Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Motor evoked potentials in a mouse model of chronic multiple sclerosis

We tested cortical motor evoked potentials (cMEPs) as a quantitative marker for in vivo monitoring of corticospinal tract damage in a murine multiple sclerosis model (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, EAE). The cMEPs, previously standardized in naive C57BL/6 developing and adult mice, were studied longitudinally in adult EAE mice. Central conduction times (CCTs) increased significantly shortly before the earliest clinical signs developed (10 days postimmunization, dpi), with peak delay in acute EAE (20–40 dpi). In clinically stable disease (80 dpi), CCTs did not increase further, but cMEP amplitude declined progressively, with complete loss in >80% of mice at 120 dpi. Increase in CCT correlated with presence of inflammatory infiltrates and demyelination in acute EAE, whereas small or absent cMEPs were associated with continuing axonal damage in clinically‐stabilized disease and beyond (>80 dpi). These results demonstrate that cMEPs are a useful method for monitoring corticospinal tract function in chronic‐progressive EAE, and provide insight into the pathological substrate of the condition. Muscle Nerve, 2006
Using an SU-8 Photoresist Structure and Cytochrome C Thin Film Sensing Material for a Microbolometer

There are two critical parameters for microbolometers: the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the sensing material, and the thermal conductance of the insulation structure. Cytochrome c protein, having a high TCR, is a good candidate for infrared detection. We can use SU-8 photoresist for the thermal insulation structure, given its low thermal conductance. In this study, we designed a platform structure based on a SU-8 photoresist. We fabricated an infrared sensing pixel and recorded a high TCR for this new structure. The SU-8 photoresist insulation structure was fabricated using the exposure dose method. We experimentally demonstrated high values of TCR from 22%/K to 25.7%/K, and the measured noise was 1.2 × 10−8 V2/Hz at 60 Hz. When the bias current was 2 μA, the calculated voltage responsivity was 1.16 × 105 V/W. This study presents a new kind of microbolometer based on cytochrome c protein on top of an SU-8 photoresist platform that does not require expensive vacuum deposition equipment.
Lead in bone: sampling and quantitation using K X-rays excited by 109Cd.

Lead in bone can be measured in vivo using gamma-rays from a 109Cd source to excite lead K X-rays. Normalization of lead X-ray amplitudes to that of the elastically backscattered 88 keV gamma-rays produces a determination of the concentration of lead in bone mineral that is accurate and insensitive to variations in measurement or bone geometry. For in vivo tibia measurements, a typical precision (1 SD) of +/- 5 micrograms lead (g bone mineral)-1 is achieved for an effective dose equivalent of 2.1 microSv. Measurement can be made of any superficial bone site, but precision will vary approximately as the inverse of the square root of the mass of bone mineral sampled. The apparatus required for this technique is readily transportable, and mobile laboratory facilities are easily established. ImagesFIGURE 7.
Proteomics of Plasma Membranes from Poplar Trees Reveals Tissue Distribution of Transporters, Receptors, and Proteins in Cell Wall Formation*

By exploiting the abundant tissues available from Populus trees, 3–4 m high, we have been able to isolate plasma membranes of high purity from leaves, xylem, and cambium/phloem at a time (4 weeks after bud break) when photosynthesis in the leaves and wood formation in the xylem should have reached a steady state. More than 40% of the 956 proteins identified were found in the plasma membranes of all three tissues and may be classified as “housekeeping” proteins, a typical example being P-type H+-ATPases. Among the 213 proteins predicted to be integral membrane proteins, transporters constitute the largest class (41%) followed by receptors (14%) and proteins involved in cell wall and carbohydrate metabolism (8%) and membrane trafficking (8%). ATP-binding cassette transporters (all members of subfamilies B, C, and G) and receptor-like kinases (four subfamilies) were two of the largest protein families found, and the members of these two families showed pronounced tissue distribution. Leaf plasma membranes were characterized by a very high proportion of transporters, constituting almost half of the integral proteins. Proteins involved in cell wall synthesis (such as cellulose and sucrose synthases) and membrane trafficking were most abundant in xylem plasma membranes in agreement with the role of the xylem in wood formation. Twenty-five integral proteins and 83 soluble proteins were exclusively found in xylem plasma membranes, which identifies new candidates associated with cell wall synthesis and wood formation. Among the proteins uniquely found in xylem plasma membranes were most of the enzymes involved in lignin biosynthesis, which suggests that they may exist as a complex linked to the plasma membrane.
Wound healing in rat cornea: the role of electric currents

