Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In Vivo Chondroprotection and Metabolic Synergy of Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate

Supplements of glucosamine hydrochloride, low molecular weight chondroitin sulfate, and manganese ascorbate were tested separately and in combination for their ability to retard progression of cartilage degeneration in a rabbit instability model of osteoarthrosis. Computerized quantitative histologic evaluation of safranin O stained sections of the medial femoral condyles measured the grade and extent of tissue involvement of lesions. Severe lesions (Mankin grade greater than 7) were absent in all animals supplemented with a dietary mixture of glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and manganese ascorbate. Total linear involvement (mm of lesioned surface) and total grade (mean grade × number of lesions per animal) were reduced significantly in animals given the combination compared with controls (59% and 74% respectively). Animals supplemented with glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, or manganese ascorbate alone had less moderate and severe tissue involvement than controls but not to the extent of the combined group. In vitro, a combination of glucosamine hydrochloride and chondroitin sulfate acted synergistically in stimulating glycosaminoglycan synthesis (96.6%). Chon-droitin sulfate and manganese ascorbate but not glucosamine were effective in inhibiting degradative enzyme activity. These data suggest that the disease modifying effect (the ability to retard progression of cartilage degeneration) of a mixture of glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and manganese ascorbate is more efficacious than either agent alone.
The Impact of Diabetes Mellitus on Stroke Acute Rehabilitation Outcomes

Ripley DL, Seel RT, Macciocchi SN, Schara SL, Raziano K, Ericksen JJ: The impact of diabetes mellitus on stroke acute rehabilitation outcomes. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2007;86:754–761. Objective:To examine the impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) on functional outcomes after acute rehabilitation for cerebrovascular accident (CVA). Design:A retrospective research design was used to analyze outcomes in patients with a primary diagnosis of unilateral stroke (n = 367) admitted to an urban, acute rehabilitation center in the Southeastern United States. Results:Multivariable hierarchical regression revealed that DM did not contribute statistically significant variance to stroke acute rehabilitation prediction models. Rehabilitation admission functioning scores, rehabilitation length of stay, age, and stroke type were significant predictors of poststroke rehabilitation motor outcomes (r 2 = 0.603) and cognitive outcomes (r 2 = 0.712). Diabetes also had no significant impact on acute stroke rehabilitation lengths of stay or rehabilitation discharge setting. Conclusions:Diabetes does not seem to significantly impact short-term acute rehabilitation outcomes after stroke. Persons with diabetes who suffer a stroke seem to benefit and improve during their acute rehabilitation stay at levels equivalent to peers who are not diagnosed with diabetes. Future research should examine the impact of diabetes subtypes and undiagnosed diabetes on short- and long-term outcomes.
Clonidine Prolongation of Lidocaine Analgesia after Sciatic Nerve Block in Rats Is Mediated via the Hyperpolarization-activated Cation Current, Not by &agr;-Adrenoreceptors

Background:Although clonidine is commonly combined with local anesthetics to extend duration of peripheral nerve block, the mechanism by which clonidine potentiates local anesthetic action in vivo is unclear. Methods:Male Sprague-Dawley rats received percutaneous injections of 1% lidocaine with/without clonidine or epinephrine into the sciatic notch and duration of sensory blockade was quantified by inhibition of pinprick foot withdrawal. The antagonists prazosin or yohimbine were injected before lidocaine with clonidine or epinephrine to determine the role of &agr;-adrenergic receptors. The role of the hyperpolarization-activated cation current (Ih) was evaluated by injecting the current blocker ZD 7288 as well as the current enhancers forskolin and 8-Br-cAMP before lidocaine alone or with 15 &mgr;g/ml clonidine. Results:Mean duration of sensory block for lidocaine alone was 69 ± 2 min. Sensory block duration increased monotonically with increasing doses of added clonidine or epinephrine. Preinjection of prazosin but not yohimbine prevented the increase in block duration seen with epinephrine. Neither &agr;-adrenergic antagonist attenuated the extended duration of block with clonidine. ZD 7288 extended sensory blockade equivalent to the prolongation observed with clonidine. There was no additive effect when ZD 7288 and clonidine were combined, and a decreased duration of nerve block when either forskolin or 8-Br-cAMP preceded injection of lidocaine with clonidine. Conclusions:The findings indicate that prolongation of duration of in vivo lidocaine nerve blockade by clonidine is not mediated by an &agr;-adrenergic mechanism but likely involves the Ih current.
Multiple-path Direction-of-Arrival estimation for cognitive radio sensing

