Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cognitive Training for Post-Acute Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective: To quantitatively aggregate effects of cognitive training (CT) on cognitive and functional outcome measures in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) more than 12-months post-injury. Design: We systematically searched six databases for non-randomized and randomized controlled trials of CT in TBI patients at least 12-months post-injury reporting cognitive and/or functional outcomes. Main Measures: Efficacy was measured as standardized mean difference (Hedges’ g) of post-training change. We investigated heterogeneity across studies using subgroup analyses and meta-regressions. Results: Fourteen studies encompassing 575 patients were included. The effect of CT on overall cognition was small and statistically significant (g = 0.22, 95%CI 0.05 to 0.38; p = 0.01), with low heterogeneity (I2 = 11.71%) and no evidence of publication bias. A moderate effect size was found for overall functional outcomes (g = 0.32, 95%CI 0.08 to 0.57, p = 0.01) with low heterogeneity (I2 = 14.27%) and possible publication bias. Statistically significant effects were also found only for executive function (g = 0.20, 95%CI 0.02 to 0.39, p = 0.03) and verbal memory (g = 0.32, 95%CI 0.14 to 0.50, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Despite limited studies in this field, this meta-analysis indicates that CT is modestly effective in improving cognitive and functional outcomes in patients with post-acute TBI and should therefore play a more significant role in TBI rehabilitation.
The basic chemistry of exercise-induced DNA oxidation: oxidative damage, redox signaling, and their interplay

Acute exercise increases reactive oxygen and nitrogen species generation. This phenomenon is associated with two major outcomes: (1) redox signaling and (2) macromolecule damage. Mechanistic knowledge of how exercise-induced redox signaling and macromolecule damage are interlinked is limited. This review focuses on the interplay between exercise-induced redox signaling and DNA damage, using hydroxyl radical (·OH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as exemplars. It is postulated that the biological fate of H2O2 links the two processes and thus represents a bifurcation point between redox signaling and damage. Indeed, H2O2 can participate in two electron signaling reactions but its diffusion and chemical properties permit DNA oxidation following reaction with transition metals and ·OH generation. It is also considered that the sensing of DNA oxidation by repair proteins constitutes a non-canonical redox signaling mechanism. Further layers of interaction are provided by the redox regulation of DNA repair proteins and their capacity to modulate intracellular H2O2 levels. Overall, exercise-induced redox signaling and DNA damage may be interlinked to a greater extent than was previously thought but this requires further investigation.
Management of cancer pain.

Enormous advances have occurred in the past two decades in our understanding of cancer pain and in our capacity to relieve it in most cases. Progress has been made in our understanding of the pathogenesis of nociception, the epidemiology of cancer pain, the validation of effective treatment algorithms, and the evaluation of novel pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches to ameliorate pain. Paralleling these developments in research, pain management has emerged as a priority in healthcare policy and medical education.
The one-way quantum computer--a non-network model of quantum computation

A one-way quantum computer (QC C ) works by performing a sequence of one-qubit measurements on a particular entangled multi-qubit state, the cluster state. No non-local operations are required in the process of computation. Any quantum logic network can be simulated on the QC C . On the other hand, the network model of quantum computation cannot explain all ways of processing quantum information possible with the QC C . In this paper, two examples of the non-network character of the QC C are given. First, circuits in the Clifford group can be performed in a single time step. Second, the QC C -realization of a particular circuit—the bit-reversal gate—has no network interpretation.
Conflicting patterns of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA diversity in Phylloscopus warblers

