Global analysis of entrainment in dialogues

This paper performs a global analysis of entrainment between dyads in map-task dialogues in European Portuguese (EP), including 48 dialogues, between 24 speakers. Our main goals focus on the acoustic-prosodic similarities between speakers, namely if there are global entrainment cues displayed in the dialogues, if there are degrees of entrainment manifested in distinct sets of features shared amongst the speakers, if entrainment depends on the role of the speaker as either giver or follower, and also if speakers tend to entrain more with specific pairs regardless of the role. Results show global entrainment in almost all the dyads, but the degrees of entrainment (stronger within the same gender), and the role effects tend to be less striking than the interlocutors’ effect. Globally, speakers tend to be more similar to their own speech in other dialogues than to their partners. However, speakers are also more similar to their interlocutors than to speakers with whom they never spoke.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Oral chondroitin sulfate and prebiotics for the treatment of canine Inflammatory Bowel Disease: a randomized, controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND Canine inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic enteropathy of unknown etiology, although microbiome dysbiosis, genetic susceptibility, and dietary and/or environmental factors are hypothesized to be involved in its pathogenesis. Since some of the current therapies are associated with severe side effects, novel therapeutic modalities are needed. A new oral supplement for long-term management of canine IBD containing chondroitin sulfate (CS) and prebiotics (resistant starch, β-glucans and mannaoligosaccharides) was developed to target intestinal inflammation and oxidative stress, and restore normobiosis, without exhibiting any side effects. This double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in dogs with IBD aims to evaluate the effects of 180 days administration of this supplement together with a hydrolyzed diet on clinical signs, intestinal histology, gut microbiota, and serum biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress. RESULTS Twenty-seven client-owned biopsy-confirmed IBD dogs were included in the study, switched to the same hydrolyzed diet and classified into one of two groups: supplement and placebo. Initially, there were no significant differences between groups (p > 0.05) for any of the studied parameters. Final data analysis (supplement: n = 9; placebo: n = 10) showed a significant decrease in canine IBD activity index (CIBDAI) score in both groups after treatment (p < 0.001). After treatment, a significant decrease (1.53-fold; p < 0.01) in histologic score was seen only in the supplement group. When groups were compared, the supplement group showed significantly higher serum cholesterol (p < 0.05) and paraoxonase-1 (PON1) levels after 60 days of treatment (p < 0.01), and the placebo group showed significantly reduced serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels after 120 days (p < 0.05). No significant differences were found between groups at any time point for CIBDAI, WSAVA histologic score and fecal microbiota evaluated by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). No side effects were reported in any group. CONCLUSIONS The combined administration of the supplement with hydrolyzed diet over 180 days was safe and induced improvements in selected serum biomarkers, possibly suggesting a reduction in disease activity. This study was likely underpowered, therefore larger studies are warranted in order to demonstrate a supplemental effect to dietary treatment of this supplement on intestinal histology and CIBDAI

Validation of cytoplasmic-to-nuclear ratio of survivin as an indicator of improved prognosis in breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Conflicting data exist regarding the prognostic and predictive impact of survivin (BIRC5) in breast cancer. We previously reported survivin cytoplasmic-to-nuclear ratio (CNR) as an independent prognostic indicator in breast cancer. Here, we validate survivin CNR in a separate and extended cohort. Furthermore, we present new data suggesting that a low CNR may predict outcome in tamoxifen-treated patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Survin expression was assessed using immunhistochemistry on a breast cancer tissue microarray (TMA) containing 512 tumours. Whole slide digital images were captured using an Aperio XT scanner. Automated image analysis was used to identify tumour from stroma and then to quantify tumour-specific nuclear and cytoplasmic survivin. A decision tree model selected using a 10-fold cross-validation approach was used to identify prognostic subgroups based on nuclear and cytoplasmic survivin expression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Following optimisation of the staining procedure, it was possible to evaluate survivin protein expression in 70.1% (n = 359) of the 512 tumours represented on the TMA. Decision tree analysis predicted that nuclear, as opposed to cytoplasmic, survivin was the most important determinant of overall survival (OS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS). The decision tree model confirmed CNR of 5 as the optimum threshold for survival analysis. Univariate analysis demonstrated an association between a high CNR (>5) and a prolonged BCSS (HR 0.49, 95% CI 0.29-0.81, p = 0.006). Multivariate analysis revealed a high CNR (>5) was an independent predictor of BCSS (HR 0.47, 95% CI 0.27-0.82, p = 0.008). An increased CNR was associated with ER positive (p = 0.045), low grade (p = 0.007), Ki-67 (p = 0.001) and Her2 (p = 0.026) negative tumours. Finally, a high CNR was an independent predictor of OS in tamoxifen-treated ER-positive patients (HR 0.44, 95% CI 0.23-0.87, p = 0.018).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Using the same threshold as our previous study, we have validated survivin CNR as a marker of good prognosis in breast cancer in a large independent cohort. These findings provide robust evidence of the importance of survivin CNR as a breast cancer biomarker, and its potential to predict outcome in tamoxifen-treated patients.</p

