Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Infections in E-β thalassemia.

Infection is a major complication and the leading cause of death in thalassemia, especially E-beta thalassemia. The spectrum of infections in E-beta thalassemia include mild and severe infections, therapy-related infections such as Yersinia enterocolitica infection associated with desferrioxamine (DFO) therapy, and transfusion-transmitted disease, as well as unique infections such as with pythiosis. Prospective studies in Thailand indicate that patients with E-beta thalassemia had more frequent episodes of both mild and severe infections. The former included upper respiratory tract infection, acute gastroenteritis, cutaneous abscess, and gingivitis. Severe infections occurred more commonly in patients with splenectomy and included septicemia, pneumonia, biliary tract infection, salmonellosis, and urinary tract infection. Responsible organisms were Escherichia coli (26%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (23%), Salmonella (15%), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (13%). Other organisms included Pseudomonas, Staphylococci, Burkholderia pseudomallei (melioidosis), and Aeromonas. Patients undergoing DFO therapy are at risk for Y. enterocolitica infection which may be localized to mesenteric nodes and tonsils or occur as a generalized form such as septicemia. Recently, we have seen a unique infection so-called vascular pythiosis. Patients usually presented with clinical features of vascular occlusion of lower limbs from ascending arteritis and thrombosis. The causative organism, Pythium insidiosum, is fungus-like, in the kingdom Stramenopila, and in the class Oomycetes. The mortality rate is high and the only effective treatment has been early amputation or possibly immunotherapy. The predisposing factors of infections in thalassemia include splenectomy, iron overload, anemia, and granulocyte dysfunctions. General management of infections in thalassemia consist of prevention, i.e., immunization with pneumococcal and hepatitis vaccines, oral penicillins especially in patients with splenectomy, removal of predisposing factors such as gallstones, iron overload, and appropriate antibiotics.
Mixtures of Lightweight Deep Convolutional Neural Networks: Applied to Agricultural Robotics

We propose a novel approach for training deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) that allows us to tradeoff complexity and accuracy to learn lightweight models suitable for robotic platforms such as AgBot II (which performs automated weed management). Our approach consists of three stages, the first is to adapt a pre-trained model to the task at hand. This provides state-of-the-art performance but at the cost of high computational complexity resulting in a low frame rate of just 0.12 frames per second (fps). Second, we use the adapted model and employ model compression techniques to learn a lightweight DCNN that is less accurate but has two orders of magnitude fewer parameters. Third, $K$ lightweight models are combined as a mixture model to further enhance the performance of the lightweight models. Applied to the challenging task of weed segmentation, we improve the accuracy from 85.9%, using a traditional approach, to 93.9% by adapting a complicated pre-trained DCNN with 25M parameters (Inception-v3). The downside to this adapted model, Adapted-IV3, is that it can only process 0.12 fps. To make this approach fast while still retaining accuracy, we learn lightweight DCNNs which when combined can achieve accuracy greater than 90% while using considerably fewer parameters capable of processing between 1.07 and 1.83 fps, up to an order of magnitude faster and up to an order of magnitude fewer parameters.
Determinants of Quality of Life in Nigerian Children and Adolescents with Epilepsy: A Hospital-based Study

Purpose: Though studies abound on the quality of life (QoL) in chronic illnesses, there has been little focus on children and adolescents. This study investigated the determinants of QoL in children and adolescents with epilepsy in a Nigerian Tertiary Mental Health Institution. Methods: The study involved 67 adolescents between 11 and 18 years of age, diagnosed with epilepsy. Depression was assessed using the Centre for Epidemiology Study Depression Scale, and their QoL was assessed using the Comprehensive QoL Scale (ComQol-S). Data was analysed using Spearman’s Correlation Coefficients and linear regression (p<0.05). Results: The mean age of the participants was 14.5±4.0 years. Twenty-two (32.8%) of them were depressed. Participants scored significantly higher (p<0.00 ) in health, productivity, community participation and emotional domains and total QoL scores in the subjective axis than in the objective axis of QoL. When controlled for age and gender, the lower the educational attainments of the participants, the higher was their depression scores. Depression, seizure frequency at presentation at the clinic, seizure frequency at onset and age predicted poor QoL. Parents’ socio-economic status predicted seizure frequency. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of depression in Nigerian adolescents with epilepsy. Epilepsy has a negative impact on their QoL. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to the condition in order to reduce the frequency of seizures and improve their psycho-social well-being. DOI: 10.5463/dcid.v22i3. 99
Risk of individual malignant neoplasms in patients with sickle cell disease: English national record linkage study

