Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic Evidence for Erythrocyte Receptor Glycophorin B Expression Levels Defining a Dominant Plasmodium falciparum Invasion Pathway into Human Erythrocytes

ABSTRACT Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes the deadliest form of malaria, has evolved multiple proteins known as invasion ligands that bind to specific erythrocyte receptors to facilitate invasion of human erythrocytes. The EBA-175/glycophorin A (GPA) and Rh5/basigin ligand-receptor interactions, referred to as invasion pathways, have been the subject of intense study. In this study, we focused on the less-characterized sialic acid-containing receptors glycophorin B (GPB) and glycophorin C (GPC). Through bioinformatic analysis, we identified extensive variation in glycophorin B (GYPB) transcript levels in individuals from Benin, suggesting selection from malaria pressure. To elucidate the importance of the GPB and GPC receptors relative to the well-described EBA-175/GPA invasion pathway, we used an ex vivo erythrocyte culture system to decrease expression of GPA, GPB, or GPC via lentiviral short hairpin RNA transduction of erythroid progenitor cells, with global surface proteomic profiling. We assessed the efficiency of parasite invasion into knockdown cells using a panel of wild-type P. falciparum laboratory strains and invasion ligand knockout lines, as well as P. falciparum Senegalese clinical isolates and a short-term-culture-adapted strain. For this, we optimized an invasion assay suitable for use with small numbers of erythrocytes. We found that all laboratory strains and the majority of field strains tested were dependent on GPB expression level for invasion. The collective data suggest that the GPA and GPB receptors are of greater importance than the GPC receptor, supporting a hierarchy of erythrocyte receptor usage in P. falciparum.
Continuous epidural infusion versus programmed intermittent epidural bolus for labor analgesia: optimal configuration of parameters to reduce physician-administered top-ups

Abstract Background and objectives: Programmed intermittent epidural bolus (PIEB) is a delivery mode associated with decreased local analgesia dosing, motor block, and physician-administered top-ups (PATUs) during labor analgesia. We hypothesized that PIEB delivery at different settings will result in fewer PATUs for labor analgesia than the same hourly volume of a continuous epidural infusion (CEI). Methods: “Before and after” study design of combined spinal–epidural (CSE) for labor, with bupivacaine 0.0625%–fentanyl 2 mcg/ml and patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA; 5 ml bolus with 10 min lock-out). The “before” group (N = 120) received a CEI at 10 ml/hour. PIEB groups received a programmed bolus of 10 ml: every 60 min (PIEB60, N = 120), every 45 min (PIEB45, N = 140), or every 45 min with high flow (500 ml/hour) (PIEB45HF, N = 25). Main outcome measures: Number of women requesting a PATU, time intervals from CSE to PATU and to delivery, and obstetric outcomes. Results: There was no difference in the proportion of women requesting PATUs between the CEI and PIEB60 groups (45/120 versus 52/120, respectively; p > .05). The PATU rate was lower in the PIEB45 group compared with the PIEB60 and CEI groups (23/140 versus 52/120 and 45/120, p < .005 and p < .05, respectively), and in the PIEB45HF versus PIEB60 groups (5/25 versus 52/120, p < .05). No difference in other outcomes was observed. Conclusions: The number of women requesting a PATU was lowest with the PIEB45 and PIEB45HF settings. There were no differences in any other outcomes between groups. This study emphasizes the many variations in programming that need to be further tested to establish the benefits of PIEB delivery compared with traditional CEI with PCEA.
Barriers to the Adoption of Wearable Sensors in the Workplace: A Survey of Occupational Safety and Health Professionals

