Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Single‐center experience of antifungal prophylaxis for coccidioidomycosis in heart transplant recipients within an endemic area

In endemic regions, coccidioidomycosis causes substantial morbidity and mortality for patients receiving solid organ transplants. We aimed to demonstrate the effect of antifungal coccidioidal prophylaxis in heart transplant (HT) recipients. We retrospectively reviewed the electronic health records of all patients who received HTs between October 19, 2005, and December 13, 2014. We collected information regarding antifungal regimens and determined whether patients subsequently developed infections. Our 174‐person cohort all received antifungal prophylaxis for at least 6 months (mean follow‐up, 53.8 months). One proven and one probable coccidioidal infection (each, 0.6%) occurred during the study period. The incidence of coccidioidomycosis was 0.6% at 1 year and 2.3% at 5 years. No cases of proven coccidioidomycosis occurred within 2 years after transplantation. No patients developed disseminated disease, and no sentinel events were attributed to coccidioidomycosis. Both fluconazole and voriconazole were well tolerated. In the absence of intolerance or contraindication, we suggest continuing a universal antifungal prophylactic regimen with fluconazole for at least 6‐12 months in HT recipients residing in a coccidioidomycosis‐endemic area.
Geometric and electronic structures of mono- and di-vacancies in phosphorene

The geometric structures, stabilities and diffusions of the monovacancy (MV) and divacancy (DV) in two-dimensional phosphorene, as well as their influences on their vibrational and electronic properties have been studied by first-principles calculations. Two possible MVs and 14 possible DVs have been found in phosphorene, in which the MV-(5|9) with a pair of pentagon–nonagon is the ground state of MVs, and the DV-(5|8|5) with a pentagon–octagon–pentagon structure is the most stable DV. All 14 DVs could be divided into four basic types based upon their topological structures and transform between different configurations via bond rotations. The diffusion of MV-(5|9) is found to exhibit an anisotropic character, preferring to migrate along the zigzag direction in the same half-layer. The introduction of MV and DV in phosphorene influences its vibrational properties, inducing the localized defect modes, which could be used to distinguish different vacancy structures. The MVs and DVs also have a significant influence on the electronic properties of phosphorene. It is found that the phosphorene with MV-(5|9) is a ferromagnetic semiconductor with the magnetic moment of 1.0 μB and a band gap of about 0.211 eV, while the DV induces a direct-indirect band gap transition. Our calculation results on the MV and DV in phosphorene are important for the promising application of the phosphorene in the nanoelectronics.
Hypoxia/Ischemia Depletes the Rat Perinatal Subventricular Zone of Oligodendrocyte Progenitors and Neural Stem Cells

Cerebral hypoxia/ischemia of the newborn has a frequency of 4/1,000 births and remains a major cause of cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and mental retardation. Despite progress in understanding the pathogenesis of hypoxic-ischemic injury, the data are incomplete regarding the mechanisms leading to permanent brain injury. Here we tested the hypothesis that cerebral hypoxia/ischemia damages stem/progenitor cells in the subventricular zone (SVZ), resulting in a permanent depletion of oligodendrocytes. We used a widely accepted rat model and examined animals at recovery intervals ranging from 4 h to 3 weeks. Within hours after the hypoxic-ischemic insult 20% of the total cells were deleted from the SVZ. The residual damaged cells appeared necrotic. During 48 h of recovery deaths accumulated; however, these later deaths were predominantly apoptotic. Many apoptotic SVZ cells stained with a marker for immature oligodendrocytes. At 3 weeks survival, the SVZ was smaller and markedly less cellular, and it contained less than 1/4 the normal complement of neural stem cells. The corresponding subcortical white matter was dysmyelinated, relatively devoid of oligodendrocytes and enriched in astrocytes. We conclude that neural stem cells and oligodendrocyte progenitors in the SVZ are vulnerable to hypoxia/ischemia. Consequently, the developmental production of oligodendrocytes is compromised and regeneration of damaged white matter oligodendrocytes does not occur resulting in failed regeneration of CNS myelin in periventricular loci. The resulting dysgenesis of the brain that occurs subsequent to perinatal hypoxic/ischemic injury may contribute to the cognitive and motor dysfunction that results from asphyxia of the newborn.
Increased expression of apoptotic markers in melanoma

