Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neural circuit remodeling and structural plasticity in the cortex during chronic pain

Damage in the periphery or spinal cord induces maladaptive plastic changes along the somatosensory nervous system from the periphery to the cortex, often leading to chronic pain. Although the role of neural circuit remodeling and structural synaptic plasticity in the 'pain matrix' cortices in chronic pain has been thought as a secondary epiphenomenon to altered nociceptive signaling in the spinal cord, progress in whole brain imaging studies on human patients and animal models has suggested a possibility that plastic changes in cortical neural circuits may actively contribute to chronic pain symptoms. Furthermore, recent development in two-photon microscopy and fluorescence labeling techniques have enabled us to longitudinally trace the structural and functional changes in local circuits, single neurons and even individual synapses in the brain of living animals. These technical advances has started to reveal that cortical structural remodeling following tissue or nerve damage could rapidly occur within days, which are temporally correlated with functional plasticity of cortical circuits as well as the development and maintenance of chronic pain behavior, thereby modifying the previous concept that it takes much longer periods (e.g. months or years). In this review, we discuss the relation of neural circuit plasticity in the 'pain matrix' cortices, such as the anterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex and primary somatosensory cortex, with chronic pain. We also introduce how to apply long-term in vivo two-photon imaging approaches for the study of pathophysiological mechanisms of chronic pain.
Handling input/output operations in Web servers: issues and countermeasures

The way at which a Web server handles input/output (I/O) operations has a significant impact on its performance. Servers that allow blocking for I/O operations are easier to implement but exhibit less efficient utilization and limited scalability. On the other hand, servers that allow non‐blocking I/O usually perform and scale better but are not easy to implement and have limited functionality. This paper presents the design of a new, self‐adapting Web server architecture that makes decisions on how future I/O operations would be handled based on load conditions. The results obtained from our implementation of this architecture indicate that it is capable of providing competitive performance and better utilization than those of comparable non‐adaptive Web servers on different load levels. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Use of solid-phase immune electron microscopy for classification of Norwalk-like viruses into six antigenic groups from 10 outbreaks of gastroenteritis in the United States

Norwalk-like viruses observed in fecal specimens from 10 outbreaks of gastroenteritis investigated in the United States between 1987 and 1992 were analyzed by solid-phase immune electron microscopy. Outbreak virus strains were classified into six antigenic groups: the four types (UK1 to UK4) previously defined in the United Kingdom, Norwalk virus, and the Oklahoma agent that was newly defined in this study. The diversity of antigenic types demonstrated in these outbreaks was greater than previously recognized and will serve as a basis for characterization of these strains at the molecular level.
Oral sildenafil improves primary pulmonary hypertension refractory to epoprostenol.

BACKGROUND Epoprostenol (prostaglandin I(2)) has become recognized as a therapeutic breakthrough that can improve hemodynamics and survival in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH). However, a significant number of patients have PPH that is refractory to epoprostenol, and lung transplantation has been the only remaining treatment option. METHODS AND RESULTS The study subjects included 20 consecutive patients with PPH (mean pulmonary arterial pressure: 65+/-15 mmHg) who had received epoprostenol for more than 12 months. The patients were divided into 2 groups; responders and non-responders. In the non-responders, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class did not improve and mean right atrial pressure (mRA) increased to 8 mmHg or more, and additional sildenafil, a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, was started. Six patients were included in the non-responders, whose mRA was 9+/-5 mmHg before and significantly increased to 13+/-3 mmHg after epoprostenol administration (p < 0.05). One patient died and the other 5 patients received oral sildenafil. The mRA of 12+/-4 mmHg (value before sildenafil) improved to 8+/-5 mmHg after sildenafil administration. Three patients were classified in the NYHA functional class 4 and improved to class 3, and 2 patients were in class 3 and remained in the same class after the addition of sildenafil. CONCLUSIONS In patients with severe PPH refractory to epoprostenol treatment, additional oral sildenafil can improve pulmonary hemodynamics and symptoms. The combination therapy of epoprostenol and sildenafil is a new medical treatment to attempt before progressing to lung transplantation for patients with PPH refractory to epoprostenol.
Reduced error specialization based on the information content of rule set

Except for over-fitting, excessive generalization should lead to high error rate of the learnt rule set, which is seldom discussed by literatures. When excessive generalization is occurred, the rule set will give multiple classification for a particular instance. The errors caused by generalization actually result in the increased inner conflict of the generalized rule set. In this paper, the inner conflict of rule set is defined based on the expanded knowledge of rules and a novel algorithm named RES(reduced error specialization) is proposed for the error rate reduction of rule sets. The best merit of RES is that it can eliminate the inner conflict of a rule set completely while the unknown knowledge of the rule set is unchanged. This fact will guarantee the error rate of the rule set on every test data will be determinedly reduced.
The first stars: formation of binaries and small multiple systems

