Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Israeli Physicians' Knowledge, Experience and Attitudes towards Medical Cannabis: A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND Cannabis has been used throughout history for different purposes but was outlawed in the United States in 1937; many countries followed suit. Although recently reintroduced as a medical treatment in several countries, the use of cannabis in Israel is permitted for some medical purposes but is still controversial, eliciting heated public and professional debate. The few published studies on physicians' attitudes to medical cannabis found them to be generally unsupportive. OBJECTIVES To examine, for the first time, the experience, knowledge and attitudes of Israeli physicians towards medical cannabis (MC). METHODS A 32 item questionnaire reflected physicians' demographics, knowledge of and experience with MC and their attitudes to this treatment. RESULTS Seventy-two physicians participated in this study. Physicians generally agreed that MC treatment could be helpful for chronic and for terminally ill patients (n = 61, 79.2%). Oncologists and pain specialists did not agree unanimously that MC can undermine mental health, whereas other physicians did (P < 0.001, df = 4). Physicians who recommended MC in the past (once or more) agreed, more than physicians who did not, with the statement "MC treatment in Israel is accessible to patients who need it" (P < 0.05, df = 2). CONCLUSIONS In contrast to other studies we found partial acceptance of MC as a therapeutic agent. Further in-depth studies are needed to address regulatory and educational needs.
Corneal epithelial nuclear ferritin: Developmental regulation of ferritin and its nuclear transporter ferritoid

The corneal epithelium is exposed to reactive oxygen species that are potentially deleterious to nuclear DNA. However, our previous studies show that corneal epithelial cells have a novel, developmentally regulated mechanism for protection from such damage that involves having the iron‐sequestering molecule, ferritin, in the nucleus. Nuclear localization of ferritin is achieved through the action of a tissue‐specific nuclear transporter, ferritoid, which is itself a ferritin family member. Here, we show that during development ferritoid appears before ferritin. At this time, ferritoid is cytoplasmic, suggesting that its nuclear transport function requires an interaction with ferritin. To examine the developmental regulation of these two interacting components, cultured corneas were treated with the iron chelator deferoxamine. The results show that, while iron‐mediated translational regulation is involved in the synthesis of both molecules, ferritoid is also transcriptionally regulated, demonstrating that these family members—whose functions depend upon one another—are regulated differently. Developmental Dynamics 237:2529–2541, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Reorganizing an academic medical service: impact on cost, quality, patient satisfaction, and education.

CONTEXT Academic medical centers are under enormous pressure to improve quality and cut costs while preserving education. OBJECTIVE To determine whether a reorganized academic medical service, led by faculty members who attended more often and became involved earlier and more intensively in care, would lower costs without compromising quality and education. DESIGN Alternate-day controlled trial. SETTING Inpatient academic general medical service. PATIENTS The 1623 patients discharged from the Moffitt-Long medical service between July 1, 1995, and June 30, 1996. INTERVENTIONS We divided our 4-team inpatient general medical service into 2 managed care service (MCS) teams and 2 traditional service (TS) teams. The MCS faculty served as attending physicians more often and were required to provide early input into clinical decisions. Patients were assigned to teams based on alternate days of admission. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Outcome measures included resource use and outcomes for MCS vs TS patients, and for MCS patients vs patients seen the previous year, adjusted for demographic characteristics and case mix. Satisfaction of patients, house staff, and faculty was also assessed, as was educational emphasis. RESULTS A total of 806 patients were admitted to the MCS and 817 to the TS. Demographic characteristics and case mix were similar. Clinical outcomes, including mortality and readmission rates, were also similar, as was patient satisfaction. Resident and faculty satisfaction were high on both services. The average adjusted length of stay of patients on the MCS was 4.3 days vs 4.9 days on the TS and 5 days in 1994-1995 (adjusted P=.01 for MCS vs TS; MCS vs 1994-1995, P<.001). Average adjusted hospital costs were $7007 on the MCS vs $7777 on the TS and $8078 in 1994-1995 (adjusted P=.05 for MCS vs TS; MCS vs 1994-1995, P=.002). CONCLUSIONS A reorganized academic medical service, led by faculty members who attended more often and became involved earlier and more intensively, resulted in significant resource savings with no changes in clinical outcomes or patient, faculty, and house staff satisfaction.
The effects of commercially available preservative-free FDA-approved triamcinolone (Triesence®) on retinal cells in culture.

