Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study of Visceral Leishmaniasis Treatment Five-Year Retrospective Italian Multicenter

Published Ahead of Print 4 November 2013. 10.1128/AAC.00840-13. 2014, 58(1):414. DOI: Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. Giustino Parruti Francesco Mazzotta, Rosario Russo, Lamberto Manzoli and Migliore, Paolo Almi, Eligio Pizzigallo, Evangelista Sagnelli, Giovanni Cenderello, Nicola Acone, Ennio Polilli, Simona Giovanni Todaro, Giacinta Tordini, Giacomo Zanelli, Luciano Nigro, Claudia Colomba, Maria Grazia Marazzi, Pietro Di Gregorio, Angelo Casabianca, Nunzio Storaci, Leonardo Chianura, Francesco Baldasso, Giuseppe Foti, Francesco Di Masi, Tamara Ursini, Maria Donata Iannece, Study of Visceral Leishmaniasis Treatment Five-Year Retrospective Italian Multicenter
Selection of Drug Resistance-Mediating Plasmodium falciparum Genetic Polymorphisms by Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention in Burkina Faso

ABSTRACT Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC), with regular use of amodiaquine plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (AQ/SP) during the transmission season, is now a standard malaria control measure in the Sahel subregion of Africa. Another strategy under study is SMC with dihydroartemisinin plus piperaquine (DP). Plasmodium falciparum single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in P. falciparum crt (pfcrt), pfmdr1, pfdhfr, and pfdhps are associated with decreased response to aminoquinoline and antifolate antimalarials and are selected by use of these drugs. To characterize selection by SMC of key polymorphisms, we assessed 13 SNPs in P. falciparum isolated from children aged 3 to 59 months living in southwestern Burkina Faso and randomized to receive monthly DP or AQ/SP for 3 months in 2009. We compared SNP prevalence before the onset of SMC and 1 month after the third treatment in P. falciparum PCR-positive samples from 120 randomly selected children from each treatment arm and an additional 120 randomly selected children from a control group that did not receive SMC. The prevalence of relevant mutations was increased after SMC with AQ/SP. Significant selection was seen for pfcrt 76T (68.5% to 83.0%, P = 0.04), pfdhfr 59R (54.8% to 83.3%, P = 0.0002), and pfdhfr 108N (55.0% to 87.2%, P = 0.0001), with trends toward selection of pfmdr1 86Y, pfdhfr 51I, and pfdhps 437G. After SMC with DP, only borderline selection of wild-type pfmdr1 D1246 (mutant; 7.7% to 0%, P = 0.05) was seen. In contrast to AQ/SP, SMC with DP did not clearly select for known resistance-mediating polymorphisms. SMC with AQ/SP, but not DP, may hasten the development of resistance to components of this regimen. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. NCT00941785.)
Crustal structure and thickness along the Yellowstone hot spot track: Evidence for lower crustal outflow from beneath the eastern Snake River Plain

Receiver functions from seismic stations about the Yellowstone hot spot track are migrated to depth using a Vp/Vs map constructed from stacking of the direct and free surface Moho reverberations (i.e., H‐K analysis) and a shear velocity tomogram constructed from surface wave measurements. The thickest crust (48–54 km) resides in the Wyoming province beneath the sampled Laramide age blocks, and the thinnest crust (32–37 km) resides in the Montana Basin and Range province. The eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) crust is thickest (47 km) at its NE end beneath the young calderas and thinnest (40 km) at its SW end beneath the older Twin Falls caldera. Two ESRP crustal thickness domains are found: (1) at the older Twin Falls and Picabo calderas, the mean ESRP crust is 4 km thicker with respect to its margins and (2) adjacent to the Heise caldera field, the mean ESRP crust is 4 km thicker with respect to its SE margin crust but no thicker with respect to its NW margin crust. This lobe of anomalously thick crust is explained as resulting from lower crustal outflow from beneath the Heise caldera field. Confirmation of these crustal thickness variations is provided by inspection of common conversion point (CCP) stacks that delineate several secondary features: the top of a thick high‐velocity (3.9 km/s) lower crust layer within the Wyoming province up to 17 km thick and a paired negative and positive amplitude arrival at 12 km depth and 18 km depth beneath the Yellowstone Caldera. This paired arrival would be consistent with a low‐velocity zone perhaps associated with magma staging beneath the caldera. Our most important finding is that the magmatic loads injected into the ESRP crust over the last 4–12 Myr, in tandem with the ESRP crustal viscosity structure, have been sufficient to drive significant outflow of the ESRP lower crust.
The Effect of Focus of Strategic Planning on Accuracy and Complexity in Argumentative Writing of Intermediate L2 Learners

