Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Short-and Long-Delay Intracranial ERP Repetition Effects Dissociate Memory Systems in the Human Brain

Prior exposure to a stimulus can facilitate the performance to subsequent presentations of that stimulus. ERP studies have shown that this facilitation is associated with the modulation of two components (N400 and P600). Investigation of the time course of both behavioral and ERP repetition effects have led to the assumption that it is subserved by the combination of at least two mechanisms operating at different time-points: a short-delay semantic activation and a long-lasting episodic mechanism. The present experiment recorded intracranial ERPs from various structures during a continuous recognition memory task to investigate the respective contribution of the different brain regions to short-and long-delay ERP repetition effects. The results are in good agreement with both the classical neuropsychological literature and the more recent data obtained with functional imagery techniques. They provide electrophysiological evidence of multiple anatomo-functional memory systems in the human brain: a short-term semantic activation system and a long-term episodic memory system, with interface structures that coordinate the functioning of these two systems.
Reevaluation of Patients With Bipolar Disorder on Manic Episode: Improving the Diagnosing of Mixed Episode

AbstractMixed manic/depressive episodes in patients with bipolar disorder are underdiagnosed because of restrictive diagnostic criteria. Using the broader definition of a mixed episode represented by the Cincinnati criteria, we reevaluated the medical records of patients with bipolar disorder hospitalized for a manic episode. We also examined the predictive power of previously unrecognized depressive symptoms. Of 520 inpatients with mania, we retrospectively diagnosed 59 (11.3%) as having a probable mixed episode. Compared with the patients with pure mania, the patients with mixed episodes were more likely to have a family history of psychiatric illness, comorbid personality disorder, and a history of suicide attempts. Binary logistic regression revealed that loss of interest, loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness, and feelings of helplessness had good positive predictive value (>0.7) for mixed episodes. Accurate diagnosis of mixed episodes may require a broadening of diagnostic criteria and emphasis on symptoms such as loss of interest, loss of energy, and feelings of worthlessness and helplessness.
Association of increased interferon-inducible gene expression with disease activity and lupus nephritis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE To study 5 type I interferon (IFN)-inducible genes (LY6E, OAS1, OASL, MX1, and ISG15) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to correlate expression levels with disease activity and/or clinical manifestations. METHODS Peripheral blood cells were obtained from 48 SLE patients, 48 normal controls, and 22 rheumatic disease controls, and total RNA was extracted and reverse transcribed into complementary DNA. Gene expression levels were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction, standardized to a housekeeping gene, and summed to an IFN score. Disease activity was determined by the Safety of Estrogens in Lupus Erythematosus: National Assessment-Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SELENA-SLEDAI) composite. RESULTS Each gene was highly expressed in SLE patients compared with normal controls (P < or = 0.0003) or disease controls (P < or = 0.0008 except for MX1). IFN scores were positively associated with the SELENA-SLEDAI instrument score (P = 0.001), the SELENA-SLEDAI flare score (P = 0.03), and the physician's global assessment score (P = 0.005). Compared with patients without nephritis, lupus nephritis patients had higher IFN scores (overall P < 0.0001), especially during active renal disease. IFN scores were weakly associated with neurologic manifestations. Elevated IFN scores were positively associated with the current presence of anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies (P = 0.007) or hypocomplementemia (P = 0.007). LY6E expression levels distinguished active from inactive lupus nephritis (P = 0.02) and were positively associated with proteinuria (P = 0.009). CONCLUSION The 5 IFN-inducible genes were highly expressed in SLE patients, and increased levels were correlated with disease activity defined by several methods. IFN scores, or LY6E levels, were elevated in lupus nephritis patients, especially during active renal disease, and in patients with anti-dsDNA antibody positivity and hypocomplementemia. IFN scores, or LY6E levels, may be useful as a biomarker for lupus nephritis therapy.
Hydrogeological evaluation of a southern Ontario kettle-hole peatland and its linkage to a regional aquifer

