Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reduction of soluble CD163, substance P, programmed death 1 and inflammatory markers: phase 1B trial of aprepitant in HIV-1-infected adults

Objective:We evaluated safety, antiviral, immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties of aprepitant – a neurokinin 1 receptor antagonist. Design:Phase IB randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded study. Methods:Eighteen patients were randomized (nine to aprepitant and nine to placebo). The patients received once-daily treatment (375 mg aprepitant or placebo by oral administration) for 2 weeks and were followed off drug for 4 weeks. Results:There were no significant changes in the plasma viremia or CD4+ T cells during the dosing period. Aprepitant treatment was associated with significant decreases of median within patient change in percentages of CD4+ T cells expressing programmed death 1 (−4.8%; P = 0.04), plasma substance P (−34.0 pg/ml; P = 0.05) and soluble CD163 (−563 ng/ml; P = 0.02), with no significant changes in the placebo arm. Mean peak aprepitant plasma concentration on day 14 was 7.6 ± 3.1 &mgr;g/ml. The use of aprepitant was associated with moderate increases in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein (median change = +31 mg/dl, P = 0.01; +26 mg/dl, P = 0.02; +3 mg/dl, P = 0.02, respectively). Conclusion:Aprepitant was safe and well tolerated. At the dose used in this proof-of-concept phase IB study, aprepitant did not show a significant antiviral activity. Aprepitant-treated patients had decreased numbers of CD4+ programmed death 1-positive cells and decreased plasma levels of substance P and soluble CD163, suggesting that blockade of the neurokinin 1 receptor pathway has a role in modulating monocyte activation in HIV infection. Prospective studies in virologically-suppressed individuals are warranted to evaluate the immunomodulatory properties of aprepitant. Exposures exceeding those attained in this trial are more likely to elicit clinical benefit.
A General Approach to Environment Design with One Agent

The problem of environment design considers a setting in which an interested party aims to influence an agent's decisions by making limited changes to the agent's environment. Zhang and Parkes [2008] first introduced the environment design concept for a specific problem in the Markov Decision Process setting. In this paper, we present a general framework for the formulation and solution of environment design problems with one agent. We consider both the case in which the agent's local decision model is known and partially unknown to the interested party, and illustrate the framework and results on a linear programming setting. For the latter problem, we formulate an active, indirect elicitation method and provide conditions for convergence and logarithmic convergence. We relate to the problem of inverse optimization and also offer a game-theoretic interpretation of our methods.
Anatomy of body representation:Preliminary results

Introduction Body representation is a form of higher order somatosensory functioning containing multiple integrative processes in which information from different primary sensory modalities is integrated in a representation of the body. It is crucial for the conscious experience of the position and structure of our body parts and directing bodily movements. Disorders of body representation can affect the entire body or only specific body parts. The exact neurological substrate underlying body representation disorders remains unclear. The aim of the current study is to determine the neural substrate of body representation. Methodology In the present study we investigate in the neurological mechanisms underlying body representation-disorders in a sample of 17 first episode-stroke patients by linking neurological lesions with body representation disorders, i.e. finger agnosia, tactile localization impairments or left-right disorientation. Furthermore, the overlap and interplay between these impairments are mapped by using an advanced voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping approach. Results The voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping analysis showed that lesions significantly related to left right disorientation are mainly located in the right hemisphere, more specifically the caudate nucleus, external capsule and putamen. Analyses on finger agnosia and tactile localization impairments gained no significant results, but a qualitative lesion subtraction analysis shows a trend that lesions related to these disorders are also mainly situated in the right hemisphere, more specifically the caudate nucleus, external capsule , putamen and frontal cortex. Conclusions These results indicate that parts of the basal ganglia and the external capsule of the right hemisphere are key anatomical structures in body representation. Master thesis Neuropsychology, D. Sluiter, 3680746
New Teachers' Individual Learning Dispositions: A Scottish Case Study

This research is concerned with the professional learning and development of new teachers in the Scottish Teacher Induction Scheme, in particular, informal and formal learning, the workplace learning environment and the personal and professional characteristics of the induction year teacher. Building on the work of Unwin and Fuller and Hodkinson and Hodkinson on expansive and restrictive learning environments for teachers, this study considers learning at both the social and individual level, while providing a deeper understanding of the related concept of individual learning disposition. A sequential mixed methods approach was adopted, using online questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, to collect new teachers’ perceptions of their learning experiences. The research suggests that a policy-driven formal programme of induction for new teachers should be augmented with experience of an expansive learning environment with supportive colleagues. The authors suggest that, rather than fitting the new teacher into existing arrangements, schools must recognize the new teachers’ individual learning dispositions, namely their learning biography and attitude towards, and engagement with, learning opportunities. By demonstrating flexibility schools can tailor induction year experiences, thus enabling rich and complementary professional learning to take place within a supportive workplace community.
Perinatal Complications in Offspring of Psychotic Parents

