Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predictive value of APOE-ε4 allele for progression from MCI to AD-type dementia: a meta-analysis

Background The identification of subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at high risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is important for prognosis and early intervention. The APOE-ε4 allele is the strongest known genetic risk factor for AD. The authors performed a meta-analysis to establish the predictive accuracy of the APOE-ε4 allele for progression from MCI to AD-type dementia. Methods The authors included 35 prospective cohort studies of subjects with MCI, including 6095 subjects, of whom 1236 progressed to AD-type dementia after 2.9 years of follow-up. Pooled estimates of the OR, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV), and positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR+ and LR–) were obtained using random-effects models. Results The OR for subjects with MCI who are carriers of APOE-ε4 allele to progress to AD-type dementia was 2.29 (95% CI 1.88 to 2.80), the sensitivity was 0.53 (95% CI 0.46 to 0.61), the specificity was 0.67 (95% CI 0.62 to 0.71), the PPV was 0.57 (95% CI 0.48 to 0.66), the NPV was 0.75 (95% CI 0.70 to 0.80), the LR+ was 1.60 (95% CI 1.48 to 1.72), and the LR– was 0.75 (95% CI 0.67 to 0.82). Meta-regression showed that sensitivity, specificity and NPV were dependent on age, APOE-ε4 allele background prevalence or follow-up length. Conclusions The APOE-ε4 allele is associated with a moderately increased risk for progression from MCI to AD-type dementia. The low sensitivity and PPV makes genotyping of limited value for predicting AD-type dementia in clinical practice. For trials aiming to prevent progression from MCI to AD-type dementia, APOE genotyping may be useful in selecting subjects with a higher risk for progression to AD-type dementia.
Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of combination antiretroviral therapy for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Uganda.

OBJECTIVE To model the cost-effectiveness in Uganda of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) to prevent mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). METHODS The cost-effectiveness of ART was evaluated on the assumption that ART reduces the risk of an HIV-positive pregnant woman transmitting HIV to her baby from 40% (when the woman is left untreated) to 25.8%, 17.4% and 3.8%, respectively, when the woman is given: (i) single-dose nevirapine (at an estimated total drug cost of 0.06 United States dollars [US$]); (ii) dual therapy with zidovudine and lamivudine for 7 weeks (at a total drug cost of US$ 15.63); or (iii) ART for 18 months (at a total annual cost of US$ 469.77). Lifetime ART (US$ 6883), recommended for pregnant women with < 350 CD4+ T lymphocytes per mm(3), was assumed to give the same reduction in transmission risk in each subsequent pregnancy. FINDINGS Compared with single-dose nevirapine, dual therapy and no therapy, 18 months of ART averted 5.21, 3.22 and 8.58 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), respectively, at a cost of US$ 46, US$ 99 and US$ 34 per DALY averted. The corresponding figures for lifetime ART are, respectively, 19.20, 11.87 and 31.60 DALYs averted, at a cost of US$ 205, US$ 354 and US$ 172 per DALY averted. CONCLUSION In Uganda, ART appears highly cost-effective for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission, even if continued over the patients' lifetimes. Given the additional public health benefits of ART, efforts to ensure that all HIV-positive pregnant women have access to lifelong ART should be intensified.
Transfection of Human Prostate Cancer CA-HPV-10 Cells with Cytosolic Sulfotransferase SULT1E1 Affects Estrogen Signaling and Gene Transcription

Human cytosolic sulfotransferase SULT1E1 catalyzes the sulfation of estrogens and estrogenic drugs in human reproductive tissues. Logically, this estrogen-preferring sulfotransferase isoform could play a regulatory role in estrogen signaling activities in human reproductive cells, including the prostate cells. This hypothesis was tested using DNA microarray and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction methods in the present work. Potential changes in the transcriptional expression of selected signal transduction-related genes in human prostate cancer CA-HPV-10 cell line after SULT1E1 transfection were examined by DNA microarray methods. Notable changes were observed in the mRNA expression levels of TFRC, a cell membrane transferrin receptor gene, and TMEPAI, a gene encoding a steroid-dependent mRNA product. Expression of TFRC was down-regulated, whereas expression of TMEPAI was up-regulated by SULT1E1 transfection in CA-HPV-10 cells. Data from the current studies also showed that the estrogen-induced estrogen response element activation in CA-HPV-10 cells was repressed after the cells were transfected with SULT1E1. These results indicate that SULT1E1 may function as a transcriptional mediator in human prostate cancer CA-HPV-10 cells.
Natural language querying of databases: an information extraction approach in the conceptual query language