We investigate the formation of metal-free, Population III (Pop III), stars within a minihalo at z ~ 20 with a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulation, starting from cosmological initial conditions. Employing a hierarchical, zoom-in procedure, we achieve sufficient numerical resolution to follow the collapsing gas in the center of the minihalo up to number densities of 10^12 cm^-3. This allows us to study the protostellar accretion onto the initial hydrostatic core, which we represent as a growing sink particle, in improved physical detail. The accretion process, and in particular its termination, governs the final masses that were reached by the first stars. The primordial initial mass function (IMF), in turn, played an important role in determining to what extent the first stars drove early cosmic evolution. We continue our simulation for 5000 yr after the first sink particle has formed. During this time period, a disk-like configuration is assembled around the first protostar. The disk is gravitationally unstable, develops a pronounced spiral structure, and fragments into several other protostellar seeds. At the end of the simulation, a small multiple system has formed, dominated by a binary with masses ~ 40 M_Sun and ~ 10 M_Sun. If Pop III stars were to form typically in binaries or small multiples, the standard model of primordial star formation, where single, isolated stars are predicted to form in minihaloes, would have to be modified. This would have crucial consequences for the observational signature of the first stars, such as their nucleosynthetic pattern, and the gravitational-wave emission from possible Pop III black-hole binaries.
The effect of multiple input devices on collaboration and gender issues

The KidStory project aims to develop technologies that encourage young children to work collaboratively in the classroom. KidPad, a drawing and zooming tool, has been developed to be used with one, two or more mice to support children's 'shoulder-to-shoulder' collaboration at the computer. The study described in this paper explores how multiple input devices impact on pairs' interactions at the computer and the work they produce together. Preliminary analyses suggest that two mice can aid collaborative behaviour. However there are marked differences in the quality of collaboration dependent on the gender of the children involved.
Interconnect-power dissipation in a microprocessor

Interconnect power is dynamic power dissipation due to switching of interconnection capacitances. This paper describes the characterization of interconnect power in a state-of-the-art high-performance microprocessor designed for power efficiency. The analysis showed that interconnect power is over 50% of the dynamic power. Over 90% of the interconnect power is consumed by only 10% of the interconnections. Relations of interconnect power to wire length distribution and hierarchy level of nets were examined. In light of the results, a router's algorithms were modified, to use larger wire spacing and minimal length routing for the high power consuming interconnects. The power-aware router algorithm was tested on synthesized blocks, demonstrating average saving of 14% in the dynamic power consumption without timing degradation or area increase. The results demonstrate the obtainable benefits of tuning physical design algorithms to save power.
GLUCOCORTICOID MAINTENANCE THERAPY FOLLOWING ADRENALECTOMY: ASSESSMENT OF DOSAGE AND PREPARATION

Plasma cortisol was monitored repeatedly after oral administration of cortisol and cortisone (cortisone acetate) to seven adrenalectomized patients with pituitary‐dependent Cushing's syndrome. The amount of glucocorticoid administered was 25 mg cortisol or 33 mg cortisone/g urine creatinine/24 h. Peak plasma cortisol levels were within recommended values in all patients after cortisone and in three of the patients after cortisol. The remaining four patients had elevated peak plasma cortisol levels after cortisol. Transcortin binding capacity in plasma was normal.
Generalized Immunoassay for Autographa californica Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus Infectivity In Vitro

A quantitative in vitro immunoassay for the infectivity of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus was developed and performed in six different lepidopteran cell lines. The assay was not dependent upon cytopathic effect or polyhedron production, but rather upon viral antigen production and its recognition in a peroxidase-antiperoxidase staining procedure. The importance of using such an assay for accurately assessing infectivity in cell lines which produce polyhedra inefficiently was demonstrated. Differences among the cell lines in sensitivity to viral infection were clearly shown. Differences in the time required to produce infectious progeny were also noted among cells of the same cell line.
Tannin extracted from Sumac inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell migration

Background Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) migration is integral in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Sumac (Rhus coriaria) berries are believed to have atheroprotective effects. Therefore, Sumac, which is a rich source of tannin antioxidants, was tested for its capacity to inhibit VSMC migratory activity. Materials & Methods Tannin was extracted and purified from ground Sumac. Cultured rat carotid VSMCs were treated with different concentrations of tannin. After 10 days of tannin treatment, VSMC migratory activity in response to platelet-derived growth factor-BB was measured by transmembrane migration assay. An equal number of VSMCs was loaded on top of the inserts and at the bottom of the wells. After fixation and staining, cells migrating through the inserts and cells seeded at the bottom of the wells were counted. Results A significant reduction (62%) of VSMC migration was evident in tannin-treated cells. To rule out any possible toxicity and cell death, cells at the bottom of the wells were also counted. No difference between the tannin-treated group and the controls was observed in the number of cells seeded at the bottom of the wells. Conclusion Our data suggest that tannin extracted from Sumac possesses potent antimigratory activity. Sumac may have potential for the prevention or treatment of atherosclerosis and its clinical manifestations. Further experiments, especially in vivo, are required to examine the atheroprotective effect of Sumac.
Estimating Galaxy Spectral Functions Using Sparse Composite Models

