Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New Trends in Neuromodulation for the Management of Neuropathic Pain

SINCE ITS FIRST application in 1967, the methodology and technology of spinal cord stimulation for the management of chronic, intractable pain have evolved continuously. Despite these developments and improved knowledge of the effects of spinal anatomy and epidural contact configuration on paresthesia coverage, the clinical results of spinal cord stimulation—particularly the long-term effects—are still unsatisfactory in many patients. This dissatisfaction has come primarily from the failure of single-electrode configurations to provide consistent paresthesia coverage of the entire painful area. Therefore, new approaches were developed during the late 1990s that attempted to selectively cover one or more dermatomes with paresthesia as well as to provide sequential stimulation of different anatomic sites. These approaches have been applied both intraspinally and extraspinally by stimulating either the spinal nerves or the dorsal columns. To target parts of the latter, different methods have been developed and tested using either two-dimensional contact configurations or electronic field steering. These developments hold promise for improving long-term outcomes as well as increasing the number of pain conditions that can be treated with neuromodulation therapy. In this review, the history, theoretical basis, and evolution of these methodologies, as well as the ways in which they represent new trends in neuromodulation, are discussed.
Effect of genotype on the efficiency of mouse embryo cryopreservation by vitrification or slow freezing methods

We examined possible genotype effects on the survival of 8‐ to 16‐cell mouse embryos isolated from four inbred strains (C57BL/6N, BALB/cAnN, DBA/2N, and C3H/HeN), a outbred stock (ICR), and various crosses after cryopreservation by vitrification or conventional slow freezing using glycerol solutions. The rates of in vitro development of C57BL/6N, BALB/cAnN, C3H/HeN, and ICR embryos to expanded blastocysts ranged from 86% to 94% after slow freezing and 85% to 97% after vitrification. The cryopreservation method did not significantly influence in vitro embryo survival after thawing (P >0.05). Although genotype significantly influenced the in vitro survival of embryos (P = 0.008), this presumably resulted from an increased difficulty in assessing the quality grade of C3H/HeN embryos prior to cryopreservation. The rates in vivo development of C57BL/6N, BALB/cAnN, C3H/HeN, DBA/2N, and ICR embryos to normal day 18–19 fetuses ranged from 19% to 64% after slow freezing and from 18% to 63% after vitrification. The in vivo development of cryopreserved embryos was significantly influenced by cryopreservation method and genotype (P = 0.01 and P = 0.001, respectively). Vitrification yielded significantly higher rates of in vivo development than that after slow freezing (P > 0.05). In vivo development rates of DBA/2N and ICR♀ X B6D2F1 ♂ embryos after cryopreservation were significantly higher than that of embryos from BALB/cAnN and C3H/HeN mice (P < 0.05). These results indicate that parental genotype exerts little or no effect on the ability of embryos to develop in vitro after vitrification or slow freezing. Differences in the ability of cryopreserved embryos to develop normally in vivo may reflect inherent genotype related differences in their post‐implantation developmental potential and not their sensitivity to cryoinjury. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.
The Cardiac Self-Efficacy Scale, a useful tool with potential to evaluate person-centred care

Background: Cardiac self-efficacy is a person’s belief in his/her ability to manage the challenges posed by a coronary disease, and its role has been evaluated in several coronary populations using the Cardiac Self-Efficacy Scale (CSE Scale). Self-efficacy has an important role in person-centred care, however there is a lack of appropriate instruments that evaluate person-centred interventions. Aim: The purpose of this study was to validate the CSE Scale by examining its psychometric properties as a first step in evaluating a person-centred care intervention in persons with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods: The study sample consisted of 288 persons (72 women, 216 men) who completed the Swedish version of the CSE Scale two months after hospitalisation for an ACS event. Construct validity was psychometrically evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis. Additionally, convergent and discriminant validity were tested using correlation analyses. Results: The results revealed that the CSE Scale was represented by three dimensions (control symptoms, control illness and maintain functioning). The analyses also showed that the CSE Scale is suitable for providing a total summary score that represents a global cardiac self-efficacy dimension. Evaluation of convergent and discriminant validity showed the expected correlations. Conclusion: The CSE Scale is a valid and reliable measure when evaluating self-efficacy in patients with ACS. It also seems to be a useful tool to promote person-centred care in clinical practice since it may offer useful guidance in the dialogue with the patient in the common creation of a personal health plan.
Aging of human short-wave cone pathways

