Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gangliosides stimulate synthesis of prostaglandin E2 and prostacyclin in fetal rat brain hemispheres after episodes of global intrauterine ischemia

The ability of brain preparations from 20‐day‐old rat fetuses to synthesize prostanoids in vitro before and after interruption of the maternal‐fetal blood flow was examined using a radioimmunoassay technique. Synthesis of thromboxane B2(TxB; the stable thromboxane A2 metabolite) decreased with increasing restriction time; conversely, it was elevated with reperfusion. Synthesis of 6‐keto prostaglandin F1α(PGF; the stable prostacyclin metabolite) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE) prostanoids remained unchanged after 20 min restriction and through a 2 hr reperfusion period. Intraperitoneal administration of GM1 (45 mg/kg) into the pregnant rat, 3 hr before restriction, stimulated synthesis of PGE and reduced synthesis of TxB. A prostanoid vasoactive index (PVI), which reflects the relative proportion of the three prostanoids synthesized and asserts the vasoactive potential of the brain tissue, was established. A rise in this value was attained after intrafetal administration into the peritoneal cavity of either GM1, GM3, or isopropyl‐GM1 (AGF44) gangliosides, each given at 40μg dose in 5 μl volume, and N‐dichloroacetyl‐sphingosine (LIGA20; 15μg/5μl) ganglioside analog, 1 hr before restriction. The effect was primarily due to an increase in the capacity of fetal brain tissue to synthesize PGE and, to a lesser extent PGF, vasodilating prostanoids. The N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor blocker MK801 (6.6 μg/μl) and the platelet activating factor (PAF) receptor antagonist BN52021 (0.1μmol/2μl), given by the same route, effectively raised by 60–80% the vasodilating potential of the brain tissue following ischemia. Based on the commonality seen with these chemically diverse anti‐ischemic agents, it is hypothesized that PGE and PGF elevation by gangliosides may be benefical rather than detrimental for the fetal ischemic brain. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Water in Rocks and Minerals - Species, Distributions, and Temperature Dependences

Water is ubiquitously distributed in the interior of the earth, as various forms in rocks and minerals: In rocks, aggregates of minerals, fluid water in which molecular H2O is clustered, is trapped at intergranular regions and as fluid inclusions (e.g., Hiraga et al., 2001). In minerals, water is located as the form of –OH in their crystal structures as impurities. Surprisingly, such water species are distributed over five times in the earth’s interior than ocean water (e.g., Jacobsen & Van der Lee, 2006), and play very important roles on earth dynamics such as deformation and reactions of minerals and rocks (e.g., Thompson & Rubie, 1985; Dysthe & Wogelius, 2006). In the filed of earth sciences therefore, people are trying to measure properties of water in rocks and minerals such as species, contents, distribution, thermal behaviour, migration rate, etc.
Safety and immunogenicity of hepatitis B vaccine regimens in adults with HIV-1.

To the Editor: In their study on safety and immunogenicity of different hepatitis B vaccine regimens in adults infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Dr Launay and colleagues compared four 40-μg intramuscular double doses (IM40 4) and four 4-μg intradermal low doses (ID4 4) with the standard three 20-μg intramuscular doses (IM20 3) of recombinant hepatitis B vaccine. Compared with the standard, there was significant improvement in serological response with both tested regimens. However, escalating vaccine doses are intuitively less desirable if they result in more adverse events. The rates of serious adverse events and systemic reactions by 28 days were similar between groups. However, Table 3 indicated that, compared with the IM20 3 group, the IM40 4 group had significantly more frequent nausea and fever (P=.02 and P=.03, respectively). Myalgia was also more frequent in the IM40 4 group than the ID4 4 group (14% vs 5%). This may point to dose-related adverse effects. Among hepatitis B vaccine components, the aluminum hydroxide adjuvant is regarded as potentially harmful when used at high doses. Although generally well tolerated, in susceptible individuals hepatitis B vaccine can cause health problems such as chronic fatigue, diffuse myalgia, and neurocognitive abnormalities similar to HIV cognitive dysfunction. The condition has been called the autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA). Symptom onset is typically delayed, with a mean delay of occurrence 11 months after the last injection. Affected patients usually present with macrophagic infiltrates at the site of the previous injection and can have long-term persistence (mean, 56 months) of aluminum within immune cells. Trials using hepatitis B vaccine with aluminum adjuvants should therefore include long-term follow-up for safety assessment, especially when double doses and additional vaccine injections are given to vulnerable HIV populations at risk for immune and neurocognitive disorders.
Optic pathway gliomas in children with neurofibromatosis 1: Consensus statement from the nf1 optic pathway glioma task force

Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is a common autosomal dominant disorder in which affected individuals develop benign and malignant tumors [ ll. Because of the association between NF 1 and tumor development, the NFI gene has been classified as a tumor suppressor gene [2]. The NFI gene was identified in 1990 and found to code for a large cytoplasmic protein of 2,818 acids [3-51. The NFI gene product, neurofibromin, contains a small region in the central part of the protein that bears sequence similarity with a family of proteins that regulate the protooncogene p21-ras [6-9]. These p2 1 -ras regulatory proteins are collectively termed guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase)-activating proteins (GAPS). Since p21-ras can transform cells, neurofibromin (as an inhibitor of p21-ras activation) would therefore suppress the growth of cells. This association between NFl GAP function and p21-ras regulation has been demonstrated for some tumors in patients with NF1 [lo-121.
Isolation and characterisation of tropomyosin from shrimp (Penaeus vannamei Boone) and its association property at high ionic strength

Shrimps are important and highly demanded seafood, but they have been reported as a cause of food hypersensitive reaction. The major allergen of shrimp is tropomyosin (TM). However, so far, there has been few report on such purification procedure. In this study, we developed a strategy for the purification of TM from shrimp (Penaeus vannamei Boone). Subsequently, we demonstrated that the apparent MW of this protein is about 66 kDa, and this protein naturally contains two subunits (38.5 and 36.6 kDa) with a ratio of 1 to 1. Interestingly, different from other known TMs from vertebrates, shrimp TM can self-assemble into nanofibres at high ionic strength induced by ATP. These findings help to understand the structure and polymerisation property of TM from shrimps.
Terahertz spectroscopy.

Introduction 4342 Overview and Scope 4342 Introduction to THz Spectroscopy 4343 Resources for THz Information 4345 Advances in Analytical Capabilities 4346 THz Generation and Detection 4346 Photoconductive Antennas 4347 Electro-optic Effects 4347 Pulse Front Tilting in LiNbO3 4348 Air and Gas Plasma Photonics 4348 THz Generation and Detection with Fiber Lasers 4349 Other Electronic Detection Schemes 4350 Potential Emitters and Detectors Based on Nanomaterials 4350 Improving Sensitivity and Scanning Rates in Coherent Detection 4350 Sample Detection Geometries: Transmission, Reflection, ATR 4351 General Considerations for THz Optics 4351 Transmission 4351 Reflection 4352 Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) 4352 Parallel Plate Waveguides 4352 Imaging 4353 Far-Field Imaging 4353 Near-Field Imaging 4354 Applications 4354 Chemical Analysis and Molecular Spectroscopy 4354 Gases 4354 Liquids 4355 Solids 4355 Solid State Physics 4356 Semiconductors 4356 Nanomaterials 4358 Correlated Electron Materials 4360 Biology, Medicine, and Pharmaceuticals 4360 Biomolecules 4360 Biomedicine 4362 Pharmaceuticals 4362 Terahertz Imaging 4362 Conclusions and Future Outlook 4364 Author Information 4364 Biographies 4364 Acknowledgment 4364 References 4364
Efficient rendezvous schemes for fast‐varying cognitive radio ad hoc networks