Summary The birth records of 78 subjects born to psychotic parents and 72 subjects born to normal parents were studied. No significant differences in the rates of pregnancy and birth complications (PBCs) were found between the offspring of psychotic parents and normal control parents. There were no differences between offspring born to psychotic mothers compared to psychotic fathers. Neither the onset of the parent's illness, nor the mother's age at delivery, nor the sex of the offspring seemed to influence the rate of PBCs. The offspring of chronic schizophrenic mothers and manic-depressive fathers had lower PBC rates than the offspring of parents of other diagnostic categories. The parents of these two groups, which were of a limited size, did not differ on any variable of significance, excepting the time of their first psychiatric hospital admission.
Relation Between Laminectomy and Development of Adjacent Segment Instability After Lumbar Fusion With Pedicle Fixation

Study Design. A retrospective study of 101 patients who had undergone posterolateral lumbar fusion, to analyze the association between adjacent instability and the extent of laminectomy. Objectives. To investigate the hypothesis that the integrity of the posterior complex (spinous process/supraspinous ligament/spinous process) between the fused segments and the neighboring motion segments significantly influences lumbar spine stability. Summary of Background Data. Spinal fusion with pedicle fixation accelerates the degeneration of adjacent motion segments. The lowest cranial motion segment is the most common level for the development of adjacent instability. Laminectomy, including removal of the spinous process, supraspinous ligament, interspinous ligament, lamina and ligamentum flavum, jeopardizes the integrity of the posterior complex of the spine. Methods. This study enrolled 101 patients, followed up for at least 6 years, who had been treated with posterolateral lumbar fusion with pedicle fixation because of lumbar spondylolisthesis. The diagnosis of adjacent instability depended on the dynamic lateral views of the lumbosacral spine during each follow-up. The integrity of the posterior complex was based on the extent of laminectomy and the fusion level. Results. At the cranial adjacent motion segment, 2 of 31 (6.5%) patients with preserved posterior complex integrity between the fused segment and motion segment developed adjacent instability, compared with 17 of 70 (24.3%) without preserved posterior complex integrity. At the caudal adjacent motion segment, none of 13 patients (0%) with preserved integrity developed adjacent instability, compared with 3 of 54 (5.6%) without preserved integrity. Conclusions. Damaging the integrity of the posterior complex between the fused segments and the neighboring motion segments may jeopardize lumbar spine stability. Sacrificing either the supraspinous ligament or the tendon insertion points on the spinous processes leads to an accelerated development of adjacent instability.
MultiNets: Policy Oriented Real-Time Switching of Wireless Interfaces on Mobile Devices

In this paper we present Multi Nets, a system which is capable of switching between wireless network interfaces on mobile devices in real-time. Multi Nets is motivated by the need of smart phone platforms to save energy, offload data traffic, and achieve higher throughput. We describe the architecture of Multi Nets and demonstrate the methodology to perform switching in Linux based mobile OSes such as Android. Our analysis on mobile data traces collected from real users shows that with real-time switching we can save 27.4% of the energy, offload 79.82% of the data traffic, or achieve 7 times more throughput on average. We deploy Multi Nets in a real world scenario and our experimental results show that depending on the user requirements, it outperforms the state-of-the-art Android system either by saving up to 33.75% energy, or achieving near-optimal offloading, or achieving near-optimal throughput while substantially reducing TCP interruptions due to switching.
A 10‐Year Study of Dermatophytoses in Isfahan, Iran

Dermatophyte infections are very common worldwide and their epidemiological characteristics vary according to the geographical region and have altered in the last decades. The aim of the present investigation was to determine the diversity of causative agents of dermatophytoses and describe the epidemiological condition of infection in Isfahan, Iran, between 2003 and 2012. Specimens were collected from hair, nail, and skin and were examined by conventional methods such as direct microscopy, culture on sabouraud dextrose agar with chloramphenicol and cycloheximide (Mycosel agar) and sabouraud glucose agar, Trichophyton agars, growth on rice grains, urease test, and hair perforation test. Of 13,469 clinically suspected cases, 11.5% were affected with dermatophytoses. Tinea capitis was the most frequent form of infection (52.7%), followed by tinea corporis (24%), tinea pedis (8.9%). Trichophyton verrucosum was the most prevalent causative agent (40.6%), followed by T. mentagrophytes var. interdigitale (17.6%), Epidermophyton floccosum (13%), T. violaceum (12%), T. rubrum (4.1%). Age range of patients was between 1 and 80 years. Housewives were the most patients in our study. The study emphasizes importance of epidemiological surveys of dermatophyte species for the better management of infection.
On the Time Series $K$-Nearest Neighbor Classification of Abnormal Brain Activity