&NA; Extensive labelling for the apoptotic markers calcium channel receptor P2X7 and caspase‐3 and telomerase activity was co‐localized at a similar intensity in areas affected by superficial spreading melanoma obtained from 80 patients. Labelling for each of these markers also extended 2&mgr;m from the melanoma into the keratinocyte layer of the adjacent normal epidermis. Conversely, the calcium‐regulating receptors P2X1–3 and P2Y2 (found in normal but not neoplastic skin) were fully de‐expressed within 2&mgr;m of the melanoma but fully expressed beyond that distance. The cell adhesion protein E‐cadherin (also only present in normal skin) was progressively de‐expressed from a point 2&mgr;m from the melanoma until full de‐expression within the lesion. These results show that telomerase‐induced proliferation and defensive apoptosis are co‐localized and simultaneous processes in melanoma tissue. Melanoma cell proliferation appears to overwhelm the apoptotic defence, perhaps due to the anti‐apoptotic effects of telomerase. In addition, keratinocyte regulation of the epidermis and dermis is severely compromised by the loss of E‐cadherin and P2X1–3 and P2Y2 receptors, resulting in a lesion that is aggressive and malignant.
Maxillary Distraction Osteogenesis in Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Patients with Rigid External Distraction System

Aim: Distraction osteogenesis (DO) is a treatment option for patients with maxillary hypoplasia secondary to cleft lip and palate (CLP). Purpose: The aim of this study is to present a technique for maxillary DO using Le Fort I osteotomy with rigid external distraction (RED) system. Subjects and Methods: The patient presented in this paper was an Asian female with CLP aged 13 years and 6 months. She presented with severe midfacial deficiency with a Class III dental malocclusion with a negative overjet and concave facial profile. Cone-beam computed tomography images were recorded preoperatively and the operation performed involved a high Le Fort I osteotomy. The appliance fabricated was banded to upper first molars used for anchorage of the RED system. Distraction of the maxilla was initiated after 7-day latency period. Results: Postoperative cephalometric analysis showed maxillary advancement anteriorly and superiorly, the total distraction treatment period was 10 days. The maxillary advancement was 10.5 mm and the SNA angle increased from 67.5° to 77.9°. Furthermore, the ANB angle changed from −9.8° to 1.6° and the occlusion changed from Class III to Class I. The profile of the face changed from concave to convex and a much better esthetic result was achieved. Conclusion: The study suggests RED system to be a reliable alternative procedure for the treatment of midfacial hypoplasia with or without cleft. Furthermore, it minimizes the risk of the surgical procedure and shortens the operating time.
Improved spectral clustering for protein complex detection

Complexes of actually interacting proteins are one of the primary functional units responsible for driving key biological mechanisms within the cell. Finding the Protein complexes from protein-protein interaction networks is first and foremost step in understanding the cell function. Currently large amount of accessible protein-protein interaction (PPI) data are available, which makes the researcher to find an accurate and scalable method for detecting protein complex. This paper shows about the working of three existing protein complex detection algorithms such as COACH, HUNTER, SPECTRAL CLUSTERING and one proposed algorithm Improved Spectral Clustering Algorithm. The proposed algorithm was applied on the data of DIP dataset. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can improve the accuracy and better performance measures on the validation of comparing with known complexes D1 and D2. The work is the result of implementation of these algorithms and tested with 4 yeast datasets namely Collins, DIP, Krogan and Krogan 2006.
Proteomic discovery of MNT as a novel interacting partner of E3 ubiquitin ligase E6AP and a key mediator of myeloid differentiation

Perturbed stability of regulatory proteins is a major cause of transformations leading to cancer, including several leukemia subtypes. Here, for the first time we demonstrate that E6-associated protein (E6AP), an E3 ubiquitin ligase negatively targets MAX binding protein MNT for ubiquitin-mediated proteasome degradation and impedes ATRA mediated myeloid cell differentiation. MNT is a member of the Myc/Max/Mad network of transcription factor that regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, cellular transformation and tumorigenesis. Wild-type E6AP promoted proteasome dependent degradation of MNT, while catalytically inactive E6AP having cysteine replaced with alanine at amino-acid 843 position (E6APC843A) rather stabilized it. Further, these proteins physically associated with each other both in non-myeloid (HEK293T) and myeloid cells. MNT overexpression induced G0-G1 growth arrest and promoted myeloid differentiation while its knockdown mitigated even ATRA induced differentiation suggesting MNT to be crucial for myeloid differentiation. We further showed that ATRA inhibited E6AP and stabilized MNT expression by protecting it from E6AP mediated ubiquitin-proteasome degradation. Notably, E6AP knockdown in HL60 cells restored MNT expression and promoted myeloid differentiation. Taken together, our data demonstrated that E6AP negatively regulates granulocytic differentiation by targeting MNT for degradation which is required for growth arrest and subsequent myeloid differentiation by various differentiation inducing agents.
Higher Dimensional Cheeger Inequalities

