Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cellular immunity against Salmonella typhi after live oral vaccine.

: Seventeen adult volunteers were vaccinated orally with the live attenuated Salmonella typhi mutant strain Ty21a. Their peripheral blood mononuclear cells were tested at different times after vaccination for direct cell-mediated activity against bacteria, employing a simple short-term in vitro assay. It was observed that 16/17 of the vaccinated subjects acquired the capacity to express specific cellular immunity against S. typhi which lasted from 15 days to at least 3 years. The effector cell of the in vitro antibacterial activity was preliminarily characterized as a non-adherent T3+, T8-, T4+ lymphocyte. In parallel, mice immunized orally with S. typhimurium and proving resistant to reinfection were tested employing the same in vitro assay. Also in this case peripheral and, most important, intestinal lymphocytes were able to express cellular immunity against the agent of murine typhoid. It is concluded that administration of live oral vaccine against S. typhi results in the induction of specific cellular immunity which is expressed at the peripheral and, probably, also at the intestinal level.
LOW COMORBIDITY AND MALE SEX IN NONAGENARIAN COMMUNITY‐DWELLING PEOPLE ARE ASSOCIATED WITH BETTER FUNCTIONAL AND COGNITIVE ABILITIES: THE NONASANTFELIU STUDY

To the Editor: Lopez et al. report that ‘‘cholinesterase inhibitor (CEI) use had a clinically meaningful effect on the natural history of Alzheimer Disease (AD),’’ slowing disease progression and lowering risk of nursing home admission after 2 years. The design of the study is worrisome. Of 1,139 patients who enrolled in the AD Research Center over 7 years, 270 were selected; 135 began taking CEIs ‘‘immediately after enrollment, and continued to take them throughout the following 12 months,’’ and 135 never took the drug. How these individuals were selected is not otherwise described. They were matched on a few characteristics, such as age, Mini-Mental State Examination score, and education. This study resembles a study by Dr. Geldmacher et al. that showed that patients who took a CEI faithfully (80% of pills or more) had a significant delay in nursing home placement (NHP). Both of these nonrandomized studies failed to report important baseline characteristics of the groups being studied. In the Geldmacher article, for example, nonadherent patients were far less likely to have a spouse caregiver than faithful users, yet the authors, who claimed it was the donepezil that ‘‘resulted in significant delays in NHP,’’ omitted this fact. Both papers are easily distinguished from AD 2000, a properly randomized, controlled trial with the largest number of placebo-controlled patient-years of any cholinesterase study. In AD 2000, ‘‘no significant benefits were seen with donepezil compared with placebo in institutionalization or progression of disability . [or] in behavioral and psychological symptoms, carer psychopathology, formal care costs, unpaid caregiver time, adverse events, or death or between 5 mg and 10 mg of donepezil. ’’ In the United Kingdom, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence Appraisal Committee has recently issued the following preliminary recommendation: ‘‘Donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine are not recommended for use in the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD). ’’ Would Dr. Lopez modify the discussion of his paper, where he emphasizes the important benefits of donepezil, in view of the results from AD 2000, a larger, better-designed trial that failed to show any meaningful difference at all?
Simultaneous Determination of Fucoxanthin and Its Deacetylated Metabolite Fucoxanthinol in Rat Plasma by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Fucoxanthin and its deacetylated metabolite fucoxanthinol are two major carotenoids that have been confirmed to possess various pharmacological properties. In the present study, fucoxanthinol was identified as the deacetylated metabolite of fucoxanthin, after intravenous (i.v.) and intragastric gavage (i.g.) administration to rats at doses of 2 and 65 mg/kg, respectively, by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) analysis. Next, an accurate and precise LC-MS/MS method was developed to quantitatively determine fucoxanthin and fucoxanthinol in rat plasma. Plasma samples were resolved by LC-MS/MS on a reverse-phase SB-C18 column that was equilibrated and eluted with acetonitrile (A)/aqueous 0.1% formic acid (B; 92/8, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. Analytes were monitored by multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) under positive electrospray ionization mode. The precursor/product transitions (m/z) were 659.3→109.0 for fucoxanthin, 617.2→109.0 for fucoxanthinol, and 429.4→313.2 for the internal standard (IS). Calibration curves for fucoxanthin and fucoxanthinol were linear over concentrations ranging from 1.53 to 720 and 1.17 to 600 ng/mL, respectively. The inter- and intraday accuracy and precision were within ±15%. The method was applied successfully in a pharmacokinetic study and the resulting oral fucoxanthin bioavailability calculated.
Strongly Decomposable Voting Rules on Multiattribute Domains

