Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aspirations for Older Age in the 21st Century: What is Successful Aging?

The literature on successful aging reveals a wide range of definitions, generally reflecting the academic discipline of the investigator. Biomedical models primarily emphasise physical and mental functioning as successful aging; socio-psychological models emphasise social functioning, life satisfaction and psychological resources as successful aging. Several studies also identify these factors as the precursors of successful aging. Moreover, research shows that older people consider themselves to have aged successfully, but classifications based on traditional medical models do not. Fewer studies have explored lay views, and most of these have been exploratory or restricted to specific groups of areas. A model of successful aging needs to be multi-dimensional, incorporate a lay perspective for social significance, use a continuum rather than dichotomous cut-offs for “success” and lack of, and distinguish clearly between predictor and constituent variables.
Field-Plated Ga2O3 MOSFETs With a Breakdown Voltage of Over 750 V

Depletion-mode field-plated Ga<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors were demonstrated for the first time. Substantial enhancement in breakdown voltage was achieved with a gate-connected field plate. The device channels, formed by selective-area Si ion implantation doping of an undoped Ga<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> epilayer, were electrically isolated by the highly resistive epilayer without mesa etching. Effective surface passivation and high Ga<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> material quality contributed to the absence of drain current collapse. The transistors exhibited an off-state breakdown voltage of 755 V, a high drain current on/off ratio of over 10<sup>9</sup>, and stable high temperature operation against 300°C thermal stress.
Individual and Group Psychotherapy with Infertile Couples

ABSTRACT After reviewing some of the relevant literature, the writers proceed to describe a new development in psychotherapy for couples presenting with relatively unexplained infertility. Several couples who had failed to achieve conception (despite the use of assisted reproductive techniques and personal psychotherapy) were brought together into a supportive-expressive group led by the writers, an experienced analytic cotherapy couple. An interesting outcome is described, and mention made of current plans for a future research project.
The global gender gap report 2007

Gender-based inequality is a phenomenon that affects the majority of the worlds cultures religions nations and income groups. Yet there are differences in the way gender disparities manifest themselves and how they have evolved over time. It is vital to develop frameworks for capturing the magnitude of these disparities in order to design effective measures for reducing them. A challenge that can be measured can be addressed. The Global Gender Gap Index1 introduced by the World Economic Forum last year is one such framework. It aims to be a tool for benchmarking and tracking global gender-based inequalities on economic political education and health-based criteria. The country rankings are meant to serve a dual purpose. They are designed to create greater awareness among a global audience of the challenges posed by gender gaps and the opportunities created by reducing them. It is also hoped that the rankings together with the detailed country profiles will serve as a catalyst for change by providing policy-makers with a snapshot of their countrys relative strengths and weaknesses of their countrys performance compared to that of other nations. (excerpt)
Sensations evoked by intraneural microstimulation of single mechanoreceptor units innervating the human hand.

Intraneural microstimulation (i.n.m.s.) was performed in awake human volunteers, using tungsten micro‐electrodes inserted into median and ulnar nerve fascicles supplying the skin of the hand. The same electrodes were used alternatively to record impulse activity from single nerve fibres at the i.n. m.s. sites. Monitoring occasionally, with a proximal electrode, the impulse traffic evoked by i.n. m.s. distally in the same fascicle, established that the stimulation procedure could be made selective enough to activate single myelinated fibres in isolation, while also permitting multifibre recruitment. Monitoring propagated impulses also established that i.n. m.s. of a single myelinated fibre supplying a low‐threshold mechanoreceptor in the hand might evoke an elementary sensation. Such sensations were fully endowed with cognitive attributes amenable to psychophysical estimation: quality, magnitude and localized projection. Psychophysical tests were made during i.n. m.s. at intraneural sites where single‐unit activity was recorded from classified RA, PC, SA I or SA II mechanoreceptors. Changes in excitability of the nerve fibre of an identified unit, induced by further i.n. m.s., certified that the recorded unit had been stimulated during psychophysical tests. Comparing physical location of the receptive field of a recorded unit and localization of the projected field of the corresponding elementary sensation, revealed that either predicted the other accurately. This further assisted identification of the unit activated by i.n. m.s. The type of a recorded unit and the quality of the elementary sensation evoked by its activation were also reciprocally predictive. RA units evoked intermittent tapping, PC units vibration or tickle and SA I units evoked pressure. SA II units evoked no sensation when activated in isolation. Afferent impulse frequency determined magnitude of pressure in the SA I system, and frequency of vibration in the PC system. In the RA system, stimulation frequency determined frequency of tapping‐flutter‐vibration sensation at relatively low rates and subjective intensity of sensation at high rates. These findings endorse the concept that quality of sensation is coded in specific sensory systems. Further, they provide novel evidence that sensory quality, magnitude and localization can be exquisitely resolved at cognitive levels on the basis of input initiated in a single mechanoreceptor unit.
Energy management control strategy for stand-alone photovoltaic system

