Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Isoflurane‐ and Halothane‐mediated Dilation of Distal Bronchi in the Rat Depends on the Epithelium

Background: Respiratory epithelium releases substance(s) that can modulate bronchoconstriction in response to constrictive agonists and enhance bronchodilation in response to certain bronchodilators. The hypothesis that the bronchodilatory effect of isoflurane and halothane depends on the epithelium was tested in rat distal bronchial segments. Methods: Wistar rat bronchial segments of the fourth order (diameter approximately 100 micro meter) were dissected. After preconstriction with 5‐hydroxytryptamine, each bronchial segment was exposed to increasing concentrations of 0% to 3% isoflurane or 0% to 3% halothane under four conditions: after epithelial rubbing, after pretreatment with the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG ‐nitro‐L‐arginine, after pretreatment with the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin, or with no preintervention (control). Changes in bronchial diameter were monitored using an in vitro video detection system. Results: Both isoflurane and halothane produced concentration‐dependent bronchodilation (P < 0.001 for either anesthetic; 40% +/‐ 11% [mean +/‐ SD] dilation for 3% isoflurane and 57% +/‐ 10% dilation for 3% halothane). For both anesthetics, bronchodilation was significantly but incompletely attenuated by epithelial rubbing (12% +/‐ 7% dilation for 3% isoflurane [P < 0.01] and 31% +/‐ 10% dilation for 3% halothane [P < 0.01]), by pretreatment with indomethacin (20% +/‐ 8% dilation for 3% isoflurane [P < 0.02] and 21% +/‐ 9% dilation for 3% halothane [P < 0.001]), or by L‐NNA (9% +/‐ 7% dilation for 3% isoflurane [P < 0.005] and 39% +/‐ 12% dilation for 3% halothane [P < 0.05]). Epithelial rubbing did not impair nitroprusside‐associated bronchodilation. Conclusions: Isoflurane‐ and halothane‐mediated bronchodilation depends at least partially on the epithelium and may involve both a prostanoid and nitric oxide in distal rat bronchi.
"I Am Nobody": A Case Study of Suicidal Dynamics in Pedophilia

We describe a patient at acute suicide risk. His Rorschach protocol was analyzed using Exner's Comprehensive System and a number of psychoanalytic scales. The results pointed at a predominance of borderline defenses, identification with abusers and victims, symbiotic and violent interpersonal relations, self-fragmentation, and intertwined dynamics of suicide and pedophilia. Traumata internalization led to negative body experience, re-staging of the struggle with abusers in relation to his body, feelings of being infested by the trauma, and ruthless self-attacks. His suicide dynamics consist of blurred self-other boundaries, ecdytic fantasies, trauma internalization, and an attempt to exterminate a bad object through self-destruction.
Laparoscopy in Liver Transplantation: The Future has Arrived

In the last two decades, laparoscopy has revolutionized the field of surgery. Many procedures previously performed with an open access are now routinely carried out with the laparoscopic approach. Several advantages are associated with laparoscopic surgery compared to open procedures: reduced pain due to smaller incisions and hemorrhaging, shorter hospital length of stay, and a lower incidence of wound infections. Liver transplantation (LT) brought a radical change in life expectancy of patients with hepatic end-stage disease. Today, LT represents the standard of care for more than fifty hepatic pathologies, with excellent results in terms of survival. Surely, with laparoscopy and LT being one of the most continuously evolving challenges in medicine, their recent combination has represented an astonishing scientific progress. The intent of the present paper is to underline the current role of diagnostic and therapeutic laparoscopy in patients waiting for LT, in the living donor LT and in LT recipients.
Activation of Ca(2+)-dependent K+ current by acetylcholine and histamine in a human gastric epithelial cell line

