Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Postural balance and the risk of falling during pregnancy

Abstract Pregnancy is a physiological process and many changes occur in a woman’s body during pregnancy. These changes occur in all systems to varying degrees, including the cardiovascular, respiratory, genitourinary, and musculoskeletal systems. The hormonal, anatomical, and physiological changes occurring during pregnancy result in weight gain, decreased abdominal muscle strength and neuromuscular control, increased ligamentous laxity, and spinal lordosis. These alterations shift the centre of gravity of the body, altering the postural balance and increasing the risk of falls. Falls during pregnancy can cause maternal and foetal complications, such as maternal bone fractures, head injuries, internal haemorrhage, abruption placenta, rupture of the uterus and membranes, and occasionally maternal death or intrauterine foetal demise. Preventative strategies, such as physical exercise and the use of maternity support belts, can increase postural stability and reduce the risk of falls during pregnancy. This article reviews studies that have investigated changes in postural balance and risk of falling during pregnancy.
The Number and Complexity of Pure and Recombinant HIV-1 Strains Observed within Incident Infections during the HIV and Malaria Cohort Study Conducted in Kericho, Kenya, from 2003 to 2006

Characterization of HIV-1 subtype diversity in regions where vaccine trials are conducted is critical for vaccine development and testing. This study describes the molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 within a tea-plantation community cohort in Kericho, Kenya. Sixty-three incident infections were ascertained in the HIV and Malaria Cohort Study conducted in Kericho from 2003 to 2006. HIV-1 strains from 58 of those individuals were full genome characterized and compared to two previous Kenyan studies describing 41 prevalent infections from a blood bank survey (1999–2000) and 21 infections from a higher-risk cohort containing a mix of incident and prevalent infections (2006). Among the 58 strains from the community cohort, 43.1% were pure subtypes (36.2% A1, 5.2% C, and 1.7% G) and 56.9% were inter-subtype recombinants (29.3% A1D, 8.6% A1CD, 6.9% A1A2D, 5.2% A1C, 3.4% A1A2CD, and 3.4% A2D). This diversity and the resulting genetic distance between the observed strains will need to be addressed when vaccine immunogens are chosen. In consideration of current vaccine development efforts, the strains from these three studies were compared to five candidate vaccines (each of which are viral vectored, carrying inserts corresponding to parts of gag, pol, and envelope), which have been developed for possible use in sub-Saharan Africa. The sequence comparison between the observed strains and the candidate vaccines indicates that in the presence of diverse recombinants, a bivalent vaccine is more likely to provide T-cell epitope coverage than monovalent vaccines even when the inserts of the bivalent vaccine are not subtype-matched to the local epidemic.
On pathwise uniqueness for stochastic heat equations with non-Lipschitz coefficients

(1) Research supported in part by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 116/01 - 10.0). (2) Research supported in part by an NSERC Research grant. (3) Research supported in part by an NSERC Research grant and by DFG Priority Program 1033.
Pharmacokinetics, stability, and blood partition of 7-anilino-5,8-isoquinolinedione, a new isoquinonlinedione derivative.

Pharmacokinetics of IQO4, a new isoquinolinedione derivative, after 30-min intravenous administration of the drug, 5 mg/kg, to rats, the stability, and the blood partition between plasma and blood cells of IQO4 were evaluated. After intravenous administration, IQO4 was eliminated fast with the mean total body clearance of 105 ml/min/kg. IQO4 was almost completely metabolized in rats; 5.18% of intravenous dose of IQO4 was excreted in 24-hr urine and IQO4 was under detection limit in whole gastrointestinal tract as 24 hr. IQO4 has a good affinity to liver, small intestine, heart, lung, and kidney as reflected to greater-than-unity tissue-to-plasma ratios. IQO4 was unstable in rat whole blood, plasma, and liver homogenates when incubated in a water-bath shaker for 24 hr kept at 37 degrees C and at a rate of 50 oscillations per min. The disappearance rate constants of IQO4 were 0.0611, 0.O436, and 0.174 hr(-1) for rat whole blood, plasma, and liver homogenates, respectively. However, IQO4 was stable for up to 3-hr incubation in human gastric juices. The plasma-to-blood cell concentration ratios of IQO4 were independent of initial blood concentrations of IQO4, 0.5, 2, and 10 microg/ml, when the rabbit whole blood was incubated for up to 120 min; the ratios were in the range of 1.56-3.60. Since IQO4 was unstable in blood, considerable in vitro 'blood storage effect' in the plasma concentration of IQO4 was observed.
Underwater navigation in the presence of unknown currents based on range measurements from a single location

