Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical, genetic, and neuropathologic characteristics of posterior cortical atrophy

Objective: To examine the clinical, genetic, and neuropathologic features of posterior cortical atrophy (PCA). Design/Methods: Using a broad definition of PCA as a syndrome with the insidious onset of visual dysfunction in the absence of primary ophthalmologic causes, the authors identified and then reviewed the presenting signs and symptoms, ApoE genotypes, tau haplotypes, and neuropathologic findings when available of PCA cases from two dementia research centers collected over the past 14 years. Results: The authors identified 40 PCA cases. Their mean age at symptom onset was 60.5 ± 8.9 years. There were twice as many women as men in the series. The principal types of visual impairment were simultanagnosia (82%) and visual field defect (47.5%). Acalculia, alexia, and anomia were also common. Insight was preserved in almost all (95%) early in the disorder. Neither apoE ε4 nor tau haplotype frequencies were different from typical Alzheimer disease (AD). Nine patients had died and underwent postmortem examination. Seven autopsied cases had AD pathology but when compared to typical AD, the neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) densities were significantly higher in Brodmann areas 17 and 18 (p < 0.05) and significantly lower in the hippocampus (p < 0.05). Two cases had corticobasal degeneration with maximal involvement of tau positive glial pathology in the posterior parietal lobe and Brodmann areas 17 and 18. Conclusions: PCA is a distinctive dementia syndrome in which the most pronounced pathologic involvement is in the occipitoparietal regions independent of the specific underlying pathology. AD was the most common pathologic cause, but its regional distribution differed from typical AD.
Coordinated Cluster, ground-based instrumentation and low-altitude satellite observations of transient poleward-moving events in the ionosphere and in the tail lobe

Abstract. During the interval between 8:00–9:30 on 14 January 2001, the four Cluster spacecraft were moving from the central magnetospheric lobe, through the dusk sector mantle, on their way towards intersecting the magnetopause near 15:00 MLT and 15:00 UT. Throughout this interval, the EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR) at Longyearbyen observed a series of poleward-moving transient events of enhanced F-region plasma concentration ("polar cap patches"), with a repetition period of the order of 10 min. Allowing for the estimated solar wind propagation delay of 75 ( ± 5) min, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) had a southward component during most of the interval. The magnetic footprint of the Cluster spacecraft, mapped to the ionosphere using the Tsyganenko T96 model (with input conditions prevailing during this event), was to the east of the ESR beams. Around 09:05 UT, the DMSP-F12 satellite flew over the ESR and showed a sawtooth cusp ion dispersion signature that also extended into the electrons on the equatorward edge of the cusp, revealing a pulsed magnetopause reconnection. The consequent enhanced ionospheric flow events were imaged by the SuperDARN HF backscatter radars. The average convection patterns (derived using the AMIE technique on data from the magnetometers, the EISCAT and SuperDARN radars, and the DMSP satellites) show that the associated poleward-moving events also convected over the predicted footprint of the Cluster spacecraft. Cluster observed enhancements in the fluxes of both electrons and ions. These events were found to be essentially identical at all four spacecraft, indicating that they had a much larger spatial scale than the satellite separation of the order of 600 km. Some of the events show a correspondence between the lowest energy magnetosheath electrons detected by the PEACE instrument on Cluster (10–20 eV) and the topside ionospheric enhancements seen by the ESR (at 400–700 km). We suggest that a potential barrier at the magnetopause, which prevents the lowest energy electrons from entering the magnetosphere, is reduced when and where the boundary-normal magnetic field is enhanced and that the observed polar cap patches are produced by the consequent enhanced precipitation of the lowest energy electrons, making them and the low energy electron precipitation fossil remnants of the magnetopause reconnection rate pulses. Key words. Magnetospheric physics (polar cap phenomena; solar wind – magnetosphere interactions; magnetosphere – ionosphere interactions)
NGF-Induced Enhanced Acquisition of a Spatial Learning Task in Young and Old F 344 Rats is Time Dependent

