Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is dyslipidemia sustained during remission of nephrotic syndrome genetically determined? Evaluation of genetic polymorphisms of proteins involved in lipoprotein metabolism in children and adolescents with nephrotic syndrome.

INTRODUCTION In same patients lipid profile disturbances persist during nephrotic syndrome remission. OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of the genetic polymorphisms of proteins involved in lipoprotein metabolism on persistent abnormal lipid profile in patients with nephrotic syndrome during remission. PATIENTS AND METHODS 50 patients aged between 5.8 and 16.6 years (mean age 10.45 +/- 3.04) with nephrotic syndrome in remission of at least 8 weeks' duration, including 12 steroid-resistant and 38 steroid-dependent cases, participated in the study. We evalauated associations between lipid profile and genetic polymorphisms, V771M, V8251, and R1587K of the gene encoding the cassette ABCA1 (adenosine triphosphate binding cassette transporter A1) protein synthesis, a E3 polymorphism of the gene encoding the type upsilon of apolipoprotein E (apoE) synthesis and that of the gene encoding the cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) synthesis. RESULTS Dyslipidemia was observed in 10/13 (76.9%) patients with V8251 polymorphism vs. 27/37 (73%) of non-carriers, and in 16/21 (76.2%) patients with R1587K polymorphism vs. 21/29 (72.4%) in the remaining subjects. V771M polymorphism was found only in 2 (4%) patients and one subject had abnormal lipid profile. In the presence of CETP gene polymorphism, hiperlipoproteinemia was detected in 22/31 (71%) vs. 15/19 (78.9%) in the remaining cases. The epsilon3epsilon3 apoE genotype (observed most commonly in the healthy population) was found in the majority (n=35; 70%) of patients. This genotype was also seen in most patients with abnormal serum lipid profile (in 26/37; 70.3%). Analysis of the whole population (ANOVA) did not show significant correlations between parameters of lipid profile and any of the polymorphisms studied. CONCLUSIONS The study did not confirm associations between genetic polymorphisms of ABCA1 transporter, CETP and apoE and abnormal serum lipid profile during remission of nephrotic syndrome.
The Power of Stereotypes: A Labeling Exercise

The labeling exercise is a classroom activity that enables students to explore stereotyping processes relevant to the perceiver and the target of stereotypes. Students are assigned stereotypical trait descriptors and, within the context of a specific task, are asked to treat each other according to those descriptors. This exercise provides an engaging introduction to the topic of social perception and encourages discussion of approaches to prejudice reduction. This exercise is appropriate for courses exploring issues of stigma or intergroup relations, including introductory psychology, social psychology, abnormal psychology, educational psychology, and psychology of gender. Evaluation data indicate consistently favorable ratings of this exercise.
University of Marburg at TRECVID 2005: Shot Boundary Detection and Camera Motion Estimation Results

In this paper, we summarize our results in the shot boundary task and the low-level feature task at TRECVID 2005. The low-level feature task was to retrieve the shots in which one of the following camera motion events was present: pan, tilt and zoom. An unsupervised approach to detect shot boundaries, aimed at minimizing the impact of parameter settings, is presented (4). Frame dissimilarities are measured by motion compensated pixel differences of subsequent DC-frames and histogram intersection of DC-frames for several frame distances. A feature vector consists of the dissimilarity value and its ratio to the maximum neighbor value within a sliding window. K-means clustering is used for both cut detection and gradual transition detection. For cut detection, the best sliding window size is estimated by evaluating the clustering quality of the "cuts" cluster for several window sizes. Furthermore, we investigate whether an ensemble of classifiers improves the cut detection performance. For this purpose, the unsupervised learning approach is extended by two classifiers: an Adaboost-based classifier and a Support Vector Machine (SVM). These classifiers were trained on the TRECVID 2004 shot boundary test set. To retrieve shots with camera motion events, we have modified a previously presented approach to camera motion (5). MPEG motion vectors are utilized to estimate the rotation and zoom parameters in a 3D-camera model. However, since motion vectors are optimal with respect to compression, many of them often do not model "real" motion adequately and can thus be considered as "outliers". Furthermore, we exclude motion vectors at the frame border and motion vectors in the middle of a frame since often (moving) objects of interest are captured in this frame area. Finally, the motion parameters must exceed a threshold for several frames to be considered as camera motion.
Automatically Predicting Sentence Translation Difficulty

