Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development and validation of a comorbidity scoring system for patients with cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS At least 40% of patients with cirrhosis have comorbidities that increase mortality. We developed a cirrhosis-specific comorbidity scoring system (CirCom) to help determine how these comorbidities affect mortality and compared it with the generic Charlson Comorbidity Index. METHODS We used data from nationwide health care registries to identify Danish citizens diagnosed with cirrhosis in 1999-2008 (n = 12,976). They were followed through 2010 and characterized by 34 comorbidities. We used Cox regression to assign severity weights to comorbidities with an adjusted mortality hazard ratio (HR) ≥ 1.20. Each patient's CirCom score was based on, at most, 2 of these comorbidities. Performance was measured with Harrell's C statistic and the Net Reclassification Index (NRI) and results were compared with those obtained using the Charlson Index (based on 17 comorbidities). Findings were validated in 2 separate cohorts of patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis C. RESULTS The CirCom score included chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute myocardial infarction, peripheral arterial disease, epilepsy, substance abuse, heart failure, nonmetastatic cancer, metastatic cancer, and chronic kidney disease; 24.2% of patients had 1 or more of these, and mortality correlated with the CirCom score. Patients' CirCom score correlated with their Charlson Comorbidity Index (Kendall's τ = 0.57; P < .0001). Compared with the Charlson Index, the CirCom score increased Harrell's C statistic by 0.6% (95% confidence interval: 0.3%-0.8%). The NRI for the CirCom score was 5.2% (95% confidence interval: 3.7%-6.9%), and the NRI for the Charlson Index was 3.6% (95% confidence interval: 2.3%-5.0%). Similar results were obtained from the validation cohorts. CONCLUSIONS We developed a scoring system to predict mortality among patients with cirrhosis based on 9 comorbidities. This system had higher C statistic and NRI values than the Charlson Comorbidity Index, and is easier to use. It could therefore be a preferred method to predict death or survival of patients and for use in epidemiologic studies.
Vaccination with an Acidic Polymerase Epitope of Influenza Virus Elicits a Potent Antiviral T Cell Response but Delayed Clearance of an Influenza Virus Challenge1

The mechanisms underlying epitope selection and the potential impact of immunodominance hierarchies on peptide-based vaccines are not well understood. Recently, we have shown that two immunodominant MHC class I-restricted epitopes, NP366–374/Db (nucleoprotein (NP)) and PA224–233/Db (acidic polymerase (PA)), which drive the CD8+ T cell response to influenza virus infection in C57BL/6 mice, are differentially expressed on infected cells. Whereas NP appears to be strongly expressed on all infected cells, PA appears to be strongly expressed on dendritic cells but only weakly expressed on nondendritic cells. Thus, the immune response to influenza virus may involve T cells specific for epitopes, such as PA, that are poorly expressed at the site of infection. To examine the consequences of differential Ag presentation on peptide vaccination, we compared the kinetics of the T cell response and influenza virus clearance in mice vaccinated with the NP or PA peptide. Vaccination with either the NP or PA peptide resulted in accelerated and enhanced Ag-specific T cell responses at the site of infection following influenza virus challenge. These T cells were fully functional in terms of their ability to produce IFN-γ and TNF-α and to mediate cytolytic activity. Despite this enhancement of the Ag-specific T cell response, PA vaccination had a detrimental effect on the clearance of influenza virus compared with unvaccinated or NP-vaccinated mice. These data suggest that differential Ag presentation impacts the efficacy of T cell responses to specific epitopes and that this needs to be considered for the development of peptide-based vaccination strategies.
Development of an item list to assess bilateral upper extremity function of stroke patients with hemiplegia.

