Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of regional cerebral oxygenation in children with sleep-disordered breathing.

RATIONALE An association between neurocognitive deficits and pediatric sleep-disordered breathing has been suggested; however, weak correlations between disease severity and functional outcomes underscore the lack of knowledge regarding factors modulating cognitive morbidity of sleep-disordered breathing. OBJECTIVES To identify the parameters affected by sleep-disordered breathing that modulate cerebral oxygenation, an important determinant of cognition. A further objective was to use these parameters with demographic data to develop a predictive statistical model of pediatric cerebral oxygenation. METHODS Ninety-two children (14 control subjects, 32 with primary snoring, and 46 with obstructive sleep apnea) underwent polysomnography with continuous monitoring of cerebral oxygenation and blood pressure. Analysis of covariance was used to relate the blood pressure, sleep diagnostic parameters, and demographic characteristics to regional cerebral oxygenation. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS To account for anatomic variability, an index of cerebral oxygenation during sleep was derived by referencing the measurement obtained during sleep to that obtained during wakefulness. In a repeated measures model predicting the index of cerebral oxygenation, mean arterial pressure, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, female sex, age, and oxygen saturation had a positive effect on cerebral oxygenation levels, whereas arousal index and non-REM (NREM) sleep had a negative effect. CONCLUSIONS Increasing mean arterial pressure, age, oxygen saturation, and REM sleep augment cerebral oxygenation, while sleep-disordered breathing, male sex, arousal index, and NREM sleep diminish it. The proposed model may explain the sources of variability in cognitive function of children with sleep-disordered breathing.
Effects of Target Length on the Hybridization Efficiency and Specificity of rRNA-Based Oligonucleotide Microarrays

ABSTRACT The effect of target size on microarray hybridization efficiencies and specificity was investigated using a set of 166 oligonucleotide probes targeting the 16S rRNA gene of Escherichia coli. The targets included unfragmented native rRNA, fragmented rRNA (∼20 to 100 bp), PCR amplicons (93 to 1,480 bp), and three synthetic single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides (45 to 56 bp). Fluorescence intensities of probes hybridized with targets were categorized into classes I (81 to 100% relative to the control probe), II (61 to 80%), III (41 to 60%), IV (21 to 40%), V (6 to 20%), and VI (0 to 5%). Good hybridization efficiency was defined for those probes conferring intensities in classes I to IV; those in classes V and VI were regarded as weak and false-negative signals, respectively. Using unfragmented native rRNA, 13.9% of the probes had fluorescence intensities in classes I to IV, whereas the majority (57.8%) exhibited false-negative signals. Similar trends were observed for the 1,480-bp PCR amplicon (6.6% of the probes were in classes I to IV). In contrast, after hybridization of fragmented rRNA, the percentage of probes in classes I to IV rose to 83.1%. Likewise, when DNA target sizes were reduced from 1,480 bp to 45 bp, this percentage increased approximately 14-fold. Overall, microarray hybridization efficiencies and specificity were improved with fragmented rRNA (20 to 100 bp), short PCR amplicons (<150 bp), and synthetic targets (45 to 56 bp). Such an understanding is important to the application of DNA microarray technology in microbial community studies.
Detection of lexical and morphological anomalies by children with and without language impairment.

PURPOSE The abilities of 5-year-old children with and without language impairment (LI) to detect anomalies involving lexical items and grammatical morphemes in stories were compared. The influence of sentence versus discourse context on lexical anomaly detection rates was explored. METHOD The participants were read 3 story scripts and asked to detect the anomalies embedded in them. RESULTS Typically developing (TD) children outperformed their peers with LI across the board. For both groups, lexical anomalies were easier to detect than morphological anomalies. Similarly, anomalous nouns were easier for both groups to detect compared with anomalous verbs. The latter presented a particular challenge to the children with LI. Both groups had greater difficulty with lexical anomaly detection in discourse relative to sentence context. CONCLUSION These outcomes suggest that children's ability to detect anomalies is sensitive to the nature of the anomaly and the linguistic context involved in anomaly detection. Future research may address the relative role of linguistic and cognitive factors in anomaly detection.
The Companion Cell-Specific Arabidopsis Disaccharide Carrier AtSUC2 Is Expressed in Nematode-Induced Syncytia1

