Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predictors of Levo-dopa induced Dyskinesias in Parkinson's Disease

Background: Levodopa has a superior antiparkinsonian effect than dopamine agonists making it the standard of care for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). During the initial stages, PD patients show a steady response to levodopa. Response fluctuations and levodopa-induced dyskinesias (LID) develop subsequently. The timing and onset of dyskinesias vary among individuals, and there are very few studies identifying the predictors of dyskinesia in India. Aims: We aimed to study the clinical profile, disability, and predictors of LID in a patient with PD. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study of consecutive patients with PD attending our movement disorder clinic. Patients on levodopa treatment with a minimum follow-up of 6 months were included in the study. All patients were observed before and after administration of levodopa to assess onset, duration of action, and timing of dyskinesias. Dyskinesias were video recorded and classified. Bivariate analysis was performed using Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test and multivariate analysis using binary logistic regression. Results: This study recruited 110 patients with PD on levodopa therapy. Thirty-one (28.1%) out of 110 had LID. Of these, 25 patients (80.6%) had on-time dyskinesia, 19 patients (61.3%) had off-time dystonia, and 13 patients (41.9%) had diphasic dyskinesia. Majority had only mild-to-moderate dyskinesia. Incapacitating dyskinesias were during off time, primarily affecting the foot. Age, disease duration, disease severity, duration of treatment, and total dose of levodopa were found to be predictors of LID. Multivariate regression analysis showed younger age and longer duration of levodopa treatment to be independent predictors for LID. Conclusions: LID is fairly common in PD though not severely disabling. Patients with younger age of onset, longer disease duration, and severe disease were more likely to get early LID. We observed the lower prevalence of LID when initiating at lower doses and slow titration of levodopa.
A new Hybrid Discrete Bat Algorithm for Traveling Salesman Problem using ordered crossover and 3-Opt operators for Bat's local search

In this paper we propose a new Hybrid Bat Algorithm to solve the traveling salesman problem (TSP) that has attracted many researchers applying exact and metaheuristic methods trying to solve it. The new proposed method is based on the basics of Bat Algorithm (BA) recently proposed as a new bio-inspired meta-heuristic algorithm. Accordingly, we use the concepts of Swap Operator (SO) and Swap Sequence (SS) to redefine respectively BA position and velocity operators for TSP. Additionally, based on ordered crossover and 3-Opt algorithm, we propose to redefine the Bat's local search method. We compare our algorithm to other state of the art methods from the literature by using benchmark datasets of symmetric TSP from TSPLIB library in order to test its effectiveness. Based on the recorded experiments our method outperforms most of the compared methods.
The impact of fire on the Late Paleozoic Earth system

Analyses of bulk petrographic data indicate that during the Late Paleozoic wildfires were more prevalent than at present. We propose that the development of fire systems through this interval was controlled predominantly by the elevated atmospheric oxygen concentration (p(O2)) that mass balance models predict prevailed. At higher levels of p(O2), increased fire activity would have rendered vegetation with high-moisture contents more susceptible to ignition and would have facilitated continued combustion. We argue that coal petrographic data indicate that p(O2) rather than global temperatures or climate, resulted in the increased levels of wildfire activity observed during the Late Paleozoic and can, therefore, be used to predict it. These findings are based upon analyses of charcoal volumes in multiple coals distributed across the globe and deposited during this time period, and that were then compared with similarly diverse modern peats and Cenozoic lignites and coals. Herein, we examine the environmental and ecological factors that would have impacted fire activity and we conclude that of these factors p(O2) played the largest role in promoting fires in Late Paleozoic peat-forming environments and, by inference, ecosystems generally, when compared with their prevalence in the modern world.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Variable number of tandem repeats in clinical strains of Haemophilus influenzae

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Suzaku observation of the Phoenix Galaxy

In recent years, several Seyfert 2 galaxies have been discovered that change state when observed in X-rays a few years apart, switching from Compton-thin to reflection-dominated or viceversa. We observed a member of this class of "Changing-look" sources, the Phoenix Galaxy, with Suzaku, with the aim of better understanding the nature of the variations. The Suzaku spectrum was analyzed, and the results compared with previous ASCA and XMM-Newton observations. The source was caught in a Compton-thin state, as in XMM-Newton, but differently from ASCA. Comparing the Suzaku and XMM-Newton observations, a variation in the column density of the absorber on a time scale of years is discovered. A similar change, but on much shorter time scales (i.e. ks) may also explain the count-rate variations during the Suzaku observations. A soft excess is also present, likely due to continuum and line emission from photoionized circumnuclear matter.
Interrelation of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Neurodegenerative Disease: Role of TNF

Neuroinflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction are common features of chronic neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system. Both conditions can lead to increased oxidative stress by excessive release of harmful reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS), which further promote neuronal damage and subsequent inflammation resulting in a feed-forward loop of neurodegeneration. The cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a master regulator of the immune system, plays an important role in the propagation of inflammation due to the activation and recruitment of immune cells via its receptor TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1). Moreover, TNFR1 can directly induce oxidative stress by the activation of ROS and RNS producing enzymes. Both TNF-induced oxidative stress and inflammation interact and cooperate to promote neurodegeneration. However, TNF plays a dual role in neurodegenerative disease, since stimulation via its second receptor, TNFR2, is neuroprotective and promotes tissue regeneration. Here we review the interrelation of oxidative stress and inflammation in the two major chronic neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, and discuss the dual role of TNF in promoting neurodegeneration and tissue regeneration via its two receptors.
Islamism, secularization, secularity: the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt as a phenomenon of a secular age

Abstract The paper outlines parallels between the processes of secularization and secularity in the West, as interpreted by José Casanova and Charles Taylor, and Islamism as a modern social and political phenomenon. It focuses on the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s history and ideas and specifically on a number of public documents detailing its social and political vision. I argue that if we define ‘secularization’ not only as the weakening of religious belief, but as the institutional differentiation of modern state structures and the marginalization of religion, and ‘secularity’ as the process whereby faith becomes one option among others and religion becomes an identifiable set of beliefs seen as guidelines for reform, the Brotherhood, similarly to other Islamist entities, is a phenomenon of a ‘secular age’.
A model of the electrophysiological properties of thalamocortical relay neurons.

1. A model of the electrophysiological properties of single thalamocortical relay neurons in the rodent and cat dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus was constructed, based in part on the voltage dependence and kinetics of ionic currents detailed with voltage-clamp techniques. The model made the simplifying assumption of a single uniform compartment and incorporated a fast and transient Na+ current, INa; a persistent, depolarization-activated Na+ current, INap; a low-threshold Ca2+ current, I(T); a high-threshold Ca2+ current, IL; a Ca(2+)-activated K+ current, IC; a transient and depolarization-activated K+ current, IA; a slowly inactivating and depolarization-activated K+ current, IK2; a hyperpolarization-activated cation current, Ih; and K+ and Na+ leak currents IKleak and INaleak. 2. The effects of the various ionic currents on the electrophysiological properties of thalamocortical relay neurons were initially investigated through examining the effect of each current individually on passive membrane responses. The two leak currents, IKleak and INaleak, determined in large part the resting membrane potential and the apparent input resistance of the model neuron. Addition of IA resulted in a delay in the response of the model cell to a depolarizing current pulse, whereas addition of IK2, or IL combined with IC, resulted in a marked and prolonged decrease in the response to depolarization. Addition of Ih resulted in a depolarizing "sag" in response to hyperpolarization, whereas addition of IT resulted in a large rebound Ca2+ spike after hyperpolarization. Finally, addition of INap resulted in enhancement of depolarization. 3. The low-threshold Ca2+ spike of rodent neurons was successfully modeled with the active currents I(T), IL, IA, IC, and IK2. The low-threshold Ca2+ current I(T) generated the low-threshold Ca2+ spike. The transient K+ current IA slowed the rate of rise and reduced the peak amplitude of the low-threshold Ca2+ spike, whereas the slowly inactivating K+ current IK2 contributed greatly to the repolarization of the Ca2+ spike. Activation of IL during the peak of the Ca2+ spike led to activation of IC, which also contributed to the repolarization of the Ca2+ spike. Reduction of any one of the K+ currents resulted in an increase in the other two, thereby resulting in substantially smaller changes in the Ca2+ spike than would be expected on the basis of the amplitude of each ionic current alone. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Sensory-Processing Patterns of Preterm Children at 6 Years of Age

The purpose of this study was to compare the sensory-processing patterns of preterm and term children at 6 years of age. The sensory profile (SP; W. Dunn, 1999) was used to evaluate sensory-processing patterns. We compared the section and factor SP scores of 118 preterm children with those of 158 term children at 6 years of age. Preterm children were significantly different from their term peers in all section and factor scores except the sedentary factor. Birth weight, gestational age, and days spent in the neonatal intensive care unit were correlated with sensory-processing issues. The sensory-processing abilities of preterm children should be evaluated at the age of 6 years and occupational therapy interventions should be implemented when necessary.
AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ROLE OF PARENTS IN PREVENTING HIV/AIDS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

