Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Nicotine Dependence in Adults.

Introduction The aim of this study is to assess clinical characteristics and smoking profiles of individuals diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and compare their nicotine dependence status with healthy controls for better understanding the mutual and complex relationship between ADHD and smoking. Methods We included the following participants in the study: 40 adults with the diagnosis of ADHD, 40 participants who visited the smoking cessation polyclinic without any psychiatric disorders, and 40 healthy controls. A sociodemographic data form, Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS), Adult ADD/ADHD Diagnosis and Evaluation Inventory, and Fagerstrom Nicotine Dependence Test (FNDT) were administered to the participants. Results Mean age of the ADHD, nicotine dependence, and control groups was 28.68±7.22, 34.17±8.60, 33.70±7.45 years, respectively. Percentages of females and males were 27.5% and 72.5% in the ADHD group, 50% and 50% in the nicotine dependence group, 47.5% and 52.5% in the control group. The attention-deficit scores in the ADHD, nicotine dependence, and control groups were 21.18±5.05, 7.23±3.96, 4.75±2.65, respectively (p=0.001), whereas the hyperactivity scores were.73±5.84, 6.43±4.2, and 3.58±2.27, respectively (p=0.001). The related features scores were 56.53±12.96, 24.30±13.93, and 13.13±6.11, respectively (p=0.001), whereas the WURS scores were 61.88±12.69, 23.03±16.07, 11.90±8.15, respectively (p=0.001). FNDT scores in ADHD and nicotine dependence groups were 5.83±2.11 and 6.20±2.74, respectively (p=0.495). Conclusion Considering the argument of ADHD being an independent risk factor for nicotine dependence, we think the co-occurrence of the smoking addiction and ADHD symptoms in the context of dopamine dysregulation is important in the clinical setting. Treatment modalities and of preventive strategies should be considered while keeping this in mind.
Structure-Driven Answer-Set Solving ?

Parameterized algorithms are a way to solve hard problems efficiently, given that a specific parameter of the input is small. A wellstudied parameter is treewidth, which roughly measures to which extent the structure of a graph resembles a tree. In our research, we want to exploit this parameter in the context of Answer Set Programming. In the literature, algorithms have been proposed that are linear in the program size assuming bounded treewidth. However, this approach works only in case of small treewidth. In consequence, we aim at new methods “between” traditional techniques and algorithms exploiting structural parameters.
HIV Infection and Survival of Lymphoma Patients in the Era of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy

Background: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has extended the life expectancy of patients with HIV/AIDS to approach that of the general population. However, it remains unclear whether HIV infection affects the survival of patients with lymphoma in the HAART era. Methods: Patients diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), Burkitt lymphoma, peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL), or follicular lymphoma during 2004–2011 were identified from the National Cancer Database. Survival analyses were conducted, where each HIV-infected patient was propensity score matched to a HIV-uninfected patient on the basis of demographic factors, clinical features, and treatment characteristics. Results: Among 179,520 patients, the prevalence of HIV-infection ranged from 1.0% for follicular lymphoma, 3.3% for PTCL, 4.7% for Hodgkin lymphoma, 5.4% for DLBCL, to 29% for Burkitt lymphoma. HIV infection was significantly associated with inferior overall survival for patients with each lymphoma subtype: Hodgkin lymphoma [HR, 1.47; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.25–1.74], DLBCL (HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.80–2.11), Burkitt lymphoma (HR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.24–1.73), PTCL (HR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.14–1.79), and follicular lymphoma (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.04–2.00). Conclusions: HIV/AIDS continues to be independently associated with increased risk of death among patients with lymphoma in the HAART era in the United States, and the association varies by lymphoma histologic subtype. Impact: Examination of effective management strategies for patients with HIV/AIDS-associated lymphoma and enrollment of patients in prospective clinical trials are needed to improve patient outcomes. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(3); 303–11. ©2016 AACR.
Species-Specific Antimonial Sensitivity in Leishmania Is Driven by Post-Transcriptional Regulation of AQP1

