Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arsenic-induced interstitial myocardial fibrosis reveals a new insight into drug-induced long QT syndrome.

AIMS Arsenic trioxide (ATO), an effective therapeutic agent for acute promyelocytic leukaemia, can cause sudden cardiac death due to long QT syndrome (LQTS). The present study was designed to determine whether ATO could induce cardiac fibrosis and explore whether cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) are involved in the development of LQTS by ATO. METHODS AND RESULTS ATO treatment of guinea pigs caused substantial interstitial myocardial fibrosis and LQTS, which was accompanied by an increase in transforming growth factor β1(TGF-β1) secretion and a decrease in ether-à-go-go-related gene (HERG) and inward rectifying potassium channel (I(K1)) subunit Kir2.1 protein levels. ATO promoted collagen production and TGF-β1 expression and secretion in cultured CFs. Whole-cell patch clamp and western blotting showed that treatment with TGF-β1 markedly reduced HERG and I(K1) current densities and downregulated HERG and Kir2.1 protein expression in HEK293 cells stably transfected with the human recombinant HERG channel and in cardiomyocytes (CMs). These changes were completely reversed by treatment with the protein kinase A (PKA) antagonist, H89. CM and CF co-cultures showed that ATO significantly increased TGF-β1 levels in the culture medium, whereas markedly reduced HERG and Kir2.1 protein levels were observed in CMs compared with ATO-treated CMs not co-cultured with CFs. Finally, in vivo administration of LY364947, a pharmacological antagonist of TGF-β signalling, dramatically prevented interstitial fibrosis and LQTS and abolished aberrant expression of TGF-β1, HERG, and Kir2.1 in ATO-treated guinea pigs. CONCLUSION ATO-induced TGF-β1 secretion from CFs aggravates QT prolongation, suggesting that modulation of TGF-β signalling may provide a novel strategy for the treatment of drug-induced LQTS.
Early postmenopausal hormone therapy may prevent cognitive impairment later in life

Objective: Estrogen deficiency has been implicated as a risk factor for cognitive impairment in elderly women, yet the role of hormone therapy (HT) to prevent this event remains controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of administration of HT for 2 to 3 years in the early postmenopausal years on the risk of cognitive impairment 5 to 15 years later. Design: We followed a group of 343 women who had received HT in randomized, placebo-controlled trials and were reexamined 5, 11, or 15 years after completion of therapy. Of these women, 261 received either HT or placebo for 2 to 3 years during the trials with no further hormone treatment until follow-up, and the remaining 82 women reported either prolonged or current use of HT at reexamination. Outcome of the study was cognitive function assessed by the short Blessed test that includes tests of orientation, concentration, and memory function on a scale of 0 to 28 (score ≥6 indicates cognitive impairment). Results: The mean age of participants at follow-up was 65 ± 3 years. There was no difference in the mean cognitive scores between ever HT users and never users. For women who received 2 to 3 years of HT, the risk of cognitive impairment (cognitive score ≥6) was decreased by 64% (odds ratio [OR]: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.15-0.90; P = 0.03). A similar OR was found in long-term/current HT users. Adjustment for age, alcohol intake, current smoking, and education did not alter the results. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that previous short-term HT administered in the early phase of the menopause may provide a long-term protection against cognitive impairment.
A qualitative study of women with vulvodynia: I. The journey into treatment.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate women's experiences of accessing help and treatment for vulvodynia. STUDY DESIGN Women who had participated in a vulvar pain management program were evaluated in a retrospective, qualitative, in-depth interview study. RESULTS The women described their distressing symptoms of vulvodynia and their previous experiences of seeking help. The women thought that the delay to diagnosis contributed to the severity of their symptoms and that achieving a diagnosis was the first step on a path toward the acceptance of a chronic condition and a commitment to a management program. CONCLUSION Vulvodynia is poorly recognized, and the delay to diagnosis adversely affects patients, exacerbating the severity of their symptoms.
Otro País Exportador Neto de Petróleo y sus Reacciones Macroeconómicas ante Cambios del Precio: Colombia