Molecular variation is often used to infer the demographic history of species, but sometimes the complexity of species history can make such inference difficult. The willow warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus, shows substantially less geographical variation than the chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita, both in morphology and in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) divergence. We therefore predicted that the willow warbler should harbour less nuclear DNA diversity than the chiffchaff. We analysed sequence data obtained from multiple samples of willow warblers and chiffchaffs for the mtDNA cytochrome b gene and four nuclear genes. We confirmed that the mtDNA diversity among willow warblers is low (π = 0.0021). Sequence data from three nuclear genes (CHD‐Z, AFLP‐WW1 and MC1R) not linked to the mitochondria demonstrated unexpectedly high nucleotide diversity (π values of 0.0172, 0.0141 and 0.0038) in the willow warbler, on average higher than the nucleotide diversity for the chiffchaff (π values of 0.0025, 0.0017 and 0.0139). In willow warblers, Tajima's D analyses showed that the mtDNA diversity, but not the nuclear DNA diversity, has been reduced relative to the neutral expectation of molecular evolution, suggesting the action of a selective sweep affecting the maternally inherited genes. The large nuclear diversity seen within willow warblers is not compatible with processes of neutral evolution occurring in a population with a constant population size, unless the long‐term effective population size has been very large (Ne > 106). We suggest that the contrasting patterns of genetic diversity in the willow warbler may reflect a more complex evolutionary history, possibly including historical demographic fluctuations or historical male‐biased introgression of nuclear genes from a differentiated population of Phylloscopus warblers.
Evaluation of digital dental models obtained from dental cone-beam computed tomography scan of alginate impressions

Objective To investigate the dimensional accuracy of digital dental models obtained from the dental cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scan of alginate impressions according to the time elapse when the impressions are stored under ambient conditions. Methods Alginate impressions were obtained from 20 adults using 3 different alginate materials, 2 traditional alginate materials (Alginoplast and Cavex Impressional) and 1 extended-pour alginate material (Cavex ColorChange). The impressions were stored under ambient conditions, and scanned by CBCT immediately after the impressions were taken, and then at 1 hour intervals for 6 hours. After reconstructing three-dimensional digital dental models, the models were measured and the data were analyzed to determine dimensional changes according to the elapsed time. The changes within the measurement error were regarded as clinically acceptable in this study. Results All measurements showed a decreasing tendency with an increase in the elapsed time after the impressions. Although the extended-pour alginate exhibited a less decreasing tendency than the other 2 materials, there were no statistically significant differences between the materials. Changes above the measurement error occurred between the time points of 3 and 4 hours after the impressions. Conclusions The results of this study indicate that digital dental models can be obtained simply from a CBCT scan of alginate impressions without sending them to a remote laboratory. However, when the impressions are not stored under special conditions, they should be scanned immediately, or at least within 2 to 3 hours after the impressions are taken.
Natalizumab in the treatment of Crohn’s disease

The pathogenesis of Crohn’s disease (CD) is multifactorial and the activation of specific pathways of immunological system is important. In particular, the adhesion molecules (integrins) mediate the selective binding between the leukocytes and the endothelial cells regulating the migration of leukocytes into the normal and inflamed intestine. Selective adhesion molecule inhibitors interfere with the migration of leukocytes to the sites of inflammation by targeting adhesion molecules (α4-integrin or α4β7-integrin). Natalizumab is a humanized IgG4 anti-α4-integrin monoclonal antibody that inhibits both α4β7-integrin/mucosal addressin-cell adhesion molecule-1 (MadCAM-1) interaction and α4β1/vascular-cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) binding. Pooled data from the four studies, analyzed in a Cochrane review, suggest that natalizumab is effective for induction of clinical response and remission in patients with moderately to severely active CD. In particular, natalizumab may be beneficial for patients with active inflammation or chronically active disease despite the use of conventional therapies with high level of C-reactive protein values at baseline time. Nevertheless, many problems about the utilization of natalizumab in CD remain unsolved (such as the high placebo response, the final definition of dosage and timing schedule, the definition of outcomes and the development of adverse events).
Epigallocatechin gallate eye drops protect against ultraviolet B–induced corneal oxidative damage in mice