Cyst nematodes induce a metabolically highly active syncytial cell complex in host roots. The syncytia are symplastically isolated. Because they form a strong sink, assimilates must be imported via the apoplast, thus suggesting that specific membrane-bound sugar transport proteins are expressed and activated. To identify possible candidate genes, transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing different reporter genes under the control of different promoters from Arabidopsis sugar transporter genes were infected with the beet cyst nematode (Heterodera schachtii). With polymerase chain reaction, 13 additional sugar transporters were tested for their presence in the syncytia through the use of a syncytium-specific cDNA library. Analysis of the infected roots showed that the promoter of the sucrose (Suc) transporter AtSUC2 gene that codes for a companion cell-specific Suc transporter in noninfected plants was found to be expressed in syncytia. Its expression patterns in β-glucuronidase and green fluorescent protein plants were monitored. Syncytium-specific gene expression was confirmed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Results support the idea that AtSUC2 mediates the transmembrane transfer of Suc. AtSUC2 is the first disaccharide carrier described to be activated by pathogens.
Emotion's influence on memory for spatial and temporal context

Individuals report remembering emotional items vividly. It is debated whether this report reflects enhanced memory accuracy or a bias to believe emotional memories are vivid. We hypothesised emotion would enhance memory accuracy, improving memory for contextual details. The hallmark of episodic memory is that items are remembered in a spatial and temporal context, so we examined whether an item's valence (positive, negative) or arousal (high, low) would influence its ability to be remembered with those contextual details. Across two experiments, high-arousal items were remembered with spatial and temporal context more often than low-arousal items. Item valence did not influence memory for those details, although positive high-arousal items were recognised or recalled more often than negative items. These data suggest that emotion does not just bias participants to believe they have a vivid memory; rather, the arousal elicited by an event can benefit memory for some types of contextual details.
Automatic Bass Line Transcription from Polyphonic Music

This paper examines the transcription of just a single instrument from a rich, polyphonic audio stream. The ‘bass line’ in jazz and rock recordings was chosen for this as a reasonably separable instrument, given several assumptions. An algorithm is presented which performs the following, sequential steps: note onset location; note hypothesis generation; a hypothesis tracker; and finally a hypothesis resolver. Results are presented for examples taken from commercially available CDs which achieve a note recognition rate of 78.7%, using the metric of Kashino and Murase (1998).
Pharmacologic properties of AG-012986, a pan-cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor with antitumor efficacy

AG-012986 is a multitargeted cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor active against CDK1, CDK2, CDK4/6, CDK5, and CDK9, with selectivity over a diverse panel of non-CDK kinases. Here, we report the potent antitumor efficacies of AG-012986 against multiple tumor lines in vitro and in vivo. AG-012986 showed antiproliferative activities in vitro with IC50s of <100 nmol/L in 14 of 18 tumor cell lines. In vivo, significant antitumor efficacy induced by AG-012986 was seen (tumor growth inhibition, >83.1%) in 10 of 11 human xenograft tumor models when administered at or near the maximum tolerated dose for 8 or 12 days. AG-012986 caused dose-dependent hypophosphorylation at Ser795 of the retinoblastoma protein, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis in vitro. Colony-forming assays indicated that the potency of AG-012986 substantially decreased with treatment time of <24 h. In vivo, AG-012986 also showed dose-dependent retinoblastoma Ser795 hypophosphorylation, cell cycle arrest, decreased Ki-67 tumor staining, and apoptosis in conjunction with antitumor activity. Studies comparing i.p. bolus with s.c. implanted minipump dosing regimens revealed that in vivo efficacy correlated with the duration of minimally effective plasma levels rather than maximal drug plasma levels. Dosing optimization of AG-012986 provided guidance for selecting a treatment schedule to achieve the best antitumor efficacy while minimizing the risk of adverse side effects. [Mol Cancer Ther 2008;7(4):818–28]
Northern Winter Stationary Waves: Theory and Modeling

A review is provided of stationary wave theory, the theory for the deviations from zonal symmetry of the climate. To help focus the discussion the authors concentrate exclusively on northern winter. Several theoretical issues, including the external Rossby wave dispersion relation and vertical structure, critical latitude absorption, the nonlinear response to orography, and the interaction of forced wave trains with preexisting zonal asymmetries, are chosen for discussion while simultaneously presenting a decomposition of the wintertime stationary wave field using a nonlinear steady-state model.
Client-server computing in mobile environments

Recent advances in wireless data networking and portable information appliances have engendered a new paradigm of computing, called mobile computing, in which users carrying portable devices have access to data and information services regardless of their physical location or movement behavior. In the meantime, research addressing information access in mobile environments has proliferated. In this survey, we provide a concrete framework and categorization of the various ways of supporting mobile client-server computing for information access. We examine characteristics of mobility that distinguish mobile client-server computing from its traditional counterpart. We provide a comprehensive analysis of new paradigms and enabler concepts for mobile client-server computing, including mobile-aware adaptation, extended client-server model, and mobile data access. A comparative and detailed review of major research prototypes for mobile information access is also presented.
Antilisterial Activity of Nisin-Like Bacteriocin-Producing Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis Isolated from Traditional Sardinian Dairy Products

