Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cognitive Function in Epileptic Patients Treated with Oxcarbazepine: Neuropsychologic test and Event-related Potential

Background : Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) may impair cognitive function in epileptic patients. Oxcarbazepine (OXC, Trileptal) is a recently developed AED. The effect of oxcarbazepine (OXC, Trileptal) monotherapy on cognitive function was studied prospectively in patients with partial or generalized epilepsies. Methods : A total of 22 patients were started on OXC monotherapy and 18 out of them completed a 1-year follow-up. Nine patients didn’t have any previous history of anticonvulsant medications. OXC was administered 600 to 1,500 mg twice daily after 10 to 14 days of titration period. We used neuropsycological assessments (verbal learning and memory, visual memory, digit span, Trail Making, and verbal fluency) and auditory event-related potentials (P300) for the evaluation of cognitive function before and 1 year after OXC treatment. Results : Twelve patients became seizure free and 6 patients showed the reduction in monthly seizure frequency. The adverse effects of medication were mild weight gain, GI problems, dizziness, fatigue and headache etc., but they were transient. In particular one patient experienced a feeling of alertness and clear-headedness with continuation of the medication. Neuropsycological tests showed a significant improvement of performance in verbal learning, word recognition and Trail Making test of type A. P300 latencies were significantly shortened, but their amplitudes were not changed. Conclusions : Even though many variable factors such as the age at onset of epilepsy, etiology of epilepsy, seizure frequency, seizure type, epileptic process itself and dosage of antiepileptic drugs influence cognitive function of epileptic patients, OXC at least does not seem to be harmful or rather slightly beneficial for cognitive functions.
Polymeric Matrices at Micro and Nanoscale for Ocular Drug Delivery

Drug delivery platforms have the potential to improve patient adherence, reduce side effects, increase efficacy for treatment of ocular diseases. Recent efforts in ocular drug delivery have been made to improve the bioavailability and precorneal residence through topical application. The potential use of polymeric micro and nanoparticles as drug carriers has led to the development of many advanced colloidal delivery vehicles. Drug loaded polymeric systems offer several favorable biological properties, such as biodegradability, nontoxicity, biocompatibility and mucoadhesive characteristics. These polymeric systems are amenable for targeted drug delivery, leading to decrease in dose, dosing frequency and thus lowering systemic toxicity. This review discusses the recent advances in polymeric micro and nanoparticles and their therapeutic significances in the field of ocular drug delivery.
The Detailed Kinetics of Cytomegalovirus-specific T cell Responses after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: 1 Year Follow-up Data

The detailed kinetics of the cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific T cell response in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) recipients have not yet been fully assessed. We evaluated these kinetics of CMV-specific T cell response and factors associated with high CMV-specific T cell responses 1 year after HCT. In HCT recipients, CMV pp65 and IE1-specific ELISPOT assay were performed before HCT (D0), and at 30 (D30), 90 (D90), 180 (D180), and 360 (D360) days after HCT. Of the 51 HCT recipients with donor-positive (D+)/recipient-positive (R+) serology, 26 (51%) developed CMV infections after HCT. The patterns of post-transplantation reconstitution for CMV-specific T cell response were classified into 4 types: 1) an initial decrease at D30 followed by gradual T cell reconstitution without CMV infection (35%), 2) an initial decrease at D30 followed by gradual T cell reconstitution preceded by CMV infection (35%), 3) failure of gradual or constant T cell reconstitution (26%), and 4) no significant T cell reconstitution (4%). There was no significant difference between ELISPOT counts of D360 and those of D0. High CMV-specific T cell responses at D360 were not associated with high CMV-specific T cell response at D0, CMV infection, ganciclovir therapy, graft versus host disease (GVHD), and immunosuppressant use. In conclusion, there are 4 distinct patterns of reconstitution of the CMV-specific T cell response after HCT. In addition, reconstituted donor-origin CMV-specific T cell responses appeared to be constant until day 360 after HCT, regardless of the level of the pre-transplant CMV-specific T cell response, CMV infection, and immunosuppressant use.
The robust component structure of dense regular graphs and applications

In this paper, we study the large‐scale structure of dense regular graphs. This involves the notion of robust expansion, a recent concept which has already been used successfully to settle several longstanding problems. Roughly speaking, a graph is robustly expanding if it still expands after the deletion of a small fraction of its vertices and edges. Our main result allows us to harness the useful consequences of robust expansion even if the graph itself is not a robust expander. It states that every dense regular graph can be partitioned into ‘robust components’, each of which is a robust expander or a bipartite robust expander. We apply our result to obtain (amongst others) the following. We prove that whenever ε>0 , every sufficiently large 3 ‐connected D ‐regular graph on n vertices with D⩾(14+ε)n is Hamiltonian. This asymptotically confirms the only remaining case of a conjecture raised independently by Bollobás and Häggkvist in the 1970s. We prove an asymptotically best possible result on the circumference of dense regular graphs of given connectivity. The 2 ‐connected case of this was conjectured by Bondy and proved by Wei.
Neural Machine Translation Decoding with Terminology Constraints

