Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Etiology of hippocampal sclerosis

Objective: We sought evidence of a hereditary component for hippocampal sclerosis (HS) by determining whether close relatives of probands with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with HS also had asymptomatic HS or subtle variation in hippocampal morphology. Methods: First-degree relatives from 15 families in which probands had TLE with HS and 32 age- and sex-matched controls were included in the study. Left and right hippocampal volumes and T2 relaxometry were measured using 3-tesla MRI. Results: Thirty-two asymptomatic first-degree relatives and 3 relatives with a history of seizures or epilepsy were studied. None of the first-degree relatives had HS on visual analysis and T2 relaxation times were normal, excluding the presence of HS. Mean hippocampal volume was smaller (6.4%) in asymptomatic relatives (2.94 ± 0.27 cm3, 95% confidence interval = 2.87–3.01) than in controls (3.14 ± 0.22 cm3, 95% confidence interval = 3.09–3.19, p < 0.005); the effect was greater in relatives of probands with a positive family history of epilepsy. The relatives also had more asymmetric hippocampi (asymmetric index 0.92 ± 0.05) than controls (0.96 ± 0.03, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Small asymmetric hippocampi in healthy relatives are likely to represent a familial developmental variant that may predispose to the formation of TLE with HS. The underlying histopathology of these small hippocampi is unknown. This observation may provide an imaging marker for future studies seeking susceptibility genes for HS.
TonB induces conformational changes in surface‐exposed loops of FhuA, outer membrane receptor of Escherichia coli

FhuA, outer membrane receptor of Escherichia coli, transports hydroxamate‐type siderophores into the periplasm. Cytoplasmic membrane–anchored TonB transduces energy to FhuA to facilitate siderophore transport. Because the N‐terminal cork domain of FhuA occludes the C‐terminal β‐barrel lumen, conformational changes must occur to enable siderophore passage. To localize conformational changes at an early stage of the siderophore transport cycle, four anti‐FhuA monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were purified to homogeneity, and the epitopes that they recognize were determined by phage display. We mapped continuous and discontinuous epitopes to outer surface‐exposed loops 3, 4, and 5 and to β‐barrel strand 14. To probe for conformational changes of FhuA, surface plasmon resonance measured mAb binding to FhuA in its apo‐ and siderophore‐bound states. Changes in binding kinetics were observed for mAbs whose epitopes were mapped to outer surface‐exposed loops. Further, we measured mAb binding in the absence and presence of TonB. After forming immobilized FhuA–TonB complexes, changes in kinetics of mAb binding to FhuA were even more pronounced compared with kinetics of binding in the absence of TonB. Measurement of extrinsic fluorescence of the dye MDCC conjugated to residue 336 in outer surface‐exposed loop 4 revealed 33% fluorescence quenching upon ferricrocin binding and up to 56% quenching upon TonB binding. Binding of mAbs to apo‐ and ferricrocin‐bound FhuA complemented by fluorescence spectroscopy studies showed that their cognate epitopes on loops 3, 4, and 5 undergo conformational changes upon siderophore binding. Further, our data demonstrate that TonB binding promotes conformational changes in outer surface‐exposed loops of FhuA.
Development and application of mass sensors based on flexural resonances in alumina beams

