Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transaction Report

(Note: With the exception of the correction of typographical or spelling errors that could be a source of ambiguity, letters and reports are not edited. The original formatting of letters and referee reports may not be reflected in this compilation.) Please note that this manuscript was originally submitted to the EMBO Journal where it was peer-reviewed. It was then transferred to EMBO reports with the original referees' comments as well as the authors' responses to them. Referee #1: This manuscript reports on the effect of the so called endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on human sperm. The authors screened about 100 various chemicals to conclude that about 30 of structurally divers EDCs activate human sperm by activating the CatSper channel to increase Ca2+ and changed its motility. Thus exposure to such chemicals may compromise human fertility. Although the results are solid and can be of use to investigators interested in fertility, a fatal problem with the study from EMBO's perpective is that the findings do not add any fundamental information on the function of CatSper channel or sperm function and thus they are suitable to other more
CHANGES IN LEFT ATRIAL SIZE AND CARDIAC RHYTHM IN PATIENTS AFTER MITRAL VALVE SURGERY

Mitral valve disease often leads to dilatation of the left atrium and subsequent atrial fibrillation. We evaluated changes in sinus rhythm and left atrial size in a group of 77 patients (17 men, 60 women; average age, 60.7 years) who underwent mitral valve surgery (53 valve replacements and 24 valve repairs) between January 2000 and September 2001. The mean left atrial size was 56.2 mm before surgery (A), 52.6 mm on discharge from hospital (B) and 50.9 mm at one-year follow-up (C). The differences between A and B and A and C and that between B and C were statistically significant (P<0.001 and P<0.05, respectively) The valve replacement or repair also had a favourable effect on the restoration of sinus rhythm; the proportion of patients in sinus rhythm increased from 33% before surgery to 41% at one-year follow-up. In conclusion, surgical treatment of mitral valve disease results in a significant reduction of left atrial size and, in some patients, also in the restoration of sinus rhythm.
Use of Copper Slag and Cement By-Pass Dust as Cementitious Materials

Copper slag (CS) and cement by-pass dust (CBPD) are by-products of the production of copper and cement, respectively. In the Sultanate of Oman, large quantities of copper slag (60,000 tons/year) and cement by-pass dust (25,000 tons/year) are produced every year, most of which is not effectively utilized and disposed on-site without any reuse. The main objective of this research is to investigate the potential use of copper slag and cement by-pass dust in concrete as partial replacements for Portland cement. The physical and chemical properties of both slag and cement by-pass dust were determined. Mortar samples were prepared using different proportions of slag, cement by-pass dust and lime, which was used as an activating material. Proportions up to 15% of Portland cement replacement were used. In addition, a control mixture containing 100% Portland cement was prepared for comparison. Results obtained indicated that the increase in the proportions of copper slag and cement by-pass dust alone resulted in a decrease in the compressive strength of mortars compared with the control mix. The highest compressive strength was achieved in samples containing 5% CBPD + 95% cement, which was 41.7 MPa after 90 days. The optimum copper slag and cement by-pass dust to be used is 5%. In addition, it was determined that using cement bypass dust as an activating material will work better than using lime. Additional studies should investigate the strength and durability when copper slag and cement by-pass dust are used in concrete mixes.
Pregnancy Outcome in Relation to Treatment of Murine Typhus and Scrub Typhus Infection: A Fever Cohort and a Case Series Analysis

