Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Survival of neonates with enteroviral myocarditis requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Objectives: Neonates infected with enteroviruses may present with severe myocarditis and medically refractory cardiopulmonary collapse. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used to support patients in this setting, but its efficacy has not been systematically studied. We sought to review the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization registry to determine survival rates and identify predictors of inhospital mortality for these neonates. Design: Retrospective cohort study using data reported to the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization registry. Setting: Multi-institutional data. Patients: Patients ≤15 days old with enteroviral myocarditis who required ECMO support between 2000 and 2008. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Twenty-four neonates with enteroviral myocarditis were reported to the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization registry during the study period. The survival to hospital discharge rate was 33% (n = 8). Multisystem organ dysfunction was more common in nonsurvivors than in survivors (75% vs. 0%, p < .01). In particular, nonsurvivors had a higher prevalence of renal dysfunction (50% vs. 0%, p = .02). Nonsurvivors also had a greater number of ECMO-related complications (5 vs. 3.5, p = .03). Conclusions: Cardiopulmonary support with ECMO should be considered for neonates with severe enteroviral myocarditis that fails conventional medical therapies. Multisystem organ dysfunction, particularly with renal involvement, may portend a poor prognosis and is one of several factors that should be considered in the decision to initiate and/or continue mechanical support for these patients.
Clitocine Reversal of P-Glycoprotein Associated Multi-Drug Resistance through Down-Regulation of Transcription Factor NF-κB in R-HepG2 Cell Line

Multidrug resistance(MDR)is one of the major reasons for failure in cancer chemotherapy and its suppression may increase the efficacy of therapy. The human multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) gene encodes the plasma membrane P-glycoprotein (P-gp) that pumps various anti-cancer agents out of the cancer cell. R-HepG2 and MES-SA/Dx5 cells are doxorubicin induced P-gp over-expressed MDR sublines of human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and human uterine carcinoma MES-SA cells respectively. Herein, we observed that clitocine, a natural compound extracted from Leucopaxillus giganteus, presented similar cytotoxicity in multidrug resistant cell lines compared with their parental cell lines and significantly suppressed the expression of P-gp in R-HepG2 and MES-SA/Dx5 cells. Further study showed that the clitocine increased the sensitivity and intracellular accumulation of doxorubicin in R-HepG2 cells accompanying down-regulated MDR1 mRNA level and promoter activity, indicating the reversal effect of MDR by clitocine. A 5′-serial truncation analysis of the MDR1 promoter defined a region from position −450 to −193 to be critical for clitocine suppression of MDR1. Mutation of a consensus NF-κB binding site in the defined region and overexpression of NF-κB p65 could offset the suppression effect of clitocine on MDR1 promoter. By immunohistochemistry, clitocine was confirmed to suppress the protein levels of both P-gp and NF-κB p65 in R-HepG2 cells and tumors. Clitocine also inhibited the expression of NF-κB p65 in MES-SA/Dx5. More importantly, clitocine could suppress the NF-κB activation even in presence of doxorubicin. Taken together; our results suggested that clitocine could reverse P-gp associated MDR via down-regulation of NF-κB.
ROC curve, lift chart and calibration plot

This paper presents ROC curve, lift chart and calibration plot, three well known graphical techniques that are useful for evaluating the quality of classification models used in data mining and machine learning. Each technique, normally used and studied separately, defines its own measure of classification quality and its visualization. Here, we give a brief survey of the methods and establish a common mathematical framework which adds some new aspects, explanations and interrelations between these techniques. We conclude with an empirical evaluation and a few examples on how to use the presented techniques to boost classification accuracy.
Optimizing the parameters of active sensor selection and using GA to decrease energy consumption in point coverage wireless sensor networks

