julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Behavioral Changes Induced in Rats by Exposure to Trimethylthiazoline, a Component of Fox Odor.
2005-01-01

Trimethylthiazoline (TMT), a component of fox feces, has been used in various studies as a natural predator stimulus to induce autonomic and behavioral signs of fear (e.g., higher levels of stress hormones, freezing, and risk assessment). The present study investigated whether 2 further behavioral signs of fear are induced in rats by TMT exposure: potentiation of the acoustic startle response and inhibition of appetitive behavior. In addition, the authors tested the rats for dose dependency of TMT-induced freezing behavior. The study confirmed that behavioral changes observed during TMT exposure are caused by TMT-induced fear and are dose dependent.
Smoking, Estradiol Metabolism and Hormone Replacement Therapy
2005-01-01

Many women receiving hormone replacement therapy (HRT) smoke; in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), one of the largest interventional studies on HRT to date and which recently had to be discontinued, 50% of the 8,500 women on HRT had smoked before or continued to smoke during the study. Remarkably, there is little knowledge about the impact smoking has on the efficacy and side effects of HRT. However, it has been proven that, depending on the type, duration and intensity of nicotine consumption, smoking can reduce or completely cancel the efficacy of orally administered estrogens. Not only does smoking diminish the otherwise well-established beneficial effects of estrogen on hot flashes and urogenital symptoms and its positive effects on lipid metabolism, i.e. by reducing cholesterol, but smoking also specifically reduces estrogen's ability to prevent osteoporosis. The reduction or loss of therapeutic efficacy is mainly caused by dose-dependent elevated hepatic clearance, partially in conjunction with lower estrogen levels, and has been demonstrated only with oral estrogen applications. This failure of therapeutic action should not be compensated for by increasing the dose in smokers as this might result in the production of toxic, even potentially mutagenic estrogen metabolites--compounds recently associated with a higher risk of breast cancer. The favorable effects of estrogens are not lost in smokers when they are applied transdermally. This route enables low dosage and also avoids the formation of unphysiological metabolites by bypassing the liver. Women who continue to smoke despite all warnings should therefore only be treated via the transdermal route. Oral contraceptives, but not HRT, are contraindicated in elderly smokers. However, the principal conclusion of the WHI study was that the lowest dose possible should be chosen, especially in patients with an increased cardiovascular risk, as is the case in smokers.
Potassium and Sodium Balance in U937 Cells During Apoptosis With and Without Cell Shrinkage
2005-01-01

Staurosporine (STS) and etoposide (Eto) induced apoptosis of the human histiocytic lymphoma cells U937 were studied to determine the role of monovalent ions in apoptotic cell shrinkage. Cell shrinkage, defined as cell dehydration, was assayed by measurement of buoyant density of cells in continuous Percoll gradient. The K+ and Na+ content in cells of different density fractions was estimated by flame emission analysis. Apoptosis was evaluated by confocal microscopy and flow cytometry of acridine orange stained cells, by flow DNA cytometry and by effector caspase activity. Apoptosis of U937 cells induced by 1 muM STS for 4 h was found to be paralleled by an increase in buoyant density indicating cell shrinkage. An increase in density was accompanied by a decrease in K+ content (from 1.1 to 0.78 mmol/g protein), which exceeded the increase in Na+ content (from 0.30 to 0.34 mmol/g) and resulted in a significant decrease of the total K+ and Na+ content (from 1.4 to 1.1 mmol/g). In contrast to STS, 50 microM Eto for 4 h or 0.8-8 microM Eto for 18-24 h induced apoptosis without triggering cell shrinkage. During apoptosis of U937 cells induced by Eto the intracellular K(+)/Na+ ratio decreased like in the cells treated with STS, but the total K+ and Na+ content remained virtually the same due to a decrease in K+ content being nearly the same as an increase in Na+ content. Apoptotic cell dehydration correlated with the shift of the total cellular K+ and Na+ content. There was no statistically significant decrease in K+ concentration per cell water during apoptosis induced by either Eto (by 13.5%) or STS (by 8%), whereas increase in Na+ concentration per cell water was statistically significant (by 27% and 47%, respectively). The data show that apoptosis can occur without cell shrinkage-dehydration, that apoptosis with shrinkage is mostly due to a decrease in cellular K+ content, and that this decrease is not accompanied by a significant decrease of K+ concentration in cell water.
Infants with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma: The Impact of the Chimeric Anti-GD2-Antibody ch14.18 Consolidation Therapy
2005-01-01

