Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PHARMACOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF HYDRALLAZINE, DIHYDRALLAZINE AND SOME RELATED COMPOUNDS

Hydrallazine and dihydrallazine cause adrenaline reversal and antagonise the pressor effects of noradrenaline on the cat blood pressure. Both hydrallazine and dihydrallazine antagonise vasoconstriction caused by adrenaline, noradrenaline, histamine, 5‐hydroxytryptamine or barium chloride in isolated perfused preparations of the rat hind quarters or rabbit ear. In isolated aortic strips antagonism is shown to the constrictor action of adrenaline, noradrenaline, histamine and 5‐hydroxytryptamine but not to barium chloride. Marked antagonism to 5‐hydroxytryptamine is shown only on the perfused rat hind quarters or rabbit ear. Antagonism to pressor reflexes is of moderate potency or is absent. Applied locally to the carotid sinuses of the cat, hydrallazine causes a rise of blood pressure. Hydrallazine and dihydrallazine have mainly a peripheral site of action involving an effect upon the contractile elements of the blood vessel walls. 3‐Phenyl‐6‐hydrazino‐pyridazine HCl, 1‐hydrazinoisoquinoline HCl and 3:6‐dihydrazino‐pyridazine nitrate appear to have similar properties to hydrallazine and dihydrallazine.
fMRI evidence that precision ophthalmic tints reduce cortical hyperactivation in migraine

Background: Certain patterns can induce perceptual illusions/distortions and visual discomfort in most people, headaches in patients with migraine, and seizures in patients with photosensitive epilepsy. Visual stimuli are common triggers for migraine attacks, possibly because of a hyperexcitability of the visual cortex shown in patients with migraine. Precision ophthalmic tints (POTs) are claimed to reduce perceptual distortions and visual discomfort and to prevent migraine headaches in some patients. We report an fMRI visual cortical activation study designed to investigate neurological mechanisms for the beneficial effects of POTs in migraine. Methods: Eleven migraineurs and 11 age- and sex-matched non-headache controls participated in the study using non-stressful and stressful striped patterns viewed through gray, POT, and control coloured lenses. Results: For all lenses, controls and migraineurs did not differ in their response to the non-stressful patterns. When the migraineurs wore gray lenses or control coloured lenses, the stressful pattern resulted in activation that was greater than in the controls. There was also an absence of the characteristic low-pass spatial frequency (SF) tuning in extrastriate visual areas. When POTs were worn, however, both cortical activation and SF tuning were normalized. Both when observing the stressful pattern and under more typical viewing conditions, the POTs reduced visual discomfort more than either of the other two lenses. Conclusion: The normalization of cortical activation and SF tuning in the migraineurs by POTs suggests a neurological basis for the therapeutic effect of these lenses in reducing visual cortical hyperactivation in migraine.
Diurnal variation in extension growth of leaves of Salix viminalis.

Diurnal variation in leaf extension and biophysical parameters of leaf growth were measured in young leaves from a stand of Salix viminalis L. in southern Sweden over a two-day period of clear skies during late July. Leaf growth rate (irreversible extension) was greatest during the late afternoon and early evening, falling to negligible values during the night and early morning.Leaf water potential and leaf osmotic potential showed declining values in the morning with subsequent recovery in the late afternoon. Diurnal variation in osmotic potential (-1.3 to -1.7 MPa) was small compared with that of leaf water potential (-0.1 to -1.2 MPa). Calculated values of leaf turgor pressure during the night (1.2 MPa) were double the midday values. Growth rate correlated poorly with turgor, which (except on one occasion) was always above a calculated value of yield turgor at 0.53 MPa.Diurnal variation in extension growth rate was large compared with that in plastic extensibility of leaf tissue as measured by an Instron technique. Values of extensibility were low and showed little diurnal variation, which is consistent with a proposed negative feedback of expansive growth rate on extensibility. Extension growth rate correlated well with air temperature, suggesting that the rate of leaf expansion may have been limited by a temperature-dependent rate of cell wall loosening.
MDCT of the gonadal veins in females with large pelvic masses: value in differentiating ovarian versus uterine origin.

