Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diagnosis of Brain Death in Children

Summary: During the last two decades, criteria have been developed for the diagnosis of brain death that are applicable to adults and children over 5 years of age. To identify brain death, EEG and evoked potentials (EPs) have been extensively used as diagnostic tools in conjunction with the clinical examination and other laboratory procedures such as four-vessel cerebral angiograms or radionuclide scans. In this report, we review the criteria for the determination of brain death. In addition, the question of applying these criteria to children under 5 years of age is critically assessed, with special emphasis on the role of EEG and EPs in confirming the cessation of all brain activities. We propose that the criteria that pertain to adults may be appropriate for children under 5 years of age as well; however, this premise needs to be validated by a large nationwide multi-institutional study.
Identification of an Activating Chicken Ig-like Receptor Recognizing Avian Influenza Viruses

Chicken Ig-like receptors (CHIRs) represent a multigene family encoded by the leukocyte receptor complex that encodes a variety of receptors that are subdivided into activating CHIR-A, inhibitory CHIR-B, and bifunctional CHIR-AB. Apart from CHIR-AB, which functions as an Fc receptor, CHIR ligands are unknown. In the current study, we used a panel of different BWZ.36 CHIR reporter cells to identify an interaction between specific CHIRs and avian influenza virus (AIV). The specificity of the CHIR–AIV interaction was further demonstrated using CHIR fusion proteins that bound to AIV-coated plates and were able to reduce the interaction of reporter cells with AIV. There was no difference in binding of CHIR to different AIV strains. Furthermore, CHIR fusion proteins reduced AIV-induced in vitro activation of NK cells obtained from lungs of AIV-infected animals, as judged by the lower frequency of CD107+ cells. Because the original CHIR reporter lines were generated based on sequence information about extracellular CHIR domains, we next identified a full-length CHIR that displayed similar binding to AIV. The sequence analysis identified this CHIR as a CHIR-A. Neuraminidase treatment of coated CHIR–human Ig proteins reduced binding of trimeric H5 proteins to CHIR. This suggests that the interaction is dependent on sialic acid moieties on the receptor. In conclusion, this article identifies AIV as a ligand of CHIR-A and describes the functional consequences of this interaction.
11p15 translocations involving the NUP98 gene in childhood therapy‐related acute myeloid leukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome

In a survey of childhood therapy‐related acute myeloid leukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome (t‐AML/MDS) in Japan, we found 11p15 translocations in 5 (6%) of 81 children with t‐AML/MDS. t(11;17)(p15;q21), t(11;12)(p15;q13), t(7;11)(p15;p15), inv(11)(p15q22), and add(11)(p15) were each found in one patient. Southern blotting and/or RT‐PCR analyses revealed rearrangements of the NUP98 gene in tumor samples of all five patients. Rearrangements of DDX10 were detected in t‐AML/MDS cells with inv(11), and rearrangements of HOXA9 were detected in t‐AML cells with t(7;11). The 17q21 breakpoint of t(11;17) and the 12q13 breakpoint of t(11;12)(p15;q13) coincided with the loci of the HOXB and HOXC gene families, respectively. Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that one of the HOXB genes and one of the HOXC genes were fused to NUP98 by t(11;17) and t(11;12), respectively, in t‐AML/MDS cells. We propose that NUP98 may be a target gene for t‐AML/MDS, and that t‐AML/MDS with a fusion of NUP98 and HOX or DDX10 genes may be more frequent in children than in patients of other age groups. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 26:215–220, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Social signal classification using deep blstm recurrent neural networks

Non-verbal speech cues play an important role in human communication such as expressing emotional states or maintaining the conversational flow. In this paper we investigate the effect of applying deep bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BLSTM) recurrent neural networks to the Interspeech 2013 Computational Paralinguistics Social Signals Sub-Challenge dataset requiring frame-wise, speaker-independent detection and classification of laughter and filler vocalizations in speech. BLSTM networks tend to prevail over conventional neural network architectures whenever the recognition or regression task relies on an intelligent exploitation of temporal context information. We introduce deep BLSTM models by stacking several BLSTMs and by combining non-recurrent deep neural networks with BLSTMs. We demonstrate that this new approach achieves significant improvements over previous attempts and we increase the current state-of-the-art unweighted average area-under-the-curve (UAAUC) value of 92.4% to 94.0%. This is the best result on this task reported in the literature so far.
Filopodium retraction is controlled by adhesion to its tip

