Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Paxillin and Hydrogen Peroxide-Inducible Clone 5 Expression and Distribution in Control and Alzheimer Disease Hippocampi

Hydrogen peroxide-inducible clone 5 (Hic-5) and paxillin are members of the Group III LIM domain protein family that localize toboth cell nuclei and focal adhesions and link integrin-mediated signaling to the actin cytoskeleton. Prior in vitro studies have implicated paxillin in &bgr;-amyloid-induced cell death, but little is known about the expression and function of Hic-5 and paxillin in the brain. We performed a blinded retrospective cross-sectional study of Hic-5 and paxillin expression in the hippocampi of Alzheimer disease (AD) and control subjects using immunohistochemistry and laser scanning confocal microscopy. The analysis included assessment of the expression of phosphorylated isoforms of paxillin that reflect activation of distinct signaling pathways. We found changes in the subcellular distribution of Hic-5, paxillin, and specific phosphorylated isoforms of paxillin in the AD brains. The Hic-5 and phosphorylated isoforms of paxillin colocalized with neurofibrillary tangles. Paxillin was predominantly found in reactive astrocytes in the AD hippocampi, and activated paxillin was also detected in granulovacuolar degeneration bodies in AD. These data indicate that these important scaffolding proteins that link various intracellular signaling pathways to the extracellular matrix are modified and have altered subcellular distribution in AD.
Circumferential Strain Can Be Used to Detect Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Myocardial Dysfunction and Predict the Mortality of Severe Sepsis in Mice

Background Sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction is a common and severe complication of septic shock. However, conventional echocardiography often fails to reveal myocardial depression in severe sepsis. Recently, strain measurements based on speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) have been used to evaluate cardiac function. Aims To investigate the role of STE in detecting lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cardiac dysfunction, M-mode and 2-D echocardiography were used in LPS-treated mice. Methods The mice were treated with a 10mg/kg (n = 10), 20mg/kg (n = 10) or 25mg/kg LPS (n = 30) to induce cardiac dysfunction. Subsequently, the ejection fraction (EF) and fractional shortening (FS) were measured with standard M-mode tracings, whereas the circumferential (Scirc) and radial strain (Srad) were measured with STE. Serum biochemical and cardiac histopathological examinations were performed to assess sepsis-induced myocardial injury. Results 20mg/kg LPS resulted in more deterioration, myocardial damage and cardiac contractile dysfunction based on serum biochemical and histological examinations. The mice that were subjected to 20mg/kg LPS exhibited reduced Scirc but no reduction in Srad, whereas on conventional echocardiography, the ejection fraction (EF) and fractional shortening (FS) were similar in the 10mg/kg and 20mg/kg groups. Moreover, Scirc was positively correlated with body temperature in the mice at 20 h after LPS injection (r = 0.746, p = 0.001), but no significant correlation was observed between Srad and body temperature (r = 0.356, p = 0.123). Moreover, the mice with high Scirc (-5.9% to -10.4%) exhibited reduced mortality following the administration of 25mg/kg LPS (p = 0.03) compared with the low-strain group (-2% to -5.9%). Conclusions Taken together, our findings indicate that circumferential strain is a specific and reliable indicator for evaluating LPS-induced cardiac dysfunction in mice.
Is Variety the Spice of Life? An Experimental Investigation into the Effects of Species Richness on Self-Reported Mental Well-Being

Losses in biodiversity and trends toward urbanisation have reduced people’s contact with biodiverse nature, yet the consequences for mental well-being are not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that greater plant and animal species richness in isolation causes an improvement in mental well-being. To do so, the present research experimentally manipulated species richness and assessed widely-used indicators of mental well-being. Participants viewed short videos of either high or low tree (Study 1) or bird (Study 2) species richness and reported on positive (i.e., vitality, positive affect) and negative (i.e., anxiety) indicators of mental well-being. Building on Study 1, Study 2 included an urban environment as a reference treatment and explored the role of giving participants information on the presented environment. We find that, in line with expectations, watching videos containing greater species richness consistently leads to higher mental well-being. We discuss findings in light of the importance of connecting people to biodiverse environments.
- 31-On Possible Isochoric EOS Experiments with Heavy Ion Beams

