Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exercise training and detraining process affects plasma adiponectin level in healthy and spontaneously hypertensive rats.

BACKGROUND Adiponectin levels with long-term swimming exercise have been never investigated in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). OBJECTIVE This study was aimed to investigate the effects of exercise and detraining process on the adiponectin plasma levels of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and healthy Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). MATERIAL AND METHODS The rats in the exercise groups were swimming for 10 weeks, 5 days/week, one hour in a day. The detraining rats were left to be sedentary in their cages for 5 weeks after 10 weeks of exercise period. RESULTS The plasma adiponectin levels decreased in E and SHRE groups compared to the SC and the SHR groups, respectively. In addition, blood pressure was decreased in the exercise groups vs their controls. The adiponectin level was not found to be significantly different in ED and SHRED groups compared to their controls. The blood pressure did not differ between SDC and ED groups, although in the SHRED group it was found to be lower than in SHRSD group rats. CONCLUSION The results of this study showed that exercise reduced plasma levels of adiponectin in healthy and spontaneously hypertensive rats. However, this difference disappeared at the end of the training processes. Our results suggest, that changes in plasma adiponectin levels are not responsible for changes in blood pressure (Tab. 2, Fig. 2, Ref. 43).
Dermatological Manifestations of Gastrointestinal Tract Malignancies: A Rare Prospective Study

Background: Dermatological manifestations of gastrointestinal tract (GIT) malignancies can be specific like cutaneous metastasis and nonspecific like paraneoplatic disorders and genodermatosis. They are protean but uncommon and usually appear during advanced stage of underlying malignancy. Sometimes they are presenting sign of an occult malignancy or represent recurrence of malignant process at first. The detection of this presentation is of utmost important for both clinician and patient. Objective: To determine the frequency of dermatological manifestations of GIT malignancies. Material and Methods: 140 patients of proven GIT malignancies were enrolled over a period of one year. Detailed history was taken, further head to toe examination of skin, hair, nails and mucosae were done. Procedures like skin biopsy, KOH examination, tzanck smear examination and imaging investigations were performed as per need to confirm our clinical diagnosis. Results: Out of 140 patients, 5(3.6%) patients developed rare paraneoplastic manifestations in the form of Bazex syndrome, PPP (Pancreatitis panniculitis polyarthritis) syndrome and acquired palmoplantar keratoderma. 3(2.1%) patients had metastasis to skin. One (0.7%) patient of Neurofibromatosis had adenocarcinoma of stomach. Other non-specific mucocutaneous manifestations were found in 71(50.7%) patients. Conclusion: It is emphasized that metastasis, genodermatosis and paraneoplastic dermatosis are very rare but detectable cutaneous manifestations of GIT malignancies. They may act as first sign to diagnose an asymptomatic underlying malignancy. Through high clinical suspicion and active diagnostic workup, a dermatologist/clinician can improve the patient’s prognosis by early detection and timely referral for treatment in such cases.
Attitudes towards holistic complementary and alternative medicine: a sample of healthy people in Turkey.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate the attitude towards holistic complementary and alternative medicine of healthy people, and to evaluate the relationship between attitude towards holistic complementary and alternative medicine and the characteristics of the participants. BACKGROUND Complementary and alternative medicines are becoming more accepted. DESIGN This study used descriptive and correlational designs. METHODS The study included healthy individuals who attended or visited a primary care centre for healthcare services. The sample of the study consisted of 448 persons who responded to the questionnaire. The Attitude towards Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine scale consisted of 11 items on a six-point, and two subscales. The mean score of holistic complementary and alternative medicine was studied in relation to attributes and holistic complementary and alternative medicine. RESULTS The mean score on the scale was 58.1 SD 4.1 point, and in terms of the mean score of the scale, the sample group showed a negative attitude towards holistic complementary and alternative medicine and one subscale. Demographic characteristics of the sample group affected attitudes towards holistic complementary and alternative medicine and both subscales. CONCLUSION In light of these results, it is clear that healthy Turkish population have a tendency towards conventional medicine. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Health professionals caring for healthy people should provide comprehensive care that addresses the physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs of the individual; they could provide the consultation regarding to different patterns of complementary therapies.
Regulation of c-SRC Activity and Function by the Adapter Protein CAS

