Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Correlation of Radiographic Progression with the Cumulative Activity of Synovitis Estimated by Power Doppler Ultrasound in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Difference Between Patients Treated with Methotrexate and Those Treated with Biological Agents

Objective. Our prospective study aimed to demonstrate that the cumulative synovial power Doppler (PD) ultrasound scores correlate with radiographic progression better than conventional measures in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We also investigated the difference between antirheumatic agents. Methods. Sixty-nine patients with RA who had recently received either methotrexate (MTX; n = 23), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists (n = 28), or tocilizumab (TCZ; n = 18) were enrolled. Patients underwent clinical, laboratory, and ultrasonographic assessment at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks. Radiographic damage was evaluated using van der Heijde modified total Sharp score (TSS) at baseline and 24 weeks. Results. Fifty-seven patients continued the same treatment regimen for 24 weeks and completed the study, and 21 patients (36.8%) showed radiographic progression during the study period. In all patients, ΔTSS significantly correlated both with cumulative 28-joint Disease Activity Score–C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP; ρ = 0.342, p = 0.009) and cumulative total PD scores (ρ = 0.357, p = 0.006). In MTX-treated patients, cumulative total PD scores significantly correlated with ΔTSS (ρ = 0.679, p = 0.004), whereas cumulative DAS28-CRP did not (ρ = 0.487, p = 0.056). However, cumulative total PD scores did not correlate with ΔTSS in TNF antagonist–treated or TCZ-treated patients. Conclusion. Our data confirm the evidence that synovial PD activity more accurately reflects active synovial inflammation (which actually causes joint destruction) than do conventional measures in patients treated with MTX. Our data also indicate that TNF antagonists can inhibit short-term radiographic progression in the presence of active synovitis.
PharmCAT: A Pharmacogenomics Clinical Annotation Tool

Implementation of genomic medicine into clinical care continues to increase in prevalence in medical centers worldwide. As defined by the National Human Genome Research Institute, “Genomic medicine is an emerging medical discipline that involves using genomic information about an individual as part of their clinical care. …” The genomic information utilized falls broadly into two categories: 1) highly penetrant genetic disorders and 2) pharmacogenomics. Herein, we focus on pharmacogenomics, although the Pharmacogenomics Clinical Annotation Tool (PharmCAT) tool could be extended to include other types of genetic variation.
Salvage of pelvic recurrence of colorectal cancer

Although the incidence of locally recurrent colorectal cancer has been reduced by improved surgical techniques and the frequent use of multimodality therapy, pelvic recurrence remains a significant problem. Radiation or chemotherapy may provide palliation but it is often short‐lived. For fit candidates without evidence of extrapelvic disease, surgical resection (anterior resection, abdominoperineal resection, pelvic exenteration, or abdominosacral resection) may be the most appropriate treatment. For patients with unresectable disease, isolated pelvic perfusion may provide effective palliation. J. Surg. Oncol. 2010; 101:649‐660. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist prevents loss of retinal ganglion cells in a glaucoma model.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to analyze the neuroprotective effect of an α7 nAChR agonist, PNU-282987, using an in vivo model of glaucoma in Long Evans rats. METHODS One eye in each animal was surgically manipulated to induce glaucoma in control untreated animals and in animals that were treated with intravitreal injections of PNU-282987. To induce glaucoma-like conditions, 0.05 mL of 2 M NaCl was injected into the episcleral veins of right eyes in each rat to create scar tissue and increase intraocular pressure. The left eye in each rat acted as an internal control. One month following NaCl injection, rats were euthanized, retinas were removed, flatmounted, fixed, and nuclei were stained with cresyl violet or RGCs were immunostained with an antibody against Thy 1.1 or against Brn3a. Stained nuclei in the RGC layer and labeled RGCs in NaCl-injected retinas were counted and compared with cell counts from untreated retinas in the same animal. RESULTS NaCl injections into the episcleral veins caused a significant loss of cells by an average of 27.35% (± 2.12 SEM) in the RGC layer within 1 month after NaCl injection, which corresponded to a significant loss of RGCs. This loss of RGCs was eliminated if 5 μL of 100 μM PNU-282987 was injected into the right eye an hour before NaCl injection. CONCLUSIONS The results from this study support the hypothesis that the α7 agonist, PNU-282987, has a neuroprotective effect in the rat retina. PNU-282987 may be a viable candidate for future therapeutic treatments of glaucoma.
A conserved mitogen‐activated protein kinase pathway is required for mating in Candida albicans

