julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Ambulatory Activity Components Deteriorate Differently across Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Sensor-Based Study
2016-01-01

&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Background and Purpose:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Reduced ambulatory activity is a major burden in neurodegenerative disease (NDD), leading to severe restrictions in social participation and further deterioration of motor capacities. However, objective evidence on walking behavior patterns and components underlying this impairment and its decline with disease progression is scarce for many NDDs. We aimed to unravel the detailed metrics underlying the reduced ambulatory activity in selected NDDs, and their relation to disease duration. We hypothesized that progressively reduced ambulatory activity is a feature shared across different NDDs, characterized by changes in both common and distinct components. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Methods:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Sixty-five subjects with NDD (n = 34 degenerative ataxia; n = 15 progressive supranuclear palsy, and n = 16 Parkinson's disease) and 38 healthy older adults (total n = 103) wore a three-axial accelerometer (activPAL3TM) for 7 consecutive days. Detailed metrics of ambulatory activity were calculated. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Results:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; The average daily walking duration was significantly decreased in all three NDDs, yet characterized by a differential pattern of changes in number and length of walking bouts and sit-to-stand transfers. Decline in walking duration progressed with increased disease duration in all three NDDs, yet at a differing rate. This decline was associated with progressive reductions in walking bout length and walking behavior pattern diversity in all three NDDs. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; These findings provide objective evidence that reduced ambulatory activity is a shared feature across different NDDs. Moreover, they reveal that several underlying walking behavior components change with increasing disease duration, yet at a differing rate in different NDDs. This indicates that metric analysis of ambulatory activity might provide ecologically relevant and disease-specific progression and outcome markers in several NDDs.
Diagnosing Lung Nodules on Oncologic MR/PET Imaging: Comparison of Fast T1-Weighted Sequences and Influence of Image Acquisition in Inspiration and Expiration Breath-Hold
2016-01-01

Fast T1-weighted VIBE sequences allow for identification of patients with malignant pulmonary lesions. The Dixon sequence is not recommended for lung nodule evaluation in oncologic MR/PET patients. In contrast to CT, inspiration versus expiratory breath-hold in VIBE sequences was less crucial for lung nodule evaluation but was important for diagnostic confidence.
Neural Network Underlying Recovery from Disowned Bodily States Induced by the Rubber Hand Illusion
2016-01-01

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how causal influences between brain regions during the rubber hand illusion (RHI) are modulated by tactile and visual stimuli. We applied needle rotations during the RHI in two different ways: one was with the real hand (reinstantiation by tactile stimuli, R-TS) and the other was with the rubber hand (reinstantiation by visual stimuli, R-VS). We used dynamic causal modeling to investigate interactions among four relevant brain regions: the ventral premotor cortex (PMv), the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), the secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), and the lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOC). The tactile aspects of needle rotations changed the effective connectivity by directly influencing activity in the SII, whereas visual aspects of needle rotation changed the effective connectivity by influencing both the SII and the LOC. The endogenous connectivity parameters between the IPS and the PMv were reduced significantly in the R-TS condition. The modulatory parameters between the IPS and the PMv were enhanced significantly in the R-TS condition. The connectivity patterns driven by disowned bodily states could be differentially modulated by tactile and visual afferent inputs. Effective connectivity between the parietal and frontal multimodal areas may play important roles in the reinstantiation of body ownership.
Prognostic Significance of Incidental Prostate Cancer at Radical Cystoprostatectomy for Bladder Cancer
2016-01-01

&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Objective:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of the clinical significance of incidental prostate cancer (PC) on overall survival (OS) after radical cystoprostatectomy (RC) for bladder cancer (BC). &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Methods:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; A total of 822 consecutive men underwent RC in 3 academic centers between 1996 and 2011. The clinical significance of incidental PC was determined according to the Epstein criteria. The Kaplan-Meier analysis with log-rank was used to investigate the impact of PC on OS and univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses for risk factors of OS. The median follow-up was 36 months (interquartile range 10-49). &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Results:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Of the 822 men, 117 (14.2%) had clinically significant, 243 (29.6%) insignificant and 462 (56.2) no PC at RC. Men with PC were at higher risk for lymphovascular invasion (LVI) of BC compared to men without PC (p &lt; 0.001). The 5-year OS for men with clinically significant, insignificant and no PC was 33.3, 51.3 and 51.5%, respectively (p = 0.050). In the subgroup of pN0 patients (n = 601), clinically significant PC was significantly associated with inferior OS (p = 0.044) but not in multivariable analysis (p = 0.46). &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; We did not find the clinical significance of incidental PC to be an independent predictor. However, the positive correlation between incidental PC and LVI of BC deserves further investigation.
Morphologic and Clinical Outcome of Intracranial Aneurysms after Treatment Using Flow Diverter Devices: Mid-Term Follow-Up
2016-01-01

