Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cerebellar lesion studies of cognitive function in children and adolescents — limitations and negative findings

An increasing number of human lesion and functional brain imaging studies appear to support the hypothesis that the cerebellum contributes to a wide range of non-motor functions, including attention, language and visuospatial functions. Various abnormalities have been reported in standard neuropsychological tests in children and adolescents who have been treated for cerebellar tumors. This review focuses on limitations of lesion studies and negative findings in children and adolescents with focal cerebellar lesions. Frequently cited early findings have not been replicated in later studies or have been explained by motor components of the tasks. Such discrepancies may relate to a number of methodological problems. In addition to impaired motor function, it is unclear to what extent deficits in neuropsychological tests are caused by unspecific effects such as increased intracranial pressure and depression. Effects of extracerebellar lesions are frequently not considered. Although a role of the cerebellum in specific aspects of non-motor functions seems obvious it is still an open question which cognitive functions are involved, why and to what extent. It is a matter of ongoing discussion whether or not cognitive dysfunction belongs to the symptoms of cerebellar disease. Overall, disorders appear to be mild and far less frequent than disorders observed following lesions of cerebral areas. The aim of the review is to demonstrate that many findings frequently cited to support cerebellar involvement in cognition are insufficient to prove the hypothesis. There is ongoing need of well-controlled lesion studies, which show that disorders are due to cerebellar lesions independent of motor dysfunction and other confounding factors.
Tissue-specific ionomotive enzyme activity and K+ reabsorption reveal the rectum as an important ionoregulatory organ in larval Chironomus riparius exposed to varying salinity

SUMMARY A role for the rectum in the ionoregulatory homeostasis of larval Chironomus riparius was revealed by rearing animals in different saline environments and examining: (1) the spatial distribution and activity of keystone ionomotive enzymes Na+-K+-ATPase (NKA) and V-type H+-ATPase (VA) in the alimentary canal, and (2) rectal K+ transport with the scanning ion-selective electrode technique (SIET). NKA and VA activity were measured in four distinct regions of the alimentary canal as follows: the combined foregut and anterior midgut, the posterior midgut, the Malpighian tubules and the hindgut. Both enzymes exhibited 10–20 times greater activity in the hindgut relative to all other areas. When larvae were reared in either ion-poor water (IPW) or freshwater (FW), no significant difference in hindgut enzyme activity was observed. However, in larvae reared in brackish water (BW), NKA and VA activity in the hindgut significantly decreased. Immunolocalization of NKA and VA in the hindgut revealed that the bulk of protein was located in the rectum. Therefore, K+ transport across the rectum was examined using SIET. Measurement of K+ flux along the rectum revealed a net K+ reabsorption that was reduced fourfold in BW-reared larvae versus larvae reared in FW or IPW. Inhibition of NKA with ouabain, VA with bafilomycin and K+ channels with charybdotoxin diminished rectal K+ reabsorption in FW- and IPW-reared larvae, but not BW-reared larvae. Data suggest that the rectum of C. riparius plays an important role in allowing these larvae to cope with dilute as well as salinated environmental conditions.
The Developing Left Superior Cervical Ganglion of Pacas (Agouti paca)

In this study the main question investigated was the number and size of both binucleate and mononucleate superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons and, whether post‐natal development would affect these parameters. Twenty left SCGs from 20 male pacas were used. Four different ages were investigated, that is newborn (4 days), young (45 days), adult (2 years), and aged animals (7 years). By using design‐based stereological methods, that is the Cavalieri principle and a physical disector combined with serial sectioning, the total volume of ganglion and total number of mononucleate and binucleate neurons were estimated. Furthermore, the mean perikaryal (somal) volume of mononucleate and binucleate neurons was estimated using the vertical nucleator. The main findings of this study were a 154% increase in the SCG volume, a 95% increase in the total number of mononucleate SCG neurons and a 50% increase in the total volume of SCG neurons. In conclusion, apart from neuron number, different adaptive mechanisms may coexist in the autonomic nervous system to guarantee a functional homeostasis during ageing, which is not always associated with neuron losses. Anat Rec, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Executive dysfunction in chronic brain-injured patients: Assessment in outpatient rehabilitation

In this study 81 chronic brain-injured patients referred for outpatient rehabilitation, who complained of executive impairments in daily life situations and were observed by proxies and therapists to have such problems, were assessed using various tests and questionnaires of executive functioning, such as the BADS and the DEX Questionnaire. The main purpose was to examine the sensitivity of these instruments in this particular group of patients. The tests and the DEX were also administered to healthy controls to investigate which of the instruments discriminate optimally between patients and controls. The results indicate that the tests as well as the questionnaires were sensitive to the executive problems of the patients. There were no significant differences between DEX ratings of patients, proxies and therapists. This suggests that patients who were eligible for outpatient rehabilitation showed relatively intact awareness into their executive problems. A specific combination of three “open-ended” tests and the DEX contributed significantly to the prediction of group membership.
Factors affecting recovery of postoperative bowel function after pediatric laparoscopic surgery

