Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Retraction: suicide after natural disasters.

To the Editor: In the February 5 issue, we reported the results of a study designed to determine whether natural disasters affect suicide rates.1 Previous research on the victims of disasters had reported an increased prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression,2–4 known risk factors for suicidal thinking.5,6 In our article, we reported increases in suicide rates among the people living in the 377 U.S. counties affected by a single, severe natural disaster between 1982 and 1989. We regretfully report that we have discovered an error in computer programming and that our previous results are incorrect. The error .
Long‐lived Plasmodium falciparum specific memory B cells in naturally exposed Swedish travelers

Antibodies (Abs) are critical for immunity to malaria. However, Plasmodium falciparum specific Abs decline rapidly in absence of reinfection, suggesting impaired immunological memory. This study determines whether residents of Sweden that were treated for malaria following international travel maintained long‐lasting malaria‐specific Abs and memory B cells (MBCs). We compared levels of malaria‐specific Abs and MBCs between 47 travelers who had been admitted with malaria at the Karolinska University Hospital between 1 and 16 years previously, eight malaria‐naïve adult Swedes without histories of travel, and 14 malaria‐immune adult Kenyans. Plasmodium falciparum‐lysate‐specific Ab levels were above naïve control levels in 30% of the travelers, whereas AMA‐1, merozoite surface protein‐142, and merozoite surface protein‐3‐specific Ab levels were similar. In contrast, 78% of travelers had IgG‐MBCs specific for at least one malaria antigen (59, 45, and 28% for apical merozoite antigen‐1, merozoite surface protein‐1, and merozoite surface protein‐3, respectively) suggesting that malaria‐specific MBCs are maintained for longer than the cognate serum Abs in the absence of re‐exposure to parasites. Five travelers maintained malaria antigen‐specific MBC responses for up to 16 years since the diagnosis of the index episode (and had not traveled to malaria‐endemic regions in the intervening time). Thus P. falciparum can induce long‐lasting MBCs, maintained for up to 16 years without reexposure.
Electron microscopic evaluation of brain edema in rabbits with galactosamine‐induced fulminant hepatic failure: Ultrastructure and integrity of the blood‐brain barrier

Brain edema is a major complication of fulminant hepatic failure and is responsible for death in a large percentage of patients. We previously demonstrated the progressive accumulation of water in grey matter areas of the brain in the rabbit with galactosamine‐induced fulminant hepatic failure. We now report the electron microscopic morphology of the brain in the same model of acute hepatic failure following the intravenous injection of horseradish peroxidase, an intravascular tracer which forms an electron‐dense reaction product. Rabbits with both mild and severe encephalopathy had normal blood pressures and blood gases at the time of study. Fixation of brain tissue was obtained by whole‐body perfusion. Marked swelling of the cytoplasm, perineuronal and perivascular processes of astrocytes were noted in cortical gray, but not white, matter areas; the other cellular components of the brain had normal morphology. Capillary endothelial cells were normal, and there was no evidence of horseradish peroxidase in endothelial cell vesicles, basement membranes or the brain parenchyma, suggesting that the blood‐brain barrier was impermeable to large molecules. Histologic evidence of brain edema is seen in this model, with swelling of astrocytes as the primary manifestation of the accumulation of water. Damage to astrocytes or inhibition of their function may contribute to the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy in this model.
Genetic Determinants of White Matter Hyperintensities on Brain Scans: A Systematic Assessment of 19 Candidate Gene Polymorphisms in 46 Studies in 19 000 Subjects