New mass sensors are described, which are based on the change in the flexural resonant frequencies of ceramic cantilever beams subject to piezoelectric excitation. The devices have been fabricated by screen-printing and firing a PZT-based paste on 96% alumina substrates with the methods of thick film technology and are, therefore, low cost and easy to manufacture. Inserted in an electronic feedback loop sustaining and tracking oscillations at one of the resonant frequencies, the sensors work as resonant microbalances with frequency output and can be employed for gravimetric chemical measurements. The beams have been implemented in two different sizes and, as a consequence, operated at different frequencies (about 82 and 149 kHz), in order to vary the mass sensitivity. The sensors' manufacturing and theory of operation are illustrated, and experimental results on their characterization are reported. For the two sensor sizes, mass sensitivities of about -280 and -1200 Hz/mg have been measured, in agreement with theoretical predictions. The influence of temperature has been investigated showing that, for slow thermal drifts, a satisfying degree of compensation can be achieved with a differential configuration. The devices have been successfully applied as sorption sensors for the measurement of air relative humidity (RH) by sensitizing the beams' surface with hydrophilic polymeric coatings. On the basis of past investigations, poly(N-vinylpyrrolidinone) and poly(ethyleneglycol) have been adopted as coating materials, obtaining respective frequency shifts of about 500 and 1400 Hz for RH ranging from 12 to 85%.
Back to #6D: Predicting Venezuelan states political election results through Twitter

The large adoption of Twitter during electioneering has created an unprecedented opportunity to capture the citizen's behaviour nationwide. The real-time access to information published by citizens has motivated researchers to design methods in order to enrich traditional political polling with insights from this rich source of data. However, less work has been done to capture the political scenario in Latin American countries, given that some methods rely on the use of English words, the reproducibility of such studies in Spanish speaking countries is a challenging task. Therefore, we propose a framework in which we apply social network analysis techniques and unsupervised machine learning to infer the political alignment at state level during Venezuelan Parliamentary election, which were performed on December 6, 2015. This electoral process took place in the middle of an acute political polarization in the country, the masses were organized around two political coalitions with opposite ideology: Government and opposition. In order to discover automatically the corresponding state political preferences, we analyze 60K tweets posted within the Venezuelan geographic boundaries during one week before the election day. Applying our framework, we are able to infer a given state political alignment starting from the quantified differences in communication patterns and linguistic profiles of the state aggregated tweets. We demonstrate that the online political atmosphere reflects the offline tendency at state scale given that we are able to predict the election tendency in Venezuela states with an accuracy of 87.5% with respect to official election results publicly available.
Analysis of substrate integrated waveguide based on two dimensional multi-port method

In this article, two-dimensional analysis is proposed to calculate propagation constant of substrate integrated waveguide. First, the impedance matrix of a unit cell structure of substrate integrated waveguide is calculated by employing desegmentation method. Then, propagation constant of fundamental mode is obtained by applying Floquet theorem on the impedance matrix of the unit cell. Field distribution of the propagating mode is also acquired. Our results show good agreement with published results. Comparison with results obtained by high-frequency structure simulator validates this method for a broad range of dimensions.
A prospective study of the factors affecting outcomes of non-surgical root canal treatment: part 2: tooth survival.

AIM To investigate the probability of and factors influencing tooth survival following primary (1°RCTx) or secondary (2°RCTx) root canal treatment. METHODOLOGY This prospective study involved annual follow-up of 2 (100%) to 4 years (50%) of 1°RCTx (759 teeth, 572 patients) and 2°RCTx (858 teeth, 642 patients) carried out by Endodontic postgraduate students. Pre-, intra- and post-operative data were collected prospectively from consented patients. Information about extraction of the root filled tooth was sought from the patient, the referring dentist or derived from the patient's records and included the timing and reasons for extraction. Tooth survival was estimated and prognostic factors were investigated using Cox regression. Clustering effects within patients were adjusted in all models using robust standard error. RESULTS The 4-year cumulative tooth survival following 1°RCTx [95.4% (93.6%, 96.8%)] or 2°RCTx [95.3% (93.6%, 96.5%)] was similar. Thirteen prognostic factors were identified. Significant patient factors included history of diabetes and systemic steroid therapy. Significant pre-operative factors included narrow but deep periodontal probing depth; pain; discharging sinus; and iatrogenic perforation (for 2°RCTx cases only). Significant intra-operative factors included iatrogenic perforation; patency at apical terminus; and extrusion of root fillings. Significant post-operative restorative factors included presence of cast restoration versus temporary restoration; presence of cast post and core; proximal contacts with both mesial and distal adjacent teeth; and terminal location of the tooth. The presence of pre-operative pain had a profound effect on tooth loss within the first 22 months after treatment [hazard ratio (HR) = 3.1; P = 0.001] with a lesser effect beyond 22 months (HR = 2.4; P = 0.01). Patency at the apical terminus reduced tooth loss (HR = 0.3; P < 0.01) within the first 22 months after treatment but had no significant effect on tooth survival beyond 22 months. Extrusion of gutta-percha root filling did not have any effect on tooth survival (HR = 1.1; P = 0.2) within the first 22 months but significantly increased the hazard of tooth loss beyond 22 months (HR = 3.0; P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS The 4-year tooth survival following primary or secondary root canal treatment was 95%, with thirteen prognostic factors common to both.
Pulmonary rehabilitation in outpatients with asthma or chronic obstructive lung disease. A pilot study of a "modular" rehabilitation programme.

