Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Limited Local and Systemic Antibody Responses toNeisseria gonorrhoeae during Uncomplicated Genital Infections

ABSTRACT Repeated infections with Neisseria gonorrhoeae are common among patients attending sexually transmitted disease clinics. We examined whether previous infections or site of infection altered the local and systemic antigonococcal antibody levels in males and females. Antibodies against N. gonorrhoeae MS11 and the patients’ homologous infecting isolates were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In general, the local and systemic immune responses to gonococci were extremely modest. There was a slight increase in serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) against the MS11 strain and the homologous isolates in infected males. Levels of serum IgA1 antibodies against MS11 were slightly higher in infected than in uninfected females. A history of previous infections with N. gonorrhoeae did not alter the antibody levels in patients with a current infection, suggesting that immunological memory is not induced by uncomplicated gonococcal infections. Antibody responses to infected subjects’ homologous isolates were observed in cervical mucus; IgA1 levels increased while IgG levels decreased. The decline in mucosal IgG against the homologous isolates was less common in subjects having both rectal and cervical infections; otherwise, no effect of rectal involvement was observed. The absence of substantially higher antibody levels to gonococci where there is infection at a site known to contain organized lymphoid tissue suggests that the low levels of responses to uncomplicated infections may not be due simply to an absence of inductive sites in the genital tract. We propose that in addition to its potential ability to avoid the effects of an immune response,N. gonorrhoeae does not elicit strong humoral immune responses during uncomplicated genital infections.
Laparoscopic Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication for achalasia: analysis of successes and failures.

BACKGROUND In the treatment of achalasia, surgery has been traditionally reserved for patients with residual dysphagia after pneumatic dilatation. The results of laparoscopic Heller myotomy have proven to be so good, however, that most experts now consider surgery the primary treatment. HYPOTHESIS The outcome of laparoscopic myotomy and fundoplication for achalasia is dictated by technical factors. SETTING University hospital tertiary care center. DESIGN Retrospective study. PATIENTS AND METHODS One hundred two patients with esophageal achalasia underwent laparoscopic Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication. Fifty-seven patients had been previously treated by pneumatic dilatation or botulinum toxin. The design of the operation involved a 7-cm myotomy, which extended 1.5 cm onto the gastric wall, and a Dor fundoplication. Esophagrams, esophageal manometric findings, and video records of the procedure were analyzed to determine the technical factors that contributed to the clinical success or failure of the operation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Swallowing status. RESULTS In 91 (89%) of the 102 patients, good or excellent results were obtained after the first operation. A second operation was performed in 5 patients to either lengthen the myotomy (3 patients) or take down the fundoplication (2 patients). Dysphagia resolved in 4 of these patients. The remaining 6 patients were treated by pneumatic dilatation, but dysphagia improved in only 1. At the conclusion of treatment, excellent or good results had been obtained in 96 (94%) of the 102 patients. CONCLUSIONS These data show that a Heller myotomy was unsuccessful in patients with an esophageal stricture; a short myotomy and a constricting Dor fundoplication were the avoidable causes of residual dysphagia; a second operation, but not pneumatic dilatation, was able to correct most failures; and that the identified technical flaws were eliminated from the last half of the patients in the series.
Citation for Published Item: Use Policy Representing Aggregate Works in the Digital Library

The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. ABSTRACT This paper studies the challenge of representing aggregate works such as collected poems and journals in heterogenous digital library collections. We demonstrate the complex range of aggregate types and the problems of faithfully representing this in the digital library interface. Aggregates are complex and pervasive, challenge many common assumptions and confuse the boundaries between organisational levels within the library. Critically, we show that existing DL systems can only provide imperfect representation of aggregates , and that alterations to document encoding are not sufficient to create a faithful reproduction of the physical library. The challenge is illustrated by referring to concrete examples, and solutions are demonstrated in a well-known DL system and related to standard DL architectures.
The set-shifting profiles of anorexia nervosa and autism spectrum disorder using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Difficulties in set-shifting are commonly reported in both autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and anorexia nervosa (AN) populations. Despite this, it is not known whether this cognitive profile persists across different ages, or whether the profiles seen in ASD and AN are comparable. This systematic review and meta-analyses aimed to compare the set-shifting profiles, as measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) in adults and younger people with either ASD or AN, relative to healthy controls (HCs) and to statistically compare performance on the WCST between ASD and AN. In all, 24 studies on ASD and 22 studies on AN were identified. In ASD, there were significant differences between the clinical group and HCs, with the ASD group making significantly more perseverative errors, indicating greater difficulty in set-shifting [pooled effect size of d = 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53–0.81, p ⩽ 0.001]. This effect was consistent across the age span. For AN studies, there was a significant difference between adults with AN and HCs (d = 0.52, 95% CI 0.36–0.68, p ⩽ 0.001) but a non-significant effect in child studies (d = 0.25, 95% CI −0.05 to 0.55, z = 1.66, p = 0.096). Meta-regression indicated no effect of diagnosis (AN or ASD) on performance in adult studies but there was a non-significant trend (p = 0.053) towards children with ASD performing worse than children with AN. While difficulties with set-shifting appear to be stable in ASD, there may be differences between children and adults with AN, which warrant further investigation.
Intergalactic Helium Absorption in Cold Dark Matter Models

