Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Medial temporal atrophy but not memory deficit predicts progression to dementia in patients with mild cognitive impairment

Background: The diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is clinically unhelpful, as many patients with MCI develop dementia but many do not. Objective: To identify clinical instruments easily applicable in the clinical routine that might be useful to predict progression to dementia in patients with MCI assessed in the outpatient facility of a memory clinic. Participants and methods: 52 dementia-free patients (mean (standard deviation) age 70 (6) years; 56% women) with MCI, and 65 healthy controls (age 69 (6) years; 54% women) underwent brain magnetic resonance scan with standardised visual assessment of medial temporal atrophy (MTA) and subcortical cerebrovascular lesions (SVLs). Follow-up assessment occurred 15.4 (SD 3.4) months after baseline to detect incident dementia and improvement, defined as normal neuropsychological performance on follow-up. Results: Patients were classified into three groups according to the presence of memory disturbance only (MCI Mem), other neuropsychological deficits (MCI Oth) or both (MCI Mem+). MCI Mem and Mem+ showed MTA more frequently (31% and 47% v 5% and 14% of controls and MCI Oth, p<0.001). 11 patients developed dementia (annual rate 16.5%) and 7 improved on follow-up. The only independent predictor of progression was MTA (odds ratio (OR) 7.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4 to 35.0), whereas predictors of improvement were the absence of memory impairment (OR 18.5, 95% CI 2.0 to 171.3) and normal MRI scan (OR 10.0, 95% CI 1.7 to 60.2). Conclusion: Neuropsychological patterns identify groups of patients with MCI showing specific clinical features and risk of progression to dementia. MTA clinically rated with a visual scale is the most relevant predictor of progression and improvement.
Evidence-Based Medicine in Otolaryngology, Part 5

Modern medical decision making is a complex task requiring collaboration between patients and physicians. Related clinical evidence may delineate a clearly favorable path, but in other instances, uncertainty remains. Even in these circumstances, however, there are techniques that optimize decision making by blending existing evidence with individual patient values in the context of physician counseling. This installment of “Evidence-Based Medicine in Otolaryngology” focuses on the crucial issue of how practitioners may approach clinical situations where the data do not delineate a single irrefutable path. We describe decision aids—tools that can educate patients about data related to complex clinical decisions. We review their definition, quality standards, patient interface, benefits, and limitations. We also discuss the related concept of option grids and the role of decision aids in evidence-based practice.
Binary classification using multivariate receiver operating characteristic curve for continuous data

ABSTRACT The classification scenario needs handling of more than one biomarker. The main objective of the work is to propose a multivariate receiver operating characteristic (MROC) model which linearly combines the markers to classify them into one of the two groups and also to determine an optimal cut point. Simulation studies are conducted for four sets of mean vectors and covariance matrices and a real dataset is also used to demonstrate the proposed model. Linear and quadratic discriminant analysis has also been applied to the above datasets in order to explain the ease of the proposed model. Bootstrapped estimates of the parameters of the ROC curve are also estimated.
The Importance of Trust in Outdoor Education: Exploring the Relationship Between Trust in Outdoor Leaders and Developmental Outcomes

Abstract: Recent studies have acknowledged the influence of the leader in the outdoor education process and have illuminated the need for strong interpersonal relationships between participants and leaders. Developing interpersonal trust is one among many ways that leaders can promote such positive interpersonal relationships between themselves and participants. Transdisciplinary literature suggests that trust in a leader can predict outcomes that are important to outdoor education. This study found a positive relationship between trust in outdoor leaders and the course outcomes of leadership development and outdoor skills development among students of National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) courses. Implications for program implementation and theory development are discussed.
Laparoscopic Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication for esophageal achalasia in children.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE In the past, surgical treatment in achalasia usually has been reserved for patients whose dysphagia does not respond to pneumatic dilatation. The success of minimally invasive myotomy, however, has resulted in a shift in practice in adult patients, whereby laparoscopic surgery is becoming preferred as primary treatment by most gastroenterologists and surgeons. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of laparoscopic Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication for esophageal achalasia in children. METHODS Thirteen patients with esophageal achalasia (median age, 15 years; 6 boys and 7 girls; median duration of symptoms, 24 months) underwent laparoscopic Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication between 1996 and 1999. Two patients had been treated previously by pneumatic dilatation, and 1 patient had received intrasphincteric Botulinum toxin injections. RESULTS Median duration of the operation was 130 minutes. The patients were fed after an average of 33 hours, and they all left the hospital within 2 days. At a median follow-up of 19 months, there was no residual dysphagia in any patient. CONCLUSIONS Laparoscopic Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication were effective and safe for children with esophageal achalasia. Hospital stay and recovery time was short, and the functional results were excellent. These data support the notion that laparoscopic Heller myotomy should become the primary treatment of esophageal achalasia in children.
Guidelines for the psychosocial and bereavement support of family caregivers of palliative care patients.

