julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Associations between Early Markers of Parkinson's Disease and Sarcopenia
2017-03-06

<b>Introduction:</b> Sarcopenia and Parkinson's disease (PD) are both common age-related syndromes, and there is preliminary evidence that the probability of the co-occurrence of these syndromes within one individual is higher than expected. However, it is unclear to date whether one of the syndromes induces the other, or whether there may be common underlying causes. This pilot study thus aimed at investigating the association of the features of increased risk for PD with early stage sarcopenia (ESS). <b>Method:</b> Two hundred and fifty-five community-dwelling individuals were recruited from the <i>Tübinger evaluation of Risk factors for Early detection of NeuroDegeneration</i> (TREND) study. The following features that are associated with an increased risk for future PD were evaluated: the motor part of the Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS-III), hyperechogenicity of the substantia nigra, prevalence of lifetime depression, hyposmia, REM sleep behavior disorder and the recently introduced probability score for prodromal PD. Sarcopenia was defined according to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People, which was adapted to this cohort of healthy adults. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify associations of PD-related features with ESS. <b>Results:</b> The UPDRS-III score was significantly associated with ESS. The result remained significant after the adjustment for age, gender and physical activity. No association was found between the other PD-related features and ESS. <b>Conclusion:</b> The significant association of the UPDRS-III score with ESS in this cohort might indicate a common and early pathway in both diseases and supports the existence of an "extended neurodegenerative overlap syndrome." Moreover, the potential of EES to serve as a prodromal marker of PD should be evaluated in future studies.
Testing conformal gravity with astrophysical black holes
2017-03-06

Weyl conformal symmetry can solve the problem the spacetime singularities present in Einstein's gravity. In a recent paper, two of us have found a singularity-free rotating black hole solution in conformal gravity. In addition to the mass M and the spin angular momentum J of the black hole, the new solution has a new parameter, L, which here we consider to be proportional to the black hole mass. Since the solution is conformally equivalent to the Kerr metric, photon trajectories are unchanged, while the structure of an accretion disk around a black hole is affected by the value of the parameter L. In this paper, we show that x-ray data of astrophysical black holes require L/M &lt; 1.2.
Fragmentation functions beyond fixed order accuracy
2017-03-06

Here, we give a detailed account of the phenomenology of all-order resummations of logarithmically enhanced contributions at small momentum fraction of the observed hadron in semi-inclusive electron-positron annihilation and the timelike scale evolution of parton-to-hadron fragmentation functions. The formalism to perform resummations in Mellin moment space is briefly reviewed, and all relevant expressions up to next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic order are derived, including their explicit dependence on the factorization and renormalization scales. We discuss the details pertinent to a proper numerical implementation of the resummed results comprising an iterative solution to the timelike evolution equations, the matching to known fixed-order expressions, and the choice of the contour in the Mellin inverse transformation. First extractions of parton-to-pion fragmentation functions from semi-inclusive annihilation data are performed at different logarithmic orders of the resummations in order to estimate their phenomenological relevance. To this end, we compare our results to corresponding fits up to fixed, next-to-next-to-leading order accuracy and study the residual dependence on the factorization scale in each case.
Does Identity Incompatibility Lead to Disidentification? Internal Motivation to Be a Group Member Acts As Buffer for Sojourners from Independent Cultures, Whereas External Motivation Acts As Buffer for Sojourners from Interdependent Cultures
2017-03-06

Most individuals possess more than one relevant social identity, but these social identities can be more or less incompatible. Research has demonstrated that incompatibility between an established social identity and a potential new social identity impedes the integration into the new group. We argue that incompatibility is a strong risk factor for disidentification, i.e., a negative self-defining relation to a relevant group. The current research investigates the impact of incompatibilities on disidentification in the acculturation context. We propose that incompatibility between one's cultural identities increases the disidentification with the receiving society. It has, however, been shown that the motivation to be a group member serves as a buffer against negative integration experiences. Moreover, research from the intercultural domain has shown that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation has specific effects for members of cultures that differ in self-construal. In a European sample of High school exchange students (Study 1, <i>N</i> = 378), it was found that incompatibility was positively related to disidentification, but only for less (but not more) intrinsically motivated newcomers. In an Asian sample of international university students (Study 2, <i>N</i> = 74), it was found that incompatibility was also positively related to disidentification, but only for less (but not more) extrinsically motivated newcomers. Thus, the findings demonstrate that the effect of incompatibility between social identities on disidentification can be buffered by motivation. The results suggest that, depending on cultural self-construal, individuals have different resources to buffer the negative effect of incompatibility on the social identity.
The Birth of the Modern Era of Parkinson’s Disease Genetics
2017-03-06