Following previous studies reporting positive effect for strategic planning on learners? task performance (Mehnert, 1998; Sangarun, 2001; Yuan and Ellis, 2004) the present research takes into account the possible effects of directing learners? attention to meaning and form of language. This study is building on information processing models and Kellog (1996) model of writing. The study randomly categorized thirty intermediate learners of English into three groups and asked them to perform an argumentative writing task under three different strategic planning conditions: form-focused, meaning-focused, and unguided-focused strategic planning condition. Their performance was analyzed by a set of one-way ANOVAs, t-tests, and measures of accuracy and complexity. The results indicate that guided strategic planning yielded greater accuracy and complexity in writing than unguided strategic planning with the learners at intermediate levels of proficiency. The results also indicate that the form-focused planners outperformed the other two groups in terms of accuracy, and meaning-focused planner better promoted their writing than form-focused and unguided focused planners in terms of complexity.
DNA replication licensing in peripheral B‐cell lymphoma

Peripheral B‐cell lymphomas representing 90% of lymphoid neoplasms are divided into low‐ and high‐growth fraction lymphomas. Here we investigate regulation of DNA replication licensing during B‐cell lymphomagenesis. Combined analysis of origin licensing factors Mcm2 and geminin with the proliferation marker Ki67 in SLL/CLL, MCL, DLBCL and Burkitt lymphoma reveals for the first time the precise cell cycle state of these entities. Given that tight Mcm2 downregulation defines the quiescent state (G0) and that both high‐ and low‐growth fraction lymphomas express Mcm2, the data demonstrate that neoplastic lymphocytes of SLL/CLL and MCL reside in an “in‐cycle” G1 state and not in G0 as previously thought. Absence of the S/G2/M phase marker geminin in SLL/CLL and MCL further indicates failure of cell cycle progression in these tumours. In contrast, the high‐growth fraction lymphomas DLBCL and Burkitt lymphoma exhibit differential expression of geminin, with the geminin/Ki67 ratio increasing for more aggressive neoplasms in keeping with a shortened G1 phase and thus representing an important discriminator for differential diagnosis. These data provide new insights into abrogation of cell cycle control during B cell lymphomagenesis and suggest that combined analysis of origin licensing factors may contribute to improved treatment decisions and prognosis in haematopoietic malignancies. Copyright © 2005 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Short History of Blood Transfusion

AMONG the tribes of Central Australia a sick old man is given the blood of a young man to drink. Throughout South America the most popular method of driving out a bad spirit was by venesection in the belief that the demons escaped with the blood. The Egyptians anointed heads with oil containing blood to treat greying and baldness. They also used blood baths for resuscitation and recuperation while the Romans were said to have rushed into the gladiatorial arena to drink the blood of the dying as a method of imbuing their courage.12 The Greeks believed that the most important of the four humors was the blood which was supposed to be manufactured by the liver and wine was considered by Galen as contributing greatly to its formation. This idea was still alive in the 16th Century when Christopher Marlowe wrote Tamburlaine the Great,
Autopsy case of acute encephalopathy linked to familial hemiplegic migraine with cerebellar atrophy and mental retardation

