Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pregnancy and perinatal outcomes among women with multiple sclerosis: a retrospective case-controlled study in South Hungary

Abstract Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the connections between multiple sclerosis (MS) and fertility, pregnancy. Methods: The case histories and pregnancy complications in a sample of 65 treatment-naive pregnant women with MS in the period 1998–2012 were compared with an age-matched case-controlled analysis. Comparisons were made between primigravidas and multigravidas subjects. Results: Our results revealed a higher rate of miscarriage (18.46%) in the first trimester in women with MS, and intrauterine death (7.69%) in the third trimester, as compared with women without MS (p < 0.001 and p = 0.035). Conclusions: These findings suggest that, the risk of miscarriages and intrauterine death may be disease-related not drug-related feature. Further studies are needed to determine to possible associated factors of miscarriages.
Genetic Relatedness and Superantigen Expression in Group A Streptococcus Serotype M1 Isolates from Patients with Severe and Nonsevere Invasive Diseases

ABSTRACT The relatedness of group A streptococcal (GAS) strains isolated from 35 Canadian patients with invasive disease of different severity was investigated by a variety of molecular methods. All patients were infected with M1T1 strains and, based on clinical criteria, were classified as severe (n = 21) and nonsevere (n = 14) invasive GAS infection cases. All the M1 strains studied had the emm1.0 allele and the same streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin (Spe) genotype,speA+ speB+ speC speF+speG+ speH smeZ+ ssa. All isolates had the same speA allotype, speA2. The randomly amplified polymorphic DNA banding pattern with two different primers was identical for all strains, and pulsed field gel electrophoresis analysis showed that 33 and 30 isolates had identical banding patterns after DNA digestion with SfiI or SmaI, respectively; the nonidentical isolates differed from the main pattern by only one band. A relatively high degree of polymorphism in specific regions of the sic gene was observed among isolates; however, this polymorphism was not associated with disease severity. Likewise, although the phenotypic expression of SpeA, SpeB, and SpeF proteins varied among the M1T1 isolates, there was no correlation between the amount of Spe expressed and disease severity. Importantly, mitogenic and cytokine responses induced by partially purified bacterial culture supernatants containing a mixture of expressed superantigens were very similar for isolates from severe and nonsevere cases (P > 0.1). Together, the data indicate that highly related invasive M1T1 isolates, some indistinguishable, can cause disease of varying severity in different individuals. These findings underscore the contribution of host factors to the outcome of invasive GAS infections.
Adiponectin Levels and the Risk of Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Animal studies and small controlled studies in humans suggest that adiponectin may regulate blood pressure via brain-mediated and endothelium-mediated mechanisms. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the epidemiological evidence on plasma adiponectin levels and hypertension in free-living adult population. A systematic search of MEDLINE and EMBASE, up to February 2013, identified 43 nonprospective and 5 prospective studies that included 17 598 adults (8220 with hypertension; mean age 19–69 years; and mean body mass index 22–38 kg/m2). Two investigators independently extracted data on adiponectin levels by hypertension status and dose–response relationship. We used a random-effects model to compute the weighted mean difference in adiponectin levels between adults with hypertension and normotensive adults and a 2-stage generalized least-square trend methods to compute the odds ratio of hypertension per 1 µg/mL increase in adiponectin. Adults with hypertension had 1.64 µg/mL (95% confidence interval, −2.07, −1.21) lower adiponectin levels than normotensive adults. Every 1 µg/mL increase in adiponectin levels was associated with 6% reduced risk of hypertension (95% confidence interval, 0.92, 0.97). These findings were consistent across study design and characteristics, including age, sex, and body mass index (P>0.05). However, our meta-analysis was limited by unexplained large between-study heterogeneity, a small number of prospective studies, and selective reporting of dose–response data. In conclusion, epidemiological evidence suggests that plasma adiponectin level is a biomarker and possible mediator in the development of adiposity-related hypertension. The question remains as to adiponectin as a potential therapeutic target and its relationship with other adipokines in blood pressure regulation.
Social Support, Acculturation, and Optimism

