Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potential fluid biomarkers for pathological brain changes in Alzheimer's disease: Implication for the screening of cognitive frailty

Cognitive frailty (CF) overlaps with early neuropathological alterations associated with aging-related major neurocognitive disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Fluid biomarkers for these pathological brain alterations allow for early diagnosis in the preclinical stages of AD, and for objective prognostic assessments in clinical intervention trials. These biomarkers may also be helpful in the screening of CF. The present study reviewed the literature and identified systematic reviews of cohort studies and other authoritative reports. The selection criteria for potentially suitable fluid biomarkers included: i) Frequent use in studies of fluid-derived markers and ii) evidence of novel measurement techniques for fluid-derived markers. The present study focused on studies that assessed these biomarkers in AD, mild cognitive impairment and non-AD demented subjects. At present, widely used fluid biomarkers include cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), total tau, phosphorylated tau and amyloid-β levels. With the development of novel measurement techniques and improvements in understanding regarding the mechanisms underlying aging-related major neurocognitive disorders, numerous novel biomarkers associated with various aspects of AD neuropathology are being explored. These include specific measurements of Aβ oligomer or monomer forms, tau proteins in the peripheral plasma and CSF, and novel markers of synaptic dysfunction, neuronal damage and apoptosis, neuronal activity alteration, neuroinflammation, blood brain barrier dysfunction, oxidative stress, metabolites, mitochondrial function and aberrant lipid metabolism. The proposed panels of fluid biomarkers may be useful in the early diagnosis of AD, prediction of the progression of AD from preclinical stages to the dementia stage, and the differentiation of AD from non-AD dementia. In combination with physical frailty, the present study surmised that these biomarkers may also be used as biomarkers for CF, thus contribute to discovering causes and informing interventions for cognitive impairment in individuals with CF.
Combining multiple evidence from different types of thesaurus for query expansion

Automatic query expansion has been known to be the most important method in overcoming the word mismatch problem in information retrieval. Thesauri have long been used by many researchers as a tool for query expansion. However only one type of thesaurus has generally been used. In this paper we analyze the characteristics of di erent thesaurus types and propose a method to combine them for query expansion. Experiments using the TREC collection proved the e ectiveness of our method over those using one type of thesaurus.
A Guidance-Faculty Study of Student Withdrawals

The widespread philosophy and goal of a useful education for progres sively more students has led educators to inquire into the progress of their respective schools toward this end, with the result that numerous studies on drop-outs and the holding power of schools have appeared. Particularly is this problem pertinent to the secondary schools since it is here that ex pansion has most urgently dictated readjustment. In an effort to evaluate in part its school's progress toward providing "for every child, regardless of ability or environment, the opportunity to develop to his highest capacity . so that he will become an efficient member of a democratic society . " the Austin High School Guidance Department, with the aid of vir tually the entire faculty, undertook the study of its withdrawing students.
Risk Factors and Viruses Associated With Hospitalization Due to Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Canadian Inuit Children: A Case-Control Study

Objectives: To examine risk factors for lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) hospital admission in the Canadian Arctic. Methods: This was a case-control study during a 14-month period among children less than 2 years of age. Cases were admitted to the Baffin Regional Hospital in Iqaluit, Nunavut with LRTI. Controls were age matched and came from Iqaluit and 2 communities. Odds ratios (ORs) of hospital admission for LRTI were estimated through multivariate conditional logistic regression modeling for following risk factors: smoking in pregnancy, Inuit race, prematurity, adoption status, breast-feeding, overcrowding, and residing outside of Iqaluit. Viruses in nasophayngeal aspirates were sought at the time of each hospital admission. Results: There were 101 age-matched cases and controls. The following risk factors were significantly associated with an increased risk of admission for LRTI (adjusted OR): smoking in pregnancy (OR = 4.0; 95% CI: 1.1–14.6), residence outside of Iqaluit (OR = 2.7; 95% CI: 1.0–7.2), full Inuit race (OR = 3.8; 95% CI: 1.1–12.8), and overcrowding (OR = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.1–6.1). Non–breast-fed children had a 3.6-fold risk of being admitted for LRTI (95% CI: 1.2–11.5) and non–breast-fed adopted children had a 4.4-fold increased risk (95% CI: 1.1–17.6) when compared with breast-fed, nonadopted children. Prematurity was not associated with an increased risk of admission. Viruses were identified in 88 (72.7%) of admissions, with respiratory syncytial virus being identified in the majority of admissions, 62 (51.2%). Multiple viruses were isolated in 19 (15.7%) admissions. Conclusions: Smoking during pregnancy, place of residence, Inuit race, lack of breast-feeding, and overcrowding were all independently associated with increased risk of hospital admission for LRTI among Inuit children less than 2 years of age. Future research on the role of adoption and genetics on the health of Inuit children are required.
Excitation and inhibition in recurrent networks mediate collision avoidance in Xenopus tadpoles

