Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection of viral DNA in vestibular ganglia tissue from patients with Menière's disease.

OBJECTIVE The main goal of this study was to examine the vestibular ganglia from 11 patients with intractable classic Menière's disease (MD) for the presence or absence of DNA from three neurotropic viruses (herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus, and varicella zoster virus) using exquisitely sensitive molecular biologic techniques. STUDY DESIGN This was a prospective controlled study with vestibular ganglia from patients with MD and from patients with small vestibular schwannomas undergoing resection. Polymerase chain reaction was used for viral DNA detection from the ganglia along with known positive and negative polymerase chain reaction control subjects. SETTING The study was performed in an academic tertiary referral center. PATIENTS Patients for inclusion had medically uncontrolled MD, including documented fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss, episodic vertigo, and tinnitus who elected to undergo vestibular nerve section. Control patients were undergoing vestibular schwannoma removal. INTERVENTIONS The intervention was vestibular nerve section with removal of vestibular ganglion. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The presence or absence of viral DNA (herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus, and varicella zoster virus) in vestibular ganglion tissues detected by polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS No viral DNA was detected in the vestibular ganglia of patients with MD (p = 0.028) nor in the control group. The likelihood of a type II or beta type error was < 10%. CONCLUSIONS In patients with MD requiring surgical intervention, infection with herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus, or varicella zoster virus of the vestibular ganglia does not appear to play a major role in the pathoetiology of the disease.
Helicobacter pylori infection affects immune responses following vaccination of typhoid-naive U.S. adults with attenuated Salmonella typhi oral vaccine CVD 908-htrA.

BACKGROUND We examined the association between Helicobacter pylori infection and the immune response following oral immunization of US adults with attenuated Salmonella Typhi vaccine CVD 908-htrA. METHODS Baseline sera from 74 volunteers without a history of typhoid fever who were immunized orally with CVD 908-htrA were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for immunoglobin G (IgG) antibodies to H. pylori, hepatitis A antibodies (a marker of low socioeconomic status and exposure to enteric infections), and pepsinogen (PG) I and II levels (measures of gastric inflammation). IgG against S. Typhi lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O and flagella was measured before and 28 days following immunization; a ≥4-fold increase in titer from baseline constituted seroconversion. RESULTS Seroconversion of S. Typhi IgG LPS antibodies was significantly higher among vaccinees infected with H. pylori versus uninfected subjects: adjusted odds ratio (OR) 3.8, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.1-12.6 (P = .03). A low PG I:PG II ratio (<5), indicating more advanced corpus gastritis, increased the odds of seroconversion of IgG S. Typhi flagella antibody (adjusted OR 6.4, 95% CI, 1.3-31.4; P = .02). Hepatitis A infection did not influence the immune response to CVD 908-htrA. CONCLUSIONS H. pylori infection and gastric inflammation may enhance humoral immunity to oral attenuated S. Typhi vaccine.
Structural and functional studies of the measles virus hemagglutinin: identification of a novel site required for CD46 interaction.

The entry of measles virus (MV) into human cells is mediated by the initial attachment of the viral hemagglutinin (HA) to the complement regulatory protein CD46. Two subdomains, one each within CD46 short consensus repeats (SCRs) 1 and 2, are responsible for this interaction. However, little is known about the regions within MV HA needed for a high-affinity CD46 interaction. To better define the HA-CD46 interaction, we took three approaches: chimeric domain swapping, peptide scanning, and alanine scanning mutagenesis. Chimeras of MV HA and the closely related rinderpest virus (RPV) HA were generated and tested for cell surface expression and the ability to hemadsorb CD46+ red blood cells (RBC). Exchanges with the N terminus of RPV were tolerated as MV HA could be replaced with RPV HA up to amino-acid position 154. However, both larger swaps with RPV and a small RPV HA replacement at the C terminus aborted cell-surface expression. Peptide scanning with 51 overlapping peptides derived from three MV HA regions showed one peptide, corresponding to MV HA amino acids 468-487, blocked hemagglutination of African green monkey (AGM) RBCs and inhibited MV infection of Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO) expressing human CD46. Alanine scanning mutants mapped sites on the MV HA that were not required for trafficking to the cell surface or function in hemagglutination as well as a novel site required for CD46 interaction, amino acids 473-477.
A multi-objective approach based on TOPSIS to solve the image segmentation combination problem