Purpose: This study developed and tested a theory to better understand positive health practices (PHP) among Asian Americans aged 18 to 21 years. It tested theoretical relationships postulated between PHP and (a) social support (SS), (b) optimism, and (c) acculturation, and between SS and optimism and acculturation. Optimism and acculturation were also tested as possible mediators in the relationship between SS and PHP. Design: A correlational study design was used. A convenience sample of 163 Asian college students in an urban setting completed four questionnaires assessing SS, PHP, optimism, and acculturation and one demographic questionnaire. Findings: There were statistically significant positive relationships between SS and optimism with PHP, between acculturation and PHP, and between optimism and SS. Optimism mediated the relationship between SS and PHP, whereas acculturation did not. Discussion/Conclusion: Findings extend knowledge regarding these relationships to a defined population of Asian Americans aged 18 to 21 years. Implications for Further Research: Findings contribute to a more comprehensive knowledge base regarding health practices among Asian Americans. The theoretical and empirical findings of this study provide the direction for future research as well. Further studies need to be conducted to identify and test other mediators in order to better understand the relationship between these two variables.
Silver nanowire strain sensors for wearable body motion tracking

This paper demonstrates a wearable body motion tracking technology in the form of data glove to measure the instantaneous bending positions of individual finger knuckles. Attached to the glove is a highly stretchable and flexible silver nanowire (AgNW) based capacitive strain sensor which can adapt to curvilinear surfaces. The sensor shows a linear response to large tensile strain up to 60% with less than 5 msec response time. Such kind of merits enable many applications, e.g. Virtue Reality, gaming, and robot control, which desire natural human-machine interactions associated with typical human motions such as finger movements, walking, running and jumping, etc.
Different dorsal striatum circuits mediate action discrimination and action generalization

Generalization is an important process that allows animals to extract rules from regularities of past experience and apply them to analogous situations. In particular, the generalization of previously learned actions to novel instruments allows animals to use past experience to act faster and more efficiently in an ever‐changing environment. However, generalization of actions to a dissimilar instrument or situation may also be detrimental. In this study, we investigated the neural bases of action generalization and discrimination in mice trained on a lever‐pressing task. Using specific schedules of reinforcement known to bias animals towards habitual or goal‐directed behaviors, we confirmed that action generalization is more prominent in animals using habitual rather than goal‐directed strategies. We discovered that selective excitotoxic lesions of the dorsolateral and dorsomedial striatum have opposite effects on the generalization of a previously learned action to a novel lever. Whereas lesions of the dorsolateral striatum impair action generalization, dorsomedial striatum lesions affect action discrimination and bias subjects towards action generalization. Importantly, these lesions do not affect the ability of animals to explore or match their lever‐pressing rate to the reinforcement rate, or the ability to distinguish between different levers. The data presented here reveal that dorsolateral and dorsomedial striatal circuits have opposing roles in the generalization of previously learned actions to novel instruments, and suggest that these circuits compete for the expression of generalization in novel situations.
Auditory perception vs. recognition: representation of complex communication sounds in the mouse auditory cortical fields

Details of brain areas for acoustical Gestalt perception and the recognition of species‐specific vocalizations are not known. Here we show how spectral properties and the recognition of the acoustical Gestalt of wriggling calls of mouse pups based on a temporal property are represented in auditory cortical fields and an association area (dorsal field) of the pups' mothers. We stimulated either with a call model releasing maternal behaviour at a high rate (call recognition) or with two models of low behavioural significance (perception without recognition). Brain activation was quantified using c‐Fos immunocytochemistry, counting Fos‐positive cells in electrophysiologically mapped auditory cortical fields and the dorsal field. A frequency‐specific labelling in two primary auditory fields is related to call perception but not to the discrimination of the biological significance of the call models used. Labelling related to call recognition is present in the second auditory field (AII). A left hemisphere advantage of labelling in the dorsoposterior field seems to reflect an integration of call recognition with maternal responsiveness. The dorsal field is activated only in the left hemisphere. The spatial extent of Fos‐positive cells within the auditory cortex and its fields is larger in the left than in the right hemisphere. Our data show that a left hemisphere advantage in processing of a species‐specific vocalization up to recognition is present in mice. The differential representation of vocalizations of high vs. low biological significance, as seen only in higher‐order and not in primary fields of the auditory cortex, is discussed in the context of perceptual strategies.
Prognostic Impact of Time to Ipsilateral Breast Tumor Recurrence after Breast Conserving Surgery