This paper examines a southern Ontario kettle-hole peatland (Spongy Lake) to determine its hydrogeological linkage with local and regional water tables. The water table in the peat deposit and lake are perched 6 m above the regional aquifer, and there are strong lateral and downward hydraulic gradients. The horizontal hydraulic gradient (Δh/Δz) measured at the edge of the peatland ranged between 0.15 and 0.23 and the vertical gradient reached −1.24 (i.e., downward flow). At depths less than 1.0 m, saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) ranged from 10−7 to 10−5 m s−1 and increased in magnitude with proximity to the peat surface. In an intermediate zone (1.0–4.0 m depth), Ks values ranged from 10−8 to 10−7 m s−1, while deeper clay materials had Ks values ranging from 10−9 to 10−8 m s−1. A clay layer directly below the deep peat limits downward seepage of water (one to two orders of magnitude less than evaporation). During periods of relatively high water, most seepage loss occurs laterally at the interface between mineral sediment and the peat. Spongy Lake is an important recharge zone for the regional aquifer, and the hydrologic and ecological integrity of the system should be protected.
How to Manage the Pediatric Nutritional Support Team: Updates

Pediatric patients in hospital are at risk of malnutrition at admission and even during their hospitalization. Although the concept of nutritional support team (NST) was introduced to hospitals for optimal nutritional care since 1960s and the benefits of pediatric NST have been proven by many studies and reports in terms of patient clinical outcome and cost saving, the pediatric NST is not widespread yet. The pediatric NST composed of pediatricians, dieticians, pharmacist, and nutrition support nurses as core members dedicated to nutritional care in children should be independent of central NST or other disciplines, but closely cooperate with other teams in hospitals. There is no doubt that a multidisciplinary NST is an effective way to provide appropriate nutritional support to an individual patient. Therefore, the implementation of the pediatric NST in hospitals should be recommended to provide optimum nutritional support including enteral tube feeding and parenteral nutrition and to assess pediatric patients at risk of malnutrition. (Pediatr Gastroenterol Hepatol Nutr 2012; 15: 79∼84)
Traditional nutritional analyses of figs overestimates intake of most nutrient fractions: a study of Ficus perforata consumed by howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata mexicana)

There continue to remain uncertainty concerning the nutritional importance of figs (Ficus spp.) in the primate diet. Although studies have been performed on the nutritional analysis of fig pulp and seed fractions separately, there has not been an attempt to quantify the contribution of animal matter within figs. Here we report nutritional values of figs (Ficus perforata) (Urostigma) consumed by a troop of howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata mexicana). Separate nutritional assays were performed on the pulp, seed, and animal fraction. Whole‐fig analyses significantly exaggerate the concentrations of all nutrients (lipids especially) as seeds, which represent a large proportion of the fig (45%), cannot be digested. Animal matter only represents 1% of the fig, and augments fig protein and lipid content by 0.44 and 0.30%, respectively. This represents the 11 and 9% of the fraction available for digestion. Differences in fig consumption were observed between age and sex classes (P=0.04) and periods of the day (P=0.001); females consumed more figs than males and the highest consumption of figs was observed in the afternoon. F. perforata figs may be an important component of the howler monkeys diet owing to their high content of water and calcium. Am. J. Primatol. 70:432–438, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Wideband W-Band Receiver Front-End in 65-nm CMOS

