Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cognitive discrepancies versus APOE genotype as predictors of cognitive decline in normal-functioning elderly individuals: a longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVES Cognitive-discrepancy analysis has been shown to be a useful technique for detecting subtle cognitive deficits in normal-functioning elderly individuals who are genetically at-risk for Alzheimer disease (AD). However, studies that have used cognitive-discrepancy measures to date have used retrospective or cross-sectional designs, and the utility of this approach to predict cognitive decline has not been examined in a prospective investigation. DESIGN Longitudinal study. SETTING San Diego, CA, Veterans Administration Hospital. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-four normal-functioning elderly individuals participated in the study, with 16 subjects exhibiting no change in their Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) scores over an 1-year period (Stable Group), and 8 subjects exhibiting a decline in DRS scores over the 1-year period (Decline group). MEASUREMENTS A cognitive-discrepancy measure isolating cognitive switching was computed that contrasted performance on a new higher-level task of executive functioning (a Stroop/Switching measure) relative to a composite measure of lower-level Stroop conditions. RESULTS a) In the year before their cognitive changes, the Decline group exhibited a significantly larger cognitive-discrepancy (Stroop/Switching versus lower-level Stroop conditions) score compared with a control (Stable) group; and b) the cognitive-discrepancy measure was superior to APOE genotype in predicting DRS decline. CONCLUSION Cognitive-discrepancy analysis isolating a component executive function ability not only seems to be a useful tool for identifying individuals at risk for cognitive deficits, but also shows promise in predicting individuals who may show subtle cognitive decline over time.
The Effect of Maternity Leave Length and Time of Return to Work on Breastfeeding

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effect of maternity leave length and time of first return to work on breastfeeding. METHODS: Data were from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort. Restricting our sample to singletons whose biological mothers were the respondents at the 9-month interview and worked in the 12 months before delivery (N = 6150), we classified the length of total maternity leave (weeks) as 1 to 6, 7 to 12, ≥13, and did not take; paid maternity leave (weeks) as 0, 1 to 6, ≥7, and did not take; and time of return to work postpartum (weeks) as 1 to 6, 7 to 12, ≥13, and not yet returned. Analyses included χ2 tests and multiple logistic regressions. RESULTS: In our study population, 69.4% initiated breastfeeding with positive variation by both total and paid maternity leave length, and time of return to work. In adjusted analyses, neither total nor paid maternity leave length had any impact on breastfeeding initiation or duration. Compared with those returning to work within 1 to 6 weeks, women who had not yet returned to work had a greater odds of initiating breastfeeding (odds ratio [OR]: 1.46 [1.08–1.97]; risk ratios [RR]: 1.13 [1.03–1.22]), continuing any breastfeeding beyond 6 months (OR: 1.41 [0.87–2.27]; RR: 1.25 [0.91–1.61]), and predominant breastfeeding beyond 3 months (OR: 2.01 [1.06–3.80]; RR: 1.70 [1.05–2.53]). Women who returned to work at or after 13 weeks postpartum had higher odds of predominantly breastfeeding beyond 3 months (OR: 2.54 [1.51–4.27]; RR: 1.99 [1.38–2.69]). CONCLUSION: If new mothers delay their time of return to work, then duration of breastfeeding among US mothers may lengthen.
Local Representative-Based Matrix Factorization for Cold-Start Recommendation

Cold-start recommendation is one of the most challenging problems in recommender systems. An important approach to cold-start recommendation is to conduct an interview for new users, called the interview-based approach. Among the interview-based methods, Representative-Based Matrix Factorization (RBMF) [24] provides an effective solution with appealing merits: it represents users over selected representative items, which makes the recommendations highly intuitive and interpretable. However, RBMF only utilizes a global set of representative items to model all users. Such a representation is somehow too strict and may not be flexible enough to capture varying users’ interests. To address this problem, we propose a novel interview-based model to dynamically create meaningful user groups using decision trees and then select local representative items for different groups. A two-round interview is performed for a new user. In the first round, l1 global questions are issued for group division, while in the second round, l2 local-group-specific questions are given to derive local representation. We collect the feedback on the (l1+l2) items to learn the user representations. By putting these steps together, we develop a joint optimization model, named local representative-based matrix factorization, for new user recommendations. Extensive experiments on three public datasets have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed model compared with several competitive baselines.
Adrenal cortex and stomach lesions associated with stress in wild male African green monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) in the post‐capture period

The objective of this study was to look for early pathological changes in stress target organs, adrenal glands, and stomachs in captured wild African green monkeys (AGMs). Three wild‐caught male AGMs and seven singly housed wild AGMs were euthanized on day 1 and day 45 post‐capture, respectively, and compared with four wild males euthanized with a rifle as controls. Morphometric analyses of the adrenal cortices and the cortical zones were done using an image analyzer. By day 45, the confined animals were clinically healthy, but had lost 47% mean body weight despite ad libitum feeding. The width of zona fasciculata in the controls was significantly smaller compared with that of 45‐day monkeys (P<0.05). Numerous acidophilic, hyperplastic and hypertrophic cells were present in the zona fasciculata of the 1‐day confined AGMs. In the 45‐day monkeys, there was glandular hyperplasia in the zona glomerulosa and the acini were distended and vacuous; yellow, granular pigmentation was distributed in the zona fasciculata. Acute stomach lesions represented by petechiation were seen in one monkey on day 1. Deep, circular, mucosal erosions, one to five in number and measuring from 0.5 to 1 mm in diameter, were present in three monkeys on day 45 post‐capture. There were no adrenal cortex or stomach lesions in the rifle‐shot monkeys. In conclusion, pathological lesions in the adrenal glands, and stomachs of the wild AGMs and weight loss occurred within the initial 45‐day period following capture and confinement.
A compendium of small molecule direct-acting and host-targeting inhibitors as therapies against alphaviruses

Abstract Alphaviruses were amongst the first arboviruses to be isolated, characterized and assigned a taxonomic status. They are globally widespread, infecting a large variety of terrestrial animals, birds, insects and even fish. Moreover, they are capable of surviving and circulating in both sylvatic and urban environments, causing considerable human morbidity and mortality. The re-emergence of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in almost every part of the world has caused alarm to many health agencies throughout the world. The mosquito vector for this virus, Aedes, is globally distributed in tropical and temperate regions and capable of thriving in both rural and urban landscapes, giving the opportunity for CHIKV to continue expanding into new geographical regions. Despite the importance of alphaviruses as human pathogens, there is currently no targeted antiviral treatment available for alphavirus infection. This mini-review discusses some of the major features in the replication cycle of alphaviruses, highlighting the key viral targets and host components that participate in alphavirus replication and the molecular functions that were used in drug design. Together with describing the importance of these targets, we review the various direct-acting and host-targeting inhibitors, specifically small molecules that have been discovered and developed as potential therapeutics as well as their reported in vitro and in vivo efficacies.
Analyse expérimentale des oxy-flammes turbulentes non-prémélangées de gaz à faible pouvoir calorifique

L'utilisation de combustibles a faible pouvoir calorifique, comme les gaz de rejets industriels ou les gaz derives du charbon ou de la biomasse, est une solution envisagee pour repondre a l'epuisement des ressources energetiques fossiles traditionnelles, comme le gaz naturel et le petrole. Les compositions variees de ces combustibles dans un domaine de faible PCI posent des problemes cruciaux de stabilite de flammes et d'emissions polluantes. Un bruleur quadri-coaxial de 25kW a ainsi ete concu pour operer avec des melanges combustibles varies de gaz a faible PCI a l'aide d'un gaz d'appoint a plus fort PCI et d'oxygene comme comburant. Il se compose, du centre a la peripherie, d'injections successives d'oxygene (O2i), de gaz de haut fourneau (BFG), de methane (CH4) et d'oxygene (O2e). La grande variete de flammes ainsi generees a ete classee en differents modes de combustion. La flamme pilote CH4-O2e generee est toujours accrochee au nez de l'injection et garantit ainsi la stabilite de l'ensemble. La flamme centrale O2i-BFG peut rester accrochee au bruleur (type 1), ou se decrocher (type 2) et former une zone de reaction annulaire de type diffusion (type 2a) ou non-annulaire de type pre-melangee (type 2b), ou enfin disparaitre (type 3). Ces structures de flamme ont ete caracterisees ^par imagerie et spectroscopie de chimiluminescence. Les champs aerodynamiques des ecoulements reactifs et non-reactifs, ainsi que les champs de fraction de melange non-reactifs ont ete mesures par PIV et PLIF. L'ensemble de ces resultats a permis de mettre en avant des echelles de longueur et de vitesse pertinentes pour la determination de criteres de stabilite sur la geometrie de ces flammes. La transition entre le type 1 et les autres est pilotee par une competition entre la chimie de O2i-BFG et leur melange organise par les grandes structures. La transition entre les types 2a, 2b et 3 est decrite par le melange de jets coaxiaux O2i-BFG et le rapport de leurs vitesses. Les parametres determines a l'echelle du laboratoire ont ensuite ete corrobores a l'echelle semi-industrielle de 500 kW.
Eliciting facial affect, motivation, and expectancies in transference: significant-other representations in social relations.

