Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CRISPR applications in ophthalmologic genome surgery

Purpose of review The present review seeks to summarize and discuss the application of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated systems (Cas) for genome editing, also called genome surgery, in the field of ophthalmology. Recent findings Precision medicine is an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account the variability of an individual's genetic sequence. Various groups have used CRISPR-Cas genome editing to make significant progress in mammalian preclinical models of eye disease, the basic science of eye development in zebrafish, the in vivo modification of ocular tissue, and the correction of stem cells with therapeutic applications. In addition, investigators have creatively used the targeted mutagenic potential of CRISPR-Cas systems to target pathogenic alleles in vitro. Summary Over the past year, CRISPR-Cas genome editing has been used to correct pathogenic mutations in vivo and in transplantable stem cells. Although off-target mutagenesis remains a concern, improvement in CRISPR-Cas technology and careful screening for undesired mutations will likely lead to clinical eye therapeutics employing CRISPR-Cas systems in the near future.
Efficacy of nonoxynol 9 contraceptive sponge use in preventing heterosexual acquisition of HIV in Nairobi prostitutes.

OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy of the nonoxynol 9 contraceptive sponge in preventing sexual acquisition of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). DESIGN Prospective, randomized placebo-controlled trial. SETTING Research clinic for prostitutes in Nairobi, Kenya. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS One hundred thirty-eight HIV-seronegative women were enrolled, of whom 74 were assigned to nonoxynol 9 sponge use and 64 to placebo use. These two groups did not significantly differ with respect to demographic characteristics, sexual practices, or prevalence of genital infections at enrollment, except for a lower number of sex partners per week and a higher initial prevalence of genital ulcers among women assigned to nonoxynol 9 sponge use. Among the 116 women who returned for follow-up, the mean durations of follow-up were 14 and 17 months for the two groups, respectively. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE HIV seroconversion. RESULTS Nonoxynol 9 sponge use was associated with an increased frequency of genital ulcers (relative risk [RR], 3.3; P less than .0001) and vulvitis (RR, 3.3; P less than .0001) and a reduced risk of gonococcal cervicitis (RR, 0.4; P less than .0001). Twenty-seven (45%) of 60 women in the nonoxynol 9 sponge group and 20 (36%) of 56 women in the placebo group developed HIV antibodies. The hazard ratio for the association between nonoxynol 9 sponge use and HIV seroconversion was 1.7 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.9 to 3.0). Using multivariate analysis to control for the presence of genital ulcers at enrollment, the adjusted hazard ratio for the association between nonoxynol 9 sponge use and seroconversion was 1.6 (95% CI, 0.8 to 2.8). CONCLUSIONS Genital ulcers and vulvitis occurred with increased frequency in nonoxynol 9 sponge users. We were unable to demonstrate that nonoxynol 9 sponge use was effective in reducing the risk of HIV infection among highly exposed women.
Öğretmen Adaylarının Öğretmenlik Uygulaması Dersinden Beklentileri

Ozet – Bu calismanin amaci, ogretmenlik uygulamasi dersi kapsaminda ogretmen adaylarinin uygulama ogretim elemanindan, uygulama ogretmeninden, uygulama okulu koordinatorunden, uygulama okulundan, akranlarindan, uygulama okulundaki diger ogretmelerden, uygulama okulundaki ogrencilerden, ogretmen yetistirme programindan ve ogretmenlik uygulamasi paydaslarindan beklentilerini ortaya koymaktir. Arastirma Sakarya Universitesi Hendek Egitim Fakultesi’nde bulunan 88’i Sinif Ogretmenligi ABD, 65’i Fen Bilgisi Ogretmenligi ABD, 73’u Ilkogretim Matematik Ogretmenligi ABD, 59’u Sosyal Bilgiler Ogretmenligi ABD, 73’u Turkce Ogretmenligi ABD ve 80’i Bilgisayar ve Ogretim Teknolojileri Egitimi ABD’sinde ogrenim goren Ogretmenlik Uygulamasi dersini almamis toplam 438 ogrenci ile yurutulmustur. Veri toplama araci olarak “Ogretmen Adaylarinin Ogretmenlik Uygulamasindan Beklentileri” anketi kullanilmistir. 85 maddelik anketin Cronbach Alpha katsayisi . 94 olarak bulunmustur. Verilerin yuzde ve frekans dagilimlarina bakilmis ve frekans dagilimlari ki-kare testi ile . 05 anlamlilik duzeyinde test edilmistir. Sonuc olarak, ogretmen adaylarinin uygulama ogretmeninden, uygulama okulu koordinatorunden, uygulama okulundan, akranlarindan, ogretmen yetistirme programindan ve ogretmenlik uygulamasi paydaslarindan beklentileri ogrenim gordugu ABD’ye gore anlamli farklilik gosterdigi fakat uygulama ogretim elemanindan, uygulama okulundaki diger ogretmelerden ve uygulama okulundaki ogrencilerden beklentilerinin ogrenim gordugu ABD’ye gore anlamli farklilik gostermedigi bulunmustur.
Dangers and Opportunities for Social Media in Medicine

