Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distant Supervision and Sentiment Embeddings for Ternary Twitter Sentiment Analysis

Tang et al. (2014) acknowledged the context-based word embeddings’ inability to discriminate between words with opposite sentiments that appear in similar contexts. An example is the words “good” and “bad”—two opposites that appear in the same contexts. Context-based word embedding methods like word2vec would likely treat these as similar words. Tang et al. proposed a promising method for incorporating sentiment information in word embeddings. These embeddings are called Sentiment-Specific Word Embeddings or Sentiment Embeddings. To train sentiment embeddings, large amounts of sentiment-annotated data are needed. Manual annotation is too expensive for this purpose. Fast, automatical annotation is used to set a low-quality (weak) label on large corpora of tweets. This procedure is often referred to as distant supervision. The traditional approach is to use the occurrences of emoticons to guess binary sentiment (positive/negative). In this thesis, we compare various lexicon-based sentiment classifiers against each other on manually annotated Twitter data from the International Workshop on Semantic Evaluation (SemEval). Their performance as distant supervision methods are tested as part of a complete Twitter Sentiment Analysis system. Instead of only looking at the positive and negative sentiment classes, the neutral class is included. Both prediction performance and speed of the distant supervision methods are evaluated. We propose the Ternary Sentiment Embedding Model—a new model for creating sentiment embeddings for the ternary sentiment classification task. It is based on the Hybrid Ranking Model of Tang et al. (2016), but trains on ternary-labeled distantsupervised data instead of binary-labeled. The model trains sentiment embeddings from datasets made with different distant supervision methods. The model is used as part of a complete Twitter Sentiment Analysis system and is compared to existing systems. The experiments of Chapter 8 show that the Ternary Sentiment Embedding Model performs better than the Hybrid Ranking Model of Tang et al. (2016) in most cases. Our results show that the quality of the distant-supervised dataset has a great impact on the quality of the produced sentiment embeddings, and hence the entire Twitter Sentiment Analysis system.
Profiles of cognitive subtest impairment in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in a research cohort with normal Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores

The comparative ability of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and MMSE to detect mild cognitive difficulties was investigated in 107 older adults. The sensitivity of the MoCA to detect cognitive impairment with a cutoff score of <26 was investigated, as compared to the MMSE across all scores, and at a cutoff of ≥27. Performance on MoCA subtests was compared at these MMSE cutoffs to determine profiles of early cognitive difficulties. The MoCA detected cognitive impairment not detected by the MMSE in a high proportion of participants, and this impairment was evident across various subtests. The MoCA appears to be a sensitive screening test for detection of early cognitive impairment.
Manganese superoxide dismutase is dispensable for post-natal development and lactation in the murine mammary gland

