Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Intrathecal Clonidine as Adjuvant to Hyperbaric Bupivacaine for Spinal Anaesthesia – Quest for the Optimal Dose

Aims: This study aims to assess the efficacy of intrathecal clonidine 75 μg as an adjuvant to hyperbaric bupivacaine for spinal anaesthesia and for postoperative analgesia and to evaluate its side effects. Methods: The prospective study was under taken in a tertiary care hospital, enrolled 120 patients, scheduled for lower limb surgeries under spinal anaesthesia. The study population was randomly divided into two groups with 60 patients in each group. Patients in Group-I (n=60), received 3 ml (15mg) of intrathecal bupivacaine with 0.5 ml (75μg) of preservative free clonidine for spinal anesthesia. Patients in Group-II (n=60), received 3 ml (15mg) of intrathecal bupivacaine with 0.5 ml of normal saline for spinal anesthesia. Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups with respect to patient characteristics. Mean onset of sensory blockade was 177.17±29.25 seconds in group I and 186±39.29 seconds in group II, the difference being statistically not significant (p=0.165). The decrease in heart rate and systolic BP, at 30 minutes, 60 minutes and at 120 minutes in the clonidine group was statistically significant (p<0.001). After 120 minutes, there was no statistically significant difference in the mean heart rate and systolic BP recorded in the two groups. Mean duration of motor blockade, was 241.83±32.29 minutes in group I and 170.33±19.98 minutes in group II, the difference being statistically significant (p<0.001). Mean duration of analgesia, was 572.83±62 minutes in group I and 218±36.92 minutes in group II, the difference being statistically significant (p<0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in incidence of bradycardia, hypotension, hypoxemia, respiratory depression, shivering, nausea and vomiting among the two groups. Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that addition of 75μg clonidine with hyperbaric bupivacaine for spinal anaesthesia increases the duration of sensory and motor blockade. It prolongs postoperative analgesia, results in mild sedation and enhances patient comfort, with no major side effects.
Effect of oral administration of green tea extract in various dosage schemes on oxidative stress status of mice in vivo

Abstract Green tea is a favorite beverage and its extracts are popular components of dietary supplements. The aim of the present in vivo study was to obtain detailed information about the effect of a standard green tea extract (Polyphenon, P), at different doses, on antioxidant enzymes and oxidative stress markers in murine blood, liver, small and large intestine. In all doses, P improved the oxidative stress status via an increased content of plasmatic SH-groups (by 21-67 %). Regarding antioxidant enzymes in tissues, the low dose of P had the best positive effect as it elevated the activity of NADPH quinone reductase in liver and small intestine, thioredoxin reductase in small intestine and hepatic superoxide dismutase. Based on these facts, consumption of green tea seems to be safe and beneficial, while consumption of dietary supplements containing high doses of catechins may disturb oxidative balance by lowering the activity of thioredoxin reductase, glutathione S-transferase, glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase
Impact of Thoracoscopic Pulmonary Vein Isolation on Right Ventricular Function: A Pilot Study

Objective Thoracoscopic surgical pulmonary vein isolation (sPVI) has been added to the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), showing excellent efficacy outcomes. However, data on right ventricular (RV) function following sPVI has never been studied. Our aim was to investigate RV function following sPVI and compare it to patients who underwent endocardial cryoballoon PVI. Methods 25 patients underwent sPVI and were pair-matched according to age, sex, and AF type with 21 patients who underwent cryoballoon PVI. RV function was measured using tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) and RV strain with 2D speckle tracking. Echocardiography was performed at baseline and at median 6-month follow-up. Results Age was 54 ± 9 years and 84% were male; AF was paroxysmal in 92%. In the sPVI group, TAPSE was reduced with 31% at follow-up echocardiography (p < 0.001) and RV strain showed a 25% reduction compared to baseline (p = 0.018). In the control group, TAPSE and RV strain did not change significantly (−3% and +13%, p = 0.410 and p = 0.148). Change in TAPSE and RV strain was significantly different between groups (p ≤ 0.001 and p = 0.005). Conclusions This study shows that RV function is significantly decreased following sPVI. This effect was not observed in the cryoballoon PVI control group.
Amalgamation of complex iron(III) ions and iron nanoclusters with MWCNTs as a route to potential T2 MRI contrast agents

