Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cataracts and corticosteroids in granulocyte donors

I n this issue of TRANSFUSION, the third of three studies investigating a possible link between repeated doses of adrenal corticosteroids and posterior subcapsular cataracts (PSCs) in granulocyte (neutrophil) donors is reported. Unfortunately, the overall findings of the three studies are neither in complete agreement nor are definitive, in terms of risk to healthy donors. Moreover, recommendations from the three studies are inconsistent as to how best to obtain informed consent for granulocyte donation. Accordingly, it is worthwhile to critically assess the findings of all three studies and to offer our suggestions as how to manage and counsel granulocyte donors. To collect the largest number of neutrophils for granulocyte transfusion therapy, it is mandatory to stimulate donors before leukapheresis with a combination of granulocyte–colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and corticosteroids (generally, dexamethasone)—although some blood centers prefer to avoid G-CSF, because it is not approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration for this purpose, and to use corticosteroids alone. For decades, granulocyte donors have been given corticosteroids within several hours before each leukapheresis procedure, generally as a single oral dose of 8 mg of dexamethasone or as divided oral doses of up to 60 mg of prednisone. Although repeat granulocyte donors receive multiple individual doses of corticosteroids, sometimes extending over the course of several years, it has been widely assumed that the brief and interrupted doses would not lead to PSCs—a well-known complication of long-term corticosteroid therapy. The initial study from Iowa was prompted when a granulocyte donor reported to the Medical Director of the DeGowin Blood Center that his ophthalmologist had told him that he needed surgery for cataracts caused by the prednisone that he had received over the years as a granulocyte donor. Although an earlier editorial reviewed the available data about the possible relationship between corticosteroids and PSCs in granulocyte donors and offered guidance regarding informed consent for repeat granulocyte donation, information at that time was fairly sparse and in disagreement. Now that a third article has completed the “trilogy” and has provided some additional information, it is worthwhile to critically reassess the findings and to offer practice guidelines. ANALYSIS OF THE THREE STUDIES
On-Line Analytical Processing on Graphs Generated from Social Network Data

Social Network services have quickly become a powerful means by which people share real-time messages. Typically, social networks are modeled as large underlying graphs. Responding to this emerging trend, it becomes critically important to interactively view and analyze this massive amount of data from different perspectives and with multiple granularities. While Online analytical processing (OLAP) is a powerful primitive for structured data analysis, it faces major challenges in manipulating this complex interconnecting data. In this paper, we suggest a new data warehousing model, namely Social Graph Cube to support OLAP technologies on multidimensional social networks. Based on the proposed model we represent data as heterogeneous information graphs for more comprehensive illustration than the traditional OLAP technology. Going beyond traditional OLAP operations, Social Graph Cube proposes a new method that combines data mining area and OLAP operators to navigate through dimension hierarchies. Experimental results show the effectiveness of Social Graph Cube for decision-making.
Mucosal inflammation in asthma.

Over the past decade, it has become increasingly recognized that airways inflammation is one of the major components of asthma. Until recently, measurements of bronchial responsiveness and mediators of allergic reactions were the only methods of studying pathogenetic mechanisms in asthma. With improved diagnostic procedures such as fiberoptic bronchoscopy, it has become possible to investigate these mechanisms and the resulting inflammatory changes in situ. BAL has highlighted the presence of mast cells and eosinophils and has given proof of their mediator participation in airways inflammation and hyperresponsiveness. Endobronchial biopsies have so far yielded results that are similar to those obtained from postmortem studies, although it appears that there are varying degrees of inflammation in living asthmatics. Even in mild disease, the histopathologic features of bronchial asthma are consistent with chronic inflammation. Indirect evidence obtained from allergen challenge leading to increased bronchial hyperresponsiveness during LAR, and direct evidence of inflammatory cells and their mediators in the airway mucosa and lumen after allergen challenge argue for an active role of cells in bringing about inflammatory changes. At present, however, it is not possible to relate precisely the findings obtained by bronchoscopy to the clinical presentation and progression of asthma. Cell activation with production of potent mediators of inflammation may be more relevant to inflammation than the simple presence of these cells in the airways. Almost all the inflammatory cells present in the bronchial wall and lumen have been implicated in the pathogenesis of mucosal inflammation in asthma, but with our current state of knowledge, none can be singled out as the most important contributor. The mast cell was the first to be investigated in depth, and despite the accumulation of large amounts of data concerning its ultrastructure and function, it remains uncertain to what extent this cell is involved in inflammatory responses. Thus, while its main role appears to be that of initiator of allergen-induced responses, the eosinophil has attracted more attention as a proinflammatory cell rather than as an antiinflammatory cell with a capacity to be selectively recruited from the circulation in response to IgE-dependent signals. The eosinophil secretes potent mediators that cause damage to the bronchial epithelium and lead to bronchoconstriction. The role of other cells is at present not as well defined. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Bidirectional Non-Filamentary RRAM as an Analog Neuromorphic Synapse, Part I: Al/Mo/Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3 Material Improvements and Device Measurements

