Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relation between cholecystokinin and antral innervation in the control of gastric emptying in the rat.

BACKGROUND: Antral motility and the hormone cholecystokinin (CCK) are major determinants of the rate of gastric emptying. The relation between CCK and antral neurons in regulating gastric emptying is uncertain. Benzalkonium chloride (BAC) causes selective lesions in gut myenteric neurons after serosal application. AIM: To develop a model of antral denervation using BAC to enable the study of the relation between CCK and antral neurons in regulating gastric emptying. METHODS: BAC, vehicle or the afferent neurotoxin capsaicin were applied to the serosal surface of the rat antrum or corpus; neurochemical markers of intrinsic and afferent neurons were detected by using immunohistochemistry and radioimmunoassay. Gastric retention of solids was determined after fasting, and emptying of liquids was measured in rats with gastric fistulae. RESULTS: In BAC treated rats radioimmunoassay of tissue extracts revealed a dose related specific loss of gastrin releasing peptide, substance P, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide immunoreactivities from the treated region, and immunohistochemistry revealed loss of the neuronal marker PGP 9.5 and the afferent neuropeptide calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP). Adjacent untreated regions were unaffected by BAC, with the exception that CGRP was depleted in both corpus and antrum after antral treatment. After antral BAC treatment fasted rats retained solids for over 48 hours. Moreover, in antrally denervated rats with gastric fistulae, the emptying of saline, acid and peptone was delayed substantially. The CCK dependent inhibition of gastric emptying of peptone was preserved after antral treatment with BAC. CONCLUSIONS: Serosal BAC causes lesions in the innervation of the treated region of the stomach. The innervation of the antrum is essential for normal emptying of both liquids and solids, but the inhibition of gastric emptying produced by CCK is not dependent on antral neurons.
Characterization of Alternatively Spliced Transcript Variants of CLEC2D Gene*

Lectin-like transcript 1 (LLT1) encoded by CLEC2D gene is a C-type lectin-like molecule interacting with human CD161 (NKR-P1A) receptor expressed by natural killer cells and subsets of T cells. Using RT-PCR and sequencing, we identified several CLEC2D alternatively spliced transcript variants generated by exon skipping. In addition to the reported transcript variants 1 (LLT1) and 2, we identified a novel splice variant 4 and transcripts coding for putative soluble proteins. CLEC2D transcripts were detected primarily in hematopoietic cell lines and were found to be co-induced by the same activation signals. Although very low amounts of putative soluble CLEC2D protein isoforms could be produced by transfectants, CLEC2D isoforms 2 and 4 were efficiently expressed. By contrast to LLT1, which was detected on the cell surface, isoform 2 and 4 remained in the endoplasmic reticulum where they formed homodimers or heterodimers with LLT1. They failed to interact with CD161, leaving LLT1 as the sole ligand for this receptor. CLEC2D therefore uses gene splicing to generate protein isoforms that are structurally distinct and that have different biological activities.
Adherence to Antidepressant Treatment Among Privately Insured Patients Diagnosed With Depression

Background:Antidepressants are effective in treatment of depression, but poor adherence to medication is a major obstacle to effective care. Objective:We sought to describe patient and provider level factors associated with treatment adherence. Methods:This was a retrospective, observational study using medical and pharmacy claims from a large health plan, for services provided between January 2003 and January 2005. We studied a total of 4312 subjects ages 18 or older who were continuously enrolled in the health plan with a new episode of major depression and who initiated antidepressant treatment. Treatment adherence was measured by using pharmacy refill records during the first 16 weeks (acute phase) and the 17–33 weeks after initiation of antidepressant therapy (continuation phase). Measures were based on Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) quality measures for outpatient depression care. Results:Fifty-one percent of patients were adherent through the acute phase; of those, 42% remained adherent in the continuation phase. Receipt of follow-up care from a psychiatrist and higher general pharmacy utilization (excluding psychotropics) were associated with better adherence in both phases. Younger age, comorbid alcohol or other substance abuse, comorbid cardiovascular/metabolic conditions, use of older generation antidepressants, and residence in lower-income neighborhoods were associated with lower acute-phase adherence. Continuation-phase adherence was lower for HMO participants than for others. Conclusion:In an insured population, many patients fall short of adherence to guideline recommended therapy for depression. Information from existing administrative data can be used to predict patients at highest risk of nonadherence, such as those with substance abuse, and to target interventions.
CONGESTION AVOIDANCE USING BLUE ALGORITHM IN WIRELESS NETWORK

