Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The functional anatomy of recovery from auditory agnosia. A PET study of sound categorization in a neurological patient and normal controls.

H2(15)O-PET was used to investigate the functional anatomy of recovery in a patient (J.B.) with bilateral perisylvian strokes and auditory agnosia, who partially regained the ability to recognize environmental sounds, but remained clinically word-deaf. The patient and a group of six normal volunteers were scanned in the following three conditions: (i) passive listening to environmental sounds; (ii) categorization of environmental sounds; (iii) at rest. In normal subjects, passive listening as compared with rest was associated with significant activations in the auditory cortices and posterior thalami, and in the inferior parietal lobe and anterior insula/frontal opercular region on the right. In J.B. , activations were observed in the spared auditory cortex and inferior parietal lobe of the right hemisphere and in regions adjacent to the perisylvian lesion in the left hemisphere (anterior insula/frontal opercular region, middle temporal gyrus and inferior parietal lobe). The recovered function, as measured by categorization of sounds compared with passive listening, in J.B. was associated with bilateral activation of a distributed network comprising (pre)frontal, middle temporal and inferior parietal cortices, as well as the right cerebellum and the right caudate nucleus. In addition, there was a left-sided activation of the anterior cingulate gyrus. In normal subjects, the same categorization task led to activation of a network comprising (pre)frontal, middle temporal and inferior parietal cortices in the left hemisphere only. These results suggest that bilateral activation (with recruitment of areas homologous to those known to be responsible for normal function), the engagement of peri-infarct regions, and the involvement of a more widespread neocortical network, are mechanisms of functional reorganization after injury that may enable recovery from, or compensation for, cognitive deficits.
Assessment of Health Consequences of Steel Industry Welders’ Occupational Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation

Background: Welding is among the most important frequently used processes in the industry with a wide range of applications from the food industry to aerospace and from precision tools to shipbuilding. The aim of this study was to assess the level of steel industry welders’ exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and to investigate the health impacts of these exposures. Methods: In this case–control study, we measured the intensity of UV at the workers’ wrist in Fars Steel Company through manufacture of different types of heavy metal structures, using UV-meter model 666230 made by Leybold Co., from Germany. Results: The population under the study comprised 400 people including 200 welders as the exposed group and 200 nonwelders as the unexposed group. The results of the questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS software, version 19. The average, standard deviation, maximum and minimum of the UV at the welders’ wrist were 0.362, 0.346, 1.27, and 0.01 μW/cm2, respectively. There was a significantly (P < 0.01) higher incidence of cataracts, keratoconjunctivitis, dermatitis and erythema in welders than in their nonwelders. Conclusions: This study showed that the time period of UV exposure in welders is higher than the permissible contact threshold level. Therefore, considering the outbreak of the eye and skin disorders in the welders, decreasing exposure time, reducing UV radiation level, and using personal protective equipment seem indispensable. As exposure to UV radiation can be linked to different types of skin cancer, skin aging, and cataract, welders should be advised to decrease their occupational exposures.
Interactions between amyloid-β and tau in cerebrospinal fluid of people with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND Despite the physiological sequestration of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides by various carriers, interactions between peptides and protein tau appear to be pathological and involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A recent study reported increased Aβ-tau interactions in the neurons of AD patients. OBJECTIVE We investigated the possibility that levels of Aβ-tau complexes in cerebrospinal fluid could be a prospective biomarker of AD, with greater sensitivity and specificity than Aβ1-42, tau, or phospho-tau individually. METHODS By means of ELISA, we estimated levels of the complexes in 161 people (non-demented controls, people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), probable AD or other types of dementia). RESULTS We found significant reductions in levels in people with MCI due to AD (down to 84.5%) or with AD (down to 80.5%) but not in other types of dementia. The sensitivity of the new biomarker to AD was 68.6%, the specificity 73.3% (compared to controls) or 59.1-66.1% (compared to other types of dementia). No significant correlations were observed between the complexes and the remaining biomarkers or between those and Mini-Mental State Examination score. CONCLUSION We suppose that attenuated levels of complexes in cerebrospinal fluid reflect the accumulation of Aβ bound to tau in AD neurons and that changes start many years before symptom onset, analogously to those in Aβ1-42, tau, or phospho-tau. Unfortunately, these complexes are not a significantly better biomarker of AD than current biomarkers.
Carry-over of pyrrolizidine alkaloids from feed to milk in dairy cows

