Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The prevalence of PTEN mutations in a clinical pediatric cohort with autism spectrum disorders, developmental delay, and macrocephaly

Purpose: To define the prevalence of PTEN mutations in a clinical cohort of pediatric subjects with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), developmental delay/mental retardation (DD/MR), and/or macrocephaly and to assess genotype–phenotype correlations.Methods: Medical records of patients who had clinical PTEN gene sequencing ordered through our institution between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2007 were abstracted to confirm genetic test results and medical diagnoses. Phenotypic information related to the diagnoses, prenatal history, early developmental milestones, physical characteristics, and family history for those with a confirmed PTEN mutation was also recorded.Results: One hundred fourteen patients were tested during this time period for indications of ASDs (N = 60), DD/MR (N = 49), or macrocephaly only (N = 5). Eleven mutations were identified: five in patients with ASDs and six in those with DD/MR, resulting in a prevalence of 8.3% and 12.2% in these respective clinical populations. All individuals with a PTEN mutation had significant macrocephaly (>2.0 SD)Conclusions: These data illustrate that PTEN gene sequencing has a high diagnostic yield when performed in a selected population of individuals with ASDs or DD/MR and macrocephaly. Germline mutations in PTEN are an important, identifiable etiology among these patients.
Effect of Removing Direct Payment for Health Care on Utilisation and Health Outcomes in Ghanaian Children: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Background Delays in accessing care for malaria and other diseases can lead to disease progression, and user fees are a known barrier to accessing health care. Governments are introducing free health care to improve health outcomes. Free health care affects treatment seeking, and it is therefore assumed to lead to improved health outcomes, but there is no direct trial evidence of the impact of removing out-of-pocket payments on health outcomes in developing countries. This trial was designed to test the impact of free health care on health outcomes directly. Methods and Findings 2,194 households containing 2,592 Ghanaian children under 5 y old were randomised into a prepayment scheme allowing free primary care including drugs, or to a control group whose families paid user fees for health care (normal practice); 165 children whose families had previously paid to enrol in the prepayment scheme formed an observational arm. The primary outcome was moderate anaemia (haemoglobin [Hb] < 8 g/dl); major secondary outcomes were health care utilisation, severe anaemia, and mortality. At baseline the randomised groups were similar. Introducing free primary health care altered the health care seeking behaviour of households; those randomised to the intervention arm used formal health care more and nonformal care less than the control group. Introducing free primary health care did not lead to any measurable difference in any health outcome. The primary outcome of moderate anaemia was detected in 37 (3.1%) children in the control and 36 children (3.2%) in the intervention arm (adjusted odds ratio 1.05, 95% confidence interval 0.66–1.67). There were four deaths in the control and five in the intervention group. Mean Hb concentration, severe anaemia, parasite prevalence, and anthropometric measurements were similar in each group. Families who previously self-enrolled in the prepayment scheme were significantly less poor, had better health measures, and used services more frequently than those in the randomised group. Conclusions In the study setting, removing out-of-pocket payments for health care had an impact on health care-seeking behaviour but not on the health outcomes measured. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (#NCT00146692).
Unsupervised Non-parametric Geospatial Modeling from Ground Imagery

Densely and regularly sampled ground-level imagery collected from semi-automated vehicle collection platforms (e.g. Street ViewTM or EarthMineTM) is rapidly becoming available on a global scale. Ground level views of neighborhoods around the world can provide unique regional indicators (e.g. demographics, zoning, socioeconomic health) at a finer resolution than current census data. To this end, this paper introduces the first unsupervised method for automated hierarchical modeling of high-level latent regions using densely sampled, geotagged ground imagery at a global scale. Our unsupervised, nonparametric approach models a multi-scale regularly sampled grid of panoramic ground-level images (where available), producing a multi-scale, multivariate estimate of the latent types of locations (e.g. commercial street, wooded area, park, country road, suburban street, etc.). Region types are model distributions of location types characteristic of particular neighborhoods, towns, or cities. These latent region types are used to cluster all locations into distinct geographic entities with regional signatures that can be used for comparison. We show the effectiveness of this method for discovering regional distributions at vastly different scales, including the Boston area, the United States, and the World.
Layered Parts of Speech Tagging for Bangla

In Natural Language Processing, Parts-ofSpeech tagging plays a vital role in text processing for any sort of language processing and understanding by machine. This paper proposes a rule based Parts-ofSpeech tagger for Bangla with layered tagging. There are 4 levels of Tagging which also handles the tagging of Multi verb expressions.
Self‐Sufficiency, Ecology of Work, and Welfare Reform

