Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Sleepiness and fatigue in multiple sclerosis - comparison of different measuring instruments].

INTRODUCTION Patients suffering from multiple sclerosis often complain of fatigue and sleepiness. Patients often cannot distinguish between these symptoms. Daytime sleepiness, attention and concentration deficits affect life quality severely. Usually symptoms of MS are characterized by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). In new studies the MSFC proves to be a more sensitive method especially estimating the cognitive deficits. METHODS 31 RRMS patients (18 women, 13 men, mean age 35.6 +/- 8.3 years) and 19 healthy controls (9 men, 1 woman, age: 55.1 +/- 7.8 years) were assessed by: 1) morning and evening protocols of the German Sleep Society, 2) Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), 3) Extended Disability Status Scale (EDSS), 4) MS Functional Composite (MSFC) based on arm function, ambulation and cognition (paced auditory serial addition test, PASAT), 5) Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). RESULTS The EDSS-Score ranged from 1.0 to 6.5 (2.8 +/- 1.4). Mean Z-Score of MSFC was -0.19 +/- 0.63. Most deficits could be shown in the PASAT. Total sleep time correlated with recovery capacity of sleep (r = 0.42, P < 0.05). The ESS-Score was 6.1 +/- 2.9 (1 - 14). FSS-Score was raised with intraindividual variability (4,33 +/- 1.62, 1.4 - 7). The EDSS failed to correlate with the ESS- or FSS-Score. FSS correlated significantly with arm function (r = 0.465) und ambulation (r = 0.436) in the MSFC (P < 0.05). DISCUSSION MS-Patients are often not able to distinguish between fatigue and sleepiness. By using different scales judging sleepiness and fatigue significant differences could be evaluated. Fatigue is mainly linked to motoric deficits scored by the MSFC. Therefore medication with stimulants seems not to be useful in fatigue therapy.
Synthesis-secretion coupling of insulin: effect of aging.

Synthesis-secretion coupling of insulin was measured in four age groups of perfused pancreases taken from Sprague-Dawley rats ranging in age from 2-12 months. The effect of long term (6 h) near-maximal glucose stimulation (300 mg/dl) on both insulin secretion and net insulinogenesis demonstrated an age-related increase in both parameters. Net insulinogenesis as well as total insulin secretion increased linearly as a function of aging. Compared to that in 2-month-old rats, total net insulin synthesis was more than 3-fold greater in 12-month-old rats, slightly less than 3-fold greater in 8-month-old rats, and twice as much in 4-month-old rats. Compared to that in 2-month-old rats, total glucose-stimulated insulin secretion was 3-fold greater in 12-month-old rats, approximately 2.2-fold greater in 8-month-old rats, and about 1.7-fold greater in 4-month-old rats. A shorter term (90 min) glucose stimulation at 150 mg/dl produced an age-related increase in insulin secretion which was relatively comparable to the higher glucose stimulus. Of equal importance is that fact that pancreases from the older rats exhibited the same degree of secretory responsiveness to changing glucose levels as did pancreases from the younger rats. Regardless of age, first phase insulin secretion was approximately twice as much in response to the higher glucose level as to the lower. Similarly, second phase insulin secretion was almost 3 times greater regardless of age. When normalized and reported in terms of insulin content, total insulin secretion was no different as a function of aging during the first 1 h of glucose stimulation (i.e. the first two phases of secretion), but it was significantly elevated in the third secretory phase (2-6 h) by the older rat groups. Total 6-h net insulinogenesis was also greater in the older rat groups. When normalized and reported in terms of total body weight, both insulin synthesis and total insulin secretion became comparable and showed no specific age-related difference. Thus, there is no indication that aging results in an uncoupling of relatively long term (6-h) insulin synthesis-secretion, since both glucose-induced responses parallel one another as a function of aging. Furthermore, reporting insulin secretion and synthesis on the basis of body weight, rather than age, totally normalizes synthesis-secretion coupling of insulin.
Video-microscopy as an Alternative Method for Evaluation of Somatic Cell Count

