osteoclastogenesis of Tank−/− cells was significantly increased, accompanied by increased ubiquitination of TRAF6 and enhanced canonical NF-κB activation in response to RANKL stimulation. Tank−/− mice showed severe trabecular bone loss, but increased cortical bone mineral density, because of enhanced bone erosion and formation. TANK mRNA expression was induced during osteoblast differentiation and Tank−/− osteoblasts exhibited enhaced NF-κB activation, IL-11 expression, and bone nodule formation than wild-type control cells. Finally, wild-type mice transplanted with bone marrow cells from Tank−/− mice showed trabecular bone loss analogous to that in Tank−/− mice. These findings demonstrate that TANK is critical for osteoclastogenesis by regulating NF-κB, and is also important for proper bone remodeling.
Sparse Covariance Matrix Estimation by DCA-Based Algorithms

This letter proposes a novel approach using the -norm regularization for the sparse covariance matrix estimation (SCME) problem. The objective function of SCME problem is composed of a nonconvex part and the term, which is discontinuous and difficult to tackle. Appropriate DC (difference of convex functions) approximations of -norm are used that result in approximation SCME problems that are still nonconvex. DC programming and DCA (DC algorithm), powerful tools in nonconvex programming framework, are investigated. Two DC formulations are proposed and corresponding DCA schemes developed. Two applications of the SCME problem that are considered are classification via sparse quadratic discriminant analysis and portfolio optimization. A careful empirical experiment is performed through simulated and real data sets to study the performance of the proposed algorithms. Numerical results showed their efficiency and their superiority compared with seven state-of-the-art methods.
The UK productivity puzzle, 2008–2012: evidence using plant-level estimates of total factor productivity

This paper presents new information from plant-level data on the UK’s productivity performance since 2008 and considers whether a fall in the capital-labour ratio explains the UK’s productivity puzzle. The results show that, while both manufacturing and services experienced large declines in labour productivity post-2008, the UK’s poor TFP productivity performance is primarily a service sector and small-plant phenomenon. Most of the fall in TFP in services is accounted for by a large negative TFP shock in 2008–2012. By decomposing the change in average labour productivity, it is shown that declines in the intermediate inputs–labour (rather than the capital–labour) ratio and decreases in TFP were responsible for the fall in labour productivity.
Global economic consequences of deploying bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is considered a potential source of net negative carbon emissions and, if deployed at sufficient scale, could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions and concentrations. However, the viability and economic consequences of large-scale BECCS deployment are not fully understood. We use the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM) integrated assessment model to explore the potential global and regional economic impacts of BECCS. As a negative-emissions technology, BECCS would entail a net subsidy in a policy environment in which carbon emissions are taxed. We show that by mid-century, in a world committed to limiting climate change to 2 °C, carbon tax revenues have peaked and are rapidly approaching the point where climate mitigation is a net burden on general tax revenues. Assuming that the required policy instruments are available to support BECCS deployment, we consider its effects on global trade patterns of fossil fuels, biomass, and agricultural products. We find that in a world committed to limiting climate change to 2 °C, the absence of CCS harms fossil-fuel exporting regions, while the presence of CCS, and BECCS in particular, allows greater continued use and export of fossil fuels. We also explore the relationship between carbon prices, food-crop prices and use of BECCS. We show that the carbon price and biomass and food crop prices are directly related. We also show that BECCS reduces the upward pressure on food crop prices by lowering carbon prices and lowering the total biomass demand in climate change mitigation scenarios. All of this notwithstanding, many challenges, both technical and institutional, remain to be addressed before BECCS can be deployed at scale.
New two-dimensional metal-organic networks constructed from 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylate and chelate ligands.

Two novel nickel coordination polymers [Ni(2)(2,2'-bipy)(2)(OH)(2)(H(2)btec)](3)(n)(1) and [Ni(2)(1,10'-phen)(2)(H(2)O)(2)(btec)](n)(2) (btec = 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylate) have been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, IR and XPS spectra, TG analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Crystal data for 1: C(90)H(66)N(12)O(30)Ni(6), monoclinic P2(1)/c, a = 10.905(2) A, b = 18.006(4) A, c = 20.551(4) A, beta = 94.91(3) degrees, Z = 2. Crystal data for 2: C(34)H(22)N(4)O(10)Ni(2), monoclinic P2(1)/n, a = 10.122(2) A, b = 9.3106(19) A, c = 15.690(3) A, beta = 92.03(3) degrees, Z = 2. Compound 1 exhibits a novel one-dimensional chainlike structure, in which the dinuclear Ni centers are linked by the btec ligands. Furthermore, the adjacent chains are linked into a 2-D wavelike layer via the strong OH.O hydrogen bonding interactions. Compound 2 possesses an unusual two-dimensional steplike network with interesting rhombic grids. Both compounds exhibit unprecedented metal-organic ligand construction modes in [M/btec/L] (M = transition metal; L = chelate ligands) systems. The magnetic behaviors of compounds 1 and 2 have been studied.