Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hallucinations and sleep disorders in PD

Objective: To prospectively assess the relationship of hallucinations to sleep disorders in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) over 6 years. Background: Several studies suggest an association between hallucinations and sleep disruption, but no longitudinal study has examined their progression and relationship, nor whether sleep alterations predict future hallucinations. Methods: Eighty-nine PD patients were recruited to fill cells of normal sleep without hallucinations (n = 20); sleep fragmentation only (n = 20); vivid dreams/nightmares (n = 20); hallucinations with insight (n = 20); hallucinations without insight (n = 9). At baseline, 6 months, 18 months, 4 years, and 6 years, sleep disorders and hallucinations were assessed by standardized scales with the longitudinal data analyzed by generalized estimating equations and other nonparametric tests. Results: At 6 years, we could account for all subjects (49 interviewed, 40 deceased or too ill for interview). Hallucination prevalence and severity increased over time (p < 0.0001). The odds of being a hallucinator increased by a factor of 1.39 at each successive time point. Sleep disorders, however, fluctuated widely among patients and time points, with no evidence of progression in severity (p = 0.73). The prevalence of sleep fragmentation did not differ between subjects with vs without hallucinations (OR = 1.43, p = 0.13). The presence of vivid dreams/nightmares, however, was highly correlated with the concurrent presence (OR = 2.32) and severity of hallucinations (OR = 3.02, both p < 0.0001). Vivid dreams/nightmares among non-hallucinators did not predict future development of hallucinations (OR = 0.94, p = 0.51). Conclusions: Hallucinations and global sleep disorders follow different patterns of progression in Parkinson disease and are separate behavioral abnormalities. Sleep alterations are not necessarily harbingers of hallucinations.
Relative validity of a semi-quantitative, web-based FFQ used in the ‘Snart Forældre’ cohort – a Danish study of diet and fertility

Abstract Objective To assess the relative validity of a semi-quantitative, web-based FFQ completed by female pregnancy planners in the Danish ‘Snart Forældre’ study. Design We validated a web-based FFQ based on the FFQ used in the Danish National Birth Cohort against a 4 d food diary (FD) and assessed the relative validity of intakes of foods and nutrients. We compared means and medians of intakes, and calculated Pearson correlation coefficients and de-attenuated coefficients to assess agreement between the two methods. We also calculated the proportion correctly classified based on the same or adjacent quintile of intake and the proportion of grossly misclassified (extreme quintiles). Setting Participants (n 128) in the ‘Snart Forældre’ study who had completed the web-based FFQ were invited to participate in the validation study. Subjects Participants in the ‘Snart Forældre’ study, in total ninety-seven women aged 20–42 years. Results Reported intakes of dairy products, vegetables and potatoes were higher in the FFQ compared with the FD, whereas reported intakes of fruit, meat, sugar and beverages were lower in the FFQ than in the FD. Overall the de-attenuated correlation coefficients were acceptable, ranging from 0·33 for energy to 0·93 for vitamin D. The majority of the women were classified in the same or adjacent quintile and few women were misclassified (extreme quintiles). Conclusion The web-based FFQ performs well for ranking women of reproductive age according to high or low intake of foods and nutrients and, thus, provides a solid basis for investigating associations between diet and fertility.
Frugal Mechanism Design via Spectral Techniques

