Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mapping immediate‐early gene activity in the rat after place learning in a water‐maze: the importance of matched control conditions

The expression of two immediate‐early genes (IEGs), Zif268 and c‐Fos, was quantified in hippocampal subregions and related structures following spatial learning in the Morris water‐maze. A critical feature was the novel control protocol alongside more standard controls, the purpose of which was to test whether hippocampal activity is set automatically when traversing an environment or whether it is dependent on reaching a specific goal using learning that requires the hippocampus (i.e. task dependent). The new control protocol (Procedural Task) made it possible to match swim time, swim distance and learning to escape from water with that of the experimental (Working Memory) group. Unlike the Working Memory group, the Procedural Task animals showed no evidence of learning the absolute platform location during the test session. While the Working Memory rats showed c‐Fos increases relative to the Procedural Task controls in the frontal and parahippocampal cortices, hippocampal levels did not differ. Again, for Zif268 there was no evidence of a relative increase of hippocampal activity in the Working Memory group. In fact, hippocampal Zif268 showed evidence of a relative decrease, even though the spatial working memory task is hippocampal dependent. The study not only highlighted the shortcomings of other control procedures used in water‐maze studies (free‐swimming or home cage control), but also indicated that the expression of these IEGs in the hippocampus is not a direct predictor of explicit spatial location learning. Rather, the activity in combinations of regions, including prefrontal cortex, provides a stronger correlate of water‐maze learning.
The cost of mating rises nonlinearly with copulation frequency in a laboratory population of Drosophila melanogaster

Previous studies of Drosophila melanogaster have demonstrated a cost to females from male courtship and mating, but two critically important parameters remain unresolved: (i) the degree to which harm from multiple‐mating reduces lifetime fitness and (ii) how harm from mating might change with successive matings (rematings). Here we use ‘laboratory island analysis’ to quantify the costs that females incur with each remating, in the currency of lifetime fitness and under conditions that closely match those to which the flies have adapted for hundreds of generations. We experimentally manipulated the number of female matings by varying the order of daily 2‐h exposures of females to either sperm‐less males (XO) or intact males (XY). Females that mated more often had substantially reduced lifetime fecundity, and importantly, the fitness cost from remating rapidly accelerated.
Effects of Classroom Composition on the Development of Antisocial Behavior in Lower Secondary School

Early adolescence is a critical period during which classroom composition may affect behavioral development. This study investigated whether classmates’ levels of aggression and delinquency influenced individual antisocial behavior during the first year of secondary school. At this point, students had just transitioned to a new classroom peer environment. A short-term longitudinal design with four measurement points distributed across the school year was applied. Data were collected from the anonymous self-reports of 825 seventh graders. Longitudinal negative binomial multilevel analyses revealed that classmates’ antisocial behavior influenced pupils’ behavioral development (other peer influences were controlled). Furthermore, classroom behavioral heterogeneity moderated the peer effect regarding delinquency but not aggression.
Urinary clonidine suppression testing for the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma

Objective: The diagnosis of pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (PPGL) involves detection of elevated levels of plasma and/or 24-h urine catecholamines and/or their metabolites, including metanephrines. Although these tests are reasonably sensitive, false-positive results are often encountered. Follow-up tests can provide additional information to correctly diagnose PPGL. In this regard, the utility of the urinary clonidine suppression test (UCST) remains unknown. Methods: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of the UCST in confirming or excluding PPGL, we conducted a retrospective analysis of all patients who underwent a UCST between 2000 and 2013 (n = 59; 15 PPGLs) at a single centre. Twelve-hour urine catecholamines and metanephrines were assessed before and after clonidine administration, and examined in relation to final diagnosis, PPGL or non-PPGL. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were used to identify optimal positivity cut-offs. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were calculated. Results: Clonidine significantly decreased urine creatinine-corrected norepinephrine and normetanephrine in patients without PPGL (P < 0.001 pairwise) but not in patients with PPGL. Epinephrine and metanephrine levels were not significantly reduced in either group. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve was 0.955 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.906–1.000, P < 0.001] and 0.823 (95% CI 0.706–0.940, P < 0.001) for norepinephrine and normetanephrine, respectively. Optimal cut-offs were established at 50 and 15% reductions in norepinephrine and normetanephrine, respectively, which provided high sensitivities (93.3% for both) and negative predictive values (97.4 and 96.3%). When both were concordant, higher diagnostic accuracy was achieved (100% sensitivity, 92.0% specificity). Results were similar in subgroups of individuals with borderline initial testing (n = 40) or on interfering drugs (n = 25). Conclusion: The UCST appears to be a highly accurate test for PPGL. Further prospective studies are needed to validate these results before routine use is encouraged.
Linking research and practice to address domestic and sexual violence: lessons learned from a statewide conference with researchers and practitioners

