Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chronic Neuropathic Pain: It's about the Rhythm

The neural mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of chronic neuropathic pain remain unclear. Evidence from human investigations suggests that neuropathic pain is associated with altered thalamic burst firing and thalamocortical dysrhythmia. Additionally, experimental animal investigations show that neuropathic pain is associated with altered infra-slow (<0.1 Hz) frequency oscillations within the dorsal horn and somatosensory thalamus. The aim of this investigation was to determine whether, in humans, neuropathic pain was also associated with altered infra-slow oscillations within the ascending “pain” pathway. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found that individuals with orofacial neuropathic pain have increased infra-slow oscillatory activity throughout the ascending pain pathway, including within the spinal trigeminal nucleus, somatosensory thalamus, thalamic reticular nucleus, and primary somatosensory cortex. Furthermore, these infra-slow oscillations were temporally coupled across these multiple sites and occurred at frequencies similar to calcium waves in activated astrocytes. The region encompassing the spinal trigeminal nucleus also displayed increased regional homogeneity, consistent with a local spread of neural activity by astrocyte activation. In contrast, no increase in oscillatory behavior within the ascending pain pathway occurred during acute noxious stimuli in healthy individuals. These data reveal increased oscillatory activity within the ascending pain pathway that likely underpins increased thalamocortical oscillatory activity, a self-sustaining thalamocortical dysrhythmia, and the constant perception of pain. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Chronic neuropathic pain is associated with altered thalamic firing and thalamocortical dysrhythmia. The mechanisms responsible for these changes remain unknown. In this study, we report in individuals with neuropathic pain increased oscillatory neural activity within the ascending pain pathway with evidence that these changes result from altered neural–astrocyte coupling. We propose a series of neural and glial events after nerve injury that result in the generation of altered thalamocortical activity and a persistent neuropathic pain state. Defining the underlying mechanisms responsible for neuropathic pain is critical if we are to develop more effective treatment regimens.
Pathogenic Potential of Novel Chlamydiae and Diagnostic Approaches to Infections Due to These Obligate Intracellular Bacteria

SUMMARY Novel chlamydiae are newly recognized members of the phylum Chlamydiales that are only distantly related to the classic Chlamydiaceae, i.e., Chlamydia and Chlamydophila species. They also exibit an obligate biphasic intracellular life cycle within eukaryote host cells. Some of these new chlamydiae are currently considered potential emerging human and/or animal pathogens. Parachlamydia acanthamoebae and Simkania negevensis are both emerging respiratory human pathogens, Waddlia chondrophila could be a novel abortigenic bovine agent, and Piscichlamydia salmonis has recently been identified as an agent of the gill epitheliocystis in the Atlantic salmon. Fritschea spp. and Rhabdochlamydia spp. seem to be confined to arthropods, but some evidence for human exposure exists. In this review, we first summarize the data supporting a pathogenic potential of the novel chlamydiae for humans and other vertebrates and the interactions that most of these chlamydiae have with free-living amoebae. We then review the diagnostic approaches to infections potentially due to the novel chlamydiae, especially focusing on the currently available PCR-based protocols, mammalian cell culture, the amoebal coculture system, and serology.
Contributions of Cocontraction and Eccentric Activity to Stiffness Regulation

Individuals commonly adjust joint stiffness in response to changes in environmental and task demands. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the contribution of muscular cocontraction and eccentric activity to this adjustment. In all, 30 healthy volunteers participated in the present study. The authors indirectly manipulated elbow stiffness by modifying (a) the frequency of forearm movements (frequency conditions) and (b) the kinetic properties of the forearm through the addition of external mass (mass conditions). Multilevel regression models identified muscular cocontraction and eccentric activity as predictors of joint stiffness in the frequency conditions but not in the mass conditions. Results indicated that cocontraction is not the sole mechanism for stiffness regulation. Rather, the mechanisms that different participants used varied as a function of the demands of the task.
What is Stressful about In Vitro Fertilization?

