Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is there a solar signal in lower stratospheric water vapour

Abstract. A merged time series of stratospheric water vapour built from the Halogen Occultation Instrument (HALOE) and the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) data between 60° S and 60° N and 15 to 30 km and covering the years 1992 to 2012 was analysed by multivariate linear regression, including an 11-year solar cycle proxy. Lower stratospheric water vapour was found to reveal a phase-shifted anti-correlation with the solar cycle, with lowest water vapour after solar maximum. The phase shift is composed of an inherent constant time lag of about 2 years and a second component following the stratospheric age of air. The amplitudes of the water vapour response are largest close to the tropical tropopause (up to 0.35 ppmv) and decrease with altitude and latitude. Including the solar cycle proxy in the regression results in linear trends of water vapour being negative over the full altitude/latitude range, while without the solar proxy, positive water vapour trends in the lower stratosphere were found. We conclude from these results that a solar signal seems to be generated at the tropical tropopause which is most likely imprinted on the stratospheric water vapour abundances and transported to higher altitudes and latitudes via the Brewer–Dobson circulation. Hence it is concluded that the tropical tropopause temperature at the final dehydration point of air may also be governed to some degree by the solar cycle. The negative water vapour trends obtained when considering the solar cycle impact on water vapour abundances can possibly solve the "water vapour conundrum" of increasing stratospheric water vapour abundances despite constant or even decreasing tropopause temperatures.
CHAPTER 2 PERSPECTIVES AND METHODS OF SCALING

Transferring information between or across scales or organizational levels is inevitable in both basic research and its applications, a process generally known as "scaling" (Wu and Li, Chapter 1). Scaling is the essence of prediction and understanding both of which require cross-scale translation of information, and is at the core of ecological theory and application (Levin 1992, Levin and Pacala 1997, Wu 1999). While the importance of scaling in ecology has been acutely recognized in recent decades, how to conduct scaling across heterogeneous ecosystems remains a grand challenge (Turner et al. 1989, Wu and Hobbs 2002). A number of scaling approaches and methods have been developed and applied in different disciplines ranging from physics, engineering, biology, to social sciences. Two general scaling approaches can be distinguished: similarity-based scaling and dynamic model-based scaling methods (Bloschl and Sivapalan 1995). Similarity-based scaling methods are rooted in the concepts and principles of similarity and self-similarity and often characterized by relatively simple mathematical or statistical scaling functions, even though the underlying ecological processes of a phenomenon may be extremely complex. In contrast, dynamic modelbased scaling methods use deterministic or stochastic models to simulate the processes of interest, and to transfer information across scales by either modifling the parameters and input variables of the same model or developing multiple-scaled models. In this case, information transfer between different scales is accomplished through manipulating the inputs, outputs, and formulations of dynamic models. In both approaches, it is important to properly identify scaling thresholds at which scaling relations often change abruptly, reflecting hndamental shifts in underlying processes or controlling factors and defining the domains of applicability of specific scaling methods. While the previous chapter (Wu and Li, Chapter 1) discussed various concepts of scale and scaling, in this chapter we focus on the major characteristics of the two scaling approaches and several more specific upscaling and downscaling methods
Spectroscopic Characterization of Chloramphenicol and Tetracycline: An Impact of Biofield Treatment

