bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A durable gain in motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease following repeated caloric vestibular stimulation: A single-case study
Authors: Wilkinson David , Podlewska Aleksandra , Sakel Mohamed 
Published: March 2016

OBJECTIVE: To gain ‘first-in-man’ evidence that repeated caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS), a non-invasive form of neuro-modulation, can induce a lasting and clinically-relevant reduction in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) symptoms. METHODS: A 70 yr old male, diagnosed with PD 7 years prior to study enrolment, self-administered CVS at home 2×20 minutes per day for three months using a solid-state portable device. Standardised neuropsychological assessments of motor, cognitive, affective and independent function were carried out prior to stimulation, at the start and end of the sham (month 1) and active (months 2–3) phases, and 5 months post-stimulation. RESULTS: Relative to the pre-stimulation baseline, behavioural improvements that exceeded the minimal detectable change were observed on the EQ5D, Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, Schwab and England scale, 2 minute walk, Timed up and go, Non-motor symptom assessment scale for PD, Montreal cognitive assessment, Hospital depression scale and Epworth sleepiness scale. The level of change exceeded the threshold for a minimal clinically important difference on all scales for which a threshold has been published. By contrast, little improvement was seen during the sham (i.e. placebo) phase. CONCLUSION: Caloric vestibular stimulation may offer a novel, home-based method of relieving everyday symptoms of PD, and merits further evaluative study.
Cross-validation of oxygen uptake prediction during walking in ambulatory persons with multiple sclerosis
Authors: Agiovlasitis Stamatis , Motl Robert W. 
Published: March 2016

BACKGROUND: An equation for predicting the gross oxygen uptake (gross-VO2) during walking for persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been developed. Predictors included walking speed and total score from the 12-Item Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale (MSWS-12). OBJECTIVE: This study examined the validity of this prediction equation in another sample of persons with MS. METHODS: Participants were 18 persons with MS with limited mobility problems (42 ± 13 years; 14 women). Participants completed the MSWS-12. Gross-VO2 was measured with open-circuit spirometry during treadmill walking at 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 mph (0.89, 1.34, and 1.79 m·s–1). REULTS: Absolute percent error was small: 8.3 ± 6.1% , 8.0 ± 5.6% , and 12.2 ± 9.0% at 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 mph, respectively. Actual gross-VO2 did not differ significantly from predicted gross-VO2 at 2.0 and 3.0 mph, but was significantly higher than predicted gross-VO2 at 4.0 mph ( p <  0.001). Bland-Altman plots indicated nearly zero mean difference between actual and predicted gross-VO2 with modest 95% confidence intervals at 2.0 and 3.0 mph, but there was some underestimation at 4.0 mph. CONCLUSIONS: Speed and MSWS-12 score provide valid prediction of gross-VO2 during treadmill walking at slow and moderate speeds in ambulatory persons with MS. However, there is a possibility of small underestimation for walking at 4.0 mph.
Neuronavigated left temporal continuous theta burst stimulation in chronic tinnitus
Authors: Schecklmann Martin , Giani Anette , Tupak Sara , Langguth Berthold , Raab Vincent , Polak Thomas , Várallyay Csanád , Großmann Wilma , Herrmann Martin J. , Fallgatter Andreas J. 
Published: March 2016

Purpose: Clinical effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in chronic tinnitus are moderate. More precise coil localisation strategies, innovative stimulation protocols, and identification of predictors for treatment response were proposed as promising attempts to enhance treatment efficacy. In this pilot study we investigated neuronavigated continuous theta burst TMS (cTBS). Methods: Twenty-three patients received neuronavigated cTBS over the left primary auditory cortex in a randomized sham-controlled trial (verum = 12; sham = 11). Treatment response was evaluated with tinnitus questionnaires and numeric rating scales. Immediate change in numeric rating scales during the first session was used as predictor for treatment response. Results: Tinnitus was significantly reduced after treatment, but there were no superior effects between verum vs. sham treatment. Immediate change in the first treatment session predicted the response to treatment only in the verum group. Conclusions: In our study, verum cTBS was not superior to sham which highlights the persistent need for improving non-invasive brain stimulation techniques for the treatment of tinnitus. Future research should focus on the transfer of positive single session effects to daily treatment trials.
Effect of using fluoxetine at different time windows on neurological functional prognosis after ischemic stroke
Authors: Guo Yi , He Yitao , Tang Bingshan , Ma Kefu , Cai Zhili , Zeng Siling , Zhang Ying , Jiang Xin 
Published: March 2016