House of Cards as Philosophy: Democracy on Trial

Over the course of its six seasons, the Netflix show the House of Cards (HOC) details the rise to power of Claire and Frank Underwood in a fictional United States. They achieve power not by winning free and fair elections, but by exploiting various weaknesses of the U.S. political system. Could such a thing happen to our own democracies? This chapter argues that it is a threat that should be taken seriously, as the structure of HOC’s democratic institutions closely mirrors our own, and the flaws that the Underwoods exploit are precisely those that have allowed autocrats to capture democracies “from the inside.” Of even greater concern, these flaws may flow from the nature of democracy itself. This possibility is explored by considering the events of the HOC in the light of the anti-democratic arguments of Plato and Hobbes. The chapter concludes by briefly considering responses to these arguments

Using LASSO regression to detect predictive aggregate effects in genetic studies

We use least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression to select genetic markers and phenotypic features that are most informative with respect to a trait of interest. We compare several strategies for applying LASSO methods in risk prediction models, using the Genetic Analysis Workshop 17 exome simulation data consisting of 697 individuals with information on genotypic and phenotypic features (smoking, age, sex) in 5-fold cross-validated fashion. The cross-validated averages of the area under the receiver operating curve range from 0.45 to 0.63 for different strategies using only genotypic markers. The same values are improved to 0.69–0.87 when both genotypic and phenotypic information are used. The ability of the LASSO method to find true causal markers is limited, but the method was able to discover several common variants (e.g., FLT1) under certain conditions

Clinical efficacy of tocilizumab in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis in real clinical practice

The previous clinical studies have demonstrated tocilizumab monotherapy to be highly effective in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The objectives of the present article are to report the efficacy and safety of tocilizumab in patients with active RA in real clinical practice. In total, 61 patients with RA were treated with tocilizumab. Any comorbidities they had, especially infections, were treated thoroughly before they were given the drug. We provided guidance on infection control and prevention. Mean age of the patients was 60.9 ± 12.4 years, and their mean disease duration 10.9 ± 9.2 years. The patients remained on steroids, methotrexate, and tacrolimus as before, but were taken off any other drugs they had been using prior to the treatment. Mean of the 28-joint disease activity score using erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 4.75 ± 1.15 initially and fell to 2.21 ± 0.97 after two doses (n = 50). After four doses, the remission rate was 83.8% (31/37). All patients responded well to the therapy and there was no decrease in the efficacy of tocilizumab during the treatment. Even in the real clinical setting, treatment with tocilizumab can rapidly induce remission in RA in a high proportion of patients and is generally safe and well tolerated. Tocilizumab would seem to be promising as a first-line choice for the treatment of RA

A comparative study on approximate entropy measure and poincaré plot indexes of minimum foot clearance variability in the elderly during walking

Background: Trip-related falls which is a major problem in the elderly population, might be linked to declines in the balance control function due to ageing. Minimum foot clearance (MFC) which provides a more sensitive measure of the motor function of the locomotor system, has been identified as a potential gait parameter associated with trip-related falls in older population. This paper proposes nonlinear indexes (approximate entropy (ApEn) and Poincaré plot indexes) of MFC variability and investigates the relationship of MFC with derived indexes of elderly gait patterns. The main aim is to find MFC variability indexes that well correlate with balance impairments. Methods: MFC data during treadmill walking for 14 healthy elderly and 10 elderly participants with balance problems and a history of falls (falls risk) were analysed using a PEAK-2D motion analysis system. ApEn and Poincaré plot indexes of all MFC data sets were calculated and compared. Results: Significant relationships of mean MFC with Poincaré plot indexes (SD1, SD2) and ApEn (r = 0.70, p < 0.05; r = 0.86, p < 0.01; r = 0.74, p < 0.05) were found in the falls-risk elderly group. On the other hand, such relationships were absent in the healthy elderly group. In contrast, the ApEn values of MFC data series were significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with Poincaré plot indexes of MFC in the healthy elderly group, whereas correlations were absent in the falls-risk group. The ApEn values in the falls-risk group (mean ApEn = 0.18 ± 0.03) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that in the healthy group (mean ApEn = 0.13 ± 0.13). The higher ApEn values in the falls-risk group might indicate increased irregularities and randomness in their gait patterns and an indication of loss of gait control mechanism. ApEn values of randomly shuffled MFC data of falls risk subjects did not show any significant relationship with mean MFC. Conclusion: Results have implication for quantifying gait dynamics in normal and pathological conditions, thus could be useful for the early diagnosis of at-risk gait. Further research should provide important information on whether falls prevention intervention can improve the gait performance of falls risk elderly by monitoring the change in MFC variability indexes

Cell Cycle- and Cancer-Associated Gene Networks Activated by Dsg2: Evidence of Cystatin A Deregulation and a Potential Role in Cell-Cell Adhesion

This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (Mahoney, R01AR056067; Riobo, RO1 GM088256). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript