Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of mtDNA variant segregation during early human embryonic development: a tool for successful NARP preimplantation diagnosis

Background: Diseases arising from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations are usually serious pleiotropic disorders with maternal inheritance. Owing to the high recurrence risk in the progeny of carrier females, “at-risk” couples often ask for prenatal diagnosis. However, reliability of such practices remains under debate. Preimplantation diagnosis (PGD), a theoretical alternative to conventional prenatal diagnosis, requires that the mutant load measured in a single cell from an eight cell embryo accurately reflects the overall heteroplasmy of the whole embryo, but this is not known to be the case. Objective: To investigate the segregation of an mtDNA length polymorphism in blastomeres of 15 control embryos from four unrelated couples, the NARP mutation in blastomeres of three embryos from a carrier of this mutation. Results: Variability of the mtDNA polymorphism heteroplasmy among blastomeres from each embryo was limited, ranging from zero to 19%, with a mean of 7%. PGD for the neurogenic ataxia retinitis pigmentosa (NARP) mtDNA mutation (8993T→G) was therefore carried out in the carrier mother of an affected child. One of three embryos was shown to carry 100% of mutant mtDNA species while the remaining two were mutation-free. These two embryos were transferred, resulting in a singleton pregnancy with delivery of a healthy child. Conclusions: This PGD, the first reported for a mtDNA mutation, illustrates the skewed meiotic segregation of the NARP mtDNA mutation in early human development. However, discrepancies between the segregation patterns of the NARP mutation and the HV2 polymorphism indicate that a particular mtDNA nucleotide variant might differentially influenced the mtDNA segregation, precluding any assumption on feasibility of PGD for other mtDNA mutations.
Pretreatment Predictors of Short-Term Nonadherence to Oral Hormonal Therapy for Women With Breast Cancer

Background:Adjuvant treatment with oral hormonal therapy improves clinical outcomes for breast cancer, but women have difficulty adhering to the 5-year regimen. Objective:The aim of this study was to explore pretreatment predictors of short-term nonadherence to oral hormonal therapy for women with early-stage breast cancer from the pretreatment assessment to 6 months after initiation of hormonal therapy. Methods:A secondary analysis was performed using data collected from 198 women enrolled in one of two longitudinal studies. Nonadherence was defined as the percentage of prescribed doses of hormonal therapy not taken during the first 6 months of therapy measured using electronic medication event monitoring. Information on predictor variables was measured at pretreatment using self-report and medical record review. Linear regression analysis was performed to examine associations between predictor variables and 6-month nonadherence in a bivariate manner to first identify candidate predictors variables at p < . 20 and then multivariately considering candidate predictors identified through stepwise and backward elimination regression methods. Results:Participants were White (98.3%), well educated (M = 15.0; SD = 2.9 years of schooling), and on average, 59.1 years old (SD = 7.5 years old). Mean nonadherence was 11.3%. Stepwise and backward elimination modeling algorithms identified a similar set of predictors associated with 6-month nonadherence and explained 13.0% of the variance (adjusted R2 = .11, standard error of the estimate = 0.28). Ductal carcinoma in situ tumor type (p = .004) and higher weight concern scores (p = .003) were associated with nonadherence. Discussion:The findings suggest that additional examinations of associations of tumor type and symptom burden with nonadherence are indicated.
Predicting hospital admission and returns to the emergency department for elderly patients.