In the existing system, the problem of TCP in MANET’s environment is packet losses induced by network congestion. In case if congestion occurs it leads to the loss of data. In the proposed system, Blue algorithm is used for avoiding packet loss in TCP with wireless network based on checking size of queue. If the size of queue is maximum, gateway directly forwards the packet to destination through queue. If the size of queue is minimum, gateway compresses the packet and forwards the packet to destination with notification. Thus source node efficiently sends packet to destination via gateway and queue. The destination sends the acknowledgement to source via gateway. Gateway checks the acknowledgement. If acknowledgement is positive, gateway removes the packet from backup or if the acknowledgement is negative, gateway retransmits the packet to destination.
Design and in vivo evaluation of ultrafine inorganic‐oxide‐containing‐sunscreen formulations

Ultrafine titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, and a 1:1 mixture of ZnO/TiO2 were used as 5% dispersions in sunscreen formulae. Three different carrier bases were evaluated for their accelerated stability and rheological properties with and without metal oxides based on sodium lauryl sulphate/polysorbate 80, triethanolamine stearate, and cetyl trimethyl ammonium chloride. All three bases showed thixotropic behaviour. Addition of metal oxides only affected the magnitude of viscosity not the viscoelastic behaviour. The cationic emulsion base was found to be the most stable to incorporate the microfine metal oxides, the others' viscosity values showing a significant drop in storage. The in vivo sun protection factors were determined on the cationic based emulsions in four human subjects using an UV source covering both UVA‐UVB regions. The mean sun protection factors were found to be 5.03, 4.03, and 4.8 for TiO2, ZnO, and 1:1 ZnO/TiO2 respectively for 4 mg.cm‐2 applications, the differences not being significant. Dans cette etude pour preparer les formules d'ecrans solaires fournissant la protection contre les regions UVA et UVB, on a utilise au taux de 5 pourcent du dioxyde de titane ultrafin, oxyde de zinc ultrafin et une mixture 1:1 de ZnO/TiO2. La stabilite acceleree et les proprietes rheologiques de trois emulsions de base ont ete evaluees avec ou sans les oxydes de metaux. Toutes les trois des emulsions de base ont montre un comportement thixotropique. L'addition des oxydes de metal a seulement affecte le degre de viscosite et non le comportement de viscoelastique. L'emulsion cationique de base a ete determinee comme etant le plus stable pour l'incorporation de l'oxyde de metal microfin. Les autres valeurs de viscosite ont presente une baisse significative a la temperature et a la duree de stockage. Les facteurs de protection solaire ont ete determines des emulsions utilisant le tansio actif cationique in vivo sur quatre sujets utilisant une source UV couvrant a la fois les regions UVA et UVB. En moyenne on a trouve que les facteurs de protection solaire etaient respectivement de 5.03, 4.03 et 4.8 pour TiO2, ZnO, et ZnO/TiO2.
Biofortification, Crop Adoption and Health Information: Impact Pathways in Mozambique and Uganda

