Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of cochlear nerve diameter and cross-sectional area in ANSD patients by 3.0-Tesla MRI

Abstract Conclusions: The size of cochlear nerve (CN) is atrophic in adult auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) patients compared with non-ANSD sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) patients and normal hearing subjects, and CN deficiency is one of the lesions for ANSD patients. Objectives: To evaluate the dimensions of CN in adult ANSD patients on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and confirm the hypothesis that CN deficiency is one of the lesions for ANSD patients. Methods: Medical records and MRI of 24 adult ANSD patients reviewed retrospectively and 20 non-ANSD SNHL and 24 volunteers with normal hearing were recruited as control groups. The long diameter (LD), short diameter (SD), and cross-sectional area (CSA) of CN and facial nerve (FN) were measured. Results: Among the 24 ANSD patients, this study was able to reconstruct and measure the CN of 91.7% (22/24, total 43 ears) of patients and FN of 83.3% (20/24, total 38 ears) of patients. The mean values and standard deviations of LD, SD, and CSA of CN in ANSD patients were 0.65 ± 0.20 mm, 0.44 ± 0.15 mm, and 0.30 ± 0.19 mm2, respectively. They were significantly smaller in ANSD patients than in control groups (p < 0.001).
Origin and Dissemination of Chloroquine-Resistant Plasmodium falciparum with Mutant pfcrt Alleles in the Philippines

ABSTRACT The pfcrt allelic type and adjacent microsatellite marker type were determined for 82 Plasmodium falciparum isolates from the Philippines. Mutant pfcrt allelic types P1a and P2a/P2b were dominant in different locations. Microsatellite analysis revealed that P2a/P2b evolved independently in the Philippines, while P1a shared common ancestry with Papua New Guinea chloroquine-resistant parasites.
Depression and its Relationship to Work Status and Income Among HIV Clients in Uganda.

PURPOSE Despite high levels of depression among persons living with HIV (PLWHIV), little research has investigated the relationship of depression to work status and income in PLWHIV in sub-Saharan Africa, which was the focus of this analysis. METHODS Baseline data from a prospective longitudinal cohort of 798 HIV patients starting antiretroviral therapy in Kampala, Uganda were examined. In separate multivariate analyses, we examined whether depressive severity and symptom type [as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)] and major depression [diagnosed with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI)] were associated with work status and income, controlling for demographics, physical health functioning, work self-efficacy, social support and internalized HIV stigma. RESULTS 14% of the sample had Major Depression and 66% were currently working. Each measure of depression (PHQ-9 total score, somatic and cognitive subscales; Major Depression diagnosis) was associated with not working and lower average weekly income in bivariate analysis. However, none of the depression measures remained associated with work and income in multivariate analyses that controlled for other variables associated with these economic outcomes. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that while depression is related to work and income, its influence may only be indirect through its relationship to other factors such as work self-efficacy and physical health functioning.
A Rational Expectations Approach to Hedonic Price Regressions with Time-Varying Unobserved Product Attributes: The Price of Pollution

We propose a new strategy for a pervasive problem in the hedonics literature: recovering hedonic prices in the presence of time-varying correlated unobservables. Our approach relies on an assumption about home buyer rationality, under which prior sales prices can be used to control for time-varying unobservable attributes of the house or neighborhood. Using housing transactions data from California's Bay Area between 1990 and 2006, we apply our estimator to recover marginal willingness to pay for reductions in three of the EPA's "criteria" air pollutants. Our findings suggest that ignoring bias from time-varying correlated unobservables considerably understates the benefits of a pollution reduction policy. (JEL D12, D84, Q53, Q58, R21)
Protein Kinase C-θ Promotes Th17 Differentiation via Upregulation of Stat3

