Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Growth Dynamics of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a Function of Time to Detection in BacT/Alert 3D Blood Culture Bottles with Various Preincubation Conditions

Background Delayed entry of blood culture bottles is inevitable when microbiological laboratories do not operate for 24 hr. There are few studies reported for prestorage of these bottles. The growth dynamics of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were investigated with respect to various preincubation conditions. Methods Fifteen or 150 colony-forming units (CFU) of bacteria were inoculated into standard aerobic or anaerobic blood culture bottles. Bottles were preincubated at 25℃ or 37℃ for 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, or 48 hr. The time to detection (TTD) then was monitored using the BacT/Alert 3D system (bioMerieux Inc., USA). Results Significant difference in TTD was observed following preincubation for 8 hr at 25℃ vs. 4 hr at 37℃ for S. aureus, 4 hr at 25℃ vs. 4 hr at 37℃ for E. coli, 12 hr at 25℃ vs. 4 hr at 37℃ for P. aeruginosa, compared to no preincubation (P<0.005). TTD values did not vary significantly with bacterial CFU or with aerobic or anaerobic bottle type. The BacT/Alert 3D system returned false negatives following preincubation of P. aeruginosa for 48 hr at 25℃ or 24 hr at 37℃. Conclusions TTD was mainly affected by preincubation temperature and duration rather than by input CFU quantity or bottle type for the 3 experimental bacteria.
Out of the Tropics: The Pacific, Great Basin Lakes, and Late Pleistocene Water Cycle in the Western United States

Changing Rains The water cycle of the western United States has varied dramatically across the glacial cycles of the Pleistocene, possibly because of changes in the tracks of the storms that deliver moisture to the region. Lyle et al. (p. 1629) present evidence from a collection of Great Basin lakes which show that water levels rose over the last 20,000 years because of moisture transported from the tropical Pacific, not from a southward diversion of the westerly storm track. Furthermore, the timing of the lake level highs in the Great Basin shows a progression from south to north that does not coincide with the northward progression of wet intervals. Precipitation source regions for western North America changed substantially over the last deglaciation. The water cycle in the western United States changed dramatically over glacial cycles. In the past 20,000 years, higher precipitation caused desert lakes to form which have since dried out. Higher glacial precipitation has been hypothesized to result from a southward shift of Pacific winter storm tracks. We compared Pacific Ocean data to lake levels from the interior west and found that Great Basin lake high stands are older than coastal wet periods at the same latitude. Westerly storms were not the source of high precipitation. Instead, air masses from the tropical Pacific were transported northward, bringing more precipitation into the Great Basin when coastal California was still dry. The changing climate during the deglaciation altered precipitation source regions and strongly affected the regional water cycle.
Calculation of Lightning Outage Rate of High Voltage Transmission Line

The outage rate of high voltage power transmission lines caused by direct lighting has been analyzed and calculated, including straight lightning stroke on tower top (backstroke) and round stroke to conductor (shielding failure). Using the electrical geometry model and exposure distance, the outage rate caused by shielding failure is calculated. Based on the principles of IEEE flash program, the voltage across the insulator string and the outage rate caused by backstroke are calculated. Applying this method, the lightning outage rates of a 220kV double circuit transmission lines in Baoding, Hebei, China have been calculated. According to the calculated results the measures has been proposed which should be taken to improve the line insulation level.
Functional Role of Arginine 375 in Transmembrane Helix 6 of Multidrug Resistance Protein 4 (MRP4/ABCC4)

Multidrug resistance protein (MRP) 4 transports a variety of endogenous and xenobiotic organic anions. MRP4 is widely expressed in the body and specifically localized to the renal apical proximal tubule cell membrane, where it mediates the excretion of these compounds into urine. To characterize the MRP4 substrate-binding site, the amino acids Phe368, Phe369, Glu374, Arg375, and Glu378 of transmembrane helix 6, and Arg998 of helix 12, localized in the intracellular half of the central pore, were mutated into the corresponding amino acids of MRP1 and MRP2. Membrane vesicles isolated from human embryonic kidney 293 cells overexpressing these mutants showed significantly reduced methotrexate (MTX) and cGMP transport activity compared with vesicles that expressed wild-type MRP4. The only exception was substitution of Arg375 with serine, which had no effect on cGMP transport but significantly decreased the affinity of MTX. Substitution of the same amino acid with a positively charged lysine returned the MTX affinity to that of the wild type. Furthermore, MTX inhibition of MRP4-mediated cGMP transport was noncompetitive, and the inhibition constant was increased by introduction of the R375S mutation. A homology model of MRP4 showed that Arg375 and Arg998 face right into the central aqueous pore of MRP4. We conclude that positively charged amino acids in transmembrane helices 6 and 12 contribute to the MRP4 substrate-binding pocket.
Androgens and estrogens induce seasonal-like growth of song nuclei in the adult songbird brain.

