Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Postural instability and gait are associated with severity and prognosis of Parkinson disease

Objective: Differences in disease progression in Parkinson disease (PD) have variously been attributed to 2 motor subtypes: tremor-dominant (TD) and postural instability and gait difficulty (PIGD)–dominant (PG). We evaluated the role of these phenotypic variants in severity and progression of nondopaminergic manifestations of PD and motor complications. Methods: Linear mixed models were applied to data from the Profiling Parkinson's disease (PROPARK) cohort (n = 396) to evaluate the effect of motor subtype on severity and progression of cognitive impairment (Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's disease [SCOPA]–Cognition [SCOPA-COG]), depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]), autonomic dysfunction (SCOPA–Autonomic [SCOPA-AUT]), excessive daytime sleepiness, psychotic symptoms (SCOPA–Psychiatric Complications [SCOPA-PC]), and motor complications. In first analyses, subtype as determined by the commonly used ratio of tremor over PIGD score was entered as a factor, whereas in second analyses separate tremor and PIGD scores were used. Results were verified in an independent cohort (Estudio Longitudinal de Pacientes con Enfermedad de Parkinson [ELEP]; n = 365). Results: The first analyses showed that PG subtype patients had worse SCOPA-COG, HADS, SCOPA-AUT, SCOPA-PC, and motor complications scores, and exhibited faster progression on the SCOPA-COG. The second analyses showed that only higher PIGD scores were associated with worse scores for these variables; tremor score was not associated with severity or progression of any symptom. Analyses in the independent cohort yielded similar results. Conclusions: In contrast to PIGD, which consistently was associated with greater severity of nondopaminergic symptoms, there was no evidence of a benign effect of tremor. Our findings do not support the use of the TD subtype as a prognostic trait in PD. The results showed that severity of PIGD is a useful indicator of severity and prognosis in PD by itself.
What Do 14 to 16‐year‐olds Know and Think about Biotechnology?

The knowledge and attitudes of GCSE students towards biotechnology and genetic engineering were investigated in a survey of 118 14 to 16‐year‐old students. One‐third of the sample did not know what biotechnology or genetic engineering was, and nearly half the sample could not give examples of either. Student attitudes were context‐dependent: there was broad approval of genetic engineering applied to microbes and plants but not of its application to animals. There were high levels of uncertainty of opinion where eating the products of genetic engineering was concerned. Teaching about these topics led to decreased uncertainty and enhanced approval of genetic engineering.
Effect of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles on pregnancy and testicular development of mice

In this study, considering the high sensitivity of developing fetal organs, different doses of iron oxide nanoparticles coated with dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) were injected intraperitoneally to pregnant mice. The magnetic and structural properties of DMSA-coated nanoparticles were examined by Alternating Gradient-Force Magnetometry, X-Ray Diffraction and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The histological studies of the fetal liver and placenta sections showed presence of nanoparticles in these organ systems. Weight change and the number of pups born by pregnant mice in comparison with controls were not significantly different. But, a significant decrease was seen in infants growth from the mothers treated with doses higher than 50 mg/kg. The testicular histological studies of these infants showed decrease in spermatogonia, spermatocytes, spermatids and mature sperm significantly. Although, some studies revealed the nontoxic effect of iron oxide nanoparticles in adult mice, the present study indicated that, the doses higher than 50 mg/kg of DMSA-coated magnetic nanoparticles can disrupt embryo development.
Huntington disease reduced penetrance alleles occur at high frequency in the general population