Summary Filopodia are thin cell extensions sensing the environment. They play an essential role during cell migration, cell–cell or cell–matrix adhesion, by initiating contacts and conveying signals to the cell cortex. Pathogenic microorganisms can hijack filopodia to invade cells by inducing their retraction towards the cell body. Because their dynamics depend on a discrete number of actin filaments, filopodia provide a model of choice to study elementary events linked to adhesion and downstream signalling. However, the determinants controlling filopodial sensing are not well characterized. In this study, we used beads functionalized with different ligands that triggered filopodial retraction when in contact with filopodia of epithelial cells. With optical tweezers, we were able to measure forces stalling the retraction of a single filopodium. We found that the filopodial stall force depends on the coating of the bead. Stall forces reached 8 pN for beads coated with the &bgr;1 integrin ligand Yersinia Invasin, whereas retraction was stopped with a higher force of 15 pN when beads were functionalized with carboxyl groups. In all cases, stall forces increased in relation to the density of ligands contacting filopodial tips and were independent of the optical trap stiffness. Unexpectedly, a discrete and small number of Shigella type three secretion systems induced stall forces of 10 pN. These results suggest that the number of receptor–ligand interactions at the filopodial tip determines the maximal retraction force exerted by filopodia but a discrete number of clustered receptors is sufficient to induce high retraction stall forces.
Combined inhibition of estrogen‐dependent human breast carcinoma by soy and tea bioactive components in mice

Breast cancer is significantly less prevalent among Asian women, whose diets contain high intake of soy products and tea. The objective of our present study was to identify the combined effects of dietary soy phytochemicals and tea components on breast tumor progression in a clinically relevant in vivo model of MCF‐7 androgen‐dependent human breast tumor in female SCID mice. MCF‐7 tumor growth, tumor cell proliferation and apoptosis, microvessel density, and expressions of tumor estrogen receptors were compared in mice treated with genistin‐rich soy isoflavones (GSI), soy phytochemical concentrate (SPC), black tea (BT), green tea (GT), SPC/BT combination and SPC/GT combination. GSI and SPC led to dose‐dependent inhibition of MCF‐7 tumor growth via inhibition of cancer cell proliferation in vivo. GT showed more potent anti‐breast tumor activity than BT. GT infusion at 1.5 g tealeaf/100 mL water produced significant (p < 0.05) reductions of 56% in final tumor weight. GT plus SPC at 0.1% of the diet further reduced final tumor weight by 72% (p < 0.005). Analysis of serum and tumor biomarkers showed that the combined effects of SPC and GT inhibited tumor angiogenesis, and reduced estrogen receptor (ER)‐α and serum levels of insulin‐like growth factor (IGF)‐I. Our study suggests that dietary SPC plus GT may be used as a potential effective dietary regimen for inhibiting progression of estrogen‐dependent breast cancer. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Color Vision in Alzheimer’s Patients: Can We Improve Object Recognition With Color Cues?

Sixty-three frail, elderly patients seen in a university-based outpatient geriatric assessment clinic were divided into three dementia diagnosis categories (Alzheimer’s disease, “other” dementias, cognitively intact) to investigate the use of color cues as memory aids. Recognition time was measured for three cues: (1) same color/different form; (2) same form/different color; and (3) different color/different form. Log transformed response times were longer for form cues (same color/different form) compared to color cues (different color/same form, p =.001; different color/different form, p <.001). No differences in log transformed response time were noted among dementia categories for each test condition. Color cues make a significant difference in short-term memory recall ability compared to form cues. Vivid color-coding the environment of a frail, elderly population may enhance short-term memory and improve functional ability. This may prove to be especially useful in long-term care settings, which provide services to a variety of people with differing cognitive abilities.
The role of lipid metabolism in the acquisition of desiccation tolerance in Craterostigma plantagineum: a comparative approach.

