Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A prospective trial of structured treatment interruptions in human immunodeficiency virus infection.

BACKGROUND According to the "autovaccination hypothesis," reexposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) during treatment interruptions may stimulate the HIV-specific immune response and lead to low viremia after withdrawal of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART). Many patients who started HAART earlier in their disease course than is currently recommended would like to discontinue, but it is unknown whether it is safe to do so. OBJECTIVES To determine whether repeated treatment interruptions of HAART (1) stimulated the cytotoxic HIV-specific immune response and whether such stimulation correlated with low viremia off treatment, and (2) were safe with respect to clinical complications, development of viral resistance, and decline in CD4 cell counts. DESIGN Interventional study with before-after comparison. SETTING Outpatient clinics of university hospitals in Switzerland and Spain. PATIENTS A total of 133 patients receiving HAART, with a median CD4 cell count of 740/ microL, and whose viral load had been undetectable for a median of 21 months. INTERVENTIONS HAART was interrupted for 2 weeks, restarted, and continued for 8 weeks. After 4 such cycles, treatment was indefinitely suspended 40 weeks after study entry. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES HIV-specific cytotoxic T-cell responses were evaluated by interferon gamma enzyme-linked immunospot analysis. The proportion of "responders" (viral load <5000 copies/mL) was measured at weeks 52 and 96. HIV-related diseases and CD4 cell counts were recorded. RESULTS Seventeen percent of patients (95% confidence interval, 11%-25%) were responders at week 52, and 8% at week 96. Low pre-HAART viral load and lack of rebound during weeks 0 to 40 predicted response. HIV-specific CD8+ T cells increased between week 0 (median, 343 spot-forming cells per million peripheral blood lymphocytes [SFC/106 PBL]) and week 52 (median, 1930 SFC/106 PBL), but there was an inverse correlation between response and the number of spot-forming cells. Eighty-five (64%) of 133 patients stopped therapy for at least 12 weeks, and 55 (41%) for at least 56 weeks. The median CD4 cell count decreased from 792/ microL to 615/ microL during the first 12 weeks without treatment, but stabilized thereafter. One patient (0.75%) developed drug resistance necessitating salvage treatment. There were no AIDS-related clinical complications. CONCLUSIONS Results of this study do not favor the autovaccination hypothesis. Treatment interruptions did not provoke clinical complications, and there was little drug resistance. Comparative trials will have to show what benefit, if any, is associated with intermittent, as opposed to continuous treatment.
Mobile Interaction with the Internet of Things

The interaction between mobile devices and physical objects in the real world is gaining more and more attention as it provides a natural and intuitive way to request services associated with real world objects. We currently see several approaches for the provision of such services. Most of them are proprietary, designed for a special application area or interaction technique and provide no generic concept for the description of real world services. On the other hand the Internet of Things provides a set of standards and methods to tag objects in the real world. We think that the combination of these two technologies can support the development and dissemination of mobile interactions with the real world. Therefore, in this paper we present a concept, an architecture and an early prototype currently under development for mobile interactions with the Internet of Things. Hereby we use Semantic Web services for the description of services provided by the physical objects. This service description is then used for the automatic generation of user interfaces rendered by the mobile device.
A flexible annular array imaging platform for micro-ultrasound

Micro-ultrasound is an invaluable imaging tool for many clinical and preclinical applications with high resolution (about several tens microns). The imaging systems for micro-ultrasound are developed extensively in recent years including single element imaging systems, and linear array imaging systems. This paper presents the development of a novel programmable and real-time annular array imaging platform for micro-ultrasound. It supported multi-channel dynamic beamforming technique for large depth-of-field imaging. The major image processing algorithms were achieved by the novel field programmable technology for high speed and flexibility. Real-time imaging processing was achieved by fast processing algorithms and high speed data transfer interface. Extensive tests including hardware, algorithms, wire phantom, and tissue mimicking phantom measurements were conducted to demonstrate good performance of the platform. The calculated contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the tissue phantom measurements were higher than 1.2 in the range of 3.8-8.7 mm imaging depth. The platform supported higher than 25 images per second for real-time image acquisition. The depth-of-field had about 2.5-fold improvement as opposed to single element transducer imaging.
Urban Observation and Sentiment in James Parkinson’s Essay on the Shaking Palsy (1817)

