Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association between Apnea of Prematurity and Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Late Preterm Infants: An Observational Study

Background Late preterm infants (34–36 weeks’ gestation) remain a population at risk for apnea of prematurity (AOP). As infants affected by respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) have immature lungs, they might also have immature control of breathing. Our hypothesis is that an association exists between RDS and AOP in late preterm infants. Objective The primary objective of this study was to assess the association between RDS and AOP in late preterm infants. The secondary objective was to evaluate if an association exists between apparent RDS severity and AOP. Methods This retrospective observational study was realized in a tertiary care center between January 2009 and December 2011. Data from late preterm infants who presented an uncomplicated perinatal evolution, excepted for RDS, were reviewed. Information related to AOP and RDS was collected using the medical record. Odds ratios were calculated using a binary logistic regression adjusted for gestational age and sex. Results Among the 982 included infants, 85 (8.7%) had an RDS diagnosis, 281 (28.6%) had AOP diagnosis, and 107 (10.9%) were treated with caffeine for AOP. There was a significant association between AOP treated with caffeine and RDS for all infants (OR = 3.3, 95% CI: 2.0–5.7). There was no association between AOP and RDS in 34 weeks infants [AOR: 1.6 (95% CI: 0.7–3.8)], but an association remains for 35 [AOR: 5.7 (95% CI: 2.5–13.4)] and 36 [OR = 7.8 (95% CI: 3.2–19.4)] weeks infants. No association was found between apparent RDS severity and AOP, regarding mean oxygen administration duration or complications associated with RDS. Conclusion The association between RDS and AOP in late preterm infants reflects that patients affected by RDS are not only presenting lung immaturity but also respiratory control immaturity. Special consideration should be given before discontinuing monitoring after RDS resolution in those patients.
Modulation of T Cell Responses in HTLV-1 Carriers and in Patients with Myelopathy Associated with HTLV-1

Objective: Human T lymphotropic virus-type 1 (HTLV-1) activates the immune system leading to a persistent and exacerbated T-cell response with increased production of IFN-γ and TNF-α. Overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines is correlated with the development of HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), although some HTLV-1 carriers also show high levels of these cytokines. In this study, the ability of regulatory cytokines and cytokine antagonists to inhibit spontaneous IFN-γ production was investigated. Method: IFN-γ levels were measured by ELISA before and after addition of cytokines or anti-cytokines. Results: Addition of IL-10 significantly reduced spontaneous IFN-γ synthesis in cell cultures from HTLV-1 carriers, while no differences were observed in HAM/TSP patients. There was also a tendency to decreased IFN-γ levels in cell cultures from HTLV-1 carriers with exogenous addition of TGF-β. In paired analysis, neutralization of IL-2 significantly decreased IFN-γ production in HTLV-1 carriers but not in HAM/TSP patients. Neutralization of IL-15 was less effective than neutralization of IL-2 in modulating IFN-γ production. In HTLV-1 carriers, anti-IL-2 and simultaneous addition of anti-IL-2 and anti-IL-15 decreased IFN-γ synthesis by 46 and 64%, respectively, whereas in patients with HAM/TSP simultaneous neutralization of both anti-cytokines only decrease IFN-γ levels by 27%. Conclusions: Although a large proportion of HTLV-1 carriers produced high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines similar to those observed in HAM/TSP patients, immune response can be downregulated by cytokines or cytokine antagonists in most HTLV-1 carriers. This modulation can be an important step in the prevention of tissue damage and progression from the HTLV-1 carrier state to HAM/TSP.
Mapping the corneal sub-basal nerve plexus in keratoconus by in vivo laser scanning confocal microscopy.

