Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhanced skeletal muscle regrowth and remodelling in massaged and contralateral non‐massaged hindlimb

Muscle fibre cross sectional area is enhanced with massage in the form of cyclic compressive loading during regrowth after atrophy. Massage enhances protein synthesis of the myofibrillar and cytosolic, but not the mitochondrial fraction, in muscle during regrowth. Focal adhesion kinase activation and satellite cell number are elevated in muscles undergoing massage during regrowth. Muscle fibre cross sectional area and protein synthesis of the myofibrillar fraction, but not DNA synthesis, are elevated in muscle of the contralateral non‐massaged limb. Massage in the form of cyclic compressive loading is a potential anabolic intervention during muscle regrowth after atrophy.
Distress screening, rater agreement, and services in pediatric oncology

Objective: Empirically based data support the validity of the distress thermometer recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network as a standard screen for patient distress. However, the feasibility and utility of the distress thermometer has not been studied in the pediatric oncology setting. We conducted a study to: (1) investigate the validity of an adapted distress thermometer with pediatric oncology patients, (2) assess the degree of agreement among different respondents, including physician and psychosocial staff, with respect to (a) the pediatric cancer patient's distress and (b) the caregiver/parent's distress, and (3) to evaluate the relationship between distress levels and the psychosocial services provided to patients and families.
Genioglossus reflex responses to negative upper airway pressure are altered in people with tetraplegia and obstructive sleep apnoea

Protective reflexes in the throat area (upper airway) are crucial for breathing. Impairment of these reflexes can cause breathing problems during sleep such as obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). OSA is very common in people with spinal cord injury for unknown reasons. This study shows major changes in protective reflexes that serve to keep the upper airway open in response to suction pressures in people with tetraplegia and OSA. These results help us understand why OSA is so common in people with tetraplegia and provide new insight into how protective upper airway reflexes work more broadly.
Evidence for an Optimal Algorithm Underlying Signal Combination in Human Visual Cortex

Abstract How does the cortex combine information from multiple sources? We tested several computational models against data from steady‐state electroencephalography (EEG) experiments in humans, using periodic visual stimuli combined across either retinal location or eye‐of‐presentation. A model in which signals are raised to an exponent before being summed in both the numerator and the denominator of a gain control nonlinearity gave the best account of the data. This model also predicted the pattern of responses in a range of additional conditions accurately and with no free parameters, as well as predicting responses at harmonic and intermodulation frequencies between 1 and 30 Hz. We speculate that this model implements the optimal algorithm for combining multiple noisy inputs, in which responses are proportional to the weighted sum of both inputs. This suggests a novel purpose for cortical gain control: implementing optimal signal combination via mutual inhibition, perhaps explaining its ubiquity as a neural computation.
Spatial receptive field shift by preceding cross‐modal stimulation in the cat superior colliculus

It has been known for some time that sensory information of one type can bias the spatial perception of another modality. However, there is a lack of evidence of this occurring in individual neurons. In the present study, we found that the spatial receptive field of superior colliculus multisensory neurons could be dynamically shifted by a preceding stimulus in a different modality. The extent to which the receptive field shifted was dependent on both temporal and spatial gaps between the preceding and following stimuli, as well as the salience of the preceding stimulus. This result provides a neural mechanism that could underlie the process of cross‐modal spatial calibration.
Measures to reduce alcohol related disorder in Glasgow city centre

This article takes a critical view of the evaluation activities to date on the impact of a partnership among the key public agencies and private enterprises providing services in Glasgow city centre, to reduce alcohol related disorder. Partnership work already in process was reconceptualized in terms of a model of community prevention of alcohol problems through policy change, as tested and popularized by Holder. The model contained five strands, covering community engagement, safer licensed premises, environmental improvements, enhancements to transport systems, and active management of the spatial density of alcohol outlets. Some planned interventions were not feasible, for example, the prevention of intoxicated people being served alcohol; other policies were constrained by contextual issues, for example, server training requirements not finalized. Other interventions appeared very successful on short-term impact evaluation, but any effect on long-term outcome measures was difficult to disentangle from overall social trends. More centralized planning, co-ordination, and leadership would enhance the validity of comparisons across varied community contexts in such studies, to help establish feasible common core minimum datasets for community outcomes, for example. The Holder philosophy appeared to promote joint policy making and implementation in Glasgow, but it is too early to assess true impact.
Drinking and haemodynamic changes induced in the dog by intracranial injection of components of the renin‐angiotensin system.