Objective Case reports suggest that there may be an increased risk of some cancers associated with sickle cell disease. However, population-based studies are scarce and there is no comprehensive enumeration of the risks across the whole range of site-specific cancers. Our aim was to provide this. Design We used an English national dataset of linked statistical records of hospital admissions and deaths from 1999 to 2011 to undertake a retrospective cohort study. Setting England. Participants Records of all hospital admissions in England with SCD or with conditions included in the control cohort. Main outcome measures Rate ratios were calculated comparing rates of cancer in a sickle cell disease cohort and a control cohort, confining the analyses to people whose ethnicity was recorded as Black. Results Comparing the sickle cell disease cohort with the cohort without sickle cell disease, the rate ratio for all cancers combined was 2.1 (95% confidence interval 1.7–2.5). There were significantly high rate ratios for haematological malignancies, including Hodgkin’s lymphoma (rate ratio 3.7, 1.5–8.4), non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (2.6, 1.3–4.8), multiple myeloma (5.5, 2.8–10.1), lymphoid leukaemia (3.3, 1.3–8.0) and myeloid leukaemia (10.0, 4.6–21.5). Four solid tumours showed elevated rate ratios: colon cancer (2.8, 1.2–5.5), non-melanoma skin cancer (4.4, 1.3–12.2), kidney cancer (5.4, 2.3–11.5) and thyroid cancer (5.1, 1.3–15.4). Conclusions The risk of some malignancies may be raised in patients with sickle cell disease. However, this study was based on administrative data without the scope to validate these against patients’ full clinical records. Our findings need confirmation or refutation. If confirmed, work to elucidate, at the genetic and molecular level, why people with sickle cell disease have elevated risks of individual cancers might make contributions to the fundamental understanding of carcinogenesis.
Quantitative photoacoustic elastography in humans

Abstract. We report quantitative photoacoustic elastography (QPAE) capable of measuring Young’s modulus of biological tissue in vivo in humans. By combining conventional PAE with a stress sensor having known stress–strain behavior, QPAE can simultaneously measure strain and stress, from which Young’s modulus is calculated. We first demonstrate the feasibility of QPAE in agar phantoms with different concentrations. The measured Young’s modulus values fit well with both the empirical expectation based on the agar concentrations and those measured in an independent standard compression test. Next, QPAE was applied to quantify the Young’s modulus of skeletal muscle in vivo in humans, showing a linear relationship between muscle stiffness and loading. The results demonstrated the capability of QPAE to assess the absolute elasticity of biological tissue noninvasively in vivo in humans, indicating its potential for tissue biomechanics studies and clinical applications.
Hemodynamic changes in a rat parietal cortex after endothelin-1-induced middle cerebral artery occlusion monitored by optical coherence tomography

Abstract. A blockage of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) on the cortical branch will seriously affect the blood supply of the cerebral cortex. Real-time monitoring of MCA hemodynamic parameters is critical for therapy and rehabilitation. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a powerful imaging modality that can produce not only structural images but also functional information on the tissue. We use OCT to detect hemodynamic changes after MCA branch occlusion. We injected a selected dose of endothelin-1 (ET-1) at a depth of 1 mm near the MCA and let the blood vessels follow a process first of occlusion and then of slow reperfusion as realistically as possible to simulate local cerebral ischemia. During this period, we used optical microangiography and Doppler OCT to obtain multiple hemodynamic MCA parameters. The change trend of these parameters from before to after ET-1 injection clearly reflects the dynamic regularity of the MCA. These results show the mechanism of the cerebral ischemia-reperfusion process after a transient middle cerebral artery occlusion and confirm that OCT can be used to monitor hemodynamic parameters.
So Perfect It's Positively Harmful?