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are toxins present in many plants belonging to the families of Asteraceae, Boraginaceae and Fabaceae. Particularly notorious are pyrrolizidine alkaloids present in ragwort species (Senecio), which are held responsible for hepatic disease in horses and cows and may lead to the death of the affected animals. In addition, these compounds may be transferred to edible products of animal origin and as such be a threat for the health of consumers. To investigate the possible transfer of pyrrolizidine alkaloids from contaminated feed to milk, cows were put on a ration for 3 weeks with increasing amounts (50–200 g day−1) of dried ragwort. Milk was collected and sampled twice a day; faeces and urine twice a week. For milk, a dose-related appearance of pyrrolizidine alkaloids was found. Jacoline was the major component in milk despite being a minor component in the ragwort material. Practically no N-oxides were observed in milk, notwithstanding the fact that they constituted over 80% of the pyrrolizidine alkaloids in ragwort. The overall carry-over of the pyrrolizidine alkaloids was estimated to be only around 0.1%, but for jacoline 4%. Notwithstanding the low overall carry-over, this may be relevant for consumer health considering the genotoxic and carcinogenic properties demonstrated for some of these compounds. Analysis of the faeces and urine samples indicated that substantial metabolism of pyrrolizidine alkaloids is taking place. The toxicity and potential transfer of metabolites to milk is unknown and remains to be investigated.
Fixed point theorems for a family of hybrid pairs of mappings in metrically convex spaces

The present paper establishes some coincidence and common fixed point theorems for a sequence of hybrid-type nonself-mappings defined on a closed subset of a metrically convex metric space. Our results generalize some earlier results due to Khan et al. (2000), Itoh (1977), Khan (1981), Ahmad and Imdad (1992 and 1998), and several others. Some related results are also discussed.
Crash-o-phobia in Currency Carry Trade Returns

Currency carry trade returns are on average large and non-normally distributed. While the literature has found different explanations for the existence of carry trade returns, the higher order moments of their return distribution still pose a puzzle. We propose a new model to explain these non-normal properties of currency carry trade returns, by assuming that agents are loss averse and overweight states with low probabilities. This combination of loss aversion and probability weighting is called crash-o-phobia. Using non-linear least squares and risk-neutral state prices implied by currency options, we estimate this crash-o-phobia model to price developed and emerging market currencies. The parameter estimates reveal crash-o-phobic beliefs and preferences with significant differences across currencies. Compared to a model with rational beliefs and CRRA utility, our crash-o-phobia model performs significantly better at explaining the whole distribution of currency carry trade returns.
Evaluation of changes in biologic markers ER, PR, HER 2 and Ki-67 index in breast cancer with administration of neoadjuvant dose dense doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel chemotherapy.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to assess the changes in biologic markers of breast cancer ER, PR, HER 2 and Ki-67 in locally advanced breast cancer patients after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. METHODS Data from 63 locally advanced breast cancer patients (stage II or III), whose histological diagnosis was made by core biopsies were retrospectively evaluated. The patients were given 4 cyles of 600 mg/m(2) cyclophosphamide, 60 mg/m(2) doxorubicin every 15 days followed by 4 cycles of paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) every 15 days, and they underwent surgery within two weeks after the last chemotherapy cycle. Expressions in the preoperative and postoperative status of ER, PR, HER 2 and Ki-67 were compared. RESULTS The patient mean age was 49.2 ±10.7 years and most (57.1%) were premenopausal. Clinical stages of patients ranged between T2N1 and T3N2. The pathological complete response (pCR) rate was 14.9 % (N=9). Two (5.7%) patients who were ER positive prior to treatment showed ER negativity after treatment. In 7 (21.17percnt;) patients PR became negative after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and in 3 (9.0%) patients PR became positive. Changes in ER and PR receptors were not statistically significant (ER p=0.500 and PR p=0.549, respectively), whereas in 2 (5. 8%) patients hormonal status changed significantly when compared to initial biopsies (p=0.003). In addition, median value for PR intensity decreased from 20 to 10% (p=0.003) and Ki-67 values decreased from 10 to 1% (p<0.001) following neoadjuvant therapy. Six (17%) patients exhibited some changes in HER 2 staining. HER 2 expression became 2+ in 3 patients who were HER 2 negative prior to treatment, and HER 2 expression became negative in two patients with HER 2 1+ and 2+ prior to treatment following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. CONCLUSION The biological markers ER, PR, HER 2 and Ki- 67 index demonstrated differences after neoadjuvant treatment in breast cancer patients. These changes may affect the treatment decision.
Error grid analysis of noninvasive glucose monitoring via gingival cerevicular fluid

