Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antibody responses to a major Pneumocystis carinii antigen in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with and without P. carinii pneumonia.

Antibody responses to a major purified human Pneumocystis carinii surface antigen (gp95) were determined by ELISA in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. Serum IgG directed against gp95 was measured in 129 consecutive HIV-infected patients who underwent bronchoscopy for evaluation of pulmonary symptoms. Significantly more patients with P. carinii pneumonia (PCP) had detectable antibodies compared with HIV-infected patients without PCP and with HIV-negative controls (50 [66%] of 76 vs. 18 [34%] of 53 and 7 [35%] of 20, respectively; P less than .001), and the level of antibody response was higher (mean optical density ratio: 0.6 vs. 0.23 and 0.2, respectively; P less than .01). Changes in antibody response were investigated in 78 patients for whom serial serum samples taken around the time of bronchoscopy were available. Of the 47 patients with verified PCP, 20 (43%) mounted an antibody response, compared with only 1 (3%) of 31 patients without PCP (P less than .001). This patient had PCP on the basis of clinical criteria, including response to therapy. Thus, despite severe immunosuppression, a proportion of HIV-infected patients with PCP can mount a specific IgG-mediated antibody response to P. carinii.
Detection of urinary biomarkers in reservoir hosts of leptospirosis by capillary electrophoresis‐mass spectrometry

Pathogenic leptospires colonize the renal tubules of reservoir hosts of infection and are excreted via urine into the environment. Asymptomatic reservoir hosts include a wide range of domestic and wild animal species and include cattle, dogs, and rats that can persistently excrete large numbers of pathogenic leptospires over many months. A similar presentation has been observed in humans categorized as “long‐term asymptomatic individuals” as they excreted leptospires in the absence of any clinical symptoms or positive serology.
Physical Activity and Electronic Media Use in the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Case-Control Study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to characterize the physical activity (PA) and electronic media (EM) use habits of a population-based, ascertained sample of youths with diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: For this investigation, the Search for Diabetes in Youth Case-Control study (age: 10–20 y; 55% female) recruited 384 youths with provider-diagnosed type 1 DM, 90 youths with type 2 DM, and 173 healthy control subjects between 2003 and 2006, in 2 US centers. PA and EM use were assessed with a 3-day recall of activities, in 30-minute time blocks. Adherence to current recommendations was determined as a report of ≥2 blocks of moderate/vigorous PA per day and <4 blocks of EM use per day. Differences in PA and EM use for DM/control groups were assessed with adjustment for age, study site, and race/ethnicity. RESULTS: Male subjects with type 2 DM reported lower levels of vigorous PA than did control subjects (1.1 vs 2.3 blocks; P < .05). Compliance with the moderate/vigorous PA recommendation among youths with type 2 DM was lower (68.3%), compared with youths with type 1 DM (81.7%; odds ratio: 0.51 [95% confidence interval: 0.26–1.00]; P = .047) and control subjects (80.4%; odds ratio: 0.48 [95% confidence interval: 0.23–1.02]; P = .05). Rates of compliance with EM use recommendations ranged from 29.5% to 49.1%. CONCLUSION: In this study, large proportions of youths with DM, especially type 2 DM, failed to meet PA and EM use recommendations.
Opposing effects of curcuminoids on serum stimulated and unstimulated angiogenic response

