Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Promoting Neurovascular Recovery in Aged Mice after Ischemic Stroke - Prophylactic Effect of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids

The aged population is among the highest at risk for ischemic stroke, yet most stroke patients of advanced ages (>80 years) are excluded from access to thrombolytic treatment by tissue plasminogen activator, the only FDA approved pharmacological therapy for stroke victims. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) robustly alleviate ischemic brain injury in young adult rodents, but have not yet been studied in aged animals. This study investigated whether chronic dietary supplementation of n-3 PUFAs protects aging brain against cerebral ischemia and improves long-term neurological outcomes. Aged (18-month-old) mice were administered n-3 PUFA-enriched fish oil in daily chow for 3 months before and up to 8 weeks after 45 minutes of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO). Sensorimotor outcomes were assessed by cylinder test and corner test up to 35 days and brain repair dynamics evaluated immunohistologically up to 56 days after tMCAO. Mice receiving dietary supplementation of n-3 PUFAs for 3 months showed significant increases in brain ratio of n-3/n-6 PUFA contents, and markedly reduced long-term sensorimotor deficits and chronic ischemic brain tissue loss after tMCAO. Mechanistically, n-3 PUFAs robustly promoted post-ischemic angiogenesis and neurogenesis, and enhanced white matter integrity after tMCAO. The Pearson linear regression analysis revealed that the enhancement of neurogenesis and white matter integrity both correlated positively with improved sensorimotor activities after tMCAO. This study demonstrates that prophylactic dietary supplementation of n-3 PUFAs effectively improves long-term stroke outcomes in aged mice, perhaps by promoting post-stroke brain repair processes such as angiogenesis, neurogenesis, and white matter restoration.
A novel lens for high-luminance LED direct backlight

Low light utilization rate of about only 5% for LED backlight that needs much more LEDs to ensure the luminance of LED display is rather a challenge, which offers one reason for LED display's high price [1]. In this paper, effect of reflecting property of cavity walls and emergent angle of the light emitting from LED on the transmittance of prism sheets in bottom-lit LED backlight system was investigated. Through simulation, the transmittance varies greatly both in longitudinal and latitudinous direction when light passes through brightness enhancement film (BEF) [2-6]. As emergent angle was demonstrated to have great effect on the transmittance, freeform lens was designed to redistribute the intensity of emitting light to enhance the transmittance. We find that a freeform lens designed according to the transmittance of BEF, the luminance of the backlight can be enhanced as much as two times more than traditional backlight without any lens.
Direct Access to Physical Therapy in the Netherlands: Results From the First Year in Community-Based Physical Therapy

Background: In 2006, direct access to physical therapy was introduced in the Netherlands. Before this policy measure, evaluation and treatment by a physical therapist were only possible following referral by a physician. Objective: The objectives of this study were to investigate how many patients use direct access and to establish whether these patients have a different profile than referred patients. Methods: Electronic health care data from the National Information Service for Allied Health Care (LiPZ), a nationally representative registration network of 93 Dutch physical therapists working in 43 private practices, were used. Results: In 2006, 28% of the patients seen by a physical therapist came by direct access. Patients with non–further-specified back problems, patients with nonspecific neck complaints, and higher-educated patients were more likely to refer themselves to a physical therapist, as were patients with health problems lasting for less than 1 month. Younger patients made more use of direct access. In addition, patients with recurring complaints more often referred themselves, as did patients who had received earlier treatment by a physical therapist. Patients with direct access received fewer treatment sessions. Compared with 2005, there was no increase in the number of patients visiting a physical therapist. Limitations: Data came only from physical therapists working on general conditions in general practices. Severity of complaints is not reported. Conclusions: A large, specific group of patients utilized self-referral, but the total number of patients seen by a physical therapist remained the same. In the future, it is important to evaluate the consequences of direct access, both on quality aspects and on cost-effectiveness.
Analysis of Eyeblink Activity during Discriminative Tasks