En este documento se exploran las reacciones de las principales variables macroeconomicas en Colombia ante cambios en el precio del petroleo. Las variables incluidas reflejan el ambiente de un modelo tipico en el contexto de la Nueva Macroeconomia Abierta, se incluyen el producto interno, produccion industrial, desempleo, tipo de cambio real, tasas de interes local e internacional, indice accionario e inflacion. Las estimaciones econometricas se realizan con modelos como el S-VARX y el S-VECX y se encuentra que, en terminos generales, Colombia responde ante los choques del precio del petroleo como cabria esperarse para un pais exportador neto, es decir, positivamente ante un incremento del precio y de forma no significativa ante un descenso.
EL Cine del Futuro: The Cinema of the Future

Presence Volume /, Number 3. Summer / 992 Reprinted from Espacios 23-24, 1955. © / 992 The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Pandemonium reigns supreme in the film industry. Ever)' studio is hastily converting to its own "revolutionär)'" system—Cinerama, Colorama, Panoramic Screen, Cinemascope, Three-D, and Stereophonic Sound. A dozen marquees in Time Square are luring customers into the realm of a "sensational new experience. " Everywhere we see the "initiated" holding pencils before the winked eyes of the "uninitiated" explaining the mysteries of 3-D. The critics are lining up pro and con concluding their articles profoundly with "after all, it's the story that counts. " Along with other filmgoers desiring orientation, I have been reading these articles and have sadly discovered that they reflect this confusion rather than illuminate it. It is apparent that the inability to cope with the problem stems from a refusal to adopt a wider frame of reference, and from a meager understanding of the place art has in life generally. All living things engage, on a higher or lower level, in a continuous cycle of orientation and action. For example, an animal on a mountain ledge hears a rumbling sound and sees an avalanche of rocks descending on it. It cries with
A first glance on the enhancement of digital cell activity videos from glioblastoma cells with nuclear staining

In this work we explore a set of image enhancement techniques for improving contrast and removing noise from digital images of cell activity. The cells studied were extracted from cancerous brain tissue and exposed to different chemo-therapeutic agents, as microbiologists aim to analyze the behavior of cells exposed to different chemo-therapies. To ease and improve the precision of such analysis, an automatic cell tracking framework is of great interest. Thus, in this work we focus on the first stage of such framework, which refers to image preprocessing, aiming to noise removal and contrast enhancement, in order to improve cell segmentation and tracking performance. We compared the segmentation precision using different image preprocessing techniques based on the Deceived Weighting Average Framework (DeWAFF), reaching improvements of around 15 percent of segmentation accuracy, over no preprocessed images.
Time course of depression‐symptom improvement during treatment with duloxetine

The aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal response for overall and individual symptoms during the treatment of major depressive disorder. Data were pooled from two 9‐week trials, which compared duloxetine 60‐mg QD (n=251) with placebo (n=261) in the treatment of MDD. Changes from baseline in the 17‐item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD17) and in the Visual Analog Scales for pain were analyzed. Compared to placebo‐treated patients, duloxetine‐treated patients experienced greater improvement (P<.05) in the HAMD17 total score at Week 2. The individual symptoms showing the most rapid improvements (Week 1) were depressed mood, guilt, suicidal ideation, work/activities, and psychic anxiety as well as VAS back pain and shoulder pain. At subsequent visits, significant improvements were observed in retardation (Week 2); hypochondriasis (Week 3); general somatic symptoms (Week 5); middle and late insomnia (Week 7); and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, genital symptoms (level of sexual interest or ease of sexual arousal), insight, and early insomnia (Week 9). Significant advantages for duloxetine were not achieved at any visit for agitation, somatic anxiety, or weight loss. At Weeks 1 and 2, placebo‐treated patients had significantly lower GI symptoms and reported less weight loss compared with duloxetine‐treated patients; however, differences were not significant at subsequent visits. Furthermore, duloxetine was superior to placebo on GI symptoms at endpoint compared to placebo‐treated patients; duloxetine‐treated patients had a significantly higher response rate at Week 2 and a higher remission rate at Week 5. These results may help clinicians establish more accurate expectations regarding treatment with duloxetine. Depression and Anxiety 21:170–177, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Permeability of the post‐synaptic membrane of an excitatory glutamate synapse to sodium and potassium.

