Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does assessment of microbial composition of plaque/saliva allow for diagnosis of disease activity of individuals?

Microbiological tests are limited in their applicability in the assessment of caries activity and in caries prediction. They can be effective in group of persons with high or low caries experience. The reasons for the limitation of microbiological tests rests with unique characteristics of the microflora and local environments of the oral cavity, which will modify the cariogenicity of plaque in an individual. Thus, high numbers of S. mutans may be associated with the development of a lesion at a site, while a second susceptible site with high levels of this organism in the same subject will remain caries free. This paper identifies some aspects of oral bacteria which can contribute to the unique nature of the microflora associated with plaque in an individual. Firstly, the range of bacteria potentially involved in caries has widened and now includes, for example, 'low pH' non-mutans streptococci. The presence of such organisms in plaque in an individual may influence early enamel demineralization. Most significantly, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus mitis and Actinomyces naeslundii have been shown to be comprise many distinct clones, with different distribution among subjects. Little is known of the impact of clonal diversity on caries activity but in some bacterial diseases particular clones are associated with virulence. Therefore, possession of a particular clone or clones by an individual could be related to caries activity. Also, the extent of clonal diversity may reflect the nature of the oral environment. Recent studies suggest that cells are released from biofilms, during adherence and growth, i.e. the early phases of development. Thus, determination of the numbers of a given species in non-stimulated saliva may indicate whether it is actively growing in plaque. Microbiological tests on the oral flora should perhaps be used to monitor the status of the oral cavity, after establishing a norm for the individual patient. Research on species and clonal diversity of oral bacteria among human populations; diversity and its role in the caries process; and the liberation of biofilm cells could provide data to allow better appreciation and evaluation of the results of microbiological testing.
Using Shadow Prices for Resource Allocation in a Combinatorial Grid with Proxy-Bidding Agents

Our paper presents an agent-based simulation environment for task scheduling in a distributed computer systems (grid). The scheduler enables the simultaneous allocation of resources like CPU time, communication bandwidth, volatile and non-volatile memory while employing a combinatorial resource allocation mechanism. The resource allocation is performed by an iterative combinatorial auction in which proxy-bidding agents try to acquire their desired resource allocation profiles with respect to limited monetary budget endowments. To achieve an efficient bidding process, the auctioneer provides resource price information to the bidding agents. The calculation of the resource prices in a combinatorial auction is not trivial, especially if the the bid bundles exhibit complementarities or substitutionalities. We propose an approximate pricing mechanism using shadow prices from a linear programming formulation for this purpose. The efficiency of the shadow price-based allocation mechanism is tested in the context of a closed loop grid system in which the agents can use monetary units rewarded for the resources they provide to the system for the acquisition of complementary capacity. Two types of proxy-bidding agents are compared in terms of efficiency (received units of resources, time until bid acceptance) within this scenario: An aggressive bidding agent with intense rising bids and a smooth bidding agent with slow increasing bids.
A Study of Relation Annotation in Business Environments Using Web Mining

Relation annotation (RA) is a process of marking up relations among a set of entities identified from a plain text. RA is important to enterprise applications due to its capability of revealing semantics in business environments. However, RA in business environment is different from that in news domain because the entities involved in the relations in business domain often not just refer to entities like People or Locations, and many business entities still could not be identified by existing entity identification tools. In this paper, we explore RA in business environment using web mining techniques, and propose the Relation Annotation Platform in Business Environments (RAPBE), which can automatically help information workers by annotating business relations in enterprise setting. We evaluated RAPBE using two sample relations that are common in business domain -- COMPANY-LOCATION and COMPANY-PRODUCT. Our experiment results demonstrate the usefulness of RAPBE in relation annotation, and also show that the best method for marking up relations of the entities identifiable by existing entity identification tools is Frequency Weight method, whereas Distant Weight is the best when some entities involved in RA cannot be identified by the information extraction tools.
TREC-9 CLIR at CUHK: Disambiguation by Similarity Values Between Adjacent Words

We investigated the dictionary-based query translation method combining the translation disambiguation process using statistic co-occurrence information trained from the provided corpus. We believe that neighboring words tend to be related in contextual meaning and have higher chance of co-occurrence particularly if adjacent words (two or more) compose a phrase. The correct translation equivalents of co-occurrence pattern in a source language are more likely to co-occur in a target language documents than in conjunction with any incorrect translation equivalents within a certain range of contextual window size. In this work, we tested several methods to calculate the degree of co-occurrence and used them as the basis of disambiguation. Different from most disambiguation methods which usually select one best translation equivalent for a word, we select the best translation equivalent pairs for two adjacent words. The final translated queries are the concatenation of all overlapped adjacent word translation pairs after disambiguation.
The androgen receptor gene mutations database