Dehydration leads to different physiological and biochemical responses in plants. We analysed the lipid composition and the expression of genes involved in lipid biosynthesis in the desiccation-tolerant plant Craterostigma plantagineum. A comparative approach was carried out with Lindernia brevidens (desiccation tolerant) and two desiccation-sensitive species, Lindernia subracemosa and Arabidopsis thaliana. In C. plantagineum the total lipid content remained constant while the lipid composition underwent major changes during desiccation. The most prominent change was the removal of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) from the thylakoids. Analysis of molecular species composition revealed that around 50% of 36:x (number of carbons in the acyl chains: number of double bonds) MGDG was hydrolysed and diacylglycerol (DAG) used for phospholipid synthesis, while another MGDG fraction was converted into digalactosyldiacylglycerol via the DGD1/DGD2 pathway and subsequently into oligogalactolipids by SFR2. 36:x-DAG was also employed for the synthesis of triacylglycerol. Phosphatidic acid (PA) increased in C. plantagineum, L. brevidens, and L. subracemosa, in agreement with a role of PA as an intermediate of lipid turnover and of phospholipase D in signalling during desiccation. 34:x-DAG, presumably derived from de novo assembly, was converted into phosphatidylinositol (PI) in C. plantagineum and L. brevidens, but not in desiccation-sensitive plants, suggesting that PI is involved in acquisition of desiccation tolerance. The accumulation of oligogalactolipids and PI in the chloroplast and extraplastidial membranes, respectively, increases the concentration of hydroxyl groups and enhances the ratio of bilayer- to non-bilayer-forming lipids, thus contributing to protein and membrane stabilization.
Food and nutrition security in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.

The status of food and nutrition security and its underlying factors in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is investigated. In this region, one third to a half of children (<5 years of age) suffer from stunting, with the incidence of wasting and under-weight also being very high. The prevalence of stunting, wasting and under-weight in children is particularly high in some mountain areas such as Meghalaya state in India, the western mountains and far-western hills of Nepal, Balochistan province in Pakistan, eastern Afghanistan, and Chin state in Myanmar. Food habits in the HKH region are changing. This has led to a deterioration in traditional mountain food systems with a decline in agrobiodiversity. Factors such as high poverty and low dietary energy intakes, a lack of hygienic environments, inadequate nutritional knowledge, and climate change and environmental degradation are also influencing food and nutrition security in the HKH region. To achieve sustainable food and nutrition security in the mountains, this study suggests a multi-sectoral integrated approach with consideration of nutritional aspects in all development processes dealing with economic, social, agricultural and public health issues. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.
Detection by Two Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays of Antibodies to Ehrlichia ruminantium in Field Sera Collected from Sheep and Cattle in Ghana

ABSTRACT Two serological tests for detection of antibodies to Ehrlichia (previously Cowdria) ruminantium, the causative agent of heartwater, were compared by using field sera collected from sheep and cattle as part of serosurveys in Ghana. Sera selected as either negative or positive by a new polyclonal competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (PC-ELISA) were tested by the indirect MAP1-B ELISA. Cutoff values of 14 percent positivity (14 PP) for both ruminant species were obtained for the MAP1-B ELISA by using preseroconversion Ghanaian sera and were compared with previously recommended cutoff values of 29 PP for sheep and 38 PP for cattle. With the 14-PP cutoff, of 151 sheep sera which tested negative by PC-ELISA, 89% were also negative by MAP1-B ELISA, while of 419 sheep sera positive by PC-ELISA, 98% were also positive by MAP1-B ELISA. Of 261 bovine sera negative by PC-ELISA, 82% were also negative by MAP1-B ELISA. Of 511 bovine sera positive by PC-ELISA, only 47% were positive by MAP1-B ELISA; these included 168 sera collected from cattle following first seroconversion as detected by both tests, with 125 of these sera positive by PC-ELISA but only 59 and 5 positive by MAP1-B ELISA with the 14- and 38-PP cutoff levels, respectively. These results indicate that both assays are highly sensitive and specific for detection of E. ruminantium exposure in sheep but that the MAP1-B ELISA lacks sensitivity for postseroconversion bovine sera in comparison to the PC-ELISA. Both tests confirm E. ruminantium seroprevalence of at least 70% in Ghanaian sheep; levels of exposure among Amblyomma variegatum-infested Ghanaian cattle are likely to be higher than the seroprevalence value of 66% obtained with the PC-ELISA.
Gratification Discrepancies and News Program Choice

