Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cannabidiol for drug‐resistant seizures in the Dravet syndrome

A large placebo response in migraine trials is well described. The placebo response is also around 40% in drug trials of adults with irritable bowel syndrome. A Dutch group reviewed 21 randomised studies, which included a placebo arm, of children aged 4–18 years with chronic abdominal pain. All were diagnosed as a ‘functional’ (non-organic) disorder, such as irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia or functional abdominal pain. The pooled placebo response in terms of improvement was 41% (95% confidence interval 34–49), and 17% (95% confidence interval 8–32) had abolition of pain. There was considerable heterogeneity in study design. Factors significantly associated with children having no further pain included longer duration of treatment. However, surprisingly, once daily dosing was more likely than twice daily dosing to be associated with a pain-free placebo response (29.9 vs. 10.6%); other studies show the opposite, a greater placebo response with more frequent dosing. The placebo response is likely to be highest in psychosomatic conditions, and the message is to find ways to treat the mind, not the body.
Shape Memory Properties of PBS-Silica Hybrids

A series of novel Si–O–Si crosslinked organic/inorganic hybrid semi-crystalline polymers with shape memory properties was prepared from alkoxysilane-terminated poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) by water-induced silane crosslinking under organic solvent-free and catalyst-free conditions. The hydrolyzation and condensation of alkoxysilane end groups allowed for the generation of silica-like crosslinking points between the polymeric chains, acting not only as chemical net-points, but also as inorganic filler for a reinforcement effect. The resulting networks were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic-mechanical analysis (DMA) and tensile and shape memory tests to gain insight into the relationship between the polymeric structure, the morphology and the properties. By controlling the molecular weight of the PBS precursor, a fine tuning of the crosslinking density and the inorganic content of the resulting network was possible, leading to different thermal, mechanical and shape memory properties. Thanks to their suitable morphology consisting of crystalline domains, which represent the molecular switches between the temporary and permanent shapes, and chemical net-points, which permit the shape recovery, the synthesized materials showed good shape memory characteristics, being able to fix a significant portion of the applied strain in a temporary shape and to restore their original shape above their melting temperature.
A critical review of 20 years of parotid gland surgery

Abstract Conclusion PG surgery provides sufficient radicality with a minimum of functional loss. Patient’s outcome is associated with the reliable estimation of the lesional entity/dignity. Diagnostic approaches are required to determine morphological aspects, avoid unnecessary surgery, and to reliable identify primary carcinomas/occult metastases. Objectives The pre-operative assessment of parotid gland (PG) lesions is of major clinical impact, whilst surgery remains the diagnostic/therapeutic mainstay. There are still controversies about the distribution of entities, clinical course, functional outcome, and survival. Methods In total, 1211 patients were retrospectively analyzed for disease-related data. Differences were analyzed using the Chi-square/Fisher exact/unpaired student’s t-test; survival by Kaplan-Meier. Results There were 946 benign and 265 malignant tumours. In primary PG malignancy the disease-free/overall survival was 78/127 months. Metastases into the PG demonstrated a decreased survival (67 months). Extended surgery was associated with post-operative facial nerve alteration. Extracapsular dissection and superficial parotidectomy did not show differences in the facial palsy rate.
Novel GMO-Based Vaccines against Tuberculosis: State of the Art and Biosafety Considerations

Novel efficient vaccines are needed to control tuberculosis (TB), a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Several TB vaccine candidates are currently in clinical and preclinical development. They fall into two categories, the one of candidates designed as a replacement of the Bacille Calmette Guérin (BCG) to be administered to infants and the one of sub-unit vaccines designed as booster vaccines. The latter are designed as vaccines that will be administered to individuals already vaccinated with BCG (or in the future with a BCG replacement vaccine). In this review we provide up to date information on novel tuberculosis (TB) vaccines in development focusing on the risk assessment of candidates composed of genetically modified organisms (GMO) which are currently evaluated in clinical trials. Indeed, these vaccines administered to volunteers raise biosafety concerns with respect to human health and the environment that need to be assessed and managed.
Neuroscience of Rule-Guided Behavior

