Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuroanatomical Relationships between Orexin/Hypocretin-Containing Neurons/Nerve Fibers and Nicotine-Induced c-Fos-Activated Cells of the Reward-Addiction Neurocircuitry

Orexin/hypocretin-containing neurons in lateral hypothalamus (LH) are implicated in the neurobiology of nicotine addiction. However, the neuroanatomical relationships between orexin-neurons/nerve fibers and nicotine-activated cells within the reward-addiction neurocircuitry is not known. In the present study in mice, we first used c-Fos immunohistochemistry to identify CNS cells stimulated by an acute single injection of nicotine (NIC, 2 mg/kg, IP). Sequential double-labelling was then performed to identify the location of orexin-containing neurons and nerve fibers with respect to NIC-induced c-Fos activated cells and/or tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactive (IR) cells of the mesocorticolimbic reward-addiction pathways. Orexin-IR nerve fibers and terminals were detected at multiple sites of the NIC reward-addiction circuitry in close apposition to, and intermingled with, NIC-induced c-Fos-IR cells of locus coeruleus (LC), ventral tegmental area (VTA), nucleus accumbens (Acb), LH and paraventricular thalamic nucleus (PVT). Double-labelling of orexin with TH showed frequent contact between orexin-IR nerve fibers and noradrenergic cells of LC. However, there was infrequent contact between the orexinergic fibers and the TH-expressing dopaminergic cells of VTA, dorsal raphe nucleus (DR), posterior hypothalamus (DA11), arcuate hypothalamic nucleus (DA12) and periventricular areas (DA14). The close anatomical contact between orexinergic nerve fibers and NIC-activated cells at multiple sites of the reward-addiction pathways suggests that orexinergic projections from LH are likely to be involved in modulating activity of the neurons that are directly impacted by acute administration of nicotine.
Improving Evolutionary Testing in the Presence of Function-Assigned Flags

Evolutionary structural testing, an approach to automatically generating relevant unit test cases, encounters difficulties when the tested software contains boolean variables. This issue, known as the flag problem, has been studied by many researchers. However, previous work does not address the issue of function-assigned flags which constitutes a special type of the flag problem that often occurs in the context of object-orientation. This paper elaborates on a new approach to the flag problem that can also handle function-assigned flags while being applicable to the conventional flag problem, as well. It relies on a code transformation that leads to an improved fitness landscape which provides better guidance to the evolutionary search. We present four case studies including a fitness landscape analysis and empirical results. The results show that the suggested code transformation improves evolutionary structural testing in the presence of function-assigned flags.
The -9 /+9 Polymorphism of the Bradykinin Receptor Beta 2 Gene and Athlete Status: A Study Involving Two European Cohorts

Abstract Previous studies concerning the relevance of BDKRB2 gene polymorphisms revealed that the absence (-9 allele) of a nine-base-pair sequence in exon 1 of the BDKRB2 gene is correlated with higher skeletal muscle metabolic efficiency glucose uptake during exercise, and endurance athletic performance. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between the BDKRB2 -9/+9 polymorphism and elite athletic status in two cohorts of eastern European athletes. We examined the genotype distribution of the BDKRB2 9/+9 polymorphic site in a group of Polish athletes and confirmed the results obtained in a replication study of Russian athletes. Three hundred and two Polish athletes and 684 unrelated sedentary controls, as well as 822 Russian athletes and 507 unrelated sedentary volunteers, were recruited for this study. All samples were genotyped for the -9/+9 polymorphism within exon 1 of the BDKRB2 gene using polymerase chain reaction. Significance was assessed by chi square analysis with Bonferroni's correction for multiple testing. We found no statistical difference in the -9/+9 genotype and allele frequencies in two groups of athletes divided into four subgroups: endurance, sprint-endurance, sprint-strength, and strength athletes, compared with controls. There were no significant differences in allele frequencies (p = 0.477) and genotype distribution (p = 0.278) in the initial and replication studies. Thus, no association was found between the BDKRB2 -9/+9 polymorphism and elite athletic status in two cohorts of eastern European athletes.
Cerebellum to motor cortex paired associative stimulation induces bidirectional STDP-like plasticity in human motor cortex

