Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuronal substrate of the saccadic inhibition deficit in schizophrenia investigated with 3-dimensional event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging.

BACKGROUND Several studies have shown that the ability to suppress automatic saccadic eye movements is impaired in patients with schizophrenia as well as in their first-degree relatives, and suggest that this impairment is a potential vulnerability marker for schizophrenia. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying normal saccade production and inhibition, revealed in primate studies, indicate that the impairment may result from a failure of the oculomotor system to effectively exert inhibitory control over brainstem structures. Functional localization of the affected brain structure(s) potentially provides a physiological measure for the investigation of vulnerability markers in schizophrenia. METHODS The hemodynamic response to discrete visual stimuli was measured during prosaccades (saccades toward a peripheral stimulus), antisaccades (saccades toward a position opposite to a peripheral stimulus), and active fixation (holding fixation and ignoring a peripheral stimulus) in 16 patients with schizophrenia receiving atypical neuroleptics and 17 healthy control subjects using an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging task design. RESULTS Brain responses were detected in the frontal and parietal regions of the oculomotor system in all 3 tasks. Patients made more errors during inhibition tasks and exhibited a selective failure to activate the striatum during the inhibition of saccades. In other regions that were active during inhibition, specifically the supplementary and frontal eye fields, no difference was found between patients and control subjects. CONCLUSIONS A frontostriatal network is engaged in the suppression of automatic eye movements. The results indicate that abnormalities in this network, rather than the selective dysfunction of prefrontal brain regions, underlie the saccade inhibition deficit in schizophrenia.
Major Age Group-Specific Differences in Conjunctival Bacteria and Evolution of Antimicrobial Resistance Revealed by Laboratory Data Surveillance

Purpose: We hypothesized that observation and analysis of microbiological laboratory statistics from patients with suspected bacterial conjunctivitis should increase our understanding of microbiological epidemiology of the disease in age categories. We further assumed that the statistical data should expose evolution of antimicrobial resistance that may eventually have an influence on clinical decisions. Materials and Methods: We analyzed statistical data of bacterial isolates (1139 strains) and their resistance to common antibiotics from 2494 patients with suspected bacterial conjunctivitis. Results: Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Staphylococcus aureus displayed their presence in 0- to 5-year-old children. Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the most common in the elderly (>age 70) among whom a rapid increase in resistance of Staphylococcus aureus to methicillin (MRSA) was recognized. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that the spectrum of conjunctival bacteria varies among age groups. In addition, our results confirm that a shift in antimicrobial susceptibility can be rapid and age-group specific, thus emphasizing the need for continuous surveillance of bacterial findings.
Variation of stereoscopic acuity with observation distance.

The stereoscopic acuity of five subjects was investigated in two consecutive and related studies. In the first one a modified horopter apparatus was used and the stereoscopic acuity was determined, at a mean retinal locus of 4° to the left of the fovea, at the 333- and 1000-mm observation distances. Two types of fixations were used, and the exposure time was kept above 1 sec. The results indicated a significant variation of the stereoscopic acuity with observation distance. In the second investigation a haploscopic apparatus was used to study the stereoscopic acuity at a mean retinal locus of 4° and 12° to the left of the fovea, at 500, 750, 1000, 1500, and 2000 mm for the 4° and at 500, 750, and 1000 mm for the 12° locations. The duration of the stimulus was accurately controlled by a mirror-shutter. The exposure times used were 0.05, 0.10, 1.00, and 2.00 sec. Fixation was central and all known physical variables were kept constant. The results again indicated a significant variation of the stereoscopic acuity with the observation distance. The possible implications of this finding are discussed.
Flood Risk Assessment: A Methodological Framework