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of using fluoxetine at different time intervals after ischemic stroke on neurological functional prognosis in China. Methods: The patients enrolled were randomly allocated to three groups. Group A received fluoxetine 20 mg/day immediately; group B received fluoxetine 20 mg/day 7 days after enrollment; and group C did not receive fluoxetine. The therapeutic duration of fluoxetine was 90 days and the follow-up period was 180 days. Results: The mean NIHSS score at day 90 was significantly lower in group A than group C ( P = 0.005), while at day 180, the mean score in group A was significantly lower than groups B and C ( P = 0.035, P = 0.000), respectively. The mean BI score at day 90 was significantly higher in group A than group C ( P = 0.001), while at day 180, the mean score in group A was significantly higher than groups B and C ( P = 0.036, P = 0.000), respectively. Regression analysis indicated that lower NIHSS score and higher BI score at day 180 were attributed to the early administration of fluoxetine. Conclusions: In patients with ischemic stroke, early administration of fluoxetine may improve the neurological functional prognosis.
Pre-conditioning with transcranial low-level light therapy reduces neuroinflammation and protects blood-brain barrier after focal cerebral ischemia in mice
Authors: Lee Hae In , Park Jung Hwa , Park Min Young , Kim Nam Gyun , Park Kyoung-Jun , Choi Byung Tae , Shin Yong-II , Shin Hwa Kyoung 
Published: March 2016

Purpose: Transcranial low-level light therapy (LLLT) has gained interest as a non-invasive, inexpensive and safe method of modulating neurological and psychological functions in recent years. This study was designed to examine the preventive effects of LLLT via visible light source against cerebral ischemia at the behavioral, structural and neurochemical levels. Methods: The mice received LLLT twice a day for 2 days prior to photothrombotic cortical ischemia. Results: LLLT significantly reduced infarct size and edema and improved neurological and motor function 24 h after ischemic injury. In addition, LLLT markedly inhibited Iba-1- and GFAP-positive cells, which was accompanied by a reduction in the expression of inflammatory mediators and inhibition of MAPK activation and NF- κB translocation in the ischemic cortex. Concomitantly, LLLT significantly attenuated leukocyte accumulation and infiltration into the infarct perifocal region. LLLT also prevented BBB disruption after ischemic events, as indicated by a reduction of Evans blue leakage and water content. These findings were corroborated by immunofluorescence staining of the tight junction-related proteins in the ischemic cortex in response to LLLT. Conclusions: Non-invasive intervention of LLLT in ischemic brain injury may provide a significant functional benefit with an underlying mechanism possibly being suppression of neuroinflammation and reduction of BBB disruption.
Kinematic measures for upper limb motor assessment during robot-mediated training in patients with severe sub-acute stroke
Authors: Duret Christophe , Courtial Ophélie , Grosmaire Anne Gaelle 
Published: March 2016

Purpose: Kinematic assessments are increasingly used as motor outcome measures during upper limb robot-assisted training, in addition to clinical scales. However, their relevance has not been evaluated much. Methods: Thirty-eight patients with severe sub-acute stroke (age 56 ± 17 [19–87] years; time since stroke, 55 ± 22 days) carried out 16 sessions (average 3/week, 35 ± 15 days) of upper limb robot-assisted training combined with standard therapy. Pre/post motor performance was evaluated using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale, Motor Status Scale (MSS) and kinematic measures. Motor outcomes were compared and relationships between clinical and kinematic outcomes were analyzed. Results: All clinical and kinematic outcomes improved after training ( p <  0.01). FM score increased from 17.7 ± 10.0 to 28.6 ± 15.4. All baseline kinematic measures were strongly correlated with clinical scores. Correlations between clinical and kinematic changes were moderate ( r = –0.65 for change in FM Proximal score and change in accuracy measure). However, smoothness and accuracy indicators were shown to be responsive measures. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that baseline kinematic measures and their pre/post training changes were significantly correlated with clinical motor outcome measures. However, even if kinematic measures are valid for the evaluation of motor impairment we cannot propose to substitute common clinical measures of motor function which also evaluate functional abilities of the upper limb.
The dynamic motor imagery of locomotion is task-dependent in patients with stroke
Authors: Fusco Augusto , Gallotta Maria Chiara , Iosa Marco , Morone Giovanni , Iasevoli Luigi , Trifoglio Domenica , Saraceni Vincenzo Maria , Paolucci Stefano , Baldari Carlo , Guidetti Laura 
Published: March 2016

