Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ecology of Speciation in the Genus Bacillus

ABSTRACT Microbial ecologists and systematists are challenged to discover the early ecological changes that drive the splitting of one bacterial population into two ecologically distinct populations. We have aimed to identify newly divergent lineages (“ecotypes”) bearing the dynamic properties attributed to species, with the rationale that discovering their ecological differences would reveal the ecological dimensions of speciation. To this end, we have sampled bacteria from the Bacillus subtilis-Bacillus licheniformis clade from sites differing in solar exposure and soil texture within a Death Valley canyon. Within this clade, we hypothesized ecotype demarcations based on DNA sequence diversity, through analysis of the clade's evolutionary history by Ecotype Simulation (ES) and AdaptML. Ecotypes so demarcated were found to be significantly different in their associations with solar exposure and soil texture, suggesting that these and covarying environmental parameters are among the dimensions of ecological divergence for newly divergent Bacillus ecotypes. Fatty acid composition appeared to contribute to ecotype differences in temperature adaptation, since those ecotypes with more warm-adapting fatty acids were isolated more frequently from sites with greater solar exposure. The recognized species and subspecies of the B. subtilis-B. licheniformis clade were found to be nearly identical to the ecotypes demarcated by ES, with a few exceptions where a recognized taxon is split at most into three putative ecotypes. Nevertheless, the taxa recognized do not appear to encompass the full ecological diversity of the B. subtilis-B. licheniformis clade: ES and AdaptML identified several newly discovered clades as ecotypes that are distinct from any recognized taxon.
Disruption of bimanual movement by unilateral subcortical electrostimulation

Cortical areas involved in bimanual coordination have been regularly studied by functional neuroimaging and electroencephalography. However, the subcortical connectivity underlying this complex function has received less attention. Here, we used the technique of direct electrostimulation in awake patients who underwent surgery for brain glioma, with the goal to investigate the white matter pathways subserving bimanual coordination.
Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Isolation from Clinical and Environmental Samples in Iran: Twenty Years of Surveillance

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are opportunistic pathogens that are widely distributed in the environment. There is a lack of data on species distribution of these organisms from Iran. This study consists of a review of NTM articles published in Iran between the years 1992 and 2014. In this review, 20 articles and 14 case reports were identified. Among the 20 articles, 13 (65%) studies focused on NTM isolates from clinical specimens, 6 (30%) studies examined NTM isolates from environmental samples, and one (5%) article included both clinical and environmental isolates. M. fortuitum (229/997; 23%) was recorded as the most prevalent and rapid growing mycobacteria (RGM) species in both clinical (28%) and environmental (19%) isolated samples (P < 0.05). Among slow growing mycobacteria (SGM), M. simiae (103/494; 21%) demonstrated a higher frequency in clinical samples whereas in environmental samples it was M. flavescens (44/503; 9%). These data represent information from 14 provinces out of 31 provinces of Iran. No information is available in current published data on clinical or environmental NTM from the remaining 17 provinces in Iran. These results emphasize the potential importance of NTM as well as the underestimation of NTM frequency in Iran. NTM is an important clinical problem associated with significant morbidity and mortality in Iran. Continued research is needed from both clinical and environmental sources to help clinicians and researchers better understand and address NTM treatment and prevention.
A Philosophical Conception of Propositional Modal Logic

L'A. developpe une conception philosophique de la logique modale des propositions (ML), fondee sur les notions de verite, validite, regle d'inference et langage, definies comme les proprietes d'une (ou d'un ensemble de) proposition(s). Une des consequences les plus interessantes de cette conception reside dans le fait que le contexte modal ne se reduit pas au strict contexte intensionnel
Work-related Neck Pain Among Desk Job Workers of Tertiary Care Hospital in New Delhi, India: Burden and Determinants