We report on material improvements to non-filamentary RRAM devices based on Pr0.7Ca0. 3MnO3 by introducing an MoOx buffer layer together with a reactive Al electrode, and on device measurements designed to help gauge the performance of these devices as bidirectional analog synapses for on-chip acceleration of the backpropagation algorithm. Previous Al/PCMO devices exhibited degraded LRS retention due to the low activation energy for oxidation of the Al electrode, and Mo/PCMO devices showed low conductance contrast. To control the redox reaction at the metal/PCMO interface, we introduce a 4-nm interfacial layer of conducting MoOx as an oxygen buffer layer. Due to the controlled redox reaction within this Al/Mo/PCMO device, we observed improvements in both retention and conductance on/off ratio. We confirm bidirectional analog synapse characteristics and measure “jump-tables” suitable for large scale neural network simulations that attempt to capture complex and stochastic device behavior [see companion paper]. Finally, switching energy measurements are shown, illustrating a path for future device research toward smaller devices, shorter pulses and lower programming voltages.
A plasma mir-125a-5p as a novel biomarker for Kawasaki disease and induces apoptosis in HUVECs

Background Kawasaki disease (KD) is a childhood systemic vasculitis that exhibits a specific preference for the coronary arteries. The aetiology remains unknown and there are no especially diagnostic tests. microRNAs (miRNAs) are 18 to 23 nucleotides non-coding RNAs that are negative regulator of gene expression and play a crucial role in the regulatory network of the genome. Recently, circulating miRNAs have been found presentation in human plasma and displayed some characteristics of the ideal biomarker. However, few researches explored differentially expressed miRNAs in the plasma of KD patients. Our study is to identify circulating miRNAs in KD plasma which can serve as potential biomarkers of KD diagnosis. Materials and methods The total of five pairs of acute KD and normal plasma samples were analyzed using ABI miRNAs TLDA Assay chip. Differentially expression of miR-125a-5p in plasma were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in independent cohort (acute KD = 30, convalescent KD = 30 and healthy control = 32). After bioinformatics prediction, miR-125a-5p vector and inhibitor were transfected into HUVECs respectively, to observe MKK7 expression as a potential target gene. Flow cytometry was used to analyze apoptosis. The mRNA and protein levels of desired genes including MKK7, Caspase-3, Bax and Bcl2 were detected by qRT-PCR and western blotting. Results Eighteen miRNAs were differentially expressed in acute KD’s plasma compared with healthy control. miR-125a-5p was significantly increased in plasma of KD patients (p = 0.000), but no variation between acute and convalescent KD (p = 0.357). Moreover, the results from the gain and loss functions of miR-125a-5p in HUVECs have shown that miR-125a-5p remarkably suppressed MKK7 expression, as a novel target gene. Importantly, miR-125a-5p also induced apoptosis in HUVECs through inhibition MKK7 levels to regulate Bax/Bcl2 pathway resulting to activate Caspase-3. Conclusion Our study indicated that the circulating miR-125a-5p levels in KD’s plasma have remarkably evaluated compared with healthy individuals. miR-125a-5p might play a role in the development of KD by regulating target gene MKK7 to induce apoptosis in vascular endothelial cells. Therefore, our findings have suggested that detected miR-125a-5p levels in plasma could be used as a potential biomarker in early KD diagnosis.
Estimating Infection Sources in Networks Using Partial Timestamps

We study the problem of identifying infection sources in a network based on the network topology, and a subset of infection timestamps. In the case of a single infection source in a tree network, we derive the maximum likelihood estimator of the source and the unknown diffusion parameters. We then introduce a new heuristic involving an optimization over a parametrized family of Gromov matrices to develop a single source estimation algorithm for general graphs. Compared with the breadth-first search tree heuristic commonly adopted in the literature, simulations demonstrate that our approach achieves better estimation accuracy than several other benchmark algorithms, even though these require more information like the diffusion parameters. We next develop a multiple sources estimation algorithm for general graphs, which first partitions the graph into source candidate clusters, and then applies our single source estimation algorithm to each cluster. We show that if the graph is a tree, then each source candidate cluster contains at least one source. Simulations using synthetic and real networks, and experiments using real-world data suggest that our proposed algorithms are able to estimate the true infection source(s) to within a small number of hops with a small portion of the infection timestamps being observed.
Effectiveness of a Multicomponent Sun Protection Program for Young Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

