Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pediatric Nephrology: Highlights for the General Practitioner

The current special issue is written as a practical guide for the health care providers managing children with kidney diseases. In this issue, the guest editors have emphasized clinical skills, diagnostic procedures, treatment, long-term followup as well as underlying pathophysiology with the general practitioner in mind. Since the call for manuscripts by the journal, we received 27 excellent submissions. We selected 9 papers to include in this special issue. We chose only those that we deemed appropriate to the scope that we outlined for this special issue. The guest editors who are leading experts in the field of pediatric nephrology did a terrific job writing their designated sections. A. J. Barakat's excellent perspective on presentation of children with renal disease is a practical guideline for referral to the specialist. S. Habib reviews controversies in the management of urinary tract infection. R. Quigley provides a comprehensive yet concrete review about children with chronic kidney disease. J. Gattineni discusses thoroughly the management of children presenting with proteinuria and hematuria. In my section on hypertension, I tried to provide a comprehensive practical guide that can be used in the management of a child with elevated blood pressure. The nine papers that we selected for publication were outstanding. Y. R. Bhat et al. discuss the antenatal Bartter syndrome in a succinct fashion. D. Morin et al. provide a detailed review on nephrogenic SIADH, and kidney disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus are very well discussed by A. B. Dart et al. The approach to a patient with acute glomerulonephritis is also well covered by T. R. Welch. On behalf of the contributing authors, we hope that the readership will use our contribution to help them manage children with kidney disease.
Genetic Variation Associated with Longer Telomere Length Increases Risk of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Background: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia in the Western world. Shorter mean telomere length in leukemic cells has been associated with more aggressive disease. Germline polymorphisms in telomere maintenance genes affect telomere length and may contribute to CLL susceptibility. Methods: We collected genome-wide data from two groups of patients with CLL (N = 273) and two control populations (N = 5,725). In ancestry-adjusted case–control comparisons, we analyzed eight SNPs in genes definitively associated with inter-individual variation in leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in prior genome-wide association studies: ACYP2, TERC, NAF1, TERT, OBFC1, CTC1, ZNF208, and RTEL1. Results: Three of the eight LTL-associated SNPs were associated with CLL risk at P < 0.05, including those near: TERC [OR, 1.46; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.15–1.86; P = 1.8 × 10−3], TERT (OR = 1.23; 95% CI, 1.02–1.48; P = 0.030), and OBFC1 (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.08–1.71; P = 9.6 × 10−3). Using a weighted linear combination of the eight LTL-associated SNPs, we observed that CLL patients were predisposed to longer LTL than controls in both case–control sets (P = 9.4 × 10−4 and 0.032, respectively). CLL risk increased monotonically with increasing quintiles of the weighted linear combination. Conclusions: Genetic variants in TERC, TERT, and OBFC1 are associated with both longer LTL and increased CLL risk. Because the human CST complex competes with shelterin for telomeric DNA, future work should explore the role of OBFC1 and other CST complex genes in leukemogenesis. Impact: A genetic predisposition to longer telomere length is associated with an increased risk of CLL, suggesting that the role of telomere length in CLL etiology may be distinct from its role in disease progression. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(7); 1043–9. ©2016 AACR.
New RFID pick-to-light system: Operating characteristics and future potential

The recent changes in customers' orders, which on one hand are becoming more frequent and on the other require smaller quantities of several products, inevitably impact the job of warehouse picking managers, who find themselves in the necessary position to satisfy a high pick volume in a short time window. Moreover, warehouse manual picking is traditionally characterized by a high human factor impact; which derives that improving such a system requires a reduction of both orders processing time and human possible errors. In this sense, a possible strategy can be the development and employment of technological systems able to support operators during their picking tours. The aim of this study is to present a new pick-to-light design solution capable of driving different operators through their activities, preventing or reducing errors by a new real-time control and alert system, based on the main potentialities of the RFID technology. After the description of the technical characteristics and of the operation of the new solution, a qualitative comparison with other existing paperless picking systems is also proposed.
Spatial and Temporal Gene Expression Differences in Core and Periinfarct Areas in Experimental Stroke: A Microarray Analysis

