Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What Is the Impact of Physical Effort on the Diagnosis of Concussion?

OBJECTIVE Sport-related concussion commonly occurs in contact sports such as rugby. To date, diagnosis is based on the realization of clinical tests conducted pitch-side. Yet, the potential effect of prior physical effort on the results of these tests remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to determine whether preceding physical effort can influence the outcome of concussion assessments. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING University Medicine Center. PATIENTS A cohort of 40 subjects (20 rugby players and 20 athletes from a range of sports). INTERVENTION A concussion assessment was performed immediately after physical activity. After a period of 6 months and under the same experimental conditions, the same cohort performed the same tests in resting conditions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Results of concussion tests. RESULTS In both cohorts, the comparison for postexercise and rest assessments demonstrated a most likely moderate-to-very large increase in the number of symptoms, severity of symptoms, and balance error scoring system score. In the rugby cohort, scores for concentration, delayed memory and standardized assessment of concussion (SAC), likely-to-most likely decreased following completion of physical activity compared with baseline values. The between-cohort comparison reported a most likely greater impact after exercise in the rugby players for delayed recall (0.73 ± 0.61) and SAC score (0.75 ± 0.41). CONCLUSIONS Physical activity altered the results of concussion diagnostic tests in athletes from a range of sports and notably in rugby players. Therefore, physical efforts before the concussion incident should be accounted for during pitch-side assessments and particularly during rugby competition and training.
Diabetic retinopathy: global prevalence, major risk factors, screening practices and public health challenges: a review

Diabetes retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of vision loss in middle‐aged and elderly people globally. Early detection and prompt treatment allow prevention of diabetes‐related visual impairment. Patients with diabetes require regular follow‐up with primary care physicians to optimize their glycaemic, blood pressure and lipid control to prevent development and progression of DR and other diabetes‐related complications. Other risk factors of DR include higher body mass index, puberty and pregnancy, and cataract surgery. There are weaker associations with some genetic and inflammatory markers. With the rising incidence and prevalence of diabetes and DR, public health systems in both developing and developed countries will be faced with increasing costs of implementation and maintenance of a DR screening program for people with diabetes. To reduce the impact of DR‐related visual loss, it is important that all stakeholders continue to look for innovative ways of managing and preventing diabetes, and optimize cost‐effective screening programs within the community.
T‐bet is essential for the progression of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is mediated by myelin‐specific CD4+ T helper 1 (Th1) cells, while recovery from the disease is associated with the presence of Th2 cells. Here we used animals with targeted deletion of the T‐bet gene to determine its role in the progression of EAE. T‐bet regulates the production of interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) in CD4+ and natural killer cells, and CD4+ T cells from T‐bet‐deficient mice were unable to differentiate into a Th1 phenotype. Moreover BALB/c mice deficient in T‐bet were resistant to the induction of EAE disease, with minimal inflammatory infiltrates in the central nervous system. These mice were resistant to EAE induction even when PLP(180−199) peptide specific effector T cells from BALB/c wild type were transferred to BALB/c T‐bet‐deficient mice. This resistance to EAE is may be caused by the production of the anti‐inflammatory cytokine interleukin‐10 (IL‐10) from the spleen cells upon ex vivo stimulation with PLP(180−199) peptide and in vivo presence in the central nervous system. There was no difference in the recall responses in spleen cells from T‐bet‐deficient and wild type mice; however, less secretion of IFN‐γ was observed from primed splenocytes. The expression of IFN‐γ was less in the central nervous system of T‐bet‐deficient mice whereas IL‐10 was significantly higher in T‐bet‐deficient as compared to wild type mice. These data indicate that T‐bet genes play a critical role in maintaining the encephalitogenic nature of CD4+ T cells in autoimmune responses during EAE disease progression.
Promoter-Proximal Regulatory Elements Involved in oriP-EBNA1-Independent and -Dependent Activation of the Epstein-Barr Virus C Promoter in B-Lymphoid Cell Lines