The cerebellum is crucially important for motor control and adaptation. Recent non-invasive brain stimulation studies have indicated the possibility to alter the excitability of the cerebellum and its projections to the contralateral motor cortex, with behavioral consequences on motor control and adaptation. Here we sought to induce bidirectional spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP)-like modifications of motor cortex (M1) excitability by application of paired associative stimulation (PAS) in healthy subjects. Conditioning stimulation over the right lateral cerebellum (CB) preceded focal transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the left M1 hand area at an interstimulus interval of 2 ms (CB→M1 PAS2 ms), 6 ms (CB→M1 PAS6 ms) or 10 ms (CB→M1 PAS10 ms) or randomly alternating intervals of 2 and 10 ms (CB→M1 PASControl). Effects of PAS on M1 excitability were assessed by the motor-evoked potential (MEP) amplitude, short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), intracortical facilitation (ICF) and cerebellar-motor cortex inhibition (CBI) in the first dorsal interosseous muscle of the right hand. CB→M1 PAS2 ms resulted in MEP potentiation, CB→M1 PAS6 ms and CB→M1 PAS10 ms in MEP depression, and CB→M1 PASControl in no change. The MEP changes lasted for 30–60 min after PAS. SICI and CBI decreased non-specifically after all PAS protocols, while ICF remained unaltered. The physiological mechanisms underlying these MEP changes are carefully discussed. Findings support the notion of bidirectional STDP-like plasticity in M1 mediated by associative stimulation of the cerebello-dentato-thalamo-cortical pathway and M1. Future studies may investigate the behavioral significance of this plasticity.
Iris Recognition Using Discrete Wavelet Transform

We propose a novel approach for improved iris recognition system with reduced false acceptance rate (FAR) and false rejection rate (FRR). The technique developed here uses all the frequency resolution planes of Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). These frequency planes provide abundant texture information present in an iris at different resolutions. The accuracy is improved up to 98.98%. With proposed method FAR and FRR is reduced up to 0.0071% and 1.0439% respectively.
Human brain mass: Similar body composition associations as observed across mammals

A classic association is the link between brain mass and body mass across mammals that has now been shown to derive from fat‐free mass (FFM) and not fat mass (FM). This study aimed to establish for the first time the associations between human brain mass and body composition and to compare these relations with those established for liver as a reference organ.
Emotion, Argumentation and Informal Logic

Over the past 60 years there have been tremendous advances made in Argumentation Theory. One crucial advance has been the move from the investigation of static arguments to a concern with dialogic interactions in concrete contexts. This focus has entailed a slow shift toward involving both non-logical and non-discursive elements in the analysis of an argument. I argue that the traditional attitude Informal Logic has displayed toward emotion can be and ought be moderated. In particular, I examine the role of emotion in everyday argumentation, and how Informal Logic can encompass it alongside the more traditional logical mode of communication
Longitudinal 2D strain at rest predicts the presence of left main and three vessel coronary artery disease in patients without regional wall motion abnormality.

AIMS Non-invasive echocardiographic detection of coronary artery disease (CAD), even in left main or three-vessel CAD, usually requires a stress test since regional wall motion abnormalities (RWMA) are not always evident at rest. Strain is a more sensitive parameter of myocardial systolic function and may be abnormal in patients with severe CAD. METHODS AND RESULTS We evaluated whether peak systolic longitudinal strain (PSLS) of left ventricle using 2D speckle tracking method might be useful for screening of severe CAD. One hundred and eight patients who underwent echocardiography and coronary angiography were evaluated. Patients were grouped according to the coronary angiographic findings as follows; high-risk group with left main or three-vessel CAD (n = 38), low-risk group with one- or two-vessel CAD (n = 28), and control group without CAD (n = 30). PSLSs of all left ventricular segments were obtained successfully in 96 (89%) patients. None had RWMA at resting echocardiogram. PSLS was significantly reduced, especially in mid- and basal segments, in the high-risk group. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated that mid- and basal PSLSs could effectively detect patients with severe CAD (area under ROC curve = 0.83, 95% CI 0.75-0.91). According to ROC curve analysis, -17.9% appears to be a helpful cutoff value for discriminating those with severe CAD (specificity 79% and sensitivity 79%). CONCLUSION PSLS at rest was significantly lower in patients with left main or three-vessel CAD without RWMA, and might be useful for identifying patients with a severe CAD.
Requirements for Science Data Bases and SciDB