Energy and lifetime are the most important design objectives in many wireless sensor network applications. In asymmetrical sensor networks, different sensors with various abilities are used. It is crucial to select the parameters of fit function and monitoring sensors optimally in a point coverage network. In this paper, our approach uses genetic algorithm to optimize the parameters of monitoring sensor selection for each round in a point coverage network. Optimal selection of covering nodes for point coverage is done by effective deletion of redundant nodes, considering data transmission cost and heeding the energy of relay nodes for the whole previous lifetime of the network. Reducing the number of active sensors, in a covering set, saves more energy and consequently increases lifetime. Simulation results demonstrate that our algorithm to optimize selection parameters is effective in lifetime prolonging and energy consumption reduction for each round or the whole time of network activity.
Expanding the Scope of the ATIS Task: The ATIS-3 Corpus

The Air Travel Information System (ATIS) domain serves as the common evaluation task for ARPA spoken language system developers. To support this task, the Multi-Site ATIS Data COllection Working group (MADCOW) coordinates data collection activities. This paper describes recent MADCOW activities. In particular, this paper describes the migration of the ATIS task to a richer relational database and development corpus (ATIS-3) and describes the ATIS-3 corpus. The expanded database, which includes information on 46 US and Canadian cities and 23,457 flights, was released in the fall of 1992, and data collection for the ATIS-3 corpus began shortly thereafter. The ATIS-3 corpus now consists of a total of 8297 released training utterances and 3211 utterances reserved for testing, collected at BBN, CMU, MIT, NIST and SRI. 2906 of the training utterances have been annotated with the correct information from the database. This paper describes the ATIS-3 corpus in detail, including breakdowns of data by type (e.g. context-independent, context-dependent, and unevaluable)and variations in the data collected at different sites. This paper also includes a description of the ATIS-3 database. Finally, we discuss future data collection and evaluation plans.
How University Endowments Respond to Financial Market Shocks: Evidence and Implications

Endowment payouts have become an increasingly important component of universities' revenues in recent decades. We test two leading theories of endowment payouts: (1) universities smooth endowment payouts, or (2) universities use endowments as self-insurance against financial shocks. In contrast to both theories, endowments actively reduce payouts relative to their stated payout policies following negative, but not positive, shocks. This asymmetric behavior is consistent with "endowment hoarding," especially among endowments with values close to the benchmark value at the start of the university president's tenure. We also document the effect of negative endowment shocks on university operations, including personnel cuts.
High-dose immunosuppressive therapy and autologous HCT for relapsing-remitting MS

Objective: To evaluate the safety, efficacy, and durability of multiple sclerosis (MS) disease stabilization after high-dose immunosuppressive therapy (HDIT) and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Methods: High-Dose Immunosuppression and Autologous Transplantation for Multiple Sclerosis (HALT-MS) is a phase II clinical trial of HDIT/HCT for patients with relapsing-remitting (RR) MS who experienced relapses with disability progression (Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] 3.0–5.5) while on MS disease-modifying therapy. The primary endpoint was event-free survival (EFS), defined as survival without death or disease activity from any one of: disability progression, relapse, or new lesions on MRI. Participants were evaluated through 5 years posttransplant. Toxicities were reported using the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (AE). Results: Twenty-five participants were evaluated for transplant and 24 participants underwent HDIT/HCT. Median follow-up was 62 months (range 12–72). EFS was 69.2% (90% confidence interval [CI] 50.2–82.1). Progression-free survival, clinical relapse-free survival, and MRI activity-free survival were 91.3% (90% CI 74.7%–97.2%), 86.9% (90% CI 69.5%–94.7%), and 86.3% (90% CI 68.1%–94.5%), respectively. AE due to HDIT/HCT were consistent with expected toxicities and there were no significant late neurologic adverse effects noted. Improvements were noted in neurologic disability with a median change in EDSS of −0.5 (interquartile range −1.5 to 0.0; p = 0.001) among participants who survived and completed the study. Conclusion: HDIT/HCT without maintenance therapy was effective for inducing long-term sustained remissions of active RRMS at 5 years. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00288626. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class IV evidence that participants with RRMS experienced sustained remissions with toxicities as expected from HDIT/HCT.
Endogenous tidal rhythms of vertical migration in field collected zoea-1 larvae of the shore crab Carcinus maenas:implications for ebb tide offshore dispersal