Abstract Mammary gland development is a multistage process requiring tightly regulated spatial and temporal signalling pathways. Many of these pathways have been shown to be sensitive to oxidative stress. Understanding that the loss of manganese superoxide dismutase (Sod2) leads to increased cellular oxidative stress, and that the loss or silencing of this enzyme has been implicated in numerous pathologies including those of the mammary gland, we sought to examine the role of Sod2 in mammary gland development and function in situ in the mouse mammary gland. Using Cre-recombination driven by the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) promoter, we created a mammary-specific post-natal conditional Sod2 knock-out mouse model. Surprisingly, while substantial decreases in Sod2 were noted throughout both virgin and lactating adult mammary glands, no significant changes in developmental structures either pre- or post-pregnancy were observed histologically. Moreover, mothers lacking mammary gland expression of Sod2 were able to sustain equal numbers of litters, equal pups per litter, and equal pup weights as were control animals. Overall, our results demonstrate that loss of Sod2 expression is not universally toxic to all cell types and that excess mitochondrial superoxide can apparently be tolerated during the development and function of post-natal mammary glands.
Anti-TNF-alpha and Th1 cytokine-directed therapies for the treatment of asthma.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW This article examines recent work about the role of TNF-alpha and of selected Th1-related cytokines in asthma with particular emphasis on the therapeutic potential of blocking the biological activity of these mediators. RECENT FINDINGS Current research endeavours suggest that asthma pathogenesis is driven by a mixed Th1/Th2 immune response. The contribution of individual Th1-associated and Th2-associated effector mechanisms to this mixed response profile is highly heterogeneous and variations in response patterns seem to be associated with heterogeneity in clinical phenotypes. In particular, it is now acknowledged that allergen-specific Th1 responses appear to be responsible for the pathogenetic effects seen in patients suffering from the more severe chronic forms of the disease. This is important because usual treatments for asthma appear to have limited effects on the more chronic severe forms of the disease and there is a pressing need for the development of new treatment strategies. The failure of topical corticosteroids to reduce TNF-alpha and Th1-derived cytokines to a significant level in asthmatic airways may explain to a certain extent why these drugs appear to have limited effects in the more severe forms of asthma. SUMMARY It is likely that therapies blocking TNF-alpha and interfering with Th1-derived cytokines may be a considerable advance in the management of those asthma patients who are particularly resistant to typical treatment modalities.
Effect of diuretic-based antihypertensive treatment on cardiovascular disease risk in older diabetic patients with isolated systolic hypertension. Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program Cooperative Research Group.

OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of low-dose, diuretic-based antihypertensive treatment on major cardiovascular disease (CVD) event rates in older, non-insulin-treated diabetic patients with isolated systolic hypertension (ISH), compared with nondiabetic patients. DESIGN Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial: the Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program (SHEP). SETTING Multiple clinical and support centers in the United States. PARTICIPANTS A total of 4736 men and women aged 60 years and older at baseline with ISH (systolic blood pressure [BP], > or = 160 mm Hg; diastolic BP, <90 mm Hg) at baseline, 583 non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients and 4149 nondiabetic patients (4 additional patients not so classifiable were randomized but not included in these analyses). Diabetes mellitus defined as physician diagnosis, taking oral hypoglycemic drugs, fasting glucose level of 7.8 mmol/L or more (> or = 140 mg/dL), or any combination of these characteristics. INTERVENTION The active treatment group received a low dose of chlorthalidone (12.5-25.0 mg/d) with a step-up to atenolol (25.0-50.0 mg/d) or reserpine (0.05-0.10 mg/d) if needed. The placebo group received placebo and any active antihypertensive drugs prescribed by patient's private physician for persistently high BP. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The 5-year rates of major CVD events, nonfatal plus fatal stroke, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) and fatal coronary heart disease (CHD), major CHD events, and all-cause mortality. RESULTS The SHEP antihypertensive drug regimen lowered BP of both diabetic and nondiabetic patients, with few adverse effects. For both diabetic and nondiabetic patients, all outcome rates were lower for participants randomized to the active treatment group than for those randomized to the placebo group. Thus, 5-year major CVD rate was lower by 34% for active treatment compared with placebo, both for diabetic patients (95% confidence interval [CI], 6%-54%) and nondiabetic patients (95% CI, 21%-45%). Absolute risk reduction with active treatment compared with placebo was twice as great for diabetic vs nondiabetic patients (101/1000 vs 51/1000 randomized participants at the 5-year follow-up), reflecting the higher risk of diabetic patients. CONCLUSION Low-dose diuretic-based (chlorthalidone) treatment is effective in preventing major CVD events, cerebral and cardiac, in both non-insulin-treated diabetic and nondiabetic older patients with ISH.
A network of amygdala connections predict individual differences in trait anxiety