Although protein kinase C-θ (PKC-θ)-deficient mice are resistant to the induction of Th17-dependent experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, the function of PKC-θ in Th17 differentiation remains unknown. In this article, we show that purified, naive CD4 PKC-θ−/− T cells were defective in Th17 differentiation, whereas Th1 and Th2 differentiation appeared normal. Activation of PKC-θ with PMA promoted Th17 differentiation in wild type (WT) but not PKC-θ−/− T cells. Furthermore, PKC-θ−/− T cells had notably lower levels of Stat3, a transcription factor required for Th17 differentiation, and PMA markedly stimulated the expression of Stat3 in WT but not PKC-θ−/− T cells. In contrast, activation of Stat4 and Stat6, which are critical for Th1 and Th2 differentiation, was normal in PKC-θ−/− T cells. Forced expression of Stat3 significantly increased Th17 differentiation in PKC-θ−/− T cells, suggesting that reduced Stat3 levels were responsible for impaired Th17 differentiation, and that Stat3 lies downstream of PKC-θ. Constitutively active PKC-θ, or WT PKC-θ activated by either PMA or TCR cross-linking, stimulated expression of a luciferase reporter gene driven by the Stat3 promoter. PKC-θ–mediated activation of the Stat3 promoter was inhibited by dominant-negative AP-1 and IκB kinase-β, but stimulated by WT AP-1 and IκB kinase-β, suggesting that PKC-θ stimulates Stat3 transcription via the AP-1 and NF-κB pathways. Lastly, conditions favoring Th17 differentiation induced the highest activation level of PKC-θ. Altogether, the data indicate that PKC-θ integrates the signals from TCR signaling and Th17 priming cytokines to upregulate Stat3 via NF-κB and AP-1, resulting in the stimulation of Th17 differentiation.
Determinants of Success for Computerized Clinical Decision Support Systems Integrated into CPOE Systems: a Systematic Review

We carried out a systematic review of published trials to identify the methodological characteristics of studies and technical characteristics of computerized clinical decision support systems (CCDSSs) associated with efficacy for the main outcome of the study. Four characteristics of the content of decision support and the way in which the user is provided with assistance seem to be associated with the success of CCDSSs: a) System-initiated interventions, b) Assistance without user control over output, c) Systems in which data are automatically retrieved from the electronic medical record and d) Systems providing corollary actions in CPOE. Major differences in outcome reporting between studies could be reduced by the use of dedicated tools to standardize methodological reporting.
Determination of currents in flat superconductors.

Explicit expressions are given for the current {ital I}({ital y},{ital z}) in a flat superconductor when the magnetic field {ital H}{sub {ital x}}({ital y},{ital z}) perpendicular to its surface is measured, e.g., by the Faraday effect in a thin europium selenide layer evaporated on the specimen surface. The analytical results for a long flat strip are particularly instructive, showing what type of singularities occurs in the current and field. The general solution for the current in flat conductors of arbitrary shape is given in form of an integral over {ital H}{sub {ital x}}({ital y},{ital z}) times an integral kernel that follows from an iteration.
Status epilepticus and anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis after resection of an ovarian teratoma

Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis is a recently recognised autoimmune, paraneoplastic syndrome that typically presents with psychiatric disturbance, reduced conscious level and seizures. The disorder has been previously associated with ovarian teratomas. We present the case of a 35-year-old female, with a previous surgical history for resection of an ovarian teratoma, who later developed status epilepticus and anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis requiring intensive care management. Her presentation, treatment and early follow-up are described, alongside an overview of anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis pathophysiology and intensive care management.
a locus tree Unified modeling of gene duplication, loss, and coalescence using

Material Supplemental http://genome.cshlp. org/content/suppl/2012/01/23/gr.123901. 111.DC1. html References http://genome.cshlp. org/content/22/4/755.full. html#ref-list-1 This article cites 56 articles, 23 of which can be accessed free at: Open Access Open Access option. Genome Research Freely available online through the License Commons Creative . http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ described at as a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License), ). After six months, it is available under http://genome.cshlp. org/site/misc/terms.xhtml for the first six months after the full-issue publication date (see This article is distributed exclusively by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
Effect of mobile telephony adoption on small informal