OBJECTIVE The objective of our study was to determine the usefulness of recognizing the continuity of the gonadal veins to the pelvic mass to differentiate ovarian versus uterine origin on MDCT in females with a large pelvic mass. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two radiologists interpreted the MDCT images obtained on a monitor, using paging methods, in 86 female patients with a large pelvic mass (> 8 cm) and 40 patients without an abdominopelvic mass as control subjects. The following issues were recorded using a 5-point scale: visualization of gonadal veins and origin determination based on anatomic continuity. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed, and the interobserver differences were checked with kappa statistics. The maximum diameters of the gonadal veins were also measured. With consensus interpretations, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of ovarian origin determination were calculated. RESULTS Gonadal veins were shown in more than 70% of the subjects in both the control group and the patients with a mass (hereafter referred to as the "mass group"). There was no significant difference in the diameter of the gonadal veins between the control and mass groups and between patients with an ovarian mass and those with a uterine mass. The values for the area under the ROC curve (A(z)) of the two observers for ovarian origin determination were 0.90 and 0.92. The kappa value was 0.48. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 83.3%, 87.5%, and 84.9%, respectively. CONCLUSION Gonadal veins can be shown on MDCT with high consistency; MDCT provides useful information for determining the origin of relatively large pelvic tumors arising in females.
Adrenergic receptor activated ion transport in human fetal retinal pigment epithelium.

PURPOSE To identify the apical and basolateral membrane mechanisms and intracellular signaling pathways in human fetal retinal pigment epithelium (HRPE) that mediate membrane voltage and resistance changes caused by apical membrane adrenergic receptor activation. METHODS Intact sheets of RPE-choroid from human fetal eyes were mounted in a modified Ussing chamber. Ringer's solution composition changes on the retina-facing and choroid-facing sides of the tissue were separately controlled. Intracellular microelectrodes recorded the membrane voltage and resistance changes after the addition of pharmacologic agents to the apical or basal baths. RESULTS Apical adrenergic agonists, isoproterenol and epinephrine (10(-8) M), depolarized the basolateral membrane, decreased total tissue resistance (R:(t)) and increased the ratio of apical-to-basolateral membrane resistance (R:(A)/R:(B)). Experiments using antagonists for alpha(1) and ss adrenergic receptors, prazosin and propranolol, respectively, indicated that both receptor types were present. The epinephrine responses were inhibited by apical bumetanide and basal 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2' disulfonic acid (DIDS). A cocktail of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-elevating agents produced basolateral membrane voltage and resistance changes very similar to the isoproterenol responses. The cAMP-induced electrical responses were strongly inhibited by basal 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)-benzoate (NPPB). Ionomycin (to elevate intercellular Ca(2+), [Ca(2+)](i)) produced electrical responses similar to those caused by epinephrine. The Ca(2+) responses were unaffected by NPPB but were inhibited by 3 mM DIDS in the basal bath. CONCLUSIONS The results provide evidence for two apical membrane adrenergic receptors, alpha(1) and ss, activated by epinephrine and isoproterenol, respectively. The membrane voltage and resistance changes produced by these two agonists mimic those produced by elevating [Ca(2+)](i) and [cAMP](i), suggesting that these ubiquitous signaling molecules activate separate basolateral membrane Cl channels inhibited by DIDS and NPPB, respectively. These two receptors, the apical membrane NaK2Cl cotransporters and the basolateral membrane Cl channels form a complex of proteins that help mediate fluid absorption across human RPE.
Parental mental health and children's adjustment: the quality of marital interaction and parenting as mediating factors.