Health professionals have begun using social media to benefit patients, enhance professional networks, and advance understanding of individual and contextual factors influencing public health. However, discussion of the dangers of these technologies in medicine has overwhelmed consideration of positive applications. This article summarizes the hazards of social media in medicine and explores how changes in functionality on sites like Facebook may make these technologies less perilous for health professionals. Finally, it describes the most promising avenues through which professionals can use social media in medicine—improving patient communication, enhancing professional development, and contributing to public health research and service.
Assessment of tumourigenic potential in long‐term cryopreserved human adipose‐derived stem cells

Cryopreservation represents an efficient way to preserve human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) at early culture/passage, and allows pooling of cells to achieve sufficient cells required for off‐the‐shelf use in clinical applications, e.g. cell‐based therapies and regenerative medicine. To fully apply cryopreserved hMSCs in a clinical setting, it is necessary to evaluate their biosafety, e.g. chromosomal abnormality and tumourigenic potential. To date, many studies have demonstrated that cryopreserved hMSCs display no chromosomal abnormalities. However, the tumourigenic potential of cryopreserved hMSCs has not yet been evaluated. In the present study, we cryopreserved human adipose‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (hASCs) for 3 months, using a slow freezing method with various cryoprotective agents (CPAs), followed by assessment of the tumourigenic potential of the cryopreserved hASCs after thawing and subculture. We found that long‐term cryopreserved hASCs maintained normal levels of the tumour suppressor markers p53, p21, p16 and pRb, hTERT, telomerase activity and telomere length. Further, we did not observe significant DNA damage or signs of p53 mutation in cryopreserved hASCs. Our findings suggest that long‐term cryopreserved hASCs are at low risk of tumourigenesis. These findings aid in establishing the biosafety profile of cryopreserved hASCs, and thus establishing low hazardous risk perception with the use of long‐term cryopreserved hASCs for future clinical applications. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Nature and implications of selective impairment on the booklet category test and Wisconsin card sorting test

Abstract The neuropsychological characteristics of patients, selected on the basis of their pattern of performance on the Booklet Category Test (BCT) and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), were assessed. Correlation and factor analyses revealed that the BCT and WCST shared minimal variance in a neuropsychological test battery. There were no statistically significant differences on individual neuropsychological tests between groups of patients with selective impairment on the BCT or WCST. It was concluded that the BCT and WCST are not interchangeable, and that they assess different aspects of cognitive functioning. The nature of the difficulties of patients with selective impairment on the BCT or WCST were discussed.
Robust Indoor Human Activity Recognition Using Wireless Signals