The aim of the present study was to determine whether the beneficial effects of NGF on measures of learning and memory were long-lasting and persisted significantly beyond the NGF treatment interval. Accordingly, artificial CSF or ß-nerve growth factor (NGF) was infused via osmotic pumps for 2 weeks into the lateral ventricles of young (3-6-month-old) and old (22-26-month-old) Fischer 344 rats. Subjects were then trained one trial per day for 14 days to learn the spatial location of a hidden platform in a Morris water maze. Two experiments were conducted to assess the immediate and long-term effects of NGF. Training in Experiment 1 commenced at the end of the treatment period (i.e., no delay), while training in Experiment 2 was initiated, on average, 3 weeks following the end of the CSF/NGF period. Treatment with NGF lead to enhanced performance in both age groups in Experiment 1 but failed to affect performance in Experiment 2. It is therefore concluded that NGF was effective at facilitating performance of a spatial task in both young and old animals, but that such effects were time-dependent.
Cryptosporidium parvum Apical Complex Glycoprotein CSL Contains a Sporozoite Ligand for Intestinal Epithelial Cells

ABSTRACT Cryptosporidiosis, caused by the apicomplexan parasiteCryptosporidium parvum, has become a well-recognized diarrheal disease of humans and other mammals throughout the world. No approved parasite-specific drugs, vaccines, or immunotherapies for control of the disease are currently available, although passive immunization with C. parvum-specific antibodies has some efficacy in immunocompromised and neonatal hosts. We previously reported that CSL, an ∼1,300-kDa conserved apical glycoprotein of C. parvum sporozoites and merozoites, is the antigenic species mechanistically bound by neutralizing monoclonal antibody 3E2 which elicits the circumsporozoite precipitate (CSP)-like reaction and passively protects against C. parvum infection in vivo. These findings indicated that CSL has a functional role in sporozoite infectivity. Here we report that CSL has properties consistent with being a sporozoite ligand for intestinal epithelial cells. For these studies, native CSL was isolated from whole sporozoites by isoelectric focusing (IEF) following observations that the ∼1,300-kDa region containing CSL as seen by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was comprised of approximately 15 molecular species (pI 3 to 10) when examined by two-dimensional (2-D) electrophoresis and silver staining. A subset of six ∼1,300-kDa species (pI 4.0 to 6.5) was specifically recognized by 3E2 in 2-D Western immunoblots of IEF-isolated CSL. Isolated native CSL bound specifically and with high affinity to permissive human intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells in a dose-dependent, saturable, and self-displaceable manner. Further, CSL specifically bound to the surface of live Caco-2 cells inhibited sporozoite attachment and invasion. In addition, sporozoites having released CSL after incubation with 3E2 and occurrence of the CSP-like reaction did not attach to and invade Caco-2 cells. These findings indicate that CSL contains a sporozoite ligand which facilitates attachment to and invasion of Caco-2 cells and, further, that ligand function may be disrupted by CSL-reactive monoclonal antibody. We conclude that CSL is a rational target for passive or active immunization against cryptosporidiosis.
A departure from mainstream views

Clinical research on deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and thromboembolism (VTE) has focused in recent years on the contributions of potentiating factors, alone and in combination, to the risk of contracting these conditions. Many such ‘risk factors’ have been identified (Geerts et al., 2004) and are discussed elsewhere in this book. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the United Kingdom has exploited this knowledge to make the prevention of DVT its main focus for 2011. In his keynote lecture introducing the policy and procedures adopted by NICE, Arya (2011) described the tools for evaluating risk in various patient groups and emphasised ‘anticoagulation’ in the design and implementation of evidence-based prophylactic measures. He claimed that the frequency of VTE in hospital patients should be reduced by 2/3 if the agreed protocols are followed. An achievement of that magnitude would be most welcome.
A case‐control study of hepatocellular carcinoma in osaka, Japan

A case‐control study was undertaken to evaluate the roles of hepatitis B virus (HBV), blood transfusion, alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking in the etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Osaka, Japan. A total of 229 cases and 266 hospital controls were included in our study. The relative risks of HCC obtained after adjustment for age, sex and other important variables were 14.3 (95% confidence interval (CI): 5.7–36.3) for HBsAg positives, 4.3 (95% CI: 1.9–9.6) for blood recipients and 3.2 (95% CI: 2.0–5.1) for heavy drinkers. A statistically significant dose‐response relationship was observed between the risk of HCC and total alcohol consumption. The overall risk for HCC was also significantly elevated among smokers; however, there was no consistent dose‐response relationship between the risk and cigarette consumption. We conclude that HBV, blood transfusion and excessive alcohol drinking play important roles in the etiology of HCC in Osaka, Japan. Further investigation is needed to clarify the possible etiological role of smoking.
On-line schedulers for pinwheel tasks using the time-driven approach