Candida albicans had been thought to lack a mating process until the recent discovery of a mating type‐like locus and mating between MTLa and MTLα strains. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms that regulate mating in C. albicans, we examined the function of Cph1 and its upstream mitogen‐activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway in mating, as they are homologues of the pheromone‐responsive MAP kinase pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We found that overexpressing CPH1 in MTLa, but not in MTLa/α strains, induced the transcription of orthologues of S. cerevisiae pheromone‐induced genes and also increased mating efficiency. Furthermore, cph1 and hst7 mutants were completely defective in mating, and cst20 and cek1 mutants showed reduced mating efficiency, as in S. cerevisiae. The partial mating defect in cek1 results from the presence of a functionally redundant MAP kinase, Cek2. CEK2 complemented the mating defect of a fus3 kss1 mutant of S. cerevisiae and was expressed only in MTLa or MTLα, but not in MTLa/α cell types. Moreover, a cek1 cek2 double mutant was completely defective in mating. Our data suggest that the conserved MAP kinase pathway regulates mating in C. albicans. We also observed that C. albicans mating efficiency was greatly affected by medium composition, indicating the potential involvement of nutrient‐sensing pathways in mating in addition to the MAP kinase pathway.
No Love on the Dole: The Influence of the UK Means-tested Welfare System on Partnering and Family Structure

Abstract Two-parent families with dependent children are known to be at lower risk of poverty and significantly less reliant on state financial help than lone-parent households. It might therefore be expected that the factors influencing partnership transitions among low-income women would represent a key area of policy interest. However, driven by concerns about weak work incentives, policy focus and research has to date concentrated on understanding lone parents’ labour supply and encouraging the transition from benefits into employment. Surprisingly little is therefore known about demographic decision making among women reliant on UK means-tested welfare. As part of a wider qualitative study exploring family formation, partnership dissolution and repartnering decisions among low-income mothers, this paper examines whether and to what extent entitlement to welfare benefits or tax credits influenced the decision to live with or apart from a partner or child's father. The research found that the aspects of welfare that remove or reduce a mother's access to an independent income and require one partner in a couple to be financially dependent on the other had been strongly influential in partnering decisions and living arrangements. Policy implications are discussed.
Teaching as a Moral Practice: Defining, Developing, and Assessing Professional Dispositions in Teacher Education.