The effects of acetylcholine (ACh) and histamine (His) on the membrane potential and current were examined in JR-1 cells, a mucin-producing epithelial cell line derived from human gastric signet ring cell carcinoma. The tight-seal, whole cell clamp technique was used. The resting membrane potential, the input resistance, and the capacitance of the cells were approximately -12 mV, 1.4 G ohms, and 50 pF, respectively. Under the voltage-clamp condition, no voltage-dependent currents were evoked. ACh or His added to the bathing solution hyperpolarized the membrane by activating a time- and voltage- independent K+ current. The ACh-induced hyperpolarization and K+ current persisted, while the His response desensitized quickly (< 1 min). These effects of ACh and His were mediated predominantly by m3- muscarinic and H1-His receptors, respectively. The K+ current induced by ACh and His was inhibited by charybdotoxin, suggesting that it is a Ca(2+)-activated K+ channel current (IK.Ca). The measurement of intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) using Indo-1 revealed that both agents increased [Ca2+]i with similar time courses as they increased IK.Ca. When EGTA in the pipette solution was increased from 0.15 to 10 mM, the induction of IK.Ca by ACh and His was abolished. Thus, both ACh and His activate IK.Ca by increasing [Ca2+]i in JR-1 cells. In the Ca(2+)-free bathing solution (0.15 mM EGTA in the pipette), ACh evoked IK.Ca transiently. Addition of Ca2+ (1.8 mM) to the bath immediately restored the sustained IK.Ca. These results suggest that the ACh response is due to at least two different mechanisms; i.e., the Ca2+ release-related initial transient activation and the Ca2+ influx-related sustained activation of IK.Ca. Probably because of desensitization, the Ca2+ influx-related component of the His response could not be identified. Intracellularly applied inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3), with and without inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate (IP4), mimicked the ACh response. IP4 alone did not affect the membrane current. Under the steady effect of IP3 or IP3 plus IP4, neither ACh nor His further evoked IK.Ca. Intracellular application of heparin or of the monoclonal antibody against the IP3 receptor, mAb18A10, inhibited the ACh and His responses in a concentration-dependent fashion. Neomycin, a phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor, also inhibited the agonist-induced response in a concentration-dependent fashion. Although neither pertussis toxin (PTX) nor N-ethylmaleimide affected the ACh or His activation of IK,Ca, GDP beta S attenuated and GTP gamma S enhanced the agonist response. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Face tracking in color video sequences

This paper presents a new extension of the KLT (Kanade--Lucas--Tomasi) face tracker, which is robust against loss of tracked points. Stochastic skin-color model is used for face segmentation in the frames contained in a video sequence. Ellipse-fitting is used for selection of the face candidates because of the elliptical face shape. The proposed method achieved real-time performance. The results seem very promising.
Opsonized Virulent Brucella abortus Replicates within Nonacidic, Endoplasmic Reticulum-Negative, LAMP-1-Positive Phagosomes in Human Monocytes

ABSTRACT Cells in the Brucella spp. are intracellular pathogens that survive and replicate within host monocytes. Brucella maintains persistent infections in animals despite the production of high levels of anti-Brucella-specific antibodies. To determine the effect of antibody opsonization on the ability of Brucella to establish itself within monocytes, the intracellular trafficking of virulent Brucella abortus 2308 and attenuated hfq and bacA mutants was followed in the human monocytic cell line THP-1. Early trafficking events of B. abortus 2308-containing phagosomes (BCP) were indistinguishable from those seen for control particles (heat-killed B. abortus 2308, live Escherichia coli HB101, or latex beads). All phagosomes transiently communicated the early-endosomal compartment and rapidly matured into LAMP-1+, cathepsin D+, and acidic phagosomes. By 2 h postinfection, however, the number of cathepsin D+ BCP was significantly lower for live B. abortus 2308-infected cells than for either Brucella mutant strains or control particles. B. abortus 2308 persisted within these cathepsin D−, LAMP-1+, and acidic vesicles; however, at the onset of intracellular replication, the numbers of acidic B. abortus 2308 BCP decreased while remaining cathepsin D− and LAMP-1+. In contrast to B. abortus 2308, the isogenic hfq and bacA mutants remained in acidic, LAMP-1+ phagosomes and failed to initiate intracellular replication. Notably, markers specific for the host endoplasmic reticulum were absent from the BCPs throughout the course of the infection. Thus, opsonized B. abortus in human monocytes survives within phagosomes that remain in the endosomal pathway and replication of virulent B. abortus 2308 within these vesicles corresponds with an increase in intraphagosomal pH.
Cramer-Rao bounds for the estimation of multipath parameters and mobiles' positions in asynchronous DS-CDMA systems

