Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of astroglia in neuroprotection

Astrocytes are the main neural cell type responsible for the maintenance of brain homeostasis. They form highly organized anatomical domains that are interconnected into extensive networks. These features, along with the expression of a wide array of receptors, transporters, and ion channels, ideally position them to sense and dynamically modulate neuronal activity. Astrocytes cooperate with neurons on several levels, including neurotransmitter trafficking and recycling, ion homeostasis, energy metabolism, and defense against oxidative stress. The critical dependence of neurons upon their constant support confers astrocytes with intrinsic neuroprotective properties which are discussed here. Conversely, pathogenic stimuli may disturb astrocytic function, thus compromising neuronal functionality and viability. Using neuroinflammation, Alzheimer's disease, and hepatic encephalopathy as examples, we discuss how astrocytic defense mechanisms may be overwhelmed in pathological conditions, contributing to disease progression.
A rostrocaudal gradient in the synthesis of enkephalin in nucleus accumbens

A subpopulation of projection neurons in the nucleus accumbens uses the neuropeptide enkephalin as a neurotransmitter. The synthesis of enkephalin in striatal neurons is regulated by dopaminergic inputs. In the present study quantitative in situ hybridization histochemistry was used to examine the effects of unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the ascending dopaminergic fibres on levels of enkephalin mRNA in subregions of the nucleus accumbens. It was found that the levels of enkephalin mRNA were increased throughout the nucleus after the lesion. However, the increase appeared to be much higher in rostral parts of the nucleus than in caudal parts, indicating regional differences in the effects of blockade of the dopaminergic neurotransmission. Possible causative factors for these differences are discussed.
Extension of Canny's discrete criteria to second derivative filters, towards a unified approach

Second derivative filters are used to detect edges by the location of the zero crossing of the filters response. We define analytical expressions of the probabilities for the good detections in the good location and for the false detections. Then we compare these expressions to those obtained for the first derivative filters used to detect edges with the gradient approach. We prove that there is no difference between these two approaches and that the performances are linked to those of a smooth filters from which first and second derivative filters have been deduced. We discuss the impact of the thresholding strategy and show some results for different kind of classical filters.
Ectopic pregnancy in the United States, 1979-1980.

Data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey conducted by the US National Center for Health Statistics indicate that there was a 2.9-fold increase in the incidence of ectopic pregnancy in the US between 1970-80. A total of 363700 ectopic pregnancies were reported for this period with an overall rate of 7.8/1000 reported pregnancies. The number of reported ectopic pregnancies rose from 42400 (9.4/1000) in 1978 to 522000 (10.5/1000) in 1980. The risk of ectopic pregnancy increased with age with rates of 5.1/1000 for women 15-24 years 10.5/1000 for those 25-34 years and 16.0/1000 for those 35-44 years. Although 71% of ectopic pregnancies in 1970-80 involved white women the rates were higher for black women in each age group and almost double the rates for white women in the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups. Overall rates were similar in all 4 geographic regions of the US with the highest rates occurring in the Northeast and the lowest rates recorded in the South. The mean length of hospital stay for ectopic pregnancy fell from 7.2 days in 1970 to 5.8 days in 1977 and has remained at the same level since then. A total of 524 woman died from ectopic pregnancies in 1970-80. The overall death-to-case rate dropped from 0.9 deaths/1000 ectopic pregnancies in 1978 to 0.8 in 1979 and rose again to 0.9 in 1980. The mortality rate is similar in all age groups with an overall rate of 1.4 deaths/1000 ectopic pregnancies. The death-to-case rate for black women was 3.6 times that of white women. The increase in ectopic pregnancy incidence noted during the 1970s may be related to the increase in pelvic inflammatory disease. Differences in the availability and utilization of medical care between blacks and whites may account for the higher death-to-case rates among black women.
Collaborative Fieldwork Education with Student Occupational Therapists and Student Occupational Therapist Assistants