BACKGROUND Support for family caregivers, including bereavement follow-up, is a core function of palliative care. Many caregivers acknowledge positive aspects associated with the role; however a considerable proportion will experience poor psychological, social, financial, spiritual, and physical well-being and some will suffer from complicated grief. Many family caregivers have unmet needs and would like more information, preparation, and support to assist them in the caregiving role. There is a shortage of evidence-based strategies to guide health professionals in providing optimal support while the caregiver is providing care and after the patient's death. PURPOSE To develop clinical practice guidelines for the psychosocial and bereavement support of family caregivers of palliative care patients. METHODS (1) Literature review; (2) focus groups and structured interviews with key stakeholders within Australia; (3) national and international expert opinion to further develop and refine the guidelines using a modified Delphi process; and (4) endorsement of the guidelines from key palliative care, caregiver, and bereavement organizations (national and international). RESULTS The guidelines were developed for multidisciplinary health care professionals and clinical services commonly involved in caring for adult patients receiving palliative care in a variety of care sites throughout Australia. These consensus-based guidelines have been endorsed key Australian and international organizations. CONCLUSIONS The guidelines may prove valuable for the international palliative care community and for generalist health care providers who occasionally care for palliative care patients. Research is recommended to explore the uptake, implementation, and effectiveness of the guidelines.
A model of verbal memory impairments in schizophrenia: two systems and their associations with underlying cognitive processes and clinical symptoms

Background. In a broad cognitive study of schizophrenia we investigated the relationships of verbal memory impairments with cognitive underpinnings on the one hand, and clinical symptomatology on the other. The results have been reported in previous papers. In this paper we show how all these data could be integrated into a consistent pattern of associations. Method. Fifty schizophrenic patients underwent a cognitive battery including a verbal memory task with free recall and recognition, a source memory task, and tests of processing speed and selective attention. Ratings for positive, negative and depressive symptoms were available for 40 of the patients. Results. A factorial analysis revealed a distinction between measures of memory efficiency and measures of memory errors. The system of memory efficiency was associated with processing speed and selective attention at the cognitive level, and with depression at the symptom level. The system of memory errors was assumed to be underlain by source-monitoring deficits. These memory errors were increased by positive symptoms and decreased by certain negative symptoms. Conclusions. All the measures drawn from various memory tasks could be integrated into a model describing their associations with cognitive underpinnings and clinical symptomatology. This model provides a heuristic for the cognitive and pharmacological treatments of verbal memory impairments in schizophrenia, as well as for the understanding of positive symptoms.
Expression of cytochrome P450RAI (CYP26) in human fetal hepatic and cephalic tissues.

PCR amplifications with two sets of degenerate primers that were targeted to CYP26-specific regions were performed with cDNAs from human fetal liver and brain as templates. PCR products were purified, cloned, sequenced and analyzed with the BLAST program. Our results revealed expression of CYP26 in both human fetal liver and brain. Furthermore, human fetal CYP26 cDNA exhibited 99.2%-100% nucleotide sequence identity to its adult counterpart. Novel isoforms, that would have indicated additional CYP26 genes, were not found. A Northern blot containing poly(A+)RNAs from 43 human adult and 7 human fetal tissues was tested for CYP26 expression. We were able to detect CYP26 message in most tissues but hybridization signals varied in intensity. Highest levels of transcription were in adult liver, heart, pituitary gland, adrenal gland, placenta and regions of the brain. CYP26 expression in fetal tissues was strongest in the brain and comparable with message levels in adult tissues.
A phase I/II study of prostaglandin E1 for the prevention of hepatic venocclusive disease after bone marrow transplantation

Summary. We conducted a phase I/II trial of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) for the prevention of hepatic venocclusive disease (VOD). Twenty‐four patients at high risk for VOD received PGE1 at four dose levels ranging from 1·25 to 10 ng/kg/min. Severe toxicity was experienced at all dose levels and was manifested as cutaneous erythema and desquamation, severe pain in dependent extremities, fluid retention and grade 4 oedema, or hypotension. In 12/24 patients, PGE1 administration was stopped prior to day 15 due to severe toxicity attributed to the drug. Three of 12 patients who received PGE1 for the entire course of treatment and 9/12 patients whose PGE1 was stopped prior to day 15 developed severe toxicity which was attributed to PGE1 (P= 0·039). Severe toxicity attributed to PGE1 was not related to either PGE1 concentration or PGE1, clearance. Six of 12 patients whose PGE1 infusion was stopped prior to day 15 and 2/12 patients who received PGE1 for the full course of treatment developed severe VOD (P= 0·19). We conclude that PGE1 causes significant toxicity in patients undergoing marrow transplantation. The ability of PGE1 to prevent severe VOD in patients at high risk remains unproven.
Online Diagnosis of Induction Motors Using MCSA

