Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mitochondrial DNA copy number is associated with diagnosis and prognosis of head and neck cancer

Abstract Context: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number correlates with tumor pathology in some cancers. Objective: To investigate mtDNA copy number in head and neck cancer (HNC). Materials and methods: mtDNA copy number was determined and compared between HNC patients and malignancy-free controls. Results: The mtDNA copy number was significantly higher in HNC patients, increased with cancer progression and correlated negatively with patient survival. Discussion: mtDNA copy number appears to be associated with HNC stage and survival, but confirmation requires similar studies in larger cohorts. Conclusion: Studies to establish the nature of the relationship between mtDNA copy number and HNC are warranted.
Developmental fate and lineage commitment of singled mouse blastomeres

The inside-outside model has been invoked to explain cell-fate specification of the pre-implantation mammalian embryo. Here, we investigate whether cell-cell interaction can influence the fate specification of embryonic blastomeres by sequentially separating the blastomeres in two-cell stage mouse embryos and continuing separation after each cell division throughout pre-implantation development. This procedure eliminates information provided by cell-cell interaction and cell positioning. Gene expression profiles, polarity protein localization and functional tests of these separated blastomeres reveal that cell interactions, through cell position, influence the fate of the blastomere. Blastomeres, in the absence of cell contact and inner-outer positional information, have a unique pattern of gene expression that is characteristic of neither inner cell mass nor trophectoderm, but overall they have a tendency towards a ‘trophectoderm-like’ gene expression pattern and preferentially contribute to the trophectoderm lineage.
Aging-related hypometabolism in the anterior cingulate cortex mediates the relationship between age vs. executive function but not vs. memory in cognitively intact elders

Elucidating the pathophysiology of cognitive decline during aging in those without overt neurodegeneration is a prerequisite to improved diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cognitive aging. We showed previously the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and adjacent medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are centers for aging-related metabolic dysfunction that correlate with age-associated cognitive decline in healthy volunteers. Here, we examine using the extensive and well-characterized ADNI dataset the hypothesis that ACC metabolism in healthy seniors functions as a mediator in the relationship between age and executive function. In agreement with our previous findings, highly significant correlations arose between age and metabolism; metabolism and fluency; and age and fluency. These observations motivated a mediation model in which ACC metabolism mediates the relationship between age and fluency score. Significance of the indirect effect was examined by Sobel testing and bootstrapping. In these cognitively intact seniors with “typical aging,” there was neither a correlation between age and memory scores nor between ACC metabolism and memory scores. The metabolism in a control region, the primary motor cortex, showed no correlation with age or ACC metabolism. These findings motivate further research into aging-related ACC dysfunction to prevent, diagnose, and treat the decline in executive function associated with aging in the absence of known neurodegenerative diseases. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The pathophysiology of aging-related cognitive decline remains unclear but the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a major component of the anterior human attention system, shows decreasing metabolism that correlates with declining executive function despite otherwise intact cognition. Here, the relationships between ACC metabolism, age, executive function, and memory were examined using the large, public, ADNI database. Earlier findings were confirmed. In addition, ACC metabolism was found a mediator between age and executive function. In contrast, no correlation arose between memory and age or between memory and ACC metabolism. No correlations surfaced when using the metabolism of the right primary motor cortex as a control region. Development of preventive medicine and novel treatments will require elucidation of aging-related ACC pathophysiology requiring further research.
Genetic characterization of an extended-spectrum AmpC cephalosporinase with hydrolysing activity against fourth-generation cephalosporins in a clinical isolate of Enterobacter aerogenes selected in vivo.

BACKGROUND Extended-spectrum AmpC cephalosporinases (ESACs) have been reported in Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii. Here, we characterize a new AmpC variant presenting a broadened substrate activity towards fourth-generation cephalosporins, selected in vivo following cefepime treatment for Enterobacter aerogenes. METHODS Two consecutive clonally related isolates of E. aerogenes were evaluated. Screening for ESAC production was performed using plates containing 200 mg/L cloxacillin. MICs were determined by microdilution (CLSI guidelines). bla(AmpC) genes were cloned into a pCR-Blunt II-TOPO vector and expressed in Escherichia coli. The ampC genes were cloned into vector pGEX-6P-1 for protein purification. RESULTS Isolate Ea595 was resistant to two fourth-generation cephalosporins, cefepime and cefpirome; using plates containing cloxacillin, susceptibility to ceftazidime and cefepime was restored, suggesting overproduction of the ESAC β-lactamase. Sequencing identified a new AmpC β-lactamase variant presenting one amino acid substitution, Val291Gly, inside the H-10 helix. Recombinant plasmids harbouring this ESAC β-lactamase conferred a broadened resistance profile to cefepime and cefpirome, with resistance levels increasing from 16- to 32-fold in E. coli. AmpC-Ea595 hydrolysed ceftazidime, cefepime and cefpirome at high levels, presenting a lower K(m) and enabling us to classify the enzyme as an ESAC. Homology modelling suggested that the size of the active site could have increased. CONCLUSIONS We characterized an ESAC β-lactamase selected in vivo and conferring a high level of resistance to fourth-generation cephalosporins in E. aerogenes. The broadened spectrum was caused by a new modification to the H-10 helix, which modified the active site.
Obshchestvennye organizatsii i russkaia publika v nachale XX veka. By A. S. Tumanova. Moscow: Novyi khronograf, 2008. 326 pp. Notes. Indexes. Illustrations. Hard bound.

