Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Programma 2000: Celebrating 10 Years of Activity of an Italian Pilot Programme on Early Intervention in Psychosis

Objective: This paper describes the structure and the organization of the single Italian programme specifically targeted at the early detection of and interventions for subjects at onset of or at high risk of psychosis, Programma 2000. Methods: Programma 2000 is a comprehensive multi-modal protocol of early intervention in psychosis, set up in Milan in 1999. The service has been very active since its opening, and at the time of writing (spring (April) 2008), more than 300 young patients have been evaluated through a detailed protocol that embraces Health of the Nation Outcome Scale (HoNOS), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Cognitive Behavioural Assessment 2.0, Disability Assessment Schedule, Camberwell Family Interview, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and the Early Recognition Inventory Retrospective Assessment of Symptoms. The treatment includes psychoeducation, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), both structured and unstructured psychosocial interventions and pharmacotherapy, when necessary. Results: The programme focuses on young people aged 17–30 years: to date, a total of 132 subjects with definite psychosis or within the high-risk category have been enrolled in treatment after assessment. Patients with first-episode psychosis were, on average and expectedly, more severe than those in the at-risk group, and were more likely to be prescribed antipsychotic drugs. A large majority of patients in both groups received tailored CBT; individual sessions of skills training were provided to two-thirds of patients. In both groups, improvement was found in both the BPRS and HoNOS, and in the level of global functioning as assessed on Global Assessment of Functioning at 6 month and 1 year follow up. Global functioning was more sensitive to change than symptom severity, reflecting the intensive and personalized efforts to improve social and role functioning in patients. Conclusions: Programma 2000 is still in development but it has already gained the support of therapists and other relevant people involved in the life of subjects at onset, or at high risk of psychosis.
Effectiveness of Device-Assisted Ultrasound-Guided Steroid Injection for Treating Plantar Fasciitis

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of device-assisted ultrasound-guided steroid injection for treating plantar fasciitis. Design An ultrasound-guided injection device designed with space for securing a transducer and syringe was used to guide steroid injection. Patients with unilateral plantar fasciitis were enrolled and randomly divided into device-assisted ultrasound-guided and palpation-guided groups. Pain intensity was measured using a visual analog scale and tenderness threshold. Ultrasound and pain intensity evaluations were performed before injection and at 3 wks and at 3 mos postinjection. Betamethasone (7 mg) and 1% lidocaine (0.5 ml) were injected into the inflamed plantar fascia. Results Thirty-three patients who received either device-assisted ultrasound-guided or palpation-guided injection had significantly lower visual analog scale scores (P < 0.001) and higher tenderness threshold (P < 0.01) postinjection. However, the device-assisted group had higher tenderness threshold (9.02 ± 1.38 vs. 7.18 ± 2.11 kg/cm2; P = 0.007), lower visual analog scale score (1.88 ± 2.13 vs. 3.63 ± 2.60; P = 0.046), and lower hypoechogenicity incidence in the plantar fascia (3/16 vs. 9/16; P = 0.033) than the palpation-guided group did at 3 mos postinjection. The heel pad was significantly thin (P = 0.004) in the palpation-guided group postinjection. Conclusions Device-assisted ultrasound-guided injection for treating plantar fasciitis results in better therapeutic outcomes than palpation-guided injection does.
Rituximab-mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity against neoplastic B cells is stimulated strongly by interleukin-2.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES We analyzed the sensitivity of freshly isolated neoplastic B cells to rituximab-mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), using different effector cells. DESIGN AND METHODS ADCC was performed by 51Cr release assays in vitro, using peripheral blood mononuclear cells, IL-2-activated or expanded NK cells, neutrophils or macrophages as effector cells. B lymphoma lines and freshly isolated leukemic samples were used as targets. RESULTS NK cells, but PMN or macrophages mediated rituximab dependent cellular cytotoxicity against two B lymphoma lines. Purified NK cells (95% CD56+/CD16+) reached 70% lysis at the highest E:T ratio. By contrast, all freshly isolated B leukemia or lymphoma cases, including 5 chronic lymphocytic leukemia, 1 B-prolymphocytic leukemia, 1 mantle cell lymphoma, 2 marginal zone lymhomas and 2 follicular lymphomas were poorly lysed by ADCC in the same conditions and regardless of CD20 expression levels, reaching a mean of 4% and 27% maximal lysis with PBMC or purified NK cells, respectively. Interestingly, short term IL-2 cultured PBMC, containing 10 % activated NK cells, as well as long-term expanded NK cells, containing 80-95% activated NK cells, became strong ADCC effector cells with rituximab and lysed all leukemic samples to a mean of 57% and 67% at the highest E:T ratio, respectively. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS Primary leukemic cells are more resistant than cell lines to rituximab- and NK cell-mediated ADCC but short-term exposure to IL-2 or long-term expansion of NK cells in vitro may provide effective tools to improve the therapeutic activity of rituximab.
Role of Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase in Activation of Ras and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase by Epidermal Growth Factor

