Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reducing Health Risks from Indoor Exposures in Rapidly Developing Urban China

Background: Over the past two decades there has been a large migration of China’s population from rural to urban regions. At the same time, residences in cities have changed in character from single-story or low-rise buildings to high-rise structures constructed and furnished with many synthetic materials. As a consequence, indoor exposures (to pollutants with outdoor and indoor sources) have changed significantly. Objectives: We briefly discuss the inferred impact that urbanization and modernization have had on indoor exposures and public health in China. We argue that growing adverse health costs associated with these changes are not inevitable, and we present steps that could be taken to reduce indoor exposures to harmful pollutants. Discussion: As documented by China’s Ministry of Health, there have been significant increases in morbidity and mortality among urban residents over the past 20 years. Evidence suggests that the population’s exposure to air pollutants has contributed to increases in lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, and birth defects. Whether a pollutant has an outdoor or an indoor source, most exposure to the pollutant occurs indoors. Going forward, indoor exposures can be reduced by limiting the ingress of outdoor pollutants (while providing adequate ventilation with clean air), minimizing indoor sources of pollutants, updating government policies related to indoor pollution, and addressing indoor air quality during a building’s initial design. Conclusions: Taking the suggested steps could lead to significant reductions in morbidity and mortality, greatly reducing the societal costs associated with pollutant derived ill health.
Using evolutionary swarms (EPSO) in power system reliability indices calculation

This paper reports the application of a population based method (EPSO – Evolutionary Particle Swarm Optimization) to calculate Power System reliability. Population based methods appear as competitors to the traditio nal Monte Carlo simulation because they can be much more computationally efficient in estimating a number of reliability indices. The work reported in this paper demonstrat es that EPSO variants, suited to the problem of exploring a zone in the state space instead of searching for a single optim izing state, are efficient in calculating a number of system reliabi l ty indices such as loss of load expectation. The results obtained wi th EPSO are compared with work of other researchers in population based methods.
Natural Course of Allergic and Nonallergic Rhinitis After 2 Years in Korean Children

Objectives. Allergic and nonallergic rhinitis are very common disease for children, however, little is known about their natural courses in the general population. The purpose is to evaluate the natural course of allergic and nonallergic rhinitis in children. Methods. We analyzed data from Snoring Child Cohort of 178 children (107 boys and 71 girls). All children entered the study at the age of 7 years (range, 6.5 to 7.4 years). Questionnaires regarding chronic rhinitis, a skin prick test (SPT) for 5 inhalent allergens, and specific IgE for 2 dust mites were administered. Children were classified into 4 groups: allergic rhinitis (rhinitis, positive SPT), nonallergic rhinitis (rhinitis, negative SPT), sensitization only (no rhinitis, positive SPT), and control (no rhinitis, negative SPT). We repeated follow them annually, and analyzed the data of first and third year for this study. Results. Finally, the data of 122 children were analyzed. Among 18 children with allergic rhinitis at 7 years, 13 (72%) became sensitization only after 2 years and 5 (28%) were remained having allergic rhinitis. Five out of 19 children (26%) with nonallergic rhinitis developed into allergic rhinitis and 7 (37%) into control at 9 years. Twenty-four out of 28 children (86%) with sensitization only at 7 years remained the same at 9 years. Among 57 control children at 7 years, 2 (4%) developed into allergic rhinitis, 7 (12%) with nonallergic rhinitis, and 16 (28%) with sensitization only at 9 years. Conclusion. The status of chronic rhinitis and allergen sensitization is ever-changing in children.
PGE2 Elevates IL-23 Production in Human Dendritic Cells via a cAMP Dependent Pathway

PGE2 elevates IL-23 production in mouse dendritic cells while inhibits IL-23 production in isolated human monocytes. Whether this differential effect of PGE2 on IL-23 production is cell-type- or species-specific has not been investigated in detail. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of PGE2 on IL-23 production in human DCs and the possible underlying mechanisms. Human monocytes derived dendritic cells (Mo-DCs) were pretreated with or without PGE2. Then the cells were incubated with zymosan. Our results demonstrated that PGE2 promoted zymosan-induced IL-23 production in a concentration dependent manner. In addition, it was found that PGE2 is also able to elevate MyD88-mediated IL-23 p19 promoter activity. More importantly, ELISA data demonstrated that db-cAMP, a cAMP analog, and forskolin, an adenylate cyclase activator, can mimic the effect of PGE2 on zymosan-induced IL-23 production, and rp-cAMP, a protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor, can block the effect of PGE2. Moreover, PGE2 can increase zymosan-induced expression of the mRNA levels of both p19 and p40 subunits, which was mimicked by db-cAMP and forskolin. Our data suggest that PGE2 elevates the production of IL-23 in human Mo-DCs via a cAMP dependent pathway.
Role of shear stress and endothelial prostaglandins in flow- and viscosity-induced dilation of arterioles in vitro.

We have studied the effect of changes in shear stress on diameter of isolated arterioles of rat cremaster muscle. The steady-state active diameter of arterioles at a constant perfusion pressure (60 mm Hg) was 80 +/- 1.2 microns. The vessels' passive diameter (Ca(2+)-free solution) was 156 +/- 1.8 microns. Changes in shear stress were induced either by an increase in flow (velocity) or by an increase in viscosity of the perfusion solution. At a constant perfusion pressure, the stepwise increase in perfusion flow (0-80 microliters/min in 10-microliters/min steps) elicited, with a delay of approximately 20 seconds, a gradual increase in diameter up to 46%. At a constant 20-microliters/min flow rate, increases in viscosity of the perfusate (2%, 4%, and 6% dextran [molecular weight, 77,800]) caused a gradual vasodilation up to 22%. Varying flow and viscosity of the perfusate simultaneously resulted in an upward shift of the flow-diameter curve. Both flow- and viscosity-induced dilations were eliminated by the removal of the endothelium of arterioles (by air) or were inhibited by indomethacin (10(-5) M). The efficacy and specificity of these inhibitory treatments were assessed with vasoactive agents whose action, with regard to endothelial mediation, has been determined previously. The arteriolar dilation maintained calculated wall shear stress close to control values during increases in flow and/or viscosity of the perfusate, but when the dilation was inhibited by removal of the endothelium or by indomethacin, wall shear stress increased significantly in a cumulative manner. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Developing a Measure of Collective Efficacy for Female Netball Using Polytomous Item Response Modeling and Multilevel Confirmatory Analysis

This study outlines the development of a multidimensional measure of collective efficacy (CE) for netball using polytomous item response theory, confirmatory factor analysis, and multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (MLCFA). Items were written to fit into six subscales following the suggestions by Paskevich, Brawley, Dorsch, and Widmeyer, (1999). The sample consisted of 537 females in 56 teams. The results showed that at the lower end of the response scale, options were not all endorsed. A six-factor correlated solution was the best-fitting model. MLCFA further produced good model data fit. The results demonstrate that the items and their underlying factor structure are grounded at both the individual and team level, with factor loadings at the team level suggesting the CE items to be a strong measure of team CE. Correlations between the CE measure and the Group Environment Questionnaire provide evidence for the validity of the CE measure.
O trabalho docente em pós-graduação: prazer e sofrimento

Aim: to describe the feelings of pleasure and suffering during the postgraduate teaching work from the perspective of the teachers. Method: exploratory descriptive, qualitative study, whose data were collected through a semistructured interview, with six professors of postgraduate programs at the master's degree level of a Federal University. Content analysis was chosen for data analysis. Results: the results showed that the construction of the teaching identity, the visibility and recognition are important factors for the exercise of the profession and that pleasure at work is possible when one does what one likes. Suffering is expressed from everyday elements such as work overload, bureaucracy and frustration, although it is not recognized by the research participants. Final considerations: the dynamic of the feelings of pleasure and suffering indicates that the feelings of pleasure stood out in relation to those of suffering, which suggests signs of denial of the latter.
Carbapenem therapy is associated with improved survival compared with piperacillin-tazobactam for patients with extended-spectrum β-lactamase bacteremia.