Human corneal epithelial cells respond rapidly following injury to restore the integrity of the ocular surface. What stimulates and guides cells to move into the wound to heal? One candidate is the wound‐induced electric field. Using vibrating probe techniques, we provide detailed temporal and spatial mapping of endogenous electric currents at rat corneal wounds. We find Cl− and Na+ are the major components of electric currents in rat corneal wounds. Na+ is the major component of ionic transport in the resting (nonwounded) rat cornea and of the wound center leakage current, whereas Cl− is a more important component of the endogenous electrical current at the wound edges. Enhancing or decreasing Cl− flow with clinically approved pharmacological agents such as aminophylline, ascorbic acid, or furosemide increased or decreased endogenous wound electric currents, respectively. These changes in wound currents correlated directly with the rate of wound healing in vivo. Thus, pharmacologically enhancing or decreasing wound‐induced electric currents increased and decreased wound healing rate, respectively. This may have wide‐reaching and novel therapeutic potential in the management of wound healing and may help explain some mechanistic aspects of the effects of some clinically used agents. —Reid, B. , Song, B. , McCaig, C. D. , Zhao, M. Wound healing in rat cornea: the role of electric currents. FASEB J. 19, 379–386 (2005)
Prediction, dynamics, and visualization of antigenic phenotypes of seasonal influenza viruses

Significance Humans mount an antibody-mediated immune response against influenza viruses that can be recalled. Nevertheless, individuals can suffer from recurrent influenza infections as viruses can change their antigenic properties by altering their surface glycoproteins. This antigenic evolution requires frequent update of seasonal influenza vaccines. To inform vaccine updates, laboratories that contribute to the World Health Organization Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System assess the antigenic phenotypes of circulating viruses. Based on the relationship of antigenic distance to genetic differences between viruses, we developed a model to interpret measured antigenic data and predict the properties of viruses that have not been characterized antigenically and explore the model’s value in predicting the future composition of influenza virus populations. Human seasonal influenza viruses evolve rapidly, enabling the virus population to evade immunity and reinfect previously infected individuals. Antigenic properties are largely determined by the surface glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA), and amino acid substitutions at exposed epitope sites in HA mediate loss of recognition by antibodies. Here, we show that antigenic differences measured through serological assay data are well described by a sum of antigenic changes along the path connecting viruses in a phylogenetic tree. This mapping onto the tree allows prediction of antigenicity from HA sequence data alone. The mapping can further be used to make predictions about the makeup of the future A(H3N2) seasonal influenza virus population, and we compare predictions between models with serological and sequence data. To make timely model output readily available, we developed a web browser-based application that visualizes antigenic data on a continuously updated phylogeny.
Genetic parameters for ewe productivity traits in the Columbia, Suffolk and Targhee breeds.

Estimates of repeatability and heritability were obtained for the following productivity traits of ewes: litter weight at birth (LWB) and weaning (LWW), litter size at birth (LSB), litter size alive at birth (NBA), litter size at weaning (LSW), neonatal survival rate (SRB) and preweaning survival rate (SRW). Phenotypic and genetic correlations were estimated for litter traits. The data set contained 6,394 ewe breeding records from three state stations over 10 yr on 1,731 ewes that were the progeny of 488 sires among three breeds (Columbia, Suffolk and Targhee). Pooled intra-station estimates of repeatability ranged from . 11 to . 22 for LWB and LWW among the three breeds. For litter size at birth, number born alive and litter size at weaning these estimates varied from . 09 to . 17 and for the survival traits (SRB and SRW) the variation was from . 11 to . 20. Intra-station estimates of heritability for the three breeds varied from . 12 to . 28 for LWB and LWW, and for LSB, NBA and LSW estimates varied from . 05 to . 35. Heritability estimates for survival traits (SRB and SRW) were low, ranging from . 00 to . 14. Phenotypic correlations among LWB, LWW, NBA and LSW ranged from . 35 to . 92 among the breed-station subclasses, with higher correlations occurring where a part-whole relationship existed. The study suggests that selection of ewes with high litter size at birth or at weaning and(or) litter weight at birth or at weaning will genetically improve total litter weight at weaning per ewe lambing.
Does the UK government’s teenage pregnancy strategy deal with the correct risk factors? Findings from a secondary analysis of data from a randomised trial of sex education and their implications for policy

Background: Much of the UK government’s 1999 report on teenage pregnancy was by necessity based on rather old or non-longitudinal research. Aim: To examine the associations between risk factors identified in the report and pregnancy at or before age 16 years among young women and partners of young men using the more recent data. Results: Socioeconomic disadvantage, being born to a teenage mother, expectation of being a teenage parent, low educational expectations and various other behaviours are potential risk factors for teenage pregnancy, as suggested by unadjusted analyses. Those who cited school as providing information on sex had a reduced risk of pregnancy at or before age 16 years, as did girls reporting easy communication with parent or guardian at baseline. Various measures of low sexual health knowledge were not associated, in either adjusted or unadjusted analyses, with increased risk of pregnancy at or before age 16 years among boys or girls. Conclusions: A focus on many of the risk factors identified in the 1999 report is supported herein. It is suggested that knowledge may not be an important determinant, but that relationships with parents and school, as well as expectations for the future, may have important influences on teenage pregnancy. The analysis also provides new insights into risk factors for pregnancies among the partners of young men.
Type 1 growth factor receptor expression in node positive breast cancer: adverse prognostic significance of c-erbB-4

