Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of sex and androgen treatment on dendritic dimensions of neurons in the sexually dimorphic preoptic/anterior hypothalamic area of male and female ferrets

A sexually dimorphic group of cells at the dorsal border of the preoptic/anterior hypothalamic area (POA/AH) of ferrets has been previously identified in Nissl‐stained tissue. In this study, Golgi‐stained tissue was examined in order (1) to determine whether sex differences exist in dendritic dimensions of neurons from this region, and (2) to assess the effects of adult androgen treatment on dendritic morphology in ferrets of both sexes. Brains from adult ferrets given daily injections of testosterone propionate (5 mg/kg body weight) or oil vehicle for 5 weeks after gonadectomy were impregnated by Golgi‐Cox procedures. After sectioning at 120 μm, 78 multipolar neurons were selected from the sexually dimorphic POA/AH of 12 ferrets and reconstructed in three dimensions with the aid of a computer‐assisted neuron tracing system. Large sex differences were observed in somal area and most aspects of dendritic morphology, including total length, number of branches, and total dendritic surface area. Androgen also appeared to accentuate dendritic arborization in both sexes, but this effect was weaker than the sex effect, more apparent in males than females, and restricted to fewer variables. The most statistically significant effects of adult androgen treatment in males were found for total dendritic surface area and percentage of fourth order dendrites, and in females, average dendritic thickness. These data show that strong sex differences exist in dendritic structure of neurons in the POA/AH, and suggest that alterations in levels of gonadal steroids in adulthood may promote synaptic remodeling in a region of the brain involved in the control of sexually dimorphic behaviors. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Effective prediction of three common diseases by combining SMOTE with Tomek links technique for imbalanced medical data

Diabetes, vertebral column pathologies and Parkinson's disease are three common diseases which have high prevalence and brought great trouble and pain to billions of patients. Computer aided diagnosis can support decision making of physicians. However, imbalanced nature of data sets hampered the mining of medical resources. In this study, we proposed a powerful preprocessing method by combining Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) with Tomek links technique and then is applied to the imbalanced medical data sets of the three diseases. By using 8 classifiers, we compared the experimental results with those of using only SMOTE technique to evaluate the effectiveness of this method. The results show that the method of SMOTE combined with Tomek links technique is much superior compared with that of using only SMOTE. The performances are evidently better, with 31, 27, 30 out of a total of 32 evaluation metrics are improved for diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and vertebral column, respectively.
Severity of ultrasonographic liver steatosis and metabolic syndrome in Korean men and women.

AIM To evaluate the association between the severity of liver steatosis and metabolic syndrome in apparently healthy Korean adults. METHODS We examined 1 022 men and women, aged 30-79 years, who participated in a health screening test. A standard interview, anthropometrics, biochemical studies, and abdominal ultrasonography were conducted for each participant. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III, with a modification for the waist circumference cut-off level. The severity of liver steatosis was evaluated using liver ultrasonography, and serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (gamma-GT) levels were determined. RESULTS Ultrasonographic liver steatosis was strongly associated with metabolic syndrome and common metabolic abnormalities. Compared with people without steatosis, people with mild, moderate, and severe steatosis had adjusted odds ratios for metabolic syndrome of 1.72 (95%CI, 1.01-2.94), 2.89 (1.75-4.76) and 3.53 (1.25-9.98) in men, and 2.86 (1.64-5.01), 3.19 (1.80-5.65) and 3.70 (0.82-16.73) in women, respectively. The serum AST level was not associated with metabolic syndrome. The serum ALT and gamma-GT levels were significantly associated with metabolic syndrome in men but not in women. CONCLUSION The occurrence of metabolic syndrome shows a stronger association with the severity of ultrasonographic steatosis than with the serum liver enzyme levels. The degree of fatty infiltration detected on ultrasonography can be used as an indicator of liver dysfunction attributable to metabolic abnormalities.
For Every Law, a Loophole: Flexibility in the Menu of Spanish Business Forms, 1886-1936

The Spanish business code allowed firms great flexibility in their organizational form in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Until 1920, firms had the same basic choices as in France and some other European countries, namely, the corporation, the ordinary partnership, or the limited partnership. But Spanish law was unusually flexible, allowing firms to adapt the corporation especially to the needs of its owners. Starting in 1920 Spanish firms could also organize as a Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada (SRL), a form similar to the German GmbH or the British Private Limited Company (PLC). But some firms had already adopted the form prior to 1920. The Spanish coded lacked the principle of “numerus clauses” that is central to many areas of law. Most business codes allow firms to choose only from a proscribed menu of options. The Spanish code offered these options but also stated that firms could organize in other ways if they wished. This paper uses three empirical sources to study the way firms actually used those possibilities. We find that this flexibility did not make entrepreneurs indifferent across the different organizational forms.
Renoprotective Effects of Omapatrilat Are Mediated Partially by Bradykinin

Aim: To investigate the effects of omapatrilat on systemic and renal hemodynamics, glomerular dynamics, renal function, and histopathological changes as well as the participation of the bradykinin B2 receptor in WKY, SHR, and L-NAME/SHR rats. Methods: Eight groups of 17-week-old rats were examined using renal micropuncture techniques and histopathological analyses after 3 weeks of treatment: group 1, WKY control; group 2, WKY+omapatrilat (40 mg/kg/day); group 3, SHR control; group 4, SHR+omapatrilat; group 5, SHR+L-NAME (50 mg/l); group 6, SHR+L-NAME+omapatrilat; group 7, SHR+L-NAME for 3 weeks followed by omapatrilat for a subsequent 3 weeks, and group 8, SHR+L-NAME+omapatrilat+bradykinin antagonist icatibant (500 µg/kg/day). Results: In WKY and SHR, omapatrilat significantly reduced the mean arterial pressure, increased effective renal blood flow and single nephron plasma flow associated with reduced glomerular arteriolar resistances. Furthermore, omapatrilat prevented and reversed L-NAME induced urinary protein excretion, glomerular and arteriolar injuries, glomerular morphometric alterations, and glomerular apoptosis (at least, p < 0.05). Icatibant partially inhibited these beneficial effects of omapatrilat. Conclusion: Omapatrilat provided potent antihypertensive and renoprotective actions, which were mediated, in part, by bradykinin.
A Recent Outbreak of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infection in Southern China Was Initiated by Two Highly Homogeneous, Geographically Separated Strains, Circulating Recombinant Form AE and a Novel BC Recombinant

ABSTRACT New outbreaks of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) among injecting drug users (IDUs) are spreading in China along heroin trafficking routes. Recently, two separate HIV-1 epidemics among IDUs were reported in Guangxi, Southern China, where partial sequencing of the env gene showed subtype C and circulating recombinant form (CRF) AE. We evaluated five virtually full-length HIV-1 genome sequences from IDUs in Guangxi to determine the genetic diversity and the presence of intersubtype recombinants. Sequence analysis showed two geographically separated, highly homogeneous HIV-1 strains. B/C intersubtype recombinants were found in three IDUs from Baise City, in a mountainous region near the Yunnan-Guangxi border. These were mostly subtype C, with portions of the capsid and reverse transcriptase (RT) genes from subtype B. The subtype B portion of the capsid was located in the N-terminal domain, which has been shown to influence virus core maturation, virus infectivity, and binding to cyclophilin A, whereas the subtype B portion of RT was located in the palm subdomain, which is the active site of the enzyme. These BC recombinants differed from a BC recombinant found in Xinjiang Province in northwestern China. CRF AE strains were found in IDUs from Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, and in IDUs from Pingxiang City near the China-Vietnam border. The AE and BC recombinants were both remarkable for their low interpatient diversity, less than 1% for the full genome. Rapid spread of HIV-1 among IDUs may foster the emergence of highly homogeneous strains, including novel recombinants in regions with multiple subtypes.
Prevention of minor myocardial injury after elective percutaneous coronary intervention: comparison of ticagrelor versus clopidogrel

