Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interictal hippocampal benzodiazepine receptors in temporal lobe epilepsy: comparison with coregistered hippocampal metabolism and volumetry

The significance of benzodiazepine receptor (BZR) concentration in comparison with hippocampal metabolism and volumetry was assessed in 14 patients diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) without hippocampal signal change on T2‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Focus lateralization was achieved by clinical, electroencephalographic and neuropsychological examinations. Three‐dimensional positron emission tomography (PET) and MRI scans were coregistered for determination of hippocampal 11C‐flumazenil (FMZ) binding, normalized to average cortical values for glucose metabolism (rCMRglc) and volume. The hippocampi were individually outlined on T1‐weighted MRI. Volumes of interest (VOI) were used for calculation of asymmetries between clinically affected and unaffected sides. Eleven out of 14 TLE patients presented a significant reduction in hippocampal volume. In nine of these 11 patients hippocampal FMZ binding and in seven cases hippocampal CMRglc was also reduced. In two patients without hippocampal volume asymmetry FMZ binding was markedly reduced in the mesial temporal lobe appropriately to the clinically diagnosed side. In our study volumetry is therefore the most sensitive tool for the detection of hippocampal abnormality in TLE. However, in cases without hippocampal atrophy the reduction of FMZ may indicate functional impairment of BZR before neuronal loss becomes evident. Our results emphasize the complementary nature of these tests in TLE patients.
School Oral Health Program in Kuwait

The School Oral Health Program (SOHP), Kuwait, is a joint venture between the Ministry of Health, Kuwait, and Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, Mass. , USA. This program provides oral health education, prevention and treatment to almost 280,000 public school children in Kuwait. Services are delivered through a system of center- and school-based clinics and preventive mobile teams. One of the recent developments is the effective use of portable dental units for the delivery of preventive care to children in schools without the need for children to go to dental clinics. Preventive procedures performed under this program are the biannual application of fluoride varnish and the placement of pit and fissure sealants on newly erupted permanent molars and premolars. During recent years, the SOHP has improved its coverage of children, with prevention up to 80%. This has resulted in a considerable reduction in treatment needs, which is evident from the reduced number of composite restorations performed under this program during the last 6 years. This indicates that the disease level is on a decline, which can be confirmed from the results of the ongoing National Oral Health Survey on Kuwaiti school children.
Foraging bats avoid noise

SUMMARY Ambient noise influences the availability and use of acoustic information in animals in many ways. While much research has focused on the effects of noise on acoustic communication, here, we present the first study concerned with anthropogenic noise and foraging behaviour. We chose the greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) as a model species because it represents the especially vulnerable group of gleaning bats that rely on listening for prey rustling sounds to find food (i.e. `passive listening'). In a choice experiment with two foraging compartments, we investigated the influence of background noise on foraging effort and foraging success. We tested the hypotheses that: (1) bats will avoid foraging areas with particularly loud background noise; and (2) the frequency–time structure of the noise will determine, in part, the degree to which it deters bats. We found a clear effect of the type of noise on the allocation of foraging effort to the compartments and on the distribution of prey capture events. When playing back silence, the bats made equal use of and were equally successful in both compartments. In the other three treatments (where a non-silent sound was played back), the bats avoided the playback compartment. The degree to which the background noise deterred bats from the compartment increased from traffic noise to vegetation movement noise to broadband computer-generated noise. Vegetation noise, set 12 dB below the traffic noise amplitude, had a larger repellent effect; presumably because of its acoustic similarity with prey sounds. Our experimental data suggest that foraging areas very close to highways and presumably also to other sources of intense, broadband noise are degraded in their suitability as foraging areas for such `passive listening' bats.
Platelet Shape Change Induced by Thrombin Receptor Activation

Activation of human platelets by the peptide YFLLRNP has been shown to induce shape change but not secretion, Ca mobilization, or pleckstrin phosphorylation (Rasmussen, U. B., Gachet, C., Schlesinger, Y., Hanau, D., Ohlmann, P., Van Obberghen-Schilling, E., Pouyssegur, J., Cazenave, J.-P., and Pavirani, A.(1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 14322-14328). YFLLRNP was added to washed human platelets that had been pretreated with EGTA at 37°C or preincubated with the fibrinogen receptor antagonist RGDS to preclude the activation of the integrin αβ3 (fibrinogen receptor). YFLLRNP induced shape change and stimulated the tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins of 62, 68, and 130 kDa within 7 s. Tyrosine phosphorylation of these proteins reached maximum levels (2-3-fold) 15-30 s after addition of YFLLRNP and decreased subsequently. The chelation of intracellular Ca by BAPTA-AM decreased basal tyrosine protein phosphorylation but did not inhibit the increase of tyrosine phosphorylation of P62, P68, and P130 or the shape change induced by YFLLRNP. Preincubation of platelets with the tyrosine kinase inhibitors genistein or tyrphostin A23 completely inhibited platelet shape change and protein tyrosine phosphorylation induced by YFLLRNP. The inactive structural analogs daidzein and tyrphostin A1 were barely inhibitory. P62, P68, and P130, which exhibited increased tyrosine phosphorylation upon stimulation with YFLLRNP, were found in the cytoskeleton. P130 was not identical to vinculin or the focal adhesion kinase pp125. The results indicate that stimulation of G-protein-coupled thrombin receptors rapidly induces protein tyrosine kinase activation through a Ca- and integrin-independent mechanism. Protein tyrosine kinase activation and tyrosine phosphorylation of novel protein substrates seem to play an essential role in the induction of platelet shape change.
The effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapy with schizophrenic psychoses: a modified systematic literature review

