Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health-related quality of life in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis – child’s and parent’s point of view

Objectives To assess the quality of life (QoL) of children suffering from juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in Poland, to compare QoL of children with JIA and healthy children, and to compare children’s and parents’ assessments of QoL. Material and methods The KIDSCREEN-52 questionnaire (children’s and parents’ version) was used to assess the quality of life. The QoL in JIA patients and healthy peers from European and Polish reference groups was compared by the t-test. The Bland-Altman method was used to evaluate child and parent assessment agreement. Results Eighty-nine questionnaires were obtained from children (median age: 14 years; 62% female; JIA history longer than 1 year) and 84 questionnaires from parents. The QoL of JIA patients was lower than in healthy peers from the European reference group in terms of physical well-being (p < 0.001), psychological well-being (p = 0.011), autonomy (p < 0.001) and social support and peers (p < 0.001). The QoL of JIA patients compared with the QoL of children from the Polish reference group was lower only in terms of physical well-being (p < 0.001), whereas it was higher in terms of moods and emotions (p = 0.023), parent relations and home life (p = 0.005) and financial resources (p < 0.001). In most terms the assessment performed by the parent was lower than the child’s. The most significant differences were observed for physical well-being (p < 0.001), psychological well-being (p = 0.016), and self-perception (p = 0.013). Conclusions The present study is the first assessment of QoL of JIA children in Poland. In our study the quality of life in JIA children was lower than in healthy peers. Discrepancies between the assessment of the child’s QoL performed by the child and the parent were found. Both assessments should be taken into account in clinical practice as well as in research studies.
Computer-Based Cognitive Training for Executive Functions after Stroke: A Systematic Review

Background: Stroke commonly results in cognitive impairments in working memory, attention, and executive function, which may be restored with appropriate training programs. Our aim was to systematically review the evidence for computer-based cognitive training of executive dysfunctions. Methods: Studies were included if they concerned adults who had suffered stroke or other types of acquired brain injury, if the intervention was computer training of executive functions, and if the outcome was related to executive functioning. We searched in MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and The Cochrane Library. Study quality was evaluated based on the CONSORT Statement. Treatment effect was evaluated based on differences compared to pre-treatment and/or to a control group. Results: Twenty studies were included. Two were randomized controlled trials that used an active control group. The other studies included multiple baselines, a passive control group, or were uncontrolled. Improvements were observed in tasks similar to the training (near transfer) and in tasks dissimilar to the training (far transfer). However, these effects were not larger in trained than in active control groups. Two studies evaluated neural effects and found changes in both functional and structural connectivity. Most studies suffered from methodological limitations (e.g., lack of an active control group and no adjustment for multiple testing) hampering differentiation of training effects from spontaneous recovery, retest effects, and placebo effects. Conclusions: The positive findings of most studies, including neural changes, warrant continuation of research in this field, but only if its methodological limitations are addressed.
Predicting Adaptive Phenotypes From Multilocus Genotypes in Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) Using Random Forest

Climate is the primary driver of the distribution of tree species worldwide, and the potential for adaptive evolution will be an important factor determining the response of forests to anthropogenic climate change. Although association mapping has the potential to improve our understanding of the genomic underpinnings of climatically relevant traits, the utility of adaptive polymorphisms uncovered by such studies would be greatly enhanced by the development of integrated models that account for the phenotypic effects of multiple single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and their interactions simultaneously. We previously reported the results of association mapping in the widespread conifer Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis). In the current study we used the recursive partitioning algorithm ‘Random Forest’ to identify optimized combinations of SNPs to predict adaptive phenotypes. After adjusting for population structure, we were able to explain 37% and 30% of the phenotypic variation, respectively, in two locally adaptive traits—autumn budset timing and cold hardiness. For each trait, the leading five SNPs captured much of the phenotypic variation. To determine the role of epistasis in shaping these phenotypes, we also used a novel approach to quantify the strength and direction of pairwise interactions between SNPs and found such interactions to be common. Our results demonstrate the power of Random Forest to identify subsets of markers that are most important to climatic adaptation, and suggest that interactions among these loci may be widespread.
A small rab GTPase is distributed in cytoplasmic vesicles in non polarized cells but colocalizes with the tight junction marker ZO-1 in polarized epithelial cells