James Parkinson’s Essay on the Shaking Palsy (1817) has long been considered the foundational text of the disease which now bears the author’s name. This paper shows how the Essay radically re-formulated a diverse array of human dysmobilities as a “species” of disease. Parkinson incorporated medical observation with a clear focus on patient experience and subjectivity in a deeply affecting narrative, fusing clinical and urban case-descriptions within the genre of a sentimental natural history. His detailed, diagnostic portrayal of the malady recast earlier descriptions of trembling, posture and gait disorder within a new narrative order, simultaneously recruiting reader involvement to the plight of sufferers. Hardly any clinical examination as we know it today undergirds what remains an exemplary account of disciplined medical witness. The Essay demonstrates the potential of case construction and powerful, sympathetic case writing to transform clinical understanding of a complex medical condition of long duration.
Interaction between serum uric acid and triglycerides in relation to prehypertension in community-dwelling Japanese adults

Abstract There are few data available on the association between serum uric acid (SUA) levels and blood pressure (BP) categories earlier in the disease continuum, when efforts for its prevention may be applicable. We performed a cross-sectional study to examine the association between SUA and prehypertension in a community-dwelling sample of Japanese adults. Study participants without hypertension aged 19 to 90 years [567 men aged 56 ± 15 (mean ± standard deviation) years and 808 women aged 58 ± 13 years] were recruited for a survey at the community based annual medical check-up. The main outcome was the presence of prehypertension [systolic BP (SBP) 120–139 mmHg and/or diastolic BP (DBP) 80–89 mmHg]. After adjustments by gender and age, both SBP (p < 0.001) and DBP (p < 0.001) increased significantly and progressively with increasing SUA and triglycerides (TG) as well as body mass index, LDL cholesterol, and fasting plasma glucose (FPG). Compared to those with normotension, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for participants with prehypertension was 1.15 (1.05–1.26) for SUA and 3.19 (1.66–6.14) for TG. The interaction between increased SUA and TG was a significant and independent determinant for SBP (β = −2.474, p = 0.008), but not for DBP (β = −0.608, p = 0.349). Higher SUA levels are associated with prehypertension in participants without hypertriglyceridemia (<150 mg/dL), but not in participants with hypertriglyceridemia (≥150 mg/dL). TG levels may modify the association between SUA and prehypertension.
Association of Serum Lipid Levels With HIV Serostatus, Specific Antiretroviral Agents, and Treatment Regimens

Background:The effects of HIV infection, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), and specific antiretroviral agents on lipoproteins in women are not well described. Methods:In a cross-sectional substudy of the Women's Interagency HIV Study with 623 HIV-negative and 1556 HIV-positive women (636 untreated, 419 on non-protease inhibitor [PI] HAART, and 501 on PI-containing HAART), we performed multivariate analyses of associations among fasting lipoprotein levels, HIV infection, and HAART. Results:Untreated HIV-positive women had lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and higher triglycerides (TGs) but not lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) than HIV-negative women and were the most likely to have unfavorable HDL-C by National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) guidelines. PI HAART users had higher LDL-C than untreated HIV-infected women (107 vs. 100 mg/dL, P = 0.0006) and were the most likely to have unfavorable LDL-C and TGs by NCEP guidelines. HIV-negative women and non-PI HAART users had similar HDL-C levels (55 and 53 mg/dL, respectively), which were higher than those in untreated HIV-infected women and PI HAART users (42 and 49 mg/dL, respectively; P < 0.001 for all). Lamivudine, didanosine, nevirapine, and efavirenz were independently associated with higher HDL-C (P < 0.001 for all). Ritonavir, indinavir/ritonavir, and nelfinavir were associated with higher LDL-C (P < 0.01 for all). Stavudine, abacavir, and all ritonavir-containing regimens were associated with higher TGs (P < 0.05 for all), and tenofovir was associated with lower TGs (P = 0.009). Conclusions:A dyslipidemic pattern was associated with HIV infection itself, was more severe in users of PI-containing HAART, but was not present in women taking non-PI HAART.
On the conjecture for certain Laplacian integral spectrum of graphs

Let G be a simple graph of order n with Laplacian spectrum lλn, λn-1, …, λ1r where 0=λn≤λn-1≤⋅≤λ1. If there exists a graph whose Laplacian spectrum is S=l0, 1, …, n-1r, then we say that S is Laplacian realizable. In 6, Fallat et al. posed a conjecture that S is not Laplacian realizable for any n≥2 and showed that the conjecture holds for n≤11, n is prime, or n=2, 3(mod4). In this article, we have proved that (i) if G is connected and λ1=n-1 then G has diameter either 2 or 3, and (ii) if λ1=n-1 and λn-1=1 then both G and G, the complement of G, have diameter 3. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 63: 106–113, 2010
Subgraph Similarity Search in Large Graphs