In order to realize a noninvasive blood glucose monitor, we monitored the gingival cerevicular fluid (GCF). In this paper, the clinical evaluations were performed on not only normal subjects but also diabetic subjects using a GCF-glucose monitor to determine blood glucose levels. Meal load tests were carried out and the time-course changes in blood glucose level and GCF glucose level were measured continuously. A positive correlation of more than 0.9 was found between blood glucose level and GCF glucose level, necessitating the calibration of individual correlations for every subject. Finally, the performance of the GCF-glucose monitor was evaluated using Error Grid Analysis. As the results, significant information for the glucose level decision was obtained not only for normal subjects, but also for diabetic subjects.
Leaf Area Index Estimation of Boreal and Subarctic Forests Using VV/HH ENVISAT/ASAR Data of Various Swaths

This paper demonstrates the potential of dual polarization synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images in the estimation of the leaf area index (LAI) of boreal forests. The SAR data do not suffer from the low sun elevation and frequent cloud cover, which often complicate the use of optical wavelengths for LAI retrieval in the area. The analysis was based on a large number of environmental satellite (ENVISAT) advanced synthetic aperture radar (ASAR) alternating polarization vertical polarization (VV)/horizontal polarization (HH) single-look-complex images covering several test sites, boreal and subarctic, during summers 2003-2006. The swath range from IS1 to IS7 was studied. In all test sites, a linear regression with the VV/HH backscattering ratio as the independent variable could typically be used for the estimation of LAI. All swaths could be used for the estimation, but larger incidence angles generally performed better. The best results were obtained for swath IS6. The swaths could be used also together, but better results were obtained using the diverse swaths individually. The LAI estimation error decreased essentially exponentially with the number of pixels averaged to give one backscattering value. The LAI estimation accuracy for a set of average quality ASAR images of swath IS6 reached 0.1 when the averaging number of pixels was 33 150, which would correspond to an area of about 2.2 km2 for images with no overlap. The spatial LAI estimation error decreased with the number of images covering the same area.
TOXIC EFFECTS OF FLUORIDE ON KIDNEY FUNCTION AND HISTOLOGICAL STRUCTURE IN YOUNG PIGS