Small rab/Ypt1/Sec4 GTPase family have been involved in the regulation of membrane traffic along the biosynthetic and endocytic pathways in eucaryotic cells. Polarized epithelial cells have morphologically and functionally distinct apical and basolateral surfaces separated by tight junctions. The establishment and maintenance of these structures require delivery of membrane proteins and lipids to these domains. In this work, we have isolated a cDNA clone from a human intestinal cDNA library encoding a small GTPase, rab13, closely related to the yeast Sec4 protein. Confocal microscopy analysis on polarized Caco-2 cells shows that rab13 protein colocalized with the tight junction marker ZO-1. Cryostat sections of tissues confirm that rab13 localized to the junctional complex region of a variety of epithelia, including intestine, kidney, liver, and of endothelial cells. This localization requires assembly and integrity of the tight junctions. Disruption of tight junctions by incubation in low Ca2+ media induces the redistribution of rab13. In cells devoid of tight junctions, rab13 was found associated with vesicles dispersed throughout the cytoplasm. Cell-cell contacts initiated by E-cadherin in transfected L cells do not recruit rab13 to the resulting adherens-like junction complexes. The participation of rab13 in polarized transport, in the assembly and/or the activity of tight junctions is discussed.
In Vivo Assessment of Drug Efficacy against Plasmodium falciparum Malaria: Duration of Follow-Up

ABSTRACT To determine the optimum duration of follow-up for the assessment of drug efficacy against Plasmodium falciparum malaria, 96 trial arms from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with follow-up of 28 days or longer that were conducted between 1990 and 2003 were analyzed. These trials enrolled 13,772 patients, and participating patients comprised 23% of all patients enrolled in RCTs over the past 40 years; 61 (64%) trial arms were conducted in areas where the rate of malaria transmission was low, and 58 (50%) trial arms were supported by parasite genotyping to distinguish true recrudescences from reinfections. The median overall failure rate reported was 10% (range, 0 to 47%). The widely used day 14 assessment had a sensitivity of between 0 and 37% in identifying treatment failures and had no predictive value. Assessment at day 28 had a sensitivity of 66% overall (28 to 100% in individual trials) but could be used to predict the true failure rate if either parasite genotyping was performed (r2 = 0.94) or if the entomological inoculation rate was known. In the assessment of drug efficacy against falciparum malaria, 28 days should be the minimum period of follow-up.
Aligning Power in Multiple Domains for Pilot Decontamination in Massive MIMO

Pilot contamination in the uplink (UL) can severely hurt the channel acquisition performance at the base station (BS) in a massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system. To mitigate the interference, it is critical to explore all the allowed avenues to provide more orthogonal resources for the users to transmit non-interfering UL pilots. In this paper, with a realistic massive MIMO orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) system model, allowing the channels to be both frequency-selective and time-selective, we propose to mitigate the UL pilot contamination through aligning the channel power in multiple domains, i.e., the time, angular, and Doppler domains. First, we show how to align the power-delay profiles of different users so that the pilots sent within one common reference OFDM symbol are orthogonal. Second, we demonstrate our proposed time-varying pilots can asymptotically mitigate the pilot contamination by aligning the Doppler power spectra (DPSs) judiciously even when the UL channels vary with time. Furthermore, in the case of massive MIMO, as the angles of arrival of the UL paths are acquired by the BS, we show the pilot contamination can be reduced or eliminated by jointly aligning the DPSs and the angular power spectra. Extensive computer simulations convince us the proposed Power Aligning principle can serve as the baseline design philosophy for the UL pilots in massive MIMO.
Quantifi cation of Polyacetylenes in Apiaceous Plants by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Diode Array Detection

Polyacetylenes are known for their biofunctional properties in a wide range of organisms. In the present study, the most frequently occurring polyacetylenes, i.e. falcarinol, falcarindiol, and falcarindiol-3-acetate, were determined in six genera of the Apiaceae family. For this purpose, a straightforward and reliable method for the screening and quantification of the polyacetylenes using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array and mass spectrometric detection without tedious sample clean-up has been developed. Peak assignment was based on retention times, UV spectra, and mass spectral data. Quantification was carried out using calibration curves of authentic standards isolated from turnip-rooted parsley and Ligusticum mutellina, respectively. The references were unambiguously identified by Fourier transform-IR (FT-IR) spectroscopy, GC-MS, HPLC-MSn in the positive ionization mode, and 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopy. To the best of our knowledge, the occurrence of falcarindiol-3-acetate in Anthriscus sylvestris and Pastinaca sativa has been reported for the first time. The data revealed great differences in the polyacetylene contents and varying proportions of individual compounds in the storage roots of Apiaceous plants. The results of the present study may be used as a suitable tool for authenticity control and applied to identify novel sources devoid or particularly rich in polyacetylenes, thus facilitating breeding programs for the selective enrichment and depletion of these plant secondary metabolites, respectively.
Noncompliance in Organ Transplant Recipients

The frequency of noncompliance with postoperative medical therapy ranges from 2% to 43% in organ transplant recipients and causes more graft loss than uncontrolled rejection in compliant patients. Retrospective and prospective studies undertaken at our center showed no difference in the rate of noncompliance between males and females or between recipients of cadaveric kidneys and those from living, related donors. Patients less than 20 years of age were statistically the most noncompliant (p=0.0001) compared with those over 40 years. A significant difference in compliance was seen among blacks, Hispanics, and non‐Hispanic whites, with the greatest frequency in blacks. This was not due to race, but to socioeconomic status, with those in the low socioeconomic group the most noncompliant. Problems of noncompliance may be reduced if they are identified early in the treatment course.
Increased Conformational Flexibility of HLA–B*27 Subtypes Associated With Ankylosing Spondylitis