One of the major challenges in applications related to social networks, computational biology, collaboration networks etc., is to efficiently search for similar patterns in their underlying graphs. These graphs are typically noisy and contain thousands of vertices and millions of edges. In many cases, the graphs are unlabelled and the notion of similarity is also not well defined. We study the problem of searching an induced sub graph in a large target graph that is most similar to the given query graph. We assume that the query graph and target graph are undirected and unlabelled. We use graph let kernels [1] to define graph similarity. Graph let kernels are known to perform better than other kernels in different applications.
The Climate Panic program of Internet-based treatment for panic disorder: A pilot study

The present paper reports the results of an open pilot trial of an Internet based clinician-assisted computerized cognitive behavioural treatment (CaCCBT) program for panic disorder. Ten participants meeting DSM-IV criteria for Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia were recruited. Over 9 weeks, participants completed 6 online lessons and homework assignments, received emails from a therapist, and contributed to an online discussion forum with other participants. Paired sample t-tests and effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were calculated using an intention-to-treat design. Eighty percent of participants completed the 6 lessons. Medium to large pre- to posttreatment effect sizes were obtained on questionnaires measuring anticipatory and catastrophic thoughts, physical sensations associated with anxiety, agoraphobic avoidance, and depression. Seventy percent of participants did not meet criteria for panic disorder with agoraphobia at post-treatment. Mean therapist time spent per patient over the duration of the program was 206 minutes. These results are consistent with previous literature indicating that Internet-based treatment programs for panic disorder combined with individual and forum based therapist guidance can result in clinically significant improvements in outcomes for patients. Keyword s: Clinician assisted computerized cognitive behavioural therapy; panic disorder; treatment; Internet
Implicit Causality in Language: Evidence from Afrikaans

Using English verbs naming interactions between persons Brown and Fish (1983) show that speakers apportion causality unequally between interactants. Action verbs draw greater causal weight to Agent than to Patient arguments while state verbs draw greater weight to Stimulus than to Experiencer arguments. Verbs frequently have derived adjectives naming an attribute of one of the arguments. The direction of causality attribution in adjectives predicts the causality respondents attribute to interactions. Brown and Fish propose two cognitive schemata underlying this phenomenon. Although supporting the Brown hypotheses, data from the present Afrikaans replication are consistently attenuated. Moreover, interaction of verb class with measuring technique has a much stronger effect in Afrikaans than in English. Tentative explanations for these differences are suggested.
Antinociceptive drug interaction between intrathecal vitamin E and gabapentin in the rat formalin test

Background Gabapentin is thought to exert an effect through the voltage-dependent calcium channel. Vitamin E is a widely known antioxidant which neutralizes the harmful effect of ROS which is considered to play a prominent role in various painful conditions. This study was therefore conducted to assess the antinociceptive effects of gabapentin and vitamin E and the interaction of these drugs in the modulation of pain in rats subjected to a formalin test. Methods Sprague-Dawley rats with a lumbar intrathecal catheter were tested for their paw flinches by 5% formalin injection after intrathecal injection of gabapentin or vitamin E. After obtaining dose-response curves for each drug, the effect of the combination was tested by the total dose fraction value and isobolographic analysis. Results When a single drug was injected intrathecally, significant dose-dependent decreases in flinches were shown only in the late phase. ED50 values of intrathecal gabapentin and vitamin E in the late phase were 75.3 ± 9.58 µg, and 17.56 ± 1.65 mg/kg respectively. The combination of gabapentin and vitamin E produced dose-dependent decreases in the number of flinches in both phases induced by the formalin test. The ED50 value of the combination was lower than the theoretical additive values in the late phase, but did not show a significant difference with the theoretical additive value. Conclusions Gabapentin and vitamin E (by itself) have no antinociceptive effect in the early phase; however their combination has shown an antinociceptive effect. In addition, they show additive effects in the late phase of the formalin test.
Leap-based Content Defined Chunking — Theory and Implementation

Content Defined Chunking (CDC) is an important component in data deduplication, which affects both the deduplication ratio as well as deduplication performance. The sliding-window-based CDC algorithm and its variants have been the most popular CDC algorithms for the last 15 years. However, their performance is limited in certain application scenarios since they have to slide byte by byte. The authors present a leap-based CDC algorithm which provides significant improvement in deduplication performance without compromising the deduplication ratio. Compared to the sliding-window-based CDC algorithm, the new algorithm enables up to two-fold improvement in performance.
Measurement and analysis of electromagnetic fields of pulsed magnetic field therapy systems for private use

