Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of the Platelet-activating factor receptor for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis?

Cerebrospinal Fluids (CSF) of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patients have increased levels of the inflammatory cytokine IL-18. Because IL-18 is produced by dendritic cells stimulated by the Platelet-activating factor (PAF), a major neuroinflammatory mediator, it is expected that PAF is involved in ALS. Pilot experimental data on amplification of PAF receptor (PAFR) mRNA by RT-PCR show that PAFR is overexpressed, as compared to age matched controls, in the spinal cords of transgenic ALS mouse model SOD1-G93A, suggesting PAF mediation. Although anti-inflammatory drugs have been tested for ALS before, no clinical trial has been conducted using PAFR specific inhibitors. Therefore, we hypothesize that administration of PAFR inhibitors, such as Ginkgolide B, PCA 4248 and WEB 2086, have potential to function as a novel therapy for ALS, particularly in SOD1 familial ALS forms. Because currently there are only two approved drugs with modest effectiveness for ALS therapy, a search for novel drugs and targets is essential.
Genetic Analysis of B55α/Cdc55 Protein Phosphatase 2A Subunits: Association with the Adenovirus E4orf4 Protein

ABSTRACT The human adenovirus E4orf4 protein is toxic in both human tumor cells and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Previous studies indicated that most of this toxicity is dependent on an interaction of E4orf4 protein with the B55 class of regulatory subunits of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) and in yeast with the B55 homolog Cdc55. We have found previously that E4orf4 inhibits PP2A activity against at least some substrates. In an attempt to understand the mechanism of this inhibition, we used a genetic approach to identify residues in the seven-bladed β-propeller proteins B55α and Cdc55 required for E4orf4 binding. In both cases, amino-terminal polypeptides composed only of blade 1 and at least part of blade 2 were found to bind E4orf4 and overexpression blocked E4orf4 toxicity in yeast. Furthermore, certain amino acid substitutions in blades 1 and 2 within full-length B55α and Cdc55 resulted in loss of E4orf4 binding. Recent mutational analysis has suggested that segments of blades 1 and 2 present on the top face of B55α form part of the “substrate-binding groove. ” Additionally, these segments are in close proximity to the catalytic C subunit of the PP2A holoenzyme. Thus, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that E4orf4 binding could affect the access of substrates, resulting in the failure to dephosphorylate some PP2A substrates.
Acupuncture Therapy Rapidly Terminates Intractable Hiccups Complicating Acute Myocardial Infarction

Acupuncture is a well-known alternative therapy in practice worldwide. Its dramatic effect on hiccups has been rarely reported. We describe a 77-year-old male who had hiccups after an acute myocardial infarction. Despite aggressive treatment including breath-holding to interrupt the respiratory rhythm, continuous positive airway pressure, and medication with metoclopramine, prochlorperazine, chlorpromazine, haloperidol, mephenesin, diphenylhydantoin, baclofen, and phenobarbital, the hiccups persisted for 7 days. Eventually, the hiccups were rapidly terminated by acupuncture at acupoint GV14 (Da zhui). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of acupuncture's reversing intractable hiccups after an acute myocardial infarction. Acupuncture may be considered for patients with hiccups refractory to conventional therapy.
Expression of centrosome‐associated gene products is linked to tetraploidization in mantle cell lymphoma

In mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), a blastoid variant with a striking tendency to harbor chromosome numbers in the tetraploid range has been identified. Centrosome aberrations have recently been implicated in the induction of aneuploidy in many human malignancies including MCL by malsegregation of chromosomes during anaphase of mitosis. Recently, we showed that centrosome aberrations occur more frequently in tetraploid MCL as compared to their diploid counterparts. To test the hypothesis of an association between tetraploidization and expression of genes coding for centrosomal proteins in MCL, tumor RNA of 33 MCL samples was hybridized to custom‐made cDNA microarrays, representing 4,628 distinct human gene‐specific fragments, with particular enrichment for cancer‐relevant (n = 2,440) and centrosome‐associated genes (n = 359). Notably, 4 of the 6 most significant genes (CAMKK2, PCNT2, TUBGCP3, TUBGCP4) discriminating between diploid and near‐tetraploid MCL code for centrosomal proteins. As confirmed by quantitative RT‐PCR analysis, calcium/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II (CAMKK2), pericentrin (PCNT2) and γ‐tubulin complex associated protein 3 (TUBGCP3) were all found to be significantly higher expressed in near‐tetraploid than in diploid MCL samples. In conclusion, we describe a comprehensive expression signature of a set of genes associated with tetraploidization in MCL. The high expression level of centrosome‐associated gene products in blastoid MCL matches the description of more frequent centrosome aberrations in this MCL variant. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Online Principal Components Analysis

We consider the online version of the well known Principal Component Analysis (PCA) problem. In standard PCA, the input to the problem is a set of d-dimensional vectors X = [x1, . , xn] and a target dimension k < d; the output is a set of k-dimensional vectors Y = [y1, . , yn] that minimize the reconstruction error: [EQUATION]. Here, Φ ∈ Rdxk is restricted to being isometric. The global minimum of this quantity, OPTk, is obtainable by offline PCA. In online PCA (OPCA) the setting is identical except for two differences: i) the vectors xt are presented to the algorithm one by one and for every presented xt the algorithm must output a vector yt before receiving xt+1; ii) the output vectors yt are l dimensional with l ≥ k to compensate for the handicap of operating online. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to consider this setting of OPCA. Our algorithm produces yt ∈ Rl with l = O(k · poly(1/e)) such that ALG ≤ OPTk + e||X||[EQUATION].
Sexual Desire, Distress, and Associated Factors in Premenopausal Women: Preliminary Findings from the Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder Registry for Women

This article presents data from a validation sample of 390 premenopausal women clinically diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) enrolled in the HSDD Registry for Women. Participants completed validated measures of sexual distress (e.g., Female Sexual Distress Scale Revised, Question 13) and sexual function including desire (e.g., Female Sexual Function Index). Results showed that lower levels of desire in these women were associated with diminished sexual satisfaction, increased sexually related distress, and fatigue or stress in the women's lives. In addition, the level of distress related to sexual desire decreased with age. The authors conclude that even among women with clinically diagnosed HSDD, the level of sexually related distress varies with situational factors, such as stress and fatigue.
50 nm MHEMT Technology for G- and H-Band MMICs

A metamorphic HEMT (MHEMT) MMIC technology including circuit applications is presented. The MHEMT layers are MBE grown on 4-inch GaAs wafers. The technology is based on a 50 nm gate length MHEMT and includes a 50 mum substrate backside process with dry etched through-substrate vias. For the electron confinement an ln<sub>0.8</sub>Ga<sub>0.2</sub>As/ln<sub>0.53</sub>Ga<sub>0.47</sub>As composite channel was used. The devices are passivated with BCB and SiN to achieve a median time-to-failure of 2.7 times 10<sup>6</sup> h in air. Cut-off frequencies f<sub>t</sub> and f<sub>max</sub> of 375 GHz were extrapolated for a 2 times 15 mum gate width device. Low-noise amplifiers with more than 15 dB gain in the frequency range from 192 GHz to 235 GHz were realized.
National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS)