The present work was designed to explore whether psychological stress is more related to concerns about the actual physical pain or fear of treatment during in vitro fertilization. Analysis of data for 12 middle-class women from Iran showed that the greatest psychological stress during treatment was associated with worries about the outcome of different stages of treatment rather than fear and pain of the actual procedure.
Interhemispheric Transfer Deficit in Alexithymia: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study

Background: A deficit in interhemispheric transfer was hypothesized in alexithymia more than 30 years ago, following the observation that split-brain patients manifest certain alexithymic characteristics. However, direct evidence of interhemispheric transfer deficit has never been provided. This study investigated the hypothesis of a transcallosal interhemispheric transfer deficit in alexithymia by means of paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation. Methods: A random sample of 300 students was screened for alexithymia using the Italian version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Eight right-handed males and eight females with high alexithymic scores and an age- and gender-matched group with low alexithymic scores were selected. A first (conditioning) magnetic stimulus was delivered to one motor cortex followed by a second (test) stimulus to the opposite hemisphere at different interstimulus intervals for both motor cortices. Motor evoked responses were recorded from the abductor digit minimi muscles. Results: High alexithymic subjects showed reduced transcallosal inhibition as compared to low alexithymic subjects at interstimulus intervals of 10, 12 and 14 ms in the left-to-right and right-to-left interhemispheric transfer directions. Conclusions: Results point to functional differences in transcallosal interactions in high alexithymic as compared to low alexithymic subjects, supporting the hypothesis of an interhemispheric transfer deficit in alexithymia.
Low-Dose CT With a Residual Encoder-Decoder Convolutional Neural Network

Given the potential risk of X-ray radiation to the patient, low-dose CT has attracted a considerable interest in the medical imaging field. Currently, the main stream low-dose CT methods include vendor-specific sinogram domain filtration and iterative reconstruction algorithms, but they need to access raw data, whose formats are not transparent to most users. Due to the difficulty of modeling the statistical characteristics in the image domain, the existing methods for directly processing reconstructed images cannot eliminate image noise very well while keeping structural details. Inspired by the idea of deep learning, here we combine the autoencoder, deconvolution network, and shortcut connections into the residual encoder–decoder convolutional neural network (RED-CNN) for low-dose CT imaging. After patch-based training, the proposed RED-CNN achieves a competitive performance relative to the-state-of-art methods in both simulated and clinical cases. Especially, our method has been favorably evaluated in terms of noise suppression, structural preservation, and lesion detection.
LRH-1-mediated glucocorticoid synthesis in enterocytes protects against inflammatory bowel disease

Liver receptor homolog-1 (LRH-1) is a nuclear receptor involved in intestinal lipid homeostasis and cell proliferation. Here we show that haploinsufficiency of LRH-1 predisposes mice to the development of intestinal inflammation. Besides the increased inflammatory response, LRH-1 heterozygous mice exposed to 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid show lower local corticosterone production as a result of an impaired intestinal expression of the enzymes CYP11A1 and CYP11B1, which control the local synthesis of corticosterone in the intestine. Local glucocorticoid production is strictly enterocyte-dependent because it is robustly reduced in epithelium-specific LRH-1-deficient mice. Consistent with these findings, colon biopsies of patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis show reduced expression of LRH-1 and genes involved in the production of glucocorticoids. Hence, LRH-1 regulates intestinal immunity in response to immunological stress by triggering local glucocorticoid production. These findings underscore the importance of LRH-1 in the control of intestinal inflammation and the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease.
Calpain A modulates Toll responses by limited Cactus/IκB proteolysis

The calcium-dependent protease Calpain A targets Cactus/IκB for proteolysis. Calpain A generates Cactus fragments deleted of Toll-responsive N-terminal sequences that are incorporated into signaling complexes with NFκB/c-Rel. It is proposed that Calpain A regulates free Cactus and modulates Toll signals in the Drosophila embryo and immune system.
Supervisory control for NO/sub x/ reduction of an HEV with a mixed-mode HCCI/CIDI engine