This study examined gratifications sought and discrepancies in gratifications obtained from network news programs in an attempt to predict news program choice. The results of both 1-test and discriminant analyses indicate that the decision to view a particular television news program is strongly related to the perception of gratifications obtained (or potentially available from) the various programs. A comparison of means indicates that such choice behavior is not a function of overallperceptions of gratifications obtained from oneS favorite program alone. nor is it usually a function of gratifications sought from television news in general. It is only when an audience member makes a comparison between the gratifications perceived to be obtained from his favorite program and competing programs that a functional relationship with viewing choice emerges. While in certain cases more specific perceptions of anchorpersons, program format. and news quality may be more important, the discriminant analyses indicate that the perception of differential gratifications is at least as strongly related to viewing behavior as the more traditionalmeasures of program attributes.
Augmentation of Water Resources Potential and Cropping Intensification Through Watershed Programs

This paper presents the biophysical impact of various interventions made under watershed development programs, in terms of the creation of additional water resources, and resultant changes in land use and cropping patterns in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh State, India. Both primary and secondary data gathered from randomly selected watersheds and their corresponding control villages were used in this study. Analysis revealed that emphasis was given primarily to the creation of water resources potential during implementation of the programs, which led to augmentation of surface and groundwater availability for both irrigation and non‐agricultural purposes. In addition, other land based interventions for soil and moisture conservation, plantation activities, and so forth, were taken up on both arable and nonarable land, which helped to improve land slope and land use, cropping pattern, agricultural productivity, and vegetation cover.
Effects of Multi-Tier Academic and Behavior Instruction on Difficult-to-Teach Students

This article addresses the effects of 3-tiered comprehensive reading and behavior interventions on K-3 student outcomes in 7 urban elementary schools with a high prevalence of students considered difficult to teach. Specific features of each level of the implementation are described including screening and tier placement procedures, scheduling and personnel supports, procedures for ensuring strong implementation with fidelity, procedures for student progress monitoring, and guidelines for instructional decision making. Early literacy skill outcomes for students were the primary dependent measures in reading; schoolwide office discipline referral rate was the dependent measure in behavior. Significant improvement was evident in phoneme segmentation and nonsense word fluency in reading and significant decreases were documented in office discipline referrals across treatment and comparison schools. Significantly higher outcomes were also recorded on required statewide end-of-grade assessments in treatment schools. Implications and caveats concerning effective implementation of the model in other settings are provided. The article emphasizes that changing schoolwide reading and behavior risk requires effective intervention, instruction, and support in both areas.
ESTIMATING BAYESIAN NETWORKS FOR HIGH‐DIMENSIONAL DATA WITH COMPLEX MEAN STRUCTURE AND RANDOM EFFECTS

The estimation of Bayesian networks given high‐dimensional data, in particular gene expression data, has been the focus of much recent research. Whilst there are several methods available for the estimation of such networks, these typically assume that the data consist of independent and identically distributed samples. It is often the case, however, that the available data have a more complex mean structure, plus additional components of variance, which must then be accounted for in the estimation of a Bayesian network. In this paper, score metrics that take account of such complexities are proposed for use in conjunction with score‐based methods for the estimation of Bayesian networks. We propose first, a fully Bayesian score metric, and second, a metric inspired by the notion of restricted maximum likelihood. We demonstrate the performance of these new metrics for the estimation of Bayesian networks using simulated data with known complex mean structures. We then present the analysis of expression levels of grape‐berry genes adjusting for exogenous variables believed to affect the expression levels of the genes. Demonstrable biological effects can be inferred from the estimated conditional independence relationships and correlations amongst the grape‐berry genes.
Expression of nucleic acid‐sensing Toll‐like receptors predicts HPV16 clearance associated with an E6‐directed cell‐mediated response