To evaluate the blinking pattern during and after cognitive processing, 10 subjects' eyeblinks were recorded by a videotape recording camera placed 100 cm from the subjects' side. The subjects' task was to discriminate two kinds of auditory tones presented serially and to discriminate two kinds of visual stimuli presented serially. Treatments were composed of the baseline condition preexperiment, the visual task with no discrimination, the visual discriminative task, the auditory task with no discrimination, and the auditory discriminative task. The blink rate in each treatment, the temporal distribution of blinks poststimulus, and the blink waveform were evaluated. Although blinks were not inhibited during tasks, frequent blinks after tasks were observed in both modalities. Blinks concentrated between 300 msec. and 800 msec. after the discriminated stimulus and formulated the blink-rate peak. The closing velocity of lid in the blink rate peak was lower after auditory stimulus. Moreover, the lid's opening velocity after the auditory discrimination was higher. These results indicated that the eyelid closed slowly and opened quickly after the auditory discriminative stimulus.
Identification of a pharmacologically tractable Fra-1/ADORA2B axis promoting breast cancer metastasis

Metastasis confronts clinicians with two major challenges: estimating the patient's risk of metastasis and identifying therapeutic targets. Because they are key signal integrators connecting cellular processes to clinical outcome, we aimed to identify transcriptional nodes regulating cancer cell metastasis. Using rodent xenograft models that we previously developed, we identified the transcription factor Fos-related antigen-1 (Fra-1) as a key coordinator of metastasis. Because Fra-1 often is overexpressed in human metastatic breast cancers and has been shown to control their invasive potential in vitro, we aimed to assess the implication and prognostic significance of the Fra-1–dependent genetic program in breast cancer metastasis and to identify potential Fra-1–dependent therapeutic targets. In several in vivo assays in mice, we demonstrate that stable RNAi depletion of Fra-1 from human breast cancer cells strongly suppresses their ability to metastasize. These results support a clinically important role for Fra-1 and the genetic program it controls. We show that a Fra-1–dependent gene-expression signature accurately predicts recurrence of breast cancer. Furthermore, a synthetic lethal drug screen revealed that antagonists of the adenosine receptor A2B (ADORA2B) are preferentially toxic to breast tumor cells expressing Fra-1. Both RNAi silencing and pharmacologic blockade of ADORA2B inhibited filopodia formation and invasive activity of breast cancer cells and correspondingly reduced tumor outgrowth in the lungs. These data show that Fra-1 activity is causally involved in and is a prognostic indicator of breast cancer metastasis. They suggest that Fra-1 activity predicts responsiveness to inhibition of pharmacologically tractable targets, such as ADORA2B, which may be used for clinical interference of metastatic breast cancer.
Pharmacology of neurokinin receptors

The neurokinins are a group of naturally occurring peptides with the common C‐terminal sequence Phe‐X‐Gly‐Leu‐Met · NH2. They include substance P (SP), neurokinin A (NKA), and neurokinin B (NKB). SP and NKA are coded on the same gene, the PPT‐A, while NKB is coded on a separate gene, the PPT‐B. Neurokinins are present in the central nervous system and in peripheral organs where they exert various actions. They act on three receptors–NK‐1, NK‐2, and NK‐3–characterized through pharmacological, biochemical, and histochemical studies. Selective agonists for each neurokinin receptor were developed and evaluated on isolated smooth muscle preparations containing only one neurokinin receptor type. All three neurokinin receptors were cloned and expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Relative affinities of those receptors to neurokinins are the same as in their respective smooth muscle preparation. Finally, the mechanism of action of SP on histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cell has been studied and a direct activation of G proteins by peptides with basic amino acids is proposed as a working hypothesis.
The Role of Leptin in the Development of Pulmonary Neutrophilia in Infection and Acute Lung Injury*