An energy management control strategy for a stand-alone photovoltaic system is presented in this paper. The system consists in a photovoltaic panel connected to a Boost converter, an auxiliary battery powered by a bidirectional Buck-Boost converter and a resistive load. The purpose of this control strategy is to keep the Dc-link voltage on a reference value under load variations and changes in the panel conditions. The proposal system is validated with simulation results.
Effect of Culture Conditions on the Phenotype of THP‐1 Monocyte Cell Line

Macrophage function has many implications in a variety of diseases. Understanding their biology becomes imperative when trying to elucidate immune cell interactions with their environment, and in vitro cell lines allow researchers to manipulate these interactions. A common cell line used is THP‐1, a promyeloid cell line suggestive to outside factors, and therefore sensitive to culture conditions. In this study, we describe how culture conditions can alter THP‐1 morphology and in turn affect their response to differentiation stimuli.
Purported Interactions of Amyloid-β and Glucocorticoids in Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity: Implications in Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the presence of aggregates of the amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) that are believed to be neurotoxic. One of the purposed damaging mechanisms of Aβ is oxidative insult, which eventually could damage the cellular genome. Stress and associated increases in glucocorticoids (GCs) have been described as a risk factor for the development of AD, although the purported genotoxic effects of GCs have not been fully characterized. Therefore, it is possible to speculate about purported synergistic effects of GCs on the Aβ-driven genotoxic damage. This in vitro study addresses the single and combined cyto/genotoxic effects of Aβ and GCs in SH-SY5Y cells. Cytotoxicity was determined by the MTT assay, and the genotoxic effects were studied using the comet assay. A comet assay derivation allows for measuring the presence of the FPG-sensitive sites (mainly 8-oxoguanines) in the DNA, apart from the DNA strand breaks. Treatment with Aβ (10 μM, 72 h) induced cytotoxicity (35% decrease in cell viability) and DNA strand breaks, but had no significant effect on oxidative DNA damage (FPG sites). Corticosterone showed no effect on cell viability, genotoxicity, or reparation processes. Corticosterone was unable to neither reverse nor potentiate Aβ driven effects. The present results suggest the existence of alternative mechanisms for the Aβ driven damage, not involving oxidative damage of DNA. In addition, could be suggested that the interaction between Aβ and GCs in AD does not seem to involve DNA damage.
Effects of Vanadate on Prostacyclin and Endothelin-1 Production and Protein-Tyrosine Phosphorylation in Human Endothelial Cells