We study the design of truthful mechanisms for set systems, i.e., scenarios where a customer needs to hire a team of agents to perform a complex task. In this setting, frugality [2] provides a measure to evaluate the "cost of truthfulness", that is, the overpayment of a truthful mechanism relative to the "fair" payment. We propose a uniform scheme for designing frugal truthful mechanisms for general set systems. Our scheme is based on scaling the agents' bids using the eigenvector of a matrix that encodes the interdependencies between the agents. We demonstrate that the $r$-out-of-$k$-system mechanism and the $^{\sqrt{\ }}$-mechanism for buying a path in a graph [18] can be viewed as instantiations of our scheme. We then apply our scheme to two other classes of set systems, namely, vertex cover systems and $k$-path systems, in which a customer needs to purchase $k$ edge-disjoint source-sink paths. For both settings, we bound the frugality of our mechanism in terms of the largest eigenvalue of the respective interdependency matrix. We show that our mechanism is optimal for a large subclass of vertex cover systems satisfying a simple local sparsity condition. For $k$-path systems, our mechanism is within a factor of $k+1$ from optimal, moreover, we show that it is, in fact, optimal, when one uses a modified definition of frugality proposed in [10]. Our lower bound argument combines spectral techniques and Young's inequality, and is applicable to all set systems. As both $r$-out-of-$k$ systems and single path systems can be viewed as special cases of $k$-path systems, our result improves the lower bounds of [18] and answers several open questions proposed in [18].
Comparative In Vitro Controlled Release Studies on the Chronobiotic Hormone Melatonin from Cyclodextrins-Containing Matrices and Cyclodextrin: Melatonin Complexes

A series of hydrophilic matrix tablets was prepared and tested with respect to their ability to release the hormone melatonin in a controlled manner, in order to alleviate sleep onset and sleep maintenance dysfunctions. Besides the active ingredient, the tablets were comprised of combinations of the following: HPMC K 15M, low viscosity sodium alginate, microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel PH 102), magnesium stearate, and the cyclodextrins, α-CD, β-CD, γ-CD, HP-β-CD, sulfated β-CD, HP-α-CD and HP-γ-CD, and MLT (guest):CD (host) complexes of the above cyclodextrins, in 1:1 ratio. The controlled release studies were conducted in two aqueous dissolution media at pH 1.2 and 7.4. The stoichiometry of the formed complexes was examined by applying the continuous variation method (Job plot), while the stability constants were calculated by monitoring the spectrophotometric properties of free and CD-encapsulated melatonin (UV-Vis). Host-guest interactions were studied by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The dissolution data suggest that melatonin is released faster from the MLT:CD complexes than from the rest matrix systems. This enhancement in the dissolution rate and the % release of melatonin from the complexes is due to the increased solubility of the MLT:CD complexes.
Attribute-Efficient Learning and Weight-Degree Tradeoffs for Polynomial Threshold Functions

We study the challenging problem of learning decision lists attribute-efficiently, giving both positive and negative results. Our main positive result is a new tradeoff between the running time and mistake bound for learning length-k decision lists over n Boolean variables. When the allowed running time is relatively high, our new mistake bound improves significantly on the mistake bound of the best previous algorithm of Klivans and Servedio (Klivans and Servedio, 2006). Our main negative result is a new lower bound on the weight of any degree-d polynomial threshold function (PTF) that computes a particular decision list overk variables (the “ODD-MAXBIT” function). The main result of Beigel (Beigel, 1994) is a weight lower bound of 2 (k=d 2 ) , which was shown to be essentially optimal for d k 1=3 by Klivans and Servedio. Here we prove a 2 ( p k=d) lower bound, which improves on Beigel’s lower bound for d > k 1=3 : This lower bound establishes strong limitations on the effectiveness of the Klivans and Servedio approach and suggests that it may be difficult to improve on our positive result. The main tool used in our lower bound is a new variant of Markov’s classical inequality which may be of independent interest; it provides a bound on the derivative of a univariate polynomial in terms of both its degree and the size of its coefficients.
Emerging molecular targets in oncology: clinical potential of MET/hepatocyte growth-factor inhibitors

