Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cryopreserved, Xeno-Free Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Reduce Lung Injury Severity and Bacterial Burden in Rodent Escherichia coli–Induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Objective: Although mesenchymal stem/stromal cells represent a promising therapeutic strategy for acute respiratory distress syndrome, clinical translation faces challenges, including scarcity of bone marrow donors, and reliance on bovine serum during mesenchymal stem/stromal cell proliferation. We wished to compare mesenchymal stem/stromal cells from human umbilical cord, grown in xeno-free conditions, with mesenchymal stem/stromal cells from human bone marrow, in a rat model of Escherichia coli pneumonia. In addition, we wished to determine the potential for umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem/stromal cells to reduce E. coli–induced oxidant injury. Design: Randomized animal study. Setting: University research laboratory. Subjects: Male Sprague-Dawley rats. Interventions: Acute respiratory distress syndrome was induced in rats by intratracheal instillation of E. coli (1.5–2 × 109 CFU/kg). “Series 1” compared the effects of freshly thawed cryopreserved umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem/stromal cells with bone marrow-mesenchymal stem/stromal cells on physiologic indices of lung injury, cellular infiltration, and E. coli colony counts in bronchoalveolar lavage. “Series 2” examined the effects of cryopreserved umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem/stromal cells on survival, as well as measures of injury, inflammation and oxidant stress, including production of reactive oxidative species, reactive oxidative species scavenging by superoxide dismutase-1 and superoxide dismutase-2. Measurements and Main Results: In “Series 1,” animals subjected to E. coli pneumonia who received umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem/stromal cells had improvements in oxygenation, respiratory static compliance, and wet-to-dry ratios comparable to bone marrow-mesenchymal stem/stromal cell treatment. E. coli colony-forming units in bronchoalveolar lavage were reduced in both cell therapy groups, despite a reduction in bronchoalveolar lavage neutrophils. In series 2, umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem/stromal cells enhanced animal survival and decreased alveolar protein and proinflammatory cytokine concentrations, whereas increasing interleukin-10 concentrations. Umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem/stromal cell therapy decreased nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-oxidase 2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase and enhanced lung concentrations of superoxide dismutase-2, thereby reducing lung tissue reactive oxidative species concentrations. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that freshly thawed cryopreserved xeno-free human umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem/stromal cells reduce the severity of rodent E. coli–induced acute respiratory distress syndrome. Umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem/stromal cells, therefore, represent an attractive option for future clinical trials in acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Consensus with guaranteed convergence rate of high-order integrator agents in the presence of time-varying delays

This paper aims to study the consensus problem in directed networks of agents with high-order integrator dynamics and fixed topology. It is considered the existence of non-uniform time-varying delays in the agents control laws for each interaction between agents and their neighbours. Based on Lyapunov–Krasovskii stability theory and algebraic graph theory, sufficient conditions, in terms of linear matrix inequalities, are given to verify if consensus is achieved with guaranteed exponential convergence rate. The efficiency of the proposed method is verified by numerical simulations. The simulations reveal that the conditions established in this work outperformed the similar existing ones in all numerical tests accomplished in this paper.
Central projections of identified Drosophila sensory neurons in relation to their time of development

Eight sensory structures (campaniform sensilla), appearing identical in the light and scanning electron microscopes, are found in specific locations on the wings of Drosophila. Their axons enter one of 2 central tracts, a medial one or a lateral one. The topographic arrangement of the sensilla on the wing is not reflected in this central projection pattern. There is, however, a strict correlation between the time when a sensillum develops and the path its axon follows: The 4 sensilla whose axons form the medial projection are born and differentiate early during the development of the wing, while the other 4 sensilla, all of which project laterally, arise during a second wave of differentiation. This time-related projection pattern remains stable in the face of a variety of genetically induced alterations in the precise number and location of sensilla.
Preferences for evidence-based practice dissemination in addiction agencies serving women: a discrete-choice conjoint experiment.

