Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intermittent vs continuous levodopa administration in patients with advanced Parkinson disease: a clinical and pharmacokinetic study.

BACKGROUND Levodopa-related motor complications can be an important source of disability for patients with advanced Parkinson disease. Current evidence suggests that these motor complications are related to the relatively short half-life of levodopa and its potential to induce pulsatile stimulation of striatal dopamine receptors. Motor complications can be diminished with a continuous infusion of levodopa. OBJECTIVE To investigate the specific pharmacokinetic changes associated with the benefits of levodopa infusion. DESIGN We performed an open-label study in 6 patients with Parkinson disease who experienced severe motor complications while receiving standard oral formulations of levodopa/carbidopa. Patients were subsequently treated for 6 months with continuous daytime intraintestinal infusions of levodopa methyl ester. Levodopa pharmacokinetic studies were performed at baseline and 6 months in 3 of these patients. RESULTS Compared with treatment with intermittent doses of a standard oral formulation of levodopa, continuous infusion provided significant improvement in both "off periods" and dyskinesia. Results of plasma pharmacokinetic studies demonstrated that compared with oral administration, continuous levodopa infusion was associated with a significant increase in the levodopa area under the curve and avoided the low plasma trough levels seen with oral drug administration. CONCLUSIONS This study confirms that a continuous levodopa infusion is associated with reduced motor complications compared with the standard oral formulation of the drug in patients with advanced PD. Pharmacokinetic studies demonstrate that reduced motor complications are associated with avoiding low plasma levodopa trough levels and are not adversely affected by relatively high plasma levodopa concentrations. We propose that if levodopa/carbidopa could be administered orally in a manner that mirrors the pharmacokinetic pattern of the infusion, it might lead to a similar reduction in motor complications.
Quantitative Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization of Microbial Communities in the Rumens of Cattle Fed Different Diets

ABSTRACT At present there is little quantitative information on the identity and composition of bacterial populations in the rumen microbial community. Quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization using newly designed oligonucleotide probes was applied to identify the microbial populations in liquid and solid fractions of rumen digesta from cows fed barley silage or grass hay diets with or without flaxseed. Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria were abundant in both fractions, constituting 31.8 to 87.3% of the total cell numbers. They belong mainly to the order Bacteroidales (0.1 to 19.2%), hybridizing with probe BAC1080; the families Lachnospiraceae (9.3 to 25.5%) and Ruminococcaceae (5.5 to 23.8%), hybridizing with LAC435 and RUM831, respectively; and the classes Deltaproteobacteria (5.8 to 28.3%) and Gammaproteobacteria (1.2 to 8.2%). All were more abundant in the rumen communities of cows fed diets containing silage (75.2 to 87.3%) than in those of cows fed diets containing hay (31.8 to 49.5%). The addition of flaxseed reduced their abundance in the rumens of cows fed silage-based diets (to 45.2 to 58.7%) but did not change markedly their abundance in the rumens of cows fed hay-based diets (31.8 to 49.5%). Fibrolytic species, including Fibrobacter succinogenes and Ruminococcus spp. , and archaeal methanogens accounted for only a small proportion (0.4 to 2.1% and 0.2 to 0.6%, respectively) of total cell numbers. Depending on diet, between 37.0 and 91.6% of microbial cells specifically hybridized with the probes used in this study, allowing them to be identified in situ. The identities of other microbial populations (8.4 to 63.0%) remain unknown.
Differentiation of Lymphatic Endothelial Cells From Embryonic Stem Cells on OP9 Stromal Cells