The retinal image is sampled concurrently, and largely independently, by three physiologically and anatomically distinct pathways, each with separate ON and OFF subdivisions. The retinal circuitry giving rise to an ON pathway receiving input from the short-wave-sensitive (S) cones is well understood, but the S-cone OFF circuitry is more controversial. Here, we characterize the temporal properties of putative S-cone ON and OFF pathways in younger and older observers by measuring thresholds for stimuli that produce increases or decreases in S-cone stimulation, while the middle- and long-wave-sensitive cones are unmodulated. We characterize the data in terms of an impulse response function, the theoretical response to a flash of infinitely short duration, from which the response to any temporally varying stimulus may be predicted. Results show that the S-cone response to increments is faster than to decrements, but this difference is significantly greater for older individuals. The impulse response function amplitudes for increment and decrement responses are highly correlated across individuals, whereas the timing is not. This strongly suggests that the amplitude is controlled by neural circuitry that is common to S-cone ON and OFF responses (photoreceptors), whereas the timing is controlled by separate postreceptoral pathways. The slower response of the putative OFF pathway is ascribed to different retinal circuitry, possibly attributable to a sign-inverting amacrine cell not present in the ON pathway. It is significant that this pathway is affected selectively in the elderly by becoming slower, whereas the temporal properties of the S-cone ON response are stable across the life span of an individual.
Asymptotics for dependent sums of random vectors

We consider sequences of length m of n-tuples each with k nonzero entries chosen randomly from an Abelian group or finite field. For what values of m does there exist a subsequence which is zero-sum or linearly dependent, respectively? We report some results relating to these problems. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Random Struct. Alg. , 14, 267–292, 1999
Split menus: effectively using selection frequency to organize menus

When some items in a menu are selected more frequently than others, as is often the case, designers or individual users may be able to speed performance and improve preference ratings by placing several high-frequency items at the top of the menu. Design guidelines for split menus were developed and applied. Split menus were implemented and tested in two in situ usability studies and a controlled experiment. In the usability studies performance times were reduced by 17 to 58% depending on the site and menus. In the controlled experiment split menus were significantly faster than alphabetic menus and yielded significantly higher subjective preferences. A possible resolution to the continuing debate among cognitive theorists about predicting menu selection times is offered. We conjecture and offer evidence that, at least when selecting items from pull-down menus, a logarithmic model applies to familiar (high-frequency) items, and a linear model to unfamiliar (low-frequency) items.
Prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis Among Females Visiting Some Selected Hospitals in Makurdi, Benue State Nigeria

A study of Trichomonas vaginalis infection among females visiting some selected hospitals in Makurdi metropolis, Benue State was carried out. A total of 200 females of 15 years and above, who attended BSUTH, City Hospital Makurdi, Bishop Murray Medical Centre and Immaculate Conception Hospital were involved in the study. Structured questionnaires were used to gather demographic information from the individuals. One hundred and nine (109) samples of urine and ninety one (91) samples of high virginal swab (HVS) were collected using sterile urine bottles and sterile non-abrasive high virginal swab sticks. All samples were examined microscopically within two hours of collection. The presence of T. vaginalis was detected by its characteristic jerky movement in the wet preparation. Results showed that 21 (10.5%) urine and HVS samples were positive. The highest prevalence of infection was within the age group of 21-26 years (P>0.05) followed by 15-20 years with (14.3%). There was no significant difference in infection rate in relation to the nature of sample collected (P>0.05). There was however, a significant difference in infection rate between rural 16 (23.5%) and urban 5 (3.8%) patients (P < 0.05). There is a need to focus on the predisposing factors making ladies vulnerable to infection especially in the villages.
Analysis of the Esthetic Components of Smile in a Section of North Indian Population