Background There is a paucity of published reports on pregnancy outcome following scrub and murine typhus despite these infections being leading causes of undifferentiated fever in Asia. This study aimed to relate pregnancy outcome with treatment of typhus. Methodology/Principal Findings Data were analyzed from: i) pregnant women with a diagnosis of scrub and/or murine typhus from a fever cohort studies; ii) case series of published studies in PubMed using the search terms “scrub typhus” (ST), “murine typhus” (MT), “Orientia tsutsugamushi”, “Rickettsia tsutsugamushi”, “Rickettsia typhi”, “rickettsiae”, “typhus”, or “rickettsiosis”; and “pregnancy”, until February 2014 and iii) an unpublished case series. Fever clearance time (FCT) and pregnancy outcome (miscarriage and delivery) were compared to treatment. Poor neonatal outcome was a composite measure for pregnancies sustained to 28 weeks or more of gestation ending in stillbirth, preterm birth, or delivery of a growth restricted or low birth weight newborn. Results There were 26 women in the fever cohort. MT and ST were clinically indistinguishable apart from two ST patients with eschars. FCTs (median [range] hours) were 25 [16–42] for azithromycin (n = 5), 34 [20–53] for antimalarials (n = 5) and 92 [6–260] for other antibiotics/supportive therapy (n = 16). There were 36.4% (8/22) with a poor neonatal outcome. In 18 years, 97 pregnancies were collated, 82 with known outcomes, including two maternal deaths. Proportions of miscarriage 17.3% (14/81) and poor neonatal outcomes 41.8% (28/67) were high, increasing with longer FCTs (p = 0.050, linear trend). Use of azithromycin was not significantly associated with improved neonatal outcomes (p = 0.610) Conclusion The published ST and MT world literature amounts to less than 100 pregnancies due to under recognition and under diagnosis. Evidence supporting the most commonly used treatment, azithromycin, is weak. Collaborative, prospective clinical trials in pregnant women are urgently required to reduce the burden of adverse maternal and newborn outcomes and to determine the safety and efficacy of antimicrobial treatment.
Could Acupuncture Needle Sensation be a Predictor of Analgesic Response?

During acupuncture some patients experience distinct sensations which are often referred to as needle sensation. Needle sensation may be related to treatment outcome, although what constitutes adequate acupuncture needle sensation is not known. In this paper, we debate the possibility of using the self-report of the overall intensity of needle sensation as a predictor of analgesic outcome to acupuncture. We describe how our approach to establish criteria to determine adequacy of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation interventions in clinical trials has been used to inform our search for markers of adequacy of procedural technique for acupuncture. We describe previous research which has focused on developing tools to capture the nature of the descriptors used by patients when they self-report needle sensation and reveal that little attention has been given to its role in outcome. We demonstrate that needle sensation is a complex phenomenon with subjects using multiple descriptors to report their experience. We argue that the intensity of the overall experience of needle sensation may prove useful as a gross marker of the adequacy of acupuncture. We briefly describe our research which isolates individual components of needling technique, such as depth of needle penetration and bidirectional needle rotation, in order to assess their contribution to overall needle sensation intensity.
Current and future mobile and wearable device use by people with visual impairments

With the increasing popularity of mainstream wearable devices, it is critical to assess the accessibility implications of such technologies. For people with visual impairments, who do not always need the visual display of a mobile phone, alternative means of eyes-free wearable interaction are particularly appealing. To explore the potential impacts of such technology, we conducted two studies. The first was an online survey that included 114 participants with visual impairments and 101 sighted participants; we compare the two groups in terms of current device use. The second was an interview and design probe study with 10 participants with visual impairments. Our findings expand on past work to characterize a range of trends in smartphone use and accessibility issues therein. Participants with visual impairments also responded positively to two eyes-free wearable device scenarios: a wristband or ring and a glasses-based device. Discussions on projected use of these devices suggest that small, easily accessible, and discreet wearable input could positively impact the ability of people with visual impairments to access information on the go and to participate in certain social interactions.
Enhancing yield and nitrogen use efficiency of Brassica Napus L. using an integrated fertilizer management

In this experiment, Five N efficiency parameters, seed yield and seed oil content was investigated under different fertilizer management in field-grown canola plants. Treatments include four levels of nitrogen (zero, 50, 100 and 150 kg ha –1 ) as main factor and two levels of zinc sulfate (zero and 50 kg ha –1 ) and two levels of biological fertilizer (with and without) as sub-factor were arranged in a factorial design. The results showed that different treatments had significant effects on all the N efficiency parameters, seed yield and seed oil content. Highest value for N use efficiency, N agronomic efficiency and N recovery fraction were observed in the plants treated with combination of 50 kg ha –1 N and Zinc sulphtae. But the highest value for N physiological efficiency and seed oil content were observed in plants treated with combination of 50 kg ha –1 N and Zinc sulphtae and biofertilizer. Moreover, plants treated with 150 kg ha –1 N and Zinc sulphtae and biofertilizer had the highest seed yield and the lowest seed oil content. This study revealed that using integrated fertilizer management a considerable reduction in fertilizer N-demand is possible leading to lower N-balance surpluses in canola production, thus minimizing environmental risk.
Similarity based join over audio feeds in a multimedia data stream management system

