Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 7 minute neurocognitive screening battery highly sensitive to Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE To determine the validity and reliability of a rapidly administered neurocognitive screening battery consisting of 4 brief tests (Enhanced Cued Recall, Temporal Orientation, Verbal Fluency, and Clock Drawing) to distinguish between patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) and healthy control subjects. SUBJECTS Sixty successive referrals to the Memory Disorders Clinic at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, Bennington, who were diagnosed as having probable AD and 60 community-dwelling volunteers of comparable age, sex distribution, and education. DESIGN Interrater and test-retest reliability, intergroup comparisons between patients with AD and control subjects on the 4 individual tests, and determination of probability of dementia for patients with AD and control subjects using the entire battery of tests. SETTING Outpatient care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Comparison of the probability of dementia on the 7 Minute Screen with the criterion standard of clinical diagnosis established by examination and laboratory studies. SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES Test-retest and interrater reliability (correlation coefficients), time for administration. RESULTS Mean time of administration was 7 minutes 42 seconds. Mean scores for patients with AD and control subjects on all 4 individual tests were significantly different (for each, P<.001). When the 4 tests were combined in a logistic regression, the battery had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 100%. A series of 1000 repeated random samples of 30 patients with AD and 30 control subjects taken from the overall sample of 60 patients with AD and 60 control subjects had a mean sensitivity of 92% and a mean specificity of 96%. The battery was equally sensitive to patients with mild AD as demonstrated by correctly classifying all 13 patients with AD using Mini-Mental State Examination scores of 24 or higher. Neither age nor education was a statistically significant factor when added as a covariate. Test-retest reliabilities for individual tests ranged from 0.83 to 0.93. Test-retest reliability for the entire battery was 0.91. Interrater reliability for the entire battery was 0.92. CONCLUSIONS The 7 Minute Screen appears highly sensitive to AD and may be useful in helping to make initial distinctions between patients experiencing cognitive changes related to the normal aging process and those experiencing cognitive deficits related to dementing disorders such as AD. It has reasonable interrater and test-retest reliability, can be administered in a brief period, and requires no clinical judgment and minimal training.
Staphylococcus aureus infection induces protein A–mediated immune evasion in humans

Pauli et al. find that the active B cell response in patients infected with Staphylococcus aureus is predominately focused on a single antigen, SpA, which acts as a B cell superantigen. SpA-reactive antibodies dominate the response despite the presence of circulating B cells specific for other bacterial surface antigens.
Knowledge Discovery and Analysis in Manufacturing

ABSTRACT The quality and reliability requirements for next-generation manufacturing are reviewed, and current approaches are cited. The potential for augmenting current quality/reliability technology is described, and characteristics of potential future directions are postulated. Methods based on knowledge discovery and analysis in manufacturing (KDAM) are reviewed, and related successful applications in business and social fields are discussed. Typical KDAM applications are noted, along with general functions and specific KDAM-related technologies. A systematic knowledge discovery process model is reviewed, and examples of current work are given, including description of successful applications of KDAM to creation of rules for optimizing gas porosity in sand casting molds. Finally, directions in KDAM technology and associated research requirements are described, and comments related to application and acceptance of KDAM are provided.
Analysis of equalization for DS-UWB systems

In this paper, we analyze equalization for direct sequence based ultra-wideband (DS-UWB) systems using RAKE combining at the receiver. To this end, we consider the effective discrete-time impulse response at the RAKE combiner output and study the distribution of the zeros of the corresponding transfer function. Thereby, we apply the IEEE 802.15. 3a standard channel model. Our findings suggest that linear equalization (LE) is well suited for the lower data rate modes of DS-UWB systems, whereas decision-feedback equalization (DFE) is favorably applied for high-data rate modes. These conclusions are confirmed by simulation results. It is also shown that LE and DFE perform relatively close to the matched filter bound limit.
KIR2DL4 Copy Number Variation Is Associated with CD4+ T-Cell Depletion and Function of Cytokine-Producing NK Cell Subsets in SIV-Infected Mamu-A*01-Negative Rhesus Macaques

