Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Propriedades psicométricas de um protocolo neuropsicológico breve para uso em populações geriátricas

CONTEXTO: O aumento na expectativa de vida e na proporcao de idosos na populacao tem acarretado elevacao nas taxas de prevalencia de demencias. O diagnostico correto da demencia e muito importante para o tratamento clinico e para um melhor prognostico. Por isso, e necessario adaptar e desenvolver instrumentos para o diagnostico diferencial entre os processos de envelhecimento normal e patologico. OBJETIVO: Avaliar as propriedades psicrometricas e a estrutura fatorial de um protocolo neuropsicologico usado para avaliacao geriatrica. METODO: Pacientes (n = 69) com queixas cognitivas heterogeneas foram avaliados no Nucleo de Geriatria e Gerontologia do Hospital das Clinicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, a partir de um protocolo composto pelo Miniexame do Estado Mental, Desenho do Relogio, Cubos de Corsi, Fluencia Verbal, Span de Digitos e Token Test. A analise estatistica incluiu analise fatorial dos resultados dos testes, correlacao de Pearson entre o fator obtido e a idade, escolaridade, anos de educacao formal e a Classificacao Clinica das Demencias (CDR) e a area sob a curva ROC. RESULTADOS: A analise fatorial dos escores do teste mostrou um fator geral representativo que teve associacao moderada e significativa com o CDR (r = -0,672; p < 0,001) e anos de educacao formal (r = 0,455; p < 0,001). Esse fator teve fraca, mas significativa, correlacao com a idade (r = -0,282; p < 0,05). CONCLUSAO: Esses resultados apontam para uma boa validade de construto e de criterio do protocolo na avaliacao do declinio cognitivo de idosos. Estudos futuros sobre aplicabilidade e normas populacionais sao necessarios para aprimorar o uso clinico desse protocolo de avaliacao.
Octopamine promotes rhythmicity but not synchrony in a bilateral pair of bursting motor neurons in the feeding circuit of Aplysia

SUMMARY Octopamine-like immunoreactivity was localized to a limited number (<40) of neurons in the Aplysia central nervous system, including three neurons in the paired buccal ganglia (BG) that control feeding movements. Application of octopamine (OA) to the BG circuit produced concentration-dependent (10−8–10−4 mol l−1) modulatory actions on the spontaneous burst activity of the bilaterally paired B67 pharyngeal motor neurons (MNs). OA increased B67's burst duration and the number of impulses per burst. These effects reflected actions of OA on the intrinsic tetrodotoxin-resistant driver potential (DP) that underlies B67 bursting. In addition to its effects on B67's burst parameters, OA also increased the rate and regularity of burst timing. Although the bilaterally paired B67 MNs both exhibited rhythmic bursting in the presence of OA, they did not become synchronized. In this respect, the response to OA differed from that of dopamine, another modulator of the feeding motor network, which produces both rhythmicity and synchrony of bursting in the paired B67 neurons. It is proposed that modulators can regulate burst synchrony of MNs by exerting a dual control over their intrinsic rhythmicity and their reciprocal capacity to generate membrane potential perturbations. In this simple system, dopaminergic and octopaminergic modulation could influence whether pharyngeal contractions occur in a bilaterally synchronous or asynchronous fashion.
CD9, CD63, CD81, and CD82 are components of a surface tetraspan network connected to HLA‐DR and VLA integrins

