Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nanoscale Bonding between Human Bone and Titanium Surfaces: Osseohybridization

Until now, the chemical bonding between titanium and bone has been examined only through a few mechanical detachment tests. Therefore, in this study, a sandblasted and acid-etched titanium mini-implant was removed from a human patient after 2 months of placement in order to identify the chemical integration mechanism for nanoscale osseointegration of titanium implants. To prepare a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) specimen, the natural state was preserved as much as possible by cryofixation and scanning electron microscope/focused ion beam (SEM-FIB) milling without any chemical treatment. High-resolution TEM (HRTEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and scanning TEM (STEM)/electron energy loss spectroscopic analysis (EELS) were used to investigate the chemical composition and structure at the interface between the titanium and bone tissue. HRTEM and EDS data showed evidence of crystalline hydroxyapatite and intermixing of bone with the oxide layer of the implant. The STEM/EELS experiment provided particularly interesting results: carbon existed in polysaccharides, calcium and phosphorus existed as tricalcium phosphate (TCP), and titanium existed as oxidized titanium. In addition, the oxygen energy loss near edge structures (ELNESs) showed a possibility of the presence of CaTiO3. These STEM/EELS results can be explained by structures either with or without a chemical reaction layer. The possible existence of the osseohybridization area and the form of the carbon suggest that reconsideration of the standard definition of osseointegration is necessary.
Targeting the Metastatic Bone Microenvironment by MicroRNAs

Bone metastases are a common and devastating feature of late-stage breast cancer. Metastatic bone disease is a consequence of disturbed bone remodeling due to pathological interactions between cancer cells and the bone microenvironment (BME). In the BME, breast cancer cells severely alter the balanced bone formation and bone resorption driven by osteoblasts and osteoclasts. The complex cellular cross talk in the BME is governed by secreted molecules, signaling pathways and epigenetic cues including non-coding RNAs. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that reduce protein abundance and regulate several biological processes, including bone remodeling. Under pathological conditions, abnormal miRNA signaling contributes to the progression of diseases, such as bone metastasis. Recently miRNAs have been demonstrated to regulate several key drivers of bone metastasis. Furthermore, miRNAs are implicated as important regulators of cellular interactions within the metastatic BME. As a consequence, targeting the BME by miRNA delivery or antagonism has been reported to limit disease progression in experimental and preclinical conditions positioning miRNAs as emerging novel therapeutic tools in metastatic bone disease. This review will summarize our current understanding on the composition and function of the metastatic BME and discuss the recent advances how miRNAs can modulate pathological interactions in the bone environment.
1 Alternative soilless media using olive-mill and papermill wastes for growing ornamental plants

The performance of ornamental crops in greenhouse using growing media with olive-stone waste (OSW) and paper-mill waste (PMW) in different ratio, as peat (P) replacement, was determined. Therefore, marigold (Calendula officinalis L.), petunia (Petunia x hybrita L.) and matthiola (Matthiola incana L.) plants were grown in 1) P (100%), 2) P:OSW (90%:10%), 3) P:OSW (70%:30%) and 4) P:OSW:PMW (60%:20%:20%). Substrate physicochemical properties were determined. Different ratio of wastes affected growth and nutritional related parameter. In marigold, the addition of 10-30% OSW into the substrate increased plant height compared to plants grown in 100% peat. No differences on plant diameter as well as on leaves and flowers plant fresh weight and dry matter content were found. Adding PMW in combination with OSW maintained plant height and total number of flowers produced to similar levels as in plants grown in 100% peat. In matthiola, adding 30% OSW into the substrate reduced plant diameter and fresh weight, but not plant height, while no differences were evidence in lower OSW (i.e. 10%) content. Petunia’s height, the total number of flowers and flower earliness (flower opening) were increased with the presence of OSW comparing to the plants grown in 100% peat. The adding of OSW did not affect plant diameter and fresh weight among treatment. The adding of PMW suppressed several plant growth-related parameters for both matthiola and petunia. The addition of OMW did not cause any changes on the leaf chlorophyll content (Chl a, Chl b, total Chl) whereas the presence of PMW decreased chlorophyll content for marigold, petunia and matthiola. Both of OMW and PMW altered the content of total phenolics and antioxidant capacity (DPPH, FRAP) in leaves and flowers for marigold and petunia. Leaf N and P content decreased in PMW-based media, while matthiola had visual phytotoxicity symptoms when PMW was added into the substrate. The current work indicating that up to 30% of OSW can substitute to peat for marigold and petunia and only up to 10% of OSW for matthiola, while the addition of PMW on top of OSW is not recommended, and further research is needed.
Student and teacher ratings of instructional quality: Consistency of ratings over time, agreement, and predictive power.