The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act specifies self‐sufficiency as the goal of welfare reform. This article identifies the philosophical and historical foundations for the concept of self‐sufficiency, and it identifies ways that the concept needs to be both clarified and made more richly operational through a perspective of the ecology of work. This approach highlights limitations of the contemporary use of the concept of self‐sufficiency and places the term more realistically in a social and cultural analytical framework that takes into account the perspective of people whose lives are affected by social policy.
CHANGES IN SOME ANTIOXIDANT ENZYME ACTIVITIES IN SIX SOYBEAN CULTIVARS IN RESPONSE TO LONG-TERM SALINITY AT TWO DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES

In the present study, the effect of long-term salt stress (NaCl with 0, 0.1, 0.4 and 0.7 MPa)-temperature (25±2 oC and 35±2 oC) interaction on some antioxidant enzyme activities (ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase and peroxidase) in six soybean cultivars (Glycine max L. Merr.) was investigated. The leaves of twenty-three-day old plants were used for the analysis of enzyme activities. Salt stress significantly increased APX activities of Mitchell, Nazlıcan and Türksoy compared to control, and decreased in other three cultivars at 25 oC, whereas it caused differences in the APX activities depending on the salt treatment levels at 35 oC. Under both temperatures, GR activities in the cultivars were generally increased by salt treatment, except for 0.1 MPa. POD activities at 25 oC decreased in all cultivars, except for 0.7 MPa in CX-415 and Nazlıcan. However, 0.4 MPa increased the activity only in cv. Nazlıcan at 35 oC. Our results demonstrated that the studied cultivars exhibited discrepancies in their antioxidant enzyme activities in response to salt treatment and the interaction of salt-temperature intensified the obtained responses.
Can we predict which patients with community-acquired pneumonia are likely to have positive blood cultures?

BACKGROUND Blood cultures (BC) are commonly ordered during the initial assessment of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), yet their yield remains low. Selective use of BC would allow the opportunity to save healthcare resources and avoid patient discomfort. The study was to determine what demographic and clinical factors predict a greater likelihood of a positive blood culture result in patients diagnosed with CAP. METHODS A structured retrospective systematic chart audit was performed to compare relevant demographic and clinical details of patients admitted with CAP, in whom blood culture results were positive, with those of age, sex, and date-matched control patients in whom blood culture results were negative. RESULTS On univariate analysis, eight variables were associated with a positive BC result. After logistic regression analysis, however, the only variables statistically significantly associated with a positive BC were WBC less than 4.5 × 10(9)/L [likelihood ratio (LR): 7.75, 95% CI=2.89-30.39], creatinine >106 μmol/L (LR: 3.15, 95%CI=1.71-5.80), serum glucose<6.1 mmol/L (LR: 2.46, 95%CI=1.14-5.32), and temperature > 38 °C (LR: 2.25, 95% CI =1.21-4.20). A patient with all of these variables had a LR of having a positive BC of 135.53 (95% CI=25.28-726.8) compared to patients with none of these variables. CONCLUSIONS Certain clinical variables in patients with CAP admitted to hospitals do appear to be associated with a higher probability of a positive yield of BC, with combinations of these variables increasing this likelihood. We have identified a subgroup of CAP patients in whom blood cultures are more likely to be useful.
Leukotriene B4 levels in the arterial blood of asthmatic patients and the effects of prednisolone.

Prednisolone is very effective in controlling wheezing attacks of bronchial asthma, but its mechanism and the pathogenic role of leukotriene B4 remain unclear. We measured changes in plasma levels of leukotriene B4 in an open study during the clinical course of bronchial asthma, with or without water-soluble prednisolone treatment. Two millilitres of blood was drawn from the radial artery of patients on three occasions: 1) during remission; 2) on admission to hospital with an asthma attack; and 3) 2 days after admission and treatment with intravenous prednisolone (1,000 mg.day-1). Leukotriene B4 was detected by chromatographic fractionation and radioimmunoassay. In 11 asthmatic patients, leukotriene B4 levels on the three occasions were 26.8 (10.7), 106.0 (39.9) and 51.6 (20.2) pg.ml-1 (mean (SD)), respectively. In contrast, the mean leukotriene B4 level of 10 normal controls was 35.9 (10.5) pg.ml-1. Leukotriene B4 levels differed significantly between remission and attack treated without prednisolone, and between attacks treated with and without prednisolone. Mean arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2) values were 4.8 (0.4) kPa (36.0 (3.0) mmHg), 6.1 (0.4) kPa (45.6 (2.9) mmHg), and 5.5 (0.3) kPa (41.6 (2.0) mmHg), respectively. There were significant differences between these mean PaCO2 values. The mean leukotriene B4 levels on the three occasions were correlated with the mean PaCO2 values. Thus, leukotriene B4 levels in arterial blood reflect the severity of asthmatic attacks and may be affected by intravenous prednisolone.
Emotions and Behaviors in the Head Start Classroom: Associations Among Observed Dysregulation, Social Competence, and Preschool Adjustment

