Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Update on basic and clinical aspects of eosinophilic oesophagitis

The identification of a distinct syndrome, designated eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE), with its own clinical and histopathological characteristics, was first described in the early 1990s. Meanwhile intense research has uncovered many molecular, immunological and clinical aspects of this chronic-inflammatory disorder. This article focuses exclusively on basic and clinical insights of EoE gathered during the last few years. Regarding aetiopathogenesis it has become clear that EoE is a food-triggered disease with milk and wheat as the dominant culprit food categories. However, it is still debated whether a disturbed mucosal integrity allowing allergens to cross the mucosal barrier, or changes in wheat and milk manufacturing might induce these inflammatory responses. Furthermore, basic science and clinical studies have accordingly confirmed that a chronic eosinophilic inflammation leads to a remodelling of the oesophagus with micro- and macro-morphological alterations, ending in a strictured oesophagus with impaired function. Fortunately, long-term therapeutic trials, using either topical corticosteroids or dietary allergen avoidance, have demonstrated that this sequela can be prevented or even reversed. This finding is of clinical relevance as it supports the initiation of a consistent anti-inflammatory therapy. Nevertheless, EoE is still an enigmatic disease and the long list of unanswered questions will certainly stimulate further research.
Intracellular β-Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Inhibits the Skeletal Muscle ClC-1 Chloride Channel*

Background: Weakly voltage-dependent ClC-1 chloride channels regulate skeletal muscle excitability. Results: Intracellular NAD(H) altered the voltage dependence of ClC-1 gating, and specific mutations attenuated this effect. Conclusion: NAD(H) directly inhibits ClC-1 chloride channels by binding to intracellular domains. Significance: ClC-1 inhibition by NAD(H) may play an important role in muscle fatigue and the pathophysiology of myotonia congenita. ClC-1 is the dominant sarcolemmal chloride channel and plays an important role in regulating membrane excitability that is underscored by ClC-1 mutations in congenital myotonia. Here we show that the coenzyme β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), an important metabolic regulator, robustly inhibits ClC-1 when included in the pipette solution in whole cell patch clamp experiments and when transiently applied to inside-out patches. The oxidized (NAD+) form of the coenzyme was more efficacious than the reduced (NADH) form, and inhibition by both was greatly enhanced by acidification. Molecular modeling, based on the structural coordinates of the homologous ClC-5 and CmClC proteins and in silico docking, suggest that NAD+ binds with the adenine base deep in a cleft formed by ClC-1 intracellular cystathionine β-synthase domains, and the nicotinamide base interacts with the membrane-embedded channel domain. Consistent with predictions from the models, mutation of residues in cystathionine β-synthase and channel domains either attenuated (G200R, T636A, H847A) or abrogated (L848A) the effect of NAD+. In addition, the myotonic mutations G200R and Y261C abolished potentiation of NAD+ inhibition at low pH. Our results identify a new biological role for NAD and suggest that the main physiological relevance may be the exquisite sensitivity to intracellular pH that NAD+ inhibition imparts to ClC-1 gating. These findings are consistent with the reduction of sarcolemmal chloride conductance that occurs upon acidification of skeletal muscle and suggest a previously unexplored mechanism in the pathophysiology of myotonia.
Dynamical change at tidewater glaciers examined using time-lapse photogrammetry

Retreating glaciers and ice sheets provide a significant contribution to sea level rise, which will affect future populations and their activities. Accurate sea level projections are needed in order to best inform policy makers, but these projections are limited by our understanding of dynamical change at marineterminating glaciers. Terrestrial time-lapse photography has proved to be a viable approach for obtaining high-detail observational records, and is used here to examine signals of dynamical change at two tidewater glaciers in Svalbard. Photogrammetric measurements were extracted using PyTrx (‘Python Tracking’), a new photogrammetry toolbox that has been developed here for deriving velocities (e.g. glacier surface velocity), surface areas (e.g. supraglacial lake area, surfacing plume area), and line distances (e.g. terminus profiles). PyTrx has been created as a Python-alternative photogrammetry software, and offers additional functionality to the typical monoscopic feature-tracking toolboxes that are currently available. Subglacial hydrology and its relation to basal sliding were examined at Kronebreen, Svalbard. The results revealed a difference in flow efficiency between the north and south regions of the glacier tongue, which influences spatial patterns in surface velocities. Long-term changes in ice flow were concluded to be controlled by the location of efficient and inefficient drainage, and the position of regions where water is stored and released. Changes in terminus conditions and calving
Effects of vacation from work on health and well-being: Lots of fun, quickly gone

