Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of Alzheimer's disease onset with ginkgo biloba and other symptomatic cognitive treatments in a population of women aged 75 years and older from the EPIDOS study.

BACKGROUND Peripheral C4A treatment (cerebral and peripheral vasotherapeutics) and especially Ginkgo biloba extracts are prescribed for a number of symptoms, particularly memory impairment, in elderly patients. It is postulated that because of its pharmacological actions, this treatment could prevent the decline of cognitive function, but no studies have been published to date to test its efficacy in prevention of Alzheimer's disease. The potential association between use of C4A treatments, in particular EGb 761 (standardized Ginkgo biloba extracts), and dementia of the Alzheimer type was investigated. METHODS A case-control study was nested in a cohort of 1462 community-dwelling elderly women aged over 75 years. Sixty-nine women with Alzheimer-type dementia were compared with 345 paired women whose cognitive function remained normal. This study involved women whose cognitive function was evaluated at baseline by use of Pfeiffer's test and whose medication history was taken. The onset of cognitive impairment was investigated over a 7-year follow-up period. In order to study the factors associated with the onset of dementia, the data concerning women with a score of > or = 8 on Pfeiffer's test at inclusion, indicating normal cognitive function, were analyzed. RESULTS A multivariate analysis including potential confounding factors showed that fewer women who developed Alzheimer's dementia had been prescribed C4A treatment (including EGb 761) for at least 2 years (odds ratio = 0.31, 95% confidence interval = 0.12-0.82, p =.018). Figures for EGb 761 alone were similar but did not reach statistical significance (odds ratio = 0.38, 95% confidence interval = 0.08-1.76, p =.22). CONCLUSION These results suggest that C4A treatment may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's dementia in elderly women. The potential preventive effect of C4A treatments, including EGb 761, requires further examination. To establish a causal relationship, these findings have to be confirmed with prospective studies.
How Quickly We Forget: The Duration of Persuasion Effects From Mass Communication

Scholars do not usually test for the duration of the effects of mass communication, but when they do, they typically find rapid decay. Persuasive impact may end almost as soon as communication ends. Why so much decay? Does mass communication produce any long-term effects? How should this decay color our understanding of the effects of mass communication? We examine these questions with data from the effects of advertising in the 2000 presidential election and 2006 subnational elections, but argue that our model and results are broadly applicable within the field of political communication. We find that the bulk of the persuasive impact of advertising decays quickly, but that some effect in the presidential campaign endures for at least 6 weeks. These results, which are similar in rolling cross-section survey data and county-level data on actual presidential vote, appear to reflect a mix of memory-based processing (whose effects last only as long as short-term memory lasts) and online processing (whose effects are more durable). Finally, we find that immediate effects of advertising are larger in subnational than presidential elections, but decay more quickly and more completely. [Supplementary material is available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Political Communication for the following free supplemental resource(s): discussion of methodological issues; results for a alternative specifications of key models; full reports of model results. ]
Inactivation of the F4/80 Glycoprotein in the Mouse Germ Line

ABSTRACT Macrophages play a crucial role in the defense against pathogens. Distinct macrophage populations can be defined by the expression of restricted cell surface proteins. Resident tissue macrophages, encompassing Kupffer cells of the liver and red pulp macrophages of the spleen, characteristically express the F4/80 molecule, a cell surface glycoprotein related to the seven transmembrane-spanning family of hormone receptors. In this study, gene targeting was used to simultaneously inactivate the F4/80 molecule in the germ line of the mouse and to produce a mouse line that expresses the Cre recombinase under the direct control of the F4/80 promoter (F4/80-Cre knock-in). F4/80-deficient mice are healthy and fertile. Macrophage populations in tissues can develop in the absence of F4/80 expression. Functional analysis revealed that the generation of T-cell-independent B-cell responses and macrophage antimicrobial defense after infection with Listeria monocytogenes are not impaired in the absence of F4/80. Interestingly, tissues of F4/80-deficient mice could not be labeled with anti-BM8, another macrophage subset-specific marker with hitherto undefined molecular antigenic structure. Recombinant expression of a F4/80 cDNA in heterologous cells confirmed this observation, indicating that the targets recognized by the F4/80 and BM8 monoclonal antibodies are identical.
University of Central Florida at TRECVID 2006 High-Level Feature Extraction and Video Search

