Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECTS OF HIGH IRRADIANCE ON THE SETTLEMENT COMPETENCY AND VIABILITY OF KELP ZOOSPORES 1

Elevated irradiance has a profound effect on the successful dispersal and establishment of kelp zoospores, affecting their physiology and viability. The research to date, however, has been on zoospores localized near the benthos, with little attention on the importance of vertical transportation and subsequent exposure to increased irradiance. Therefore, we wanted to investigate the effects of exposure to high irradiance on the reproductive planktonic life‐history stages of kelps Macrocystis pyrifera (L.) C. Agardh and Pterygophora californica Rupr. Zoospores of both species were exposed to different irradiances (75, 275, 575, 1,025 μmol photons · m−2 · s−1) over varying durations (1, 2, 4, 8, 12 h) and subsequently monitored for settlement competency, gametophyte development, and reproductive viability. Settlement success for M. pyrifera was uniform throughout all irradiance × time treatments, while settlement for P. californica decreased with increasing exposure time but not irradiance, although settlement was generally reduced at the highest irradiance level. Following zoospore settlement, germ tube development was visible in the gametophytes of both species within 1 week, although a significant decline of germ tube density in P. californica was observed with increasing irradiance. Similarly, a decrease in germ tube development with increasing exposure was observed across all irradiance levels for M. pyrifera, but irradiance itself was not significant. Further development into embryonic sporophytes was remarkably similar to gametophyte development, suggesting that the effect of exposure of kelp zoospores to high irradiance on subsequent sporophyte production is mediated through gametophyte development as well as zoospore survival.
Cancer immunogenicity, danger signals, and DAMPs: What, when, and how?

Cancer immunosurvelliance usually leads to formation of cancer cells that have been “immunoedited” to resist anti‐tumor immunity. One of the consequences of immunoediting that is, reduced immunogenicity, is an important roadblock in revival of stable and long‐lasting anti‐tumor immune responses. Research done during the last decade has shown that emission by the dying cancer cells of immunomodulatory factors or damage‐associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), which can act as danger signals, is a critical event in accentuating the immunogenicity of cancer cells, in response to a subset of anticancer treatments. Recent evidence has defined that an apoptotic cell death subroutine and its underlying biochemistry, which has been termed as “immunogenic cell death (ICD)” or “immunogenic apoptosis,” is required for the efficient emission of DAMPs and inciting anti‐tumor immunity. Here, we review the basic concepts of ICD, like cancer immunogenicity, danger signals, and DAMPs. Moreover, we discuss the emerging molecular links between endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, induction of a viral response‐like gene expression, danger signals, and anti‐tumor immunity. We envisage that along with ER stress‐based trafficking of DAMPs (which is a “short‐range communicator” of danger), the accompanying induction of a viral response‐like gene expression and the secretion of anti‐tumorigenic cytokines may become a crucial signature of ICD induction by anticancer therapy. © 2013 BioFactors, 39(4):355–367, 2013
Early Infant Diet in Children at High Risk for Type 1 Diabetes

Infant diet affects health and development. The aim of our study was to investigate WHO infant feeding compliance in children who have a first degree family history of type 1 diabetes (T1D). One hundred and fifty children who were first degree relatives of patients with T1D were intensively followed from birth in the BABYDIET intervention study. Infant feeding, infections, and medication were recorded daily by participating families. Weight and length of children were obtained from paediatric records. Only 5% of the families followed the WHO recommendations for infant feeding that include full breastfeeding for at least 6 months (18.8% of children) and introduction of complementary foods under continued breastfeeding thereafter (22.2% of children). Maternal age in the first quartile (<29 years; p<0.0001), and maternal smoking (p<0.0001) were associated with an earlier introduction of solid food and reduced breastfeeding. Full breastfeeding > or =6 months was associated with reduced frequency of gastrointestinal infections (12 vs. 38%, p=0.02) and antibiotic treatment (24 vs. 48%, p=0.04). Our findings indicate that WHO infant feeding recommendations were poorly followed by families with a family history of T1D. Action to improve levels of infant feeding behaviour is essential, especially among young mothers with T1D.
Study of the Gordon–Mollenauer Effect and of the Optical-Phase-Conjugation Compensation Method in Phase-Modulated Optical Communication Systems

