Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early Events following Experimental Infection with Peste-Des-Petits Ruminants Virus Suggest Immune Cell Targeting

Peste-des-petits ruminants virus (PPRV) is a viral pathogen that causes a devastating plague of small ruminants. PPRV is an economically significant disease that continues to be a major obstacle to the development of sustainable agriculture across the developing world. The current understanding of PPRV pathogenesis has been heavily assumed from the closely related rinderpest virus (RPV) and other morbillivirus infections alongside data derived from field outbreaks. There have been few studies reported that have focused on the pathogenesis of PPRV and very little is known about the processes underlying the early stages of infection. In the present study, 15 goats were challenged by the intranasal route with a virulent PPRV isolate, Côte d’Ivoire ’89 (CI/89) and sacrificed at strategically defined time-points post infection to enable pre- and post-mortem sampling. This approach enabled precise monitoring of the progress and distribution of virus throughout the infection from the time of challenge, through peak viraemia and into a period of convalescence. Observations were then related to findings of previous field studies and experimental models of PPRV to develop a clinical scoring system for PPRV. Importantly, histopathological investigations demonstrated that the initial site for virus replication is not within the epithelial cells of the respiratory mucosa, as has been previously reported, but is within the tonsillar tissue and lymph nodes draining the site of inoculation. We propose that virus is taken up by immune cells within the respiratory mucosa which then transport virus to lymphoid tissues where primary virus replication occurs, and from where virus enters circulation. Based on these findings we propose a novel clinical scoring methodology for PPRV pathogenesis and suggest a fundamental shift away from the conventional model of PPRV pathogenesis.
Absolute interdialytic weight gain is more important than percent weight gain for intradialytic hypotension in heavy patients

Aim: Few published reports have mentioned the difference between absolute interdialytic weight gain (IDWG) and IDWG/DW (IDWG%), and subsequent effects on daily dialysis. The aim of present study was to evaluate the difference between absolute IDWG and IDWG% in new haemodialysis patients.
Shroom3-mediated recruitment of Rho kinases to the apical cell junctions regulates epithelial and neuroepithelial planar remodeling

Remodeling of epithelial sheets plays important roles in animal morphogenesis. Shroom3 is known to regulate the apical constriction of epithelial cells. Here, we show that Shroom3 binds ROCKs and recruits them to the epithelial apical junctions. We identified the Shroom3-binding site (RII-C1) on ROCKs, and found that RII-C1 could antagonize the Shroom3-ROCK interaction, interfering with the action of Shroom3 on cell morphology. In the invaginating neural plate/tube, Shroom3 colocalized with ROCKs at the apical junctions; Shroom3 depletion or RII-C1 expression in the tube removed these apically localized ROCKs, and concomitantly blocked neural tube closure. Closing neural plate exhibited peculiar cell assemblies, including rosette formation, as well as a planar-polarized distribution of phosphorylated myosin regulatory light chain, but these were abolished by ROCK inhibition or RII-C1 expression. These results demonstrate that the Shroom3-ROCK interaction is crucial for the regulation of epithelial and neuroepithelial cell arrangement and remodeling.
Genome-Wide Array-Based Comparative Genomic Hybridization of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and exhibits aggressive and heterogeneous clinical behavior. To genetically characterize DLBCL, we established our own array-based comparative genomic hybridization and analyzed a total of 70 cases [26 CD-positive (CD5+) DLBCL and 44 CD5-negative (CD5−) DLBCL cases]. Regions of genomic aberrations observed in >20% of cases of both the CD5+ and CD5− groups were gains of 1q21-q31, 1q32, 3p25-q29, 5p13, 6p21-p25, 7p22-q31, 8q24, 11q23-q24, 12q13-q21, 16p13, 18, and X and losses of 1p36, 3p14, 6q14-q25, 6q27, 9p21, and 17p11-p13. Because CD5 expression marks a subgroup with poor prognosis, we subsequently analyzed genomic gains and losses of CD5+ DLBCL compared with those of CD5−. Although both groups showed similar genomic patterns of gains and losses, gains of 10p14-p15 and 19q13 and losses of 1q43-q44 and 8p23 were found to be characteristic of CD5+ DLBCL. By focusing on the gain of 13q21-q34 and loss of 1p34-p36, we were also able to identify prognostically distinct subgroups among CD5+ DLBCL cases. These results suggest that array-based comparative genomic hybridization analysis provides a platform of genomic aberrations of DLBCL both common and specific to clinically distinct subgroups.
Corpus callosum morphology in first-episode and chronic schizophrenia: combined magnetic resonance and diffusion tensor imaging study of Chinese Singaporean patients.