1. The changes in permeability of the post‐synaptic membrane at the insect skeletal neuromuscular junction caused by the excitatory transmitter and L‐glutamate have been studied using the voltage clamp technique. 2. The reversal potential (ER) of the excitatory post‐synaptic current and the glutamate current was +3 and +4 mV respectively. 3. ER of the synaptic current did not change when external K was altered between 0 and 20 mM, but did show a small positive shift in 40 mM external K. Reducing external Na to 1‐10 mM changes ER by 12‐18 mV. Reducing external Cl to to zero caused no change in ER. 4. It is proposed that the transmitter and L‐glutamate cause an increase in permeability to Na and K, but not to Cl. 5. In normal saline, the ratio of the permeability increase to Na and K (delta PNa/delta PK) is 0.9. 6. The changes in ER caused by altering external K were similar to those predicted by the Goldman‐Hodgkin‐Katz equation, assuming delta PNa/delta PK stays constant. 7. The changes in ER caused by alterations of external Na are much less than those predicted by the Goldman equation. 8. No glutamate current could be recorded in Na‐ and Ca‐free saline either at the resting potential or at depolarized or hyperpolarized membrane potentials. 9. It is proposed that the outward K current is dependent upon the inward Na current, and that the increase in K permeability is abolished in zero external Na.
Phonological devices in poems by English and Italian children

ABSTRACT Poems were elicited from 133 English children between two and six and 171 Italian children between three and seven, using a similar technique, and the results were compared. Both groups produced large numbers of poems. There were great similarities and some differences. The majority of poems in both samples contained phonological devices (mostly rhyme and alliteration) and the proportion was higher (87%) in the Italian sample than in the English sample (59%). The proportion of poems that contained rhyme was close to 45% in each sample, with no consistent age difference in either sample. About one-third of Italian poems and just over a fifth of English poems contained alliteration. The frequency of alliteration declined with age in the English sample but not in the Italian sample. Possible reasons for the differences between the samples are considered. It is argued that the similarities are more important, and their theoretical implications are discussed.
Online Media Sentiment: Understanding Machine Learning-based Classifiers

Online media is an important source for sentiments exposed by individuals on goods, services, organizations, and other objects of interest. While firms can benefit from using these sentiments for decisionmaking, the classification of sentiments is difficult because of volume, velocity, and variety. Machine learning is an effective technique for sentiment classification, which neither requires formalized knowledge about the domain nor the language used. Although the literature provides a rich body of classification methods, system designers and researchers still face the problem of reasonably selecting designs. In this paper, we seek to contribute to the understanding of machine learning for sentiment classification. We report an experimental study that tests the effects of three design factors, i.e., text representation, feature weighting, and machine learning algorithm, on accuracy. The findings can be useful for empirically informed classifier design.
The Paraclinoid Carotid Artery: Anatomical Aspects of a Microneurosurgical Approach

&NA; The paraclinoid area is investigated anatomically for possible microneurosurgical approaches to the C3 segment of the internal carotid artery and to structures in the vicinity of the anterior siphon knee. Removal of the anterior clinoid process reveals a tight connective tissue ring that fixes the internal carotid artery to the surrounding osseous structures at the point of its transdural passage. Transection of this fibrous ring opens a microsurgical pathway to the carotid C3 segment. The artery is surrounded by a loose connective tissue layer that allows blunt preparation along the C3 segment, without compromising the cranial nerves and without damaging venous compartments of the cavernous sinus. This approach provides neurosurgical access to paraclinoidal aneurysms, to partly intracavernous aneurysms, and to carotid‐ophthalmic aneurysms, allowing control of the proximal aneurysm neck and of the parent artery itself. In cases of tumors involving the medial sphenoid ridge, the apex of the orbit, or the cavernous sinus, the pericarotid connective tissue can serve as a guide layer for access along the internal carotid artery.
Prenatal Brain-Body Allometry in Mammals

