Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pulmonary Right Ventricular Resynchronization in Congenital Heart Disease: Acute Improvement in Right Ventricular Mechanics and Contraction Efficiency

Background— Electromechanical discoordination may contribute to long-term pulmonary right ventricular (RV) dysfunction in patients after surgery for congenital heart disease. We sought to evaluate changes in RV function after temporary RV cardiac resynchronization therapy. Methods and Results— Twenty-five patients aged median 12.0 years after repair of tetralogy of Fallot and similar lesions were studied echocardiographically (n=23) and by cardiac catheterization (n=5) after primary repair (n=4) or after surgical RV revalvulation for significant pulmonary regurgitation (n=21). Temporary RV cardiac resynchronization therapy was applied in the presence of complete right bundle branch block by atrial-synchronized RV free wall pacing in complete fusion with spontaneous ventricular depolarization using temporary electrodes. The q-RV interval at the RV free wall pacing site (mean 77.2% of baseline QRS duration) confirmed pacing from a late activated RV area. RV cardiac resynchronization therapy carried significant decrease in QRS duration (P<0.001) along with elimination of the right bundle branch block QRS morphology, increase in RV filling time (P=0.002), pulmonary artery velocity time integral (P=0.006), and RV maximum +dP/dt (P<0.001), and decrease in RV index of myocardial performance (P=0.006). RV mechanical synchrony improved: septal-to-lateral RV mechanical delay decreased (P<0.001) and signs of RV dyssynchrony pattern were significantly abolished. RV systolic stretch fraction reflecting the ratio of myocardial stretching and contraction during systole diminished (P=0.001). Conclusions— In patients with congenital heart disease and right bundle branch block, RV cardiac resynchronization therapy carried multiple positive effects on RV mechanics, synchrony, and contraction efficiency.
Automatic prominence identification and prosodic typology

This paper presents a follow up of a study on the automatic detection of prosodic prominence in continuous speech. Prosodic prominence involves two different prosodic features, pitch accent and stress, that are typically based on four acoustic parameters: fundamental frequency (F0) movements, overall syllable energy, syllable nuclei duration and mid-tohigh-frequency emphasis. A careful measurement of these acoustic parameters, as well as the identification of their connection to prosodic parameters, makes it possible to build an automatic system capable of identifying prominent syllables in utterances with performance comparable with the inter-human agreement reported in the literature. This automatic system has been used to cast light on the actual correlation among the acoustic parameters and the prominence phenomenon from an typological point of view, by examining data derived from some stress-accented languages.
Regional cerebral glucose metabolic abnormality in Prader-Willi syndrome: A 18F-FDG PET study under sedation.

UNLABELLED Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder caused by the nonexpression of paternal genes in the PWS region of chromosome 15q11-13 and is the most common cause of human syndromic obesity. METHODS We investigated regional brain metabolic impairment in children with PWS by 18F-FDG PET. Sixteen children with PWS (9 males, 7 females; mean age +/- SD, 4.2 +/- 1.1 y) and 7 healthy children (4 males, 3 females; mean age +/- SD, 4.0 +/- 1.7 y) underwent brain 18F-FDG PET in the resting state. The images of PWS children were compared using statistical parametric mapping analysis with those of healthy children in a voxelwise manner. RESULTS Group comparison showed that children with PWS had decreased glucose metabolism in the right superior temporal gyrus and left cerebellar vermis, regions that are associated with taste perception/food reward and cognitive and emotional function, respectively. Metabolism was increased in the right orbitofrontal, bilateral middle frontal, right inferior frontal, left superior frontal, and bilateral anterior cingulate gyri, right temporal pole, and left uncus, regions that are involved in cognitive functions related to eating or obsessive-compulsive behavior. Interestingly, no significant metabolic abnormality was found in the hypothalamus, the brain region believed to be most involved in energy intake and expenditure. CONCLUSION This study describes the neural substrate underlying the abnormal eating behavior and psychobehavioral problems of PWS.
Touchscreen Tablets: Coordinating Action and Perception for Mathematical Cognition