Over the last several years, processing of high performance data streams has become very important in various domains. A new type of data processing is needed for applications where input data streams are modeled as multimedia data streams, such as audio and video feeds. For example, in the public safety sector, monitoring and automatic identification of particular individuals suspected of terrorist or criminal activity requires the processing of complex audio and video streams, which is beyond the capabilities of a typical data stream management system (DSMS). The concept of a multimedia data stream management system (MMDSMS) has recently been introduced in order to effectively process continuous queries over dynamic multimedia data streams. In this paper, we address MMDSMS functionalities related to speaker recognition problems in the area of detecting individuals who may pose security threats. We focus on audio feed processing using our novel similarity-based join and on parameterization of the multimedia signal for the process of recognition. We propose a set of signal parameters which a clearly discriminate among individual voices by describing the signal using a homomorphic processing method. Our research was primarily focused on assessing the applicability of cepstral analysis in speech recognition systems, based on a set of acquired digitized voice samples. We developed a research prototype to assess the proposed concepts, and verified the effectiveness of our framework in a lab environment.
Ozone-Induced Rice Grain Yield Loss Is Triggered via a Change in Panicle Morphology That Is Controlled by ABERRANT PANICLE ORGANIZATION 1 Gene

Rice grain yield is predicted to decrease in the future because of an increase in tropospheric ozone concentration. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, we investigated the responses to ozone of two rice (Oryza Sativa L.) cultivars, Sasanishiki and Habataki. Sasanishiki showed ozone-induced leaf injury, but no grain yield loss. By contrast, Habataki showed grain yield loss with minimal leaf injury. A QTL associated with grain yield loss caused by ozone was identified in Sasanishiki/Habataki chromosome segment substitution lines and included the ABERRANT PANICLE ORGANIZATION 1 (APO1) gene. The Habataki allele of the APO1 locus in a near-isogenic line also resulted in grain yield loss upon ozone exposure, suggesting APO1 involvement in ozone-induced yield loss. Only a few differences in the APO1 amino acid sequences were detected between the cultivars, but the APO1 transcript level was oppositely regulated by ozone exposure: i.e., it increased in Sasanishiki and decreased in Habataki. Interestingly, the levels of some phytohormones (jasmonic acid, jasmonoyl-L-isoleucine, and abscisic acid) known to be involved in attenuation of ozone-induced leaf injury tended to decrease in Sasanishiki but to increase in Habataki upon ozone exposure. These data indicate that ozone-induced grain yield loss in Habataki is caused by a reduction in the APO1 transcript level through an increase in the levels of phytohormones that reduce leaf damage.
Preventing child abuse and neglect with a program of nurse home visitation: the limiting effects of domestic violence.