In this paper, an online induction motor diagnosis system using motor current signature analysis (MCSA) with advanced signal-and-data-processing algorithms is proposed. MCSA is a method for motor diagnosis with stator-current signals. The proposed system diagnoses induction motors having four types of faults such as breakage of rotor bars and end rings, short-circuit of stator windings, bearing cracks, and air-gap eccentricity. Although MCSA is one of the most powerful online methods for diagnosing motor faults, it has some shortcomings, which degrade performance and accuracy of a motor-diagnosis system. Therefore, advanced signal-and-data-processing algorithms are proposed. They are composed of an optimal-slip-estimation algorithm, a proper-sample-selection algorithm, and a frequency auto search algorithm for achieving MCSA efficiently. The proposed system is able to ascertain four kinds of motor faults and diagnose the fault status of an induction motor. Experimental results obtained on 3.7-kW and 30-kW three-phase squirrel-cage induction motors and voltage-source inverters with a vector-control technique are discussed
What Factors Impact Why Novice Middle School Teachers in a Large Midwestern Urban School District Leave after Their Initial Year of Teaching.

This research investigated the experiences of new teachers employed in urban school districts and how these novice teachers’ perceived school district and school administrators’ support required to retain them as well as teacher’s perceptions of their pre-service experiences and/or induction programs necessary to prepare them for an urban environment. The three middle schools selected were characterized by high poverty, low academic achievement, and not meeting Average Yearly Progress. The research outcomes revealed that teachers did not feel they were adequately prepared for the urban setting and that they were not provided adequate support. Administrators also acknowledged that novice teachers were not prepared to succeed in an urban school setting since they lacked classroom management skills and strategies; they did not spend enough time in urban schools in their pre-service training; and many had limited or no experience with urban, at-risk students.
Search Frictions, the Use of Knowledge, and Dispersion in Firm Dynamics

Dispersion in firm dynamics is large. I show that firm-level correlations between size, wage, output and productivity, span the whole support [-1,1], a fact that is robust to sample selection. Optimal inaction on the extensive margin can account for some dispersion, yet this mechanism alone fails to match the entire support. I propose a model where managers team up with workers. Replacing workers takes time, which generates inaction on the extensive margin, while managers can respond to negative shocks by using their own knowledge, thus adjusting along the intensive margin. I show that this model creates non-linearities in the correlations between firm-level variables, and can account for over 85% of the dispersion found in the data. In addition, it provides new insights into the issue of sorting among heterogeneous agents.
Enhanced secondary frequency control via distributed peer-to-peer communication

The prevalent distributed generation resources warrant reconsideration on how their coordination is achieved. In this paper, we particularly focus on how to enhance secondary frequency control by exploiting peer-to-peer communication among the resources. We design a control framework based on a consensus-plus-global-innovation approach. The control signals of distributed resources are updated in response to a global innovation (utilizing the area control error signal), and additional information exchanged via communication among neighboring resources. We show that such a distributed control scheme can be very well approximated by a proportional-integral controller and stabilizes the system. Moreover, since our scheme takes advantage of both the global and neighboring information, simulation results demonstrate that our scheme stabilizes the system significantly faster than the conventional automatic generation control framework. In addition, our control scheme asymptotically achieves the cost effectiveness.
Changes in FGF-2 Expression in the Distal Spinal Cord Stump After Complete Cord Transection: A Comparison Between Infant and Adult Rats

Study Design. Expression patterns of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) in distal transected spinal cord in infant and adult rats were determined by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunostaining. Objective. To reveal the expression pattern of FGF-2 in distal transected cord of infant and adult rats. Summary of Background Data. Descending fibers in the spinal cord of infant and adult rats show different regenerative capacity. One explanation is that different levels of FGF-2, an important neurotrophic factor for promoting neurite outgrowth and repair, are expressed in the distal transected cords of the rats, providing different levels of support for severed axons. Materials and Methods. Spinal cords of infant and adult rats were completely transected. At 12, 24, and 72 hours and at 1 week, segments of distal spinal cord tissues were removed and expression of FGF-2 mRNA was evaluated by RT-PCR. The distribution of FGF-2 and the phenotype of FGF-2-positive cells were determined by immunostaining. Results. Expression of FGF-2 mRNA was shown to be up-regulated in the distal cord of infant rats but not adult rats. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that neurons in distal cord of infant rats were rich in FGF-2 immunoreactivity (IR), whereas in adult rat neurons FGF-2 IR was hardly observed at all, although a few FGF-2-positive astrocytes were observed in the white matter. Conclusion. After complete spinal cord transection, the expression of FGF-2 in the distal cord of infant rats was high compared with that of adults. This may provide neurotrophic support for axonal extension and functional recovery.
Structure and Activity of ClpB from Escherichia coli