Toll‐like receptors (TLRs), important in rapid clearance of incident human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, may also be important in shaping the adaptive response to persistent infections. We examined here the association between TLR expression and clearance of HPV16 infections following periods of persistence, using longitudinal TLR measurements and a time‐to‐clearance analysis, as well as the interaction between TLRs and adaptive, cell‐mediated responses involved in clearance. TLR2, TLR3, TLR7, TLR8 and TLR9 mRNA expression were measured in cervical cytobrush samples by quantitative PCR. Responses to the HPV16 E6 and E7 oncoproteins were measured by an interferon‐γ immunospot assay. Bivariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the effect of TLRs on HPV16 clearance. Higher expression of TLR3 or TLR7 at an HPV16‐positive visit was a significant (p ≤ 0.05) predictor of clearance by the following visit, in both unadjusted and adjusted (for smoking and oral contraceptive use) models. In women with, but not those without, a positive response to E6, higher expression of TLR3 (hazard ratio: 1.2 [95% confidence interval: 1.04–1.39], p = 0.012), TLR7 (1.39 [1.14–1.7], p = 0.001), TLR8 (1.37 [1.11–1.69], p = 0.003), or TLR9 (1.53 [1.13–2.08], p = 0.006) was significantly associated with clearance, revealing an important link between innate and adaptive immunity in the control of HPV infections following periods of persistence.
The BOLD Effect of Interictal Spike Activity in Childhood Occipital Lobe Epilepsy

Summary: Purpose: Occipital lobe epilepsy (OLE) presents in childhood with different manifestations, age of onset and EEG features that form distinct syndromes. The ictal clinical symptoms are difficult to correlate with onset in particular areas in the occipital lobes, and the EEG recordings have not been able to overcome this limitation. The mapping of epileptogenic cortical regions in OLE remains therefore an important goal in our understanding of these syndromes.
Construct Validity of the DSM–5 Section III Personality Trait Profile for Borderline Personality Disorder

This study evaluated the nomological network of the borderline personality disorder (BPD) trait profile in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed. [DSM–5]) Section III. BPD symptoms include a variety of maladaptive thoughts and behaviors, and it is important to determine if the Section III trait operationalization for BPD captures these behavioral symptoms, as well as shows similar associations as the traditional Section II version with external criteria. For this purpose, we used a sample of 285 undergraduate students and conducted correlation and regression analyses to delineate the associations between Section III BPD traits and conceptually relevant external criteria. A Section III Total score was meaningfully associated with all criteria. Moreover, externalizing psychopathology tended to be most highly associated with disinhibitory Section III BPD traits, whereas internalizing psychopathology tended to have its strongest unique associations with traits reflective of negative affectivity. These results provide support for the construct validity of the trait profile for BPD in DSM–5 Section III.
Explaining the Relationships among Supportive Message Quality, Evaluations, and Outcomes: A Dual-Process Approach

Research on supportive communication has been concerned with two primary classes of dependent variables. Message evaluations refer to judgments about the supportive message and/or the sender of that message, and message outcomes refer to cognitive, affective, and behavioral effects of messages. Most studies have utilized variables from one or the other class with less attention paid to the association between evaluations and outcomes. Indeed, there is a common assumption that message evaluations are a valid proxy for other outcomes of interest. This assumption is tested empirically in this article. Results from two studies show that (1) evaluations of messages mediate the effect of message quality on outcomes and (2) degree of message scrutiny moderates this mediating effect by altering the degree to which message quality influences evaluations. We use a dual-process theory of supportive message outcomes as the framework for interpreting supportive message effects and for examining the link between message evaluations and outcomes.