The article by Flett and Hewitt (2006) highlights a number of important issues in the study of perfectionism and rightly urges caution against simplistic conceptualizations. Their view that the term perfectionism should be reserved for pathological forms of behavior is questionable, though understandable given the perspective from which they view it. But whatever the terminology used, the underlying processes remain unaffected. Relevance of the data they cite in support of an alleged maladaptive side to positive perfectionism, however, rests on the assumption of close parallels between self-oriented perfectionism and positive perfectionism, an assumption that may not be justified. It is important to draw attention not only to differences between the theoretical underpinnings of their and the authors perspectives but also to points of agreement that the authors may previously have failed to make clear. The authors concur entirely with their view that clear avenues of potential research are now apparent that should serve to clarify the issues.
Evaluating the effect of local pH on fluorescence emissions from oral bacteria of the genus Prevotella

Abstract. A number of anaerobic oral bacteria, notably Prevotellaceae, exhibit red fluorescence when excited by short-wavelength visible light due to their accumulation of porphyrins, particularly protoporphyrin IX. pH affects the fluorescence of abiotic preparations of porphyrins due to transformations in speciation between monomers, higher aggregates, and dimers. To elucidate whether the porphyrin speciation phenomenon could be manifested within a microbiological system, suspensions of Prevotella intermedia and Prevotella nigrescens were examined by fluorescence spectrophotometry while being titrated against NaOH. The initial pH of the samples was <6, which was then raised toward the maximum found within a diseased periodontal pocket, being ∼pH 8.7. The intensity of the fluorescence emissions increased between 600 and 650 nm with increasing pH. Peak fluorescence emissions occurred at 635±1 nm with a second emission peak developing with increasing pH at 622 nm. A linear relationship was demonstrated between pH and the log10 ratio of 635:622 nm excitation fluorescence intensities. These findings suggest that the pH range found within the oral cavity could affect the fluorescence of oral bacteria in vivo, which may in turn have connotations for any clinical diagnoses that may be inferred from dental plaque fluorescence.
Table top surface plasmon resonance measurement system for efficient urea biosensing using ZnO thin film matrix

Abstract. The present report addresses the application of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomenon for urea sensing. The former promises a high sensitivity, label-free detection, and real-time information by monitoring the refractive index change at the metal–dielectric interface. In the present report, a highly sensitive urea biosensor has been developed by integrating a ZnO thin film matrix with the SPR technique. Kretschmann configuration has been used to excite the surface plasmon (SP) modes at the ZnO–metal (gold) interface using an indigeneously developed table top SPR measurement setup. Urease (Urs), the urea-specific enzyme, has been immobilized on the surface of ZnO thin film by physical adsorption technique. The SPR reflectance curves were recorded for the prism/Au/ZnO/Urs system in angular interrogation mode with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution as the liquid media. The SPR resonance angle is found to be shifted toward a lower angle from 49.1 to 42.0 deg with an increase in the urea concentration (0 to 300 mg/dl) in the PBS solution. The developed sensor (prism/Au/ZnO/Urs) is found to be highly sensitive [sensitivity=0.039 deg/(mg/dl) or 203 deg/RIU] with detection accuracy of 0.045(deg)−1.
Development and Validation of the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Skills Questionnaire

