Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reduced spinophilin but not microtubule-associated protein 2 expression in the hippocampal formation in schizophrenia and mood disorders: molecular evidence for a pathology of dendritic spines.

OBJECTIVE Aberrant synaptic connectivity may underlie the involvement of the hippocampus in schizophrenia. There is reasonable neuropathological evidence for a presynaptic pathology but few studies of the postsynaptic component. This study tested the hypothesis that hippocampal dendritic pathology is also present in schizophrenia. METHOD Using in situ hybridization in sections of hippocampal formation from 10 patients with schizophrenia, 10 patients with mood disorders (three with bipolar disorder and seven with major depression), and 10 healthy comparison subjects, the authors examined the expression of two important dendritic genes: spinophilin, which serves as a marker of dendritic spines, and microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2), an overall dendritic marker. RESULTS The patients with schizophrenia had lower levels of spinophilin mRNA in CA4 (hilus), CA3, the subiculum, and the entorhinal cortex than did the normal comparison subjects. The mood disorder group showed similar differences from the comparison group. MAP2 and cyclophilin mRNA did not differ between the groups in any subfield. CONCLUSIONS Decreased spinophilin but unchanged MAP2 expression provides molecular evidence for a hippocampal dendritic pathology in schizophrenia that preferentially affects the spines. As spines are the target of most glutamatergic synapses, the data extend the evidence that excitatory synapses are particularly affected. Similar dendritic spine pathology may also occur in mood disorders.
Modified Constraint-Induced Therapy for the Lower Extremity in Elderly Persons With Chronic Stroke: Single-Subject Experimental Design Study

Abstract Background: Studies have demonstrated improvements in arm motor function after constraint-induced (CI) therapy. Few studies of CI therapy for lower extremity conditions have been done. Our purpose was to evaluate the effect of modified CI therapy for the lower extremity in terms of motor control in elderly persons with chronic stroke. Method: A single-subject experimental AB design was used, with 3 months of follow-up. The A phase consisted of a baseline period of 2 weeks with 6 measurements, and the B phase was a 4-week intervention with 8 measurements. Two men and 1 woman were included. The intervention consisted of intensive rehabilitation of the affected leg for 2 hours each weekday. A whole-leg orthosis was used to immobilize the nonaffected leg. The following tests were conducted: a step test for dynamic balance, Fugl-Meyer assessment for lower-extremity motor function, the Timed Up and Go test for mobility, and the 6-minute and 10-meter walk tests for walking ability. Statistical significance was analyzed by using Shewhart charts with a 2–standard deviation band method. Results: A positive change was observed in 14 of 18 variables. Significant improvements existed in 7 of the 14 positively changed variables. Positive changes remained in 13 of 14 variables at the 3-month follow-up evaluation. Conclusion: Modified CI therapy may result in positive changes in balance and motor function in elderly persons with chronic stroke.
Genetic instability of cancer cells is proportional to their degree of aneuploidy.

Genetic and phenotypic instability are hallmarks of cancer cells, but their cause is not clear. The leading hypothesis suggests that a poorly defined gene mutation generates genetic instability and that some of many subsequent mutations then cause cancer. Here we investigate the hypothesis that genetic instability of cancer cells is caused by aneuploidy, an abnormal balance of chromosomes. Because symmetrical segregation of chromosomes depends on exactly two copies of mitosis genes, aneuploidy involving chromosomes with mitosis genes will destabilize the karyotype. The hypothesis predicts that the degree of genetic instability should be proportional to the degree of aneuploidy. Thus it should be difficult, if not impossible, to maintain the particular karyotype of a highly aneuploid cancer cell on clonal propagation. This prediction was confirmed with clonal cultures of chemically transformed, aneuploid Chinese hamster embryo cells. It was found that the higher the ploidy factor of a clone, the more unstable was its karyotype. The ploidy factor is the quotient of the modal chromosome number divided by the normal number of the species. Transformed Chinese hamster embryo cells with a ploidy factor of 1.7 were estimated to change their karyotype at a rate of about 3% per generation, compared with 1.8% for cells with a ploidy factor of 0.95. Because the background noise of karyotyping is relatively high, the cells with low ploidy factor may be more stable than our method suggests. The karyotype instability of human colon cancer cell lines, recently analyzed by Lengnauer et al. [Lengnauer, C. , Kinzler, K. W. & Vogelstein, B. (1997) Nature (London) 386, 623-627], also corresponds exactly to their degree of aneuploidy. We conclude that aneuploidy is sufficient to explain genetic instability and the resulting karyotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity of cancer cells, independent of gene mutation. Because aneuploidy has also been proposed to cause cancer, our hypothesis offers a common, unique mechanism of altering and simultaneously destabilizing normal cellular phenotypes.
Investigation of Details in the Transition to Synchronization in Complex Networks by Using Recurrence Analysis