Purpose: Recently, Motor Imagery (MI) has been associated with the execution of movements miming in part the mentally represented action (dynamic MI, dMI). Preliminary studies have reported as dMI may improve trainings in sport, with imagery timing close to the physical execution one. This study was aimed to investigate time and spatial parameters of dMI with actual locomotion in people with stroke. Methods: Twelve patients (stroke group, SG) were compared with twelve healthy elderly (elderly group, EG) and twenty young adults (young group, YG). Subjects performed mental representations of different walking (forward, FW; lateral, LW, backward, BW), accompanied or not by movements imitating walking (dMI and static MI, sMI). Then, they performed actual locomotion (AL). Outcome measures were related to the time and the number of steps spent for completing the tasks for all the given locomotor conditions. Results: Significant differences were found in patients with respect to healthy subjects, with time in sMI significantly shorter than in dMI ( p < 0.004) and AL ( p < 0.002), but not between dMI and AL in FW ( p = 0.806). In patients, times obtained in sMI and dMI was significantly shorter with respect to those of AL in LW and BW. Patients performed imagery tasks with similar times in all locomotion. Healthy groups did not reveal differences among tasks in BW, while significant differences were found in LW. Analogous results were found in terms of number of performed steps. Conclusions: In patients with stroke, a spatiotemporal functional equivalence with AL was found only for dMI, and not for sMI, in forward walking. This could be due to familiarity with this task. These results might have implications for the rehabilitative techniques based on MI.
Vascular insufficiency, not inflammation, contributes to chronic gliosis in a rat CNS transplantation model
Authors: Bates Kristyn A. , Drummond Eleanor S. , Cozens Greg S. , Harvey Alan R. 
Published: March 2016

Purpose: There is considerable variability in the extent and nature of the glial response to injury and neurodegeneration. Transplantation of fetal cortical tissue onto the brain of neonatal host rats or mice results in region-specific changes dependent on where the fetal tissue is placed. These changes include chronic astrocytic and microglial gliosis, oxidative stress, and altered metabolism of a number of proteins associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Such changes are only observed in heterotopic (cortex-to-midbrain) grafts and are not observed in homotopic cortex-to-cortex grafts. We investigated two possible triggers for the region-specific gliosis observed in our transplant model hypothesizing that either i) poor vascularization and lack of blood brain barrier integrity or ii) an inflammatory response initiated by the transplantation process, contributed to establishing chronic pathological changes. Methods: We analyzed the time course of neovascularization, blood brain barrier permeability and inflammation using a combination of immunohistochemistry, enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay and Evan’s blue dye extravasation techniques. Results: Blood brain barrier permeability and altered neovascularization occurred prior to the onset of gliosis in heterotopic grafts. Conclusion: These data suggest that ischemic conditions and blood brain barrier damage can be a primary mechanism that initiates chronic gliosis and associated inflammatory changes in central nervous system tissue.
COSMIC EVOLUTION OF LONG GAMMA-RAY BURST LUMINOSITY
Authors: Deng Can-Min , Wang Xiang-Gao , Guo Bei-Bei , Lu Rui-Jing , Wang Yuan-Zhu , Wei Jun-Jie , Wu Xue-Feng , Liang En-Wei 
Published: March 2016

ABSTRACT
The cosmic evolution of gamma-ray burst (GRB) luminosity is essential for revealing the GRB physics and for using GRBs as cosmological probes. We investigate the luminosity evolution of long GRBs with a large sample of 258 Swift/BAT GRBs. By describing the peak luminosity evolution of individual GRBs as

, we get

using the nonparametric τ statistics method without considering observational biases of GRB trigger and redshift measurement. By modeling these biases with the observed peak flux and characterizing the peak luminosity function of long GRBs as a smoothly broken power law with a break that evolves as

, we obtain

through simulations based on the assumption that the long GRB rate follows the star formation rate incorporating the cosmic metallicity history. The derived k and k
b values are systematically smaller than those reported in previous papers. By removing the observational biases of the GRB trigger and redshift measurement based on our simulation analysis, we generate mock complete samples of 258 and 1000 GRBs to examine how these biases affect the τ statistics method. We get

and

for the two samples, indicating that these observational biases may lead to overestimating the k value. With the large uncertainty of k
b derived from our simulation analysis, one cannot even convincingly argue for a robust evolution feature of the GRB luminosity.
TRACING THE EVOLUTION OF HIGH-REDSHIFT GALAXIES USING STELLAR ABUNDANCES
Authors: Crosby Brian D. , O’Shea Brian W. , Beers Timothy C. , Tumlinson Jason 
Published: March 2016