Natural language (NL) interfaces for database (DB) query formulation have always been recognized as a much-needed enhancement for DB end-users. NL systems, however, have shortcomings that have led some DB researchers to question their practicality. The drawbacks stem primarily from their weak interpretative power. This weakness is, to a large extent, due to their inability to deal with the nuances in human use of natural language. Some studies, however, show that NL database systems are practical and useful in narrow domains like DB querying. One way of addressing the difficulty with NL database query languages (DBQLs) is to combine concept-based DBQL paradigms with NL approaches to enhance the overall ease-of-use of the query interface. In this study, the conceptual query language-with-natural language (CQL/NL) is proposed. CQL/NL uses information extraction methods to filter NL query statements for search predicates that are derived from constructs on conceptual schemas. In this way, it avoids the computational difficulty with full-fledged NL parsing. In the main, we draw on certain concepts in natural language processing and computational linguistics to develop CQL/NL.
Neural Correlates of Procedural Variants in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: A Randomized, Controlled Multicenter fMRI Study

Background: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for panic disorder with agoraphobia (PD/AG). It is unknown, how variants of CBT differentially modulate brain networks involved in PD/AG. This study was aimed to evaluate the effects of therapist-guided (T+) versus self-guided (T-) exposure on the neural correlates of fear conditioning in PD/AG. Method: In a randomized, controlled multicenter clinical trial in medication-free patients with PD/AG who were treated with 12 sessions of manualized CBT, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used during fear conditioning before (t1) and after CBT (t2). Quality-controlled fMRI data from 42 patients and 42 healthy subjects (HS) were obtained. Patients were randomized to two variants of CBT (T+, n = 22, and T-, n = 20). Results: The interaction of diagnosis (PD/AG, HS), treatment group (T+, T-), time point (t1, t2) and stimulus type (conditioned stimulus: yes, no) revealed activation in the left hippocampus and the occipitotemporal cortex. The T+ group demonstrated increased activation of the hippocampus at t2 (t2 > t1), which was positively correlated with treatment outcome, and a decreased connectivity between the left inferior frontal gyrus and the left hippocampus across time (t1 > t2). Conclusion: After T+ exposure, contingency-encoding processes related to the posterior hippocampus are augmented and more decoupled from processes of the left inferior frontal gyrus, previously shown to be dysfunctionally activated in PD/AG. Linking single procedural variants to neural substrates offers the potential to inform about the optimization of targeted psychotherapeutic interventions.
5.5 A 2µW 40mVpp linear-input-range chopper- stabilized bio-signal amplifier with boosted input impedance of 300MΩ and electrode-offset filtering

Modern neuromodulation requires closed-loop functionality, where neural recordings are used to adapt stimulation patterns in real time. A closed-loop system requires the neural sensing front-end to record small neural signals in the presence of large stimulation artifacts. The amplitude of artifacts can be a few 10s of mV, and their power is usually in the same frequency band as the signals of interest, requiring non-traditional adaptive filtering to attenuate the artifacts. This requires a sensing front-end that can handle large signals while maintaining the signal integrity of the accompanying small neural signals. State-of-the-art front-ends saturate beyond an input of ~5mV and have limited linearity, making them incapable of handling large artifacts. This work presents a front-end that can tolerate up to ±20mV artifacts in the signal band of 1Hz to 5kHz. To digitize a 1mV neural signal to 8 bits in the presence of a 20mV artifact, the front-end requires a 12b linearity.
Preoperative assessment in endometrial cancer. Is triage for lymphadenectomy possible?

PURPOSE We sought to examine whether a preoperative assessment with usual means, available in most hospitals (preoperative histology, pelvic MRI, serum CA-125) can confidently exclude from a full staging surgical procedure low-risk endometrial carcinoma (EC) patients according to ESMO-ESTRO-ESGO criteria (stage I endometrioid EC, grade 1 or 2, myometrial invasion <50% and negative lymphovascular space invasion). METHODS We retrospectively identified all EC patients that underwent total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (TH-BSO) plus lymph node dissection (LND) as primary treatment for endometrioid tumors from January, 2000 to December, 2010. Extensive review was made through patients' medical records. Having set the final pathology report as the "gold standard", we applied the ESMO-ESGO-ESTRO criteria to classify patients into risk categories (low-risk and non-low risk). We also evaluated preoperative risk status using combined data from preoperative biopsy, pelvic MRI and serum CA-125. We classified patients according to the following criteria: grade 1 or 2 on preoperative histology, myometrial invasion on MRI <50% and serum CA-125 <35 IU/ml, in low risk group. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted. The area under the ROC curve (AUC), quantifying the overall ability of the combined preoperative assessment to discriminate between patients at low and non-low risk, was the primary outcome of our study. False negative rate was the secondary outcome. RESULTS Preoperative data on histology, MRI and CA-125 levels were available for 292 patients. The sensitivity and specificity of combined preoperative assessment to discriminate between low- and non-low risk EC patients according to ESMO-ESTRO-ESGO criteria were 96.1% and 73.6% respectively. AUC of the corresponding ROC curve was 0.849. False negative rate was 3.8% (9/235). Among the 9 patients falsely classified as low-risk, one patient had nodal metastasis (1/9, 11.1%) after full staging. CONCLUSION A selective LND strategy for EC patients based on preoperative assessment is possible and would probably be cost-effective, while not jeopardizing patients' survival or patient quality of life (QoL).
Dermatopathic lymphadenitis in HIV

