Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Current sickle cell disease management practices in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND Although Nigeria has the highest burden of sickle cell disease (SCD) worldwide, there is still variable and poor utilisation of standard-of-care practices for SCD patients in the country. METHODS This was a questionnaire survey of doctors in some dedicated SCD clinics in Nigeria in order to document the facilities available and common management practices. RESULTS There were responses from 18 clinics based in 11 institutions. The number of patients being followed in each centre ranged from 15 to approximately 11 000. All clinics provided malaria prophylaxis and folic acid routinely to their patients. Only eight clinics prescribe penicillin prophylaxis. Eight prescribe hydroxyurea to patients who can afford it when indicated. All of the centres except three have electronic cell counters, but all had access to haemoglobin electrophoresis. Three had high-performance liquid chromatography machines installed but none was being routinely used. One institution had a functioning molecular biology laboratory. There is no official newborn screening programme in the country. All had access to microbiology and chemistry laboratories. Nine institutions had CT, six had MRI and three had transcranial Doppler facilities. CONCLUSION The care available for SCD in Nigeria is still suboptimal and there is an urgent need for concerted effort to tackle the problem, but to make a significant impact on the burden of the disease would require more focus at the primary care level. Some steps to achieving this are outlined.
A simplified model for numerical simulation of laser metal deposition process with beam oscillation

A model of laser metal deposition with beam oscillation has been developed. The proposed model consists of two coupled sub-models calculating the heat transfer in the deposited part and the free surface of the molten pool, respectively. The heat transfer simulation of the deposited part solves a three-dimensional quasi-stationary heat conduction problem. The free surface of the molten pool are determined by solving the Laplace-Young equation. The developed model enables the layer-by-layer prediction of the shape of the deposited part and the resulting temperature field. It is shown that for an oscillation amplitude equal to the beam radius the peak value of the heat flux decreases by about 53% and 73% in the case of lateral oscillation and circular oscillation, respectively. Lateral oscillating laser beam results in a higher penetration depth due to the higher thermal efficiency. The amplitude of the laser beam oscillation effects the shape of the deposited wall and the deposition rate. A good correlation between the numerically calculated and experimentally observed results is obtained.
Pure single-photon emission from In(Ga)As QDs in a tunable fiber-based external mirror microcavity

Cavity quantum electrodynamics is widely used in many solid-state systems for improving quantum emitter performances or accessing specific physical regimes. For these purposes it is fundamental that the non-classical emitter, like a quantum dot or an NV center, matches the cavity mode, both spatially and spectrally. In the present work, we couple single photons stemming from In(Ga)As quantum dots into an open fiber-based Fabry–Pérot cavity. Such a system allows for reaching an optimal spatial and spectral matching for every present emitter and every optical transition, by precisely tuning the cavity geometry. In addition to that, the capability of deterministically and repeatedly locating a single quantum dot enables to compare the behavior of the quantum emitter inside the cavity with respect to before it is placed inside. The presented open-cavity system shows full flexibility by precisely tuning in resonance different QD transitions, namely excitons, biexcitons and trions. A measured Purcell enhancement of 4.4 ± 0.5 is obtained with a cavity finesse of about 140, while still demonstrating a single-photon source with vanishing multi-photon emission probability.
Association of cytokine genetic polymorphisms with the humoral immune response to recombinant vaccine against HBV in infants

The prevention of hepatitis B by vaccination is one the most efficient tools to avoid the transmission of the virus, although a considerable variability to the anti‐HBsAg antibody response has been described. Recently, polymorphisms of cytokine regulating genes have been described which seem to influence the immune response to various antigens. This article's objective was to evaluate the influence of cytokine genetic polymorphisms onto the humoral immune response to hepatitis B vaccine in infants. Vaccinated children were classified according to the level of anti‐HBsAg antibody titles. The genotyping for TNF (−308), TGFB1 (+869, +915), IL‐10 (−1082, −819, −592), IL‐6 (−174), and IFNG (+874) was accomplished by the PCR‐SSP technique. The TNF (−308) allele A presented a lower but not statistically significant frequency at 5% level in high responder patients (3.7% vs. 12.3%, P = 0.0919). The same was seen for the TNF (−308) genotype GA (7.4% vs. 24.5%, P = 0.0757). Further studies in other populations and evaluation of a greater number of individuals may contribute for a better understanding of the cytokine gene polymorphism influence in general and TNF polymorphism more specifically in the humoral immune response to the HBsAg vaccination in newborn children. J. Med. Virol. 82:929–933, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Attentional effects of gaze shifts are influenced by emotion and spatial frequency, but not in autism.

