Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serologic status of women in an urban population in Brazil before and after rubella immunization campaign using routine screening data.

BACKGROUND Serologic immunity studies are necessary to evaluate immunization policies for rubella control and prevention of congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), and serologic data from regular testing for clinical follow-up can be used to complement surveillance information. METHODS To assess immunity to rubella after an immunization campaign in 12-29-year-old girls and women, we retrospectively reviewed immunoglobulin (Ig) G tests performed from 2000 to 2003 in 9610 serum samples from pregnant subjects in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Serologic tests for rubella were performed using commercial enzyme immunoassays. RESULTS Rubella IgG were positive in 83.9% of serum samples collected before the campaign and in 92.5% after the campaign. The proportion of seropositive subjects was inversely related to age (P < .001). The proportion of immune girls or women aged 12-29 years, targeted by the campaign, was significantly increased after the campaign, whereas women aged ≥ 30 years, not targeted by the campaign, had no change in serologic immunity. Geometric mean titers for rubella IgG were significantly higher among pregnant girls and women after the vaccination campaign. CONCLUSIONS The convenience sample provided evidence of increased population immunity among the girls and women targeted by the campaign, but with a coverage of only 83% there remains a significant population at risk for rubella and thus congenital rubella syndrome.
Current views on the mechanisms of immune responses to trauma and infection

According to the World Health Organization, post-traumatic mortality rates are still very high and show an increasing tendency. Disorders of innate immune response that may increase the risk of serious complications play a key role in the immunological system response to trauma and infection. The mechanism of these disorders is multifactorial and is still poorly understood. The changing concepts of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and compensatory anti-inflammatory response syndrome (CARS) early inflammatory response, presented in this work, have been extended to genetic studies. Overexpression of genes and increased production of immune response mediators are among the main causes of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Changes in gene expression detected early after injury precede the occurrence of subsequent complications with a typical clinical picture. Rapid depletion of energy resources leads to immunosuppression and persistent inflammation and immune suppression catabolism syndrome (PICS). Early diagnosis of immune disorders and appropriate nutritional therapy can significantly reduce the incidence of complications, length of hospital stay, and mortality. The study presents the development of knowledge and current views explaining the mechanisms of the immune response to trauma and infection.
Contrast radiology, computed tomography and ultrasonography in detecting internal fistulas and intra-abdominal abscesses in Crohn's disease: a prospective comparative study

OBJECTIVES:Accurate assessment of intestinal complications of Crohn's disease (CD) is extremely important, both in clinical practice and in trials. The accuracy of radiographic and ultrasonographic diagnosis of internal fistulae and abscesses complicating CD is still debated and requires further investigation. We compared ultrasonography (US) and contrast radiography in detecting intestinal fistulae and abscesses complicating CD.METHODS:A prospective study was carried out on 625 consecutive CD patients who underwent complete evaluation of the intestinal tract by means of colonoscopy and double contrast barium enema, small bowel enteroclysis, and abdominal ultrasound (US). Computed tomography (CT) was also carried out in cases of severe CD with clinical suspicion of septic complications. The accuracy of US, barium radiology, and CT in detecting internal fistulae and abscesses was assessed by comparing results with intraoperative findings in 128 consecutive patients who underwent operation immediately after diagnostic workup.RESULTS:Internal fistulae and intra-abdominal abscesses were identified intraoperatively in 56 (43.7%) and 26 (20.3%) patients, respectively. Diagnostic accuracy of US and x-ray studies in detecting internal fistulae was comparable (85.2% vs 84.8%), with sensitivity of 71.4% for US and 69.6% for x-ray studies, and specificity of 95.8% for both. Combination of radiographic techniques and US significantly improved diagnostic accuracy in detection of internal fistulae. In severe cases of CD with clinical suspicion of septic complications such as abdominal mass or fever, the accuracy of US, barium studies, and CT was 88.5%, 80.3%, and 77%, respectively (p = ns). The presence of abscesses was correctly detected in 90.9% of cases by means of US and in 86.4% by CT (p = ns), although accuracy was higher for CT (91.8%) than for US (86.9%) because of false positive results in US studies.CONCLUSION:Despite the fact that barium radiology is widely considered the method of choice in detection of internal fistulae, accuracy is not entirely satisfactory. Comparable accuracy was found for US and CT. The combination of barium and US studies, or the sole use of US in more CD patients with more severe disease, can reliably detect most internal fistulae and abscesses.
Cytopathogenicity of Balamuthia mandrillaris, an Opportunistic Causative Agent of Granulomatous Amebic Encephalitis

