Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Preliminary Investigation of a Relapse Prevention Mobile Application to Maintain Smoking Abstinence Among Individuals With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

ABSTRACT Objectives: Smokers with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have increased difficulty achieving and maintaining abstinence. Contingency management approaches to smoking cessation interventions have demonstrated short-term efficacy but are limited by high rates of relapse. The goal of this pilot study was to evaluate the usability and feasibility of a smartphone-based smoking cessation application (Stay Quit Coach) designed to prevent relapse among individuals with PTSD. Methods: Smokers (N = 11) were randomized to (1) QUIT4EVER, an intervention combining mobile contingency management smoking cessation counseling and medications, and Stay Quit Coach or (2) a contact control condition that was identical to QUIT4EVER except Stay Quit Coach was not included. The primary outcome was prolonged smoking abstinence. Results: Among those queried during the follow-up periods, average Stay Quit Coach helpfulness ratings were high and ranged from 7.25 to 10 on a 10-point Likert scale (with higher scores corresponding to greater helpfulness). The Stay Quit Coach was rated by participants as being most effective at helping to quit smoking, helping to remain quit, and providing support and relevant information about quitting. Among the three quitters in the QUIT4EVER group, all reported abstinence at 3 and 6 months; however, abstinence was only bioverified for one quitter at 6 months. Among the four quitters in the contact control condition group, three reported abstinence at 3 and 6 months, but abstinence was not confirmed by bioverification. Conclusions: Smokers with PTSD express interest in and helpfulness of Stay Quit Coach for remaining abstinent after a quit attempt. Combined use of mobile contingency management and Stay Quit Coach is a feasible and acceptable adjunctive smoking cessation treatment for reducing smoking among smokers with PTSD. Adequately powered clinical trials are needed to demonstrate the long-term efficacy of this combined approach to smoking cessation. This study [Use of Technological Advances to Prevent Smoking Relapse among Smokers with PTSD (QUIT4EVER)] was registered on www.clinicaltrials.gov. clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01990079.
A Stepwise Psychotherapy Intervention for Reducing Risk in Coronary Artery Disease (SPIRR-CAD): Results of an Observer-Blinded, Multicenter, Randomized Trial in Depressed Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

Background Depression predicts adverse prognosis in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), but previous treatment trials yielded mixed results. We tested the hypothesis that stepwise psychotherapy improves depressive symptoms more than simple information. Methods In a multicenter trial, we randomized 570 CAD patients scoring higher than 7 on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-depression subscale to usual care plus either one information session (UC-IS) or stepwise psychotherapy (UC-PT). UC-PT patients received three individual psychotherapy sessions. Those still depressed were offered group psychotherapy (25 sessions). The primary outcome was changed in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-depression scores from baseline to 18 months. Preplanned subgroup analyses examined whether treatment responses differed by patients' sex and personality factors (Type D). Results The mean (standard deviation) depression scores declined from 10.4 (2.5) to 8.7 (4.1) at 18 months in UC-PT and from 10.4 (2.5) to 8.9 (3.9) in UC-IS (both p < .001). There was no significant group difference in change of depressive symptoms (group-by-time effect, p = .90). Preplanned subgroup analyses revealed no differences in treatment effects between men versus women (ptreatment-by-sex interaction = .799) but a significant treatment-by-Type D interaction on change in depressive symptoms (p = .026) with a trend for stronger improvement with UC-PT than UC-IS in Type D patients (n = 341, p = .057) and no such difference in improvement in patients without Type D (n = 227, p = .54). Conclusions Stepwise psychotherapy failed to improve depressive symptoms in CAD patients more than UC-IS. The intervention might be beneficial for depressed CAD patients with Type D personality. However, this finding requires further study. Trial Registration: www.clinicaltrials. gov NCT00705965; www.isrctn. com ISRCTN76240576.
Productive HIV-1 Infection of Primary CD4+ T Cells Induces Mitochondrial Membrane Permeabilization Leading to a Caspase-independent Cell Death*

