Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Spectrum of Chronic CD8+ T-Cell Expansions: Clinical Features in 14 Patients

Chronic CD8+ T-cell expansions can result in parotid gland swelling and other organ infiltration in HIV-infected patients, or in persistent cytopenias. We report 14 patients with a CD8+ T-cell expansion to better characterize the clinical spectrum of this ill-defined entity. Patients (9 women/5 men) were 65 year-old (range, 25–74). Six patients had ≥1 symptomatic organ infiltration, and 9 had ≥1 cytopenia with a CD8+ (>50% of total lymphocyte count) and/or a CD8+/CD57+ (>30% of total lymphocyte count) T-cell expansion for at least 3 months. One patient had both manifestations. A STAT3 mutation, consistent with the diagnosis of large granular lymphocyte leukemia, was found in 2 patients with cytopenia. Organ infiltration involved lymph nodes, the liver, the colon, the kidneys, the skin and the central nervous system. Three patients had a HIV infection for 8 years (range, 0.5–20 years). Two non-HIV patients with hypogammaglobulinemia had been treated with a B-cell depleting monoclonal antibody (rituximab) for a lymphoma. One patient had a myelodysplastic syndrome with colon infiltration and agranulocytosis. The outcome was favorable with efficient antiretroviral therapy and steroids in HIV-infected patients and intravenous immunoglobulins in 2/3 non-HIV patients. Six patients had an agranulocytosis of favorable outcome with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor only (3 cases), cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and cyclosporine A, or no treatment (1 case each). Three patients had a pure red cell aplasia, of favorable outcome in 2 cases with methotrexate and cyclosporine A; one patient was unresponsive. Chronic CD8+ T-cell expansions with organ infiltration in immunocompromised patients may involve other organs than parotid glands; they are non clonal and of favorable outcome after correction of the immune deficiency and/or steroids. In patients with bone marrow infiltration and unexplained cytopenia, CD8+ T-cell expansions can be clonal or not; their identification suggests that cytopenias are immune-mediated. Our results extend the clinical spectrum of chronic CD8+ T-cell expansions.
Agents that represent buyer's interests in E-commerce

Personal agents have been developed that assist user with information processing needs by generating, filtering, collecting, or transforming information. On the other hand internet stores are providing services customized by the needs and interests of individual customers. Such services can be viewed as "seller’s agents" whose goal is to push merchandise and/or services on to the users. This leads us to believe that there is a growing need for deploying "buyer’s agents" whose goal is to best serve the user’s interests. We propose several key functionalities of such buyer’s agents: informing consumers of complex interactions between specified preferences and prevailing market conditions, providing differential analysis for decision support, use of ontology to help the user reformulate queries.
The Metabolism of Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue in the Immediate Postnatal Period of Human Neonates. III. Role of Fetal Glycogen in Lipolysis and Fatty Acid Esterification in the First Hours of Life

Extract: Total glycogen phosphorylase activity in neonatal adipose tissue is significantly increased immediately after birth (0–6 hr) and rapidly decreases to a relatively constant level. Fluoride-stimulated adenyl cyclase activity in homogenates of adipose tissue from neonates is directly correlated with the length of time from the onset of labor (y = 0.665 + 7.88x; P < 0.02). No significant differences are found between infants 1–10 hr of age and 2–4 days of age. The ATP content decreases rapidly in the first hours of life and is inversely correlated with the length of time since the onset of labor (log y = −0.657 - 0.0164x; P < 0.01). The ATP content starts to increase approximately 24 hr after birth. Changes in ATP content are directly correlated with glycogen content and glycerol release from neonatal adipose tissue.Speculation: The intensity of lipolysis in neonatal adipose tissue depends on various factors, one of the most important being an adequate energy supply. The increased glycogen content in adipose tissue immediately after birth and the rapid rate of utilization of glycogen-derived glucose appear to be major factors involved in the production of ATP required for glycogenolysis, lipolysis, and fatty acid activation during the early adaptation of the neonate to extrauterine life.
DESIGNING NEXT-GENERATION LOW POWER AUTONOMOUS SENSOR NODES USING SYSTEM-ON-CHIP BASED SOLUTIONS By

As physical sensing becomes more and more pervasive, the need for accurate and efficient wireless sensors and communication nodes become important. A Wireless Sensor node is a platform which has basic components like a sensor, conditioning circuit and data communication. A set of such nodes spatially distributed in order to co-operatively sense and pass the data forms a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN).
Site-specific methylation of the rat prolactin and growth hormone promoters correlates with gene expression