&NA; Biofortification is a promising strategy to combat micronutrient malnutrition by promoting the adoption of staple food crops bred to be dense sources of specific micronutrients. Research on biofortified orange‐fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) has shown that the crop improves the vitamin A status of children who consume as little as 100 grams per day, and intensive promotion strategies improve dietary intakes of vitamin A in field experiments. However, little is known about OFSP adoption behavior, or about the role that nutrition information plays in promoting adoption and changing diet. We report evidence from similar randomized field experiments conducted in Mozambique and Uganda to promote OFSP. We further use causal mediation analysis to study impact pathways for adoption and dietary intakes. Despite different agronomic conditions and sweet potato cropping patterns across the two countries, the project had similar impacts, leading to adoption by 61% to 68% of farmers exposed to the project, and doubling vitamin A intakes in children. In both countries, two intervention models that differed in training intensity and cost had comparable impacts relative to the control group. The project increased the knowledge of key nutrition messages; however, added knowledge of nutrition messages appears to have minimally affected adoption, conditional on assumptions required for causal mediation analysis. Increased vitamin A intakes were largely explained by adoption and not by nutrition knowledge gained, though in Uganda a large share of impacts on vitamin A intakes cannot be explained by mediating variables. Similar impacts could likely have been achieved by reducing the scope of nutrition trainings.
Sphingolipid metabolism and cell growth regulation

Sphingolipide have been implicated in the regulation of cell growth, differentiation, and programmed cell death. The current paradigm for their action is that complex sphingolipids such as gangliosides interact with growth factor receptors, the extracellular matrix, and neighboring cells, whereas the backbones—sphingosine and other long‐chain or “sphingoid” bases, ceramides, and sphingosine l‐phosphate—activate or inhibit protein kinases and phosphatases, ion transporters, and other regulatory machinery. Tumor necrosis factor‐α, inter‐leukin lβ, and nerve growth factor, for example, induce sphingomyelin hydrolysis to ceramide. Other agonists, such as platelet‐derived growth factor, trigger further hydrolysis of ceramide to sphingosine and activate sphingosine kinase to form sphingosine l‐phosphate. These metabolites either stimulate or inhibit growth and may be cytotoxic (in some cases via induction of apoptosis), depending on which products are formed (or added exogenously), the cellular levels (and possibly intracellular localization), and the cell type. In Swiss 3T3 cells, for example, sphingosine and sphingosine l‐phosphate are growth stimulatory at low concentrations via calcium mobilization from intracellular stores and activation of the mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAP kinase) pathway and transcription factors (AP‐1), but are toxic at high concentrations. High levels of endogenous sphingoid bases are also produced by inhibition of ceramide synthase by fumonisins, my‐cotoxins produced by Fusarium moniliforme, resulting in growth stimulation or toxicity. Thus, sphingolipid metabolites appear to serve as second messengers for growth factors, cytokines, and other “physiological” agonists and, when elevated abnormally, to lead to disease. —Spiegel, S. , Merrill, A. H. , Jr. Sphingolipid metabolism and cell growth regulation. FASEB J. 10, 1388‐1397 (1996)
mtDNA D-loop 6-bp deletion found in the Chilean Aymara: not a unique marker for Chibcha-speaking Amerindians.