Background and Purpose— White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are highly heritable and associated with small artery ischemic stroke, so they may be a useful trait for studying the genetics of small vessel disease. Many studies have attempted to find associations between polymorphisms in various candidate genes and WMH. We aimed to evaluate the evidence for these associations by performing a systematic review and series of meta-analyses. Methods— We used a comprehensive search strategy to identify studies of the association between any genetic polymorphism and WMH. For all polymorphisms in genes studied in >2000 subjects we performed meta-analyses, calculating pooled odds ratios or standardized mean differences. Results— We identified 46 studies of polymorphisms in 19 genes in ≈19 000 subjects. Most genes were involved in lipid metabolism, control of vascular tone, or blood pressure regulation. Polymorphisms in the apolipoprotein E, angiotensin-converting enzyme, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, and angiotensinogen genes had been studied in >2000 subjects and were evaluated by meta-analysis. There was no evidence for an association between apolipoprotein E (ϵ4+/−), methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (677 cytosine/thymine polymorphism [C/T]), or angiotensinogen (Met235Thr) and WMH. For the angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion polymorphism (I/D) there appeared to be a significant association (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.09–3.48), but this may be partly attributable to the small study (mainly publication) and other biases. Conclusion— No genetic polymorphism has yet shown convincing evidence for an association with WMH. Much larger studies will be needed to detect and confirm genetic associations with this promising trait in the era of genome-wide association studies.
Studies on the Distribution of Organic Matter and Carbonate Content of Sediments in Mahe Estuary, Northern Kerala

Sediment samples collected from selected stations in the Mahe estuary during the pre- and post-monsoon periods were analysed for their texture, organic matter and carbonate content. It is observed that finer sediments, mainly clayey silt, constitute the major part of the estuarine substratum. Organic matter in the bulk sediments generally follows the distribution pattern of the sediments, i.e., finer the texture greater the organic matter content, whereas the carbonate content shows an inverse relation with the texture. Studies on seasonal variations show that the post-monsoon sediments have higher proportions of organic matter (average: 4.12%) and carbonate (average: 5.23%) content more than those of pre-monsoon periods. No significant relationship between organic matter and carbonate content is observed during pre-monson (r = -0.35) and postmonsoon (r = -0.27) periods.
Bisphenol-A Concentrations from Leiomyoma Patients by LC/MS

The aim of this study is to investigate how many leiomyoma patients are exposed to bisphenol-A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor, and whether the serum concentration of BPA is related to leiomyoma growth. Initially, 128 patients were divided into one control and three leiomyoma groups (mild, moderate and severe) according to the size of the leiomyomas. Serum BPA concentrations were measured by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Nearly two-thirds of leiomyoma patients were exposed to BPA and the range of BPA was from non-detection to 2.603 ng/m/. The mean BPA concentrations in the groups were 1.015 ± 0.775 ng/m l (control), 0.774 ± 0.834 ng/m l (mild), 1.261 ± 0.797 ng/m l (moderate) and 1.244 ± 0.860 ng/m l (severe) (p = 0.158). After recombination into two group, Group 1 (control plus mild) vs. Group 2 (moderate plus severe), higher level was found in Group 2 even with no statistical significance ( p = 0.06). In conclusion, about two-thirds of leiomyoma patients were exposed to BPA, but it may not have growth promoting effect on leiomyoma.
Heritable Clustering Algorithms for Recapturing Epigenetic Progression in Breast Cancer

Motivation: In order to recapitulate tumor progression pathways using epigenetic data, we developed novel clustering and pathway reconstruction algorithms, collectively referred to as heritable clustering. This approach generates a progression model of altered DNA methylation from tumor tissues diagnosed at different developmental stages. The samples act as surrogates for natural progression in breast cancer and ideally allow the algorithm to uncover distinct epigenotypes that describe the molecular events underlying this process. Furthermore, our likelihood-based clustering algorithm has great flexibility, allowing for incomplete epigenotype or clinical phenotype data and also permitting dependencies among variables. Results: Using this heritable clustering approach, we analyzed methylation data obtained from 86 primary breast cancers to recapitulate pathways of breast tumor progression. Detailed annotation and interpretation are provided to the optimal pathway recapitulated. Our results indicate that the proposed heritable clustering algorithms are a useful tool for methylation profiling and for stratifying clinical variables of breast cancer. Availability: The heritable clustering program (Matlab codes) and supplementary information can be accessed at http://www.stat.ohio-state.edu/∼statgen/Pathway.html. Contact: shili@stat.ohio-state.edu
Low central venous pressure reduces blood loss in hepatectomy.

