Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Open Access Journal of Neuroinflammation Administration of S-nitrosoglutathione after Traumatic Brain Injury Protects the Neurovascular Unit and Reduces Secondary Injury in a Rat Model of Controlled Cortical Impact

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of preventable death and serious morbidity in young adults. This complex pathological condition is characterized by significant blood brain barrier (BBB) leakage that stems from cerebral ischemia, inflammation, and redox imbalances in the traumatic penumbra of the injured brain. Once trauma has occurred, combating these exacerbations is the keystone of an effective TBI therapy. Following other brain injuries, nitric oxide modulators such as S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) maintain not only redox balance but also inhibit the mechanisms of secondary injury. Therefore, we tested whether GSNO shows efficacy in a rat model of experimental TBI.
Plasma resistin levels correlate with determinants of the metabolic syndrome.

OBJECTIVE The role of resistin in insulin sensitivity and obesity is controversial. Some authors suggest that increased serum resistin levels are associated with obesity, visceral fat, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and inflammation, while others failed to observe such correlations. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship of plasma resistin levels with markers of the metabolic syndrome and atherosclerosis in a large population-based study. DESIGN AND PATIENTS Plasma resistin levels were determined in 1090 subjects free of any medication selected from the PLIC study (designed to verify the presence of atherosclerotic lesions and progression intima-media thickness (IMT) in the common carotid artery in the general population) and related to the presence of obesity, metabolic syndrome, metabolic abnormalities, cardiovascular risk, and progression of IMT. RESULTS Plasma resistin levels were highly positively correlated with triglycerides, waist circumference, waist/hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, and ApoAI/ApoB ratio, while they were inversely correlated with high density lipoprotein and ApoAI levels. This finding was gender specific (mainly in women). Plasma resistin levels were significantly higher in women with the metabolic syndrome compared with controls (4.90 (0.24) ng/ml vs 3.90 (0.11) ng/ml; P<0.01), while no difference was observed in obese subjects. Finally, plasma resistin levels were significantly correlated with cardiovascular risk calculated according to the Framingham algorithm (P<0.01). CONCLUSION Plasma resistin levels are increased in presence of the metabolic syndrome and are associated with increased cardiovascular risk.
Navigating the "Seven C's": Curiosity, Confirmation, Comparison, Changing, Collaborating, Critiquing, and Combinations

It is important for researchers to establish a research posture (i.e., the relationship a researcher wants to have with his or her subject or other) (Wolcott, 1992) and making subsequent methodological choices in which all cohere and are consistent with the ascribed posture. By keeping things plumb in this manner, researchers can greatly increase the chances that their projects will be internally coherent and imminently more do-able than those studies which grow out-of-alignment. A method for assessing research posture, the "Seven C's," is presented and a series of questions are introduced to help researchers match their postures with particular research methodologies. This article is available in The Qualitative Report: http://nsuworks.nova. edu/tqr/vol4/iss3/8 Navigating the "Seven C's": Curiosity, Confirmation, Comparison, Changing, Collaborating, Critiquing, and Combinations by Ronald J. Chenail The Qualitative Report, Volume 4, Numbers 3 & 4, March, 2000
A computer-based method for the assessment of body-image distortions in anorexia-nervosa patients

A computer-based method for the assessment of body-image distortions in anorexia nervosa and other eating-disorder patients is presented in this paper. At the core of the method is a realistic pictorial simulation of lifelike weight changes, applied to a real source image of the patient. The patients, using a graphical user interface, adjust their body shapes until they meet their self-perceived appearance. Measuring the extent of virtual fattening or slimming of a body with respect to its real shape and size allows direct quantitative evaluation of the cognitive distortion in body image. In a preliminary experiment involving 33 anorexia-nervosa patients, 70% of the subjects chose an image with simulated visual weight gain between 8%-16% as their "real" body image, while only one of them recognized the original body image. In a second experiment involving 30 healthy participants, the quality of the weight modified images was evaluated by pairwise selection trials. Over a weight change range from -16% to +28%, in about 30% of the trials, artificially modified images were mistakenly taken as "original" images, thus demonstrating the quality of the artificial images. The method presented is currently in a clinical validation phase, toward application in the research, diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of eating disorders.
Embodied Evolutionary Robotics with Large Number of Robots

