Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Central Correlates of Impaired Information Processing in People with Spinal Cord Injury

Summary: This investigation examined the impact of spinal cord injury (SCI) on task-relevant processing using event-related potentials. Thirty-seven participants with chronic SCI and 37 healthy able-bodied controls were tested in this study. An auditory two-tone button press oddball discrimination paradigm was used to evoke the N100, P200, N200, and P300 components of the event-related potential. During the early sensory/perceptual stages of target stimulus processing, the SCI group showed an earlier right posterior P200 latency relative to the controls. In the later more cognitive stages, a pattern of diminished left and right posterior P300 amplitude was also evident. This was further coupled with increased false-positive errors and greater variability of response time in the SCI group. The results of this study indicate that people with SCI show disturbances in inhibitory function and alterations in both early perceptual encoding processes and in later executive functioning that engages contextual/memory-updating operations.
Bulk agent Plantago ovata after Milligan‐Morgan hemorrhoidectomy with Ligasure™

The aim of this study was to determine usefulness of the bulk agent Plantago ovata in reducing postoperative pain and tenesmus after open hemorrhoidectomy (Milligan‐Morgan with Ligasure™). Ninety‐eight patients were randomized into two groups of 49 patients each. In both groups Milligan‐Morgan open hemorrhoidectomy with Ligasure™ was performed. The first group received postoperatively two sachets daily of 3.26 g of the bulk agent, Plantago ovata, for 20 days. The control group was treated postoperatively with glycerin oil. There was no statistically significant difference in age, gender distribution and hemorrhoid grading, between the two groups. The pain score after first defecation (p < 0.001) and after 10 days (p < 0.01) and the global pain score (p < 0.001) was statistically significantly lower in the group treated with Plantago ovata, while there was no statistically significant difference in the pain level after 20 days (p > 0.05). The hospital stay was statistically significantly shorter in the group receiving Plantago ovata (2.6 ± 0.6 vs 3.9 ± 0.7 days, p < 0.001). The incidence of tenesmus was higher in the control group (40.8% vs 10.2%, p < 0.01). Treating patients with Plantago ovata after open hemorrhoidectomy, reduces pain, tenesmus rate and shortens postoperative hospital stay. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
New Prospects for Research on Manipulation of Insect Vectors by Pathogens

A growing number of studies demonstrate, or suggest, that vector-borne parasites manipulate phenotypic traits of their vectors and hosts in ways that increase contacts between them, and hence favour the parasites' transmission [1,2]. Understanding these processes is not only exciting for purely scientific reasons but also important because of their role in applied parasitology, such as epidemiology and medicine. The most frequently reported changes induced by vector-borne parasites are alterations of biting rates in vectors or of attractiveness in vertebrate hosts [3,4]. Our aim here is to elaborate further on some potentially interesting and important avenues for future research in this area. We begin this paper with a brief overview of the main mechanisms used by vectors to locate their vertebrate host, as it helps to grasp the fundamentals of the research on manipulation in vectors, as well as its current challenges. Bloodsucking insects have well-developed sensorial machinery to locate and choose their host [5]. Host location behaviour is usually organized into three areas which show considerable variation among vector species: (i) the appetitive search, (ii) the activation and orientation, and (iii) the attraction. The two last steps involve insect responses to external stimuli, mainly visual and odour cues, but also heat and to a lesser extent, water vapour and sound [5]. Vision is most widely used by diurnal insect vectors (e.g., blackflies, tsetse flies, several mosquitoes). The detection depends mainly on differences in colour contrast and intensity contrast; generally, flies are attracted to blue/black objects while they are repelled by yellow ones. Odour-mediated host-seeking has been more thoroughly studied and seems to be utilized by virtually all bloodsucking insects. The olfactory stimuli used by the insects are various, ranging from carbon dioxide to lactic acid, ammonia, acetone, octenol, phenolic components of urine, and sweat. Bloodsucking insects can be also very sensitive to heat [5]. Although some of these components (vision, olfaction, hearing) could be theoretically altered by parasites in ways that may be predicted to enhance parasite transmission, only a few have been considered.
A cross-sectional study of visual impairment in elderly population in residential care in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh: a cross-sectional study