The current version of the androgen receptor (AR) gene mutations database is described. We have added (if available) data on the androgen binding phenotype of the mutant AR, the clinical phenotype of the affected persons, the family history and whether the pathogenicity of a mutation has been proven. Exonic mutations are now listed in 5'-->3' sequence regardless of type and single base pair changes are presented in codon context. Splice site and intronic mutations are listed separately. The database has allowed us to substantiate and amplify the observation of mutational hot spots within exons encoding the AR androgen binding domain. The database is available from EML (ftp://www.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/androgen) or as a Macintosh Filemaker file (MC33@musica.mcgill.ca).
A Deformation Measurement for Withered Plant Leaf Based on Vision

If plants absorb too little water and the cells in plant leaves is not full, there might exist atrophy characteristic distortion of the cell concentration of leaf and leaf morphological characteristic. Traditional algorithm carries out deformation measurement for withered leaf based on cell concentration characteristics and leaf morphological characteristics. Once the character distorted, characteristic parameters of leaf cell sap will be inaccurate reducing the measurement accuracy for withered leaf deformation. Therefore, we propose a computer vision-based plant leaves wilt deformation measurement method. The experimental results show that this algorithm significantly improves the accuracy of the measurement.
A Modified V-BLAST System for Performance Improvement Through Introducing Different Delay Offsets to Each Spatially Multiplexed Data Streams

This paper proposed a modified vertical-Bell Labs layered space-time (V-BLAST) system, where different delay offsets are intentionally applied to the spatially multiplexed data streams in order to improve bit error rate (BER) performance. The proposed system can use only one receive antenna to recover the transmitted information by zero forcing (ZF) detection, whereas the conventional synchronous V-BLAST system requires that Mr ges Mt (where Mt and Mr are the number of transmit and receive antennas, respectively). Compared with the conventional synchronous V-BLAST system, the modified system can achieve Mrth-order diversity using ZF detection. Although delay offsets in the system introduce an attenuation factor which decreases the instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the BER performance of the modified system with proper system parameters demonstrates a performance improvement over the conventional synchronous V-BLAST system.
Do patients with epistaxis have drug-induced platelet dysfunction?

Aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are being used increasingly. A positive correlation has been shown between epistaxis and the use of NSAID in the over 50s. This prospective study compared the NSAID intake and platelet function in 50 patients with epistaxis and 50 controls. Standard haematological parameters and the platelet response to collagen and arachidonic acid aggregation and adenosine triphosphate release were measured. The patients showed a significant increase in NSAID intake (P < 0.01, 95% confidence for the difference in the medians = 4-36%) and hypertension (for diastolic blood pressure > 100 mmHg, P < 0.01, 95% confidence for the difference in the medians = 5.9-16.1). The patients showed a significant reduction in platelet aggregation to collagen (P = 0.025). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs produce a significant platelet dysfunction which should be considered in the multifactorial aetiology of epistaxis.
Treatment and Outcomes

Results: The mean Lysholm score improved from 45.6 (range, 11-76) to 71.9 (range, 30-91). The median preoperative Tegner activity scale score was 3 (range, 1-7), while the median postoperative score was 4 (range, 1-9). The median Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) total score improved from 38 (range, 1-57) preoperatively to 6 postoperatively (range, 0-52). The mean patient satisfaction postoperatively was 8.2 (range, 5-10).
Differentiating sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors in development for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Introduction: Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are a novel class of agents for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). By inhibiting SGLT2, they prevent renal glucose reabsorption, resulting in glucosuria. Areas covered: The rationale for development of SGLT2 inhibitors is reviewed, with particular focus on the nine SGLT2 inhibitors currently in development. The authors compare the potency and SGLT2 selectivity of the agents, as well as the results from both animal and clinical studies, considering the potential implications they may have for clinical use. Expert opinion: Current evidence suggests that SGLT2 inhibitors have similar efficacy in terms of glycemic control and also demonstrate benefits beyond glycemic reductions, including reductions in body weight and modest reductions in blood pressure. Additionally, they appear to preserve beta-cell function and improve insulin sensitivity. Their mechanism of action allows for combination of SGLT2 inhibitors with other antidiabetic drugs and use across the treatment continuum for T2DM. Potential differences in safety and efficacy based on observed differences in potency and selectivity among the SGLT2 inhibitors, particularly versus SGLT1, remain to be seen. Further long-term data, including post-marketing surveillance, are required to fully determine the safety profile of SGLT2 inhibitors in large patient groups.
Depression and anxiety predict health-related quality of life in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: systematic review and meta-analysis