Leishmania is a digenetic protozoan parasite causing leishmaniasis in humans. The different clinical forms of leishmaniasis are caused by more than twenty species of Leishmania that are transmitted by nearly thirty species of phlebotomine sand flies. Pentavalent antimonials (such as Pentostam or Glucantime) are the first line drugs for treating leishmaniasis. Recent studies suggest that pentavalent antimony (Sb(V)) acts as a pro-drug, which is converted to the more active trivalent form (Sb(III)). However, sensitivity to trivalent antimony varies among different Leishmania species. In general, Leishmania species causing cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) are more sensitive to Sb(III) than the species responsible for visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Leishmania aquaglyceroporin (AQP1) facilitates the adventitious passage of antimonite down a concentration gradient. In this study, we show that Leishmania species causing CL accumulate more antimonite, and therefore exhibit higher sensitivity to antimonials, than the species responsible for VL. This species-specific differential sensitivity to antimonite is directly proportional to the expression levels of AQP1 mRNA. We show that the stability of AQP1 mRNA in different Leishmania species is regulated by their respective 3’-untranslated regions. The differential regulation of AQP1 mRNA explains the distinct antimonial sensitivity of each species.
Effect of Intensive Blood Pressure Treatment on Heart Failure Events in the Systolic Blood Pressure Reduction Intervention Trial

Background— Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) was a frequent common outcome in SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial). We examined whether there was differential reduction in ADHF events from intensive blood pressure [BP] treatment among the 6 key, prespecified subgroups in SPRINT: age ≥75 years, prior cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, women, black race, and 3 levels of baseline systolic BP (⩽132 versus >132 to <145 versus ≥145 mm Hg). Methods and Results— ADHF was defined as hospitalization for ADHF, confirmed and formally adjudicated by a blinded events committee using standardized protocols. At 3.29 years follow-up, there were 103 ADHF events (2.2%) among 4683 standard arm participants and 65 ADHF events (1.4%) among 4678 intensive arm participants (Cox proportional hazards ratio, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.46–0.85; P value =0.003). In multivariable analyses, including treatment arm, baseline covariates that were significant predictors for ADHF included chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, age≥75 years, body mass index, and higher systolic BP. The beneficial effect of the intervention on incident ADHF was consistent across all prespecified subgroups. Participants who had incident ADHF had markedly increased risk of subsequent cardiovascular events, including a 27-fold increase (P<0.001) in cardiovascular death. Conclusions— Targeting a systolic BP<120 mm Hg, compared with <140 mm Hg, significantly reduced ADHF events, and the benefit was similar across all key, prespecified subgroups. Participants who developed ADHF had markedly increased risk for subsequent cardiovascular events and death, highlighting the importance of strategies aimed at prevention of ADHF, especially intensive BP reduction. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://www.clinicaltrials. gov. Unique identifier: NCT01206062
Saccades under Mental Load in Infantile Nystagmus Syndrome and Controls.

