Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal relaxation parameters of DRAMA (dynamic RAMLA) aiming at one-pass image reconstruction for 3D-PET

We have reported a block-iterative algorithm named DRAMA for image reconstruction for emission tomography (Tanaka and Kudo 2003 Phys. Med. Biol. 48 1405–22). DRAMA is a modified version of the row-action maximum likelihood algorithm (RAMLA), in which the relaxation parameter is subset dependent and is changed in such a way that the noise propagation from subsets to the reconstructed image is substantially independent of the access order of the subsets. The algorithm provides fast convergence with a reasonable signal-to-noise ratio. The optimal relaxation parameter has been derived assuming a two-dimensional (2D)-PET model, and detailed performance in three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction has not been clear enough. We have developed the new version ‘DRAMA-3D’, based on the 3D-PET model. The optimal relaxation parameter is a function of the access order of the subsets and the ring difference, and its value is determined by simple formulas from the design parameters of the PET scanner, the operating conditions and the post-smoothing resolution. In this paper, we present the theory of DRAMA-3D, the results of simulation studies on the performance of DRAMA-3D and the comparative studies of the related algorithms. It is shown that DRAMA-3D is robust for various access orders of subsets and is suitable to realize one-pass (single-iteration) reconstruction.
Temporomandibular joint disorder in systemic sclerosis: a case report

Systemic sclerosis have several effects on the orofacial region such as widening of the periodontal ligament space, xerostomia and bone resorption of the mandible. We report a case of systemic sclerosis with temporomandibular joint involvement in a 45-year-old female patient accompanied by severe limited mouth opening and pain in the right and left preauricular regions and tenderness in masseter muscles with a morning stiffness of jaws.Magnetic resonance imaging showed a resorption of mandibular condylar process, with disk and joint abnormalities.
Orientation-sensitive amacrine and ganglion cells in the rabbit retina.

1. Intracellular recordings were obtained from amacrine and ganglion cells in the isolated, superfused retina-eyecup preparation of the rabbit to test the orientation sensitivity of their responses. Cell identification was based on morphological criteria following injection of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or N-(2-aminoethyl)-biotinamide hydrochloride (Neurobiotin) to visualize soma-dendritic architectures. 2. In terms of the physiological mechanisms generating their sensitivity, two types of orientation-sensitive amacrine cell and a single type of orientation-sensitive ganglion cell were found. These cell types were termed orientation selective and orientation biased. Cells were subtypes further into on- or off-center receptive-field categories. 3. The receptive fields of orientation-selective amacrine and ganglion cells were composed of two inhibitory fields that flanked the excitatory center receptive field along the preferred orientation. These inhibitory flanks produced a center receptive-field anisotropy with its major axis corresponding to the preferred orientation: either parallel or orthogonal to the visual streak. When a stimulus was oriented orthogonal to the preferred orientation (i.e., at the null orientation), the inhibitory fields were stimulated, resulting in a null inhibition that blocked the center-mediated excitation. Stimulation of these inhibitory flanks was absolutely essential to evoke the orientation selectivity of these cells. The null response reflected inhibition associated with a conductance increase and not disfacilitation. 4. Orientation-biased amacrine cells displayed a center receptive-field anisotropy with its major axis oriented either parallel or orthogonal to the visual streak. These cells preferred light stimuli oriented along the major axis of the center receptive field. However, whereas the excitatory response of these cells was reduced when a stimulus was rotated from the preferred orientation, there was no corresponding hyperpolarization. No null inhibition was detected even after modulation of the membrane potential with extrinsic current. 5. Although orientation-biased amacrine cells were morphologically heterogeneous, they all displayed dendritic arbors that were markedly elongated along an axis corresponding to their physiological preferred orientation. Thus it appears that the elongated dendritic fields of these cells may provide for the anisotropy of their center receptive fields and, in turn, their orientation sensitivity. 6. Orientation-selective amacrine cells formed a rather homogeneous morphological group of cells. These neurons displayed large, radially symmetric dendritic arbors with diameters averaging 1,100 microns. There were no asymmetries in their dendritic fields and thus no clear structural basis for their orientation selectivity. 7. In contrast, orientation-selective ganglion cells displayed diverse soma-dendritic architecture and thus could not be placed into a single morphological class. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Estimating the hydrogen bond energy.