An underwater navigation algorithm is considered that enables an underwater vehicle to compute its trajectory in the presence of unknown currents by utilizing range measurements from a single known location. There exists a small set of trajectories for which the algorithm does not converge. By assessing local observability about potential vehicle trajectories, we characterize those trajectories that cannot be asymptotically estimated. The navigation algorithm is illustrated using computer simulation and a hardware experiment.
Well‐being and sense of coherence during pregnancy

Background. Our knowledge of how a woman as an individual experiences, evaluates and copes with pregnancy is limited. The concept of ‘sense of coherence’ as described by Antonovsky may be an important factor in how people deal with stressful situations in life. The aim of this study is to describe pregnant women's perception of well‐being during pregnancy and after delivery and to explore its relationship to their sense of coherence.
Mechanism of Mitochondrial Connexin43′s Protection of the Neurovascular Unit under Acute Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

We observed mitochondrial connexin43 (mtCx43) expression under cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, analyzed its regulation, and explored its protective mechanisms. Wistar rats were divided into groups based on injections received before middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Cerebral infarction volume was detected by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolim chloride staining, and cell apoptosis was observed by transferase dUTP nick end labeling. We used transmission electron microscopy to observe mitochondrial morphology and determined superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. MtCx43, p-mtCx43, protein kinase C (PKC), and p-PKC expression were detected by Western blot. Compared with those in the IR group, cerebral infarction volumes in the carbenoxolone (CBX) and diazoxide (DZX) groups were obviously smaller, and the apoptosis indices were down-regulated. Mitochondrial morphology was damaged after I/R, especially in the IR and 5-hydroxydecanoic acid (5-HD) groups. Similarly, decreased SOD activity and increased MDA were observed after MCAO; CBX, DZX, and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) reduced mitochondrial functional injury. Expression of mtCx43 and p-mtCx43 and the p-Cx43/Cx43 ratio were significantly lower in the IR group than in the sham group. These abnormalities were ameliorated by CBX, DZX, and PMA. MtCx43 may protect the neurovascular unit from acute cerebral IR injury via PKC activation induced by mitoKATP channel agonists.
Cohort study of rotavirus serotype patterns in symptomatic and asymptomatic infections in Mexican children

A cohort of 200 Mexican children from a low income periurban community was monitored from birth to the age of 2 years to determine the serotype-specific incidence, morbidity and seasonal pattern of symptomatic and asymptomatic human rotavirus (HRV) infections. A total of 177 HRV infections occurred in 134 (67%) children; 50% of these infections were asymptomatic. The incidence of all HRV infections was 0.6 episode/child year and was inversely related to age (r = -0.93; P < 0.01). The incidence of HRV-associated diarrhea was 0.3 episode/child year, with the highest frequency and severity occurring in infants between 4 and 6 months of age. HRV infections were more frequent each autumn, with a changing sequential pattern of predominant serotypes. Overall serotype 3 (34%) was the most frequent, followed by serotypes 1 (16%), 2 (15%) and 4 (6%). The 4 serotypes were associated with a similar risk for diarrhea and severity of diarrhea. In 23 (26%) HRV diarrhea-associated infections, an additional enteropathogen was identified; these mixed infections were more frequent in older children (chi square, 4.45; P < 0.05) but were not more severe (chi square, 0.02; P > 0.05). Our data indicate that HRV infections were common early in life, seasonal, frequently asymptomatic and caused by a variety of serotypes, none of which was a risk factor for diarrhea or severity of diarrhea.
Laplace maximum margin Markov networks