Prior research has shown that the agreement between teacher and student ratings of instructional quality is, at best, moderate, and the associations between measures of instructional quality and outcomes such as standardized achievement are typically small and somewhat mixed across both perspectives. One explanation for these low-to-moderate associations is the assumption that teacher and student ratings are not perfectly stable over time. By using a manifest-latent state-trait model, the present study investigated the following topics in a sample of 5th-grade students (74 classes) from vocational track schools: (a) the time consistency of teacher and student instructional quality ratings in math lessons over multiple measurement time points; (b) the agreement among teachers and students for time consistent rating components and single time point ratings; and (c) the predictive power of consistent rating components and single time point ratings with regard to a standardized math achievement test, and math self-concept. Results of multilevel factor analyses with 3 measurement time points over a period of 3 months showed a moderate-to-high time consistency for both teacher and student ratings. Furthermore, the agreement among teacher and student ratings regarding classroom management and goal clarity was higher for the consistent rating components than for ratings at single measurement time points, whereas this pattern was not found for support of autonomy. Finally, student consistent rating components predicted students’ pretest adjusted math achievement and self-concept. The effect sizes for ratings at single measurement time points varied within quality dimensions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Exploring self-defining memories in schizophrenia

Previous studies have shown that patients with schizophrenia are impaired in recalling specific events from their personal past. However, the relationship between autobiographical memory impairments and disturbance of the sense of identity in schizophrenia has not been investigated in detail. In this study the authors investigated schizophrenic patients’ ability to recall self-defining memories; that is, memories that play an important role in building and maintaining the self-concept. Results showed that patients recalled as many specific self-defining memories as healthy participants. However, patients with schizophrenia exhibited an abnormal reminiscence bump and reported different types of thematic content (i.e., they recalled less memories about past achievements and more memories regarding hospitalisation and stigmatisation of illness). Furthermore, the findings suggest that impairments in extracting meaning from personal memories could represent a core disturbance of autobiographical memory in patients with schizophrenia.
An Episodic Plot and an Unhappy Ending

Pleasant sounds (phonemes) within Coleridge’s 1798 Rime of the Ancyent Marinere were employed to study the poem’s structure in terms of the Aristotelean concepts of fortune (many pleasant emotions/phonemes) and misfortune (few) and to address questions as to how the poem doubled in length shortly before publication. The distribution of emotionally pleasant phonemes such as long e (i), l, v, and th (θ) indicated the presence of a (likely original) poem with a pleasant ending where the albatross drops from the mariner’s neck. Three episodes of threat and escape were probably added to the albatross episode later, along with an unhappy ending. Significant differences in the proportion of pleasant phonemes employed in various sections support these conclusions.
Evaluation of the Effect of Aminophylline in Reducing the Incidence of Acute Kidney Injury After Cardiac Surgery

Objectives Acute renal failure is a common complication of major cardiovascular surgeries (One-third of patients). Adenosine release as a vascular vasodilator increases after cardiac surgery, which reduces renal and glomerular blood flow and subsequently causes kidney ischemic damage. The present study aimed at evaluating the impact of aminophylline as an adenosine receptor antagonist on renal function after cardiac surgery hoping to find an appropriate method to reduce acute kidney injury. Methods The patients in the intervention group received 5 mg/kg aminophylline bolus after induction of anesthesia; then, 0.25 mg/kg/hr of the drug was administered intraoperatively and up to 48 hours after surgery in the ICU cardiac surgery. Similar volume of normal saline was injected to the patients of the second group. Serum BUN, Cr, and GFR were measured pre- and postoperatively and 3 days postsurgery. Patients’ 24- hour urine output and RIFLE were also calculated. Results Those patients who received medication were extubated earlier (P = 0.018) and received lower amount of inotropic drugs (P < 0001). According to the RIFLE criteria, most of the patients experienced no change or even improved GFR and Cr amounts compared to the control group (p < 0.05). GFR and Cr value of all the patients with Cleveland score, less and more than 6, showed a significant difference between the 2 groups (P = 0.001 and P = 0.01, respectively). According to the RIFLE criteria, most of the patients experienced no change or even improved GFR. Conclusions Aminophylline in cardiac surgery can reduce the frequency of acute kidney injury according to RIFLE criteria and could be used in the prevention of AKI as a safe and efficient modality in high-risk patients. Also, the use of this drug may reduce the need for inotropic medication at the time of surgery, intensive care unit stay length, and extubation time.
Spatial partitioning improves the reliability of biochemical signaling