Variation in relative brain size among adult mammals is produced by different patterns of brain and body growth across ontogeny. Fetal development plays a central role in generating this diversity, and aspects of prenatal physiology such as maternal relative metabolic rate, altriciality, and placental morphology have been proposed to explain allometric differences in neonates and adults. Primates are also uniquely encephalized across fetal development, but it remains unclear when this pattern emerges during development and whether it is common to all primate radiations. To reexamine these questions across a wider range of mammalian radiations, data on the primarily fetal rapid growth phase (RGP) of ontogenetic brain-body allometry was compiled for diverse primate (np = 12) and nonprimate (nnp = 16) mammalian species, and was complemented by later ontogenetic data in 16 additional species (np = 9; nnp = 7) as well as neonatal proportions in a much larger sample (np = 38; nnp = 83). Relative BMR, litter size, altriciality, and placental morphology fail to predict RGP slopes as would be expected if physiological and life history variables constrained fetal brain growth, but are associated with differences in birth timing along allometric trajectories. Prenatal encephalization is shared by all primate radiations, is unique to the primate Order, and is characterized by: (1) a robust change in early embryonic brain/body proportions, and (2) higher average RGP allometric slopes due to slower fetal body growth. While high slopes are observed in several nonprimate species, primates alone exhibit an intercept shift at 1 g body size. This suggests that primate prenatal encephalization is a consequence of early changes to embryonic neural and somatic tissue growth in primates that remain poorly understood.
DNA fingerprints of rice (Oryza sativa) obtained from hypervariable chloroplast simple sequence repeats

The aim of this research was to develop a convenient polymerase chain reaction-based assay that would allow intraspecific chloroplast variability to be detected. Our approach is based on the detection of length polymorphism within chloroplast mononucleotide microsatellite loci. Information from the fully sequenced rice chloroplast genome was used to identify 12 regions with a minimum of ten uninterrupted mononucleotide repeats. Primers flanking these repeats were used in conjunction with polymerase chain reaction to examine levels of polymorphism in six wild and 14 cultivated rice accessions. A total of six of the primer pairs revealed length polymorphism with between two and five size variants being detected. Diversity indices varied between 0.07 and 0.72. The length variation detected at multiple, physically linked sites was used to identify 15 unique haplotypes with an overall diversity index of 0.90. This level of polymorphism is sufficiently high to allow chloroplast variability to be studied at the intraspecific level. An additional 47 Oryza sativa accessions were also assayed with 31 unique chloroplast haplotypes being detected. The distribution of these haplotypes is described in relation to isozyme groupings and subspecies differentiation. The relevance and implications of these results for plant population genetics and the management of germplasm collections is discussed.
Isolation of Human Blood Cells, Platelets, and Plasma Proteins by Centrifugal SPLITT Fractionation

Centrifugal SPLITT fractionation, a technique designed for the continuous high‐resolution separation of colloids and low‐density particles, is applied here to fresh human blood, producing six purified fractions consisting of proteins and lipoproteins, platelets, red blood cells, lymphocytes, monocytes, and neutrophils. Production of the six fractions requires five steps, each yielding two fractions. These five steps are carried out in sequence using a single apparatus, with conditions varying from step to step in accordance with theoretical guidelines in order to achieve the desired cut points. In the first step, a stream of diluted blood is separated into one fraction consisting of platelets and plasma and another containing blood cells. The throughput of diluted blood is 162 mL/h and that of whole blood is about 2 mL/h or ∼1010 cells/h; guidelines are given for significantly increasing throughput. The purity of the blood cell fractions ranged from 92 to 98%, and the viability fell in the range 97–99%.
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Community-Acquired and Health Care-Associated Pneumonia: Incidence, Diagnosis, and Treatment Options