PURPOSE To produce a two-dimensional reconstruction map of the living corneal sub-basal nerve plexus in keratoconus with in vivo confocal microscopy. METHODS Four eyes of four subjects with keratoconus were examined by slit lamp biomicroscopy, Orbscan II slit-scanning elevation topography (Bausch & Lomb Surgical, Rochester, NY), and laser scanning in vivo confocal microscopy with the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II, Rostock Corneal Module (Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany). Subjects were asked to fixate on targets arranged in a grid to enable in vivo confocal microscopy of the cornea in a wide range of positions. RESULTS A mean of 402 +/- 57 images were obtained for each cornea, to create confluent montages. The mean dimensions of the corneal areas mapped were 6.60 +/- 0.70 mm horizontally and 5.91 +/- 0.72 mm vertically. All corneas exhibited abnormal sub-basal nerve architecture compared with patterns previously observed in normal corneas. At the apex of the cone, a tortuous network of nerve fiber bundles was noted, many of which formed closed loops. At the topographic base of the cone, nerve fiber bundles appeared to follow the contour of the base, with many of the bundles running concentrically in this region. Central sub-basal nerve density was significantly lower in keratoconus corneas (10,478 +/- 2,188 microm/mm2) compared with normal corneas (21,668 +/- 1,411 microm/mm2; Mann-Whitney; P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to elucidate the overall distribution of sub-basal nerves in the living central to midperipheral human cornea in keratoconus, using laser scanning in vivo confocal microscopy.
Atrial Fibrillation Predictors on Mobile Cardiac Telemetry in Cryptogenic Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose: The objective of our study was to evaluate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and echocardiographic characteristics that would identify patients with cryptogenic ischemic stroke (IS) and transient ischemic attack (TIA) who subsequently developed paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) on mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry (MCOT). Methods: All patients with cryptogenic IS or TIA seen at the Emory University Hospital and Emory University Hospital Midtown from January 1, 2009, to June 30, 2013, who underwent MCOT were included in this analysis. Location (cortical, high subcortical, or neither) of current and prior strokes on MRI and left atrial (LA) functional and anatomical echocardiographic parameters were evaluated to determine their association with subsequent detection of PAF. Results: Of 132 patients, 17 (13%) had evidence of newly diagnosed PAF on MCOT (mean duration of monitoring = 25 days). The presence (vs absence) of ≥1 cortical infarct on baseline MRI was a significant predictor of identifying PAF (odds ratio: 5.2, 95% confidence interval: 1.3-19; P = .01). On baseline echocardiography, patients who had PAF (vs non-PAF) had significantly higher mean LA diameters (4.2 vs 3.7 cm, P = .03) and lower tissue Doppler velocity (a’; 5.5 vs 13.5 cm/s, P = .03). In receiver operating characteristic analysis, the ratio of LA volume index to the septal Doppler velocity (LAVI/a’) of >4.6 was associated with a higher likelihood of PAF. Combining MRI with echocardiographic variables did not improve the predictive ability beyond echocardiography alone. Conclusion: Although the presence of cortical-based infarcts on MRI in patients with cryptogenic IS or TIA increases the likelihood of detecting PAF on MCOT, LA functional and anatomic parameters alone best predicted which patients subsequently had PAF.
T cells and blood vessels: costimulation turns up the pressure.

Remarkable advances in our understanding of innate and adaptive immunity have shed light on why inflammation is centrally involved in the pathogenesis of many diseases traditionally not viewed as primarily inflammatory in nature. One key area of progress has been the discovery and study of innate immune receptors, referred to as pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), such as toll-like receptors and nod-like receptors. PRRs recognize molecules commonly produced by microbial pathogens, broadly defined as pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), but PRRs also recognize self molecules that are indicators of cell injury or death. These self molecules, called damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), include reactive oxygen species, intracellular crystalline deposits, normal molecules in abnormal locations (ATP, heat shock proteins, nuclear proteins), and many others.1,2 DAMPs may be induced or change location because of cell injury or death by any number of causes (genetic, traumatic, toxic, metabolic), and their recognition by innate immune system receptors will initiate responses that include local and systemic inflammation. This is why diseases with just about any underlying cause may be expected to have an inflammatory component. Importantly, the innate immune system has evolved to amplify and modify responses to best combat diverse infections, but these amplified and specialized responses, if inappropriately targeted against self, may themselves become intrinsic to the progression of disease processes. One way this can occur is by innate immune stimulation of adaptive immune responses mediated by T lymphocytes. In fact, normal protective T cell-mediated immunity requires a kick-start by the innate immune system, a condition that ensures that we do not readily mount powerful and potentially harmful adaptive immune responses when there is no real damage or danger present. Article see p 2529 One of major ways in which innate immunity promotes T cell-mediated immunity is through the activation of antigen-presenting …
Collecting more garbage