Iron-filled multiwall carbon nanotubes (Fe@MWCNTs) were functionalized toward a variety of potential magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents. Oxidized Fe@MWNCTs were covered with PEG5000 via direct esterification or using acyl chloride derivatives. Alternatively, the latter were functionalized with an aminophenol ligand (Fe@O-MWCNT-L). Moreover, pristine Fe@MWCNTs were functionalized with N-phenylaziridine groups (Fe@f-MWCNT) via [2+1] cycloaddition of nitrene. All of these chemically modified nanotubes served as a vehicle for anchoring Fe3+ ions. The new hybrids – Fe(III)/Fe@(f-/O-)MWCNTs – containing 6%–14% of the “tethered” Fe3+ions were studied in terms of the acceleration of relaxation of water protons in nuclear magnetic resonance. The highest transverse relaxivity r2=63.9±0.9 mL mg−1 s−1 was recorded for Fe(III)/Fe@O-MWCNT-L, while for Fe(III)/Fe@f-MWCNT, with r2=57.9±2.9 mL mg−1 s−1, the highest impact of the anchored Fe(III) ions was observed. The T1/T2 ratio of 30–100 found for all of the nanotube hybrids presented in this work is a very important factor for their potential application as T2 contrast agents. Increased stability of the hybrids was confirmed by ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry.
Duloxetine Inhibits Microglial P2X4 Receptor Function and Alleviates Neuropathic Pain after Peripheral Nerve Injury

P2X4 receptors (P2X4R) are a family of ATP-gated non-selective cation channels. We previously demonstrated that activation of P2X4R in spinal microglia is crucial for neuropathic pain, a highly debilitating chronic pain condition, suggesting that P2X4R is a potential therapeutic target for treating neuropathic pain. Thus, the identification of a compound that has a potent inhibitory effect on P2X4R is an important clinical challenge. In the present study, we screened a chemical library of clinically approved drugs and show for the first time that duloxetine, a serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, has an inhibitory effect on rodent and human P2X4R. In primary cultured microglial cells, duloxetine also inhibited P2X4R-, but not P2X7R-, mediated responses. Moreover, intrathecal administration of duloxetine in a model of neuropathic pain produced a reversal of nerve injury-induced mechanical allodynia, a cardinal symptom of neuropathic pain. In rats that were pretreated with a serotonin-depleting agent and a noradrenaline neurotoxin, the antiallodynic effect of duloxetine was reduced, but still remained. Based on these results, we suggest that, in addition to duloxetine’s primary inhibitory action on serotonin and noradrenaline transporters, an inhibitory effect on P2X4R may be involved at least in part in an antiallodynic effect of intrathecal duloxetine in a model of neuropathic pain.
SUPPORTING NEW INTERACTIONS WITH PAST EXPERIENCES ANCHORED IN MATERIALS

Developers and designers working with assistive technologies for the oldest generation often aim at tailoring the interface and interaction mechanisms after the experiences and competences of their users. We have studied what role materials can have in these design processes by investigating to what degree the material used in the designed artifact itself can help elderly users connect with the technology. More precisely, we report from a study of how the use of different materials influences the perceived familiarity, context-suitability, and intuitiveness of new interfaces and interaction mechanisms. We present our thematically analyzed results from a two-phase study involving 59 participants residing or working in two local care homes in Oslo. Through our findings, we present several examples of how addressing the particular use of materials can trigger different intuitive actions and gestures among the participants, as well as help the participants relate to the technologies and their intended use.
Upscaling Soil Hydraulic Parameters in the Picacho Mountain Region Using Bayesian Neural Networks

A multiscale Bayesian neural network (BNN) based algorithm was applied to obtain soil hydraulic parameters at multiple scales in the Rio Grande basin (near Picacho Mountain, approximately 11 km northwest of Las Cruces, New Mexico). Point-scale measurements were upscaled to 30 m and 1 km resolutions. These scaled parameters were used in a physically based hydrologic model as inputs to obtain soil moisture states across the study area. The test sites were chosen to provide variety in terrain, land use characteristics, vegetation, soil types, and soil distribution patterns. In order to validate the effectiveness of the upscaled soil water retention parameters, and thus the soil hydraulic parameters, hydrologic simulations were conducted using the HYDRUS-3D hydrologic simulation software. Outputs from the hydrologic simulations using the scaled parameters were compared with those using data from SSURGO and STATSGO soil maps. The BNN-based upscaling algorithm for soil retention parameters from point-scale measurements to 30 m and 1 km, resolutions performed reasonably well (Pearson's R > 0.6) at both scales. High correlations (>0.6) between the simulated soil moisture values based on the upscaled and the soil map-derived soil hydraulic parameters show that the methodology is applicable to semi-arid regions to obtain effective soil hydraulic parameter values at coarse scales from fine-scale measurements of soil texture, structure, and retention data.
Group Communications in Narrowband-IoT: Architecture, Procedures, and Evaluation

Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) has been released by 3GPP to provide extended coverage and low energy consumption for low-cost machine-type devices. Requiring only a reasonably low-cost hardware update to the already deployed long term evolution base stations and being compatible with current core network and enhanced core solutions that aim to reduce the battery consumption and minimize the signaling, NB-IoT deployments are quickly increasing, making NB-IoT a dominating technology for low-power wide area networks. To this aim, in this paper, we focus on group communications (i.e., multicast) in NB-IoT to efficiently support the transmission of firmware, software, task updates, or commands toward a large set of devices. We discuss the architectural and procedural enhancements needed to support the unique features of group communications in machine-type environments, such as customer-driven group formation. We also extend the NB-IoT frame to include a channel for multicast transmissions. Finally, we propose two transmission strategies for multicast content delivery and evaluate their performance considering the impact on the downlink background traffic and the channel occupancy.
Study of muscle contraction induced by electrical pulse stimulation and nitric oxide in C2C12 myotube cells

[Purpose] This study aimed to examine the independent effect of electrical pulse stimulation(EPS) and nitric oxide(NO) on muscle contraction and their synergistic or combined effect on contraction phenomenon using C2C12 mouse skeletal muscle cells. [Methods] Some differentiated C2C12 myotube cells were untreated (control). Other cells did not receive EPS and did receive 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0 mM of the NO donor, S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine (SNAP; -E/S0.5, -E/S1.0, and -E/S2.0, respectively). For the EPS treatments (0.3 V/mm, 1.0 Hz, and 4.0 ms), differentiated C2C12 myotube cells received only EPS or both EPS and the SNAPtreatments at the same concentrations (+E/-S, +E/S0.5, +E/S1.0, and +E/S2.0, respectively). All samples were then cultured for 4 days. [Results] Differentiated C2C12 cellswere stimulated by the EPS, NO, and EPS+NO treatments. The cell length of the +E/S2.0 Group after the 4-day culture (84.2±13.2㎛) was the shortest of all the groups. The expressions of AMPK, JNK, Akt, eNOS, GLUT4, and PGC1α proteins were noticeably dominant. The results indicated synergistic effect on muscle contraction of simultaneously applied EPS and SNAP. [Conclusion] Motor skills were significantly improved when exercise was accompanied by the intake of NO precursor and/or NO, compared to that upon their independent application or treatment.
Equilibrium Distributional Impacts of Government. Employment Programs: Evidence from India's Employment Guarantee

This paper presents evidence on the equilibrium labor market impacts of a large rural workfare program in India. We use the gradual roll out of the program to estimate changes in districts that received the program earlier relative to those that received it later. Our estimates reveal that following the introduction of the program, public employment increased by . 3 days per prime-aged person per month (1.3% of private sector employment) more in early districts than in the rest of India. Casual wages increased by 4.5%, and private sector work for low-skill workers fell by 1.6%. These effects are concentrated in the dry season, during which the majority of public works employment is provided. Our results suggest that public sector hiring crowds out private sector work and increases private sector wages. We use these estimates to compute the implied welfare gains of the program by consumption quintile. Our calculations show that the welfare gains to the poor from the equilibrium increase in private sector wages are large in absolute terms and large relative to the gains received solely by program participants. We conclude that the equilibrium labor market impacts are a first order concern when comparing workfare programs with other anti-poverty programs such as a cash transfer.
Adaptive Performance-Constrained In Situ Visualization of Atmospheric Simulations

While many parallel visualization tools now provide in situ visualization capabilities, the trend has been to feed such tools with large amounts of unprocessed output data and let them render everything at the highest possible resolution. This leads to an increased run time of simulations that still have to complete within a fixed-length job allocation. In this paper, we tackle the challenge of enabling in situ visualization under performance constraints. Our approach shuffles data across processes according to its content and filters out part of it in order to feed a visualization pipeline with only a reorganized subset of the data produced by the simulation. Our framework leverages fast, generic evaluation procedures to score blocks of data, using information theory, statistics, and linear algebra. It monitors its own performance and adapts dynamically to achieve appropriate visual fidelity within predefined performance constraints. Experiments on the Blue Waters supercomputer with the CM1 simulation show that our approach enables a 5x speedup with respect to the initial visualization pipeline and is able to meet performance constraints.
The A. Thaliana Disease Resistance Gene Rps2 Encodes a Protein Containing a Nucleotide-binding Site and Leucine-rich Repeats

In plants, resistance to a pathogen is frequently correlated with a genetically defined interaction between a plant resistance gene and a corresponding pathogen avirulence gene. A simple model explains these gene-for-gene interactions: avirulence gene products generate signals (iigands), and resistance genes encode cognate receptors. The A. thaliana RPSP gene confers resistance to the bacterial pathogen P. syringae carrying the avirulence gene avrFfpf2. A map-based posi-tional cloning strategy was used to identify RPSP. The identification of RPS2 wasverified using a newlydevel-oped transient assay for RPSP function and by genetic complementation in transgenic plants. RPS2 encodes a novel 105 kDa protein containing a leucine zipper, a nucieotide-binding site, and 14 imperfect ieucine-rich repeats.
Canagliflozin triggers the FGF23/1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D/PTH axis in healthy volunteers in a randomized crossover study.