The field of education has been accused of lacking a morally grounded sense of the meaning of teaching (Fenstermacher, 1 ) because for many years it has focused on testing and accountability (Chieppo & Gass 200 ; Harper, 2008). The education industry does not decry the need for accountability; however, it frowns at the notion that external bodies should dictate its standards of operation and thereby infringe on its autonomy (Hurst & Reding, 2008). Given the dynamic nature of education, the external articulation of a singular fundamental purpose of teaching infringes on the in-situ multidimensionality and often contradictory perspectives that teachers must work with, which make for ongoing questioning, reflecting, research and consequently new knowledge. The collective efforts of scholars in the field (e.g., Apple, 2004; Banks, 1 5; Ladson-Billings, 1 5; Neito; 2000; Sleeter 2001; Thompson, 1 2) speak to their goal of developing models for measuring competence and effectiveness as well as restructuring schools, improving classroom practices, and developing curricula that optimize student academic performance within the realities of classrooms. In their edited volume Teaching as a Moral Practice: Defining, Developing, and Assessing Professional Dispositions in Teacher Education, Murrell, Diez, Feiman-Nemser, and Schussler (2010) call readers’
Although DR3-DQB1*0201 may be associated with multiple component diseases of the autoimmune polyglandular syndromes, the human leukocyte antigen DR4-DQB1*0302 haplotype is implicated only in beta-cell autoimmunity.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DRB1 and -DQB1 alleles were analyzed using a PCR-based sequence-specific priming technique in 16 patients with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type I (APS-I), 31 patients with APS-II, and 110 patients with component diseases of APS-II, including 9 patients with isolated Addison's disease, 43 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, 22 patients with Graves' disease, and 36 patients with vitiligo. No significant associations was observed between HLA and APS-I patients in our data set, nor was sharing of HLA haplotypes by sibling pairs affected by APS I significantly different from the random expectation. Thus, HLA-DRB1 and -DQB1 genes are probably not involved in APS-I. To delineate the associations between HLA-DRB1, DQB1, and APS-II, we analyzed APS-II patients with or without beta-cell autoimmunity [i.e. insulin-dependent diabetes (IDD) and/or islet cell or glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies]. Our results suggest that the association between DR4-DQB1*0302 and APS-II was entirely due to the presence of pancreatic beta-cell autoimmunity, since this haplotype was otherwise not significantly associated with APS-II or with any other of its component diseases. In contrast, the DR3-DQB1*0201 haplotype was associated not only with IDD, but also with APS-II in the absence of pancreatic beta-cell autoimmunity, as were several its component diseases, including isolated Addison's disease, Graves' disease, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Interestingly, the frequency of DQB1*0602, a dominantly protective allele against IDD, was not significantly decreased in the APS-II patients with IDD or beta-cell autoimmunity, albeit the patient numbers were small. This phenomenon may suggest that the development of autoimmunity to nonpancreatic endocrine glands may predispose autoimmunity to the pancreatic beta-cells and involve genes other than those of the MHC.
Concussion Knowledge and Behaviors in a Sample of the Dance Community

Despite recent improvements in their concussion knowledge, athletes still demonstrate risky concussion behaviors (e.g., playing while concussed or not reporting a concussion). Little has been published about dancers’ concussion knowledge and behaviors, but research in dance contending with questions about injury in general has found that dancers often avoid physician consults and ignore the signs of injury. In the present study, an IRB approved anonymous online survey, it was hypothesized that dancers would demonstrate concussion knowledge deficits, fail to report concussions, and have difficulty adhering to management guidelines. In addition, it was hypothesized that dancers in companies or schools with an onsite health care practitioner present would demonstrate improved concussion knowledge and safer concussion behaviors compared with those that do not have onsite health care. Concussion knowledge and behavior questions were modified for a dance sample based on validated sports-specific tools developed by other investigators. One hundred fifty-three subjects were recruited to complete the survey from an urban orthopaedic clinic specializing in dance medicine and via Facebook, email, and newsletter announcements. Dancers in this sample had good foundational knowledge of concussion; however, this knowledge did not correlate with safe, self-reported concussion care behaviors. Future research should focus on determination of dance-specific barriers to practicing safe behaviors and seeking care for concussive injury, as well as further identifying dance concussion epidemiology and outcomes.
The role of isovolumic acceleration in predicting subclinical right and left ventricular systolic dysfunction in hypertensive obese patients.