Objectives—The discovery of vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) and VEGF receptor-3 (VEGFR-3) has started to provide an understanding of the molecular mechanisms of lymphangiogenesis. The homeobox gene prox1 has been proven to specify lymphatic endothelial cells (ECs) from blood ECs. We investigated the process of lymphatic EC (LEC) differentiation using embryonic stem (ES) cells. Methods and Results—VEGFR-2+ cells derived from ES cells differentiated into LECs at day 3 on OP9 stromal cells defined by the expression of prox1, VEGFR-3, and another lymphatic marker podoplanin. VEGFR-2+ cells gave rise to LYVE-1+ embryonic ECs, which were negative for prox1 on day 1 but turned to prox1+ LECs by day 3. VEGFR-3-Fc or Tie2-Fc, sequestering VEGF-C or angiopoietin1 (Ang1), suppressed colony formation of LECs on OP9 cells. However, addition of VEGF-C and Ang1 in combination with VEGF to the culture of VEGFR-2+ cells on collagen-coated dishes failed to induce LECs. LEC-inducing activity of OP9 cells was fully reproduced on paraformaldehyde-fixed OP9 cells with the conditioned medium. Conclusion—We succeeded in differentiating LECs from ES cells and revealed the requirements of VEGF-C, Ang1, and other unknown factors for LEC differentiation.
A separated feature learning based DBN structure for classification of SSMVEP signals

Signal processing is one of the key points in brain computer interface (BCI) application. The common methods in BCI signal classification include canonical correlation analysis (CCA), support vector machine (SVM) and so on. However, because BCI signals are very complex and valid signals often come with confounded background noise, many current classification methods would lose meaningful information embedded in human EEGs. Otherwise, due to the huge inter-subject variability with respect to characteristics and patterns of BCI signals, there often exists large difference of classification accuracy among different subjects. Since BCI signals have high dimensionality and multi-channel properties, this paper proposes a novel structure of deep belief neural (DBN) network stacked by restricted boltsman machine (RBM) to extract efficient features from steady-state motion visual evoked potential signals and implement further classification. Here DBN extracts local feature from BCI data of each channel separately and fuses the local features, and then input the fused features to the output classifier which is consist of softmax units. Results proved that the proposed algorithm could achieve higher accuracy and lower inter-subject variability in short response time when compared to conventional CCA method.
Factors influencing condom use among women in Ghana: an HIV/AIDS perspective

Although in Ghana information on HIV infection and prevention, both in terms of quality and quantity, has increased considerably within the past few years, available literature indicates that behaviour change is yet to correspond with the amount of information and education provided. The objective of this study is to examine factors that influence condom use among women in Ghana in the context of HIV/AIDS prevalence. Data for this study are from the 2003 Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys (GDHS) and the study population (N=5 691) was analysed using logistic regression with the Health Belief Model (HBM) as an explanatory tool. The outcome variable for this study is condom use during last sexual intercourse. The HBM identifies perception of HIV/AIDS risks, awareness of its seriousness, knowledge about prevention, and confidence in condom use as predictors of safe sexual activity. Results show that the proportion of women reporting use of condoms remains tremendously low, in both the rural and urban areas. In the urban areas, only 15% of women reported having sex with condom during their last intercourse, whereas in the rural areas the proportion is even lower (10%). However, multivariate analyses based on the HBM components show that speaking with a partner about how to avoid AIDS (Odds Ratio = 1.63) and perceived benefits of using condoms (Odds Ratio = 1.54) are notable factors that predict condom use. Overall, the study points out that with the exception of perceived severity, the HBM can be applied to understand condom use among the study population. It will be important to emphasise all components of the HBM and empower women with condom negotiation skills.
Design constraints of a hypertransport-compatible network-on-chip

Hypertransport (HT) is an emerging system integration communication technology. There is a need for a network on chip (NOC) technology compatible with this cutting-edge system technology. This paper reveals design constraints involved in implementing an HT-compatible NOC. In order to provide a simple and HT-compatible solution, we propose an architecture called hypertransport super lite (HTSL). The new architecture allows a reduction of more than 14 times in required buffer space, while keeping the functionality unaffected. Moreover, exploiting the advantages of on-chip architecture leverages the processing complexity of each node in the architecture.
[Effectiveness of self-measurement of blood pressure in patients with hypertension: the Dioampa study].

