Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of biosolubility on pulmonary uptake and disposition of gases and vapors of lipophilic chemicals.

Since statistical analysis proved the intercorrelation of tissue-gas partition coefficients of chemicals with similar chemical structures, bioavailability is controlled by one parameter dependent on the physicochemical properties of the chemicals and two constants distinguishing the tissues. Oil-gas partition coefficients are suggested to describe the biosolubility of volatile halogenated aliphatic chemicals. Tissue-gas partition coefficients derived from oil-gas partition coefficients were substituted in a pharmacokinetic model in order to study the effect of biosolubility on uptake, distribution, and elimination of inhaled chemicals. The simulation was focused on occupational exposures (8 h/day, 5 days/wk). Desaturation curves for all tissues show three exponential decays. The analysis of the simulation data indicates three patterns in behavior of inhaled vapors and gases in the body. Tissue uptake of poorly soluble chemicals (oil-gas partition coefficient less than 10) is flow limited at the beginning of exposure, but the partial pressures of such chemicals in the body equilibrate very rapidly with ambient air. Increased pulmonary uptake compensates for metabolic clearance. The rapid response of tissue concentrations to changes in exposure concentrations indicates that the toxic effect can easily be induced by short-term increase of exposure concentration, and that emergence from the reversible effect is rapid when exposure ceases. Tissue uptake of chemicals with oil-gas partition coefficients between 10 and 10(4) is flow limited during the entire 8-h exposure. Tissue concentrations increase slowly. Pulmonary uptake, being restricted by alveolar ventilation, compensates at steady state only for the amount of chemical removed by metabolic clearance. Therefore, tissue concentrations at steady state are lower than biosolubility. Accumulation during occupational exposure is obvious. Dumping of inhaled chemicals in adipose tissue protects the target organ from the occasional short-term increases in the exposure concentration. Tissue uptake of highly soluble chemicals (oil-gas partition coefficients greater than 10(4)) is limited by alveolar ventilation and exposure concentration. The rising and declining of tissue concentrations is very slow, half-times being in the magnitude of months and years. Metabolism reduces the half-time significantly. A lagging acute toxic effect can develop as the chemical accumulates in the body; the effect is most likely to persist long after the termination of the exposure. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Differential Expression and Regulation of Estrogen Receptors (ERs) in Rat Pituitary and Cell Lines: Estrogen Decreases ERα Protein and Estrogen Responsiveness.

Estrogen (E) regulates the synthesis and secretion of several pituitary hormones during the reproductive cycle in a cell- and promoter-specific manner. One mechanism underlying cell specificity is the differential expression of estrogen receptor (ER) isoforms. We used in vivo and in vitro rodent pituitary cell models to examine the expression and regulation of ERα, ERβ, and the pituitary-specific ERα isoform, truncated estrogen receptor product-1 (TERP-1). In cycling female rat pituitaries, ERβ messenger RNA (mRNA) levels fell 40% on the morning of proestrus and were suppressed by E or dihydrotestosterone in ovariectomized females. In lactotrope and gonadotrope cell lines (GH3, RC4B, LβT2), progesterone (P) or P plus E also suppressed ERβ. TERP-1 mRNA increased 3-fold at proestrus and in response to E treatment in vivo and in cell lines. ERα mRNA levels were not regulated significantly by any treatment in vivo or in cell lines. However, E suppressed ERα protein levels in vivo and in cell lines, and reduct.
Adenoma detection rate and risk of colorectal cancer and death.

BACKGROUND The proportion of screening colonoscopic examinations performed by a physician that detect one or more adenomas (the adenoma detection rate) is a recommended quality measure. However, little is known about the association between this rate and patients' risks of a subsequent colorectal cancer (interval cancer) and death. METHODS Using data from an integrated health care delivery organization, we evaluated the associations between the adenoma detection rate and the risks of colorectal cancer diagnosed 6 months to 10 years after colonoscopy and of cancer-related death. With the use of Cox regression, our estimates of attributable risk were adjusted for the demographic characteristics of the patients, indications for colonoscopy, and coexisting conditions. RESULTS We evaluated 314,872 colonoscopies performed by 136 gastroenterologists; the adenoma detection rates ranged from 7.4 to 52.5%. During the follow-up period, we identified 712 interval colorectal adenocarcinomas, including 255 advanced-stage cancers, and 147 deaths from interval colorectal cancer. The unadjusted risks of interval cancer according to quintiles of adenoma detection rates, from lowest to highest, were 9.8, 8.6, 8.0, 7.0, and 4.8 cases per 10,000 person-years of follow-up, respectively. Among patients of physicians with adenoma detection rates in the highest quintile, as compared with patients of physicians with detection rates in the lowest quintile, the adjusted hazard ratio for any interval cancer was 0.52 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.39 to 0.69), for advanced-stage interval cancer, 0.43 (95% CI, 0.29 to 0.64), and for fatal interval cancer, 0.38 (95% CI, 0.22 to 0.65). Each 1.0% increase in the adenoma detection rate was associated with a 3.0% decrease in the risk of cancer (hazard ratio, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.96 to 0.98). CONCLUSIONS The adenoma detection rate was inversely associated with the risks of interval colorectal cancer, advanced-stage interval cancer, and fatal interval cancer. (Funded by the Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit program and the National Cancer Institute.).
Translating DVD subtitles from English-German and English-Japanese using Example-Based Machine Translation

