Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigation of Transforming Growth Factor-β1 Gene Polymorphisms Among Iranian Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C

Background Chronic hepatitis C infection is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), and its clinical complications include liver cirrhosis, liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma.Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is an important cytokine in cell growthand differentiation, angiogenesis, extracellular matrix formation, immune responseregulation, and cancer development and progression. Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TGF-β1 and chronic HCV infection among patients referred to the Taleghani Hospital, Tehran, Iran between 2008 and 2010. Patients and Methods In this case-control study, samples were collected using a convenience sampling method. We genotyped 164 HCV patients and 169 healthy controls for 3 SNPs in the TGF-β1 gene (-509 promoter, codon 10, and codon 25). We determined the SNP genotypes by using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. To confirm the PCR-RFLP genotyping results, 10% of the samples were re-genotyped using a direct sequencing method. Results There were no significant differences in the allelic frequency distribution of SNPs at -509 C/T, +869 C/T, or +915 G/C between HCV patients and the healthy controls. Genotyping results for all three polymorphic sites were similar with no statistically significant differences between the groups. Conclusions Most of the Iranian patients (over 85%), both healthy controls and HCV patients, had the GG genotype at the +915 G/C position, resulting in a high level of TGF-β1 production. Therefore, we concluded that the SNPs investigated by us cannot be considered as prognostic factors for HCV infection in our population, despite being reported as prognostic markers in other populations. Moreover, there is a possibility that most of the population is susceptible to HCV infection.
The Role of GABAergic Inhibition in Ocular Dominance Plasticity

During the last decade, we have gained much insight into the mechanisms that open and close a sensitive period of plasticity in the visual cortex. This brings the hope that novel treatments can be developed for brain injuries requiring renewed plasticity potential and neurodevelopmental brain disorders caused by defective synaptic plasticity. One of the central mechanisms responsible for opening the sensitive period is the maturation of inhibitory innervation. Many molecular and cellular events have been identified that drive this developmental process, including signaling through BDNF and IGF-1, transcriptional control by OTX2, maturation of the extracellular matrix, and GABA-regulated inhibitory synapse formation. The mechanisms through which the development of inhibitory innervation triggers and potentially closes the sensitive period may involve plasticity of inhibitory inputs or permissive regulation of excitatory synapse plasticity. Here, we discuss the current state of knowledge in the field and open questions to be addressed.
Characterization of a Low-Frequency Radio Astronomy Prototype Array in Western Australia

We report characterization results for an engineering prototype of a next-generation low-frequency radio astronomy array. This prototype, which we refer to as the Aperture Array Verification System 0.5 (AAVS0.5), is a sparse pseudorandom array of 16 log-periodic antennas designed for 70-450 MHz. It is colocated with the Murchison widefield array (MWA) at the Murchison radioastronomy observatory (MRO) near the Australian square kilometre array (SKA) core site. We characterize the AAVS0.5 using two methods: in situ radio interferometry with astronomical sources and an engineering approach based on detailed full-wave simulation. In situ measurement of the small prototype array is challenging due to the dominance of the Galactic noise and the relatively weaker calibration sources easily accessible in the southern sky. The MWA, with its 128 “tiles” and up to 3 km baselines, enabled in situ measurement via radio interferometry. We present array sensitivity and beam pattern characterization results and compare to detailed full-wave simulation. We discuss areas where differences between the two methods exist and offer possibilities for improvement. Our work demonstrates the value of the dual astronomy-simulation approach in upcoming SKA design work.
Tobacco-Free Policy Outcomes for an Inpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Center