Recently, there has been renewed interest in the fusion of image segmentation. However, previous relevant research has been impeded by the lack of an appropriate single segmentation criterion, which yields an improved final segmentation result. This paper proposes a new framework to tackle this problem. It is based on multi-objective optimization strategy, followed by a decision making technique called: technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). This new fusion framework aims to overcome the limits caused by using a single criterion by combining and optimizing, simultaneously, two different and complementary segmentation criteria; namely, the global consistency error (GCE) (region-based criterion) and the F-measure (edge-based criterion). This new multi-criterion fusion framework is validated on the Berkeley image dataset and compared to different segmentation algorithms (with or without fusion strategy). Experiments show that the results of our new multi-objective approach improve the state of the art in terms of popular indices.
Physical activity monitoring in extremely obese adolescents from the Teen-LABORATORIES study.

BACKGROUND The accuracy of physical activity (PA) monitors to discriminate between PA, sedentary behavior, and nonwear in extremely obese (EO) adolescents is unknown. METHODS Twenty-five subjects (9 male/16 female; age = 16.5 ± 2.0 y; BMI = 51 ± 8 kg/m2) wore 3 activity monitors (StepWatch [SAM], Actical [AC], Actiheart [AH]) during a 400-m walk test (400MWT), 2 standardized PA bouts of varying duration, and 1 sedentary bout. RESULTS For the 400MWT, percent error between observed and monitor-recorded steps was 5.5 ± 7.1% and 82.1 ± 38.6% for the SAM and AC steps, respectively (observed vs. SAM steps: -17.2 ± 22.2 steps; observed vs. AC steps: -264.5 ± 124.8 steps). All activity monitors were able to differentiate between PA and sedentary bouts, but only SAM steps and AH heart rate were significantly different between sedentary behavior and nonwear (P < .001). For all monitors, sedentary behavior was characterized by bouts of zero steps/counts punctuated by intermittent activity steps/counts; nonwear was represented almost exclusively by zero steps/counts. CONCLUSION Of all monitors tested, the SAM was most accurate in terms of counting steps and differentiating levels of PA and thus, most appropriate for EO adolescents. The ability to accurately characterize PA intensity in EO adolescents critically depends on activity monitor selection.
Potentiation of sprint cycling performance: the effects of a high-inertia ergometer warm-up

ABSTRACT Participant and protocol factors affect post-activation potentiation response. Performance enhancement is more consistent in highly-trained participants following multiple sets of a biomechanically similar conditioning activity. Providing optimal conditions, 6 international-level sprint cyclists executed multiple sets of short maximal conditioning contractions on a high-inertia ergometer before metered sprint performance. Three trial conditions were completed on separate days after a standardised warm-up: dynamic (DYN: 4 × 4 crank-cycles), isometric (ISO: 4 × 5-sec maximal voluntary contraction (MVC)), and control (CON: rest). Performance was measured from standing start to maximum velocity on an inertial-load ergometer at baseline (Pre), 4 (Post4), 8 (Post8) and 16 (Post16) min post-conditioning. Performance and biomechanical measures were assessed across 4 sprint segments, with magnitude-based inferences used to assess the likelihood that any affect was beneficial. Performance time only improved in DYN Post4, a 3.9% reduction during the first crank cycle (92% likely). On the ascending limb of the power-cadence relationship, peak torque and average power increased by 6.2% (94% likely) and 4.0% (87% likely), respectively. In ISOPost16, optimal cadence increased (82% likely) and average power improved over the descending limb (76% likely). DYN and ISO potentiated extremities of the torque-cadence relationship at distinct recovery times post-conditioning. This study suggests merit in including a high-inertia warm-up for sprint cycling.
Evolution of Novel Mosaic Castes in Ants: Modularity, Phenotypic Plasticity, and Colonial Buffering