Sequential composition of voting rules, by making use of structural properties of the voters' preferences, provide computationally economical ways for making a common decision over a Cartesian product of finite local domains. A sequential composition is usually defined on a set of legal profiles following a fixed order. In this paper, we generalize this by order-independent sequential composition and strong decomposability, which are independent of the chosen order. We study to which extent some usual properties of voting rules transfer from the local rules to their order-independent sequential composition. Then, to capture the idea that a voting rule is neutral or decomposable on a slightly smaller domain, we define nearly neutral, nearly decomposable rules for both sequential composition and order-independent sequential composition, which leads us to defining and studying decomposable permutations. We prove that any sequential composition of neutral local rules and any order-independent sequential composition of neutral local rules satisfying a necessary condition are nearly neutral.
Marginal likelihoods for distributed estimation of graphical model parameters

This paper considers the estimation of graphical model parameters with distributed data collection and computation. We first discuss the use and limitations of well-known distributed methods for marginal inference in the context of parameter estimation. We then describe an alternative framework for distributed parameter estimation based on maximizing marginal likelihoods. Each node independently estimates local parameters through solving a low-dimensional convex optimization with data collected from its local neighborhood. The local estimates are then combined into a global estimate without iterative message-passing. We provide an asymptotic analysis of the proposed estimator, deriving in particular its rate of convergence. Numerical experiments validate the rate of convergence and demonstrate performance equivalent to the centralized maximum likelihood estimator.
Lessons from Anti-Amyloid-β Immunotherapies in Alzheimer Disease: Aiming at a Moving Target

Background: Available drugs for the global Alzheimer disease (AD) epidemic only treat the symptoms without modifying disease progression. Accumulating evidence supports amyloid-β42 (Aβ42)as the key triggering agent in AD, making it the ideal target for disease-modifying therapies. Preclinical studies provided extensive support for passive Aβ42 immunotherapy, leading to human clinical trials with different antibodies. Objective: Examine the status of clinical trials for passive immunotherapy against Aβ42. Methods: We performed a thorough literature review of passive Aβ42 immunotherapy. Results: Ten anti-Aβ42 antibodies targeting lineal or conformational epitopes have been tested in clinical trials. Antibody engineering and appropriate dosing have overcome undesired side effects, leading to increased safety profiles. Unfortunately, few trials have shown cognitive protection, leading to legitimate questions about the utility of Aβ42 as an AD target. There is still hope that solanezumab, aducanumab, and other ongoing trials will identify antibodies, patient subpopulations, and administration protocols, with consistent clinical benefits. Conclusions: Despite the overall disappointing results, there is still hope that Aβ immunotherapy in presymptomatic patients will prevent neuronal loss and provide significant clinical benefits that can be applied to larger populations as preventive therapies. Advances with other targets may soon provide additional therapeutic options for AD with increased efficacy.
Speech interfaces from an evolutionary perspective