Embodied evolutionary robotics is a particular flavour of evolutionary robotics, where the evolutionary optimization of behaviours is achieved in an on-line and distributed fashion (Watson et al., 2002). The question asked in this paper is: does population size play a role in the evolution of particular behaviours? We experimentaly demonstrate that varying the number of robots and the size of the environment can lead to very different outcomes in terms of evolved behaviours. Figure 1: Experimental setup: a population of robots with 8 infra-red (IR) sensors (shown in blue) is deployed in an environment where 10 (yellow) landmarks are randomly placed. The robots are modelled after the famous e-puck robot, and communication between robots is achieved through the IR devices. The red tail is visible to the user only (used for identifying directions).
Outcome After Implantation of a Cardioverter-Defibrillator in Patients With Brugada Syndrome: A Multicenter Study–Part 2

Background— Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator indications in Brugada syndrome remain controversial, especially in asymptomatic patients. Previous outcome data are limited by relatively small numbers of patients or short follow-up durations. We report the outcome of patients with Brugada syndrome implanted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator in a large multicenter registry. Methods and Results— A total of 378 patients (310 male; age, 46±13 years) with a type 1 Brugada ECG pattern implanted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (31 for aborted sudden cardiac arrest, 181 for syncope, and 166 asymptomatic) were included. Fifteen patients (4%) were lost to follow-up. During a mean follow-up of 77±42 months, 7 patients (2%) died (1 as a result of an inappropriate shock), and 46 patients (12%) had appropriate device therapy (5±5 shocks per patient). Appropriate device therapy rates at 10 years were 48% for patients whose implantable cardioverter-defibrillator indication was aborted sudden cardiac arrest, 19% for those whose indication was syncope, and 12% for the patients who were asymptomatic at implantation. At 10 years, rates of inappropriate shock and lead failure were 37% and 29%, respectively. Inappropriate shock occurred in 91 patients (24%; 4±4 shocks per patient) because of lead failure (n=38), supraventricular tachycardia (n=20), T-wave oversensing (n=14), or sinus tachycardia (n=12). Importantly, introduction of remote monitoring, programming a high single ventricular fibrillation zone (>210–220 bpm), and a long detection time were associated with a reduced risk of inappropriate shock. Conclusions— Appropriate therapies are more prevalent in symptomatic Brugada syndrome patients but are not insignificant in asymptomatic patients (1%/y). Optimal implantable cardioverter-defibrillator programming and follow-up dramatically reduce inappropriate shock. However, lead failure remains a major problem in this population.
Mitochondria Are a Major Source of Paraquat-induced Reactive Oxygen Species Production in the Brain*

Paraquat (PQ2+) is a prototypic toxin known to exert injurious effects through oxidative stress and bears a structural similarity to the Parkinson disease toxicant, 1-methyl-4-pheynlpyridinium. The cellular sources of PQ2+-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, specifically in neuronal tissue, remain to be identified. The goal of this study was to determine the involvement of brain mitochondria in PQ2+-induced ROS production. Highly purified rat brain mitochondria were obtained using a Percoll density gradient method. PQ2+-induced hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production was measured by fluorometric and polarographic methods. The production of H2O2 was evaluated in the presence of inhibitors and modulators of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. The results presented here suggest that in the rat brain, (a) mitochondria are a principal cellular site of PQ2+-induced H2O2 production, (b) PQ2+-induced H2O2 production requires the presence of respiratory substrates, (c) complex III of the electron transport chain is centrally involved in H2O2 production by PQ2+, and (d) the mechanism by which PQ2+ generates H2O2 depends on the mitochondrial inner transmembrane potential. These observations were further confirmed by measuring PQ2+-induced H2O2 production in primary neuronal cells derived from the midbrain. These findings shed light on the mechanism through which mitochondria may contribute to ROS production by other environmental and endogenous redox cycling agents implicated in Parkinson's disease.
The influence of a response format test accommodation for college students with and without disabilities

Standardised and other multiple-choice examinations often require the use of an answer sheet with fill-in bubbles (i.e. ‘bubble’ or Scantron sheet). Students with disabilities causing impairments in attention, learning and/or visual-motor skill may have difficulties with multiple-choice examinations that employ such a response style. Such students may request and receive testing accommodations that intend to mitigate these impairments, such as circling responses in a test booklet, which contains both the questions and corresponding multiple-choice answers. The current study evaluated this test accommodation as compared to using a bubble sheet or Scantron on a multiple-choice vocabulary test. College students with (n = 25) and without (n = 76) disabilities completed a vocabulary test under both booklet (accommodated) and bubble sheet (standard) conditions. Results demonstrated that answering in a test booklet, a much preferred response mode, allowed students to attempt significantly more items than using a bubble sheet, improving their overall test scores. Booklet responding tends to improve overall performance, even for students without disabilities, calling into question the specificity and validity of this accommodation.
Population Dynamics in Complex Landscapes: A Case Study.