BACKGROUND Abnormalities in the corpus callosum have been reported in patients with schizophrenia for over 30 years but the influence of inter-individual differences and illness characteristics remains to be fully elucidated. AIMS To examine the influence of individual and illness characteristics on the corpus callosum in Chinese Singaporean patients with schizophrenia. METHOD Using magnetic resonance and diffusion tensor imaging, mean corpus callosum area, volume and fractional anisotropy were investigated in 120 Chinese Singaporean patients (52 with chronic and 68 with first-episode schizophrenia) and compared with data from 75 matched healthy controls. RESULTS Both area and volume were significantly reduced in patients relative to controls but no significant differences in corpus callosum existed between genders in either patients or controls. Differences in area and volume of the corpus callosum were greatest in patients whose condition was chronic relative to patients with a first episode and controls. Anterior callosum in patients, regardless of chronicity, was no different to that of controls. CONCLUSIONS Morphological abnormalities in the corpus callosum may increase with illness progression.
Trends in Fluoroquinolone (Ciprofloxacin) Resistance in Enterobacteriaceae from Bacteremias, England and Wales, 1990–1999

The Public Health Laboratory Service receives antibiotic susceptibility data for bacteria from bloodstream infections from most hospitals in England and Wales. These data were used to ascertain resistance trends to ciprofloxacin from 1990 through 1999 for the most prevalent gram-negative agents: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp. , Enterobacter spp. , and Proteus mirabilis. Significant increases in resistance were observed for all four species groups. For E. coli, ciprofloxacin resistance rose from 0.8% in 1990 to 3.7% in 1999 and became widely scattered among reporting hospitals. The prevalence of resistance in Klebsiella spp. rose from 3.5% in 1990, to 9.5% in 1996 and 7.1% in 1999, while that in Enterobacter spp. rose from 2.1% in 1990 to 10.5% in 1996 and 10.9% in 1999. For both Klebsiella and Enterobacter spp. , most resistance was localized in a few centers. Resistance was infrequent and scattered in P. mirabilis, but reached a prevalence of 3.3% in 1999.
Tracking model of an adaptive lattice filter for a linear chirp FM signal in noise

The paper studies the behavior of the partial correlation (PARCOR) coefficients and the output misadjustment of the stochastic gradient adaptive lattice filter in response to a complex linear chirp FM signal in white Gaussian noise. Analytic expressions for the optimal PARCOR coefficients of the filter are derived. Analytic as well as iterative models for a three-stage filter are also derived. The analytic expressions show that the tracking and convergence properties of the filter are separate phenomena. Simulation results also show that the spectral contents of the PARCOR coefficients for the stochastic gradient update algorithm consist of a stationary and a linearly swept component. A single-stage model is developed to explain this behavior. Finally, output misadjustment plots for the filter show that an optimum value for the forgetting factor can be obtained to minimize the misadjustment, but the value required to achieve local minimum misadjustment varies with each stage of the filter. It is shown that in applications where the input has a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the misadjustment decreases rapidly at each successive stage, thus implying that relatively short filter lengths are sufficient to provide effective tracking. >
Peek-a-Boo, I Still See You: Why Efficient Traffic Analysis Countermeasures Fail

We consider the setting of HTTP traffic over encrypted tunnels, as used to conceal the identity of websites visited by a user. It is well known that traffic analysis (TA) attacks can accurately identify the website a user visits despite the use of encryption, and previous work has looked at specific attack/countermeasure pairings. We provide the first comprehensive analysis of general-purpose TA countermeasures. We show that nine known countermeasures are vulnerable to simple attacks that exploit coarse features of traffic (e.g., total time and bandwidth). The considered countermeasures include ones like those standardized by TLS, SSH, and IPsec, and even more complex ones like the traffic morphing scheme of Wright et al. As just one of our results, we show that despite the use of traffic morphing, one can use only total upstream and downstream bandwidth to identify -- with 98% accuracy - which of two websites was visited. One implication of what we find is that, in the context of website identification, it is unlikely that bandwidth-efficient, general-purpose TA countermeasures can ever provide the type of security targeted in prior work.
Tone perception and production in pediatric cochlear implants users