Commercial applications for the location of subscribers of wireless services continue to expand. Consequently, finding the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB), which serves as an optimality criterion for the location estimation problem, is of interest. In this paper, we derive the deterministic CRLBs for the estimation of the specular multipath parameters and the positions of the mobiles in an asynchronous direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) system operating over specular multipath fading channels. We assume a multilateral radio location system where the location estimates are obtained from some or all of the estimated signal parameters at different clusters of antennas of arbitrary geometry. Extension for unilateral and composite radio location techniques is also discussed. As an application example, we use numerical simulations to investigate the effects of specular multipath and multiple access interference (MAI) on the positioning accuracy for different radio location techniques.
Optimal queue scheduling for hybrid cognitive radio maintaining maximum average service rate under delay constraints

As a promising technique of improving the attainable bandwidth efficiency, cognitive radio (CR) has attracted substantial attention from both the academic and industrial communities. In order to improve the performance of the secondary user (SU), a novel hybrid CR system is introduced, which combines the conventional interweave and underlay paradigms for enhancing the chances of the SU to access the spectrum. Queuing theory is invoked in this paper for analysing the impact of the primary user's (PU) delay tolerance on the performance of the SU. Multiple queues are assumed for the SU engaging in video communication. Besides the Poisson traffic generation, we model a Rayleigh fading channel as a Poisson service process with the aid of the outage probability in the presence of cochannel interferences. Two valuable goals are achieved, namely that of maximizing the average service rate and minimizing the overall average delay of the SU's multiple queues. As our numerical results demonstrate, the overall average delay of the SU becomes 27% and 34% lower than that of the Proportional as well as that of the Round-Robin schemes respectively.
Validation of a new concept: aptitudes of psychiatric nurses caring for depressed patients

Validation is vital for operationalising a new concept into a measurement instrument. The measurement of human attributes is usually done with questionnaire items in ordered categories. Our objective was to validate a questionnaire capable of measuring, at the ordinal level, the aptitude of psychiatric nurses caring for depressed patients. We used expert panels, experimentation, categorical principal component analysis, and parametric and non-parametric item response theory to develop such a questionnaire and assess its validity. Expert panels delineated five aspects and 29 components of aptitude and formulated 32 items. Four consecutive exploratory experiments were performed to gauge and calibrate the items and their response categories into a semantic frame of reference and a socio-cultural and job context of nurses. This resulted in a questionnaire comprising three aspects of aptitude. Fourteen questionnaire items with a different number of response categories assessed aptitude. Appropriate techniques shed light onto how nurses understand and respond to items in the questionnaire. Before it can be reliably used in a different context, the questionnaire needs to be re-evaluated for validity. Moreover, validity needs to be re-established for translated versions. In conclusion, validation is a process. Understanding that the scope and limitations of a questionnaire develop as it is being used requires validity to be re-established at each step of development.
Objective and Subjective Evaluation of Floor Impact Noise

Floor impact noise has been evaluated by investigating the temporal and spectral characteristics of the noise. The noises generated by different impactors were analyzed to find out whether there is any correlation with the factors of ACF/IACF (Autocorrelation Function/Inter-aural Cross-correlation Function) [1] and Zwicker parameters [2]. Experiments were undertaken to compare the objective and subjective parameters of the floor impact noises generated by a bang/tapping machine, a rubber ball [3], and a walker. As a result, it was found that Φ(0) and IACC extracted from ACF/IACF, and Loudness, Unbiased Annoyance from Zwicker parameters showed high correlation with subjective evaluations of loudness concerning floor impact noises. In addition, it was revealed that jumping is similar to the ball.
Medline search engine for finding genetic markers with biological significance

