Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of cholelithiasis in patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

AIM To investigate the effect of chronic inflammatory bowel disease (CIBD) specific risk factors for cholecystolithiasis, as duration and involvement pattern of the disease and prior surgery in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). METHODS A total of 222 patients with CD (135 females, 87 males; average age, 35.8+/-11.8 years; range 17-81 years) and 88 patients with UC (39 females, 49 males; average age, 37.2+/-13.6 years; range 16-81 years) underwent clinical and ultrasound examinations. Besides age, sex and degree of obesity, patients' CIBD specific parameters, including duration and extent of disease and prior operations were documented and evaluated statistically using logistic regression. RESULTS The overall prevalence of gallbladder stone disease in patients with CD was 13% (n = 30). Only age could be shown to be an independent risk factor (P = 0.014). Compared to a collective representative for the general population in the same geographic region, the prevalence of cholecystolithiasis was higher in all corresponding age groups. Patients with UC showed an overall prevalence of gallbladder stone disease of only 4.6%. CONCLUSION Disease-specific factors such as duration and extent of disease, and prior surgery are independent risk factors for the development of cholecystolithiasis in patients with CIBD.
Characterization of Aminoglycoside Resistance and Virulence Genes among Enterococcus spp. Isolated from a Hospital in China

This study investigated the aminoglycoside resistance phenotypes and genotypes, as well as the prevalence of virulence genes, in Enterococcus species isolated from clinical patients in China. A total of 160 enterococcal isolates from various clinical samples collected from September 2013 to July 2014 were identified to the species level using the VITEK-2 COMPACT system. The antimicrobial susceptibilities of the identified Enterococcus strains were determined by the Kirby-Bauer (K-B) disc diffusion method. PCR-based assays were used to detect the aminoglycoside resistance and virulence genes in all enterococcal isolates. Of 160 Enterococcus isolates, 105 were identified as E. faecium, 35 as E. faecalis, and 20 isolates were classified as “other” Enterococcus species. High-level aminoglycoside resistance (HLAR) for gentamicin, streptomycin, and both antibiotics was identified in 58.8, 50, and 34.4% of strains, respectively. The most common virulence gene (50.6% of isolates) was efaA, followed by asa1 (28.8%). The most prevalent aminoglycoside resistance genes were aac(6')-Ie-aph(2''), aph(2')-Id, aph(3')-IIIa, and ant(6')-Ia, present in 49.4%, 1.3%, 48.8% and 31.3% of strains, respectively. Overall, E. faecium and E. faecalis were most frequently associated with hospital-acquired enterococcal infections in Zhejiang Province. All aminoglycoside resistance genes, except aph(2'')-Id, were significantly more prevalent in HLAR strains than amongst high level aminoglycoside susceptible (HLAS) strains, while there was no significant difference between HLAR and HLAS strains in regard to the prevalence of virulence genes, apart from esp, therefore, measures should be taken to manage infections caused by multi-drug resistant Enterococcus species.
Secretor Status Is Strongly Associated with Microbial Alterations Observed during Pregnancy

During pregnancy there are significant changes in gut microbiota composition and activity. The impact of secretor status as determined by genotyping FUT2 (fucosyltransferase 2) gene was taken as one of the confounding factors associated with faecal microbiota changes during pregnancy. In this prospective study, we followed women during pregnancy (total = 123 of which secretors = 108, non-secretors = 15) and characterised their gut microbiota by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), Fluorescence In situ Hybridisation (FISH), Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) and pyrosequencing. qPCR revealed that C. coccoides group counts decreased significantly in non-secretors in comparison to secretors (p = 0.02). Similar tendency was found by FISH analysis in Clostridium histolyticum and Lactobacillus-Enterococcus groups between the secretor and the non-secretor pregnant women. DGGE analysis showed significant decrease in richness of Clostridium sp. between secretor and non-secretor mothers during pregnancy. Pyrosequencing based analysis at phyla level showed that there is greater increase in Actinobacteria in secretors in comparison to non-secretors, whereas Proteobacteria showed more increase in non-secretors. Change in relative abundance of Clostridiaceae family from first to third trimester were significantly associated with secretor status of pregnant women (p = 0.05). Polyphasic approach for microbiota analysis points out that the host secretor status (FUT2 genotype) affects the gut microbiota during pregnancy. This may lead to altered infant gut microbiota colonization.
An Improved Three-Layer Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy for Wireless Sensor Networks

