Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Paradoxes in self-evaluated health data in a developing country

Background: Statistics showed that males reported fewer illnesses and greater mortality rates than females, but are outlived by approximately 6 years by their female counterparts, yet their self-rated health status is the same as that of females. Aims: This study examines the following questions: (1) Are there paradoxes in health disparity between the sexes in Jamaica? and (2) is there an explanation for the disparity outside of education, marital status, and area of residence? Methods and Materials: The current study utilised a data set collected jointly by the Planning Institute of Jamaica and the Statistical Institute of Jamaica. The data set is a survey on the living conditions of Jamaicans. It was conducted between May and August of 2007. The JSLC is a modification of the World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Study. The sample size was 6,783 respondents, with a non-response rate being 26.2%. Results Good health status was correlated with self-reported illness (OR =0.23, 95% CI = 0.09-0.59), medical care-seeking behaviour (OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.36-0.72), age (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.96-0.97), and income (OR = 1.00, 95% CI = 1.00-1.00). Self-reported illness is statistically correlated with sex (OR = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.10-0.62), head of household (OR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.12-0.96), age (OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.01-1.07) and current good self-rated health status (OR = 0.32, 95% CI = 0.12-0.84). Conclusion This paper highlights that caution must be used by researchers in interpreting self-reported health data of males.
NF-κB Activation Exacerbates, but Is not Required for Murine Bmpr2-Related Pulmonary Hypertension

Aim: The present study investigates the role of NF-κB in Bmpr2-related pulmonary hypertension (PH) using a murine model of PH with inducible overexpression of a cytoplasmic tail Bmpr2 mutation. Methods and Results: Electrophoretic mobility shift assay for nuclear extracts in Bmpr2R899X mouse lung and immunohistochemistry for NF-κB p65 in human PAH lung demonstrate that NF-κB is activated in end-stage disease. Acute inflammation or expression of a constitutively active NF-κB elicits a strong suppression of the BMP pathway in mice inversely correlating to activation of NF-κB targets. However, Bmpr2 mutation does not result in NF-κB activation in early disease development as assessed by luciferase reporter mice. Moreover, Bmpr2 mutant mice in which NF-κB activation is genetically blocked develop PH indistinguishable from that without the block. Finally, delivery of a virus causing NF-κB activation strongly exacerbates development of PH in Bmpr2 mutant mice, associated with increased remodeling. Conclusion: NF-κB activation exacerbates, but is not required for Bmpr2-related PH. Pulmonary vascular-specific activation of NF-κB may be a “second hit” that drives penetrance in heritable PH.
Intracellular Redox State as Target for Anti-Influenza Therapy: Are Antioxidants Always Effective?

Influenza virus infections represent a big issue for public health since effective treatments are still lacking. In particular, the emergence of strains resistant to drugs limits the effectiveness of anti-influenza agents. For this reason, many efforts have been dedicated to the identification of new therapeutic strategies aimed at targeting the virus-host cell interactions. Oxidative stress is a characteristic of some viral infections including influenza. Because antioxidants defend cells from damage caused by reactive oxygen species induced by different stimuli including pathogens, they represent interesting molecules to fight infectious diseases. However, most of the available studies have found that these would-be panaceas could actually exacerbate the diseases they claim to prevent, and have thus revealed "the dark side" of these molecules. This review article discusses the latest opportunities and drawbacks of the antioxidants used in anti-influenza therapy and new perspectives.
Detection of Allelic Status of 1p and 19q by Microsatellite-based PCR Versus FISH: Limitations and Advantages in Application to Patient Management