ABSTRACT The identification of the cellular factors that control the transcription regulatory activity of the Epstein-Barr virus C promoter (Cp) is fundamental to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms that control virus latent gene expression. Using transient transfection of reporter plasmids in group I phenotype B-lymphoid cells, we have previously shown that the −248 to −55 region (−248/−55 region) of Cp contains elements that are essential fororiPI-EBNA1-dependent as well asoriPI-EBNA1-independent activation of the promoter. We now establish the importance of this region by a detailed mutational analysis of reporter plasmids carrying Cp regulatory sequences together with or without oriPI. The reporter plasmids were transfected into group I phenotype Rael cells and group III phenotype cbc-Rael cells, and the Cp activity measured was correlated with the binding of candidate transcription factors in electrophoretic mobility shift assays and further assessed in cotransfection experiments. We show that the NF-Y transcription factor interacts with the previously identified CCAAT box in the −71/−63 Cp region (M. T. Puglielli, M. Woisetschlaeger, and S. H. Speck, J. Virol. 70:5758–5768, 1996). We also show that members of the C/EBP transcription factor family interact with a C/EBP consensus sequence in the −119/−112 region of Cp and that this interaction is important for promoter activity. A central finding is the identification of a GC-rich sequence in the −99/−91 Cp region that is essential fororiPI-EBNA1-independent as well asoriPI-EBNA1-dependent activity of the promoter. This region contains overlapping binding sites for Sp1 and Egr-1, and our results suggest that Sp1 is a positive and Egr-1 is a negative regulator of Cp activity. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a reporter plasmid that in addition to oriPI contains only the −111/+76 region of Cp still retains the ability to be activated by EBNA1.
Finansal Krizlerin Belirleyicileri Olarak Hizli Kredi Genislemeleri ve Cari Islemler Acigi

Bu calismada 1970-2008 donemindeki finansal krizleri etkileyen unsurlar gelismis ve gelismekte olan ulkeler icin ayri ayri arastirilmaktadir. Panel logit veri teknigi kullanilarak yapilan analizde toplam 50 ulke olmak uzere, 24 tanesi gelismis, 26 tanesi gelismekte olan ulkenin finansal krizleri analiz edilmistir. Son kuresel krizin etkisinin de dahil edildigi analizlerde, hem gelismis hem de gelismekte olan ulkelerde cari islemler dengesizliklerinin ve kredilerdeki gelismelerin finansal kriz olasiligini artirma konusunda guclu oldugunu soylemek mumkundur. Diger taraftan, gelismis ulkelerde kredilerdeki gelismelerin, gelismekte olan ulkelerde ise cari islemler aciginin finansal kriz olasiligini istatistiki olarak daha guclu bir sekilde artirdigi soylenebilir.
Fibrinogen: Its Emerging Role as a Cardiovascular Risk Factor

Several epidemiologic studies have produced longitudinal data identifying fibrinogen as a major cardiovascular risk factor. Cross-sectional results show strong associations between fibrinogen and cardiovascular risk factors or dis eases. Clinical cohort studies demonstrate that fibrinogen might also be a risk factor for the sequelae of cardiovascular disease. At present, knowledge about the determinants of the plasma level of fibrinogen in health and disease is in complete. Understanding of the mechanisms that might be involved in the atherogenic action of fibrinogen is also fragmentary. Fibrinogen strongly affects blood coagulation, blood rheology, and platelet aggregation, and in addition it has direct effects on the vascular wall and is a prominent acute-phase reactant. All of these phenomena might provide some insight into the pathophysiologic mechanisms involved in the association between fibrinogen and cardiovascular events. Even though many crucial questions await answers, it is concluded that fibrinogen represents a major, independent risk factor that should be consid ered for screening programs aimed at identifying individuals at high risk for cardiovascular disease.
D-Galactose Induces a Mitochondrial Complex I Deficiency in Mouse Skeletal Muscle : Potential Benefits of Nutrient Combination in Ameliorating Muscle Impairment

Accumulating research has shown that chronic D-galactose (D-gal) exposure induces symptoms similar to natural aging in animals. Therefore, rodents chronically exposed to D-gal are increasingly used as a model for aging and delay-of-aging pharmacological research. Mitochondrial dysfunction is thought to play a vital role in aging and age-related diseases; however, whether mitochondrial dysfunction plays a significant role in mice exposed to D-gal remains unknown. In the present study, we investigated cognitive dysfunction, locomotor activity, and mitochondrial dysfunction involved in D-gal exposure in mice. We found that D-gal exposure (125 mg/kg/day, 8 weeks) resulted in a serious impairment in grip strength in mice, whereas spatial memory and locomotor coordination remained intact. Interestingly, muscular mitochondrial complex I deficiency occurred in the skeletal muscle of mice exposed to D-gal. Mitochondrial ultrastructure abnormality was implicated as a contributing factor in D-gal-induced muscular impairment. Moreover, three combinations (A, B, and C) of nutrients applied in this study effectively reversed D-gal-induced muscular impairment. Nutrient formula B and C were especially effective in reversing complex I dysfunction in both skeletal muscle and heart muscle. These findings suggest the following: (1) chronic exposure to D-gal first results in specific muscular impairment in mice, rather than causing general, premature aging; (2) poor skeletal muscle strength induced by D-gal might be due to the mitochondrial dysfunction caused by complex I deficiency; and (3) the nutrient complexes applied in the study attenuated the skeletal muscle impairment, most likely by improving mitochondrial function.
Human Activity Recognition from Environmental Background Sounds for Wireless Sensor Networks