The estimation of the position of an emitting source is an important aspect of emerging cognitive radio systems. We readdress the known problem of estimating the Direction-of-Arrival (DOA) of an emitting source via passive radio means, namely an antenna array. The challenges in the considered scenarios are (a) time-varying, terrestrial multipath propagation with medium-to-low SNR and (b) very short capture records (single-packet processing). We present a two-stage estimation procedure: first an overall channel estimation stage followed by a DOA extraction method suitable to both blind (no training data employed) as well as training-assisted cases. The performance results presented demonstrate that the DOA estimation performance of this procedure is close to the theoretical Cramer-Rao Lower Bound for a large variety of challenging propagation scenarios.
EFFECTS OF CELLULAR CONSTITUENTS OF MYCOBACTERIA ON THE RESISTANCE OF MICE TO HETEROLOGOUS INFECTIONS

Vaccination with living attenuated tubercle bacilli (BCG) was found to increase the resistance of mice to infection with virulent staphylococci. An even more striking protective effect could be elicited by intraperitoneal or subcutaneous injection of small amounts (0.1 mg. or more) of killed BCG cells. The killed BCG cells retained most of their protective activity after prolonged heating at acid, neutral, or basic reactions—and after extraction with acetone, methanol, and NaOH (at pH 10.5). Some protective activity could be recovered in a fraction soluble in methanol at 55°C. The protective effect against infection manifested itself in a prolongation of survival time following infection, and also in the fact that smaller numbers of staphylococci were recovered from the organs of infected mice. Both types of effects were still evident 10 weeks after vaccination. Injection by the intraperitoneal route of killed cells of BCG, or of methanol extracts of them, elicited in mice a high level of protection against intravenous injection of Myco. fortuitum. A protective effect quantitatively and qualitatively similar to that elicited by BCG, resulted from the intraperitoneal or subcutaneous injection of killed cells of Myco. fortuitum.
Absorption of dietary and supplemental folate in women with prior pregnancies with neural tube defects and controls.

BACKGROUND The Public Health Service of the United States recommends that all women capable of childbearing consume . 4 mg (400 microg) folic acid per day to decrease the risk of having a pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect such as spina bifida or anencephaly. Three strategies are available to women to achieve this goal: use of dietary supplements; use of fortified foods; and/or increased intake of naturally occurring folate from foods. Identification of the most effective vehicle for delivery of folate to all women is critical in order to prevent these devastating congenital defects. OBJECTIVE To investigate the difference in response to an oral load of folate both from naturally occurring food sources and synthetic supplements among women with prior pregnancies affected by neural tube defects and controls. METHODS We compared the absorption of test doses of 400 microg pteroylglutamic acid (unconjugated or synthetic folic acid found in supplements) and 400 microg pteroylpolyglutamic acid (conjugated or food folate) in 10 women with a history of neural tube defect affected pregnancies and eight controls with normal birth outcomes. The folate test dose was given as either 32 fluid ounces of orange juice or a folic acid single supplement pill. All participants received each test dose at separate clinic visits. The response to each test dose was measured by constructing an area under the curve (AUC) from the serum folate levels at 1, 2 and 3 hours post dose and applying a t-test to compare within and between cases and controls. We also compared red cell folate, vitamin B12, zinc and homocysteine between cases and controls. RESULTS Within group comparisons showed that the area under the curve was significantly greater for the pteroylglutamic acid dose compared to the pteroylpolyglutamic acid dose for both cases and controls (p=0.02 and p=0.03, respectively). In a between group comparison, control women had a greater serum folate response to both forms of the vitamin compared to the case women, but the difference reached statistical significance only for the pteroylglutamic acid dose (p=0.02). Other measured nutrients differed between cases and controls, but did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION We conclude that for all women synthetic folic acid as supplements or fortified foods may be the best way to increase acute folate levels in the blood, and thus delivery to the developing embryo. Further, since case women had a diminished response to both forms of the vitamin, and some case women had almost no response, we speculate that women with prior affected pregnancies may need a larger dose of folate to elicit a plasma response equivalent to the general population.
Cortical neurostimulation for neuropathic pain: state of the art and perspectives