A 75-to-91 GHz receiver front-end, consisting of a three-stage cascode low-noise amplifier (LNA), a double-balanced Gilbert-cell mixer and a differential DC-to-9 GHz IF buffer, is reported in 65-nm general purpose (GP) CMOS technology. The noise and input-impedance matched LNA employs a cascode input stage with shunt-series, transformer feedback. A theoretical and experimental comparison with a conventional inductor-feedback LNA indicates 0.5-1 dB higher gain, 0.3-0.6 dB lower noise figure and better input return loss for the transformer feedback LNA. The receiver has a differential down-conversion gain of 13 dB, an input P1dB of -16.2 dBm, and a double-sideband noise figure of 8.5 to 10 dB at an IF of 1 GHz. Because of the transformer feedback, the input return loss is better than -20 dB from 80 to 92 GHz and remains below -10 dB from 70 GHz beyond 95 GHz. The circuit occupies an area of 460 mum times 500 mum and consumes 89 mW (47 mW in the LNA and mixer) from a 1.5 V supply. An LO-to-RF isolation of 60 dB was measured for LO signals in the 80-to-85 GHz range. Measurements of the mixer breakout, which includes transformers at the RF and LO ports, show a record NFDSB of 8 to 10 dB over the 74-to-91 GHz band. The 50-Omega noise figure of the LNA is 6.4 to 8.4 dB in the 75-to-88.5 GHz range. The LNA can also be employed as a transmitter output stage with a saturated output power of +4 dBm.
Serum Copper as a Marker of Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

INTRODUCTION Copper is an important trace element for normal growth and development of the body. It is also essential for maturation of collagen tissues. The purpose of the study was to estimate the serum copper levels in rheumatoid arthritis patients and to see its association with the various parameters of disease activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was carried out among 50 diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis patients (25 each of active disease & remission patients) and 50 age and sex matched controls. Fasting blood sample was collected for estimation of serum copper, haemoglobin level and ESR in the subjects. RESULTS Mean serum copper level in the case group was found to be significantly higher than that of the control group (p-value<0.001). This increase of copper level was more in active disease than those with remission (p-value < 0.0001). A significant positive correlation was found between serum copper level and ESR, serum copper level and morning stiffness and a negative correlation was found between serum copper level and haemoglobin level in rheumatoid arthritis patients. CONCLUSION In rheumatoid arthritis patients, serum copper level may be used as an additional biochemical marker for estimation of disease activity.
Guidelines for field triage of injured patients. Recommendations of the National Expert Panel on Field Triage.

In the United States, injury is the leading cause of death for persons aged 1--44 years, and the approximately 800,000 emergency medical services (EMS) providers have a substantial impact on the care of injured persons and on public health. At an injury scene, EMS providers determine the severity of injury, initiate medical management, and identify the most appropriate facility to which to transport the patient through a process called "field triage. " Although basic emergency services generally are consistent across hospital emergency departments (EDs), certain hospitals have additional expertise, resources, and equipment for treating severely injured patients. Such facilities, called "trauma centers," are classified from Level I (centers providing the highest level of trauma care) to Level IV (centers providing initial trauma care and transfer to a higher level of trauma care if necessary) depending on the scope of resources and services available. The risk for death of a severely injured person is 25% lower if the patient receives care at a Level I trauma center. However, not all patients require the services of a Level I trauma center; patients who are injured less severely might be served better by being transported to a closer ED capable of managing milder injuries. Transferring all injured patients to Level I trauma centers might overburden the centers, have a negative impact on patient outcomes, and decrease cost effectiveness. In 1986, the American College of Surgeons developed the Field Triage Decision Scheme (Decision Scheme), which serves as the basis for triage protocols for state and local EMS systems across the United States. The Decision Scheme is an algorithm that guides EMS providers through four decision steps (physiologic, anatomic, mechanism of injury, and special considerations) to determine the most appropriate destination facility within the local trauma care system. Since its initial publication in 1986, the Decision Scheme has been revised four times. In 2005, with support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, CDC began facilitating revision of the Decision Scheme by hosting a series of meetings of the National Expert Panel on Field Triage, which includes injury-care providers, public health professionals, automotive industry representatives, and officials from federal agencies. The Panel reviewed relevant literature, presented its findings, and reached consensus on necessary revisions. The revised Decision Scheme was published in 2006. This report describes the process and rationale used by the Expert Panel to revise the Decision Scheme.
Text-Independent/Text-Prompted Speaker Recognition by Combining Speaker-Specific GMM with Speaker Adapted Syllable-Based HMM