Effective regulatory skills are essential in busy preschool classroom environments where children must maintain some control over their emotions and behavior to interact effectively with peers and teachers. Regulatory abilities can play a crucial role in a child's successful adjustment to preschool. We investigated whether individual differences in dysregulation (emotional and behavioral) as observed in the naturalistic classroom context were associated with peer social competence and teacher ratings of classroom adjustment in a sample of low-income preschoolers. Naturalistic observational methods were used to assess dysregulated emotions and behaviors in Head Start classrooms. Findings demonstrate that although displays of observed dysregulation were relatively brief, about one-quarter of children showed high levels of dysregulation, and individual differences in dysregulated behavior predicted teacher-rated classroom adjustment and peer conflict. Research results are discussed with regard to implications for classroom practice and prevention.
Integrated logic synthesis using simulated annealing

Conventional logic synthesis flows are composed of three separate phases: technology independent optimization, technology mapping, and technology dependent optimization. A fundamental problem with such a three-phased approach is that the global logic structure is decided during the first phase without any knowledge of the actual technology parameters considered during later phases. Although technology dependent optimization algorithms perform some limited logic restructuring, they cannot recover from fundamental mistakes made during the first phase, which often results in non-satisfiable solutions. In this paper, we present a method for integrating the three synthesis phases using an annealing algorithm as optimization framework. The annealing-based search is driven by a complex objective function, combining both technology independent as well as technology dependent optimization criteria. Our experimental results shown that, on average, the presented approach can improve the area and delay of circuits optimized with script rugged of SIS by 11.2% and 32.5% respectively.
Chemotherapy in Patients Older than or Equal to 75 Years with Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Purpose As the number of elderly patients diagnosed with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) increases, the number of these patients receiving chemotherapy also increases. However, limited data exists regarding the use of chemotherapy in advanced NSCLC patients who are 75 years of age or older. Materials and Methods Between May 2002 and October 2008, data for 48 advanced NSCLC patients who were 75 years of age or older who had been treated with chemotherapy were retrospectively analyzed. Results The median age of study participants at the time of first line chemotherapy was 76 years (range, 75 to 87 years) and their median Charlson comorbidity index was 2 (range, 1 to 4). Of the total 48 patients, 43 patients (90%) were treated by platinum-based doublet as a first line chemotherapy regimen. Median progression free survival for first line chemotherapy was 5.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.93 to 6.47 months) with an overall response rate of 33.3%. After first line chemotherapy, only 14 of the 48 patients (29.2%) received second line chemotherapy. The median overall survival (OS) for these patients was 8.2 months (95% CI, 4.44 to 11.96 months). Multivariate analysis results indicated that female gender and having received second-line or more chemotherapy were independent prognostic factors for increased OS for all 48 patients. Charlson Index was not a significant independent prognostic factor for survival. There were 9 treatment related deaths due to infectious causes (18.8%). Conclusion Patients 75 years of age or older with advanced NSCLC may obtain clinical benefit from the administration of platinum-based doublet or single agent chemotherapy. However, oncologists must consider the aspect of safety in relation to the clinical benefits when managing this patient group.
Alcohol in Danish and German Educational Print-Media (1990-1998): A Comparison

Denmark and Germany have similarities regarding their drinking patterns and alcohol policies, although they differ in their way of health promotion concerning alcohol consumption: the governmental health service in Denmark tending more towards a moderate consumption, and Germany tending rather towards near-total abstinence. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the influence of particular interest groups on alcohol policy by analyses of educational print-media about alcohol. The results show that German educational print-media denounce alcohol as a dangerous drug, while the Danish health service balances the positive effects of alcohol against its negative ones. Alcohol-related problems are related to harmful alcohol consumption in Denmark, and to any alcohol consumption in Germany. The ideological background for these strategies is connected to medical circles in Denmark, and temperance groups in Germany. In Germany, the strong position of the temperance groups supported by the then ruling conservative party, and the national virtuous attitude to temperance, most likely account for the more "restrictive" German approach.
A heuristics-based VM allocation mechanism for cloud data centers

Live migration, which allows virtual machines (VMs) to move across distinct physical hosts, is widely adopted for realizing energy saving and load balancing in modern Cloud data centers. However, putting VMs with high correlations on their CPU utilization patterns onto the same host is very likely to trigger overloading incidents and commit Service Level Agreements (SLA) violations, even when the host has not yet reached its critical limits. To avoid such SLA violations and to maintain a low energy consumption, this work proposes a heuristics-based VM allocation mechanism. Under the proposed mechanism, VMs showing high CPU utilization correlations to other co-located peers and hosts with extreme utilization values are both assigned with high heuristic values. VMs with high heuristic values are therefore less preferred to be co-located onto a host that has a high heuristic value. Performance of the proposed mechanism was evaluated using CloudSim with real-world workload data. Simulation results show that when comparing with other existing mechanisms, the proposed idea can further reduce both energy consumption and SLA violations.
Usable Security