ABSTRACT Here, we demonstrate that KIR2DL4 copy number variation (CNV) is associated with CD4+ T-cell decline and functionality of cytokine-producing NK cells during primary simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection in Mamu-A*01 − Indian-origin rhesus macaques, with higher KIR2DL4 copy numbers being associated with a better preservation of CD4+ T cells and an increased gamma interferon (IFN-γ) production from stimulated cytokine-producing NK cell subsets during acute SIVmac251 infection. These findings underscore the crucial role of activating killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) in NK cell-mediated SIV responses during early SIV infection.
Persistent Inflammation Induces GluR2 Internalization via NMDA Receptor-Triggered PKC Activation in Dorsal Horn Neurons

Spinal cord GluR2-lacking AMPA receptors (AMPARs) contribute to nociceptive hypersensitivity in persistent pain, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this event are not completely understood. We report that complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced peripheral inflammation induces synaptic GluR2 internalization in dorsal horn neurons during the maintenance of CFA-evoked nociceptive hypersensitivity. This internalization is initiated by GluR2 phosphorylation at Ser880 and subsequent disruption of GluR2 binding to its synaptic anchoring protein (GRIP), resulting in a switch of GluR2-containing AMPARs to GluR2-lacking AMPARs and an increase of AMPAR Ca2+ permeability at the synapses in dorsal horn neurons. Spinal cord NMDA receptor-mediated triggering of protein kinase C (PKC) activation is required for the induction and maintenance of CFA-induced dorsal horn GluR2 internalization. Moreover, preventing CFA-induced spinal GluR2 internalization through targeted mutation of the GluR2 PKC phosphorylation site impairs CFA-evoked nociceptive hypersensitivity during the maintenance period. These results suggest that dorsal horn GluR2 internalization might participate in the maintenance of NMDA receptor/PKC-dependent nociceptive hypersensitivity in persistent inflammatory pain.
Exploiting Quorum Sensing To Confuse Bacterial Pathogens

SUMMARY Cell-cell communication, or quorum sensing, is a widespread phenomenon in bacteria that is used to coordinate gene expression among local populations. Its use by bacterial pathogens to regulate genes that promote invasion, defense, and spread has been particularly well documented. With the ongoing emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, there is a current need for development of alternative therapeutic strategies. An antivirulence approach by which quorum sensing is impeded has caught on as a viable means to manipulate bacterial processes, especially pathogenic traits that are harmful to human and animal health and agricultural productivity. The identification and development of chemical compounds and enzymes that facilitate quorum-sensing inhibition (QSI) by targeting signaling molecules, signal biogenesis, or signal detection are reviewed here. Overall, the evidence suggests that QSI therapy may be efficacious against some, but not necessarily all, bacterial pathogens, and several failures and ongoing concerns that may steer future studies in productive directions are discussed. Nevertheless, various QSI successes have rightfully perpetuated excitement surrounding new potential therapies, and this review highlights promising QSI leads in disrupting pathogenesis in both plants and animals.
Optimal Camera Planning Under Versatile User Constraints in Multi-Camera Image Processing Systems

The selection of optimal camera configurations (camera locations, orientations, etc.) for multi-camera networks remains an unsolved problem. Previous approaches largely focus on proposing various objective functions to achieve different tasks. Most of them, however, do not generalize well to large scale networks. To tackle this, we propose a statistical framework of the problem as well as propose a trans-dimensional simulated annealing algorithm to effectively deal with it. We compare our approach with a state-of-the-art method based on binary integer programming (BIP) and show that our approach offers similar performance on small scale problems. However, we also demonstrate the capability of our approach in dealing with large scale problems and show that our approach produces better results than two alternative heuristics designed to deal with the scalability issue of BIP. Last, we show the versatility of our approach using a number of specific scenarios.
Planar graphs of odd-girth at least 9 are homomorphic to Petersen graph