We have explored in vitrothe mechanism by which human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1) induces cell death of primary CD4+ T cells in conditions of productive infection. Although HIV-1 infection primed phytohemagglutinin-activated CD4+ T cells for death induced by anti-CD95 antibody, T cell death was not prevented by a CD95-Fc decoy receptor, nor by decoy receptors of other members of the TNFR family (TNFR1/R2, TRAILR1/R2/OPG, TRAMP) or by various blocking antibodies, suggesting that triggering of death receptors by their cognate ligands is not involved in HIV-induced CD4 T cell death. HIV-1 induced CD4 T cell shrinkage, cell surface exposure of phosphatidylserine, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm), and mitochondrial release of cytochrome c and apoptosis-inducing factor. A typical apoptotic phenotype (nuclear chromatin condensation and fragmentation) only occurred in around half of the dying cells. Treatment with benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone, a broad spectrum caspase inhibitor, prevented nuclear chromatin condensation and fragmentation in HIV-infected CD4+ T cells and in a cell-free system (in which nuclei were incubated with cytoplasmic extracts from the HIV-infected CD4+ T cells). Nevertheless, benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone did not prevent mitochondrial membrane potential loss and cell death, suggesting that caspases are dispensable for HIV-mediated cell death. Our findings suggest a major role of the mitochondria in the process of CD4 T cell death induced by HIV, in which targeting of Bax to the mitochondria may be involved.
Amplitude controlled reflectarray using non-uniform FSS reflection plane

A novel concept using non-uniform frequency selective surface (FSS) backed as a reflection plane for amplitude controlled reflectarray is proposed. First, a modified square-loop FSS element with broad reflection response band (from −22dB to 0dB) is designed. Then, a non-uniform FSS using the modified square-loop element is backed as a reflection plane for reflectarray. By properly controlling each element size of the FSS, the reflection amplitude from the reflectarray element can be sufficiently controlled and amplitude controlled reflectarray can be realized. A reflectarray using Dolph-Tschebyscheff weighting coefficients is implemented and a major-lobe to sidelobe ratios of up to 22 dB is obtained.
A truncated form of the Pho80 cyclin of Saccharomyces cerevisiae induces expression of a small cytosolic factor which inhibits vacuole inheritance

Vacuoles project streams of vesicles and membranous tubules into the yeast bud where they fuse, founding the daughter cell organelle, vac5-1, which encodes a truncated form of the Pho80 cyclin, inhibits normal vacuole inheritance. An in vitro inheritance assay which measures the fusion of vacuoles serves as a model for several steps of this process. We find that cytosol isolated from the vac5-1 mutant is unable to promote the fusion of wild-type vacuoles in the in vitro assay. Wild-type vacuoles are irreversibly inactivated in a time- and temperature-dependent manner if preincubated with vac5-1 cytosol and ATP, suggesting the presence of a soluble inhibitory factor. When mixed with wild-type cytosol, vac5-1 cytosol inhibits the activity of wild-type cytosol. vac5-1 cytosol treated with trypsin or papain is still able to inhibit the activity of Aid-type cytosol. Partial fractionation of vac5-1 cytosol reveals that the protein traction (G25 void volume) can promote fusion if wild-type small molecules are included in the fusion reaction. In contrast, the vac5-l small-molecule fraction retains the full ability to inhibit fusion. Thus, the vac5-1 allele of PHO80 induces the synthesis of a small molecule that is an inhibitor of vacuole inheritance.
A Tissue Framework for Simulating the Effects of Gastric Electrical Stimulation and In Vivo Validation

Gastric pacing is used to modulate normal or abnormal gastric slow-wave activity for therapeutic purposes. New protocols are required that are optimized for motility outcomes and energy efficiency. A computational tissue model was developed, incorporating smooth muscle and interstitial cell of Cajal layers, to enable predictive simulations of slow-wave entrainment efficacy under different pacing frequencies. Concurrent experimental validation was performed via high-resolution entrainment mapping in a porcine model (bipolar pacing protocol: 2 mA amplitude; 400 ms pulsewidth; 17-s period; midcorpus). Entrained gastric slow-wave activity was found to be anisotropic (circular direction: 8.51 mmmiddots-1; longitudinal: 4.58 mmmiddots -1), and the simulation velocities were specified accordingly. Simulated and experimental slow-wave activities demonstrated satisfactory agreement, showing similar propagation patterns and frequencies (3.5-3.6 cycles per minute), and comparable zones of entrainment (ZOEs; 64 cm 2). The area of ZOE achieved was found to depend on the phase interactions between the native and entrained activities. This model allows the predictions of phase interactions between native and entrained activities, and will be useful for determining optimal frequencies for gastric pacing, including multichannel pacing studies. The model provides a framework for the development of more sophisticated predictive gastric pacing simulations in future.
Towards learning contact states during peg-in-hole assembly with a dual-arm robot