We assessed changes in patient census, smoking prevalence, and intention to remain abstinent associated with the voluntary enactment of a campus-wide tobacco-free policy in a for-profit residential addictions treatment center. Employing nationally recognized tobacco-free policy strategies, steps toward implementation were tailored to addictions treatment settings. Census data and survey of client tobacco use data were collected for 1 year before the policy began and for 1 year following the policy. Average daily census increased for both the inpatient and extended residential treatment programs after enactment of the tobacco-free policy. Number of tobacco users admitted to treatment increased significantly, while the number of tobacco users who left treatment early did not significantly change. In addition to reducing smoking, the policy was associated with a significant increase of patients reporting the intention to remain abstinent after discharge. Contrary to common concern, a tobacco-free policy implemented in an inpatient residential addictions treatment setting did not negatively affect census rates. This study suggests potential clinical and organizational benefits for campus-wide tobacco-free policies.
Alcohol’s Role in HIV Transmission and Disease Progression

Alcohol use has negative effects on HIV disease progression through several mechanisms, including transmission, viral replication, host immunity, and treatment efficacy. Research with animal models has explored the effect of alcohol intake on several aspects of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) disease progression. Data suggest that the increased SIV levels observed in alcohol-consuming animals may represent an increase in virus production as opposed to a decrease in host defense. Results also suggest that changes in nutritional balance and metabolism, as a possible consequence of a proinflammatory state, together with increased virus production in animals consuming alcohol, accelerate SIV and possibly HIV disease progression. Further studies using the animal model are necessary.
Prevention of Unplanned Hospital Admissions in Multimorbid Patients Using Computational Modeling: Observational Retrospective Cohort Study

Background Enhanced management of multimorbidity constitutes a major clinical challenge. Multimorbidity shows well-established causal relationships with the high use of health care resources and, specifically, with unplanned hospital admissions. Enhanced patient stratification is vital for achieving effectiveness through personalized postdischarge service selection. Objective The study has a 2-fold aim: (1) generation and assessment of predictive models of mortality and readmission at 90 days after discharge; and (2) characterization of patients’ profiles for personalized service selection purposes. Methods Gradient boosting techniques were used to generate predictive models based on multisource data (registries, clinical/functional and social support) from 761 nonsurgical patients admitted in a tertiary hospital over 12 months (October 2017 to November 2018). K-means clustering was used to characterize patient profiles. Results Performance (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, and specificity) of the predictive models was 0.82, 0.78, and 0.70 and 0.72, 0.70, and 0.63 for mortality and readmissions, respectively. A total of 4 patients’ profiles were identified. In brief, the reference patients (cluster 1; 281/761, 36.9%), 53.7% (151/281) men and mean age of 71 (SD 16) years, showed 3.6% (10/281) mortality and 15.7% (44/281) readmissions at 90 days following discharge. The unhealthy lifestyle habit profile (cluster 2; 179/761, 23.5%) predominantly comprised males (137/179, 76.5%) with similar age, mean 70 (SD 13) years, but showed slightly higher mortality (10/179, 5.6%) and markedly higher readmission rate (49/179, 27.4%). Patients in the frailty profile (cluster 3; 152/761, 19.9%) were older (mean 81 years, SD 13 years) and predominantly female (63/152, 41.4%, males). They showed medical complexity with a high level of social vulnerability and the highest mortality rate (23/152, 15.1%), but with a similar hospitalization rate (39/152, 25.7%) compared with cluster 2. Finally, the medical complexity profile (cluster 4; 149/761, 19.6%), mean age 83 (SD 9) years, 55.7% (83/149) males, showed the highest clinical complexity resulting in 12.8% (19/149) mortality and the highest readmission rate (56/149, 37.6%). Conclusions The results indicated the potential to predict mortality and morbidity-related adverse events leading to unplanned hospital readmissions. The resulting patient profiles fostered recommendations for personalized service selection with the capacity for value generation.
Sex-Related Marijuana Expectancies of Social Desirability Among Detained Male and Female Adolescent Offenders in the USA -