The absence of emergency medical services (EMS) patient care data has hindered development andevaluation of EMS systems. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in cooperation with the Health Resources andServices Administration (HRSA), has provided funding to the National Association of State EMS Directors to develop a National EMS Information System (NEMSIS). NEMSIS is being designed to provide a uniform national EMS dataset, with standard terms, definitions, andvalues, as well as a national EMS database, with aggregated data from all states on a limited number of data elements. Forty-eight of the states, the District of Columbia, andthree territories signed a memorandum of agreement documenting support for the NEMSIS project andexpressing a desire for full implementation of the NEMSIS dataset. NHTSA has agreed to house the National EMS Database at its National Center for Statistics andAnalysis. NHTSA, in cooperation with HRSA andthe Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, recently entered into a cooperative agreement with the University of Utah School of Medicine to operate a NEMSIS Technical Assistance Center that will provide related assistance to official EMS agencies andto commercial software vendors. The Technical Assistance Center will also biannually assess state andterritorial capabilities to provide data to the national EMS database. NEMSIS will provide a uniform national EMS dataset, with standard terms, definitions, andvalues, as well as a national EMS database, with aggregated data from all states on a limited number of data elements. Many of the potential benefits of implementation of NEMSIS are enumerated in this report.
Gradual changes in the apparent diffusion coefficient of water in selectively vulnerable brain regions following brief ischemia in the gerbil

Although selective vulnerability and delayed neuronal death following global ischemia have been recognized in both the human and animal brain, the underlying mechanisms of cell damage are not fully understood. In this study we investigated the time‐dependent changes of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of water and cerebral blood flow (CBF) in a classic animal model of selective vulnerability and delayed neuronal death, using magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion‐ and perfusion‐weighted imaging. CBF was monitored using the noninvasive MR arterial spin labeling method called flow‐sensitive alternating inversion recovery (FAIR). Bilateral common carotid occlusion was induced for 5 min, followed by 10 hr of reperfusion in a gerbil model. The most notable finding was that the lateral portion of the striatum in the basal ganglia exhibited a prolonged and gradual ADC decrease throughout the study following reperfusion. This pattern was not exhibited within the cortex. It is suggested that regions known to exhibit so‐called delayed cell death progress to infarction via a gradual process that can be monitored by MR diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI). Magn Reson Med 53:593–600, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Development of feminizing genitoplasty for gender dysphoria.

INTRODUCTION Determining the history and development of feminizing genitoplasty is fascinating and instructive but fraught with difficulty. Earliest examples relate to practices carried out in ancient cultures. Gender reassignment surgery (GRS) developed from reconstructive procedures for congenital abnormalities. Some surgery was disguised, techniques were not recorded, and operations were carried out in secret. AIM The aim of this article is to review the historical development of male-to-female GRS. METHODS Information was gleaned from Medline and general Internet searches. Further evidence was found by reviewing the references of early articles. A fascinating insight was also found in the autobiographies of GRS patients. RESULTS The first recorded case was by Abrahams in 1931. Techniques evolved from the early vaginal absence work of Beck and Graves. Pioneers of GRS were Sir Harold Gillies in England and Georges Burou of Casablanca. In the 1950s, they both used invagination of the penile skin sheath to form a vagina. Howard Jones, of Johns Hopkins, published the second classic technique using penile and scrotal skin flaps. These two methods form the basis of male-to-female GRS today. The history of GRS reveals a struggle to improve functionality as well as cosmesis. In particular, the neovagina but also a functioning neoclitoris, which has developed from a cosmetic swelling into an innovated organ, derived from the glans penis and harvested penile neurovascular bundle. CONCLUSIONS Improved function and cosmesis continue to be the aim of the gender dysphoria surgeon. However, this review suggests the future management of transwomen should address not only refinements of surgical techniques but also prospective collection of posttreatment quality-of-life issues.
The Wender Utah Rating Scale

Objective: The Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) is used to retroactively assess ADHD symptoms. This study sought to determine whether the WURS actually functions as an index of dysfunctional personality traits. Method: Five hundred twenty-two adult participants completed the WURS and at least one of the following measures: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—III (WAIS-III), Trails Making Test (Forms A and B), Conners' Continuous Performance Test, d2 Test of Attention, and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI). Results: The WURS correlated significantly with all PAI clinical and treatment scales; however, of the neuropsychological measures, only the CPT significantly correlated with the WURS score. Multiple regression analyses revealed a significant model that included clinical and treatment scales from the PAI as well as working memory and processing speed indexes from the WAIS-III that accounted for 39% of the variance in WURS scores. Conclusion: Performance on the WURS was more related to dysfunctional personality traits than to actual attentional performance in this young adult sample. (J. of Att. Dis. 2009; 13(1) 87-94)
A Thermal-Driven Force-Directed Macro Cell Placement Algorithm

