Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative Evaluation of Early Diagnosis of Tuberculous Meningitis by Different Assays

ABSTRACT Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and peripheral blood (PBL) were sampled multiple times from 25 patients with a clinical diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and 49 controls, including 27 patients with other infectious diseases of the central nervous system and 22 patients with other noninfectious neurological diseases. We used an enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT) to detect anti-Mycobacterium bovis BCG antibody-secreting cells in CSF and PBL, PCR to detect a repeated insertion sequence (IS6110) specific for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in CSF, and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect anti-BCG antibodies in CSF and PBL. In the meantime, culture of CSF from every TBM and control patient was done on Lowenstein-Jensen medium. ELISPOT proved to be the most valuable test, with a sensitivity of 84.0% and a specificity of 91.8%, and showed a sensitivity of 100.0% with the CSF specimens obtained within 4 weeks after the onset of TBM. The numbers of CSF anti-BCG immunoglobulin-secreting cells tested by ELISPOT were even higher in the early phase of TBM and declined while the disease was going on (P = 0.008), which allowed an early diagnosis to be made. The sensitivities of PCR and ELISA were only 75.0% and 52.3%, respectively; and the specificities were 93.7% and 91.6%, respectively. Culture of CSF on Lowenstein-Jensen medium was the least sensitive (16%) compared to the sensitivities of the other three assays. Our results demonstrate that the ELISPOT technique is worthy for routine use in the laboratory to support the clinical diagnosis of TBM.
Prognostic factors for the outcome of chemotherapy in advanced soft tissue sarcoma: an analysis of 2,185 patients treated with anthracycline-containing first-line regimens--a European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group Study.

PURPOSE A total of 2,185 patients with advanced soft tissue sarcomas who had been treated in seven clinical trials investigating the use of doxorubicin- or epirubicin-containing regimens as first-line chemotherapy were studied in this prognostic-factor analysis. PATIENTS AND METHODS Overall survival time (median, 51 weeks) and response to chemotherapy (26% complete response or partial response) were the two end points. The cofactors were sex; age; performance status; prior therapies; the presence of locoregional or recurrent disease; lung, liver, and bone metastases at the time of entry onto the trial; long time period between the initial diagnosis of sarcoma and entry onto the study; and histologic type and grade. RESULTS Univariate analyses showed (a) a significant, favorable influence of good performance status, young age, and absence of liver metastases on both survival time and response rate, (b) a significant, favorable influence of low histopathologic disease grade on survival time, despite a significantly lower response rate, (c) increased survival time for patients with a long time period between the initial diagnosis of sarcoma and entry onto the study, despite equivalent response rates, and (d) increased survival time with liposarcoma or synovial sarcoma, a decreased survival time with malignant fibrous histiocytoma, a lower response rate with leiomyosarcoma, and a higher response rate with liposarcoma (P < .05 for all log-rank and chi2 tests). The Cox model selected good performance status (P < .0001), absence of liver metastases (P = .0001), low histopathologic grade (P = .0002), long time lapse since initial diagnosis (P = .0004), and young age (P = .0045) as favorable prognostic factors of survival time. The logistic model selected absence of liver metastases (P < .0001), young age (P = .0024), high histopathologic grade (P = .0051), and liposarcoma (P = .0065) as favorable prognostic factors of response rate. CONCLUSION This analysis demonstrates that for advanced soft tissue sarcoma, response to chemotherapy is not predicted by the same factors as is overall survival time. This needs to be taken into account in the interpretation of trials assessing the value of new agents for this disease on the basis of response to treatment.
Effect of Interactions on the Critical Temperature of a Dilute Bose gas

Due to the observation of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute atomic $^{87}$Rb and $^{23}$Na vapors last year, there is currently a great interest in the properties of a degenerate Bose gas. One aspect that is not yet understood is the effect of the interatomic interactions on the critical temperature of the phase transition. We present here a renormalization group study of the weakly-interacting Bose gas and predict the critical temperature at which Bose-Einstein condensation occurs as a function of the (positive) scattering length $a$ of the interatomic potential.
22 Cooperation in communication networks : indirect reciprocity in interactions between cleaner fish and client reef fish

