Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teaching medical students a clinical approach to altered mental status: simulation enhances traditional curriculum

Introduction Simulation-based medical education (SBME) is increasingly being utilized for teaching clinical skills in undergraduate medical education. Studies have evaluated the impact of adding SBME to third- and fourth-year curriculum; however, very little research has assessed its efficacy for teaching clinical skills in pre-clerkship coursework. To measure the impact of a simulation exercise during a pre-clinical curriculum, a simulation session was added to a pre-clerkship course at our medical school where the clinical approach to altered mental status (AMS) is traditionally taught using a lecture and an interactive case-based session in a small group format. The objective was to measure simulation's impact on students’ knowledge acquisition, comfort, and perceived competence with regards to the AMS patient. Methods AMS simulation exercises were added to the lecture and small group case sessions in June 2010 and 2011. Simulation sessions consisted of two clinical cases using a high-fidelity full-body simulator followed by a faculty debriefing after each case. Student participation in a simulation session was voluntary. Students who did and did not participate in a simulation session completed a post-test to assess knowledge and a survey to understand comfort and perceived competence in their approach to AMS. Results A total of 154 students completed the post-test and survey and 65 (42%) attended a simulation session. Post-test scores were higher in students who attended a simulation session compared to those who did not (p<0.001). Students who participated in a simulation session were more comfortable in their overall approach to treating AMS patients (p=0.05). They were also more likely to state that they could articulate a differential diagnosis (p=0.03), know what initial diagnostic tests are needed (p=0.01), and understand what interventions are useful in the first few minutes (p=0.003). Students who participated in a simulation session were more likely to find the overall AMS curriculum useful (p<0.001). Conclusion Students who participated in a simulation exercise performed better on a knowledge-based test and reported increased comfort and perceived competence in their clinical approach to AMS. SBME shows significant promise for teaching clinical skills to medical students during pre-clinical curriculum. To access the supplementary material to this article please see Supplementary files under Article Tools online
On closed loop rate control for ATM cell relay networks

A closed-loop, rate-based congestion control mechanism for ATM cell relay networks is presented. The goal of the congestion control mechanism is to guarantee the negotiated quality of service during overload conditions, and to allow a connection to exceed its negotiated throughput when there is unused capacity along its path through the network. With this control mechanism, the rate of an end system is adjusted based on both the network congestion state and whether its rate is within the negotiated parameters. The performance of this control mechanism for file transfer traffic is illustrated by results from simulations, Using a simple analytical model, the worst case buffer requirement and file transfer delay are analysed. From the analysis, conditions are derived for the rate increment, rate decrease factor and initial rate that minimize the buffer requirement and file transfer delay. From the analytical results, an adaptive rate reduction scheme is suggested to improve performance. <<ETX>>
Density Matrix Renormalization Group Approach to Nonequilibrium Phenomena

The density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) is a very accurate numerical technique developed to study strongly correlated many-body problems. A pedagogical exposition of the DMRG is provided, stressing its multiscaling character and the importance of a careful selection of the relevant degrees of freedom. The extension of the method to nonequilibrium phenomena is presented, and a probabilistic reaction-diffusion system is chosen as a relevant and didactically appropriate example of an application.
Beta Weights, Unit Weights, and other Weights

A simple example of the use of different weights with just two predictors was presented. The replacement of the beta weights by unit weights resulted in a very slight loss of predictive validity, and even the arbitrary reversal of the beta weights resulted in a smaller loss than might have been expected. A relationship demonstrated by Green was used to help explain these results. In many situations, it appears worthwhile to follow the approach taken here to determine how great a loss of predictive validity would result from the use of unit weights in place of beta weights.
Fuzzy Decision Tree Based Rule Extraction in Securities Analysis