Pinwheel scheduling algorithms can be used to produce distance-constrained real-time system schedules where the temporal distance between any two consecutive completions of a task must be less than a pre-defined time interval. A pinwheel schedule can be generated off-line and executed cyclically. Such an approach provides a good predictability and allows for off-line schedule optimization. However, the static approach is inflexible and may require a large space to store the schedule. By taking advantage of the harmonic property between pinwheel task periods, one can generate the pinwheel schedule dynamically at run time in polynomial time and space. In this way, efficient and flexible time-driven schedulers can be implemented. The authors show the algorithms and study the practical issues on implementing on-line pinwheel schedulers.
Beş Yıldızlı Termal Otel İşletmesi Yöneticilerinin Müşteri Değeri Algılarının Belirlenmesi: Afyonkarahisar’da Bir Uygulama

Bu arastirmada musteri degeri olusturmada etkili olabilecek unsurlarin onem duzeylerinin belirlenmesi amaclanmistir. Bu amac dogrultusunda Afyonkarahisar’da faaliyet gosteren 5 yildizli termal otel isletmelerinin ust, orta ve alt kademe yoneticilerine (n=88) anket uygulamasi gerceklestirilmistir. Arastirma sonucun da musteri degeri olusturmada en onemli faktorun hijyen'e onem verilmesi oldugu belirlenmis olup, gerceklestirilen t ve F testine gore, yoneticilerin musteri degeri algilari ile bireysel ozellikleri arasinda anlamli farkliliklar bulunmustur
On the achievability of the Cramér-Rao bound for Poisson distribution

This correspondence examines the Cramer-Rao (CR) bound for data obtained in emission tomography. The likelihood function involved is the combined probability of independent Poisson random variables, the expectation of each being a linear function c/sub i//sup T//spl lambda/ of the parameter vector /spl lambda/. We investigated the achievability of the CR bound in the interior and on the boundary of the domain of the problem. For the former, we found that the CR bound is achievable if and only if the c/sub i/ vectors are obtained from a basis for R/sup N/, by repeating some vectors, multiplied by constant factors. A similar result holds for the boundary case. The practical implication of the achievability condition is that the CR bound is not attainable for typical emission tomographic systems.
Papillomatous digital dermatitis in a Holstein-Friesian bull

Abstract Extract Papillomatous digital dermatitis (PDD) is an infectious and contagious disorder of housed, adult dairy cattle. The ensuing lameness is often severe and results in significant economic loss, mainly due to decreased milk production (Hernandez et al 2002). The disease, first described some 30 years ago in Italy (Cheli and Mortellaro 1974), has since been reported in many other European countries (Peterse et al 1982; Blowey and Sharp 1988), North America (Rebhun et al 1980; Read et al 1992; Borgmann et al 1996) and Australia (McLennan and McKenzie 1996), though not in New Zealand. In the United Kingdom and North America, PDD is the most common skin lesion observed in association with bovine lameness.
In vivo protein‐DNA interactions at the kinin B1 receptor gene promoter: No modification on interleukin‐1 beta or lipopolysaccharide induction