ABSTRACT The paradigm for activation of Ras and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase by extracellular stimuli via tyrosine kinases, Shc, Grb2, and Sos does not encompass an obvious role for phosphoinositide (PI) 3-kinase, and yet inhibitors of this lipid kinase family have been shown to block the ERK/MAP kinase signalling pathway under certain circumstances. Here we show that in COS cells activation of both endogenous ERK2 and Ras by low, but not high, concentrations of epidermal growth factor (EGF) is suppressed by PI 3-kinase inhibitors; since Ras activation is less susceptible than ERK2 activation, PI 3-kinase-sensitive events may occur both upstream of Ras and between Ras and ERK2. However, strong elevation of PI 3-kinase lipid product levels by expression of membrane-targeted p110α is by itself never sufficient to activate Ras or ERK2. PI 3-kinase inhibition does not affect EGF-induced receptor autophosphorylation or adapter protein phosphorylation or complex formation. The concentrations of EGF for which PI 3-kinase inhibitors block Ras activation induce formation of Shc-Grb2 complexes but not detectable EGF receptor phosphorylation and do not activate PI 3-kinase. The activation of Ras by low, but mitogenic, concentrations of EGF is therefore dependent on basal, rather than stimulated, PI 3-kinase activity; the inhibitory effects of LY294002 and wortmannin are due to their ability to reduce the activity of PI 3-kinase to below the level in a quiescent cell and reflect a permissive rather than an upstream regulatory role for PI 3-kinase in Ras activation in this system.
Adult attachment, social comparison, romantic relationship experience, and well-being

A review of the adult attachment literature revealed previous research findings to demonstrate attachment-based baseline differences in the well-being factor of life satisfaction but not to consider moderating factors nor fluctuations in life satisfaction experience. Furthermore, social cognitive processes highlighted within the subjective well-being literature, namely those captured within social comparison theory, have rarely been examined within an adult attachment perspective. The current thesis sought to address these gaps through investigating the predictive influences of moderating and mediating factors in associations between adult attachment and well-being. Across 5 studies, individuals’ relationship experiences (namely relationship status, satisfaction, and status-changing events), social comparison tendencies (both within general and relationshipand partner-specific contexts), and social-comparison ranking perceptions were each examined. Findings revealed that relationship experiences indeed appeared to moderate individuals’ attachment-based feelings of subjective well-being, with greater anxiety in particular suggestive of more maladaptive cognitive and affective experience (Study 1). Social comparison tendencies, both general and interpersonally-oriented, were also identified to differ on the basis of anxiety and avoidance, with adverse comparison habits found to partially mediate associations between anxiety and both life satisfaction and self-esteem (Studies 2 and 4). Lastly, attachment-based differences in social-ranking perceptions were identified (Study 5), with anxiety found to interact with relationship status while an interaction between anxiety, ranking perceptions and relationship length as predictor of life satisfaction was found to be approaching significance.
Adaptive Relaying in Noncoherent Cooperative Networks