In this paper we introduce Translation Difficulty Index (TDI), a measure of difficulty in text translation. We first define and quantify translation difficulty in terms of TDI. We realize that any measure of TDI based on direct input by translators is fraught with subjectivity and adhocism. We, rather, rely on cognitive evidences from eye tracking. TDI is measured as the sum of fixation (gaze) and saccade (rapid eye movement) times of the eye. We then establish that TDI is correlated with three properties of the input sentence, viz. length (L), degree of polysemy (DP) and structural complexity (SC). We train a Support Vector Regression (SVR) system to predict TDIs for new sentences using these features as input. The prediction done by our framework is well correlated with the empirical gold standard data, which is a repository of and TDI pairs for a set of sentences. The primary use of our work is a way of “binning” sentences (to be translated) in “easy”, “medium” and “hard” categories as per their predicted TDI. This can decide pricing of any translation task, especially useful in a scenario where parallel corpora for Machine Translation are built through translation crowdsourcing/outsourcing. This can also provide a way of monitoring progress of second language learners.
Accepted for Publication in Ieee Transactions on Image Processing Hex-splines: a Novel Spline Family for Hexagonal Lattices

This paper proposes a new family of bivariate, non-separable splines, called hex-splines, especially designed for hexagonal lattices. The starting point of the construction is the indicator function of the Voronoi cell, which is used to define in a natural way the first-order hex-spline. Higher order hex-splines are obtained by successive convolutions. A mathematical analysis of this new bivariate spline family is presented. In particular, we derive a closed form for a hex-spline of arbitrary order. We also discuss important properties, such as their Fourier transform and the fact they form a Riesz basis. We also highlight the approximation order. For conventional rectangular lattices, hex-splines revert to classical separable tensor-product B-splines. Finally, some prototypical applications and experimental results demonstrate the usefulness of hex-splines for handling hexagonally sampled data.
Novel and known MYOC exon 3 mutations in an admixed Peruvian primary open-angle glaucoma population

Purpose The aim of this study was to characterize a representative sample of the Peruvian population suffering open-angle glaucoma (OAG) with respect to the myocilin gene (MYOC) mutations, glaucoma phenotype, and ancestry for future glaucoma risk assessment. Methods DNA samples from 414 unrelated Peruvian subjects, including 205 open-angle glaucoma cases (10 juvenile glaucoma [JOAG], 19 normal-tension glaucoma [NTG], and 176 POAG) and 209 randomly sampled controls, were screened for nucleotide changes in MYOC exon 3 by conformational sensitive gel electrophoresis (CSGE) and mutation screening. Results We identified a probable causative novel MYOC missense mutation, Gly326Ser, in one POAG case and found a consistent genotype-phenotype correlation in eight of his relatives. We also found the known causative MYOC mutation Trp286Arg in one JOAG case and one POAG case. A known causative single base MYOC deletion, T1357, was found in one POAG case. Two previously reported silent polymorphisms, Thr325Thr and Tyr347Tyr, were found in both the case and the control populations. A novel missense variant, Met476Arg, was identified in two unrelated controls. Conclusions The screening of exon 3 of MYOC in a representative sample of 205 independent POAG patients from Peru and 209 matched controls identified novel and previously reported mutations (both pathogenic and nonpathogenic) from other global regions. These results reflect the complex admixture of Amerindian and Old World ancestry in urban populations of Latin America, in general, and in Peru, in particular. It will be important to gather information about the ancestral origin of MYOC and other POAG gene mutations to develop screening panels and risk assessment for POAG in Peru.
New College Hierarchies?

