Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kappa‐Selective Opioid Receptor Agonists Leumorphin and Dynorphin Inhibit Supraoptic Neurons in Rat Hypothalamic Slice Preparations

To clarify the effects of opioid peptides, and in particular the effects of kappa‐receptor agonists on the activity of supraoptic neurons, extracellular recordings were made from 71 spontaneously firing neurons in the rat hypothalamic slice preparation. Of 71 neurons, 28 showed a phasic firing pattern (phasic neurons: putative vasopressin neurons). The mean firing rate of phasic neurons was 2.6 spikes/s (intraburst firing rate 5.4 ± 2.2 spikes/s). The mean firing rate of neurons classified as non‐phasic neurons (putative oxytocin neurons) was 4.5 spikes/s. Following bath application of leumorphin (LM) at 10−7 M, which has potent opioid activity at kappa‐receptors, 17 (61%) of 28 phasic neurons were inhibited and 22 (51%) of 43 non‐phasic neurons were inhibited. Excitation was observed in only one non‐phasic neuron. The dose‐dependence of the response to LM was tested in five supraoptic neurons. There was an inverse relationship between LM concentration and percent change in firing rate. The threshold concentration of LM was approximately 10−8 M. The relatively selective kappa‐receptor antagonist, MR‐2266, completely blocked the LM‐induced responses. Its effects were long‐lasting and only partial recovery was observed 2 h after the application of MR‐2266. Dynorphin had similar inhibitory effects on supraoptic neurons to those obtained with LM when tested on the same neurons. In another series of experiments the mu‐receptor agonist morphine and the delta‐receptor agonist [D‐Ala, D‐leu]‐enkephalin (DADLE) were applied to 28 supraoptic neurons (12 phasic and 16 non‐phasic neurons) at 10−7 M and their actions compared directly with that of LM. Only two of 12 phasic neurons tested were inhibited by DADLE and none of five phasic neurons tested was inhibited by morphine, while eight of the 12 neurons tested were inhibited by LM. By contrast the non‐phasic neurons tested were inhibited by application of each of the peptides; seven of 16 neurons tested were not only inhibited by LM, but also five of 11 neurons by DADLE and seven of 15 by morphine. The magnitude of the responses varied from cell to cell. These results suggest that LM acts at the same receptors as dynorphin, and that opioids acting preferentially at kappa‐receptors inhibit both vasopressin and oxytocin neurons while delta‐ and mu‐receptor agonists inhibit primarily oxytocin neurons.
Characterization of nuclear microsatellite loci in the calcareous fen specialist Scorpidium cossonii (Calliergonaceae).

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Nuclear microsatellite markers were developed in the fen specialist moss, Scorpidium cossonii, to study genetic diversity and genetic structure of this species in relation to land-use types, habitat fragmentation, and habitat conservation measures. METHODS AND RESULTS The polymorphisms of 14 microsatellite markers were characterized. All primers were tested on 140 gametophytes collected from four populations in Switzerland. The primers amplified di- and trinucleotide repeats with three to 26 alleles per locus. The primers worked also in the two other species of the genus: 14 and 12 primers successfully amplified in S. revolvens and S. scorpioides, respectively. CONCLUSIONS In future studies, our primers have the potential to provide valuable information on genetic diversity, genetic structure, and on historical and recent gene flow in S. cossonii; they should also enable related research in other Scorpidium species.
Efflux of free fatty acids from adipose tissue.