OBJECTIVE Impaired gaze following is an important hallmark of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in clinical settings. Yet, ASD subjects perform normally on laboratory tasks involving gaze shifts. We investigated this contradiction, hypothesizing that impaired gaze following in ASDs is not related to basic impairments in attention orienting but to impaired emotion perception and abnormal processing of spatial frequencies (i.e., local and global information). METHOD We tested 30 high-functioning, school-age children with ASDs and 30 age- and IQ-matched controls on a task involving gaze shifts that cue the location of targets. The cueing faces differed in emotionality and were filtered for different spatial frequencies. We recorded behavioral responses (reaction times) and brain responses (event-related potentials). RESULTS ASD subjects performed normally when neutral faces were used. However, emotional faces elicited modified face and gaze cue processing in control subjects, but not in the ASD subjects. Furthermore, the control group was biased toward the use of low spatial frequencies (global information) to process gaze cues, whereas the ASD group was biased toward the use of high spatial frequencies (local information). CONCLUSIONS We conclude that impaired gaze following in ASDs is related to impaired emotion processing. Moreover, ASD subjects show an abnormal reliance on local information to process gaze cues.
Steady progress toward a malaria vaccine

Purpose of review Great progress has been made in reducing malaria morbidity and mortality, yet the parasite continues to cause a startling 200 million infections and 500 000 deaths annually. Malaria vaccine development is pushing new boundaries by steady advancement toward a licensed product. Recent findings Despite 50 years of research, the complexity of Plasmoidum falciparum confounds all attempts to eradicate the organism. This very complexity has pushed the boundaries of vaccine development to new heights, yet it remains to be seen if an affordable vaccine can provide durable and high-level protection. Novel vaccines such as RTS,S/AS01E are on the edge of licensure, but old techniques have resurged with the ability to deliver vialed, whole organism vaccines. Novel adjuvants, multistage/multiantigen approaches and transmission blocking vaccines all contribute to a multipronged battle plan to conquer malaria. Summary Vaccines are the most cost-effective tools to control infectious diseases, yet the complexity of malaria has frustrated all attempts to develop an effective product. This review concentrates on recent advances in malaria vaccine development that lend hope that a vaccine can be produced and malaria eradicated.
MicroRNA therapeutics in cardiovascular medicine

Cardiovascular diseases are the most common causes of human morbidity and mortality despite significant therapeutic improvements by surgical, interventional and pharmacological approaches in the last decade. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important and powerful mediators in a wide range of diseases and thus emerged as interesting new drug targets. An array of animal and even human miRNA‐based therapeutic studies has been performed, which validate miRNAs as being successfully targetable to treat a wide range of diseases. Here, the current knowledge about miRNAs therapeutics in cardiovascular diseases on their way to clinical use are reviewed and discussed.
Connexin 32 is involved in mitosis

The X‐linked form of Charcot‐Marie‐Tooth disorder (CMTX) is the second most frequent type (15% of CMT forms). It involves the GJB1 gene coding for connexin 32, a protein involved in gap junction formation and function. There is no curative treatment for CMTX. We present data on transgenic lines that was accomplished by inserting a human BAC carrying the GJB1 gene, in which two different mutations in connexin 32 (Cx32) observed in patients were introduced. Investigation of these models implicated Cx32 in the control of mitotic stability. The model in which Gjb1 has been invalidated had the same phenotype. This new function for Cx32 was recently confirmed by results from the Mitocheck program. Locomotor impediment was seen in the behavior of these animals, the severity of which correlated with transgene copy number and RNA expression. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Current diagnosis and management of symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic disease.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Intracranial atherosclerotic disease (IAD) is likely the most common cause of stroke world-wide and is associated with a very high risk of recurrence. It results in cerebral ischemia due to a variety of mechanisms, including artery-to-artery embolism, hemodynamic failure, and occlusion of penetrating arteries. New imaging modalities focused on physiological consequences of IAD have become available and recent treatment trials have been completed. RECENT FINDINGS We review the traditional imaging modalities, emphasizing the advantages and limitations of each method, and discuss the novel physiological approaches that interrogate physiological process to indicate specific mechanisms of ischemia. These allow deeper understanding of the pathophysiological processes that underlie IAD-related ischemia. The key findings of recent therapeutic trials are reviewed, including the landmark randomized studies showing advantage of antiplatelet agents and risk factor modification, and a significant risk of complications with endovascular approaches. SUMMARY Current evidence argues for aggressive medical management and suggests caution with interventional treatments. We propose that mechanistic information will further refine the risk assessment of patients with IAD to offer targeted therapy.
Frame rate upconversion using pyramid structure and dense motion vector fields

Abstract. We propose a frame rate upconversion (FRUC) method using pyramid structures (PS) and dense motion vector fields (MVFs). In FRUC processes, performance is dominantly dependent on motion compensation, thus motion vectors (MVs) must be precisely estimated. Variable sizes of blocks and large search ranges are needed to estimate the MVs of large objects and large movements; however, we use PS and dense MVFs to estimate MVs for various conditions. In the PS, we first estimate MVs on level 0, which is the most reduced image in the PS (L-1 times downsampling), and MVs on the high levels are estimated except for pixels having large corresponding MVs on the lower levels. Integration of MVFs for all levels is followed by a vector median filter to remove noises. Finally, a motion compensated frame is interpolated by weight-overlapped block motion compensation.
Stroke is best managed by neurologists.