Background A large number of genes are regulated to promote brain repair following stroke. The thorough analysis of this process can help identify new markers and develop therapeutic strategies. This study analyzes gene expression following experimental stroke. Methodology/Principal Findings A microarray study of gene expression in the core, periinfarct and contralateral cortex was performed in adult Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 60) after 24 hours (acute phase) or 3 days (delayed stage) of permanent middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion. Independent qRT-PCR validation (n = 12) was performed for 22 of the genes. Functional data were evaluated by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. The number of genes differentially expressed was 2,612 (24 h) and 5,717 (3 d) in the core; and 3,505 (24 h) and 1,686 (3 d) in the periinfarct area (logFC>|1|; adjP<0.05). Expression of many neurovascular unit development genes was altered at 24 h and 3 d including HES2, OLIG2, LINGO1 and NOGO-A; chemokines like CXCL1 and CXCL12, stress-response genes like HIF-1A, and trophic factors like BDNF or BMP4. Nearly half of the detected genes (43%) had not been associated with stroke previously. Conclusions This comprehensive study of gene regulation in the core and periinfarct areas at different times following permanent MCA occlusion provides new data that can be helpful in translational research.
The two-sided effect of financial globalization on output volatility

This paper provides evidence for a significant relation between international financial markets integration and output volatility. In the framework of a threshold model, it is empirically shown that this relation depends on the financial risk of a country as perceived by investors. In order to proxy financial risk, a financial risk rating employed by multinational firms, banks, and equity and currency traders is used. This rating relies on debt to GDP ratios amongst other indicators. In countries with low financial risk, financial openness decreases output volatility while financial openness increases output volatility in countries with high financial risk. Extensive robustness checks confirm this result.
Tube-based model predictive control for nonlinear systems with unstructured uncertainty

This paper extends tube-based model predictive control methodology to the control of nonlinear systems with unmodelled dynamics. The problem of obtaining robustness against unstructured uncertainty is converted into the easier problem of achieving robustness against an (additional) bounded disturbance while satisfying an (additional) output constraint. The bound on the disturbance and the output constraint depend on the magnitude of the uncertainty. Robustness against the uncertainty is achieved by using tube-based model predictive control. Simulation experiments concerning the control of a solar collector plant illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.
Context-aware opportunistic routing in mobile ad-hoc networks incorporating node mobility

Opportunistic routing (OR) employs a list of candidates to improve reliability of wireless transmission. However, list-based OR features restrict the freedom of opportunism, since only the listed nodes can compete for packet forwarding. Additionally, the list is statically generated based on a single metric prior to data transmission, which is not appropriate for mobile ad-hoc networks. This paper provides a thorough performance evaluation of a new protocol - Context-aware Opportunistic Routing (COR). The contributions of COR are threefold. First, it uses various types of context information simultaneously such as link quality, geographic progress, and residual energy of nodes to make routing decisions. Second, it allows all qualified nodes to participate in packet forwarding. Third, it exploits the relative mobility of nodes to further improve performance. Simulation results show that COR can provide efficient routing in mobile environments, and it outperforms existing solutions that solely rely on a single metric by nearly 20-40 %.
Descriptive epidemiology of World Health Organization grades II and III intracranial meningiomas in the United States.