Intense heavy ion beams open new possibilities in high-energy-density matter research. Due to the unique feature of energy deposition process of heavy ions in dense matter (volume character of heating) it is possible to generate high entropy states in matter without necessity of shock compression. Previously, such high entropy states could only be achieved by using most powerful shock wave generators like nuclear explosions or powerful lasers. In this paper this novel technique of heavy ion heating and expansion (HIHEX) is proposed to explore new fascinating regions of the phase diagram including liquid phase, evaporation region with the critical point and strongly coupled plasmas. Equation of state (EOS) describes fundamental thermophysical properties of matter. This information can only be obtained by using sophisticated theoretical models or from experiments [1, 2]. The EOS is of considerable interest for basic research and has numerous important applications [3, 4]. States of matter characterized by high-energydensity occupy a broad region of the phase diagram, for example, hot compressed matter, strongly coupled plasmas, hot expanded liquid and quasi-ideal plasmas. Our knowledge about these states is very limited, because theoretical modeling is extremely complicated and experiments are very diÆcult to perform. The main diÆculty in developing a theoretical EOS model in this region is the necessity to take into account correctly the strong collective inter-particle interactions in disordered media, which meet a special diÆculty in a region occupied by dense disordered non-ideal plasmas. It is therefore very important to have more experimental data in this region. The possibilities of various experimental techniques are shown in Fig. 1. This phase diagram has been calculated using a wide-range multi-phase EOS [5] and the curves, indicating di erent experimental methods that have been used to investigate the thermophysical properties of lead cover all the available information up to date. The most signi cant information so far has been obtained using shock wave methods [6, 7, 8]. Due to the shock, material is compressed and irreversibly heated, leading to high values of pressure and entropy. Using the shock wave compression method, only a narrow region of the principal and porous Hugoniots have been investigated (see Fig. 1). Pressure range of up to 10 Mbar has 0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2 2.4 2.8 Entropy [J⋅g⋅K] 1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 k 1 M 10 M 100 M 1 G P re ss u re [b ar ] S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 1.2 5 1.35 1.67 2.41 li qu id +g as melting
Coupling heat conduction and water–steam flow in a saturated porous medium

This paper is devoted to the simulation of water forced evaporation in a porous saturated medium in a 3D‐axisymmetric domain by resolution of partial differential algebraic equations (PDAE) that are encountered in different engineering applications. The goal of this paper is an attempt to present effective realizations, in order to determine the minimal duration of burning for prehistoric occupations. This multidisciplinary work includes scientists in Mathematics, Physics and Archaeology. The model proposed here couples the heat conduction in a water saturated soil with the water steam flow in the medium. We propose an efficient and robust global numerical method, based on a method of lines and differential algebraic equations (DAE) solvers, combined with a Newton method using a powerful sparse linear solver. After a brief overview of classes for numerical techniques applied for moving boundary problems, the Apparent Heat Capacity method (AHC) is used, and in order to validate our codes, a comparison with experiments is done. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Cursive stroke sequencing for handwritten text documents recognition

Text segmentation can be defined as the process of splitting the images of handwritten text document into pieces corresponding to single lines, words and character. This is a very challenging task because in handwritten documents curved text lines appear frequently with different skew and slant angles. After segmentation of word or stroke, also defined as finding the connected components in handwritten text document, we have to sequence the strokes according to the document so that the meaning of the document is preserved. In this paper, We use bottom up grouping approach for segmentation. We have used a novel connectivity strength parameter with depth first search approach for extraction of connected components of the same line from complete connected components of the given document. The exact sequence of connected components is stored in the sequential vector which contains the label of the components. The proposed cursive stroke sequencing technique is implemented and tested on a benchmark IAM database providing encouraging results. Quantitative analysis also shows that this approach gives better results compared to existing segmentation techniques and overcomes the problems encountered in Hill-and-dale writing styles and overlapped and touched lines. The accuracy of the proposed sequencing technique is 98%.
Does Retirement Impact Health Care Utilization?

The objective of this paper is to estimate the causal effect of retirement on health care utilization. To do so, we use data from the 1992-2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the 2004-2006 waves of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). In particular, we estimate the causal impact of retirement on health care utilization as measured by: doctor visits, visits to a general practitioner, nights in the hospital, and preventative care use. This paper uses panel data and instrumental variable methods, exploiting variation in statutory retirement ages across countries, to estimate the causal effects. Cross-country comparisons allow us to examine the role of a health care system’s use of the general practitioner as a gate keeper to specialists in this relationship. We find that while retirement is associated with increased health care use, our causal estimates show that retirement leads to fewer doctor visits in both the US and continental Europe. Nights in the hospital are unaffected by retirement status. Further we find that health care systems with primary care physicians who act as gatekeepers are particularly effective at decreasing doctor visits at retirement. Therefore, we conclude that increasing the statutory retirement age to help the solvency of the retirement systems will also increase doctor visits as individuals continue to work longer. In the US, the burden of this increased utilization will likely be borne by private insurance companies and public insurance to the extent it covers working individuals in their 60’s. European evidence suggests that this increase in doctor visits due to delayed retirement will be particularly evident in health systems without strong gatekeeper roles for general practitioners.
Analysis of smoke cessation rate and profile of former smokers living in Belo Horizonte and Metropolitan Region

