Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disseminated Infection Due to Chrysosporium zonatum in a Patient with Chronic Granulomatous Disease and Review of Non-Aspergillus Fungal Infections in Patients with This Disease

ABSTRACT We report the first case of Chrysosporium zonatuminfection in a 15-year-old male with chronic granulomatous disease who developed a lobar pneumonia and tibia osteomyelitis while on prophylaxis with gamma interferon. The fungus was isolated from sputum and affected bone, and hyphae were observed in the bone by histopathology. Therapy with amphotericin B eradicated the osteomyelitis and pneumonia, but pneumonia recurred in association with pericarditis and pleuritis during therapy with itraconazole. These manifestations subsided, and no recurrences occurred with liposomal amphotericin B therapy. Infections caused by Chrysosporium species are very rare, andC. zonatum has not previously been reported to cause mycosis in humans. This species, the anamorph of the heterothallic ascomycete Uncinocarpus orissi (family Onygenaceae), is distinguished by its thermotolerance, by colonies which darken from yellowish white to buff, and by club-shaped terminal aleurioconidia borne at the ends of short, typically curved stalks. The case isolate produced fertile ascomata in mating tests with representative isolates. The median (range) MICs for our isolate as well as those for two other human isolates and a nonhuman isolate determined by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards method adapted for moulds were ≤0.06 μg/ml (≤0.06 to 0.25 μg/ml) for amphotericin B, 0.687 μg/ml (0.25 to 2 μg/ml) for itraconazole, >128 μg/ml (>128 μg/ml) for flucytosine, and 48 μg/ml (32 to >128 μg/ml) for fluconazole.
Dynamical Models and tracking regret in online convex programming

This paper describes a new online convex optimization method which incorporates a family of candidate dynamical models and establishes novel tracking regret bounds that scale with the comparator's deviation from the best dynamical model in this family. Previous online optimization methods are designed to have a total accumulated loss comparable to that of the best comparator sequence, and existing tracking or shifting regret bounds scale with the overall variation of the comparator sequence. In many practical scenarios, however, the environment is nonstationary and comparator sequences with small variation are quite weak, resulting in large losses. The proposed Dynamic Mirror Descent method, in contrast, can yield low regret relative to highly variable comparator sequences by both tracking the best dynamical model and forming predictions based on that model. This concept is demonstrated empirically in the context of sequential compressive observations of a dynamic scene and tracking a dynamic social network.
The Evolution of the C/O Ratio in Metal-poor Halo Stars

We report new measurements of carbon and oxygen abundances in 34 F and G dwarf and subgiant stars belonging to the halo population and spanning a range of metallicity from (Fe/H) = −0. 7t o−3.2 . The survey is based on observations of four permitted lines of C  near 9100 A and the O  λ7774 triplet, all recorded at high signal-to-noise ratios with the UVES echelle spectrograph on the ESO VLT. The line equivalent widths were analysed with the 1D, LTE, MARCS model atmosphere code to deduce C and O abundances; corrections due to non-LTE and 3D effects are discussed. When combined with similar published data for disk stars, our results confirm the metallicity dependence of the C/O ratio known from previous stellar and interstellar studies: C/O drops by a factor of ∼3-4 as O/H decreases from solar to ∼1/10 solar. Analysed within the context of standard models for the chemical evolution of the solar vicinity, this drop results from the metallicity dependence of the C yields from massive stars with mass loss, augmented by the delayed release of C from stars of low and intermediate mass. The former is, however, always the dominant factor. Our survey has also uncovered tentative evidence to suggest that, as the oxygen abundance decreases below (O/H) = −1, (C/O) may not remain constant at (C/O) = −0.5, as previously thought, but increase again, possibly approaching near-solar values at the lowest metallicities ((O/H) < ∼ − 3). With the current dataset this is no more than a 3σ effect and it may be due to metallicity-dependent non-LTE corrections to the (C/O) ratio which have not been taken into account. However, its potential importance as a window on the nucleosynthesis by Population III stars is a strong incentive for future work, both observational and theoretical, to verify its reality.
Suppression of oxidative stress by grape seed supplementation in rats