The aim of this chapter is twofold. First, to outline how recent developments in cooperation theory are so similar to the communication network concept (McGregor, 1993) that a unified terminology would be useful to facilitate exchange of ideas. Second, we argue that the communication network concept provides an evolutionary framework to predict the widespread occurrence of phenomena that until now have been discussed in the context of highly developed cognitive abilities. This creates a problem: as it stands, there appear to be no words in cooperation theory that were not developed in the human context and hence do not include a cognitive component. We have to use definitions that only constitute the functional aspects of phenomena (like tactical deception and indirect reciprocity) and ignore the mechanistic aspects (i.e. theory of mind, intentionality) that are commonly part of the definitions. We kindly ask readers always to keep in mind that our definitions never imply any specific cognitive abilities. We illustrate our ideas with data on the mutualism between the cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus and its ‘client’ reef fish, which visit cleaners to have ectoparasites removed from their surface, gills and mouth (reviewed by Losey et al., 1999; Côté, 2000). Cooperation provides a challenge to evolutionary theory because it often involves apparently altruistic behaviour. Hamilton (1964) provided a framework to understand why altruism between kin can be evolutionary stable; specifically, an altruist gains indirect fitness benefits from its action. However, there are plenty of
Edinburgh Research Explorer Data Quality Problems beyond Consistency and Deduplication

Recent work on data quality has primarily focused on data repairing algorithms for improving data consistency and record matching methods for data deduplication. This paper accentuates several other challenging issues that are essential to developing data cleaning systems, namely, error correction with performance guarantees, uniﬁcation of data repairing and record matching, relative information completeness, and data currency. We provide an overview of recent advances in the study of these issues, and advocate the need for developing a logical framework for a uniform treatment of these issues.
Increased Intra‐ and Extracellular Concentrations of γ‐Glutamylglutamate and Related Dipeptides in the Ischemic Rat Striatum: Involvement of γ‐Glutamyl Transpeptidase

Abstract: The present work relates to the possibility that the ATP‐independent enzyme γ‐glutamyl transpeptidase (EC 2.3.2.2), which has been postulated to be part of an amino acid uptake system, is active during cerebral ischemia. This was evaluated in the ischemic rat striatum by determination of intra‐ and extracellular concentrations of γ‐glutamyl dipeptides (the products of the transpeptidation) and glutathione (the physiological γ‐glutamyl donor). An ischemic period (0–30 and 31–60 min) resulted in prominent increases in the respective concentration of extracellular γ‐glutamylglutamate (24‐ and 67‐fold), γ‐glutamyltaurine + γ‐glutamylglycine (5.8‐ and 19‐fold), and γ‐glutamylglutamine (2.6‐ and 6.8‐fold) as revealed using in vivo microdialysis. The changes coincided with increased respective extracellular concentrations of glutamate (83‐ and 115‐fold), taurine (17‐ and 25‐fold), glycine (4.6‐ and 6.1‐fold), and glutamine (1.7‐ and 2.1‐fold). Furthermore, under anoxic conditions in vitro (0–30 and 0–60 min), respective striatal tissue concentrations were increased for γ‐glutamylglutamate (20‐ and 17‐fold), γ‐glutamyltaurine (6.7‐ and 11‐fold), γ‐glutamylglutamine (1.7‐ and 1.2‐fold), and γ‐glutamylglycine (14‐ and 18‐fold), whereas glutathione levels were, on an average, decreased by ∼350 µM. In summary, γ‐glutamyl transpeptidase is involved in de novo dipeptide synthesis in the mammalian brain during anoxic conditions, indicating transport of amino acids such as glutamate.
Linkage of G Protein-Coupled Receptors to the MAPK Signaling Pathway Through PI 3-Kinase γ

