Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effects Induced Hyperglycemia on Adrenal Cortex Function in the Giant Danio Devario Aequipinnatus Embryos

Cortisol is the principal glucocorticoid secreted by the interrenal tissue (steroidogenic cells) located in the head-kidney of teleost fish [1]. This hormone is released by the activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-interrenal axis (HPI axis) [2]. When an organism is under stress conditions, the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) toward blood circulation. This polypeptide further stimulates secretion of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) from the anterior pituitary gland [3] which finally activates the release of cortisol by the interrenal tissue [2]. In recent years the concept of stress induced changes in fish has awakened the interest among scientists [4]. The response to stress in fish is characterized by the stimulation of the hypothalamus, which results in the activation of the neuroendocrine system and a subsequent cascade of metabolic and physiological changes [5]. These changes enhance the tolerance of an organism to face an environmental variation or an adverse situation while maintaining a homeostasis status [6,7]. Extrinsic factors may affect a variety of biochemical functions within the fish organism such as cortisol biosynthesis and release rates. Background environmental color of an organism is reported to have an effect on cortisol secretion [8]. A higher intensity of cortisol response is documented in Pargus pargus acclimated in black tanks when compared with those found in gray and white tanks when fish were exposed to crowding stress [9]. The level of cortisol in the blood of fish is a robust index of stress [10] and, because cortisol is directly implicated in many deleterious effects of stress, stress-induced cortisol levels provide a well-defined trait of functional significance upon which selection pressure can be directed. Strain differences in cortisol responsiveness to stressors have been demonstrated in fish [11] in that the relative magnitude of the plasma cortisol response to stress of individual rainbow trout is a stable trait within a proportion of the population [12] and pooled gamete crosses of fish selected for lowand high-cortisol response to stress generate progeny which display traits similar to those of the parental groups [13]. The Giant Danio is a tropical fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae and phylogenetically closely related to Danio rerio [14] and is one of the big sized forms among Danionins. Giant Danio has been used as a model in retinal cone electrophysiology [15], fine structure of retinal epithelium circuitry and cell electrical coupling [16-18], trans species polymorphism in MHC complex [19], neurotrophic factor [20], body flow dynamics in swimming [21], deafferentation and olfactory bulb morphology [22], for vision experiment [23]. More recently, the Giant Danio has been proposed as a model to study skeletal muscle growth [24,25], cardiac remodeling and regeneration [26] visual impairments of retinal layers [27].
Credit Conditions Indices: Controlling for Regime Shifts in the Norwegian Credit Market

The interaction between financial markets and the macroeconomy can be strongly affected by changes in credit market regulations. In order to take account of these effects the authors control explicitly for regime shifts in a system of debt equations for Norway using a common, flexible trend. The estimated shape of the trend matches the qualitative development in the regulations, and the authors argue that it can be viewed as a measure of relative credit availability, or credit conditions, for the period 1975-2008 - a credit conditions index (CCI). This entails years of strict credit market regulations in the 1970s, its gradual deregulation in the 1980s, followed by a full-blown banking crisis in the years around 1990 and the development thereafter up to the advent of the current financial crisis. Our study is inspired by Fernandez-Corugedo and Muellbauer (2006), which introduced the methodology and provided estimates of a CCI for the UK. The trend conditions on a priori knowledge about changes in the Norwegian regulatory system, as documented in Krogh (2010b), and it shows robustness when estimated recursively.
Use of flow cytometric CD34 analysis to quantify hematopoietic progenitor cells.

This review summarizes our experiments on flow cytometric analysis of CD34 positive mononuclear cells (MNC) and on colony formation of myeloid hematopoietic progenitor cells in the clonogenic assay. We examined MNC isolated by density centrifugation of bone marrow, cord blood and peripheral blood. The latter samples originated either from patients recovering from myelosuppressive treatment who received no growth factors or from patients treated with G-CSF or GM-CSF. We attempted to correlate the results obtained by CD34 analysis with the cloning efficiency determined after a 14 day culture period in the methylcellulose-based clonogenic assay. The highest cloning efficacy (60%-100%) was observed in cord blood, however, a good correlation was found in both untreated and GM-CSF treated peripheral blood samples in which a mean of 50% and 20% of the number of CD34 positive MNC gave rise to myeloid colonies. In bone marrow, the cloning efficacy was generally lower and ranged between 5% and 15%. The lowest values were observed in G-CSF treated peripheral blood in which colonies were grown from only 1%-9% of the CD34+ MNC. Due to the variable numbers of CD34+ lymphoid and/or more committed myeloid precursors which form either no colonies or only clusters, there was a greater variation and a lower cloning efficiency in the latter two cell sources. In conclusion, one colour CD34 analysis of cord blood MNC and untreated or GM-CSF treated peripheral blood MNC provides reliable results with respect to the content of myeloid progenitors. Analysis of bone marrow MNC and G-CSF treated peripheral blood MNC requires two colour staining using CD34 and CD45RA. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Modelling food web interactions, variation in plankton production, and fisheries in the western English Channel ecosystem

