Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of neuropsychiatric and functional changes on quality of life in Alzheimer's disease

To investigate the influence of neuropsychiatric manifestations and functional performance on quality of life (QOL) of AD patients and their caregivers/family members. Methods The QOL-AD scale, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Cornell and Beck Scales for Depression, Physical and Instrumental-Self Maintenance scales (AIDL and ADL) and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) were applied to 60 patients with probable AD, mild (n=30) or moderate (n=30) dementia, according to NINCDS-ADRDA and DSM-III-R criteria, respectively, and to their caregivers/family members. The total scores on the three QOL-AD versions were correlated with the measures previously mentioned. Results The QOL-AD patients' version displayed significant correlations with GDS (–0.76 p<0.01), Cornell (–0.53 p<0.01) and NPI (–0.46 p<0.05) in the mild dementia subgroup. The caregivers' version about patients' QOL correlated with GDS (–0.48 p<0.01), Cornell (–0.57 p<0.01), NPI (–0.46 p<0.01) and AIDL (–0.36 p<0.05), while the caregivers' version about their own QOL was significantly correlated with NPI (–0.43 p<0.01), AIDL (–0.35 p<0.05) and Beck Depression (–0.67 p<0.01). In the moderate dementia subgroup, significant correlations were observed with GDS (–0.45 p<0.05) and Cornell (–0.46 p<0.01). For the caregivers' version about patients' QOL, significant correlations emerged with Cornell (–0.68 p<0.01), NPI (–0.67 p<0.01), AIDL (–0.41 p<0.05), ADL (–0.49, p<0.01) and Beck Depression (–0.33 p<0.05). For the caregivers' version about their own QOL, significant correlations with Beck Depression (–0.54 p<0.01) and ADL (–0.38, p<0.05) were found. Conclusion The symptoms presented in AD affected the QOL in patients and caregivers/family members in both mild and moderate dementia.
Matching roots to their environment.

BACKGROUND Plants form the base of the terrestrial food chain and provide medicines, fuel, fibre and industrial materials to humans. Vascular land plants rely on their roots to acquire the water and mineral elements necessary for their survival in nature or their yield and nutritional quality in agriculture. Major biogeochemical fluxes of all elements occur through plant roots, and the roots of agricultural crops have a significant role to play in soil sustainability, carbon sequestration, reducing emissions of greenhouse gasses, and in preventing the eutrophication of water bodies associated with the application of mineral fertilizers. SCOPE This article provides the context for a Special Issue of Annals of Botany on 'Matching Roots to Their Environment'. It first examines how land plants and their roots evolved, describes how the ecology of roots and their rhizospheres contributes to the acquisition of soil resources, and discusses the influence of plant roots on biogeochemical cycles. It then describes the role of roots in overcoming the constraints to crop production imposed by hostile or infertile soils, illustrates root phenotypes that improve the acquisition of mineral elements and water, and discusses high-throughput methods to screen for these traits in the laboratory, glasshouse and field. Finally, it considers whether knowledge of adaptations improving the acquisition of resources in natural environments can be used to develop root systems for sustainable agriculture in the future.
Factors influencing the responsiveness to inhaled glucocorticoids of patients with moderate-to-severe asthma.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Inhaled glucocorticoids (GCs) are the most effective control therapy for asthma. Although the clinical effects of inhaled GCs vary, there are few data on the differences in the responsiveness of individuals to inhaled GCs. The purpose of this study was to identify those factors that are associated with responsiveness to high-dose inhaled GCs in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma. DESIGN This study was a prospective analysis. SETTING Outpatient clinics of tertiary hospitals. PATIENTS Eighty-six adult outpatients with moderate-to-severe asthma. METHODS Eighty-six patients with asthma who had initial FEV1 values of < 80% predicted after they had received inhaled GCs (fluticasone propionate, 1,000 microg/d) for 4 weeks. The primary end points were FEV1, FEV1/FVC ratio, forced expiratory flow (midexpiratory phase), and the score at presentation in the asthma-related quality-of-life questionnaire (AQLQ). RESULTS The inhalation of GCs for 4 weeks had significant improvements in the FEV1% predicted and in the AQLQ score compared with the baseline values. Asthmatic patients with responses of > 12% (n = 46, 53.4%) in the change in FEV1 (deltaFEV1 = [FEV1 at 4 weeks--baseline FEV1]/baseline FEV1 x 100) also had significantly higher proportions of blood eosinophils and lower FEV1 values (in liters) prior to treatment. The change in FEV1 values correlated with the number of sputum eosinophils prior to GC inhalation (r = 0.242; p < 0.05) and correlated inversely with the FEV1 percent predicted values prior to GC inhalation (r = -0.462; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION The FEV1 percent predicted and the blood and sputum eosinophil levels prior to GC inhalation are associated with the responsiveness to inhaled GCs in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma.
Effectiveness and tolerability of mirtazapine and amitriptyline in alcoholic patients with co-morbid depressive disorder : a randomized , double-blind study y