Recent research has demonstrated transference in social perception, defined in terms of memory and schema-triggered evaluation in relation to a new person (S. M. Andersen & A. B. Baum, 1994; S. M. Andersen & S. W. Cole, 1990; S. M. Andersen, N. S. Glassman, S. Chen, & S. W. Cole, 1995). The authors examined schema-triggered facial affect in transference, along with motivations and expectancies. In a nomothetic experimental design, participants encountered stimulus descriptors of a new target person that were derived either from their own idiographic descriptions of a positively toned or a negatively toned significant other or from a yoked control participant's descriptors. Equal numbers of positive and negative target descriptors were presented, regardless of the overall tone of the representation. The results verified the memory effect and schema-triggered evaluation in transference, on the basis of significant-other resemblance in the target person. Of importance, participants' nonverbal expression of facial affect when learning about the target person (i.e., at encoding) reflected the overall tone of their significant-other representation under the condition of significant-other resemblance, providing strong support for schema-triggered affect in transference, through the use of this unobtrusive, nonverbal measure. Parallel effects on interpersonal closeness motivation and expectancies for acceptance/rejection in transference also emerged.
Antibacterial effect of chronic exposure of low concentration ZnO nanoparticles on E. coli

The toxicity effect due to chronic exposure of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) was systematically studied by repeatedly treating different lower concentrations of ZnO nanoparticles with culture media of E. coli strain. The chronic exposure of ZnO NPs of concentrations below minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) exhibited higher toxicity than the single exposure of higher concentrations. Most striking result was 57% inhibition of growth corresponding to chronic exposure of 0.06 mg/mL of ZnO NPs which was two folds more than that exhibited by single exposure of 0.30 mg/mL ZnO NPs. The toxicity of ZnO NPs in E. coli was studied in the light of formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), measured as malondialdehyde (MDA) equivalent by thiobarbituric acid-ROS (TBARS) assay, and effect of Zn dissolution from ZnO NPs. Higher inhibition of growth for the chronic exposure batches were correlated with higher ROS generation, which subsequently contributed to cause membrane lipid peroxidation, confirmed from observation of cell wall deformation by scanning electron microscopy study and energy dispersive X-ray analysis showed adherence of ZnO NPs on cell wall. The possibility of membrane lipid peroxidation was addressed by revealing in vitro oxidation of oleic acid, which is a monounsaturated fatty acid. Further in this study we have shown that the dissolution of ZnO NPs at pH 7.4 was not significant to cause Zn-induced toxicity.
Food, youth and the Mediterranean diet in Spain. Development of KIDMED, Mediterranean Diet Quality Index in children and adolescents

Abstract Objective: To evaluate dietary habits in Spanish children and adolescents based on a Mediterranean Diet Quality Index tool, which considers certain principles sustaining and challenging traditional healthy Mediterranean dietary patterns. Design: Observational population-based cross-sectional study. A 16-item Mediterranean Diet Quality Index was included in data gathered for the EnKid study (in which two 24-hour recalls, a quantitative 169-item food-frequency questionnaire and a general questionnaire about socio-economic, demographic and lifestyle items were administered). Setting: Spain. Subjects: In total, 3850 children and youths aged 2–24 years residing in Spain. Results: Of the sample, 4.2% showed very low KIDMED index results, 49.4% had intermediate values and 46.4% had high index results. Important geographical differences were seen, with subjects from the Northeast showing the most favourable outcomes (52% with elevated scores vs. 37.5% of those from the North). Lower percentages of high diet quality were observed in low socio-economic groups, compared with middle and upper income cohorts (42.8%, 47.6% and 54.9%, respectively). Large cities had more positive results and only slight variations were seen for gender and age. Conclusions: The KIDMED index, the first to evaluate the adequacy of Mediterranean dietary patterns in children and youth, confirms that this collective is undergoing important changes, which makes them a priority target for nutrition interventions. Results challenge certain commonly perceived notions tied to income level, population size and diet quality.
Tibial tubercle-medial malleolar distance in determining tibial nail length.

OBJECTIVE To assess the accuracy of a previously undescribed method of determining tibial nail length based on anatomic landmarks. DESIGN Cadaveric study. METHODS Four methods of tibial nail length determination were compared. Nail lengths for each of fourteen cadaveric lower extremities were determined using full-length scanograms, spotograms, acrylic template overlays, and the distance between the tibial tubercle and the medial malleolus (TMD). Each tibia was then nailed. The accuracy of each method was then evaluated. RESULTS The full-length scanogram method resulted in incorrect nail lengths in eleven of fourteen (79 percent) cases. Six of fourteen (43 percent) incorrect nail lengths resulted from the use of spotograms. All measurements made with the Template technique yielded nails that were too short (100 percent). The TMD method rendered four of fourteen (29 percent) nails of incorrect size. CONCLUSION The tibial tubercle-medial distance (TMD) proved an easy, inexpensive, and accurate method of preoperative nail assessment.
Patient adaptable ventricular arrhythmia classifier using template matching

