Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DNA adducts and combinations of multiple lung cancer at‐risk alleles in environmentally exposed and smoking subjects

Interindividual variation in DNA adduct levels in individuals exposed to similar amounts of environmental carcinogens may be due to genetic variability. We analysed the influence of genes involved in determining/modifying DNA damage, including microsomal epoxide hydrolase1 (EPHX1) His139Arg, N‐acetyl‐transferase, NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase1 (NQO1) Pro187Ser, manganese superoxide dismutase2 (MnSOD2) Val16Ala, and apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease1 (APE1) Asp148Glu polymorphisms in blood of 120 smokers. Subsequently, we examined the effects of the combinations of the variant alleles of EPHX, NQO1 and MnSOD2 together with the wild type allele of APE1 on DNA damage by calculating the “sum of at‐risk alleles. ” We reviewed the studies examining the relationships of DNA adducts with at‐risk alleles in environmentally exposed subjects. Our findings showed that smokers carrying the EPHX1–139Arg and the NQO1–187Ser variants were significantly more likely to have higher adduct levels. Null associations were found with the other variants. Nevertheless, DNA adduct levels in smokers with ≥5 at‐risk alleles were significantly different from those with fewer than two alleles. A similar picture emerged from studies of DNA adducts and at‐risk alleles in environmentally exposed and smoking subjects. Certain at‐risk allele combinations may confer a greater likelihood of increased levels of adducts after environmental insults. The increase in DNA adduct levels in susceptible subjects exposed to environmental carcinogens may reflect changes in the mechanisms that protect cells from the accumulation of genetic damage. Alterations of the physiological processes designed to maintain homeostasis may reduce the individual “genotoxic tolerance” to environmental challenges and result in phenotypes characterized by high levels of DNA adducts. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 54:375–383, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effect of maternal HIV status on vaccination coverage among sub-Saharan African children: A socio-ecological analysis

ABSTRACT We investigated the relationship between maternal HIV status and uptake of the full series of three doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis containing vaccines (DTP3) in sub-Saharan African children. We used data obtained from demographic and health surveys conducted in sub-Saharan Africa. We conducted meta-analysis and calculated pooled odds ratios (OR) for the association between maternal HIV status and DTP3 vaccination status for each country. A total of 4,187 out of 5,537 children of women living with HIV received DTP3 (75.6%), compared to 71,290 of 113,513 (62.8%) children of HIV negative women. National DTP3 coverage among children of HIV-positive women varied between 24% and 96% while among children of HIV negative women it was between 26% and 92%. Overall pooled result showed no significant difference in DTP3 coverage between the two groups (OR = 1.05; 95% confidence interval 0.91 – 1.22), with statistically significant heterogeneity (Chi2 = 91.63, P = 0.000, I2 = 71.6%). There was no significant association between DTP3 coverage and maternal HIV status in sub-Saharan Africa. However, DTP3 coverage for both HIV-exposed and non-exposed children were below the required target. Meta-regression revealed no significant association between DTP3 coverage and country characteristics (e.g. HIV prevalence among women, antiretroviral therapy coverage, gross domestic product per capita, human development index, adult literacy rate and sub-region). Improved prevention of mother-to-child transmission services might have contributed to some extent to the higher DTP3 vaccination coverage among the HIV-exposed children. There is also need to address barriers impeding uptake of vaccination among HIV-exposed and non-exposed children.
Understanding Deep Learning Performance through an Examination of Test Set Difficulty: A Psychometric Case Study

Interpreting the performance of deep learning models beyond test set accuracy is challenging. Characteristics of individual data points are often not considered during evaluation, and each data point is treated equally. In this work we examine the impact of a test set question’s difficulty to determine if there is a relationship between difficulty and performance. We model difficulty using well-studied psychometric methods on human response patterns. Experiments on Natural Language Inference (NLI) and Sentiment Analysis (SA) show that the likelihood of answering a question correctly is impacted by the question’s difficulty. In addition, as DNNs are trained on larger datasets easy questions start to have a higher probability of being answered correctly than harder questions.
Age‐related changes of healthy bone marrow cell signaling in response to growth factors provide insight into low risk MDS