As the technology progresses, the higher power consumption has become one of the key issues in modern high performance VLSI design, which largely increase the local temperature on a chip. In this paper, a thermal-driven force-directed algorithm is proposed for the macro cell placement problem. Besides the traditional attractive and repulsive force, a special kind of force, the thermal force, is introduced to provide considerable improvements in thermal distribution. Our algorithm is deterministic and stable. Experiment results show that by introducing the thermal force, the maximum temperature is decreased significantly with relatively small sacrifice on wire length and placement area
The prevalence of disability in older people in Hai, Tanzania.

BACKGROUND the World Health Organization estimates that more than one billion of the world's population are disabled. Disability is associated with increasing age and poverty, yet there are few reliable data regarding disability among the elderly in low-income countries. The aim of this study was to accurately document the prevalence of disability in those aged 70 years and over in a community-based setting in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS we performed a community-based study of people aged 70 years and over in Hai, Tanzania. Participants underwent disability assessment using the culturally non-specific Barthel index (BI), and also clinical assessment for neurological disorders and memory problems. RESULTS in 2,232 participants, the age-adjusted prevalence of severe disability (BI<15) was 3.7% (95% CI: 2.9-4.5) and the age-adjusted prevalence of moderate disability (BI: 15-18) was 6.2% [95% confidence interval (CI): 5.2-7.2]. Increasing age, female gender, memory problems and the presence of neurological disorders were all independent predictors of the presence of disability. CONCLUSION in this study, the average disability level was lower than seen in most high-income countries. This may reflect increased mortality from disabling disease in low-income countries. Disability is likely to increase as the population of low-income countries ages and disease survival improves.
Assessment of Cognitive Decline in the Elderly by Informant Interview

Cognitive decline in a sample of 64 elderly people was assessed by a standardised informant interview dealing with changes in memory and intelligence which had taken place in the previous 10 years. Scores from the interview were found to correlate (r=0.74) with the Mini-Mental State Examination. Moreover, the informant interview was found to be less affected by pre-morbid ability than the MMSE. Direct assessment of decline by informants may be a solution to the problem of contamination by pre-morbid ability which affects traditional cognitive screening instruments.
An Empirical Analysis of Child Care Demand in Switzerland

This paper analyses the demand of Swiss families for child care facilities. A choice experiment has been used to study the effects of the facilities’ characteristics as well as socioeconomic factors on the selected child care mode. The experimental data have been analysed using a discrete choice model with multinomial logit specification. The results suggest that the stated demand for extrafamilial child care is considerably higher than that observed from the actual choices, suggesting insufficient provision of affordable care. The child care choices depend significantly on price and quality attributes and certain families’ characteristics such as income and education. JEL classification code: C25, D10, J13
An Electrically Controlled CRLH-Inspired Circularly Polarized Leaky-Wave Antenna

An electrically controlled beam-scanning circularly polarized leaky-wave antenna is presented by cascading multiple unit cells of a composite right/left-handed transmission line (CRLH-TL) structure. The CRLH-TL unit cell consists of two parts: varactor diodes (two series ones and a shunt one), which enable beam electrically steerable at a fixed frequency, and a subwavelength (0.2 λg × 0.2 λg) square-shaped patch that is perturbed to stimulate circular polarization radiation. Moreover, a single-voltage bias circuit, which allows all the unit cells to be simply controlled by a single uniform bias voltage, is introduced to steer the beam direction. The proposed antenna operates at 2.4 GHz and beam scans from +40° to –17° continuously. The axial ratio remains below 3.5 dB at different bias voltages.
Identifying Search Keywords for Finding Relevant Social Media Posts