Background: Work-related Neck Pain (WRNP) is a leading cause of disability and absenteeism. There is dearth of information about burden and determinants of WRNP in health facility setting in India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at tertiary care hospital in New Delhi. All Group C desk job workers involved in the administrative work were included in the study. Participants were screened for WRNP by using pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Detailed information on probable risk factors was collected among patients with WRNP. Neck examination by trained investigator was done. Work place assessment was done by using observation check-list using the recommendations of the ISO Standard (Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals). Crude and adjusted odds ratio was calculated with 95% confidence interval to understand the determinants of WRNP. Results: In total, 441 participants were included in the study. Of them, 58% were males. Majority of participants aged between31-50 years. One-year prevalence of neck pain and WRNP was reported as 43.3%, (95% CI 38.7%-47.9%) and 28.3%, (95% CI 24.3%-32.7%) respectively. On multivariate analysis, female gender (OR-2.0 95% CI) and poor perception of breaks during working hours (OR-2.4 95% CI), along with work place related factors such as posture (OR-5.4 95% CI) and height of the screen (<10 cms) (OR-2.6) were identified as independent determinants of WRNP. Conclusion: High one-year prevalence of WRNP was reported among desk job workers. Burden of WRNP was reported more among females as compared to males. Most common factor identified was Computer use for more than 4-6 hours was most important predictor of WRNP followed by work related factors such as height of screen and posture are associated with WRNP.
Abusive Head Trauma in Children: A Comparison of Male and Female Perpetrators

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of perpetrator gender on victim presentation and outcomes, and perpetrator legal outcomes for abusive head trauma (AHT). METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of AHT cases from 1998 to 2008. Patient clinical data and information regarding perpetrator legal outcome was obtained. Relationship of brain injury and retinal hemorrhages (RHs) and differences in categorical variables of perpetrator gender were compared by using Fisher's exact test. Differences in continuous variables between perpetrator gender were compared by using the Mann-Whitney Test. RESULTS: There were 34 cases of AHT with identified perpetrators, 17 of each gender. Mean age of the victims was 9.4 months (SD: 7.8). Thirty-two (94%) had intracranial hemorrhages, 14 (41%) had both primary and secondary brain injury, 28 (82%) had RHs, and 6 (18%) died. The severity of RH was related to the severity of brain injuries (P = .01). The median age for female perpetrators (34 years) was higher than that for males (27 years; P = .001). Six categorical variables were associated with male perpetrator gender: acute presenting symptoms of cardiopulmonary or respiratory arrest (P = .025), worse clinical outcome (P = .012), neurosurgical intervention (P = .037), death (P = .018), perpetrator confession (P = .0001), and conviction (P = .005). CONCLUSIONS: There were significant perpetrator gender differences of AHT in children. Male perpetrators were younger and more likely to confess and be convicted. Victims of male perpetrators had more serious acute presentations and neurosurgical intervention and suffered worse clinical outcomes.
Parallel Predicting Algorithm Based on Support Vector Regression Machine

Using support vector regression machine to predict a large-scale dataset, which will take a long time. In order to solve the problem, this paper proposes a parallel predicting algorithm based on sample separation, and introduces the design and implementation of the algorithm. The performance of the algorithm has been evaluated and analyzed with KDD99 dataset on the ZQ3000 cluster. Experimental results show that the algorithm not only effectively reduces the time of predicting dataset, but also keeps high accuracy rate.
Platelet-derived microparticles during and after acute coronary syndrome

Summary As microparticles are shedded upon platelet activation, and may be used to assess platelet function, we measured plasma concentrations of platelet-derived microparticles (PMPs) during and after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Fifty-one patients with ACS were investigated at admission, within 24 hours (before coronary angiography), and six months later. Sixty-one sex- and age-matched healthy controls were investigated once. PMPs were defined as particles <1.0 μm in size, negative to phalloidin (labels cell-fragments), and positive to CD61. Exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS+), CD62P and CD142 were also measured. Plasma concentrations of PS+PMPs exposing CD61, CD62P and CD142 were elevated 2.5, 6.0-, and 5.0-fold at admission (p<0.001 for all, compared to controls; aspirin only), decreased significantly 24 hours later following initiation of treatment with clopidogrel and subcutaneous anticoagulation (p<0.001 for all), and decreased even further six months later (p<0.01 for all). However, PS+PMPs exposing CD62P or CD142 were still between 1.2-and 2.3-fold higher than in controls (p<0.001 for both). The pattern for PS−PMPs during and after the ACS was very similar to that for PS+PMPs although the numbers were approximately 1/3 lower. In conclusion, PMP concentrations follow the pattern of platelet activation during and after an ACS. Decreased concentrations are observed after initiation of antithrombotic treatment, but PMP exposing CD62P or CD142 are still elevated after six months. Flow cytometric measurements of PMP in frozen-thawed samples enable studies of platelet function in larger clinical trials.
Robust H∞ filtering for uncertain Markovian jump systems with mode-dependent time delays

