Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Voluntary and evoked behavioral correlates in inflammatory pain conditions under different social housing conditions

Abstract Most preclinical pain models rely on short-duration stimulus-evoked hind paw measurements even though chronic pain is usually a day and night experience. Pain is a debilitating condition that influences the sociability and the ability for voluntary tasks, but the relevant behavioral readouts for these aspects are mostly underrepresented in the literature. Moreover, we lack standardization in most behavioral paradigms. Important aspects are herewith the combination and duration of particular behavioral tasks and the effects of social environment. We aimed at thoroughly investigating stimulus-evoked and voluntary behavioral parameters in the Complete Freund's Adjuvant model of unilateral hind paw inflammation in male mice. Moreover, we analyzed the impact of different social housing conditions. We used a portfolio of classical response measurements, detailed gait analysis, using 2 different measuring systems (Dynamic weight bearing and CatWalk), as well as observer-independent voluntary wheel running and homecage monitoring in a longitudinal time frame. The impact of grouped or isolated housing was investigated in all behavioral paradigms. We observed that unilateral hind paw inflammation provoked changes in several behaviors. Among these were wheel running activity and different homecage activity parameters. Stimulus-evoked hypersensitivity lasted much longer than gait abnormalities and decreased voluntary wheel running activity. Similar effects were monitored in both social housing conditions. This is the first longitudinal study providing detailed insights into various voluntary behavioral parameters related to pain in a unilateral inflammatory model. Stimulus-evoked behavioral changes lasted longer than changes in voluntary behavioral parameters, and the social environment hardly affects these changes.
End heuristics in retrospective voting : Evidence from a conditional cash transfer experiment

A Honduran field experiment allocated cash transfers that varied in their amount and timing. Voters were not indifferent to timing. Two groups of villages received similar cumulative payments per registered voter, but one received larger “catch-up” payments closer to election day. The latter treatment had larger effects on voter turnout and incumbent party vote share in the 2013 presidential elections. The results are consistent with lab experiments showing that individuals err in their retrospective evaluations of payment sequences. In Honduras, voters apparently used the amount of the final payment as an end heuristic for the sum of all payments received. * Samantha Finn and Caroline Gallagher provided excellent research assistance in the collection of voting data. Fiorella Benedetti, Kristin Butcher, Dan Fetter, Phil Levine, Kyung Park, Akila Weerapana, seminar participants, and anonymous referees provided helpful advice, without assuming responsibility for errors or interpretations. This is a substantially updated and revised version of a paper previously circulated as “Electoral reciprocity in programmatic redistribution: Experimental evidence. ” The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Inter-American Development Bank, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.
Influence of excitatory amino acids and ischemia on rat retinal choline acetyltransferase-containing cells.