In this paper, we present a supervisory control strategy for a hybrid electric vehicle which best exploits the NO/sub x/ characteristics of such a mixed-combustion mode engine, while optimizing fuel economy and meeting driver's demand. This strategy is an extension of our adaptive equivalent consumption minimization strategy (A-ECMS) control strategy, suitably modified to explicitly minimize NO/sub x/ emissions. The HEV configuration, coupled to this control strategy, allows to very effectively manipulate the operating points of the engine to be primarily constrained in the HCCI regime, with very low NO/sub x/ emissions. This results in dramatically reduced NO/sub x/ emissions during actual driving conditions, while retaining the high fuel economy of CIDI engines and hybrids and maintaining the performance envelop of the vehicle. In summary, the control strategy automatically exploits the relatively small region of HCCI operation to minimize NO/sub x/ emissions.
Improving P2P streaming in community-lab through local strategies

Distributing live streaming in Wireless Community Networks (WCNs) is a service with a high added value; however, cloud-based streaming, as commonly used in the Internet, does not fit well the architecture of WCNs, which often have restricted access to the Internet. Modern WCNs, instead, can have a good internal connectivity with high bandwidth. A P2P approach is thus well matched for streaming in WCNs. This paper presents experimental results obtained with PeerStreamer running on top of Community-Lab, a test-bed realized by the CONFINE EU Project for the experimentation of novel protocols in community networks. The experiments highlight relevant differences between a WCN and the Internet, and we propose strategies that can be implemented on all the peers or even only locally on the source to improve the streaming quality. These strategies are based on simple heuristics and can be activated dynamically when the streaming quality degrades below a given threshold.
p53 and Bax: Putative death factors in taste cell turnover

The turnover of cells in renewing epithelia presents an opportunity to examine cell death pathways in adult vertebrates. In mouse lingual epithelium a typical taste receptor cell survives for 9 days, until it is killed by an unknown cascade of death factors. Apoptosis was implicated by the presence of fragmented DNA in about 8% of taste receptor cells in the vallate papilla. In using immunocytochemistry to seek putative death factors, we observed that squamous epithelial cells of the tongue were negative for Bax, a death factor in the Bcl‐2 family of survival/death factors, and were also negative for p53, a tumor‐suppressor protein linked to apoptosis and Bax transcription. In contrast, 8–10% of the taste receptor cells were Bax‐positive, and 9–11% were p53 positive. These immunopositive taste receptor cells were more likely to display death‐related morphologic defects than other receptor cells, and they frequently coexpressed p53 and Bax. In both neonatal and adult mice, the labeling of dividing cells with 5‐bromo‐2′‐deoxyuridine indicated that all Bax‐positive taste cells were at least 5 days old. On postnatal day 7, when few taste cells were old, no more than 1% of taste cells were immunopositive for either p53 or Bax. We inferred that old taste receptor cells employ p53 and Bax as part of their apoptotic death pathway. The routine expression of p53 by postmitotic, aged taste cells broadens the conventional view that p53 is restricted to mitotic cells that have stress‐damaged DNA. Furthermore, the scattered distribution of aged receptor cells within the taste bud excludes some explanations for stable taste signals during receptor cell turnover. J. Comp. Neurol. 413:168–180, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Open Total Dislocation of the Talus with Extrusion (Missing Talus): Report of Two Cases

