julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
A Device for the Detection of Cognitive Brain Functions in Completely Paralyzed or Unresponsive Patients
2005-01-24

Unresponsive patients with remaining cognitive abilities may be able to communicate with a brain-computer interface (BCI) such as the Thought Translation Device (TTD). Before initiating TTD learning, which may imply considerable effort, it is important to classify the patients' state of awareness and their remaining cognitive abilities. A tool for detection of cognitive activity (DCA) in the completely paralyzed was developed and integrated into the TTD which is a psychophysiological system for direct brain communication. In the present version, DCA entails five event-related brain-potential (ERP) experiments and investigates the capability of a patient to discriminate, e.g., between semantically related and unrelated concepts and categories. ERPs serve as an indicator of the patients' cortical information processing. Data from five severely brain-injured patients in persistent vegetative state diagnosed as unresponsive and five healthy controls are presented to illustrate the methodology. Two patients showing the highest responsiveness were selected for TTD training. The DCA integrated in the TTD allows screening of cognitive abilities and direct brain communication in the patients' home.
On the Building of Binary Spelling Interfaces for Augmentative Communication
2005-01-24

A criterion for design of optimal binary spelling interfaces (SI)--the average expectation of number of writing steps (trials) required to write one letter--is presented and discussed. This criterion is relevant for practical usage of any menu-oriented alternative communication system, mechanical device or brain-computer-interface, when a user (typically, a patient with devastating neuromuscular handicap) can not create an intended single binary response with an absolute reliability. An algorithm for building of a corresponding binary tree is developed and evaluated. This algorithm is efficient, when selection probabilities have essentially different values (the worst case).
The AGNP-TDM Expert Group Consensus Guidelines: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Psychiatry
2005-01-25

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) enables the clinician to adjust the dosage of drugs according to the characteristics of the individual patient. The interdisciplinary TDM group of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Neuropsychopharmakologie und Pharmakopsychiatrie (AGNP) has worked out consensus guidelines to assist psychiatrists and laboratories involved in psychotropic drug analysis to optimise the use of TDM of psychotropic drugs. Five research-based levels of recommendation were defined with regard to routine monitoring of plasma concentrations for dose titration of 65 psychoactive drugs: (1) strongly recommended, (2) recommended, (3) useful, (4) probably useful and (5) not recommended. Further well defined indications to use TDM are e.g. control of compliance, lack of clinical response or adverse effects at recommended doses, drug interactions, pharmacovigilance programs, presence of a genetic particularity concerning the drug metabolism, children, adolescents and elderly patients. Finally, practical instructions are given how to use TDM. They consider preparation of TDM, analytical procedures, reporting and interpretation of results and the use of information for patient treatment. Using the consensus guideline will help to ensure optimal clinical benefit of TDM in psychiatry.
Rats are able to navigate in virtual environments
2005-01-25

SUMMARY Virtual reality (VR) systems are useful tools that enable users to alter environmental settings and the location of landmarks in an accurate and fast way. Primates have been shown to be able to navigate in virtual environments. For rodents, however, all previous attempts to develop VR systems in which rats behave in the same way as in corresponding 3-D environments have failed. The question arises as to whether, in principle, rodents can be trained to navigate in a properly designed virtual environment (VE), or whether this peculiarity is limited to primates and humans. We built a virtual reality set-up that takes the wide-angle visual system of rats into account. We show for the first time that rats learn spatial tasks in this VE quite readily. This set-up opens up new opportunities for investigations of information processing in navigation (e.g. the importance of optic flow or vestibular input).
MEG responses to rippled noise and Huggins pitch reveal similar cortical representations
2005-01-25