Single Cell Network Profiling (SCNP) is a multiparametric flow cytometry‐based assay that quantifiably and simultaneously measures changes in intracellular signaling proteins in response to in vitro extracellular modulators at the single cell level. Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a heterogeneous clonal disorder of hematopoietic stem cells that occurs in elderly subjects and is characterized by dysplasia and ineffective hematopoiesis. The functional responsiveness of MDS bone marrow (BM) hematopoietic cells, including functionally distinct myeloid and erythroid precursor subsets, to hematopoietic growth factors (HGF) and the relationship of modulated signaling to disease characteristics is poorly understood.
Financial relationships between neurologists and industry

Objective To analyze research and nonresearch payments from the pharmaceutical and device industry to neurologists in 2015 using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments database. Methods In this retrospective database analysis, we computed the percentage of neurologists in the United States receiving payments, the median/mean payments per neurologist, payment categories, regional trends, and sponsors. We computed the number of practicing neurologists from the Association of American Medical Colleges State Physician Workforce data book, 2015. Results In 2015, approximately 51% of US neurologists received nonresearch payments totaling $6,210,414. The median payment per physician was $81. Payments to the top 10% of compensated neurologists amounted to $5,278,852 (84.5%). Food and beverage was the most frequent category (86.5% of the total number of payments). The highest amount was paid for serving as faculty/speaker for noncontinuing medical education activities (58%). The top sponsor of nonresearch payments was Teva Pharmaceuticals ($1,162,900; 18.5%). A total of 412 neurologists received $2,921,611 in research payments (median $1,132). Multiple sclerosis specialists received the largest proportion ($285,537; 9.7%). Daiichi Sankyo paid the largest amount in research payments ($826,029; 28%). Conclusions The Open Payments program was established to foster transparent disclosure of physician compensation from industry, in response to legislative and public concerns over the effect of conflicts of interest on practice, education, and research. The effects of this program remain unclear and studies of changes in prescribing practices, costs, and other outcomes are necessary. CMS should ensure that incorrect information can be rectified quickly and easily.
5HTTLPR polymorphism in schizophrenic patients: Further support for association with violent suicide attempts

Previous studies testing the functional polymorphism in the promoter of the serotonin‐transporter gene (5HTTLPR) in various psychiatric conditions have suggested that the association could be with an intermediate phenotype, impulsivity and/or violence rather than with a diagnosis. Schizophrenia is associated with a high risk of suicide, especially in patients with high impulsivity. We examined whether this polymorphism could be associated with violent suicide and/or impulsivity in schizophrenic patients. We genotyped the 5HTTLPR polymorphism in 185 unrelated schizophrenic patients from a French Caucasian population. The genotype frequencies significantly differed between patients who made violent suicide attempts and both, those who attempted suicide with a non‐violent method (P = 0.013) and those who never attempted suicide (P = 0.026). The genotypes containing the low activity “short” allele was significantly more frequent in violent suicide attempters (P = 0.007) than in non‐violent suicide attempters. No evidence was found for an association either with schizophrenia itself, when compared to gender and ethnically matched controls (n = 159) or with impulsivity, assessed using Barratt's Impulsivity Scale. Although replication studies are warranted, these results in schizophrenia further support the hypothesis that 5HTTLPR polymorphism is a risk factor for violent suicidal behavior. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sufficiency Community Economic Development System: A Pathway to Sustainable Community Development in Thailand

This study addressed an alternative approach, sufficiency economy approach, to be applied in community economic development which can be referred as “sufficiency community economic development - SCED”. SCED concerns on a holistic approach of CED activities through community participation that focuses on the capacities and livelihoods of community in order to enhance the community strengths and members’ livelihoods. SCED requires that activities are developed based on community-demand with a firm foundation of community-reliance and moral condition to create activities that have a positive impact to all livelihood assets, not just the monetary terms.
Design‐oriented model for power‐driven design optimization of SC‐ΣΔ modulators