With the aim of selecting LAB strains with antilisterial activity to be used as protective cultures to enhance the safety of dairy products, the antimicrobial properties of 117 Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis isolated from artisanal Sardinian dairy products were evaluated, and six strains were found to produce bacteriocin-like substances. The capacity of these strains to antagonize Listeria monocytogenes during cocultivation in skimmed milk was evaluated, showing a reduction of L. monocytogenes counts of approximately 4 log units compared to the positive control after 24 h of incubation. In order for a strain to be used as bioprotective culture, it should be carefully evaluated for the presence of virulence factors, to determine what potential risks might be involved in its use. None of the strains tested was found to produce biogenic amines or to possess haemolytic activity. In addition, all strains were sensitive to clinically important antibiotics such as ampicillin, tetracycline, and vancomycin. Our results suggest that these bac+ strains could be potentially applied in cheese manufacturing to control the growth of L. monocytogenes.
The Roles of Users' Personal Characteristics and Organisational Support in the Attitude towards Using ERP Systems in a Spanish Public Hospital

Enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems enable central and integrative control over all processes throughout an organisation by ensuring one data entry point and the use of a common database. This paper analyses the attitude of healthcare personnel towards the use of an ERP system in a Spanish public hospital, identifying influencing factors. This research is based on a regression analysis of latent variables using the optimisation technique of partial least squares. We propose a research model including possible relationships among different constructs using the technology acceptance model. Our results show that the personal characteristics of potential users are key factors in explaining attitude towards using ERP systems.
Thrombolysis for Ischemic Stroke in Patients with Old Microbleeds on Pretreatment MRI

Background: Old asymptomatic microbleeds (MBs) visualized on T2-weighted MRI are indicative of microangiopathy. They may be a marker of increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) following thrombolysis. However, data regarding this potential risk are limited. Methods: A retrospective analysis of pretreatment T2-weighted MRI was performed in consecutive stroke patients who received intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). We aimed to assess the impact of MBs on the risk of cerebral bleeding. The frequency and location of MBs were assessed and compared with the location of ICH after thrombolysis. Results: Forty-four patients were studied. MBs were present on pretreatment MRI in 8 cases (18.2%). At day 1, symptomatic ICH occurred in none of 8 patients with MBs versus 1 of 36 patients without (NS). At day 1, ICH occurred in 3 of 8 patients with MBs versus 10 of 36 patients without (NS). At day 7, symptomatic ICH occurred in 1 of 8 patients with MBs versus 2 of 36 patients without (NS). At day 7, ICH occurred in 5 of 8 patients with MBs versus 12 of 36 patients without (NS). No ICH occurred at the site of an MB. ICH occurred within the ischemic area in all patients who bled. Conclusions: Our study suggests that stroke patients with a small number of MBs on pretreatment MRI could be treated safely with thrombolysis. Larger prospective studies are needed to address the predictive value of detection of MBs with regard to the risk of tPA-induced ICH.
Different Types of Errors in Saccadic Task Are Sensitive to Either Time of Day or Chronic Sleep Restriction

Circadian rhythms and restricted sleep length affect cognitive functions and, consequently, the performance of day to day activities. To date, no more than a few studies have explored the consequences of these factors on oculomotor behaviour. We have implemented a spatial cuing paradigm in an eye tracking experiment conducted four times of the day after one week of rested wakefulness and after one week of chronic partial sleep restriction. Our aim was to verify whether these conditions affect the number of a variety of saccadic task errors. Interestingly, we found that failures in response selection, i.e. premature responses and direction errors, were prone to time of day variations, whereas failures in response execution, i.e. omissions and commissions, were considerably affected by sleep deprivation. The former can be linked to the cue facilitation mechanism, while the latter to wake state instability and the diminished ability of top-down inhibition. Together, these results may be interpreted in terms of distinctive sensitivity of orienting and alerting systems to fatigue. Saccadic eye movements proved to be a novel and effective measure with which to study the susceptibility of attentional systems to time factors, thus, this approach is recommended for future research.
Skin Reflectance in the Han Chinese and Tibetan Populations

Genetic and environmental factors are involved in the determination of skin pigmentation in humans. With the recent development of statistical and genetic tools in mapping complex traits in humans, it is becoming feasible to utilize such methods in identifying genes involved in skin pigmentation. Furthermore, the use of new portable reflectance spectroscopy instruments such as the Photovolt ColorWalk colorimeter allows researchers to measure skin reflectance of a large number of subjects with ease and accuracy. We used a new portable instrument (Photovolt ColorWalk) to study the skin reflectance of 372 Han Chinese and 274 Tibetan individuals to establish background reflectance measurements of unexposed skin of the inner upper arm in these two populations. In addition, we explored the effect of various factors such as age and gender on skin reflectance.
Speciation and DNA barcodes: testing the effects of dispersal on the formation of discrete sequence clusters

