Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECT OF OVARIECTOMY ON THYROID C CELLS OF ADULT RATS

Summary: The structure and function of C cells of adult female rats after ovariectomy (Ovx) were investigated. Intact control and Ovx rats were i.p. treated with sterile olive oil for 4 weeks. Peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) immunohistochemical procedure was applied to localize calcitonin (CT) in thyroid C cells while its serum content was determined by RIA method. Morphometric analyses of the C cells volume, that of their nuclei and relative volume density included stereological method with the multipurpose test system M42. Also, the average number of C cells number per mm2 was calculated. Ovx led to a significant increase in body weight (21%; p<0.005). At the same time the C cells of Ovx rats had a significantly decreased cell volume (13%; p<0.005) and their number per mm2 was increased by 59% (p<0.001) in comparison with the controls. Ovx resulted in reduction of serum CT level by 45% comparing to the corresponding controls. Based on these data it can be concluded that Ovx inhibits both the structure and function of the C cells.
Investigation of the effect of luminance level on emotional evaluation by P300 waves observed in EEG records

In this study, the effect of the luminance level on the emotional evaluation was investigated using P300 waves observed in electroencephalography (EEG) records. EEG records of 31 helathy individuals were used in this study. The power graphs of records were examined and statistical analysis of the features obtained these power values was performed. With the findings, it was tried to find out how the increase in luminance level reflects the EEG activity and the change in brain, which region, frequency and time interval.
Molecular Mechanisms of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a complex disorder, where family, twin and adoption studies have been demonstrating a high heritability of the disease and that this disease is not simply defined by several major genes but rather evolves from addition or potentiation of a specific cluster of genes, which subsequently determines the genetic vulnerability of an individual. Linkage and association studies suggest that a genetic vulnerablility, is not forcefully leading to the disease since triggering factors and environmental influences, i.e. birth complications, drug abuse, urban background or time of birth have been identified. This has lead to the assumption that schizophrenia is not only a genetically defined static disorder but a dynamic process leading to dysregulation of multiple pathways. There are several different hypothesis based on several facets of the disease, some of them due to the relatively well-known mechanisms of therapeutic agents. The most widely considered neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia integrates environmental influences and causative genes. The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia is based on the fact that all common treatments involve antidopaminergic mechanisms and genes such as DRD2, DRD3, DARPP-32, BDNF or COMT are closely related to dopaminergic system functioning. The glutamatergic hypothesis of schizophrenia lead recently to a first successful mGlu2/3 receptor agonistic drug and is underpinned by significant findings in genes regulating the glutamatergic system (SLC1A6, SLC1A2 GRIN1, GRIN2A, GRIA1, NRG1, ErbB4, DTNBP1, DAAO, G72/30, GRM3). Correspondingly, GABA has been proposed to modulate the pathophysiology of the disease which is represented by the involvement of genes like GABRA1, GABRP, GABRA6 and Reelin. Moreover, several genes implicating immune, signaling and networking deficits have been reported to be involved in the disease, i.e. DISC1, RGS4, PRODH, DGCR6, ZDHHC8, DGCR2, Akt, CREB, IL-1B, IL-1RN, IL-10, IL-1B. However, molecular findings suggest that a complex interplay between receptors, kinases, proteins and hormones is involved in schizophrenia. In a unifying hypothesis, different cascades merge into another that ultimately lead to the development of symptoms adherent to schizophrenic disorders.
Bounds for the Distance Between the Distributions of Sums of Absolutely Continuous i.i.d. Convex-Ordered Random Variables with Applications

Let X 1, X 2,… and Y 1, Y 2,… be two sequences of absolutely continuous, independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) random variables with equal means E(X i)=E(Y i), i=1,2,… In this work we provide upper bounds for the total variation and Kolmogorov distances between the distributions of the partial sums ∑i=1 n X i and ∑i=1 n Y i. In the case where the distributions of the X is and the Y is are compared with respect to the convex order, the proposed upper bounds are further refined. Finally, in order to illustrate the applicability of the results presented, we consider specific examples concerning gamma and normal approximations.
Standardized myocardial segmentation and nomenclature for tomographic imaging of the heart. A statement for healthcare professionals from the Cardiac Imaging Committee of the Council on Clinical Cardiology of the American Heart Association.