Objective: To directly estimate the frequency and penetrance of CAG repeat alleles associated with Huntington disease (HD) in the general population. Methods: CAG repeat length was evaluated in 7,315 individuals from 3 population-based cohorts from British Columbia, the United States, and Scotland. The frequency of ≥36 CAG alleles was assessed out of a total of 14,630 alleles. The general population frequency of reduced penetrance alleles (36–39 CAG) was compared to the prevalence of patients with HD with genetically confirmed 36–39 CAG from a multisource clinical ascertainment in British Columbia, Canada. The penetrance of 36–38 CAG repeat alleles for HD was estimated for individuals ≥65 years of age and compared against previously reported clinical penetrance estimates. Results: A total of 18 of 7,315 individuals had ≥36 CAG, revealing that approximately 1 in 400 individuals from the general population have an expanded CAG repeat associated with HD (0.246%). Individuals with CAG 36–37 genotypes are the most common (36, 0.096%; 37, 0.082%; 38, 0.027%; 39, 0.000%; ≥40, 0.041%). General population CAG 36–38 penetrance rates are lower than penetrance rates extrapolated from clinical cohorts. Conclusion: HD alleles with a CAG repeat length of 36–38 occur at high frequency in the general population. The infrequent diagnosis of HD at this CAG length is likely due to low penetrance. Another important contributing factor may be reduced ascertainment of HD in those of older age.
New Metaheuristic Approaches for the Leaf-Constrained Minimum Spanning Tree Problem

Given an undirected, connected, weighted graph, the leaf-constrained minimum spanning tree (LCMST) problem seeks a spanning tree of the graph with smallest weight among all spanning trees of the graph, which contains at least l leaves. In this paper we have proposed two new metaheuristic approaches for the LCMST problem. One is an ant-colony optimization (ACO) algorithm, whereas the other is a tabu search based algorithm. Similar to a previously proposed genetic algorithm, these metaheuristic approaches also use the subset coding that represents a leaf-constrained spanning tree by the set of its interior vertices. Our new approaches perform well in comparison with two best heuristics reported in the literature for the problem — the subset-coded genetic algorithm and a greedy heuristic.
Effects of low-flow sevoflurane anesthesia on renal function: comparison with high-flow sevoflurane anesthesia and low-flow isoflurane anesthesia.

Background: The safety of low-flow sevoflurane anesthesia, during which CF2 = C(CF3)-O-CH2 F (compound A) is formed by sevoflurane degradation, in humans has been questioned because compound A is nephrotoxic in rats. Several reports have evaluated renal function after closed-circuit or low-flow sevoflurane anesthesia, using blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine as markers. However, these are not the more sensitive tests for detecting renal damage. This study assessed the effects of low-flow sevoflurane anesthesia on renal function using not only BUN and serum creatinine but also creatinine clearance and urinary excretion of kidney-specific enzymes, and it compared these values with those obtained in high-flow sevoflurane anesthesia and low-flow isoflurane anesthesia. Methods: Forty-eight patients with gastric cancer undergoing gastrectomy were studied. Patients were randomized to receive sevoflurane anesthesia with fresh gas flow of 1 l/min (low-flow sevoflurane group; n = 16) or 6–10 l/min (high-flow sevoflurane group; n = 16) or isoflurane anesthesia with a fresh gas flow of 1 l/min (low-flow isoflurane group; n = 16). In all groups, the carrier gas was oxygen/nitrous oxide in the ratio adjusted to ensure a fractional concentration of oxygen in inspired gas (FiO2) of more than 0.3. Fresh Baralyme was used in the low-flow sevoflurane and low-flow isoflurane groups. Glass balls were used instead in the high-flow sevoflurane group, with the fresh gas flow rate adjusted to eliminate rebreathing. The compound A concentration was measured by gas chromatography. Gas samples taken from the inspiratory limb of the circle system at 1-h intervals were analyzed. Blood samples were obtained before and on days 1, 2, and 3 after anesthesia to measure BUN and serum creatinine. Twenty-four-hour urine samples were collected before anesthesia and for each 24-h period from 0 to 72 h after anesthesia to measure creatinine, N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase, and alanine aminopeptidase. Results: The average inspired concentration of compound A was 20 +/- 7.8 ppm (mean +/- SD), and the average duration of exposure to this concentration was 6.11 +/- 1.77 h in the low-flow sevoflurane group. Postanesthesia BUN and serum creatinine concentrations decreased, creatinine clearance increased, and urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase and alanine aminopeptidase excretion increased in all groups compared with preanesthesia values, but there were no significant differences between the low-flow sevoflurane, high-flow sevoflurane, and low-flow isoflurane groups for any renal function parameter at any time after anesthesia. Conclusions: The only difference between the low-flow and high-flow sevoflurane groups was compound A formation, and postanesthesia laboratory data showed no significant effects of compound A formation during sevoflurane anesthesia on renal function. No significant effects on renal function were observed in either the low-flow or high-flow sevoflurane groups compared with the low-flow isoflurane group.
Cortical superficial siderosis predicts early recurrent lobar hemorrhage

