Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of premorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder on neuropsychological functioning in individuals with acute mild traumatic brain injuries

ABSTRACT Introduction. Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a frequent, yet undertreated condition that typically manifests with transient neurological and cognitive symptoms that resolve over the course of several weeks. In contrast, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that presents initially in childhood but often persists into adulthood. mTBI and ADHD include overlapping symptomatology, making it difficult for clinicians to disentangle the sequelae of each condition when they co-occur in the same individual. We hypothesized that neuropsychological tests would be sensitive to preexisting ADHD in inpatients with acute mTBIs. Method. We retrospectively examined the medical charts of 100 inpatients, aged 18–40 years (96% Caucasian; 77% male) with mTBIs in an acute care setting, half of whom had self-reported the presence of premorbid ADHD, and half of whom were matched controls. We analyzed group differences across neuropsychological tests of attention, processing speed, and executive functions, examined the profile ratings of independent, blinded, board-certified neuropsychologists, and correlated cognitive performance with time from traumatic injury to testing. Results. Individuals with premorbid ADHD (a) performed significantly worse than their matched counterparts on several tests of attention, processing speed, and working memory, and (b) were significantly more likely to produce profiles later rated as impaired by independent, board-certified clinical neuropsychologists. In addition, time from traumatic injury to testing was found to be negatively correlated with neurocognitive performance. Conclusions. These findings (a) argue for the utility of a brief assessment of premorbid ADHD in the acute care of individuals with mTBIs and (b) provide clinicians with a barometer for gauging the relative contributions of premorbid ADHD to neuropsychological impairments in the neurocognitive profiles of individuals with mTBIs. Reported effect sizes will assist clinicians in accurately weighing the impact of premorbid ADHD when interpreting such profiles.
The Relationship Between TV/Computer Time and Adolescents' Health-Promoting Behavior: A Secondary Data Analysis

&NA; Television and computers provide significant benefits for learning about the world. Some studies have linked excessive television (TV) watching or computer game playing to disadvantage of health status or some unhealthy behavior among adolescents. However, the relationships between watching TV/playing computer games and adolescents adopting health promoting behavior were limited. This study aimed to discover the relationship between time spent on watching TV and on leisure use of computers and adolescents' health promoting behavior, and associated factors. This paper used secondary data analysis from part of a health promotion project in Taoyuan County, Taiwan. A cross-sectional design was used and purposive sampling was conducted among adolescents in the original project. Atotal of 660 participants answered the questions appropriately for this work between January and June 2004. Findings showed the mean age of the respondents was 15.0 ± 1.7 years. The mean numbers of TV watching hours were 2.28 and 4.07 on weekdays and weekends respectively. The mean hours of leisure (non-academic) computer use were 1.64 and 3.38 on weekdays and weekends respectively. Results indicated that adolescents spent significant time watching TV and using the computer, which was negatively associated with adopting health-promoting behaviors such as life appreciation, health responsibility, social support and exercise behavior. Moreover, being boys, being overweight, living in a rural area, and being middle-school students were significantly associated with spending long periods watching TV and using the computer. Therefore, primary health care providers should record the TV and non-academic computer time of youths when conducting health promotion programs, and educate parents on how to become good and healthy electronic media users.
Superpixels using random walker

We present a novel image superpixel approach using random walker in this paper. Our method begins with downsampling the input image with a sampling factor, and then we initialize the seed positions and run the random walker algorithm on the low-resolution image to reduce the computational complexity. Finally, we upsample the probabilities to obtain the superpixels boundaries of the full resolution image. The experimental results show that the superpixels by our method achieve the better performance than the result by the previous superpixel segmentation method.
Parameters affecting the sensitivities of dideoxy fingerprinting and SSCP.

