Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cognitive decline in adulthood: an 11.5-year follow-up of the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area study.

OBJECTIVE The epidemiology of cognitive decline over 11.5 years was investigated in a large community-residing population, with a special emphasis on the relationship between education and cognitive decline. METHOD The study was an 11.5-year follow-up of a probability sample of the adult household residents of east Baltimore. From the Baltimore cohort of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area study, 1,488 participants completed the Mini-Mental State during three study waves in 1981, 1982, and 1993-1996. For each study participant, the difference in scores on the Mini-Mental State between waves 2 and 3 was calculated. RESULTS Over a median interval of 11.5 years, the study participants' scores on the Mini-Mental State declined a mean of 1.41 points, and the scores of 68% of the participants declined by at least 1 Mini-Mental State point. With and without adjustment for age, greater declines were associated with having 8 years or less of formal education and with being African American. CONCLUSIONS Over a long time period, cognitive decline occurred in all age groups. Having more than 8 years of formal education was associated with less decline. However, beyond 9 years, additional education was not associated with a further reduction in cognitive decline. This suggests that a minimal amount of education during early critical periods might confer protection against cognitive decline later in life.
Diagnosis and treatment of insulinoma: report of 105 cases.

OBJECTIVE To study the methods for diagnosis and treatment of insulinoma. METHODS Clinical data from 105 patients with insulinoma who had been admitted to our hospital from July 1966 to December 1999 were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS Fasting blood glucose values were less than 2.75 mmol/L in all the patients. Fasting serum insulin values in 60 patients were higher than 25 mU/L, average 65 mU/L. Before operation, carcinoma was detected in 2 of 45 patients by ultrasound scan, and in 10 of 35 by CT. Enucleation of insulinoma was performed in 60 patients. Operations included insulinoma resection (35 patients), distal resection of the pancreas (8), and biopsy (2). CONCLUSION Whipple's triad and the index of insulin release >0.3 are the major variables for diagnosis. Intraoperative exploration and ultrasound scan are the methods for the localization of insulinoma. Enucleation of benign insulinoma is preferred, but proximal or distal resections of the pancreas are required only for large, deep or multiple tumors.
The physician's disease: The impact of medical knowledge on personal illness

Objective: When physicians confront a personal illness of a serious nature, they may discover that the transition to the sick role is challenging, and the inability to relinquish their stethoscope may cause undo anxiety. The physician–patient relationship is intrinsically asymmetrical, and the role of the physician is to regulate the amount of information patients need in order to become educated about their illness and to make informed decisions about their treatment plan. This article explores the challenges in the physician–patient relationship when the patient is also a physician. Methods: This article is a literature review of publications involving the unique challenges physician–patients experience when suffering from serious personal illness. Results: The medical knowledge physician–patients harbor has the potential to complicate their ability to cope with difficult or terminal diagnoses. Paradoxically, knowledge about a condition may fuel anxiety instead of alleviating the fear associated with the unknown. Medical knowledge therefore may entail a certain loss of innocence, and physicians are often unable to revert to being “mere” patients. Furthermore, managing this anxiety in physician–patients may prove to be challenging to the treating physician. Significance of results: From a medical perspective, physician–patients need to be addressed like any other patient. Psychologically, however, these patients are unique, and the specific challenges their education and experience bring into the consultation room needs to be explicitly addressed.
In vivo detection of Egr2 binding to target genes during peripheral nerve myelination

