Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serum cytokine pattern in young children with screening detected coeliac disease

Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation localized to the small bowel, but less is known about systemic signs of inflammation. The aim was to measure cytokines of the T helper 1 (Th1) and T helper 2 (Th2) cell patterns in children with screening‐detected coeliac disease before and after treatment with a gluten‐free diet. Serum samples selected before and after the start of a gluten‐free diet from 26 3‐year‐old children diagnosed with biopsy‐proven coeliac disease and from 52 matched controls were assayed in an multiplex enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the 10 cytokines: interferon (IFN)‐γ, interleukin (IL)‐1β, IL‐2, IL‐4, IL‐5, IL‐8, IL‐10, IL‐12p70, IL‐13 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α. Among Th1 cytokines, IFN‐γ and IL‐12p70 were elevated significantly in children with coeliac disease compared to controls (P < 0·001 and P = 0·001, respectively). Similar findings were demonstrated for the Th2 cytokines IL‐5 (P < 0·001), IL‐10 (P = 0·001) and IL‐13 (P = 0·002). No difference in cytokine levels between the two groups was found for TNF‐α, IL‐1β, IL‐2, IL‐4 and IL‐8. After gluten‐free diet, levels of IL‐5, IL‐12 and IL‐10 decreased significantly (P < 0·001, P = 0·002 and P = 0·007) and IFN‐γ levels were reduced (P = 0·059). Young children with coeliac disease detected by screening demonstrate elevated levels of serum cytokines at time of diagnosis. A prolonged systemic inflammation may, in turn, contribute to long‐term complications known to be associated with untreated coeliac disease.
Variability in the effects of bilingualism on cognition: It is not just about cognition, it is also about bilingualism

Valian (2014) suggests that the messy state of the literature examining the effects of bilingualism on executive functioning (EF) stems from lack of clarity in how EFs are defined and measured, and from lack of control over other factors that can modulate EF. We argue that the lack of clarity in how bilingualism is defined and measured is no less problematic. We focus our commentary on two related issues.
Lithium Protects against Anesthesia-induced Developmental Neuroapoptosis

Background:Ethanol and anesthetic drugs trigger neuroapoptosis in the developing mouse brain. Recently, it was found that ethanol-induced neuroapoptosis is preceded by suppressed phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK), and lithium counteracts both the phosphorylated ERK suppressant action and ethanol-induced neuroapoptosis. The current study was undertaken to address the following questions. (1) Do ketamine and propofol mimic ethanol in suppressing ERK phosphorylation? (2) If they do, does lithium prevent this suppressant action and also prevent these anesthetic drugs from triggering neuroapoptosis? Method:Postnatal day 5 mice were treated with propofol, ketamine, lithium, a combination of propofol or ketamine with lithium or saline, and their brains were prepared for Western blot analysis or histology. For Western blot, cytosolic lysates of caudate putamen were analyzed for expression of phosphorylated ERK and phosphorylated serine/threonine-specific protein kinase. For histology, brains were stained immunohistochemically with antibodies to activated caspase-3, and the density of activated caspase-3 positive cells was determined. Results:Ketamine and propofol suppressed phosphorylated ERK, and lithium counteracted both the phosphorylated ERK suppressant action and neuroapoptotic action of these anesthetic drugs. Conclusion:If further testing finds lithium to be safe for use in pediatric/obstetric medicine, administration of a single dose of lithium before anesthesia induction may be a suitable means of mitigating the risk of anesthesia-induced developmental neuroapoptosis.
Sensitivity to Social Contingency From Mothers and Strangers in 2‐, 4‐, and 6‐Month‐Old Infants

