Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deletion of the 5‐HT3A‐receptor subunit blunts the induction of cocaine sensitization

Serotonin (5‐HT) receptors are classified into seven groups (5‐HT1–7), comprising at least 14 structurally and pharmacologically distinct receptor subtypes. Pharmacological antagonism of ionotropic 5‐HT3 receptors has been shown to modulate both behavioral and neurochemical aspects of the induction of sensitization to cocaine. It is not known, however, if specific molecular subunits of the 5‐HT3 receptor influence the development of cocaine sensitization. To address this question, we studied the effects of acute and chronic intermittent cocaine administration in mice with a targeted deletion of the gene for the 5‐HT3A‐receptor subunit (5‐HT3A−/−). 5‐HT3A (−/−) mice showed blunted induction of cocaine‐induced locomotor sensitization as compared with wild‐type littermate controls. 5‐HT3A (−/−) mice did not differ from wild‐type littermate controls on measures of basal motor activity or response to acute cocaine treatment. Enhanced locomotor response to saline injection following cocaine sensitization was observed equally in 5‐HT3A (−/−) and wild‐type mice suggesting similar conditioned effects associated with chronic cocaine treatment. These data show a role for the 5‐HT3A‐receptor subunit in the induction of behavioral sensitization to cocaine and suggest that the 5‐HT3A molecular subunit modulates neurobehavioral adaptations to cocaine, which may underlie aspects of addiction.
Lesion of the Central Nucleus of the Amygdala Decreases Basal CRH mRNA Expression and Stress‐Induced ACTH Release

Stress integrative neurons localized in the medial parvocellular paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus are the prime mediators of the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) stress response. ’ In response to stress, these neurons secrete corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP), which act at the anterior pituitary to trigger the release of ACTH. ’” Ultimate control of the PVN CRHIAVP neurons is accomplished by a complex CNS circuitry. Among such circuitry, the amygdala has been identified as a focal point for initiation of the HPA stress response.6 Recent data further implicated the central nucleus of the amygdala (Ace) in the mediation of ACTH release, in that lesion of Ace significantly reduces the secretion of ACTH and CORT in response to immobilization stress? ,’ These studies were designed to determine whether the Ace is involved in circuitmediated regulation of hypophysiotrophic PVN neurons. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-325 gm) received bilateral injection of ibotenic acid (3.0 @side) (IBO) or 0.9% saline (SHAM) into the Ace. After a recovery period of 7 days, groups of IBO and SHAM rats were exposed to one hour of restraint stress (in the AM). Following stress animals were sacrificed by rapid decapitation. Control animals were sacrificed without exposure to stress. Trunk blood was collected and ACTH and CORT levels assayed to confirm the stress response. In situ hybridization histochemistry was used to assess localization and regulation of CRH and AVP mRNA in PVN. Adjacent brain sections (15 pm) were postfixed in 4% paraformaldehyde fixative and hybridized with 35S UTP-labeled cRNA probes complementary to AVPexon C (229 bp sequence encoding the C-terminal glycoprotein of preproAVP) and CRH exon 2 (760 bp sequence encoding the coding region and proximal 3’ untranslated region of preproCRH). Images from emulsion-dipped slides were analyzed densitometrically using NIH Image software (CRH) or processed for manual cell counts (AVP). Identification and quantitation of AVP parvocellular neurons was assessed in Nissl counterstained sections. Positive neurons had grains associated with darkly stained nuclei and were localized in the medial parvocellular PVN. Scattered magnocellular neurons identified on the basis of size and grain density were not counted. A significant increase in ACTH and CORT was seen 60 min following stress in the SHAM rats, indicating activation of the HPA axis by acute stress (TABLE 1). However, IBO rats showed decreased stress-induced ACTH secretion at the 60-min time point relative to SHAM stressed rats. SHAM and IBO animals did not differ in baseline ACTH or CORT (TABLE 1). In the PVN, CRH mRNA significantly decreased (58%; p = 0.018) in unstressed IBO rats relative to unstressed SHAM rats. A trend toward significance was seen in the stressed IBO rats relative to unstressed
An optimal control method for biped robot with stable walking gait

