Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Innovative and Emerging Technologies in GI Physiology and Disease In vivo real-time imaging of the liver with confocal endomicroscopy permits visualization of the temporospatial patterns of hepatocyte apoptosis

In vivo real-time imaging of the liver with confocal endomicroscopy permits visualization of the temporospatial patterns of hepatocyte apoptosis. Physiol Gastrointest Physiol G764–G772, Apoptosis is a dynamic process of programmed cell death and is involved in multiple diseases. However, its mechanisms and sequence of events are still incompletely understood, partly because of the inability to visualize single cells continuously in vivo. The aim of the present study was to monitor hepatocyte apoptosis with confocal endomicroscopy in living rodents. In 73 anaesthetized mice, apoptotic liver injury was induced by injection of the CD95-agonistic antibody Jo2. Individual hepatocytes were followed for up to 240 min with a handheld confocal probe (FIVE1; Optiscan) providing 0.7 (cid:1) m resolution (1,000-fold magniﬁcation). Different ﬂuorescence staining pro-tocols were used for cellular staining, vascular and cellular barrier function imaging, and caspase activation visualization. The time course of apoptosis could be visualized in vivo while liver perfusion and tissue integrity were maintained. In contrast to most ex vivo studies, initial cell swelling was observed that coincided with early defects in barrier function of sinusoids and hepatocytes. Cytoplasmic vesicle formation, nuclear condensation, cellular disintegration, and macrophage inﬁltration were captured sequentially. Labeling of caspases allowed molecular imaging. Our study allowed for the ﬁrst time to continuously follow distinct morphological, functional, and molecular features of apoptosis in a solid organ in vivo and at high resolution. Intravital confocal microscopy may be a valuable tool to study the effects of therapeutic intervention on apoptosis in animal models and humans.
Neurophysiological Correlates of Children’s Processing of Interparental Conflict Cues.

This study builds on the literature on child exposure to marital conflict by testing whether mother-reported marital conflict exposure predicts a child’s P3 event-related potential (ERP) components generated in response to viewing quasi–marital conflict photos. We collected ERP data from 23 children (9–11 years of age) while presenting photos of actors pretending to be a couple depicting interpersonal anger, happiness, and neutrality. To elicit the P3 ERP, stimuli were presented using an oddball paradigm, with angry and happy photos presented on 20% of trials each and neutral photos presented on the remaining 60% of trials. Angry photos were the target in 1 block, and happy photos were the target in the other block. In the angry block, children from high-conflict homes had shorter reaction times (RTs) on happy trials than on neutral trials, and children from low-conflict homes had shorter RTs on angry trials than on happy trials. Also within the angry block, children generated larger P3s on angry trials than on happy trials, regardless of exposure to conflict. Further, children from high-conflict homes generated larger P3s on angry trials and on happy trials compared with neutral trials, but children from low-conflict homes did not. Results are discussed in terms of implications for children’s processing of displays of interpersonal emotion.
The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Ocular Trauma: The Singapore Indian Eye Study

Purpose: To describe the prevalence and risk factors of ocular trauma in an urban Southeast Asian population. Methods: A population-based survey of 3,400 (75.6% response rate) adults of Indian ethnicity aged 40–80 years residing in Singapore was conducted in 2007–2009. An age-stratified (10-year age group) random sampling procedure was performed to select participants. Ocular trauma was defined as any eye injury requiring medical attention and any history of ocular trauma was documented using a standardized and validated questionnaire comprising seven questions. Potential risk factors associated with ocular trauma included age, gender, socioeconomic status, occupation, housing type, alcohol consumption, smoking, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and history of falls. Results: Ocular trauma was reported in 5.1% (n = 162; 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.3–6.1%) of the study population, of whom 26.5% (n = 43) required hospitalization. A total of 42.0% (n = 68) of cases resulted from a blunt object, 36.4% (n = 59) from a sharp object, and 15.4% (n = 25) from chemical burns. After adjusting for age and sex, men had a higher prevalence of ocular trauma (7.1% vs. 3.0%, age-adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.2, 95% CI 1.6–3.1). A history of cigarette smoking was associated with higher likelihood of ocular trauma (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1–2.4) but not consumption of alcohol (OR 1.0, 95% CI 0.6–1.6). Conclusions: One in twenty Indian adults in this urban Southeast Asian population had a history of ocular trauma, similar to the prevalence reported in Malays living in Singapore. Men and cigarette smokers were more likely to have incurred ocular trauma.
Frequent free tree discovery in graph data