Abstract Background: Elective percutaneous coronary intervention (ePCI) may cause minor elevation of cardiac enzymes, so-called minor myocardial injury (MMI) which can be due to different pathophysiological mechanism (e.g. distal embolisation, side branch occlusion, increased platelet activation triggered by the intracoronary metallic stents). We aimed to compare the effectiveness of ticagrelor versus clopidogrel for the prevention of MMI and major adverse clinical events (MACEs) after ePCI. Methods: Study population consisted of two groups of patients based on the treatment: Group I, receiving clopidogrel (n = 104), Group II, receiving ticagrelor (n = 96). Cardiac troponin I (cTnI), CK-MB were studied before and 12 hours after the procedure. Elevation of cTnI greater than 0.06 ng/ml was considered as MMI. All patients were also evaluated for the MACEs (death, myocardial infarction, stroke and transient ischaemic attack). Results: Fifty-two of 200 patients (26%) had MMI after the procedure. The minor myocardial injury was significantly more prevalent in clopidogrel group than that of ticagrelor group (33% vs. 19%, p = .03). Myocardial infarction (MI) and MACEs were significantly higher in the clopidogrel group (15% vs. 6%, for MI, p = .04; 16% vs. 6%, for MACEs, p = .03, respectively). Multivariate analysis demonstrated antiplatelet treatment, saphenous graft intervention, type-C lesion as independent predictors of MMI. Conclusions: Present study showed that the combination of ticagrelor and aspirin was more effective than combination of clopidogrel and aspirin in decreasing MMI and MACEs after elective stenting.
Analysis of Uncertain Discrete-Time Linear Periodic Systems based on System Lifting and LMIs

In this article, we propose novel linear matrix inequality (LMI) conditions for the stability and l 2 gain performance analysis of discrete-time linear periodically time-varying (LPTV) systems. These LMIs are convex with respect to all of the coefficient matrices of the LPTV systems and this property is promising when we deal with several control system analysis and synthesis problems. For example, we can apply those LMIs straightforwardly to robust performance analysis problems of LPTV systems that are affected by polytopic-type uncertainties. Even though our approach for robust performance analysis is conservative in general, we can reduce the conservatism gradually by artificially regarding the original N-periodic system as pN-periodic and increasing p. In addition, thanks to the simple structure of the LMI conditions, we can readily derive a viable test to verify the exactness of the computation results.
Developmental and Behavioral Needs and Service Use for Young Children in Child Welfare

Objective. To determine the level of developmental and behavioral need in young children entering child welfare (CW), estimate early intervention services use, and examine variation in need and service use based on age and level of involvement with CW by using a national probability sample in the United States. Methods. As part of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, data were collected on 2813 children <6 years old for whom possible abuse or neglect was investigated by CW agencies. Analyses used descriptive statistics to determine developmental and behavioral needs across 5 domains (cognition, behavior, communication, social, and adaptive functioning) and service use. Logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between independent variables (age, gender, race-ethnicity, maltreatment history, level of CW involvement, and developmental or behavior problems) and service use. Results. Results indicate that age and level of CW involvement predict service use when controlling for need. Both toddlers (41.8%) and preschoolers (68.1%) in CW have high developmental and behavioral needs; however, few children are receiving services for these issues (22.7% overall). Children that remain with their biological parents have similar needs to those in out-of-home care but are less likely to use services. Children <3 years of age are least likely to use services. Conclusions. Children referred to CW have high developmental and behavioral need regardless of the level of CW involvement. Both age and level of involvement influence service use when controlling for need. Mechanisms need to be developed to address disparities in access to intervention.
Tumor gelatinases and invasion inhibited by the green tea flavanol epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate

Given the association of consumption of green tea with prevention of cancer development, metastasis, and angiogenesis, the effect of the main flavanol present, epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate (EGCG), on two gelatinases most frequently overexpressed in cancer and angiogenesis (MMP‐2 and MMP‐9) and on tumor cell invasion and chemotaxis were examined.
Antiplatelet therapy contributes to acute deterioration of intracerebral hemorrhage