The profession of occupational therapy has a long history of working collaboratively with support personnel. This paper describes the process of a fieldwork education partnership developed between the McMaster University, BHSc (OT) Program and the Mohawk College, Occupational Therapist Assistant and Physical Therapist Assistant Program. Eight student occupational therapists and eight student occupational therapist assistants learned together in a variety of fieldwork settings, either in pairs or in groups. Both groups of students kept weekly journals of the experience and completed a post placement questionnaire. The journals were inductively analysed using a retrospective content analysis. The four emergent themes identified from the data are learning about each other's role, collaborative learning, impact on client care and future practice, and resistance to roles. Recommendations for future collaborations are discussed.
EARLINET: potential operationality of a research network

Abstract. In the framework of ACTRIS (Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure Network) summer 2012 measurement campaign (8 June–17 July 2012), EARLINET organized and performed a controlled exercise of feasibility to demonstrate its potential to perform operational, coordinated measurements and deliver products in near-real time. Eleven lidar stations participated in the exercise which started on 9 July 2012 at 06:00 UT and ended 72 h later on 12 July at 06:00 UT. For the first time, the single calculus chain (SCC) – the common calculus chain developed within EARLINET for the automatic evaluation of lidar data from raw signals up to the final products – was used. All stations sent in real-time measurements of a 1 h duration to the SCC server in a predefined netcdf file format. The pre-processing of the data was performed in real time by the SCC, while the optical processing was performed in near-real time after the exercise ended. 98 and 79 % of the files sent to SCC were successfully pre-processed and processed, respectively. Those percentages are quite large taking into account that no cloud screening was performed on the lidar data. The paper draws present and future SCC users' attention to the most critical parameters of the SCC product configuration and their possible optimal value but also to the limitations inherent to the raw data. The continuous use of SCC direct and derived products in heterogeneous conditions is used to demonstrate two potential applications of EARLINET infrastructure: the monitoring of a Saharan dust intrusion event and the evaluation of two dust transport models. The efforts made to define the measurements protocol and to configure properly the SCC pave the way for applying this protocol for specific applications such as the monitoring of special events, atmospheric modeling, climate research and calibration/validation activities of spaceborne observations.
Regulation of tissue-type plasminogen activator and its inhibitor (PAI-1) by lipopolysaccharide-induced phagocytosis in a Sertoli cell line.

The plasminogen activator (PA) system is thought to play a major role in the proteolytic events associated with spermatogenesis. The mechanisms controlling the expression of PA and of its major physiological inhibitor, plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1), in the seminiferous epithelium are still unknown. In the present study we analyzed the expression of PA and PAI-1 in a murine Sertoli cell line (42GPA9) in response to stimulation by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) used to activate the phagocytic activity of these cells. Immortalized Sertoli cells cultured under basal conditions secreted predominantly tissue-type PA (tPA) as demonstrated by zymographic analysis and the presence of tPA transcripts. In zymographic experiments a larger molecular weight proteolytic band corresponding to the formation of PA-PAI-1 complex was also observed. The stimulation of immortalized Sertoli cells by LPS resulted in both alteration of the apparent tPA molecular weight to a higher form and transient increase in PAI-1 biosynthesis. The phorbol ester TPA stimulates similarly PAI-1 synthesis in the Sertoli cell line, while 8-bromo-cAMP has no effect. These results suggest for the first time the existence of a direct linkage between molecular events triggered by phagocytosis and regulation of tPA and PAI-1 in Sertoli cells.
Automated extraction of Tree-Adjoining Grammars from treebanks

There has been a contemporary surge of interest in the application of stochastic models of parsing. The use of tree-adjoining grammar (TAG) in this domain has been relatively limited due in part to the unavailability, until recently, of large-scale corpora hand-annotated with TAG structures. Our goals are to develop inexpensive means of generating such corpora and to demonstrate their applicability to stochastic modeling. We present a method for automatically extracting a linguistically plausible TAG from the Penn Treebank. Furthermore, we also introduce labor-inexpensive methods for inducing higher-level organization of TAGs. Empirically, we perform an evaluation of various automatically extracted TAGs and also demonstrate how our induced higher-level organization of TAGs can be used for smoothing stochastic TAG models.
Longitudinal analysis of CD8 T-cell responses to HIV and hepatitis C virus in a cohort of co-infected haemophiliacs