The abundance and distribution of natural populations can be strongly influenced by the types and arrangement of habitat patches within a landscape. The impact of landscape changes on population dynamics is difficult to study using conventional population models and field techniques. Spatially explicit simulation models provide a powerful method for modelling landscape and population changes at large spatial scales and may prove useful as a management tool for mobile animal populations. As an example of this approach, we present a model designed to elucidate the effects of landscape-level variation in habitat dispersion on the size and extinction probability of avian populations in a region managed for timber production. In the model, habitat suitability and availability within the landscape change annually as a function of timber harvest and management strategies. The model incorporates life history characteristics of Bachman's Sparrow (Aimophila aestivalis), a species of management concern in the southeastern United States, and the landscape characteristics of the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, an area managed for timber production where the sparrow is relatively common. Life history characteristics used in the model include dispersal, survivorship, and reproductive success information reported for Bachman's Sparrow at this site or elsewhere in its range. Results of the simulations suggest that variation in demographic variables affects population size more than variation in dispersal ability. Changes in adult and juvenile survivorship have especially large impacts on the probability of population extinction. The presence of habitat types that serve as permanent sources of dispersers increases the total population size in the landscape, and lowers the probability of extinction. Results of models such as BACHMAP can suggest modifications to current management plans that would increase the probability of population persistence for species of special concern in managed landscapes.
The Deeper Dimension of Yoga: Theory and Practice

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HIV-1 Virological Synapse: Live Imaging of Transmission

A relatively new aspect of HIV-1 biology is the ability of the virus to infect cells by direct cellular contacts across a specialized structure, the virological synapse. This process was recently described through live cell imaging. Together with the accumulated knowledge on cellular and molecular structures involved in cell-to-cell transmission of HIV-1, the visualization of the virological synapse in video-microscopy has brought exciting new hypotheses on its underlying mechanisms. This review will recapitulate current knowledge with a particular emphasis on the questions live microscopy has raised.
Impact of Gate Leakage on Performances of Phase-Locked Loop Circuit in Nanoscale CMOS Technology

In the nanoscale CMOS technology, the thin gate oxide causes large gate-tunneling leakage. In this brief, the influence of gate-tunneling leakage in the MOS capacitor (used in the loop filter) on the circuit performance of the phase-locked loop (PLL) in the nanoscale CMOS technology has been investigated and analyzed. The basic PLL with a second-order loop filter is used to observe the impact of gate-tunneling leakage on the performance degradation of the PLL in a 90-nm CMOS process. The MOS capacitors with different oxide thicknesses are used to investigate their impact on the PLL performance. The locked time, static phase error, and jitter of the second-order PLL are found to be degraded by the gate-tunneling leakage of the MOS capacitor used in the loop filter.
Lung Cancer and Vehicle Exhaust in Trucking Industry Workers

Background An elevated risk of lung cancer in truck drivers has been attributed to diesel exhaust exposure. Interpretation of these studies specifically implicating diesel exhaust as a carcinogen has been limited because of limited exposure measurements and lack of work records relating job title to exposure-related job duties. Objectives We established a large retrospective cohort of trucking company workers to assess the association of lung cancer mortality and measures of vehicle exhaust exposure. Methods Work records were obtained for 31,135 male workers employed in the unionized U.S. trucking industry in 1985. We assessed lung cancer mortality through 2000 using the National Death Index, and we used an industrial hygiene review and current exposure measurements to identify jobs associated with current and historical use of diesel-, gas-, and propane-powered vehicles. We indirectly adjusted for cigarette smoking based on an industry survey. Results Adjusting for age and a healthy-worker survivor effect, lung cancer hazard ratios were elevated in workers with jobs associated with regular exposure to vehicle exhaust. Mortality risk increased linearly with years of employment and was similar across job categories despite different current and historical patterns of exhaust-related particulate matter from diesel trucks, city and highway traffic, and loading dock operations. Smoking behavior did not explain variations in lung cancer risk. Conclusions Trucking industry workers who have had regular exposure to vehicle exhaust from diesel and other types of vehicles on highways, city streets, and loading docks have an elevated risk of lung cancer with increasing years of work.
Characterization of platelet aggregation in whole blood of laboratory animals by a screen filtration pressure method