Somatic Cell Count (SCC) is an important indicator in detecting the mastitis infection in cows: SCC is a measure of milk quality. Direct Optical Microscopy is the reference method for SCC evaluation, but it is extremely time consuming. This paper shows the advantageous results of applying a low-cost video microscopy system that evaluates somatic cell concentration in fresh cow milk
Maintained activity of lateral geniculate neurones in darkness

Spontaneous activity is a striking feature of the sensory side of the nervous system. Long after specific stimuli have been excluded, or at least minimized, neurones in the various afferent centres continue to discharge impulses. For a review of the earlier literature in this field see Granit (1955). In the mammalian visual system most investigators who have examined the evoked activity of single units have also commented on the background firing, though usually only briefly (Kuffler, 1953; Jung, 1953; Tasaki, Polley & Orrego, 1954; Lennox, 1958; Bornschein, 1958a, b; De Valois, 1960; Erulkar & Fillenz, 1960; Hubel, 1960; Griisser-Cornehls & Griisser, 1961; Fuster, 1961; Hubel & Wiesel, 1961; Negishi & Verzeano, 1961; Arden & Soderberg, 1961; Bishop, Burke & Davis, 1962a; Arduini & Pinneo, 1962; De Valois, Jacobs & Jones, 1962; Horn, 1962; Lomo & Mollica, 1962; Negishi, Lu & Verzeano, 1962; Burns, Heron & Pritchard, 1962). The most detailed specific study is that of Kuffler, FitzHugh & Barlow (1957), who examined some of the statistical properties of the maintained discharges of retinal ganglion cells. It is not easy to find an appropriate descriptive term for this firing. The use of the adjective 'spontaneous' has its difficulties, but since the term is widely current and the difficulties are generally appreciated its use seems preferable to that of others such as 'background', 'maintained' or 'on-going '. The mean firing rate of spontaneously active single units is easy to record, and although it is the simplest of the statistical measures it is an essential preliminary to the application of the more involved methods of analysis such as the interval histogram and the joint interval histogram (Gerstein, 1960; Gerstein & Kiang, 1960; Grossman & Viernstein, 1961; Levick, Bishop, Williams & Lampard, 1961; Levick, 1962; Rodieck, Kiang & Gerstein, 1962). The application of these methods requires that the process investigated should be stationary or at least non-stationary
Occupational Therapy Practitioners’ Perceptions of Important Competencies for Handwriting Evaluation and Intervention in School-Aged Children

ABSTRACT Objective. The primary purpose of this study was to identify the practitioner competencies that occupational therapists perceive as important for handwriting evaluation and intervention in school-aged children. A secondary purpose was to compare the practitioner perceptions of those in school-based practice with those from other primary practice settings. Method. A stratified random sample of 376 occupational therapists recruited from a national professional organization database participated by completing a survey instrument containing 80 competency items. Results. A majority of the 80 practitioner competency items were perceived to be of high importance to the respondent groups. A significance difference in perception when comparing the school-based practitioners to all other practitioners was revealed in only 3–12 competency summary categories. Conclusion. Practitioner competency survey items were perceived to be of high importance to the participants. School-based practitioner perceptions of competency were, for the most part, mainly similar to those in other primary practice settings.
Does polyribonucleotide nucleotidyltransferase (PNPase) mutation affect the energetic metabolism and the microRNA profile in cell and mitochondria

