Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-term outcome of lesional posterior cortical epilepsy surgery in adults

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the short- and long-term seizure outcome and to find predictors of outcome after epilepsy surgery in lesional posterior cortical epilepsies (PCEs). Methods: The operative outcome in 80 consecutive adult patients with lesional PCEs who underwent resective surgery for intractable partial epilepsy between 1991 and 2006 was retrospectively studied. Results: The probability of remaining in Engel Class I was 66.3% (95% CI 60 to 72) at 6 months, 52.5% (95% CI 47 to 57) at 2 years, 52.9% (CI 45 to 59) at 5 years and 47.1% (CI 42 to 52) at 10 years. Factors predicting poor outcome were the presence of a somatosensory aura, extraregional spikes, incomplete resection, interictal epileptiform discharge (IED) in EEG 6 months and 2 years postsurgery, history of generalised tonic-clonic seizure (GT-CS) and the presence of focal cortical dysplasia in the resected specimen. Factors predicting good outcome were childhood onset of epilepsy, short epilepsy duration, ipsilateral spikes, visual aura, presence of well-circumscribed lesion in preoperative MRI and a pathologically defined tumour. In the multivariate analysis, predictors were different in the long and short term as follows: incomplete resection as proven by postoperative MRI (hazard ratio (HR) 2.059 (CI 1.19 to 3.67)) predicts seizure relapse in short-term follow-up. The presence of IED in the EEG performed 6 months after surgery (HR 2.3 (CI 1.128 to 4.734)) predicts seizure relapse in the long-term fellow-up. However, the absence of a history of GT-CS independently predicts seizure remission in short- and long-term follow-up. Conclusions: Surgery in PCEs proved to be effective in short- and long-term follow-up. Lesional posterior cortical epilepsy may be a progressive process in a substantial number of cases.
NO . 87 HOW CHINA ’ S WTO ACCESSION AFFECTS RURAL ECONOMY IN THE LESS-DEVELOPED REGIONS : A MULTI-REGION , GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM

This study constructs a regional CGE model of China to analyze the differential regional impacts of China’s WTO accession on agricultural production, trade, and farmers’ income. The results show that China’s WTO accession will generally improve the total welfare but will widen existing gaps among regions and sectors. It is expected that the agricultural sector will suffer if only agricultural trade is liberalized, as cheap imports of agricultural products, particularly grains, will increase and domestic agricultural production and farmers’ agricultural income will decline. Full trade liberalization, i.e., lifting trade barriers in both agriculture and non-agriculture will benefit farmers and agriculture at the national level. However, the increase in rural income is still smaller than the increase in urban income, which implies that the rural-urban income gap may be further widened. Furthermore, among the regions, the less-developed rural areas will benefit little or even suffer because their major production activities and income sources are still from agriculture, especially from traditional agricultural activities such as grain production.
Sex-specific dysregulation of cysteine oxidation and the methionine and folate cycles in female cystathionine gamma-lyase null mice: a serendipitous model of the methylfolate trap

ABSTRACT In addition to its role in the endogenous synthesis of cysteine, cystathionine gamma-lyase (CGL) is a major physiological source of the vasorelaxant hydrogen sulfide. Cgl null mice are potentially useful for studying the influence of this compound upon vascular tone and endothelial function. Here, we confirm a previous report that female Cgl null mice exhibit an approximate 45-fold increase in plasma total homocysteine compared to wild type controls. This level of homocysteine is approximately 3.5-fold higher than that observed in male Cgl null mice and is essentially equivalent to that observed in mouse models of cystathionine beta synthase deficient homocystinuria. Cgl null mice of both sexes exhibited decreased expression of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase and cysteinesulfinate decarboxylase compared to WT controls. Female Cgl null mice exhibited a sex-specific induction of betaine homocysteine S-methyltransferase and methionine adenosyltransferase 1, alpha and a 70% decrease in methionine synthase expression accompanied by significantly decreased plasma methionine. Decreased plasma cysteine levels in female Cgl null mice were associated with sex-specific dysregulation of cysteine dioxygenase expression. Comparative histological assessment between cystathionine beta-synthase and Cgl null mice indicated that the therapeutic potential of cystathionine against liver injury merits possible further investigation. Collectively, our data demonstrates the importance of considering sex when investigating mouse models of inborn errors of metabolism and indicate that while female Cgl null mice are of questionable utility for studying the physiological role of hydrogen sulfide, they could serve as a useful model for studying the consequences of methionine synthase deficiency and the methylfolate trap.
Artful Reading, Spontaneous Design: Integrating Philosophy, English, and Art in a Creativity Cluster