OBJECTIVES Isovolumic acceleration assessed by tissue Doppler imaging has been proposed as a preload-independent indicator of left ventricular contractility. We investigated the utility of isovolumic acceleration in the prediction of preclinical right and left ventricular systolic dysfunction in hypertensive and obese subjects. STUDY DESIGN Seventy-eight obese subjects (BMI >30 kg/m2; 57 women, 21 men; mean age 51±8 years) were prospectively enrolled. Fifty patients (64.1%) had hypertension and 33 patients (42.3%) had diabetes mellitus. All the subjects were assessed by conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography. Myocardial velocities of the left ventricular septal and lateral mitral annulus and lateral tricuspid annulus were determined. Isovolumic contraction wave was defined as the preceding wave of the systolic wave that began before the peak of the R wave on the electrocardiogram. Myocardial isovolumic acceleration was measured by dividing the peak velocity by the time passed from the onset of the wave (zero-crossing) during isovolumic contraction to the peak velocity of the wave. RESULTS Waist circumference was in positive correlation with left ventricular end-systolic (r=0.22, p=0.047) and end-diastolic (r=0.384, p=0.001) diameters, and in negative correlation with the peak systolic velocity of the tricuspid annulus (r=-0.311, p=0.006). Although hypertensive and normotensive (n=28) obese subjects had similar myocardial velocities, lateral tricuspid annular isovolumic acceleration (p=0.027), septal isovolumic acceleration (p=0.026), and septal isovolumic contraction myocardial velocity (p=0.018) were significantly lower in hypertensive patients. CONCLUSION Isovolumic acceleration and isovolumic contraction myocardial velocity analysis may be useful in the diagnosis of subclinical left and right ventricular dysfunction in hypertensive obese patients.
Pilomyxoid Astrocytoma of the Spinal Cord: Report of Three Cases

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE:Pilomyxoid astrocytoma (PMA) is a recently described, rare, circumscribed glioma similar to pilocytic astrocytoma. Despite its circumscribed nature, PMA implies a worse overall outcome than typical pilocytic astrocytoma. All PMAs reported to date involved the hypothalamic/chiasmatic region. Since these original reports, we have encountered three tumors in the spinal cord with histological features identical to those of PMA. CLINICAL PRESENTATION:We report three male pediatric patients. The first patient presented at age 6 with back pain and constipation. The second patient presented at age 8 with back pain and a bout of urinary incontinence. The third patient, a neonate, presented with respiratory failure and hypotonia. INTERVENTION:The first patient’s cervical and thoracic neoplasm was treated with subtotal resection and multiple laminectomies and spinal fusion for recurrence. The second patient underwent gross total resection of his thoracic neoplasm. The neonate underwent laminectomy and biopsy of his holocord tumor. CONCLUSION:PMAs typically occur in the hypothalamic region and within the first 4 years of life. Tumors with identical histological features are being recognized outside this typical clinical setting. The cases presented in this report suggest that PMA can occur at a later age and can involve the spinal cord. We believe that increased recognition of these circumscribed gliomas will help to elucidate their nature and lead to better management decisions.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Risk for Long-Term Diabetes and Dyslipidemia

OBJECTIVE: To estimate whether women aged 20–32 years who fulfilled National Institutes of Health criteria for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) would be at higher risk for subsequent development of incident diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension, and to estimate whether normal-weight women with PCOS would have the same degree of cardiovascular risk as overweight women with PCOS. METHODS: We estimated the association of PCOS with incident diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension over a period of 18 years among 1,127 white and African-American women in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults cohort. We classified women at baseline (ages 20–32 years) based on self-reported symptoms and serum androgen measures using National Institutes of Health PCOS criteria. We estimated the association of PCOS and subsequent cardiovascular risk factors, independent of baseline body mass index (BMI), using multivariable logistic regression. Additionally, among 746 women with a second assessment of PCOS at ages 34–46 years, we estimated the association of persistent PCOS with cardiovascular risk factors. RESULTS: Of 1,127 women, 53 (4.7%) met criteria for PCOS at ages 20–32 years. Polycystic ovary syndrome was associated with a twofold higher odds of incident diabetes (23.1% compared with 13.1%, adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.4, confidence interval [CI] 1.2–4.9) and dyslipidemia (41.9% compared with 27.7%, AOR 1.9, CI 1.0–3.6) over the course of 18 years; the association with incident hypertension was not significant (26.9% compared with 26.3%, AOR 1.7, CI 0.8–3.3). Normal-weight women with PCOS (n=31) had a threefold higher odds of incident diabetes compared with normal-weight women without PCOS (AOR 3.1, CI 1.2–8.0). Compared with those without PCOS, women with persistent PCOS (n=11) had the highest odds of diabetes (AOR 7.2, CI 1.1–46.5). CONCLUSION: Polycystic ovary syndrome is associated with subsequent incident diabetes and dyslipidemia, independent of BMI. Diabetes risk may be greatest for women with persistent PCOS symptoms. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II
The population of Quebec from yesterday to tomorrow