1. Intracranial injections of the individual components of the renin‐angiotensin system caused drinking in water‐replete dogs. 2. Angiotensin II was the most reliable, potent and rapidly acting intracranial dipsogen and elicited drinking in the absence of peripheral circulatory changes. After the highest dose of angiotensin II (10(‐9) mole) five dogs drank a mean amount of 380.0 +/‐ 88.6 ml. For the other components, the order of dipsogenic effectiveness was angiotensin I, synthetic renin substrate, and angiotensin III. 3. Isotonic saline, bradykinin (10(‐10) mole), eledosin‐hexapeptide (10(‐10) mole), oxytocin (10(‐10) mole) and prostaglandin F2alpha (1‐200 X 10(‐12) mole) were ineffective. 4. Intracranial renin (10 m‐u.) produced a mean intake of 445 +/‐ 152 ml. of water in eight dogs. 5. Dog renin substrate and synthetic renin substrate, injected intracranially in a dose of 10(‐10) mole, produced similar intakes of water but these amounts were very much less than the volume drunk in response to the same dose of angiotensin II. 6. None of the components injected into dipsogenically responsive sites in the brain caused changes in blood pressure, although the act of drinking itself produced a small rise. 7. Angiotensin II at the highest dose produced drinking when injected into the subfornical organ, preoptic region, anterior hypothalamus, lateral ventricle, third ventricle, ventral hippocampus and mid‐line thalamus. Negative sites were found in the caudate nucleus, fourth ventricle, mid‐brain, posterior thalamus, dorsal hippocampus, lateral hypothalamus and posterior hypothalamus. 8. After the lowest dose of intracranial angiotensin II (10(‐12) mole) only the preoptic region and subfornical orgal were responsive. These two sites were equally sensitive in terms of latency and amounts drunk at all doses injected. 9. Angiotensin did not necessarily have to reach a cerebral ventricle in order to cause drinking. 10. The dog resembles the rat in its responsiveness to the dipsogenic action of intracranial angiotensin II. The regions of the brain from which drinking can be elicited are more widespread than has been claimed by some in the rat.
Whole body and leg acetate kinetics at rest, during exercise and recovery in humans

We have used a constant [1,2‐13C]acetate infusion (0.12 μmol min−1 kg1) for 2 h at rest, followed by 2 h of one‐legged knee‐extensor exercise at 65 % of leg maximal workload, and 3 h of recovery in six post‐absorptive volunteers to quantify whole‐body and leg acetate kinetics and determine whether the whole‐body acetate correction factor can be used to correct leg substrate oxidation. The acetate whole‐body rate of appearance (Ra) was not significantly different at rest, during exercise or during recovery (365‐415 μmol min−1). The leg net acetate uptake was similar at rest and during recovery (≈10 μmol min−1), but increased ∼5‐fold with exercise. At rest the leg acetate uptake (≈15 μmol min−1) and release (≈5 μmol min−1) accounted for 4 and 1.5 % of whole‐body acetate disposal (Rd) and Ra, respectively. When the leg acetate kinetics were extrapolated to the total body skeletal muscle mass, then skeletal muscle accounted for ∼16 and ∼6 % of acetate Rd and Ra. With exercise, leg acetate uptake increased ∼6‐fold, whereas leg acetate release increased 9‐fold compared with rest. Whole‐body acetate carbon recovery increased with time of infusion at rest and during recovery from 21 % after 1.5 h of infusion to 45 % in recovery after 7 h of infusion. Leg and whole‐body acetate carbon recovery were similar under resting conditions, both before and after exercise. During exercise whole‐body acetate carbon recovery was ∼75 %, however, acetate carbon recovery of the active leg was substantially higher (≈100 %). It is concluded that inactive skeletal muscle plays a minor role in acetate turnover. However, active skeletal muscle enhances several‐fold acetate uptake and subsequent oxidation, as well as release and its contribution to whole‐body acetate turnover. Furthermore, under resting conditions the whole‐body acetate correction factor can be used to correct for leg, skeletal muscle, substrate oxidation, but not during exercise.
Identifying psychological morbidity among people with cancer using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: time to revisit first principles?

