Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hashimoto Encephalopathy: A Rare Intricate Syndrome

Recently, several patients have been reported with various signs of encephalopathy and high thyroid antibody levels together with good responsiveness to glucocorticoid therapy. Despite the various clinical presentations, these cases have been termed “Hashimoto encephalopathy” (HE). Although all of the pathogenic components have not yet been clearly elucidated, it is believed that brain vasculitis and autoimmunity directed against common brain-thyroid antigens represent the most likely etiologic pathway. The most common clinical signs include unexplained or epilepsy-like seizures resistant to anti-convulsive treatment, confusion, headaches, hallucinations, stroke-like episodes, coma, impairment of cognitive function, behavioral and mood disturbance, focal neurological deficits, disturbance of consciousness, ataxia, and presenile dementia, together with the presence of high thyroid antibody levels, especially against thyroperoxidase (TPOab). In most cases, the thyroid function is normal or decreased; the thyroid function is rarely increased. The examination of the cerebrospinal fluid, EEG, MRI, SPECT, and neuropsychological examinations are primarily used as diagnostic tools. Most cases showed neural symptoms for months before the acute onset; in some cases, a dramatic acute onset was described. Once the diagnosis is made, corticosteroid treatment usually provides a dramatic recovery. The authors also present a short review of literary cases reported in last decade.
Role of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in differentiating malignancies from benign ovarian tumors.

OBJECTIVE We conducted a case-control study to evaluate the diagnostic values of computed tomography (CT) and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) in differentiating malignancies from benign ovarian tumors and a meta-analysis to further confirm our results on DW-MRI. METHODS Totally 64 patients pathologically confirmed as ovarian cancer were included in this study. CT scan and DWI-MRI were performed and analyzed to get compared with pathological results, thereby assessing their accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. Meta-analysis was conducted by database searching and strict eligibility criteria, using STATA 12.0 (Stata Corp, College Station, TX, USA) software. RESULTS The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for diagnosis of ovarian cancer in CT were 81.82%, 84.48%, 76.67%, 87.50% and 71.88%, respectively; those in DW-MRI were 89.77%, 93.10%, 83.33%, 91.53% and 86.21%, respectively. The Kappa coefficient of DW-MRI (K = 0.771) compared with pathological results was higher than CT (K = 0.602). The average apparent diffusion coefficient values of DW-MRI in diagnosis of benign and malignant ovarian tumors suggested statistically significant difference (1.325 ± 0.269×10(-3) mm(2)/s vs. 0.878 ± 0.246×10(-3) mm(2)/s, P < 0.001). Meta-analysis results showed that the combined sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio and diagnostic odds ratio of DW-MRI in discriminating benign versus malignant ovarian tumors were 0.93, 0.88, 7.70, 0.08 and 101.24, respectively. The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.95. CONCLUSIONS Both CT and DW-MRI were of great diagnostic value in differentiating malignancies from benign ovarian tumors, while DW-MRI was superior to CT with higher accuracy, sensitivity and specificity.
NDRG2 phosphorylation provides negative feedback for SGK1-dependent regulation of a kainate receptor in astrocytes

Glutamate receptors play an important role in the function of astrocytes. Among their tasks is the regulation of gliotransmission, gene expression and exocytosis of the tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), which has an enhancing effect on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors and thus prevent over-excitation of neighboring neurons. The kainate receptor GluK2, which is expressed in neurons and astrocytes, is under tight regulation of the PI3-kinase SGK pathway as shown in neurons. SGK1 targets include N-myc downstream-regulated genes (NDRGs) 1 and 2 (NDRG1, NDRG2), proteins with elusive function. In the present study, we analyzed the effects of SGK1, NDRG1, and NDRG2 on GluK2 current amplitude and plasma membrane localization in astrocytes and heterologous expression. We demonstrate that NDRG1 and NDRG2 themselves have no effect on GluK2 current amplitudes in heterologous expressed ion channels. However, when NDRG2 is coexpressed with GluK2 and SGK1, the stimulating effect of SGK1 on GluK2 is suppressed both in heterologous expression and in astrocytes. Here, we reveal a new negative feedback mechanism, whereby GluK2 stimulation by SGK1 is regulated by parallel phosphorylation of NDRG2. This regulation of GluK2 by SGK1 and NDRG2 in astrocytes may play an important role in gliotransmission, modulation of gene expression and regulation of exocytosis of tPA.
A mobile tourism recommender system