Let G be a graph and let c : V (G) → ({1,.,5} 2 ) be an assignment of 2-element subsets of the set {1, . , 5} to the vertices of G such that for every edge vw, the sets c(v) and c(w) are disjoint. We call such an assignment a (5, 2)-coloring. A graph is (5,2)-colorable if and only if it has a homomorphism to the Petersen graph. The odd-girth of a graph G is the length of the shortest odd cycle in G (∞ if G is bipartite). We prove that every planar graph of odd-girth at least 9 is (5, 2)colorable, and thus it is homomorphic to the Petersen graph. Also, this implies that such graphs have fractional chromatic number at most 5 2 . As a special case, this result holds for planar graphs of girth at least 8.
KDT501, a Derivative from Hops, Normalizes Glucose Metabolism and Body Weight in Rodent Models of Diabetes

Aims/Hypothesis We developed KDT501, a novel substituted 1,3-cyclopentadione chemically derived from hop extracts, and evaluated it in various in vitro and in vivo models of diabetes and insulin sensitivity. Methods KDT501 was evaluated for anti-inflammatory effects in monocyte/macrophage cells; agonistic activity for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR); lipogenesis and gene expression profile in human subcutaneous adipocytes. Body composition, glucose, insulin sensitivity, and lipids were assessed in diet-induced obesity (DIO) mice and Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rats after oral administration. Results KDT501 mediated lipogenesis in 3T3L1 and human subcutaneous adipocytes; however, the gene expression profile of KDT501 differed from that of the full PPARγ agonist rosiglitazone, suggesting that KDT501 has pleiotropic biological activities. In addition, KDT501 showed only modest, partial PPARγ agonist activity and exhibited anti-inflammatory effects in monocytes/macrophages that were not observed with rosiglitazone. In a DIO mouse model, oral administration of KDT501 significantly reduced fed blood glucose, glucose/insulin AUC following an oral glucose bolus, and body fat. In ZDF rats, oral administration of KDT501 significantly reduced fed glucose, fasting plasma glucose, and glucose AUC after an oral glucose bolus. Significant, dose-dependent reductions of plasma hemoglobin A1c, weight gain, total cholesterol, and triglycerides were also observed in animals receiving KDT501. Conclusion These results indicate that KDT501 produces a unique anti-diabetic profile that is distinct in its spectrum of pharmacological effects and biological mechanism from both metformin and pioglitazone. KDT501 may thus constitute a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes and associated conditions.
Clinical and biochemical changes in greenhouse sprayers chronically exposed to pesticides

1 This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the impact on health produced by the use of different types of pesticides in greenhouses. It is based on the need to practice and develop biological monitoring techniques to assess exposure and predict health risk in workers occupationally exposed to pesticides. 2 Two groups of greenhouse workers with either high or low exposure to a combination of pesticides was taken in Almeria, a Spanish province where cultures under plastic are very extended. 3 One hundred and five sprayers were interviewed to collect information about symptoms and signs related to past exposures. Each pesticide sprayer was exam ined by a physician, and a blood sample was drawn for plasma and red blood cell cholinesterases, complete blood count, and liver and renal function tests. 4 Exposure of workers to a combination of pesticides resulted in 37% of the workers showing toxic signs and symptoms. The main toxic effects observed were a high incidence of spontaneous abortion, depression, and certain neurologic disorders like headache, tremor and paraesthesia. 5 The major analytical change was a decrease of the mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration in 38% of the cases. However, no significant decrease in both serum and erythrocyte cholinesterase activities was observed. 6 The sprayers were not usually aware of the potential hazards of pesticides and did not try their best to maintain personal hygiene.
Elastic 3D shape analysis using square-root normal field representation