Due to limited budgets and an ever-diminishing time -frame for the production of subtitles for movies released in cinema and DVD, there is a compe lling case for a technology-based translation solution for subtitles (O’Hagan, 2003; Carroll, 200 4; Gambier, 2005). In this paper we describe how an Example-Based Machine Translation (EBMT) app roach to the translation of English DVD subtitles into German and Japanese can aid the subt itler. Our research focuses on an EBMT tool that produces fully automated translations, which i n turn can be edited if required. We have chosen these language pairs as both are commercially signi fica t. We will seed the EBMT system with a corpus consisting of existing human translations fr om DVD to automatically produce high quality subtitles for audio-visual content. To our knowledg this is the first time that any EBMT approach has been used with DVD subtitle translation. Schäle r et al. (2003: 88) propose that “the time is ripe for the transformation of EBMT into demonstrators, and eventually viable products”. We attempt to answer their call with an EBMT approach to the t ranslation of subtitles.
Thirst and compulsive water drinking in medial basal limbic epilepsy: an electroclinical and neuropathological correlation.

rapid cycling with a periodicity of cycles of neurotoxicity at normal serum lithium levels. 3 weeks. She did not improve on comThough risk factors concerning neurotoxbined antidepressant/neuroleptic treatment, icity of lithium may be known,2 neurologists amitryptiline, 25 mg tid and 75 mg at night, and psychiatrists should be aware of a "lithand zuclopenthixol, 4 mg four times a day. ium neurotoxicity sign", which may be This treatment resistance led to the addition observed at normal serum levels of lithium of lithium. and which may point to potentially treatable During the third week of lithium therapy, intracranial pathology. at the low dose of 600 mg sdd and stable CJF KEMPERMAN* serum lithium level of 0-6 mmol/l, sleeplessmH GERDES,t ness, concentration difficulties, dysarthric JAM DE ROOIJ4 speech and gait ataxia developed. Cessation LM VENCKEN§ of lithium led to a rapid reversal of From the Department of Psychiatry* and neurotoxic symptoms within 2 weeks. Radiology,§ State University Hospital, Neurological examination, EEG, ECHOGroningen, Department of Psychiatry,t graphic investigation and CSF examination Wilhelmina Ziekenhuis, Assen and were unremarkable afterwards. Cerebral CT, Department of Psychiatry,$ Canisiusindicated by this neurotoxic episode and Wilhelmina Ziekenhuis, Nijmegen, The persistent depressive symptomatology with Netherlands. apathy, however, revealed a frontobasal bilobar tumour, homogeneously enhancing, Address for correspondence: Dr C J F and situated in the midline, which proved to Kemperman, Dept of Psychiatry, State be a frontal meningioma. University Hospital, POB 30.001, 9700 RB Lithium is increasingly used in psychiatry, Groningen, The Netherlands. often in elderly patients, and based on recent findings that it is able to augment the effect of We thank Prof R J van den Bosch, PH D for anti-depressants. his advice. We have shown that the occurrence of reversible neurotoxic phenomena at normal serum lithium levels, which we have seen in References several patients in the past 2 years, may point to a possibly treatable intracranial pathI Sansone MEG, Ziegler DK. Lithium toxicity: a ology. In one of our patients lithium review of neurologic complications. Clin neurotoxicity pointed to cerebral infarction, Neuropharmacol 1985;8:242-8. in the other to frontal meningioma. 2 Tyrer S, Shopsin B. Neural and neuromuscular These findings are in accordance with side-effects lithium.
Prion Protein Helix1 Promotes Aggregation but Is Not Converted into β-Sheet*