Objective Studies indicate that serotoninergic and noradrenergic pathophysiological mechanisms may underlie both alcohol abuse/dependence and depressive disorder. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness and tolerability of two serotonergic and noradrenergic antidepressant drugs-mirtazapine and amitriptyline, for the treatment of patients with alcohol dependence co-morbid with depressive disorder in a randomized, double-blind treatment setting. Methods Forty-four patients were included in the study. Twenty-four patients were randomized to mirtazapine and twenty to amitriptyline groups. Thirty-six of them completed the study. The 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and alcohol craving questionnaire were used at baseline and, at days 7, 14, 28, 42, and 56 to estimate the effectiveness of the antidepressant treatment. Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) was used in the assessment of alcohol dependence. The tolerability was assessed with the Udvalg for Kliniske Undersogelser Side Effect Rating Scale (UKU). Results There was significant improvement in HDRS and alcohol craving scores with both the drugs. However there were no statistical differences between treatment groups. Mirtazapine was tolerated better than amitriptyline treatment. Conclusions The treatment with either mirtazapine or amitriptyline resulted with the reduction of HDRS and craving scores. The side-effect profile of mirtazapine was relatively favorable in our study. Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
INSECTICIDE RESISTANCE AND RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT Resistance Management for San Jose Scale ( Hemiptera : Diaspididae )

The San Jose scale Diaspidiotus perniciosus Comstock is one of the most important pests of deciduous fruit trees. The major cause of recent outbreaks in apple orchards is thought to be the development of insecticide resistance, specifically organophosphates. The first report was given in North America, and now, in Chile. In the present study, San Jose scale populations collected from two central regions of Chile were checked for their susceptibility to different mode of action insecticides in order to establish alternatives to manage this pest. No evidence of cross resistance between organophosphates insecticides and acetamiprid, buprofezin, pyriproxyfen, spirotetramat, sulfoxaflor, or thiacloprid was found. Baselines of LC50–LC95 for different life stages of San Jose scale are given, as reference to future studies of resistance monitoring. The systemic activity of acetamiprid, spirotetramat, and thiacloprid was higher than the contact residue effect of these compounds. For sulfoxaflor, both values were similar. Program treatments including one or more of these compounds are compared in efficacy and impact on resistance ratio values. In order to preserve new insecticides as an important tool to control San Jose scale, resistance management programs should be implemented, considering insecticide mode of action classes alternated or mixed.
Assessing Stink Bug Resistance in Soybean Breeding Lines Containing Genes from Germplasm IAC-100

Abstract Sixty-five soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr. , breeding lines containing the stink bug resistant ‘IAC-100′ in their pedigrees were evaluated for their resistance to stink bug, primarily southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula L. , feeding in replicated field trials from 2001 to 2005. Plots were sampled throughout the season for stink bug abundance, and, at harvest, seed samples were rated for stink bug-induced kernel damage. Individual seeds were categorized as having none, light, moderate, or heavy damage plus 100-seed wt and plot yields were determined. Both ground cloth and sweep net sampling procedures were used to compare stink bug densities between the soybean entries. Stink bug densities varied between years; however, in the years when populations exceeded four per row-meter or six per 25 sweeps, there were more damaged soybean seeds (>25%) in the entries with higher stink bug numbers. During the first 2 yr of evaluations, the mean stink bug-damaged soybean seeds ranged from 10.0 to 38.2%. From these differential responses, 28 entries were selected for continued study in 2003–2004. In 2003, stink bug-damaged soybean seeds were low, with damage ranging from 2.9 to 18.2%. In 2004, stink bug damage ranged from 8.8 to 53.2%. From these 28 lines, 12 entries were selected for an advanced field screening trial in 2005, including the IAC-100 and ‘Hutcheson’. Damaged soybean seeds ranged from 18.5 to 54.1% among these 12 entries in 2005, under heavy stink bug pressure. From these evaluations, four breeding lines with either Hutcheson × IAC-100 or IAC-100 × ‘V71-370′ in their genealogy were identified as possible breeding material for future soybean stink bug resistance cultivar development.
Perseveration in Alzheimer’s Disease

Background/Aims and Methods: Perseveration is common in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We document the type and quantitative burden of perseveration as cognitive decline progresses from normal aging (n = 30) through mild AD (n = 20) to moderate AD (n = 20) by administering a semantic verbal fluency task. Results: We found perseveration to increase significantly with increasing severity of AD and different types of perseveration that distinguish the subject groups in a statistically significant manner. Recurrent and continuous perseverations appear early in AD. As the disease progresses in severity into moderate stage, the number of recurrent and continuous perseverations increases, and stuck-in-set perseverations emerge. Conclusion: The different types of perseveration are likely to reflect the progressive deterioration of different brain regions in AD.
Fuzzy Cognitive Maps for Pattern Recognition Applications