ABSTRACT. Balamuthia mandrillaris is a free‐living ameba and an opportunistic agent of lethal granulomatous amebic encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Balamuthia mandrillaris is highly cytopathic but, in contrast to the related Acanthamoeba, does not feed on bacteria and seems to feed only on eukaryotic cells instead. Most likely, the cytopathogenicity of B. mandrillaris is inseparable from its infectivity and pathogenicity. To better understand the mechanisms of B. mandrillaris cytopathogenicity, an assay for measuring amebic cytolytic activity was adapted that is based on the release of a reporter enzyme by damaged target cells. The ameba is shown to lyse murine mastocytoma cells very efficiently in a time‐ and dose‐related manner. Furthermore, experiments involving semipermeable membranes and phagocytosis inhibitors indicate that the cytolytic activity of B. mandrillaris is essentially cell contact‐dependent. Standard and fluorescence light microscopy, as well as scanning and transmission electron microscopy support and extend these findings at the ultrastructural level.
l-Arginine Depletion in Preeclampsia Orients Nitric Oxide Synthase Toward Oxidant Species

Abstract—Less nitric oxide (NO)-dependent vasodilation and excess formation of reactive oxygen species could explain poor placenta perfusion in preeclampsia, but the pathways involved are unknown. We tested the hypothesis that reduced NO activity and increased oxidative stress in preeclamptic placenta is related to a low bioavailability of l-arginine. Placental endothelial NO synthase (ecNOS) expression (by immunoperoxidase) and activity (by diaphorase and [3H]L-citrulline formation) were comparable in normotensive pregnancy and in preeclampsia, whereas nitrotyrosine staining, a marker of peroxynitrite, was stronger in preeclamptic villi, confirming previously reported data. Oxidative tissue damage was documented in preeclamptic villi by strong 4-hydroxynonenal-lysine staining (by immunoperoxidase), which closely colocalized with nitrotyrosine. Concentration of the NO precursor l-arginine (by HPLC) in umbilical blood and in villous tissue was lower in preeclampsia than in normotensive pregnancy. This was not caused by a defective l-arginine transport, because gene expression of the CAT-1, 4F2hc, and LAT-1 cationic amino acid transporters (by real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR]) was normal. Instead, gene expression (by real-time RT-PCR) and protein tissue content (by immunoperoxidase and Western blot) of arginase II—the enzyme that degrades arginine to ornithine—were higher in preeclamptic villi than in normotensive pregnancy. These results provide a biochemical explanation for defective NO activity and increased oxidative stress in preeclamptic placenta. In normal placenta, adequate concentration of l-arginine orients ecNOS toward NO. In preeclampsia, a lower than normal l-arginine concentration caused by arginase II overexpression redirects ecNOS toward peroxynitrite.
Portfolio diversification: alive and well in Euro-land!

