Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of rocket and crossed immuno‐electrophoresis assays for determination of the level of actin complexing of Gc globulin

Objective. Gc globulin (vitamin D‐binding protein) is a component of the extracellular actin scavenger system. The level of Gc globulin is reduced in patients with fulminant hepatic failure, septic shock and trauma. Furthermore, low levels of Gc globulin in patients with fulminant hepatic failure and multiple trauma have been found to correlate with the morbidity and mortality of patients. Owing to a large increase in the turnover of Gc globulin upon complex formation with actin, it may be important to determine both the total Gc globulin concentration and the degree of complexing with actin for estimating the clinical prognosis of a patient. For this reason, we have compared a crossed immuno‐electrophoresis method (CIE), suitable for visualizing the degree of complexing with actin, with a rocket immuno‐electrophoresis method (RIE), previously used for determination of the complex degree. Material and methods. Sera from healthy donors and from patients with acetaminophen‐induced liver disease or trauma were investigated using CIE, RIE and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results. Using the CIE, no Gc globulin‐actin complexes were detected among healthy donors. Complexes were present in 21 of 39 patients with liver disease and 3 of 37 trauma patients. High complex ratios (> 20 %) were found in 6 of 7 patients with hepatic encephalopathy. Using the RIE, complexes were detected in most samples. Conclusion. The results show that the CIE method may be used for determining the degree of actin complexing in conjunction with ELISA or RIE in determining the levels of total Gc globulin.
In Vitro and In Vivo Models of Cerebral Ischemia Show Discrepancy in Therapeutic Effects of M 2 Macrophages

The inflammatory response following ischemic stroke is dominated by innate immune cells: resident microglia and bloodderived macrophages. The ambivalent role of these cells in stroke outcome might be explained in part by the acquisition of distinct functional phenotypes: classically (M1) and alternatively activated (M2) macrophages. To shed light on the crosstalk between hypoxic neurons and macrophages, an in vitro model was set up in which bone marrow-derived macrophages were co-cultured with hippocampal slices subjected to oxygen and glucose deprivation. The results showed that macrophages provided potent protection against neuron cell loss through a paracrine mechanism, and that they expressed M2-type alternative polarization. These findings raised the possibility of using bone marrow-derived M2 macrophages in cellular therapy for stroke. Therefore, 2 million M2 macrophages (or vehicle) were intravenously administered during the subacute stage of ischemia (D4) in a model of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. Functional neuroscores and magnetic resonance imaging endpoints (infarct volumes, blood-brain barrier integrity, phagocytic activity assessed by iron oxide uptake) were longitudinally monitored for 2 weeks. This cell-based treatment did not significantly improve any outcome measure compared with vehicle, suggesting that this strategy is not relevant to stroke therapy. Citation: Desestret V, Riou A, Chauveau F, Cho T-H, Devillard E, et al. (2013) In Vitro and In Vivo Models of Cerebral Ischemia Show Discrepancy in Therapeutic Effects of M2 Macrophages. PLoS ONE 8(6): e67063. doi:10.1371/journal.pone. 0067063 Editor: Christoph Kleinschnitz, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany Received February 25, 2013; Accepted May 13, 2013; Published June 25, 2013 Copyright: 2013 Desestret et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: This work was supported by the ANR ‘‘INFLAM’’ and a grant from the Fondation pour la Recherche pour le Cerveau (FRC). AR was supported by a grant from the Rhône-Alpes Region (Cluster 11). MRI experiments were performed on the ‘‘Animage’’ platform of Centre d’Exploration et de Recherche Médicale par Emission de Positons (CERMEP) -Imagerie du Vivant, Lyon, France. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: marlene.wiart@creatis.insa-lyon.fr . These authors contributed equally to this work.
Rationale for the use of dopamine agonists as neuroprotective agents in Parkinson's disease