Abstract Conclusions: In prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants, tone perception and production performance are highly correlated. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that tone perception is the prerequisite for good tone production. Objectives: Previous research has shown remarkable deficits in tone perception and production in native tone language-speaking, prelingually deafened children with cochlear implants. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between tone perception and production in those children. Methods: Twenty-five prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants participated in the study. All subjects were Advanced Bionics CII/90K users with various lengths of implant use. To evaluate tone perception performance, subjects completed a computerized tone contrast test. For tone production performance, an artificial neural network was used to evaluate the accuracy of tones recorded from each of the 25 subjects. Results: Large individual differences in tone perception and production performance were observed in these subjects. Tone perception accuracy ranged from 50.0 to 96.9% correct (chance performance = 50% correct; mean = 71.0% correct). Tone production performance ranged from 19.4 to 97.2% correct (mean = 52.0% correct). A strong correlation was found between tone perception and production performance in this group of subjects (r = 0.805).
An Augmented Lagrangian Method for Complex-Valued Compressed SAR Imaging

In this paper, we present a solution to the complex synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging problem within a constrained optimization formulation where the objective function includes a combination of the $\ell _1$-norm and the total variation of the magnitude of the complex valued reflectivity field. The technique we present relies on recent advances in the solution of optimization problems, based on Augmented Lagrangian Methods, and in particular on the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM). We rigorously derive the proximal mapping operators, associated with a linear transform of the magnitude of the reflectivity vector and magnitude-total-variation cost functions, for complex-valued SAR images, and thus enable the use of ADMM techniques to obtain computationally efficient solutions for radar imaging. We study the proposed techniques with multiple features (sparse and piecewise-constant in magnitude) based on a weighted sum of the 1-norm and magnitude-total-variation. We derive a fast implementation of the algorithm using only two transforms per iteration for problems admitting unitary transforms as forward models. Experimental results on real data from TerraSAR-X and SARPER-airborne SAR system developed by ASELSAN-demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
The Relation between Galaxy Activity and the Dynamics of Compact Groups of Galaxies

Using a sample of 91 galaxies distributed over 27 compact groups (CGs) of galaxies, we define an index that allows us to quantify their level of activity due to an active galactic nucleus (AGN) or star formation. By combining the mean activity index with the mean morphological type of the galaxies in a group, we are able to quantify the evolutionary state of the groups. We find that they span an evolutionary sequence that correlates with the spatial configuration of the galaxies in the CG. We distinguish three main configuration types: A, B, and C. Type A CGs show predominantly low velocity dispersions and are rich in late-type spirals that show active star formation or harbor an AGN. Type B groups have intermediate velocity dispersions and contain a large fraction of interacting or merging galaxies. Type C comprises CGs with high velocity dispersions, which are dominated by elliptical galaxies that show no activity. We suggest that evolution proceeds A ⇒ B ⇒ C. Mapping the groups with different evolution levels in a diagram of radius versus velocity dispersion does not reveal the pattern expected based on the conventional fast merger model for CGs, which predicts a direct relation between these two parameters. Instead, we observe a trend contrary to expectation: the evolutionary state of a group increases with velocity dispersion. This trend seems to be related to the masses of the structures in which CGs are embedded. In general, the evolutionary state of a group increases with the mass of the structure. This suggests either that galaxies evolve more rapidly in massive structures or that the formation of CGs embedded in massive structures predated the formation of CGs associated with lower mass systems. Our observations are consistent with the structure formation predicted by the CDM model (or ΛCDM), only if the formation of galaxies is a biased process.
A fast distributed algorithm for mining association rules

With the existence of many large transaction databases, the huge amounts of data, the high scalability of distributed systems, and the easy partitioning and distribution of a centralized database, it is important to investigate efficient methods for distributed mining of association rules. The study discloses some interesting relationships between locally large and globally large item sets and proposes an interesting distributed association rule mining algorithm, FDM (fast distributed mining of association rules), which generates a small number of candidate sets and substantially reduces the number of messages to be passed at mining association rules. A performance study shows that FDM has a superior performance over the direct application of a typical sequential algorithm. Further performance enhancement leads to a few variations of the algorithm.
Spatiotemporal Characterization of mTOR Kinase Activity Following Kainic Acid Induced Status Epilepticus and Analysis of Rat Brain Response to Chronic Rapamycin Treatment

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a protein kinase that senses nutrient availability, trophic factors support, cellular energy level, cellular stress, and neurotransmitters and adjusts cellular metabolism accordingly. Adequate mTOR activity is needed for development as well as proper physiology of mature neurons. Consequently, changes in mTOR activity are often observed in neuropathology. Recently, several groups reported that seizures increase mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase activity, and such increased activity in genetic models can contribute to spontaneous seizures. However, the current knowledge about the spatiotemporal pattern of mTOR activation induced by proconvulsive agents is rather rudimentary. Also consequences of insufficient mTOR activity on a status epilepticus are poorly understood. Here, we systematically investigated these two issues. We showed that mTOR signaling was activated by kainic acid (KA)-induced status epilepticus through several brain areas, including the hippocampus and cortex as well as revealed two waves of mTOR activation: an early wave (2 h) that occurs in neurons and a late wave that predominantly occurs in astrocytes. Unexpectedly, we found that pretreatment with rapamycin, a potent mTOR inhibitor, gradually (i) sensitized animals to KA treatment and (ii) induced gross anatomical changes in the brain.
Early Priming Minimizes the Age-Related Immune Compromise of CD8+ T Cell Diversity and Function