36 September 2000/Vol. 43, No. 9 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM Similarly, the human head and brain are uniquely evolved to produce speech [4, 11]. Compared to other primates, humans have remarkably well-developed and controllable muscles around the lips and cheeks. Indeed, more of the motor cortex (particularly Broca’s area) is devoted to vocalization than to any other function, in sharp contrast to every other animal, including primates. Only homo sapiens can use the tongue, cheeks, and lips, together with the teeth, to produce 14 phonemes per second [11]; even the Neanderthals, who are known for having large brains and elaborate cultural and social behaviors, could not sustain speech due to the structure of their breathing apparatus [4]. Modern humans are also exquisitely tuned for speech recognition. Infants as young as one day old show relatively greater left hemisphere electrical activity to speech sounds and relatively greater right hemisphere activity to non-speech sounds [11]; by 22 days old, infants exhibit the adult tendency for right-ear (and left-brain-hemisphere) dominance for spoken sounds (regardless of language) and left-ear (and right-brain-hemisphere) dominance for music and other sounds [11]. Why is the fundamental and uniquely human propensity for speech so important in the design of How does the human brain react when confronted by a talking computer? Answers from psychological research and its design implications help define the limits of what computers should say and how they might say it. Clifford Nass and Li Gong
Interactive Maps for Visually Impaired People: Design, Usability and Spatial Cognition

Connaitre la geographie de son environnement urbain est un enjeu important pour les personnes deficientes visuelles. Des cartes tactiles en relief sont generalement utilisees mais elles presentent des limitations importantes (nombre limite d'informations, recours a une legende braille). Les nouvelles technologies permettent d'envisager des solutions innovantes. Nous avons concu et developpe une carte interactive accessible, en suivant un processus de conception participative. Cette carte est basee sur un dispositif multi-touch, une carte tactile en relief et une sortie sonore. Ce dispositif permet au sujet de recueillir des informations en double-cliquant sur certains objets de la carte. Nous avons demontre experimentalement que ce prototype etait plus efficace et plus satisfaisant pour des utilisateurs deficients visuels qu'une carte tactile simple. Nous avons egalement explore et teste differents types d'interactions avancees accessibles pour explorer la carte. Cette these demontre l'importance des cartes tactiles interactives pour les deficients visuels et leur cognition spatiale.
Design, Implementation, and Outcome of a Hands-on Arthrocentesis Workshop

Introduction: During a 4-week rheumatology elective at our institution, opportunities for internal medicine residents to perform arthrocentesis were limited, particularly for sites other than the knee. Consequently, residents were inadequately prepared and had less self-confidence to perform such procedures. To overcome these educational deficiencies, an arthrocentesis workshop was developed. We report our quality improvement data that was collected during the first year of workshop implementation. Methods: We devised a structured half-day arthrocentesis workshop for rheumatology fellows as well as rotating internal medicine residents. This program consisted of a one hour lecture immediately followed by a hands-on workshop that used mannequin models for 5 anatomic sites. A self-assessment questionnaire and medical knowledge test were administered before and after each session. The accuracy of the self-assessment questionnaire was analyzed by comparing responses to an external objective measure of knowledge in the same content area. Finally, an optional postworkshop survey addressed resident satisfaction. Results: Thirty-eight trainees participated in the workshop between July 2006 and June 2007. There were statistically significant improvements in self-confidence in 9 content areas (P < 0.0002), cognitive testing (P < 0.0001) and in self-assurance of procedural skill at all anatomic sites. A high degree of discordance was found between the perceived level of competence and the actual performance on the medical knowledge test during the preworkshop analysis. In contrast, the postworkshop analysis displayed modestly higher concordance. All residents completing a postworkshop survey believed that it was a useful exercise, and 96% stated that they would change their practice habits. Conclusion: The arthrocentesis workshop provided a solid foundation from which trainees can learn key concepts of joint injection, increase their self-confidence and refine their motor skills. The accuracy of resident self-reported confidence is poor and should therefore be used only to complement other means of competency assessment and medical knowledge acquisition.
Relationship of subjective disability with pain intensity, pain duration, pain location, and work-related factors in nonoperated patients with chronic low back pain.

