Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Accuracy of Cardiac Auscultation in Asymptomatic Neonates with Heart Murmurs : Comparison Between Pediatric Trainees and Neonatologists

The aim of this study was to assess whether cardiac auscultation performed by pediatric trainees and neonatologists can reliably distinguish innocent from pathologic heart murmurs in asymptomatic neonates. From January 2008 to April 2009 the pediatric trainees of our institution were requested to refer all asymptomatic neonates with a murmur and classify the murmurs as ‘‘innocent,’’ ‘‘pathologic,’’ or ‘‘possibly pathologic. ’’ Prior to echocardiography, each neonate was evaluated by two experienced neonatologists. The echocardiographic studies of 169 neonates were analyzed. Abnormal cardiac anatomy was found in 55 neonates (32.6%). The overall ability of pediatric trainees in identifying congenital heart disease (CHD) was moderate [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.855] and significantly lower compared to neonatologists (AUC = 0.919, p = 0.007). However, at ‘‘lower’’ levels of clinical confidence (i.e., clinical diagnosis of possibly pathologic murmurs), pediatric trainees had good ability in excluding CHD (sensitivity 94.6%; negative likelihood ratio = 0.09). The ability of cardiac auscultation for diagnosing CHD in asymptomatic neonates is limited and dependent on the physician’s experience and level of clinical confidence. Echocardiography should remain an option for all neonates with a possibly pathologic murmur.
Relationships of transcranial blood flow Doppler parameters with major vascular risk factors: TCD study in patients with a recent TIA or nondisabling ischemic stroke

The relationship between intracranial vascular disease and cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and total serum cholesterol in patients with recent cerebral ischemia is not well established. We used transcranial Doppler (TCD) sonography tests as parameters of intracranial vascular disease and investigated the relationship between these parameters and conventional cardiovascular risk factors.
Detection of Neural Activity in fMRI Using Maximum Correlation Modeling

A technique for detecting neural activity in functional MRI data is introduced. It is based on a novel framework termed maximum correlation modeling. The method employs a spatial filtering approach that adapts to the local activity patterns, which results in an improved detection sensitivity combined with good specificity. A spatially varying hemodynamic response is simultaneously modelled by a sum of two gamma functions. Comparisons to traditional analysis methods are made using both synthetic and real data. The results indicate that the maximum correlation modeling approach is a strong alternative for analyzing fMRI data.
Ligand configurational entropy and protein binding

The restriction of a small molecule's motion on binding to a protein causes a loss of configurational entropy, and thus a penalty in binding affinity. Some energy models used in computer-aided ligand design neglect this entropic penalty, whereas others account for it based on an expected drop in the number of accessible rotamers upon binding. However, the validity of the physical assumptions underlying the various approaches is largely unexamined. The present study addresses this issue by using Mining Minima calculations to analyze the association of amprenavir with HIV protease. The computed loss in ligand configurational entropy is large, contributing ∼25 kcal/mol (4.184 kJ/kcal) to ΔG°. Most of this loss results from narrower energy wells in the bound state, rather than a drop in the number of accessible rotamers. Coupling among rotation/translation and internal degrees of freedom complicates the decomposition of the entropy change into additive terms. The results highlight the potential to gain affinity by designing conformationally restricted ligands and have implications for the formulation of energy models for ligand scoring.
Wireless Network-Coded Accumulate-Compute and Forward Two-Way Relaying

For the design of modulation schemes for the physical layer network-coded two way wireless relaying, it was observed by Koike-Akino et al. that adaptively changing the network coding map used at the relay according to the channel conditions greatly reduces the impact of multiple access interference which occurs at the relay during the MA Phase and all these network coding maps should satisfy a requirement called exclusive law. We extend this approach to an Accumulate-Compute and Forward protocol which employs two phases: Multiple Access (MA) phase consisting of two channel uses with independent messages in each channel use, and Broadcast (BC) phase having one channel use. Assuming that the two users transmit points from the same 4-PSK constellation, every such network coding map that satisfies the exclusive law can be represented by a Latin Square with side 16, and conversely, this relationship can be used to get the network coding maps satisfying the exclusive law. Two methods of obtaining this network coding map to be used at the relay are discussed. Using the structural properties of the Latin Squares for a given set of parameters, the problem of finding all the required maps is reduced to finding a small set of maps. Having obtained all the Latin Squares, the set of all possible channel realizations is quantized, depending on which one of the Latin Squares obtained optimizes the performance. The quantization thus obtained, is shown to be the same as the one obtained in [7] for the 2-stage bidirectional relaying.
An l p Norm Minimization Using Auxiliary Function for Compressed Sensing