Egr2/Krox20 is a zinc finger transactivator that regulates a diverse array of genes required for peripheral nerve myelination. Although several studies have elucidated the Egr2‐regulated gene network, it is not clear if Egr2 regulates its target genes directly or indirectly through induction of other transactivators. Moreover, very few Egr2 binding sites have been identified in regulatory elements of myelin genes. To address this issue, we have successfully adapted chromatin immunoprecipitation assays to test if Egr2 binds directly to target genes in myelinating rat sciatic nerve. These experiments demonstrate direct binding of Egr2 to previously described binding sites within the Schwann cell enhancer of the myelin basic protein gene. Furthermore, we show Egr2 binding to a conserved site within the myelin‐associated glycoprotein gene. Finally, our experiments provide the first evidence that Egr2 directly regulates expression of desert hedgehog, which is critically involved in development, maintenance and regeneration of multiple nerve elements including myelinated fibers. Surprisingly, this analysis has identified an apparent preponderance of Egr2 binding sites within conserved intron sequences of several myelin genes. Application of chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis to myelination in vivo will prove to be a valuable asset in assaying transcription factor binding and chromatin modifications during activation of myelin genes.
Studies in carotenogenesis. 24. The changes in carotenoid and chlorophyll pigments in the leaves of deciduous trees during autumn necrosis.

1. A variety of hard and soft connective tissues of bovine and human origin were treated with fluorodinitrobenzene before, during and after treatment with demineralizing agents. 2. It was found that the collagens of soft and demineralized hard tissues could readily be distinguished from each other on the basis of the reactivity of their E-lysyl and hydroxylysyl amino groups with fluorodinitrobenzene. In intact softtissue collagen only about two-thirds of these E-amino groups reacted with fluorodinitrobenzene, but the concentration of reactive c-amino groups of hard-tissue collagens increased from very low levels almost to the theoretical value at complete decalcification. 3. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to calcification in vivo.
IgE Sequences in Individuals Living in an Area of Endemic Parasitism Show Little Mutational Evidence of Antigen Selection

Patterns of somatic mutation in IgE genes from allergic individuals have been a focus of study for many years, but IgE sequences have never been reported from parasitized individuals. To study the role of antigen selection in the evolution of the anti‐parasite response, we therefore generated 118 IgE sequences from donors living in Papua New Guinea (PNG), an area of endemic parasitism. For comparison, we also generated IgG1, IgG2, IgG3 and IgG4 sequences from these donors, as well as IgG1 sequences from Australian donors. IgE sequences had, on average, 23.0 mutations. PNG IgG sequences had average mutation levels that varied from 17.7 (IgG3) to 27.1 (IgG4). Mean mutation levels correlated significantly with the position of their genes in the constant region gene locus (IgG3 < IgG1 < IgG2 < IgG4). Interestingly, given the heavy, life‐long antigen burden experienced by PNG villagers, average mutation levels in IgG sequences were little different to that seen in Australian IgG1 sequences (19.2). Patterns of mutation provide clear evidence of antigen selection in many IgG sequences. The percentage of IgG sequences that showed significant accumulations of replacement mutations in the complementarity determining regions ranged from 22% of IgG3 sequences to 39% of IgG2 sequences. By contrast, only 12% of IgE sequences had such evidence of antigen selection, and this was significantly less than in PNG IgG1, IgG2 and IgG4 subclass sequences (P < 0.01). The anti‐parasite IgE response therefore has the reduced evidence of antigen selection that has previously been reported in studies of IgE sequences from allergic individuals.
Targeting reverse tetracycline‐dependent transactivator to murine mammary epithelial cells that express the progesterone receptor

Through an established gene‐targeting strategy, reverse tetracycline‐dependent transactivator (rtTA) was targeted downstream of the murine progesterone receptor (PR) promoter. Mice were generated in which one (PR+/rtTA) or both (PRrtTA/rtTA) PR alleles harbor the rtTA insertion. The PR+/rtTA and PRrtTA/rtTA knockins exhibit phenotypes identical to the normal and the progesterone receptor knockout mouse, respectively. Crossed with the TZA reporter, which carries the TetO‐LacZ responder transgene, the PR+/rtTA/TZA and PRrtTA/rtTA/TZA bigenics exhibit doxycycline‐induced β‐galactosidase activity specifically in progesterone responsive target tissues such as the mammary gland, uterus, ovary, and pituitary gland. In the case of the PR+/rtTA/TZA mammary epithelium, dual immunofluorescence demonstrated that PR expression and doxycycline‐induced β‐galactosidase activity colocalized; β‐galactosidase was not detected in the absence of doxycycline. Although both the PR+/rtTA and PRrtTA/rtTA knockins represent innovative animal models with which to further query progesterone's mechanism of action in vivo, the PRrtTA/rtTA mouse in particular promises to provide unique insight into the paracrine mechanism of action, which underpins progesterone's involvement in mammary morphogenesis with obvious implications for extending our understanding of this steroid's role in breast cancer progression. genesis 45:639–646, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Influence of flux focusing on electromagnetic torque of novel biased flux PM machines