The MET/hepatocyte growth-factor (HGF) signaling pathway plays a key role in the processes of embryogenesis, wound healing, and organ regeneration. Aberrant activation of MET/HGF occurs through multiple mechanisms including gene amplification, mutation, protein overexpression, and abnormal gene splicing interrupting autocrine and paracrine regulatory feedback mechanisms. In many cancers including non-small-cell lung cancer, colorectal, gastric, renal, and hepatocellular cancer, dysregulation of MET may lead to a more aggressive cancer phenotype and may be a negative prognostic indicator. Successful therapeutic targeting of the MET/HGF pathway has been achieved using monoclonal antibodies against the MET receptor and its ligand HGF in addition to MET-specific and multitargeted small-molecule tyrosine-kinase inhibitors with several drugs in late-phase clinical trials including onartuzumab, rilotumumab, tivantinib, and cabozantinib. MET frequently interacts with other key oncogenic tyrosine kinases including epidermal growth-factor receptor (EGFR) and HER-3 and these interactions may be responsible for resistance to anti-EGFR therapies. Similarly, resistance to MET inhibition may be mediated through EGFR activation, or alternatively by increasing levels of MET amplification or acquisition of novel “gatekeeper” mutations. In order to optimize development of effective inhibitors of the MET/HGF pathway clinical trials must be enriched for patients with demonstrable MET-pathway dysregulation for which robustly standardized and validated assays are required.
Brains online: structural and functional correlates of habitual Internet use

In the past decades, the Internet has become one of the most important tools to gather information and communicate with other people. Excessive use is a growing concern of health practitioners. Based on the assumption that excessive Internet use bears resemblance with addictive behaviour, we hypothesized alterations of the fronto‐striatal network in frequent users. On magnetic resonance imaging scans of 62 healthy male adults, we computed voxel‐based morphometry to identify grey matter (GM) correlates of excessive Internet use, assessed by means of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and functional connectivity analysis and amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuation (ALFF) measures on resting state data to explore the functional networks associated with structural alterations. We found a significant negative association between the IAT score and right frontal pole GM volume (P < 0.001, family wise error corrected). Functional connectivity of right frontal pole to left ventral striatum was positively associated with higher IAT scores. Furthermore, the IAT score was positively correlated to ALFF in bilateral ventral striatum. The alterations in the fronto‐striatal circuitry associated with growing IAT scores could reflect a reduction of top‐down modulation of prefrontal areas, in particular, the ability to maintain long‐term goals in face of distraction. The higher activation of ventral striatum at rest may indicate a constant activation in the context of a diminished prefrontal control. The results demonstrate that excessive Internet use may be driven by neuronal circuits relevant for addictive behaviour.
Birds of a Feather Tweet Together: Computational Techniques to Understand User Communities in Social Networks

The study of social systems shows that there is a relationship of mutual inﬂuence between social connections and individual behavior, known as homophily. In this work, we developed a methodology to allow the analysis of interests of groups of users in Twitter network, based on automatic community detection and tweets ranking. The techniques presented reveal evidences that the presence of communities is related to topic specialization, and allow the characterization of elaborate proﬁles of groups of users based only on their location on the network.
Distinct cell death pathways triggered by the adenovirus early region 4 ORF 4 protein

In transformed cells, induction of apoptosis by adenovirus type 2 (Ad2) early region 4 ORF 4 (E4orf4) correlates with accumulation of E4orf4 in the cell membrane–cytoskeleton fraction. However, E4orf4 is largely expressed in nuclear regions before the onset of apoptosis. To determine the relative contribution of nuclear E4orf4 versus membrane-associated E4orf4 to cell death signaling, we engineered green fluorescent fusion proteins to target E4orf4 to specific cell compartments. The targeting of Ad2 E4orf4 to cell membranes through a CAAX-box or a myristylation consensus signal sufficed to mimic the fast Src-dependent apoptotic program induced by wild-type E4orf4. In marked contrast, the nuclear targeting of E4orf4 abolished the early induction of extranuclear apoptosis. However, nuclear E4orf4 still induced a delayed cell death response independent of Src-like activity and of E4orf4 tyrosine phosphorylation. The zVAD.fmk-inhibitable caspases were dispensable for execution of both cell death programs. Nevertheless, both pathways led to caspase activation in some cell types through the mitochondrial pathway. Finally, our data support a critical role for calpains upstream in the death effector pathway triggered by the Src-mediated cytoplasmic death signal. We conclude that Ad2 E4orf4 induces two distinct cell death responses, whose relative contributions to cell killing may be determined by the genetic background.
RFID-CoA: The RFID tags as certificates of authenticity

