Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microarray analysis of nonhuman primates: validation of experimental models in neurological disorders

Nonhuman primates (NHPs) have provided robust experimental animal models for many human‐related diseases due to their similar physiologies. Nonetheless, profound differences remain in the acquisition, progression, and outcome of important diseases such as AIDS and Alzheimer's, for which the underlying basis remains obscure. We explored the utility of human high‐density oligonucleotide arrays to survey the transcription profile of NHP genomes. Total RNA from prefrontal cortices of human (Homo sapiens), common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), cynomolgous macaque (Macaca fascicularis), and common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) was labeled and hybridized to Affymetrix U95A GeneChip probe arrays. Corresponding data obtained previously from common chimpanzee and orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) were added for comparison. Qualitative (present or not detected) and quantitative (expression level) analysis indicated that many genes known to be involved in human neurological disorders were present and regulated in NHPs. A gene involved in dopamine metabolism (catechol‐O‐methyltransferase) was absent in macaque and marmoset. Glutamate receptor 2 was up‐regulated, and transcription‐associated genes were down‐regulated in NHPs compared with humans. We demonstrate that transcript profiling of NHPs could provide comparative genomic data to validate and better focus experimental animal models of human neurological disorders.
Considerations on Embroidered Textile Antennas for Wearable Applications

Planar inverted-F antennas (PIFAs) made of woven conductive textiles and of patterns embroidered with conductive threads are investigated. The influence of conductive thread density on antenna properties is considered in both cases. The effect of lockstitch on antenna resonant frequency is quantified. A metallic button is proposed as the transition between textile antennas and classical circuits. A full-textile prototype of a PIFA is designed and shown to operate properly in the ISM 2.4 band.
Very‐short‐term probabilistic forecasting of wind power with generalized logit–normal distributions

Summary. Very‐short‐term probabilistic forecasts, which are essential for an optimal management of wind generation, ought to account for the non‐linear and double‐bounded nature of that stochastic process. They take here the form of discrete–continuous mixtures of generalized logit–normal distributions and probability masses at the bounds. Both auto‐regressive and conditional parametric auto‐regressive models are considered for the dynamics of their location and scale parameters. Estimation is performed in a recursive least squares framework with exponential forgetting. The superiority of this proposal over classical assumptions about the shape of predictive densities, e.g. normal and beta, is demonstrated on the basis of 10‐min‐ahead point and probabilistic forecasting at the Horns Rev wind farm in Denmark.
Pain measurement: Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Verbal Rating Scale (VRS) in clinical trials with OTC analgesics in headache

Aim: The aim was to assess the performance of the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) in patients recruited in a clinical trial with over the counter analgesics in headache. Methods: The Thomapyrin Study showed the significant superiority of the fixed combination of acetylsalicylic acid + paracetamol + caffeine over the combination without caffeine, the single preparations, and placebo in the treatment of headache. Patients enrolled into the study were trained in the handling of the VAS by naming categories of a 6-point Verbal Rating Scale (VRS). These data were used to evaluate the level of order consistency between the VAS and VRS, to deduce cut-off points for rescaling the continuous VAS into a discrete ordinal scale using the receiver operating characteristic methodology, and to assess the test-retest performance. Results: Approximately 75% of the patients recorded the pain intensity on the VAS in the same order as given on the VRS. However, in 12.6% of patients, the German terms ‘leicht’ (mild) and ‘mäßig’ (moderate) were mixed up regarding their order on the VAS. Substantial overlapping of the frequency distributions of the VAS assessment were found for the VRS categories mild and moderate pain as well as severe and very severe pain. Grouping of the VAS assessments into a discrete ordinal scale necessitated a non-equidistant rescaling based on the categories of the VRS. By means of analysis of the receiver operating characteristic curves, the following cut-off points were determined on a 100 mm VAS: no pain 0–2 mm, mild pain 2–17 mm, moderate pain 17–47 mm, severe pain 47–77 mm, very severe pain 77–96 mm, most severe pain imaginable 96–100 mm. Repeated assessment up to several months after the first assessment demonstrated a test-retest agreement on the VAS in 61.0–91.4% of the patients, depending on the VRS category. Conclusions: This study shows that the VRS categories cannot be presented in an equidistant manner on the VAS, and that contrary to previous assumptions, the pain intensity descriptors are less clear and can have different meanings in different languages. Therefore, both in the 3rd edition of the International Headache Classification (ICHD-III) and in the guidelines for clinical trials of patients with headache illnesses, rather than a 4-grade VRS, a 6-grade or higher level VRS or a VAS should be recommended, with correspondingly broadly defined anchor points.
Analysis of Smartphone User Behavior

