Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regional Lung Perfusion as Determined by Electrical Impedance Tomography in Comparison With Electron Beam CT Imaging

The aim of the experiments was to check the feasibility of pulmonary perfusion imaging by functional electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and to compare the EIT findings with electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) scans. In three pigs, a Swan-Ganz catheter was positioned in a pulmonary artery branch and hypertonic saline solution or a radiographic contrast agent were administered as boli through the distal or proximal openings of the catheter. During the administration through the proximal opening, the balloon at the tip of the catheter was either deflated or inflated. The latter case represented a perfusion defect. The series of EIT scans of the momentary distribution of electrical impedance within the chest were obtained during each saline bolus administration at a rate of 13/s. EBCT scans were acquired at a rate of 3.3/s during bolus administrations of the radiopaque contrast material under the same steady-state conditions. The EIT data were used to generate local time-impedance curves and functional EIT images showing the perfusion of a small lung region, both lungs with a perfusion defect and complete both lungs during bolus administration through the distal and proximal catheter opening with an inflated or deflated balloon, respectively. The results indicate that EIT imaging of lung perfusion is feasible when an electrical impedance contrast agent is used.
White-Coat Hypertension Should Not Be Treated in Subjects With Diabetes

Blood pressure (BP) levels in the doctor's clinic may not always reflect those of daily living, as indicated by 24-h ambulatory or self-monitoring measurements. Simple logic implies that treatment should be guided by the actual BP levels, rather than by imprecise clinic measurements. On average, BP measured in the clinic is higher than out-of-office BP. This difference occurs in a considerable number of patients with white-coat hypertension (WCH). The issue is complicated, since most studies define WCH as an elevated office BP in patients with normal awake ambulatory BP. However, the “awake” state may not fully reflect the 24-h BP load. Average 24-h BP, and particularly that during sleep, which is more likely to be higher in subjects with diabetes (1,2), could be elevated in a patient with normal awake BP. The presence of abnormal clinic BP in such a patient discloses true hypertension rather than WCH. Indeed, among 4,121 subjects referred for ambulatory BP monitoring, 4.5% had isolated abnormal sleep BP (>120/70 mmHg) and normal 24-h BP (3). Nevertheless, in this presentation, we assume that the common definition of WCH is elevated clinic readings with normal awake BP. Assessment of WCH in diabetes is complicated by the fact that normal BP measured at the clinic is defined as <130/80 mmHg (as opposed to 140/90 mmHg in the general population), whereas there are still no accepted thresholds for ambulatory or home-based BP levels. Characteristics unique to the white-coat response in patients with diabetes, associated prognostic implications, and the need for treatment are discussed. The issue of prevalence is not marginal: we have found that compared with subjects without diabetes who were referred for 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring, those treated for diabetes were less likely to have WCH (and more likely to have masked hypertension) (1). A similar conclusion …
Non-adjacent dependency learning in infants at familial risk of dyslexia*

ABSTRACT This study tests the hypothesis that developmental dyslexia is (partly) caused by a deficit in implicit sequential learning, by investigating whether infants at familial risk of dyslexia can track non-adjacent dependencies in an artificial language. An implicit learning deficit would hinder detection of such dependencies, which mark grammatical relations (e.g. between ‘is’ and ‘-ing’ in ‘she is happily singing’). In a head-turn experiment with infants aged 1;6, family risk and typically developing infants were exposed to one of two novel languages containing dependencies of the type a-X-c, b-X-d or a-X-d, b-X-c, with fixed first and third elements and twenty-four different X elements. During test, typically developing children listened longer to ungrammatical strings (i.e. that did not correspond to their training language). However, family-risk children did not discriminate between grammatical and ungrammatical strings, indicating deficient implicit learning. The implications of these findings in relation to dyslexia and other language-based disorders are discussed.
Spotting the Danger Zone: Forecasting Financial Crises With Classification Tree Ensembles and Many Predictors

