Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preliminary in vivo evidence of increased N-acetyl-aspartate following eicosapentanoic acid treatment in patients with bipolar disorder

EthyL-eicosapentanoic acid (ethyL-EPA) may be beneficial in the treatment of bipolar disorder (BD) and may have a neurotrophic/neuroprotective role in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders. To investigate this we examined whether ethyl-EPA treatment of BD patients is associated with increased brain Levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), a putative marker of neuronal integrity. Fourteen female BD outpatients with moderate depressive symptoms were administered 2g of ethyL-EPA per day or placebo for 12 weeks in a randomized, double-blind fashion. Quantitative, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging data were obtained prior to randomization and after 12 weeks of treatment from a single 12 ml volume of interest centred above the body of the corpus callosum. A significant rise in NAA Levels was observed in the ethyl-EPA treatment group compared with the placebo group (p = 0.027). These results provide the first evidence for a probable neurotrophic role of ethyl-EPA treatment in BD underlining the need for more detailed investigation of its mechanism of action and therapeutic potential.
The Stigma of Epilepsy among Outpatients in a Tertiary Hospital in South-East Nigeria

Background: The stigma of epilepsy is pervasive in developing country contexts and negatively affects the psychological and social wellbeing of its sufferers. The experience of stigma varies across settings and probably relate to disease severity and social characteristics. This study sought to describe the extent and correlates of perceived and enacted stigma among outpatients with epilepsy. Methods: The participants were consecutively presenting epilepsy outpatients in a tertiary facility that attended clinic regularly and had no overt medical or psychiatric co-morbidities. The patients were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: There were 93 participants with a mean age of 30.2 ± 10.3 years and 57.0% were males. The experience of stigma was reported by 46.2% and 67.7% of the participants for perceived and enacted stigma, respectively. Over one-third of the patients had suffered burns or a similar injury in the past. The correlates of perceived stigma were rural residence, lower levels of education, and longer duration of illness. Gender, age and frequency of seizures were not statistically significant determinants. The correlates of enacted stigma were being single, older age, rural residence, and longer duration of epilepsy. A past history of burns and disclosure of epilepsy to individuals outside the family added to the likelihood of experiencing stigma. Conclusion: The burden of epilepsy related social stigma is high in Nigeria. Cultural stereotypes and misconception add to this. There is need for appropriate culture-congruent educational interventions to provide the right information about epilepsy and debunk the misconceptions and myths associated with the condition. This will need to be coupled with astute clinical management of cases and active case finding. Both qualitative and longitudinal quantitative studies would be required to deepen our understanding of the lived reality of grappling with stigma in our setting.
Are Perfectionist Therapists Perfect? The Relationship between Therapist Perfectionism and Client Outcomes in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Background: The psychological literature suggests that therapist perfectionism is common and potentially detrimental to client recovery. Little is known about the relationship between therapist perfectionism and client outcomes. Aims: This study aimed to measure perfectionism in High Intensity Cognitive Behavioural therapists, and establish any relationships between dimensions of therapist perfectionism, client outcomes and drop-out rates in treatment. Method: Thirty-six therapists took part in the study; levels of perfectionism were measured using a self-report questionnaire and these were analysed in relation to the clinical outcomes from a sample of their clients. Results: The results indicated that therapist perfectionism may be less common than previously suggested. Overall, a number of significant negative associations were observed between aspects of therapist perfectionism (e.g. having high standards for others), treatment efficacy and client retention in treatment. Conclusions: Therapist perfectionism is associated with CBT treatment outcomes; tentative recommendations for therapists managing their own schema as part of their clinical practice have been made, although further investigation is required.
Effects of flexion and extension on the diameter of the caudal cervical vertebral canal in dogs.