Dissimilarities in antigen processing and presentation are known to contribute to the differential association of HLA–B*27 subtypes with the inflammatory rheumatic disease ankylosing spondylitis (AS). In support of this notion, previous x‐ray crystallographic data showed that peptides can be displayed by almost identical HLA–B*27 molecules in a subtype‐dependent manner, allowing cytotoxic T lymphocytes to distinguish between these subtypes. For example, a human self‐peptide derived from vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor type 1 (pVIPR; sequence RRKWRRWHL) is displayed in a single conformation by B*27:09 (which is not associated with AS), while B*27:05 (which is associated with AS) presents the peptide in a dual binding mode. In addition, differences in conformational flexibility between these subtypes might affect their stability or antigen presentation capability. This study was undertaken to investigate B*27:04 and B*27:06, another pair of minimally distinct HLA–B*27 subtypes, to assess whether dual peptide conformations or structural dynamics play a role in the initiation of AS.
Luminance and edge information in grouping: a study using visual search.

Preattentive grouping is supported by 2 systems, a brightness system that is contrast polarity sensitive and an edge system that is relatively insensitive to contrast polarity. Search was spatially parallel for pairs of same contrast polarity vertically aligned circles, among horizontal pairs, and serial for pairs of circles that had the opposite contrast polarity (Experiments 1-3). By replacing the circles with squares, the authors investigated the effect of adding collinear edge information. When collinear edges were present, the polarity difference between paired items did not disrupt grouping (Experiments 4-6). These results support models of grouping in which brightness and edge information are processed separately (e.g., S. Grossberg & E. Mingolla, 1985) and models of visual search in which complex relations between stimuli can be computed in parallel across the display.
The Centre for Market and Public Organisation How Important Is Pro-social Behaviour in the Delivery of Public Services? How Important Is Pro-social Behaviour in the Delivery of Public Services? Acknowledgements

The Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO) is a leading research centre, combining expertise in economics, geography and law. Our objective is to study the intersection between the public and private sectors of the economy, and in particular to understand the right way to organise and deliver public services. The Centre aims to develop research, contribute to the public debate and inform policy-making. CMPO, now an ESRC Research Centre was established in 1998 with two large grants from The Leverhulme Trust. In 2004 we were awarded ESRC Research Centre status, and CMPO now combines core funding from both the ESRC and the Trust. Abstract A number of papers have posited that there is a relationship between institutional structure and pro-social behaviour, in particular donated labour, in the delivery of public services, such as health, social care and education. However, there has been very little empirical research that attempts to measure whether such a relationship exists in practice. This is the aim of this paper. Including a robust set of individual and job-specific controls, we find that individuals in the non-profit sector are significantly more likely to donate their labour, measured by unpaid overtime, than those in the for-profit sector. We can reject that this difference is simply due to implicit contracts or social norms. We find some evidence that individuals differentially select into the non-profit and for-profit sectors according to whether they donate their labour.
Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of the collaborative method: reflections from a single site

Background: A collaborative is an effective method of implementing evidence-based practice across multiple sites through the sharing of experience and knowledge of others in a similar setting, over a short period of time. Collaborative methods were first used in the USA but have been adopted internationally. Aim: This paper sought to document the facilitators and barriers to the implementation of the collaborative method, based on a single site’s experience of participating in a multisite, state-wide heart failure collaborative. Method: Qualitative data was collected using three complementary methods: participant observation, reflective journalling and key informant interviews. Quantitative monitoring of team performance occurred monthly according to prespecified performance indicators. Findings: Barriers and facilitators that were identified by this study included: organisational factors, team composition, dynamics and networking, changing doctor behaviour, clinical leadership and communication. Conclusion: The findings from this study underscore the importance of leadership, communication and team cohesion for the successful implementation of the collaborative method at individual sites. In addition, the importance of a preparatory stage that deals with known barriers and facilitators to the collaborative method before the commencement of the official study period was highlighted. The potential for the collaborative approach to improve clinical outcomes warrants further systematic evaluation of process issues and consideration of the barriers and facilitators to implementation in various settings.
Current-Day Prevalence of Ménière’s Syndrome