Summary The ability of vanadate, an inhibitor of protein-tyrosine phosphatases, to affect the production of prostacyclin (PGI2) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) and protein-tyrosine phosphorylation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) was studied. The addition of vanadate to monolayers of cultured HUVEC caused a sustained release of PGI2 from HUVEC in a time- and dose-dependent manner. When aspirin-treated HUVEC, which have lost the ability to increase PGI2 production in response to arachidonate, were incubated with vanadate, the cells recovered their ability to increase PGI2 production in response to arachidonate. This recovery of inducible PGI2 production in aspirin-treated HUVEC was completely inhibited either by cycloheximide, a protein synthesis inhibitor, or by actinomycin D, an RNA synthesis inhibitor. In contrast, the same concentration of vanadate suppressed the basal release of ET-1 from HUVEC. Vanadate also caused an increase in protein-tyrosine phosphorylation in HUVEC. These data indicate that vanadate induces opposite effects on PGI2 and ET-1 production with a concomitant increase in protein-tyrosine phosphorylation in HUVEC.
Confidence-based human action recognition with different-level features

Action recognition is a challenging problem in computer vision and is widely studied due to its wide range of applications. Many current approaches have achieved high accuracy on simple actions, but still struggled to recognize interactive behaviors. This work targets on interactive actions between human and objects in some complex real-world situations. Although an action recognition algorithm using high-level ground-truth pose features outperforms the one using low/mid-level global statistical features, pose estimation algorithms which is critical for high-level feature are not reliable enough to interactive actions. In this paper, we propose a novel confidence-based action recognition method. The rationale underlying our method is to make a credible choice of the different-level features between the popular Dense Trajectories based on statistical representations and the high-level pose features based on estimated pose during the classification process according to the predefined confidence. The proposed method is evaluated on the sub-JHMDB dataset. Experimental results suggest that our approach is more accurate than state-of-the-art approaches.
Contribution of cardiac renin-angiotensin system to ventricular remodelling in myocardial-infarcted rats.

To investigate the contribution of the cardiac renin-angiotensin system to ventricular dilatation after myocardial infarction, we examined the effects of 3-week treatments with an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, delapril, and a selective angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor antagonist, TCV-116, on haemodynamics and ventricular angiotensin II contents in myocardial-infarcted rats. TCV-116 reduced mean aortic pressure, and prevented the increase of right and left ventricular weight, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and volume of myocardial-infarcted rats, to a similar extent to delapril. Thus, AT1 receptor-mediated action of angiotensin II plays a central role in the development of ventricular dilatation. Angiotensin II contents in the right and non-infarcted left ventricles (6.0 +/- 1.0 and 5.9 +/- 0.7 pg/g tissue, respectively, mean +/- S.E.M.) of myocardial-infarcted rats were not different from those of sham-operated rats. However, angiotensin II contents in the infarcted scar (21.7 +/- 3.5 pg/g) of myocardial-infarcted rats were 4.2-fold higher than those in the left ventricle of sham-operated rats. Delapril reduced angiotensin II contents in the right and non-infarcted left ventricles, and the scar by 48, 81 and 60%, respectively, but did not reduce plasma angiotensin II in myocardial-infarcted rats. TCV-116 also decreased angiotensin II in the right and non-infarcted left ventricles by 57 and 56%, respectively, while increased plasma angiotensin II by 4.3-fold. Thus, the prevention of ventricular dilatation by these two agents was associated with the decrease in ventricular angiotensin II contents. These observations suggest that the cardiac renin-angiotensin system rather than the circulating system may play an important role in ventricular dilatation after myocardial infarction.
Mechanical motion promotes expression of Prg4 in articular cartilage via multiple CREB-dependent, fluid flow shear stress-induced signaling pathways

The Prg4 locus encodes the proteoglycan lubricin that protects against osteoarthritis. Ogawa et al. discover that running induces maximal expression of Prg4 in the superficial zone of knee joint articular cartilage in a COX-2-dependent fashion. This correlated with increased CREB-dependent gene expression. Fluid flow shear stress increases secretion of extracellular PGE2, PTHrP, and ATP, which together promote CREB-dependent induction of Prg4. These results suggest that mechanical motion may induce Prg4 expression through the same signaling pathways activated in vitro by fluid flow shear stress.
CT Demonstration of Calcification in Carcinoma of the Lung