The use of dual arm robots for human like operations such as the peg-in-hole tasks can be facilitated by learning contact states during manipulation. In this paper, we propose a control scheme that includes the learning of contact states during operations. The approach includes the use of a Motoman SDA-20 dual-arm robot equipped with two three-fingered gripper and a force/torque sensing capability. A real operation using the assembly of an automotive starter motor is used as a case of study. Several patterns are generated and classified during the stages of the starter assembly. Three categories were considered during operations: moving both arms simultaneously and moving the right arm while keeping the left arm static and vice versa. Contact states were generated using the robot and learned by an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Fuzzy ARTMAP architecture. The output of the ANN has been envisaged to be a motion command to diminish the constrained forces while moving the arm in the assembly direction. Results during contact state classification have shown that manipulative forces can be recognized by the Neural Network Controller (NNC) so that a valid motion command can be issued to the arm robot favoring the assembly task.
Evaluation of the Use of a Virtual Patient on Student Competence and Confidence in Performing Simulated Clinic Visits

Objective. To assess the effect of incorporating virtual patient activities in a pharmacy skills lab on student competence and confidence when conducting real-time comprehensive clinic visits with mock patients. Methods. Students were randomly assigned to a control or intervention group. The control group completed the clinic visit prior to completing virtual patient activities. The intervention group completed the virtual patient activities prior to the clinic visit. Student proficiency was evaluated in the mock lab. All students completed additional exercises with the virtual patient and were subsequently assessed. Student impressions were assessed via a pre- and post-experience survey. Results. Student performance conducting clinic visits was higher in the intervention group compared to the control group. Overall student performance continued to improve in the subsequent module. There was no change in student confidence from pre- to post-experience. Student rating of the ease of use and realistic simulation of the virtual patient increased; however, student rating of the helpfulness of the virtual patient decreased. Despite student rating of the helpfulness of the virtual patient program, student performance improved. Conclusion. Virtual patient activities enhanced student performance during mock clinic visits. Students felt the virtual patient realistically simulated a real patient. Virtual patients may provide additional learning opportunities for students.
Relation between insulin kinetics and insulin sensitivity in pregnancy

Background Different time‐concentration profiles of plasma insulin following insulin modification of a frequently sampled intravenous glucose‐tolerance‐test (FSIVGTT) were observed in a study investigating maternal metabolism and fetal macrosomia. We aimed to investigate whether these differences were related to the volume of distribution of insulin, insulin clearance, or both.
Effects of nateglinide and glibenclamide on postprandial lipid and glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetes

Postprandial hyperlipemia and small, dense LDL particles are features of dyslipidemia in type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this study was (1) to determine whether the oral insulinotropic drugs, nateglinide and glibenclamide, can overcome the defect of insulin action to suppress the hepatic VLDL release after a meal and decrease the postprandial lipemia and (2) to evaluate the acute effect of postprandial hypertriglyceridemia on LDL particle size in subjects with type 2 diabetes.
Clinical Validation of Breast Cancer Biomarkers Using Tissue Microarray Technology