The tyrosine kinase class of receptors induces mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation through the sequential interaction of the signaling proteins Grb2, Sos, Ras, Raf, and MEK. Receptors coupled to heterotrimeric guanine triphosphate-binding protein (G protein) stimulate MAPK through Gβγ subunits, but the subsequent intervening molecules are still poorly defined. Overexpression of phosphoinositide 3-kinase γ (PI3Kγ) in COS-7 cells activated MAPK in a Gβγ-dependent fashion, and expression of a catalytically inactive mutant of PI3Kγ abolished the stimulation of MAPK by Gβγ or in response to stimulation of muscarinic (m2) G protein-coupled receptors. Signaling from PI3Kγ to MAPK appears to require a tyrosine kinase, Shc, Grb2, Sos, Ras, and Raf. These findings indicate that PI3Kγ mediates Gβγ-dependent regulation of the MAPK signaling pathway.
Mechanism for the formation of methylglyoxal from triosephosphates.

Very early in an investigation of the mechanism for the interconversion of dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) and 1)-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (1)GAP) by isomerization I noticed the surprising fact that the isomerization reaction could be detected only against the background of the much faster degradation of these compounds to give methylglyoxal and inorganic phosphate. DHAP and I)GAP are intermediates of glycolysis and, as such, would not be expected to undergo spontaneous degradation to methylglyoxal, a compound that inhibits cellular growth at low concentrations and that is toxic at high concentrations [ 11. Glycolytic enzymes are present at extremely high cellular concentrations to maintain the very large flux of catabolites needed to ‘stoke the cellular engine’. It is difficult to imagine how the spill-off of the toxic byproduct methylglyoxal from this pathway could not have important metabolic consequences, but these have been given relatively little consideration. This paper summarizes investigations of the mechanism for the non-enzymic and triosephosphate-isomerase-catalysed elimination reactions of triosephosphates and the conclusions from this work about the surprising kinetic instability of these compounds. It concludes with a brief commentary on the possible metabolic consequences of these elimination reactions.
Novel Drug Delivery Systems for Retinal Diseases

Introduction: Retinal diseases, such as macular edema from diabetic retinopathy and neovascular age-related macular degeneration, are important causes of visual impairment. Pharmacologic intervention has been employed, since laser can have limited success with improving vision. Topical eye drops and systemic therapy deliver low drug levels to the retina and the potential for systemic drug absorption and the accompanying side effects are high. As a result, transscleral and intravitreal drug delivery systems have had increasing importance in treating retinal diseases to deliver therapeutic drug concentrations and to limit the systemic drug exposure. Herein, we will review the novel drug delivery approaches for treating diabetic macular edema and neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Material and Methods: A Medline search was performed to identify articles that described novel drug delivery systems for treating diabetic macular edema and neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Our review was limited to intravitreal drug delivery systems that have recently completed phase II/III clinical trials and/or have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Results: Journal articles were identified from the literature search and reviewed. Conclusions: Local administration of drugs using primarily intravitreal delivery systems is important in treating retinal diseases. Novel drug delivery approaches for treating diabetic macular edema currently are focused on sustained-release corticosteroids. For neovascular age-related macular degeneration, frequent intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor compounds are the standard of care. Unmet needs in this population are therapies that reduce the treatment burden and improve visual acuity in a greater proportion of patients.
HIERARCHY OF BIFURCATIONS IN THE TRUNCATED AND FORCED NLS MODEL