The methylation patterns of the rat prolactin (rPRL) (positions -440 to -20) and growth hormone (rGH) (positions -360 to -110) promoters were analyzed by bisulfite genomic sequencing. Two normal tissues, the anterior pituitary and the liver, and three rat pituitary GH3 cell lines that differ considerably in their abilities to express both genes were tested. High levels of rPRL gene expression were correlated with hypomethylation of the CpG dinucleotides located at positions -277 and -97, near or within positive cis-acting regulatory elements. For the nine CpG sites analyzed in the rGH promoter, an overall hypomethylation-expression coupling was also observed for the anterior pituitary, the liver, and two of the cell lines. The effect of DNA methylation was tested by measuring the transient expression of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene driven by a regionally methylated rPRL promoter. CpG methylation resulted in a decrease in the activity of the rPRL promoter which was proportional to the number of modified CpG sites. The extent of the inhibition was also found to be dependent on the position of methylated sites. Taken together, these data suggest that site-specific methylation may modulate the action of transcription factors that dictate the tissue-specific expression of the rPRL and rGH genes in vivo.
Simultaneous blind separation and clustering of coactivated EEG/MEG sources for analyzing spontaneous brain activity

Analysis of the dynamics (non-stationarity) of functional connectivity patterns has recently received a lot of attention in the neuroimaging community. Most analysis has been using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), partly due to the inherent technical complexity of the electro- or magnetoencephalography (EEG/MEG) signals, but EEG/MEG holds great promise in analyzing fast changes in connectivity. Here, we propose a method for dynamic connectivity analysis of EEG/MEG, combining blind source separation with dynamic connectivity analysis in a single probabilistic model. Blind source separation is extremely useful for interpretation of the connectivity changes, and also enables rejection of artifacts. Dynamic connectivity analysis is performed by clustering the coactivation patterns of separated sources by modeling their variances. Experiments on resting-state EEG show that the obtained clusters correlate with physiologically meaningful quantities.
A Wii-Based Gestural Interface for Computer Conducting Systems

With the increase of sales of Wii game consoles, it is becoming commonplace for the Wii remote to be used as an alternative input device for other computer systems. In this paper, we present a system which makes use of the infrared camera within the Wii remote to capture the gestures of a conductor using a baton with an infrared LED and battery. Our system then performs data analysis with gesture classification and following, and finally displays the gestures using visual baton trajectories and audio feedback. Gesture trajectories are displayed in real time and can be compared to the corresponding diagram shown in a textbook. In addition, since a conductor normally does not look at a screen while conducting, tones are played to represent a certain beat in a conducting gesture. Further, the system can be controlled entirely with the baton, removing the need to switch from baton to mouse. The interface is intended to be used for pedagogy purposes.
Spatial and Temporal Variation of Physico-chemical Parameters in the

In this study, factor analysis (FA) was applied to extract the hidden factors responsible for water quality variations during both wet and dry seasons. Water samples were collected from six sampling stations (St. 1 Lalang River, St. 2 Semeling River, St. 3 Jagung River, St. 4 Teluk Wang River, St. 5 Gelam River and St. 6 Derhaka River) in the Merbok estuary, Malaysia from January to December 2011; the samples were further analysed in the laboratory. Correlation analysis of the data sets showed strong correlations between the parameters. Nutrients such as nitrate (NO3 – ), nitrite (NO2 – ), ammonia (NH3) and phosphate (PO4 3– ) were determined to be critical indicators of water quality throughout the year. Influential water quality parameters during the wet season were conductivity, salinity, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen (DO) and chlorophyll a (Chla), whereas total suspended solid (TSS) and pH were critical water quality indicators during the dry season. The Kruskal-Wallis H test showed that water quality parameters were significantly different among the sampling months and stations (p<0.05), and Mann-Whitney U tests further revealed that the significantly different parameters were temperature, pH, DO, TSS, NO2 – , and BOD varied significantly between Corresponding author: wmaznah@usm.my
Transient 3-d simulation of an experimental railgun using finite element methods

Today progress in railgun research is usually achieved experimentally with support from simulations. The finite element method (FEM) is one popular and wide spread tool in many fields of research. But the transient computation of a 3-d model of a railgun, taking into account the time evolution of the acceleration process, coupling the electromagnetic fields to the moving projectile, is a complex task. Such a simulation involves large gradients of the electromagnetic fields, large structures of the order of meters with areas of interest in the sub-millimeter range, a fast moving projectile causing a rapid change of the current flow through the volume in the next vicinity of the contact. Nevertheless, recent developments in FEM tools make it attractive to attempt such a simulation. At the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis the electromagnetic acceleration group uses the program COMSOL to set up a transient 3-d simulation of a small caliber railgun. Here the implementation of the railgun as COMSOL model and the comparison to experimental data is presented.
Adaptive Peer-to-Peer Social Networks for Distributed Content-Based Web Search