To explore the contributions that fishing, trophic interactions and plankton production make to explanations of the observed variation of higher trophic (principally fish) levels in the western English Channel ecosystem, Ecosim simulations were run from 1973 to 1999 using the most complete data set yet assembled. The results indicate that a bottom-up mechanism plays an important role in the system production. Inclusion of a primary producer biomass forcing term, estimated from empirical data, improved the goodness of fit of the model estimates to the available biomass data by about 25% compared to fitting using only the series of fishing mortalities. Model fitting was further improved by changing the so-called vulnerability parameters, causing an overall improvement of 62% in explained variation. Incorporating the new vulnerability values, the model was used to estimate a primary production anomaly function to replace the primary producer biomass forcing in driving the model simulations. In this scenario, the model estimated a series of values for primary producer abundance that approximated the empirical data, but gave lower estimates than were observed towards the end of the period. This version also gave a better fitting to the zooplankton abundance data and generally improved the fitting to all functional groups.
[The prevalence of fibromyalgia and chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain in Iceland.].

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of fibromyalgia and chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain (CWP) in Iceland in two demographic different areas. MATERIAL AND METHODS Population based prevalence study on 1200 females and 1200 males 18-79 years old in South-West- and South-Iceland. Established musculoskeletal pain questionnaire and telephone screening of nonresponders was used. Tender point examination was done on the subjects with CWP and the diagnosis of fibromyalgia was made in accordance with the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1990 criteria. RESULTS The prevalence of fibromyalgia in females based on 60.4% of the sample is 9.8%. The comparable prevalence in males based on 46.4% of the sample is 1.3%. The prevalence of CWP is 26.9% in females and 12.9% in males. A sharp increase in the prevalence of fibromyalgia and CWP in females is seen in the age group 31-40 compared with the age group 18-30. For female responders a statistical higher prevalence of CWP but not fibromyalgia is seen in South-West-Iceland, compared with South-Iceland. No regional differences were seen for males. CONCLUSION The prevalence of fibromyalgia and CWP is very high in Iceland. A matter of special concern is the high prevalence in young females. Possible causes are long working hours and stressful living conditions.
The Tomato Hsf System: HsfA2 Needs Interaction with HsfA1 for Efficient Nuclear Import and May Be Localized in Cytoplasmic Heat Stress Granules

ABSTRACT In heat-stressed (HS) tomato (Lycopersicon peruvianum) cell cultures, the constitutively expressed HS transcription factor HsfA1 is complemented by two HS-inducible forms, HsfA2 and HsfB1. Because of its stability, HsfA2 accumulates to fairly high levels in the course of a prolonged HS and recovery regimen. Using immunofluorescence and cell fractionation experiments, we identified three states of HsfA2: (i) a soluble, cytoplasmic form in preinduced cultures maintained at 25°C, (ii) a salt-resistant, nuclear form found in HS cells, and (iii) a stored form of HsfA2 in cytoplasmic HS granules. The efficient nuclear transport of HsfA2 evidently requires interaction with HsfA1. When expressed in tobacco protoplasts by use of a transient-expression system, HsfA2 is mainly retained in the cytoplasm unless it is coexpressed with HsfA1. The essential parts for the interaction and nuclear cotransport of the two Hsfs are the homologous oligomerization domain (HR-A/B region of the A-type Hsfs) and functional nuclear localization signal motifs of both partners. Direct physical interaction of the two Hsfs with formation of relatively stabile hetero-oligomers was shown by a two-hybrid test inSaccharomyces cerevisiae as well as by coimmunoprecipitation using tomato and tobacco whole-cell lysates.
Intrapocket anesthesia for scaling and root planing: results of a double-blind multicenter trial using lidocaine prilocaine dental gel.