The adoption of information and the communication technologies [ICT] has many productive externalities on firm productivity. In this paper, we study the relation between the mobile phone adoption and the technical effectiveness of the informal production units of the urban district of Ouagadougou. The results of the stochastic frontier show that the adoption of mobile telephony affects positively the productivity of the small informal units of production in Ouagadougou city.
Bortezomib, doxorubicin and dexamethasone (PAD) front‐line treatment of multiple myeloma: updated results after long‐term follow‐up

Bortezomib, doxorubicin and dexamethasone (PAD) was evaluated as induction before stem cell transplantation in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients, using bortezomib 1·3 mg/m2 (PAD1, N = 21) or 1·0 mg/m2 (PAD2, N = 20). Complete/very good partial response rates with PAD1/PAD2 were 62%/42% postinduction and 81%/53% post‐transplant. Progression‐free survival (29 vs. 24 months), time to re‐treatment (36 vs. 29 months) and overall survival (1 year: 100% vs. 95%; 2 years: 95% vs. 73%) were statistically similar but favoured PAD1 versus PAD2. Toxicity was lower in PAD2; bortezomib dose reduction may help manage toxicities while retaining efficacy. PAD is highly active as front‐line induction in MM.
Fibrillary glomerulonephritis: An apparent familial form?

Fibrillary glomerulonephritis is a rare cause of glomerulonephritis characterized by non‐amyloid fibrillary deposits of unknown aetiology. It is generally considered idiopathic but may be associated with secondary causes such as monoclonal gammopathy, hepatitis B and C infections, autoimmune diseases and malignancies. We report two Australian families with apparent familial fibrillary glomerulonephritis inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern, and postulate the existence of a primary familial entity. Family 1 consists of an affected father and daughter; the daughter progressed to end‐stage renal failure within 18 months of diagnosis, despite immunosuppressive therapy. The father, however, remains stable at 10 months follow up. Family 2 comprises an affected mother and son; the mother commenced haemodialysis 5 years after diagnosis and subsequently underwent successful renal transplantation. The son is presently stable at last follow‐up after 5 years. A further review of the second family history reveals a third family member (maternal father) dying of ‘Bright's disease’. We describe their histopathology, clinical progression and treatment outcomes, and provide a review of the current understanding of this heterogeneous condition that is associated with poor renal outcomes.
Glucosamine modulates TNF-α-induced ICAM-1 expression and function through O-linked and N-linked glycosylation in human retinal pigment epithelial cells.

PURPOSE The purpose of this article was to investigate the effects of glucosamine (GlcN) on the TNF-α-induced expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and the function of ICAM-1 in ARPE-19 cells in vitro. METHODS We quantified protein levels of TNF-α-induced ICAM-1 in ARPE-19 cells with Western blotting. The effects of GlcN on O-linked glycosylation, and therefore on ICAM-1 expression, were compared after the addition of alloxan, an inhibitor of O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferase (OGT), or O-(2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-glucopyranosylidene)amino-N-phenylcarbamate (PUGNAc), an inhibitor of N-acetylglucosaminidase (O-GlcNAcase [OGA]), or after OGT gene overexpression. The effect of GlcN on the N-linked glycosylation of ICAM-1 was evaluated by the change in its molecular mass on Western blotting. The effect of O-linked glycosylation on the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway was examined using an NF-κB reporter gene assay. The effect of GlcN on ICAM-1 adhesion activity was examined using an ICAM-1 adhesion assay. RESULTS GlcN, PUGNAc, and OGT overexpression inhibited TNF-α-induced ICAM-1 expression and NF-κB activity in ARPE-19 cells. Alloxan increased ICAM-1 expression and NF-κB activity in TNF-α-induced ARPE-19 cells. GlcN and tunicamycin reduced the molecular mass of TNF-α-induced ICAM-1 in ARPE-19 cells. The proteasome inhibitor MG-132 suppressed the GlcN-induced reduction in the molecular mass of TNF-α-induced ICAM-1. GlcN also attenuated the adhesion activity of TNF-α-induced ICAM-1. CONCLUSIONS GlcN inhibits ICAM-1 expression and functions by modulating the O-linked glycosylation of factors involved in NF-κB signaling and by reducing the N-linked glycosylation of TNF-α-induced ICAM-1 in ARPE-19 cells. These effects may contribute to the GlcN-mediated anti-inflammatory effects in the eye.
A new interpretation of the necrotic changes occurring in the developing limb bud paddle of mouse embryos based upon recent observations in four different phenotypes.

