Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of histopathology in acute allograft rejection and recurrent hepatitis C infection after liver transplantation.

Recurrent hepatitis C infection after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is frequent and may occur as early as a few weeks postoperatively. Early histopathological features of recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection may be modified by immunosuppressive therapy and can be difficult to differentiate from acute allograft rejection (AAR). Thus, we retrospectively compared histopathological features of liver biopsy specimens from two carefully selected patient groups: one with unequivocal recurrent hepatitis C, the other with unequivocal AAR. Index biopsy specimens obtained at the time of the appearance of liver test abnormalities after OLT and all serial liver biopsy specimens (2 to 13 per patient) were assessed under code and scored semiquantitatively for 44 histopathological variables. The index biopsy specimens from patients with recurrent HCV infection and AAR index biopsies (AAR-Ib) differed significantly (P < .05) for 11 features (10 features were statistically associated with AAR and 1 with early recurrence of HCV infection). Statistically significant features associated with AAR included bile duct injury with overlapping nuclei, lymphocytic infiltrates and necrosis, endothelialitis, portal inflammatory infiltrates containing eosinophils and polymorphonuclear leukocytes, hepatocyte mitoses, and zone 3 canalicular cholestasis. In contrast, the only statistically significant feature associated with early recurrent HCV was sinusoidal dilatation. Stepwise discriminant analysis showed that the presence of eosinophils in the portal inflammatory infiltrate, bile duct necrosis, and bile duct lymphocytic infiltrates were independently associated with AAR. However, serial biopsy specimens from patients with recurrent HCV infection showed statistically significant progression in scores for portal inflammation, portal lymphoid aggregates, and lobular inflammation. We conclude that (1) multiple histopathological features are associated with AAR; (2) early recurrent HCV infection is characterized by elevated alanine aminotransferase levels, positive HCV RNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and absence of diagnostic histopathological features; and (3) serial biopsies are needed to demonstrate progression of histopathological features of recurrent hepatitis C.
Effects of muscle strength and endurance on blood pressure and related cardiometabolic risk factors from childhood to adolescence

Objective: This study aimed to examine the evolution of relationships between measures of muscle strength and endurance with individual cardiometabolic risk factors from childhood to late adolescence in a prospective population-based cohort. Methods: Participants from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study at ages 10, 14 and 17 were analysed, using longitudinal linear mixed model analyses. Results: Handgrip strength after adjusting for the confounding effects of BMI was positively associated with SBP, but not DBP. The association between handgrip strength and SBP was stronger in men than women at all time points [coefficient (women): 0.18, P < 0.001; sex × handgrip strength coefficient: 0.09, P = 0.002]. The association was strongest at 10 years and significantly attenuated over time (year × handgrip coefficient from 10 to 14 years: −0.11, P = 0.003; year × handgrip coefficient from 10 to 17 years: −0.19, P ⩽ 0.001). After the inclusion of BMI as a confounder, handgrip strength was significantly negatively associated with homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein over time in both sexes. Back muscle endurance was positively associated with SBP, but not DBP, after adjustment for the confounding effects of BMI (coefficient: 0.01, P = 0.002). There were small, albeit significant, inverse associations between back muscle endurance and log homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance and log high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. Conclusion: The positive association between handgrip strength and back muscle endurance with SBP throughout childhood and adolescence contrasts with beneficial effects on other related traditional cardiometabolic risk factors. Mechanisms underlying these paradoxical effects on SBP warrant further investigation.
Lower Bounds for Symbolic Computation on Graphs: Strongly Connected Components, Liveness, Safety, and Diameter

A model of computation that is widely used in the formal analysis of reactive systems is symbolic algorithms. In this model the access to the input graph is restricted to consist of symbolic operations, which are expensive in comparison to the standard RAM operations. We give lower bounds on the number of symbolic operations for basic graph problems such as the computation of the strongly connected components and of the approximate diameter as well as for fundamental problems in model checking such as safety, liveness, and co-liveness. Our lower bounds are linear in the number of vertices of the graph, even for constant-diameter graphs. For none of these problems lower bounds on the number of symbolic operations were known before. The lower bounds show an interesting separation of these problems from the reachability problem, which can be solved with $O(D)$ symbolic operations, where $D$ is the diameter of the graph. Additionally we present an approximation algorithm for the graph diameter which requires $\tilde{O}(n \sqrt{D})$ symbolic steps to achieve a $(1+\epsilon)$-approximation for any constant $\epsilon > 0$. This compares to $O(n \cdot D)$ symbolic steps for the (naive) exact algorithm and $O(D)$ symbolic steps for a 2-approximation. Finally we also give a refined analysis of the strongly connected components algorithms of Gentilini et al., showing that it uses an optimal number of symbolic steps that is proportional to the sum of the diameters of the strongly connected components.
I Probe, Therefore I Am: Designing a Virtual Journalist with Human Emotions