Objective: Chloramphenicol and tetracycline are broad-spectrum antibiotics and widely used against variety of microbial infections. Nowadays, several microbes have acquired resistance to chloramphenicol and tetracycline. The present study was aimed to evaluate the impact of biofield treatment for spectroscopic characterization of chloramphenicol and tetracycline using FT-IR and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Methods: The study was performed in two groups (control and treatment) of each antibiotic. The control groups remained as untreated, and biofield treatment was given to treatment groups. Results: FT-IR spectrum of treated chloramphenicol exhibited the decrease in wavenumber of NO 2 from 1521 cm -1 to 1512 cm -1 and increase in wavenumber of C=O from 1681 cm -1 to 1694 cm -1 in acylamino group. It may be due to increase of conjugation effect in NO 2 group, and increased force constant of C=O bond. As a result, stability of both NO 2 and C=O groups might be increased in treated sample as compared to control. FT-IR spectrum of treated tetracycline showed the downstream shifting of aromatic C-H stretching from 3085-3024 cm -1 to 3064-3003 cm -1 and C=C stretching from 1648-1582 cm-1 to 1622-1569 cm-1 and up shifting of C-N stretching from 965 cm-1 to 995 cm-1. It may be due to enhanced conjugation effect in tetracycline, and increased force constant of C-N (CH 3 ) bond of tetracycline as compared to control. The results indicated the enhanced stability of treated tetracycline as compared to control. UV-Vis spectra of biofield treated chloramphenicol and tetracycline showed the similar lambda max (λ max ) to their respective control. It revealed that the chromophore groups of both antibiotics remained same as control after the biofield treatment. Conclusion: Based on FT-IR spectroscopic data, it is speculated that due to increase in bond strength and conjugation effect after biofield treatment, the chemical stability of both the drugs might be increased as compared
Bacteriological Aspects of Late Pneumonia in Ventilated Patient in Intensive Care Units: A Single Center Study in Morocco

Background: The resistance to antimicrobial among patients with late Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) has become increasingly more common in many ICUs in Morocco. There are scarce studies assessing VAP importance in Morocco. The aim of this study is to determine the bacterial ecology and resistance profile of late VAP in intensive care units in an academic hospital of Rabat. Methods: A total of 215 sputum samples were collected from endotracheal aspirate in patients with diagnosis of late VAP during the study period, defined from April 1st 2012 to April 2013. The bacteriology interpretations was done following the Referential of Medical Microbiology (REMIC 2010) and were quantitatively cultured with a cut-off of ≥ 10 UFC/ml for endotracheal aspiration samples. Results: Overall, the Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) represent 81.42% of isolates, while Gram-positive was less represented with a rate of 18.56%. Non-lactose fermenting GNB made up the half of pathogens with the rate of 55.23% and the prevalence of Enteric GNB reaches 26.19%. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most isolates with the rate of 28.57%, followed by Acinetobacter baumannii (24.76%), Staphylococcus aureus (9.5%) and Klebsiella pneumonia (8.09%). A high level of multi-drug resistance pathogens was found with a rate of 39.52%. They included Pseudomonas aeruginosa (14.28%), Acinetobacter baumannii (19.04%) and Klebsiella pneumonia (5.71%) whereas all S. aureus were methicillin-sensitive. Conclusion: The local bacterial pathogens isolates displayed high levels of antibiotic resistance. Enteric GNB naturally resistant to Polymyxin E and Corynebacterium species are likely to be emerging pathogens. This study significantly highlights the need to take into account these potentially drug-resistant isolates when making empiric antibiotic treatment.
The effect of exercise on leptin concentration in healthy men and in type 1 diabetic patients.