5 Chapter One: Introduction 6 Chapter Two: History 10 Chapter Three: Methodology 14 Table 1 17 Table 2 18 Chapter Four: Biological and psychosocial treatments of schizophrenia and psychoses-historical and recent 20 Chapter Five: Drug treatment of psychosis and schizophrenia 26 Chapter Six: Could childhood abuse and trauma be factors in the causation of 'schizophrenia'? 30 Chapter Seven: How effective is psychotherapy with schizophrenic psychoses 38 Chapter Eight: Conclusion 52 References 54
RESTITUTION OF CEREBRAL ENERGY STATE, AS WELL AS OF GLYCOLYTIC METABOLITES, CITRIC ACID CYCLE INTERMEDIATES AND ASSOCIATED AMINO ACIDS AFTER 30 MINUTES OF COMPLETE ISCHEMIA IN RATS ANAESTHETIZED WITH NITROUS OXIDE OR PHENOBARBITAL

Restitution of cerebral cortex concentrations of organic phosphates, glycolytic metabolites, citric acid cycle intermediates, associated amino acids, and ammonia, following a 30 min period of complete ischemia, was studied in rats anaesthetized with either 70% N2O or 150 mg·kg‐1 of phenobar‐bital.
Identification of a Proline-rich Akt Substrate as a 14-3-3 Binding Partner*

Akt (also called protein kinase B) is one of the major downstream targets of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway. This protein kinase has been implicated in insulin signaling, stimulation of cellular growth, and inhibition of apoptosis as well as transformation of cells. Although a number of cellular proteins have been identified as putative targets of the enzyme, additional substrates may play a role in the varied responses elicited by this enzyme. We have used a combination of 14-3-3 binding and recognition by an antibody to the phosphorylation consensus of the enzyme to identify and isolate one of the major substrates of Akt, which is also a 14-3-3 binding protein. This 40-kDa protein, designated PRAS40, is a proline-rich Akt substrate. Demonstration that it is a substrate of Akt was accomplished by showing that 1) PRAS40 was phosphorylated in vitro by purified Akt on the same site that was phosphorylated in insulin-treated cells; 2) activation of an inducible Akt was alone sufficient to stimulate the phosphorylation of PRAS40; and 3) cells lacking Akt1 and Akt2 exhibit a diminished ability to phosphorylate this protein. Thus, PRAS40 is a novel substrate of Akt, the phosphorylation of which leads to the binding of this protein to 14-3-3.
Parameters of the generation time distribution of Escherichia coli B-r.

Summary: The Shape of the generation time distribution of Escherichia coli B/r organisms in a state of balanced growth, and the parent-daughter generation time correlation coefficient have been extracted from growth data obtained with a synchronously dividing culture. The numerical techniques employed are described. The method is simple and yields results that are more accurate than those obtained previously.
Influence of Water Intake on Post-Exercise Heart Rate Variability Recovery

Editor-in-Chief Tommy Boone, PhD, MBA Review Board Todd Astorino, PhD Julien Baker, PhD Steve Brock, PhD Lance Dalleck, PhD Eric Goulet, PhD Robert Gotshall, PhD Alexander Hutchison, PhD M. Knight-Maloney, PhD Len Kravitz, PhD James Laskin, PhD Yit Aun Lim, PhD Lonnie Lowery, PhD Derek Marks, PhD Cristine Mermier, PhD Robert Robergs, PhD Chantal Vella, PhD Dale Wagner, PhD Frank Wyatt, PhD Ben Zhou, PhD
Tomographic mapping of human cerebral metabolism