The study of synchronization in complex networks is useful for understanding a variety of systems, including neural systems. However, the properties of the transition to synchronization are still not well known. In this work, we analyze the details of the transition to synchronization in complex networks composed of bursting oscillators under small-world and scale-free topologies using recurrence quantification analysis, specifically the determinism. We demonstrate the existence of non-stationarity states in the transition region. In the small-world network, the transition region denounces the existence of two-state intermittency.
From Unidentified to ‘Misidentified’ Newborn: Male Bias in Recognition of Sex

Our study tests in newborns the perceptual bias described in 1979 by Hildebrandt and Fitzgerald in recognizing the sex of infants, using videorecords instead of still photographs. Analysis showed a tendency for young adults to perceive newborn infants as male immediately after birth, and this perceptual bias diminished if the babies smile.
Circumpolar transport and air-surface exchange of atmospheric mercury at Ny-Ålesund ( 79 ◦ N ) , Svalbard , spring 2002

Mercury in different environmental compartments has been measured at NyÅlesund (7854 N, 1153 E) during an intensive campaign, 17 April to 14 May 2002. Timeresolved speciated determination of mercury in the atmosphere and snow was conducted at the Norwegian research station at the Zeppelin mountain, 474 m above the sea level, and at the Italian research facility Dirigibile Italia, 12 m above the sea level. Total Gaseous Mercury (TGM) was present in the range<0.1 to 2.2 ng m−3 during the campaign. Three mercury depletion events, identified as periods with decreased TGM concentrations, were observed. At the lower altitude, TGM concentrations following such events were found to exhibit both higher magnitude and larger variability in comparison to results from the Zeppelin station. Oxidised mercury species in air and fall-out with snow as well as mercury attached to particles were also measured and their concentrations were found to be anti-correlated with TGM in air. concentrations of total Hg in snow (Hg-tot) showed a large ( ∼15×) increase in response to Gaseous Elemental Mercury Depletion Events (GEMDEs, range 1.5– 76.5 ng L−1). Solid evidence for photo-stimulated emissions of Hg0(g) from the snow pack in conjunction to depletion events were obtained from gradient measurements as well as from flux chamber measurements. Steep diurnal concentration variations of Hg 0(aq) in surface seawater were also found to concur with changing solar radiation. The concentration of Hg0(aq) in seawater was found to be in the range 12.2–70.4 pg L −1, which corresponds to supersaturation. Hence, the seawater surface constituted a source emitting elemental mercury. The concentrations of RGM (reactive gaseous mercury), Hg-p (particulate mercury), and BrO Correspondence to: J. Sommar (sommar@chem.gu.se) column densities (detected by DOAS) were very low except for a few individual samples during the major Hg 0 depletion event. BrO vertical column densities obtained by the remote satellite ESR-2 and trajectory analysis indicate that the air masses exhibiting low Hg 0 concentrations originated from areas with high BrO densities.
Helicobacter pylori and Perinatal Pathologies: Pathogen Transmission During Childbirth?