To date, the only drug therapies of proven efficacy in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are symptomatic. These include dopaminergic agents (L-dopa, dopamine agonists), anticholinergics, amantadine, and monoamine oxidase B inhibitors. However, patients eventually experience increasing disability that cannot be satisfactorily controlled with available agents. There thus is a need for disease-modifying drugs that can retard or prevent clinical progression and potentially reverse existing deficits. Such drugs may be considered neuroprotective, and considerable research effort is currently being focused on their development. The discovery of a “neuroprotective” drug is most logically based on a sound understanding of the cause and pathogenesis of the disease. In the case of PD, it is becoming increasingly clear that there are different causes that include both genetic and environmental factors, and, probably in most cases, a combination of both. Likewise, there appear to be several pathogenetic factors including oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammatory factors that form a cascade of events leading to cell dysfunction and death. Furthermore, each of the known etiopathogenic factors has the potential to interfere with the capacity of the ubiquitin-proteasome system to clear unwanted proteins and protein accumulation and aggregation appear to be a common theme in the neurodegenerative process. Finally a body of evidence suggests that cell death in PD occurs, at least in part, by way of a signalmediated apoptotic process. It is likely that the cause and mechanism responsible for cell death may vary in different individuals in whom the different etiopathogenic factors may contribute to a varying degree. In this sense, it may prove difficult to develop a single therapy that will provide neuroprotective or restorative benefits for all patients. Rather, it may be necessary to use a combination of agents that interact with the degenerative process at multiple levels. There are many promising opportunities to achieve neuroprotection based on the different laboratory and postmortem studies reviewed in this supplement. However, clinical outcome measures for neuroprotection that are acceptable to regulatory authorities remain to be defined, and currently it is not possible to devise a protocol that will assure labeling for a product as neuroprotective in PD even if the clinical trial is positive. Accordingly, the most realistic opportunity for developing a neuroprotective drug for use in PD in the near future rests with agents such as dopamine agonists that already have been approved for an alternate indication. This review will cover the potential for dopamine agonists to provide neuroprotective effects in PD.
Breakdown of universal mobility curves in sub-100-nm MOSFETs

We explore the breakdown of universal mobility behavior in sub-100-nm Si MOSFETs, using a novel three-dimensional (3-D) statistical simulation approach. In this approach, carrier trajectories in the bulk are treated via 3-D Brownian dynamics, while the carrier-interface roughness scattering is treated using a novel empirical model. Owing to the high efficiency of the transport kernel, effective mobility in 3-D MOSFETs with realistic Si-SiO/sub 2/ interfaces reconstructed from a Gaussian or exponential correlation function can be simulated in a statistical manner. We first demonstrate a practical calibration procedure for the interface mobility and affirm the universal behavior in the long channel limit. Next, effective mobility in ensembles of MOSFETs with a gate length down to 10 nm is investigated. It is found that the random-discrete nature of the Si-SiO/sub 2/ interface leads to a distribution of carrier mobility below the interface, which can deviate considerably from universal mobility curves when L/sub gate/<6/spl Lambda/, where /spl Lambda/ is the correlation length for the SiO/sub 2/ interface.
High-frequency predictions for number counts and spectral properties of extragalactic radio sources. New evidence of a break at mm wavelengths in spectra of bright blazar sources

We present models to predict high-frequency counts of extragalactic radio sources using physically grounded recipes to describe the complex spectral behaviour of blazars that dominate the mm-wave counts at bright flux densities. We show that simple power-law spectra are ruled out by high-frequency (ν ≥ 100 GHz) data. These data also strongly constrain models featuring the spectral breaks predicted by classical physical models for the synchrotron emission produced in jets of blazars. A model dealing with blazars as a single population is, at best, only marginally consistent with data coming from current surveys at high radio frequencies. Our most successful model assumes different distributions of break frequencies, νM, for BL Lacs and flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs). The former objects have substantially higher values of νM, implying that the synchrotron emission comes from more compact regions; therefore, a substantial increase of the BL Lac fraction at high radio frequencies and at bright flux densities is predicted. Remarkably, our best model is able to give a very good fit to all the observed data on number counts and on distributions of spectral indices of extragalactic radio sources at frequencies above 5 and up to 220 GHz. Predictions for the forthcoming sub-mm blazar counts from Planck, at the highest HFI frequencies, and from Herschel surveys are also presented.
Parameters of Speech Rate Perception in German Words and Sentences: Duration, F o Movement, and F o Level

Through four sets of experiments, this paper examines the contributions of duration, overall F o level and F o movement to the perception of speech rate in German words and sentences, as well as the influences of perceived tempo changes on segment identity. Overall duration constitutes the most important cue, and overall F o level is stronger than F o movement. A higher F o level cues a faster, a lower F o level a slower speed, in relation to some medium reference. An F o movement below or above a preceding Fo level signals a decrease or an increase in speech rate, respectively. Gliding changes have greater cue strength than stepwise changes, and early glides in stressed-unstressed syllable sequences are stronger than later ones. Segment perception that relies on local duration ratios takes their tempo-induced changes into account: The identification functions shift to higher ratios for slower speech rates and to lower ratios for faster speech rates. These perceptual findings are closely linked with the timing and Fo control in speech production.
Abnormal patterns of regional cerebral blood flow in schizophrenia with primary negative symptoms during an effortful auditory recognition task.