We propose Laplace max-margin Markov networks (LapM3N), and a general class of Bayesian M3N (BM3N) of which the LapM3N is a special case with sparse structural bias, for robust structured prediction. BM3N generalizes extant structured prediction rules based on point estimator to a Bayes-predictor using a learnt distribution of rules. We present a novel Structured Maximum Entropy Discrimination (SMED) formalism for combining Bayesian and max-margin learning of Markov networks for structured prediction, and our approach subsumes the conventional M3N as a special case. An efficient learning algorithm based on variational inference and standard convex-optimization solvers for M3N, and a generalization bound are offered. Our method outperforms competing ones on both synthetic and real OCR data.
Global and System-Specific Resting-State fMRI Fluctuations Are Uncorrelated: Principal Component Analysis Reveals Anti-Correlated Networks

The influence of the global average signal (GAS) on functional-magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-based resting-state functional connectivity is a matter of ongoing debate. The global average fluctuations increase the correlation between functional systems beyond the correlation that reflects their specific functional connectivity. Hence, removal of the GAS is a common practice for facilitating the observation of network-specific functional connectivity. This strategy relies on the implicit assumption of a linear-additive model according to which global fluctuations, irrespective of their origin, and network-specific fluctuations are super-positioned. However, removal of the GAS introduces spurious negative correlations between functional systems, bringing into question the validity of previous findings of negative correlations between fluctuations in the default-mode and the task-positive networks. Here we present an alternative method for estimating global fluctuations, immune to the complications associated with the GAS. Principal components analysis was applied to resting-state fMRI time-series. A global-signal effect estimator was defined as the principal component (PC) that correlated best with the GAS. The mean correlation coefficient between our proposed PC-based global effect estimator and the GAS was 0.97±0.05, demonstrating that our estimator successfully approximated the GAS. In 66 out of 68 runs, the PC that showed the highest correlation with the GAS was the first PC. Since PCs are orthogonal, our method provides an estimator of the global fluctuations, which is uncorrelated to the remaining, network-specific fluctuations. Moreover, unlike the regression of the GAS, the regression of the PC-based global effect estimator does not introduce spurious anti-correlations beyond the decrease in seed-based correlation values allowed by the assumed additive model. After regressing this PC-based estimator out of the original time-series, we observed robust anti-correlations between resting-state fluctuations in the default-mode and the task-positive networks. We conclude that resting-state global fluctuations and network-specific fluctuations are uncorrelated, supporting a Resting-State Linear-Additive Model. In addition, we conclude that the network-specific resting-state fluctuations of the default-mode and task-positive networks show artifact-free anti-correlations.
Gasping During Cardiac Arrest in Humans Is Frequent and Associated With Improved Survival

Background— The incidence and significance of gasping after cardiac arrest in humans are controversial. Methods and Results— Two approaches were used. The first was a retrospective analysis of consecutive confirmed out-of-hospital cardiac arrests from the Phoenix Fire Department Regional Dispatch Center text files to determine the presence of gasping soon after collapse. The second was a retrospective analysis of 1218 patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Arizona documented by emergency medical system (EMS) first-care reports to determine the incidence of gasping after arrest in relation to the various EMS arrival times. The primary outcome measure was survival to hospital discharge. An analysis of the Phoenix Fire Department Regional Dispatch Center records of witnessed and unwitnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrests with attempted resuscitation found that 44 of 113 (39%) of all arrested patients had gasping. An analysis of 1218 EMS-attended, witnessed, out-of-hospital cardiac arrests demonstrated that the presence or absence of gasping correlated with EMS arrival time. Gasping was present in 39 of 119 patients (33%) who arrested after EMS arrival, in 73 of 363 (20%) when EMS arrival was <7 minutes, in 50 of 360 (14%) when EMS arrival time was 7 to 9 minutes, and in 25 of 338 (7%) when EMS arrival time was >9 minutes. Survival to hospital discharge occurred in 54 of 191 patients (28%) who gasped and in 80 of 1027 (8%) who did not (adjusted odds ratio, 3.4; 95% confidence interval, 2.2 to 5.2). Among the 481 patients who received bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation, survival to hospital discharge occurred among 30 of 77 patients who gasped (39%) versus only 38 of 404 among those who did not gasp (9%) (adjusted odds ratio, 5.1; 95% confidence interval, 2.7 to 9.4). Conclusions— Gasping or abnormal breathing is common after cardiac arrest but decreases rapidly with time. Gasping is associated with increased survival. These results suggest that the recognition and importance of gasping should be taught to bystanders and emergency medical dispatchers so as not to dissuade them from initiating prompt resuscitation efforts when appropriate.
Burden of influenza in children in the community.