The onset of pitch within an ongoing noise signal evokes a particular brain activity, the pitch onset response (POR). Using whole-head MEG, PORs to iterated rippled noise (IRN) and Huggins pitch (HP), representing prototypical pitch-in-noise signals, were measured in twenty subjects during a pitch identification task (333 Hz, 400 Hz, randomized). HP and IRN yielded similar responses, lateralized to the left hemisphere and peaking about 180 ms after pitch onset. The initial phase (140 ms) showed stronger activations to 400 than to 333 Hz whereas later stages (200-300 ms) showed target vs nontarget effects. These results suggest, first, that different pitches converge into a common cortical representation and, second, that the POR encompasses various successive processing stages.
Radiographic study of changes in the mandibular condyle after implant prosthodontic rehabilitation.
2005-01-25

Over the investigated period, the incidence of all four noted findings doubled. However, the statistical methods employed could not detect any influence of patient variables or the insertion of implant-retained prosthodontics on the development of condylar changes in this specific patient group. Both assertions reflect the complexity of the topic.
Correlations in hot asymmetric nuclear matter
2005-01-27

The single-particle spectral functions in asymmetric nuclear matter are\\ncomputed using the ladder approximation within the theory of finite temperature\\nGreen's functions. The internal energy and the momentum distributions of\\nprotons and neutrons are studied as a function of the density and the asymmetry\\nof the system. The proton states are more strongly depleted when the asymmetry\\nincreases while the occupation of the neutron states is enhanced as compared to\\nthe symmetric case. The self-consistent Green's function approach leads to\\nslightly smaller energies as compared to the Brueckner Hartree Fock approach.\\nThis effect increases with density and thereby modifies the saturation density\\nand leads to smaller symmetry energies.\\n
A Microeconometric Characterization of Household Consumption Using Quantile Regression
2005-01-27

The paper uses cross-section micro data from the GfK consumer panel for an econometric demand analysis of households in Germany. Contrary to most research which considered average behavior, we analyze consumer behavior for different intensities of consumption. Our analytical tool is quantile regression which allows us to describe the conditional distribution for any quantile including the (conditional) median representing average behavior. As an illustrative example, we use the demand for beer and wine. The paper shows quite distinct patterns regarding price and income effects for light and heavy consumption, respectively, which leads to a better characterization of household demand.
Stent-Based Delivery of Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-3 Adenovirus Inhibits Neointimal Formation in Porcine Coronary Arteries
2005-01-28

Background— Stent-based antiproliferative therapy appears to decrease in-stent restenosis. However, alternative approaches might produce equivalent efficacy with better long-term safety. In previous work, an adenovirus capable of expressing the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-3 (RAdTIMP-3) inhibited neointima formation in cell cultures and porcine saphenous vein grafts. RAdTIMP-3 decreased smooth muscle cell migration, stabilized the extracellular matrix, and uniquely promoted apoptosis. The current study developed eluting stent technology to deliver RAdTIMP-3 during stenting of pig coronary arteries. Methods and Results— Binding of virus to and elution from stents and transduction of pig coronary arteries were confirmed using β-galactosidase as a reporter gene in vitro and in vivo. Deployment of RAdTIMP-3–coated stents increased apoptosis and reduced neointimal cell density, but did not increase inflammation or proliferation compared with β-galactosidase–expressing adenovirus (RAd lac Z). Neointimal area after 28 days was significantly reduced to 1.27±0.19 mm 2 with RAdTIMP-3 versus 2.61±0.31 mm 2 with RAd lac Z stents ( P &lt;0.001) and 2.12±0.20 mm 2 with bare stents ( P &lt;0.005). Conclusions— Our results demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge the feasibility of adenovirus-coated stent technology and highlight the potential of TIMP-3 to produce significant inhibition of in-stent neointima formation.
The Transillumination Possibility of Imidazole–Osmium Postfixed Tissue and Its Consequences for the Handling of Tissue Samples
2005-01-28

Osmium postfixation is established as a routine procedure for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). On the one hand, this routine procedure leads to good results for TEM, but on the other hand results in blackened tissue samples that do not allow examination of any structures within the embedded tissue sample by a light microscope. Equivalent fixation results for TEM are achieved with imidazole–osmium postfixation, and with this postfixation method tissue is not blackened and can be transilluminated with point light sources. This allows easier recognition of histological details within tissue samples and makes it possible to screen embedded samples for appropriate ultrastructural processing. Jejunum is used to demonstrate the method.
σ CHANNEL CHIRAL LOOPS IN NN INTERACTION AND TWO-PION PRODUCTION
2005-01-30

