Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Single Angiotensin II Hypertensive Stimulus Is Associated with Prolonged Neuronal and Immune System Activation in Wistar-Kyoto Rats

Activation of autonomic neural pathways by chronic hypertensive stimuli plays a significant role in pathogenesis of hypertension. Here, we proposed that even a single acute hypertensive stimulus will activate neural and immune pathways that may be important in initiation of memory imprinting seen in chronic hypertension. We investigated the effects of acute angiotensin II (Ang II) administration on blood pressure, neural activation in cardioregulatory brain regions, and central and systemic immune responses, at 1 and 24 h post-injection. Administration of a single bolus intra-peritoneal (I.P.) injection of Ang II (36 μg/kg) resulted in a transient increase in the mean arterial pressure (MAP) (by 22 ± 4 mmHg vs saline), which returned to baseline within 1 h. However, in contrast to MAP, neuronal activity, as measured by manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance (MEMRI), remained elevated in several cardioregulatory brain regions over 24 h. The increase was predominant in autonomic regions, such as the subfornical organ (SFO; ~20%), paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN; ~20%) and rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM; ~900%), among others. Similarly, systemic and central immune responses, as evidenced by circulating levels of CD4+/IL17+ T cells, and increased IL17 levels and activation of microglia in the PVN, respectively, remained elevated at 24 h following Ang II challenge. Elevated Fos expression in the PVN was also present at 24 h (by 73 ± 11%) following Ang II compared to control saline injections, confirming persistent activation of PVN. Thus, even a single Ang II hypertensive stimulus will initiate changes in neuronal and immune cells that play a role in the developing hypertensive phenotype.
Impact of a Warm Ocean Eddy’s Circulation on Hurricane-Induced Sea Surface Cooling with Implications for Hurricane Intensity

AbstractUpper oceanic heat content (OHC) in advance of a hurricane is generally superior to prestorm sea surface temperature (SST) for indicating favorable regions for hurricane intensification and maintenance. OHC is important because a hurricane’s surface winds mix the upper ocean and entrain cooler water into the oceanic mixed layer from below, subsequently cooling the sea surface in the region providing heat energy to the storm. For a given initial SST, increased OHC typically decreases the wind-induced sea surface cooling, and a warm ocean eddy (WCR) has a higher OHC than its surroundings, so conditions typically become more favorable for a hurricane to intensify when the storm’s core encounters a WCR. When considering hurricane intensity, however, one often-neglected aspect of a WCR is its anticyclonic circulation. This circulation may impact the location and magnitude of the hurricane-induced sea surface cooling. Using an ocean model, either prescribed hurricane wind stress or wind stress obtained .
O.24 Mouse models of dominant ACTA1 disease recapitulate human disease and provide insight into therapies

Mutations in the skeletal muscle α-actin gene (ACTA1) cause a range of pathologically defined congenital myopathies. Most patients have dominant mutations and experience severe skeletal muscle weakness, dying within one year of birth. To determine mutant ACTA1 pathobiology, transgenic mice expressing ACTA1(D286G) were created. These Tg(ACTA1)(D286G) mice were less active than wild-type individuals. Their skeletal muscles were significantly weaker by in vitro analyses and showed various pathological lesions reminiscent of human patients, however they had a normal lifespan. Mass spectrometry revealed skeletal muscles from Tg(ACTA1)(D286G) mice contained ∼25% ACTA1(D286G) protein. Tg(ACTA1)(D286G) mice were crossed with hemizygous Acta1(+/-) knock-out mice to generate Tg(ACTA1)(D286G)(+/+). Acta1(+/-) offspring that were homozygous for the transgene and hemizygous for the endogenous skeletal muscle α-actin gene. Akin to most human patients, skeletal muscles from these offspring contained approximately equal proportions of ACTA1(D286G) and wild-type actin. Strikingly, the majority of these mice presented with severe immobility between postnatal Days 8 and 17, requiring euthanasia. Their skeletal muscles contained extensive structural abnormalities as identified in severely affected human patients, including nemaline bodies, actin accumulations and widespread sarcomeric disarray. Therefore we have created valuable mouse models, one of mild dominant ACTA1 disease [Tg(ACTA1)(D286G)], and the other of severe disease, with a dramatically shortened lifespan [Tg(ACTA1)(D286G)(+/+). Acta1(+/-)]. The correlation between mutant ACTA1 protein load and disease severity parallels effects in ACTA1 families and suggests altering this ratio in patient muscle may be a therapy for patients with dominant ACTA1 disease. Furthermore, ringbinden fibres were observed in these mouse models. The presence of such features suggests that perhaps patients with ringbinden of unknown genetic origin should be considered for ACTA1 mutation screening. This is the first experimental, as opposed to observational, evidence that mutant protein load determines the severity of ACTA1 disease.
Design of a Generalized Control Algorithm for Parallel Inverters for Smooth Microgrid Transition Operation