Polyphenol-rich grape seeds have a beneficial effect on human health. The present study was performed to investigate the effects of grape seeds on antioxidant activities in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a control diet group (C), a high-fat diet group (HF), a 5% grape seed-supplemented control diet group (G), and a 5% grape seed-supplemented high-fat diet group (HG). Dietary supplementation with grape seeds reduced serum concentrations of lipid peroxides compared with those in the C and HF groups. The hepatic level of lipid peroxides decreased significantly in the grape seed groups compared with that in the C and HF groups. Superoxide dismutase activity in the G group increased significantly compared with that in the C group. Catalase activity tended to be higher by feeding grape seeds. The grape seed diet increased glutathione peroxidase activity in the C group. Glutathione-S-transferase activity increased significantly in the G group compared with that in the C group. Hepatic content of total glutathione increased significantly in the HG group but decreased significantly in the HF group. The ratio of reduced glutathione and oxidized glutathione increased by feeding the grape seed diet. Total vitamin A concentration was significantly higher in HG group than in other groups. Liver tocopherol content of the G and HG groups was significantly higher than that of the control groups. These results suggest that dietary supplementation with grape seeds is beneficial for suppressing lipid peroxidation in high fat-fed rats.
Polymorphism at the Clock gene predicts phenology of long‐distance migration in birds

Dissecting phenotypic variance in life history traits into its genetic and environmental components is at the focus of evolutionary studies and of pivotal importance to identify the mechanisms and predict the consequences of human‐driven environmental change. The timing of recurrent life history events (phenology) is under strong selection, but the study of the genes that control potential environmental canalization in phenological traits is at its infancy. Candidate genes for circadian behaviour entrained by photoperiod have been screened as potential controllers of phenological variation of breeding and moult in birds, with inconsistent results. Despite photoperiodic control of migration is well established, no study has reported on migration phenology in relation to polymorphism at candidate genes in birds. We analysed variation in spring migration dates within four trans‐Saharan migratory species (Luscinia megarhynchos; Ficedula hypoleuca; Anthus trivialis; Saxicola rubetra) at a Mediterranean island in relation to Clock and Adcyap1 polymorphism. Individuals with larger number of glutamine residues in the poly‐Q region of Clock gene migrated significantly later in one or, respectively, two species depending on sex and whether the within‐individual mean length or the length of the longer Clock allele was considered. The results hinted at dominance of the longer Clock allele. No significant evidence for migration date to covary with Adcyap1 polymorphism emerged. This is the first evidence that migration phenology is associated with Clock in birds. This finding is important for evolutionary studies of migration and sheds light on the mechanisms that drive bird phenological changes and population trends in response to climate change.
Morphology and growth of deciduous and evergreen broad-leaved saplings under different light conditions in a Chinese beech forest with dense bamboo undergrowth

This study compared the morphological and growth adjustment of saplings from three shade- tolerant canopy species (Castanopsis lamontii, Lithocarpus hancei and Fagus lucida; Fagaceae) under different light conditions in a Chinese beech forest with dense bamboo undergrowth. Only F. lucida is deciduous, and it had the most flexible morphology. In shade, F. lucida had flat or bent topshoots and horizontal branches to maximize light interception, while in conditions of high light intensity, it formed vertical topshoots to promote growth in terms of height, and upright branches to mitigate excessive sun exposure on the leaves. In contrast to F. lucida (beech), the evergreen species always had vertical topshoots regardless of light conditions. In shady conditions, the evergreens had greater annual growth rates in terms of both height and diameter than the beech, and between the evergreens, the species bearing plagiotropic branches grew faster in diameter than the species bearing orthotropic branches. The evergreen trees had thicker leaves and thicker stems compared to the beech. It was concluded that the evergreen saplings have advantages over beech saplings in terms of current growth in the forest understorey; whereas, morphological and growth flexibility in the beech aids in its persistence in the understorey.
CUSTOS DE PRODUÇÃO DA ATIVIDADE LEITEIRA NA REGIÃO SUL DE MINAS GERAIS

