Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Cerebrovascular Disease in Dementia

BACKGROUND–Improvements in health care over the last 50 years have lengthened average life expectancy significantly, resulting in considerable growth of the population over 65 years of age. With increased age, however, comes an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and the prevalence of AD is predicted to reach epidemic proportions by the later half of the 21st century. The prevalence of cerebrovascular disease also increases with age, and recent evidence suggests that cerebrovascular risk factors such as hypertension and hypercholesterolemia also increase an individual’s risk for AD, suggesting a potential interaction between these two very common disorders. The potential impact of cerebrovascular disease on general cognitive health is not yet well understood, but is now being actively explored and clarified. REVIEW SUMMARY–Cerebrovascular disease may manifest itself in many ways, and this review begins by discussing the possible spectrum of brain injury associated with common cerebrovascular risk factors. The prominent role of brain imaging to detect clinically silent cerebrovascular disease is recognized and reviewed. The neuropsychological consequences of cerebrovascular disease across the cognitive spectrum is also reviewed, including potential mechanisms by which cerebrovascular disease may interact with AD to increase the expression or hasten the progression of dementia. CONCLUSIONS–Cerebrovascular risk factors, common to the elderly, lead to pernicious brain injury and subtle cognitive impairment that most probably places the individual at greater lifetime risk for dementia. The cause of dementia among individuals with cerebrovascular disease, however, remains AD. Recognition of the potential role of cerebrovascular disease as an independent risk factor for AD offers the possibility of primary prevention through treatment of well-recognized risk factors and deserves further study. In the meantime, clinicians presented with an individual suffering from a slowly progressive dementia and findings of clinically silent cerebrovascular brain injury should recognize the potential role of cerebrovascular disease in the dementia process but not ignore the likely overwhelming effects of AD and treat appropriately.
Duplex scanning of the internal carotid artery: An assessment of cerebral blood flow

Duplex ultrasound scanning (B‐mode imaging and pulsed Doppler shift analysis) was used to measure internal carotid artery blood flow (ICBF) in 20 volunteers. The effect of changes in end tidal CO2 on cerebral blood flow was measured. When corrected to a Pco, of 40 torr (5.32 kPa) internal carotid artery blood flow was 286 ± 16 ml min−1 (mean ± s.e.m.). Specific CO2 reactivity (the change in flow per torr change in CO2) was 8·16±0·69 ml min−1 torr−1 which was equivalent to 2·0 ± 0·1 per cent of the flow at 40 torr per torr change in CO2 (percentage CO2 reactivity). The mean value and the CO2 reactivity compare favourably with previously reported measurements by other techniques. These data suggest that the non‐invasive measurement of internal carotid artery blood flow by Doppler ultrasound scanning is an assessment of cerebral blood flow that can be used to study both normal and pathological changes within the cerebral circulation.
HYBRID E-BIKE: Regenerative Motor Controller Undergraduate Research Proposal Western Washington University

Currently bicycle-sized motor speed controllers do not utilize regenerative braking techniques that can greatly increase battery life and range. The objective of this research project is to design, implement and test a regenerative motor controller. The most intensive research will address the design of a three-phase synchronous regenerative motor controller. The experimentation involved will be the tuning of the controller to achieve the greatest range while keeping the component count to a minimum. The market for E-Bike motor controllers is growing quickly here and abroad. This research is important because it will be the first known controller that actually makes use of the available kinetic energy in bike travel.
Cephalic morphology of Pythonichthys macrurus (Heterenchelyidae: Anguilliformes): specializations for head‐first burrowing

The Heterenchelyidae, a family of Anguilliformes, are highly specialized fossorial eels. This study was conducted to evaluate the cranial specialization in relation to head‐first burrowing behavior in the heterenchelyid, Pythonichthys macrurus. Thereby, detailed descriptions are provided of the cranial myology and osteology of P. macrurus and its differences with that of representatives of three families: the Moringuidae (Moringua edwardsi), a head‐first burrower; the Anguillidae (Anguilla anguilla), a nonburrowing representative and the Ophichthidae (Pisodonophis boro), a head and tail‐first burrower. This comparison may help to get a better understanding of the cranial specialization of head‐first burrowers in heterenchelyids and moringuids. We recognize as morphological adaptations to burrowing: reduced eye size, a caudoventral orientation of the anteromedial section of the adductor mandibulae muscle complex, the posterior position of the quadrate‐mandibular joint, a solid conical skull, large insertion sites of epaxial and hypaxial muscle on the neurocranium, a widened cephalic lateral line canals extending into the dermal cavities, and a ventral position of the gill opening. J. Morphol. 271:1053‐1065, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Psychological well‐being in patients on ‘adequate’ doses of l‐thyroxine: results of a large, controlled community‐based questionnaire study

objective Over 1% of the UK population is receiving thyroid hormone replacement with l‐thyroxine (T4). However, many patients complain of persistent lethargy and related symptoms on T4 even with normal TSH levels. To date there has been no large study to determine whether this is related to thyroxine replacement or coincidental psychological morbidity. We have therefore attempted to address this issue using a large, community‐based study.
Regional choroidal blood flow and multifocal electroretinography in experimental glaucoma in rhesus macaques.