Galaxy spectrometry is an important tool for astronomical research. For a given galaxy spectrum, techniques like wavelet transformation, regression splines, parametric deconvolution, etc., can be applied to estimate the spectral function. However, in many cases, the observed spectrum is the mixture of a smooth continuum and some superimposed spiky lines. The convolution of these two components makes these techniques ineffective. In this paper, we propose a unified regression framework, named sparse composite model, for galaxy spectral function estimation. Assuming that all spectral functions can be decomposed into a smooth continuum and the spiky lines, our model represents them using different bases in a sparse manner. This sparse composite model approach has good theoretical guarantees and is very efficient and effective when facing large scale datasets.
High-Efficiency and Low-Power Architectures for 2-D DCT and IDCT Based on CORDIC Rotation

Two dimensional discrete cosine transform (DCT) and inverse DCT (IDCT) have been widely used in many image processing systems. In this paper, efficient architectures with parallel and pipelined structures are proposed to implement 8times8 DCT and IDCT processors. In which, two 8-point DCT/IDCT processors with dual-bank of SRAM (128 words) and coefficient ROM (6 words), two multiplexers, and control unit are involved. The kernel arithmetic unit (AU) is designed by using CORDIC arithmetic. The proposed architectures for 2D DCT/IDCT processors not only simplify hardware but also reduce the power consumption with high performances
Web E-Speak: Facilitating Web-Based E-Services

E-Speak, Hewlett-Packard's e-services initiative, is an open, distributed platform that lets e-services dynamically and securely advertise, discover, and interoperate with each other. Web E-Speak, the gateway to E-Speak on the Web, facilitates engineering Web-based e-services by taking into account their requirements for dynamic ad-hoc discovery, secure interaction, and global accessibility.
TA Treatment of Depression - A Hermeneutic Single-Case Efficacy Design Study - ‘Linda’ - a mixed outcome case

Hermeneutic Single-Case EfficacyDesign (HSCED) is a systematic case study research method involving the cross-examination of mixed method data to generate both plausible arguments that the client changed due to therapy and alternative explanations. The present study is the fourth article of a case series which has investigated the process and outcome of transactional analysis psychotherapy using Hermeneutic Single-Case Efficacy Design (Elliott 2002). The client, Linda, was a 45 yearold white British woman with mild depression who attended nine sessions of therapy. The conclusion of the judges was that this was a mixed-outcome case:whilst the client improved over the course of therapy and was positive about her experience of therapy, her changes did not last when she experienced considerable stressful events during follow-up. Linda provided a detailed and idiosyncratic description of the aspects of the therapy which were most helpful for her. A cross-case comparison with other cases in this series suggests several interesting features which are worthy of further investigation. Specifically, the use of a shared theoretical framework and an egalitarian therapeutic relationship were helpful. As with other cases in this series, the client experienced positive changes in her interpersonal relationships suggesting that this outcome of TA therapy warrants further investigation
Circadian Clock Genes as Modulators of Sensitivity to Genotoxic Stress

A broad variety of organisms display circadian rhythms (i.e. oscillations with 24-hr periodicities) in many aspects of their behavior, physiology and metabolism. These rhythms are under genetic control and are generated endogenously at the cellular level. In mammals, the core molecular mechanism of the oscillator consists of two transcriptional activators, CLOCK and BMAL1, and their transcriptional targets, CRYPTOCHROME (CRY) and PERIOD (PER). The CRY and PER proteins function as negative regulators of CLOCK/BMAL1 activity, thus forming the major circadian autoregulatory feedback loop. It is believed that the circadian clock system regulates daily variations in output physiology and metabolism through periodic activation/repression of the set of clock-controlled genes that are involved in various metabolic pathways. Importantly, circadian-controlled pathways include those that determine in vivo responses to genotoxic stress. By using circadian mutant mice deficient in different components of the molecular clock system, we have established genetic models that correspond with the two opposite extremes of circadian cycle as reflected by the activity of the CLOCK/BMAL1 transactivation complex. Comparison of the in vivo responses of these mutants to the chemotherapeutic drug, cyclophosphamide (CY), has established a direct correlation between drug toxicity and the functional status of the CLOCK/BMAL1 transcriptional complex. We have also demonstrated that CLOCK/BMAL1 modulates sensitivity to drug-induced toxicity by controlling B cell responses to active CY metabolites. These results suggest that the sensitivity of cells to genotoxic stress induced by anticancer therapy may be modulated by CLOCK/BMAL1 transcriptional activity. Further elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of circadian control as well as identification of specific pharmacological modulators of CLOCK/BMAL1 activity are likely to lead to the development of new anti-cancer treatment schedules with increased therapeutic index and reduced morbidity.
Estrogen Receptor β Activity Modulates Synaptic Signaling and Structure