STUDY/PRINCIPLES Pulmonary rehabilitation programmes are often costly and dependent on the infrastructure of specialised centres. We developed a modular, outpatient-based rehabilitation programme, which is inexpensive and can be implemented in a variety of settings. The aim of this study was to determine the effects and feasibility of this programme. METHODS Thirteen patients with COPD and 7 patients with asthma were enrolled by their primary care physician because of dyspnoea. Initial assessment included cardiopulmonary exercise testing, six-minute walking distance, lung function testing and multiple questionnaires addressing dyspnoea, depression and quality of life issues. The training consisted of 36 sessions of high intensity training of 2 hours duration to improve exercise tolerance, including 30 minutes of stationary cycling at the anaerobic threshold. Another complete assessment was done on completion of the study at 3 months. RESULTS The six-minute walking distance improved significantly from 401 to 551 m (p < 0.0001). The maximal exercise capacity increased significantly from 85 W to 99 W (p < 0.001). The anaerobic threshold remained unchanged despite the high intensity training. There was a reduction of dyspnoea and an improvement of quality of life. CONCLUSION This study shows that our outpatient rehabilitation programme leads to a benefit in exercise tolerance and health related quality of life comparable to other programmes published in the literature. The rehabilitation programme was very well accepted among patients, primary care physicians and health insurers.
Performance of GMSK and QDPSK Signals with Diversity Reception in Arbitrarily Correlated and Unbalanced Weibull Fading Channels

This paper derives a simple general closed form expression of the bit error probability for differentially detected signals with post-detection equal gain combining in additive white Gaussian noise and slow frequency nonselective fading channels. The derived expression is then used to study the performance of Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) and quadrature Differential phase sift keying (QDPSK) signals when transmitting over non-identical and correlated Weibull fading channels in which each diversity branch can have unequal signal to noise ratio (SNR) and different severity parameter β as well.
Promotion Strategy of Borobudur World Cultural Heritage Site for International Tourists