ties is sometimes included as well. In the discussion of social and economic change among the meshchanstvo, for example, Serpukhov, a satellite community of Moscow, is featured. Unfortunately, for all of the encyclopedic coverage and copious detail, the publisher appended a name index but not an index of cities or topics. Thus, a reader seeking to find information on a specific city must sift through 431 pages of dense prose. This limitation aside, this is a useful contribution to the study of Russian urban history, and Koshman is to be commended for both the scope of her coverage and her meticulous research.
Evasão Escolar: Aplicando Mineração de Dados para Identificar Variáveis Relevantes

A evasao escolar na educacao publica brasileira e um problema de grande proporcao. Um em cada quatro brasileiros deixa a escola prematuramente, antes de terminar o ensino medio. Este trabalho faz um recorte do problema, ao analisar a evasao escolar no ultimo ano do ensino fundamental nas escolas publicas estaduais e municipais do estado de Pernambuco, com dados dos Censos Escolares 2011 e 2012. Arvore de Decisao, Inducao de Regras e Regressao Logistica foram as tecnicas para extracao de conhecimento aplicadas visando a identificar o perfil do aluno evasor e estimar a propensao para tal. Os resultados mostraram que fatores como idade, turno das aulas e regiao geografica das escolas tem forte influencia na evasao.
Extreme re-balancing for SVMs: a case study

There are many practical applications where learning from single class examples is either, the only possible solution, or has a distinct performance advantage. The first case occurs when obtaining examples of a second class is difficult, e.g., classifying sites of "interest" based on web accesses. The second situation is exemplified by the gene knock-out experiments for understanding Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor signalling pathway that provided the data for the second task of the KDD 2002 Cup, where minority one-class SVMs significantly outperform models learnt using examples from both classes.This paper explores the limits of supervised learning of a two class discrimination from data with heavily unbalanced class proportions. We focus on the case of supervised learning with support vector machines. We consider the impact of both sampling and weighting imbalance compensation techniques and then extend the balancing to extreme situations when one of the classes is ignored completely and the learning is accomplished using examples from a single class.Our investigation with the data for KDD 2002 Cup as well as text benchmarks such as Reuters Newswire shows that there is a consistent pattern of performance differences between one and two-class learning for all SVMs investigated, and these patterns persist even with aggressive dimensionality reduction through automated feature selection. Using insight gained from the above analysis, we generate synthetic data showing similar pattern of performance.
An Introduction to How Criminal Profiling Could Be Used as a Support for Computer Hacking Investigations

ABSTRACT This article presents a review and a critical analysis of the literature and can be considered the initial stage of a study that attempts to improve computer forensics and cybercrime investigation when using criminal profiling. This research is based on the premise that the motivations behind any sort of crimes—and it is no different with cybercrimes, and more specifically in this article with computer hacking crimes—are a product of human society and, even when they present new methods and tools, its human nature that leads criminals to, sooner or later, commit mistakes. Therefore, the objective of this article is to link criminal profiling to computer hacking, identifying expressions of human psychological traits and adding new elements to digital investigation.
Reconfigurable and Tunable S-Shaped Split-Ring Resonators and Application in Band-Notched UWB Antennas

This paper proposes a compact reconfigurable (bandstop/bandpass) and frequency-tunable structure based on S-shaped split-ring resonators (S-SRRs). It is known that an S-SRR coupled to a coplanar waveguide (CPW) provides a stopband in the transmission characteristic of the line. It is shown here that this behavior of the S-SRR can be switched between fundamental resonance and second harmonic response by introduction of a p-i-n diode in the center segment of the S-SRR. Alternatively, if the S-SRR is loaded with a varactor diode instead of a switch, the frequency of the stopband can be continuously tuned from the S-SRRs fundamental resonance frequency to its second harmonic. Furthermore, it is shown that if a pair of shunt p-i-n diodes are introduced across the slots of the host CPW, the structure can be reconfigured from a bandstop to a bandpass structure. Thus, the proposed resonator structure can be used as the building block of reconfigurable (bandstop/bandpass) filters with tunable operating frequency. Finally, to demonstrate a practical application of the proposed structure, an ultrawideband antenna with a tunable band notch is designed and experimentally validated.
A novel validity index in fuzzy clustering algorithm