Sound feature extraction Mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) and classification dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithms are applied to recognizing the background sounds in the human daily activities. Applying these algorithms to fourteen typical daily activity sounds, average recognition accuracy of 92.5% can be achieved. In these algorithms, how two parameters (i.e., Mel filters number and frame-to-frame overlap) affect system's calculation burden and accuracy is also investigated. By adjusting these two parameters to a suitable combination, the calculation burden can be reduced by 61.6% while maintaining the system's average accuracy rate at approximate 90%. This is promising for future integrating with other sensor(s) to fulfill daily activity recognition work by using power aware wireless sensor networks (WSN) system.
Future Perspectives on Veterinary Hemoparasite Research in the Tropics at the Start of this Century

Abstract: This paper has two main objectives: (1) to promote discussion about the future of veterinary hemoparasite research at the start of the twenty‐first century and the third millennium, and (2) to stimulate young students to start research on parasitology, in particular in the field of veterinary tropical diseases. It is well known that in the twenty‐first century human society will be challenged by several major problems resulting from the demographic explosion, since the Earth's population for the year 2020 will reach 8.5 billion, or 10 billion for the year 2050, as long as the birth rate decreases from 2.8 births per woman today to 2.0 by the year 2030 (data released by the U.N. Population Fund, 1998). Since the food production rate, either from plant or animal origin, is lower than the human birth rate, the challenge ahead will be to produce enough food for ten billion people. Consequently, to deal with this problem, especially in developing nations, it is proposed: (1) to give priority status to scientific research in the agriculture and animal fields; (2) to concentrate financial support and efforts for research especially on hemoparasitic diseases (i.e., babesiosis, anaplasmosis, cowdriosis, ehrlichiosis, and trypanosomosis), in particular to apply biotechnology techniques to those animal diseases; and (3) to grant a better role to studies on veterinary and medical parasitology in universities of the Americas and Europe, since in these universities parasitology is currently considered a secondary subject.
Medical problem‐solving: an exploration of strategies

Summary. In contrast to factual knowledge the reasoning processes of doctors in their attempts to clarify the patient's problem has been a somewhat neglected domain of study. The rise of experimental psychology, clinical decision analysis, and problem‐based learning fostered studies in this area. Several studies from different viewpoints have been performed, leading to a more profound understanding of these processes. I approached the issue from a general physician viewpoint which reverted to the old distinction between deductive and inductive reasoning. Within a group of 68 participating doctors (family doctors and general physicians) the inductive method was exclusively employed. From this finding we conjecture that the inductive type of reasoning is the predominant style in the medical world. The consequences as attached to the overall utilization of the inductive method are far‐reaching. Among others, process retracing as a feedback mechanism fails to function when it results from the intuitive nature of the (pattern‐recognition) process. As a consequence we do not and can not know what we may learn from experience, good things as well as bad things. The inductive method is a method of practice and quick reaction, but it leaves us empty‐handed as far as understanding and teaching are concerned.
Mechanisms of Central Nervous System Viral Persistence: the Critical Role of Antibody and B Cells1

Contributions of humoral and cellular immunity in controlling neurotropic mouse hepatitis virus persistence within the CNS were determined in B cell-deficient JHD and syngeneic H-2d B cell+ Ab-deficient mice. Virus clearance followed similar kinetics in all mice, confirming initial control of virus replication by cellular immunity. Nevertheless, virus reemerged within the CNS of all Ab-deficient mice. In contrast to diminished T cell responses in H-2b B cell-deficient μMT mice, the absence of B cells or Ab in the H-2d mice did not compromise expansion, recruitment into the CNS, or function of virus-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. The lack of B cells and lymphoid architecture thus appears to manifest itself on T cell responses in a genetically biased manner. Increasing viral load did not enhance frequencies or effector function of virus-specific T cells within the CNS, indicating down-regulation of T cell responses. Although an Ab-independent antiviral function of B cells was not evident during acute infection, the presence of B cells altered CNS cellular tropism during viral recrudescence. Reemerging virus localized almost exclusively to oligodendroglia in B cell+ Ab-deficient mice, whereas it also replicated in astrocytes in B cell-deficient mice. Altered tropism coincided with distinct regulation of CNS virus-specific CD4+ T cells. These data conclusively demonstrate that the Ab component of humoral immunity is critical in preventing virus reactivation within CNS glial cells. B cells themselves may also play a subtle role in modulating pathogenesis by influencing tropism.
HIGHLIGHTED TOPIC Pulmonary Physiology and Pathophysiology of Obesity Does obesity produce a distinct asthma phenotype?