By utilizing different communication channels, such as verbal language, gestures or facial expressions, virtually embodied interactive humans hold a unique potential to bridge the gap between human-computer interaction and actual interhuman communication. The use of virtual humans is consequently becoming increasingly popular in a wide range of areas where such a natural communication might be beneficial, including entertainment, education, mental health research and beyond. Behind this development lies a series of technological advances in a multitude of disciplines, most notably natural language processing, computer vision, and speech synthesis. In this paper we discuss a Virtual Human Journalist, a project employing a number of novel solutions from these disciplines with the goal to demonstrate their viability by producing a humanoid conversational agent capable of naturally eliciting and reacting to information from a human user. A set of qualitative and quantitative evaluation sessions demonstrated the technical feasibility of the system whilst uncovering a number of deficits in its capacity to engage users in a way that would be perceived as natural and emotionally engaging. We argue that naturalness should not always be seen as a desirable goal and suggest that deliberately suppressing the naturalness of virtual human interactions, such as by altering its personality cues, might in some cases yield more desirable results.
Isolation and characterization of the Salmonella typhimurium LT2 xylose regulon

Salmonella DNA was partially digested with EcoRI, and the digest was fractionated to obtain fragments larger than 8 kilobases (kb). These were ligated into EcoRI-cut pBR322, and the mixture was used to transform Salmonella Xyl- cells selecting for ampR xyl+ transformants. A 21- and a 27-kb plasmid were isolated, both of which contained the entire xylose regulon. The xylose regulon was localized to a 6.3-kb segment of a 13.5-kb EcoRI fragment. Subclones were constructed which contained either the genes for D-xylose isomerase and D-xylulokinase or the genes for the D-xylose transport and the D-xylose regulatory factors. The gene order determined by the subcloning experiments is consistent with that determined by genetic mapping. The spots corresponding to D-xylose isomerase and D-xylulokinase subunits were identified in two-dimensional gels of several xylose-induced strains. Each of them had a molecular weight of 45,000 and an isoelectric point of 6.2 +/- 0.1.
Resistance to instructed reversal of the learned predictiveness effect

The learned predictiveness effect is a widely observed bias towards previously predictive cues in novel situations. Although the effect is generally attributed to an automatic attentional shift, it has recently been explained as the product of controlled inferences about the predictive value of cues. This view is supported by the susceptibility of learned predictiveness to instruction manipulation. However, recent research has shown conflicting results. Three experiments investigated the parameters of the instructed reversal effect in a human causal learning task, to determine the relative contribution of automatic and controlled attention processes. Experiment 1 showed that reversal instructions abolished, but did not reverse, the learned predictiveness effect, although length of initial training had no effect on the extent to which predictive cues subsequently captured attention. Experiment 2 explored whether particular causal scenarios lend themselves more readily to instructed reversal, but still failed to establish a significant reversal effect. Experiment 3 demonstrated a significant reversal effect when nonpredictive cues were explicitly and individually identified as the causes of outcomes. However, this effect was considerably weaker than the learned predictiveness effect when predictive cues were identified in the same way. Taken together, the results are inconsistent with a purely controlled account of learned predictiveness and provide support for dual-process theories of learning and attention.
An investigation of self-incompatibility within the genus Restrepia.

UNLABELLED • PREMISE OF THE STUDY The genus Restrepia (Orchidaceae) is indigenous to montane rain forests of Central and South America. Recently, as habitat has fragmented and wild populations dwindled, the chances for successful cross-pollination within the genus have been reduced. Since cultivated species of Restrepia have been vegetatively propagated, they remain genetically close to those in the wild, making ex situ collections of the genus useful model populations for investigating breeding systems. Restrepia are found in clade B of the Pleurothallidinae, the only clade in which self-incompatibility (SI) has not yet been confirmed. In the current study, private collections of Restrepia were used to study the operation of SI within the genus to assist future ex situ conservation of this and related genera. • METHODS A variety of self-pollination, intraspecific, and interspecific crosses were performed across the genus, and pollen tube growth was studied. • KEY RESULTS Individual species exhibited varying degrees of SI. Self-pollinations performed across 26 species in the genus produced few viable seeds, with the exception of R. aberrans. Viable "filled" seeds with embryos were shown to require an intraspecific cross. Primary hybrids between species produced >90% seeds with embryos that germinated well. • CONCLUSIONS The type of SI operating within the genus was considered to be best explained by gametophytic self-incompatibility (GSI) with interspecific variation in its phenotypic expression. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to SI in the Pleurothallidinae and conservation strategies for Restrepia and related genera.
Carrier Multiplication Mechanisms and Competing Processes in Colloidal Semiconductor Nanostructures