The aim of this review was to describe the findings and methodological quality of studies, which sought to validate the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) against the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM in cancer populations. We also sought to compare the cut points recommended by these validation studies with the way in which the HADS is currently used to determine prevalence of psychological morbidity in cancer populations.
Undiscovered role of endogenous thromboxane A2 in activation of cardiac sympathetic afferents during ischaemia

Myocardial ischaemia activates blood platelets, which in turn stimulate cardiac sympathetic afferents, leading to chest pain and sympathoexcitatory reflex cardiovascular responses. Previous studies have shown that activated platelets stimulate ischaemically sensitive cardiac sympathetic afferents, and that thromboxane A2 (TxA2) is one of the mediators released from activated platelets during myocardial ischaemia. The present study tested the hypothesis that endogenous TxA2 stimulates cardiac afferents during ischaemia through direct activation of TxA2 (TP) receptors coupled with the phospholipase C–protein kinase C (PLC–PKC) cellular pathway. Nerve activity of single unit cardiac sympathetic afferents was recorded from the left sympathetic chain or rami communicantes (T2–T5) in anaesthetized cats. Single fields of 39 afferents (conduction velocity = 0.27–3.65 m s−1) were identified in the left or right ventricle initially with mechanical stimulation and confirmed with a stimulating electrode. Five minutes of myocardial ischaemia stimulated all 39 cardiac afferents (8 Aδ‐, 31 C‐fibres) and the responses of these 39 afferents to chemical stimuli were further studied in the following four protocols. In the first protocol, 2.5, 5 and 10 μg of the TxA2 mimetic, U46619, injected into the left atrium (LA), stimulated seven ischaemically sensitive cardiac afferents in a dose‐dependent manner. Second, BM13,177, a selective TxA2 receptor antagonist, abolished the responses of six afferents to 5 μg of U46619 injected into the left atrium and attenuated the ischaemia‐related increase in activity of seven other afferents by 44%. In contrast, cardiac afferents, in the absence of TP receptor blockade responded consistently to repeated administration of U46619 (n= 6) and to recurrent myocardial ischaemia (n= 7). In the fourth protocol, administration of PKC‐(19–36), a selective PKC inhibitor, attenuated the responses of six other cardiac afferents to U46619 by 38%. Finally, using an immunohistochemical staining approach, we observed that TP receptors were expressed in cardiac sensory neurons in thoracic dorsal root ganglia. Taken together, these data indicate that endogenous TxA2 contributes to the activation of cardiac afferents during myocardial ischaemia through direct stimulation of TP receptors probably located in the cardiac sensory nervous system and that the stimulating effect of TxA2 on cardiac afferents is dependent, at least in part, upon the PLC–PKC cellular pathway.
A clinicopathological study of tuberculous pleural effusion in a tertiary care hospital