The effects of chronic fluoride exposure on kidney integrity and histological structure, along with effects on associated enzymes and metabolite changes, were investigated in young pigs. Twenty-four crossbred barrows (Duroc×Landrace×Yorkshire) about 50 days old were randomly divided into three groups of eight pigs each. Groups I, II, and III received the same basal diet additionally supplemented, respectively, with 0, 100, and 250 mg F–/kg (from NaF). Results obtained after 50 days indicated that supplemental fluoride-treatment caused severe renal histological changes as well as increased renal cell apoptosis. In kidney tissue, lactate dehydrogenenase (LDH) activity was significantly increased in group III, whereas alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity was significantly decreased in group II as well as in group III. In the serum, significantly increased urea nitrogen (UN) was present in groups II and III, and the serum of group III had elevated creatinine (Cre) and decreased Na+. These findings show that chronic excessive fluoride exposure is deleterious to kidney structure and function of pigs.
Evaluation of Aortic Injury in Driver Fatalities Occurring in Motor Vehicle Accidents in the State of Maryland for 2003 and 2004

Incorporating epidemiological and pathologic factors, a retrospective analysis of aortic injury and driving fatalities was conducted. To better understand the mechanism of injury, data were compiled for decedent demographics, autopsy and toxicology findings, and accident circumstances, with emphasis on directional impact. Review of the autopsy files of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in the State of Maryland in 2003 and 2004, identified 150 cases of aortic injury recorded in 537 autopsied drivers. Aortic lacerations occurred in 96% of the cases with aortic injury, two thirds of which were complete or near complete transections. A large percentage of cases involved a side impact collision. Consistent with extant research on frontal and lateral impacts, the majority of aortic injuries occurred at the ligamentum arteriosum. Also, the mechanism of aortic injury seems to be similar for side and frontal impact collisions, involving a combination of rapid deceleration forces along with chest and/or upper abdominal compression. This study emphasizes the importance of side impact collisions as a cause of aortic injury. Aortic lacerations have a high mortality rate and better motor vehicle design may prevent this type of injury.
Determinants and Consequences of Timely Asset Impairments During the Financial Crisis

U.S. firms recorded an unprecedented number of asset impairments during the recent financial crisis. We investigate the timing of these losses in the context of two competing views on how firms use discretion over asset impairments. The first view posits that firms record impairments to convey private information as part of their commitment to a conditionally conservative reporting strategy. The second view argues that firms use their discretion to report opportunistically by delaying the recording of bad news. Consistent with the first view, we find that firms recorded timelier asset impairments during the financial crisis if they reported more conservatively in the five years preceding the crisis. Further tests show this relation is greater for firms with strong corporate governance, industryâ€ specialist auditors, and high leverage, indicating the importance of monitoring mechanisms in determining how firms handle the discretion involved in impairment decisions. We also test for the consequences of timely asset impairments during the financial crisis and find that firms reporting conservatively both before and during the crisis were able to acquire more debt financing, and their publicly traded bonds suffered smaller increases in illiquidity. Collectively, our study highlights the role of asset impairments in firmsâ€™ accounting choices over time.
Defective chorioallantoic fusion in mid-gestation lethality of parthenogenone<-->tetraploid chimeras.

Previous studies of parthenogenetic embryos revealed severe perturbations of both embryonic and extraembryonic tissue lineages during postimplantation development. The majority of pure parthenogenetic concepti have no recognizable axis and exhibit preferential terminal differentiation of their trophectoderm and primitive endoderm. To further define the role of the extraembryonic lineages in parthenogenetic development, we provided them with zygote-derived extraembryonic tissues by aggregating them with fertilized tetraploid embryos. On Day 12 of combined in vitro and in vivo development, most of the embryos proper in these chimeras were entirely derived parthenogenetically, whereas their trophectoderm and primitive endoderm tissues were derived from the tetraploid component. No Igf2 expression was detected in the parthenogenetic embryo proper, indicating that imprinting was manifested in such chimeras. Typical development of the parthenogenetic embryo proper was markedly improved in comparison with pure parthenogenetic concepti, with such chimeras attaining an average of 23 somites (range, 10 to 35). However, most of the chimeras died abruptly at Day 13, and all were being resorbed at Day 14 of development. The gross normality of axial structures and organ development suggests that a major cause of failure of these chimeric parthenogenones to survive beyond mid-gestation was due to defective chorioallantoic fusion. Our results indicate that the severe perturbation of axial development seen in most pure parthenogenetic concepti is a secondary consequence of the effects of parthenogenesis on the trophectoderm and primitive endoderm lineages. Moreover, the mid-gestation death of parthenogenetic embryos proper despite the presence of zygote-derived tetraploid tissues implicates extraembryonic mesoderm in manifesting the effects of genomic imprinting.
Association of a T29-->C polymorphism of the transforming growth factor-beta1 gene with genetic susceptibility to myocardial infarction in Japanese.

