Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Role of Coherence in Abductive Explanation 3 Hwee Tou Ng

Abduction is an important inference process underlying much of human intelligent activities, including text understanding, plan recognition, disease diagnosis, and physical device diagnosis. In this paper, we describe some problems encountered using abduction to understand text, and present some solutions to overcome these problems. The solutions we propose center around the use of a di erent criterion, called explanatory coherence, as the primary measure to evaluate the quality of an explanation. In addition, explanatory coherence plays an important role in the construction of explanations, both in determining the appropriate level of speci city of a preferred explanation, and in guiding the heuristic search to e ciently compute explanations of su ciently high quality.
Antiviral CD8 T Cells Recognize Borna Disease Virus Antigen Transgenically Expressed in either Neurons or Astrocytes

ABSTRACT Borna disease virus (BDV) can persistently infect the central nervous system (CNS) of mice. The infection remains nonsymptomatic as long as antiviral CD8 T cells do not infiltrate the infected brain. BDV mainly infects neurons which reportedly carry few, if any, major histocompatibility complex class I molecules on the surface. Therefore, it remains unclear whether T cells can recognize replicating virus in these cells or whether cross-presentation of viral antigen by other cell types is important for immune recognition of BDV. To distinguish between these possibilities, we used two lines of transgenic mice that strongly express the N protein of BDV in either neurons (Neuro-N) or astrocytes (Astro-N). Since these animals are tolerant to the neo-self-antigen, we adoptively transferred T cells with specificity for BDV N. In nontransgenic mice persistently infected with BDV, the transferred cells accumulated in the brain parenchyma along with immune cells of host origin and efficiently induced neurological disease. Neurological disease was also observed if antiviral T cells were injected into the brains of Astro-N or Neuro-N but not nontransgenic control mice. Our results demonstrate that CD8 T cells can recognize foreign antigen on neurons and astrocytes even in the absence of infection or inflammation, indicating that these CNS cell types are playing an active role in immune recognition of viruses.
Endogenous IL‐13 protects hepatocytes and vascular endothelial cells during ischemia/reperfusion injury

Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury involves a complex inflammatory cascade resulting in neutrophil‐mediated injury of hepatocytes. Previous studies from our laboratory have established that exogenous administration of the anti‐inflammatory cytokines interleukin 10 (IL‐10) and IL‐13 can ameliorate the inflammatory response and significantly reduce hepatocellular injury. The purpose of the present study was to determine if IL‐10 and IL‐13 function as endogenous regulators of the hepatic inflammatory response to ischemia/reperfusion. Wild‐type, IL‐10–, and IL‐13–deficient (IL‐10−/−, IL‐13−/−) mice were exposed to 90 minutes of partial hepatic ischemia and up to 24 hours of reperfusion. In wild‐type mice, expression of IL‐10 and IL‐13 shared similar expression profiles with maximal production after 8 hours of reperfusion. There were no significant differences between wild‐type and IL‐10−/− mice in response to hepatic ischemia and reperfusion. IL‐13−/− mice had much greater liver injury, as assessed biochemically and histologically, than wild‐type mice. There were no differences between wild‐type and IL‐13−/− mice in their production of inflammatory cytokines, but IL‐13−/− mice displayed disrupted neutrophil accumulation, with less neutrophils present in the hepatic parenchyma and far more neutrophils adherent to the endothelium of large hepatic venules than wild‐type mice. These observations were associated with increased liver endothelial cell injury in IL‐13−/− mice, as measured by serum levels of hyaluronic acid. In vitro, IL‐13 protected hepatocytes from H2O2‐induced cytotoxicity. In conclusion, IL‐10 is not an important endogenous regulator of the inflammatory response to hepatic ischemia/reperfusion. In contrast, endogenous IL‐13 appears to be critical for the control of this response, with prominent protective effects on hepatocytes and hepatic endothelial cells.
Email Intervention Following Traumatic Brain Injury: Two Case Reports