Corresponding Author: Amrita Grover, Postgraduate Student Department of Prosthodontics and Crown and Bridge and Implants Manav Rachna Dental College, Faridabad, Haryana, India, Phone: +919899299198, e-mail: amritagrover28@gmail.com ABSTRACT Aim: To evaluate the existence of different esthetic smile criteria in a section of North Indian population. Materials and methods: A total of 100 students from Manav Rachna International University were selected based on the inclusion criteria. Two photographs were taken (smiling face and smile) using Digital Single Lens Reflex camera. The statistical analyses used were descriptive statistical tests and Spearman correlation after the images were analyzed using Digimizer image analysis software for different esthetic smile criteria. Results: The coincidence of the facial midline with the arch midline occurred in more than half of the students. Most of the subjects presented parallelism between the incisal plane and the interpupillary line. Mostly parallel or straight smiles were also most commonly observed and the gingival display and the amount of gingival display were relatively less observed. Conclusion: There exists a relationship between facial midline, interpupillary line, smile arc, gingival display, and facial esthetics. Clinical significance: This article describes the existence of different esthetic smile criteria in enhancing the facial esthetics for a pleasing smile.
Holocene thermokarst and pingo development in the Kolyma Lowland (NE Siberia)

Ground ice and sedimentary records of a pingo exposure reveal insights into Holocene permafrost, landscape and climate dynamics. Early to mid‐Holocene thermokarst lake deposits contain rich floral and faunal paleoassemblages, which indicate lake shrinkage and decreasing summer temperatures (chironomid‐based TJuly) from 10.5 to 3.5 cal kyr BP with the warmest period between 10.5 and 8 cal kyr BP. Talik refreezing and pingo growth started about 3.5 cal kyr BP after disappearance of the lake. The isotopic composition of the pingo ice (δ18O − 17.1 ± 0.6‰, δD −144.5 ± 3.4‰, slope 5.85, deuterium excess −7.7± 1.5‰) point to the initial stage of closed‐system freezing captured in the record. A differing isotopic composition within the massive ice body was found (δ18O − 21.3 ± 1.4‰, δD −165 ± 11.5‰, slope 8.13, deuterium excess 4.9± 3.2‰), probably related to the infill of dilation cracks by surface water with quasi‐meteoric signature. Currently inactive syngenetic ice wedges formed in the thermokarst basin after lake drainage. The pingo preserves traces of permafrost response to climate variations in terms of ground‐ice degradation (thermokarst) during the early and mid‐Holocene, and aggradation (wedge‐ice and pingo‐ice growth) during the late Holocene.
The Overall F-tests for Seasonal Unit Roots under Nonstationary Alternatives: Some Theoretical Results and a Monte Carlo Investigation

In many empirical studies concerning seasonal time series, it has been shown that the whole set of unit roots associated with seasonal random walks are not present. This article focuses on the overall F-tests for seasonal unit roots under some nonstationary alternatives different from the seasonal random walk. The asymptotic theory of these tests is established for these cases using a new approach based on circulant matrix concepts. The simulation results joined to this theoretic analysis showed that the overall F-tests, as well as their augmented versions, maintained high power against the nonstationary alternatives.
Detecting, Modeling, and Predicting User Temporal Intention in Social Media

The content of social media has grown exponentially in the recent years and its role has evolved from narrating life events to actually shaping them. Unfortunately, content posted and shared in social networks is vulnerable and prone to loss or change, rendering the context associated with it (a tweet, post, status, or others) meaningless. The user sharing the resource has an implicit temporal intent: either the state of the resource at the time of sharing, or the current state of the resource at the time of the reader “clicking”. In this research, we propose a model to detect and predict the user’s temporal intention of the author upon sharing content in the social network and of the reader upon resolving this content. Furthermore, the proposed model will result in two main beneﬁts. First, social media navigation will more closely match the implicit temporal intent of the users. Second, we will leverage the many existing public web archives and the Memento project to integrate the past and current web.
Role of ATM in the telomere response to the G-quadruplex ligand 360A

