Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hypotension in anaesthetized patients during aneurysm clipping: not as bad as expected?

Background: Patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) often have disturbed autoregulation of cerebral blood flow. A reduction in systemic blood pressure during surgery may therefore lead to delayed cerebral ischaemia (DCI). To assess the incidence and severity of intra‐operative hypotension, we performed a retrospective cohort study in 164 patients with recent SAH and surgical clipping of the aneurysm.
Taxonomía y filogenia del género Entamoeba: una revisión histórica

A lo largo de la historia, las distintas especies del ge´nero Entamoeba se han descrito atendiendo a una serie de criterios que no siempre se han aplicado de forma coherente, lo que ha dado lugar a una taxonomi´a un tanto confusa y discutida. Hay dos factores que condicionan estos criterios, el primero es la limitacio´n en el nu´mero de caracteres morfolo´gicos u´tiles para estudios taxono´micos y el segundo que poseen exclusivamente reproduccio´n asexual. La incorporacio´n como criterios diferenciales y diagno´sticos de los datos procedentes de las te´cnicas bioqui´micas y gene´ticas que se desarrollaron en la segunda mitad del siglo XX ha permitido tanto diferenciar entre especies cri´pticas como confirmar sinonimias. Y actualmente, la creciente aplicacio´n de marcadores gene´ticos (sobre todo las secuencias de la subunidad 16s/18s del ARNr) y el desarrollo de modelos matema´ticos (y de los correspondientes programas informa´ticos) permite la utilizacio´n de las relaciones filogene´ticas para establecer especies. En esta revisio´n se pretende resumir la evolucio´n histo´rica de la taxonomi´a del ge´nero Entamoeba, desde los inicios del siglo XX, en que los criterios morfolo´gicos y de hospedador eran los u´nicos disponibles, hasta la actualidad, en que las nuevas te´cnicas moleculares nos ofrecen una herramienta para complementar con datos gene´ticos los datos morfolo´gicos y biolo´gicos (fenoti´picos) y obtener una idea ma´s real de las especies que componen el ge´nero y la relacio´n entre ellas.
A community–academic partnership develops a more responsive model to providing depression care to disadvantaged adults in the US

Background: Socioeconomically disadvantaged adults experience greater healthcare disparities and increased risk of depression compared to higher-income groups. Aim: To create a depression care model for disadvantaged adults utilizing service agencies, through a community–academic partnership. Methods: Using participatory research methods, an organizational needs assessment was performed to ascertain depression care needs, identify barriers to clients receiving treatment, and marshal resources. Interviews and surveys were conducted with community organizational leaders. Focus groups were conducted with clients who used the service agencies. Results: Interviews and surveys identified barriers including discontinuity of care and unmet basic needs for food, housing, health insurance and transportation. Focus groups enriched the understanding of barriers including lack of motivation to seek depression care, lack of social support and needed resources for the uninsured, underinsured and homeless. The findings were used to develop a depression care model combining depression management with motivational interviewing to evaluate and meet needs, and peer education to motivate and provide support. Conclusions: This partnership facilitated the development of a community-driven intervention that academic researchers acting alone could not realize. To provide depression care to socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals, the intervention must include mitigating solutions to barriers.
An empirical examination of the relationship between information technology (IT) infrastructure, customer focus, and business advantages

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a model that tests the relationship between information technology (IT) infrastructure, customer focus, and business advantages.Design/methodology/approach – Customer focus is categorized into: customer responsiveness and product/service innovation. The data for the study are obtained from 116 executives from a number of business organizations.Findings – IT infrastructure is found to have a significant effect on customer responsiveness, but does not show any significant relationship with product/service innovation. IT infrastructure, customer responsiveness, and product/service innovation are found to be significantly related business advantages.Research limitations/implications – The research is useful for academic scholars and managers as the results of the study show the value of firm‐specific resources such as IT infrastructure in business advantages. The research is also useful as it finds support for the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm.Original.
Decreased trabecular bone deterioration of proximal tibiae and lumbar vertebrae in postmenopausal women with osteoarthritis