Abstract Although vacation from work provides a valuable opportunity for recovery, few studies have met the requirements for assessing its effects. These include taking measurements well ahead of the vacation, during the vacation and at several points in time afterwards. Our study on vacation (after-) effects focused on two related questions: (1) Do health and well-being of working individuals improve during a vacation? and (2) How long does a vacation effect last after resumption of work? In a longitudinal study covering seven weeks, 96 Dutch workers reported their health and well-being levels two weeks before a winter sports vacation, during vacation and one week, two weeks and four weeks after vacation on seven indicators. Participants' health and well-being improved during vacation on five indicators: health status, mood, tension, energy level and satisfaction. However, during the first week of work resumption, health and well-being had generally returned to pre-vacation levels. In conclusion, a winter sports vacation is associated with improvements in self-reported health and well-being among working individuals. However, these effects fade out rapidly after work resumption. We propose a framework for future vacation research and suggest investigating the role of vacation type, duration and means to prolong vacation relief.
Integrating Prevention Interventions for People Living With HIV Into Care and Treatment Programs: A Systematic Review of the Evidence

Introduction:This review assesses the impact of prevention interventions for people living with HIV on HIV-related mortality, morbidity, retention in care, quality of life, and prevention of ongoing HIV transmission in resource-limited settings (RLSs). Methods:We conducted a systematic review of studies reporting the results of prevention interventions for people living with HIV in RLS published between January 2000 and August 2014. Standardized methods of searching and data abstraction were used. Results:Ninety-two studies met the eligibility criteria: 24 articles related to adherence counseling and support, 13 on risk reduction education and condom provision, 19 on partner HIV testing and counseling, 14 on provision of family planning services, and 22 on assessment and treatment of other sexually transmitted infections. Findings indicate good evidence that adherence counseling and sexually transmitted infection treatment can have a high impact on morbidity, whereas risk reduction education, partner HIV testing and counseling, and family planning counseling can prevent transmission of HIV. More limited evidence was found to support the impact of these interventions on retention in care and quality of life. Most studies did not report cost information, making it difficult to draw conclusions about the cost-effectiveness of these interventions. Conclusions:This evidence suggests that these prevention interventions, if brought to sufficient scale and coverage, can help support and optimize the impact of core treatment and prevention interventions in RLS. Further operational research with more rigorous study designs, and ideally with biomarkers and costing information, is needed to determine the best model for providing these interventions in RLS.
Helicobacter pylori infection in children

Helicobacter pylori was sought prospectively by culture of antral biopsy, histology and scrology (IgG and IgA) in 440 consecutive endoscopies on children to determine the prevalence, clinical presentation and histological features of H. pylori infection in our population. Twenty‐eight patients had H. pylori (8% overall). The mean age of infected patients was significantly higher than that of non‐infected patients (P < 0.0001). No patient under 5 years of age had H. pylori isolated. Overall, there was no significant difference in clinical presentation between those with and those without H. pylori infection, but 23% of patients between 5 and 26 years of age who presented with abdominal pain as the indication for their endoscopy had H. pylori isolated. Macroscopic changes ranged from no abnormality to frank ulceration, but the typical antral mamilliform changes were 100% predictive of infection. Fifty‐eight per cent of patients with duodenal ulcers, but only 17% with gastric ulcers had H. pylori infection.
Position Bias in Best‐Worst Scaling Surveys: A Case Study on Trust in Institutions

This paper investigates the effect of items' physical position in the best-worst scaling technique. Although the best-worst scaling technique has been widely used in many fields, the literature has largely overlooked the phenomenon of consumers' adoption of processing strategies while making their best-worst choices. We examine this issue in the context of consumers' trust in institutions to provide information about a new food technology, nanotechnology, and its use in food processing. Our results show that approximately half of the consumers used position as a schematic cue when making choices. We find the position bias was particularly strong when consumers chose their most trustworthy institution compared to their least trustworthy institution. In light of our findings, we recommend that researchers in the field be aware of the possibility of position bias when designing best-worst scaling surveys. We also encourage researchers who have already collected best-worst data to investigate whether their data shows such heuristics.
Transition Forests: Learning Discriminative Temporal Transitions for Action Recognition and Detection

A human action can be seen as transitions between ones body poses over time, where the transition depicts a temporal relation between two poses. Recognizing actions thus involves learning a classifier sensitive to these pose transitions as well as to static poses. In this paper, we introduce a novel method called transitions forests, an ensemble of decision trees that both learn to discriminate static poses and transitions between pairs of two independent frames. During training, node splitting is driven by alternating two criteria: the standard classification objective that maximizes the discrimination power in individual frames, and the proposed one in pairwise frame transitions. Growing the trees tends to group frames that have similar associated transitions and share same action label incorporating temporal information that was not available otherwise. Unlike conventional decision trees where the best split in a node is determined independently of other nodes, the transition forests try to find the best split of nodes jointly (within a layer) for incorporating distant node transitions. When inferring the class label of a new frame, it is passed down the trees and the prediction is made based on previous frame predictions and the current one in an efficient and online manner. We apply our method on varied skeleton action recognition and online detection datasets showing its suitability over several baselines and state-of-the-art approaches.
Comparison of patients' and health care professionals' attitudes towards advance directives.