Background The causal association between depression, anxiety, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is unclear. We therefore conducted a systematic review of prospective cohort studies that measured depression, anxiety, and HRQoL in COPD. Methods Electronic databases (Medline, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature [CINAHL], British Nursing Index and Archive, PsycINFO and Cochrane database) were searched from inception to June 18, 2013. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they: used a nonexperimental prospective cohort design; included patients with a diagnosis of COPD confirmed by spirometry; and used validated measures of depression, anxiety, and HRQoL. Data were extracted and pooled using random effects models. Results Six studies were included in the systematic review; of these, three were included in the meta-analysis for depression and two were included for the meta-analysis for anxiety. Depression was significantly correlated with HRQoL at 1-year follow-up (pooled r=0.48, 95% confidence interval 0.37–0.57, P<0.001). Anxiety was also significantly correlated with HRQoL at 1-year follow-up (pooled r=0.36, 95% confidence interval 0.23–0.48, P<0.001). Conclusion Anxiety and depression predict HRQoL in COPD. However, this longitudinal analysis does not show cause and effect relationships between depression and anxiety and future HRQoL. Future studies should identify psychological predictors of poor HRQoL in well designed prospective cohorts with a view to isolating the mediating role played by anxiety disorder and depression.
Case-control assessment of the association between non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and occupational radiation with doses assessed using a job exposure matrix.

BACKGROUND Epidemiologic data for an association between radiation exposure and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) have been inconclusive though the strongest evidence has been provided by studies of patients treated with radiotherapy. METHODS We evaluated the association between occupational radiation exposure and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in men using a population-based case-control study with 1,056 case and 1,860 control subjects sampled from eight geographic areas in the United States. Because dosimetry data were not available, doses were estimated for individuals who reported occupational radiation exposure using a radiation job exposure matrix developed for this purpose. Conditional logistic regression was used to model the association between reported occupational radiation exposure and NHL incidence. RESULTS We found that most men (> 90%) did not report exposure to occupational sources of radiation. Among those who reported exposure, estimated cumulative doses were low, with an estimated mean of less than 0.02 Gray and a maximum of 0.12 Gray. The risk for NHL was not associated with ever having reported an occupational radiation exposure (OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.74-1.10) nor was there evidence of a dose-response relationship between risk and either the estimated cumulative doses or duration of exposure. CONCLUSIONS The findings in this study are consistent with results from most current research on occupational radiation and NHL risk that have found no increased risk of NHL at low levels of occupational radiation exposure. While it should be noted that exposure misclassification likely biased our results toward the null, this large population-based case-control study adds to existing evidence which suggests that there is little to no increased risk for NHL associated with exposure to low levels of radiation such as that commonly found in many occupational settings.
Screen Readers Cannot See Ontology Based Semantic Annotation for Visually Impaired Web Travellers

Travelling upon the Web is difﬁcult for visually impaired users since the Web pages are designed for visual interaction [6]. Visually impaired users usually use screen readers 1 to access the Web in audio. However, unlike sighted users, screen readers cannot see the implicit structural and navigational knowledge encoded within the visual presentation of Web pages. Therefore, in a visually impaired user’s environment, objects that support travel are missing or inaccessible. Our approach to remedy this is to annotate pages with an ontology, the Travel Ontology, that aims to encapsulate rich structural and navigational knowledge about these objects. We use Semantic Web technologies to make such knowledge explicit and computationally accessible. Our semi-automated tool, Dante identiﬁes travel objects on Web pages, annotates them appropriately with the Travel Ontology and uses this to transform the pages to enhance the travel support. Thus Dante uses the Travel Ontology to enhance the travel experience of visually impaired users. This paper introduces the Travel Ontology, the annotation pipeline used in the annotation part of Dante and some transformation scenarios to illustrate how the annotations are used to guide the transformation of Web pages.
Hippocampal atrophy in Alzheimer disease: Age matters

Hippocampal atrophy is a marker of Alzheimer disease (AD). It remains unclear whether this holds true for younger patients as well. Hippocampal volume was measured on MRI scans of 103 clinically diagnosed AD patients and 73 controls (aged 51 to 85 years). Aging and AD were independently associated with smaller hippocampal volume. Both young and old AD patients have hippocampal atrophy abnormal for age. Age-dependent criteria for hippocampal atrophy, suggestive of AD, are needed.
Effect of transportation and storage using sorbent tubes of exhaled breath samples on diagnostic accuracy of electronic nose analysis

Many (multi-centre) breath-analysis studies require transport and storage of samples. We aimed to test the effect of transportation and storage using sorbent tubes of exhaled breath samples for diagnostic accuracy of eNose and GC-MS analysis. As a reference standard for diagnostic accuracy, breath samples of asthmatic patients and healthy controls were analysed by three eNose devices. Samples were analysed by GC-MS and eNose after 1, 7 and 14 days of transportation and storage using sorbent tubes. The diagnostic accuracy for eNose and GC-MS after storage was compared to the reference standard. As a validation, the stability was assessed of 15 compounds known to be related to asthma, abundant in breath or related to sampling and analysis. The reference test discriminated asthma and healthy controls with a median AUC (range) of 0.77 (0.72–0.76). Similar accuracies were achieved at t1 (AUC eNose 0.78; GC-MS 0.84), t7 (AUC eNose 0.76; GC-MS 0.79) and t14 (AUC eNose 0.83; GC-MS 0.84). The GC-MS analysis of compounds showed an adequate stability for all 15 compounds during the 14 day period. Short-term transportation and storage using sorbent tubes of breath samples does not influence the diagnostic accuracy for discrimination between asthma and health by eNose and GC-MS.
THE CLASSIFICATION OF SEIZURES AND EPILEPSY SYNDROMES

