Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Profound regulation of neonatal CA1 rat hippocampal GABAergic transmission by functionally distinct kainate receptor populations

Neonatal hippocampus exhibits distinct patterns of network activity that are dependent on the interaction between inhibitory and excitatory transmission. Kainate receptors are ideally positioned to regulate this activity by virtue of their ability to regulate presynaptic function in GABAergic interneurones. Indeed, kainate receptors are highly expressed in neonatal hippocampal interneurones, yet the role and mechanisms by which they might regulate neonatal circuitry are unexplored. To address this we investigated the kainate receptor‐dependent regulation of GABAergic transmission onto neonatal CA1 pyramidal neurones. Kainate receptor activation produced two distinct opposing effects, a very large increase in the frequency of spontaneous IPSCs, and a robust depression of evoked GABAergic transmission. The up‐regulation of spontaneous transmission was due to activation of somatodendritic and axonal receptors while the depression of evoked transmission could be fully accounted for by a direct regulation of GABA release by kainate receptors located at the terminals. None of the effects of kainate receptor agonists were sensitive to GABAB receptor antagonists, nor was there any postsynaptic kainate receptor‐dependent effects observed in CA1 pyramidal cells that could account for our findings. Our data demonstrate that kainate receptors profoundly regulate neonatal CA1 GABAergic circuitry by two distinct opposing mechanisms, and indicate that these two effects are mediated by functionally distinct populations of receptors. Thus kainate receptors are strategically located to play a critical role in shaping early hippocampal network activity and by virtue of this have a key role in hippocampal development.
Early Feeding Problems in an Affluent Society

ABSTRACT. The aim of this study was to investigate the natural course of later problems and their prevalence in children with early feeding difficulties. Forty‐two children with feeding problems without any obvious medical reason during the first year of life were followed up prospectively to the age of two years. Comparisons were made with 42 age‐ and sex‐matched controls. Information was obtained from parental interviews, medical records and assessments of psychomotor development. In 21 (50%) of the children with feeding problems the problems persisted at the age of two years. There were significantly higher frequencies of infections and behavioural problems among the children with early feeding problems than among the controls. No differences in psychomotor development were found. Recurrent infections, behaviour problems and psycho‐social problems were significantly correlated with severe persistent feeding problems at the age of two years.
Treatment of recession and mucogingival defects using connective tissue grafts on teeth and implants

Gingival recession is a common clinical finding that entails an aesthetic problem, causes hypersensitivity and hinders effective dental plaque control. In the case of implants, recession causes aesthetic problems and its progression does not seem to be so frequent (1). Periodontal plastic surgery procedures are indicated in these cases. These techniques must be adapted to treat peri-implant areas (1). While the literature presents different treatment approaches, connective tissue grafts have become the gold standard as they provide a higher rate of success and predictability.
Investigating Modern-Day Talaria: Mobile Phones and the Mobility-Impaired in Singapore

Revisiting the medical and social models of disability, this study adopted the integrated biopsychosocial approach to examine experiences of 25 mobility-impaired respondents in Singapore with using mobile phones. We found that mobile phones provided respondents a greater degree of mobility, a sense of control, and opportunities to escape the stigma of disability, thus challenging the boundaries between the able-bodied and the disabled. Mobile phone appropriation allowed the management of personal identities and social networks, leading to a sense of empowerment. However, mobile phone usage might act as a double-edged sword for disabled people, creating mobile dependencies and a spatial narrowing of social connections. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
A 67dB DR 50MHz BW CT Delta Sigma modulator achieving 207 fJ/conv

This paper presents a third order continuous time Delta Sigma modulator with a 4 bit internal quantizer sampling at 1GHz using an oversampling ratio of 10. Since dynamic element matching is ineffective at low oversampling and difficult to design within the loop at high sampling rates, a DAC linearization can be used in the digital domain to correct for non-linearities of DAC1. The presented modulator has been realized in a 1.2V, 90nm CMOS process and achieves an SNDR of 61.7 dB, DR of 67dB and an SFDR of 72dB within a 50MHz bandwidth. Overall, the modulator achieves a figure of merit of 207 fJ/conv.
Immune deviation and the hygiene hypothesis: A review of the epidemiological evidence

