Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intranasal dopamine application increases dopaminergic activity in the neostriatum and nucleus accumbens and enhances motor activity in the open field

Dopamine (DA) plays an important role in a number of behavioral processes and neurological disorders. The intranasal administration of DA provides improved brain penetrability in comparison to systemic administration. We investigated the effects of intranasal administration of DA on the activity of dopaminergic neurons of the mesostriatal and mesolimbic systems and on motor activity. Rats previously implanted with guide‐cannulae in the neostriatum (NS) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) were submitted to microdialysis procedure under urethane anesthesia. Vehicle or DA (0.03, 0.3, or 3.0 mg/kg) was administered bilaterally into the nostrils. In a separate study, animals received an intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of vehicle or DA (0.03, 0.3, 3.0, or 30.0 mg/kg). Samples were collected every 10 min and analyzed for the content of DA and metabolites using high‐performance liquid chromatography. For the open field study, rats were given intranasal vehicle or DA (0.03, 0.3, or 3.0 mg/kg) and placed into the field for 30 min. Motor activity (locomotion and rearing) and grooming were analyzed in blocks of 10 min using Ethovision. Intranasal DA (3.0 mg/kg) significantly increased DA levels in the NS and NAc immediately after administration. A comparable effect was obtained only after i.p. administration of 30 mg/kg DA. In the open field, the 3.0 mg/kg dose significantly decreased grooming behavior in the second 10 min interval and significantly increased locomotor activity in the third 10 min interval. The data indicate that intranasal administration of DA can influence dopaminergic functions and motor activity, and has a potential application in the therapy of diseases affecting the dopaminergic system. Synapse 62:176–184, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A narrative systematic review of factors affecting diabetes prevention in primary care settings

Background Type 2 diabetes is impacting millions of people globally; however, many future cases can be prevented through lifestyle changes and interventions. Primary care is an important setting for diabetes prevention, for at-risk populations, because it is a patient’s primary point of contact with the health care system and professionals can provide lifestyle counselling and support, as well as monitoring health outcomes. These are all essential elements for diabetes prevention for at-risk adults. Aim To understand the factors related to the delivery and uptake of type 2 diabetes prevention interventions within primary care in higher income countries. Methods For this narrative systematic review, we combined qualitative and quantitative studies of diabetes prevention within a primary care setting for patients at-risk of developing the condition. We used an iterative approach for evidence collection, which included using several databases (MEDLINE, Embase, Pysch info, BNI, SSCI, CINAHL, ASSIA), where we combined diabetes terms with primary care terms. Narrative and thematic synthesis were utilised to identify the prominent themes emerging from the data. Results A database of 6646 records was screened by the research team, and 18 papers were included. Three major themes were identified in this review. The first theme of context and setting of diabetes progression includes the risk and progression of diabetes, primary care as a setting, and where the responsibility for change is thought to lie. This review also found mixed views on the value of preventative services within primary care. The second theme focused on the various patient factors associated with diabetes prevention such as a patient’s motivation to modify their current lifestyle, perceptions and knowledge (or lack thereof) of the impacts of diabetes, lack of follow-up in healthcare settings, and trust in healthcare professionals. The third theme was centred on professional factors impacting on diabetes prevention which included workload, time constraints, resources, self-efficacy and knowledge as well as professionals’ perception of patient motivations towards change. Conclusion This review explored the factors influencing diabetes prevention in primary care, and identified the context of prevention, as well as patient and professional factors related to preventative services being offered in primary care. This systematic review complements previous reviews of real-world settings by exploring the significant factors in prevention, and the findings are relevant to academics, policymakers, patients and practitioners interested in understanding the factors associated with the delivery and uptake of diabetes prevention interventions.
Structure Effect of Cylindrical-Shaped GeSbTe Alloy on Phase Transition in Phase Change Memory

Novel chalcogenide-based phase change memories (PCMs) are known as one of next-generation non-volatile memory technologies for its high resistance contrast, better endurance and high writing speed. PCM cell stores data by a thermally induced phase transition between crystalline to amorphous states, and thus understanding of temperature distributes within a cell and determining the programming current of phase transition are crucial in design and technology of PCM. In this study, a three-dimensional electro-thermal time-domain simulation is conducted for dynamic analysis of the cylindrical-shaped PCMs. The structure GST is a cone with different cone angle, ranging from 90deg to 45deg. The relation between contact size of nanoscale GeSbTe (GST) alloy and the required programming current for phase transition is advanced. The preliminary result shows that the GST structure with a 90deg angle exhibits the smallest required programming current, the fastest phase transition characteristic, the highest resistance contrast, and the best heat utilization efficiency. This study quantitatively estimates the structure effect on phase transition of PCM and physically provides an insight into design and technology of PCMs.
I/St Mice Hypersusceptible to Mycobacterium tuberculosis Are Resistant to M. avium