PURPOSE To evaluate the effects of Triesence® (TRI), a new preservative-free triamcinolone approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for intraocular use, on human retina pigment epithelial (ARPE-19) and rat neurosensory (R28) cells in culture. METHODS ARPE-19 and R28 cell cultures were treated 24 h with 1,000, 500, 200, or 100 μg/mL of crystalline (cTRI) or 1,000, 500, or 200 μg/mL of solubilized (sTRI). TRI was solubilized by centrifuging the drug, discarding the supernatant containing the vehicle and then resuspending the drug pellet in an equivalent amount of Dimethyl sulfoxide to achieve the same concentration as the commercial preparation. Percentage of cell viability (CV) was evaluated by a trypan blue dye-exclusion assay. The mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) was analyzed with the JC-1 assay. The caspase-3/7 activity was measured by a fluorochrome assay. RESULTS In the ARPE-19 cultures, the cTRI caused a decrease in CV at 1,000 μg/mL (13.03±6.51; P<0.001), 500 μg/mL (28.87±9.3; P<0.001), 200 μg/mL (54.93±5.61; P<0.001), and 100 μg/mL (82.53±0.65; P<0.005) compared with the untreated controls (96.98±0.16). In R28 cultures, the cTRI treatment also reduced CV values significantly (P<0.001) for the 1,000 μg/mL (22.73±2.44), 500 μg/mL (34.63±1.91), 200 μg/mL (58.70±1.39), and 100 μg/m (75.33±2.47) compared with the untreated controls (86.08±3.54). Once the TRI was solubilized (sTRI), the CV and ΔΨm remained similar to the untreated controls for both ARPE-19 and R28 cells. The sTRI treatment with 1,000, 500, and 200 μg/mL increased in caspase-3/7 activity in ARPE-19 cells (P<0.01) and in R28 cells (P<0.05) compared with dimethyl sulfoxide equivalent controls. CONCLUSION The crystalline form of TRI (cTRI) can cause a significant decrease in CV to cultured retinal cells. Once the TRI is solubilized (sTRI), at the same concentrations, the cells remain viable with no decrease in CV or ΔΨm. The sTRI can, however, increase caspase-3/7 activity, thus suggesting some degree of apoptosis.
An evolutionary and functional view of mammalian adipose tissue

The main function of adipose tissue is uptake, storage and controlled release of lipids; processes that involve large and rapid changes in tissue mass. The most efficient place for such a tissue is inside the abdomen near the centre of gravity and that is where most of the adipose tissue of amphibians and fast-moving reptiles such as lizards is found. The storage tissues of insects and other invertebrates are also intra-abdominal. In nearly all mammals except pinnipeds (seals) and certain small cetaceans (whales and dolphins), and in many birds, adipose tissue is partitioned into a dozen or more discrete depots that are widely distributed around the body. The tissue forms structurally intimate relations with skin, skeletal and cardiac muscle and various abdominal organs. Although very familiar to mammalian physiologists and biochemists, it is important to emphasize that, viewed in the context of the animal kingdom as a whole, the anatomy of adipose tissue in mammals and birds is unusual, and, in view of its primary function, illogical. There is no satisfactory explanation of why functionally, or when, in evolutionary time, this arrangement evolved. controlled, part, properties may, among the features that have most and animal
Salvage of nasal skin in a case of venous compromise after hyaluronic acid filler injection using prostaglandin E.

The injection of a hyaluronic acid (HA) filler into the soft tissue is generally well tolerated, with a few mild and transient side effects, although injection necrosis is a rare buta clinically important potential complication. Several treatments for the immediate management of vascular compromise after a filler injection have been suggested, including massage to disrupt the filler embolus, warm compresses, the application of 2% nitroglycerin paste, and injection of hyaluronidase into the area. Nevertheless, there are few guides on proper salvage if physicians miss the time for early management and skin damage has already progressed.
Oxygen dependency of tumor cell killing in vitro by light-activated Photofrin II.