Optical phase-modulated systems are promising candidates for the development of ultrahigh-bit-rate transmission links, thanks to their high spectral efficiency and increased tolerance to fiber-optic nonlinearities. However, their implementation was considerably slowed down by theoretical studies, suggesting that the transmission performance can be severely hindered by nonlinear phase noise (the so-called Gordon-Mollenauer effect). The simulations presented here show that, in realistic systems (including nonlinearity, dispersion, and attenuation), Gordon-Mollenauer noise does not represent the main source of signal distortions. We demonstrate that all nonlinear impairments can be efficiently compensated by optical phase conjugation, independent of system characteristics. The combination of optical-phase-conjugation with phase-modulation formats could enable ultrahigh-transmission-capacity and easy embedded-link upgrading.
Biostatistics 301. Repeated measurement analysis.

Common techniques of analyses are(1-3): 1. Mean response over time – Interest in overall treatment effect. No information on treatment effect changes over time. 2. Separate analyses at each time point – This is most common in medical journals. Repeated testing at each time point causes inflated type I error and results in interpretation problems. Treatment standard errors are less accurate as only observations at each time point used. Must be discouraged! 3. Analyses of response features – Area under the curve, minimum/maximum values, time to max values.
Patient satisfaction with two designs of implant supported removable overdentures; ball attachment and magnets.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to compare ball and magnet attachments within implant-supported mandibular overdentures (ISMOD) using patient centred outcome measures. Our a priori hypothesis was that there is no difference in patient satisfaction between the two attachment types. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this within-subject crossover randomised clinical trial, edentulous patients were recruited to the study and completed a denture satisfaction questionnaire before having two implants placed in the intraforaminal region of the mandible. They were randomly assigned to receive an ISMOD retained by either ball or magnetic attachment. After 3 months satisfaction questionnaires were repeated before attachments were changed to the alternative design. After a further 3 months patients completed final questionnaires. Patients were asked to choose their preferred prostheses and record the most influential factors in their final choice. The outcome variables of patient satisfaction were compared between baseline and the two attachment types using non-parametric two-related sample tests (Wilcoxon's signed rank). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Sixteen patients completed the study. Patient satisfaction improved significantly between baseline and the new prosthesis with each attachment type for all domains of satisfaction (P<0.05). Ball attachments provided greater satisfaction in the domains of general satisfaction, stability and ability to chew (P<0.05). Patients' general satisfaction with ball attachment retained overdentures was greater than that for magnetic attachments; however, both designs provide significantly greater satisfaction than conventional dentures. In this study, the majority preferred to retain the ball attachment although one-third of patients actively chose the magnetic attachment.
Ethylene-Enhanced 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic Acid Synthase Activity in Ripening Apples.

Apples (Malus sylvestris Mill, cv Golden Delicious) were treated before harvest with aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG). AVG is presumed to reversibly inhibit 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) activity, but not the formation of ACC synthase. AVG treatment effectively blocked initiation of autocatalytic ethylene production and ripening of harvested apples. Exogenous ethylene induced extractable ACC synthase activity and ripening in AVG-treated apples. Removal of exogenous ethylene caused a rapid decline in ACC synthase activity and in CO(2) production. The results with ripened, AVG-treated apples indicate (a) a dose-response relationship between ethylene and enhancement of ACC synthase activity with a half-maximal response at approximately 0.8 mul/l ethylene; (b) reversal of ethylene-enhanced ACC synthase activity by CO(2); (c) enhancement of ACC synthase activity by the ethylene-activity analog propylene.Induction of ACC synthase activity, autocatalytic ethylene production, and ripening of preclimacteric apples not treated with AVG were delayed by 6 and 10% CO(2), but not by 1.25% CO(2). However, each of these CO(2) concentrations reduced the rate of increase of ACC synthase activity.
[The characteristics of clinical features of pulmonary tuberculosis in female].