This paper considers the problem of robust H/sup /spl infin// filtering for uncertain Markovian jump linear systems with time-delays which are time-varying and depend on the system mode. The parameter uncertainties are time-varying norm-bounded. The aim of this problem is to design a Markovian jump linear filter that ensures robust exponential mean-square stability of the filtering error system and a prescribed L/sub 2/- induced gain from the noise signals to the estimation error, for all admissible uncertainties. A sufficient condition for the solvability of this problem is obtained. The desired filter can be constructed by solving a set of linear matrix inequalities. An illustrative numerical example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Relationship of Body Mass Index to Alcohol Consumption in College Freshmen

OBJECTIVE Assess the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and drinking in college freshman. METHOD College freshman (N = 199) at a university completed the drinking questionnaires. Drinking amount and the alcohol problem index (RAPI) served as outcomes, and BMI was the independent variable. RESULTS RAPI scores were associated with gender, amount of drinking, and BMI (P < 0.001, F = 13.44). Increase of RAPI with drinking amount was larger for females (slope = 0.06) than for males (slope = 0.03). CONCLUSION This information can be helpful when providing health promotion strategies to college students regarding nutrition modifications that would be most beneficial for their health.
Implementation of the Log-Conformation Formulation for Two-Dimensional Viscoelastic Flow

We have implemented the log-conformation method for two-dimensional viscoelastic flow in COMSOL, a commercial high-level finite element package. The code is verified for an Oldroyd-B fluid flowing past a confined cylinder. We are also able to describe the well-known bistability of the viscoelastic flow in a cross-slot geometry for a FENE-CR fluid, and we describe the changes required for performing simulations with the Phan-Thien-Tanner (PTT), Giesekus and FENE-P models. Finally, we calculate the flow of a FENE-CR fluid in a geometry with three in- and outlets. The implementation is included in the supplementary material, and we hope that it can inspire new as well as experienced researchers in the field of differential constitutive equations for viscoelastic flow.
The Detrimental Effects of IFN-α on Vasculogenesis in Lupus Are Mediated by Repression of IL-1 Pathways: Potential Role in Atherogenesis and Renal Vascular Rarefaction

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is characterized by increased vascular risk due to premature atherosclerosis independent of traditional risk factors. We previously proposed that IFN-α plays a crucial role in premature vascular damage in SLE. IFN-α alters the balance between endothelial cell apoptosis and vascular repair mediated by endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and myeloid circulating angiogenic cells (CACs). In this study, we demonstrate that IFN-α promotes an antiangiogenic signature in SLE and control EPCs/CACs, characterized by transcriptional repression of IL-1α and β, IL-1R1, and vascular endothelial growth factor A, and upregulation of IL-1R antagonist and the decoy receptor IL-1R2. IL-1β promotes significant improvement in the functional capacity of lupus EPCs/CACs, therefore abrogating the deleterious effects of IFN-α. The beneficial effects from IL-1 are mediated, at least in part, by increases in EPC/CAC proliferation, by decreases in EPC/CAC apoptosis, and by preventing the skewing of CACs toward nonangiogenic pathways. IFN-α induces STAT2 and 6 phosphorylation in EPCs/CACs, and JAK inhibition abrogates the transcriptional antiangiogenic changes induced by IFN-α in these cells. Immunohistochemistry of renal biopsies from patients with lupus nephritis, but not anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic Ab-positive vasculitis, showed this pathway to be operational in vivo, with increased IL-1R antagonist, downregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor A, and glomerular and blood vessel decreased capillary density, compared with controls. Our study introduces a novel putative pathway by which type I IFNs may interfere with vascular repair in SLE through repression of IL-1–dependent pathways. This could promote atherosclerosis and loss of renal function in this disease.
Millimeter waves thermally alter the firing rate of the Lymnaea pacemaker neuron.