In this paper we propose a real-time method for discrimination of ventricular ectopic and normal beats in the electrocardiogram (ECG). The heartbeat waveforms were evaluated within a fixed-length window around the fiducial points (100 ms before, 100 ms after) after being normalized. Our algorithm was designed to operate with no expert assistance; the operator is not required to initially select any known beat templates which makes it applicable in real-time. It is based on the dominancy of normal beats during the first several seconds for most of records which mostly match the real cases. In addition to R-R intervals, we extract other features as beat width, P wave existence for each beat. Also we apply template matching between the learned template and the unknown beat where template beats are created for each beat shape on runtime. Template matching not only classifies normal dominant beat but also multi-form ventricular ectopic beats where each form is classified separately so as doctors and medical stuff could take the better decision. Our proposed algorithm was tested on MIT-BIH ECG database records with normal and ventricular ectopic beat classes defined in AAMI standard while other records are excluded. Our results show 97.24% overall accuracy with 98.93% and 94.54% sensitivities for normal and ventricular ectopic beats respectively.
Molecular recognition in the p450cam monooxygenase system: direct monitoring of protein-protein interactions by using optical biosensor.

A real-time optical biosensor study on the interactions between putidaredoxin reductase (PdR), putidaredoxin (Pd), and cytochrome P450cam (P450cam) within the P450cam system was conducted. The binary Pd/P450cam and Pd/PdR complexes were revealed and kinetically characterized. The dominant role of electrostatic interactions in formation of productive electron transfer complexes was demonstrated. It was found that Pd/P450cam complex formation and decay obeys biphasic kinetics in contrast to the monophasic one for complexes formed by other redox partners within the system. Evidence for PdR/P450cam complex formation was obtained. It was found that, in contrast to Pd, which binds only to its redox partners, PdR and P450cam were able to form PdR/PdR and P450cam/P450cam complexes. A ternary PdR/Pd/P450cam complex was also registered. Its lifetime was sufficient to permit up to 60 turnovers to occur. The binding of Pd to P450cam and to PdR within the ternary complex occurred at distinct sites, with Pd serving as a bridge between the two proteins.
Exudative cloacitis in the kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) potentially linked to Escherichia coli infection

AIM: To investigate the initiating causes of cloacitis (inflammation of the cloaca) in kakapo (Strigops habroptilus). METHODS: Metagenomics using unbiased RNA or DNA sequencing was applied to faecal material from an 11-year-old female kakapo with exudative cloacitis, and a pool of eight birds (male and female aged 1–20 years) with no current signs or history of the disease. Faecal material from the diseased bird was collected pre- and post-treatment. For RNA sequencing, extracted RNA/DNA was subject to DNase, and the remaining RNA reverse transcribed to cDNA and subject to multiple displacement amplification prior to sequencing. RESULTS: No significant alignment to any known avian virus sequence was obtained from any faecal samples. However significant BLAST alignments to five bacteriophages known to infect enterobacteria were obtained. Strong evidence was obtained for the presence of the bacteriophage Escherichia phage TL-2011b, a bacteriophage known to occur in Escherichia coli causing outbreaks of foodborne disease in humans, in the sample from the diseased bird, but not the non-diseased pool. Differences in E. coli community structure between the diseased bird and the non-diseased pool were also apparent. CONCLUSIONS: Escherichia coli infection of human origin is suggested as a possible cause of exudative cloacitis, although confirmatory work is required to test this hypothesis.
Low parental tolerance for infant crying: an underlying factor in infant sleep problems?

Parenting behaviours play a major role in the evolution of infant sleep. Sleep problems in infancy have been associated with excessive parental involvement at night‐time, and with shorter delays in response to infant night wakings and signalling. Infant crying and sleep problems are linked, yet little is known about the impact of parental responses to crying on infant sleep patterns. This study examined the hypothesis that lower parental tolerance for crying is associated with infant sleep problems. We studied 144 married couples divided into three groups: parents of infants suffering from night‐waking problems (i.e. the clinical group), parents of infants without sleep problems and childless couples. Crying tolerance was assessed using questionnaires, audio recordings of crying infants and using a novel paradigm, in which participants were shown a video of a crying infant and asked when they would intervene. Parents in the clinical group demonstrated shorter intervention delays in the crying infant clip (group effect: P < 0.0001), and tended to attribute more distress to the crying infants compared to parents in both control groups (P < 0.05). Additionally, women demonstrated lower tolerance for infant crying on most measures compared to men. Our results suggest that parents of sleep‐disturbed infants appear to have lower tolerance for infant crying, which may be a predisposition underlying their excessive involvement in soothing their infants to sleep which may lead to the development of sleep problems. These preliminary findings should be explored further to assess their clinical validity and utility.