Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human Plasma Glycome in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorders*

Over a half of all proteins are glycosylated, and their proper glycosylation is essential for normal function. Unfortunately, because of structural complexity of nonlinear branched glycans and the absence of genetic template for their synthesis, the knowledge about glycans is lagging significantly behind the knowledge about proteins or DNA. Using a recently developed quantitative high throughput glycan analysis method we quantified components of the plasma N-glycome in 99 children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 81 child and 5 adults with autism spectrum disorder, and a total of 340 matching healthy controls. No changes in plasma glycome were found to associate with autism spectrum disorder, but several highly significant associations were observed with ADHD. Further structural analysis of plasma glycans revealed that ADHD is associated with increased antennary fucosylation of biantennary glycans and decreased levels of some complex glycans with three or four antennas. The design of this study prevented any functional conclusions about the observed associations, but specific differences in glycosylation appears to be strongly associated with ADHD and warrants further studies in this direction.
Increased fecal calprotectin in preterm infants with necrotizing enterocolitis.

BACKGROUND Necrotizing entrocolitis (NEC) remains a potentially fatal disease in premature infants despite the recent advances in neonatal care. It is a disease with a multifactorial etiology leading to the one common final pathway of necrosis and inflammmation of the neonatal intestine. METHODS Calprotectin is a calcium and zinc-binding protein in human neutrophils. Its concentration rises in various organic bowel diseases in adults and is resistant to degradation and has been proposed as a useful, simple, and rapid diagnostic method of inflammatory bowel disease that shows gastrointestinal inflammation in children and adults. RESULTS We found that infants with necrotizing enterocolitis had increased fecal calprotectin concentrations, and there was a correlation between calprotectin concentrations and severity of NEC. CONCLUSIONS We concluded that fecal calprotectin is a useful marker for diagnosis and severity of NEC in preterm infants.
Insurance in a Market for Credence Goods

We study the impact of variations in the degree of insurance on the amount of fraud in a physician-patient relationship. In a market for credence goods, where prices are regulated by an authority, physicians act as experts. Due to their informational advantage, physicians have an incentive to cheat by pretending to perform inappropriately high treatment levels leading to overcharging patients. Our approach aims on the impact on changes in each, patients' and physicians' incentive structure when the proportional degree of coinsurance varies. It is shown that a higher coinsurance rate may lead to either less fraud in the market and a lower probability of patients searching for second opinions or more fraud and more searches.
Vemurafenib : Background , Patterns of Resistance , and Strategies to Combat Resistance in Melanoma

Introduction: Finding an effective treatment for metastatic melanoma has posed a series of challenges. Vemurafenib, a B-RAF tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has been one of the most successful medications to date in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. B-RAF is a serine/threonine kinase that is a part of the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK signal transduction pathway, which plays a pivotal role in cellular proliferation, differentiation, and survival. Mutations in the B-RAF protein lead to a deregulated activation of MAPK and ERK. The focus of this review article is resulting resistance to vemurafenib and its clinical implications on the treatment of metastatic melanoma. This paper aims to highlight mechanisms of vemurafenib resistance that have been observed so far and offer potential clinical approaches to overcome resistance.
Y chromosome loss in esophageal carcinoma: An in situ hybridization study

Carcinoma of the esophagus shows a strong male predominance and other epidemiologic differences from cancers arising at other sites. In this study, the prevalence of Y chromosome loss in 29 carcinomas of the esophagus and 53 carcinomas arising elsewhere in the aerodigestive tract was assessed by in situ hybridization of formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissue sections. Absence of the Y chromosome was defined as (1) negative staining for Y in neoplastic cells with positive staining for Y in immediately adjacent nonneoplastic epithelial and stromal cells, (2) positive staining of neoplastic cells with control probes for chromosomes X and 17, and (3) similar results at different stringencies and levels of protein digestion. According to these criteria, absence of the Y chromosome was observed in 13 of 14 (93%) adenocarcinomas of the esophagus, 8 of 13 (62%) squamous cell carcinomas of the esophagus, and 5 of 53 (9%) carcinomas arising in other sites. For the neoplasms examined, Y chromosome deletion was strongly and selectively associated with carcinomas, particularly adenocarcinomas, of the esophagus (P < .0001). These findings suggest that Y chromosome loss may be pathogenetically significant in these neoplasms. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Pharmacokinetic Considerations for the Use of Levodopa in the Treatment of Parkinson Disease: Focus on Levodopa/Carbidopa/Entacapone for Treatment of Levodopa-Associated Motor Complications