Combined loss of chromosome arms 1p and 19q in oligodendroglial tumors has become a powerful predictor of prognosis and treatment response, and hence clinical testing for their detection is widely used nowadays. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analysis and fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) are the 2 important relatively common clinical molecular diagnostic techniques used for this purpose and they have their unique advantages and limitations. The preference of methodology used depends on local expertise and existing laboratory capabilities. However, there is no consensus on which methodologic approach has a better potential. The objective of the study was to compare the accuracy, reliability, and feasibility of FISH and PCR in detecting the 1p and 19q LOH status. Using the PCR-based method, a LOH analysis was performed on 30 oligodendrogliomas and 10 glioblastomas using fresh-frozen tissue and peripheral blood as control. A FISH assay using paraffin blocks was performed on all the cases. Concordance for 1p and 19q was found in 92.5% (37 of 40) and 82.5% (33 of 40) cases, respectively. The relative advantages and limitations of both the techniques are analyzed and discussed. The main issue pertains to the use of the best technique in large clinical trials whose results are translated to patient care services. Unless the technique used is correct, the results of clinical trials and their correlations may be somewhat questionable.
Distributed Particle Swarm Optimization using Optimal Computing Budget Allocation for multi-robot learning

Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is a population-based metaheuristic that can be applied to optimize controllers for multiple robots using only local information. In order to cope with noise in the robotic performance evaluations, different reevaluation strategies were proposed in the past. In this article, we apply a statistical technique called Optimal Computing Budget Allocation to improve the performance of distributed PSO in the presence of noise. In particular, we compare a distributed PSO OCBA algorithm suitable for resource-constrained mobile robots with a centralized version that uses global information for the allocation. We show that the distributed PSO OCBA outperforms a previous distributed noise-resistant PSO variant, and that the performance of the distributed PSO OCBA approaches that of the centralized one as the communication radius is increased. We also explore different parametrizations of the PSO OCBA algorithm, and show that the choice of parameter values differs from previous guidelines proposed for stand-alone OCBA.
Predicting change propagation in software systems

Software systems contain entities, such as functions and variables, which are related to each other. As a software system evolves to accommodate new features and repair bugs, changes occur to these entities. Developers must ensure that related entities are updated to be consistent with these changes. This paper addresses the question: How does a change in one source code entity propagate to other entities? We propose several heuristics to predict change propagation. We present a framework to measure the performance of our proposed heuristics. We validate our results empirically using data obtained by analyzing the development history for five large open source software systems.
Torque Transmission Capabilities of Bonded Polygonal Lap Joints for Carbon Fiber Epoxy Composites

Abstract Although carbon fiber epoxy composite materials have excellent properties for structures, the joint in composite materials often reduces the efficiency of the composite structure because the joint is often the weakest area in the composite structure. In this paper, the effects of the adhesive thickness and the adherend surface roughness on the static and fatigue strengths of adhesively-bonded tubular polygonal lap joints have been investigated by experimental methods. The dependencies of the static and fatigue strengths on the stacking sequences of the composite adherends were observed. From the experimental investigations, it was found that the fatigue strength of the circular adhesively-bounded joints was quite dependent on the surface roughness of the adherends and that polygonal adhesively-bonded joints had better fatigue strength characteristics than circular adhesively-bonded joints.
Monitoring Alpha Oscillations and Pupil Dilation across a Performance-Intensity Function

Listening to degraded speech can be challenging and requires a continuous investment of cognitive resources, which is more challenging for those with hearing loss. However, while alpha power (8–12 Hz) and pupil dilation have been suggested as objective correlates of listening effort, it is not clear whether they assess the same cognitive processes involved, or other sensory and/or neurophysiological mechanisms that are associated with the task. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare alpha power and pupil dilation during a sentence recognition task in 15 randomized levels of noise (-7 to +7 dB SNR) using highly intelligible (16 channel vocoded) and moderately intelligible (6 channel vocoded) speech. Twenty young normal-hearing adults participated in the study, however, due to extraneous noise, data from only 16 (10 females, 6 males; aged 19–28 years) was used in the Electroencephalography (EEG) analysis and 10 in the pupil analysis. Behavioral testing of perceived effort and speech performance was assessed at 3 fixed SNRs per participant and was comparable to sentence recognition performance assessed in the physiological test session for both 16- and 6-channel vocoded sentences. Results showed a significant interaction between channel vocoding for both the alpha power and the pupil size changes. While both measures significantly decreased with more positive SNRs for the 16-channel vocoding, this was not observed with the 6-channel vocoding. The results of this study suggest that these measures may encode different processes involved in speech perception, which show similar trends for highly intelligible speech, but diverge for more spectrally degraded speech. The results to date suggest that these objective correlates of listening effort, and the cognitive processes involved in listening effort, are not yet sufficiently well understood to be used within a clinical setting.
Design, fabrication and testing of an air-breathing micro direct methanol fuel cell with compound anode flow field