Recently, pulsed magnetic field therapy (PMFT) systems have become available for private use. Although they may be applied without medical supervision, only a little is known about their field quantities. In this study, the spatial distribution and the temporal characteristics of the magnetic flux densities of three PMFT systems, available in Europe, were analysed. In close proximity to the surface, the maxima of the peak magnetic flux densities were 461 µT, 170 µT and 133 µT, respectively. At a distance of 30 cm above the whole body mat, the peak magnetic flux density was 77 µT. The excitation patterns consisted of repeating bursts with carrier frequencies between 210 and 1667 Hz. In conclusion, magnetic flux densities were far above International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection reference levels. Since these systems are supposed to be medical devices as well as wellness devices, risk analysis of PMFT systems and the effectiveness of these devices need to be investigated in future studies.
Being lonely later in life: a qualitative study among Albanians and Moroccans in Italy

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the social wellbeing of older migrants in Italy, an important yet neglected topic in the Italian political and scholarly debate. Knowledge about the lived experience of loneliness and its perceived causes was gathered by means of 34 in-depth interviews with Albanian and Moroccan migrants aged 50 and above living in the Marche region. Our findings show that the participants are surrounded by family and are largely satisfied with the contact they have with relatives; this protects them from social isolation but not from loneliness. Although they rarely express this to their spouse and friends (men) or their children (men and women), feelings of loneliness are widely experienced among the participants. The root of their loneliness largely relates to a lack of meaningful relationships with non-related age peers – having a chat, remembering old times, socialising with others when family members are busy, talking about intimate matters they cannot or will not share with relatives – which supports the argument of loneliness scholars that different types of relationships serve different functions and fulfil different needs. Having more contact with people outside the family circle, especially with co-ethnic peers, could reduce these feelings of loneliness substantially, but factors such as discrimination and lack of Italian language proficiency, free time, financial resources and nearby contact facilities are hindrances. These factors offer clues for public loneliness interventions.
Pulmonary lobe segmentation using the thin plate spline (TPS) with the help of the fissure localization areas

Lung lobe segmentation is clinically important for disease classification, treatment and follow-up of pulmonary diseases. Diseases such as tuberculosis and silicolis typically present in specific lobes i.e. almost exclusively the upper ones. However, the fissures separating different lobes are often difficult to detect because of their variable shape, appearance and low contrast in computed tomography images. In addition, a substantial fraction of patients have missing or incomplete fissures. To solve this problem, several methods have been employed to interpolate incomplete or missed fissures. For example, Pu et al. used an implicit surface fitting with different radial basis functions; Ukil et al. apply fast marching methods; and Ross et al. used an interactive thin plate spline (TPS) interpolation where the user selects the points that will be used to compute the fissure interpolation via TPS. In our study, results of an automated fissure detection method based on a plate-filter as well points derived from vessels were fed into an a robust TPS interpolation that ultimately defined the lobes. To improve the selection of detected points, we statistically determined the areas where fissures are localized from 19 data-sets. These areas were also used to constrain TPS fitting so it reflected the expected shape and orientation of the fissures, hence improving result accuracy. Regions where the detection step provided low response were replaced by points derived from a distance-to-vessels map. The error, defined as the Euclidian mean distance between ground truth points and the TPS fitted fissures, was computed for each dataset to validate our results. Ground truth points were defined for both exact fissure locations and approximate fissure locations (when the fissures were not clearly visible). The mean error was 5.64±4.83 mm for the exact ground truth points, and 10.01 ± 8.23 mm for the approximate ground truth points.
The Deviance of the Will: Policing the Bounds of Testamentary Freedom in Nineteenth-Century America

Deviance is built into the very idea of a last will and testament. From its earliest usages, this legal instrument has provided individuals with a means of departing from conventional rules of inheritance. The freedom of a testator to do what he wills with his own was cast in especially expansive terms in the wake of the American Revolution. Yet antebellum American courtrooms were inundated with the petitions of disappointed heirs, charging that the testator's unnatural disposition was the product of an insane delusion or other improper influences. This Article seeks to account for the rising tide of testamentary litigation in this era, offering a doctrinal story that departs from conventional instrumentalist analyses of the phenomenon. Through a reconstruction of these will contests, it becomes apparent that they were more than merely material struggles over the testator's property - that they were also animated by deeper metaphysical concerns about the source and significance of human perversity. Each case confronted judges with the same fundamental dilemma: was the testator's deviant will best read as evidence of moral depravity or mental unsoundness? Answers to this question were eagerly supplied by a new band of medical men, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of insanity. As their medical hypotheses were increasingly deployed in mid-century contests, however, judges came to fear they proved too much, threatening to obscure the distinction between sin and disease, leaving the law with no metaphysical basis for assigning responsibility. In the face of this threat, postbellum judges came to appreciate the importance of distinguishing the eccentric from the insane will as a means of safeguarding the ideal of human autonomy. In their opinions, they performed important cultural work, elaborating a new way of thinking about the timeless problem of evil, anticipating what would be called Pragmatism by the century's end.