Objective: To gather information on the (a) types of wearable sensors, particularly personal activity monitors, currently used by occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals; (b) potential benefits of using such technologies in the workplace; and (c) perceived barriers preventing the widespread adoption of wearable sensors in industry. Background: Wearable sensors are increasingly being promoted as a means to improve employee health and well-being, and there is mounting evidence supporting their use as exposure assessment and personal health tools. Despite this, many workplaces have been hesitant to adopt these technologies. Methods: An electronic survey was emailed to 28,428 registered members of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and 1,302 professionals certified by the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics (BCPE). Results: A total of 952 valid responses were returned. Over half of respondents described being in favor of using wearable sensors to track OSH-related risk factors and relevant exposure metrics at their respective workplaces. However, barriers including concerns regarding employee privacy/confidentiality of collected data, employee compliance, sensor durability, the cost/benefit ratio of using wearables, and good manufacturing practice requirements were described as challenges precluding adoption. Conclusion: The broad adoption of wearable technologies appears to depend largely on the scientific community’s ability to successfully address the identified barriers. Application: Investigators may use the information provided to develop research studies that better address OSH practitioner concerns and help technology developers operationalize wearable sensors to improve employee health and well-being.
Robust Maximization of Non-Submodular Objectives

We study the problem of maximizing a monotone set function subject to a cardinality constraint $k$ in the setting where some number of elements $\tau$ is deleted from the returned set. The focus of this work is on the worst-case adversarial setting. While there exist constant-factor guarantees when the function is submodular, there are no guarantees for non-submodular objectives. In this work, we present a new algorithm Oblivious-Greedy and prove the first constant-factor approximation guarantees for a wider class of non-submodular objectives. The obtained theoretical bounds are the first constant-factor bounds that also hold in the linear regime, i.e. when the number of deletions $\tau$ is linear in $k$. Our bounds depend on established parameters such as the submodularity ratio and some novel ones such as the inverse curvature. We bound these parameters for two important objectives including support selection and variance reduction. Finally, we numerically demonstrate the robust performance of Oblivious-Greedy for these two objectives on various datasets.
Factors affecting intramammary pressures.

Abstract Intramammary pressures were measured on 12 Holstein cows during the am and pm milkings at monthly intervals during the lactation period. Prestimulation pressure averaged 21.9 mm Hg at the am milking and 15.8 mm Hg at the pm milking. Poststimulation pressures were also highest at the am milking with the rear quarters exhibiting pressures of 42.7 and 42.2 mm Hg and the fore quarters 34.8 and 34.2 mm Hg. During the pm milking, pressures of 34.9 and 34.3 mm Hg were observed in the rear quarters and 28.3 and 27.9 mm Hg in the fore quarters. After-milking pressures ranged from 3.1 to 3.8 mm Hg. Milk yields were greater at the am milking, and in the rear quarters at all milkings. Level of intramammary pressures for each quarter was related to the amount of milk produced at each milking. Month of lactation had a marked negative effect on pressures as indicated by correlations ranging from −. 70 to −. 88.
Disclosure of cardiac variants of uncertain significance results in an exome cohort

This study examined the impact of disclosing subclassifications of genetic variants of uncertain significance (VUS) on behavioral intentions. We studied return of VUS results to 79 individuals with a cardiomyopathy‐associated VUS, subclassified into VUS‐high or VUS‐low. Primary outcomes were perceived risk (absolute and comparative), perceived severity, perceived value of information, self‐efficacy, decision regret, and behavioral intentions to share results and change behaviors. There was no significant difference between the 2 subclasses in overall behavioral intentions (t = 0.023, P = .982) and each of the individual items on the behavioral intentions scale; absolute (t = −1.138, P = .259) or comparative (t = −0.463, P = .645) risk perceptions; perceived value of information (t = 0.582, P = .563) and self‐efficacy (t = −0.733, P = .466). Decision regret was significantly different (t = 2.148, P = .035), with VUS‐low (mean = 17.24, SD = 16.08) reporting greater regret. Combining the subclasses, perceived value of information was the strongest predictor of behavioral intentions (β = 0.524, P < .001). Participants generally understood the meaning of a genetic VUS result classification and reported satisfaction with result disclosure. No differences in behavioral intentions were found, but differences in decision regret suggest participants distinguish subclasses of VUS results. The perceived value of VUS may motivate recipients to pursue health‐related behaviors.
Stereo matching algorithm by hill-climbing segmentation