Asynchronous populations of mouse EMT-6 tumor cells were treated with Photofrin II and exposed to various doses of 630 nm light in slowly stirred suspensions which had been equilibrated with various concentrations of oxygen. Survival curves were generated with cells exposed to 20 micrograms/ml Photofrin II in tissue culture medium for 1 h, a procedure which made it possible to remove more than 50% of the drug by washing. It is expected that under these conditions the drug would be loosely bound to cell surface and plasma membranes and in the cellular cytosol. Survival curves were also generated with cells exposed to 5 micrograms/ml Photofrin II for 20-24 h, a procedure which resulted in greater than 90% of the drug being tightly bound within cells, presumably to cellular lipids and membranes. Oxygen was obligatory for killing cells which had been exposed for both "short term" and "long term" to Photofrin II. After 30-40 min of pregassing cells with nitrogen gas which contained precise levels of oxygen, the concentration required to reduce rates of cell killing to 50% of maximum was approximately 0.5% O2 (gas phase) for short-term drug exposures and less than or equal to 0.05% O2 for long-term drug exposures. Even after pregassing times of 90-120 min prior to light administration, a Km of approximately equal to 0.1% O2 was observed for cells exposed to the drug for the longer time. When the same cells were exposed to 137Cs gamma rays in this irradiation chamber, no change in radiation sensitivity was observed after 30 min of pregassing cells with all oxygen concentrations studied. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Rethinking Insurance Coverage of “Experimental” Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapy and Its Usefulness in Combating Autism Spectrum Disorder

Ellie was a beautiful and incredibly smart baby. By the time she was 18 months old, Ellie could speak more than 800 words. Unfortunately, Ellie’s bright childhood quickly faded away as she began to regress at 21 months of age. Instead of using her expansive vocabulary and pointing to receive objects she wanted, Ellie would simply scream. Ellie’s physician was unsure of what was happening to Ellie, and specifically rejected the idea that she had autism because she had been speaking previously. The doctor even suggested that Ellie’s parents should “wait it out. ” Fortunately, Ellie eventually received the autism treatment necessary to regain the communication skills she had lost as an infant. That autism treatment continues to help Ellie succeed at school and at home. The treatment Ellie received is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy. Through the use of ABA therapy, Ellie is able to attend school part-time and has made significant progress gaining her own independence.
Synaptotagmin-12 Phosphorylation by cAMP-Dependent Protein Kinase Is Essential for Hippocampal Mossy Fiber LTP

Synaptotagmin-12 (Syt12) is an abundant synaptic vesicle protein that—different from other synaptic vesicle-associated synaptotagmins—does not bind Ca2+. Syt12 is phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase-A at serine-97 in an activity-dependent manner, suggesting a function for Syt12 in cAMP-dependent synaptic plasticity. To test this hypothesis, we here generated (1) Syt12 knock-out mice and (2) Syt12 knockin mice carrying a single amino-acid substitution [the serine-97-to-alanine- (S97A)-substitution]. Both Syt12 knock-out mice and Syt12 S97A-knockin mice were viable and fertile, and exhibited no measurable change in basal synaptic strength or short-term plasticity as analyzed in cultured cortical neurons or in acute hippocampal slices. However, both Syt12 knock-out and Syt12 S97A-knockin mice displayed a major impairment in cAMP-dependent mossy-fiber long-term potentiation (LTP) in the CA3 region of the hippocampus. This impairment was observed using different experimental configurations for inducing and monitoring mossy-fiber LTP. Moreover, although the Syt12 knock-out had no effect on the short-term potentiation of synaptic transmission induced by the adenylate–cyclase activator forskolin in cultured cortical neurons and in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, both the Syt12 knock-out and the Syt12 S97A-knockin impaired the long-term increase in mossy-fiber synaptic transmission induced by forskolin. Thus, Syt12 is essential for cAMP-dependent presynaptic LTP at mossy-fiber synapses, and a single amino-acid substitution that blocks the cAMP-dependent phosphorylation of Syt12 is sufficient to impair the function of Syt12 in mossy-fiber LTP, suggesting that cAMP-dependent phosphorylation of Syt12 on serine-97 contributes to the induction of mossy-fiber LTP.
An Effective Truncation Heuristic for Bias Reduction in Simulation Output