First, different approaches to detect hydrogen bonds and to evaluate their energies are introduced newly or are extended. Supermolecular interaction energies of 256 dimers, each containing one single hydrogen bond, were correlated to various descriptors by a fit function depending both on the donor and acceptor atoms of the hydrogen bond. On the one hand, descriptors were orbital-based parameters as the two-center or three-center shared electron number, products of ionization potentials and shared electron numbers, and the natural bond orbital interaction energy. On the other hand, integral descriptors examined were the acceptor-proton distance, the hydrogen bond angle, and the IR frequency shift of the donor-proton stretching vibration. Whereas an interaction energy dependence on 1/r(3.8) was established, no correlation was found for the angle. Second, the fit functions are applied to hydrogen bonds in polypeptides, amino acid dimers, and water cluster, thus their reliability is demonstrated. Employing the fit functions to assign intramolecular hydrogen bond energies in polypeptides, several side chain CH.O and CH.N hydrogen bonds were detected on the fly. Also, the fit functions describe rather well intermolecular hydrogen bonds in amino acid dimers and the cooperativity of hydrogen bond energies in water clusters.
Pulmonary hypertension in scleroderma spectrum of disease: lack of bone morphogenetic protein receptor 2 mutations.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether mutations in the bone morphogenetic protein receptor 2 gene (BMPR2), initially reported in primary pulmonary hypertension, were present in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and scleroderma spectrum of disease. Methods. BMPR2 gene mutations were determined using nucleic acid sequencing in 24 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and scleroderma spectrum of disease and in 2 control groups, 96 healthy North American individuals and 100 Israeli Ashkenazi Jews. The patients also had antinuclear antibody determinations and underwent right heart catheterization. RESULTS One BMPR2 guanine to adenine (G to A) mutation in exon 13 was found in a 59-year-old Ashkenazi Jewish woman with the limited cutaneous variant, a normal chest radiograph, and positive anticentromere and rheumatoid factor autoantibodies. However, this mutation is thought to be a polymorphism because the same mutation was also found in an ethnically matched healthy Ashkenazi Jew. CONCLUSION Pulmonary arterial hypertension in scleroderma spectrum of disease was not associated with heterogeneous germline mutations of BMPR2.
Protein Kinase C ϵ and γ: Involvement in Formalin-Induced Nociception in Neonatal Rats

The central nervous system undergoes dynamic changes as it matures. However, until recently, very little was known about the impact of these changes on pain and analgesia. This study tested the hypothesis that the ϵ and γ isozymes of protein kinase C (PKC) contribute to formalin-induced nociception in an age-dependent manner. Expression of ϵ and γ PKC and the contributions of these isozymes in formalin-induced nociception was examined in postnatal day 7, 15, and 21 rats. ϵPKC expression in dorsal root ganglion neurons and γPKC expression in lamina II of the spinal cord increased from the first to the third postnatal week. Coupling immunohistochemical and Western analysis, translocation of ϵPKC followed intraplantar formalin in all ages. In contrast, formalin-induced γPKC translocation was observed only in postnatal day 21 rats. Behaviorally, intrathecal administration of the ϵPKC-specific inhibitor (ϵV1-2) attenuated phase 1 and phase 2 formalin behaviors at all ages. In contrast, intrathecal administration of the γPKC-specific inhibitor (γV5-3) attenuated only phase 2 responses in postnatal day 15 and 21 rats. Functionally, inhibition of ϵPKC decreased capsaicin-stimulated release of glutamate and calcitonin gene-related peptide in spinal cords isolated from postnatal day 7 rats. These results suggest that ϵPKC age independently mediates inflammatory pain produced by intraplantar formalin. In contrast, γPKC contributes to formalin-induced nociception in an age-dependent manner. Identifying the molecular mechanisms responsible for age-specific patterns of nociception is necessary for the rational development of novel therapeutic strategies for treating pediatric pain.
Deaths, HIV infection, abstinence, and other outcomes in a cohort of injecting drug users followed up for 10 years

Abstract Objective : To trace, follow up, and interview a group of patients known to be injecting drug users in order to establish current drug taking and other features related to drug use over 10 years. Design : Descriptive follow up study of a cohort of injecting drug users established between 1982 and 1985. Setting : General practice based patient population study initially, with later tracing of subjects throughout the United Kingdom through NHS Central Registries and current general practitioners. Subjects : 203 injecting drug users recruited up to December 1985. Main outcome measures : Survival, cause of death, abstinence, or continued drug use; HIV status; and demographic variables. Results - Of the 203 injecting drug users recruited into the study, over half were known to be HIV positive and 42 died of various causes (increasingly AIDS). From the start of follow up in 1990, 163 (91%) of the 180 survivors were traced, of whom 116 (71%) were interviewed. Dramatic changes had occurred in drug taking, with a move away from injecting towards oral drug use. A few patients, however, continued to inject. 90 (78%) of those interviewed had been in prison, of whom 37 (41%) had injected drugs while in prison. Conclusions : The pattern of deaths had changed from being largely due to overdose in the early 1980s to predominantly AIDS related in later years. The reduction in deaths due to overdose may have been connected with but was not always causally related to a new approach by legal, social, and medical services. Drug use continues in a modified form in a large proportion of patients followed up. As a group, drug users require long term support for a multiplicity of problems.
ShanghaiGrid and intelligent urban traffic applications