While larger and larger pools of stock market data are available for investors, it is crucial for them to achieve the knowledge hidden behind and make the correct selections. The huge data amount, the variable data characteristic, and the noisy environment make this goal a great challenge. Using the model of fuzzy decision tree based rules extraction, a new set of fuzzy rules to select stocks with high returns is derived in this study. They are easy to comprehend and are proved to be efficient for picking these stocks. In performance evaluation, a portfolio is built for each year from year 1998 to year 2003 based on these rules. On average, the portfolio receives an annual return of 19.1%, much better than the average annual return, 5.8%, of the S&P 500 index.
Gold Nanostructures Prepared on Solid Surface

Up to now, many efforts have been made to produce smart materials with extraordinary properties usable in broad range of technological applications. In particular, within the last two decades, it has been demonstrated that properties of new prospective materials depend not only on their chemical composition but also on the dimensions of their building blocks which may consist of common materials [1,2].
Tax1 enhances cancer cell proliferation via Ras–Raf–MEK–ERK signaling pathway

Erbin is an ErbB2 binding protein, which belongs to the LAP (leucine‐rich repeat (LRR) and PDZ domain) protein family. We previously reported that Tax1, a protein of the human T‐cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV‐I), associated with Erbin by using Erbin PDZ domain as a bait to screen a human T lymphocyte cDNA library by a yeast two hybrid strategy. In the present study, we demonstrated that Tax1 enhances cancer cell proliferation via Ras–Raf–MEK–ERK signaling pathway by using molecular section strategy. The pull‐down assay showed that the four amino acid domain, that is, Tax1 350–353, might specifically interact with Erbin, but not any other Tax1 deletion mutants. The coimmunoprecipitation assay confirmed that Tax1 350–353 domain bound with Erbin in vivo. Functional study demonstrated that overexpresssion of Tax1 in cancer cell lines of liver cancer SMMC‐7721, colon cancer HCT‐116, and breast cancer MCF‐7 facilitated the cell proliferation. And the transfection of Tax1 353 in MCF‐7 cells with endogenous Erbin expression markedly increased phosphorylation of Ras, Raf, MEK1/2, ERK1/2, PI3K, and IκBα, suggesting that Tax1‐enhanced cell proliferation tracks Ras–Raf–MEK–ERK signaling pathway. © 2009 IUBMB IUBMB Life, 61(6): 685–692, 2009
Locus‐Specific Databases in Cancer: What Future in a Post‐Genomic Era? The TP53 LSDB paradigm

Locus‐specific databases (LSDBs) are curated compilations of sequence variants in genes associated with disease and have been invaluable tools for both basic and clinical research. These databases contain extensive information provided by the literature and benefit from manual curation by experts. Cancer genome sequencing projects have generated an explosion of data that are stored directly in centralized databases, thus possibly alleviating the need to develop independent LSDBs. A single cancer genome contains several thousand somatic mutations. However, only a handful of these mutations are truly oncogenic and identifying them remains a challenge. However, we can expect that this increase in data and the development of novel biocuration algorithms will ultimately result in more accurate curation and the release of stable sets of data. Using the evolution and content of the TP53 LSDB as a paradigm, it is possible to draw a model of gene mutation analysis covering initial descriptions, the accumulation and organization of knowledge in databases, and the use of this knowledge in clinical practice. It is also possible to make several assumptions on the future of LSDBs and how centralized databases could change the accessibility of data, with interfaces optimized for different types of users and adapted to the specificity of each region of the genome, coding or noncoding, associated with tumor development.
Sensitivity, Impact and Consequences of Changes in Respiratory Rate During Thermoregulation in Livestock – A Review