Brain-synthesized estrogen has been shown to influence synaptic structure, function, and cognitive processes. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the rapid effects of estrogen on the dendritic spines of cortical neurons are not clear. Estrogen receptor β (ERβ) is expressed in cortical neurons, and ERβ knock-out mice display impaired performance in cortically mediated processes, suggesting that signaling via this receptor has profound effects on cortical neuron function. However, the effect of rapid signaling via ERβ on dendritic spines and the signaling pathways initiated by this receptor in cortical neurons are unknown. Here, we show that activation of ERβ with the specific agonist WAY-200070 results in increased spine density and PSD-95 (postsynaptic density-95) accumulation in membrane regions. Activation of ERβ by WAY-200070 also resulted in the phosphorylation of p21-activated kinase (PAK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) in cultured cortical neurons, suggesting a mechanism for the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. Moreover, we found that aromatase, an enzyme critical for estrogen production, is present at presynaptic termini, supporting a role for brain-synthesized estrogen as a neuromodulator in the cortex. These results implicate ERβ signaling in controlling dendritic spine morphology, in part via a PAK/ERK1/2-dependent pathway, and provide mechanistic insight into the rapid cellular effects of estrogen on brain function.
Validity of cerebral arterial blood flow calculations from velocity measurements.

It is obvious that a noninvasive technique that can provide continuous measurements of blood flow through a cerebral artery would be very valuable for clinical and investigative purposes. The most promising approach to the development of such a technique involves the use of ultrasound for the measurement of blood flow velocity. Since blood flow through a vessel is equal to the instantaneous average velocity times the cross-sectional area of the vessel, monitoring of velocity and vessel caliber provides the essential measurements that are needed to estimate blood flow. Busija et al showed that such a method is both accurate and useful. They measured blood flow velocity in a cerebral artery in cats and dogs with an ultrasonic Doppler probe placed around the artery, and simultaneously they measured vessel diameter by direct visualization. They found that blood flow calculated from the velocity and vessel caliber correlated exceedingly well with blood flow measured directly with radioactive microspheres. In this issue of Stroke, Aaslid and his colleagues measured blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery of human volunteers to investigate the responses of cerebral blood flow to rapid decreases in arterial blood pressure. The approach developed by these authors involves certain important assumptions that can have a critical influence on the validity of the results. 1 examine the soundness of these assumptions and their potential consequences on the usefulness of the technique. Two important features of the method used by Aaslid et al should be borne in mind. First, these authors did not measure vessel caliber, and they assumed that the middle cerebral artery had a constant cross-sectional area throughout the interventions they used. Second, they did not measure average velocity through the middle cerebral artery but maximum velocity. The authors justified their assumption of an unchanging vessel caliber in the
Gene Transfer and Genome-Wide Insertional Mutagenesis by Retroviral Transduction in Fish Stem Cells

Retrovirus (RV) is efficient for gene transfer and integration in dividing cells of diverse organisms. RV provides a powerful tool for insertional mutagenesis (IM) to identify and functionally analyze genes essential for normal and pathological processes. Here we report RV-mediated gene transfer and genome-wide IM in fish stem cells from medaka and zebrafish. Three RVs were produced for fish cell transduction: rvLegfp and rvLcherry produce green fluorescent protein (GFP) and mCherry fluorescent protein respectively under control of human cytomegalovirus immediate early promoter upon any chromosomal integration, whereas rvGTgfp contains a splicing acceptor and expresses GFP only upon gene trapping (GT) via intronic in-frame integration and spliced to endogenous active genes. We show that rvLegfp and rvLcherry produce a transduction efficiency of 11~23% in medaka and zebrafish stem cell lines, which is as 30~67% efficient as the positive control in NIH/3T3. Upon co-infection with rvGTgfp and rvLcherry, GFP-positive cells were much fewer than Cherry-positive cells, consistent with rareness of productive gene trapping events versus random integration. Importantly, rvGTgfp infection in the medaka haploid embryonic stem (ES) cell line HX1 generated GTgfp insertion on all 24 chromosomes of the haploid genome. Similar to the mammalian haploid cells, these insertion events were presented predominantly in intergenic regions and introns but rarely in exons. RV-transduced HX1 retained the ES cell properties such as stable growth, embryoid body formation and pluripotency gene expression. Therefore, RV is proficient for gene transfer and IM in fish stem cells. Our results open new avenue for genome-wide IM in medaka haploid ES cells in culture.