The results of previous studies done in our laboratory on breast cancer gene expression profile, using DNA microarrays, led to the discovery of several genes associated with breast cancer progression. Further evaluation of these genes and their involvement at various stages of cancer progression required performance of immunohistochemistry on thousands of different tissue blocks. Tissue microarray (TMA) technology facilitates rapid translation of DNA microarrays results to clinical specimens by using immunohistochemical analysis of protein expression. DNA microarray analysis done in our laboratory showed a significantly higher expression of prostatic-specific antigen (PSA) in invasive ductal carcinomas as compared to ductal carcinoma in situ, a finding contrary to the previously published data for PSA immunoreactivity in breast carcinomas. To find out whether TMA strategy could be used to explore the expression of the candidate genes involved in the breast cancer progression, we constructed a breast cancer progression TMA. It consisted of 2 normal ductal epithelium, 8 ductal carcinoma in situ, 19 invasive ductal carcinomas, and 3 metastatic ductal carcinomas of breast in triplets. Two prostatic adenocarcinomas and 2 normal colons were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. We first used well-documented and well-tested markers, such as antibodies to estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and p53. Results of these 3 antibodies were according to the previously published data. To validate our result, we then used antibody to PSA and looked for the expression of this protein on breast cancer progression TMA. Except for the 2 positive controls all 98 cores were found to be negative for PSA expression highlighting the importance of validation studies for DNA microarray results.
Cross-Reactivity of TNP Immune Effector T Cells That Mediate Contact Hypersensitivity and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in the Mouse

Background: Experiments were aimed to test the cross-reactivity of immune Th1 cells that mediate contact hypersensitivity (CHS) or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to TNP in the mouse. Methods: CBA/J mice were immunized either epicutaneously or intrarectally with TNP and after appropriate time intervals were challenged with antigen in a crossed manner. The CHS reaction was measured by the ear swelling test. IBD was quantified by increase of colon weight and myeloperoxidase level. Both reactions were confirmed histologically. In passive-transfer experiments, mesenteric lymph node cells of animals sensitized intrarectally and peripheral lymph node and spleen cells of mice immunized epicutaneously were used. In some experiments, before being immunized mice were made either unresponsive to the TNP hapten by induction of suppressor T cells, or resistant to suppression after induction of upregulatory T cells. Results: Irrespective of the mode of sensitization upon appropriate challenge with antigen all mice developed a good CHS reaction as well as significant IBD. This cross-reactivity could be passively transferred by immune cells. In mice in which antigen-specific down- or upregulatory cells were induced before sensitization both CHS and IBD to TNP were modulated accordingly. Conclusion: TNP hapten deposited on skin or on mucosal surfaces induces effector cells that recognize antigen independent of its tissue localization, and produce a local inflammatory reaction. TNP-specific up- and downregulatory cells, shown before to regulate the CHS reaction, similarly modulate the generation and development of hapten-induced IBD.
Ca2+ Activation Kinetics of the Two Aspartate-Glutamate Mitochondrial Carriers, Aralar and Citrin

Ca2+ regulation of the Ca2+ binding mitochondrial carriers for aspartate/glutamate (AGCs) is provided by their N-terminal extensions, which face the intermembrane space. The two mammalian AGCs, aralar and citrin, are members of the malate-aspartate NADH shuttle. We report that their N-terminal extensions contain up to four pairs of EF-hand motifs plus a single vestigial EF-hand, and have no known homolog. Aralar and citrin contain one fully canonical EF-hand pair and aralar two additional half-pairs, in which a single EF-hand is predicted to bind Ca2+. Shuttle activity in brain or skeletal muscle mitochondria, which contain aralar as the major AGC, is activated by Ca2+ with S0.5 values of 280–350 nm; higher than those obtained in liver mitochondria (100–150 nm) that contain citrin as the major AGC. We have used aralar- and citrin-deficient mice to study the role of the two isoforms in heart, which expresses both AGCs. The S0.5 for Ca2+ activation of the shuttle in heart mitochondria is about 300 nm, and it remains essentially unchanged in citrin-deficient mice, although it undergoes a drastic reduction to about 100 nm in aralar-deficient mice. Therefore, aralar and citrin, when expressed as single isoforms in heart, confer differences in Ca2+ activation of shuttle activity, probably associated with their structural differences. In addition, the results reveal that the two AGCs fully account for shuttle activity in mouse heart mitochondria and that no other glutamate transporter can replace the AGCs in this pathway.
Studies in Neotropical paleobotany. XIII. An Oligo-Miocene palynoflora from Simojovel (Chiapas, Mexico).