Mobile tourist guides have been in the spotlight during the past decade resulting in many prototypes, either full-fledged standalone mobile applications or web-based applications. Particular emphasis has been given to personalisation of services, typically based on travel recommender systems used to assist tourists in choosing places to visit; these systems address an important aspect of personalization and hence reduce the information burden for the user. However, existing systems fail to exploit information, behaviors, ideas, evaluations, assessments, ratings, etc, by other tourists with similar interests, which provide ground for the cooperative production of tourist content and travel recommendations. In this paper we extend this notion of travel recommender systems utilizing collaborative filtering techniques for deriving improved recommendations. We also propose the use of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) installations around tourist sites for providing mobile users convenient and inexpensive means for uploading tourist information and ratings about Points of Interest (POI) via their mobile devices. User ratings uploaded through WSN infrastructures are weighted higher to differentiate between users that rate POIs using the mobile tourist guide application in direct proximity of the POI and others using the Internet away from the POI.
Improved Direct Power Control for Rectifier Based on Fuzzy Sliding Mode

An improved direct power control (DPC) is proposed for a three-phase voltage-source rectifier based on fuzzy sliding mode. It introduces the sliding mode controller (SMC) to enhance the disturbance rejection ability of the outer dc voltage loop. To ensure the stability of SMC, a fuzzy-based switching state controller is developed for the inner power loop, with which the switching states can be provided directly at the fixed time interval. This can contribute to the digitalization of controller and eliminate the drawbacks of the predefined switching table and the variable frequency that exists in the classical DPC. The effectiveness of the proposed DPC is verified by the simulation and experiment. Compared with the classical DPC, the current total harmonic distortion in the steady state is reduced by nearly half, and the transient setting time is shortened by at least 23%. The results indicate better performance of the proposed DPC in both the steady and transient states.
Ex Vivo and In Vivo Imaging and Biodistribution of Aptamers Targeting the Human Matrix MetalloProtease-9 in Melanomas

The human Matrix MetalloProtease-9 (hMMP-9) is overexpressed in tumors where it promotes the release of cancer cells thus contributing to tumor metastasis. We raised aptamers against hMMP-9, which constitutes a validated marker of malignant tumors, in order to design probes for imaging tumors in human beings. A chemically modified RNA aptamer (F3B), fully resistant to nucleases was previously described. This compound was subsequently used for the preparation of F3B-Cy5, F3B-S-acetylmercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG) and F3B-DOTA. The binding properties of these derivatives were determined by surface plasmon resonance and electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Optical fluorescence imaging confirmed the binding to hMMP-9 in A375 melanoma bearing mice. Quantitative biodistribution studies were performed at 30 min, 1h and 2 h post injection of 99mTc-MAG-aptamer and 111In-DOTA-F3B. 99mTc radiolabeled aptamer specifically detected hMMP-9 in A375 melanoma tumors but accumulation in digestive tract was very high. Following i.v. injection of 111In-DOTA-F3B, high level of radioactivity was observed in kidneys and bladder but digestive tract uptake was very limited. Tumor uptake was significantly (student t test, p<0.05) higher for 111In-DOTA-F3B with 2.0%ID/g than for the 111In-DOTA-control oligonucleotide (0.7%ID/g) with tumor to muscle ratio of 4.0. Such difference in tumor accumulation has been confirmed by ex vivo scintigraphic images performed at 1h post injection and by autoradiography, which revealed the overexpression of hMMP-9 in sections of human melanomas. These results demonstrate that F3B aptamer is of interest for detecting hMMP-9 in melanoma tumor.
Effects of monensin, pyromellitic diimide and 2-bromoethanesulfonic acid on rumen fermentation in vitro.

The effects of monensin, 2-bromoethanesulfonic acid (2-BES) and pyromellitic diimide (diimide) on gas and volatile fatty acid (VFA) production by the rumen microbiota were compared in mixed culture. Oat hay, a hay-concentrate mixture (48% hay, 43% concentrate) and a soluble carbohydrate mixture were used as substrates for microbial growth. The highest concentrations of diimide (10 ppm) and 2-BES (30 microM) decreased methanogenesis by 97 and 76%, respectively, while H2 accumulation was increased 30- and 20-fold, respectively. The effect of monensin on methanogenesis was less dramatic as 10 ppm decreased CH4 accumulation 16% and H2 did not accumulate. Diimide and 2-BES decreased the acetate:propionate ratio with the hay (P less than .05) and soluble carbohydrate mixture (P less than .025). The numbers of saccharolytic, cellulolytic and methanogenic bacteria from sheep fed a diet with diimide (60 ppm) did not differ significantly from sheep fed a control diet. Semicontinuous culture incubations indicated that the mixed rumen microbial population could adapt and degrade diimide after 24 h of incubation.
Impairments in Site-Specific AS160 Phosphorylation and Effects of Exercise Training

