Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Imagery mnemonics and memory remediation

This paper evaluates the claim that imagery mnemonic techniques are useful in remediation of memory disorders in brain-damaged patients. Clinical research has confirmed that such techniques can lead to improved performance on formal testing in a number of neurologic disease populations and following lesions of either the left or right hemisphere. However, those patients with more severe forms of amnesia and those with medial or bilateral damage do not improve unless the learning task is highly structured. Even among patients who show improvement on formal testing, there is little evidence that they maintain the use of these techniques in similar learning tasks or generalize the use to new learning situations. Imagery mnemonics also appear to be of little practical value in the daily activities that are of most concern to brain-damaged patients themselves. The effectiveness of imagery mnemonics appears to depend upon the patients' motivation and insight rather than upon their intelligence or educational level. Instead of training patients in specific mnemonic techniques, clinicians should promote the development of “metacognitive” skills and the acquisition of knowledge about domains of practical significance.
Pharmacology and structure‐activity relationships of bioactive polycyclic cage compounds: A focus on pentacycloundecane derivatives

The chemistry of organic polycyclic cage compounds has intrigued medicinal chemists for over 50 years, yet little is published about their pharmacological profiles. Polycyclic cage compounds have important pharmaceutical applications, ranging from the symptomatic and proposed curative treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease (e.g., amantadine and memantine), to use as anti‐viral agents against influenza and the immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The polycyclic cage appears to be a useful scaffold to yield drugs with a wide scope of applications, and can be used also to modify and improve the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of drugs in current use. This review attempts to summarize the pharmacological profiles of polycyclic cage compounds with an emphasis on the lesser known pentacycloundecanes, homocubanes, and trishomocubanes. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Qualitative modelling of biological regulatory networks combining a logical multi-valued formalism and Petri nets

Regulatory networks are at the core of the control of cellular processes, integrating varied molecular components connected through diverse relations. Because of the high complexity of these networks, there is a real need for dedicated modelling and analysis tools, to better understand how observed cellular behaviours are governed. Beyond a better understanding, dynamical modelling should also support hypothesis validation and prediction making. In this context, the paper overviews the combined use of a multi-valued logical formalism and discrete Petri nets to qualitatively model and analyse regulatory networks. Following a presentation of both approaches, prospects are discussed within the emergent field of systems biology.
Transfer-Free Fabrication of Graphene Transistors CNF Project # 1556-07 , 1486-06 Principal Investigator ( s ) :

Our group recently developed a novel transfer-free fabrication technique for graphene-based transistors. This process allows for large scale production of devices in an easily automatable fashion by etching the catalytic Cu film beneath the graphene. The resulting device arrays were fabricated with yields approaching 95% and were highly uniform under both Raman spectroscopy and electrical measurements. Our devices also exhibited current saturation at relatively low biases and a promising electron mobility of 700 cm2V-1s-1.
The measurement and importance of red cell survival

The measurement of red blood cell survival in the circulation has progressed from the original differential agglutination technique of Ashby to current isotopic and flow cytometric methods. While occasionally useful in the clinic, these methods find widespread use in a number of important research areas, including the evaluation of new red cell storage media in transfusion medicine and studies of the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease and diabetes. In this review, measurement techniques are placed in historical perspective and examined for relative merits and suitable application. Am. J. Hematol. , 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Medial septal modulation of the ascending brainstem hippocampal synchronizing pathways in the freely moving rat

Rats implanted with hippocampal recording electrodes were tested in a wheel‐running apparatus under three conditions: (1) independent electrical stimulation of the medial septal nucleus (MS); (2) independent electrical stimulation of the posterior hypothalamic nucleus (PH); and (3) combined electrical stimulation of the MS and PH using pairings of two stimulation conditions, 7 or10 Hz stimulation of the MS, and a low‐ or high‐intensity PH stimulation. Quantitative measures of running speed were taken, and hippocampal recordings were subjected to fast‐Fourier transform analysis. Electrical stimulation of the PH induced wheel‐running behavior; running speed and the accompanying hippocampus (HPC) theta frequency increased with increase in stimulation intensity. Electrical stimulation of the MS failed to induce wheel‐running behavior despite the fact that HPC theta was induced at the frequency of the applied stimulation (7 and 10 Hz). Electrical stimulation of the MS reset the frequency of HPC theta induced by PH stimulation in both the upward and downward directions and increased theta power, while wheel‐running speed was modulated in a downward direction only. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Increased mortality among Dutch development workers