Introduction PART I: RULE REPRESENTATION 1. Selection between Competing Responses based on Conditional Rules 2. Single Neuron Activity Underlying Behavior-Guiding Rules 3. Neural Representations Used to Specify Action a Silvia A Bunge and Michael J. Souza 4. Maintenance and Implementation of Task Rules 5. The Neurophysiology of Abstract Response Strategies 6. Abstraction of Mental Representations: Theoretical Considerations and Neuroscientific Evidence PART II: RULE IMPLEMENTATION 7. Ventrolateral and Medial Frontal Contributions to Decision-Making and Action Selection 8. Differential Involvement of the Prefrontal, Premotor, and Primary Motor Cortices in Rule-Based Motor Behavior 9. The Role of the Posterior Frontolateral Cortex in Task-Related Control 10. Time Course of Executive Processes: Data from the Event-Related Optical Signal PART III: TASK-SWITCHING 11. Task-Switching in Human and Non-Human Primates: Understanding Rule Encoding and Control from Behavior to Single Neurons 12. Neural Mechanisms of Cognitive Control in Task-Switching: Rules, Representations, and Preparation 13. Dopaminergic and Serotonergic Modulation of Two Distinct Forms of Flexible Cognitive Control: Attentional Set-Shifting and Reversal Learning 14. Dopaminergic Modulation of Flexible Cognitive Control: The Role of the Striatum PART IV: BUILDING BLOCKS OF RULE REPRESENTATION 15. Binding and Organization in the Medical Temporal Lobe 16. Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex and Controlling Memory to Inform Action 17. Exploring the Roles of the Frontal, Temporal, and Parietal Lobes in Visual Categorization 18. Rules through Recursion: How Interactions Between the Frontal Cortex and Basal Ganglia may Build Abstract Rules from Concrete, Simple Ones 19. The Development of Rule Use in Childhood
Knowledge Acquisition for Semantic Search Systems

Semantic search extends the scope of conventional information search and retrieval paradigms from documentoriented and to entity and knowledge-centric search and retrieval. By attempting to provide direct and intuitive answers such systems alleviate information overload problem and reduce information seekers’ cognitive overhead. Ontologies and knowledge bases are fundamental cornerstones in semantic search systems based on which sophisticated search mechanisms and efficient search services are designed. Nevertheless, acquisition of quality knowledge from heterogeneous sources on the Web is never a trivial task. Transformation of data in existing databases seems a promising bootstrapping approach, while information providers may refuse to do so because of intellectual property issues. In this article we discuss issues related to knowledge acquisition for semantic search systems. In particular, we discuss ontology learning from unstructured text corpus, which is an automatic knowledge acquisition process using different techniques.
Chronic hepatitis B virus infection and risk of pancreatic cancer: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES A number of studies have shown that chronic hepatitis B virus infection is implicated in susceptibility to pancreatic cancer. However, the results are still controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to quantitatively assess the relationship between chronic hepatitis B virus infection and incidence of pancreatic cancer of cohort and case-control studies. METHODS A literature search was performed for entries from 1990 to 2012 using PUBMED and EMBASE. Studies were included if they reported odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% CIs of pancreatic cancer with respect to the infection of hepatitis B virus. RESULTS Eight studies met the inclusion criteria, which included five case-control studies and three cohort studies. Compared with individuals who have not infection of hepatitis B virus, the pooled OR of pancreatic cancer was 1.403 (95%CI: 1.139-1.729, P=0.001) for patients with hepatitis B virus infection. Sub-group analysis by study design showed that the summary OR was 1.43 (95%CI: 1.06-1.94, P=0.021) when pooling case-control studies and 1.31 (95%CI: 1.00- 1.72, P=0.05) when pooling cohort studies. CONCLUSION Findings from this meta-analysis suggest that chronic hepatitis B virus infection may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. This relationship needs to be confirmed by further follow-up studies.
An Assessment of Oxidative Damage and Non-Enzymatic Antioxidants Status Alteration in Relation to Disease Progression in Breast Diseases