Dermatopathic lymphadenitis is a rare entity described in patients with Human immunodeficiency virus infection. Here we present a case of dermatopathic lymphadenitis in a 50-year-old female who was HIV positive and did not have any obvious skin lesions. Fine needle aspiration cytology of the lymphnode showed a lymphoproliferative lesion and a subsequent biopsy showed atypical lymphoid proliferation showing prominent T-zone. Immunohistochemistry showed features of dermatopathic lymphadenitis.
Performing a catalysis reaction on filter paper: development of a metal palladium nanoparticle-based catalyst

We report the polyethylenimine (PEI)-mediated immobilization of palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs) onto filter paper for catalytic applications. In this work, filter paper was first assembled with PEI via electrostatic interaction, and the PEI-assembled filter paper was then complexed with PdCl42− ions, followed by sodium borohydride reduction to generate Pd NP-immobilized filter paper. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that Pd NPs have a diameter of 3 nm and are capable of being immobilized onto the filter paper. The Pd NP-immobilized filter paper exhibits remarkable catalytic activity and is reusable in the reductive transformation of Cr(vi) to Cr(iii) and 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol. The strategy used to develop Pd NP-immobilized filter paper could be adopted to generate other metal NP-immobilized filter papers for other applications such as sensing materials, energy, environmental remediation, and biomedical sciences.
LARGE EDDY SIMULATIONS OF ARGON BUBBLE TRANSPORT AND CAPTURE IN MOLD REGION OF A CONTINUOUS STEEL CASTER

More than 90% of steel produced globally every year is made using the continuous casting process. In this process, argon gas is usually injected to prevent nozzle clogging. The gas bubbles affect the flow pattern through the bubble drag, and may become entrapped to form defects in the final product. To investigate this problem, we have developed and applied a two-way coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian computational model with Large Eddy Simulations of the turbulent flow and transport and capture of argon bubbles by the solidifying shell. A practical steel caster is considered, and the domain is discretized with more than 16 million hexahedra finite volume cells. The turbulent flow is computed using the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approach. The trajectories of 1.2 million argon bubbles were tracked by solving the transport equations for each individual bubble. A previously validated particle capture criterion is used to predict the capture of the argon bubbles. The equations are solved on a graphic processing unit (GPU) using an in-house code CUFLOW. The results show that less bubbles are captured in the current LES model when compared with a RANS model. The captured bubble sizes and numbers agree well with plant measurements.
Partially-Finite Programming in L1 and the Existence of Maximum Entropy Estimates

Best entropy estimation is a technique that has been widely applied in many areas of science. It consists of estimating an unknown density from some of its moments by maximizing some measure of the entropy of the estimate. This problem can be modelled as a partially-finite convex program, with an integrable function as the variable. A complete duality and existence theory is developed for this problem and for an associated extended problem which allows singular, measure-theoretic solutions. This theory explains the appearance of singular components observed in the literature when the Burg entropy is used. It also provides a unified treatment of existence conditions when the Burg, Boltzmann-Shannon, or some other entropy is used as the objective. Some examples are discussed.
Distribution and antibiotic susceptibility of Shigella isolates in Bangui, Central African Republic

We conducted a prospective study in four urban health care centres between January 2004 and November 2005 to determine the distribution and susceptibility patterns of Shigella strains causing invasive diarrhoea in Bangui, Central African Republic. Of the 155 Shigella isolated, Shigella flexneri (51%) and Shigella dysenteriae (30%) were the most common and the most resistant to usual antibiotics, including amoxicillin, sulphamethoxazole–trimethoprim and chloramphenicol. Though multi‐drug resistance was common, no strains were resistant to quinolone and fluoroquinolones. We conclude that short‐course treatments with ciprofloxacin can be recommended in Bangui for treatment of invasive diarrhoea.
Heart rate variability in left ventricular hypertrophy.