BACKGROUND Although there is a myriad of unilateral assessments for stroke survivors, few address bilateral function, which is critical for many daily living tasks. OBJECTIVE To develop an activities of daily living list of tasks requiring bilateral upper extremity function for use when assessing patients with stroke. METHOD A list of 938 items was generated based on a literature review, opinions of occupational therapists and patients with stroke. A panel of professional experts then validated that the items were bilateral and functional. Similar items were then combined and duplicates eliminated. RESULTS The list was reduced to 69 items and 40 items were selected based on the content validity index. Based on the bilateral function, importance, expansion, and deletion criteria, the expert panel selected 27 items that best represented bilateral activities of daily living. CONCLUSIONS A final list of 27 activities of daily living requiring bilateral function was generated and validated. Future work will focus on development of a tool to assess bilateral upper extremity function of patients with stroke.
SH2-B Is a Positive Regulator of Nerve Growth Factor-mediated Activation of the Akt/Forkhead Pathway in PC12 Cells*

To gain insight into the mechanism by which the adapter protein SH2-B promotes nerve growth factor (NGF)-mediated neuronal differentiation and survival, the effect of SH2-B on the serine/threonine kinase Akt/protein kinase B and downstream effector proteins was examined. PC12 cells stably overexpressing SH2-Bβ, which exhibit enhanced NGF-induced neuronal differentiation compared with control cells, showed enhanced and prolonged NGF-induced phosphorylation of Akt on Ser473 and Akt enzymatic activity. Surprisingly, NGF-induced phosphorylation of Akt on Ser473 and Akt activity were not altered in cells overexpressing SH2-Bβ(R555E) with a defective SH2 domain, despite the ability of the overexpressed SH2-Bβ(R555E) to block NGF-induced differentiation. Consistent with SH2-Bβ enhancing the activity of Akt, cells overexpressing SH2-Bβ but not SH2-Bβ(R555E) exhibited increased and/or prolonged phosphorylation of the pro-apoptotic Akt effector proteins, glycogen synthase kinase-3, and forkhead transcription factors, FKHRL1/FOXO3 and FKHR/FOXO1. Immunolocalization studies indicated that, although ectopically expressed FKHR was primarily concentrated in the cytoplasm of control cells and cells transiently overexpressing SH2-Bβ, it was concentrated in the nucleus of cells transiently overexpressing SH2-Bβ(R555E). Similarly, SH2-Bβ stimulated the accumulation of FKHR in the cytoplasm of 293T and COS-7 cells, whereas SH2-Bβ(R555E) enhanced its accumulation in the nucleus. In PC12 cells stably expressing forms of SH2-Bβ, SH2-Bβ mimicked the ability of NGF to promote redistribution of FKHR to the cytoplasm whereas SH2-Bβ(R555E) blocked this effect of NGF. Taken together, these data indicate that SH2-B is a positive regulator of NGF-mediated activation of the Akt/Forkhead pathway.
Activation of T‐Cells by a Macrophage or 2‐Mercaptoethanol Activated Serum Factor is Essential for Induction of a Primary Immune Response to Heterologous Red Cells in vitro

Many immunological phenomena are closely associated with or dependent on the functional activities of M0. This classifies M0 as belonging to the immune system, and the elucidation of the M0 function should allow a better understanding of how thymus-derived (T) and bone marrow-derived (B) lymphocytes respond to antigenic stimulation. Most studies concerning M0 fimction were carried out in vitro because there is no way to eliminate M0 from the whole body; only short time ftmctional blockade is possible. In vitro immune responses seem to reflect in vivo capabilities since both are comparable with regard to kinetics, magnitude, Ig class, immumogenicity
Using new tools to support creative community engagement with open educational resources

The availability of community building tools and open educational resources (OER) affords the creation of new and innovative learning spaces. However in much of the work on OER the focus has been on providing content, rather than on how tools can be used in conjunction with available content to create a shared space that could improve the impact of such resources. A series of studies taking a subject point of view looked at the prospects for collaborative and cooperative working around OER from the perspectives of teachers and technical experts, considering in particular whether they would become involved in open environments. The studies discussed give an insight into how academics view social tools and techniques and whether they would use open arenas for formal and informal learning. The topic of OER and associated facilitative tools is important and this paper looks beyond content production issues to contribute to the debate on how collaborative and cooperative working can be established around OER.
The Application Research of Petroleum Futures Prices Forecasting Based on Association Rules