Stereo matching is important in the area of computer vision and photogrammetry. We present a stereo matching algorithm to refine depth map by using stereo image pair. The reference image is segmented by using hill-climbing algorithm and Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) feature descriptor with Sum of Absolute Difference (SAD) local stereo matching is performed. Next, we extract a set of disparity planes and then Random Sample Consensus (RANSAC) plane fitting and neighboring segment merging are performed. Finally, the disparity map is improved by using graph cuts energy minimization on smoothness constraints between neighboring segments. We evaluate the proposed approach on Middlebury stereo test set and experimental result shows that the proposed algorithm is comparable with state-of-the-art stereo matching algorithms.
Validation of Leiden Score in Predicting Progression of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Undifferentiated Arthritis in Indian Population

Background: Leiden Score, is a very useful tool for predicting future development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), among undifferentiated arthritis (UA) patients. This score has been validated in various western studies but rarely among south east Asian patients. Aims: To validate the Leiden early arthritis prediction rule in an Indian cohort of patients for predicting rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in undifferentiated arthritis (UA) patients and to formulate any simpler version of prediction score taking only clinical variables of original Leiden prediction rule. Subjects and Methods: In a group comparative longitudinal study model, 58 patients with early symmetrical polyarthritis were enrolled and baseline evaluation was done according to Leiden prediction rule and then 3 monthly. After 1 year, Leiden prediction score and chance of evolving into RA were calculated. Patients were divided into two groups: Those who developed RA and who did not. They were selected on random sampling process. Tender joint count (TJC), duration of morning stiffness, and duration of arthritis were selected as clinical variables for linear discriminant analysis with disease outcome being the dependent variable. Discriminant scores (D) for each patient was calculated. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed with the discriminant score and compared with Leiden prediction score. Results: About 54% (27/50) of patients were diagnosed with RA and 46% (23/50) developed other rheumatologic condition or viral inflammatory arthritis or remained undifferentiated or attained complete remission. None of the patients with UA, who scored the regression coefficients 4 or less progressed to RA, and those who scored 7 or more, almost certainly progressed to RA. Unstandardized canonical discriminant coefficients for TJC (T), duration of morning stiffness (M), and duration of arthritis (A) were calculated. ROC curve was plotted with the formula: D = 0.164 × T + 0.066 × M + 0.012 × A − 2.838. Area under curve (AUC) at 95% confidence interval for our discriminant function was 0.845 (standard error [SE] 0.054). In comparison, AUC of Leiden prediction score was 0.897 (SE 0.043). Conclusions: Leiden prediction rule is highly applicable to UA patients to predict progression of RA in Indian patients and larger multi-center study with larger cohorts is needed to validate the formulation we derived to predict RA.
Cutaneous Angiosarcoma: The Possibility of New Treatment Options Especially for Patients with Large Primary Tumor

The most widely accepted treatment for cutaneous angiosarcoma (CAS) is wide local excision and postoperative radiation to decrease the risk of recurrence. Positive surgical margins and large tumors (T2, >5 cm) are known to be associated with poor prognosis. Moreover, T2 tumors are known to be associated with positive surgical margins. According to previous reports, the majority of CAS patients in Japan had T2 tumors, whereas less than half of the patients in the studies from western countries did so. Consequently, the reported 5-year overall survival of Japanese CAS patients without distant metastasis was only 9%, lower than that for stage-IV melanoma. For patients with T2 tumors, management of subclinical metastasis should be considered when planning the initial treatment. Several attempts to control subclinical metastasis have been reported, such as using adjuvant/neoadjuvant chemotherapy in addition to conventional surgery plus radiation. Unfortunately, those attempts did not show any clinical benefit. Besides surgery, new chemotherapeutic approaches for advanced CAS have been introduced in the past couple of decades, such as paclitaxel and docetaxel. We proposed the use of chemoradiotherapy (CRT) using taxanes instead of surgery plus radiation for patients with T2 tumors without distant metastasis and showed a high response ratio with prolonged survival. However, this prolonged survival was seen only in patients who received maintenance chemotherapy after CRT, indicating that continuous chemotherapy is mandatory to control subclinical residual tumors. With the recent development of targeted drugs for cancer, many potential drugs for CAS are now available. Given that CAS expresses a high level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor, drugs that target VEGF signaling pathways such as anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody and tyrosine kinase inhibitors are also promising, and several successful treatments have been reported. Besides targeted drugs, several new cytotoxic anticancer drugs such as eribulin or trabectedin have also been shown to be effective for advanced sarcoma. However, most of the clinical trials did not include a sufficient number of CAS patients. Therefore, clinical trials focusing only on CAS should be performed to evaluate the effectiveness of these new drugs.
Statistical approaches to account for missing values in accelerometer data: Applications to modeling physical activity