This article informs about a multidisciplinary learning community targeting first year students from diverse cultural backgrounds at an urban community college. The combination of English, art, and philosophy of art in a Creativity Cluster offers an excellent opportunity for great teaching and learning experiences. Yet, how can faculty address the multiple challenges faced by inexperienced student readers who have little time to reflect on difficult texts or make thoughtful connections across disciplines? The authors find that students’ reading comprehension can be deepened and reinforced by dovetailing such manifold sources as poetry, short stories, plays, film, music, artworks, and readings in aesthetic theory. Further, students’ critical thinking and analytical writing skills can be improved with related creative activities and integrative paper assignments. Moreover, through improvised activities, faculty can respond effectively to students’ needs, nurture their creativity, and enable them to make meaningful connections across disciplines and artforms. Vera Albrecht is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at LaGuardia Community College , City University of New York (CUNY). Barbara Comins is a Professor of English at LaGuardia Community College, CUNY.
Four-Wave Mixing of Pulsed Signal in Dispersion-Shifted Fiber With Pump Depletion

The output signal and idler pulses generated by dispersion-shifted-fiber-based four-wave mixing (FWM) with pulsed signal input are analyzed. A set of analytical expressions for the amplitude and phase of the output pulses is derived. Analytical analysis shows that the generated idler pulse is far away from the phase conjugation of the input signal, and that the output signal is not an amplified replica of the input signal. These phenomena are due to both the phase distortion caused by self- and cross-phase modulation and the temporal envelope broadening resulting from pump depletion. Besides, in the frequency domain, the spectral inversion between signal/idler will be destroyed. The implications of the phase and shape distortions in all-optical signal processing by FWM are discussed. The induced phase distortions of idler pulses in dual pumps case are found to be much smaller than those of the single-pump case.
Les barrières psychologiques à la pratique de l'activité physique chez les personnes touchées par le cancer : rôle des stéréotypes et de la contagion motivationnelle.

La premiere partie de cette these defend l’hypothese selon laquelle les croyances des personnes touchees par le cancer a propos de l’activite physique refletent l’internalisation de stereotypes, affectant leurs comportements vis-a-vis de l’activite physique. Les deux premieres etudes de la these ont permis d’identifier cinq categories de croyances liees a l’activite physique dont quatre constituent des barrieres psychologiques, ainsi que de developper et valider une echelle mesurant les stereotypes relatifs au cancer et a l’activite physique. L’etude 3 a montre que les stereotypes relatifs au cancer et a l’activite physique des patients atteints de cancer sont relies a leur niveau d’activite physique. Enfin, l’etude 4 a mis en evidence l’influence positive du statut d’individu « physiquement actif » dans la formation d’impressions de la population generale a l’egard des individus atteints de cancer. L’objectif secondaire de cette these etait d’identifier des conditions de changement des croyances et de la motivation a l’egard de l’activite physique chez les personnes touchees par le cancer. Deux etudes ont examine les effets de messages de promotion de l’activite physique aupres de patients sedentaires. L’etude 5 a montre que les messages informatifs generent les scores de croyances les plus favorables, tandis que les messages narratifs seraient plus appropries pour augmenter leur motivation. L’etude 6 a confirme l’hypothese selon laquelle un message narratif porte par un pair intrinsequement motive est plus efficace pour ameliorer la motivation a faire de l’exercice chez des patients sedentaires, qu'un message narratif porte par un pair extrinsequement motive.
Thusin, a Novel Two-Component Lantibiotic with Potent Antimicrobial Activity against Several Gram-Positive Pathogens

Due to the rapidly increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant bacterial strains, the need for new antimicrobial drugs to treat infections has become urgent. Bacteriocins, which are antimicrobial peptides of bacterial origin, are considered potential alternatives to conventional antibiotics and have attracted widespread attention in recent years. Among these bacteriocins, lantibiotics, especially two-component lantibiotics, exhibit potent antimicrobial activity against some clinically relevant Gram-positive pathogens and have potential applications in the pharmaceutical industry. In this study, we characterized a novel two-component lantibiotic termed thusin that consists of Thsα, Thsβ, and Thsβ' (mutation of Thsβ, A14G) and that was isolated from a B. thuringiensis strain BGSC 4BT1. Thsα and Thsβ (or Thsβ') exhibit optimal antimicrobial activity at a 1:1 ratio and act sequentially to affect target cells, and they are all highly thermostable (100°C for 30 min) and pH tolerant (pH 2.0 to 9.0). Thusin shows remarkable efficacy against all tested Gram-positive bacteria and greater activities than two known lantibiotics thuricin 4A-4 and ticin A4, and one antibiotic vancomycin against various bacterial pathogens (Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus sciuri, Enterococcus faecalis, and Streptococcus pneumoniae). Moreover, thusin is also able to inhibit the outgrowth of B. cereus spores. The potent antimicrobial activity of thusin against some Gram-positive pathogens indicates that it has potential for the development of new drugs.
Correlations of Grade Point Averages at a Rural College with Reports of Abuse in Rural Families