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to identify and compare the attitudes of patients and health care professionals towards advance directives. Advance directives promote recognition of the patient's autonomy, letting the individual exercise a certain measure of control over life-sustaining care and treatment in the eventuality of becoming incompetent. DESIGN: Attitudes to advance directives were evaluated using a 44-item self-reported questionnaire. It yields an overall score as well as five factor scores: autonomy, beneficence, justice, external norms, and the affective dimension. SETTING: Health care institutions in the province of Québec, Canada. Survey sample: The sampling consisted of 921 subjects: 123 patients, 167 physicians, 340 nurses and 291 administrators of health care institutions. RESULTS: Although the general attitude of each population was favourable to the expression of autonomy, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that physicians attached less importance to this subscale than did other populations (p < .001). Above all, they favoured legal external norms and beneficence. Physicians and administrators also attached less importance to the affective dimension than did patients and nurses. Specifically, physicians' attitudes towards advance directives were shown to be less positive than patients' attitudes. CONCLUSION: More attention should be given to the importance of adequately informing patients about advance directives because they may not represent an adequate means for patients to assert their autonomy.
Dechlorination of chlorinated phenols by zero valent zinc

Abstract Reductive dechlorination of chlorophenols (Pentachlorophenol, three tetrachlorophenols (TeCPs), six trichlorophenols (TCPs)) with zero valent zinc was examined through batch experiments. Zinc showed much higher reactivity towards PCP than iron and amended iron indicating that zero valent zinc can be a good candidate for reductive dechlorination of chlorinated phenols. Chlorophenols were sequentially dechlorinated and less chlorinated phenols were identified as reduction products. The mass balance was not complete, indicating that by‐products are important and /or that products being measured were lost by unknown pathways. The dechlorination rate of the chlorinated phenols usually followed the order: PCP > TeCPs > TCPs. Among the TeCP and TCP isomers, the reactivity was in the order of 2,3,4,5‐TeCP > 2,3,4,6‐TeCP > 2,3,5,6‐TeCP and 2,3,4‐TCP > 2,3,6‐TCP > 2,3,5‐TCP > 2,4,6‐TCP > 2,4,5‐TCP > 3,4,5‐TCP. The first order reaction rates varied by one order of magnitude or more, depending on the chlorines positions on a phenol ring. A regioselectivity was observed and daughter compound distributions could be rationalized by a mechanism in which radical intermediates were more stabilized by chlorine and hydroxyl groups than by hydrogen; positions a to the radical were found to be the most important in stabilization, followed by β‐positions.
Massive increase in eager TAs: experiences from extreme apprenticeship-based CS1

Incorporating students to participate as teaching assistants in our CS1 as early as during their second semester has started a snowball effect, in which more and more students want to be a part of the experience. We allow students to contribute and take responsibility in a context they see as meaningful for teaching. The students-as-teachers approach means that they are mentored by senior teachers in the actual teaching context, which guarantees enough peer and faculty support for students undertaking the task. A significant percentage of our students (ca. 20%) participate as teachers. This has brought us several benefits: (1) new students are welcomed to the learning community by other students as representatives of the institution, not just student organizations, (2) students understand and undertake the responsibility of being a teacher early, and (3) a massive number of eager TAs.
Isolation of stem cell populations with trophic and immunoregulatory functions from human intestinal tissues: potential for cell therapy in inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND AIMS Bone marrow (BM)- and adipose tissue (AT)-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are currently under evaluation in phase III clinical trials for inflammatory bowel disease and other intestinal disease manifestations. The therapeutic efficacy of these treatments may derive from a combination of the differentiation, trophic and immunomodulatory abilities of the transplanted cells. We investigated intestinal tissues as sources of MSC: such cells may support tissue-specific functions and hold advantages for engraftment and contribution in the gastrointestinal environment. METHODS Intestinal specimens were collected, and the mucosa and submucosa mechanically separated and enzymatically digested. Mesenchymal stromal populations were isolated, expanded and characterized under conditions commonly used for MSC. The differentiation potential, trophic effect and immunomodulatory ability were investigated. Results We successfully isolated and extensively expanded populations showing the typical MSC profile: CD29+, CD44+, CD73+, CD105+ and CD166+, and CD14(-), CD34(-) and CD45(-). Intestinal mucosal (IM) MSC were also CD117+, while submucosal cultures (ISM MSC) showed CD34+ subsets. The cells differentiated toward osteogenic, adipogenic and angiogenic commitments. Intestinal-derived MSC were able to induce differentiation and organization of intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2) in three-dimensional collagen cultures. Immunomodulatory activity was evidenced in co-cultures with normal heterologous phytohemagglutinin-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Conclusions Multipotent MSC can be isolated from intestinal mucosal and submucosal tissues. IM MSC and ISM MSC are able to perform trophic and immunomodulatory functions. These findings could open a pathway for novel approaches to intestinal disease treatment.
Not All Missed Doses Are the Same: Sustained NNRTI Treatment Interruptions Predict HIV Rebound at Low-to-Moderate Adherence Levels