AbstractParkinson disease (PD) is a progressive, disabling, neurodegenerative disorder characterized by both motor and nonmotor symptoms. Monoamine oxidase B inhibitors, dopamine agonists, N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists and levodopa (LD), with its various formulations and administration modes, mainly improve the motor symptoms in PD, which are thought to be related to decreased dopamine levels in the brain. Of these therapeutic drug options, LD represents the most effective and best tolerated compound when it is administered several times a day. Pharmacokinetic trials of oral LD/dopa decarboxylase inhibitor (DDCI) formulations with and without the catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor, entacapone, showed that repeated administration with entacapone causes an increase in both the maximum concentration (Cmax) and time to Cmax (Tmax) of LD. In addition, gastrointestinal motility may also impact plasma LD behavior. These peripheral components of LD metabolism contribute to the onset of motor complications, which are predominantly associated with LD/DDCI owing to its short plasma half-life. The increase in Tmax is related to a slower increase in plasma LD concentrations after repeated LD/DDCI intake, which may also increase the risk of wearing off. An elevation in Cmax after reiterated LD intake increases the risk of peak-dose dyskinesia. Therefore, it may be useful to start with higher doses of LD formulations in the morning and then to titrate with different LD doses during the day according to the individual patient’s motor behavior, which is particularly characterized by the onset of motor complications, such as off periods and dyskinesia, in more advanced stages of PD.
Finding People in Images and Videos

This thesis targets the detection of humans and other object classes in images and videos. Our focus is on developing robust feature extraction algorithms that encode image regions as highdimensional feature vectors that support high accuracy object/non-object decisions. To test our feature sets we adopt a relatively simple learning framework that uses linear Support Vector Machines to classify each possible image region as an object or as a non-object. The approach is data-driven and purely bottom-up using low-level appearance and motion vectors to detect objects. As a test case we focus on person detection as people are one of the most challenging object classes with many applications, for example in film and video analysis, pedestrian detection for smart cars and video surveillance. Nevertheless we do not make any strong class specific assumptions and the resulting object detection framework also gives state-of-the-art performance for many other classes including cars, motorbikes, cows and sheep. This thesis makes four main contributions. Firstly, we introduce grids of locally normalised Histograms of Oriented Gradients (HOG) as descriptors for object detection in static images. The HOG descriptors are computed over dense and overlapping grids of spatial blocks, with image gradient orientation features extracted at fixed resolution and gathered into a highdimensional feature vector. They are designed to be robust to small changes in image contour locations and directions, and significant changes in image illumination and colour, while remaining highly discriminative for overall visual form. We show that unsmoothed gradients, fine orientation voting, moderately coarse spatial binning, strong normalisation and overlapping blocks are all needed for good performance. Secondly, to detect moving humans in videos, we propose descriptors based on oriented histograms of differential optical flow. These are similar to static HOG descriptors, but instead of image gradients, they are based on local differentials of dense optical flow. They encode the noisy optical flow estimates into robust feature vectors in a manner that is robust to the overall camera motion. Several variants are proposed, some capturing motion boundaries while others encode the relative motions of adjacent image regions. Thirdly, we propose a general method based on kernel density estimation for fusing multiple overlapping detections, that takes into account the number of detections, their confidence scores and the scales of the detections. Lastly, we present work in progress on a parts based approach to person detection that first detects local body parts like heads, torso, and legs and then fuses them to create a global overall person detector.
The mechanism of vagal nerve stimulation of glucagon and insulin secretion in the dog.