In recent years, researchers in graph mining have been exploring linear paths as well as subgraphs as pattern languages. In this paper, we are investigating the middle ground between these two extremes: mining free (that is, unrooted) trees in graph data. The motivation for this is the need to upgrade linear path patterns, while avoiding complexity issues with subgraph patterns. Starting from such complexity considerations, we are defining free trees and their canonical form, before we present FreeTreeMiner, an algorithm making efficient use of this canonical form during search. Experiments with two datasets from the National Cancer Institute's Developmental Therapeutics Program (DTP), anti-HIV and anti-cancer screening data, are reported.
Auditory sequence analysis and phonological skill

This work tests the relationship between auditory and phonological skill in a non-selected cohort of 238 school students (age 11) with the specific hypothesis that sound-sequence analysis would be more relevant to phonological skill than the analysis of basic, single sounds. Auditory processing was assessed across the domains of pitch, time and timbre; a combination of six standard tests of literacy and language ability was used to assess phonological skill. A significant correlation between general auditory and phonological skill was demonstrated, plus a significant, specific correlation between measures of phonological skill and the auditory analysis of short sequences in pitch and time. The data support a limited but significant link between auditory and phonological ability with a specific role for sound-sequence analysis, and provide a possible new focus for auditory training strategies to aid language development in early adolescence.
Segmental α‐Receptor‐Mediated Vasoconstriction in the Canine Coronary Circulation

Recent studies from this laboratory have indicated that sympathetic α-receptor-mediated coronary vasoconstriction can compete with local metabolic vasodilation to reduce the oxygen supply to the myocardium. In vitro studies from other laboratories on isolated coronary vessel strips suggest that large epicardial vessels are the dominant site of adrenergic a-receptor activity. In this study we used anesthetized, open-chest dogs to test the hypothesis that α-receptor-mediated vasoconstriction occurs predominantly in epicardial vessels, which are partially removed from the metabolic milieu in the myocardium. Adrenergic α-receptor blockade was achieved by propranolol (3 mg/kg, iv). The circumflex coronary artery was pump-perfused at constant pressure to minimize passive changes in large vessel resistance. Pressure was measured at the tip of the perfusion cannula sealed in the circumflex artery, and in an apical branch of the circumflex artery. Large vessel resistance was calculated as the pressure gradient along the vessel segment divided by the coronary flow. Intracoronary injections of nitrogly cerin were used as an independent measure of the vasomotor responsiveness of the large vessel segment. Adrenergic β-receptor activation was produced by intracoronary bolus injections of norepinephrine and by electrical stimulation of the left stellate ganglion. Alpha-receptor stimulation caused an increase in total coronary vascular resistance; however, the relative increase in the resistance of the large vessel was only about 60% of that seen for the entire coronary bed. These data suggest that, contrary to the proposed hypothesis, adrenergic a-receptor-mediated vasoconstriction in the large coronary vessels is not proportionally greater than that observed in the total coronary vascular bed.
Delayed Primary HHV-7 Infection and Neurologic Disease