Employing a highly sensitive infra-red light actography system, circatidal rhythms of vertical migration were recorded in first stage zoea larvae of the common shore crab Carcinus maenas (L.), freshly collected from coastal waters. The rhythms persisted in constant conditions in the laboratory for several days, ascent occurring at the times of expected ebb tides at collection sites, and descent during expected flood tides. Timing was identical in larvae sampled at different stage of spring/neap cycle and from sites where different hydrodynamic conditions prevail. These experiments, supported by repeated surface plankton samples which confirmed that zoea-1 larvae of C. maenas were most abundant at the surface during ebb tides, suggest that the vertical migration behaviour might be linked with avoidance of stranding and offshore dispersal of newly released larvae. The fact that tidal migration rhythm was exhibited by larvae collected from different sites implies that the behaviour is probably widespread for the species. So far, endogenous tidal rhythms of vertical migration in plankton have been demonstrated solely in a few estuarine forms, and have been interpreted only as estuarine retention or reinvasion mechanisms. Present results appear to be the first to demonstrate that endogenous tidal rhythms also exist in the planktonic larvae of a coastal invertebrate and suggest that these larvae may have an adaptive mechanism to avoid stranding and enhance offshore dispersal in the open sea.
Help-seeking helps : help-seeking as a strategy for managing group image

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the proposition that group members use help-seeking as a strategic tool for managing and enhancing the ingroup’s image in the eyes of outgroups. The theoretical introduction outlines and assesses the history of helping-transaction research, beginning with the rich and multi-faceted work carried out by anthropologists and sociologists, before considering how social psychology has addressed this topic. The conclusion from this assessment is that the academic contribution of much of the social psychological helping-transaction research from the 1960s onwards was limited, due to its failure to address: i) the relevance of social groups, and ii) the idea that engagement in helping transactions can be motivated by desires to achieve underlying goals that relate to personal improvement or gain. Although more recent social psychological work investigated these issues, they remain under-studied. Attempting to address these neglected areas, this thesis adopts a social identity perspective, and conceptualises help-seeking as an image-management strategy. This concept is investigated in the context of a specific phenomenon with the potential to threaten the group’s image: a salient meta-stereotype. Meta-stereotypes are the stereotypes we believe to be held about our group by outgroups, and are contextdependent and often negative in valence. The prediction is thus made that group members will utilize the act of help-seeking strategically, to attempt to challenge salient negative meta-stereotypes. This is predicted to occur independently of levels of material need. This hypothesis is tested across seven experiments. Study 1 provides initial exploration of the concept, and suggests that the threat associated with help-seeking
In Vitro Fermentation of Linear and α-1,2-Branched Dextrans by the Human Fecal Microbiota

ABSTRACT The role of structure and molecular weight in fermentation selectivity in linear α-1,6 dextrans and dextrans with α-1,2 branching was investigated. Fermentation by gut bacteria was determined in anaerobic, pH-controlled fecal batch cultures after 36 h. Inulin (1%, wt/vol), which is a known prebiotic, was used as a control. Samples were obtained at 0, 10, 24, and 36 h of fermentation for bacterial enumeration by fluorescent in situ hybridization and short-chain fatty acid analyses. The gas production of the substrate fermentation was investigated in non-pH-controlled, fecal batch culture tubes after 36 h. Linear and branched 1-kDa dextrans produced significant increases in Bifidobacterium populations. The degree of α-1,2 branching did not influence the Bifidobacterium populations; however, α-1,2 branching increased the dietary fiber content, implying a decrease in digestibility. Other measured bacteria were unaffected by the test substrates except for the Bacteroides-Prevotella group, the growth levels of which were increased on inulin and 6- and 70-kDa dextrans, and the Faecalibacterium prausnitzii group, the growth levels of which were decreased on inulin and 1-kDa dextrans. A considerable increase in short-chain fatty acid concentration was measured following the fermentation of all dextrans and inulin. Gas production rates were similar among all dextrans tested but were significantly slower than that for inulin. The linear 1-kDa dextran produced lower total gas and shorter time to attain maximal gas production compared to those of the 70-kDa dextran (branched) and inulin. These findings indicate that dextrans induce a selective effect on the gut flora, short-chain fatty acids, and gas production depending on their length.
Revisiting Homomorphic Wavelet Estimation and Phase Unwrapping