Context: Tuberculosis is a major contributor of exudative pleural effusion which is the second most common extra-pulmonary manifestation of tuberculosis following tubercular lymphadenitis. Aims: To re-evaluate the time tested and easily available investigation of closed pleural biopsy and its relation with pleural fluid adenosine deaminase (ADA) level and cytological findings in the clinically suspected cases of tuberculous pleural effusion. Materials and Methods: A total of 44 cases of suspected tubercular pleural effusion were selected from the indoor ward of a tertiary care hospital, over a period of 13 months. Apart from the relevant history taking and clinical examination, thorough investigations were done in each case to prove the etiological diagnosis, which comprised of routine hemogram, bleeding time, clotting time, Mantoux test, sputum microscopy, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for HIV, chest X-ray, examination of pleural fluid including ADA estimation, culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (BACTEC), and finally, pleural biopsy by Abram's needle. Results: A total of 65.8% cases of tuberculous pleural effusion were diagnosed by pleural biopsy results. Second biopsy attempts improved the diagnostic ability by 18.4%. The highest incidence was observed in the 11-20 years age group (36.8%). Chest pain (86.8%) was the predominant symptom. Positive Tuberculin skin test was observed in 89.5% cases. Pleural fluid analysis showed a predominance of lymphocytes in all the cases, with 97.3% patients having ADA levels > 70 U/L. There was no major complication of pleural biopsy. Conclusions: Pleural biopsy is a very important tool for diagnosing tuberculous pleural effusion without any major complication. ADA values > 70 U/L are highly suggestive of tubercular etiology and correlated well with histopathological findings of pleural biopsy.
Impaired GABAergic inhibition in the visual cortex of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor heterozygous knockout mice

Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) promotes the formation, maturation and stabilization of inhibitory synapses in the central nervous system. In addition, BDNF has been suggested to regulate the critical period for ocular dominance plasticity in the visual system. Here we further evaluated the role of BDNF in the visual cortex by studying the GABAergic synaptic transmission under conditions of chronically reduced levels of BDNF. Whole‐cell patch‐clamp recordings were performed from pyramidal neurons located in layers II/III of visual cortical slices in heterozygous BDNF knockout mice (BDNF (+/−)) and their wild‐type littermates at the age of 21–25 days. The BDNF (+/−) mice showed a decreased frequency and amplitude of miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs) as well as a reduced amplitude and prolonged decay time constant of evoked IPSCs. Further analyses indicated an impaired presynaptic GABAergic function in BDNF (+/−) mice, as shown by the decreased release probability, steady‐state release and synchronous release of GABA. However, the number of functional release sites remained unchanged. In line with these observations, an impaired glutamate‐driven GABA release was observed in BDNF (+/−) mice. Furthermore, the overall balance in the strength of cortical excitation to inhibition shifted towards a decreased inhibition. Finally, the reversal potential for chloride‐mediated evoked IPSCs was not affected. These findings suggested that chronically reduced levels of BDNF strongly impair the GABAergic inhibitory function in visual cortex by altering postsynaptic properties and by reducing presynaptic GABA release as well as the overall strength of inhibition onto pyramidal neurons within the cortical network. These impairments of inhibitory function are compatible with a rather immature status of the GABAergic system in BDNF (+/−) mice, which supports the hypothesis that the level of expression for BDNF critically affects maturation and function of the GABAergic inhibition.
Caso probable de fiebre manchada (Rickettsia felis) transmitida por pulgas

Rickettsia felis is the etiologic agent of flea-borne spotted fever, with Ctenocephalides felis as its main vector and reservoir. Typically, the disease presents as acute fever associated with headache, asthenia, generalized maculo-papular rash, and in some cases, an inoculation eschar. In recent years, R. felis has acquired an important role in the etiology of the acute febrile syndrome; it is indeed an emerging infectious disease, albeit underdiagnosed. Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) is currently the reference diagnostic method. However, this technique has limitations related to the cross reactivity among different species of rickettsiae. Herein, we describe a case of a 16 year-old patient with an acute febrile syndrome secondary to probable infection with R. felis.
Psychiatric manifestations, personality traits and health‐related quality of life in cancer of unknown primary site

