Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contribution SHORT-LAG SPATIAL COHERENCE IMAGING OF CARDIAC ULTRASOUND DATA : INITIAL CLINICAL RESULTS

MUYINATU A. LEDIJU BELL,*y ROBI GOSWAMI,z JOSEPH A. KISSLO,z JEREMY J. DAHL,* and GREGG E. TRAHEY*x *Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA; yDepartment of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; zDivision of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Caroloina, USA; and xDepartment of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA
Education and Migration: Empirical Evidence from Ecuador

This study examines how the educational level attained by individuals affects their migration propensity. Using an original 2006 Ecuadorian survey, which gathered information on household members who were not in the country at the time of the survey (i.e., emigrants), we implement a Regression Discontinuity Design and control for potential endogeneity of the education explanatory variable based on the 1977 educational reform in Ecuador. Our results provide evidence of positive self-selection among migrants. Taking into account the 27{57 age sample, an individual with a lower secondary level of education increases the migration propensity by 31.30%; this propensity is even higher (34.47%) when the sample of migrants is restricted to the urban areas. Considering both country-specific characteristics and gender differentials, our results do not indicate a significant impact of an increase in human capital on the male migration propensity. However, there is a positive and significant effect on the female migration propensity, in particular, for women from larger cities. The results are consistent with theoretical models related to positive self-selection in response to labor market distortions, such as the disparities between genders.
COMPARISON OF TWO CONFIGURATIONS OF TRANSCRANIAL DIRECT CURRENT STIMULATION FOR TREATMENT OF APHASIA

Objective: To compare 2 configurations of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for treatment of aphasia. Design: Randomized cross-over study. Subjects: Patients with chronic post-stroke aphasia (n = 13). Methods: tDCS was combined with word-finding therapy in 3 single sessions. In session 1, sham-tDCS/ pseudo-stimulation was applied. In sessions 2 and 3, 2 active configurations were provided in random order: anodal tDCS over the left inferior frontal gyrus (l-IFG) and anodal tDCS over the left posterior superior temporal gyrus (l-STG). The optimal configuration was determined per individual based on a pre-set improvement in naming trained (> 20%) and untrained picture items (> 10%). Results: Overall, participants improved on trained items (median = 50%; interquartile range = 20–85) and post-treatment performance was highest in the active l-IFG condition (p = 0.040). Of the 13 participants, 6 (46%) showed relevant improvement during active tDCS; either in the l-IFG condition (n = 4; 31%) or in both the l-IFG and l-STG conditions (n = 2; 15%). On the untrained items there was no improvement (median = 0%; interquartile range = 0–0). Conclusion: This randomized cross-over single-session protocol to determine an optimal tDCS configuration for treatment of aphasia suggests that only performance on trained items can be used as guidance for configuration, and that it is relevant for half of the patients. For this subgroup, the l-IFG configuration is the optimal choice.
Virtual Screening and Statistical Analysis in the Design of New Caffeine Analogues Molecules with Potential Epithelial Anticancer Activity

About 132 thousand cases of melanoma (more severe type of skin cancer) were registered in 2014 according to the World Health Organization. This type of cancer significantly affects the quality of life of individuals. Caffeine has shown potential inhibitory effect against epithelial cancer. In this study, it was proposed to obtain new caffeine-based molecules with potential epithelial anticancer activity. For this, a training set of 21 molecules was used for pharmacophore perception procedures. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to propose mono-, bi-, tri-, and tetra-parametric models applied in the prediction of the activity. The generated pharmacophore was used to select 350 molecules available at the ZINCpharmer server, followed by reduction to 24 molecules, after selection using the Tanimoto index, yielding 10 molecules after final selection by predicted activity values > 1.5229. These ten mole-cules had better pharmacokinetic properties than the other ones used as reference and within the clinical-ly significant limits. Only two molecules show minor hits of toxicity and were submitted to molecular docking procedures, showing BFE (binding free energy) values lower than the reference values. Statisti-cal analyses indicated strong negative correlations between BFE and pharmacophoric properties (high influence on BFE lowering) and practically null correlation between BFE and BBB. The two most prom-ising molecules can be indicated as candidates for further in vitro and in vivo analyzes.
METHODOLOGICAL AND EMPIRICAL ADVANCES IN THE QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SPONTANEOUS RESPONSES IN PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL TIME SERIES