The outcome of infants with stage 4 neuroblastoma is good. Consolidation treatment with ch14.18 was tolerable but associated with fever, elevated CRP, rash, cough, and pain as side effects. Compared to oral maintenance chemotherapy and no consolidation treatment, ch14.18 treatment had no impact on the patients' outcome which confirms the results found in children > 1 year.
Active people recognition using thermal and grey images on a mobile security robot
2005-01-01

In this paper we present a vision-based approach to detect, track and identify people on a mobile robot in real time. While most vision systems for tracking people on mobile robots use skin color information, we present an approach using thermal images and a fast contour model together with a particle filter. With this method a person can be detected independently from current light conditions and in situations where no skin color is visible (the person is not close or does not face the robot). Tracking in thermal images is used as an attention system to get an estimate of the position of a person. Based on this estimate we use a pan-tilt camera to zoom to the expected face region and apply a fast face tracker in combination with face recognition to identify the person.
Living benthic foraminifera in sediments influenced by gas hydrates at the Cascadia convergent margin, NE Pacific
2005-01-01

Living (Rose Bengal stained) foraminifera in gas-hydrate-influenced sediments at the Cascadia convergent margin were investigated. Foraminiferal assemblages from the southern Hydrate Ridge and neighboring basins were compared in terms of abundances, vertical distribution, diversity, and species composition. At Hydrate Ridge, the presence of shallow gas hydrates and increased porewater sulfide concentrations was indicated by extensive bacterial mats of Beggiatoa sp. and clam beds of the bivalve mollusk Calyptogena sp., generating different biological zones. Living foraminifera were found in all biological zones, in sediment layers down to 5 cm. They showed highly variable densities within all zones. The average abundance of benthic foraminifera at Hydrate Ridge differs from neighboring basins. Average species diversities are comparable between biological zones, while the average number of species increases from bacterial mats to clam fields and surrounding sediments. Foraminifera can be characterized by 5 principal component communities which explain 97.3% of the variance of the live assemblages at the southern Hydrate Ridge and neighboring basins. At Hydrate Ridge, 2 foraminiferal zones can be distinguished: (1) an Uvigerina peregrina community which characterizes sediments covered with bacterial mats and clam fields; (2) a ?Spiroplectammina biformis community in the surrounding non-seep sediments. Foraminiferal assemblages in the neighboring Western and Eastern Basin differ from the Hydrate Ridge stations.
A unified representation for morphological, syntactic, semantic, and referential annotations
2005-01-01

This paper reports on the SYN-RA (SYNtax-based Reference Annotation) project, an on-going project of annotating German newspaper texts with referential relations. The project has developed an inventory of anaphoric and coreference relations for German in the context of a unified, XML-based annotation scheme for combining morphological, syntactic, semantic, and anaphoric information. The paper discusses how this unified annotation scheme relates to other formats currently discussed in the literature, in particular the annotation graph model of Bird and Liberman (2001) and the pie-in-the-sky scheme for semantic annotation.
Apolipoprotein E4 is probably responsible for the chromosome 19 linkage peak for Parkinson's disease
2005-01-01

Analysis of the apolipoprotein E genotype in sibpairs with Parkinson's disease showed the E4 allele was over represented in those who shared the adjacent chromosome 19 markers. This suggests that apolipoprotein E4 is responsible for the linkage peak in this region and that it is a modest risk factor for Parkinson's disease.
Outcomes research analysis of continuous intratympanic glucocorticoid delivery in patients with acute severe to profound hearing loss: Basis for planning randomized controlled trials
2005-01-01

The average pure-tone threshold after intratympanic salvage treatment showed a statistically significant improvement of 15 dB (95% CI 7-24 dB; p<0.001). After exclusion of patients with complete anacusis, i.e. a non-measurable hearing threshold, the local therapy group showed a significantly better improvement (mean 19 dB; 95% CI 6-32 dB) than the historical control group (mean 5 dB; 95% CI -2-11 dB; p<0.05).
A brain computer interface with online feedback based on magnetoencephalography
2005-01-01

The aim of this paper is to show that machine learning techniques can be used to derive a classifying function for human brain signal data measured by magnetoencephalography (MEG), for the use in a brain computer interface (BCI). This is especially helpful for evaluating quickly whether a BCI approach based on electroencephalography, on which training may be slower due to lower signal-to-noise ratio, is likely to succeed. We apply RCE and regularized SVMs to the experimental data of ten healthy subjects performing a motor imagery task. Four subjects were able to use a trained classifier to write a short name. Further analysis gives evidence that the proposed imagination task is suboptimal for the possible extension to a multiclass interface. To the best of our knowledge this paper is the first working online MEG-based BCI and is therefore a "proof of concept".
SGK1-mediated Fibronectin Formation in Diabetic Nephropathy
2005-01-01

The serum and glucocorticoid inducible kinase SGK1 has been shown to be up regulated in fibrosing tissue including diabetic nephropathy. The present study has been performed to determine the time course of SGK1 transcription in mouse kidneys following induction of diabetes by streptozotocin (STZ). Moreover, the study aimed to explore whether SGK1 may play an active role in the stimulation of matrix protein formation during hyperglycemia. The induction of diabetes in 8 weeks old male C57Bl/6 mice was indeed followed by a significant (p< 0.001) increase of SGK1 transcript levels (up to 2.5-fold) and protein abundance (up to 2.8-fold) both peaking 4 weeks after STZ treatment. The SGK1 transcript levels and protein abundance declined thereafter but remained significantly elevated up to 12 weeks (p<0.05). Exposure to high extracellular glucose concentration (25 mM) significantly increased SGK1 transcript levels in human mesangial cells (HMCs). At low extracellular glucose concentration (5.5 mM), transfection with constitutively active (S422D)SGK1 and transdominant inhibitory (K127N)SGK1 did not significantly modify fibronectin formation by HMCs. Exposure to high extracellular glucose concentration stimulated fibronectin formation (by 2.2 fold), an effect abrogated by transfection with inactive (K127N)SGK1 (1.2 fold) and markedly enhanced by transfection with (S422D)SGK1 (4.7 fold). In conclusion, hyperglycemia of diabetes mellitus leads to partially transient increase of SGK1 transcription and translation. SGK1 overexpression alone has little effect on fibronectin formation but potentiates the effect of hyperglycemia. Thus, SGK1 is upregulated in diabetic nephropathy and actively participates in the stimulation of matrix protein deposition in this common deleterious complication of diabetic hyperglycemia.
Thymocyte K<sup>+</sup>, Na<sup>+</sup> and Water Balance During Dexamethasone- and Etoposide-Induced Apoptosis
2005-01-01

The mechanism of apoptotic cell volume decrease was studied in rat thymocytes treated with dexamethasone (Dex) or etoposide (Eto). Cell shrinkage, i.e. dehydration, was quantified by using buoyant density of the thymocytes in a continuous Percoll gradient. The K+ and Na+ content of cells from different density fractions were assayed by flame emission analysis. Apoptosis was tested by microscopy and flow cytometry of acridine orange stained cells as well as by flow DNA cytometry. Treatment of the thymocytes with 1 microM Dex for 4-5.5 h or 50 microM Eto for 5 h resulted in the appearance of a new distinct high-density cell subpopulation. The cells from this heavy subpopulation but not those with normal buoyant density had typical features of apoptosis. Apoptotic increase of cell density was accompanied by a decrease in cellular K+ content, which exceeded the simultaneous increase in cellular Na+ content. Cellular loss of K+ contributed to most of the estimated loss of cellular osmolytes, but owing to the parallel loss of cell water, the decrease in cytosolic K+ concentration was less than one third. Due to gain of Na+ and loss of cell water the cytosolic Na+ concentration in thymocytes rose following treatment with Dex (5.5 h) or Eto (5 h) by a factor of about 3.6 and 3.1, respectively.
Contributions to the theory and practice of the chromatographic separation of enantiomers
2005-01-01

