Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early pathology in sleep studies of patients with familial Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease

In this study, we aimed to assess sleep function in patients with recent‐onset familial Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (fCJD). The largest cluster of fCJD patients is found in Jews of Libyan origin, linked to the prion protein gene (PRNP) E200K mutation. The high index of suspicion in these patients often leads to early diagnosis, with complaints of insomnia being a very common presenting symptom of the disease. The study included 10 fCJD patients diagnosed by clinical manifestations, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain, elevated tau protein in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and positive PRNP E200K mutation. Standard polysomnography was performed after a brief interview confirming the presence of sleep disturbances. All patients showed a pathological sleep pattern according to all scoring evaluation settings. The sleep stages were characterized by (i) disappearance of sleep spindles; (ii) outbursts of periodic sharp waves and shallowing of sleep consisting in increased Stage 2 and wake periods during the night, as well as decrease of slow‐wave sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Recordings of respiratory functions reported irregular breathing with central and obstructive apnea and hypopnea. The typical hypotonia occurring during the night and atonia during REM sleep were replaced by hyperactive sleep consisting of multiple jerks, movements and parasomnia (mainly talking) throughout the night. In conclusion, we report unique pathological sleep patterns in early fCJD associated with the E200K mutation. Specific respiratory disturbances and lack of atonia could possibly serve as new, early diagnostic tools in the disease.
Predicting functional outcomes in patients suffering from ischaemic stroke using initial admission variables and physiological data: a comparison between tree model and multivariate regression analysis

Purpose. This study was aimed to compare the application of a tree model and regression approach for developing data-driven models that identified frisk factors related to functional outcomes among ischaemic stroke patients. Methods. Data were derived from 271 hospitalised patients with a first-ever ischaemic stroke. The Barthel Index (BI) and Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) were used to assess the functional outcomes. The stroke severity at admission and related information from 2006 to December 2007 were extracted retrospectively from a chart review. Results. In the regression approach, including age, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score and glucose level were the most significant predictors affecting both the BI and MRS. After applying the tree model, different tree structures were found. For the BI score, the NIHSS score interact with glucose, age and systolic blood pressure to form the tree structure. By contrast, the NIHSS score mainly interact with patients' age to form the tree model for MRS. Conclusion. Both models have their pros and cons. The tree model otherwise provides risk interactions, and can effectively discriminate the risk groups for different functional outcomes. Applying both models to specific situations will provide a different angle for functional assessment and intervention in stroke rehabilitation.
The primary occurrence of BRAF(V600E) is a rare clonal event in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

CONTEXT BRAF(V600E) is considered a primary event, a negative prognostic marker, and a site for pharmacological intervention in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). We asked whether BRAF(V600E) can occur as a subclonal event in PTC and whether this and other oncogenes can coexist in the same tumor. STUDY DESIGN We determined by pyrosequencing the percentage of mutant BRAF, NRAS, and KRAS alleles in a series of conventional PTC. We also analyzed the BRAF mutation status in PTC cell clones in culture. RESULTS BRAF(V600E) alleles were present in 41 of 72 PTC (56.9%) in the range 44.7 to 5.1% of total BRAF alleles. In four PTC samples, mutant BRAF alleles were about 50%, being therefore compatible with a clonal heterozygous mutation. In 27 PTC samples, BRAF(V600E) alleles were in the range of 25 to 5.1%. This finding was confirmed after exclusion of the presence of a large contamination by lymphoreticular cells and by the analysis of PTC cells selected by laser capture. Analysis of clones derived from a single cell confirmed the presence of two distinct PTC populations with wild-type or mutated BRAF. Simultaneous subclonal BRAF and KRAS mutations were demonstrated in two PTC. CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate that clonal BRAF(V600E) is a rare occurrence in PTC, although frequently this cancer consists of a mixture of tumor cells with wild-type and mutant BRAF. These results suggest that BRAF mutation in PTC is a later subclonal event, its intratumoral heterogeneity may hamper the efficacy of targeted pharmacotherapy, and its association with a more aggressive disease should be reevaluated.
Transmission of 344 Gb/s 16-QAM Using a Simplified Coherent Receiver Based on Single-Ended Detection

We demonstrate a single-wavelength, 344-Gb/s, 43-Gb 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) polarization division multiplexed signal transmission over 800 km operating below the hard-decision forward error correction (FEC) BER threshold of 3.8 × 10-3 using an InP dual-polarization in-phase/quadrature modulator. At the receiver, a simplified single-ended coherent receiver with novel digital signal processing (DSP) for self-beating noise removal is employed. Compared with the conventional single-ended detection, this signal processing method doubles the propagation distance and increases the SNR by more than 1 dB. In addition, this DSP method provides 10 dB of the received optical power dynamic range while operating below the hard-FEC BER threshold of 3.8 × 10-3, compared with the no dynamic range for a single-ended receiver without the proposed DSP.
Representation of temporal sound features in the human auditory cortex

