Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wechsler subscale IQ and subtest profile in early treated phenylketonuria

AIM Mildly depressed IQ is common in treated phenylketonuria. This study explored whether a particular intellectual ability profile typifies early and continuously treated phenylketonuria and whether component skills comprising the IQ relate to socioeconomic and treatment factors. METHODS IQ scores were collected retrospectively from variants of the “Wechsler intelligence scale for children” performed at age 8 on 57 children with early treated, classic phenylketonuria. The mental ability pattern underlying IQ was investigated by analysing subscale and subtest scores and dietary factors, such as historical phenylalanine blood concentrations. RESULTS The children's mean full scale IQ of 91.11 was significantly below the healthy population norm. There was a significant discrepancy between their mean verbal IQ (94.65) and mean performance IQ (89.42), suggestive of a spatial deficit, but the data did not support a biochemical or sociological explanation. Individual Wechsler subtests had no distinctive pattern. Phenylalanine control at age 2 was predictive of overall IQ. At this age, children with annual median phenylalanine < 360 μmol/litre (recommended UK upper limit) had a mean IQ 10 points higher than those above. CONCLUSIONS Early and continuous treatment of phenylketonuria does not necessarily lead to normalisation of overall IQ. Verbal intelligence in the primary school years appears to normalise if blood phenylalanine is maintained below 360 μmol/litre in infancy, but spatial intelligence may remain poor. However, the discrepancy in skill development is not the result of social status or treatment variables. Perhaps weak spatial intelligence is an ancillary effect of a protective rearing style occasioned by the dietary treatment regimen. Key messages The lower than average IQ often found in treated phenylketonuria might be caused in part by specific weakness in spatial ability Conformity to current UK recommendations for phenylalanine concentrations at least in infancy is associated with normal verbal IQ in later childhood Better verbal than spatial intelligence in treated phenylketonuria might not be a function of dietary treatment factors or social status
Epidemiological Characterization of Avian Salmonella enterica Serovar Infections in India

The study was undertaken to elucidate the recent epidemiological status of salmonellosis in India. A total of 23 Salmonella isolates were recovered from different disease outbreaks in different geographical locations. The phenotypic analysis by serotyping, transmission electron microscopy and antibiogram profiles were able to classify the Salmonella isolates based on different serovars. The S. Gallinarum isolates were also classified into different strains based on the resistance pattern to different antimicrobials used. The plasmid profiles of the Salmonella isolates were also found to be serovar specific and the S. Gallinarum isolates were subdivided into different strains based on the geographical origin. There was a positive correlation between the antibiotic resistance pattern and the presence of plasmid within different serovars.
Flexible Design Method for Multi-Repeater Wireless Power Transfer System Based on Coupled Resonator Bandpass Filter Model

It has been verified that wireless power transfer (WPT) system with multiple relay resonators (repeaters) inserted properly between the transmitter and the receiver can increase the transmission distance significantly. Based on the coupled resonator bandpass filter model, a flexible design method for wireless power transfer system with arbitrary number of repeaters is proposed in detail. The transmission efficiency and the transferred power of the proposed wireless power transfer system are derived under the design theory of filters. It is illuminated the reason that Butterworth type is preferred type for designing WPT with multi-repeater. Moreover, the relation between transmission distance and bandwidth is examined and a technique is further introduced to increase the transmission distance. An RS=50 Ω WPT system with three repeaters is tested and another RS=0 Ω WPT system with one repeater is simulated, and the effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed as well.
Simpler and Equitable Allocation of Kidneys From Postmortem Donors Primarily Based on Full HLA-DR Compatibility