Abstract The treatment of neuropathic pain by neuromodulation is an objective for more than 40 years in modern clinical practice. With respect to spinal cord and deep brain structures, the cerebral cortex is the most recently evaluated target of invasive neuromodulation therapy for pain. In the early 90s, the first successes of invasive epidural motor cortex stimulation (EMCS) were published. A few years later was developed repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a noninvasive stimulation technique. Then, electrical transcranial stimulation returned valid and is currently in full development, with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Regarding transcranial approaches, the main studied and validated target was still the motor cortex, but other cortical targets are under investigation. The mechanisms of action of these techniques share similarities, especially between EMCS and rTMS, but they also have differences that could justify specific indications and applications. It is therefore important to know the principles and to assess the merit of these techniques on the basis of a rigorous assessment of the results, to avoid fad. Various types of chronic neuropathic pain syndromes can be significantly relieved by EMCS or repeated daily sessions of high-frequency (5-20 Hz) rTMS or anodal tDCS over weeks, at least when pain is lateralized and stimulation is applied to the motor cortex contralateral to pain side. However, cortical stimulation therapy remains to be optimized, especially by improving EMCS electrode design, rTMS targeting, or tDCS montage, to reduce the rate of nonresponders, who do not experience clinically relevant effects of these techniques.
The future of brands : twenty-five visions

The book includes visions of the future of branding by 25 leading international opinion formers. The introduction, conclusion, expert commentary and updated league tables are written by Interbrand Newell and Sorrell. The vision chapters are: Howard Schultz Karl-Heinz Kalbfell Will Hutton Mike Clasper Marieke van der Werf Paul Smith Thomas Carr Sepp Blatter Rita Karakas Geoffrey Lamb Steve Jones Sang Jin Park Patrick Gournay Lynne Franks Kyle Shannon Michael Perry Spike Lee Lee Clow Sandra Dawson David Puttnam Graham Mackay Jorge Cardenas Jo Harlow Gary Lyon Deepak Chopra
Serological evidence for the co‐circulation of two lineages of influenza D viruses in equine populations of the Midwest United States

Influenza D virus (IDV) is a newly described influenza type of the Orthomyxoviridae virus family that was first isolated from diseased swine in 2011 and has subsequently been detected in cattle around the world in 2014. In addition, serological evidence for IDV infection in humans has been recently established. Despite all the progress, the full range of susceptible hosts for this novel virus has yet to be determined, but includes swine, bovine, small ruminants and human. This study was designed to determine if equine is a possible host to this newly emerging influenza virus. Three hundred and sixty‐four equine serum samples were collected in 2015 from 141 farms within the Midwestern United States. Serum samples were examined using hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay against two established IDV lineages (D/OK and D/660) and one IDV‐related human ICV lineage (C/JHB). Results of this study showed 44 (44 of 364, 12%) samples positive for antibodies against D/OK, 39 (39 of 364, 11%) samples positive for antibodies against D/660, and 41 (41 of 364, 11%) samples positive for antibodies against C/JHB. A subset of these samples was further confirmed via microtitre neutralization (MN) assay. Our data demonstrated that horses are susceptible to two lineages of IDV, and that these viruses were present in equine populations throughout multiple Midwestern states of the United States. These findings continue to support the need for further surveillance of IDV viruses in agricultural species to work towards a better understanding of the full host range and natural reservoirs of influenza D virus.
A novel compact planar crossover with simple design procedure