CD9, CD63, CD81, and CD82 are glycoproteins of unknown function which belong to the tetraspan superfamily. These molecules have short cytoplasmic sequences, four transmembrane domains and two unequal extracellular regions. Here, we show that these molecules are associated with each other on cell surface and with other glycoproteins such as very late antigen (VLA) integrins and HLA‐DR antigens. Moreover, the VLA integrins and HLA‐DR antigens were also found to be associated. The interactions of these molecules were analyzed by transfection experiments. It is demonstrated that overexpression of CD9 antigen in Raji cells leads to a lower efficiency of precipitation of CD81 and CD82, suggesting a direct interaction between these molecules. In these cells, the coprecipitation of CD81 and CD82 was not modified, suggesting that these tetraspans did not compete for association. However, in COS‐7 cells, transfection of both CD81 and CD82 led to a marked reduction of the number of CD9/CD81 or CD9/CD82 complexes compared to single‐transfected cells, and this was associated with the appearance of CD81/CD82 complexes. Therefore, in this cellular system, CD9 competes with CD81 and CD82 for association with the other tetraspan proteins. Finally, the tetraspans do not compete for the association with integrins or HLA‐DR. Indeed, when CD9 was expressed in Raji cells, it was incorporated into the pre‐existing complexes of these molecules with CD81 and CD82. These data suggest the existence of a tetraspan network which, by connecting several molecules, may organize the positioning of cell surface proteins and play a role in signal transduction, cell adhesion, and motility.
Current surgical outcomes for cranial base chordomas: cohort study of 95 patients.

BACKGROUND Chordomas of the skull base are locally aggressive neoplasms for which maximal surgical resection confers prolonged survival. OBJECTIVE To present the largest consecutive surgical series of cranial base chordomas to date, including complications, functional outcome, and overall (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in early and late eras of our experience. METHODS From 1988 to 2011, 95 patients with cranial base chordomas were treated, including 56 patients from 1988 to 1999 and 39 from 2000 to 2011. Mean age and average follow-up were 42.6 ± 16.8 years and 38.3 ± 38.5 months, respectively. A historically controlled study design was implemented comparing both eras with respect to 5-year OS, RFS, Karnofsky performance scale at last-follow-up, and complications. RESULTS Mean 5-year OS and RFS for the entire cohort was 74% ± 6% and 56% ± 8%, respectively. Complete resection rates were similar between groups (68% and 74%, respectively; P = .494). In the 2000 to 2011 era, overall (26%), cranial nerve (10%), vascular (3%), and systemic (0%) complications were less frequent than in the 1988 to 1999 era. Patients in the 2000 to 2011 era were 1.50 times more likely to have a Karnofsky performance scale ≥ 70 than in the 1988 to 1999 era (95% confidence interval 1.15-1.94; P = .003). There was no significant difference in 5-year RFS between the 1988 to 1999 and 2000 to 2011 eras. Five-year OS was higher in the 2000 to 2011 era (93% ± 6% vs 64% ± 8% for the 1988-1999 era; P = .012). CONCLUSION Aggressive surgical resection implementing contemporary skull base approaches can be performed with an acceptable complication profile with preservation of functional status, while conferring a similar OS and RFS.
Drug-eluting stents may not reduce target lesion revascularization in cardiac allograft vasculopathy.

OBJECTIVE Although drug-eluting stent (DES) compared with bare metal stent (BMS) use reduces in-stent restenosis (ISR) in traditional coronary artery disease, its efficacy in cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) has not been clearly established. BACKGROUND CAV is a leading cause of mortality after the first year following cardiac transplantation. CAV treatment options are limited, and DES use has increased significantly in this population. METHODS In a retrospective study of heart transplant patients at our institution who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with a BMS or DES for CAV, we compared baseline characteristics, clinical outcomes, ISR, and target lesion revascularization (TLR). The primary end-point was angiographic ISR assessed by quantitative coronary angiography analyzed as both a binary (≤50% vs. >50%) and continuous variable (follow-up minimal luminal area [MLA]/baseline MLA). Secondary outcomes included TLR and a composite of death, myocardial infarction, heart failure, and retransplantation. RESULTS In 45 patients with DES, BMS, or both, ISR assessed as a continuous variable was statistically different between the 2 stent groups (follow-up MLA/baseline MLA = 0.796 DES vs. 0.481 BMS; P = 0.0037). There was also a significant difference in ISR (10.8% for DES versus 30.7% for BMS) when assessed as a binary variable. There was no statistically significant difference in TLR or composite cardiovascular outcomes between groups when adjusted for traditional cardiovascular risk factors. CONCLUSIONS ISR assessed as a continuous variable was significantly different between stent groups. However, this did not lead to a difference in TLR or cardiovascular outcomes. This hypothesis-generating finding suggests that patients with CAV may not necessarily need treatment with DES, which can be more costly and carries more potential risk than BMS.
AUV range-only localization and mapping: Observer design and experimental results