For the past year, we have been assembling requirements from a collection of scientific data base users from astronomy, particle physics, fusion, remote sensing, oceanography, and biology. The intent has been to specify a common set of requirements for a new science data base system, which we call SciDB. In addition, we have discovered that very complex business analytics share most of the same requirements as “big science”. We have also constructed a partnership of companies to fund the development of SciDB, including eBay, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), Microsoft, the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) and Vertica. Lastly, we have identified two “lighthouse customers” (LSST and eBay) who will run the initial system, once it is constructed. In this paper, we report on the requirements we have identified and briefly sketch some of the SciDB design.
Influence on effectiveness of early treatment with anti-TNF therapy in rheumatoid arthritis.

PURPOSE To evaluate the association between starting early treatment with anti-TNF and effectiveness as well as the possibility of applying therapeutic spacing in daily practice in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Observational, retrospective study conducted in two universitary hospitals in Spain. RA patients who received the first anti-TNF (adalimumab: ADA, etanercept: ETN or infliximab: IFX) during the study period (October 2006-2010) were included. Demographic data, time since diagnosis, disease activity (DAS28-ESR) and anti-TNF dosage were analyzed. Therapeutic objective was defined as DAS28 DAS28 < 2.6. Also the response related to criteria of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) was evaluated. Therapeutic spacing was defined as the use of a lower dose or a higher interval according to label doses. The main endpoint was to assess the association between the effectiveness and the moment when the anti-TNF therapy begins. The secondary target was to evaluate the association between RA activity at the beginning of treatment with anti-TNF and dose used. Results. 82 patients were included. The prescription profile was: ADA (48.8%), ETN (31.7%) and IFX (19.5%). 71.4% of patients treated with anti-TNF during the first year since diagnosis, 57.1% of those who started after 1-5 years and 30.6% of patients who started after 5 years were in remission when the study ended. De-escalation strategy was performed in 25.6% of patients: ETN (38.5%), ADA (20.0%) and IFX (18.8%). The patients treated with a higher dose according to label doses were: IFX (81%), ADA, (12.5%) and ETN (7.7%). CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that early treatment with anti-TNF can achieve a higher percentage of remissions. Therapeutic spacing is established as a strategy that improves the efficiency in those patients in remission, being the ETN the anti-TNF most susceptible for spacing, although a relation between the early beginning with anti-TNF and the used dose was not found.
Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury: Evaluating the Evidence

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may affect 10 million people worldwide. It is considered the "signature wound" of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. These injuries result from a bump or blow to the head, or from external forces that cause the brain to move within the head, such as whiplash or exposure to blasts. TBI can cause an array of physical and mental health concerns and is a growing problem, particularly among soldiers and veterans because of repeated exposure to violent environments. One form of treatment for TBI is cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT), a patient-specific, goal-oriented approach to help patients increase their ability to process and interpret information. The Department of Defense asked the IOM to conduct a study to determine the effectiveness of CRT for treatment of TBI.
Interventions for preventing oral candidiasis for patients with cancer receiving treatment.