The goals of the present experiments are (1) to improve dideoxy fingerprinting (ddF) and (2) to utilize ddF as a tool to evaluate the relative merits of different conditions for single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). ddF is performed by electrophoresing one dideoxy termination reaction through a nondenaturing gel. The ddF pattern can be divided into a "dideoxy component" and an "SSCP component". If dideoxy CTP (ddCTP) is utilized for the termination reaction of ddF, the dideoxy component is abnormal when an extra segment is produced by a sequence change that creates an extra C or when a segment is eliminated by a change of C to another base. All subsequent segments produced by the termination reaction constitute the SSCP component that contains the mutation in a nested series of ddCTP termination products. The SSCP component is informative if abnormal mobility is detected in one or more of the segments. Herein, we utilize 84 different single-base changes in the human factor IX gene to examine the effects of gel matrix, temperature, and different primers on the sensitivity of ddF. The effects of glycerol and cross-linker ratio were examined on fewer mutations. The following conclusions emerge: 1. The sensitivity of the dideoxy component is invariant, but the sensitivity of the SSCP component can vary greatly with gel matrix, temperature, segment size, and sequence context. 2. For a given segment containing a mutation, it is likely that a mobility shift will be seen under some conditions but not under other conditions. By examining the mobility of the SSCP component in > 2200 segments, it was found that some conditions are statistically more likely to result in altered mobility, thereby increasing the average sensitivity of mutation detection by ddF or conventional SSCP. 3. GeneAmp and MDE gels are superior to polyacrylamide gels and electrophoresis at 8 degrees C is superior to electrophoresis at 23 degrees C. GeneAmp at 8 degrees C provided the highest SSCP component efficiency of all conditions tested; all 84 hemizygotes and 40 heterozygotes were detected readily by ddF under these conditions. 4. The segments that terminate near the mutation site are likely to show an abnormal mobility on polyacrylamide gels at 23 degrees C. 5. The likelihood of mobility shifts decreases with segment size, but sequence context can have a major effect on SSCP component efficiency. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Does Increased Cigarette Consumption Nullify Any Reduction in Lung Cancer Risk Associated with Low-Tar Filter Cigarettes?

Epidemiological data suggest that smoking filter and lower tar cigarettes is associated with less lung cancer risk than is smoking plain and higher tar cigarettes. A recent National Cancer Institute monograph claimed these apparent benefits of lower delivery products may be illusory if relative risks are adjusted for daily consumption, and switching leads to “compensation” for reduced nicotine intake by increasing numbers of cigarettes smoked. To investigate this, we compared relative risks unadjusted and adjusted for daily cigarette consumption. Overall estimates of the filter/plain relative risk, using random-effects meta-analysis, were 0.61 (95% confidence interval 0.54 to 0.70) for unadjusted data and 0.66 (0.58 to 0.76) for adjusted data. The lower tar/higher tar relative risk was estimated as 0.60 (0.45 to 0.81) for unadjusted data and 0.73 (0.64 to 0.83) for adjusted data. The risk reductions were clearly seen regardless of gender, study location, period, or design, and when only studies providing both unadjusted and adjusted estimates were considered. Whether or not relative risk estimates are adjusted for cigarette consumption is not crucial to the conclusion of a clear advantage to filter cigarettes and tar reduction. Data on “compensation” for amount smoked were reviewed and any increase following switching to reduced-tar-yield cigarettes was shown to be quite small. Other biases in the epidemiology are also discussed, and we conclude that the apparent advantage to reduced-tar-delivery products is real and likely to be a marked underestimate of the reduction in lung cancer risk from lifetime smoking of low-tar cigarettes.
Cloning of an intracellular receptor for protein kinase C: a homolog of the beta subunit of G proteins.

Protein kinase C (PKC) translocates from the soluble to the cell particulate fraction on activation. Intracellular receptors that bind activated PKC in the particulate fraction have been implicated by a number of studies. Previous work identified 30- to 36-kDa proteins in the particulate fraction of heart and brain that bound activated PKC in a specific and saturable manner. These proteins were termed receptors for activated C-kinase, or RACKs. In the following study, we describe the cloning of a cDNA encoding a 36-kDa protein (RACK1) that fulfills the criteria for RACKs. (i) RACK1 bound PKC in the presence of PKC activators, but not in their absence. (ii) PKC binding to the recombinant RACK1 was not inhibited by a pseudosubstrate peptide or by a substrate peptide derived from the pseudosubstrate sequence, indicating that the binding did not reflect simply PKC association with its substrate. (iii) Binding of PKC to RACK1 was saturable and specific; two other protein kinases did not bind to RACK1. (iv) RACK1 contains two short sequences homologous to a PKC binding sequence previously identified in annexin I and in the brain PKC inhibitor KCIP. Peptides derived from these sequences inhibited PKC binding to RACK1. Finally, RACK1 is a homolog of the beta subunit of G proteins, which were recently implicated in membrane anchorage of the beta-adrenergic receptor kinase [Pitcher, J., Inglese, L. , Higgins, J. B. , Arriza, J. A. , Casey, P. J., Kim, C. , Benovic, J. L. , Kwatra, M. M. , Caron, M. G. & Lefkowitz, R. J. (1992) Science 257, 1264-1267]. Our in vitro data suggest a role for RACK1 in PKC-mediated signaling.
Urinary VEGF and MMP levels as predictive markers of 1-year progression-free survival in cancer patients treated with radiation therapy: a longitudinal study of protein kinetics throughout tumor progression and therapy.