Purpose – There is a growing emphasis on the need to integrate research and practice in the fields of domestic and sexual violence. However, additional research is needed to identify strategies for key stakeholders to use to bridge research and practice in these areas. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The current study analyzed qualitative data collected during a statewide conference for researchers and practitioners whose work addresses domestic and/or sexual violence. Findings – The findings provide information about building effective researcher-practitioner collaborations, developing methodologically sound studies that address practice-relevant research questions, and identifying steps that funders, state coalitions, researchers, and practitioners can take to advance the integration of research and practice. Research limitations/implications – Additional research is needed to evaluate specific approaches to better integrating research and practice related to domest.
TO MEDICATE OR NOT TO MEDICATE? Exchange, Identity, and Care in Everyday Household Medication Practices

iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Contemporary medication use: An overview 5 Lay perspectives 17 Caring for chronically ill children 23 The present research 36 CHAPTER TWO: METHOD 39 Theoretical perspective 39 Research design and methodology 43 The research setting and process 49 Scope of the research 55 Analysis 56 CHAPTER THREE: CONCEPTUALISING MEDICATIONS 59 Complexities in medication understandings 61 Medications as material objects 74 Socially embedded features of medications 81 Chapter discussion 88 CHAPTER FOUR: MEDICATIONS AND CARING 91 Medications in gift exchanges 93
Differential effects of Sendai virus infection on mediator synthesis by mesangial cells from two mouse strains.

BACKGROUND Recently, we observed that the severity of glomerulonephritis in an experimental model of immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) induced by Sendai virus differs between C57BL/6 and BALB/c mouse strains. The determinants of differing renal insufficiency are not understood. In the present study, we examine the capacity for mesangial cells to support Sendai viral replication and assess the direct effects of Sendai virus on the production of selected cytokines, chemokines, and eicosanoids by mesangial cells, comparing C57BL/6 to BALB/c mouse strains. METHODS Sendai virus replication was measured by viral plaque assay using LLCMK2 cells. Production of cytokines [interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)], chemokines (JE and KC), and eicosanoids [prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and thromboxane B2 (TxB2)] in culture medium was evaluated by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or competitive enzyme immunoassay (EIA) after 48 hours' incubation with infectious or inactivated Sendai virus. RESULTS Sendai virus replicates equally well in mesangial cells from both strains, and infection evokes increased IL-6, JE, KC, and PGE2 production in relation to viral dose. BALB/c mesangial cells produce significantly more IL-6 and JE than those from C57BL/6, and the dose response for KC is steeper in BALB/c mesangial cells than those from C57BL/6. Synthesis of PGE2 in BALB/c mesangial cells is higher than that of C57BL/6 mesangial cells, both under basal conditions and in response to infectious Sendai virus, again in a dose-dependent manner. There is no TNF-alpha or thromboxane response to viral stimulation. CONCLUSION We conclude that different mesangial cell responses to this common mucosal viral pathogen might influence the severity of IgAN in our model system.
Does nesting habitat predict hatch synchrony between brood parasitic brown‐headed cowbirds Molothrus ater and two host species?