An air-breathing micro direct methanol fuel cell (μDMFC) with a compound anode flow field structure (composed of the parallel flow field and the perforated flow field) is designed, fabricated and tested. To better analyze the effect of the compound anode flow field on the mass transfer of methanol, the compound flow field with different open ratios (ratio of exposure area to total area) and thicknesses of current collectors is modeled and simulated. Micro process technologies are employed to fabricate the end plates and current collectors. The performances of the μDMFC with a compound anode flow field are measured under various operating parameters. Both the modeled and the experimental results show that, comparing the conventional parallel flow field, the compound one can enhance the mass transfer resistance of methanol from the flow field to the anode diffusion layer. The results also indicate that the μDMFC with an anode open ratio of 40% and a thickness of 300 µm has the optimal performance under the 7 M methanol which is three to four times higher than conventional flow fields. Finally, a 2 h stability test of the μDMFC is performed with a methanol concentration of 7 M and a flow velocity of 0.1 ml min−1. The results indicate that the μDMFC can work steadily with high methanol concentration.
Similarity-aware Query Processing and Optimization

Many application scenarios, e.g., marketing analysis, sensor networks, and medical and biological applications, require or can significantly benefit from the identification and processing of similarities in the data. Even though some work has been done to extend the semantics of some operators, e.g., join and selection, to be aware of data similarities; there has not been much study on the role, interaction, and implementation of similarity-aware operations as first-class database operators. The focus of this thesis work is the proposal and study of several similarity-aware database operators and a systematic analysis of their role as query operators, interactions, optimizations, and implementation techniques. This work presents a detailed study of two core similarity-aware operators: Similarity Group-by and Similarity Join. We describe multiple optimization techniques for the introduced operators. Specifically, we present: (1) multiple non-trivial equivalence rules that enable similarity query transformations, (2) Eager and Lazy aggregation transformations for Similarity Group-by and Similarity Join to allow pre-aggregation before potentially expensive joins, and (3) techniques to use materialized views to answer similarity-based queries. We also present the main guidelines to implement the presented operators as integral components of a database system query engine and several key performance evaluation results of this implementation in an open source database system. We introduce a comprehensive conceptual evaluation model for similarity queries with multiple similarity-aware predicates, i.e., Similarity Selection, Similarity Join, Similarity Group-by. This model clearly defines the expected correct result of a query with multiple similarity-aware predicates. Furthermore, we present multiple transformation rules to transform the initial evaluation plan into more efficient equivalent plans.
In vivo Antimalarial Activity of α‐Mangostin and the New Xanthone δ‐Mangostin

Based on the previously reported in vitro antiplasmodial activity of several xanthones from Garcinia mangostana, two xanthones, α‐mangostin and a new compound, δ‐mangostin, were isolated from mangosteen husk, and the in vitro antiplasmodial and cytotoxic effects were determined. α‐Mangostin was more active against the resistant Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine‐resistant (FCR3) strain (IC50 = 0.2 ± 0.01 μM) than δ‐mangostin (IC50 = 121.2 ± 1.0 μM). Furthermore, the therapeutic response according to the administration route was evaluated in a Plasmodium berghei malarial murine model. The greatest therapeutic response was obtained with intraperitoneal administration; these xanthones reduced parasitemia by approximately 80% with a daily dose of 100 mg/kg administered twice a day for 7 days of treatment. Neither compound was effective by oral administration. Noticeable toxicological effects were not observed. In addition to the antimalarial effect of these xanthones isolated from G. mangostana husk, the availability of larger amounts of husk raw material to purify the bioactive xanthones is advantageous, permitting additional preclinical assays or chemical transformations to enhance the biological activity of these substances. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Selective expansion of CD16highCCR2– subpopulation of circulating monocytes with preferential production of haem oxygenase (HO)‐1 in response to acute inflammation