AIM To model variables influencing the dissemination of evidence-based practices to addiction service providers and administrators. DESIGN A discrete-choice conjoint experiment. We systematically varied combinations of 16 dissemination variables that might influence the adoption of evidence-based practices. Participants chose between sets of variables. SETTING Canadian agencies (n = 333) providing addiction services to women. PARTICIPANTS Service providers and administrators (n = 1379). MEASUREMENTS We estimated the relative importance and optimal level of each dissemination variable. We used latent class analysis to identify subsets of participants with different preferences and simulated the conditions under which participants would use more demanding professional development options. FINDINGS Three subsets of participants were identified: outcome-sensitive (52%), process-sensitive (29.6%) and demand-sensitive (18.2%). Across all participants, the number of clients who were expected to benefit from an evidence-based practice exerted the most influence on dissemination choices. If a practice was seen as feasible, co-worker and administrative support influenced decisions. Client benefits were most important to outcome-sensitive participants; type of dissemination process (e.g. active versus passive learning) was more important to process-sensitive participants. Brief options with little follow-up were preferred by demand-sensitive participants. Simulations predicted that initiatives selected and endorsed by government funders would reduce participation. CONCLUSIONS Clinicians and administrators are more likely to adopt evidence-based addiction practices if the practice is seen as helpful to clients, and if it is supported by co-workers and program administration.
Possible health benefits from reducing occupational magnetic fields.

BACKGROUND Magnetic fields (MF) from AC electricity are a Possible Human Carcinogen, based on limited epidemiologic evidence from exposures far below occupational health limits. METHODS To help formulate government guidance on occupational MF, the cancer cases prevented and the monetary benefits accruing to society by reducing workplace exposures were determined. Life-table methods produced Disability Adjusted Life Years, which were converted to monetary values. RESULTS Adjusted for probabilities of causality, the expected increase in a worker's disability-free life are 0.04 year (2 weeks) from a 1 microtesla (µT) MF reduction in average worklife exposure, which is equivalent to $5,100/worker/µT in year 2010 U.S. dollars (95% confidence interval $1,000-$9,000/worker/µT). Where nine electrosteel workers had 13.8 µT exposures, for example, moving them to ambient MFs would provide $600,000 in benefits to society (uncertainty interval $0-$1,000,000). CONCLUSIONS When combined with the costs of controls, this analysis provides guidance for precautionary recommendations for managing occupational MF exposures.
Neuromorphic self-organizing map design for classification of bioelectric-timescale signals

The Self-Organizing Map (SOM) is a recurrent neural network topology that realizes competitive learning for the unsupervised classification of data. In this paper, we investigate the design of a spiking neural network-based SOM for the classification of bioelectric-timescale signals. We present novel insights into the architectural design space, inherent trade-offs, and the critical requirements for designing and configuring neurons, synapses and learning rules to achieve stable and accurate behaviour. We perform this exploration using high-level architectural simulations and, additionally, through the full-custom implementation of components.
Paleomagnetic study of Mesozoic continental sediments along the northern Tien Shan (China) and heterogeneous strain in central Asia

A paleomagnetic study of rocks from the northern foot of the Tien Shan and the southern border of the Dzungar Basin, east of Urumqi (44.2°N, 86.0°E), spanning ages from middle Jurassic to early Tertiary was carried out to constrain the tectonic evolution in central Asia since Mesozoic time. Five middle Jurassic sites reveal a remagnetized direction close to the present Earth field in geographic coordinates: D = 6.6°, I = 72.6° (α_(95) = 7.4°). Thirteen out of 17 upper Jurassic and lower Cretaceous sites yield a characteristic direction (stratigraphic coordinates) of D = 12.7°, I = 48.6° (α_(95) = 5.5°). Nine of 16 upper Cretaceous and lower Tertiary sites provide a characteristic direction of D = 12.5°, I = 51.3° (α_(95) = 6.9°). The latter two directions pass fold and reversal tests. The pole positions are close to each other and to the Besse and Courtillot [1989, 1990] Eurasian apparent polar wander path, for ages ranging from 130 to 70 Ma. However, the difference in paleolatitudes amounts to about 5.9° ± 3.7°, which could indicate significant continental shortening in the Altai Mountains and perhaps further north, subsequent to India-Asia collision. The pole positions from the Dzungar Basin are close to those found for the Tarim [Li et al., 1988a], leading to an insignificant paleolatitude difference (3.0° ± 6.9°), but showing a larger difference in declination (8.6° ± 8.7°). These paleomagnetic results are compatible with a model of heterogeneous deformation in the western part of the collision zone between India and Siberia. A significant shortening in the Altai, a slight counterclockwise rotation of the Dzungar block, the westward-increasing shortening in the Tien Shan with attendant clockwise rotation of the Tarim block are all consistent with this model, in which Tibet, the Tien Shan and the Altai undergo differential strain along strike in a relay fashion, with the total India-Siberia convergence remaining approximately constant.
Hyperglycemia and chronic liver diseases on risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes––National cohort of Taiwan Diabetes Study

