Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Small-scale convection at the edge of the Colorado Plateau: Implications for topography, magmatism, and evolution of Proterozoic lithosphere

The Colorado Plateau of the southwestern United States is characterized by a bowl-shaped high elevation, late Neogene–Quaternary magmatism at its edge, large gradients in seismic wave velocity across its margins, and relatively low lithospheric seismic wave velocities. We explain these observations by edge-driven convection following rehydration of Colorado Plateau lithosphere. A rapidly emplaced Cenozoic step in lithosphere thickness between the Colorado Plateau and adjacent extended Rio Grande rift and Basin and Range province causes small-scale convection in the asthenosphere. A lithospheric drip below the plateau is removing lithosphere material from the edge that is heated and metasomatized, resulting in magmatism. Edgedriven convection also drives margin uplift, giving the plateau its characteristic bowl shape. The edge-driven convection model shows good consistency with features resolved by seismic tomography.
Energy Storage Technologies for High-Power Applications

Energy storage systems provide viable solutions for improving efficiency and power quality as well as reliability issues in dc/ac power systems including power grid with considerable penetrations of renewable energy. The storage systems are also essential for aircraft powertrains, shipboard power systems, electric vehicles, and hybrid electric vehicles to meet the peak load economically and improve the system's reliability and efficiency. Significant development and research efforts have recently been made in high-power storage technologies such as supercapacitors, superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES), and flywheels. These devices have a very high-power density and fast response time and are suitable for applications with rapid charge and discharge requirements. In this paper, the latest technological developments of these devices as well as advancements in the lithium-ion battery, the most power dense commercially available battery, are presented. Also, a comparative analysis of these high-power storage technologies in terms of power, energy, cost, life, and performance is carried out. This paper also presents the applications, advantages, and limitations of these technologies in a power grid and transportation system as well as critical and pulse loads.
Galilean Conformal Algebras and AdS/CFT

Non-relativistic versions of the AdS/CFT conjecture have recently been investigated in some detail. These have primarily been in the context of the Schrodinger symmetry group. Here we initiate a study based on a different non-relativistic conformal symmetry: one obtained by a parametric contraction of the relativistic conformal group. The resulting Galilean conformal symmetry has the same number of generators as the relativistic symmetry group and thus is different from the Schrodinger group (which has fewer). One of the interesting features of the Galilean Conformal Algebra is that it admits an extension to an infinite dimensional symmetry algebra (which can potentially be dynamically realised). The latter contains a Virasoro-Kac-Moody subalgebra. We comment on realisations of this extended symmetry in a boundary field theory. We also propose a somewhat unusual geometric structure for the bulk gravity dual to any realisation of this symmetry. This involves taking a Newton-Cartan like limit of Einstein's equations in anti de Sitter space which singles out an AdS2 comprising of the time and radial direction. The infinite dimensional Virasoro extension is identified with the asymptotic isometries of this AdS2.
Photonic bands from cascaded metallic plates with subwavelength slits

We investigated through experiments and calculations the coupling of the local resonant modes supported by subwavelength H-fractal slits in metallic plates when they are cascaded. The transmission peak of the single plate is split into a multiplet with definite transmission phase values. In addition, we analyzed the transmission passbands resultant from cascading more plates, which shows a similarity between the coupled metallic plates with local resonant modes and electronic systems in solid state physics.
Multivector Fluorescence Analysis of the xpt Guanine Riboswitch Aptamer Domain and the Conformational Role of Guanine†

Purine riboswitches are RNA regulatory elements that control purine metabolism in response to intracellular concentrations of the purine ligands. Conformational changes of the guanine riboswitch aptamer domain induced by guanine binding lead to transcriptional regulation of genes involved in guanine biosynthesis. The guanine riboswitch aptamer domain has three RNA helices designated P1, P2, and P3. An overall model for the Mg2+- and guanine-dependent relative orientations and dynamics of P1, P2, and P3 has not been reported, and the conformational role of guanine under physiologically relevant conditions has not been fully elucidated. In this study, an ensemble and single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) study was performed on three orthogonally labeled variants of the xpt guanine riboswitch aptamer domain. The combined FRET data support a model in which the unfolded state of the aptamer domain has a highly dynamic P2 helix that switches rapidly between two orientations relative to nondynamic P1 and P3. At ≪1 mM Mg2+ (in the presence of a saturating level of guanine) or ≥1 mM Mg2+ (in the absence of guanine), the riboswitch starts to adopt a folded conformation in which loop−loop interactions lock P2 and P3 into place. At >5 mM Mg2+, further compaction occurs in which P1 more closely approaches P3. Our data help to explain the biological role of guanine as stabilizing the globally folded aptamer domain conformation at physiologically relevant Mg2+ concentrations (≤1 mM), whereas in the absence of guanine, much higher Mg2+ concentrations are required to induce this folding event.
Application of guidelines on preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis in León, Nicaragua.

BACKGROUND To determine adherence to the guideline for preoperative antibiotic use in Nicaragua. METHODS An observational study in the University Hospital of León, Nicaragua. All surgical patients in the departments of general surgery, orthopaedics, gynaecology and obstetrics, and paediatrics during a four-week period were included. Patients with infections prior to surgery were excluded. Main outcome measures were the proportion of patients that received appropriate preoperative antibiotics based on wound classification, suspected pathogens, administered antibiotics (type and dose), therapy duration and timing according to the local protocol. RESULTS In the study, 297 patients received a total of 395 antibiotics with 2595 doses for a total of 1087 days. Only 68% of patients received antibiotic prophylaxis for indications mentioned in the protocol. Antibiotics were given without indication or as treatment in 23%. In 9% of the cases no preoperative antibiotic therapy was given (no indication for 6%, but indicated for 3%). Of the 201 patients with an indication for prophylaxis, 25% received more antibiotic therapies than indicated. Antibiotic choice was discordant with the protocol in 69%, dose in 20%, and both the moment of administration and duration in 78%. Overall adherence was achieved in 7% of patients. Complete protocol violations were observed in 12%. The 243 patients in the prophylaxis group received 1707 doses, 83% of which were administered unnecessarily. CONCLUSION Protocol violations are frequent in preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis in Nicaragua leading to considerable overprescription. Educational strategies to reinforce protocolised antibiotic use are essential for reducing costs and antibiotic resistance rates.
Atypical Bacteria in the CF Airways: Diversity, Clinical Consequences, Emergence and Adaptation

The inventory of atypical1 bacteria that may be found in the airways of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients besides well-known typical CF pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Burkholderia cepacia complex has greatly evolved over the past decades. Progressively, species initially considered as atypical in the CF airways, mainly gram-negative bacilli including Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Achromobacter xylosoxidans and non-tuberculous mycobacteria have received more and more attention. They are now considered as usual CF-associated bacteria although their role in the disease progression is not fully elucidated (Beringer et al., 2000; Foweraker, 2009; Hauser et al., 2011). At the same time, other species occasionally identified from the respiratory secretions of CF patients were in turn regarded as atypical species in CF (for a recent review, see Hauser et al., 2011). This resulted from both the increasing number of metagenomic studies conducted on CF airways microbiota and a more systematic use of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing to identify bacteria cultured from CF respiratory tract (CFRT) samples (CFRTS).
Centennial‐scale variability of the British Ice Sheet: Implications for climate forcing and Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last deglaciation

Evidence from paleoclimatic archives suggests that Earth's climate experienced rapid temperature changes associated with pronounced interhemispheric asymmetry during the last glacial period. Explanations for these climate excursions have converged on nonlinear interactions between ice sheets and the ocean's thermohaline circulation, but the driving mechanism remains to be identified. Here we use multidecadal marine records of faunal, oxygen isotope, and sediment proxies from the northeast Atlantic proximal to the western margins of the last glacial British Ice Sheet (BIS) to document the coupling between ice sheet dynamics, ocean circulation, and insolation changes. The core data reveal successions of short-lived (80–100 years), high-amplitude ice-rafted debris (IRD) events that were initiated up to 2000 years before the deposition of detrital carbonate during Heinrich events (HE) 1 and 2. Progressive disintegration of the BIS 19–16 kyr before present (B.P.) occurred in response to abrupt ocean-climate warmings that impinged on the northeast Atlantic during the early deglaciation. Peak IRD deposition recurs at 180–220 year intervals plausibly involving repeated breakup of glacial tidewater margins and fringing marine ice shelves. The early deglaciation culminated in a major meltwater pulse at ∼16.3 kyr B.P. followed by another discharge associated with HE1 some 300 years after. We conclude that temperature changes related to external forcing and marine heat transport caused a rapid response of the BIS and possibly other margins of the Eurasian Ice Sheet. Massive but short-lived meltwater surges influenced the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation thereby contributing to North Atlantic climate variability and bipolar climatic asymmetry.
Intracardiac Electrogram T-Wave Alternans/Variability Increases Before Spontaneous Ventricular Tachyarrhythmias in Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Patients: A Prospective, Multi-Center Study

Background— T-wave alternans (TWA) increases before ventricular tachycardia (VT) or fibrillation (VF), suggesting that it may warn of VT/VF in implantable cardioverter-defibrillator patients. Recently, we described a method for measuring alternans and nonalternans variability (TWA/V) from electrograms (EGMs) stored in implantable cardioverter-defibrillators before VT/VF. The goal of this prospective, multicenter study was to determine whether EGM TWA/V was greater before VT/VF than at baseline. Methods and Results— We enrolled 63 implantable cardioverter-defibrillator patients. TWA/V was computed from stored EGMs before spontaneous VT/VF and from sequential windows of 8 pairs of beats using 4 different control recordings: baseline rhythm, rapid pacing at 105 bpm, segments of ambulatory Holter EGMs matched to the time of VT/VF episodes, and EGMs before spontaneous supraventricular tachycardia. During follow-up, 28 patients had 166 episodes of VT/VF. TWA/V was greater before VT/VF (62.9±3.1 &mgr;V; n=28) than during baseline rhythm (12.8±1.8 &mgr;V; P<0.0001; n=62), during rapid pacing (14.5±2.0 &mgr;V; P<0.0001; n=52), before supraventricular tachycardia (27.5±6.1 &mgr;V; P<0.0001; n=9), or during time-matched ambulatory controls (12.3±3.5 &mgr;V; P<0.0001; n=16). By logistic regression, the odds of VT/VF increased by a factor of 2.2 for each 10-&mgr;V increment in TWA/V (P<0.0001). Conclusions— In implantable cardioverter-defibrillator patients, EGM TWA/V is greater before spontaneous VT/VF than in control recordings. Future implantable cardioverter-defibrillators that measure EGM TWA/V continuously may warn patients and initiate pacing therapies to prevent VT/VF.
Characteristics of "old timer" hockey play.

: Many Canadian adults play Old Timer hockey to improve and/or maintain their cardiorespiratory fitness. This review examined the intensity and duration of play that characterizes adult noncontact hockey. The exercise intensity was assessed by continuously monitoring the heart rate response via telemetry. The duration of play was studied utilizing time-motion analysis, during the typical Old Timer game, the forwards spent 28 minutes on the ice when the heart rate was at least at 60% KM intensity. The forwards averaged 85% KM intensity during game activity. The mean heart rate response of the goaltenders was 143 beats per minute or 64% KM intensity.
Stable encoding of sounds over a broad range of statistical parameters in the auditory cortex