Holistic, objective and precise data on mobile user behavior and experience are needed in today’s product development and marketing activities. This article presents a framework for mobile audience measurements, for collecting data at the point of convergence – devices. The paper compares the presented framework to alternative methods of mobile user research, and identifies the unique advantages of on-device measurements along with the key weaknesses. In addition to elaborating on data collection, the paper addresses the related analytics, presenting adoption modeling and stickiness analysis that complement the data collection processes and deliver practical insights. The insights can be provided to device vendors, application developers and carriers, who can use the insights in product portfolio management, product development, and marketing.
Repetitive firing properties of developing rat brainstem motoneurones.

1. The repetitive firing properties of neonatal and adult rat hypoglossal motoneurones (HMs) were investigated in a brainstem slice preparation. Neonatal HMs could be classified into two main groups: (1) neurones with a decrementing or adapting firing pattern (type D); exhibiting an early and a late phase; and (2) neurones with an incrementing or accelerating firing pattern (type I). 2. The pattern of repetitive firing changed markedly during development. While most HMs recorded from young rats (< postnatal day (P) 4) were type D, the majority of HMs recorded during the second postnatal week were type I. In adults (> P21), nearly all HMs had a decrementing firing pattern, characterized by a brief period of adaptation and high steady‐state firing rates. 3. The calcium‐dependent after‐hyperpolarization (AHP) was shortest in type I neonatal HMs, and decreased in amplitude during trains of action potentials (APs). In type D neurones, these same trains caused a slight enhancement of AHP amplitude. In adult HMs, with a decrementing firing pattern, trains of APs also caused summation of the AHP. 4. Type D neonatal HMs showed a progressive prolongation of the AP during repetitive firing. In contrast, type I neonatal HMs had almost no change in AP duration. In adult HMs the AP was short and experienced only a modest increase in duration during fast repetitive firing. 5. The function relating steady‐state firing frequency to injected current (f‐I curve) was linear. The mean steady‐state f‐I slope was significantly higher in neonates than in adults (approximately 30 vs. approximately 20 Hz nA‐1), and was weakly correlated with input resistance. The f‐I slope was negatively correlated with AHP duration in neonatal HMs only. In addition, for a given AHP duration the slope was higher in neonatal HMs. 6. Two threshold behaviours were observed among neonatal HMs: (a) a progressive rhythmic firing threshold, and (b) a sudden transition from subthreshold to regular repetitive firing. Current threshold for repetitive firing was strongly correlated with cell input conductance. Type I neonatal HMs had higher minimal steady firing rates (fmin) than type D HMs. In neonates, fmin was strongly correlated with AHP duration. Adult HMs showed a weaker correlation between these two parameters, and fmin was higher than predicted by AHP duration. 7. In summary, HMs responded to depolarizing current pulses with different firing patterns during postnatal development. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
A simple extension to the Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RAQol) to explore individual patient concerns and monitor group outcome in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVES To find out if the RAQol, if extended by a qualifying question on the level of concern associated with each item, can function both as a group outcome measure and as a useful tool to identify the concerns of individual patients. METHODS Thirty-seven rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients completed the questionnaire before and after starting a biological therapy. One hundred and forty-five others receiving routine care completed it at baseline, weeks 12 and 13 with EuroQol VAS and questions on global arthritis impact and any other concerns. Reproducibility was assessed in all 59 participants whose condition remained stable between weeks 12 and 13. RESULTS The RAQol score was highly reproducible (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.986, n=59), reflected global RA impact (P = 0.000, n=140), negatively correlated with EuroQol VAS (Spearman coefficient=-0.639, two-tailed significance=0.000, n=142), responsive to biological therapy (two-tailed P= 0.000) and to increased global RA impact over 12 weeks (two-tailed P=0.012, n=37), and had high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.94, n=143). The number of issues of great concern and their percentage contribution to the RAQol score were related to global arthritis impact (P=0.000 for both) and reduced by a biological therapy (two-tailed P=0.000 and 0.001 respectively). The mean kappa for consistency in identifying each item as a concern was 0.801 (range 0.633-0.921). CONCLUSIONS Use of the 'extended' RAQol in clinical practice could provide a valid and sensitive score for monitoring group outcome and a comprehensive and consistent list of an individual's main issues of concern to assist assessment of needs in routine clinical practice.
Developmental Life Cycle of Leishmania—Cultivation and Characterization of Cultured Extracellular Amastigotes 1