The elderly are particularly susceptible to influenza A virus infections, with increased occurrence, disease severity and reduced vaccine efficacy attributed to declining immunity. Experimentally, the age-dependent decline in influenza-specific CD8+ T cell responsiveness reflects both functional compromise and the emergence of ‘repertoire holes’ arising from the loss of low frequency clonotypes. In this study, we asked whether early priming limits the time-related attrition of immune competence. Though primary responses in aged mice were compromised, animals vaccinated at 6 weeks then challenged >20 months later had T-cell responses that were normal in magnitude. Both functional quality and the persistence of ‘preferred’ TCR clonotypes that expand in a characteristic immunodominance hierarchy were maintained following early priming. Similar to the early priming, vaccination at 22 months followed by challenge retained a response magnitude equivalent to young mice. However, late priming resulted in reduced TCRβ diversity in comparison with vaccination earlier in life. Thus, early priming was critical to maintaining individual and population-wide TCRβ diversity. In summary, early exposure leads to the long-term maintenance of memory T cells and thus preserves optimal, influenza-specific CD8+ T-cell responsiveness and protects against the age-related attrition of naïve T-cell precursors. Our study supports development of vaccines that prime CD8+ T-cells early in life to elicit the broadest possible spectrum of CD8+ T-cell memory and preserve the magnitude, functionality and TCR usage of responding populations. In addition, our study provides the most comprehensive analysis of the aged (primary, secondary primed-early and secondary primed-late) TCR repertoires published to date.
Feature Analysis of Mouse Dynamics in Identity Authentication and Monitoring

Mouse dynamics has recently become an interesting new topic in the area of behavioral biometrics due to its non-intrusiveness and convenience. Some promising results have been shown by previous researches on identity authentication and monitoring using characteristics in users' mouse actions. This paper explores mouse dynamics further by focusing on an important issue not addressed previously: behavioral variability. With an empirical study of long term behaviors of 10 computer users, we show variations are obvious in mouse activities and can have a serious impact if not considered carefully. To tackle the problem of variability, we propose a dimensionality reduction based approach which is demonstrated to be effective in our experiments. More specifically, the classification results after preprocessing by PCA and ISOMAP are shown to be much better than direct classification. Moreover, the results of a false acceptance rate (FAR) 0.55% and false rejection rate (FRR) 3.00% by the nonlinear method ISOMAP are comparable to the best result reported in literature while being subject to more behavioral variability.
Quality of midwifery led care: assessing the effects of different models of continuity for women's satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: Changing Childbirth (1993), a report on the future of maternity services in the United Kingdom, endorsed the development of a primarily community based midwifery led service for normal pregnancy, with priority given to the provision of "woman centred care". This has led to the development of local schemes emphasising continuity of midwifery care and increased choice and control for women. AIMS: To compare two models of midwifery group practices (shared caseload and personal caseload) in terms of: (a) the extent to which women see the same midwife antenatally and know the delivery midwife, and (b) women's preference for continuity and satisfaction with their care. METHODS: A review of maternity case notes and survey of a cohort of women at 36 weeks of gestation and 2 weeks postpartum who attended the two midwifery group practices. Questionnaires were completed by 247 women antenatally (72% response) and 222 (68%) postnatally. Outcome measures were the level of continuity experienced during antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal care, women's preferences for continuity of carer, and ratings of satisfaction with care. RESULTS: The higher level of antenatal continuity of carer with personal caseload midwifery was associated with a lower percentage having previously met their main delivery midwife (60% v 74%). Women's preferences for antenatal continuity were significantly associated with their experiences. Postnatal rating of knowing the delivery midwife as "very important indeed" was associated with both previous antenatal ratings of its importance, and women's actual experiences. Personal continuity of carer was not a clear predictor of women's satisfaction with care. Of greater importance were women's expectations, their relations with midwives, communication, and involvement in decision making. CONCLUSIONS: Midwifery led schemes based on both shared and personal caseloads are acceptable to women. More important determinants of quality and women's satisfaction are the ethos of care consistency of care, good communication, and participation in decisions.