Objectives PNPase is a protein of the intermembrane space, encoded by PNPT1 and involved in RNA mitochondrial import [1]. PNPT1 mutations have been described in patients suffering from a severe neurological disease and combined respiratory chain defect [2]. We hypothesized that PNPAse could play a role in miRNA import [3]. The objective was to compare the miRNA and metabolomic profile from control and PNPT1 mutant fibroblasts. Methodology and Results Fibroblasts from a patient with PNPT1 mutation (c.1160A>G, p.Gln387Arg) and from a control (C) were grown. Comparison of the metabolomic NMR spectra of their culture media suggested that PNPT1 cells had lower glycolysis, TCA and protein synthesis activity than C cells. Total RNA was extracted from whole cells, isolated mitochondria and mitoplasts. The total number of miRNA detected by RT-qPCR in PNPT1 cells was about 6 times lower than in C cells: 47 vs 310 miRNAs but their average expression was higher (p<10-6). Their distribution among mitochondria, mitoplasts and cells was different (p<10-6): in C cells, there was a gradient from mitoplasts (153) to mitochondria (94) whereas in PNPT1 cells, there was no difference (130 vs 126).
The effect of injury on whole-plant senescence: an experiment with two root-sprouting Barbarea species.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Senescence is the process of losing fitness when growing old, and is shaped by the trade-off between maintenance and reproduction that makes reproduction more unsure and maintenance more costly with age. In repeatedly reproducing plants, reductions in growth and fertility are signs of senescence. Disturbance, however, provides an opportunity to reset the ageing clock and consequently potentially ameliorate senescence. METHODS To test the effects of disturbance on traits closely related to fitness and thus to senescence, a long-term garden experiment was established with two short-lived perennial congeners,Barbarea vulgaris and Barbarea stricta, that differ in their ability to resprout after injury. In the experiment, five damage treatments were applied to plants in four different phenophases. KEY RESULTS It was found that damage to the plant body significantly prolonged life span in B. vulgaris but decreased whole-life seed production in both species. High concentration of seed production in one growing season characterized short life spans. Both more severe damage and a more advanced phenological phase at the time of damage caused reproduction to be spread over more than one growing season and equalized per-season seed production. In terms of seed quality, average weight of a single seed decreased and seed germination rate increased with age regardless of damage. CONCLUSIONS Although disturbance is able to reset the ageing clock of plants, it is so harmful to plant fitness that resprouting serves, at best, only to alleviate slightly the signs of senescence. Thus, in terms of whole-life seed production, injured plants were not more successful than uninjured ones in the two studied species. Indeed, in these species, injury only slightly postponed or decelerated senescence and did not cause effective rejuvenation.
A Comparative study of Computational Intelligence in Computer Security and Forensics

Because of the growing reliance that corporations and government agencies place on their computer networks, the significance of defending these systems from attack cannot be underestimated. Computer security and forensics are crucial in protecting systems from attack or from unauthorized access that might have undesirable consequences, and can help to ensure that a network infrastructure will remain integrated and survive. The use of high quality techniques within a system will provide a better protected system, and will offer clues that might help in any criminal investigation. Techniques such as artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, and evolutionary computing can be used to help deal with issues associated with computer security and forensics. This paper concentrates on the use of neural networks, fuzzy logic, and evolutionary computation in computer security and forensics. It also examines the hybrids of these three techniques, and considers how they can be applied to computer security and forensics.
Preliminary Characterization of aMycobacterium abscessus Mutant in Human and Murine Models of Infection

ABSTRACT The ability to persist in the host after the establishment of infection is an important virulence determinant for mycobacteria.Mycobacterium abscessus is a rapidly growing mycobacterial species which causes a variety of clinical syndromes in humans. We have obtained a rough, wild-type human clinical isolate of M. abscessus (M. abscessus-R) and a smooth, attenuated mutant(M. abscessus-S) which spontaneously dissociated from the clinical isolate. We have found that M. abscessus-R is able to persist and multiply in a murine pulmonary infection model in contrast to M. abscessus-S, which is rapidly cleared. To understand the basis for this difference, we characterized the behavior of these variants in human tissue culture models of infection. M. abscessus-R is able to persist and multiply in human monocytes, while M. abscessus-S is deficient in this ability. Both of these variants are phagocytized by human monocytes. M. abscessus-R resides in a phagosome typical for pathogenic mycobacteria with a tightly adherent phagosomal membrane. In contrast,M. abscessus-S resides in a “loose” phagosome with the phagosomal membrane separated from the bacterial cell wall. BothM. abscessus variants also have distinctive growth patterns in a recently described fibroblast-mycobacterium microcolony assay, with M. abscessus-R exhibiting growth characteristics similar to those previously reported for virulent M. tuberculosis and M. abscessus-S exhibiting growth characteristics similar to those previously reported for avirulentM. tuberculosis. In both the monocyte infection assay and the murine pulmonary infection model, numerous infected mononuclear phagocyte aggregates develop at sites of M. abscessus-Rinfection, but are absent with M. abscessus-S infection. We conclude that a mutation has occurred in the M. abscessus-Svariant which has altered the ability of this organism to persist and multiply in host cells and that this may be related to the phenotypic changes we have observed in our tissue culture models of infection.
A low-cost radio for an electronic price label system

