Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relevance of Chronic Lyme Disease to Family Medicine as a Complex Multidimensional Chronic Disease Construct: A Systematic Review

Lyme disease has become a global public health problem and a prototype of an emerging infection. Both treatment-refractory infection and symptoms that are related to Borrelia burgdorferi infection remain subject to controversy. Because of the absence of solid evidence on prevalence, causes, diagnostic criteria, tools and treatment options, the role of autoimmunity to residual or persisting antigens, and the role of a toxin or other bacterial-associated products that are responsible for the symptoms and signs, chronic Lyme disease (CLD) remains a relatively poorly understood chronic disease construct. The role and performance of family medicine in the detection, integrative treatment, and follow-up of CLD are not well studied either. The purpose of this paper is to describe insights into the complexity of CLD as a multidimensional chronic disease construct and its relevance to family medicine by means of a systematic literature review.
A Practical Solution for Dyspareunia in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PURPOSE Dyspareunia is common in breast cancer survivors because of low estrogen. This study explored whether dyspareunia is introital pain, preventable with analgesic liquid. PATIENTS AND METHODS In a randomized, controlled, double-blind trial, estrogen-deficient breast cancer survivors with severe penetrative dyspareunia applied either saline or 4% aqueous lidocaine to the vulvar vestibule for 3 minutes before vaginal penetration. After a 1-month blinded trial of patient-assessed twice-per-week tampon insertion or intercourse, all patients received lidocaine for 2 months in an open-label trial. The primary outcome was patient-related assessment of penetration pain on a scale of zero to 10. Secondary outcomes were sexual distress (Female Sexual Distress Scale), sexual function (Sexual Function Questionnaire), and resumption of intercourse. Comparisons were made with the Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed rank test with significance set at P < . 05. RESULTS In all, 46 patients, screened to exclude those with pelvic muscle and organ pain, uniformly had clinical evidence of severe vulvovaginal atrophy, dyspareunia (median pain score, 8 of 10; interquartile range [IQR], 7 to 9), increased sexual distress scores (median, 30.5; IQR, 23 to 37; abnormal, > 11), and abnormal sexual function. Users of lidocaine reported less pain during intercourse in the blinded phase (median score of 1.0 compared with saline score of 5.3; P = .007). After open-label lidocaine use, 37 (90%) of 41 reported comfortable penetration. Sexual distress decreased (median score, 14; IQR, 3 to 20; P < .001), and sexual function improved in all but one domain. Of 20 prior abstainers from intercourse who completed the study, 17 (85%) had resumed comfortable penetrative intimacy. No partners reported penile numbness. CONCLUSION Breast cancer survivors with menopausal dyspareunia can have comfortable intercourse after applying liquid lidocaine compresses to the vulvar vestibule before penetration.
Triplet-Center Loss for Multi-view 3D Object Retrieval

Most existing 3D object recognition algorithms focus on leveraging the strong discriminative power of deep learning models with softmax loss for the classification of 3D data, while learning discriminative features with deep metric learning for 3D object retrieval is more or less neglected. In the paper, we study variants of deep metric learning losses for 3D object retrieval, which did not receive enough attention from this area. First, two kinds of representative losses, triplet loss and center loss, are introduced which could learn more discriminative features than traditional classification loss. Then, we propose a novel loss named triplet-center loss, which can further enhance the discriminative power of the features. The proposed triplet-center loss learns a center for each class and requires that the distances between samples and centers from the same class are closer than those from different classes. Extensive experimental results on two popular 3D object retrieval benchmarks and two widely-adopted sketch-based 3D shape retrieval benchmarks consistently demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed loss, and significant improvements have been achieved compared with the state-of-the-arts.
Foundation Year 2 doctors’ reasons for leaving UK medicine: an in-depth analysis of decision-making using semistructured interviews