The possible influences of intrafamilial conflict and emotional, physical, and sexual abuse were examined in relation to academic achievement in college. 135 students of a small private university in a rural setting responded to a questionnaire. Reported histories of sexual abuse and physical abuse by family members were associated with lower mean grade point averages. Individuals who reported occasional emotional abuse had a lower mean grade point average than those who reported frequent or no emotional abuse. Treatment implications and directions for research should be considered.
Computing Stability of Multidimensional Traveling Waves

We present a numerical method for computing the pure-point spectrum associated with the linear stability of multidimensional traveling fronts to parabolic nonlinear systems. Our method is based on the Evans function shooting approach. Transverse to the direction of propagation we project the spectral equations onto a finite Fourier basis. This generates a large, linear, one-dimensional system of equations for the longitudinal Fourier coefficients. We construct the stable and unstable solution subspaces associated with the longitudinal far-field zero boundary conditions, retaining only the information required for matching, by integrating the Riccati equations associated with the underlying Grassmannian manifolds. The Evans function is then the matching condition measuring the linear dependence of the stable and unstable subspaces and thus determines eigenvalues. As a model application, we study the stability of two-dimensional wrinkled front solutions to a cubic autocatalysis model system. We compare our .
Outbreak of Neisseria meningitidis, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

From December 1999 to April 2001, the greater Edmonton region had 61 cases of invasive meningococcal infection, two fatal. The outbreak was due to Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C, electrophoretic type 15, serotype 2a. Analysis of the strains showed that 50 of 56 culture-confirmed cases were due to a single clone and close relatives of this clone. This strain had not been previously identified in the province of Alberta dating back to January 1997
Node and arc consistency in weighted CSP

Recently, a general definition of arc consistency (AC) for soft constraint frameworks has been proposed (Schiex 2000). In this paper we specialize this definition to weighted CSP and introduce a <i>O(ed<sup>3</sup>)</i> algorithm. Then, We refine the definition and introduce a stronger form of arc consistency (AC*) along with a <i>O(n<sup>2</sup>d<sup>3</sup>)</i> algorithm. We empirically demonstrate that AC* is likely to be much better than AC in terms of pruned values.
Pleural effusion, tuberculosis and HIV-1 infection in Kigali, Rwanda.

OBJECTIVE AND METHODS An increasing number of diagnoses of pleural effusions (PE) have been made over the last 8 years in the Department of Internal Medicine of the Centre Hospitalier de Kigali, Rwanda. In order to determine the aetiology of PE and to examine its possible association with HIV-1 infection, we performed an aetiological work-up, including thoracocentesis and pleural punch biopsy, of all new patients with PE of undetermined aetiology referred to the Division of Pulmonary Diseases of the Department of Internal Medicine of the Centre Hospitalier de Kigali between 14 September 1988 and 16 October 1989. HIV-1 serological testing was performed for most of the patients. RESULTS A total of 127 patients (81 men, 46 women; mean age, 34 years; range, 16-71 years) with PE of undetermined aetiology were enrolled. Pleural tuberculosis was diagnosed in 110 (86%) and confirmed histologically and/or bacteriologically in 90 (82%). Of 98 pleural tuberculosis patients tested for HIV-1-antibody, 82 (83%) were HIV-1-seropositive. Metastatic cancer was responsible for PE in six (5%) patients, Kaposi's sarcoma in three, lymphoma in one (all four HIV-1-seropositive), anaplastic carcinoma in one, and adenocarcinoma in one (both HIV-1-seronegative). Non-tuberculous pneumonia was documented in five (4%) patients and was associated with HIV-1 infection in four. Other causes of PE were congestive heart failure (three patients), decompensated cirrhosis (one), constrictive percarditis (one), or undetermined (one); only one of these patients was HIV-1-seropositive. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that tuberculosis is the predominant cause of PE in our patients and is strongly associated with HIV-1 infection. Although less frequent, non-tuberculous pneumonia, Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphoma are other causes of HIV-1-associated PE. In an African area highly endemic for HIV-1 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis co-infection, PE should be considered a good marker of tuberculosis as well as HIV-1 infection.
Mutational analysis and genotype-phenotype correlations in southern Indian patients with sporadic and familial aniridia

