Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mental health: minimental state examination and geriatric depression score of elderly Europeans in the SENECA study of 1993.

OBJECTIVE Assessment of the mental health of the European elderly and its correlations with micronutrient plasma levels, education and ability to carry out activities of daily living. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Eleven small towns in nine European countries. SUBJECTS Randomised sample of 880 subjects of both sexes born in the period 1913 to 1918, stratified according to age and sex. INTERVENTIONS The mental status was assessed by means of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). RESULTS The overall mean MMSE score was 26.7 and this was also the mean for both sexes. MMSE scores below 23 were found in 8.5% of the men and 10.9% of the women. The overall mean GDS score was 3.9, 3.2 for the men and 4.6 for the women. GDS scores above the cut-off of 5 were found in 11.6% of the men and 27.5% of the women. There were many correlations between the MMSE and the GDS scores and education, Activities of Daily Living scores, subjective health and plasma micronutrient levels, particularly the carotenoids. No geographical pattern of the distribution of MMSE and GDS scores was discernible. CONCLUSIONS The overall cognitive function of these elderly subjects aged 74 to 79 years was on the whole well preserved. The GDS scores suggest that the prevalence of depression was high in this sample. Education and higher plasma levels of certain vitamins and carotenoids appear to be associated with lower risk of developing dementia.
Google Flu Trends: correlation with emergency department influenza rates and crowding metrics.

BACKGROUND Google Flu Trends (GFT) is a novel Internet-based influenza surveillance system that uses search engine query data to estimate influenza activity and is available in near real time. This study assesses the temporal correlation of city GFT data to cases of influenza and standard crowding indices from an inner-city emergency department (ED). METHODS This study was performed during a 21-month period (from January 2009 through October 2010) at an urban academic hospital with physically and administratively separate adult and pediatric EDs. We collected weekly data from GFT for Baltimore, Maryland; ED Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-reported standardized influenzalike illness (ILI) data; laboratory-confirmed influenza data; and ED crowding indices (patient volume, number of patients who left without being seen, waiting room time, and length of stay for admitted and discharged patients). Pediatric and adult data were analyzed separately using cross-correlation with GFT. RESULTS GFT correlated with both number of positive influenza test results (adult ED, r = 0.876; pediatric ED, r = 0.718) and number of ED patients presenting with ILI (adult ED, r = 0.885; pediatric ED, r = 0.652). Pediatric but not adult crowding measures, such as total ED volume (r = 0.649) and leaving without being seen (r = 0.641), also had good correlation with GFT. Adult crowding measures for low-acuity patients, such as waiting room time (r = 0.421) and length of stay for discharged patients (r = 0.548), had moderate correlation with GFT. CONCLUSIONS City-level GFT shows strong correlation with influenza cases and ED ILI visits, validating its use as an ED surveillance tool. GFT correlated with several pediatric ED crowding measures and those for low-acuity adult patients.
Processing of the Precursors to Small Nucleolar RNAs and rRNAs Requires Common Components

ABSTRACT The genes encoding the small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) species snR190 and U14 are located close together in the genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we report that these two snoRNAs are synthesized by processing of a larger common transcript. In strains mutant for two 5′→3′ exonucleases, Xrn1p and Rat1p, families of 5′-extended forms of snR190 and U14 accumulate; these have 5′ extensions of up to 42 and 55 nucleotides, respectively. We conclude that the 5′ ends of both snR190 and U14 are generated by exonuclease digestion from upstream processing sites. In contrast to snR190 and U14, the snoRNAs U18 and U24 are excised from the introns of pre-mRNAs which encode proteins in their exonic sequences. Analysis of RNA extracted from a dbr1-Δ strain, which lacks intron lariat-debranching activity, shows that U24 can be synthesized only from the debranched lariat. In contrast, a substantial level of U18 can be synthesized in the absence of debranching activity. The 5′ ends of these snoRNAs are also generated by Xrn1p and Rat1p. The same exonucleases are responsible for the degradation of several excised fragments of the pre-rRNA spacer regions, in addition to generating the 5′ end of the 5.8S rRNA. Processing of the pre-rRNA and both intronic and polycistronic snoRNAs therefore involves common components.
Linagliptin for type 2 diabetes mellitus: a review of the pivotal clinical trials

Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) frequently require multiple therapies to effectively control hyperglycemia, and many new agents for glucose control have been developed over the past few decades. Linagliptin is a recently approved oral antidiabetic drug that acts by inhibiting the enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4). Unlike other DPP-4 inhibitors, linagliptin is excreted chiefly via the enterohepatic system, and can be used without dose adjustment in patients with renal or hepatic impairment. Linagliptin was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration based on a large development program, including four pivotal trials in patients with T2DM, assessing the efficacy and safety of linagliptin when used as monotherapy or in combination with other oral antidiabetes drugs. Linagliptin was associated with significant improvements in glycosylated hemoglobin, fasting plasma glucose and postprandial glucose, and more patients receiving linagliptin showed meaningful improvements and achieved targets for glycosylated hemoglobin. Linagliptin was well tolerated, with an adverse event profile similar to that of placebo, and low rates of hypoglycemic events. Taken together, the pivotal trials confirm linagliptin is effective and safe in patients with T2DM: the convenience of oral dosing with no requirement for dose adjustment in patients with renal or hepatic impairment make linagliptin a valuable option when considering therapies for patients with T2DM.
A safety look at currently available statins

In this mini-review, the evidence for safety and efficacy of currently available statins is discussed. Large-scale, long-term clinical studies have documented an outstanding efficacy and safety profile for statin monotherapy when used at pharmacological doses. Non-life-threatening side effects may occur in up to 15% of patients receiving one statin. Sporadic reports show possible adverse effects of statins on nervous system function including mood alterations. More serious side effects may also occur but at much lower rates. Significant elevations in the activity of serum aminotransferase and creatine kinase alone or in combination with muscle pain in statin-treated patients should be taken seriously; under these conditions, monitoring the statin dose or its discontinuation must be considered. Unlike monotherapy, combination therapy is more problematic. Particularly, combination of the statins with gemfibrozil results in higher rates of drug toxicity. Co-administration of statins with other drugs, especially those which may interfere with the cytochrome P450 system, should be considered carefully. Special attention must be paid to the tolerability of the statins in elderly and transplant patients. The safety of statins in children and adolescents has not yet been well-documented, thus, statin therapy is not routinely recommended in this group of hyperlipidaemic subjects. Future clinical studies and surveillance information will warrant long-term safety of each member of this class of lipid-lowering agents.
Comparative Genomics and Phylogenomics of East Asian Tulips (Amana, Liliaceae)

The genus Amana Honda (Liliaceae), when it is treated as separate from Tulipa, comprises six perennial herbaceous species that are restricted to China, Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Although all six Amana species have important medicinal and horticultural uses, studies focused on species identification and molecular phylogenetics are few. Here we report the nucleotide sequences of six complete Amana chloroplast (cp) genomes. The cp genomes of Amana range from 150,613 bp to 151,136 bp in length, all including a pair of inverted repeats (25,629–25,859 bp) separated by the large single-copy (81,482–82,218 bp) and small single-copy (17,366–17,465 bp) regions. Each cp genome equivalently contains 112 unique genes consisting of 30 transfer RNA genes, four ribosomal RNA genes, and 78 protein coding genes. Gene content, gene order, AT content, and IR/SC boundary structure are nearly identical among all Amana cp genomes. However, the relative contraction and expansion of the IR/SC borders among the six Amana cp genomes results in length variation among them. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) analyses of these Amana cp genomes indicate that the richest SSRs are A/T mononucleotides. The number of repeats among the six Amana species varies from 54 (A. anhuiensis) to 69 (Amana kuocangshanica) with palindromic (28–35) and forward repeats (23–30) as the most common types. Phylogenomic analyses based on these complete cp genomes and 74 common protein-coding genes strongly support the monophyly of the genus, and a sister relationship between Amana and Erythronium, rather than a shared common ancestor with Tulipa. Nine DNA markers (rps15–ycf1, accD–psaI, petA–psbJ, rpl32–trnL, atpH–atpI, petD–rpoA, trnS–trnG, psbM–trnD, and ycf4–cemA) with number of variable sites greater than 0.9% were identified, and these may be useful for future population genetic and phylogeographic studies of Amana species.
Impedance matching with low-cost, passive components for narrowband PLC