This paper proposes an optimal control method for a 10 degree of freedom (DOF) biped robot with stable walking gait. The biped robot is modeled as a 3D inverted pendulum. From dynamic model of the 3D inverted pendulum and under the assumption that center of mass (COM) of the biped robot moves on a horizontal constraint plane, zero moment point (ZMP) equations of the biped robot depending on the coordinate of the center of the pelvis link obtained from the dynamic model of the biped robot are given based on the DdasiaAlembertpsilas principle. A walking pattern is generated based on ZMP tracking control systems that are constructed to track the ZMP of the biped robot to zigzag ZMP reference trajectory decided by the footprint of the biped robot. An optimal tracking controller is designed to control the ZMP tracking control system. From the trajectory of the COM of the biped robot and an arc reference input of the swinging leg, the inverse kinematics solved by the solid geometry method is used to compute the angles of each joint of the biped robot. The simulation and experimental results show the effectiveness of this proposed control method.
Predictive Risk Factors in Childhood Urinary Tract Infection, Vesicoureteral Reflux, and Renal Scarring Management

Approaches to the management of children with urinary tract infection (UTI), vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), and renal scars have been challenged and have become controversial over the past decade. It is difficult to determine when, how, and which patients will benefit from the diagnosis and management of this condition. Therefore, the issues of diagnostic imaging, observation, follow-up, and intervention tend to be decided more on a case-by-case basis, rather than by using an algorithm. Over the past few years, there have been advances in the identification of risk factors that predispose patients with UTI to present with VUR, to develop recurrent UTIs and renal scars, to have deteriorating renal function, to show VUR improvement and/or spontaneous resolution, and to be candidates for and benefit from early surgical intervention.
Physicians' behavior and their interactions with drug companies. A controlled study of physicians who requested additions to a hospital drug formulary.

OBJECTIVE It is controversial whether physicians' interactions with drug companies affect their behavior. To test the null hypothesis, that such interactions are not associated with physician behavior, we studied one behavior: requesting that a drug be added to a hospital formulary. DESIGN Nested case-control study. SETTING University hospital. PARTICIPANTS Full-time attending physicians. Case physicians were all 40 physicians who requested a formulary addition from January 1989 through October 1990. Control physicians were 80 randomly selected physicians who had not made requests. MAIN EXPOSURE MEASURE Physician interactions with drug companies, as determined by survey of physicians (response rate, 88% [105/120]). RESULTS Physicians who had requested that drugs be added to the formulary interacted with drug companies more often than other physicians; for example, they were more likely to have accepted money from companies to attend or speak at educational symposia or to perform research (odds ratio [OR], 5.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.0 to 13.2). Furthermore, physicians were more likely than other physicians to have requested that drugs manufactured by specific companies be added to the formulary if they had met with pharmaceutical representatives from those companies (OR, 13.2; 95% CI, 4.8 to 36.3) or had accepted money from those companies (OR, 19.2; 95% CI, 2.3 to 156.9). These associations were consistent in multivariable analyses controlling for potentially confounding factors. Moreover, physicians were more likely to have requested formulary additions made by the companies whose pharmaceutical representatives they had met (OR, 4.9; 95% CI, 3.2 to 7.4) or from whom they had accepted money (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.0 to 2.7) than they were to have requested drugs made by other companies. CONCLUSION Requests by physicians that drugs be added to a hospital formulary were strongly and specifically associated with the physicians' interactions with the companies manufacturing the drugs.
Load balancing in overlapping wireless LAN cells

We propose a load-balancing scheme for overlapping wireless LAN cells. Agents running in each access point broadcast periodically the local load level via the Ethernet backbone and determines whether the access point is overloaded, balanced or under-loaded by comparing it with the received reports. The load metric is the access point throughput. Overloaded access points force the handoff of some stations to balance the load. Only the under-loaded access points accept the roaming stations in minimizing the number of handoffs. We show via experimental evaluation that our balancing scheme increases the total wireless network throughput and decreases the cell delay.
Gene microarray analysis of human renal cell carcinoma: The effects of HDAC inhibition and retinoid treatment