Background and Aims: Laparoscopic pediatric surgery allows a rapid postoperative rehabilitation and hospital discharge. However, the optimal postoperative pain management preserving advantages of this surgical technique remains to be determined. This study aimed to identify factors affecting the postoperative recovery of bowel function after laparoscopic surgery in children. Material and Methods: A retrospective analysis of factors affecting recovery of bowel function in children and infants undergoing laparoscopic surgery between January 1, 2009 and September 30, 2009, was performed. Factors included were: Age, weight, extent of surgery (extensive, regional or local), chronic pain (sickle cell disease or chronic intestinal inflammatory disease), American Society of Anaesthesiologists status, postoperative analgesia (ketamine, morphine, nalbuphine, paracetamol, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs], nefopam, regional analgesia) both in the Postanesthesia Care Unit and in the surgical ward; and surgical complications. Data analysis used classification and regression tree analysis (CART) with a 10-fold cross validation. Results: One hundred and sixty six patients were included in the analysis. Recovery of bowel function depended upon: The extent of surgery, the occurrence of postoperative surgical complications, the administration of postoperative morphine in the surgical ward, the coadministration of paracetamol and NSAIDs and/or nefopam in the surgical ward and the emergency character of the surgery. The CART method generated a decision tree with eight terminal nodes. The percentage of explained variability of the model and the cross validation were 58% and 49%, respectively. Conclusion: Multimodal analgesia using nonopioid analgesia that allows decreasing postoperative morphine consumption should be considered for the speed of bowel function recovery after laparoscopic pediatric surgery.
Calcium‐dependent production of reactive oxygen species is involved in neuronal damage induced during glycolysis inhibition in cultured hippocampal neurons

Neuronal damage associated with in vivo hypoglycemia has been suggested to be excitotoxic due to the release of excitatory amino acids and the protective effect of glutamate receptor antagonists. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been also implicated in hypoglycemic damage. Excitotoxicity involves oxidative stress, insofar as the influx of calcium through N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptors stimulates ROS production. We have studied the participation of NMDA receptors and intracellular calcium in ROS production and cell death triggered during moderate and severe glycolysis inhibition in cultured hippocampal neurons. Iodoacetate (IOA), an inhibitor of the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), dose dependently reduces ATP levels and cell survival and increases the intracellular concentration of calcium. During mild glycolysis inhibition, the increases in intracellular calcium, ROS production, and cell death are dependent on NMDA receptor activation. In contrast, during severe glycolysis impairment, these processes are not inhibited by NMDA receptor blockade. BAPTA‐AM and vitamin E efficiently reduce ROS generation and cell death under both conditions. Results suggest that calcium influx through NMDA receptors is involved in ROS production and neuronal damage resulting from moderate energy depletion, whereas intracellular calcium increase and ROS generation during severe glycolysis inhibition are more related to energy depletion. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Revisiting 'The Governance of Privacy': Contemporary Policy Instruments in Global Perspective

In the early 2000s, we surveyed and analyzed the global repertoire of policy instruments deployed to protect personal data in “The Governance of Privacy: Policy Instruments in Global Perspective. ” In this article, we explore how those instruments have changed as a result of 15 years of fundamental transformations in information technologies, and the new digital economy that they have brought in their wake. We review the contemporary range of transnational, regulatory, self-regulatory and technical instruments according to the same framework, and conclude that the types of policy instrument have remained relatively stable, even though they are now deployed on a global scale, rather than in association with particular national legal and administrative traditions. While the labels remain the same, however, the conceptual foundations for their legitimation and justification are shifting as a greater emphasis on accountability, risk, ethics and the social/political value of privacy have gained purchase in the policy community. Our exercise in self-reflection demonstrates both continuity and change within the governance of privacy, and displays how we would have tackled the same research project today. As a broader case study of regulation, it also highlights the importance of going beyond the technical and instrumental labels. The change or stability of policy instruments do not take place in isolation from the wider conceptualizations that shape their meaning, purpose and effect.
Development and validation of the Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) Enthesitis Index