Purpose Aniridia is a rare panocular disorder characterized by iris hypoplasia and other associated eye anomalies. Heterozygous null mutations in paired box gene 6 (PAX6) are the major cause of the classic aniridia phenotype. This study aims to detect the mutational spectrum of PAX6 and associated phenotypes in southern Indian patients with sporadic and familial aniridia. Methods Genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral blood from all participants. The coding regions and flanking intronic sequences of PAX6 were screened with Sanger sequencing in 30 probands with aniridia. The identified variations were further evaluated in available family members and 150 healthy controls. The pathogenic potential of the mutations were assessed using bioinformatics tools. Results Thirteen different mutations were detected in eight sporadic and five familial cases. Eleven novel mutations, including five insertions (c.7_10dupAACA, c.567dupC, c.704dupC, c.868dupA and c.753_754insTA), two deletions (c.242delC and c.249delT), and four splicing variants (c.10+1G>A, c.141G>A, c.141+4A>G and c.764A>G) were identified in this study. Clinical findings of the patients revealed phenotypic heterogeneity with the same or different mutations. Conclusions This study reported 11 novel mutations and thus expanded the spectrum of PAX6 mutations. Interestingly, all mutations reported in this study were truncations, which confirms the hypothesis that haploinsufficiency of PAX6 causes the aniridia phenotype. Our observations revealed inter- and intrafamilial phenotypic variability with PAX6 mutations. The common ocular findings associated with PAX6 mutations were iris hypoplasia, nystagmus, and foveal hypoplasia reported in almost all cases, with cataract, glaucoma, and keratopathy reported in approximately 50% of the patients.
p 53 modulates homologous recombination by transcriptional regulation of the RAD 51 gene

DNA repair by homologous recombination is involved in maintaining genome stability. Previous data report that wild-type p53 suppresses homologous recombination and physically interacts with Rad51. Here, we show the in vivo binding of wild-type p53 to a p53 response element in the promoter of Rad51 and the downregulation of Rad51 messenger RNA and protein by wild-type p53, favoured by DNA damage. Moreover, wild-type p53 inhibits Rad51 foci formation in response to double-strand breaks, whereas p53 contact mutant R280K fails to repress Rad51 mRNA and protein expression and Rad51 foci formation. We propose that transcriptional repression of Rad51 by p53 participates in regulating homologous recombination, and impaired Rad51 repression by p53 mutants may contribute to malignant transformation.
Data consistent up- and downstreaming in a distributed storage system

Distribution of large data objects among several storage servers is a common technique to speed up access rates. In combination with parity schemes, failures of single server nodes can be tolerated, so that such systems reach a certain degree of fault tolerance. In this paper such a distributed server system is analyzed. Data objects are stored in a data layout according to RAID level 3 among disk subsystems of different computers. An access control provides concurrent up- and down-streaming of data objects to/from the distributed storage system with ensured data consistency. This consistency control is described in combination with the handling of faulty server nodes and faulty clients. Furthermore, performance is measured with several access patterns. An application of that technique is for instance a distributed video server, allowing permanently updates without interrupting access.
Introduction Strategies for Isolation of Exosomes

Exosomes are tiny vesicles (diameter 30–150 nm) secreted by cells in culture and found in all body fluids. These vesicles, loaded with unique RNA and protein cargos, have many biological functions, of which only a small fraction is currently understood—for example, they participate in cell-to-cell communication and signaling within the human body. The spectrum of current scientific interest in exosomes is wide and ranges from understanding their functions and pathways to using them in diagnostics, as biomarkers, and in the development of therapeutics. Here we provide an overview of different strategies for isolation of exosomes from cell-culture media and body fluids.
Extraction of energy from flowing fluids

PURPOSE: Techniques and apparatus for using the kinetic energy of a moving fluid stream and more particularly a cascade of aero- or hydro-foils oscillating in such a stream is provided which produce useful work, e.g. generate electricity, by removing energy from the stream or produce propulsion by adding externally supplied energy to create a negative drag. CONSTITUTION: Method and apparatus for converting the kinetic energy of a moving fluid stream into useful work is performed by using a cascade of thin aero of hydro foils (2) positioned therein. The foils is provided with at least two degrees of freedom and adjacent foils move out of phase. The foils are subjected to fluid induced oscillations known as flutter. Barriers (3, 43) is positioned downstream, above, or at the sides of the apparatus for increasing efficiency. A system of fly wheels (17, 18) to increase inertia of the foils is used with the hydrofoils. A cascade of aero of hydro foils is mechanically oscillated.
Automatic Indexing of Handwritten Medical Forms for Search Engines

A new paradigm, which models the relationships between handwriting and topic categories (denoted as ‘concepts'), in the context of medical forms, is presented. The ultimate goals are (i) the recognition of medical handwriting, and (ii) the use of such information for a medical form search engine. Medical forms have diverse, complex and large lexicons consisting of English, Medical and Pharmacology corpus. This technique shows that a handwriting recognition engine, with just a few recognized characters, can be used to represent a medical concept. This allows (i) a reduced lexicon to be constructed, thereby improving the performance of handwriting recognition engines [6][21], and (ii) unseen PCR forms to be tagged with a concept and later searched. Both practical and theoretical numbers are reported. This research builds the notion of a ‘computational semantic lexicon' which was vaguely introduced in our IWFHR 2002 paper [15] and incorporates other research in the area of call-routing [2][3].