This study examined whether glycated hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) and chronic liver diseases are associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk in Type 2 diabetic patients. A retrospective cohort study consisting of 51,705 patients with Type 2 diabetes aged 30 and over enrolled in the National Diabetes Care Management Program before 2004 was used in Cox proportional hazards models. HbA1C was independently associated with HCC incidence, and multivariate‐adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of HCC was 1.20 (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.02–1.41) for patients with a level of HbA1c ≥ 9% compared with patients with a level of HbA1c <7% after multivariate adjustment. We observed a significant linear trend in HCC incidence with increasing HbA1c (p for trend = 0.02, HR = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.01–1.12 for every 1% increment in HbA1c). We observed significant HRs of HCC for patients with a level of HbA1c ≥ 9% with alcoholic liver damage, liver cirrhosis, HBV, HCV and any one of chronic liver diseases compared with patients with a level of HbA1c <9% and no counterpart comorbidity in the entire sample (HR = 8.63, 95% CI = 1.41–52.68; HR = 5.02, 95% CI = 3.10–8.12; HR = 2.53, 95% CI = 1.10–5.85; HR = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.01–3.17; and HR = 3.59, 95% CI = 2.56–5.02, respectively). Our results suggest significant joint associations of HbA1c ≥ 9% and chronic liver diseases. Lifestyle or treatment interventions such as maintaining a satisfactory glycemic control and chronic liver diseases may reduce the burden of HCC.
Positive correlation of 25'hydroxyvitamin D p lasma level and T helper activity in chronic hepatitis C patients

Abstract — The immune modulating role of vitamin D has been extensively studied but less documented in chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV). The aim of our study was to assess the vitamin D status and adaptative immunity in HCV chronic infected patients. 46 patients were selected, 25 diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C infection and 21 healthy controls. HCV patients were classified according to the degree of hepatic necroinflammatory activity recorded using Actitest. A2-A3 scores were considered relevant for active HCV hepatitis, while A0-A1 indicated inactive HCV hepatitis. We measured: a) vitamin D status using 25-hydroxyvitam D plasma level (Elisa method) and the calcium-phosphorus equilibrium, b) the immune status according to the CD4+ T helper cells and CD8+ T helper cells detected by flow cytometry, and c) the extent of liver cytolysis disclosed by alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels. All HCV patients, as well as healthy controls displayed a vitamin D deficiency (25-hydroxyvitamin D plasma level 29.571 nmol/l, and 29.271 nmol/l , respectively ). A strong positive correlation between 25-hydroxyvitamin D and CD4+ T helper cells (R= 0.703 Pearson correlation) was found in active HCV patients. Correlations between 25-hydroxyvitamin D and the ALT and AST levels were weak and divergent: positive in patients with active HCV hepatitis and negative in patients with inactive HCV hepatitis. Serum CD4+ T helper count in active HCV patients correlated positively with serum total calcium (R=0.841 Pearson correlation) and ionized calcium (R=0.652). In conclusion, positive correlations were recorded in active HCV hepatitis between the immune response (CD4+ T helper cells count), the plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D, total serum calcium, and ionized calcium.
Specific Learning Disorder: Prevalence and Gender Differences