The aim of the present study was to advance the methodology and use of time series analysis to quantify dynamic structures in psychophysiological processes and thereby to produce information on spontaneously coupled physiological responses and their behavioral and experiential correlates. Series of analyses using both simulated and empirical cardiac (IBI), electrodermal (EDA), and facial electromyographic (EMG) data indicated that, despite potential autocorrelated structures, smoothing increased the reliability of detecting response coupling from an interindividual distribution of intraindividual measures and that especially the measures of covariance produced accurate information on the extent of coupled responses. This methodology was applied to analyze spontaneously coupled IBI, EDA, and facial EMG responses and vagal activity in their relation to emotional experience and personality characteristics in a group of middle-aged men (n = 37) during the administration of the Rorschach testing protocol. The results revealed new characteristics in the relationship between phasic end-organ synchronization and vagal activity, on the one hand, and individual differences in emotional adjustment to novel situations on the other. Specifically, it appeared that the vagal system is intimately related to emotional and social responsivity. It was also found that the lack of spontaneously synchronized responses is related to decreased energetic arousal (e.g., depression, mood). These findings indicate that the present process analysis approach has many advantages for use in both experimental and applied research, and that it is a useful new paradigm in psychophysiological research.
Proteolysis of Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Proteins by a Novel 50-Kilodalton Metalloproteinase in Human Pregnancy Serum.

Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBP) proteases have been proposed to be involved in changes of serum IGFBP pattern during pregnancy. IGFBP-4 and -5 are degraded specifically by proteases in pregnancy serum in vitro, whereas IGFBP-3 proteolytic activity was also detected in nonpregnancy serum. To identify and characterize IGFBP proteases, human pregnancy serum was fractionated by size exclusion chromatography revealing IGFBP-4 protease activities in fractions coeluting with proteins of approximately 600-kDa and 50- to 100-kDa molecular mass. In both fractions, a predominant 50-kDa gelatinase was found, suggesting that parts of the gelatinase activity might aggregate or are complexed with other proteins forming a higher molecular complex. Hydroxyapatite chromatography and chromatofocusing of the 50- to 100-kDa serum fraction showed that the IGFBP-4 protease and the 50-kDa gelatinase activity were copurified. When the 50-kDa gelatinase-containing band was excised from the polyacrylamide gel, i.
The Hot-Hand Fallacy: Cognitive Mistakes or Equilibrium Adjustments? Evidence from Major League Baseball

We test for a "hot hand'' (i.e., short-term predictability in performance) in Major League Baseball using panel data. We find strong evidence for its existence in all ten statistical categories we consider. The magnitudes are significant; being "hot" corresponds to between one-half and one standard deviation in the distribution of player abilities. Our results are in notable contrast to the majority of the hot-hand literature, which has found little to no evidence for a hot hand in sports, often employing basketball shooting data. We argue that this difference is attributable to endogenous defensive responses: basketball presents sufficient opportunity for transferring defensive resources to equate shooting probabilities across players whereas baseball does not. We then document that baseball teams do respond to recent success in their opponents' batting performance. Our results suggest that teams use recent performance in a manner consistent with drawing a correct inference about the magnitude of the hot-hand, except for a tendency to overreact to very recent performance (i.e., the last 5 attempts).
Effects of Social Support Network Size on Mortality Risk: Considerations by Diabetes Status