 Abstract— Compressed sensing (CS) is a powerful tool for sig- nal measurement and processing, so it has caught much atten- tion in many fields such as medical imaging and image restora- tion. In CS, we assume the latent signals, such as voices and images, are sparse; i.e. they have many zero components. On this assumption, we search the sparsest signal sufficing the linear measurement equalities. Usually instead of minimizing the number of nonzero components of signal, we minimize the l1 norm of the solution vector to satisfy the convex condition. Linear programming such as simplex method is often used for this l1 norm minimization. This paper proposes a fast algorithm for lp (0  p 2 ) norm minimization using auxiliary function. We derivate the algorithm and show that the smaller p is, the faster it works. We emphasize the l0.95 norm minimization is 6.47 times faster than l1 simplex method.
Insights Into RNA Transcriptome Profiling of Cardiac Tissue in Obesity and Hypertension Conditions

Several epidemiologic studies suggest that obesity and hypertension are associated with cardiac transcriptome modifications that could be further associated with inflammatory processes and cardiac hypertrophy. In this field, transcriptome studies have demonstrated their importance to elucidate physiologic mechanisms, pathways or genes involved in many biologic processes. Over the past decade, RNA microarray and RNA‐seq analysis has become an essential component to examine metabolic pathways in terms of mRNA expression in cardiology. In this review, cardiac muscle gene expression in response to effects of obesity and hypertension will be focused, providing a broad view on cardiac transcriptome and physiologic and biochemical mechanisms involved in gene expression changes produced by these events, emphasizing the use of new technologies for gene expression analyses. J. Cell. Physiol. 230: 959–968, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company
Cigarette Experimentation in Mexican Origin Youth: Psychosocial and Genetic Determinants

Background: Established psychosocial risk factors increase the risk for experimentation among Mexican origin youth. Now, we comprehensively investigate the added contribution of select polymorphisms in candidate genetic pathways associated with sensation seeking, risk taking, and smoking phenotypes to predict experimentation. Methods: Participants (N = 1,118 Mexican origin youth) recruited from a large population-based cohort study in Houston, TX, provided prospective data on cigarette experimentation over 3 years. Psychosocial data were elicited twice—baseline and final follow-up. Participants were genotyped for 672 functional and tagging variants in the dopamine, serotonin, and opioid pathways. Results: After adjusting for gender and age, with a Bayesian False Discovery Probability set at 0.8 and prior probability of 0.05, six gene variants were significantly associated with risk of experimentation. After controlling for established risk factors, multivariable analyses revealed that participants with six or more risk alleles were 2.25 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.62–3.13] times more likely to have experimented since baseline than participants with five or fewer. Among committed never-smokers (N = 872), three genes (OPRM1, SNAP25, HTR1B) were associated with experimentation as were all psychosocial factors. Among susceptible youth (N = 246), older age at baseline, living with a smoker, and three different genes (HTR2A, DRD2, SLC6A3) predicted experimentation. Conclusions: Our findings, which have implications for development of culturally specific interventions, need to be validated in other ethnic groups. Impact: These results suggest that variations in select genes interact with a cognitive predisposition toward smoking. In susceptible adolescents, the impact of the genetic variants appears to be larger than committed never-smokers. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 21(1); 228–38. ©2011 AACR.
Platelets and atrial fibrillation.