ABSTRACT We previously demonstrated that mice of the I/St strain are extremely susceptible to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as well as to the taxonomically distant intracellular bacteria Chlamydia pneumoniae and Salmonella enterica. To broaden our knowledge about the control of susceptibility to intracellular pathogens, we studied the infection caused by Mycobacterium avium virulent strain 724 in a panel of inbred mouse strains and found that I/St mice are resistant to M. avium. By comparing I/St mice with B6 mice, we demonstrated that (i) B6 mice are much more susceptible to infection caused by M. avium in terms of bacterial multiplication in the lung tissue and severity of lung pathology; (ii) in B6 mice but not in I/St mice infection leads to prolonged leukocyte infiltration of the lung tissue, development of necrotic lung granulomata, and lethality; and (iii) the unfavorable infectious course in B6 mice is accompanied by elevated production of gamma interferon, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and especially interleukin-12 in the lungs. Importantly, M. avium-resistant I/St mice carry a functional r allele of the Slc11a1 (formerly Nramp1) gene, while B6 mice have the Slc11a1s genotype. Segregation genetic analysis of (I/St × B6) F2 hybrids demonstrated that susceptibility or resistance to infection caused by M. avium largely depended upon the Slc11a1 genotype and that other genetic traits had a relatively weak influence. This close-to-monogenic pattern differs sharply from the host control of many other intracellular bacterial infections, for which the involvement of numerous quantitative trait loci has been ubiquitously observed.
Access to exercise referral schemes -- a population based analysis.

BACKGROUND Sedentary behaviour is a public health priority in many countries. Hundreds of community-based exercise referral schemes have been established in Europe and USA, to increase physical activity. Experimental evidence questions the effectiveness of these schemes. No previous evaluations have considered a population approach nor provide detailed information on the types of people accessing these schemes. This is of concern given increasing health inequalities in other areas of care. Our register-based study quantified the numbers and characteristics of patients referred and accessing a district-wide exercise referral scheme. The analysis considers the effectiveness of these schemes to a geographically defined population. METHODS Data were collected prospectively from a patient register for referrals made to a district-wide exercise referral scheme in north-west England. Analysis examined referral rates and the influence of practitioner and patient characteristics on access to the scheme. RESULTS Over 5 years, 6,610 adults were referred from 125 general practices, with 60.8 per cent female and a mean age of 51.3 years (SD 12.6). This represents 4 per cent of the adult sedentary population in that district. The most common reason for referral was musculoskeletal or cardiovascular risk. Overall, 79 per cent attended at least the first appointment, with statistically significant predictors by age and reason for referral. Those referred for 'fitness' or 'mental health' were most likely to attend. Patients in the youngest and oldest age groups were least likely to attend. Patient's sex and deprivation and the number of patients referred by each general practice did not influence attendance. CONCLUSIONS Primary-care patients seem to view the concept of exercise referral schemes positively but practitioners remain reluctant to refer many of their sedentary patients. There is doubt that exercise referral schemes like this will influence population levels of sedentary behaviour, when considered alongside their impact on physical activity in the longer term.
SUBRETINAL ENDOPHOTOCOAGULATION: A New Model of Subretinal Neovascularization in the Rabbit

The disciform response of age-related macular degeneration and other diseases is determined by the development of subretinal neovascularization (SRN). Experimental animal models of SRN based on disruption of Bruch's membrane have been studied extensively during the past decade. Argon laser photocoagulationinduced SRN in primates is one such model, but this is associated with extensive retinal damage. Because the injured retina could be angiogenic, and is not present in clinical SRN, this model might be more relevant if this factor could be eliminated. The current study was conducted with the primary aim of producing a rabbit model of SRN that minimizes retinal damage. Argon laser endophotocoagulation was applied beneath the retina of albino rabbits to achieve this goal. Although argon photocoagulation does not cause clinically apparent SRN (i.e., associated with leaking and pooling of fluorescein) in the rabbit, all laser lesions produced in the current study contained microscopic SRN. A rabbit SRN model would be highly desirable as a step toward, other animal models, perhaps involving nonhuman primates, which might ultimately be clinically more relevant.
The in vitro cultivation of Oesophagostomum radiatum, the nodular worm of cattle. I. Development in vitamin-supplemented and nonsupplemented media.