ABSTRACT SRC family kinases play essential roles in a variety of cellular functions, including proliferation, survival, differentiation, and apoptosis. The activities of these kinases are regulated by intramolecular interactions and by heterologous binding partners that modulate the transition between active and inactive structural conformations. p130 CAS (CAS) binds directly to both the SH2 and SH3 domains of c-SRC and therefore has the potential to structurally alter and activate this kinase. In this report, we demonstrate that overexpression of full-length CAS in COS-1 cells induces c-SRC-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation of multiple endogenous cellular proteins. A carboxy-terminal fragment of CAS (CAS-CT), which contains the c-SRC binding site, was sufficient to induce c-SRC-dependent protein tyrosine kinase activity, as measured by tyrosine phosphorylation of cortactin, paxillin, and, to a lesser extent, focal adhesion kinase. A single amino acid substitution located in the binding site for the SRC SH3 domain of CAS-CT disrupted CAS-CT's interaction with c-SRC and inhibited its ability to induce tyrosine phosphorylation of cortactin and paxillin. Murine C3H10T1/2 fibroblasts that expressed elevated levels of tyrosine phosphorylated CAS and c-SRC–CAS complexes exhibited an enhanced ability to form colonies in soft agar and to proliferate in the absence of serum or growth factors. CAS-CT fully substituted for CAS in mediating growth in soft agar but was less effective in promoting serum-independent growth. These data suggest that CAS plays an important role in regulating specific signaling pathways governing cell growth and/or survival, in part through its ability to interact with and modulate the activity of c-SRC.
Continuous recording of the ventricular-fluid pressure in patients with severe acute traumatic brain injury. A preliminary report.

M EASUREMENTS of the spinal-fluid pressure by means of lumbar puncture in cases of acute injury of the head have been repol~ed and the value of such measurements has been discussed by Russell, 17 Munro, 13 Busch, 2 Rowbotham 16 and several other investigators. 1,5 In order to s tudy intracranial dynamics, Ryder et al. TM recorded the spinal-fluid pressure continuously in a few patients with acute injury of the brain. The cerebrospinal-fluid pressure has also been measured in animals after experimentally induced t r auma to the head. 3,1~,2~ Obvious interest has thus been shown in the changes of intracranial pressure in t raumatic injury of the brain. However, no at tempts have been made, either experimentally or clinically, to s tudy, by continuous recording, the variations of this pressure during the acute stage. On the whole, present-day t rea tment of pos t t raumat ic intracranial hypertension is based on rather f ragmentary knowledge. In our depar tment continuous recording of the ventricular-fluid pressure has been used routinely for several years in a total number of 368 nontraumat ic eases of intracranial hypertension. In our experience TM the technique has proved to be safe and we have found considerable practical value in controlling the ventricular-fluid pressure. On this basis we decided to use continuous control of the ventricular-fluid pressure in eases of t raumatic injury of the brain. This is a preliminary report on the first 30 patients, illustrated by a few representative cases. The recording t ime ranged between 1
Sleep disturbances and depression in the elderly in Japan