BACKGROUND Influenza vaccination of healthy children is encouraged because children are frequently hospitalized for influenza-attributable illnesses. However, most children with influenza are treated as outpatients, and scarce data are available on the burden of influenza in these children. METHODS We performed a prospective study of respiratory infections in preenrolled cohorts of children < or = 13 years old during 2 consecutive respiratory seasons (2231 child-seasons of follow-up). At any sign of respiratory infection, we examined the children and obtained a nasal swab for the detection of influenza. The parents filled out daily symptom diaries. Of all the enrollees, 94% remained active participants in the study. RESULTS The average annual rate of influenza was highest (179 cases/1000 children) among children < 3 years old. Acute otitis media developed as a complication of influenza in 39.7% of children < 3 years old. For every 100 influenza-infected children < 3 years old, there were 195 days of parental work loss (mean duration, 3.2 days). CONCLUSIONS Influenza causes a substantial burden of illness on outpatient children and their families. Vaccination of children < 3 years old might be beneficial for reducing the direct and indirect costs of influenza in children.
Evaluation of a point-of-care portable analyzer for measurement of plasma immunoglobulin G, total protein, and albumin concentrations in ill neonatal foals.

OBJECTIVE To compare the diagnostic performance of a point-of-care (POC) analyzer with that of established methods for the measurement of plasma IgG, total protein, and albumin concentrations in neonatal foals. DESIGN Evaluation study. ANIMALS 100 neonatal foals < 7 days of age. Procedures-Plasma IgG, total protein, and albumin concentrations were measured with a POC analyzer via an immunoturbidimetric method. Corresponding measurements of plasma IgG, total protein, and albumin concentrations were measured by means of automated biochemical analyzers via automated immunoturbidimetric, biuret, and bromocresol green dye-binding assays, respectively (standard laboratory methods). RESULTS The sensitivity and specificity of the POC analyzer for detection of failure of passive transfer of immunity (FPTI) in foals were 80.7% and 100%, respectively, when FPTI was defined as a plasma IgG concentration < 400 mg/dL and were 75.9% and 100%, respectively, when FPTI was defined as a plasma IgG concentration < 800 mg/dL. The POC analyzer overestimated plasma albumin concentrations and, to a lesser extent, plasma total protein concentrations, compared with values determined with the standard laboratory methods. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results suggested the POC analyzer was acceptable for determination of plasma IgG and total protein concentrations in ill foals. The POC analyzer overestimated plasma albumin concentration such that its use was clinically unacceptable for the determination of that concentration. The POC analyzer provided timely measurements of plasma IgG concentrations, which is necessary information for the assessment of passive transfer of maternal antibodies to neonatal foals.
Proximate factors associated with speech intelligibility in children with cochlear implants: A preliminary study

Abstract The purpose of this descriptive pilot study was to examine possible relationships among speech intelligibility and structural characteristics of speech in children who use cochlear implants. The Beginners Intelligibility Test (BIT) was administered to 10 children with cochlear implants, and the intelligibility of the words in the sentences was judged by panels of naïve adult listeners. Additionally, several qualitative and quantitative measures of word omission, segment correctness, duration, and intonation variability were applied to the sentences used to assess intelligibility. Correlational analyses were conducted to determine if BIT scores and the other speech parameters were related. There was a significant correlation between BIT score and percent words omitted, but no other variables correlated significantly with BIT score. The correlation between intelligibility and word omission may be task-specific as well as reflective of memory limitations.
Stimulation of chemosensory pathways and intracellular alkalinization mimic cAMP activation of endogenous bursting in feeding command neurones.