Proportional reasoning is important and yet difficult for many students, who often use additive strategies, where multiplicative strategies are better suited. In our research we explore the potential of an interactive touchscreen tablet application to promote proportional reasoning by creating conditions that steer students toward multiplicative strategies. The design of this application (Mathematical Imagery Trainer) was inspired by arguments from embodied-cognition theory that mathematical understanding is grounded in sensorimotor schemes. This study draws on a corpus of previously treated data of 9–11 year-old students, who participated individually in semi-structured clinical interviews, in which they solved a manipulation task that required moving two vertical bars at a constant ratio of heights (1:2). Qualitative analyses revealed the frequent emergence of visual attention to the screen location halfway along the bar that was twice as high as the short bar. The hypothesis arose that students used so-called “attentional anchors” (AAs)—psychological constructions of new perceptual structures in the environment that people invent spontaneously as their heuristic means of guiding effective manual actions for managing an otherwise overwhelming task, in this case keeping vertical bars at the same proportion while moving them. We assumed that students’ AAs on the mathematically relevant points were crucial in progressing from additive to multiplicative strategies. Here we seek farther to promote this line of research by reanalyzing data from 38 students (aged 9–11). We ask: (1) What quantitative evidence is there for the emergence of AAs? ; and (2) How does the transition from additive to multiplicative reasoning take place when solving embodied proportions tasks in interaction with the touchscreen tablet app? We found that: (a) AAs appeared for all students; (b) the AA-types were few across the students; (c) the AAs were mathematically relevant (top of the bars and halfway along the tall bar); (d) interacting with the tablet was crucial for the AAs’ emergence; and (e) the vast majority of students progressed from additive to multiplicative strategies (as corroborated with oral utterances). We conclude that touchscreen applications have the potential to create interaction conditions for coordinating action and perception into mathematical cognition.
One-hour plasma glucose identifies insulin resistance and beta-cell dysfunction in individuals with normal glucose tolerance: cross-sectional data from the Relationship between Insulin Sensitivity and Cardiovascular Risk (RISC) study.

OBJECTIVE Some individuals with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) exhibit a 1-h excursion of plasma glucose during oral glucose tolerance testing as high as that of individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). The aim of this study was to characterize their metabolic phenotype. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 1,205 healthy volunteers (aged 29-61 years) underwent assessment of 1) oral glucose tolerance and 2) insulin sensitivity (standardized euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp), as part of the Relationship between Insulin Sensitivity and Cardiovascular Risk (RISC) study. RESULTS One-hour plasma glucose correlated better than 2-h plasma glucose with total insulin secretion (r = 0.43), beta-cell glucose sensitivity (r = -0.46), and beta-cell rate sensitivity (r = -0.18). Receiver operating characteristic analysis identified 8.95 mmol/l as the best cutoff value for prediction of IGT from 1-h plasma glucose (sensitivity 77% and specificity 80%). Participants with NGT with 1-h plasma glucose >8.95 mmol/l had larger waist circumference, higher BMI, lower insulin sensitivity, higher fasting glucose, and higher insulin secretion than their counterparts with 1-h plasma glucose <or=8.95 mmol/l (P < 0.001 for all comparisons). Moreover, they exhibited lower beta-cell glucose sensitivity (P < 0.001), beta-cell rate sensitivity (P < 0.001), and potentiation factor (P = 0.026). When compared with conventionally defined IGT, they were not different in waist circumference and BMI, hepatic insulin extraction, beta-cell glucose sensitivity, beta-cell rate sensitivity, and potentiation factor but did have greater insulin sensitivity along with reduced basal (P = 0.001) and total insulin secretion (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS Higher values of 1-h plasma glucose may identify an intermediate condition between NGT and IGT characterized by greater insulin resistance, reduced beta-cell glucose sensitivity, and reduced beta-cell rate sensitivity.
Incidence of periodontal attachment loss over 5 years among older South Australians.