ABSTRACT. The biochemistry and immunology of Leishmania promastigotes has been extensively studied; this is due primarily to the facility with which this stage, in contrast to the amastigotes stage, can be maintained in axenic culture. Several attempts to axenically culture lines of Leishmania amastigotes have been reported in the literature. This paper summarizes methods of adaptation (low pH, elevated temperature and culture medium) and characterization of several axenic lines of Leishmania amastigotes. Based on morphological, biological, immunological and biochemical evidence, these organisms appear to resemble amastigotes from infected macrophages or tissue. The axenically cultured amastigotes appear to be distinct from shocked (heat, serum deprivation, stressed) Leishmania promastigotes in the plethora of proteins synthesized, growth (multiplication) in culture, and developmental regulation observed. These data suggest that Leishmania organisms have a significant developmental response to certain signals (pH, temperature) mimicking their in vivo macrophage milieu. The response to other environmental parameters characteristic of the host‐macrophage remain to be determined. These axenically cultured amastigotes should be of interest for further immunological, biochemical and developmental investigations of the disease‐maintaining stage of this parasite.
Brainstem Systems and Grooming Behaviors a

John Hughlings Jackson believed that with the phylogenetic and ontogenetic development of the nervous system, higher neural systems re-represent and elaborate on lower brain mechanisms. ' According to this view, the functional contributions of lower mechanisms are not bypassed or replaced by higher systems. Rather, lower mechanisms continue to participate in adaptive functions, serving as the basic substrates through which newer re-representative systems achieve expression. Consistent with this suggestion is the fact that decerebrate animals retain many behavioral capacities, including righting, locomotion, eating, grooming, sexual responses, and escape and aggressive behavior^. ^-^ In addition, decerebrate animals have demonstrated both habituation and associative learnir~g. ~-~ Similarly, decerebrate humans also retain many of the adaptive capacities of the normal neonate. In the absence of the cerebral hemispheres, anencephalic and hydranencephalic infants demonstrate typical infantile reflexes, pleasure and aversive reactions, and ingestive behaviors, including the stereotyped oro-facial acceptance and rejection responses characteristic of normal infants. *"O Consistent with animal studies, habituation and associative learning have also been reported in the decerebrate human Taken together, these findings document the remarkable behavioral capacities of brainstem circuits. The appearance of grooming behaviors in the decerebrate animal clearly indicates that many of the neural substrates for grooming responses are organized at lower levels of the neuraxis.z Although the grooming behaviors of the decerebrate have not been systematically characterized, these responses often appear somewhat fragmentary or poorly directed. ' One significant consequence of decerebration, however, is the appearance of extensor rigidity that can severely interfere with the expression of adaptive behaviors. This and other acute effects of decerebration may obscure the adaptive potential of brainstem circuits and confound interpretation of the decerebrate state. Since decerebrate rigidity partially resolves with time, one approach to this problem has been to maintain decerebrated animals beyond the immediate postsurgical period. Significantly, the chronic decerebrate has been reported to show a dramatically enhanced behavioral repertoire relative to the acute decerebrate state. An additional approach has been to employ immature animals in decerebration studies, since denervation phenomena and decerebrate rigidity are much diminished in this Consequently, the behavioral features of the immature decerebrate may provide a less confounded view of brainstem f ~ n c t i o n s . ~ . ~
Pitfalls in modeling mantle convection with internal heat production