Physical inactivity is a recognized risk factor for many chronic diseases. Accelerometers are increasingly used as an objective means to measure daily physical activity. One challenge in using these devices is missing data due to device nonwear. We used a well-characterized cohort of 333 overweight postmenopausal breast cancer survivors to examine missing data patterns of accelerometer outputs over the day. Based on these observed missingness patterns, we created psuedo-simulated datasets with realistic missing data patterns. We developed statistical methods to design imputation and variance weighting algorithms to account for missing data effects when fitting regression models. Bias and precision of each method were evaluated and compared. Our results indicated that not accounting for missing data in the analysis yielded unstable estimates in the regression analysis. Incorporating variance weights and/or subject-level imputation improved precision by >50%, compared to ignoring missing data. We recommend that these simple easy-to-implement statistical tools be used to improve analysis of accelerometer data.
Better Approximation of Betweenness Centrality

Estimating the importance or centrality of the nodes in large networks has recently attracted increased interest. Betweenness is one of the most important centrality indices, which basically counts the number of shortest paths going through a node. Betweenness has been used in diverse applications, e.g., social network analysis or route planning. Since exact computation is prohibitive for large networks, approximation algorithms are important. In this paper, we propose a framework for unbiased approximation of betweenness that generalizes a previous approach by Brandes. Our best new schemes yield significantly better approximation than before for many real world inputs. In particular, we also get good approximations for the betweenness of unimportant nodes.
Proton Capture Chains in Globular Cluster Stars. III. Abundances of Giants in the Second-Parameter Globular Cluster NGC 7006

High-resolution spectra have been obtained of six red giants in the globular cluster NGC 7006 using the HIRES instrument on the Keck I Telescope. The [iron-peak/Fe] and [α-nuclei/Fe] elemental ratios are similar to those found in other halo globular clusters. Significant, but modest, star-to-star abundance differences are found for the elements O, Na, and Al, with the [O/Fe] abundance ratio being anticorrelated with both [Na/Fe] and [Al/Fe]. These anticorrelations indicate that O → N processed material, within which Ne has also been converted to Na and Mg to Al by proton addition reactions, has been brought to the surface of the cluster giants via a deep-mixing mechanism that cycles material through the O → N burning zone just outside the main hydrogen-burning shell. Despite the significant [Al/Fe] differences among the NGC 7006 giants, there is very little accompanying difference in [Mg/Fe]. This result, however, is not inconsistent with a deep-mixing origin for the [Al/Fe] enhancements; because Mg is initially much more abundant than Al, conversion of only a small fraction of Mg into Al can still produce a large percentage increase in the Al abundance. Plots of [Na/Fe] versus [O/Fe] and [Al/Fe] versus [Mg/Fe] indicate that the amount of proton-capture–processed material that has been mixed into the envelopes of the NGC 7006 giants is less extreme than within some giants of the globular clusters M13 and M15. In particular, unlike the NGC 7006 giants, most giants in M13 and some in M15 exhibit significantly reduced [O/Fe] and [Mg/Fe] ratios and very high [Al/Fe]. This difference in the [Mg/Fe] behavior may be related to differences in horizontal-branch morphology between M13 and NGC 7006. Within some M13 giants, it is possible that deep mixing has accessed regions in which not only has Mg been converted to Al but significant amounts of helium have also been produced from hydrogen burning. Deep mixing in such stars may not only significantly reduce the surface [Mg/Fe] ratio but may also increase the [He/H] ratio by amounts that will affect the zero-age horizontal-branch (HB) position that a giant will eventually occupy. This could explain the extension of the M13 HB to very blue colors. By contrast, giants in NGC 7006 experience modest amounts of interior mixing that may be deep enough to detectably alter the surface [Al/Fe] ratio, but not the [Mg/Fe] and [He/H] ratios. These stars will have a relatively low [He/H] ratio and so will adopt relatively red positions when they evolve onto the horizontal branch; the HB of NGC 7006 does indeed comprise a large percentage of stars redder than the RR Lyrae gap. In this scenario, deep mixing within cluster red giants may be one of the "second parameters" that affects horizontal-branch morphology.
Breastfeeding Duration and Anogenital Distance in 2-Year-Old Infants.