To the Editor: We read with great interest the Controversies in Stroke segment published in November, 2003, which discusses whether it is neurologists or internists who are most suited to manage stroke patients.1–3 Caplan, Lees, and Donnan set out the problem so clearly that there is little else we can do, we feel, but agree, on behalf of the Italian Study Group in Cerebrovascular Disease, the Italian Society of Neurology, and the Italian Society of Neurologists, Neurosurgeons, and Neuroradiologists, with all three authors. We agree with Donnan when he says that “stroke is a complex disease involving not only the brain,” just as we do with Lees when he says that “the deficit in stroke is neurological but the cause is vascular, complications are medical, and treatment should be multidisciplinary. ” It is also true that “stroke care is now managed in and out of dedicated stroke units. ” Consequently, how can we deny that “special skills are required” (Donnan), or that “stroke patients require holistic care, expertly delivered” (Lees)? Assuming that this is the problem, the solution is a highly complex one. We do need a strokologist, though not exclusively for …
A continuum damage mechanics-based approach for the high cycle fatigue behavior of metallic polycrystals

Polycrystalline elasto-plasticity models provide a general framework for investigating the effect of microstructural heterogeneities (e.g. grains, inclusions, pores) on the high cycle fatigue behavior of metallic materials. In this work, continuum damage mechanics is used to construct a set of constitutive relations to describe the progressive degradation of certain mechanical properties at the grain scale. The damage is considered to be coupled with the elastic behavior of the material. Special care is taken to include the anisotropic aspect of fatigue damage and the effect of intragranular internal stresses. The constitutive relations are then implemented within a self-consistent model to evaluate intergranular interactions. Finally, the model is used to investigate the high cycle fatigue behavior of polycrystalline copper. It is shown that the influence of certain loading conditions on the high cycle behavior is correctly reproduced. Specifically, the application of a mean shear stress does not result in an increase in damage; however, a mean normal stress is damaging. That is, a decrease in the fatigue resistance is predicted when the mean normal stress is increased.
How are insects responding to global warming

Global average surface temperature has increased by around 0.6 oC during the past century and will continue to rise in the future. Understanding how these changes in climate have affected biological systems has attracted a vast research effort during the last two decades. Here I review the existing empirical evidence of how insects have responded to these changes in climate, especially to the increases in temperature. Evidence provided here indicates that insects are good indicators of current human-driven climate change. They have responded to warming in all the predicted ways, from changes in phenology and distribution, to undergoing evolutionary changes albeit at the population level. Insects have also provided examples of how biodiversity and community structure is affected by current climate change. However, there are still many unknowns in our understanding of the detrimental and beneficial effects of climate change to biological systems. Future research needs to consider other climatic factors, geographic and taxonomic bias and the effect of individual responses on species interaction.
A Novel Evaluation Model of user Acceptance of Software Technology in Healthcare Sector

Effective evaluation of healthcare information systems is necessary in order to ensure systems adequately meet the requirements and information processing needs of the users and healthcare organisations. A number of studies have proposed evaluation frameworks to aid in evaluation work. However, some of them can be improved upon. This paper proposes a novel evaluation model to evaluate user acceptance of software technology within the healthcare sector. It describes the theoretical basis behind the development of the research model and methodology being employed to validate the model.
Estetski Intrakanalni Kolčići Esthetic Intracanal Posts

A successful clinical outcome of endodontically treated teeth depends on adequate root canal instrumentation (1,2) and three-dimensional obtuartion (3,4) as well as on adequate restorative treatment performed afterwards (5). The loss of more than a half of the coronal tooth structure, caused by caries, fracture or extensive cavity preparation, mandates the use of posts (6) as they provide restorations with enhanced retention and stability (7). Traditionally used metal posts do not meet the requirements of modern dental medicine, due to disadvantages such as color, corrosion potential, non-adhesive bonding and high modulus of elasticity which can lead to root fracture. In order to enhance the esthetic aspects, physical properties and biocompatibility, a wide range of esthetic posts have been developed and become commercially available. In addition to esthetic and health benefits, they hold the capacity of adhesive bonding to tooth tissue and core buildup and that potentiates the creating of the monoblock, a gapfree single unit in which the loading stresses are evenly distributed and borne by all the monoblock components (8).
Distributed under Creative Commons Cc-by 4.0 Virsorter: Mining Viral Signal from Microbial Genomic Data