This paper addresses the localization problem of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle using relative range measurements to stationary beacons whose locations are also unknown. We propose an observer that under observability-like assumptions drives the estimation errors to a small neighborhood of zero (whose size depends on the noise and disturbances). The observer is designed by combining the concepts of minimum energy estimators applied to continuous processes with discrete measurements (not necessarily with a fixed sampling time), adaptive multiple models estimators, and simultaneous localization and mapping techniques. We also combine the proposed solution with a projection filter that significantly improves the performance. Experimental results with the Medusa robotic vehicle are presented and discussed.
Transcription Factor Occupancy of the Insulin Gene in Vivo

Consensus-binding sites for many transcription factors are relatively non-selective and found at high frequency within the genome. This raises the possibility that factors that are capable of binding to a cis-acting element in vitro and regulating transcription from a transiently transfected plasmid, which would not have higher order chromatin structure, may not occupy this site within the endogenous gene. Closed chromatin structure and competition from another DNA-binding protein with similar nucleotide specificity are two possible mechanisms by which a transcription factor may be excluded from a potential binding sitein vivo. Multiple transcription factors, including Pdx-1, BETA-2, and Pax6, have been implicated in expression of the insulin gene in pancreatic β cells. In this study, the chromatin immunoprecipitation assay has been used to show that these factors do, in fact, bind to insulin control region sequences in intact β cells. In addition, another key islet-enriched transcription factor, Nkx2.2, was found to occupy this region using the chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. In vitro DNA-binding and transient transfection assays defined how Nkx2.2 affected insulin gene expression. Pdx-1 was also shown to bind within a region of the endogenous islet amyloid polypeptide, pax-4, and glucokinase genes that were associated with control in vitro. Because Pdx-1 does not regulate gene transcription in isolation, these sequences were examined for occupancy by the other insulin transcriptional regulators. BETA-2, Pax6, and Nkx2.2 were also found to bind to amyloid polypeptide, glucokinase, andpax-4 control sequences in vivo. These studies reveal the broad application of the Pdx-1, BETA-2, Pax6, and Nkx2.2 transcription factors in regulating expression of genes selectively expressed in islet β cells.
Influences of progeny test programs on genetic evaluations of young sires.

Our purpose was to examine differences among AI progeny test programs in their effectiveness in identifying elite young sires for milk and protein. Data were from 6238 Holstein sires in five animal model evaluations of the USDA from January 1995 to February 1997. Bulls were required to be < or = 8 yr of age and to have > or = 10 daughters in production at the time of the evaluation. Bulls in AI programs were placed in nine groups based on affiliation with major AI organizations; from these nine groups, bulls with daughters averaging < 150 DIM and bulls sampled in > 100 herds were placed in two separate groups. Bulls sampled in organizations with controller numbers > or = 30 and bulls that had no connection to a sampling organization formed two additional groups. We also classified bulls by sampling codes of the National Association of Animal Breeders. A model predicting daughter yield deviation included effects of organization or sampling code, parent average (free of progeny information), and the interaction of organization or sampling method and parent average. When all data were used, a common intercept for milk was appropriate for all sampling methods, but the slopes differed (R2 = 0.44). Neither a common intercept nor a common slope was appropriate for protein. When data were restricted to the nine major organizations, a common intercept and slope were appropriate for milk, and R2 decreased to 0.14. A common intercept and slope were found for protein, and R2 decreased to 0.15. We detected no important differences in response to pedigree selection among progeny-testing methods used by major organizations that provide semen, but a difference was detected among the sampling codes of the National Association of Animal Breeders.
Laparoscopic surgery of the spleen through single umbilical incision