OBJECTIVE A cross-sectional study on patients with chronic low back pain to compare relationships between subjective disability and pain intensity, pain duration, pain location, and work-related factors. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS One hundred and seven outpatients with low back pain, with or without radiation to the legs, of at least 3 months' duration, were administered a comprehensive back patient questionnaire. The questionnaire included the Pain Disability Index (PDI) for the assessment of overall perceived disability and assessments of pain intensity, duration, and location and two pretested short-form work questionnaires. None of the patients had undergone a back operation. SETTING Tertiary care center. RESULTS There was evidence of significant interrelationships between the PDI and pain intensity (low back pain, r = 0.53, p < 0.001; leg pain, r = 0.32, p < 0.01; and buttock pain, r = 0.36, p < 0.01), pain location (significantly higher scores with distal pain radiation), and work-related factors (a work load sum score of r = 0.31, p < 0.01; significantly higher scores in patients on sick leave). CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that subjective disability in patients with chronic low back pain overlaps with both pain and work-related factors. The observations support the multidimensionality of low back disability.
Diverse mechanisms of unexpected cardiac arrest in advanced heart failure.

To define the mechanisms of unexpected cardiac arrest in advanced heart failure, we reviewed the causes of cardiac arrest as established from electrocardiographic monitoring and from clinical and autopsy data in patients hospitalized for cardiac transplantation evaluation and management of advanced heart failure (mean left ventricular ejection fraction, 0.18 +/- 0.08) who were stable while on vasodilator and diuretic therapy such that hospital discharge to home was anticipated. Twenty-one cardiac arrests occurred in 20 of 216 (9%) such patients during a 4-year period. Heart failure was due to coronary artery disease with prior myocardial infarction in 13 patients and nonischemic cardiomyopathy in seven patients. The rhythm at the time of arrest was severe bradycardia or electromechanical dissociation (BA/EMD) in 13 (62%) patients. The precipitating cause of the BA/EMD arrest was coronary artery thrombosis or embolism in two patients, pulmonary embolism in one patient, hyperkalemia in two patients, and unexplained hypoglycemia in one patient. In seven of 13 (54%) patients, a precipitating cause of the bradycardia arrest could not be established. Only eight of 21 (38%) arrests were due to ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation (VT/VF), and all occurred in patients with prior myocardial infarction (p = 0.02 vs. BA/EMD arrests). Two VT/VF arrests were due to acute or recent infarction, and one patient had hyperkalemia. The patients who suffered a BA/EMD arrest were similar to those who had a VT/VF arrest in age, ventricular arrhythmia history, ventricular function, and serum potassium levels. Serum sodium levels were lower in patients with BA/EMD arrests (129 +/- 3 vs. 133 +/- 4 meq/l, p = 0.025). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Characterisation of a Novel White Laccase from the Deuteromycete Fungus Myrothecium verrucaria NF-05 and Its Decolourisation of Dyes

A novel ‘white’ laccase was purified from the deuteromycete fungus, Myrothecium verrucaria NF-05, which was a high laccase-producing strain (40.2 U·ml−1 on the thirteenth day during fermentation). SDS-PAGE and native-PAGE revealed a single band with laccase activity corresponding to a molecular weight of approximately 66 kDa. The enzyme had three copper and one iron atoms per protein molecule determined by ICP-AES. Furthermore, both UV/visible and EPR spectroscopy remained silence, indicating the enzyme a novel laccase with new metal compositions of active centre and spectral properties. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified protein was APQISPQYPM. Together with MALDI-TOF analysis, the protein revealed a high homology of the protein with that from reported M. verrucaria. The highest activity was detected at pH 4.0 and at 30°C. The enzyme activity was significantly enhanced by Na+, Mn2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ while inhibited by DTT, NaN3 and halogen anions. The kinetic constant (Km) showed the enzyme was more affinitive to ABTS than other tested aromatic substrates. Twelve structurally different dyes could be effectively decolourised by the laccase within 10 min. The high production of the strain and novel properties of the laccase suggested its potential for biotechnological applications.
Exploring the Impact of Task Preemption on Dependability in Time-Triggered Embedded Systems: A Pilot Study