We studied the clinical features of culture-positive, previously untreated patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (77 in females and 200 in males), with special reference on the gender differences in clinical features. The mean age was 50.8 y.o. for female and 54.4 y.o. for male, and the age distribution was almost similar to that of newly-registered patients of whole Japan in 1993, namely, small peak in 20s decade and large peaks in the age group over 50 in female, and gradual increase up to 50 years and get to plateau in male. Thirty-nine % in female and fifty-four % in male had various past histories and/or complications which might affect to the deterioration of tuberculosis, such as diabetes mellitus, liver function distress, respiratory failure, malignancy, stomach resection and so on. The rates with each complication were, in general, higher in male than in female. The positive rate to Mantoux reaction was higher in female than in male, and stronger reactions were observed in female than in male. According to the classification of pulmonary tuberculosis designed by the Japanese Society for Tuberculosis (GAKKAI classification), the site(s) of affected lung, the stage and the extent of lesions were more advanced in male than in female, and the positive rate and the amount of bacilli on smear were higher in male than in female. The most marked difference was the location of the main lesions, 80% in the apical and posterior segments of upper lobe (S1,2) and 8% in the superior segments of lower lobe (S6) in male, while 60% in S1,2 and 25% in S6 in female. The rate of complete resistance against to anti-tuberculosis agents was higher in male than in female, but the combination chemotherapy of isoniasid and refampicin with streptomycin or ethambutol was almost equally effective both in males and females, and almost all patients converted to bacilli negative within three months after the initiation of the chemotherapy, except in a few male patients.
Multicentre survey on compliance with growth hormone therapy: what can be improved?

A survey was undertaken to evaluate compliance in Spanish patients receiving growth hormone treatment. The 28‐item structured questionnaire was designed to collect data on compliance, treatment schedule, device used and instruction received. In total, 473 questionnaires were completed in 17 paediatric endocrine units. Compliance was divided into four categories based on percentage of doses omitted, classified as excellent if 0%, good <5%, fair 5–10% and poor >10%. The level of compliance was excellent in 74.0%, good in 20.1%, fair in 3.4% and poor in 2.5%. Compliance was better in those who injected themselves (p < 0:01), were trained by hospital staff (p < 0:01) and used automatic pens (p < 0:05). Patients using conventional syringes were less likely to comply (p < 0:05). More information on growth hormone treatment was requested by 57.6% of patients. The results indicate that the specialist nurse should spend sufficient time with the patients and relatives to ensure a higher compliance rate.
Violence Exposure, A Chronic Psychosocial Stressor, and Childhood Lung Function

Objective: Chronic psychosocial stressors, including violence, and neuropsychological and behavioral development in children as well as physiologic alterations that may lead to broader health effects. Methods: We studied the relationship between violence and childhood lung function in a prospective birth cohort of 313 urban children (age range = 6–7 years). Mothers reported on their child’s lifetime exposure to community violence (ETV) and interparental conflict in the home (Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS)) within 1 year of the lung function assessment. Results: In linear regression analyses, adjusting for maternal education, child’s age, race, birthweight, tobacco smoke exposure, and medical history, girls in the highest CTS verbal aggression tertile had a 5.5% (95% confidence interval (CI) = −9.6, −1.5) decrease in percent predicted forced expiratory volume (FEV1) and a 5.4% (95% CI = −9.7, −1.1) decrease in forced vital capacity (FVC) compared with girls in the lowest tertile. The CTS verbal aggression subscale was associated with lung function among boys in the same direction, albeit this was not statistically significant. Boys in the highest ETV tertile had a 3.4% (95% CI = −8.0, 1.1) lower FEV1 and 5.3% lower FVC (95% CI = −10.2, −0.4) compared with boys in the lowest tertile. The ETV score was not a significant predictor of girls’ lung function. Conclusions: Interparental conflict, specifically verbal aggression, and ETV were associated with decreased childhood lung function independent of socioeconomic status, tobacco smoke exposure, birthweight, and respiratory illness history. Gender differences were noted based on the type of violence exposure, which may warrant further exploration. ETV = exposure to violence; CTS = Conflict Tactic Scale; FEV1 = forced expiratory volume; FVC = forced vital capacity; FEF25%–75% = forced mid-expiratory flow rate; UTS = in utero tobacco smoke; SHS = second hand smoke.
Multidetector-Row CT Angiography Diagnostic Sensitivity in Evaluation of Renal Artery Stenosis: Comparison Between Multiple Reconstruction Techniques