The epidemiological evidence for the proposal that early life immune deviation is the principal mechanism by which microbial agents prevent the development of atopy has been reviewed. Seven criteria are proposed which should ideally be fulfilled. The majority of studies only fulfill two or three criteria. For mycobacteria, measles and respiratory viruses there are studies that demonstrate a significant increase in atopy or allergic disease. Parasite infections, which provide a strong TH2 stimulus, are associated with reduced rather than enhanced allergen sensitization. The available epidemiological evidence does not provide support for a mechanism of early life immune deviation. The principal environmental influences on atopic disease are likely to occur throughout life and involve interactions between microbes and other non‐infective and lifestyle factors.
Changing Physician Prescribing Patterns: Evaluation of an Educational Strategy for Acute Diarrhea in Mexico City

This paper presents the results of an intervention strategy designed to decrease drug prescription and increase the use of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) in the treatment of acute diarrhea aimed at family medicine practitioners in two primary health care units of the Mexican Social Security Institute. The intervention consisted of six successive stages: 1) Baseline study of prescribing practices by all 69 physicians in both clinics; 2) Training workshop attended by 36 physicians, including a critical analysis of relevant up-to-date literature, review of results of stage I, discussion of a previously designed treatment algorithm for acute diarrhea, and modification of it according to participant's experience; 3) Post-workshop evaluation; 4) Establishment of a peer review committee to discuss the treatment behavior of participating physicians; 5) Mid-term evaluation for 2 months after the committee stopped functioning; 6) Long-term evaluation at 6, 12 and 18 months, of 20 physicians who received the complete intervention (study group) and 20 physicians who received none (control group). The treatment behaviors of the study and control groups were similar on baseline, but differed significantly (P <0.01) in the post-workshop evaluation. The study group showed a reduction in the use of antibiotics (from 78.8% to 39.3%) and restrictive diets (47.3% to 12.4%), and increased the use of ORT (31.4% to 58.4%) for children younger than 5 years old with acute diarrhea. In the mid-term evaluation, the use of antibiotics by the study group decreased to 27.6%, prescription of restrictive diets decreased to 6.4%, and use of ORT increased to 73.8% (P <0.01, in all cases). In the long-term evaluation, persistent positive prescribing behavior was still present in the study group, with a significant difference (P <0.05) compared to the control group, where no modification was found in the prescribing behavior throughout the study. The average proportion of cases treated according to the algorithm by the study group increased in 29.2% (31.3 to 60.5%) after the workshop, and 45.2% (31.3 to 76.5%) after peer review committee. This behavior was maintained during 18 months after the intervention (74%). The control group showed no significant modification in the average proportion of cases treated according to the algorithm during the study (2 years 7 months). The active participation of physicians in the workshop and in the peer review committee was identified as the key to the short and long-term success of the educational strategy.
Geometric control of a binocular head

In this paper the authors use geometric algebra to formulate the differential kinematics of a binocular robotic head and reformulate the interaction matrix in terms of the lines that represent the principal axes of the camera. This matrix relates the velocities of 3D objects and the velocities of their images in the stereo images. Our main objective is the formulation of a kinematic control law in order to close the loop between perception and action, which allows to perform a smooth visual tracking.
Up-regulated renal expression of TNF-α signalling adapter proteins in lupus glomerulonephritis