After studying the demerit of Apriori and its mutation,this paper proposes a novel algorithm which is based on Support Count Matrix and Transaction BoolMatrix.We used the new approach to analyze the frequent itemsets of the historical data of petroleum futures prices,generate association rules according to the minimum support and confidence,explore the approach′s application in petroleum futures prices forecasting,and put forward the future research.
When parents talk about college drinking: an examination of content, frequency, and associations with students’ dangerous drinking

Abstract This project examines alcohol messages exchanged between college students and their parents, as well as how such messages associate with college students’ dangerous drinking. Undergraduate students ages 18 to 25 years were recruited for the study and asked to recruit a parent. The sample included 198 students and 188 parents, all of whom completed an online survey. This study found parents tended to emphasize the negative aspects of drinking, particularly the dangers of drinking and driving and the academic consequences of too much partying. Results indicated that parent–student alcohol communication has various dimensions, including negative aspects of drinking, rules about drinking, drinking in moderation, and benefits of drinking. Parents’ reports of discussing alcohol rules had a significant, negative association with students’ alcohol consumption, whereas parents’ reports of discussing the negative aspects of alcohol use had significant, positive associations with students’ dangerous drinking.
Severe XIST hypomethylation clearly distinguishes (SRY+) 46,XX-maleness from Klinefelter syndrome.

OBJECTIVE 46,XX-maleness affects 1 in 20 000 live male newborns resulting in infertility and hypergonadotrophic hypogonadism. Although the phenotypes of XX-males have been well described, the molecular nature of the X chromosomes remains elusive. We assessed the X inactivation status by DNA methylation analysis of four informative loci and compared those to Klinefelter syndrome (KS) and Turner syndrome. DESIGN AND METHODS Patient cohort consisted of ten sex-determining region of the Y (SRY+) XX-males, two (SRY-) XX-males, ten 47,XXY Klinefelter men, six 45,X Turner females and ten male and female control individuals each. Methylation analysis was carried out by bisulphite sequencing of DNA from peripheral blood lymphocytes analysing X-inactive-specific transcript (XIST), phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1), ferritin, heavy peptide-like 17 (FTHL17) and short stature homeobox (SHOX). RESULTS XIST methylation was 18% in (SRY+) XX-males, and thus they were severely hypomethylated compared to (SRY-) XX-males (48%; P<0.01), Klinefelter men (44%; P<0.01) and female controls (47%; P<0.01). Turner females and male controls displayed a high degree of XIST methylation of 98 and 94% respectively. Methylation of PGK1, undergoing X inactivation, was not significantly reduced in (SRY+) XX-males compared to female controls in spite of severe XIST hypomethylation (51 vs 69%; P>0.05). FTHL17, escaping X inactivation, but undergoing cell-type-specific inactivation was similarly methylated in XX-males (89%), KS patients (87%) and female controls (90%). SHOX, an X inactivation escapee located in the pseudoautosomal region, displays similarly low degrees of methylation for XX-males (7%), KS patients (7%) and female controls (9%). CONCLUSIONS XIST hypomethylation clearly distinguishes (SRY+) XX-males from Klinefelter men. It does not, however, impair appropriate epigenetic regulation of representative X-linked loci.
ODSA: A Novel Ordering Divisional Scheduling Algorithm for Modern Operating Systems

CPU scheduling is defined as scheduling multiple processes that are required to be executed in a specific time period. A large number of scheduling algorithms have been proposed to achieve maximum CPU utilization/throughput and minimizing turn around, waiting and response time. Existing studies claim that Round Robin (RR) is providing best results in terms of above-mentioned factors. In RR, a process is assigned to CPU for a fixed time quantum then the process starts its execution, in case that assigned time quantum greater than CPU’s capacity then remaining section of that process waits for its next turn. Although RR schedules processes in an efficient manner, however, it has certain limitations such as if time quantum is too small or large, it causes frequent context switching and response time can increase. To address these identified problems, various improved versions of RR also exist. The purpose of this paper is twofold: 1) a comparison between different improved versions of RR; and 2) a new algorithm named Ordering Divisional Scheduling Algorithm (ODSA) is also proposed that combines various features of different algorithms and is actually an improvement to RR. Our results show that ODSA can schedule processes with less turn around and average waiting time as compared to existing solutions.
Estimating fat mass in heart failure patients