An email intervention for two individuals with TBI was conducted to investigate if this electronic medium shows potential as a therapeutic delivery method. Specifically, this study measured participants’ compliance with a plan that incorporated email and a reading assignment. Prior to the email intervention, the clinician and participants designed an intervention plan which included specific guidelines for scheduled email correspondence regarding a daily reading task. After reviewing the daily emails, the clinician provided therapeutic feedback. The participants’ compliance with the plan was measured by the punctuality of email correspondence and completion of tasks as detailed in the plan. Over a 4-week intervention period, both participants demonstrated improvement in task completion and time adherence. Email proved to be a feasible option as a therapeutic delivery method for these individuals.
Mind-body exercise and cognitive function : potential approaches to manage cognitive impairment-a meta-analysis

Cognitive impairment is prevalent among older adults population. It brings restriction to older adults’ lives and bring huge burden to the society. Mind-body exercise has characteristics from both physical exercise and intellectual experience. Moreover, it has potential cognitive benefits to reduce the incidence even reverse cognitive impairment. Using meta-analysis to analyze findings form published research on mind-body exercise, this study will explore whether practicing mind-body exercise is beneficial for the management of cognitive impairment. INDEX WORDS: Mind-body exercise, Tai Chi, Yoga, Older adults, Cognitive function MIND-BODY EXERCISE AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION: POTENTIAL APPROACHES TO MANAGE COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT-A META-ANALYSIS
Magnetotelluric tensor decomposition: Part II, Examples of a basic procedure

The decomposition procedure suggested for magnetotelluric (MT) data in a companion paper is illustrated by examples. Adjacent pairs of stations are examined to test for common features in their MT response. The method analyzes the real and quadrature parts of an impedance tensor separately, and the results for the real and quadrature parts are compared, and in some cases combined, at the end. Values are obtained which are interpreted directly in terms of nearest 2-D principal impedances, local geologic strike, and regional geologic strike. The requirement for valid data derived in the companion paper, that ZxyrZyxr<ZxxrZyyr together with ZxyqZyxq<ZxxqZyyq, is shown to be a useful criterion in the winnowing of erroneous data. The examples presented typically show the direction interpreted as local geologic strike to be well determined, period independent, and consistent between real and quadrature MT matrices. In these examples, however, the direction interpreted as regional geologic strike is period depen.
Nutrient-Regulated Proteolysis of MrpC Halts Expression of Genes Important for Commitment to Sporulation during Myxococcus xanthus Development

ABSTRACT Starved Myxococcus xanthus cells glide to aggregation centers and form fruiting bodies in which rod-shaped cells differentiate into ovoid spores. Commitment to development was investigated by adding nutrients at specific times after starvation and determining whether development halted or proceeded. At 24 h poststarvation, some rod-shaped cells were committed to subsequent shape change and to becoming sonication-resistant spores, but nutrients caused partial disaggregation of fruiting bodies. By 30 h poststarvation, 10-fold more cells were committed to becoming sonication-resistant spores, and compact fruiting bodies persisted after nutrient addition. During the critical period of commitment around 24 to 30 h poststarvation, the transcription factors MrpC and FruA cooperatively regulate genes important for sporulation. FruA responds to short-range C-signaling, which increases as cells form fruiting bodies. MrpC was found to be highly sensitive to nutrient-regulated proteolysis both before and during the critical period of commitment to sporulation. The rapid turnover of MrpC upon nutrient addition to developing cells halted expression of the dev operon, which is important for sporulation. Regulated proteolysis of MrpC appeared to involve ATP-independent metalloprotease activity and may provide a mechanism for monitoring whether starvation persists and halting commitment to sporulation if nutrients reappear.
A Re-examination on Features in Regression Based Approach to Automatic MT Evaluation

Machine learning methods have been extensively employed in developing MT evaluation metrics and several studies show that it can help to achieve a better correlation with human assessments. Adopting the regression SVM framework, this paper discusses the linguistic motivated feature formulation strategy. We argue that "blind" combination of available features does not yield a general metrics with high correlation rate with human assessments. Instead, certain simple intuitive features serve better in establishing the regression SVM evaluation model. With six features selected, we show evidences to support our view through a few experiments in this paper.
Ultrathin, transferred layers of thermally grown silicon dioxide as biofluid barriers for biointegrated flexible electronic systems

Significance A critical obstacle of flexible electronics for chronic implants is the absence of thin-film barriers to biofluids with multidecade lifetimes. Previously explored materials are unsuitable due to limitations of (i) extrinsic factors, such as the practical inability to avoid localized defects, and/or (ii) intrinsic properties, such as finite water permeability. The work presented here overcomes these challenges by combining pristine thermal SiO2 layers with processing steps for their integration onto flexible electronics. Experimental and theoretical studies reveal the key aspects of this material system. Accelerated immersion tests and cyclic bending measurements suggest robust, defect-free operation with various electronic components and an integrated system for multiplexed mapping of electrophysiological signals. The findings have broad relevance to diverse biointegrated electronics and optoelectronics. Materials that can serve as long-lived barriers to biofluids are essential to the development of any type of chronic electronic implant. Devices such as cardiac pacemakers and cochlear implants use bulk metal or ceramic packages as hermetic enclosures for the electronics. Emerging classes of flexible, biointegrated electronic systems demand similar levels of isolation from biofluids but with thin, compliant films that can simultaneously serve as biointerfaces for sensing and/or actuation while in contact with the soft, curved, and moving surfaces of target organs. This paper introduces a solution to this materials challenge that combines (i) ultrathin, pristine layers of silicon dioxide (SiO2) thermally grown on device-grade silicon wafers, and (ii) processing schemes that allow integration of these materials onto flexible electronic platforms. Accelerated lifetime tests suggest robust barrier characteristics on timescales that approach 70 y, in layers that are sufficiently thin (less than 1 μm) to avoid significant compromises in mechanical flexibility or in electrical interface fidelity. Detailed studies of temperature- and thickness-dependent electrical and physical properties reveal the key characteristics. Molecular simulations highlight essential aspects of the chemistry that governs interactions between the SiO2 and surrounding water. Examples of use with passive and active components in high-performance flexible electronic devices suggest broad utility in advanced chronic implants.
Regional lymph node metastases are a strong risk factor for venous thromboembolism: results from the Vienna Cancer and Thrombosis Study

Advanced cancer is a risk factor for venous thromboembolism. However, lymph node metastases are usually not considered an established risk factor. In the framework of the prospective, observational Vienna Cancer and Thrombosis Study we investigated the association between local (N0), regional (N1–3), and distant (M1) cancer stages and the occurrence of venous thromboembolism. Furthermore, we were specifically interested in the relationship between stage and biomarkers that have been reported to be associated with venous thromboembolism. We followed 832 patients with solid tumors for a median of 527 days. The study end-point was symptomatic venous thromboembolism. At study inclusion, 241 patients had local, 138 regional, and 453 distant stage cancer. The cumulative probability of venous thromboembolism after 6 months in patients with local, regional and distant stage cancer was 2.1%, 6.5% and 6.0%, respectively (P=0.002). Compared to patients with local stage disease, patients with regional and distant stage disease had a significantly higher risk of venous thromboembolism in multivariable Cox-regression analysis including age, newly diagnosed cancer (versus progression of disease), surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy (regional: HR=3.7, 95% CI: 1.5–9.6; distant: HR=5.4, 95% CI: 2.3–12.9). Furthermore, patients with regional or distant stage disease had significantly higher levels of D-dimer, factor VIII, and platelets, and lower hemoglobin levels than those with local stage disease. These results demonstrate an increased risk of venous thromboembolism in patients with regional disease. Elevated levels of predictive biomarkers in patients with regional disease underpin the results and are in line with the activation of the hemostatic system in the early phase of metastatic dissemination.
Hepatoprotective Effects of Berberis vulgaris L. Extract/β Cyclodextrin on Carbon Tetrachloride–Induced Acute Toxicity in Mice