After examination of the correlated two-pion exchange in the NN interaction in terms of chiral pion loops in the t-channel, we consider loops in the s-channel, which get lifted on mass shell in the two-pion production process. We show that the thus obtained dynamical correlations in the σ channel lead to a quantitative description of recent exclusive measuerements near threshold.
STRUCTURE AROUND THE ππ THRESHOLD IN pp→ppγγ AND ITS POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION AS "σ"→γγ
2005-01-30

The pp→ppγγ reaction has been measured at CELSIUS using the WASA 4π-detector with hydrogen pellet target. At the current status of analyses of measurements regarding beam energies between T p =1.20 and 1.36 GeV a narrow structure is observed around the ππ threshold in the invariant γγ mass spectrum M γγ . The angular dependence of this structure is compatible with a radiative decay originating from the σ channel.
TWO-PION PRODUCTION IN pp COLLISIONS FROM THRESHOLD UP TO THE ΔΔ REGION AND THE ASPECT OF BOSE-EINSTEIN CORRELATIONS
2005-01-30

The pp→ppπ + π - and pp→ppπ 0 π 0 reactions have been measured at CELSIUS in the energy range T p =775-1360 MeV using the WASA 4π detector. For T p &lt;1 GeV the data are in accordance with Roper excitation and σ correlations in the ππ system, respectively. For T p &gt;1 GeV they agree with ΔΔ excitation in the special configuration (ΔΔ) 0 + . For the π 0 π 0 channel an enhancement at low M π 0 π 0 masses is observed, which possibly points to Bose-Einstein correlations.
VECTOR MESON PRODUCTION IN COLLISIONS OF NUCLEONS
2005-01-30

The production of vector mesons in collisions between nucleons is studied in order to address a variety of issues concerning nucleon-nucleon interaction, reaction mechanism and properties of baryons. These studies are summarized with emphasis on the most recent experiments at the Time-of-Flight spectrometer TOF and results obtained at the COoler SYnchrotron COSY in Jülich. While currently the open questions regarding the so-called OZI violation, its relation to the meson exchange picture and the relative importance of contributions to the production mechanism from various channels within this formalism are still unresolved, the present-day experiments hold the potential to clarify the situation greatly. Possible extensions of the experimental program on vector mesons using 4π detection techniques for charged as well as neutral particles, in particular π 0 , are discussed.
Ab initio post-HF CCSD(T) Calculations for Triplet and Singlet Methylene in Four consecutive Dunning Basis Sets with Extrapolations to Infinite Limits for Various Molecular Properties
2005-01-31

Stationary points for four geometrically different states of methylene: bent and linear triplet methylene, bent and linear singlet methylene were investigated using the highly reliable post-HF CCSD(T) method. Extrapolations to the CCSD(T) basis set (CBS) limit from Dunning triple to quintuple correlation consistent polarized basis sets were performed for total energies, for the equilibrium CH distances re(CH), for singlettriplet separation energies, for energy barriers to linearity and for correlation energies. Post-HF calculations with Dunning basis sets of the literature are presented for comparisons.
Feature subset selection for support vector machines by incremental regularized risk minimization
2005-01-31

In This work we present a novel feature selection algorithm for SVMs which works by decreasing the regularized risk in an iterative manner by using a combination of a backward elimination procedure together with an exchange algorithm. It is applicable to linear as well as to nonlinear problems. We test this new algorithm on toy and real life data sets and show its good performance in comparison to state-of-the-art feature selection methods.
Prognostic impact of hypoxia imaging with 18F-misonidazole PET in non-small cell lung cancer and head and neck cancer before radiotherapy.
2005-02-01

