Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Facial Feminization Surgery: The Forehead. Surgical Techniques and Analysis of Results

Background: Facial feminization surgery encompasses a series of surgical techniques derived from plastic and craniomaxillofacial surgery to soften facial features that are generally perceived as being more masculine, mainly in patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria. This article describes the main surgical techniques used in feminization of the forehead complex, sequences the different steps in forehead reconstruction, evaluates results obtained using cephalometric analysis, and includes the level of patient satisfaction. Methods: Between January of 2008 and December of 2012, the authors performed a total of 172 forehead operations. The postsurgical results were analyzed using postoperative cephalometric studies that were compared with preoperative teleradiographies. The patients’ level of satisfaction was also evaluated using a satisfaction questionnaire that they filled out after a 6-month postoperative period. Results: Along with an evaluation of patient satisfaction and clinical and cephalometric results where significant setback of the frontal bossing was observed, the authors present the sequencing of frontonasal-orbital reconstruction/recontouring with systematic osteotomy of the anterior wall of the frontal sinus in addition to developing a modification of the standard coronal approach. Conclusions: By treating the forehead region with the different surgical procedures described in this article, masculine facial features of the upper third can be modified with predictable and satisfactory results. Facial feminization surgery must be considered part of the process of treating patients with gender dysphoria, because the modification and elimination of masculine facial features allows these patients to adapt more easily to the workplace and social and family environments. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, IV.
Calculation of Air Temperatures above the Urban Canopy Layer from Measurements at a Rural Operational Weather Station

Urban canopy models (UCMs) are being used as urban-climate prediction tools for different applications including outdoor thermal comfort and building energy consumption. To take advantage of their low computational cost, UCMs are often forced offline without being coupled to mesoscale atmospheric simulations, which requires access to meteorological information above the urban canopy layer. This limits the use of UCMs by other scientific and professional communities, such as building engineers and urban planners, who are interested in urban-climate prediction but may not have access to mesoscale simulation results or experimental meteorological data. Furthermore, the conventional offline use of UCMs neglects the fact that the urban boundary layer can be affected by the surface and that the same forcing conditions may not be suitable for studying different urban scenarios. This paper presents a physically based and computationally efficient methodology to calculate forcing air temperatures for UCMs from meteorological data measured at operational weather stations. Operational weather stations are available for most cities in the world and are usually located in open areas outside the cities. The proposed methodology is satisfactorily evaluated against me-soscale atmospheric simulations and field data from Basel, Switzerland, and Toulouse, France.
The genetics of bipolar affective disorder

Purpose of review Molecular genetic studies of bipolar affective disorder are beginning to show some positive and reproducible findings. The most relevant of these will be reviewed. Recent findings Obtaining consistent findings from whole genome scans has been hampered by small sample sizes and phenotypic heterogeneity. Recently, there have been concerted efforts to overcome these problems by combining data for meta-analysis. What has become increasingly clear is that several regions that are likely to contain genes contributing to bipolar affective disorder are also relevant to schizophrenia, a finding supported by recent twin data. Studies to date have implicated the D-amino acid oxidase activator complex (also known as G72/G30), disrupted in schizophrenia-1 and neuregulin, and have pointed to several promising linkage regions in which the genes have not yet been identified. In addition, there is some evidence to support the involvement of genetic variants in catechol-o-methyl transferase and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the aetiology of bipolar affective disorder. Summary Molecular genetic research in bipolar affective disorder may lead to the development of new diagnostic paradigms for classifying the psychoses and affective states. In addition, determining the functional significance of the susceptibility genes will pave the way for enhanced diagnostic accuracy and improved treatments.
Learning Mixed Graphical Models

We consider the problem of learning the structure of a pairwise graphical model over continuous and discrete variables. We present a new pairwise model for graphical models with both continuous and discrete variables that is amenable to structure learning. In previous work, authors have considered structure learning of Gaussian graphical models and structure learning of discrete models. Our approach is a natural generalization of these two lines of work to the mixed case. The penalization scheme involves a novel symmetric use of the group-lasso norm and follows naturally from a particular parametrization of the model.
Space-time decoding with imperfect channel estimation