OBJECTIVE To quantify changes in the diameter of the vertebral canal with flexion and extension in the cervical vertebral column. STUDY DESIGN Cadaveric biomechanical study. SAMPLE POPULATION Cadaveric canine cervical vertebral column (n = 16 dogs). METHODS All vertebral columns were evaluated with MRI. Group 1 consisted of 8 normal vertebral columns. Group 2 included 8 vertebral columns with intervertebral disc degeneration. Flexion, extension, compression, and tension were applied to the caudal cervical region (C4-5, C5-6, C6-7). Sagittal vertebral canal diameters (VCD) were obtained by measuring the distance between the ventral and dorsal aspects of vertebral canal. RESULTS No differences were seen between groups, thus the results are for both groups. Comparison of VCD between flexion and extension with no load revealed a difference of 2.2 mm (28.9%; P < .001). Comparison between neutral position and extension revealed a reduction of 1.5 mm (16.5%; P < .001), whereas comparison between neutral and flexion showed an increase of 0.7 mm (7.7%; P = .001) in VCD. Comparison between neutral with no load and neutral with compression showed a difference of 0.5 mm, with reduction of 5.5% in the vertebral canal (P = .006). Comparison of extension with no load versus extension with tension revealed an increase of 0.7 mm (9.2%) in the vertebral canal (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Cervical vertebral canal diameter decreased significantly with extension and increased with flexion. The results support the presence of dynamic impingement possibly playing a role in diseases characterized by vertebral canal stenosis, such as cervical spondylomyelopathy.
My Beliefs of My Peers’ Beliefs

Dating violence in adolescent relationships is a growing social problem in the United States. A majority of adolescents have dated by the time they finish high school and these experiences have an impact on their relationship trajectories as adults. Although more and more prevention efforts are aimed at reducing teen dating violence and/or teaching adolescents about healthy relationships, very few of these efforts investigate discrepancies in descriptive and injunctive norms associated with adolescent dating. This pilot study adds to the existing literature by investigating the dating norms of early and mid-adolescents to aid in tailoring prevention efforts among this population. One hundred eighty-seven middle and high school student leaders from public schools in the Midwest completed an annual relationship survey. Findings suggest that participants did not support unhealthy relationship norms overall. However, two patterns of discrepancies emerged: one between participant attitudes (descriptive norms) and their perceptions of peer attitudes (injunctive norms), and another between perceptions participants hold about their male versus female peers’ beliefs. Results imply the development of pluralistic ignorance occurs during adolescence and that perceptions of peer norms are in line with the principles of hegemonic masculinity. Implications for possible prevention initiatives and future research directions are noted.
Strategies for repair and remyelination in demyelinating diseases

A variety of therapeutic approaches aimed towards promoting myelin repair in multiple sclerosis and in other demyelinating diseases are now on the brink of clinical implementation. In this article, the extensive experimental studies of the past 2 decades, and in particular the considerable progress made over the last 12 months, will be briefly reviewed. A number of hurdles remain, together with practical and ethical problems which may be more difficult to solve; nevertheless, increasing excitement is apparent in this novel therapeutic field, and the rapid progress emerging from these laboratory based studies justifies a cautious optimism towards the successful translation of remyelination strategies from experimental neurobiology to clinical neurology.
Role of oxidative stress in experimental sepsis and multisystem organ dysfunction

Massive increase in radical species can lead to oxidative stress, promoting cell injury and death. This review focuses on experimental evidence of oxidative stress in critical illnesses, sepsis and multisystem organ dysfunction. Oxidative stress could negatively affect organ injury and thus overall survival of experimental models. Based on this experimental evidence, we could improve the rationale of supplementation of antioxidants alone or in combination with standard therapies aimed to reduce oxidative stress as novel adjunct treatment in critical care.
Big data: Concept, applications, & challenges

Any organization either public or private rely on accurate data analytic to take decisions. The utilization of big data is pivotal for driving organization extract value from a large amount of data. Big data is a method and technique to retrieve, collect, manage and analyze a very huge volume of both structured and unstructured data that is difficult to process using traditional database which entail new technologies and technique to analyze them. This paper covers the big data with the intentions to find out the concept, its applications and challenges from literature analysis as well as discussing and reviewing interpretations from these findings along with possible recommendations.
Racial differences in the receipt of bowel surveillance following potentially curative colorectal cancer surgery.