Background: Enthesitis is a recommended core domain for assessment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), but no measurement has yet been validated according to Outcome Measures in Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinical Trials (OMERACT) criteria. Objective: The purpose of this study was to seek to validate an enthesitis index for patients with AS according to OMERACT criteria. Methods: An enthesitis index was validated in two AS patient cohorts: (1) a longitudinal cohort (n = 223) and (2) 22 patients from three Canadian sites participating in a 24-week randomised placebo-controlled trial of adalimumab in AS. Construct validity was evaluated by correlation analysis with the Bath AS Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), the Bath AS Functional Index (BASFI) and quality of life instruments. Reproducibility was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and responsiveness was assessed by Guyatt’s effect size and standardised response mean. Results: The most frequently affected sites were the greater trochanter and supraspinatus insertion (∼20%). Patients with enthesitis had significantly greater scores for the BASDAI, BASFI, patient global, AS-specific quality of life index (ASQOL) and the Short Form 36 (SF-36) General Health Survey (p<0.001). The enthesitis score contributed significantly to variance in the BASDAI and BASFI. Interobserver ICCs were 0.96 in the longitudinal cohort and 0.89 and 0.77 in the adalimumab clinical trial cohort (for status and change score, respectively). Significant differences in change scores were evident for all patients after 24 weeks of adalimumab treatment, (p = 0.04), this being more significant when a subset of the most commonly affected entheses were analysed (p = 0.01). Conclusion: AS patients with enthesitis constitute a more severe subset of disease, and the Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) Enthesitis Index is feasible and reliable for measurement of this condition. Discrimination requires further study in larger trials.
Chronic ethanol use in alcoholic beverages by HIV-infected patients affects the therapeutic window of stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine during the 9-month follow-up period: using chronic alcohol-use biomarkers

Abstract Background: Chronic ethanol use is a global problem including among HIV-infected patients on stavudine/lamivudine/nevirapine (d4T/3TC/NVP) regimen. The study determined the effect of chronic ethanol use on the therapeutic window of d4T, 3TC and NVP in HIV-infected patients using alcohol-use biomarkers to screen patients for chronic ethanol use. Methods: A case-control study using repeated measures design with serial measurements was used to quantify drugs in plasma. The WHO alcohol use disorder identification test (AUDIT) tool was initially used to screen patients for chronic alcohol use, and then they were further sorted using alcohol-use bioamarkers (γ-glutamyl transferase ≥55.0 IU; mean corpuscular volume, ≥96 fl, aspartate amino transferase/alanine aminotransferase ratio ≥2.0 value). A total of 41 patients (26 in the alcohol group and 15 in the control group) were followed up for 9 months with blood sampling done at 3-month intervals. Plasma drug concentrations were quantified using a Shimadzu Class-VP™ HPLC data system version 6.1. Data was analyzed using SAS 2003 version 9.1 statistical package with repeated measures fixed model. Means were compared using Student’s t-test. Results: The mean steady-state plasma drug concentrations of d4T and 3TC in the alcohol group were lower than that in the control group during the 9-month period of follow-up. For 3TC, there was a statistical difference in the mean steady-state plasma drug concentrations between the alcohol group and the control group (p≤0.05) in the 6- and 9-month period of follow-up. For NVP, in both groups they were within the reference ranges, although the drug plasma concentrations were higher in the alcohol group compared to the control group and were statistically significant (p<0.05) in 0, 3 and 6 months of follow-up. Conclusions: Chronic ethanol use by HIV-infected patients reduced the therapeutic steady-state plasma drug concentrations of d4T and 3TC and increased the NVP drug concentrations in the HIV-infected patients.
Phospholipases D1 and D2 Coordinately Regulate Macrophage Phagocytosis1

Phagocytosis is a fundamental feature of the innate immune system, required for antimicrobial defense, resolution of inflammation, and tissue remodeling. Furthermore, phagocytosis is coupled to a diverse range of cytotoxic effector mechanisms, including the respiratory burst, secretion of inflammatory mediators and Ag presentation. Phospholipase D (PLD) has been linked to the regulation of phagocytosis and subsequent effector responses, but the identity of the PLD isoform(s) involved and the molecular mechanisms of activation are unknown. We used primary human macrophages and human THP-1 promonocytes to characterize the role of PLD in phagocytosis. Macrophages, THP-1 cells, and other human myelomonocytic cells expressed both PLD1 and PLD2 proteins. Phagocytosis of complement-opsonized zymosan was associated with stimulation of the activity of both PLD1 and PLD2, as demonstrated by a novel immunoprecipitation-in vitro PLD assay. Transfection of dominant-negative PLD1 or PLD2 each inhibited the extent of phagocytosis (by 55–65%), and their combined effects were additive (reduction of 91%). PLD1 and PLD2 exhibited distinct localizations in resting macrophages and those undergoing phagocytosis, and only PLD1 localized to the phagosome membrane. The COS-7 monkey fibroblast cell line, which has been used as a heterologous system for the analysis of receptor-mediated phagocytosis, expressed PLD2 but not PLD1. These data support a model in which macrophage phagocytosis is coordinately regulated by both PLD1 and PLD2, with isoform-specific localization. Human myelomonocytic cell lines accurately model PLD-dependent signal transduction events required for phagocytosis, but the heterologous COS cell system does not.
The Female Sexual Function Index: A Methodological Critique and Suggestions for Improvement