Under the assumption of a frequency-flat slow Rayleigh fading channel with multiple transmit and receive antennas, we examine the effects of imperfect estimation of the channel parameters on error probability when known pilot symbols are transmitted among information data. Three different receivers are considered. The first one derives an estimate of the channel [by using either a maximum-likelihood (ML) or a minimum mean square error (MMSE) criterion], and then uses this estimate in the same metric that would be applied if the channel were perfectly known. The second receiver derives again an estimate of the channel, but uses the ML metric conditioned on the channel estimate. Our last receiver simultaneously processes the pilot and data symbols received. Simulation results are exhibited, showing that only a relatively small percentage of the transmitted frame need be allocated to pilot symbols in order to experience an acceptable degradation of error probability due to imperfect channel knowledge. Algorithms for the recursive calculation of the decision metric of the last two receivers are also developed for application to sequential decoding of trellis space-time codes.
[Profile of adults suffering from asthma in Poland--results of PulmoScreen study].

INTRODUCTION Adult patients with diagnosis of asthma remain largely under the care of primary care physicians (general practitioners). Thus, they play an important role in diagnosing and treating this population. The aim of the study was to characterize of adults with asthma remaining under the care of Polish general practitioners (GP) as well as to evaluate the use of diagnostic tools and treatment in light of GINA recommendations. MATERIAL AND METHODS This questionnaire study included a representative sample of 1852 general practitioners (GPs) who were asked to complete questionnaires on the diagnosis and treatment of their patients with asthma. RESULTS Altogether 1250 GPs provided information about 10 981patients. Controlled asthma had 21.2% patients, 46.9% partly controlled, and 31.9% uncontrolled asthma. Allergy skin prick tests were performed in 64.8%, bronchial reversibility tests in 58.1% and bronchial provocation tests in 9.8% of patients. Spirometry results were obtained for 41.9% of patients. In the last year 16.6% of patients underwent emergency intervention due to asthma exacerbation and 18.1% required hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS In Polish asthma patients the frequency of allergological and pulmonological visits as well as the frequency of spirometric assessment are poorly associated with asthma control level. The diagnostic tests recommended by international and national guidelines for the management of asthma are performed too seldom. Hospitalizations and emergency interventions related to asthma exacerbations are found in a large portion of patients and depend on their gender and asthma control level. Asthma has a negative impact on everyday activity in more than half of patients. Proper assessment of the level of causes asthma control according to GINA guidelines poses problems to Polish general practitioners.
Robust Scalable Visualized Clustering in Vector and Non Vector Semi-Metric Spaces

We describe an approach to data analytics on large systems using a suite of robust parallel algorithms running on both clouds and HPC systems. We apply this to cases where the data is defined in a vector space and when only pairwise distances between points are defined. We introduce improvements to known algorithms for functionality, features and performance but review state of the art as this is not broadly familiar. Visualization is valuable for steering complex analytics and we discuss it for both the non vector semi-metric case and for clustering high dimension vector spaces. We exploit deterministic annealing which is heuristic but has clear general principles that can give reasonably fast robust algorithms. We apply methods to several life sciences applications.
Dual recognition of the ribosome and the signal recognition particle by the SRP receptor during protein targeting to the endoplasmic reticulum

We have analyzed the interactions between the signal recognition particle (SRP), the SRP receptor (SR), and the ribosome using GTPase assays, biosensor experiments, and ribosome binding assays. Possible mechanisms that could contribute to an enhanced affinity between the SR and the SRP–ribosome nascent chain complex to promote protein translocation under physiological ionic strength conditions have been explored. Ribosomes or 60S large ribosomal subunits activate the GTPase cycle of SRP54 and SRα by providing a platform for assembly of the SRP–SR complex. Biosensor experiments revealed high-affinity, saturable binding of ribosomes or large ribosomal subunits to the SR. Remarkably, the SR has a 100-fold higher affinity for the ribosome than for SRP. Proteoliposomes that contain the SR bind nontranslating ribosomes with an affinity comparable to that shown by the Sec61 complex. An NH2-terminal 319-residue segment of SRα is necessary and sufficient for binding of SR to the ribosome. We propose that the ribosome–SR interaction accelerates targeting of the ribosome nascent chain complex to the RER, while the SRP–SR interaction is crucial for maintaining the fidelity of the targeting reaction.
Vagus nerve stimulation protects against ventricular fibrillation independent of muscarinic receptor activation.