Purpose Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation from sunlight is a known risk factor for human corneal injury. The aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effects of green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on UVB radiation–induced corneal oxidative damage in male imprinting control region (ICR) mice. Methods Corneal oxidative damage was induced by exposure to UVB radiation at 560 μW/cm2. The animals received 0%, 0.1%, and 0.01% EGCG eye drops at a 5 mg/ml dose, twice daily for 8 days. Corneal surface damage was graded according to smoothness and the extent of lissamine green staining. Corneal glutathione (GSH), thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), and protein carbonyl levels, as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and glutathione reductase (GSH-Rd) activity in the cornea, were measured to monitor corneal injury. Results UVB radiation caused significant damage to the corneas, including apparent corneal ulceration and severe epithelial exfoliation, leading to a decrease in SOD, catalase, GSH-Px, GSH-Rd, and GSH activity in the cornea. However, the corneal TBARS and protein carbonyls increased compared with the control group. Treatment with EGCG eye drops significantly (p<0.05) ameliorated corneal damage, increased SOD, catalase, GSH-Px, GSH-Rd, and GSH activity, and decreased the TBARS and protein carbonyls in the corneas compared with the UVB-treated group. Conclusions EGCG eye drops exhibit potent protective effects on UVB radiation–induced corneal oxidative damage in mice, likely due to the increase in antioxidant defense system activity and the inhibition of lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation.
Frequency, predictors, and prognosis of ejection fraction improvement in heart failure: an echocardiogram-based registry study.

AIMS To identify variables predicting ejection fraction (EF) recovery and characterize prognosis of heart failure (HF) patients with EF recovery (HFrecEF). METHODS AND RESULTS Retrospective study of adults referred for ≥2 echocardiograms separated by ≥6 months between 2008 and 2016 at the two largest echocardiography centres in Alberta who also had physician-assigned diagnosis of HF. Of 10 641 patients, 3124 had heart failure reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) (EF ≤ 40%) at baseline: while mean EF declined from 30.2% on initial echocardiogram to 28.6% on the second echocardiogram in those patients with persistent HFrEF (defined by <10% improvement in EF), it improved from 26.1% to 46.4% in the 1174 patients (37.6%) with HFrecEF (defined by EF absolute improvement ≥10%). On multivariate analysis, female sex [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.40-1.96], younger age (aOR per decade 1.16, 95% CI 1.09-1.23), atrial fibrillation (aOR 2.00, 95% CI 1.68-2.38), cancer (aOR 1.52, 95% CI 1.03-2.26), hypertension (aOR 1.38, 95% CI 1.18-1.62), lower baseline ejection fraction (aOR per 1% decrease 1.07 (1.06-1.08), and using hydralazine (aOR 1.69, 95% CI 1.19-2.40) were associated with EF improvements ≥10%. HFrecEF patients demonstrated lower rates per 1000 patient years of mortality (106 vs. 164, adjusted hazard ratio, aHR 0.70 [0.62-0.79]), all-cause hospitalizations (300 vs. 428, aHR 0.87 [0.79-0.95]), all-cause emergency room (ER) visits (569 vs. 799, aHR 0.88 [0.81-0.95]), and cardiac transplantation or left ventricular assist device implantation (2 vs. 10, aHR 0.21 [0.10-0.45]) compared to patients with persistent HFrEF. Females with HFrEF exhibited lower mortality risk (aHR 0.94 [0.88-0.99]) than males after adjusting for age, time between echocardiograms, clinical comorbidities, medications, and whether their EF improved or not during follow-up. CONCLUSION HFrecEF patients tended to be younger, female, and were more likely to have hypertension, atrial fibrillation, or cancer. HFrecEF patients have a substantially better prognosis compared to those with persistent HFrEF, even after multivariable adjustment, and female patients exhibit lower mortality risk than men within each subgroup (HFrecEF and persistent HFrEF) even after multivariable adjustment.
Differentiating along rectangles in lacunary directions