Although several theories exist to describe why patients improve in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), in only a limited number of studies has CBT skill acquisition been examined, particularly among patients with complex clinical profiles. Thus, the overarching aim of this research was to develop a tool to measure patients’ use of CBT skills, such that it would have clinical utility for patients and therapists during treatment. In Study 1, the authors developed an initial set of items for the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Skills Questionnaire (CBTSQ). They submitted these items to an exploratory factor analysis in an initial administration (n = 350) and to a confirmatory factor analysis in a second administration (n = 378). Results indicated that there were two factors (Behavioral Activation and Cognitive Restructuring) with good factor structure and internal consistency, and both the factors evidenced expected relationships with other constructs. In Study 2, the criterion validity of the CBTSQ was investigated on a patient sample in a CBT-oriented treatment setting. Results showed that CBTSQ scores increased following treatment, and Cognitive Restructuring and Behavioral Activation scores predicted reduction of overall psychiatric symptoms and depression. Thus, the CBTSQ appears to be a promising measure of CBT skill acquisition and treatment outcome as well as an instrument that can help patients and therapists monitor progress specifically related to a CBT skills training treatment approach.
In vivo optical coherence tomography of stimulus-evoked intrinsic optical signals in mouse retinas

Abstract. Intrinsic optical signal (IOS) imaging promises a noninvasive method for advanced study and diagnosis of eye diseases. Before pursuing clinical applications, it is essential to understand anatomic and physiological sources of retinal IOSs and to establish the relationship between IOS distortions and eye diseases. The purpose of this study was designed to demonstrate the feasibility of in vivo IOS imaging of mouse models. A high spatiotemporal resolution spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) was employed for depth-resolved retinal imaging. A custom-designed animal holder equipped with ear bar and bite bar was used to minimize eye movements. Dynamic OCT imaging revealed rapid IOS from the photoreceptor’s outer segment immediately after the stimulation delivery, and slow IOS changes were observed from inner retinal layers. Comparative photoreceptor IOS and electroretinography recordings suggested that the fast photoreceptor IOS may be attributed to the early stage of phototransduction before the hyperpolarization of retinal photoreceptor.
LONELINESS IN INFANTS

One of the most striking and at the same time one of the most obscure phenomena in pediatrics is the failure of infants to thrive in hospitals. The appalling infant death rate in American institutions within the twentieth century was recounted before this society by Dr. Chapin in 1915.1It seems hard to believe that only a quarter of a century ago the death rate for infants under 1 year of age in various foundling institutions throughout the country was nearly 100 per cent. Happily this condition has been remedied and at present the mortality of foundling infants is relatively low, not so much because care in institutions has improved but because foundling homes have been in large part replaced by the much more suitable and less lethal foster homes. Up to twenty or twenty-five years ago the failure of infants to do well in hospitals was attributed mainly
Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of infrapopliteal arteries in patients with intermittent claudication: Acute and one‐year results

In advanced stages of infrapopliteal peripheral arterial occlusive disease with critical ischemia of the lower limb, the efficacy of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) is well established. In contrast, PTA is currently not the therapy of choice in intermittent claudication (IC). In this prospective study, patients with IC were treated percutaneously. Technical aspects and long‐term results are presented. In 78 patients (61 males, or 78.2%; age, 71 ± 11 years) with IC (Rutherford grade 2 or 3), 104 interventions were performed. At baseline, the initial/absolute walking distance (IWD/AWD) was 49 ± 34/102 ± 88 m; the ankle‐brachial index (ABI) was 0.61 ± 0.2 before and 0.49 ± 0.2 after exercise. A crossover approach was used in 74% and an antegrade access in 26% of the cases. In 19 interventions (18.3%), the excimer laser technique was used, and in 26 interventions (25%) a total of 39 stents were implanted. Procedural success rate was 89.4%. IWD and AWD improved to 107 ± 67 m and 167 ± 74 m (P < 0.0001 vs. baseline each), respectively, and the ABI at rest and after exercise increased to 0.88 ± 0.13 and 0.72 ± 0.19 (P < 0.0001 vs. baseline each). Six complications occurred (5.8%). One embolic occlusion, two minor groin hematoma, one arteriovenous fistula, one compartment syndrome, and one perforation. All were treated conservatively. After 12 months, the primary patency rate was 66.3%, cumulative primary assisted patency rate was 81.9%, and secondary patency rate was 91.5%. Percutaneous revascularization of infrapopliteal arteries in patients with IC is feasible and associated with good acute clinical results and an encouraging long‐term patency rate. The complication rate is low. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv 2005;64:12–17. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Alzheimer’s disease and the fornix