A behavioral model for switched‐capacitors sigma‐delta modulators, suitable for power‐driven design, is presented. Because of the oversampling behavior of this kind of analog‐to‐digital converters, transistor‐level simulations are extremely time consuming. Thus, accurate behavioral models are mandatory in the preliminary design steps to cut the development time. However, when the power consumption of the modulator is pushed down to the absolute minimum level, second‐order effects affecting the settling behavior of the switched‐capacitor integrator must be taken into account. Furthermore, by means of an accurate noise model, based on a second‐order transfer function of the amplifier, a global power minimization is achieved, and the optimum partitioning between the switch and op‐amp noise is obtained. In spite of the improved accuracy, the proposed model requires only a few parameters of the amplifier in the integrator. This allows to easily link the model to an external set of circuit equations, to be derived for the specific amplifier used in the modulator. The model was used in the design of a third‐order modulator in an STM 90‐nm technology. The silicon samples exhibit an effective resolution of 15.2‐b with a 500‐Hz output rate, an oversampling ratio of 500, and a Schreier figure‐of‐merit of 162 dB, with a 38‐μW power consumption at 1.2‐V supply.
Correlation between Endoscopic and Angiographic Findings in Patients with Esophageal and Isolated Gastric Varices

Background/Aim: The correlation between angiographic vascular patterns and endoscopic findings in portal hypertension is not sufficiently known, and knowledge of the vascular anatomy may contribute to an improvement in endoscopic embolization and transjugular retrograde obliteration procedures. We propose a new vascular map that should prove useful for this purpose. Methods: Between April 1985 and December 1997 we performed percutaneous transhepatic portography in a selected group of 75 patients (16 women and 59 men), aged 43–71 years, from whom informed consent was obtained. All patients had been diagnosed endoscopically as having either esophageal or isolated gastric varices. According to the Child-Pugh classification, class A, B, and C cirrhosis was seen in 19, 40, and 16 patients, respectively. We created a vascular map of esophageal and isolated gastric varices, based on the opacification of the portal venous collaterals on percutaneous transhepatic portography. We compared the patients in both variceal groups in terms of portal venous pressure, main blood supply, and drainage routes. Results: We found that the portal collateral system was divided into two systems: the portoazygos venous system and the portophrenic venous system. The former contributed to the formation of esophageal and cardiac varices and the latter to the formation of isolated gastric varices located at the fundus or at both the cardia and fundus. The left gastric vein participated as blood supply in 70% of the isolated gastric varices and in 100% of the esophageal varices (p < 0.01). The posterior gastric vein participated as blood supply in 70% of the isolated gastric varices and in 24% of the esophageal varices (p < 0.01). We classified the main blood drainage routes of isolated gastric varices functionally into three types: gastrorenal shunt (85%), gastrophrenic shunt (10%), and gastropericardiac shunt (5%). The portal venous pressure in patients with esophageal varices was 358 ± 66 mm H2O, whereas in patients with isolated gastric varices it was 262 ± 44 mm H2O (p < 0.01). Conclusion: We suggest that this new vascular map will be useful in endoscopic embolization and transjugular retrograde obliteration procedures for esophageal and isolated gastric varices.
Deep Learning for Epidemiological Predictions

Predicting new and urgent trends in epidemiological data is an important problem for public health, and has attracted increasing attention in the data mining and machine learning communities. The temporal nature of epidemiology data and the need for real-time prediction by the system makes the problem residing in the category of time-series forecasting or prediction. While traditional autoregressive (AR) methods and Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) have been actively studied for solving this problem, deep learning techniques have not been explored in this domain. In this paper, we develop a deep learning framework, for the first time, to predict epidemiology profiles in the time-series perspective. We adopt Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) to capture the long-term correlation in the data and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to fuse information from data of different sources. A residual structure is also applied to prevent overfitting issues in the training process. We compared our model with the most widely used AR models on USA and Japan datasets. Our approach provides consistently better results than these baseline methods.
In vitro evaluation of E1040, a new cephalosporin with potent antipseudomonal activity