The purpose of this study was to determine if site-specific phosphorylation at the level of Akt substrate of 160 kDa (AS160) is altered in skeletal muscle from sedentary humans across a wide range of the adult life span (18–84 years of age) and if endurance- and/or strength-oriented exercise training could rescue decrements in insulin action and skeletal muscle AS160 phosphorylation. A euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp and skeletal muscle biopsies were performed in 73 individuals encompassing a wide age range (18–84 years of age), and insulin-stimulated AS160 phosphorylation was determined. Decrements in whole-body insulin action were associated with impairments in insulin-induced phosphorylation of skeletal muscle AS160 on sites Ser-588, Thr-642, Ser-666, and phospho-Akt substrate, but not Ser-318 or Ser-751. Twelve weeks of endurance- or strength-oriented exercise training increased whole-body insulin action and reversed impairments in AS160 phosphorylation evident in insulin-resistant aged individuals. These findings suggest that a dampening of insulin-induced phosphorylation of AS160 on specific sites in skeletal muscle contributes to the insulin resistance evident in a sedentary aging population and that exercise training is an effective intervention for treating these impairments.
Reflective Self-Awareness

AbstractThe theme of this edition of the Journal of Experimental Education is “new perspectives” on motivation. As understood in this article, new perspectives means synthesis and new understanding of old ideas about motivation rather than outright abandonment of accepted thinking. This article has both a theoretical and an empirical objective: First, and theoretically, a new conceptual model of self-regulation, reflective intentionality, in which motivation to act is based heavily on one’s conception of self and on higher order processes—specifically reflective self-awareness, emotion, and volition—is described. Second, findings are presented from a study that represents the seminal stages of a program of research to validate the proposed model. The findings tentatively suggest the value of a process-content view of motivation. According to this view, motivation can be understood as being a self-determining process emanating out of the ongoing self-regulatory interaction among self as process (i.e., leve.
[The use of a closed-suction drain in total knee arthroplasty: a prospective, randomized study].

OBJECTIVE To determine the value of using a closed-suction drain in cemented knee arthroplasty. METHODS One hundred patients were prospectively randomized into two groups, one group underwent cemented total knee replacement with a single deep closed-suction drain, and the other group (n = 50) no drain. RESULTS The total blood loss was significantly greater in those with a drain although those without lost more blood into the dressings. There was no statistical difference in the postoperative swelling or pain score, ecchymosis, deep vein thromboses (DVT), time at which flexion was regained or the incidence of infection at a minimum of two years after surgery in the two groups. CONCLUSION There is no evidence to support the use of a closed-suction drain in cemented knee arthroplasty.
Analysis of Queuing Behaviors with Self-similar Traffic in Wireless Channels

Many measurement studies showed that network traffic usually exhibits self-similar nature, meanwhile, wireless fading channels lead to the time-variant service rates of network nodes. Compared with classical queuing systems with Markov sources or constant service rates, the queuing system with self-similar input in a wireless fading channel is more complicated, and it is very difficult to obtain closed-form formulae for the queuing performances. In this paper, we study queuing behaviors with self-similar traffic input in wireless channels by establishing a queuing system model, and present a convenient and efficient algorithm to estimate the queue length distributions. Simulation results validate the accuracy of the proposed estimation algorithm. Finally, we analyze effective service rates of wireless channels based on the estimation algorithm, and draw some meaningful conclusions.
Accounts of conspiracy beliefs within the general population : a grounded theory

'If sanity and insanity exist, how shall we know them? ' (Rosenhan, 1973, p.250). This question, posed almost 40 years ago, continues to pervade mental health debates and polarise opinion. The current research explores how unusual beliefs are negotiated and constructed by individuals in a non-clinical population. I considered this from the perspective of individuals who endorse conspiracy theories ('belief holders') as well as a friend, family member or partner. Previous research indicates that 'insanity' is often identified and constructed by systems around a person rather than by the person themselves. By taking this approach, I aimed to elucidate the intra- and inter-personal negotiation of claims from two different perspectives. Each belief holder and a self-selected friend, family member or partner were interviewed together to examine the intra- and inter-personal negotiation of claims, how claims were constructed by those around the belief holder and how emotions associated with claims were managed. Grounded theory was used to analyse the data. Two core-categories were developed from the data; 'discovering and managing a new world' and 'experiencing and negotiating claims with others'. The first core-category focused on the intra-individual experience of claims, exploring how these were discovered, experienced and integrated into participants' sense of themselves and their identities. The second core-category explored the inter-personal negotiation of claims, how claims were constructed by those closest to belief holders and the strategies developed by participants to negotiate claims in diverse social contexts. Both core-categories were complementary, with many processes running in parallel between the two. A model of how participants experienced and negotiated claims was developed, combining the two core-categories and explicating the relationships between the two. The clinical and research implications of the findings are explored.
BUBBLE Rap: Social-Based Forwarding in Delay-Tolerant Networks