Background. The introduction of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matching in nonliving kidney transplantation has resulted into a better graft outcome, but also in an increase of waiting time, especially for patients with rare HLA phenotypes. We addressed the question of the differential influence of HLA-DR-matching versus HLA-A,B in clinical kidney transplantation. Methods. We used Kaplan-Meier product limit method to estimate survival rates, and Cox proportional hazard regression for the estimation of relative risks (Hazard-ratios) for different variables. Results. A single center study (n=456 transplants, performed between 1985 and 1999) showed that full HLA-DR compatibility leads to a lower incidence of biopsy confirmed acute rejections in the first 180 posttransplantation days. These results were substantiated using the Eurotransplant database (n=39,205 transplants performed between 1985 and 2005) where graft survival in the full HLA-DR compatible group was significantly better than in the incompatible. An additional positive effect of HLA-A,B matching was only found in the full HLA-DR compatible group. In both studies, the introduction of a single HLA-DR incompatibility eliminates the HLA-A,B matching effect. Conclusions. We propose to allocate postmortem kidneys only to patients with full HLA-DR compatibility, and use HLA-A,B compatibility as an additional selection criterion. All patients, irrespective of their ethnic origin, will profit since the polymorphism of HLA-DR is by far lower than that of HLA-A,B. Excessive kidney travel and cold ischemia time will be significantly reduced.
Golgi Vesiculation Induced by Cholesterol Occurs by a Dynamin‐ and cPLA2‐Dependent Mechanism

It was recently demonstrated that an increase in the cellular cholesterol level leads to vesiculation of the Golgi apparatus. This vesiculation affects the entire Golgi apparatus and is a reversible process. We have now started to elucidate the mechanism behind this cholesterol‐induced vesiculation of the Golgi apparatus. Transient transfection of cells with dominant negative mutant constructs of dynamin 1 and 2 inhibited the vesiculation; expression of dynK44A in HeLa cells stably transfected with this construct had the same effect. However, the vesiculation seems to be independent of clathrin, as cholesterol‐induced vesiculation still occurred following knock down of clathrin heavy chain in HeLa cells using RNA interference as well as in BHK cells where expression of antisense to clathrin heavy chain had been induced. Importantly, the cPLA2 inhibitor MAFP and the chelator BAPTA‐AM that binds cytosolic Ca2+ inhibited the cholesterol‐induced vesiculation, suggesting involvement of a cPLA2 that requires cytosolic Ca2+ for translocation to membranes. Furthermore, in response to an increased cellular cholesterol level, an EGFP‐cPLA2 fusion protein translocated to the Golgi apparatus. Thus, our results demonstrate that the cholesterol‐induced vesiculation of the Golgi apparatus is mediated by a cPLA2‐ and dynamin‐dependent mechanism.
p73 Plays a Role in Erythroid Differentiation through GATA1 Induction*

The TP73 gene gives rise to transactivation domain-p73 isoforms (TAp73) as well as ΔNp73 variants with a truncated N terminus. Although TAp73α and -β proteins are capable of inducing cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and differentiation, ΔNp73 acts in many cell types as a dominant-negative repressor of p53 and TAp73. It has been proposed that p73 is involved in myeloid differentiation, and its altered expression is involved in leukemic degeneration. However, there is little evidence as to which p73 variants (TA or ΔN) are expressed during differentiation and whether specific p73 isoforms have the capacity to induce, or hinder, this differentiation in leukemia cells. In this study we identify GATA1 as a direct transcriptional target of TAp73α. Furthermore, TAp73α induces GATA1 activity, and it is required for erythroid differentiation. Additionally, we describe a functional cooperation between TAp73 and ΔNp73 in the context of erythroid differentiation in human myeloid cells, K562 and UT-7. Moreover, the impaired expression of GATA1 and other erythroid genes in the liver of p73KO embryos, together with the moderated anemia observed in p73KO young mice, suggests a physiological role for TP73 in erythropoiesis.
Internal carotid artery stenting for blunt carotid artery injuries with an associated pseudoaneurysm.