Rendezvous is a fundamental operation for establishing communications between cognitive radios in a cognitive radio ad hoc network (CRAHN). Channel hopping (CH) provides an effective method for achieving rendezvous without relying on a dedicated common control channel. Most of the existing CH‐based rendezvous schemes were not designed for CRAHNs operating under fast primary user (PU) dynamics and result in excessive rendezvous delay when applied in such dynamic environments. To cope with fast PU dynamics, we propose in this paper two efficient cyclic‐quorum–based CH rendezvous schemes, which we refer to as nested cyclic quorum channel hopping (NCQ‐CH) and minimal nested cyclic quorum channel hopping (MNCQ‐CH). The proposed schemes are tailored for the spectrum‐heterogeneous CRAHNs. In addition to proactively accounting for PU dynamics, our CH‐based rendezvous schemes are designed to react to fast PU dynamics on the fly. To achieve this online adaptation, we augment NCQ‐CH and MNCQ‐CH with efficient mechanisms for channel ranking and quorum selection. Our simulations demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed schemes under fast PU dynamics, in terms of the time‐to‐rendezvous and PU detection accuracy, as compared with existing rendezvous schemes in the literature.
N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) Antagonists—S(+)-ketamine, Dextrorphan, and Dextromethorphan—Act as Calcium Antagonists on Bovine Cerebral Arteries

Ketamine, an intravenous anesthetic and a major drug of abuse, is a noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist. Ketamine's enantiomer, S(+)-ketamine, acts stereoselectively on neuronal NMDA receptors. The purpose of this in vitro study was to compare the direct effects of S(+)-ketamine, 2 other noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists (dextrorphan and dextromethorphan), and the calcium entry blocker nimodipine on the cerebral vasculature, using bovine middle cerebral arteries as an experimental model. Arterial rings were mounted in isolated tissue chambers equipped with isometric tension transducers to obtain pharmacologic dose-response curves. In the absence of exogenous vasoconstrictors, the NMDA antagonists or nimodipine had negligible effects on cerebral arterial tone. When rings were preconstricted with either potassium or the stable thromboxane A2 mimetic U46619, the NMDA antagonists and nimodipine each produced dose-dependent relaxation. Prior endothelial stripping had no effect on subsequent drug-induced relaxation of K+-constricted rings. In Ca2+-deficient media containing either potassium or U46619, the NMDA antagonists and nimodipine each produced competitive inhibition of subsequent Ca2+induced constriction. In additional experiments, arterial strips were mounted in isolated tissue chambers to directly measure calcium uptake, using 45calcium (45Ca) as a radioactive tracer. The NMDA antagonists and nimodipine each blocked potassium-stimulated or U46619-stimulated 45Ca uptake into arterial strips. These results indicate that S(+)-ketamine, dextrorphan, and dextromethorphan, like nimodipine, directly dilate cerebral arteries by acting as calcium antagonists; they all inhibit 45Ca uptake through both potential-operated (potassium) and receptor-operated (U46619) channels in cerebrovascular smooth muscle.
Spine-related expenditures and self-reported health status.

To the Editor: Dr Martin and colleagues studied expenditures and health status in adults with back and neck problems and concluded that spine-related expenditures have increased substantially from 1997 to 2005 without evidence of improvement in self-assessed health status. The study examined national estimates of medical expenditures compiled through the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), in which diagnosis codes were retrospectively applied based on patient reporting. We have a number of concerns with this study. First, the relative change in expenditures from 1997 to 2005 did not achieve statistical significance (P=.07). Patients reporting spine problems spent 72% more than those not reporting spine problems in 1997 and 73% more in 2005. The rate of medical inflation seems to be constant. However, the article emphasized the non–statistically significant relative change in expenditures. Second, many more patients with spinal cord injuries were included in the 2005 sample (0.1% in 1997 vs 1.8% of the patient cohort in 2005). This might imply better survival of spine-injured patients but could equally represent sampling variation. These complex patients are likely to be the outliers mentioned by the authors as treatment of patients with spinal cord injuries is quite expensive. These patients may have increased the overall health expenditure of the 2005 cohort. Third, the study population prevalence of self-reported spine problems did not greatly change (1997, 13.6%; 2005, 14.3%). This should imply not a failure of treatment, but instead an absence of prevention. The data presented are not longitudinal and cannot be used to comment on the response of the patient cohorts to therapy. MEPS offers no data on patient response to treatment and hence cannot be used to assess patient outcomes. An alternate interpretation of this study would be that between 1997 and 2005, there was no significant increase in prevalence of back and neck problems. Expenditures increased in patients who did and did not report spine problems; the difference in increases between these groups did not achieve statistical significance.
Cartographie moléculaire et imagerie fonctionnelle des cancers de prostate localisés