Observations from the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope have recently detected He II absorption along the lines of sight to two high-redshift quasars. We use cosmological simulations with gas dynamics to investigate He II absorption in the cold dark matter (CDM) theory of structure formation. We consider two Ω = 1 CDM models with different normalizations and one open universe (Ω0 = 0.4) CDM model. The simulations incorporate the photoionizing UV background spectrum computed by Haardt & Madau, which is based on the output of observed quasars and reprocessing by the Lyα forest. The simulated gas distribution, combined with the Haardt & Madau spectral shape, accounts for the relative observed values of τ̄H I and τ̄He II, the effective mean optical depths for H I and He II absorption. If the background intensity is as high as Haardt & Madau predict, then matching the absolute observed values of τ̄H I and τ̄He II requires a baryon abundance larger (by factors between 1.5 and 3 for the various CDM models) than our assumed value of Ωbh2 = 0.0125. The simulations reproduce the evolution of τ̄He II over the observed redshift range, 2.2 ≲ z ≲ 3.3, if the He II photoionization rate remains roughly constant. He II absorption in the CDM simulations is produced by a diffuse, fluctuating, intergalactic medium, which also gives rise to the H I Lyα forest. Much of the He II opacity arises in underdense regions where the H I optical depth is very low. We compute statistical properties of the He II and H I absorption that can be used to test the CDM models and distinguish them from an alternative scenario in which the He II absorption is caused by discrete, compact clouds. The CDM scenario predicts that a substantial amount of baryonic material resides in underdense regions at high redshift. He II absorption is the only sensitive observational probe of such extremely diffuse, intergalactic gas, so it can provide a vital test of this fundamental prediction.
In Vivo Antitumor Effect of Supercritical CO2 Extract of Mango Ginger (Curcuma amada Roxb) in U-87MG Human Glioblastoma Nude Mice Xenografts

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one the most aggressive and lethal human neoplasms with poor prognosis and very limited positive treatment options. The antitumor effect of supercritical CO2 extract of mango ginger (Curcuma amada Roxb) (CA) with and without irinotecan (IR) was analyzed in U-87MG human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells in vitro and in nude mice xenografts. CA is highly cytotoxic to GBM cells and is synergistic with IR as indicated by the combination index values of <1 in the CompuSyn analysis. CA inhibits tumor growth rate in GBM xenografts, the inhibition rate being higher than in IR treated group. GBM xenograft mice treated with IR + CA combination showed almost complete inhibition of tumor growth rate. Gene expression analysis of xenograft tumors indicated that IR + CA treatment significantly downregulated anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2 and mutant p53), inflammation-associated (COX-2) and cell division–associated (CCNB2) genes and upregulated pro-apoptotic genes (p21 and caspase-3). These results confirmed the therapeutic efficiency of IR + CA combination against GBM and the need for further clinical investigations.
Discovery of New Molecular Subtypes in Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma

A large number of patients suffering from oesophageal adenocarcinomas do not respond to conventional chemotherapy; therefore, it is necessary to identify new predictive biomarkers and patient signatures to improve patient outcomes and therapy selections. We analysed 87 formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) oesophageal adenocarcinoma tissue samples with a reverse phase protein array (RPPA) to examine the expression of 17 cancer-related signalling molecules. Protein expression levels were analysed by unsupervised hierarchical clustering and correlated with clinicopathological parameters and overall patient survival. Proteomic analyses revealed a new, very promising molecular subtype of oesophageal adenocarcinoma patients characterised by low levels of the HSP27 family proteins and high expression of those of the HER family with positive lymph nodes, distant metastases and short overall survival. After confirmation in other independent studies, our results could be the foundation for the development of a Her2-targeted treatment option for this new patient subgroup of oesophageal adenocarcinoma.
Reusing Neural Speech Representations for Auditory Emotion Recognition

Acoustic emotion recognition aims to categorize the affective state of the speaker and is still a difficult task for machine learning models. The difficulties come from the scarcity of training data, general subjectivity in emotion perception resulting in low annotator agreement, and the uncertainty about which features are the most relevant and robust ones for classification. In this paper, we will tackle the latter problem. Inspired by the recent success of transfer learning methods we propose a set of architectures which utilize neural representations inferred by training on large speech databases for the acoustic emotion recognition task. Our experiments on the IEMOCAP dataset show ~10% relative improvements in the accuracy and F1-score over the baseline recurrent neural network which is trained end-to-end for emotion recognition.
A micromechanical model to create digital microstructures of asphalt mastics and crumb rubber-modified binders

