Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Statistical analysis of combined substitutions in nonstructural 5A region of hepatitis C virus and interferon response

Interferon (IFN) therapy (± ribavirin) is the only currently available treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), but is not effective for a majority of patients. Several studies have correlated IFN response with substitutions in a small region of the nonstructural 5A (NS5A) gene product of HCV, termed the interferon sensitivity determining region (ISDR). Many other studies, however, have been unable to verify this correlation. To address this issue, available data from published studies was used to create a database of 675 individual ISDR sequences. The database was used to analyze substitutions in the ISDR with regard to IFN response. Combined data was analyzed by the chi‐square independence test and by logistic regression analysis. Each statistical analysis demonstrated a strong correlation between IFN response and substitutions in the ISDR. A statistically significant correlation was also found between IFN‐response and substitutions in ISDRs of combined studies that independently were unable to detect a correlation. The failure of these individual studies to verify a correlation seems to be at least partially due to inadequate sample size. A new model for chi‐square analysis is proposed that could allow a correlation between IFN‐response and ISDR sequence to be detected for data sets with less statistical power than that required for the current model. The ISDR database was also used to analyze individual substitutions in the ISDR. The results show that IFN‐sensitive viruses contain a larger number and more diverse collection of substitutions than IFN‐resistant viruses. Substitutions that are most likely to be tolerated or detrimental to NS5A function in the IFN‐response mechanism were identified as a first step toward site directed mutagenesis of the ISDR. J. Med. Virol. 63:8–16, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Making Sense of the Role Category Questionnaire.

Despite over 30 years of review and analysis, researchers still are unclear as to what W.H. Crockett's Role Category Questionnaire (RCQ) of interpersonal differentiation actually measures. Among the constructivists, at least four different explanations have been advanced. The "orthodox" interpretation holds that the RCQ constitutes a representative sample of the constructs available for construing others. A review of the literature suggests that it is time to shift from seeing RCQ based differentiation as a representation to viewing it as a measure of process. A process/motivational explanation incorporates the core insights of each of the alternate positions and simultaneously explains the relationship between several RCQ measures of construct system development, namely differentiation, construct abstractness, and impression integration. Existing research on impression formation during interaction shows that the frequency of dispositional constructs on the RCQ clearly discriminates between low differentiated and high differentiated perceivers. A review of studies of impression formation in face-to-face interaction concludes that the RCQ contents consist primarily of the recall of previous construal activity. Numerous studies have examined the factors which affect the quantity and content of impressions. Studies have also shown that differentiation is typically associated with an intimacy motivation. Because it is likely that there are functionally different forms of interpersonal differentiation, careful attention should be given to both the description task in its social context and the actual content of the situated impressions. Future studies should examine construct system content as well as construct system structure. (Contains 52 references.) (RS) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************************
Deformations of generalized complex and generalized Kahler structures

In this paper we obtain a stability theorem of generalized Kahler structures with one pure spinor under small deformations of generalized complex structures. (This is analogous to the stability theorem of Kahler manifolds by Kodaira-Spencer.) We apply the stability theorem to a class of compact Kahler manifolds which admits deformations to generalized complex manifolds and obtain non-trivial generalized Kahler structures on Fano surfaces and toric Kahler manifolds. In particular, we show that holomorphic Poisson structures on a Kahler manifold induce deformations of generalized Kahler structures.
Effect of distraction on driving performance using touch screen while driving on test track

This study investigated the effect of distraction on driving performance for drivers using a touch screen. We evaluated the influence of three secondary tasks on the primary task varying the task duration and the screen position using 16 participants whose ages ranged from the twenties to the fifties. The primary task was car following. There were three secondary tasks: calling out numbers on the touch screen, calling out numbers and simultaneously to tap the same number on the touch screen, and tapping the four corners of the touch screen. Driving performance was evaluated in terms of speed, headway and lateral position. Based on the results of the study, when the drivers are operating the touch screen while driving, visual and manual distraction differently affected different driving performance measures. Specifically, visual distraction had a greater effect on longitudinal control measure, whereas combined visual/manual distraction affected longitudinal and lateral control measures.
Saving Death: Apoptosis for Intervention in Transplantation and Autoimmunity

