Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of Education on Subcortical Hyperintensities and Global Cognitive Status in Vascular Dementia

Abstract Subcortical hyperintensities (SH) on neuroimaging are a prominent feature of vascular dementia (VaD) and SH severity correlates with cognitive impairment in this population. Previous studies demonstrated that SH burden accounts for a degree of the cognitive burden among VaD patients, although it remains unclear if individual factors such as cognitive reserve influence cognitive status in VaD. To address this issue, we examined 36 individuals diagnosed with probable VaD (age = 77.56; education = 12). All individuals underwent MMSE evaluations and MRI brain scans. We predicted that individuals with higher educational attainment would exhibit less cognitive difficulty despite similar levels of SH volume, compared to individuals with less educational attainment. A regression analysis revealed that greater SH volume was associated with lower scores on the MMSE. Additionally, education moderated the relationship between SH volume and MMSE score, demonstrating that individuals with higher education had higher scores on the MMSE despite similar degrees of SH burden. These results suggest that educational attainment buffers the deleterious effects of SH burden on cognitive status among VaD patients. (JINS, 2011, 17, 531–536)
Viscoelastic interfacial properties of compatibilized poly(ε‐caprolactone)/polylactide blend

Poly(e-caprolactone)/polylactide blend (PCL/PLA) is an interesting biomaterial because the two component polymers show good complementarity in their physical properties. However, PCL and PLA are incompatible thermodynamically and hence the interfacial properties act as the important roles controlling the final properties of their blends. Thus, in this work, the PCL/PLA blends were prepared by melt mixing using the block copolymers as compatibilizer for the studies of interfacial properties. Several rheological methods and viscoelastic models were used to establish the relations between improved phase morphologies and interfacial properties. The results show that the interfacial behaviors of the PCUPLA blends highly depend on the interface-located copolymers. The presence of copolymers reduces the interfacial tension and emulsified the phase interface, leading to stabilization of the interface and retarding both the shape relaxation and the elastic interface relaxation. As a result, besides the relaxation of matrices (τ m ) and the shape relaxation of the dispersed PLA phase (τ F ), a new relaxation behavior (τ β ), which is attribute to the relaxation of Marangoni stresses tangential to the interface between dispersed PLA phase and matrix PCL, is observed on the compatibilized blends. In contrast to that of the diblock copolymers, the triblock copolymers show higher emulsifying level. However, both can improve the overall interfacial properties and enhance the mechanical strength of the PCL/PLA blends as a result.
Direct modulation of aberrant brain network connectivity through real-time NeuroFeedback

The existence of abnormal connectivity patterns between resting state networks in neuropsychiatric disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), has been well established. Traditional treatment methods in ASD are limited, and do not address the aberrant network structure. Using real-time fMRI neurofeedback, we directly trained 3 brain nodes in participants with ASD, in which the aberrant connectivity has been shown to correlate with symptom severity. 17 ASD participants and 10 control participants were scanned over multiple sessions (123 sessions in total). Desired network connectivity patterns were reinforced in real-time, without participants’ awareness of the training taking place. This training regimen produced large, significant long-term changes in correlations at the network level, and whole brain analysis revealed that the greatest changes were focused on the areas being trained. These changes were not found in the control group. Moreover, changes in ASD resting state connectivity following the training were correlated to changes in behavior, suggesting that neurofeedback can be used to directly alter complex, clinically relevant network connectivity patterns. Significance Statement Many disorders are characterized by underlying abnormalities in network connectivity. These abnormalities are difficult to address with explicit training procedures (which are unlikely to target the specific abnormalities). Covert neurofeedback however, can directly target these networks, positively reinforcing the desired connections. We have developed a method for reinforcing correlations in real-time, and show that such training is effective, inducing significant, long-lasting changes in connectivity between aberrant networks in Autism Spectrum Disorder. This provides a potential mechanism for modulating aberrant correlation structures in other clinical groups as well.
Effect of High-Grade Preoperative Knee Laxity on Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Outcomes