The start-up or warm-up problem arises in steady-state, discrete-event simulation, where the arbitrary selection of initial conditions introduces bias in simulated output sequences. In this paper, we develop and test a new truncation heuristic or resolving the start-up problem. Given a finite sequence, the truncation rule deletes initial observations until the width of the marginal confidence interval about the truncated sample mean is minimized. This rule is easy to implement, has strong intuitive appeal, and is remarkably effective in mitigating initialization bias. We illustrate the performance of the heuristic by comparison with enhanced implementations of alternative truncation rules proposed in the literature. All rules are applied to output sequences generated by ten runs each of four representative queuing simulations. Results confirm the significance of the start-up problem and demonstrate that simple truncation heuristics can solve this problem. All of the rules tested are shown to provide improved accuracy without undue loss of precision. We conclude that all four of the rules tested represent attractive solutions to the start-up problem.
The LHCb Calorimeter Performance and its Expected Radiation-Induced Degradation

The calorimeter for the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is fully installed, integrated in the experiment, and precalibrated, its commissioning being completed. Calorimeter performance from the test beam studies, radioactive source and cosmic ray measurements, and the first experience with the LHC particles are reported. The extensive radiation resistance studies are translated in the expected calorimeter degradation in view of the LHCb experiment operation and its foreseen upgrade.
Adoption of Smart Grid Technologies: Results of a Survey of U.S. Electric Utilities

In order to respond to these challenges, many U.S. utilities have been investing in smart grid technologies for communications, monitoring, computation and control purposes. Among its capabilities, the smart grid enables better outage management, grid selfhealing, demand response, dynamic pricing, preventive maintenance of grid assets, integration of distributed generation resources, and two-way communications between utilities and customers (Farhangi, 2010).
Antioxydants et infertilité masculine Antioxidants and male infertility

About 15% of couples in desire of child are affected by infertility. Oxidative stress has been involved in unexplained subfertility with a male factor. Thus, oral antioxidant supplemenvenue du 14 juillet, tation has been prescribed. Antioxidants demonstrated their interest on sperm improvement in 3140 Bondy, rance c.faure@uren.smbh. univ-paris13.fr> Université Paris-13, nam, RNH IdF, MR U557 Inserm, 1125 Inra, nité de recherche en épidémiologie utritionnelle, 3017 Bobigny, rance several studies, in particular in men with high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in their sperm. However, in many cases, no beneficial effect was obtained after antioxidant supplementation. Negative effects could be observed in long-term treatment or with excessive doses. Actually, antioxidants are provided in diet or can be found in enriched food. The current revue analyzes the benefits and the risks related to oral antioxidant supplement in subfertile men.
Stress--Where are we Now? Does Immunity Play an Intrinsic Role?

The whole world experiences progress and development, however it is the human being who pays the price in stress--an inevitable part of modern life. When encountering stress, an individual reacts at the level of both the micro- and macroenvironment. Nowadays, stress is defined as a real or interpreted threat to the physiological or psychological integrity of an individual, which results in a physiological and/or behavioral response. In the article a review of the stress conceptualization, health consequences of stress (its neuro- physiology and relation to autoimmune disease) as well as ways of management (exercises and psychotherapeutic intervention) is given.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and grain arsenic levels in rice systems