A plant microfossil assemblage of 24 identified and five unknown pollen and spore types is reported from the early Miocene La Quinta Formation near Simojovel, Chiapas, Mexico. The taxa group into seven paleocommunities representing versions of the modern mangroves (Pelliciera, Rhizophora), swamp and lowland riparian forest (Ceratopteris, Crudia, Pachira), tropical rain forest (Selaginella, cf. Antrophyum, Pteris, Sphaeropteris/Trichipteris, cf. Aguiaria, Crudia, Guarea, Pachira), lower montane rain forest (Alfaroa/Oreomunnea, possibly Eugenia), evergreen cloud forest [Picea, Pinus, Podocarpus, Ericaceae (possibly Cavendishia/Vaccinium)], evergreen seasonal forest (Hymenaea, Ilex, possibly Eugenia), and tropical deciduous forest (Cedrela). Elements of arid and high-elevation habitats were absent or few, and northern temperate elements (Picea, Pinus? ) were few or rare. Paleoelevations are estimated at 1000-1200 m (present average 2000 m, maximum 3004 m), MAT (mean annual temperature) at least as warm as the present 24°C, and annual rainfall near the present ∼2500 mm but more evenly distributed. The La Quinta (Simojovel) and other Tertiary floras from the region reflect a trend toward higher altitudes, more seasonal rainfall, cooling tempertures, increased introduction of cool-temperate elements from the north after ∼15 Ma (million years), and increased introduction of tropical elements from the south after completion of the isthmian land bridge ∼3.5 Ma ago.
The Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Gene as a Possible Susceptibility Candidate for Alzheimer’s Disease in a Chinese Population

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a member of the neurotrophic factor family, may represent a candidate gene conferring susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This is because it has an important role in neuronal survival, and a decreased central level of BDNF is observed in AD. Some previous studies, though not all, have demonstrated that BDNF C270T polymorphisms might be associated with AD susceptibility. We examined the association of the C270T polymorphisms with sporadic AD in a Chinese cohort of 175 AD patients and 189 controls. We also tested BDNF Val66Met-C270T haplotypes for an interaction with the apolipoprotein E υ4 (APOE4) allele in AD. The results showed that the frequency of the 66Val allele was significantly lower in AD than controls (p = 0.031), but no significant difference in C270T allele or genotype frequencies was observed between AD cases and controls. Global case-control haplotype analysis showed that there is significant difference in haplotype distribution between both groups (p = 0.033). Stratification of the data according to the APOE status showed that in APOE4 allele bearers there was no significant difference in the frequency of haplotype 66Val-270C between AD and controls (p = 0.125), although there was a significant difference between the two groups in non-APOE4 carriers (p = 0.002). These results suggest that BDNF genetic variation may possibly affect the risk for AD, particularly in subjects who are negative for APOE4.
Regularized Random Walk Ranking for Co-Saliency Detection in images

Co-saliency detection refers to the computational process for identification of common but prominent and salient foreground regions in an image. However most of the co-saliency detection methods suffer from the following two limitations. First, co-saliency detection models largely generate superpixel level co-saliency maps that leads to sacrifice of significant information from the pixel level input images. Second, co-saliency detection frameworks mostly involve redesigned models for detection of co-salient objects in an image group, instead of utilization of the existing single image saliency detection models. To address these problems, we propose a novel framework, Co-saliency via Regularized Random Walk Ranking (CR2WR), which provides highly efficient pixel level co-saliency maps and utilizes existing saliency models on a single image to detect co-salient objects in an image sequence. This is achieved by: (1) Introducing Regularized random walk as the ranking function for a two-stage co-saliency detection framework. (2) Novel weighting function to incorporate more image information in graph construction and utilization of normalized Laplacian matrix for efficient cosaliency maps. (3) Generated saliency maps are fused further with high level priors namely, Location and Objectness priors, that enhances detection of co-salient regions. Suitably designed novel objective functions provide an enriched solution. The proposed model is evaluated on challenging benchmark co-saliency datasets. It is demonstrated that the proposed method outperforms prominent state-of-the-art methods in terms of efficiency and computational time.