BACKGROUND Blunt carotid artery injuries (BCI) are being recognized and treated with increasing frequency because of improved screening protocols. Recent advances in endovascular techniques using microcoils, angioplasty, and stenting offer a new treatment strategy for those patients with traumatic pseudoaneurysms (PA) (BCI and PA). Experience with these techniques is limited because of the rarity of these injuries. HYPOTHESIS Early anticoagulation (AC) or antiplatelet (AP) therapy combined with carotid artery stenting is a safe alternative to AC alone for the treatment of grade III carotid artery injuries (BCI and PA). DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING A rural, community Level I trauma center. PATIENTS AND METHODS All patients with a nonocclusive BCI and PA during a 5.5 year period from June 23, 2000 to December 31, 2005 were included in the study. RESULTS : Eleven patients with grade BCI and PA underwent endovascular repair. Nine patients (81%) had associated traumatic intracranial hemorrhage. AC (heparin drip) or AP therapy (clopidogrel or aspirin or both) was initiated in all patients within 48 hours of diagnosis of BCI. Time from admission to AC or AP was 21 +/- 9.5 hours (mean +/- SD). Mortality rate was 18% (2 of 11). One death was attributed to severe brain injury. The other was attributed to a stroke from the carotid injury. No patient had radiologic progression of traumatic intracranial hemorrhage on head computed tomography despite AP or AC. One patient sustained a mild embolic cerebrovascular ischemic event before stenting. No other survivors developed a stroke or any other evidence of cerebral ischemic symptoms. Two recurrent PAs developed during hospitalization and were successfully managed with an additional stent. All survivors were discharged with a good neurologic outcome. Seven patients had follow-up from 6 months to 4 years: one developed asymptomatic 50% stenosis at 6 months requiring successful angioplasty. All others showed complete healing without stenosis. CONCLUSIONS Carotid artery stenting is safe and effective initial therapy for patients with nonocclusive BCI and PA. Initial intermediate-term follow-up also fails to demonstrate significant morbidity for up to 4 years.
Antimicrobial susceptibility, plasmid profiles, and RAPD-PCR typing of Acinetobacter bacteria

Abstract Background: Multiple-drug resistant Acinetobacter have widely spread in the last decades imposing a serious nosocomial source of infection. Nevertheless, little knowledge was gaimed on tracing the development of antibiotic resistance in Acinetobacter species. Objectives: Explore Acinetobacter spp. via antimicrobial susceptibility, plasmid profiles, and random amplified polymorphism DNA polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) typing. Methods: One hundred twelve Acinetobacter isolates (including 66 A. baumannii and 46 non-Acinetobacter baumannii strains) were obtained from three university hospitals. The source of infection of these isolates included blood, urine, wound, and respiratory tract. Their susceptibilities to 17 antibiotics were tested and then all Acinetobacter isolates were typed by plasmid analysis and RAPD-PCR method. Results: A. baumannii isolates revealed nine different patterns of antibiotic resistance. Of those, non- A. baumannii, were associated with plasmid and RAPD-PCR typings (p <0.05). A. baumannii was more resistant to multiple antibiotics than non-A. baumannii (p <0.05). Seven different plasmid profiles were observed among 112 Acinetobacter isolates. Plasmids were found in 107 (95.5%) of the 112 isolates. Unlike in RAPD-PCR typing, there was no difference between the type of Acinetobacter, A. or non-A. baumannii strains and plasmid profiles (p >0.05). By RAPD-PCR, six profiles were found for each A. and non-A. baumannii strains. The pattern 6 was the most common pattern among the isolates. Both plasmid and RAPD-PCR typing showed no association between plasmid profiling and site of infection (p >0.05). Conclusion: There is a wide spread of multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter spp. , particularly A. baumannii, in the Middle East region that can be traced efficiently by plasmid and genotyping typing of Acinetobacter. More care should be taken for tracing the development of antimicrobial resistance of Acinetobacter using precise molecular typing techniques.
Neurological congenital malformations in a tertiary hospital in south Brazil.

BACKGROUND Congenital anomalies are one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality among infants. The involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) occurs in 21% of cases. OBJECTIVE To identify incidence of CNS malformations and associated factors in newborns at a Terciary Hospital of Porto Alegre. METHOD Case-control study conducted between 2000 and 2005 based on the Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations database. RESULTS Among 26,588 births registered in this period, 3.67% presented with malformations (IC=95%; 3.44-3.9), being 0.36% of the CNS (IC=95%,(0.29-0.43)). The most common CNS malformation was meningomielocele (10.4%). Young maternal age (p=0.005); low birth weight (p=0.015); large cephalic perimeter (p=0.003); post term birth (p=0.000) and low APGAR indexes at the 1st and 5th minutes were associated with CNS malformations. CONCLUSION We found an incidence of CNS malformations similar as compared to literature.
Clinical Spectrum of Near-miss Cases in Obstetrics