PURPOSE Leptin is a recently discovered hormone that appears as a regulator of energy balance. It is important to know whether leptin concentrations are changed under conditions of altered energy homeostasis. Consequently, we examined the effects of exercise with fasting and exercise with feeding on circulating leptin concentrations in healthy men and in type 1 diabetic patients with normal body weight and well controlled diabetes. METHODS Leptin concentrations were determined with radioimmunoassay. RESULTS During a 3-h cycle ergometer exercise with fasting, leptin decreased by 42% (P < 0.01) in nine healthy men and by 23% (P = 0.05) in eight male type 1 diabetic patients. Leptin fell equally by 12% (P < 0.03) both in nine healthy men and in eight male type 1 diabetic patients who were studied as a resting control group. The absolute fall in leptin in healthy men was similar in the exercise and resting control groups (0.8 +/- 0.1 microgram.L-1 vs 0.8 +/- 0.2 microgram.L-1). However, due to lower leptin concentration before the exercise, the relative decrease (42%) was greater than during the resting control study (12%, P < 0.005). This difference was not seen in the diabetic patients. Fasting leptin concentration correlated positively with BMI (r = 0.75, P < 0.001) and fasting insulin (r = 0.71, P < 0.01) in healthy men as well as with insulin level (r = 0.54, p < 0.05) in type 1 diabetic patients. When exercise was performed with feeding, and this was associated with a significant rise in serum cortisol level (marathon run, 14 healthy men and 7 type 1 diabetic patients), leptin concentration did not change significantly. CONCLUSIONS 1) During morning hours, leptin decreases both in healthy men and in type 1 diabetic patients, reflecting a diurnal variation of leptin concentration and the effect of fasting on leptin concentration. 2) The fall in leptin during morning hours is augmented by physical exercise in healthy men. 3) If exercise is performed with feeding and associated with a rise in serum cortisol level, leptin concentration remains unchanged. These data suggest that although exercise may reduce circulating leptin levels, the effect is small and can be counterbalanced by feeding or a rise in serum cortisol concentration.
Comparison of CpG Island Methylator Phenotype (CIMP) Frequency in Colon Cancer Using Different Probe- and Gene-Specific Scoring Alternatives on Recommended Multi-Gene Panels

Background In colorectal cancer a distinct subgroup of tumours demonstrate the CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP). However, a consensus of how to score CIMP is not reached, and variation in definition may influence the reported CIMP prevalence in tumours. Thus, we sought to compare currently suggested definitions and cut-offs for methylation markers and how they influence CIMP classification in colon cancer. Methods Methylation-specific multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MS-MLPA), with subsequent fragment analysis, was used to investigate methylation of tumour samples. In total, 31 CpG sites, located in 8 different genes (RUNX3, MLH1, NEUROG1, CDKN2A, IGF2, CRABP1, SOCS1 and CACNA1G) were investigated in 64 distinct colon cancers and 2 colon cancer cell lines. The Ogino gene panel includes all 8 genes, in addition to the Weisenberger panel of which only 5 of the 8 genes included were investigated. In total, 18 alternative combinations of scoring of CIMP positivity on probe-, gene-, and panel-level were analysed and compared. Results For 47 samples (71%), the CIMP status was constant and independent of criteria used for scoring; 34 samples were constantly scored as CIMP negative, and 13 (20%) consistently scored as CIMP positive. Only four of 31 probes (13%) investigated showed no difference in the numbers of positive samples using the different cut-offs. Within the panels a trend was observed that increasing the gene-level stringency resulted in a larger difference in CIMP positive samples than increasing the probe-level stringency. A significant difference between positive samples using ‘the most stringent’ as compared to ‘the least stringent’ criteria (20% vs 46%, respectively; p<0.005) was demonstrated. Conclusions A statistical significant variation in the frequency of CIMP depending on the cut-offs and genes included in a panel was found, with twice as many positives samples by least compared to most stringent definition used.
European S3‐Guidelines on the systemic treatment of psoriasis vulgaris

Of the 131 studies on monotherapy or combination therapy assessed, 56 studies on the different forms of phototherapy fulfilled the criteria for inclusion in the guidelines. Approximately three-quarters of all patients treated with phototherapy attained at least a PASI 75 response after 4 to 6 weeks, and clearance was frequently achieved (levels of evidence 2 and 3). Phototherapy represents a safe and very effective treatment option for moderate to severe forms of psoriasis vulgaris. The onset of clinical effects occurs within 2 weeks. Of the unwanted side effects, UV erythema from overexposure is by far the most common and is observed frequently. With repeated or long-term use, the consequences of high, cumulative UV doses (such as premature aging of the skin) must be taken into consideration. In addition, carcinogenic risk is associated with oral PUVA and is probable for local PUVA and UVB. The practicability of the therapy is limited by spatial, financial, human, and time constraints on the part of the physician, as well as by the amount of time required by the patient. From the perspective of the cost-bearing institution, phototherapy has a good cost-benefit ratio. However, the potentially significant costs for, and time required of, the patient must be considered.
Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy with Funada-style gastropexy greatly reduces the risk of peristomal infection