Curcumin is known to be a potent wound healer. Despite this, studies on curcumin using certain model systems have shown it to be anti‐angiogenic. Results of the present investigations suggest that curcumin causes opposing effects on angiogenesis in serum stimulated and unstimulated conditions. The evidence in support of this are: (a) in serum free conditions, curcumin promoted sprouting in rat aortic ring, increased vascular density in CAM and induced morphological changes indicative of angiogenic phenotype in HUVECs and rat aortic endothelial cells in culture, (b) increased the expression of biochemical markers of angiogenesis such as CD 31, E‐selectin, VEGF and VEGFR‐2 in HUVECs on treatment with curcumin, and (c) supplementation of curcumin along with serum caused decrease in CD 31 and E‐selectin levels, downregulation of VEGF, angiopoietin‐1 and VEGFR‐2 and delayed formation of capillary network‐like structure. Proangiogenic effect of the individual components of the natural curcumin differed and the presence of the three components in the natural mixture has a synergistic effect. Effect of curcuminoids in the absence of serum appears to depend on VEGF as (a) anti‐VEGF antibody blocked the effect of curcuminoids (b) curcuminoids caused decrease in PAR modification of VEGF increasing its biological activity. Treatment with curcuminoids in serum‐free conditions resulted in activation of PI3K‐Akt pathway; but in serum‐supplemented condition, curcuminoids caused inhibition of the MAPK pathways thereby inhibiting the expression of angiogenic phenotype. These results suggest that PI3K‐Akt and MAPK pathways involved in the expression of angiogenic phenotype respond differently to the extracellular microenvironment. J. Cell. Physiol. 215: 251–264, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Hardware design and verification techniques for Giga-bit Forward-Error Correction systems on FPGAs

Contemporary and next-generation wireless, wired and optical telecommunication systems rely on sophisticated forward error-correction (FEC) schemes to facilitate operation at particularly low Bit Error Rate (BER). The ever increasing demand for high information throughput rate, combined with requirements for moderate cost and low-power operation, renders the design of FEC systems a challenging task. The definition of the parity check matrix of an LDPC code is a crucial task as it defines both the computational complexity of the decoder and the error correction capabilities. However, the characterization of the corresponding code at low BER is a computationally intensive task that cannot be carried out with software simulation. We here demonstrate procedures that involve hardware acceleration to facilitate code design. In addition to code design, verification of operation at low BER requires strategies to prove correct operation of hardware, thus rendering FPGA prototyping a necessity. This paper demonstrates design techniques and verification strategies that allow proof of operation of a gigabit-rate FEC system at low BER, exploiting the state-of-the-art Virtex-7 technology. It is shown that by occupying up to 70% - 80% percent of slices on a Virtex-7 XC7V485T device, iterative decoding at gigabit rate can be verified.
Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide as Possible Mediator of Relaxation in the Rat Gastric Fundus

Abstract— Relaxations were induced in longitudinal muscle strips of the rat gastric fundus by stimulation of non‐adrenergic non‐cholinergic (NANC) neurons and by administration of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) or isoprenaline. The effect of antiserum against vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP antiserum) and of control serum on these relaxations was investigated. Incubation with VIP antiserum (dilution 1/50) for 1 h almost completely prevented the relaxation by VIP. It partially prevented the relaxation evoked by electrical stimulation while the relaxation induced by isoprenaline was not influenced. Control serum decreased the VIP‐ and stimulation‐induced relaxations much less than did VIP antiserum. In addition, the effect of the putative VIP antagonist (4Cl‐D‐Phe6, Leu17) VIP was studied on the relaxations induced by NANC neuron stimulation and by VIP. The VIP antagonist (3.10−5 M, incubation time 10 min) had a relaxatory effect itself but had no influence on either VIP‐ or stimulation‐induced relaxations. The results with VIP antiserum confirm the involvement of VIP in the inhibitory NANC neurotransmission of the rat gastric fundus.
A comparison of screening tools for the assessment of Mild Cognitive Impairment: Preliminary findings

We report a pilot investigation into the utility of screening tools in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the novel Computer-Administered Neuropsychological Screen for Mild Cognitive Impairment (CANS-MCI) were administered to 20 elderly controls and 15 MCI cases. Non-parametric Mann–Whitney U-tests showed significant differences between groups (p < .0001) on the CANS-MCI and MoCA. The ACE-R and MoCA total scores showed high sensitivity (90%) to MCI. Area under the curve was consistently significant in discriminating controls and MCI for memory scores across all screening instruments. A useful profile of quantitative and qualitative information pertaining to cognitive functioning in MCI can be obtained with the MoCA, ACE-R, and CANS-MCI.
Sleep Duration and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-analysis of Prospective Studies