Objective: To identify predictors of early lobar intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) recurrence, defined as a new ICH within 6 months of the index event, in patients with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). Methods: Participants were consecutive survivors (age ≥55 years) of spontaneous symptomatic probable or possible CAA-related lobar ICH according to the Boston criteria, drawn from an ongoing single-center cohort study. Neuroimaging markers ascertained in CT or MRI included focal (≤3 sulci) or disseminated (>3 sulci) cortical superficial siderosis (cSS), acute convexity subarachnoid hemorrhage (cSAH), cerebral microbleeds, white matter hyperintensities burden and location, and baseline ICH volume. Participants were followed prospectively for recurrent symptomatic ICH. Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify predictors of early recurrent ICH adjusting for potential confounders. Results: A total of 292 patients were enrolled. Twenty-one patients (7%) had early recurrent ICH. Of these, 24% had disseminated cSS on MRI and 19% had cSAH on CT scan. In univariable analysis, the presence of disseminated cSS, cSAH, and history of previous ICH were predictors of early recurrent ICH (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). After adjusting for age and history of previous ICH, disseminated cSS on MRI and cSAH on CT were independent predictors of early recurrent ICH (hazard ratio [HR] 3.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.38–11.17, p = 0.011, and HR 3.48, 95% CI 1.13–10.73, p = 0.030, respectively). Conclusions: Disseminated cSS on MRI and cSAH on CT are independent imaging markers of increased risk for early recurrent ICH. These markers may provide additional insights into the mechanisms of ICH recurrence in patients with CAA.
Interagency Collaboration between Child Welfare Agencies, Schools, and Mental Health Providers and Children's Mental Health Service Receipt

This article uses data from a national, longitudinal study of families involved with the U.S. child welfare system to examine how collaboration between local child welfare agencies, schools, and community mental health providers influences children's receipt of necessary mental health services. The findings suggest that child welfare agency collaboration with schools has a significant effect on children's use of both school-based and outpatient mental health services. Person-centered practices such as having a care coordinator or cross-training increased children's odds of receiving either school-based mental health services or other outpatient mental health services. In contrast, administrative ties decreased children's odds of receiving such services. Different collaborative mechanisms may be more appropriate for coordinating care between child welfare agencies and mental health providers.
The study of auditory effects after concomitant radiotherapy and chemotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer

Aims and Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and patterns of hearing loss after concomitant radiochemotherapy in patients enrolled in a larynx preservation protocol. Materials and Methods: The study comprised of audiological evaluation of 30 patients prior to and at 1, 3, and 6 months after treatment using pure tone audiometry and impedance audiometry. Results: At the end of 6 months, 43.33% suffered sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), 8.33% conductive hearing loss, 16.67% mixed hearing loss, and 6.67% showed improvement in hearing. Discussion: The possible mechanism for hearing loss are discussed and compared with the result of such studies in literature. Conclusion: There exist a small but definite potential risk of hearing loss after concomitant radiotherapy and chemotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer.
The Accuracy of Electrocardiogram Criteria for Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Korean Cohort (Atherosclerosis Risk of a Rural Area Korean General Population)