This correspondence considers a cooperative network in which binary frequency-shift-keying (BFSK) modulation is employed to facilitate noncoherent communications between a source and a destination with the help of relays. Proposed is an adaptive cooperative scheme that employs two thresholds as follows. One threshold is used to select retransmitting relays: a relay retransmits to the destination if its decision variable is larger than the threshold, otherwise it remains silent. The other threshold is used at the destination for detection: the destination marks a relay as a retransmitting relay if the decision variable corresponding to the relay is larger than the threshold, otherwise, the destination marks it as a silent relay. Then the destination combines the signals from the retransmitting relays and from the source to make the final decision. The average end-to-end (e2e) bit-error rate (BER) is derived in a closed-form expression for a two-relay network. The problems of selecting optimal thresholds or jointly optimal thresholds and power allocation to minimize the average BER are investigated. Simulation results are provided to validate our analysis. Compared to the previously proposed piecewise-linear (PL) detection scheme, our proposed scheme yields a superior performance under a wide range of channel conditions when optimal thresholds or jointly optimal thresholds and power allocation are employed.
On-pump beating-heart coronary artery bypass provides efficacious short- and long-term outcomes in hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND On-pump beating-heart coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG) is beneficial due to the elimination of cardioplegic arrest. However, there are few reports regarding its efficacy in chronic hemodialysis patients. This study investigated the potential benefits of on-pump beating-heart CABG in chronic hemodialysis patients. METHODS From January 2002 to January 2010, 186 patients with chronic hemodialysis underwent CABG in our institution. In total, 82 patients underwent conventional CABG with cardioplegic arrest, 56 underwent off-pump CABG and 48 underwent on-pump beating-heart CABG. The early results and long-term outcomes were compared among these three groups. RESULTS On-pump beating-heart CABG significantly reduced the duration of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) compared with conventional CABG. The post-operative pericardial drainage amount (P < 0.01), length of hospital stay (P < 0.001) and length of post-operative intensive care unit stay (P < 0.001) were significantly lower in the on-pump beating-heart and off-pump CABG groups than in the conventional CABG group. No significant difference was found regarding 30-day mortality and morbidity rates including stroke, pneumonia, arrhythmia, intestinal complication and low cardiac output syndrome. There were no statistical differences in the freedom from cardiac events (P = 0.323), but on-pump beating-heart CABG provided better long-term survival than conventional CABG (P = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS On-pump beating-heart CABG is a safe procedure that provides optimal operative exposure in chronic hemodialysis patients. The use of CPB and the elimination of cardioplegic arrest may be beneficial for the short- and long-term survival of chronic hemodialysis patients.
Global Optimality in Tensor Factorization, Deep Learning, and Beyond

Techniques involving factorization are found in a wide range of applications and have enjoyed significant empirical success in many fields. However, common to a vast majority of these problems is the significant disadvantage that the associated optimization problems are typically non-convex due to a multilinear form or other convexity destroying transformation. Here we build on ideas from convex relaxations of matrix factorizations and present a very general framework which allows for the analysis of a wide range of non-convex factorization problems - including matrix factorization, tensor factorization, and deep neural network training formulations. We derive sufficient conditions to guarantee that a local minimum of the non-convex optimization problem is a global minimum and show that if the size of the factorized variables is large enough then from any initialization it is possible to find a global minimizer using a purely local descent algorithm. Our framework also provides a partial theoretical justification for the increasingly common use of Rectified Linear Units (ReLUs) in deep neural networks and offers guidance on deep network architectures and regularization strategies to facilitate efficient optimization.
Semiparametric Bayesian modeling of random genetic effects in family‐based association studies

We consider the inference problem of estimating covariate and genetic effects in a family‐based case‐control study where families are ascertained on the basis of the number of cases within the family. However, our interest lies not only in estimating the fixed covariate effects but also in estimating the random effects parameters that account for varying correlations among family members. These random effects parameters, though weakly identifiable in a strict theoretical sense, are often hard to estimate due to the small number of observations per family. A hierarchical Bayesian paradigm is a very natural route in this context with multiple advantages compared with a classical mixed effects estimation strategy based on the integrated likelihood. We propose a fully flexible Bayesian approach allowing nonparametric modeling of the random effects distribution using a Dirichlet process prior and provide estimation of both fixed effect and random effects parameters using a Markov chain Monte Carlo numerical integration scheme. The nonparametric Bayesian approach not only provides inference that is less sensitive to parametric specification of the random effects distribution but also allows possible uncertainty around a specific genetic correlation structure. The Bayesian approach has certain computational advantages over its mixed‐model counterparts. Data from the Prostate Cancer Genetics Project, a family‐based study at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center including families having one or more members with prostate cancer, are used to illustrate the proposed methods. A small‐scale simulation study is carried out to compare the proposed nonparametric Bayes methodology with a parametric Bayesian alternative. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Executive Turnover Risk Premium

We establish that CEOs of companies experiencing volatile industry conditions are more likely to be dismissed. At the same time, industry risk is, accounting for various other factors, unlikely to be associated with CEO compensation other than through dismissal risk. Using this identification strategy, we document that CEO turnover risk is significantly positively associated with compensation. This finding is important because job-risk compensating wage differentials arise naturally in competitive labor markets. By contrast, the evidence rejects an entrenchment model according to which powerful CEOs have lower job risk and at the same time secure higher compensation.
A continuous-time algorithm based on multi-agent system for distributed least absolute deviation subject to hybrid constraints