In this paper, we describe our experiments in high-level features extraction and interactive topic search tasks of TRECVID 2006. We designed a unified high-level features extraction framework for the 39 high-level features. Various low-level visual features were extracted from the key-frames of the shots. Then the SVM classifiers were trained fore. The final classification results were produced by fusing and combining these classifiers. The experiment results show that the combined classifiers substantially improved the performance over the individual feature based classifier. In topic search task, we improved our PEGASUS news video retrieval system, which has friendly user interface, fast indexing and various relevance feedback mechanisms. Based on the evaluation results, this year’s topic search results are better compared to last year.
The Impact of Rating Scale Format on Rater Accuracy: An Evaluation of the Mixed Standard Scale

Participants used either a behaviorally anchored rating scale format or a mixed standard scale format in evaluating seven dimensions of interviewer performance as exhibited in videotapes of eight different managers. Based on the correlation between observed ratings and a set of known true or target scores, overall accuracy scores were calculatedfor each subject. In Study 1, subjects (undergraduate students) who used behaviorally anchored rating scales were significantly more accurate than subjects who used mixed standard scales in overall rating accuracy. In Study 2, subjects (MBA students with a minimum of 2 years supervisory experience) who used behaviorally anchored rating scales were significantly more accurate than subjects who used mixed standard scales in overall rating accuracy. This suggests that use of the behaviorally anchored rating scaleformat results in more accurate ratings of performance than does use of the mixed standard scale format. Results are discussed in terms of implicationsfor methods used in rating the behavior of individuals, especially in performance appraisal of employees.
Roles of COP9 signalosome in cancer

The constitutive photomorphogenesis 9 signalosome (COP9 or CSN) is an evolutionarily conserved multiprotein complex found in plants and animals. Because of the homology between the COP9 signalosome and the 19S lid complex of the proteosome, COP9 has been postulated to play a role in regulating the degradation of polyubiquitinated proteins. Many tumor suppressor and oncogene products are regulated by ubiquitination- and proteosome-mediated protein degradation. Therefore, it is conceivable that COP9 plays a significant role in cancer, regulating processes relevant to carcinogenesis and cancer progression (e.g., cell cycle control, signal transduction and apoptosis). In mammalian cells, it consists of eight subunits (CSN1 to CSN8). The relevance and importance of some subunits of COP9 to cancer are emerging. However, the mechanistic regulation of each subunit in cancer remains unclear. Among the CSN subunits, CSN5 and CSN6 are the only two that each contain an MPN (Mpr1p and Pad1p N-terminal) domain. The deneddylation activity of an MPN domain toward cullin-RING ubiquitin ligases (CRL) may coordinate CRL-mediated ubiquitination activity. More recent evidence shows that CSN5 and CSN6 are implicated in ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis of important mediators in carcinogenesis and cancer progression. Here, we discuss the mechanisms by which some CSN subunits are involved in cancer to provide a much needed perspective regarding COP9 in cancer research, hoping that these insights will lay the groundwork for cancer intervention.
Architecture of an FPGA accelerator for LDA-based inference

Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) based topic inference is a data classification method, that is used efficiently for extremely large data sets. However, the processing time is very large due to the serial computational behavior of the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method used for the topic inference. We propose a pipelined hardware architecture and memory allocation scheme to accelerate LDA using parallel processing. The proposed architecture is implemented on a reconfigurable hardware called FPGA (field programmable gate array), using OpenCL design environment. According to the experimental results, we achieved maximum speed-up of 2.38 times, while maintaining the same quality compared to the conventional CPU-based implementation.
Beam mismatch effects in Cosmic Microwave Background polarization measurements

Measurement of cosmic microwave background polarization is today a major goal of observational cosmology. The level of the signal to measure, however, makes it very sensitive to various systematic effects. In the case of Planck, which measures polarization by combining data from various detectors, the beam asymmetry can induce a conversion of temperature signals to polarization signals or a polarization mode mixing. In this paper, we investigate this effect using realistic simulated beams and propose a first-order method to correct the polarization power spectra for the induced systematic effect.
A Novel Forward Genetic Screen for Identifying Mutations Affecting Larval Neuronal Dendrite Development in Drosophila melanogaster