We show that, given some lacunary sequence of angles $\mathbf{\theta}=(\theta_j)_{j\in\N}$ not converging too fast to zero, it is possible to build a rare differentiation basis $\mathcal{B}$ of rectangles parallel to the axes that differentiates $L^1(\mathbb{R}^2)$ while the basis $\mathcal{B}_{\mathbf{\theta}}$ obtained from $\mathcal{B}$ by allowing its elements to rotate around their lower left vertex by the angles $\theta_j$, $j\in\mathbb{N}$, fails to differentiate all Orlicz spaces lying between $L^1(\mathbb{R}^2)$ and $L\log L(\mathbb{R}^2)$.
Aerosol hygroscopicity and CCN activation kinetics in a boreal forest environment during the 2007 EUCAARI campaign

Measurements of size-resolved cloud condensa- tion nuclei (CCN) concentrations, subsaturated hygroscopic growth, size distribution, and chemical composition were collected from March through May, 2007, in the remote Bo- real forests of Hyyti ¨ al¨ a, Finland, as part of the European In- tegrated project on Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality Interactions (EUCAARI) campaign. Hygroscopicity param- eter, , distributions were derived independently from Con- tinuous Flow-Streamwise Thermal Gradient CCN Chamber (CFSTGC) and Hygroscopicity Tandem Differential Mobil- ity Analyzer (HTDMA) measurements. CFSTGC-derived values for 40, 60, and 80 nm particles range mostly between 0.10 and 0.40 with an average characteristic of highly oxi- dized organics of 0.20± 0.10, indicating that organics play a dominant role for this environment. HTDMA-derived were generally 30 % lower. Diurnal trends of show a min- imum at sunrise and a maximum in the late afternoon; this trend covaries with inorganic mass fraction and the m/z 44 organic mass fraction given by a quadrupole aerosol mass spectrometer, further illustrating the importance of organ-
Role of interleukin-1beta in the development of retinopathy in rats: effect of antioxidants.

PURPOSE Diabetic retinopathy is shown to share many similarities with chronic inflammatory disease, and in diabetes, accelerated apoptosis of retinal capillary cells is evident before histopathology can be seen. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of interleukin (IL)-1beta on capillary cell apoptosis in rat retina and to determine the effect of antioxidants on diabetes-induced changes in retinal IL-1beta. METHODS The effect of injection of IL-1beta into the vitreous (5 ng/5 microL) of normal rats on capillary cell apoptosis (detected by terminal transferase dUTP nick-end labeling [TUNEL]) and formation of acellular capillaries was investigated in the trypsin digested retinal microvessels. The levels of IL-1beta were quantified (by ELISA and Western blot) in the retina of rats diabetic for 2 months, and the effect of administration of antioxidants on diabetes-induced changes in retinal IL-1beta was determined. RESULTS The number of TUNEL-positive capillary cells in the retinal microvessels obtained from normal rats that received intravitreal injection of IL-1beta was increased by more than threefold and that of acellular capillaries by more than twofold, compared with the microvessels obtained from rats that received an intravitreal injection of PBS (5 microL) or BSA (5 ng/5 microL). IL-1beta also increased the levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (an indicator of oxidative stress) and nitric oxide by more than 40% and activated NF-kappaB by 35% to 55%. Two months of diabetes in rats increased retinal IL-1beta levels by more than twofold, and antioxidants inhibited such increases. CONCLUSIONS IL-1beta, by activation of NF-kappaB and an increase in oxidative stress, plays an important role in the retinal microvascular disease that is characteristic of diabetic retinopathy. Antioxidants inhibit diabetes-induced increases in retinal IL-1beta. These studies offer a possible rationale to test IL-1beta-targeted therapies to inhibit the development of retinopathy in diabetes.
Fingerprint classification with a new deep neural network model: robustness for different captures of the same fingerprints

