Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bioadhesive Polymers for Controlled Drug Delivery

Bioadhesion may be defined' as the state in which two materials, a t least one of which is of a biological nature, are held together for an extended period of time by interfacial forces. Thus, attachment of a biological object to another biological object, e.g., cell attachment, or a synthetic polymer to a biological substrate, e.g., denture fixative, are examples of bioadhesion. For drug delivery purposes the term bioadhesion infers attachment of a drug carrier system to a specific biological location. The biological surface can be epithelial tissue or it can be the mucous coat on the surface of the tissue. If adhesive attachment is to the mucin coat the phenomena is referred to as mucoadhesion. Bioadhesion can be modeled after bacterial attachment to tissue surfaces and mucoadhesion can be modeled after much organization on epithelial tissue. Earlier work by Nagai2 has shown that mucoadhesion can be used as a platform for delivery of drugs locally to the mouth or to the cervix with concomitant improvement in therapy or, alternatively, a decrease in body load of the drug. A number of workers3-' have been exploring both the mechanism(s) of adhesion as well as ways to utilize mucoadhesion as a platform for both local and systemic delivery of drugs. This presentation will review the concept of mucoadhesion with emphasis on attachment of polyanionic swelling hydrogels. In addition, it will review some of the recent applications of mucoadhesion with particular emphasis on buccal delivery.
Dose-response study of N,N-dimethyltryptamine in humans. I. Neuroendocrine, autonomic, and cardiovascular effects.

BACKGROUND To begin applying basic neuropharmacological hypotheses of hallucinogenic drug actions to humans, we generated dose-response data for intravenously administered dimethyltryptamine fumarate's (DMT) neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, autonomic, and subjective effects in a group of experienced hallucinogen users. METHODS Dimethyltryptamine, an endogenous mammalian hallucinogen and drug of abuse, was administered intravenously at 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 mg/kg to 11 experienced hallucinogen users, in a double-blind, saline placebo-controlled, randomized design. Treatments were separated by at least 1 week. RESULTS Peak DMT blood levels and subjective effects were seen within 2 minutes after drug administration, and were negligible at 30 minutes. Dimethyltryptamine dose dependently elevated blood pressure, heart rate, pupil diameter, and rectal temperature, in addition to elevating blood concentrations of beta-endorphin, corticotropin, cortisol, and prolactin. Growth hormone blood levels rose equally in response to all doses of DMT, and melatonin levels were unaffected. Threshold doses for significant effects relative to placebo were also hallucinogenic (0.2 mg/kg and higher). Subjects with five or more exposures to 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine demonstrated less robust pupil diameter effects than those with two or fewer exposures. CONCLUSIONS Dimethyltryptamine can be administered safely to experienced hallucinogen users and dose-response data generated for several measures hypothesized under serotonergic modulatory control. Additional studies characterizing the specific mechanisms mediating DMT's biological effects may prove useful in psychopharmacological investigations of drug-induced and endogenous alterations in brain function.
Ethernet in core networks: a technical and economical analysis

Ethernet is an uncompleted success story extending its reach from LAN and metro areas now also into core networks. 100 Gbps Ethernet will be the key enabler for a new generation of true end-to-end carrier grade Ethernet networks. This paper first focuses on functionality and standards required to enable carrier-grade Ethernet-based core networks and possible Ethernet backbone network architectures will be discussed. The second part then evaluates the CAPEX and OPEX performance of Ethernet core networks and competitive network architectures. The results propose that Ethernet will not only soon be mature enough for deployment in backbone networks but also provide huge cost advantages to providers
Intravenous adenosine suppresses cardiac release of endothelin after myocardial ischaemia and reperfusion.

OBJECTIVE Intravenous adenosine decreases infarct size in experimental models of myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion. Ischaemia/reperfusion is associated with a significant increase in cardiac release of endothelin. The effect of cardioprotective doses of adenosine on endothelin release was explored in dogs undergoing 90 min coronary occlusion and 210 min reperfusion. METHODS Dogs were assigned to intravenous adenosine in a dose of 0.15 mg.kg-1.min-1 (n = 12) or control (n = 11) during the first 150 min reperfusion. Serial endothelin levels were obtained from the coronary sinus and aortic blood and measured by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS Adenosine significantly reduced infarct size expressed as a percent of the risk region (28.8 6% v 14.4 2%; p = 0.03). A similar increase in aortic and coronary sinus blood endothelin was observed in both groups during temporary occlusion. A significant transcardiac increase in endothelin levels was present in the control group 60 min after reperfusion whereas no increase occurred in the adenosine treated group [control 5.6(SEM 1.9) v adenosine -0.2(1.4) pg.ml-1; p = 0.02]. Similarly, intravenous adenosine tended to prevent the increase in myocardial endothelin production seen in control animals during the early reperfusion period [control 280(146) v adenosine -57(55) pg.min-1; p = 0.05]. Endocardial blood flow in the ischaemic zone 210 min after reperfusion was significantly higher in the adenosine group, at 0.60(0.02) v 0.38(0.02) ml.min-1.g-1; p < 0.05. A significant correlation between endothelin levels, endocardial flow and infarct size was observed in the control group 3 h after reperfusion: r = 0.73, p = 0.02; r = 0.62, p = 0.03 respectively. This relationship was absent in animals treated with adenosine. CONCLUSIONS Intravenous adenosine suppresses the release of endothelin from the previously ischaemic myocardium during the early reperfusion period. This effect may in part contribute to the improvement by adenosine in postischaemic microcirculatory flow resulting in attenuation of the "no reflow" phenomenon.
Structure of the yeast nucleosome core particle reveals fundamental changes in internucleosome interactions