OBJECTIVE To investigate racial differences in posttreatment bowel surveillance after colorectal cancer surgery in a large population of Medicare patients. DATA SOURCES We used a large population-based dataset: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) linked to Medicare data. STUDY DESIGN This is a retrospective cohort study. We analyzed data from 44,768 non-Hispanic white, 2,921 black, and 4,416 patients from other racial/ethnic groups, aged 65 and older at diagnosis, who had a diagnosis of local or regional colorectal cancer between 1986 and 1996, and were followed through December 31, 1998. Cox Proportional Hazards models were used to investigate the relation of race and receipt of posttreatment bowel surveillance. DATA COLLECTION Sociodemographic, hospital, and clinical characteristics were collected at the time of diagnosis for all members of the cohort. Surgery and bowel surveillance with colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and barium enema were obtained from Medicare claims using ICD-9-CM and CPT-4 codes. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The chance of surveillance within 18 months of surgery was 57 percent, 48 percent, and 45 percent for non-Hispanic whites, blacks, and others, respectively. After adjusting for sociodemographic, hospital, and clinical characteristics, blacks were 25 percent less likely than whites to receive surveillance if diagnosed between 1991 and 1996 (RR = 0.75, 95 percent CI = 0.70-0.81). CONCLUSIONS Elderly blacks were less likely than non-Hispanic whites to receive posttreatment bowel surveillance and this result was not explained by measured racial differences in sociodemographic, hospital, and clinical characteristics. More research is needed to explore the influences of patient- and provider-level factors on racial differences in posttreatment bowel surveillance.
Stress Detection in Human–Computer Interaction: Fusion of Pupil Dilation and Facial Temperature Features

ABSTRACT In order to differentiate the affective state of a computer user as it changes from relaxation to stress, features derived from pupil dilation and periorbital temperature can be utilized. Absolute signal values and measurements computed from these can be fused to increase the accuracy of affective classification. In this study, entropy in a sliding window was used to accommodate the time differences in the physiological rise and fall profiles of pupil and thermal data. Two methods, decision tree and Adaboost with Random Forest (ABRF), were used for classification tests. Detection accuracy of stressful states varied between 65% and 83.8%. Best results can be reported as 83.9% for sensitivity and 83.8% for specificity. ABRF classifier outperformed the decision tree model. This study emphasizes the importance of data fusion, particularly when physiological signals differ with respect to their rise and fall windows across time. Use of entropy within a predefined time window provides a useful set of features to combine with actual measurements. Furthermore, the collection of pupil and thermal data is feasible because surface sensors are eliminated.
Relativistic fluid mechanics, Kahler manifolds and supersymmetry

We propose an alternative for the Clebsch decomposition of currents in fluid mechanics, in terms of complex potentials taking values in a Kahler manifold. We reformulate classical relativistic fluid mechanics in terms of these complex potentials and rederive the existence of an infinite set of conserved currents. We perform a canonical analysis to find the explicit form of the algebra of conserved charges. The Kahler-space formulation of the theory has a natural supersymmetric extension in 4-D space-time. It contains a conserved current, but also a number of additional fields complicating the interpretation. Nevertheless, we show that an infinite set of conserved currents emerges in the vacuum sector of the addi- tional fields. This sector can therefore be identified with a regime of supersymmetric fluid mechanics. Explicit expressions for the current and the density are obtained.
Time series models with an EGB 2 conditional distribution