Diversification opportunities in Euro-land appear to have improved significantly since the advent of the euro, thus invalidating the prospects identified in the last years of the convergence-to-EMU period. Low frequency movements in the time series of return dispersions are identified suggestive of cycles and long swings in return correlations. The most recent post-euro period is clearly associated with an important upswing with return dispersions exceeding for the first time their peaks of the early 1990s.
Vessel Pattern Knowledge Discovery from AIS Data: A Framework for Anomaly Detection and Route Prediction

Understanding maritime traffic patterns is key to Maritime Situational Awareness applications, in particular, to classify and predict activities. Facilitated by the recent build-up of terrestrial networks and satellite constellations of Automatic Identification System (AIS) receivers, ship movement information is becoming increasingly available, both in coastal areas and open waters. The resulting amount of information is increasingly overwhelming to human operators, requiring the aid of automatic processing to synthesize the behaviors of interest in a clear and effective way. Although AIS data are only legally required for larger vessels, their use is growing, and they can be effectively used to infer different levels of contextual information, from the characterization of ports and off-shore platforms to spatial and temporal distributions of routes. An unsupervised and incremental learning approach to the extraction of maritime movement patterns is presented here to convert from raw data to information supporting decisions. This is a basis for automatically detecting anomalies and projecting current trajectories and patterns into the future. The proposed methodology, called TREAD (Traffic Route Extraction and Anomaly Detection) was developed for different levels of intermittency (i.e., sensor coverage and performance), persistence (i.e., time lag between subsequent observations) and data sources (i.e., ground-based and space-based receivers).
Decoupling Intensity Radiated by the Emitter in Distance Estimation from Camera to IR Emitter

Various models using radiometric approach have been proposed to solve the problem of estimating the distance between a camera and an infrared emitter diode (IRED). They depend directly on the radiant intensity of the emitter, set by the IRED bias current. As is known, this current presents a drift with temperature, which will be transferred to the distance estimation method. This paper proposes an alternative approach to remove temperature drift in the distance estimation method by eliminating the dependence on radiant intensity. The main aim was to use the relative accumulated energy together with other defined models, such as the zeroth-frequency component of the FFT of the IRED image and the standard deviation of pixel gray level intensities in the region of interest containing the IRED image. By using the abovementioned models, an expression free of IRED radiant intensity was obtained. Furthermore, the final model permitted simultaneous estimation of the distance between the IRED and the camera and the IRED orientation angle. The alternative presented in this paper gave a 3% maximum relative error over a range of distances up to 3 m.
Markers of Cardiac Dysfunction in Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

AbstractMarkers of cardiac dysfunction such as amino terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NTpro-BNP) and high sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) may be associated with dementia. However, limited data exist on their association with either pre-dementia stages, that is, cognitive impairment no dementia (CIND), or the burden of cerebrovascular diseases (CeVD). We therefore, examined the association of these biomarkers of cardiac dysfunction with CeVD in both CIND and dementia.A case–control study, with cases recruited from memory clinics and controls from memory clinics and community. All subjects underwent collection of blood samples, neuropsychological assessment, and neuroimaging. Subjects were classified as CIND and dementia based on clinical criteria whilst significant CeVD was defined as the presence of cortical infarcts and/or more than 2 lacunes and/or confluent white matter lesions in two regions of brain on Age-Related White Matter Changes Scale.We included a total of 35 controls (mean age: 65.9 years), 78 CIND (mean age: 70.2 years) and 80 cases with dementia (mean age: 75.6 years). Plasma concentrations of hs-cTnT were associated significantly with CeVD in both CIND (odds ratios [OR]: 9.05; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.64–49.79) and dementia (OR: 16.89; 95%CI: 2.02–142.67). In addition, NTpro-BNP was associated with dementia with CeVD (OR: 7.74; 95%CI: 1.23–48.58). These associations were independent of other vascular risk factors.In this study, we showed that plasma NTproBNP and hs-cTnT are associated with dementia and CIND, only when accompanied by presence of CeVD.
Diagnosis with Behavioral Modes

Diagnostic tasks involve identifying faulty components from observations of symptomatic device behavior. This paper presents a general diagnostic theory that uses the perspective of diagnosis as ideniifying consisieni modes of behavior, correct or faulty. Our theory draws on the intuitions behind recent diagnostic theories to identify faulty components without necessarily knowing how they fail. To derive additional diagnostic discrimination we use the models for behavioral modes together with probabilistic information about the likelihood of each mode of behavior.
Self-efficacy and educational development