Two different methods of treatment for open dislocation of the extruded talus without soft tissue attachments (missing talus) were examined. In case 1, a 20-year-old man sustained an open total dislocation of the talus due to a motorcycle accident. The missing talus was found within 3 hr and replaced after thorough washing and debridement. Weightbearing was permitted at 20 weeks; however, the density of the talar body increased in the x-ray and nonweightbearing status was resumed. Reexamination at 2 ½ years revealed that there was joint space narrowing on the x-ray and decreased pain with ambulation; the patient had returned to his job. In case 2, a 26-year-old man sustained an open total dislocation of the talus with a severe crush wound and impaired circulation to the foot. After thorough washing and debridement of the wound, the calcaneus and distal end of the tibia were aligned. The missing talus was found 3 days later, but not replaced. Weightbearing was allowed on the affected foot at 2 months; however, the patient felt pain at the joint surfaces and arthrodesis was consequently performed. At 2 ½ years, the patient had a 4.0-cm leg length discrepancy in the involved extremity, but felt no pain when walking. Although reduction of the talus is ideal to preserve function and length of the extremity, several complications can occur. A review of literature on open total dislocation of the talus with extrusion was performed.
PROINSULIN IN HUMAN SERUM: PROBLEMS IN MEASUREMENT AND INTERPRETATION

The immunoreactivity of an extracted pancreatic human proinsulin standard in an indirect immunoradiometric assay was found to be at least one hundred times higher than that of biosynthetic human proinsulin. Limited tryptic digestion of the biosynthetic proinsulin increased its immunoreactivity in the assay and this was attributed to the production of partially cleaved proinsulin molecules which still retained the C‐peptide moeity. This inference was confirmed by the finding that pure samples of 65/A1 and 32/33 split proinsulins reacted in the assay very similarly to the pancreatic proinsulin standard. The implications of these results are that the immunoassays of proinsulin using antisera to C‐peptide may recognise the intact proinsulin molecule very poorly, if at all, and that the ‘proinsulin’ measured by such assays of human serum may be largely if not entirely intermediates of proinsulin cleavage.
Adaptive checkpointing in Time Warp

In Time Warp optimistic discrete event simulation, there exists a need to occasionally save the states of the logical processes. The state saving often constitutes a substantial overhead. However it is not necessary to save each state of a logical process since states can be restored from earlier states by re-executing intermediate events. In this paper, we analyse the effects of doing the state saving less frequently and present a method that allows each logical process to adapt its state saving interval to its rollback behaviour. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method improves performance of the Time Warp system.
Silicon Nitride Background in Nanophotonic Waveguide Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Recent studies have shown that evanescent Raman spectroscopy using a silicon nitride (SiN) nanophotonic waveguide platform has higher signal enhancement when compared to free-space systems. However, signal-to-noise ratio from the waveguide at a low analyte concentration is constrained by the shot-noise from the background light originating from the waveguide itself. Hence, understanding the origin and properties of this waveguide background luminescence (WGBL) is essential to developing mitigation strategies. Here, we identify the dominating component of the WGBL spectrum composed of a broad Raman scattering due to momentum selection-rule breaking in amorphous materials, and several peaks specific to molecules embedded in the core. We determine the maximum of the Raman scattering efficiency of the WGBL at room temperature for 785 nm excitation to be 4.5 ± 1 × 10−9 cm−1·sr−1, at a Stokes shift of 200 cm−1. This efficiency decreases monotonically for higher Stokes shifts. Additionally, we also demonstrate the use of slotted waveguides and quasi-transverse magnetic polarization as some mitigation strategies.
Simian virus 40 large T antigen: the puzzle, the pieces, and the emerging picture

In cultured monkey cells infected by simian virus 40 (SV40), the viral regulatory protein large T antigen directs an ordered sequence of events leading from the early phase of infection prior to viral DNA replication into the late phase of infection, in which viral progeny are produced in large numbers (53). The early phase of infection is devoted to subverting cellular control mechanisms to prepare the cell to support the late phase of infection. T antigen accumulates during the early phase of infection in the nucleus; it alters cellular transcription patterns and stimulates quiescent cells to synthesize cellular DNA. Upon transition to the late phase, T antigen autoregulates its own transcription, initiates viral DNA replication, and stimulates late gene expression and virion production. Perhaps as a reflection of its ability to alter cellular transcription and to induce cell DNA synthesis, T antigen can also immortalize primary cells and is responsible for induction and maintenance of cell transformation in cultured cells and for tumor induction in experimental animals. The pleiotropic biological functions of T antigen are accomplished by the multiple biochemical activities identified to date for T antigen and it seems likely that
A new approach to handling fuzzy decision-making problems