We presented a new text-independent/text-prompted speaker recognition method by combining speaker-specific Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) with syllable-based HMM adapted by MLLR or MAP. The robustness of this speaker recognition method for speaking style's change was evaluated in this paper. The speaker identification experiment using NTT database which consists of sentences data uttered at three speed modes (normal, fast and slow) by 35 Japanese speakers (22 males and 13 females) on five sessions over ten months was conducted. Each speaker uttered only 5 training utterances (about 20 seconds in total). A combination method reduced the identification error rate by about 50%. We obtained the accuracy of 98.8% for text-independent speaker identification for three speaking style modes (normal, fast, slow) by using a short test utterance (about 4 seconds). Especially, we obtained the accuracy of 99.4% for normal speaking mode. This result was superior to conventional methods for the same database. We show that the attractive result was brought from the compensational effect between speaker specific GMM and speaker adapted syllable based HMM.
Safeguards to prevent neurologic complications after epidural steroid injections: analysis of evidence and lack of applicability of controversial policies.

Dr. Manchikanti is Medical Director of the Pain Management Center of Paducah, Paducah, KY, and Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY. Dr. Falco is Medical Director of Mid Atlantic Spine & Pain Physicians, Newark, DE; Director, Pain Medicine Fellowship Program, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA; and Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of PM&R, Temple University Medical School, Philadelphia, PA.
Opioid plasma concentrations in methadone‐and buprenorphine‐maintained patients

This is the first trial to compare the relationship of opioid plasma concentrations in methadone‐versus buprenorphine‐maintained subjects. Sixty subjects (19 females and 41 males) seeking treatment who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual version IV (DSM‐IV) criteria for opioid dependence were recruited and treated at the Drug Addiction Outpatient Clinic at the University of Vienna. Of these, 44 (11 female and 33 male) were included in the analyses of plasma concentrations. Subjects received either daily sublingual buprenorphine (2mg or 8mg tablets; maximum daily dose: 8mg) or oral methadone (racemic R‐/S‐methadone) and were maintained on a stable dose after an induction period of 2 weeks. Mean dose and mean plasma concentrations were correlated on an individual and collective basis. Correlation was 0.51 for buprenorphine, whereas the score for methadone was 0.69. Intra‐individual variation was much higher for buprenorphine (p < 0.0001), while the concentration‐to‐dose ratio was very small. Based on the differences of the pharmacokinetics of blood plasma of the two agents, we tried to explain the differences in the acceptance of treatment, which was significantly lower in the buprenorphine‐maintained group. No such differences could be evaluated between completers and dropouts in buprenorphine‐maintained subjects, neither concerning withdrawal scores nor dose, plasma concentration, concentration‐to‐dose ratios or intra‐individual variation.
Delays in Primary Surgical Treatment Are Not Associated With Significant Tumor Size Progression in Breast Cancer Patients

Objectives:We evaluated the effect of time to surgery on tumor growth by comparing initial imaging and pathologic tumor size estimates. We also determined predictors of delay to surgery. Background:Preoperative work-up, coordination of reconstructive surgery, and referral to tertiary care centers can delay surgical treatment of breast cancer. Whether these delays are associated with interim tumor progression is unknown. Methods:We identified 818 clinically node-negative breast cancer patients at our cancer center who had undergone surgery as their first therapeutic modality for invasive breast cancer from September 2003 to December 2006. Baseline tumor size was determined by mammography and sonography; tumor size at surgery was determined from pathology reports. Results:The median time from imaging to surgery was 21 days (1–132 days). In multivariate analysis, increased time to surgery was associated with older age, total mastectomy versus breast-conserving surgery, and reconstructive surgery. The median difference from baseline mammographic tumor size to surgery was 0 cm (8.6 cm smaller to 7.3 cm larger at surgery). The median difference from baseline sonographic tumor size to surgery was 0.1 cm (7.5 cm smaller to 8.3 cm larger at surgery). Neither of these differences was significantly associated with time to surgery. Time to surgery was associated with positive lymph nodes at surgery; however, no association was found after controlling for other prognostic factors. Conclusions:Modest time intervals from imaging to surgery are not significantly associated with change in tumor size; thus, patients may undergo preoperative work-up without experiencing significant disease progression.
Plasma total glutathione in humans and its association with demographic and health-related factors