Background: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) offers prognostic information beyond that provided by the evaluation of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. However, the validation of electrocardiogram (ECG) criteria for the diagnosis of LVH is limited in Korea general population. The purpose of this study is to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of ECG criteria for the detection of LVH in general population. Methods: In the present study, we investigated a total of 1,946 adults from the community-based cohort. The left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was estimated with echocardiographic measurement and adjusted with body surface area. LVH was defined as a value greater than or equal to the sex-specific 90th percentile value of LVMI. ECG criteria for the diagnosis of LVH were Sokolow-Lyon criteria and Cornell criteria. Results: The LVMI was significantly higher in male subjects (91.1 ± 23.9 g/m vs. 83.9 ± 21.7 g/m, p 0.001). The cutoff values were 120.8 g/m < 2 in male subjects and 112.2 g/m in female subjects. The sensitivity and specificity of Sokolow-Lyon criteria were 5.6% and 93.6% in male, 4.1% and 97.8% in female. Those of Cornell criteria were 2.8% and 98.7% in male, 14.3% and 95.8% in female. In male, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves of Sokolow-Lyon voltage and Cornell voltage were 0.55 and 0.52. And those in female were 0.59 and 0.60. Conclusions: In our community-based sample, ECG criteria showed low sensitivity and high specificity. The performance of ECG criteria for detection of LVH was suboptimal, suggesting limited usefulness of ECG as mass screening tools. (J Korean Soc Hypertens 2013;19(4):112-122)
Monitoring long-term efficacy of fampridine in gait-impaired patients with multiple sclerosis

Objective: To expand upon the limited knowledge of the long-term effects of prolonged-release (PR) fampridine in patients with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) regarding safety, walking improvements, and changes in drug responsiveness. Methods: Fifty-three PwMS who completed the FAMPKIN core study were included in this extension trial. Drug efficacy was assessed in an open-label and randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study design with regular baseline assessments over a period of 2 years using the Timed 25-Foot Walk (T25FW), 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), and 12-item MS Walking Scale (MSWS-12) as outcome measures. Results: The data showed good tolerability and persisting efficacy of PR fampridine during long-term treatment in PwMS. Significant improvements in walking speed, endurance, and self-perceived ambulatory function were observed during open-label (T25FW: +11.5%; 6MWT: 10.7%; MSWS-12: 6.1 points) and double-blind controlled treatment with PR fampridine (T25FW: +13.1%; 6MWT: 11.9%; MSWS-12: 7.4 points). Several patients showed changes in drug responsiveness over time, resulting in an increased proportion of patients exceeding 10% or 20% improvements in walking measures after long-term treatment. Conclusions: Efficacy and tolerability data confirmed PR fampridine as a valuable long-term treatment for improving ambulatory function in gait-impaired PwMS. Similar results in open-label and double-blind phases reveal that the walking tests used are objective and reliable. The considerable proportion of patients in whom responsiveness to PR fampridine changed over time emphasizes the importance of regular reassessment of drug efficacy in clinical practice to optimize treatment. Such reassessments seem to be particularly important in patients with poor initial drug responses, as this group demonstrated enhanced responsiveness after long-term treatment. Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01576354. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class II evidence that PR fampridine significantly improved gait compared to placebo in a 2-week study in PwMS who had been using PR fampridine for 2 years.
Letter re: A genome-wide association study in multiple system atrophy

Sailer et al.1 conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 918 patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) and 3,864 controls, and identified several loci potentially associated with MSA. This was the first GWAS ever conducted using such a large sample size, emphasizing the future direction of identifying MSA susceptibility genes using further larger sample sizes. Contrary to a previous study,2 Sailer et al.1 found no association of COQ2 with MSA.
A Survey Examining the Impact of Driving Cessation on People with Epilepsy in Ireland