Introduction Near-miss obstetric cases are the ones which have survived childbirth after a life-threatening and complicated pregnancy. The aim of this study is to evaluate important characteristics and causes of near-miss cases, compare them with maternal deaths, and assess urgent interventions managing these patients. Materials and methods This prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted in the intensive care unit of the Obstetrics and Gynecology department. Clinical spectrum of near-miss patients was compared with that of maternal deaths. Data was entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistics for Windows, version 21.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results The incidence of near-miss events was 31.4/1,000 live births. The incidence of maternal mortality was 8.2/1,000 live births. The ratio of near-miss to maternal mortality was 3.8:1. Hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, and puerperal sepsis were the leading causes of near-miss cases. Conclusion Evaluation of characteristics of near-miss cases helps in establishing severe maternal morbidity. These high-risk patients must be provided urgent interventions to prevent maternal mortality.
Central limit theorem for products of random matrices

Using the semigroup product formula of P. Chernoff, a central limit theorem is derived for products of random matrices. Applications are presented for representations of solutions to linear systems of stochastic differential equations, and to the corresponding partial differential evolution equations. Included is a discussion of stochastic semigroups, and a stochastic version of the Lie-Trotter product formula.
Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicus sp. n., an Anaerobic, Autotrophic, Extreme Thermophile

The isolation of a new methanogenic bacterium, Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicus sp. n. , is described. Successful isolation required a medium containing inorganic salts, an atmosphere consisting of an 80:20 mixture of hydrogen-carbon dioxide, and incubation temperatures of 65 to 70 C. Isolates of M. thermoautotrophicus were gram-positive, nonmotile, irregularly curved rods which frequently formed long filaments. The organism was found to be an autotroph and a strict anaerobe, and to have a pH optimum of 7.2 to 7.6. The optimal temperature for growth was 65 to 70 C, the maximum being 75 C and the minimum about 40 C. The generation time at the optimum was about 5 hr. The deoxyribonucleic acid of M. thermoautotrophicus had a guanine plus cytosine (GC) content of 52 moles per cent, whereas Methanobacterium sp. strain M.O. H. had a GC content of 38%. When heated, intact ribosomes of Methanobacterium sp. strain M.O. H. were stable up to 55 C and had a Tm of 73 C. In contrast, ribosomes of M. thermoautotrophicus were stable up to 75 C and had a Tm of 82 C. Upon complete thermal denaturation, ribosomes of strain M.O. H. underwent a 59% hyperchromic shift, whereas those of the thermophile showed only a 20% increase in hyperchromicity. Methane formation in cell-free extracts of M. thermoautotrophicus was temperature-dependent and required hydrogen and carbon dioxide; methyl cobalamin served as a methyl donor, and addition of coenzyme M stimulated methanogenesis.
Transferability of genome-wide associated loci for asthma in African Americans

ABSTRACT Objective: Transferability of significantly associated loci or GWAS “hits” adds credibility to genotype-disease associations and provides evidence for generalizability across different ancestral populations. We sought evidence of association of known asthma-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in an African American population. Methods: Subjects comprised 661 participants (261 asthma cases and 400 controls) from the Howard University Family Study. Forty-eight SNPs previously reported to be associated with asthma by GWAS were selected for testing. We adopted a combined strategy by first adopting an “exact” approach where we looked-up only the reported index SNP. For those index SNPs missing form our dataset, we used a “local” approach that examined all the regional SNPs in LD with the index SNP. Results: Out of the 48 SNPs, our cohort had genotype data available for 27, which were examined for exact replication. Of these, two SNPs were found positively associated with asthma. These included: rs10508372 (OR = 1.567 [95%CI, 1.133-2.167], P = 0.0066) and rs2378383 (OR = 2.147 [95%CI, 1.149–4.013], P = 0.0166), located on chromosomal bands 10p14 and 9q21.31, respectively. Local replication of the remaining 21 loci showed association at two chromosomal loci (9p24.1-rs2381413 and 6p21.32-rs3132947; Bonferroni-corrected P values: 0.0033 and 0.0197, respectively). Of note, multiple SNPs in LD with rs2381413 located upstream of IL33 were significantly associated with asthma. Conclusions: This study has successfully transferred four reported asthma-associated loci in an independent African American population. Identification of several asthma-associated SNPs in the upstream of the IL33, a gene previously implicated in allergic inflammation of asthmatic airway, supports the generalizability of this finding.
A generalized capon estimator for localization of multiple spread sources