Epilepsy is one of the most common brain disorders, but the dynamical transitions to neurological dysfunctions of epilepsy are not well understood in current neuroscience research. Uncontrolled epilepsy poses a significant burden to society due to associated healthcare cost to treat and control the unpredictable and spontaneous occurrence of seizures. The objective of this study is to develop and present a novel classification technique that is used to classify normal and abnormal (epileptic) brain activities through quantitative analyses of electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. Such technique is based on the integration of sophisticated approaches from data mining and signal processing research (i.e., chaos theory, k-nearest neighbor, and statistical time series analysis). The proposed technique can correctly classify normal and abnormal EEGs with a sensitivity of 81.29% and a specificity of 72.86%, on average, across ten patients. Experimental results suggest that the proposed technique can be used to develop abnormal brain activity classification for detecting seizure precursors. Success of this study demonstrates that the proposed technique can excavate hidden patterns/relationships in EEGs and give greater understanding of brain functions from a system perspective, which will advance current diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy.
Social Class, Contextualism, and Empathic Accuracy

Recent research suggests that lower-class individuals favor explanations of personal and political outcomes that are oriented to features of the external environment. We extended this work by testing the hypothesis that, as a result, individuals of a lower social class are more empathically accurate in judging the emotions of other people. In three studies, lower-class individuals (compared with upper-class individuals) received higher scores on a test of empathic accuracy (Study 1), judged the emotions of an interaction partner more accurately (Study 2), and made more accurate inferences about emotion from static images of muscle movements in the eyes (Study 3). Moreover, the association between social class and empathic accuracy was explained by the tendency for lower-class individuals to explain social events in terms of features of the external environment. The implications of class-based patterns in empathic accuracy for well-being and relationship outcomes are discussed.
The art of communication.

BACKGROUND Effective communication is an essential skill in general practice consultations. The art of communication is the development of effective skills and finding a style of communication that suits the clinician and produces benefits for both patient and doctor. OBJECTIVE This paper outlines the essential skills required for effective communication with a patient and suggests that clinicians consider this communication as an art that can be developed throughout a medical career. DISCUSSION Good communication can improve outcomes for patients and doctors, and deserves equal importance as developing clinical knowledge and procedural skill. The importance of good communication is so critical that Australian guidelines list effective communication as part of the required conduct for all doctors. A therapeutic patient-doctor relationship uses the clinician as a therapeutic intervention and is part of the art of communication. Despite all the technological advances of recent decades, caring, compassionate, healing doctors remain the best therapeutic tool in medicine. The ability of a doctor to provide comfort through their presence and their words is a fundamental component of good medical care.
Interindividuelle Konsistenzunterschiede als Herausforderung für die Differentielle Psychologie

Die Konsistenzkontroverse in der Differentiellen Psychologie hat zu verschiedenen Vorschlagen gefuhrt, die eine Optimierung des Eigenschaftsmodells zur Beschreibung und Vorhersage individueller Verhaltensunterschiede anstreben. Der Moderatorvariablenansatz wird als einer dieser Vorschlage ausfuhrlich behandelt. Er geht von der Annahme individueller Konsistenzunterschiede und differentieller Zusammenhangsmuster aus. Moglichkeiten der Beschreibung individueller Konsistenzunterschiede sowie Hypothesen zu ihrer psychologischen Erklarung werden vorgestellt. Selbstuberwachungstendenz und Private Selbstbewusstheit werden als mutmaslich breit wirksame Konsistenzmoderatoren beispielhaft vertieft. Abschliesend wird erortert, wie weit eine Differenzierung des allgemeinen Eigenschaftsmodells uber Moderatorkonstrukte gehen sollte und auf welchen Ebenen sie vorgenommen werden kann. Notes that the controversy about behavioral consistency in differential psychology has led to various proposals directed toward an optimization of the trait model for the description and prediction of individual differences in behavior. One of these proposals, the moderator variables approach, is dealt with in detail. It is based on the assumption of individual differences in consistency and differential correlation patterns. Possibilities of describing individual differences in consistency and hypotheses about their psychological explanation are presented. Self-monitoring and private self-consciousness are focused on as examples of moderators of consistency that have a broad impact. Finally, it is discussed how far moderator constructs should be used to differentiate the general trait model and on what levels this can be undertaken.
Tooth Surface Comparison after Air Polishing and Rubber Cup: A Scanning Electron Microscopy Study.