In this study we demonstrate that the pattern of an amygdala‐centric network contributes to individual differences in trait anxiety. Individual differences in trait anxiety were predicted using maximum likelihood estimates of amygdala structural connectivity to multiple brain targets derived from diffusion‐tensor imaging (DTI) and probabilistic tractography on 72 participants. The prediction was performed using a stratified sixfold cross validation procedure using a regularized least square regression model. The analysis revealed a reliable network of regions predicting individual differences in trait anxiety. Higher trait anxiety was associated with stronger connections between the amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, an area implicated in the generation of emotional reactions, and inferior temporal gyrus and paracentral lobule, areas associated with perceptual and sensory processing. In contrast, higher trait anxiety was associated with weaker connections between amygdala and regions implicated in extinction learning such as medial orbitofrontal cortex, and memory encoding and environmental context recognition, including posterior cingulate cortex and parahippocampal gyrus. Thus, trait anxiety is not only associated with reduced amygdala connectivity with prefrontal areas associated with emotion modulation, but also enhanced connectivity with sensory areas. This work provides novel anatomical insight into potential mechanisms behind information processing biases observed in disorders of emotion. Hum Brain Mapp 36:4819–4830, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Incidence of Pulmonary Hypertension in Patients With Systemic Sclerosis and No Pulmonary Symptoms: Is Annual Echocardiographic Screening Necessary?

BackgroundAnnual echocardiographic screening has been recommended for early detection of pulmonary hypertension (PHT) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patient; however, the cost benefit for cases with no pulmonary symptoms is not well established. ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to determine the incidence and clinical predictors of echocardiographic diagnosis of PHT in “asymptomatic” SSc patients. MethodsA historical cohort of adult SSc patients who underwent echocardiographic screening for PHT at least twice in Khon Kaen University, Thailand, during January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2011, was included. Pulmonary hypertension was defined by an estimate of right ventricular systolic pressure of greater than 40 mm Hg. ResultsA total of 143 medical records were reviewed (female-to-male ratio = 1.7:1). The majority had the diffuse subset (94 cases; 69.6%). Seventy-five (52.4%) were without pulmonary symptoms throughout the follow-up period. Of the 403.1 person-years under observation in the asymptomatic group, only 1 had pulmonary arterial hypertension confirmed by right-sided heart catheterization. The incidence of PHT among such SSc patients was 0.2 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.006–0.01 per 100 person-years). The disease duration at the time of PHT detection by echocardiography was 5.1 years. The declining functional class (FC) led to the higher incidence of PHT, with incidence of PHT in those who had declining FC I to FC II and FC I to FC III of 2.1 (95% CI, 0.4–6.0) and 4.2 (95% CI, 0.1–23.3), respectively. ConclusionsThe incidence of echocardiography-diagnosed PHT among Thai with SSc, and no pulmonary symptoms was low. Annual echocardiography is less beneficial among such patients; repeated echocardiography should instead be performed on those with a declining FC.
Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Tea Production in South-Eastern Malawi: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

Tea production contributes 8.8% of foreign exchange earnings in Malawi. A study was undertaken in South-Eastern Malawi to understand the smallholder tea production system, estimate its technical efficiency and establish sources of technical inefficiency. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select 230 smallholder tea farmers, who participated in the study. Data analysis was done using SPSS and STATA. Smallholder tea production was characterised using descriptive statistics. A Cobb-Douglas Stochastic frontier model and Tobit Regression model were run in STATA to determine technical efficiency and sources of technical inefficiency respectively. The study found that the technical efficiency of smallholder tea farmers ranged from 16% to 92% with a mean of 67%. Education, distance to factory and farming experience significantly reduced technical inefficiency at 1%, 5% and 10% level respectively; and inefficiency was relatively low among farmers that utilised hired labour, and high among those that were contracted by government cooperative. Access to non-tea income was not a source of technical inefficiency. The findings of the study imply that various policies on extension and training have to be implemented to increase the knowledge of the smallholder tea farmers to ensure increased technical efficiency. Smallholder tea farmers should also be facilitated to access labour-saving technologies to enable them carry out timely farm operations.
Hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis: a rare presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus

Background Urticarial vasculitis is a small‐vessel vasculitis, presenting clinically as persistent urticarial skin lesions and microscopically as leucocytoclastic vasculitis. Hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis syndrome (HUVS) is a distinct type of urticarial vasculitis with multiorgan involvement, whose etiology and link with other diseases are still unknown. Some authors have suggested that HUVS can be accompanied by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and others believe that it is a rare subtype of SLE. Urticarial vasculitis is seen in 7–8% of SLE, while 50% of HUVS patients are diagnosed with SLE.
Annotation: the role of prefrontal deficits, low autonomic arousal, and early health factors in the development of antisocial and aggressive behavior in children.