A first attempt to incorporate Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs), in pattern classification applications is performed in this paper. Fuzzy Cognitive Maps, as an illustrative causative representation of modeling and manipulation of complex systems, can be used to model the behavior of any system. By transforming a pattern classification problem into a problem of discovering the way the sets of patterns interact with each other and with the classes that they belong to, we could describe the problem in terms of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps. More precisely, some FCM architectures are introduced and studied with respect to their pattern recognition abilities. An efficient novel hybrid classifier is proposed as an alternative classification structure, which exploits both neural networks and FCMs to ensure improved classification capabilities. Appropriate experiments with four well-known benchmark classification problems and a typical computer vision application establish the usefulness of the Fuzzy Cognitive Maps, in a pattern recognition research field. Moreover, the present paper introduces the use of more flexible FCMs by incorporating nodes with adaptively adjusted activation functions. This advanced feature gives more degrees of freedom in the FCM structure to learn and store knowledge, as needed in pattern recognition tasks.
INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DENSITOMETRIC, MORPHOMETRIC, AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF THE TIBIA IN TURKEYS

The aim of the study was to evaluate the interrelationships between parameters assessed with the use of a computed tomography technique and mechanical properties of the tibia in male turkeys at different stages of skeletal development. Healthy male turkeys (N = 120) were kept under standard rearing conditions and randomly selected from the farm flock at the age of 4, 8, 12, and 20 weeks of life to obtain a right tibia for the investigations. Using a computed tomography technique, volumetric bone mineral density of the trabecular and cortical bone, mean volumetric bone mineral density, total bone volume, and cortical bone area of the tibia were estimated. Geometrical properties, such as cross-sectional area, second moment of inertia, mean relative wall thickness, and cortical index, were derived from computed tomography measurements of horizontal and vertical diameters of the tibia in the midshaft. Using a three-point bending test, the mechanical parameters were estimated in terms of maximum elastic strength and ultimate strength of the tibia. A Pearson’s correlation coefficient was determined for all the investigated variables. The obtained results showed age-related changes of the skeletal system in growing turkeys in terms of morphological, densitometric, and mechanical properties. Positive correlations among the investigated parameters were found, except for mean relative wall thickness and cortical index, which were negatively correlated with these parameters. Morphometric and densitometric parameters assessed with the use of computed tomography were significantly correlated with maximum elastic strength and ultimate strength proving the usefulness of this technique for predicting mechanical properties of bones. In conclusion, this study showed computed tomography as a precise and non-invasive technique for the determination of skeletal system properties that may serve to monitor in vivo the dynamics of the changes of bone metabolism in studies on physiological, nutritional, and pharmacological factors influencing the skeletal system.
Periophthalmus variabilis (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Oxudercinae), a Valid Species of Mudskipper, and a Re-diagnosis of Periophthalmus novemradiatus

The current concept of Periophthalmus novemradiatus (Hamilton, 1822) includes two species. Procurement of fresh material and examination of extant type specimens revealed that P. novemradiatus differs from P. variabilis Eggert, 1935, primarily in the number of anal fin rays (I, 12 or 13 vs. I, 10–12); the lateral scale series (62–67 vs. 48–60); the extent of fusion of the pelvic fins (56.0–90.0% vs. 32.0–48.8%); and the patterns of the first and second dorsal fins.
Nurses' reported thinking during medication administration.

PURPOSE To document nurses' reported thinking processes during medication administration before and after implementation of point-of-care technology. DESIGN AND METHODS Semistructured interviews and real-time tape recordings were used to document the thinking processes of 40 nurses practicing in inpatient care units in a large tertiary care teaching hospital in the northeastern US. FINDINGS Content analysis resulted in identification of 10 descriptive categories of nurses' thinking: communication, dose-time, checking, assessment, evaluation, teaching, side effects, work arounds, anticipating problem solving, and drug administration. Situations requiring judgment in dosage, timing, or selection of specific medications (e.g., pain management, titration of antihypertensives) provided the most explicit data about nurses' use of critical thinking and clinical judgment. A key element was nurses' constant professional vigilance to ensure that patients received their appropriate medications. CONCLUSIONS Nurses' thinking processes extended beyond rules and procedures and were based on patient data and interdisciplinary professional knowledge to provide safe and effective care. Identification of thinking processes can help nurses to explain the professional expertise inherent in medication administration beyond the technical application of the "5 rights. "
A discussion on IGBT short circuit behavior and fault protection schemes