A modified hierarchical control structure for distributed generation (DG) in microgrid is applied in accordance to the recommendations by the IEEE Std. 1676. In the inverter control layer, a generalized control algorithm is developed to enable the DGs to operate in all three modes (i.e., grid-forming, grid-feeding, and grid-supporting modes) with a single control structure, facilitating the seamless transition between the operating modes. This feature is obtained by designing the multiloop controller in the inverter control layer using inverse plant modeling techniques so that the dynamics of the inverter and the $LC$ filter are fully compensated, virtually transforming the controlled DG in the unity gain from the application layer perspective. Thus, effects of disturbances associated with the mode transitions are thus fully eliminated. The effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm is validated by numerical simulations and hardware-in-the-loop experiments. The results show that the DGs can fulfill the tasks defined in the system control layer with fast dynamics, desired accuracy, and good transient behavior.
A Case of Oral Spelling Behavior: Another Environmental Dependency Syndrome

ObjectiveTo present the case of a woman with a probable vascular dementia and a unique oral spelling behavior (OSB). Our aim was to better characterize the mechanisms underlying OSB in this patient with advanced cognitive and noncognitive deficits. BackgroundDifferent kind of language deficits have been described in dementias and other related diseases. Other nonaphasic acquired communication disorders include a heterogeneous group of verbal impairment that are mainly due to attentional and executive impairments. MethodsWe describe the neurolinguistic and neuropsychologic analysis of an 88-year-old woman with spontaneous OSB. Computed tomography-scan at the time of the clinical analysis is also presented. ResultsOSB occurred preferentially in spontaneous discourse, manifested in other language tasks, concerned all lexical categories, and was not accompanied by spelling deficit although language was not intact and disclosed foreign accent syndrome. Environmental dependency syndrome or utilization behavior was prominent and concerned various sensorimotor activities. ConclusionsWe postulate that OSB was not secondary to a linguistic or more specifically to a spelling deficit but to another variant of environmental dependency syndrome and probably associated with a cortico-subcortical lesion including the left prefrontal region.
Synergistic activity of combinations of recombinant human alpha interferon and acyclovir, administered concomitantly and in sequence, against a lethal herpes simplex virus type 1 infection in mice

The nucleoside analog acyclovir [9-(2-hydroxyethoxymethyl)guanine] and the hybrid recombinant human alpha interferon (rHuIFN-alpha A/D) were evaluated in weanling mice for their efficacy alone and in combination against a lethal systemic infection with herpes simplex virus type 1. Simultaneous parenteral treatment with combinations of both agents at various doses resulted in a higher percentage of survival than when either agent was administered alone, with a synergistic interaction demonstrated at certain dose combinations. Sequential administration of parenteral rHuIFN-alpha A/D and oral acyclovir, administered by gavage or supplied ad libitum in drinking water, resulted in a synergistic interaction at all dose combinations tested. These results suggest that combinations of interferon and acyclovir may be useful in treating primary herpes simplex virus infections in humans.
Information Content of Dividends: Evidence from Istanbul Stock Exchange