A time series model in which the signal is buried in noise that is non-Gaussian may throw up observations that, when judged by the Gaussian yardstick, are outliers. We describe an observation driven model, based on an exponential generalized beta distribution of the second kind (EGB2), in which the signal is a linear function of past values of the score of the conditional distribution. This specification produces a model that is not only easy to implement, but which also facilitates the development of a comprehensive and relatively straightforward theory for the asymptotic distribution of the maximum likelihood estimator. Score driven models of this kind can also be based on conditional t-distributions, but whereas these models carry out what, in the robustness literature, is called a soft form of trimming, the EGB2 distribution leads to a soft form of Winsorizing. An EGARCH model based on the EGB2 distribution is also developed. This model complements the score driven EGARCH model with a conditional t-distribution. Finally dynamic location and scale models are combined and applied to data on the UK rate of inflation.
Estrogen ( E 2 ) and glucocorticoid ( Gc ) effects on microglia and A clearance in vitro and in vivo

The accumulation of fibrillar aggregates of beta Amyloid (A ) in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) brain is associated with chronic brain inflammation. Although activated microglia ( glia) can potentially clear toxic amyloid, chronic activation may lead to excessive production of neurotoxins. Recent epidemiological and clinical data have raised questions about the use of anti-inflammatory steroids (glucocorticoids, Gcs) and estrogens for treatment or prevention of AD. Since very little is known about steroid effects on glial interactions with amyloid, we investigated the effects of the synthetic Gc dexamethasone (DXM) and 17estradiol (E2) in vitro in a murine glial-like N9 cell line on toxin production and intracellular A accumulation. To determine whether the steroid alterations of A uptake in vitro had relevance in vivo, we examined the effects of these steroids on A accumulation and glial responses to A infused into rat brain. Our in vitro data demonstrate for the first time that Gc dose-dependently enhanced glial A accumulation and support previous work showing that E2 enhances A uptake. Despite both steroids enhancing uptake, degradation was impeded, particularly with Gcs. Distinct differences between the two steroids were observed in their effect on toxin production and cell viability. Gc dose-dependently increased toxicity and potentiated A induction of nitric oxide, while E2 promoted cell viability and inhibited A induction of nitric oxide. The steroid enhancement of glial uptake and impedence of degradation observed in vitro were consistent with observations from in vivo studies. In the brains of A -infused rats, the glial staining in entorhinal cortex layer 3, not associated with A deposits was increased in response to A infusion and this effect was blocked by feeding rats prednisolone. In contrast, E2 enhanced glial staining in A -infused rats. A -immunoreactive (ir) deposits were quantitatively smaller, appeared denser, and were associated with robust glial responses. Despite the fact that steroid produced a smaller more focal deposit, total extracted A in cortical homogenate was elevated. Together, the in vivo and in vitro data support a role for steroids in plaque compaction. Our data are also consistent with the hypothesis that although E2 is less potent than Gc in impeding A degradation, long term exposure to both steroids could reduce A clearance and clinical utility. These data showing Gc potentiation of A -induced glial toxins may help explain the lack of epidemiological correlation for AD. The failure of both steroids to accelerate A degradation may explain their lack of efficacy for treatment of AD. © 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
Global Identification of New Substrates for the Yeast Endoribonuclease, RNase Mitochondrial RNA Processing (MRP)*

Background: A global RNase MRP substrate hunt has never been performed. Results: We identified new potential substrates for RNase MRP. Conclusion: Results confirm a role for RNase MRP in the cell cycle and identify new roles in the biosynthesis of other RNA-protein complexes. Significance: Knowing the identity of RNase MRP substrates is critical to understanding its function and role on a system-wide scale. RNase mitochondrial RNA processing (MRP) is an essential, evolutionarily conserved endoribonuclease composed of 10 different protein subunits and a single RNA. RNase MRP has established roles in multiple pathways including ribosome biogenesis, cell cycle regulation, and mitochondrial DNA replication. Although each of these functions is important to cell growth, additional functions may exist given the essential nature of the complex. To identify novel RNase MRP substrates, we utilized RNA immunoprecipitation and microarray chip analysis to identify RNA that physically associates with RNase MRP. We identified several new potential substrates for RNase MRP including a cell cycle-regulated transcript, CTS1; the yeast homolog of the mammalian p27Kip1, SIC1; and the U2 RNA component of the spliceosome. In addition, we found RNase MRP to be involved in the regulation of the Ty1 transposon RNA. These results reinforce and broaden the role of RNase MRP in cell cycle regulation and help to identify new roles of this endoribonuclease.
Pricing strategies of dual-channel base on cost difference