Cyclic nucleotides modulate the activity of diverse types of excitable cells (Twarog & Muneoka, 1973; Berridge, 1975; Triestman & Levitan, 1976; Greengard, 1980; Bernier, Castellucci, Kandel & Schwartz, 1982; Gillette, Gillette & Davis, 1982£; Evans, 1984). In the carnivorous gastropod Pleurobranchaea, it would appear that cAMP modulation of a single pair of neurones effects the expression of a complex coordinated rhythmic behaviour. These neurones, the ventral white cells (VWCs), command vigorous motor output from the neuronal feeding oscillator through an intrinsic capacity to generate minutes-long high intensity bursts of action potentials (Gillette, Gillette & Davis, 1980). This high frequency firing causes the action potentials to increase in duration (broaden). The increase in action potential duration is a specific antecedent to enhanced motor output through a Ca-dependent mechanism (Gillette, Gillette & Davis, 1982a). Elevated intraneuronal cAMP is a specific activator of prolonged VWC bursting in both the isolated nervous system and the isolated VWC soma (Gillette et al. 19826). The relationship between this endogenous effector (cAMP) and extrinsic activators of the motor programme has not been established. I report here that the electrical changes in VWCs activated by food stimulation of the chemosensory sites involved in food detection and ingestion, as well as the changes activated by alkalinizing intracellular pH-shifts, both resemble in detail the changes induced by augmentation of intracellular cAMP. All three treatments stimulate recurrent burst episodes and cause attenuation of the after-hyperpolarizations of single stimulated action potentials. Decay of the activation in the continued presence of food shows kinetics strikingly similar to the decay of cAMP or NH4 stimulation. This is consistent with a model wherein ingestion is modulated at this strategic neuronal site by a pH-sensitive mechanism which controls intracellular levels of cAMP. Pleurobranchaea californica were pre-tested for their response to food stimuli (squid homogenate, SH) and egestive stimuli (100% EtOH or 1 % Haemosol in sea water). Immediately after behavioural testing, the animal was dissected to leave the anterior half (hemi-animal) intact. The buccal ganglion was immobilized on a
Morfessor and variKN machine learning tools for speech and language technology

This paper introduces two recent open source software packages developed for unsupervised natural language modeling. The Morfessor program segments words automatically into morpheme-like units without any rule-based morphological analyzers. The VariKN toolkit trains language models producing a compact set of high-order n-grams utilizing state-of-art KneserNey smoothing. As an example, this paper shows how to construct a language model for speech recognition in multiple languages utilizing only a minimal amount of linguistic resources. Morfessor and VariKN also have other applications in text understanding, information retrieval and machine translation. Unsupervised machine learning techniques are particularly well suited for the development of systems for less-resourced languages, because they do not depend on manually designed morphological or syntactical analyzers or annotated data.
Diffusion Capacity of the Lung in Young and Old Endurance Athletes

Abstract Lung diffusion capacity (D LCO) declines with age. A significant proportion of older endurance athletes develop exercise-induced hypoxemia (SaO2<95%). We hypothesised that master endurance athletes have a lower D LCO than age-matched non-athletes. We recruited 33 control (16 young; 17 old) and 29 male endurance athletes (13 young; 16 old) during the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships, 2012 (Jyväskylä, Finland). To measure D LCO the participant exhaled to residual volume and then quickly inhaled to ≥ 90% total lung capacity from a gas source with 0.3% carbon monoxide. The D LCO and transfer coefficient (K CO) were corrected for the actual haemoglobin concentration. Spirometric function was similar in athletes and age-matched controls. D LCO and K CO were 33% and 25% lower in old and young controls, respectively (P<0.001). Although predicted D LCO and K CO were 11%-points higher in athletes than age-matched controls (P<0.001), they were 23% and 16% lower in old athletes than young controls, respectively (P<0.001). D LCO did not correlate with age-graded performance or weekly training hours. The better lung diffusion capacity in male endurance athletes than age-matched controls might be an adaptation to training, self-selection and/or attrition bias. However, the diffusion capacity of the older athlete is lower than that of the young non-athlete.