Wireless signals–based activity detection and recognition technology may be complementary to the existing vision-based methods, especially under the circumstance of occlusions, viewpoint change, complex background, lighting condition change, and so on. This paper explores the properties of the channel state information (CSI) of Wi-Fi signals, and presents a robust indoor daily human activity recognition framework with only one pair of transmission points (TP) and access points (AP). First of all, some indoor human actions are selected as primitive actions forming a training set. Then, an online filtering method is designed to make actions’ CSI curves smooth and allow them to contain enough pattern information. Each primitive action pattern can be segmented from the outliers of its multi-input multi-output (MIMO) signals by a proposed segmentation method. Lastly, in online activities recognition, by selecting proper features and Support Vector Machine (SVM) based multi-classification, activities constituted by primitive actions can be recognized insensitive to the locations, orientations, and speeds.
A 15-year review of esophagectomy for carcinoma of the esophagus and cardia.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of surgical approach and adjuvant therapy on patients with carcinoma of the esophagus and/or cardia. DESIGN Retrospective analysis of 157 consecutive patients who underwent esophagectomy. SETTING A private university medical center and its affiliated community hospital. PATIENTS One hundred twenty men and 37 women (mean age, 61.7 years) with carcinoma of the esophagus and/or cardia that was surgically treated between 1978 and 1993. INTERVENTIONS Three approaches were used for resection: Transhiatal esophagectomy (THE) (n = 67), transthoracic esophagectomy (TTE) (n = 71), and abdominal-only esophagectomy (AOE) (n = 19). Sixty-five patients received adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Surgical mortality, morbidity, and survival and the effect of adjuvant therapy. RESULTS The overall surgical mortality rate was 7.6%: 12.7% with the TTE, 4.5% with the THE, and 0% with the AOE approach. A significantly increased incidence of adult respiratory distress syndrome (P < .001) and empyema (P < .001) was seen with the TTE approach. The average intraoperative blood loss (P = .08) and the median intensive care unit stay (P = .26) and hospital stay (P = .40) were decreased with the THE and AOE approaches when compared with the TTE approach without significance. The overall median survival time was 17 months, with a 5-year survival rate of 21%. There was no significant difference in survival by pathologic stage between approaches. The addition of adjuvant therapy did not affect the overall median survival time or the 5-year survival rate. Node-positive patients did benefit from adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy, with increased median survival times from 7 to 15 months and a 5-year survival rate from 0% to 15% (P = .01). CONCLUSIONS The THE and AOE approaches have fewer early complications than does TTE. Both THE and TTE have equal long-term survival rates. Adjuvant therapy provides increased survival to node-positive patients with carcinoma of the esophagus and/or cardia.
Addressing Barriers to Care Among Hispanic Youth: Telehealth Delivery of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Exposure to potentially traumatic events (e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, witnessing domestic or community violence, violent or unexpected death of a loved one) is a significant public health concern with approximately half of all youth reporting experiencing at least one type of potentially traumatic event before the age of 18 (Finkelhor, Turner, Shattuck, & Hamby, 2013; Kilpatrick et al., 2003). Nationally representative surveys indicate that racial and ethnic minority youth, in particular Hispanics and African Americans, endorse higher rates of trauma exposure and greater rates of revictimization compared to Caucasian youth (Andrews et al., 2015; Crouch et al., 2000; Roberts et al., 2011). Hispanic female youth are a particularly vulnerable group, with approximately one in three endorsing some form of childhood maltreatment, with sexual assault, physical assault, and witnessing violence among the most commonly reported types of victimization (Warner, Alegría, & Canino, 2012). Youth exposed to potentially traumatic events are at an increased risk of developing mental health disorders (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety) and of engaging in risky behaviors (e.g., problematic substance use, self-injury, unprotected sex; Danielson et al., 2010; Hanson, Moreland, & Orengo-Aguayo, in press). Similar to findings regarding trauma prevalence, there is evidence to suggest that Hispanics, compared to non-Hispanic Caucasians, may be particularly vulnerable to developing psychopathology secondary to experiencing trauma (Alcántara, Casement, & Lewis-Fernández, 2013; Pole, Best, Metzler, & Marmar, 2005). The present study illustrates the feasibility of delivering TF-CBT via telehealth using a multiple-case study design aimed at answering the following exploratory questions: (1) What barriers did these youth initially have in accessing mental health services? (2) How did telehealth help address these barriers? (3) Did patients complete telehealth treatment? (4) What adaptations had to be made for a telehealth delivery format? and (5) Did we see clinically significant change in symptoms pre- to post-treatment with this mode of delivery?
The shape and tempo of language evolution