The tripeptide glutathione is proposed to be protective against a number of chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, there have been few studies of plasma glutathione levels in humans and in those studies the numbers of participants have been very small. In an exploratory analysis the determinants of plasma total glutathione (GSHt) were investigated in a group of 100 volunteers aged 18–61 years in Atlanta, Georgia, USA during June and July 1989. Data on demographic and health-related factors were collected by interview and plasma GSHt was measured using a recently modified laboratory method. The mean concentration of plasma GSHt for all 100 participants was 761 μg/l, with a standard deviation of 451 μg/l, a range of 86–2889 μg/1 and a median of 649 μg/l. Men had significantly higher levels of plasma GSHt than women (924 v. 692 μg/l; P = 0·006). Seventh-day Adventists participating in the present study had higher plasma GSHt levels than other subgroups defined by race and/or religion. Among Seventh-day Adventists consumption of a vegetarian diet was associated with increased plasma GSHt concentration (P = 0·002). Plasma GSHt levels also appeared to vary by race, but relationships with race could not be clearly disassociated from relationships with religion. Among white participants plasma GSHt concentration decreased with age in women but increased with age in men (P = 0·05). Few other factors were associated with plasma GSHt concentration, although use of oral contraceptives (P = 0·10) was somewhat associated with decreased plasma GSHt levels. These findings suggest that plasma GSHt levels may vary with several demographic and health-related attributes and support the need for further research on this potentially important disease-preventive compound.
BRG 1 , a Component of the SWI-SNF Complex , Is Mutated in Multiple Human Tumor Cell Lines

Human BRG1 is a component of the evolutionarily conserved SWI-SNF chromatin remodeling complex. BRG1 has been implicated in growth control through its interaction with the tumor suppressor pRb and may consequently serve as a negative regulator of proliferation. Postulating that BRG1may itself be a tumor suppressor gene, we screened a panel of tumor cell lines to determine whether the gene is targeted for mutation. We report that the COOH-terminal region of BRG1 is homozygously deleted in two carcinoma cell lines, prostate TSU-Pr1 and lung A-427. In addition, biallelic inactivations of BRG1 were observed in four other cell lines derived from carcinomas of the breast, lung, pancreas, and prostate; their mutations in BRG1 included three frameshift lesions and one nonsense lesion. Point mutations were also discovered in a number of other cell lines, however in most cases any effect of these mutations on BRG1 function remains to be established. A variety of different mutations within BRG1, in several cell lines, suggest that BRG1 may be targeted for disruption in human tumors. Significantly, reintroduction of BRG1 into cells lacking BRG1 expression was sufficient to reverse their transformed phenotype inducing growth arrest and a flattened morphology. These data strongly support the model that BRG1 may function as a tumor suppressor and strengthen the hypothesis that the regulation of gene expression through chromatin remodeling is critical for cancer progression. It will be important to confirm these observations in primary tumors.
The Black–White Education Scaled Test-Score Gap in Grades K-7

We measure the black–white achievement gap from kindergarten through seventh grade on an interval scale created by tying each grade–test score combination to average eventual education. After correcting for various sources of test measurement error, some of which are unique to forward-looking scales, we find no racial component in the evolution of the achievement gap through the first eight years of schooling. Further, most, if not all, of the gap can be explained by socioeconomic differences. Our results suggest that the rising racial test gap in previous studies probably reflects excessive measurement error in testing in the early grades.