Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Frequency and pattern of psychiatric disorders in patients with vitiligo.

BACKGROUND Vitiligo affects one to four percent of the population, regardless of age, race or sex. People with this disorder may experience emotional stress, particularly if vitiligo develops on visible areas of the body, such as face, hands, arms, feet, or on the genitals. Some feel embarrassed, ashamed, depressed, or worried about how others will react. Severel indices have been used from time to time to measure the extent of psychiatric disabilty caused by skin disorders. Regarding vitiligo, not much work has been done in Pakistan. This study was aimed to determine the frequency and pattern of psychiatric disorders amongst patients with vitiligo. METHODS This cross sectional study was conducted in the Departments of Psychiatry and Dermatology, Ziauddin University, KDLB campus, Karachi and Institute of Surgery and Medicine, Karachi from April 2004 to March 2006. Clinically diagnosed cases of vitiligo, belonging to both sexes, aged above 15 years, fulfilling the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study. The study was conducted in 2 stages. In the first stage, psychiatric illness was detected with the help of GHQ 12 (Urdu version), a validated tool for screening general population. In the second stage, "Psychiatric Assessment Schedule", Urdu version was administrated to every patient with high scores as per GHQ 12 to differentiate between the most frequent psychiatric disorders. All the findings were recorded, compiled and tabulated. RESULTS A total of 100 patients comprising 62 females and 38 males ranging between 15-60 years with a mean age of 24.6 years completed the study. Exposed parts of the body were involved in 64 patients while covered sites in 36. Of the patients studied, 54 were married and 46 unmarried. In accordance with the GHQ-12 screening, 42 patients were positive for psychiatric caseness comprising 26 females and 16 males, 17 patients being married. Psychiatric caseness featured in patients below 30 years of age (28 patients) and those having exposed parts of the body being involved (27 patients). On evaluation with Psychiatric Assessment Schedule (PAS), major depressive illness (15), was the most frequent psychiatric illness followed by generalized anxiety (10), mixed anxiety and depression, social phobia, agarophobia and sexual dysfunction. CONCLUSION Psychiatric caseness has a probable association with vitiligo, the frequency being influenced by variables of disease and life. Major depression and anxiety remain the most common psychiatric disorders in these patients.
High recombination frequency creates genotypic diversity in colonies of the leaf‐cutting ant Acromyrmex echinatior

Honeybees are known to have genetically diverse colonies because queens mate with many males and the recombination rate is extremely high. Genetic diversity among social insect workers has been hypothesized to improve general performance of large and complex colonies, but this idea has not been tested in other social insects. Here, we present a linkage map and an estimate of the recombination rate for Acromyrmex echinatior, a leaf‐cutting ant that resembles the honeybee in having multiple mating of queens and colonies of approximately the same size. A map of 145 AFLP markers in 22 linkage groups yielded a total recombinational size of 2076 cM and an inferred recombination rate of 161 kb cM−1 (or 6.2 cM Mb−1). This estimate is lower than in the honeybee but, as far as the mapping criteria can be compared, higher than in any other insect mapped so far. Earlier studies on A. echinatior have demonstrated that variation in division of labour and pathogen resistance has a genetic component and that genotypic diversity among workers may thus give colonies of this leaf‐cutting ant a functional advantage. The present result is therefore consistent with the hypothesis that complex social life can select for an increased recombination rate through effects on genotypic diversity and colony performance.
Dispersal of the fairy shrimp Branchinecta coloradensis (Anostraca): Effects of hydroperiod and salamanders