Despite the impressive quality improvements yielded by neural machine translation (NMT) systems, controlling their translation output to adhere to user-provided terminology constraints remains an open problem. We describe our approach to constrained neural decoding based on finite-state machines and multi-stack decoding which supports target-side constraints as well as constraints with corresponding aligned input text spans. We demonstrate the performance of our framework on multiple translation tasks and motivate the need for constrained decoding with attentions as a means of reducing misplacement and duplication when translating user constraints.
Antibiotic Prescription, Organisms and its Resistance Pattern in Patients Admitted to Respiratory ICU with Respiratory Infection in Mysuru

Aim of Study: Respiratory infections account for significant morbidity, mortality and expenses to patients getting admitted to ICU. Antibiotic resistance is a major worldwide concern in ICU, including India. It is important to know the antibiotic prescribing pattern in ICU, organisms and its resistance pattern as there is sparse data on Indian ICUs. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective study from August 2015 to February 2016. All patients getting admitted to RICU with respiratory infection who were treated with antibiotics were included into study. Demographic details, comorbidities, Clinco-pathological score (CPI) on day1 and 2 of admission, duration of ICU admission, number of antibiotics used, antibiotic prescription, antimicrobial resistance pattern of patients were collected using APRISE questionnaire. Results: During study period 352 patients were screened and 303 patients were included into study. Mean age was 56.05±16.37 and 190 (62.70%) were men. Most common diagnosis was Pneumonia (66%). Piperacillin-tazobactam was most common empirical antibiotic used. We found 60% resistance to piperacillin-tazobactam. Acinetobacter baumanii was the most common organism isolated (29.2%) and was highly resistant to Carbapenem (60%). Klebsiella pneumoniae was resistant to Amikacin (45%), piperacillin (55%) and Ceftazidime (50%). Conclusion: Piperacillin-tazobactam was the most common antibiotic prescribed to patients with respiratory infection admitted to ICU. More than half of patients (60%) had resistance to the empirical antibiotic used in our ICU, highlighting the need for antibiogram for each ICU. Thirty six percent of patient had prior antibiotic use and had mainly gram negative organisms with high resistance to commonly used antibiotics.
Educational Software Applied in Teaching Electrocardiogram: A Systematic Review

Background The electrocardiogram (ECG) is the most used diagnostic tool in medicine; in this sense, it is essential that medical undergraduates learn how to interpret it correctly while they are still on training. Naturally, they go through classic learning (e.g., lectures and speeches). However, they are not often efficiently trained in analyzing ECG results. In this regard, methodologies such as other educational support tools in medical practice, such as educational software, should be considered a valuable approach for medical training purposes. Methods We performed a literature review in six electronic databases, considering studies published before April 2017. The resulting set comprises 2,467 studies. From this collection, 12 studies have been selected, initially, whereby we carried out a snowballing process to identify other relevant studies through the reference lists of these studies, resulting in five relevant studies, making up a total of 17 articles that passed all stages and criteria. Results The results show that 52.9% of software types were tutorial and 58.8% were designed to be run locally on a computer. The subjects were discussed together with a greater focus on the teaching of electrophysiology and/or cardiac physiology, identifying patterns of ECG and/or arrhythmias. Conclusions We found positive results with the introduction of educational software for ECG teaching. However, there is a clear need for using higher quality research methodologies and the inclusion of appropriate controls, in order to obtain more precise conclusions about how beneficial the inclusion of such tools can be for the practices of ECG interpretation.
A Clinical Study of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Caused by Tangshan Earthquake

Objective:To study the clinic feature and psychosomatic symptoms of the patients with Posttrau- matic Stress Disorder(PTSD)caused by Tangshan violent earthquake.Methods:35 patients(PTSD group)with PTSD caused by Tangshan earthquake and 33 controls were assessed by PTSD symptoms frequency questionnaires and psychosomatic health questionnaires.Results:Symptoms of the patients with PTSD were more obvious than those of the controls such as involuntary recall of the experience of being attacked,repeated manifestation of night- mare with traumatic content,repeatedly feel affiliation when the scene retakes place in memories and cause marked physiological reaction,difficulty of falling sleep or unreality of sleep,excessively feeling alarmed,trying not to think people and events related to traumatic experience,avoiding activities or places that may agony recall,unwilling to contact and becoming cold on relatives,narrowing of range of interests,loss of longing for future.Patients with PTSD have higher total,somatic,obsessive,interpersonal sensitivity,depression,anxiety,phobia and other factorial scores of SCL-90 than controls.Conclusion:Patients with PTSD can't be divorced from the distressing recollections.PTSD seriously affects the patients'psychosomatic health.
Longitudinal Associations of Smoke-Free Policies and Incident Cardiovascular Disease.