BACKGROUND The effectiveness of piperacillin-tazobactam (PTZ) for the treatment of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) bacteremia is controversial. We compared 14-day mortality of PTZ vs carbapenems as empiric therapy in a cohort of patients with ESBL bacteremia who all received definitive therapy with a carbapenem. METHODS Patients hospitalized between January 2007 and April 2014 with monomicrobial ESBL bacteremia were included. A decrease of >3 doubling dilutions in the minimum inhibitory concentration for third-generation cephalosporins tested in combination with 4 µg/mL of clavulanic acid was used to confirm ESBL status. The primary exposure was empiric therapy, defined as antibiotic therapy administered to a patient before ESBL status was known. Patients were excluded if they did not receive a carbapenem after ESBL production was identified. The primary outcome was time to death from the first day of bacteremia. Propensity scores using inverse probability of exposure weighting (IPW) were used to estimate the probability that a patient would receive PTZ vs carbapenems empirically. We calculated overall hazard ratios for mortality censored at 14 days using Cox proportional hazards models on an IPW-adjusted cohort. RESULTS A total of 331 unique patients with ESBL bacteremia were identified. One hundred three (48%) patients received PTZ empirically and 110 (52%) received carbapenems empirically. The adjusted risk of death was 1.92 times higher for patients receiving empiric PTZ compared with empiric carbapenem therapy (95% confidence interval, 1.07-3.45). CONCLUSIONS PTZ appears inferior to carbapenems for the treatment of ESBL bacteremia. For patients at high risk of invasive ESBL infections, early carbapenem therapy should be considered. Our findings should not be extended to β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations in development, as limited clinical data are available for these agents.
The ESR1 (6q25) Locus Is Associated with Calcaneal Ultrasound Parameters and Radial Volumetric Bone Mineral Density in European Men

Purpose Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 6q25, which incorporates the oestrogen receptor α gene (ESR1), as a quantitative trait locus for areal bone mineral density (BMDa) of the hip and lumbar spine. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of this locus on other bone health outcomes; calcaneal ultrasound (QUS) parameters, radial peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) parameters and markers of bone turnover in a population sample of European men. Methods Eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the 6q25 locus were genotyped in men aged 40–79 years from 7 European countries, participating in the European Male Ageing Study (EMAS). The associations between SNPs and measured bone parameters were tested under an additive genetic model adjusting for centre using linear regression. Results 2468 men, mean (SD) aged 59.9 (11.1) years had QUS measurements performed and bone turnover marker levels measured. A subset of 628 men had DXA and pQCT measurements. Multiple independent SNPs showed significant associations with BMD using all three measurement techniques. Most notably, rs1999805 was associated with a 0.10 SD (95%CI 0.05, 0.16; p = 0.0001) lower estimated BMD at the calcaneus, a 0.14 SD (95%CI 0.05, 0.24; p = 0.004) lower total hip BMDa, a 0.12 SD (95%CI 0.02, 0.23; p = 0.026) lower lumbar spine BMDa and a 0.18 SD (95%CI 0.06, 0.29; p = 0.003) lower trabecular BMD at the distal radius for each copy of the minor allele. There was no association with serum levels of bone turnover markers and a single SNP which was associated with cortical density was also associated with cortical BMC and thickness. Conclusions Our data replicate previous associations found between SNPs in the 6q25 locus and BMDa at the hip and extend these data to include associations with calcaneal ultrasound parameters and radial volumetric BMD.
Community-Based Therapy for Children With Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis

OBJECTIVES. The goals were to describe the management of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis among children, to examine the tolerability of second-line antituberculosis agents among children, and to report the outcomes of children treated for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in poor urban communities in Lima, Peru, a city with high tuberculosis prevalence. METHODS. A retrospective analysis of data for 38 children <15 years of age with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, either documented with drug sensitivity testing of the child's tuberculosis isolate or suspected on the basis of the presence of clinical symptoms for a child with a household contact with documented multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, was performed. All 38 children initiated a supervised individualized treatment regimen for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis between July 1999 and July 2003. Each child received 18 to 24 months of therapy with ≥5 first- or second-line drugs to which their Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain was presumed to be sensitive. RESULTS. Forty-five percent of the children had malnutrition or anemia at the time of diagnosis, 29% had severe radiographic findings (defined as bilateral or cavitary disease), and 13% had extrapulmonary disease. Forty-five percent of the children were hospitalized initially because of the severity of illness. Adverse events were observed for 42% of the children, but no events required suspension of therapy for >5 days. Ninety-five percent of the children (36 of 38 children) achieved cures or probable cures, 1 child (2.5%) died, and 1 child (2.5%) defaulted from therapy. CONCLUSIONS. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis disease among children can be treated successfully in resource-poor settings. Treatment is well tolerated by children, and severe adverse events with second-line agents are rare.
On Selecting Recommenders for Trust Evaluation in Online Social Networks

Trust is a central component of social interactions among humans. Many applications motivate the consideration of trust evaluation in online social networks (OSNs). Some work has been proposed based on a trusted graph. However, it is still an open challenge to construct a trusted graph, especially in terms of selecting proper recommenders, which can be used to predict the trustworthiness of an unknown target efficiently and effectively. Based on the intuition that people who are close to and influential to us can make more proper and acceptable recommendations, we present the idea of recommendation-aware trust evaluation (RATE). We further model the recommender selection problem as an optimization problem, with the objectives of higher accuracy, lower risk (uncertainty), and lower cost. Four metrics: trustworthiness, expertise, uncertainty, and cost, are identified to measure and adjust the quality of recommenders. We focus on a 1-hop recommender selection, for which we propose the FluidTrust model to better illustrate the trust--decision making process of a user. We also discuss the extension of multihop scenarios and multitarget scenarios. Experimental results, with the real social network datasets of Epinions and Advogato, validate the effectiveness of RATE: it can predict trust with higher accuracy (it gains about 20% higher accuracy in Epinions), lower risk, and less cost (about a 30% improvement).
Influence of the inlet relative Mach number on ram-rotor flow field and performance

The three dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations and the Spalart-Allmaras turbulent model are adopted to simulate numerically the flow field of the three dimensional flow-path of a ram-rotor with different inlet relative Mach numbers (Ma0 = 2.1∼2.5) and two kinds of throat length-height ratio. It has been found that the flow fields are different with the changing of the throat length-height ratio. When the throat length-height ratio is 1, with the increasing of the inlet relative Mach number, the separation zone moves from near the top wall to the bottom wall; and it is contrary when the length-height ratio is 2. With Ma0 increases, the incident angle and the reflection angle of shock wave decrease. The shock loss, the interaction of the shock wave and boundary layer, and the boundary layer separation are the main factors of the flow loss. The averaged flow angle at the exit with the throat length-height ratio 2 is larger than that with the throat length-height ratio 1. The Mach number, the total pressure and the pressure ratio at the exit increase and the adiabatic efficiency decreases with the increasing of Ma0. Under the same Ma0, the ram-rotor with the throat length-height ratio 2 has higher total pressure, the pressure ratio and the adiabatic efficiency.
Cognitive effects of dopamine depletion in the context of diminished acetylcholine signaling capacity in mice