To improve the detection of the economic ”danger zones” from which severe banking crises emanate, this paper introduces classification tree ensembles to the banking crisis forecasting literature. I show that their out-of-sample performance in forecasting binary banking crisis indicators surpasses current best-practice early warning systems based on logit models by a substantial margin. I obtain this result on the basis of one long-run- (1870-2011), as well as two broad post-1970 macroeconomic panel datasets. I particularly show that two marked improvements in forecasting performance result from the combination of many classification trees into an ensemble, and the use of many predictors.
Bile Acid-Induced Virulence Gene Expression of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Reveals a Novel Therapeutic Potential for Bile Acid Sequestrants

Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a bacterial pathogen, causes human gastroenteritis. A type III secretion system (T3SS2) encoded in pathogenicity island (Vp-PAI) is the main contributor to enterotoxicity and expression of Vp-PAI encoded genes is regulated by two transcriptional regulators, VtrA and VtrB. However, a host-derived inducer for the Vp-PAI genes has not been identified. Here, we demonstrate that bile induces production of T3SS2-related proteins under osmotic conditions equivalent to those in the intestinal lumen. We also show that bile induces vtrA-mediated vtrB transcription. Transcriptome analysis of bile-responsive genes revealed that bile strongly induces expression of Vp-PAI genes in a vtrA-dependent manner. The inducing activity of bile was diminished by treatment with bile acid sequestrant cholestyramine. Finally, we demonstrate an in vivo protective effect of cholestyramine on enterotoxicity and show that similar protection is observed in infection with a different type of V. parahaemolyticus or with non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae strains of vibrios carrying the same kind of T3SS. In summary, these results provide an insight into how bacteria, through the ingenious action of Vp-PAI genes, can take advantage of an otherwise hostile host environment. The results also reveal a new therapeutic potential for widely used bile acid sequestrants in enteric bacterial infections.
Belousov-Zhabotinsky "Chemical Neuron" as a Binary and Fuzzy Logic Processor

We demonstrate experimentally that the well-known oscillatory BelousovZhabotinsky (BZ) reaction can be exploited to process both Boolean and fuzzy logic if the input variables are either the volumes or the phase of addition of pulse-injected solutions of inhibitor (bromide) and activator (silver ion) and the output variable is the oscillation period. Analysis of the relations between the input and the output variables reveals that this oscillating chemical reaction is suitable to process infinite-valued fuzzy logic, and that all fundamental fuzzy logic operators (AND, OR, NOT) can be implemented with it. We discuss the possibility for biological oscillators such as neurons or pacemaker cells to process information using principles of fuzzy logic.
SREBP-2-deficient and hypomorphic mice reveal roles for SREBP-2 in embryonic development and SREBP-1c expression[S]

Cholesterol and fatty acid biosynthesis are regulated by the sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs), encoded by Srebf1 and Srebf2. We generated mice that were either deficient or hypomorphic for SREBP-2. SREBP-2 deficiency generally caused death during embryonic development. Analyses of Srebf2−/− embryos revealed a requirement for SREBP-2 in limb development and expression of morphogenic genes. We encountered only one viable Srebf2−/− mouse, which displayed alopecia, attenuated growth, and reduced adipose tissue stores. Hypomorphic SREBP-2 mice (expressing low levels of SREBP-2) survived development, but the female mice exhibited reduced body weight and died between 8 and 12 weeks of age. Male hypomorphic mice were viable but had reduced cholesterol stores in the liver and lower expression of SREBP target genes. Reduced SREBP-2 expression affected SREBP-1 isoforms in a tissue-specific manner. In the liver, reduced SREBP-2 expression nearly abolished Srebf1c transcripts and reduced Srebf1a mRNA levels. In contrast, adipose tissue displayed normal expression of SREBP target genes, likely due to a compensatory increase in Srebf1a expression. Our results establish that SREBP-2 is critical for survival and limb patterning during development. Reduced expression of SREBP-2 from the hypomorphic allele leads to early death in females and reduced cholesterol content in the liver, but not in adipose tissue.
Author ' s personal copy Short communication A self-administered Timeline Followback to measure variations in underage drinkers ' alcohol intake and binge drinking ☆