OBJECTIVES This study described the 5-year incidence of periodontal attachment loss (ALOSS) among older Australians. MATERIAL AND METHOD Clinical examination data were obtained at baseline and 5 years from participants in a cohort study of South Australians aged 60+. Periodontal measurements (gingival recession, GR; probing depth, PD) were made for each tooth at 3 sites. An incident case of ALOSS was identified as an individual having 2+ sites with 3+ mm ALOSS. RESULTS Some 342 (42.7%) of the 801 individuals examined at baseline were re-examined after 5 years, contributing longitudinal data from a total of 15,522 sites (6102 in the maxilla and 9420 in the mandible). Most sites showed no change in either GR or PD. Using a threshold of 3+ mm for change, ALOSS occurred at 2.3% of mesiobuccal sites, 2.5% of buccal sites, and 3.4% of distolingual sites. Distolingual sites on molars showed the highest progression rates. The major component of ALOSS was increased GR. Overall, only 10.1% of the observed ALOSS was contributed by increases in PD. Nearly two-thirds of the sites that experienced ALOSS had <3 mm of ALOSS at baseline. The weighted 5-year incidence estimate for ALOSS was 43.2% (N=145), and was higher among diabetics or those who had lost 1+ teeth since baseline. Smoking was not a significant predictor. CONCLUSION The rates and patterns of ALOSS among older South Australians are largely similar to those recently reported for North Carolinians. Most ALOSS in older people manifests as increases in GR, rather than PD. Diabetics should be targeted for intensive primary and secondary prevention of periodontal disease.
Flat for the Few, Steep for the Many: Structural Cohesion and Rich-Club Effect as Measures of Hierarchy and Control in FLOSS Communities

A discrepancy exists between the emphasis posed by practitioners on decentralized and non-hierarchical communication in Free Libre/Open Source Software FLOSS communities and empirical evidence of their hierarchical structure. To explain this paradox, it is hypothesized firstly that in FLOSS communities local sub-groups exist and are less hierarchical, more decentralized than the whole social network. Secondly, it is hypothesized that the bulk of communication exchanges taking place in the community happens inside local sub-groups formed by the most active community members. The recollection that practitioners have of FLOSS communities to which they participate would then be influenced by the position that they occupy inside those sub-groups. A measure of structural cohesion based on network node connectivity is proposed as an effective method to test whether FLOSS communication networks can be decomposed in nested hierarchies of progressively less centralized sub-groups. The recently introduced measure of weighted rich-club effect is adopted to test for the tendency of the most active community members to control communication by interacting more intensely with each other than with other members of the network. Results from a case study that are consistent with the hypotheses are presented and discussed.
Excellent survival after liver transplantation for isolated polycystic liver disease: an European Liver Transplant Registry study

Patients with end‐stage isolated polycystic liver disease (PCLD) suffer from incapacitating symptoms because of very large liver volumes. Liver transplantation (LT) is the only curative option. This study assesses the feasibility of LT in PCLD. We used the European Liver Transplant Registry (ELTR) database to extract demographics and outcomes of 58 PCLD patients. We used Kaplan–Meier survival analysis for survival rates. Severe abdominal pain (75%) was the most prominent symptom, while portal hypertension (35%) was the most common complication in PCLD. The explantation of the polycystic liver was extremely difficult in 38% of patients, because of presence of adhesions from prior therapy (17%). Karnofsky score following LT was 90%. The 1‐ and 5‐year graft survival rate was 94.3% and 87.5%, while patient survival rate was 94.8% and 92.3%, respectively. Survival rates after LT for PCLD are good.
Male sex increases the risk of autoimmunity but not type 1 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to explore the role of sex on the prevalence of autoantibodies, protective genetic subtypes, beta-cell function, and the incidence of type 1 diabetes in a population of first- and second-degree relatives of patients with type 1 diabetes (probands). We examined both the effect of the sex of the individual screened as well as the effect of the sex of the individual's proband on diabetes risk variables tested. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The Diabetes Prevention Trial-Type 1 has screened 93,188 relatives of type 1 diabetic patients from February 1994 to January 2002. After observing that more men than women were islet cell autoantibody (ICA) positive for the group as a whole, we further explored the role of sex by detailed analysis of variables in this population. RESULTS Our data suggest only an influence of sex on the type 1 diabetes disease process. After adjustment for race, age, and relationship to proband, male sex was associated with the appearance of autoimmunity, i.e., the presence of ICA and having two or more antibodies. There was no effect of sex on the presence of other autoantibodies, insulin secretion, results of oral glucose tolerance test, or development of diabetes. CONCLUSIONS Our finding that male sex conveys an independent increased risk for development of ICA and multiple antibodies, while at the same time finding no difference with respect to the development of diabetes, suggests that male relatives with the known risk factor of ICA are less likely than comparable female relatives to progress to overt disease, that the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes among men is slower compared with women, or that women develop diabetes manifesting different antibody responses.
Functional dissociation of paracellular permeability and transepithelial electrical resistance and disruption of the apical- basolateral intramembrane diffusion barrier by expression of a mutant tight junction membrane protein