The present study was aimed to evaluate the levels of oxidative stress markers in breast diseases by measuring the 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and total antioxidant status (TAS) alterations in relation to cell proliferation activity and disease progression. Significant increases in the level of the oxidative damage marker 8-OHdG and cell proliferation activity were observed in breast carcinoma patients in comparison to benign and normal controls, which were accompanied by a significant decrease in non-enzymatic antioxidants and TAS concentrations (p < 0.05). 8-OHdG and cell proliferation levels were negatively correlated with non-enzymatic antioxidants, namely, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E levels and total antioxidant activity. Altered levels of biomarkers of oxidative stress and cell proliferation activity among the malignant, the benign, and the controls suggest a correlation of increased oxidative stress and cell proliferation activity in the progression of disease in breast carcinoma patients. In conclusion, our results showed that the characterized biomarkers (i.e., low levels of vitamin A, C and D, and the TAS status; and high levels of 8-OHdG) could be used as a suitable method for detecting subjects with malignant and benign breast diseases.
Compositae dermatitis

Compositae dermatitis is an allergic contact dermatitis. The most important allergens in the Compositae family are sesquiterpene lactones (SL), which are present in the oleoresin fraction of leaf, stem, flower and possibly pollen. Compositae dermatitis is most frequently seen in middle‐aged and elderly people in patterns reflecting airborne or direct contact with the allergens. The pattern typically starts in summer and disappears in the autumn or winter. Repeated exposure over many years may lead to a chronic and, at times, a disseminated pattern. Seasonal variation does not occur in occupational Compositae dermatitis. In addition to the classically described airborne pattern of face, ‘V’ of neck, hands and forearms, hand dermatitis is now recognized to be an equally common presentation. This variability of clinical features, and the frequent occurrence of atopic dermatitis and contact allergy to one or more compounds, highlights the need for routine patch testing with sesquiterpene lactone mix 0.1% (Thermal, Hamburg, Germany), combined with aimed patch testing with Compositae plants and extracts. Avoidance of the plants and plant extracts of this large family can be difficult due to its widespread occurrence in flower, herb and vegetable gardens, urban and rural weed population and native vegetation. Importantly, Compositae plant extracts are present in many cosmetics, shampoos, herbal creams and ingested herbal remedies and tonics.
Changes in Soluble Factor-Mediated CD8+ Cell-Derived Antiviral Activity in Cynomolgus Macaques Infected with Simian Immunodeficiency Virus SIVmac251: Relationship to Biological Markers of Progression

ABSTRACT Cross-sectional studies have shown that the capacity of CD8+ cells from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) SIVmac-infected macaques to suppress the replication of human and simian immunodeficiency viruses in vitro depends on the clinical stage of disease, but little is known about changes in this antiviral activity over time in individual HIV-infected patients or SIV-infected macaques. We assessed changes in the soluble factor-mediated noncytolytic antiviral activity of CD8+ cells over time in eight cynomolgus macaques infected with SIVmac251 to determine the pathophysiological role of this activity. CD8+ cell-associated antiviral activity increased rapidly in the first week after viral inoculation and remained detectable during the early phase of infection. The net increase in antiviral activity of CD8+ cells was correlated with plasma viral load throughout the 15 months of follow-up. CD8+ cells gradually lost their antiviral activity over time and acquired virus replication-enhancing capacity. Levels of antiviral activity correlated with CD4+ T-cell counts after viral set point. Concentrations of β-chemokines and interleukin-16 in CD8+ cell supernatants were not correlated with this antiviral activity, and α-defensins were not detected. The soluble factor-mediated antiviral activity of CD8+ cells was neither cytolytic nor restricted to major histocompatibility complex. This longitudinal study strongly suggests that the increase in noncytolytic antiviral activity from baseline and the maintenance of this increase over time in cynomolgus macaques depend on both viral replication and CD4+ T cells.
A Declarative and Classifier Gesture Recognition Method for Creating an Effective Feedback and Feedforward System