ABSTRACT Objective: To estimate the smoking cessation rate and to identify possible associated factors. Methods: Individuals from the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (MG) aged 15 years or more who responded to the smoking supplement of the National Household Sample Survey were selected (n=1,297). An estimate was made of the tobacco-use cessation rate relative to the 95% confidence interval. To verify factors associated with smoking cessation, Pearson's χ2 test or Student's t test were used. Results: The general smoking cessation rate was 56.7% (95% confidence interval: 52.3-61.1), with 57.7% among men and 55.5% among women. The associated factors were higher age and income. Among the 19 individuals who had stopped smoking for less than 12 months, 52.6% had been seen by a physician or healthcare professional in the previous 12 months, and 60% of them were oriented to stop smoking, but only 1 (16.7%) had been oriented at a unit of the public national Unified Healthcare System. Conclusion: Despite high rates of smoking cessation, the methods made available by the Unified Healthcare System did not show good results. It is necessary to enhance the healthcare programs that aim to reduce the proportion of smokers in the population. Such measures can have a positive long-term influence in droping mortality and morbidity rates associated with smoking and the costs for healthcare services.
A review of Parkinson's disease.

INTRODUCTION Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders. Sources of data Literature search using Medline with keywords Parkinson's disease supplemented with previously published papers known to the author. AREAS OF AGREEMENT There have been significant recent advances in the understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease. There has also been a greater realization that the disorder may be associated with significant non-motor disturbances in addition to the more commonly recognized motor complications. AREAS OF CONTROVERSY Although there is growing circumstantial evidence, it remains to be proven whether any of the current treatments for PD have a neuroprotective effect. AREAS TIMELY FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH Although there is no cure, there are several management options for the early treatment of PD. As the disease progresses, further treatment options are available; however, the management of late-stage motor complications and non-motor symptoms remains particularly challenging and will benefit from further clinical research.
Benefits of physical training in patients with idiopathic or end-stage sarcoidosis-related pulmonary fibrosis: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND The natural history of disease in patients with stage IV (fibrotic) sarcoidosis may mirror that of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Both are bothered by progressive dyspnea, exercise limitation and fatigue. OBJECTIVE To establish whether patients suffering from pulmonary fibrosis might benefit from a physical training program. STUDY DESIGN Twenty-four eligible patients referred to the out-patient clinic of the ild care expertise team of Hospital Gelderse Vallei, Ede, The Netherlands between November 2012 and November 2013 were included in this observational pilot study of a 12-week physical training program. Outcomes, including exercise capacity, skeletal muscle strength, lung function and fatigue were assessed at two time points: 1) baseline; and 2) after completion of a 12-week physical training program. RESULTS At baseline, the percentage predicted DLCO, FVC, FEV1 and exercise capacity (assessed by six-minute walking distance (6MWD) or maximal oxygen uptake) was reduced in both groups. After program completion, exercise capacity improved (>10% improvement 6MWD) in 13 subjects (54.2%): 7 with IPF and 6 with sarcoidosis subjects. Other secondary endpoints, including pulmonary function tests and patient-reported outcome measures improved in some subjects. CONCLUSION A 12-week physical training program improved or maintained exercise capacity in patients with IPF (despite disease progression) or fibrotic sarcoidosis. The results from this pilot study could be used to design prospective studies aimed at answering lingering questions about exercise training in patients with these progressive, incurable conditions.
Best-first branch-and bound on a hypercube

The branch-and-bound technique is a common method for finding exact solutions to difficult problems in combinatorial optimization. This paper will discuss issues surrounding implementation of a particular branch-and-bound algorithm for the traveling-salesman problem on a hypercube multi-computer. The natural parallel algorithm is based on a number of asynchronous processes which interact through a globally shared list of unfinished work. In a distributed-memory environment we must find a non-centralized version of this shared data structure. In addition, detecting termination of the computation is tricky; an algorithm will be presented which ensures proper termination. Finally, issues affecting performance will be discussed.
Estimation of the Joint Distribution of Infection Timeand Death Time for Vertical Transmission of HIV-1