Spatial heterogeneity is a hallmark of living systems, even at the molecular scale in individual cells. A key example is the partitioning of membrane-bound proteins via lipid domain formation or cytoskeleton-induced corralling. However, the impact of this spatial heterogeneity on biochemical signaling processes is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that partitioning improves the reliability of biochemical signaling. We exactly solve a stochastic model describing a ubiquitous motif in membrane signaling. The solution reveals that partitioning improves signaling reliability via two effects: it moderates the nonlinearity of the switching response, and it reduces noise in the response by suppressing correlations between molecules. An optimal partition size arises from a trade-off between minimizing the number of proteins per partition to improve signaling reliability and ensuring sufficient proteins per partition to maintain signal propagation. The predicted optimal partition size agrees quantitatively with experimentally observed systems. These results persist in spatial simulations with explicit diffusion barriers. Our findings suggest that molecular partitioning is not merely a consequence of the complexity of cellular substructures, but also plays an important functional role in cell signaling.
The Impact of Tax Knowledge and Budget Spending Influence on Tax Compliance

We conduct a computerized economic laboratory experiment to infer the causal effect of two non-economic determinants on tax compliance. We find strong evidence that higher compliance in tax systems with low power of authorities can be achieved by increasing trust in authorities in form of knowledge about tax expenditures and the possibility for taxpayers to actively influence budget spending. However, in tax systems with high power of authorities we do not find any effect due to the threatening impact of high audit rates already enforcing a high level of compliance. To clearly identify the importance of these effects on tax compliance we take account of how the power of authorities is perceived by taxpayers when making decisions under risk and uncertainty in reporting tax liability. The perceived power of authorities is measured by taxpayer’s individual risk attitudes. Further, we control for taxpayer’s general attitude towards paying taxes and the overall orientation towards tax authorities via the motivational posture “tax commitment” (Braithwaite 2003). Individual risk aversion as elicited by lottery choices in a multiple price list format is correlated with tax compliance, reflecting the acknowledgement of the power of tax authorities. Opposed to this we do not find any evidence that a positive orientation towards tax authorities is positively related to compliance.
High signal intensity in the dentate nucleus and globus pallidus on unenhanced T1-weighted MR images: relationship with increasing cumulative dose of a gadolinium-based contrast material.

PURPOSE To explore any correlation between the number of previous gadolinium-based contrast material administrations and high signal intensity (SI) in the dentate nucleus and globus pallidus on unenhanced T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images. MATERIALS AND METHODS The institutional review board approved this study, waiving the requirement to obtain written informed consent. A group of 381 consecutive patients who had undergone brain MR imaging was identified for cross-sectional analysis. For longitudinal analysis, 19 patients who had undergone at least six contrast-enhanced examinations were compared with 16 patients who had undergone at least six unenhanced examinations. The mean SIs of the dentate nucleus, pons, globus pallidus, and thalamus were measured on unenhanced T1-weighted images. The dentate nucleus-to-pons SI ratio was calculated by dividing the SI in the dentate nucleus by that in the pons, and the globus pallidus-to-thalamus SI ratio was calculated by dividing the SI in the globus pallidus by that in the thalamus. Stepwise regression analysis was undertaken in the consecutive patient group to detect any relationship between the dentate nucleus-to-pons or globus pallidus-to-thalamus SI ratio and previous gadolinium-based contrast material administration or other factors. A random coefficient model was used to evaluate for longitudinal analysis. RESULTS The dentate nucleus-to-pons SI ratio showed a significant correlation with the number of previous gadolinium-based contrast material administrations (P < .001; regression coefficient, 0.010; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.009, 0.011; standardized regression coefficient, 0.695). The globus pallidus-to-thalamus SI ratio showed a significant correlation with the number of previous gadolinium-based contrast material administrations (P < .001; regression coefficient, 0.004; 95% CI: 0.002, 0.006; standardized regression coefficient, 0.288), radiation therapy (P = .009; regression coefficient, -0.014; 95% CI: -0.025, -0.004; standardized regression coefficient, -0.151), and liver function (P = .031; regression coefficient, 0.023; 95% CI: 0.002, 0.044; standardized regression coefficient, 0.107). The dentate nucleus-to-pons and globus pallidus-to-thalamus SI ratios in patients who had undergone contrast-enhanced examinations were significantly greater than those of patients who had undergone unenhanced examinations (P < .001 for both). CONCLUSION High SI in the dentate nucleus and globus pallidus on unenhanced T1-weighted images may be a consequence of the number of previous gadolinium-based contrast material administrations.
Isolated breast metastasis mimicking as second primary cancer - a case report