CONTEXT Home visitation to families with young children has been promoted as an effective way to prevent child maltreatment, but few studies have examined the conditions under which such programs meet this goal. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether the presence of domestic violence limits the effects of nurse home visitation interventions in reducing substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect. DESIGN Fifteen-year follow-up study of a randomized trial. SETTING Semirural community in upstate New York. PARTICIPANTS Of 400 socially disadvantaged pregnant women with no previous live births enrolled consecutively between April 1978 and September 1980, 324 mothers and their children participated in the follow-up study. INTERVENTIONS Families were randomly assigned to receive routine perinatal care (control group; n = 184 participated in follow-up), routine care plus nurse home visits during pregnancy only (n = 100), or routine care plus nurse home visits during pregnancy and through the child's second birthday (n = 116). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Number of substantiated reports over the entire 15-year period involving the study child as subject regardless of the identity of the perpetrator or involving the mother as perpetrator regardless of the identity of the child abstracted from state records and analyzed by treatment group and level of domestic violence in the home as measured by the Conflict Tactics Scale. RESULTS Families receiving home visitation during pregnancy and infancy had significantly fewer child maltreatment reports involving the mother as perpetrator (P =. 01) or the study child as subject (P =.04) than families not receiving home visitation. The number of maltreatment reports for mothers who received home visitation during pregnancy only was not different from the control group. For mothers who received visits through the child's second birthday, the treatment effect decreased as the level of domestic violence increased. Of women who reported 28 or fewer incidents of domestic violence (79% of sample), home-visited mothers had significantly fewer child maltreatment reports during the 15-year period than mothers not receiving the longer-term intervention (P =.01). However, this intervention did not significantly reduce child maltreatment among mothers reporting more than 28 incidents of domestic violence (21% of sample). CONCLUSIONS The presence of domestic violence may limit the effectiveness of interventions to reduce incidence of child abuse and neglect. JAMA. 2000;284:1385-1391.
Expansion and Protection by a Virus-Specific NK Cell Subset Lacking Expression of the Inhibitory NKR-P1B Receptor during Murine Cytomegalovirus Infection

NK cells play a major role in immune defense against human and murine CMV (MCMV) infection. Although the MCMV genome encodes for MHC class I–homologous decoy ligands for inhibitory NK cell receptors to evade detection, some mouse strains have evolved activating receptors, such as Ly49H, to recognize these ligands and initiate an immune response. In this study, we demonstrate that approximately half of the Ly49H-expressing (Ly49H+) NK cells in the spleen and liver of C57BL/6 mice also express the inhibitory NKR-P1B receptor. During MCMV infection, the NKR-P1B−Ly49H+ NK cell subset proliferates to constitute the bulk of the NK cell population. This NK cell subset also confers better protection against MCMV infection compared with the NKR-P1B+Ly49H+ subset. The two populations are composed of cells that differ in their surface expression of receptors such as Ly49C/I and NKG2A/C/E, as well as developmental markers, CD27 and CD11b, and the high-affinity IL-2R (CD25) following infection. Although the NKR-P1B+ NK cells can produce effector molecules such as IFNs and granzymes, their proliferation is inhibited during infection. A similar phenotype in MCMV-infected Clr-b–deficient mice, which lack the ligand for NKR-P1B, suggests the involvement of ligands other than the host Clr-b. Most interestingly, genetic deficiency of the NKR-P1B, but not Clr-b, results in accelerated virus clearance and recovery from MCMV infection. This study is particularly significant because the mouse NKR-P1B:Clr-b receptor:ligand system represents the closest homolog of the human NKR-P1A:LLT1 system and may have a direct relevance to human CMV infection.
High voltage (450 V) GaN Schottky rectifiers

We fabricated high standoff voltage (450 V) Schottky rectifiers on hydride vapor phase epitaxy grown GaN on sapphire substrate. Several Schottky device geometries were investigated, including lateral geometry with rectangular and circular contacts, mesa devices, and Schottky metal field plate overlapping a SiO2 layer. The best devices were characterized by an ON-state voltage of 4.2 V at a current density of 100 A/cm2 and a saturation current density of 10^–5 A/cm2 at a reverse bias of 100 V. From the measured breakdown voltage we estimated the critical field for electric breakdown in GaN to be (2.2 ± 0.7) × 10^6 V/cm. This value for the critical field is a lower limit since most of the devices exhibited abrupt and premature breakdown associated with corner and edge effects.
Comparison of streaming electrification characteristics between an ester liquid and a mineral oil using rotating disc method