A novel biased flux permanent magnet (PM) machine (BFPMM) with doubly salient structure and PMs located in the stator back-iron is investigated in this paper. The stator is constituted by T-shaped laminated segments between which are placed circumferentially magnetized magnets of alternate polarity, and a concentrated winding is wound around each stator pole. The rotor has salient structure which is similar to that in a switched reluctance machine (SRM), whilst the choice of its pole number is flexible and can be chosen to be any integer except equal to the phase number and its multiples. When the number of stator and rotor poles differed by one, 6-stator pole BFPMM exhibits bipolar phase flux-linkage and sinusoidal phase back-EMF. Three types of flux focusing are proposed to increase the slot area and improve the torque performance. The results show that they can produce higher phase flux-linkage and back-EMF as well as larger torque capability at rated copper loss.
Investigation of Muscle Imbalance in the Leg in Symptomatic Forefoot Pes Cavus: A Multidisciplinary Study

The cross-sectional areas of the peroneal and anterior muscle compartments at the same level in the upper leg were measured using magnetic resonance imaging in 41 cases of forefoot pes cavus. The pes cavus group included idiopathic cases and pes cavus associated with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, Friedreich's ataxia, cerebral palsy, status postpoliomyelitis, nerve trauma, and spinal cord tethering. Thirty-nine of these cases were symptomatic. The results were compared with studies of 11 normal controls. It was found that in the majority of cases of forefoot cavus, the peroneal compartment was enlarged relative to the anterior compartment when compared with the normal controls. Biopsies of the tibialis anterior and peroneus longus muscles in 18 patients with forefoot pes cavus showed that any relative expansion of the peroneus longus was not due to pseudohypertrophy. Overaction of the peroneus longus in comparison to its antagonist the tibialis anterior is proposed as an important factor in the pathogenesis of the majority of symptomatic cases of forefoot pes cavus.
Preemptive analgesia by nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs.

with the Macintosh was worse than the ones obtained with the Flexiblade, without lever activation. On the contrary, they found that laryngoscopic views with the Macintosh blade were significantly better than those with the Flexiblade, before lever activation (83 views or 41.5%). But, in only 38 patients (19% of the cases studied) was the view worse with the Macintosh than with the Flexiblade, with the lever activated. Thus in 162 patients (81%) the view was either similar (161 patients) or better (one patient). These results do not support their conclusion. Nineteen percent is a very small percentage to happen by chance. Moreover, the fact that they used additional aids to accomplish tracheal intubation regardless of which blade they used renders doubtful the claim that one blade is clinically superior to the other. In addition, the authors did not mention how they controlled the lifting force of each blade; applying more lifting force with the Flexiblade could bias the results in its favor (2). Finally, the authors’ study was not blinded. I understand blinding may be impossible, especially when the change and effect occur simultaneously in the same anatomical area, but the authors should have discussed the lack of blinding as a possible source of bias.
Excess mortality among children discharged from hospital after treatment for diarrhoea in rural Bangladesh.