Genetic understanding in Parkinson’s disease (PD) has followed a path of hard won evolution occasionally punctuated by revolution. While it was suggested early on by both Leroux and Gowers that heredity had a role to play in PD, this was a view that wasn’t widely enough held to even be unpopular. The dogma was that the disease was one of environmental provenance and while the evidence for this is still rather scarce, this view pervades in the minds of patients, clinicians, and scientists. Conversely the evidence linking genetics to PD is both overwhelming and growing. Here we describe the growth of genetics in PD from backwater to driving force, and the structure and shape of its future.
Methylene Blue (Tetramethylthionine Chloride) Influences the Mobility of Adult Neural Stem Cells: A Potentially Novel Therapeutic Mechanism of a Therapeutic Approach in the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease
2017-03-06

An interest in neurogenesis in the adult human brain as a relevant and targetable process has emerged as a potential treatment option for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of tetramethylthionine chloride (methylene blue, MB) on properties of adult murine neural stem cells. Based on recent clinical studies, MB has increasingly been discussed as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease. While no differences in the proliferative capacity were identified, a general potential of MB in modulating the migratory capacity of adult neural stem cells was indicated in a cell mobility assay. To our knowledge, this is the first time that MB could be associated with neural mobility. The results of this study add insight to the spectrum of features of MB within the central nervous system and may be helpful for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying a potential therapeutic effect of MB.
Tissue response to five commercially available peritoneal adhesion barriers—A systematic histological evaluation
2017-03-06

Abstract Separating wounded serosa by physical barriers is the only clinically approved adjunct for postoperative adhesion prevention. Since the optimal adhesion barrier has not been found, it is essential to improve our pathogenic understanding of adhesion formation and to compare the effects of different barrier materials on tissue and cells. Wistar rats underwent standardized peritoneal damage and were treated either with Seprafilm, Adept, Intercoat, Spraygel, SupraSeal or remained untreated as a control. 14 days postoperatively, the lesions were explanted and histomorphologically analyzed using the European ISO score to evaluate material implants. Striking differences between the material groups were present regarding the inflammation, fibrosis, and foreign body reaction. According to the ISO score, Intercoat and Spraygel were considered as nonirritating to tissue. Adept, Seprafilm, and SupraSeal were assessed as mild‐irritating materials. Interestingly, the most effective material in adhesion prevention revealed moderate inflammation accompanied by minor fibrosis. The degree of inflammation to barrier materials does not predict the efficacy in the prevention of adhesions. Histopathological investigations are crucial to improve our understanding of the cellular mechanisms during adhesion formation and elucidate the tissue response to material approaches used in adhesion prevention. This will lead to improved antiadhesive strategies and the development of functional barrier biomaterials. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 598–609, 2018.
Sensory tuning does not match behavioral relevance of communication signals in free-living weakly electric fish
2017-03-06

Abstract Sensory systems evolve in the ecological niches each species is occupying. Accordingly, the tuning of sensory neurons is expected to be adapted to the statistics of natural stimuli. For an unbiased quantification of sensory scenes we tracked natural communication behavior of the weakly electric fish Apteronotus rostratus in their Neotropical rainforest habitat with high spatio-temporal resolution over several days. In the context of courtship and aggression we observed large quantities of electrocommunication signals. Echo responses and acknowledgment signals clearly demonstrated the behavioral relevance of these signals. The known tuning properties of peripheral electrosensory neurons suggest, however, that they are barely activated by these obviously relevant signals. Frequencies of courtship signals are clearly mismatched with the frequency tuning of neuronal population activity. Our results emphasize the importance of quantifying sensory scenes derived from freely behaving animals in their natural habitats for understanding the evolution and function of neural systems.
Increasing temperature reduces the coupling between available nitrogen and phosphorus in soils of Chinese grasslands
2017-03-07

Abstract Changes in climatic conditions along geographical gradients greatly affect soil nutrient cycling processes. Yet how climate regimes such as changes in temperature influence soil nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations and their stoichiometry is not well understood. This study investigated the spatial pattern and variability of soil N and P availability as well as their coupling relationships at two soil layers (0–10 and 10–20 cm) along a 4000-km climate transect in two grassland biomes of China, the Inner Mongolian temperate grasslands and the Tibetan alpine grasslands. Our results found that in both grasslands, from cold to warm sites the amounts of soil total N, total P and available P all decreased. By contrast, the amount of available N was positively related to mean annual temperature in the Tibetan grasslands. Meanwhile, with increasing temperature ratio of available N to P significantly increased but the linear relationship between them was considerably reduced. Thus, increasing temperature may not only induce a stoichiometric shift but also loose the coupling between available N and P. This N-P decoupling under warmer conditions was more evident in the Tibetan alpine grasslands where P limitation might become more widespread relative to N as temperatures continue to rise.
GPs’ and dentists’ experiences and expectations of interprofessional collaboration: findings from a qualitative study in Germany
2017-03-07