An in-depth discussion on the behavior of insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) under different short circuit conditions is presented, and the effects of various parameters on permissible short circuit time are analyzed. The problem of providing short circuit protection in relation to the special characteristics of the most efficient IGBTs is addressed. The pros and cons of some of the existing protection circuits are discussed, and, based on the recommendations, a protection scheme is implemented to demonstrate that reliable short circuit protection of these types of IGBTs can be achieved without difficulty in a PWM motor drive invertor application. <<ETX>>
Effect of a short CAG (glutamine) repeat on human androgen receptor function

The human androgen receptor (AR) gene contains an uninterrupted CAG repeat that is polymorphic in length in the general population (range, 11–31 CAG's; median, 21). The CAG repeat encodes a glutamine repeat in the N‐terminal transactivation domain of the AR protein. We previously reported that a 17‐CAG AR gene was much more common in a cohort of men with prostate cancer (8.5%) than in the general European American population (1.3%). This suggested that a 17‐CAG repeat may have pathophysiological consequences. The goal of the present study was to directly test the hypothesis that a 17‐CAG repeat might uniquely affect androgen action in human prostate cancer cells.
Effectiveness of home single-channel nasal pressure for sleep apnea diagnosis.

INTRODUCTION Home single-channel nasal pressure (HNP) may be an alternative to polysomnography (PSG) for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) diagnosis, but no cost studies have yet been carried out. Automatic scoring is simpler but generally less effective than manual scoring. OBJECTIVES To determine the diagnostic efficacy and cost of both scorings (automatic and manual) compared with PSG, taking as a polysomnographic OSA diagnosis several apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) cutoff points. METHODS We included suspected OSA patients in a multicenter study. They were randomized to home and hospital protocols. We constructed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for both scorings. Diagnostic efficacy was explored for several HNP AHI cutoff points, and costs were calculated for equally effective alternatives. RESULTS Of 787 randomized patients, 752 underwent HNP. Manual scoring produced better ROC curves than automatic for AHI < 15; similar curves were obtained for AHI ≥ 15. A valid HNP with manual scoring would determine the presence of OSA (or otherwise) in 90% of patients with a polysomnographic AHI ≥ 5 cutoff point, in 74% of patients with a polysomnographic AHI ≥ 10 cutoff point, and in 61% of patients with a polysomnographic AHI ≥ 15 cutoff point. In the same way, a valid HNP with automatic scoring would determine the presence of OSA (or otherwise) in 73% of patients with a polysomnographic AHI ≥ 5 cutoff point, in 64% of patients with a polysomnographic AHI ≥ 10 cutoff point, and in 57% of patients with a polysomnographic AHI ≥ 15 cutoff point. The costs of either HNP approaches were 40% to 70% lower than those of PSG at the same level of diagnostic efficacy. Manual HNP had the lowest cost for low polysomnographic AHI levels (≥ 5 and ≥ 10), and manual and automatic scorings had similar costs for higher polysomnographic cutoff points (AHI ≥ 15) of diagnosis. CONCLUSION Home single-channel nasal pressure (HNP) is a cheaper alternative than polysomnography for obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis. HNP with manual scoring seems to have better diagnostic accuracy and a lower cost than automatic scoring for patients with low apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) levels, although automatic scoring has similar diagnostic accuracy and cost as manual scoring for intermediate and high AHI levels. Therefore, automatic scoring can be appropriately used, although diagnostic efficacy could improve if we carried out manual scoring on patients with AHI < 15. CLINICAL TRIALS INFORMATION Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01347398.
RVX-208, an inhibitor of BET transcriptional regulators with selectivity for the second bromodomain

Significance Bromo and extraterminal (BET) proteins have diverse roles in regulating tissue-specific transcriptional programs, raising safety concerns for their inhibition and suggesting that targeting of specific isoforms or even specific domains within this subfamily is important. We report the discovery and characterization of RVX-208 as a domain-selective inhibitor of BETs and provide a potential mechanism of action of a clinical compound that was identified based on phenotypic screens. Bromodomains have emerged as attractive candidates for the development of inhibitors targeting gene transcription. Inhibitors of the bromo and extraterminal (BET) family recently showed promising activity in diverse disease models. However, the pleiotropic nature of BET proteins regulating tissue-specific transcription has raised safety concerns and suggested that attempts should be made for domain-specific targeting. Here, we report that RVX-208, a compound currently in phase II clinical trials, is a BET bromodomain inhibitor specific for second bromodomains (BD2s). Cocrystal structures revealed binding modes of RVX-208 and its synthetic precursor, and fluorescent recovery after photobleaching demonstrated that RVX-208 displaces BET proteins from chromatin. However, gene-expression data showed that BD2 inhibition only modestly affects BET-dependent gene transcription. Our data demonstrate the feasibility of specific targeting within the BET family resulting in different transcriptional outcomes and highlight the importance of BD1 in transcriptional regulation.