Objectives:One of the hallmarks of severe pneumonia and associated acute lung injury is neutrophil recruitment to the lung. Leptin is thought to be up-regulated in the lung following injury and to exert diverse effects on leukocytes, influencing both chemotaxis and survival. We hypothesized that pulmonary leptin contributes directly to the development of pulmonary neutrophilia during pneumonia and acute lung injury. Design:Controlled human and murine in vivo and ex vivo experimental studies. Setting:Research laboratory of a university hospital. Subjects:Healthy human volunteers and subjects hospitalized with bacterial and H1N1 pneumonia. C57Bl/6 and db/db mice were also used. Interventions:Lung samples from patients and mice with either bacterial or H1N1 pneumonia and associated acute lung injury were immunostained for leptin. Human bronchoalveolar lavage samples obtained after lipopolysaccharide-induced lung injury were assayed for leptin. C57Bl/6 mice were examined after oropharyngeal aspiration of recombinant leptin alone or in combination with Escherichia coli- or Klebsiella pneumoniae-induced pneumonia. Leptin-resistant (db/db) mice were also examined using the E. coli model. Bronchoalveolar lavage neutrophilia and cytokine levels were measured. Leptin-induced chemotaxis was examined in human blood- and murine marrow-derived neutrophils in vitro. Measurements and Main Results:Injured human and murine lung tissue showed leptin induction compared to normal lung, as did human bronchoalveolar lavage following lipopolysaccharide instillation. Bronchoalveolar lavage neutrophilia in uninjured and infected mice was increased and lung bacterial load decreased by airway leptin administration, whereas bronchoalveolar lavage neutrophilia in infected leptin-resistant mice was decreased. In sterile lung injury by lipopolysaccharide, leptin also appeared to decrease airspace neutrophil apoptosis. Both human and murine neutrophils migrated toward leptin in vitro, and this required intact signaling through the Janus Kinase 2/phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase pathway. Conclusions:We demonstrate that pulmonary leptin is induced in injured human and murine lungs and that this cytokine is effective in driving alveolar airspace neutrophilia. This action appears to be caused by direct effects of leptin on neutrophils.
Barriers to quality care for dying patients in rural communities.

CONTEXT Barriers to providing optimal palliative care in rural communities are not well understood. PURPOSE To identify health care personnel's perceptions of the care provided to dying patients in rural Kansas and Colorado and to identify barriers to providing optimal care. METHODS An anonymous self-administered survey was sent to health care personnel throughout 2 rural practice-based research networks. Targeted personnel included clinicians, nurses, medical assistants, chaplains, social workers, administrators, and ancillary staff, who worked at hospice organizations, hospitals, ambulatory clinics, public health agencies, home health agencies, and nursing homes. FINDINGS Results from 363 completed surveys indicated that most health care personnel were satisfied with the palliative care being provided in their health care facilities (84%) and that most were comfortable helping dying patients transition from a curative to a palliative focus of care (87%). Yet, many reported that the palliative care provided could be improved and many reported that family members' avoidance of issues around dying (60%) was a barrier to providing optimal care in rural health care facilities. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that health care personnel perceive they are effective at providing palliative care in their rural health care facilities, yet face barriers to providing optimal end-of-life care. Results of this study suggest that differences in training and experience may influence health care personnel's perceptions of the existing barriers. It may be important in rural areas to customize interventions to both the professional role and the site of care.
Circularly polarized conical-beam patch antenna with frequency agility

A frequency reconfigurable design for circularly polarized antennas with conical radiation patterns is described. The design is based on a circular microstrip antenna that is operated at TM21 mode and excited by dual orthogonal feeds with a phase difference of 90°. To vary the resonant frequency of the antenna, several varactors are placed along the circumference of the circular radiating patch. According to the simulated results, it is found that the resonant frequency can be tuned from 1.55 to 2.9 GHz when the capacitance value of the varactors is decreased from 2 to 0 pF. Moreover, the antenna at each resonant frequency can provide an omnidirectional radiation pattern with good circular polarization performance and a return loss of less than 10 dB.
Regeneration and Recovery of the Hearing Function of the Central Auditory Pathway by Transplants of Embryonic Brain Tissue in Adult Rats