Comprehensive models of learning disorders have to consider both isolated learning disorders that affect one learning domain only, as well as comorbidity between learning disorders. However, empirical evidence on comorbidity rates including all three learning disorders as defined by DSM-5 (deficits in reading, writing, and mathematics) is scarce. The current study assessed prevalence rates and gender ratios for isolated as well as comorbid learning disorders in a representative sample of 1633 German speaking children in 3rd and 4th Grade. Prevalence rates were analysed for isolated as well as combined learning disorders and for different deficit criteria, including a criterion for normal performance. Comorbid learning disorders occurred as frequently as isolated learning disorders, even when stricter cutoff criteria were applied. The relative proportion of isolated and combined disorders did not change when including a criterion for normal performance. Reading and spelling deficits differed with respect to their association with arithmetic problems: Deficits in arithmetic co-occurred more often with deficits in spelling than with deficits in reading. In addition, comorbidity rates for arithmetic and reading decreased when applying stricter deficit criteria, but stayed high for arithmetic and spelling irrespective of the chosen deficit criterion. These findings suggest that the processes underlying the relationship between arithmetic and reading might differ from those underlying the relationship between arithmetic and spelling. With respect to gender ratios, more boys than girls showed spelling deficits, while more girls were impaired in arithmetic. No gender differences were observed for isolated reading problems and for the combination of all three learning disorders. Implications of these findings for assessment and intervention of learning disorders are discussed.
AUC dominant unsupervised ensemble of binary classifiers

Ensemble methods are widely used in practice with the hope of obtaining better predictive performance than could be obtained from any of the constituent classifiers in the ensemble. Most of the existing literature is concerned with learning ensembles in a supervised setting. In this paper we propose an unsupervised iterative algorithm to combine the discriminant scores from different binary classifiers. We prove that (under certain assumptions) the Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) of the resulting ensemble is greater than or equal to the AUC of the best classifier (with maximum AUC). We also experimentally validate this claim on a number of datasets and also show that the performance is better than the supervised ensembles.
Contribution of Functional LILRA3, but Not Nonfunctional LILRA3, to Sex Bias in Susceptibility and Severity of Anti–Citrullinated Protein Antibody–Positive Rheumatoid Arthritis

Leukocyte immunoglobulin‐like receptor A3 belongs to a family of receptors with inhibitory or activating functions. Since Caucasian individuals lacking LILRA3 have been found to be susceptible to multiple sclerosis and Sjögren's syndrome, we undertook this study to examine whether LILRA3 deletion is a novel genetic risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (another autoimmune disease), whether there are sex‐specific effects, and whether LILRA3 influences the subtype and severity of RA.
Relative to a Random Oracle A, PA != NPA != co-NPA with Probability 1

Let A be a language chosen randomly by tossing a fair coin for each string x to determine whether x belongs to A. With probability 1, each of the relativized classes ${\textbf{LOGSPACE}}^A $, ${\bf P}^A $, ${\bf NP}^A $, ${\bf PP}^A $, and ${\textbf{PSPACE}}^A $ is properly contained in the next. Also, ${\bf NP}^A \ne {\text{co-}} {\bf NP}^A $ with probability 1. By contrast, with probability 1 the class ${\bf P}^A $ coincides with the class ${\bf BPP}^A $ of languages recognized by probabilistic oracle machines with error probability uniformly bounded below $\tfrac{1}{2}$. ${\bf NP}^A $ is shown, with probability 1, to contain a ${\bf P}^A $-immune set, i.e., a set having no infinite subset in ${\bf P}^A $. The relationship of ${\bf P}^A $-immunity to p-sparseness and ${\bf NP}^A $-completeness is briefly discussed: ${\bf P}^A $-immune sets in ${\bf NP}^A $ can be sparse or moderately dense, but not co-sparse. Relativization with respect to a random length-preserving permutation $\pi $, instead of a rand.
The association between oral health literacy and failed appointments in adults attending a university-based general dental clinic.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study is to determine the association between personal characteristics, a person's oral health literacy, and failing to show for dental appointments at a university dental clinic. METHODS A secondary data analysis was conducted on data collected from 200 adults at a university dental clinic between January 2005 and December 2006. In the original study, an oral health literacy instrument, the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine and Dentistry (REALM-D), was administered, sociodemographic and health information seeking behavior was gathered, and electronic records were reviewed. RESULTS Descriptive and bivariate analyses and a classification and regression tree (CART) analysis were conducted. Seeking health information through fewer sources vs. multiple sources was the strongest predictor of failing to show. The subjects' oral health literacy, as measured by the REALM-D List 3 score, was the next most significant variable. Classification and regression tree analyses also selected gender, chief complaint, age, and payment type as predictor variables. CONCLUSIONS Multiple factors contribute to failing to show for dental appointments. However, individuals who use fewer sources of oral health information, a subset of health literacy skills, are more likely to fail to show for dental appointments.
Successfully applying software metrics