Agriculture is faced with the challenge of providing healthy food for a growing population at minimal environmental cost. Rice (Oryza sativa), the staple crop for the largest number of people on earth, is grown under flooded soil conditions and uses more water and has higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than most crops. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that alternate wetting and drying (AWD – flooding the soil and then allowing to dry down before being reflooded) water management practices will maintain grain yields and concurrently reduce water use, greenhouse gas emissions and arsenic (As) levels in rice. Various treatments ranging in frequency and duration of AWD practices were evaluated at three locations over 2 years. Relative to the flooded control treatment and depending on the AWD treatment, yields were reduced by <1–13%; water‐use efficiency was improved by 18–63%, global warming potential (GWP of CH4 and N2O emissions) reduced by 45–90%, and grain As concentrations reduced by up to 64%. In general, as the severity of AWD increased by allowing the soil to dry out more between flood events, yields declined while the other benefits increased. The reduction in GWP was mostly attributed to a reduction in CH4 emissions as changes in N2O emissions were minimal among treatments. When AWD was practiced early in the growing season followed by flooding for remainder of season, similar yields as the flooded control were obtained but reduced water use (18%), GWP (45%) and yield‐scaled GWP (45%); although grain As concentrations were similar or higher. This highlights that multiple environmental benefits can be realized without sacrificing yield but there may be trade‐offs to consider. Importantly, adoption of these practices will require that they are economically attractive and can be adapted to field scales.
Local Community Detection Based on Small Cliques

Community detection aims to find dense subgraphs in a network. We consider the problem of finding a community locally around a seed node both in unweighted and weighted networks. This is a faster alternative to algorithms that detect communities that cover the whole network when actually only a single community is required. Further, many overlapping community detection algorithms use local community detection algorithms as basic building block. We provide a broad comparison of different existing strategies of expanding a seed node greedily into a community. For this, we conduct an extensive experimental evaluation both on synthetic benchmark graphs as well as real world networks. We show that results both on synthetic as well as real-world networks can be significantly improved by starting from the largest clique in the neighborhood of the seed node. Further, our experiments indicate that algorithms using scores based on triangles outperform other algorithms in most cases. We provide theoretical descriptions as well as open source implementations of all algorithms used.
EFFECTS OF POWER SYSTEM STABILIZER ON INTER-AREA OSCILLATIONS IN VIETNAM POWER SYSTEM

The main objective of this paper is to report a preliminary study of the effects of the power system stabilizer on the small-signal stability and the damping of low-frequency oscillations of the Vietnam power system which is under fast development and has a longitudinal grid pattern. Spontaneous low-frequency oscillations are potential to occur in the exchange of regional power flow of a power system with longitudinal network structure under normal operation. The method of eigen-analysis is utilized to perform the study of the inter-area oscillations with an emphasis on the oscillation mode with low frequency and light damping. The eigenvalues, eigenvectors, and participation factors associated with the inter-area oscillation modes are calculated in details and possible locations of power system stabilizer are chosen for study accordingly. The results reveal the effectiveness of the power system stabilizer in damping inter-area oscillatory modes and thus the contribution to the improvement of system stability.
Avaliação Neuropsicológica de Pessoas com Epilepsia. Visão Crítica dos Testes Empregados na População Brasileira

Embora a neuropsicologia esteja sendo utilizada ha decadas na avaliacao de pessoas com epilepsia em nosso pais, apenas em 2001 foram publicadas as diretrizes preconizadas pela Liga Brasileira de Epilepsia. Este artigo tem como objetivo uma analise simples e didatica da forma como deve-se processar a avaliacao neuropsicologica em epilepsia e fornecer um parecer critico sobre a adaptacao dos testes a serem utilizados na populacao brasileira. Unitermos: Avaliacao neuropsicologica, epilepsia, adaptacao cultural.
The Department of Biology Comprehensive Feasibility of Dissertation and Doctoral Oral Exam

Outline of Expectations for Students: • Schedule a thesis committee meeting for the exam. Scheduling includes finding a date that works for each of your committee members and finding a room to hold the exam in. • Prepare an NIH/NSF style written grant proposal on your thesis project (just the science and bibliography parts – not any of the other forms). While the proposal should include some preliminary data, the primary emphasis should be on the logic and feasibility of the project. It is also important for both the student and the committee to understand that the proposal is not a contract – the goals of the proposal may evolve over the course of the student’s graduate experience. An exemplary proposal is attached to this document. • Distribute the proposal to the committee 1-2 weeks prior to the meeting. • Obtain a copy of the Doctoral Exam Report Form (DERF) from the Biology Department’s Student Services Administrative Assistant (see attached). • Conduct the oral exam during the meeting (see below for details). • Have your committee members sign the DERF. • Return the DERF to the Biology Department’s Student Services Administrative Assistant.