The truncated forced non-linear Schrödinger (NLS) model is known to mimic well the forced NLS solutions in the regime at which only one linearly unstable mode exists. Using a novel framework in which a hierarchy of bifurcations is constructed, we analyze this truncated model and provide insights regarding its global structure and the type of instabilities which appear in it. In particular, the significant role of the forcing frequency is revealed and it is shown that a parabolic resonance mechanism of instability arises in the relevant parameter regime of this model. Numerical experiments demonstrating the different types of chaotic motion which appear in the model are provided. Putting an order in a multi-dimensional chaotic system by classifying all the different types of trajectories and finding their corresponding phase space regions is, in general, a formidable and perhaps even unattainable task. Near integrable Hamiltonian systems are a fascinating playground in this respect as some rough classification may be found. Indeed, we demonstrate here that in some cases their structure may be well described via the construction of a three level hierarchy of bifurcations. The analysis reveals, in a systematic way, what are the typical and singular solutions on a given energy level and how these are altered as the energy level and the parameters are varied. In particular, all the different types of singular unperturbed solutions arising in a given model may be classified. The various types of chaotic trajectories which are produced by the perturbation in the neighborhood of such solutions are shown. The concrete system we analyze is a two-mode truncation of the forced one dimensional non-linear Schrödinger equation, an equation which describes many phenomena in Physics such as the Bose-Einstein condensation. Our analysis explains the phase space structure of
Stabilizing Effects of Interruptions on Trinucleotide Repeat Expansions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

ABSTRACT In most trinucleotide repeat (TNR) diseases, the primary factor determining the likelihood of expansions is the length of the TNR. In some diseases, however, stable alleles contain one to three base pair substitutions that interrupt the TNR tract. The unexpected stability of these alleles compared to the frequent expansions of perfect TNRs suggested that interruptions somehow block expansions and that expansions occur only upon loss of at least one interruption. The work in this study uses a yeast genetic assay to examine the mechanism of stabilization conferred by two interruptions of a 25-repeat tract. Expansion rates are reduced up to 90-fold compared to an uninterrupted allele. Stabilization is greatest when the interruption is replicated early on the lagging strand, relative to the rest of the TNR. Although expansions are infrequent, they are often polar, gaining new DNA within the largest available stretch of perfect repeats. Surprisingly, interruptions are always retained and sometimes even duplicated, suggesting that expansion in yeast cells can proceed without loss of the interruption. These findings support a stabilization model in which interruptions contribute in cis to reduce hairpin formation during TNR replication and thus inhibit expansion rates.
Ultra Wide Band Audio Visual PHY IEEE 802.15.3c for WMSNs

In order to retrieve multimedia content like video and audio at indoor environments, wireless multimedia sensor networks have recently emerged as a good solution. Moreover, Ultra Wide Band technology (UWB) can provide high data rates to transfer the multimedia content in a point-to-point mode. In this paper, we explain the features of UWB technology and investigate the performance of the IEEE 802.15. 3c standard in terms of Bit Error Rate (BER) against Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). The Audio Visual Physical (AV PHY) mode has been implemented and simulated and our results show that encoded AV PHY outperforms the uncoded AV PHY for high and low Convolutional encoder rates. Finally, we emphasized the quality improvements with different UWB standard parameters (coding and modulation) in the context of JPEG image compression.
Is Interaction Necessary for Distributed Private Learning?

Recent large-scale deployments of differentially private algorithms employ the local model for privacy (sometimes called PRAM or randomized response), where data are randomized on each individual's device before being sent to a server that computes approximate, aggregate statistics. The server need not be trusted for privacy, leaving data control in users' hands. For an important class of convex optimization problems (including logistic regression, support vector machines, and the Euclidean median), the best known locally differentially-private algorithms are highly interactive, requiring as many rounds of back and forth as there are users in the protocol. We ask: how much interaction is necessary to optimize convex functions in the local DP model? Existing lower bounds either do not apply to convex optimization, or say nothing about interaction. We provide new algorithms which are either noninteractive or use relatively few rounds of interaction. We also show lower bounds on the accuracy of an important class of noninteractive algorithms, suggesting a separation between what is possible with and without interaction.
Do you see what I see?: designing a sensory substitution device to access non-verbal modes of communication