In seasonally breeding songbirds, the brain regions that control song behavior undergo dramatic structural changes at the onset of each annual breeding season. As spring approaches and days get longer, gonadal testosterone (T) secretion increases and triggers the growth of several song control nuclei. T can be converted to androgenic and estrogenic metabolites by enzymes expressed in the brain. This opens the possibility that the effects of T may be mediated via the androgen receptor, the estrogen receptor, or both. To test this hypothesis, we examined the effects of two bioactive T metabolites on song nucleus growth and song behavior in adult male white-crowned sparrows. Castrated sparrows with regressed song control nuclei were implanted with silastic capsules containing either crystalline T, 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), estradiol (E(2)), or a combination of DHT+E(2). Control animals received empty implants. Song production was highly variable within treatment groups. Only one of seven birds treated with E(2) alone was observed singing, whereas a majority of birds with T or DHT sang. After 37 days of exposure to sex steroids, we measured the volumes of the forebrain song nucleus HVc, the robust nucleus of the archistriatum (RA), and a basal ganglia homolog (area X). All three steroid treatments increased the volumes of these three song nuclei when compared to blank-implanted controls. These data demonstrate that androgen and estrogen receptor binding are sufficient to trigger seasonal song nucleus growth. These data also suggest that T's effects on seasonal song nucleus growth may depend, in part, upon enzymatic conversion of T to bioactive metabolites.
Knee extensor torque of men with early degrees of osteoarthritis is associated with pain, stiffness and function.

BACKGROUND Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic-degenerative disease. The knee is the most commonly affected joint and the symptoms are generally attributed to quadriceps muscle weakness. However, few studies have evaluated this relationship in a population with early stages of knee OA. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether a correlation among the knee extensor torque and the three subscales of the WOMAC questionnaire in men with early stages of knee OA exists. METHOD Twenty-one men with knee OA grades I or II (according to Kellgren and Lawrence criteria) participated in this study. The concentric and eccentric knee extensor torque were assessed using a Biodex System 3 Pro® isokinetic dynamometer, at a speed of 90º/s. Self-reported symptoms and disability were assessed using the WOMAC questionnaire. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to test the relationship between the dependent variables (three subscales of WOMAC questionnaire) and the independent variables (average knee extensor peak torque). RESULTS We found a strong negative correlation between the concentric extensor torque and pain (r=-0.7, p<0.001) and a moderate and negative correlation among the concentric extensor torque and stiffness (r=-0.62, p=0.002) and physical function (r=-0.54, p=0.011). Eccentric extensor torque presented a moderate and negative correlation with the three subscales of the WOMAC (r=-0.40 to 0.69, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The concentric and eccentric knee extensor torque is significantly correlated with self-report symptoms of patients in initial stages of knee OA. Therefore, the strengthening of the quadriceps muscles, through concentric and eccentric exercise is indicated for these patients in order to minimize these symptoms.
Search for the Wreckage of Air France Flight AF 447

In the early morning hours of June 1, 2009, during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, Air France Flight AF 447 disappeared during stormy weather over a remote part of the Atlantic carrying 228 passengers and crew to their deaths. After two years of unsuccessful search, the authors were asked by the French Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses pour la securite de l'aviation to develop a probability distribution for the location of the wreckage that accounted for all information about the crash location as well as for previous search efforts. We used a Bayesian procedure developed for search planning to produce the posterior target location distribution. This distribution was used to guide the search in the third year, and the wreckage was found with one week of undersea search. In this paper we discuss why Bayesian analysis is ideally suited to solving this problem, review previous non-Bayesian efforts, and describe the methodology used to produce the posterior probability distribution for the location of the wreck.
Controversies in pulmonary hypertension due to left heart disease

Left heart failure is currently the most prevalent cause of pulmonary hypertension (PH) worldwide and this is due mainly to the increased left ventricular and pulmonary venous pressures seen in this condition. Still, a quota of patients with left heart failure will have a pulmonary arterial disease "disproportionate" to the initial increase of left-sided pressures. Whatever the mechanism involved, the appearance of PH is a powerful marker, as it determines decreased exercise tolerance and survival. To date, all trials using therapies approved for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) failed to demonstrate a benefit in the context of heart failure (HF) without or with PH. In addition, the comparison among studies is limited by relevant differences in definitions, methodology, and timing of assessment. A novel rigorous hemodynamic classification based on the diastolic pulmonary gradient has been recently proposed to better characterize this form of PH. This will promote uniformity in patient populations and end-points for future clinical trials.
Closed-Form BER Expressions of QPSK Constellation for Uplink Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is an attractive multiple access technique to achieve the optimal system capacity region. A great deal of recent attention has been devoted to the study of the NOMA system capacity performance. However, the exact bit error rate (BER) expressions of NOMA systems have not been derived yet. We provide the exact closed-form BER expressions of the QPSK constellation for an uplink NOMA system over an additive white Gaussian noise channel. Finally, the validity of our derived BER expressions is verified through simulations.
Affective responses after different intensities of exercise in patients with traumatic brain injury

