Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kidney pathological changes in metabolic syndrome: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND The worldwide prevalence of metabolic syndrome is increasing and has been associated with chronic kidney disease. Kidney pathological findings in patients with metabolic syndrome have not been well described, as was explored in this study. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS We retrospectively screened clinical information for 146 patients who underwent elective nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma between January 2005 and March 2007 at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA. Twelve patients with metabolic syndrome were identified. Twelve age- and sex-matched patients who did not have any of the criteria for metabolic syndrome were used as controls. PREDICTOR Presence of metabolic syndrome defined by using Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. OUTCOMES Histological characteristics in each group, decrease in kidney function at 1-year follow-up. MEASUREMENTS Two pathologists blinded to the clinical diagnosis independently evaluated nephrectomy specimens using Banff criteria to objectively assess histological characteristics. RESULTS Baseline characteristics were similar between the 2 groups. On histopathologic examination, patients with metabolic syndrome compared with controls had a greater prevalence of tubular atrophy (P = 0.006), interstitial fibrosis (P = 0.001), and arterial sclerosis (P = 0.001), suggesting microvascular disease. Patients with metabolic syndrome had greater global (P = 0.04) and segmental glomerulosclerosis (P = 0.05). Glomerular volume and cross-sectional surface area were not different. The combined end point of tubular atrophy greater than 5%, interstitial fibrosis greater than 5%, and presence of arterial sclerosis was more prevalent in patients with metabolic syndrome (P = 0.003; odds ratio, 33; confidence interval, 2.9 to 374.3) than controls. After 1 year, estimated glomerular filtration rate was significantly lower in patients with metabolic syndrome compared with controls (P = 0.03). LIMITATIONS Small sample size, retrospective design. CONCLUSIONS We report a high prevalence of microvascular disease in patients with metabolic syndrome. There was a steeper decrease in kidney function over time in patients with metabolic syndrome, suggesting limited renal reserve. Aggressive screening and management may be warranted in patients with metabolic syndrome to protect kidney function.
Analysis of Phonemes, Graphemes, Onset-Rimes, and Words with Braille-Learning Children

Six primary school–aged braille students were taught to name 4 to 10 braille letters as phonemes and another 4 to 10 braille letters as graphemes (Study 1). They were then taught to name 10 braille words as onset-rimes and another 10 braille words as whole words (Study 2). Instruction in phonemes and onset rimes resulted in fewer trials and a higher percentage of correct responses.
Cerebral Hypoperfusion Generates Cortical Watershed Microinfarcts in Alzheimer Disease

Background and Purpose— The watershed cortical areas are the first to be deprived of sufficient blood flow in the event of cerebral hypoperfusion and will be the sites of watershed microinfarcts. Cerebral hypoperfusion is associated with Alzheimer disease (AD), but information regarding the occurrence of watershed cortical infarcts in AD is lacking. Methods— Brains of 184 autopsy cases (105 definite AD cases and 79 age-matched controls) were selected and analyzed by histochemical and immunohistochemical techniques. The 3-dimensional reconstruction of the whole cerebrum, with 3-mm spaced serial sections, was performed in 6 AD cases to study the intrahemispheric and interhemispheric distribution of the cortical microinfarcts. Results— A significant association (P =0.001) was found between the occurrence of watershed cortical infarcts and AD (32.4% versus 2.5% in controls). The microinfarcts were restricted to the watershed cortical zones. Congophilic angiopathy was revealed to be an important risk factor. Perturbed hemodynamic factors (eg, decreased blood pressure) may play a role in the genesis of cortical watershed microinfarcts. Conclusions— In AD, cerebral hypoperfusion induces not only white matter changes but cortical watershed microinfarcts as well, further aggravating the degenerative process and worsening dementia. To prevent the formation of watershed cortical microinfarcts in AD, monitoring blood pressure and treating arterial hypotension are essential.
Functional Significance of Gene Polymorphisms in the Promoter of Myeloid Differentiation-2