Background and aims: Peristomal wound infections are common complications of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG). The Funada-style gastropexy device has two parallel needles with a wire loop and suture thread, and was developed about 20 years ago in Japan. This kit has allowed us to perform dual gastropexy very easily; PEG with gastropexy has become a very popular technique in Japan. The present study aimed to compare the advantages and disadvantages of PEG with the gastropexy technique with the standard ‘pull' method. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 182 consecutive, non-randomized patients undergoing PEG in our hospital, and a comparative analysis was made between the gastropexy (87 patients) and non-gastropexy (95 patients) groups. Results: The rates of patients having erythema (11.6% vs. 47.9%; P < 0.001), exudates (2.3% vs. 14.9%; P < 0.01) and infection (0% vs. 6.4%; P = 0.01) in the peristomal area were lower in the gastropexy than in the non-gastropexy group. The rate of minor bleeding from the peristomal area was higher in the gastropexy than in the non-gastropexy group (12.8% vs. 2.1%; P < 0.01), but no patient required a blood transfusion. Mean procedure time was longer in the gastropexy group than in the non-gastropexy group (31 vs. 24 min; P < 0.001). The 30-day mortality rates were 4.7% and 5.3% respectively, and these deaths were not related to the gastrostomy procedure. Conclusion: PEG with gastropexy markedly reduces peristomal inflammation. Although minor bleeding and a longer procedure time were disadvantages, there were no severe complications. The findings suggested that PEG with Funada-style gastropexy was a safe and feasible method for reducing early complications of PEG.
An Incremental Approach to MSE-Based Feature Selection

Feature selection plays an important role in classification systems. Using classifier error rate as the evaluation function, feature selection is integrated with incremental training. A neural network classifier is implemented with an incremental training approach to detect and discard irrelevant features. By learning attributes one after another, our classifier can find directly the attributes that make no contribution to classification. These attributes are marked and considered for removal. Incorporated with a minimum squared error (MSE) based feature ranking scheme, four batch removal methods based on classifier error rate have been developed to discard irrelevant features. These feature selection methods reduce the computational complexity involved in searching among a large number of possible solutions significantly. Experimental results show that our feature selection methods work well on several benchmark problems compared with other feature selection methods. The selected subsets are further validated by a constructive backpropagation (CBP) classifier, which confirms increased classification accuracy and reduced training cost.
Gender differences in the relation between depression and social support in later life

ABSTRACT Background: Prevalence of depression is twice as high in women as in men, also in older adults. Lack of social support is a risk factor for late-life depression. The relation between depression and social support may be different for men and women. Methods: Data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam were used to investigate gender differences in the relation between social support and depression in a population-based sample aged 55–85 years, with n = 2,823 at baseline and using the 13-year follow-up data on onset of depression. Results: Respondents without a partner in the household, with a small network, and with low emotional support were more often depressed, with men showing higher rates of depression than women. A high need for affiliation was associated with depression in women but not in men. Lack of a partner in the household and having a small network predicted onset of depression in men but not in women. In respondents with high affiliation need and low social support, depression rates were higher, with men being more often depressed than women. Conclusions: Low social support and a high need for affiliation were related to depression in later life, with men being more vulnerable for depression than women. Considering the serious consequences of depression, especially in older people, it is important to identify the persons with low social support and a high need for affiliation, and to help them to increase their social support or to adjust their needs.
Evaluation of extraction methods from paraffin wax embedded tissues for PCR amplification of human and viral DNA