Apresenta-se, neste estudo, a estimativa dos custos de producao da atividade leiteira na regiao sul de Minas Gerais. Especificamente, busca-se identificar indicadores economicos de custos que mais afetam a decisao do empresario pecuarista no seu processo produtivo. A pesquisa baseia-se na teoria dos custos e o local de estudo foi a regiao sul de Minas Gerais, onde doze propriedades que exploram a atividade leiteira foram acompanhadas mensalmente, no periodo de marco de 2000 a fevereiro de 2001, caracterizando um estudo de multicasos. Economicamente, a atividade leiteira estudada esta em um processo de descapitalizacao, visto que parte do capital fixo aplicado na exploracao nao foi totalmente pago. As despesas com os recursos variaveis foram as que mais oneraram o custo final da atividade leiteira, principalmente os gastos com alimentacao e mao-de-obra. Entre os itens dos recursos fixos, o fluxo de servicos de maquinas e equipamentos foi aquele que mais afetou o custo de produzir leite na regiao sul de Minas Gerais.
DESIGN OPTIMIZATION OF INDUCTION MOTORS WITH DIFFERENTIAL EVOLUTION ALGORITHMS WITH AN APPLICATION IN TEXTILE SPINNING

This article deals with the design optimization of a squirrel-cage three-phase induction motor, selected as the driving power of spinning machines in the textile industry, using three newly developed versions of differential evolution (DE) algorithms called modified DE versions (CMDE, GMDE, and LMDE). Efficiency, which decides the operating or running cost of the motor (industry), is considered as the objective function. First, the algorithms are applied to design a general purpose motor with seven variables and nine performance-related parameters with their nominal values as constraints. To make the machine feasible, practically acceptable to serve in textile industries, and less costly to operate, certain constraints are modified in accordance with the demands of the spinning application. Comparison of the optimum designs with the industrial (existing) motor reveals that the motor designed by the proposed algorithms consumes less power input.
Cotreatment with pegvisomant and a somatostatin analog (SA) in SA-responsive acromegalic patients.

CONTEXT Cotreatment of acromegaly with pegvisomant and a somatostatin analog (SA) has proven feasible. Previous studies in the field have focused on patients with an insufficient response to SA monotherapy in whom pegvisomant was added without changing the SA dose. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to study whether patients sufficiently controlled on SA monotherapy can be transferred to combination therapy with low-dose pegvisomant and a reduced SA dose. DESIGN Eighteen acromegalic patients well controlled on SA monotherapy, mean ± se aged 54 ± 3 yr, were randomized in a parallel study over 24 wk to unchanged SA monotherapy or cotreatment with pegvisomant (15-30 mg twice a week) and SA (half the usual dosage). SETTING This was an investigator-initiated study in a single tertiary referral center. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Glucose tolerance, substrate metabolism, insulin sensitivity, body composition, and quality of life were measured. RESULTS Median pegvisomant dose was 52.5 mg/wk (range 30-60). IGF-I (micrograms per liter) was comparable both at baseline (P = 0.88) and after 24 wk of treatment (P = 0.48). The change in IGF-I between baseline and wk 24 also did not differ between groups (P = 0.15). Apart from increased peak insulin levels during the oral glucose tolerance test in the cotreatment group, no substantial differences between the two groups were detected. Moderately elevated liver enzymes were found in 17% of the patients on pegvisomant therapy. CONCLUSION Acromegalic patients well controlled on SA monotherapy can maintain safe IGF-I levels during 24 wk of cotreatment with low-dose pegvisomant and a 50% reduced SA dose. This treatment modality, however, does not seem to provide significant benefits for the patients.
Amygdalar activation associated with happy facial expressions in adolescents: a 3-T functional MRI study.

