Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Racial differences in anticholinergic use among community-dwelling elders.

OBJECTIVE Few studies have examined racial differences in potentially inappropriate medication use. The objective of this study was to examine racial disparities in using prescription and/or nonprescription anticholinergics, a type of potentially inappropriate medication, over time. DESIGN Longitudinal. SETTING Data from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study (years 1, 5, and 10). PARTICIPANTS Three thousand fifty-five community-dwelling older adults, both blacks and whites, at year 1. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Highly anticholinergic medication use per the 2012 American Geriatrics Society Updated Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults. RESULTS Blacks represented 41.4% of the participants at year 1. At year 1, 13.4% of blacks used an anticholinergic medication compared with 17.8% of whites, and this difference persisted over the ensuing 10-year period. Diphenhydramine was the most common anticholinergic medication reported at baseline and year 5, and meclizine at year 10, for both races. Controlling for demographics, health status, and access to care factors, blacks were 24% to 45% less likely to use any anticholinergics compared with whites over the years considered (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The use of prescription and/or nonprescription anticholinergic medications was less common in older blacks than whites over a 10-year period, and the difference was unexplained by demographics, health status, and access to care.
Effect of Hemodialysis on the Dispersion of the QTc Interval

The QTc dispersion reflects the underlying regional heterogeneity of the recovery of the ventricular excitability, thereby it is considered as a novel marker of risk of ventricular arrhythmias. Because a higher incidence of ventricular arrhythmias is described during and after hemodialysis, the aim of this study has been to evaluate the QTc dispersion before and after uncomplicated hemodialysis session. Twenty chronic uremics without heart failure, ischemic heart disease or dialysis hypotension were selected. The QTc dispersion was determined as the difference between the longer and the shorter QTc interval measured on a 12-lead electrocardiogram. Following the hemodialysis session, the QTc dispersion increased from 30 ± 9 to 54 ± 17 ms (p < 0.001) associated with the expected reduction of potassium and magnesium and with the increase of extracellular calcium concentration. However, no correlation has been observed between the QTc dispersion increase and the degree of the intradialytic changes of plasma electrolytes, blood pressure or body weight. In summary, the hemodialysis treatment per se does induce an increase of the QTc dispersion, likely due to the rapid changes of electrolyte plasma concentrations. This can potentially contribute to the arrhythmogenic effect of the hemodialysis procedure, reflecting an enhanced regional heterogeneity of ventricular repolarization. The clinical importance of the increase of QTc dispersion as risk factor of ventricular arrhythmias, particularly in hemodialyzed patients suffering from ischemic or hypertrophic heart diseases, should be the matter of further investigations.
Residual vein thrombosis for assessing duration of anticoagulation after unprovoked deep vein thrombosis of the lower limbs: The extended DACUS study

The safest duration of anticoagulation after idiopathic deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is unknown. We conducted a prospective study to assess the optimal duration of vitamin K antagonist (VKA) therapy considering the risk of recurrence of thrombosis according to residual vein thrombosis (RVT). Patients with a first unprovoked DVT were evaluated for the presence of RVT after 3 months of VKA administration; those without RVT suspended VKA, while those with RVT continued oral anticoagulation for up to 2 years. Recurrent thrombosis and/or bleeding events were recorded during treatment (RVT group) and 1 year after VKA withdrawal (both groups). Among 409 patients evaluated for unprovoked DVT, 33.2% (136 of 409 patients) did not have RVT and VKA was stopped. The remaining 273 (66.8%) patients with RVT received anticoagulants for an additional 21 months; during this period of treatment, recurrent venous thromboembolism and major bleeding occurred in 4.7% and 1.1% of patients, respectively. After VKA suspension, the rates of recurrent thrombotic events were 1.4% and 10.4% in the no‐RVT and RVT groups, respectively (relative risk = 7.4; 95% confidence interval = 4.9–9.9). These results indicate that in patients without RVT, a short period of treatment with a VKA is sufficient; in those with persistent RVT, treatment extended to 2 years substantially reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk of recurrent thrombosis. Am. J. Hematol. 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
MATING SYSTEM AND ASYMMETRIC HYBRIDIZATION IN A MIXED STAND OF EUROPEAN OAKS