E1040 is a new parenteral cephalosporin with a broad antibacterial spectrum and potent antipseudomonal activity. The compound was four- to eightfold more active than ceftazidime and cefsulodin against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC of E1040 for 90% of strains tested [MIC90], 3.13 micrograms/ml). E1040 also showed a potent activity against other glucose-nonfermentative rods, including Acinetobacter species. The activities of E1040 against most species of the family Enterobacteriaceae were roughly comparable to the activities of ceftazidime and cefmenoxime and exceeded that of cefotiam. Against Citrobacter freundii (MIC90, 0.78 micrograms/ml), Enterobacter cloacae (MIC90, 3.13 micrograms/ml), and Enterobacter aerogenes (MIC90, 0.2 micrograms/ml), E1040 was 16- to 256-fold more active than ceftazidime and cefmenoxime. The activities of E1040 against gram-positive cocci and anaerobes were comparable to those of ceftazidime, but the compound was less active than cefmenoxime. E1040 was at least as resistant as ceftazidime and cefmenoxime to hydrolysis by various beta-lactamases and showed high affinities for penicillin-binding protein 3 of both Escherichia coli and P. aeruginosa.
Is there still a role for computerized strain gauge plethysmography in the assessment of patients with suspected deep vein thrombosis?

INTRODUCTION Although deep vein thromboses (DVTs) are common, only a minority of patients referred with suspected DVT will have the condition. Various strategies exist to allow rapid and safe discharge of low-risk patients, thus precluding the need for imaging. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES We aimed to investigate the accuracy of clinical risk assessment, D-Dimer analysis, computerized strain gauge plethysmography (CSGP) or a combination of the above in the assessment of outpatients with suspected DVT. METHODS We performed a prospective cohort study on outpatients referred with suspected DVT to our medical assessment unit. Patients systematically underwent clinical risk assessment, D-Dimer analysis, CSGP and imaging with ultrasonography and/or venography. RESULTS One hundred and eighty patients with suspected DVT were included in the analysis. Using a threshold of 0.6 mg/l, D-Dimer had a sensitivity and negative predictive value (NPV) of 100% for detecting DVT. Incorporating D-Dimer analysis with clinical risk assessment increased the specificity of the test. The sensitivity and NPV of CSGP were poor at 52.8 and 86.7%, respectively. Incorporating CSGP with D-Dimer did not influence decision making. Although the sensitivity of CSGP was higher for above knee (73.7%) than below knee DVT (29.4%), neither was sufficient for use as a screening tool. CONCLUSION Our study did not support the role of CSGP either as a stand-alone screening tool or in conjunction with clinical risk scoring. As the evidence base for CSGP is conflicting, its accuracy should first be assessed before being incorporated into hospital algorithms as a DVT exclusion tool. However, our results support the current practice for D-Dimer use either alone or in conjunction with clinical assessment tool in the assessment of lower limb DVT.
Critical Role of Heparin Binding Domains of Ameloblastin for Dental Epithelium Cell Adhesion and Ameloblastoma Proliferation*

AMBN (ameloblastin) is an enamel matrix protein that regulates cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation of ameloblasts. In AMBN-deficient mice, ameloblasts are detached from the enamel matrix, continue to proliferate, and form a multiple cell layer; often, odontogenic tumors develop in the maxilla with age. However, the mechanism of AMBN functions in these biological processes remains unclear. By using recombinant AMBN proteins, we found that AMBN had heparin binding domains at the C-terminal half and that these domains were critical for AMBN binding to dental epithelial cells. Overexpression of full-length AMBN protein inhibited proliferation of human ameloblastoma AM-1 cells, but overexpression of heparin binding domain-deficient AMBN protein had no inhibitory effect. In full-length AMBN-overexpressing AM-1 cells, the expression of Msx2, which is involved in the dental epithelial progenitor phenotype, was decreased, whereas the expression of cell proliferation inhibitors p21 and p27 was increased. We also found that the expression of enamelin, a marker of differentiated ameloblasts, was induced, suggesting that AMBN promotes odontogenic tumor differentiation. Thus, our results suggest that AMBN promotes cell binding through the heparin binding sites and plays an important role in preventing odontogenic tumor development by suppressing cell proliferation and maintaining differentiation phenotype through Msx2, p21, and p27.
Horizontal Linear Vestibulo‐Ocular Reflex Testing in Patients with Peripheral Vestibular Disorders