Background: Knee laxity in the setting of suspected anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is frequently assessed through physical examination using the Lachman, pivot-shift, and anterior drawer tests. The degree of laxity noted on these examinations may influence treatment decisions and prognosis. Hypothesis: Increased preoperative knee laxity would be associated with increased risk of subsequent revision ACL reconstruction and worse patient-reported outcomes 2 years postoperatively. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. Methods: From an ongoing prospective cohort study, 2333 patients who underwent primary isolated ACL reconstruction without collateral or posterior cruciate ligament injury were identified. Patients reported by the operating surgeons as having an International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) grade D for Lachman, anterior drawer, or pivot-shift examination were classified as having high-grade laxity. Multiple logistic regression modeling was used to evaluate whether having high-grade preoperative laxity was associated with increased odds of undergoing revision ACL reconstruction within 2 years of the index procedure, controlling for patient age, sex, Marx activity level, level of competition, and graft type. Multiple linear regression modeling was used to evaluate whether having high-grade preoperative laxity was associated with worse IKDC score or Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score Knee-Related Quality of Life subscale (KOOS-QOL) scores at a minimum 2 years postoperatively, controlling for baseline score, patient age, ethnicity, sex, body mass index, marital status, smoking status, sport participation, competition level, Marx activity rating score, graft type, and articular cartilage and meniscus status. Results: Pre-reconstruction laxity data were available for 2325 patients (99.7%). Two-year revision data were available for 2259 patients (96.8%), and patient-reported outcomes were available for 1979 patients (84.8%). High-grade preoperative laxity was noted in 743 patients (31.9%). The mean postoperative IKDC score was 81.8 ± 15.9, and the mean KOOS-QOL score was 72.0 ± 22.0. The presence of high-grade pre-reconstruction laxity was associated with significantly increased odds of ACL graft revision (odds ratio [OR] = 1.87 [95% CI, 1.19-2.95]; P = .007). The presence of high-grade pre-reconstruction laxity was not associated with any difference in postoperative IKDC (β = −0.56, P = .44) or KOOS-QOL (β = 0.04, P = .97). Conclusion: The presence of high-grade pre-reconstruction knee laxity as assessed by manual physical examination under anesthesia is associated with significantly increased odds of revision ACL surgery but has no association with patient-reported outcome scores at 2 years after ACL reconstruction.
Lexical Contributions to Inflectional Variability in L 2 Predictive Processing

Grammatical gender is one of the most difficult aspects to acquire in a latelearned second language (L2), especially for learners whose first language does not have grammatical gender, e.g. English (Franceschina, 2005). There are two aspects of gender that present challenges to learners: First, learners need to learn the target gender of individual nouns, i.e. they need to assign a noun (e.g. Spanish casa – ‘house’) to a particular gender category (e.g. feminine). In this regard, L2 learners often assign a non-target gender to an item or they waver between different gender classes for a specific item, i.e. gender assignment is indeterminate. In short, L2 learners display lexical variability in gender assignment. Second, learners need to acquire morphosyntactic agreement properties of grammatical gender. Gender marking is (also) realized on lexical items that are grammatically dependent on a head noun, e.g. determiners and adjectives (e.g. la casa roja – ‘theFEM houseFEM redFEM’; Corbett, 1991). Adult L2 learners frequently omit gender agreement marking in production or they are not sensitive to gender violations in comprehension. In short, L2 learners display syntactic variability in gender agreement. In this study, we explore whether lexical and syntactic variability in L2 gender are causally related. We focus on real-time processing, as inflectional variability is more pronounced in on-line production and comprehension than in untimed judgment tasks (e.g. Grüter, Lew-Williams & Fernald, 2012). In principle, there are three different ways in which lexical and syntactic variability may be related in (predictive) L2 gender processing. First, they may constitute different problems, with syntactic variability representing non-target syntactic computation and lexical variability denoting non-target item-based lexical learning. This view is traditionally adopted in studies on syntactic variability in gender processing (e.g. Sabourin & Stowe, 2008). Methodologically, this means that studies only analyze the trials for which L2 learners had assigned the target genders. In essence, this approach then abstracts away from lexical variability in testing for syntactic variability with L2 gender.
Sheet Music Statistical Layout Analysis

In order to provide access to the contents of ancient music scores to researchers, the transcripts of both the lyrics and the musical notation is required. Before attempting any type of automatic or semi-automatic transcription of sheet music, an adequate layout analysis (LA) is needed. This LA must provide not only the locations of the different image regions, but also adequate region labels to distinguish between different region types such as staff, lyric, etc. To this end, we adapt a stochastic framework for LA based on Hidden Markov Models that we had previously introduced for detection and classification of text lines in typical handwritten text images. The proposed approach takes a scanned music score image as input and, after basic preprocessing, simultaneously performs region detection and region classification in an integrated way. To assess this statistical LA approach several experiments were carried out on a representative sample of a historical music archive, under different difficulty settings. The results show that our approach is able to tackle these structured documents providing good results not only for region detection but also for classification of the different regions.
Prognostic Potential of N-Cadherin in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma via Immunohistochemical Methods.