Abstract Temporal information in acoustic signals is important for the perception of environmental sounds, including speech. This review focuses on several aspects of temporal processing within human auditory cortex and its relevance for the processing of speech sounds. Periodic non-speech sounds, such as trains of acoustic clicks and bursts of amplitude-modulated noise or tones, can elicit different percepts depending on the pulse repetition rate or modulation frequency. Such sounds provide convenient methodological tools to study representation of timing information in the auditory system. At low repetition rates of up to 8–10 Hz, each individual stimulus (a single click or a sinusoidal amplitude modulation cycle) within the sequence is perceived as a separate event. As repetition rates increase up to and above approximately 40 Hz, these events blend together, giving rise first to the percept of flutter and then to pitch. The extent to which neural responses of human auditory cortex encode temporal features of acoustic stimuli is discussed within the context of these perceptual classes of periodic stimuli and their relationship to speech sounds. Evidence for neural coding of temporal information at the level of the core auditory cortex in humans suggests possible physiological counterparts to perceptual categorical boundaries for periodic acoustic stimuli. Temporal coding is less evident in auditory cortical fields beyond the core. Finally, data suggest hemispheric asymmetry in temporal cortical processing.
Micro/nano scale blood separating using mechanical structures

In this paper, we confirmed that clogging does not happen in short time and inline type separate efficiency is higher than stagger type. The mechanical micro blood separator can be a good candidate for bio sample separation devices. In future, we will observe the influence of micro structures geometry on clogging and separation performance will be clarified. And we will design micro structures geometry for clogging reduction and separation performance improvement. In this paper, we confirmed that clogging does not happen in short time and inline type separate efficiency is higher than stagger type. The mechanical micro blood separator can be a good candidate for bio sample separation devices. In future, we will observe the influence of micro structures geometry on clogging and separation performance will be clarified. And we will design micro structures geometry for clogging reduction and separation performance improvement
Surface Damage on Open Box Posterior-Stabilized Polyethylene Tibial Inserts

Twenty retrieved Scorpio® posterior-stabilized implants were available for analysis. The mean implantation time was 22 months (range, 2 days–42 months). Favorable types and amounts of surface damage were seen on the tibiofemoral and backsides of these modular PE liners that had been packaged in an inert environment and then sterilized by gamma irradiation. Delamination represented only 0.1% of the total surface damage. Off-axis loading (varus malalignment) was associated with tibial component loosening but there was no evidence of peripheral damage of PE caused by edge loading. With this open-box design, hyperextension marks on the anterior aspect of the posterior-stabilized post from femoral component impingement occurred in 11 of 20 cases and was related to sagittal component positioning: excess tibial slope or increased tibial slope combined with a flexed femoral component. Unique coarse abrasions occurred in 16 of 20 cases and were the result of cement extrusion into the open box, especially with varus malalignment. These observations provide guidance for optimizing the surgical technique and the design of posterior-stabilized total knee components.
Real time road traffic monitoring alert based on incremental learning from tweets

Social media has become an important source of near-instantaneous information about events and is increasingly also being analysed to provide predictive models, sentiment analysis and so on. One domain where social media data has value is transport and this paper looks at the exploitation of Twitter data in traffic management. A key issue is the identification and analysis of traffic-relevant content. A smart system is needed to identify traffic related tweets for traffic incident alerting. This paper proposes an instant traffic alert and warning system based on a novel LDA-based approach (“tweet-LDA”) for classification of traffic-related tweets. The system is evaluated and shown to perform better than related approaches.
Molecular analysis to detect pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in high-risk groups.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Screening of high-risk groups for pancreatic cancer has not been adopted because of concerns regarding specificity and sensitivity. Suitability of a combination of 3 novel molecular screening techniques was investigated. METHODS Pancreatic juice was extracted from 146 patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, chronic pancreatitis, or biliary tract stones. p53 mutations were analyzed by using a modified yeast functional assay, K-ras status was analyzed using mutation-specific real-time PCR and the proportion of p16(INK4a) promoter methylation was estimated using comparative methylation-specific real-time PCR. RESULTS p53 mutations were detected in 20 of 48 (42%) cancer cases, none of 49 controls, and 2 of 49 (4%) patients with pancreatitis. K-ras mutations were detected in 31 of 57 (54%) cancer patients, 13 of 61 (21%) controls, and 23 of 67 (34%) patients with pancreatitis. Twenty-six of 42 (62%) cancer patients had promoter methylation levels > 12%, compared with 3 of 24 (13%) controls, and 2 of 26 (8%) with pancreatitis. Mutations in p53 or high-level p16(INK4a) promoter methylation occurred in 29 of 36 (80%) patients with cancer, 3 of 24 (13%) controls, and 3 of 22 (13%) with pancreatitis. Three patients (8%) of 36 with cancer; 14 of 24 (58%) controls, and 13 of 22 (59%) patients with pancreatitis had no marker. The gallstone disease patients had a high rate of positive K-ras mutations, possibly reflecting the fact that they were not disease free. CONCLUSIONS Combination molecular analysis increased the discrimination between patients with malignant and benign disease. This level of discrimination would allow patients in high-risk groups to be stratified from negligible risk to over 50% probability of an early cancer.
Cardiorespiratory Fitness Is Associated with Better Executive Function in Young Women.