The impedance variation in power-line networks is a well known problem in power-line communications (PLC). These variations arise when different electric loads are connected and, or disconnected to the power line network at different times. This causes a problem in trying to achieve maximum power transfer, hence the need for a matching circuit. Previously we investigated transformerless power-line coupling circuits, with a view of simplifying the design and minimizing costs. Therefore, we used only passive L-C components. The second step of this project is to design an accompanying adaptive impedance matching network. The main objective is to improve on mismatch power-losses, while at the same time it must be an economical solution. In this paper we outline basic impedance matching procedures and the necessary power-line environment considerations. The design of some typical passive impedance matching circuits for narrowband PLC is also discussed. We further investigate the suitability of such a network in a low-voltage residential power-line network.
Obstacle Avoidance and Target Acquisition for Robot Navigation Using a Mixed Signal Analog/Digital Neuromorphic Processing System

Neuromorphic hardware emulates dynamics of biological neural networks in electronic circuits offering an alternative to the von Neumann computing architecture that is low-power, inherently parallel, and event-driven. This hardware allows to implement neural-network based robotic controllers in an energy-efficient way with low latency, but requires solving the problem of device variability, characteristic for analog electronic circuits. In this work, we interfaced a mixed-signal analog-digital neuromorphic processor ROLLS to a neuromorphic dynamic vision sensor (DVS) mounted on a robotic vehicle and developed an autonomous neuromorphic agent that is able to perform neurally inspired obstacle-avoidance and target acquisition. We developed a neural network architecture that can cope with device variability and verified its robustness in different environmental situations, e.g., moving obstacles, moving target, clutter, and poor light conditions. We demonstrate how this network, combined with the properties of the DVS, allows the robot to avoid obstacles using a simple biologically-inspired dynamics. We also show how a Dynamic Neural Field for target acquisition can be implemented in spiking neuromorphic hardware. This work demonstrates an implementation of working obstacle avoidance and target acquisition using mixed signal analog/digital neuromorphic hardware.
Investigation of Room Temperature Synthesis of Titanium Dioxide Nanoclusters Dispersed on Cubic MCM-48 Mesoporous Materials

Titania containing cubic MCM-48 mesoporous materials were synthesized successfully at room temperature by a modified Stober method. The integrity of the cubic mesoporous phase was retained even at relatively high loadings of titania. The TiO2-MCM-48 materials were extensively characterized by a variety of physico-chemical techniques. The physico-chemical characterization indicate that Ti4+ ions can be substituted in framework tetrahedral positions. The relative amount of Ti4+ ions in tetrahedral position was dependent on the order of addition of the precursor. Even at relatively high loadings of titania, no distinct bulk phase of titania could be observed indicating that the titania nanoclusters are well dispersed on the high surface area mesoporous material and probably exist as amorphous nanoclusters. The TiO2-MCM-48 materials were found to exhibit 100% selectivity in the cyclohexene oxidation at room temperature in the presence of tert-butylhydroperoxide (t-BHP) as the oxidant. The results suggest that room temperature synthesis is an attractive option for the preparation of TiO2-MCM-48 materials with interesting catalytic properties.
Heterologous Expression of Panax ginseng PgTIP1 Confers Enhanced Salt Tolerance of Soybean Cotyledon Hairy Roots, Composite, and Whole Plants