SCHIMMEL, RICHARD J., AND H. MAURICE GOODMAN. &Z'$~UX of free fatty acids from adipose tissue. Am. J. Physiol. 221(l) : 118-122. 197 1 . -Segments of rat epididymal adipose tissue were preincubated in Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer for 30 min in the presence of epinephrine. The release of free fatty acids (FFA) formed during the preincubation period into albumin-containing media was measured during a subsequent 60-min reincubation in which quinacrine hydrochloride (3 mM) was added to block further lipolysis. Approximately 40% of the FFA formed during the preincubation period was released from the tissues into the medium during the reincubation; FFA not released were recovered from the tissues. In contrast, tissues which were boiled for 3 min prior to reincubation or reincubated in the presence of the metabolic poisons iodoacetate or 2,4-dinitrophenol released only 15 y. of their FFA. Release of preformed FFA was markedly reduced when the tissues were incubated under anaerobic conditions. Pyruvate stimulated release of FFA. Release of preformed FFA was unimpaired by omission of Na+, K+, or divalent cations from the reincubation medium. Ouabain was similarly without effect. These data are consistent with the view that release of FFA from adipose tissue in the presence of 3 mM quinacrine does not occur by passive diffusion but may be an energy requiring process.
The effects of steady-state erythromycin and azithromycin on the pharmacokinetics of sildenafil in healthy volunteers.

AIMS Sildenafil, an effective oral treatment for erectile dysfunction, is predominantly metabolized by the cytochrome P450 isozyme 3A4, which is inhibited by a number of the macrolide antibiotics. Therefore, two placebo-controlled, parallel-group studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of multiple doses of erythromycin and azithromycin on the pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability of a single oral 100-mg dose of sildenafil. METHODS In the erythromycin interaction study, 26 male volunteers (18--45 years of age) received open-label sildenafil 100 mg on day 1. Half received blinded erythromycin (500 mg) twice daily on days 2--6, and the other half received placebo. On day 6, all subjects received a second 100-mg dose of sildenafil. In the azithromycin interaction study, 24 male volunteers (19--33 years of age) received open-label 100 mg sildenafil on day 1. Half then received blinded azithromycin (500 mg) once daily on days 2--4, and the other half received placebo. On day 4, all subjects received another 100-mg dose of sildenafil. In both studies, blood samples were collected on the first and last study day for the analysis of plasma concentrations of sildenafil and its primary metabolite, UK-103,320. RESULTS Repeated dosing with erythromycin caused statistically significant increases in the AUC and Cmax of sildenafil (2.8-fold and 2.6-fold, respectively) but had no effect on Tmax, kel or t1/2. A statistically significant 1.4-fold increase in the AUC of UK-103,320 was also observed, as well as a significant decrease in kel, resulting in an increase of about 1 h in t1/2. In contrast, repeated dosing with azithromycin caused no significant change in any pharmacokinetic parameter of either sildenafil or UK-103,320. Erythromycin, azithromycin and sildenafil were well tolerated; adverse events were mild and transient. No subject withdrew from either trial for any reason related to study drug. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that erythromycin modifies the pharmacokinetics of sildenafil by inhibiting its CYP3A4-mediated first-pass metabolism. Given these data, a lower starting dose of sildenafil (25 mg) may be considered for patients receiving erythromycin or other potent CYP3A4 inhibitors. Azithromycin did not affect the pharmacokinetics of sildenafil; therefore, no adjustment in dosage is necessary for patients receiving these drugs concomitantly.
Local Public Service Provision and Spatial Inequality in Chinese Cities: The Role of Residential Income Sorting and Land‐Use Conditions

Spatial inequality refers to unequal access to local public services between high- and low-income households in relation to their residential locations. We examine two hypotheses regarding the role of income sorting and land-use conditions in shaping spatial inequality in Chinese cities, where residents have little direct influence on local public service provision. First, in the presence of resource indivisibility, travel cost, and location-based rationing, scarcity of public-service resources in a city makes access to public services more uneven across neighborhoods, thus exacerbating income sorting and spatial inequality in the city. Second, the exacerbating effect of resource scarcity is mitigated by land-use conditions that limit income sorting. Estimates of willingness to pay by households of different income levels for public-service resources across cities corroborate both the exacerbating effect of resource scarcity and the mitigating effect of inclusive land-use conditions.
Influence of several adrenergic drugs on synaptic transmission through the superior cervical and the ciliary ganglia of the cat.