ABSTRACT
This paper presents the first results from a model for chemical evolution that can be applied to N-body cosmological simulations and quantitatively compared to measured stellar abundances from large astronomical surveys. This model convolves the chemical yield sets from a range of stellar nucleosynthesis calculations (including asymptotic giant branch stars, Type Ia and II supernovae, and stellar wind models) with a user-specified stellar initial mass function (IMF) and metallicity to calculate the time-dependent chemical evolution model for a “simple stellar population” (SSP) of uniform metallicity and formation time. These SSP models are combined with a semianalytic model for galaxy formation and evolution that uses merger trees from N-body cosmological simulations to track several α- and iron-peak elements for the stellar and multiphase interstellar medium components of several thousand galaxies in the early (z ≥ 6) universe. The simulated galaxy population is then quantitatively compared to two complementary data sets of abundances in the Milky Way stellar halo and is capable of reproducing many of the observed abundance trends. The observed abundance ratio distributions are best reproduced with a Chabrier IMF, a chemically enriched star formation efficiency of 0.2, and a redshift of reionization of 7. Many abundances are qualitatively well matched by our model, but our model consistently overpredicts the carbon-enhanced fraction of stars at low metallicities, likely owing to incomplete coverage of Population III stellar yields and supernova models and the lack of dust as a component of our model.
CONTEMPORANEOUS BROADBAND OBSERVATIONS OF THREE HIGH-REDSHIFT BL LAC OBJECTS
Authors: Ackermann M. , Ajello M. , An H. , Baldini L. , Barbiellini G. , Bastieri D. , Bellazzini R. , Bissaldi E. , Blandford R. D. , Bonino R. , Bregeon J. , Britto R. J. , Bruel P. , Buehler R. , Caliandro G. A. , Cameron R. A. , Caragiulo M. , Caraveo P. A. , Cavazzuti E. , Cecchi C. , Charles E. , Chekhtman A. , Chiaro G. , Ciprini S. , Cohen-Tanugi J. , Costanza F. , Cutini S. , D’Ammando F. , Angelis A. de , Palma F. de , Desiante R. , Mauro M. Di , Venere L. Di , Domínguez A. , Drell P. S. , Favuzzi C. , Fegan S. J. , Ferrara E. C. , Finke J. , Fusco P. , Gargano F. , Gasparrini D. , Giglietto N. , Giordano F. , Giroletti M. , Green D. , Grenier I. A. , Guiriec S. , Horan D. , Jóhannesson G. , Katsuragawa M. , Kuss M. , Larsson S. , Latronico L. , Li J. , Li L. , Longo F. , Loparco F. , Lovellette M. N. , Lubrano P. , Magill J. , Maldera S. , Manfreda A. , Mayer M. , Mazziotta M. N. , Michelson P. F. , Mirabal N. , Mitthumsiri W. , Mizuno T. , Monzani M. E. , Morselli A. , Moskalenko I. V. , Negro M. , Nuss E. , Ohsugi T. , Okada C. , Orlando E. , Paneque D. , Pesce-Rollins M. , Piron F. , Pivato G. , Porter T. A. , Rainò S. , Rando R. , Razzano M. , Reimer O. , Rau A. , Romani R. W. , Schady P. , Sgrò C. , Simone D. , Siskind E. J. , Spada F. , Spandre G. , Spinelli P. , Stern D. , Takahashi H. , Thayer J. B. , Torres D. F. , Tosti G. , Troja E. , Vianello G. , Wood K. S. , Wood M. 
Published: March 2016

ABSTRACT
We have collected broadband spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of three BL Lac objects 3FGL J0022.1−1855 (z = 0.689), 3FGL J0630.9−2406 (

1.239), and 3FGL J0811.2−7529 (z = 0.774), detected by Fermi with relatively flat gigaelectronvolt spectra. By observing simultaneously in the near-infrared to hard X-ray band, we can well characterize the high end of the synchrotron component of the SED. Thus, fitting the SEDs to synchro-Compton models of the dominant emission from the relativistic jet, we can constrain the underlying particle properties and predict the shape of the gigaelectronvolt Compton component. Standard extragalactic background light (EBL) models explain the high-energy absorption well, with poorer fits for high-ultraviolet models. The fits show clear evidence for EBL absorption in the Fermi spectrum of our highest-redshift source 3FGL J0630.9−2406. While synchrotron self-Compton models adequately describe the SEDs, the situation may be complicated by possible external Compton components. For 3FGL J0811.2−7529, we also discover a nearby serendipitous source in the X-ray data, which is almost certainly another lower synchrotron peak frequency (