The sessile (Quercus petraea [Matt.] Liebl.) and pedunculate (Quercus robur L.) oaks are two closely related species having a wide sympatric distribution over Europe. Under natural conditions, they frequently form mixed forests, where hybridization is suspected to occur. In this paper, two different approaches have been applied to the study of the mating system and the interspecific gene flow in a mixed stand formed by the two species. The mating systems of both species have been studied separately by means of the mixed‐mating model. The relative contribution of the parental species to the progenies have been estimated with two different methods. The first uses the admixture model. The second is an extension of the mixed‐mating model and subdivides the outcrossing rate into intra‐ and interspecific components. The two species were almost completely outcrossing. This high level of outcrossing and interspecific gene flow could play an important role in the maintenance of the genetic diversity in these long‐lived forest tree species. The contribution of the sessile oak to the pedunculate oak progenies varied from 17% to 48%. In contrast, ovules of sessile oak trees appear to be preferentially fertilized by other extreme sessile genotypes. We suggest that interspecific and directional gene flow was responsible for such patterns. Pedunculate oak is considered as a pioneer species and is progressively replaced by sessile oak. Our present findings add a further genetic component to this succession scheme, suggesting that unidirectional gene flow reinforces succession between the two species.
A Survey on Selective Forwarding Attack in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Network(WSN) is being emerged as a prevailing technology in future due to its wide range of applications in military and civilian domains. These networks are easily prone to security attacks, since once deployed these networks are unattended and unprotected. Some of the inherent features like limited battery and low memory makes sensor networks infeasible to use conventional security solutions, which needs complex computations and high memory. There are lot of attacks on these networks which can be classified as routing attacks and data traffic attacks. Some of the data attacks in sensor nodes are wormhole, black hole and selective forwarding attack. In a black hole attack, compromised node drops all the packets forwarding through it. A special case of black hole attack is selective forwarding attack, where compromised node drops packets selectively, which may deteriorate the network efficiency. In this paper, we discussed about selective forwarding attack and some of the mitigation schemes to defend this attack.
Piracy in the high trees: ectomycorrhizal fungi from an aerial ‘canopy soil’ microhabitat

The mantle of dead organic material (“canopy soil”) associated with the mats of vascular and nonvascular epiphytes found on the branches of trees in the temperate rainforests along the southwestern coast of the South Island of New Zealand were examined for evidence of ectomycorrhizal fungi. DNA sequencing and cluster analysis were used to identify the taxa of fungi present in 74 root tips collected from the canopy soil microhabitat of three old growth Nothofagus menziesii trees in the South West New Zealand World Heritage Area. A diverse assemblage of ectomycorrhizal fungi was found to infect an extensive network of adventitious canopy roots of Nothofagus menziesii in this forest, including 14 phylotypes from nine genera of putative ectomycorrhizal fungi. Seven of the genera identified previously were known to form ectomycorrhizas with terrestrial roots of Nothofagus: Cortinarius, Russula, Cenococcum, Thelephora/Tomentella, Lactarius and Laccaria; two, Clavulina and Leotia, previously have not been reported forming ectomycorrhizas with Nothofagus. Canopy ectomycorrhizas provide an unexpected means for increased host nutrition that may have functional significance in some forest ecosystems. Presumably, canopy ectomycorrhizas on host adventitious roots circumvent the tree-ground-soil nutrient cycle by accessing a wider range of nutrients directly in the canopy than would be possible for non-mycorrhizal or arbuscular mycorrhizal canopy roots. In this system, both host and epiphytes would seem to be in competition for the same pool of nutrients in canopy soil.
CORTICOTROPIN RELEASING FACTOR SIGNALING IN COLON AND ILEUM : REGULATION BY STRESS AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