BACKGROUND The efficacy of a novel anesthetic gel (lidocaine 25 mg/g plus prilocaine 25 mg/g in thermosetting agents) for non-invasive periodontal pocket anesthesia was evaluated. METHODS One hundred twenty-two (122) patients in 8 centers with moderate to severe periodontitis requiring scaling and root planing (SRP) were enrolled in this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial. The active dental gel or a matching placebo gel was applied into the periodontal pocket using a blunt applicator. Following a waiting period of 30 seconds to 2 minutes, scaling and root planing were performed. If the patient had any discomfort, a second application of the gel was applied. If the patient continued to experience discomfort, conventional anesthesia was offered. After all teeth in the test quadrant had received SRP, the overall pain was assessed by the patient using a 100 mm horizontal, ungraded visual analog scale in which the left side was marked "no pain" and the right side marked "worst pain imaginable. " Patients also assessed pain by using a 5-point verbal rating scale, from "no pain" to "very severe pain. " RESULTS The visual analog scale showed significant reductions in reported pain, favoring the active gel over the placebo (mean reduction, 8 mm; P <0.0005). The verbal rating scale revealed that 90% of patients treated with active gel reported no pain or mild pain compared to 64% of placebo-treated patients (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Intrapocket administration of lidocaine 25 mg/g plus prilocaine 25 mg/g and thermosetting agents may be effective for pain control for scaling and root planing and may offer an alternative to infiltration anesthesia.
Introduction of Rapid Syphilis Testing Within Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV Programs in Uganda and Zambia: A Field Acceptability and Feasibility Study

Background:Given that integration of syphilis testing into prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) programs can prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes, this study assessed feasibility and acceptability of introducing rapid syphilis testing (RST) into PMTCT services. Methods:RST was introduced into PMTCT programs in Zambia and Uganda. Using a pre–post intervention design, HIV and syphilis testing and treatment rates during the intervention were compared with baseline. Results:In Zambia, comparing baseline and intervention, 12,761 of 15,967 (79.9%) and 11,460 of 11,985 (95.6%) first-time antenatal care (ANC) attendees were tested for syphilis (P < 0.0001), 523 of 12,761 (4.1%) and 1050 of 11,460 (9.2%) women tested positive (P < 0.0001); and 267 of 523 (51.1%) and 1000 of 1050 (95.2%) syphilis-positive women were treated (P < 0.0001), respectively. Comparing baseline and intervention, 7479 of 7830 (95.5%) and 11,151 of 11,409 (97.7%) of ANC attendees were tested for HIV (P < 0.0001) and 1303 of 1326 (98.3%) and 2036 of 2034 (100.1%) of those testing positive received combination antiretroviral drugs or single-dose nevirapine prophylaxis (P < 0.0001). In Uganda, 13,131 of 14,540 (90.3%) women were tested for syphilis during intervention, with 690 of 13,131 (5.3%) positive and 715 of 690 (103.6%) treated. Syphilis baseline data were collected, but not included in analysis, as ANC syphilis testing before the study was not consistently practiced. Comparing baseline and intervention, 6479 of 6776 (95.6%) and 11,192 of 11,610 (96.4%) ANC attendees were tested for HIV (P = 0.0009) and 570 of 726 (78.5%) and 964 of 1153 (83.6%) received combination or single-dose prophylaxis (P = 0.007). In Zambia, 254 of 1050 (24.2%) syphilis-positive pregnant women were HIV-positive and 99 of 690 (14.3%) in Uganda. Conclusions:Integrating RST in PMTCT programs increases screening and treatment for syphilis among HIV-positive pregnant women and does not compromise HIV services.
Modified continuous femoral three-in-one block for postoperative pain after total knee arthroplasty.

UNLABELLED We prospectively studied the continuous "modified" femoral three-in-one block for postoperative pain after total knee arthroplasty. Sixty-two patients undergoing elective knee arthroplasty under spinal anesthesia with bupivacaine (B) and fentanyl were randomized to receive 0.2% B, 0.1% B, or placebo at 10 mL/h for 48 h after an initial bolus of 30 mL of the same solution via the femoral block catheter. The catheters were inserted under the fascia iliaca using a "double pop" technique and a peripheral nerve stimulator and were advanced 15-20 cm cranially. Venous plasma levels of B, desbutylbupivacaine, and 4-hydroxy B were measured daily for 3 days. All patients received patient-controlled analgesia with morphine and indomethacin suppositories for 48 h. Using computed tomography, we evaluated the catheter location for 20 patients. The catheter tips, located superior to the upper third of the sacroiliac joint in the psoas sheath, were labeled as ideally located. The group receiving 0.2% B had a larger block success rate, smaller morphine consumption in the immediate postoperative period (15 vs 22 mg) and during the first postoperative day (9 vs 18 mg), and achieved a greater range of motion in the immediate postoperative period (91 degrees +/- 10 degrees vs 80 degrees + 13 degrees ). Visual analog scores for pain during both rest and activity were low but similar between the groups. Forty percent of the catheters evaluated were ideally located. Ideal location and use of 0.2% B resulted in 100% success of blockade of all three nerves. The S1 root was blocked in up to 76% of patients. The plasma levels of B, 4-hydroxy B, and desbutylbupivacaine were below the toxic range during the infusion. We conclude that continuous fascia iliaca block with 0.2% B results in opioid-sparing and improved range of motion during the immediate postoperative period. Larger doses of bupivacaine may safely be used in the immediate postoperative period if needed. IMPLICATIONS Continuous fascia iliaca block with 0.2% bupivacaine reduces opioid requirements and improves range of motion in the immediate postoperative period compared with a placebo and 0.1% bupivacaine. Plasma levels are below the toxic range with this dose. Only 40% of the catheters are positioned in the ideal location. With the smaller dose of bupivacaine, the success rate with this block is small.
HOW FAMILY POSITION INFLUENCES MARRIED WOMEN ’ S AUTONOMY AND POWER IN FIVE ASIAN CONTRIES

