Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protective effects of the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in the elderly population: the EVAN-65 study.

BACKGROUND The 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine (PPV) is currently recommended for elderly persons and persons who are at high risk of infection. However, the effectiveness of the 23-valent PPV remains controversial. We assessed the effectiveness of this vaccine in older adults. METHODS A prospective cohort study was conducted from January 2002 through April 2005; it included all community-dwelling individuals aged >or=65 years who were assigned to 1 of 8 primary health care centers in Tarragona, Spain (11,241 subjects). The primary outcomes were invasive pneumococcal disease, pneumococcal pneumonia, overall pneumonia rate, and death due to pneumonia. All cases were validated by a check of the clinical records. The association between pneumococcal vaccination and the risk of each outcome was evaluated by means of multivariate Cox proportional hazard models, adjusted for age, sex, comorbidity, immunocompetence, and influenza vaccine status. RESULTS Pneumococcal vaccination was associated with significant reductions in the risk of hospitalization for pneumonia (hazard ratio [HR], 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59-0.92) and in the overall pneumonia rate (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.64-0.98). The incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease was low (64 cases per 100,000 person-years), and a considerable protective effect against invasive pneumococcal disease did not attain statistical significance (HR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.22-1.65). However, the vaccine showed a significant effectiveness of 45% to prevent pneumococcal pneumonia (HR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.34-0.88). Finally, vaccination was associated with a significant 59% reduction in the risk of death due to pneumonia among vaccinated subjects (HR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.23-0.72). CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that the 23-valent PPV effectively prevented pneumococcal pneumonia (with or without bacteremia) and decreased the rates of overall pneumonia and of mortality due to pneumonia in older adults, providing new arguments for systematic vaccination in the elderly population.
A Novel Antenna Selection Scheme for Spatially Correlated Massive MIMO Uplinks with Imperfect Channel Estimation

We propose a new antenna selection scheme for a massive MIMO system with a single user terminal and a base station with a large number of antennas. We consider a practical scenario where there is a realistic correlation among the antennas and imperfect channel estimation at the receiver side. The proposed scheme exploits the sparsity of the channel matrix for the effective selection of a limited number of antennas. To this end, we compute a sparse channel matrix by minimising the mean squared error. This optimisation problem is then solved by the well-known orthogonal matching pursuit algorithm. Widely used models for spatial correlation among the antennas and channel estimation errors are considered in this work. Simulation results demonstrate that when the impacts of spatial correlation and imperfect channel estimation introduced, the proposed scheme in the paper can significantly reduce complexity of the receiver, without degrading the system performance compared to the maximum ratio combining.
Classroom-based physical activity breaks: Potential for use with children with special educational needs

Children with special educational needs are less active than their mainstream counterparts. One strategy to increase physical activity levels in child populations is through classroom activity breaks (CAB). However, not all current CAB activities were designed for children with special educational needs. The aim of this study was to identify suitable CAB activities for children with special educational needs, in particular for children with social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). Experts from the fields of education, physical activity promotion, exercise psychology, creative movement, child behaviour, and child welfare were invited to attend a one-day workshop with experienced teachers of children with SEBD. Participants were asked to discuss considerations, barriers, and benefits of classroombased physical activity for children with SEBD. Participants then identified suitable CAB activities from three existing programs designed for primary school children. A list of top-rated activities was compiled for lower and upper primary school ages. Identified barriers to classroom based physical activities included low-self esteem, removal of securities, and possible effect on emotional state. Benefits included increased self-esteem, improved cognitive abilities, and improved social skills. Commonalities of top-rated activities were the absence of competitive elements, use of simple concepts, and suitability for confined spaces. Future studies should compile the top-rated activities identified in this study and assess their potential impact on the physical activity, on task behaviour, enjoyment, and behaviour of children with SEBD.
Why IS: Understanding Undergraduate Students' Intentions to Choose an Information Systems Major

The continuing losses in Information Systems (IS) enrollments over the last few years have generated a widespread concern in the IS community. Despite many speculations about what led to the downturn and what should be done to reverse it, there has been surprisingly little research that systematically investigates this issue. This paper reports a study that applied the theory of reasoned action (TRA) to understanding undergraduate students’ intentions to choose an IS major. Factors that could influence students’ choices are identified from previous research and categorized according to the TRA theoretical framework. In addition, the study explored how gender affected students’ intentions. Survey data were collected to test the research model. The results identified genuine interests in the IS field, job availability, the difficulty of the IS curriculum, and opinions from family and professors as important factors that affect students’ intentions to choose an IS major. They also suggested that female students were discouraged socially from majoring in IS. On the basis of the findings, this paper offers several recommendations on how to improve recruiting efforts to increase IS enrollments.
Using Genetic Algorithm for Network Intrusion Detection