Diamond and Douvres (1960, 1962) described a cell-free medium in which Hyostrongylus rubidus and Oesophagostomum quadrispinulatum (0. longicaudum) developed, free of microbial associates, from infective larvae to fourth molt and fourth-stage, respectively, after 42 days. The present study reports the results of attempts to cultivate Oesophagostomum radiatum in five modifications of this medium. Preliminary results were published previously (Douvres, 1960a, b).
MECHANISM EXPERIMENTS FOR CRIME POLICY

Randomized controlled trials are increasingly used to evaluate policies, including in the area of crime policy. How can we make these experiments as useful as possible for policy purposes? We argue greater use should be made of experiments that identify behavioral mechanisms that are central to clearly specified policy questions, what we call “mechanism experiments. ” These types of experiments can be of great policy value even if the intervention that is tested (or its setting) does not correspond exactly to any realistic policy option. JEL: C93 Forthcoming in Lessons From the Economics of Crime: What Reduces Offending? (edited by Philip J. Cook, Stephen Machin, Oliver Marie, and Giovanni Mastrubuoni), Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. This work is based on Jens Ludwig’s keynote address at the CES ifo Venice Summer Institute workshop on the economics of crime, and draws heavily from: Jens Ludwig, Jeffrey R. Kling and Sendhil Mullainathan, Summer 2011, “Mechanism experiments and policy evaluations,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 25(3): 17-38. For excellent research assistance we thank Laura Brinkman and Michael Reddy. We thank Nava Ashraf, David Autor, Iwan Barankay, Jon Baron, Howard Bloom, Lorenzo Casaburi, Philip Cook, Stefano DellaVigna, John DiNardo, Elbert Huang, Chad Jones, Lawrence Katz, Supreet Kaur, John List, Stephan Meier, David Moore, Steve Pischke, Harold Pollack, Dina Pomeranz, David Reiley, Frank Schilbach, Robert Solow, Tim Taylor and conference participants at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, the American Economic Association, the America Latina Crime and Policy Network, and the CES ifo Venice Summer Institute for comments. For financial support we thank the Russell Sage Foundation (through a visiting scholar award to Ludwig). Any errors and all opinions are our own. The views expressed here are those of the authors, and should not be interpreted as those of the Congressional Budget Office.
Heparanase expression in malignant salivary gland tumors inversely correlates with long-term survival.

BACKGROUND Upregulation of the endo-beta-D-glucuronidase, heparanase, was noted in an increasing number of human malignancies. Heparanase expression correlated with enhanced local and distant metastatic spread, increased vascular density, and reduced postoperative survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS We analyzed heparanase expression in 60 patients (aged 59 +/- 17 years) with malignant salivary tumors (39 males and 21 females) using immunohistochemistry. We applied antiheparanase antibody 733, which has previously been shown to preferentially recognize a 50-kDa active heparanase subunit over a 65-kDa latent enzyme. Thus, immunostaining can directly be correlated with enzymatic activity. RESULTS Heparanase staining was positive (> 0) in 70% of tumors (42 of 60 patients) and was negative (0) in the remaining 30% (18 patients). The cumulative survival of patients diagnosed as heparanase-negative (n = 18) at 300 months was 70% (95% confidence interval = 35-88). In contrast, the cumulative survival of patients diagnosed as heparanase-positive (n = 42) at 300 months was 0% (statistically significant difference, P = .035). CONCLUSIONS Heparanase expression levels inversely correlate with the survival rates of salivary gland cancer patients, clearly indicating that heparanase is a reliable prognostic factor for this malignancy and an attractive target for anticancer drug development.
Association of Mild and Severely Unstable α Chain Variants: The First Observation of a Compound Heterozygote with Hb Setif [α94(G1)Asp→Tyr (α2)] and Hb Agrinio [α29(B10)Leu→Pro (α2)] in a Greek Family

Hb Setif is a relatively rare, mildly unstable α2-globin hemoglobin (Hb) variant first described in an Algerian family, and subsequently in various populations of the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. Hb Agrinio is a highly unstable variant, classified as a nondeletional α-thalassemia (α-thal) mutation, which, to date, has only been described in Greece and Cyprus. We report here the clinical and hematological findings in a case of Greek origin, who, following DNA analysis, was characterized with the unusual interaction of the Hb Setif α2-globin gene variant at codon 94 variant, in trans to Hb Agrinio, an α2-globin gene variant at codon 29. The compound heterozygote proband had only mild anemia with no transfusion requirements and with normal growth and development. We also report the laboratory findings in members of his family, highlighting diagnostic difficulties in the absence of molecular analysis.
Instantaneous parameter estimation in cardiovascular time series by harmonic and time-frequency analysis