Underage drinkers typically have not developed regular patterns of drinking and so are likely to exhibit situational variation in alcohol intake, including binge drinking. Information about such variation is not well captured by quantity/frequency (QF) measures, which require that drinkers blend information over time to derive a representative estimate of “typical” drinking. The Timeline Followback (TLFB) method is designed to retrospectively capture situational variations in drinking during a specific period of time. We compared our newlydeveloped Self-administered TLFB (STLFB) measure to a QF measure for reporting alcohol intake. Our sample of 429 (men=204; women=225) underage (i.e., age 18–20 years) drinkers completed the two drinking measures and reported on alcohol problems. The STLFB and QF measures converged in assessing typical daily intake, but the STLFB provided more information about situational variations in alcohol use and better identification of regular versus intermittent binge drinkers. Regular binge drinkers reported more alcohol problems. The STLFB is an easyto-administer measure of variations in alcohol intake, which can be useful for understanding drinking behavior. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Feasibility and efficacy of in-home water chlorination in rural North-eastern Brazil

SUMMARY The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility, acceptability and effect of an in-home water chlorination programme in a rural village. Previous studies at this site showed high levels of faecal coliforms in household water, high diarrhoea rates in children, and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli and rotaviruses were the most common pathogens isolated from patients. Household water came from a pond and was stored in clay pots. No homes had sanitary facilities. A blind, cross-over trial of treatment of household water with inexpensive hypochlorite by a community health worker was carried out over 18 weeks among 20 families. Water in the clay pots was sampled serially, and symptom surveillance was done by medical students. The programme was generally acceptable to the villagers and no change in water use patterns were apparent. The mean faecal coliform level in the chlorinated water was significantly less than in the placebo treated samples (70 vs 16000 organisms/dl, P < 0·001). People living in houses receiving placebo treatment had a mean of 11·2 days of diarrhoea per year, and the highest rate of 36·7 was among children less than 2 years old. Diarrhoea rates were not significantly different among the participants while exposed to water treated with hypochlorite. We conclude that a low-cost programme of this type, which utilizes community resources, is logistically feasible, appears to be culturally acceptable in this setting, and can result in a marked reduction in water contamination. The lack of effect on diarrhoea rates suggests that improvement in water quality may affect morbidity only when other variables relating to faecal–oral agent transmission are ameliorated at the same time.
The Efficiency of Human Cytomegalovirus pp65495–503 CD8+ T Cell Epitope Generation Is Determined by the Balanced Activities of Cytosolic and Endoplasmic Reticulum-Resident Peptidases

Control of human CMV (HCMV) infection depends on the cytotoxic activity of CD8+ CTLs. The HCMV phosphoprotein (pp)65 is a major CTL target Ag and pp65495–503 is an immunodominant CTL epitope in infected HLA-A*0201 individuals. As immunodominance is strongly determined by the surface abundance of the specific epitope, we asked for the components of the cellular Ag processing machinery determining the efficacy of pp65495–503 generation, in particular, for the proteasome, cytosolic peptidases, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident peptidases. In vitro Ag processing experiments revealed that standard proteasomes and immunoproteasomes generate the minimal 9-mer peptide epitope as well as N-terminal elongated epitope precursors of different lengths. These peptides are largely degraded by the cytosolic peptidases leucine aminopeptidase and tripeptidyl peptidase II, as evidenced by increased pp65495–503 epitope presentation after leucine aminopeptidase and tripeptidyl peptidase II knockdown. Additionally, with prolyl oligopeptidase and aminopeptidase B we identified two new Ag processing machinery components, which by destroying the pp65495–503 epitope limit the availability of the specific peptide pool. In contrast to cytosolic peptidases, silencing of ER aminopeptidases 1 and 2 strongly impaired pp65495–503-specific T cell activation, indicating the importance of ER aminopeptidases in pp65495–503 generation. Thus, cytosolic peptidases primarily interfere with the generation of the pp65495–503 epitope, whereas ER-resident aminopeptidases enhance such generation. As a consequence, our experiments reveal that the combination of cytosolic and ER-resident peptidase activities strongly shape the pool of specific antigenic peptides and thus modulate MHC class I epitope presentation efficiency.
Anti—tumor necrosis factor therapy abrogates autoimmune demyelination