This article reports on the findings of a research project aimed at establishing what form of organisational structures have been adopted within Further Education (FE) colleges in England and Wales five years after incorporation and their removal from local education authority control. Colleges, like other public sector organisations, have been adapting to their new and changing external environment and to the demands for greater efficiency and higher standards of service. The article describes the new type of organisational structure and discusses the influences that have contributed to its development. It draws on the organisational development models of markets, hierarchies and clans, widely associated with the work of William Ouchi, as a framework with which to examine the dominant structure within the sector.
The Comparison Study between the US and Japan on the Sense of Security, Anshin, with Non-Computer-Science Students

Traditional research on security and safety has been based on the assumption that a user feels secure and safe when one provides the user with secure and safe systems and services. In this research we look into the user's subjective feeling, the sense of security, called Anshin in the Japanese language. This paper reports our empirical study on a comparison between non-computer-science students in the US and Japan on their sense of security. We administered a questionnaire survey on the sense of security. Using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), we have identified four factors contributing to the sense of security both in Japan and in the U.S. We find that the students in the U.S. and Japan have two common factors, user interface and cognitive trust in the integrity and competence of the system and service providers.
Rater Correction Processes in Applicant Selection Using Videoconference Technology: The Role of Attributions1

Increasing global competition for the best employees has resulted in a significant increase in the recruiting and selection of geographically dispersed applicants. Innovative telecommunication technologies (e.g., videoconferencing) have provided a means to interview distant applicants at relatively low cost, compared to face-to-face interviews. However, some have suggested that interviewer ratings could be affected by the use of communication media to conduct the interview. In the present laboratory study, we tested a model of rater decision processes to help explain a mechanism for inflated ratings of videoconference-based applicants. Participants who believed that they were making judgments for a real selection process rated simulated videoconference or face-to-face interviews. Raters who perceived interview media to be lower in richness were more likely to make external attributions for the applicant's performance, and consequently rated him more favorably.
Status Characteristics and Social Interaction: An Expectation-States Approach

The slide fastener serves to adjustably connect a first waistband section and a second waistband section, which overlaps said first waistband section on the outside thereof. A plastics material guide rail is adapted to be secured to said first waistband section. A slide buckle is adapted to be secured to said second waistband section and comprises a base part in guided engagement with and slidable along said guide rail and an eccentric clamping member disposed on the outside of and pivoted to said base part. A fabric strip overlies said rail on the outside thereof throughout its length and extends between said base part and said eccentric clamping member and has opposite ends adapted to be sewn to said second waistband section. Said eccentric clamping member is operable to releasably clamp said strip against said base part in any desired position thereof along said rail.
A randomized, controlled, double-blind, crossover trial of zonisamide in myoclonus-dystonia

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of zonisamide in patients with myoclonus-dystonia. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial of zonisamide (300 mg/d) in 24 patients with myoclonus-dystonia. Each treatment period consisted of a 6-week titration phase followed by a 3-week fixed-dose phase. The periods were separated by a 5-week washout period. The co–primary outcomes were action myoclonus severity (section 4 of the Unified Myoclonus Rating Scale [UMRS 4]) and myoclonus-related functional disability (UMRS 5). Secondary outcomes included dystonia severity, assessed with the movement and disability subscales of the Burke-Fahn-Marsden-Dystonia Rating Scale (BFM), the Clinical Global Impression–Improvement scale (CGI), and safety measures. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for paired data were used to analyze treatment effects. Results: Twenty-three patients (11 men, 12 women) were analyzed in the intention-to-treat analysis. Zonisamide significantly improved both action myoclonus (median improvement [95% confidence limits] −5 [−9.25 to −1.44], p = 0.003) and myoclonus-related functional disability (median improvement [95% confidence limits] −2 [−2.58 to −2.46], p = 0.007) compared to placebo. Zonisamide also significantly improved dystonia (BFM movement) compared to placebo (median improvement [95% confidence limits] −3 [−8.46 to 0.03], p = 0.009). No difference was found between zonisamide and placebo with respect to the CGI (median improvement [95% confidence limits] −1 [−1.31 to 0.09], p = 0.1). Zonisamide was well-tolerated. Conclusions: Zonisamide is well-tolerated and effective on the motor symptoms of myoclonus-dystonia. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class I evidence that zonisamide improves myoclonus and related disability in patients with myoclonus-dystonia.
Children's Use of Brand Symbolism: A Consumer Culture Theory Approach