Nestling brown-headed cowbirds Molothrus ater typically hatch earlier and grow faster than young of the many host species of this generalist obligate brood parasite. However, a cowbird chick also benefits from the presence of some host nest mates as the parasite is provisioned disproportionately more with increasing brood size. Since asynchronous hatching affects both cowbird and host nestlings' growth and survival, mechanisms that optimize the timing of egg-laying by female parasites should be prevalent. Several habitat features might facilitate optimal timing of parasitic egg-laying and we examined whether aspects of host nesting habitat predicted cowbird hatching synchrony. We tested whether synchronous nests were less concealed, closer to perches, and located in areas of higher host density than asynchronous nests using a broad-scale information theoretic approach. There was no support for these predictions regarding song sparrow (Melospiza melodia; n = 55) or yellow warbler (Dendroica petechia; n = 67) nests parasitized by brown-headed cowbirds at Mono Lake, USA. For example, the best statistical models for predicting hatching synchrony in yellow warbler nests included nesting-patch width and nest-substrate shrub species. However, these relationships were relatively weak: both synchronous and asynchronous nests were in patches with statistically indistinguishable widths and the two dominant shrub species at our site contained similar proportions of synchronous and asynchronous nests. We conclude that the variability of host nesting habitats does not contribute to a biologically consistent effect on hatching synchrony by this generalist brood parasite.
Family—School Collaboration and Positive Behavior Support

181 Positive behavior support (PBS) offers schools a structured approach to address children’s behavior from the individual level to the schoolwide level. Professionals are encouraged to include all relevant stakeholders, especially families, in actively planning, implementing, and evaluating the supports provided (Carr et al., 2002). However, successfully involving families in children’s education is a complex and often difficult task (e.g., Harry, Allen, & McLaughlin, 1995); PBS practitioners can expect family– school collaboration efforts to be similarly challenging. This article reviews some of those challenges briefly, then advocates for ways in which family–school collaboration efforts can complement PBS initiatives in schools.
Work‐family culture in academia: a gendered view of work‐family conflict and coping strategies

Purpose – The paper looks at the tensions and conflict between work and family life that arise from work intensification in higher education, in the particular context of Portuguese academe. Drawing on the concept of work‐family culture, the paper aims to discuss its influence on the level of work‐family conflict and the effectiveness of work‐family policies.Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted in a Portuguese university. Data were collected from 32 in‐depth interviews with faculty members from different backgrounds and affiliations.Findings – The preservation of traditional gender roles in the family as well as a work‐family culture that is largely family‐unfriendly helps to understand the tensions and conflict between academic work and family life. These tensions are mainly felt by women particularly mothers of dependent children. The data also suggest that work‐family policies are fruitless unless they are supported by a positive work‐family culture.Research limitations/implications – .
Motion robust rain detection and removal from videos

Weather such as rain and snow cause difficulties in processing the videos captured. Since the appearance of rain drops can affect the performance of human tracking and reduce the efficiency of video compression, detection and removal of rain is a challenging problem in outdoor surveillance systems. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm for rain detection, which is based on joint spatial and wavelet domain features. This approach is robust to the videos with moving objects in the rain. Experimental results demonstrated its better performance in comparison with the existing approaches in the subjective quality.
Stability of Anxiety and Depression in a National Sample of Adults With Human Immunodeficiency Virus

We examined the stability of anxiety and depression in a national sample of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) using data from the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study. We also investigated risk factors for developing new cases of anxiety and depression. Analyses were conducted using multiple logistic regressions to control for key demographic and clinical factors. Our results showed a general stability of these psychiatric conditions across 6 months, with no dramatic increase in new cases. Overall prevalence declined over time, but a subgroup of patients, particularly those with major depression, evidenced persistent psychopathology. Having a high baseline HIV symptom count and a growing number of HIV symptoms significantly increased the likelihood of anxiety and depression persisting to follow-up and of developing new such cases. Our findings indicate that living with HIV does not necessarily lead to increased psychiatric distress but that palliation of HIV symptoms is paramount to patients’ mental health.
PD-1/PD-L Blockade Prevents Anergy Induction and Enhances the Anti-Tumor Activities of Glycolipid-Activated Invariant NKT Cells1