This study investigates the market reaction to dividend change announcements at the Istanbul Stock Exchange. A sample of 184 announcements made by 46 companies during the period 2005 to 2008 is analyzed by using the event study methodology. The results suggest that the market reacts positively to dividend increases, negatively to dividend decreases and does not react when dividends are not changed, consistent with the signaling hypothesis. Also, the results show pre-event information leakage for the decreasing dividends sample.
Frost‐boil ecosystems: complex interactions between landforms, soils, vegetation and climate

Frost boils in northern Alaska vary from large, 2–3‐m diameter, barren non‐sorted circles to completely vegetated hummocks. Summer warmth increases southwards from the coast. Average thaw‐layer thickness shows the opposite trend. Frost heave shows no trend along the climate gradient but is affected by soil texture. Heave is greatest on frost boils with fine‐grained sediments. Biomass increases from 183 g m−2 at the coast to 813 g m−2 in the Arctic Foothills. An aggrading permafrost table is evident in most of the frost‐boil soil profiles, indicating that, over time, accumulation of plant biomass leads to reduced thaw‐layer thickness. A conceptual model suggests how vegetation affects the morphology of patterned ground forms. In the coldest parts of the High Arctic well‐developed frost boils do not form and there is little vegetation on frost boils or the inter‐boil areas. In the warmest parts of the Low Arctic, vegetation is usually sufficient to stabilize the frost boil soils. Frost boils play an important role in Arctic ecosystems functions, including the flux of trace gases to the atmosphere, flux of water and nutrients to streams, and the recycling of important nutrients to wildlife populations. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Neighbor Selection Method Based on Priority of the Number of Common Items in Collaborative Filtering

Memory-based collaborative filtering (MBCF) selects the top-k neighbors in order to predict a rating for an item the target user has not yet experienced. We propose a method to minimize the similarity errors with the existing neighbor selection method by considering the number of common items between two objects. To verify the proposed method, we compare experimental results on the existing method and the proposed method. As a result, we were able to confirm that the proposed method can improve the prediction accuracy by proposed neighbor selection.
Insights into the biological functions of Dock family guanine nucleotide exchange factors

Rho GTPases regulate many essential processes during development, yet the full impact of their upstream regulation through guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) is only beginning to be appreciated. In this review, Laurin and Côté focus on emerging biological functions of the mammalian Dock family of GEFs in development and disease and discuss how recent discoveries might be exploited for novel therapeutic strategies.
Bovine tuberculosis and badgers in Britain: relevance of the past

SUMMARY The European badger (Meles meles) has been identified as a wildlife reservoir of bovine tuberculosis and a source of transmission to cattle in Britain and Ireland. Both behavioural ecology and statistical ecological modelling have indicated the long-term persistence of the disease in some badger communities, and this is postulated to account for the high incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle across large tracts of England and Wales. This paper questions this consensus by using historical cartographic evidence to show that tuberculosis in cattle had a very different spatial distribution before 1960 to the present day. Since few of the badgers collected in road traffic accidents between 1972 and 1990 had tuberculosis in counties such as Cheshire, where the disease had until shortly before that been rife in the cattle population, the role of badgers as reservoirs in spreading disease in similar counties outside the south-west of England has to be questioned.
Alterations in mental function and paroxysmal cerebral activity.

We have previously reported a study in which we found that certain kinds of "nonanswer" responses (NR's) to intelligence test items occurred to a significantly greater extent among a group of epileptics than among a group having organic brain impairment but without known seizures, and a psychiatric group, respectively.2Patients with paroxysmal electroencephalographic abnormality, regardless of diagnosis, also were found to demonstrate NR's significantly more frequently than those without such abnormality. NR's might be categorized as temporary losses of goal idea, or what would appear to be transient inattention, preoccupation, or internal distraction. The temporary loss of goal idea was indicated by a direct admission of confusion, request for repetition of the test instructions, a comment or criticism about the test item, a response to part of the question, or verbalization of merely a simple association. As a result of these findings, our belief was that NR's occur concomitantly
Backhaul Resource Allocation for Existing and Newly Arrived Moving Small Cells