There are approximately 7000 languages spoken in the world today. This diversity reflects the legacy of thousands of years of cultural evolution. How far back we can trace this history depends largely on the rate at which the different components of language evolve. Rates of lexical evolution are widely thought to impose an upper limit of 6000–10 000 years on reliably identifying language relationships. In contrast, it has been argued that certain structural elements of language are much more stable. Just as biologists use highly conserved genes to uncover the deepest branches in the tree of life, highly stable linguistic features hold the promise of identifying deep relationships between the world's languages. Here, we present the first global network of languages based on this typological information. We evaluate the relative evolutionary rates of both typological and lexical features in the Austronesian and Indo-European language families. The first indications are that typological features evolve at similar rates to basic vocabulary but their evolution is substantially less tree-like. Our results suggest that, while rates of vocabulary change are correlated between the two language families, the rates of evolution of typological features and structural subtypes show no consistent relationship across families.
Automated Discovery, Categorization and Retrieval of Personalized Semantically Enriched E-learning Resources

In this paper, we describe an integrated and working Elearning search system for retrieving personalized semantically enriched learning resources. Within this context, this work proposes an architecture divided into four layers: (1) Semantic Representation (knowledge representation), (2) Algorithms, which are the core engine of this study, (3) Personalization Interface to deal with information filtering, and (4) Dual representation of the semantic user profile. We use Cluster Analysis in support of an adaptive personalized search for E-learning. This work ends with an experimental evaluation of the results and an overview of future research. Evidence is found that both ersonalization and semantic enrichment are potential elements for improving an E-learning Information Retrieval System.
Routing an Autonomous Taxi with Reinforcement Learning

Singapore's vision of a Smart Nation encompasses the development of effective and efficient means of transportation. The government's target is to leverage new technologies to create services for a demand-driven intelligent transportation model including personal vehicles, public transport, and taxis. Singapore's government is strongly encouraging and supporting research and development of technologies for autonomous vehicles in general and autonomous taxis in particular. The design and implementation of intelligent routing algorithms is one of the keys to the deployment of autonomous taxis. In this paper we demonstrate that a reinforcement learning algorithm of the Q-learning family, based on a customized exploration and exploitation strategy, is able to learn optimal actions for the routing autonomous taxis in a real scenario at the scale of the city of Singapore with pick-up and drop-off events for a fleet of one thousand taxis.
Political consumption, conventional politics, and high cultural capital

This article advances our knowledge of how political consumption is related to conventional forms of politics. Using survey data collected in Toronto in 2011, we examine how different kinds of political consumption are related to a range of conventional political behaviours. We find that, contrary to pessimistic views, political consumption is strongly correlated with conventional political behaviours. We do not find evidence for a crowding out or substitution effect of political consumption on conventional political behaviours. However, our findings suggest that political consumption is an individualized and relatively exclusive form of consumption, with demographic correlates that resemble other forms of high status cultural consumption and potentially limit its breadth.
Molecular and Proteomic Analysis of Levofloxacin and Metronidazole Resistant Helicobacter pylori

Antibiotic resistance in bacteria incurs fitness cost, but compensatory mechanisms may ameliorate the cost and sustain the resistance even under antibiotics-free conditions. The aim of this study was to determine compensatory mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in H. pylori. Five strains of levofloxacin-sensitive H. pylori were induced in vitro to develop resistance. In addition, four pairs of metronidazole-sensitive and -resistant H. pylori strains were isolated from patients carrying dual H. pylori populations that consist of both sensitive and resistant phenotypes. Growth rate, virulence and biofilm-forming ability of the sensitive and resistant strains were compared to determine effects of compensatory response. Proteome profiles of paired sensitive and resistant strains were analyzed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrophotometry (LC/MS). Although there were no significant differences in growth rate between sensitive and resistant pairs, bacterial virulence (in terms of abilities to induce apoptosis and form biofilm) differs from pair to pair. These findings demonstrate the complex and strain-specific phenotypic changes in compensation for antibiotics resistance. Compensation for in vitro induced levofloxacin resistance involving mutations of gyrA and gyrB was functionally random. Furthermore, higher protein translation and non-functional protein degradation capabilities in naturally-occuring dual population metronidazole sensitive-resistant strains may be a possible alternative mechanism underlying resistance to metronidazole without mutations in rdxA and frxA. This may explain the lack of mutations in target genes in ~10% of metronidazole resistant strains.
Neurosteroid hormone vitamin D and its utility in clinical nutrition