BACKGROUND Smoke-free legislation has been associated with lower rates of cardiovascular disease hospital admissions in ecological studies. However, prior studies lacked detailed information on individual-level factors (eg, sociodemographic and clinical characteristics) that could potentially confound associations. Our objective was to estimate associations of smoke-free policies with incident cardiovascular disease in a longitudinal cohort after controlling for sociodemographics, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and policy covariates. METHODS Longitudinal data from 3783 black and white adults in the CARDIA study (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults; 1995-2015) were linked to state, county, and local 100% smoke-free policies in bars, restaurants, and nonhospitality workplaces by Census tract. Extended Cox regression estimated hazard ratios (HRs) of incident cardiovascular disease associated with time-dependent smoke-free policy exposures. Models were adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, cardiovascular disease risk factors, state cigarette tax, participant-reported presence of a smoking ban at their workplace, field center, and metropolitan statistical area poverty. RESULTS During a median follow-up of 20 years (68 332 total person-years), 172 participants had an incident cardiovascular disease event (2.5 per 1000 person-years). Over the follow-up period, 80% of participants lived in areas with smoke-free policies in restaurants, 67% in bars, and 65% in nonhospitality workplaces. In fully adjusted models, participants living in an area with a restaurant, bar, or workplace smoke-free policy had a lower risk of incident cardiovascular disease compared with those in areas without smoke-free policies (HR, 0.75, 95% confidence interval, 0.49-1.15; HR, 0.76, 95% confidence interval, 0.47-1.24; HR, 0.54, 95% confidence interval, 0.34-0.86, respectively; HR, 0.58, 95% confidence interval, 0.33-1.00 for living in an area with all 3 types of policies compared with none). The estimated preventive fraction was 25% for restaurant policies, 24% for bar policies, and 46% for workplace policies. CONCLUSIONS Consistent with prior ecological studies, these individual-based data add to the evidence that 100% smoke-free policies are associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease among middle-aged adults.
Formative assessment: Using peer and self-assessment in interpreter training

This paper considers the viability and desirability of three aspects of formative assessment: peer assessment, self-assessment and evaluation, and their importance in the training of the professional interpreter. Even experienced student interpreters are often unaware of omissions, additions and misunderstandings in their own performances. When asked to assess themselves or each other, they frequently lack the analytical tools to be able to carry out such exercises. This paper is informed by educational practice in order to validate the use of these forms of assessment, and it demonstrates how student interpreters can use them to increase the amount of feedback they receive as they become professionals.
Similarity as tractable transformation

According to the transformational approach to similarity, two objects are judged to be more similar the simpler the transformation of one of the object representations into the other. This approach draws inspiration from the mathematical theory of Kolmogorov complexity, but otherwise remains an informal theory to this day. In this paper we investigate several different ways in which the informal theory of transformational similarity can be understood, providing a formalization for each possible reading. We then study the computational (in)tractability of each formalization for a variety of parameter settings. Our results have both theoretical and empirical implications for transformational approaches to similarity.
PTSD Symptoms and Acute Pain in the Emergency Department: The Roles of Vulnerability and Resilience Factors Among Low-income, Inner-city Women

Background: Given high levels of traumatic stress for low-income, inner-city women, investigating the link between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and pain is especially important. Purpose: Using the conservation of resources theory, we investigated direct and indirect relationships of PTSD symptoms, vulnerability factors (ie, resource loss, depressive symptoms, and social undermining), and resilience factors (ie, optimism, engagement, and social support) to acute pain reports in a sample of low-income, inner-city women. Methods: Participants (N=341; mean age=28 y; 58.0% African American) were recruited from an inner-city Emergency Department following presentation with acute pain. Study data were gathered from psychosocial questionnaires completed at a baseline interview. Results: Structural equation modeling examined direct and indirect relationships among PTSD symptoms, vulnerability factors, and resilience factors on self-reported pain intensity and pain interference. PTSD symptoms were directly related to higher pain intensity and pain interference and indirectly related through positive associations with vulnerability factors (all Ps<0.05). Pathways through resilience factors were not supported. Conclusions: Results suggest that presence of PTSD symptoms is associated with elevated acute pain responses both indirectly via psychosocial vulnerability factors and directly, independent of the psychosocial factors assessed. Resilience factors did not play a significant role in determining acute pain responses. Consistent with conservation of resources theory, the negative effects of vulnerability factors outweighed the positive effects of resilience factors.
Development of Optically-Driven Metallic Microrotors Using Two-Photon Microfabrication