We present a method, adapted to polymorphically typed functional languages, to detect and collect more garbage than existing GCs. It can be applied to strict or lazy higher order languages and to several garbage collection schemes. Our GC exploits the information on utility of arguments provided by polymorphic types of functions. It is able to detect garbage that is still referenced from the stack and may collect useless parts of otherwise useful data structures. We show how to partially collect shared data structures and to extend the type system to infer more precise information. We also present hoe this technique can plug several common forms of space leaks.
Workforce localization in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: issues and challenges

This paper provides an overview and analysis of the ‘localization’ of human resource capital in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia referred to as the ‘Saudization’. It attempts to critically review the key initiatives undertaken by the government and its stakeholders for the workforce localization in the Kingdom. It examines the Saudization process initiated in the Saudi public and private sectors and its efficacy in dealing with the challenges of replacement of the expatriate workforce and the skill development strategy. There is a strong need to adopt a comprehensive human resource development (HRD) framework to develop local employees and aligning it with the demands of the job market. A holistic Saudization policy is needed which can bridge the gap of talent and skills required after the removal of the expatriate workers. A multi-pronged approach involving all stakeholders can help Saudi firms in dealing with the emergent business challenges in the present global scenario.
Interviewing Preschoolers: Effects of Nonsuggestive Techniques, Parental Coaching, and Leading Questions on Reports of Nonexperienced Events.

Abstract This study explored preschoolers′ eyewitness testimony under conditions designed to maximize (session 1) or degrade (session 2) the quality of their event reports. In session 1, thirty-nine 3- to 4-year-olds and twenty-nine 5- to 7-year-olds interacted with Mr. Science and were immediately interviewed using nonsuggestive techniques. The children did well in this immediate interview, and nonsuggestive prompts elicited substantial amounts of new accurate information. Three months later 21 of the children heard their parents read a story about Mr. Science that described experienced and nonexperienced events preparatory to an interview in which children were asked nonleading, leading, and source monitoring questions about their experiences with Mr. Science. The children made many erroneous reports in this second interview (e.g., 41% of the 3- to 4-year-olds spontaneously reported that Mr. Science had done things that were mentioned only in the story). Patterns of errors in response to free recall, leading, and source monitoring questions are described.
Private acts and public objects: An investigation of citer motivations

Citation analysis has been used as a method for evaluating scholars and their impact. Evaluative citation analysis has been employed without a clear understanding of why authors give references and in the absence of any empirical work investigating citer motivations. The debate over the validity of evaluative citation analysis derives from the competing theoretical models used to describe the citer's motivations. Current models describing citer motivations were analyzed in this article and the seven most significant citer motivations identified. These seven citer motivations were presented to 26 authors at the University of Iowa each of whom had recently published an academic article. The authors indicated their motivations for giving each reference in their articles. As a result, the motivational background for more than 900 citational acts were gathered and analyzed.
An orthogonal genetic algorithm for multimedia multicast routing