Perinatal pathologies are diseases that show up during pregnancy until after the boy or girl´s birth, up to 28 days of life approximately. Helicobacter pylori infection is more frequent during pregnancy because in this period there is a decrease of the immune response mediated by cytotoxic cells with preservation of innate humoral immunity that causes bacterial activation and consequently a negative impact both for the mother´s as well as for the fetus´s health. Some of the perinatal pathologies related to this particular infection are: hyperemesis gravidarum, iron-deficiency anemia, restriction of intrauterine growth, spontaneous abortion and preeclampsia. The purpose of this review is to analyze pathologies linked to Helicobacter pylori infection during the pregnancy and find out if this pathogen can be transmitted from the mother to the child. It is concluded that the presence of Helicobacter pylori is considered a risk factor for each one of the aforementioned perinatal pathologies. However, this subject still needs further study, altogether with the potential impact of the pre-conception research and Helicobacter pylori infection eradication during this particular period. Vaginal yeast would be the main reservoir of this microorganism and it would enable its transmission to new-born babies.
Impact of experience on maintenance skills

This study reports results from an empirical study of 54 software maintainers in the software maintenance department of a Norwegian company. The study addresses the relationship between amount of experience and maintenance skills. The findings were, amongst others, as follows. (1) While there may have been a reduction in the frequency of major unexpected problems from tasks solved by very inexperienced to medium experienced maintainers, additional years of general software maintenance experience did not lead to further reduction. More application specific experience, however, further reduced the frequency of major unexpected problems. (2) The most experienced maintainers did not predict maintenance problems better than maintainers with little or medium experience. (3) A simple one-variable model outperformed the maintainers' predictions of maintenance problems, i.e. the average prediction performance of the maintainers seems poor. An important reason for the weak correlation between length of experience and ability to predict maintenance problems may be the lack of meaningful feedback on the predictions.
Effects of perceptual and contextual enrichment on visual confrontation naming in adult aging.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of enriching line drawings with color/texture and environmental context as a facilitator of naming speed and accuracy in older adults. METHOD Twenty young and 23 older adults named high-frequency picture stimuli from the Boston Naming Test (Kaplan, Goodglass, & Weintraub, 2001) under three conditions: (a) black-and-white items, (b) colorized-texturized items, and (c) scene-primed colored items (e.g., "hammock" preceded 1,000 ms by a backyard scene). RESULTS With respect to speeded naming latencies, mixed-model analyses of variance revealed that young adults did not benefit from colorization-texturization but did show scene-priming effects. In contrast, older adults failed to show facilitation effects from either colorized-texturized or scene-primed items. Moreover, older adults were consistently slower to initiate naming than were their younger counterparts across all conditions. CONCLUSIONS Perceptual and contextual enrichment of sparse line drawings does not appear to facilitate visual confrontation naming in older adults, whereas younger adults do tend to show benefits of scene priming. We interpret these findings as generally supportive of a processing speed account of age-related object picture-naming difficulty.
Short Notes on the Myology of the American Black Bear (Ursus americanus).

LAST May I was fortunate enough to obtain a fine specimen of the American Black Bear, which had been killed by its mate in a bear-pit kept by a notorious character in this city. The bear was a male, and between six and seven years old. He measured, from the tip of his nose to the end of his toes, 7 feet 6 inches, and was in good condition. The brain had been removed when he came into my possession, and, in consequence, the occipital portion of the skull was much mutilated. The following account does not profess to be a complete one of the myology, my attention having been chiefly directed to the muscles of the limbs. In my description of the muscles I have taken human anatomy, with which I am best acquainted, as the standard.1
Species interactions mediate thermal evolution