AIMS The role of the vagus in the ventricle is controversial, although the vagus can protect against ventricular fibrillation (VF) via nitric oxide (NO). This study aims to determine whether the mechanisms involved are dependent on post-ganglionic release and muscarinic receptor activation. For this purpose, NO release and electrophysiological effects of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) were evaluated in relation to acetylcholine and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP). In addition, the role of the coronary endothelium and afferent nerves was tested. METHODS AND RESULTS Using the isolated innervated rabbit heart, we measured ventricular NO release using 4,5-diaminofluorescein (DAF-2) fluorescence and ventricular fibrillation threshold (VFT) during VNS after muscarinic, ganglionic, and VIP inhibition [atropine, hexamethonium, and VIP (6-28), respectively] and after Triton-X endothelial functional dysfunction. The vagal-mediated increases in NO and VFT were not significantly affected (P> 0.05) during (i) atropine perfusion [increase in NO: 196.8 ± 35.2 mV (control) vs. 156.1 ± 20.3 mV (atropine) and VFT 3.1 ± 0.5 mA (control) vs. 2.7 ± 0.4 mA (atropine)], (ii) VIP inhibition-increase in NO: 243.0 ± 42.4 mV (control) vs. 203.9 ± 28.5 mV [VIP(6-28)] and VFT 3.3 ± 0.3 mA (control) vs. 3.9 ± 0.6 mA [VIP(6-28)], or (iii) after endothelial functional dysfunction [increase in NO: 127.7 ± 31.7 mV (control) vs. 172.1 ± 31.5 mV (Triton-X) and VFT 2.6 ± 0.4 mA (control) vs. 2.5 ± 0.5 mA (Triton-X)]. However, the vagal effects were inhibited during ganglionic blockade [increase in NO: 175.1 ± 38.1 mV (control) vs. 0.6 ± 25.3 mV (hexamethonium) and VFT 3.3 ± 0.5 mA (control) vs. -0.3 ± 0.3 mA (hexamethonium)]. CONCLUSIONS We show that the vagal anti-fibrillatory action in the rabbit ventricle occurs via post-ganglionic efferent nerve fibres, independent of muscarinic receptor activation, VIP, and the endothelium. Together with our previous publications, our data support the possibility of a novel ventricular nitrergic parasympathetic innervation and highlight potential for new therapeutic targets to treat ventricular dysrhythmias.
HaCaT Keratinocytes Response on Antimicrobial Atelocollagen Substrates: Extent of Cytotoxicity, Cell Viability and Proliferation

The effective and widely tested biocides: Benzalkonium chloride, bronopol, chitosan, chlorhexidine and irgasan were added in different concentrations to atelocollagen matrices. In order to assess how these antibacterial agents influence keratinocytes cell growth, cell viability and proliferation were determined by using MTT assay. Acquired data indicated a low toxicity by employing any of these chemical substances. Furthermore, cell viability and proliferation were comparatively similar to the samples where there were no biocides. It means that regardless of the agent, collagen-cell-attachment properties are not drastically affected by the incorporation of those biocides into the substrate. Therefore, these findings suggest that these atelocollagen substrates enhanced by the addition of one or more of these agents may render effectiveness against bacterial stains and biofilm formation, being the samples referred to herein as “antimicrobial substrates” a promising view in the design of novel antimicrobial biomaterials potentially suitable for tissue engineering applications.
Why Doesn’t EM Find Good HMM POS-Taggers?