Objective:To investigate CD8 T-cell responses to HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) over time in a group of co-infected children with haemophilia to assess the influence of the virus infections on each other and on clinical outcome. Design:The HIV and HCV CD8 T-cell response of HLA-A2 co-infected individuals in the cohort were analysed at two time points, looking at the frequency and phenotype of HIV-specific T cells and assessing overall responses to the two viruses. Methods:Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 72 HLA-A2 co-infected individuals were analysed using an HIV HLA-A2 tetramer and by IFN-γ ELISpot using a panel of HIV and HCV antigens. PBMC from a group of 26 HLA-A2 HIV mono-infected adults were also analysed as a comparison. Results:We identified two distinct patterns of response: some patients had a limited response to either virus whilst others made responses to a range of HIV epitopes. HCV responses were detected only in those who made multiple responses to HIV epitopes (P<0.0001). HCV infection had an influence on the phenotype of HIV-specific CD8 T cells, with a reduction in relative perforin and CD57 expression. Lack of functional or tetramer-positive HIV-specific T cells was associated with a decline in absolute CD4 T-cell counts between the time points (up to 7 years; P = 0.005). Conclusion:HCV infection has an impact on the phenotype of HIV-specific CD8 T cells. In this well-defined cohort, failure to maintain effective CD8 T-cell responses against HIV may contribute to disease progression.
The status of women in rural India: a village study.

This paper examines the status of rural Indian women and how their status has been affected by progressive legislation designed to remove previous inequalities. A socio-demographic survey of women and adolescent girls was conducted in a Maharashtrian village of 2100 people in 1975-76. The village economy was based on subsistence agriculture with 94% of females and 84% of males engaged in farming. Data were collected by means of participant observation and questionnaire interviews. Overall levels of education were low, with only 5% of females and 15% of males having any high school education. Over 50% of females had received no education, 28% of males. Inequalities between males and females persisted throughout all age groups but were less obvious at younger ages. 97% of women felt that boys should attend school beyond the primary level, 75% said that girls should. Many adolescent girls said they would like to continue their education but admitted that they would soon marry and advanced education was unnecessary. 62% of women favored modern medicine but 57% still felt that smallpox was a punishment from the gods; fewer educated women than illiterate women answered this way. Average age of marriage was 14.1 years; 69% of the women felt that girls should be married by age 16, but 70% believed that boys should not marry until age 18 so that they can complete their studies. 62% of women who had discussed family size with their husbands also approved of eating together and 55% felt that joint discussion was preferable. Only 25% felt that large families meant greater happiness and on the average 3.4 children (2 sons, 1.4 daughters) were preferred; over 75% said that they would exceed their ideal family size if they had borne only daughters. The local family planning program was approved by 90% of the women and use has increased from 13-43% from 1966-76. Low caste was related to low levels of education for women, but there is little difference in the number of children ever born; the disparity is mainly in regard to living children with mortality highest among lower castes. Age differences existed such as: 52% of the youngest group can read and write compared to only 14% of older women, age at marriage is rising, and older women had more communication with their husbands, but also had larger families. It was found in this study that: 1) attitudes were more modern than behavior, and 2) modern practices most practical to apply to their daily lives were more easily accepted. What is needed is a broad-based educational program to demonstrate current failures to observe the legislation favoring greater equality for women. Rural schools should help to transmit modern concepts by way of organizing school trips to outside areas. For these women, modern ideas must be proven relevant and acceptable within the village milieu. Also included is a list of social reforms and legislation affecting women's status in India from 1795-present.
Validity of the Child Facial Coding System for the Assessment of Acute Pain in Children With Cerebral Palsy