Grid computing is becoming the preferred basis for large-scale distributed computing and Internet applications. ShanghaiGrid launched in Shanghai, China is a grid infrastructure that aggregates several heterogeneous supercomputers, data centers and other applications scattered in different organizations in Shanghai. One of the major focuses in the ShanghaiGrid project is research and development of an intelligent urban traffic management system based on the ShanghaiGrid system software. The system software provides a platform in a service-oriented way for resource encapsulation and management, service scheduling and accounting, data aggregation and adaptive transmission, as well as service composition and reliability support. This paper presents the ShanghaiGrid system software, with the focus on key technologies for advanced ShanghaiGrid applications, and the implementation of intelligent urban traffic management based on realtime traffic data.
Reevaluation of telomerase inhibition by quadruplex ligands and their mechanisms of action

Quadruplex ligands are often considered as telomerase inhibitors. Given the fact that some of these molecules are present in the clinical setting, it is important to establish the validity of this assertion. To analyze the effects of these compounds, we used a direct assay with telomerase-enriched extracts. The comparison of potent ligands from various chemical families revealed important differences in terms of effects on telomerase initiation and processivity. Although most quadruplex ligands may lock a quadruplex-prone sequence into a quadruplex structure that inhibits the initiation of elongation by telomerase, the analysis of telomerase-elongation steps revealed that only a few molecules interfered with the processivity of telomerase (i.e., inhibit elongation once one or more repeats have been incorporated). The demonstration that these molecules are actually more effective inhibitors of telomeric DNA amplification than extension by telomerase contributes to the already growing suspicion that quadruplex ligands are not simple telomerase inhibitors but, rather, constitute a different class of biologically active molecules. We also demonstrate that the popular telomeric repeat amplification protocol is completely inappropriate for the determination of telomerase inhibition by quadruplex ligands, even when PCR controls are included. As a consequence, the inhibitory effect of many quadruplex ligands has been overestimated.
Peut-On Modéliser la Volatilité du Taux de Change de Dinar Algérien par un Processus GARCH ? = Can We Modelize the Volatility of the Algerian Dinar Exchange Rate by GARCH Process ?

The objective of this paper is to model the volatility of the Algerian dinar exchange rate (DZA / dollar) and to predict its evolution for the first three months of 2014. Our study has showed that our series are characterized by the volatility phenomenon, by asymmetric specifications, and the presence of excessive kurtosis. ARCH test was performed. This test rejected the null hypothesis of homoscedasticity.
Zebrafish Dkk1 functions in forebrain specification and axial mesendoderm formation.

We identified a zebrafish homologue of Dickkopf-1 (Dkk1), which was previously identified in Xenopus as a Wnt inhibitor with potent head-inducing activity. Zebrafish dkk1 is expressed in the dorsal marginal blastoderm and also in the dorsal yolk syncytial layer after mid-blastula transition. At later blastula stages, the expression expands to the entire blastoderm margin. During gastrulation, dkk1-expressing cells are confined to the embryonic shield and later to the anterior axial mesendoderm, prospective prechordal plate. Embryos, in which dkk1 was ectopically expressed, exhibited enlarged forebrain, eyes, and axial mesendoderm such as prechordal plate and notochord. dkk1 expression in the dorso-anterior mesendoderm during gastrulation was prominently reduced in zebrafish mutants bozozok (boz), squint (sqt), and one-eyed pinhead (oep), which all display abnormalities in the formation and function of the Spemann organizer and axial mesendoderm. dkk1 expression was normal in these embryos during the blastula period, indicating that zygotic functions of these genes are required for maintenance but not establishment of dkk1 expression. Overexpression of dkk1 suppressed defects in the development of forebrain, eyes, and notochord in boz mutants. Overexpression of dkk1 promoted anterior neuroectoderm development in the embryos injected with antivin RNA, which lack most of the mesoderm and endoderm, suggesting that Dkk1 can affect regionalization of neuroectoderm independently of dorso-anterior mesendoderm. These data indicate that Dkk1, expressed in dorsal mesendoderm, functions in the formation of both the anterior nervous system and the axial mesendoderm in zebrafish.
Safety and efficacy of treatment switch to raltegravir plus tenofovir/emtricitabine or abacavir/lamivudine in patients with optimal virological control: 48-week results from a randomized pilot study (Raltegravir Switch for Toxicity or Adverse Events, RASTA Study)

