Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Radio/X-Ray Luminosity Relation for Advection-dominated Accretion: Implications for Emission-Line Galaxies and the X-Ray Background

Recent studies of the cosmic X-ray background (XRB) have suggested the possible existence of a population of relatively faint sources with hard X-ray spectra; however, the emission mechanism remains unclear. If the hard X-ray emission is from the radiatively inefficient, advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs) around massive black holes in galactic nuclei, X-ray luminosity and radio luminosity satisfy the approximate relation LR ~ 7 × 1035(ν/15 GHz)7/5(M/107 M☉)(LX/1040 ergs s-1)1/10 ergs s-1, where LR = νLν is the radio luminosity at frequency ν, M is the mass of the accreting black hole, and 1040 ≲ LX ≲ 1042 ergs s-1 is the 2-10 keV X-ray luminosity. These sources are characterized by inverted radio spectra Iν ∝ ν2/5. For example, an ADAF X-ray source with luminosity LX ~ 1041 ergs s-1 has a nuclear radio luminosity of ~4 × 1036(M/3 × 107 M☉) ergs s-1 at ~20 GHz, and if it is at a distance of ~10(M/3 × 107 M☉)1/2 Mpc, it would be detected as a ~1 mJy point radio source. High-frequency (~20 GHz), high angular resolution radio observations provide an important test of the ADAF emission mechanism. Since LR depends strongly on black hole mass and only weakly on X-ray luminosity, the successful measurement of nuclear radio emission could provide an estimate of black hole mass. Because the X-ray spectra produced by ADAFs are relatively hard, sources of this emission are natural candidates for contributing to the hard (>2 keV) background.
Perioperative Therapeutic Plasmapheresis

This article has been selected for the A NESTHESIOLOGY CME Program. Learning objectives and disclosure and ordering information can be found in the CME section ABSTRACT The use of ultrasound guidance has provided an opportunity to perform many peripheral nerve blocks that would have been difficult to perform in children based on pure landmark techniques due to the potential for injection into contiguous sensitive vascular areas. This review article provides the readers with techniques on ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve blocks of the extremities and trunk with currently available literature to substantiate the available evidence for the use of these techniques. Ultrasound images of the blocks with corresponding line diagrams to demonstrate the placement of the ultrasoundprobehavebeenprovidedforalltherelevantnerveblocks in children. The authors hope that this review will stimulate further research into ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia in infants, children, and adolescents and stimulate more randomized controlled trials to provide a greater understanding of the anatomy and physi-ology of regional anesthesia in pediatrics.
Low- and High-Testosterone Individuals Exhibit Decreased Aversion to Economic Risk

Testosterone is positively associated with risk-taking behavior in social domains (e.g., crime, physical aggression). However, the scant research linking testosterone to economic risk preferences presents inconsistent findings. We examined the relationship between endogenous testosterone and individuals’ economic preferences (i.e., risk preference, ambiguity preference, and loss aversion) in a large sample (N = 298) of men and women. We found that endogenous testosterone levels have a significant U-shaped association with individuals’ risk and ambiguity preferences, but not loss aversion. Specifically, individuals with low or high levels of testosterone (more than 1.5 SD from the mean for their gender) were risk and ambiguity neutral, whereas individuals with intermediate levels of testosterone were risk and ambiguity averse. This relationship was highly similar in men and women. In contrast to received wisdom regarding testosterone and risk, the present data provide the first robust evidence for a nonlinear association between economic preferences and levels of endogenous testosterone.
Atopic Dermatitis-Like Disease and Associated Lethal Myeloproliferative Disorder Arise from Loss of Notch Signaling in the Murine Skin

Background The Notch pathway is essential for proper epidermal differentiation during embryonic skin development. Moreover, skin specific loss of Notch signaling in the embryo results in skin barrier defects accompanied by a B-lymphoproliferative disease. However, much less is known about the consequences of loss of Notch signaling after birth. Methodology and Principal Findings To study the function of Notch signaling in the skin of adult mice, we made use of a series of conditional gene targeted mice that allow inactivation of several components of the Notch signaling pathway specifically in the skin. We demonstrate that skin-specific inactivation of Notch1 and Notch2 simultaneously, or RBP-J, induces the development of a severe form of atopic dermatitis (AD), characterized by acanthosis, spongiosis and hyperkeratosis, as well as a massive dermal infiltration of eosinophils and mast cells. Likewise, patients suffering from AD, but not psoriasis or lichen planus, have a marked reduction of Notch receptor expression in the skin. Loss of Notch in keratinocytes induces the production of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), a cytokine deeply implicated in the pathogenesis of AD. The AD-like associated inflammation is accompanied by a myeloproliferative disorder (MPD) characterized by an increase in immature myeloid populations in the bone marrow and spleen. Transplantation studies revealed that the MPD is cell non-autonomous and caused by dramatic microenvironmental alterations. Genetic studies demontrated that G-CSF mediates the MPD as well as changes in the bone marrow microenvironment leading to osteopenia. Significance Our data demonstrate a critical role for Notch in repressing TSLP production in keratinocytes, thereby maintaining integrity of the skin and the hematopoietic system.
Assessment of Autophagy in Neurons and Brain Tissue