) BL Lac, that may contribute flux in the Fermi band. Since our sources are unusual high-luminosity, moderate

BL Lacs, we compare these quantities and the Compton dominance, the ratio of peak inverse Compton to peak synchrotron luminosities (

), with those of the full Fermi BL Lac population.
LINE IDENTIFICATIONS OF TYPE I SUPERNOVAE: ON THE DETECTION OF Si II FOR THESE HYDROGEN-POOR EVENTS
Authors: Parrent J. T. , Milisavljevic D. , Soderberg A. M. , Parthasarathy M. 
Published: March 2016

ABSTRACT
Here we revisit line identifications of type I supernovae (SNe I) and highlight trace amounts of unburned hydrogen as an important free parameter for the composition of the progenitor. Most one-dimensional stripped-envelope models of supernovae indicate that observed features near 6000–6400 Å in type I spectra are due to more than Si ii λ6355. However, while an interpretation of conspicuous Si ii λ6355 can approximate 6150 Å absorption features for all SNe Ia during the first month of free expansion, similar identifications applied to 6250 Å features of SNe Ib and Ic have not been as successful. When the corresponding synthetic spectra are compared with high-quality timeseries observations, the computed spectra are frequently too blue in wavelength. Some improvement can be achieved with Fe ii lines that contribute redward of 6150 Å; however, the computed spectra either remain too blue or the spectrum only reaches a fair agreement when the rise-time to peak brightness of the model conflicts with observations by a factor of two. This degree of disagreement brings into question the proposed explosion scenario. Similarly, a detection of strong Si ii λ6355 in the spectra of broadlined Ic and super-luminous events of type I/R is less convincing despite numerous model spectra used to show otherwise. Alternatively, we suggest 6000–6400 Å features are possibly influenced by either trace amounts of hydrogen or blueshifted absorption and emission in Hα, the latter being an effect which is frequently observed in the spectra of hydrogen-rich, SNe II.
REPEATABILITY OF SPITZER/IRAC EXOPLANETARY ECLIPSES WITH INDEPENDENT COMPONENT ANALYSIS
Authors: Morello G. , Waldmann I. P. , Tinetti G. 
Published: March 2016

ABSTRACT
The research of effective and reliable detrending methods for Spitzer data is of paramount importance for the characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres. To date, the totality of exoplanetary observations in the mid- and far-infrared, at wavelengths >3 μm, have been taken with Spitzer. In some cases, in past years, repeated observations and multiple reanalyses of the same data sets led to discrepant results, raising questions about the accuracy and reproducibility of such measurements. Morello et al. (2014, 2015) proposed a blind-source separation method based on the Independent Component Analysis of pixel time series (pixel-ICA) to analyze InfraRed Array Camera (IRAC) data, obtaining coherent results when applied to repeated transit observations previously debated in the literature. Here we introduce a variant to the pixel-ICA through the use of wavelet transform, wavelet pixel-ICA, which extends its applicability to low-signal-to-noise-ratio cases. We describe the method and discuss the results obtained over 12 eclipses of the exoplanet XO3b observed during the “Warm Spitzer” era in the 4.5 μm band. The final results are reported, in part, also in Ingalls et al. (2016), together with results obtained with other detrending methods, and over 10 synthetic eclipses that were analyzed for the “IRAC Data Challenge 2015.” Our results are consistent within 1σ with the ones reported in Wong et al. (2014) and with most of the results reported in Ingalls et al. (2016), which appeared on arXiv while this paper was under review. Based on many statistical tests discussed in Ingalls et al. (2016), the wavelet pixel-ICA method performs as well as or better than other state-of-art methods recently developed by other teams to analyze Spitzer/IRAC data, and, in particular, it appears to be the most repeatable and the most reliable, while reaching the photon noise limit, at least for the particular data set analyzed. Another strength of the ICA approach is its highest objectivity, as it does not use prior information about the instrument systematics, making it a promising method to analyze data from other observatories. The self-consistency of individual measurements of eclipse depth and phase curve slope over a span of more than three years proves the stability of Warm Spitzer/IRAC photometry within the error bars, at the level of 1 part in 104 in stellar flux.