Flow diverters (FDs) are designed for the endovascular treatment of complex intracranial aneurysm configurations. From February 2009 to March 2013 28 patients (22 females, 6 males) were treated with FD; mean age was 57 years. Data, including aneurysm features, clinical presentation, history of previous bleeding, treatment, and follow-up results, are presented. Early postinterventional neurological deficits (transient:<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mi>n</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">3</mml:mn></mml:math>/enduring:<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"><mml:mi>n</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">1</mml:mn></mml:math>) appeared in 4/28 patients (14%), and early improvement of neurological symptoms was observed in 7 patients with previous restriction of cranial nerve function. The overall occlusion rate was 20/26 (77%; 59% after 3 months). 77% achieved best results according to O’Kelly-Marotta score grade D with no contrast material filling (70% of those after 3 months). In 4/6 patients who did not achieve grade D, proximal and/or distal stent overlapping ≥5 mm was not guaranteed sufficiently. During follow-up we did not detect any aneurysm recurrence or haemorrhage. In-stent stenosis emerged as the most frequent complication (4/27; 15%) followed by 2 cases of vascular obliteration (AICA/VA). In conclusion endovascular reconstruction using a FD represents a modern and effective treatment in those aneurysms that are not suitable for conventional interventional or surgical treatment. The appearance of severe complications was rare.
Gremlin-1 C-Terminus Regulates Function of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF)
2016-01-01

Background/Aims: The counterbalance of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and Gremlin-1 is a useful tool to predict the acuity of coronary artery disease (CAD) and plaque stability. Gremlin1 is an endogenous antagonist of MIF and therefore influences plaque vulnerability. This study was designed to elucidate the mechanistic basis determining the biophysical binding of Gremlin-1 to MIF. Methods: An in silico model suggested that several charged C-terminal amino acids are crucial in mediating Gremlin-1/MIF-binding. We produced several single amino acid exchange mutants of Gremlin-1 by site-directed mutagenesis. These Gremlin-1 mutants were tested for their ability to reduce MIF effects on monocytes. Results: We observed that the critical element of the Gremlin-1 molecule for regulating MIF-induced chemotactic activity lies at the C-terminal region. A single amino acid exchange of an arginine to an alanine residue is sufficient to abolish the antagonistic effect of Gremlin-1 on MIF. Therefore, the Gremlin-1 mutant R172A failed to reduce MIF-induced monocyte differentiation into macrophages. Conclusion: Gremlin-1 C-terminus is essential for antagonizing MIF effects. Our results could offer a novel strategy utilizing Gremlin-1 to target pro-inflammatory effects of MIF in various diseases.
Role of Dicer Enzyme in the Regulation of Store Operated Calcium Entry (SOCE) in CD4+ T Cells
2016-01-01