BACKGROUND Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is an important regulator of vascular remodeling and is involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. A T-->C transition at nucleotide 29 of the TGF-beta1 gene results in a Leu-->Pro substitution at amino acid 10 of the signal peptide. We have now examined a possible association of TGF-beta1 genotype with myocardial infarction (MI) in a Japanese population. METHODS AND RESULTS TGF-beta1 genotype was determined in 315 Japanese patients (234 men and 81 women) with MI and 591 control subjects (289 men and 302 women). We found that age, body mass index, and incidence of habitual smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hypercholesterolemia did not differ between the 2 groups for either men or women. Multivariable logistic regression analysis, however, demonstrated the frequency of the T allele to be significantly higher in male subjects with MI than in controls (TT + TC versus CC; P<0.0001, odds ratio 3.5, 95% CI 2.0 to 6.3). In contrast, the T allele was not associated with the prevalence of MI in women. In both male MI patients and controls, the serum concentration of TGF-beta1 was significantly higher in individuals with the CC genotype than in subjects with the TT or TC genotype. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that the T allele at nucleotide 29 in the TGF-beta1 gene is a risk factor for genetic susceptibility to MI, at least in middle-aged Japanese men.
Quality of the leader-member relationship and the organizational commitment of nurses.

OBJECTIVE To understand the perception of the quality of leadership relationships and the organizational commitment of nurses, and to analyze the influence of this relationship quality. METHOD Cross-sectional and correlational study, with a quantitative approach, using a non-probability convenience sampling with 408 nurses. The data were collected through questionnaires at Central Hospital in Lisbon, between January and March 2013. The statistical analysis of the data was carried out using IBM® SPSS® Statistics 19 software. RESULTS Three hundred forty-two questionnaires were considered valid. The quality of the leadership relationship was satisfactory, and the nurses were poorly committed to the organization. The quality of the leadership relationship was statistically correlated with organizational commitment: there was found a moderate association to affective commitment (rs=0.42, p<0.05), a low association with the normative commitment (rs=0.37, p<0.05), and a very low association with the calculative commitment (rs=0.14, p<0.05). CONCLUSION Leadership exerts influence on organizational commitment. An opportunity to improve the quality of the leadership relationship between nurses and their leaders was found, with the consequent possibility of developing organizational commitment.
An Evaluation of Electric Vehicle Penetration under Demand Response in a Multi-Agent Based Simulation

This paper proposes an electric vehicle charging model and various control algorithms that are further incorporated into a multi-agent system to evaluate impacts of electric vehicle penetration on the power system. Electric vehicles have become increasingly popular due to the high costs of the operation of gas / diesel powered vehicles and the potential to reduce CO2 emission. In this work, we propose the electric vehicle charging model and associated control algorithms to aggregate the electric vehicle load. Simulation results show that uncontrolled charging of electric vehicles can jeopardize the stability of the power system. In a worst-case scenario this can lead to an increase of peak demand by 53.2%, while by using appropriate scheduled charging the electric vehicles can have no contribution to the peak demand. Furthermore, scheduled charging dramatically reduces the standard deviation of the residential load (by up to 51%). Therefore, the aggregation of electric vehicle demand under an appropriate demand response control strategy has the potential to dramatically improve the stability of the power system with virtually no negative impacts. The proposed electric vehicle charging model and the associated scheduling algorithm can be embedded into a home energy management system or a smart charger.