Purpose – The paper seeks to offer a critique of the Piagetian developmental cognitive psychology model which dominates research into children and brand symbolism, and to propose consumer culture theory as an alternative approach. The paper also aims to present the design and interpretation of an empirical study into the roles brands play in the everyday lives of junior school children, which demonstrates the richness of this alternative framework.Design/methodology/approach – The key literature on children and brand symbolism is reviewed and the main concepts from consumer culture theory are introduced. A two‐stage qualitative study involving 148 children aged 7‐11 is designed using group discussions and a novel cork‐board sorting exercise. Findings from group discussions with 56 children in stage 2 of the study are analysed from a consumer culture theory perspective.Findings – The analysis focuses on two aspects of the ways in which children use brand symbols in their everyday lives: their fluid interpr.
Authors semantic disambiguation on heterogeneous bibliographic sources

Data ambiguity from various sources remains as a complex problem that affects services provided by digital libraries. From the point of view of integration of information from different sources, the challenge of author ambiguity is one of the most important, and there are numerous methods proposed to deal with this issue using different approaches. They generally work for some scenarios but they have important limitations, specially when dealing with heterogeneous sources. In this work, we review a group of existing methods and then propose a technique that combines some of them, also incorporating a measure of distance using semantic technologies to solve the ambiguity of authors while integrating bibliographic data from various sources. This technique has been successfully tested in disambiguating Ecuadorian authors from both internal sources (institutional repositories) and external digital libraries.
Psychiatric diagnosis: what the recovery movement can offer the DSM-5 revision process

Many developments in the understanding of mental disorders are reflected in the ways in which the DSM has evolved through its different editions over the years. Within the context of the upcoming publishing of the DSM-5, and particularly in relation to people diagnosed with schizophrenia and psychosis, the purposes of the present paper are to: (a) briefly review the central developments of the DSM over time; (b) challenge the current role of the DSM as a classification manual in light of recent developments in psychiatric rehabilitation; (c) discuss the role of personal experience and subjectivity in the diagnostic process; and (d) offer suggestions as to how the DSM-5 can benefit from the recent tenets and findings of psychiatric rehabilitation. We claim that developments in the field of psychiatric rehabilitation, and its vision of recovery, do not yet find expression in the current DSM edition. We believe that it is important to update future versions of the manual with the findings and developments which have occurred in this field over the last several decades in order to improve diagnosis, treatment, and patient outcomes in mental health.
A Novel Approach for XML Query Optimization

Extensible Markup Language (XML) has gained importance in web and middleware development from the end of last millennium. It is write-it-yourself markup language that one uses to describe data and it allows for more precise structuring of that data than is possible with more rigid markup language. XML is the product of the world wide web consortium, W3C. As XML is involved in the access of information, the intermediate processing on XML should not be the bottleneck to deteriorate the performance of the data access. The choice data structure to represent the XML document is a tree. Twig pattern matching on XML trees is core operation for optimal evaluation of XML queries. But optimality of any pattern matching algorithm depends on labeling scheme applied to the logical tree of XML document on which twig pattern is to be matched. Most of existing labeling schemes computes the labels by traversing the logical tree of XML document in some order which is considered for prediction of relationship such as P-C and A-D between the elements.Proposed labeling scheme is designed to reduce the space requirement without compromising the speed of execution. Key terms Encoding, Labeling, Pattern Matching, Semi-structured Data, Twig, XPath
Symptomatic and proven de novo amyloid polyneuropathy in familial amyloid polyneuropathy domino liver recipients