Prion diseases are caused by the aggregation of the native α-helical prion protein PrPC into its pathological β-sheet-rich isoform PrPSc. In current models of PrPSc, helix1 is assumed to be preferentially converted into β-sheet during aggregation of PrPC. This was supported by the NMR structure of PrPC since, in contrast to the isolated helix1, helix2 and helix3 are connected by a small loop and are additionally stabilized by an interhelical disulfide bond. However, helix1 is extremely hydrophilic and has a high helix propensity. This prompted us to investigate the role of helix1 in prion aggregation using humPrP23-159 including helix1 (144-156) compared with the C-terminal-truncated isoform humPrP23-144 corresponding to the pathological human stop mutations Q160Stop and Y145Stop, respectively. Most unexpectedly, humPrP23-159 aggregated significantly faster compared with the truncated fragment humPrP23-144, clearly demonstrating that helix1 is involved in the aggregation process. However, helix1 is not resistant to digestion with proteinase K in fibrillar humPrP23-159, suggesting that helix1 is not converted to β-sheet. This is confirmed by Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy since there is almost no difference in β-sheet content of humPrP23-159 fibrils compared with humPrP23-144. In conclusion, we provide strong direct evidence that in contrast to earlier assumptions helix1 is not converted into β-sheet during aggregation of PrPC to PrPSc.
Life expectancy in patients with hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia.

BACKGROUND There are few data on life expectancy in patients with hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), a disorder with life-threatening complications. METHODS Seventy HHT patients provided data on age and age at death of their HHT-affected parent, which was compared with that of the parent's non-affected partner. RESULTS At the time of the study, 40 HHT parents (57.1%) vs. 36 (51.4%) non-HHT parents had died (p = 0.404). Median age at death was lower in HHT vs. non-HHT parents (63.2 vs. 70.0 years, respectively). The mortality of HHT parents showed an early peak in the under 50s and a late peak at 60-79 years. HHT was the main risk factor influencing life expectancy after 30 years (p < 0.05). No differences in survival probability were found in HHT patients with respect to sex (p = 0.37), or ENG vs. ALK-1 genotype (p < 0.9). DISCUSSION Life expectancy appears to be significantly lower in HHT patients than in their partners. Prevention of HHT complications with screening programs could increase life expectancy.
The postsynaptic localization of the glycine receptor-associated protein gephyrin is regulated by the cytoskeleton

The mechanisms underlying the postsynaptic localization of neurotransmitter receptors are poorly understood. Recently, the peripheral membrane protein gephyrin has been shown to be essential for the formation of inhibitory glycine receptor clusters in cultured rat spinal cord neurons. In vitro gephyrin binds with high affinity to polymerized tubulin. Here, the interaction of gephyrin with different components of the cytoskeleton was investigated in primary cultures of rat spinal neurons. After treatment with alkaloids affecting the cytoskeleton, the morphology of post-synaptic gephyrin clusters was analyzed by confocal immunofluorescence microscopy. Depolymerization of microtubules by demecolcine reduced both the percentage of cells with postsynaptic gephyrin clusters and the number of clusters/cell. The size of the remaining gephyrin clusters was increased whereas their gephyrin density was significantly lower than under control conditions. Depolymerization of microfilaments by cytochalasin D in contrast generated smaller clusters of increased gephyrin density. Demecolcine also dispersed postsynaptic glycine receptor clusters as revealed by immunostaining with a specific monoclonal antibody. These findings support the view that in vivo gephyrin anchors receptor polypeptides to the cytoskeleton by a complex interaction with microtubules and microfilaments.
Renal Protective Effect of YM598, a Selective Endothelin Type A Receptor Antagonist

We have investigated the protective effect of YM598, a selective endothelin type A receptor antagonist, against an endothelin-1-induced proliferation of rat mesangial cells and renal function in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats, an animal model of type II diabetes. YM598, but not K-8794, a selective endothelin type B receptor antagonist, inhibited the endothelin-1-induced proliferation of cultured mesangial cells derived from intact Wistar rats in a concentration-dependent manner. YM598 (0.1 or 1 mg/kg), enalapril (5 mg/kg), an angiotensin- converting enzyme inhibitor, or vehicle was administered once daily by gastric gavage to 22-week-old male OLETF rats for 32 weeks. YM598 blunted the development of albuminuria in a dose-dependent manner. A higher dose of YM598 reduced albuminuria comparable with enalapril. Urinary endothelin-1 excretion was greater in the diabetic rats than in the control rats, and was not substantially influenced by the agents. Enalapril, but not YM598, mildly lowered the blood pressure in the diabetic rats, indicating that blood pressure reduction is not involved in the major mechanism of the renoprotective effect of YM598 in OLETF rats. These data suggest that endothelin is involved in the progression of diabetic nephropathy in OLETF rats, and an endothelin type A antagonist is promising for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.
Miniaturized microstrip quadruple-mode ring resonator filter with quasi-elliptic passband

A compact quadruple-mode ring resonator is proposed for synthesis of a quasi-elliptic bandpass filter. The resonator is composed of four half-wavelength rings connected to a single grounded via. For miniaturization, the ring areas are overlapped and the crossovers are implemented by short CPW sections in the ground plane. As a result, the resonator uses about 50% area of a conventional dual-mode ring resonator filter. Among the four rings, all coupling coefficients are of inductive type realized by shorted high-impedance and coupledline sections. Two zeros are created by capacitive source-load coupling, and the response is synthesized by the coupling matrix method. Agreement between simulation and measurement results of a realized circuit validates the approach.
Familial Separations, Coping Styles, and PTSD Symptomatology in Resettled Refugee Youth