SIGNIFICANCE This study compares saccades and visual task performance in patients with infantile nystagmus syndrome (INS) with that in normally sighted individuals under mental load. The results highlighted that to more completely evaluate INS therapies recognition time should also be measured with mental load, resembling real-world conditions. PURPOSE Patients with INS may complain of "being slow to see. " Stress is reported to worsen nystagmus and to prolong visual recognition time. We hypothesized that the effects of mental load on timing indices of visual recognition, for example, saccade latency, target acquisition time, target viewing time, and subjects' reaction time, differ between the INS and control groups. METHODS Eye movements were recorded when participants (INS group, n = 15; controls, n = 25) reported the direction of tumbling-E targets presented randomly across ±25°. The task was repeated with both mental arithmetic and time restriction to impose high mental load, confirmed through subjective ratings and heart rate measurement. RESULTS Mental load increased saccade latency (mean, 32.69 milliseconds; 95% confidence interval [CI], 21.17 to 44.20 milliseconds; P < .001) and target acquisition time (57.00 milliseconds; 95% CI, 34 to 81 milliseconds; P < .001). Patients with INS showed longer saccade latency (39.79 milliseconds; 95% CI, 23.98 to 55.62 milliseconds; P < .001) and target acquisition time (134.00 milliseconds; 95% CI, 96 to 172 milliseconds; P < .001) compared with controls. The interaction between task and group was significant for saccade gain (0.11; 95% CI, 0.02 to 0.19; P = .015), target acquisition time (37.93 milliseconds; 95% CI, 36.91 to 38.96 milliseconds; P = .011), and subjects' reaction time (95.37 milliseconds; 95% CI, 65.91 to 124.84 milliseconds; P = .043). There was an inverse correlation between the changes in subjects' response errors and target viewing time with mental load only for controls (r = -0.484, P = .014). Total foveation exposure time and target viewing time remained unchanged. CONCLUSIONS Mental load worsens "being slow to see" in INS because of delayed target acquisition and possibly because efficiency of visual processing decreases more in patients with INS compared with controls. To investigate outcomes of INS therapies, visual recognition time should be also measured with mental load.
A Corticothalamic Circuit Model for Sound Identification in Complex Scenes

The identification of the sound sources present in the environment is essential for the survival of many animals. However, these sounds are not presented in isolation, as natural scenes consist of a superposition of sounds originating from multiple sources. The identification of a source under these circumstances is a complex computational problem that is readily solved by most animals. We present a model of the thalamocortical circuit that performs level-invariant recognition of auditory objects in complex auditory scenes. The circuit identifies the objects present from a large dictionary of possible elements and operates reliably for real sound signals with multiple concurrently active sources. The key model assumption is that the activities of some cortical neurons encode the difference between the observed signal and an internal estimate. Reanalysis of awake auditory cortex recordings revealed neurons with patterns of activity corresponding to such an error signal.
A meta-analysis on pain sensitivity in self-injury

Individuals engaging in self-injurious behavior (SIB) frequently report absence of pain during acts of SIB. While altered pain sensitivity is discussed as a risk factor for the engagement in SIB, results have been mixed with considerable variance across reported effect sizes, in particular with respect to the effect of co-morbid psychopathology. The present meta-analysis aimed to summarize the current evidence on pain sensitivity in individuals engaging in SIB and to identify covariates of altered pain processing. Three databases were searched without restrictions. Additionally a hand search was performed and reference lists of included studies were checked for potential studies eligible for inclusion. Thirty-two studies were identified after screening 720 abstracts by two independent reviewers. Studies were included if they reported (i) an empirical investigation, in (ii) humans, including a sample of individuals engaging in (iii) SIB and a group of (iv) healthy controls, (v) receiving painful stimulation. Random-effects meta-analysis was performed on three pain-related outcomes (pain threshold, pain tolerance, pain intensity) and several population- and study-level covariates (i.e. age, sex, clinical etiology) were subjected to meta-regression. Meta-analysis revealed significant main effects associated with medium to large effect sizes for all included outcomes. Individuals engaging in SIB show greater pain threshold and tolerance and report less pain intensity compared to healthy controls. Clinical etiology and age are significant covariates of pain sensitivity in individuals engaging in SIB, such that pain threshold is further increased in borderline personality disorder compared to non-suicidal self-injury. Mechanisms underlying altered pain sensitivity are discussed.
The inseparability of sampling and time and its influence on attempts to unify the molecular and fossil records

Abstract. The two major approaches to studying macroevolution in deep time are the fossil record and reconstructed relationships among extant taxa from molecular data. Results based on one approach sometimes conflict with those based on the other, with inconsistencies often attributed to inherent flaws of one (or the other) data source. Any contradiction between the molecular and fossil records represents a failure of our ability to understand the imperfections of our data, as both are limited reflections of the same evolutionary history. We therefore need to develop conceptual and mathematical models that jointly explain our observations in both records. Fortunately, the different limitations of each record provide an opportunity to test or calibrate the other, and new methodological developments leverage both records simultaneously. However, we must reckon with the distinct relationships between sampling and time in the fossil record and molecular phylogenies. These differences impact our recognition of baselines and the analytical incorporation of age estimate uncertainty.
Sensitivity Enhancement of Surface‐Plasmon Resonance Imaging by Nanoarrayed Organothiols