The inadequacy of the traditional, digitally encoded RFID tags in combating counterfeiting prompts us to investigate new hardware-enabled technologies that can complement the remote identification functionality of typical RFIDs in an effective and very low cost way. In this paper, we present RFID-CoA; a system that aims to render typical RFID tags physically unique and hard to near-exactly replicate by complementing them with random 3D scattering structures, which serve as certificates of authenticity (CoA). The unique near-field response, or “fingerprint”, of the CoAs is extracted as a set of S21 curves by our reader prototype, the design and development details of which are discussed. The results of our performance analysis show that the intersection probability of the false positive and false negative error probability curves is inconceivably small (<10−200). The RFID-CoA tag's lifecycle from fabrication site to store is presented, and a strategy to block potential attacks is discussed. Our system bridges the world of RFID with a large array of anti-counterfeiting applications by exploiting “hardware-enabled”, modified-material scattering characteristics in the near-field. Based on our multifaceted analysis, we firmly believe that the demonstrated RFID-CoA technology can prove a valuable tool for the low-cost ubiquitous applicability of RFID technology against counterfeiting.
The importance of gender on outcome after major trauma: functional and psychologic outcomes in women versus men.

BACKGROUND Outcome after major trauma is an increasingly important focus of injury research. The effect of gender on functional and psychological outcomes has not been examined. The Trauma Recovery Project is a large, prospective, epidemiologic study designed to examine multiple outcomes after major trauma, including quality of life, functional outcome, and psychological sequelae such as depression and early symptoms of acute stress reaction. The specific objectives of the present report are to examine gender differences in short- and long-term functional and psychological outcomes in the Trauma Recovery Project population. METHODS Between December 1, 1993, and September 1, 1996, 1,048 eligible trauma patients triaged to four participating trauma center hospitals in the San Diego Regionalized Trauma System were enrolled in the study. The enrollment criteria for the study included age 18 years and older, admission Glasgow Coma Scale score of 12 or greater, and length of stay greater than 24 hours. Quality of life was measured after injury using the Quality of Well-being scale, a sensitive index to the well end of the functioning continuum (range, 0 = death to 1.000 = optimum functioning). Depression was assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale and early symptoms of acute stress reaction were assessed using the Impact of Events scale. Patient outcomes were assessed at discharge and at 6, 12, and 18 months after discharge. RESULTS Functional outcome was significantly worse at each follow-up time point in women (n = 313) versus men (n = 735). Quality of Well-being scale scores were markedly and significantly lower at 6-month follow-up in women compared with those in men (0.606 vs. 0.646, p < 0.0001). This association persisted at 12-month (0.637 vs. 0.6685, p < 0.0001) and 18-month (0.646 vs. 0.6696, p < 0.0001) follow-up. Women were also significantly more likely to be depressed at all follow-up time points (discharge odds ratio [OR] = 1.4, p < 0.05; 6-month follow-up OR = 2.2, p < 0.01; 12-month follow-up OR = 2.0, p < 0.01; 18-month follow-up OR = 2.2, p < 0.01) and to have early symptoms of acute stress reaction at discharge (OR = 1.4, p < 0.05). These differences remained significant and independent after adjusting for injury severity, mechanism, age, and sociodemographic factors. CONCLUSION Women are at risk for markedly worse functional and psychological outcomes after major trauma than men, independent of injury severity and mechanism. Gender differences in short- and long-term trauma outcomes have important implications for future studies of recovery from trauma.
Efficacy and Safety of Antiintegrin Antibody for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