Our results indicate that outcome after radiotherapy can be predicted on the basis of kinetic behavior of FMISO in tumor tissue. An accumulation-type curve, high SUV, and high T/Mu and T/Me at 4 h after injection are highly suggestive of an incomplete response to treatment and might be used to select patients for intensified therapy protocols.
Human gamma-band activity: A window to cognitive processing
2005-02-01

This review highlights recent developments in research on human cortical oscillations in the gamma-band range (30-100 Hz). Electroencephalography has demonstrated a role of these signals for cognitive functions including visual perception, attention, learning and memory. During auditory processing, magnetoencephalogram has identified oscillatory activity in higher frequency ranges and with a more discrete localization than electroencephalogram. Gamma-band activity increases have been observed in the putative auditory dorsal and ventral processing streams during the processing of auditory spatial and pattern information, respectively. Additional gamma-band activity has been found over the frontal cortex during top-down tasks. Oscillatory activity in the gamma range may serve to assess the temporal dynamics of cortical networks and their interactions.
Phototherapy with Narrowband vs Broadband UVB
2005-02-01

Phototherapy with ultraviolet (UV) radiation of wavelengths between 280 and 320 nm (UVB) is a safe and effective treatment for a variety of diseases. In addition to standard broadband UVB (bUVB), narrowband phototherapy with fluorescent bulbs emitting near monochromatic UV around 311 nm (nUVB) has become an important treatment for diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and vitiligo. In addition to these indications, the number of diseases for which nUVB phototherapy is reported to be effective is continuously growing. The differential effects of nUVB phototherapy in comparison to other UV wavelengths as well as established and new indications for this treatment modality are reviewed.
Phylogeny and biogeography of Zelkova (Ulmaceae sensu stricto) as inferred from leaf morphology, ITS sequence data and the fossil record
2005-02-01

To address the evolution and geographical diversification of the genus Zelkova (Ulmaceae) a phylogenetic analysis of morphological data and the sequences of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) of nuclear ribosomal DNA were used. Cladistic analyses suggested that the Chinese species Z. schneideriana and Z. sinica are basal within Zelkova. The western Asian Z. carpinifolia either appears nested between the East Asian Z. schneideriana and Z. sinica and a clade formed by the Japanese Z. serrata and two Mediterranean species, Z. abelicea and Z. sicula (ITS), or forms a clade with Z. serrata that is sister to a clade Z. abelicea plus Z. sicula (morphology). Nucleotide data suggested that gene flow occurred between Z. schneideriana and Z. serrata, and Z. carpinifolia and a lineage ancestral to Z. abelicea/sicula. Character evolution in Zelkova appears to have gone from long leaves with numerous secondary veins, coarse to shallow teeth with blunt or slightly pointed apex and small stomata, to leaves that are either long or short with numerous or few secondary veins, coarse teeth with cuspidate or obtuse apex or conspicuously shallow teeth, and dimorphic stomata displaying 'giant stomata' surrounded by a ring of small stomata or uniform large stomata. These results are in agreement with fossil data. Early Cainozoic fossils attributed to Zelkova from North America and Central Asia closely resemble the modern Z. schneideriana and Z. carpinifolia. The genus could have originated in the northern Pacific area and migrated to Europe after the Turgai Strait was closed during the Late Oligocene. Geographical differentiation may have started with the isolation of Chinese populations (leading to modern Z. schneideriana and Z. sinica) from high-latitude Eurasian (North American) populations. This widespread Early Cainozoic type may have diversified into the western Asian Z. carpinifolia and the more derived Japanese and Mediterranean species during the latest Cainozoic. The modern Japanese and European/western Asian species would have differentiated relatively late, while two locally endemic Mediterranean species are the result of the cooling and development of a Mediterranean climate belt in Europe during the Pleistocene. Fossils from the Miocene and Pliocene of Europe resemble modern Z. carpinifolia and Z. serrata. Differentiation of the two Mediterranean species Z. abelicea and Z. sicula in the Late Cainozoic cannot be traced by leaf morphology.
Millennial- to Centennial-Scale Interruptions of the Oceanic Anoxic Event 1b (Early Albian, mid-Cretaceous) Inferred from Benthic Foraminiferal Repopulation Events
2005-02-01