Early this century Africa was known as the “white man's grave. ” Little is known about health risks of expatriates in developing countries today. We compared the mortality of development workers who were sent out by Dutch development organisations with that of the general population in the Netherlands, adjusted for age and sex. Records of three large Dutch development organisations were reviewed. From 1984 to 1994 over 6500 development workers and spouses spent a total of 15144 years abroad. About 75% of them lived in sub-Saharan Africa. Causes of death were classified according to the International Classification of Diseases: mortality caused by traffic accidents (ICD 800-848), other injuries (ICD 880-959 and 980-989), homicide (ICD 960-969), and all other causes (ICD 001-799, 849-879, and 930-959). 1 Age and sex specific mortality rates in the Dutch population were used to calculate the “expected” number of deaths in the study …
Research on the efficiency evaluation of venture capital of high-science and technology companies with dual hesitant fuzzy information

High technology enterprise venture capital is one kind of important means that market economy system supports to put research findings into industrial production time, with whose proper function, have driven host country science and technology and development of the economy in the field of every. In venture capital reality affair activity, the rightness to the project appraises the key link being that venture capital is in motion and does business successfully. The task of this paper is to study on the multiple attribute decision making problems for evaluating the efficiency of venture capital of highscience and technology companies with dual hesitant fuzzy information and incomplete weight information. Then, exploiting the existing GRA methods, computation steps for tackling dual hesitant fuzzy multiple attribute decision-making problems with incomplete weight information are proposed. In the end, an example of evaluating the efficiency of venture capital of high-science and technology companies using the grey relational analysis based on the dual hesitant fuzzy information is
Bitstream trimming of a smart temperature sensor

The paper presents a high-resolution trimming technique for use in precision smart temperature sensors. A digital sigma-delta modulator is used to trim the bias current of a bipolar transistor to compensate for process spread. In contrast with conventional trimming techniques, only a small chip area is required. The implementation of this technique in a temperature sensor with a sigma-delta ADC is discussed. On a prototype realized in 0.7 /spl mu/m CMOS, an 8-bit trimming resolution was measured, corresponding to 0.02/spl deg/C on a range of 4.5/spl deg/C.
A cost effective low power transmission system using WPT technology

Wireless power transmission system is a convenient and hazard free way of power transmission. Many researches are going on WPT and this technology has already been introduced in different electrical systems. But for low power devices like mobile phone, tabs, LED bulbs, we still use wired based chargers or input source. In this technical paper we practically developed a prototype of a low cost low power transmission system using WPT technology to charge a battery or to turn on a device. However, this system can be implemented on various places for easily charging a phone or tab without wired charger whenever people are out of their home. This paper mainly focuses on the low cost design structure of the system and 92.86% efficiency was achieved for charging a battery where the calculation was done based on the distance covered.
Lymphoproliferative response in primary human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is delayed in HCMV transmitter mothers.