Telomeres are known to prevent chromosome ends from being recognized as DNA double-strand breaks. Conversely, many DNA damage response proteins, including ATM, are thought to participate to telomere maintenance. However, the precise roles of ATM at telomeres remain unclear due to its multiple functions in cell checkpoints and apoptosis. To gain more insights into the role of ATM in telomere maintenance, we determined the effects of the G-quadruplex ligand 360A in various cell lines lacking functional ATM. We showed, by using Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and Chromosome Orientation-FISH using telomere PNA probes, that 360A induced specific telomere aberrations occurring during or after replication, mainly consisting in sister telomere fusions and also recombinations that involved preferentially the lagging strand telomeres. We demonstrate that ATM reduced telomere instability independently of apoptosis induction. Our results suggest thus that ATM has a direct role in preventing inappropriate DNA repair at telomeres, which could be related to its possible participation to the formation of protected structures at telomeres.
Role of a positive regulator of root hair development, CAPRICE, in Arabidopsis root epidermal cell differentiation

In Arabidopsis, root hairs are formed only from a set of epidermal cells named trichoblasts or hair-forming cells. Previous studies showed CAPRICE (CPC) promotes differentiation of hair-forming cells by controlling a negative regulator, GLABRA2 (GL2), which is preferentially expressed in hairless cells. Here, we show that CPC is also predominantly expressed in the hairless cells, but not in the neighboring hair-forming cells, and that CPC protein moves to the hair-forming cells and represses the GL2 expression. We also show that the N terminus of bHLH protein interacts with CPC and is responsible for the GL2 expression. We propose a model in which CPC plays a key role in the fate-determination of hair-forming cells.
Efficient Algorithms for Constructing Very Sparse Spanners and Emulators

Miller et al. [48] devised a distributed1 algorithm in the CONGEST model that, given a parameter k = 1,2,…, constructs an O(k)-spanner of an input unweighted n-vertex graph with O(n1+1/k) expected edges in O(k) rounds of communication. In this article, we improve the result of Reference [48] by showing a k-round distributed algorithm in the same model that constructs a (2k−1)-spanner with O(n1+1/k}/ε) edges, with probability 1−ε for any ε>0. Moreover, when k=ω(log n), our algorithm produces (still in k rounds) ultra-sparse spanners, i.e., spanners of size n(1+ o(1)), with probability 1−o(1). To our knowledge, this is the first distributed algorithm in the CONGEST or in the PRAM models that constructs spanners or skeletons (i.e., connected spanning subgraphs) that are sparse. Our algorithm can also be implemented in linear time in the standard centralized model, and for large k, it provides spanners that are sparser than any other spanner given by a known (near-)linear time algorithm. We also devise improved bounds (and algorithms realizing these bounds) for (1+ε, β)-spanners and emulators. In particular, we show that for any unweighted n-vertex graph and any ε > 0, there exists a (1+ ε, (log log n / ε)log log n)-emulator with O(n) edges. All previous constructions of (1+ε, β)-spanners and emulators employ a superlinear number of edges for all choices of parameters. Finally, we provide some applications of our results to approximate shortest paths’ computation in unweighted graphs.
Organ System Network Disruption in Nonsurvivors of Critically Ill Patients

Objectives:As interactions of each organ system have been conceptually known to play an important role during life-threatening conditions, we quantitatively evaluated the organ system interactions in critically ill patients and examined the difference in the organ system network structure between the survivors and the nonsurvivors. Design:Prospective observational study. Settings:An ICU of a university hospital. Patients:Two hundred and eighty-two patients who were admitted to the ICU. Interventions:Blood samples were obtained at ICU admission. Measurements and Main Results:We analyzed the associations among nine representative laboratory variables of each organ system using network analysis. We compared the network structure of the variables in the 40 nonsurvivors with that in the 40 survivors. Their baseline characteristics, including the degree of organ dysfunction, were matched using propensity score matching method. Network structure was quantitatively evaluated using edge (significant correlation among variables evaluated by the p value), weight (connective strength of edge evaluated by coefficient), and cluster (group with tight connection evaluated by edge betweenness). The number of edges among the nine variables was significantly fewer for the nonsurvivors than for the severity-matched survivors (3 vs 12; p = 0.035). The mean weight of edges was significantly smaller for the nonsurvivors (0.055 vs 0.119; p = 0.007). The nine laboratory variables for the nonsurvivors were divided into a significantly larger number of clusters (7 vs 2; p = 0.001). Statistical conclusions were preserved with Bonferroni multiple comparison procedure. These findings were consistently observed in comparison of the 40 nonsurvivors with all the survivors. Conclusions:This study, as a preliminary proof-of-concept, quantitatively demonstrated a more disrupted network structure of organ systems in the nonsurvivors compared with that in the survivors. These observations suggest the necessity of assessment for organ system interactions to evaluate critically ill patients.
Detecting Area Sensitivity: A Comment on Previous Studies