OBJECTIVE Using functional brain imaging, the authors sought to replicate their earlier finding of low metabolism in the middle frontal and inferior parietal cortices of schizophrenic patients with primary negative symptoms. METHOD According to the presence or absence of enduring negative symptoms, patients with schizophrenia were classified as having deficit or nondeficit schizophrenia, respectively. Twelve normal volunteers and 18 drug-free schizophrenic volunteers (deficit, N=8; nondeficit, N=10) were trained in a tone discrimination task. They were trained to perform with 70%-80% accuracy and were then scanned with positron emission tomography with [(15)O]H(2)O during three conditions: rest, sensory-motor control task, and decision task. RESULTS Levels of performance of the auditory recognition task were similar in the three groups. An initial hypothesis-driven analysis revealed that across tasks the deficit group failed to show significant activation in the middle frontal cortex. This was in contrast to both the normal volunteers and nondeficit patients. When the patient groups were contrasted, the deficit patients showed significantly less activation in the middle frontal cortex bilaterally during the control task and in the right middle frontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex during the decision task. An exploratory analysis contrasting deficit and nondeficit patients across conditions did not reveal further differences between groups. CONCLUSIONS This study replicated the finding of low activation in the middle frontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex in deficit schizophrenia. This deficit was observed without performance confound and may provide a marker of primary negative symptoms and a target for new therapies.
Acid Neutralizing Capacity, Alkalinity, and Acid-Base Status of Natural Waters Containing Organic Acids

The terms acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) and alkalinity (Alk) are extensively employed in the characterization of natural waters, including soft circumneutral or acidic waters. However, in the presence of organic acids, ANC measurements are inconsistent with many conceptual definitions of ANC or Alk and do not provide an adequate characterization of the acid-base chemistry of water. Knowledge of Gran ANC and inorganic carbon concentrations does not by itself allow calculation of the pH of a water containing organic acids. Neither is measured ANC invariant upon changes in organic acid concentration. The result is a significant, but hidden, problem for policy makers and regulators, since ANC is considered a fundamental index of natural water acid-base status. ANC is the main output of many of the watershed simulation models now used in acid precipitation assessment programs, and considerations of present or expected ANCs apparently will play a major role in regulatory decisions. It is proposed to model such natural waters by (1) independently specifying the organic acid concentration and (2) adopting a definition of alkalinity that is invariant with changes of organic acid concentrations. Alkalinity, when so defined, can be both measurable and useful and possesses the conservative chemical properties commonly attributed to the term. A simple computational scheme, amenable to graphical presentation, is proposed to express the relationship between alkalinity, pH, organic acid concentration and inorganic carbon content.
In situ QCM DNA-biosensor probe modification

We report on a probe modification of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) DNA-biosensor that permits to reversibly change the DNA sequence detected. A QCM DNA-biosensor was designed by immobilization of a 20-base DNA-disulfide probe on the gold-covered quartz surface of a 27 MHz microbalance (9 MHz, third overtone). After immobilization on the gold covered quartz surface, this probe was modified by hybridization with a 45-base DNA that includes the complementary 20-base sequence, a 5-base spacer and a non-complementary 20-base sequence. The non-complementary sequence constitutes a new probe, different from the DNA-disulfide probe, that permits the detection of a new DNA target. As this 45 bases DNA is changeable by dehybridization, successive different DNA targets can be detected. Kinetics and thermodynamic studies of the DNA-disulfide and modified biosensors indicate that the modified biosensor is as sensitive, selective, fast, renewable and reproducible as the DNA-disulfide biosensor, but with a higher hybridization ratio. This modification method offers wider investigation field and practical and economic advantages to DNA-biosensors based on irreversible immobilization of DNA probes on solid substrate.
Endogenous Mincerian Returns: Explaining Cross-Country Variation in the Returns to Schooling