OBJECTIVE To assess the prognostic potential for N-cadherin in oral squamous cell carcinoma and oral epithelial dysplasia. STUDY DESIGN Across-sectional study, analytical study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Maharishi Markandeshwar College of Dental Science Research (MMCDSR), Ambala, India, from 2011 to 2014. METHODOLOGY Immunohistochemistry was used to observe the N-cadherin expression in 100 cases having epithelium with normal oral mucosa, oral epithelial dysplastic lesions and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). For statistical significance, SPSS 13.0 was used to calculate the data by Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. RESULTS In OSCC, N-cadherin expression was more evident than in oral epithelial dysplasia followed by the normal oral epithelium that did not show any dysplastic changes (p=0.001). Conversely, N-cadherin expression was not significant among the histological grade of OSCC. CONCLUSION N-cadherin can be used as a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of OSCC. However, the N-cadherin expression did not show any correlation with the histological grade of OSCC.
Structural differences between rye and wheat breads but not total fiber content may explain the lower postprandial insulin response to rye bread.

BACKGROUND Rye bread has a beneficial effect on the postprandial insulin response in healthy subjects. The role of rye fiber in insulin and glucose metabolism is not known. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to determine the effect of the content of rye fiber in rye breads on postprandial insulin and glucose responses. DESIGN Nineteen healthy postmenopausal women aged 61 +/- 1 y, with a body mass index (in kg/m(2)) of 26.0 +/- 0.6, and with normal glucose tolerance participated in the study. The test products were refined wheat bread (control), endosperm rye bread, traditional rye bread, and high-fiber rye bread; each bread provided 50 g available carbohydrate and was served with breakfast. Plasma glucose, insulin, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, glucagon-like peptide 1, and serum C-peptide were measured in fasting and 8 postprandial blood samples. In vitro starch hydrolysis and the microscopic structure of the breads were also determined. RESULTS Postprandial insulin, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, and C-peptide responses to the rye breads were significantly lower than the response to the control; no significant differences in insulin and C-peptide responses to the rye breads were found. Glucose and glucagon-like peptide 1 responses to the rye breads were not significantly different from those to the control, except at 150 and 180 min. In vitro starch hydrolysis was slower in all rye breads than in the control, and the structure of continuous matrix and starch granules differed between the rye and control breads. CONCLUSION Total fiber content does not explain the lower postprandial insulin response to rye bread than to wheat bread, but structural differences between rye and wheat breads might.
Image Map Correspondence for Mobile Robot Self-Location Using Computer Graphics

The use of computer graphics in estimating the position of an autonomous mobile robot navigating in an outdoor mountainous environment is discussed. A digital elevation map (DEM) of the area in which the robot is to navigate is given, and the robot is equipped with a camera that can be panned and tilted, a compass, and an altimeter. The position of the robot is estimated by establishing a correspondence between the images acquired by the camera on the robot (actual images) and the images generated from the DEM (predicted images) using computer graphics techniques. Features are extracted from the predicted images and the actual images that are used in establishing the correspondence. The features used are the horizon line contours (HLCs) in the images. To reduce the search space a constrained search paradigm is used. Geometric constraints help prune the search space significantly. >
Effects of alpha-lactalbumin-enriched formula containing different concentrations of glycomacropeptide on infant nutrition.

BACKGROUND Formula-fed infants have growth and plasma amino acid patterns different from those of breastfed infants. OBJECTIVE alpha-Lactalbumin is a major protein in human milk, and the addition of bovine alpha-lactalbumin to infant formula has been proposed to modify the plasma amino acid pattern of the recipient infant, possibly allowing a reduction in the protein content of the formula, which may affect growth. DESIGN We compared breastfed infants and infants fed standard formula or alpha-lactalbumin-enriched formulas (25% of protein) with glycomacropeptide accounting for 15% or 10% of the protein. The protein content of each formula was 13.1 g/L. Ninety-six infants aged 6 +/- 2 wk were recruited. Anthropometric measures were recorded, and interviews were conducted at enrollment and monthly until 6 mo of age. Blood samples were collected at enrollment and at 4 and 6 mo. RESULTS Formula intake did not differ between groups, and weight gain in the alpha-lactalbumin-enriched formula groups were similar to that of the breastfed infants. The standard formula group gained significantly more weight than did the breastfed infants. All formula-fed infants had significantly higher plasma concentrations of most essential amino acids at 4 and 6 mo than did the breastfed infants, and serum urea nitrogen was also higher in the formula-fed infants. Insulin and leptin concentrations did not differ between groups. CONCLUSIONS Compared with standard formula-fed infants, infants fed formula with a modified protein composition had growth patterns more similar to those of breastfed infants. All formula-fed groups had plasma amino acid concentrations similar to or higher than those of breastfed infants. This indicates that the protein content of alpha-lactalbumin-enriched formula can be further reduced, which should be evaluated.
AFM, SEM AND NANO/MICRO-INDENTATION STUDIES OF THE FIB-MILLED GLASSY CARBON SURFACE HEAT-TREATED AT DIFFERENT CONDITIONS