Ce travail de recherche translationnelle a pour objectif de correler les donnees de l'imagerie anatomique et fonctionnelle, aux facteurs pronostiques cliniques, biologiques, histologiques, moleculaires du cancer de prostate. Nos travaux ont permis de montrer que l'IRM prostatique permettait de detecter et de stratifier le risque de cancer de prostate dit "significatif", que l'IRM couplee aux biopsies prostatiques ciblees permettait d'identifier plus de cancers de prostate significatifs que les biopsies dites "systematiques", que l'IRM donnait des informations sur l'agressivite du cancer de prostate definie in situ par les marqueurs histologiques et moleculaires, que cette information etait plus juste que celle obtenue par la strategie diagnostique actuelle du dosage de PSA et des biopsies prostatiques qui sous estiment l'agressivite tumorale, qu'il existait cependant des formes de cancer dont l'agressivite ne pouvait etre determinee ni par l'imagerie, ni par l'analyse histologique standard mais seule par une analyse moleculaire.
Colour characteristics of fresh pork

The objective of the present thesis was to obtain more fundamental understanding of the mechanisms for variations in colour and colour stability of fresh pork. The effects of breed and genotype, including Duroc, Hampshire (three RN alleles), Landrace and Yorkshire pigs, were studied. Furthermore, effects of strategic feeding with creatine, pre-slaughter treatment, slaughter procedure and carcass cooling on muscle metabolism and ultimate colour and colour stability were studied. It was concluded that the early progress in post mortem temperature and pH decline affect the colour of pork independent of whether this is triggered by variations in genotype, feed-induced changes, pre-slaughter stress or cooling rate. The level of oxymyoglobin was shown to be more important for the colour of pork during retail display, than the level of metmyoglobin. A high level of oxymyoglobin preserves high redness despite of oxidation to metmyoglobin. Ageing of pork for a week increased the ability of pork to stimulate oxygenation of deoxymyoglobin to oxymyoglobin, i.e. blooming, without compromising the colour stability during four days of subsequent retail display. Hence, ageing results in lighter, redder and more yellow pork colour. It was further concluded that genetics giving rise to variation in the colour of pork is related to differences in pigment content and in muscle metabolism. The latter influences the redox status of the muscle and the activity of oxygen-consuming and metmyoglobin-reducing enzymes and accordingly the relative proportion of the myoglobin species. The colour of pork from Landrace pigs was generally lighter, redder and more yellow than pork from Duroc pigs due to higher level of oxymyoglobin at the meat surface, i.e. more intense blooming. The colour of pork from Hampshire pigs was highly related to the RN genotype. Pork from carriers of the RN- allele was generally lighter, redder and more yellow than that from non-carriers of the RN- allele, and the rn* (V199I) allele tended to decrease redness and yellowness.
Culture and Schizophrenia: the DOSMD Challenge

The World Health Organization's International Pilot Study on Schizophrenia (IPSS) and subsequent Determinants of Outcomes of Severe Mental Disorder (DOSMD) studies have reported that the course of schizophrenia is more favourable in ‘developing’ than ‘developed’ societies. The 1992 DOSMD study attributes this difference to culture. We review studies concerning the course of schizophrenia and conclude that the evidence for a more favourable course in developing societies is not conclusive. Indeed, a favourable course has also been reported in various industrialised societies. We also raise questions about the findings reported in the recent DOSMD study, including the conclusion that the putatively more favourable course is a product of culture. Finally, we argue that longitudinal, direct observation of patients in their natural environments must be carried out before variations in the course of schizophrenia can be adequately understood.
Range extension for wireless wake-up receivers