This chapter focuses on the classification of seizures and epilepsy syndromes based on the International League Against Epilepsy's classification systems from 1981 and 1989, respectively, which are still used today in clinical practice and have formed the basis for a worldwide standardized approach to diagnosing, treating, and studying seizure disorders. This classification system is based on clinical seizure semiology and EEG correlation and makes a distinction between focal and generalized seizures. The clinical semiology and localization of simple partial, complex partial, and generalized seizures are discussed. Some common partial and generalized epilepsy syndromes are also highlighted.
Transplanted Neuroblasts Differentiate Appropriately into Projection Neurons with Correct Neurotransmitter and Receptor Phenotype in Neocortex Undergoing Targeted Projection Neuron Degeneration

Reconstruction of complex neocortical and other CNS circuitry may be possible via transplantation of appropriate neural precursors, guided by cellular and molecular controls. Although cellular repopulation and complex circuitry repair may make possible new avenues of treatment for degenerative, developmental, or acquired CNS diseases, functional integration may depend critically on specificity of neuronal synaptic integration and appropriate neurotransmitter/receptor phenotype. The current study investigated neurotransmitter and receptor phenotypes of newly incorporated neurons after transplantation in regions of targeted neuronal degeneration of cortical callosal projection neurons (CPNs). Donor neuroblasts were compared to the population of normal endogenous CPNs in their expression of appropriate neurotransmitters (glutamate, aspartate, and GABA) and receptors (kainate-R, AMPA-R, NMDA-R. and GABA-R), and the time course over which this phenotype developed after transplantation. Transplanted immature neuroblasts from embryonic day 17 (E17) primary somatosensory (S1) cortex migrated to cortical layers undergoing degeneration, differentiated to a mature CPN phenotype, and received synaptic input from other neurons. In addition, 23.1 ± 13.6% of the donor-derived neurons extended appropriate long-distance callosal projections to the contralateral S1 cortex. The percentage of donor-derived neurons expressing appropriate neurotransmitters and receptors showed a steady increase with time, reaching numbers equivalent to adult endogenous CPNs by 4–16 weeks after transplantation. These results suggest that previously demonstrated changes in gene expression induced by synchronous apoptotic degeneration of adult CPNs create a cellular and molecular environment that is both permissive and instructive for the specific and appropriate maturation of transplanted neuroblasts. These experiments demonstrate, for the first time, that newly repopulating neurons can undergo directed differentiation with high fidelity of their neurotransmitter and receptor phenotype, toward reconstruction of complex CNS circuitry.
HPV-associated Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Oropharynx: A Rare New Entity With Potentially Aggressive Clinical Behavior

High-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma of the head and neck is an aggressive neoplasm which rarely arises in the oropharynx. Here we report a series of 8 oropharyngeal neuroendocrine carcinomas associated with both human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and tobacco exposure. The tumor occurred predominantly in male patients (6 of 8) at a mean age of 59 years. Histologically, these cases were all classified as poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma (small cell carcinoma) with high mitotic activity [mean 53.3 mitoses per 10 HPF], necrosis, high nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratio, and nuclear molding. One case also exhibited a moderately differentiated component, and one other case had a component of squamous cell carcinoma with basaloid features. Neuroendocrine differentiation was confirmed by immunoreactivity for synaptophysin and/or chromogranin A in all cases. P63 staining was negative, except in 1 case. Seven of the 8 cases showed strong and diffuse p16 expression, a surrogate marker for high-risk HPV infection. HPV infection was confirmed in 6 of these 7 cases by HPV in situ hybridization and/or polymerase chain reaction analysis. HPV subtypes 16, 18, and 33 were identified in 1 case each by polymerase chain reaction testing. Six of the 7 patients for whom clinical history was available presented with advanced disease (4 with regional lymph node metastases, 1 with distant metastases, and 1 with distant and locoregional metastases). Disease recurred in 5 of the 6 patients with available clinical follow-up, with 3 developing distant metastases to brain, bones, lung, pleura, adrenal glands, and pancreas. These 3 cases were all from the HPV-positive group. In summary, neuroendocrine carcinoma of the oropharynx represents a rare novel HPV-associated entity with high-grade histologic features and aggressive clinical behavior.