Chromatin is composed of nucleosomes, the universally repeating protein—DNA complex in eukaryotic cells. The crystal structure of the nucleosome core particle from Saccharomyces cerevisiae reveals that the structure and function of this fundamental complex is conserved between single‐cell organisms and metazoans. Our results show that yeast nucleosomes are likely to be subtly destabilized as compared with nucleosomes from higher eukaryotes, consistent with the idea that much of the yeast genome remains constitutively open during much of its life cycle. Importantly, minor sequence variations lead to dramatic changes in the way in which nucleosomes pack against each other within the crystal lattice. This has important implications for our understanding of the formation of higher order chromatin structure and its modulation by post‐translational modifications. Finally, the yeast nucleosome core particle provides a structural context by which to interpret genetic data obtained from yeast. Coordinates have been deposited with the Protein Data Bank under accession number 1ID3.
A First Step in Total Quality Management of Nursing Facility Care: Development of an Empirical Causal Model of Structure, Process and Outcome Dimensions

While the structure, process, and outcome taxon omy has long been used in the field of health care quality measurement and evaluation, it has not been used in a true causal model which assesses facility level quality. Total quality management and contin uous quality improvement call for routinely assessing facility and resident level quality in a causal frame work. This paper presents a causal modeling meth odology as a more appropriate method for assessing and understanding the inter-relatedness among each of the quality dimensions of Nursing Facility care, and presents how such a causal model directly relates to the notion of continuous quality improvement. The methodology consists of five steps: (1) sample defini tion and data collection, (2) data reduction through factor analysis, (3) development and testing of a causal model through path analysis, (4) identification of patterns of care through cluster analysis, and (5) integration of the model to both continuous quality improvement and to complex relationships involving quality and organizational variables. The methodol ogy is fully illustrated by using a sample of 104 nursing facilities in Wisconsin in which quality di mensions have been captured through the Quality Assessment Index. The analysis demonstrates that nursing facilities may be substantially benefited by having access to causal linkages which materially affect outcome quality. Management would then have first-hand knowledge of the structural characteris tics and the process activities that they may pursue in order to improve outcome quality.
A Novel Method of Setting Performance Standards in Surgery Using Patient Outcomes

Objective: To describe a novel, outcome-based method of standard setting that differentiates between clinical outcomes rather than arbitrary educational goals. Background: Standard setting methods used in assessments of procedural skill are currently not evidence-driven or outcome-based. This represents a potential obstacle for the broad implementation of these evaluations in summative assessments such as certification and credentialing. Methods: The concept is based on deriving a receiver operating characteristic curve from a regression model that incorporates measures of intraoperative surgeon performance and confounding patient characteristics. This allows the creation of a performance standard that best predicts a clinically significant outcome of interest. The discovery cohort used to create the predictive model was derived from pilot data that used the Global Evaluative Assessment of Robotic Skill assessment tool to predict patient urinary continence 3 months following robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy. Results: A receiver operating characteristic curve with an area under the curve of 0.75 was created from predicted probability statistic generated by the predictive model. We chose a predicted probability of 0.35, based on an optimal tradeoff in sensitivity and specificity (Youden Index). Rearranging the regression equation, we determined the performance score required to predict a 35%, patient-adjusted probability of postoperative urinary incontinence. Conclusions: This novel methodology is context, patient, and assessment-specific. Current standard setting methods do not account for the heterogeneity of the clinical environment. Workplace-based assessments in competency-based medical education require standards that are credible to the educator and the trainee. High-stakes assessments must ensure that surgeons have been evaluated to a standard that prioritizes satisfactory patient outcomes and safety.
A field experiment on GSS anonymity and group member status

A field experiment was conducted within Wausau Insurance Companies (Wausau) to determine the effects of GSS anonymity and status on group productivity and satisfaction. Professionals and managers within Wausau participated in GSS sessions to discuss ways to solve the problem of insurance fraud within their industry. Groups of four and five members interacted either with or without anonymity and either under equal status or unequal status. Anonymous groups generated more total comments, more unique ideas, and more ideas of higher rarity than did identified groups. Equal status group members were more satisfied than were unequal status group members. <<ETX>>
The Blue-Light Receptor YtvA Acts in the Environmental Stress Signaling Pathway of Bacillus subtilis