Objective:To investigate the functional significance of the reported single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter of the myeloid differentiation-2 (MD-2) gene. Summary Background Data:Functional gene polymorphisms of innate immune receptors have been shown to be critical determinants of the immune inflammatory response. MD-2 is an important signaling enhancer protein in the endotoxin (LPS) receptor complex. Although a total of 156 SNPs have been identified within the whole MD-2 gene, little is known about the functional significance of these SNPs. Methods:The possible biosignificance of 8 reported SNPs was analyzed using on-line software tools. The selected SNPs were then genotyped using a restriction fragment length polymorphism method applied to 711 healthy Chinese volunteers. Their functional effects were assessed by the observation of transcription activity, MD-2 mRNA expression, and leukocyte response to ex vitro LPS stimulation. Moreover, the clinical relevance of these SNPs was investigated in 105 patients with major trauma. Results:Three SNPs (C–1625G, A-1064G, and A-475T) in the MD-2 promoter were selected based on bio-informatic analysis. Both −1625 and −1064 SNPs, rather than −475, were seen in the Chinese population, with frequencies of 19.8% (−1625G) and 34.7% (−1064G). But only the −1625 polymorphism was found to affect MD-2 promoter activity. Moreover, the expression of MD-2 mRNA and the production of TNF-&agr; in whole blood leukocytes, in response to LPS stimulation, were significantly increased in subjects with the −1625 G allele. Patients who possessed the −1625 G allele were more likely to experience complications with organ dysfunction and sepsis after major trauma. All these associations were in allele-dose dependent effect. Conclusions:The MD-2/−1625 polymorphism is an important functional variant.
Protective effects of hydrogen-rich saline in uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock

Hydrogen is considered to be a novel antioxidant as it inhibits inflammation, removes oxygen-derived free radicals and reduces oxidative damage. This study investigated the effects of hydrogen-rich saline on plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in rats with uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock (UHS). The UHS model was induced by arterial bleeding and tail amputation. The rats were randomly divided into: Group A (sham-operated group), Group B [shock + intravenously (IV) injected saline], Group C (shock + IV-injected hydrogen-rich saline), Group D [shock + intraperitoneally (IP) injected saline] and Group E (shock + IP-injected hydrogen-rich saline). The survival rate 24 h after successful resuscitation was calculated. The mean arterial pressure and heart rate were recorded at 0, 30, 90 and 210 min. The plasma levels of IL-6, TNF-α, SOD and MDA were measured at 0, 90 and 210 min. The survival rate of each group was 100% and the hemodynamics among the experimental groups were not significantly different. At 90 and 210 min, the levels of IL-6, TNF-α and MDA in Groups C and E were lower than those of Groups B and D, while the SOD levels were higher than those of Groups B and D (P<0.01). At 90 min, the levels of IL-6, TNF-α and MDA in Groups B and C were lower than those of Groups D and E, respectively (P<0.01). Hydrogen-rich saline has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects in UHS. In conclusion, the results showed that itravenous injection of hydrogen-rich saline is more effective than intraperitonal injection.
Experimental Study of Inequality and Unpredictability in an Artificial Cultural Market

Hit songs, books, and movies are many times more successful than average, suggesting that “the best” alternatives are qualitatively different from “the rest”; yet experts routinely fail to predict which products will succeed. We investigated this paradox experimentally, by creating an artificial “music market” in which 14,341 participants downloaded previously unknown songs either with or without knowledge of previous participants' choices. Increasing the strength of social influence increased both inequality and unpredictability of success. Success was also only partly determined by quality: The best songs rarely did poorly, and the worst rarely did well, but any other result was possible.
Investigation of a bluetongue disease epizootic caused by bluetongue virus serotype 17 in sheep in Wyoming.

OBJECTIVE To characterize a 2007 bluetongue disease (BT) epizootic caused by bluetongue virus (BTV) serotype 17 in sheep in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. ANIMALS 1,359 sheep from ranches in Wyoming and Montana. PROCEDURES Information on clinical signs and history of BT in sheep was obtained from ranchers and attending veterinarians. At 3 to 6 months after the 2007 BT epizootic, blood samples were collected from rams, ewes, and lambs within and outside the Big Horn Basin; blood samples were also collected from lambs born in the spring of 2008. Sera were tested for anti-BTV antibodies by use of a competitive ELISA to determine the seroprevalence of BTV in sheep and to measure antibody titers. Virus isolation and reverse transcriptase PCR assays were used to determine long-term presence of the infectious virus or viral genetic material in RBCs of sheep. RESULTS The percentage of sheep seropositive for BTV closely matched morbidity of sheep within flocks, indicating few subclinical infections. Flocks separated by as little as 1 mile had substantial variation in infection rate. Rams were infected at a higher rate than ewes. There was no evidence of BTV successfully overwintering in the area. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE This epizootic appears to be a new intrusion of BTV into a naïve population of sheep previously protected geographically by the mountains surrounding the Big Horn Basin. Rams may have a higher infection rate as a result of increased vector biting opportunity because of the large surface area of the scrotum.
FastSLAM 2.0: An Improved Particle Filtering Algorithm for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping that Provably Converges

Proceedings of IJCAI 2003 In [15], Montemerlo et al. proposed an algorithm called FastSLAM as an efficient and robust solution to the simultaneous localization and mapping problem. This paper describes a modified version of FastSLAM which overcomes important deficiencies of the original algorithm. We prove convergence of this new algorithm for linear SLAM problems and provide real-world experimental results that illustrate an order of magnitude improvement in accuracy over the original FastSLAM algorithm.
Adaptive Learning versus Punishment in Ultimatum Bargaining