The inability to access non-verbal cues is a setback for people who are blind or visually impaired. A visual-to-auditory Sensory Substitution Device (SSD) may help improve the quality of their lives by transforming visual cues into auditory cues. In this paper, we describe the design and development of a robust and real-time SSD called iFEPS -- improved Facial Expression Perception through Sound. The implementation of the iFEPS evolved over time through a participatory design process. We conducted both subjective and objective experiments to quantify the usability of the system. Evaluation with 14 subjects (7 blind + 7 blind-folded) shows that the users were able to perceive the facial expressions in most of the time. In addition, the overall subjective usability of the system was found to be scoring 4.02 in a 5 point Likert scale.
The Story of SPATA2 (Spermatogenesis-Associated Protein 2): From Sertoli Cells to Pancreatic Beta-Cells

In an attempt to isolate new spermatogenesis-associated genes, pd1 was initially identified and cloned as a novel human cDNA sequence from testis cDNA library. The novel gene was submitted to GenBank under accession n° U28164 in 1996. PD1 expression was demonstrated at the Sertoli cell level with a production which appeared to be under the influence of neighbouring spermatogenic cells. The rat orthologue of human pd1 was further cloned and, according to the Gene Nomenclature Committee, was renamed spata2 (spermatogenesis-associated protein 2) gene on the basis of its FSH-dependent up-regulation and developmental expression. The analysis of the human and rat cDNA sequences disclosed an open reading frame for a protein of 520 and 511 amino acids respectively, with an overall identity of 85%. Subsequently, a zebrafish orthologue of the human spata2 gene was identified. The consensus open reading frame (1650 bp) encodes a polypeptide of 550 amino acids, which shares 37% identity with the human spata2. By means of whole-mount in situ hybridisation it has been shown that spata2 transcripts are maternally derived and become strongly localised in the central nervous system at early developmental stages. At the same time, RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that several adult zebrafish tissues expressed high level of spata2 mRNA providing evidence that this gene may have a broader function than previously described. More recently, novel findings have highlighted a potential role of spata2 during pancreatic development and β-cell proliferation. In this review we will discuss spata2 gene expression and regulation as well as focus on novel evidence, which suggests a role for this protein in pancreatic β-cell function.
Face recognition by using Gabor and LBP

This paper proposes two effective color local texture features, i.e., color local Gabor wavelets (CLGWs) and color local binary pattern (CLBP), for face recognition (FR). This method encodes the discriminative features by combining both color and texture information as well as its fusion approach. To make full use of both color and texture information, the opponent color texture features are used. The opponent features capture the spatial correlation between spectral bands and taken into the generation of CLGW and CLBP. In addition, to combine multiple color local texture features, a feature-level fusion framework used. This method is able to provide excellent recognition rates and significant improvement in the FR accuracy when recognizing face images taken under a severe change in illumination as well as for low- resolution face image. Also, this method improves FR performance and feasible in comparison with other state-of-the-art color FR methods.
Clonal diversity and biofilm-forming ability of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the clonal epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) isolates from dogs in Norway and to evaluate the antimicrobial resistance patterns and determine the biofilm-forming abilities of the isolates. METHODS All MRSP index isolates from each MRSP-positive dog detected in Norway until June 2011 were included (n = 23). The MICs of antimicrobial agents were determined by the VetMIC™ microdilution method. The genetic relationship between the isolates was investigated by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and PFGE. The isolates' abilities to form biofilm on polystyrene were studied. RESULTS The MRSP isolates investigated grouped into 11 different sequence types (STs); MRSP ST106 occurred most frequently. There were a relatively smaller number of isolates belonging to ST71, the largely predominant ST in Europe. Isolates belonging to ST71 had a significantly greater ability to produce biofilm compared with the other isolates, and especially compared with MRSP ST106. CONCLUSIONS A heterogeneous clonal distribution was observed among MRSP from dogs in Norway. As opposed to previous findings in Europe, MRSP clones other than ST71 have spread in Norway, such as MRSP ST106. The results also show that MRSP ST71 is possibly a good biofilm producer, and this may in turn be a contributing factor to the nosocomial character of MRSP ST71.