IMPORTANCE Emphasizing sun protection behaviors among young children may minimize sun damage and foster lifelong sun protection behaviors that will reduce the likelihood of developing skin cancer, especially melanoma. OBJECTIVE To determine whether a multicomponent sun protection program delivered in pediatric clinics during the summer could increase summertime sun protection among young children. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Randomized controlled clinical trial with 4-week follow-up that included 300 parents or relatives (hereafter simply referred to as caregivers [mean age, 36.0 years]) who brought the child (2-6 years of age) in their care to an Advocate Medical Group clinic during the period from May 15 to August 14, 2015. Of the 300 caregiver-child pairs, 153 (51.0%) were randomly assigned to receive a read-along book, swim shirt, and weekly text-message reminders related to sun protection behaviors (intervention group) and 147 (49.0%) were randomly assigned to receive the information usually provided at a well-child visit (control group). Data analysis was performed from August 20 to 30, 2015. INTERVENTION Multicomponent sun protection program composed of a read-along book, swim shirt, and weekly text-message reminders related to sun protection behaviors. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Outcomes were caregiver-reported use of sun protection by the child (seeking shade and wearing sun-protective clothing and sunscreen) using a 5-point Likert scale, duration of outdoor activities, and number of children who had sunburn or skin irritation. The biologic measurement of the skin pigment of a child's arm was performed with a spectrophotometer at baseline and 4 weeks later. RESULTS Of the 300 caregiver-child pairs, the 153 children in the intervention group had significantly higher scores related to sun protection behaviors on both sunny (mean [SE], 15.748 [0.267] for the intervention group; mean [SE], 14.780 [0.282] for the control group; mean difference, 0.968) and cloudy days (mean [SE], 14.286 [0.282] for the intervention group; mean [SE], 12.850 [0.297] for the control group; mean difference, 1.436). Examination of pigmentary changes by spectrophotometry revealed that the children in the control group significantly increased their melanin levels, whereas the children in the intervention group did not have a significant change in melanin level on their protected upper arms (P < .001 for skin type 1, P = .008 for skin type 2, and P < .001 for skin types 4-6). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE A multicomponent intervention using text-message reminders and distribution of read-along books and swim shirts was associated with increased sun protection behaviors among young children. This was corroborated by a smaller change in skin pigment among children receiving the intervention. This implementable program can help augment anticipatory sun protection guidance in pediatric clinics and decrease children's future skin cancer risk. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02376517.
Dimensions and Values for Legal CBR

© 2017 The authors and IOS Press. We build on two recent attempts to formalise reasoning with dimensions which effectively map dimensions into factors. These enable propositional reasoning, but sometimes a balance between dimensions needs to be struck, and to permit trade offs we need to keep the magnitudes and so reason more geometrically. We discuss dimensions and values, arguing that values can play several distinct roles, both explaining preferences between factors and indicating the purposes of the law.
Transition of Thai HIV-infected adolescents to adult HIV care

No abstract available. (Published: 3 December 2015 ) Citation: Hansudewechakul R et al. Journal of the International AIDS Society 2015, 18 :20651 http://www.jiasociety. org/index.php/jias/article/view/20651 | http://dx.doi. org/10.7448/IAS.18. 1.20651
Evaluation of a Planned Behavior Theory-Based Intervention Programme to Promote Healthy Eating

The objective of the study was to test the effectiveness of an intervention program based on the theoretical framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior, with the addition of attitude strength and role identity. The aim was to alter adolescents' healthy eating attitudes and behaviour. In the sample were 335 high school students, who were divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention lasted 12 weeks and included posters and lectures promoting healthy eating. The measures included a questionnaire assessing the hypothesis and a food frequency questionnaire which measured eating habits. Analysis showed the intervention was effective in improving attitudes toward healthy eating and attitude strength, intention, perceived behavioral control, and healthy eating behaviour, but not effective in predicting subjective norms and role identity. Results provide evidence that intervention changed attitudes toward a behavior in a school setting.
Special Education Teachers

One of our editorial policies is to provide a forum for discussion on various key issues in our field. This is important because there are many different vantage points to some issues. The Forum section allows individuals to reflect on these matters from their own viewpoints. In the following article, Dr. Richard Iano broadens the discussions that have appeared in this journal on theory and practice in our field. He specifically addresses what he believes to be an inadequate conception of teaching. — JLW
The Tendaguru Formation (Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, southern Tanzania): definition, palaeoenvironments, and sequence stratigraphy