Quantum confined semiconductor nanoparticles, such as colloidal quantum dots, nanorods and nanoplatelets have broad extended absorption spectra at energies above their bandgaps. This means that they can absorb light at high photon energies leading to the formation of hot excitons with finite excited state lifetimes. During their existence, the hot electron and hole that comprise the exciton may start to cool as they relax to the band edge by phonon mediated or Auger cooling processes or a combination of these. Alongside these cooling processes, there is the possibility that the hot exciton may split into two or more lower energy excitons in what is termed carrier multiplication (CM). The fission of the hot exciton to form lower energy multiexcitons is in direct competition with the cooling processes, with the timescales for multiplication and cooling often overlapping strongly in many materials. Once CM has been achieved, the next challenge is to preserve the multiexcitons long enough to make use of the bonus carriers in the face of another competing process, non-radiative Auger recombination. However, it has been found that Auger recombination and the several possible cooling processes can be manipulated and usefully suppressed or retarded by engineering the nanoparticle shape, size or composition and by the use of heterostructures, along with different choices of surface treatments. This review surveys some of the work that has led to an understanding of the rich carrier dynamics in semiconductor nanoparticles, and that has started to guide materials researchers to nanostructures that can tilt the balance in favour of efficient CM with sustained multiexciton lifetimes.
Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing and Screening in Hospital-Based Primary Care Visits by Women

OBJECTIVE: To explore determinants of sexually transmitted infection screening of asymptomatic women and sexually transmitted infection testing of women with genitourinary symptoms, to investigate the effect of specific genitourinary symptoms on sexually transmitted infection testing, and to examine trends in screening. METHODS: We performed secondary data analysis of nationally representative data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys, using 17,458 visits by nonpregnant 15- to 44-year-old women seen in primary care clinics between 1997 and 2000. Point estimates, adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) are presented. RESULTS: Sexually transmitted infection screening was performed in 2.4% of visits by women without genitourinary symptoms and was more likely among visits for preventive care (OR 6.9, CI 3.8–12.5), by nonwhite women (OR 4.3, CI 2.3–7.9), and in gynecology clinic (OR 3.9, CI 2.5–6.1). Sexually transmitted infection testing occurred in 13.2% of visits by women with genitourinary symptoms and was associated with Medicaid (OR 2.3, CI 1.4–3.6), preventive care (OR 2.0, CI 1.2–3.2), patient age less than 25 years (OR 1.7, CI 1.0–2.6), and nonwhite race (OR 1.7, CI 1.0–2.6). Among symptomatic women, vaginal symptoms (OR 4.8, CI 2.6–8.9) and abdominal/pelvic pain (OR 2.5, CI 1.4–4.5) were associated with sexually transmitted infection testing. Between 1997 and 2000, sexually transmitted infection screening rates remained stable. CONCLUSION: Despite national guidelines, sexually transmitted infection testing outpaces screening. Few visits by asymptomatic women under age 25 result in screening. Strategies to improve screening in primary care should target nongynecology settings and non–preventive care visits. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III
Impact of On-Chip Interconnect on the Performance of 3-D Integrated Circuits With Through-Silicon Vias: Part II

3-D integration using through-silicon vias (TSVs) can decrease interconnect length and improve chip performance. In this paper, electrical links consisting of TSVs and horizontal wires are designed, fabricated, and measured to analyze TSV capacitance and link delay. Compact models for the capacitance of a TSV surrounded by variable number of ground TSVs are developed and compared with measurements. The impact of TSV placement and scaling on link performance is further analyzed. The results demonstrate that placing TSVs closer to their drivers can effectively improve the performance of 3-D integrated circuit (3-D IC) links. Moreover, link delay is significantly improved by scaling TSV geometry to the point that 3-D IC links become on-chip wire limited.
Wasp venom is appropriate for immunotherapy of patients with allergic reaction to the European hornet sting.