Topology control in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) balances the communication load on sensor devices and increases the network lifetime and scalability. Hierarchical or cluster-based design is one of the approaches to conserve the energy of the sensor networks in which the nodes with the higher residual energy could be used to gather data and route the information. However, most of the previous work on clustering has adopted a two-layer hierarchy, and only few methods studied a three-layer scheme instead. Based on a three-layer hierarchy, this paper has proposed a semi-distributed clustering approach by considering a hybrid of centralized gridding for the upper level head selection and distributed clustering for the lower level head selection. The simulation results show that the proposed approach is more efficient than other distributed algorithms. Therefore, the technique presented in this paper could be further applied to large-scale WSNs.
Gamma-Phase Shifting in Awake Monkey Visual Cortex

Gamma-band synchronization is abundant in nervous systems. Typically, the strength or precision of gamma-band synchronization is studied. However, the precise phase with which individual neurons are synchronized to the gamma-band rhythm might have interesting consequences for their impact on further processing and for spike timing-dependent plasticity. Therefore, we investigated whether the spike times of individual neurons shift systematically in the gamma cycle as a function of the neuronal activation strength. We found that stronger neuronal activation leads to spikes earlier in the gamma cycle, i.e., we observed gamma-phase shifting. Gamma-phase shifting occurred on very rapid timescales. It was particularly pronounced for periods in which gamma-band synchronization was relatively weak and for neurons that were only weakly coupled to the gamma rhythm. We suggest that gamma-phase shifting is brought about by an interplay between overall excitation and gamma-rhythmic synaptic input and has interesting consequences for neuronal coding, competition, and plasticity.
RX J1821.6+6827: A cool cluster at z =0 .81 from the ROSAT NEP survey

We present an analysis of the properties of the cluster of galaxies RX J1821.6+6827, or NEP5281, at a redshift z = 0.816 ± 0.001. RX J1821.6+6827 was discovered during the optical identification of the X-ray sources in the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) region of the ROSAT All-Sky Survey and it is the highest redshift cluster of galaxies of the NEP survey. We have measured spectroscopic redshifts for twenty cluster galaxies using the Keck-I and the Canada-France-Hawai'i (CFH) telescopes. The value for the cluster velocity dispersion is σ V = 775 +182 -113 km s -1 . The cluster was also observed by XMM-Newton. Both the optical and X-ray data are presented in this paper. The cluster has an unabsorbed X-ray flux in the 2-10 keV energy band of F 2-10 keV = 1.24 +0.16 -0.23 × 10 -13 erg cm -2 s -1 and a K-corrected luminosity in the same band of L 2-10 keV = 6.32 +0.76 -0.73 × 10 44 h -2 50 erg s -1 (90% confidence level). The cluster X-ray bolometric luminosity is L BUL,X = 1.35 +0.08 -0.21 × 10 45 h -2 50 erg s -1 (L BOL,X = 1.17 +0.13 -0.18 x 10 45 h -2 70 erg s -1 in the concordance cosmology). The data do not allow fitting both metal abundance and temperature at the same time. The abundance is unconstrained and can vary in the range 0.28-1.42 Z ○. while the best fit X-ray temperature is T = 4.7 +1.2 -0.7 keV. This emission weighted X-ray temperature is a little lower, barely within the uncertainties, than the predicted temperature, T = 6.34 +0.13 -0.35 keV, from the L X - T X relation of local clusters published in the literature. The optically measured velocity dispersion is consistent with the velocity dispersion expected from the σ v - Tx relationship. We also examine the point X-ray source RX J1821.9+6818. or NEP5330, located to the south east of the cluster which was identified as a QSO at z = 1.692 ± 0.008 in the ROSAT NEP survey. The X-ray source is well fitted by an absorbed power law model with N H = 4.1 +3.1 -3.0 × 10 20 atoms cm -2 and a photon index Γ = 1.67 ± 0.12 typical of an active galactic nucleus.
Are SentiWordNet scores suited for multi-domain sentiment classification?