BACKGROUND--Electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy and strain are associated with increased cardiac morbidity and mortality. Impaired cardiac autonomic function, assessed non-invasively by spontaneous heart rate variability on Holter monitoring, is associated with an increased risk of sudden death after myocardial infarction. AIM--To study the effect of left ventricular hypertrophy on heart rate variability. PATIENTS--36 controls and 154 patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (94 with hypertension and 60 with aortic valve disease). SETTING--Tertiary referral centre. METHODS--Heart rate variability was measured on 24 h Holter recordings by non-spectral methods. Left ventricular mass index and fractional shortening were measured by echocardiography. RESULTS--Patients with left ventricular hypertrophy had a higher left ventricular mass index (P < 0.001) and reduced heart rate variability (P < 0.001) compared with those of the controls. A continuous inverse relation was apparent between heart rate variability and left ventricular mass index (r = -0.478, P < 0.001). Heart rate variability was not affected by age, the presence of coronary artery disease in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy, or beta blocker treatment for hypertension. Multivariate analysis showed that left ventricular mass index is the most important determinant of heart rate variability. CONCLUSION--Heart rate variability is significantly reduced in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy secondary to hypertension or aortic valve disease. A continuous inverse relation exists between heart rate variability and left ventricular mass index. Impaired cardiac autonomic function in left ventricular hypertrophy may contribute to the mechanism of sudden death.
Wikipedia-based extraction of key information from resumes

There is a vast amount of information about individuals available on the Web that has potential uses in Human Resource Management (HRM) - both for recruiters and job seekers. Since people names are inherently ambiguous, finding information related to a specific person is challenging and a simple query by name will likely return web pages related to several different individuals who happen to share the same name as the target of the query.
What Works Better for Question Answering: Stemming or Morphological Query Expansion?

How do dieren t information retrieval techniques aect the performance of document retrieval in the context of question answering? An exploration of this question is our overall research goal. In this paper, we specically examine strategies for coping with morphological variation. This work quantitatively compares two dieren t approaches to handling term variation: applying a stemming algorithm at indexing time, and performing morphological query expansion at retrieval time. We discovered that, compared to the no-stemming baseline, stemming results in lower recall, and morphological expansion yields higher recall. By separately weighting dieren t term variants, we were able to achieve even higher recall, which opens the door to interesting question analysis algorithms for sophisticated query generation. Another signican t contribution of our work is the development of a reusable question answering test collection to support our experiments.
Injury surveillance.

Public health surveillance is the ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data on health-related events for use in public health action to reduce morbidity and mortality and to improve health (1). More simply put, surveillance is about translating information into action. In the United States, much of the focus of public health surveillance has traditionally been on prevention and control of infectious diseases, an area where surveillance has been used to identify outbreaks, monitor emerging problems, and assess the impact of prevention measures (2– 5). Another essential role of public health surveillance is monitoring causes of death, including premature mortality. In that context, injuries clearly emerge as a major public health problem. In 1999, unintentional injuries were the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and were the leading cause for persons in the age group 1–34 years (6). Unintentional injury, together with homicide and suicide, accounted for nearly 60 percent of all deaths among persons aged 1–34 years (6). Following Congressional authorization in 1983, the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine (National Academy of Sciences) produced the 1985 report Injury in America (7), which documented the burden of injury and became a major impetus for developing support for research and programs to address this important problem. A 1988 review of public health surveillance in the United States (8) noted that recognition of intentional and unintentional injuries as major public health problems had led to the need for developing systems of public health surveillance for injuries. Additionally, as injury research and prevention programs have evolved, so has the need for surveillance data to identify populations at risk, determine programmatic priorities, support prevention activities, and evaluate prevention efforts. While there have been substantial advances in injury surveillance in recent years, there are still many challenges and needs. In this paper, focusing primarily on the United States, we provide an overview of current injury surveillance data sources and systems, and we review their use for surveillance of major categories of injury. We also present several new developments in injury surveillance and comment on some of the new challenges facing injury surveillance in an era of rapidly changing information technology and growing recognition of the need for effective integration of information systems.
How do trees die? A test of the hydraulic failure and carbon starvation hypotheses

Despite decades of research on plant drought tolerance, the physiological mechanisms by which trees succumb to drought are still under debate. We report results from an experiment designed to separate and test the current leading hypotheses of tree mortality. We show that piñon pine (Pinus edulis) trees can die of both hydraulic failure and carbon starvation, and that during drought, the loss of conductivity and carbohydrate reserves can also co-occur. Hydraulic constraints on plant carbohydrate use determined survival time: turgor loss in the phloem limited access to carbohydrate reserves, but hydraulic control of respiration prolonged survival. Our data also demonstrate that hydraulic failure may be associated with loss of adequate tissue carbohydrate content required for osmoregulation, which then promotes failure to maintain hydraulic integrity.