Degenerative changes occurring in the apical ectodermal ridge (a.e.r.) and undifferentiated distal mesoderm of developing limb buds were studied macro- and microscopically in day-11 to day-13 mouse embryos displaying the normal (+/+), oligosyndactylous (Os/+), polydactylous (Xpl/+) and hybrid (Os/+/Xpl/+) phenotypes. Isolated limb buds were submitted either to supravital staining with Nile blue sulfate or to lectin binding staining in serial paraffin sections, taking advantage of strong binding affinites of macrophage cells for peanut agglutinin after neuraminidase treatment and for ricinus communis agglutinin. Necrotic changes detected in three definite areas of the distal mesoderm of normal limb buds exhibit characteristic spatial temporal relationships with earlier cytolytic changes affecting the pre- and postaxial parts of the a.e. r. Two of them, known as the primary preaxial site (fpp) and the anterior marginal necrotic zone (AMNZ) appeared deeply modified in mutant embryos as compared to the posterior marginal necrotic zone (PMNZ) which remained unaffected. Macrophage cells loaded with cell debris appear in advance and in excessive number in the fpp of Os/+ limb buds. Conversely, they were found absent or locally reduced in number in the fpp and AMNZ of Xpl/+ limb buds which otherwise develop in the same area a preaxial protrusion covered with a healthy portion of the a.e. r. Hybrid Os/+/Xpl/+ limb buds expressing both mutant genes develop a smaller and macrophage-free preaxial protrusion which coexists with residual and locally excessive necrotic changes in its immediate surrounding and is covered with a normally necrotic portion of the a.e. r. Microscopic observations collected in the limb buds of all phenotypes, though more frequently in Os/+ limb buds, strongly suggest that in all three necrotic sites examined, macrophage cells of vascular origin somehow contribute to the clearance of ectodermal necrotic debris and eventually return in the blood stream through the marginal vein and its affluents.
A High Reliability Wearable Device for Elderly Fall Detection

Falls are critical events among elderly people that requires timely rescue. In this paper, we propose a fall detection system consisting of an inertial unit that includes triaxial accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer with efficient data fusion and fall detection algorithms. Starting from the raw data, the implemented orientation filter provides the correct orientation of the subject in terms of yaw, pitch, and roll angles. The system is tested according to experimental protocols, engaging volunteers who performed simulated falls, simulated falls with recovery, and activities of daily living. By placing our wearable sensor on the waist of the subject, the unit is able to achieve fall detection performance above those of similar systems proposed in literature. The results obtained through commonly adopted protocols show excellent accuracy, sensitivity and specificity, improving the results of other techniques proposed in the literature.
The effect of progesterone and other hormones on the Fallopian tube ciliary beat frequency in mouse

The inside of the fallopian tube is covered with epithelial cells. These cells are involved in the transportation of oocytes and sperms in the tube and are important for fertilization to occur. The hormone progesterone has been tested for its effect on the ciliary activity in the fallopian tube and previous studies have shown that progesterone reduces the ciliary beat frequency (CBF). There are (at least) two types of progesterone receptors present in the fallopian tube, the membrane progesterone receptors, mPRs and the nuclear progesterone receptor, nPR. The aim of this study was to examine which of these receptors that regulate the CBF. Different hormones, specific for a certain receptor or group of receptors, were used to measure the CBF in mouse ex vivo. The fallopian tube was dissected and chopped in small pieces for exposure of the cilia. Each tissue sample was investigated based on ciliary activity by an inverted bright field microscope and a high speed camera. After addition of a certain hormone the change in CBF was recorded during 60 minutes. Progesterone with a concentration of 30 nM gave an average decrease in CBF, -1.4 Hz (p=0.03). Promegestone R5020 is an agonist for nPR and gave a reduction in CBF, -3.13 Hz (p=0.0046) for the concentration 100 nM. An agonist for the mPR, substance X, was tested and gave no significant change in CBF. Mifepristone RU486 works as an antagonist for nPR and gave no significant change in CBF. The reduction in CBF by progesterone seen in this study is in agreement with that from previous studies. Reduction in ciliary activity by R5020 gives a clue to the involvement of nPR in the regulation of CBF in the fallopian tube in mouse. Based on the measurements performed in this study the mPR does not seem to be involved in the regulation of CBF.
Progressive hybrid precoder design for packet retransmissions in large-scale MIMO systems