AIM To investigate the effect of low central venous pressure (LCVP) on blood loss during hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS By the method of sealed envelope, 50 HCC patients were randomized into LCVP group (n=25) and control group (n=25). In LCVP group, CVP was maintained at 2-4 mmHg and systolic blood pressure (SBP) above 90 mmHg by manipulation of the patient's posture and administration of drugs during hepatectomy, while in control group hepatectomy was performed routinely without lowering CVP. The patients' preoperative conditions, volume of blood loss during hepatectomy, volume of blood transfusion, length of hospital stay, changes in hepatic and renal functions were compared between the two groups. RESULTS There were no significant differences in patients' preoperative conditions, maximal tumor dimension, pattern of hepatectomy, duration of vascular occlusion, operation time, weight of resected liver tissues, incidence of post-operative complications, hepatic and renal functions between the two groups. LCVP group had a markedly lower volume of total intraoperative blood loss and blood loss during hepatectomy than the control group, being 903.9+/-180.8 mL vs 2 329.4+/-2 538.4 (W=495.5, P<0.01) and 672.4+/-429.9 mL vs 1 662.6+/-1 932.1 (W=543.5, P<0.01). There were no remarkable differences in the pre-resection and post-resection blood losses between the two groups. The length of hospital stay was significantly shortened in LCVP group as compared with the control group, being 16.3+/-6.8 d vs 21.5+/-8.6 d (W=532.5, P<0.05). CONCLUSION LCVP is easily achievable in technique. Maintenance of CVP<or= 4 mmHg can help reduce blood loss during hepatectomy, shorten the length of hospital stay, and has no detrimental effects on hepatic or renal function.
Tim-3 Up-regulation in Patients with Gastric Cancer and Peptic Ulcer Disease

Background: T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain protein-3 (Tim-3), an inhibitory immunoregulatory receptor, has been recently implicated in tumor biology and tumor-associated immune suppression. In the present study, expression of Tim-3 was evaluated in gastric cancer (GC) and peptic ulcer disease (PUD) at both mRNA and protein levels. Methods: A total of 133 gastric tissue biopsies, comprising 43 from GC cases, 48 from PUD and 42 from non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD) serving as controls were collected. Additionally, non-neoplastic adjacent tissue biopsies were also obtained from 6 patients with GC. Infection with Helicobacter pylori was determined by the rapid urease test for all participants and H&E staining was conducted for GC and PUD patients. Tim-3 relative mRNA expression was determined by SYBR Green based Real-Time PCR using β-actin as a reference gene. Tim-3 protein expression was also studied by immunohistochemistry in 7 GC, 7 PUD and 10 NUD tissue samples. Results: Tim-3 was expressed at higher levels in GC (p=0.030) and PUD (p=0.022) cases compared to he NUD group. Among paired samples obtained from gastric cancer patients, tumor tissues showed elevated Tim-3 expression (p=0.019) in comparison with adjacent non-neoplastic biopsies. Tim-3 mRNA findings were supported by detection of more Tim-3 protein in cancerous (p=0.002) and ulcerative (p=0.01) tissues than in controls. Tim-3 was similarly expressed in H. pylori positive and negative cases. Conclusion: Higher Tim-3 expression in patients with gastric cancer and peptic ulcer implies that it might be involved in immune regulation and establishment of these gastrointestinal diseases. Targeted immunotherapy by blocking of inhibitory receptors like Tim-3 could be a promising approach for gastric cancer treatment.
Performance improvement for online schedulers for packaging systems

The present paper addresses the design of an optimal online scheduler for a robotized packaging system. The task of the plant is to pick incoming products from a conveyor belt and pack them into boxes with multiple capacity. Specifically, the goal of the proposed control technique is to lose as less products as possible. To design a suitable controller for this type of plants, an optimization problem (MILP) is formulated. The designed controller is also able to set the belt velocities to maximize the throughput. The topic of this paper is the evaluation and optimization of the control strategy performance. Specifically, a reduction of the computational effort is obtained with a special cost function definition. Furthermore the robot model has been conceived in order to improve the “mission in progress” constraints. Numerical results confirm the superiority of the proposed approach with respect to the simpler solutions adopted in industrial applications.
Evidence of increased oxidative damage in subjects with mild cognitive impairment