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between sleep disturbances and depression in the Japanese elderly. Methods: These investigations in the Japanese elderly were carried out with the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and questions on restless legs syndrome and nocturnal eating disorder. A total of 2023 people (male: 1008; female: 1015; average age: 74.2 ± 6.3 years) were analyzed by χ2 test and simple and multiple logistic regression. The prevalence of sleep disturbance was 37.3% and that of depression was 31.3%. Female gender and/or older (≥75 years) age were significantly associated with depression. Characteristics in depressive elderly were poor sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances due to difficulty of initiating sleep (DIS), breathing discomfort, coldness and pain, poor subjective sleep quality and lack of enthusiasm for activities. Sleep disturbances due to using the bathroom, breathing discomfort and coldness and long sleep latency were associated with depression in younger (65–74 years) men. Sleep disturbance due to DIS was associated with depression in older (≥75 years) men. Sleep disturbance due to pain was associated with depression in younger and older women. Poor sleep efficiency was associated with depression in older women. Poor subjective sleep quality was associated with depression in younger and older men and younger women. Lack of enthusiasm was associated with depression in younger and older men and older women. Restless legs syndrome was statistically significantly associated with depression in younger men. It is concluded that sleep disturbance and depression among the Japanese elderly are closely related symptoms. The features of sleep disturbance with depression differed with sex and age.
Prevalence of myopia in Sherpa and Tibetan children in Nepal.

BACKGROUND Tibetan and Sherpa children living in Nepal share a common ancestry in Tibet and areas to the north of Nepal, but it is evident that these people experience widely contrasting educational and environmental conditions. The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of myopia in children with similar genetic backgrounds but who are exposed to contrasting environments. METHODS Unaided vision and refractive error was measured in 555 Tibetan children in Kathmandu and 270 Sherpa children in the Solu Khumbu region of Nepal. RESULTS There were marked differences in vision and the prevalence of myopia in the two groups. Ninety-two percent of the Sherpa children had Snellen vision of 20/22 (0.89) or better compared with 70% of the Tibetan children. The range of refractive errors was -6.50 to +7.00 D for the Tibetan children and -1.00 to +3.50 D for the Sherpa children. The Sherpa children had a prevalence of myopia of 2.9% compared with 21.7% for the Tibetan children. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of myopia in Sherpa children is low and their rural lifestyle appears to be relatively unstressed. Tibetan children have a higher prevalence of myopia and more rigorous schooling. We did not establish a causal relationship between myopia and the type of schooling, or the environment in general, but we did demonstrate that a simple, rural lifestyle is at least compatible with a virtual absence of myopia.
Evaluation of Predictive Factors in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease after Pancreaticoduodenectomy

Patients who undergo pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) are at risk of steatosis because resection of the pancreatic head causes pancreatic exocrine and endocrine insufficiency. We investigated the clinicopathological features and the risk factors of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) after PD. This was a retrospective study of 100 patients who underwent PD between April 2007 and December 2012 in our institution. Preoperative demographic and clinical data, surgical procedures, pathological diagnosis, postoperative course findings, and complication details were collected prospectively. The patients were divided into the following two groups: Group A consisted of 12 patients who developed postoperative NAFLD, and Group B consisted of 88 patients who did not develop postoperative NAFLD. Pancreatic carcinoma and pancreatic texture showed similar findings. Additionally, we found that blood loss significantly correlated with the incidence of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis after PD. In multivariate analysis, only blood loss was identified as the most influential risk factor for NAFLD (hazard ratio, 1.0001; P = 0.016). Blood loss was identified as an independent risk factor for the development of NAFLD after PD. Further prospective studies are needed to identify factors that put patients at risk for NAFLD after PD. Continuing efforts should be made to improve patient outcomes and understand the pathogenesis of postpancreatectomy NASH.
Cross-hemispheric dopamine projections have functional significance