The present study investigated the capacity of formulated Berberis vulgaris extract/β-cyclodextrin to protect liver against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. Formulated and non-formulated extracts were given orally (50 mg/kg/day) to mice for 7 days and were then intra-peritoneally injected with 1.0 mL/kg CCl4 on the 8th day. After 24 h of CCl4 administration, an increase in the levels of apartate-amino-transferase (AST), alanine-amino-transferase (ALT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) was found and a significant decrease in superoxide-dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH) and glutathione-peroxidase (GPx) levels could be detected. This was accompanied by extended centrilobular necrosis, steatosis, fibrosis and an altered ultrastructure of hepatocytes. Pre-treatment with formulated or non-formulated extract suppressed the increase in ALT, AST and MDA levels and restored the level of antioxidant enzymes at normal values. Histopathological and electron-microscopic examination showed milder liver damage in both pre-treated groups and the protective effect was more pronounced after the formulated extract was administered. Internucleosomal DNA fragmentation induced by CCl4 was reduced in the group which received non-formulated extract and absent in the group which received formulated extract. Taken together, our results suggest that Berberis vulgaris/β-cyclodextrin treatment prevents hepatic injury induced by CCl4 and can be considered for further nutraceutical studies.
The Conversion of Nitrite to Nitrogen Oxide(s) by the Constitutive NAD(P)H-Nitrate Reductase Enzyme from Soybean.

A two-step purification protocol was used in an attempt to separate the constitutive NAD(P)H-nitrate reductase [NAD(P)H-NR, pH 6.5; EC 1.6. 6.2] activity from the nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide (NO((x))) evolution activity extracted from soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) leaflets. Both of these activities were eluted with NADPH from Blue Sepharose columns loaded with extracts from either wild-type or LNR-5 and LNR-6 (lack constitutive NADH-NR [pH 6.5]) mutant soybean plants regardless of nutrient growth conditions. Fast protein liquid chromatography-anion exchange (Mono Q column) chromatography following Blue Sepharose affinity chromatography was also unable to separate the two activities. These data provide strong evidence that the constitutive NAD(P)H-NR (pH 6.5) in soybean is the enzyme responsible for NO((x)) formation. The Blue Sepharose-purified soybean enzyme has a pH optimum of 6.75, an apparent K(m) for nitrite of 0.49 millimolar, and an apparent K(m) for NADPH and NADH of 7.2 and 7.4 micromolar, respectively, for the NO((x)) evolution activity. In addition to NAD(P)H, reduced flavin mononucleotide (FMNH(2)) and reduced methyl viologen (MV) can serve as electron donors for NO((x)) evolution activity. The NADPH-, FMNH(2)-, and reduced MV-NO((x)) evolution activities were all inhibited by cyanide. The NADPH activity was also inhibited by p-hydroxymer-curibenzoate, whereas, the FMNH(2) and MV activities were relatively insensitive to inhibition. These data indicate that the terminal molybdenum-containing portion of the enzyme is involved in the reduction of nitrite to NO((x)). NADPH eluted both NR and NO((x)) evolution activities from Blue Sepharose columns loaded with extracts of either nitrate- or zero N-grown winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus [L.]), whereas NADH did not elute either type of activity. Winged bean appears to contain only one type of NR enzyme that is similar to the constitutive NAD(P)H-NR (pH 6.5) enzyme of soybean.
Functional antagonism of TMPRSS2-ERG splice variants in prostate cancer

The fusion between ERG coding sequences and the TMPRSS2 promoter is the most prevalent in prostate cancer (CaP). The presence of two main types of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion transcripts in CaP specimens, Type I and Type II, prompted us to hypothesize that the cumulative actions of different ERG variants may impact CaP development/progression. Using TMPRSS2-ERG3 (Type I) and TMPRSS2-ERG8 (Type II) expression vectors, we determined that the TMPRSS2- ERG8 encoded protein is deficient in transcriptional regulation compared to TMPRSS2-ERG3. Co-transfection of vectors resulted in decreased transcriptional regulation compared to TMPRSS2-ERG3 alone, suggesting transdominance of ERG8. Expression of exogenous ERG8 protein resulted in a decrease in endogenous ERG3 protein levels in TMPRSS2-ERG positive VCaP cells, with a concomitant decrease in C-MYC. Further, we showed a physical association between ERG3 and ERG8 in live cells by the bimolecular fluorescence complementation assay, providing a basis for the observed effects. Inhibitory effects of TMPRSS2-ERG8 on TMPRSS2- ERG3 were also corroborated by gene expression data from human prostate cancers, which showed a positive correlation between C-MYC expression and TMPRSS2-ERG3/TMPRSS2- ERG8 ratio. We propose that an elevated TMPRSS2-ERG3/TMPRSS2-ERG8 ratio results in elevated C-MYC in CaP, providing a strong rationale for the biomarker and therapeutic utility of ERG splice variants, along with C-MYC.
Looking downstream: a review of the literature on physical and psychosocial health outcomes in adolescents and young adults who were conceived by ART.