OBJECTIVES Methods to accurately identify elderly patients with a high likelihood of hospital admission or subsequent return to the emergency department (ED) might facilitate the development of interventions to expedite the admission process, improve patient care, and reduce overcrowding. This study sought to identify variables found among elderly ED patients that could predict either hospital admission or return to the ED. METHODS All visits by patients 75 years of age or older during 2007 at an academic ED serving a large community of elderly were reviewed. Clinical and demographic data were used to construct regression models to predict admission or ED return. These models were then validated in a second group of patients 75 and older who presented during two 1-month periods in 2008. RESULTS Of 4,873 visits, 3,188 resulted in admission (65.4%). Regression modeling identified five variables statistically related to the probability of admission: age, triage score, heart rate, diastolic blood pressure, and chief complaint. Upon validation, the c-statistic of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.73, moderately predictive of admission. We were unable to produce models that predicted ED return for these elderly patients. CONCLUSIONS A derived and validated triage-based model is presented that provides a moderately accurate probability of hospital admission of elderly patients. If validated experimentally, this model might expedite the admission process for elderly ED patients. Our models failed, as have others, to accurately predict ED return among elderly patients, underscoring the challenge of identifying those individuals at risk for early ED returns.
Eigenvalue analysis of Mueller matrices for bead-blasted aluminum surfaces

This paper deals with the depolarization properties of rough surface back-scattering at visible and infra-red wavelengths. It is well known that rough surfaces depolarize incident light. In this paper we analyze the structure of surface depolarization using a coherency matrix approach and show that quantitative estimates of roughness may be obtained from a single Mueller matrix parameter, the scattering anisotropy A. Multi-spectral backscatter Mueller matrix data has been obtained for a set of controlled laboratory measurements on roughened Aluminum surfaces. The surfaces were manufactured using a bead-blasting process and the surface statistics have been carefully measured. We then applied a technique first developed for applications in radar scattering, which involves transformation of the Mueller matrix into a complex hermitian coherency matrix with subsequent eigenanalysis. These eigenvalues are then used to characterize the depolarizing properties of the surface. We show how important surface information is contained in the eigenvalue variation with angle of incidence and conclude as to the possibility for quantitative surface roughness measurements using this technique.
Long-term cigarette smoking impairs endothelium-dependent coronary arterial vasodilator function.

BACKGROUND Smoking is a primary risk factor for coronary and peripheral vascular disease. Because the endothelium is a principal target for the effects of risk factors early in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, we investigated whether long-term smoking is associated with impaired endothelial vasodilator function of epicardial conductance vessels regardless of the presence or absence of atherosclerotic lesions. METHODS AND RESULTS Using quantitative coronary angiography, we measured epicardial artery diameter at baseline, after maximal increases in coronary blood flow that caused flow-mediated dilation (which is strictly endothelium dependent), and after intracoronary injection of nitroglycerin (an endothelium-independent dilator) in 96 patients. Endothelium-dependent, flow-mediated dilation was significantly (P < .0001) blunted in smokers (n = 46) compared with non-smokers (n = 50). The ratio of flow-dependent dilation to nitroglycerin-induced dilation was significantly (P < .001) lower in smokers (0.34 +/- 0.32) compared with nonsmokers (0.59 +/- 0.23), indicating that the blunted dilator response to increased blood flow was out of proportion to the mildly impaired dilator response to nitroglycerin in smokers. In the presence of angiographically visible atherosclerosis, flow-dependent dilation was essentially absent (3.0 +/- 6.5%) in smokers. Multivariate analysis revealed that luminal irregularities by angiography (P < .0001) and smoking (P < .001) were the only variables to be independently associated with a reduced flow-dependent dilator response of epicardial arteries. Intracoronary ultrasound demonstrated that flow-dependent dilation progressively decreased with increasing atherosclerotic plaque load (r = -.82, P < .0001; n = 24). However, over the entire range of wall thickening, segments from smokers exhibited a significantly (P < .01) impaired flow-dependent dilator response compared with those of nonsmokers. CONCLUSIONS Long-term cigarette smoking is associated with impaired endothelium-dependent coronary vasodilation regardless of the presence or absence of coronary atherosclerotic lesions.
A Type System for Dynamic Layer Composition

Dynamic layer composition is one of the key features in contextoriented programming (COP), an approach to improving modularity of behavioral variations that depend on the dynamic context of the execution environment. It allows a layer—a set of new or overriding methods that can belong to several classes—to be added to or removed from existing objects in a disciplined way. We develop a type system for dynamic layer composition, which may change the interfaces of objects at run time, based on a variant of ContextFJ, a core calculus for COP, and prove its soundness.
Role of Secreted Conjunctival Mucosal Cytokine and Chemokine Proteins in Different Stages of Trachomatous Disease