Long considered immunologically “bland,” apoptotic cells are now recognized as important modulators of immune responses. The role of apoptosis in immunological homeostasis has been inferred from several findings, for example, induction of tolerance after injection of apoptotic cells and the capacity of APCs like macrophages and DCs to induce and maintain tolerance after phagocytosis of dead cells. Processing of apoptotic cells by DCs is of particular interest, because DCs are the only known APCs capable of activating naïve T lymphocytes to become effector or regulatory cells. In that regard, recent evidence suggests that phagocytosis of apoptotic cells by DCs can induce Tregs, a finding that has significant implications for the treatment of a variety of immune-mediated inflammatory disorders. Here, we review the relationship between apoptotic cells, DCs, and Tregs, and its impact on prevention of transplant rejection and treatment of autoimmune diseases.
ENCORE : Experiments with a Synthetic Entity Co-reference Resolution Tool

We present ENCORE, a system for entity co-reference resolution that synthesizes the outputs of several off-the-shelf co-reference resolution systems. To boost precision, we filter the output using a named entity recognition tool called SYNERGY which itself is a synthesis of several off-the-shelf NER systems. ENCORE is designed to work under two conditions: NP-CR which resolves noun phrase co-reference and NE-CR which resolves co-references only for named entities. We report the results of our experiments with ENCORE that show 2% to 40% improvements in precision, recall and F-scores over the underlying systems. This opens a promising approach which leverages the existing “black box” state-of-the-art tools without attempting to re-create their achievements and focuses the development efforts on the differences in their output.
In Situ Simulation: Challenges and Results

In situ simulation, simulation that is physically integrated into the clinical environment, provides a method to improve reliability and safety in high-risk areas. Deliberate practice and integration of teamwork skills in the time-pressured clinical environment provides great realism and is a rich resource to identify latent threats and system issues that can compromise patient safety. However, powerful cultural and logistic challenges impede implementation of this practice. Issues related to culture, performance anxiety, time pressures, and patient perceptions that can interfere with successful implementation of in situ simulation are explored. The experiences and lessons learned during implementation of three pilot in situ programs are reviewed. Qualitative data, including feedback from health care providers and patients on the value and concerns related to this practice, are presented. Lessons learned provide guidance that is intended to increase the future success and implementation of in situ simulation.
The Hidden Habit of the Entomopathogenic Fungus Beauveria bassiana: First Demonstration of Vertical Plant Transmission

Beauveria bassiana strain 04/01-Tip, obtained from a larva of the opium poppy stem gall wasp Iraella luteipes (Hymenoptera; Cynipidae), endophytically colonizes opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) plants and protects them against this pest. The goal of this study was to monitor the dynamics of endophytic colonization of opium poppy by B. bassiana after the fungus was applied to the seed and to ascertain whether the fungus is transmitted vertically via seeds. Using a species-specific nested PCR protocol and DNA extracted from surface-sterilised leaf pieces or seeds of B. bassiana-inoculated opium poppy plants, the fungus was detected within the plant beginning at the growth stage of rosette building and them throughout the entire plant growth cycle (about 120–140 days after sowing). The fungus was also detected in seeds from 50% of the capsules sampled. Seeds that showed positive amplification for B. bassiana were planted in sterile soil and the endophyte was again detected in more than 42% of the plants sampled during all plant growth stages. Beauveria bassiana was transmitted to seeds in 25% of the plants from the second generation that formed a mature capsule. These results demonstrate for the first time the vertical transmission of an entomopathogenic fungus from endophytically colonised maternal plants. This information is crucial to better understand the ecological role of entomopathogenic fungi as plant endophytes and may allow development of a sustainable and cost effective strategy for I. luteipes management in P. somniferum.
Dynamic reciprocity of sodium and potassium channel expression in a macromolecular complex controls cardiac excitability and arrhythmia

The cardiac electrical impulse depends on an orchestrated interplay of transmembrane ionic currents in myocardial cells. Two critical ionic current mechanisms are the inwardly rectifying potassium current (IK1), which is important for maintenance of the cell resting membrane potential, and the sodium current (INa), which provides a rapid depolarizing current during the upstroke of the action potential. By controlling the resting membrane potential, IK1 modifies sodium channel availability and therefore, cell excitability, action potential duration, and velocity of impulse propagation. Additionally, IK1–INa interactions are key determinants of electrical rotor frequency responsible for abnormal, often lethal, cardiac reentrant activity. Here, we have used a multidisciplinary approach based on molecular and biochemical techniques, acute gene transfer or silencing, and electrophysiology to show that IK1–INa interactions involve a reciprocal modulation of expression of their respective channel proteins (Kir2.1 and NaV1.5) within a macromolecular complex. Thus, an increase in functional expression of one channel reciprocally modulates the other to enhance cardiac excitability. The modulation is model-independent; it is demonstrable in myocytes isolated from mouse and rat hearts and with transgenic and adenoviral-mediated overexpression/silencing. We also show that the post synaptic density, discs large, and zonula occludens-1 (PDZ) domain protein SAP97 is a component of this macromolecular complex. We show that the interplay between Nav1.5 and Kir2.1 has electrophysiological consequences on the myocardium and that SAP97 may affect the integrity of this complex or the nature of Nav1.5–Kir2.1 interactions. The reciprocal modulation between Nav1.5 and Kir2.1 and the respective ionic currents should be important in the ability of the heart to undergo self-sustaining cardiac rhythm disturbances.
Sampling Strategies for Real-Time Action Recognition