For graphs there exists a strong connection between spectral and combinatorial expansion properties. This is expressed, e.g., by the discrete Cheeger inequality, the lower bound of which states that λ(G) ≤ h(G), where λ(G) is the second smallest eigenvalue of the Laplacian of a graph G and h(G) is the Cheeger constant measuring the edge expansion of G. We are interested in generalizations of expansion properties to finite simplicial complexes of higher dimension (or uniform hypergraphs). Whereas higher dimensional Laplacians were introduced already in 1945 by Eckmann, the generalization of edge expansion to simplicial complexes is not straightforward. Recently, a topologically motivated notion analogous to edge expansion that is based on Z2-cohomology was introduced by Gromov and independently by Linial, Meshulam and Wallach and by Newman and Rabinovich. It is known that for this generalization there is no higher dimensional analogue of the lower bound of the Cheeger inequality. A different, combinatorially motivated generalization of the Cheeger constant, denoted by h(X), was studied by Parzanchevski, Rosenthal and Tessler. They showed that indeed λ(X) ≤ h(X), where λ(X) is the smallest non-trivial eigenvalue of the ((k − 1)-dimensional upper) Laplacian, for the case of k-dimensional simplicial complexes X with complete (k − 1)-skeleton. Whether this inequality also holds for k-dimensional complexes with non-complete (k − 1)-skeleton has been an open question. We give two proofs of the inequality for arbitrary complexes. The proofs differ strongly in the methods and structures employed, and each allows for a different kind of additional strengthening of the original result.
Patterns of participation in recreational and leisure activities among children with complex physical disabilities

Children with physical disabilities are at increased risk of limitations to participation in everyday activities. This study describes research examining the participation of children in day‐to‐day formal and informal activities (excluding mandated academic schooling). Using the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) measure, data on participation patterns were collected from 427 children (229 males, 198 females; mean age 10y [SD 2y 4mo]; range 6–14y) with physical limitations and from their families. The primary types of physical disability in the sample included cerebral palsy, spina bifida, acquired brain injury, and musculoskeletal limitations. Findings indicate a broad range of diversity and intensity of participation, with proportionately greater involvement in informal rather than formal activities. Significant differences in participation and enjoyment were found between males and females, and for children more than 12 years of age. Children's participation was less diverse in families reporting lower income, single‐parent status, and lower respondent parent education. These findings provide a foundation for an improved understanding of the participation of children with physical disabilities, which can assist families and service providers in planning activities that fit with their child's preferences and ensure active participation.
State estimation for delayed Markovian jumping neural networks over sensor nonlinearities and disturbances

This paper is concerned with the exponential state estimation issue for a class of delayed Markovian jumping neural networks (MJNNs) with sensor nonlinearities and disturbances. The parameters and discrete delays of the neural networks are subject to the switching from one mode to another according to a Markov chain. By constructing a novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, a mode-dependent exponential stability condition is proposed, such that the resulting estimation error system is exponentially stable in the mean square. The design of the desired state estimator is derived by solving a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the validity of the theoretical results.
Saddle-Point Strategies in Malware Attack

Given the flexibility that software-based operation provides, it is unreasonable to expect that new malware will demonstrate a fixed behavior over time. Instead, malware can dynamically change the parameters of their infective hosts in response to the dynamics of the network, in order to maximize their overall damage. However, in return, the network can also dynamically change its counter-measure parameters in order to attain a robust defense against the spread of malware while minimally affecting the normal performance of the network. The infinite dimension of freedom introduced by variation over time and antagonistic and strategic optimization of malware and network against each other demand new attempts for modeling and analysis. We develop a zero-sum dynamic game model and investigate the structural properties of the saddle-point strategies. We specifically show that saddle-point strategies are simple threshold-based policies and hence, a robust dynamic defense is practicable.
Case reports of aplastic anemia after vaccine administration

immunofluorescence staining using anti-human-IgG, -IgA, -IgM, -C3, C1q, -albumin, -fibrinogen, -kappa, -lambda, and -C4 antibodies (BioWhittaker, Walkersville, MD) showed C3 in sclerosed tuft segments and vessels. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated focal podocyte foot process effacement with normal substructure of the basement membranes. These findings were consistent with a secondary form of FSGS. In view of CLL progression associated with an increase of the serum creatinine level up to 2.8 mg/dL and a fall in the creatinine clearance to 25 mL/min, treatment with oral cyclophosphamide 50 mg daily was commenced. Three months later, his WBC count, hemoglobin
A Novel Staphylococcus aureus Vaccine: Iron Surface Determinant B Induces Rapid Antibody Responses in Rhesus Macaques and Specific Increased Survival in a Murine S. aureus Sepsis Model