BACKGROUND Research has put emphasis on the process of transmission of mental-health problems from parents to children. This study examines the specificity of the interpersonal relationships mediating these symptoms. METHOD Information about parent and child mental health, marital interaction, and parenting was received from 527 mothers and fathers. Information about child mental health was also received from their 12-year-old children (260 girls and 267 boys). RESULTS The results confirm that parental mental-health problems can compromise a mother's and father's parenting abilities and represent a threat to their children's adjustment. The results suggest that the different types of parental mental-health problems initiate specific paths between parental and child mental-health problems. The results also reveal examples of how the mediation may depend on both the parents' and the children's gender. CONCLUSIONS The results further suggest that opposite-sex parenting is important to children's adjustment during the years of early adolescence. KEYWORDS Child development, epidemiology, gender, marital relationships, mental health, parenting.
Vessel discoloration detection in malarial retinopathy

Cerebral malaria (CM) is a life-threatening clinical syndrome associated with malarial infection. It affects approximately 200 million people, mostly sub-Saharan African children under five years of age. Malarial retinopathy (MR) is a condition in which lesions such as whitening and vessel discoloration that are highly specific to CM appear in the retina. Other unrelated diseases can present with symptoms similar to CM, therefore the exact nature of the clinical symptoms must be ascertained in order to avoid misdiagnosis, which can lead to inappropriate treatment and, potentially, death. In this paper we outline the first system to detect the presence of discolored vessels associated with MR as a means to improve the CM diagnosis. We modified and improved our previous vessel segmentation algorithm by incorporating the ‘a’ channel of the CIELab color space and noise reduction. We then divided the segmented vasculature into vessel segments and extracted features at the wall and in the centerline of the segment. Finally, we used a regression classifier to sort the segments into discolored and not-discolored vessel classes. By counting the abnormal vessel segments in each image, we were able to divide the analyzed images into two groups: normal and presence of vessel discoloration due to MR. We achieved an accuracy of 85% with sensitivity of 94% and specificity of 67%. In clinical practice, this algorithm would be combined with other MR retinal pathology detection algorithms. Therefore, a high specificity can be achieved. By choosing a different operating point in the ROC curve, our system achieved sensitivity of 67% with specificity of 100%.
Deterrence Externalities and Racial Bias in Law Enforcement

Knowles, Persico, and Todd (2001) develop a test for racial bias in traffic stops that is predicated on the notion that it is the hit rate—the rate at which motor-vehicle searches result in the seizure of physical evidence—and not the rate of traffic stops or vehicle searches, that should be used to discern whether disparities in police treatment are due to racial bias or statistical discrimination. In particular, if (a) the police are unbiased and (b) the marginal cost to the police of searching a vehicle is independent of the race of its driver, then the hit-rate, which is a measure of the marginal benefit of conducting a search, should be the same across all racial groups. Here, I argue that “racial deterrence externalities”—spillovers through which efforts undertaken to deter members of one group from committing crimes also have a deterrent effect on members of other groups—may drive a wedge between the marginal costs associated with searching members of different groups. In this case, the hit-rate test for racial bias will be misleading, and may not be informative about the presence of racial bias at all. I argue that communities that are more residentially segregated are likely to experience fewer deterrence externalities, and use traffic-stop data from two US states to test for segregation-hit-rate dynamics that are consistent with the predictions of the deterrence externalities model. The results suggest that such externalities do exist, calling into question the legitimacy of the hit-rate test for racial bias.
Conventional and novel diagnostic biomarkers of acute myocardial infarction: a promising role for circulating microRNAs

Abstract Biomarkers play a critical role in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), especially in patients with atypical clinical and/or electrocardiographic presentation or co-morbidities, like the elderly. High-sensitivity assays based on specific biomarkers (e.g. cardiac troponins) enabling earlier AMI diagnosis have recently become available in clinical practice. Although no single biomarker of myocardial necrosis is ever likely to afford AMI diagnosis, a combination including different biomarkers for necrosis and ischemia, like new circulating molecules (microRNAs), could enhance diagnostic specificity. We review the recent literature on conventional and novel AMI biomarkers, with special emphasis on circulating microRNAs.
Altered experience of emotion following bilateral amygdala damage