Nuclear cardiology, echocardiography, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), cardiac computed tomography (CT), positron emission computed tomography (PET), and coronary angiography are imaging modalities that have been used to measure myocardial perfusion, left ventricular function, and coronary anatomy for clinical management and research. Although there are technical differences between these modalities, all of them image the myocardium and the adjacent cavity. However, the orientation of the heart, angle selection for cardiac planes, number of segments, slice display and thickness, nomenclature for segments, and assignment of segments to coronary arterial territories have evolved independently within each field. This evolution has been based on the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the technique and the practical clinical application of these modalities as they are used for patient management. This independent evolution has resulted in a lack of standardization and has made accurate intra- and cross-modality comparisons for clinical patient management and research very difficult, if not, at times, impossible. Attempts to standardize these options for all cardiac imaging modalities should be based on the sound principles that have evolved from cardiac anatomy and clinical needs.1–3⇓⇓ Selection of standardized methods must be based on the following criteria: An earlier special report from the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and Society of Nuclear Medicine4 defined standards for plane selection and display orientation for serial …
Biomedical Imaging Principles and Applications in Engineering Series - [Book review]

provides a thorough examination of the control mechanisms and response activity in the G-I tract with specifics about the electrogastrogram (EGG). On the whole, however, this physiology section does not enhance the material presented in the imaging section and could have been omitted entirely from the book. The “Imaging” section contains a chapter on each of the standard imaging modalities—X ray, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, nuclear medicine (including SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), and ultrasound as well as several specialty chapters on MR microscopy, electrical impedance tomography, and virtual reality technology. Each of these chapters offers a solid explanation of the components needed for signal/source generation, image detection, and computer processing. Nearly half of the “X-ray” chapter is devoted to the topic of mammography, with many physiological examples related to the image output. Similarly, about half of the “MR Imaging” chapter contains two special-topics subsections on functional MRI and chemical shift imaging. The chapter on CT includes an historical account of the data-acquisition geometries of CT scanners and many good figures illustrating the hardware of the system; several of these figures lack dimensions needed for clarification of size. The chapter closes with an overview of image reconstruction principles. The “Nuclear Medicine” chapter likewise covers system design and image reconstruction techniques. An extensive table of radionuclides used in biomedicine is included in the chapter on PET.
Contribution of mouse egg zona pellucida glycoproteins to gamete recognition during fertilization

For sperm to fertilize eggs, they must first bind to the thick zona pellucida (ZP) that surrounds the plasma membrane of all unfertilized mammalian eggs. An extensive literature suggests that mouse sperm recognize and bind to a specific ZP glycoprotein called mZP3. However, the role of individual ZP glycoproteins in binding of mouse sperm to eggs has been called into question by recent transgenic experiments with null mice. Results of such experiments have been interpreted to mean that binding of sperm depends on the supramolecular structure of the ZP, not on an individual ZP glycoprotein. Here, it is argued that results of these transgenic experiments actually are consistent with the prevailing view of gamete recognition that implicates a specific ZP glycoprotein in both binding of mouse sperm to eggs and induction of the acrosome reaction. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The in ovo carcinogenicity assay (IOCA): a review of an experimental approach for research on carcinogenesis and carcinogenicity testing.

Up to now, the carcinogenicity of a substance, i.e., its cancer-causing effect, has been usually determined with the help of extensive animal testing. The in ovo carcinogenicity assay (IOCA) has been suggested as a rapid and inexpensive, non-animal, method for carcinogenicity testing and for experimental studies on mechanisms of carcinogenesis. The substance to be tested is injected into a fertilized ovum. No later than four days before the hatching date, the embryos are released, and the liver is removed for identifying the effect of hepatocarcinogens. Histological, cytological and molecular biological alterations of the embryonic liver have been induced with a variety of chemical carcinogens. After sufficiently high doses of hepatocarcinogens, tubular structures predominate in the liver and replace the normal trabecular pattern. The cell and nuclear size of the hepatocytes in embryonic liver is severely increased after exposure to chemical carcinogens over a wide dose range including doses that fail to elicit cytotoxicity in the embryonic liver.
Clinical effectiveness of percutaneous adhesiolysis using Navicath for the management of chronic pain due to lumbosacral disc herniation.