The fact that 4/5 of the total number of children in the study by Dr. S. K. Roy and others (15 October p. 1097) were under 2 years of age an age band which shows the highest mortality for the population would suggest that deductions made from this study could reasonably be applied to the general child population in Matlab Bangladesh. I notice however that only 1/12 of those children aged less than 2 had severe malnutrition as compared with 1/4 of those aged 2 and older. Also the observed deaths in those aged less than 2 were in fact 2/3 of expected deaths for the same age group in the normal population. Could the smaller proportion of severely malnourished children in the under 2s account for the fact that the effect of severe malnutrition in the overall mortality has not shown up as convincingly as it has done in those aged 2 and over? In the study by Chen et al the proportion of severely malnourished children in those under 2 was 1/4 of the total number of children in this age group and the effect of severe malnutrition was well shown. Table 3 of Dr. Roys article shows a lower mortality in severely malnourished children compared with moderately malnourished children. How would the authors explain this finding? I concur that it would be wise to recognize the need to integrate antidiarrheal treatment with nutritional rehabilitation and home care follow up but even more important perhaps would be to compare those who had treatment and nutritional rehabilitation with those who had treatment but no follow up or nutritional rehabilitation. My personal experience of working in mission hospitals in the rural areas was that scarce Health Service resources were deployed to follow up these children who had suffered from diarrheal illness with no attempt to ascertain whether such management made any difference in the overall mortality. The ethical issue did not arise as a reasonable number used to refuse nutritional rehabilitation after recovery from the acute illness. Those who refused rehabilitation could be compared with those who accepted nutritional rehabilitation. (full text)
Polymer-tethered ligand–receptor interactions between surfaces

In this paper, we analyze the thermodynamics of interactions between surfaces mediated by polymer-tethered ligand-receptor binding. From statistical thermodynamics calculations, we obtain an effective two-dimensional binding constant reflecting contributions from the microscopic binding affinity as well as from the conformation entropy of the polymer tethers. The total interaction is a result of the interplay between attractive binding and repulsion due to confinement of the polymer chains. We illustrate the differences between three scenarios when the binding molecules are (1) immobile, (2) mobile with a fixed density, and (3) mobile with a fixed chemical potential (connected to a reservoir), which correspond to different biological or experimental situations. The key features of interactions, including the range of adhesion (onset of binding) and the equilibrium separation, can be obtained from scaling analysis and are verified by numerical solutions. In addition, we also extend our method of treating the quenched case with immobile ligands and receptors developed in a previous paper [Martin, J. I. ; Zhang, C. -Z. ; Wang, Z. -G. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2006, 44, 2621−2637] as a density expansion in terms of both ligand and receptor densities. Finally, we examine several cases having ligand-receptor pairs with different tether lengths and binding affinities, and/or nonbinding linear polymers as steric repellers. Such systems can exhibit complex interactions such as a double-well potential, or a bound state with an adjustable barrier (due to the repellers), which have both biological and bioengineering relevance.
Sparse Identification for Nonlinear Optical communication systems

We have developed a low complexity machine learning based nonlinear impairment equalization scheme and demonstrated its successful performance in SDM transmission links achieving compensation of both inter- and intra- channel Kerr-based nonlinear effects. The method operates in one sample per symbol and in one computational step. It is adaptive, i.e. it does not require a knowledge of system parameters, and it is scalable to different power levels and modulation formats. The method can be straightforwardly expanded to multi-channel systems and to any other type of nonlinear impairment.
Neurotrophins and hippocampal synaptic transmission and plasticity

Neurotrophins are traditionally thought to be secretory proteins that regulate long‐term survival and differentiation of neurons. Recent studies have revealed a previously unexpected role for neurotrophins in synaptic development and plasticity in diverse neuronal populations. In this review, we focus on the synaptic function of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus. Although a variety of in vitro experiments have shown the ability of BDNF to acutely modulate synaptic transmission, whether BDNF truly potentiates basal synaptic transmission in hippocampal neurons remains controversial. More consistent evidence has been obtained for the role of BDNF in long‐term potentiation (LTP), a cellular model for learning and memory. BDNF also potentiates high frequency transmission by modulating the number of docked vesicles and the levels of the vesicle protein synaptobrevin and synaptophysin at the CA1 synapses. Both pre‐ and postsynaptic effects of BDNF have been demonstrated. Recent studies have begun to address the role of BDNF in late‐phase LTP and in the development of hippocampal circuit. BDNF and other neurotrophins may represent a new class of neuromodulators that regulate neuronal connectivity and synaptic efficacy. J. Neurosci. Res. 58:76‐87, 1999. Published 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Quick Test of Cognitive Speed: norm-referenced criteria for 121 Italian adults aged 45 to 90 years