To the Editor: Santos and Barrantes (1994) reported a 6-bp deletion between nt 106 and nt 111 of the mitochondrial DNA Dloop (Anderson et al. 1981), noting that it appeared to be specific for Chibcha-speaking groups (or, at least present in the ancestral population for Chibcha speakers). Merriwether (1993) described this deletion in two Aymara individuals (one from the Lluta Valley and one from Visviri) in northernmost Chile, indicating that this deletion extends considerably beyond lower Central America. The village of Visviri is located at 4,100 meters altitude in the Altiplano, while the Lluta Valley sample is from a coastal Aymara population. We obtained D-loop sequences on >200 Huilliche, Pehuenche, Atacameno, and Quechua Indians from Chile and Peru and did not detect the 6-bp deletion in any of these populations. The second hypervariable region of the D-loop (where this 6-bp deletion occurs) is not sequenced as often as is the first hypervariable region in population studies, and only the lab of D. C. Wallace (Torroni et al. 1992, 1993a, 1993b, 1994a, 1994b) has consistently surveyed for the MspI-site loss at nt 104 (an MspI-site loss is caused by this deletion). Many populations surveyed by others (Ward et al. 1991, 1993; Ginther et al. 1993; Horai et al. 1993; Shields et al. 1993; Bailliet et al. 1994; Lorenz and Smith 1994; Merriwether et al. 1994) were not screened for this deletion. While Torroni et al.'s (1993a, 1994a, 1994b) putative 6-bp deletion haplotypes 51, 52, and 53 are found on a lineage A background (characterized by a HaeIl 663 site gain and an MspI 104 site loss), our 6-bp deleted Aymara individuals are lineage D (AluI 5,176 site loss, HaeHI 663 site loss, and MspI 104 site loss). Kolman et al. (in press) and 0. Batista, C. J. Kolman, and E. Bermingham (personal communication) report that this deletion is present at >10% frequency in two Chibchan populations (Ngobe and Kuna) but is absent in two Choco populations (Embera and Waunaan) in Panama. The deletions observed by Kolman et al. (in press) and 0. Batista, C. J. Kolman, and E. Bermingham (personal communication) all occurred on a lineage A background. Santos and Barrantes's Chibchan deletions also occur against a lineage A background (at nearly 60%). The occurrence of the 6-bp deletion on both lineage A and lineage D backgrounds could be indicative of multiple origins for the 6-bp deletion. Given the present data, one could consider the combination of a HaeIl 663 site gain (or other definitive lineage A markers) plus the 6-bp deletion (or an MspI 104 site loss) to be a Chibcha-specific combination. One should not use the 6-bp deletion alone as a marker indicating shared ancestry with the Chibchan or protoChibchan populations.
Front and domain growth in the presence of gravity.

Front and domain growth of a binary mixture in the presence of a gravitational field is studied. The interplay of bulk (and surface) diffusion mechanisms is analyzed. An equation for the evolution of interfaces is derived from a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation with a concentration dependent diffusion coefficient. Scaling arguemnts on this equation give the exponents of a powerlaw growth. Numerical integrations of the Ginzburg-Landau equation corroborate the theoretical analysis.
In-Season Prediction of Corn Grain Yield Potential Using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

Drastic increases in the cost of N fertilizer and increased public scrutiny have encouraged development and implementation of improved N management practices. This study evaluated the relationship between corn (Zea mays L.) grain yield and early season normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) sensor readings using the GreenSeeker sensor. The relationships between grain yield and several predictor variables were determined using linear and nonlinear regression analysis. Categorizing NDVI measurement by leaf stage indicated that growth stagewas criticalfor predictinggrain yield potential. Poor exponential relationships existed between NDVI from early sensor measurements (V6–V7 leaf stage) and grain yield. By the V8 stage, a strong relationship (R 2 5 0.77) was achieved between NDVI and grain yield. Later sensor measurements (V9 and later) failed to distinguish variation in green biomass as a result of canopy closure. Normalizing the NDVI with GDD (growing degree days) did not significantly improve yield potential prediction (R 2 5 0.73), but broadened the yield potential prediction equation to include temperature and allowed for adaptation into various climates. Sensor measurements at the range of 800 to 1000 GDD resulted in a significant exponential relationship between grain yield and NDVI (R 2 5 0.76) similar to the V8 leaf stage categorization. Categorizing NDVI by GDD (800–1000 GDD) extended the sensing time by two additional leaf stages (V7–V9) to allow a practical window of opportunity for sidedress N applications. This study showed that yield potential in corn could be accurately predicted in season with NDVI measured with the GreenSeeker sensor.
Vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT): a cellular marker in rat retinal development

A polyclonal goat antiserum against the C-terminal end of the rat vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) was used to examine the postnatal expression of this protein in the rat retina. The transporter protein was localized in choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-positive, cholinergic interneurones (so-called starburst amacrine cells) in the inner retina. During postnatal development the VAChT was expressed from postnatal day 1 onward by the two subsets of these cholinergic amacrine cells. The immunocytochemical detection of the VAChT provides a specific marker for the study of developing cholinergic neurones in the rat retina, which so far has only been monitored by ChAT immunoreactivity in the second postnatal week.
Design and Modelling of a Bidirectional Front-End for Resonating Sensors Based on Pseudo Floating Gate Amplifier