The role of tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α) signalling adapters in lupus nephritis (LN) is poorly understood. This study investigated renal expression of TNF-α and TNF signalling adapter proteins, including TNF receptor-associated death domain protein (TRADD), receptor-interacting protein (RIP) and TNF receptor-associated factor-2 (TRAF-2) in patients with LN. The renal expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and CD68 was also measured. The study showed that glomerular and tubular expression of TNF-α, TRADD, RIP and TRAF-2 was significantly up-regulated in class III and IV LN in which the intense staining was observed on the crescents, proximal and distal tubules and interstitial mononuclear cells. The number of PCNA-positive cells and CD68-positive cells (macrophages) was increased obviously in class III and IV LN. There was a correlation between the expression levels of TNF-α, TRADD, RIP, TRAF-2 and the number of PCNA-positive or CD68-positive cells and active index of renal pathology. These findings suggest that TNF-α and TNF-α adapters in patients with LN play a role in immunopathogenic injury via transmitting abnormal cell proliferating and proinflammatory signals. The findings have provided further insights into the role of TNF-α and its adapter proteins in the pathogenesis of LN and have important therapeutic implications.
Association of attending physician specialty with the cesarean delivery rate in the same patient population.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES In the context of a dramatic increase in US cesarean delivery rates over the past 30 years and explicit national goals to decrease the cesarean rate, previous retrospective studies have shown that pregnant women cared for by family physicians may be less likely to undergo cesarean delivery, compared with patients cared for by obstetricians. METHODS We conducted a retrospective chart review of 3,560 deliveries from the family practice service of a community-based family practice residency from 1986-1995, focusing primarily on cesarean delivery rates during two periods of time. During period 1 (n = 1,063), all attending were private practice obstetricians. After a transition period, all births were attended by family medicine faculty (period 2, n = 1,346). RESULTS The total cesarean delivery rate declined from 16.7% in period 1 to 11.1% in period 2. Repeat cesareans declined from 8.5% to 2.9%. CONCLUSIONS In this community-based residency, a change in the specialty of the attending physician was associated with a 34% decline in the cesarean delivery rate. The observed decline in the cesarean rate could not be accounted for by any change in patient demographics or secular trends in cesarean delivery rates.
Examining the role brand fit plays in generation Y's propensity to purchase

[Abstract]: Many branding consumer-based models focus on analysing the influencing effects of the brand; however, not in relation to Generation Y. Given the size and influence of Generation Y, and that a number of brands (i.e. Red Bull) focus specifically on capturing Generation Y, increasingly their relevance to branding practitioners and branding academics is being realised. This study examines the relevance of Red Bull to Generation Y by examining the role brand fit plays in Generation Y’s propensity to purchase Red Bull. Extending the branding literature in relation to Generation Y, brand fit and brand-aroused feelings, the results provide new insights as brand fit more strongly influences purchase intentions indirectly through brand significance, than directly or indirectly through brand-aroused feelings.
Proportion of hospital deaths potentially attributable to nosocomial infection.

OBJECTIVE To determine the fraction of hospital deaths potentially associated with nosocomial infection (NI). DESIGN A matched (1:1) case-control study. SETTING An 800-bed, tertiary-care, teaching hospital. PATIENTS All patients older than 14 years who were admitted to the hospital between January 1, 1990, and January 1, 1991, were eligible. All 524 consecutive deaths that occurred in the hospital comprised the case group. For each case, a control patient was matched for primary admission diagnosis and admission date. OUTCOME MEASURES The proportion of hospital deaths potentially associated with NI was estimated from the population attributable risk (PAR) adjusted for age, gender, service, severity of illness, length of stay, and quality of the medical record. RESULTS For stays longer than 48 hours, the PAR for all NIs was estimated to be 21.3% (95% confidence interval [CI95], 16.8%-30.5%). The greatest proportion of deaths potentially associated with NIs was observed in patients with only one infection (PAR, 15.0%; CI95, 10.9%-22.6%) and bacteremia or sepsis (PAR, 7.7%; CI95, 4.6%-11.6%). CONCLUSIONS NIs are associated with a large proportion of intrahospital deaths. This information may help clinicians and healthcare managers to assess the impact of programs for the prevention and control of NIs on intrahospital death.
An Oblivious General-Purpose SQL Database for the Cloud