Does obesity produce a distinct asthma and asthma prevalence have been increasing over the past decade. Epidemiological evidence demonstrates that obesity results in an increased risk of developing incident asthma. Even modest levels of increased weight increase asthma risk. Recently published data suggest that obese asthma patients may represent a distinct phenotype of asthma. Obese asthma patients demonstrate increased asthma severity, as indicated by increased exacerbations and decreased asthma control; however, they do not appear to have increased airway cellular inﬂammation. It seems likely that obesity does not contribute to asthma through conventional Th type 2-mediated inﬂammatory pathways but, rather, through separate mechanisms that are speciﬁc to the obese state. This may explain the variable responses of obese asthma patients to conven- tional asthma therapies, speciﬁcally, relative corticosteroid resistance. Small studies suggest improvements in the disease with weight loss in obese asthma patients, and other interventions to target asthma in obese individuals need to be investigated. Several postulated mechanisms for the occurrence of this distinct phenotype have been postulated: 1 ) the presence of comorbidities, such as gastroesophageal reﬂux disease and sleep disordered breathing, 2 ) systemic inﬂammation associated with obesity (with elevated levels of circulating cytokines, such as IL-6 and TNF- (cid:1) ), 3 ) increased oxidative stress, and 4 ) hormones of obesity, such as adiponectin, leptin, and resistin. Although the mechanisms underlying obesity in require investigation, a major in the asthma and
Neurochemical changes following a single dose of polybrominated diphenyl ether 47 in mice

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are commonly used as commercial flame retardants in a variety of products, including plastics and textiles. Previous studies in our laboratory, and in the literature, showed that exposure to a specific PBDE congener (PBDE 47) during a critical period of brain development may lead to developmental delays and hyperactivity in adulthood. To date, the underlying causes of these behavioral alterations are unknown, although in vitro studies linked PBDEs with potential alterations in neurotransmitter levels, particularly acetylcholine (ACh) and dopamine (DA). Alterations in DA function have also been noted in cases of hyperactivity in rodents and humans. The current study examined monoamine levels in male mice acutely exposed to corn oil vehicle or PBDE 47 (1, 10, or 30 mg/kg) on postnatal day (PND) 10. Animals were sacrificed on PND 15, PND 20, and in adulthood (131–159 days old). The cortex, striatum, and cerebellum were isolated and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography to determine the concentration of monoamines within each brain region. A statistically significant increase in DA levels was seen within the cortex, regardless of age, but only in the 10-mg/kg PBDE treatment group. While these effects did not show a monotonic dose response, we previously reported hyperactivity in littermates in the same dose group, but not at the lower or higher dose. Thus, early developmental exposure to PBDE 47 alters the levels of cortical DA in male mice, which may correlate with behavioral observations in littermates.
Innate and adaptive immunity gene expression of human keratinocytes cultured of severe burn injury.

PURPOSE Evaluate the expression profile of genes related to Innate and Adaptive Immune System (IAIS) of human Primary Epidermal keratinocytes (hPEKP) of patients with severe burns. METHODS After obtaining viable fragments of skin with and without burning, culture hKEP was initiated by the enzymatic method using Dispase (Sigma-Aldrich). These cells were treated with Trizol(r) (Life Technologies) for extraction of total RNA. This was quantified and analyzed for purity for obtaining cDNA for the analysis of gene expression using specific IAIS PCR Arrays plates (SA Biosciences). RESULTS After the analysis of gene expression we found that 63% of these genes were differentially expressed, of which 77% were repressed and 23% were hyper-regulated. Among these, the following genes (fold increase or decrease): IL8 (41), IL6 (32), TNF (-92), HLA-E (-86), LYS (-74), CCR6 (- 73), CD86 (-41) and HLA-A (-35). CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying wound infection caused by the burn. Furthermore, it may provide new strategies to restore normal expression of these genes and thereby change the healing process and improve clinical outcome.
A Novel Control System for Current Source Converter Based Variable Speed PM Wind Power Generators

A novel control scheme for permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) is proposed in this paper, where high power current source converter (CSC) is employed as the connection between direct-driven generator and grid for wind energy applications. In medium voltage high power range, PWM current source inverter (CSI) shows its advantages when connected to grid: simple topology, small Alter, smooth power output and proved short circuit protection. However, it also presents some challenges for control scheme development. The input filter capacitor would result in load dependent power factor at the grid side and variable minimum dc link current in order to achieve unity power factor. The proposed control scheme is developed to incorporate both maximum power tracking and output power factor control. By independently control the real power and reactive power, unity power factor control is achieved at grid side in spite of the CSI output capacitors. By controlling the inverter modulation index at the highest possible level, the proposed control scheme keeps the dc link current at a minimum value with various wind speeds and therefore greatly reduces the converter power loss at lower power levels. Simulation and experimental results verify the control scheme proposed for CSI based direct-drive wind generation system.