PURPOSE To determine the predictive value of urinary levels of two angiogenic factors, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs), in a longitudinal study to determine their correlation with 1-year progression-free survival in patients with cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS VEGF and MMP levels were measured in the urine of 65 cancer patients at first evaluation, during therapy, and at follow-up (n = 242); normalized by creatinine levels; and compared with 16 healthy controls. The correlation of initial levels and trends of VEGF and MMPs with 1-year progression-free survival was assessed using two-sample tests and stepwise logistic regression. RESULTS Urinary VEGF levels at presentation were different between patients with local-regional cancer and normal controls, and between patients with metastatic prostate cancer and local-regional disease (P =.04 and.01, respectively). Similar results were found with MMP measurement (P =.03 and.0001, respectively). Of those patients subsequently treated with radiation, VEGF levels at presentation between patients with no evidence of disease (NED) after radiation and those who had persistent or recurrent disease after radiotherapy were also different (P =.039). The comparison between angiogenic factor levels taken at least 1 month postradiotherapy and the last level taken during treatment was the strongest predictor of patient 1-year progression-free survival (P =.004). Similarly, the overall MMP trend was also significantly associated with 1-year progression-free survival, as was the individual MMP-2 trend (P =.004 and.001, respectively). Stepwise logistic regression revealed that the VEGF trend comparing postradiation levels with last level taken during treatment was an independent predictor of progression-free survival (P =.02). CONCLUSION This small exploratory study suggests that the angiogenic urinary trends of VEGF and MMPs may be useful predictive markers for progression-free survival in cancer patients after the completion of radiotherapy.
SEM evaluation of contemporary self-etching primers applied to ground and unground enamel.

PURPOSE This study evaluated the etching effect of self-etching priming agents applied to intact and ground enamel. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty-two human molars were used. Each tooth was divided into two halves. The buccal or lingual mid-coronal surface of 32 half-teeth was ground with 600-grit silicon carbide paper. The other half-teeth were left intact (control). Teeth were treated with Clearfil SE Bond (SE), Prompt L-Pop (PLP) or Adper (AD). Those in the control group were etched with 35% phosphoric acid. The etching effect of such systems on enamel surfaces was assessed by three different approaches using scanning electron microscopy: 1) in situ or direct morphological examination of the etched enamel; 2) indirect morphological examination, that is, evaluation of the etching pattern left on resin reproductions; 3) adhesive interface examination. RESULTS SE exhibited the least aggressive dissolution of the intact and ground enamel, with many sites of the intact enamel remaining completely unetched. SE monomer infiltration into etched enamel was restricted to the superficial layer. PLP and AD produced equivalent etching patterns on intact and ground enamel, which resemble that produced by the phosphoric acid control group. PLP and AD monomer penetration extended along the porous subsurface enamel layer. CONCLUSION SE produced mild morphological changes on intact and ground enamel surface, resulting in a very superficial resin infiltration particularly into intact enamel. No differences were evident among the etching and resin infiltration pattern produced by both all-in-one self-etching adhesives, PLP and AD, and the phosphoric acid system.
A two-pass physics-based global lighting model

This paper describes a two-pass implementation of a physics-based global lighting model. This latter uses a physics-based reflection model, spectral distribution of light powers, and does not make any assumption on the specular behavior of materials. The scenes are discretized into points instead of patches . Hence, any kind of surface can be used without having to break down it into small planar patches. A data structure, named visibility graph, is built to efficiently evaluate the visibility between the sample points of the scene. Even though the photometric properties of surfaces (reflection, transmission , roughness, emitted powers . ) are modified, this graph does not change, which makes it easy to produce very quickly several images. Methods for computing the Fresnel factor are given in appendix .
Design of Ternary Neural Network With 3-D Vertical RRAM Array

Recently, 2-D cross-point array of resistive random access memory (RRAM) has been proposed for implementing the weighted sum and weight update operations to accelerate the neuro-inspired learning algorithms on chip. This paper aims to extend such 2-D cross-point array to 3-D vertical array for storing and computing the large-scale weight matrices in the neural network. Considering the fabrication and 3-D integration of analog synapses (i.e., multilevel RRAM devices) are premature at this stage, we propose using today’s available digital or binary RRAM devices for implementing a ternary neural network, which aggressively reduces the weight precision to ternary levels (+1, 0,−1) for the weighted sum in both feedforward and backward inference, while the multiple 3-D layers could serve for accumulating the small errors in a higher precision format for weight update. Compared to the 2-D implementation, the proposed 3-D vertical implementation shows larger read/write margin for weighted sum/weight update, smaller latency, and energy consumption for weight update. This paper demonstrates the attractiveness for building a monolithic 3-D neuromorphic hardware platform.
Users' guides to the medical literature: XXI. Using electronic health information resources in evidence-based practice. Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group.