Autophagy is a complex process that controls the transport of cytoplasmic components into lysosomes for degradation. This highly conserved proteolytic system involves dynamic and complex processes, using similar molecular elements and machinery from yeast to humans. Moreover, autophagic dysfunction may contribute to a broad spectrum of mammalian diseases. Indeed, in adult tissues, where the capacity for regeneration or cell division is low or absent (e.g., in the mammalian brain), the accumulation of proteins/peptides that would otherwise be recycled or destroyed may have pathological implications. Indeed, such changes are hallmarks of pathologies, like Alzheimer’s, Prion or Parkinson’s disease, known as proteinopathies. However, it is still unclear whether such dysfunction is a cause or an effect in these conditions. One advantage when analysing autophagy in the mammalian brain is that almost all the markers described in different cell lineages and systems appear to be present in the brain, and even in neurons. By contrast, the mixture of cell types present in the brain and the differentiation stage of such neurons, when compared with neurons in culture, make translating basic research to the clinic less straightforward. Thus, the purpose of this review is to describe and discuss the methods available to monitor autophagy in neurons and in the mammalian brain, a process that is not yet fully understood, focusing primarily on mammalian macroautophagy. We will describe some general features of neuronal autophagy that point to our focus on neuropathologies in which macroautophagy may be altered. Indeed, we centre this review around the hypothesis that enhanced autophagy may be able to provide therapeutic benefits in some brain pathologies, like Alzheimer’s disease, considering this pathology as one of the most prevalent proteinopathies.
Longitudinal Changes in Hearing Aid Satisfaction and Usage in the Elderly Over a Period of One or Two Years After Hearing Aid Delivery

Objective The objective of this study was to measure hearing aid satisfaction and usage for extended periods of time, up to 2 yr after hearing aid delivery, to determine whether longitudinal changes occur in the elderly for these outcome measures. Design A longitudinal study of hearing aid satisfaction and usage was performed in a group comprised of 134 elderly hearing aid wearers with these outcome measures obtained at 1, 6, and 12 mo postfit. A total of 49 of the original 134 elderly returned 2 yr after hearing aid delivery to complete the satisfaction and usage measures again. Multiple self-report measures of hearing aid satisfaction and hearing aid usage were obtained at each follow-up session. Results Most between-interval comparisons of the various measures of satisfaction and usage failed to reveal significant changes over time. However, some significant changes were observed in both satisfaction and usage. When such changes occurred, they were always in a direction that suggested a decrease in satisfaction or usage over time. Correlations across various postfit interval pairs were found to be positive, statistically significant, and moderate to strong in strength for all measures of satisfaction and usage. Conclusions Although there were slight declines in hearing aid usage and satisfaction over time, measures of hearing aid satisfaction obtained at 1 mo postfit and of hearing aid usage obtained at 6 mo postfit are generally stable for up to 2 yr after hearing aid delivery.
A High Resolution Surface Model for the Simulation of Honing Processes

The demand for highly resistant surfaces is driven by the requirement for resource efficiency and rising environmental concerns. Finishing processes like long-stroke honing for the machining of boreholes of chuck components make it possible to create surfaces with favourable tribological properties. Since variations of process parameter values have complex effects on the resulting workpiece topography and its characteristic values, many experiments might be necessary to achieve certain properties. To avoid this, a simulation-based approach has been developed that relies on a high resolution model of the tool and the workpiece. For its calibration and validation, systematic investigations of a honing process and the machining parameter values have been conducted, and the measured surfaces are compared to the computed workpiece topographies.
Force Production Parameters in Patients With Low Back Pain and Healthy Control Study Participants