OBJECTIVE To study the possible role of the amygdala in the recognition of happy and sad facial expressions in adolescents aged 13 to 17 years. METHOD Twelve healthy adolescents (6 females and 6 males) underwent noninvasive 3-Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging while viewing pictures of happy, sad, and neutral facial expressions. RESULTS Happy faces produced significant bilateral amygdalar activation when compared with neutral faces (p <.05, corrected). Sad faces relative to neutral did not produce significant amygdalar activation. CONCLUSIONS These results extend the role of the amygdala in adolescents to include the recognition of happy facial expressions. They demonstrate the feasibility of using happy facial expressions to noninvasively study amygdalar function in adolescents and establish a baseline against which the amygdalar response to emotional stimuli in several psychiatric conditions may be compared.
Trends in Dialysis Modality for Individuals with Acute Kidney Injury

Backgrounds. There are no national level data on types of dialysis in use for acute kidney injury (AKI). We aimed to assess trends in dialysis modality for AKI and mortality associated with each modality from 1998 to 2005. Methods. Using data from the 5% Medicare cohort, we identified individuals with AKI requiring dialysis. Individuals with preexisting end-stage renal disease were excluded. Intermittent hemodialysis (IHD), daily intermittent hemodialysis, and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) were defined using Current Procedure Terminology codes. Mortality was defined as death during 30 days after the first dialysis session. Results. Between 1998 and 2005, there were a total of 18,249 patients identified with AKI requiring renal replacement therapy. CRRT was increasingly used for AKI, with 9.9% of patients in 1998 to 18.3% by 2005. Proportion of daily dialysis decreased during this period, while use of IHD remained stable at approximately 68%. Overall 30-day mortality declined from 44.4% in 1998 to 40.2% in 2005. Crude mortality for CRRT was highest in all years (51.0–61.8%), followed by daily (38.2–49.9%) and IHD groups (35.8–43.4%). Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that white race, presence of sepsis, atherosclerotic heart diseases, peripheral vascular diseases, dysrhythmia, gastrointestinal and liver diseases, and any year after 2000 were independently associated with higher odds of using CRRT after adjusting for other variables. Conclusion. The proportion of patients using CRRT has increased over time. Mortality associated with IHD has decreased from 1998 to 2005. Mortality associated with different dialysis modalities is likely the result of severity of illness.
Subgroup Differences in Situational Judgment Test Performance: A Meta-Analysis

In this article, we describe a systematic review of mean race and sex differences in situational judgment test (SJT) performance. On average, White test takers perform better on SJTs than Black, Hispanic, and Asian test takers. Female examinees perform slightly better than male test takers on SJTs. We investigate two moderators of these differences: loading of g or personality on the SJT, and response instructions. Mean race differences between Black, Hispanic, Asian and White examinees in SJT performance are largely explained by the cognitive loading of the SJT such that the larger the cognitive load, the larger the mean race differences. Regarding the effect of personality loadings of SJTs on race differences, Black–White and Asian–White differences are smaller to the extent that the SJT is correlated with emotional stability and Hispanic–White differences are smaller to the extent that SJTs are correlated with conscientiousness and agreeableness. Cognitive loading has minimal effect on male–female SJT score differences; however, SJT score differences are larger, favoring women, when SJTs are correlated with conscientiousness and agreeableness. Concerning response instructions, knowledge response instructions showed greater race differences than behavioral tendency instructions. The mean correlations show that these differences are largely because of the greater g loading of knowledge instructions. A second study showed that when used in hiring, SJTs are likely to have adverse impact by race but not by sex.
The influence of extratropical Atlantic Ocean region on wet and dry years in North-Northeastern Brazil

