Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of diverse synchrony patterns in dissociated cortical culture using Bayesian non-negative matrix factorization

Synchrony in a neuronal network is not just a spontaneous event but rather a representation of inner information. In this point of view, the variety of synchrony patterns is considered to be related to inner capacity of the network. However, evaluating and comparing the variety of synchrony patterns, especially between different samples or different times, is difficult. In this paper, we proposed to identify the variety of synchrony based on Bayesian model selection. Hypothesizing that globally synchronized activity consists of partial synchrony, we attempted to identify reproducible-spatial pattern bases in spontaneous bursting activities of dissociated cortical cultures using Bayesian non-negative matrix factorization. Neuronal activity was recorded with high-density CMOS electrode arrays. Bayesian treatment provides evidence for selection of the number of bases based on marginal likelihood. We compared model evidence of the activity in juvenile and matured cultures. Our results suggested that the variety of synchrony patterns diversify through maturation.
Comparison of three methods of partial volume correction in dynamic PET cardiac imaging: a phantom and a pig study

We compared 3 methods of correcting the underestimation in measurements of myocardial radiotracer uptake due to partial volume (PV) effects in cardiac PET. Measurements were made on a static heart phantom and on 12 pigs undergoing gated cardiac MRI and 2 dynamic H/sub 2//sup 15/O PET. The 3 methods to compute PV correction factors (PVCF) were: 1. A gated MRI myocardial mask temporally and spatially blurred to the PET resolution; 2. an extra-vascular image (EV) created by subtracting the arterial phase of the H/sub 2//sup 15/O bolus from a transmission image; 3. kinetic modeling (fit) of the water data. The phantom study confirmed that 7.0 mm Gaussian blurring simulated the scanner resolution, and that the water subtraction correctly determined PVCF from EV (vs theory and vs blurred MRI). PVCF for 60 regions were computed from the 12 pigs using each method. There was no significant systematic difference between PVCF obtained from the 3 methods. When we used only one water acquisition, all the slopes (intercepts) except EV vs MRI were not significantly lower than unity (greater than zero) but there is large variability in the data. When we used two water acquisitions summed together, we saw a slight improvement in the correlations between the methods although the variability did not go down as much as expected. Several factors may contribute to the remaining variability, and to any potential systematic differences which may be present but which we were unable to detect. In general we found a good agreement between the three methods. We believe our data show that accurate partial volume corrections can be made in the myocardium.
Strategic e-commerce model driven-architecture for e-Learning: TQM & e-ERP Perspective

Innovation and value proposition in distance-learning-programs (e-learning programs) is a multifaceted-activity with enormous dimensionality. The implementation of information communication technology (ICT) and enhanced enterprise-resource-planning (eERP) for smart-campuses has emerged as inevitability for industrial competitiveness in smart-factories as per the dictates of total quality management (TQM). The philosophy of productivity-management and concurrent engineering stipulates a competitive framework for e-learning for dissemination and absorption of knowledge by the intelligentsia, technologists and students. Conversely, competitiveness in today's global village demands an innovative and systems-approach for improving the learning-curves in a virtual environment. The e-learning-programs have numerous inherent perplexities since in every virtual classroom there is a much higher probability to interact with orthogonal-cultures that too with multiple-intelligences. This paper proposes a “conceptual-strategic-planning-framework” for diffusion of innovative in a distance learning program (Course-Technovation). The framework is based on literature review and field visits encompassing integrated “E-commerce-model-driven architecture” embedded with business intelligence and coupled with eERP-design functionalities.
Neocortical 40 Hz oscillations during carbachol‐induced rapid eye movement sleep and cataplexy

Higher cognitive functions require the integration and coordination of large populations of neurons in cortical and subcortical regions. Oscillations in the gamma band (30–45 Hz) of the electroencephalogram (EEG) have been involved in these cognitive functions. In previous studies, we analysed the extent of functional connectivity between cortical areas employing the ‘mean squared coherence' analysis of the EEG gamma band. We demonstrated that gamma coherence is maximal during alert wakefulness and is almost absent during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The nucleus pontis oralis (NPO) is critical for REM sleep generation. The NPO is considered to exert executive control over the initiation and maintenance of REM sleep. In the cat, depending on the previous state of the animal, a single microinjection of carbachol (a cholinergic agonist) into the NPO can produce either REM sleep [REM sleep induced by carbachol (REMc)] or a waking state with muscle atonia, i.e. cataplexy [cataplexy induced by carbachol (CA)]. In the present study, in cats that were implanted with electrodes in different cortical areas to record polysomnographic activity, we compared the degree of gamma (30–45 Hz) coherence during REMc, CA and naturally‐occurring behavioural states. Gamma coherence was maximal during CA and alert wakefulness. In contrast, gamma coherence was almost absent during REMc as in naturally‐occurring REM sleep. We conclude that, in spite of the presence of somatic muscle paralysis, there are remarkable differences in cortical activity between REMc and CA, which confirm that EEG gamma (≈40 Hz) coherence is a trait that differentiates wakefulness from REM sleep.
How politics matters for EU funds’ absorption problems – a fuzzy-set analysis