BACKGROUND Treatment of cancer is increasingly more effective but is associated with short and long term side effects. Oral side effects remain a major source of illness despite the use of a variety of agents to prevent and treat them. One of these side effects is oral candidiasis. OBJECTIVES To assess the effectiveness of interventions (which may include placebo or no treatment) for the prevention of oral candidiasis for patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. SEARCH STRATEGY Electronic databases: Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, MEDLINE Pre-indexed, EMBASE, CINAHL, CANCERLIT, SIGLE and LILACS were searched. Date of the most recent searches April 2004 (CENTRAL Issue 2, 2004). SELECTION CRITERIA Trials were selected if they met the following criteria: design - random allocation of participants; participants - anyone receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment for cancer; interventions - agents prescribed to prevent oral candidiasis; primary outcome - prevention of oral candidiasis. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Data were recorded on the following secondary outcomes if present: relief of pain, amount of analgesia, relief of dysphagia, incidence of systemic infection, duration of stay in hospital (days), cost of oral care, patient quality of life, death, use of empirical antifungal treatment, toxicity and compliance. Information regarding methods, participants, interventions, outcome measures and results were independently extracted, in duplicate, by two reviewers (HW & JC). The Cochrane Oral Health Group statistical guidelines were followed and relative risk values calculated using random effects models. Potential sources of heterogeneity were examined in random effects metaregression analyses. MAIN RESULTS Twenty-eight trials involving 4226 patients satisfied the inclusion criteria. Drugs absorbed and partially absorbed from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract were found to prevent oral candidiasis when compared to a placebo, or a no treatment control group, with RR for absorbed drugs = 0.47 (95% CI 0.29 to 0.78). For absorbed drugs in populations with an incidence of 20% (mid range of results in control groups), this implies a NNT of 9 (95% CI 7 to 13) patients need to be treated to avoid one patient getting oral candidiasis. There was no significant benefit shown for drugs not absorbed from the GI tract. REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS There is strong evidence, from randomised controlled trials, that drugs absorbed or partially absorbed from the GI tract prevent oral candidiasis in patients receiving treatment for cancer. There is also evidence that these drugs are significantly better at preventing oral candidiasis than drugs not absorbed from the GI.
A new method of saccadic eye movement detection for optokinetic nystagmus analysis

The analysis of eye movements is valuable in both clinical work and research. One of the characteristic type of eye movements is saccade. The accurate detection of saccadic eye movements is the base for further processing of saccade parameters such as velocity, amplitude and duration. This paper concerns an accurate saccade detection method that is based on pre-processing signal and then the proposed non-linear detection function can be applied. The described method characterizes less sensitivity for any kind of noise due to an application of the robust myriad filter which is used to eliminate baseline drifts and impulsive artifacts. The congenital nystagmus is one of the field where our method can be applied to detect saccades. The proposed detection function is computationally efficient and precisely determines the time position of saccadic eye movements even when the signal-to-noise ratio is low. The presented method may have potential application in automatic ENG signal processing systems for determining visual acuity.
The structuring of pedagogic discourse

Part I: On Codes 1. Codes, Modalities and the process of Cultural Reproduction: A Model 2. Social Class and Pedagogic Practice 3. Elaborated and Restricted Codes: Overview and Critisms Part II: On Pedagogic Discourse 4. Education, Symbolic control and Social Practices 5. Social Construction of Pedagogic Discourse.
Impact of chlorhexidine mouthwash prophylaxis on probable ventilator-associated pneumonia in a surgical intensive care unit

Background: Prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia is a healthcare goal. Although data is inconsistent, some studies suggest that oral chlorhexidine may decrease rates of pneumonia in mechanically-ventilated patients. We sought to assess the rate of pneumonia in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) pre and post implementation of routine chlorhexidine mouthwash prophylaxis. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted, including patients between 1/1/2009 and 12/31/2009 who did not receive chlorhexidine mouthwash compared to patients that received prophylactic chlorhexidine mouthwash between 3/1/2010 and 2/28/2011. The primary outcome of the study was rate of probable ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) for the pre-chlorhexidine implementation cohort compared to post-implementation, using the 2013 Center for Disease Control definitions. Mechanically ventilated patients with respiratory cultures were screened for inclusion in the study. Secondary endpoints included duration of mechanical ventilation, in-hospital mortality, ICU and hospital length of stay. Statistical analysis was conducted by Fisher's exact test for nominal data and Mann-Whitney U test for continuous data. Results: A total of 1780 mechanically ventilated patients in the pre-chlorhexidine group and 1854 in the post-chlorhexidine group were screened for inclusion. Of the 601 mechanically ventilated patients that were further evaluated for inclusion; 158 patients (26.3%) had positive cultures and were included in the study (94 pre-group and 64 post-group). The rate of probable VAP was significantly decreased in the post-group compared to the pre-group (1.85% pre vs 0.81% post, P = 0.0082). Conclusion: Use of chlorhexidine mouthwash prophylaxis may reduce rates of probable VAP. Further study is warranted.
The concept of validity : revisions, new directions, and applications