Significance Decades of research have described dopamine’s importance in reward-seeking behavior and motor control. Although numerous investigations have focused on dopamine’s mechanisms in modulating behavior, the long-standing belief that dopamine neurons project solely unilaterally has limited the exploration of interhemispheric dopamine signaling. Here we resolve disparate descriptions of unilateral vs. bilateral projections by reporting that dopamine neurons can release dopamine in the contralateral hemisphere. Using voltammetry in awake and anesthetized rats, we reveal an unprecedented synchrony of dopamine fluctuations between hemispheres. Via stimulation with amphetamine, we demonstrate functional cross-hemispheric projections in a hemiparkinsonian model. This previously undescribed capacity for interhemispheric dopamine signaling can precipitate new areas of inquiry. Future work may exploit properties of bilateral dopamine release to improve treatments for Parkinson’s disease, including deep brain stimulation. Dopamine signaling occurs on a subsecond timescale, and its dysregulation is implicated in pathologies ranging from drug addiction to Parkinson’s disease. Anatomic evidence suggests that some dopamine neurons have cross-hemispheric projections, but the significance of these projections is unknown. Here we report unprecedented interhemispheric communication in the midbrain dopamine system of awake and anesthetized rats. In the anesthetized rats, optogenetic and electrical stimulation of dopamine cells elicited physiologically relevant dopamine release in the contralateral striatum. Contralateral release differed between the dorsal and ventral striatum owing to differential regulation by D2-like receptors. In the freely moving animals, simultaneous bilateral measurements revealed that dopamine release synchronizes between hemispheres and intact, contralateral projections can release dopamine in the midbrain of 6-hydroxydopamine–lesioned rats. These experiments are the first, to our knowledge, to show cross-hemispheric synchronicity in dopamine signaling and support a functional role for contralateral projections. In addition, our data reveal that psychostimulants, such as amphetamine, promote the coupling of dopamine transients between hemispheres.
Principle Component Analysis of Factors Determining Voter Abstention in South Eastern Nigeria

Voter turnout is the springboard of election as an election is to democracy and it is a major yardstick to measure democratic performance. Since 2003, the Nigerian democracy has been underperforming and in the recent election, the South Eastern region of the country has witnessed a sharp increase in voter abstention. This study investigates the underlying factors responsible for the increasing level of voter abstention in South Eastern Nigeria. The exercise engaged an extensive literature review, a questionnaire survey, descriptive analysis aided result interpretations, and thus, it identified twenty factors summarized into eight factors using Principal Component Analysis (a statistical procedure that uses an orthogonal transformation to convert a set of observations of possibly correlated variables into a set of values of linearly uncorrelated variables) that influence voter abstention in the region. Hence, the examination finds that socioeconomic status, social trust and weak institutional framework, unemployment, registration challenges and demographic factor, corruption and inadequate security, deception and intimidation, social connection and poverty influence voter abstention in the region. The study notes that the increasing level of voter abstention could impact negatively on the Nigerian democracy and contends that economic hardship, governance failure, and weak electoral institutions characterized by malpractices in the electoral process disenfranchises many citizens from exercising their right to vote.
Arginine Methylation of Yeast mRNA-binding Protein Npl3 Directly Affects Its Function, Nuclear Export, and Intranuclear Protein Interactions*

Arginine methylation can affect both nucleocytoplasmic transport and protein-protein interactions of RNA-binding proteins. These effects are seen in cells that lack the yeast hnRNP methyltransferase (HMT1), raising the question of whether effects on specific proteins are direct or indirect. The presence of multiple arginines in individual methylated proteins also raises the question of whether overall methylation or methylation of a subset of arginines affects protein function. We have used the yeast mRNA-binding protein Npl3 to address these questions in vivo. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform mass spectrometry was used to identify 17 methylated arginines in Npl3 purified from yeast: whereas 10 Arg-Gly-Gly (RGG) tripeptides were exclusively dimethylated, variable levels of methylation were found for 5 RGG and 2 RG motif arginines. We constructed a set of Npl3 proteins in which subsets of the RGG arginines were mutated to lysine. Expression of these mutant proteins as the sole form of Npl3 specifically affected growth of a strain that requires Hmt1. Although decreased growth generally correlated with increased numbers of Arg-to-Lys mutations, lysine substitutions in the N terminus of the RGG domain showed more severe effects. Npl3 with all 15 RGG arginines mutated to lysine exited the nucleus independent of Hmt1, indicating a direct effect of methylation on Npl3 transport. These mutations also resulted in a decreased, methylation-independent interaction of Npl3 with transcription elongation factor Tho2 and inhibited Npl3 self-association. These results support a model in which arginine methylation facilitates Npl3 export directly by weakening contacts with nuclear proteins.
Emergency medicine animal research: does use of randomization and blinding affect the results?