Background The poor prognosis of patients who experience ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) after breast conserving surgery (BCS) is established. A short time between primary cancer and IBTR is a prognostic factor but no clinically relevant threshold was determined. Classification of IBTR may help tailor treatment strategies. Purpose We determined a specific time frame, which differentiates IBTR into early and late recurrence, and identified prognostic factors for patients with IBTR at time of the recurrence. Methods We analyzed 2209 patients with IBTR after BCS. We applied the optimal cut-points method for survival data to determine the cut-off times to IBTR. A subgroup analysis was performed by hormone receptor (HR) status. Survival analyses were performed using a Cox proportional hazard model to determine clinical features associated with distant-disease-free survival (DDFS) after IBTR. We therefor built decision trees. Results On the 828 metastatic events observed, the majority occurred within the first 3 months after IBTR: 157 in the HR positive group, 98 in the HR negative group. We found different prognostic times to IBTR: 49 months in the HR positive group, 33 in the HR negative group. After multivariate analysis, time to IBTR was the first discriminant prognostic factor in both groups (HR 0.65 CI95% [0.54–0.79] and 0.42 [0.30–0.57] respectively). The other following variables were significantly correlated with the DDFS: the initial number of positive lymph nodes for both groups, the initial tumor size and grade for HR positive tumors. Conclusion A short interval time to IBTR is the strongest factor of poor prognosis and reflects occult distant disease. It would appear that prognosis after IBTR depends more on clinical and histological parameters than on surgical treatment. A prospective trial in a low-risk group of patients to validate the safety of salvage BCS instead of mastectomy in IBTR is needed.
DISPERSAL, PHILOPATRY, AND INFIDELITY: DISSECTING LOCAL GENETIC SWTRUCTURE IN SUPERB FAIRY‐WRENS (MALURS CYANEUS)

Abstract Dispersal influences evolution, demography, and social characteristics but is generally difficult to study. Here we combine long‐term demographic data from an intensively studied population of superb fairy‐wrens(Malurus cyaneus) and multivariate spatial autocorrelation analyses of microsatellite genotypes to describe dispersal behavior in this species. The demographic data revealed: (1) sex‐biased dispersal: almost all individuals that dispersed into the study area over an eight‐year period were female (93%; n 5 153); (2) high rates of extragroup infidelity (66% of offspring), which also facilitated local gene dispersal; and (3) skewed lifetime reproductive success in both males and females. These data led to three expectations concerning the patterns of fine‐scale genetic structure: (1) little or no spatial genetic autocorrelation among females, (2) positive spatial genetic autocorrelation among males, and (3) a heterogeneous genetic landscape. Global autocorrelation analysis of the genotypes present in the study population confirmed the first two expectations. A novel two‐dimensional local autocorrelation analysis confirmed the third and provided new insight into the patterns of genetic structure across the two‐dimensional landscape. We highlight the potential of autocorrelation analysis to infer evolutionary processes but also emphasize that genetic patterns in space cannot be fully understood without an appropriate and intensive sampling regime and detailed knowledge of the individuals genotyped.
Novel hybrid feature selection models for unsupervised document categorization