Atrial ﬁbrillation is the commonest sustained cardiacrhythm abnormality, leading to substantial mortalityand morbidity from stroke, thromboembolism and heartfailure. Whilst the beneﬁts of antithrombotic therapy inpreventing stroke in atrial ﬁbrillation are increasinglyrecognised, further developments in thromboprophy-laxis are needed, especially since warfarin confers theinconvenience of regular anticoagulation monitoringand the beneﬁts of aspirin are inconsistent. An under-standing of the role of platelets in atrial ﬁbrillation maycontribute to the development of new or combinationantiplatelet agents that may provide a viable alternativeto warfarin for thromboprophylaxis in atrial ﬁbrillation. Important insights into the pathophysiology ofthrombus formation (thrombogenesis) in atrial ﬁbril-lation can be made by reference to the diﬀerent com-ponents of Virchow’s triad for thrombogenesis, that is,abnormal blood ﬂow, abnormal blood constituents andvessel wall abnormalities. Various studies have con-ﬁrmed that atrial ﬁbrillation confers a hypercoagulablestate, with abnormalities of haemostasis and endothelialfunction in this condition, that can be altered by intro-ducing antithrombotic therapy and cardioversion fromatrial ﬁbrillation to sinus rhythm
An Incremental Algorithm for a Generalization of the Shortest-Path Problem

Thegrammar problem, a generalization of the single-source shortest-path problem introduced by D. E. Knuth (Inform. Process. Lett.6(1) (1977), 1? 5) is to compute the minimum-cost derivation of a terminal string from each nonterminal of a given context-free grammar, with the cost of a derivation being suitably defined. This problem also subsumes the problem of finding optimal hyperpaths in directed hypergraphs (under varying optimization criteria) that has received attention recently. In this paper we present an incremental algorithm for a version of the grammar problem. As a special case of this algorithm we obtain an efficient incremental algorithm for the single-source shortest-path problem with positive edge lengths. The aspect of our work that distinguishes it from other work on the dynamic shortest-path problem is its ability to handle “multiple heterogeneous modifications”: between updates, the input graph is allowed to be restructured by an arbitrary mixture of edge insertions, edge deletions, and edge-length changes.
Public key encryption schemes supporting equality test with authorisation of different granularity

In this paper, we extend the work about public key encryption schemes supporting fine-grained authorisation (FG-PKEET), done by Tang (2011b). First of all, we correct some flaws in Tang (2011b) and discuss how to extend the proposed cryptosystem to support approximate equality test. Secondly, we present a comparison between FG-PKEET and other similar primitives including AoN-PKEET by Tang (2011a) and PKEET by Yang et al. (2010), and demonstrate their differences in complexity and achieved security. Thirdly, to mitigate the inherent offline message recovery attacks, we extend FG-PKEET to a two-proxy setting, where two proxies need to collaborate in order to perform an equality test. Finally, we propose a cryptosystem and prove its security in the two-proxy setting.
Pulse wave analysis.

PULSE WAVE ANALYSIS IN HISTORICAL TIMES: Interpretation of the arterial pulse has been an important part of the medical examination from ancient times. Graphic methods for clinical pulse wave recording were introduced by Marey in Paris and by Mahomed in London last century. Mahomed showed how such recordings could be used to detect asymptomatic hypertension, and used them to chart the natural history of essential hypertension and to distinguish between this condition and chronic nephritis. Interest in arterial pulse analysis, as applied by Mahomed, lapsed with the introduction of the cuff sphygmomanometer 100 years ago. MODERN PULSE WAVE ANALYSIS: Analysis of the arterial pulse is now regaining favour as limitations of the cuff sphygmomanometer are better recognized (including the ability only to measure extremes of the pulse in the brachial artery). In addition, high-fidelity tonometers have been introduced for very accurate, non-invasive measurement of arterial pulse contour, and there is now a better understanding of arterial hemodynamics, and appreciation of disease and aging effects in humans. It is now possible to record the pulse wave accurately in the radial or carotid artery, to synthesize the ascending aortic pulse waveform, to identify systolic and diastolic periods and to generate indices of ventricular-vascular interaction previously only possible with invasive arterial catheterization. Pressure pulse wave analysis now permits more accurate diagnosis and more logical therapy than was ever possible in the past.
Mechanism of DNA depurination by carcinogens in relation to cancer initiation

