Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Cognitive Scales to Examine Memory, Executive Function and Language in Individuals with Down Syndrome: Implications of a 6-month Observational Study

Down syndrome (DS) is the most commonly identifiable genetic form of intellectual disability. Individuals with DS have considerable deficits in intellectual functioning (i.e., low intellectual quotient, delayed learning and/or impaired language development) and adaptive behavior. Previous pharmacological studies in this population have been limited by a lack of appropriate endpoints that accurately measured change in cognitive and functional abilities. Therefore, the current longitudinal observational study assessed the suitability and reliability of existing cognitive scales to determine which tools would be the most effective in future interventional clinical studies. Subtests of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS), Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), and Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Preschool-2 (CELF-P-2), and the Observer Memory Questionnaire-Parent Form (OMQ-PF), Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function®–Preschool Version (BRIEF-P) and Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised were assessed. The results reported here have contributed to the optimization of trial design and endpoint selection for the Phase 2 study of a new selective negative allosteric modulator of the GABAA receptor α5-subtype (Basmisanil), and can be applied to other studies in the DS population.
Completion time reduction in instantly decodable network coding through decoding delay control

For several years, the completion time and the decoding delay problems in Instantly Decodable Network Coding (IDNC) were considered separately and were thought to completely act against each other. Recently, some works aimed to balance the effects of these two important IDNC metrics but none of them studied a further optimization of one by controlling the other. In this paper, we study the effect of controlling the decoding delay to reduce the completion time below its currently best known solution. We first derive the decoding-delay-dependent expressions of the users' and their overall completion times. Although using such expressions to find the optimal overall completion time is NP-hard, we use a heuristic that minimizes the probability of increasing the maximum of these decoding-delay-dependent completion time expressions after each transmission through a layered control of their decoding delays. Simulation results show that this new algorithm achieves both a lower mean completion time and mean decoding delay compared to the best known heuristic for completion time reduction. The gap in performance becomes significant for harsh erasure scenarios.
Decision Trees for Lexical Smoothing in Statistical Machine Translation

We present a method for incorporating arbitrary context-informed word attributes into statistical machine translation by clustering attribute-qualified source words, and smoothing their word translation probabilities using binary decision trees. We describe two ways in which the decision trees are used in machine translation: by using the attribute-qualified source word clusters directly, or by using attribute-dependent lexical translation probabilities that are obtained from the trees, as a lexical smoothing feature in the decoder model. We present experiments using Arabic-to-English newswire data, and using Arabic diacritics and part-of-speech as source word attributes, and show that the proposed method improves on a state-of-the-art translation system.
Attribute And-Or Grammar for Joint Parsing of Human Attributes, Part and Pose

This paper presents an attribute and-or grammar (A-AOG) model for jointly inferring human body pose and human attributes in a parse graph with attributes augmented to nodes in the hierarchical representation. In contrast to other popular methods in the current literature that train separate classifiers for poses and individual attributes, our method explicitly represents the decomposition and articulation of body parts, and account for the correlations between poses and attributes. The A-AOG model is an amalgamation of three traditional grammar formulations: (i) Phrase structure grammar representing the hierarchical decomposition of the human body from whole to parts; (ii) Dependency grammar modeling the geometric articulation by a kinematic graph of the body pose; and (iii) Attribute grammar accounting for the compatibility relations between different parts in the hierarchy so that their appearances follow a consistent style. The parse graph outputs human detection, pose estimation, and attribute prediction simultaneously, which are intuitive and interpretable. We conduct experiments on two tasks on two datasets, and experimental results demonstrate the advantage of joint modeling in comparison with computing poses and attributes independently. Furthermore, our model obtains better performance over existing methods for both pose estimation and attribute prediction tasks.
Intra and inter species genetic variability of transferrin receptor gene regions in Trypanosoma evansi isolates of different livestock and geographical regions of India

Trypanosoma evansi, the aetiological agent of Surra affects a wide range of livestock and wild animals in India. In the present study, we studied intra- and inter species genetic variability in the transferrin receptor encoding gene regions (ESAG6/7 gene region) of T. evansi isolates by cloning, sequencing and phylogenetic study collected from camel, cattle, donkeys and ponies from North-Western and Central India. The nucleotide sequence variation of ESAG6/7 gene region between Indian T. evansi isolates was up to 17.7% and amino acid sequence variation was up to 31%. Twenty nine clones from six T. evansi isolates from geographical regions of India were included into Clade 1, 5, 6, 7 and 9 consisting of ESAG6 variants reported among T. evansi isolates from South-east Asia and South America. The cladogram indicated a relation between the host species and the genetic variability in the hyper-variable region of ESAG6 gene. Analysis of the Indian ESAG6 variants and their respective Clade positions presented a host specific distribution indicating homogenous parasite population in their respective animal hosts.
IQ-Related fMRI Differences during Cognitive Set Shifting

This event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study compared neural correlates of executive function (cognitive set-shifting) in 28 healthy participants with either high (HIQ) or average (AIQ) intelligence. Despite comparable behavioral performance (except for slower reactions), the AIQ participants showed greater (especially prefrontal) activation during response selection; the HIQ participants showed greater activation (especially parietal) during feedback evaluation. HIQ participants appeared to engage cognitive resources to support more efficient strategies (planning during feedback in preparation for the upcoming response) which resulted in faster responses and less need for response inhibition and conflict resolution. Whether greater intelligence is associated with more or less brain activity (the “neural efficiency” debate) depends therefore on the specific component of the task being examined as well as the brain region recruited. One implication is that caution must be exercised when drawing conclusions from differences in activation between groups of individuals in whom IQ may differ (e.g., psychiatric vs. control samples).
Continuous intramucosal PCO2 measurement allows the early detection of intestinal malperfusion.

OBJECTIVES The intestinal metabolic and histologic changes that occur in the gastrointestinal tract with ischemia and that form the basis of intramucosal pH and PCO2 alterations have not been well established. Recent evidence suggests that apart from technical problems with gastric tonometry, some methodologic misconceptions in the interpretation of intramucosal pH and PCO2 exist. The present study was designed to demonstrate the effects of impaired mesenteric perfusion with specific consideration to the induced intramucosal PCO2 changes using a new technique, the continuous fiberoptic CO2 sensor, and a new concept of interpretation. DESIGN Randomized, controlled intervention trial. SETTING University animal laboratory. SUBJECTS Twelve anesthetized female pigs, weighing 67+/-6 kg. INTERVENTIONS The pigs were assigned to control and stenosis groups. In the stenosis group, blood flow in the superior mesenteric artery was reduced by 70% from baseline for 180 mins, followed by 120 mins of reperfusion. Serum lactate concentration, pH, PCO2, PO2, and bicarbonate concentration (cHCO3-) were determined in arterial, superior mesenteric venous, portal venous, hepatic venous, and pulmonary arterial blood. In the lumen of the ileum, intramucosal PCO2 was continuously determined by a fiberoptic CO2 sensor. At the end of the experiment, the gut was examined for histologic changes. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS During mesenterial hypoperfusion, a sudden and significant increase in intramucosal PCO2 was observed. This increase was paralleled by increases in superior mesenteric venous PCO2 and portal venous PCO2 (p < .05) and a concomitant decrease in intramucosal pH, superior mesenteric venous pH, and portal venous pH. Arterial and mixed venous PCO2 and pH did not change. cHCO3- did not change in local or systemic blood samples. CONCLUSIONS Compromised mesenteric blood flow causes significant metabolic and histologic changes. These local changes could not be detected by arterial or mixed venous lactate concentrations, pH, and PCO2 determinations. Under closed-system conditions, mesenteric CO2 accumulation causes an impairment of the CO2-HCO3- buffer, resulting in an unchanged cHCO3-. With impaired mesenteric perfusion, only intramucosal PCO2 alterations occur and an intramucosal pH calculation based on systemic cHCO3-changes is not necessarily correct. Therefore, the only parameter of importance is the intraluminal measurement of intramucosal PCO2 that can reflect isolated mesenteric changes. Thus, we recommended abolishing the terms "intramucosal pH measurement" and "gastric tonometry" and propose using the definition "intramucosal PCO2 measurement. "
Analysis of dielectric response measurement methods and dielectric properties of resin-rich insulation during processing

The dielectric diagnostic methods ofpolarisation/depolarisation currents and recovery voltage,which are time domain methods, and capacitance and tandmeasurements at different frequencies, which is a frequencydomain method, have been studied here. In the first part of thethesis, these measurement methods are analysed and evaluated.Three different types of insulation systems are included in theevaluation, oil/paper ("high" loss), resin-rich mica tape("medium" loss) and cross-linked polyethylene, XLPE, ("low"loss). These three systems have different dielectric responsein both shape and magnitude. Conclusions are made regardingchoice of measurement method depending on the dielectricresponse of the insulation material. Examples are also given ofhow to estimate conductivity and the dielectric responsefunction in the time domain from measurements with a finitecharging period.Furthermore, relations between time domain and frequencydomain and the possibilities of Fourier transforming data fromone domain to the other are discussed. Fourier transforming isdone with a spline approximation technique, the Hamonapproximation and by fitting base functions that have analyticFourier transforms to measured data. These techniques arereviewed with special attention to the problem of estimatingdata outside the measurement window.The second part of the thesis includes studies of the changeof dielectric properties during the manufacturing stage of acomposite insulation used in high voltage rotating machines.The insulation consists of a resin-rich mica tape with wovenglass or polyester film (PET) as carrier material. The aim wasto improve the quality of the composite insulation byoptimising the heat and pressure cycle used in theproduction.A test cell has been designed and built to be able toprocess simple parallel plate samples under conditions similarto the factory process. With a maximum heating rate of 9°C/min and a maximum cooling rate of 20° C/min arbitrarytemperature paths could be programmed. All samples wereprocessed under static pressure in the MPa range.The chemical reaction during curing of the resin-rich micatape was studied with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A simple reaction rate model was fit to the DSC measurementsmaking it possible to calculate the degree of curing during anarbitrary temperature path.The change of dielectric response with time during curingunder different temperature paths and at a constant pressurewas monitored. Both laboratory experiments and factorymeasurements have been made and based on these measurements asimple network model is proposed to explain the measureddielectric response in terms of material structure and degreeof curing.Keywords: Dielectric response, diagnostic methods, Hamon,Fourier transform, rotating-machine, insulation, resin-rich,mica tape, curing, process, monitoring, differential scanningcalorimetry (DSC), network model.
Ferrochelatase is a therapeutic target for ocular neovascularization

Ocular neovascularization underlies major blinding eye diseases such as “wet” age‐related macular degeneration (AMD). Despite the successes of treatments targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway, resistant and refractory patient populations necessitate discovery of new therapeutic targets. Using a forward chemical genetic approach, we identified the heme synthesis enzyme ferrochelatase (FECH) as necessary for angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. FECH is overexpressed in wet AMD eyes and murine choroidal neovascularization; siRNA knockdown of Fech or partial loss of enzymatic function in the Fechm1Pas mouse model reduces choroidal neovascularization. FECH depletion modulates endothelial nitric oxide synthase function and VEGF receptor 2 levels. FECH is inhibited by the oral antifungal drug griseofulvin, and this compound ameliorates choroidal neovascularization in mice when delivered intravitreally or orally. Thus, FECH inhibition could be used therapeutically to block ocular neovascularization.
New trends in design of observers for time-delay systems

This paper presents some recent results about the design of observers for time-delay systems. It is focused on methods that can lead to design some useful observers in practical situations. First the links between observability properties and observers design is emphasized. Then some necessary and sufficient conditions and a method are provided to obtain unknown input observers for time-delay systems. Furthermore some $H_{\infty }$ design using Lyapunov–Krasovskii and Lyapunov–Razumikhin theories are presented and compared. Finally a polynomial approach based on the parametrization of all observers is proposed that allows to design robust observers for systems including unstructured uncertainties.
Natural Killer Cells Play a Critical Role in Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy in an Interleukin-6–Dependent Manner

Background Approximately 50% of cardiac transplants fail in the long term, and currently, there are no specific treatments to prevent chronic rejection. In the clinic, donor cardiac graft ischemia time is limited to within a few hours and correlates with delayed graft function and organ failure. It is still unknown how ischemic injury negatively influences allograft function over the long term despite advances in immunosuppression therapy. Methods Allogeneic cardiac grafts were stored at 4°C for 4 hr before being transplanted into T/B cell–deficient Rag−/− mice or T/B/natural killer (NK) cell–deficient &ggr;c−/−Rag−/− mice. Grafts were harvested 60 days after transplantation and indicators of chronic allograft vasculopathy (CAV) were quantified. Results We have found that cold ischemia of cardiac grafts induces CAV after transplantation into Rag1−/− mice. Interestingly, cold ischemia–induced CAV posttransplantation was not seen in T/B/NK cell–deficient &ggr;c−/−Rag−/− mice. However, cardiac grafts in &ggr;c−/−Rag−/− mice that received an adoptive transfer of NK cells developed CAV, supporting the role of NK cells in CAV development. Analysis of various cytokines that contribute to NK cell function revealed high interleukin (IL)-6 expression in cardiac grafts with CAV. In addition, IL-6–deficient cardiac grafts did not develop CAV after transplantation into allogeneic Rag−/− mice. Conclusion These data demonstrate that cold ischemia and NK cells play critical roles in the development CAV. Natural killer cells and injured grafts may play a reciprocal role for CAV development in an IL-6–independent manner. Specific therapeutic strategies may be required to attenuate NK cell contribution to chronic cardiac rejection.
DNA Methylation Changes Separate Allergic Patients from Healthy Controls and May Reflect Altered CD4+ T-Cell Population Structure

Altered DNA methylation patterns in CD4+ T-cells indicate the importance of epigenetic mechanisms in inflammatory diseases. However, the identification of these alterations is complicated by the heterogeneity of most inflammatory diseases. Seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) is an optimal disease model for the study of DNA methylation because of its well-defined phenotype and etiology. We generated genome-wide DNA methylation (Npatients = 8, Ncontrols = 8) and gene expression (Npatients = 9, Ncontrols = 10) profiles of CD4+ T-cells from SAR patients and healthy controls using Illumina's HumanMethylation450 and HT-12 microarrays, respectively. DNA methylation profiles clearly and robustly distinguished SAR patients from controls, during and outside the pollen season. In agreement with previously published studies, gene expression profiles of the same samples failed to separate patients and controls. Separation by methylation (Npatients = 12, Ncontrols = 12), but not by gene expression (Npatients = 21, Ncontrols = 21) was also observed in an in vitro model system in which purified PBMCs from patients and healthy controls were challenged with allergen. We observed changes in the proportions of memory T-cell populations between patients (Npatients = 35) and controls (Ncontrols = 12), which could explain the observed difference in DNA methylation. Our data highlight the potential of epigenomics in the stratification of immune disease and represents the first successful molecular classification of SAR using CD4+ T cells.
Comparison of Leukocyte Esterase Testing of Synovial Fluid with Synovial Histology for the Diagnosis of Periprosthetic Joint Infection

Background Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a complication of total joint arthroplasty (TJA). The leukocyte esterase (LE) strip test and histology are diagnostic methods for PJI. The aims of this study were to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the LE strip test and to compare it with histology in the diagnosis of PJI. Material/Methods Between January and December 2015, 93 patients who underwent TJA with PJI were enrolled in the study. Synovial fluid samples were tested with an LE strip, and three synovial tissue samples from each patient underwent frozen section and formalin-fixed histology. Recent criteria from the Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) were used for the diagnosis of PJI. Results Ninety-three patients studied included 38 cases of PJI and 55 non-infected cases. Sensitivity and specificity of the LE strip test were 92.1% (95% CI, 77.5–97.9%) and 96.4% (95% CI, 86.4–99.4%), respectively. There was no significant difference in sensitivity (p=0.249) or specificity (p=0.480) between frozen and paraffin sections for histology; the two methods were strongly correlated (ϕ=0.892). Comparison of the LE test results with histology showed a strong correlation (ϕ=0.758, and ϕ=0.840). Conclusions The findings of this preliminary study have shown that the LE strip test on synovial fluid showed similar sensitivity and specificity as histology for the diagnosis of PJI, indicating that that further controlled clinical studies should be performed to investigate the role of the LE strip test for the early diagnosis of PJI.
Assessment of food chemical intolerance in adult asthmatic subjects.

BACKGROUND: Identification of food chemical intolerance in asthmatic subjects can be reliably assessed by changes in the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) in response to double blind, placebo controlled challenges on a strict elimination diet. However, this method is cumbersome and time consuming. A study was undertaken to determine whether changes in bronchial responsiveness to histamine following food chemical challenge without an elimination diet might be a faster, more convenient method. METHODS: Eleven adult asthmatic subjects were challenged twice with metabisulphite, aspirin, monosodium glutamate, artificial food colours, sodium nitrite/ nitrate, 0.5% citric acid solution (placebo), and sucrose (placebo) on separate days. During the first set of challenges subjects consumed a normal diet. Bronchial responsiveness to histamine was assessed 90 minutes after each challenge. A greater than twofold increase in bronchial responsiveness was considered positive. For one month prior to and during the second set of challenges subjects followed a strict elimination diet and FEV1 was monitored during and for two hours after each challenge. A fall in FEV1 of 20% or more was considered positive. RESULTS: Of the 77 food chemical challenges performed on an unmodified diet, 20 were positive (six placebo responses). In two subjects it was not possible to perform a histamine test after one of the chemical challenges because of poor spirometric function. Of the 77 food chemical challenges performed on an elimination diet, 11 were positive (no placebo responses). Excluding the two challenges in which there were no corresponding histamine tests, only on two occasions did the positive responses in both methods coincide, giving the unmodified diet method a sensitivity of 22%. CONCLUSIONS: Strict dietary elimination and measurement of FEV1 after double blind food chemical challenge remains the most reliable method for the detection of food chemical intolerance in asthmatic subjects.
Heat treatment optimization of high alloy steel castings and welds

It is commonly believed that high alloy castings are bound to have inferior corrosion resistance to their wrought counterparts as a result of the increased amount of microsegregation remaining in the as-cast structure. Homogenization and dissolution heat treatments are often utilized to reduce or eliminate the residual microsegregation and dissolve the second phases. Detailed light optical microscopy (LOM) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) were utilized to correlate the amount of homogenization and dissolution present after various thermal treatments with calculated values and with the resultant corrosion resistance of the alloys. The influence of heat treatment time and temperature on the homogenization and dissolution kinetics were investigated using stainless steel alloys CN3MN and CK3MCuN. Autogenous welds were placed on the surface of the as-cast samples to determine the significance of the structural scale. Volume fraction measurements and EPMA confirm that enhanced homogenization and dissolution kinetics are achieved in the autogenous welds when compared to the cast structures due to the reduced dendrite arm spacing (DAS). In both alloys, near-complete homogenization and dissolution is achieved in the autogenous welds at 1150 °C after only one hour due to the reduced DAS. The cast materials on the other hand require a four hour heat treatment at 1205 °C to achieve comparable levels of homogenization and dissolution. Finally, it was demonstrat.ed that the corrosion resistance of alloys CN3MN and CK3MCuN can be improved to match the corrosion resistance oftheir wrought counterparts.