The effects of millimeter waves (mm-waves, 75 GHz) and temperature elevation on the firing rate of the BP-4 pacemaker neuron of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis were studied by using microelectrode techniques. The open end to a rectangular waveguide covered with a thin Teflon film served as a radiator. Specific absorption rates (SARs), measured in physiological solution at the radiator outlet, ranged from 600 to 4,200 W/kg, causing temperatures rises from 0.3 to 2.2 degrees C, respectively. Irradiation at an SAR of 4200 W/kg caused a biphasic change in the firing rate, i.e., a transient decrease in the firing rate (69 +/- 22% below control) followed by a gradual increase to a new level that was 68 +/- 21% above control. The biphasic changes in the firing rate were reproduced by heating under the condition that the magnitude (2 degrees C) and the rate of temperature rise (0.96 degrees C/s) were equal to those produced by the irradiation (for an SAR of 4,030 W/kg). The addition of 0.05 mM of ouabain caused the disappearance of transient responses of the neuron to the irradiation. It was shown that the rate of temperature rise played an important role in the development of a transient neuronal response. The threshold stimulus for a transient response of the BP-4 neuron found in warming experiments was a temperature rise of 0.0025 degrees C/s.
Self-adhesive, low shrinkage, re-mineralising and high strength dental composites

Successful advance in development of bioactive composite have enable the production of a novel dentine adhering and high strength dental composites, with re-mineralising capability from calcium phosphate and integrated antibacterial components to provide resistance to bacterial microleakage have been produced. These new formulation contain PPGDMA as an alternative high molecular weight diluent monomer to more conventional TEGDMA. PPGDMA high molecular weight and flexibility enabled greater monomer conversion (>70%). The combination of adhesive co-initiator NTGGMA monomers and 4-META in addition to high calcium phosphate loading permits the bonding model dentine (ivory) without use of a separate composite adhesive. Introduction: Resin based restorative composite materials are widely used for restoring either anterior or posterior teeth. Their major drawback, however, is complex bonding procedures, polymerisation shrinkage and bond failure ultimately resulting in bacterial microleakage, which lead to increase possibility of recurrent caries and pulpal inflammation. The aim of this study was to develop a unique bioactive high strength composite with added adhesive monomer 4-META and reactive mono and tri calcium phosphate (TCP and MCPM). The hypothesis was that the reactive fillers would re-mineralise dentine that has been affected by caries but that the 4-META would additionally provide bonding between this mineral, remaining collagen and the composite. Ideally this would enable composite bonding without use of additional bonding agents. The varying structure of human and bovine teeth, however, makes quantification of restorative to dentine bonding difficult. In this study to overcome this problem a single ivory tusk has been used. Adhesion of the composite to dentine was assessed through a modified push out test. This has been used previously in endodontic studies but not for monitoring composite bonding. The hypothesis was that significant differences in bonding for different formulations could readily be detected without the need for excessive sample size. Materials & Methods: Dental resins with 5 wt% 4-META or HEMA (in control samples) were combined with glass filler containing 0, 10, 20 or 40 wt% CaP. Biaxial flexural strength and modified push-out test measurement were performed on 3 mm (diameter) 5 mm (depth) cylinders from restored ivory dentine. Results: Replacement of HEMA with 4-META increased strength and substantially raised bonding to ivory dentine. Increasing CaP reduced strength but also significantly increased bonding. Formulations with 4-META and 40wt% CaP had comparable strength to a commercial composite and enabled better bonding without requiring an adhesive. Conclusion: The new material with adhesive monomer 4-META and reactive calcium phosphate show potential as high strength self-adhering composite. The use of ivory made it possible to determine differences in bonding capability of experimental formulations without the need for high sample number.
Key-Value Memory Networks for Directly Reading Documents