Summary Surface-consistent deconvolution is a standard processing technique in land data to uniformize the wavelet across all sources and receivers. The required wavelet estimation step is generally done in the homomorphic domain since this is a convenient way to separate the phase and the amplitude spectrum in a linear fashion. Unfortunately all surface-consistent deconvolutions make a minimum-phase assumption which is likely to be sub-optimal. Recent developments in statistical wavelet estimation demonstrate that nonminimum wavelets can be estimated directly from seismic data, thus offering promise to create a nonminimum phase surface-consistent deconvolution approach. Unfortunately the major impediment turns out to be phase unwrapping. In this paper we review several existing phase unwrapping techniques and discuss their advantages and inconveniences.
Satisfaction with Life: Examining the Impact of Character Strengths among Young People

Research has shown that the disease model of child development has not led to the prevention of antisocial behaviour or psychological disorders in youth. Recent findings have shown that the positive outcomes of moral education in the building of character strengths can be used as buffers against the development of both psychological and behavioural difficulties. Similarly, youth life satisfaction has been shown to have a buffering affect for adolescents and to be positively related to an array of desirable social and psychological characteristics. Primarily this research sought to examine whether the awareness of character strengths and the exercising of them through strengths-based exercises increases life satisfaction among adolescents. This research also sought to develop student materials for the school curriculum designed to encourage students to exercise and learn about their strengths. Results revealed that awareness of individual character strengths is positively nonsignificantly related to increased mean life satisfaction. Participation in character strengths-based exercises is significantly related to increased life satisfaction among adolescents. Application of a character strengths-based programme in the school curriculum has an overall positive impact on life satisfaction, positive affect, and selfesteem. Young people with very high levels of life satisfaction have significantly higher mean scores on multiple school, interpersonal, and intrapersonal variables than those with average and very low levels of life satisfaction. Results further indicate that young people with very low levels of life satisfaction would benefit most from interventions aimed at boosting those variables having the most influence on their level of life satisfaction. Generic strengths use is a strong unique predictor of subjective well-being among individuals for whom specific character strengths associated with a life of meaning are commonly-endorsed. Life satisfaction is positively associated with the characteristics identified as representative of the Rogerian fully functioning individual.
Reduction of Immune Activation with Chloroquine Therapy during Chronic HIV Infection

ABSTRACT Increased levels of activated T cells are a hallmark of the chronic stage of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and are highly correlated with HIV disease progression. We evaluated chloroquine (CQ) as a potential therapy to reduce immune activation during HIV infection. We found that the frequency of CD38+ HLA-DR+ CD8 T cells, as well as Ki-67 expression in CD8 and CD4 T cells, was significantly reduced during CQ treatment. Our data indicate that treatment with CQ reduces systemic T-cell immune activation and, thus, that its use may be beneficial for certain groups of HIV-infected individuals.
Oral isotretinoin in different dose regimens for acne vulgaris: a randomized comparative trial.