In this chapter we propose a collaborative peer network application called 6Search (6S) to address the scalability limitations of centralized search engines. Each peer crawls the Web in a focused way, guided by its user’s information context. Through this approach, better (distributed) coverage can be achieved. Each peer also acts as a search “servent” (server + client) by submitting and responding to queries to/from its neighbors. This search process has no centralized bottleneck. Peers depend on a local adaptive routing algorithm to dynamically change the topology of the peer network and search for the best neighbors to answer their queries. We present and evaluate learning techniques to improve local query routing. We validate prototypes of the 6S network via simulations with 70–500 model users based on actual Web crawls. We find that the network topology rapidly converges from a random network to a small-world network, with clusters emerging from user communities with shared interests. We finally compare the quality of the results with those obtained by centralized search engines such as Google. BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION Centralized search engines have difficulties in achieving good coverage of the Web (Lawrence & Giles, 1999) because the Web is large, fast growing, and fast changing (Brewington & Cybenko, 2000; Fetterly, Manasse, Najork, & DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-543-6.ch008
Semi-supervised training for bottle-neck feature based DNN-HMM hybrid systems

In this paper, we investigate semi-supervised training (SST) method in various state-of-the-art acoustic modeling techniques, using bottle-neck and corresponding tandem features. These techniques include subspace GMM, tanh-neuron deep neural network (DNN), and a generalized soft-maxout (p-norm) DNN. We demonstrate that SST may lead up to 2% Word Error Rate (WER) reduction using all these techniques in each case, and the best one comes from tandem feature based p-norm DNN system. In addition to recognition performance, effectiveness of the SST on keyword search performance is also investigated. Results on Actual Term Weighted Value (ATWV) are reported, with an analysis on lattice density. It is shown that SST may not necessarily increase ATWV due to the shrink of lattices size. Index Terms: Semi-supervised training, Bottle-neck features, Maxout Networks, keyword search, Speech recognition
A Los1p-independent pathway for nuclear export of intronless tRNAs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Los1p, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae exportin-t homologue, binds tRNA and functions in pre-tRNA splicing and export of mature tRNA from the nucleus to the cytosol. Because LOS1 is unessential in yeast, other pathways for tRNA nuclear export must exist. We report that Cca1p, which adds nucleotides C, C, and A to the 3′ end of tRNAs, is a multicopy suppressor of the defect in tRNA nuclear export caused by los1 null mutations. Mes1p, methionyl-tRNA synthetase, also suppresses the defect in nuclear export of tRNAMet in los1 cells. Thus, Cca1p and Mes1p seem to function in a Los1p-independent tRNA nuclear export pathway. Heterokaryon analysis indicates that Cca1p is a nucleus/cytosol-shuttling protein, providing the potential for Cca1p to function as an exporter or an adapter in this tRNA nuclear export pathway. In yeast, most mutations that affect tRNA nuclear export also cause defects in pre-tRNA splicing leading to tight coupling of the splicing and export processes. In contrast, we show that overexpressed Cca1p corrects the nuclear export, but not the pre-tRNA-splicing defects of los1∷Kanr cells, thereby uncoupling pre-tRNA splicing and tRNA nuclear export.
Intra-abdominal abscess after laparoscopic appendectomy for perforated appendicitis.

HYPOTHESIS The incidence of postoperative intra-abdominal abscess is higher after laparoscopic compared with open appendectomy for perforated appendicitis. METHODS A historical cohort study of pediatric patients operated on for suspected appendicitis by open appendectomy or laparoscopic appendectomy compares the incidence of postoperative intra-abdominal abscess for each procedure. SETTING A tertiary care center. PATIENTS Five hundred thirty-eight pediatric patients were operated on for suspected appendicitis at our institution between 1974 and 1999. Of these, 453 were included in the study. Of the excluded patients, 9 had incomplete medical records, 69 had normal or interval appendectomies, and 7 had appendixes removed by methods other than laparoscopy or right lower quadrant incision. INTERVENTIONS Open appendectomy performed through a right lower quadrant incision or laparoscopic appendectomy performed through a 3-trocar approach by 1 of 3 pediatric surgeons at our institution. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The incidence of postoperative intra-abdominal abscess after laparoscopic vs open appendectomy. RESULTS In perforated appendicitis (170 patients), the incidence of postoperative abscess after laparoscopic appendectomy was 24% vs 4.2% after open appendectomy. The relative risk ratio of developing a postoperative abscess after perforated appendicitis was 5.6 (confidence interval, 2.1-16.0) after laparoscopic vs open appendectomy. The results remained significant when controlled for age, sex, intraoperative irrigation, and preoperative antibiotics. Postoperative abscess in all acute, gangrenous, and perforated appendicitis after laparoscopic appendectomy was 6.4% vs 3.0% after open appendectomy. This was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION There is a significant increase in the incidence of postoperative intra-abdominal abscess with perforated appendicitis after laparoscopic compared with open appendectomy in pediatric patients.
Segregated Graphs and Marginals of Chain Graph Models