OBJECTIVE It remains unclear how many hours of sleep are associated with the lowest risk of type 2 diabetes. This meta-analysis was performed to assess the dose-response relationship between sleep duration and risk of type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS PubMed and Embase were searched up to 20 March 2014 for prospective observational studies that assessed the relationship of sleep duration and risk of type 2 diabetes. Both semiparametric and parametric methods were used. RESULTS Ten articles with 11 reports were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. A total of 18,443 incident cases of type 2 diabetes were ascertained among 482,502 participants with follow-up periods ranging from 2.5 to 16 years. A U-shaped dose-response relationship was observed between sleep duration and risk of type 2 diabetes, with the lowest risk observed at a sleep duration category of 7–8 h per day. Compared with 7-h sleep duration per day, the pooled relative risks for type 2 diabetes were 1.09 (95% CI 1.04–1.15) for each 1-h shorter sleep duration among individuals who slept <7 h per day and 1.14 (1.03–1.26) for each 1-h increment of sleep duration among individuals with longer sleep duration. CONCLUSIONS Our dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies shows a U-shaped relationship between sleep duration and risk of type 2 diabetes, with the lowest type 2 diabetes risk at 7–8 h per day of sleep duration. Both short and long sleep duration are associated with a significantly increased risk of type 2 diabetes, underscoring the importance of appropriate sleep duration in the delay or prevention of type 2 diabetes.
Parents in transition: Experiences of parents of young people with a liver transplant transferring to adult services

Predictors of successful transition from pediatric to adult services include ability to self‐manage and engage with healthcare services. Parents have a key role in healthcare management throughout childhood and adolescence including encouraging development of self‐management skills in their children. Transition to adult services can be challenging for parents and young people, yet parents’ views regarding transition remain largely unexplored. Nine parents of pediatric liver transplant recipients (15.2–25.1 yr) participated in semistructured interviews. Interviews were analyzed using IPA. Analysis revealed three key themes: “emotional impact of transplantation,” “protection vs. independence,” and “ending relationships and changing roles. ” Parents expressed the dichotomous nature of the desire to promote independence in their child while still maintaining control and protection, and discussed how changing roles and relationships were difficult to navigate. Parents are important facilitators of young people's development of self‐management skills for successful transfer to adult services. Parents should be supported to move from a “managerial” to a “supervisory” role during transition to help young people engage independently with the healthcare team. Findings support the development of interventions for parents to emphasize their role in transition and guide the transfer of self‐management skills from parent to young person.
Baseline Quality of Life and Anxiety in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND Solid organ transplant recipients on high doses of immunosuppression are at increased risk for the development of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC). OBJECTIVE The objective was to assess the possible factors impacting quality of life (QOL) in solid organ transplant recipients. METHODS Patients were seen in a dermatology clinic integrated within the transplant center at a university-based hospital. One anxiety questionnaire and three QOL questionnaires were administered to each patient. A regression model was used to determine possible predictors of anxiety and lower QOL. RESULTS The baseline scores on the QOL instruments and anxiety questionnaire indicate poor organ-specific and general QOL as well as high levels of anxiety. Time since transplant was predictive of lower QOL as measured by Skindex-16 (p<.01). While not significant, number of NMSCs correlated with higher anxiety as measured by the STAI (p=.055). CONCLUSIONS While transplant patients enjoy longer survival, the quality of the extended life has room for improvement. Future studies will determine how QOL changes over time as these patients develop more numerous and aggressive skin cancers. Intervention with regular screening may not only lessen morbidity associated with skin cancer but may improve overall QOL in the posttransplant period.
Imaging markers for Alzheimer disease