Shape is an important physical property of natural and man-made 3D objects that characterizes their external appearances. Understanding differences between shapes, and modeling the variability within and across shape classes, hereinafter referred to as shape analysis, are problems fundamental to many applications, ranging from computer vision and computer graphics to biology and medicine. This paper provides an overview of some of the recent techniques for studying the shape of 3D objects that undergo non-rigid deformations including bending and stretching. We will mainly focus on a new representation called the square-root normal field (SRNF), discuss its properties, and show its application in the analysis of the shape of various types of objects, including human body shapes, anatomical organs such as carpal bones, and hand-drawn 2D sketches. We will show how the representation is used for (1) jointly computing correspondences and geodesics; (2) computing summary statistics such as means and modes of variations; and (3) exploring shape variability in a collection of 3D objects.
Metal Body-Integrated Open-End Slot-Antenna Designs for Handset LTE Uses

The metal body handset initiates various antenna design challenges. An assembly of two slots is proposed for long-term evolution (LTE) uses on metal body handsets. Several novel techniques are devised to address LTE operation needs. The slot openings are placed on the metal rim to minimize visual intrusion. The two-end open LTE high band (1700~2700 MHz) slot excites multiple adjacent resonances to stitch a broad operation band. The other one-end open slot adopts a coupled feed to provide a broad LTE low band (690~960 MHz). An unconventional two-branch feed network is proposed. Its frequency selective characteristic allows excitations of the two slots using a common feed. Parametric studies and tests that emulate the actual handset environment were conducted. Results demonstrate that the proposed antenna is resilient toward operation scenario changes and yields stable performances.
Micromechanics-Based Models of Cocciopesto Mortars

The paper deals with homogenization and strength estimation of mortars containing crushed bricks or other clay products. These mortars, known as cocciopesto, were used mainly during the Byzantine period and by Romans. Cocciopesto exhibit quite extraordinary mechanical properties due to formation of C-S-H gel coating on the interface between lime matrix and crushed clay products. Based on literature study, it seems that no one has ever tried to estimate the properties of cocciopesto mortars using micromechanical modeling. The micromechanical approach and Mori-Tanaka homogenization technique provided an explanation for the characteristic behavior of these mortars, but they had to be modified for homogenization of coated particles. Mortar strength was estimated from magnitudes of the quadratic average of deviatoric strain in individual phases. The calculations confirmed the important role of the C-S-H gel coating on the mortar strength and stiffness. Despite the above mentioned simplifications and a few uncertainties, the model seems to be able to correctly predict the trends and serve for an optimization of the mortar composition towards desired properties.
A tool for the post data analysis of screened compounds derived from computer-aided docking scores

A method is described for the analysis of the results obtained from the docking studies applied on a protein target and small molecules chemical compounds as ligands from various sources using different docking tools. We show the use of Dempster Shafer Theory (DST) to select the high ranking top compounds for further analysis and consideration. Availability Application is freely available at http://allamapparao.org/dst/
Co-Operative Inquiry As A Basis For Evaluation Of KM Tools

This paper highlights the changes needed in the practice of IT evaluation when directed towards IT used to support knowledge management. The paper addresses the need for evaluation to recognise the increased emphasis on IT supporting the work of communities of practice in contrast to simply automating organisational processes. A framework that uses a form of action research (co-operative inquiry) is suggested that attempts to widen participation within the evaluation process and to enrich the purpose to which evaluation is put, especially in regard to the IS practitioner and IS users.
Noninvasive Quantification of Left-to-Right Shunt in Pediatric Patients: Phase-Contrast Cine Magnetic Resonance Imaging Compared With Invasive Oximetry