The theory and practice of enantioselective capillary chromatography employing metal coordination compounds and modified cyclodextrins as chiral stationary phases are treated. A unified approach involving all contemporary chromatographic methods and a single enantioselective column is described. Reliable thermodynamic data of enantioselectivity are derived by the retention-increment method. The existence of an isoenantioselective temperature is demonstrated. Kinetic enantiomerization studies are presented. The preparative-scale separation of enantiomers by gas chromatography with enantioselective packed columns is achieved. Unusual phenomena and future aspects of enantioselective chromatography are discussed.
Computer-supported collaborative learning in higher education
2005-01-01

Learners rarely know how to construct knowledge together in argumentation. This experimental study analyzes two computer-supported collaboration scripts, which should facilitate processes and outcomes of argumentative knowledge construction. One script aims to support the construction of single arguments and the other script aims to support the construction of argumentation sequences. Both scripts were varied independently in a 2x2-factorial design. 120 students of Educational Science participated in the study in groups of three. Results show that the computer-supported scripts facilitate specific processes and outcomes of argumentative knowledge construction. Learners with scripts argued better and acquired more knowledge on argumentation than learners without scripts without impeding acquisition of domain specific knowledge.
Dopamine and Glutamate in Psychiatric Disorders
2005-01-01

An illuminating summary of our current understanding of the interactive role of dopamine and glutamate in psychiatric diseases and the therapeutic strategies and possibilities for future treatment. Am
Integrated optical fluorescence multisensor for water pollution
2005-01-01

An integrated optical multisensor for organic pollutants has been realised, and characterised for a single analyte. The sensor exploits fluorescence immunoassay in the evanescent field of channel waveguides to enable rapid, simultaneous and high-sensitivity fluorescence detection of up to 32 pollutants in water. The chemical modification used to render the surface specific to analytes allows automatic regeneration for immediate reuse. The system has been demonstrated for the key pollutant estrone and a detection limit below 1 ng/L has been achieved.
Quality of life after unilateral acoustic neuroma surgery via middle cranial fossa approach
2005-01-01

Patients' QOL scores revealed significant reductions in QOL in comparison to normative German QOL data. Gender, age, tumor size or location and clinical symptoms such as hearing loss and restricted facial nerve function did not have an effect on QOL. The SF-36 scales physical functioning, role functioning-physical, bodily pain, general health, social functioning and role functioning-emotional demonstrated significant QOL reductions.
Inverted-U Function Between Salivary Cortisol and Retrieval of Verbal Memory After Hydrocortisone Treatment.
2005-01-01

The present study investigated the effect of a single oral dose of hydrocortisone (cortisol) on retrieval of verbal and nonverbal declarative memory. Fifty-nine healthy participants were randomly assigned to either receive 25 mg cortisol or a placebo 45 min before retrieval in a standardized memory test procedure. There was no global effect of cortisol on either verbal or nonverbal memory. However, a specific negative effect on free recall of associative verbal material appeared. In addition, high responders (salivary cortisol concentration>68.25 nmol/L) exhibited impaired verbal memory compared with low responders (<68.25 nmol/L). The results suggest specific nonlinear effects of cortisol on declarative memory retrieval, which appear to be more pronounced for verbal material.
Synthesis and Antitumor Activity of 2-Aryl-7-fluoro-6-(4-methyl-1-piperazinyl)-4(3H)-quinazolinones
2005-01-01

A series of new 2-aryl-7-fluoro-6-(4-methyl-1-piperazinyl)-4(3H)quinazolinones were prepared by the oxidative cyclization of the corresponding 2-arylidineamino-4-fluoro-5-(4-methyl-1-piperazinyl)benzamides.The new quinazolinones were evaluated for their antitumor activity.
ADAM15 is an adhesion receptor for platelet GPIIb-IIIa and induces platelet activation
2005-01-01