PURPOSE To test a hypothesis of regional variation in the effect of experimental glaucoma on choroidal blood flow (ChBF) and retinal function. METHODS Five rhesus macaques underwent laser trabecular destruction (LTD) to induce elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). Intraocular pressures were elevated for 56 to 57 weeks. Multifocal electroretinographic (mfERG) and multifocal visual evoked cortical potential (mfVEP) testing were performed at regular intervals before and during the period of IOP elevation. At euthanasia, the IOP was manometrically controlled at 35 (experimentally glaucomatous eye) and 15 (fellow control eye) mm Hg. Fluorescent microspheres were injected into the left ventricle. Regional ChBF was determined. RESULTS All of the experimentally glaucomatous eyes exhibited supranormal first-order kernel (K1) root mean square (RMS) early portions of the mfERG waveforms and decreased amplitudes of the late waveforms. The supranormality was somewhat greater in the central macula. Second-order kernel, first slice (K2.1) RMS mfVEP response was inversely correlated (R(2) = 0.97) with axonal loss. Total ChBF was reduced in the experimentally glaucomatous eyes. The mean blood flow was 893 ± 123 and 481 ± 37 μL/min in the control and glaucomatous eyes, respectively. The ChBF showed regional variability with the greatest proportional decrement most often found in the central macula. CONCLUSIONS This is the first demonstration of globally reduced ChBF in chronic experimental glaucoma in the nonhuman primate. Both the alteration of mfERG waveform components associated with outer retinal function and the reduction in ChBF were greatest in the macula, suggesting that there may be a spatial colocalization between ChBF and some outer retinal effects in glaucoma.
An audit of the quality of care of traumatic brain injury at a busy regional hospital in South Africa.

UNLABELLED Access to care by a dedicated neurosurgical unit is limited in the developing world, and the vast majority of patients who sustain a head injury are managed by general surgeons. Prevention of secondary brain injury is paramount. While the principles of management are relatively straightforward, delivering this care may be difficult. This audit looks at the spectrum of head injuries presenting to a busy regional hospital and attempts to measure the quality of care offered to these patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS The audit includes three separate sections. The first is a prospective audit of all patients with a traumatic brain injury presenting to the Accident and Emergency (AE) department at Edendale Hospital, Pietermaritzburg, over a 2-month period. The next two sub-audits consist of a random review of referral letters and AE clerking notes to assess the quality of care received by these patients. A total of 25 referral letters and 28 AE inpatient notes were randomly chosen for review and compared with agreed standardised markers for quality of care. RESULTS Over the 2 months October and November 2007, 150 patients with a head injury were seen in the AE department. Of these 117 were male. A total of 76 were discharged home after investigation with a head injury warning chart, 49 were admitted to the general wards, 11 were admitted to the surgical intensive care unit, 10 were referred to the neurosurgical centre in Durban, and 4 died in the AE department. Of the 10 who needed advanced neurosurgical care, 3 required urgent burr-holes before referral. One of these patients died. All the remaining 9 patients who were transferred to the neurosurgery unit survived. The referral letters and AE clerking notes revealed major deficits. CONCLUSION Traumatic brain injury is a common problem. Only a small subset of patients require specialised neurosurgical care. Although many patients with intracranial injury can tolerate the delay associated with transfer, some cases are acute and urgent intervention by non-neurosurgeons is needed. Prevention of secondary brain injury is poorly understood and not prioritised. This situation needs to be improved. The introduction of formalised standard referral and management sheets may help to improve care.
Palliative care professionals' care and compassion for self and others: a narrative review.