BACKGROUND: Primary human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7) infection occurs almost universally during the first 5 years of life and is rarely accompanied by central nervous system (CNS) symptoms such as febrile seizures. The present retrospective study investigated the role of primary HHV-7 infection in CNS disease in children, including adolescents. METHODS: The study included all children who had neurologic disease aged younger than 18 years seen at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada, between April 1, 1998 and December 31, 2011, whose cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was found by polymerase chain reaction to contain HHV-7 DNA. Where sera were available, HHV-7 IgG antibody titers and avidity were measured to differentiate primary from past infection. RESULTS: HHV-7 DNA was detected in the CSF of 57 (1.9%) of the 2972 children tested. In 3 adolescents primary HHV-7 infection (low avidity IgG) was confirmed as the cause of neurologic disease, 2 who had encephalitis and 1 who had Guillain-Barré syndrome. Eighteen children had possible HHV-7 disease (no alternative cause identified and indeterminate antibody result or serum not available), 7 encephalitis, 8 meningitis, and 3 demyelinating disorders. HHV-7 disease was excluded in 36 children on the basis of past infection (high IgG avidity) and/or an alternative cause. CONCLUSIONS: Primary HHV-7 infection delayed into adolescence can cause serious neurologic disease. HHV-7 DNA in CSF alone is insufficient to prove an etiologic association. Combining CSF polymerase chain reaction with serology is essential to prove primary infection when investigating HHV-7 CNS disease.
Human perception of geometric distortions in images

We present in this paper the results of our study on the human perception of geometric distortions in images. The ultimate goal of this study is to devise an objective measurement scheme for geometric distortions in images, which should have a good correspondence to human perception of the distortions. The study is divided into two parts. The first part of the study is the design and implementation of a user-test to measure human perception of geometric distortions in images. The result of this test is then used as a basis to evaluate the performance of the second part of the study, namely the objective quality measurement scheme. Our experiment shows that our objective quality measurement has good correspondence to the result of the user test and performs much better than a PSNR measurement.
Enhancing recombinant glycoprotein sialylation through CMP‐sialic acid transporter over expression in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Glycosylation engineering strategies that are currently used to improve quality of recombinant glycoproteins involve the manipulation of glycosyltransferase and/or glycosidase expression. We explored the possibility that over expressing nucleotide sugar transporters, particularly the CMP‐sialic acid transporter (CMP‐SAT) would improve the sialylation process in Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO). Our hypothesis was that increasing CMP‐SAT in the cells through recombinant means would increase the transport of CMP‐sialic acid into the Golgi, resulting in an increased CMP‐sialic acid intra‐lumenal pool and increased sialylation of the proteins produced. We report the construction of the CMP‐SAT expression vector (pcDNA‐SAT) using hamster CMP‐SAT (GenBank accession number Y12074) and demonstrated its functionality using Lec2 CHO mutant cells. Transfection of pcDNA‐SAT into CHO IFN‐γ, a CHO cell line producing recombinant human interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) resulted in single clones that had 2–20 fold increase in total CMP‐SAT expression at the transcript level and 1.8–2.8 fold increase in CMP‐SAT at the protein level when compared to untransfected parent CHO IFN‐γ. This resulted in 4%–16% increase in site sialylation of IFN‐γ. There was also a higher proportion of the more sialylated IFN‐γ glycans produced by the clones. We have thus established a novel strategy for sialylation improvement in recombinant protein production that can be considered singly or along with existing glycosylation improvement strategies, including glycosyltransferase over expression and nucleotide sugar feeding. These multiprong approaches can possibly bring us closer toward the goal of maximum and consistent sialylation in glycoprotein production using mammalian cells. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Mutations in CIC and FUBP1 Contribute to Human Oligodendroglioma

A gene originally studied for its role in fruit fly embryogenesis is implicated in the growth of a common human brain tumor. Oligodendrogliomas are the second most common malignant brain tumor in adults and exhibit characteristic losses of chromosomes 1p and 19q. To identify the molecular genetic basis for this alteration, we performed exomic sequencing of seven tumors. Among other changes, we found that the CIC gene (homolog of the Drosophila gene capicua) on chromosome 19q was somatically mutated in six cases and that the FUBP1 gene [encoding far-upstream element (FUSE) binding protein] on chromosome 1p was somatically mutated in two tumors. Examination of 27 additional oligodendrogliomas revealed 12 and 3 more tumors with mutations of CIC and FUBP1, respectively, 58% of which were predicted to result in truncations of the encoded proteins. These results suggest a critical role for these genes in the biology and pathology of oligodendrocytes.
Sleep Quality and Its Correlates in HIV Positive Patients Who Are Candidates for Initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy

Objective Based on Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, it has been reported that most human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients suffer from various degrees of sleep problems. Sleep disorders can affect quality of life, physical and social functioning and can also cause chronic fatigue. Some psychological and physiological factors are related to sleep quality. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate sleep quality and its related psychological and physiological factors in Iranian human immunodeficiency virus positive patients who were candidates for initiation of antiretroviral therapy. Method This was a cross- sectional study of 59 HIV positive out-patients in stages 2 or 3 of HIV disease who were candidates for initiation of antiretroviral therapy. Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) and Somatization Subscale of Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) were used to assess the patients’ sleep quality, depression, anxiety and physiological factors, respectively. SPSS software version 12 was used for data analysis. The Pearson correlation coefficient was utilized to analyze the correlation between PSQI and other quantitative variables. Results Based on the sleep quality assessment, 47.5 % of the patients had PSQI > 5 that was defined as sleep disturbances. A significant correlation was found between sleep quality and HDRS (r = 0.531, p = 0.0001), HARS (r = 0.627, p = 0.0001) and somatization subscale of SCL-90 (r = 0.36, p = 0.05). Conclusion This study showed that human immunodeficiency virus positive individuals suffer from sleep disorders at least as same as the general population, and that psychological variables including depression and anxiety and physiological variables including physical morbidities in different systems of the body lead to sleep disturbance in this population.
The optokinetic uncover test: a new insight into infantile esotropia.

IMPORTANCE We devised the optokinetic uncover test to examine the role of peripheral retinal motion input in generating horizontal optokinetic responses in patients with infantile strabismus. OBJECTIVE To ascertain whether subcortical visual input contributes to the asymmetrical monocular optokinetic responses that characterize infantile esotropia. DESIGN AND SETTING Observational study in an academic research setting. PARTICIPANTS Ten patients with infantile esotropia. INTERVENTION Optokinetic uncover test. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Optokinetic testing was performed in 7 patients with isolated infantile esotropia (5 untreated and 2 previously treated) and in 3 patients with infantile esotropia syndrome associated with mild neurological disease. RESULTS All patients showed poor temporally directed optokinetic responses that instantaneously improved when the occluded esodeviated eye was uncovered, exposing it to nasally directed optokinetic motion. This improvement in optokinetic responses did not necessitate a fixation shift to the contralateral eye. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Nasally directed optokinetic input to the esodeviated eye can supplement temporal monocular optokinetic responses in the fixating eye under binocular conditions. This nonfoveal optokinetic contribution suggests that monocular nasotemporal optokinetic asymmetry is partly attributable to subcortical visuovestibular responses mediated by nonfoveal retina.
Flow cytometric reticulocyte analysis. Multiinstitutional interlaboratory correlation study.

Reticulocyte analysis by flow cytometry offers precision and sensitivity greater than those of conventional morphologic methods and permits derivation of a reticulocyte maturity index. However, interlaboratory variability has not yet been reported. The authors analyzed 310 samples at eight sites using 11 instruments over a 4-month period to examine intermethod and interlaboratory variabilities. Stains included thiazole orange, ethidium bromide, and auramine O. Instruments included models by Coulter, Becton Dickinson, TOA Medical Electronics, and Ortho Diagnostics. The coefficient of variation (CV) among all sites and methods on these samples varied as a function of the reticulocyte percentage, ranging from a mean CV of 69% for samples with < . 5% reticulocytes to 24.1% for those with > 2.5% reticulocytes. The best performance was observed with the TOA R-1000 dedicated reticulocyte analyzers, with a mean CV of 18.4% for samples with < . 5% reticulocytes and 4.6% for samples with > 2.5% reticulocytes. The reticulocyte maturity index showed comparable intersite precision, with a mean CV of 16% for samples with > 2.5% reticulocytes with multipurpose flow cytometers and a mean CV of 7.3% with the TOA R-1000 instruments. Interclass correlations among all sites ranged from . 79 to . 99 for the reticulocyte counts and . 41 to . 88 for the reticulocyte maturity index. The authors conclude that flow cytometric reticulocyte analysis is more precise than manual reticulocyte analysis. With greater automation of this methodology, further interlaboratory standardization of reticulocyte counts and the reticulocyte maturity index can be achieved.
Hardware implementation of a Montgomery modular multiplier in a systolic array