It has been well established that the amygdala is critical for processing various aspects of emotion, and in particular, for the perception of negative emotions such as fear. Perhaps the strongest evidence for this conclusion in humans comes from an extensive series of investigations in patient SM, an extremely rare neurological patient who has complete, focal bilateral amygdala damage. One question that has remained unanswered, however, is whether SM has a normal phenomenological experience of emotion, especially negative emotion. To explore this issue, we designed a study in which two experienced clinical psychologists conducted “blind” interviews of SM (the psychologists were not provided any background information regarding SM), with a special emphasis regarding the nature of her emotional experience. Both of them reached the conclusion that SM expressed a normal range of affect and emotion, and neither felt that SM warranted a DSM‐IV diagnosis. However, they both noted that SM was remarkably dispassionate when relating highly emotional and traumatic life experiences, and they noted that she did not seem to have a normal sense of distrust and “danger”. To the psychologists, SM came across as a “survivor”, as being “resilient” and even “heroic” in the way that she had dealt with adversity in her life. In the full light of SM's neurological and neuropsychological profile, however, these observations reflect the fact that SM is missing from the experiences in her life some of the deepest negative emotions, in a manner that parallels her defect in perceiving such emotions in external stimuli. These findings have interesting parallels with recent animal work (cf. Bauman, Lavenex, Mason, Capitanio, & Amaral, 2004a), and they provide valuable insights into the emotional life of an individual with complete bilateral amygdala damage.
Experimental assignment of the structure of the transition state for the association of barnase and barstar.

Association of a protein complex follows a two step reaction mechanism, with the first step being the formation of an encounter complex which evolves into the final complex. Here we present new experimental data for the association of the bacterial ribonuclease barnase and its polypeptide inhibitor barstar which shed light on the thermodynamics and structure of the transition state and preceding encounter complex of association at diminishing electrostatic attraction. We show that the activation entropy at the transition state is close to zero, with the activation enthalpy being equal to the free energy of binding. This observation was independent of the magnitude of the mutual electrostatic attraction, which were altered by mutagenesis or by addition of salt. The low activation entropy implies that the transition state is mostly solvated at all ionic strengths. The structure of the transition state was probed by measuring pairwise interaction energies using double-mutant-cycles. While at low ionic strength all proximal charge-pairs form contacts, at high salt only a subset of these interactions are maintained. More specifically, charge-charge interactions between partially buried residues are lost, while exposed charged residues maintain their ability to form specific interactions even at the highest salt concentration. Uncharged residues do not interact at any ionic strength. The results presented here suggest that the barnase-barstar binding sites are correctly aligned during the transition state even at diminishing electrostatic attraction, although specific short range interactions of uncharged residues are not yet formed. Furthermore, most of the interface desolvation (which contributes to the entropy of the system) has not yet occurred. This picture seems to be valid at low and high salt. However, at high salt, interactions of the activated complex are limited to a more restricted set of residues which are easier approached during diffusion, prior to final docking. This suggest that the steering region at high salt is more limited, albeit maintaining its specificity.
Barriers and Facilitators to Nurse Management of Hypertension: A Qualitative Analysis from Western Kenya.