A novel planar crossover is proposed here to tackle the problem of RF-trace intersections. Analytical equations are derived based on the approach of even-odd mode analysis. Simulations are performed, and a crossover at 1GHz is fabricated and measured as an example. The presented crossover has a bandwidth of 26.4% for 1dB insertion loss and 20dB isolation. Compared with the other designs, this planar crossover features wide bandwidth and compact configuration. Simultaneously, the proposed crossover has a simple design procedure, which makes the crossover convenient to design and fabricate.
Incidence of Neurologic Complications Related to Thoracic Epidural Catheterization

Background Due to potential neurologic sequelae, the risk:benefit ratio of thoracic epidural analgesia is controversial. Surprisingly, however, few available data address neurologic complications. The incidence of neurologic complications occurring after thoracic epidural catheterization was studied in patients scheduled for abdominal or abdominothoracic surgery. Methods A total of 4,185 patients were studied, including 2,059 during the prospective phase of the study and 2,126 during the retrospective phase. After thoracic epidural catheterization, all patients received general anesthesia. Patients' neurologic status was assessed by an anesthesiologist using clinical criteria after operation and after epidural catheter removal. If neurologic complications were suspected, a neurologist was consulted. The incidence of specific complications was compared for different thoracic puncture sites: upper (T3/4–6/7), mid (T7/8–8/9), and lower (T9/10–11/12) catheter insertion levels. Results The overall incidence of complications after thoracic epidural catheterization was 3.1% (n = 128). This included dural perforation (0.7%; n = 30); unsuccessful catheter placement (1.1%; n = 45); postoperative radicular type pain (0.2%; n = 9), responsive to catheter withdrawal in all cases; and peripheral nerve lesions (0.6%; n = 24), 0.3% (n = 14) of which were peroneal nerve palsies probably related to surgical positioning or other transient peripheral nerve lesions (0.2%; n = 10). No signs suggesting epidural hematoma were recognized, and there were no permanent sensory or motor defects attributable to epidural catheterization. Unintentional dural perforation was observed significantly more often in the lower (3.4%) than in the mid (0.9%), or upper (0.4%) thoracic region. A single patient experienced severe respiratory depression after receiving epidural buprenorphine but recovered without sequelae. Conclusions Thoracic epidural catheterization for abdominal and thoracoabdominal surgery is not associated with a high incidence of serious neurologic complications. In fact, the incidence of puncture‐ and catheter‐related complications is less in the mid and upper than in lower thoracic region, and the predicted maximum risk for permanent neurologic complications (upper bound of the 95% confidence interval) is 0.07%.
Axonal and somatic filtering of antidromically evoked cortical excitation by simulated deep brain stimulation in rat brain

Antidromic cortical excitation has been implicated as a contributing mechanism for high‐frequency deep brain stimulation (DBS). Here, we examined the reliability of antidromic responses of type 2 corticofugal fibres in rat over a stimulation frequency range compatible to the DBS used in humans. We activated antidromically individual layer V neurones by stimulating their two subcortical axonal branches. We found that antidromic cortical excitation is not as reliable as generally assumed. Whereas the fast conducting branches of a type 2 axon in the highly myelinated brainstem region follow high‐frequency stimulation, the slower conducting fibres in the poorly myelinated thalamic region function as low‐pass filters. These fibres fail to transmit consecutive antidromic spikes at the beginning of high‐frequency stimulation, but are able to maintain a steady low‐frequency (6–12 Hz) spike output during the stimulation. In addition, antidromic responses evoked from both branches are rarely present in cortical neurones with a more hyperpolarized membrane potential. Our data indicate that axon‐mediated antidromic excitation in the cortex is strongly influenced by the myelo‐architecture of the stimulation site and the excitability of individual cortical neurones.
Using Recombinant Coxsackievirus B3 To Evaluate the Induction and Protective Efficacy of CD8+ T Cells during Picornavirus Infection