Purpose of reviewVitamin D is a seco-steroid hormone with multiple functions in the nervous system. We discuss clinical and experimental evidence of the role of vitamin D in normal and pathological brain functions, and analyze the relative importance of vitamin D-modulated brain mechanisms at different stages of life. We also outline perspectives for the use of vitamin D in clinical nutrition to prevent or treat various brain disorders. Recent findingsNumerous brain dysfunctions are linked to vitamin D deficits and/or dysfunctions of its receptors. In both animals and humans, vitamin D serves as an important endogenous and/or exogenous regulator of neuroprotection, antiepileptic and anticalcification effects, neuro-immunomodulation, interplay with neurotransmitters and hormones, modulation of behaviors, brain ageing, and some other, less-explored, brain processes. SummaryVitamin D emerges as an important neurosteroid hormone in the brain, with a strong potential for age-specific applications in clinical nutrition.
Oleoylethanolamide dose‐dependently attenuates cocaine‐induced behaviours through a PPARα receptor‐independent mechanism

Oleoylethanolamide (OEA) is an acylethanolamide that acts as an agonist of nuclear peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor alpha (PPARα) to exert their biological functions, which include the regulation of appetite and metabolism. Increasing evidence also suggests that OEA may participate in the control of reward‐related behaviours. However, direct experimental evidence for the role of the OEA‐PPARα receptor interaction in drug‐mediated behaviours, such as cocaine‐induced behavioural phenotypes, is lacking. The present study explored the role of OEA and its receptor PPARα on the psychomotor and rewarding responsiveness to cocaine using behavioural tests indicative of core components of addiction. We found that acute administration of OEA (1, 5 or 20 mg/kg, i.p.) reduced spontaneous locomotor activity and attenuated psychomotor activation induced by cocaine (20 mg/kg) in C57Bl/6 mice. However, PPARα receptor knockout mice showed normal sensitization, although OEA was capable of reducing behavioural sensitization with fewer efficacies. Furthermore, conditioned place preference and reinstatement to cocaine were intact in these mice. Our results indicate that PPARα receptor does not play a critical, if any, role in mediating short‐ and long‐term psychomotor and rewarding responsiveness to cocaine. However, further research is needed for the identification of the targets of OEA for its inhibitory action on cocaine‐mediated responses.
The ADAMO project: Architecture to support communication for emergency services

When emergency services are in a crisis situation, one of their major needs is to have efficient communication. Every person involved needs to have the most up-to-date and relevant information at all times and needs to be able to communicate with his colleagues effectively. In order to support this, it is important that the network used by the emergency services supports all necessary communication flows to make this communication as smooth as possible. In this paper, we will describe the end-to-end system architecture we developed and implemented in the IBBT1 project ADAMO - Advanced Disaster Architecture with Mobility Optimizations.
Emotional Eating Moderates the Relationship between Implicit Measures of Attitudes and Chocolate Consumption

Emotional eaters tend to eat more when emotionally aroused and their food–related actions are associated with lack of control. Two studies tested the hypothesis that implicit measures of attitudes would be more strongly associated with the dietary behaviour of emotional eaters. In both Study 1 (N = 32) and Study 2 (N = 101), participants completed the DEBQ sub–scale of emotional eating and implicit measures of attitude, explicit attitude and behaviour measures concerning chocolate consumption. In both studies, high emotional eaters were more likely than low emotional eaters to eat in line with their implicit measures of attitudes. The relationship between implicit measures of attitudes and food intake varies as a function of emotional eating style. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.