Osteoporosis and osteoarthritis (OA) are two common age-related skeletal disorders, which are associated with substantial morbidity and disability, particularly among elderly women. The present study was performed to investigate the trabecular bone deterioration of proximal tibiae and lumbar vertebrae in postmenopausal women with OA. The results demonstrated that the histomorphometric section of trabecular bone below the growth plate was markedly different between the healthy control and OA group. However, the loss of trabecular bone underneath the growth plate in the healthy control group was significantly worse than that of the OA group. Hematoxylin and eosin staining demonstrated the increased disconnection and separation of the trabecular bone network as well as the reduction of trabecular bone mass of primary and secondary spongiosa throughout the proximal metaphysis of tibia in the healthy control compared to the OA group; similar results were found when the same experiment was repeated on the lumbar vertebrae of healthy control subjects and OA patients from postmenopausal women. The biological properties of trabecular bone in the proximal tibia and lumbar vertebrae were measured in postmenopausal women with OA. Spearman's rank correlation analysis revealed that the bone volume fraction was both positively correlated with radiographic severity and Western Ontario McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index scores in in the proximal tibia and lumbar vertebrae from postmenopausal women with OA. In conclusion, the structural properties of the proximal tibia and lumbar vertebrae supported that an inverse correlation existed between postmenopausal women with OA and healthy controls. Moreover, there is an important protective mechanism of OA on trabecular microstructure in proximal tibiae and lumbar vertebrae from postmenopausal women.
Utility of the Mini-BESTest, BESTest, and BESTest Sections for Balance Assessments in Individuals With Parkinson Disease

Background and Purpose: The Balance Evaluation Systems Test(BESTest) has been shown to be a reliable and valid measure of balance in individuals with Parkinson disease (PD). A less time-consuming assessment may increase clinical utility. We compared the discriminative fall risk ability of the Mini-BESTest with that of the BESTest and determined the reliability and normal distribution of scores for each section of the BESTest and the Mini-BESTest in individuals with PD. Methods: Eighty individuals with idiopathic PD were assessed using the BESTest and Mini-BESTest. A faller was defined as an individual with 2 or more falls in the prior 6 months. Subsets of individuals were used to determine interrater (n = 15) and test-retest reliability (n = 24). Results: The Mini-BESTest, total BESTest score, and all sections of the BESTest showed a significant difference between the average scores of fallers and nonfallers. For both the Mini-BESTest and BESTest, interrater (intraclass correlation ICC ≥ 0.91) and test-retest (ICC ≥ 0.88) reliability was high. The Mini-BESTest and BESTest were highly correlated (r = 0.955). Accuracy of identifying a faller was comparable for the Mini-BESTest and BESTest (area under the receiver operating characteristic plots = 0.86 and 0.84, respectively). Discussion: No specific section of the BESTest captured the primary balance deficit for individuals with PD. The posttest probabilities for discriminating fallers versus nonfallers were comparable-to-slightly stronger when using the Mini-BESTest. Conclusion: Although the Mini-BESTest has fewer than half of the items in the BESTest and takes only 15 minutes to complete, it is as reliable as the BESTest and has comparable-to-slightly greater discriminative properties for identifying fallers in individuals with PD.
Estrogen receptor based in vitro assays for the evaluation of endocrine disrupters.

An increasing number of environmental chemicals is suspected to act similarly as endogenous estrogens at concentrations far below the so called "No Observed Adverse Effect Levels". In man, as in wildlife, these substances are held responsible for several reproductive disorders e.g. the decline in sperm quality and the increase in testicular cancer incidence in different countries worldwide. Several in vitro bioassays have recently been developed to screen single compounds for their ability to bind to estrogen receptors (ER) resulting in a hormone specific response. However, divergent results from these assays indicate the lack of validation and standardisation. Moreover, the proven cell specificity of estrogen response questions the relevance of the observed effects and necessitates the development of assays in a fertility related cellular context.
Recombineering reagents for improved inducible expression and selection marker re‐use in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is an excellent model organism for cell biology. However, its genetic toolbox is less developed than that of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the first part of this study we describe an improved inducible expression vector based on tetracycline regulation of the CaMV35S promoter, which is also capable of chromosomal integration and therefore works in minimal and in rich media. We found that anhydrotetracycline is a superior ligand for induction. Maximum expression levels were observed after 12 h in minimal media (EMM) and after 9 h in rich media (YES), which is faster than the nmt1 promoter system. The system was combined with a convenient recombineering‐based subcloning strategy for ease of cloning. In the second part we present four template plasmids, pSVEM‐bsd, pSVEM‐nat, pSVEM‐kan and pSVEM‐hph, which harbour four recyclable disruption cassettes based on the Cre recombinase lox71/66 strategy for use in PCR targeting methods. Cre‐mediated excision leaves a non‐functional mutant lox site in the genome, allowing the reiterative usage of these cassettes for multiple targetings. These cassettes are also configured with dual eukaryotic/prokaryotic promoters so that they can be used for recombineering in E. coli. Amongst other purposes, this permits the rapid and convenient creation of targeting constructs with much longer homology arms for difficult and complex targetings in the Sz. pombe genome. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Transient expression of doublecortin during adult neurogenesis

