Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Methamphetamine-related psychiatric symptoms and reduced brain dopamine transporters studied with PET.

OBJECTIVE A positron emission tomography (PET) study has suggested that dopamine transporter density of the caudate/putamen is reduced in methamphetamine users. The authors measured nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex density, in addition to caudate/putamen density, in methamphetamine users and assessed the relation of these measures to the subjects' clinical characteristics. METHOD PET and 2-beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-[(11)C] fluorophenyl)tropane, a dopamine transporter ligand, were used to measure dopamine transporter density in 11 male methamphetamine users and nine male comparison subjects who did not use methamphetamine. Psychiatric symptoms in methamphetamine users were evaluated by using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and applying a craving score. RESULTS The dopamine transporter density in all three of the regions observed was significantly lower in the methamphetamine users than the comparison subjects. The severity of psychiatric symptoms was significantly correlated with the duration of methamphetamine use. The dopamine transporter reduction in the caudate/putamen and nucleus accumbens was significantly associated with the duration of methamphetamine use and closely related to the severity of persistent psychiatric symptoms. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that longer use of methamphetamine may cause more severe psychiatric symptoms and greater reduction of dopamine transporter density in the brain. They also show that the dopamine transporter reduction may be long-lasting, even if methamphetamine use ceases. Further, persistent psychiatric symptoms in methamphetamine users, including psychotic symptoms, may be attributable to the reduction of dopamine transporter density.
Microfinance Impact on Poor Rural Women Empowerment : A Household – Level Bargaining Analysis ( The DECSI 1 Case : Tigray State , Northern Ethiopia )

This paper attempts to investigate empirically whether DECSI microfinance access to credit can help poor rural women in improving their intra-household level bargaining power towards empowerment. The empirical measures of women’s bargaining power and hence empowerment used in this paper are underpinned by a household bargaining model, and gender and empowerment analysis framework. By using randomly collected cross section data on both DECSI microfinance programme participant and non-participant eligible households in Tigray region of northern Ethiopia and by adopting a methodology that allows for the possibility of self-selection, this study confirms that the linkage between DECSI microfinance intervention and women empowerment through intra-household bargaining power is weakly significant and have positive effect on some spheres of economic empowerment dimension within a household, but insufficient to address noneconomic empowerment dimensions that can reduce intra-household gender inequality. The primary policy implication is the importance of integrating the region’s finance accessing programmes with interventions targeting on mainstreaming gender equality promotion to community norms and values. Further investigations should question a programme actual achievements, impact, in terms of capital formation beyond access and use right of an intervention by a client. Intra-household related studies should underpin household theoretical frames to reduce inconsistencies emanating from study approaches.
Effect of Intra-arterial Balloon Pumping for Refractory Septic Cardiomyopathy: A Case Series

ABSTRACT Background and aims Patients with septic cardiomyopathy (SCM) occasionally develop refractory cardiogenic shock, which is difficult to resolve even with the administration of standard dose of catecholamines. Although venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) has recently been reported with good treatment results, there have been no evidence-based practices. Furthermore, severe SCM may be fatal if the blood pressure cannot be increased. This case series explored whether the application of intra-arterial balloon pumping (IABP) is an effective method for increasing blood pressure in patients with severe SCM. Subjects and methods Over a 58-month period, all patients who were admitted in the emergency and critical care center and managed with IABP were investigated. Among these, data sets of patients diagnosed with SCM were evaluated retrospectively. Results Ten patients were included in this analysis. Their mean APACHE II and SOFA scores were 26.8±7.9 and 13.9±1.7, respectively. A mean arterial pressure (MAP) increase of more than 30% was achieved in six patients, and a decrease in catecholamine index was observed in five. The effective group consisted of seven patients. The stroke volume increased in 83% of patients who were equipped with pulmonary artery or transpulmonary thermodilution catheter. Low heart rate and regular heart rhythm may be important factors for the effectiveness of IABP for cardiogenic shock caused by refractory SCM. Conclusion Intra-arterial balloon pumping may be able to raise MAP in refractory SCM patients even with septic shock by an increase in cardiac output. How to cite this article Takahashi Y, Sonoo T, et al. Effect of Intra-arterial Balloon Pumping for Refractory Septic Cardiomyopathy: A Case Series. Indian J Crit Care Med 2019;23(4):182–185.
Correlation of myomir-206 and proinflammatory cytokines (IL-16 and IL-17) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a persistent autoimmune disease in which the activity of proinflammatory cytokines and the imbalance, related to the inflammatory process, between elements of bone tissue remodeling such as osteoclasts and osteoblasts play a key role in development of erosions and bone destruction. MicroRNAs are important regulators of skeletal remodeling and are involved in RA pathogenesis. Myomir-206 (miR-206) is unrivalled among the myomirRs, where it is expressed in skeletal muscle and either absent or minimally expressed in other tissues Material and methods This study was designed to analyze the miR-206 expression pattern in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction and its correlation with IL-16/IL-17 proinflammatory cytokines in two groups – 20 healthy individuals and 30 patients with RA. Results Elevated expression of miR-206 was observed in RA patients compared with healthy controls (p < 0.001). A significant increase in both IL-17 and IL-16 serum levels was found in the RA group (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05; respectively) compared to the control group. miR-206 expression level and IL-17 production were directly positively correlated (r = 0.491; p < 0.01). ROC analysis of miR-206 showed a cutoff value of 2.7 with 70% sensitivity, 85% specificity, and the area under the curve was 0.802 (p < 0.001) with the 95% confidence interval from 0. 676 to 0.927 Conclusions Taken together, our results indicate the importance of miR-206 expression in patients with RA, as a potential new biomarker that affects bone loss/deformity and its collaborative role with proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-16 and IL-17 in RA bone metabolism. Particular interest should be given to further research to determine the contribution of expression of miR-206 in RA pathogenesis
Hydro-alcoholic extract of Raphanus sativus L. var niger attenuates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis via decreasing transforming growth factor β1 level

Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive disease of the lungs, which leads to death in human. It has been suggested that transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) together with oxidative stress play a central role in the pathogenesis of the ailment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the possible curative effects of black radish, Raphanus sativus L. var niger (RSN) on bleomycine (BLM) -induced pulmonary fibrosis in a rat model. In this study, thirty-six male Wistar rats were divided into six groups, including: (I) positive (BLM) control group, (II) negative (normal saline) control group, (III) sham group (R. sativus extract 150 mg/kg), and (IV-VI) treatment groups. In order to induce pulmonary fibrosis, four groups were treated with a single dose of BLM sulfate (7.5 U/kg) through intratracheal instillation. Treatment groups (IV-VI) received RSN extract (75, 150, and 300 mg/kg) orally a week before and two weeks after the administration of BLM. At the end of the treatment course, blood and lung tissue samples were taken and the measurement of TGF-β1 and histopathological examination of the lung tissues performed. The results showed that RSN, at 300 mg/kg dose, could significantly decrease the serum level of TGF-β1 and severity of the histological lesions as compared to the positive control group. The results of the current study indicate that the components present in the extract can remarkably prevent the aggravation of pulmonary fibrosis via decreasing TGF-β1 level.
Relationship between Mutations in the gyrA Gene and Quinolone Resistance in Clinical Isolates of Corynebacterium striatum and Corynebacterium amycolatum

ABSTRACT Quinolone susceptibility was analyzed in 17 clinical isolates of Corynebacterium striatum and 9 strains of Corynebacterium amycolatum by the E-test method in Mueller-Hinton agar plates. The C. striatum ATCC 6940 strain was used as a control strain. The amplified quinolone resistance determining regions of the gyrA genes of C. amycolatum and C. striatum were characterized. Four in vitro quinolone-resistant mutants of C. amycolatum were selected and analyzed. Both in vivo and in vitro quinolone-resistant strains of C. amycolatum showed high levels of fluoroquinolone resistance in strains with a double mutation leading to an amino acid change in positions 87 and 91 or positions 87 and 88 (unusual mutation) of GyrA, whereas the same concomitant mutations at amino acid positions 87 and 91 in GyrA of C. striatum produced high levels of resistance to ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin but only showed a moderate increase in the MIC of moxifloxacin, suggesting that other mechanism(s) of quinolone resistance could be involved in moxifloxacin resistance in C. amycolatum. Moreover, a PCR-RFLP-NcoI of the gyrA gene was developed to distinguish between C. amycolatum and C. striatum species.
Designing for learning

TOPIC Learning is essential to li fe as we know it. The rate of social and technological change has increased to a point where an individual must constantly acquire new skill s and knowledge in order to maintain their place in society. Once, an apprenticeship served before age 14 offered suff icient learning to last a li fetime. Today, society presumes 12 years of schooling in general knowledge, followed by 4-12 years of specialized education or on-the-job apprenticeship. Much of the knowledge acquired is often obsolete even before this education is complete.
Surf-Bless: A Confined-interference Routing for Energy-Efficient Communication in NoCs

In this paper, we address the problem of how to achieve energy-efficient confined-interference communication on a bufferless NoC taking advantage of the low power consumption of such NoC. We propose a novel routing approach called Surfing on a Bufferless NoC (Surf-Bless) where packets are assigned to domains and Surf-Bless guarantees that interference between packets is confined within a domain, i.e., there is no interference between packets assigned to different domains. By experiments, we show that our Surf-Bless routing approach is effective in supporting confined-interference communication and consumes much less energy than the related approaches.
Anticoagulant therapy for venous thromboembolism during pregnancy: a systematic review and a meta‐analysis of the literature: a reply to a rebuttal