INTRODUCTION Compassion is arguably central to palliative care. However, calls for the restoring of compassionate care suggest a need for greater understanding and promotion of compassion in practice. Drawing upon the Foucauldian concept 'Care of the Self', this review explored the literature relating to palliative care professionals' self-care, self-compassion, and compassion for others. METHODS Three electronic databases were searched using identified key words. A thematic approach was used to synthesise and critically discuss the literature in the form of a narrative review. RESULTS Four themes were identified: (1) importance of self-care; (2) awareness, expression, and planning; (3) dimensions of self-care; and (4) balanced compassion. Approaches to self-care practice and research focused mainly on compassion fatigue or a coping paradigm. CONCLUSIONS This review highlights both the importance and multifaceted nature of palliative care professionals' self-care, in relation to self-compassion and compassion for others. Despite widespread discussion, empirical knowledge of these variables is limited. Future research could usefully explore health promotion interventions in self-care practice, or a positive psychology paradigm that encompasses compassion and self-compassion as positive emotions associated with wellbeing.
Electrocution alters the distribution and density of a top predator, the eagle owl Bubo bubo

Summary 1Electrocution has frequently been suggested as a cause of territory abandonment and eventual population decline of threatened species, but this has been rarely tested. We investigated the impact of electrocution in two eagle owl Bubo bubo populations located in the Italian Alps and Apennines and subject to different levels of electrocution risk (i.e. low and high risk). The eagle owl is one of the species most affected by electrocution, to the point of causing local conservation and economic concern. In a review of 25 studies, electrocution was frequently cited as the major cause of death and has progressively increased in the last three decades, independently from other causes of mortality. 2The impact of electrocution was tested by (i) comparing estimates of electrocution risk between currently occupied owl territories and infrequently occupied or abandoned territories; (ii) collecting information on the spatiotemporal frequency of electrocution incidents; (iii) measuring density, breeding success and post-fledging survival for populations and territories subject to different electrocution risk. 3In the low-risk population electrocution casualties varied spatiotemporally, peaking in the period of immature dispersal and at pylons that were good hunting perches. Furthermore, eagle owls over-selected low-altitude habitats, which forced them into close contact with power lines. However, nest-site selection was independent of electrocution risk, although territories that were not occupied every year were nearer to power lines than stable territories. 4In contrast, in the high-risk population, territories near to power lines, most of them at low altitude, were progressively abandoned during a 10-year period, leading to a steeply declining, scattered, low-density and increasingly high-altitude population. 5Although there was no effect on long-term breeding success, the presence of pylons within 200 m of the nest increased the likelihood of partial or complete brood loss in the post-fledging period. We estimated that 17% of the fledged young were lost to electrocution. 6At the population level, density was negatively related to electrocution risk in eight Alpine study areas. However, comparison between the two regions suggested that electrocution impact may interact with other factors, such as resource availability. 7Synthesis and applications. Our results show how subtle anthropogenic disturbance may affect population breeding performance and quickly alter the gradient of environmental quality for an endangered bird, leading to potential population limitation. Conservation guidelines should prioritize the insulation of those pylons most likely to cause casualties (e.g. in good hunting habitat and close to nests), ensuring that all new lines are raptor safe.
Competitive analysis of public urban transport

The paper presents the results of a study of the level of competitiveness of public urban transport using the example of Ekaterinburg (Russian Federation). The study methodology assumes a two-stage assessment by consumers of public transport types in Ekaterinburg. The two stages are competitiveness comparative assessment and its increasing trend ranking. The strategic ways of overcoming the current situation in the medium term have been determined.
Feuilletages et Transformations Périodiques

Bertini classified the birational involutions of the complex projective plane, but his geometric approach does not allow one easily to exhibit these maps explicitly. In this article, we present an effective approach to this problem by associating to each quadratic foliation a birational involution that is, in the generic case, a Geiser involution; this subject has already been covered by Geiser, Milinowski, Williams, and others. We end by conducting some experiments, from which we obtain trivolutions from some foliations of degree 3. La classification des involutions birationnelles du plan projectif complexe remonte essentiellement à Bertini; cette classification de nature géométrique permet difficilement la construction explicite de telles involutions. Nous proposons une approche effective permettant d'associer à tout feuilletage quadratique une involution qui, dans le cas générique, est de Geiser; ce sujet a déjà été étudié par Geiser, Milinowski, Williams et alt. Nous présentons ensuite quelques expériences qui produisent des trivolutions à partir de feuilletages cubiques très spéciaux.
Ikaros Is a Negative Regulator of B1 Cell Development and Function*

B1 B cells secrete most of the circulating natural antibodies and are considered key effector cells of the innate immune response. However, B1 cell-associated antibodies often cross-react with self-antigens, which leads to autoimmunity, and B1 cells have been implicated in cancer. How B1 cell activity is regulated remains unclear. We show that the Ikaros transcription factor is a major negative regulator of B1 cell development and function. Using conditional knock-out mouse models to delete Ikaros at different locations, we show that Ikaros-deficient mice exhibit specific and significant increases in splenic and bone marrow B1 cell numbers, and that the B1 progenitor cell pool is increased ∼10-fold in the bone marrow. Ikaros-null B1 cells resemble WT B1 cells at the molecular and cellular levels, but show a down-regulation of signaling components important for inhibiting proliferation and immunoglobulin production. Ikaros-null B1 cells hyper-react to TLR4 stimulation and secrete high amounts of IgM autoantibodies. These results indicate that Ikaros is required to limit B1 cell homeostasis in the adult.
Monitoring ecosystem dynamics in semi-arid environments using multi-sensor Earth-observation