To define a role for the cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in immune‐mediated demyelination, the effect of anti‐TNF antibody was investigated with a form of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in SJL/J mice induced by the adoptive transfer of myelin basic protein‐(MBP)‐sensitized T lymphocytes, an animal model of the human disease multiple sclerosis (MS). In three separate experiments, no mouse sensitized for EAE and then treated with anti‐TNF by intraperitoneal injection developed signs of central nervous system (CNS) disease. Examination of CNS tissue from anti‐TNF‐treated animals showed no pathological changes. CNS tissue from control animals demonstrated extensive inflammatory cell infiltration and demyelination. To test whether anti‐TNF therapy was inhibitory to encephalitogenic cells, preincubation of MBP‐sensitized T lymphocytes with anti‐TNF in vitro prior to injection into recipient mice was performed, and resulted in no diminution of their ability to transfer EAE. In addition, spleen cells from anti‐TNF‐ treated mice were capable of serial transfer of EAE, similar to spleen cells from control animals. However, spleen cells from anti‐TNF‐treated mice did not produce TNF on stimulation with MBP or concanavalin A. This study showed that anti‐TNF antibody can inhibit effectively the development of EAE by interfering with the effector, rather than the induction, phase of the disease. Anticytokine therapy may have important applications in the development of new therapeutic strategies for MS.
Executive deficits are related to the inferior frontal junction in early dementia

Executive functions describe a wide variety of higher order cognitive processes that allow the flexible modification of thought and behaviour in response to changing cognitive or environmental contexts. Their impairment is common in neurodegenerative disorders. Executive deficits negatively affect everyday activities and hamper the ability to cope with other deficits, such as memory impairment in Alzheimer's disease or behavioural disorders in frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Our study aimed to characterize the neural correlates of executive functions by relating respective deficits to regional hypometabolism in early dementia. Executive functions were assessed with two classical tests, the Stroop and semantic fluency test and various subtests of the behavioural assessment of the dysexecutive syndrome test battery capturing essential aspects of executive abilities relevant to daily living. Impairments in executive functions were correlated with reductions in brain glucose utilization as measured by [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and analysed voxelwise using statistical parametric mapping in 54 subjects with early dementia, mainly Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration, and its prodromal stages: subjective and mild cognitive impairment. Although the analysis revealed task-specific frontoparietal networks, it consistently showed that hypometabolism in one region in the left lateral prefrontal cortex—the inferior frontal junction area—was related to performance in the various neuropsychological tests. This brain region has recently been related to the three component processes of cognitive control—working memory, task switching and inhibitory control. Group comparisons additionally showed hypometabolism in this area in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Our study underlines the importance of the inferior frontal junction area for cognitive control in general and for executive deficits in early dementia.
The puzzle of gender effects in L2 phonology

Gender has received scant attention in L2 phonology studies, yet evidence for a female advantage in pronunciation has appeared throughout the past several decades. Neurolinguistic research suggests that females process language differently than males. At the same time, female L2 learners may be more concerned about pronunciation accuracy than their male counterparts. No definitive explanation has yet been offered, however, about why this is so, and how it might impact long-term language acquisition. This paper explores the gender construct in terms of such neurolinguistic predispositions, as well as the L2 evidence for socio-psychological and cognitive differences in orientation to accent, including motivation and strategy use. Suggestions for future research include a closer examination of gender differences in: (a) self-concept; (b) approach to task; (c) access to relevant resources and L2 experience. In this way, gender effects may be more clearly understood as extrinsic or intrinsic in nature.
Financially Distressed Banks : How Effective Are Enforcement Actions in the Supervision Process ?