This is a selection of articles by various authors on aspects of population trends in the Canadian province of Quebec; the articles originally appeared in a report put out by LAction Nationale in 1988. The focus is on the current demographic situation and its implications for the provinces future. The articles cover various aspects of the fertility decline and how it might be reversed the implications of demographic aging migration policy and the language question. Particular consideration is given to the policy options available to change undesirable trends.
Simple Black-Box Adversarial Attacks on Deep Neural Networks

Deep neural networks are powerful and popular learning models that achieve state-of-the-art pattern recognition performance on many computer vision, speech, and language processing tasks. However, these networks have also been shown susceptible to crafted adversarial perturbations which force misclassification of the inputs. Adversarial examples enable adversaries to subvert the expected system behavior leading to undesired consequences and could pose a security risk when these systems are deployed in the real world. ,,,,,, In this work, we focus on deep convolutional neural networks and demonstrate that adversaries can easily craft adversarial examples even without any internal knowledge of the target network. Our attacks treat the network as an oracle (black-box) and only assume that the output of the network can be observed on the probed inputs. Our attacks utilize a novel local-search based technique to construct numerical approximation to the network gradient, which is then carefully used to construct a small set of pixels in an image to perturb. We demonstrate how this underlying idea can be adapted to achieve several strong notions of misclassification. The simplicity and effectiveness of our proposed schemes mean that they could serve as a litmus test for designing robust networks.
Does Social Inducement Lead to Higher Open Innovation Investment? An Experimental Study

This study, by conducting a laboratory experiment, investigates whether social inducement can be an external instrument to promote open innovation. The study’s findings suggest that social inducement, on average, leads subjects to invest more in open innovation projects. In particular, in an asymmetric inducement setting, both induced and non-induced subjects invest more and are more active in open innovation compared to a full inducement setting. Furthermore, economic uncertainty increases the effectiveness of social inducement, suggesting that open innovation is easier to promote in the presence of economic uncertainty. Our findings may suggest practitioners and policymakers applying public channels to communicate open innovation concepts with the public, which in turn helps the adoption of open innovation.
Antidepressant Treatments Change 5-HT2C Receptor mRNA Expression in Rat Prefrontal/Frontal Cortex and Hippocampus

Background/Aims: Compelling evidence would suggest the involvement of the serotonin 2C receptor in the pathophysiology of affective disorders and in the action of antidepressants. We analyzed the time course of 5-HT2C receptor (5-HTR2C) mRNA expression during antidepressant treatment in the prefrontal/frontal cortex (P/FC) and in the hippocampus (HC) of rats chronically treated with fluoxetine (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) and reboxetine (a selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor). We also analyzed the 5-HTR2C RNA-editing levels at the sites called A, B, C, C’ and D, which are known to modulate 5-HTR2C receptor function. Results: The expression profile of 5-HTR2C mRNA was modified during treatment with both antidepressants. In particular, we found a general down-regulation of 5-HTR2C mRNA expression in P/FC, which became significant after 3 weeks of treatment with both antidepressants and persisted after a fourth week of drug withdrawal (–46% with fluoxetine, –41% with reboxetine, p < 0.05). In HC, however, reboxetine induced significant down-regulation (–56%, p < 0.05) of 5-HTR2C mRNA after 3 weeks, while fluoxetine induced threefold up-regulation (p < 0.01) by the 2nd and 3rd week, returning to the base level after drug withdrawal of both antidepressants. Moreover, the frequency of 5-HTR2C-edited isoforms showed no significant alterations, although analysis of the RNA-editing level at the single editing sites showed small decreases in the C’ and D sites induced by reboxetine in P/FC. Conclusion: Our results suggest that chronic administration of antidepressants in rats slightly modifies the editing levels of 5-HT2C receptor but has considerable influence on its mRNA expression patterns in a way that is area- and time-specific.