Introduction Body composition (BC) assessments in heart failure (HF) patients are mainly based on body weight, body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio. The present study compares BC assessments by basic anthropometry, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy (BIS), and air displacement plethysmography (ADP) for the estimation of fat (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) in a HF population. Material and methods In this single-centre, observational pilot study we enrolled 52 patients with HF (33 HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), 19 HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF); mean age was 67.7 ±9.9 years, 41 male) and 20 healthy controls. DXA was used as a reference standard for the measurement of FM and FFM. Results In the HF population, linear regression for DXA-FM and waist-to-hip ratio (r = –0.05, 95% CI: (–0.32)–0.23), body mass index (r = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.23–0.669), and body density (r = –0.87, 95% CI: (–0.93)–(–0.87)) was obtained. In HF, Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient of DXA-FM (%) with ADP-FM (%) was 0.76 (95% CI: 0.64–0.85) and DXA-FFM [kg] with DXA-ADP [kg] was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.88–0.96). DXA-FM (%) for BIS-FM (%) was 0.69 (95% CI: 0.54–0.80) and 0.73 (95% CI: 0.60–0.82) for DXA-FFM [kg] and BIS-FFM [kg]. Conclusions Body density is a useful surrogate for FM. ADP was found suitable for estimating FM (%) and FFM [kg] in HF patients. BIS showed acceptable results for the estimation of FM (%) in HFrEF and for FFM [kg] in HFpEF patients. We encourage selecting a suitable method for BC assessment according to the compartment of interest in the HF population.
Prevention of hypoglycaemia in a patient with type Ib glycogen storage disease by an amylase (α‐glucosidase) inhibitor

Patients with type Ib glycogen storage disease (GSD Ib) are susceptible to hypoglycaemic episodes. To determine whether an amylase (α‐glucosidase) inhibitor, voglibose, can be useful in the control of hypoglycaemia, we tried it in a 14‐y‐old male with GSD Ib. Oral administration of voglibose prolonged the duration of normoglycaemia and reduced the incidence of hypoglycaemia attacks. These findings indicate that voglibose may be useful for preventing hypoglycaemia in GSD Ib patients.
Individual 5-Fluorouracil Dose Adjustment via Pharmacokinetic Monitoring Versus Conventional Body-Area-Surface Method: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Recent studies suggest that 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) dosing by use of pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters is superior to the traditional body surface area (BSA) method in colorectal cancer therapy. The purpose of this study was to compare the estimated efficacy and toxicity of the use of PK-guided versus BSA-based dose adjustment of 5-FU in advanced cancers. Methods: The authors searched from electronic databases (up to September, 2014) and abstracts presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology held between 2000 and 2014 for studies comparing the response rate and toxicity in 5-FU–based chemotherapy. Results: Five eligible articles with 654 patients were included in double-arms and contained colorectal cancer, and head and neck cancer. PK-monitored 5-FU therapy was associated with significant improvement in overall response rate (odds ratio = 2.04, 95% confidence interval, 1.41–2.95, Z = 3.78, P = 0.0002) compared with the traditional BSA method. There was no evidence of improved tolerability: grade 3 to 4 diarrhea, neutropenia, and hand-foot syndrome were found not to be significantly different except that mucositis was less prominent for PK-monitored 5-FU therapy (odds ratio = 0.16, 95% confidence interval, 0.04–0.63, Z = 2.62, P = 0.009). Conclusions: In comparison with conventional BSA method, PK-based 5-FU dosage confirmed a superior overall response rate and improved toxicities irrespective of significant difference, the results of which indicated that PK- monitored 5-FU dosage has the potential to be performed in colorectal cancer personalized therapy. More high-quality and multicenter randomized controlled trails should be carried out to provide more information for comparing the response and toxicity of these 2 dose adjustment methods.
The emotions generated by re-enactment events: A market segmentation study of the Medieval Journey in the Land of Saint Mary