Dealing with high dimensional data is a challenging and computationally complex task in the data pre-processing phase of text clustering. Conventionally, union and intersection approaches have been used to combine results of different feature selection methods to optimize relevant feature space for document collection. Union method selects all features from considered sub-models, whereas, intersection method selects only common features identified by sub-models. However, in reality, any type of feature selection can cause a loss of some potentially important features. In this paper, a hybrid feature selection model called Modified Hybrid Union (MHU) is proposed, which selects features by considering the individual strengths and weaknesses of each constituent component of the model. A comparative evaluation of its performance for K-means clustering and Bio-inspired Flock-based clustering is also presented on standard data sets such as OWL-S TC and Reuters-21578.
Control architecture of an antagonistically actuated wearable assistive device

Wearable assistive devices assist rehabilitation and recuperation; however, their development is impeded by traditional control paradigms. Presented is a novel control structure for a WAD, whose joints are antagonistically actuated by pneumatic McKibben actuators. Here, we discuss the actuators and controller's two sub-sections: the joint torque controller and the differential pressure controller. The joint torque controller tracks a desired joint trajectory point and utilises the iterative Newton-Euler algorithm, via the simINEA Simulink library, to generate a desired torque. The differential pressure controller tracks the desired torque and, via the simDeltaP Simulink library, generates a desired PMA pressure. The simDeltaP's pneumatic McKibben actuator model parameters have been experimentally determined and are presented. The discussed control architecture has been deployed to and executed in real-time on a 1GHz ARM-based Cortex-A8 computer running the Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) Linux distribution. Results of the real-time execution of the control structure on the remote target are given for desired trajectory points, where we present and discuss the joint torque and differential pressure controllers' outputs.
Gender, personality, and involuntary autobiographical memory

We utilised the recently developed continuous word association task (CWAT) to investigate whether attributes of involuntary autobiographical memory, including gender and cue valence effects, were similar to those found for voluntary autobiographical memory, as well as investigating the role of individual differences in memory production. A total of 80 undergraduate volunteers reported involuntary memories that came to mind during the word association task and completed measures of trait dissociation and psychosis-proneness. Involuntary memories showed similar cue valence effects to those typically found with voluntary memories but the usual gender effect was only apparent once participants learned the task involved autobiographical memory. The total number of involuntary autobiographical memories produced in response to negative cue words was related to greater trait dissociation and psychosis-proneness. The implications for differences between voluntary and involuntary autobiographical memory are discussed.
Comparison of Predictive Immunohistochemical Marker Expression of Primary Breast Cancer and Paired Distant Metastasis using Surgical Material

Parallel studies of primary breast carcinomas and corresponding distant metastases samples reveal considerable differences. Our aim was to highlight this issue from another perspective and provide further data based on 98 patient samples: 69 primary breast carcinoma and 85 distant metastases from bone, central nervous system (CNS) and lung (56 paired). Two independent series of immunohistochemical reactions with different antibodies for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2), along with HER2 fluroscence in situ hybridization (FISH) were performed on tissue microarrays to classify breast carcinoma and distant metastases samples into Luminal A, Luminal B-proliferating, Luminal B-HER2+, HER2+ and triple negative (TNBC) surrogate breast cancer groups. Correlation and agreement between the two assessments of ER and PgR were fair-to-moderate, and almost perfect for HER2 and Ki67. There was 40% discordance concerning immunophenotype between breast carcinomas and distant metastases. Most common metastatic site of ER+ breast carcinoma was the skeletal system (59.2%), whereas that of TNBCs was the CNS (58.8%) and lungs (23.5%). Distant metastases in bones were mostly luminal (54.3%), in the CNS, Luminal B (53.2%), and in the lung, TNBC (37.5%). The change of drugable properties of primary breast cancers in the respective bone and CNS metastases suggests that characterization of the metastasis is necessary for appropriate treatment planning.
A 0.5 V 5.96-GHz PLL With Amplitude-Regulated Current-Reuse VCO