Study Design. A control group study with repeated measures. Objective. To compare isometric force production parameters in low back pain and healthy study participants. Summary and Background Data. Recent evidence suggests that chronic patients with low back pain exhibit deficits in trunk proprioception and motor control. The control of force and its between-trial variability are often taken as critical determinants of performance. We compared various force time characteristics in patients with low back pain and healthy study participants. Methods. Fifteen control study participants and 16 patients with low back pain participated in this study. Study participants were required to exert 50% and 75% of the maximal trunk flexion and extension. In a learning phase, visual and verbal feedback was provided. Following these learning trials, study participants were asked to perform 10 trials without any feedback. Time to peak force, time to peak force variability, peak force variability, and absolute error in peak force were calculated. Time to peak and peak dF/dt were computed to determine if the first peak of dF/dt could predict the peak force achieved. Results. Two subgroups of patients with low back pain were identified. Controls and patients with low back pain with more pain showed faster time to peak force than patients with low back pain with less pain (331 ms and 341 ms vs. 574 ms, respectively). Linear regressions showed that, for control study participants and low back pain study participants with more pain, peak dF/dt explained 94.0% and 97.0% of the variance observed in peak force while 84.4% was explained for low back pain study participants with less pain. Peak force variability and absolute error in peak force were similar for all groups. Conclusions. Patients with low back pain were able to produce isometric forces with an accuracy similar to control study participants. The longer time to peak force and the smaller percentage of variance observed for the linear regressions suggest that some patients with low back pain adopted a control mode that was less “open-loop. ” It is possible that this mode of producing forces results from an adaptation to chronic pain or tissue degeneration. Spine 2004;29:311–317
A Study of Cross-Validation and Bootstrap for Accuracy Estimation and Model Selection

We review accuracy estimation methods and compare the two most common methods crossvalidation and bootstrap. Recent experimental results on artificial data and theoretical re cults in restricted settings have shown that for selecting a good classifier from a set of classifiers (model selection), ten-fold cross-validation may be better than the more expensive leaveone-out cross-validation. We report on a largescale experiment--over half a million runs of C4.5 and a Naive-Bayes algorithm--to estimate the effects of different parameters on these algrithms on real-world datasets. For crossvalidation we vary the number of folds and whether the folds are stratified or not, for bootstrap, we vary the number of bootstrap samples. Our results indicate that for real-word datasets similar to ours, The best method to use for model selection is ten fold stratified cross validation even if computation power allows using more folds.
Logic optimization and equivalence checking by implication analysis

This paper proposes a new approach to multilevel logic optimization based on automatic test pattern generation (ATPG). It shows that an ordinary test generator for single stuck-at faults can be used to perform arbitrary transformations in a combinational circuit and discusses how this approach relates to conventional multilevel minimization techniques based on Boolean division. Furthermore, effective heuristics are presented to decide what network manipulations are promising for minimizing the circuit. By identifying indirect implications between signals in the circuit, transformations can be derived which are "good" candidates for the minimization of the circuit. A main advantage of the proposed approach is that it operates directly on the structural netlist description of the circuit so that the technical consequences of the performed transformations can be evaluated in an easy way, permitting better control of the optimization process with respect to the specific goals of the designer. Therefore, the presented technique can serve as a basis for optimization techniques targeting nonconventional design goals. This paper only considers area minimization, and our experimental results show that the method presented is competitive with conventional technology-independent minimization techniques. For many benchmark circuits, our tool, the Hannover implication tool, based on learning (HANNIBAL) achieves the best minimization results published to date. Furthermore, the optimization approach presented is shown to be useful in formal verification.
Chlamydia trachomatis GlgA Is Secreted into Host Cell Cytoplasm

Glycogen has been localized both inside and outside Chlamydia trachomatis organisms. We now report that C. trachomatis glycogen synthase (GlgA) was detected in both chlamydial organism-associated and -free forms. The organism-free GlgA molecules were localized both in the lumen of chlamydial inclusions and in the cytosol of host cells. The cytosolic GlgA displayed a distribution pattern similar to that of a known C. trachomatis-secreted protease, CPAF. The detection of GlgA was specific since the anti-GlgA antibody labeling was only removed by preabsorption with GlgA but not CPAF fusion proteins. GlgA was detectable at 12h and its localization into host cell cytosol only became apparent at 24h after infection. The cytosolic localization of GlgA was conserved among all C. trachomatis serovars. However, the significance of the GlgA secretion into host cell cytoplasm remains unclear since, while expression of chlamydial GlgA in HeLa cells increased glycogen stores, it did not affect a subsequent infection with C. trachomatis. Similar to several other C. trachomatis-secreted proteins, GlgA is immunogenic in women urogenitally infected with C. trachomatis, suggesting that GlgA is expressed and may be secreted into host cell cytosol during C. trachomatis infection in humans. These findings have provided important information for further understanding C. trachomatis pathogenic mechanisms.
Internet traffic engineering by optimizing OSPF weights