Objective To assess the prevalence and major causes of visual impairment (VI) in elderly residents of ‘home for the aged’ institutions in the Prakasam district in India. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting ‘Home for the aged’ institutions in the Prakasam district in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Participants All 524 residents in the 26 ‘homes for aged’ institutions in the district were enumerated. Primary and secondary outcome measures Prevalence and causes of VI; visual acuity (VA) was assessed using a Snellen chart at a distance of 6 m. Pinhole VA was assessed if presenting VA was <6/18. Torchlight examination and direct ophthalmoscopy were performed. VI was defined as presenting VA <6/18 in the better eye. Results Of the 494 participants examined (response rate 94.3%), 78.1% were women, 72.1% had no formal schooling. The mean age of participants was 70 years (SD ±8.6 years). VI was present in 280/494 individuals (56.9%; 95% CI 52.3 to 61.3). Over 80% of the VI was due to avoidable causes including cataract (57.1%) and uncorrected refractive errors (26.4%). Among 134 individuals who had undergone bilateral cataract surgery, only 78 (58.2%) individuals had presenting VA ≥6/18 and 13/134 (9.7%) participants were blind. Conclusions There is high prevalence of VI in the institutionalised elderly population in the Prakasam district in India. A significant proportion of this elderly population with VI can benefit from spectacles and cataract surgery. Strategies are required to provide high-quality services to this population.
The aging hippocampus : a multilevel analysis in the rat

The purpose of the current thesis was twofold: (1) to examine various factors that might be contributing to age-related learning and memory deficits specifically related to the hippocampus, and (2) to validate our rat model of aging, employing a multilevel analysis. We found age-related deficits on both spatial and non-spatial hippocampus-dependent tasks that were accompanied by structural alterations observed both in vivo (volume, but not neuronal metabolic function) and post mortem (neuronal density and neurogenesis, but not synaptic or mitochondrial density). Furthermore, our results suggest that the observed hippocampal structural changes, namely decreased volume and neurogenesis, predict learning and memory deficits, and both can be accounted for by neurogenic reduction. In addition, the above-mentioned pattern of age-related deficits closely resembles that seen in humans, suggesting the present rat version of aging to be a very useful model for investigating hippocampal aging in humans.
On Narrative Method, Biography and Narrative Unities in the Study of Teaching

The paper outlines a narrative method for the study of teaching. The method's principal feature is the reconstruction of classroom meaning in terms of narrative unities in the lives of classroom participants. Narrative method is explored through comparative analyses with closely associated lines of work in which each method's contributions to our understanding of classrooms are detailed. Narrative method offers a way to understand teaching and learning in classrooms as a temporal process reflecting the biographic histories of classroom participants.
Mesonic chiral rings in Calabi–Yau cones from field theory

We study the half-BPS mesonic chiral ring of the superconformal quiver theories arising from N D3-branes stacked at Ypq and Labc Calabi–Yau conical singularities. We map each gauge-invariant operator represented on the quiver as an irreducible loop adjoint at some node, to an invariant monomial, modulo relations, in the gauged linear sigma model describing the corresponding bulk geometry. This map enables us to write a partition function at finite N over mesonic half-BPS states. It agrees with the bulk gravity interpretation of chiral ring states as cohomologically trivial giant gravitons. The quiver theories for Laba, which have singular base geometries, contain extra operators not counted by the naive bulk partition function. These extra operators have a natural interpretation in terms of twisted states localized at the orbifold-like singularities in the bulk.
HIV‐1 susceptibility of transgenic rat‐derived primary macrophage/T cells and a T cell line that express human receptors, CyclinT1 and CRM1 genes

We developed transgenic (Tg) rats that express human CD4, CCR5, CXCR4, CyclinT1, and CRM1 genes. Tg rat macrophages were efficiently infected with HIV‐1 and supported production of infectious progeny virus. By contrast, both rat primary CD4+ T cells and established T cell lines expressing human CD4, CCR5, CyclinT1, and CRM1 genes were infected inefficiently, but this was ameliorated by inhibition of cyclophilin A. The infectivity of rat T cell‐derived virus was lower than that of human T cell‐derived virus.
Evaluation of the effect of the GaAlAs laser on subgingival scaling and root planing.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the auxiliary effect of the low-intensity laser in subgingival scaling and root planing by analysis of its clinical aspects, as well as its analgesic potential during the procedure. BACKGROUND DATA Despite the large number of studies conducted on low-intensity laser energy, few clinical studies are available on periodontics. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ten patients were selected and submitted to measurement of six sites per tooth, four teeth per hemiarch (960 sites in all). All patients then received subgingival scaling and root planing. Besides periodontal treatment, the test side was also submitted to laser application. The analysis comprised measurement of probing depth, clinical attachment level, and gingival index. Laser energy was applied at a wavelength of 780 nm (35 J/cm(2), 70 mW, 20 sec per site) for preoperative analgesia, and scaling and root planing were performed with application of laser energy at a wavelength of 780 nm (35 J/cm(2), 70 mW, 20 sec) for analgesia, and at a wavelength of 630 nm (8.8 J/cm(2), 35 mW, 10 sec) for healing. The patients filled out a visual analogue scale to assess the pain they felt during the procedure. After 24 and 48 h, the laser was again applied at the wavelength of 630 nm, and the patients were re-evaluated after 3 d. RESULTS There was a reduction in gingival inflammation, yet without a statistically significant difference between the study and control sides, both in clinical aspects and evaluation of pain during the procedure. CONCLUSION Utilization of the diode laser as an auxiliary in subgingival scaling and root planing did not provide any apparent clinical benefit for teeth with shallow to moderate pockets.
A Hierarchy of Data-Based ENSO Models