Many ants have independently evolved castes with novel morphology as well as function, such as soldiers and permanently wingless (ergatoid) queens. We present a conceptual model, based on modularity in morphology and development, in which evolutionary innovation is facilitated by the ancestral ant polyphenism of winged queens and wingless workers. We suggest that novel castes evolved from rare intercastes, anomalous mosaics of winged queens and workers, erratically produced by colonies through environmental or genetic perturbations. The colonial environment is highly accommodating and buffers viable intercastes from individual selection. Their cost is limited because they are diluted by the large number of nestmates, yet some can bring disproportionate benefits to their colonies in the context of defense or reproduction (e.g., wingless intercastes able to mate). Useful intercastes will increase in frequency as their morphology is stabilized through genetic accommodation. We show that both soldiers and ergatoid queens are mosaics of winged queens and workers, and they are strikingly similar to some intercastes. Modularity and developmental plasticity together with winged/wingless polyphenism thus allow for the production of highly variable mosaic intercastes, and colonies incubate the advantageous mosaics.
Puertos, sociedad y conflictos en el Caribe colombiano: 1850-1930

El presente texto fue ganador de una beca de investigacion cultural: “Hector Rojas Herazo” que ofrece el observatorio del caribe colombiano y el Ministerio de Cultura. Esta compuesto por seis capitulos, los cuales poseen como hilo conductor la explicacion de las condiciones tanto fisicas como ideologicas e interpretativas de la realidad de la poblacion que obtenia su sustento del trabajo del transporte tanto en el rio Magdalena como en los puertos maritimos del caribe colombiano.
Inactivation of Uaf1 Causes Defective Homologous Recombination and Early Embryonic Lethality in Mice

ABSTRACT The deubiquitinating enzyme heterodimeric complex USP1-UAF1 regulates the Fanconi anemia (FA) DNA repair pathway. Absence of this complex leads to increased cellular levels of ubiquitinated FANCD2 (FANCD2-Ub) and ubiquitinated PCNA (PCNA-Ub). Mice deficient in the catalytic subunit of the complex, USP1, exhibit an FA-like phenotype and have a cellular deficiency in homologous-recombination (HR) repair. Here, we have characterized mice deficient in the UAF1 subunit. Uaf1+/− mice were small at birth and exhibited reduced fertility, thus resembling Usp1−/− mice. Unexpectedly, homozygous Uaf1−/− embryos died at embryonic day 7.5 (E7.5). These mutant embryos were small and developmentally retarded. As expected, Uaf1 deficiency in mice led to increased levels of cellular Fancd2-Ub and Pcna-Ub. Uaf1+/− murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) exhibited profound chromosome instability, genotoxin hypersensitivity, and a significant defect in homologous-recombination repair. Moreover, Uaf1−/− mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) showed chromosome instability, genotoxin hypersensitivity, and impaired Fancd2 focus assembly. Similar to USP1 knockdown, UAF1 knockdown in tumor cells caused suppression of tumor growth in vivo. Taken together, our data demonstrate the important regulatory role of the USP1-UAF1 complex in HR repair through its regulation of the FANCD2-Ub and PCNA-Ub cellular pools.
Patient journey following lumbar spinal fusion surgery (LSFS): protocol for a multicentre qualitative analysis of the patient rehabilitation experience (FuJourn)

Introduction There has been a 65% increase in lumbar spinal fusion surgery (LSFS) worldwide over the last 13 years, with costs of £26 million to the UK National Health Service annually. Patient dissatisfaction with outcome and persistent pain and disability incurs further costs. Three trials provide low-quality evidence for the role of physiotherapy. Our UK surveys investigating physiotherapy/surgeon practice concluded rehabilitation should be tailored to the individual patient owing to considerable clinical heterogeneity. This study will explore the perceptions of patients who undergo LSFS to inform precision rehabilitation. Methods and analysis A qualitative study, using interpretive phenomenological analysis, will recruit a purposive sample (n=40) to ensure patterns of similarity and difference in their journeys can be explored. In-depth semistructured interviews will be undertaken following discharge from hospital and at 12 months postsurgery. Patients’ preoperative and postoperative experiences, underlying attitudes and beliefs towards the surgical intervention, facilitators and barriers to recovery, adherence to advice and physiotherapy, experiences of rehabilitation and return to normal function/activity/work will be explored. A 12-month patient diary will provide real time access to patient data, capturing a weekly record of life as lived, including symptoms, medication, experiences of stages of recovery, rehabilitation adherence, healthcare professional appointments, attitudes, their feelings and experiences throughout their journey. Data will be analysed in a number of stages in accordance with interpretive phenomenological analysis, supported using NVivo software. Analysis of the first interviews and patient diaries will afford a rich density of data to build an overall understanding of the patients’ lived experiences, informing the 12-month interview. Strategies (eg, reflexivity) will ensure trustworthiness. Ethics and dissemination The study has ethical approval (IRAS 223283). Findings will ensure that patient-driven data inform precision rehabilitation by understanding the patient journey. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and conferences.
Mycobacterium avium complex infection in HIV/AIDS patients

Disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection is a severe complication of advanced HIV/AIDS disease. Disseminated infection due to MAC appeared later in the natural history of HIV disease and was an independent predictor of mortality in patients before the extended use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The use of combination schemes, including three or four antimicrobial agents followed by secondary prophylaxis and HAARTs, improved the survival and reduced mortality rates. However, subjects who ignore their serological status for HIV, or who are not receiving or do not tolerate HAART, are at high risk of developing disseminated MAC disease. In addition, patients who show a good immunological and virological response to HAART can develop episodes of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome associated with MAC, including supurative lymphadenitis and subcutaneous or soft-tissue abscesses. In this article, we describe the epidemiological, clinical, immunological, therapeutic and preventive aspects of MAC infection in HIV-seropositive patients in the pre- and post-HAART era.
[Intravenous thrombolysis patients with acute ischemic stroke: the analysis of the 100 cases. Part I. Characteristic of the patients and effectiveness of treatment].

BACKGROUND Intravenous thrombolytic therapy with recombinant tissue activator (rt-PA) in treating acute ischemic stroke is effective and safe in the time window 4.5 hours after symptom onset. MATERIAL AND METHODS In the study group of patients demographic and logistic data and vascular risk factors were analysed. We also analysed status of the patients at the moment of admission, after 24 hours, one month and 3 months after symptom onset according to National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and results of treatment after 3 months according to modified Rankin Score (mRS). We compared the selective variables with data from the register SITS. RESULTS Between September 2006 and April 2009 in the stroke unit in Sandomierz 807 patients with ischemic stroke were treated, including 100 patients (aged 42-88, mean 69.74 +/- 9.85; 55% of men) treated with rt-PA (12.39%). In 22% of patients treated rt-PA large and medium vessel disease, in 47%--cardiogenic embolism, in 4%--small vessel disease, in 3%-- other unusual causes and in 24%--infarct multiple etiology were diagnosed. The average time from the onset of the disease to the beginning of the treatment was 148.25 +/- 38.77 min. (in SITS centers--145 min.). At the moment of admission the average neurological conditions in NIHSS 12.03 +/- 4.94 (SITS--12); after 24 hours--8.51 +/- 6.09; after 7 days--6.51 +/- 6.38; after one month--4.27 +/- 5.15 and after 3 months--2.95 +/- 3.36 were evaluated. The results according to mRS were respectively: after 7 days--2.80 +/- 1.77; after 1 month--2.37 +/- 2.00 and after 3 months 2.16 +/- 2.16(SITS--2.5). After 3 months 53% of patients were functionally independent (SITS--53%), 29%--had moderate or severe disability (-32%) and 18%--died (-15%). CONCLUSIONS In analysed time in stroke unit in Sandomierz the percentage of patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with rt-PA was high. The presentation of results of intravenous thrombolysis in patients with acute ischemic stroke performed in different centers makes the important aspect of evaluation of the effectiveness and safety of this therapy.
Two-Step Imprinted X Inactivation: Repeat versus Genic Silencing in the Mouse