BACKGROUND Epidural steroid injection has been frequently performed to treat chronic pain due to lumbosacral disc herniation (L-HIVD). However, a considerable number of patients do not achieve pain relief using this method because perineural or epidural adhesions prevent the spread of injectate into the epidural space. Percutaneous adhesiolysis (PA) is thought to be a useful method because it can eliminate the deleterious effects of adhesion. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of PA in managing chronic pain due to L-HIVD and the clinical and radiological predictive factors for the effectiveness of PA using NaviCath®. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective study SETTING Spine hospital METHODS From a group of patients diagnosed with L-HIVD, we selected the 86 patients who underwent PA with NaviCath® who had experienced chronic lower back or leg pain for at least 3 months and had failed to respond to anti-inflammatory medications or physical therapy of at least 1 month's duration and fluoroscopy guided transforaminal epidural injection. We recorded the Numeric Rating Scale for back pain (NRS back) and leg pain (NRS leg) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) at pretreatment, 2 weeks, and 3 months after treatment. Clinical data and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings were obtained to assess the possible predictive factors for PA efficacy. LIMITATIONS Retrospective chart review without a control group. RESULTS At 2 weeks after PA, significant improvement was observed in NRS back, NRS leg, and ODI compared with pretreatment. This improvement was maintained until 3 months after treatment. Among 86 patients, 61 (70.9%), 53 (61.6%) and 61 patients (70.9%) showed successful outcomes in NRS back, NRS leg, and ODI at 2 weeks, respectively. Among 74 patients who were followed up at 3 months, 47 (63.5%), 44 patients (59.5%), and 50 patients (67.6%) showed successful results in NRS back, NRS leg, and ODI at 3 months, respectively. A significantly higher proportion of patients with a history of previous lumbar surgery showed unsuccessful results on NRS back, NRS leg, and ODI scores at 2 weeks and 3 months. Co-existence of spinal stenosis was associated with a significantly higher proportion of unsuccessful results in NRS back and ODI at 2 weeks and 3 months, as well as NRS leg at 3 months. Patients with spondylolisthesis also showed a significantly higher proportion of unsuccessful results in NRS and ODI at 2 weeks. CONCLUSION PA with NaviCath® showed clinical effectiveness in the treatment of chronic pain due to L-HIVD that was not responsive to transforaminal epidural injection. Previous surgery and the presence of spinal stenosis or spondylolisthesis were poor prognostic predictors. This procedure may enable the physician to place the catheter tip and deliver medicine more precisely.
Value reduction in rough sets based on Apriori algorithm

Aiming at value reduction, a kind of RSVR algorithm was presented based on support in association rules via Apriori algorithm. A more effective reduction table can be obtained by deleting those rules with less support according to least support---minsup. The reduction feasibility of this algorithm was achieved by reducing the given decision table. Testing by UCI machine learning database and comparing this algorithm with least value reduction algorithm indicate the validity of RSVR algorithm.
Therapeutic window for nicotinamide following transient focal cerebral ischemia

The therapeutic window with the neuroprotectant nicotinamide (NAm) was tested in a model of stroke. Either 2, 4 or 6 h after the onset of transient (2 h) focal cerebral ischemia, Wistar rats received either saline or NAm (500 mg/kg). Sensory and motor behavioral scores and weight of the animals were obtained before surgery, and 2 h, 3 and 7 days after stroke onset. Cerebral infarct volumes were measured on day 7 after sacrifice. NAm given 4 or 6 h after stroke onset significantly (p <0.05) reduced the cerebral infarction and improved the behavioral scores, respectively, compared to saline-injected animals. There was a non-significant improvement in weight gained by NAm-treated rats at 3 and 7 days following stroke compared to the saline-injected controls.
Agraphia in Alzheimer's Disease: An Independent Lexical Impairment