BACKGROUND Because World Health Organization (WHO) grades II and III meningiomas are relatively uncommon, there is limited literature on the descriptive epidemiology of these tumors, and the existing literature predates the 2000 WHO classification revisions. Our purpose was to provide a modern, population-based study of the descriptive epidemiology of WHO II and III meningiomas in the United States. METHODS The Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS) was queried for intracranial meningiomas categorized by WHO grade for the 2004--2010 study period. Age-adjusted incidence (95% confidence interval in parentheses) per 100,000 population was calculated by age, sex, race, and ethnicity. Annual percent change (APC) was calculated using Joinpoint. RESULTS From 2004 to 2010, the incidence of WHO II intracranial meningiomas increased from 0.28 (95% CI, 0.27--0.29) to 0.30 (95% CI, 0.28-0.32), representing an APC of 3.6% (95%CI, 0.8%-6.5%). Conversely, from 2000-2010, the incidence of WHO III meningiomas decreased from 0.13 (95% CI, 0.11-0.14) to 0.06 (95%CI, 0.06-0.07), representing an APC of -5.4% (95% CI, -6.8% to -4.0%). From 2004 to 2010, the overall proportion of WHO I, II, and III intracranial meningiomas was 94.6%, 4.2%, and 1.2%, respectively. For WHO II/III meningiomas, females in the 35-64 year age group had a higher incidence than males in the same age group, whereas males in the ≥ 75 year age group ≥ had a higher incidence. Black and Asian Pacific Islander races were both associated with the highest incidence of WHO II/III meningiomas. Hispanic ethnicity was not associated with any difference in incidence. CONCLUSION This study presents the most comprehensive evaluation of the modern descriptive epidemiology of WHO II and III meningiomas. Temporal trends likely reflect the 2000 WHO histological criteria revisions.
Stimulation of Fengycin-Type Antifungal Lipopeptides in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens in the Presence of the Maize Fungal Pathogen Rhizomucor variabilis

Most isolates belonging to the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subsp. plantarum clade retain the potential to produce a vast array of structurally diverse antimicrobial compounds that largely contribute to their efficacy as biocontrol agents against numerous plant fungal pathogens. In that context, the role of cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs) has been well-documented but still little is known about the impact of interactions with other soil-inhabiting microbes on the expression of these molecules. In this work, we wanted to investigate the antagonistic activity developed by this bacterium against Rhizomucor variabilis, a pathogen isolated from diseased maize cobs in Democratic Republic of Congo. Our data show that fengycins are the major compounds involved in the inhibitory activity but also that production of this type of CLP is significantly upregulated when co-cultured with the fungus compared to pure cultures. B. amyloliquefaciens is thus able to perceive fungal molecules that are emitted and, as a response, up-regulates the biosynthesis of some specific components of its antimicrobial arsenal.
Pathological consequences of systemic measles virus infection

The identification of poliovirus receptor‐like 4 (PVRL4) as the second natural receptor for measles virus (MV) has closed a major gap in our understanding of measles pathogenesis, and explains how this predominantly lymphotropic virus breaks through epithelial barriers to transmit to a susceptible host. Advances in the development of wild‐type, recombinant MVs which express fluorescent proteins making infected cells readily detectable in living tissues and animals, has also increased our understanding of this important and highly transmissible human disease. Thus, it is timely to review how these advances have provided new insights into MV infection of immune, epithelial and neural cells. This demands access to primate samples that help us understand the early and acute stages of the disease, which are challenging to dissect due to the mild/self‐limiting nature of the infection. It also requires well‐characterized and rather rare human tissue samples from patients who succumb to neurological sequelae to help study the consequences of the long‐term persistence of this RNA virus in vivo. Collectively, these studies have provided unique insights into how the use of two cellular receptors, CD150 and PVRL4, governs the in vivo tissue‐specific temporal patterns of virus spread and resulting pathological lesions. Analysis of tissue samples has also demonstrated the importance of differing mechanisms of virus cell‐to‐cell spread within lymphoid, epithelial and neural tissues in the dissemination of MV during acute and long‐term persistent infections. Given the incentive to eradicate MV globally, and the inevitable question as to whether or not vaccination should cease in light of the existence of closely related morbilliviruses, a thorough understanding of measles pathological lesions is essential. Copyright © 2014 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Interleukin 12 as an Adjuvant to WI-1 Adhesin Immunization Augments Delayed-Type Hypersensitivity, Shifts the Subclass Distribution of Immunoglobulin G Antibodies, and Enhances Protective Immunity to Blastomyces dermatitidisInfection