The ultimate goal of the educational system is to shift to the individual the burden of pursuing his [sic] own education. – John W. Gardner (1963, p. 21), former U.S. secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare With few exceptions, the most demanding cognitive and motivational challenge that growing children face concerns their development of academic competencies. This formidable task, which begins for most youngsters even before they enter school, occupies most of their waking hours until adulthood. It is public, competitive, and self-defining in the sense that academic records predetermine public reactions and occupational paths. Within this educational crucible, children acquire their self-conceptions of academic agency. It is their growing sense of self-efficacy and purpose that serve as major personal influences in their ultimate level of accomplishment. To enable these youth to reach John Gardner's (1963) goal of self-education, schools must go beyond teaching intellectual skills – to foster students' personal development of the self-beliefs and self-regulatory capabilities to educate themselves throughout a lifetime. Although the role of self-conceptions in academic performance has long been recognized (McCombs, 1989), their measurement and scientific study has been hampered historically by a variety of conceptual and psychometric problems (Wylie, 1968; Zimmerman, 1989b). This impasse was surmounted in 1977 with Bandura's seminal treatise that proposed a theory of the origins, mediating mechanisms, and diverse effects of beliefs of personal efficacy. It also provided guidelines for measurement of self-efficacy beliefs for different domains of functioning.
Error recovery in a micro-electrode-dot-array digital microfluidic biochip

A digital microfluidic biochip (DMFB) is an attractive technology platform for automating laboratory procedures in biochemistry. However, today's DMFBs suffer from several limitations: (i) constraints on droplet size and the inability to vary droplet volume in a fine-grained manner; (ii) the lack of integrated sensors for real-time detection; (iii) the need for special fabrication processes and the associated reliability/yield concerns. To overcome the above problems, DMFBs based on a micro-electrode-dot-array (MEDA) architecture have been proposed recently, and droplet manipulation on these devices has been experimentally demonstrated. Errors are likely to occur due to defects, chip degradation, and the lack of precision inherent in biochemical experiments. Therefore, an efficient error-recovery strategy is essential to ensure the correctness of assays executed on MEDA biochips. By exploiting MEDA-specific advances in droplet sensing, we present a novel error-recovery technique to dynamically reconfigure the biochip using real-time data provided by on-chip sensors. Local recovery strategies based on probabilistic-timed-automata are presented for various types of errors. A control flow is also proposed to connect local recovery procedures with global error recovery for the complete bioassay. Laboratory experiments using a fabricated MEDA chip are used to characterize the outcomes of key droplet operations. The PRISM model checker and three analytical chemistry benchmarks are used for an extensive set of simulations. Our results highlight the effectiveness of the proposed error-recovery strategy.
African American Women's Responses to Intimate Partner Violence: An Examination of Cultural Context

ABSTRACT This paper examined cultural context influencing response to intimate partner violence (IPV). The authors included five African Americans investigators who provided in-depth analyses of four major studies of IPV. The studies, conducted by the authors over the past 20 years, each included samples of primarily poor African American women and used quantitative and qualitative methodologies with comparative, longitudinal, multi-ethnic, and multi-city case control designs. Study results pertinent to African American women were critically examined for similarities and differences among contextual and cultural variables and for comparisons among women reporting physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Findings from the studies lead to conclusions and implications for the design, measurement, and analysis issues significant for further research within and across racial and ethnic groups of women experiencing IPV.
Do Hardware Cache Flushing Operations Actually Meet Our Expectations?

We investigate how different categories of microarchitectural state on recent ARM and x86 processors can be used for covert timing channels and how effective architecture-provided mechanisms are in closing them. We find that in recent Intel processors there is no effective way for sanitising the state of the branch prediction unit and that, contrary to often held belief, flushing the translation lookaside buffer on Intel processors does nothing to mitigate attacks based on this component. We further show that in both ARM and x86 architectures flushing all the hardware caches is not effective to close cache-based timing channels. The implication of this is that secure sharing of a processor core in these architectures is not possible, irrespective
Phrase-Based Statistical Translation of Programming Languages

Phrase-based statistical machine translation approaches have been highly successful in translating between natural languages and are heavily used by commercial systems (e.g. Google Translate). The main objective of this work is to investigate the applicability of these approaches for translating between programming languages. Towards that, we investigated several variants of the phrase-based translation approach: i) a direct application of the approach to programming languages, ii) a novel modification of the approach to incorporate the grammatical structure of the target programming language (so to avoid generating target programs which do not parse), and iii) a combination of ii) with custom rules added to improve the quality of the translation. To experiment with the above systems, we investigated machine translation from C# to Java. For the training, which takes about 60 hours, we used a parallel corpus of 20,499 C#-to-Java method translations. We then evaluated each of the three systems above by translating 1,000 C# methods. Our experimental results indicate that with the most advanced system, about 60% of the translated methods compile (the top ranked) and out of a random sample of 50 correctly compiled methods, 68% (34 methods) were semantically equivalent to the reference solution.
Cytokine priming of the respiratory burst in human eosinophils is Ca2+ independent and accompanied by induction of tyrosine kinase activity

We report that pretreatment of human eosinophils with GM‐CSF, IL‐3, or IL‐5 enhanced the respiratory burst induced by opsonized particles. In order to gain more insight into the intracellular mechanism(s) involved in cytokine priming, the role of [Ca2+], and tyrosine kinases was studied. Optimal priming concentrations of GM‐CSF, IL‐3, and IL‐5 did not induce a rise in [Ca2+]i, and Ca2+‐depleted eosinophils ([Ca2+]i < 20 nM) were still primed after preincubation with these cytokines. GM‐CSF, IL‐3, and IL‐5 induced phosphorylation of two proteins (102 and 122 kd) on tyrosine residues, as deduced from Western blot analysis with an antiphospho‐ tyrosine monoclonal antibody (4G10). This cytokine‐ stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation was not inhibited under Ca2+‐depleted conditions. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that GM‐CSF, IL‐3, and IL‐5 priming of the opsonized particle‐induced respiratory burst in human eosinophils is completely Ca2+ independent. Moreover the tyrosine phosphorylation of a 102‐kd and a 122‐kd protein is Ca2+ independent, suggesting that this event might be involved in cytokine priming.
Analysis of microbial community functional diversity using sole-carbon-source utilisation profiles - a critique.

Abstract Information on functional diversity (metabolic potential) is essential for understanding the role of microbial communities in different environments. Variations of the commercially available BIOLOG bacterial identification system plates are now widely used to assess functional diversity of microorganisms from environmental samples, based on utilisation patterns of a wide range (up to 95) of single carbon sources. There are many problems as well as benefits of using the approach, but the former are often disregarded. Here the basis of the approach is summarised, including type of plate to use, treatment of samples, replication, incubation conditions, monitoring of plates, and statistical analysis. The pros and cons of its use are critically assessed, inherent biases and limitations are pointed out and methodological difficulties are considered. Possible ways of overcoming some of the difficulties are suggested.
Situational Determinants of Parental Behavior: Effects of Competing Cognitive Activity.

ZUSSMAN, JOHN UNGER. Situational Determinants of Parental Behavior: Effects of Competing Cognitive Activity. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 792-800. 20 mothers and 20 fathers were brought into the laboratory with 2 of their children (1 preschool-age, 1 toddler) and given a cognitive task that competed with child care for their attention. This competing cognitive activity had substantial effects on parental behavior compared to a control phase with no competing task. In general, positive parental behaviors such as interaction, responsiveness, support, and stimulation were withdrawn from the preschool-age children when the parents had a competing activity, while negative behaviors such as interference and criticism/punishment were increased toward the toddlers. The parents also actively generated various strategies to deal with the conflict, such as suggesting new activities and delegating child-care responsibility to the older children.