Climate change and a growing human population are instigating major changes on the Earth’s surface. Monitoring and understanding these changes as they unfold is critical for society and the environment. Satellite remote sensing provides the only means of achieving this over large spatial and temporal scales, and major progress in the application of Earth-observation imagery has been made since the beginning of the space age in the mid-20th century. However, savannahs - dynamic systems comprised of shrubs, trees, and grass species - have proved challenging for EO-based monitoring. Yet, these ecosystems cover almost 25% of the Earth’s surface and are home to some of the poorest people on the planet. This thesis investigates the use of EO for monitoring ecosystem dynamics in African savannahs, focusing specially on woody cover and biomass provision. One of the most common Earth-observation (EO) based tools for monitoring vegetation is the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). A detailed review of the application of NDVI for monitoring land degradation was undertaken. This covered the historical context and ongoing debates around NDVI analyses, and highlighted key research gaps. NDVI was then used to map grass biomass for the Kruger National Park in South Africa, by combining in situ data with a downscaled NDVI dataset in a machine-learning framework. These predictions highlighted that the NDVI-biomass relationship is vulnerable to overfi�tting in space and time, due to spatial autocorrelation and a variable species composition, respectively. The NDVI was further explored at the continental scale using multiple time-series analyses. These revealed that a majority of African savannahs have only experienced vegetation greening in the 1982-2016 period. Areas of declining vegetation, or changes in the trend direction, were associated with phenological changes (i.e. a shrinking growth season), woodland degradation, or population increases. Finally, fractional woody vegetation cover was mapped for the Limpopo province of South Africa using Landsat spectral metrics and ALOS PALSAR radar imagery and a series of Random Forest regression models. The most accurate models combined multi-seasonal Landsat data and the radar layers. However, this was only marginally more accurate than just using dry and wet season metrics alone. When using a single season of imagery, the dry season preformed best. These results were reaffirmed for categorical savannah land-cover classifications, highlighting the importance of multi-sensor and multi-temporal data. The thesis contributes new insights for monitoring savannahs using EO imagery. By combining EO data with modern statistics and machine-learning methods novel insights to ecological and environmental issues can be gained. In the coming years, the increasing number of operational sensors and the volume of data collected will be of great benefit for environmental monitoring, especially in savannahs.
New perspectives on the treatment of skeletal dysplasia

The last few decades have been marked by the identification of numerous genes implicated in genetic disorders, helping in the elucidation of the underlying pathophysiology of these conditions. This has allowed new therapeutic approaches to emerge such as cellular therapy, gene therapy, or pharmacological therapy for various conditions. Skeletal dysplasias are good models to illustrate these scientific advances. Indeed, several therapeutic strategies are currently being investigated in osteogenesis imperfecta; there are ongoing clinical trials based on pharmacological approaches, targeting signaling pathways in achondroplasia and fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva or the endoplasmic reticulum stress in metaphyseal dysplasia type Schmid or pseudoachondroplasia. Moreover, the treatment of hypophosphatasia or Morquio A disease illustrates the efficacy of enzyme drug replacement. To provide a highly specialized multidisciplinary approach, these treatments are managed by reference centers. The emergence of treatments in skeletal dysplasia provides new perspectives on the prognosis of these severe conditions and may change prenatal counseling in these diseases over the coming years.
A SPICE Model of the PEO-Pani memristor

The memristor is a novel circuit element which is capable of maintaining an activity-dependent nonvolatile resistance and is therefore a candidate for use in next-generation storage and logic circuits. In this article, we present a model of the PEO-PANI memristor for use in the SPICE circuit simulation program which is especially suited to analog logic applications. Two variants are presented herein; accompanying each is a short description that explains any design decisions made, as well as elucidating on preferred simulation settings. It is shown that the model accurately replicates corresponding experimental results found in the literature. Simple simulations are used to show the suitability of each variant to specific experimental usage. Appendices contain verbatim implementations of the SPICE models.
The Anatomy of HCI Design Patterns

Human-Computer Interaction design patternsbecame an often-used tool in the HCI community toencapsulate and share design knowledge. A good designpattern consists of several different components. There are thecontent elements, which encapsulate the description of theproblem, context and solution. Relationships between patternsare an essential part to best profit from the full reuse potentialpromised. Categorization of patterns helps to navigate moreeffectively within large pattern repositories, and formalizationof HCI patterns provides the possibility to use them in softwareapplications such as pattern management tools or userinterface design tools. This work gives a brief overview of theabove-mentioned components.