Background: Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) usually have mood and anxiety symptoms secondary to their brain injury. Exercise may be a cost-effective intervention for the regulation of the affective responses of this population. However, there are no studies evaluating the effects of exercise or the optimal intensity of exercise for this clinical group. Methods: Twelve male patients with moderate or severe TBI [mean age of 31.83 and SD of 9.53] and 12 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers [mean age of 30.58 and SD of 9.53] participated in two sessions of exercise of high and moderate-intensity. Anxiety and mood was evaluated, and subjective assessment of experience pre- and post-exercise was assessed. A mixed between and within-subjects general linear model (GLM) analysis was conducted to compare groups [TBI, control] over condition [baseline, session 1, session 2] allowing for group by condition interaction to be determined. Planned comparisons were also conducted to test study hypotheses. Results: Although no group by condition interaction was observed, planned comparisons indicated that baseline differences between patients and controls in anxiety (Cohens’ d = 1.80), tension (d = 1.31), depression (d = 1.18), anger (d = 1.08), confusion (d = 1.70), psychological distress (d = 1.28), and physical symptoms (d = 1.42) disappear after one session of exercise, independently of the intensity of exercise. Conclusion: A single-section of exercise, regardless of exercise intensity, had a positive effect on the affective responses of patients with TBI both by increasing positive valence feelings and decreasing negative ones. Exercise can be an easily accessible intervention that may alleviate depressive symptoms related to brain injury.
Tractable Learning for Complex Probability Queries

Tractable learning aims to learn probabilistic models where inference is guaranteed to be efficient. However, the particular class of queries that is tractable depends on the model and underlying representation. Usually this class is MPE or conditional probabilities Pr(x|y) for joint assignments x, y. We propose a tractable learner that guarantees efficient inference for a broader class of queries. It simultaneously learns a Markov network and its tractable circuit representation, in order to guarantee and measure tractability. Our approach differs from earlier work by using Sentential Decision Diagrams (SDD) as the tractable language instead of Arithmetic Circuits (AC). SDDs have desirable properties, which more general representations such as ACs lack, that enable basic primitives for Boolean circuit compilation. This allows us to support a broader class of complex probability queries, including counting, threshold, and parity, in polytime.
Environment-aware ideal binary mask estimation using monaural cues

We present a monaural approach to speech segregation that estimates the ideal binary mask (IBM) by combining amplitude modulation spectrogram (AMS) features, pitch-based features and speech presence probability (SPP) features derived from noise statistics. To maintain a high mask estimation accuracy in the presence of various background noises, the system employs environment-specific segregation models and automatically selects the appropriate model for a given input signal. Furthermore, instead of classifying each time-frequency (T-F) unit independently, the a posteriori probabilities of speech and noise presence are evaluated by considering adjacent T-F units. The proposed system achieves high classification accuracy.
The Role of Mitochondria in the Regulation of Hypoxia-inducible Factor 1 Expression during Hypoxia*

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a heterodimeric transcription factor that regulates transcriptional activation of several genes responsive to the lack of oxygen, including erythropoietin, vascular endothelial growth factor, glycolytic enzymes, and glucose transporters. Because the involvement of mitochondria in the regulation of HIF-1 has been postulated, we tested the effects of mitochondrial electron transport chain deficiency on HIF-1 protein expression and DNA binding in hypoxic cells. The neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) inhibits electron transport chain at the level of complex I. MPTP is first converted to a pharmacologically active metabolite 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinum (MPP+). MPP+ effectively inhibited both complex I activity and hypoxic accumulation of HIF-1α protein in dopaminergic cell lines PC12 and CATH.a. In C57BL/6 mice, a single dose of MPTP (15 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) inhibited complex I activity and HIF-1α protein accumulation in the striatum in response to a subsequent hypoxic challenge (8% O2, 4 h). In a genetic model system, 40% complex I-inhibited human-ape xenomitochondrial cybrids, hypoxic induction of HIF-1α was severely reduced, and HIF-1 DNA binding was diminished. However, succinate, the mitochondrial complex II substrate, restored the hypoxic response in cybrid cells, suggesting that electron transport chain activity is required for activation of HIF-1. A partial complex I deficiency and a mild reduction in intact cell oxygen consumption effectively prevented hypoxic induction of HIF-1α protein.
Design and Evaluation of a Novel Class-Directed 2D Fingerprint to Search for Structurally Diverse Active Compounds