Summary Cell adhesion and proteolytic matrix degradation are central processes in atherosclerosis. Being a member of the family of ADAMs (“a disintegrin and metalloproteinase”), metargidin (ADAM15) combines a metalloproteinase domain and an RGD aminoacid sequence. We studied the potential role of ADAM15 as an adhesion receptor on endothelial cells and interactions between platelets and ADAM15 with respect to platelet adhesion, activation and thrombus formation. ADAM15 was found to be expressed on cultured endothelial cells (HUVEC). Platelet adhesion to immobilized recombinantADAM15 was effectively enhanced under both static and high shear rate conditions reaching the maximum level of adhesion to fibrinogen. Consistently, platelet adhesion onto ADAM15 overexpressing endothelial cells was significantly increased. Adhesion to ADAM15 was reduced by blockade of GPIIb-IIIa using neutralizing anti-αIIbβ3 mAbs (7E3, 2G12), but not by anti-α v β3 (LM609). Soluble ADAM15 binds to activated but not to resting GPIIb-IIIa. Moreover, platelets adherent to ADAM15 additionally attracted platelets under high shear rates indicating an initial role of platelet- ADAM15 interactions for thrombus formation. Furthermore, incubation of platelets with solubleADAM15 showed a dose-dependent increase in secretion of CD62P and CD40L. ADAM15 is expressed on endothelial cells and can serve as an adhesion receptor for platelets via GPIIb-IIIa binding. Platelet adhesion to ADAM15 leads to platelet activation, secretion and promotes thrombus formation. Thus, ADAM15 may represent a novel target for antithrombotic strategies in cardiovascular pathologies.
Fixational instability and natural image statistics: Implications for early visual representations
2005-01-01

Under natural viewing conditions, small movements of the eye, head and body prevent the maintenance of a steady direction of gaze. It is known that stimuli tend to fade when they are stabilized on the retina for several seconds. However, it is unclear whether the physiological motion of the retinal image serves a visual purpose during the brief periods of natural visual fixation. This study examines the impact of fixational instability on the statistics of the visual input to the retina and on the structure of neural activity in the early visual system. We show that fixational instability introduces a component in the retinal input signals that, in the presence of natural images, lacks spatial correlations. This component strongly influences neural activity in a model of the LGN. It decorrelates cell responses even if the contrast sensitivity functions of simulated cells are not perfectly tuned to counter-balance the power-law spectrum of natural images. A decorrelation of neural activity at the early stages of the visual system has been proposed to be beneficial for discarding statistical redundancies in the input signals. The results of this study suggest that fixational instability might contribute to the establishment of efficient representations of natural stimuli.
Apallic syndrome is not apallic: is vegetative state vegetative?
2005-01-01

Initial conceptualisation about the nature of vegetative state (VS) assumed at least temporary loss of the entire cortical functioning. Since a broad range of stimulus-related cortical activations was demonstrated in VS patients, this simplified idea is not tenable any longer, but no alternative concept emerges instead. Two recent hypotheses, empirically testable and well grounded, could fill this vacuum: (1) In VS, isolated cortical areas may work, but their integration into a distributed network is lacking. (2) In VS, complex stimulus processing is limited to primary sensory and motor areas; the co-ordination between them and the secondary and tertiary areas is lacking. To test these hypotheses, we estimated the frequency of occurrence of late event-related potential components P3 and N400, presumably indicating activity of complex distributed networks including high-level sensory and associative areas. Both components occurred in VS with above-chance frequencies, but less frequently than in two control groups. Besides these frequent normal brain activations, some VS patients exhibit highly significant but abnormal activations, whose functional meaning remains unclear. A methodological analysis leads to the conclusion that any neurophysiological assessment of VS patients is biased toward under-, rather than over-estimation, of their remaining information processing abilities.
Nonlinear optical effects related to saturable and reverse saturable absorption by subphthalocyanines at 532 nm
2005-01-01

It is found that both effects of saturable absorption and reverse saturable absorption are obtained with a solution of subphthalocyanine at 532 nm depending on the intensity of 9 ns laser pulses; saturable absorption occurs at lower intensity levels whereas the reverse effect prevails at higher levels; contrary to expectations, subphthalocyanines can behave as reverse saturable absorbers at 532 nm, despite the high linear absorption at this wavelength; data have been fitted with a five-level model which considers three consecutive electronic transitions with absorption cross-section values of 1.4 x 10(-16), 1.0 x 10(-16) and 40 x 10(-16) cm(2), respectively.