The perceived medical knowledge deficits of the other profession as well as divergent expectations concerning the scope of collaboration hinder profound and regular interprofessional collaboration between GPs and dentists. These perceived knowledge deficits may be rooted in the separate education of dentists and GPs in Germany. Fostering interprofessional education is a promising way to improve cooperation between GPs and dentists in the long term.
Systematic indirect comparison of ospemifene versus local estrogens for vulvar and vaginal atrophy
2017-03-07

In the absence of a direct head-to-head study, we performed an indirect historical comparison of ospemifene 60 mg (Senshio<sup>®</sup>) vs. local vaginal estrogens in moderate or severe vulvar and vaginal atrophy (VVA). A literature search was carried out of clinical efficacy/safety trials of local vaginal estrogens in VVA approved in Europe. For efficacy comparison, studies had to be placebo-controlled and of 12 weeks' duration. For safety comparison, studies had to be ≥40 weeks' duration. Efficacy endpoints were the difference between active and placebo in change from baseline to week 12 for symptoms, vaginal pH, and maturation value (MV). Safety endpoints were endometrial safety, breast safety, thrombosis, and adverse events. The 12-week improvement over placebo in symptom score was not different for ospemifene 60 mg and 17β-estradiol 10 μg and for ospemifene 60 mg and estriol gel. After 12 weeks, the percentages with vaginal pH <5.0 and <5.5 were better for ospemifene 60 mg than 10 μg 17β-estradiol. Week-12 pH changes were comparable with estriol pessaries or gel and ospemifene 60 mg. The 12-week MV improvements over placebo were similar or better with ospemifene 60 mg compared with 10 μg 17β-estradiol and with estriol pessaries or gel. There was no increased vaginal bleeding, endometrial hyperplasia, or carcinoma (including breast cancer) relative to placebo and no signal for increased risk of venous thromboembolism with ospemifene 60 mg or 10 μg 17β-estradiol, but the confidence intervals for both products do not exclude an increased risk. This historical indirect comparison suggests that ospemifene 60 mg has an efficacy, safety, and tolerability profile comparable to or better than local vaginal estrogens in the treatment of VVA.
Towards Automatic Skill Evaluation in Microsurgery
2017-03-07

In the past decade, eye tracking has emerged as a promising answer to the increasing needs of understanding surgical expertise. The implicit desire is to design an intelligent user interface (IUI) to monitor and assess the competency of surgical trainees. In this paper, for the first time in microsurgery, we explore the potential for a surgical automatic skill assessment through a combination of machine learning techniques, computational modeling, and eye tracking. We present primary findings from a random forest classification method where we achieved about 70% recognition rate for the detection of expert and novice group. This leads us to a conclusion that prediction of the micro-surgeon performance is possible, can be automated, and that the eye movement data carry important information about the skills of micro-surgeons.
Formation, Structure, and Frequency-Doubling Effect of a Modification of Strontium Cyanurate (α-SCY)
2017-03-07

The low-temperature modification of Sr<sub>3</sub>(O<sub>3</sub>C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub> was prepared and assigned as α-SCY after the high-temperature phase (now called β-SCY) and its frequency-doubling properties were reported recently. The crystal structure of α-SCY was solved and refined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Both modifications of SCY crystallize in noncentrosymmetric space groups, with the low-temperature phase (α-SCY) adopting the lower symmetry structure (Cc). Atomic positions in α-SCY (Cc) reveal only small deviations in comparison to those in the structure of β-SCY (R3c). The reversible phase transition between both modifications of SCY was studied by means of temperature-dependent powder X-ray diffraction. NLO measurements of both SCY modifications are reported in comparison to the commercial frequency-doubling material KTiOPO<sub>4</sub> (KTP).
Onset of anomalous diffusion in colloids confined to quasimonolayers
2017-03-07

It has been recently shown that a colloidal monolayer, e.g., formed at a fluid interface or by means of a suitable confining potential, exhibits anomalous collective diffusion. This is a consequence of the hydrodynamic interactions mediated by the three-dimensional (3D) ambient fluid when the particles are confined to reside on a two-dimensional (2D) manifold. We study theoretically and with numerical simulations the crossover from normal to anomalous diffusion as the particles are, in real systems, confined by a 3D external potential and thus have the possibility to fluctuate out of the 2D manifold, thus forming a quasimonolayer.
Research ethics for a globalised world: the revised CIOMS international guidelines
2017-03-07