A study was made of transmission at the superior cervical ganglion and at the ciliary ganglion during the infusion of several adrenergic drugs. In what refers to blockade of transmission, epinephrine was more potent than norepinephrine, both were more potent than isoproterenol, and all of the catecholamines were more potent than amphetamine, ephedrine, phenylephrine or isometheptene. Very low rates of infusion of the catecholamines frequently produced enhancement of transmission which could be demonstrated most easily with isoproterenol. No significant differences were found between the sensitivity of the superior cervical ganglion and of the ciliary ganglion to either blockade or facilitation by these compounds.
What factors influence school choice, with particular reference to school reputation?

Legislative changes in Great Britain in the 1980s introduced a competitive, quasi-market in education (Woods, Bagley and Glatter, 1998) in which parents are able to exercise choice about the school they wish their child to attend. Parents specify (and sometimes rank) their preferred schools and places are allocated on the basis of those preferences, if school capacity permits (Woods et al, 1998). In order to thrive in this educational market, schools must appeal to parents and will use a variety of means to make a positive impression. This study asks three questions about school choice. 1. To what extent do parents and school staff agree which are the most important factors parents consider when choosing a school for their child? 2. To what extent do parents and school staff have a shared understanding of the concept of ‘school reputation,’ and what is the relative importance both place on it as a factor when choosing a school? 3. What are the implications for schools? The study is based in an all-through (educates children aged 4-18) Academy Trust of three schools (two primary and one secondary) in a socially and economically diverse town in the East of England. The inquiry paradigm adopted is one of pragmatism with the utilization of two data collection methods within a case study methodology. Quantitative data were collected from parents and school staff using a ‘card sort’ of eighteen choice criteria that were placed in order of relative importance. The card sort task was taken home by pupils for completion and returned for collation and analysis using a predesigned ‘Data Analysis Plan’. Fifty-two cards sorts were completed by staff groups and thirty-nine card sorts were returned by parents / families. Of the eighteen criteria for school choice, twelve indicate an extremely significant or very significant difference between what parents say they rank most highly, and what school staff think parents rate most highly. School staff believe parents place greater emphasis on school reputation than parents say they do Qualitative data was collected from ten semi-structured interviews (six parents and four staff) and thematically analysed to elicit a deeper understanding of parental choice in this community. The meaning of ‘school reputation’ is understood in different ways between, and within, groups of parents and school staff. Three implications for practice in the Trust schools arise from the study: 1. School leaders need to understand the social makeup and therefore the likely motivations of the people in the locality from which the intake is drawn. 2. School leaders must recognize the importance of academic achievement in school choice. 3. School reputation can be managed by improving the quality of teaching and learning. I expect my ‘particularized’ study to be of tangible use to the Academy Trust in which it is based, but as this is an issue of contemporary strategic relevance to all school leaders, the findings are likely to be transferable to other settings.
How intermediates trade affects the formation of Free Trade Agreements: A study analyzing pairwise trade flows of 70 countries

International trade and fragmentation of production lead to increased trade in intermediate goods. Increased multi-stage production promotes the formation of free-trade agreements (FTA). In this paper, the relationship between intermediates trade and FTAs is examined with a two-step Pseudo Poisson Maximum Likelihood model. The analysis of a comprehensive dataset of pairwise trade-flow data of 70 countries from the years 1995-2011 shows a significant connection between trade in intermediates and the participation in free-trade agreements. A two-way relationship is identified: intermediates trade increases the probability to form a FTA and FTAs lead to an increase in intermediates trade.
Neuropsychological Function in Older Subjects with Non‐insulin‐dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Neuropsychological function was compared in three well‐matched groups of subjects: Group 1, 20 diabetic patients with hypertension, mean age 69.1 ± 4.8 years, 14 males and 6 females; Group 2, 20 normotensive diabetic patients, mean age 69.0 ± 6.2 years, 14 male and 6 females; Group 3, 20 healthy community controls, mean age 68.1 ± 4.5 years, 13 males and 7 females. There were no significant differences between the groups in education or estimated IQ using the NART (National Adult Reading Test). Groups 1 and 2 did not differ significantly in duration of diabetes (mean 10.6 and 9.5 years, respectively), or mean glycosylated haemoglobin, HbA1 (mean 9.8 and 10.6 %, respectively), or mean blood glucose before or after testing. On a battery of neuropsychological tests, sensitive to cognitive impairment in older subjects, analysis of covariance using estimated IQ as the covariate showed no significant differences between the groups on tests of recall, with (Brown‐Peterson Test) and without (Kendrick Object Learning Test) interference, forward and backward digit span, concentration (serial subtraction), verbal fluency, immediate and delayed prose recall, digit symbol substitution or psychomotor speed (Kendrick Digit Copying Test). These results provide no support for an association between cognitive deficits and Type 2 diabetes mellitus in older subjects or for the view that such deficits may also be mediated by hypertension.
Attention but not musical training affects auditory streaming