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is one of the most relevant causes of maternal death in industrialized countries. Low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), continued throughout the entire pregnancy and puerperium, is currently the preferred treatment for patients with acute VTE occurring during pregnancy. However, information on the efficacy and safety of anticoagulant drugs in this setting is extremely limited. We carried out a systematic review and a meta-analysis of the literature to provide an estimate of the risk of bleeding complications and VTE recurrence in patients with acute VTE during pregnancy treated with antithrombotic therapy. The weight mean incidence (WMI) of bleeding and thromboembolic events and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Eighteen studies, giving a total of 981 pregnant patients with acute VTE, were included. LMWH was prescribed to 822 patients; the remainder were treated with unfractionated heparin. Anticoagulant therapy was associated with WMIs of major bleeding of 1.41% (95% CI 0.60-2.41%; I) antenatally and 1.90% (95% CI 0.80-3.60%) during the first 24 h after delivery. The estimated WMI of recurrent VTE during pregnancy was 1.97% (95% CI 0.88-3.49%; I(2) 39.5%). Anticoagulant therapy appears to be safe and effective for the treatment of pregnancy-related VTE, but the optimal dosing regimens remain uncertain.
Structural evidence of genomic exon‐deletion mediated by Alu‐Alu recombination in a human case with heme oxygenase‐1 deficiency

We previously reported a family affected by heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) deficiency [Yachie et al., 1999]. The proband was a compound heterozygote for a complete loss of exon 2 (the maternal allele) and a two‐nucleotide deletion within exon 3 (the paternal allele). In this report, we describe a large genomic deletion (1730 bp) including entire exon 2 in this family as a specific mechanism generating exon‐2 absence observed in the HO‐1 mRNA. Analysis of the deletion junction demonstrated fusion of a 5′ portion of Alu‐Sx element with a 3′ portion of Alu‐Sq element. The junction contained sequences with high homology to the recombinogenic Alu “core” sequence. These structural features of the HO‐1 gene suggest homologous recombination associated with Alu element. This study presents the initial characterization of the HO‐1 gene defect causing a human case of HO‐1 deficiency and provides the molecular basis for understanding this genetic disease. Hum Mutat 16:178–179, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Characteristics of Envelope Genes in a Chinese Chronically HIV-1 Infected Patient With Broadly Neutralizing Activity

Exploring the characteristics of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (env) gene in a natural HIV-1 infected individual, with broadly neutralizing activity, may provide insight into the generation of such broadly neutralizing antibodies and initiate the design of an appropriate immunogen. Recently, a chronically HIV-1 infected patient with broadly neutralization activity was identified and a VRC01-class neutralizing antibody DRVIA7 (A7) was isolated from the patient. In the present study, 155 full length HIV-1 env gene fragments (including 68 functionally Env clones) were amplified longitudinally from the plasma of six time points spanning over 5 years in this donor. Viral features were analyzed by comparing Env clones of different time points, as well as 165 Chinese HIV-1 subtype B env sequences from HIV Sequence Database (Chinese B_database). Shorter V1 length, less potential glycan and a lower ratio of NXT: NXS in gp160 were observed in the first five time points compared to that from the last time points, as well that from the Chinese B_database. A sequence analysis and a neutralization assay of Env-pseudoviruses showed that the increasing diversity of env sequences in the patient was consistent with the appearance and maturation of A7 lineage antibodies. The potent neutralization activity and viruses that escaped from the neutralization of the concurrent autologous plasma, are consistent with higher residue variations at the antibody recognition sites. Almost all viruses from the plasmas were neutralization-resistant to VRC01 and A7 lineage antibodies. For a chronically HIV-1 infected individual over 10 years, we found that greater viral diversity, short V1 sequences and less potential N-linked glycosylation (PNGS) in V1, might be associated with the development of broadly neutralizing antibody responses.
Community pharmacist-child medication communication: magnitude, influences, and content.