Background/Aims: Activation of T cell receptors (TCRs) in CD4+ T cells leads to a cascade of signalling reactions including increase of intracellular calcium (Ca2+) levels with subsequent Ca2+ dependent stimulation of gene expression, proliferation, cell motility and cytokine release. The increase of cytosolic Ca2+ results from intracellular Ca2+ release with subsequent activation of store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE). Previous studies suggested miRNAs are required for the development and functions of CD4+ T cells. An enzyme called Dicer is required during the process of manufacturing mature miRNAs from the precursor miRNAs. In this study, we explored whether loss of Dicer in CD4+ T cells affects SOCE and thus Ca2+ dependent regulation of cellular functions. Methods: We tested the expression of Orai1 by q-RT-PCR and flow cytometry. Further, we measured SOCE by an inverted phase-contrast microscope with the Incident-light fluorescence illumination system using Fura-2. Intracellular Ca2+ was also measured by flow cytometry using Ca2+ sensitive dye Fluo-4. Results: We found that in Dicer deficient (DicerΔ/Δ) mice Orai1 was downregulated at mRNA and protein level in CD4+ T cells. Further, SOCE was significantly smaller in DicerΔ/Δ CD4+ T cells than in CD4+ T cells isolated from wild-type (Dicerfl/fl) mice. Conclusion: Our data suggest that miRNAs are required for adequate Ca2+ entry into CD4+ T cells and thus triggering of Ca2+ sensitive immune functions.
Rare-earth metal diisopropylamide-catalyzed intramolecular hydroamination
2016-01-01

Well-defined rare-earth metal diisopropylamide complexes provide an exemplary case study to investigate the effect of donor solvent, alkali metal, chloro co-ligands, and <italic>in situ</italic> catalyst formation.
Up-Regulation of the Excitatory Amino Acid Transporters EAAT1 and EAAT2 by Mammalian Target of Rapamycin
2016-01-01

Background: The excitatory amino-acid transporters EAAT1 and EAAT2 clear glutamate from the synaptic cleft and thus terminate neuronal excitation. The carriers are subject to regulation by various kinases. The EAAT3 isoform is regulated by mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). The present study thus explored whether mTOR influences transport by EAAT1 and/or EAAT2. Methods: cRNA encoding wild type EAAT1 (SLC1A3) or EAAT2 (SLC1A2) was injected into Xenopus oocytes without or with additional injection of cRNA encoding mTOR. Dual electrode voltage clamp was performed in order to determine electrogenic glutamate transport (IEAAT). EAAT2 protein abundance was determined utilizing chemiluminescence. Results: Appreciable IEAAT was observed in EAAT1 or EAAT2 expressing but not in water injected oocytes. IEAAT was significantly increased by coexpression of mTOR. Coexpression of mTOR increased significantly the maximal IEAAT in EAAT1 or EAAT2 expressing oocytes, without significantly modifying affinity of the carriers. Moreover, coexpression of mTOR increased significantly EAAT2 protein abundance in the cell membrane. Conclusions: The kinase mTOR up-regulates the excitatory amino acid transporters EAAT1 and EAAT2.
Part of Speech Annotation of a Turkish-German Code-Switching Corpus
2016-01-01

In this paper we describe our efforts on POS annotation of a code-switching corpus created from Turkish-German tweets.We use Universal Dependencies (UD) POS tags as our tag set.While the German parts of the corpus employ UD specifications, for the Turkish parts we propose annotation guidelines that adopt UD's language-general rules when it is applicable and adapt its principles to Turkishspecific phenomena when it is not.The resulting corpus has POS annotation of 1029 tweets, which is aligned with existing language identification annotation.
Letter Sequence Labeling for Compound Splitting
2016-01-01

For languages such as German where compounds occur frequently and are written as single tokens, a wide variety of NLP applications benefits from recognizing and splitting compounds.As the traditional word frequency-based approach to compound splitting has several drawbacks, this paper introduces a letter sequence labeling approach, which can utilize rich word form features to build discriminative learning models that are optimized for splitting.Experiments show that the proposed method significantly outperforms state-ofthe-art compound splitters.
Generation of an isogenic, gene-corrected control cell line of the spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 patient-derived iPSC line H196.
2016-01-01

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is a neurodegenerative disease primarily affecting the cerebellum. Very little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the disease and, to date, no cure or treatment is available. We have successfully generated bona fide induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines of SCA2 patients in order to study a disease-specific phenotype. Here, we demonstrate the gene correction of the iPSC line H196 clone 7 where we have exchanged the expanded CAG repeat of the ATXN2 gene with the normal length found in healthy alleles. This gene corrected cell line will provide the ideal control to model SCA2 by iPSC technology.
SGK3 Sensitivity of Voltage Gated K+ Channel Kv1.5 (KCNA5)
2016-01-01