Abstract: Horizontal eye movements in response to lateral head translation [linear vestibulo‐ocular reflex (LVOR)] in normal subjects and in patients with bilateral vestibular failure (n= 14), unilateral vestibular nerve section (n= 9), and benign positional vertigo (n= 14), were studied.2 LVORs were elicited in darkness by step acceleration (0.24 g) of the whole body along the interaural axis. Results and conclusions: (1) in patients with bilateral vestibular failure, LVORs were either absent or abnormal with asymmetries, diminished velocities, and prolonged latencies. Measurements of dynamic visual acuity during linear self‐motion showed decreased performance in patients at 1.0 and 1.5 Hz, which correlated with absent or delayed LVORs. These findings demonstrate the functional role of LVORs for dynamic visual acuity. (2) Early after vestibular nerve section, LVORs were diminished or absent with head acceleration toward the operated ear and normal in the opposite direction. After 6‐10 weeks, responses were symmetrical again. Thus, a single utricle appears to be polarized with respect to the LVOR early after unilateral vestibular loss generating mostly contraversive responses. (3) Patients with benign positional vertigo showed mostly normal LVORs, which can be explained by minor utricular damage or central compensation of a chronic unilateral deficit.
Two approaches to the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder in infancy and early childhood.

OBJECTIVE The reliability and validity of DSM-IV criteria and an alternative set of criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are assessed in infants and young children (younger than 4 years of age). METHOD This study was conducted in three phases. Phase 1 applied DSM-IV criteria for PTSD to 20 case reports of severely traumatized infants from the literature. Phase 2 used an expanded checklist of symptoms that were developmentally sensitive and behaviorally anchored to create an alternative set of criteria for PTSD in infants. Phase 3 compared the DSM-IV criteria to the alternative criteria on 12 new cases of traumatized infants. RESULTS Infants and young children who have experienced severe traumas show many symptoms of impairment, similar to posttraumatic symptoms in older children and adults. The alternative criteria were more reliable and more valid for diagnosing PTSD in infancy than DSM-IV criteria. CONCLUSIONS Clinicians ought to be aware that infants and young children can develop posttraumatic disorders after traumatic events. Criteria for diagnosing these disorders in standard nosologies may need revision for use with children younger than 48 months of age.
Reliability and validity of the face, legs, activity, cry, consolability behavioral tool in assessing acute pain in critically ill patients.

BACKGROUND Few investigators have evaluated pain assessment tools in the critical care setting. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) Behavioral Scale in assessing pain in critically ill adults and children unable to self-report pain. METHODS Three nurses simultaneously, but independently, observed and scored pain behaviors twice in 29 critically ill adults and 8 children: before administration of an analgesic or during a painful procedure, and 15 to 30 minutes after the administration or procedure. Two nurses used the FLACC scale, the third used either the Checklist of Nonverbal Pain Indicators (for adults) or the COMFORT scale (for children). RESULTS For 73 observations, FLACC scores correlated highly with the other 2 scores (rho = 0.963 and 0.849, respectively), supporting criterion validity. Significant decreases in FLACC scores after analgesia (or at rest) supported construct validity of the tool (mean, 5.27; SD, 2.3 vs mean, 0.52; SD, 1.1; P < .001). Exact agreement and kappa statistics, as well as intraclass correlation coefficients (0.67-0.95), support excellent interrater reliability of the tool. Internal consistency was excellent; the Cronbach alpha was 0.882 when all items were included. CONCLUSIONS Although similar in content to other behavioral pain scales, the FLACC can be used across populations of patients and settings, and the scores are comparable to those of the commonly used 0-to-10 number rating scale.