The increasing penetration of smart devices with networking capability form novel networks. Such networks, also referred as pocket switched networks (PSNs), are intermittently connected and represent a paradigm shift of forwarding data in an ad hoc manner. The social structure and interaction of users of such devices dictate the performance of routing protocols in PSNs. To that end, social information is an essential metric for designing forwarding algorithms for such types of networks. Previous methods relied on building and updating routing tables to cope with dynamic network conditions. On the downside, it has been shown that such approaches end up being cost ineffective due to the partial capture of the transient network behavior. A more promising approach would be to capture the intrinsic characteristics of such networks and utilize them in the design of routing algorithms. In this paper, we exploit two social and structural metrics, namely centrality and community, using real human mobility traces. The contributions of this paper are two-fold. First, we design and evaluate BUBBLE, a novel social-based forwarding algorithm, that utilizes the aforementioned metrics to enhance delivery performance. Second, we empirically show that BUBBLE can substantially improve forwarding performance compared to a number of previously proposed algorithms including the benchmarking history-based PROPHET algorithm, and social-based forwarding SimBet algorithm.
Predictors for Discrete Time Processes With Energy Decay on Higher Frequencies

The predictability of discrete-time processes is studied in a deterministic setting. A family of one-step-ahead predictors is suggested for processes of which the energy decays at higher frequencies. For such processes, the prediction error can be made arbitrarily small. The predictions can be robust with respect to the noise contamination at higher frequencies.
Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 Activity and Incident Coronary Heart Disease Among Men and Women With Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) has been shown to be associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in general adult populations. Because men and women with type 2 diabetes are at particularly high risk for CHD, the aim of this study was to assess the association of Lp-PLA2 with future coronary events among diabetic men and women. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We measured Lp-PLA2 activity among 740 men and 777 women with confirmed diabetes enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS) and Nurses' Health Study (NHS). Participants were free of all cardiovascular disease and cancer at baseline. RESULTS During 10 years of follow-up among men and 14 years among women, we documented 178 and 146 cases of CHD, respectively. We defined CHD as coronary artery bypass graft, angioplasty, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and fatal CHD. After adjustment for age, smoking, medical history, and biomarkers including C-reactive protein, HDL, and LDL, the relative risk of total CHD comparing extreme tertiles of Lp-PLA2 was 1.39 (95% CI 1.01–1.90; P trend = 0.03). When we restricted analyses to only nonfatal myocardial infarction and fatal CHD, the relative risk was 1.75 (95% CI 1.05–2.92; P for trend = 0.001). LDL, HDL, C-reactive protein, hormone replacement therapy use, and diabetes duration did not modify these relationships. CONCLUSIONS Levels of Lp-PLA2 activity were significantly associated with incident CHD among men and women with type 2 diabetes, independent of traditional and inflammatory risk factors. This positive association was strongest for more severe clinical end points.
Acoustic Effects of Prosodic Boundary on Vowels in American English

0. Introduction Prosody in speech is expressed through the modulation of pitch, duration, loudness and spectral balance. These features encode (i) phonological phrase structures that serve to group words into sense units, and (ii) prominence structures that mark the location of perceptually prominent syllables and words within larger domains. The prosodic phonological structures that encode phrasing and prominence are hierarchically organized: smaller/lower phrases are contained within larger/higher ones, and prominent units defined within a larger domain are projections of prominent units defined in successively lower domains. The hierarchical model of prosodic structure posits that the distinction between smaller and larger prosodic domains is a distinction in level. The effects of prosodic domains on phonological and phonetic structures are similar in type across levels, but levels may differ in the number or strength of those effects. This paper investigates the presence of acoustic correlates of the level distinction between prosodic domains. The focus is on the distinction between the smaller 'intermediate' phrase and the larger 'intonational' phrase through a comparison of the effects of the phrasal boundary on the final vowel in the phrase. The study reported here addresses the question of whether the effects of the higher phrase boundary on acoustic measures are of the same type as the effects of the lower boundary, and if so, whether the higher phrase level exhibits acoustic effects with consistently stronger magnitude compared to the lower phrase level. The goal is to discover if there is evidence that prosodic phrase boundaries produce acoustic effects that are cumulative over successive layers of prosodic structure. Earlier research has found that articulatory speech gestures undergo spatiotemporal enhancement when they occur at the left or right edge of a prosodic In domain-edge positions, the speech gestures that form constrictions in the vocal tract are produced with temporally longer duration, greater linguopalatal contact and larger displacement. These effects are modeled by Byrd (2000) and Byrd and Saltzman (2003) in terms of a prosodic " π-gesture " , which warps the temporal dimension of speech in the region of a juncture