Adaptive learning and punishment are highly prominent competing explanations for ultimatum game behavior. We report on an experiment that considers each theory in stand-alone form, so that one does not rely on the other in any substantial way. Our data exhibits patterns for which punishment can account but learning by itself cannot. Initial play varies substantially- and systematically-across variations on the ultimatum game, and this leads to differences in later play as well. Hence a complete theory of ultimatum game behavior will have to predict initial conditions as well as describe the influence of repeated play.
Safety and Immunogenicity of a Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella Vaccine Given With Combined Haemophilus influenzae Type b Conjugate/Hepatitis B Vaccines and Combined Diphtheria-Tetanus-Acellular Pertussis Vaccines

Background: A study was conducted to assess administration of a combination measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine (MMRV) with other childhood vaccines. Methods: In this open, multicenter trial, 1915 healthy children ages 12–15 months were randomized into 3 groups: group 1, MMRV, combined Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate-hepatitis B vaccines (Hib/HepB) and combined diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis vaccines (DTaP) concomitantly; group 2, MMRV followed by Hib/HepB and DTaP 42 days later; group 3, MMR and varicella vaccine followed by Hib/HepB and DTaP 42 days later. Results: Antibody responses to measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, Hib, HepB, diphtheria and tetanus were similar between groups 1 and 2 (all >95%, except varicella, 89.7% in group 1 and 90.9% in group 2). Pertussis toxin and filamentous hemagglutinin responses were significantly lower in group 1 than in group 2 (group 1, 74.1 and 67.1%; group 2, 90.4 and 86.8%, respectively). An exploratory analysis suggested that the difference in and pertussis toxin and filamentous hemagglutinin responses was likely the result of study design rather than interference among vaccine components because the groups differed in age of receipt of DTaP (group 1, ∼12 months; group 2, ∼13.5 months). When the groups were matched for age, sample size was sufficient for comparison only in children ≥13.5 months old. Pertussis toxin and filamentous hemagglutinin responses were similar in these children. The safety profiles for each vaccination regimen were comparable. Conclusions: The immunogenicity data support concomitant administration of MMRV with Hib/HepB. Limited data from an exploratory analysis indicate that MMRV can be administered concomitantly with DTaP. Concomitant administration of MMRV, Hib/HepB and DTaP is well-tolerated.
A Rapid and Highly Sensitive Method of Non Radioactive Colorimetric In Situ Hybridization for the Detection of mRNA on Tissue Sections

Background Non Radioactive colorimetric In Situ Hybridization (NoRISH) with hapten labeled probes has been widely used for the study of gene expression in development, homeostasis and disease. However, improvement in the sensitivity of the method is still needed to allow for the analysis of genes expressed at low levels. Methodology/Principal Findings A stable, non-toxic, zinc-based fixative was tested in NoRISH experiments on sections of mouse embryos using four probes (Lhx6, Lhx7, ncapg and ret) that have different spatial patterns and expression levels. We showed that Z7 can successfully replace paraformaldehyde used so far for tissue fixation in NoRISH; the morphology of the cryosections of Z7-fixed tissues was excellent, and the fixation time required for tissues sized 1 cm was 1 hr instead of 24 hr for paraformaldehyde. The hybridization signal on the sections of the Z7-treated embryos always appeared earlier than that of the PFA-fixed embryos. In addition, a 50–60% shorter detection time was observed in specimen of Z7-treated embryos, reducing significantly the time required to complete the method. Finally and most importantly, the strength of the hybridization signal on the sections of the Z7-treated embryos always compared favorably to that of the sections of PFA-fixed embryos; these data demonstrate a significant improvement of the sensitivity the method that allows for the analysis of mRNAs that are barely or not detected by the standard colorimetric NoRISH method. Conclusions/Significance Our NoRISH method provides excellent preservation of tissue morphology, is rapid, highly sensitive, and especially suitable to implement in the study of genes expressed at low levels and/or in sparse cells within a structure.
Psychometric properties of the Beliefs about Medicine Questionnaire–adjuvant endocrine therapy (BMQ-AET) for women taking AETs following early-stage breast cancer

This study evaluated the Beliefs about Medicine Questionnaire to explore adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy after treatment for breast cancer (BMQ-AET). Factor structure of the BMQ-AET was explored alongside internal consistency, convergent validity and acceptability. The BMQ-AET Specific Scale fitted the original 10 item model. Internal consistency of the BMQ-AET was much improved compared to the original BMQ and convergent validity showed predicted direction of correlation, although correlation with BMQ-AET concerns scale was low. Acceptability was good. The evaluation of the BMQ-AET is encouraging, and could facilitate future research around adherence to AET.
The Impact of Categorization on Consumers ’ Willingness to Pay for Product Combinations