We present ObliDB, a secure SQL database for the public cloud that supports both transactional and analytics workloads and protects against access pattern leakage. With databases being a critical component in many applications, there is significant interest in outsourcing them securely. Hardware enclaves offer a strong practical foundation towards this goal by providing encryption and secure execution, but they still suffer from access pattern leaks that can reveal a great deal of information. The naive way to address this issue--using generic Oblivious RAM (ORAM) primitives beneath a database--adds prohibitive overhead. Instead, ObliDB co-designs both its data structures (e.g., oblivious B+ trees) and query operators to accelerate SQL processing, giving up to 329x speedup over naive ORAM. On analytics workloads, ObliDB ranges from competitive to 19x faster than systems designed only for analytics, such as Opaque, and comes within 2.6x of Spark SQL. Moreover, ObliDB also supports point queries, insertions, and deletions with latencies of 1-10ms, making it usable for transactional workloads too. To our knowledge, ObliDB is the first oblivious database that supports both transactional and analytic workloads.
WEIGHING THE CONS AND PROS: WOMEN'S REASONS FOR DISCONTINUING HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY

As a greater proportion of U.S. women move into midlife, there has been increased interest in meeting their preventive health needs. Although hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may not be an option for all postmenopausal women, it has been documented as prolonging life expectancy and protecting against osteoporosis. Despite its advantages for many women, often those who initiate HRT discontinue its use within a short time. The purpose of this qualitative study is to gain insights into women's reasons for discontinuing HRT. We collected data by semistructured interview from three diverse samples: 10 women who had been on HRT for two years or less, 11 health care providers of women, and 34 women who had gone off HRT. Reasons for discontinuing fell into seven broad categories: general Gestalt, somatic complaints, mind (knowledge, emotion), not being heard, hassles, indecisive medical community, and cons outweighed pros. Results indicate that women who discontinue HRT do so for a variety of reasons, many of which are connected to the health care system and its providers. Outcomes also suggest that sharing in decision making along with increased education, support, and individualized care are necessary to better address the preventive health care needs of postmenopausal women.
A Case Study of Management Skills Comparison in Online and On-Campus MBA Programs

This paper is unique in its comparison of full programs, rather than a comparison of courses, as previously documented in Web-based education literature. Two similar MBA programs utilizing two different delivery formats (i.e., online MBA and on-campus MBA) were studied. The Learning Skills Profile (LSP) was used to assess the managerial skills when entering and graduating the programs. A comparison of pre-MBA and post-MBA managerial skills was conducted for both MBA programs. Results show that both on-campus and online MBA programs provide positive enhancement of managerial skills; however, the online MBA program appears to provide greater enhancement of such skills.
Scleroderma‐like Indurations Involving Fascias: An Abortive Form of Congenital Fascial Dystrophy (Stiff Skin Syndrome)

Abstract: Four patients are described with stone‐hard indurations of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, predominantly on the buttocks and thighs, in the areas of the thickest fascia lata and glutealis. All cases were sporadic, started in early infancy, were only slightly or not progressive, and showed no visceral involvement or immunologic abnormalities. In all, the hallmark of the disease was strikingly enlarged fascia. In one patient, typical features developed progressively for 9 years, and in two patients the changes remained abortive, limited to some areas, and not symmetrical. The fourth patient showed some similarity to profound morphea with no cutaneous involvement. Recognition of atypical or abortive cases of congenital fascial dystrophy, which is probably a variant of heterogeneous stiff skin syndrome involving exclusively fascia, is of practical importance, since no therapy is required. However, intensive rehabilitation should start in early infancy and continue throughout life. The genetic defect of molecular organization of collagen in the fascia results in formation of giant amianthoid‐like collagen fibrils.
Postprandial Plasma-glucose and -insulin Responses to Different Complex Carbohydrates