The poor promotion strategies of Borobudur caused the low international tourists’ arrival. Therefore, this study aimed to develop promotion strategies for the Borobudur world cultural heritage site as a tourist attraction for foreign tourists. Respondents were selected by accidental sampling of 50 tourists combined with FGD of local tourism stakeholders. Data were analyzed using descriptive qualitative method and SWOT analysis. The results showed that: (1) Strategy SO can be reached by public relations by making online publicity and using endorser to reach international coverage, (2) Strategy WO achieved through the financial support for advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and direct marketing ( 3) Strategies ST approached with the digital promotion supported by strong branding and assisted personal selling and direct marketing, and (d) Strategies WT by promoting Borobudur market in Asia, America, and especially Australia through increasing frequency of sales promotio.n and direct marketing supported by advertising to the target market.
Quantitative computed tomography detects air trapping due to asthma.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to prospectively see if quantitative computed tomography (QCT) could separate asthmatic patients from normal control subjects. The QCT results were also correlated with the pulmonary function tests (PFT) that were done on both the asthmatic patients and control subjects. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Eighteen adult nonsmoking asthmatics and 22 adult control subjects were entered into the study. Quantitative CT was performed at the level of the transverse aorta and just above the diaphragm at both end inspiration and end expiration in all patients and control subjects: 10-mm and 1.5-mm collimation using a high spatial frequency algorithm was used to obtain the QCT examinations. The percent of pixels below -900 Hounsfeld units, pixel index, in each of the QCT axial images of the lungs was calculated for each asthmatic and control subject in the study. Pulmonary function testing was performed on both the asthmatics and control subjects and included determination of FEV1, FVC, FRC, RV, and TLC. Unpaired Student's t test analysis of the QCT data was done to statistically compare the asthmatics with the control subjects. Linear regression analysis was done to compare the QCT results with PFT data on the asthmatics and control subjects. RESULTS When scans were performed at end expiration, at a level immediately superior to the diaphragm, the mean pixel index was significantly higher in asthmatic subjects compared with normal individuals on both CT (mean for normal subjects 0.16 vs 4.45 for asthmatics, p < 0.004) and high-resolution CT (HRCT) images (mean for normal subjects 1.04 vs 10.03 in asthmatics, p < 0.0001) indicating more areas of low attenuation in asthmatics. The CT and HRCT images from the lower lung zones that were performed at end expiration provided the best separation between the groups. The pixel index on expiration correlated with the degree of air trapping and airflow limitation in the asthmatic group based on FEV1, FRC, RV, and to a lesser extent, FVC. CONCLUSION Expiratory QCT is a useful method to assess air trapping in asthmatic patients. The percent of abnormal lung in asthmatics as determined by QCT has a significant correlation with the PFTs that reflect air trapping in asthmatic patients. Quantitative CT may be helpful in assessing degrees of air trapping present in other diseases affecting the airways.
The Activated Seven Lupus Anticoagulant (ASLA) assay: a new test for lupus anticoagulants (LAs). Evidence that some LAs are detectable only in extrinsic pathway-based assays

Accurate and timely detection of lupus anticoagulants (LAs) is of diagnostic and prognostic importance due to the association of persistent LAs with thrombotic disease. In the present study, a sensitive and specific assay for LAs has been developed using recombinant activated factor VII to initiate in vitro coagulation. The Activated Seven Lupus Anticoagulant (ASLA) assay uses dilute brain-derived phospholipid in the screening test and a platelet neutralization procedure (PNP) in the confirmatory test. Tests are reported as ratios of patient clotting time to normal control clotting time and percentage correction by PNP assessed for abnormal ratios. Evaluation with 70 known LA-positive plasmas demonstrated higher detection rates than with individual assays from a wide range of commonly employed LA tests. The ASLA assay identified 61 of 70 (87%) known LAs, compared with 65.7% with the most sensitive of the other assays. The various LA assays were used to test 110 plasma samples from patients with thrombotic disease previously negative for LA. These experiments demonstrated that 18 of 110 (16.4%) contained LAs detectable only in extrinsic pathway-based assays, 10 of these by ASLA testing alone. ASLA testing showed high diagnostic precision and has the potential to make a significant contribution to LA detection.
Customer Service Evaluation Applied to Pedagogy Degree

The objective of the present study is to evaluate the customer service applied to the pedagogy degree in its night shift. To carry out this research, a population study was applied and a representative sample was calculated using a 95% confidence level and a error allowed. The Servqual instrument was used to achieve the stated objective. The results of the investigation showed that the lowest dimensions were the security with 66.43% and the reliability 68.71% Keywords— Customer service, evaluation and pedagogy degree
FOLLICULAR LIPOSOMAL DELIVERY SYSTEMS