BACKGROUND The T cell-mediated immune response to human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) after primary infection, as well as the determinants of intrauterine transmission, are poorly understood. METHODS Sequential peripheral blood leukocyte samples from 74 pregnant women and 29 nonpregnant individuals with primary infection were examined for HCMV-specific CD4+ T cells by cytokine flow cytometry (CFC) and lymphoproliferative response (LPR) analysis. Immunological results for 19 transmitter and 21 nontransmitter mothers were compared. RESULTS Comparison of CFC and LPR analysis results showed that (1) there was no difference between pregnant and nonpregnant individuals; (2) HCMV-specific CD4+ T cells were detected by CFC, in the absence of an LPR to HCMV, in the great majority or the totality (according to different intervals) of samples collected from both pregnant and nonpregnant individuals during follow-up; and (3) LPR to HCMV was significantly (P<.001) lowered or delayed in transmitter mothers, compared with that in nontransmitter mothers. CONCLUSIONS Pregnancy does not influence the HCMV-specific immune response. A dissociation between CFC response and LPR is commonly observed in patients with primary infections, and ad hoc studies aimed at understanding the mechanism(s) of the reduced LPR in transmitter mothers are warranted.
Effects of dexmedetomidine on mortality rate and inflammatory responses to endotoxin-induced shock in rats

Objectives:The aim of this study was to document the effects of a new sedative agent, dexmedetomidine, on the mortality rate and inflammatory responses to endotoxin-induced shock in rats. Design:Randomized laboratory study. Setting:University experimental laboratory. Subjects:Fifty-seven male rats. Interventions:The animals were randomly assigned to one of four groups. The endotoxemic group (n = 16) received intravenous Escherichia coli endotoxin (15 mg/kg over 2 mins). The saline control group (n = 10) was given saline alone. The dexmedetomidine alone group (n = 15) was treated identically to the control group but also received dexmedetomidine (infusion at 5 μg·kg−1·hr−1) immediately after the injection of 0.9% saline. The dexmedetomidine-endotoxin group (n = 16) was treated identically to the endotoxemic group with the additional administration of dexmedetomidine (infusion at 5 μg·kg−1·hr−1) immediately after endotoxin injection. Measurements and Main Results:Hemodynamics and arterial blood gases were recorded and plasma cytokine concentrations measured during the observation. The mortality rate was assessed up to 8 hrs after endotoxin or saline injection. In addition, microscopic findings of lung tissue for each group were obtained at necropsy. Mortality rates 8 hrs after endotoxin injection were 94%, 10%, 0%, and 44% for the endotoxemic, saline control, dexmedetomidine alone, and dexmedetomidine-endotoxin groups, respectively. Hypotension and increases in plasma cytokine (tumor necrosis factor-&agr; and interleukin-6) concentrations and infiltration of neutrophils in the airspace or vessel walls of the lungs were less in the dexme-detomidine-endotoxin group than in the endotoxemic group. Conclusions:Dexmedetomidine reduced mortality rate and had an inhibitory effect on inflammatory response during endotoxemia. These findings suggest that dexmedetomidine administration may inhibit the inflammatory response.
The morphogenesis of wormian bones: A study of craniosynostosis and purposeful cranial deformation

Wormian bones are accessory bones that occur within cranial suture and fontanelles, most commonly within the posterior sutures. They occur more frequently in disorders that have reduced cranial ossification, hypotonia or decreased movement, thereby resulting in deformational brachycephaly. The frequency and location of wormian bones varies with the type and severity of cranial deformation practiced by ancient cultures. We considered the hypothesis that the pathogenesis of wormian bones may be due to environmental variations in dural strain within open sutures and fontanelles. In order to explore this further, we measured the cephalic index (CI) in 20 purposefully deformed pre‐Columbian skulls: 10 from Chichen Itza, Mexico, and 10 from Ancon, Peru, as well as 20 anatomically normal skulls used for medical school anatomy classes. We tested for a direct correlation between the CI and the number of wormian bones in skulls with varying degrees of brachycephalic cranial deformation and found no significant correlation. When the CI was grouped into three categories (normal (CI < 81), brachycephalic (CI 81‐93), and severely brachycephalic (CI > 93)) there was a trend toward increasing number of wormian bones as the skull became more brachycephalic (P = 0.039). A second part or our study tabulated the frequency and location of large wormian bones (greater than 1 cm) in 3‐dimentional computerized tomography (3D‐CT) scans from 207 cases of craniosynostosis and compared these data with published data on 485 normal dry skulls from a manuscript on wormian bones by Parker in 1905. Among cases of craniosynostosis, large wormian bones were significantly more frequent (117 out of 207 3D‐CT scans) than in dry skulls (131 out of 485). There was a 3.5 greater odds of developing a wormian bone with premature suture closure (P < 0.001). Midline synostosis, specifically metopic or sagittal synostosis, has more wormian bones in the midline, whereas unilateral lambdoidal or coronal synostosis more often had wormian bones on the contralateral side. Taken together, these data suggest that wormian bones may arise as a consequence of mechanical factors that spread sutures apart and affect dural strain within sutures and fontanelles. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A RAPID, SEXUALLY SELECTED SHIFT IN MEAN BODY SIZE IN A POPULATION OF SNAKES