Recent attempts to increase similarity search performance using molecular fingerprints have mostly focused on the evaluation of alternative similarity metrics or scoring schemes, rather than the development of new types of fingerprints. Here, we introduce a novel 2D fingerprint design (property descriptor value range-derived fingerprint or PDR-FP) that involves activity-oriented selection of property descriptors and the transformation of descriptor value ranges into a binary format such that each fingerprint bit position represents a specific value interval. The design is tailored toward multiple-template similarity searching and permits training on specific activity classes. In search calculations on 15 compound classes of increasing structural diversity, the PDR fingerprint performed better than other state-of-the-art 2D fingerprints. Among the structurally diverse classes were six compound sets with peptide character, which represent a notoriously difficult chemotype for 2D similarity searching. In these cases, PDR-FP produced promising results, whereas other fingerprint methods mostly failed. PDR-FP is specifically designed for search calculations on structurally diverse compounds, and these calculations are not influenced by molecular size effects, which represent a general problem for similarity searching using bit string representations.
Supertagging With LSTMs

In this paper we present new state-of-the-art performance on CCG supertagging and parsing. Our model outperforms existing approaches by an absolute gain of 1.5%. We analyze the performance of several neural models and demonstrate that while feed-forward architectures can compete with bidirectional LSTMs on POS tagging, models that encode the complete sentence are necessary for the long range syntactic information encoded in supertags.
Bidirectional Graph Reasoning Network for Panoptic Segmentation

Recent researches on panoptic segmentation resort to a single end-to-end network to combine the tasks of instance segmentation and semantic segmentation. However, prior models only unified the two related tasks at the architectural level via a multi-branch scheme or revealed the underlying correlation between them by unidirectional feature fusion, which disregards the explicit semantic and co-occurrence relations among objects and background. Inspired by the fact that context information is critical to recognize and localize the objects, and inclusive object details are significant to parse the background scene, we thus investigate on explicitly modeling the correlations between object and background to achieve a holistic understanding of an image in the panoptic segmentation task. We introduce a Bidirectional Graph Reasoning Network (BGRNet), which incorporates graph structure into the conventional panoptic segmentation network to mine the intra-modular and inter-modular relations within and between foreground things and background stuff classes. In particular, BGRNet first constructs image-specific graphs in both instance and semantic segmentation branches that enable flexible reasoning at the proposal level and class level, respectively. To establish the correlations between separate branches and fully leverage the complementary relations between things and stuff, we propose a Bidirectional Graph Connection Module to diffuse information across branches in a learnable fashion. Experimental results demonstrate the superiority of our BGRNet that achieves the new state-of-the-art performance on challenging COCO and ADE20K panoptic segmentation benchmarks.
Anger and incident heart disease in the caerphilly study.

OBJECTIVE The idea that anger may predict ischemic heart disease (IHD) is more than 30 years old. Some, but not all, prospective studies have supported this suggestion. Attention has focused on hostility as the critical component of anger for IHD risk. This idea is explored using prospective data from the Caerphilly study. METHODS A sample of 2890 men aged 49 to 65 years living in and around Caerphilly, South Wales, was identified. Anger was assessed using the Framingham scales comprising "anger symptoms," "anger in," "anger out," and "anger discuss. " A new "suppressed anger" scale was also constructed. Cardiovascular risk factors assessed included baseline blood pressure, total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fibrinogen, white cell count, psychiatric caseness as assessed by the General Health Questionnaire, social support, smoking habit, alcohol consumption, leisure exercise, body mass index, and calorie intake. Prediction of IHD, measured as the occurrence of a major event over a follow-up period of 9 years, was assessed using multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS A low anger out score predicted increased risk of a major IHD event (relative odds (RO) = 1.70; 95% confidence interval = 1.26-2.29 for all RO). This association was unchanged on controlling for physiological risk factors (RO = 1.74), psychosocial risk factors (RO = 1.72), and behavioral risk factors (RO = 1.69). Suppressed anger showed associations with incident IHD similar to those of anger out but identified the population at risk more closely. CONCLUSIONS Anger out and suppressed anger were predictive of incident IHD. Neither of these constructs are overtly similar to hostility. These findings suggest there may be mechanisms other than hostility by which anger predicts IHD risk and that a conceptually varied approach to anger is currently appropriate.