The mechanism of vagal nerve stimulation of glucagon (IRG) and insulin (IRI) secretion was investigated in halothane-anesthetized dogs. Both ventral and dorsal branches of the thoracic vagi were stimulated electrically (10 Hz, 5 msec, 13.5 mA, 10 min) below the heart. Arterial and superior pancreaticoduodenal venous plasma were sampled, superior pancreaticoduodenal venous plasma flow was measured, and net pancreatic output of IRG and IRI were calculated. During vagal nerve stimulation (n = 15) net pancreatic output of IRG doubled (delta = +0.83 +/- 0.28 ng/min, P less than 0.01; baseline = 0.81 +/- 0.15 ng/ min) and IRI quadrupled (delta = +3.5 +/- 1.5 mU/min, P less than 0.025; baseline = 1.1 +/- 0.3 mU/min). Arterial glucose levels increased by 7 +/- 2 mg/dl from 108 +/- 3 mg/dl (P less than 0.005). After atropine pretreatment (n = 7), the pancreatic IRI response to vagal nerve stimulation was +0.71 +/- 0.28 mU/min (P less than 0.025), a reduction of 80%. In contrast, atropine pretreatment changed neither the IRG response (delta = +0.87 +/- 0.36 ng/min; P less than 0.05) nor the arterial glucose response (delta = +9 +/- 3 mg/dl; P less than 0.025) to vagal nerve stimulation. Hexamethonium pretreatment (n = 9) abolished the pancreatic IRG response (delta = +0.13 +/- 0.11 ng/min; NS), the arterial glucose response (delta = +0.5 +/- 1.9 mg/dl; NS) and the pancreatic IRI response (delta = +0.16 +/- 0.31 mU/min; NS) to vagal nerve stimulation. It is concluded that vagal nerve stimulation in the dog produces a moderate increase of IRG secretion, mediated by a nonmuscarinic (peptidergic? ) mechanism, and a marked increase of IRI secretion, mediated by a muscarinic mechanism. Both responses are dependent on nicotinic transmission.
Analysis of quantization metrics for PAPR evaluation in OFDM systems

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) has become the popular modulation technique in high speed wireless communications. It has several advantages over other techniques, such as high data rate, strong immunity to multipath and high spectral efficiency. However, it could have high peaks in the transmitted signal; this is the well-known Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) problem. It is very important to deal with PAPR reduction in OFDM systems to avoid signal degradation. Currently, the PAPR problem is an active area of research and in this paper we discuss about the PAPR problem and the main metrics that are used to measure the PAPR in any OFDM system. Moreover their advantages and disadvantages have been enumerated in order to provide the readers the actual situation of the metric to cuantizate the PAPR problem.
Thermal Stimulation of Primary Sensory Neurons in the Rat Hind Paw: Effect of Morphine on ERK1/2 Phosphorylation, TRPV1 and TRPA1 Channel Expression

Temperature-sensitive transient receptor potential (TRP) channels or ‘thermo-TRP’ were stimulated on rat sensory afferents, and the effects on the phosphorylation of ERK1/2, on the regulation of TRPV1 and TRPA1, as well as the pharmacological modulation by the opioid analgesic morphine were investigated. The thermal stimuli were applied to the rat hind paw by immersion into either hot or cold water. Phospho-ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2) was measured by fluorescence-immunohistochemistry in the lumbar dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. TRP channel mRNA expression was measured by RT-PCR in the innervating DRGs, and the protein content of TRPV1 and TRPA1 was determined by Western blot in the DRGs and in the sciatic nerve. The thermal stimuli led to a time-dependent increase in the number of DRG cells displaying cytoplasmic and nuclear staining for p-ERK1/2. Morphine partly prevented this increase in ERK1/2 phosphorylation, exerting its effect mainly on the nuclear staining. The mRNA expression for TRPV1 and TRPA1 in the DRG did not change within 24 h following the thermal stimuli. However, the protein content of both TRPV1 and TRPA1 was regulated by the thermal stimulation and by morphine. In the DRGs and in the sciatic nerve, heat or cold stimuli per se tended to decrease TRP protein levels, whereas with morphine pretreatment protein levels were raised. The present findings shed new light on the time-dependent reactions of primary sensory neurons towards irritant thermal stimuli to the skin and on their opioid modulation.
Exercise for sleep problems in older adults Introduction The prevalence of insomnia in adults has been reported to range from 10 % to 40 % in Western countries