During development of the central nervous system, expression of the microtubule binding protein doublecortin (DCX) is associated with migration of neuroblasts. In addition to this developmental role, expression of DCX remains high within certain areas of the adult mammalian brain. These areas, mainly the dentate gyrus and the lateral ventricle wall in conjunction with the rostral migratory stream and olfactory bulb, retain the capacity to generate new neurons into adulthood. Adult neurogenesis is typically detected by incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) into dividing cells and colabeling of BrdU‐positive cells with markers for mature neurons. To elucidate whether DCX could act as an alternative indicator for adult neurogenesis, we investigated the temporal expression pattern of DCX in neurogenic regions of the adult brain. Analysis of newly generated cells showed that DCX is transiently expressed in proliferating progenitor cells and newly generated neuroblasts. As the newly generated cells began expressing mature neuronal markers, DCX immunoreactivity decreased sharply below the level of detection and remained undetectable thereafter. The transient expression pattern of DCX in neuronal committed progenitor cells/neuroblasts indicates that DCX could be developed into a suitable marker for adult neurogenesis and may provide an alternative to BrdU labeling. This assumption is further supported by our observation that the number of DCX‐expressing cells in the dentate gyrus was decreased with age according to the reduction of neurogenesis in the aging dentate gyrus previously reported. J. Comp. Neurol. 467:1–10, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Predicting Performance in Higher Education Using Proximal Predictors

We studied the validity of two methods for predicting academic performance and student-program fit that were proximal to important study criteria. Applicants to an undergraduate psychology program participated in a selection procedure containing a trial-studying test based on a work sample approach, and specific skills tests in English and math. Test scores were used to predict academic achievement and progress after the first year, achievement in specific course types, enrollment, and dropout after the first year. All tests showed positive significant correlations with the criteria. The trial-studying test was consistently the best predictor in the admission procedure. We found no significant differences between the predictive validity of the trial-studying test and prior educational performance, and substantial shared explained variance between the two predictors. Only applicants with lower trial-studying scores were significantly less likely to enroll in the program. In conclusion, the trial-studying test yielded predictive validities similar to that of prior educational performance and possibly enabled self-selection. In admissions aimed at student-program fit, or in admissions in which past educational performance is difficult to use, a trial-studying test is a good instrument to predict academic performance.
The CRL4Cdt2 Ubiquitin Ligase Mediates the Proteolysis of Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor Xic1 through a Direct Association with PCNA

ABSTRACT During DNA polymerase switching, the Xenopus laevis Cip/Kip-type cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor Xic1 associates with trimeric proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and is recruited to chromatin, where it is ubiquitinated and degraded. In this study, we show that the predominant E3 for Xic1 in the egg is the Cul4-DDB1-XCdt2 (Xenopus Cdt2) (CRL4Cdt2) ubiquitin ligase. The addition of full-length XCdt2 to the Xenopus extract promotes Xic1 turnover, while the N-terminal domain of XCdt2 (residues 1 to 400) cannot promote Xic1 turnover, despite its ability to bind both Xic1 and DDB1. Further analysis demonstrated that XCdt2 binds directly to PCNA through its C-terminal domain (residues 401 to 710), indicating that this interaction is important for promoting Xic1 turnover. We also identify the cis-acting sequences required for Xic1 binding to Cdt2. Xic1 binds to Cdt2 through two domains (residues 161 to 170 and 179 to 190) directly flanking the Xic1 PCNA binding domain (PIP box) but does not require PIP box sequences (residues 171 to 178). Similarly, human p21 binds to human Cdt2 through residues 156 to 161, adjacent to the p21 PIP box. In addition, we identify five lysine residues (K180, K182, K183, K188, and K193) immediately downstream of the Xic1 PIP box and within the second Cdt2 binding domain as critical sites for Xic1 ubiquitination. Our studies suggest a model in which both the CRL4Cdt2 E3- and PIP box-containing substrates, like Xic1, are recruited to chromatin through independent direct associations with PCNA.
Machine learning applications in proteomics research: How the past can boost the future

Machine learning is a subdiscipline within artificial intelligence that focuses on algorithms that allow computers to learn solving a (complex) problem from existing data. This ability can be used to generate a solution to a particularly intractable problem, given that enough data are available to train and subsequently evaluate an algorithm on. Since MS‐based proteomics has no shortage of complex problems, and since publicly available data are becoming available in ever growing amounts, machine learning is fast becoming a very popular tool in the field. We here therefore present an overview of the different applications of machine learning in proteomics that together cover nearly the entire wet‐ and dry‐lab workflow, and that address key bottlenecks in experiment planning and design, as well as in data processing and analysis.
Information Directed reinforcement learning

Efﬁcient exploration is recognized as a key dif-ﬁculty in reinforcement learning. We consider an episodic undiscounted MDP where the goal is to minimize the sum of regrets over different episodes. Classical methods are either based on optimism in the face of uncertainty or on probability matching. In this project we explore an approach that aims at quantifying the cost of exploration while remaining computationally tractable.
A Korean kindred with autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy and mental retardation.