ABSTRACT This article explores the role of politics for member states’ absorption problems of European Union (EU) funds. Existing research relies solely on the influence of administrative capacities, but more recent evidence points at the additional relevance of politics as the party politicization of the implementation process. Drawing on this evidence, I argue that parties alternating in control of EU funds change implementation priorities and even management staff according to their preferences. These changes interrupt implementation, weaken capacities, and thereby also contribute to absorption problems. The argument is tested in a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of 17 operational programmes building large infrastructure in the new member states of the EU. The results strongly support a role of frequent party alternation and low capacities leading in conjunction to absorption problems. Low capacities are found to be an important, but crucially not a sufficient condition for absorption problems.
Perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in cataract surgery.

PURPOSE To review the rationale for various methods of perioperative prophylaxis in elective cataract surgery. METHODS The surgical and ophthalmologic literature is reviewed to determine accepted principles for the use of perioperative prophylactic agents in clean elective surgical procedures. RESULTS After an assessment of the nonophthalmic surgical literature, specific principles are applied to the use of antimicrobial agents in perioperative prophylaxis of cataract surgery. Current practice patterns and specific techniques of perioperative prophylaxis are scrutinized. The emerging problem of antimicrobial resistance in the world and specifically in ophthalmology is addressed. Recommendations are offered balancing the needs of the individual patient with the best interests of society as a whole. CONCLUSION Potent therapeutic agents should be reserved for therapy. A method of perioperative prophylaxis is suggested, with a stratified approach indicated in selected circumstances. A clear consensus is probably not possible with divergent views expressed.
Analysis of Chromatin Attachment and Partitioning Functions of Bovine Papillomavirus Type 1 E2 Protein

ABSTRACT Recent studies have suggested that the tethering of viral genomes to host cell chromosomes could provide one of the ways to achieve their nuclear retention and partitioning during extrachromosomal maintenance in dividing cells. The data we present here provide firm evidence that the partitioning of the bovine papillomavirus type 1 (BPV1) genome is dependent on the chromatin attachment process mediated by viral E2 protein and its multiple binding sites. On the other hand, the attachment of E2 and the E2-mediated tethering of reporter plasmids to host chromosomes are not necessarily sufficient for efficient partitioning, suggesting that additional E2-dependent activities might be involved in the latter process. The activity of E2 protein in chromatin attachment and partitioning is more sensitive to the point mutations in the N-terminal domain than its transactivation and replication initiation functions. Therefore, at least part of the interactions of the E2 N-terminal domain with its targets during the chromatin attachment and partitioning processes are likely to involve specific receptors not involved in transactivation and replication activities of the protein. The mutational analysis also indicates that the binding of E2 to chromatin is not achieved through interaction of linear N-terminal subsequences of the E2 protein with putative receptors. Instead, the composite surface elements of the N-terminal domain build up the receptor-binding surface of E2. In this regard, the interaction of BPV1 E2 with its chromosomal targets clearly differs from the interactions of LANA1 protein from Kaposi's sarcoma-associated human herpesvirus and EBNA1 from Epstein-Barr virus with their specific receptors.
Personalized recommender system based on social relations

Advent of the Social Web and the ever increasing popularity of Web 2.0 applications, has led to a massive amount of information. Therefore, users have difficulties in finding their desired information according to their interests and preferences. To address this issue, recommender systems have been emerged. These systems try to provide users with the most relevant and suitable information they need by investigating their preferences as well as their demographic information. With the growing development of social networks and the number of users in them, the value of information in these systems has also increased. This information in social networks can be used to improve the precision of recommender systems. In this paper we present a novel recommender system that makes use of user's social relationships in two levels: computing the similarity between them and identifying user's neighbors set. Our experimental results show that the proposed model outperforms Collaborative Filtering (CF) based recommender system in terms of recommendation accuracy.
Clemastine Enhances Myelination in the Prefrontal Cortex and Rescues Behavioral Changes in Socially Isolated Mice