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor treatments can augment the anti-tumor effects of retinoids in renal cancer cells. We studied the effects of the HDAC inhibitor suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) and 13-cis retinoic acid (cRA) on two human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) lines. Cells were cultured in the presence of each drug for six days to determine the responses to monotherapy and to combination therapy. The proliferation of SKRC06 was inhibited with cRA treatment; SKRC39 was not. However, both RCC lines were sensitive to growth inhibition by dibutyryl cyclic AMP, with or without 13-cis RA. SAHA alone also reduced cell proliferation in both cell lines. To identify the alterations in gene expression that correlate with the responsiveness to treatment, gene microarray analyses were performed. Several retinoid-regulated genes exhibited much higher mRNA levels in SKRC06 than in SKRC39, even in the absence of drugs; these included crabp2, rar, and cyp26A1. Combination treatment of cells with both SAHA and cRA induced several transcripts with known anti-cancer/immunomodulatory effects, including dhrs9, gata3, il1, phlda1, txk and vhl. Immunostaining confirmed the decreased expression of gata3 in human RCC specimens compared to normal kidney. Together, our results show that treatment of RCC with cRA and/or SAHA increases the expression of several genes and gene families that result in reduced cell proliferation.
Global Distribution and Prevalence of Arcobacter in Food and Water

The emerging foodborne and waterborne pathogen, Arcobacter, has been linked to various gastrointestinal diseases. Currently, 19 species are established or proposed; consequently, there has been an increase in the number of publications regarding Arcobacter since it was first introduced in 1991. To better understand the potential public health risks posed by Arcobacter, this review summarizes the current knowledge concerning the global distribution and the prevalence of Arcobacter in food and water. Arcobacter spp. were identified in food animals, food‐processing environments and a variety of foods, including vegetables, poultry, beef, dairy products, seafood, pork, lamb and rabbit. A wide range of waterbodies has been reported to be contaminated with Arcobacter spp. , such as wastewater, seawater, lake and river water, drinking water, groundwater and recreational water. In addition, Arcobacter has also been isolated from pets, domestic birds, wildlife, zoo and farm animals. It is expected that advancements in molecular techniques will facilitate better detection worldwide and aid in understanding the pathogenicity of Arcobacter. However, more extensive and rigorous surveillance systems are needed to better understand the occurrence of Arcobacter in food and water in various regions of the world, as well as uncover other potential public health risks, that is antibiotic resistance and disinfection efficiency, to reduce the possibility of foodborne and waterborne infections.
A quantization error analysis for convergent stereo

In this paper, a statistical error analysis is developed to show how the performance of a stereo ranging system relies on system parameters. Formulas for expected absolute depth error, expected relative depth error, and lower and upper bounds of depth error are derived. We show that for a given convergence angle, a simple, but important, parameter called generalized depth resolvability completely determines the performance of the system. These results are useful for the design of fixed ranging systems in constrained environments, or for the active selection of system parameters in "purposive" stereo systems. <<ETX>>
Coadministration of epidermal growth factor and growth hormone releasing peptide-6 improves clinical recovery in experimental autoimmune encephalitis.

PURPOSE Multiple sclerosis is a complex and devastating autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. Up to now, a constellation of candidate drugs have been evaluated with no major success. Experimental Autoimmune Encephalitis (EAE) is the animal counterpart that reproduces critical features of the human MS process. The aim of the present work is to study a possible therapeutic effect of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and growth hormone releasing peptide-6 (GHRP(6)) coadministration in mild and severe EAE. METHODS Mild and severe forms of EAE were generated immunizing rats and mice with xenogeneic spinal cord homogenate and with the encephalitogenic peptide MOG(p35-35), respectively. EGF and GHRP(6) alone or combined were administered in therapeutic and prophylactic schedules. A clinical score was established to follow-up the animals during the disease period. Malondialdehyde (MDA) serum concentration and insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) relative level from brain tissue were determined. RESULTS Only the combined EGF+GHRP(6) therapy reduced the clinical score in mild as well in severe EAE forms. The combination also improved the survival rate in nearly 100% of the severe EAE animals. In addition to these effects, there was an increase in the brain IGF-1 transcript and a decrease of serum MDA. CONCLUSIONS EGF+GHRP(6) proved to be effective in improving the natural course of both mild and severe EAE. Accordingly, the treatment reduces inflammatory infiltration and microvascular damage, which may be associated to the attenuation of the lipid peroxidation process and the transcriptional enhancement of IGF-1, a major pro-survival factor for brain cells.
Inter-Cell Interference Reduction via Store Carry and Forward Relaying