ABSTRACT Cell-mediated immunity is pivotal in host resistance toBlastomyces dermatitidis infection. Immunization of mice with the WI-1 adhesin enhances resistance against experimental pulmonary infection but elicits features of a mixed T-helper-cell immune response. Immune mice acquire delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) but also high titers of WI-1-specific immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) and IgG2b, a result indicative of T-helper-2 cellular immunity. We report that interleukin-12, used as an adjuvant for WI-1 immunization, augments DTH, shifts the balance of the T-helper phenotype toward Th1, and enhances resistance to B. dermatitidis infection.
Reflective functioning in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) – preliminary findings of a comparison between reflective functioning (RF) in general and OCD-specific reflective functioning

Several scales for rating the reflective function (RF) in different psychiatric syndromes (symptom-specific reflective function [SRF]) have been developed. In this study, the validity of a rating instrument for measuring obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD)-specific RF (OCD-SRF) was assessed. The study was conducted at two outpatient psychiatric facilities. A total of 18 women and 12 men were interviewed with adult attachment interview and the OCD–SRF interview. The patients also rated their symptoms on a self-rating scale (Yale-Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale [Y-BOCS]). The results indicated that there was a significant difference between the levels of RF in general and SRF. No correlations between Y-BOCS and RF or SRF were found. Illustrations of ratings are presented. The difference between RF and SRF, the relationship between SRF and symptom checklists, and a relational perspective on symptoms in OCD were discussed.
Shooter localization in wireless sensor networks

Shooter localization is considered in a wireless network of microphones. Both the acoustic muzzle blast (MB) from the gunfire and the ballistic shock wave (SW) from the bullet can be detected by the microphones and are considered as measurements. The MB measurements give rise to a standard sensor network problem, similar to time difference of arrivals in cellular phone networks, and the localization accuracy is good provided that the sensors are well synchronized compared to the MB detection accuracy. The detection times of the SW depend on both shooter position and aiming angle, and we demonstrate that estimation based on these measurements can potentially also reveal the shooting direction beside the position, but again this requires good synchronization. We propose to base the estimation on the time difference of MB and SW at each sensor, which becomes insensitive to synchronization. Cramér-Rao lower bound analysis indicates how a lower bound of the root mean square error depends on the synchronization error for MB and MB-SW differences, respectively. Results from field trials with different type of ammunition show excellent accuracy of the proposed method for both the position and the aiming angle of the shooter.
Cache Privacy in Named-Data Networking

Content-Centric Networking (CCN) is an alternative to host-centric networking exemplified by today's Internet. CCN emphasizes content distribution by making content directly addressable. Named-Data Networking (NDN) is an example of CCN being considered as a candidate next-generation Internet architecture. One key NDN feature is router-side content caching that optimizes bandwidth consumption, reduces congestion and provides fast fetching for popular content. Unfortunately, the same feature is also detrimental to privacy of both consumers and producers of content. As we show in this paper, simple and difficult-to-detect timing attacks can exploit NDN routers as "oracles" and allow the adversary to learn whether a nearby consumer recently requested certain content. Similarly, probing attacks that target adjacent content producers can be used to discover whether certain content has been recently fetched. After analyzing the scope and feasibility of such attacks, we propose and evaluate some efficient countermeasures that offer quantifiable privacy guarantees while retaining key features of NDN.
Smad6 Recruits Transcription Corepressor CtBP To Repress Bone Morphogenetic Protein-Induced Transcription