Primary carcinoma of breast is common but breast is a rare site of metastasis and metastases from extramammary sites are even rarer. Metastasis to breast from rectal carcinoma is very unusual and till now 19 cases of breast secondaries from colorectal carcinoma have been reported in literature which include 14 cases where the primary site was colon and remaining 5 were from the rectum. Here the authors report a case of adenocarcinoma anorectum who had completed treatment and after 4 months developed a lump in her left breast which was metastatic. Metastatic lesions of breast are usually part of a widely disseminated disease but this case presented as a solitary breast metastasis which mimicked as second primary cancer of the breast.
Compact Focusing Grating Couplers for Silicon-on-Insulator Integrated Circuits

We report experimental results on compact and broadband focusing grating couplers, both in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and gold on SOI. An eight-fold length reduction of the coupling structure from fiber to photonic wire in SOI, as compared to a linear grating and adiabatic taper, is obtained, without performance penalty. A proof of principle is given for a focusing grating coupler in gold on SOI, with 20% fiber-to-focus efficiency.
Tephra from Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 66: Middle America Trench Transect (Southern Mexico)

Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 66 drilled eight sites along a transect across the Middle America Trench off Mexico, including continental (Sites 493 and 489), oceanic (Site 487), and trench (Site 486) reference sites and four sites (490, 492, 491, 488) in the trench inner wall (Fig. 1; Moore et al., 1979a, 1979b). Because of their location—close to volcanic sources and subject to prevailing winds and marine currents (N to S, NW to SE)—analysis of airborne ashes intercalated within the sediments at these sites (Fig. 2) provides a reliable record of explosive volcanism in the area. Intense onshore volcanic activity in Mexico during the Oligo-Miocene has been well documented (Demant, 1978; Gastil et al., 1979; McDowell and Clabaugh, 1979) by the andesites and ignimbrites of the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre del Sur and in the Plio-Quaternary by the andesites and basalts from the Trans-Mexican Neovolcanic Belt and the eastern border of Baja California.
On the Decomposition of Finite-Valued Streaming String Transducers

We prove the following decomposition theorem: every 1-register streaming string transducer that associates a uniformly bounded number of outputs with each input can be effectively decomposed as a finite union of functional 1-register streaming string transducers. This theorem relies on a combinatorial result by Kortelainen concerning word equations with iterated factors. Our result implies the decidability of the equivalence problem for the considered class of transducers. This can be seen as a first step towards proving a more general decomposition theorem for streaming string transducers with multiple registers.
Clinical Relation Extraction Toward Drug Safety Surveillance Using Electronic Health Record Narratives: Classical Learning Versus Deep Learning

Background Medication and adverse drug event (ADE) information extracted from electronic health record (EHR) notes can be a rich resource for drug safety surveillance. Existing observational studies have mainly relied on structured EHR data to obtain ADE information; however, ADEs are often buried in the EHR narratives and not recorded in structured data. Objective To unlock ADE-related information from EHR narratives, there is a need to extract relevant entities and identify relations among them. In this study, we focus on relation identification. This study aimed to evaluate natural language processing and machine learning approaches using the expert-annotated medical entities and relations in the context of drug safety surveillance, and investigate how different learning approaches perform under different configurations. Methods We have manually annotated 791 EHR notes with 9 named entities (eg, medication, indication, severity, and ADEs) and 7 different types of relations (eg, medication-dosage, medication-ADE, and severity-ADE). Then, we explored 3 supervised machine learning systems for relation identification: (1) a support vector machines (SVM) system, (2) an end-to-end deep neural network system, and (3) a supervised descriptive rule induction baseline system. For the neural network system, we exploited the state-of-the-art recurrent neural network (RNN) and attention models. We report the performance by macro-averaged precision, recall, and F1-score across the relation types. Results Our results show that the SVM model achieved the best average F1-score of 89.1% on test data, outperforming the long short-term memory (LSTM) model with attention (F1-score of 65.72%) as well as the rule induction baseline system (F1-score of 7.47%) by a large margin. The bidirectional LSTM model with attention achieved the best performance among different RNN models. With the inclusion of additional features in the LSTM model, its performance can be boosted to an average F1-score of 77.35%. Conclusions It shows that classical learning models (SVM) remains advantageous over deep learning models (RNN variants) for clinical relation identification, especially for long-distance intersentential relations. However, RNNs demonstrate a great potential of significant improvement if more training data become available. Our work is an important step toward mining EHRs to improve the efficacy of drug safety surveillance. Most importantly, the annotated data used in this study will be made publicly available, which will further promote drug safety research in the community.
Molecular Evidence of Drug Resistance in Asymptomatic Malaria Infections, Myanmar, 2015

Artemisinin resistance containment in Myanmar was initiated in 2011 after artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria was reported. Molecular evidence suggests that asymptomatic malaria infections harboring drug resistance genes are present among residents of the Myanmar artemisinin resistance containment zone. This evidence supports efforts to eliminate these hidden infections.