This paper describes a technique of applying Genetic Algorithm (GA) to network Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs). A brief overview of the Intrusion Detection System, genetic algorithm, and related detection techniques is presented. Parameters and evolution process for GA are discussed in detail. Unlike other implementations of the same problem, this implementation considers both temporal and spatial information of network connections in encoding the network connection information into rules in IDS. This is helpful for identification of complex anomalous behaviors. This work is focused on the TCP/IP network protocols
Search Heuristics, Case-based Reasoning And Software Project Effort Prediction

This paper reports on the use of search techniques to help optimise a case-based reasoning (CBR) system for predicting software project effort. A major problem, common to machine learning (ML) techniques in general, has been dealing with large numbers of case features, some of which can hinder the prediction process. Unfortunately searching for the optimal feature subset is a combinatorial problem and therefore NP-hard. This paper examines the use of random searching, hill climbing and forward sequential selection (FSS) to tackle this problem. Results from examining a set of real software project data show that even random searching was better than using all available features (average error 35.6% rather than 50.8%). Hill climbing and FSS both produced results substantially better than the random search (15.3 and 13.1% respectively), but FSS was computationally more efficient. Providing a description of the fitness landscape of a problem along with search results is a step towards the classification of search problems and their assignment to optimum search techniques. This paper attempts to describe the fitness landscape of this problem by combining the results from random searches and hill climbing, as well as using multi-dimensional scaling to aid visualisation. Amongst other findings, the visualisation results suggest that some form of heuristic-based initialisation might prove useful for this problem.
Short-Term Resveratrol Exposure Causes In Vitro and In Vivo Growth Inhibition and Apoptosis of Bladder Cancer Cells

Conventional adjuvant chemotherapies for bladder transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs) may cause strong systemic toxicity and local irritation. Non-toxic resveratrol inhibits TCC cell growth but its feasibility in clinical management of TCCs remains obscure. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and anti-TCC efficacy of resveratrol, using the experimental models closer to the clinical treatment condition. Human TCC EJ cells were exposed to 100 µM, 150 µM and 200 µM resveratrol respectively for 1 hour and 2 hours to mimic intravesical drug instillation and the cell responses were analyzed by multiple experimental approaches. An orthotopic TCC nude mouse model was established by injecting EJ cells into the sub-urothelial layer and used for short-term intravesical resveratrol instillation. The safety of resveratrol instillation was evaluated and compared with that of MCC. The results revealed that 2 h 150 µM or 200 µM resveratrol treatment leaded to remarkable S phase arrest and apoptosis at 72 h time-point, accompanied with attenuated phosphorylation, nuclear translocation and transcription of STAT3, down-regulation of STAT3 downstream genes (survivin, cyclinD1, c-Myc and VEGF) and nuclear translocations of Sirt1 and p53. The importance of STAT3 signaling in cell growth was confirmed by treating EJ cells with JAK2 inhibitor tyrphostin AG490. The efficacy and safety of resveratrol instillation were proved by the findings from nude mouse orthotopic xenograft models, because this treatment caused growth suppression, distinctive apoptosis and STAT3 inactivation of the transplanted tumors without affecting normal urothelium. Our results thus suggest for the first time the practical values of resveratrol as a safe and effective agent in the post-operative treatment of TCCs.
Prognostic value of quality-of-life scores during chemotherapy for advanced breast cancer. Australian New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group.

PURPOSE We observed that quality-of-life (QL) scores, collected to evaluate treatment in a randomized trial in advanced breast cancer, predicted survival duration. This report explores the prognostic associations between QL and survival in more detail. PATIENTS AND METHODS In a randomized clinical trial comparing intermittent and continuous therapy policies for patients with advanced breast cancer, QL was measured by linear analog self-assessment (LASA) and the Quality-of-Life Index (QLI). Baseline scores and subsequent changes were included in statistical models of survival duration, with and without other prognostic factors. RESULTS Physician assessment of QLI and patient LASA scores for physical well-being (PWB), mood, nausea and vomiting, appetite, and overall QL (but not pain) at the commencement of treatment were significant predictors of subsequent survival. Scores for PWB and QLI were independent of other prognostic factors. Changes in scores were also prognostically important. Both baseline and change in scores for PWB, mood, pain, and QLI after the first three treatment cycles, but before an arbitrary 180-day time point, were significantly predictive of survival beyond that time. Both QLI and PWB were prognostically independent of tumor response. Although QL improvement was correlated with tumor response, continuous therapy yielded significantly better QL scores, even in nonresponders. CONCLUSION These findings support the validity of the simple QL measures used in the trial. They are compatible with the simple explanation that patients perceive disease progression before it is clinically evident, but also with a causal relationship between QL and survival duration.
An observability inequality for a stochastic heat cascade equations and application