Background—Blood flow can be quantified noninvasively by phase-contrast cine MRI (PC-MRI) in adults. Little is known about the feasibility of the method in children with congenital heart disease. Methods and Results—In 50 children (mean age 6.2 years, range 1.1 to 17.7 years) with an atrial- or ventricular-level shunt, blood flow rate in the great vessels was determined by PC-MRI, and the ratio of pulmonary to aortic flow (˙Qp/˙Qs) was compared with ˙Qp/˙Qs by oximetry. We found a difference of 2% and a range of −20% to +26% (limits of agreement, mean±2 SD). In another 7 children with congenital heart disease but no cardiac shunting (mean age 7.9 years, range 1.3 to 13.5 years), ˙Qp/˙Qs by PC-MRI was 1.02 (SD ±0.06). No difference between systemic venous and aortic flow volumes was found (range −17% to +20%, n=37). Blood flow through a secundum atrial septal defect as assessed by PC-MRI (n=24) overestimated the shunt compared with the difference between pulmonary and aortic flows. The mean difference between 3 repeated PC-MRI measurements in each location was 5.3% (SD ±4.0%, n=522), demonstrating good precision. The interobserver variability was low. The accuracy of PC-MRI was confirmed by in vitro experiments. Conclusions—Determination of ˙Qp/˙Qs by PC-MRI in children is quick, safe, and reliable compared with oximetry. Systemic venous flow can be quantified by PC-MRI, whereas through-plane shunt measurement within an atrial septal defect is inaccurate.
Assessment of Antioxidant Activity and Neuroprotective Capacity on PC12 Cell Line of Frankenia thymifolia and Related Phenolic LC-MS/MS Identification

This work aimed to investigate the richness of a Tunisian xerohalophyte Frankenia thymifolia aerial and root parts on phenolics and to evaluate the antioxidant and neuroprotective properties of this medicinal species. After fractionation using increasing and different solvent polarities, results displayed five fractions, where ethyl acetate (EtOAc) shoot and root fractions possess considerable total phenolic contents (221 and 308 mg of GAE/g of E, resp.) related to their important antioxidant activities such as ORAC (918 and 713 mg of TE/g of E), DPPH (282 and 821 mg of TE/g), and ABTS (778 and 1320 mg of TE/g) tests. Then, the identification of the main compounds by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS and neuroprotective property of the most active fraction EtOAc were assessed. A total of 14 molecules were identified, which have been described for the first time in F. thymifolia. The major compounds identified were pinoresinol and kaempferol glycoside in aerial parts and gallic acid and ellagitannin in roots. Neuroprotective capacity against β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide induced toxicity in PC12 cells of EtOAc fraction showed a significant protective activity at lower concentration (25 and 50 µM). The relevant antioxidant and neuroprotective activities of F. thymifolia EtOAc fraction corroborated their chemical compositions.
Proposal for personal mobility vehicle supported by mobility support system

We propose a personal mobility vehicle (PMV) supported by mobility support system (MSS), which expands the field of activities of PMV. This vehicle, which is called RT-Mover P-type 2, shows adequate mobility performance in urban area. A strength of it is that it realize both a leg mode and a wheel mode in a simple mechanism. In this paper, we introduce a whole system integrated with both PMV and MSS, and evaluate basic mobility performance by itself experimentally.
DNA methylation: the pivotal interaction between early-life nutrition and glucose metabolism in later life

Traditionally, it has been widely acknowledged that genes together with adult lifestyle factors determine the risk of developing some metabolic diseases such as insulin resistance, obesity and diabetes mellitus in later life. However, there is now substantial evidence that prenatal and early-postnatal nutrition play a critical role in determining susceptibility to these diseases in later life. Maternal nutrition has historically been a key determinant for offspring health, and gestation is the critical time window that can affect the growth and development of offspring. The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis proposes that exposures during early life play a critical role in determining the risk of developing metabolic diseases in adulthood. Currently, there are substantial epidemiological studies and experimental animal models that have demonstrated that nutritional disturbances during the critical periods of early-life development can significantly have an impact on the predisposition to developing some metabolic diseases in later life. The hypothesis that epigenetic mechanisms may link imbalanced early-life nutrition with altered disease risk has been widely accepted in recent years. Epigenetics can be defined as the study of heritable changes in gene expression that do not involve alterations in the DNA sequence. Epigenetic processes play a significant role in regulating tissue-specific gene expression, and hence alterations in these processes may induce long-term changes in gene function and metabolism that persist throughout the life course. The present review focuses on how nutrition in early life can alter the epigenome, produce different phenotypes and alter disease susceptibilities, especially for impaired glucose metabolism.