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of self-measurement of blood pressure (SMBP) in controlling hypertension. DESIGN Randomized, controlled, pragmatic, open study. The unit of randomization was the basic health care unit (BCU), consisting of 1 physician and 1 nurse. All BCUs were randomized to the control group (usual clinical practice, n=94) or to the intervention group (n=86). SETTING Primary care BCUs throughout Spain. PARTICIPANTS Patients with poorly controlled essential hypertension, defined as systolic blood pressure > or = 140 or diastolic blood pressure > or = 90 mm Hg. INTERVENTIONS The patients were given an OMRON HEM-705CP automatic blood pressure monitor on two occasions, for use during 15 days at weeks 6 and 14. Blood pressure was recorded at each visit (baseline, 6, 8, 14, 16, and 24 weeks). Main outcome measures. MAIN OUTCOME VARIABLE control of blood pressure, considered systolic/diastolic blood pressure <140/90 mm Hg (130/85 in patients with diabetes). RESULTS 180 BCUs serving 1325 patients (622 in the intervention group, 703 in the control group) participated. Baseline characteristics were similar in both groups. Immediately after the first period of SMBP (week 8) the proportion of patients whose blood pressure was well controlled was 7.6% higher in the intervention group than in the control group (P=.01). After the second period of SMBP (week 16) the difference between groups decreased to 4.1% (P=.27). At the end of the study the difference was 4.9% (P=.19). CONCLUSIONS Self-measurement of blood pressure was effective in controlling blood pressure in the short term, but its effects faded over time.
A Strategy for Selecting Points of Interest on Mobile Devices for Emergency Situations

The need to use mobile technology in urban emergency response processes has recently been identified, given the importance of having relevant information to make decisions in these scenarios. The data visualization on small mobile devices, such as PDAs or smartphones, is a critical aspect to make appropriate and on-time decisions. This criticality particularly occurs due to the small size of their screens to show geographical data. This article presents a strategy to select and display the most relevant “Points of Interest” on a digital map, according to the emergency influence area. This strategy was implemented on the MobileMap tool, and then it was evaluated through simulated emergency situations. Commanders of various Chilean Fire Companies participated in this evaluation.
Autoaggression and tumor rejection: it takes more than self‐specific T‐cell activation

Summary: Establishment of self‐tolerance prevents autoaggression against organ‐specific self‐antigens. This beneficial effect, however, may In turn be responsible for tumor immune evasion. Thus, dissecting the mechanisms leading to the breakdown of self‐tolerance in autoimmune diseases might provide insights for successful antitumor immune therapies. In a variety of animal models, organ‐ or tumor‐specific immunity has been described, focusing on antigen‐specific T‐cell activation. Here, we discuss two trans ‐genic mouse models which demonstrate that both autoaggression and tumor rejection require more than activated, self‐reactive T cells. TCR transgenic mice, which are tolerant to a liver‐specific MHC class I antigen, Kb, can be activated to reject Kbb‐positive grafts, but fail to attack Kb‐expressing liver. However, autoaggression occurs when activated T cells are combined with “conditioning” of the target organ by irradiation or infection with a liver‐specific pathogen. Similarly, in a mouse model of islet cell carcinoma, neither co‐stimulatory tumor cells nor highly activated antitumor lymphocytes provoke an effective immune response against the tumor. Instead, a combination of activated lymphocytes and irradiation is required for lymphocyte infiltration into solid tumors. Both model systems provide evidence that although activated antigen‐specific lymphocytes are a prerequisite for autoaggression, effector cell extravasation and appropriate interaction with the target organ/tumor are equally important. Thus, we propose that the organ/tumor microenvironment is a critical parameter in determining the effectiveness of an anti‐self immune response.
Inhibition of Rab1 GTPase and Endoplasmic Reticulum-to-Golgi Trafficking Underlies Statin's Toxicity in Rat Skeletal Myofibers

HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor statins are used for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. However, statins have adverse effects on skeletal muscles with unknown mechanism. We have reported previously that fluvastatin induced vacuolation and cell death in rat skeletal myofibers by depleting geranylgeranylpyrophosphate (GGPP) and suppressing small GTPases, particularly Rab (FASEB J 21:4087–4094, 2007). Rab1 is one of the most susceptible Rab isoforms to GGPP depletion and is essential for endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-to-Golgi trafficking. Here, we explored whether Rab1 and ER-to-Golgi vesicle trafficking were affected by statins in cultured single myofibers isolated from flexor digitorum brevis muscles of adult rats. Western blot analysis revealed that Rab1A protein resided predominantly in membrane but not in cytosol in control myofibers, whereas it was opposite in fluvastatin-treated myofibers, indicating that fluvastatin inhibited Rab1A translocation from cytosol to membrane. GGPP supplementation prevented the effect of fluvastatin on Rab1A translocation. Brefeldin A, a specific suppressor of ER-to-Golgi trafficking, induced vacuolation and cell death in myofibers in a manner similar to that of fluvastatin. Although ER-to-Golgi traffic suppression induces unfolded protein response (UPR) and cell death in some cell types, neither fluvastatin nor brefeldin A up-regulated UPR in myofibers. Immunofluorescence study revealed that the distribution of an ER marker, calnexin, was restricted to the region around nucleus with fluvastatin, suggesting the inhibition of ER membrane traffic by fluvastatin. We conclude that suppression of Rab1 GTPase and the subsequent inhibition of ER-to-Golgi traffic are involved in statin-induced skeletal myotoxicity.
Analysis and Computer-Aided Simulation of Cogging Force Characteristic of a Linear Electromagnetic Launcher With Tubular Transverse Flux Machine

This paper investigates a linear electromagnetic launcher with tubular transverse flux permanent-magnet linear machine (TFPMLM). Special focus is given on its cogging force characteristic, including the theoretical analysis and computer-aided simulation. Both 3-D and equivalent 2-D finite-element analyses are performed to calculate the cogging force, and the results are compared. It is shown that the proposed 3-D to 2-D equivalence can predict the cogging force of the tubular TFPMLM in an accurate and fast way.
A mail discrimination study using network basis tools

Today, many methods used for the junk e-mail (spam) discrimination. For example, blacklists and some machine learning methods. Blacklists consists of IP addresses and domain names of spammers who previously sent e-mails and caught as spam. Machine learning methods are also among many other studies in which many studies have been done in recent years. Trained machines using e-mail header information, e-mail content and sender domain information decide newly incoming e-mail messages as spam or not. In this study, a new spam filtering technique which uses machine learning with Support Vector Machine (SVM) using header information of an e-mail and some networking tools have been proposed.
Assessment of Breeding Soundness by Comparative Radiography and Ultrasonography of Rabbit Testes

 Abstract — In order to improve the animal protein recommended daily intake of Nigerians, there is an upsurge in breeding of hitherto shunned food animals one of which is the rabbit. Radiography and ultrasonography are tools for diagnosing disease and evaluating the anatomical architecture of parts of the body non-invasively. As the rabbit is becoming a more important food animal, to achieve improved breeding of these animals, the best of the species form a breeding stock and will usually depend on breeding soundness which may be evaluated by assessment of the male reproductive organs by these tools. Four male intact rabbits weighing between 1.2 to 1.5 kg were acquired and acclimatized for 2 weeks. Dorsoventral views of the testes were acquired using a digital radiographic machine and a 5 MHz portable ultrasound scanner was used to acquire images of the testes in longitudinal, sagittal and transverse planes. Radiographic images acquired revealed soft tissue images of the testes in all rabbits. The testes lie in individual scrotal sacs sides on both sides of the midline at the level of the caudal vertebrae and thus are superimposed by caudal vertebrae and the caudal limits of the pelvic girdle. The ultrasonographic images revealed mostly homogenously hypoechogenic testes and a hyperechogenic mediastinum testis. The dorsal and ventral poles of the testes were heterogeneously hypoechogenic and correspond to the epididymis and spermatic cord. The rabbit is unique in the ability to retract the testes particularly when stressed and so careful and stressless handling during the procedures is of paramount importance. The imaging of rabbit testes can be safely done using both imaging methods but ultrasonography is a better method of assessment and evaluation of soundness for
Evolutionary relationship of uptake systems for biopolymers in Escherichia coli: cross‐complementation between the TonB‐ExbB‐ExbD and the TolA‐TolQ‐TolR proteins