Techniques for handling fuzzy decision-making problems are presented in which fuzzy production rules and fuzzy set theory are used for knowledge representation. The maximum fuzzy cover generation techniques used are described in detail. Some examples are given to illustrate the maximum fuzzy cover generation process. The examples are restricted to medical diagnostic problems; however, the techniques can be applied to any other decision-making problem. <<ETX>>
Learning to become a nurse: students' reflections on their clinical experiences.

OBJECTIVE To expose the significant events undergraduate student nurses reflect on during clinical experiences as they learn to become nurses. DESIGN A qualitative study using reflective instruments of unstructured debriefing sessions and journal writing. SETTING Conducted in a tertiary hospital in South-eastern Queensland, Australia. SUBJECTS Forty voluntarily consenting students were involved. RESULTS The findings of this study identify that students' interpretation of, and learning in the clinical context is influenced by: an interplay between the patient, registered nurse (RN) and the student's construction of themself as a nurse. Significant to the study and not previously identified is the way students enter the emotive life-world of the patient's experience. The study confirms that the RN makes a considerable difference to the student's experience. Furthermore, students begin to construct a personal identity of becoming a nurse through a process of developing confidence, confirmation of nursing practices and assimilating knowledge. CONCLUSION Insights into what influences students learning in the clinical setting, how they interpret events and begin to build a repertoire of reflective exemplars provides clinical staff and educators with valuable information to design meaningful clinical learning experiences that will assist students to become nurses.
The development of emotion and empathy skills after childhood brain injury

Lasting socio‐emotional behaviour difficulties are common among children who have suffered brain injuries. A proportion of difficulties may be attributed to impaired cognitive and/or executive skills after injury. A recent and rapidly accruing body of literature indicates that deficits in recognizing and responding to the emotions of others are also common. Little is known about the development of these skills after brain injury. In this paper we summarize emotion‐processing systems, and review the development of these systems across the span of childhood and adolescence. We describe critical phases in the development of emotion recognition skills and the potential for delayed effects after brain injury in earlier childhood. We argue that it is important to identify the specific nature of deficits in reading and responding to emotions after brain injury, so that assessments and early intervention strategies can be devised.
Altered Hemodynamics During Exercise in Older Essential Hypertensive Subjects

This study was designed to compare the resting and exercise hemodynamics of older adults with moderate hypertension with those of age-matched normotensive controls. Thirty-one hypertensive (20 men, 11 women; mean age, 63.9 ± 2.8 years) and 28 normotensive subjects (15 men, 13 women; mean age, 62.6 ± 2.4 years) were studied. There were no differences between the groups in terms of body weight, body composition, and maximal O2 consumption (Vo2). At rest, there were no differences in Vo2, cardiac output, stroke volume, or heart rate between the two groups, although systolic (158 ± 13 vs 121 ± 12 mm Hg) and diastotic blood pressures (94 ± 7 vs 79 ± 8 mm Hg) were higher in the hypertensive subjects. The hypertensive subjects' elevated blood pressure at rest was the result of a higher total peripheral resistance. During exercise, the hypertensive subjects had a lower cardiac output and stroke volume, no difference in heart rate and Vo2, higher systolic, diastolk, and mean blood pressures, and a higher total peripheral resistance compared with their normotensive peers. The results indicate that older hypertensive persons have an altered cardiovascular response to exercise as compared with age-matched normotensive subjects. The responses also indicate that older essential hypertensive persons do not undergo excessive myocardial demands during exercise of the intensity usually prescribed in rehabilitation programs.