Streaming electrification phenomenon seen in power transformers results from forced oil circulation. This phenomenon has been extensively investigated since it was identified as one of the failure reasons for large power transformers. The majority of the published research focused on the streaming electrification of mineral oils. Taking into account the potential increase in the voltage level and capacity of ester liquid filled power transformers, the present study used a rotating disc system and compared the streaming electrification characteristics of a synthetic ester with those of a conventional mineral oil. The rotational speed was varied between 100 rpm and 1000 rpm, and the oil temperature was varied between 20 °C and 80 °C. Both aged and unaged oil samples were used to form the oil-pressboard interfaces. The measurement results indicate that the synthetic ester exhibits a stronger ability to generate streaming current than the mineral oil. The subsequent experiments show that the streaming current generated in the mineral oil increases as a result of ageing, whereas that in the synthetic ester decreases. The relaxation times of the two liquids have also been estimated. The results suggest that the mineral oil has a much larger relaxation time than the synthetic ester. For both types of oil, ageing results in decreases in their relaxation times.
Experimental investigation of drag on a compliant surface

The feasibility of reducing turbulent skin-friction drag by means of surface compliance was studied experimentally in a fully developed flat-plate turbulent boundary layer in air, using a membranous surface backed by a thin cavity containing a layer of polyurethane foam. Surface motion characteristics, boundary layer structure, and overall drag were measured over a range of freestream speeds from 7 to 30 m/sec, and a range of membrane tensions from 44 to 350 N/m. Low-amplitude long-wavelength motions predominate, and no significant change from the rigid surface skin-friction coefficients was observed.
Stochastic resonance vs. resonant activation

The phenomenon of stochastic resonance by which it is possible to boost the transduction of information by tuning into noise is experimentally and numerically contrasted with the phenomenon of resonant activation, i.e. the occurrence of a minimal, averaged residence time at an optimal time-scale in the presence of barrier modulations. The experimental system consists of a periodically modulated bistable colloidal Brownian dynamics. Interestingly enough, the two phenomena may occur simultaneously in the same system, although typically in quite different parameter regimes.
The renin-angiotensin system in newborn dogs.

A detailed evaluation of the rennin–angiotensin system by concurrent determinations of plasma renin activity, renal renin activity, and juxtaglomerular index in newborn dogs during the first 15 days of extrauterine life is described. Findings show that the plasma renin activity is significantly higher for the first 2 weeks of extrauterine life when compared with the values found in adult dogs, and that the renal renin activity is slightly greater despite a very low juxtaglomerular index with a few granular cells, mostly located in the juxtamedullary cortex. Stimulation (peritoneal dialysis) of renin release resulted in a marked increase in plasma renin activity. The juxtaglomerular index was not modified by the stimulation whereas the renal renin activity decreased slightly. From these results, it is suggested that the formation and secretion of renin is well developed in kidneys of newborn dogs despite the absence of demonstrable juxtaglomerular cell granules.
Chronic Sympathetic Attenuation and Energy Metabolism in Autonomic Failure

The sympathetic nervous system regulates thermogenesis and energy homeostasis in humans. When activated it increases energy expenditure, particularly resting energy expenditure. Most human studies used acute infusion of &bgr;-blockers as a model to eliminate sympathetic stimulation and to examine the contribution of the sympathetic nervous system to energy metabolism and balance. Clinically, however, it is also important to assess the effect of chronic sympathetic attenuation on energy metabolism. In this context, we hypothesized that resting energy expenditure is decreased in patients with autonomic failure who, by definition, have low sympathetic tone. We measured 24-hour energy expenditure using whole-room indirect calorimeter in 10 adults with chronic autonomic failure (6 women; age, 64.9±9.1 years; body mass index, 25.2±4.4 kg/m2) and 15 sedentary healthy controls of similar age and body composition (8 women; age, 63.1±4.0 years; body mass index, 24.4±3.9 kg/m2). In 4 patients, we eliminated residual sympathetic activity with the ganglionic blocker trimethaphan. We found that, after adjusting for body composition, resting energy expenditure did not differ between patients with autonomic failure and healthy controls. However, resting energy expenditure significantly decreased when residual sympathetic activity was eliminated. Our findings suggest that sympathetic tonic support of resting energy expenditure is preserved, at least in part, in pathophysiological models of chronic sympathetic attenuation.