Escherichia coli possesses two energy‐coupled import systems through which substances of low concentration and of a size too large to permit diffusion through the porins are translocated across the outer membrane. Group B colicins, ferric siderophores and vitamin B12 are taken up via the TonB‐ExbB‐ExbD, group A colicins via the TolA‐TolQ‐TolR system. Cross‐complementation between the two systems was demonstrated in that tolQ tolR mutants transformed with plasmids carrying exbB exbD became sensitive to group A colicins, and exbB exbD mutants transformed with plasmid‐encoded tolQ tolR became sensitive to group B colicins. TolQ‐TolR interacted through TonB, and ExbB‐ExbD interacted through TolA with the outer membrane receptors and colicins. Activity of ExbB ExbD via TolA was higher in cells laciting TonB, and activity of TolQ TolR via TonB was increased when TolA was missing. The very distinct TolA and TonB proteins mediate exclusive interaction with group A and group B receptors, respectively. ExbB‐TolR and ExbD‐TolQ mixtures showed little if any complementation of exbB exbD and tolQ tolR mutants indicating coevolution of ExbB with ExbD and TolQ with ToIR. Sequence homology and mutual functional substitution of ExbB‐ExbD and TolQ‐TolR suggest the evolution of the two import systems from a single import system.
Vaccination against rabies with duck-embryo and Semple vaccines.

A comparison was made of the general and local reactions and the antibody titers produced in 123 patients given injection of duck-embryo rabies vaccine and 127 patients given brain—tissue rabies vaccine (Semple). The results indicate that duck-embryo rabies vaccine stimulates an earlier production of antibodies than Semple vaccine and that the range of antibody titers between the 11 th and 15th days is not significantly different. Booster effects were obtained readily with both vaccines. In this study the complication of encephalomyelitis did not occur after the use of the duck-embryo vaccine but did occur in two patients who received the vaccine containing brain tissue. The recommendation that duck-embryo vaccine supplant the use of brain-tissue vaccine for prophylaxis of rabies seems to be justified.
The Implementation of MPI-2 One-Sided Communication for the NEC SX-5

We describe the MPI/SX implementation of the MPI-2 standard for one-sided communication (Remote Memory Access) for the NEC SX-5 vector supercomputer. MPI/SX is a non-threaded implementation of the full MPI-2 standard. Essential features of the implementation are presented, including the synchronization mechanisms, the handling of communication windows in global shared and in process local memory, as well as the handling of MPI derived datatypes. In comparative benchmarks the data transfer operations for one-sided communication and point-to-point message passing show very similar performance, both when data reside in global shared and when in process local memory. Derived datatypes, which are of particular importance for applications using one-sided communications, impose only a modest overhead and can be used without any significant loss of performance. Thus, the MPI/SX programmer can freely choose either the message passing or the one-sided communication model, whichever is most convenient for the given application.
Effects of critical care nurses' work hours on vigilance and patients' safety.

BACKGROUND To minimize the occurrence of adverse events among patients, critical care nurses must be alert to subtle changes in patients' conditions, perform accurate clinical assessments, and respond expediently. However, little is known about the effects of the nurses' work hours on vigilance and patients' safety. OBJECTIVES To describe the work patterns of critical care nurses, determine if an association exists between the occurrence of errors and the hours worked by the nurses, and explore whether these work hours have adverse effects on the nurses' vigilance. METHODS Data were obtained from a random sample of critical care nurses in the United States. Nurses eligible for the study were mailed two 14-day logbooks to fill out. Information collected included the hours worked, the time of day worked, overtime hours, days off, and sleep-wake patterns. On days worked, the respondents completed all work-related questions and questions about difficulties in remaining awake while on duty. Space was provided for descriptions of any errors or near errors that might have occurred. On days off, the nurses completed only those questions about sleep-wake patterns, mood, and caffeine intake. RESULTS The 502 respondents consistently worked longer than scheduled and for extended periods. Longer work duration increased the risk of errors and near errors and decreased nurses' vigilance. CONCLUSIONS The findings support the Institute of Medicine recommendations to minimize the use of 12-hour shifts and to limit nurses' work hours to no more than 12 consecutive hours during a 24-hour period.