In this paper, we characterize and model a bidirectional front-end based on pseudo-floating gate amplifier (PFGA) for actuation and read-out of resonating sensors. The basic idea consists of swapping the power supply of the PFGA in order to change the directionality of the front-end. A detailed description of the system has been discussed in this paper and supported by simulations and measurement results. A prototype has been fabricated using discrete components and tested with a real transducer (Murata MA40S4) and a Butterworth Van Dyke (BvD) load, which has proved to be proved to be a well approximated model for resonant sensors. The bidirectional amplifier has been implemented with the integrated circuit CD4007UB, which is a commercial discrete component containing low leakage MOSFET. The values chosen for the BvD load are R b = 330 Ω , L m = 60 mH, C s = 450 pF, C E = 2 . 2 nF, which are approximately the same values of the lumped parameters reported in the data-sheet of the real sensor. This transducer is characterized by a nominal resonant frequency of 40 kHz. Measurement results show good fitting with the models developed in this work and the possibility to predict the sensor response by using the BvD load.
Testosterone suppression: Impact of testosterone level on disease progression in advanced prostate cancer.

46 Background: In patients with advanced prostate cancer, medical castration remains a mainstay of treatment. A testosterone level below 50 ng/dL has been previously accepted as an adequate level of androgen suppression and remains the benchmark level for clinical trials. However, there is mounting evidence that lower testosterone levels may be associated with improved clinical outcomes. We evaluated our cohort of patients with advanced prostate cancer to assess the impact of testosterone suppression on progression to castrate resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). METHODS Patient data was obtained from a prospective database of patients undergoing androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) at a tertiary centre from 2006-2011. A total of 39 patients were eligible for inclusion with at least 12 months follow-up. Patients were administered LHRH agonists or antagonist with testosterone and PSA assessments every 3 months. Patients were considered to have progressed to CRPC when there were at least 2 consecutive rises in PSA above nadir, clinical progression, or death from disease. Patients were stratified into two risk groups based on 6-month absolute and 1-year mean testosterone levels following initiation of ADT. Baseline characteristics between risk groups were compared using the Student's t-test and chi-squared test. Probability of disease progression was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. RESULTS Median patient follow up was 2.3 years with 38% free of disease at last follow up. Patients with 6-month absolute testosterone less than 32 ng/dL had an increased time to CRPC (log rank p=0.06). Patients with 1-year mean testosterone less than 32 ng/dl had a significantly increased time to CRPC (log rank p=0.005). Patients did not differ significantly in their baseline characteristics. CONCLUSIONS Adequate testosterone suppression during ADT may play a clinically significant role in delaying CRPC. While PSA levels are often used to assess for response to ADT, the current study suggests testosterone level in the first year following initiation of ADT may serve as an early predictor of disease progression.
Molecular complexes of alprazolam with carboxylic acids, boric acid, boronic acids, and phenols. Evaluation of supramolecular heterosynthons mediated by a triazole ring.

A series of molecular complexes, both co-crystals and salts, of a triazole drug-alprazolam-with carboxylic acids, boric acid, boronic acids, and phenols have been analyzed with respect to heterosynthons present in the crystal structures. In all cases, the triazole ring behaves as an efficient hydrogen bond acceptor with the acidic coformers. The hydrogen bond patterns exhibited with aromatic carboxylic acids were found to depend on the nature and position of the substituents. Being a strong acid, 2,6-dihydroxybenzoic acid forms a salt with alprazolam. With aliphatic dicarboxylic acids alprazolam forms hydrates and the water molecules play a central role in synthon formation and crystal packing. The triazole ring makes two distinct heterosynthons in the molecular complex with boric acid. Boronic acids and phenols form consistent hydrogen bond patterns, and these are seemingly independent of the substitutional effects. Boronic acids form noncentrosymmetric cyclic synthons, while phenols form O--H.N hydrogen bonds with the triazole ring.