Many multimedia communication applications require a source to send multimedia information to multiple destinations through a communication network. To support these applications, it is necessary to determine a multicast tree of minimal cost to connect the source node to the destination nodes subject to delay constraints on multimedia communication. This problem is known as multimedia multicast routing and has been proved to be NP-complete. The paper proposes an orthogonal genetic algorithm for multimedia multicast routing. Its salient feature is to incorporate an experimental design method called orthogonal design into the crossover operation. As a result, it can search the solution space in a statistically sound manner and it is well suited for parallel implementation and execution. We execute the orthogonal genetic algorithm to solve two sets of benchmark test problems. The results indicate that for practical problem sizes, the orthogonal genetic algorithm can find near optimal solutions within moderate numbers of generations.
Innovation and business performance of SMEs: the case of Dubai

Purpose – The study aims to explore the innovative characteristics of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the link between their innovation and business performance in the emerging Dubai market in the United Arab Emirates. Design/methodology/approach – Using data from 200 SMEs, the study utilizes a structured survey that was developed from a methodical literature review. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to evaluate the findings. Findings – The findings described the innovative characteristics of SMEs and suggested that there is a significant positive link between innovation and business performance. Research limitations/implications – The study offers SMEs with innovative behaviors a better perspective of their business and market environments. However, the study is limited to SMEs operating in the Dubai marketplace. Future research could also look at other markets and use qualitative research methods. Originality/value – The study provides important insights that could gui.
Membrane-Bound ATPase Contributes to Hop Resistance of Lactobacillus brevis

ABSTRACT The activity of the membrane-bound H+-ATPase of the beer spoilage bacterium Lactobacillus brevis ABBC45 increased upon adaptation to bacteriostatic hop compounds. The ATPase activity was optimal around pH 5.6 and increased up to fourfold when L. brevis was exposed to 666 μM hop compounds. The extent of activation depended on the concentration of hop compounds and was maximal at the highest concentration tested. The ATPase activity was strongly inhibited by N,N′-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, a known inhibitor of FoF1-ATPase. Western blots of membrane proteins of L. brevis with antisera raised against the α- and β-subunits of FoF1-ATPase from Enterococcus hirae showed that there was increased expression of the ATPase after hop adaptation. The expression levels, as well as the ATPase activity, decreased to the initial nonadapted levels when the hop-adapted cells were cultured further without hop compounds. These observations strongly indicate that proton pumping by the membrane-bound ATPase contributes considerably to the resistance of L. brevis to hop compounds.
Changes in Levels of Nerve Growth Factor in Nasal Secretions after Capsaicin Inhalation in Patients with Airway Symptoms from Scents and Chemicals

Patients complaining of upper and lower airway symptoms caused by scents and chemicals have previously been shown to have increased cough sensitivity to inhaled capsaicin, but the precise mechanisms behind this reaction are unknown. Hypothesizing that a neurochemical alteration related to sensory hyperreactivity (SHR) of the airway mucosa occurs, we measured levels of nerve growth factor (NGF) in nasal lavage fluid (NAL) before and after capsaicin inhalation provocations and related the capsaicin cough sensitivity to the NGF levels. Thirteen patients with SHR and 14 control subjects were provoked with capsaicin inhalation at three different doses. We measured NGF in NAL before and after provocation and recorded cough and capsaicin-induced symptoms. All subjects demonstrated a dose-dependent cough response to capsaicin inhalation, with a more pronounced effect in patients than in controls. Basal levels of NGF were significantly lower in the patient group than in the control subjects (p < 0.01). After capsaicin provocation, the patients showed a significant increase in NGF (p < 0.01), which was related to capsaicin cough sensitivity. The findings demonstrate that, in patients with airway symptoms induced by scents and chemicals, SHR is real and measurable, demonstrating a pathophysiology in the airways of these patients compared to healthy subjects.
Microblog-oriented backbone nodes identification in public opinion diffusion