BACKGROUND This article selectively reviews the biological bases of antisocial and aggressive behavior in children with a focus on low autonomic functioning, prefrontal deficits, and early health factors. RESULTS Low resting heart rate is thought to be the best-replicated biological correlate of antisocial and aggressive behavior in child and adolescent populations and may reflect reduced noradrenergic functioning and a fearless, stimulation-seeking temperament. Evidence from neuropsychological, neurological, and brain imaging studies converges on the conclusion that prefrontal structural and functional deficits are related to antisocial, aggressive behavior throughout the lifespan. A prefrontal dysfunction theory of antisocial behavior is advanced. This argues that social and executive function demands of late adolescence overload the late developing prefrontal cortex, giving rise to prefrontal dysfunction and a lack of inhibitory control over antisocial, violent behavior that peaks at this age. Birth complications and minor physical anomalies are selectively associated with later violent behavior, especially when combined with adverse psychosocial risk factors for violence. Cigarette smoking during pregnancy may increase the risk for antisocial and violent behavior in later life by disrupting noradrenergic functioning and enhancement of cholinergic receptors that inhibit cardiac functioning. Malnutrition during pregnancy is associated with later antisocial behavior and may be mediated by protein deficiency. CONCLUSIONS It is argued that early health intervention and prevention studies may provide the most effective way of reversing biological deficits that predispose to antisocial and aggressive behavior in children and adults.
Impact of RASSF1A gene methylation on the metastatic axillary nodal status in breast cancer patients

Hypermethylation of CpG islands is a hallmark of cancer and occurs at an early stage in breast tumorigenesis. To gain insight into the epigenetic switches that may promote and/or contribute to the initial neoplastic events during breast carcinogenesis, the present study focused on the DNA methylation profile of invasive breast carcinoma. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of Ras association domain family 1 isoform A (RASSF1A) promoter methylation status in operable breast cancer, and to analyze the utility of this biomarker regarding its association with metastatic and nonmetastatic axillary nodal status. For this purpose, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from 116 breast cancer patients with known axillary nodal status were subjected to assessment of RASSF1A promoter methylation status by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) and methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting assay, and the results were subsequently validated by bisulfite sequencing. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to model the dependence of distinct levels of methylation status of the RASSF1A promoter on the nodal status. Promoter region CpG hypermethylation was identified by MSP in 97 (83.6%) of 116 primary breast tumors, while hypermethylation of RASSF1A was confirmed by MS-HRM in 107 (92.2%) of 116 cases of breast cancer. Based on the results of the multinomial logistic regression model, there was no significant difference between the frequency of RASSF1A promoter methylation and axillary lymph node status of patients in general. However, upon adjustment of pN stage, an association was identified between pN0 lymph node-negative status (without axillary metastases) and percentage of RASSF1A methylation in two groups of heterogeneous methylated alleles with ≤50% methylated (P<0.05) and >50% methylated alleles (P<0.0001). If a patients' nodal status changes from pN- to pN+ then the risk of having >50% methylated alleles increases by 7%. The present study revealed a specific phenomenon, suggesting that the presence of heterogeneous methylated alleles in the RASSF1A gene is significantly associated with lymph node-negative status in breast cancer patients. Furthermore, greater significance with negative axillary nodal status was observed with a higher level of heterogeneous methylated alleles in the RASSF1A gene.
Informal primary carers of stroke survivors living at home–challenges, satisfactions and coping: A systematic review of qualitative studies