Abstract Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. As health care has expanded into community settings, including outpatient clinics, long-term care facilities, and dialysis centers, a new category of pneumonia—health care-associated pneumonia (HCAP)—has been defined. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is rising among community-acquired infections, and the emergence of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, particularly the severe form of necrotizing pneumonia mediated by USA 300 in young and healthy individuals, warrants attention. Although Streptococcus pneumoniae remains the most prevalent causative pathogen in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), S aureus infections are increasingly being reported in community settings, especially in patients with HCAP. Recent surveillance of community-dwelling adults with pneumonia admitted to United States hospitals has demonstrated a steady increase in S aureus isolates. Thus, MRSA should be considered in severe pneumonia associated with influenza-like symptoms, particularly when accompanied by hemoptysis or leukopenia. However, MRSA pneumonia also can develop in the absence of preceding influenza-like illness. Effective empiric therapy for pneumonia, whether CAP or HCAP, mandates selection of an agent with coverage against all likely pathogens. Failure to provide adequate initial antimicrobial coverage has been associated with an increased risk of death. The spread of resistant pathogens in the community challenges currently available antimicrobial agents for effective treatment of MRSA-mediated pneumonia. Approval of newer antimicrobials with MRSA activity may provide additional options for the management of pneumonia. This article provides a review of the role of MRSA as a causative pathogen in CAP and HCAP.
The role of C-C chemokines and their receptors in osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the involvement of the chemokine/chemokine receptor system in cartilage degradation in osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS Expression of the 4 C-C chemokines monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein 1alpha (MIP-1alpha), MIP-1beta, and RANTES, and their receptors CCR-2 and CCR-5, was assessed in 11 OA patients and 5 normal controls, by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunochemistry, and flow cytometry on untreated or interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta)- and/or tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha)-stimulated chondrocytes. The effects of these chemokines on the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases were assayed by RT-PCR and ELISA. The effects on proteoglycan synthesis and release were also assayed, using 35S-sulfate incorporation and 35S-proteoglycan release. RESULTS The C-C chemokines and their receptors CCR-2 and CCR-5 were found to be expressed in normal and OA chondrocytes. However, regulation of chemokine expression by IL-1beta and TNFalpha differed between normal and OA chondrocytes. Intracellular staining revealed that approximately 20% of the chondrocytes contained CCR-2 and CCR-5 in the cytoplasm, whereas cell surface expression was detected less frequently. Interestingly, RANTES induced expression of its own receptor, CCR-5, suggesting an autocrine/paracrine pathway of the chemokine within the cartilage milieu. Finally, addition of MCP-1 or RANTES not only induced MMP-3 expression, but also inhibited proteoglycan synthesis and enhanced proteoglycan release from the chondrocytes. CONCLUSION The differential expression of chemokines and their receptors under the regulation of IL-1beta and TNFalpha suggests that the cytokine-triggered chemokine system may play a key role in the cartilage degradation of OA, possibly acting in an autocrine/paracrine manner.
Visual-inertial curve SLAM

We present a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm that uses Bézier curves as static landmark primitives rather than feature points. Our approach allows us to estimate the full 6-DOF pose of a robot while providing a structured map which can be used to assist a robot in motion planning and control. We demonstrate how to reconstruct the 3-D location of curve landmarks from a stereo pair and how to compare the 3-D shape of curve landmarks between chronologically sequential stereo frames to solve the data association problem. We also present a method to combine curve landmarks for mapping purposes, resulting in a map with a continuous set of curves that contain fewer landmark states than conventional point-based SLAM algorithms. We demonstrate our algorithm’s effectiveness with numerous experiments, including comparisons to existing state-of-the-art SLAM algorithms.