Abstract Background: The Raltegravir Switch for Toxicity or Adverse Events (RASTA) Study is a 2-arm randomized pilot study exploring the safety and efficacy at 48 weeks of a treatment switch to raltegravir associated with tenofovir/emtricitabine or abacavir/lamivudine in patients with regimens with optimal virological control. Methods: Patients treated with stable protease inhibitor (PI)-, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-, or nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI)-based regimens, with HIV-RNA levels < 50 copies/ml for ≥ 3 months and a CD4 cell count > 200 cells/μl were eligible. Enrollment of 40 patients was planned: at baseline patients were randomized 1:1 to switch to raltegravir plus tenofovir/emtricitabine (arm A) or abacavir/lamivudine (arm B). Laboratory parameters, raltegravir plasma levels, self- reported adherence, quality of life parameters, neurocognitive performance, bone composition, and body fat distribution were monitored. Virological failure was defined as HIV-RNA > 50 copies/ml on 2 consecutive determinations. Results: After 48 weeks, 5/40 (12.5%) regimen discontinuations occurred: 2 were for low-level viremia virological failure (both in arm A, at weeks 24 and 48) and 3 were for adverse events (neurological disturbances and skin rash in arm B; proximal tubulopathy in arm A). Overall, a significant CD4 increase was observed at weeks 36 and 48, and a significant decrease in total cholesterol, non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides was observed at each study visit. Physical health/satisfaction in therapy scores and neuropsychological performance improved. The lumbar column Z-score improved, with no modification in other bone composition and fat distribution parameters. Conclusions: The investigated switch strategy was associated with rare virological failure. Improvements in lipid levels, quality of life measures, neuropsychological performance, and bone composition suggest good tolerability of raltegravir-based regimens.
Use of dried blood spot specimens in the detection of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 by the polymerase chain reaction

Dried blood spots (DBSs) constitute a potentially valuable source of material for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) serologic and molecular testing. To facilitate molecular testing, we have adapted the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to the detection of HIV proviral DNA in DBS samples. The method is highly reproducible, with 75 microliters of whole dried blood providing sufficient DNA for duplicate testing with three primer sets. By using DBS PCR, 66 of 69 (95.6%) seropositive at-risk individuals tested positive by at least two primer sets and 85 of 85 (100%) low-risk seronegative blood donors tested negative by all three sets of primers. The frequency of HIV DNA detection in seronegative at-risk individuals was low, with only 1 of 58 (1.7%) individuals testing positive. These results show that in a clinical environment, HIV PCR analysis of DBS specimens is specific and sensitive. The method is cost effective and presents a useful alternative to the isolation of HIV from seropositive babies with an undefined infection status.
Employees as Corporate Stakeholders: Theory and Reality in a Transatlantic Context

Employees are the most significant non-shareholding corporate stakeholding group. A consideration of their position within corporate governance structures clarifies our understanding of some of the issues surrounding corporate governance and corporate stakeholding. This article relies on a comparative consideration of the role of employees (as distinct from other workers) in US and EU corporations and the regulation of the employment relationship therein. In making this comparison it presents arguments against the simplistic classification of governance systems and in particular presents the argument that the UK model of governance is in fact a hybrid arising from the influence of European Social Policy. In defining the role of employees, the article examines what is meant by ownership and argues that ownership signifies an already splintered bundle of rights within the corporation, allowing for ownership claims for employees as well as shareholders. Finally the article considers two theoretical principles, efficiency and shareholder wealth maximisation, which are used to define corporate and management function in current governance literature and seeks to add clarity to the claims made by these principles.
Deep brain stimulation: Postoperative issues

Numerous factors need to be taken into account when managing a patient with Parkinson's disease (PD) after deep brain stimulation (DBS). Questions such as when to begin programming, how to conduct a programming screen, how to assess the effects of programming, and how to titrate stimulation and medication for each of the targeted sites need to be addressed. Follow‐up care should be determined, including patient adjustments of stimulation, timing of follow‐up visits and telephone contact with the patient, and stimulation and medication conditions during the follow‐up assessments. A management plan for problems that can arise after DBS such as weight gain, dyskinesia, axial symptoms, speech dysfunction, muscle contractions, paresthesia, eyelid, ocular and visual disturbances, and behavioral and cognitive problems should be developed. Long‐term complications such as infection or erosion, loss of effect, intermittent stimulation, tolerance, and pain or discomfort can develop and need to be managed. Other factors that need consideration are social and job‐related factors, development of dementia, general medical issues, and lifestyle changes. This report from the Consensus on Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's Disease, a project commissioned by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the Movement Disorder Society, outlines answers to a series of questions developed to address all aspects of DBS postoperative management and decision‐making with a systematic overview of the literature (until mid‐2004) and by the expert opinion of the authors. The report has been endorsed by the Scientific Issues Committee of the Movement Disorder Society and the American Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. © 2006 Movement Disorder Society