Background: There is a clear need to define biological markers that will predict the response to treatment in breast cancer, and several recent studies suggest that the expression of type 1 growth factor receptors may prove important in this regard. The type 1 growth factor receptors are a family of transmembrane receptors comprising epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), c-erbB-2, c-erbB-3, and c-erbB-4. Both EGFR and c-erbB-2 are associated with poor prognosis in certain tumours. Aims: There is very little information concerning expression patterns of the full range of type 1 growth factor receptors, especially with respect to c-erbB-3 and c-erbB-4. Therefore, this study was designed to compare the expression of each, and to assess whether expression of any of the factors was related to patient survival in a clinical series. Methods: Type 1 growth factor receptor expression was investigated by means of immunohistochemistry in a series of node positive patients with breast cancer (n = 66), and statistical analysis was carried out to determine associations between variables and survival analysis for each variable. Results: There were several correlations between variables, and overexpression of EGFR, c-erbB-2, and c-erbB-4 was found to be associated with adverse clinical outcome, although the results were significant only for c-erbB-4 (p = 0.002). Conclusion: Although patient numbers are small, this is the first report describing c-erbB-4 as an adverse prognostic marker. These findings are in contrast to previous investigations and may relate to the fact that the patients studied all had advanced stage disease and had undergone similar chemotherapy regimens in the context of a clinical trial.
Finite Element Methods with Matching and Nonmatching Meshes for Maxwell Equations with Discontinuous Coefficients

We investigate the finite element methods for solving time-dependent Maxwell equations with discontinuous coefficients in general three-dimensional Lipschitz polyhedral domains. Both matching and nonmatching finite element meshes on the interfaces are considered, and optimal error estimates for both cases are obtained. The analysis of the latter case is based on an abstract framework for nested saddle point problems, along with a characterization of the trace space for H(curl;D), a new extension theorem for H(curl;D) functions in any Lipschitz domain D, and a novel compactness argument for deriving discrete inf-sup conditions.
Aggression as a motive for gossip during conflict: The role of power, social value orientation, and counterpart's behavior

Not much is known about the motives behind the use of gossip in conflict situations. We report a laboratory experiment that examined the influence of social value orientation, counterpart's behavior, and power on the motive to use gossip for indirect aggression in a conflict situation. Results showed that when participants had high power, their social value orientation determined whether they were motivated to gossip to indirectly aggress toward their counterpart: Proself participants showed a higher motivation to do so than prosocial participants. In contrast, when participants had low power, the motive to engage in indirect aggression through gossip was influenced by the counterpart's behavior: Participants who encountered a competitive counterpart showed a higher motivation to aggress through gossip than participants who encountered a cooperative counterpart.
Voices from the Margins: Literacy Development and the Impact of Technology

to begin tracing technological literacy as it has emerged over the last few decades within the United States … [and] part of our long-term project … we focus on those case studies of a group of people in the United States who have become proficient, to lesser and greater extents, with the literacies of technology during the last 25 years or so. (p. 3)
Sex Differences in Motivations and Effects in Dating Violence

Sex differences in motivations for and effects of dating violence are investigated using perceptions of both victims and perpetrators. A total of 495 college students (207 males and 288 females) completed a measure assessing motivation for and effects of dating violence along with a social desirability measure a state-trait anger expression inventory a justification of relationship violence measure and the Conflict Tactics Scale. Sex differences were evident in numerous motivations for and effects of dating violence and were also influenced by level of violence. Females were less likely to think force could be justifiable. Implications for the specific findings are discussed. (authors)
Auditory steady state responses and cochlear implants: Modeling the artifact-response mixture in the perspective of denoising

Auditory steady state responses (ASSRs) in cochlear implant (CI) patients are contaminated by the spread of a continuous CI electrical stimulation artifact. The aim of this work was to model the electrophysiological mixture of the CI artifact and the corresponding evoked potentials on scalp electrodes in order to evaluate the performance of denoising algorithms in eliminating the CI artifact in a controlled environment. The basis of the proposed computational framework is a neural mass model representing the nodes of the auditory pathways. Six main contributors to auditory evoked potentials from the cochlear level and up to the auditory cortex were taken into consideration. The simulated dynamics were then projected into a 3-layer realistic head model. 32-channel scalp recordings of the CI artifact-response were then generated by solving the electromagnetic forward problem. As an application, the framework’s simulated 32-channel datasets were used to compare the performance of 4 commonly used Independent Component Analysis (ICA) algorithms: infomax, extended infomax, jade and fastICA in eliminating the CI artifact. As expected, two major components were detectable in the simulated datasets, a low frequency component at the modulation frequency and a pulsatile high frequency component related to the stimulation frequency. The first can be attributed to the phase-locked ASSR and the second to the stimulation artifact. Among the ICA algorithms tested, simulations showed that infomax was the most efficient and reliable in denoising the CI artifact-response mixture. Denoising algorithms can induce undesirable deformation of the signal of interest in real CI patient recordings. The proposed framework is a valuable tool for evaluating these algorithms in a controllable environment ahead of experimental or clinical applications.
Understanding Instability and Rupture of Poly(Alkyl-2-Cyanoacrylate) Capsules