Altered myelin structure and oligodendrocyte function have been shown to correlate with cognitive and motor dysfunction and deficits in social behavior. We and others have previously demonstrated that social isolation in mice induced behavioral, transcriptional, and ultrastructural changes in oligodendrocytes of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, whether enhancing myelination and oligodendrocyte differentiation could be beneficial in reversing such changes remains unexplored. To test this hypothesis, we orally administered clemastine, an antimuscarinic compound that has been shown to enhance oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination in vitro, for 2 weeks in adult mice following social isolation. Clemastine successfully reversed social avoidance behavior in mice undergoing prolonged social isolation. Impaired myelination was rescued by oral clemastine treatment, and was associated with enhanced oligodendrocyte progenitor differentiation and epigenetic changes. Clemastine induced higher levels of repressive histone methylation (H3K9me3), a marker for heterochromatin, in oligodendrocytes, but not neurons, of the PFC. This was consistent with the capability of clemastine in elevating H3K9 histone methyltransferases activity in cultured primary mouse oligodendrocytes, an effect that could be antagonized by cotreatment with muscarine. Our data suggest that promoting adult myelination is a potential strategy for reversing depressive-like social behavior. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Oligodendrocyte development and myelination are highly dynamic processes influenced by experience and neuronal activity. However, whether enhancing myelination and oligodendrocyte differentiation is beneficial to treat depressive-like behavior has been unexplored. Mice undergoing prolonged social isolation display impaired myelination in the prefrontal cortex. Clemastine, a Food and Drug Administration-approved antimuscarinic compound that has been shown to enhance myelination under demyelinating conditions, successfully reversed social avoidance behavior in adult socially isolated mice. This was associated with enhanced myelination and oligodendrocyte differentiation in the prefrontal cortex through epigenetic regulation. Thus, enhancing myelination may be a potential means of reversing depressive-like social behavior.
Perivascular cells as mesenchymal stem cells

Importance of the field: Mesenchymal stem cells are multipotent adult stem cell populations that have broad differentiation plasticity and immunosuppressive potential that render them of great importance in cell-based therapies. They are identified by in vitro characteristics based on their differentiation potential for clinical approaches while their biological properties and in vivo identities are often less understood. Areas covered in this review: Recent research carried out in the last decade on mesenchymal stem cell biology suggests that mesenchymal stem cells from various tissues reside in a perivascular location and these can be identified as pericytes that function as mural cells in microvessels. What the reader will gain: This review covers recent progress on understanding the link between pericytes and mesenchymal stem cells discussing specific points such as response to injury and tissue-specific functions. Take home message: Despite a long and controversial history, there is a growing acceptance that perivascular cells are connected with mesenchymal stem cells, all that is really lacking is genetic evidence to show differentiation of pericytes into different cells types.
Does loss of consciousness predict neuropsychological decrements after concussion?

OBJECTIVE To investigate the importance of loss of consciousness (LOC) in predicting neuropsychological test performance in a large sample of patients with head injury. DESIGN Retrospective comparison of neuropsychological test results for patients who suffered traumatic LOC, no LOC, or uncertain LOC. SETTING Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. PATIENTS The total number of patients included in this study was 383. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Neuropsychological test measures, including the visual reproduction, digit span, and logical memory subtests of the Wechsler memory scale (revised), the Trail Making test, Wisconsin Card Sorting test, Hopkins Verbal Learning test, Controlled Oral Word Association, and the Galveston Orientation and Amnesia test (GOAT). RESULTS No significant differences were found between the LOC, no LOC, or uncertain LOC groups for any of the neuropsychological measures used. Patients who had experienced traumatic LOC did not perform more poorly on neuropsychological testing than those with no LOC or uncertain LOC. All three groups demonstrated mildly decreased performance on formal tests of speed of information processing, attentional process, and memory. CONCLUSION The results of this study cast doubt on the importance of LOC as a predictor of neuropsychological test performance during the acute phase of recovery from mild traumatic brain injury. Neuropsychological testing procedures have been shown to be sensitive in measuring cognitive sequelae of mild traumatic brain injury (concussion) in athletes. The failure of this study to find any relationship between LOC and neuropsychological functioning in a large sample of patients with mild head trauma calls into question the assignment of primary importance to LOC in grading severity of concussion. This study also does not provide support for the use of guidelines that rely heavily on LOC in making return-to-play decisions. Continued research is necessary to determine the relative importance of markers of concussion in athletes.
Management Challenges For Tomorrows Leaders

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The increasing incidence of coronary artery disease and cardiovascular risk factors among a Southwest Native American tribe: the White Mountain Apache Heart Study.