This study was conducted to delineate the pattern of the writing impairments in 12 patients with Alzheimer type dementia. The patients performed writing tasks involving regular and irregular words and nonwords given by dictation as well as a decision test composed of printed words and pictures requiring phonologic, lexical, and semantic processing. Writing from dictation demonstrated a predominant, but nonisolated, lexical deficit. In order to better evaluate this lexical disorder, the correlation between the dictation writing scores and the decision task scores was analyzed. No significant correlation was found among scores for irregular words, phonologically plausible errors, and scores of the lexical or semantic decision tasks, but there was a significant correlation among scores for the nonwords, nonphonological spelling errors, and scores of the phonologic decision task using printed words. These results would suggest that the "lexical" deficit in agraphia, i.e., difficulty in retrieval or loss of the spelling representations of words, is independent of the lexical or semantic capacities involved in other modalities.
Antimicrobial Activity of Some of the South-Indian Spices and Herbals Against Food Pathogens

Antimicrobial activity of 25, 50, 75 and 100% alcohol extract of Piper nigrum (Black Pepper), Psidium guajava (Guava), Amomum cardamom (Cardamom) and Cynogen dactylon (Bermuda grass) has been evaluated against Pseudomonas lundensis, Bacillus cereus, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus. Psidium guajava extract showed excellent antimicrobial activity against all the test organisms. In 25% concentration, Psidium guajava showed the highest 11mm antimicrobial zone against Pseudomonas lundensis, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus. In 50% concentration, Amomum cardamom showed the highest 16mm antimicrobial zone against Aspergillus niger. In 75 and 100% concentration, Psidium guajava showed the highest 14mm, 19mm antimicrobial zone respectively against Pseudomonas lundensis. Among all the results obtained, the maximum antimicrobial zone formation with minimal concentration was recorded in Psidium guajava with 11mm of antimicrobial zone against Pseudomonas lundensis, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus.
Long-term effects of carvedilol in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy with persistent left ventricular dysfunction despite chronic metoprolol. The Heart-Muscle Disease Study Group.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to analyze whether long-term treatment with the nonselective beta-adrenergic blocking agent carvedilol may have beneficial effects in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), who are poor responders in terms of left ventricular (LV) function and exercise tolerance to chronic treatment with the selective beta-blocker metoprolol. BACKGROUND Although metoprolol has been proven to be beneficial in the majority of patients with heart failure, a subset of the remaining patients shows long-term survival without satisfactory clinical improvement. METHODS Thirty consecutive DCM patients with persistent LV dysfunction (ejection fraction < or =40%) and reduced exercise tolerance (peak oxygen consumption <25 ml/kg/min) despite chronic (>1 year) tailored treatment with metoprolol and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were enrolled in a 12-month, open-label, parallel trial and were randomized either to continue on metoprolol (n = 16, mean dosage 142+/-44 mg/day) or to cross over to maximum tolerated dosage of carvedilol (n = 14, mean dosage 74+/-23 mg/day). RESULTS At 12 months, patients on carvedilol, compared with those continuing on metoprolol, showed a decrease in LV dimensions (end-diastolic volume -8+/-7 vs. +7+/-6 ml/m2, p = 0.053; end-systolic volume -7+/-5 vs. +6+/-4 ml/m2, p = 0.047), an improvement in LV ejection fraction (+7+/-3% vs. -1+/-2%, p = 0.045), a reduction in ventricular ectopic beats (-12+/-9 vs. +62+/-50 n/h, p = 0.05) and couplets (-0.5+/-0.4 vs. +1.5+/-0.6 n/h, p = 0.048), no significant benefit on symptoms and quality of life and a negative effect on peak oxygen consumption (-0.6+/-0.6 vs. +1.3+/-0.5 ml/kg/min, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS In DCM patients who were poor responders to chronic metoprolol, carvedilol treatment was associated with favorable effects on LV systolic function and remodeling as well as on ventricular arrhythmias, whereas it had a negative effect on peak oxygen consumption.
ENVIRONMENTAL DYNAMICS AND FIRST-MOVER ADVANTAGES IN EMERGING MARKETS