Objectives To explore the reasons that doctors choose to leave UK medicine after their foundation year two posts. Setting All four regions of Scotland. Participants Foundation year two doctors (F2s) working throughout Scotland who were considering leaving UK medicine after foundation training were recruited on a volunteer basis. Maximum variation between participants was sought. Primary and secondary outcome measures Semistructured interviews were coded using template analysis. Six perspectives, described by Feldman and Ng, were used as the initial coding template. The codes were then configured to form a framework that explores the interplay of factors influencing Foundation Year 2 (F2) doctors’ decisions to leave UK medicine. Results Seventeen participants were interviewed. Six perspectives were explored. Structural influences (countrywide and worldwide issues) included visas, economic and political considerations, structure of healthcare systems and availability of junior doctor jobs worldwide. Organisational influences (the National Health Service (NHS) and other healthcare providers) included staffing and compensation policies, the working environment and the learning environment. Occupational influences (specific to being a junior doctor) comprised the junior doctor contract, role and workload, pursuit of career interests and the structure of training. Work group influences (relationships with colleagues) included support at work, task interdependence and use of locums. Personal life influences consisted of work-life balance, and support in resolving work-life conflict. The underlying theme of ‘taking a break’ recurred through multiple narratives. Conclusions F2s give reasons similar to those given by any professional considering a change in their job. However, working within the NHS as an F2 doctor brought specific challenges, such as a need to make a choice of specialty within the F2 year, exposure to workplace bullying and difficulties in raising concerns. Despite these challenges, most F2s did not view their decision to leave as a permanent job change, but as a temporary break from their current working lives.
The effect of carbon nanotube on the physical properties of poly(butylene terephthalate) nanocomposite by simple melt blending

Polyester nanocomposites based on poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and carbon nanotube (CNT) were prepared by simple melt blending using a twin-screw extruder. There is significant dependence of the thermal, rheological, and mechanical properties of the PBT nanocomposites on the concentration and dispersion state of CNT. The storage and loss moduli of the PBT nanocomposites increased with increasing frequency, and this enhancing effect was more pronounced at lower frequency region. The nonterminal behavior for the PBT nanocomposites was attributed to the nanotube–nanotube or polymer–nanotube interactions, and the dominant nanotube–nanotube interactions at high CNT content resulted in the formation of the interconnected network-like structures of CNT in the PBT nanocomposites. The incorporation of a small quantity of CNT into the PBT matrix can substantially improve the mechanical properties, the heat distortion temperature, and the thermal stability of the PBT nanocomposites. The unique character of CNT dispersed in the PBT matrix resulted in the physical barrier effect against the thermal decomposition, leading to the improvement in the thermal stability of the PBT nanocomposites. This study also provides a design guide of CNT-reinforced PBT nanocomposites with a great potential for industrial uses. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009
Criticality Analysis of the Lower Ionosphere Perturbations Prior to the 2016 Kumamoto (Japan) Earthquakes as Based on VLF Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Data Observed at Multiple Stations

The perturbations of the ionosphere which are observed prior to significant earthquakes (EQs) have long been investigated and could be considered promising for short-term EQ prediction. One way to monitor ionospheric perturbations is by studying VLF/LF electromagnetic wave propagation through the lower ionosphere between specific transmitters and receivers. For this purpose, a network of eight receivers has been deployed throughout Japan which receive subionospheric signals from different transmitters located both in the same and other countries. In this study we analyze, in terms of the recently proposed natural time analysis, the data recorded by the above-mentioned network prior to the catastrophic 2016 Kumamoto fault-type EQs, which were as huge as the former 1995 Kobe EQ. These EQs occurred within a two-day period (14 April: MW=6.2 and MW=6.0, 15 April: MW=7.0) at shallow depths (~10 km), while their epicenters were adjacent. Our results show that lower ionospheric perturbations present critical dynamics from two weeks up to two days before the main shock occurrence. The results are compared to those by the conventional nighttime fluctuation method obtained for the same dataset and exhibit consistency. Finally, the temporal evolutions of criticality in ionospheric parameters and those in the lithosphere as seen from the ULF electromagnetic emissions are discussed in the context of the lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling.
Functional genomic analysis for overproduction of key terpenoid indole alkaloids in mature leaf of Catharanthus roseus

