Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of the prtF1 Gene (Encoding Fibronectin-Binding Protein F1) and the sic Gene (Encoding the Streptococcal Inhibitor of Complement) with emm Types of Group A Streptococci Isolated from Japanese Children with Pharyngitis

ABSTRACT A total of 66 clinical isolates of group A streptococci (GAS) were obtained from 66 Japanese children with pharyngitis. The prtF1 gene (encoding fibronectin-binding protein F1) and the sic gene (encoding the streptococcal inhibitor of complement) were present in 51 (77.3%) and 48 (72.7%) of the 66 isolates, respectively. These results indicated that a high prevalence of two virulence genes, prtF1 and sic, is characteristic of GAS in Japan.
Surveillance for Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Elderly Italian Patients With Cirrhosis: Effects on Cancer Staging and Patient Survival

OBJECTIVES:Surveillance of cirrhotic individuals for early detection of HCC, based on ultrasonography (US) and α1-fetoprotein (AFP) determination, is a recommended practice currently applied also to elderly patients. However, several age-related factors may jeopardize the results of surveillance in these patients. Aim of the study was to evaluate the benefit of surveillance for HCC in elderly individuals.METHODS:Multicenter retrospective study on 1,277 consecutive patients with HCC. The inclusion criteria were: underlying chronic liver disease, description of cancer stage, and modalities of its diagnosis. Among the 1,037 patients fulfilling these criteria, 363 aged ≥70 yr were considered.RESULTS:The tumor was detected during surveillance, based on US and AFP performed every 6–12 months, in 158 individuals (group 1), incidentally in 138 (group 2) and because of symptoms in 67 (group 3). Surveillance reduced the risk of dealing with an advanced cancer (odds ratio (95% Confidence Interval): 0.18 (0.09–0.37) vs group 3, and 0.29 (0.17–0.49) vs group 2). The frequency of effective treatments decreased from group 1 to group 3 (73%, 57%, and 31%, respectively). The main cause of death was HCC progression. The survival corrected for the lead time of group 1 (median: 24 months) was significantly better than the crude survival of group 3 (7 months; p= 0.003) and barely better than that of group 2 (21 months). The latter also showed a better prognosis with respect to group 3 (p= 0.018). CONCLUSIONS:Surveillance for HCC improves the survival of elderly cirrhotic patients by expanding the percentage of cancers amenable to effective treatments.
Neuromodulatory Effects of Auditory Training and Hearing Aid Use on Audiovisual Speech Perception in Elderly Individuals

Although audiovisual (AV) training has been shown to improve overall speech perception in hearing-impaired listeners, there has been a lack of direct brain imaging data to help elucidate the neural networks and neural plasticity associated with hearing aid (HA) use and auditory training targeting speechreading. For this purpose, the current clinical case study reports functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from two hearing-impaired patients who were first-time HA users. During the study period, both patients used HAs for 8 weeks; only one received a training program named ReadMyQuipsTM (RMQ) targeting speechreading during the second half of the study period for 4 weeks. Identical fMRI tests were administered at pre-fitting and at the end of the 8 weeks. Regions of interest (ROI) including auditory cortex and visual cortex for uni-sensory processing, and superior temporal sulcus (STS) for AV integration, were identified for each person through independent functional localizer task. The results showed experience-dependent changes involving ROIs of auditory cortex, STS and functional connectivity between uni-sensory ROIs and STS from pretest to posttest in both cases. These data provide initial evidence for the malleable experience-driven cortical functionality for AV speech perception in elderly hearing-impaired people and call for further studies with a much larger subject sample and systematic control to fill in the knowledge gap to understand brain plasticity associated with auditory rehabilitation in the aging population.
Spatial Distribution of Calcium Entry Evoked by Single Action Potentials within the Presynaptic Active Zone

The nature of presynaptic calcium (Ca2+) signals that initiate neurotransmitter release makes these signals difficult to study, in part because of the small size of specialized active zones within most nerve terminals. Using the frog motor nerve terminal, which contains especially large active zones, we show that increases in intracellular Ca2+ concentration within 1 msec of action potential invasion are attributable to Ca2+ entry through N-type Ca2+ channels and are not uniformly distributed throughout active zone regions. Furthermore, changes in the location and magnitude of Ca2+ signals recorded before and after experimental manipulations (ω-conotoxin GVIA, diaminopyridine, and lowered extracellular Ca2+) support the hypothesis that there is a remarkably low probability of a single Ca2+ channel opening within an active zone after an action potential. The trial-to-trial variability observed in the spatial distribution of presynaptic Ca2+ entry also supports this conclusion, which differs from the conclusions of previous work in other synapses.
SLUM IMPROVEMENT IN THE KUMASI METROPOLIS, GHANA: A REVIEW OF APPROACHES AND RESULTS

The manifestations of slums in Ghanaian cities have raised questions about sustainable urban planning and management. This paper assesses the socio-economic and environmental characteristics of slums in selected suburbs in Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana, and further examines the approaches that have been used over the past decade to control the proliferation of slums. The paper also assesses the environmental impacts of these approaches in dealing with slums. Using empirical data from the selected suburban communities and decentralised government institutions, the study outlines the characteristics and challenges of selected slum interventions in the Kumasi metropolis over the past decade. It is revealed that slum interventions in Kumasi focus on the symptoms of slums and are less sensitive to the environment. This paper therefore proposes solutions that address the root causes of slum development to ensure the creation of environmentally liveable, socially inclusive and sustainable urban environment.
Consequences of Immunodominant Epitope Deletion for Minor Influenza Virus-Specific CD8+-T-Cell Responses

ABSTRACT The extent to which CD8+ T cells specific for other antigens expand to compensate for the mutational loss of the prominent DbNP366 and DbPA224 epitopes has been investigated using H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses modified by reverse genetics. Significantly increased numbers of CD8+ KbPB1703+, CD8+ KbNS2114+, and CD8+ DbPB1-F262+ T cells were found in the spleen and in the inflammatory population recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage from mice that were first given the −NP−PA H1N1 virus intraperitoneally and then challenged intranasally with the homologous H3N2 virus. The effect was less consistent when this prime-boost protocol was reversed. Also, though the quality of the response measured by cytokine staining showed some evidence of modification when these minor CD8+-T-cell populations were forced to play a more prominent part, the effects were relatively small and no consistent pattern emerged. The magnitude of the enhanced clonal expansion following secondary challenge suggested that the prime-boost with the −NP−PA viruses gave a response overall that was little different in magnitude from that following comparable exposure to the unmanipulated viruses. This was indeed shown to be the case when the total response was measured by ELISPOT analysis with virus-infected cells as stimulators. More surprisingly, the same effect was seen following primary challenge, though individual analysis of the CD8+ KbPB1703+, CD8+ KbNS2114+, and CD8+ DbPB1-F262+ sets gave no indication of compensatory expansion. A possible explanation is that novel, as yet undetected epitopes emerge following primary exposure to the −NP−PA deletion viruses. These findings have implications for both natural infections and vaccines.
Attentional Control and Fear Extinction in Subclinical Fear: An Exploratory Study

Attentional control (AC) and fear extinction learning are known to be involved in pathological anxiety. In this study we explored whether individual differences in non-emotional AC were associated with individual differences in the magnitude and gradient of fear extinction (learning and recall). In 50 individuals with fear of spiders, we collected measures of non-emotional AC by means of self-report and by assessing the functioning of the major attention networks (executive control, orienting, and alerting). The participants then underwent a paradigm assessing fear extinction learning and extinction recall. The two components of the orienting network functioning (costs and benefits) were significantly associated with fear extinction gradient over and above the effects of trait anxiety. Specifically, participants with enhanced orienting costs (i.e., difficulties in disengaging attention from cues not relevant for the task) showed faster extinction learning, while those with enhanced orienting benefits (i.e., attention facilitated by valid cues) exhibited faster extinction recall as measured by fear-potentiated startle and Unconditioned Stimulus expectancies, respectively. Our findings suggest that, in non-emotional conditions, the orienting component of attention may be predictive of fear extinction. They also show that the use of fear extinction gradients and the exploration of individual differences in non-emotional AC (using performance-based measures of attentional network functioning) can provide a better understanding of individual differences in fear learning. Our findings also may help to understand differences in exposure therapy outcomes.
Osteosarcoma Models: From Cell Lines to Zebrafish

High-grade osteosarcoma is an aggressive tumor most commonly affecting adolescents. The early age of onset might suggest genetic predisposition; however, the vast majority of the tumors are sporadic. Early onset, most often lack of a predisposing condition or lesion, only infrequent (<2%) prevalence of inheritance, extensive genomic instability, and a wide histological heterogeneity are just few factors to mention that make osteosarcoma difficult to study. Therefore, it is sensible to design and use models representative of the human disease. Here we summarize multiple osteosarcoma models established in vitro and in vivo, comment on their utilities, and highlight newest achievements, such as the use of zebrafish embryos. We conclude that to gain a better understanding of osteosarcoma, simplification of this extremely complex tumor is needed. Therefore, we parse the osteosarcoma problem into parts and propose adequate models to study them each separately. A better understanding of osteosarcoma provides opportunities for discovering and assaying novel effective treatment strategies. “Sometimes the model is more interesting than the original disease” PJ Hoedemaeker (1937–2007).
From ear to hand: the role of the auditory-motor loop in pointing to an auditory source

Studies of the nature of the neural mechanisms involved in goal-directed movements tend to concentrate on the role of vision. We present here an attempt to address the mechanisms whereby an auditory input is transformed into a motor command. The spatial and temporal organization of hand movements were studied in normal human subjects as they pointed toward unseen auditory targets located in a horizontal plane in front of them. Positions and movements of the hand were measured by a six infrared camera tracking system. In one condition, we assessed the role of auditory information about target position in correcting the trajectory of the hand. To accomplish this, the duration of the target presentation was varied. In another condition, subjects received continuous auditory feedback of their hand movement while pointing to the auditory targets. Online auditory control of the direction of pointing movements was assessed by evaluating how subjects reacted to shifts in heard hand position. Localization errors were exacerbated by short duration of target presentation but not modified by auditory feedback of hand position. Long duration of target presentation gave rise to a higher level of accuracy and was accompanied by early automatic head orienting movements consistently related to target direction. These results highlight the efficiency of auditory feedback processing in online motor control and suggest that the auditory system takes advantages of dynamic changes of the acoustic cues due to changes in head orientation in order to process online motor control. How to design an informative acoustic feedback needs to be carefully studied to demonstrate that auditory feedback of the hand could assist the monitoring of movements directed at objects in auditory space.
Application of EMG signals for controlling exoskeleton robots

Abstract Exoskeleton robots are mechanical constructions attached to human body parts, containing actuators for influencing human motion. One important application area for exoskeletons is human motion support, for example, for disabled people, including rehabilitation training, and for force enhancement in healthy subjects. This paper surveys two exoskeleton systems developed in our laboratory. The first system is a lower-extremity exoskeleton with one actuated degree of freedom in the knee joint. This system was designed for motion support in disabled people. The second system is an exoskeleton for a human hand with 16 actuated joints, four for each finger. This hand exoskeleton will be used in rehabilitation training after hand surgeries. The application of EMG signals for motion control is presented. An overview of the design and control methods, and first experimental results for the leg exoskeleton are reported.
Granzyme A mediates glucocorticoid‐induced apoptosis in leukemia cells

To identify the genes responsible for mediating apoptotic effects of glucocorticoid on leukemia cells, changes in gene expression were analyzed during dexamethasone‐induced apoptosis of glucocorticoid‐sensitive human acute lymphocytic leukemia 697 cells by using cDNA microarrays containing more than 4000 named genes. The microarray analysis showed that 26 genes had markedly differential expression after treatment with 100 nM dexamethasone; 17 genes were up‐regulated, including granzyme A, glucocorticoid receptor, and suppressor of cytokine signaling‐2; and nine genes were down‐regulated, including early growth response 1 and acute myeloid leukemia 1. To circumvent the problem of recovering mRNA from dying cells, 697 cells that were stably transfected with the death inhibitor Bcl‐2 were also used, and the expression of selected genes was examined by RT‐PCR analysis, which confirmed the expression profile obtained by microarray analysis. The granzyme A protein accumulated in 697 cells and its enzymatic activity increased after dexamethasone treatment in a time‐dependent manner, in accordance with the increase in caspase‐3 activity. Furthermore, the granzyme inhibitor 3,4‐dichloroisocoumarin inhibited the dexamethasone‐induced apoptosis of 697 cells in a concentration‐dependent manner. These results showed that granzyme A is critically involved in mediating the apoptotic effect of glucocorticoid on leukemia cells.
Simultaneous Traffic Flow and Macro Model Estimation for Signalized Junctions with Multiple Input Lanes

A novel algorithm is presented for macro model estimation of the dynamics of traffic flow in a junction having multiple input lanes for each turning direction. The proposed algorithm jointly estimates the states describing the traffic flow under different traffic conditions, together with model parameters and their uncertainties of the measurement and process noise. Use is made of the Expectation-Maximization methodology with a sliding window over time in order to obtain quasi real-time estimation.
Influence of metabolic and other clinicopathologic factors on the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing hepatic resection

Backgrounds/Aims The prognosis of hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with cirrhosis is worse than in those without cirrhosis. In Korea, the hepatitis B virus prevalence rate is higher than in other countries. Therefore, we investigated patients' clinicopathologic and metabolic factors that affect the postoperative outcomes of hepatic resection for HCC in our hospital in Korea. Methods From August 2000 to December 2012, 171 HCC patients underwent hepatic resections at our institution. Two operative mortality cases and two short-term follow up cases were excluded. Data was collected from a retrospective chart review. There were 133 males (79.6%) and 34 females (20.3%), with a mean age of 58.2±10.2 years (range, 22-81 years), and the relationship between clinicopathologic and metabolic factors and the prognosis of patients with HCC undergoing hepatic resection were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis. Results Hypertension, major surgery, perioperative transfusion, resection with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) or cryoablation, and resection margin were risk factors for overall survival, and hypertension, albumin, resection with RFA or cryoablation, perioperative transfusion, and tumor size were risk factors for disease-free survival. Conclusions We found that hypertension, perioperative transfusion, and resection with RFA or cryoablation were risk factors for both disease-free and overall survival after hepatic resection in HCC patients. Further study is required to clarify the influence of metabolic and other clinicopathologic factors on the prognosis of HCC.
Tropical Underdevelopment

Most recent cross-country analyses of economic growth have neglected the importance of physical geography. This paper reviews the distinctive development challenges faced by economies situated in tropical climates. Using geographic information system (GIS) mapping, the paper presents evidence that production technology in the tropics has lagged behind temperate zone technology in the two critical areas of agriculture and health, and this in turn opened a substantial income gap between climate zones. The difficulty of mobilizing energy resources in tropical economies is emphasized as another significant contributor to the income gap. These factors have been amplified by geopolitical power imbalances and by the difficulty of applying temperate-zone technological advances in the tropical setting. The income gap has also been amplified because poor public health and weak agricultural technology in the tropics have combined to slow the demographic transition from high fertility and mortality rates to low fertility and mortality rates. The analysis suggests that economic development in tropical ecozones would benefit from a concerted international effort to develop health and agricultural technologies specific to the needs of the tropical economies.
Rethinking the Baseline in Diversity Research

It is often surprisingly difficult to make definitive scientific statements about the functional value of group diversity. We suggest that one clear pattern in the group diversity literature is the prevailing convention of interpreting outcomes as the effect of diversity alone. Although work in this arena typically compares diverse groups with homogeneous ones, we most often conceive of homogeneous groups as a baseline—a reference point from which we can understand how diversity has changed behavior or what type of response is “normal. ” In this article, we offer a new perspective through a focus on two propositions. The first proposition is that homogeneity has independent effects of its own—effects that, in some cases, are robust in comparison with the effects of diversity. The second proposition is that even though subjective responses in homogeneous groups are often treated as a neutral indicator of how people would ideally respond in a group setting, evidence suggests that these responses are often less objective or accurate than responses in diverse groups. Overall, we believe that diversity research may unwittingly reveal important insights regarding the effects of homogeneity.
Trial for RDF: adapting graph query languages for RDF data

Querying RDF data is viewed as one of the main applications of graph query languages, and yet the standard model of graph databases -- essentially labeled graphs -- is different from the triples-based model of RDF. While encodings of RDF databases into graph data exist, we show that even the most natural ones are bound to lose some functionality when used in conjunction with graph query languages. The solution is to work directly with triples, but then many properties taken for granted in the graph database context (e.g., reachability) lose their natural meaning. Our goal is to introduce languages that work directly over triples and are closed, i.e., they produce sets of triples, rather than graphs. Our basic language is called TriAL, or Triple Algebra: it guarantees closure properties by replacing the product with a family of join operations. We extend TriAL with recursion, and explain why such an extension is more intricate for triples than for graphs. We present a declarative language, namely a fragment of datalog, capturing the recursive algebra. For both languages, the combined complexity of query evaluation is given by low-degree polynomials. We compare our languages with relational languages, such as finite-variable logics, and previously studied graph query languages such as adaptations of XPath, regular path queries, and nested regular expressions; many of these languages are subsumed by the recursive triple algebra. We also provide examples of the usefulness of TriAL in querying graph and RDF data.
Circadian genes and bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic, potentially disabling illness with a lifetime morbid risk of approximately 1%. There is substantial evidence for a significant genetic etiology, but gene‐mapping efforts have been hampered by the complex mode of inheritance and the likelihood of multiple genes of small effect. In view of the complexity, it may be instructive to understand the biological bases for pathogenesis. Extensive disruption in circadian function is known to occur among patients in relapse. Therefore, it is plausible that circadian dysfunction underlies pathogenesis. Evidence for such a hypothesis is mounting and is reviewed here. If circadian dysfunction can be established as an ‘endophenotype’ for BD, this may not only enable identification of more homogenous sub‐groups, but may also facilitate genetic analyses. For example, it would be logical to investigate polymorphisms of genes encoding key proteins that mediate circadian rhythms. Association studies that analyzed circadian genes in BD have been initiated and are reviewed. Other avenues for research are also discussed.