Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CD 34 / CXCR 4 stem cell dynamics in acute stroke patients

Introduction: Non-hematopoietic stem cells may be a source of paracrine and structural regeneration for brain damag ed by acute ischemic stroke. In this study, we investigated correlations of CD34-, CD34/CXCR4-, and CXCR4-positive peripheral blood CD45-negative stem cells with the neurological and functional status of 34 acute stroke patients. Material and methods: Blood was sampled and assessed by flow cytometry on days 1, 2, 4, and 6 after stroke onset. Parallel to blood sampling and after 3 and 6 months, patients were assessed with the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale, Barthel Index, Scandinavian Stroke Scale, and modified Rankin Scale. Blood was also sampled in 15 control subjects matched for age and sex, without history of previous stroke. Results: We observed very low levels of the observed stem cells resident in peripheral blood. Higher baseline numbers of all 3 stem cell types correlated with better neurological or functional status on admission. Additionally, higher increases in CD34and CD34/CXCR4-positive stem cell number and lower increase in CXCR4-positive cells correlated with initially worse neurological status. However, increased CD34and CD34/CXCR4-positive cell induction in patients correlated with better functional/neurological status after the 6-month follow-up. Conclusions: We report that the number and dynamic changes in levels of non-hematopoietic CD34-, CD34/CXCR4-, and CXCR4-positive stem cells tend to correlate with acute stroke patients’ neurologic and functional status.
Reliability and validity of the Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills (Non-Motor)--Revised for Chinese preschoolers.

OBJECTIVE The reliability and validity of the Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills (Non-Motor)-Revised (TVPS-R) were examined for its usefulness on Hong Kong Chinese preschoolers. METHOD Content validity was evaluated by six experts. Test-retest reliability, construct validity, and criterion validity were examined on 66 typically developing preschoolers while concurrent validity was examined on these preschoolers plus 52 preschoolers with visual-perception difficulties. RESULTS Test-retest reliability was high for the total score (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] =.88), but not for all subtests (ICC ranged .38 to .77) or for individual items (mean kappa = 0.32). The standard error of measurement (SEM; 1.53) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .90) were satisfactory. Evidence supporting the test's validity included a significant developmental trend (F = 4.99, p < .001), a lack of gender bias (F = .04, p = .84), and positive known-group differentiation (Wilks's lambda = 52.42, p < .001). The correlation between the Motor-Free Visual-Perceptual Test-Revised composite score and the TVPS-R composite was moderate at r = . 60. CONCLUSIONS When based on the total scores, the TVPS-R was reliable and valid. The use of subtest scores and item scores for decision making or treatment planning is not recommended.
Experimental evidence for UNC-6 (netrin) axon guidance by stochastic fluctuations of intracellular UNC-40 (DCC) outgrowth activity

Summary How the direction of axon guidance is determined is not understood. In Caenorhabditis elegans the UNC-40 (DCC) receptor mediates a response to the UNC-6 (netrin) guidance cue that directs HSN axon development. UNC-40 becomes asymmetrically localized within the HSN neuron to the site of axon outgrowth. Here we provide experimental evidence that the direction of guidance can be explained by the stochastic fluctuations of UNC-40 asymmetric outgrowth activity. We find that the UNC-5 (UNC5) receptor and the cytoskeletal binding protein UNC-53 (NAV2) regulate the induction of UNC-40 localization by UNC-6. If UNC-40 localization is induced without UNC-6 by using an unc-53 mutation, the direction of UNC-40 localization undergoes random fluctuations. Random walk models describe the path made by a succession of randomly directed movement. This model was experimentally tested using mutations that affect Wnt/PCP signaling. These mutations inhibit UNC-40 localization in the anterior and posterior directions. As the axon forms in Wnt/PCP mutants, the direction of UNC-40 localization randomly fluctuates; it can localize in either the anterior, posterior, or ventral direction. Consistent with a biased random walk, over time the axon will develop ventrally in response to UNC-6, even though at a discrete time UNC-40 localization and outgrowth can be observed anterior or posterior. Also, axon formation is slower in the mutants than in wild-type animals. This is also consistent with a random walk since this model predicts that the mean square displacement (msd) will increase only linearly with time, whereas the msd increases quadratically with time for straight-line motion.
Nicotine and cocaine self-administration using a multiple schedule of intravenous drug and sucrose reinforcement in rats