The Panax ginseng TIP gene PgTIP1 was previously demonstrated to have high water channel activity by its heterologous expression in Xenopus laevis oocytes and in yeast; it also plays a significant role in growth of PgTIP1-transgenic Arabidopsis plants under favorable conditions and has enhanced tolerance toward salt and drought treatment. In this work, we first investigated the physiological effects of heterologous PgTIP1 expression in soybean cotyledon hairy roots or composite plants mediated by Agrobacterium rhizogenes toward enhanced salt tolerance. The PgTIP1-transgenic soybean plants mediated by the pollen tube pathway, represented by the lines N and J11, were analyzed at the physiological and molecular levels for enhanced salt tolerance. The results showed that in terms of root-specific heterologous expression, the PgTIP1-transformed soybean cotyledon hairy roots or composite plants displayed superior salt tolerance compared to the empty vector-transformed ones according to the mitigatory effects of hairy root growth reduction, drop in leaf RWC, and rise in REL under salt stress. Additionally, declines in K+ content, increases in Na+ content and Na+/K+ ratios in the hairy roots, stems, or leaves were effectively alleviated by PgTIP1-transformation, particularly the stems and leaves of composite soybean plants. At the whole plant level, PgTIP1-trasgenic soybean lines were found to possess stronger root vigor, reduced root and leaf cell membrane damage, increased SOD, POD, CAT, and APX activities, steadily increased leaf Tr, RWC, and Pn values, and smaller declines in chlorophyll and carotenoid content when exposed to salt stress compared to wild type. Moreover, the distribution patterns of Na+, K+, and Cl- in the roots, stems, and leaves of salt-stressed transgenic plants were readjusted, in that the absorbed Na+ and Cl- were mainly restricted to the roots to reduce their transport to the shoots, and the transport of root-absorbed K+ to the shoots was simultaneously promoted. PgTIP1 transformation into soybean plants enhanced the expression of some stress-related genes (GmPOD, GmAPX1, GmSOS1, and GmCLC1) in the roots and leaves under salt treatment. This indicates that the causes of enhanced salt tolerance of heterologous PgTIP1-transformed soybean are associated with the positive regulation on water relations, ion homeostasis, and ROS scavenging under salt stress both at root-specific and whole plant levels.
Poststroke fatigue following minor infarcts

Objective: To explore the potential relationship between fatigue following strokes and poststroke mood, cognitive dysfunction, disability, and infarct site and to determine the predictive factors in the development of poststroke fatigue (PSF) following minor infarcts. Methods: Ninety-nine functionally active patients aged less than 70 years with a first, nondisabling stroke (NIH Stroke Scale score ≤6 in acute phase and ≤3 after 6 months, modified Rankin Scale score ≤1 at 6 months) were assessed during the acute phase and then at 6 (T1) and 12 months (T2) after their stroke. Scores in the Fatigue Assessment Inventory were described and correlated to age, gender, neurologic and functional impairment, lesion site, mood scores, neuropsychological data, laboratory data, and quality of life at T1 and T2 using a multivariate logistic regression analysis in order to determine which variables recorded at T1 best predicted fatigue at T2. Result: As many as 30.5% of the patients at T1 and 34.7% at T2 (11.6% new cases between T1 and T2) reported fatigue. At both 6 and 12 months, there was a significant association between fatigue and a reduction in professional activity. Attentional-executive impairment, depression, and anxiety levels remained associated with PSF throughout this time period, underlining the critical role of these variables in the genesis of PSF. There was no significant association between the lesion site and PSF. Conclusion: This study suggests that attentional and executive impairment, as well as depression and anxiety, may play a critical role in the development of PSF.
Redesigning of faulty systems understanding medication