Abstract This review discusses the thermal conservative and heat dissipating roles of one of the most sensitive thermoregulatory variables (respiratory rate) with the aim of enhancing its application in evaluating both cold and heat adaptation. During cold exposure, livestock enhance the economy of body heat through reduction in respiratory rate with the extent of reduction being greater and commencing at relatively higher ambient temperature in poorly adapted phenotypes. This is accompanied by an increase in tidal volume and alveolar oxygen uptake, but a decrease in partial pressure of oxygen. On the other hand, heat stress induces increase in respiratory rate to enhance evaporative heat loss with the magnitude of such increase being greater and commencing at relatively lower ambient temperature in phenotypes that are poorly-adapted to heat. This is accompanied by a decrease in tidal volume and the development of hypocapnia. The increase in respiratory rate is observed to be greater, moderate and lesser in livestock that are mainly (pigs, rabbits and poultry), moderately (sheep, goats and Bos taurus) and less (Zebu cattle) dependent on respiratory evaporative heat loss, respectively. The changes during chronic heat stress may cause acid-base crisis in all livestock, in addition to reduction in eggshell quality in birds; due to marked decrease in partial pressure of carbon dioxide and a compensatory increase in elimination of bicarbonate. Within and between breed variations in sensitivity of respiratory rhythm to both cold and heat stress has shown high applicability in identifying phenotypes that are more susceptible to thermal stress; with some cellular and metabolic changes occurring to protect the animal from the consequences of hypo- or hyper-thermia. The information in this review may provide basis for identification of genes that support or suppress thermoregulation and may also be of great use in animal breeding, genomics and selective thermal stress mitigation to provide maximum protection and comfort to poorly-adapted phenotypes.
Long-term contribution to the myeloid compartment by lineage-committed stem cells.

The current paradigm concerning the kinetics of hematopoiesis is that only the most primitive pluripotential bone marrow stem cells can support prolonged hematopoiesis whereas more differentiated, lineage-committed stem cells can only contribute to a particular lineage for a limited period of time. In this study, we present evidence that in mice, the spleen contains a long-lived myeloid-committed stem cell population(s) that continuously replenishes the mature myeloid lineage for at least 9 months. After myeloid-specific retroviral-mediated gene transfer, the exogenous gene could be detected in thioglycollate-induced macrophages and granulocytes by Southern blot analysis and by in situ polymerase chain reaction on an individual cell basis. The targeted stem cell population does not repopulate the bone marrow in secondary recipients and did not give rise to cells other than cells of the myeloid lineage. It therefore represents the first nonpluripotential stem cell population capable of replenishing a hemopoietic lineage for a long period of time. The ability to target a myeloid-specific stem cell could facilitate gene therapy of congenital disorders of the myeloid system such as lysosomal storage diseases. It also offers a unique opportunity to assess the immunologic consequences of expressing an exogenous gene of choice exclusively in the myeloid lineage.
Matching on Proxy Variables

The method of matching critically relies on the assumption of conditional independence. When the conditioning variables are mismeasured, conditional independence does not hold for matching on measured variables, and matching estimators are biased. With multiple measurements on the mismeasured variables, average treatment e ects can be partially or fully identi ed using factor models, depending on the quality of the proxies. Traditional normalizations in factor analysis are not needed for identi ability.
A preliminary study of the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of crocin against gastric ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats

The aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effect of crocin on gastric mucosal lesions caused by ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats. Thirty-two male rats were randomly divided into sham, I/R, I/R + crocin pretreatment and crocin alone groups. To induce I/R lesions, the celiac artery was clamped for 30 min, and the clamp was then removed to allow reperfusion for 3 h. Crocin-pretreated rats received crocin (15 mg/kg, i.p.) 30 min prior to the induction of I/R injury. Samples of gastric mucosa were collected to quantify the protein expression of caspase-3, an apoptotic factor, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), a pro-inflammatory protein, by Western blot. Pretreatment with crocin decreased the total area of gastric lesions and decreased the protein expression levels of caspase-3 and iNOS induced by I/R injury. Our findings showed a protective effect of crocin in gastric mucosa against I/R injury. This effect of crocin was mainly mediated by reducing the protein expression of iNOS and caspase-3.
Components of the transcriptional Mediator complex are required for asymmetric cell division in C. elegans