How do consumers determine the value of combinations that include both highand lowpriced products? Prior findings suggest that value judgments are typically additive, such that when each bundled item has positive utility, the overall value of the bundle is at least as great as the value of any individual item it contains. In contrast, this research documents that combining items in different price tiers can lead not only to additive, but also to subtractive judgments in which consumers are willing to pay less for a bundle than for one of the items it contains. This subtraction effect is attributed to the interplay between categorical and numeric representations of value when items classified into opposing categories are combined. Four empirical studies lend converging support to the proposition that categorization can lead to subtractive judgments.
EFFECTS OF SMOKING AND THE PILL ON THE BLOOD COUNT

An investigation was undertaken to confirm the effect of oral contraceptives (OCs) and estrogenic hormones on the mean cell volume (MCV) in women over a wide age range, to determine the effect of smoking on the differential white cell count as well as to determine the relationship between the number of cigarettes smoked and the effects of smoking on the blood count. Blood samples from 425 men and 312 women between the ages of 18-64 years were taken into K2EDTA. Subjects were all employees of an Insurance Company and were in good health. 188 of the men and 124 of the women were smokers, and 95 of the women were using OCs or an estrogenic hormone for menopausal symptoms. The ages of women using OCs ranged from 18-43 years. 41 smokers and 39 nonsmokers were between 30-43 years. The 2 smokers and the 2 nonsmokers who were taking hormone replacement therapy were all between 46-48 years. The blood samples were counted on a Coulter Model-S counter standardized with 4C cell control. Regression analysis of the MCV confirmed the finding of Eisen and Hammond that there was no variation with age in either nonsmoking or smoking women if they were not taking estrogen. The results, like those of Chalmers et.al., showed that if women were taking OCs or estrogenic hormones there was a significant age related increase in MCV, in both nonsmokers and smokers. This finding would support a hypothesis that an increase in MCV with age in women on OCs and under normal circumstances in men is hormone related, particularly when considered in conjunction with the demonstration that the MCV increases in pregnancy. The total white cell count and neutrophil count were significantly higher in smokers of both sexes. The lymphocyte count was also higher in smokers but was only significant in men. The white cell count, MCV, hemoglobin, and packed cell volume were all higher in the smokers than in the nonsmokers.
Good Practices on Hand Gestures Recognition for the Design of Customized NUI

In this paper we consider the problem of recognizing dynamic human gestures in the context of humanmachine interaction. We are particularly interested to the so-called Natural User Interfaces, a new modality based on a more natural and intuitive way of interacting with a digital device. In our work, a user can interact with a system by performing a set of encoded hand gestures in front of a webcam. We designed a method that first classifies hand poses guided by a finger detection procedure, and then recognizes known gestures with a syntactic approach. To this purpose, we collected a sequence of hand poses over time, to build a linguistic gesture description. The known gestures are formalized using a generative grammar. Then, at runtime, a parser allows us to perform gesture recognition leveraging on the production rules of the grammar. As for finger detection, we propose a new method which starts from a distance transform of the hand region and iteratively scans such region according to the distance values moving from a fingertip to the hand palm. We experimentally validated our approach, showing both the hand pose classification and gesture recognition
X chromosome DNA variation in Drosophila virilis

Comparisons of polymorphism patterns between distantly related species are essential in order to determine their generality. However, most work on the genusDrosophila has been done only with species of the subgenus Sophophora. In the present work, we have sequenced one intron and surrounding coding sequences of 6 X–linked genes (chorion protein s36, elav, fused, runt, suppressor of sable and zeste) from 21 strains of wild–type Drosophila virilis (subgenus Drosophila). From these data, we have estimated the average level of DNA polymorphism, inferred the effective population size and population structure of this species, and compared the results with those obtained for other Drosophila species. There is no reduction in variation at two loci close to the centromeric heterochromatin, in contrast to Drosophila melanogaster.
The importance of supervisor support for a change initiative

Purpose – Although organizations change on a regular basis, much of what we know about the impacts of organizational change can best be described as macro‐level information. Only recently have scholars begun to examine the impact of organizational change at the level of the individual employee (i.e. micro level). The purpose of this paper is to assess the importance of a supervisor's support for a change initiative in relation to employee job satisfaction and job involvement.Design/methodology/approach – This research made use of archival data. Police officers (n=88) were randomly selected from across the USA to complete phone interviews meant to assess, in part, supervisor support for a change from traditional policing to community policing, job satisfaction, and job involvement.Findings – While supervisor support for the change initiative was found to be related to job satisfaction and job involvement, job satisfaction mediated the supervisor support‐job involvement relationship.Research limitations/imp.