Information processing in the vertebrate brain is thought to be mediated through distributed neural networks, but it is still unclear how sensory stimuli are encoded and detected by these networks, and what role synaptic inhibition plays in this process. Here we used a collision avoidance behavior in Xenopus tadpoles as a model for stimulus discrimination and recognition. We showed that the visual system of the tadpole is selective for behaviorally relevant looming stimuli, and that the detection of these stimuli first occurs in the optic tectum. By comparing visually guided behavior, optic nerve recordings, excitatory and inhibitory synaptic currents, and the spike output of tectal neurons, we showed that collision detection in the tadpole relies on the emergent properties of distributed recurrent networks within the tectum. We found that synaptic inhibition was temporally correlated with excitation, and did not actively sculpt stimulus selectivity, but rather it regulated the amount of integration between direct inputs from the retina and recurrent inputs from the tectum. Both pharmacological suppression and enhancement of synaptic inhibition disrupted emergent selectivity for looming stimuli. Taken together these findings suggested that, by regulating the amount of network activity, inhibition plays a critical role in maintaining selective sensitivity to behaviorally‐relevant visual stimuli.
DIABETIC STUDIES The Review of Effects of Different Protein Sources on Plasminogen Inhibitor-1 and Factor VII Coagulant Activity Added to a Fat-Rich Meal in Type 2 Diabetes

BACKGROUND: Exaggerated postprandial triglyceride concentration is believed to be atherogenic, and to influence the risk of thrombosis. Both elevated plasminogen inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) and increased factor VII coagulant activity (FVIIc) are potential important contributors to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes. AIM: We aimed to investigate the effect of adding four different protein types (i.e. casein, whey, cod, and gluten) to a fat-rich meal on postprandial responses of PAI-1 and FVIIc in type 2 diabetic patients. METHODS: Twelve type 2 diabetic patients ingested four isocaloric test meals in random order. The test meals contained 100 g of butter and 45 g of carbohydrate in combination with 45 g of casein (Cas-meal), whey (Whemeal), cod (Cod-meal), or gluten (Glu-meal), respectively. Plasma concentrations of PAI-1 and FVIIc were measured before meal, and at regular intervals for 8-h postprandially. RESULTS: The postprandial PAI-1 concentration decreased significantly by 49% to 56% in response to the four test meals. There were no significant differences between the outcomes from the four test-meals. The FVIIc levels decreased by 8% to 11% after the meals. Again, we observed no significant differences in outcomes between the four protein-enriched meals. CONCLUSIONS: The four proteins casein, whey, cod, and gluten, added to a fat-rich meal, all decreased the PAI-1 and FVIIc concentrations postprandially in type 2 diabetic subjects. However, postprandial levels of PAI-1 and FVIIc were not acutely influenced by the protein source.
Intelligent Optimization via Learnable Evolution Model

A new method for optimizing complex functions and systems is described that employs learnable evolution model (LEM), a form of non-Darwinian evolutionary computation guided by machine learning. LEM's main novelties are operators for creating new individuals that include hypothesis generation, which learns rules indicating subareas in the search space likely containing the optimum, and hypothesis instantiation, which populates these subareas with new candidate solutions. LEM3, the newest and most advanced implementation of learnable evolution, is briefly described and experimentally compared with other evolutionary computation programs on selected function optimization problems. We also describe two specialized LEM-based systems for heat exchanger optimization
Round Numbers as Goals

Where do people’s reference points come from? We conjectured that round numbers in performance scales act as reference points and that individuals exert effort to perform just above rather than just below such numbers. In Study 1, we found that professional baseball players modify their behavior as the season is about to end, seeking to finish with a batting average just above rather than below . 300. In Study 2, we found that high school students are more likely to retake the SAT after obtaining a score just below rather than above a round number. In Study 3, we conducted an experiment employing hypothetical scenarios and found that participants reported a greater desire to exert more effort when their performance was just short of rather than just above a round number.
Optimization of outer-rotor hybrid excitation FSM for in-wheel direct drive electric vehicle