The study investigated the level of awareness of HI V/AIDS among secondary school students in Ijebu-Ode local government, Ogun State, Nigeria. It assessed th precautionary measures taken by secondary schoo l students against the transmission of HIV/AIDS and a ppr ised the activities of parents/counsellors in t he prevention of the disease. Data were collected thro ugh a survey that was conducted among secondary school students in Ijebu-Ode Local Government Area (LGA), Ogun State. The results showed that the leve l of awareness of HIV/AIDS among the students was hig h. Majority of the respondents (72.6%) indicated that they had heard about AIDS. Also, 77.4% believe d that there is AIDS and that it currently has no c ure. With regards to how AIDS can be contacted, 96.1% in dicated through sharing the use of unsterilized sha rp objects like needles, blades e.t. c. , sexual interco urse with an infected person (87.8%), transfusion o f infected blood (77.0%) and from an infected mother to the unborn foetus in the womb (65.2%). Awareness of HIV/AIDS had a significant influence on the prac tice of precautionary measures against the transmis sion of the disease among the respondents (X 2 = 25.113, p<0.05). The activities of parents/counse llors also had a significant influence on the practice of precaution ary measures among the respondents (X 2 = 8.417, p<0.05). The results however showed no significant differenc e between male and female secondary school students in their practice of precautionary measures against the transmission of HIV/AIDS (X 2 = 0.157, p> 0.05). The study concluded that parents/counsellors are in dispensable in the prevention of HIV/AIDS among secondary school students and that effective health ducation is the antidote for the prevention and s pread of the pandemic.
Asynchronous Video Interviews vs. Face-to-Face Interviews For Communication Skill Measurement: A Systematic Study

Communication skill is an important social variable in employment interviews. As recent trends point to, increasingly asynchronous or interface-based video interviews are becoming popular. Also getting increasing interest is automatic hiring analysis, of which automatic communication skill prediction is one such task. In this context, a research gap that exists and which our paper addresses is“Are there any differences in perception of communication skill and the accuracy of automatic prediction of say classes of communicators (e.g. those below average) when we compare interface-based and face-to-face interviews”. To this end, we have collected a set of 106 interview videos from graduate students in both the settings i.e., interface-based and face-to-face. We observe that perception of behavior of participants in interface-based (when no person is involved) vs. face-to-face (when interviewer is involved) according to the external naive observers is slightly different. In this paper, we present an automatic system to predict the communication skill of a person in interface-based and face-to-face interviews by automatically extracting several low level features based on audio, visual and lexical behavior of the participants and using Machine Learning algorithms like Linear Regression, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Logistic Regression. We also make an extensive study of the verbal behavior of the participant when the spoken response is obtained from manual transcriptions and Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) tool. Our best automatic prediction results achieve an accuracy of 80% in interface-based and 83% in face-to-face setting. CCS Concepts •Information systems → Content analysis and feature selection; Speech / audio search; •Applied computing → Law, social and behavioral sciences;
*‘The Meaning of Internal Balance’ Thirty Years on

In his Nobel Prize lecture, Meade advocated allocating demand management policies to pursuing price stability, reformed wage-fixing institutions to achieving full employment and foreign exchange policies to maintaining balance-of-payments equilibrium. But with respect to the first, he advocated a target for nominal income rather than the price level. I evaluate Meade's programme with the benefit of hindsight and in the light of experience with inflation targets. I also discuss some of the issues associated with the application of flexible inflation targets, as well as the extent to which financial stability considerations should affect the conduct of monetary policy. Copyright © Bank of England. Journal compilation © Royal Economic Society 2009.
Credit Card Fraud Detection by Adaptive Neural Data Mining

The prevention of credit card fraud is an important application for prediction techniques. One major obstacle for using neural network training techniques is the high necessary diagnostic quality: Since only one financial transaction of a thousand is invalid no prediction success less than 99.9% is acceptable. Due to these credit card transaction proportions complete new concepts had to be developed and tested on real credit card data. This paper shows how advanced data mining techniques and neural network algorithm can be combined successfully to obtain a high fraud coverage combined with a low false alarm rate.
The Theory of Implementation of Social Choice Rules

Suppose that the goals of a society can be summarized in a social choice rule, i.e., a mapping from relevant underlying parameters to final outcomes. Typically, the underlying parameters (e.g., individual preferences) are private information to the agents in society. The implementation problem is then formulated: under what circumstances can one design a mechanism so that the private information is truthfully elicited and the social optimum ends up being implemented? In designing such a mechanism, appropriate incentives will have to be given to the agents so that they do not wish to misrepresent their information. The theory of implementation or mechanism design formalizes this “social engineering” problem and provides answers to the question just posed. I survey the theory of implementation in this article, emphasizing the results based on two behavioral assumptions for the agents (dominant strategies and Nash equilibrium). Examples discussed include voting, and the allocation of private and public goods under complete and incomplete information.
Could Some Geriatric Characteristics Hinder the Prescription of Anticoagulants in Atrial Fibrillation in the Elderly?