The present study is the first report of successful regeneration and recovery of hearing function of the central auditory pathway after transection in the adult rat. The ventral cochlear tract in the brain stem to pons was transected on one side in adult rats. Tissue from embryos (E14 to E16) was used to cover the lesion site. In 30% of the rats examined, the axons regrew beyond the transected site and regenerated into the denervated side and terminated at the normal targets. The hearing function of rats was elucidated by recording the auditory brain stem response (ABR). Rats with successful regeneration showed nearly normal ABR. In rats receiving simple transection without covering embryonic tissue, there was no regeneration and hearing function did not recover. Thus, the present findings contradict the widely held view that the adult mammalian central auditory system cannot be restored following damage.
A reconfigurable feed network for a dual circularly polarised antenna array

A novel miniaturised reconfigurable, switchable feed network for a four elements dual circularly polarised antenna array is proposed. The four feeds are in phase quadrature to give a phase shift of 90o between each neighbouring antenna element, producing a circularly polarised pattern. The feed network consists of three conventional Wilkinson power dividers which can be individually reconfigured in length using PIN diodes switches. By controlling the bias voltages of these PIN diodes, the 90o phase increment can be allocated in either clockwise or counter-clockwise directions. Two orthogonal patterns with left-hand circular polarisation (LHCP) and right-hand circular polarisation (RHCP) are generated. The operating frequency is 2.45GHz, targeting WiFi applications. After miniaturisation and optimisation, the feed network achieves a low return loss, equal power splitting, low insertion loss and accurate phase difference. Fabrication and measurement results closely correlate with those obtained from simulations. The reconfigurable feed network is particularly useful for diversity reception to combat channel fading in indoor wireless LAN applications.
T-Cell Avidity and Tuning: The Flexible Connection Between Tolerance and Autoimmunity

Thymic T-cell selection mechanisms generate a cross-reactive, self-MHC restricted peripheral T-cell pool. Affinity and avidity are of profound influence on this selection and the generation of immunity. Autoreactive T cells can escape thymic deletion by lowering their avidity and retain this “tuned” state in the periphery. Upon activation, tuned T cells can cause autoimmunity, while immunotherapeutic strategies may be hampered by existing T-cell tolerance. The regulation of T-cell avidity and tuning therefore determines the balance between tolerance and autoimmunity and should be taken into account in the design of therapeutic strategies aimed at T-cell reactivity.
Proxy Reporting of Quality of Life Using the EQ-5D

Background. The economic evaluation of health interventions for older people is complicated by the difficulty in obtaining self-reports of quality of life from persons with cognitive impairments, physical impairments, or both. Objectives. Using the EQ-5D (EuroQoL) measures, to assess: (1) agreement between subjects and proxies on subject’s quality of life ratings at different points in time; (2) agreement between subjects and proxies on change of subject’s quality of life ratings over time; and (3) subject and proxy characteristics related to agreement. Research Design. Prospective study of subjects visiting hospital emergency departments (ED). Data were collected at enrollment in the ED and at follow-up, 1 and 4 months after the ED visit. Subjects. The study comprised 231 pairs of cognitively intact patients aged 65 years or older and their primary caregivers. Measures. Quality of life was measured using both components of the EQ-5D scale, the index score and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Demographic characteristics and health status (physical and mental) were measured for both subjects and proxies. Subjects and proxies were interviewed either in English or French. Results. There was low to moderate agreement between subjects and proxies at different points in time (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.22 to 0.59), and between subject and proxy change scores over time (ICC = 0–0.50), on both the index score and the VAS. Better agreement between subjects and proxies was found at the 4 months follow-up, when the subject was less depressed, and when the proxy’s native language was English. Conclusions. Proxy EQ-5D responses, either for a specific point in time or for assessing change over time, may not be valid measures of self-reported quality of life among older medically-ill patients.
Varying temporal and spatial effects of climate on maize and soybean affect yield prediction