Motivated by the numerous applications of analysing opinions in multi-domain scenarios, this paper studies the potential of a still rarely considered approach to the problem of multi-domain sentiment analysis based on Senti-WordNet as lexical resource. SentiWordNet scores are exploited together with additional features to assign a polarity to a text using machine learning. On the other hand, a rule-based approach is studied based on sentiment scores. The introduced methods are tested on single domains of a real-world data set consisting of documents in six different domains, but also in cross-domain settings. The results show that for cross-domain sentiment analysis rule-based approaches with fix opinion lexica are unsuited. For machine-learning based sentiment classification a mixture of documents of different domains achieves good results.
Texture Superpixels Merging by Color-texture Histograms for Color Image Segmentation

Pre-segmented pixels can reduce the difficulty of segmentation and promote the segmentation performance. This paper proposes a novel segmentation method based on merging texture superpixels by computing inner similarity. Firstly, we design a set of Gabor filters to compute the amplitude responses of original image and compute the texture map by a salience model. Secondly, we employ the simple clustering to extract superpixles by affinity of color, coordinates and texture map. Then, we design a normalized histograms descriptor for superpixels integrated color and texture information of inner pixels. To obtain the final segmentation result, all adjacent superpixels are merged by the homogeneity comparison of normalized color-texture features until the stop criteria is satisfied. The experiments are conducted on natural scene images and synthesis texture images demonstrate that the proposed segmentation algorithm can achieve ideal segmentation on complex texture regions.
The Relationship between Frontotemporal Effective Connectivity during Picture Naming, Behavior, and Preserved Cortical Tissue in Chronic Aphasia

While several studies of task-based effective connectivity of normal language processing exist, little is known about the functional reorganization of language networks in patients with stroke-induced chronic aphasia. During oral picture naming, activation in neurologically intact individuals is found in “classic” language regions involved with retrieval of lexical concepts [e.g., left middle temporal gyrus (LMTG)], word form encoding [e.g., left posterior superior temporal gyrus, (LpSTG)], and controlled retrieval of semantic and phonological information [e.g., left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG)] as well as domain-general regions within the multiple demands network [e.g., left middle frontal gyrus (LMFG)]. After stroke, lesions to specific parts of the left hemisphere language network force reorganization of this system. While individuals with aphasia have been found to recruit similar regions for language tasks as healthy controls, the relationship between the dynamic functioning of the language network and individual differences in underlying neural structure and behavioral performance is still unknown. Therefore, in the present study, we used dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to investigate differences between individuals with aphasia and healthy controls in terms of task-induced regional interactions between three regions (i.e., LIFG, LMFG, and LMTG) vital for picture naming. The DCM model space was organized according to exogenous input to these regions and partitioned into separate families. At the model level, random effects family wise Bayesian Model Selection revealed that models with driving input to LIFG best fit the control data whereas models with driving input to LMFG best fit the patient data. At the parameter level, a significant between-group difference in the connection strength from LMTG to LIFG was seen. Within the patient group, several significant relationships between network connectivity parameters, spared cortical tissue, and behavior were observed. Overall, this study provides some preliminary findings regarding how neural networks for language reorganize for individuals with aphasia and how brain connectivity relates to underlying structural integrity and task performance.
Chemical Originalities of New Caledonian Liverworts from Lejeuneaceae Family

Lejeuneaceae is the largest family of liverworts in the world. Through the analyses of the chemical composition of some species, it has been demonstrated that they may represent an important source of original and bioactive molecules. None of the 146 species that occur in New Caledonia has been studied yet. Here we describe the terpenoid content of twelve New Caledonian species, including two endemics. We describe here, for the first time, the presence of frullanolide in the Lejeuneaceae, occurring as a major compound in the extract from Colura leratii, and a rarely observed santalene derivative from Acrolejeunea securifolia subsp. caledonica. These analyses also highlight species that probably contain original structures, such as Schiffneriolejeunea tumida var. hasskarliana, Cheilolejeunea spp and Thysananthus retusus. The results obtained here also confirm several previous hypotheses about the chemosystematics of the Lejeuneaceae. For example, lepidozene can be considered as a chemosystematic marker of the Ptychantoideae subfamily, considering its abundance in many Ptychantoideae. On the other hand, some results are different from those described previously. For example, we detected no fusicoccane derivatives in any of the Lejeuneaceae species analyzed here, whereas they were previously described as a marker of the Ptychantoideae. This suggests that the available data toward the chemistry of the Lejeuneaceae are not sufficient to be confident with some of the previous chemosystematic conclusions.
Iron , manganese , and cobalt transport by Nramp 1 ( Slc 11 a 1 ) and Nramp 2 ( Slc 11 a 2 ) expressed at the plasma membrane