The prevalence of insomnia in adults has been reported to range from 10% to 40% in Western countries (Ohayon 1996, Hatoum et al 1998, Leger et al 2000, Pearson et al 2006, Morin et al 2006, Morin et al 2011) and to exceed 25% in Taiwan (Kao et al 2008). Epidemiological surveys have concluded that the prevalence of insomnia, which is characterised by persistent inability to fall asleep or maintain sleep, increases with age (Ohayon 2002). Sleep problems have a significant negative impact on mental and physical health (Kripke et al 2005), impair quality of life, and increase healthcare costs (Simon and von Korff 1997). Lack of sleep can lead to increased fatigue and excessive daytime sleepiness (Bliswise 1996). It can also impair the metabolic, endocrine, and immune systems, among other deleterious effects (Spiegel 2009, Knutson et al 2007, Miller and Cappuccio 2007). However, fewer than 15% of patients with chronic insomnia receive treatment or consult a healthcare provider (Mellinger et al 1995, Morin et al 2011).
Experiences of harassment, discrimination, and physical violence among young gay and bisexual men.

OBJECTIVES We examined the 6-month cumulative incidence of anti-gay harassment, discrimination, and violence among young gay/bisexual men and documented their associations with mental health. METHODS Gay/bisexual men from 3 cities in the southwestern United States completed self-administered questionnaires. RESULTS Thirty-seven percent of men reported experiencing anti-gay verbal harassment in the previous 6 months; 11.2% reported discrimination, and 4.8% reported physical violence. Men were more likely to report these experiences if they were younger, were more open in disclosing their sexual orientation to others, and were HIV positive. Reports of mistreatment were associated with lower self-esteem and increased suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS Absent policies preventing anti-gay mistreatment, empowerment and community-building programs are needed for young gay/bisexual men to both create safe social settings and help them cope with the psychological effects of these events.
Texture analysis for oil spill segmentation based on X-band marine radar imagery

We propose an index of textural feature for oil spill segmentation based on X-band marine radar image. The radar image used in this paper were acquired on July 21, 2010, from the teaching-training ship, “YUKUN”, of Dalian Maritime University. Using adaptive median filter and Fields-of-Experts model, co-channel interference and small objects are cleaned separately. An index calculated by textural features by grey level co-occurrence matrix, including entropy, energy, correlation and contrast, is used to indicate the region containing oil slicks. With the proposed index of textural features, oil spills extracted by texture analysis is comparable to visual interpretation.
Simple calculation of the anistropic factor for minimum current path in MgB2 material using the extrapolated Kramer field as priori parameter.

The volume flux pinning force density of MgxB2 (x = 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2) materials was calculated for grains boundary and point pinning potentials. Stoichiometric Mg0.8, MgB2, and Mg 1.2B2 samples were prepared by the conventional solid state reaction method. Three pellets were annealed at temperature range of 650-800°C. Structural analysis revealed large values for FWHM at (hkl) (110)(°) which indicates distortion in the boron plane of these specimens. The a and c – axis lattice parameters showed respective contraction and elongation with the increase in processing temperature. The low crystallinity found in Mg0.8B2 and Mg1.2B2 specimens was concluded to be due to structural defects, which act as flux pinning centres. Experimental anisotropic factor and the minimum fraction for current path, obtained from the framework of current percolation theory were used to explain the strong field dependence of the critical current density, Jcin the specimens. The summit of the maximum pinning force density was shifted to lower magnetic field position with the increase of anisotropy. The scaling laws were employed in a Kramer– like field in order to identify the dominant pinning mechanism correspondence to the summit of maximum pinning. For MgB2 specimens however, a renormalization field based on the current percolation exposition is considered for the identification of their dominant pinning since it is very difficult to account for the flat behaviour of the pinning force in the weakened current region of these specimens.
Regulatory effects of curcumin on lipid accumulation in monocytes/macrophages