Infants' sensitivity to changes in social contingency was investigated by presenting 2-, 4-, and 6-month-old infants with 3 episodes of social interaction from mothers and strangers: 2 contingent interactions and 1 noncontingent replay. Three orders were presented: (a) contingent, noncontingent, contingent; (b) contingent, contingent, noncontingent; and (c) noncontingent, contingent, contingent. Contingency and carryover effects were shown to both mothers and strangers in the different orders of presentation. Infants were more visually attentive to contingent interactions than to the noncontingent replay when contingent interactions occurred prior to the replay, and the infants' level of attention to the noncontingent replay carried over to subsequent contingent interactions. The 4- and 6-month-old infants showed contingency and carryover effects by their visual attention and smiling. Examination of effect sizes for attention suggests 2-month-old infants may be beginning to show the effects. Reasons for a.
The Design and Implementation of Case-Based Learning in Adaptive Learning

The development of information technology brought a new prospect for the network study, the adaptive learning has been possible to meet learner’s individual requirements. The case-based learning may provide the simulation situation for the learner, but the adaptive learning takes on the both superiority of the Case-based Learning and simulation situation. It takes the case as the study object, shields the relations between various concepts in the case, and simplified concept map. And also, it presents the learner’s cognition abilities with belief vector, contacts learner's learning capability with the case. It can make students learn cases orderly with different levels, and it can make it possible of efficient study.
Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in patients with hematologic malignancies: survival and prognostic factors.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Despite improvements made in its early diagnosis and effective treatment, invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) remains a devastating opportunistic infection. In this retrospective study we have reviewed all consecutive cases of IPA diagnosed in adult patients with hematologic malignancies in our center from 1995 to 2000 to determine survival and prognostic factors. DESIGN AND METHODS Forty-one patients were included in the study. Ante-mortem classification of cases of IPA were: 4 definite, 10 highly probable, 19 probable and 8 possible cases; all these last eight patients were later upgraded to definite IPA at post-mortem examination. Clinical charts were reviewed and factors possibly affecting the outcome of IPA were analyzed. RESULTS All but two patients received chemotherapy and/or immunosuppresive therapy before the onset of IPA (conventional chemotherapy = 24, allogeneic stem cell transplantation [SCT] = 12, autologous SCT = 3). At IPA diagnosis 28 patients were neutropenic (< 0.5 x 10(9)/L) for a median of 25 days (range 7-135), and 10 allogeneic SCT patients were receiving corticosteroids for graft-versus-host-disease. All but two patients received antifungal treatment for IPA. The median delay from diagnosis to start of therapy was two days (range 0-20). The median follow-up after the first symptom or sign of IPA was 42 days with a maximum follow-up of 61 months. The actuarial 4-month infection-free survival was 40% (95% CI 25% to 55%). Thirty-three patients died during follow-up and IPA was implicated in the patients' death in 24 cases (75%). In multivariate analysis prolonged survival was associated with recovery of neutropenia during treatment (p = 0.001) and not having received an allogeneic SCT (p = 0.003). INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS Despite prompt initiation of antifungal therapy, survival of patients with a hematologic malignancy and IPA is currently low. Perhaps the introduction of more sensitive diagnostic methods will allow the onset of intensive therapy prior to the appearance of more advanced clinical symptoms and/or radiological signs, and the time will come to test whether earlier and more intensive therapy will improve survival.
Alpha-chain disease.

The pathological and clinical features of alpha-chain disease, its immunological diagnosis, the structural abnormalities of the abnormal immunoglobulin A compared with those of proteins of gamma and mu heavy chains diseases, the course of the disease and its present treatment, the epidemiological factors involved and their influence on pathogenesis and finally, the relationship with the "Mediterranean abdominal lymphoma" or IPSID are successively described. The stress has been placed on the latest data which refine but no not modify the first description of the disease. In the same way as studies on the synthesis and structure of proteins in heavy chain diseases will provide new data on the biosynthesis of normal immunoglobulins, so the elucidation of sequential events leading from a plasmocytic stage reversible by antibiotic therapy alone to a highly malignant immunoblastic stage should improve our knowledge of the genesis of human lymphomas.
Policy Sociology and Critical Social Research: A Personal Review of Recent Education Policy and Policy Research.