Cellular users in moving vehicles such as buses and trains have been suffering from quality-of-service (QoS) issues. Small-cell access points (SAPs) can be deployed in the vehicles to combat this problem. We call the SAPs deployed in vehicles moving SAPs (M-SAPs). With a small cell, two links are created in the macrocell, namely, the access link and the backhaul link. The macrocell may work as the backhaul for an M-SAP. Due to the mobility of the vehicle, an M-SAP will be entering and leaving the macrocell, and the backhaul connection will be changing. As the backhaul is wireless, resources will be required for data transmission from the macrocell to M-SAP, in addition to resources required for transmission from M-SAP to the user. In the existing research, backhaul resources are reserved for the newly arrived M-SAPs and not optimally utilized. In this paper, we study the allocation of orthogonal frequency-division multiple-access (OFDMA) resources (resource blocks and transmission power) to macrocell users and the backhaul of M-SAPs in the downlink of the network. Both the existing and newly arrived M-SAPs are considered in the macrocell. The objective is to maximize the achievable data rate of the newly arrived M-SAPs in the macrocell under the constraint that the minimum required achievable data rates of the existing macrocell users and the M-SAPs are satisfied.
Does continuity of care matter in a universally insured population?

OBJECTIVE To examine the relation between continuity of care and preventive health care and emergency department (ED) use in a universal health care system. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING Administrative data that capture health care use of the entire population of a midwestern Canadian city. STUDY DESIGN A population-based, retrospective study of all individuals who had a least one physician contact in 1998 or 1999 (total N=536,893). METHODS Logistic regressions were conducted to examine the relation between continuity of care, defined in terms of the proportion of total visits to family physicians (FPs) made to the same FP, and cervical cancer screening, breast cancer screening, influenza vaccination, pneumococcal vaccination, and ED visits, controlling for demographic variables, socioeconomic status (defined in terms of relative affluence of neighborhood of residence), and health status. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Continuity of care was related to better preventive health care and reduced ED use. A consistent socioeconomic gradient also emerged. For instance, the odds of having a mammogram was double for individuals living in the wealthiest neighborhoods, relative to those in the poorest neighborhoods (adjusted odds ratio=2.31, 99 percent CI 2.13-2.50). CONCLUSIONS Having a long-term relationship with a single physician makes a difference even in a universal health care system. Moreover, socioeconomic disparities remain, suggesting the need to target specifically individuals from lower socioeconomic strata for preventive health care.
Different demographic and sexual correlates for chlamydial infection and gonorrhoea in Rotterdam.

BACKGROUND The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of gonorrhoea and chlamydial infections and to determine sexual and demographic correlates for these sexually transmitted diseases (STD) among visitors of an STD clinic. METHODS In 1994, a cross-sectional study was carried out among 2984 consecutive visitors of the STD clinic of the University Hospital Rotterdam. RESULTS The prevalence of chlamydial infection was 12.1% for women and 12.3% for men. For gonorrhoea, prevalence was 3.2% and 6.0%, respectively. For men, gonorrhoea was independently associated with multiple partners in the last month, homosexual activities, a history of gonorrhoea, last sexual contact in the past 4-14 days and casual partners. In contrast, chlamydial infection was less likely to be found in homosexual men and male intravenous drug users. Additionally, chlamydial infection was independently associated with young age, multiple partners in the last 6 months and with last sexual contact in the past 2 months. For women, intravenous drug use (associated with commercial sex work) and a history of trichomoniasis were independent risk factors for gonorrhoea. Independent risk factors for chlamydial infection in women were: young age, two or three sexual partners during life and last sexual contact within 2 months. Chlamydial infection was uncommon in commercial sex workers. CONCLUSIONS The differences in the epidemiological correlates suggest that chlamydial infection is more diffusely spread into the general population than gonorrhoea. Additionally, it is hypothesized that men acquire their chlamydial infection through less stable relationships and subsequently infect their regular female partner.
Retinoyl complexes in Batten disease