Objective: To determine if increased levels of oxidative damage are present in the brains of persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition that often precedes Alzheimer disease (AD). Methods: The authors assessed the amount of protein carbonyls, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), and malondialdehyde in the superior and middle temporal gyri (SMTG) and cerebellum of short postmortem interval and longitudinally evaluated normal subjects and those with MCI and early AD. Results: Elevated levels of protein carbonyls (∼25%), malondialdehyde (∼60%), and TBARS (∼210%) were observed in the SMTG of individuals with MCI and early AD vs normal control subjects. The elevation in TBARS was associated with the numbers of neuritic but not diffuse plaques. Levels of protein carbonyls increased as delayed verbal memory performance declined. Conclusion: Oxidative damage occurs in the brain of subjects with mild cognitive impairment, suggesting that oxidative damage may be one of the earliest events in the onset and progression of Alzheimer disease.
Using Spatial Analysis to Predict Health Care Use at the Local Level: A Case Study of Type 2 Diabetes Medication Use and Its Association with Demographic Change and Socioeconomic Status

Local health status and health care use may be negatively influenced by low local socio-economic profile, population decline and population ageing. To support the need for targeted local health care, we explored spatial patterns of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) drug use at local level and determined its association with local demographic, socio-economic and access to care variables. We assessed spatial variability in these associations. We estimated the five-year prevalence of T2DM drug use (2005–2009) in persons aged 45 years and older at four-digit postal code level using the University of Groningen pharmacy database IADB.nl. Statistics Netherlands supplied data on potential predictor variables. We assessed spatial clustering, correlations and estimated a multiple linear regression model and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. Prevalence of T2DM medicine use ranged from 2.0% to 25.4%. The regression model included the extent of population ageing, proportion of social welfare/benefits, proportion of low incomes and proportion of pensioners, all significant positive predictors of local T2DM drug use. The GWR model demonstrated considerable spatial variability in the association between T2DM drug use and above predictors and was more accurate. The findings demonstrate the added value of spatial analysis in predicting health care use at local level.
CSR5: An Efficient Storage Format for Cross-Platform Sparse Matrix-Vector Multiplication

Sparse matrix-vector multiplication (SpMV) is a fundamental building block for numerous applications. In this paper, we propose CSR5 (Compressed Sparse Row 5), a new storage format, which offers high-throughput SpMV on various platforms including CPUs, GPUs and Xeon Phi. First, the CSR5 format is insensitive to the sparsity structure of the input matrix. Thus the single format can support an SpMV algorithm that is efficient both for regular matrices and for irregular matrices. Furthermore, we show that the overhead of the format conversion from the CSR to the CSR5 can be as low as the cost of a few SpMV operations. We compare the CSR5-based SpMV algorithm with 11 state-of-the-art formats and algorithms on four mainstream processors using 14 regular and 10 irregular matrices as a benchmark suite. For the 14 regular matrices in the suite, we achieve comparable or better performance over the previous work. For the 10 irregular matrices, the CSR5 obtains average performance improvement of 17.6%, 28.5%, 173.0% and 293.3% (up to 213.3%, 153.6%, 405.1% and 943.3%) over the best existing work on dual-socket Intel CPUs, an nVidia GPU, an AMD GPU and an Intel Xeon Phi, respectively. For real-world applications such as a solver with only tens of iterations, the CSR5 format can be more practical because of its low-overhead for format conversion.
SleepServer: A Software-Only Approach for Reducing the Energy Consumption of PCs within Enterprise Environments