In studies of the vertical transmission (i.e. mother to infant) of HIV-1, quantities such as the HIV-1 free survival of the infants and the timing of HIV-1 transmission are of primary interest. However, inference about these quantities from real data sets is complicated by the fact that the data are seldom \complete". For instance, HIV-1 status at death (as well as the cause of death) may be unknown, the time of HIV-1 infection may be interval censored and the tests used to detect HIV-1 infection may be less than 100% sensitive or speci c. In this article, we study nonparametric and semiparametric approaches to estimating the joint distribution of HIV-1 infection time and death time in the context of a randomized clinical trial of breastfeeding versus formula feeding of infants of HIV-1 positive mothers. We rst develop a nonparametric estimator of the joint distribution of HIV-1 infection time and death time based on a self-consistency algorithm. The algorithm is designed to handle right, left or interval censoring in either endpoint and allows the test for HIV-1 infection at birth to be less than 100% speci c. In the current application this algorithm provides a unique estimate of the HIV-1 free survival at 24 months but the estimate of the cumulative probability of HIV-1 infection over time is nonunique. A semiparametric approach is proposed to resolve the nonuniqueness of the nonparametric estimator. The joint distribution of HIV-1 infection time and death time is decomposed into the marginal distribution of death time, f(t), and the conditional distribution of HIV-1 infection time given the death time, g(s j t). f(t) is estimated nonparametrically since (in the current application) death times are all known or right censored (hence the estimate of f(t) is unique). However, a parametric distribution is used to model g(s j t) and the parameters of this distribution are allowed to vary slowly in t using splines. We investigate two parametric distributions for g a Weibull distribution and a logspline distribution and nd that both t the data well and give results which fall within the bounds of nonuniqueness of the nonparametric estimator. Using these methods we nd that the probability of HIV-1 infection is signi cantly lower and the 24 month HIV-1 2 free survival is signi cantly higher in the formula feeding group.
Diagnosis and staging of head and neck cancer: a comparison of modern imaging modalities (positron emission tomography, computed tomography, color-coded duplex sonography) with panendoscopic and histopathologic findings.

OBJECTIVE To compare the clinical value of positron emission tomography (PET) using fludeoxyglucose F 18, computed tomography (CT), color-coded duplex sonography (CCDS), and panendoscopy in the detection and staging of head and neck cancer. DESIGN Prospective nonrandomized controlled study. SETTING Medical school. PATIENTS Convenience sample of 50 patients with suspected primary or recurrent head and neck cancer. INTERVENTION Biopsy, tumor surgery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Information of diagnostic procedures compared with histopathologic features. RESULTS Both PET and panendoscopy had a sensitivity of 95% and 100% for detection of primary tumor or recurrent carcinomas, respectively. Specificity for PET and panendoscopy was 92% and 85% in primary tumors and 100% and 80% in recurrent carcinoma, respectively. Sensitivity of CCDS and CT was 74% and 68% in primary tumors and 67% and 63% in recurrent carcinomas, respectively. Specificity was 75% and 69% in primary tumors and 100% and 80% in recurrent neoplasms. When assessing neck nodes, all imaging procedures exhibited identical sensitivity (84%). Specificity was 90%, 96%, and 88% in PET, CT, and CCDS, respectively. In recurrent lymph node metastases, sensitivity was 100%, 67%, and 67% and specificity was 87%, 91%, and 87% for PET, CT, and CCDS, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Positron emission tomography was the most reliable imaging procedure in the detection of primary tumor and recurrent carcinomas localized in the head and neck region. Owing to its limited anatomical depiction, it cannot as yet replace other diagnostic procedures in preoperative planning but does contribute valuable complementary diagnostic information. Computed tomograpy may have difficulties in identifying recurrent carcinomas. For routine diagnosis of nodal spread in the neck, CCDS is recommended. Panendoscopy is a valuable diagnostic procedure that can provide key information in cases of superficial mucosal tumor involvement. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2000;126:1457-1461
Institutional readiness for digital archives management at United States International University-Africa

ABSTRACT This article seeks to assess the readiness of the United States International University-Africa (USIU-A) to manage digital archives with a view to proposing strategies to enhance digital archives management at the institution. The study was informed by the Records Continuum Model, the Open Archival Information System Model and the Digital Curation Centre Lifecycle Model. A case study was used as part of a mixed-method research approach with a sample size of 120 respondents drawn from a population of 6937 by using systematic random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Questionnaires, interviews, observation and documentary review methods were used to collect data. Qualitative and quantitative data was presented and analysed thematically. The study revealed that the infrastructure required for digital archives management was not up to standard. Moreover, a myriad of challenges were unearthed which were found to potentially inhibit the management of digital archives. The study therefore concluded that although USIU-A had taken steps towards digital archives management, more still needed to be done for the institution to effectively manage its digital archives.