Research on flux switching machines (FSMs) has been an attractive topic recently due to tremendous advantages of robust rotor structure, high torque, and high power capability that suits for intense applications. However, most of the investigations are focusing on inner rotor structure which incongruous for direct drive applications. In this paper, the design optimization and performance analysis of 12Slot-14Pole hybrid excitation flux switching machine (HEFSM) with outer-rotor configuration are conducted for in-wheel direct drive electric vehicle (EV). Similar with conventional inner-rotor HEFSMs, two magnetic flux sources of permanent magnet (PM) and field excitation coil (FEC) have extra advantage of variable flux control capability, while the outer-rotor configuration has ability to provide much higher torque and power density suitable for in-wheel EV drives. Based on some design restriction and specification, design refinements are conducted on the initial design machine by using deterministic optimization approach. The final design machine has achieved maximum torque and power density of 335.08Nm and 5.93kW/kg, respectively, slightly better than inner rotor HEFSM and interior permanent magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM) design for EV.
Reliability of a Newly-Developed Immunochromatography Diagnostic Kit for Pandemic Influenza A/H1N1pdm Virus: Implications for Drug Administration

Background For the diagnosis of seasonal influenza, clinicians rely on point-of-care testing (POCT) using commercially available kits developed against seasonal influenza viruses. However, POCT has not yet been established for the diagnosis of pandemic influenza A virus (H1N1pdm) infection due to the low sensitivity of the existing kits for H1N1pdm. Methodology/Principal Findings An immunochromatography (IC) test kit was developed based on a monoclonal antibody against H1N1pdm, which does not cross-react with seasonal influenza A or B viruses. The efficacy of this kit (PDM-IC kit) for the diagnosis of H1N1pdm infection was compared with that of an existing kit for the detection of seasonal influenza viruses (SEA-IC kit). Nasal swabs (n = 542) were obtained from patients with flu-like syndrome at 13 clinics in Osaka, Japan during the winter of 2010/2011. Among the 542 samples, randomly selected 332 were further evaluated for viral presence by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The PDM-IC kit versus the SEA-IC kit showed higher sensitivity to and specificity for H1N1pdm, despite several inconsistencies between the two kits or between the kits and RT-PCR. Consequently, greater numbers of false-negative and false-positive cases were documented when the SEA-IC kit was employed. Significant correlation coefficients for sensitivity, specificity, and negative prediction values between the two kits were observed at individual clinics, indicating that the results could be affected by clinic-related techniques for sampling and kit handling. Importantly, many patients (especially influenza-negative cases) were prescribed anti-influenza drugs that were incongruous with their condition, largely due to physician preference for patient responses to questionnaires and patient symptomology, as opposed to actual viral presence. Conclusions/Significance Concomitant use of SEA-IC and PDM-IC kits increased the likelihood of correct influenza diagnosis. Increasing the credibility of POCT is anticipated to decrease the inappropriate dispensing of anti-influenza drugs, thereby minimizing the emergence of drug-resistant H1N1pdm strains.
Assessment for Learning around the World What Would it Mean to Be Internationally Competitive?

Image: Photos.com S ince the release of A Nation at Risk, the U.S. has launched a set of wide-ranging reforms with the intention of better preparing all children for the higher educational demands of life and work in the 21st century. All 50 states have developed standards for learning and tests to evaluate student progress. No Child Left Behind reinforced using test-based accountability to raise achievement, yet the U.S. has fallen further behind on international assessments of student learning since the law was passed in 2001. On the Program in International Student Assessment (PISA) tests in 2006, the U.S. ranked 35th among the top 40 countries in mathematics and Assessment for Learning Around the World WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO BE INTERNATIONALLY COMPETITIVE?
Academic Procrastination: Psychological Antecedents Revisited

Objective Taking Beswick, Rothblum, and Mann's seminal paper on academic procrastination as a starting point, we provide an updated review of academic procrastination and consolidate this knowledge with a procrastination typology. The goal of our study was to show that while the degree of procrastination is largely contingent on the trait of conscientiousness, the other four major personality traits determine how procrastination manifests. According to implications of need theory, we operationalised these four traits by the reasons students gave and the activities students pursued while procrastinating. Method Participants were 167 students of an undergraduate introductory psychology course. It was designed as a self‐directed computerised course enabled considerable amounts of procrastination. Students filled out a Big Five Inventory and wrote a short essay detailing: (a) what reason they saw as causing them to procrastinate, and (b) what activities they pursued while procrastinating. The reasons and activities were coded according to their fit to the personality traits. Results Conscientiousness and its facets were the strongest correlates with procrastination. Moreover, in regression analyses, the other personality traits did not incrementally predict procrastination. However, the reasons ascribed to procrastination and the off‐task activities pursued reflected the other personality traits. Conclusion While conscientiousness is the core for all procrastination types, the other personality traits determine its phenomenology. Thus, the prominent understanding of a neurotic procrastinator might be misleading for research and practice. In fact, counsellors need to first address the conscientiousness core of procrastination and then match the subsequent interventions to the specific procrastination type.
Novel Ring Cleavage Products in the Biotransformation of Biphenyl by the Yeast Trichosporon mucoides

ABSTRACT The yeast Trichosporon mucoides, grown on either glucose or phenol, was able to transform biphenyl into a variety of mono-, di-, and trihydroxylated derivatives hydroxylated on one or both aromatic rings. While some of these products accumulated in the supernatant as dead end products, the ortho-substituted dihydroxylated biphenyls were substrates for further oxidation and ring fission. These ring fission products were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses as phenyl derivatives of hydroxymuconic acids and the corresponding pyrones. Seven novel products out of eight resulted from the oxidation and ring fission of 3,4-dihydroxybiphenyl. Using this compound as a substrate, 2-hydroxy-4-phenylmuconic acid, (5-oxo-3-phenyl-2,5-dihydrofuran-2-yl)acetic acid, and 3-phenyl-2-pyrone-6-carboxylic acid were identified. Ring cleavage of 3,4,4′-trihydroxybiphenyl resulted in the formation of [5-oxo-3-(4′-hydroxyphenyl)-2,5-dihydrofuran-2-yl]acetic acid, 4-(4′-hydroxyphenyl)-2-pyrone-6-carboxylic acid, and 3-(4′-hydroxyphenyl)-2-pyrone-6-carboxylic acid. 2,3,4-Trihydroxybiphenyl was oxidized to 2-hydroxy-5-phenylmuconic acid, and 4-phenyl-2-pyrone-6-carboxylic acid was the transformation product of 3,4,5-trihydroxybiphenyl. All these ring fission products were considerably less toxic than the hydroxylated derivatives.
T‐cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia mimicking dermatomyositis

A 57‐year‐old man was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) during routine hematologic evaluation. Two months later, the patient developed a mildly pruritic periorbital eruption and erythematous plaques in a photosensitive distribution. A skin biopsy at an outside institution showed nonspecific histopathologic changes. The patient was diagnosed with amyopathic dermatomyositis and treated with prednisone 1 mg/kg/day with no improvement. The patient was subsequently admitted to our institution for CLL chemotherapy.
Exploring the within- and between-class correlation distributions for tumor classification

To many biomedical researchers, effective tumor classification methods such as the support vector machine often appear like a black box not only because the procedures are complex but also because the required specifications, such as the choice of a kernel function, suffer from a clear guidance either mathematically or biologically. As commonly observed, samples within the same tumor class tend to be more similar in gene expression than samples from different tumor classes. But can this well-received observation lead to a useful procedure of classification and prediction? To address this issue, we first conceived a statistical framework and derived general conditions to serve as the theoretical foundation that supported the aforementioned empirical observation. Then we constructed a classification procedure that fully utilized the information obtained by comparing the distributions of within-class correlations with between-class correlations via Kullback–Leibler divergence. We compared our approach with many machine-learning techniques by applying to 22 binary- and multiclass gene-expression datasets involving human cancers. The results showed that our method performed as efficiently as support vector machine and Naïve Bayesian and outperformed other learning methods (decision trees, linear discriminate analysis, and k-nearest neighbor). In addition, we conducted a simulation study and showed that our method would be more effective if the arriving new samples are subject to the often-encountered baseline shift or increased noise level problems. Our method can be extended for general classification problems when only the similarity scores between samples are available.
Impact of hepatitis B virus infection on the progression of AIDS and mortality in HIV-infected individuals: a cohort study and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND The effect of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on the natural history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease remains uncertain. Therefore, a retrospective cohort study was conducted to examine the influence of HIV-HBV coinfection on AIDS development and overall mortality. Moreover, our results were added to those of previous studies in a literature-based meta-analysis. METHODS Serum samples obtained from HIV-seropositive patients from 1984 through 2003 were retrospectively tested for hepatitis B surface antigen. Multivariable analyses were performed using Poisson and logistic regression models. For meta-analytic purposes, eligible articles were identified and relevant data were abstracted. Pooled estimates of effect were calculated applying fixed and random effects models. RESULTS The prevalence of chronic HBV infection (documented hepatitis B surface antigen seropositivity for >6 months) among 1729 HIV-positive patients was approximately 6%. The multivariable analyses in our primary study revealed no significant impact of concomitant HIV-HBV infection on progression to AIDS and all-cause mortality. However, a meta-analysis performed on data from 12,382 patients enrolled in 11 studies revealed a significant effect of HIV-HBV coinfection on overall mortality (pooled effect estimate, 1.36; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-1.64). The increased rate of death among coinfected individuals was observed in the meta-analyses of studies conducted both before (pooled effect estimate, 1.60; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-2.39) and after (pooled effect estimate, 1.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-1.60) commencement of highly active antiretroviral therapy. CONCLUSIONS HIV-HBV coinfection seems to affect all-cause mortality, and strategies to reduce liver damage in patients coinfected with HIV and HBV are justified.