Point-of-sale (POS) terminals, electronic cash registers, computers, bar-code scanners, and many other products are being used today to automate the retail business. One difficult-to-automate process, however, is ensuring that the prices shown on store shelves agree with those displayed and registered at the checkout counter. In most supermarkets, paper price labels are still manually applied to shelves and display areas. This process leaves much to be desired because it is a costly, labor-intensive, error-prone operation. In addition, the erosion of customer confidence due to pricing errors can adversely affect such low-margin retail businesses as grocery stores. This paper addresses these issues and discusses the Lucent Technologies solution to a request by NCR for an electronic replacement for paper labels. The Consumer Products Group, Network Systems, and the Bell Labs Wireless Technology Research Department of Lucent Technologies, together with NCR design groups in Oiso, Japan, and Atlanta, Georgia, have developed an electronic price label (EPL) system that features two-way communications between a computer-database-driven radio and low-cost electronic price labels to ensure accuracy and reliability.
Integrative nuclear FGFR1 signaling (INFS) pathway mediates activation of the tyrosine hydroxylase gene by angiotensin II, depolarization and protein kinase C

The integrative nuclear FGFR1 signaling (INFS) pathway functions in association with cellular growth, differentiation, and regulation of gene expression, and is activated by diverse extracellular signals. Here we show that stimulation of angiotensin II (AII) receptors, depolarization, or activation protein kinase C (PKC) or adenylate cyclase all lead to nuclear accumulation of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF‐2) and FGFR1, association of FGFR1 with splicing factor‐rich domains, and activation of the tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene promoter in bovine adrenal medullary cells (BAMC). The up‐regulation of endogenous TH protein or a transfected TH promoter‐luciferase construct by AII, veratridine, or PMA (but not by forskolin) is abolished by transfection with a dominant negative FGFR1TK‐mutant which localizes to the nucleus and plasma membrane, but not by extracellularly acting FGFR1 antagonists suramin and inositolhexakisphosphate (IP6). Mechanism of TH gene activation by FGF‐2 and FGFR1 was further investigated in BAMC and human TE671 cultures. TH promoter was activated by co‐transfected HMW FGF‐2 (which is exclusively nuclear) but not by cytoplasmic FGF‐1 or extracellular FGFs. Promoter transactivation by HMWFGF‐2 was accompanied by an up‐regulation of FGFR1 specifically in the cell nucleus and was prevented FGFR1(TK‐) but not by IP6 or suramin. The TH promoter was also transactivated by co‐transfected wild‐type FGFR1, which localizes to both to the nucleus and the plasma membrane, and by an exclusively nuclear, soluble FGFR1(SP‐/NLS) mutant with an inserted nuclear localization signal. Activation of the TH promoter by nuclear FGFR1 and FGF‐2 was mediated through the cAMP‐responsive element (CRE) and was associated with induction of CREB‐ and CBP/P‐300‐containing CRE complexes. We propose a new model for gene regulation in which nuclear FGFR1 acts as a mediator of CRE transactivation by AII, cell depolarization, and PKC.
Reconfigurable Bayesian networks for adaptive situation assessment in battlespace

Situation assessment is the task of integrating low-level sensor data to fuse lower level information and produce hypotheses in a military situation. In this paper we propose an algorithm for adaptive situation assessment using reconfigurable Bayesian networks. The formulation and algorithm presented are suitable for dynamic battlespace situation changes. We provide numerical examples that show the effectiveness of our approach in a battlefield scenario.
The fine structure and development of chlamydospores of Fusarium oxysporum.