In this paper, by means of Carleman estimates and the usual energy estimate, we obtain an observability inequality for a cascade stochastic heat equations. Furthermore, the constant in the observability inequality is estimated by an explicit function of the norm of the involved coefficients in the equations. Also, we apply our observability estimate to obtain the existence of insensitizing controls for a forward stochastic heat equations.
The Total Carbon Column Observing Network

A global network of ground-based Fourier transform spectrometers has been founded to remotely measure column abundances of CO2, CO, CH4, N2O and other molecules that absorb in the near-infrared. These measurements are directly comparable with the near-infrared total column measurements from space-based instruments. With stringent requirements on the instrumentation, acquisition procedures, data processing and calibration, the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) achieves an accuracy and precision in total column measurements that is unprecedented for remote-sensing observations (better than 0.25% for CO2). This has enabled carbon-cycle science investigations using the TCCON dataset, and allows the TCCON to provide a link between satellite measurements and the extensive ground-based in situ network.
DYSCHONDROSTEOSIS, A HEREDITABLE BONE DYSPLASIA WITH CHARACTERISTIC ROENTGENOGRAPHIC FEATURES.

Seven cases of dyschondrosteosis are reported. This is a hereditary bone dysplasia with an autosomal dominant mode of transmission characterized by a typical deformity of the distal radius and ulna and proximal carpal bones and mesomelic dwarfism. The wrist deformity has been widely reported in the medical literature under the eponym, Madelung's disease.
Collective Intentions And Team Agency

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Self-Chord: A Bio-inspired Algorithm for Structured P2P Systems

This paper presents “Self-Chord”, a bio-inspired P2P algorithm that can be profitably adopted to build the information service of distributed systems, in particular Computational Grids and Clouds. Self-Chord inherits the ability of Chord-like structured systems for the construction and maintenance of an overlay of peers, but features enhanced functionalities deriving from the activity of ant-inspired mobile agents, such as autonomy behavior, self-organization and capacity to adapt to a changing environment. Self-Chord features three main benefits with respect to classical P2P structured systems: (i) it is possible to give a semantic meaning to keys, which enables the execution of "class" queries, often issued in Grids and Clouds; (ii) the keys are fairly distributed over the peers, thus improving the balancing of storage responsibilities; (iii) maintenance load is reduced because, as new peers join the ring, the mobile agents will spontaneously reorganize the keys in logarithmic time.
Characterization of Some Virulence Factors Associated with Enterbacteriaceae Isolated From Urinary Tract Infections in Mansoura

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to determine the role of some virulence determinants and biofilm production in bacteraemia of urinary tract origin by phenotypic detection of these virulence factors. In addition, this research was done to characterize and compare, using genetic techniques, bacterial genes that encode virulence determinants. Methods:A total of 111 strains of Enterobacteriaceae isolated from urine of patients with clinically diagnosed urinary tract infection in Urology and Nephrology Center, Mansoura University, were included in this study. The isolated strains were phenotypically screened for virulence factors, namely mannose-resistant, mannose-sensitive haemagglutination (MRHA, MSHA), hemolysin production, biofilm formation, serum resistance, and lipase, protease and lecithinase production. They were also genotypically examined by PCR for the presence of genes for the virulence factors MRHA (papC), MSHA (fimH), serum resistance (iss) and biofilm formation (biofilm). Results: Among 111 urinary isolates of Enterobacteriaceae, 40 isolates of E. coli, 39 isolates of K. pneumonia and 32 isolates of Enterobacter were identified. The antibiotic sensitivity test showed that amikacin and imipinem were the most active antibiotic against all isolates(90%-100%). While most isolates were resistant to ampicillin (95%100). The phenotypic detection results revealed that 29(72%) of E.coli, 32(82%) of K.pneumoniae and 22(69%) of Enterobacter isolates showed MRHA. MSHA was detected in 11(28%) isolates of E.coli, 7(18%) of K.pneumoniae and in 10(31%) of Enterobacter isolates. Serum resistance was seen in 15(37%) of E.coli, 13(33%) of K.pneumoniae and 7(21%) of Enterobacter isolates. Biofilm formation was observed in 27(67%) of both E. coli and K. pneumoniae and in 30(94%) of Enterobacter isolates. All E.coli isolates were negative lipase and protease producers, while 16(33%) of K.pneumoniae isolates showed lipase production and one isolate showed protease production. For Enterobacter, none of isolates produce lipase, while 4(12%) of isolates were protease producers. All isolates showed no lecithinase production. For genotypic detection, it was observed that among E.coli isolates, 69% were positive for papC gene, 31% were positive for fimH gene, 30% were positive for iss gene and 77% were positive for biofilm gene. For K.pneumoniae, papC gene was detected in 80% of isolates, 20% were positive for fimH gene, 8% were positive for iss gene and 87% contained the biofilm gene. Results of Enterobacter isolates were 89%, 11%, 5% and 95% positive for genes of papC, fimH, iss and biofilm respectively. Conclusion: The present study shows the significance role of virulence factors in urinary tract infections caused by Enterobacteriaceae and the genotypic characterization was more prominent compared to the phenotypic detection of these virulence factors.
Activation of Presynaptic cAMP-Dependent Protein Kinase Is Required for Induction of Cerebellar Long-Term Potentiation