Bayesian networks are a popular representation of asymmetric (for example causal) relationships between random variables. Markov random fields (MRFs) are a complementary model of symmetric relationships used in computer vision, spatial modeling, and social and gene expression networks. A chain graph model under the Lauritzen-Wermuth-Frydenberg interpretation (hereafter a chain graph model) generalizes both Bayesian networks and MRFs, and can represent asymmetric and symmetric relationships together. As in other graphical models, the set of marginals from distributions in a chain graph model induced by the presence of hidden variables forms a complex model. One recent approach to the study of marginal graphical models is to consider a well-behaved supermodel. Such a supermodel of marginals of Bayesian networks, defined only by conditional independences, and termed the ordinary Markov model, was studied at length in [6]. In this paper, we show that special mixed graphs which we call segregated graphs can be associated, via a Markov property, with supermodels of marginals of chain graphs defined only by conditional independences. Special features of segregated graphs imply the existence of a very natural factorization for these supermodels, and imply many existing results on the chain graph model, and the ordinary Markov model carry over. Our results suggest that segregated graphs define an analogue of the ordinary Markov model for marginals of chain graph models. We illustrate the utility of segregated graphs for analyzing outcome interference in causal inference via simulated datasets.
Influence of musical training on perception of L2 speech

The current study reports specific cases in which a positive transfer of perceptual ability from the music domain to the language domain occurs. We tested whether musical training enhances discrimination and identification performance of L2 speech sounds (timing features, nasal consonants and vowels). Native Dutch and Japanese speakers with different musical training experience, matched for their estimated verbal IQ, participated in the experiments. Results indicated that musical training strongly increases one’s ability to perceive timing information in speech signals. We also found a benefit of musical training on discrimination performance for a subset of the tested vowel contrasts. Index Terms: discrimination, identification, musical training, category, learning, perception
Efficacious Action and Social Approval as Interacting Dimensions of Self-Esteem: A Tentative Formulation Through Construct Validation.

The importance of self-esteem to theoretical, evaluative and policy oriented research is stressed, which puts a premium on an adequate conceptualization and operationalization of self-esteem. A literature review is presented suggesting that various writers express dissatisfaction with a model of self-esteem which gives pre-emptory emphasis to the approval of others as its only source. It is concluded from these writings that feedback from one's own actions on an impersonal environment must be viewed as an analytically distinct dimension of self-esteem. It is argued that both outer and inner dimensions can be seen as belonging inside a sociological frame of reference. Findings from a construct validity study of the dual approach to self-esteem are presented using the potency and evaluative dimensions of the semantic differential as indicators of "instrumental" and "socio-emotional" problems, the "systemic" analogues of inner and outer self-esteem. Criterion variables and propositions are derived from a thesis largely supplied by Smith (1968). Seven out of 10 of the hypotheses comprising the validation study are statistically confirmed, leading the authors to conclude that the model is worthy of further development.
Self and Identity in Adolescent Foreign Language Learning

Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Self and Identity in Adolescence: A Relational Perspective Chapter 3. Self and Identity in Foreign Language Learning Chapter 4. A Quadripolar Model of Identity in Adolescent Foreign Language Learning Chapter 5. Participants' Self Systems in Four Relational Contexts Chapter 6. Self Perceptions and Identity Display in Learning English as a Foreign Language Chapter 7. Of Students and Teachers Chapter 8. Drawing the Line: Evaluation and Implications
THE EFFECT OF COMPETITION ON WEIGHT LOSS AT THE WORKSITE

ix PURPOSE 1 LITURATURE REVIEW 3 Ideal Body Weight 4 Skinfold Measurements 8 Health Risks Associated With Obesity 10 Classification Schemes of Obesity 14 Predictors of Success 15 Obesity Treatment Types 19 Weight Loss Diets . 20 Phases of Weight Loss 23 Exercise 24 Behavior Modification 25 Attrition 28 Variability of Outcomes 28 Group Support 29 Worksite Group Support 31 Keys to Success 34 HYPOTHESIS 36 MATERIAL AND METHODS 37 "Be Good To Your Heart Program" 37 Initial Contact 38 Orientation 40 "Competition Only Groups" 41
Health Status of Dually Eligible Beneficiaries in Managed Care Plans

We conducted a descriptive study examining the health status of dually eligible beneficiaries using a sample from the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS), a measure of health status administered to enrollees in Medicare managed care (MMC). Overall, we found that dually eligible beneficiaries were sicker, more depressed, and reporting more pain than Medicare-only beneficiaries. Our results suggest that quality improvement initiatives that center on pain and depression management in the dually eligible population present important opportunities for collaboration between Medicare and Medicaid.