Cerebral metabolic responses to verbal and nonverbal auditory stimuli were examined, using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose and positron CT. Twenty right-handed subjects were studied in both control and stimulated states. Monaural verbal stimuli produced diffuse metabolic changes in the left hemisphere and bilateral activation of the transverse and posterior temporal lobes. Monaural nonverbal stimulation with chords demonstrated bilateral parietotemporal activations and diffuse right greater than left frontotemporal asymmetries. Tone sequence pairs presented monaurally produced asymmetries that differed by the subject's analysis strategy. Nonanalytical, musically naive subjects had right greater than left frontotemporal asymmetries, whereas analytic or musically sophisticated subjects had an absence of right greater than left relative hypermetabolism and demonstrated left greater than right temporal asymmetries. Binaural presentation of a factual story and music produced diffuse bilateral activations of the temporal and frontal cortex. Known anatomic asymmetries of the perisylvian cortex were revealed by high-resolution tomography. These results demonstrate that metabolic responses to auditory stimuli are determined by the content of the stimulus and the analysis strategy of the subject rather than the side of stimulation. The results also demonstrate the capacity of functional imaging techniques to study the physiologic cerebral mechanisms underlying auditory processing.
Cognitive^behavioural therapy for psychosis

I am writing to comment on this debate (Turkington & McKenna, 2003) from the point of view of a practising clinician who regularly works with people who are experiencing or recovering from psychotic symptoms. I find both cognitive–behavioural and psychodynamic models useful in my work. Many research practitioners have reservations about using randomised controlled trials as the main test of the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions (see McPherson et al, 2003). Problems raised relate to use of a method developed for trials of medication on the assumption that psychotherapy works in the same way. For example, blindness to modality in patients and therapists is not possible, randomisation is ethically questionable and is unlikely to bring about the best clinical outcomes, and use of control groups is problematic as it is impossible to control the variables sufficiently to be sure of revealing specific effects. Given these reservations, the apparently small effects of cognitive– behavioural therapy (CBT) with psychosis obtained in randomised controlled trials might be seen as very encouraging. Many studies have included medication-resistant patients, which adds to their significance. It is interesting that some of the controls employed, such as supportive counselling and befriending, also obtained short-term improvements over treatment as usual. Much more work needs to be done to tease out the different active ingredients in different kinds of work with individuals. This was the conclusion reached by a detailed meta-analysis of CBT (and other interventions) for schizophrenia (Pilling et al, 2002). There is recent evidence for effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapy with psychosis under certain conditions (Jackson, 2001). Cognitive and psychodynamic psychotherapists have begun to explore areas of common ground, possibilities for recognising the different contributions from different approaches to therapeutic work and the issue of suitability of individuals to different paradigms of intervention (Milton, 2001). Furthermore, there is currently much interest in the contribution of the social environment to ongoing disability in psychosis, which may link with the success of befriending. The Department of Health’s (2001) Mental Health Policy Implementation Guide on early intervention in psychosis encourages services to address issues around stigmatisation and social marginalisation. These areas of intervention can combine in a flexible and holistic approach that is both sophisticated and acceptable to individuals with psychosis, and that (along with the undoubted contribution of medication) offers them worthwhile options for treatment and support into recovery.
Heliox does not affect gas exchange during high-frequency oscillatory ventilation if tidal volume is held constant

ObjectiveTo compare gas exchange with heliox and oxygen-enriched air during high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, while controlling for tidal volume, in a pediatric swine model of acute lung injury. We hypothesized that when tidal volume delivery is held constant, heliox does not alter gas exchange. DesignRandomized, crossover trial. SettingUniversity animal research laboratory. SubjectsTen swine (4.4–5.4 kg). InterventionsAcute lung injury (A-a gradient of >300 mm Hg) was created using repeated saline lavage during conventional mechanical ventilation. The animals were then administered high-frequency oscillatory ventilation and ventilated with 60% oxygen/40% helium and 60% oxygen/40% nitrogen in a randomized, crossover trial. When changing gas mixtures within each animal, mean airway pressure (Paw = 16.8 ± 0.3 cm H2O) and frequency (10 Hz) were held constant. Oscillation amplitude (&Dgr;P) was adjusted to maintain constant tidal volume delivery as measured by respiratory inductive plethysmography. Next, the animals were ventilated with 40% oxygen/60% helium and 40% oxygen/60% nitrogen in a randomized crossover trial, again controlling for tidal volume. Measurements and Main ResultsGas exchange was assessed by arterial blood gas analysis after ventilation with each gas mixture. We demonstrated no significant difference in Paco2 or Pao2 between the heliox and oxygen-enriched air with either the 40% or 60% oxygen mixtures. The oscillation amplitude required to achieve the same tidal volume delivery was significantly less with heliox. ConclusionsWe conclude that if tidal volume delivery is maintained constant, heliox does not alter gas exchange when compared with oxygen-enriched air. However, to achieve the same tidal volume delivery, a lower oscillation amplitude is required with heliox. The clinical benefit of heliox administration during high-frequency oscillatory ventilation has yet to be determined. Possible advantages of heliox include improved ventilation of larger patients when approaching the power limitations of the Sensormedics 3100A oscillator and a potential reduction in the oscillation amplitude delivered to the more proximal gas exchange units.
Circadian Rhythm of Cortisol Secretion in Dogs of Different Daily Activities