The absence of fairy shrimp (Anostraca) from permanent ponds and lakes is hypothesized to be the result of vertebrate predation. However, hatching cues for anostracan diapausing eggs include factors associated with the filling of temporary pond basins, and desiccation often increases the fraction of eggs that hatch. Thus, it is possible that in some species, eggs dispersed to permanent habitats never hatch, and vertebrate predation is not the proximate factor limiting distributions. We experimentally transplanted live egg‐bearing females of the fairy shrimp Branchinecta coloradensis into permanent and temporary ponds in small chambers and allowed the chambers to overwinter in situ. There was no discernible effect of pond drying on hatching success (mean success = 50.9%). We also determined whether metamorphic salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum nebulosum) could disperse viable fairy shrimp eggs by feeding on B. coloradensis in one pond and defecating in another. Hatching success for a salamander “ingested” treatment was estimated as 0.9%. Results of a third experimental treatment suggested that the eggs being carried by females were not fully mature, so that ingestion resistance might vary throughout the reproductive period of B. coloradensis. By combining these results with data on salamander movement and diet, we estimated salamander‐mediated dispersal rates for fairy shrimp eggs. Metamorphic A. tigrinum nebulosum sp. are likely to be dispersing thousands of B. coloradensis eggs among ponds annually. Because our results demonstrate that dispersal between ponds can occur in large numbers, they support the prevailing hypothesis that vertebrate predators limited to permanent ponds are the proximate mechanism preventing the invasion of fairy shrimp.
A general distributed approach to slice embedding with guarantees

To provide wide-area network services, resources from different infrastructure providers are needed. Leveraging the consensus-based resource allocation literature, we propose a general distributed auction mechanism for the (NP-hard) slice embedding problem. Under reasonable assumptions on the bidding scheme, the proposed mechanism is proven to converge, and it is shown that the solutions guarantee a worst-case efficiency of (1 - 1/ε) relative to the optimal solution. Using extensive simulations, we confirm superior convergence properties and resource utilization when compared with existing distributed slice embedding solutions, and we show how by appropriate policy design, our mechanism can be instantiated to accommodate the embedding goals of different service and infrastructure providers, resulting in an attractive and flexible resource allocation solution for network virtualization.
The expansion of the universe observed with supernovae

Over the last 20 years, supernovae have become a key tool to constrain the expansion history of the Universe through the construction of Hubble diagrams, using luminosity distances to supernovae belonging to the ‘Ia’ subtype. This technique was key for the discovery that the expansion of the Universe is now accelerating. We review the principle and difficulties of the measurements, the classification and diversity of supernovae, and the physics of explosion. We discuss the systematic uncertainties affecting the cosmological conclusions with some emphasis on photometric calibration. We describe the major supernova cosmology surveys, the presented analyses and their conclusions, together with the present status of the field. We conclude on the expectations for the near future.
Genetic analyses reveal independent domestication origins of Eurasian reindeer

Although there is little doubt that the domestication of mammals was instrumental for the modernization of human societies, even basic features of the path towards domestication remain largely unresolved for many species. Reindeer are considered to be in the early phase of domestication with wild and domestic herds still coexisting widely across Eurasia. This provides a unique model system for understanding how the early domestication process may have taken place. We analysed mitochondrial sequences and nuclear microsatellites in domestic and wild herds throughout Eurasia to address the origin of reindeer herding and domestication history. Our data demonstrate independent origins of domestic reindeer in Russia and Fennoscandia. This implies that the Saami people of Fennoscandia domesticated their own reindeer independently of the indigenous cultures in western Russia. We also found that augmentation of local reindeer herds by crossing with wild animals has been common. However, some wild reindeer populations have not contributed to the domestic gene pool, suggesting variation in domestication potential among populations. These differences may explain why geographically isolated indigenous groups have been able to make the technological shift from mobile hunting to large-scale reindeer pastoralism independently.
COMPARISON OF A GENERALIZED PATTERN SEARCH AND A GENETIC ALGORITHM OPTIMIZATION METHOD