Vertebrate and invertebrate dendrites are information-processing compartments that can be found on both central and peripheral neurons. Elucidating the molecular underpinnings of information processing in the nervous system ultimately requires an understanding of the genetic pathways that regulate dendrite formation and maintenance. Despite the importance of dendrite development, few forward genetic approaches have been used to analyze the latest stages of dendrite development, including the formation of F-actin-rich dendritic filopodia or dendritic spines. We developed a forward genetic screen utilizing transgenic Drosophila second instar larvae expressing an actin, green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion protein (actin∷GFP) in subsets of sensory neurons. Utilizing this fluorescent transgenic reporter, we conducted a forward genetic screen of >4000 mutagenized chromosomes bearing lethal mutations that affected multiple aspects of larval dendrite development. We isolated 13 mutations on the X and second chromosomes composing 11 complementation groups affecting dendrite outgrowth/branching, dendritic filopodia formation, or actin∷GFP localization within dendrites in vivo. In a fortuitous observation, we observed that the structure of dendritic arborization (da) neuron dendritic filopodia changes in response to a changing environment.
Liver ® brosis assessment with semiquantitative indexes and image analysis quanti ® cation in sustained-responder and non-responder interferon-treated patients with chronic hepatitis C

Trinidad Caballero*, Alejandro PeÂrez-Milena, Marco Masseroli, Francisco O'Valle, Francisco J. SalmeroÂn, Raimundo M.G. Del Moral, Guillermo SaÂnchez-Salgado Department of Pathology, School of Medicine and University Hospital, University of Granada, Avda. de Madrid no. 11, 18012 Granada, Spain Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine and University Hospital, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
Predictive Pulse-Pattern Current Modulation Scheme for Harmonic Reduction in Three-Phase Multidrive Systems

The majority of the industrial motor drive systems are equipped with the conventional line-commutated front-end rectifiers and being one of the main sources of harmonics in the power line. While a parallel combination of these drive units elevates current quality issues, a proper arrangement of them can lead to the cancellation of specific harmonics. This paper proposes a new cost-effective harmonic mitigation solution for multidrive systems using a predictive pulse pattern current modulation control strategy. The proposed technique applies suitable interaction among parallel drive units at the rectification stage to synthesize sinusoidal input currents. The input voltage sensing is avoided in order to minimize the number of required sensors, and the grid synchronization also has been implemented based on a common phase-locked loop (PLL) using the dc-link capacitor voltage ripple. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.
Partnering to Establish and Study Simulation in International Nursing Education

The purpose of this article was to describe an international partnership to establish and study simulation in India. A pilot study was performed to determine interrater reliability among faculty new to simulation when evaluating nursing student competency performance. Interrater reliability was below the ideal agreement level. Findings in this study underscore the need to obtain baseline interrater reliability data before integrating competency evaluation into a simulation program.
Expression of chicken slug and snail in mesenchymal components of the developing central nervous system

Slug and Snail are members of the Snail family of zinc‐finger transcription factors. They are involved in triggering epithelial–mesenchymal transitions during the development of the neural crest and the mesoderm. We have analyzed by in situ hybridization their expression in the nervous system of chicken embryos at mid‐gestation stages, from 4 to 15 days of incubation. We show that Slug and Snail show specific and nonoverlapping expression patterns in mesenchymal structures associated to the developing central nervous system. While Slug is expressed in the meninges and in the pericytes/vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMCs) of the brain, the spinal cord and other embryonic tissues, Snail is expressed in the stroma of the choroid plexus of both the hindbrain and the forebrain. Developmental Dynamics 230:144–148, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Inter-species variation in yolk steroid levels and a cowbird-host comparison

We examined variability in yolk hormone levels among songbird species and the role of yolk steroids as a mechanism for enhanced exploitation of hosts by the parasitic brownheaded cowbird Molothrus ater. Within-clutch variation in yolk steroids has been found in several avian species in single species studies, but few comparisons have been made among species. We found a large range of differences in yolk testosterone among the seven passerine species examined, with significant differences between those at the high end (song sparrow Melospiza melodia , red-winged blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus, and house sparrow, Passer domesticus ) and those at the low end (eastern phoebe Sayornis phoebe, and house finch Carpodacus mexicanus ). We also found that the testosterone level in cowbird eggs was intermediate in relation to host species levels and was significantly lower than that in three common cowbird hosts (song sparrow, redwinged blackbird, and house sparrow), but not significantly different from three others. Geographical comparisons of yolk testosterone levels in all cowbird subspecies and populations from several regions showed no significant differences, though a trend that deserves further exploration was the pattern of lowest level in the ancestral population of cowbirds in the central prairies and of highest level in the northwestern population where range invasion occurred approximately 40 years ago. The levels of 17 betaestradiol were similar in the seven songbird species examined, which is consistent with current hypotheses that this hormone plays a role in embryonic sexual differentiation. Further investigation is needed to determine whether the large differences observed among species in absolute level of yolk testosterone are the relevant focal point or whether target tissue sensitivity differences mediate the effects of this yolk steroid, particularly between parasitic and non-parasitic species.
Convex Hull Watchdog: Mitigation of Malicious Nodes in Tree-Based P2P Monitoring Systems