There appears to be a relatively narrow range of contingencies in which intravenous (i.v) infusions of nicotine will maintain responding in rats. The schedule of reinforcement typically used when investigating i.v. nicotine self-administration is a simple fixed-ratio (FR) schedule. This study determined if responding in rats could be established using a multiple schedule of either i.v. cocaine or nicotine and sucrose reinforcement. Following training of individual components with each reinforcer, rats were placed on an FR15 60-s timeout multiple schedule of cocaine (0.3 mg/kg/infusion) and sucrose (45 mg pellets) reinforcement or an FR5 60-s timeout multiple schedule of nicotine (0.03 mg/kg/infusion) and sucrose (45 mg pellets) reinforcement. Both cocaine and nicotine maintained significant levels of responding under the multiple schedule. Pretreatment with the dopamine D1 antagonist SCH 23390 increased cocaine-maintained responding, but not sucrose responding. Acute pretreatment with the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine or SCH 23390 specifically decreased nicotine self-administration. Extinction of the individual nicotine and sucrose components resulted in decreases in responding in each component under extinction. These results indicate that i.v. nicotine maintains responding under a multiple schedule. This procedure may be useful when studying the specificity of drug pretreatments on nicotine self-administration.
A new variant of endemic pemphigus foliaceus in El-Bagre, Colombia: the Hardy-Weinberg-Castle law and linked short tandem repeats

Background: We reported a new variant of endemic pemphigus foliaceus in El Bagre, Colombia. Aims: Our study performed Complex Segregation Analysis (CSA) and short tandem repeats to discriminate between environmental and/or genetic factors in this disorder. Materials and Methods: The CSA analysis was carried out according to the unified model, implemented using the transmission probabilities implemented in the computer program POINTER, and evaluated by using a software package for population genetic data analysis (GDA), Arlequin. We performed pedigree analyses by using Cyrillic 2.1 software, with a total of 30 families with 50 probands (47 males and 3 females) tested. In parallel to the CSA, we tested for the presence of short tandem repeats from HLA class II, DQ alpha 1, involving the gene locus D6S291 by using the Hardy-Weinberg- Castle law. Results Our results indicate that the best model of inheritance in this disease is a mixed model, with multifactorial effects within a recessive genotype. Two types of possible segregation patterns were found; one with strong recessive penetrance in families whose phenotype is more Amerindian-like, and another of possible somatic mutations. Conclusion: The penetrance of 10% or less in female patients 60 years of age or older indicates that hormones could protect younger females. The greatest risk factor for men being affected by the disorder was the NN genotype. These findings are only possible due to somatic mutations, and/or strong environmental effects. We also found a protective role for two genetic loci (D6S1019 AND D6S439) in the control group.
Assessment of social function in four-year-old children with cerebral palsy

Objective: To determine whether scores from the social function domain of the Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) would reflect differences among speech–language profile groups for children with cerebral palsy (CP). Methods: Thirty-four children with CP participated (mean age = 54.4 months). PEDI social function raw scores, developmentally stratified skill levels, and types of skills mastered at a 75% criterion level were examined. Results: Significant differences were observed in social function scores overall and within early and age-appropriate skills among all profile groups with one exception. Skill mastery varied based on profile group and on developmental age category of each skill. Conclusions: The PEDI appears to capture language delay in children with CP, but it may not be sensitive to the impact of speech intelligibility deficits on social function. Findings call for the development of a new tool that more accurately assesses communicative activities and participation in children with CP.
Recommendations and practices to optimize stroke therapy: developing effective translational research programs.

On June 20 and 21, 2012, a National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke-sponsored workshop on “Optimizing the Predictive Value of Preclinical Research” was held in Washington, DC.1 The primary objective of the workshop was to review deficiencies in preclinical and translational research and provide recommendations or guidelines to improve the rigor of preclinical research. The following is based on open discussions held at the meeting and panel recommendations for the application of basic principles of experimental design and reporting transparency that are currently standard of practice for stroke clinical trials. This article, which includes author interpretations of discussions, emphasizes the need for good laboratory practices, transparent scientific reporting, and the use of translational research models with clinically relevant end points to develop new strategies to treat stroke. There is a critical medical need for new therapeutic strategies to treat acute ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke to reduce mortality and improve the quality of life for stroke victims. Current US statistics indicate that stroke is the fourth leading cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in the United States, with upward of 795 000 victims annually who suffer a new or recurrent stroke, despite improved diet, and control of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. Currently, the only Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for stroke is the thrombolytic, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) if administered within 3 hours of a stroke. Recently, the therapeutic window for tPA has been increased and shown to be beneficial if patients are treated within 4.5 hours of an ischemic stroke.2–4 However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved the extension of the time window >3 hours. Although thrombolysis is now widely accepted as a standard of care for acute ischemic stroke, only a minority (6%) of …
Soft-gluon corrections for t W production at N 3 LO

I present approximate results that include third-order soft-gluon corrections for the associated production of a single top quark with a $W$ boson. The calculation uses expressions from soft-gluon resummation at next-to-next-to-leading-logarithm (NNLL) accuracy. From the NNLL resummed cross section I derive approximate next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (aN$^3$LO) cross sections for the process $bg \rightarrow tW^-$ at LHC and Tevatron energies. The aN$^3$LO top-quark transverse-momentum and rapidity distributions in $tW$ production are also presented.
Quantum phase transitions