behavior in the polychaetous annelid family Nereidae. Bull. South. Calif. Acad. Sci. 67:21-28. REISH, D. J., AND G. C. STEPHENS. 1969. Uptake of organic material by aquatic invertebrates V. The influence ofage on the uptake ofglycine-C'" by the polychaete Neanthes arenaceodentata. Mar. BioI. 3:352-355. STARCZAK, V. R. 1984. Sexual selection and intrasexual aggression in the marine polychaete Nereis (Neanthes) acuminata. Ph.D. Diss. , Univ. Connecticut, Storrs, CT USA. TEMPLETON, A. R. 1980. The theory ofspeciation via the founder principle. Genetics 94: 1011-1038. ---. 1989. Founder effects and the evolution of reproductive isolation, pp. 329-344. In L. V. Gid-
Degradation of Silk Films in Multipocket Corneal Stromal Rabbit Models

Introduction The need for human cornea tissues continues to grow as an alternative option to donor tissues. Silk protein has been successfully used as a substrate to engineer corneal epithelium and stroma in vitro. Herein, we investigated the in vivo response and the effect of silk crystalline structure (beta sheet) on degradation rate of silk films in rabbit multipocket corneal models. Methods Three different surgical techniques (peripheral-median P-M, central-superficial C-S, central-deep C-D) were used to assess the in vivo response as well as the degradation profile of silk films with low, medium and high beta sheet (crystalline) content at 2 and 3 months after surgery. Results Approach C-D showed signs of sample degradation without inflammation, with one single incision and a pocket created by flushing air two thirds deep in the corneal stroma. In comparison, approaches P-M and C-S with multiple incisions presented manually dissected surgical pockets resulted in inflammation and possible extrusion of the samples, respectively. Low beta sheet samples lost structural integrity at 2 months after surgery C-D, while medium and high beta sheet content films showed initial evidence of degradation. Conclusions The in vivo response to the silk films was dependent on the location of the implant and pocket depth. Crystallinity content in silk films played a significant role in the timing of material degradation, without signs of inflammation and vascularization or changes in stromal organization.
The VEGF family in cancer and antibody-based strategies for their inhibition

Angiogenesis is required in normal physiological processes, but is also involved in tumor growth, progression and metastasis. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a primary mediator of angiogenesis in normal physiology and in disease, and other VEGF family members and their receptors provide targets that have been explored extensively for cancer therapy. Small molecule inhibitors and antibody/protein-based strategies that target the VEGF pathway have been studied in multiple types of cancer. This review will focus on VEGF pathway targeting antibodies that are currently being evaluated in pre-clinical and clinical studies.
Analytic functions associated with Caputos fractional differentiation defined by Hilbert space operator

In this paper, we introduce a new class of functions which are analytic and univalent with negative coefficients defined by using certain fractional operators described in the Caputo sense. Characterization property, the results on modified Hadamard product and integral transforms are discussed. Further, distortion theorem and radii of starlikeness and convexity are also determined here. Resumen. En este trabajo, presentamos una nueva clase de funciones que son anaĺıticas y univalente con coeficientes negativos, definidos usando ciertos operadores fraccionarios en el sentido de Caputo. Discutimos la propiedad de caracterización, los resultados sobre el producto de Hadamard modificado y transformaciones integrales. Además, determinamos el teorema de distorsión y los radios de “starlikeness” y convexidad.
Complications associated with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator replacement in response to device advisories.