Fuzzy clustering algorithms, especially the fuzzy c-means FCM algorithm, need the number of clusters specified manually in advance, which, to some extent, limits the application of FCM algorithm. To solve this problem of fuzzy clustering algorithm not being able to predict the number of clusters, this paper proposes a new cluster validity index. This algorithm produces membership matrix and cluster centroid by implementing the FCM algorithm iteratively, figuring out the corresponding inter-class degree of separation, intra-class compactness and inter-class degree of overlap. A new cluster validity index v
Diagnóstico primário dos fatores de risco coronariano em idosos vinculados à estratégia saúde da família no interior do Rio Grande do Sul

Objetivo: estimar a prevalencia de fatores de risco de doenca coronariana em idosos de um municipio no interior do Rio Grande do Sul. Metodo: para a realizacao do presente estudo, utilizou-se a tabela de risco coronariano proposta pela Michigan Heart Association. Realizou-se um estudo com abordagem epidemiologica, observacional e com delineamento transversal em uma amostra calculada de 115 idosos, de ambos os sexos, na faixa etaria media de 69,86 ±7,7 anos. Os dados foram submetidos a analise descritiva, atraves da media, desvio padrao e identificacao do percentual da ocorrencia do risco relativo, alem disso, foi realizado o teste Mann-Whitney e o teste t pareado para comparacao do risco coronariano entre as unidades de saude e a frequencia na dieta alimentar de alimentos ricos em gorduras saturadas e sodio. Resultados: o risco coronariano medio obtido foi de 31,23 ± 5,3 pontos, classificado pela Michigan Heart Association, como risco moderado. Nao houve alteracao significativa entre os sexos e as localidades, indicando que o risco coronariano e alto em todo territorio avaliado. A populacao apresentou dieta aterogenica, com consumo elevado de gordura saturada e sodio. De acordo com a ordem de prevalencia, os fatores mais encontrados foram: percentual de gordura saturada na dieta, hereditariedade, sobrepeso, pressao arterial, sedentarismo e tabagismo respectivamente. Consideracoes finais: foram evidenciados casos de alto risco, alertando para a necessidade da elaboracao e insercao de politicas de promocao de saude, a fim de minimizar as possibilidades de ocorrencia de eventos coronarianos, sobretudo em uma populacao idosa.
Regulation of Caulobacter crescentus ilvBN gene expression

As part of an effort to determine the mechanisms employed by Caulobacter crescentus to regulate gene expression, the ilvBN genes encoding the two subunits of an acetohydroxy acid synthase (AHAS) have been characterized. Analysis of the DNA sequences indicated that the C. crescentus AHAS was highly homologous to AHAS isozymes from other organisms. S1 nuclease and primer extension studies demonstrated that transcription initiation occurred 172 bp upstream of the AHAS coding region. The region between the AHAS coding region and the transcription initiation site was shown to have the properties of a transcription attenuator. Deletion analysis of the region containing the stem-loop structure of the proposed attenuator resulted in the derepression of ilvBN expression. Thus, it appears that C. crescentus uses attenuation to regulate the expression of the ilvBN operon.
Larger Anastomoses in Angiotensinogen-Knockout Mice Attenuate Early Metabolic Disturbances after Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion

Abnormalities in the homeostasis of the renin-angiotensin system have been implicated in the pathogenesis of vascular disorders, including stroke. The authors investigated whether angiotensinogen (AGN) knockout mice exhibit differences in brain susceptibility to focal ischemia, and whether such differences can be related to special features of the collateral circulation. Wild-type and AGN-knockout mice were submitted to permanent suture occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). The collateral vascular system was visualized by systemic latex infusion, and the ischemic lesions were identified by cresyl-violet staining. The core and penumbra of the evolving infarct were differentiated by bioluminescence and autoradiographic imaging of A TP and protein biosynthesis, respectively. In wild-type mice, mean arterial blood pressure was 95.0 ± 8.6 mm Hg, and the diameter of fully relaxed anastomotic vessels between the peripheral branches of the anterior and middle cerebral arteries 26.6 ± 4.0 μm In AGN knockouts, mean arterial blood pressure was significantly lower, 71.5 ± 8.5 mm Hg (P <,01), and the anastomotic vessels were significantly larger, 29.4 ± 4.6 μm (P < .01). One hour after MCA occlusion, AGN-knockout mice exhibited a smaller ischemic core (defined as the region of ATP depletion) but a larger penumbra (the area of disturbed protein synthesis with preserved ATP). At 24 hours after MCA occlusion, this difference disappeared, and histologically visible lesions were of similar size in both strains. The observations show that in AGN-knockout mice the more efficient collateral blood supply delays ischemic injury despite the lower blood pressure. Pharmacologic suppression of angiotensin formation may prolong the therapeutic window for treatment of infarcts.
Understanding Impact of Financial and Non- Financial Measurements in Sudanese Banks' Performance