BACKGROUND Rates of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors seem to be increasing in American Indian populations, yet these changes have received little documentation. OBJECTIVES To evaluate incidence rates of coronary artery disease, acute myocardial infarction, and cardiac events during a 10-year period (1987-1996); to assess cardiac risk factors for an American Indian tribe in Arizona. METHODS A retrospective medical chart review was performed for tribal members from January 1, 1987-December 31, 1996. Patient records with even minor indications of coronary disease were reviewed independently by 2 cardiologists of the Native American Cardiology Program. Multiple databases were reviewed in an effort to find all diagnoses, and incidence rates were calculated and analyzed for increasing trends. Cardiac risk factors were assessed in a population convenience sample. RESULTS From 1987 through 1996, the number of incident cases increased from 3 to 18 for coronary artery disease, 1 to 10 for acute myocardial infarction, and 3 to 26 for cardiac events. Statistically significant increasing trends were calculated for each. Of our youthful convenience sample, 49% had 2 or more cardiac risk factors. CONCLUSIONS This study confirms increasing rates of coronary artery disease and its comorbidities in this American Indian population and demonstrates high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among tribal members without extant coronary disease. This suggests that coronary disease will likely continue to increase as this population ages. To prevent such increases, culturally appropriate, aggressive preventive interventions are needed.
Combining decision support methodologies to diagnose pneumonia

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the performance of a computerized decision support system that combines two different decision support methodologies (a Bayesian network and a natural language understanding system) for the diagnosis of patients with pneumonia. DESIGN Evaluation study using data from a prospective, clinical study. PATIENTS All patients 18 years and older who presented to the emergency department of a tertiary care setting and whose chest x-ray report was available during the encounter. METHODS The computerized decision support system calculated a probability of pneumonia using information provided by the two systems. Outcome measures were the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, likelihood ratios, and test effectiveness. RESULTS During the 3-month study period there were 742 patients (45 with pneumonia). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.881 (95% CI: 0.822, 0.925) for the Bayesian network alone and 0.916 (95% CI: 0.869, 0.949) for the Bayesian network combined with the natural language understanding system (p=0.01). CONCLUSION Combining decision support methodologies that process information stored in different data formats can increase the performance of a computerized decision support system.
Prevalence of oral health problems in a group of individuals with Down syndrome in France

This cross‐sectional study describes oral health problems in a sample of children with Down syndrome (DS) compared with their siblings. Data were collected using the Oral Assessment ‐ Down Syndrome questionnaire, a validated French language evaluation to be completed by the child's carer. Parents attending a national meeting anonymously answered a questionnaire for their child with DS and for the sibling closest in age and returned their replies by post. Data concerning 204 individuals with DS (103 males, 101 females; mean age 9.6 years) and 161 of their siblings (80 males, 81 females; mean age 11.8 years) were returned. The association between DS status, age, and oral health was analysed. There was a greater frequency of oral health problems in those with DS with regard to function, clinical signs, disability, and development. The prevalence of chewing problems did not improve with age, the prevalence of bleeding gums and mouth breathing increased with age, and that of tongue protrusion reduced with age. Most parents rated the general and oral health of their children with DS highly, although worse than for their siblings.
Usefulness of ribotyping in a molecular epidemiology study of shigellosis

SUMMARY Ribotyping performed with six restriction endonucleases was used to study the molecular epidemiology of shigellosis in Asturias, Spain. The series included Shigella sonnei from 34 sporadic cases, 3 outbreaks and 3 reference strains, and S. flexneri from 13 sporadic cases and 1 reference strain. The S. sonnei strains were grouped into 5 ribotypes with Sal I, 4 with Hind III and Pvu II, 3 with Bgl II and EcoR I and 2 with Hinc II (Discriminatory Index (DI) between 0·54 and 0·14); the S. flexneri into 5 ribotypes with Sal I, Hinc II and Hind III, and 4 with the other enzymes (DI = 0·71–0·63). The combination of results for 2 or more enzymes facilitated an additional discrimination, the highest values in S. sonnei were for the 6 enzymes (16 types, DI = 0·91) and in S. flexneri for some combinations of 3 or more enzymes (7 types, DI = 0·81). Ribotypes with the 6 enzymes defined 16 clonal lines in S. sonnei and 7 in S. flexneri, which showed a different degree of genetic heterogeneity, and all the lines of each species falling into a different cluster. No line appeared as clearly endemic in the bowels of Asturian people.