Purpose. To summarize qualitative studies from the last decade that focus on experiences of caring for stroke survivors and to describe challenges, satisfactions and coping strategies. Methods. A systematic review of qualitative studies identified from English language medicine, nursing and psychology databases from 1996–2006 was undertaken. Results. Seventeen qualitative studies fitting the inclusion and exclusion criteria, mostly from the USA, were identified. All used carer interviews. These studies corroborate the quantitative research, commonly describing difficulties including emotional responses, uncertainty and associated information and training needs. However, compared with quantitative research, qualitative studies provide a more detailed, complete picture of carers' experiences and identify additional areas including role and relationship changes, positive outcomes and coping strategies. Conclusions. Qualitative studies add significantly to our understanding of carers' experiences. Caring for stroke survivors is often challenging but focusing on the difficulties and not drawing attention to successful management strategies and satisfaction reported by carers, limits understanding and reduces the chances of providing appropriate support. Future qualitative research should consider the implications of the timing of collection more carefully and should move away from simple content or thematic analysis which tends to emphasize similarities amongst carers and should now focus on understanding carer diversity. Acknowledging this diversity should maximize the chances of providing appropriate support.
Decreasing time-trends of colorectal cancer in a large cohort of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC). There have been marked changes in the management and treatment of IBD over the past decades, but little is known about how these changes have impacted morbidity and mortality (time trends in risk) of CRC in patients with IBD. METHODS We assessed cancer occurrence and mortality in a large population-based cohort of patients with IBD who were diagnosed from 1954 to 1989 (n = 7607). Through register links, we collected data on vital status of all registered cases of CRC, as well as intestinal surgeries and mortalities from CRC through 2004. Relative risks for CRC incidence and mortality, by calendar period of follow-up evaluation, were assessed within the cohort (using Poisson regression and taking age, sex, extent of IBD, and time since IBD diagnosis into account) and also compared with the general population using standardized incidence and mortality ratios. RESULTS During 198,227 person-years of follow-up evaluation for the 7607 patients with IBD, 188 new cases of CRC were observed (crude incidence, 95 per 100,000; 95% confidence interval, 82-109); 92 deaths from CRC were registered. Within the IBD cohort, as well as vs the general population, the incidence of CRC showed a tendency towards a decline whereas the mortality from CRC decreased several-fold from the 1960s through 2004. CONCLUSIONS Over the past 35 years, the risk of diagnosis of CRC in patients with IBD has not declined significantly, but the risk of dying of CRC has decreased substantially.
Role of vagal innervation on intragastric distribution and emptying of liquid and semisolid meals in conscious pigs

The role of vagal innervation on emptying patterns and intragastric distributions of liquid and semisolid meals is still controversial. We aimed to record these features after dorsal, ventral and truncal vagotomies, using external gamma scintigraphy in conscious pigs in which the dorsal vagus specifically innervates the proximal stomach. Imaging of the stomach was performed for all experimental situations and before surgery using 99mTc‐labelled glucose and porridge meals. Emptying of liquids was faster after dorsal vagotomy, whereas it was unchanged after ventral and truncal vagotomies (T1/2=57 ± 8.5, 31 ± 14.4, 54 ± 9.1 and 42 ± 14.9 min for intact, dorsal, ventral and truncal vagotomies, respectively). On the other hand, truncal vagotomy significantly reduced the emptying rate of semisolids whereas dorsal and ventral vagotomies had no significant effect (T1/2=96 ± 7.2, 113 ± 8.1, 75 ± 9.9 and 260 ± 56.6 min for intact, dorsal, ventral and truncal vagotomies). Morphological analysis of the gastric shape confirmed an overdistended proximal stomach after truncal vagotomy only. For semisolids, proximal stomach emptying followed the same emptying pattern as the entire stomach, irrespective of the surgical procedure. We concluded that the proximal stomach is the main control for the emptying of liquids and semisolids. The vagal control of overall gastric emptying for semisolids is probably identical to that modulating the intragastric distribution of the meal.