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the image quality and interobserver agreement of various multidetector-row computed tomographic angiography postprocessing techniques in the diagnosis of renal artery stenosis (RAS). Materials and Methods: We studied 36 patients (21 men and 15 women; mean age, 49 years) who underwent computed tomography angiography to assess renal arteries for suspected RAS. Patients were analyzed by using a multidetector-row computed tomography. Computer tomographic scans were obtained after intravenous bolus administration of 110 to 140 mL of nonionic contrast material using a 4- to 6-mL/s flow rate. We assessed every patient by using axial scans, multiplanar reconstruction (MPR), maximum intensity projection (MIP), and volume rendering (VR) techniques. For each patient and for each reconstruction method, the image quality of the main renal artery was scored as 0 for bad-quality, 1 for poor-quality, 2 for good-quality, and 3 for excellent-quality images. Two radiologists reviewed computed tomographic images independently. We calculated interobserver agreement and &kgr; value. We correlated the stenosis degree observed by the 2 readers with the type of reconstruction used. Results: Overall number of renal arteries studied was 72, and we detected 24 RAS. Quality images obtained an overall (averaged between the 2 observers) value of 133 of 216, 163 of 216, and 145 of 216 for MPR, MIP, and VR, respectively. Our data underlined a statistical difference between MPR images and VR images (P < 0.001). Moreover, we noticed that the images classified as excellent were obtained from a vessel with 350 Hounsfield units or higher. Kappa value was good in MIP and VR methods evaluation but poor with the use of MPR. Conclusions: Reformatting techniques usually provided a high visual impact, and in our study, MIP and VR showed the best diagnostic interobserver agreement in quality and reproducibility of stenosis degree.
Referenceless Quality Estimation for Natural Language Generation

Traditional automatic evaluation measures for natural language generation (NLG) use costly human-authored references to estimate the quality of a system output. In this paper, we propose a referenceless quality estimation (QE) approach based on recurrent neural networks, which predicts a quality score for a NLG system output by comparing it to the source meaning representation only. Our method outperforms traditional metrics and a constant baseline in most respects; we also show that synthetic data helps to increase correlation results by 21% compared to the base system. Our results are comparable to results obtained in similar QE tasks despite the more challenging setting.
Sex differences in clustering and switching in verbal fluency tasks

Sex differences in executive speech tasks, favoring women, have been noted in behavioral studies and functional imaging studies. In the present study, the clustering and switching components of semantic and phonemic verbal fluency tests were examined in 40 healthy men and 40 healthy women. Possible sex differences in the influence of cognitive factors such as speed of information processing, word knowledge, and/or verbal long-term memory on these verbal fluency factors were also assessed. The results showed that women switched more often between categories in the phonemic fluency test, whereas men showed a trend toward a larger cluster size leading to a smaller total number of words generated. Additionally, higher performance on the Digit Symbol test was associated with better performance on the semantic and phonemic verbal fluency test in men, whereas in women, better memory performance was associated with better performance on these verbal fluency tests. Our data indicate that men and women are using different processing strategies for phonemic verbal fluency tests to optimize verbal fluency task performance. In the current study, women adopted a more successful strategy of balancing clustering and switching in the phonemic fluency task. (JINS, 2006, 12, 502–509.)
Antimyeloma effects of arsenic trioxide are enhanced by melphalan, bortezomib and ascorbic acid