Introduction, Robert W. Lissitz. PART I: RELATIVELY MAINSTREAM. Packing and Unpacking Sources of Validity Evidence: History Repeats Itself Again, Stephen G. Sireci. Validating the Interpretations and Uses of Test Scores, Michael Kane. Validity as Contextualized and Pragmatic Explanation, and Its Implications for Validation Practice, Bruno D. Zumbo. Validity from the Perspective of Model-Based Reasoning, Robert J. Mislevy. PART II: RELATIVELY DIVERGENT. Invalidity in Validity, Joel Michell. The End of Construct Validity, Denny Borsboom, Angelique O. J. Cramer, Rogier A. Kievit, Annemarie Zand Scholten, and Sanja Franic. PART III: APPLICATION OR IENTED. Validity in Action: State Assessment Validity Evidence for Compliance with NCLB, William D. Schafer, Joyce Wang, and Vivian Wang. The Concept of Validity in the Context of NCLB, Robert L. Linn. Validity Is in the Eye of the Beholder: Conveying SAT Research Findings to the General Public, Krista Mattern, Jennifer Kobrin, Brian Patterson, Emily Shaw, and Wayne Camara. Content Validity Considerations in Language Testing Contexts, Micheline Chalhoub-Deville.
Changes in Jump, Sprint, and Coordinative Performances After a Senior Soccer Match

Abstract Cortis, C, Tessitore, A, Lupo, C, Perroni, F, Pesce, C, and Capranica, L. Changes in jump, sprint, and coordinative performances after a senior soccer match. J Strength Cond Res 27(11): 2989–2996, 2013—This study aimed to verify the short-term after effects of a soccer match on senior players’ all-out and interlimb coordination performances. Right before (prematch) and after (postmatch) a match, 10 senior (52.3 ± 10.2 years) male soccer players were administered jump (countermovement jump [CMJ]; repeated jump [RJ]), sprint (10 m and 10 m while dribbling the ball [10 mDB]), in-phase (IP) and antiphase (AP) interlimb coordination (synchronized hand and foot flexions and extensions at 80, 120, 180 bpm). Heart rate (HR) responses and subjective rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and rating of muscle pain (RMP) were used to evaluate the intensity of the friendly match. During the match, HR >85% of individual HRmax occurred for 50% of playing time. Subjective ratings at the end of the match were 12.9 ± 2.2 pt and 2.7 ± 2.2 pt for RPE and RMP, respectively. Postmatch CMJ, 10 m, 10 mDB, AP, IP 80 bpm, and IP 120 bpm performances did not show any difference with respect to prematch values, whereas improvements (p < 0.05) in RJ (prematch: 17.4 ± 3.9 cm; postmatch: 19.3 ± 4.8 cm) and IP 180 bpm (prematch: 30.4 ± 15.1 second; postmatch: 50.3 ± 18.9 second) emerged. These findings indicate that senior soccer players are able to cope with the high demands of match play and suggest that an acute bout of intense exercise has an arousing effect that counteracts fatigue effects and facilitates the performance of old trained individuals on complex motor behaviors relying on central executive control. In considering that players consider soccer as highly motivating, with advancing years this sport could help players in preserving high mental and physical functions and maintaining active engagement in life through social interactions.