Metabolic engineering strategies are mandatory in order to alter the production of important secondary metabolites or terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs), e.g., vinblastine and vincristine in the medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus. In the present study, we have detected high levels of these two bisindoles along with their precursors, vindoline, catharanthine and taberosinine in response to treatment with chemical elicitors. We also detected the expression levels of nine genes in the TIA biosynthetic pathway. There were slight positive effects of 6- Benzylaminopurine (BA) and kinetin on the percentages of catharanthine. Treatments with indole acetic acid (IAA) at low and moderate concentrations (128.51 and 123.57, respectively), and tryptophan as well as kinetin at moderate concentration (162.94 and 185.27, respectively) resulted in higher percentages of taberosinine. Similar results were found when vindoline was treated with different amounts of IAA. Percentages of vindoline increased at moderate concentrations of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), tryptophan and kinetin. Vinblastine and vincristine levels increased with the five different treatments. The study also involved the detection of expression levels of three genes, e.g., tdc, sls and str, directly responsible for the biosynthesis of strictosidine, five genes, e.g., t16h, omt, nmt, d4h and dat, acting in the six-step conversion of taberosinine to vindoline and per 1 gene, catalyzing the condensation of catharanthine with vindoline. The results indicated the upregulation of genes tdc, str and per 1 due to the effect of 2,4-D. Treatment with tryptophan resulted in increased expression of tdc, str, t16h, d4h and dat genes. The d4h and dat genes were upregulated due to the effect of IAA. No influence of BA and kinetin on the expression of genes in the TIA biosynthetic pathway was observed. The results also indicate that other genes related to the biosynthesis of both bisindoles vinblastine and vincristine might be involved and induced by either BA or kinetin. For industry, we recommend overexpressing the genes tdc, str, d4h, dat and/or per 1 through metabolic engineering approaches for large-scale production of vinblastine and vincristine, as well as other key compounds in
The instilled fluid dynamics and surface chemistry of polymers in the preocular tear film.

Using slit lamp fluorophotometry it was demonstrated that the rate of drainage of a vehicle placed in the eye increased with increasing volume and that polymer solutions increased the thickness of the precorneal tear film (PTF). By increasing the viscosity of the delivery vehicle, (e.g., a hydroxypropylmethylcellulose polymer solutions), the PTF retention of fluorescein could be increased. The increased retention was shown to be due to an increase in the tear reservoir volume provided by the more viscous solutions. The PTF retention of fluorescein in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) vehicle was not as viscosity dependent, although PVA did seem to produce greater initial PTF fluorescence. This suggested that PVA initially produced a thicker PTF. The PTF retention of fluorescein by five commercial solutions did not have any relation to their wetting properties. The only good correlation with fluorescein retention in the PTF measured, seemed to be the ability of different polymer solutions to stabilize a thick layer of water as measured by the spontaneous spreading of polymer molecules at the air/liquid interface on wet glass surfaces. This model was designed to simulate tear film spreading in vivo. The results suggest that different polymer solutions may produce thicker PTF's than normal by virtue of their ability to drag water with them as they spread over the ocular surface with each blink. Mechanisms by which polymer solutions may increase the thickness of the PTF are discussed.
Learning to cooperate: The evolution of social rewards in repeated interactions

Understanding the behavioral and psychological mechanisms underlying social behaviors is one of the major goals of social evolutionary theory. In particular, a persistent question about animal cooperation is to what extent it is supported by other-regarding preferences. In many situations, animals adjust their behaviors through learning by responding to the rewards they experience as a consequence of their actions. Therefore, we may ask whether learning in social situations can be driven by evolved prosocial rewards. Here we develop a mathematical model in order to ask whether the mere act of cooperating with a social partner will evolve to be inherently rewarding. Individuals interact repeatedly in pairs and adjust their behaviors through reinforcement learning. We assume that individuals associate to each game outcome an internal reward value. These perceived rewards are genetically evolving traits. We find that conditionally cooperative rewards that value mutual cooperation positively but the sucker’s outcome negatively tend to be evolutionarily stable. Purely other-regarding rewards can evolve only under special parameter combinations. On the other hand, selfish rewards that always learn pure defection are also evolutionary successful. These findings are consistent with empirical observations showing that humans tend to show conditionally cooperative behavior, and also exhibit diversity of preferences. Our model also demonstrates the need to further integrate multiple levels of biological causation of behavior.
Nonequilibrium polarization dynamics in antiferroelectrics