The kinin B1 receptor (B1R) gene is strongly upregulated following tissue injury and inflammation. In an attempt to define the regulatory elements that account for the control of B1R gene expression, we have conducted in vivo footprinting analysis of the B1R gene promoter region in three human cell types: embryonic lung fibroblast cells (IMR‐90), embryonic kidney cells (HEK‐293), and primary cultures of vascular umbilical smooth muscle cells. Initial in vitro delineation of the B1R gene promoter by transient transfection experiments with a reporter gene indicated that a 1.4‐kb region, located just upstream of the transcription initiation site, bears all the characteristics of a core promoter with a functional TATA box and additional positive and negative control elements, as some of them could be tissue‐specific. In vivo ultraviolet and dimethylsulfate footprinting analyses of the 1.4‐kb region revealed no difference between the footprint patterns in the three cell types studied. We found that even in the noninduced state, the B1R gene promoter is possibly bound by several sequence‐specific DNA binding proteins (GATA‐1, PEA3, AP‐1, CAAT, Sp1, Pit‐1a, Oct‐1, CREB). Some other footprints were detected on sequences that do not correspond to any known transcription factor binding site. No additional changes in protein‐DNA complexes were observed upon treatment with interleukin‐1 beta (IL‐1β) or bacterial lipopolysaccharide, shown previously to induce B1R gene expression. These results indicate that complex protein‐DNA interactions exist at the B1R gene promoter prior to induction by external stimuli even in cells (HEK‐293) that do not express a functional B1R. J. Cell. Biochem. 78:278–296, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Future prospects of brain stimlation

Abstract Chronic high frequency (130 Hz) stimulation (HFS) of the thalamic target Vim has replaced thalamotomy as a treatment of tremor of various origins and was extended to two other targets (Subthalamic nucleus (STN) and the medial pallidus (CPO), since 1993 based on recent experimental data in rats and monkeys. STN appears to be a target of major interest, able to control the three cardinal symptoms and to allow the decrease or suppression of levodopa treatment, which then suppresses also levodopa induced dyskinesias. The mechanisms of action of HFS are not fully understood, but are definitely related to high frequency and are probably different depending on the target. Inhibition of cellular activity or of network functions could be induced, by jamming ofa retroactive loop for tremor, or by shutdown ofneurotransmitter release in STN. All cardinal symptoms are alleviated from tremor to akinesia and rigidity. The effects remain stable over more than five years chronic HFS of STN, as the method of choice when a surgical procedure is indicated for the treatment of Parkinson! s disease and even more when a bilateral procedure is necessary. Recent data show that STN stimulation could be useful in the treatment of dystonia as well as some forms of epilepsies. It is therefore possible that OAS in STN as well as in other targets could become a potent therapeutic tool in the future for neurological disorders. The future of brain stimulation will depend on new technologies (new circuits, electrodes, web based programmers), waveforms (alternatives to square waves, random distribution), targets (hypothalamic nuclei, locus coeruleus) and indications (dystonia, epilepsy, eating disorders). [Neural Res 2000; 22: 237-246]
The MID4 dataset, 2002–2010: Procedures, coding rules and description

Understanding the causes of interstate conflict continues to be a primary goal of the field of international relations. To that end, scholars continue to rely on large datasets of conflict in the international system. This paper introduces the latest iteration in the most widely used dataset on interstate conflicts, the Militarized Interstate Dispute (MID) 4 data. In this paper we first outline the updated data-collection process for the MID4 data. Second, we present some minor changes and clarifications to the coding rules for the MID4 datasets, as well as pointing out how the MID coding procedures affect several notable “close call” cases. Third, we introduce updates to the existing MID datasets for the years 2002–2010 and provide descriptive statistics that allow comparisons of the newer MID data to prior versions. We also offer some best practices and point out several ways in which the new MID data can contribute to research in international conflict.
Cognitive activity and cognitive decline in a biracial community population

Background: Frequent participation in cognitively stimulating activities has been associated with reduced risk of AD in several prospective studies. However, the association of cognitive activity with cognitive decline, the principal manifestation of AD, is not well understood. Methods: More than 4,000 older residents of a geographically defined biracial community of Chicago were interviewed at approximately 3-year intervals for an average of 5.3 years. Each interview included administration of four cognitive function tests from which a previously established global measure was derived. At baseline, each person rated frequency of participation in cognitively stimulating activities (e.g., reading a magazine) from which a previously established composite measure of cognitive activity was derived. Results: Cognitive activity scores ranged from 1 to 5 (mean = 3.14, SD = 0.66), with higher scores indicating more frequent participation. More frequent cognitive activity was associated with reduced cognitive decline during follow-up. In a model that controlled for baseline level of cognition, age, sex, race, and education, a 1-point increase in cognitive activity score was associated with an approximately 19% decrease in annual rate of cognitive decline (p < 0.001). This effect remained when we controlled for depressive symptoms and chronic medical conditions (p < 0.001), and when we excluded persons with evidence of memory impairment at baseline (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Frequent participation in cognitively stimulating activities is associated with reduced cognitive decline in older persons.
[Second primary tumors in head and neck cancer].