Aim—To evaluate the efficiency of phenol/chloroform, microwave, and Qiagen spin column based DNA extractions from paraffin wax embedded tissue for use in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In addition, to assess the reliability of amplifying a housekeeping gene to indicate successful viral DNA extraction. Methods—DNA samples extracted from 20 blocks of cervical carcinoma tissues using the three methods were subjected to PCRs targeting 509 bp and 355 bp of the β globin gene, and 450 bp and 150 bp of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA. Results—Microwave extraction showed the highest positive rate for β globin PCR, whereas the spin column method was the most efficient for HPV DNA extraction. When the 509 bp β globin and 450 bp HPV PCR results were correlated, two of 10, eight of 12, and nine of 10 β globin positive extractions prepared by means of the phenol/chloroform, microwave, and spin column methods, respectively, yielded HPV DNA of the expected size. For the β globin negative samples, HPV was detected in three of 10, two of eight, and four of 10 samples. Conclusions—HPV DNA extraction was most efficient using the Qiagen spin column and had the highest positive predictive value when a housekeeping gene was used as an indicator of successful viral DNA extraction; the phenol/chloroform method was the least efficient. The potential drawbacks of some extraction methods when using a human housekeeping gene to assess the quality of viral DNA extraction need to be considered.
Pseudodifferential operators with generalized symbols and regularity theory

We study pseudodierential operators with amplitudes a"(x, ) depending on a singular parameter " ! 0 with asymptotic properties measured by dierent scales. We prove, taking into account the asymptotic behavior for " ! 0, refined versions of estimates for classical pseudodierential operators. We apply these estimates to nets of regularizations of exotic operators as well as operators with amplitudes of low regularity, providing a unified method for treating both classes. Further, we develop a full symbolic calculus for pseudo- dierential operators acting on algebras of Colombeau generalized functions. As an application, we formulate a sucient condition of hypoellipticity in this setting, which leads to regularity results for generalized pseudodierential equations.
Oral antipsychotics for the treatment of schizophrenia: heterogeneity in efficacy and tolerability should drive decision-making

Background: Antipsychotic medications are conventionally divided into two groups: First-generation and second-generation antipsychotics (FGAs and SGAs). There is a disagreement about the role of these two groups in the treatment of schizophrenia. Objective: To analyze the reasons for the disagreement and to propose a resolution that would improve the treatment of schizophrenia. Method: An overview of individual SGAs and several FGAs involved in the current disagreement is presented. Effectiveness studies that contributed to the SGAs versus FGAs disagreement are assessed, and meta-analyses of SGAs and FGAs are reviewed. Results/conclusions: Efficacy variations within SGAs and FGAs result in overlaps between the two groups. Regarding safety, FGAs elicit more extrapyramidal side effects and tardive dyskinesia as well as prolactin elevations than SGAs, whereas some SGAs tend to be associated with more weight gain and disturbances in lipid and glucose regulation than FGAs. However, there are again considerable differences between individual agents and overlaps between the two groups in terms of side effects. The classification of antipsychotics into the two groups is no longer useful. The treatment selection for an individual patient should focus on the suitability of an individual antipsychotic for that patient rather than on the group membership of the drug.
From stixels to objects — A conditional random field based approach

Detection and tracking of moving traffic participants like vehicles, pedestrians or bicycles from a mobile platform using a stereo camera system plays a key role in traffic scene understanding and for future driver assistance and safety systems. To this end, this work presents a Bayesian segmentation approach based on the Dynamic Stixel World, an efficient super-pixel object representation. The existence and state estimation of an (initially) unknown number of moving objects and the detection of stationary background is formulated as a time-recursive energy minimization problem that can be solved in real-time by means of the alpha-expansion multi-class graph cut optimization scheme. In order to handle noise, this approach integrates 3D and motion features as well as spatio-temporal prior knowledge in a probabilistic conditional random field (CRF) framework. An optional fusion step with an additional radar sensor combines the advantages of both measuring instruments and yields superior overall results. The performance and robustness of the presented approach is evaluated quantitatively in various challenging traffic scenes.