Introduction: Driving is a job, a hobby and a form of transport that enables occupation. This research investigated the impact of the inability to drive due to epilepsy on community mobility and occupational participation, and compared both men and women's perceptions of the impact of driving cessation on romantic relationships and family involvement. Method: By means of an internet-based survey, data were collected concerning community mobility, personal impact of driving cessation, previous driving practices, epilepsy and demographics. Statistical analysis was performed on quantitative data and content analysis was used with responses to open questions. The survey received 95 eligible participants. Findings: Participants used public transport more than the general population; however, when unable to drive, being driving by friends or relatives was the main mode of transport. As a result, people experienced restricted access to the community, had to give up activities, had a reduced quality of life and a lowered self-esteem. Significantly more men than women felt that driving cessation had a negative impact on romantic relationships (p = 0.024) yet men and women did not differ significantly in their feelings about the impact of driving cessation on family involvement (p = 0.58). Conclusion: Independent access to the community is often dependent on the ability to drive.
Health promotion: partners' perceptions of breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is recognized as the most appropriate method of infant feeding (UNICEF, 1999a), yet past research suggests that it declines during the early postpartum period (Foster et al, 1995). More importantly, recent studies have suggested that partners may influence breastfeeding decisions (Jackson, 2000) so their roles significantly reinforce more recent findings (Hamlyn et al, 2002). This small qualitative study explores partners' perceptions of breastfeeding, the extent of influence on breastfeeding decisions, and how health promotion can contribute to the uptake of breastfeeding. In this article, an open-ended, in-depth guide was used during the interviewing of eight male participants. The findings were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that partners have significant influence on a mother's infant-feeding decisions by their use of language, and that partners are greatly influenced by their perceptions of gender.
Experimental Analysis of Design Choices in multiattribute Utility Collaborative Filtering

Recommender systems have already been engaging multiple criteria for the production of recommendations. Such systems, referred to as multicriteria recommenders, demonstrated early the potential of applying Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods to facilitate recommendation in numerous application domains. On the other hand, systematic implementation and testing of multicriteria recommender systems in the context of real-life applications still remains rather limited. Previous studies dealing with the evaluation of recommender systems have outlined the importance of carrying out careful testing and parameterization of a recommender system, before it is actually deployed in a real setting. In this paper, the experimental analysis of several design options for three proposed multiattribute utility collaborative filtering algorithms is presented for a particular application context (recommendation of e-markets to online customers), under conditions similar to the ones expected during actual operation. The results of this study indicate that the performance of recommendation algorithms depends on the characteristics of the application context, as these are reflected on the properties of evaluations' data set. Therefore, it is judged important to experimentally analyze various design choices for multicriteria recommender systems, before their actual deployment.
White matter hyperintensity reduction and outcomes after minor stroke

Objective: To assess factors associated with white matter hyperintensity (WMH) change in a large cohort after observing obvious WMH shrinkage 1 year after minor stroke in several participants in a longitudinal study. Methods: We recruited participants with minor ischemic stroke and performed clinical assessments and brain MRI. At 1 year, we assessed recurrent cerebrovascular events and dependency and repeated the MRI. We assessed change in WMH volume from baseline to 1 year (normalized to percent intracranial volume [ICV]) and associations with baseline variables, clinical outcomes, and imaging parameters using multivariable analysis of covariance, model of changes, and multinomial logistic regression. Results: Among 190 participants (mean age 65.3 years, range 34.3–96.9 years, 112 [59%] male), WMH decreased in 71 participants by 1 year. At baseline, participants whose WMH decreased had similar WMH volumes but higher blood pressure (p = 0.0064) compared with participants whose WMH increased. At 1 year, participants with WMH decrease (expressed as percent ICV) had larger reductions in blood pressure (β = 0.0053, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.00099–0.0097 fewer WMH per 1–mm Hg decrease, p = 0.017) and in mean diffusivity in normal-appearing white matter (β = 0.075, 95% CI 0.0025–0.15 fewer WMH per 1-unit mean diffusivity decrease, p = 0.043) than participants with WMH increase; those with WMH increase experienced more recurrent cerebrovascular events (32%, vs 16% with WMH decrease, β = 0.27, 95% CI 0.047–0.50 more WMH per event, p = 0.018). Conclusions: Some WMH may regress after minor stroke, with potentially better clinical and brain tissue outcomes. The role of risk factor control requires verification. Interstitial fluid alterations may account for some WMH reversibility, offering potential intervention targets.