The concepts of hazard, vulnerability and risk have been extensively used in various disciplines with a different meaning, impeding cross-disciplinary cooperation for facing hazardous events. Even for natural hazards, such as floods, no unique definitions and assessment procedures have been widely accepted. In this paper we propose a comprehensive way for defining and assessing flood risk and vulnerability in the flood-prone areas. The suggested methodology follows a three-step assessment approach: a) annualised hazard incorporating both probabilities of occurrence and the anticipated potential damages b) vulnerability (exposure and coping capacity) in the flood-prone areas and c) annualised flood risk (estimated on annual basis). The methodology aims to assist water managers and stakeholders in devising rational flood protecting strategies.
Déplacement de paroi de domaine par transfert de spin dans des jonctions tunnel magnétiques : application au memristor spintronique

Dans le contexte actuel des technologies de l’information, le traitement sequentiel effectue par les ordinateurs d’architecture classique bute sur des problematiques de consommation d’energie. En s’inspirant de la nature, et tout particulierement du cerveau, une solution alternative apparait a travers les reseaux de neurones artificiels. Dans ce cadre, la realisation de nano-composants, appeles memristors, qui miment la plasticite synaptique, permet grâce a leur taille nanometrique d’envisager la realisation de reseaux neuronaux densement interconnectes. Dans ce travail de these, notre interet est porte sur la realisation d’un tel composant, defini comme une nano-resistance variable et non-volatile, et dont le fonctionnement repose sur le principe de la spintronique (ou l’utilisation du spin des electrons comme vecteur d’information), qui presente les avantages de compatibilite avec les technologies actuelles (CMOS, MRAM, …etc). En utilisant une jonction tunnel magnetique, le concept de memristor spintronique repose sur le deplacement d’une paroi de domaine magnetique par transfert de spin, ou chaque position de paroi defini un etat de resistance intermediaire. Afin de maitriser les variations de resistance du dispositif memristif spintronique, l’etude des proprietes statiques et dynamiques de la paroi de domaine sous l’influence d’un courant polarise en spin est requise. Grâce a l’etude du deplacement et de la resonance de la paroi dans des systemes a aimantations planaires, comprenant un nombre limite de 3 etats intermediaires de resistance, nous avons pu etablir un premier bilan (temps de commutation du dispositif inferieur a la nanoseconde et mis en avant d’un phenomene de ‘sur-amortissement’). En s’appuyant sur ces travaux preliminaires, nous avons par la suite optimise des jonctions tunnel magnetiques a aimantations perpendiculaires, pour lesquels d’une part le nombre d’etats intermediaires de resistance se voit fortement augmenter (entre 15 et 20 etats), autorisant l’utilisation de ce dispositif memristif spintronique pour la realisation de tâches neuromorphiques. D’autre part, ce dispositif est optimise pour exploiter le couple de transfert de spin le plus efficace afin de deplacer la paroi de domaine.
Growth mechanisms to explain the primary and secondary habits of snow crystals

Abstract By estimating the diffusion field adjacent to growing snow crystals and using a variety of ice crystal growth data, it is shown that most observations of snow crystal habits above -22°C are explained by dislocation-promoted growth at small sizes and low supersaturations, but otherwise layer nucleation controls the growth habits in agreement with the Knight-Frank theory. The formation of capped columns, crown crystals, and hollowed crystals, and the growth rates of needles and dendrites also fit predictions of the theory. The analysis suggests that dendrites at water saturation retain small facets at their growing tips. Below -22°C, the available data together with predicted trends of the edge energy show that spiral steps and layer nucleation can explain why both tabular and columnar forms grow at the same temperature but different supersaturations. Other growth mechanisms that were proposed in the past, such as step speed variations, surface phase transitions and adatom migration across crystal edges are incapable of explaining the wide variety of available habit data.
Comparison of Ferucarbotran-Enhanced MRI and Triple-Phase MDCT for the Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Advanced Liver Cirrhosis