Introduction Single incision transumbilical laparoscopic procedures are the next step in development of minimally invasive surgery. Recent studies prove that the new technique can be a safe alternative to multiport laparoscopy; therefore it is becoming more and more popular. Aim We present our preliminary experience with single incision laparoscopy of the spleen. Material and methods We analyse a group of 9 patients (7 women and 2 men) in whom we attempted single incision laparoscopic surgery of the spleen. Results Single incision laparoscopy was successful in all patients – in 7 of them we performed splenectomy and in 2 unroofing of the splenic cyst. Additionally, in 3 patients we performed concomitant cholecystectomy. The operative technique was identical to multiport procedures. One patient required reoperation due to intra-abdominal bleeding from the wound on the first postoperative day. In one patient due to superficial injury of the stomach wall continuous suture was used to prevent perforation. In our opinion these complications are not the result of the new technique. Conclusions The described technique can become a safe alternative to multiport laparoscopy. It is a reasonable alternative in young patients to whom an excellent cosmetic effect is particularly important because until now it is the only documented advantage of this surgical technique.
Power, Pedagogy and Participation: Ethics and Pragmatics in Research with Young People

This article addresses issues of methodology and ethical reflexivity when attempting to investigate the opinions of young people. Drawing specifically on three studies of young people's understandings of citizenship and their views on topical issues, two from England and one from Lebanon, the authors present ways in which the ethical and practical challenges of such research can be met. While acknowledging the power relationship between researchers and informants, they suggest that what they call ‘pedagogical research approaches’ built on a participative methodology can open up a space where both parties benefit. They argue that, when working in schools, teacher educators can take advantage of this status to present themselves simultaneously as insiders and outsiders. The authors have devised what are intended to be non-exploitative research instruments that permit the gathering of useful qualitative data during a short encounter. They illustrate their approach with examples of classroom activities they have developed to provide simultaneously a valid learning experience and usable data.
When to tell and test for genetic carrier status: Perspectives of adolescents and young adults from fragile X families

We report here on our findings from adolescent and young adult females (ages 14–25) with a family history of fragile X syndrome regarding their perceptions of the optimal ages for (1) learning fragile X is inherited, (2) learning one could be a carrier for fragile X, and (3) offering carrier testing for fragile X. Three groups were enrolled: those who knew they were carriers or noncarriers and those who knew only they were at‐risk to be a carrier. Only 2 of the 53 participants felt that offering carrier testing should be delayed until the age of 18 years. Participants who knew only that they were at‐risk to be a carrier provided older optimal ages for offering carrier testing than those who knew their actual carrier status. Participants did not express regret or negative emotions about the timing of the disclosure of genetic risk information regarding their own experiences. Participants' reasoning behind reported ages for informing about genetic risk and offering carrier testing varied depending on what type of information was being disclosed, which carrier status group the participant belonged to, and the preferred age for learning the information. Study findings suggest that decisions regarding the timing to inform about genetic risk and offer testing should be tailored to the individual needs of the child and his/her family. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Comparative studies of risk perception: a review of twenty years of research

This paper critically reviews a number of cross-national studies of perceptions of risks which have been conducted in accordance with the 'psychometric paradigm' developed by the Oregon research group in the 1970s. It considers attempts to study risk perception comparatively, from other theoretical and methodological perspectives, and discusses various issues that are highlighted in a comparative framework, relating to distinctions between 'objective' and 'perceived' risk, the role of communication and the media, the political system and various societal determinants such as marginality, gender and ethnicity. One of the main conclusions is that comparative studies of risk perception need to be further refined, both methodologically and theoretically.
Return-Oriented Programming without Returns on ARM

In this paper we present a novel and general memory-related attack method on ARM-based computing platforms. Our attack deploys the principles of return-oriented programming (ROP), however, in contrast to conventional ROP, it exploits jumps instead of returns, and hence it can not be detected by return address checkers. Although a similar attack has been recently proposed for Intel x86, it was unclear if the attack technique can be deployed to ARM-based computing platforms as well. Developing a jump-based attack on ARM is more involved, because ARM is based on a RSIC architecture which differs in many aspects from Intel’s x86 architecture. Nevertheless, we show a Turing-complete attack that can induce arbitrary change of behavior in running programs without requiring code injection. As proof of concept, we instantiate our attack method on the Android platform.
The Pathways From Parents’ Marital Quality to Adolescents’ School Adjustment in South Korea