Background: The serum &amp; glucocorticoid inducible kinase isoform SGK3 is a powerful regulator of several transporters, ion channels and the Na+/K+ ATPase. Targets of SGK3 include the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4-2, which is in turn a known regulator of the voltage gated K+ channel Kv1.5 (KCNA5). The present study thus explored whether SGK3 modifies the activity of the voltage gated K+ channel KCNA5, which participates in the regulation of diverse functions including atrial cardiac action potential, activity of vascular smooth muscle cells, insulin release and tumour cell proliferation. Methods: cRNA encoding KCNA5 was injected into Xenopus oocytes with and without additional injection of cRNA encoding wild-type SGK3, constitutively active S419DSGK3, inactive K191NSGK3 and/or wild type Nedd4-2. Voltage gated K+ channel activity was quantified utilizing dual electrode voltage clamp. Results: Voltage gated current in KCNA5 expressing Xenopus oocytes was significantly enhanced by wild-type SGK3 and S419DSGK3, but not by K191NSGK3. SGK3 was effective in the presence of ouabain (1 mM) and thus did not require Na+/K+ ATPase activity. Coexpression of Nedd4-2 decreased the voltage gated current in KCNA5 expressing Xenopus oocytes, an effect largely reversed by additional coexpression of SGK3. Conclusion: SGK3 is a positive regulator of KCNA5, which is at least partially effective by abrogating the effect of Nedd4-2.
Trace-based context-sensitive timing simulation considering execution path variations
2016-01-01

We present a fast and accurate timing simulation of binary code execution on complex embedded processors. Underlying block timings are extracted from a preceding hardware execution and differentiated by execution context. Thereby, complex factors, such as caches, can be reflected accurately without explicit modeling. Based on timings observed in one hardware execution, timing of numerous other executions for different inputs can be simulated at an average error below 5% for complex applications on an ARM Cortex-A9 processor.
Venting Negative Emotions on Twitter and The Number of Followers and Followees
2016-01-01

Do people who express negative feelings (loneliness, sadness) on Twitter gain or lose online contacts? To answer this question, the authors tracked the number of followers and followees of people who tweeted about loneliness or sadness twice; once when they expressed the negative feeling and a second time five months later. The authors compared the networks of those users with the networks of others who either simply retweeted tweets about loneliness/sadness or (re)tweeted about the corresponding positive feelings. People expressing loneliness in their tweets, as well as people expressing sadness in their tweets had smaller networks than people expressing feeling loved or happy. This effect held only for the original tweets, not retweets, and was – in case of sad/happy – stronger for the followees than the followers. Moreover, the authors found that people expressing loneliness also had smaller friends' networks five months later than the people expressing feeling loved, and that the networks of the people expressing sadness became even smaller during the following five months.
Factors Influencing Decision-Making for or against Adjuvant and Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Postmenopausal Hormone Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer Patients in the EvAluate-TM Study
2016-01-01

&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Background:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Decision-making for or against neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy in postmenopausal patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer does not follow any clear guidelines, and some patients may unnecessarily undergo chemotherapy and be exposed to the associated toxicity. The aim of this study was to identify the patient population for whom this issue may bear relevance. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Methods:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Patients being treated with letrozole in the prospective multicenter noninterventional EvAluate-TM study were recruited. The percentage of patients receiving chemotherapy and factors associated with chemotherapy administration were identified. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Results:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; In all, 3,924 (37.4%) patients received chemotherapy before treatment with letrozole. Of these, 293 (20%) underwent neoadjuvant therapy. Younger age was predictive for both adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy. Overall, decisions in favor of administering chemotherapy are more likely to be made in patients with a higher body mass index (BMI), and neoadjuvant chemotherapy is administered at a higher rate in women with a lower BMI. Concomitant medication influenced the overall decision-making regarding chemotherapy, irrespective of whether it was given on a neoadjuvant or adjuvant basis. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; There is an ongoing debate as to whether all of the many patients who receive chemotherapy actually benefit from it. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is frequently administered in this patient population, and this should encourage further research to resolve current clinical and research issues.
Focus Annotation of Task-based Data: Establishing the Quality of Crowd Annotation
2016-01-01