AbstractWe sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of available biologics that inhibit T-cell migration by blocking &agr;4&bgr;7 integrins in inflammatory bowel diseases. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether Crohn disease (CD) patients receiving either vedolizumab or natalizumab have any different effect in CD Activity Index (CDAI). Using Medline, Excerpta Medica dataBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Google Scholar until October 31, 2013, we identified 10 studies examining the safety and efficacy of specific integrin inhibitors—vedolizumab, which targets an epitope comprising the &agr;4&bgr;7 heterodimer; natalizumab, which recognizes the &agr;4 integrin subunit; etrolizumab, which is specific for the &bgr;7 subunit—in the treatment of CD and ulcerative colitis (UC). CD patients receiving either vedolizumab or natalizumab demonstrated a modest increase in remission rate, when compared with that of the placebo group. Further, although both treatments reduced the CDAI slightly, the observed clinical response was less robust than that of the remission rate. UC patients treated with vedolizumab and natalizumab were found to show more prominent increases in both remission and clinical response, compared with placebo, than patients with CD. Etrolizumab, however, was not found to significantly affect either response or remission rates in UC patients.Biologics targeting integrins show promise as therapeutics in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease in patients who are either nonresponsive or intolerant to traditional approaches, though further research is necessary to optimize treatment efficacies.
Incidence of inflammatory bowel disease in Italy: a nationwide population-based study. Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio del Colon e del Retto (GISC)

BACKGROUND The epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Southern Europe is still unclear. Sporadic reports suggest a lower incidence of IBD in Italy than in other Western Countries and the USA. METHODS A nationwide population-based study was carried out to estimate IBD incidence rates in eight Italian cities. All new cases of IBD diagnosed over 4 years in the target populations were collected from multiple information sources. RESULTS From 1989 to 1992, 509 ulcerative colitis (UC), 222 Crohn's disease (CD) and 10 undefined IBD cases were collected, giving age-adjusted incidence rates (per 100,000 per year) of 5.2 for UC and 2.3 for CD. Using the capture-recapture method, an estimated completeness of 0.81 was obtained for case archives, without appreciable and significant differences between areas. The rates computed after correcting underestimation were 6.8 for UC and 2.8 for CD. The sex ratio M/F was 1.7 for UC and 1.0 for CD. The highest age-specific incidence rates were between 30 and 39 years for UC and between 20 and 29 years for CD. CONCLUSIONS The incidence rate of CD in italy is homogeneous between the cities investigated and lower than those reported for other Mediterranean countries. In contrast, the UC incidence rate is within the range of those reported in European studies. A wide variability in the UC rates between the cities was also observed. These results could be related to different environmental factors or the genetic background of the populations, or both.
Eye care for patients receiving neuromuscular blocking agents or propofol during mechanical ventilation.

BACKGROUND The presence of a corneal reflex and the ability to maintain eye closure are instrumental in protecting the cornea. Use of neuromuscular blocking agents or propofol can result in impaired eyelid closure and loss of corneal reflex, leading to corneal exposure. The cornea is then at risk for drying, infection, and scarring, which may lead to permanent visual loss. OBJECTIVES To determine whether applying artificial tear ointment to the eyes of paralyzed or heavily sedated patients receiving mechanical ventilation decreases the prevalence of exposure keratitis more than does passive closure of the eyelid. METHODS A prospective, randomized control trial was done. The sample was 50 patients in the intensive care unit receiving either neuromuscular blocking agents or propofol during mechanical ventilation. In each patient, artificial tear ointment was applied to one eye; passive closure of the eyelid was used for the other eye (control eye). RESULTS Nine patients had evidence of exposure keratitis in the untreated eye, and 2 had corneal abrasions in both the treated and the control eyes. The remaining 39 patients did not have corneal abrasions in either eye. Use of the artificial tear ointment was more effective in preventing corneal exposure than was passive eyelid closure (P = .004). CONCLUSIONS Eye care with a lubricating ointment on a regular, set schedule can effectively reduce the prevalence of corneal abrasions in patients who are either paralyzed or heavily sedated and thus can help prevent serious complications such as corneal ulceration, infection, and visual loss.