A nonequilibrium statistical domain nucleation model of polarization dynamics in less understood antiferroelectric systems is introduced. Predictions of the model have been successfully tested experimentally using an antiferroelectric Pb0.99Nb0. 02[( Zr0.57Sn0.43) Ti-0.94(0.06)] O-0.98(3) polycrystalline ceramic. We determined the activation energy of the domain nucleation process for this particular antiferroelectric sample to be W-b = 1.07 eV and the critical volume of the polar nucleus V * = 98 x 10(-27)m(3), which corresponds to a linear length scale of 2.86 nm. Disciplines Condensed Matter Physics | Materials Science and Engineering Comments This article is published as Vopson, M. M. , and Xiaoli Tan. "Nonequilibrium polarization dynamics in antiferroelectrics. " Physical Review B 96, no. 1 (2017): 014104. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.96. 014104. Posted with permission. This article is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/mse_pubs/281 PHYSICAL REVIEW B 96, 014104 (2017) Nonequilibrium polarization dynamics in antiferroelectrics M. M. Vopson1,*,† and X. Tan2 1Faculty of Science, SEES, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3QL, United Kingdom 2Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA (Received 20 April 2017; published 7 July 2017) A nonequilibrium statistical domain nucleation model of polarization dynamics in less understood antiferroelectric systems is introduced. Predictions of the model have been successfully tested experimentally using an antiferroelectric Pb0.99Nb0. 02[(Zr0.57Sn0.43)0.94Ti0.06]0.98O3 polycrystalline ceramic. We determined the activation energy of the domain nucleation process for this particular antiferroelectric sample to be Wb = 1.07 eV and the critical volume of the polar nucleus V ∗ = 98 × 10−27m3, which corresponds to a linear length scale of 2.86 nm. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.96. 014104
Powerful Statistical Inference for Nested Data Using Sufficient Summary Statistics

Hierarchically-organized data arise naturally in many psychology and neuroscience studies. As the standard assumption of independent and identically distributed samples does not hold for such data, two important problems are to accurately estimate group-level effect sizes, and to obtain powerful statistical tests against group-level null hypotheses. A common approach is to summarize subject-level data by a single quantity per subject, which is often the mean or the difference between class means, and treat these as samples in a group-level t-test. This “naive” approach is, however, suboptimal in terms of statistical power, as it ignores information about the intra-subject variance. To address this issue, we review several approaches to deal with nested data, with a focus on methods that are easy to implement. With what we call the sufficient-summary-statistic approach, we highlight a computationally efficient technique that can improve statistical power by taking into account within-subject variances, and we provide step-by-step instructions on how to apply this approach to a number of frequently-used measures of effect size. The properties of the reviewed approaches and the potential benefits over a group-level t-test are quantitatively assessed on simulated data and demonstrated on EEG data from a simulated-driving experiment.
Specific Attentional Disorders and Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease.