Abstract Global sea surface temperature (SST) evolution is analyzed by constructing predictive models that best describe the dataset’s statistics. These inverse models assume that the system’s variability is driven by spatially coherent, additive noise that is white in time and are constructed in the phase space of the dataset’s leading empirical orthogonal functions. Multiple linear regression has been widely used to obtain inverse stochastic models; it is generalized here in two ways. First, the dynamics is allowed to be nonlinear by using polynomial regression. Second, a multilevel extension of classic regression allows the additive noise to be correlated in time; to do so, the residual stochastic forcing at a given level is modeled as a function of variables at this level and the preceding ones. The number of variables, as well as the order of nonlinearity, is determined by optimizing model performance. The two-level linear and quadratic models have a better El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) hindcas.
Potential Contributions of the Tobacco Nicotine-Derived Nitrosamine Ketone to White Matter Molecular Pathology in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Background Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is associated with long-term deficits in cognitive and motor functions. Previous studies linked neurodevelopmental abnormalities to increased oxidative stress and white matter hypotrophy. However, similar effects occur with low-dose nitrosamine exposures, alcohol abuse correlates with cigarette smoking, and tobacco smoke contains tobacco-specific nitrosamines, including NNK. Hypothesis Tobacco smoke exposure is a co-factor in FASD. Design Long Evans rat pups were i.p. administered ethanol (2 g/kg) on postnatal days (P) 2, 4, 6 and/or NNK (2 mg/kg) on P3, P5, and P7 to simulate third trimester human exposures. Oligodendroglial myelin-associated, neuroglial, and relevant transcription factor mRNA transcripts were measured using targeted PCR arrays. Results Ethanol and NNK differentially altered the expression of immature and mature oligodendroglial, neuronal and astrocytic structural and plasticity-associated, and various transcription factor genes. NNK’s effects were broader and more pronounced than ethanol’s, and additive or synergistic effects of dual exposures impacted expression of all four categories of genes investigated. Conclusion Developmental exposures to alcohol and NNK (via tobacco smoke) contribute to sustained abnormalities in brain white matter structure and function via distinct but overlapping alterations in the expression of genes that regulate oligodendrocyte survival, maturation and function, neuroglial structural integrity, and synaptic plasticity. The results support the hypothesis that smoking may contribute to brain abnormalities associated with FASD.
Hourly analysis of cerebrospinal fluid glucose shows large diurnal fluctuations

Cerebrospinal fluid analysis is important in the diagnostics of many neurological disorders. Since the influence of food intake on the cerebrospinal fluid glucose concentration and the cerebrospinal fluid/plasma glucose ratio is largely unknown, we studied fluctuations in these parameters in healthy adult volunteers during a period of 36 h. Our observations show large physiological fluctuations of cerebrospinal fluid glucose and the cerebrospinal fluid/plasma glucose ratio, and their relation to food intake. These findings provide novel insights into the physiology of cerebral processes dependent on glucose levels such as energy formation (e.g. glycolysis), enzymatic reactions (e.g. glycosylation), and non-enzymatic reactions (e.g. advanced endproduct glycation).
Deceleration of industrial growth and rural industrialization strategy for Indian Punjab.

Sustained industrial growth has been widely acknowledged as an engine of economic transformation. Less developed countries, however, remained predominantly agrarian due to lack of dynamism in the industrial economy and the low level of industrialization. Economic policy reform programme was initiated since July 1991 to generate essential dynamism in the industrial sector for successful transformation of the agrarian economy of India. In this paper an attempt is made to examine the industrial growth experience of Punjab economy during the period 1980-81 to 2001-2002, that is a decade before and a decade after the initiation of economic reforms. The empirical evidence clearly show a downturn in industrial growth in the post-reform period compared to that of the pre-reform period. Factors that have contributed to the deceleration of industrial growth in Punjab were lower investment-GSDP ratio, lower plan expenditure and lower quality of human capital and infrastructure. Identified factors that have led to the deceleration of industrial growth in Punjab were making the state scarce in economic activities and lack of private corporate investment in Punjab both of domestic and foreign. Alternative strategy has been suggested which not only has the capacity to arrest the process of deceleration of industrial growth in the state but also has a capacity to transform agrarian economy to industrialized one along with raising the level of rural income and welfare.
Modulation de l'apprentissage visuel par stimulation électrique transcrânienne à courant direct du cortex préfrontal