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of antiplatelet therapy on the initial severity and the acute outcome of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Methods: The authors reviewed records of 251 consecutive patients hospitalized in their cerebrovascular center within 24 hours after onset of ICH. Results: Fifty-seven patients (23%) had development of ICH during oral antiplatelet therapy. The major indication for antiplatelet therapy was the prevention of stroke recurrence (63%). As compared with patients without antiplatelet therapy, those who received antiplatelet therapy more frequently were aged 70 years or older (60% vs 35%; p < 0.001), had previous symptomatic ischemic stroke (54% vs 7%; p < 0.0001), had diabetes mellitus (26% vs 15%; p < 0.05), and had heart disease (32% vs 8%; p < 0.0001). Antiplatelet therapy was predictive of an increase in the hematoma volume by more than 40% on the second hospital day (hematoma enlargement, odds ratio [OR] 7.67, 95% CI 1.62 to 36.4) and the need for emergent surgical evacuation of the hematoma (OR 3.10, 95% CI 1.18 to 8.15). Antiplatelet therapy was an independent predictor for the occurrence of any of hematoma enlargement, emergent death, or evacuation surgery, which suggests that clinical deterioration occurs into the second hospital day (OR 7.45, 95% CI 2.46 to 22.5). Conclusions: Antiplatelet therapy seems to contribute to the acute clinical deterioration of intracerebral hemorrhage.
Influence of the Surface Layer on YBaCuO Coated Conductors Quench Processes

The study of the thermal stability process in second-generation (2G) high-temperature superconductors is important to determine its optimal performance in applications. When a fault takes place during operation, the heat generated must be evacuated as fast as possible in order to protect the superconductor from damage. If conductors are immersed in liquid nitrogen (LN), thermal stability is strongly dependent on the tape orientation, proximity between tapes, and the characteristics of the surface, such as roughness, presence of insulating materials covering the conductor, etc., which will influence the recovery time of the conductor after a fault. In this contribution, we analyze quench and cooling processes of 2G conductors subjected to over-currents and immersed in LN. The sample surface has been modified in order to induce different roughnesses. The observed behavior has also been compared with that of samples covered with polyimide (kapton) or varnish. Information about recovery times for the different LN cooling regimes has been obtained.
Selective control of neuronal cluster size at the forebrain/midbrain boundary by signaling from the prechordal plate

Within the vertebrate embryonic neural plate, the first neuronal clusters often differentiate at the border of patterning identities. Whether the information inherent in the intersection of patterning identities alone controls all aspects of neuronal cluster development (location, identity, and size) is unknown. Here, we focus on the cluster of the medial longitudinal fascicle (nMLF) and posterior commissure (nPC), located at the forebrain/midbrain (fore/mid) boundary, to address this issue. We first identify expression of the transcription factor Six3 as a common and distinct molecular signature of nMLF and nPC neurons in zebrafish, and we use this marker to monitor mechanisms controlling the location and number of nMLF/nPC neurons. We demonstrate that six3 expression is induced at the fore/mid boundary in pax2.1/no‐isthmus and smoothened/slow muscle omitted mutants, where identities adjacent to the six3 cluster are altered; however, in these mutants, the subpopulation of six3‐positive cells located within the mispatterned territory is reduced. These results show that induction of the six3 cluster is triggered by the information derived from the intersection in patterning identities alone, whereas correct cluster size depends, in a modular manner, on the identities themselves. The size of the six3 cluster is also controlled independently of neural tube patterning: we demonstrate that the prechordal plate (PCP) is impaired in mixer/bonnie and clyde mutants and that this phenotype secondarily results in an increased production of six3‐positive cells at the fore/mid boundary, without correlatively affecting patterning in this area. Thus, a signaling process originating from the PCP distinguishes between neural patterning and the control of six3 cluster size at the fore/mid junction in vivo. Together, our results suggest that a combination of patterning‐related and ‐unrelated mechanisms specifically controls the size of individual early neuronal clusters within the anterior neural plate. Developmental Dynamics 227:524–535, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
[Correlation of lymphangiogenesis to progression of colorectal cancer].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE Lymphatic metastasis affects the prognosis of colorectal cancer patients. The binding of vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 (VEGFR-3) promotes lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic metastasis. This study was to investigate the interrelation of VEGF-C, VEGFR-3 and lymphangial density (LAD), and to identify their correlations to clinicopathologic factors of colorectal cancer. METHODS The tissue microarrays containing 105 cases of colorectal cancer and 105 cases of normal colorectal tissue were produced separately. The expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 was detected by immunohistochemistry; LAD was assessed through Podoplanin immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS The positive rates of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3, and LAD were significantly higher in colorectal cancer than in normal colorectal tissue (61.0% vs. 22.8%, P<0.01; 55.2% vs. 20.0%, P<0.01; 8.91+/-3.75 vs. 6.68+/-1.38, P<0.01). The expression of VEGF-C had no correlation to that of VEGFR-3. LAD was significantly higher in VEGF-C-positive colorectal cancer than in VEGF-C-negative colorectal cancer (10.89+/-3.36 vs. 5.83+/-1.67, P<0.01). VEGF-C was up-regulated in colorectal cancer at Dukes'C stage, or with lymph node metastasis or distant metastasis; VEGFR-3 was up-regulated and LAD was higher in colorectal cancer at Dukes'C stage, or with lymph node metastasis. CONCLUSION VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 are related with the lymphangiogenesis, lymphatic metastasis, and progression of colorectal cancer.
Identification and Validation of Novel Human Pregnane X Receptor Activators among Prescribed Drugs via Ligand-Based Virtual Screening