Building and HVAC system design can signiﬁ-cantly improve if numerical optimization is used. However, if a cost function that is smooth in the de-sign parameter is evaluated by a building energy simulation program, it usually becomes replaced with a numerical approximation that is discontinuous in the design parameter. Moreover, many building simulation programs do not allow obtaining an error bound for the numerical approximations to the cost function. Thus, if a cost function is evaluated by such a program, optimization algorithms that depend on smoothness of the cost function can fail far from a minimum. For such problems it is unclear how the Hooke-Jeeves Generalized Pattern Search optimization al-gorithm and the simple Genetic Algorithm perform. The Hooke-Jeeves algorithm depends on smoothness of the cost function, whereas the simple Genetic Algorithm may not even converge if the cost function is smooth. Therefore, we are interested in how these algorithms perform if used in conjunction with a cost function evaluated by a building energy simulation program. In this paper we show what can be expected from the two algorithms and compare their performance in minimizing the annual primary energy consumption of an ofﬁce building in three locations. The problem has 13 design parameters and the cost function has large discontinuities. The optimization algorithms reduce the energy consumption by 7% to 32%, depending on the building location. Given the short labor time to set up the optimization problems, such reductions can yield considerable economic gains.
Impact of age and gender on the clinicopathological characteristics of bladder cancer

Purpose: To determine the impact of age and gender on the clinicopathological characteristics of histologically confirmed bladder cancer in India. Materials and Methods: From January 2001 to June 2008, records of patients with bladder cancer were evaluated for age and gender at presentation, clinical symptoms, cystoscopic finding, history of smoking, and histopathological characteristics. A total of 561 patients were identified from the computer-based hospital information system and the case files of patients. Results: A total of 97% of the patients presented with painless hematuria. The mean age was 60.2 ± 4.4 years old (range: 18–90 years old) and the male to female ratio was 8.6:1. Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) was the most common histological variety, which was present in 97.71% (470 of 481) of the patients. A total of 26% of the patients had muscle invasive disease at the time of presentation. However, 34.5% (166 of 481) of the patients did not show any evidence of detrusor muscle in their biopsy specimen. In patients with nonmuscle-invasive bladder carcinoma, 55% had p Ta while 45% had p T1. Overall, 44.7% (215 of 481) of the patients had low-grade disease. Among patients younger than 60 years old, low-grade (51.0% vs. 38.1%; P = 0.006) and low-stage (77.1% vs. 70.8%; P = 0.119) disease were more prevalent than in patients older than 60 years old. The incidence of smoking was much higher among males compared with females (74% vs. 22%). Conclusion: TCC is the predominant cancer, with significant male preponderance among Indian patients. Younger-aged patients have low-grade disease. Hematuria is the most common presentation and greater awareness is needed not to overlook bladder cancer.
Antiarrhythmic agents act differently on the activation phase of the ACh‐response in guinea‐pig atrial myocytes

1 Anti‐acetylcholine effects of pilsicainide, flecainide, disopyramide and propafenone on the acetylcholine (ACh)‐induced K+ current (IK.ACh) were examined in dissociated guinea‐pig atrial myocytes under whole‐cell voltage clamp by the use of the ‘concentration‐clamp’ technique. 2 The IK.ACh was activated with a latency of about 100 ms after 1 μm ACh application and desensitized to a steady‐state level. The latent period and the time to peak response were shortened with increasing ACh concentration. 3 The values of half‐maximal inhibition (IC50) on the peak and steady state responses were 25 and 25 μm for pilsicainide, 1.7 and 2.0 μm for disopyramide, 19 and 2.0 μm for flecainide and 0.7 and 0.2 μm for propafenone, respectively. 4 Pilsicainide and disopyramide increased the latent period and the time to peak of IK.ACh in a concentration‐dependent manner. Flecainide and propafenone did not change the latent period, but shortened the time to peak and hastened the decay of IK.ACh in a voltage‐independent manner. 5 The results suggest that the mechanisms underlying the anti‐acetylcholine effect of antiarrhythmic drugs are different among these drugs: i.e., pilsicainide and disopyramide mainly block the muscarinic ACh receptors while flecainide and propafenone inhibit the K+ channel itself as open channel blockers.
Aztreonam Combinations with Avibactam, Relebactam, and Vaborbactam as Treatment for New Delhi Metallo-β-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacterales Infections—In Vitro Susceptibility Testing