Objective Our goal was to assess the diagnostic significance of calcification in carcinoma of the lung, as seen on CT. Materials and Methods We prospectively identified 500 consecutive patients with the provisional clinical diagnosis of lung cancer, who underwent CT examination of the chest from 1987 to 1991. Fifty-three (10.6%) of the 500 CT examinations revealed intratumoral calcification. When these 53 patients were reviewed retrospectively in 1992, CT examinations were available for 39, each with microscopic proof of primary carcinoma of the lung. Tumors were assessed for histologic subtype, size, and location and compared with a control group of the last 115 noncalcified, proven, primary carcinomas of the lung in the series. Intratumoral calcification seen on chest CT was assessed for location, extent, and pattern. Results The calcified tumors tended to be large (6.2 ± 3.0 cm, mean diameter ± SD) compared with the noncalcified tumors (4.4 ± 2.3 cm) (p = 0.0001). The calcified tumors were central in 28 (72%) and peripheral in 11 (28%) patients. The noncalcified tumors were central in 52 (45%) and peripheral in 63 (55%) patients (p = 0.007). Punctate pattern of calcification correlated marginally with small cell carcinoma (p = 0.07). Histologic subtype showed no correlation with intratumoral location or extent of calcification. Conclusion Calcification is identified in 10% of lung cancer, does not predict histologic subtype, and tends to occur in large, central tumors.
Relationships between morphology and physiology of pyramid‐pyramid single axon connections in rat neocortex in vitro.

1. Double intracellular recordings were made from 1163 pairs of pyramidal neurones in layer V‐VI of the rat somatomotor cortex in vitro using sharp electrodes filled with biocytin. Monosynaptically connected pairs of cells were identified when an action potential in one could elicit a constant latency excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) in the other and the cells were filled with biocytin. Labelled cells were subsequently identified histologically with avidin‐horseradish peroxidase. 2. Thirty‐four pairs of cells were found to be monosynaptically connected. Fifteen of these pairs were sufficiently stable for electrophysiological recordings and three of these were recovered sufficiently to permit full morphological reconstruction. 3. The EPSP recorded between the first pair of pyramids varied in amplitude between 0 and 3 mV (mean 1.33 +/‐ 1.06 mV) and fluctuated considerably (coefficient of variation, 0.796). This was largely due to a high incidence of apparent failures of transmission. On reconstruction two boutons from the presynaptic pyramid axon were in close apposition to the proximal portions of basal dendrites of the postsynaptic cell. 4. In the second pair of pyramids the EPSP had a mean amplitude of 1.06 mV, and displayed a 10‐90% rise time of 2.8 ms and a width at half‐amplitude of 23 ms. This EPSP did not alter significantly with changes in membrane potential at the soma. The presynaptic axon closely apposed the distal apical dendrite of the postsynaptic cell in eight places. 5. In the third pair of pyramids, the EPSPs, recorded at a relatively depolarized membrane potential, were long lasting and could elicit slow dendritic spikes with long and variable latencies. These slow spikes suggested that the postsynaptic recording site was dendritic and on reconstruction a possible location was identified on the apical dendrite. A total of five presynaptic boutons closely apposed three separate, proximal branches of the postsynaptic apical dendrite. 6. These results provide the first illustration of a morphological basis for variations in functional properties of pyramid‐pyramid connections in the neocortex.
EXPLORATORY EVALUATIONS OF TWO VERSIONS OF A FOOT-OPERATED CURSOR-POSITIONING DEVICE IN A TARGET-SELECTION TASK

An investigation is on-going concerning the use of feet instead of hands to perform workstation cursor-positioning and related functions. In the exploratory studies reported here, two versions of a particular foot-operated device, the swing mole, were assessed against a mouse in a base-line target-selection task. This task had some of the elements involved in text editing, but did not directly include keyboard entry. The study showed that novices can learn to select fairly small targets using a mole, while revealing shortcomings in the current mole design and suggesting directions for redesign.
Teaching conceptions and approaches to teaching of medical school faculty: The difference between how medical school teachersthinkabout teaching and how they say that theydoteach