BACKGROUND Due to its high prevalence in dual-task paradigms, freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease is thought to be associated with dysexecutive syndrome and attentional disorders. However, the role of specific attentional disorders in patients with freezing of gait is still unclear. OBJECTIVE Here, we sought to specifically determine which basic attentional modalities are impaired in patients with freezing of gait. METHODS Seventy-eight parkinsonian patients performed a computer-controlled reaction-time paradigm designed to measure the different attentional subcomponents, controlled for visuospatial processing and motor participation. RESULTS The freezer (n = 42) and non-freezer (n = 36) groups were matched for age, educational level, MMSE and Mattis Dementia Rating Scale. There were no intergroup differences in simple reaction times, whereas choice reaction times were higher in the freezer group than in the non-freezer group for divided attention (p = 0.023). CONCLUSIONS At equivalent levels of overall cognitive efficiency, freezer patients showed a greater slowdown than non-freezer patients with a specific impairment in divided attention.
Expression and significances of MiRNA Let-7 and HMGA2 in laryngeal carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE High mobility group protein A2 (HMGA2) is a reported new oncogene been regulated by tumor suppressor microRNA Let-7. HMGA2 has become a hot topic in fundamental and clinical research of laryngeal carcinoma. The aim of the current study is to investigate the molecular mechanism of Let-7 and HMGA2 in oncogenesis and progression of laryngeal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS We used quantitative RT-PCR to detect the expression of miRNA Let-7a and HMGA2 mRNA from 59 pairs of fresh laryngeal cancer tissues and adjacent tissues collected for the laryngeal cancer patient. The expression of HMGA2 protein was detected by western blot method. RESULTS There is a negative correlation between low expressed miRNA Let-7a and high expression of HMGA2 mRNA in human laryngeal cancer (p < 0.05). The expressions of miRNA Let-7a and HMGA2 have a significant difference in patients with clinical stage I-II and clinical stage III-IV, patients with well-differentiated tumor and patients with poorly differentiated tumor, patients with lymph node metastasis and patients without lymph node metastasis. Spearman correlation analysis of miRNA Let-7a and HMGA2 mRNA showed expression of miRNA Let-7a is negatively correlated with HMGA2 expression. CONCLUSIONS The down-regulation of miRNA Let-7a and up-regulation of HMGA2 promote the invasion and metastasis of laryngeal cancer.
A Meta-Analysis of the Influence of Gender on Self-Determination Theory's Motivational Regulations for Physical Activity

Self-determination theory (SDT) is a motivation metatheory that has received significant empirical support across several contexts of human behaviour. The motivational regulations as espoused by SDT refer to differing degrees of self-determination that individuals can demonstrate toward their behaviour. In particular, the regulations have received strong empirical support as predictors of exercise. However, literature in this domain has revealed inconsistent findings with respect to gender on levels of motivational regulations. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine differences between men and women on SDT’s motivational regulations for exercise using studies that employed the Behavioural Regulations in Exercise Questionnaire (E. Mullan, D. Markland, & D. K. Ingledew, 1997, A graded conceptualisation of self-determination in the regulation of exercise behaviour: Development of a measure using confirmatory factor analytic procedures. Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 23, pp. 745–752.). A total of 27 studies contributed total effect sizes (Hedge’s g) of gender differences, which were computed independently for each of the regulations, as well as for a composite self-determination score. Overall, results from random-effects models revealed near-zero effect sizes, thus representing negligible differences between men and women on each of the regulations. The findings with respect to SDT’s fundamental principles of universality across genders are carefully interpreted in light of existing research of gender invariance and with suggestions for future work.
Weak localization and conductance fluctuations in a quantum dot with parallel magnetic field and spin-orbit scattering

In the presence of both spin-orbit scattering and a magnetic field the conductance of a chaotic GaAs quantum dot displays quite a rich behavior. Using a Hamiltonian derived by Aleiner and Fal’ko [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 256801 (2001)] we calculate the weak localization correction and the covariance of the conductance, as a function of parallel and perpendicular magnetic field and spin-orbit coupling strength. We also show how the combination of an in-plane magnetic field and spin-orbit scattering gives rise to a component to the magnetoconductance that is antisymmetric with respect to reversal of the perpendicular component of the magnetic field and how spin-orbit scattering leads to a “magnetic-field echo” in the conductance autocorrelation function. Our results can be used for a measurement of the Dresselhaus and Bychkov-Rashba spin-orbit scattering lengths in a GaAs/GaAlAs heterostructure.