This paper investigates why the HMMs estimated by Expectation-Maximization (EM) produce such poor results as Part-of-Speech (POS) taggers. We find that the HMMs estimated by EM generally assign a roughly equal number of word tokens to each hidden state, while the empirical distribution of tokens to POS tags is highly skewed. This motivates a Bayesian approach using a sparse prior to bias the estimator toward such a skewed distribution. We investigate Gibbs Sampling (GS) and Variational Bayes (VB) estimators and show that VB converges faster than GS for this task and that VB significantly improves 1-to-1 tagging accuracy over EM. We also show that EM does nearly as well as VB when the number of hidden HMM states is dramatically reduced. We also point out the high variance in all of these estimators, and that they require many more iterations to approach convergence than usually thought.
End-to-end routing behavior in the internet

The large-scale behavior of routing in the Internet has gone virtually without any formal study, the exception being Chinoy's analysis of the dynamics of Internet routing information [Ch93]. We report on an analysis of 40,000 end-to-end route measurements conducted using repeated "traceroutes" between 37 Internet sites. We analyze the routing behavior for pathological conditions, routing stability, and routing symmetry. For pathologies, we characterize the prevalence of routing loops, erroneous routing, infrastructure failures, and temporary outages. We find that the likelihood of encountering a major routing pathology more than doubled between the end of 1994 and the end of 1995, rising from 1.5% to 3.4%. For routing stability, we define two separate types of stability, "prevalence," meaning the overall likelihood that a particular route is encountered, and "persistence," the likelihood that a route remains unchanged over a long period of time. We find that Internet paths are heavily dominated by a single prevalent route, but that the time periods over which routes persist show wide variation, ranging from seconds up to days. About 2/3's of the Internet paths had routes persisting for either days or weeks. For routing symmetry, we look at the likelihood that a path through the Internet visits at least one different city in the two directions. At the end of 1995, this was the case half the time, and at least one different autonomous system was visited 30% of the time.
Kinetic analysis of water transport through a single-file pore

We apply the diagrammatic method developed by Hill (1977. Free Energy Transduction in Biology. Academic Press, New York) to analyze single-file water transport. We use this formalism to derive explicit expressions for the osmotic and diffusive permeabilities Pf and Pd of a pore. We first consider a vacancy mechanism of transport analogous to the one-vacancy pore model previously used by Kohler and Heckmann (1979. J. Theor. Biol. 79:381-401). (a) For the general one-vacancy case, we find that the permeability ratio can be expressed by Pf/Pd = (Pf/Pd)eqf(wA,wB), where the second factor is a function of the water activities in the two adjoining compartments A and B. As a consequence, the permeability ratio in general can effectively differ from its value at equilibrium. We also find that n - 1 less than or equal to (Pf/Pd)eq less than or equal to n, a result already proposed by Kohler and Heckmann (1979. J. Theor. Biol. 79:381-401). (b) When vacancy states are transient intermediates, the model can be reduced to a diagram consisting of only fully occupied states. Such a diagram resembles the one describing a no-vacancy mechanism of transport (c), but in spite of the similarity the expressions obtained for the permeability coefficients still retain the basic relationships of the original (a) nonreduced one-vacancy model. (c) We then propose a kinetic description of a no-vacancy mechanism of single-file water transport. In this case, the expressions derived for Pf and Pd are formally equivalent to those obtained by Finkelstein and Rosenberg (1979. Membrane Transport Processes. Vol. 3. C.F. Stevens and R.W. Tsien, editors, Raven Press, New York. 73-88.) A main difference with the vacancy mechanism is that here the permeability coefficients are independent of the water activities.
On Using Meissner Effect to Conceive a New Linear Electromagnetic Launcher by Zero-Field-Cooling YBCO Bulk Superconductors