The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) is a very well-worded sexual function screen with excellent psychometric qualities. However, some aspects of the scoring procedures pose conceptual and statistical problems, which we illustrate in part by way of an empirical example. The recommended solutions should further strengthen the utility and validity of this instrument.
Nash Equilibrium Bidding Strategies in a Bilateral Electricity Market

This paper examines bidding strategies in a bilateral market in which generating companies submit bids to loads. A load accepts electricity delivery from the generator with the lowest bid at its bid price as long as this price is not higher than the load's willingness to pay. Necessary and sufficient conditions of Nash equilibrium (NE) bidding strategy are derived based on a generic generating cost matrix and the loads' willingness to pay vector. The study shows that in any NE, efficient allocation is achieved. Furthermore, all Nash equilibria are revenue equivalent for the generators. Based on the necessary and sufficient conditions, this problem is formulated as an optimal assignment problem. Network optimization techniques are applied to calculate NE bid prices for the generators.
The CP2 Domain of Leucyl-tRNA Synthetase Is Crucial for Amino Acid Activation and Post-transfer Editing*

Leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LeuRS) has an insertion domain, called connective peptide 2 (CP2), either directly preceding or following the editing domain (CP1 domain), depending on the species. The global structures of the CP2 domains from all LeuRSs are similar. Although the CP1 domain has been extensively explored to be responsible for hydrolysis of mischarged tRNALeu, the role of the CP2 domain remains undefined. In the present work, deletion of the CP2 domain of Giardia lamblia LeuRS (GlLeuRS) showed that the CP2 domain is indispensable for amino acid activation and post-transfer editing and that it contributes to LeuRS-tRNALeu binding affinity. In addition, its functions are conserved in both eukaryotic/archaeal and prokaryotic LeuRSs from G. lamblia, Pyrococcus horikoshii (PhLeuRS), and Escherichia coli (EcLeuRS). Alanine scanning and site-directed mutagenesis assays of the CP2 domain identified several residues that are crucial for its various functions. Data from the chimeric mutants, which replaced the CP2 domain of GlLeuRS with either PhLeuRS or EcLeuRS, showed that the CP2 domain of PhLeuRS but not that of EcLeuRS can partially restore amino acid activation and post-transfer editing functions, suggesting that the functions of the CP2 domain are dependent on its location in the primary sequence of LeuRS.
Survey evidence in China's trademark lawsuits: an empirical study

A consumer survey, as an instrument used to gather data on the beliefs and attitudes of consumers towards trademarks or products, is considered to have vital influence in trademark litigation. In recent years, courts have come to rely increasingly on the results of surveys conducted by one or both litigants in trademark lawsuits. The practical issue for trademark litigants is determining whether, when and how to develop survey evidence, given the cost, time, and other constraints. To shed light on this specific issue, we undertook a statistical analysis of trademark infringement cases in China. By examining 17 836 cases decided by China ’ s courts over a 16-year period from 2001 through 2016, this article presents an empirical study assessing the statistical relationship between the presentation of survey evidence and case outcomes. The goal of our study is to help trademark litigants to determine the importance and value of presenting consumer surveys in trademark infringement case and make more informed decisions about their litigation strategies. we discuss the relationship between the presentation of a consumer survey and the courts ’ finding
Biomechanics of the unstable ankle joint and clinical implications.

PURPOSE The aim of this paper is to provide fundamental information about the biomechanics of the unstable ankle joint and to establish a rational for the daily clinic when dealing with patients in both, the acute and chronic unstable condition of the ankle joint complex. METHODS The problem of the unstable ankle joint is worked up by analyses of the basic anatomy and biomechanics followed by an overview of its clinical manifestation including a differential diagnosis. RESULTS The ankle joint and its surrounding ligaments represent a complex mechanical structure whose mechanical properties highly depend on ligament integrity. Recent in vitro studies have supported the hypothesis that, besides maintaining lateral ankle stability, the lateral ankle ligaments play a significant role in maintaining rotational ankle stability and in transferring movement between leg and foot. Instability of the ankle results from acute ligament injuries and may become chronic when complete ligament healing does not occur. Chronic instability syndrome may manifest with recurrent injuries with chronic lateral pain, tenderness, swelling, or induration with great difficulties in sports and daily activities. Symptomatic instability can be caused by mechanical instability with demonstrable instability, but it can be also present with no demonstrable instability. Impairment of ankle proprioception has been shown to be a major cause of symptomatic ankle instability. Other conditions may mimic ankle instability. CONCLUSIONS The cause of chronic functional instability is often not mechanical instability but impairment of ankle proprioception. A history of insecurity, instability, and giving way is far more important in diagnosis than the physical and radiographic examination. If surgical treatment is advised, anatomical reconstruction of the ankle ligaments is mandatory for fear of altering the biomechanics.