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of neurodegenerative dementia. Researchers have long been focused on the cortical pathology of AD, since the most important pathologic features are the senile plaques found in the cortex, and the neurofibrillary tangles and neuronal loss that begin in the entorhinal cortex and the hippocampus. In addition to these gray matter (GM) structures, histopathological studies indicate that the white matter (WM) is also a good target for both the early diagnosis of AD and for monitoring disease progression. The fornix is a WM bundle that constitutes a core element of the limbic circuits, and is one of the most important anatomical structures related to memory. Functional and anatomical features of the fornix have naturally captured researchers’ attention as possible diagnostic and prognostic markers of AD. Indeed, neurodegeneration of the fornix has been histologically observed in AD, and growing evidence indicates that the alterations seen in the fornix are potentially a good marker to predict future conversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to AD, and even from cognitively normal individuals to AD. The degree of alteration is correlated with the degree of memory impairment, indicating the potential for the use of the fornix as a functional marker. Moreover, there have been attempts to stimulate the fornix using deep brain stimulation (DBS) to augment cognitive function in AD, and ongoing research has suggested positive effects of DBS on brain glucose metabolism in AD patients. On the other hand, disease specificity for fornix degeneration, methodologies to evaluate fornix degeneration, and the clinical significance of the fornix DBS, especially for the long-term impact on the quality of life, are mostly unknown and need to be elucidated.
Assessment of intraocular pressure sensing using an implanted reflective flexible membrane

Abstract. Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative condition that is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is the main cause for the development of the disease. The symptoms of this form, such as deterioration of vision and scotomas (loss of visual fields), appear in the latter stages of the disease. Therefore, an IOP monitoring device is needed for better, simpler, and faster diagnosis, and to enable a fast treatment response. We present a theoretical assessment as well as preliminary experimental results of a simple approach for easy, optical, IOP self-monitoring. It is based on a polydimethylsiloxane membrane coated with a reflective layer and a Hartmann–Shack wavefront sensor. Nearly linear correlation is found between membrane deformation and Zernike coefficients representing defocus primary spherical aberration, with high sensitivity and negligible dependence on the measurement distance. The proposed device is expected to provide an accurate IOP measurement resolution of less than ±0.2 mm Hg with a pressure dependence on working distances <0.7 mm Hg/cm for a thick membrane; the corresponding values for a thin membrane are ±0.45 mm Hg and <0.6 mm Hg/cm, respectively, at typical IOP values—up to 40 mm Hg.
High-resolution matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging of tryptic peptides from tissue.

RATIONALE The analysis of proteins by mass spectrometry imaging is an important biomedical application as spatial distributions can be used to identify markers for pathological processes. The direct detection and identification of proteins on tissue can be hindered by a number of factors including limited mass range and fragmentation efficiency as well as incompatibility with formalin-fixed samples. METHODS To overcome some of these limitations, on-tissue digestion of proteins was followed by detection of the resulting peptides. Trypsin was applied by a spraying device. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) imaging experiments were performed with a home-built atmospheric-pressure imaging source attached to a LTQ Orbitrap mass spectrometer. The mass accuracy under imaging conditions was better than 3 ppm RMS. This allowed for confident identification of tryptic peptides by comparison with liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS) measurements of an adjacent mouse brain section. RESULTS A spatial resolution of 50 µm was obtained for tryptic peptides on tissue. Several tryptic peptides of myelin showed matching spatial distributions, and numerous tryptic peptides of other proteins were identified. MS images were generated with a bin size (mass range used for image generation) of Δm/z = 0.01 u. Examples demonstrate that MS images with lower selectivity can result in misleading information about the spatial distribution of tryptic peptides. CONCLUSIONS The presented method combines a significantly improved spatial resolution for tryptic peptides with low-ppm mass accuracy in a single experiment and thus provides highly reliable and specific information.