1 One major purpose of federal and state regulation of banks is to ensure that institutions maintain safe-and-sound business practices. The main tool used to achieve this goal is bank supervision in generaland bank safety-and-soundness examinations in particular. Regulators conduct on-site examinations to ensure that bank operations are consistent with sound banking practices. When on-site examinations identify unsafe, unsound, or illegal banking practices, regulators use a variety of supervisory enforcement actions to require institutions to take corrective measures. These enforcement actions are intended to accomplish several things, including: bringing about alterations in the practices and behavior that caused the problems, stabilizing the institutions, and averting potential losses to the deposit insurance fund. Violations of enforcement agreements are a serious matternoncompliance often carries heavy penalties, including the termination of deposit insurance. This article investigates the effects of bank examinations and enforcement actions on the behavior of problem banks. We provide information on the effectiveness of supervision of distressed institutions through the issuance of formal enforcement actions during the 1980s and 1990s, a period of greater stress and turmoil for U.S. financial institutions than any other since the Great Depression. The first section discusses the legal and regulatory framework for the application of formal enforcement actions. The second section focuses on the enforcement polices available to the FDIC: kinds of actions, procedures used, and number and types of enforcement actions issued by the FDIC in recent decades. The third section reviews previous empirical studies and then discusses the methodology, the sample and data, and the model, variables, and results. The last section presents the conclusions.
MR navigator‐echo monitoring of temporal changes in diaphragm position: Implications for MR coronary angiography

Temporal changes in respiration could influence navigator‐echo (NE)‐gated MR coronary angiography (MRCA), but systematic investigation of the effects of such variations and how to limit them has not been performed. We addressed these issues by studying the influence of time in the magnet on diaphragm position and respiratory patterns using NE diaphragm monitoring in volunteers and a phantom model. NE diaphragm monitoring was performed at . 5 T in 10 subjects over a total period of 35 minutes. The end‐expiratory position was sustained for longer (1.1 vs .4 seconds, P < .001) and with greater position stability (SD 1.9 vs 5.9 mm, P = .01) than the end‐inspiratory position. Drift of the end‐expiratory position occurred over time, causing a fall in scan efficiency (44–28%, P = .01). Up‐drift of the end‐expiratory position was most common. Loss of scan efficiency was worse with up‐drift because of loss of the end‐expiratory pause from the NE window (up‐drift 10% mm−1, down‐drift 7% mm−1, both P = .03). Scan efficiency also was reduced during sleep (to a nadir of 0%), secondary to loss of the end‐expiratory pause, periodic breathing with oscillating end‐expiratory position, and periods of apnea. The phantom model used actual diaphragm traces to evaluate the artifact resulting from diaphragm motion during acquisition. Artifact was considerably reduced by NE adaptive motion correction compared with NE gating alone (ghosting ratio 2.0 vs 2.8, P < .01). Artifact also was significantly reduced with up‐drift if scan efficiency was maintained above 35% (P = .05). For optimal NE‐gated MRCA, the following features are important: the NE window should be placed around the end‐expiratory position; subjects should not sleep; scan efficiency should be monitored and the NE window should be repositioned if scan efficiency falls below 35%; and adaptive motion correction should be used.
Multiplex PCR for Simultaneous Detection of Bacteria of the Genus Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, and Major Serotypes and Epidemic Clones of L. monocytogenes

ABSTRACT A multiplex PCR assay which combines detection of bacteria of the genus Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes serotypes 1/2a and 4b, and epidemic clones I, II, and III of L. monocytogenes was developed. The assay provides a rapid, reliable, and inexpensive method for screening and subgrouping this important food-borne pathogen.