INTRODUCTION The development of second primary tumors (SPT) in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has become an increasingly important factor in clinical treatment decisions. PURPOSE To define favourable clinical characteristics for overall survival, in patients with SP head and neck cancer. MATERIAL AND METHOD Records of 633 patients with SCC treated from 1984 to 2004 were reviewed to describe clinical characteristics of the SPT. RESULTS The overall incidence of SPT was 11%. The incidence of the index tumors was as follows: supraglottic cancer 21% and oral cancer 16%. The most common SPT occurred in head and neck area in 47%, lung in 32% and esophagus in 11%. Second primary was associated with a poor 5 years survival in patients with HN-SCC (23 versus 53% in control group). CONCLUSION Because of the high rate of second primary tumors, protocols including chemoprophylaxis should be investigated. Prevention and early detection are indicated.
Expression of CD64 on polymorphonuclear neutrophils in patients with familial Mediterranean fever

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autoinflammatory disease characterized by recurrent episodes of fever and serosal or synovial inflammation. We examined the utility of CD64 (FcγRI) expression in polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) as clinical and biological parameters in patients with FMF. We studied 12 Japanese FMF patients (mean age; 22·8 ± 15·5 years, male/female: 2/10), along with rheumatoid arthritis patients (RA, n = 38 male/female: 6/32, mean age; 52·2 ± 15·3 years), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, n = 15 male/female: 0/15, mean age; 38·5 ± 15·9 years) and 12 healthy subjects (male/female: 3/9, mean age; 37·9 ± 17·2 years). CD64 expression on PMNs was determined using flow cytometry. The quantitative expression of CD64 in patients with FMF (2439·6 ± 2215·8 molecules per PMN) was significantly higher than in healthy subjects (547·8 ± 229·5, P = 0·003) or in patients with RA (606·5 ± 228·2, P < 0·0001) and SLE (681·3 ± 281·1, P = 0·004). The increased CD64 expression on PMNs isolated from untreated FMF patients was down‐regulated by colchicine treatment. NACHT‐LRR‐PYD‐containing protein 3 (NLRP3) activation using MurNAc‐L‐Ala‐D‐isoGln (MDP) resulted in increased CD64 expression on PMNs from healthy subjects. Our results suggest that quantitative measurement of CD64 expression on PMNs can be a valuable tool to discriminate between FMF and autoimmune diseases.
Filtration by superficial and deep glomeruli of normovolemic and volume-depleted rats.

We measured glomerular ultrafiltration coefficient (Kf) of isolated superficial (S) and deep (D) glomeruli of normovolemic and volume-depleted rats. Filtration was induced in vitro, and Kf was calculated from the maximum rate of change in glomerular size. Basement membrane area (A) for each glomerulus was estimated from morphometric analyses, and glomerular capillary hydraulic conductivity (Lp) was calculated by the formula Lp = Kf/A. Kf of S and D glomeruli of normovolemic rats were 2.98 +/- 0.98 and 4.25 +/- 0.07 nl . min-1 . mmHg-1, respectively. In hypovolemic rats, Kf of S glomeruli fell by approximately 50% to 1.52 +/- 0.14 nl . min-1 . mmHg-1 (P less than 0.001), whereas Kf of D glomeruli remained unchanged at 4.28 +/- 0.10 nl . min-1 . mmHg-1. Lp, calculated using the peripheral capillary area, averaged 1.98 +/- 0.09 and 1.98 +/- 0.06 microliter . min-1 . mmHg-1 . cm-2 in S and D glomeruli of normovolemic rats and 1.89 +/- 0.11 microliter . min-1 . mmHg-1 . cm-2 in D glomeruli of hypovolemic rats. Lp of S glomeruli of volume-depleted rats (0.90 +/- 0.03 microliter . min-1 . mmHg-1 . cm-2) was lower than in any of the other three samples. Mild hypovolemia causes the Kf of S glomeruli to decline, whereas Kf of D glomeruli remains constant. The decrease in Kf occurs without an alteration in capillary area and is most likely due to a decrease in Lp.