Kolevska J., V. Brunclik, M. Svoboda: Circadian Rhythm of Cortisol Secretion in Dogs of Different Daily Activities. Acta Vet. Brno 2003, 72: 599-605. The concentrations of immunoreactive cortisol were monitored over 24 hours in the serum of a total of 23 dogs. The dogs were divided into three groups: (a) control group with no exercise, (b) experimental group, (c) working dogs. Blood was collected from each dog at the intervals of 90‐180 min. The cortisol concentrations in different time periods were mutually compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test for the analysis of variance. Circadian pattern was found in the study. Cortisol concentrations found between 10.00 and 13.00 (46.5 ± 17.0 nmol/l) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those found between 19.00 and 22.00 (38.9 ± 16.0 nmol/l). The results differed within individual groups. Diurnal rhythms were confirmed in control group but not found in experimental group and in working dogs. In experimental group, other significant (P < 0.05) differences were also found between various time intervals compared to the total pattern but no diurnal rhythm was established. In working dogs no significant differences (P < 0.05) were found between cortisol concentrations in different time intervals. The results suggest that cortisol concentrations in the dog are subject to considerable changes during the day. Depending on the characteristics of day and night activities a diurnal rhythm can be found in some dogs.
Relationship between vapor intrusion and human exposure to trichloroethylene

Trichloroethylene (TCE) in groundwater has the potential to volatilize through soil into indoor air where it can be inhaled. The purpose of this study was to determine whether individuals living above TCE-contaminated groundwater are exposed to TCE through vapor intrusion. We examined associations between TCE concentrations in various environmental media and TCE concentrations in residents. For this assessment, indoor air, outdoor air, soil gas, and tap water samples were collected in and around 36 randomly selected homes; blood samples were collected from 63 residents of these homes. Additionally, a completed exposure survey was collected from each participant. Environmental and blood samples were analyzed for TCE. Mixed model multiple linear regression analyses were performed to determine associations between TCE in residents' blood and TCE in indoor air, outdoor air, and soil gas. Blood TCE concentrations were above the limit of quantitation (LOQ; ≥ 0.012 µg L−1) in 17.5% of the blood samples. Of the 36 homes, 54.3%, 47.2%, and >84% had detectable concentrations of TCE in indoor air, outdoor air, and soil gas, respectively. Both indoor air and soil gas concentrations were statistically significantly positively associated with participants' blood concentrations (P = 0.0002 and P = 0.04, respectively). Geometric mean blood concentrations of residents from homes with indoor air concentrations of >1.6 µg m−3 were approximately 50 times higher than geometric mean blood TCE concentrations in participants from homes with no detectable TCE in indoor air (P < .0001; 95% CI 10.4–236.4). This study confirms the occurrence of vapor intrusion and demonstrates the magnitude of exposure from vapor intrusion of TCE in a residential setting.
Oncology health professionals' attitudes toward treatment-focused genetic testing for women newly diagnosed with breast cancer.

AIM This study explored the attitudes of oncology health professionals towards treatment-focused genetic testing (TFGT) for women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. MATERIALS & METHODS Members of several relevant medical organizations in Australia and New Zealand were invited via email to participate in an online survey. RESULTS A total of 149 respondents, including 40 surgeons, 46 oncologists and 63 breast care nurses, completed the online questionnaire. The majority of respondents believed that TFGT was useful for patient care (87.3%) and valuable for the treatment and management of breast cancer (90.6%). In multivariable analyses, breast care nurses were significantly more likely to agree that TFGT was useful for patient care and the treatment and management of breast cancer compared with oncologists and surgeons (β = 0.30; 95% CI: 0.01-0.60; p = 0.045). Participants also agreed that TFGT has an impact on treatment decision-making (96.0%), uptake of bilateral mastectomy (98.7%) and uptake of risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (98.0%) in women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. A slight preference towards surgeons (49.7%) as the best health professional to make the initial offer of TFGT was observed and the majority of respondents suggested the best time to offer TFGT was shortly after diagnosis, when the treatment plan is discussed. CONCLUSION The findings suggest health professionals have positive attitudes towards TFGT. Future training programs focusing on teamwork models and guidelines specifying health professionals' roles in regards to TFGT and follow-up management may be of benefit.