Monocytes are composed of two distinct subpopulations in the peripheral blood as determined by their surface antigen expressions, profiles of cytokine production and functional roles played in vivo. We attempted to delineate the unique functional roles played by a minor CD16highCCR2– subpopulation of circulating monocytes. They produced significant levels of interleukin (IL)‐6 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, but very low levels of IL‐10 upon in vitro stimulation. Characteristic profiles of cytokine production were confirmed by stimulating purified subpopulations of monocytes after cell sorting. It was noteworthy that freshly isolated CD16highCCR2– monocyte subpopulations produced significant levels of haem oxygenase (HO)‐1, whereas the major CD16lowCCR2+ subpopulation produced little. These results were contrary to the generally accepted notion that the CD16highCCR2– monocyte subpopulation plays a predominantly proinflammatory role in vivo. The CD16highCCR2– subpopulation increased in Kawasaki disease and influenza virus infection. In accord with this, HO‐1 mRNA expression by mononuclear cells was significantly increased in these illnesses. These results indicate that CD16highCCR2– subpopulations are of a distinct lineage from CD16lowCCR2+ monocytes. More importantly, they may represent a monocyte subpopulation with a unique functional role to regulate inflammation by producing HO‐1 in steady state in vivo.
Effect of Graphite Addition on Resin Bonded Dolomite Refractories

Abstract Doloma (sintered dolomite) having a 0.5 wt. -% optimum mill scale content were used to form bricks with addition of resin and graphite, so that the effects of graphite was evaluated. Dolomites were first sintered at a temperature of 1750°C for four hours, and then mixed with various additives to prepare mixtures. These mixtures were pressed under 1100 kg/cm2 pressure. Graphite free and 10 wt. -% graphite containing bricks were produced. The bricks were cured at a temperature of 300°C for three hours, and this was followed by inspection of their bulk density, apparent porosity, and cold crushing strength and thermal expansions. Then, the bricks were baked at 1000°C for two hours, and the same tests were applied. The properties of brick samples were compared, and SEM and X-Ray techniques were performed to examine the structural features.
Identification of the l,d-Transpeptidases for Peptidoglycan Cross-Linking in Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT Three active-site cysteine l,d-transpeptidases can individually anchor the Braun lipoprotein to the Escherichia coli peptidoglycan. We show here that two additional enzymes of the same family form peptide bonds between the third residues of peptidoglycan stems, generating meso-DAP3→meso-DAP3 unusual cross-links. This activity partially replaces the d,d-transpeptidase activity of penicillin-binding proteins.
Playback responses of socially monogamous black‐fronted titi monkeys to simulated solitary and paired intruders

Many birds and primates use loud vocalizations to mediate agonistic interactions with conspecifics, either as solos by males or females, or as coordinated duets. The extensive variation in duet complexity, the contribution of each sex, and the context in which duets are produced suggest that duets may serve several functions, including territory and mate defense. Titi monkeys (Callicebus spp.) are believed to defend their home range via solo loud calls or coordinated duets. Yet there are remarkably few experimental studies assessing the function of these calls. Observations of interactions between wild established groups and solitary individuals are rare and, therefore, controlled experiments are required to simulate such situations and evaluate the mate and joint territorial defense hypotheses. We conducted playback experiments with three free‐ranging groups of habituated black‐fronted titi monkeys (Callicebus nigrifrons) to test these hypotheses. We found that titi monkeys responded to the three conspecific playback treatments (duets, female solos, and male solos) and did not respond to the heterospecific control treatment. The monkeys did not show sex‐specific responses to solos (N = 12 trials). Partners started to duet together in 79% of their responses to playback‐simulated rivals (N = 14 calls in response to playback). Males started to approach the loudspeaker before females regardless of the type of stimulus. The strength of the response of mated pairs to all three conspecific treatments was similar. Overall, our results are consistent with the idea that black‐fronted titi monkeys use their loud calls in intergroup communication as a mechanism of joint territorial defense. Am. J. Primatol. 77:1135–1142, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
N‐mediated transcription antitermination in lambdoid phage H‐19B is characterized by alternative NUT RNA structures and a reduced requirement for host factors