For recognizing gestures in an interactive application, we could apply different approaches, which offer many advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, Machine Learning techniques guarantee a high accuracy and robustness to noise, but they do support the creation of effective feedback and feed-forward systems since they do not provide intermediate information. On the other hand, we can find in the literature declarative and compositional methods, which allow gesture sub-parts identification at the cost of a lower recognition rate. Therefore, one of the most common problems in gesture interface development is how to set the trade-off between a high precision in recognition and the support for user’s guidance. With this mind, the main goal of my Ph.D. is finding a way for filling the gap between these two approaches, bridging the gap between Machine Learning and declarative and compositional approaches.
On the concept of variable roles and its use in software analysis

Human written source code in imperative programming languages exhibits typical patterns for variable use, such as flags, loop iterators, counters, indices, bitvectors, etc. Although it is widely understood by practitioners that these patterns are important for automated software analysis tools, they are not systematically studied by the formal methods community, and not well documented in the research literature. In this paper, we introduce the notion of variable roles on the example of basic types (int, float, char) in C. We propose a classification of the variables in a program by variable roles which formalises the typical usage patterns of variables. We show that classical data flow analysis lends itself naturally both as a specification formalism and an analysis paradigm for this classification problem. We demonstrate the practical applicability of our method by predicting membership of source files to the different categories of the software verification competition SVCOMP 2013.
A framework for grid-based mobile flower recognition

Identifying an organic object like a flower against the background picture is known to be challenging. Several methods have been proposed so that unique characteristics of flowers can be extracted with increased accuracy. Establishing this process as a mobile flower identification service for the public requires major adaptation of the system due to numerous picture requests being received simultaneously. This paper presents a framework for grid-based mobile flower recognition that employs 1) grid computing technology for further optimization of multiple concurrent image processing and 2) mobile wireless communication as the primary data transfer for accessing this mobile service. Globus Toolkit is applied as the middleware in the distributed computing environment whereby Short Message Services (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) technology are used for picture and result delivery.
Pattern Stations: Extending Textile Materials through Tangible Interaction

Pattern Stations is a collaborative project between textile designer and artist Cecilia Heffer and interface designer and interaction researcher Bert Bongers. The interactive installations create patterns, extending the textile patterns through sensors, cameras and computation. The tangible patterns installation is developed specifically for the TEI conference, and aims to give the audience an experience of manipulation of physical objects and materials.
Potential Sabotage of Host Cell Physiology by Apicomplexan Parasites for Their Survival Benefits

Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, Cryptosporidium, Babesia, and Theileria are the major apicomplexan parasites affecting humans or animals worldwide. These pathogens represent an excellent example of host manipulators who can overturn host signaling pathways for their survival. They infect different types of host cells and take charge of the host machinery to gain nutrients and prevent itself from host attack. The mechanisms by which these pathogens modulate the host signaling pathways are well studied for Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, Cryptosporidium, and Theileria, except for limited studies on Babesia. Theileria is a unique pathogen taking into account the way it modulates host cell transformation, resulting in its clonal expansion. These parasites majorly modulate similar host signaling pathways, however, the disease outcome and effect is different among them. In this review, we discuss the approaches of these apicomplexan to manipulate the host–parasite clearance pathways during infection, invasion, survival, and egress.
Developing professional values: perceptions of francophone occupational therapists in Quebec, Canada