Local spatio-temporal features and bag-of-features representations have become popular for action recognition. A recent trend is to use dense sampling for better performance. While many methods claimed to use dense feature sets, most of them are just denser than approaches based on sparse interest point detectors. In this paper, we explore sampling with high density on action recognition. We also investigate the impact of random sampling over dense grid for computational efficiency. We present a real-time action recognition system which integrates fast random sampling method with local spatio-temporal features extracted from a Local Part Model. A new method based on histogram intersection kernel is proposed to combine multiple channels of different descriptors. Our technique shows high accuracy on the simple KTH dataset, and achieves state-of-the-art on two very challenging real-world datasets, namely, 93% on KTH, 83.3% on UCF50 and 47.6% on HMDB51.
Can You Hear Me Now? Musical Training Shapes Functional Brain Networks for Selective Auditory Attention and Hearing Speech in Noise

Even in the quietest of rooms, our senses are perpetually inundated by a barrage of sounds, requiring the auditory system to adapt to a variety of listening conditions in order to extract signals of interest (e.g., one speaker's voice amidst others). Brain networks that promote selective attention are thought to sharpen the neural encoding of a target signal, suppressing competing sounds and enhancing perceptual performance. Here, we ask: does musical training benefit cortical mechanisms that underlie selective attention to speech? To answer this question, we assessed the impact of selective auditory attention on cortical auditory-evoked response variability in musicians and non-musicians. Outcomes indicate strengthened brain networks for selective auditory attention in musicians in that musicians but not non-musicians demonstrate decreased prefrontal response variability with auditory attention. Results are interpreted in the context of previous work documenting perceptual and subcortical advantages in musicians for the hearing and neural encoding of speech in background noise. Musicians’ neural proficiency for selectively engaging and sustaining auditory attention to language indicates a potential benefit of music for auditory training. Given the importance of auditory attention for the development and maintenance of language-related skills, musical training may aid in the prevention, habilitation, and remediation of individuals with a wide range of attention-based language, listening and learning impairments.
Assessment of Basic Skills Basic Academic Preparation

INTRODUCTION The basic academic preparation expected of most entering college students encompasses a wide range of skills. Like students in general, entering deaf and hard of hearing students vary in their preparation for college. Some have better academic foundations than others, and some are better prepared psychologically and socially for the college environment and its expectations. The primary focus of this report is on deaf and hard of hearing college freshmen in need of remediation in one or both of two areas: (i) reading and writing in English, and (ii) mathematics. It will also explore the kinds of assessments most commonly used in these areas, suggest modifications for testing basic instruction and remediation, and make some suggestions of a programmatic kind. The report will close with a more generic discussion of needs and approaches to basic academic preparation and its corollaries, under the topic of " the first year experience ". It should be said at the outset that classroom support services such as interpreting, classroom assistive listening devices, and notetaking, important though they may be to many students, cannot substitute for basic academic preparation. These services go a long way toward removing obstacles to communication, but they alone will do little to bring the unprepared student up to the level of academic competence required by most college courses. Regardless of their student populations, virtually all postsecondary institutions today mandate outcome assessment in order to document student progress and to assist in program evaluation and planning. For placement purposes, institutions with open enrollment practices tend to assess students more carefully today than they have in the past. Postsecondary institutions with enrollments of deaf and/or hard of hearing students need to be aware of special considerations regarding academic assessment measures and procedures with these students. The following suggestions may be helpful in providing more accurate assessment involving these students. • For the student who is more fluent in sign language than in English, consider alternative testing methods which allow for sign language interpretation of instructions or the examination itself. Just as dyslexic students are sometimes given oral rather than written examinations, students who are deaf or severely hard of hearing and more comfortable with sign language than English may benefit from written examinations that are interpreted in sign language. However, since interpreted tests cannot be monitored by non-signing instructors, a bond of professional trust must exist between the instructor and the …
Extensive cholesteatoma: long-term results of three surgical techniques