Introduction Poly(alkyl-2-cyanoacrylates) (PACAs) are degradable biomaterials that are clinically applied as surgical glue and studied as a matrix for particulate drug carriers such as nanoparticles or micro/nanocapsules. The stability of capsule walls is essential to avoid leakage of encapsulated compounds. Methods PACA capsules and (co)polymer films were prepared and characterization of their morphologies and thermal properties was performed. Results Thin-walled capsules that allow for a large internal volume to carry the payload were instable due to the high brittleness of PACA. Strategies to reduce the glass transition temperature (Tg) from values as high as ~120°C included plasticization by solvents and copolymerization approaches. By using the latter, the Tg of commonly used n-butylcyanoacrylate could be reduced up to 30 K, following predictions of mixed-system glass transition temperatures obtained, for example, by the Fox equation. Conclusions Thin-walled PACA capsules may allow for large payloads in the field of drug delivery and beyond, but require modifications of the PACA to improve capsule stability by more elastic capsule walls.
Pour un individualisme méthodologique à composante sociale et à rationalité limitée

Dans cet article, l'A. propose une conception de l'individualisme methodologique qui tient compte du caractere essentiellement social de l'individu. Abandonnant l'hypothese de l'information parfaite pour une information complexe et couteuse, il se place dans une optique de rationalite limitee. Il propose un modele plus realiste dans lequel l'individu choisit en fonction de ses propres objectifs mais aussi en fonction de regles du jeu qu'il partage avec autrui et qui lui permettent de prevoir comment il reagiront s'il se comporte de telle ou telle facon
Differences in the management of amblyopia between European countries

Background: Amblyopia treatment is not standardised and differences between centres and countries have not been systematically investigated. This survey compares the different patterns of orthoptic treatment of amblyopia in the United Kingdom (UK) and three German speaking countries (GSC). Methods: Questionnaires were sent to orthoptists in the UK and the GSC asking for their preferred choices of treatment of amblyopia between the ages of 6 months to 10 years. Results: The following significant differences in management of amblyopia were found: (1) the number of hours of occlusion per week was higher in the GSC, p<0.0001, (2) orthoptists in the GSC treat amblyopia up to an older age. Orthoptists in the GSC and in the UK predicted similar treatment outcomes. Conclusion: Orthoptists in the GSC usually treat patients more intensively and for longer, while the prediction of visual outcome does not differ significantly between countries. These results highlight the lack of standardisation in the treatment of the various types of amblyopia.
Moving Beyond Surrogate Endpoints in Cell Therapy Trials for Heart Disease

Cell therapy for heart disease began clinically more than a decade ago. Since then, numerous trials have been performed, but the studies have been underpowered, focusing primarily on low‐risk patients with a recent myocardial infarction. Many data have accumulated on surrogate endpoints such as ejection fraction, but few clinical conclusions can be drawn from such studies. We argue here that the time is right for targeting larger and/or higher‐risk populations for whom there is some expectation of being able to influence mortality or rehospitalization.
Understanding Voters' Preferences: How the Electorate's Complexity Affects Prediction Accuracy and Wishful Thinking among Politicians with Respect to Election Outcomes

Summary Models of political decision making often assume that politicians are fully informed on voters' preferences. Still, while they may be privileged witnesses of the democratic process, real-world politicians typically act upon imperfect information. Using a large scale survey among (498) Belgian local politicians we analyse whether and to what extent politicians are informed on public opinion. More precisely, we analyse their predictions of the electoral result of their own party in an upcoming election. The focus is on the impact of the electorate's complexity on this prediction accuracy. Complexity is defined in terms of the size and heterogeneity of the electorate. Complexity is found to affect both cognitive (prediction accuracy becomes smaller) and affective (predictions are biased through wishful thinking) processes underlying the politician's prediction. The empirical results show that smaller electorates have better informed politicians (with smaller prediction errors and less subject to wishful thinking), offering a case for decentralized government. Heterogeneity has a bearing on prediction accuracy and wishful thinking. Interestingly, the effects differ between politicians in power and those in opposition.