The rainy season of north-Northeastern Brazil (NE), one of the tropical regions with the largest rainfall interannual variability, is associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) influence, which is located in the southermost position during this season (March-April-May). However, there is a large interannual variability in the ITCZ position, associated with atmospheric and oceanic anomalies, responsible for dry or wet years in the region. Besides the tropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomalies and the Tropical Atlantic SST gradient influences on this variability, extratropical atmospheric influences are identified over the North and South Atlantic. Composites of cases with anomalous precipitation during the middle of the rainy season (April) indicate the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) features and northern and southern Atlantic atmospheric anomalies in December-January-February (DJF). When El Nino and La Nina years are removed from the composites of dry and wet cases, respectively, the centers of action over the extratropical North Atlantic in DJF remain, and features of extratropical South Hemisphere become more evident. The tropical SST dipole is still present with inverted signs in each case, consistent with the NE precipitation anomalies. The main mode of variability in the Southern Hemisphere (South Annular Mode) and in the Northern Hemisphere (North Annular Mode) is present in DJF during the dry cases. These annular patterns occur in the composites of Northeast Brazil precipitation anomalies including or excluding ENSO years. Therefore, besides ENSO relations with SAM discussed in previous studies, another connection exists over the South Atlantic, linking anomalies between high and tropical latitudes. The precipitation anomalies over NE have contributions of the two extratropical Atlantic hemispheres regions. The atmospheric anomalies observed in the pre-rainy season can be a helpful tool in monitoring the North Northeastern B
Capd Peritonitis Induces the Production of a Novel Peptide, Daintain/Allograft Inflammatory Factor-1

← Objectives To study the occurrence of a novel macrophage-derived peptide, daintain/allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1), in dialysate from continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients at commencement and after a follow-up period of therapy and during peritonitis. In addition, we studied peptide production in response to bacterial stimulation of monocytes and macrophages. ← Design Peritoneal fluid and supernatants from cells stimulated with different bacteria were analyzed for daintain/AIF-1. ← Patients and Setting Peritoneal fluid was obtained from 5 patients at commencement of CAPD therapy and during 8 weeks follow-up, and from 14 patients (10 males, 4 females) during CAPD peritonitis and during the noninfected steady state. All patients were admitted to the Karolinska Hospital. A human monocyte cell-line, THP-1 was differentiated to macrophages, and both monocytes and macrophages were stimulated with live and heat-inactivated Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and S. epidermidis Cells were also stimulated with interleukin (IL)-1β and interferon gamma (IFNγ). Daintain/AIF-1 was analyzed with radioimmunoassay technique and IL-8 with enzyme immunoassay technique. ← Results An increased production of daintain/AIF-1 was observed in the first spent dialysate in the newly started CAPD patients, with a decrease during the follow-up period (p < 0.05). During peritonitis, the first spent dialysate revealed significantly higher levels of daintain/AIF-1 (3.9 ng/mL) compared to the noninfected state (0.8 ng/mL), with production normalizing after 9 – 12 days. Bacterial stimulation with E. coli, S. aureus or S. epidermidi sinduced higher daintain/AIF-1 response in monocytes compared to macrophages (p < 0.05). Live bacteria induced higher production of the peptide compared to heat-inactivated bacteria (p < 0.05). Interleukin-1β and IFNγ were used to stimulate monocytes and macrophages; however, no daintain/AIF-1 production was found, although increased IL-8 levels were detected. ← Conclusion CAPD peritonitis induces a high and prominent daintain/AIF-1 response. Bacteria are able to induce a response of the peptide from monocytes and macrophages, and it is likely that the virulent parts of the bacteria are heat-labile structures. The early rise in daintain/AIF-1 might be used as a marker of CAPD peritonitis.
Recommending change clusters to support software investigation: an empirical study

During software maintenance tasks, developers often spend a valuable amount of effort investigating source code. This effort can be reduced if tools are available to help developers navigate the source code effectively. We studied to what extent developers can benefit from information contained in clusters of change sets to guide their investigation of a software system. We defined change clusters as groups of change sets that have a certain amount of elements in common. Our analysis of 4200 change sets for seven different systems and covering a cumulative time span of over 17 years of development showed that less than one in five tasks overlapped with change clusters. Furthermore, a detailed qualitative analysis of the results revealed that only 13p of the clusters associated with applicable change tasks were likely to be useful. We conclude that change clusters can only support a minority of change tasks, and should only be recommended if it is possible to do so at minimal cost to the developers. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. We studied to what extent clusters of change sets extracted from a software system's revision history can guide developers in their investigation of the system. Our analyses of 4200 change sets for seven different systems revealed that only 13p of the clusters associated with applicable change tasks were likely to be useful. We conclude that change clusters should only be recommended if it is possible to do so at minimal cost to the developers. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.