Tight junctions, the most apical of the intercellular junctions that connect individual cells in a epithelial sheet, are thought to form a seal that restricts paracellular and intramembrane diffusion. To analyze the functioning of tight junctions, we generated stable MDCK strain 2 cell lines expressing either full-length or COOH-terminally truncated chicken occludin, the only known transmembrane component of tight junctions. Confocal immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy demonstrated that mutant occludin was incorporated into tight junctions but, in contrast to full-length chicken occludin, exhibited a discontinuous junctional staining pattern and also disrupted the continuous junctional ring formed by endogenous occludin. This rearrangement of occludin was not paralleled by apparent changes in the junctional morphology as seen by thin section electron microscopy nor apparent discontinuities of the junctional strands observed by freeze-fracture. Nevertheless, expression of both wild-type and mutant occludin induced increased transepithelial electrical resistance (TER). In contrast to TER, particularly the expression of COOH-terminally truncated occludin led to a severalfold increase in paracellular flux of small molecular weight tracers. Since the selectivity for size or different types of cations was unchanged, expression of wild-type and mutant occludin appears to have activated an existing mechanism that allows selective paracellular flux in the presence of electrically sealed tight junctions. Occludin is also involved in the formation of the apical/basolateral intramembrane diffusion barrier, since expression of the COOH-terminally truncated occludin was found to render MDCK cells incapable of maintaining a fluorescent lipid in a specifically labeled cell surface domain.
Atomic Carbon Emission from Individual Molecular Clouds in M33

We present observations of the 492 GHz [C I] emission for four individual giant molecular clouds in the Local Group galaxy M33 obtained with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. The average [CI] to CO J = 1-0 integrated intensity ratio of 0.10 ± 0.03 is similar to what is observed in Galactic molecular clouds but is smaller than what is seen in starburst galaxies. Similarly, the column density ratio N(C)/N(CO) is similar to that observed in the Orion Bar but is smaller than values obtained for starburst galaxies. The [CI] line is found to be a more important coolant than the lowest three rotational transitions of CO for all the clouds in the sample. The [CI] luminosity does not appear to be enhanced significantly in two low-metallicity clouds, which may be a result of the unusual ionization environment of the clouds.
RELATIONSHIP OF TRANSPLACENTAL HAEMORRHAGE TO ABNORMAL PREGNANCY AND DELIVERY

INTRODUCTION It is now evident that immunization against the D antigen can be prevented by giving rhesus negative women shortly after delivery of a rhesus positive infant a suitable dose of anti-D yglobulin (Preisler and Schnieder, 1966; Freda et al., 1967; Clarke, 1967). Although fetal cells can leak across the placenta during pregnancy, there is an increased incidence of leaks large enough to cause sensitization during labour. Indirect evidence of the relationship of transplacental haemorrhage to complicated deliveries or pregnancies is contained in the reports of Gainey et al. (1954), Knox et al. (1961), Pfleiderer (1966) and Kjeldsen and Muller (1967), who all relate the development of rhesus antibodies to such pregnancies or deliveries. By using the acid elution technique (Kleihauer et al., 1957) a number of workers have studied the effect of complicated pregnancies or deliveries on transplacental haemorrhage (Fraser and Raper, 1962; Wimhofer et al., 1962; Finn et al., 1963; Freese and Titel, 1963; Keenan and Pearse, 1963; Zipursky et al., 1963; Pilkington et al., 1966). Because many of these studies were on small groups of patients, we have studied 728 abnormal pregnancies and deliveries in rhesus positive women and have compared the incidence and magnitude of transplacental haemorrhage after delivery with that in 364 normal deliveries. Indications for the use of anti-D y-globulin have still to be clarified (Lancet, 1967). Our findings may define more exactly some of the conditions under which transplacental haemorrhage can occur. MATERIAL AND METHODS Specimens of venous blood were collected in sequestrene bottles within six hours of delivery. The ARO groups of mother and child were determined ; all the mothers were rhesus positive. Two thin films were made from each specimen and fixed in 80 per cent ethanol for five minutes. The films were air dried after rinsing in tap water for 30 seconds and the acid elution carried out within one hour. The citrate-buffer a tpH 3.4 was placed in a water-bath at 37" C. until temperature equilibrium was reached and all air bubbles had risen. The pH was checked by a pH meter. The slides were immersed in the buffer for five minutes and then rinsed in running tap water for 45 seconds, followzd by staining with Ehrlich's acid haematoxylin for five minutes and 2 per cent aqueous eosin for three minutes. The slides were finally well washed in tap water and air dried. The films were first inspected under low magnification to check for any irregularity of staining and the number of fetal cells seen in 100 low-power fields ( x 120, diameter 925p ) on each of the two slides counted. The average of the two counts is referred to as the fetal cell count. Normal limits were established by counting samples from 120 normal male and nonpregnant women. Correlation of the fetal cell count with the approximate volume of fetal blood present was made by carrying out a series of counts on dilutions of cord blood in compatible adult blood.
Analysis of the Roles of 14-3-3 in the Platelet Glycoprotein Ib-IX–Mediated Activation of Integrin αIIbβ3 Using a Reconstituted Mammalian Cell Expression Model