In recent years, quantum phase transitions have attracted the interest of both theorists and experimentalists in condensed matter physics. These transitions, which are accessed at zero temperature by variation of a non-thermal control parameter, can influence the behaviour of electronic systems over a wide range of the phase diagram. Quantum phase transitions occur as a result of competing ground state phases. The cuprate superconductors which can be tuned from a Mott insulating to a d-wave superconducting phase by carrier doping are a paradigmatic example. This review introduces important concepts of phase transitions and discusses the interplay of quantum and classical fluctuations near criticality. The main part of the article is devoted to bulk quantum phase transitions in condensed matter systems. Several classes of transitions will be briefly reviewed, pointing out, e.g., conceptual differences between ordering transitions in metallic and insulating systems. An interesting separate class of transitions is boundary phase transitions where only degrees of freedom of a subsystem become critical; this will be illustrated in a few examples. The article is aimed at bridging the gap between high-level theoretical presentations and research papers specialized in certain classes of materials. It will give an overview on a variety of different quantum transitions, critically discuss open theoretical questions, and frequently make contact with recent experiments in condensed matter physics.
A SIMULATION-BASED APPROACH TO ANALYZE THE INFORMATION DIFFUSION IN MICROBLOGGING ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK

In this paper we propose a stochastic multi-agent based approach to analyze the information diffusion in Microblogging Online Social Networks (OSNs). OSNs, like Twitter and Facebook, became extremely popular and are being used to target marketing campaigns. Key known issues on this targeting is to be able to predict human behavior like posting a message with regard to some topics, and to analyze the emergent behavior of such actions. We explore Barack Obama’s Twitter network as an egocentric network to present our simulation-based approach and predictive behavior modeling. Through experimental analysis, we evaluated the impact of inactivating both Obama and the most engaged users, aiming at understanding the influence of those users that are the most likely to disseminate information over the network.
Comparative cross-sectional study for understanding the burden of low back pain among public bus transport drivers

Background: Even though low back pain (LBP) is common, some occupations pose a higher risk. Identifying these occupations and specific factors will help to reduce the suffering and burden. This study aims to compare the prevalence of chronic LBP among bus drivers and to find its association with some occupational factors. Materials and Methods: It is a cross-sectional study to compare prevalence of LBP and factors associated with it, in two groups of drivers (n = 178) and nondrivers (n = 184). Results: The 10 years′ percentage prevalence of LBP was found to be 70.8 and 51.6 among drivers and nondrivers respectively, whereas point prevalence in the same was 64.0 and 44.6. Drivers are at a higher risk for LBP with Odds ratio-2.270 (1.471-3.502). Risk factors such as prolonged sitting in one posture, night shifts, job dissatisfaction, tobacco use, and lack of exercise were significantly higher among drivers. Though the prevalence and intensity of LBP was higher among drivers, their number of leaves and hospital admitted days were less among drivers. Conclusion: This is a potential group for intervention as prevalence of LBP, neck pain, and most of the suspected risk factors were higher among the drivers. Drivers got less recovery time and had higher sequelae.
A Re-examination of the Relationship between Abuse Experience and Functional Bowel Disorders

Background: Previous research suggests that sufferers of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) report a greater prevalence of sexually and physically abusive experiences than patients with organic gastrointestinal disorders and non-patient populations. This has led to suppositions that previous abusive experiences might predispose to the development of functional gastrointestinal disorders. This study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that the prevalence of previous abuse experiences in patients with functional bowel disorders (FBD) is greater than it is in patients with a painful organic bowel disorder and healthy control subjects. Methods: Fifty-three idiopathic constipation patients were compared with matched control groups of 50 IBS patients, 51 Crohn disease patients and 53 non-patient control subjects. Measures of previous abuse experiences were taken using a self-report questionnaire and a semistructured interview. Other questionnaires of psychological distress were also administered. Results: No significant differences were found between all four groups, both for measures of abuse and for psychological distress. However, patients who reported past abuse, irrespective of their FBD status, demonstrated significantly higher levels of current psychological distress. Conclusions: These results challenge the current assumption that past abuse experiences may be significant in the later presentation of functional bowel disorders, but suggest that previous abuse experience might be related to a general level of psychopathology.
Pseudo-Coloring with Histogram Interpolation

In this paper, a pixel based pseudo coloring is presented. The proposed approach consists of two parts: luminance matching and pixel coloring. Given a monochrome input image and a color reference image, luminance matching between the two images is performed. If there is no matching between, a interpolation scheme is used to interpolate the chromatic histograms of reference image. By this doing, it ensures each pixel in the input image has its corresponding chromatic information in the reference image. By the luminance and chromatic information, a colored input image is obtained. Two examples are provided to justify the proposed pseudo coloring approach. The simulation results indicate that the proposed approach is feasible.
Cardiovascular responses to passive static flexibility exercises are influenced by the stretched muscle mass and the Valsalva maneuver