Previously reported prevalence rates of Ménière’s syndrome (MS) have ranged from 3.5 per 100000 to 513 per 100000. Recent data regarding the prevalence in the United States are lacking. To further assess the current-day prevalence of MS in the US, data from a medical and pharmaceutical claims database containing information for over 60 million unique patients were analyzed. Patients in the database are representative of the national, commercially insured population on a variety of demographic measures including age, gender, health plan type, and geographic location. A 3-year period from 2005 to 2007 was analyzed. The prevalence of MS was 190 per 100000 with a female:male ratio of 1.89:1. The prevalence increased with increasing age, ranging from 9 per 100000 for patients under age 18 to 440 per 100000 for patients 65 years and older.
Thioltransferase (Glutaredoxin) Mediates Recovery of Motor Neurons from Excitotoxic Mitochondrial Injury

Mitochondrial dysfunction involving electron transport components is implicated in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative disorders and is a critical event in excitotoxicity. Excitatory amino acidl-β-N-oxalylamino-l-alanine (l-BOAA), causes progressive corticospinal neurodegeneration in humans. In mice, l-BOAA triggers glutathione loss and protein thiol oxidation that disrupts mitochondrial complex I selectively in motor cortex and lumbosacral cord, the regions affected in humans. We examined the factors regulating postinjury recovery of complex I in CNS regions after a single dose of l-BOAA. The expression of thioltransferase (glutaredoxin), a protein disulfide oxidoreductase regulated through AP1 transcription factor was upregulated within 30 min ofl-BOAA administration, providing the first evidence for functional regulation of thioltransferase during restoration of mitochondrial function. Regeneration of complex I activity in motor cortex was concurrent with increase in thioltransferase protein and activity, 1 hr after the excitotoxic insult. Pretreatment with α-lipoic acid, a thiol delivery agent that protects motor neurons from l-BOAA-mediated toxicity prevented the upregulation of thioltransferase and AP1 activation, presumably by maintaining thiol homeostasis. Downregulation of thioltransferase using antisense oligonucleotides prevented the recovery of complex I in motor cortex and exacerbated the mitochondrial dysfunction in lumbosacral cord, providing support for the critical role for thioltransferase in maintenance of mitochondrial function in the CNS.
Low levels of N-acetyl aspartate in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of pediatric bipolar patients.

BACKGROUND Increasing evidence suggests abnormalities in the structure, function, and neurochemistry of the frontal cortex in pediatric bipolar (BP) patients. We conducted a single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of pediatric BP patients, expecting lower N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) levels within that brain region compared to healthy comparison subjects. METHODS We studied 35 pediatric BP (23 BP type I, 12 BP type II; mean age +/- SD = 13.2 +/- 2.9 years; 18 females) and 36 healthy controls (mean age +/- SD = 13.7 +/- 2.6 years, 17 females). A short echo time, single-voxel (1)H spectroscopy approach point-resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) sequence, measurements of metabolites was performed on a 1.5T Philips MR system. RESULTS BP subjects had significantly lower NAA levels in the left DLPFC compared to healthy controls (F = 4.21, df = 1, 68, p = 0.04). There was not a significant difference between groups for phosphocreatine + creatine (PCr+Cr), glycerolphosphocholine + phosphocholine (GPC + PC), myo-inositol (mI), or glutamate. Further analyses revealed a significant reduction of NAA in our early puberty group compared to controls (Mann-Whitney U-test statistic = 52.00, p = 0.014), but not for BP versus controls in other pubertal groups. CONCLUSIONS BP subjects have lower NAA levels in the left DLPFC compared to healthy subjects, suggesting neuronal dysfunction in this region.
Upregulation of the checkpoint protein CHFR is associated with tumor suppression in pancreatic cancers

The checkpoint with forkhead-associated (FHA) domain and RING-finger (CHFR) protein was identified as a cell cycle checkpoint protein and E3 ubiquitin ligase. In the present study, the potential functions of CHFR in pancreatic cancer were investigated. CHFR expression was measured in five pancreatic cancer cell lines by reverse transcription- quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. Capan-1 cells stably expressing CHFR were established by lentiviral vector transfection. Cell proliferation was assessed using Cell Counting Kit-8, and cell migration/invasion assay was determined using Transwell assays. Cell cycle and apoptosis induced by gemcitabine or docetaxel were evaluated using flow cytometry. CHFR expression levels were also evaluated in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumor samples as well as adjacent non-tumor tissues by immunohistochemistry. The significance of CHFR expression was determined, with respect to clinicopathological features and overall survival. Overexpression of CHFR in Capan-1 cells led to a decreased proliferative rate and reduced cell migration and invasion abilities. Results also indicated an increase in G1 phase cells in Capan-1 cells overexpressing CHFR. Docetaxel-induced apoptosis was inhibited in Capan-1 cells with CHFR-overexpression. A reduction in CHFR expression was detected in 51.9% of patients with PDAC, which significantly correlated with later T-stage. The results show CHFR functions as a tumor suppressor in pancreatic cancer, suggests its potential role in controlling the cell cycle of pancreatic cancer cells; however, CHFR overexpression is not a favorable factor in apoptosis induced by docetaxel.