Abstract This paper presents a micromechanical model to develop digital microstructures of asphalt mastics and crumb rubber-modified binders. The micromechanical model was based on the dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) model that is typically used for modelling suspensions. This paper utilises X-ray tomography images of particles to create microstructures. First, a database of 3D images of crumb rubber particles were generated by scanning specimens using X-ray computed tomography and X-ray microtomography. Once the 3D images were generated for individual particle shapes, a series of spherical harmonic (SH) functions were fitted to the surface of the particles and SH coefficients were determined. Utilisation of SH coefficients for each particle (rather than the actual 3D image voxels) allowed efficient numerical DPD simulations performed to generate microstructures. Example simulations were performed to generate microstructures and used to generate finite element meshes and exported to ABAQUS. The linear viscoelastic responses of the microstructures were simulated using ABAQUS and compared to the measured values.
An Advanced Temporal Credential-Based Security Scheme with Mutual Authentication and Key Agreement for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) can be quickly and randomly deployed in any harsh and unattended environment and only authorized users are allowed to access reliable sensor nodes in WSNs with the aid of gateways (GWNs). Secure authentication models among the users, the sensor nodes and GWN are important research issues for ensuring communication security and data privacy in WSNs. In 2013, Xue et al. proposed a temporal-credential-based mutual authentication and key agreement scheme for WSNs. However, in this paper, we point out that Xue et al.'s scheme cannot resist stolen-verifier, insider, off-line password guessing, smart card lost problem and many logged-in users' attacks and these security weaknesses make the scheme inapplicable to practical WSN applications. To tackle these problems, we suggest a simple countermeasure to prevent proposed attacks while the other merits of Xue et al.'s authentication scheme are left unchanged.
Using genetic algorithms to create meaningful poetic text

This article presents a series of experiments in automatically generating poetic texts. We confined our attention to the generation of texts which are syntactically well-formed, meet certain pre-specified patterns of metre and broadly convey some given meaning. Such aspects can be formally defined, thus avoiding the complications of imagery and interpretation that are central to assessing more free forms of verse. Our implemented system, McGONAGALL, applies the genetic algorithm to construct such texts. It uses a sophisticated linguistic formalism to represent its genomic information, from which can be computed the phenotypic information of both semantic representations and patterns of stress. The conducted experiments broadly indicated that relatively meaningful text could be produced if the constraints on metre were relaxed, and precise metric text was possible with loose semantic constraints, but it was difficult to produce text which was both semantically coherent and of high quality metrically.
The Hidden Binary Search Tree: A Balanced Rotation-Free Search Tree in the AVL RAM Model

In this paper we generalize the definition of "Search Trees" (ST) to enable reference values other than the key of prior inserted nodes. The idea builds on the assumption an $n$-node AVL (or Red-Black) requires to assure $O(\log_2n)$ worst-case search time, namely, a single comparison between two keys takes constant time. This means the size of each key in bits is fixed to $B=c\log_2 n$ ($c\geq1$) once $n$ is determined, otherwise the $O(1)$-time comparison assumption does not hold. Based on this we calculate \emph{ideal} reference values from the mid-point of the interval $0.2^B$. This idea follows `recursively' to assure each node along the search path is provided a reference value that guarantees an overall logarithmic time. Because the search tree property works only when keys are compared to reference values and these values are calculated only during searches, we term the data structure as the Hidden Binary Search Tree (HBST). We show elementary functions to maintain the HSBT height $O(B)=O(\log_2n)$. This result requires no special order on the input -- as does BST -- nor self-balancing procedures, as do AVL and Red-Black.
A Putative Gene Cluster from a Lyngbya wollei Bloom that Encodes Paralytic Shellfish Toxin Biosynthesis

Saxitoxin and its analogs cause the paralytic shellfish-poisoning syndrome, adversely affecting human health and coastal shellfish industries worldwide. Here we report the isolation, sequencing, annotation, and predicted pathway of the saxitoxin biosynthetic gene cluster in the cyanobacterium Lyngbya wollei. The gene cluster spans 36 kb and encodes enzymes for the biosynthesis and export of the toxins. The Lyngbya wollei saxitoxin gene cluster differs from previously identified saxitoxin clusters as it contains genes that are unique to this cluster, whereby the carbamoyltransferase is truncated and replaced by an acyltransferase, explaining the unique toxin profile presented by Lyngbya wollei. These findings will enable the creation of toxin probes, for water monitoring purposes, as well as proof-of-concept for the combinatorial biosynthesis of these natural occurring alkaloids for the production of novel, biologically active compounds.
Comparison of Cervical Kinematics, Pain, and Functional Disability Between Single- and Two-level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion

Study Design. A prospective, time series design. Objective. The purpose of this study is two-fold: firstly, to investigate the impact of altered cervical alignment and range of motion (ROM) on patients’ self-reported outcomes after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), and secondly, to comparatively differentiate the influence of single- and two-level ACDF on the cervical ROM and adjacent segmental kinematics up to 12-month postoperatively. Summary of Background Data. ACDF is one of the most commonly employed surgical interventions to treat degenerative disc disease. However, there are limited in vivo data on the impact of ACDF on the cervical kinematics and its association with patient-reported clinical outcomes. Methods. Sixty-two patients (36 males; 55.63 ± 11.6 yrs) undergoing either a single- or consecutive two-level ACDF were recruited. The clinical outcomes were assessed with the Pain Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Neck Disability Index (NDI). Radiological results included cervical lordosis, global C2-C7 ROM, ROM of the Functional Spinal Unit (FSU), and its adjacent segments. The outcome measures were collected preoperatively and then at 3, 6, and 12-month postoperatively. Results. A significant reduction of both VAS and NDI was found for both groups from the preoperative to 3-month period (P < 0.01). Pearson correlation revealed no significant correlation between global ROM with neither VAS (P = 0.667) nor NDI (P = 0.531). A significant reduction of global ROM was identified for the two-level ACDF group at 12 months (P = 0.017) but not for the single-level group. A significant interaction effect was identified for the upper adjacent segment ROM (P = 0.024) but not at the lower adjacent segment. Conclusion. Current study utilized dynamic radiographs to comparatively evaluate the biomechanical impact of single- and two-level ACDF. The results highlighted that the two-level group demonstrated a greater reduction of global ROM coupled with an increased upper adjacent segmental compensatory motions that is independent of patient-perceived recovery. Level of Evidence: 3
Performance comparison of the MOXY and PortaMon near-infrared spectroscopy muscle oximeters at rest and during exercise

Abstract. The purpose of the study was to compare muscle oxygenation as measured by two portable, wireless near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) devices under resting and dynamic conditions. A recently developed low-cost NIRS device (MOXY) was compared against an established PortaMon system that makes use of the spatially resolved spectroscopy algorithm. The influence of increasing external pressure on tissue oxygen saturation index (TSI) indicated that both devices are stable between 2 and 20 mmHg. However, above this pressure, MOXY reports declining TSI values. Analysis of adipose tissue thickness (ATT) and TSI shows a significant, nonlinear difference between devices at rest. The devices report similar TSI (%) values at a low ATT (<7 mm) (PortaMon minus MOXY difference is +1.1±2.8%) with the major subsequent change between the devices occurring between 7 and 10 mm; at ATT values >10 mm the difference remains constant (−14.7±2.8%). The most likely explanation for this difference is the small source–detector separation (2.5 cm) in the MOXY resulting in lower tissue penetration into muscle in subjects with higher ATT. Interday test–retest reliability of resting TSI was evaluated on five separate occasions, with the PortaMon reporting a lower coefficient of variation (1.8% to 2.5% versus 5.7% to 6.2%). In studies on male subjects with low ATT, decreases in the TSI were strongly correlated during isometric exercise, arterial occlusion, and incremental arm crank exercise. However, the MOXY reports a greater dynamic range, particularly during ischemia induced by isometric contraction or occlusion (Δ74.3% versus Δ43.7%; hyperemia MAX—occlusion MIN). This study shows that in this subject group both MOXY and PortaMon produce physiologically credible TSI measures during rest and exercise. However, the absolute values obtained during exercise are generally not comparable between devices unless corrected by physiological calibration following an arterial occlusion.
MLC positional accuracy evaluation through the Picket Fence test on EBT2 films and a 3D volumetric phantom

The accuracy of MLC positions during radiotherapy is important as even small positional deviations can translate into considerable dose delivery errors. This becomes crucial when radiosensitive organs are located near the treated volume and especially during IMRT, where dose gradients are steep. A test commonly conducted to measure the positional accuracy of the MLCs is the Picket Fence test. In this study two alterations of the Picket Fence test were performed and evaluated, the first one using radiochromic EBT2 films and the second one the Delta4PT diode array phantom and its software. Our results showed that EBT2 films provide a relatively fast, qualitative visual inspection of the significant leaf dispositions. When slight inaccuracies need to be revealed or precise numerical results for each leaf position are needed, Delta4PT provides the desired accuracy of 1 mm. In treatment modalities where a higher accuracy is required in the delivered dose distribution, such as in IMRT, precise numerical values of the measurements for the MLC positional inspection are required. PACS number: 87.55. Qr, 87.56. bd, 87.56. Fc, 87.56. nk