We consider progressive hybrid precoder design for packet retransmissions in large-scale multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems with perfect channel state information (CSI) knowledge at the transmitter. To exploit time diversity provided by packet retransmissions, we propose a two-step approach to optimize both the radio-frequency (RF) precoder and the corresponding baseband precoder with the objective of maximizing the mutual information. During each retransmission attempt, we choose the RF precoder matrix columns from the set of transmit array response vectors. For a given RF precoder, we show that the optimal baseband precoder is a function of the generalized eigen-matrix of the Gram matrices of the effective channel matrix and the RF precoding matrix. The optimal baseband precoder for each transmission round includes appropriate power loading, selection and reverse pairing of the singular values of the previous transmission attempts with the ratio of the elements obtained by the diagonalization of the Gram matrices of the effective channel matrix and the RF precoding matrix using a generalized eigen-matrix. Illustrative results show that the proposed progressive hybrid precoder design achieves a performance close to that of the optimal progressive digital precoder (OPDP).
Deep-MSP: Morphological Sentence Pattern Recognition based on ConvNet

Sentiment analysis aims to observe and summarize a person's opinions or emotional states through textual data. Despite the demands of sentiment analysis methods for analyzing social media data, fundamental challenges still remained because user-generated data is unstructured, unlabeled, and "noisy". The morphological sentence pattern (MSP) model, an aspect-based lexicon building method, is proposed for dealing with the problems of the transitional sentiment analysis by recognizing the "aspect-expression" in a sentence. However, there are limitations on this model. Firstly, since the MSP model is based on the pattern matching, the sentences cannot be analyzed when the pattern does not exist in the lexicon. Secondly, the patterns should be continuously updated to maintain a high level of accuracy. In this paper, to compensate for the limitations of the MSP model, we proposed Deep-MSP, a deep learning approach based on multiple convolutional neural networks (ConvNet or CNN), designed to recognize whether or not the target part-of-speech has potential to be the aspect-expression from not only existing patterns but also new patterns.
Structural Equation Modelling of Determinants of Buyer–Supplier Relationship Improvement Strategies: Case of Indian Manufacturing Firms

Recently, many organisations have recognised that development of supplier and buyer relationship improvement is becoming necessary to establish strong and mutually beneficial long-term relationships in improving performance across the supply chain, generating greater cost efficiency and enabling the business to grow and develop. The current study proposes a framework for buyer–supplier relationship improvement (BSRI) strategy and tests the same using structural equation modelling (SEM). Result indicates that BSRI can be improved under the condition of supplier development practices (SDP) and buyer–supplier relationship practices (BSRP). SDP are further driven by productive measure (PM) and competitive pressure (CP), whereas the impact of customer uncertainty (CU) turned out insignificant. The study results demonstrate that profitability (PR) can be improved by achieving competitive advantages (CA) through BSRI. CA includes operational effectiveness, innovation (INV), technology adaption (TAD) and risk minimisation (RIM). A survey response of 512 different manufacturing firms of India was used for data analysis. Initially, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is performed for exploring the factor followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), for confirmation and construct validity. Findings from the study revealed that linking of SDP with BSRI is necessary from buyer side along with consideration of supplier’s perspective to achieve CA, which will lead towards enhanced PR.