BACKGROUND The anogenital distance (AGD) is an anthropometric marker determined by exposures to androgens in utero and throughout the first few months of life. Early exposures to endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as phthalates have been significantly associated with shortened AGD in boys. Limited studies have explored phthalate concentrations in breast milk and infant formula. OBJECTIVE To explore the associations between breastfeeding duration and AGD measures in infants. MATERIALS AND METHODS MALAMA (Medio Ambiente y Lactancia Materna) is a follow-up study of 430 mother-child pairs, from birth to 2 years, from two population-based cohorts in Murcia, Spain. Data were collected through medical visits and telephone surveys from birth to 2 years of age. World Health Organization breastfeeding definitions were used. AGD measurements were assessed in a subsample of 71 boys and 49 girls at the 2-year visit. Descriptive analyses, Pearson correlations, and linear regressions were calculated between AGD and breastfeeding duration. RESULTS Duration of all types of breastfeeding, especially full breastfeeding (FB), is correlated with AGD measures in boys (p < 0.05). AGDAS (anoscrotal distance) and AGDAP (anopenile distance) were positively associated with FB (β = 0.004, 95%CI: 0.001-0.007 and β = 0.003, 95%CI: 0.000-0.007, respectively). CONCLUSIONS A positive correlation between AGD in male infants and the duration of breastfeeding is reported. Inversely, early introduction of infant formula could lead to the reduction of AGD in boys.
Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Cognitive Function in Older Adults

Purpose Emerging evidence suggests physical activity (PA) is associated with cognitive function. To overcome limitations of self-report PA measures, this study investigated the association of accelerometer-measured PA with incident cognitive impairment and longitudinal cognition among older adults. Methods Participants were recruited from the cohort study Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke in the United States. Accelerometers provided PA measures, including the percentage of total accelerometer wearing time spent in moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA (MVPA%), light-intensity PA, and sedentary time for four to seven consecutive days at baseline. Cognitive impairment was defined by the Six-Item Screener. Letter fluency, animal fluency, word list learning, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (orientation and recall) were conducted to assess executive function and memory. Results Participants (N = 6452, 69.7 ± 8.5 yr, 55.3% women, 30.5% Black) with usable accelerometer and cognition measures spent extremely limited time in MVPA (1.5% ± 1.9% of accelerometer wearing time). During an average of 3 yr of follow-up, 346 cases of incident cognitive impairment were observed. After adjustments, participants in higher MVPA% quartiles had a lower risk of cognitive impairment (i.e., quartile 2: odds ratio = 0.64, 95% confidence interval = 0.48–0.84) and better maintenance in executive function (≥0.03 z-score units) and memory (≥0.12 z-score units) compared with quartile 1 (P < 0.05). Stratified analyses showed the same association among White adults, but higher MVPA% was associated with better maintenance of only memory among Black adults. No significance was found for light-intensity PA or sedentary time. Conclusion There was a dose–response relationship between MVPA% and cognitive function in older adults, with higher levels associated with a 36% or lower risk of cognitive impairment and better maintenance of memory and executive function over time, particularly in White adults.