The word success is very powerful. It creates strong, but widely varied, images that may range from the final seconds of an athletic contest to a graduation ceremony to the loss of 10 pounds. Success makes us feel good; it's cause for celebration. All these examples of success are marked by a measurable end point, whether externally or self-created. Most of us who create software approach projects with some similar idea of success. Our feelings from project start to end are often strongly influenced by whether we spent any early time describing this success and how we might measure progress. Software metrics measure specific attributes of a software product or a software development process. In other words, they are measures of success. It's convenient to group the ways that we apply metrics to measure success into four areas. What do you need to measure and analyze to make your project a success? We show examples from many projects and Hewlett Packard divisions which may help you chart your course. <<ETX>>
Merchant Commodity Storage Practice Revisited

Commodity merchants use various heuristics to value leasing contracts on storage facilities as real options and make inventory trading decisions. Two prominent heuristics sequentially reoptimize simple models, leading to the so called rolling intrinsic (RI) policy and rolling basket of spread options (RSO) policy. Lai et al. (2010) numerically demonstrate that these two policies are nearly optimal in many realistic settings and can be used with Monte Carlo simulation to obtain fairly accurate estimates of the value of storage contracts. This paper provides a theoretical basis for the observed benefit of reoptimization with these heuristics and additional numerical evidence for the near optimal performance of the RI and RSO policies in several practical cases, but shows that the RI policy significantly outperforms the RSO policy in some of these cases. This research also proves that the RSO policy has a double basestock target structure, a known property of an optimal policy that is trivially true for the RI policy. Moreover, this work develops efficient and effective new dual bounds to assess the performance of merchant commodity storage heuristics. In particular, these bounds are immediately relevant to the developers and users of the two considered heuristics.
Outcome of "Atypical Squamous Cells" in Cervical Cytology: Follow-up Assessment by Loop Electrical Excision Procedure

Background We have retrospectively assessed the incidence and outcome of women diagnosed during a hospital-based cytology screening program with "atypical squamous cells (ASC)" and followed-up with loop electrical excision procedure (LEEP). Methods We analyzed 173,947 cases of cervical smears' follow-up cytology and histology findings. Previous or archival cytology with LEEP results were retrieved for 390 women with ASC of undetermined significance (ASC-US) and 112 with ASC, cannot exclude high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (ASC-H). Results On the follow-up cytology, of the 390 women initially diagnosed with ASC-US, 130 (33.3%) had no follow-up records of smears before LEEP; smears of 18 (4.6%) were negative for cytologic abnormalities, 193 (49.5%) were ASC-US, 24 (6.2%) were ASC-H, 111 (28.5%) were low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL), and 44 (11.4%) were high grade SIL. LEEP findings in these 390 women showed that 183 (46.9%) were negative, 73 (18.7%) were graded as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 1, 25 (6.4%) as CIN 2, 102 (26.2%) as CIN 3, and 7 (1.8%) had carcinoma. LEEP was performed in 112 women initially diagnosed with ASC-H; 36 (32.1%) were negative, 4 (3.6%) were graded as CIN 1, 7 (6.3%) as CIN 2, 60 (53.6%) as CIN 3, and 5 (4.5%) with carcinoma. Conclusions Patients with ASC-H smears were at increased risk of SIL or carcnoma compared with patients with ASC-US. Careful follow-up is required in ASC patients.