PURPOSE A positive association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and cognitive function has been demonstrated mainly in children and older adults. Women attending college live in a cognitively demanding setting where optimal cognition matters but often experience declines in CRF. Our aim was to test whether CRF is associated with executive function in young adult women. METHODS Participants in this cross-sectional study included 120 healthy women age 18-35 yr in a university setting. Each woman completed a maximal treadmill-based exercise test to determine peak oxygen uptake (V˙O2peak), computerized tests of executive function, and questionnaires to assess motivation and other factors with potential to influence physical and cognitive performance. RESULTS Overall CRF was excellent, with a sample mean V˙O2peak of 44.6 mL·min·kg. After adjusting for covariates, higher V˙O2peak was associated with better performance on attention (P < 0.01), learning/shifting (P < 0.01), working memory (P < 0.01), and problem-solving (P < 0.05) tasks. Likewise, when women were grouped according to the American College of Sports Medicine fitness classification, performance on executive function tasks was poorest in women with very poor or poor CRF. Women with superior CRF performed best on executive function tasks, and performance was intermediate in women with fair, good, or excellent CRF. CONCLUSION The findings from this cross-sectional study suggest that optimal cognition is related to CRF in young adult women. Future studies are needed to test whether strategies to improve CRF are effective in improving cognitive function.
Intraobserver reliability of posturography in healthy subjects

Abstract Reliability of posturography is essential for the identification of intervention effects in any setting (e.g., sport, rehabilitation). The purpose was to establish the intraobserver reliability of a posturographic method in asymptomatic subjects (n = 30). Intraclass correlation coefficients (relative reliability) for every parameter and all test positions (ALLmean) ranged from 0.78 (95% CI: 0.53–0.90) to 0.95 (95% CI: 0.89–0.97). Absolute reliability, quantified by using the coefficient of variation, ranged between 3.5 and 19.8. Reliability of single test positions is much lower. The posturographic system showed good relative and satisfactory absolute intraobserver reliability for ALLmean.
Lack of A-factor Production Induces the Expression of Nutrient Scavenging and Stress-related Proteins in Streptomyces griseus*

The small γ-butyrolactone A-factor is an important autoregulatory signaling molecule for the soil-inhabiting streptomycetes. Starvation is a major trigger for development, and nutrients are provided by degradation of the vegetative mycelium via a process of programmed cell death, reusing proteins, nucleic acids, and cell wall material. The A-factor regulon includes many extracellular hydrolases. Here we show via proteomics analysis that many nutrient-scavenging and stress-related proteins were overexpressed in an A-factor non-producing mutant of Streptomyces griseus B-2682. Transcript analysis showed that this is primarily due to differential transcription of the target genes during early development. The targets include proteins relating to nutrient stress and environmental stress and an orthologue of the Bacillus sporulation control protein Spo0M. The enhanced expression of these proteins underlines the stress that is generated by the absence of A-factor. Wild-type developmental gene expression was restored to the A-factor non-producing mutant by the signaling protein Factor C in line with our earlier observation that Factor C triggers A-factor production.
An exploratory study of long-term neurocognitive outcomes following recovery from opportunistic brain infections in HIV+ adults