Cerebellar long-term potentiation (LTP) is a persistent increase in the strength of the granule cell–Purkinje neuron synapse that occurs after brief stimulation of granule cell axons at 2–8 Hz. Previous work has indicated that cerebellar LTP induction requires presynaptic Ca influx, stimulation of Ca-sensitive adenylyl cyclase, and activation of PKA. The evidence implicating PKA has come from bath application of drugs during LTP induction, an approach that does not distinguish between PKA activation in the presynaptic or postsynaptic cell. Although bath application of PKA inhibitor drugs (KT5720, Rp-8CPT-cAMP-S) blocked LTP induction in granule cell–Purkinje neuron pairs in culture, selective application to granule cell or Purkinje neuron somata via patch pipettes did not. We hypothesized that presynaptic PKA activation is required for LTP induction but that drugs applied to the granule cell soma cannot diffuse to the terminal within this timescale. To test this hypothesis, we transfected cerebellar cultures with an expression vector encoding a peptide inhibitor of PKA [Rous sarcoma virus (RSV)-protein kinase A inhibitor (PKI)]. Transfection of RSV-PKI into presynaptic granule cells, but not postsynaptic Purkinje neurons or glial cells, blocked LTP induction produced by either synaptic stimulation or an exogenous cAMP analog. An expression vector encoding a control peptide with no PKA inhibitory activity was ineffective. These results show that induction of cerebellar LTP requires a presynaptic signaling cascade, including Ca influx, stimulation of Ca-sensitive adenylyl cyclase, and activation of PKA, and argue against a requirement for postsynaptic Ca signals or their sequelae.
Forced expression of fibroblast growth factor 21 reverses the sustained impairment of liver regeneration in hPPARαPAC mice due to dysregulated bile acid synthesis

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor α (PPARα) stimulates hepatocellular proliferation is species-specific. Activation of mouse, but not human, PPARα induces hepatocellular proliferation, hepatomegaly, and liver cancer. Here we tested the hypothesis that human and mouse PPARα affects liver regeneration differentially. PPARα-humanized mice (hPPARαPAC) were similar to wild type mice in responding to fasting-induced PPARα signaling. However, these mouse livers failed to regenerate in response to partial hepatectomy (PH). The liver-to-body weight ratios did not recover even 3 months after PH in hPPARαPAC. The mouse PPARα-mediated down-regulation of let-7c was absent in hPPARαPAC, which might partially be responsible for impaired proliferation. After PH, hPPARαPAC displayed steatosis, necrosis, and inflammation mainly in periportal zone 1, which suggested bile-induced toxicity. Quantification of hepatic bile acids (BA) revealed BA overload with increased hydrophobic BA in hPPARαPAC. Forced FGF21 expression in partial hepatectomized hPPARαPAC reduced hepatic steatosis, prevented focal necrosis, and restored liver mass. Compared to mouse PPARα, human PPARα has a reduced capacity to regulate metabolic pathways required for liver regeneration. In addition, FGF21 can compensate for the reduced ability of human PPARα in stimulating liver regeneration, which suggests the potential application of FGF21 in promoting hepatic growth in injured and steatotic livers in humans.
Increased serum levels of lipoprotein(a) correlated with the severity of coronary artery disease in patients submitted to angiography.

OBJECTIVE To determine serum levels of lipoprotein(a) and lipid profile of a group of individuals submitted to coronary angiography, with the aim of establishing the possible correlation between these parameters and the severity of coronary artery disease. METHODS Serum levels of total cholesterol, HDLC, LDLC, triglycerides, lipoprotein(a), apolipoproteins A-I and B were measured in blood samples of 17 subjects with absence of atheromatosis in the coronary arteries (control), 12 subjects presenting mild/moderate atheromatosis and 28 subjects presenting severe atheromatosis. RESULTS No significant statistical differences were found between the means of the three groups for the parameters assessed, except for lipoprotein(a) serum levels which presented significant differences between the means of the control, mild/moderate atheromatosis and severe atheromatosis groups (p<0.001). CONCLUSION The means obtained in the three groups for Lp(a) indicate a progressive increase in the serum levels of this parameter according to the severity of coronary atheromatosis. These findings suggest the need of additional studies in order to obtain enough evidence to support the introduction of routine assessment of Lp(a) levels in clinical laboratories in the monitoring of patients at risk for coronary artery disease (CAD).