Abstract The paper undertakes two related exercises; one substantive and one meta‐analytical. The first concerns changes in public sector provision. It is argued that the public sector has been ‘transformed’, in Jessop's terms, from a Keynsian Welfare State to a Schumpeterian Workfare State. This transformation involves fundamental changes to forms of provision, patterns of access, forms of work, client — worker relations, inter‐institutional relations and values and ethics. The constitution of citizenship has also been affected. The second concerns the conception of and engagement with social policy by educational researchers. A template for examination of the ‘surface epistemology’ of education policy research is presented — that is the relationships between conceptualisation, research design and conduct and the interpretation of data. It is argued that there is a basic tension at the heart of education policy research, between a commitment to the pursuit of efficiency and a commitment to the pursuit of.
On the Local-Global Principle for Integral Apollonian-3 Circle Packings

In this paper we study the integral properties of Apollonian-3 circle packings, which are variants of the standard Apollonian circle packings. Specifically, we study the reduction theory, formulate a local-global conjecture, and prove a density one version of this conjecture. Along the way, we prove a uniform spectral gap for congruence towers of the symmetry group.
Justification of interpersonal aggression in Japanese, American, and Spanish students

Six hundred and thirty-two university students of both sexes—242 Japanese (137 males and 105 females), 190 Spanish (71 males and 119 females), and 200 American (100 males and 100 females)—completed a questionnaire that examined their attitudes toward various kinds of aggression directed at other people in different situations that ranged from self-defense to a method of overcoming communication problems. Factor analysis revealed three factors: physical aggression (killing, torture, and hitting), direct verbal aggression (shouting and rage), and indirect verbal aggression (being ironic and hindering). The basic factor structure of the Japanese, the Spanish, and the USA samples was similar. In all samples, men showed a higher justification of physical aggressive acts in any situation and of indirect verbal aggression in nondefensive circumstances. Cultural differences were found in the degree of justification of the three factors: in all kinds of situations, Japanese students showed a lower justification of indirect verbal aggression but a higher justification of direct verbal aggression than USA and Spain samples. Physical aggression in defensive situations is justified more by Americans than by Japanese and Spanish students. These findings suggest the existence of a common basic moral code about physical aggressive acts, but there seems to be a cultural influence on moral codes concerning verbal aggressive acts. Oriental cultures, with an interdependent construal of self, seem to be more permissive of direct verbal aggression compared with Western cultures, but they have less tolerance for indirect verbal aggression. There were practically no significant differences between American and Spanish scores. Aggr. Behav. 25:185–195, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Poly-resistant Tuberculosis in an HIV-infected Child

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) has been reported in India, but has been rarely documented in children. HIV co-infection has led to resurgence of tuberculosis (TB), making treatment even more difficult due to complex drug interactions. Poly-resistant TB is rare in children, especially in HIV-infected children. We report an HIV-infected child who developed poly-resistant TB (resistance to Streptomycin and Isoniazid) after 3 years of completion of anti-tuberculosis treatment (ATT). His mother had also received ATT 3 years back. We conclude that DR-TB in HIV-infected children should be considered if the child had been treated with ATT in the past or there is contact with adults on second-line ATT therapy.
Direct Torque Control System for Coal Mine Equipment Based on Improved Genetic Algorithms

The belt conveyor is the main transport equipments in coal field, and its controllable dirve system directly impacts on the running safety reliability and cost in coal production. Starting speed is unsmoothed in the traditional electrical drive system, which causes the belt off tracking or split and even safty accident. Therefore it is theory and practical significant to introduce a novel direct torque control (DTC) system of AC machine to the belt conveyor for solving the problem in coal mine. In allusion to the optimization of PID parameters in the speed regulators of the belt conveyor, the paper presents the improved genetic algorithm based on genetic algorithms and tabu search for the design of variable parameters of PID controller, and its ability of stronger climbing and faster finding the global optimum results are verified through the De Jong function. Compared with the traditional means, the rise time of the suggested system is faster, overshoot and regulating time is shorter, anti-disturbance is stronger, robust is better. So the optimization performance of control system is improved greatly.
Scrubbing Mechanism for Heterogeneous Applications in Reconfigurable Devices

Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) reconfigurable devices have been recognized as one of the most suitable processing devices to be applied in nano-satellites, since they can satisfy and combine their most important requirements, namely processing performance, reconfigurability, and low cost. However, COTS reconfigurable devices, in particular Static-RAM Field Programmable Gate Arrays, can be affected by cosmic radiation, compromising the overall nano-satellite reliability. Scrubbing has been proposed as a mechanism to repair faults in configuration memory. However, the current scrubbing mechanisms are predominantly static, unable to adapt to heterogeneous applications and their runtime variations. In this article, a dynamically adaptive scrubbing mechanism is proposed. Through a window-based scrubbing scheduling, this mechanism adapts the scrubbing process to heterogeneous applications (composed of periodic/sporadic and streaming/DSP (Digital Signal Processing) tasks), as well as their reconfigurations and modifications at runtime. Conducted simulation experiments show the feasibility and the efficiency of the proposed solution in terms of system reliability metric and memory overhead.
Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes with Behavioral Norms

This extended abstract discusses various approaches to the constraining of Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDPs) using social norms and logical assertions in a dynamic logic framework. Whereas the exploitation of synergies among formal logic on the one hand and stochastic approaches and machine learning on the other is gaining signicantly increasing interest since several years, most of the respective approaches fall into the category of rela
Evidence for long‐range transport of carbon monoxide in the Southern Hemisphere from SCIAMACHY observations

The SCIAMACHY satellite instrument shows enhanced carbon monoxide (CO) columns in the Southern Hemisphere during the local Spring. Chemistry‐transport model simulations using the new GFEDv2 biomass‐burning emission database show a similar temporal and spatial CO distribution, indicating that the observed enhancements are mainly due to biomass burning (BB). Large differences between the year 2003 and 2004 are observed in both the measurements and the model for South America and Australia. This study analyzes the origin of these observed enhancements in the Southern Hemisphere. The fact that SCIAMACHY is sensitive to surface CO allows for the observation of enhanced CO columns in both emission areas and in areas that are affected by long‐range transport of CO. Model results show a large contribution of South American BB CO over Australian BB regions during the 2004 BB season of up to ∼30–35% and up to 55% further south, with smaller contributions for 2003. BB CO transported from southern Africa contributes up to ∼40% in 2003 and ∼30% in 2004. The results indicate that differences between SCIAMACHY CO and the model simulations over Australian BB areas are probably not only caused by uncertainties in local emissions but also in overseas emissions.
Experts use compensatory strategies more often than novices in hiring decisions

Previous research focusing on decision making has reported that most novices use an extensive set of cues in a compensatory way to make their decisions (i.e., compensatory strategies), whereas most experts use a limited set of relevant cues in a non-compensatory way (i.e., non-compensatory strategies). We tested the generalizability of these conclusions in a personnel selection context with students as novices and recruiters as experts. In a realistic setting, we investigated the effect of expertise on a subjective and an objective measure of decision making strategies. Results showed that, in contrast with previous research, both novices and experts mostly used compensatory strategies and that experts used them more often than novices. Further, consistently with previous research, experts allocated more importance than novices to cues predicting future job performance. We discussed theoretical and practical implications of our
Stromal and hematopoietic cells in secondary lymphoid organs: partners in immunity

Secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs), including lymph nodes, Peyer's patches, and the spleen, have evolved to bring cells of the immune system together. In these collaborative environments, lymphocytes scan the surfaces of antigen‐presenting cells for cognate antigens, while moving along stromal networks. The cell‐cell interactions between stromal and hematopoietic cells in SLOs are therefore integral to the normal functioning of these tissues. Not only do stromal cells physically construct SLO architecture but they are essential for regulating hematopoietic populations within these domains. Stromal cells interact closely with lymphocytes and dendritic cells, providing scaffolds on which these cells migrate, and recruiting them into niches by secreting chemokines. Within lymph nodes, stromal cell‐ensheathed conduit networks transport small antigens deep into the SLO parenchyma. More recently, stromal cells have been found to induce peripheral CD8+ T‐cell tolerance and control the extent to which newly activated T cells proliferate within lymph nodes. Thus, stromal‐hematopoietic crosstalk has important consequences for regulating immune cell function within SLOs. In addition, stromal cell interactions with hematopoietic cells, other stroma, and the inflammatory milieu have profound effects on key stromal functions. Here, we examine ways in which these interactions within the lymph node environment influence the adaptive immune response.
Lifelong Bilingualism Maintains White Matter Integrity in Older Adults

Previous research has shown that bilingual speakers have higher levels of cognitive control than comparable monolinguals, especially at older ages. The present study investigates a possible neural correlate of this behavioral effect. Given that white matter (WM) integrity decreases with age in adulthood, we tested the hypothesis that bilingualism is associated with maintenance of WM in older people. Using diffusion tensor imaging, we found higher WM integrity in older people who were lifelong bilinguals than in monolinguals. This maintained integrity was measured by fractional anisotropy (FA) and was found in the corpus callosum extending to the superior and inferior longitudinal fasciculi. We also hypothesized that stronger WM connections would be associated with more widely distributed patterns of functional connectivity in bilinguals. We tested this by assessing the resting-state functional connectivity of frontal lobe regions adjacent to WM areas with group differences in FA. Bilinguals showed stronger anterior to posterior functional connectivity compared to monolinguals. These results are the first evidence that maintained WM integrity is related to lifelong naturally occurring experience; the resulting enhanced structural and functional connectivity may provide a neural basis for “brain reserve. ”
Impact of Cochannel Interference on the Performance of Quadrature Spatial Modulation MIMO Systems

Quadrature spatial modulation (QSM) was proposed recently as a viable multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication technique for future wireless systems. QSM expands spatial modulation to include both real and imaginary spatial constellation symbols. In this letter, we consider an arbitrary QSM MIMO system operating over Rayleigh fading channels and in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise and cochannel interference (CCI). The performance of the system is analyzed mathematically and numerically. In particular, a closed-form expression for the pairwise error probability is derived assuming arbitrary number of CCIs and used to calculate an upper bound on the average error probability. As well, an asymptotic expression, which is shown to be tight at practical SNR values is derived. Analytical results are sustained through Monte Carlo simulations and impact of different system parameters is studied. In addition, performance comparison between QSM, spatial modulation, spatial multiplexing, and single antenna transmission schemes for the same spectral efficiency and in the presence of CCI is presented.
Periodic entropy coder initialization for wavefront decoding of video bitstream

In this paper, we outline a coding strategy that initializes the entropy coding engine of a video codec at pre-defined locations within a bit-stream. Coupled with the causal dependencies of state-of-the-art video coding systems, this enables wavefront processing of the entropy decoding and reconstruction process simultaneously. Approaches to wavefront processing have been considered by others, and those methods either address the reconstruction process solely or require transmitting image data in non-raster scan order. Here, our key contribution is that we enable simultaneous entropy/reconstruction wavefront processing while still preserving a raster scan strategy. In this paper, we describe the system, as well as different strategies for initializing the context models. The performance of the proposed methods is evaluated, and the bitrate increase is shown to be nominal.
The Lost-Letter Technique: Predicting Elections

The lost-letter technique was validated against the 1968 Presidential, Senatorial and Congressional elections. Placement on car windshields predicted the trend in all 3 races when only the major candidates were compared. The results for a third candidate (Wallace) were very misleading and suggest that magnitude of returns is not an accurate index of voting strength. It was concluded that the lost-letter technique has some promise for predicting elections and should be more thoroughly investigated.