Recent evidence suggests potential benefits from phytochemicals and micronutrients in protecting against atherosclerosis and inflammation, but the molecular mechanisms of these actions are still unclear. Here, we investigated whether the dietary polyphenol curcumin can modulate the accumulation of lipids in monocytes/macrophages. Curcumin increased the expression of two lipid transport genes, the fatty acids transporter CD36/FAT and the fatty acids binding protein 4 (FABP4/aP2; P < 0.05), leading to increased lipid levels in THP‐1 and RAW264.7 monocytes and macrophages (P < 0.05). To investigate the molecular mechanisms involved, we assessed the activity of Forkhead box O3a (FOXO3a), a transcription factor centrally involved in regulating several stress resistance and lipid transport genes. Curcumin increased FOXO3a‐mediated gene expression by twofold (P < 0.05), possibly as a result of influencing FOXO3a phosphorylation and nuclear translocation. The curcumin derivative, tetrahydrocurcumin (THC), with similar chemical antioxidant activity as curcumin, did not show any measurable effects. In contrast to the in vitro results, curcumin showed a trend for reduction of lipid levels in peritoneal macrophages in LDL receptor knockout mice fed a high fat diet for 4 months, suggesting additional regulatory mechanisms in vivo. Thus, the up‐regulation of FOXO3a activity by curcumin could be a mechanism to protect against oxidant‐ and lipid‐induced damage in the inflammatory cells of the vascular system. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 833–840, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sensory Processing and Motor Skill Performance in Elementary School Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Research to examine both sensory processing and motor skill performance in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is limited. This study assessed whether children with ASD would show sensory and motor delays compared to typically developing children and examined the relationship between sensory processing and motor performance. 32 children diagnosed with ASD were assessed using the Short Sensory Profile (SSP) and the Movement ABC–2 (MABC–2). The SSP measures children's sensory processing in daily life and the MABC–2 measures children's fine and gross motor skill performance. Overall, the samples' scores on the SSP indicated atypical sensory processing and scores on the MABC–2 showed poorer fine and gross motor performance as compared to age-matched norms. Furthermore, the samples' scores for sensory processing were positively correlated with their motor performance. The results suggest that fine and gross motor difficulties of children with ASD may be related to their delayed sensory processing to visual, auditory, tactile, and movement stimuli, and that this hypothesis needs to be tested in future research.
Epidemiology of Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate in Pakistan

Clinical and epidemiologic studies of defined geographic populations can serve as a means of establishing data important for the diagnosis, treatment, and counseling of patients with cleft lip and cleft palate. Several descriptive epidemiologic studies have been carried out in many countries worldwide; however, no such study has ever been performed in Pakistan. Population-based data on the incidence of cleft lip and palate were obtained from birth registry information in northern Pakistan. A total of 117 cases from 61,156 live births reported were identified. The incidence for cleft lip and/or cleft palate was 1.91 per 1000 births (one per 523 births). Cleft lip alone (42 percent) was noted more frequently than isolated cleft palate (24 percent) and combined cleft lip and palate deformities (34 percent). Boys were more commonly affected by cleft lip and cleft lip with cleft palate, whereas girls predominated in the isolated cleft palate cases. Consanguineous marriages were observed in 32 percent of parents versus 18 percent in matched controls. Only 32 percent of cleft mothers received formal prenatal counseling, monthly examinations, and regular laboratory testing during the entirety of the pregnancy. Nutritional and vitamin supplements were given to only 28 percent of mothers of cleft children versus 59 percent in matched controls. Descriptive statistics were used to assess pertinent risk factors associated with cleft lip and palate. The acquisition of incidence and associated data has generated baseline information on the magnitude of cleft lip and cleft palate in Pakistan. It is hoped that this information can be used for appropriate resource use, cleft lip and cleft palate prevention programs, and counseling programs with Pakistan-specific data.