We have studied the effects of dextrose, rice, potato, corn, and bread on postprandial plasma glucose and insulin responses in 16 subjects. All carbohydrate loads were calculated to contain 50 gm. of glucose. The data demonstrate (1) that dextrose and potato elicited similar plasma glucose responses whereas rice, corn, and bread elicited lower responses; (2) similarly, dextrose and potato elicited similar and greater plasma insulin responses than rice and corn, with the response to bread being intermediate; (3) when the study group was divided in half, on the basis of each subject's one-hour plasma glucose response to dextrose, the differences in the plasma glucose and insulin responses were greater in the subjects with the highest glucose response to dextrose than in the low responders. In conclusion, there is a range of plasma-glucose and insulin responses to different complex carbohydrates, with rice and corn producing the lowest response curves. Furthermore, these differences are accentuated in patients with reduced glucose tolerance.
Arrangement of glycan chains in the sacculus of Escherichia coli

A novel of Escherichia coli endopeptidase was used for a selective partial hydrolysis of the peptide bridges which interlink the glycan chains in E. coli sacculi. The loosening of the murein network revealed, in the electron microscope, a preferential orientation of the glycan chains, more or less perpendicular to the length axis of the cell. Control incubations with E. coli transglycosylase or egg-white lysozyme did not leave ordered structures behind.
Self-Motivation Moderates Effect of Exercise-Induced Feelings on Adherence

The effect of cardiovascular exercise-induced feeling state changes on exercise program attendance was assessed with mixed-sex, adult new exercisers (N = 72) using the Exercise-induced Feeling Inventory. Positive/Nonpositive patterns of after-exercise affective change were not significantly associated with attendance. When participants' scores on the Self-motivation Inventory of 1980 were analyzed, a significant portion of the variance in attendance (R2 = .10, F = 3.94, p<.03) was explained. A similar, but not significant R2 of . 07 was noted when the single Exercise-induced Feeling Inventory subscale of Physical Exhaustion was assessed using the same multiple regression method. Implications for adherence of new exercisers and its dependence on self-motivation and exercise-induced changes in feeling states were discussed. The need to replicate findings across various types of participant, exercise, and setting was emphasized.
[Expression and clinical significance of focal adhesion kinase in oral squamous cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE To study the correlation between expression levels of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and clinical prognosis with pathologic parameters. METHODS Eighty paraffin embedded tissue specimens of OSCC were studied by immunohistochemistry. The data was analyzed by SPSS statistical software. RESULTS FAK was highly expressed in OSCC tissues, in contrast to none or a low expression in normal oral epithelial tissue, and the heterogeneous staining was mainly located in the cell membrane and cytoplasm. FAK overexpression significantly correlated with histological differentiation and TNM stage, lymphatic metastasis. Multivariate analysis revealed that overexpression of FAK was the independent prognostic factor. CONCLUSION The overexpression of FAK in the peripheral area of OSCC may serve as a useful biological factor affecting prognosis.
Identification and characterization of a surface-associated protein (Ssp) of Staphylococcus saprophyticus

A 95-kDa protein was isolated from Staphylococcus saprophyticus 7108 grown on dialysis membranes placed on the surface of brain heart infusion agar. Strain CCM883 did not produce this protein. Ultrathin sections revealed the presence of very thin, tuftlike, 50- to 75-nm-long structures on the surface of strain 7108, whereas strain CCM883 was comparably smooth. The surface material could be removed by digestion with proteinase K, suggesting that the surface structures contain protein. High-resolution scanning electron microscopy showed a thick layer of surface material on strain 7108, whereas strain CCM883 appeared smooth. The 95-kDa protein was purified by Sephacryl S-300 chromatography, and an antiserum was raised in rabbits. This antiserum was used in immunogold labeling experiments, which showed that the protein is associated with the surface structures. Our experiments thus demonstrate the presence of a fibrillar protein on the surface of S. saprophyticus (Ssp for S. saprophyticus surface-associated protein).