Abstract Youth from refugee backgrounds have been found to experience high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), even after years of resettlement. The present study sought to investigate how familial separations and coping styles act as correlates of PTSD symptoms in resettled refugee youth (N = 50). Participants (Mage = 16.63; range: 12–21) completed self-report questionnaires assessing PTSD symptoms and their use of coping styles, and engaged in a semi-structured interview designed by the authors to investigate their resettlement and adaptational experiences in Australia. Youth who were separated from immediate family members demonstrated significantly more PTSD symptoms than their counterparts, and there was a relationship between avoidant coping and PTSD, although this diminished once the confound between scales was controlled for. This study found evidence for the integrity of the family unit as a correlate of PTSD in refugee youth, but no evidence of a relationship between coping style and family separations.
Cortical architecture and self-referential control for brain-like computation

Discusses a new approach to understanding how the brain organizes computation. Progress in understanding the brain function under constant interactions with the sensory environment is hampered by inadequate models and theories. Obviously, current models and theories of brain computing still appear irrelevant when they are confronted with real-world problems. We argue that architecture in the brain does not reflect the result of thinking, the ready-made algorithm for solving a problem. Rather it should reflect the control that generates the constraints to select a proper algorithm for a specific problem that is posed by the input-or to create a new one if the application of the previously acquired ones does not provide a sufficient solution. We propose that a value system (based on a genetically imprinted a priori knowledge on coarse behavioral evaluation of sensory input) and neocortical columnar architecture are crucial elements of future artificial neural systems that are expected to emulate the performance of the brain. This should be the case especially for those cognitive tasks that appear easy for animals in their everyday life but turn out to be hopelessly tricky for the current generation of computers. In order to advance beyond the well known paradigms of current computational theory, we need a more functional understanding of brain-type computation.
'It's about me'--a narrative analysis of female smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and their relationship to smoking.

BACKGROUND Chronic obstructive lung disease is a disease that is common among the smoking population. In Sweden, more women than men are smokers. The most effective treatment to improve the symptoms of COPD is to quit smoking but still many women continue to smoke, despite their illness. AIM The aim of this study was to describe how a group of smoking women with chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) experienced their everyday life and their relationship to smoking. METHOD A qualitative study based on narratives from six women with COPD was conducted. The narratives focused on the women's everyday life and their relationship to smoking. The interviews were analysed into four themes and a new story, based on these themes were constructed. FINDINGS The new story describes a woman with COPD that knows what she must do but cannot find the power within herself to take action. She talks about herself like a young bird that is going fly for the first time. CONCLUSION The study indicates that these women need some form of individual help to find the inner strength that they lack. Their self-respect as well as their self-image needs to be boosted in order to strengthen their belief that they are going to cope without the cigarette.
The Development and Testing of Subnanosecond-Rise, Kilohertz Oil Switches

Subnanosecond risetime, kilohertz oil switches have been developed and tested at Pulse Sciences, Inc. The development was divided into two phases. During the first phase, a two-three pulse breakdown test at 130 kV was used to measure the recovery characteristics of a large area oil switch at up to 200 pps. Different geometries were explored along with oil flow rates required. The oil flow experiments and the effect of electrode/flow geometry are reported. Successful test results in the first phase led to the Phase 11 design of a high repetition rate modulator based on flowed oil switches that develop pulses tens of nsec in duration. The modulator incorporates three oil switches: (1) a transfer switch, (2) a sharpening switch, and (3) a peaking/sharpening switch. Initial operation and parameterization has shown operation and recovery of the oil switches at up to 290 kV, and rep-rates of 200 pps respectively. Lower voltage tests at 140 kV and 170 kV have shown recovery at up to 1250 and 1000 pps. Peak energies of 50 Joules per pulse have been transferred into a 97 ohm resistive load, with a 280 ps risetime. The modulator design and performance are reported. The fluence of electrode/flow geometry upon the recovery of oil switches is described, along with the breakdown and other characteristics of the switches.
ECG Identification System Using Neural Network with Global and Local Features.

This paper proposes a human identification system via extracted electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. Two hierarchical classification structures based on global shape feature and local statistical feature is used to extract ECG signals. Global shape feature represents the outline information of ECG signals and local statistical feature extracts the information between signals in time domain. Genetic algorithm based back propagation neural network is used as the specific classifier. Experiment results show that our identification system can achieves an average 97.6% accuracy on a 38 subjects of PTB public ECG database and an average 100% accuracy on an 18 subjects of MIT-BIH public ECG database, which demonstrates the proposed system can reach satisfactory effects.