Background Chlamydia trachomatis is responsible for trachoma, the primary cause of preventable blindness worldwide. Plans to eradicate trachoma using the World Health Organization's SAFE program (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial Cleanliness and Environment Improvement) have resulted in recurrence of infection and disease following cessation of treatment in many endemic countries, suggesting the need for a vaccine to control infection and trachomatous disease. Vaccine development requires, in part, knowledge of the mucosal host immune responses in both healthy and trachomatous conjuctivae—an area of research that remains insufficiently studied. Methodology/Principal Findings We characterized 25 secreted cytokines and chemokines from the conjunctival mucosa of individuals residing in a trachoma endemic region of Nepal using Luminex X100 multiplexing technology. Immunomodulating effects of concurrent C. trachomatis infection were also examined. We found that proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β (r = 0.259, P = 0.001) and TNFα (r = 0.168, P<0.05) were significantly associated with trachomatous disease and concurrent C. trachomatis infection compared with age and sex matched controls from the same region who did not have trachoma. In support of these findings, anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) was negatively associated with chronic scarring trachoma (r = −0.249, P = 0.001). Additional cytokines (Th1, IL-12p40 [r = −0.212, P<0.01], and Th2, IL-4 and IL-13 [r = −0.165 and −0.189, respectively, P<0.05 for both]) were negatively associated with chronic scarring trachoma, suggesting a protective role. Conversely, a pathogenic role for the Th3/Tr1 cytokine IL-10 (r = 0.180, P<0.05) was evident with increased levels for all trachoma grades. New risk factors for chronic scarring trachoma included IL-6 and IL-15 (r = 0.259 and 0.292, respectively, P<0.005 for both) with increased levels for concurrent C. trachomatis infections (r = 0.206, P<0.05, and r = 0.304, P<0.005, respectively). Chemokine protein levels for CCL11 (Eotaxin), CXCL8 (IL-8), CXCL9 (MIG), and CCL2 (MCP-1) were elevated in chronic scarring trachoma compared with age and sex matched controls (P<0.05, for all). Conclusions/Significance Our quantitative detection of previously uncharacterized and partially characterized cytokines, a soluble cytokine receptor, and chemokines for each trachoma grade and associations with C. trachomatis infections provide, to date, the most comprehensive immunologic evaluation of trachoma. These findings highlight novel pathologic and protective factors involved in trachomatous disease, which will aid in designing immunomodulating therapeutics and a vaccine.
STRUCTURAL ORDER IN LIQUIDS INDUCED BY INTERFACES WITH CRYSTALS

▪ Abstract Interfaces between solids and liquids are important for a range of materials processes, including soldering and brazing, liquid-phase sintering, crystal growth, and lubrication. There is a wealth of fundamental studies on solid-liquid interfaces in materials, primarily focused on thermodynamics (relative interface energies and segregation effects) from high-temperature wetting experiments, which is often applied to processing design. Less is known about the atomistic structure at solid-liquid interfaces, mainly because of the difficulty involved in obtaining such information experimentally. This work reviews both theoretical and experimental studies of atomistic configurations at solid-liquid interfaces, focusing on the issue of ordering in the liquid adjacent to crystalline solids.
Transmission-line-based multi-way lossless power combining and outphasing system

This paper presents a non-isolating multi-way outphasing and power combining system that achieves nearly resistive loading of branch amplifiers over the entire output power range through a combiner network comprising only transmission line sections. We derive a design methodology and describe an outphasing control law that selects control angles to minimize the peak susceptive loading of the branch PAs over a specified output power range. The approach is demonstrated in a 2.14-GHz, four-way outphasing amplifier system that achieves >60% drain efficiency over a 6.2-dB output power range.
Default rules for Curry*