Depurinating DNA adducts formed by aromatic hydrocarbons and catechol estrogen quinones play a major role in cancer initiation. Most of these adducts depurinate instantaneously, but some guanine adducts depurinate from DNA with half‐lives of hours. We report here, that after 10 h at 37 °C, reaction of estradiol‐3,4‐quinone (E2‐3,4‐Q) with ds‐DNA to yield N7Gua and N3Ade adducts was complete and more efficient than with ss‐DNA. When E2‐3,4‐Q reacted with t‐RNA, no adducts were detected after 10 h, and the level of N3Ade and N7Gua adducts after 10 days was less than half that with ss‐DNA after 10 h. Reaction of E2‐3,4‐Q and dG yielded 4‐OHE2‐1‐N7dG, which spontaneously depurinated to yield 4‐OHE2‐1‐N7Gua. To investigate the mechanism of depurination, E2‐3,4‐Q was reacted with carbocyclicdeoxyguanosine, in which the ring oxygen of the deoxyribose moiety is substituted with CH2, and depurination was observed. The results from this experiment demonstrate that the oxocarbenium ion mechanism plays the major role in depurination and provides the first experimental evidence for this mechanism. A newly discovered β‐elimination mechanism also plays a minor role in depurination. Understanding why the depurinating estrogen‐DNA adducts come from DNA, and not from RNA, underscores the critical role that these adducts play in initiating cancer. © 2011 IUBMB IUBMB Life, 2011.
Two new cryptogonimid genera (Digenea, Cryptogonimidae) from Lutjanus bohar (Perciformes, Lutjanidae): analyses of ribosomal DNA reveals wide geographic distribution and presence of cryptic species

We describe three new species of Cryptogonimidae belonging to two new genera, Caulanus gen. nov. and Latuterus gen. nov., from the large piscivorous reef fish Lutjanus bohar Forsskål, 1775, recovered from Heron and Lizard Islands off the Great Barrier Reef and Rasdhoo Atoll, Maldives. To support our morphologically based taxonomic approach, three nuclear ribosomal DNA regions (28S, ITS1 and ITS2) were sequenced and analysed to explore the geographic distribution and integrity of the putative species recovered from these widespread localities. Sequencing of the rDNA regions included multiple replicates and revealed three distinct genotypes. Two of the observed genotypes were associated with phenotypically similar specimens of Latuterus, but were each restricted to a single locality, Lizard Island, GBR or Rasdhoo Atoll, Maldives. A posteriori analysis of the associated morphotypes revealed distinct morphological differences and these consistent differences, in combination with the consistent genetic differences led to the recognition of two distinct species in the system. Caulanus is distinguished by having oral spines, caeca which open via ani at the posterior end of the body, tandem testes and uterus that extends from the posterior end of the body to the pharynx. Latuterus is distinguished by lacking oral spines, having multiple/follicular testes, a uterus that is extensive in both fore-and hindbody and vitelline follicles which are confined to the region from the pharynx to oral sucker. Caulanus thomasi sp. nov. had identical sequences for all of the rDNA regions examined from specimens recovered from all three localities, indicating that this species has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution. The species reported here are evidently restricted to Lutjanus bohar because they were never found in large numbers of other lutjanid species sampled at the same localities.
Regulation of intracellular calcium in human esophageal smooth muscles.

We have investigated sources of Ca2+ contributing to excitation of human esophageal smooth muscle, using fura 2 to study cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in dispersed cells and contraction of intact muscles. Acetylcholine (ACh) caused an initial peak rise of [Ca2+]ifollowed by a plateau accompanied by reversible contraction. Removal of extracellular Ca2+ or addition of dihydropyridine Ca2+ channel blockers reduced the plateau phase but did not prevent contraction. Caffeine also caused elevation of [Ca2+]iand blocked responses to ACh. Undershoots of [Ca2+]iwere apparent after ACh or caffeine. Blockade of the sarcoplasmic reticular Ca2+-ATPase by cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) reduced the ACh-evoked increase of [Ca2+]iand abolished the undershoot, indicating involvement of Ca2+ stores. When contraction was studied in intact muscles, removal of Ca2+ or addition of nifedipine reduced, but did not abolish, carbachol (CCh)-induced contraction. Elevation of extracellular K+caused contraction that was inhibited by nifedipine, although CCh still elicited contraction. CPA caused contraction and suppressed the CCh-induced contraction, whereas ryanodine reduced CCh-induced contraction. Our studies provide evidence that muscarinic excitation of human esophagus involves both release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores and influx of Ca2+.
The role of gastrointestinal hormones in the pathogenesis of obesity and type 2 diabetes