Gene expression in lambdoid phages in part is controlled by transcription antitermination. For most lambdoid phages, maximal expression of delayed early genes requires an RNA polymerase modified by the phage N and host Nus proteins at RNA NUT sites. The NUT sites (NUTL and NUTR) are made up of three elements: BOXA, BOXB and an intervening spacer sequence. We report on N antitermination in H‐19B, a lambdoid phage carrying shiga toxin 1 genes. H‐19B N requires NusA, but not two other host factors required by λ N, NusB and ribosomal protein S10. The H‐19B NUT site BOXA is not required, whereas the BOXB is required for N action. H‐19B nut sites have dyad symmetries in the spacer regions that are not in other nut sites. Changes in one arm of the dyad symmetry inactivate the NUT RNA. Compensating changes increasing the number of mutant nucleotides but restoring dyad symmetry restore activity. Deletion of the sequences encoding the dyad symmetry has little effect. Thus, the specific nucleotides composing the dyad symmetry seem relatively unimportant. We propose that the RNA stem–loop structure, called the ‘reducer’, by sequestering nucleotides from the linear RNA brings into proximity sites on either side of the dyad symmetry that contribute to forming an active NUT site.
Apolipoprotein J/Clusterin Is a Novel Structural Component of Human Erythrocytes and a Biomarker of Cellular Stress and Senescence

Background Secretory Apolipoprotein J/Clusterin (sCLU) is a ubiquitously expressed chaperone that has been functionally implicated in several pathological conditions of increased oxidative injury, including aging. Nevertheless, the biological role of sCLU in red blood cells (RBCs) remained largely unknown. In the current study we identified sCLU as a component of human RBCs and we undertook a detailed analysis of its cellular topology. Moreover, we studied the erythrocytic membrane sCLU content during organismal aging, in conditions of increased organismal stress and accelerated RBCs senescence, as well as during physiological in vivo cellular senescence. Methodology/Principal Findings By using a combination of molecular, biochemical and high resolution microscopical methods we found that sCLU is a novel structural component of RBCs extra- and intracellular plasma membrane and cytosol. We observed that the RBCs membrane-associated sCLU decreases during organismal aging or exposure to acute stress (e.g. smoking), in patients with congenital hemolytic anemia, as well as during RBCs in vivo senescence. In all cases, sCLU reduction paralleled the expression of typical cellular senescence, redox imbalance and erythrophagocytosis markers which are also indicative of the senescence- and oxidative stress-mediated RBCs membrane vesiculation. Conclusions/Significance We propose that sCLU at the mature RBCs is not a silent remnant of the erythroid precursors, but an active component being functionally implicated in the signalling mechanisms of cellular senescence and oxidative stress-responses in both healthy and diseased organism. The reduced sCLU protein levels in the RBCs membrane following cell exposure to various endogenous or exogenous stressors closely correlates to the levels of cellular senescence and redox imbalance markers, suggesting the usefulness of sCLU as a sensitive biomarker of senescence and cellular stress.
Enclosed nests may provide greater thermal than nest predation benefits compared with open nests across latitudes

predation benefits compared with open nests across latitudes Thomas E. Martin* , Andy J. Boyce, Karolina Fierro-Calder on, Adam E. Mitchell, Connor E. Armstad, James C. Mouton and Evertius E. Bin Soudi U.S. Geological Survey, Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA; Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA; and Sabah Parks, P.O. Box 10626, 88806 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia