Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physiological markers of anxiety are increased in children of abused mothers

Background A growing number of studies indicate that low income, African American men and women living in urban environments are at high risk for trauma exposure, which may have intergenerational effects. The current study employed psychophysiological methods to describe biomarkers of anxiety in children of traumatized mothers. Methods Study participants were recruited from a highly traumatized urban population, comprising mother–child pairs (n = 36) that included school-age children. Mothers were assessed for childhood abuse with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, as well as symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The children were measured for dark-enhanced startle responses and heart-rate variability. Results Dark-enhanced startle was found to be higher in children whose mothers had high levels of childhood physical abuse, as compared to children whose mothers had low levels of physical abuse. During the habituation phase of the startle experiment, children whose mothers had high levels of childhood emotional abuse had higher sympathetic system activation compared to children of mothers with low emotional abuse. These effects remained significant after accounting for maternal symptoms of PTSD and depression, as well as for the child’s trauma exposure. Conclusion These results demonstrate that children of mothers who have history of childhood physical and emotional abuse have higher dark-enhanced startle as well as greater sympathetic nervous system activation than children of mothers who do not report a history of childhood physical and emotional abuse, and emphasize the utility of physiological measures as pervasive biomarkers of psychopathology that can easily be measured in children.
Chronic lithium treatment elicits its antimanic effects via BDNF-TrkB dependent synaptic downscaling

Lithium is widely used as a treatment for Bipolar Disorder although the molecular mechanisms that underlie its therapeutic effects are under debate. In this study, we show brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is required for the antimanic-like effects of lithium but not the antidepressant-like effects in mice. We performed whole cell patch clamp recordings of hippocampal neurons to determine the impact of lithium on synaptic transmission that may underlie the behavioral effects. Lithium produced a significant decrease in α-amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR)-mediated miniature excitatory postsynaptic current (mEPSC) amplitudes due to postsynaptic homeostatic plasticity that was dependent on BDNF and its receptor tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB). The decrease in AMPAR function was due to reduced surface expression of GluA1 subunits through dynamin-dependent endocytosis. Collectively, these findings demonstrate a requirement for BDNF in the antimanic action of lithium and identify enhanced dynamin-dependent endocytosis of AMPARs as a potential mechanism underlying the therapeutic effects of lithium. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.25480. 001
Transfusion timing and postoperative septic complications after gastric cancer surgery: a retrospective study of 179 consecutive patients.

BACKGROUND Immunosuppression associated with homologous blood transfusion was first observed in renal allograft transplantation. Clinical effects of transfusion-induced immunosuppression in surgical patients have been debated in the literature for more than a decade with contradictory results. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether homologous blood transfusions significantly affect postoperative septic morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing elective surgery for gastric cancer. DESIGN Case series. SETTING Hospitalized care. PATIENTS The hospital records of 209 patients who underwent elective surgery for gastric cancer at the Department of Surgery of the Hospital del Mar, Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain, and at the Department of Surgery of the Catholic University of Rome in Italy from April 1984 to December 1990 were reviewed, and 179 patients were included in the study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The following variables were entered into univariate and multivariate analyses to identify factors potentially affecting postoperative septic morbidity: demographic data, weight loss, preoperative serum albumin level and lymphocyte count, type and duration of operative procedure, amount and timing of blood transfusion, and stage of disease. RESULTS Univariate analysis showed that a large quantity of blood transfused (> 1500 mL) and transfusion in the postoperative period (group C) were associated with a worse clinical outcome. Postoperative transfusion was an independent predictor of septic morbidity in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS Despite transfusion-induced immunomodulation, homologous blood transfusion should not be considered a risk factor for postoperative septic morbidity in patients undergoing elective major abdominal surgery. The timing-response relationship between transfusions and septic morbidity in multivariate analysis may be the effect of uncontrolled confounders such as variation of volemia induced by stress response in patients who were developing or had just developed infectious complications.
A framework for cross-layer design of energy-efficient communication with QoS provisioning in multi-hop wireless networks

Efficient use of energy while providing an adequate level of connection to individual sessions is of paramount importance in multi-hop wireless networks. Energy efficiency and connection quality depend on mechanisms that span several communication layers due to the existing co-channel interference among competing flows that must reuse the limited radio spectrum. Although independent consideration of these layers simplifies the system design, it is often insufficient for wireless networks when the overall system performance is examined carefully. The multi-hop wireless extensions and the need for routing users' sessions from source to the destination only intensify this point of view. In this work, we present a framework for cross-layer design towards energy-efficient communication. Our approach is characterized by a synergy between the physical and the medium access control (MAC) layers with a view towards inclusion of higher layers as well. More specifically, we address the joint problem of power control and scheduling with the objective of minimizing the total transmit power subject to the end-to-end quality of service (QoS) guarantees for sessions in terms of their bandwidth and bit error rate guarantees. Bearing to the NP-hardness of this combinatorial optimization problem, we propose our heuristic solutions that follow greedy approaches.
Automated 3D structure composition for large RNAs

Understanding the numerous functions that RNAs play in living cells depends critically on knowledge of their three-dimensional structure. Due to the difficulties in experimentally assessing structures of large RNAs, there is currently great demand for new high-resolution structure prediction methods. We present the novel method for the fully automated prediction of RNA 3D structures from a user-defined secondary structure. The concept is founded on the machine translation system. The translation engine operates on the RNA FRABASE database tailored to the dictionary relating the RNA secondary structure and tertiary structure elements. The translation algorithm is very fast. Initial 3D structure is composed in a range of seconds on a single processor. The method assures the prediction of large RNA 3D structures of high quality. Our approach needs neither structural templates nor RNA sequence alignment, required for comparative methods. This enables the building of unresolved yet native and artificial RNA structures. The method is implemented in a publicly available, user-friendly server RNAComposer. It works in an interactive mode and a batch mode. The batch mode is designed for large-scale modelling and accepts atomic distance restraints. Presently, the server is set to build RNA structures of up to 500 residues.
Derivation of the Exponential Relation for the Effect of Ellipsoidal Porosity on Elastic Modulus

An analytical basis for the exponential relationship between elastic modulus and fraction porosity is derived. The exponential constant in the equation is shown to be a function of the pore shape and the orientation of the pores with respect to the stress axis and to be independent of pore size. A similar exponential relationship between the modulus and the number of cracks per unit volume is crack-size dependent.
Contractions of 2D 2nd Order Quantum Superintegrable Systems and the Askey Scheme for Hypergeometric Orthogonal Polynomials

We show explicitly that all 2nd order superintegrable systems in 2 dimensions are limiting cases of a single system: the generic 3-parameter potential on the 2-sphere, S9 in our listing. We extend the Wigner{Inonu method of Lie algebra contractions to contractions of quadratic algebras and show that all of the quadratic symmetry algebras of these systems are contractions of that of S9. Amazingly, all of the relevant contractions of these superintegrable systems on flat space and the sphere are uniquely induced by the well known Lie algebra contractions of e(2) and so(3). By contracting function space realizations of irreducible representations of the S9 algebra (which give the structure equations for Racah/Wilson polynomials) to the other superintegrable systems, and using Wigner's idea of \saving" a representation, we obtain the full Askey scheme of hypergeometric orthogonal polynomials. This relationship directly ties the polynomials and their structure equations to physical phenomena. It is more general because it applies to all special functions that arise from these systems via separation of variables, not just those of hypergeometric type, and it extends to higher dimensions.
Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication of Rough Surfaces under Oscillatory Line Contact with Non-Newtonian Lubricant

This paper presents the results of a transient analysis of elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) of two parallel cylinders in line contact with a non-Newtonian lubricant under oscillatory motion. Effects of the transverse harmonic surface roughness are also investigated in the numerical simulation. The time-dependent Reynolds equation uses a power law model for viscosity. The simultaneous system of modified Reynolds equation and elasticity equation with initial conditions was solved using the multigrid, multilevel method with full approximation technique. The film thickness and the pressure profiles were determined for smooth and rough surfaces in the oscillatory EHL conjunctions, and the film thickness predictions were verified experimentally. For an increase in the applied load on the cylinders or a decrease in the lubricant viscosity, there is a reduction in the minimum film thickness, as expected. The predicted film thickness for smooth surfaces is slightly higher than the film thickness obtained experimentally, owing primarily to cavitation that occurred in the experiments. The lubricant film under oscillatory motion becomes very thin near the ends of the contact when the velocity goes to zero as the motion direction changes, but a squeeze film effect keeps the fluid film thickness from decreasing to zero. This is especially true for surfaces of low elastic modulus. Harmonic surface roughness and the viscosity and power law index of the non-Newtonian lubricant all have significant effects on the film thickness and pressure profile between the cylinders under oscillatory motion.
Venous leg ulcer: Systemic therapy

The classifi cation of systemic therapeutic options for treatment of venous leg ulcers (VLUs) are mentioned in Table 1. [1] The value of systemic therapy is to act as an adjuvant to compression therapy and local ulcer care, when compression alone fails to heal VLU. Systemic therapy can be a valuable alternative in those cases who fail compression and refuse surgery as an option. [2] Besides, the compliance with compression therapy is poor among patients with VLU, particularly among older patients. [3] Oral therapy is a useful alternative in these noncompliant patients and can be used as an adjunct to the most effective modalities, compression, and local ulcer care.
Paying Out-of-Pocket and Informally for Health Care in Albania: The Impoverishing Effect on Households

The health care system in Albania, as in all other ex-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), is rooted in the Soviet “Semashko” model. The legacies of the Semashko system still remain visible especially in the state ownership of public healthcare institutions, public provision of the services, as well as the funding from the general tax base (especially for secondary and tertiary care) (1). WHO data show that in 2013, the total health care expenditure for the country amounted to 5.9% of its GDP (2). This is relatively high compared to other former communist CEE or Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries, but still much lower than the average 8.5% for the EU15 countries (2). However, only about 48.4% of the total health care spending in Albania comes from the general state budget (2), and the share of private expenditures and out-of-pocket expenditures is relatively high (3). The utilization of health insurance in Albania remains low (4). In addition to this, almost 19% of all patients visiting outpatient services and almost 44% of patients visiting inpatient services in 2008 pay informally as well (5). But, are out-of-pocket and informal payments in Albania catastrophic to households’ budgets? If yes, what are their effects on poverty? And more importantly, what are the main policy implications for a fast-developing country like Albania?
3C 223.1: A source with unusual spectral properties

Analysis of Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope low frequency data for an X-shaped source, 3C 223.1 has revealed an unusual result. The radio morphologies of it at 240 and 610 MHz show well defined X-shape with a pair of active jets along the north-south axis and a pair of wings along the east-west axis, that pass symmetrically through the undetected radio core. The wings (or low surface brightness jets) have flatter spectral indices with respect to the high surface brightness jets, which confirms the earlier marginal result obtained at high frequency by Dennett-Thorpe et al. (2002). Although unusual, it is a valuable result which puts stringent constraints on the formation models and nature of these sources. This result clearly shows the value of mapping the sample of X-shaped sources at low frequencies.
The ability of the Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol (SRE) Scale to predict alcohol-related outcomes five years later.

OBJECTIVE A low level of response (LR) to alcohol as measured through alcohol challenges is an early-appearing, genetically influenced characteristic that predicts the risk of heavier drinking and alcohol problems. A less expensive and more easily used measure of LR, the retrospective Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol (SRE) questionnaire, also relates to alcohol intake and problems but has not been evaluated for its ability to predict alcohol-related problems 5 years later. METHOD At Time 1, 95 18- to 35-year-old (mean age: 25.9 years) subjects who were offspring from families participating at the San Diego site of the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) were administered the SRE and evaluated regarding alcohol, drug, and demographic characteristics using the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) interview. Follow-up interviews (Time 2) using the SSAGA were completed an average (SD) of 5.4 (1.34) years later for approximately 80% of the original sample. RESULTS The retrospective SRE score at Time 1 (the number of drinks for effects the first five times [First 5] of drinking) correlated with Time 2 maximum quantity and frequency, alcohol problems overall, the number of alcohol-dependence items endorsed, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, diagnosis of alcohol abuse or dependence. The relationships remained robust in hierarchical logistic regression analyses even in the context of age, gender, the number of SRE items endorsed, and alcohol use and problem variables at Time 1. The regressions explained between 21% and 43% of the variance of the outcomes overall, with the First 5 SRE score alone accounting for between 4% and 14%. CONCLUSIONS These findings are consistent with the ability of SRE-based LR scores at Time 1 to predict alcohol-related outcomes over the subsequent 5 years.
NCR1 Expression Identifies Canine Natural Killer Cell Subsets with Phenotypic Similarity to Human Natural Killer Cells

Canines spontaneously develop many cancers similar to humans – including osteosarcoma, leukemia, and lymphoma – offering the opportunity to study immune therapies in a genetically heterogeneous and immunocompetent environment. However, a lack of antibodies recognizing canine NK cell markers has resulted in suboptimal characterization and unknown purity of NK cell products, hindering the development of canine models of NK cell adoptive immunotherapy. To this end, we generated a novel antibody to canine NCR1 (NKp46), the putative species-wide marker of NK cells, enabling purification of NK cells for further characterization. We demonstrate that CD3−/NKp46+ cells in healthy and osteosarcoma-bearing canines have phenotypic similarity to human CD3−/NKp46+ NK cells, expressing mRNA for CD16 and the natural cytotoxicity receptors NKp30, NKp44, and NKp80. Functionally, we demonstrate with the calcein release assay that canine CD3−/NKp46+ cells kill canine tumor cell lines without prior sensitization and secrete IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-8, IL-10, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor as measured by Luminex. Similar to human NK cells, CD3−/NKp46+ cells expand rapidly on feeder cells expressing 4-1BBL and membrane-bound IL-21 (median = 20,283-fold in 21 days). Furthermore, we identify a minor Null population (CD3−/CD21−/CD14−/NKp46−) with reduced cytotoxicity against osteosarcoma cells, but similar cytokine secretion as CD3−/NKp46+ cells. Null cells in canines and humans have reduced expression of NKG2D, NKp44, and CD16 compared to NKp46+ NK cells and can be induced to express NKp46 with further expansion on feeder cells. In conclusion, we have identified and characterized canine NK cells, including an NKp46− subset of canine and human NK cells, using a novel anti-canine NKp46 antibody, and report robust ex vivo expansion of canine NK cells sufficient for adoptive immunotherapy.
Theory of Planned Behavior and Teachers' Decisions Regarding Use of Educational Technology

According to Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), behavioral intention (BI) is predicted by attitude toward the behavior (AB), subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC). Previous studies using the TPB to explain teachers' intentions to use technology have resulted in inconsistent findings. This inconsistency might be due to overly broad definitions of the target behavior. To investigate this potential weakness, we defined a specific target behavior, using computers only to create and deliver lessons, and then used the TPB to investigate teachers' decisions. An elicitation study was used to identify teachers' salient beliefs and develop a closed-ended questionnaire. Results of the closed-ended questionnaire revealed that AB, SN, and PBC all were significant predictors of teachers' intentions. However, AB had twice the influence of SN and three times that of PBC. This finding suggests that teachers must have positive attitudes about using computers to create and deliver lessons. They are less concerned about what others think of this practice, and far less bothered by internal or external constraints. Results provide specific information that can be used to design effective teacher development programs and remind TPB researchers of the importance of using specific definitions of the target behavior.
An Empirical Study of Developer Quality

Human factors have attracted more and more attention in software engineering. Of many kinds of developer metrics proposed, developer quality is important. Recently, some researchers measure a developer's quality as the rate of his/hernon bug-introducing commits. In this paper, we conduct an empirical study of this developer quality metric. We use the data of six open source software projects and get the following conclusions: (1) the values of developer quality in a project are uniformly distributed in a certain range, (2) developer quality tends to increase with software evolution, (3) developers with more contribution are more likely to have higher developer quality, (4) ownership does not have a consistent and significant correlation with developer quality. These results can provide project leaders and team members with some guides to improve developer quality, and thus improve software quality.
Acute Kidney Injury in Patients with Cirrhosis

Acute kidney injury (AKI) occurs commonly in patients with advanced cirrhosis and negatively impacts pre- and post-transplant outcomes. Physiologic changes that occur in patients with decompensated cirrhosis with ascites, place these patients at high risk of AKI. The most common causes of AKI in cirrhosis include prerenal injury, acute tubular necrosis (ATN), and the hepatorenal syndrome (HRS), accounting for more than 80% of AKI in this population. Distinguishing between these causes is particularly important for prognostication and treatment. Treatment of Type 1 HRS with vasoconstrictors and albumin improves short term survival and renal function in some patients while awaiting liver transplantation. Patients with HRS who fail to respond to medical therapy or those with severe renal failure of other etiology may require renal replacement therapy. Simultaneous liver kidney transplant (SLK) is needed in many of these patients to improve their post-transplant outcomes. However, the criteria to select patients who would benefit from SLK transplantation are based on consensus and lack strong evidence to support them. In this regard, novel serum and/or urinary biomarkers such as neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, interleukins-6 and 18, kidney injury molecule-1, fatty acid binding protein, and endothelin-1 are emerging with a potential for accurately differentiating common causes of AKI. Prospective studies are needed on the use of these biomarkers to predict accurately renal function recovery after liver transplantation alone in order to optimize personalized use of SLK.