CONTEXT Recent implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) advisories and recalls have caused management dilemmas for physicians, particularly because there are no specific guidelines or data on outcomes from current management strategies. The risk of ICD generator replacement has not been assessed in this population. OBJECTIVE To determine the complication rate associated with ICD generator replacement for the current ICD advisories. DESIGN AND SETTING Seventeen ICD implanting centers in Canada were surveyed to assess complication rates as a result of generator replacements because of ICD advisories from October 2004 to October 2005. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Complications associated with elective ICD generator replacement for current device advisories. RESULTS At the 17 surveyed centers, 2915 patients had recall devices, including 533 (18.3%) who had advisory ICDs replaced a mean (SD) of 26.5 (11.5) months after their initial implant. Of these patients, 66% had a secondary prevention ICD, and 45% had received a previous appropriate shock. During a mean (SD) of 2.7 (2.8) months' follow-up after ICD generator replacement, complications occurred in 43 patients (8.1%). Major complications attributable to advisory device replacement requiring reoperation occurred in 31 patients (5.8%), with death in 2 patients after extraction for pocket infection. Minor complications occurred in 12 patients (2.3%). There were 3 (0.1%) advisory-related device malfunctions reported, without clinical consequences. CONCLUSIONS ICD generator replacement in patients with advisory devices is associated with a substantial rate of complications, including death. These complications need to be considered in the development of guidelines determining the appropriate treatment of patients with advisory devices.
Mouse Models for Experimental Autoimmune Hepatitis: Limits and Chances

The difficulty in studying human autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is usually the late time-point of diagnosis which is followed by long-standing immunosuppression and the fact that human immune responses can usually only be studied in peripheral blood. Therefore, animal models with defined onset of AIH and, ideally, a positive impact of standard therapeutic interventions are key to understanding the disease and its pathophysiology, and providing a platform for new therapy options or better prevention. For over a century, the lack of a reliable model with a chronic immune response against hepatocytes has been a key problem in AIH research. Initial attempts to break tolerance against liver tissue resulted in mild and transient hepatitis. Many transgenic models demonstrated different aspects of liver-specific immune regulation. The fate of liver-specific T cells is under intense research and many mechanisms have demonstrated ignorance, anergy, deletion or TCR downregulation. Furthermore, these studies defined a role of professional antigen-presenting cells and especially of liver sinusoidal cells. Other models have shown the mechanism of T cell activation in liver and the interaction of adaptive and innate immune cells. Most recently, some approaches have been made to establish models of chronic AIH resembling human disease. These attempts might open new research chances to study AIH onset and its pathophysiology, and they might result in new options for therapy and prevention research.
Evaluation of a Minimally Invasive Image-Guided Surgery System for Hepatic Ablation Procedures

Background. The Explorer Minimally Invasive Liver (MIL) system uses imaging to create a 3-dimensional model of the liver. Intraoperatively, the system displays the position of instruments relative to the virtual liver. A prospective clinical study compared it with intraoperative ultrasound (iUS) in laparoscopic liver ablations. Methods. Patients undergoing ablations were accrued from 2 clinical sites. During the procedures, probes were positioned in the standard fashion using iUS. The position was synchronously recorded using the Explorer system. The distances from the probe tip to the tumor boundary and center were measured on the ultrasound image and in the corresponding virtual image captured by the Explorer system. Results. Data were obtained on the placement of 47 ablation probes during 27 procedures. The absolute difference between iUS and the Explorer system for the probe tip to tumor boundary distance was 5.5 ± 5.6 mm, not a statistically significant difference. The absolute difference for probe tip to tumor center distance was 8.6 ± 7.0 mm, not statistically different from 5 mm. Discussion. The initial clinical experience with the Explorer MIL system shows a strong correlation with iUS for the positioning of ablation probes. The Explorer MIL system is a promising tool to provide supplemental guidance information during laparoscopic liver ablation procedures.