Asymmetric cell division is a fundamental process that produces cellular diversity during development. In C. elegans, the Wnt signaling pathway regulates the asymmetric divisions of a number of cells including the T blast cell. We found that the let-19 and dpy-22 mutants have defects in their T-cell lineage, and lineage analyses showed that the defects were caused by disruption in the asymmetry of the T-cell division. We found that let-19 and dpy-22 encode homologs of the human proteins MED13/TRAP240 and MED12/TRAP230, respectively, which are components of the Mediator complex. Mediator is a multi-component complex that can regulate transcription by transducing the signals between activators and RNA polymerase in vitro. We also showed that LET-19 and DPY-22 form a complex in vivo with other components of Mediator, SUR-2/MED23 and LET-425/MED6. In the let-19 and dpy-22 mutants, tlp-1, which is normally expressed asymmetrically between the T-cell daughters through the function of the Wnt pathway, was expressed symmetrically in both daughter cells. Furthermore, we found that the let-19 and dpy-22 mutants were defective in the fusion of the Pn.p cell, a process that is regulated by bar-1/β-catenin. Ectopic cell fusion in bar-1 mutants was suppressed by the let-19 or dpy-22 mutations, while defective cell fusion in let-19 mutants was suppressed by lin-39/Hox mutations, suggesting that let-19 and dpy-22 repress the transcription of lin-39. These results suggest that LET-19 and DPY-22 in the Mediator complex repress the transcription of Wnt target genes.
Enhancing the stability of xylanase from Cellulomonas fimi by cell‐surface display on Escherichia coli

Aims: The cell‐surface display of Cex, which encodes xylanase and exoglucanase from Cellulomonas fimi, was constructed on Escherichia coli using PgsA as the anchor protein. Characterization of the cell‐surface display of Cex was performed.
Endothelial nitric oxide deficiency promotes Alzheimer's disease pathology

Aging and the presence of cerebrovascular disease are associated with increased incidence of Alzheimer's disease. A common feature of aging and cerebrovascular disease is decreased endothelial nitric oxide (NO). We studied the effect of a loss of endothelium derived NO on amyloid precursor protein (APP) related phenotype in late middle aged (LMA) (14–15 month) endothelial nitric oxide synthase deficient (eNOS−/−) mice. APP, β‐site APP cleaving enzyme (BACE) 1, and amyloid beta (Aβ) levels were significantly higher in the brains of LMA eNOS−/− mice as compared with LMA wild‐type controls. APP and Aβ1‐40 were increased in hippocampal tissue of eNOS−/− mice as compared with wild‐type mice. LMA eNOS−/− mice displayed an increased inflammatory phenotype as compared with LMA wild‐type mice. Importantly, LMA eNOS−/− mice performed worse in a radial arm maze test of spatial learning and memory as compared with LMA wild‐type mice. These data suggest that chronic loss of endothelial NO may be an important contributor to both Aβ related pathology and cognitive decline.
CURRENT TRENDS IN NIOSOME AS VESICULAR DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM

Design and development of novel drug delivery system (NDDS) has two prerequisites. First, it should deliver the drug in accordance with a predetermined rate and second it should release therapeutically effective amount of drug at the site of action. Conventional dosage forms are unable to meet these requisites. Niosomes are essentially non-ionic surfactant-based multilamellar or unilamellar vesicles in which an aqueous solution of solute is entirely enclosed by a membrane resulting from the organisation of surfactant macromolecules as bilayer. They improve the therapeutic performance of the drug molecules by delayed clearance from the circulation, protecting the drug from biological environment and restricting effects to target cells. This article focuses on the recent advances in niosomal drug delivery, potential advantages over other delivery systems, formulation methods, methods of characterization and the current research in the field of niosomes.
Designing and Implementing a Diversity Policy for Intrusion-Tolerant Systems

SUMMARY Research on intrusion-tolerant systems (ITSs) is being conducted to protect critical systems which provide useful information services. To provide services reliably, these critical systems must not have even a single point of failure (SPOF). Therefore, most ITSs employ redundant components to eliminate the SPOF problem and improve system reliability. However, systems that include identical components have common vulnerabilities that can be exploited to attack the servers. Attackers prefer to exploit these common vulnerabilities rather than general vulnerabilities because the former might provide an opportunity to compromise several servers. In this study, we analyze software vulnerability data from the National Vulnerability Database (NVD). Based on the analysis results, we present a scheme that ﬁnds software combinations that minimize the risk of common vulnerabilities. We implement this scheme with CSIM20, and simulation results prove that the proposed scheme is appropriate for a recovery-based intrusion tolerant architecture.
Efficient 3D Model based Face Representation and Recognition Algorithm using Pixel-to-Vertex Map (PVM)