Several studies have reported underprescription of anticoagulants in atrial fibrillation (AF). We conducted an observational study on 142 out of a total of 995 consecutive ≥75 years old patients presenting AF (14%) when admitted in an emergency unit of a general hospital, in search of geriatric characteristics that might be associated with the underprescription of anticoagulation therapy (mostly antivitamin K at the time of the study). The following data was collected from patients presenting AF: medical history including treatment and comorbidities, CHADS2 score, ISAR scale (frailty), Lawton's scale (ADL), GDS scale (mood status), MUST (nutrition), and blood analysis (INR, kidney function, and albumin). Among those patients for who anticoagulation treatment was recommended (73%), only 61% were treated with it. In the group with anticoagulation therapy, the following characteristics were observed more often than in the group without such therapy: a recent (≤6 months) hospitalization and medical treatment including digoxin or based on >3 different drugs. Neither the value of the CHADS2 score, nor the geriatric characteristics could be correlated with the presence or the absence of an anticoagulation therapy. More research is thus required to identify and clarify the relative importance of patient-, physician-, and health care system-related hurdles for the prescription of oral anticoagulation therapy in older patients with AF.
Epigallocatechin Gallate Nanodelivery Systems for Cancer Therapy

Cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality all over the world. Conventional treatments, such as chemotherapy, are generally expensive, highly toxic and lack efficiency. Cancer chemoprevention using phytochemicals is emerging as a promising approach for the treatment of early carcinogenic processes. (−)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is the major bioactive constituent in green tea with numerous health benefits including anti-cancer activity, which has been intensively studied. Besides its potential for chemoprevention, EGCG has also been shown to synergize with common anti-cancer agents, which makes it a suitable adjuvant in chemotherapy. However, limitations in terms of stability and bioavailability have hampered its application in clinical settings. Nanotechnology may have an important role in improving the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics of EGCG. Indeed, several studies have already reported the use of nanoparticles as delivery vehicles of EGCG for cancer therapy. The aim of this article is to discuss the EGCG molecule and its associated health benefits, particularly its anti-cancer activity and provide an overview of the studies that have employed nanotechnology strategies to enhance EGCG’s properties and potentiate its anti-tumoral activity.
Challengers, Elites, and Owning Families: A Social Class Theory of Corporate Acquisitions in the 1960s

This paper analyzes data on 461 large U.S. industrial corporations to determine the factors that led large firms to participate in the wave of diversifying acquisitions that peaked in the late 1960s. We elaborate and test a class theory of corporate acquisitions, maintaining that firms pursued acquisitions in this period when they were commanded by well-networked challengers who were central in elite social networks but relatively marginal with respect to social status, isolated from the resistance of established elites, and free from control of owning families. We also consider a wide range of factors highlighted by alternative accounts of acquisition likelihood, including resource dependence, institutional pressures, and principal-agent conflicts. The results provide support for our main theoretical arguments, even when controls related to alternative explanations are taken into account.
Protection of Macaques with Diverse MHC Genotypes against a Heterologous SIV by Vaccination with a Deglycosylated Live-Attenuated SIV

HIV vaccine development has been hampered by issues such as undefined correlates of protection and extensive diversity of HIV. We addressed these issues using a previously established SIV-macaque model in which SIV mutants with deletions of multiple gp120 N-glycans function as potent live attenuated vaccines to induce near-sterile immunity against the parental pathogenic SIVmac239. In this study, we investigated the protective efficacy of these mutants against a highly pathogenic heterologous SIVsmE543-3 delivered intravenously to rhesus macaques with diverse MHC genotypes. All 11 vaccinated macaques contained the acute-phase infection with blood viral loads below the level of detection between 4 and 10 weeks postchallenge (pc), following a transient but marginal peak of viral replication at 2 weeks in only half of the challenged animals. In the chronic phase, seven vaccinees contained viral replication for over 80 weeks pc, while four did not. Neutralizing antibodies against challenge virus were not detected. Although overall levels of SIV specific T cell responses did not correlate with containment of acute and chronic viral replication, a critical role of cellular responses in the containment of viral replication was suggested. Emergence of viruses with altered fitness due to recombination between the vaccine and challenge viruses and increased gp120 glycosylation was linked to the failure to control SIV. These results demonstrate the induction of effective protective immune responses in a significant number of animals against heterologous virus by infection with deglycosylated attenuated SIV mutants in macaques with highly diverse MHC background. These findings suggest that broad HIV cross clade protection is possible, even in hosts with diverse genetic backgrounds. In summary, results of this study indicate that deglycosylated live-attenuated vaccines may provide a platform for the elucidation of correlates of protection needed for a successful HIV vaccine against diverse isolates.