BACKGROUND Hypertension is the leading global risk for mortality. Poor treatment and control of hypertension in low- and middle-income countries is due to several reasons, including insufficient human resources. Nurse management of hypertension is a novel approach to address the human resource challenge. However, specific barriers and facilitators to this strategy are not known. OBJECTIVE To evaluate barriers and facilitators to nurse management of hypertensive patients in rural western Kenya, using a qualitative research approach. METHODS Six key informant interviews (five men, one woman) and seven focus group discussions (24 men, 33 women) were conducted among physicians, clinical officers, nurses, support staff, patients, and community leaders. Content analysis was performed using Atlas.ti 7.0, using deductive and inductive codes that were then grouped into themes representing barriers and facilitators. Ranking of barriers and facilitators was performed using triangulation of density of participant responses from the focus group discussions and key informant interviews, as well as investigator assessments using a two-round Delphi exercise. RESULTS We identified a total of 23 barriers and nine facilitators to nurse management of hypertension, spanning the following categories of factors: health systems, environmental, nurse-specific, patient-specific, emotional, and community. The Delphi results were generally consistent with the findings from the content analysis. CONCLUSION Nurse management of hypertension is a potentially feasible strategy to address the human resource challenge of hypertension control in low-resource settings. However, successful implementation will be contingent upon addressing barriers such as access to medications, quality of care, training of nurses, health education, and stigma.
p53 Is Regulated by and Regulates Members of the γ-Secretase Complex

Amyloid β-peptides is the generic term for a set of hydrophobic peptides that accumulate in Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-affected brains. These amyloid-β peptide fragments are mainly generated by an enzymatic machinery referred to as γ-secretase complex that is built up by the association of four distinct proteins, namely presenilin 1 (PS1) or PS2, nicastrin, Aph-1 and Pen-2. AD is also characterized by exacerbated cell death that appears linked to the tumor suppressor p53. Interestingly, all members of the γ-secretase complex control p53-dependent cell death. On the other hand, p53 appears to be able to regulate directly or indirectly the expression and transcription of PS1, PS2 and Pen-2. This review will focus on the functional cross-talk between the members of the γ-secretase complex and p53 and will discuss the putative implication of this oncogene in AD pathology.
DEPRIVATION IN THE CHILDHOOD OF DEPRESSED WOMEN

With recent developments in community psychiatric services, concern with prevention has become an urgent social, as well as medical challenge. Comprehensive investigation into causation must therefore be given systematic emphasis. This paper is an effort toward clarification of etiology, specifically of the depressive disorder, in terms of early childhood experiences. The work is based on social and psychiatric history data collected by experienced psychiatric social workers on two groups of subjects from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Collaborative Depression Studies under the direction of Allen Raskin, Ph.D. of the NIMH Psychology Research Branch, and a third group of subjects from Boston State Hospital. The hypothesis that childhood deprivation, defined as “the lack, loss or absence of an emotionally sustaining relationship prior to adolescence,” has a meaningful association with the occurrence of adult depression was tested in a sample of 347 depressed inpatient women and 114 outpatient women in comparison to 198 normal women used as a control or reference population. The subjects were all Caucasian. Events occurring during childhood that could be considered within the definition of deprivation were documented. Further, subjects were assessed as to depriving childrearing experiences. The findings revealed no association of adult depression with overt childhood loss events, but did provide evidence to support an association of depriving childrearing processes with adult depression. The findings also revealed evidence of a relationship between the degree of the depriving childrearing experience with the severity of the adult illness as measured by hospital status. The results are discussed in relation to findings from other studies of childhood deprivation and psychiatric disorder.
Blood indices of muscle injury associated with eccentric muscle contractions

Serum muscle enzyme activities of eight healthy men (22–32 years old) were measured before and 48 h after separate bouts of repetitive concentric, eccentric, and isometric contractions of the lower leg anterior compartments. Serum creatine kinase and glutamic oxaloacetic acid transaminase levels were both elevated 2 days after the eccentric exercise regimen, exclusively (36 and 17%, respectively). Lactic dehydrogenase levels were not affected by any of the protocols. Delayed muscle soreness was exclusively reported from the eccentrically exercised limb. We suggest that the high tensions developed during eccentric exercise cause mechanical damage, possibly including sarcolemmal degeneration. Subsequently, muscle enzymes are released to the blood. We conclude that postexercise serum levels of some muscle enzymes, at the time of maximal soreness, are qualitative markers of muscle damage.