BACKGROUND: The respiratory pattern is often modified or even blocked during flexibility exercises, but little is known about the cardiovascular response to concomitant stretching and the Valsalva maneuver (VM) in healthy subjects. OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and rate-pressure product (RPP) during and after large and small muscle group flexibility exercises performed simultaneously with the VM. METHODS: Asymptomatic volunteers (N = 22) with the following characteristics were recruited: age, 22 ± 3 years; weight, 73 ± 6 kg; height, 175 ± 5 cm; HR at rest, 66 ± 9 BPM; and SBP at rest, 113 ± 10 mmHg. They performed two exercises: four sets of passive static stretching for 30 s of the dorsi-flexion (DF) of the gastrocnemius and the hip flexion (HF) of the ischio-tibialis. The exercises were performed with (V+) or without (V-) the VM in a counterbalanced order. The SBP and HR were measured, and the RPP was calculated before the exercise session, at the end of each set, and during a 30-min post-exercise recovery period. RESULTS: The within-group comparisons showed that only the SBP and RPP increased throughout the sets (p<0.05), but no post-exercise hypotension was detected. The between-group comparisons showed that greater SBP increases were related to the VM and to a larger stretched muscle mass. Differences for a given set were identified for the HR (the HFV+ and HFV- values were higher than the DFV+ and DFV- values by approximately 12 BPM), SBP (the HFV+ value was higher than the DFV+ and DFV- values by approximately 12 to 15 mmHg), and RPP (the HFV+ value was higher than the HFV- value by approximately 2000 mmHGxBPM, and the HFV+ value was higher than the DFV+ and DFV- values by approximately 4000 mmHGxBPM). CONCLUSION: Both the stretched muscle mass and the VM influence acute cardiovascular responses to multiple-set passive stretching exercise sessions.
Investigations on Blending and Foaming Behavior of Styrene-Ethylene-Butylene-Styrene/Polystyrene Blends

Abstract The interplay of screw speed and residence time during polymer blend extrusion profoundly influences blend properties. Herein, blends of styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) and polystyrene (PS) containing 30% by weight PS were prepared at a constant feed rate but different screw speeds (50, 100, 200 and 300 min−1). The blend produced at 100 min−1 (B100) possessed a finer morphology, better mechanical and rheological properties, attributed to suitability of residence time and viscosity ratio. When batch foamed with carbon dioxide at 110°C and 100°C, all blends produced stable foams. B100 foams exhibited higher volume expansion ratio (VE) due to higher complex viscosity and storage modulus. When foaming was conducted at 35°C, all foams shrank. B100 foams possessed higher cell density, lower VE and showed faster shrinkage due to increased nucleation and hindered expansion by the finely dispersed stiff PS aggregates during selective foaming of the elastomeric phase.
Component-level test of molded freeform optics for LED beam shaping using experimental ray tracing

Due to the high demand of LED light sources, the need to modify their radiation pattern to meet specific application requirements has also increased. This is mostly achieved by using molded secondary optics, which are composed of a combination of several aspherical and freeform surfaces. Unfortunately, the manufacturers of these secondary optics only provide output information at system level, making impossible to independently characterize the secondary optic in order to determine the sources of erroneous results. For this reason, it is necessary to perform a component-level verification leading to the validation of the correctness of the produced secondary optic independently of the light source. To understand why traditional inspection methods fail, it is necessary to take into account that not only errors due to irregularities on the lens surface like pores, glass indentations or scratches affect the performance of the lens, but also differences in refractive index appear after the compression during fabrication process. These internal alterations are generally produced during the cooling stage and their effect over the performance of the lens are not possible to be measured using tactile techniques. Additionally, the small size of the lens and the freeform characteristics of its surface introduce additional difficulties to perform its validation. In this work, the component-level test is done by obtaining the ray mapping function (RMF) which describes the deflection of the light beam as a function of the input angle. To obtain the RMF, firstly a collimated light source is held fix and the lens is rotated. Thus, a virtual point source is created and subsequently by using experimental ray tracing it is possible to determine the ray slopes, which are used to the retrieve the RMF. Under the assumption that the optical system under analysis is lossless and considering the principle of energy conservation, it is possible under specific conditions to use this new approach to obtain the output of the complete set, composed of light source plus secondary optic. Thus, for different LED models, combining their radiation pattern with the RMF allow us to obtain the resultant modified radiation pattern. By following this procedure, the correct functionality of the secondary optic is verified independently of the light source. This method brings the opportunity to the final product manufacturer of defining fail regions over the desired resultant output radiation pattern as a combination of different LED sources and then verify if the secondary optic fulfill the requirements.