The implementation of sensor platforms that provide high detection sensitivities is crucial for the design of new analytical devices for diagnostic, drug discovery, and environmental monitoring applications. [1] Surface-plasmon resonance (SPR) isalabel-free optical-detectiontechniquethatallowsreal-time, quantitative analysis and provides an outstanding performance. [2‐5] However, ongoing research is needed for the improvement of detection sensitivities of plasmonic sensors. Forinstance,localized SPR(LSPR),amethodbasedontheuse of gold or silver nanoparticles as local resonators, has shown to enhance the plasmonic effect. [6,7] Further advantages can be obtained by ‘‘nanostructuring’’ the metallic thin films of the SPR interface; nanostructured metallic surfaces promote the coupling of light with surface-plasmon polariton (SPP) modes, which induce an electric-field enhancement that results in a signal improvement. [8‐14] Moreover, the detection sensitivity of the technique relies critically on the immobilization efficiency of the biocapturing elements on the sensor surface. For this purpose, sensor platforms designed with ‘‘nanopatterned’’ bioadhesive‐nonadhesive regions have already shown to produce a drastic increase in the performance, thanks to a better control of the biomolecular-probe immobilization. [15‐20] In this work, we studied the effect of 2D crystalline organothiol nanoarrays on the SPR imaging (SPRi) sensitivity. The organothiol nanoarray consisted of bioadhesive carboxylic ((COOH)) ‘‘nanospots’’ distributed in a matrix of polyethyleneoxide(PEO), whichisanonadhesivematerialknowntobe unsusceptible to protein and cell adhesion. [21,22] Such a nanostructured surface has already shown potential for the improvement of the immobilization efficiency of proteins on surfaces. [23] In the present study, the SPRi detection sensitivity of nanoarrayed surfaces for the Human IgG ‐ anti-Human IgG immunoreaction is compared to that of uniformly functionalized carboxylic surfaces. For the same concentration of analyte, the detection sensitivity improved by a factor of five, when a 2D crystalline nanoarrayed surface was used instead of au niformly bioadhesive surface. This amplif ication effect could not be observed in a random arrangement of
Case Study of Homeopathic Bowel Nosode Remedies for Dysbiotic Japanese Patients.

BACKGROUND The composition of intestinal microbiota is very important in human health. Gastrointestinal disturbances are among the symptoms commonly reported by individuals diagnosed with chronic diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, autism, and chronic fatigue syndrome. The effects of probiotics and prebiotics for dysbiosis have been reported in many studies. Bowel nosodes are homeopathic remedies made from human gut microbiota. OBJECTIVE Bowel nosodes made from the intestinal bacteria of European patients from the 1900s were administered to Japanese patients suffering from gastrointestinal disturbances, such as constipation and diarrhea, to determine their therapeutic efficacy. METHODS Twenty-eight outpatients from Yoko Clinic (11 males, 17 females; age range, 4-72 years) were enrolled in this study. One nosode remedy was selected for each case. Patients took six pills for 2 days. After a month, the effect of each treatment was evaluated using the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital Outcome Scale (grade +4 to -4). RESULTS Patient number of each grade was +4 (N = 2), +3 (N = 4), +2 (N = 7), +1 (N = 3), 0 (N = 7), with no negative grades. Of the 23 patients analyzed, 69.6% showed some type of improvement, and no harmful effects from taking bowel nosodes were observed; 26% of patients showed major improvement or were "cured. " CONCLUSION It is difficult to find correct constitutional remedies as they often require high-level techniques and time. Since there are only 11 main bowel nosode remedies, they are easier to choose from and cheaper to use and develop than classical constitutional remedies. Herein, 69.6% of dysbiotic patients taking bowel nosodes showed improvements, and no harmful effects were reported by any patient. These results suggest that the homeopathic bowel nosodes are a useful method for controlling gastrointestinal disturbances.
An adaptation theory for nonparametric confidence intervals