OBJECTIVES To demonstrate, using microscopic observations, the difference between two well-known oral prophylaxis techniques: polishing paste and air polishing. The observations were performed on human enamel. METHODS Enamel samples were obtained from plaque-rich human teeth extracted for orthodontic or clinical purposes. In order to allow a reliable comparison between different applications, each enamel sample was divided into two parts: one underwent air-polishing, whereas polishing paste was applied to the other. AIR-FLOW® Master was selected together with AIR-FLOW® PLUS for the prophylaxis powder application. For the polishing-paste application, several different pastes where used, including Cleanic®, CCS®, Proxyt®, and SuperPolish. A comparative test control was also used by cleaning the enamel with sodium hypochlorite (6%). RESULTS The enamel treated with AIR-FLOW PLUS showed a similar surface when compared to the control enamel; however, there was complete cleaning down to the tooth microstructure. On the other hand, use of the polishing paste resulted in an enamel surface that appeared abraded and flattened. Moreover, some of the natural irregular enamel surfaces demonstrated some filling in with debris. CONCLUSIONS AIR-FLOW PLUS powder was able to more deeply clean without creating any damage to the enamel, making it suitable for regular cleaning treatments. The polishing pastes were found to abrade the enamel surface, to flatten it, and deposit debris into the microcavities. Both methods having different mechanical effects can therefore be considered as complementary, in that some patients experience a sense of "roughness" following a cleaning. A clinical recommendation for this experience would be to use the air polish first to clean the enamel surface, and follow with a little polishing paste to smooth the surface, if required.
A critical examination of the specificity of the salkowski reagent for indolic compounds produced by phytopathogenic bacteria

We examined the sensitivity and the specificity of three versions of the Salkowski colorimetric technique. Two of these allowed the detection of indoleacetic acid (IAA) over a low range of concentrations (0.5 to 20 (mu)g/ml), while the third permitted the detection of IAA over a range of higher concentrations (5 to 200 (mu)g/ml). Overall, the three formulations reacted not only with auxin (IAA) but also with indolepyruvic acid and indoleacetamide. Therefore, these techniques appear to be specific for IAA, indolepyruvic acid, and indoleacetamide rather than for IAA alone.
The dynamics of bacterial infection, innate immune response, and antibiotic treatment

We develop a simple mathematical model of a bacterial colonization of host tissue which takes account of nutrient availability and innate immune response. The model features an infection-free state which is locally but not globally attracting implying that a super-threshold bacterial inoculum is required for successful colonization and tissue infection. A subset $B$ of the domain of attraction of the disease-free state is explicitly identified. The dynamics of antibiotic treatment of the infection is also considered. Successful treatment results if the antibiotic dosing regime drives the state of the system into $B$.
Hadoop acceleration through network levitated merge

Hadoop is a popular open-source implementation of the MapReduce programming model for cloud computing. However, it faces a number of issues to achieve the best performance from the underlying system. These include a serialization barrier that delays the reduce phase, repetitive merges and disk access, and lack of capability to leverage latest high speed interconnects. We describe Hadoop-A, an acceleration framework that optimizes Hadoop with plugin components implemented in C++ for fast data movement, overcoming its existing limitations. A novel network-levitated merge algorithm is introduced to merge data without repetition and disk access. In addition, a full pipeline is designed to overlap the shuffle, merge and reduce phases. Our experimental results show that Hadoop-A doubles the data processing throughput of Hadoop, and reduces CPU utilization by more than 36%.
Sexual dimorphism in the Atapuerca-SH hominids: the evidence from the mandibles.

The pattern of sexual dimorphism in 15 mandibles from the Atapuerca-SH Middle Pleistocene site, attributed to Homo heidelbergensis, is explored. Two modern human samples of known sex are used as a baseline for establishing sexing criteria. The mandible was divided for analysis into seven study regions and differential expression of sexual dimorphism in these regions is analysed. A total of 40 continuous and 32 discrete variables were scored on the mandibles. The means method given in Regh & Leigh (Am. J. phys. Anthrop.110, 95-104, 1999) was followed for evaluating the potential of correct sex attribution for each variable. On average, the mandibles from the Atapuerca-SH site present a degree of sexual dimorphism about eight points higher than in H. sapiens samples. However, mandibular anatomy of the European Middle Pleistocene hominid records sexual dimorphism differentially. Different areas of the Atapuerca-SH mandibles exhibit quite distinct degrees of sexual dimorphism. For instance, variables of the alveolar arcade present very low or practically no sexual dimorphism. Variables related to overall size of the mandible and symphysis region present a medium degree of sex differences. Finally, ramus height, and gonion and coronoid process present a high degree of sexual dimorphism (indexes of sexual dimorphism are all above 130%). Whether this marked sexual dimorphism in specific anatomical systems affects sexual differences in body size is not completely clear and further studies are needed. Sexual differences detected in the mandible of modern humans have at least two components: differences related to musculo-skeletal development and differences related to a different growth trajectory in males and females (relative development of some of the basal border features). The Atapuerca-SH mandibles display little variation in the basal border, however. The limited variation of this mandibular region may indicate that the pattern of sexual variation in H. heidelbergensis is different enough to that of H. sapiens to caution against simple extrapolation of criteria from one pattern to the other.