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of how aspects of married women’s family position influence their domestic power and autonomy in the developing countries of South and Southeast Asia. The analysis is part of a larger study that is investigating the determinants of women’s autonomy and power and their relationship to women’s reproductive intentions and behavior (Mason et al., 1989). A basic premise of the larger study is that the nature of women’s power and autonomy reflects the social context in which they live, as well as their personal characteristics (Smith, 1989). National, regional, and local cultures and even individual households have distinct traditions about the rights and duties of women and men, rights and duties that are enforced through formal and informal social sanctions. Thus, whether individual wives are able to make important economic decisions, can move about freely, or live relatively free from coercion usually reflects the country, region, community and household in which they live.
The Time Course of Serum C-Reactive Protein is More Predictive of Mortality than its Baseline Level in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients

Background Several recent studies reported that a high baseline serum C-reactive protein (CRP) is a powerful predictor of mortality in dialysis patients. However, the acute-phase response is intermittent and not a continuous feature in an individual patient. The aim of this prospective study was to determine whether serial analysis of serum CRP during follow-up allows better prediction of mortality and echocardiographic cardiac disease than a single baseline measurement in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Methods 97 PD patients were monitored for 3 years from the beginning of the treatment. We evaluated the effect of demographic features, comorbidity, blood pressure, blood biochemistry, including CRP, residual renal function, and indices of dialysis adequacy, on mortality and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Cox regression analysis using both the baseline and the averaged values of the study parameters was carried out to determine factors predicting mortality. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine which factors were independently predictive for LVH and the type of time course of serum CRP. Results Baseline serum CRP was elevated in 29 patients (29.9%). While serum CRP exhibited a stable course (normal or high) in 55 patients (56.7%), it varied considerably over time in 42 patients (43.2%). In the Cox models, both the averaged serum CRP and the type of variability of CRP were predictors of mortality. On the contrary, baseline CRP did not affect adjusted survival. The averaged CRP was also an independent factor affecting LVH, but baseline CRP was not. Age, comorbidity index, instilled dialysate glucose concentration, and Kt/V urea were independently associated with the type of time course of serum CRP. Conclusion The averaged value of serum CRP is more predictive of prognosis compared to the baseline value in PD patients. Determining serum CRP on a regular basis may be helpful to detect early signs of tissue damage or asymptomatic inflammation.
What’s in a Name?

Voluntary settlement on a frontier may promote values of independence. At present, however, researchers know little about the behavioral consequences of this process. In this study, we examined regional variations in baby naming. Because baby naming is an act of considerable personal and familial significance, it reflects prevalent cultural values. In support of the hypothesized link between frontier settlement and independence, we found that babies receive popular names less frequently in western regions of the United States than in its eastern regions (Study 1). The same pattern holds in Canada (Study 2), with popular names being less frequent in western provinces than in eastern provinces. Moreover, popular names are less frequently given to babies in world regions in which Europeans have settled (e.g., Australia, the United States) than in European countries (Study 3). These findings have implications for cross-generational transmission of cultural values.
Relation between Coal and Fly Ash Mineralogy, Based on Quantitative X-Ray Diffraction Methods

The proportion of amorphous or glassy material in a series of fly ashes has been evaluated by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) using several different sample preparation and processing methods in conjunction with the Rietveld-based Siroquant quantitative X-ray diffraction analysis software package. The results of the different methods used were found to give consistent results and were also in agreement with published data for a reference fly ash sample. Comparison to the mineral matter in the respective feed coals showed that the relative proportions of quartz in the LTA of the feed coal and in the fly ash are strongly correlated to each other, suggesting that much of the quartz in the coal tends to pass directly into the fly ash, without significant alteration. A similar comparison for the iron minerals in the coal and fly ash shows a more scattered but still broadly linear relationship between the percentage of iron oxide minerals in the fly ash and the percentage of siderite plus pyrite in the LTA of the corresponding feed coal, suggesting that the iron oxide minerals in the fly ash are derived mainly from the iron minerals present in the coals themselves. Calculations based on subtracting the inferred chemistry of the crystalline minerals in the fly ashes from the total fly ash chemistry were also used to estimate the overall chemical composition of the glass fraction in the fly ashes and show that ashes derived from lower-rank coals have different glass compositions to those derived from higher-rank (bituminous) materials.