While musicians generally perform better than non-musicians in various auditory discrimination tasks, effects of specific instrumental training have received little attention. The effects of instrument-specific musical training on auditory grouping in the context of stream segregation are investigated here in three experiments. In Experiment 1a, participants listened to sequences of ABA tones and indicated when they heard a change in rhythm. This change is caused by the manipulation of the B tones' timbre and indexes a change in perception from integration to segregation, or vice versa. While it was expected that musicians would detect a change in rhythm earlier when their own instrument was involved, no such pattern was observed. In Experiment 1b, designed to control for potential expectation effects in Experiment 1a, participants heard sequences of static ABA tones and reported their initial perceptions, whether the sequence was integrated or segregated. Results show that participants tend to initially perceive these static sequences as segregated, and that perception is influenced by similarity between the timbres involved. Finally, in Experiment 2 violinists and flautists located mistuned notes in an interleaved melody paradigm containing a violin and a flute melody. Performance did not depend on the instrument the participant played but rather which melody their attention was directed to. Taken together, results from the three experiments suggest that the specific instrument one practices does not have an influence on auditory grouping, but attentional mechanisms are necessary for processing auditory scenes.
Treatment of Intra‐abdominal and Abdominal Wall Desmoid Tumors With Drugs That Affect the Metabolism of Cyclic 3', 5'-Adenosine Monophosphate

A female patient with Gardner's syndrome was treated with delta1-testololactone (200 mg daily) because of growth of a large desmoid tumor in the pelvis and lower abdomen and a tumor in a scar from a previous laparotomy. There was also pain and swelling of the left leg. An immediate effect of the drug therapy was complete relief of pain followed shortly thereafter by disappearance of the edema of the leg. After two months, the numerous sebaceous cysts were less prominent. The gross measurements of the diameter of the pelvic and lower abdominal tumor clearly demonstrated tumor shrinkage following therapy. Small polyps scattered over the rectal mucosa and numerous osteomata were not demonstrably affected. After one year of treatment with delta1-testololactone, a laparotomy for partial small bowel obstruction was necessary. Obstruction was caused by the involvement of small bowel mesentery and the bowel itself in a contracted residuum of dense fibrous tissue. Substitution of theophylline and chlorothiazide for the testololactone in Januray 1974 was followed by further diminution of the measurable abdominal and pelvic desmoids. All of these compounds synergize the action of 3',5'-adenosine monophosphate and at least the latter two may function by inhibiting the action of 3',5'-adenosine monophosphate diesterase.
Microleakage of adhesive and nonadhesive luting cements for stainless steel crowns.