BACKGROUND The use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) is now well established in many countries and the first generations of offspring are reaching maturity. We reviewed the published literature to describe the available evidence about health outcomes in ART-conceived young people who were of an adolescent age or older. METHODS The EMBASE, Medline and PsychINFO databases were searched from January 1998 to October 2010. Key inclusion criteria were that the study sample have a mean age of ≥ 12 years or a mean follow-up period of ≥ 12 years and were conceived by ART. RESULTS Seven publications reported physical health outcomes and 10 reported psychosocial health outcomes in ART offspring. Compared with control groups, some differences in physiological outcomes in relation to growth and development, chronic illness and risk of cancer have been reported. Overall, psychosocial studies of ART-conceived young people indicate that their cognitive function and psychological and social adjustment are similar to that of comparison groups. CONCLUSIONS Overall, nine ART-conceived populations of this age group have been studied. Most samples included < 300 participants and methodologies varied between studies. Health information on this age group is therefore limited and the clinical significance of the findings remains unclear. Further research focusing on ART-conceived young adults is needed, particularly in relation to neurological health outcomes where no studies have been reported to date.
DeReEs: Real-Time Registration of RGBD Images Using Image-Based Feature Detection And Robust 3D Correspondence Estimation and Refinement

We present DeReEs, a real-time RGBD registration algorithm for the scenario where multiple RGBD images of the same scene are obtained from depth-sensing cameras placed at different viewpoints, with partial overlaps between their views. DeReEs (Detection, Rejection and Estimation) is a combination of 2D image-based feature detection algorithms, a RANSAC based false correspondence rejection and a rigid 3D transformation estimation. DeReEs performs global registration not only in real-time, but also supports large transformation distances for both translations and rotations. DeReEs is designed as part of a virtual/augmented reality solution for a remote 3D collaboration system that does not require initial setup and allows users to freely move the cameras during use. We present comparisons of DeReEs with other common registration algorithms. Our results suggest that DeReEs provides better speed and accuracy especially in scenes with partial overlapping.
CHLAMYDIA ANTIBODIES IN RHEUMATIC PATIENTS

93 patients with recent inflammatory joint disease were investigated for the presence of antiChlamydia IgM antibodies. The specific antibodies have been found in 17 patients (18.2%) by ELISA Chlamydia TRUEIgM commercial kit. 58.8% of positive patients had clinical diagnosis of reactive arthritis; 29.4% of ankylosing spondylitis and 5.9% of sacroilitis and Reiter’s syndrome too. Serological investigation of patients with arthritis appeared as necessary for a better understanding the germy ethyology of seronegative arthritis.
An analysis of the reading strategies used by adult and student deaf readers.

The purpose of this study was to identify and examine effective reading strategies used by adult deaf readers compared with student deaf readers. There were a total of 11 participants: 5 deaf adults ranging from 27 to 36 years and 6 deaf students ranging from 16 to 20 years. Assessment methods included interview and think-aloud procedures in which individuals were interrupted 3 times during the reading of a text to answer questions about their internal cognitive processes. It was found that both student and adult groups had highly skilled readers who demonstrated higher level reading strategies and less skilled readers who demonstrated lower level strategies, and only the highest skilled reader demonstrated both breadth and depth of strategies in all three categories: "constructing meaning," "monitoring and improving comprehension," and "evaluating comprehension. " The study contributes evidence toward two identified gaps in the existing body of research: (a) the lack of investigation into the reading strategies utilized by deaf readers in text comprehension and (b) the overemphasis of most research on studying less skilled deaf readers while overlooking highly proficient deaf readers.