Background It is often assumed that the way teachers approach their teaching is determined by the way they think about learning. This study explores how teachers of an undergraduate medical programme (UMP) think about learning, how they approach teaching and whether their conceptions of learning relate to their teaching approaches. Methods Quantitative data of academic teachers involved in the undergraduate programme in medicine were collected and analysed. We used a questionnaire designed to measure teachers’ conceptions of their own learning (COL) and of student learning as well as teachers’ approaches to teaching (AT). Results Teachers of the medical undergraduate programme hold a variety of COL, of how students learn and their AT. No significant correlations were found between teachers’ conceptions of learning and their AT. Conclusions Although UMP teachers’ ideas on learning and teaching are very diverse, some of their conceptions are interrelated. Teachers’ ideas on their own learning is sometimes – but not always – related to how they think about student learning. But most importantly, the way UMP teachers think about learning is not automatically converted into the way they approach teaching.
Hepatitis C virus genotypes in French haemophiliacs: Kinetics and reappraisal of mixed infections

The distribution and kinetics of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes and the prevalence of mixed infections were studied in a group of 45 French patients with haemophilia A or B or von Willebrand's disease, 21 of them being anti‐human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive; genotyping was carried out by three methods based on the core, 5′ untranslated region (5′ UTR), and the detection of type‐specific NS4 antibodies. Genotyping of the 5′UTR revealed genotypes 1a (n = 10), 1b (n = 13), 2a (n = 3), 2b (n = 4), 2NC (n = 3), 3a (n = 10), and two mixed infections (1a + 1b and 3a + 2). Five of 33 patients showed a change from one HCV genotype to another. The core genotyping assay showed 8 of 45 mixed infections: 6/8 1a + 1b and 2/8 3a + 2. Sequencing of core polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products showed that mixed infection 1a + 1b could be explained by nonspecific annealing of the 1b primer to type 1a sequence. By designing new primers whose sequence was more specific to HCV types 1a and 1b, we could confirm 1a + 1b mixed infection in only one of six cases. Serotyping assay showed for 17 of 21 anti‐HIV negative patients a concordance with the 5′ UTR genotype; however, only 6 of 19 anti‐HIV positive patients showed detectable serological reactivity. In summary, we have observed a similar HCV genotype distribution between our haemophilic group and the French anti‐HCV positive patients. The study demonstrates the difficulties of assessing with the presently available genotyping and serotyping assays the real prevalence of mixed infections in multiply transfused patients. J Med Virol 51:36–41, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Posttraumatic stress, problem drinking, and functional outcomes after injury.

HYPOTHESIS Patients undergoing trauma surgery for injury who have subsequent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or problem drinking will demonstrate significant impairments in functional outcomes compared with patients without these disorders. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Level I academic trauma center. PARTICIPANTS One hundred one randomly selected survivors of intentional and unintentional injuries were interviewed while hospitalized and again 1 year later. The investigation achieved a 73% 1-year follow-up rate. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Posttraumatic stress disorder was assessed with the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist and problem drinking was assessed with the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test. Functional status was assessed with the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey. RESULTS One year after injury, 30% of patients (n = 22) met symptomatic criteria for PTSD and 25% (n = 18) had Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test scores indicative of problem drinking. Patients with PTSD demonstrated significant adverse outcomes in 7 of the 8 domains of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey compared with patients without PTSD. In multivariate models that adjusted for injury severity, chronic medical conditions, age, sex, preinjury physical function, and alcohol use, PTSD remained the strongest predictor of an adverse outcome. Patients with problem drinking did not demonstrate clinically or statistically significant functional impairment compared with patients without problem drinking. CONCLUSIONS Posttraumatic stress disorder persisted in 30% of patients 1 year after traumatic injury and was independently associated with a broad profile of functional impairment. The development of treatment intervention protocols for trauma patients with PTSD is warranted.