Repeated visual processing of an unfamiliar face suppresses neural activity in facespecific areas of the occipito-temporal cortex. This "repetition suppression" (RS) is a primitive mechanism involved in learning of unfamiliar faces, which can be detected through amplitude reduction of the N170 event-related potential (ERP). The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) exerts top-down influence on early visual processing. However, its contribution to N170 RS and learning of unfamiliar faces remains unclear. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) transiently increases or decreases cortical excitability, as a function of polarity. We hypothesized that DLPFC excitability modulation by tDCS would cause polarity-dependent modulations of N170 RS during encoding of unfamiliar faces. tDCS-induced N170 RS enhancement would improve long-term recognition reaction time (RT) and/or accuracy rates, whereas N170 RS impairment would compromise recognition ability. Participants underwent three tDCS conditions in random order at ~72 hour intervals: right anodal/left cathodal, right cathodal/left anodal and sham. Immediately following tDCS conditions, an EEG was recorded during encoding of unfamiliar faces for assessment of P100 and N170 visual ERPs. P300 was analyzed to detect prefrontal function modulation. Recognition tasks were administered ~72 hours following encoding. Results indicate the right anodal/left cathodal condition facilitated N170 RS and induced larger P300 amplitudes, leading to faster recognition RT. Conversely, the right cathodal/left anodal condition caused increases in N170 amplitudes and RT, but did not affect P300. These data are the first to demonstrate that DLPFC excitability modulation can influence early visual encoding of unfamiliar faces, highlighting the importance of DLPFC in basic learning mechanisms.
The Temporalization of Time: Basic Tendencies in Modern Debate on Time in Philosophy and Science

This book deals with the philosopher Martin Heidegger and the chemo-physicist Iyla Prigogine (Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1977), two prominent advocates of pioneering time concepts in the 20th century. The author not only provides a transdisciplinary introduction to modern debate on the problem of time, but suggests how the basic tendencies in this debate might be pragmatically interlinked with each other.
Estimation of the duration of the preclinical phase of cervical adenocarcinoma suggests that there is ample opportunity for screening.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine the mean time for progression from cervical adenocarcinoma in situ (ACIS) to invasive cervical adenocarcinoma in order to assess the feasibility of screening and secondary prevention. METHODS To approximate time to progression from in situ to invasive lesions, we calculated and compared mean ages at diagnosis of ACIS and invasive adenocarcinoma from patients registered in the SEER (NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) public-use database from 1973 to 1995 [1]. Findings are contrasted with means calculated from patients with squamous lesions registered during the same period. Statistical significance was tested with the t test for independent samples. RESULTS The database includes 5845 patients with glandular lesions; 1476 (25%) have ACIS and 4369 (75%) have invasive adenocarcinoma. There are 143,333 women with squamous lesions; 120,317 (84%) have squamous CIS and 23,016 (16%) have invasive squamous cancers. Mean age (std error) at diagnosis is 38.8 (0.3) years for ACIS and 51.7 (0.3) years for invasive adenocarcinoma; the mean difference is 13.0 (0.5) years. Mean age (std error) for squamous CIS is 33.6 (0.0) and for invasive squamous cancer is 51.4 (0.1); mean difference is 17.9 (0.1). CONCLUSIONS While not quite as long as for squamous lesions, the average of 13 years that elapses during progression from cervical ACIS to invasive adenocarcinoma allows ample time for screening for the preinvasive lesion and for secondary prevention of invasive cervical adenocarcinoma. The similar mean ages at diagnosis suggest that women who will develop cervical adenocarcinoma should be as amenable and accessible to screening programs as are those with squamous lesions.
Identifying and Eliminating Mislabeled Training Instances

This paper presents a new approach to identifying and eliminating mislabeled training instances. The goal of this technique is to improve classification accuracies produced by learning algorithms by improving the quality of the training data. The approach employs an ensemble of classifiers that serve as a filter for the training data. Using an n-fold cross validation, the training data is passed through the filter. Only instances that the filter classifies correctly are passed to the final learning algorithm. We present an empirical evaluation of the approach for the task of automated land cover mapping from remotely sensed data. Labeling error arises in these data from a multitude of sources including lack of consistency in the vegetation classification used, variable measurement techniques, and variation in the spatial sampling resolution. Our evaluation shows that for noise levels of less than 40%, filtering results in higher predictive accuracy than not filtering, and for levels of class noise less than or equal to 20% filtering allows the base-line accuracy to be retained. Our empirical results suggest that the ensemble filter approach is an effective method for identifying labeling errors, and further, that the approach will significantly benefit ongoing research to develop accurate and robust remote sensing-based methods to map land cover at global scales.