PURPOSE To compare the effects of glutamate agonists and different types of ischemic insult on choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) immunoreactivity in the rat retina. METHODS Rat retinas were exposed to different glutamate agonists in vivo or in vitro for specific periods of time, and the retinas were then fixed and processed for the localization of ChAT immunoreactivity. In other experiments, rats were administered an ischemic insult either by ligaturing the carotids (two-vessel occlusion [2-VO] procedure), cannulating the anterior chamber, and raising the intraocular pressure (high intraocular pressure [HIOP] procedure) or placing a ligature around the optic nerve sufficiently tightly to prevent blood flow through the central retinal artery (vascular ligation [VL] procedure). The electroretinogram was recorded, and, after a specific period of time, reperfusion was allowed to occur. Thirty to 36 hours after reperfusion, the retinas were dissected and processed for the localization of ChAT, as well as for parvalbumin, Thy-1, and alpha PKC immunoreactivities. RESULTS Of the glutamate agonists tested, only kainate reduced ChAT immunoreactivity significantly in vivo and in vitro. This effect of kainate could be counteracted by the antagonist CNQX (6-cyano-2,3-dihydroxy-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione). The ChAT immunoreactivity was unaffected in retinas in which ischemia was induced by the 2-VO procedure. In contrast, ChAT immunoreactivity was obliterated in retinas in which the HIOP was used and drastically reduced when the VL procedure was used. Interestingly, neither alpha PKC nor Thy-1 immunoreactivities were affected in retinas subjected to HIOP or VL methods. However, parvalbumin immunoreactivity was reduced in the HIOP model but only slightly altered in the VL model. CONCLUSIONS The current results suggest that kainate receptors are associated with the cholinergic retinal neurones in the rat retina. Activation of these receptors by kainate causes a reduction in the neurones' ChAT content. This effect can be mimicked by subjecting the retina to a sufficiently harsh ischemic insult, as occurs in the VL and HIOP procedures. When the ischemic insult is mild, as in the 2-VO procedure, no obvious change in ChAT immunoreactivity is apparent. The HIOP procedure for inducing an ischemic insult was found to be the most severe of the three procedures used, because ChAT immunoreactivity was obliterated and clear changes in the parvalbumin immunoreactivity also were recorded. Interestingly, neither the HIOP nor the VL procedures caused a change in the Thy-1 and alpha PKC immunoreactivities.
Histologic healing following tooth extraction with ridge preservation using mineralized versus combined mineralized-demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND Mineralized and demineralized freeze-dried bone allografts (FDBAs) are used in alveolar ridge (AR) preservation; however, each material has advantages and disadvantages. Combinations of allografts aimed at capitalizing on the advantages each offers are available. To date, there is no evidence to indicate if a combination allograft is superior in this application. The primary objective of this study is to histologically evaluate and compare healing of non-molar extraction sites grafted with either mineralized FDBA or a 70:30 mineralized:demineralized FDBA combination allograft in AR preservation. The secondary objective is to compare dimensional changes in ridge height and width after grafting with these two materials. METHODS Forty-two patients randomized into two equal groups received ridge preservation with either 100% mineralized FDBA (active control group) or the combination 70% mineralized: 30% demineralized allograft (test group). Sites were allowed to heal for 18 to 20 weeks, at which time core biopsies were obtained and dental implants were placed. AR dimensions were evaluated at the time of extraction and at implant placement, including change in ridge width and change in buccal and lingual ridge height. Histomorphometric analysis was performed to determine percentage of vital bone, residual graft, and connective tissue/other non-bone components. RESULTS There was no significant difference between groups in AR dimensional changes. Combination allograft produced increased vital bone percentage (36.16%) compared to the FDBA group (24.69%; P = 0.0116). The combination allograft also had a significantly lower mean percentage of residual graft particles (18.24%) compared to FDBA (27.04%; P = 0.0350). CONCLUSIONS This study provides the first histologic evidence showing greater new bone formation with a combination mineralized/demineralized allograft compared to 100% mineralized FDBA in AR preservation in humans. Combination allograft results in increased vital bone formation while providing similar dimensional stability of the AR compared to FDBA alone in AR preservation.
Carcinoid Heart Disease: A Rare Cause of Right Ventricular Dysfunction Evaluation by Transthoracic 2D, Doppler and 3-D Echocardiography

Carcinoid heart disease is a rare cause of heart failure with or without right valvular heart impairments. In this study, we showed a case of carcinoid tumour with hepatic metastases inducing carcinoid heart disease. Neuroendocrine heart involvement happens for severe tricuspid valve insufficiency and plaques on right ventricular (RV) walls produced by a release of serotonin (5-HT). A patient affected by primitive ileal tumour with 5-HT-secernent hepatic metastases inducing tricuspid insufficiency is showed. Transthoracic 2-D echocardiography showed tricuspid valve regurgitation and both right atrium, RV-walls plaques and RV dilation. Continue-wave Doppler showed a characteristic "dagger shaped" spectrum of tricuspid systolic flow. RV function was evaluated with 3-D transthoracic echocardiography. In particular, RV volumes, RV ejection fraction and stroke volume were defined by this technique. 2, 3-D echocardiography and Doppler method are useful techniques to show heart valves' derangements and RV function to non-invasively detect RV impairments in carcinoid heart disease.
Thyroid cancer causal gene FOXE 1 involved in orofacial clefts in Western Han Chinese

FOXE1 is causal gene for thyroid cancer and has been identified to play an essential role in non-syndromic orofacial clefts (NSOCs) among European population, but its effects remain controversial in Chinese Han population. To investigate its roles among Western Han Chinese population, we selected three SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphism): rs894673, rs3758249 and rs4460498 at FOXE1 gene based on the published literatures and genotyped them in 440 case-parent trios by using SNPscan technology. We performed transmission disequilibrium test (TDT), pair-wise LD, sliding-window haplotype analysis and parent-of-origin effect analysis to evaluate the association. Allelic TDT results showed strong significance among NSOCs and NSCLP (Lowest P=0.0050) for all the three SNPs. Genotypic TDT results showed that A/A homozygotes at rs894673 and T/T homozygotes at rs3758249 were significantly under-transmitted from parents to affected individuals among NSOCs (lowest P=0.016), which indicated that they were protective for NSOCs. Rs894673 A allele (P=0.028), rs3758249 T allele (P=0.028), rs4460498 T allele (P=0.016) was paternally over-transmitted for NSOCs. LD results showed that they tightly linked with each other (D,>0.8 and r2>0.8), and several haplotypes display association with NSOCs and NSCLP. These SNPs at FOXE1 were associated with NSOCs among Western Han Chinese population, which could give more evidence of FOXE1 gene in NSOCs and new insights for future research.
Metal remediation of acid mine drainage using a hybrid system of microalgae reactor