CLINICAL SCENARIO You are a general internist reviewing the condition of a 55-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Her glycemic control is excellent with metformin, and she has no history of complications. To manage her hypertension, she takes a small daily dose of a thiazide diuretic. During the examination, you note that her weight is stable, she has no evidence of peripheral neuropathy, and her blood pressure is 155/88 mm Hg. After arranging for glycosylated hemoglobin, cholesterol, and microalbumin assessments, you reassure your patient that she is doing well and ask her to return in 3 months. After she has left, you notice that her blood pressure over the past 6 months has been about the same as it was today. You wonder if she would benefit from more aggressive blood pressure control. Specifically, in this patient with diabetes mellitus, would tighter blood pressure control improve survival or delay the onset of complications? You decide to find if the medical literature can help resolve the issue. Practicing evidence-based medicine involves integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available evidence from systematic research. The necessary skills include formulating a concise question that addresses uncertainties in patient management and quickly identifying the highest-quality relevant informationfromthemedical literature.Thepreviousarticles inthisseries have provided guides for the steps that follow identification of the best evidence—systematicallyassessing itsvalidityandapplicability. In thisUsers’Guide, we present an approach to choosing and subsequently searching the most efficient electronic resource for finding the best evidence. We have focused primarily on electronic resources as these are generally easier to search and more current than many print sources. However, with the relatively recent appearance of many of the resources we recommend, little research specifically addresses their relative merits. The approaches we describe reflect our experiencesandthoseofourcolleaguesworking individually or with medical trainees and encompass a wide range of learning levels.
Hedonic and motivational responses to food reward are unchanged in rats with neuropathic pain

Abstract Rewards influence responses to acute painful stimuli, but the relationship of chronic pain to hedonic or motivational aspects of reward is not well understood. We independently evaluated hedonic qualities of sweet or bitter tastants and motivation to seek food reward in rats with experimental neuropathic pain induced by L5/6 spinal nerve ligation. Hedonic response was measured by implantation of intraoral catheters to allow passive delivery of liquid solutions, and “liking/disliking” responses were scored according to a facial reactivity scale. Spinal nerve ligation rats did not differ from controls in either “liking” or “disliking” reactions to intraoral sucrose or quinine, respectively, at postsurgery day 21, suggesting no differences in perceived hedonic value of sweet or bitter tastants. To assess possible motivational deficits during acute and chronic pain, we used fixed- and progressive-ratio response paradigms of sucrose pellet presentation in rats with transient inflammatory or chronic neuropathic pain. Assessment of response acquisition and break points under the progressive ratio schedule revealed no differences between sham and spinal nerve ligation rats for up to 120 days after injury. However, rats with inflammation showed decrements in lever pressing and break points on days 1 and 2 after complete Freund adjuvant injection that normalized by day 4, consistent with transient ongoing pain. Thus, although acute ongoing inflammatory pain may transiently reduce reward motivation, we did not detect influences of chronic neuropathic pain on hedonic or motivational responses to food rewards. Adaptations that allow normal reward responding to food regardless of chronic pain may be of evolutionary benefit to promote survival.
p73 Induces Apoptosis via PUMA Transactivation and Bax Mitochondrial Translocation*

p73, an important developmental gene, shares a high sequence homology with p53 and induces both G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. However, the molecular mechanisms through which p73 induces apoptosis are unclear. We found that p73-induced apoptosis is mediated by PUMA (p53 up-regulated modulator of apoptosis) induction, which, in turn, causes Bax mitochondrial translocation and cytochrome c release. Overexpression of p73 isoforms promotes cell death and bax promoter transactivation in a time-dependent manner. However, the kinetics of apoptosis do not correlate with the increase of Bax protein levels. Instead, p73-induced mitochondrial translocation of Bax is kinetically compatible with the induction of cell death. p73 is localized in the nucleus and remains nuclear during the induction of cell death, indicating that the effect of p73 on Bax translocation is indirect. The ability of p73 to directly transactivate PUMA and the direct effect of PUMA on Bax conformation and mitochondrial relocalization suggest a molecular link between p73 and the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Our data therefore indicate that PUMA-mediated Bax mitochondrial translocation, rather than its direct transactivation, correlates with cell death. Finally, human ΔNp73, an isoform lacking the amino-terminal transactivation domain, inhibits TAp73-induced as well as p53-induced apoptosis. The ΔNp73 isoforms seem therefore to act as dominant negatives, repressing the PUMA/Bax system and, thus, finely tuning p73-induced apoptosis. Our findings demonstrate that p73 elicits apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway using PUMA and Bax as mediators.