Open shortest path first (OSPF) is the most commonly used intra-domain Internet routing protocol. Traffic flow is routed along shortest paths, splitting flow at nodes where several outgoing links are on shortest paths to the destination. The weights of the links, and thereby the shortest path routes, can be changed by the network operator. The weights could be set proportional to their physical distances, but often the main goal is to avoid congestion, i.e., overloading of links, and the standard heuristic recommended by Cisco is to make the weight of a link inversely proportional to its capacity. Our starting point was a proposed AT&T WorldNet backbone with demands projected from previous measurements. The desire was to optimize the weight setting based on the projected demands. We showed that optimizing the weight settings for a given set of demands is NP-hard, so we resorted to a local search heuristic. Surprisingly it turned out that for the proposed AT&T WorldNet backbone, we found weight settings that performed within a few percent from that of the optimal general routing where the flow for each demand is optimally distributed over all paths between source and destination. This contrasts the common belief that OSPF routing leads to congestion and it shows that for the network and demand matrix studied we cannot get a substantially better load balancing by switching to the proposed more flexible multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) technologies. Our techniques were also tested on synthetic internetworks, based on a model of Zegura et al., (1996), for which we did not always get quite as close to the optimal general routing.
COPD education and cognitive behavioral therapy group treatment for clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety in COPD patients: a randomized controlled trial

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects 14 to 20 million Americans and is associated with increased prevalence of affective disorders, contributing significantly to disability. This study compared cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) group treatment for anxiety and depression with COPD education for COPD patients with moderate-to-severe anxiety and/or depressive symptoms. Method A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted between 11 July 2002 and 30 April 2005 at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX. Participants were 238 patients treated for COPD the year before, with forced expiratory value in 1 second (FEV)1/forced vital capacity (FVC)<70% and FEV1<70% predicted, and symptoms of moderate anxiety and/or moderate depression, who were being treated by a primary care provider or pulmonologist. Participants attended eight sessions of CBT or COPD education. Assessments were at baseline, at 4 and 8 weeks, and 4, 8 and 12 months. Primary outcomes were disease-specific and generic quality of life (QoL) [Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ) and Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form-36 (SF-36) respectively]. Secondary outcomes were anxiety [Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI)], depressive symptoms [Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II)], 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) and use of health services. Results Both treatments significantly improved QoL, anxiety and depression (p<0.005) over 8 weeks; the rate of change did not differ between groups. Improvements were maintained with no significant change during follow-up. Ratios of post- to pretreatment use of health services were equal to 1 for both groups. Conclusions CBT group treatment and COPD education can achieve sustainable improvements in QoL for COPD patients experiencing moderate-to-severe symptoms of depression or anxiety.
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Laboratory studies of H 2 SO 4 / H 2 O binary homogeneous nucleation from the SO 2 + OH reaction : evaluation of the experimental setup and preliminary results

Binary homogeneous nucleation (BHN) of sulphuric acid and water (H 2SO4/H2O) is one of the most important atmospheric nucleation processes, but laboratory observations of this nucleation process are very limited and there are also large discrepancies between different laboratory studies. The difficulties associated with these experiments include wall loss of H 2SO4 and uncertainties in estimation of H2SO4 concentration ([H2SO4]) involved in nucleation. We have developed a new laboratory nucleation setup to study H2SO4/H2O BHN kinetics and provide relatively constrained [H2SO4] needed for nucleation. H 2SO4 is produced from the SO 2+OH→HSO3 reaction and OH radicals are produced from water vapor UV absorption. The residual [H2SO4] were measured at the end of the nucleation reactor with a chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS). Wall loss factors (WLFs) of H2SO4 were estimated by assuming that wall loss is diffusion limited and these calculated WLFs were in good agreement with simultaneous measurements of the initial and residual [H 2SO4] with two CIMSs. The nucleation zone was estimated from numerical simulations based on the measured aerosol sizes (particle diameter,Dp) and [H2SO4]. The measured BHN rates (J ) ranged from 0.01–220 cm −3 s−1 at the initial and residual [H2SO4] from 108–1010 cm−3, a temperature of 288 K and relative humidity (RH) from 11–23%; J increased with increasing [H2SO4] and RH. J also showed a power dependence on [H2SO4] with the exponential power of 3–8. These power dependences are consistent with other laboratory studies under similar [H 2SO4] and RH, but different from atmospheric field observations which showed that parCorrespondence to: S. -H. Lee (slee19@kent.edu) ticle number concentrations are often linearly dependent on [H2SO4]. These results, together with a higher [H 2SO4] threshold (108–109 cm−3) needed to produce the unit J measured from the laboratory studies compared to the atmospheric conditions (10 6–107 cm−3), imply that H2SO4/H2O BHN alone is insufficient to explain atmospheric aerosol formation and growth. Particle growth rates estimated from the measured aerosol size distributions, residence times ( tr), and [H2SO4] were 100–500 nm h −1, much higher than those seen from atmospheric field observations, because of the higher [H2SO4] used in our study.