The biochemical coding of the stress response has been unraveled in the past decades through the identification of a 41amino acid peptide, corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), and its related peptides, urocortin 1 (Ucn 1), Ucn 2 and Ucn 3. CRF and urocortins exert their biological actions by interacting with CRF1 and CRF2 receptors, encoded by two distinct genes (1-3). In particular, CRF plays a crucial role in the stress-related stimulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis through activation of pituitary CRF1 receptor and, in association with urocortins, acts as a neuromodulator to coordinate the behavioral, autonomic, and visceral efferent limbs of the stress response (1-4). The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is particularly sensitive to stress. Convergent preclinical evidence has accumulated over the years suggesting that stress-related alterations of GI functions, particularly at the colonic level, are primarily mediated by the activation of brain CRF/CRF1 signaling (2, 5). However, recent studies point to an equally important contribution of the peripheral CRF signaling locally expressed in the gut to the GI stress response (6-11). In addition, there is increasing experimental and clinical evidence that the induction and progression of inflammatory and functional intestinal disorders are influenced by CRF signaling pathways (12-14). Among the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), share many clinical features, but also important differences, such as disease location and histological features (13). CD is a chronic transmural inflammatory disease affecting the terminal ileum and the colon, which is associated with frequent attacks of diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and fever, while UC affects primarily the distal colon. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a highly prevalent functional GI disorder affecting predominantly the colon which is mainly characterized by abdominal pain and discomfort in association with altered bowel habits in the absence of any structural abnormalities (15). Despite differences in their etiologies (16, 17), stress represents a common risk factor in the pathogenesis of IBS and IBD (14, 18, 19). In this review, we will summarize evidence in support of a major role for peripheral CRF signaling in the GI stress response in both humans and rodents, with a special emphasis on the colon and the ileum, and we will discuss the relevance of these preclinical findings in relation with components of stress-related impact on IBS and IBD.
Relatedness and social organization of coypus in the Argentinean pampas

Behavioural and trapping studies of the social organization of coypus have suggested the occurrence of kin groups and a polygynous mating system. We used 16 microsatellite markers to analyse parentage and relatedness relationships in two populations (Jáuregui and Villa Ruiz) in the Argentinean Pampas. At Jáuregui, a dominant male monopolized most paternities, leading to a high variance in reproductive success between males and a high level of polygyny. At Villa Ruiz, variance in reproductive success was low among resident males and males were the fathers of zero to four offspring each. For females, no significant differences were found. Two different social groups in each study site were used to assess genetic relatedness within and between groups. These groups were neighbouring at Jáuregui but not at Villa Ruiz. At Villa Ruiz, coypus were significantly more related within than between groups, suggesting that behavioural groups were also genetic ones, and adult females were more related within than between groups, as should be expected for kin groups. This relationship was not found at Jáuregui. Our results provide support to previous studies based on behavioural and trapping data, which indicate that coypus form social groups and have a polygynous mating system. However, we found differences in social organization between the two populations. This is the first study to determine parentage and/or relatedness in coypus.
Detection of kinetic trajectory in the wrist during fingers motions using high-frequency ultrasound

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), resulted from the compression of the median nerve traveling through the carpal tunnel of the hand, is commonly leading to intermittent numbness and pain of the finger. The diagnosis of CTS is usually performed by physical or nerve electricity examinations, and which still has significant false negative rate. To improve on the diagnostic technique, an attempt was carried out to image a local anatomical structure of the wrist using high-frequency ultrasound and to detect the kinetic trajectory of the median nerve following fingers motions. A 32 MHz ultrasound imaging system was employed on each right wrist of 14 healthy volunteer. Ultrasonic radio-frequency signals and images were collected corresponding to fingers movements from extension (0°) to flexion (90°) with an increment of 5°. The kinetic trajectory of the median nerve was detected by correlation coefficient-based motion tracking technique. To better improve the analysis efficiency of motion tracking, the tracking calculation was amenable to rapid execution on the current generation of graphics processor units. High-frequency ultrasound images could provide adequate resolution to readily discern the median nerve in the wrist. The median nerve moves toward to palmar and ulnar direction as the finger flex. The averaged resultant displacements for male and female were 3.74 and 2.04, respective, as the flexuous angle was 90°. The resultant displacements of median nerve for males were significant larger than those for females as the flexuous angles were larger than 35°. The tendency of resultant displacement of the median nerve is exponential rise in the ulna-palmar direction corresponding to the movement of fingers form 0° to 90°. This study has verified that the kinetic trajectory of median nerve may be useful as baseline data for future studies of the motion analysis on the CTS.
Dissociation of spikes, synaptic activity, and activity-dependent increments in rat cerebellar blood flow by tonic synaptic inhibition