Methods have been developed for the rapid, reproducible induction of high-density populations of F. oxysporum chlamydospores. On transferring washed pregerminated conidia to a simple two-salts medium, chlamydospore morphogenesis was evident by 12 h and masses of mature spores could be harvested at the end of 4 days. Electron-microscope studies of thin sections of mature chlamydospores reveal a thick triple-layered cell wall. The cytoplasm contains, in addition to large lipid deposits, a nucleus, mitochondria, and endoplasmic reticulum all typical of fungal cells. Chlamydospores of F. oxysporum exhibit two distinct types of cell surface in thin section. The outer wall layer of two of the isolates studied was smooth-surfaced while the outer layer of the two other isolates was distinctly fibrillose. Some evidence is presented suggesting that the fibrillose material arises through the partial breakdown of the original hyphal wall.
Critical care nursing research priorities in Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND Research is vital to nursing practice especially in an area such as critical care, where nursing practice continues to increase in complexity and nurses assume greater responsibility and accountability for patient care. However, without knowledge of what are the most significant problems or questions affecting the welfare of critically ill patients in Hong Kong, nurses' research efforts may be directed to areas that are not of highest priority in today's climate of decreasing health care resources and changing health care provision. AIM To identify and prioritize research questions of importance to Hong Kong critical care nurses. METHOD A three-round Delphi technique was used to solicit, identify and prioritize problems for critical care nursing research. RESULTS Respondents who completed the third round had a mean of 6.25 years of critical care nursing experience. Ninety-one research topics were ranked important or extremely important. Twenty-seven research priorities ranked as extremely important included topics relating to patient care, family care, nursing, technology, alternative interventions, and illness prevention/health promotion research domains. Thirteen research topics were ranked as least important. None of the participants ranked research topics as not important. STUDY LIMITATIONS Only full-time active members of the Hong Kong Association of Critical Care Nurses participated in this study and they may not necessarily represent the views of all critical care nurses in Hong Kong. In addition, no attempts were made to compare research priorities between specialty groups of nurses. CONCLUSION With the re-structuring of Hong Kong's health care system, critical care nurses are expected to take an active role in advancing the profession, and to be accountable for improving patient outcomes by use of effective, evidence-based interventions. The research priorities identified in this study may provide impetus and direction for critical care nursing research initiatives.
Herpesvirus Saimiri Open Reading Frame 50 (Rta) Protein Reactivates the Lytic Replication Cycle in a Persistently Infected A549 Cell Line

ABSTRACT Herpesviruses occur in two distinct forms of infection, lytic replication and latent persistence. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms that govern the latent-lytic switch in the prototype gamma-2 herpesvirus, herpesvirus saimiri (HVS). We utilized a persistently HVS-infected A549 cell line, in which HVS DNA is stably maintained as nonintegrated circular episomes, to assess the role of the open reading frame 50 (ORF 50) (Rta) proteins in the latent-lytic switch. Northern blot analysis and virus recovery assays determined that the ORF 50a gene product, when expressed under the control of a constitutively active promoter, was sufficient to reactivate the entire lytic replication cycle, producing infectious virus particles. Furthermore, although the ORF 50 proteins of HVS strains A11 and C488 are structurally divergent, they were both capable of inducing the lytic replication cycle in this model of HVS latency.
Elastic interconnects: repeater-inserted long wiring capable of compressing and decompressing data

The RC delay of an interconnect is a critical parameter that does not improve with process scaling, but rather increases. Interconnect delay considerably degrades the performance of today's sophisticated microprocessors, so much work has been done to reduce both this delay and its influence on performance . In a chip multiprocessor, process scaling would improve the intrinsic speed of each processor tile, but overall chip speed would not increase because of the limits to communication between tiles. The communication performance is limited by not only RC-delay increase but also arising network congestion and contention. Regarding the latter, effective use is made of network techniques developed in both interconnection networks for off-chip multiprocessors and communication networks for packet switching. This elastic interconnect for internal communications on-chip multiprocessors is a fundamental technique capable of enhancing conventional network techniques by effectively utilizing on-chip repeater-inserted long wiring.