The purpose of the current study was to examine the concurrent and discriminant validity of the Child Facial Coding System for children with cerebral palsy. Eighty-five children (mean = 8.35 years, SD = 4.72 years) were videotaped during a passive joint stretch with their physiotherapist and during 3 time segments: baseline, passive joint stretch, and recovery. Children’s pain responses were rated from videotape using the Numerical Rating Scale and Child Facial Coding System. Results indicated that Child Facial Coding System scores during the passive joint stretch significantly correlated with Numerical Rating Scale scores (r = .72, P < .01). Child Facial Coding System scores were also significantly higher during the passive joint stretch than the baseline and recovery segments (P < .001). Facial activity was not significantly correlated with the developmental measures. These findings suggest that the Child Facial Coding System is a valid method of identifying pain in children with cerebral palsy.
Spectral mixture analysis for water quality assessment over the Amazon floodplain using Hyperion/EO-1 images

A agua distribuida pelos diversos ambientes na planicie de inundacao da Amazonia central passa por complexas variacoes espaciais e temporais na sua composicao. O presente estudo analisou a mistura espectral de constituintes opticamente ativos (COAs) na agua, usando imagens orbitais de sensor hiperespectral. A area de estudo localiza-se a montante da confluencia dos rios Amazonas (agua branca) e Tapajos (agua clara), onde duas imagens Hyperion foram adquiridas a partir do satelite Earth Observing One (EO-1). A primeira imagem foi adquirida em 16 de setembro de 2001, durante o periodo de vazante do rio Amazonas. A segunda imagem foi adquirida em 23 de junho de 2005, no final do periodo de cheia. As imagens foram pre-processadas para remover faixas de pixels anomalos, converter dados calibrados de radiância para reflectância de superficie, aplicar mascara de alvos terrestres, nuvens e macrofitas, e limitar os dados ao intervalo espectral 457-885nm. Um procedimento sequencial das tecnicas Fracao Minima de Ruido (MNF), Indice de Pureza de Pixel (PPI) e visualizacao do espaco de atributos n-dimensional gerado entre as bandas MNF foi empregado para selecionar membros de referencia a partir das duas imagens. Um conjunto unico de membros de referencia foi composto para representar os seguintes COAs, espectralmente distintos: agua clara, materia orgânica dissolvida, sedimentos em suspensao; e fitoplâncton. O Modelo Linear de Mistura Espectral foi aplicado a cada imagem Hyperion para mapear a distribuicao espacial destes constituintes em termos das abundâncias fracionais sub-pixels. Os resultados demonstraram tres padroes de mudancas na qualidade da agua entre as situacoes de inundacao nos periodos de cheia e de vazante: diminuicao na concentracao de materia inorgânica em suspensao no rio Amazonas; aumento nas concentracoes de materia inorgânica em suspensao e fitoplâncton nos lagos da varzea; e aumento na concentracao de fitoplâncton no rio Tapajos.
Cronobacter (‘Enterobacter sakazakii’): current status and future prospects

The genus Cronobacter accommodates the 16 biogroups of the emerging opportunistic pathogen known formerly as Enterobacter sakazakii. Cronobacter spp. are occasional contaminants of milk powder and, consequently, powdered infant formula and represent a significant health risk to neonates. This review presents current knowledge of the food safety aspects of Cronobacter, particularly in infant formula milk powder. Sources of contamination, ecology, disease characteristics and risk management strategies are discussed. Future directions for research are indicated, with a particular focus on the management of this increasingly important bacterium in the production environment.
Infantile Spasms: Little Seizures, BIG Consequences

Infantile spasms is one of the “catastrophic childhood epilepsies” because of the difficulty in controlling seizures and the association with mental retardation. However, early recognition, a careful diagnostic evaluation, and proper treatment may allow some children to attain seizure control and to achieve a normal, or at least much improved, level of development. Thus, there is the opportunity to have an important impact in the lives of these unfortunate children and their families.
Human papillomavirus DNA strongly correlates with a poorer prognosis in oral cavity carcinoma

The prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in a clinical series of 162 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) was studied. Furthermore, we analyzed the correlation between the immunohistochemical expression of p16, p53, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and HPV status to predict survival in OSCC patients.
Long‐term survival and cell death of newly generated neurons in the adult rat olfactory bulb

In the adult rat olfactory bulb, neurons are continually generated from progenitors that reside in the lateral ventricle wall. This study investigates long‐term survival and cell death of newly generated cells within the adult olfactory bulb. After injecting rats at 2 months of age with 5‐bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), the newly generated cells were quantified over a period of 19 months. A peak of BrdU‐positive cells was reached in the olfactory bulb 1 month after BrdU injection, when all new cells have finished migrating from the ventricle wall. Thereafter, a reduction of BrdU‐positive cells to about 50% was observed and it was confirmed by dUTP‐nick end‐labelling (TUNEL) that progenitors and young neurons undergo programmed cell death. However, cells that survived the first 3 months after BrdU injection persisted for up to 19 months. The majority of the BrdU‐positive cells that reach the olfactory bulb differentiate into granule cells, but a small fraction migrate further into the glomerular layer. These newborn cells differentiate more slowly into periglomerular interneurons, with a delay of more than 1 month when compared to the granule cells. The newly generated periglomerular neurons, among them a significant fraction of dopaminergic cells, showed a similar decline in number compared to the granule cell layer and long‐term survival for the remaining new neurons of up to 19 months. Rather than replacing old neurons, this data suggests that adult olfactory bulb neurogenesis utilizes the overproduction and turnover of young neurons, which is reminiscent of the cellular dynamics observed during brain development.
Indiana University Experience in the Management of Vaginal Cancer

Purpose: To review our institutional experience in the treatment of primary vaginal cancer and identify predictors for outcome, in particular, recurrence rate. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 45 patients identified as having primary squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma of the vagina and recorded information regarding both patient and tumor characteristics and treatment modalities. Treatment modalities included surgery and radiation with or without chemotherapy (6 patients), radiation alone (30 patients), and chemoradiation (9 patients). Then, univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify factors, which predicted for recurrence. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were also generated. Results: The median follow-up time for all surviving patients was 5.8 years (range, 9-146 months). The mean and the median minimum tumor doses were 7300 cGy. The 5-year overall survival rate was 71%, and the 5-year progression-free survival rate was 77%. The 5-year overall survival rates by stage were carcinoma in situ with microinvasion and stage I, 92%; stage II, 82%; and stages III and IVA, 20% (P = 0.0005). The 5-year progression-free survival rates by stage were carcinoma in situ and stage I, 92%; stage II, 88%; and stages III and IVA, 30% (P = 0.00049). Of the factors analyzed, only stage predicted for a statistically significant increased risk for recurrence (P = 2.23E-0.05). Conclusions: Early-stage vaginal cancer can be successfully managed with radiation therapy with excellent rates of local control and survival. Patients with stages III and IV disease have a very poor outcome, and more aggressive therapies need to be investigated. Given the limited number of patients treated with chemotherapy and radiation, no definitive conclusions can be made regarding the impact of combined therapy in the management of this disease.
Expression pattern and further characterization of human MAGED2 and identification of rodent orthologues

In a search for genes involved in X-linked mental retardation we have analyzed the expression pattern and genomic structure of human MAGED2. This gene is a member of a new defined MAGE-D cluster in Xp11.2, a hot spot for X-linked mental retardation. Rat and mouse orthologues have been isolated. In contrast to the genes of the MAGE-A, MAGE- B and MAGE-C clusters, MAGED2 is expressed ubiquitously. High expression was detected in specific brain regions and in the interstitium of testes. Five SNPs in the coding region of human MAGED2 were characterized and their allele frequencies determined in a German and Turkish population.