Revised diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer disease (AD) acknowledge a key role of imaging biomarkers for early diagnosis. Diagnostic accuracy depends on which marker (i.e., amyloid imaging, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose [FDG]-PET, SPECT, MRI) as well as how it is measured (“metric”: visual, manual, semiautomated, or automated segmentation/computation). We evaluated diagnostic accuracy of marker vs metric in separating AD from healthy and prognostic accuracy to predict progression in mild cognitive impairment. The outcome measure was positive (negative) likelihood ratio, LR+ (LR−), defined as the ratio between the probability of positive (negative) test outcome in patients and the probability of positive (negative) test outcome in healthy controls. Diagnostic LR+ of markers was between 4.4 and 9.4 and LR− between 0.25 and 0.08, whereas prognostic LR+ and LR− were between 1.7 and 7.5, and 0.50 and 0.11, respectively. Within metrics, LRs varied up to 100-fold: LR+ from approximately 1 to 100; LR− from approximately 1.00 to 0.01. Markers accounted for 11% and 18% of diagnostic and prognostic variance of LR+ and 16% and 24% of LR−. Across all markers, metrics accounted for an equal or larger amount of variance than markers: 13% and 62% of diagnostic and prognostic variance of LR+, and 29% and 18% of LR−. Within markers, the largest proportion of diagnostic LR+ and LR− variability was within 18F-FDG-PET and MRI metrics, respectively. Diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of imaging AD biomarkers is at least as dependent on how the biomarker is measured as on the biomarker itself. Standard operating procedures are key to biomarker use in the clinical routine and drug trials.
Rapid adaptive divergence between ecotypes of an aquatic isopod inferred from FST–QST analysis

Divergent natural selection is often thought to be the principal factor driving phenotypic differentiation between populations. We studied two ecotypes of the aquatic isopod Asellus aquaticus which have diverged in parallel in several Swedish lakes. In these lakes, isopods from reed belts along the shores colonized new stonewort stands in the centre of the lakes and rapid phenotypic changes in size and pigmentation followed after colonization. We investigated if selection was likely to be responsible for these observed phenotypic changes using indirect inferences of selection (FST–QST analysis). Average QST for seven quantitative traits were higher than the average FST between ecotypes for putatively neutral markers (AFLPs). This suggests that divergent natural selection has played an important role during this rapid diversification. In contrast, the average QST between the different reed ecotype populations was not significantly different from the mean FST. Genetic drift could therefore not be excluded as an explanation for the minor differences between allopatric populations inhabiting the same source habitat. We complemented this traditional FST–QST approach by comparing the FST distributions across all loci (n = 67–71) with the QST for each of the seven traits. This analysis revealed that pigmentation traits had diverged to a greater extent and at higher evolutionary rates than size‐related morphological traits. In conclusion, this extended and detailed type of FST–QST analysis provides a powerful method to infer adaptive phenotypic divergence between populations. However, indirect inferences about the operation of divergent selection should be analyzed on a per‐trait basis and complemented with detailed ecological information.
Improving many-to-one traffic flowing in multi-hop 802.15.4 WSNs using a MAC-level fair scheduling

Collecting data from a multitude of sensors is very common in multi-hop wireless sensor network (WSN) applications; the typical many-to-one traffic consists of routes forming a reverse tree rooted in the sink. In such a scenario, both congestion and unfairness may significantly impact the network performance. This is particularly true with IEEE 802.15. 4-based WSNs since this standard, tailored to low data rate scenarios, is not effective in handling many-to-one as well as data-intensive traffics. This paper proposes a novel, lightweight, distributed algorithm focused on enhancing fairness in a 802.15. 4-based WSN. It can be efficiently implemented in e.g. ZigBee devices without requiring any modification to the 802.15. 4 MAC itself. Results extracted from simulations demonstrate how this algorithm enhances network performance.
The EAGLE model for Hungary - a global perspective

In this paper we adopt the Hungarian version of the EAGLE (Euro Area GLobal Economy) model. The version of the EAGLE model used in this paper allows for the high import content of export a typical feature of small open economies such as Hungary. We study the effects of four globally important shocks on Hungary: i) a slowdown of the Chinese economy, ii) more restrictive US monetary policy, iii) a reduction in oil prices, and iv) more protectionist US trade policy. We found these policies to have non-negligible indirect e/ects (beyond the relatively small direct ones) on Hungary mostly due to the workings of the shock to the eurozone which is our main trade partner.
Maintaining sexuality in menopause