The characteristics of platelet aggregation of laboratory animals were investigated with whole blood and platelet-rich plasma (PRP). We measured the platelet aggregation threshold index (PATI) of whole blood and PRP aggregations induced by ADP or collagen, using a novel whole blood aggregometer, the WBA analyzer, with a screen filtration pressure (SFP) method. At 60 min after blood collection, PATI values of guinea pig, mouse, rat, dog and rabbit were 0.83, 1.78, 46.48, 49.85 and 53.42 μM for ADP-induced whole blood aggregation, respectively, whereas their PATI values for ADP-induced PRP aggregation were 1.16, 2.77, 2.65, 10.81 and 18.77 μM, respectively. These suggest that ADP-induced platelet aggregations of rat, dog and rabbit are suppressed in whole blood. PATI values of guinea pig, mouse, rat, dog and rabbit were 1.84, 0.62, 11.90, 2.34, 12.32 μg/ml for the collagen-induced whole blood aggregation, respectively, whereas their PATI values for the collagen-induced PRP aggregation were 4.21, 1.50, 5.36, 11.31, 13.30 μg/ml, respectively. Collagen-induced aggregation activity of the guinea pig, mouse and dog was significantly higher in whole blood than in the PRP. These results demonstrated that species differences in laboratory animals exist for whole blood aggregation, and that the SFP aggregometer may be useful to evaluate platelet function in various animal species.
Evaluation of gaze-added target selection methods suitable for general GUIs

This paper examines three gaze-added methods, the Auto, Manual, and SemiAuto, that have a potential to increase the efficiency of target selection operations in general GUI environments such as MS-Windows and Mac-OS. These three methods employ the human's eye gaze and a hand (mouse operation) together to enable users to select a target even if the jittery motions of an eye and the measurement error of an eye-tracking device have occurred. The result of the experiment under an environment in which small targets are placed in a narrow layout showed that the operational efficiency with the SemiAuto method was the best among three methods; and, the SemiAuto method was the same or faster than the mouse-only operation without increasing errors greatly. Especially concerning the discontinuous selection situation (a target selection whose cursor position is randomly located), the operation with the SemiAuto method was about 31% faster than the mouse-only operation.
Chemical and structural analysis of Eucalyptus globulus and E. camaldulensis leaf cuticles: a lipidized cell wall region

The plant cuticle has traditionally been conceived as an independent hydrophobic layer that covers the external epidermal cell wall. Due to its complexity, the existing relationship between cuticle chemical composition and ultra-structure remains unclear to date. This study aimed to examine the link between chemical composition and structure of isolated, adaxial leaf cuticles of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and E. globulus by the gradual extraction and identification of lipid constituents (cutin and soluble lipids), coupled to spectroscopic and microscopic analyses. The soluble compounds and cutin monomers identified could not be assigned to a concrete internal cuticle ultra-structure. After cutin depolymerization, a cellulose network resembling the cell wall was observed, with different structural patterns in the regions ascribed to the cuticle proper and cuticular layer, respectively. Our results suggest that the current cuticle model should be revised, stressing the presence and major role of cell wall polysaccharides. It is concluded that the cuticle may be interpreted as a modified cell wall region which contains additional lipids. The major heterogeneity of the plant cuticle makes it difficult to establish a direct link between cuticle chemistry and structure with the existing methodologies.
Equilibrium Potential for the Postsynaptic Response in the Squid Giant Synapse

The reversal potential for the EPSP in the squid giant synapse has been studied by means of an intracellular, double oil gap technique. This method allows the electrical isolation of a portion of the axon from the rest of the fiber and generates a quasi-isopotential segment. In order to make the input resistance of this nerve segment as constant as possible, the electroresponsive properties of the nerve membrane were blocked by intracellular injection of tetraethylammonium (TEA) and local extracellular application of tetrodotoxin (TTX). Thus, EPSP's could be evoked in the isolated segment with a minimal amount of electroresponsive properties. The reversal potential for the EPSP (EEPSP) was measured by recording the synaptic potential or the synaptic current during voltage clamping. The results indicate that EEPSP may vary from +15 to +25 mV, which is more positive than would be expected for a 1:1 conductance change for Na+ and K+ (approximately -15 mV) and too negative for a pure Na+ conductance (+40 mV). This latter value (E Na) was directly determined in the voltage clamp experiments. The results suggest that the synaptic potential is probably produced by a permeability change to Na+ to K+ in a 4:1 ratio. No change in time-course was observed in the synaptic current at clamp levels of -100 and +90 mV. The implications of a variable ratio for Na+-K+ permeability in subsynaptic-postsynaptic membranes are discussed.