PURPOSE This study's purpose was to compare the ability of 5 luting cements to reduce microleakage at stainless steel crown (SSC) margins on primary molar teeth. METHODS Standard preparations were performed on 100 extracted primary molar teeth for SSC restoration. After fitting SSCs, samples were randomly divided into 5 groups of 20 teeth each, which were cemented with nonadhesive cement consisting of polycarboxylate (PC) or zinc phosphate (ZP), or with adhesive cement consisting of glass ionomer (GIC), resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC), or RMGIC with a bonding agent (RMGIC+DBA). After aging and thermocycling, the specimens were placed in 1% methylene blue, sectioned, and evaluated under a digital microscope. The data were compared between groups with the t test, analysis of variance, and the least significant difference test. RESULTS Microleakage with adhesive cements was significantly lower than with nonadhesive cements (P<.05). Differences between cements were statistically significant at P<. 001. RMGIC+DBA showed the lowest microleakage, followed in increasing order by RMGIC, GIC, and ZP. The PC cement showed the greatest microleakage. CONCLUSIONS Adhesive cements were more effective in reducing microleakage in stainless steel crowns than nonadhesive cements. Use of a bonding agent with a resin-modified glass ionomer cement yielded better results than using the latter alone.
Predictors of medication adherence among HIV-infected youth

The purpose of this study was to examine the rates of medication adherence among HIV-infected adolescents/young adults and to explore the relationship between negative affect, cognitive ability/formal reasoning, and substance use on the medication adherence of these youth. Forty-two HIV-positive youth (25 males, 17 females; age range 16 – 24) currently taking antiretroviral medications were recruited to participate in a one-hour interview. Using the time-line follow-back calendar method, 66% of participants had missed a dose of medicine in the past week while 42% missed a dose ‘yesterday’. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that both depression and age of first marijuana use were statistically significant predictors of non-adherence (p < .01, R2 = .326). Specifically, higher rates of depressive symptoms and younger age of first marijuana use predicted higher rates of non-adherence. Developmentally, 69% of the sample had yet to begin the transition from concrete thinking to formal or abstract reasoning. The results from this project demonstrate that adherence to antiretroviral medications continues to be a problem with HIV-infected youth. These results are an important first step toward the development of interventions aimed at increasing medication adherence among adolescents and young adults living with HIV.
Introducing a New Assessment Tool for Measuring Ethnic-Racial Identity: The Cross Ethnic-Racial Identity Scale–Adult (CERIS-A)

In this article, we examined the psychometric properties of scores on a new instrument, the Cross Ethnic-Racial Identity Scale-Adult (CERIS-A) for use across different ethnic and racial groups. The CERIS-A measures seven ethnic-racial identity attitudes—assimilation, miseducation, self-hatred, anti-dominant, ethnocentricity, multiculturalist inclusive, and ethnic-racial salience. Participants consisted of 803 adults aged 18 to 76, including African Americans (19.3%), Asian Americans (17.6%), European Americans (37.0%), and Latino/as (17.8%). Analyses indicated that CERIS-A scores were reliable, and configural, metric, and scalar invariance were supported for the seven factors across gender; however, Miseducation, Ethnic-Racial Salience, and Ethnocentricity scores achieved only metric invariance across ethnic-racial groups. Self-Hatred, Ethnic-Racial Salience, Anti-Dominant, and Ethnocentricity scores were significantly and meaningfully related to race-based rejection sensitivity scores, providing evidence of convergent validity. We concluded that the CERIS-A is a potentially useful instrument for examining ethnic-racial identity attitudes across multiple racial/ethnic subgroups in the United States.
Freedom of information in times of crisis: The case of Mexico's war on drugs

Transparency guarantees in Mexico presented a serious challenge to its 2007–2012 war on drugs. We use an original database of access to information requests, including both petitions for information and appeals to IFAI. We conduct statistical tests on the databases, finding that transparency is lower on security issues, as expected, but that there are unexpected variations between security agencies, and over time. We then conduct a content analysis of freedom of information requests to determine what drives agency responses, finding that security agencies developed various techniques to deflect petitions for information, such as falsely claiming that information has been provided when it has not, claiming that the information is outside the competence of the agency, that it does not exist, or that it is already in the public domain. Also there are significant differences in transparency between security agencies, possibly explained by their operational roles.