Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Climate change abatement and farm profitability analyses across agricultural environments

Management practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farms or increase on-farm carbon storage can contribute to climate change mitigation. Farmers, however, are only likely to adopt new management practices if they contribute to farm profitability. We use the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) to simulate how different cropping practices contribute to greenhouse gas abatement at case study farms in different grain growing regions across Australia. The APSIM simulations were subsequently used to calculate farm gross margins and conduct whole-farm economic modelling to estimate the costs of abatement under different management practices. Integrating detailed biophysical and economic analyses enables us to demonstrate the difference in potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across agricultural environments. We show this for two case study farms in different grain growing regions, where we found both positive and negative relationships between greenhouse gas abatement and profitability for the management practices. This diversity in potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across agricultural environments must be recognised in order to understand the role agriculture can play in climate change mitigation, and understand the implications of any potential future changes to include the industry in carbon pricing policies.
HLA antigens and contact sensitivity.

Several associations between HLA type and specific disease entities have been established in recent years. In laboratory animals, the immunologic reaction to synthetic antigens is regulated by the immune response genes of the major histocompatibility complex and is, therefore, genetically controlled. 1 The present study was undertaken to determine whether, in humans, there is an association between HLA antigens and allergic contact dermatitis, as has been demonstrated in some animals. We used the "para" group compounds because they have a particular stereochemical composition and, hence, a common pathogenetic pathway for sensitization. Patients and Methods The conditions of 40 patients (28 men and 12 women) with allergic contact dermatitis from the para group compounds and positive reactions on epicutaneous testing (using the criteria of the International Contact Dermatitis Research Group) were studied. We used the following para compounds for testing: aniline, benzocaine, paraphenylenediamine, parahydroxybenzoates, promethazine hydrochloride, and sulfamide. Seventeen patients have
Evaluating surrogate variables for improving microarray multiple testing inference

The use of surrogate variables has been proposed as a means to capture, for a given observed set of data, sources driving the dependency structure among high‐dimensional sets of features and remove the effects of those sources and their potential negative impact on simultaneous inference. In this article we illustrate the potential effects of latent variables on testing dependence and the resulting impact on multiple inference, we briefly review the method of surrogate variable analysis proposed by Leek and Storey (PNAS 2008; 105:18718–18723), and assess that method via simulations intended to mimic the complexity of feature dependence observed in real‐world microarray data. The method is also assessed via application to a recent Merck microarray data set. Both simulation and case study results indicate that surrogate variable analysis can offer a viable strategy for tackling the multiple testing dependence problem when the features follow a potentially complex correlation structure, yielding improvements in the variability of false positive rates and increases in power. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Treating Herpes Zoster and Postherpetic Neuralgia

ostherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is the most frequent chronic complication of herpes zoster (shingles). 1 Herpes zoster (HZ) represents a reactivation of the vari- cella zoster virus (VZV), a ubiquitous, highly neurotropic, exclusively human α-herpesvirus. Primary infection causes varicella (chickenpox), after which VZV becomes latent in sensory ganglia along the entire neuraxis. With the decline in VZV-specific cell-mediated immunity in elderly and immunocompromised individuals, VZV reactivates to cause HZ, characterized by a painful maculo- papular or vesicular rash in all or part of the skin territory innervated by a single dorsal root ganglion. 2 The most common site of HZ is thoracic, comprising about half of all cases, followed by trigemi- nal (usually the ophthalmic branch), cervical, and lumbar distributions. HZ generally resolves within a few weeks, but a minority of patients experience pain (PHN) persisting for months, years, or even a lifetime.
The prevalence of asthma and allergy among university students in Van, Turkey

sorbate 80 in 0.8 ml water) have been used. The highest nonirritating concentrations found in 10 control subjects are shown in Table 1. Intradermal tests with mannitol (18 mg/ml), an excipient of both preparations, were negative in 10 controls and four patients. In patients 1 and 2 intradermal tests with etanercept were positive at the immediate reading and negative at the late reading, suggesting an immediate reaction, possibly IgE-mediated. In patients 3 and 4 intradermal tests with adalimumab showed positive results only at the late reading and the reaction lasted 5 days, suggesting a cell-mediated reaction. Prick and patch test were negative (see Table 1). These results are compatible with type beta hypersensitivity reactions following the classification of Pichler (1). As reported in the literature, ISRs,mildto-moderate in intensity, occur in 29.3% patients with etanercept (2) and 15.3% with adalimumab (3). Skin test with proteins is highly predictive: in spite of this, a review of the literature did not evidence any allergological study in these cases. Previous reports in cases of ISR describe histologic findings of a cellmediated Th1 reaction, with CD8+ T cells composing the majority of the dermal infiltrate (4); however, histologic features of eosinophilic cellulitis as a response to etanercept suggest a Th2-mediated phenomenon (5). Interestingly, similar large local reactions following Hymenoptera stings are frequently observed in patients who show specific IgE against the venoms (6). Further studies are needed in more cases, also by means of biopsies of lesions and skin test reactions and determination of serum-specific IgE and IgG to antiTNF-a blocking agents, to ascertain the precise immune mechanisms of these reactions.
Low frequency steady‐state brain responses modulate large scale functional networks in a frequency‐specific means