ABSTRACT The general stress response of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis is regulated by a partner-switching mechanism in which serine and threonine phosphorylation controls protein interactions in the stress-signaling pathway. The environmental branch of this pathway contains a family of five paralogous proteins that function as negative regulators. Here we present genetic evidence that a sixth paralog, YtvA, acts as a positive regulator in the same environmental signaling branch. We also present biochemical evidence that YtvA and at least three of the negative regulators can be isolated from cell extracts in a large environmental signaling complex. YtvA differs from these associated negative regulators by its flavin mononucleotide (FMN)-containing light-oxygen-voltage domain. Others have shown that this domain has the photochemistry expected for a blue-light sensor, with the covalent linkage of the FMN chromophore to cysteine 62 composing a critical part of the photocycle. Consistent with the view that light intensity modifies the output of the environmental signaling pathway, we found that cysteine 62 is required for YtvA to exert its positive regulatory role in the absence of other stress. Transcriptional analysis of the ytvA structural gene indicated that it provides the entry point for at least one additional environmental input, mediated by the Spx global regulator of disulfide stress. These results support a model in which the large signaling complex serves to integrate multiple environmental signals in order to modulate the general stress response.
A Connectionist Approach to Part-Of-Speech Tagging

In this paper, we describe a novel approach to Part-Of-Speech tagging based on neural networks. Multilayer perceptrons are used following corpus-based learning from contextual and lexical information. The Penn Treebank corpus has been used for the training and evaluation of the tagging system. The results show that the connectionist approach is feasible and comparable with other approaches.
A Review of the Impact of Obstetric Anesthesia on Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes

Obstetric anesthesia has evolved over the course of its history to encompass comprehensive aspects of maternal care, ranging from cesarean delivery anesthesia and labor analgesia to maternal resuscitation and patient safety. Anesthesiologists are concerned with maternal and neonatal outcomes, and with preventing and managing complications that may present during childbirth. The current review will focus on recent advances in obstetric anesthesia, including labor anesthesia and analgesia, cesarean delivery anesthesia and analgesia, the effects of maternal anesthesia on breastfeeding and fever, and maternal safety. The impact of these advances on maternal and neonatal outcomes is discussed. Past and future progress in this field will continue to have significant implications on the health of women and children.
How Alice game templates support student learning

The use of review is a recommended method for reinforcing student understanding of new knowledge. Regular review and reinforcement help solidify these skills, so students can quickly draw on them during tests. And yet, is there any classroom activity quite as tedious and boring, for teacher and student alike, as review and reinforcement? Fortunately, review and reinforcement need not be as tedious as they sound. This paper will share one how Alice game templates maybe used by classroom teachers from all content areas to add some excitement to those dreaded classroom reviews.
Photosynthetic capacity peaks at intermediate size in temperate deciduous trees.

Studies of age-related changes in leaf functional biology have generally been based on dichotomous comparisons of young and mature individuals (e.g., saplings and mature canopy trees), with little data available to describe changes through the entire ontogeny of trees, particularly of broadleaf angiosperms. Leaf-level gas-exchange and morphological parameters were quantified in situ in the upper canopy of trees acclimated to high light conditions, spanning a wide range of ontogenetic stages from saplings (approximately 1 cm in stem diameter) to trees >60 cm d.b. h. and nearing their maximum lifespan, in three temperate deciduous tree species in central Ontario, Canada. Traits associated with growth performance, including leaf photosynthetic capacity (expressed on either an area, mass or leaf N basis), stomatal conductance, leaf size and leaf N content, generally showed a unimodal ('hump-shaped') pattern, with peak values at an intermediate ontogenetic stage. In contrast, leaf mass per area (LMA) and related morphological parameters (leaf thickness, leaf tissue density, leaf C content) increased monotonically with tree size, as did water-use efficiency; these monotonic relationships were well described by simple allometric functions of the form Y = aX(b). For traits showing unimodal patterns, tree size corresponding to the trait maximum differed markedly among traits: all three species showed a similar pattern in which the peak for leaf size occurred in trees approximately 2-6 cm d.b. h. , followed by leaf chemical traits and photosynthetic capacity on a mass or leaf N basis and finally by photosynthetic capacity on a leaf area basis, which peaked approximately at the size of reproductive onset. It is argued that ontogenetic increases in photosynthetic capacity and related traits early in tree ontogeny are general among relatively shade-tolerant tree species that have a low capacity for leaf-level acclimation, as are declines in this set of traits late in tree ontogeny.
Differences in cortical actin structure and dynamics document that different types of blebs are formed by distinct mechanisms.