Purpose: To compare the diagnostic performance of ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI at 1.5-T with triple-phase multidetector-row helical CT (MDCT) to detect hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis. Materials and Methods: Twenty patients with advanced liver cirrhosis (Child’s class B:C = 8:12) underwent ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI and triple-phase MDCT prior to liver transplantation. The mean time interval between the two imaging techniques was 18 days (range, 1- 35 days). Three radiologists independently reviewed both images on a lesion-by-lesion basis and interpreted them for comparison with the pathologic findings of the explanted livers. As well, the sensitivity and an alternative-free response receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of each technique. Results: The mean area under the ROC curve (Az) was significantly higher for the triple-phase MDCT (0.766) compared to the ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI (0.675) (p < 0.001). Similarly, the mean sensitivity of the triple-phase MDCT (60.3%) exceeded the ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI (43.1%). The results indicate that the triple-phase MDCT provides significantly greater mean sensitivity than the ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The triple-phase MDCT provided a better diagnostic performance and higher sensitivity than the ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI for the detection of hepatocellular carcinomas in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis.
A novel role for activating transcription factor-2 in 15(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid-induced angiogenesis** This work was supported by a grant (EY014856) from the National Eye Institute/National Institutes of Health. Published, JLR Papers in Press, October 10, 2008

To investigate the mechanisms underlying 15(S)-HETE-induced angiogenesis, we have studied the role of the small GTPase, Rac1. We find that 15(S)-HETE activated Rac1 in human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (HRMVEC) in a time-dependent manner. Blockade of Rac1 by adenovirus-mediated expression of its dominant negative mutant suppressed HRMVEC migration as well as tube formation and Matrigel plug angiogenesis. 15(S)-HETE stimulated Src in HRMVEC in a time-dependent manner and blockade of its activation inhibited 15(S)-HETE-induced Rac1 stimulation in HRMVEC and the migration and tube formation of these cells as well as Matrigel plug angiogenesis. 15(S)-HETE stimulated JNK1 in Src-Rac1-dependent manner in HRMVEC and adenovirus-mediated expression of its dominant negative mutant suppressed the migration and tube formation of these cells and Matrigel plug angiogenesis. 15(S)-HETE activated ATF-2 in HRMVEC in Src-Rac1-JNK1-dependent manner and interference with its activation via adenovirus-mediated expression of its dominant negative mutant abrogated migration and tube formation of HRMVEC and Matrigel plug angiogenesis. In addition, 15(S)-HETE-induced MEK1 stimulation was found to be dependent on Src-Rac1 activation. Blockade of MEK1 activation inhibited 15(S)-HETE-induced JNK1 activity and ATF-2 phosphorylation. Together, these findings show that 15(S)-HETE activates ATF-2 via the Src-Rac1-MEK1-JNK1 signaling axis in HRMVEC leading to their angiogenic differentiation.
Pulmonary rehabilitation programmes in the UK: a national representative survey

Background: Respiratory disease is a common cause of disability in middle and late life. Pulmonary rehabilitation programmes improve exercise capacity and quality of life in patients with chronic lung diseases. However, currently, in the UK the availability of pulmonary rehabilitation programmes and their characteristics are unknown. Methods: We surveyed pulmonary rehabilitation programmes in terms of number, size, duration, content of educational and exercise programme, and staffing. We mailed a 17-item questionnaire previously used in Canadian study to 190 physiotherapy departments within acute hospitals in UK. Results: One hundred and seventy-one (90%) responses were received. Sixty-eight centres (40%) run a pulmonary rehabilitation programme (99% outpatient). Mean age of subjects was]=70 in only seven centres (10%), though most cited no upper age limit. Ninety-nine per cent of centres incorporated exercise training. Programmes recruited a median group size of 10 patients (range 4 - 17) at a given time with a median duration of eight weeks (range 5 - 24) weeks. Most (71%) run twice per week with a duration of 2 hours (63%). Only half offered smoking cessation support, and a minority gave advice on coping with disease, travel and sexual matters. Conclusion: Around 40% of surveyed hospitals run a pulmonary rehabilitation programme and most of the programmes are similar in their format, content and staffing. Despite the high prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-related disability in old age most programmes chiefly included younger subjects. This may reflect lack of referral. Greater awareness and expansion of availability of programmes is indicated.
A compartmental model describing changes in progesterone concentrations during the oestrous cycle