Central nervous system opportunistic infections (CNS-OI) are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in AIDS. While current interventions are increasingly successful in treating CNS-OI, little information exists regarding long-term behavioral outcomes among survivors. In this exploratory study we examined neurocognitive data among three groups of adults with different AIDS-related CNS-OI: 15 with past cryptococcal meningitis (CM), 8 with toxoplasmosis encephalitis (TE), and 8 with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). A group of 61 individuals with AIDS, but without CNS-OI, was used as a comparison group. A battery of standardized neuropsychological tests assessing a variety of cognitive domains was administered upon entry. Results indicate that individuals with a history of CNS-OI were most impaired on measures of cognitive and psychomotor speed relative to the HIV+ comparison group. Among the CNS-OI groups, individuals with history of TE had the most severe and varied deficits. The results are discussed in relation to what is known about the neuropathological consequences of the various CNS-OIs. While this is the first systematic group study of residual CNS-OI effects on neurocognitive function, future studies employing more participants, perhaps focusing on specific CNS-OIs, will further characterize the long-term outcomes in AIDS-related CNS-OI.
Somatotopic Changes in the Nucleus Ambiguus After Section and Regeneration of the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve of the Rat

Changes in motoneurons innervating laryngeal muscles after section and regeneration of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) are far from being understood. Here, we report the somatotopic changes within the nucleus ambiguus (Amb) after the nerve injury and relates it to the resulting laryngeal fold impairment. The left RLN of each animal was transected and the stumps were glued together using surgical fibrin glue. After several survival periods (1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16 weeks; at least six rats at each time point) the posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA) and thyroarytenoid (TA) muscles were injected with fluorescent‐conjugated cholera toxin and the motility of the vocal folds evaluated. After section and subsequent repair of the RLN, no movement of the vocal folds could be detected at any of the survival times studied and the somatotopy and the number of labeled motoneurons changed. From 4 wpi award, the somatotopy was significantly disorganized, with the PCA motoneurons being located rostrally relative to their normal location. A rostrocaudal overlap between the two pools of motoneurons supplying the PCA and TA muscles was observed from 2 wpi onwards. Hardly any labeled neurons were found in the contralateral Amb in any of the experimental groups. An injury of the RLN leads to a reinnervation of the denervated motor endplates of PCA and TA. However, misdirected axons sprout and regrowth from the proximal stump to the larynx. As a result, misplaced innervation of muscles results in a lack of functional recovery of the laryngeal folds movement following a RLN injury. Anat Rec, 297:955–963, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Structural, morphological and optical properties of Nickel-doped SnO2 nanostructure materials prepared by the sol-gel method under different heat treatments

This work presents a detailed study of the influence of different annealing temperatures on the structural, morphological and optical properties 5 wt% Ni doped SnO2 thin films. Ni doped SnO2 thin films were deposited by sol gel method on glass substrates and then annealed at different temperature. Structural and morphological investigations were carried out on all samples by X-ray diffraction method and atomic force microscopy while Optical properties were obtained with UV-Visible spectrophotometer. Structural analysis showed that all films are polycrystalline with rutile phase and preferred orientation (110) which improves with increasing the annealing temperature. The grain size is calculated by the Scherrer method ranges from 3.9 nm to 9.13 nm AFM images showed that Ni doped SnO2 thin films have a smooth surface morphology with nanostructure surface roughness in the range of 12 to 25 nm. The optical properties in the visible range showed that the deposited layers have a high transmission factor. An average transmittance of >75% was observed for all the films. The optical band gap energy vary in the range of 3.89-4.02 eV with the increase in annealing temperature.
Intrinsic Survival Mechanisms for Retinal Ganglion Cells

Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) undergo programmed cell death (apoptosis) after axonal injury. This cell death is mediated by several mechanisms, including deprivation of neurotrophic factors, alterations in gene expression, and production of reactive oxygen species. However, death of RGCs is delayed-after axonal injury, and a significant number survive even after several days. This suggests that RGC death is not an immediate result of axonal injury, and that other pro-survival factors may play a role. While we and other researchers have focused on the mechanisms of cell death after axonal injury, it may be that determining the regulation of cell survival mechanisms may lead to innovative methods for neuroprotection. The final common pathway of glaucomatous optic neuropathy is RGC death, probably via damage to their axons occurring at or near the lamina cribrosa. Axonal injury leads directly (1) or indirectly (2) to the death of retinal ganglion cells. We and others have demonstrated that axotomy is associated with RGC apoptosis (3–7) as well as specific changes in expression of certain genes at the mRNA and protein level (8, 9). Reactive oxygen species may also be part of the pathway for RGC death (10, 11). We therefore hypothesize that axotomy leads to molecular events that are potentially destructive to RGCs, but also induces changes that are potentially protective against cellular injury. If this is the case, then RGC death from axonal injury would result not only from initiation of apoptosis, but also from failure of intrinsic neuroprotective mechanisms. It should therefore be theoretically possible to modulate these two classes of responses, and thus improve RGC cell survival after axotomy.