Obesity, influencing the increase of incidence of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular complications and cancer is a growing medical problem worldwide. The feelings of hunger and satiety are stimulated by the “gut-brain axis”, where a crucial role is played by gastrointestinal hormones: glucagon-like peptide 1, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, pancreatic polypeptide, peptide YY, oxyntomodulin, cholecystokinin and ghrelin. These hormones affect not only the functioning of the digestive tract, but also might have effects on insulin secretion and are mediators which affect brain areas involved in the regulation of food intake. The effect of their actions can be antagonistic as well as an additive or synergistic, and their secretion is dependent on many factors, such as dietary nutrients or the energy state of the body. Changes in circulating gut hormones concentrations result in activation of various pathways primarily within the hypothalamus and brain stem areas, which modulate feeding behaviour and a number of metabolic processes.
Fixed Energy Universality for Generalized Wigner Matrices

We prove the Wigner‐Dyson‐Mehta conjecture at fixed energy in the bulk of the spectrum for generalized symmetric and Hermitian Wigner matrices. Previous results concerning the universality of random matrices either require an averaging in the energy parameter or they hold only for Hermitian matrices if the energy parameter is fixed. We develop a homogenization theory of the Dyson Brownian motion and show that microscopic universality follows from mesoscopic statistics. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Muscle Atrophy Reversed by Growth Factor Activation of Satellite Cells in a Mouse Muscle Atrophy Model

Muscular dystrophies comprise a large group of inherited disorders that lead to progressive muscle wasting. We wanted to investigate if targeting satellite cells can enhance muscle regeneration and thus increase muscle mass. We treated mice with hepatocyte growth factor and leukemia inhibitory factor under three conditions: normoxia, hypoxia and during myostatin deficiency. We found that hepatocyte growth factor treatment led to activation of the Akt/mTOR/p70S6K protein synthesis pathway, up-regulation of the myognic transcription factors MyoD and myogenin, and subsequently the negative growth control factor, myostatin and atrophy markers MAFbx and MuRF1. Hypoxia-induced atrophy was partially restored by hepatocyte growth factor combined with leukemia inhibitory factor treatment. Dividing satellite cells were three-fold increased in the treatment group compared to control. Finally, we demonstrated that myostatin regulates satellite cell activation and myogenesis in vivo following treatment, consistent with previous findings in vitro. Our results suggest, not only a novel in vivo pharmacological treatment directed specifically at activating the satellite cells, but also a myostatin dependent mechanism that may contribute to the progressive muscle wasting seen in severely affected patients with muscular dystrophy and significant on-going regeneration. This treatment could potentially be applied to many conditions that feature muscle wasting to increase muscle bulk and strength.
Impact of Statewide Program To Promote Appropriate Antimicrobial Drug Use

The Wisconsin Antibiotic Resistance Network (WARN) was launched in 1999 to educate physicians and the public about judicious antimicrobial drug use. Public education included radio and television advertisements, posters, pamphlets, and presentations at childcare centers. Physician education included mailings, susceptibility reports, practice guidelines, satellite conferences, and presentations. We analyzed antimicrobial prescribing data for primary care physicians in Wisconsin and Minnesota (control state). Antimicrobial prescribing declined 19.8% in Minnesota and 20.4% in Wisconsin from 1998 to 2003. Prescribing by internists declined significantly more in Wisconsin than Minnesota, but the opposite was true for pediatricians. We conclude that the secular trend of declining antimicrobial drug use continued through 2003, but a large-scale educational program did not generate greater reductions in Wisconsin despite improved knowledge. State and local organizations should consider a balanced approach that includes limited statewide educational activities with increasing emphasis on local, provider-level interventions and policy development to promote careful antimicrobial drug use.