Antimicrobial resistance is a major global health issue. Metallo-β-lactamases (MBL), in particular, are problematic because they can inactivate all classes of β-lactams except aztreonam. Unfortunately, the latter may be simultaneously inactivated by serine β-lactamases. The most dangerous known MBL is New Delhi Metallo-β-lactamase (NDM). This study aimed to test the in vitro susceptibility to aztreonam in combination with novel β-lactamase inhibitors (avibactam, relebactam, and vaborbactam) in clinical strains of Enterobacterales NDM which is resistant to aztreonam. We investigated 21 NDM isolates—including Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, and Citrobacter freundii—which are simultaneously resistant to aztreonam, ceftazidime/avibactam, imipenem/relebactam, and meropenem/vaborbactam. MICs for aztreonam combinations with novel inhibitors were determined using the gradient strip superposition method. The most effective combination was aztreonam/avibactam, active in 80.95% strains, while combinations with relebactam and vaborbactam were effective in 61.90% and 47.62%, respectively. In three studied strains, none of the studied inhibitors restored aztreonam susceptibility. Aztreonam/avibactam has the most significant antimicrobial potential for NDM isolates. However, combinations with other inhibitors should not be rejected in advance because we identified strain susceptible only to tested combinations with inhibitors other than avibactam. Standardization committees should, as soon as possible, develop official methodology for antimicrobial susceptibility testing for aztreonam with β-lactamase inhibitors.
Situation-aware risk management in autonomous agents

We present a novel approach to enable decision-making in a highly distributed multiagent environment where individual agents need to act in an autonomous fashion. Our architecture framework integrates risk management, knowledge management, and agent deliberation to enable sophisticated, autonomous decision-making. Instead of a centralized knowledge repository, our approach supports a highly distributed knowledge base in which each agent manages a fraction of the knowledge needed by the entire system.
In vitro comparison of the cyclic fatigue resistance of HyFlex EDM, One G, and ProGlider nickel titanium glide path instruments in single and double curvature canals

Objectives It was aimed to compare the cyclic fatigue resistances of ProGlider (PG), One G (OG), and HyFlex EDM (HEDM) nickel titanium glide path files in single- and double-curved artificial canals. Materials and Methods 40 PG (16/0.02), 40 OG (14/0.03), and 40 HEDM (10/0.05) single-file glide path files were used in the present study. Sixty files were subjected to cyclic fatigue test by using double-curved canals and 60 files by using single-curved canal (n = 20). The number of cycles to fracture (NCF) was calculated and the length of the fractured fragment (FL) was determined by a digital micro-caliper. Twelve pieces of fractured files were examined with scanning electron microscope to determine fracture types of the files (n = 2). The NCF and the FL data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and post hoc Tukey test using SPSS 21 software (p < 0.05). Results In all of the groups, NCF values were significantly lower in double-curved canals when compared to single-curved canals (p < 0.05). For both of single- and double-curved canals, NCF values of HEDM group in apical and coronal curvatures were found to be significantly higher than NCF values of PG and OG groups (p < 0.05). In both of single- and double-curved canals, NCF value of PG group was found significantly higher than OG group (p < 0.05). Conclusions Within the limitations of this study, HEDM glide path files were found to have the highest cyclic fatigue resistance in both of single- and double-curved canals.
Fluorescence immunohistochemistry and confocal scanning laser microscopyA protocol for studies of joint innervation

We have developed a reliable technique for labeling and examining neural structures in soft tissues associated with articular joints and have tested it in human wrist joints under various specimen-related conditions. The labeling protocol employs an immunohistochemical process with a panneuronal marker (PGP 9.5) as the primary antibody and Alexa Fluor 488 as the fluorescing secondary antibody. Imaging was done using a confocal laser scanning microscope, which produced exceptionally detailed three-dimensional images of nerve endings and transiting nerve fibers from thick sections of wrist joint ligaments obtained from human cadavers. The protocol provided a practical postmortem window for specimen acquisition and processing without significant apparent worsening of image quality. The images produced are resistant to fading with repeated exposure to a fluorescent light source, which gives many opportunities for observation. Background staining is minimal, producing high contrast labeling of target tissues, which, in turn, enhances image analysis.
Age and Haplotype Variations within FADS1 Interact and Associate with Alterations in Fatty Acid Composition in Human Male Cortical Brain Tissue