The Early Albian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1b (OAE 1b) black shale is interrupted by one or more ventilation events that display significant changes in benthic and planktic populations. Within the OAE 1b sections studied, at ODP Site 1049, DSDP Site 545, and the Vocontian Basin, the benthic foraminiferal repopulation events last between 500 and 1,250 years and occur with a cyclicity of approximately 5.7 kyr. This period may represent an amplitude modulation of the precessional cycle. The OAE 1b sections from the marginal setting of the Vocontian Basin exhibit up to eight repopulation events. In contrast, there is only one repopulation event identified in the Atlantic OAE 1b sections from the Mazagan Plateau (DSDP 545) and Blake Nose (ODP 1049). Within the margin of dating uncertainties, this supraregional repopulation event occurred synchronously in the Vocontian Basin and the Atlantic Ocean. While the OAE 1b black shale formed under extremely warm and humid conditions, the repopulation events occurred during intervals of short-term cooling and reduced humidity at deep-water formation sites. The resulting increase in evaporation led to enhanced formation of low-latitude deep water, thus improving the ventilation of the sea floor.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;
Cutting Edge: TLR Ligands Are Not Sufficient to Break Cross-Tolerance to Self-Antigens
2005-02-01

Abstract Cross-presentation of peripheral self-Ags by dendritic cells (DC) can induce deletion of autoreactive CTL by a mechanism termed cross-tolerance. Activation of DC by microbial TLR ligands is thought to result in adaptive immunity. However, activation of tolerogenic DC may cause autoimmunity by stimulating instead of deleting autoreactive CTL. To investigate this scenario, we have monitored the response of autoreactive CTL in specific for the transgenic self Ag, OVA, expressed in pancreatic islets of RIP-mOVA mice injected with ligands of TLR2, 3, 4, and 9. This somewhat enhanced proliferation and cytokine production, and moderately reduced the CTL number able to induce autoimmunity. Nevertheless, physiological CTL numbers were deleted before disease ensued, unless specific CD4 T cell help was provided. In conclusion, DC activation by TLR ligands was insufficient to break peripheral cross-tolerance in the absence of specific CD4 T cell help, and triggered autoimmunity by stimulating the early effector phase of autoreactive CTL only when their precursor frequency was extremely high.
IFN-γ and IL-10 Mediate Parasite-Specific Immune Responses of Cord Blood Cells Induced by Pregnancy-Associated Plasmodium falciparum Malaria
2005-02-01

Abstract Available evidence suggests that immune cells from neonates born to mothers with placental Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) infection are sensitized to parasite Ag in utero but have reduced ability to generate protective Th1 responses. In this study, we detected Pf Ag-specific IFN-γ+ T cells in cord blood from human neonates whose mothers had received treatment for malaria or who had active placental Pf infection at delivery, with responses being significantly reduced in the latter group. Active placental malaria at delivery was also associated with reduced expression of monocyte MHC class I and II in vivo and following short term in vitro coculture with Pf Ag compared with levels seen in neonates whose mothers had received treatment during pregnancy. Given that APC activation and Th1 responses are driven in part by IFN-γ and down-regulated by IL-10, we examined the role of these cytokines in modulating the Pf Ag-specific immune responses in cord blood samples. Exogenous recombinant human IFN-γ and neutralizing anti-human IL-10 enhanced T cell IFN-γ production, whereas recombinant human IFN-γ also restored MHC class I and II expression on monocytes from cord blood mononuclear cells cocultured with Pf Ag. Accordingly, active placental malaria at delivery was associated with increased frequencies of Pf Ag-specific IL-10+CD4+ T cells in cord blood mononuclear cell cultures from these neonates. Generation and maintenance of IL-10+ T cells in utero may thus contribute to suppression of APC function and Pf Ag-induced Th1 responses in newborns born to mothers with placental malaria at delivery, which may increase susceptibility to infection later in life.