A new YBCO superconducting linear propulsion system that uses the Meissner effect for thrust is proposed. A YBCO bulk is used in the vehicle, which is excited synchronous with a magnetic field traveling wave. The propulsion system's model is developed using a magnetic circuit method and the Maxwell stress tensor analysis. The vehicle acceleration and thrust force characteristics previewed from that model are verified and analyzed by practical measurements and a set of essays using the prototype built in our laboratory. Major errors came for thermally activated flux creep and current conduction in the YBCO during its passage through the excitation system. The total magnetic field at the superconductor's surface decreases, reducing thrust force. Despite these secondary effects, achieved results show the potential of this new approach for future electric propulsion systems.
Conditional Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule 1 Deletion in Mice

We generated vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 “knock-in” mice and Cre recombinase transgenic mice to delete the VCAM-1 gene (vcam-1) in whole mice, thereby overcoming the embryonic lethality seen with conventional vcam-1–deficient mice. vcam-1 knock-in mice expressed normal levels of VCAM-1 but showed loss of VCAM-1 on endothelial and hematopoietic cells when interbred with a “TIE2Cre” transgene. Analysis of peripheral blood from conditional vcam-1–deficient mice revealed mild leukocytosis, including elevated immature B cell numbers. Conversely, the bone marrow (BM) had reduced immature B cell numbers, but normal numbers of pro-B cells. vcam-1–deficient mice also had reduced mature IgD+ B and T cells in BM and a greatly reduced capacity to support short-term migration of transferred B cells, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and preactivated CD4+ T cells to the BM. Thus, we report an until now unappreciated dominant role for VCAM-1 in lymphocyte homing to BM.
Exponential Lower Bounds and Integrality Gaps for Tree-Like Lovász-Schrijver Procedures

The matrix cuts of Lovasz and Schrijver are methods for tightening linear relaxations of zero-one programs by the addition of new linear inequalities. We address the question of how many new inequalities are necessary to approximate certain combinatorial problems, and to solve certain instances of Boolean satisfiability. Our first result is a size/rank tradeoff for tree-like Lovasz-Schrijver refutations, showing that any refutation that has small size also has small rank. This allows us to immediately derive exponential size lower bounds for tree-like refutations of many unsatisfiable systems of inequalities where prior to our work, only strong rank bounds were known. Unfortunately, we show that this tradeoff does not hold more generally for derivations of arbitrary inequalities. We give a very simple example showing that derivations can be very small but nonetheless require maximal rank. This rules out a generic argument for obtaining a size-based integrality gap from the corresponding rank-based integrality gap. Our second contribution is to show that a modified argument can often be used to prove size-based integrality gaps from rank-based integrality gaps. We apply this method to prove size-based integrality gaps for several prominant examples where prior to our work, only rank-based integrality gaps were known. Our third contribution is to prove new separation results. Using our machinery for converting rank-based lower bounds and integrality gaps into size-based lower bounds, we show that tree-like LS+ cannot polynomially simulate tree-like Cutting Planes, and that tree-like LS+ cannot polynomially simulate resolution. We conclude by examining size/rank tradeoffs beyond the LS systems. We show that for Shirali-Adams and Lasserre systems, size/rank tradeoffs continue to hold, even in the general (non-tree) case. A full version of this paper is available at the Electronic Colloquium on Computational Complexity [23].
Expression-Linked Patterns of Codon Usage, Amino Acid Frequency, and Protein Length in the Basally Branching Arthropod Parasteatoda tepidariorum

Abstract Spiders belong to the Chelicerata, the most basally branching arthropod subphylum. The common house spider, Parasteatoda tepidariorum, is an emerging model and provides a valuable system to address key questions in molecular evolution in an arthropod system that is distinct from traditionally studied insects. Here, we provide evidence suggesting that codon usage, amino acid frequency, and protein lengths are each influenced by expression-mediated selection in P. tepidariorum. First, highly expressed genes exhibited preferential usage of T3 codons in this spider, suggestive of selection. Second, genes with elevated transcription favored amino acids with low or intermediate size/complexity (S/C) scores (glycine and alanine) and disfavored those with large S/C scores (such as cysteine), consistent with the minimization of biosynthesis costs of abundant proteins. Third, we observed a negative correlation between expression level and coding sequence length. Together, we conclude that protein-coding genes exhibit signals of expression-related selection in this emerging, noninsect, arthropod model.