We have developed metallized, cross-shaped microrotors driven by scanning a low-power laser beam. The metallized microrotors were fabricated by the combination of two-photon microfabrication, electroless plating and laser ablation. It is demonstrated that a cross-shaped, metallized microrotor can be driven at a laser power of 3 mW. We also analyze the radiation pressure exerted on the blade to investigate the driving mechanism of the metallized micorotor. As a result, it was confirmed that a tilted blade could generate larger torque than a horizontal blade due to the reflection of an incident Gaussian laser beam. Such optically driven metallized micromachines will be useful for low-cost, functional lab-on-a-chip devices.
Assessment of uncertainty in the ocean reflectance determined by three satellite ocean color sensors (MERIS, SeaWiFS and MODIS-A) at an offshore site in the Mediterranean Sea (BOUSSOLE project)

[1] The match-up of satellite-derived reflectances with in situ observations is crucial to evaluate their quality and temporal stability. To contribute to this effort, a project has been set up to collect a data set of in situ radiometric and bio-optical quantities, in support to satellite ocean color calibration and validation. The project has been named “BOUSSOLE”, and one of its key elements is a deep-sea optics mooring collecting data on a near-continuous basis since September 2003. This buoy is deployed in the deep clear waters of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea, and is visited on a monthly basis for servicing and acquisition of complementary data. The characteristics of the work area establish the site as a satisfactory location for validating satellite ocean color observations. A description of the data processing protocols is provided, followed by an analysis of the uncertainty of the buoy radiometry measurements. The results of a match-up analysis of the marine reflectances, diffuse attenuation coefficients, and chlorophyll concentrations for three major missions, i.e., MERIS, SeaWiFS, and MODIS-A, are then analyzed. They show poor performances for the bluest band (412 nm) of the three sensors, and performances within requirements at 443 and 490 nm for SeaWiFS and MODIS-A. These results suggest that a vicarious calibration should be introduced for the MERIS sensor. This analysis also demonstrates that a major effort is still required to improve atmospheric correction procedures whatever the mission.
wsp-based analysis of Wolbachia strains associated with Phlebotomus papatasi and P. sergenti (Diptera: Psychodidae) main cutaneous leishmaniasis vectors, introduction of a new subgroup wSerg

Abstract Sand flies of Phlebotomus papatasi and P. sergenti are the main vectors of cutaneous leishmanisis (CL) in the old world. We aimed to screen Iranian P. papatasi and P. sergenti for their natural infections with Wolbachia and to determine their phylogenetic association with other species. Wolbachia surface protein (wsp) gene was PCR amplified from DNA extracted from Phlebotomus species, sequenced, and were analysed in combination with wsp sequences related to Phelebtominae and other insects. All Wolbachia-infecting Iranian sand flies of P. papatasi and P. sergenti were classified in the Supergroup A. , Wolbachia isolated from P. sergenti were clustered in a new subgroup within Supergroup A so-called wSreg. The Wolbachia strains identified from the P. papatasi clustered mainly in the subgroup wPap and partly in wSerg. Multiple Wholbachia infection within a single population of P.papatasi warrants investigation on existence and intensity of cytoplasmic incompatibility between the wPap and wSerg subgroups.
POHaD: why we should study future fathers

Abstract The growing field of ‘Developmental Origin of Health and Disease’ (DOHaD) generally reflects environmental influences from mother to child. The importance of maternal lifestyle, diet and other environmental exposures before and during gestation period is well recognized. However, few epidemiological designs explore potential influences from the paternal environment on offspring health. This is surprising given that numerous animal models have provided evidence that the paternal environment plays a role in a non-genetic inheritance of pre-conceptional exposures through the male germ line. Recent findings in humans suggest that the epigenome of sperm cells can indeed be affected by paternal exposures. Defects in epigenetic sperm mechanisms may result in persistent modifications, affecting male fertility or offspring health status. We addressed this issue at the LATSIS Symposium ‘Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance: Impact for Biology and Society’, in Zürich, 28–30 August 2017, and here provide important arguments why environmental and lifestyle-related exposures in young men should be studied. The Paternal Origins of Health and Disease (POHaD) paradigm was introduced to stress the need for more research on the role of the father in the transmission of acquired environmental messages from his environment to his offspring. A better understanding of pre-conceptional origins of disease through the paternal exposome will be informative to the field of transgenerational epigenetics and will ultimately help instruct and guide public health policies in the future.
Frequent falls and confusion: recurrent hypoglycemia in a patient with tuberous sclerosis complex

Recurrent hypoglycemia is common, but its presentation is often insidious resulting in delays in diagnosis and significant morbidity. We describe a case of an insulinoma presenting with falls and confusion in a patient with tuberous sclerosis, demonstrating the importance of early hypoglycemia identification and a potential shared molecular pathogenesis.