photomicrographs. In addition, touch to a smooth stainless steel sphere caused complete loss of endothelial cells in several areas. This type of damage induced by metal instruments will be examined further. The acrylic polymer used for intraocular lenses has good optical and mechanical properties and has demonstrated a reasonable degree of bioacceptance during many years of ophthalmic application. It is a rigid, hydrophobic material and is not readily wet by physiological fluids or saline solution. Since the immediate tissue interactions are primarily biophysical and probably involve a hydrophobic interaction between the plastic and cell surfaces, our initial approach to interfering with adhesion was to apply a hydrophilic polymer (polyvinylpyrrolidone, PVP) solution in an attempt to produce an adhesion barrier-lubricant boundary layer (2). Both PVP and other hydrophilic polymer solutions completely eliminated adhesion damage to the endothelial cells. The tissue-materials interface has been extensively studied from the standpoint of polymer biocompatibility for nonthrombogenic and tissue-compatible implants or prostheses (4). Short-term toxicology and thrombogenicity as well as long-term tissue acceptance have been major points of concern. However, except for attention to cell adhesion to plastic surfaces pertinent to tissue culture studies, cell binding to polymer surfaces from the standpoint of blood and tissue compatibility, and some studies related to surgical adhesives, dental restoratives, and the changes of the adhesive properties of cell surfaces accompanying tumor cell metastasis, there has been relatively little attention devoted to the fundamentals of short-term bioadhesion phenomena. The literature on protein and cell adhesion to hydrophobic polymer surfaces (5) does suggest that increasing surface hydrophilicity tends to reduce adhesion. Only a very qualitative understanding of the basis for improvement in what is loosely termed "biocompatibility" as a result of increased wettability or hydrophilicity of surfaces seems yet to exist. Our research indicates that contact adhesion by hydrophobic or electrostatic surface interactions (or both) may be an important general phenomenon that occurs in many surgical procedures when foreign surfaces, such as plastic, rubber, metal, and glass, contact exposed tissue. Our finding that the elimination of such adherence is achieved by interposing a hydrophilic polymer at the interface suggests (i) a mechanism by which hydro-
Le volvulus gastrique idiopathique aigu: à propos d'une nouvelle observation

Le volvulus gastrique est une rotation anormale de l'estomac autour de son axe. La forme aiguë constitue une urgence chirurgicale. Le diagnostic est souvent retardé en raison d'une symptomatologie fréquemment non spécifique. Des signes respiratoires tels la dyspnée et le hoquet peuvent révéler cette pathologie. Les auteurs rapportent une nouvelle observation de volvulus gastrique aigu chez un adolescent de 17 ans, diagnostiqué par la tomodensitométrie, et confirmé par une intervention chirurgicale. Le traitement est chirurgical et consiste à détordre et fixer l'estomac pour prévenir la récidive.
Transiently redirected T cells for adoptive transfer.

BACKGROUND AIMS T cells can be redirected to reject cancer by retroviral transduction with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) or by administration of a bispecific T cell engager (BiTE). We demonstrate that transfection of T cells with messenger (m) RNA coding for CAR is an alternative strategy. METHODS We describe the pre-clinical evaluation of a method based on transient modification of expanded T cells with a CD19 CAR directed against B-cell malignancies. CAR mRNA was generated under cell-free conditions in a scalable process using recombinant RNA polymerase. Efficient and non-toxic square-wave electroporation was used to load the mRNA into the cytoplasm of T cells with no risk of insertional mutagenesis. RESULTS After transfection >80% of T cells were viable, with 94% CAR expression. Transfected T cells were cytolytic to CD19(+) targets and produced interferon (IFN)-γ in response. Killing of CD19(+) target cells was demonstrated even at day 8 with undetectable CAR expression. Increasing the concentration of mRNA resulted in higher surface CAR expression, better killing and more IFN-γ release but at the expense of increased activation-induced cell death. Finally, we demonstrated that a second transgene could be introduced by co-electroporation of CXCR4 or CCR7 with CAR to also modify chemotactic responses. CONCLUSIONS We advocate the transient redirection approach as well suited to meet safety aspects for early phase studies, prior to trials using stably transduced cells once CAR has been proven safe. The simplicity of this methodology also facilitates rapid screening of candidate targets and novel receptors in pre-clinical studies.