This paper calibrates a model with endogenous returns to schooling and examines the extent to which cross-country variation in the Mincerian returns can be explained by technology and supply factors within the framework of a competitive labor market. I apply a cross-sectional model, similar to Kaboski (2001), in which both the distribution of schooling levels and the returns to schooling are endogenous equilibrium results. Using a data set assembled for sixty countries, I calibrate technology parameters for each country, and combine these with several sources of supply variation in the data (i.e. variation in life expectancy, fertility, government funding of education at different levels, and retirement ages). The resulting correlation between the Mincerian returns in the model and data is significant at 0.29, with differences in potential career length (from life expectancy and retirement age variation) and fertility across countries playing larger roles in this correlation than school funding and technology levels. The results also argue that the Mincerian return should be viewed as a conservatively high value for measuring the direct effects of schooling investments.
Ocular adnexal lymphoma: no evidence for bacterial DNA associated with lymphoma pathogenesis

Ocular Adnexal Lymphomas (OALs) are the most common tumors of the eye, the majority being extranodal mucosa‐associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas. Association with Chlamydia psittaci was described in some geographic areas. OAL response to antibiotic therapy was reported in cases not harboring Chlamydia psittaci DNA, suggesting that other bacterial infection might be implicated in the pathogenesis. We examined 49 MALT OALs for bacterial DNA using two distinct polymerase chain reaction techniques based on universal bacterial primers. No bacterial DNA that could be implicated in OAL pathogenesis was detected, suggesting that bacterial infection is not associated with OAL in South Florida.
Pharmacologic evaluation of gentamicin in newborn infants.

Suitable antibacterial levels were achieved in sera of newborn infants following individual doses of gentamicin of 1.5-2.5 mg/kg given every 8 or 12 hr. The larger dose gave more predictable levels within the desired therapeutic range, and the highest individual level in serum was below the known toxic range. Significant accumulation was not observed with multiple doses for up to 12 days of therapy. Levels in serum and half-life values after intravenous infusion of gentamicin over a 2-hr period were similar to those after intramuscular administration. Excretion was primarily by glomerular filtration and correlated better with postnatal age than with body weight. Gentamicin was detectable in cerebrospinal fluid following intramuscular administration. The level in spinal fluid was dependent on dose, time after administration, and degree of meningeal inflammation. Intrathecal instillation resulted in higher levels in spinal fluid. The efficacy of gentamicin was evaluated in 81 neonatal infants. Fifty-five infants responded promptly, 20 infants responded moderately well, and a poor response was observed in six infants. There was no evidence of acute hematologic or renal toxicity in the 74 infants studied.
Oral hygiene practices and dietary habits among children with Down ’ s Syndrome in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia

The objective of this study was to evaluate the oral hygiene practices and dietary habits among a sample of children with Down’s syndrome in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and to determine whether the mother’s educational level and occupational status are related to these practices and habits. Two hundred and fifty families of children with Down’s syndrome were selected for this study. These children attended three institutions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The data for the study was obtained through a self-administered questionnaire distributed by the institutions principal. Two hundred and twentyfive questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 90%. The results showed that nearly 75% of the children brushed their teeth once or more daily and that about 90% used the toothbrush. Of the surveyed sample, 60% received parental help with tooth brushing, and 12% were helped by the nanny. Children of mothers with university education were found to brush their own teeth or depend on the nanny’s help (P=0.008, P=0.001 respectively). Also children of working mothers were found to brush their own teeth or rely on the nanny’s help (P=0.034, P<0.0001 respectively). Only 7.3% of the mothers gave their children sweets or sweet snacks three times a day or more and 7% gave them sweet drinks as frequent. Over half of the mothers gave their children sweets and sweet snacks occasionally, and 42.8% gave them sweet drinks occasionally. No statistically significant differences, in these practices, were found in relation to the mother’s educational levels or occupational status. The practice of giving sweets as a reward was low among the surveyed sample and the highest percentage (55.7%) of the respondents gave their children in-between meal snacks once/day. Statistically significant differences were found only in the frequency of consumption of sweets and sweet snacks between the children of working and non-working mothers as non-working mothers gave their children sweets and sweet snacks more frequently (P= 0.027). This study demonstrated that the overall level of oral hygiene practices and dietary habits among Down’s syndrome children was satisfactory and that assisting the children with tooth brushing would improve their oral hygiene. With regards to the relationship between the Child’s oral hygiene practices and dietary habits with the mother’s educational level and occupational status, statistically significant associations were found only with the person responsible for brushing the teeth and the frequency of consumption of sweet snacks.