BACKGROUND Oral isotretinoin is recommended for severe nodulocystic acne in the doses of 1-2 mg/kg/day which is usually associated with higher incidence of adverse effects. To reduce the incidence of side-effects and to make it more cost-effective, the lower dose regimen of isotretinoin has been used. AIM To compare the efficacy and tolerability of oral isotretinoin in daily, alternate, pulse and low-dose regimens in acne of all types and also to assess whether it can be used for mild and moderate acne also. METHODS One hundred and twenty patients with acne were randomized into four different treatment regimens each consisting of 30 patients. Group A was prescribed isotretinoin 1 mg/kg/day, Group B 1 mg/kg alternate day, Group C 1 mg/kg/day for one week/four weeks and Group D 20 mg every alternate day for 16 weeks. Patients were further followed for eight weeks to see any relapse. Side-effects were also recorded. RESULTS Though the daily high dose treatment Group A performed better initially at eight weeks, at the end of therapy at 16 weeks results were comparable in Group A , B and D. Patients with severe acne did better in Group A than in Group B, C and D. Patients with mild acne had almost similar results in all the groups while patients with moderate acne did better in Group A, B and D. Frequency and severity of treatment-related side-effects were significantly higher in treatment Group A as compared to Group B, C and D. CONCLUSION We conclude that for severe acne either conventional high doses of isotretinoin may be used or we can give conventional high dose for initial eight weeks and later maintain on low doses. Use of isotretinoin should be considered in mild to moderate acne also, in low doses; 20 mg, alternate day seems to be an effective and safe treatment option in such cases.
Notoginsenoside R1 Attenuates Experimental Inflammatory Bowel Disease via Pregnane X Receptor Activation

Notoginsenoside R1 (R1) is the main bioactive component in Panax notoginseng, an old herb medicine widely used in Asian countries in the treatment of microcirculatory diseases. However, little is known about the effect of R1 on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The present study demonstrated that R1 alleviated the severity of dextran sulfate sodium–induced colitis in mice by decreasing the activity of myeloperoxidase, the production of cytokines, the expression of proinflammatory genes, and the phosphorylation of IκB kinase, IκBα, and p65 in the colon. Further studies indicated that R1 dose-dependently activated human/mouse pregnane X receptor (PXR), a known target for decreasing inflammation in IBD, and upregulated the expression of genes involved in xenobiotic metabolism in colorectal cells and the colon. Ligand pocket–filling mutant (S247W/C284W or S247W/C284W/S208W) of the human PXR abrogated the effect of R1 on PXR activation. Time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer PXR competitive binding assay confirmed R1 (ligand) binding affinity. In addition, PXR overexpression inhibited nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)–luciferase activity, which was potentiated by R1 treatment. PXR knockdown by small interfering RNA demonstrated the necessity of PXR in R1-induced upregulation of the expression of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes and downregulation of NF-κB activity. Finally, the anti-inflammatory effect of R1 was confirmed in trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid–induced colitis in mice. These findings suggest that R1 attenuates experimental IBD possibly via the activation of intestinal PXR signaling.
Role of Prescription Omega‐3 Fatty Acids in the Treatment of Hypertriglyceridemia

A prescription form of omega‐3 fatty acids has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration as an adjunct to diet for the treatment of very high triglyceride levels. The active ingredients of omega‐3 fatty acids are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are responsible for the triglyceride lowering. The prescription product contains a total of 0.84 g of these two active ingredients in every 1‐g capsule of omega‐3 fatty acids. The total EPA and DHA dose recommended for triglyceride lowering is approximately 2–4 g/day Fish oil products containing EPA and DHA are available without a prescription, but the American Heart Association advises that therapy with EPA and DHA to lower very high triglyceride levels should be used only under a physician's care. In patients with triglyceride levels above 500 mg/dl, approximately 4 g/day of EPA and DHA reduces triglyceride levels 45% and very low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol levels by more than 50%. Low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol levels may increase depending on the baseline triglyceride level, but the net effect of EPA and DHA therapy is a reduction in non–high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol level. Alternatively, patients may receive one of the fibrates (gemfibrozil or fenofibrate) or niacin for triglyceride lowering if their triglyceride levels are higher than 500 mg/dl. In controlled trials, prescription omega‐3 fatty acids were well tolerated, with a low rate of both adverse events and treatment‐associated discontinuations. The availability of prescription omega‐3 fatty acids, which ensures consistent quality and purity, should prove to be valuable for the medical management of hypertriglyceridemia.