Functional neuroimaging relies on the robust coupling between neuronal activity, metabolism and cerebral blood flow (CBF) to map the brain, but the physiological basis of the neuroimaging signals is still not well understood. Here we applied a pharmacological approach to separate spiking activity, synaptic activity, and the accompanying changes in CBF in rat cerebellar cortex. We report that tonic synaptic inhibition achieved by topical application of γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) (muscimol) or GABAB (baclofen) receptor agonists abolished or reduced spontaneous Purkinje cell spiking activity without affecting basal CBF. The magnitude of CBF responses evoked by climbing fiber stimulation decreased gradually over time after exposure to muscimol, being more pronounced in the superficial than in the deep cortical layers. We provide direct evidence in favor of a laminar-specific regulation of CBF in deep cortical layers, independent of dilatation of surface vessels. With prolonged exposure to muscimol, activity-dependent CBF increments disappeared, despite preserved cerebrovascular reactivity to adenosine and preserved local field potentials (LFP). This dissociation of CBF and LFPs suggests that CBF responses are independent of extracellular synaptic currents that generate LFPs. Our work implies that neuronal and vascular signals evoked by glutamatergic pathways are sensitive to synaptic inhibition, and that local mechanisms independent of transmembrane synaptic currents adjust flow to synaptic activity in distinct cortical layers. Our results provide fundamental insights into the functional regulation of blood flow, showing important interference of GABAA receptors in translating excitatory input into blood flow responses.
Early development of the oligodendrocyte in the embryonic chick metencephalon

It has been demonstrated that the spinal cord oligodendrocytes in the vertebrates arise in the ventral ventricular zone adjacent to the floor plate in their early development. Because of the similarities of basic structures in the spinal cord and metencephalon, it is probable that the mode of early oligodendrocyte development in the metencephalon is the same as that in the spinal cord. We examined this possibility in chick embryos, using monoclonal antibodies O1 and O4, markers for oligodendrocyte lineage. An O4‐positive (O4+) cell focus was observed in the medial ventricular zone of E5 chick ventral metencephalon (the earliest stage examined), adjacent to the floor plate. At E6, O4+ cells were dispersed from the medial to the lateral pons and, at E7, to the cerebellar anlagen. O4+ cells in the E6 brainstem and in the E7 cerebellum were unipolar in shape, whereas one day later, some of the labeled cells were multipolar with a few thin processes. O1 + oligodendrocytes first appeared at E8 in the ventromedial part of the pons and were distributed throughout the pons at E10 and in the cerebellum at E12. Explants from three subdivisions of the metencephalon (medial and lateral pons, and cerebellum) from E5 to E8 chick embryos were separately cultured to confirm the potential for generation of oligodendrocyte lineage. O4+ cells appeared in the culture of the E5 medial pons (the earliest stage examined), in the E6 lateral pons, and in the E7 cerebellum. In addition, E7 was the youngest stage from which cerebellar explants were able to generate O1+ oligodendrocytes. Our results clearly demonstrated the in vivo morphology of oligodendrocyte precursors in the metencephalon and their developmental appearance in a ventral‐to‐dorsal manner. From the bipolar morphology of O4+ cells and the spacio‐temporal continuity of the dispersion, it is inferred that the initial dispersion of O4+ cells may involve oligodendrocyte migration from the focus of the medial pons to the lateral and dorsal parts of the metencephalon. J. Neurosci. Res. 48:212–225, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A bionic motion tracking model inspired by the eye of mantis shrimps