Acid mine drainage(AMD) contains high concentrations of heavy metals and has become a serious environmental problem. A pipes inserted microalgae reactor(PIMR) was constructed to cultivate microalgae and purify AMD. The effects of metal concentration, pH and sulfate after pretreatment on the removal of iron and microalgae growth were investigated. Batch studies showed that PIMR and microalgae can adsorb iron with an uptake of 63.21 ± 9.8 mg/L iron. Microalgae growth was measured by optical density (OD) and dry cell weight (DCW); OD and DCW were 3.96 and 1.54g/L respectively. Continuous studies also proved that PIMR can be used for metal remediation and microalgae cultivation.
Variability of Blood Glucose Concentration and Short-term Mortality in Critically Ill Patients

Background:Intensive insulin therapy may reduce mortality and morbidity in selected surgical patients. Intensive insulin therapy also reduced the SD of blood glucose concentration, an accepted measure of variability. There is no information on the possible significance of variability in glucose concentration. Methods:The methods included extraction of blood glucose values from electronically stored biochemical databases and of data on patient's characteristics, clinical features, and outcome from electronically stored prospectively collected patient databases; calculation of SD of glucose as a marker of variability and of several indices of glucose control in each patient; and statistical assessment of the relation between these variables and intensive care unit mortality. Results:There were 168,337 blood glucose measurements in the study cohort of 7,049 critically ill patients (4.2 hourly measurements on average). The mean ± SD of blood glucose concentration was 1.7 ± 1.3 mm in survivors and 2.3 ± 1.6 mm in nonsurvivors (P < 0.001). Using multiple variable logistic regression analysis, both mean and SD of blood glucose were significantly associated with intensive care unit mortality (P < 0.001; odds ratios [per 1 mm] 1.23 and 1.27, respectively) and hospital mortality (P < 0.001 and P = 0.013; odds ratios [per 1 mm] 1.21 and 1.18, respectively). Conclusions:The SD of glucose concentration is a significant independent predictor of intensive care unit and hospital mortality. Decreasing the variability of blood glucose concentration might be an important aspect of glucose management.
Association between maternal education and diet of children at 9 months is partially explained by mothers' diet.

Infants of mothers of low educational background display consistently poorer outcomes, including suboptimal weaning diets. Less is known about the different causal pathways that relate maternal education to infants' diet. The present study aimed to test the hypothesis that the relationship between maternal education and infants' diet is mediated by mothers' diet. The analyses included 421 mother-infant pairs from the Melbourne Infant Feeding Activity and Nutrition Trial (InFANT) Program. Dietary intakes were collected from mothers when infants were aged 3 months, using a validated food frequency questionnaire relating to the past year, and in infants aged 9 months using 3 × 24-h recalls. Principal component analysis was used to derive dietary pattern scores, based on frequencies of 55 food groups in mothers, and intakes of 23 food groups in infants. Associations were assessed with multivariable linear regression. We tested the product 'ab' to address the mediation hypothesis, where 'a' refers to the relationship between the predictor variable (education) and the mediator variable (mothers' diet), and 'b' refers to the association between the mediator variable and the outcome variable (infants' diet), controlling for the predictor variable. Maternal scores on the 'Fruit and vegetables' dietary pattern partially mediated the relationships between maternal education and two infant dietary patterns, namely 'Balanced weaning diet' [ab = 0.11; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.04; 0.18] and 'Formula' (ab = -0.08; 95%CI: -0.15; -0.02). These findings suggest that targeting pregnant mothers of low education level with the aim of improving their own diet may also promote better weaning diets in their infants.
User identity in the internet of things: effects of self-extension and message framing on object attachment

The Internet of Things (IoT) has gained increasing popularity as an attractive paradigm in which users and smart objects interact socially. To propose effective ways of providing a more positive IoT user experience, this study examined the effects of identity extension (user identity being extended onto an IoT device vs. not being extended) and the type of framing (hedonic vs. utilitarian) of messages delivered via the device. Preliminary data from a between-subjects experiment (N = 22) revealed that identity extension induced greater attachment and satisfaction with regard to the device and resulted in the experience of greater feelings of social presence. In addition, the results indicated that the effect of identity extension on satisfaction and social presence was mediated by user attachment to the device. The implications of the key findings are discussed.
Amorphous Silicon 3-D Tapers for Si Photonic Wires Fabricated With Shadow Masks

Three-dimensional taper structures made from plasma-enhanced chemical vapor-deposited hydrogenated amorphous silicon were evaluated by calculating the deposition profiles with a line-of-sight model and the corresponding mode profiles with a full-vectorial mode solver. The tapers were fabricated with shadow-masks made from KOH-etched Si wafers, and with the tapers light was coupled into 500-nm-wide photonic wires from lensed fibers.
Extracting Consumer Demand: Credit Card Spending and Post-Earnings Returns