MOTIVATION Genome-wide high density SNP association studies are expected to identify various SNP alleles associated with different complex disorders. Understanding the biological significance of these SNP alleles in the context of existing literature is a major challenge since existing search engines are not designed to search literature for SNPs or other genetic markers. The literature mining of gene and protein functions has received significant attention and effort while similar work on genetic markers and their related diseases is still in its infancy. Our goal is to develop a web-based tool that facilitates the mining of Medline literature related to genetic studies and gene/protein function studies. Our solution consists of four main function modules for (1) identification of different types of genetic markers or genetic variations in Medline records (2) distinguishing positive versus negative linkage or association between genetic markers and diseases (3) integrating marker genomic location data from different databases to enable the retrieval of Medline records related to markers in the same linkage disequilibrium region (4) and a web interface called MarkerInfoFinder to search, display, sort and download Medline citation results. Tests using published data suggest MarkerInfoFinder can significantly increase the efficiency of finding genetic disorders and their underlying molecular mechanisms. The functions we developed will also be used to build a knowledge base for genetic markers and diseases. AVAILABILITY The MarkerInfoFinder is publicly available at: http://brainarray.mbni. med.umich. edu/brainarray/datamining/MarkerInfoFinder.
Comment évaluer la discrimination à l'embauche ?

[fre] Une etude d'audit par couples est une experience controlee sur le marche du travail. Elle rend compte d'un acces a l'emploi differencie des differents groupes demographiques composant la population active. Des couples de candidats presentant des caracteristiques productives similaires postulent aux memes emplois vacants. Seule leur appartenance respective a l'un des groupes demographiques les distingue. Le but de l'etude est d'examiner si l'un des groupes est plus frequemment recrute. Cette methodologie presente deux interets majeurs : elle met en evidence des inegalites des l'embauche, donc en amont des discriminations salariales, jusque-la privilegiees dans les travaux econometriques. En outre, la procedure de collecte des donnees permet de controler les caracteristiques productives des candidats et la frequence selon laquelle ils postulent aux memes emplois. Sa mise en œuvre doit toutefois suivre plusieurs principes, sous peine de fournir des resultats biaises. Alors que les etudes econometriques standard concluent a l'absence de discrimination salariale significative a l'encontre des groupes demographiques minoritaires, les etudes d'audit par couples mettent en avant une discriminationa l'embauche. [eng] Any pair audit study is a controled experience on labor market. The aim of those studies is to underline the difference in job-access among different demographic groups within the working population. The methodology is as follows : pairs of candidates apply for the very same vacant jobs. Their productive abilities are all alike but they belong to distinctive demographic groups. The results show whether one group has an easier access to employement. The methodology applied here has two main advantages. First, it enables to highlight job inequalities as of hiring. We thus concentrate on a kind of inequality taking place before the wage ones, which are usually studied through econometric analyses. Second, the data collecting procedure enables to control for the productive caracteris- tics of the candidates as well as the frequency at which they apply for jobs. The implementation of the pair audit procedure has to abide by several principes to be unbiased. Standard econometric studies usually conclude to the non significance of the wage discrimination hypothesis. Pair audit studies conclude to hiring discrimination.
Age-Specific Differences Between Conventional and Ambulatory Daytime Blood Pressure Values

Mean daytime ambulatory blood pressure (BP) values are considered to be lower than conventional BP values, but data on this relation among younger individuals <50 years are scarce. Conventional and 24-hour ambulatory BP were measured in 9550 individuals not taking antihypertensive treatment from 13 population-based cohorts. We compared individual differences between daytime ambulatory and conventional BP according to 10-year age categories. Age-specific prevalences of white coat and masked hypertension were calculated. Among individuals aged 18 to 30, 30 to 40, and 40 to 50 years, mean daytime BP was significantly higher than the corresponding conventional BP (6.0, 5.2, and 4.7 mm Hg for systolic; 2.5, 2.7, and 1.7 mm Hg for diastolic BP; all P<0.0001). In individuals aged 60 to 70 and ≥70 years, conventional BP was significantly higher than daytime ambulatory BP (5.0 and 13.0 mm Hg for systolic; 2.0 and 4.2 mm Hg for diastolic BP; all P<0.0001). The prevalence of white coat hypertension exponentially increased from 2.2% to 19.5% from those aged 18 to 30 years to those aged ≥70 years, with little variation between men and women (8.0% versus 6.1%; P=0.0003). Masked hypertension was more prevalent among men (21.1% versus 11.4%; P<0.0001). The age-specific prevalences of masked hypertension were 18.2%, 27.3%, 27.8%, 20.1%, 13.6%, and 10.2% among men and 9.0%, 9.9%, 12.2%, 11.9%, 14.7%, and 12.1% among women. In conclusion, this large collaborative analysis showed that the relation between daytime ambulatory and conventional BP strongly varies by age. These findings may have implications for diagnosing hypertension and its subtypes in clinical practice.
Dynein/dynactin is necessary for anterograde transport of Mbp mRNA in oligodendrocytes and for myelination in vivo