Mutations in the Nramp1 gene (Slc11a1) cause susceptibility to infection by intracellular pathogens. The Nramp1 protein is expressed at the phagosomal membrane of macrophages and neutrophils and is a paralog of the Nramp2 (Slc11a2) iron transporter. The Nramp1 transport mechanism at the phagosomal membrane has remained controversial. An Nramp1 protein modified by insertion of a hemagglutinin epitope into the predicted TM7/8 loop was expressed at the plasma membrane of Chinese hamster ovary cells as demonstrated by immunofluorescence and surface biotinylation. Experiments in Nramp1HA transfectants using the metalsensitive fluorophors calcein and Fura2 showed that Nramp1HA can mediate Fe2 , Mn2 , and Co2 uptake. Similar results were obtained in transport studies using radioisotopic 55Fe2 and 54Mn2 . Nramp1HA transport was dependent on time, temperature, and acidic pH, occurring down the proton gradient. These experiments suggest that Nramp1HA may be a more efficient transporter of Mn2 compared to Fe2 and a more efficient Mn2 transporter than Nramp2HA. The membrane topology and transport properties of Nramp1HA and Nramp2HA were indistinguishable, suggesting that Nramp1 divalent-metal transport at the phagosomal membrane is mechanistically similar to that of Nramp2 at the membrane of acidified endosomes. These results clarify the mechanism by which Nramp1 contributes to phagocyte defenses against infections. (Blood. 2003; 102:1884-1892)
Stereoscopic images quality assessment

Although several metrics have been proposed in literature to assess the perceptual quality of bidimensional images, no similar effort has been devoted to quality assessment of stereoscopic images. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a methodology for subjective assessment of stereo images. Moreover, in the process of defining an objective metric specifically designed for stereoscopic images, we evaluate whether 2-D image quality objective metrics are also suited for quality assessment of stereo images. Specifically, distortions deriving from both coding and blurring are taken into account and the quality degradation of the stereo pair is estimated.
Expression of interferon-inducible genes in RD-114 cells