ABSTRACT Mammals compensate for unequal X-linked gene dosages between the sexes by inactivating one X chromosome in the female. In marsupials and in the early mouse embryo, X chromosome inactivation (XCI) is imprinted to occur selectively on the paternal X chromosome (XP). The mechanisms and events underlying XP imprinting remain unclear. Here, we find that the imprinted XP can be functionally divided into two domains, one comprising traditional coding genes (genic) and the other comprising intergenic repetitive elements. XP repetitive element silencing occurs by the two-cell stage, does not require Xist, and occurs several divisions prior to genic silencing. In contrast, genic silencing initiates at the morula-to-blastocyst stage and absolutely requires Xist. Genes translocate into the presilenced repeat region as they are inactivated, whereas active genes remain outside. Thus, during the gamete-embryo transition, imprinted XCI occurs in two steps, with repeat silencing preceding genic inactivation. Nucleolar association may underlie the epigenetic asymmetry of XP and XM. We hypothesize that transgenerational information (the imprint) is carried by repeats from the paternal germ line or that, alternatively, repetitive elements are silenced at the two-cell stage in a parent-of-origin-specific manner. Our model incorporates aspects of the so-called classical, de novo, and preinactivation hypotheses and suggests that Xist RNA functions relatively late during preimplantation mouse development.
Clinical characteristics of obesity-hypoventilation syndrome in Japan: a multi-center study.

OBJECTIVE To clarify the prevalence and clinical characteristics of obesity-hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) in a large number of patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). METHODS Subjects comprised 611 patients with OSAS registered from 7 sleep centers and clinics and analyzed according to the definitions of the Respiratory Failure Research Group of the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare. Baseline characteristics, polysomnographic data during sleep, laboratory blood examinations, excessive daytime sleepiness, pulmonary functions, and arterial blood gases were compared between OHS and non-OHS patients. Determinants of daytime hypercapnia were also examined in OHS patients. RESULTS OHS was identified in 55 of the 611 patients with OSAS (9%). OHS patients were younger, heavier, and more somnolent than non-OHS patients and displayed more severe OSAS, liver dysfunctions, higher total cholesterol, and impaired pulmonary function. However, these differences were resolved except for pulmonary function after correction for obesity. Daytime hypercapnia was associated with impaired pulmonary function. Percent vital capacity (%VC) was most closely correlated with PaCO2 in OHS. CONCLUSION OHS patients display numerous abnormalities due to obesity compared with non-OHS patients. Impaired pulmonary function, particularly %VC, may play an important role in the development of daytime hypercapnia independent of obesity in OHS patients.
Psychoacoustic Characterization of the Tinnitus Spectrum: Implications for the Underlying Mechanisms of Tinnitus

In this study, an original psychometric procedure was used in order to characterize in more detail than in previous studies the different perceptual components of tinnitus, i.e. auditory sensations which are perceived in the absence of a corresponding external acoustic stimulus. Ten subjects with chronic tinnitus were asked to rate on a numeric scale the contribution of elementary pitch sensations evoked by isolated frequency components to their overall tinnitus sensation. The resulting ‘internal tinnitus spectra’, which represented the estimated perceptual contribution to the tinnitus sensation as a function of frequency over a large range of frequencies, were found to occupy a wide frequency range corresponding largely to that at which hearing thresholds were abnormally elevated. In most cases, they exhibited a broad peak falling within the hearing loss range. This pattern of result suggests that in subjects with high-frequency hearing loss, tinnitus sensations, when present, resemble those evoked by high-frequency noise bands with, in some cases, a superimposed tonal-like pitch. These results confirm and extend earlier results in the literature and agree with the patients’ reports; their practical implications for the design of future studies on tinnitus and theoretical implications for the understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying tinnitus are discussed. The results of an additional experiment showed that the internal tinnitus spectrum could be altered by perceptual training in a fine frequency discrimination task with tones in the frequency range of the main peak of the tinnitus spectrum.
Analyzing the Effects of TID in an Embedded System Running in a Flash-Based FPGA

This work analyzes the behavior of a designed embedded system composed of microprocessor, memories and SpaceWire (SpW) links under Total Ionizing Dose (TID) synthesized into a commercial flash-based FPGA from Actel. Two tests were performed: one the FPGA is configured just once at the beginning of the irradiation and the other the FPGA is reconfigured every 5 krad (Si). Results evaluate power supply current (Icc), temperature, function operation and performance degradation.