D. Adams, C. Lacroix, T. Antonini, P. Lozeron, C. Denier, A. M. Kreib, S. Epelbaum, F. Blandin, V. Karam, D. Azoulay, R. Adam, D. Castaing, & D. Samuel 1,3,5,6,7 French Reference Center for FAP, Université Paris Sud, Paris, France, Department of Neurology, CHU Bicetre, Paris, France, Univ Paris Sud 11, Paris, France, INSERM U788, Universite Paris Sud, Paris, France, APHP, Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France, CHU Paul Brousse, Centre HepatoBiliaire, Villejuif, France, and INSERM U785 Villejuif, Paris
Association of the NOD2 genotype with bacterial translocation via altered cell–cell contacts in Crohn's disease patients

Background: Recent insights into the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease (CD) point to an important role of the mucosal barrier and intestinal microflora that may induce a chronic inflammation after crossing the intestinal barrier. The first detected susceptibility gene for CD, NOD2, is a pattern recognition receptor (PRR) for the recognition of the bacterial cell wall component muramyldipeptide (MDP). Binding of MDP to NOD2 is followed by activation of proinflammatory pathways mainly regulated by nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐&kgr;B). In this study we investigated whether impaired recognition of MDP via NOD2 variants is associated with increased bacterial translocation across the epithelial barrier and whether this is followed by increased or decreased NF‐&kgr;B activation. Methods: NOD2 variants were analyzed in 36 CD patients and 30 controls. Endotoxin was stained by immunohistochemistry in 30 intestinal biopsies from patients carrying NOD2 variants (NOD2‐mut) or being NOD2 wildtype (WT). Junctional proteins were visualized by immunofluorescence and quantified by Western blotting. NF‐&kgr;B activation was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in specimens from NOD2‐WT and NOD2‐mut CD and control patients. Results: We demonstrated the increased presence of endotoxin in the mucosal lamina propria of CD patients carrying NOD2 variants. This was associated with an altered composition of epithelial cell–cell contacts. Patients carrying NOD2 variants displayed increased NF‐&kgr;B activation in the mucosa. Conclusions: This study for the first time demonstrates that translocation of luminal bacteria and/or bacterial products into the intestinal mucosa is increased in patients carrying NOD2 variants, leading to higher activation of proinflammatory signaling cascades. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2010)
Aging of the murine immune system is reflected by declining ability to generate antibodies that promote elimination of Trypanosoma musculi.

Trypanosoma musculi established extracellular infections in aged BC3F1 and C57BL/6 mice that were approximately 10 times greater and twice as long in duration as those in young adult mice. Elimination of T. musculi infections was found to be an antibody-dependent, cell-mediated process involving effector (presumably phagocytic) cells in the liver and, to a lesser extent, the spleen. A major difference between young and aged mice of the C57BL/6 strain was the deficiency in the ability of aged animals to generate antibodies of appropriate specificity and/or isotype in sufficient amount to promote trypanosome elimination. Indeed, at the time when infected young-adult mice began to produce antibodies that facilitated rapid trypanosome clearance (in young adult, but not in aged animals), the serum of aged mice was found to contain substances that inhibited parasite clearance. Overall, however, the development of antibodies of different isotypes, capable of reacting with intact trypanosomes, was about the same in young and aged animals. Hepatic and splenic effector cells of old mice were at least as efficient as those of young adults. The immunoblotting procedure was used to try to detect trypanosome Ag against which aged animals failed to generate antibodies of one or more isotypes. The complexity of the reactions of infected mouse serum antibodies with the spectrum of trypanosome Ag precluded a precise analysis. However, it was apparent that a delay in the appearance of antibodies of IgG2a and IgG2b isotypes, against Ag of relatively high m.w. , was typical of aged, in comparison to young, mice. More exacting analyses, involving fractionated trypanosome extracts and mAb of varying isotypes, are underway to identify key trypanosome Ag that elicit antibodies of isotypes that can facilitate hepatic and splenic clearance of the parasites. This line of investigation will provide information that, in addition to its intrinsic interest, may be vital in judging the future impact of endemic parasitic infections on the emerging cohort of elderly persons in developing tropical nations.