In this paper, we address the issue of tracking moving objects in the video sequence by a bionic system. In such a task, information collection and feature extraction are both the cores and difficulties which need to be of easy extraction and strong robustness to describe the object completely. We, inspired by the compound eye of mantis shrimps, analyze the special mechanism for motion tracking in the visual system and further proposed a bionic tracking model. This model creates and employs a type of superior feature. With this novel feature, the tracking task can be achieved simplifier and more efficient than current ones.
Study and analysis of zeta converter fed by solar photovoltaic system using PID controller

This paper presents State Space Average technique for fourth order DC-DC Zeta converter in continuous conduction mode. The system is implemented by a non-isolated Zeta converter for Step Up and step-down output voltage in open loop system and in close loop system by using PID controller. The input voltage to Zeta converter is fed by Solar Photovoltaic Array, which depends on the irradiance and temperature. The gate pulse to the IGBT is given after comparing the output of PID controller with Sawtooth waveform. The open loop system and closed loop system of Zeta converter are compared for the constant output voltage across the RL load. Both systems are simulated in MATLAB/Simulink and results are presented.
Parametric Dynamic Phasor Modeling of Thyristor-Controlled Rectifier Systems Including Harmonics for Various Operating Modes

A parametric dynamic phasor (PDP) model of diode rectifiers has been recently proposed, which uses a computer-aided approach to effectively represent the rectifier dynamics including ac-side harmonics that change with system conditions. This letter extends the PDP methodology to thyristor-controlled rectifier systems where the dc-link voltage is regulated via the thyristor firing control. Steady state and large-signal transient studies demonstrate that the new/extended model is accurate even for prediction of harmonics for various operating modes.
Feasibility, Acceptability, and Tolerability of Targeted Naltrexone for Nondependent Methamphetamine-Using and Binge-Drinking Men Who Have Sex with Men

Background:There are no effective pharmacologic strategies for nondependent methamphetamine (meth)-using and binge-drinking men who have sex with men (MSM) at high-risk for HIV. We sought to determine the feasibility of enrolling and retaining this population in a pharmacologic trial; the acceptability of pharmacotherapy study procedures; and the tolerability of targeted naltrexone versus placebo. Methods:Thirty meth-using and binge-drinking MSM were randomly assigned 1:1 to 50 mg naltrexone or placebo for 8 weeks for targeted administration (ie, during craving or in anticipation of meth or alcohol use). Substance use counseling and behavioral assessments were conducted every 2 weeks. Medication use was measured using WisePill dispensers. Results:Trial completion was 93%; visit completion rate was 95%. Mean weekly number of medication pills taken was 2.1 and was similar between arms. Participant satisfaction rate was 96%. There were neither serious adverse events nor differences in adverse event rates between arms. In exploratory intention-to-treat analyses, there were no differences in meth use and drinking. Naltrexone participants had greater reductions in serodiscordant receptive anal intercourse [incident rate ratio (IRR) = 0.15; 95% CI = 0.05 to 0.42] and serodiscordant condomless receptive anal intercourse (IRR = 0.11; 95% CI = 0.03 to 0.37), compared with placebo. In subgroup analyses among frequent meth users, naltrexone participants had greater reductions in meth-using days (IRR = 0.78; 95% CI = 0.62 to 0.99). In as-treated analyses, frequent study medication users in the naltrexone arm had greater reductions in binge drinking days (IRR = 0.72; 95% CI = 0.54 to 0.97). Conclusions:Targeted naltrexone is a feasible, acceptable, and tolerable intervention strategy for nondependent meth-using and binge-drinking MSM. Naltrexone was associated with significant sexual risk reductions; and for some individuals, naltrexone was associated with meth and binge-drinking reductions.