Bleb formation has been studied by specifically targeting major factors controlling this process, such as microtubule disassembly, local actin depolymerization, and increased pressure. At least two different types of blebs (types 1 and 2) formed by different mechanisms and possibly a third type (type 3) can be documented at the front of living polarized cells expressing green fluorescent protein-actin and/or in fixed and stained cells. Type 1 blebs (membrane/cortex dissociation blebs) formed by dissociation of the plasma membrane from cortical actin develop cytoplasmic actin layers associated with restriction rings. They can be induced by the microtubule-disassembling agent colchicine. Type 2 blebs (cortical actin disassembly blebs) form after disassembly of the cortical actin layer in the presence of latrunculin A. Restriction rings without a cytoplasmic actin layer occur in a transition zone between the intact cortical actin layer of the cell body and the compromised actin layer of the bleb. Evidence for a third type of bleb (type 3), showing an intact cortical actin layer but no cytoplasmic actin layer and no recognizable relationship between the actin cytoskeleton and the restriction ring, has been obtained by passive cell deformation in micropipettes, which increases pressure. Repolymerization of the cortical actin layer does not necessarily result in bleb retraction. Once formed, restriction rings do not narrow, suggesting that they result from isometric contraction. A simplified classification scheme has been developed to relate the type of bleb to specific signals or cell functions. Its application shows that spontaneously blebbing cells form almost exclusively type 1 blebs.
Antimetabole and Image Schemata: Ontological and Vector Space Models

In this paper we describe the linguistic analysis of the rhetorical figure Antimetabole. We extend our analysis to cognitive processes, centering on Image Schemata as a structure of understanding. Representing elements in symmetry as force vectors we define a graphic representation that shows the balancing forces in multi-dimensions based on the Image Schema BALANCE. We also describe an ontology that models the form of the figure and further extends the description to force vectors in balance.
La psychose pubertaire, une impasse du processus d'adolescence

Les pathologies psychotiques qui surgissent a l’adolescence, malgre la diversite de leur symptomatologie et de leur etiologie, peuvent etre rangees sous la meme appellation de « psychose pubertaire ». Elle rend compte de la cassure qui survient dans le developpement de l’adolescent et traduit le ratage du processus d’adolescence, voire l’impossible engagement de l’adolescent dans ce processus. La psychotherapie de l’adolescent entre en psychose prendra en compte la problematique œdipienne de chacun des parents dans la co-construction du cadre de la psychotherapie. A l’aide de quelques illustrations cliniques mettant en scene la desorganisation psychique qu’introduit la psychose pubertaire, l’auteur s’attache egalement a montrer que cette pathologie de la subjectivation est aussi une quete de sens dans une experience insensee.
Precision of Lumbar Intervertebral Measurements: Does a Computer-Assisted Technique Improve Reliability?

Study Design. Comparison of intra- and interobserver reliability of digitized manual and computer-assisted intervertebral motion measurements and classification of “instability. ” Objective. To determine if computer-assisted measurement of lumbar intervertebral motion on flexion-extension radiographs improves reliability compared with digitized manual measurements. Summary of Background Data. Many studies have questioned the reliability of manual intervertebral measurements, although few have compared the reliability of computer-assisted and manual measurements on lumbar flexion-extension radiographs. Methods. Intervertebral rotation, anterior-posterior (AP) translation, and change in anterior and posterior disc height were measured with a digitized manual technique by three physicians and by three other observers using computer-assisted quantitative motion analysis (QMA) software. Each observer measured 30 sets of digital flexion-extension radiographs (L1-S1) twice. Shrout-Fleiss intraclass correlation coefficients for intra- and interobserver reliabilities were computed. The stability of each level was also classified (instability defined as >4 mm AP translation or 10° rotation), and the intra- and interobserver reliabilities of the two methods were compared using adjusted percent agreement (APA). Results. Intraobserver reliability intraclass correlation coefficients were substantially higher for the QMA technique THAN the digitized manual technique across all measurements: rotation 0.997 versus 0.870, AP translation 0.959 versus 0.557, change in anterior disc height 0.962 versus 0.770, and change in posterior disc height 0.951 versus 0.283. The same pattern was observed for interobserver reliability (rotation 0.962 vs. 0.693, AP translation 0.862 vs. 0.151, change in anterior disc height 0.862 vs. 0.373, and change in posterior disc height 0.730 vs. 0.300). The QMA technique was also more reliable for the classification of “instability. ” Intraobserver APAs ranged from 87 to 97% for QMA versus 60% to 73% for digitized manual measurements, while interobserver APAs ranged from 91% to 96% for QMA versus 57% to 63% for digitized manual measurements. Conclusion. The use of QMA software substantially improved the reliability of lumbar intervertebral measurements and the classification of instability based on flexion-extension radiographs.