The objective of this study was to develop a mathematical model that accurately describes the rise and decline in plasma progesterone concentrations, and is able to define parameters describing progesterone appearance and disappearance during the bovine oestrous cycle. Daily plasma progesterone data from 27 cows were used to develop a compartmental model consisting of an appearance function and an appearance modulating function. Model outputs included an apparent appearance or secretion duration, appearance rate and an average disappearance rate (expressed as arbitrary units per day; units/d). Shape-based clustering identified three common shape-based groups (or clusters) of progesterone profiles defined as either ‘peaked’ profile, with the profile reaching a distinguishable peak, 'structured', with the profile exhibiting a wave-like pattern, or ‘flat top’, with the profile reaching a plateau. Differences in the model parameters for the three different shapes of progesterone profiles were examined: peaked (n=13), flat top (n=7) and structured (n=7). The mean duration of apparent appearance was 11·49 (sd 0·17 d) for all 27 profiles. The model estimates for total appearance of progesterone (area under the curve; ng/ml per cycle), mean appearance rate and maximum appearance rate were 69·04 ng/ml per cycle (sd 15·2 ng/ml per cycle), 3·19 ng/ml per cycle (sd 0·7 ng/ml per d) and 6·70 ng/ml (sd 1·31 ng/ml), respectively. The average disappearance rate was 1·0 units/d (sd 0·04 units/d). The apparent appearance duration was greatest (P<0·01) in the flat top profiles (12·54, sd 0·41 d) followed by the structured (11·77, sd 0·66 d) and the peaked (10·80, sd 0·30 d) profiles. Total and mean progesterone appearance, maximum progesterone appearance rate, and the progesterone disappearance rates were not different between the profiles. The model successfully simulated all components of the progesterone profile and was able to define specific parameters of different shaped progesterone profiles. A simple model able to estimate parameters describing progesterone appearance and disappearance can be used to explore the relationships between profile shapes and reproductive outcomes.
Comparaison d’architectures neuronales pour l’analyse syntaxique en constituants

L’article traite de l’analyse syntaxique lexicalisée pour les grammaires de constituants. On se place dans le cadre de l’analyse par transitions. Les modèles statistiques généralement utilisés pour cette tâche s’appuient sur une représentation non structurée du lexique. Les mots du vocabulaire sont représentés par des symboles discrets sans liens entre eux. À la place, nous proposons d’utiliser des représentations denses du type plongements (embeddings) qui permettent de modéliser la similarité entre symboles, c’est-à-dire entre mots, entre parties du discours et entre catégories syntagmatiques. Nous proposons d’adapter le modèle statistique sous-jacent à ces nouvelles représentations. L’article propose une étude de 3 architectures neuronales de complexité croissante et montre que l’utilisation d’une couche cachée non-linéaire permet de tirer parti des informations données par les plongements.
Improving the index structure with hierarchical techniques in time-series databases

The R*-tree, as a state-of-the-art spatial index, has already been applied in many fields. But in high-dimensional space its performance is not better than sequential scan algorithm. To solve time-series retrieval problem, we introduce a new index structure—Hierarchical Index Tree. Each time-series of database is divided into several segments with same length, each segment of which corresponds to a cell-tree similar to R*-Tree. Based on the proposed structure, we introduce the corresponding insertion and retrieval algorithm respectively. And we prove no false dismissals for the algorithms. Extensive experiments reveal that Hierarchical Index Tree is superior to the traditional retrieval methods when the dimension of time-series is high.
Staphylococcus aureus community-onset pneumonia in patients admitted to children's hospitals during autumn and winter of 2006–2007

SUMMARY Staphylococcus aureus is a relatively uncommon cause of community-onset pneumonia (COP) that may complicate influenza infection. We reviewed admissions to children's hospitals to describe more systematically this entity. Records of patients hospitalized at three children's hospitals between 1 October 2006 and 30 April 2007 who had a positive S. aureus culture from a sterile site or respiratory specimen were reviewed and data were abstracted for episodes of primary S. aureus COP. Overall, 30 episodes met criteria for primary S. aureus COP; 12 (41%) involved methicillin-resistant S. aureus. Patients in 11 (37%) episodes were seen by a healthcare provider for their symptoms prior to hospital admission; three received an antimicrobial, none of which had activity against the S. aureus isolated. Mechanical ventilation was required in 21 (70%) episodes; five (17%) patients died. When evaluating patients with severe COP, providers should be aware of the potential for S. aureus, including methicillin-resistant strains.
Apoptosis and the thymic microenvironment in murine lupus.