ABSTRACT Traditionally, the prime pathway for the topical delivery of active agents across the skin was thought to be through intercellular routes and transcellular routes of the stratum corneum. However, alternative means such as via appenageal transport, i.e., follicular transport, is gaining more acceptances in the scientific community. Targeting specific sites of the hair follicle may represent a feasible therapeutic approach to skin diseases such as hair loss. It is therefore an object of this research to develop novel liposomal formulations for enabling the topical delivery of difficult-to-absorb agents for localized action, specifically to the hair follicles and sebaceous glands. We examined small and large molecules. The small molecule chosen was minoxidil, a known hair growth stimulator. The large molecular weight molecule was plasmid DNA encoded with interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein (IL-1ra).
Do State Funded Merit Scholarships for Higher Education Improve High School Graduation Rates?

abstract:The effect of state funded merit aid for college tuition on student performance in high school has been largely ignored by the current literature on merit aid programs, even though one aim of these programs is to provide incentives for increased academic achievement in high school. To test for such effects, we employ a selection model for graduation rates using the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD) on over 8,500 school districts for 1990 and 2000. The results show that graduation rates improved in merit aid states relative to non-merit aid states over this period. Perhaps surprisingly, African American students appear to have benefited from merit aid’s effect on graduation rates to the same or a greater extent than other students.
Successful ageing in adversity: the LASER–AD longitudinal study

Background: Most models of successful ageing do not allow for the possibility of living “successfully,” despite some degree of cognitive or physical impairment. We reviewed the successful ageing and related quality of life literature to identify their potential predictors. We then tested our hypotheses that wellbeing in adversity would be predicted by mental health (anxiety and depression) and social factors rather than physical health and that it would be stable over time. Method: We interviewed 224 people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and their family carers, recruited to be representative of those living with AD in the community. We re-interviewed 122 (73.1% of eligible) participants 18 months later. Our main outcome measure was the perception of the person with AD on their life as a whole. Results: Mean “wellbeing in adversity” scores did not change significantly over time (t = 0.23). Social relationships, subjective mental health, health perception, activities of daily living and baseline wellbeing in adversity were the significant correlates of wellbeing in adversity on univariate analysis. Only baseline wellbeing in adversity and mental health score were significant predictors in our regression analysis. In a well fitting structural equation model, less severe dementia and better health perception predicted fewer mental health problems and social relationships, but were not direct predictors of wellbeing in adversity at 18 months. Conclusion: Successful ageing was common among a cohort of people with dementia. The most important predictors of this were mental health and social relationships, which fully mediated the relationship we found between health perception and wellbeing 18 months later.
Cigarette smoke impairs airway epithelial barrier function and cell–cell contact recovery

Cigarette smoking, the major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), induces aberrant airway epithelial structure and function. The underlying mechanisms are unresolved so far. We studied effects of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on epithelial barrier function and wound regeneration in human bronchial epithelial 16HBE cells and primary bronchial epithelial cells (PBECs) from COPD patients, nonsmokers and healthy smokers. We demonstrate that CSE rapidly and transiently impairs 16HBE barrier function, largely due to disruption of cell–cell contacts. CSE induced a similar, but stronger and more sustained, defect in PBECs. Application of the specific epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor AG1478 showed that EGFR activation contributes to the CSE-induced defects in both 16HBE cells and PBECs. Furthermore, our data indicate that the endogenous protease calpain mediates these defects through tight junction protein degradation. CSE also delayed the reconstitution of 16HBE intercellular contacts during wound healing and attenuated PBEC barrier function upon wound regeneration. These findings were comparable between PBECs from smokers, healthy smokers and COPD patients. In conclusion, we demonstrate for the first time that CSE reduces epithelial integrity, probably by EGFR and calpain-dependent disruption of intercellular contacts. This may increase susceptibility to environmental insults, e.g. inhaled pathogens. Thus, EGFR may be a promising target for therapeutic strategies to improve mucosal barrier function in cigarette smoking-related disease.