Backbone nodes in public opinion diffusion could help people understand how it spreads. Previous work relies on the fact that how the opinion diffuses across time, which shows disappointing results. This paper presents a novel method for identifying backbone nodes in public opinion diffusion, which can be applied to different platforms. We take Sina microblog as an example platform. Besides traditional factors, our model takes personal contribution degree and physical contribution degree into consideration by estimating personal features and diffusion scale respectively. Finally, we employ a visual graph to a person's role in public opinion diffusion intuitively. Experimental result shows that this method performs well in identifying backbone nodes.
Decision Making in Oncology: A Review of Patient Decision Aids to Support Patient Participation

Although cancer management is becoming more structured with disease‐ specific guidelines and clinical pathways, many decisions remain complex. Contributing to this complexity is the need to make value tradeoffs between benefits and harms across cancer treatment and/or screening options. Since there is no “best” option for everyone, decisions are defined as being of higher quality when informed with the latest scientific evidence and based on patients' informed values associated with outcomes of options. However, clinicians are not good judges of patients' values, and patients often have inadequate knowledge, unrealistic expectations, and decisional conflict that interfere with their involvement in decision making. Effective approaches to support patient involvement into clinical decisions include clinicians trained in shared decision making, question prompt sheets, patient decision aids, and decision coaching by nurses and other allied health professionals. Based on systematic review of 23 randomized trials of cancer patient decision aids, patients exposed to decision aids are more likely to participate in decision making and achieve higher‐quality decisions. This review highlights key historical changes leading to patient involvement in decision making, summarizes evidence on effective interventions to support shared decision making, explores strategies to implement these interventions in oncology practices, and identifies future directions.
Current perspectives on the epidemiology and pathogenesis of clinically significant Vibrio spp

Recent taxonomic advances have now implicated several different Vibrio species as human pathogens. While the most common clinical presentation of Vibrio infection continues to be gastroenteritis, an increasing number of extraintestinal infections are being reported, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. Detection of Vibrio infections requires a good clinical history and the use of appropriate isolation and identification procedures by the laboratory to confirm illnesses attributed to Vibrio species. Except for Vibrio cholerae O1 and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, there is little direct evidence linking the production of a myriad of cell-associated or extracellular factors produced by each species with human disease and pathogenesis. Many questions regarding pathogenic Vibrio species remain unanswered, including their frequency and distribution in environmental specimens (water, shellfish), infective doses, virulence potential of individual isolates, and markers associated with such strains.
Sensory modulation of the blink reflex in patients with blepharospasm.

OBJECTIVE To measure the effects of a prepulse stimulus on the blink reflex responses elicited by an electrical stimulation of the supraorbital nerve in patients with blepharospasm with and without an effective sensory trick. DESIGN Blink reflexes to supraorbital nerve stimulation were preceded in test trials by a prepulse electrical stimulus to the third finger at various leading intervals. SETTING Ambulatory patients were treated regularly with botulinum toxin in the Neurology Department of the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, Spain. SUBJECTS Seventeen patients with dystonic blepharospasm and 11 age-matched control subjects. Eight of the patients with dystonic blepharospasm used a sensory trick to alleviate spasms and 9 did not. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES We measured amplitude of R1 and area of R2 responses elicited by the supraorbital electrical stimulus and determined the percentage of facilitation or inhibition induced by the prepulse. RESULTS Prepulse facilitation occurred in the R1 response at intervals of 60 to 100 milliseconds and was normal in all patients. Prepulse inhibition occurred in the R2 response at intervals between 50 and 200 milliseconds and was abnormally reduced in 11 patients (64.7%), including all 9 patients who did not use a sensory trick and 2 of the 8 patients who did use a sensory trick. There was a positive correlation between absence of sensory trick and abnormality of the prepulse effects (chi(2)= 23.8; P < . 001). CONCLUSIONS Prepulse inhibition of the trigeminofacial reflex is abnormal in a percentage of patients with blepharospasm, and this abnormality occurs more frequently in patients who do not use a sensory trick. This sensory derangement may contribute to the maintenance of the dystonic spasms by reducing the amount of physiological gating from peripheral nerve inputs on trigeminofacial reflexes.