Natural auditory scenes possess highly structured statistical regularities, which are dictated by the physics of sound production in nature, such as scale‐invariance. We recently identified that natural water sounds exhibit a particular type of scale invariance, in which the temporal modulation within spectral bands scales with the centre frequency of the band. Here, we tested how neurons in the mammalian primary auditory cortex encode sounds that exhibit this property, but differ in their statistical parameters. The stimuli varied in spectro‐temporal density and cyclo‐temporal statistics over several orders of magnitude, corresponding to a range of water‐like percepts, from pattering of rain to a slow stream. We recorded neuronal activity in the primary auditory cortex of awake rats presented with these stimuli. The responses of the majority of individual neurons were selective for a subset of stimuli with specific statistics. However, as a neuronal population, the responses were remarkably stable over large changes in stimulus statistics, exhibiting a similar range in firing rate, response strength, variability and information rate, and only minor variation in receptive field parameters. This pattern of neuronal responses suggests a potentially general principle for cortical encoding of complex acoustic scenes: while individual cortical neurons exhibit selectivity for specific statistical features, a neuronal population preserves a constant response structure across a broad range of statistical parameters.
[Assessment of quality of life in chronic hepatitis C: effect of treatment].

OBJECTIVES To study Quality of Life during chronic hepatitis C infection in patients recruited by hospital-based- or private hepatologists and to assess the effect of antiviral therapy. METHODS A self-administered quality of life questionnaire (SF36) was proposed before, during, and 6 months after the end of treatment. The quality of life scales were assessed according to treatment response. RESULTS 599 patients filled in the questionnaire before treatment and 168 patients 6 months after the end of treatment. After 6 months of therapy, patients with treatment response (n=54) showed increased scores in all SF-36 scales, this increase reaching more than 25% for "Role Physical", "General Health Perception" and "Vitality" scores. Non-responders (n=70) had an impairment of physical scores but a general improvement of Mental Health. CONCLUSION This study confirms that sustained virological response is associated with an improved quality of life in hepatitis C patients. However, non-responders still have a positive "General Health Perception". Together with the development of new therapies, these observations could help to convince reluctant patients to be treated.
Kinetic transition in the growth of Al nanocrystals in Al-Sm alloys

The formation of Al nanocrystals from an amorphous Al92Sm8 alloy involves kinetic phenomena with very different characteristic length and timescales, including initial nucleation and later growth and coarsening. Insight into these processes can be derived from the evolution of the sizes of nanocrystals as a function of time. Synchrotron small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments provide information about the evolution of the nanocrystal size distribution, particularly at times after nucleation has reached saturation. Accurately interpreting the distribution of intensity measured using SAXS requires a nanoparticle model consisting of nanocrystalline core of pure Al surrounded by a shell enriched in Sm. With this approach, statistical parameters derived from SAXS are independent of detailed assumptions regarding the distribution of Sm around the nanocrystals and allow the maximum radius of nanocrystals within the distribution to be determined unambiguously. Sizes determined independently using transmis.
On posterior consistency of survival models

Ghosh and Ramamoorthi studied posterior consistency for survival models and showed that the posterior was consistent when the prior on the distribution of survival times was the Dirichlet process prior. In this paper, we study posterior consistency of survival models with neutral to the right process priors which include Dirichlet process priors. A set of sufficient conditions for posterior consistency with neutral to the right process priors are given. Interestingly, not all the neutral to the right process priors have consistent posteriors, but most of the popular priors such as Dirichlet processes, beta processes and gamma processes have consistent posteriors. With a class of priors which includes beta processes, a necessary and sufficient condition for the consistency is also established. An interesting counter-intuitive phenomenon is found. Suppose there are two priors centered at the true parameter value with finite variances. Surprisingly, the posterior with smaller prior variance can be inconsistent, while that with larger prior variance is consistent.
Trypanosomatid mitochondrial RNA editing: dramatically complex transcript repertoires revealed with a dedicated mapping tool