Background: Research supports that adolescents involved with the criminal justice system engage in significantly more sexual risk behaviors than those never adjudicated, including use of drugs prior to/during sexual intercourse. Previous research has focused on incarcerated adolescents, with limited if any attention on the tenable relationship between social desirability with respect to marijuana use on STI risk practices. The purpose of this investigation is to conduct an exploratory study designed to identify differences, if any, in terms of marijuana use and social desirability as it pertains to risk for STIs among a sample of adolescent offenders in Georgia as a function of gender. Methods: Participants were 2260 juvenile offenders housed at selected Youth Development Campuses (YDCs) in the state of Georgia. Frequencies and descriptive statistics were performed prior to hypothesis testing to describe male and female adolescent offenders and ANOVA was selected for a detailed examination of variation in items possible range of scoring self-reported marijuana social by respondents’ gender. Results: Significant differences between male and female adolescent offenders regarding the belief that using marijuana made them feel closer to a sexual partner (F=61.81, P=0.001), being more sexually responsive (F=82.50, P=0.001), less nervous about sex (F=50.98, P=0.001) and to have sex with people they normally would not have sex with (F=156.20, P=0.001) were observed. In all cases, male respondents being more likely than females to agree with the aforementioned statements. Females in our sample were also more than males to disagree with using marijuana made sex more enjoyable with (F=93.67, P=0.001), made them a better lover with (F=108/19, P=0.001) or make them less likely to take protective precautions when having sex with (F=74.75, P=0.001). Conclusion: The present findings further suggest that associations of marijuana use and sexual risk behavior can be moderated by individual difference variables, including marijuana expectancies.
Young Children Bet on Their Numerical Skills

Metacognition, the ability to assess one’s own knowledge, has been targeted as a critical learning mechanism in mathematics education. Yet the early childhood origins of metacognition have proven difficult to study. Using a novel nonverbal task and a comprehensive set of metacognitive measures, we provided the strongest evidence to date that young children are metacognitive. We showed that children as young as 5 years made metacognitive “bets” on their numerical discriminations in a wagering task. However, contrary to previous reports from adults, our results showed that children’s metacognition is domain specific: Their metacognition in the numerical domain was unrelated to their metacognition in another domain (emotion discrimination). Moreover, children’s metacognitive ability in only the numerical domain predicted their school-based mathematics knowledge. The data provide novel evidence that metacognition is a fundamental, domain-dependent cognitive ability in children. The findings have implications for theories of uncertainty and reveal new avenues for training metacognition in children.
The validity of the Violence Risk Scale second edition (VRS-2) in a British forensic inpatient sample

Abstract The aim of the present investigation was to examine the validity of the Violence Risk Scale second edition (VRS-2) in a sample of 136 male medium secure psychiatric inpatients. Ratings on the VRS-2 were completed within the first month of admission based on preadmission records, court depositions, and criminal records. Construct validity was assessed using the Historical Clinical Risk-20 (HCR-20) assessment scheme in a subsample of 80 cases rated on the same basis. This showed that the VRS-2 and HCR-20 total scale scores correlated very highly, supporting the notion that the VRS-2 is a measure of violence risk. Both the HCR-20 and the VRS-2 could distinguish between violent and non-violent subgroups with reasonable effect sizes. There were highly significant correlations between the scales on the rating of items measuring comparable variables. Both measures were predictive of violence at 12-month follow-up, but the HCR-20 clinical subscore was the most robust contributor in the summary regression analysis. Our results offer preliminary evidence that the VRS-2 is a reasonably valid measure of violence risk and that it could be useful for research in this area.
Star Formation in AEGIS Field Galaxies since z = 1.1: Staged Galaxy Formation and a Model of Mass-dependent Gas Exhaustion