The mantle of the Earth, and probably of other terrestrial planets as well, is heated from below and within. The heating mode of mantle convection is thus mixed heating, and it is also time dependent because the amount of heat‐producing isotopes in the mantle is steadily decreasing by radioactive decay and because the basal heat flux originating in the cooling of the core can vary with time. This mode of transient mixed heating presents its own challenges to the study of mantle convection, but such difficulties are not always appreciated in the recent literature. The purpose of this tutorial is to clarify the issue of heating mode by explaining relevant concepts in a coherent manner, including the internal heating ratio, the Urey ratio, secular cooling, and the connection between the thermal budget of the Earth and the geochemical models of the Earth. The importance of such basic concepts will be explained with some illustrative examples in the context of the thermal evolution of the Earth, and a summary of common pitfalls will be provided, with a possible strategy for how to avoid them.
Stabilization of Numerical Interchange in Spectral-Element

Auxiliary numerical projections of the divergence of flow velocity and vorticity parallel to magnetic field are developed and tested for the purpose of suppressing unphysical interchange instability in magnetohydrodynamic simulations. The numerical instability arises with equal-order C finiteand spectral-element expansions of the flow velocity, magnetic field, and pressure and is sensitive to behavior at the limit of resolution. The auxiliary projections are motivated by physical field-line bending, and coercive responses to the projections are added to the flow-velocity equation. Their incomplete expansions are limited to the highest-order orthogonal polynomial in at least one coordinate of the spectral elements. Cylindrical eigenmode computations show that the projections induce convergence from the stable side with first-order ideal-MHD equations during h-refinement and p-refinement. Hyperbolic and parabolic projections and responses are compared, together with different methods for avoiding magnetic divergence error. The projections are also shown to be effective in linear and nonlinear time-dependent computations with the NIMROD code [C. R. Sovinec, et al., J. Comput. Phys. 195 (2004) 355-386], provided that the projections introduce numerical dissipation.
Cross-cultural adaptation of a brief outcome questionnaire for Spanish-speaking arthritis patients.

OBJECTIVE To cross-culturally adapt a brief self-assessment questionnaire to measure outcome among English- or Spanish-speaking patients with arthritis. METHODS A questionnaire containing the following items was translated to Spanish: the 8 activities of daily living (ADL) question of the Modified Health Assessment Questionnaire; a question about the duration of morning stiffness; and a 10-point pain scale. Equivalence to the original English, test-retest reliability, and construct, criterion, and discriminant validity were determined on a population of patients with 4 clinical centers. RESULTS English-Spanish equivalence and test-retest reliability of the questionnaire were almost perfect (intra-class correlation coefficients [ri] > or = 0.90 for each). Construct validity, measured by comparing questionnaire scores with an occupational therapist's evaluation, was also near-perfect in both languages (ri = 0.93 for English and 0.89 for Spanish). Both versions of the questionnaire correlated well with the physician-determined Steinbrocker functional class, as well as with the amount of pain, grip strength, and walking velocity. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and fibromyalgia differed significantly in their pain:ADL ratios, in both languages. CONCLUSIONS The items of the Spanish questionnaire that we have adapted are equivalent to the original English versions. This questionnaire is suitable for studying Spanish-speaking subjects with arthritis in the US and elsewhere.
Virologic Responses to Add-on Adefovir Dipivoxil Treatment Versus Entecavir Monotherapy in Children With Lamivudine-resistant Chronic Hepatitis B