Invariant NKT (iNKT) cells recognize glycolipid Ags, such as the marine sponge-derived glycosphingolipid α-galactosylceramide (αGalCer) presented by the CD1d protein. In vivo activation of iNKT cells with αGalCer results in robust cytokine production, followed by the acquisition of an anergic phenotype. Here we have investigated mechanisms responsible for the establishment of αGalCer-induced iNKT cell anergy. We found that αGalCer-activated iNKT cells rapidly up-regulated expression of the inhibitory costimulatory receptor programmed death (PD)-1 at their cell surface, and this increased expression was retained for at least one month. Blockade of the interaction between PD-1 and its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, at the time of αGalCer treatment prevented the induction iNKT cell anergy, but was unable to reverse established iNKT cell anergy. Consistently, injection of αGalCer into PD-1-deficient mice failed to induce iNKT cell anergy. However, blockade of the PD-1/PD-L pathway failed to prevent bacterial- or sulfatide-induced iNKT cell anergy, suggesting additional mechanisms of iNKT cell tolerance. Finally, we showed that blockade of PD-1/PD-L interactions enhanced the antimetastatic activities of αGalCer. Collectively, our findings reveal a critical role for the PD-1/PD-L costimulatory pathway in the αGalCer-mediated induction of iNKT cell anergy that can be targeted for the development of immunotherapies.
An evaluation of automatic phone segmentation for concatenative speech synthesis

This paper studies the performance of automatic phone segmentation from two viewpoints: temporal precision and the effect on the naturalness of synthetic speech. The absolute error of the phone onset time for the best 90% and worst 10% were 4.6 ms and 25.9 ms, respectively. These values are comparable to discrepancies among human labelers. As the result of perception tests in which naturalness was pair-compared between synthetic speeches generated from hand-segmented data and from auto-segmented data, it was found that the latter is statistically inferior.
Effects of Atorvastatin and l-Arginine Treatments on Electrical Field Stimulation-mediated Relaxations in Pulmonary Arterial Rings of Monocrotaline-Induced Pulmonary Hypertensive Rats

This study aimed to examine the effect of monocrotaline (MCT)-induced pulmonary hypertension on electrical field stimulation (EFS)-mediated relaxation in rings of rat main pulmonary artery and to see whether treatment with atorvastatin or l-arginine would prevent the action of MCT. Rats were killed 21 days after MCT injection (60 mg/kg), and the main pulmonary arteries were isolated. EFS (40 V, 0.2 milliseconds, 5 seconds, 10 Hz)-induced relaxations in vessels precontracted with phenylephrine (10−6 to 3 × 10−6 M) were abolished in MCT-injected group compared with control group. Treatment of MCT group with atorvastatin (10 mg/kg, orally) completely, whereas treatment with l-arginine (500 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) partially but significantly prevented the inhibition. Similarly, acetylcholine (10−9 to 3 × 10−5 M)-evoked relaxations that were markedly inhibited in MCT-group were also protected from inhibition after pretreatment with atorvastatin or l-arginine. Responses to endothelium-independent relaxants sodium nitroprusside (10−9 to 10−5 M), pinacidil (10−10 to 10−4 M), and papaverine (10−8 to 10−4 M) were unaltered in MCT-induced pulmonary hypertensive rats. The present findings suggest that MCT-induced pulmonary hypertension inhibits the EFS-mediated relaxation through suppression of endothelial NO production. Reversal of this inhibition by atorvastatin treatment presumably results from stimulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression. Relatively weak protection elicited by l-arginine might be secondary to impaired endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity caused by MCT-induced pulmonary hypertension.
Platelet rich plasma versus steroid on lateral epicondylitis: meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