Large-scale sequencing of short mtDNA fragments for biodiversity inventories (‘DNA barcoding’) indicates that sequence variation in animal mtDNA is highly structured and partitioned into discrete genetic clusters that correspond broadly to species-level entities. Here we explore how the migration rate, an important demographic parameter that is directly related to population isolation, might affect variation in the strength of mtDNA clustering among taxa. Patterns of mtDNA variation were investigated in two groups of beetles that both contain lineages occupying habitats predicted to select for different dispersal abilities: predacious diving beetles (Dytiscidae) in the genus Bidessus from lotic and lentic habitats across Europe and darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae) in the genus Eutagenia from sand and other soil types in the Aegean Islands. The degree of genetic clustering was determined using the recently developed ‘mixed Yule coalescent’ (MYC) model that detects the transition from between-species to within-population branching patterns. Lineages from presumed stable habitats, and therefore displaying lower dispersal ability and migration rates, showed greater levels of mtDNA clustering and geographical subdivision than their close relatives inhabiting ephemeral habitats. Simulations of expected patterns of mtDNA variation under island models showed that MYC clusters are only detected when the migration rates are much lower than the value of Nm=1 typically used to define the threshold for neutral genetic divergence. Therefore, discrete mtDNA clusters provide strong evidence for independently evolving populations or species, but their formation is suppressed even under very low levels of dispersal.
Ultrastructural analysis of catecholaminergic innervation in weaver and normal mouse cerebellar cortices

The noradrenergic innervation of the mouse cerebellum, which is known for its important modulatory function, was analyzed immunocytochemically with an antibody against tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate‐limiting enzyme in catecholamine biosynthesis. In control mice, the labeled afferent fibers belong to fine, beaded axons diffusely distributed throughout the cerebellar cortex. None of the 160 analyzed axon terminals established synaptic junctions with apposed neuronal elements. Thus, the cerebellar noradrenergic innervation is of the nonjunctional modality. Seventy‐five percent of the labeled varicosities were apposed to dendritic profiles belonging to Purkinje, granule, stellate, and basket cells, although Purkinje cell dendrites, including spines, were the most frequently found. These observations suggest that the modulatory function of noradrenergic afferent fibers is exerted through paracrine interactions. In the agranular cerebellar cortex of the weaver mutant mouse, the density of labeled fibers is greatly increased. However, despite the presence of innumerable free postsynaptic differentiations (mainly Purkinje cell dendritic spines), only 2 of 188 observed varicosities established synaptic junctions. Thus, in the absence of granule cells, the noradrenergic innervation does not evolve from nonjunctional to junctional innervation, as was the case for the cerebellar serotonergic system (Beaudet and Sotelo [1981] Brain Res. 206:305–329). This finding indicates that the axonal remodeling in granuloprival cerebella does not affect the noradrenergic afferent system. Therefore, the authors conclude that there is some degree of specificity in the formation of heterologous synapses during the axon remodeling process occurring in all agranular cerebella. J. Comp. Neurol. 426:316–329, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Genetic alterations and gene expression profile in male Balb/c mice treated with carbon tetrachloride with or without carboxymethyl chitosan

Carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC), which is a water-soluble derivative of chitosan, it has attracted much attention as a new biomedical material. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the chemopreventive effects of CMC against Carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 )-induced genotoxicity and alterations in gene expression in male Balb/c mice. Materials and Methods: Sixty male Balb/c mice were divided into six groups included the control group; the group treated orally with CCl 4 (0.5 ml/kg b.w) for three doses at 48 h intervals and the groups treated orally with CMC (140 and 280 mg/kg b.w.) alone for three weeks or in combination with CCl 4 . The results indicated that treatment with CCl 4 resulted in increased caspase-3 activities, induction of micronucleus (MnPCEs), frequencies of sister chromatid exchanges (SCE's), total chromosomal aberrations in bone marrow, DNA fragmentation percentage in liver, comet formation in liver and bone marrow, over expression in bax and down expression in Bcl-2. CMC at the two tested doses succeeded to induce a significant improvement in all tested parameters in a dose dependent fashion. Moreover, CMC itself was safe at the tested doses. It could be concluded that CMC is a promise candidate against genotoxicity. (Sekena H. Abdel-Aziem, Aziza M. Hassan, Asmaa S. Salman, Ahmed I.Waly, Mosaad A. Abdel-Wahhab. Genetic alterations and gene expression profile in male Balb/c mice treated with carbon tetrachloride with or without carboxy-methyl chitosan. Journal of American Science 2011;7(6):1065-1076). (ISSN: 1545- 1003). http://www.americanscience. org.