In almost any application of social media analysis, the user is interested in studying a particular topic or research question. Collecting posts or messages relevant to the topic from a social media source is a necessary step. Due to the huge size of social media sources (e.g., Twitter and Facebook), one has to use some topic keywords to search for possibly relevant posts. However, gathering a good set of keywords is a very tedious and time-consuming task. It often involves a lengthy iterative process of searching and manual reading. In this paper, we propose a novel technique to help the user identify topical search keywords. Our experiments are carried out on identifying such keywords for five (5) real-life application topics to be used for searching relevant tweets from the Twitter API. The results show that the proposed method is highly effective.
Collision risk estimation in terminal area airspace

In order to estimate the collision risk in the process of airspace planning, a collision risk model based on distribution of initial time interval is proposed. In the collision risk model given some airspace planning parameters comprised of separation minimums, flight segment length, speeds of aircraft, the proportion of the aircraft type, flow rate, required navigation performance value, climb gradient or descend gradient are included. The influences of airspace planning parameters on collision risk can be characterized. The results show that vertical separation minimum have greater influences on the collision risk. A method to calculate the collision risk between intersecting flight tracks with planning parameters is developed. These would provide the method and theory to research the collision risk in the field of terminal airspace planning.
A double blind study in out‐patients with primary non‐agitated depression treated with imipramine in combination with placebo, diazepam or dixyrazine

ABSTRACT– Sixty‐three out‐patients suffering from primary non‐agitated depression were included in a double‐blind, between‐patient randomized study. All patients were treated with imipramine (100–200 mg‐day) combined with either placebo, diazepam (10 mg/day) or dixyrazine (50 mg/day) for 8 weeks. The clinical efficacy assessed with a subscale of CPRS was significantly (p1≤0.05) better for the imipramine‐dixyrazine combination than for the imipramine‐diazepam or imipramine‐placebo combination. Serum concentration of imipramine was significantly higher (p1≤0.05) in the group treated with dixyrazine than in the other two groups. Further, serum concentration of imipramine in the diazepam group was significantly lower (p1≤0.05) than in the placebo group. At the end of the study, 67% in both the placebo and the diazepam group and 86% in the dixyrazine group were practically symptom‐free.
A robot‐assisted study of intrinsic muscle regulation on proximal interphalangeal joint stiffness by varying metacarpophalangeal joint position

The tightness of intrinsic hand muscles is a common cause of finger joint stiffness. The purposes of this study were to develop a robot‐assisted methodology to obtain torque–angle data of a finger joint, and to investigate the regulation of the intrinsic muscles on finger joint stiffness. Our robot system features the integration of a low payload robot arm, a controller, and a force/torque transducer. The system provided highly reproducible torque–angle curves. Torque–angle data of the proximal interphalangeal joint with the metacarpophalangeal joint at 0 and 60 degrees were obtained from eight asymptomatic hands. The torque–angle curve shifted with the position of the metacarpophalangeal joint. As the metacarpophalangeal joint flexion angle changed from 60 to 0 degrees, the equilibrium of the proximal interphalangeal joint increased more than 20 degrees, and joint stiffness increased more than 50%. The dependence of the stiffness of the proximal interphalangeal joint on metacarpophalangeal joint position supports the regulatory role of the intrinsic muscles on finger joint mechanics. This regulatory mechanics is likely amplified in hands with intrinsic muscle tightness, justifying the commonly used Bunnell Intrinsic Tightness Test. © 2005 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 24:407–415, 2006
Efficient complex roots computation for microwave applications

In this work a general algorithm is presented for the efficient computation of the complex roots of determinantal equations arising in microwave applications. The method is based on a two-dimensional minimization problem, which is efficiently solved by eliminating complex points which do not satisfy certain conditions. The method does not need initial points, and the complete spectrum of the system matrix is not computed on the selected grid. The efficiency and applicability of the algorithm is demonstrated to a variety of microwave applications, including the calculation of complex propagation constants in multilayer waveguides, complex propagation constants of surface waves in microstrip antennas, or complex eigenfrequencies in spherical resonators.