We analyze star formation (SF) as a function of stellar mass (M*) and redshift z in the All-Wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey, for star-forming field galaxies with M* ≳ 1010 M☉ out to z = 1.1. The data indicate that the high specific SF rates (SFRs) of many less massive galaxies do not represent late, irregular or recurrent, starbursts in evolved galaxies. They rather seem to reflect the onset (initial burst) of the dominant SF episode of galaxies, after which SF gradually declines on gigayear timescales to z = 0 and forms the bulk of a galaxy's M*. With decreasing mass, this onset of major SF shifts to decreasing z for an increasing fraction of galaxies (staged galaxy formation). This process may be an important component of the "downsizing" phenomenon. We find that the predominantly gradual decline of SFRs described by Noeske et al. can be reproduced by exponential SF histories (τ models), if less massive galaxies have systematically longer e-folding times τ, and a later onset of SF (zf). Our model can provide a first parameterization of SFR as a function of M* and z, and quantify mass dependences of τ and zf , from direct observations of M* and SFRs up to z > 1. The observed evolution of SF in galaxies can plausibly reflect the dominance of gradual gas exhaustion. The data are also consistent with the history of cosmological accretion onto dark matter halos.
Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) open reading frame 61 protein transactivates VZV gene promoters and enhances the infectivity of VZV DNA

The varicella-zoster virus (VZV) open reading frame 61 (ORF61) protein is the homolog of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) ICP0. Both genes are located in similar parts of the genome, their predicted products share a cysteine-rich motif, and cell lines expressing VZV ORF61 are able to complement an HSV-1 ICP0 deletion mutant (H. Moriuchi, M. Moriuchi, H. A. Smith, S. E. Straus, and J. I. Cohen, J. Virol. 66:7303-7308, 1992). In transient expression assays, HSV-1 ICP0 is a transactivator alone and transactivates in synergy with another viral transactivator, ICP4. However, VZV ORF61 represses the activation by VZV-encoded proteins ORF62 (the homolog of ICP4) and ORF4. To further characterize the function of VZV ORF61 and its role(s) in regulation of viral gene expression, we performed transient expression assays using target promoters from VZV, HSV-1, and unrelated viruses. In the absence of other viral activators, VZV ORF61 transactivated most promoters tested. In addition, a cell line stably expressing VZV ORF61 complemented the HSV-1 mutant in 1814, which lacks the transactivating function of VP16. The cell line expressing VZV ORF61 enhanced the infectivity of HSV-1 virion DNA. Moreover, transient expression of VZV ORF61 also enhanced the infectivity of VZV DNA. These results indicate that VZV ORF61 can stimulate expression of HSV-1 and VZV genes at an early stage in the viral replicative cycle and that ORF61 has an important role in VZV gene regulation.
Standardization of Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs) for Quantitative Estimation of Antibodies Specific for Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis Virus, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Parainfluenza-3 Virus, and Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus

Commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for detection of serum antibodies to bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), parainfluenza-3 virus (PI3V), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus (IBRV) were standardized to give a quantitative result when testing was performed at a single optimum dilution. For each test, serum samples were titrated and their end point titers calculated by an algebraic method directly from a plot of each titration series and also from a regression line fitted to this plot. The corrected optical density (COD) of each sample when tested at dilutions of 1/25, 1/50, and 1/100 was expressed as a percentage of the COD of a positive reference serum included on each plate, this value was the sample/positive (S/P) ratio. For each test, the linear relationship between the S/P ratio obtained at a dilution of 1/25, 1/50, and 1/100 and the end point titer calculated by each method was determined. In each case, the best linear relationship existed when samples were tested at a dilution of 1/100 (r = 0.973 for BVDV, 0.962 for PI3V, 0.961 for RSV, 0.947 for IBRV). From the equation of these lines, an increase in the S/P ratio between acute and convalescent serum samples of 31%, 23%, 21%, and 35% would correspond to a 4-fold rise in ELISA titer to BVDV, PI3V, RSV, and IBRV, respectively. ELISA titers calculated from S/P ratios at 1/100 were significantly related to virus neutralization titers to BVDV, RSV, and IBRV and to hemagglutination inhibition titers to PI3V (P ≪ 0.001 in all cases). Samples with low S/P ratios had the greatest intraassay and interassay variation. Intraassay reproducibility ranged from 3.5% to 22.3% (coefficient of variation), with a median value of 9.5%. Interassay reproducibility was lower, ranging from 6.0% to 50.6%, with a median of 17.4%.
Control of Biogenic Amines in Fermented Sausages: Role of Starter Cultures