This paper describes a hardware architecture for modular multiplication operation which is efficient for bit-lengths suitable for both commonly used types of public key cryptography (PKC) i.e. ECC and RSA cryptosystems. The challenge of current PKC implementations is to deal with long numbers (160-2048 bits) in order to achieve system's efficiency, as well as security. RSA, still the most popular PKC, has at its root the modular exponentiation operation. Modular exponentiation consists of repeated modular multiplications, which is also the basic operation for ECC protocols. The solution proposed in this work uses a systolic array implementation and can be used for arbitrary precisions. We also present modular exponentiation based on Montgomery's Multiplication Method (MMM).
Individual Differences in Time-Sharing Performance

Abstract : The traditional approach to ability and skill assessment employed serial, discrete presentations of assessment tasks. Recently, some authors stressed the need for an approach which would permit administration of more than one assessment task simultaneously. There is a belief that such approach might be more appropriate, especially in the prediction of some complex skill, such as flying, which is likely to involve simultaneous performance and overload. Inherent in this belief is the supposition that individuals consistently differ in some kind of 'timesharing ability. ' But this has not been proved so far, and the present research is an attempt to test this supposition.
Machine learning in a setting of ordinal distance information

In a typical machine learning scenario we are given numerical dissimilarity values between objects (or feature representations of objects, from which such dissimilarity values can readily be computed). In the relaxed setting of ordinal distance information we are only provided with binary answers to comparisons of dissimilarity values such as d(A,B)<d(A,C) instead. This setting has attracted interest in recent years, mainly due to the possibility of simple collection of such data by means of crowdsourcing. In my talk, I want to present two of my contributions to this field. First, I will talk about a result that states the asymptotic uniqueness of ordinal embeddings. Ordinal embedding, up to now, is the standard approach to machine learning in a setting of ordinal distance information. The idea is to map the objects of a data set to points in a Euclidean space such that the points preserve the given ordinal distance information as well as possible (with respect to the Euclidean interpoint distances). Second, I will introduce data-dependent kernel functions that can be evaluated given only ordinal distance information about a data set. They provide a generic alternative to the ordinal embedding approach and avoid some of its drawbacks. For both works, I want to address a number of open questions. Organizer(s): Rutgers/DIMACS Theory of Computing Seminar
Empathy and fairness

Symposium on Empathy and Fairness, held at the Novartis Foundation, London, 25-27 October 2005. Editors: Greg Bock (Organizer) and Jamie Goode. This symposium is based on a proposal made by Chris Frith, Uta Frith, Tania Singer and Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. Introduction (Chris Frith). Embodied simulation: from mirror neuron systems to interpersonal relations (Vittorio Gallese). Discussion. The neuronal basis of empathy and fairness (Tania Singer). Discussion. What's fair? The unconscious calculus of our moral faculty (Marc Hauser). Discussion. Chimpanzees may recognize motives and goals, but may not reckon on them (Josep Call and Keith Jensen). Discussion. Empathy-related responding and prosocial behaviour (Nancy Eisenberg). Discussion. General discussion I. A social interaction analysis of empathy and fairness (Paul A. M. Van Lange, Marcello Gallucci, Johan C. Karremans, Anthon Klapwijk and Chris Reinders Folmer). Discussion. Triggering the intentional stance (Raymond A. Mar and C. Neil Macrae). Discussion. Dissociable systems for empathy (R. James R. Blair). Discussion. Looking at other people: mechanisms for social perception revealed in subjects with focal amygdala damage (Ralph Adolphs). Discussion. Models of distributive justice (Jonathan Wolff). Discussion. When do we empathize? (Frederique de Vignemont) Discussion. Cooperation through moral commitment (Robert Frank). Discussion. Final Discussion. Index of Contributors. Subject Index.