Viruses of microbes impact all ecosystems where microbes drive key energy and substrate transformations including the oceans, humans and industrial fermenters. However, despite this recognized importance, our understanding of viral diversity and impacts remains limited by too few model systems and reference genomes. One way to fill these gaps in our knowledge of viral diversity is through the detection of viral signal in microbial genomic data. While multiple approaches have been developed and applied for the detection of prophages (viral genomes integrated in a microbial genome), new types of microbial genomic data are emerging that are more fragmented and larger scale, such as Single-cell Amplified Genomes (SAGs) of uncultivated organisms or genomic fragments assembled from metagenomic sequencing. Here, we present VirSorter, a tool designed to detect viral signal in these different types of microbial sequence data in both a reference-dependent and reference-independent manner, leveraging probabilistic models and extensive virome data to maximize detection of novel viruses. Performance testing shows that VirSorter's prophage prediction capability compares to that of available prophage predictors for complete genomes, but is superior in predicting viral sequences outside of a host genome (i.e., from extrachromosomal prophages, lytic infections, or partially assembled prophages). Furthermore, VirSorter outperforms existing tools for fragmented genomic and metagenomic datasets, and can identify viral signal in assembled sequence (contigs) as short as 3kb, while providing near-perfect identification (>95% Recall and 100% Precision) on contigs of at least 10kb. Because VirSorter scales to large datasets, it can also be used in " reverse " to more confidently identify viral sequence in viral metagenomes by sorting away cellular DNA whether derived from gene transfer agents, generalized transduction or contamination. Finally, VirSorter is made available through the iPlant Cyberinfrastructure that provides a web-based user interface interconnected with the required computing resources. VirSorter thus complements existing prophage prediction softwares to better leverage fragmented, SAG and metagenomic datasets in a way that will scale to modern sequencing. Given these features, VirSorter should enable the discovery of new viruses in microbial datasets, and further our understanding of uncultivated viral communities across diverse ecosystems.
Hybrid fuzzy neural-network control for nonlinear motor-toggle servomechanism

This study addresses the application of a hybrid fuzzy neural network control (HFNNC) system to control a nonlinear mechanism system. First, the design procedures of the proposed HFNNC system are described in detail. In the HFNNC system, a fuzzy neural network (FNN) controller is the main tracking controller, which is used to mimic a perfect control law, and a compensated controller is proposed to compensate the difference between the perfect control law and the FNN controller. Then, an online parameter training methodology, which is derived using the Lyapunov stability theorem and the gradient descent method, is proposed to increase the learning capability of the FNN. Moreover, a toggle mechanism, which is driven by a permanent magnet (PM) synchronous motor, is studied as an example to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control technique. The effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is verified by both the simulated and experimental results. In addition, the advantages of the proposed control system are indicated in comparison with the traditional computed torque control system.
Optimal power allocation in a multi-hop decode-and-forward communication system

This paper analyzes optimal power allocation schemes for a multi-hop decode-and-forward relay system in a Rayleigh fading environment at high signal-to-noise ratio. Analysis is done for two kinds of modulation schemes: M-ary phase-shift keying with coherent detection and orthogonal M-ary frequency-shift keying with noncoherent detection. An optimal power allocation scheme based on end-to-end symbol error probability is derived for asymmetric relay placement and it is found that for fixed asymmetric relay locations equal power allocation is not optimal. When we have global channel state information at each node, a scheme for optimal power allocation based on relay link quality is also derived. Simulation results for a multi-hop system with optimal power allocation show significant improvement in performance compared to those of a system with equal power allocation. The gap in performance increases further with increase in number of relay nodes.
Structural and Functional Characterization of Polyphenols Isolated from Acerola (Malpighia emarginata DC.) Fruit

Two anthocyanins, cyanidin-3-α-O-rhamnoside (C3R) and pelargonidin-3-α-O-rhamnoside (P3R), and quercitrin (quercetin-3-α-O-rhamnoside), were isolated from acerola (Malpighia emarginata DC.) fruit. These polyphenols were evaluated based on the functional properties associated with diabetes mellitus or its complications, that is, on the radical scavenging activity and the inhibitory effect on both α-glucosidase and advanced glycation end product (AGE) formation. C3R and quercitrin revealed strong radical scavenging activity. While the inhibitory profiles of isolated polyphenols except quercitrin towards α-glucosidase activity were low, all polyphenols strongly inhibited AGE formation.
Efficacy and safety of ruxolitinib in regularly transfused patients with thalassemia: results from a phase 2a study.

To the editor: Ineffective erythropoiesis is a key pathological feature in thalassemia and is the major perpetrator of profound anemia and hypoxia seen in these patients. [1][1][⇓][2]-[3][3] The inadequate tissue oxygenation in thalassemia sets up several compensatory mechanisms, including an