Desktop computers are an attractive focus for energy savings as they are both a substantial component of enterprise energy consumption and are frequently unused or otherwise idle. Indeed, past studies have shown large power savings if such machines could simply be powered down when not in use. Unfortunately, while contemporary hardware supports low power "sleep" modes of operation, their use in desktop PCs has been curtailed by application expectations of "always on" network connectivity. In this paper, we describe the architecture and implementation of SleepServer, a system that enables hosts to transition to such low-power sleep states while still maintaining their application's expected network presence using an ondemand proxy server. Our approach is particularly informed by our focus on practical deployment and thus SleepServer is designed to be compatible with existing networking infrastructure, host hardware and operating systems. Using SleepServer does not require any hardware additions to the end hosts themselves, and can be supported purely by additional software running on the systems under management. We detail results from our experience in deploying SleepServer in a medium scale enterprise with a sample set of thirty machines instrumented to provide accurate real-time measurements of energy consumption. Our measurements show significant energy savings for PCs ranging from 60%-80%, depending on their use model.
Effects of non-diegetic information on presence : A content manipulation experiment

The role of VE content in the presence experience is controversial. Although a strong theoretical argument has been made that presence depends on the form of information presented and not the content, several relational studies have shown that content is strongly associated to presence. This paper presents an experiment which manipulated nondiegetic music played during exposure to a strongly themed VE into three conditions: Music related to the VE theme, music unrelated to the VE theme, and a baseline with no music. The results (using the ITC-SOPI as measure of presence) show that non-diegetic music affects how natural the subjects experience the VE as being, but not spatial presence. A surprising result was the predictive power of emotion (as measured by the Izard DES-II) on all presence factors. The implications of the findings to presence theory in general, and to a cognitive expectation based view of presence in particular, are discussed. Keywords--Presence, Content, Cognition, Nondiegetic, Music, Theory.
Dinamika beregov vostochnykh arkticheskikh morej Rossii: osnovnye faktory, zakonomernosti i tendentsii (Dynamics of the Russian east Arctic sea coast: Major factors, regularities and tendencies)

Climatic, geocryological, geological and hydrodynamic conditions and available data on Arctic coast dynamics are analyzed. The basic laws of ice-rich coast development in varied geocryological and climatic conditions are investigated. Functional connections of coastal destructive cryogenic processes activity with summer air temperature and storms recurrence are revealed. The forecast of ice-rich coast rate retreat for the Laptev Sea and East-Siberian Sea is executed in connection with prospective changes of climate in XXI century.
p21Cip-1/SDI-1/WAF-1 Gene Is Involved in Chondrogenic Differentiation of ATDC5 Cells in Vitro *

Development of skeletal cartilage is characterized with coupling growth arrest and cell differentiation. Here, to understand the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors involved in the progression of chondrogenic differentiation, we examined changes in the expression levels of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor members using mouse ATDC5 prechondrocytes as a widely used in vitro model of cartilage differentiation. Up-regulation of p21 andp27 mRNA was observed following a decrease in growth rate of prechondrocytes, and both transcripts subsequently accumulated during chondrogenic differentiation; p15, p18, and p19 mRNA, in contrast, did not change during differentiation. Only the up-regulation of p21 mRNA during differentiation was prevented by the continuous treatment of early chondrogenic inhibitor, parathyroid hormone, indicating a close correlation between differentiation and p21 induction in ATDC5 cells. Therefore, to examine the role of p21 during chondrogenesis, we established stable cell lines overexpressing full-length p21 antisense RNA in ATDC5. The reduction of endogenous p21 in these cell lines caused inhibition of early chondrogenic differentiation in ATDC5, indicating thatp21 gene plays an important role in this process of the cells in vitro. Furthermore, the level of p21 protein and p21·CDK2 complexes transiently increased during differentiation, but not in undifferentiated cells, leading to a decrease in CDK2-associated kinase. However, differentiation-dependent expressed p21 protein was degraded by a proteasome-dependent pathway. Thus, the progression of chondrogenic differentiation requires down-regulation of CDK2-associated kinase with an increase in p21 protein and subsequent degradation of this protein by a proteasomal pathway.