A nonparametric adaptation theory is developed for the construction of confidence intervals for linear functionals. A between class modulus of continuity captures the expected length of adaptive confidence intervals. Sharp lower bounds are given for the expected length and an ordered modulus of continuity is used to construct adaptive confidence procedures which are within a constant factor of the lower bounds. In addition, minimax theory over nonconvex parameter spaces is developed.
Investigating Stroke-Level Information for Learning Chinese Word Embeddings

We propose a novel method for learning Chinese word embeddings. Different from previous approaches, we investigate the effectiveness of the Chinese stroke-level information when learning Chinese word embeddings. Empirically, our model consistently outperforms several state-of-the-art methods, including skipgram, cbow, GloVe and CWE, on the standard word similarity and word analogy tasks.
Hepatitis C Virus RNA Persists in Liver Explants of Most Patients Awaiting Liver Transplantation Treated With an Interferon-Free Regimen.

We assessed the presence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in liver explants from 39 patients awaiting liver transplantation who were treated with an interferon-free regimen and had undetectable serum HCV RNA at the time of liver transplantation. Interestingly, HCV RNA was detected in most liver explants (67%). Patients with HCV RNA-positive explants had received shorter courses of treatment, and HCV RNA was undetectable in serum for shorter periods before transplantation compared to patients with HCV RNA-negative explants (P = .014 and P = .013, respectively). Levels of HCV RNA in explants were significantly higher in patients with a relapse of HCV infection than patients who responded to treatment (P = .016), but most patients (85%) with residual HCV-RNA in the explant achieved a sustained virologic response after receiving their liver transplant.
Prototyping a New Audio-Visual Instrument Based on Extraction of High-Level Features on Full-Body Motion Project Proposal for the eNTERFACE 2015 International Workshop

Skeletal data acquisition generates a huge amount of high-dimensionality data. In many fields where mocap techniques are now used, practitioners would greatly benefit from high-level representations of these motion sequences. However, meaningful motion data dimensionality reduction is not a trivial task and the selection of the best set of features will largely depend on the considered use case, hence enhancing the need for a fast customization and prototyping tool. Numediart has worked this year on the first version of such a motion analysis framework: MotionMachine. The goal of this project is to build, based on MotionMachine, a new audio-visual instrument that uses full-body motion to drive sound and visuals. We will develop this new instrument as a proof of concept: the elaborate choice of higherlevel feature extraction techniques will greatly improve human/computer interaction and lead to more expressive experiences.
Does docetaxel prolong survival of patients with non‐metastatic castration‐resistant prostate cancer?

Guidelines define docetaxel as a first‐line therapeutic option for metastatic castration‐resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). However, the role of docetaxel in non‐metastatic castration‐resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC) has not been fully investigated. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the potential role of docetaxel in nmCRPC. Clinical outcomes including overall survival were compared between CRPC patients who had docetaxel introduced while in nonmetastatic versus metastatic diseases.
Correction of motion artifacts in endoscopic optical coherence tomography and autofluorescence images based on azimuthal en face image registration

Abstract. We present a method for the correction of motion artifacts present in two- and three-dimensional in vivo endoscopic images produced by rotary-pullback catheters. This method can correct for cardiac/breathing-based motion artifacts and catheter-based motion artifacts such as nonuniform rotational distortion (NURD). This method assumes that en face tissue imaging contains slowly varying structures that are roughly parallel to the pullback axis. The method reduces motion artifacts using a dynamic time warping solution through a cost matrix that measures similarities between adjacent frames in en face images. We optimize and demonstrate the suitability of this method using a real and simulated NURD phantom and in vivo endoscopic pulmonary optical coherence tomography and autofluorescence images. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations of the method show an enhancement of the image quality.