Understanding whether populations and communities can evolve fast enough to keep up with ongoing climate change is one of the most pressing issues in biology today. A growing number of studies have documented rapid evolutionary responses to warming, suggesting that populations may be able to persist despite temperature increases. The challenge now is to better understand how species interactions, which are ubiquitous in nature, mediate these population responses to warming. Here, we use laboratory natural selection experiments in a freshwater community to test hypotheses related to how thermal evolution of Daphnia pulex to two selection temperatures (12 and 18°C) is mediated by rapid thermal evolution of its algal resource (Scenedesmus obliquus) or by the presence of the zooplankton predator Chaoborus americanus. We found that cold‐evolved algae (a high‐quality resource) facilitated the evolution of increased thermal plasticity in Daphnia populations selected at 12°C, for both body size and per capita growth rates (r). Conversely, warm‐evolved algae facilitated the evolution of increased r thermal plasticity for Daphnia selected at 18°C. Lastly, we found that the effect of selection temperature on evolved Daphnia body size was more pronounced when Daphnia were also reared with predators. These data demonstrate that trait evolution of a focal population to the thermal environment can be affected by both bottom‐up and top‐down species interactions and that rapid temperature evolution of a resource can have cascading effects on consumer thermal evolution. Our study highlights the importance of incorporating species interactions when estimating ecological and evolutionary responses of populations and communities to ongoing temperature warming.
NMV optimal estimation for nonlinear discrete-time multi-channel systems

A nonlinear operator approach to estimation in discrete-time multivariable systems is described. It involves inferential estimation of a signal which enters a communications channel involving both nonlinearities and transport delays. The measurements are assumed to be corrupted by a colored noise signal which is correlated with the signal to be estimated. The system model also includes a communications channel involving hard or dynamic nonlinearities. The signal and noise channels are represented in a very general nonlinear operator form. The algorithm is relatively simple to derive and to implement. The optimal nonlinear estimator is derived in terms of the nonlinear operators that describe the system. The results are the dual of the nonlinear generalized minimum variance control problem that has been very successful in providing a practical simple algorithm for nonlinear processes.
Paired termini stabilize antisense RNAs and enhance conditional gene silencing in Escherichia coli

Reliable methods for conditional gene silencing in bacteria have been elusive. To improve silencing by expressed antisense RNAs (asRNAs), we systematically altered several design parameters and targeted multiple reporter and essential genes in Escherichia coli. A paired termini (PT) design, where flanking inverted repeats create paired dsRNA termini, proved effective. PTasRNAs targeted against the ackA gene within the acetate kinase-phosphotransacetylase operon (ackA-pta) triggered target mRNA decay and a 78% reduction in AckA activity with high genetic penetrance. PTasRNAs are abundant and stable and function through an RNase III independent mechanism that requires a large stoichiometric excess of asRNA. Conditional ackA silencing reduced carbon flux to acetate and increased heterologous gene expression. The PT design also improved silencing of the essential fabI gene. Full anti-fabI PTasRNA induction prevented growth and partial induction sensitized cells to a FabI inhibitor. PTasRNAs have potential for functional genomics, antimicrobial discovery and metabolic flux control.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa Type III secretion system interacts with phagocytes to modulate systemic infection of zebrafish embryos

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen that can cause serious infection in those with deficient or impaired phagocytes. We have developed the optically transparent and genetically tractable zebrafish embryo as a model for systemic P. aeruginosa infection. Despite lacking adaptive immunity at this developmental stage, zebrafish embryos were highly resistant to P. aeruginosa infection, but as in humans, phagocyte depletion dramatically increased their susceptibility. The virulence of an attenuated P. aeruginosa strain lacking a functional Type III secretion system was restored upon phagocyte depletion, suggesting that this system influences virulence through its effects on phagocytes. Intravital imaging revealed bacterial interactions with multiple blood cell types. Neutrophils and macrophages rapidly phagocytosed and killed P. aeruginosa, suggesting that both cell types play a role in protection against infection. Intravascular aggregation of erythrocytes and other blood cells with resultant circulatory blockage was observed immediately upon infection, which may be relevant to the pathogenesis of thrombotic complications of human P. aeruginosa infections. The real‐time visualization capabilities and genetic tractability of the zebrafish infection model should enable elucidation of molecular and cellular details of P. aeruginosa pathogenesis in conditions associated with neutropenia or impaired phagocyte function.
Parecoxib relieves pain and has an opioid-sparing effect following major gastrointestinal surgery