The relationship between climatic factors and crop yields for maize and soybeans in 3 major producing countries (the United States, Brazil, and China) was analyzed statistically. Tempo- ral changes in the climateyield relationship were considered, and the temporal and spatial varia- tions were evaluated. County-level data from 1980 to 2006 were collected for each country and allo- cated to 1.125° × 1.125° grids. Data were analyzed for temporal changes in the effect of climate on yields using the particle filtering method for each grid. The 'current' effect of temperature on crop yields was shown to be geographically symmetric around the optimal temperatures (19.51°C for maize and 20.66°C for soybeans) in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, the 'current' effect of precipitation was more influential than that of temperature. The effects of these climatic factors changed over time. Whereas the negative effect of high temperatures has been mit- igated around the corn belt of the United States during the last 3 decades, it has intensified in Brazil, northern China, and the southern United States for maize. Consequently, predicted future yields dif- fered marginally depending on the relationship (past or current effect) used for the prediction, even when they were summarized on country scales. This study suggests that temporal changes in the relationship between weather and crop yields should be considered for better future predictions.
Explicit frequency control for high-quality texture-based flow visualization

In this work we propose an effective method for frequency-controlled dense flow visualization derived from a generalization of the Line Integral Convolution (LIC) technique. Our approach consists in considering the spectral properties of the dense flow visualization process as an integral operator defined in a local curvilinear coordinate system aligned with the flow. Exploring LIC from this point of view, we suggest a systematic way to design a flow visualization process with particular local spatial frequency properties of the resulting image. Our method is efficient, intuitive, and based on a long-standing model developed as a result of numerous perception studies. The method can be described as an iterative application of line integral convolution, followed by a one-dimensional Gabor filtering orthogonal to the flow. To demonstrate the utility of the technique, we generated novel adaptive multi-frequency flow visualizations, that according to our evaluation, feature a higher level of frequency control and higher quality scores than traditional approaches in texture-based flow visualization.
METAL ACCUMULATION FROM CONTAMINATED FOOD AND ITS EFFECT ON GROWTH OF JUVENILE LANDSNAILS Helix engaddensis

Metal accumulation by juvenile landsnails, Helix engaddensis, and its effect on growth rate was studied over a 5-week period of exposure and 2 weeks of recovery. An artificial food contaminated with Cu (4–2500 μg·g−1), Cd (50–800 μg·g−1), Pb, and Zn (20–12500 μg·g−1) was used. During the 7 weeks of the experiment, mortality rates were 20, 27, 30, and 38% among snails fed Cu-, Pb-, Zn- and Cd-contaminated food, respectively. According to the ability to inhibit growth, metals were found to have the following order: Cd>Zn>Cu=Pb. Inhibitory effects of dietary metals started to be significant from the third week of exposure on. Inhibition of growth by Pb and Cu was found to be reversible, and within the first week of recovery, snails erupted their aestivation and resumed feeding and growth to gain weights similar to those of the control groups. Snails fed Cd- or Zn-contaminated food failed to resume growth during the 2 weeks of recovery. This indicates that in the case of Cu and Pb, growth inhibition was mainly due to starvation due to food rejection and aestivation. On the other hand, growth inhibition caused by Cd and Zn may have been resulting from irreversible toxicity. Therefore, snails were assumed to be sensitive to Cd and Zn but tolerant to Cu and Pb. Accumulation of Cu and Pb was significant only at the highest concentrations. At low and medium concentrations, no signs of accumulation were observed, indicating regulation at these concentrations. Cd and Zn accumulation starts at low concentrations but became significant at medium and high levels indicating accumulation of these metals.