Purpose: The aim of the study was to compare the virologic response to adefovir (ADV) add-on therapy with switching to entecavir (ETV) monotherapy in children and adolescents with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who have developed lamivudine (LAM) resistance during LAM treatment. Methods: Twenty-seven consecutive patients with CHB who had developed LAM resistance during LAM treatment were included. Of these 27 patients, 8 patients were treated with the addition of ADV to ongoing LAM and 8 patients were treated by switching to ETV monotherapy and each of these 16 patients were compared with the 11 patients who were treated by switching to ADV alone, as a historical control. Therapeutic responses to treatment were evaluated at 12, 24, 36, and 48 weeks from the initiation of therapy by measuring the decrement of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA titers. Results: The therapeutic period for HBV-DNA titer decrement (>2 log10 IU/mL) was significantly shorter in both the LAM+ADV group and the ETV group than in the ADV group (P = 0.008); however, there was no significant difference between the LAM+ADV group and the ETV group. The rate of virologic response, defined as decrement in HBV-DNA titer to undetectable levels at 24 weeks, was significantly higher in both the LAM+ADV group and the ETV group than in the ADV group (P = 0.029). Conclusions: Both the LAM+ADV combination therapy and ETV monotherapy exhibited significantly more effective virologic responses compared to the ADV monotherapy in children and adolescents with LAM-resistant CHB, although there was no significant difference between the LAM+ADV group and the ETV group.
Neurologic manifestations of intravascular large B-cell lymphoma.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Intravascular large B-cell lymphoma is a rare subtype of large B-cell lymphoma that affects various organs including the nervous system. The diagnosis is challenging and frequently made at autopsy. RECENT FINDINGS We report 5 cases with an array of neurologic manifestations. All patients were initially evaluated for alternative diagnoses. Three patients were diagnosed at autopsy, one with brain biopsy, and another with muscle biopsy. Muscle was involved in all 3 patients who had muscle tissue available for analysis. SUMMARY Our observations suggest that random open muscle biopsy may present a high-yield, less invasive option for the diagnosis of this disorder.
An Arabic mobile educational system

Digital devices and computer software can assist children in improving their learning capabilities and comprehension skills. However most of these items are built without taking into consideration the effective needs and background of Arab children. We propose in this paper an Arabic-based mobile educational system that processes natural questions, extract pertinent answers from animal domain ontology, and illustrate pictures automatically. It combines the transformation of natural language questions into SPARQL queries and finds solutions for multi-phased based questions. In order to process questions, different phases are carried out which include extracting concepts from the Arabic questions, determining the pattern, extraction of word-to-word relationships, extracting knowledge from the ontology, and finding answers through direct or indirect linked data. The aim of our proposed system is to generate substantial pedagogic answers, for asked questions in the natural language, in a specific domain.
Review: Natural Experiments: Ecosystem-based Management and the Environment

This book has almost identical objectives and methodology as Doyle and Drew in their Large-Scale Ecosystem Restoration (see review in volume 28, issue 1, Review: Large-Scale Ecosystem Restoration: Five Case Studies from the United States). Both set out to assess major ecosystem restoration projects. Doyle and Drew coordinated a series of five multi-disciplinary reviews and produced an edited volume. Their book had a strong focus on holistic perspectives and each of the authors expressed themselves with admirable clarity. Layzer carried out a major review and wrote her comprehensive report of seven projects as an individual scholar. She maintained a strong commitment to rigorous methodology and presented her findings in considerable depth and detail, which makes her book less easy to read and absorb.