Objective To systematically review clinical evidence gathered by direct observation of medication errors in adult patients in intensive care units. Methods Articles published between 1985 and 2008 in English-language journals indexed by the Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature and PUBMED were searched for studies on medication errors made by intensive care unit nurses. Studies in which errors were detected via direct observation were included. Results Six studies met the inclusion criteria, and error incidence varied considerably among them. Wrong dose, wrong administration time and rate, and dose omission were the most common errors. Antibiotics, electrolytes, and cardiovascular drugs were commonly associated with errors, but the evidence about factors contributing to errors was inconclusive. Increased monitoring was the most common consequence of medication errors, whereas life-threatening and fatal adverse events were rare. Conclusions Identification of patterns and characteristics of medication errors can guide preventive interventions. Factors contributing to errors, as well as drugs and error types associated with severe adverse events, deserve further investigation. for clinical studies of medication errors in critically ill adult patients. Additional articles were retrieved from the reference lists of the articles found through the initial online search. A combination of the fol-lowing terms was used in the search: errors, medica-tion/drug errors, medication/drug safety, critical /intensive care unit, ICU/CCU, critically ill , and adult . Specific criteria used to select studies for this review were as follows: Types of study settings: care for patients, that is, medical, surgical, incidence was estimated on the basis of drug observations and ranged from 3.3% to 72.5%. Error incidence was also estimated on the basis of opportunities for error (calculated by adding all steps for potential errors during drug preparation and administration) in 1 study. 13 Types of medication errors were reported in all 6 studies. In the studies where errors were observed during continuous drug infusion, wrong rate was reported in 4 studies and was the first, 18 second, 13 and third 15 most common error type identified. Intermittently delivered drugs were administered intravenously, intramuscularly, subcutaneously,
A Cooperative Bayesian Nonparametric Framework for Primary User Activity Monitoring in Cognitive Radio Networks

This paper introduces a novel approach that enables a number of cognitive radio devices that are observing the availability pattern of a number of primary users (PUs), to cooperate and use Bayesian nonparametric techniques to estimate the distributions of the PUs' activity pattern. To address this problem, a coalitional game is formulated between the cognitive devices and an algorithm for cooperative coalition formation is proposed. It is shown that the proposed coalition formation algorithm allows the cognitive nodes that are experiencing a similar behavior from some PUs to self-organize into disjoint, independent coalitions. Inside each coalition, the cooperative cognitive nodes use Bayesian nonparametric techniques so as to improve the accuracy of the estimated PUs' activity distributions. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm significantly improves the estimates of the PUs' activity patterns.
Antimicrobial Resistance and Genotypic Diversity of Campylobacter Isolated from Pigs, Dairy, and Beef Cattle in Tanzania

Foodborne Campylobacter infections pose a serious threat to public health worldwide. However, the occurrence and characteristics of Campylobacter in food animals and products remain largely unknown in Tanzania. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, antibiotic resistance, and genetic profiles (sequence types, STs) of Campylobacter isolated from feces of pigs and dairy and beef cattle in Tanzania. Overall, 259 (~30%) of 864 samples were positive for Campylobacter spp, which were detected in 32.5, 35.4, and 19.6% of the pig, dairy, and beef cattle samples, respectively. Multiplex PCR analysis identified 64.5 and 29.3% of the Campylobacter isolates as C. coli and C. jejuni, respectively. The majority (91.9%) of the isolates from pig samples were identified as C. coli, while C. jejuni accounted for 65.5% of the isolates from cattle. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the disk diffusion assay and the broth microdilution method revealed resistance to: ampicillin (Amp) (70.3% and 75.7%, respectively), gentamicin (Gen) (1.8% and 12.6%), streptomycin (Str) (65.8 and 74.8%), erythromycin (Ery) (41.4 and 48.7%), tetracycline (Tet) (18.9 and 23.4%), and ciprofloxacin (Cip) (14.4 and 7.2%). Resistance to nalidixic acid (Nal) (39.6%), azithromycin (Azm) (13.5%), and chloramphenicol (Chl) (4.5%) was determined using the disk diffusion assay only, while resistance to tylosin (Tyl) (38.7%) was quantified using the broth microdilution method. Multilocus sequence typing of 111 Campylobacter isolates resulted in the identification of 48 STs (26 C. jejuni and 22 C. coli) of which seven were novel (six C. jejuni and one C. coli). Taken together, this study revealed the high prevalence, genetic diversity and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter in important food animals in Tanzania, which highlights the urgent need for the surveillance and control of Campylobacter in this country.