Abstract During the years 1979–81, three different surgical techniques were used in the treatment of 87 ears with extensive cholesteatoma. All procedures were performed in one stage by the same surgeon. Ten to 13 years after the operations about 70 per cent of ears operated on by the canal wall up technique had developed a new cholesteatoma, which in most cases was recurrent, or a deep retraction pocket. A modification of this technique with mastoid obliteration resulted in a similar failure rate. In contrast, ears operated on by the canal wall down technique (in most cases with mastoid obliteration) had acceptable stability with a long-term recurrence rate of about 15 per cent. Most patients in the canal wall down group had a dry ear without significant cavity problems. Hearing in these patients was as least as good as hearing in patients with a preserved canal wall. We conclude that a meticulous one-stage canal wall down technique in ears with extensive cholesteatoma results in a high percentage of unproblematic, stable ears with satisfactory function. In contrast, if the posteriorcanal wall is preserved, recurrent cholesteatoma is the rule more than the exception.
Distributed under Creative Commons Cc-by 4.0 a Resource-based Game Theoretical Approach for the Paradox of the Plankton

The maintenance of species diversity is a central focus in ecology. It is not rare to observe more species than the number of limiting resources, especially in plankton communities. However, such high species diversity is hard to achieve in theory under the competitive exclusion principles, known as the plankton paradox. Previous studies often focus on the coexistence of predefined species and ignore the fact that species can evolve. We model multi-resource competitions using evolutionary games, where the number of species fluctuates under extinction and the appearance of new species. The interspecific and intraspecific competitions are captured by a dynamical payoff matrix, which has a size of the number of species. The competition strength (payoff entries) is obtained from comparing the capability of species in consuming resources, which can change over time. This allows for the robust coexistence of a large number of species, providing a possible solution to the plankton paradox.
Smartphone Detection of UV LED-Enhanced Particle Immunoassay on Paper Microfluidics

Use of a smartphone as an optical detector for paper microfluidic devices has recently gained substantial attention due to its simplicity, ease of use, and handheld capability. Utilization of a UV light source enhances the optical signal intensities, especially for the particle immunoagglutination assay that has typically used visible or ambient light. Such enhancement is essential for true assimilation of assays to field deployable and point-of-care applications by greatly reducing the effects by independent environmental factors. This work is the first demonstration of using a UV LED (UVA) to enhance the Mie scatter signals from the particle immunoagglutination assay on the paper microfluidic devices and subsequent smartphone detection. Smartphone’s CMOS camera can recognize the UVA scatter from the paper microfluidic channels efficiently in its green channel. For an Escherichia coli assay, the normalized signal intensities increased up to 50% from the negative signal with UV LED, compared with the 4% to 7% with ambient light. Detection limit was 10 colony-forming units/mL. Similar results were obtained in the presence of 10% human whole blood.
Significance of Organic Cation Transporter 3 (SLC22A3) Expression for the Cytotoxic Effect of Oxaliplatin in Colorectal Cancer

The effect of oxaliplatin against colorectal cancer is superior to that of cisplatin, but the molecular mechanism(s) involved is not clear. We found previously that oxaliplatin, but not cisplatin, was transported by human (h) and rat organic cation transporter 3 (OCT3)/SLC22A3. In the present study, we examined whether hOCT3 was significantly involved in the oxaliplatin-induced cytotoxicity and accumulation of platinum in colorectal cancer. The level of hOCT3 mRNA in the colon was 9.7-fold higher in cancerous than in normal tissues in six Japanese patients (P = 0.0247). In human colorectal cancer-derived cell lines, the mRNA of hOCT3 was highly expressed compared with that of other organic cation transporters. The release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and accumulation of platinum with oxaliplatin treatment were increased in SW480 cells transfected with hOCT3 cDNA compared with empty vector-transfected cells. T84 and SW837 cells, with high levels of hOCT3, released more LDH and accumulated more platinum after oxaliplatin treatment than low hOCT3-expressing cells such as SW480, HCT116, HT29, and Lovo. However, the amount of platinum accumulated after cisplatin treatment did not differ among these six cell lines. The levels of hOCT3 expression in colon and rectum were also higher in cancerous than in normal tissues in Caucasian patients as determined by dot blotting. In conclusion, the hOCT3-mediated uptake of oxaliplatin into the cancers was suggested to be important for its cytotoxicity, and hOCT3 expression may be a marker for cancer chemotherapy including oxaliplatin.