Objective. Previous work demonstrates that social support is inversely associated with mortality risk. Less research, however, has examined the effects of the size of the social support network on mortality risk among those with and without diabetes, which was the purpose of this study. Methods. Data from the 1999–2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used, with participants followed through 2011. This study included 1,412 older adults (≥60 years of age) with diabetes and 5,872 older adults without diabetes. The size of the social support network was assessed via self-report and reported as the number of participants’ close friends. Results. Among those without diabetes, various levels of social support network size were inversely associated with mortality risk. However, among those with diabetes, only those with a high social support network size (i.e., at least six close friends) had a reduced risk of all-cause mortality. That is, compared to those with zero close friends, those with diabetes who had six or more close friends had a 49% reduced risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 0.51, 95% CI 0.27–0.94). Conclusion. To mitigate mortality risk, a greater social support network size may be needed for those with diabetes.
3D DNA Origami Crystals

3D crystals assembled entirely from DNA provide a route to design materials on a molecular level and to arrange guest particles in predefined lattices. This requires design schemes that provide high rigidity and sufficiently large open guest space. A DNA‐origami‐based “tensegrity triangle” structure that assembles into a 3D rhombohedral crystalline lattice with an open structure in which 90% of the volume is empty space is presented here. Site‐specific placement of gold nanoparticles within the lattice demonstrates that these crystals are spacious enough to efficiently host 20 nm particles in a cavity size of 1.83 × 105 nm3, which would also suffice to accommodate ribosome‐sized macromolecules. The accurate assembly of the DNA origami lattice itself, as well as the precise incorporation of gold particles, is validated by electron microscopy and small‐angle X‐ray scattering experiments. The results show that it is possible to create DNA building blocks that assemble into lattices with customized geometry. Site‐specific hosting of nano objects in the optically transparent DNA lattice sets the stage for metamaterial and structural biology applications.
What Does the Public Know About Professional Counseling? A Study of Public Knowledge and Perception of Professional Counselors

ABSTRACT This study investigated current public perceptions of professional counseling by exploring perceived differences of professional counselors versus other helping professionals, perceptions of professional counseling in the United States, and agreement with the American Counseling Association’s 20/20 definition of counseling. Using the Helping Professionals Questionnaire, 300 participants were surveyed. The four major themes identified were education, task, focus, and identity confusion. Implications for future research and advocacy initiatives are also reviewed.
UFSAC: Unification of Sense Annotated Corpora and Tools

In Word Sense Disambiguation, sense annotated corpora are often essential for evaluating a system and also valuable in order to reach a good efficiency. Always created for a specific purpose, there are today a dozen of sense annotated English corpora, in various formats and using different versions of WordNet. The main hypothesis of this work is that it should be possible to build a disambiguation system by using any of these corpora during the training phase or during the testing phase regardless of their original purpose. In this article, we present UFSAC: a format of corpus that can be used for either training or testing a disambiguation system, and the process we followed for constructing this format. We give to the community the whole set of sense annotated English corpora that we know, in this unified format, when the copyright allows it, with sense keys converted to the last version of WordNet. We also provide the source code for building these corpora from their original data, and a complete Java API for manipulating corpora in this format. The whole resource is available at the following URL: https://github.com/getalp/UFSAC.
Effects of MTHFR A 1298 C polymorphism on peripheral blood folate concentration in healthy populations : a meta-analysis of observational studies

Background and Objectives: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) irreversibly converts 5,10methylenetetrahydrofolate to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, which is the main form of folate used in the body. Previous studies suggest that MTHFR polymorphism influences folate metabolism, but conflicting results are reported. We performed a meta-analysis to accurately characterize the association between MTHFR A1298C polymorphism and peripheral blood folate concentration in healthy populations. Methods and Study Design: Studies focusing on MTHFR A1298C polymorphism and folate concentrations were identified and subjected to a metaanalysis using Review Manager 5.1. Standard mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were used to assess the association between these variables. Results: A total of 14 studies with 5616 healthy individuals were included in this meta-analysis. Significant differences in folate concentration were found in the MTHFR homozygote model (SMD=0.12, 95% CI=0.00-0.24, I=17%, p=0.04) and the dominant model (SMD=0.07, 95% CI=0.01-0.14, I=22%, p=0.02) in the general population excluding the elderly. While abnormal folate concentrations are more common in elderly, no association between MTHFR A1298C polymorphism and peripheral blood folate concentration was found in the meta-analysis when elderly were included. Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicates that, in the general population excluding the elderly, the C allele of MTHFR 1298 polymorphism is associated with the risk for an increased folate concentration.
The CXC Chemokine Receptor 3 Inhibits Autoimmune Cholangitis via CD8+ T Cells but Promotes Colitis via CD4+ T Cells

CXC chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3), a receptor for the C-X-C motif chemokines (CXCL) CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11, which not only plays a role in chemotaxis but also regulates differentiation and development of memory and effector T cell populations. Herein, we explored the function of CXCR3 in the modulation of different organ-specific autoimmune diseases in interleukin (IL)-2 receptor deficiency (CD25−/−) mice, a murine model for both cholangitis and colitis. We observed higher levels of CXCL9 and CXCL10 in the liver and colon and higher expression of CXCR3 on T cells of the CD25−/− mice compared with control animals. Deletion of CXCR3 resulted in enhanced liver inflammation but alleviated colitis. These changes in liver and colon pathology after CXCR3 deletion were associated with increased numbers of hepatic CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, in particular effector memory CD8+ T cells, as well as decreased T cells in mesenteric lymph nodes and colon lamina propria. In addition, increased interferon-γ response and decreased IL-17A response was observed in both liver and colon after CXCR3 deletion. CXCR3 modulated the functions of T cells involved in different autoimmune diseases, whereas the consequence of such modulation was organ-specific regarding to their effects on disease severity. Our findings emphasize the importance of extra caution in immunotherapy for organ-specific autoimmune diseases, as therapeutic interventions aiming at a target such as CXCR3 for certain disease could result in adverse effects in an unrelated organ.
The effect of supine positioning on maternal hemodynamics during late pregnancy

Abstract Introduction: Recent studies have demonstrated an association between maternal supine sleep position and an increased risk of late stillbirth. During late pregnancy, the gravid uterus compresses the inferior vena cava (IVC) when a woman lies in the supine position. The azygos system of veins is the dominant pathway of collateral venous return back to the heart in the event of acute obstruction of the IVC. It is suggested that this pathway provides adequate collateral venous circulation in the event of IVC compression in the supine position during late pregnancy. Objective: Investigate the effect of supine positioning on maternal hemodynamics during late pregnancy and the role of collateral venous circulation. Methods: Ethics approval was obtained and 12 women with singleton pregnancies between 35- and 38-week gestation underwent magnetic resonance imaging in the supine and left lateral decubitus positions using a Skyra 3T system (Siemens). Phase-contrast images were evaluated to measure cardiac output, blood flow through the azygos vein, and blood flow through the abdominal aorta (AA) and IVC at two levels: at the level of aortic bifurcation and immediately above the renal veins. Results: The supine position was associated with a 16.4% reduction in cardiac output when compared to the left lateral position. In addition, blood flow through the IVC decreased at its origin by 85.3% and by 44.4% at the level of the renal veins. Blood flow through the azygos vein increased in the supine position by 220%. Blood flow through the AA at the level of the renal veins did not differ significantly; however, it is reduced by 32.3% at the level of the aortic bifurcation. Conclusions: Women in late pregnancy experience an increase in collateral venous blood flow when lying supine, likely as a response to marked compression of the IVC in this position. However, cardiac output and aortic blood flow were found to decrease while in the supine position.
Impact of increased utilization of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on survival in patients with advanced ovarian cancer: experience from a comprehensive cancer center