In this correspondence, we develop a generalized Capon spatial spectrum estimator for localization of multiple incoherently distributed (spread) sources in sensor arrays. The proposed generalized Capon technique estimates the source central angles and angular spreads by means of a two-dimensional (2-D) parameter search. Simulation results show that the proposed method has a substantially improved performance compared with several popular spread source localization methods.
Studies on nutritive value of lead proteins and some factors affecting their quality.

Nutritional responses in albino rats on diets containing different leaf proteins at 1.6% nitrogen (N) were studied. From the data on 4-week growth and protein efficiency ratio (PER), leaf proteins from 19 different plant species were placed in 4 different categories: (1) 5 of no food value, causing loss or negligible gain in weight of rats; (2) 6 of poor quality, inducing a weight gain of less than 15 g with a PER below 1.0; (3) 3 of medium quality, inducing a weight gain of 20–35 g with PER of 1.3–1.75; and (4) 5 of good quality, inducing a weight gain of more than 40 g with a PER greater than 1.75. The last 5, all of them cruciferous leaf proteins, were nutritionally 66% as efficient as skim milk powder (SMP). The apparent digestibility (D) and true digestibility (TD) values, from experiments with either young and growing or adult rats, were close to each other for the medium and good quality categories of leaf proteins. The values differed considerably for the poor quality leaf proteins and were lower than those for good quality leaf proteins. The TD values for carrot, beetroot, lucerne and cauliflower leaf proteins in adult rats were around 40, 74, 87 and 89%, respectively, with that for SMP about 90%. The biological values (BV) were in a narrower range than the TD, falling between 70 and 77 in growing rats and between 55 and 59 in adults. A pre-extraction wash of carrot vegetation decreased the ash content in extracted leaf protein, greatly enhanced its digestibility without changing its BV, while a hot acid wash of the heat coagulated leaf protein caused some improvement in BV but none in digestibility. Among different leaf proteins, the nutritional inferiority was also associated with reduced diet intake, suggesting adverse acceptability factors. Various analyses suggested that the likely factors, singly or in combination affecting the quality of leaf proteins adversely, were associated with the occurrence of low N, high ash, high soluble solids, high phenolic: N ratios, and/or low organic sulphur: N ratios.
Deconstructing Xen

Hypervisors have quickly become essential but are vulnerable to attack. Unfortunately, efficiently hardening hypervisors is challenging because they lack a privileged security monitor and decomposition strategies. In this work we systematically analyze the 191 Xen hypervisor vulnerabilities from Xen Security Advisories, revealing that the majority (144) are in the core hypervisor not Dom0. We then use the analysis to provide a novel deconstruction of Xen, called Nexen, into a security monitor, a shared service domain, and per-VM Xen slices that are isolated by a least-privileged sandboxing framework. We implement Nexen using the Nested Kernel architecture, efficiently nesting itself within the Xen address space, and extend the Nested Kernel design by adding services for arbitrarily many protection domains along with dynamic allocators, data isolation, and cross-domain control-flow integrity. The effect is that Nexen confines VM-based hypervisor compromises to single Xen VM instances, thwarts 74% (107/144) of known Xen vulnerabilities, and enforces Xen code integrity (defending against all code injection compromises) while observing negligible overhead (1.2% on average). Overall, we believe that Nexen is uniquely positioned to provide a fundamental need for hypervisor hardening at minimal performance and implementation costs.
Electrically controlled room temperature terahertz phase shifter with liquid crystal

We present the use of electrically controlled birefringence in a nematic liquid crystal cell for phase shifting of electromagnetic waves up to terahertz frequencies. This device was operated at room temperature and a maximum phase shift of 4.07/spl deg/ was demonstrated at 1.07 THz when the interaction length was 38.6 /spl mu/m. The driving voltage and corresponding field were 176.8 V (rms) and 589.3 V/cm, respectively.