Abstract. The well-known Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Tendaguru Beds of southern Tanzania have yielded fossil plant remains, invertebrates and vertebrates, notably dinosaurs, of exceptional scientific importance. Based on data of the German-Tanzanian Tendaguru Expedition 2000 and previous studies, and in accordance with the international stratigraphic guide, we raise the Tendaguru Beds to formational rank and recognise six members (from bottom to top): Lower Dinosaur Member, Nerinella Member, Middle Dinosaur Member, Indotrigonia africana Member, Upper Dinosaur Member, and Rutitrigonia bornhardti-schwarzi Member. We characterise and discuss each member in detail in terms of derivation of name, definition of a type section, distribution, thickness, lithofacies, boundaries, palaeontology, and age. The age of the whole formation apparently ranges at least from the middle Oxfordian to the Valanginian through Hauterivian or possibly Aptian. The Tendaguru Formation constitutes a cyclic sedimentary succession, consisting of three marginal marine, sandstone-dominated depositional units and three predominantly coastal to tidal plain, fine-grained depositional units with dinosaur remains. It represents four third-order sequences, which are composed of transgressive and highstand systems tracts. Sequence boundaries are represented by transgressive ravinement surfaces and maximum flooding surfaces. In a more simple way, the depositional sequences can be subdivided into transgressive and regressive sequences/systems tracts. Whereas the transgressive systems tracts are mainly represented by shallow marine shoreface, tidal channel and sand bar sandstones, the regressive systems tracts predominantly consist of shallow tidal channel, tidal flat, and marginal lagoonal to supratidal deposits. doi: 10.1002/mmng.200900004
Risperidone in the treatment of acute stress disorder in physically traumatized in‐patients

Although symptoms of acute stress disorder or PTSD in the aftermath of physical trauma may be a reason for psychiatric referral, little has been written on the management of patients in this context. We report the possible benefit of risperidone, an atypical antipsychotic, in 4 cases where flashbacks were reported in patients hospitalized for the treatment of physical trauma. Depression and Anxiety 11:187–188, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Estimates of the worldwide incidence of 25 major cancers in 1990

The annual incidence rates (crude and age‐standardized) and numbers of new cases of 25 different cancers have been estimated for the year 1990 in 23 areas of the world. The total number of new cancer cases (excluding non‐melanoma skin cancer) was 8.1 million, just over half of which occur in the developing countries. The most common cancer in the world today is lung cancer, accounting for 18% of cancers of men worldwide, and 21% of cancers in men in the developed countries. Stomach cancer is second in frequency (almost 10% of all new cancers) and breast cancer, by far the most common cancer among women (21% of the total), is third. There are large differences in the relative frequency of different cancers by world area. The major cancers of developed countries (other than the 3 already named) are cancers of the colon‐rectum and prostate, and in developing countries, cancers of the cervix uteri and esophagus. The implications of these patterns for cancer control, and specifically prevention, are discussed. Tobacco smoking and chewing are almost certainly the major preventable causes of cancer today.Int. J. Cancer 80:827–841, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Effect of serum hepatitis B surface antigen levels on predicting the clinical outcomes of chronic hepatitis B infection: A meta‐analysis

The impact of serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels on the prognosis of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains unclear. This meta‐analysis aimed to determine whether serum HBsAg levels influenced the risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. Furthermore, we explored the role played by serum HBsAg levels in prediction of spontaneous HBsAg seroclearance.
Prevention and Detection of Melanoma in the Primary Care Setting

In the United States, melanoma incidence rates are rising faster than for all other preventable or “early detectable” cancers. Early recognition and treatment of thin cutaneous melanoma have contributed to a decreased case-fatality rate over the past 50 years, but many at-risk Americans have yet to be screened. Primary prevention is directed to educating the public and health care providers to raise awareness of melanoma and change risk behavior, namely, excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation. The goal of secondary prevention is to reduce morbidity and mortality through early detection strategies, including skin self-examination and skin screening. As yet, the only proposed measure for melanoma prevention is sun protection in childhood and adolescence, which may reduce the number of melanocytic nevi developing as an adult. Preventing adverse sun exposure in later years would likely be protective against melanoma, particularly the more ultraviolet radiation–related subtypes. Chemoprevention for melanoma is a developing field that may allow individuals at high risk for new primary melanoma to be targeted for intervention, although no oral or topical agent has yet been identified with proven efficacy in preventing melanoma. Approximately 59,580 Americans are expected to develop invasive cutaneous melanoma in 2005, with an estimated additional 40,000 or more cases of intraepithelial, melanoma in situ. The current lifetime risk for developing invasive melanoma is 1 in 65 Americans, a 20-fold increase since 1930 [1,2]. If noninvasive melanoma in situ is included, the lifetime risk rises to 1 in 37 Americans. It has been suggested that the increased incidence is largely the result of increased diagnostic scrutiny rather than a true increase in the incidence of disease [3,4]. However, the reported increase in both thick and thin melanoma in the United States and Australia would seem to refute this [5,6]. Over 7700 individuals will die from metastatic disease within the next year. More frequent recreational sun exposure (in the absence of