The increased availability of information and services has led to the affirmation of the internet involvement for a large segment of the population. This implies a paradigm shift for computer security: users become less skilled and security aware, requiring easier interface to communicate with “the machine” and more specific and comprehensible security measures. These two aspects, which are complex and challenging, have significant reciprocal influence. In practice, it has proven very intriguing to study and propose effective trade-offs among them. This chapter focus on these aspects by analyzing the goals and state of the art of usability and security to understand where and how they might be effectively “aligned. ”
Zero-Counting and Adaptive-Latency Cache Using a Voltage-Guardband Breakthrough for Energy-Efficient Operations

In modern embedded processor systems, energy efficiency is a critical issue. Unfortunately, to avoid cache memory (SRAM) faults from dynamic variations, caches generally operate at an elevated voltage to build a safety guardband that decreases energy efficiency. To address this issue, tolerating SRAM faults to eliminate the safety of a guardband without frequency scaling may be a viable solution. This study investigates the characteristics of low-voltage 8 T SRAM faults and demonstrates that most SRAM faults are typically caused by insufficient access times with variation effects and significantly reduced voltages. Thus, we propose an access-time fault-tolerant cache design based on a type of 8 T SRAM known as zero-counting and adaptive-latency cache (ZCAL cache), which can tolerate numerous access-time faults. ZCAL caches detect access-time faults dynamically using a lightweight error detection code (“0” counting) because access-time faults occur only when reading “0” bits on the 8 T SRAM; the cache then adapts its access time to tolerate the access-time faults with new cache management processes. With the ZCAL cache, the experimental results from the MiBench benchmarks indicate that the energy efficiency is improved by 17% on average and that the energy consumption is reduced by 22% from 0.76 to 0.63 V.
Modeling Customer Reactions to Sales Attempts: If Cross-Selling Backfires

Cross-selling attempts, based on estimated purchase probabilities, are not guaranteed to succeed and such failed attempts may annoy customers. There is a general belief that cross-selling may backfire if not implemented cautiously, however, there is not a good understanding of the nature and impact of this negative reaction or appropriate policies to counter-balance it. This article focuses on this issue and develops a modeling framework that makes use of a Markov decision model to account for negative customer reactions to failed sales attempts and the effect of past contacts in managing cross-selling initiatives. Three models are analyzed, where purchase probabilities are affected from customer maturity, the number of failed attempts since the last purchase, or both. The analysis shows that customer reactions to cross-sell attempts make the purchase probabilities endogenous to the firm’s cross-selling decisions; hence, the optimal cross-selling policy becomes a function of customer state. The results highlight the role that the cost of excessive cross-selling (direct as well as in the form of customer reactions) plays in optimal policies. Cross-sell data from a retail bank illustrate in what context the modeling framework can be applied and underline the importance of customizing cross-sell policies to individual customers.
Measuring gaze point on handheld mobile devices

This work describes a prototype system, which enables the measurement of gaze point on the screen surface of a handheld mobile device, without constraining the user's natural movements. The method is software based, and integrates a commercial eye tracking device with a magnetic positional tracking device. The evaluation of the system shows that it is capable of producing valid data with adequate accuracy.
Pathway mapping and development of disease-specific biomarkers: protein-based network biomarkers

It is known that a disease is rarely a consequence of an abnormality of a single gene, but reflects the interactions of various processes in a complex network. Annotated molecular networks offer new opportunities to understand diseases within a systems biology framework and provide an excellent substrate for network‐based identification of biomarkers. The network biomarkers and dynamic network biomarkers (DNBs) represent new types of biomarkers with protein–protein or gene–gene interactions that can be monitored and evaluated at different stages and time‐points during development of disease. Clinical bioinformatics as a new way to combine clinical measurements and signs with human tissue‐generated bioinformatics is crucial to translate biomarkers into clinical application, validate the disease specificity, and understand the role of biomarkers in clinical settings. In this article, the recent advances and developments on network biomarkers and DNBs are comprehensively reviewed. How network biomarkers help a better understanding of molecular mechanism of diseases, the advantages and constraints of network biomarkers for clinical application, clinical bioinformatics as a bridge to the development of diseases‐specific, stage‐specific, severity‐specific and therapy predictive biomarkers, and the potentials of network biomarkers are also discussed.