BACKGROUND A Korean family had distinctive clinical and neuroimaging features and carried the same genetic mutation that was found in a previously described Japanese kindred with autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy. OBJECTIVE To describe the first Korean family with autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy. METHODS Members of a large family, including 9 affected individuals from 3 generations, underwent a comprehensive genetic, clinical, electroencephalographic, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging evaluation. Affected members were tested for possible mutations in transmembrane regions 1 through 3 of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha4 subunit (CHRNA4) by direct sequencing and subsequent restriction analysis. RESULTS Seizures began in childhood, presenting as nocturnal episodes of staring, confusion, shouting, perioral movements, unintelligible speech, and hand waving. Some patients had ictal or interictal epileptiform activity in the temporal and/or frontocentral areas. Neurological examination and brain magnetic resonance imaging results showed no abnormalities, except that all patients available for testing had mild to moderate mental retardation. Fluorodeoxyglucose F 18 with positron emission tomography showed mild decreased glucose uptake in the superior and middle frontal regions, more so on the left than on the right. Patient response to carbamazepine was poor. All affected members were heterozygous for the CHRNA4 Ser252Leu mutation. CONCLUSIONS Disorders associated with mutations in the transmembrane region 2 of CHRNA4 are genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous. Distinctive features of this kindred include (1) mental retardation in all affected members available for testing, (2) abnormal brain findings on fluorodeoxyglucose F 18 with positron emission tomography, (3) poor response to carbamazepine, and (4) full penetrance.
The measurement of puberty: a review.

This paper has two main objectives. Firstly, to review the feasibility and validity of the various methods that have been used to measure puberty. With an appreciation of these measurement issues, the second objective is to summarize the evidence-base as to whether the age at menarche and the age at onset of puberty has decreased in recent years. In consideration of these methodologies, all of which report different levels of reliability and validity, it is only possible at present to draw inferences about possible changes in pubertal age and onset. Moreover, the wide variations in sample size, selection of participants (usually non-random), and study design reported in the reviewed studies have compounded this situation further. The paper closes by providing a summary of the findings which will be of relevance to those intending to critically review the current evidence surrounding age of puberty, as well as those set on carrying out future research into this area.
Power system stabilization using decentralized hierarchical Generalized Predictive Control

This paper presents a hierarchical control method based on Generalized Predictive Control (GPC) to design a stabilizing control to damp the multi-machine power system low frequency oscillations. In the proposed method, the overall system is decomposed into two subsystems, each with its own GPC power system stabilizer. These subsystem-based GPCs work iteratively and cooperatively by using a set of coordinating signals generated by the coordinator and sent to each subsystem. To show the effectiveness of the proposed decentralized power system stabilizer framework, some numerical results are presented on a 2-area 4-machine power system. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is shown by considering various operating conditions. Simulation results show the capability of the proposed approach to enhance the power systems damping.
Berberine improves mesenteric artery insulin sensitivity through up‐regulating insulin receptor‐mediated signalling in diabetic rats

Berberine, a small molecule derived from Coptidis rhizome, has been found to be potent at lowering blood glucose and regulating lipid metabolism. Recent clinical studies have shown that berberine reduces blood pressure and increases systemic insulin sensitivity in patients with metabolic syndrome; however, the underlying mechanism is still unclear. Here, we investigated the mechanism by which berberine improves vascular insulin sensitivity in diabetic rats.
Imputing Landsat7 ETM+ with SLC-off image using the similarity measurement between two clusters

This paper proposes a new method for imputing incomplete image from Landsat7 ETM+ SLC-off based on the comparison between two clusters of an image. In this method, we propose a two-step imputation in which the first step is a tentative imputing of a missing image using a neural network. The second step is imputing missing values by comparing similarity between two groups of data before imputing these missing values. We compared our imputation technique for the missing data problem of Landsat 7 ETM+ with the most well-known methods: Kriging algorithms, Local Linear Histogram Matching(LLHM), Linear regression algorithms. From the experimental results, our algorithms obtained the greatest accuracy among the various methods for imputing missing values in Landsat7 ETM+ with SLC-off.