ABSTRACT Staphylococcus aureus is a major cause of nosocomial infections worldwide, and the rate of resistance to clinically relevant antibiotics, such as methicillin, is increasing; furthermore, there has been an increase in the number of methicillin-resistant S. aureus community-acquired infections. Effective treatment and prevention strategies are urgently needed. We investigated the potential of the S. aureus surface protein iron surface determinant B (IsdB) as a prophylactic vaccine against S. aureus infection. IsdB is an iron-sequestering protein that is conserved in diverse S. aureus clinical isolates, both methicillin resistant and methicillin sensitive, and it is expressed on the surface of all isolates tested. The vaccine was highly immunogenic in mice when it was formulated with amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate adjuvant, and the resulting antibody responses were associated with reproducible and significant protection in animal models of infection. The specificity of the protective immune responses in mice was demonstrated by using an S. aureus strain deficient for IsdB and HarA, a protein with a high level of identity to IsdB. We also demonstrated that IsdB is highly immunogenic in rhesus macaques, inducing a more-than-fivefold increase in antibody titers after a single immunization. Based on the data presented here, IsdB has excellent prospects for use as a vaccine against S. aureus disease in humans.
Cross-cultural generalizability of personality dimensions: relating indigenous and imported dimensions in two cultures.

The cross-cultural generalizability of personality dimensions was investigated by (a) identifying indigenous Philippine dimensions, (b) testing the cross-cultural replicability of the NEO 5-factor model (P. T. Costa & R.R. McCrae, 1992), and (c) relating Philippine and Western dimensions in Philippine and U.S. samples of college students. Filipino self-ratings (N = 536) on indigenous items were factor analyzed, and 6 Philippine dimensions were obtained. Conclusions about the replicability of the 5-factor model in the Philippines (N = 432) depended on whether exploratory, Procrustes, or confirmatory factor methods were used. In regression and joint factor analyses, moderate to strong associations were found between the Philippine dimensions and (a) dimensions from the 5-factor model in both Philippine (N = 387) and U.S. (N = 610) samples, and (b) the Tellegen model (A. Tellegen, 1985; A. Tellegen & N.G. Waller, in press) in a U.S. sample (N = 603).
Seclusion and Restraint: A Review of Recent Literature

&NA; An October 1998 Hartford Courant investigative series highlighted alleged cases of brutality and death suffered by involuntarily secluded, restrained, and/or emergently medicated patients. The resulting public and professional furor prompted a spate of new federal regulations and legislative initiatives setting national standards for reporting and clinical oversight. These events provide stimulus for this literature review.
Trench Multiple Floating Limiting Rings Termination for 4H-SiC High-Voltage Devices

A junction termination method adopting heavily doped p-well rings with a shallow trench for each ring, named as a trench multiple floating limiting rings (TMFLRs), is analyzed and fabricated without any additional process in 4H-SiC junction barrier Schottky diode. A breakdown voltage of 6.7 kV is achieved using TMFLRs structure on an epitaxial layer with thickness of 50 μm, while the breakdown voltage of the conventional planar FLRs structure with the same termination area is only 5.7 kV. The experimental result has demonstrated that the TMFLRs termination structure yields about 90% of the parallel plane breakdown voltage. In addition, the simulation results show that the TMFLRs make the bulk peak electric field (Epbulk) reduce and move away from the device surface, successfully making the interface peak electric field (Ep,interface) decrease by about 30% compared with a conventional planar FLRs structure when same reverse voltages applied.
An improved AODV routing protocol for VANETs in city scenarios

Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) is a new communication paradigm that enables the communication between vehicles on the road network which falls in two categories: 1) Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) and 2) Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I). Various approaches of data dissemination in vehicular Network are used to inform vehicles about dynamic road traffic condition for achieving safe and efficient transportation system. Types of VANET applications and inherent characteristics such as unpredictable node density, fast movement of vehicles, constrained mobility make data dissemination quite challenging and general purpose ad hoc network routing protocols cannot work efficiently with it. In this paper, we propose a routing protocol IAODV (Improved AODV) that ensures giving timely and accurate information to drivers in V2V communication compare to AODV protocols in city scenarios of vehicular ad hoc networks. Proposed IAODV is defined as limited source routing up to two hops with backup route between source node and destination node. The performance of the proposed IAODV protocol is compared with basic AODV protocol in terms of Avg. End-to-End Delay, Packet Loss Ratio, Packet Delivery Ratio and Normalized Routing Load. Simulation results show that IAODV performs better than AODV protocol in given city scenarios of VANETs.
Establishment and Functional Implications of B‐cell Connectivity

We have discussed some aspects of the structure of the normal immune system, particularly the B-cell compartment. We have argued: that a basic property of the natural antibody repertoire is constituted by high degrees of connectivity within the immune system as well as between the system and other components of the organism; that the complementarities constituting this connectivity are based on self-self interactions, high degrees of degeneracy or somatically selected interactions and that these properties are conserved through evolution, to ensure self-reference; that by evolutionary selection, antibody V-genes encoding such structural properties are ensured to be expressed early in ontogeny. The set of highly connected cells will be kept through ontogeny and form the basis for a compartment of naturally-activated lymphocytes making up 10-15% of the total lymphocyte population. As suggested before, this pool of connected cells may be responsible for maintenance of normal network dynamics and prevention of autoaggression.