Psychiatric manifestations and personality traits are known to influence cancer patients. We aimed to assess psychological distress symptoms, psychosocial factors and health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) in cancer of unknown primary site (CUP) and to test whether these parameters differ between CUP and Metastatic (MKPC) or Non‐Metastatic Known Primary Cancers (N‐MKPC) after controlling for demographics and clinical variables.
If you had less than a year to live, would you want to know? A seven‐country European population survey of public preferences for disclosure of poor prognosis

With increasing European cancer deaths, clinicians must manage information regarding poor prognosis. This study aimed to determine European citizens' preferences, within a scenario of serious illness such as cancer with less than a year to live, for information disclosure regarding poor prognosis, the likely symptoms and problems, and the care options available, to measure variations between countries and to identify factors associated with preferences.
UV Laser Machined Polymer Substrates for the Development of Microdiagnostic Systems.

This report describes a UV laser photoablation method for the production of miniaturized liquid-handling systems on polymer substrate chips. The fabrication of fluid channel and reservoir networks is accomplished by firing 200 mJ pulses from an UV excimer laser at substrates moving in predefined computer-controlled patterns. This method was used for producing channels in polystyrene, polycarbonate, cellulose acetate, and poly(ethylene terephthalate). Efficient sealing of the resulting photoablated polymer channels was accomplished using a low-cost film lamination technique. After fabrication, the ablated structures were observed to be well defined, i.e., possessing high aspect ratios, as seen by light, scanning electron, and atomic force microscopy. Relative to the original polymer samples, photoablated surfaces showed an increase in their hydrophilicity and rugosity as a group, yet differences were noted between the polymers studied. These surface characteristics demonstrate the capability of generating electroosmotic flow in the cathodic direction, which is characterized here as a function of applied electric field, pH, and ionic strength of common electrophoretic buffer systems. These results show a correlation between the ablative changes in surface conditions and the resulting electroosmotic flow. The effect of protein coatings on ablated surfaces is also demonstrated to significantly dampen the electroosmotic flow for all polymers. All of these results are discussed in terms of developing liquid-handling capability, which is an essential part of many μ-TAS and chemical diagnostic systems.
The effect of information literacy on the utilization of electronic information resources in selected academic and research institutions in Uganda

– Uganda has gone a step forward in ensuring that information resources available for researchers and students are maximally utilized. Academic and research libraries are participating in supporting and achieving the missions of their respective institutions by teaching the competency of information literacy (IL). This paper seeks to examine the effect IL has had on the usage of electronic information resources in academic and research institutions in Uganda. It aims to focus on the innovations that Makerere University Library (the biggest and oldest academic library in Uganda) has undertaken to ensure that library users (the Makerere University community and other collaborating universities and research institutions in Uganda) are trained on how to access a variety of available information resources, evaluate the information and apply it to address their needs. , – Data were collected for the study using interviews to both library staff and users of the selected institutions: two library staff in charge of e‐resources and ten students/researchers were interviewed from each institution. However, user statistics for the years 2004‐2005, as well as the IL training sessions conducted, were the main sources of information. The study focused on academic and research institutions – Makerere University, Uganda, Martyrs University, Nkozi and National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS). The researcher is physically involved in the IL program in Makerere University. The usage statistics were compiled and interpreted. , – The paper finds that availability of information does not necessarily mean actual use. The study shows that some of the available resources have not been utilized at all. This means that users are not aware of the availability of such resources, they do not know how to access them, or they do not know what the resources offer. All this calls for continued information literacy programs. IL is very vital in influencing utilization of e‐resources. Information professionals are needed to pass on IL skills to library users, while library users should endeavor to find out what information is available online for their consumption. Their attitudes and perceptions also influence the level of utilization. , – The paper shows the extent of information literacy and its influence on electronic resources in Uganda. It points out the challenges for the future and provides a number of recommendations for the way forward, which will be helpful both to the relevant communities in Uganda and to other academics in similar circumstances.