ClpB is a member of a protein-disaggregating multi-chaperone system in Escherichia coli. The mechanism of protein-folding reactions mediated by ClpB is currently unknown, and the functional role of different sequence regions in ClpB is under discussion. We have expressed and purified the full-length ClpB and three truncated variants with the N-terminal, C-terminal, and a double N- and C-terminal deletion. We studied the protein concentration-dependent and ATP-induced oligomerization of ClpB, casein-induced activation of ClpB ATPase, and ClpB-assisted reactivation of denatured firefly luciferase. We found that both the N- and C-terminal truncation of ClpB strongly inhibited its chaperone activity. The reasons for such inhibition were different, however, for the N- and C-terminal truncation. Deletion of the C-terminal domain inhibited the self-association of ClpB, which led to decreased affinity for ATP and to decreased ATPase and chaperone activity of the C-terminally truncated variants. In contrast, deletion of the N-terminal domain did not inhibit the self-association of ClpB and its basal ATPase activity but decreased the ability of casein to activate ClpB ATPase. These results indicate that the N-terminal region of ClpB may contain a functionally significant protein-binding site, whereas the main role of the C-terminal region is to support oligomerization of ClpB.
KSF-OABE: Outsourced Attribute-Based Encryption with Keyword Search Function for Cloud Storage

Cloud computing becomes increasingly popular for data owners to outsource their data to public cloud servers while allowing intended data users to retrieve these data stored in cloud. This kind of computing model brings challenges to the security and privacy of data stored in cloud. Attribute-based encryption (ABE) technology has been used to design fine-grained access control system, which provides one good method to solve the security issues in cloud setting. However, the computation cost and ciphertext size in most ABE schemes grow with the complexity of the access policy. Outsourced ABE (OABE) with fine-grained access control system can largely reduce the computation cost for users who want to access encrypted data stored in cloud by outsourcing the heavy computation to cloud service provider (CSP). However, as the amount of encrypted files stored in cloud is becoming very huge, which will hinder efficient query processing. To deal with above problem, we present a new cryptographic primitive called attribute-based encryption scheme with outsourcing key-issuing and outsourcing decryption, which can implement keyword search function (KSF-OABE). The proposed KSF-OABE scheme is proved secure against chosen-plaintext attack (CPA). CSP performs partial decryption task delegated by data user without knowing anything about the plaintext. Moreover, the CSP can perform encrypted keyword search without knowing anything about the keywords embedded in trapdoor.
Microsatellite Markers for Genetic Population Studies in Glossina palpalis gambiensis (Diptera: Glossinidae)a

ABSTRACT: Little is known about intraspecific variability in tsetse flies and its consequences for vectorial capacity. Microsatellite markers have been developed for Glossina palpalis gambiensis. Three loci have been identified and showed size polymorphisms for insectarium samples. G. palpalis gambiensis from Burkina Faso were also subjected to PCR to investigate their genetic variability. Amplifications were observed in different species belonging to the palpalis group. These molecular markers will be useful to estimate gene flow within G. palpalis gambiensis populations and analysis could be extended to related species.
Production of β‐globin and adult hemoglobin following G418 treatment of erythroid precursor cells from homozygous β039 thalassemia patients

In several types of thalassemia (including β039‐thalassemia), stop codon mutations lead to premature translation termination and to mRNA destabilization through nonsense‐mediated decay. Drugs (for instance aminoglycosides) can be designed to suppress premature termination, inducing a ribosomal readthrough. These findings have introduced new hopes for the development of a pharmacologic approach to the cure of this disease. However, the effects of aminoglycosides on globin mRNA carrying β‐thalassemia stop mutations have not yet been investigated. In this study, we have used a lentiviral construct containing the β039‐thalassemia globin gene under control of the β‐globin promoter and a LCR cassette. We demonstrated by fluorescence‐activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis the production of β‐globin by K562 cell clones expressing the β039‐thalassemia globin gene and treated with G418. More importantly, after FACS and high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analyses, erythroid precursor cells from β039‐thalassemia patients were demonstrated to be able to produce β‐globin and adult hemoglobin after treatment with G418. This study strongly suggests that ribosomal readthrough should be considered a strategy for developing experimental strategies for the treatment of β0‐thalassemia caused by stop codon mutations. Am. J. Hematol. , 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.