Arsenic trioxide (ATO) induces apoptosis of malignant plasma cells through multiple mechanisms, including inhibition of DNA binding by nuclear factor kappa‐B, a key player in the development of chemoresistance in multiple myeloma (MM). This activity suggests that ATO may be synergistic when combined with other active antimyeloma drugs. To evaluate this, we examined the antimyeloma effects of ATO alone and in combination with bortezomib, melphalan and ascorbic acid (AA) both in vitro and in vivo using a severe combined immunodeficient (SCID)‐hu murine myeloma model. Marked synergistic antimyeloma effects were demonstrated when human MM Los Angeles xenograft IgG lambda light chain (LAGλ‐1) cells were treated in vitro with ATO and any one of these agents. SCID mice bearing human MM LAGλ‐1 tumours were treated with single‐agent ATO, bortezomib, melphalan, or AA, or combinations of ATO with either bortezomib or melphalan and AA. Animals treated with any of these drugs alone showed tumour growth and increases in paraprotein levels similar to control mice, whereas animals treated with ATO‐containing combinations showed markedly suppressed tumour growth and significantly reduced serum paraprotein levels. These in vitro and in vivo results suggest that addition of ATO to other antimyeloma agents may result in improved outcomes for patients with relapsed or refractory MM.
Patients' Preferences Related to Benefits, Risks, and Formulations of Schizophrenia Treatment.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to quantify patients' preferences related to benefits and risks of antipsychotic treatments for schizophrenia and to assess the relative importance of treatment attributes and adherence. METHODS Treatment-related preferences among U.S. residents with a self-reported physician diagnosis of schizophrenia were assessed via a discrete-choice experiment. Patients chose between competing hypothetical scenarios characterized by improvements in positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and social functioning; incidence of weight gain, extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS), hyperprolactinemia, and hyperglycemia; and medication formulation. Preferences were estimated by using a random-parameters logit model, and the impact of adherence was estimated with conditional logit models. RESULTS The final sample consisted of 271 patients. Complete improvement in positive symptoms was the most preferred outcome (relative importance score of 10.0), followed by elimination of hyperglycemia (3.6, 95% confidence interval [CI]=2.6-4.6), improvement in negative symptoms (3.0, CI=1.6-4.3), reduced weight gain (2.6, CI=1.2-4.0), avoidance of hyperprolactinemia (1.7, CI=.9-2.6), improved social functioning (1.5, CI=.4-2.5), and avoidance of EPS (1.0, CI=.3-1.8). Patients judged a daily pill superior to monthly injections (p<.01) and monthly injections superior to injections every three months (p<.01) for adherent patients and monthly injections superior to a daily pill for nonadherent patients (p=.01). CONCLUSIONS Persons who self-identified as having schizophrenia judged improvement in positive symptoms as the most important treatment benefit. Hyperglycemia was identified as the most important adverse event. Patients judged oral formulations to be better than monthly injections for adherent patients and monthly injections to be a better choice for nonadherent patients.
Clinical and prognostic properties of standardized and functional aphasia assessments.

OBJECTIVE To compare standardized and functional aphasia tests in patients after acute stroke. DESIGN Data were collected at baseline and at 6 months in 2 prospective single-centre studies: one observational study (study I, n=119) and one randomized trial of moclobemide vs placebo (study II, n=89). SUBJECTS Patients with aphasia after acute stroke. METHODS Degree of aphasia was examined using the Coefficient (Coeff) in Norsk Grunntest for Afasi (standardized) and the Amsterdam-Nijmegen Everyday Language Test (ANELT) (functional). Statistical comparisons were made using one-way analysis of variance and multivariate regression analyses. RESULTS The degree of aphasia measured with Coeff and ANELT correlated closely throughout the study (r2=0.71-0.87, p<0.0001). In study I, 24 patients recovered completely within 6 months. A Coeff >or= 49 and ANELT >or= 3.5 predicted complete recovery equally well. Coeff was sensitive to differentiate between patients with low values on ANELT, whereas ANELT was sensitive to differentiate between patients with high Coeff values. CONCLUSION The 2 tests show a close and consistent correlation over time and are equally sensitive to improvement. They have a similar capacity to predict complete recovery. A standardized test appears to be more suitable for patients with aphasia in the acute stage, while a functional test is more suitable in the subacute/chronic stage.