Biogenic amines show biological activity and exert undesirable physiological effects when absorbed at high concentrations. Biogenic amines are mainly formed by microbial decarboxylation of amino acids and thus are usually present in a wide range of foods, fermented sausages being one of the major biogenic amine sources. The use of selected starter cultures is one of the best technological measures to control aminogenesis during meat fermentation. Although with variable effectiveness, several works show the ability of some starters to render biogenic amine-free sausages. In this paper, the effect of different starter culture is reviewed and the factors determining their performance discussed.
Near Optimal LP Rounding Algorithm for CorrelationClustering on Complete and Complete k-partite Graphs

We give new rounding schemes for the standard linear programming relaxation of the correlation clustering problem, achieving approximation factors almost matching the integrality gaps: For complete graphs our approximation is 2.06 - ε, which almost matches the previously known integrality gap of 2. For complete k-partite graphs our approximation is 3. We also show a matching integrality gap. For complete graphs with edge weights satisfying triangle inequalities and probability constraints, our approximation is 1.5, and we show an integrality gap of 1.2. Our results improve a long line of work on approximation algorithms for correlation clustering in complete graphs, previously culminating in a ratio of 2.5 for the complete case by Ailon, Charikar and Newman (JACM'08). In the weighted complete case satisfying triangle inequalities and probability constraints, the same authors give a 2-approximation; for the bipartite case, Ailon, Avigdor-Elgrabli, Liberty and van Zuylen give a 4-approximation (SICOMP'12).
PHOTOMETRY OF VARIABLE STARS FROM DOME A, ANTARCTICA

Dome A on the Antarctic plateau is likely one of the best observing sites on Earth thanks to the excellent atmospheric conditions present at the site during the long polar winter night. We present high-cadence time-series aperture photometry of 10,000 stars with i < 14.5 mag located in a 23 deg2 region centered on the south celestial pole. The photometry was obtained with one of the CSTAR telescopes during 128 days of the 2008 Antarctic winter. We used this photometric data set to derive site statistics for Dome A and to search for variable stars. Thanks to the nearly uninterrupted synoptic coverage, we found six times as many variables as previous surveys with similar magnitude limits. We detected 157 variable stars, of which 55% were unclassified, 27% were likely binaries, and 17% were likely pulsating stars. The latter category includes δ Scuti, γ Doradus, and RR Lyrae variables. One variable may be a transiting exoplanet.
Modeling Depolarization Induced Suppression of Inhibition in Pyramidal Neurons

Depolarization-Induced Suppression of Inhibition (DSI) is effectively a mechanism for feedback-inhibition of inhibition. Wilson and Nicoll [4] showed that its effect is mediated through a retrograde endocannabinoid signal. Here, we produced a simple model for DSI which matched the effects and kinetics of DSI found in empirical data. We then explored a possible function for DSI through examining its effects on shaping orientation tuning curves. DSI demonstrated a dramatic effect on the shape of the tuning curve, indicating that it may play a similar role in-vivo.
Performance evaluation of underwater wireless optical communications links in the presence of different air bubble populations

We experimentally evaluate the performance of underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) links in the presence of different air bubbles. Air bubbles of different sizes and densities are generated by using an air pipe in conjunction with a submersible water pump of variable flow rate that help break up large bubbles into smaller bubbles. Received signal intensity measurements show that bubbles significantly degrade the performance of UWOC links. Large bubbles completely obstruct the optical beam and cause a deep fade. However, as the bubble size decreases, the level of deep fade also decreases because the optical beam is less susceptible to complete obstruction and more light reaches the detector. We also show that beam expansion could help mitigate the performance degradation due to the deep fade caused by air bubbles scatters in the channel.