The integration of mobile relays in cellular networks has been recently envisioned as a way of increasing system capacity, coverage and reducing communication energy consumption. In [1] we studied how store carry and forward (SCF) relaying within the cell can be utilized as an underlay message forwarding mechanism to achieve system wide energy savings. In this paper, by deriving optimal routing policies to reduce either the total energy consumption or the total transmit power, we show that the SCF relaying scheme reduces considerably inter-cell interference. We detail the factors affecting the maximum interference reductions, including the delay tolerance of elastic data traffic and flow characteristics of vehicles in the road network which in this case are used as mobile relay nodes.
Electrostatics improvement in 3-D tri-gate over ultra-thin body planar InGaAs quantum well field effect transistors with high-K gate dielectric and scaled gate-to-drain/gate-to-source separation

In this work, 3-D Tri-gate and ultra-thin body planar InGaAs quantum well field effect transistors (QWFETs) with high-K gate dielectric and scaled gate-to-source/gate-to-drain (LSIDE) have been fabricated and compared. For the first time, 3-D Tri-gate InGaAs devices demonstrate electrostatics improvement over the ultra-thin (QW thickness, TQW=10nm) body planar InGaAs device due to (i) narrow fin width (WFIN) of 30nm and (ii) high quality high-K gate dielectric interface on the InGaAs fin. Additionally, the 3-D Tri-gate InGaAs devices in this work achieve the best electrostatics, as evidenced by the steepest SS and the smallest DIBL, ever reported for any high-K III–V field effect transistor. The results in this work show that the 3-D Tri-gate device architecture is an effective way to improve the scalability of III–V FETs for future low power logic applications.
Improving Medical Literature Sourcing by First-Year Medical Students in Problem-Based Learning: Outcomes of Early Interventions

Purpose To describe and report outcomes of interventions implemented in the preclerkship curriculum at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA to guide students toward use of high-quality information sources and build a foundation for developing fluency in applying primary medical literature to answer clinical questions. Method The authors introduced three phases of change to instruction in literature searching and sourcing for beginning medical students writing learning issue essays: in phase 1 (2003–2006), students were introduced to online resources during orientation week and received a lecture on high-yield literature searching midway through their first curricular block; in phase 2 (2007–2008), the high-yield lecture shifted to orientation week, and a resource matrix and librarian-guided workshop on locating authoritative sources were added; and in phase 3 (2009), peer evaluation and collaboration were implemented. To track changes in sourcing skills, the authors analyzed 3,199 references from 665 essays written by 465 first-year students for two problem-based learning (PBL) cases during the first block of one representative year per phase (2006, 2008, 2009). Results Over the study period, the authors found significantly increased citations to peer-reviewed journal articles and guidelines and decreased citations to general public Web sites and highly abstracted resources. Peer feedback and collaboration in phase 3 were associated with maintenance of these gains. Conclusions Early introduction of instruction on medical literature searching and sourcing, a librarian-guided workshop, and peer collaboration and feedback improved the quality of references cited by students in PBL essays during their first curricular block.
Relationship between astrocytes, ganglion cells and vasculature of the retina

We have studied the distribution of astrocytes in the ganglion cell and nerve fibre layers of the retina in cat, rat, rabbit, and possum using antiserum and a monoclonal antibody against glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and our own monoclonal antibody against glial filaments. The distribution of retinal astrocytes appears to be strongly determined by the vasculature of the retina; astrocytes are absent from almost all the retina of the possum and from the avascular regions of the rabbit retina. In the cat and rabbit, retinal astrocytes also show a strong affinity for the bundles of ganglion cell axons found at the inner surface of the retina.
Hypoxia-induced metabolic stress in retinal pigment epithelial cells is sufficient to induce photoreceptor degeneration