Fatty acids (FA) play an integral role in brain function and alterations have been implicated in a variety of complex neurological disorders. Several recent genomic studies have highlighted genetic variability in the fatty acid desaturase (FADS1/2/3) gene cluster as an important contributor to FA alterations in serum lipids as well as measures of FA desaturase index estimated by ratios of relevant FAs. The contribution to alterations of FAs within the brain by local synthesis is still a matter of debate. Thus, the impact of genetic variants in FADS genes on gene expression and brain FA levels is an important avenue to investigate. Methods Analyses were performed on brain tissue from prefrontal cortex Brodmann area 47 (BA47) of 61 male subjects of French Canadian ancestry ranging in age from young adulthood to middle age (18–58 years old), with the exception of one teenager (15 years old). Haplotype tagging SNPs were selected using the publicly available HapMap genotyping dataset in conjunction with Haploview. DNA sequencing was performed by the Sanger method and gene expression was measured by quantitative real-time PCR. FAs in brain tissue were analysed by gas chromatography. Variants in the FADS1 gene region were sequenced and analyzed for their influence on both FADS gene expression and FAs in brain tissue. Results Our results suggest an association of the minor haplotype with alteration in estimated fatty acid desaturase activity. Analysis of the impact of DNA variants on expression and alternative transcripts of FADS1 and FADS2, however, showed no differences. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction between haplotype and age on certain brain FA levels. Discussion This study suggests that genetic variability in the FADS genes cluster, previously shown to be implicated in alterations in peripheral FA levels, may also affect FA composition in brain tissue, but not likely by local synthesis.
Parallel in situ coupling of simulation with a fully featured visualization system

There is a widening gap between compute performance and the ability to store computation results. Complex scientific codes are the most affected since they must save massive files containing meshes and fields for offline analysis. Time and storage costs instead dictate that data analysis and visualization be combined with the simulations themselves, being done in situ so data are transformed to a manageable size before they are stored. Earlier approaches to in situ processing involved combining specific visualization algorithms into the simulation code, limiting flexibility. We introduce a new library which instead allows a fully-featured visualization tool, VisIt, to request data as needed from the simulation and apply visualization algorithms in situ with minimal modification to the application code.
The Clinical Significance of Neuroendocrine Differentiation in T3-T4 Node-Negative Colorectal Cancer

This study was conducted to determine the clinical significance of neuroendocrine differentiation in cases of T3—T4 node-negative colorectal cancer. Eighty-nine patients diagnosed with T3—T4 node-negative colorectal cancer who underwent curative resection were enrolled. Tumors expressing neuroendocrine markers were classified as either low expression (≤2% cells staining positive for a neuroendocrine marker) or high expression (>" xbd="1775" xhg="1752" ybd="1323" yhg="1286"/>2% cells staining positive for a neuroendocrine marker). Immunohistochemical staining for chromogranin A and synaptophysin revealed high expression in 27 (30.3%) and 69 (77.5%) of the 89 patients, respectively. All tumors that showed high expression of chromogranin A also displayed high expression of synaptophysin. With the exception of preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen, no statistically significant correlation was found between neuroendocrine differentiation and all other clinicopathologic variables. Analysis using the Kaplan—Meier method and multivariate Cox regression model demonstrated that neuroendocrine differentiation for chromogranin A and synaptophysin was not associated with disease-free survival. Therefore, neuroendocrine differentiation markers would not be useful variables for prognostic assessment of patients with T3—T4 node-negative colorectal cancer.