A 19‐year‐old female patient, who had exhibited esotropia, mild cerebellar ataxia, mild mental retardation, and cerebellar atrophy on magnetic resonance images at the age of 15, developed signs of acute encephalopathy, and thereafter died of disseminated intravascular coagulation on the day of her admission. Both her mother and sister suffered from attacks of hemiplegic migraine, mild mental retardation, and cerebellar ataxia. Neuropathological examinations revealed acute changes in the widespread cerebral cortex, chronic degenerative changes in the anterior lobe of the cerebellar vermis, axonal spheroids in the Goll's nucleus, pseudo‐calcinosis in the globus pallidus, and glial bundles in the cranial nerves. The most fascinating features were changes of Purkinje cells, such as cactuses (asteroid bodies, dendritic expansions), somatic sprouts, and torpedoes. These changes may be characteristic of familial hemiplegic migraine with cerebellar atrophy, as well as the other metabolic diseases, such as Menkes’ kinky hair disease, infantile (Tay–Sachs type) amaurotic idiocy, organic mercury intoxication, and mitochondrial encephalopathy, of which cases often exhibit such pathological changes of Purkinje cells. Therefore, familial hemiplegic migraine may share some metabolic abnormalities with the diseases mentioned above.
Interaction of gaze direction and facial expressions processing: ERP study

Event related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 11 subjects watching photographs of angry and happy faces with different gaze directions. ERPs to right averted gaze differed from those to straight and left averted gaze at 85 and 460 ms whereas ERPs to happy and angry expressions differed at 115, 330 and 380 ms. We suggest that short-latency effects, maximal over occipital cortex, reflect the involvement of visual cortex in the early analysis of socially-relevant stimuli. Interaction of gaze and expressions was reflected in ERPs at 270–450 ms. We conclude that gaze and emotional expressions are analyzed in parallel at the early stages of visual processing. The interaction of these two processing streams starts no earlier than at 270 ms.
Mechanism for spontaneous growth of nanopillar arrays in ultrathin films subject to a thermal gradient

Several experimental groups have reported spontaneous formation of periodic pillar arrays in molten polymer nanofilms confined within closely spaced substrates held at different temperatures. These formations have been attributed to a radiation pressure instability caused by interface reflection of acoustic phonons. We demonstrate here how variations in thermocapillary stress at the air/polymer interface can produce significant periodic protrusions in any viscous film no matter how small the transverse thermal gradient. The linear stability analysis of the interface evolution equation corresponds to an extreme limit of Benard–Marangoni flow peculiar to films of nanoscale dimensions—deformation amplitudes are small in comparison to the pillar spacing and hydrostatic forces are negligible. Finite element simulations of the full nonlinear equation provide estimates of the array pitch and growth rates beyond the linear regime. Results of the Lyapunov free energy as a function of time also confirm that pillarlike elongations are energetically preferred in nanofilms, in contrast to cellular instabilities in macroscopically thick films. If not mass limited, fluid elongations continue to grow until contact with the cooler substrate is achieved. These predictions should facilitate the fabrication of extended arrays for nanoscale optical, photonic, and biological applications.
JNK, but not MAPK, activation is associated with Fas‐mediated apoptosis in human T cells

Fas is a cell surface molecule that is expressed on a wide array of cell types and triggers apoptosis. While in most situations Fas ligation activates programmed cell death, on resting T lymphocytes it can co‐stimulate proliferation with the T cell receptor (TCR)/CD3 complex. This incongruity suggests that Fas may elicit signaling events that overlap with those used by proliferation cues. We observe that in the human T cell line Jurkat and in human peripheral blood lymphocytes, Fas stimulation does not signal by the Ras/Raf‐1/mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway or by increased intracellular calcium. Rather, Fas ligation strongly activates Jun kinase (JNK). This activity, as well as Fas‐induced apoptosis, is blocked by increased levels of cAMP. The balance between proliferation and apoptosis by Fas triggering of T lymphocytes may therefore reflect a signaling ratio between TCR activation of the Ras/Raf‐1/MAPK pathway versus JNK activation by Fas.
Relative contribution of cardiovascular risk factors and rheumatoid arthritis clinical manifestations to atherosclerosis.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the contribution of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease manifestations to atherosclerosis in RA. METHODS We used high-resolution carotid ultrasound to measure the carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque in 631 RA patients. Using R(2) measures from multivariable models, we estimated the contribution of demographic characteristics (age, sex, and ethnic group), CV risk factors (diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, cigarette smoking, hypertension, and body mass index, and RA manifestations (joint tenderness, swelling, and deformity, nodules, erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR], C-reactive protein, rheumatoid factor, the HLA-DRB1 shared epitope, and cumulative glucocorticoid dose) to each of the outcomes. Estimates were obtained in the full sample, and within strata defined by age, sex, and ethnic group. We tested for interaction between CV risk factors and RA manifestations. RESULTS The contribution of demographic factors, CV risk factors, and RA manifestations to IMT and plaque R(2) varied depending on the patients' age stratum. Demographic features explained 11-16% of IMT variance, CV risk factors explained 4%-12%, and RA manifestations explained 1-6%. The greatest contribution of RA manifestations occurred in the youngest age group, while that of CV risk factors occurred in the older age groups. Results for carotid plaque were similar. There was a significant interaction between the number of CV risk factors present and the ESR, suggesting that the ESR's effect on IMT varied according to the number of CV risk factors. CONCLUSION Both established CV risk factors and manifestations of RA inflammation contribute significantly to carotid atherosclerosis in RA, and may modify one another's effects. These findings may have implications regarding the prevention of atherosclerosis in RA.
Sensitivity of fibroblast growth factor 23 measurements in tumor-induced osteomalacia.

CONTEXT Tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO) is a paraneoplastic syndrome of hypophosphatemia, decreased renal phosphate reabsorption, normal or low serum 1,25-dihydryxyvitamin-D concentration, myopathy, and osteomalacia. Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is a phosphaturic protein overexpressed in tumors that cause TIO and is, at least partly, responsible for the manifestations of TIO. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to determine the sensitivity of FGF23 measurements in TIO. DESIGN FGF23 concentrations were measured on stored samples with three ELISAs. SETTING This study was conducted at subspecialty referral centers. PATIENTS Twenty-two patients with suspected TIO, 13 with confirmed tumors, were studied. INTERVENTIONS There were no interventions in this study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE FGF23 concentration was the main outcome measure of this study. RESULTS Elevated FGF23 concentrations were detected using the Immunotopics C-terminal assay in 16 of 22 TIO patients (for a sensitivity of 73%), the Immunotopics Intact assay in five of 22 patients (sensitivity, 23%), and the Kainos Intact assay in 19 of 22 patients (sensitivity, 86%). In the 13 patients with confirmed tumors, the sensitivity was higher with all assays: 92% for the Immunotopics C-terminal assay, 38% for the Immunotopics Intact assay, and 100% for the Kainos assay. CONCLUSION The Kainos Intact assay was the most sensitive, followed by the Immunotopics C-terminal assay. The findings of normal FGF23 concentrations in some patients with TIO may indicate that FGF 23 is not responsible for the hypophosphatemia in these patients or that FGF23 secretion by some tumors is partially responsive to serum phosphate. Normal FGF23 concentrations should be interpreted in relation to the serum phosphate and 1,25-dihydryxyvitamin-D concentrations.
Modélisation multi-échelle de l'endommagement et de l'émission acoustique dans les roches

La modelisation de la rupture des geo-materiaux constitue un important defi pour les applications telles que la sequestration du CO2 , le stockage de dechets nucleaires, la production des hydrocarbures ainsi que les projets de genie civil concernant les tunnels ou les excavations. L'objectif de cette these est de developper des lois d'evolution macroscopiques d'endommagement a partir des descriptions explicites de la rupture a l'echelle microscopique en vue de la modelisation du comportement d'endommagement a long terme des sites de stockage geologique. L'approche adoptee est basee sur l'homogeneisation par developpements asymptotiques et la description energetique de la propagation des micro-fissures, qui permettent l'obtention des lois d'endommagement et conduisent a une quantification explicite de l'energie de l'emission acoustique associee a la rupture. Les modeles obtenus sont capables de predire la degradation des modules d'elasticite en raison de l'evolution des micro-fissures. Cette representation permet de modeliser la propagation des ondes dans un milieu a endommagement evolutif. Deux types de modeles d'endommagement seront proposes: independants de temps et dependants de temps. Les modeles dependants de temps decrivent l'evolution progressive quasi-fragile de la micro-fissuration. Dans les modeles dependants de temps, l'evolution des micro-fissures est decrite a travers un critere sous-critique et la propagation mixte, par branchement. En utilisant le modele dependant de temps, des simulations seront faites a trois niveaux: du laboratoire, du tunnel et du reservoir.
Greedy Transition-Based Dependency Parsing with Stack LSTMs