Significance Oligodendrocytes in the brain insulate neuronal axons in layers of fatty myelin to facilitate fast electrical signaling. Myelin basic protein (MBP), an important myelin component, is transported as mRNA away from the cell body before being translated into protein. In zebrafish, the anterograde motor kinesin transports mbp mRNA away from the cell body. We now identify myelination defects in zebrafish caused by a mutation in the retrograde motor complex dynein/dynactin, which normally transports cargos back toward the cell body. However, this mutant displays defects in anterograde mbp mRNA transport. We confirm in mammalian oligodendrocyte cultures that drug inhibition of dynein arrests transport in both directions and decreases MBP protein levels. Thus, dynein/dynactin is paradoxically required for anterograde mbp mRNA transport. Oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system produce myelin, a lipid-rich, multilamellar sheath that surrounds axons and promotes the rapid propagation of action potentials. A critical component of myelin is myelin basic protein (MBP), expression of which requires anterograde mRNA transport followed by local translation at the developing myelin sheath. Although the anterograde motor kinesin KIF1B is involved in mbp mRNA transport in zebrafish, it is not entirely clear how mbp transport is regulated. From a forward genetic screen for myelination defects in zebrafish, we identified a mutation in actr10, which encodes the Arp11 subunit of dynactin, a critical activator of the retrograde motor dynein. Both the actr10 mutation and pharmacological dynein inhibition in zebrafish result in failure to properly distribute mbp mRNA in oligodendrocytes, indicating a paradoxical role for the retrograde dynein/dynactin complex in anterograde mbp mRNA transport. To address the molecular mechanism underlying this observation, we biochemically isolated reporter-tagged Mbp mRNA granules from primary cultured mammalian oligodendrocytes to show that they indeed associate with the retrograde motor complex. Next, we used live-cell imaging to show that acute pharmacological dynein inhibition quickly arrests Mbp mRNA transport in both directions. Chronic pharmacological dynein inhibition also abrogates Mbp mRNA distribution and dramatically decreases MBP protein levels. Thus, these cell culture and whole animal studies demonstrate a role for the retrograde dynein/dynactin motor complex in anterograde mbp mRNA transport and myelination in vivo.
Achillea schurii Flowers: Chemical, Antioxidant, and Antimicrobial Investigations

This study aims to evaluate the phenolic profile, and antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of Achillea schurii Sch. -Bip. , an endemic species from Romania that has not been investigated yet. The chromatographic profile of the phenolic components was obtained using the HPLC-MS method, while the total polyphenol, flavonoid, caffeic acid derivative contents were quantified using spectrophotometric methods. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using different methods: DPPH radical scavenging, hemoglobin ascorbate peroxidase activity inhibition (HAPX), inhibition of lipid peroxidation catalyzed by cytochrome c, and direct detection of plant-derived free radicals using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The antimicrobial test was performed using the disk diffusion assay. The phenolic profile has revealed high amounts of isoquercitrin, rutin, luteolin, and apigenin. The A. schurii extract exhibited a good antioxidant capacity, and high phenolic contents (76.93 mg/g polyphenols, 18.61 mg/g flavonoids and 41.48 mg/g caffeic acid derivatives, respectively). The antimicrobial tests reveal a remarkable inhibitory activity against Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella typhimurium. Considering the above, A. schurii may be deemed to offer good perspectives for pharmaceutical and industrial applications.