On December 6, 2016, the Council of International Organisations of Medical Sciences published a new version of its guidelines with the title "International Ethical Guidelines for Health-related Research Involving Humans." In this article we briefly describe the revision process and the structure and content of these guidelines. We outline some of its main guidelines such as the ones on social value, post-trial access, and risk-benefit ratio. In our overall evaluation we come to the conclusion that the CIOMS guidelines manage to strike a balance between the protection of human participants in health-related research and the promotion of such research activities in an exemplary way. The guidelines combine key principles with a guide to their application based on the state of the art in research ethics. Thus they represent a timely and indispensable orientation for researchers, ethics committees, and other stakeholders in health-related research.
Towards Intelligent Surgical Microscope
2017-03-07

After many decades of research, the presence of intelligent user interfaces is unquestionable in any modern operating room (OR). For the first time, we aim to bring proactive intelligent systems into microsurgery OR. The first step towards an intelligent surgical microscope is to design an activity-aware microscope. In this paper, we present a novel system that we have built to record both eyes and instruments movements of surgeons while operating with a surgical microscope. We present a case study in micro-neurosurgery to show how the system monitors the surgeon's activities. We achieved about 1 mm accuracy for gaze and instrument tracking. Now real-time ecologically valid data can be used to design, for example, a self-adjustable microscope.
Quantification of substrate and cellular strains in stretchable 3D cell cultures: an experimental and computational framework
2017-03-07

Summary The mechanical cell environment is a key regulator of biological processes . In living tissues, cells are embedded into the 3D extracellular matrix and permanently exposed to mechanical forces. Quantification of the cellular strain state in a 3D matrix is therefore the first step towards understanding how physical cues determine single cell and multicellular behaviour. The majority of cell assays are, however, based on 2D cell cultures that lack many essential features of the in vivo cellular environment. Furthermore, nondestructive measurement of substrate and cellular mechanics requires appropriate computational tools for microscopic image analysis and interpretation. Here, we present an experimental and computational framework for generation and quantification of the cellular strain state in 3D cell cultures using a combination of 3D substrate stretcher, multichannel microscopic imaging and computational image analysis. The 3D substrate stretcher enables deformation of living cells embedded in bead‐labelled 3D collagen hydrogels. Local substrate and cell deformations are determined by tracking displacement of fluorescent beads with subsequent finite element interpolation of cell strains over a tetrahedral tessellation. In this feasibility study, we debate diverse aspects of deformable 3D culture construction, quantification and evaluation, and present an example of its application for quantitative analysis of a cellular model system based on primary mouse hepatocytes undergoing transforming growth factor (TGF‐β) induced epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition.
Monitoring Response Quality During Campimetry Via Eye-Tracking
2017-03-07

In a variety of use-cases, deriving information on user's fatigue is an important step for content adaptation. In this work, we investigate which eye tracking related measures can predict the error rate (as a proxy of subject's fatigue)during a visual experiment. Data was collected during a 40 minutes campimetric task, where the user has to detect visual stimuli (i.e., dots) of different contrast. We found that eye-tracking measures can be used to train a machine learning model to predict the error rate of a user with an average correlation of 0.72±0.17. The results show that this method can be used to measure the user?s response quality.
Prevalence of type I sensitization to alpha‐gal in forest service employees and hunters
2017-03-08

Abstract Background The production of IgE molecules specific to the carbohydrate galactose‐α‐1,3‐galactose (alpha‐gal) is known to induce delayed anaphylaxis against mammalian meat. Tick bites constitute the primary sensitization source, as ticks transfer alpha‐gal in their saliva to a host during a bite. The reported prevalence of alpha‐gal‐specific IgE (alpha‐gal‐ sIgE ) positivity varies between different populations from diverse geographic regions. Objective To investigate the prevalence of alpha‐gal‐ sIgE positivity in a population of forest service employees who are highly exposed to ticks in comparison with a residential population and a historic sample. Methods A cross‐sectional study evaluating 300 forest service employees and hunters from southwest Germany was performed. Alpha‐gal‐ sIgE levels were assessed by Immuno CAP assay. The prevalence of alpha‐gal‐ sIgE ‐positive individuals was compared with a matched cohort composed of a residential population and blood samples from forest service employees collected 15 years ago. Results In the study population, the prevalence of alpha‐gal‐ sIgE ‐positive (≥0.10 kU A /L) individuals was 35.0%, whereas the prevalence of individuals with alpha‐gal‐ sIgE levels ≥0.35 kU A /L was 19.3%. Alpha‐gal‐ sIgE positivity was associated with total IgE levels and recent tick bites. Mammalian meat‐induced delayed anaphylaxis was found in 8.6% of the participants with alpha‐gal‐ sIgE levels ≥0.35 kU A /L. For forest service employees and hunters, the odds ratio for alpha‐gal‐ sIgE positivity was 2.48 compared to the residential population. The prevalence of alpha‐gal‐ sIgE positivity in the current and historic cohort was comparable. Conclusion Forest service employees and hunters compose a population with a high prevalence of alpha‐gal‐ sIgE positivity and carry a considerable risk of red meat allergy.