ABSTRACT Background: A Quick Test of Cognitive Speed (AQT) is a brief test that can identify cognitive impairment. AQT has been validated in Arabic, English, Greek, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish. The aim of this study was to develop Italian criterion-referenced norms for AQT. Methods: AQT consists of three test plates where the patient shall rapidly name (1) the color of 40 blue, red, yellow, or black squares (AQT color), (2) the form of 40 black figures (circles, squares, triangles, or rectangles; AQT form), (3) the color and form of 40 figures (consisting of previous colors and forms; AQT color–form). The AQT test was administered to 121 Italian cognitively healthy primary care patients (age range: 45–90 years). Their mean Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score was 28.8 ± 0.9 points (range 26–30 points). AQT naming times in seconds were used for developing preliminary criterion cut-off times for different age groups. Results: Age was found to have a significant moderate positive correlation with AQT naming times color (r = 0.65, p < 0.001), form (r = 0.53, p < 0.001), color–form (r = 0.63, p < 0.001) and a moderate negative correlation with MMSE score (r = –0.44, p < 0.001) and AQT naming times differed significantly between younger (45–55 years old), older (56–70 years old), and the oldest (71–90 years old) participants. Years of education correlated positively but weakly with MMSE score (r = 0.27, p = 0.003) and negatively but weakly with AQT color (r = –0.16, p = ns), form (r = –0.24, p = 0.007), and color–form (r = –0.19, p = 0.005). We established preliminary cut-off times for the AQT test based on +1 and +2 standard deviations according to the approach in other languages and settings. Conclusions: This is the first Italian normative AQT study. Future studies of AQT – a test useful for dementia screening in primary care – will eventually refine cut-off times for normality balancing sensitivity and specificity in cognitive diagnostics.
Full-bridge modular multilevel converter (FB-MMC) with extended control range

This paper presents an attractive control scheme that decouples cell capacitor voltage regulation of the FB-MMC from the dc link voltage regulation. This is achieved by manipulating both ac and dc components of modulation functions. The dc component of modulation function is used to regulate the cell capacitor voltages independent of the dc link voltage, while the magnitude and phase of modulation function ac component are manipulated to control active and reactive powers FB-MMC exchanges with the ac grid. The significance of this control scheme is that it permits the FB-MMC to operate with variable dc link voltage, including negative dc link voltage and zero, while full control over the power FB-MMC exchanges with ac grid is retained. Additionally, this paper provides comprehensive discussion of MMC fundamental theory, including logical and mathematical derivations of the basic relationships that governed its operation and modulation. The validity of the presented control scheme is confirmed using simulations.
INTEGRITY OF DIGITALLY SIGNED MESSAGES USING JOINT SIGNATURE SCHEME

In this era of advanced technology, mobile commerce is going to become popular due to rapid development of technology but this technology needs a lot of struggle for maintaining secure communication and protection from threats. In this research, a mechanism for secure and authentic communication in mobile commerce based on joint signature scheme is presented. This technique ensures the integrity of digitally signed messages using joint signature scheme which show that the message which is sent by the message sender have not been altered by any unauthorized person by digitally signing the message. This technique is efficient in mobile domain because it is less computative and easily used with limited resources in mobile commerce. Joint signature scheme is based on hash functions and encryption/decryption technique to produce joint signature with the help of message sender and trusted third party and also to authenticate the message for the message sender and the message receiver. This technique overcomes the drawbacks of traditional digital scheme, such as computation/communication load, complexity, public key operations etc.