OBJECTIVES It has been shown that human clinical trials that lack randomization (RND) or blinding (BLD) often overestimate the magnitude of treatment effects. However, no studies have evaluated the effect of RND and BLD on animal research. The authors' objectives were to determine the proportion of animal studies presented at a national academic emergency medicine meeting that utilize randomization, blinding, or both; and to determine whether failure to employ these techniques changes the likelihood of observing a difference between treatment groups. METHODS Two trained researchers reviewed abstracts presented at the 1997-2001 Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) annual meetings using a standard data collection sheet. Studies that used an animal or cell line, compared two or more study groups, and measured an effect caused by the intervention or drugs were included. Studies were classified as randomized (RND+) if any part of the experiment involved random assignment of subjects to treatment groups, blinded (BLD+) if any assessment of the outcome was made by an investigator blinded to treatment group, and outcome-positive (Outcome+) if any difference between the study groups met the author's definition of significant. Following the initial review, differences in classification were resolved by consensus. The association between outcome and study methodology (RND, BLD or both) was measured using odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). RESULTS A total of 2,592 studies were published as abstracts. Three hundred eighty-nine were animal studies, and 290 of these studies had two or more study groups. RND- and BLD- studies were more likely to be Outcome+ than RND+ or BLD+ studies (OR = 3.4; 95% CI = 1.7 to 6.9 and OR = 3.2; 95% CI = 1.3 to 7.7, respectively). When studies that used both RND and BND were compared with studies that used neither, the OR for a positive study was 5.2 (95% CI = 2.0 to 13.5). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that animal studies that do not utilize RND and BLD are more likely to report a difference between study groups than studies that employ these methods.
EXTRACTION OF FLAVONOIDS FROM BUCHANANIA LANZAN SPRENG. SEEDS BY SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION AND DETERMINATION OF THEIR ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY

Objective: The purpose of the study is to optimize supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) conditions for the flavonoids from the seeds of Buchanania lanzan Spreng. followed by quantitative determination of the antioxidant ability of the supercritical fluid (SCF) extract. Methods: The conditions optimized for supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) were temperature, pressure, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) flow rate and co-solvent percentage. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was used to determine the flavonoid content at each condition for optimization. Chromatographic conditions were mobile phase–Methanol: Acetonitrile: Orthophosphoric acid: Acetic acid: Water (200:100:10:10:200 v/v), flow rate–1 ml/min, column–Kromasil C18, 250 x 4.6 mm and detection was done in PDA range. Quantitative estimation of polyphenols was done spectrophotometrically. In vitro antioxidant ability of the extract was checked using free radical scavenging activity by 1, 1–Diphenyl–2–picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and ferric reducing power (FRAP) assay. Results: The optimum supercritical fluid extraction conditions were temperature 35 °C, pressure 19.61 MPa, carbon dioxide flow rate 3 ml/min and co-solvent 5.66 %. The extraction yield obtained was 20.50±0.47 %. The polyphenolic content was 52.14±0.7 mg Gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g extract. EC 50 value for free radical scavenging activity was 124.58±1.6 µg/ml, and ferric reducing capacity was 456.06±5.61 µg/ml. Conclusion: Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) technique could be used as an alternative technique for obtaining the maximum yield of flavonoids from the seeds of Buchanania lanzan . The results showed that the supercritical fluid (SCF) extracts exhibited good antioxidant activity which could be due to the presence of polyphenols and flavonoids