RD-114 is a cell line which is partially responsive to interferon (IFN). Although both IFN-alpha and IFN gamma inhibit production of the resident retrovirus, they do not inhibit replication of other viruses, such as vesicular stomatitis virus and encephalomyocarditis virus, in these cells. In the studies reported here, we studied the characteristics of induction of seven IFN-inducible mRNAs in RD-114 cells. We observed that mRNAs 561, 6-16, 1-8, 2A, and 6-26 have similar induction characteristics in RD-114 cells and in HeLa cells, a fully responsive line. mRNA 2'-5'-oligo-adenylate synthetase (2-5(A) synthetase), however, was induced more efficiently by IFN-alpha in HeLa cells than in RD-114 cells. The same was true for the induction of metallothionein II mRNA by IFN-gamma. However, the latter mRNA was induced equally strongly in both lines when ZnCl2 was used as the inducer, suggesting that the gene is not defective in RD-114 cells. Although IFN-alpha induced 2-5(A) synthetase mRNA poorly and IFN-gamma did not induce it at all in these cells, a mixture of IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma induced this mRNA quite effectively, to a level of induction comparable to that in HeLa cells. Only 1 U of IFN-gamma per ml was sufficient to elicit this synergism, and the data suggested that an IFN-gamma-inducible protein was needed for this process. Induction of mRNA 561 by IFN-alpha in RD-114 cells, unlike that in HeLa cells, did not need ongoing protein synthesis. Once induced, this mRNA turned over rapidly in both cell lines, and this turnover could be slowed down by inhibiting protein synthesis in either cell line. IFN-induced mRNAs, such as 561 and 1-8, were polysome associated in IFN-treated RD-114 cells, suggesting that they were actively translated. Therefore, it is unlikely that the products of these IFN-inducible genes, by themselves, mediate the inhibition of replication of those viruses which are insensitive to IFN action in RD-114 cells.
Birth weight and childhood wheezing disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Previous observational studies have claimed that birth weight and childhood wheezing disorders are associated although the results remained inconsistent. One systematic review and two systematic reviews that included meta-analyses reported inconsistent results. We aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate this. Methods An online search of published papers linking childhood asthma and wheezing disorders with birth weight up to February 2014 was carried out using EMBASE and Medline medical research databases. Summary ORs were estimated using random-effects models. Subgroup meta-analyses were performed to assess the robustness of risk associations and between-study heterogeneity. Results A total of 37 studies comprising 1 712 737 participants were included in our meta-analysis. The unadjusted summary ORs for risk of childhood wheezing disorders associated with low birth weight (<2.5 kg) were 1.60 (95% CI 1.39 to 1.85, p<0.001) and 1.37 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.79, p=0.02) when compared with ≥2.5 and 2.5–4.0 kg birthweight groups, respectively. The overall summary OR for high birth weight (>4 kg) as compared to the 2.5–4.0 kg birthweight group was 1.02 (95% CI 0.99 to 1.04, p=0.13). There was substantial heterogeneity in the unadjusted low birth weight risk estimates which was not accounted for by predefined study characteristics. There was no significant heterogeneity in the high birth weight risk estimates. There was some evidence of funnel plot asymmetry and small study effects in the low birth weight (2.5 vs ≥2.5 kg and <2.5 vs 2.5–4 kg) OR estimates. Conclusions Our results suggest that low birth (<2.5 kg) is an independent risk factor for wheezing disorders during childhood and adolescence although there was substantial heterogeneity among the risk estimates. However, we found no significant association of high birth weight with wheezing disorders.
Outcome of All-Oral Direct-Acting Antiviral Regimens on the Rate of Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 1-Related Chronic Liver Disease

Objectives: There is little information on the risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and outcome of treatment with an all-oral combination of direct-acting antiviral regimens following eradication of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA. Methods: The study subjects were 1,170 patients with HCV genotype 1-related chronic liver disease treated with either NS5A inhibitor plus NS3/4A protease inhibitor (n = 707), NS5A inhibitor plus NS5B polymerase inhibitor (n = 345), or NS5A inhibitor, NS3/4A protease inhibitor plus ritonavir (n = 118), for 12-24 weeks. All patients were free of HCC before and during therapy. Results: In this retrospective study, 22 patients developed HCC during the follow-up (time from the end of antiviral therapy until the last visit: 1.3 years). At 1 and 2 years after completion of the treatment, the cumulative HCC rates for the whole group were 1.8 and 2.3%, respectively, and 1.4 and 1.8%, respectively, for 1,065 patients who showed sustained virological response (SVR). The risk factors for HCC identified by multivariate analysis were hypoalbuminemia, thrombocytopenia, a high α-fetoprotein level, and non-SVR for all patients, and hypoalbuminemia and a high α-fetoprotein level for patients with SVR. Conclusion: Eradication of HCV RNA by direct-acting antiviral regimens might reduce the risk of HCC. Albumin and α-fetoprotein levels are significant risk factors for HCC.
Impact of California Mandated Acute Care Hospital Nurse Staffing Ratios: A Literature Synthesis

California is the first state to enact legislation mandating minimum nurse-to-patient ratios at all times in acute care hospitals. This synthesis examines 12 studies of the impact of California’s ratios on patient care cost, quality, and outcomes in acute care hospitals. A key finding from this synthesis is that the implementation of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios reduced the number of patients per licensed nurse and increased the number of worked nursing hours per patient day in hospitals. Another finding is that there were no significant impacts of these improved staffing measures on measures of nursing quality and patient safety indicators across hospitals. A critical observation may be that adverse outcomes did not increase despite the increasing patient severity reflected in case mix index. We cautiously posit that this finding may actually suggest an impact of ratios in preventing adverse events in the presence of increased patient risk.