The thymus of New Zealand black (NZB) mice undergoes premature involution. In addition, cultured thymic epithelial cells from NZB mice undergo accelerated preprogrammed degeneration. NZB mice also have distinctive and well-defined abnormalities of thymic architecture involving stromal cells, defined by staining with monoclonal antibodies specific for the thymic microenvironment. We took advantage of these findings, as well as our large panel of monoclonal antibodies which recognize thymic stroma, to study the induction of apoptosis in the thymus of murine lupus and including changes of epithelial architecture. We studied NZB, MRL/lpr, BXSB/Yaa, C3H/gld mice and BALB/c and C57BL/6 as control mice. Apoptosis was studied both at basal levels and following induction with either dexamethasone or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The apoptotic cells were primarily found in the thymic cortex, and the frequency of apoptosis in murine lupus was less than 20% of controls. Moreover, all strains of murine lupus had severe abnormalities of the cortical network. These changes were not accentuated by dexamethasone treatment in cultured thymocytes. However, the thymus in murine lupus was less susceptible to LPS-induced apoptosis than control mice. Finally we note that the number of thymic nurse cells (TNC) was lowest in NZB mice. Our findings demonstrate significant abnormalities in the induction of apoptosis and the formation of TNC-like epithelial cells in SLE mice, and suggest that the abnormalities of the thymic microenvironment have an important role in the pathogenesis of murine lupus.
Why are we doing so little clinical research? Part 1: Clinical descriptive research.

Family medicine is a clinical discipline. So why are so few family physicians doing clinical research? Certainly there are notable exceptions to that generalization. But if you look at our publication record as a whole, clinical descriptive research is only a small part. Yet it is an important issue, with consequences for our place in medical schools. In this editorial, I want to address this issue and hope to stimulate discussion about how we can raise the profile of this field of research. I will define clinical descriptive research, discuss the four cornerstones on which it is built, suggest some reasons for our neglect, and try to convey the rich opportunities that exist in our day-to-day clinical experiences. Our neglect of clinical research is puzzling. Of all types of research, this area is for clinicians the most fitting, the most practical, and the most enjoyable. We are also heirs to a rich tradition of clinical research in general practice. It is fitting because it can be part and parcel of our clinical practice and need not require blocks of segregated time. Once we have decided which patients to study, it will add only a few minutes to the consulting time for these patients and will add some record keeping. Because our interventions are no different from our usual care, clinical research does not pose ethical problems. Although it does need thought and preparation, it does not call for complicated research designs. Because we do not need research assistants, large grants are not necessar y. Clinical research is enjoyable because we are looking at our own work and our own patients. If you look very closely at a group of your patients over time, I can almost promise that you will find things that are not in the books or that are in the books but are wrong. As a result you will experience the joy of discovery.
Mutations other than null mutations producing a pathogenic loss of progranulin in frontotemporal dementia

Null mutations in the progranulin gene (GRN, PGRN) were recently identified as the causal mechanism underlying frontotemporal dementia (FTD) with ubiquitin‐positive brain pathology linked to chromosome 17 (FTDU‐17). In a Belgian and French FTD series comprising 332 patients, we reported 13 PGRN null mutations which were mainly nonsense and frameshift mutations resulting in premature stop codons. Here we report in the same patient series three missense mutations of which two (c.743C>T, p.Pro248Leu and c.1294C>T, p.Arg432Cys) were predicted in silico to severely affect protein folding and/or processing leading to PGRN protein haploinsufficiency. In addition, we observed three sequence variations in the 5' regulatory region that might potentially affect PGRN transcription activity. Our findings extend the mutation spectrum in PGRN leading to loss of functional PGRN as the basis for FTD. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.