Purpose Parecoxib provides analgesia following a variety of surgeries, including minor gastrointestinal procedures. To our knowledge, there is no data on parecoxib following major gastrointestinal surgery. This study assessed the efficacy and opioid-sparing effects of parecoxib following major gastrointestinal surgeries. Patients and methods Patients in this analysis were a subset from a large, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of parecoxib following noncardiac surgeries and consisted of those undergoing a variety of major gastrointestinal surgeries via laparotomy. Pain, pain interference with function, supplemental opioid utilization, opioid-related symptoms, and Patient/Physician Global Evaluation of Study Medication were compared between placebo and parecoxib groups in the 2−3 days following surgery. Results Significantly (p<0.001) lower pain scores were observed in the parecoxib group (n=111), relative to placebo (n=126), on Day 2 (−33%) and Day 3 (−35%). Pain interference with function scores was also significantly (p<0.001) lower among patients receiving parecoxib compared with placebo on Day 2 (−29%) and Day 3 (−36%). At 24, 48, and 72 hours, the cumulative amount of supplemental morphine consumed was 45%, 41%, and 40% less in patients receiving parecoxib compared with placebo (all p<0.001). The risk of experiencing ≥1 opioid-related symptoms was also significantly lower with parecoxib than with placebo on Day 2 (relative risk=0.75; p<0.001). Specifically, the risks of fatigue and drowsiness were significantly (both p<0.05) lower in patients receiving parecoxib compared to those receiving placebo. Patient and Physician Global Evaluation of Study Medication scores were significantly better in the parecoxib group than in the placebo group (p<0.001). Conclusion This study is the first to demonstrate that multiple-dose parecoxib, initiated upon recovery from anesthesia, provides analgesia and opioid-sparing effects following a variety of major gastrointestinal surgeries employing laparotomy.
Dyslexic children have abnormal brain lactate response to reading-related language tasks.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Children with dyslexia have difficulty learning to recognize written words owing to subtle deficits in oral language related to processing sounds and accessing words automatically. The purpose of this study was to compare regional changes in brain lactate between dyslexic children and control subjects during oral language activation. METHODS Brain lactate metabolism was measured during four different cognitive tasks (three language tasks and one nonlanguage task) in six dyslexic boys and in seven control subjects (age- and IQ-matched right-handed boys who are good readers) using a fast MR spectroscopic imaging technique called proton echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (1-cm3 voxel resolution). The area under the N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and lactate peaks was measured to calculate the lactate/NAA ratio in each voxel. RESULTS Dyslexic boys showed a greater area of brain lactate elevation (2.33+/-SE 0.843 voxels) as compared with the control group (0.57+/-SE 0.30 voxels) during a phonological task in the left anterior quadrant. No significant differences were observed in the nonlanguage tasks. CONCLUSION Dyslexic and control children differ in brain lactate metabolism when performing language tasks, but do not differ in nonlanguage auditory tasks.
Anatomical Consideration of the Anterolateral Ligament of the Knee

Many researchers have studied the structures of the anterolateral part of the knee. Several researchers have investigated the existence of the anterolateral ligament (ALL) and its frequency has been inconsistently reported. Therefore, we assessed whether the ALL is the anatomical true ligament and studied the morphological variations of this structure. Sixty-four Korean adult cadavers (120 knees, mean age: 79.1 years) were used for this study. The lateral part of the knee joint was carefully dissected with internal rotation of the tibia. We checked the existence and morphological features and measured the dimensions (length, width, and thickness) of the ALL. The ALL was clearly distinguished from the capsulo-osseous layer of the iliotibial tract and runs obliquely from the lateral femoral epicondyle to the tibial plateau. The ALL was found in 42.5% of the samples, and 15 cadavers had ALLs in both knees. There was no prevalence difference between females and males. Most of the anterior border of the ALL was blended with the knee capsule. Therefore, we concluded that this structure is a local thickening of the capsule in the anterolateral region of the knee, where it possibly developed against some external physical stress. Therefore, the ALLs in this present study can be defined as a capsular ligament of the knee and, as per the nomenclature of the capsular ligament, can be also called the ‘anterolateral (capsular) ligament'.