How important have emerging and developing markets become in the global economy? According to Goldman Sachs, the combined gross national product (GNP) of the 15 leading emerging markets will overtake that of the leading developed economies (G7) by 2024 (Van Agtmael, 2009). General Motors and Coca-Cola have identified Asia, Russia, and Brazil as the regions where the majority of their growth will come from in the next decades (Olsen et al., 2005). Market analysts even suggest that for the first time ever, the recovery from the global recession of 2008 and 2009 is led by emerging market countries, including Brazil, India, and China (Miller, 2009). Effectively, emerging markets have established themselves as the engines of future global growth (Sheth, 2011).
Social influence and water conservation: an agent-based approach

Every day, consumers are exposed to advertising campaigns that attempt to influence their decisions and affect their behavior. Word-of-mouth communication - the informal channels of daily interactions among friends, relatives, coworkers, neighbors, and acquaintances - plays a much more significant role in how consumer behavior is shaped, fashion is introduced, and product reputation is built. Macrolevel simulations that include this kind of social parameter are usually limited to generalized, often simplistic assumptions. In an effort to represent the phenomenon in a semantically coherent way and model it more realistically, we developed an influence-diffusion mechanism that follows agent-based social simulation primitives. The model is realized as a multiagent software platform, which we call Dawn (for distributed agents for water simulation).
New parallel /spl lambda//2-microstrip line filters with transmission zeros at finite frequencies

The paper presents a new class of /spl lambda//2-microstrip line filters with transmission zeros at finite frequencies. The filters take advantage of the difference between the propagation constants of the even and odd modes of two symmetric coupled microstrip lines to generate the transmission zeros in addition to the reflection zeros of the passband. A simple model is used to show that the transmission zeros are not due to cross-coupling of nonadjacent resonators but rather to internal anti-resonances in the structure. The results obtained from a full-wave solution using a commercial software package are in good agreement with those of the model. Examples of filters with transmission zeros in the lower or upper stop-bands are presented.
Bioenergetics of mitochondria in cultured neurons and their role in glutamate excitotoxicity

The pathologic activation of NMDA receptors by glutamate is a major contributor to neuronal cell death after stroke. Receptor activation causes a massive influx of calcium into the neuron that is accumulated by the mitochondria. The favored hypothesis is that the calcium loaded mitochondria generate reactive oxygen species that damage and ultimately killed the neuron. In this review this hypothesis is critically re‐examined with an emphasis on the role played by deficits in ATP generation. Novel techniques are developed to monitor the bioenergetic status of in situ mitochondria in cultured neurons. Applying these techniques to a model of glutamate excitotoxicity suggests that enhanced reactive oxygen species are a consequence rather than a cause of failed cytoplasmic calcium homeostasis (delayed calcium deregulation, [DCD]), but that prior oxidative damage facilitates DCD by damaging mitochondrial ATP generation. This impacts on current hypotheses relating to the neuroprotective effects of mild mitochondrial uncoupling. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A novel medical image fusion scheme employing sparse representation and dual PCNN in the NSCT domain

With the advent of emerging technologies in the field of biomedical imaging, multi-modality images which reflect different levels of information about imaging area are available. Medical image fusion deals with the problem of integrating complementary information from different modality images into a composite image which provides precise and specific information for clinical diagnosis and better treatment planning. This paper proposes a novel method for combining multi-modality images in the nonsubsampled contourlet domain (NSCT). A sparse representation based approach is adopted for low frequency band fusion and high frequency subbands are fused based on adaptive dual channel pulse coupled neural network (PCNN). The fused image is then reconstructed by performing inverse NSCT. Subjective and objective evaluations proved the effectiveness of the proposed method.