Objective The choice between primary debulking surgery (PDS) and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in advanced ovarian cancer remains controversial. We evaluated NAC use in our center before and after results from a randomized trial were published, with the aim to determine the impact of changes in the neoadjuvant strategy on survival in advanced-stage ovarian cancer. Methods We retrospectively investigated the clinical course of 435 patients with ovarian, tubal, or peritoneal carcinoma (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics [FIGO] stage III or IV). According to the period of treatment, we stratified patients into a control group (n=216; diagnosed between 2006 and 2010; 83.8% underwent PDS) and a study group (n=219; diagnosed between 2011 and 2014; 48.9% received NAC followed by interval debulking surgery [IDS]). Results There were no between-group differences in age, body mass index, histology findings, or tumor grade. Compared to patients in the control group, those in the study group were more likely to receive NAC followed by IDS as first-line treatment (48.9% vs. 16.2%; p<0.001), cytoreductive surgery to no-residual disease (21.5% vs. 10.2%; p<0.001), or radical surgery (57.5% vs. 35.6%; p<0.001). However, there was no between-group difference in postoperative morbidity. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed no between-group differences in progression-free or overall survival (p=0.449 and 0.952, respectively). Conclusion NAC incorporation resulted in increased optimal cytoreduction rates although no significant differences in survival outcomes were noted. NAC is advantageous for patients with high perioperative morbidity or unresectable disease.
Advances in inclusion body myositis: genetics, pathogenesis and clinical aspects

ABSTRACT Introduction: Inclusion body myositis is the most common acquired muscle disease affecting older adults. It has an insidious onset with a very specific pattern of muscle involvement, but the aetiopathogenesis is still unknown. Pathologically the combination of inflammatory changes, degenerative changes as well as mitochondrial and nuclear changes are seen, and probably all contribute to the loss of muscle, however the primary abnormality remains a mystery. Treatment is currently supportive, but clinical trials are ongoing and are directed at new targets. Areas covered: Clinical profile, genetic susceptibility, pathogenesis and treatment Expert opinion: Understanding the aetiopathogeneis is vital to identify future treatment targets. In addition, understanding the natural history and the roles of biomarkers including the anti-CN1a antibody is vital for designing future clinical trials in IBM, to be properly designed and of sufficient duration to detect clinically significant changes.
Competition Policy and the Crisis—The Commission's Approach to Banking and beyond

Unlike during the Great Depression, and in defiance of many vocal opponents, levels of competition in Europe remain largely unaltered by what are, by comparison, massive crisis policy measures. This is not to say that there are not threats to competition, nor is it to pretend that financial sector aid especially has had no impact on the affected markets. However, there is strong support for the view that the competition policy architecture needs to be maintained. Supporters of the view that competition breeds competitiveness, and that TH E AN T I T R U S T BU L L E T I N: Vol. 55, No. 4/Winter 2010 : 715
Effect of Select Yogasanas and Pranayama Practices on Selected Physiological and Biochemical Variables among University Football Players

The purpose of the study is to find out the effect of yogasanas and pranayama practices on selected physiological variables such as pulse rate, vital capacity, percent body fat and biochemical variables such as high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein and fasting blood sugar of University football players. Sixty men students in the age group of 18 to 25 years from Acharya Nagarjuna University-Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, were randomly selected and served as the subjects for the present study. The subjects (N=60) were divided into three equal groups. Experimental group I-was administered yogasanas exercise group, Experimental group II-underwent pranayama practices and the third was the control group. All the groups were subjected to pre-test prior to the experimental treatment. The experimental groups participated in their respective duration of six weeks training schedule. Analysis of Co-variance (ANACOVA) was applied to determine the significance of mean difference between the three groups. When F-ratio was found to be significant, the Scheffe‟s Post Hoc test was applied to test the significance of pairs of the adjusted final group means. Practice of the yogasanas and pranayama practices is significantly effective in promoting desirable changes in the dependent variables.