We explore the annotation of information structure in German and compare the quality of expert annotation with crowdsourced annotation taking into account the cost of reaching crowd consensus.Concretely, we discuss a crowd-sourcing effort annotating focus in a task-based corpus of German containing reading comprehension questions and answers.Against the backdrop of a gold standard reference resulting from adjudicated expert annotation, we evaluate a crowd sourcing experiment using majority voting to determine a baseline performance.To refine the crowd-sourcing setup, we introduce the Consensus Cost as a measure of agreement within the crowd.We investigate the usefulness of Consensus Cost as a measure of crowd annotation quality both intrinsically, in relation to the expert gold standard, and extrinsically, by integrating focus annotation information into a system performing Short Answer Assessment taking into account the Consensus Cost.We find that low Consensus Cost in crowd sourcing indicates high quality, though high cost does not necessarily indicate low accuracy but increased variability.Overall, taking Consensus Cost into account improves both intrinsic and extrinsic evaluation measures.
Comparative analysis of edge detection techniques for SAR images
2016-01-01

Paleo-shorelines and ancient lake terraces east of Lake Manyara in Tanzania were identified from the backscatter intensity of Terra SAR-X StripMap images. Because of their linear alignment, edge de...
Clinical Teaching of Prosthodontics in Undergraduate Courses in a German Dental School: Patients, Visits, Efforts, and Incentives
2016-01-01

It is unknown what disadvantages are faced by patients deciding for a prosthodontic treatment by inexperienced students. Commonly, the related extra effort and time are compensated by cost reduction of treatment fees. Thereby, the dental schools subsidize treatments to teach clinical prosthodontics. The aim of this study was to clarify the benefits to patients as well as the efforts of the dental school. Data collected from three courses in a dental school in Germany were patient gender, age, occupation, zip code, number of visits, scope of treatment including costs, financial discount, and remaining copayment. Travel costs were calculated based on zip code. Balance of travel costs and treatment discount was defined as financial benefit. The results showed that 185 patients (95 male) aged 32 to 82 years (median=58) were treated with fixed restorations (FR, n=110), telescopic dentures (TD, n=87), complete dentures (CD, n=17), or other (RD, n=3). The mean number of visits was 11 for FR, 12 for TD, and 9 for CD. Single distance to the clinic ranged from 0.6 to 65 miles (median=12). Total costs of prosthodontics were reduced by 19% on average. The mean financial benefit was 429 USD (median=298, min=−482, max=4025). The financial benefits were found to differ widely, including additional expenditures of patients. Participation, travel burden, and copayment did not depend on age, gender, or occupation. The financial benefit was relativized because students needed at least twice the sessions of a dentist. As a result, the financial efforts of dental schools are significant and compromise a cost‐covering education.
Tau Tubulin Kinase TTBK2 Sensitivity of Glutamate Receptor GluK2
2016-01-01

Background/Aims: Inherited, autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia type 11 (SCA11) is caused by loss of function mutations of TTBK2 (tau tubulin kinase 2). Mutations observed in patients with SCA11 include truncated TTBK2(450). The present study explored the possibility that TTBK2 influences the function of the glutamate receptor GluK2. Methods: GluK2 was expressed in Xenopus oocytes without and with additional expression of wild type TTBK2, the truncated mutant TTBK2(450), or the kinase dead mutants TTBK2(KD) and TTBK2(450/KD). GluK2 current was determined by dual electrode voltage clamp and GluK2 protein abundance in the cell membrane utilizing confocal microscopy. Results: Glutamate exposure of GluK2 expressing oocytes generated a current, which was significantly lower in oocytes expressing GluK2 together with TTBK2 wt or TTBK2(KD) than in oocytes expressing GluK2 alone or together with either TTBK2(450) or TTBK2(450/KD). According to confocal microscopy of EGFP-tagged GluK2, TTBK2 wt decreased the GluK2 protein abundance in the cell membrane. Overexpression of an inactive RAB5(N133I) mutant but not RAB5wt could reverse the TTBK2 effect on GluK2 suggesting that RAB5 function is required for the effect. Conclusions: TTBK2 down-regulates GluK2 activity by decreasing the receptor protein abundance in the cell membrane via RAB5-dependent endocytosis, an effect that may protect against neuroexcitotoxicity.