OBJECTIVE To describe community pharmacist-child medication communication with respect to its magnitude, influences, and content. DESIGN Cross-sectional descriptive study. SETTING Indiana. PARTICIPANTS 460 community pharmacists. INTERVENTION Mailed questionnaire was used for data collection. Sections included: (1) pharmacists' practice of medication communication with children and with adults; (2) factors influencing the pharmacist's decision to communicate with children about medications; (3) elements of pharmacist-parent and pharmacist-child communication; and (4) demographics. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Daily percentage of children to whom pharmacists talked directly about medications. RESULTS Response rate was 44.7% with no indications of nonresponse bias. Most respondents were staff pharmacists in chain pharmacies. On average, pharmacists reported engaging in communications about medications with 20.7% of children and 57.0% of adults on a daily basis (t = 23.5, P < or = .0001). Experience as a preceptor and prescription volume significantly influenced the frequency of pharmacists' communication with either adults or children. Pharmacists provided more medication information to parents than to their children, and more medication information to older children than to younger children. Children of all ages were likely to be comforted and given information about the medicine's taste. CONCLUSION Preliminary insights into the interaction between pharmacists and child patients are provided by this study. Considering the relatively low frequency of pharmacist-child communication, interventions aimed at influencing the child's and caregiver's motivation to seek information about the child's care, and improving pharmacist's knowledge about children's cognitive development at various ages may enhance the involvement of children in self-treatment.
Towards radical innovations in a mature company: an empirical study on the UX-FFE model

Abstract The ability to successfully conduct radical innovations is mandatory for mature industrial companies that want to remain competitive in the global market. This ability relies on several ingredients, namely: (1) the structuring of the innovation process; (2) managerial principles; (3) methodological tools; (4) the presence of a culture of innovation. This paper reports about the impact of applying the User eXperience-Fuzzy Front End (UX-FFE) model, which brings together the systemic innovation process with the social, economical, and methodological aspects on the outcomes of the innovation process. Firstly, it appears that the operational performance of the upstream innovation process relies on the quality of the social context, intrinsic to the group of co-creators, corresponding to the reported perceived experience. Secondly, the UX-FFE model application, therefore, allows optimizing the upstream innovation process performance. Indeed, we argue that the evaluation of the co-creators perceived experience brings new opportunities to optimize the operational performance of the upstream innovation process. The first part of this paper presents deeper a theoretical model, named UX-FFE, which combines a UX approach with an upstream innovation process (FFE). The main interest of this UX-FFE model is that it allows evaluating the social aspect of the upstream innovation process, which may be detrimental to the success of radical innovation projects in mature companies. The second part presents the results of previous experiments that validated the model. The results allow the design of an instrument dedicated to the evaluation of the user experience of co-creators in the ideation stage. Finally, the third part reports about the experimentation of the UX-FFE in a mature company. Results present the impact of the co-creators' experience on the performance of radical innovation projects.
A General Pattern-Based Dynamic Compilation Framework for Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Architectures

Compilation has become a major challenge to the usability of coarse-grained reconfigurable architectures as increasing programmable resources must be orchestrated. Static compilation is insufficient for prohibitive time cost while dynamic compilation still performs poorly in both generality and efficiency. This paper proposes a general pattern-based dynamic compilation framework, which utilizes statically-generated patterns to straightforwardly determine runtime re-placement and routing so that runtime configuration creation algorithm has low complexity. Domain-specific communication characteristics are harnessed to help improve the efficiency of patterns. The experimental results show that compiled general applications can be transformed onto arbitrary resources at runtime, reserving $97 \%(39 \% \sim 163 \%)$ of the original performance/resource on average, $7 \%(0 \sim 17 \%)$ better than the state-of-the-art non-general methods.CCS CONCEPTS• Computer systems organization $\rightarrow$ Reconfigurable computing; • Hardware $\rightarrow$ Hardware description languages and compilation.
Associations Between Adolescents’ Social Re-orientation Toward Peers Over Caregivers and Neural Response to Teenage Faces

Adolescence is a period of intensive development in body, brain, and behavior. Potentiated by changes in hormones and neural response to social stimuli, teenagers undergo a process of social re-orientation away from their caregivers and toward expanding peer networks. The current study examines how relative relational closeness to peers (compared to parents) during adolescence is linked to neural response to the facial emotional expressions of other teenagers. Self-reported closeness with friends (same- and opposite-sex) and parents (mother and father), and neural response to facial stimuli during fMRI, were assessed in 8- to 19-year-old typically developing youth (n = 40, mean age = 13.90 years old, SD = 3.36; 25 female). Youth who reported greater relative closeness with peers than with parents showed decreased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) during stimulus presentation, which may reflect lessened inhibitory control or regulatory response to peer-aged faces. Functional connectivity between the dlPFC and dorsal striatum was greatest in older youth who were closer to peers; in contrast, negative coupling between these regions was noted for both younger participants who were closer to peers and older participants who were closer to their parents. In addition, the association between relative closeness to peers and neural activation in regions of the social brain varied by emotion type and age. Results suggest that the re-orientation toward peers that occurs during adolescence is accompanied by changes in neural response to peer-aged social signals in social cognitive, prefrontal, and subcortical networks.