Background While the relationship between average adherence to HIV potent antiretroviral therapy is well defined, the relationship between patterns of adherence within adherence strata has not been investigated. We examined medication event monitoring system (MEMS) defined adherence patterns and their relation to subsequent virologic rebound. Methods and Results We selected subjects with at least 3-months of previous virologic suppression on a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based regimen from two prospective cohorts in France and North America. We assessed the risk of virologic rebound, defined as HIV RNA of >400 copies/mL according to several MEMS adherence measurements. Seventy two subjects were studied, five of them experienced virologic rebound. Subjects with and without virologic rebound had similar baseline characteristics including treatment durations, regimen (efavirenz vs nevirapine), and dosing schedule. Each 10% increase in average adherence decreased the risk of virologic rebound (OR = 0.56; 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.37, 0.81], P<0.002). Each additional consecutive day off therapy for the longest treatment interruption (OR = 1.34; 95%CI [1.15, 1.68], P<0.0001) and each additional treatment interruption for more than 2 days (OR = 1.38; 95%CI [1.13, 1.77], P<0.002) increased the risk of virologic rebound. In those with low-to-moderate adherence (i.e. <80%), treatment interruption duration (16.2 days versus 6.1 days in the control group, P<0.02), but not average adherence (53.1% vs 55.9%, respectively, P = 0.65) was significantly associated with virologic rebound. Conclusions Sustained treatment interruption may pose a greater risk of virologic rebound on NNRTI therapy than the same number of interspersed missed doses at low-to-moderate adherence.
Comparison of concentrated and distributed windings in an IPM machine for field weakening applications

Distributed windings produce MMF waveforms which are almost sinusoidal whereas concentrated windings produce MMF waveforms which are high in leakage harmonic content. The increase in leakage harmonic content is beneficial in meeting the characteristic current equilibrium conditions for optimization of the field weakening range. On the other hand, these additional harmonic contents also lead to an increase in iron losses especially in the wider field weakening range. This paper presents a comparative study on distributed and concentrated windings in an IPM machine. Transient — time stepped finite element analysis will be used to justify these studies.
Action from Still Image Dataset and Inverse Optimal Control to Learn Task Specific Visual Scanpaths

Human eye movements provide a rich source of information into the human visual information processing. The complex interplay between the task and the visual stimulus is believed to determine human eye movements, yet it is not fully understood, making it difficult to develop reliable eye movement prediction systems. Our work makes three contributions towards addressing this problem. First, we complement one of the largest and most challenging static computer vision datasets, VOC 2012 Actions, with human eye movement recordings collected under the primary task constraint of action recognition, as well as, separately, for context recognition, in order to analyze the impact of different tasks. Our dataset is unique among the eyetracking datasets of still images in terms of large scale (over 1 million fixations recorded in 9157 images) and different task controls. Second, we propose Markov models to automatically discover areas of interest (AOI) and introduce novel sequential consistency metrics based on them. Our methods can automatically determine the number, the spatial support and the transitions between AOIs, in addition to their locations. Based on such encodings, we quantitatively show that given unconstrained read-world stimuli, task instructions have significant influence on the human visual search patterns and are stable across subjects. Finally, we leverage powerful machine learning techniques and computer vision features in order to learn task-sensitive reward functions from eye movement data within models that allow to effectively predict the human visual search patterns based on inverse optimal control. The methodology achieves state of the art scanpath modeling results.
Renal Manifestations in Scleroderma: Evidence for Subclinical Renal Disease as a Marker of Vasculopathy

Scleroderma is a disease characterized by immune activation, vasculopathy, fibroblast stimulation, and connective tissue fibrosis. End-organ damage occurs due to progressive tissue fibrosis and vasculopathy. Markers of incipient vasculopathy have not been well studied in scleroderma. However, reduced renal functional reserve and proteinuria are common indicators of progressive vasculopathy in diabetic and hypertensive vasculopathy. Recent studies suggest a strong association between renal involvement and outcomes in scleroderma, with a threefold increased risk of mortality from pulmonary hypertension if renal insufficiency is present. We review the types of renal involvement seen in scleroderma and the data to support the use of renal parameters including proteinuria, glomerular filtration rate, and renal vascular dynamics measured with Doppler ultrasound to identify subclinical renal insufficiency. Further studies are warranted to investigate the use of renal parameters as prognostic indicators in scleroderma.