Under the influence of e-business direct marketing channel on traditional supply chain, in manufacturer-traditional retailer supply chain system, the supply chain member and system return of the optimal pricing and stocking strategies are analyzed. There are three kinds of situation: Firstly, pricing respectively by retailer; secondly, pricing by manufacturer; finally, system pricing through the principle of optimal channel coordination. The last one is the better than the other two.
Studies on the immune reconstitution of sublethally irradiated mice by peritoneal macrophages.

Studies were performed on the reconstitution of the immune response to Shigella paradysenteriae and sheep erythrocytes in sublethally irradiated mice by the injection of normal peritoneal macrophages with and without pre-incubation with antigen. The response to Shigella was found to be less radiosensitive than the anti-SRBC response. Sublethally irradiated mice (550 r) injected with peritoneal macrophages from normal donors pre-incubated with Shigella antigen or injected simultaneously with macrophages and Shigella evinced a strong anti-Shigella response. No such reconstitution of the immune response against SRBC was observed, even when lower irradiation doses and phagocytosis-enhancing incubation media were used. Possible reasons for the different response to Shigella and SRBC are discussed.
Exploring the Evolution of Stellar Rotation Using Galactic Kinematics

The rotational evolution of cool dwarfs is poorly constrained after ∼1–2 Gyr due to a lack of precise ages and rotation periods for old main-sequence stars. In this work, we use velocity dispersion as an age proxy to reveal the temperature-dependent rotational evolution of low-mass Kepler dwarfs and demonstrate that kinematic ages could be a useful tool for calibrating gyrochronology in the future. We find that a linear gyrochronology model, calibrated to fit the period– relationship of the Praesepe cluster, does not apply to stars older than around 1 Gyr. Although late K dwarfs spin more slowly than early-K dwarfs when they are young, at old ages, we find that late K dwarfs rotate at the same rate or faster than early-K dwarfs of the same age. This result agrees qualitatively with semiempirical models that vary the rate of surface-to-core angular momentum transport as a function of time and mass. It also aligns with recent observations of stars in the NGC 6811 cluster, which indicate that the surface rotation rates of K dwarfs go through an epoch of inhibited evolution. We find that the oldest Kepler stars with measured rotation periods are late K and early M dwarfs, indicating that these stars maintain spotted surfaces and stay magnetically active longer than more massive stars. Finally, based on their kinematics, we confirm that many rapidly rotating GKM dwarfs are likely to be synchronized binaries.
Antigen dose and strain variation as factors in the genetic control of the immune response to sperm whale myoglobin.

The primary and secondary immune response to the antigen sperm whale myoglobin was investigated in DBA/2, 129 and B10.BR mice over a dose range of immunization from 10 to 2000 microgram. Using an antigen excess technique, the quantity of antibody produced after secondary immunization followed a sigmoidal dose-response curve and the maximal plateau level was found to be different for each strain of mice. Furthermore, the genetic control of the immune response was investigated in twelve different inbred strains of mice following secondary immunization with 500 microgram of myoglobin. A continuous distribution for the mean antibody responses was obtained for the twelve different strains of mice. High responsiveness was associated with H-2 haplotypes d, f and k located on chromosome 17, the non-agouti gene 'a' located on chromosome 2 and the chinchilla gene 'c(ch)' located on chromosome 7. It is concluded that either a large number of IR-genes to myoglobin are present in many loci located on different chromosomes or the antibody differences could be explained by a cross-tolerance mechanism requiring no IR-genes at all.