Abstract In functional logic programs, rules are applicable independently of textual order, i.e., any rule can potentially be used to evaluate an expression. This is similar to logic languages and contrary to functional languages, e.g., Haskell enforces a strict sequential interpretation of rules. However, in some situations it is convenient to express alternatives by means of compact default rules. Although default rules are often used in functional programs, the non-deterministic nature of functional logic programs does not allow to directly transfer this concept from functional to functional logic languages in a meaningful way. In this paper, we propose a new concept of default rules for Curry that supports a programming style similar to functional programming while preserving the core properties of functional logic programming, i.e., completeness, non-determinism, and logic-oriented use of functions. We discuss the basic concept and propose an implementation which exploits advanced features of functional logic languages.
Color Combinations of Visual Display Terminal (VDT) Icon on User Preferences and EEG Response

This study explored the effects of color combinations and polarity on user preferences and EEG responses using an icon design for a visual display terminal. 72 college students (M = 24.5 yr., SD = 2.3 yr.) were tested. The seven color combinations of top 16% with rating scores (5-point scale) over 3.60 almost always included black or white as a target or background, including white-on-black, red-on-black, yellow-on-black, blue-on-white, and black-on-white; the other two preferred color combinations were yellow-on-blue and blue-on-yellow. The eight color combinations of the bottom 16% with rating scores under 2.38 almost always included green, turquoise, or purple as a target or background. Negative image polarity (higher luminance color image shown on a lower luminance color background) was preferred over positive image polarity (lower luminance color image shown on a higher luminance color background) by the subjects. The θ and α band power in the right hemisphere were greater than those in the left hemisphere during the experiment. There seemed to be no linear correlation between the rating scores of subjective preferences and brain wave power of θ and α bands, so the possibility of using brain wave power to measure subjective preference is questionable.
Dimensionless Groups For Understanding Free Surface Flows of Complex Fluids

Numerous processing operations of complex fluids involve free surface deformations; examples include spraying and atomization of fertilizers and pesticides, fiber-spinning operations, paint application, roll-coating of adhesives and food processing operations such as container- and bottle-filling. Systematically understanding such flows can be extremely difficult because of the large number of different forces that may be involved; including capillarity, viscosity, inertia, gravity as well as the additional stresses resulting from the extensional deformation of the microstructure within the fluid. Consequently many free-surface phenomena are described by heuristic and poorlyquantified words such as ‘spinnability’, ‘tackiness’ and ‘stringiness’. Additional specialized terms used in other industries include ‘pituity’ in lubricious aqueous coatings, ‘body’ and ‘length’ in the printing ink business, ‘ropiness’ in yogurts and ‘long/short textures’ in starch processing. A good approach to systematically getting to grips with such problems is through the tools of dimensional analysis (Bridgman, 1963) and this short note is intended to review the physics behind some of the plethora of specialized dimensionless groups one encounters when reading the scientific literature. The dominant balance of forces controlling the dynamics of any process depends on the relative magnitudes of each underlying physical effect entering the set of governing equations. In many (but certainly not all) problems, the dynamics are controlled by no more than two or three different contributions; and results from disparate experimental observations or numerical studies which describe different processing regimes or domains of stable/unstable operation can often be conveniently assembled in terms of processing diagrams such as those sketched in Figures 1 & 2. For bulk flows of non-Newtonian fluids the relative importance of inertial effects and elastic stresses with respect to viscous stresses are characterized by the Reynolds
Achieving Euvolemia in Peritoneal Dialysis