Abstract Objective Recent literature shows growing interest in the values displayed by occupational therapists. Yet, none of these writings has so far examined the factors that contribute to the development of occupational therapists’ professional values. These factors are important, since values play a pivotal role in forging professional identity, which in the case of some occupational therapists remains somewhat ambiguous. This article proposes possible answers to the following question: What do Quebec Francophone occupational therapists perceive as the building blocks of their professional values? Methods Using a phenomenological qualitative method, the subjective experience of occupational therapists in Quebec, Canada was examined. Twenty-six occupational therapists took part in the study. Results As intended, their professional experience was varied. According to the participants, four factors contributed significantly to their professional values: professional experience, university training, personal experience, and professional development. However, fewer than 50% of the participants cited six other factors (workplace, family upbringing, personal development, personality and abilities, professional normative framework, and sociocultural background). Conclusions Most of these results are consistent with those documented in existing works. They point to the relevance of discussing professional values during university training and continuing professional development, as well as encouraging occupational therapists to become exemplars for their colleagues and interns. This study constitutes an initial step in understanding how occupational therapists’ axiological identity is formed.
Reliability-Aware Power Management for Real-Time Embedded Systems

The improvements in the performance of modern computing systems have resulted in drastic in- creases in power densities. For battery-operated em- bedded devices with limited energy budget, energy is now considered a first-class system resource and power- aware computing has recently become an important re- search area. However, as a widely-deployed power management technique, Dynamic Voltage and Frequen- cy Scaling (DVFS) was recently shown to have negative effects on system reliability. In this talk, I will discuss a reliability-aware power management (RAPM) framework, which can systematically exploit static and dynamic slack to minimize energy consumption while preserving system reliability for various real-time systems.
Tricyclic Pyrazoles. Part 5. Novel 1,4-Dihydroindeno[1,2-c]pyrazole CB2 Ligands Using Molecular Hybridization Based on Scaffold Hopping

In search of new selective CB2 ligands, the synthesis and preliminary biological evaluation of novel 1,4-dihydroindeno[1,2-c]pyrazole hybrids of the highly potent prototypicals 5-(4-chloro-3-methylphenyl)-1-(4-methylbenzyl)-N-fenchyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide 1 and 1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-6-methyl-N-(piperidin-1-yl)-1,4-dihydroindeno[1,2-c]pyrazole-3-carboxamide 2 are detailed. We postulated that the introduction of those pharmacophoric elements essential for activity of 1 in the tricyclic core of 2 might provide CB2 ligands with further improved receptor selectivity and biological activity. Among the compounds, 6-chloro-7-methyl-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-N-fenchyl-1,4-dihydroindeno[1,2-c]pyrazole-3-carboxamide (22) exhibited low two digit nanomolar affinity for the cannabinoid CB2R and maintained a high level of CB2-selectivity.
Extracting Attempted Hand Movements from EEGs in People with Complete Hand Paralysis Following Stroke

This study examines the feasibility of using electroencephalograms (EEGs) to rapidly detect the intent to open one's hand in individuals with complete hand paralysis following a subcortical ischemic stroke. If detectable, this motor-planning activity could be used in real time to trigger a motorized hand exoskeleton or an electrical stimulation device that opens/closes the hand. While EEG-triggered movement-assist devices could restore function, they may also promote recovery by reinforcing the use of remaining cortical circuits. EEGs were recorded while participants were cued to either relax or attempt to extend their fingers. Linear-discriminant analysis was used to detect onset of finger-extension from the EEGs in a leave-one-trial-out cross-validation process. In each testing trial, the classifier was applied in pseudo-real-time starting from an initial hand-relaxed phase, through movement planning, and into the initial attempted-finger-extension phase (finger-extension phase estimated from typical time-to-movement-onset measured in the unaffected hand). The classifiers detected attempted-finger-extension at a significantly higher rate during both motor-planning and early attempted execution compared to rest. To reduce inappropriate triggering of a movement-assist device during rest, the classification threshold could be adjusted to require more certainty about one's intent to move before triggering a device. Additionally, a device could be set to activate only after multiple time samples in a row were classified as finger-extension events. These options resulted in some sessions with no false triggers while the person was resting, but moderate-to-high true trigger rates during attempted-movements.