This study investigates the changes in the mechanical and morphological properties (hardness, elastic modulus, surface roughness and dimensions) of the FIB-milled GC sample heat-treated at 1400 o C for different times (0, 10, 20 and 30 min) using nano/micro-indentation, optical microscope, optical interferometer, scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope. The FIB milled structures had white surfaces, and they were surrounded by a faint circular area. As the temperature hold-time increased, their surfaces became dim as a result of both the diffusion of gallium into the surface and the evaporation of exhaustible gallium source. Additionally, FIB-milled depth was 25-30 nm increased after heattreatment regardless of increasing the temperature hold time. The surface roughness for both milled and unmilled surfaces increased to less than Ra = 5 nm with the increase of the temperature hold time. Both the uniform distributions and the highest values of the hardness and elastic modulus for the GC mold were obtained after heattreatment at 1400 o C for 10-20 min.
Adrenergic Receptors in Individual Ventricular Myocytes: The Beta-1 and Alpha-1B Are in All Cells, the Alpha-1A Is in a Subpopulation, and the Beta-2 and Beta-3 Are Mostly Absent.

RATIONALE It is unknown whether every ventricular myocyte expresses all 5 of the cardiac adrenergic receptors (ARs), β1, β2, β3, α1A, and α1B. The β1 and β2 are thought to be the dominant myocyte ARs. OBJECTIVE Quantify the 5 cardiac ARs in individual ventricular myocytes. METHODS AND RESULTS We studied ventricular myocytes from wild-type mice, mice with α1A and α1B knockin reporters, and β1 and β2 knockout mice. Using individual isolated cells, we measured knockin reporters, mRNAs, signaling (phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase and phospholamban), and contraction. We found that the β1 and α1B were present in all myocytes. The α1A was present in 60%, with high levels in 20%. The β2 and β3 were detected in only ≈5% of myocytes, mostly in different cells. In intact heart, 30% of total β-ARs were β2 and 20% were β3, both mainly in nonmyocytes. CONCLUSION The dominant ventricular myocyte ARs present in all cells are the β1 and α1B. The β2 and β3 are mostly absent in myocytes but are abundant in nonmyocytes. The α1A is in just over half of cells, but only 20% have high levels. Four distinct myocyte AR phenotypes are defined: 30% of cells with β1 and α1B only; 60% that also have the α1A; and 5% each that also have the β2 or β3. The results raise cautions in experimental design, such as receptor overexpression in myocytes that do not express the AR normally. The data suggest new paradigms in cardiac adrenergic signaling mechanisms.
Change in Attachment Predicts Change in Emotion Regulation Particularly Among 5-HTTLPR Short-Allele Homozygotes

In view of the theory that the attachment relationship provides a foundation for the development of emotion regulation, here, we evaluated (a) whether change in attachment security from 4 to 6 years predicts change in emotion regulation from 6 to 8 years and (b) whether 5-HTTLPR moderates this relation in a Norwegian community sample (n = 678, 99.7% Caucasian). Attachment was measured with the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task, and teachers completed the Emotion Regulation Checklist. Attachment security was modestly stable, with children becoming more secure over time. Regression analyses revealed that increased attachment security from 4 to 6 forecasted increases in emotion regulation from 6 to 8 and decreased attachment security forecasted decreases in emotion regulation. This effect was strongest among the 5-HTTLPR short-allele homozygotes and, according to competitive model fitting, in a differential-susceptibility manner.
Adverse Drug reactions in an Ageing PopulaTion (ADAPT) study protocol: a cross-sectional and prospective cohort study of hospital admissions related to adverse drug reactions in older patients

Introduction Older people experience greater morbidity with a corresponding increase in medication use resulting in a potentially higher risk of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and characteristics of ADR-related hospital admissions among older patients (≥65 years) and their associated health and cost outcomes. Methods and analysis The proposed study will include a cross-sectional study of ADR prevalence in all patients aged ≥65 years admitted acutely to a large tertiary referral hospital in Ireland over a 9-month period (2016–2017) and a prospective cohort study of patient-reported health outcomes and costs associated with ADR-related hospital admissions. All acute medical admissions will be screened for a suspected ADR-related hospital admission. A number of validated algorithms will be applied to assess the type, causative medications, preventability and severity of each ADR. ADRs will be determined, using a consensus method, by an expert panel. Patients who provide consent will be followed up 3 months post-discharge to establish patient-reported health outcomes (health service use, health-related quality of life, adherence) and costs associated with ADR-related hospital admissions. A random sample of patients admitted to hospital without a suspected ADR will be invited to take part in the study as a control group. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was obtained from Beaumont Hospital Ethics Committee. Findings will be disseminated through presentations and peer-reviewed publications.