We introduce a greedy transition-based parser that learns to represent parser states using recurrent neural networks. Our primary innovation that enables us to do this efficiently is a new control structure for sequential neural networks—the stack long short-term memory unit (LSTM). Like the conventional stack data structures used in transition-based parsers, elements can be pushed to or popped from the top of the stack in constant time, but, in addition, an LSTM maintains a continuous space embedding of the stack contents. Our model captures three facets of the parser’s state: (i) unbounded look-ahead into the buffer of incoming words, (ii) the complete history of transition actions taken by the parser, and (iii) the complete contents of the stack of partially built tree fragments, including their internal structures. In addition, we compare two different word representations: (i) standard word vectors based on look-up tables and (ii) character-based models of words. Although standard word embedding models work well in all languages, the character-based models improve the handling of out-of-vocabulary words, particularly in morphologically rich languages. Finally, we discuss the use of dynamic oracles in training the parser. During training, dynamic oracles alternate between sampling parser states from the training data and from the model as it is being learned, making the model more robust to the kinds of errors that will be made at test time. Training our model with dynamic oracles yields a linear-time greedy parser with very competitive performance.
The Pieper-Zulkowski Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Test

OBJECTIVE: To describe the development and initial testing of the Pieper-Zulkowski Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Test (PZ-PUKT). DESIGN: Cross-sectional, instrument testing. SETTING: Hospital association pressure ulcer educational program conference. METHODS: Pressure ulcer research and guidelines from the last 5 years were examined for test item content. The initial PZ-PUKT had 115 items; response options were “true,” “false,” and “don’t know. ” Registered nurses (N = 108) were randomly divided into 2 groups to take either the 60 prevention/risk and staging items or the 55 wound description items. Analyses of these responses resulted in 72 items, which were administered in total to a second cohort of 98 nurses for reliability. RESULTS: Cronbach’s &agr; was . 80 for the 72-item PZ-PUKT. Cronbach’s &agr; values for the subscales were as follows: staging, . 67; wound description, . 64; and prevention/risk, . 56. The mean correct scores were as follows: total, 80%; prevention, 77%; staging, 86%; and wound description, 77%. Nurses with wound care certification scored significantly higher on the PZ-PUKT than did nurses with other clinical certifications or with nurses who lacked certification. CONCLUSIONS: The PZ-PUKT has updated content about pressure ulcer prevention/risk, staging, and wound description. Reliability values are highest for the total test. Further use of the instrument in diverse settings will add to reliability testing and may provide direction for determination of a passing cutoff score.
Prevalence of cognitive impairment and related factors among the elderly in rural communities of Jeju Province.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to survey the prevalence rate of cognitive impairments and to identify the factors influencing cognitive impairment in the elderly in rural communities of Jeju Province. METHODS 590 elderly in 6 rural communities of Jeju Province were interviewed, using a questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic characteristics, health behavior, quality of life, and MMSE-K RESULTS: Prevalence of cognitive impairment was 33.1% (39.1% of females, 16.76% of males). Prevalence of dementia was 12.4% (16.3% of females, 2.87% of males). Factors related to cognitive impairment were age, sex, education, standard of living, employment status, and subjective health state. CONCLUSIONS In community health care for the elderly, factors relating to cognitive impairment have to be considered. When planning community health care, priority should be given to the elderly; who need care but live alone; who lack social support; who have a low standard of living; who experience discomfort in the activities of daily living; who believe they are not in a good state of health; or whose life satisfaction is low.
A Tutorial for Emerging Wireless Medical Video Transmission Systems [Wireless Corner]

The wireless transmission of medical video is expected to see significant growth in the coming years. This is primarily due to the expected availability of significant bandwidth in the next-generation of wireless communications networks, and the emergence of effective wireless video-compression standards. The design of wireless medical video transmission systems presents unique requirements for error-resilience and clinical validation. We present a tutorial introduction to the most important components of a wireless medical video transmission system. We focus on video-encoding requirements for error resilience, quality-of-service transmission, and diagnostic validation. Whenever possible, we give references to open-source software and provide references to the literature. We demonstrate the basic principles through the use of simple examples of stroke ultrasound videos.