Abstract Several studies have reported that some grassland birds are area sensitive; they exhibit a nonrandom avoidance of small fields. The methods used to test for area sensitivity, however, differed among studies. Some investigators sampled fields with sampling effort proportional to field size, whereas others used equal sampling effort in all fields. We created a simulation model with the same number of fields and field sizes as those examined in earlier studies to determine if birds that select habitat randomly would display area sensitivity if fields were sampled in proportion to their size. The three species that we modeled to settle randomly, upland sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda), Henslow's sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii) and eastern meadowlark (Sturnella magna), had positive relationships between occurrence and field size when a complete census or proportional sampling was used, and therefore, would have been considered area sensitive by the methods used by some previous authors. When equal-effort sampling was used, these species showed no relationship between occurrence and field size. Future studies on area sensitivity that use proportional sampling should compare results to a null model. Otherwise, conclusions made about area sensitivity may be erroneous because the response is a sampling artifact.
The critical role of mouse CD4+ cells in the rejection of highly disparate xenogeneic pig thymus grafts

Abstract: Long‐term survival of fetal pig thymus (FP THY) grafts and efficient repopulation of mouse CD4+ T cells is achieved in thymectomized (ATX) B6 mice that receive T and NK cell depletion by injection of a cocktail of mAbs (GK1.5, 2.43, 30‐H12, and PK136) and fetal pig thymus/liver (FP THY/LIV) grafts. The requirement for each mAb in this conditioning regimen in order to avoid the rejection of FP THY grafts has not yet been defined. In our present studies, CD4 cell‐depleted ATX B6 mice and euthymic MHC class II‐deficient (IIKO) mice were employed to investigate the role of mouse CD4+ cells in the rejection of FP THY grafts in vivo. After grafting FP THY/LIV to CD4+ cell‐depleted ATX B6 mice, efficient repopulation of mouse CD4+ T cells was observed in the periphery. However, only two of four mice had remaining FP THY grafts by 17 weeks post‐implantation, and these were of poor quality, whereas four of four T and NK cell‐depleted ATX B6 mice had well‐developed FP THY grafts. Furthermore, three of four FP THY/LIV‐grafted, CD4+ cell‐depleted ATX B6 mice rejected donor MHC‐matched pig skin grafts. In contrast, three of three FP THY/LIV grafted, T and NK cell‐depleted, ATX B6 mice accepted donor MHC‐matched pig skin grafts, suggesting that optimal tolerance to xenogeneic pig antigens was not achieved in mice conditioned only with anti‐CD4 mAb. ATX B6 mice treated with only anti‐CD8 mAb rejected FP THY completely by 6 weeks post‐grafting, a time when CD4+ cell‐depleted ATX B6 mice had well‐vascularized FP THY grafts. In addition, when euthymic IIKO mice were pre‐treated with the standard conditioning regimen that includes four different mAbs, FP THY grafts survived and supported the repopulation of mouse CD4+ T cells in the periphery, while high levels of mouse CD8+ T cells developed in host thymi. These studies suggest that mouse CD4+ T cells play a critical role in the acute rejection of xenogeneic FP THY grafts. Without help from CD4+ cells, mouse CD8+ cells, NK, NK/T, and TCR(γ/δ)+ T cells do not mediate acute rejection of FP THY grafts. Furthermore, our results suggest that other cell subsets besides CD4+ T cells play a role in the delayed rejection of highly disparate xenogeneic FP THY grafts.