This paper investigate the practice of the performance measurement system (PMS) within Sudanese banks. The study examined the range influenced the use of 9 financial performance measures across 9 non-financial measures and its impact on over all banks performance. A survey research methodology was used, involved a quantitative approach, structure equation modeling SEM, Factor analysis, descriptive statistics were used to analyze the survey data responses to the main questionnaire. The results showed that Sudanese banks used a diverse set of both financial and non-financial measures, also operated under significant institutional and government controls. Furthermore, the results indicated that some banks use diverse performance measurements to improve their PMS and not as a strategic decision option. Advanced technology; differentiation strategy; competition; uncertainty; and, well trained workforce were found to be factors affecting the extent of performance measurement usage. The study findings indicated that using non-financial measures contributed significantly toward overall organizational performance.
Patient safety incidents in home hospice care: the experiences of hospice interdisciplinary team members.

BACKGROUND Hospice provides a full range of services for patients near the end of life, often in the patient's own home. There are no published studies that describe patient safety incidents in home hospice care. OBJECTIVE The study objective was to explore the types and characteristics of patient safety incidents in home hospice care from the experiences of hospice interdisciplinary team members. METHODS The study design is qualitative and descriptive. From a convenience sample of 17 hospices in 13 states we identified 62 participants including hospice nurses, physicians, social workers, chaplains, and home health aides. We interviewed a separate sample of 19 experienced hospice leaders to assess the credibility of primary results. Semistructured telephone interviews were recorded and transcribed. Four researchers used an editing technique to identify common themes from the interviews. RESULTS Major themes suggested a definition of patient safety in home hospice that includes concern for unnecessary harm to family caregivers or unnecessary disruption of the natural dying process. The most commonly described categories of patient harm were injuries from falls and inadequate control of symptoms. The most commonly cited contributing factors were related to patients, family caregivers, or the home setting. Few participants recalled incidents or harm related to medical errors by hospice team members. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to describe patient safety incidents from the experiences of hospice interdisciplinary team members. Compared with patient safety studies from other health care settings, participants recalled few incidents related to errors in evaluation, treatment, or communication by the hospice team.
Trained SVMs based rules extraction method for text classification

The automatic text classification method aims to assign text files to one or more predefined categories according to the text information contained by all kinds of text format files. SVM is recognized as one of the most effective text classification methods for its high accuracy, but its black-box feature causes that the description of each category can not be given and explained. In this paper, a new rule extraction method for text classification based on trained SVMs is proposed to solve the bottleneck of SVMs. The experiments show that the proposed approach can improve the validity of the extracted rules remarkably compared to C4.5 either in speed or accuracy.
Emerging drugs for acute graft-versus-host disease

The number of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantations (HCT) continues to increase. More than 15,000 allogeneic transplantations are performed annually. The graft-versus-leukemia/tumor effect during allogeneic HCT effectively eradicates many hematological malignancies. The development of novel strategies that use donor leukocyte infusions, nonmyeloablative conditioning and umbilical cord blood transplantation have helped expand the indications for allogeneic HCT over the past several years, especially among older patients. Yet the major complication of allogeneic HCT, graft-versus-host disease, remains lethal and limits wider application of allogeneic HCT. In this article, we review current practice and recent advances made in prevention and treatment of graft-versus-host disease.
Herpesvirus Ateles Tio Can Replace Herpesvirus Saimiri StpC and Tip Oncoproteins in Growth Transformation of Monkey and Human T Cells

ABSTRACT Herpesvirus saimiri group C strains are capable of transforming human and simian T-lymphocyte populations to permanent antigen-independent growth. Two viral oncoproteins, StpC and Tip, that are encoded by a single bicistronic mRNA, act in concert to mediate this phenotype. A closely related New World monkey herpesvirus, herpesvirus ateles, transcribes a single spliced mRNA at an equivalent genome locus. The encoded protein, Tio, has sequence homologies to both StpC and Tip. We inserted the tio sequence of herpesvirus ateles strain 73 into a recombinant herpesvirus saimiri C488 lacking its own stpC/tip oncogene. Simian as well as human T lymphocytes were growth transformed by the chimeric Tio-expressing viruses. Thus, a single herpesvirus protein appears to be responsible for the oncogenic effects of herpesvirus ateles.
Origin and Development of the Root Cap in Rice 1(W)(OPEN)

, Jintao Li, Yang Qiao, Yanru Fu, Tongmin Mou,Chunli Chen, and Jian Xu*National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070,China (L.W., J.L., Y.Q., Y.F., T.M., C.C.); and Department of Biological Sciences and Centre for BioImagingSciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore (H.C., Z.L., J.W., J.X.)