This letter proposes an ultralow-power 5.96-GHz phase-locked loop (PLL) with a current-reuse VCO under low supply voltage of 0.5 V. While the current-reuse VCO can achieve lower power consumption, it has the drawback of amplitude-imbalance of differential outputs due to its asymmetric structure. Proposed amplitude regulation technique utilizes only one capacitor at the center-tap of the inductor, which does not require additional power consumption. The proposed PLL was fabricated in a 65-nm CMOS process. It achieved phase noise of −129 dBc/Hz at 10-MHz offset. Total power consumption was 0.69 mW under 0.5 V supply voltage.
Isothiazole Derivatives as Antiviral Agents

We recently described the synthesis and antiviral activity of the compounds 5-phenyl-3-(4-cyano-5-phenylisothiazol-3-yl) disulphanyl-4-isothiazole-carbonitrile and S-(4-cyano-5-phenylisothiazol-3-yl)-O-ethyl thiocarbonate, which were found to be effective against both HIV-1 (IIIB) and HIV-2 (ROD). We have now evaluated these compounds against both RNA and DNA viruses, obtaining high selectivity indexes for poliovirus 1 (SI: 223 and 828, respectively) and Echovirus 9 (SI: 334 and 200, respectively). In our previous studies, 3-methylthio-5-(4-OBn-phenyl)-4-isothiazolecarbo-nitrile was found to exhibit a broad spectrum of action against picornaviruses, we therefore selected this compound and S-(4-cyano-5-phenylisothiazol-3-yl)-O-ethyl thiocarbonate as the model for the synthesis of a new isothiazole derivative, S-[4-cyano-5-(4-OBn-phenyl)isothiazol-3-yl]-O-ethyl thiocarbonate. This compound was evaluated against picornaviruses, measles virus, HIV-1 (IIIB) and HIV-2 (ROD), and some DNA viruses (adenovirus type 2 and herpes simplex virus type 1). The compound was shown to be active against rhinoviruses 2, 39, 86 and 89, Coxsackie B1 and measles virus.
Instantaneous versus average wave speed calculation in large mammals under acute hemorrhage

Arterial blood pressure and velocity pulse wave speed are important biomarkers of arterial stiffness and cardiovascular disease risk in man. Arterial wave speed is usually assessed using pulse wavefront movement over a known finite portion of the arterial tree. In our pilot study we assess a new technique for determining instantaneous wave speed using ";wave intensity analysis"; of simultaneously recorded high fidelity pressure and velocity waveforms at a single point in the porcine aorta during acute changes in hemodynamic status (hemorrhage). The results, when compared with a traditional wavefront approach over a length of aorta, suggest that the two techniques produce different results that could be explained by the varying properties along the aorta from heart to periphery. We show that instantaneous wave speed can be determined and monitored during acute hemodynamic change using ";wave intensity analysis"; at one point in the aorta. Furthermore, we uncovered discrepancies between instantaneous and averaged wave speed, which will be important in understanding the integrative physiology of acute cardiovascular perturbations and could have important application in monitoring the progression of chronic cardiovascular diseases.
IMPACT OF THE NIGERIAN CAPITAL MARKET ON THE ECONOMY

There are elements upon which a nations' economic development are dependent. The importance of Capital Market as one of the vehicles upon which most under- developed economies could grow cannot be overemphasized. The extent to which these economies experience the said growth is quite relative to the level of awareness and management of the market. Nigeria is not left out in the desire to maximize the gains of the capital market to boost its economy. This paper empirically examines the impact of the Nigerian Capital Market on the Nigerian economy looking at a 20 years period from 1992 to 2011. The Nigerian Capital Market was proxy as Market Capitalization against some variables of the economy such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Foreign Direct Investment, Inflation Rates, Total New Issues, Value of Transaction and Total Listing. Using the multiple regression analysis, we find that Capital Market has an insignificant impact on the Economy within the period under review. The study therefore advised that policies and measures that would boost investors' confidence should be enshrined in the running of Nigerian Capital Market so that it could contribute significantly to the growth of Nigerian economy noting that all elements of the market are essential ingredients to the development of a nation.