Directly reading documents and being able to answer questions from them is an unsolved challenge. To avoid its inherent difficulty, question answering (QA) has been directed towards using Knowledge Bases (KBs) instead, which has proven effective. Unfortunately KBs often suffer from being too restrictive, as the schema cannot support certain types of answers, and too sparse, e.g. Wikipedia contains much more information than Freebase. In this work we introduce a new method, Key-Value Memory Networks, that makes reading documents more viable by utilizing different encodings in the addressing and output stages of the memory read operation. To compare using KBs, information extraction or Wikipedia documents directly in a single framework we construct an analysis tool, WikiMovies, a QA dataset that contains raw text alongside a preprocessed KB, in the domain of movies. Our method reduces the gap between all three settings. It also achieves state-of-the-art results on the existing WikiQA benchmark.
If Every Fifth Physician Is Affected by Burnout, What About the Other Four? Resilience Strategies of Experienced Physicians

Purpose To identify health-promoting strategies employed by experienced physicians in order to define prototypical resilience processes and key aspects of resilience-fostering preventive actions. Method From January 2010 to March 2011, the authors conducted 200 semistructured interviews with physicians of different ages, disciplines, and hierarchical status from across Germany. The interview transcripts were analyzed according to the Content Analysis method. Results Analysis revealed 30 subcodes in three dimensions: (1) job-related gratifications derived from treatment interactions, (2) practices, such as leisure-time activities, self-demarcation, limitation of working hours, and continuous professional development, and (3) attitudes, such as acceptance of professional and personal boundaries, a focus on positive aspects of work, and personal reflexivity. Conclusions The reported strategies and attitudes helped to develop mental, physical, and social resource pools that fostered effective decision making. Successful coping, in turn, encouraged the maintenance of resilience-promoting abilities. In relation to Conservation of Resources Theory, physician resilience emerged as the ability to invest personal resources in a way that initiates positive resource spirals in spite of stressful working conditions. Enriching traditional stress management approaches with the dynamic of positive as well as negative resource spirals would thus appear to be a promising approach.
A computer model for the growth of thin films in a structure zone model

A simple two-dimensional model of thin film growth based on the ballistic aggregation of hard discs is proposed. In this model the impinging hard discs travel in a straight line and initially ‘stick’ to the first previously deposited hard disc they contact. Previously (Dirks and Leamy 1977 Thin Solid Films 47 219) the criterion for relaxation has been migration of the impinging disc to the nearest pocket formed by two additional discs. In the model proposed here, however, relaxation is dependent on the surrounding geometry of the previously deposited atoms. The deposited disc may ‘relax’ into a position where it then makes contact with three, two or one previously deposited disc(s). The influences of substrate temperature, deposition rate, angle of incidence, self-shadowing effect and substrate roughness, including amorphous substrates are investigated. Results are qualitatively in good agreement with the structure zone model (SZM) predictions for thin metallic films.
Predictability of mobile phone associations

Prediction and understanding of human behavior is of high importance in many modern applications and research areas ranging from context-aware services, wireless resource allocation to social sciences. In this study we collect a novel dataset using standard mobile phones and analyze how the predictability of mobile sensors, acting as proxies for humans, change with time scale and sensor type such as GSM and WLAN. Applying recent information theoretic methods, it is demonstrated that an upper bound on predictability is relatively high for all sensors given the complete history (typically above 90%). The relation between time scale and the predictability bound is examined for GSM and WLAN sensors, and both are found to have predictable and non-trivial behavior even on quite short time scales. The analysis provides valuable insight into aspects such as time scale and spatial quantization, state representation, and general behavior. This is of vital interest in the development of context-aware services which rely on forecasting based on mobile phone sensors.