514 Since the publication of ADEMEX and other key observational studies such as NECOSAD and EAPOS, there can be no doubt the spotlight on improving outcomes in peritoneal dialysis (PD) has switched from solute clearance to fluid status. This leaves clinicians with two major challenges: how do we measure fluid status in PD patients and how do we achieve euvolemia in PD? These problems are more complex than they may first appear. First, fluid status is influenced by several things, not simply the balance between input and output of salt and water. Other factors include sex, race, age, and comorbidity, especially inflammatory status and cardiac function (1–3). Second, we do not really know the ideal fluid status for PD patients. It is clear from both observational and randomized studies that volume status is a doubleedged sword: extracellular fluid excess is associated with worse outcomes (4), but its depletion can threaten preservation of residual renal function (5–7). This issue of Peritoneal Dialysis International contains two articles addressing these aspects of fluid management. In the first, a series of case discussions (8) presented by Woodrow et al. and edited by Wilkie, there are examples of how bioimpedance analysis (BIA) has been helpful in measuring fluid status in difficult fluid management problems. In the second article, Boudville et al. show how good volume control can be achieved in patients treated with automated PD and icodextrin (9), despite concerns raised using this modality and sodium removal (10,11); again, BIA is used to evaluate fluid status. Undoubtedly, BIA is a promising tool. It is a quick and reliable method, suitable for use at the bedside, and a powerful predictor of survival (4). It has been shown able to identify longitudinal change in body composition [e.g., extracellular water (ECW)] in interventional studies, including at least one randomized trial (12,13). In this context, BIA is clearly providing more information than weight alone, as changes in weight and BIA-derived fluid volumes are not the same, the difference being largely attributable to changes in body fat. The problems arise when converting the electrical information obtained using this technique, namely resistance [inversely related to total body water (TBW)] and reactance [proportional to body cell mass or intracellular water ACHIEVING EUVOLEMIA IN PERITONEAL DIALYSIS
Clinical Characteristics and Long-Term Prognosis of Vasospastic Angina Patients Who Survived Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: Multicenter Registry Study of the Japanese Coronary Spasm Association

Background—Coronary artery spasm plays an important role in the pathogenesis of ischemic heart disease; however, its role in sudden cardiac death remains to be fully elucidated. We examined the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with vasospastic angina (VSA) in our nationwide multicenter registry by the Japanese Coronary Spasm Association. Methods and Results—Between September 2007 and December 2008, 1429 patients with VSA (male/female, 1090/339; median, 66 years) were identified. They were characterized by a high prevalence of smoking and included 35 patients who survived out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The OHCA survivors, as compared with the remaining 1394 non-OHCA patients, were characterized by younger age (median, 58 versus 66 years; P<0.001) and higher incidence of left anterior descending coronary artery spasm (72% versus 53%, P<0.05). In the OHCA survivors, 14 patients underwent implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation while intensively treated with calcium channel blockers. Survival rate free from major adverse cardiac events was significantly lower in the OHCA survivors compared with the non-OHCA patients (72% versus 92% at 5 years, P<0.001), including appropriate ICD shocks for ventricular fibrillation in 2 patients. Multivariable analysis revealed that OHCA events were significantly correlated with major adverse cardiac events (hazard ratio, 3.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.39 to 7.61; P<0.01). Conclusions—These results from the largest vasospastic angina cohort indicate that vasospasm patients who survived OHCA are high-risk population. Further studies are needed to determine whether implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy improves patient prognosis.
Concomitant loss of dynorphin, NARP, and orexin in narcolepsy

Background: Narcolepsy with cataplexy is associated with a loss of orexin/hypocretin. It is speculated that an autoimmune process kills the orexin-producing neurons, but these cells may survive yet fail to produce orexin. Objective: To examine whether other markers of the orexin neurons are lost in narcolepsy with cataplexy. Methods: We used immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization to examine the expression of orexin, neuronal activity-regulated pentraxin (NARP), and prodynorphin in hypothalami from five control and two narcoleptic individuals. Results: In the control hypothalami, at least 80% of the orexin-producing neurons also contained prodynorphin mRNA and NARP. In the patients with narcolepsy, the number of cells producing these markers was reduced to about 5 to 10% of normal. Conclusions: Narcolepsy with cataplexy is likely caused by a loss of the orexin-producing neurons. In addition, loss of dynorphin and neuronal activity-regulated pentraxin may contribute to the symptoms of narcolepsy.