Abstract RNA editing by targeted insertion and deletion of uridine is crucial to generate translatable mRNAs from the cryptogenes of the mitochondrial genome of kinetoplastids. This type of editing consists of a stepwise cascade of reactions generally proceeding from 3′ to 5′ on a transcript, resulting in a population of partially edited as well as pre-edited and completely edited molecules for each mitochondrial cryptogene of these protozoans. Often, the number of uridines inserted and deleted exceed the number of nucleotides that are genome-encoded. Thus, analysis of kinetoplastid mitochondrial transcriptomes has proven frustratingly complex. Here we present our analysis of Leptomonas pyrrhocoris mitochondrial cDNA deep sequencing reads using T-Aligner, our new tool which allows comprehensive characterization of RNA editing, not relying on targeted transcript amplification and on prior knowledge of final edited products. T-Aligner implements a pipeline of read mapping, visualization of all editing states and their coverage, and assembly of canonical and alternative translatable mRNAs. We also assess T-Aligner functionality on a more challenging deep sequencing read input from Trypanosoma cruzi. The analysis reveals that transcripts of cryptogenes of both species undergo very complex editing that includes the formation of alternative open reading frames and whole categories of truncated editing products.
Is portal vein thrombosis still a contraindication for liver transplantation? A single-institute’s 5-year experience and literature review

php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php). Transplant Research and Risk Management 2016:8 31–36 Transplant Research and Risk Management Dovepress
Micronutrient interactions: effects on absorption and bioavailability

A potential risk of interactions between micronutrients affecting absorption and bioavailability has to be considered in any supplementation or fortification strategy. At levels of essential micronutrients present in foods, most micronutrients appear to utilise specific absorptive mechanisms and not be vulnerable to interactions. In aqueous solutions and at higher intake levels competition between elements with similar chemical characteristics and uptake by non-regulated processes can take place. These interactions have clearly been demonstrated in experimental absorption studies and to some extent have been confirmed in supplementation studies. Negative effects of iron supplementation on indices of zinc and copper status and of zinc supplementation on iron and copper status have been reported. In contrast, the negative effect of calcium on iron absorption has not been confirmed in long-term supplementation studies. Ascorbic acid has a strong iron absorption promoting potential and in iron deficient populations ascorbic acid supplementation improves iron status. Thus, ascorbic acid supplements or an increased intake of ascorbic acid rich foods could have important public health implications, especially in populations subsisting on a mainly plant food based diet. The effect of poor status of a given micronutrient on absorption and utilisation of other micronutrients should also be considered while developing strategies to improve micronutrient status in a population. Awareness of these interactions, combined with a balanced evaluation of the dietary intake of the population with regard to absorption promoting and inhibiting substances and the risk for multiple deficiencies, could lead to more effective strategies to improve micronutrient status.
Nexilin Regulates Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cell Migration and Remyelination and Is Negatively Regulated by Protease-Activated Receptor 1/Ras-Proximate-1 Signaling Following Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Progressive white matter (WM) impairments caused by subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) contribute to cognitive deficits and poor clinical prognoses; however, their pathogenetic mechanisms are poorly understood. We investigated the role of nexilin and oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC)-mediated repair in a mouse model of experimental SAH generated via left endovascular perforation. Nexilin expression was enhanced by the elevated migration of OPCs after SAH. Knocking down nexilin by siRNA reduced OPC migration both in vitro and in vivo and abridged WM repair. In contrast, the protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR1), Ras-proximate-1 (RAP1) and phosphorylated RAP1 (pRAP1) levels in WM were elevated after SAH. The genetic inhibition of PAR1 reduced RAP1 and pRAP1 expression, further enhancing nexilin expression. When delivered at an early stage at a concentration of 25 µg/kg, thrombin receptor antagonist peptide along with PAR1 knockdown rescued the down-regulation of myelin basic protein and improved remyelination at the later stage of SAH. Our results suggest that nexilin is required for OPC migration and remyelination following SAH, as it negatively regulates PAR1/RAP1 signaling, thus providing a promising therapeutic target in WM repair and functional recovery.