Wireless Wake-up receivers are used whenever a long lifetime and a permanent accessibility are required. The main disadvantage they have is their short range of communication of few meters. We therefore present in this work an infrastructure for a single hop network that makes use of a powerful gateway node that can send out wake-up signals with up to +20 dBm. The end point nodes have an integrated wake-up receiver and consume 3. 5μA of current. The wake-up range was measured up to 90 meters in an open air field.
Time Warp on BSP Computers

Apparatus for fabricating a prefinished wallboard wherein a layer of settable material is applied to one side of a wall panel and a decorative pattern is formed in relief in the settable material which, when set, is harder than the wall panel. A decorative coating may be applied to the relieved portions of the moldable material, and reinforcing and insulating members may be connected to the opposite side of the panel.
Technical Features and Criteria in Designing Fiber-Reinforced Composite Materials: From the Aerospace and Aeronautical Field to Biomedical Applications

Polymer-based composite materials are ideal for applications where high stiffness-to-weight and strength-to-weight ratios are required. From aerospace and aeronautical field to biomedical applications, fiber-reinforced polymers have replaced metals, thus emerging as an interesting alternative. As widely reported, the mechanical behavior of the composite materials involves investigation on micro- and macro-scale, taking into consideration micromechanics, macromechanics and lamination theory. Clinical situations often require repairing connective tissues and the use of composite materials may be suitable for these applications because of the possibility to design tissue substitutes or implants with the required mechanical properties. Accordingly, this review aims at stressing the importance of fiber-reinforced composite materials to make advanced and biomimetic prostheses with tailored mechanical properties, starting from the basic principle design, technologies, and a brief overview of composites applications in several fields. Fiber-reinforced composite materials for artificial tendons, ligaments, and intervertebral discs, as well as for hip stems and mandible models will be reviewed, highlighting the possibility to mimic the mechanical properties of the soft and hard tissues that they replace.
Copper deficiency and non-accidental injury.

We write to congratulate Dr Jonathon Shaw on his comprehensive and balanced review of copper deficiency in infancy and its relation to fractures diagnosed as nonaccidental injury. ' We trust that it will put an end to poorly supported attempts on the part of some expert witnesses to ascribe fractures to copper deficiency in circumstances when it is manifestly not present. These attempts have been the subject of adverse comment in the Appeal Court2 and Family Division of the High Court3 in both criminal and wardship proceedings. The waste of time, money, and emotional damage which results from the protracted and complicated legal proceedings is incalculable. Dr Shaw together with Dr Carty,4 in the same issue of your journal have established clearly the criteria which should apply before the diagnosis of copper deficiency is considered possible and have shown that proper analysis of clinical, radiological, and laboratory criteria even in the absence of serum copper concentrations are quite adequate in most cases. It is our view, borne out by the data and arguments presented by Drs Shaw and Carty, that infants who sustain fractures but do not have recognised risk factors for copper deficiency, have normal bone structure, and no haematological abnormalities do not need to have copper and caeruloplasmin concentrations measured on clinical grounds. It is questionable whether it would be ethical to do them for purely forensic reasons in the absence of reasonable evidence suggesting that they might be abnormal. We are concerned at the prospect of multiple requests for serum copper determination. It would be unfair both to the infants and the laboratories. While we accept that premature infants may represent a special risk group because of diminished hepatic copper reserves, many of the references cited by Shaw involve infants given outmoded parenteral feeding formulae or receiving partial enteral feeds. With the use of modern crystalline amino acid parenteral feeding solutions together with a trace element solution (supplying 0-3 tmol/kg/day of copper) we have found copper deficiency rare.