Using proprietary individual transaction-level data from a large financial institution, this paper examines the information content of consumer (credit card) spending in explaining stock returns. After controlling for the quarterly earnings and sales surprises, we find a positive relation between the spending surprise on a firm’s product during a fiscal quarter and the subsequent cumulative abnormal returns. One inter-quintile increase in the spending surprise leads to one percentage point increase in the 60-day post-earnings-announcement CAR. The predictive power is concentrated in firms with more sales from high-spending-capacity consumers, firms with a more diversified consumer base, and firms in consumer-oriented industries. Moreover, crecit card spending surprise predicts future earnings and sales surprises over the next four quarters. Further analysis suggests that our results are unlikely driven by information during the reporting lag period or other known factors that predict post-earnings returns. Our findings suggest that the disaggregated consumer spending provides a more accurate and persistent signal of consumer demand that is relevant to a firm’s growth potential and stock pricing.
Information Technology Usage: The Indian Experience

This paper attempts to understand the current state of Information Technology (IT) usage in select Indian organizations based on a questionnaire survey of business executives and IS staff of select IT-savvy organizations. In recent years, rapid changes and developments in the IT domain have created new leaders in the market place. Corporates, the world over, are leveraging on these developments through efficient supply chain, inventory control, and business intelligence applications for gaining an edge over their competitors. The Information System (IS) developed by these organizations is non-replicable thus providing the differentiation. Though Indian companies are aware of concepts such as supply chain, inventory control, etc., the actual implementation of such concepts is not that widespread. Also, the IS function in India is yet to establish itself as a mainstream business function. It is in this context that this paper makes an effort to understand the importance of IT as a key driver for business strategy and recommend to the industry to adopt some of the best practices prevailing in organizations worldwide. The analysis of the responses indicates that there is a discrepancy between the opinions of business executives and IS staff regarding the adequacy of the current IT systems. This situation can be remedied by implementing some of the suggestions which are as follows: The business executives and the IS staff should be located in the same place to integrate IT into the mainstream of business. Business intelligence application needs to be included in the portfolio of applications for business use. The Indian industry needs to be stepped up to the ‘informate’ stage as it is still in the ‘automate’ stage. CIOs have to play an important role by linking IT to business strategy. Information needs of the executives are increasing and necessary steps for imple- menting data warehousing and OLAP solutions need to be taken. Supporting IS should be put in place to facilitate decision-making. Key performance indicators (KPIs) should be clearly identified and incorporated into the IS to monitor the health of the organization. These initiatives are expected to have the following implications: tighter integration of IT with business strategy transformation from the ‘informate mode’ to the ‘transformate’ mode implementation of newer business intelligence tools development of information-based decision-making culture better understanding of organization's KPIs by the IS staff.
IMPACT OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENT

Scholars from the USA, Western Europe, Russia and other countries (H.W. Richardson, Y. Butenko, Ph. Kotler, K. Asplund, I. Rain, I. Haider and others) have worked out theories of regional development that serve as grounds for planning, researching and forecasting changes in the country region. Theories of regional development reflect methods of spatial economics. „Space as limited resource” should be planned since necessary for people space utilization in the particular way precludes another, alternative mode of space usage. The economical aspect of space utilization – development of the spatial segments, their interrelation and their impact on the development of the common space, for instance, the influence of Latvian county economics on the whole region or country. While choosing the location enterprises have to take into account the optimal structure of space for all economic activities. Where is the best location for the stable development of enterprise? Where are the best conditions for the enterprise existence? The sequence of spatial location can begin from the particular region, from the specific place in this region. The result of the search for the spatial location is the result of the more or less successful decision of the single entrepreneur. Purpose of the present research was to study the impact of regional development on the development of enterprise environment. In order to implement the aim the authors had to investigate theories of regional development and study the indicators of environment development in two cities of national level in Latvia – Valmiera and Jekabpils. The research was implemented with the following methods: analysis of theoretical literature, statistical data analysis, document analysis. The primary conclusions were as following: When researching territory, economical aspects of the space utilization shall be taken into consideration; National orientation criteria should be considered when choosing the enterprise location. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.5755/j01.eis. 0.10. 14614
Where Health and Death Intersect

This article offers an integrative understanding of the intersection between health and death from the perspective of the terror management health model. After highlighting the potential for health-related situations to elicit concerns about mortality, we turn to the question, how do thoughts of death influence health-related decision making? Across varied health domains, the answer depends on whether these cognitions are in conscious awareness or not. When mortality concerns are conscious, people form healthy intentions and engage in healthy behavior if efficacy and coping resources are present. In contrast, when contending with accessible but nonconscious thoughts of death, health-relevant decisions are guided more by the implications of the behavior for the individual’s sense of cultural value. Finally, we present research suggesting how these processes can be leveraged to facilitate health promotion and reduce health risk