Monitoring the global state in peer-to-peer networks through decentralized mechanisms allows targeted optimization and improvement of the peer-to-peer network. However, malicious nodes could aim to distort the process of gathering the global state through monitoring. In this paper we propose DOMiNo, a security solution for tree-based peer-to-peer monitoring mechanisms. It passively listens to incoming events, e.g. data, and rates its suspiciousness based on outlier detection, structural verification and sanity check mechanisms. For our main objective, which is to limit the monitoring error of the desired global view, we performed an extensive evaluation. Evaluation shows tolerance with normal fluctuations but effective filtering of outliers, that severely influence the global view. As our watchdog solution operates passively, we do not add any costs nor create new surface for attacks to the monitoring system.
Marsupials from space: fluctuating asymmetry, geographical information systems and animal conservation

We report the development of a new quantitative method of assessing the effects of anthropogenic impacts on living beings; this method allows us to assess actual impacts and to travel backwards in time to assess impacts. In this method, we have crossed data on fluctuating asymmetry (FA, a measure of environmental or genetic stress), using Didelphis albiventris as a model, with geographical information systems data relating to environmental composition. Our results show that more impacted environments resulted in statistically higher levels of FA. Our method appears to be a useful and flexible conservation tool for assessing anthropogenic impacts.
THROUGHPUT OF ARQ PROTOCOLS OVER RICIAN , NAKAGAMI AND MIMO BLOCK FADING CHANNELS †

Block fading is a popular channel model that approximates the behavior of different wireless communication systems. Automatic-repeat request (ARQ) protocols are used to provide reliable communication in wireless networks. In this paper the throughput of the basic selective-repeat (SR) ARQ in block fading environments is derived. Single-antenna ARQ systems employing both coherent BPSK and QPSK and noncoherent orthogonal BFSK are analyzed over block fading channels characterized by Rician and Nakagami fading distributions. Moreover, the performance of multi-input multi-output (MIMO) ARQ systems employing space-time block codes (STBCs) is derived. The effect of antenna correlation in MIMO ARQ systems is investigated analytically. Results show that longer block lengths improve the performance of basic ARQ protocols. Furthermore, the throughput gain obtained by increasing the block length is a decreasing function of the block length. As the fading severity of the channel increases, the performance improvement resulting from increasing the block length increases.
Power, Action and Constraint in Strategic Management: Explaining Enterprise Restructuring in the Czech Republic

One significant strand of organization and management theory has been the development of approaches that focus on the active role of management in formulating strategic responses, such as organizational restructuring, to the external business environment. Despite subscribing to the idea that ‘management matters’, however, influential theories have often ignored or minimized the role of human agency. This article examines the strategic management process by placing the interaction between management power and action at the heart of the empirical and theoretical enterprise. The theory construction process evolves inductively from case study research on the restructuring processes and outcomes in four large Czech enterprises. The empirical findings and theoretical arguments strongly support the importance of introducing a political dimension into a sensemaking framework as a fruitful way of progressing the theory of strategic management action.
Enhancing the Cultural Relevance of Empirically-Supported Mental Health Interventions

Evidence-based practice (EBP) has become a hot topic in clinical social work and other mental health disciplines. Mental health professionals have called attention to the need for clinical decision-making to be based on the best available empirically supported treatments integrated with client preferences, values, and circumstances. This movement has greatly stimulated mental health professionals to develop, test, and adopt efficacious treatments for clients with psychological problems, but what is missing in the literature is the cultural context in which these treatments must be implemented to be effective with racial/ethnic minority populations. Herein, we utilize the culturally centered framework of Bernal, Bonilla and Bellido (1995) to examine its utility in assessing to what extent empirically supported mental health treatments incorporate culturally relevant components.
A Review Paper on Comparison of Multipliers based on Performance Parameters

Among all the arithmetic operations that exist, a processor consumes most of its time and hardware resources in carrying out multiplication when compared to other operations like addition and subtraction. In this paper comparative study is done of four multipliers namely, Array multiplier, Modified booth multiplier, Wallace tree multiplier and modified BoothWallace tree multiplier based of various performance parameters like speed, area, power consumed and circuit complexity. It is always necessary to design a fast multiplier in VLSI so as to enhance system performance. General Terms Partial Product Generation, Partial Product Reduction