In this paper, a continuous-time distributed optimization algorithm based on multi-agent system is proposed for solving the distributed least absolute deviation problems subject to hybrid constraints. In the multi-agent network, each of the L1-norm functions is realized using the projection operator. Meanwhile, each agent must be subject to the local hybrid constraints. Then all the agents constitute a network with connected graph to cooperate to seek the optimal solutions with consensus. The performance of the proposed distributed algorithm is illustrated using a numerical example with simulations.
Two novel connexin 32 mutations cause early onset X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

Background: X-linked Charcot-Marie Tooth (CMT) is caused by mutations in the connexin32 gene that encodes a polypeptide which is arranged in hexameric array and form gap junctions. Methods: We describe two novel mutations in the connexin32 gene in two Norwegian families. Results: Family 1 had a c.225delG (R75fsX83) which causes a frameshift and premature stop codon at position 247. This probably results in a shorter non-functional protein structure. Affected individuals had an early age at onset usually in the first decade. The symptoms were more severe in men than women. All had severe muscle weakness in the legs. Several abortions were observed in this family. Family 2 had a c.536 G>A (C179Y) transition which causes a change of the highly conserved cysteine residue, i.e. disruption of at least one of three disulfide bridges. The mean age at onset was in the first decade. Muscle wasting was severe and correlated with muscle weakness in legs. The men and one woman also had symptom from their hands. The neuropathy is demyelinating and the nerve conduction velocities were in the intermediate range (25–49 m/s). Affected individuals had symmetrical clinical findings, while the neurophysiology revealed minor asymmetrical findings in nerve conduction velocity in 6 of 10 affected individuals. Conclusion: The two novel mutations in the connexin32 gene are more severe than the majority of previously described mutations possibly due to the severe structural change of the gap junction they encode. Background Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is the most common inherited disorder of the peripheral nervous system with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 2,500 [1]. It is clinically, neurophysiologically and genetically a heterogeneous disorder. Clinical features are distal muscle wasting and weakness, sensory loss with reduced tendon reflexes and foot deformities [2,3]. Neurophysiology can classify CMT into type 1 and 2, depending on whether the motor conduction velocity (MCV) is less or above 38 m/s [4]. A third Published: 9 July 2007 BMC Neurology 2007, 7:19 doi:10.1186/1471-2377-7-19 Received: 30 January 2007 Accepted: 9 July 2007 This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral. com/1471-2377/7/19 © 2007 Braathen et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Chronic Wound Pathogenesis and Current Treatment Strategies: A Unifying Hypothesis

Summary: Most chronic wounds can be classified into three major types: pressure ulcers, venous ulcers, and diabetic ulcers. The authors propose a unifying hypothesis of chronic wound pathogenesis based on four main causative factors: local tissue hypoxia, bacterial colonization of the wound, repetitive ischemia-reperfusion injury, and an altered cellular and systemic stress response in the aged patient. Traditional strategies for the treatment of chronic wounds have shown limited success. The authors explore potential treatment regimens specifically aimed at each individual determinant of chronic wound pathogenesis. Furthermore, they explore a combined therapeutic approach that collectively targets all the components of chronic wound pathology. These innovative ideas and therapies could be of substantial interest for clinicians and researchers, while further offering significant benefit to patients with chronic wounds.
SmartCharge: Cutting the electricity bill in smart homes with energy storage

Market-based electricity pricing provides consumers an opportunity to lower their electric bill by shifting consumption to low price periods. In this paper, we explore how to lower electric bills without requiring consumer involvement using an intelligent charging system, called SmartCharge, and an on-site battery array to store low-cost energy for use during high-cost periods. SmartCharge's algorithm reduces electricity costs by determining when to switch the home's power supply between the grid and the battery array. The algorithm leverages a prediction model we develop, which forecasts future demand using statistical machine learning techniques. We evaluate SmartCharge in simulation using data from real homes to quantify its potential to lower bills in a range of scenarios. We show that typical savings today are 10-15%, but increase linearly with rising electricity prices. We also find that SmartCharge deployed at only 22% of 435 homes reduces the aggregate demand peak by 20%. Finally, we analyze SmartCharge's installation and maintenance costs. Our analysis shows that battery advancements, combined with an expected rise in electricity prices, have the potential to make the return on investment positive for the average home within the next few years.