Photoreceptors are the most numerous and metabolically demanding cells in the retina. Their primary nutrient source is the choriocapillaris, and both the choriocapillaris and photoreceptors require trophic and functional support from retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. Defects in RPE, photoreceptors, and the choriocapillaris are characteristic of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common vision-threatening disease. RPE dysfunction or death is a primary event in AMD, but the combination(s) of cellular stresses that affect the function and survival of RPE are incompletely understood. Here, using mouse models in which hypoxia can be genetically triggered in RPE, we show that hypoxia-induced metabolic stress alone leads to photoreceptor atrophy. Glucose and lipid metabolism are radically altered in hypoxic RPE cells; these changes impact nutrient availability for the sensory retina and promote progressive photoreceptor degeneration. Understanding the molecular pathways that control these responses may provide important clues about AMD pathogenesis and inform future therapies. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.14319. 001
SCID mice reconstituted with IL-4-deficient lymphocytes, but not immunocompetent lymphocytes, are resistant to cutaneous leishmaniasis.

To characterize the roles of lymphoid- and non-lymphoid-derived IL-4 during cutaneous infection with Leishmania mexicana, the disease was monitored in SCID mice reconstituted with splenocytes from either immunocompetent BALB/c mice or IL-4-deficient BALB/c mice. Whereas following s.c. infection with L. mexicana no lesion growth was observed in BALB/c IL-4(-/-) mice and lesion growth was significantly inhibited in SCID mice, rapid initial lesion growth occurred in both SCID IL-4(+/+) and SCID IL-4(-/-) reconstituted mice. However, after 3 to 4 wk of infection, lesions in SCID IL-4(-/-) but not SCID IL-4(+/+) reconstituted mice began to heal. This paralleled a developing Th1-like phenotype and parasite clearance in the former group and a developing Th2-like phenotype in the latter group. Lesion sites from the healing SCID IL-4(-/-) mice expressed the inducible nitric oxide synthase, whereas the SCID IL-4(+/+) mice with progressive disease did not. These findings indicate that non-lymphocyte-derived IL-4 may play a role in initiating lesion growth following cutaneous infection with L. mexicana, but the presence of lymphocyte-derived IL-4 is essential for disease progression, and in its absence, lesions heal due to a developing Th1 phenotype.
The association of the expression of MTA1, nm23H1 with the invasion, metastasis of ovarian carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE To understanding the molecular mechanisms in invasion and metastasis of the ovarian carcinoma, we investigate a novel candidate metastasis-associated gene (MTA1) and nm23H1 mRNA expression and mutation in ovarian carcinoma. METHODS Twenty primary ovarian carcinoma specimens, 20 corresponding lymph nodes and 8 normal ovarian was examined for mRNA expression and mutation of MTA1 and nm23H1 genes by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and RT-PCR-SSCP analysis. The level of the expression was determined by the relative optic density (ROD) of the PCR products. RESULTS The frequency of MAT1 overexpression was 100% (7/7) in primary ovarian carcinoma with metastasis but only 38.5% (5/13) in those without metastasis (P=0.0103). Overexpression of MAT1 was observed in 87.5% (6/7) of lymph nodes with metastasis but only 23% (3/13) of lymph nodes without metastasis (P=0.0118). In contrast with MAT1, low expression of nm23H1 mRNA was seen in 7 of 7 ovarian carcinoma with metastasis but only in 4 of 13 (30%) of those without metastasis (P=0.0043). Low nm23H1 expression was also seen in 7 of 7 lymph nodes with metastasis but only in 5 of 13 (38.5%) nonmetastatic lymph nodes (P=0.0102). The ROD ratio of MAT1 to nm23H1 increased with the development of metastasis. No mutation of MAT1 and nm23H1 genes was found by SSCP analysis. CONCLUSION The mRNA expression of MTA1 and nm23H1 is positively and negatively correlated with lymph node metastasis, respectively. Expression abnormalities but not mutation of the two genes are frequent events related to lymph node metastasis of ovarian cancer.