ABSTRACT Objectives: Lateral epicondylitis (LE) is a common tendinopathy for which an effective treatment is still unknown. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to compare the effectiveness of platelet rich plasma (PRP) vs steroid in reducing pain and improving function of the elbow in the treatment of LE. Methods: A systematic search of the literature was conducted to identify related articles published from January 1980 to September 2016 in Pubmed, Embase, the Cochrane Library and SpringerLink. All studies that compared PRP with steroid administration on LE were included. Main outcomes were collected and analyzed by the Review Manager 5.1. Results: Eight randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that involved 511 patients met the criteria. This meta-analysis showed that there was no significant difference in pain relief in the short-term (2 to 4 weeks: SMD = 1.02, P = .03; 6 to 8 weeks: SMD = .73, P = .24) and the intermediate-term (12 weeks: SMD = −0.28, P = .35). Steroid exhibited a better efficacy of function in the short-term (2 to 4 weeks: SMD = .61, P < .001; 6 to 8 weeks: SMD = .53, P < .001). However, PRP was superior to steroid for pain relief in the long-term (half year: SMD = −1.6, P < .001; one year: SMD = −1.45, P < .001), and also for function improving in the intermediate-term (12 weeks: SMD = −0.53, P < .001) and the long-term (half year: SMD = −0.56, P < .001; one year: SMD = −0.7, P < .001). No serious adverse effects of treatment were observed in the two groups. Conclusion: Treatment of patients with LE by steroid could slightly relieve pain and significantly improve function of elbow in the short-term (2 to 4 weeks, 6 to 8 weeks). PRP appears to be more effective in relieving pain and improving function in the intermediate-term (12 weeks) and long-term (half year and one year). Considering the long-term effectiveness of PRP, we recommend PRP as the preferred option for LE.
Draft Genome Sequence of Anaeromyxobacter sp. Strain PSR-1, an Arsenate-Respiring Bacterium Isolated from Arsenic-Contaminated Soil

ABSTRACT Here, we report a draft genome sequence of Anaeromyxobacter sp. strain PSR-1, an arsenate-respiring bacterium isolated from arsenic-contaminated soil. It contained three distinct arsenic resistance gene clusters (ars operons), while no respiratory arsenate reductase gene (arr) was identified.
Experiment 1 : Voluntary EtOH Consumption Plus Unpredictable Stress

Osteocalcin (OC) is an abundant extracellular calcium-binding protein synthesized by osteoblasts. Although most OC is bound to hydroxyapatite mineral during bone formation, a consistent amount is released directly to circulation. Plasma OC (pOC) levels are highly sensitive to stressful stimuli that alter stress-responsive hormones, such as glucocorticoids (cortisol or corticosterone) and the catecholamines norepinephrine and epinephrine. To gain a better understanding of the apparent relationship of OC to the effects of ethanol (EtOH) and the stress responses, we compared mice that have OC (WT [OC? /? ] and HET [OC? /-]) with OC null mutants (KO [OC-/-]), which have no OC in either plasma or in bone. One experiment included chronic unpredictable stress, a second was conducted in the absence of any known stressors other than EtOH, while a third imposed a more severe acute immobilization stress in addition to EtOH consumption. The data obtained confirmed significant differences in EtOH consumption in mice that previously experienced various stressful stimuli. We also determined that adrenal tyrosine-hydroxylase expression was inversely proportional to EtOH consumption and tended to be lower in KO than in WT. Data suggest that OC possesses the ability to modulate the adrenal gene expression of the catecholamine synthetic pathway. This modulation may be responsible for differences in EtOH consumption under stress.
1.7-kV and 0.55- $\text{m}\Omega \cdot \text {cm}^{2}$  GaN p-n Diodes on Bulk GaN Substrates With Avalanche Capability

We report vertical GaN-on-GaN p-n diodes with a breakdown voltage (BV) of 1.7 kV and a low differential specific ON-resistance R<sub>ON</sub> of 0.55 mQ · cm<sup>2</sup> with current spreading considered (or 0.4 mQ · cm<sup>2</sup> using the diode bottom mesa size), resulting in a figure-of-merit (V<sub>B</sub><sup>2</sup>/R<sub>ON</sub>) of 5.3 GW/cm<sup>2</sup> (or 7.2 GW/cm<sup>2</sup>). These devices exhibit a current swing over 14 orders of magnitude and a low ideality factor of 1.3. Temperature dependent I-V measurements show that the BV increases with increasing temperature, a signature of avalanche breakdown.