AIM To identify whether it is the yellow jacket (Vespula germanica) or European hornet (Vespa crabro) venom that induces sensitization in patients with IgE-mediated allergic reaction to the venom from the sting of a European hornet. Since these patients usually have positive skin tests and specific IgE to all vespid venoms, it would be useful to distinguish cross-reactors from non-cross-reactors to perform immunotherapy with the venom that induced the sensitization. METHODS We performed inhibition tests in 24 patients who had experienced anaphylactic reaction after being stung by a European hornet. RESULTS Of 24 patients with allergic reaction after Vespa crabro sting, 17 were sensitized only to epitopes of Vespula germanica venom. Only 4 out of 24 patients were sensitized to epitopes completely cross-reactive with Dolichovespula arenaria venom. CONCLUSION In Slovenia, the vast majority of patients with anaphylactic reaction to Vespa crabro sting seem to be sensitized to Vespula germanica venom. We consider wasp venom an appropriate immunotherapeutic agent for such patients, except for those with proven primary sensitization to specific epitopes of Vespa crabro venom. Fluorescence enzyme immunoassay inhibition should be considered a convenient tool for the identification of primary sensitization in patients allergic to vespid venoms.
Reelin is a target of polyglutamine expanded ataxin-7 in human spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) astrocytes

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is an autosomal-dominant neurodegenerative disorder that results from polyglutamine expansion of the ataxin-7 (ATXN7) protein. Remarkably, although mutant ATXN7 is expressed throughout the body, pathology is restricted primarily to the cerebellum and retina. One major goal has been to identify factors that contribute to the tissue specificity of SCA7. Here we describe the development and use of a human astrocyte cell culture model to identify reelin, a factor intimately involved in the development and maintenance of Purkinje cells and the cerebellum as a whole, as an ATXN7 target gene. We found that polyglutamine expansion decreased ATXN7 occupancy, which correlated with increased levels of histone H2B monoubiquitination, at the reelin promoter. Treatment with trichostatin A, but not other histone deacetylase inhibitors, partially restored reelin transcription and promoted the accumulation of mutant ATXN7 into nuclear inclusions. Our findings suggest that reelin could be a previously unknown factor involved in the tissue specificity of SCA7 and that trichostatin A may ameliorate deleterious effects of the mutant ATXN7 protein by promoting its sequestration away from promoters into nuclear inclusions.
Anterior cruciate ligament tears: evaluation of multiple signs with MR imaging.

PURPOSE To assess the accuracy and reliability of multiple signs of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two independent reviewers retrospectively evaluated 103 sets of ACL MR images for the presence of 22 signs of ACL tears. There were 43 patients with ACL tears and 58 patients whose ACLs were proved to be intact at surgery. Although variable imaging protocols were used, T1- and T2-weighted images were obtained in nearly all patients. Direct nonvisualization, intrinisc ACL abnormalities, associated osseous and cartilage abnormalities, and other indirect signs were evaluated. RESULTS Discontinuity of the ACL in the sagittal and axial planes and failure of the fascicles to parallel the Blumensaat line were the most accurate signs of a tear. Discontinuity of the ACL, disruption of fascicles, a posterolateral tibial bruise, a buckled posterior cruciate ligament, positive posterior cruciate ligament line sign and positive posterior femoral line sign were the best predictors of an ACL tear at logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION Signs other than nonvisualization of the ACL are good predictors of an ACL tear.
Prospective evaluation of postoperative penile rehabilitation: penile length/girth maintenance 1 year following Coloplast Titan inflatable penile prosthesis.

INTRODUCTION The most prevalent long-term complaint after successful inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) surgery is reduction of penile length. The purpose of this study was to evaluate penile measurements in patients whose implantation experience included the aggressive new length measurement technique (NLMT) coupled with postoperative IPP rehabilitation (daily inflation) of the implant for 1 year. Moreover, we aimed to document objective data concerning dimensional changes of the phallus over time. Postoperative IPP rehabilitation has been discussed and presented at meetings, but no multi-institutional prospective data have been published. AIM Our goal was to assess results using the Coloplast Titan IPP, with NLMT, and postoperative rehabilitation. METHODS After IRB approval, we conducted a prospective, three-center study of 40 patients who underwent IPP placement, with NLMT for end organ failure erectile dysfunction with the Coloplast Titan IPP. The patient was instructed to inflate daily for 6 months and then inflate maximally for 1-2 hours daily for 6-12 months. Fifteen penile measurements were taken before and immediately after surgery and at follow-up visits. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Penile length measurements after implantation compared with 12 months postimplantation. RESULTS Penile measurement changes were statistically significantly improved at 12 months as compared with immediately postoperative and at 6 months. A total of 64.5% of subjects were satisfied with their length at 1 year, and 74.2% had perceived penile length that was longer (29%) or the same (45.2%) as prior to the surgery; 61.3% and 16.1% of subjects had increased and unchanged satisfaction, respectively, with penile length as compared with prior to IPP surgery. All but two subjects (93.4%) were satisfied with the overall function and dimensions of their IPP. CONCLUSION This study suggests using the Coloplast Titan IPP with aggressive cylinder sizing, and a postoperative penile rehabilitation inflation protocol may help optimize patient satisfaction and erectile penile measurements.