A 3D model based approach for a face representation and recognition algorithm has been investigated as a robust solution for pose and illumination variation. Since a generative 3D face model consists of a large number of vertices, a 3D model based face recognition system is generally inefficient in computation time and complexity. In this paper, we propose a novel 3D face representation algorithm based on a pixel to vertex map (PVM) to optimize the number of vertices. We explore shape and texture coefficient vectors of the 3D model by fitting it to an input face using inverse compositional image alignment (ICIA) to evaluate face recognition performance. Experimental results show that the proposed face representation and recognition algorithm is efficient in computation time while maintaining reasonable accuracy.
Surface acoustic wave microfluidic device

Microfluidic systems can be implemented for miniaturization of chemical and biological processes on a sub- millimeter scale. In this study, Surface Acoustic Waves (SAW) was used to actuate small droplet (from 2 to 20 µl) on planar surface of a piezoelectric substrate. In order to improve the droplet displacements, an hydrophobic film was deposited on the LiNbO3 substrate. We have deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition a-CFX film. All those films were compared to a spin coated PVDF, the best hydrophobic film was realised for PG= 100W and PR=400mT. This film have a sliding force around 85 µN. We studied the effect of different viscosities by using water/glycerol mixtures. This device propelled a water droplet at 40 mm/s, while the velocity of a glycerol droplet will not exceed 2 mm/s. The study of the droplet motion by a high- speed acquisition camera demonstrate a periodical phenomenon at a frequency of 120 Hz for pure water.
Journal editors must play their part in checking timing of clinical trial registration

Clinical trial registration is pivotal to understanding the research landscape and for ensuring research accountability. But what do we do when protocols to ensure public access to information are in place but chains of responsibility fail? Prospective clinical trial registration is mandated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ (ICMJE) uniform requirements for manuscripts as a pre-condition for publication.1 …
Treatment outcome and prognostic factors for infants with acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated on two consecutive trials of the Children's Cancer Group.

PURPOSE Infants represent a very poor risk group for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We report treatment outcome for such patients treated with intensive therapy on consecutive Children's Cancer Group (CCG) protocols. PATIENTS AND METHODS Between 1984 and 1993, infants with newly diagnosed ALL were enrolled onto CCG-107 (n = 99) and CCG-1883 (n = 135) protocols. Postconsolidation therapy was more intensive on CCG-1883. On both studies, prophylactic treatment of the CNS included both high-dose systemic chemotherapy and intrathecal therapy, in contrast to whole-brain radiotherapy, which was used in earlier studies. RESULTS Most patients (>95%) achieved remission with induction therapy. The most frequent event was a marrow relapse (46 patients on CCG-107 and 66 patients on CCG- 1883). Four-year event-free survival was 33% (SE = 4.7%) on CCG-107 and 39% (SE = 4.2%) on CCG- 1883. Both studies represent an improvement compared with a 22% (SE = 5.1%) event-free survival for historical controls. Four-year cumulative probabilities of any marrow relapse or an isolated CNS relapse were, respectively, 49% (SE = 5%) and 9% (SE = 3%) on CCG-107 and 50% (SE = 5%) and 3% (SE = 2%) on CCG-1883, compared with 63% (SE = 6%) and 5% (SE = 3%) for the historical controls. Independent adverse prognostic factors were age less than 3 months, WBC count of more than 50,000/microL, CD10 negativity, slow response to induction therapy, and presence of the translocation t(4;11). CONCLUSION Outcome for infants on CCG-107 and CCG- 1883 improved, compared with historical controls. Marrow relapse remains the primary mode of failure. Isolated CNS relapse rates are low, indicating that intrathecal chemotherapy combined with very-high-dose systemic therapy provides adequate protection of the CNS. The overall unsatisfactory outcome observed for the infant ALL population warrants the future use of novel alternative therapies.