We have reconstituted the platelet glycoprotein (GP) Ib-IX–mediated activation of the integrin αIIbβ3 in a recombinant DNA expression model, and show that 14-3-3 is important in GPIb-IX signaling. CHO cells expressing αIIbβ3 adhere poorly to vWF. Cells expressing GPIb-IX adhere to vWF in the presence of botrocetin but spread poorly. Cells coexpressing integrin αIIbβ3 and GPIb-IX adhere and spread on vWF, which is inhibited by RGDS peptides and antibodies against αIIbβ3. vWF binding to GPIb-IX also activates soluble fibrinogen binding to αIIbβ3 indicating that GPIb-IX mediates a cellular signal leading to αIIbβ3 activation. Deletion of the 14-3-3–binding site in GPIbα inhibited GPIb-IX–mediated fibrinogen binding to αIIbβ3 and cell spreading on vWF. Thus, 14-3-3 binding to GPIb-IX is important in GPIb-IX signaling. Expression of a dominant negative 14-3-3 mutant inhibited cell spreading on vWF, suggesting an important role for 14-3-3. Deleting both the 14-3-3 and filamin-binding sites of GPIbα induced an endogenous integrin-dependent cell spreading on vWF without requiring αIIbβ3, but inhibited vWF-induced fibrinogen binding to αIIbβ3. Thus, while different activation mechanisms may be responsible for vWF interaction with different integrins, GPIb-IX–mediated activation of αIIbβ3 requires 14-3-3 interaction with GPIbα.
Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 and Matrix-Metalloproteinases in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease: Are They Associated with Cardiovascular Disease?

Background: High cardiovascular risk in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) may be related to mineral disorder and microinflammation. Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) is a phosphatonin and inhibitor of calcitriol synthesis, which is associated with poor prognosis in CKD patients starting dialysis. Matrix-metalloproteinases (MMP-2, MMP-9) contribute to myocardial remodeling and arterial calcification. FGF-23 and MMPs levels are altered in CKD, however, little is known about their association and relation to cardiovascular (CV) disease. Methods: Standard laboratory parameters, plasma levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, FGF-23, PAPP-A and CV disease history were assessed in 80 patients with CKD 1–5 and 44 healthy control subjects. Results: FGF-23 and MMP-2 (assessed by ELISA) were higher in CKD patients compared to controls. FGF-23 increased from CKD 3, whereas MMP-2 increased only in CKD 5. FGF-23 was positively associated with MMP-2, adjusted to age, eGFR, phosphatemia, calcitriol and parathormone. FGF-23 independently correlated with parathormone and inversely with calcitriol, whereas MMP-2 was related to phosphatemia. FGF-23 was higher in subjects with a history of CV disease compared to those free of such history (559.0 vs.184.0 RU/ml), adjusted to age and eGFR. Conclusion: Our data suggest a possible relationship between FGF-23, MMP-2 and CV disease in CKD. Potential causality of this association remains to be elucidated.