The growth of fingerprint databases creates a need for strategies to reduce the identification time. Fingerprint classification reduces the search penetration rate by grouping the fingerprints into several classes. Typically, features describing the visual patterns of a fingerprint are extracted and fed to a classifier. The extraction can be time-consuming and error-prone, especially for fingerprints whose visual classification is dubious, and often includes a criterion to reject ambiguous fingerprints. In this paper, we propose to improve on this manually designed process by using deep neural networks, which extract implicit features directly from the images and perform the classification within a single learning process. We give a particular focus to the robustness of the classification, which we define as the consistent assignation of the same class to different captures of the same fingerprint, allowing for a maximum reduction of the penetration rate. With this objective in mind, we propose a specific network to tackle the classification problem. An extensive experimental study assesses that convolutional neural networks outperform all other tested approaches in terms of both accuracy and robustness, while not incurring into the rejection of low quality input fingerprints. The runtime of convolutional networks is also lower than that of combining feature extraction procedures with classification algorithms.
The effects of spatially distributed ionization sources on the temperature structure of H ii regions

Spatially resolved studies of star-forming regions show that the assumption of spherical geometry is not realistic in most cases, with a major complication posed by the gas being ionized by multiple non-centrally located stars or star clusters. Geometrical effects including the spatial configuration of ionizing sources affect the temperature and ionization structure of these regions. We try to isolate the effects of multiple non-centrally located stars via the construction of 3D photoionization models using the 3D Monte Carlo photoionization code mocassin with very simple gas density distributions, but various spatial configurations for the ionization sources. Our first aim is to study the resulting temperature structure of the gas and investigate the behaviour of temperature fluctuations within the ionized region. We show that geometry affects the temperature structures in our models differently according to metallicity. For the geometries and stellar populations considered in our study, at intermediate and high metallicities, models with ionizing sources distributed in the full volume, whose Stromgren spheres rarely overlap, show smaller temperature fluctuation than their central ionization counterparts, with fully overlapping concentric Stromgren spheres. The reverse is true at low metallicities. Finally, the true temperature fluctuations due to the stellar distribution (as opposed to the large-scale temperature gradients due to other gas properties) are small in all cases and not a significant cause of error in metallicity studies. Emission-line spectra from H ii regions are often used to study the metallicity of star-forming regions, as well as providing a constraint for temperatures and luminosities of the ionizing sources. Empirical metallicity diagnostics must often be calibrated with the aid of photoionization models. However, most studies so far have been carried out by assuming spherical or plane-parallel geometries, with major limitations on allowed gas and dust density distributions and with the spatial distribution of multiple, non-centrally located ionizing sources not being accounted for. We compare integrated emission-line spectra from our models and quantify any systematic errors caused by the simplifying assumption of a single, central location for all ionizing sources. We find that the dependence of the metallicity indicators on the ionization parameter causes a clear bias due to the fact that models with a fully distributed configuration of stars always display lower ionization parameters than their fully concentrated counterparts. The errors found imply that the geometrical distribution of ionization sources may partly account for the large scatter in metallicities derived using model-calibrated empirical methods.
The Elusive Link Between LQT3 and Brugada Syndrome: The Role of Flecainide Challenge

BackgroundDefects of the SCN5A gene encoding the cardiac sodium channel are associated with both the LQT3 subtype of long-QT syndrome and Brugada syndrome (BS). The typical manifestations of long-QT syndrome (QT interval prolongation) and BS (ST segment elevation in leads V1 through V3) may coexist in the same patients, which raises questions about the actual differences between LQT3 and BS. Intravenous flecainide is the standard provocative test used to unmask BS in individuals with concealed forms of the disease, and oral flecainide has been proposed as a treatment option for LQT3 patients because it may shorten their QT interval. Methods and ResultsWe tested the possibility that in some LQT3 patients, flecainide might not only shorten the QT interval, but also produce an elevation of the ST segment. A total of 13 patients from 7 LQT3 families received intravenous flecainide using the protocol used for BS. As expected, QT, QTc, JT, and JTc interval shortening was observed in 12 of the 13 patients, and concomitant ST segment elevation in leads V1 through V3 (≥2 mm) was observed in 6 of the 13. ConclusionsThe data demonstrate that flecainide may induce ST segment elevation in LQT3 patients, raising concerns about the safety of flecainide therapy and demonstrating the existence of an intriguing overlap between LQT3 and BS.