ABSTRACT In a scenario of growing competition, destinations must strive not only through tangible features but also through the creation of memorable emotions. Despite the high potential of re-enactment events for creating emotions and the great importance of segmentation to ensure the satisfaction of distinct segments of visitors, emotion-based segmentation has been neglected on re-enactment events. The present article fills this research gap by segmenting visitors of a re-enactment event (a Medieval Journey) based on emotions experienced. Three clusters of visitors emerged – “apathetic,” “drivers and influencers,” and “satisfied and enthusiastic. ” Guidelines to generate specific types of emotions through re-enactment events are also provided.
Investigating the relationship between Location-Based Services and National Security

Public awareness of national security has increased significantly since September 11, 2001. Literature has discussed ways to respond or prevent breaches of National security with some of these methods employing information technologies, including radio frequency identification (RFID) and global positioning system (GPS). Other studies have focused on the privacy impact the proposed solutions will have. This research examines the technologies under the umbrella of location-based services (LBS). The preliminary findings of this research indicate that the broader notion of LBS is what needs to be focused on in order to understand the impact that they are having in the effort to ensure national security.
Compact ultra-wideband stacked-spiral-coupled balun using center-tapped float-shield and port-coupled compensation line

A compact on-chip stacked-spiral-coupled balun is proposed in this paper based on the center-tapped float-shield and port-coupled compensation line. The ultra-wideband (UWB) operation and miniaturized size are simultaneously employed using the stacked-spiral-coupled scheme. Meanwhile, the center-tapped float-shield and port-coupled compensation line are introduced to achieve the low inband amplitude- and phase-balances with excellence responses, respectively. Then, the proposed balun operated over the bandwidth (i.e., 11.5-46.5 GHz) is implemented and fabricated using IBM 0.13 um SiGe process. The measured amplitude- and phase-imbalances of the on-chip balun are ±1 dB and ±1.31°, respectively, which exhibit strong merits for the practical UWB point-to-point communication application.
Lowering the complexity of k-means clustering by BFS-dijkstra method for graph computing

K-means is a method of vector quantization, which is now popularly used for clustering analysis in massive data mining. Due to its heavily computational-intensive feature for iteratively re-computing and sorting distances, the execution of k-means takes a huge amount of time, especially when processing large graph data such as the practical social networks. This paper studies an alternative method to emulate the k-clustering from another view, in which the vertices in a graph are partitioned into k farthest clusters. This method can be implementable in a breadth-first-search (BFS) form and then becomes easily parallelizable. Our result shows that our BFS-based k-clustering achieves more than 100x speeds than the traditional partitioning in the open-source graphlab project.
Methyl‐CpG binding proteins are involved in restricting differentiation plasticity in neurons

Neurons and astrocytes are generated from common neural precursors, yet neurogenesis precedes astrocytogenesis, which normally commences at later stages of development. We have previously reported that a particular cytosine residue within a STAT3‐binding site in the astrocyte‐specific marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) gene promoter becomes demethylated in neuroepithelial cells as gestation proceeds. This demethylation correlates tightly with the onset of astrocyte differentiation, suggesting that a change in DNA methylation at cell‐type‐specific gene promoters controls the switch from neurogenesis to astrocytogenesis in the developing brain. Here, we show that late‐gestation neuroepithelial cells, which have already lost the methylation in the STAT3‐binding site within the GFAP promoter, can still give rise to neurons and that these neurons do not respond to a STAT3‐activating cytokine to express GFAP. Members of a transcriptional repressor family, the methylated‐CpG binding proteins (MBDs), including MeCP2, are predominantly expressed in neurons, and ectopic MeCP2 expression inhibited astrocyte differentiation of neuroepithelial cells. Moreover, we found that exon 1 of the GFAP gene remains hypermethylated even in neuroepithelial cells at a late developmental stage and in neurons differentiated from such neuroepithelial cells. We further demonstrate that MeCP2 actually binds to the highly methylated exon 1 of the GFAP gene in neurons. These results suggest that region‐specific DNA methylation and MBDs play an important role in the regulation of differentiation plasticity in neurons. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.