BACKGROUND Sodium glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are the most recently approved class of drugs for type 2 diabetes and provide both glycemic efficacy and cardiovascular risk reduction. A number of safety issues have been identified, including treatment-emergent bone fractures. To understand the overall clinical profile, these safety issues must be balanced against an attractive efficacy profile. Our study was designed to investigate pathophysiological mechanisms mediating treatment-emergent adverse effects on bone health. METHODS We conducted a single-blind randomized crossover study in hospitalized healthy adults (n = 25) receiving either canagliflozin (300 mg/d) or placebo for 5 days. The primary end-point was the drug-induced change in AUC for plasma intact fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) immunoactivity between 24 and 72 hours. RESULTS Canagliflozin administration increased placebo-subtracted mean levels of serum phosphorus (+16%), plasma FGF23 (+20%), and plasma parathyroid hormone (PTH) (+25%), while decreasing the level of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (-10%). There was substantial interindividual variation in the magnitude of each of these pharmacodynamic responses. The increase in plasma FGF23 was correlated with the increase in serum phosphorus, and the decrease in plasma 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D was correlated with the increase in plasma FGF23. CONCLUSIONS Canagliflozin induced a prompt increase in serum phosphorus, which triggers downstream changes in FGF23, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, and PTH, with potential to exert adverse effects on bone health. These pharmacodynamic data provide a foundation for future research to elucidate pathophysiological mechanisms of adverse effects on bone health, with the objective of devising therapeutic strategies to mitigate the drug-associated fracture risk. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrial.gov (NCT02404870). FUNDING Supported by the Intramural Program of NIDDK.
Characteristics of Children Prescribed Antipsychotics: Analysis of Routinely Collected Data

Abstract Objective: Antipsychotics are licensed for psychosis and are also prescribed for behavior control. This study aims to examine characteristics and outcomes of children prescribed antipsychotics. Methods: A cohort study using general practice and hospital records linked with education records for 1,488,936 children living in Wales between 1999 and 2015. The characteristics of the children who were prescribed antipsychotics are presented using descriptive statistics and outcomes such as respiratory illness, diabetes, and injury were analyzed using multilevel logistic regression and the prior event rate ratio (PERR). Results: Children with intellectual difficulty/autism were more likely to be prescribed antipsychotics (2.8% have been prescribed an antipsychotic [75% with autism] compared with 0.15% of children without intellectual difficulty). Those with intellectual disabilities/autism were prescribed antipsychotics at a younger age and for a longer period. Antipsychotic use was associated with a higher rate of respiratory illness for all (PERR of hospital admission: 1.55 [95% CI: 1.51–1.598] or increase in rate of 2 per 100 per year in those treated), and for those with intellectual difficulty/autism, there was a higher rate of injury and hospitalized depression. However, among those without intellectual difficulty/autism, there were lower rates of depression (PERR: 0.55 [95% CI: 0.51–0.59]). Conclusions: This work shows real-world use of antipsychotics and provides information on the rate of possible adverse events in children treated. Antipsychotics are predominantly used for those with intellectual difficulty/autism rather than those with a psychotic diagnosis. There is evidence that rates of respiratory disease, epilepsy, and diabetes are also higher postantipsychotic use for all. In those with intellectual difficulty/autism, hospital-admitted depression and injury are higher postantipsychotic use. The use of antipsychotics for behavioral management is likely to have increased cost implications to the healthcare system.
Soil property database: Southern Great Plains 1997 Hydrology Experiment

Many models used in land surface hydrology, vadose zone hydrology, and hydroclimatology require an accurate representation of soil properties. Unfortunately, existing soil property databases are limited in terms of reliability, precision, and their usefulness in evolving soil‐vegetation‐atmosphere‐transfer (SVAT) schemes of general circulation models (GCMs) or regional‐scale hydrologic models. Furthermore, not many site‐specific, comprehensive soil property measurement campaigns have been carried out concurrently with large‐scale remote sensing hydrologic campaigns. To better understand the complex and interdependent geophysical processes in the near surface, we conducted an extensive soil property measurement campaign during the Southern Great Plains 1997 (SGP97) Hydrology Experiment. We measured soil physical, hydraulic, and thermal properties across the SGP97 study region. The resulting soil property database not only is useful for evaluating the SVAT schemes in GCMs and other hydrologic models but also can be used as a basis for transfer function modeling, extrapolating point estimates of soil properties to larger spatial scales, testing point and nonpoint source pollution modeling, and evaluating evolving hypotheses in water and energy transfer across the land‐atmosphere boundary. The complete data report [ Shouse et al., 2002 ] and raw data are available upon request from the George E. Brown Salinity Laboratory. Summarized data are given by Mohanty et al. [1999] .