ABSTRACT Smad6 and Smad7 are inhibitory Smads induced by transforming growth factor β-Smad signal transduction pathways in a negative-feedback mechanism. Previously it has been thought that inhibitory Smads bind to the type I receptor and block the phosphorylation of receptor-activated Smads, thereby inhibiting the initiation of Smad signaling. Conversely, few studies have suggested the possible nuclear functions of inhibitory Smads. Here, we present compelling evidence demonstrating that Smad6 repressed bone morphogenetic protein-induced Id1 transcription through recruiting transcriptional corepressor C-terminal binding protein (CtBP). A consensus CtBP-binding motif, PLDLS, was identified in the linker region of Smad6. Our findings show that mutation in the motif abolished the Smad6 binding to CtBP and subsequently its repressor activity of transcription. We conclude that the nuclear functions and physical interaction of Smad6 and CtBP provide a novel mechanism for the transcriptional regulation by inhibitory Smads.
Validation of the Personal Impact Health Assessment Questionnaire in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis in Kerman, Iran

Hastalar ve yontemler: Bu capraz kesitli calismaya Ekim 2006 ve Şubat 2007 tarihleri arasinda Iran, Kerman’da bir romatoloji sevk kliniginde 100 romatoid artrit (RA) hastasina (80 kadin, 20 erkek; ort. yas 51; dagilim 20-78 yil) ait elde edilen veriler dahil edildi. Bu calisma bes asamadan olusuyordu; (i) ceviri ve yeniden ceviri; (ii) ulkedeki uzman romatologlarin onerilerinin kulturel uyarlamasi; (iii) 20 hasta ile derin mulakat yontemi ile yuzeysel gecerliligin degerlendirilmesi; (iv) anketin guvenilirliginin ve ic tutarliliginin degerlendirilmesi ve (v) faktorel analiz ile icerigin ve yapisal gecerliligin degerlendirilmesi. Kisisel SDA anketinin sonuclari, Kisa Form Saglik Anketi (SF-36) ve Gorsel Analog Olcegi (GAO) ile karsilastirildi.
Common visual problems in children with disability

Children with disability are at a substantially higher risk of visual impairment (VI) (10.5% compared with 0.16%) but also of ocular disorders of all types, including refractive errors and strabismus. The aetiology of VI in children with disability reflects that of the general population and includes cerebral VI, optic atrophy, as well as primary visual disorders such as retinal dystrophies and structural eye anomalies. VI and other potentially correctable ocular disorders may not be recognised without careful assessment and are frequently unidentified in children with complex needs. Although assessment may be more challenging than in other children, identifying these potential additional barriers to learning and development may be critical. There is a need to develop clearer guidelines, referral pathways and closer working between all professionals involved in the care of children with disability and visual disorders to improve our focus on the assessment of vision and outcomes for children with disability.
Fetal Electrocardiogram Extraction by Local Projections in Embedding Spaces

Because the difference among mother electrocardiogram (MECG)' attractors, fetal ECG (FECG)psilas and other noise's, a local linear projection technique is presented for extraction FECG from an abdominal ECG recording of a pregnant woman. The basic idea of the technique is the identification of the hyperplane containing the FECG signal and projection the noisy data onto this manifold. Visual test results obtained from mimic and real ECG signals show that the proposed algorithm is capable of reliably extracting the FECG from one lead only. Also its performance is compared to Widrowpsilas multi-reference adaptive filtering method. The experimental outcome demonstrates the power of the technique in this important biomedical application.
The practical application of LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robotics kits: does it enhance undergraduate computing students' engagement in learning the Java programming language?

This research investigates the extent to which the practical application of robotics affects undergraduate computing students' engagement in learning the Java programming language. Current literature suggests that the practical application of objects enables students to engage and understand concepts within engineering, robotics and computing disciplines easier than purely theoretical teaching methods. This research measures student engagement based on affective, behavioural, cognitive and performance engagement factors. Questionnaires, interviews and observations were exercised in order to explore the reasons that student engagement is affected. The findings suggest that the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robotics are positively engaging students to learn the Java programming language at an undergraduate level. Negative aspects, of limitations and non-participation, may be explained through external factors including the structure of the module and peer and social pressure.