In this paper, we explore the impact of task preemption on the dependability of a single-processor embedded control system. Our particular focus in this exploratory study is on static-priority, time-triggered scheduler architectures. The study is empirical in nature and we employ a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed, representing a cruise control system for a passenger vehicle, in conjunction with fault-injection to perform the dependability comparisons. The results we have obtained suggest that the presence of preemption may have a negative influence on dependability; however further work is needed in this area before more general conclusions may be drawn.
A physical activity program to mobilize older people: a practical and sustainable approach.

PURPOSE Despite the documented benefits of physical activity, it remains difficult to motivate older adults to start and maintain regular physical activity. This study tested an innovative intervention for mobilizing older adults into a neighborhood-based walking program. DESIGN AND METHODS Researchers recruited a total of 260 healthy but insufficiently active adults aged 65 to 74 years and randomly selected from the Australian electoral roll from 30 Perth metropolitan neighborhoods. Social cognitive theory guided the design of the program. Researchers collected both qualitative and quantitative data to inform the development, together with ongoing process evaluation. RESULTS A total of 65% of participants completed the program. Their mean weekly walking time for recreation increased by about 100 min, and 80% of participants reported that they would continue to walk twice per week upon program completion. IMPLICATIONS This practical program is potentially effective and sustainable with respect to mobilizing physically inactive older people.
Linear and nonlinear measures of fetal heart rate patterns evaluated on very short fetal magnetocardiograms

We analyzed the effectiveness of linear short- and long-term variability time domain parameters, an index of sympatho-vagal balance (SDNN/RMSSD) and entropy in differentiating fetal heart rate patterns (fHRPs) on the fetal heart rate (fHR) series of 5, 3 and 2 min duration reconstructed from 46 fetal magnetocardiograms. Gestational age (GA) varied from 21 to 38 weeks. FHRPs were classified based on the fHR standard deviation. In sleep states, we observed that vagal influence increased with GA, and entropy significantly increased (decreased) with GA (SDNN/RMSSD), demonstrating that a prevalence of vagal activity with autonomous nervous system maturation may be associated with increased sleep state complexity. In active wakefulness, we observed a significant negative (positive) correlation of short-term (long-term) variability parameters with SDNN/RMSSD. ANOVA statistics demonstrated that long-term irregularity and standard deviation of normal-to-normal beat intervals (SDNN) best differentiated among fHRPs. Our results confirm that short- and long-term variability parameters are useful to differentiate between quiet and active states, and that entropy improves the characterization of sleep states. All measures differentiated fHRPs more effectively on very short HR series, as a result of the fMCG high temporal resolution and of the intrinsic timescales of the events that originate the different fHRPs.
Wikipedia: a complex social machine by Ramine Tinati and Markus Luczak-Roesch with Martin Vesely as coordinator

Wikipedia represents a successful peer-produced knowledge-resource constructed via the endeav- ours of millions of volunteers. We examine the activity of Wikipedia by analysing WikiProjects, an community-driven feature which allows communities of Wikipedians to coordinate their efforts in order to improve or produce Wikipedia articles. We harvested the content of over 600 active Wikipedia projects, which comprised of over 100 million edits and 15 million Talk entries, associ- ated with over 1:5 million Wikipedia articles and Talk pages produced by 14 million unique users. Our analysis reveals findings related to the overall positive activity and growth of Wikipedia, as well as the connected community of Wikipedians within and between specific WikiProjects. We argue that the complexity of Wikipedia requires metrics which re ect the many aspects of the Wikipedia social machine, and by doing so, will offer insights into it's state of health.