Human pregnane X receptor (hPXR) plays a key role in regulating metabolism and clearance of endogenous and exogenous substances. Identification of novel hPXR activators among commercial drugs may aid in avoiding drug-drug interactions during coadministration. We applied ligand-based computational approaches for virtual screening of a commonly prescribed drug database (SCUT). Bayesian classification models were generated with a training set comprising 177 compounds using Fingerprints and 117 structural descriptors. A cell-based luciferase reporter assay was used for evaluation of chemical-mediated hPXR activation in HepG2 cells. All compounds were tested at 10 μM concentration with rifampicin and dimethyl sulfoxide as positive and negative controls, respectively. The Bayesian models showed specificity and overall prediction accuracy up to 0.92 and 0.69 for test set compounds. Screening the SCUT database with this model retrieved 105 hits and 17 compounds from the top 25 hits were chosen for in vitro testing. The reporter assay confirmed that nine drugs, i.e., fluticasone, nimodipine, nisoldipine, beclomethasone, finasteride, flunisolide, megestrol, secobarbital, and aminoglutethimide, were previously unidentified hPXR activators. Thus, the present study demonstrates that novel hPXR activators can be efficiently identified among U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved and commonly prescribed drugs, which should lead to detection and prevention of potential drug-drug interactions.
Development of posterior fossa dural sinuses, emissary veins, and jugular bulb: morphological and radiologic study.

PURPOSE To report the anatomic and radiologic development of the transverse, sigmoid, and occipital sinuses, the emissary veins, and the jugular bulb formation from the jugular sinus in humans before and after birth. METHODS Roentgenograms of 33 injected brains showing the cranial venous system in human fetuses from 3 to 7 months of gestational age and cerebral angiograms of newborns and infants up to 6 years of age (23 clinical cases) were made and analyzed in detail. Special attention was focused on the inner diameters of the transverse and sigmoid sinuses and of the internal jugular veins, particularly at the sigmoid sinus-internal jugular vein junction. RESULTS Marked increase in venous flow from the rapidly growing cerebral hemispheres leads to ballooning of the transverse sinuses in the absence of an increase in the inner diameters of the sigmoid and jugular sinuses. The ballooning also results in formation of the occipital sinus, marginal sinus around the foramen magnum, and emissary veins. The formation of the jugular bulbs from the jugular sinuses begins after birth when a shift from a fetal to a postnatal type of circulation (or from a lying-down position to an erect posture) takes place. CONCLUSION The morphological changes of the posterior fossa dural sinuses, emissary veins, and jugular bulb are closely related to the development of the brain, shift to postnatal type of circulation, and postural hemodynamic changes.