SUMMARY A subset of patients with Parkinson’s disease acquires a debilitating dementia characterized by severe cognitive impairments (i.e. Parkinson’s disease dementia; PDD). Brains from PDD patients show extensive cholinergic loss as well as dopamine (DA) depletion. We used a mutant mouse model to directly test whether combined cholinergic and DA depletion leads to a cognitive profile resembling PDD. Mice carrying heterozygous deletion of the high-affinity, hemicholinium-3-sensitive choline transporter (CHTHET) show reduced levels of acetylcholine throughout the brain. We achieved bilateral DA depletion in CHTHET and wild-type (WT) littermates via intra-striatal infusion of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), or used vehicle as control. Executive function and memory were evaluated using rodent versions of cognitive tasks commonly used with human subjects: the set-shifting task and spatial and novel-object recognition paradigms. Our studies revealed impaired acquisition of attentional set in the set-shifting paradigm in WT-6OHDA and CHTHET-vehicle mice that was exacerbated in the CHTHET-6OHDA mice. The object recognition test following a 24-hour delay was also impaired in CHTHET-6OHDA mice compared with all other groups. Treatment with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors physostigmine (0.05 or 0.1 mg/kg) and donepezil (0.1 and 0.3 mg/kg) reversed the impaired object recognition of the CHTHET-6OHDA mice. Our data demonstrate an exacerbated cognitive phenotype with dual ACh and DA depletion as compared with either insult alone, with traits analogous to those observed in PDD patients. The results suggest that combined loss of DA and ACh could be sufficient for pathogenesis of specific cognitive deficits in PDD.
The Absorption of Benzene through Human Skin

Abstract : As a result of the proliferation of benzene solutions in several procuction technologies and prolonged exposure poisonings, the question about skin as a way of absorption has re-emerged with respect to the direction of preventive measures and the necessity to clarify the observed clinical signs of absorption. The absorption of benzene throughout the skin in men in experimental conditions was examined. The liquid benzene was absorbed with the velocity about 0,4 mg/sq cm/hour; the absorption of the benzene vapors was insignificant and it did not exceed 1 per cent of this absorbed throughout the respiratory ways in the same conditions. The study was based on the determination of phenol contents in urine and on the new direct chemical method for the designation of skin absorption of benzene, this method was described in the paper. The authors concluded that the absorption of benzene, this method was described in the paper. The authors concluded that the absorption of benzene throughout the skin must not be neglected.
Cosmological constraints from the local X-ray luminosity function of the most X-ray-luminous galaxy clusters

We present precise constraints on the normalization of the power spectrum of mass fluctuations in the nearby Universe, σ 8, as a function of the mean local matter density, � m. Using the observed local X-ray luminosity function of galaxy clusters from the extended BCS and REFLEX studies, a mass‐luminosity relation determined from Chandra and ROSAT X-ray data and weak gravitational lensing observations, and the mass function predicted by the Hubble Volume simulations of Evrard et al., we obtain σ 8 = (0.508 ± 0.019) � −(0.253±0.024) ,
VIRAL INFECTIONS IN FREE-LIVING POPULATIONS OF THE EUROPEAN WILDCAT

While the importance of viral infections is well studied in domestic cats, only limited information is available on their occurence and prevalence in the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of antibodies to feline coronavirus (FCoV), calicivirus (FCV), herpesvirus (FHV), parvovirus (FPV), immunodeficiency virus (FIV), leukemia virus (FeLV), and FeLV antigenemia in 51 European wildcat sera. Samples were collected between 1996 and 1997 from wildcat populations in France, Switzerland, and Germany. Antibodies to FCoV were detected in two cats (4%) and FCoV RNA was detected in feces of one of these two cats. Antibodies to FCV, FHV and FPV were found at relatively low frequencies of 16%, 4%, and 2%, respectively. Antibodies to FIV were not detected. Although antigen and antibodies to FeLV were detected in 49%, and 75%, respectively, no evidence of FeLV-associated pathology was found. From the low prevalence of FCoV, FCV, FHV and FPV infections and from the fact that the European wildcats live solitarily, it was concluded that these viral infections do not spread readily within a population. Therefore, it may be assumed that release into the wild of European wildcats bred in captivity would not bring about a high risk of introducing of these viral infections to the free-ranging wildcats. As an exception, wildcats should be tested for absence of FIV infection before release if they were at risk to acquire this infection from domestic cats.