This study tested the hypothesized pathways from parents’ marital quality to Korean adolescents’ school adjustment through the perception of self and parent—child relations. Based on previous literature and two major family theories, the authors hypothesized a path model to explain the process of how parents’ marital quality influenced school adjustment through child’s self-esteem and parent—child communication. The path model analysis was used with 578 Korean adolescent students in academic high schools. The results showed that Korean youth were likely to better adjust to a school setting as they perceived that their parents had a good marital relationship. The interparental relationship directly affected school adjustment but not psychological adjustment of self-esteem. Additionally, the marital quality of parents had an indirect effect on Korean youth’s school adjustment in the mediation process of parent—child communication. Academic and practical implications are also discussed, followed by limitations and future directions.
Multithreaded implementation of a biomolecular sequence alignment algorithm-software/information technology

This paper describes a parallel implementation of a sequence alignment algorithm for biomolecular sequence analysis. It uses multiple threaded programming for the most time consuming functions and works in X Window based interactive systems. Its sequence alignment operations include pairwise alignment, star alignment, phylogeny reconstruction and generalized tree alignment. Both of fast and optimal modes are provided. The algorithms for phylogeny reconstruction, generalized tree alignment, and tree alignment are based on heuristic stepwise addition and internal node sequence alignment induction methods. PTAR can be used for DNA, RNA, and protein sequence analysis. In general, the system can carry out the alignments for any sequences composed of characters a-z and A-Z.
Does Europe Need a Constitution? Demos, Telos and the German Maastricht Decision

Abstract: Through a close reading of the Maastricht Decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court Weiler examines critically the so-called No-Demos Thesis according to which the absence of a European Demos precludes democratisation of the Union at the European level and requires the mediation of Member State institutions. He traces the roots of this thesis to Carl Schmitt and argues that it represents a failure of the Court to understand the Union in terms different from the Schmittian strand in German constitutional theory. He claims, inter alia, that the No Demos thesis is premised on an organic understanding of peoplehood deriving from the European Nation-State tradition which conflates nationality and citizenship and can, as a result, conceive of Demos only in statal terms. Weiler first presents an alternative view of the Union and of supranationalism and then offers a non organic view of Demos and argues for a ‘European’ notion of membership in which each individual would belong to multiple demoi defined in different ways.
Global Quantitative SILAC Phosphoproteomics Reveals Differential Phosphorylation Is Widespread between the Procyclic and Bloodstream Form Lifecycle Stages of Trypanosoma brucei

We report a global quantitative phosphoproteomic study of bloodstream and procyclic form Trypanosoma brucei using SILAC labeling of each lifecycle stage. Phosphopeptide enrichment by SCX and TiO2 led to the identification of a total of 10096 phosphorylation sites on 2551 protein groups and quantified the ratios of 8275 phosphorylation sites between the two lifecycle stages. More than 9300 of these sites (92%) have not previously been reported. Model-based gene enrichment analysis identified over representation of Gene Ontology terms relating to the flagella, protein kinase activity, and the regulation of gene expression. The quantitative data reveal that differential protein phosphorylation is widespread between bloodstream and procyclic form trypanosomes, with significant intraprotein differential phosphorylation. Despite a lack of dedicated tyrosine kinases, 234 phosphotyrosine residues were identified, and these were 3–4 fold over-represented among site changing >10-fold between the two lifecycle stages. A significant proportion of the T. brucei kinome was phosphorylated, with evidence that MAPK pathways are functional in both lifecycle stages. Regulation of gene expression in T. brucei is exclusively post-transcriptional, and the extensive phosphorylation of RNA binding proteins observed may be relevant to the control of mRNA stability in this organism.