Time-frequency distributions, such as smoothed pseudo Wigner-Ville distribution (SPWVD) and complex demodulation (CDM) provide useful time-varying spectral parameter estimators. However, each of these methods has limitations that a joint utilization could largely reduce, due to their interesting complementary features. The aim of this paper is to validate the joint SPWVD-CDM method on synthetic and real cardiovascular time series with normal and reduced variability such as in autonomic blockade or autonomic deficiency. We propose two indexes related to the noise present in the signal and to the dispersion of the power spectrum in order to validate instantaneous parameter estimation. In the low-frequency band, the interpretation of the instantaneous frequency and phase of cardiovascular time-series should be discarded in many real-life situations. Conversely, in the high frequency band, under paced breathing, the reliability of the instantaneous parameters is demonstrated even in conditions of reduced cardiovascular variability.
Exposure to the Chinese famine in early life and depression in adulthood

Abstract We aimed to investigate whether exposure to the Chinese famine (1959–1961) in early life was associated with depression in adulthood. We included 17,505 participants from the China health and retirement longitudinal study (CHARLS). Participants were classified into indirect and direct exposure groups. And the directly exposure groups including prenatal, childhood, adolescence/adult exposure groups. Depression was diagnosed by Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale-10 (CES-D) score. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to calculate the odd ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of depression. In women, prenatal, childhood, adolescence/adult exposure groups had higher depression risk than indirect exposure group (OR = 1.46, 1.40, and 1.67, respectively). However, there was no significant association between famine exposure and depression among men. Exposure to famine during prenatal (OR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.07–2.06), childhood (OR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.13–1.91), and adolescence/adult (OR: 1.63; 95% CI: 1.24–2.15) period were associated with depression among subjects living in rural, but not those living in urban. Exposure to the Chinese famine in early life had sex and area-specific associations with depression.
Conserved regulatory element involved in the early onset of Hoxb6 gene expression

We have identified a 338 bp DNA fragment, the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) enhancer, that is highly conserved between mouse and human. The LPM enhancer directs gene expression into the posterior lateral plate mesoderm and hindgut endoderm at early stages of development. By reporter gene analysis in transgenic mice, we demonstrate that both mouse and human DNA sequences possess similar enhancer activity. The expression patterns of the transgene and Hoxb6 during early stages of mouse development are identical, suggesting that the LPM enhancer is involved in the initial activation of Hoxb6 gene expression in posterior regions of mammalian embryos. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Energy-Efficient Optimal Power Allocation for Fading Cognitive Radio Channels: Ergodic Capacity, Outage Capacity, and Minimum-Rate Capacity

Green communications is an inevitable trend for future communication network design, especially for a cognitive radio network. Power allocation strategies are of crucial importance for green cognitive radio networks. However, energy-efficient power allocation strategies in green cognitive radio networks have not been fully studied. Energy efficiency maximization problems are analyzed in delay-insensitive cognitive radio, delay-sensitive cognitive radio, and simultaneously delay-insensitive and delay-sensitive cognitive radio, where a secondary user coexists with a primary user and the channels are fading. Using fractional programming and convex optimization techniques, energy-efficient optimal power allocation strategies are proposed subject to constraints on the average interference power, along with the peak/average transmit power. It is shown that the secondary user can achieve energy efficiency gains under the average transmit power constraint, in contrast to the peak transmit power constraint. Simulation results show that the fading of the channel between the primary user transmitter and the secondary user receiver and the fading of the channel between the secondary user transmitter and the primary user receiver are favorable to the secondary user with respect to the energy efficiency maximization of the secondary user, whereas the fading of the channel between the secondary user transmitter and the secondary user receiver is unfavorable to the secondary user.
Process Grammar as a Tool for Business Process Design

The space of design alternatives for a business process is typically very large, with technology, location, and other factors combining to generate seemingly endless possibilities. This paper introduces a set of artifacts that support process designers in their efforts to manage this critical business problem: (1) a grammar-based method to generate and manage business process design alternatives and (2) a software prototype that provides support for the use of this method. The method and prototype software are demonstrated with a grammar for a sales process. The method improves on existing approaches by offering the generative power of grammar-based methods while addressing the principal challenge to using such approaches in the design of business processes: the limitations on automated evaluation of alternatives and thus the need to provide designers with tools to manage the potentially overwhelming array of choices generated by design grammars.
An orthogonal matching pursuit based algorithm for identification of a class of closed-loop systems

This paper considers the identification problem of a class of closed-loop systems with large time-delays. Both the control plant and the feedback controller are required to be identified. The threshold orthogonal matching pursuit (TH-OMP) algorithm is applied to identify the closed-loop system indirectly. The identification contains two steps. The first is to identify the orders, time delays and the plant parameters using the TH-OMP algorithm. The second step is to identify the parameters of the feedback controller. The proposed method requires only a small number of sampling data. A simulation example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.