Sexual health in the menopause is a medical challenge because the progressive decline of sexual hormones interacts with the aging process and many psychosocial stressors modulate vulnerability for sexual symptoms (low sexual desire, poor arousal and lubrication, dyspareunia, orgasmic dysfunction and lack of satisfaction). In clinical practice, a coordinated approach is needed to optimally manage the risk for developing female sexual dysfunction (FSD), especially when chronic conditions are present. Biomedical and psychosocial interventions include general education, recognition of signs and symptoms, promotion of health, attention to the partner and individualization of treatment. Counselling to overcome personal and relational difficulties should be always combined with hormonal and non-hormonal strategies to maximize biological signals driving the sexual response. By enhancing women’s abilities to cope with sexual changes at midlife, health care providers may significantly optimize healthy aging and partnership.
The Conventional Past, Behavioral Present, and Algorithmic Future of Risk and Finance

Modern finance is a relatively young field, only a few decades old, and already it has gone through two phase transitions and is perhaps poised to undergo a third. The first transition starting from the 1950s brought modern portfolio theory into the mainstream with econometric and optimization based approaches to portfolio construction and risk management. The second transition starting from the 1990s shifted those conventional approaches based on rational investors into a focus on the actual psychological factors driving investor behavior along with the important concept of limits to arbitrage. The third transition happening now aims to take an algorithmic approach to finance, looking to explore how and why investor heuristics evolve and predominate, how automated processes can respond to unpredictable events, and what the effects will be on the markets as ever-faster computers trained on ever-larger data sets become the predominant and nearly real-time traders.
A heat‐inducible CRE/LOXP gene induction system in medaka

We established three lines of transgenic medaka, a heat‐shock element (HSE) monitor line (hse‐GFP line), heat‐inducible driver lines (hse‐cre lines), and effector lines (gapdh‐loxP[DsRed]‐GFP lines). We employed these to comprehensively analyze gene induction at different time points in various tissues. These analyses demonstrate a good response of synthetic HSEs by heat treatment during embryogenesis and the mosaic gene induction by cre/loxP‐mediated recombination, thus providing practical information regarding the feasibility of a heat‐inducible cre/loxP‐mediated system in medaka. We also activated recombination by local heat‐treatment using a metal probe and an infrared laser. Our results collectively indicate that these lines allow us to perform lineage tracing and mosaic analysis and provide the platform to investigate gene functions at later developmental stage and adult. genesis 51:59–67, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Substrate Specificity Analysis of Endoplasmic Reticulum Glucosidase II Using Synthetic High Mannose-type Glycans*

Glucosidase II (Glc'ase II) is a glycan-processing enzyme that trims two α1,3-linked Glc residues in succession from the glycoprotein oligosaccharide Glc2Man9GlcNAc2 to give Glc1Man9GlcNAc2 and Man9GlcNAc2 in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Monoglucosylated glycans, such as Glc1-Man9GlcNAc2, generated by this process play a key role in glycoprotein quality control in the ER, because they are primary ligands for the lectin chaperones calnexin (CNX) and calreticulin (CRT). A precise analysis of the substrate specificity of Glc'ase II is expected to further our understanding of the molecular basis to glycoprotein quality control, because Glc'ase II potentially competes with CNX/CRT for the same glycans, Glc1Man7–9GlcNAc2. In this study, a quantitative analysis of the specificity of Glc'ase II using a series of structurally defined synthetic glycans was carried out. In the presence of CRT, Glc'ase II-mediated trimming from Glc2Man9GlcNAc2 stopped at Glc1Man9GlcNAc2, supporting the notion that the glycan structure delivered to the CNX/CRT cycle is Glc1Man9GlcNAc2. Unexpectedly, our experiments showed that Glc1Man8(B)GlcNAc2 had nearly the same reactivity as Glc1Man9GlcNAc2, which was markedly greater than that of its positional isomer Glc1Man8(C)GlcNAc2. An analysis with glycoprotein-like probes revealed the stepwise formation of Glc1Man9GlcNAc2 and Man9GlcNAc2 from Glc2Man9GlcNAc2, even in the presence of CRT. It was also shown that Glc1Man8(B)GlcNAc2 had even greater reactivity than Glc1Man9GlcNAc2 at the glycoprotein level. Moreover, inhibitory activities by nonglucosylated glycans suggested that Glc'ase II recognized the C arm (Manα1, 2Manα1, 6Man-) of high mannose-type glycans.