ABSTRACT Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) is a common human pathogen that has been associated with serious diseases including myocarditis and pancreatitis. To better understand the effect of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses in controlling CVB3 infection, we have inserted well-characterized CTL epitopes into the CVB3 genome. Constructs were made by placing the epitope of interest upstream of the open reading frame encoding the CVB3 polyprotein, separated by a poly-glycine linker and an artificial 3Cpro/3CDpro cleavage site. This strategy results in the foreign protein being translated at the amino- terminus of the viral polyprotein, from which it is cleaved prior to viral assembly. In this study, we cloned major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted CTL epitopes from lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) into recombinant CVB3 (rCVB3). In vitro, rCVB3 growth kinetics showed a 1- to 2-h lag period before exponential growth was initiated, and peak titers were ∼1 log unit lower than for wild-type virus. rCVB3 replicated to high titers in vivo and caused severe pancreatitis but minimal myocarditis. Despite the high virus titers, rCVB3 infection of naive mice failed to induce a strong CD8+ T-cell response to the encoded epitope; this has implications for the proposed role of “cross-priming” during virus infection and for the utility of recombinant picornaviruses as vaccine vectors. In contrast, rCVB3 infection of LCMV-immune mice resulted in direct ex vivo cytotoxic activity against target cells coated with the epitope peptide, demonstrating that the rCVB3-encoded LCMV-specific epitope was expressed and presented in vivo. The preexisting CD8+memory T cells could limit rCVB replication; compared to naive mice, infection of LCMV-immune mice with rCVB3 resulted in ∼50-fold-lower virus titers in the heart and ∼6-fold-lower virus titers in the pancreas. Although the inserted CTL epitope was retained by rCVB3 through several passages in tissue culture, it was lost in an organ-specific manner in vivo; a substantial proportion of viruses from the pancreas retained the insert, compared to only 0 to 1.8% of myocardial viruses. Together, these results show that expression of heterologous viral proteins by recombinant CVB3 provides a useful model for determining the mechanisms underlying the immune response to this viral pathogen.
Characterization of micromachined ultrasonic transducers using light diffraction tomography

This paper demonstrates that light diffraction tomography can be used to measure the acoustic field of micromachined ultrasonic transducers (MUT) in cases in which standard methods like hydrophone arid microphone measurements fail. Two types of MUTs have been characterized with the method, one air-coupled capacitive MUT (cMUT) and one waterloaded continuous wave (CW) miniature multilayer lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducer. Light diffraction tomography is an ultrasound measurement method with some special characteristics. Based on the interaction of light and ultrasound, it combines light intensity measurements with tomography algorithms to produce a measurement system. The method offers nonperturbing pressure measurements with high spatial resolution. It has been shown that, under certain circumstances, light diffraction tomography can be used as an absolute pressure measurement method with accuracy in the order of 10% in water and 13% in air. The results show that air-coupled cMUTs in the frequency range of about 1 MHz as well as the extreme near field of a miniaturized CW 10 MHz waterloaded transducer were successfully characterized with light diffraction tomography.
Specific Activity of Brain Palmitoyl‐CoA Pool Provides Rates of Incorporation of Palmitate in Brain Phospholipids in Awake Rats

Abstract: In vivo rates of palmitate incorporation into brain phospholipids were measured in awake rats following programmed intravenous infusion of unesterified [9,10‐3H]palmitate to maintain constant plasma specific activity. Animals were killed after 2–10 min of infusion by microwave irradiation and analyzed for tracer distribution in brain phospholipid and phospholipid precursor, i.e., brain unesterified palmitate and palmitoyl‐CoA, pools. [9,10‐3H]Palmitate incorporation into brain phospholipids was linear with time and rapid, with >50% of brain tracer in choline‐containing glycerophospholipids at 2 min of infusion. However, tracer specific activity in brain phospholipid precursor pools was low and averaged only 1.6–1.8% of plasma unesterified palmitate specific activity. Correction for brain palmitoyl‐CoA specific activity increased the calculated rate of palmitate incorporation into brain phospholipids (0.52 nmol/s/g) by ∼60‐fold. The results suggest that palmitate incorporation and turnover in brain phospholipids are far more rapid than generally assumed and that this rapid turnover dilutes tracer specific activity in brain palmitoyl‐CoA pool owing to release and recycling of unlabeled fatty acid from phospholipid breakdown.