Neural oscillations are essential for brain functions. Research has suggested that the frequency of neural oscillations is lower for more integrative and remote communications. In this vein, some resting‐state studies have suggested that large scale networks function in the very low frequency range (<1 Hz). However, it is difficult to determine the frequency characteristics of brain networks because both resting‐state studies and conventional frequency tagging approaches cannot simultaneously capture multiple large scale networks in controllable cognitive activities. In this preliminary study, we aimed to examine whether large scale networks can be modulated by task‐induced low frequency steady‐state brain responses (lfSSBRs) in a frequency‐specific pattern. In a revised attention network test, the lfSSBRs were evoked in the triple network system and sensory‐motor system, indicating that large scale networks can be modulated in a frequency tagging way. Furthermore, the inter‐ and intranetwork synchronizations as well as coherence were increased at the fundamental frequency and the first harmonic rather than at other frequency bands, indicating a frequency‐specific modulation of information communication. However, there was no difference among attention conditions, indicating that lfSSBRs modulate the general attention state much stronger than distinguishing attention conditions. This study provides insights into the advantage and mechanism of lfSSBRs. More importantly, it paves a new way to investigate frequency‐specific large scale brain activities. Hum Brain Mapp 37:381–394, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Late rebleeding of ruptured intracranial aneurysms treated with detachable coils.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence of late rebleeding of ruptured intracranial aneurysms treated with detachable coils. PATIENTS AND METHODS A clinical follow-up study was conducted in 393 consecutive patients with a ruptured aneurysm treated with detachable coils between January 1995 and January 2003. Late rebleeding was defined as recurrent hemorrhage from a coiled aneurysm >1 month after coiling. One patient was lost to follow-up. Total clinical follow-up of the 392 patients who were coiled for ruptured cerebral aneurysms was 18,708 months (1559 patient years; median, 48 months; mean, 47.7 months; range, 0-120 months). RESULTS Four patients suffered late rebleeding from the coiled aneurysm at 8, 12, 30, and 40 months after coiling, respectively. Two of these patients died. Another patient died of probable rebleeding 4 months after coiling. The incidence of late rebleeding was 1.27% (5/393) and mortality of late rebleeding was 0.76% (3/393). The annual late rebleeding rate was 0.32%, and the annual mortality rate from late rebleeding was 0.19%. During the follow-up period, 53 coiled aneurysms in 53 patients (13%) were additionally treated: 35 aneurysms (8.9%) were additionally treated with coils, 16 aneurysms (4.1%) were additionally clipped, and 2 aneurysms (0.5%) were additionally treated with parent vessel balloon occlusion. CONCLUSION The late rebleeding rate after coiling of ruptured cerebral aneurysms is very low. Follow-up of patients with a coiled aneurysm is mandatory to identify aneurysms that need additional treatment after reopening.
Enhancement of Tumor Regression by Coulomb Nanoradiator Effect in Proton Treatment of Iron-Oxide Nanoparticle-Loaded Orthotopic Rat Glioma Model: Implication of Novel Particle Induced Radiation Therapy

Background: Proton-impact metallic nanoparticles, inducing low-energy electrons emission and characteristic X-rays termed as Coulomb nanoradiator effect (CNR), are known to produce therapeutic enhancement in proton treatment on experimental tumors. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the effect of CNR-based dose enhancement on tumor growth inhibition in an iron-oxide nanoparticle (FeONP)-loaded orthotopic rat glioma model. Methods: Proton-induced CNR was exploited to treat glioma-bearing SD rat loaded with FeONP by either fully-absorbed single pristine Bragg peak (APBP) or spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) 45-MeV proton beam. A selected number of rats were examined by MRI before and after treatment to obtain the size and position information for adjusting irradiation field. Tumor regression assay was performed by histological analysis of residual tumor in the sacrificed rats 7 days after treatment. The results of CNR-treated groups were compared with the proton alone control. Results: Intravenous injection of FeONP (300 mg/kg) elevated the tumor concentration of iron up to 37 μg of Fe/g tissue, with a tumor-to-normal ratio of 5, 24 hours after injection. The group receiving FeONP and proton beam showed 65% - 79% smaller tumor volume dose-dependently compared with the proton alone group. The rats receiving FeONP and controlled irradiation field by MR imaging demonstrated more than 95% - 99% tumor regression compared with MRI-determined initial tumor size. Conclusions: Proton-impact FeONP produced therapeutic enhancement compared with proton alone in an orthotopic rat glioma model at a selected temporal point after treatment. Single BP proton beam could induce CNR- based dose enhancement and produce enhanced tumor regression that was comparable to SOBP treatment despite inhomogeneous tumor dose in the APBP-treated tumor. These results may suggest emergence of novel Particle Induced Radiation Therapy (PIRT) on malignant glioma.
Neurologic Damage and Behavior Disorder in Rubella Children

A longitudinal study of 214 rubella-deaf children revealed a low incidence (10%) of neurologic damage among those with normal intelligence, but a high incidence (51%-70%) among those who were mentally retarded or blind. Neurologic damage in the eight deaf of normal intelligence included behavior disorder or Chronic Brain Syndrome in approximately one-third of this small group. Behavioral symptoms associated with these disorders are described.
Pravastatin improves the impaired nitric oxide-mediated neurogenic and endothelium-dependent relaxation of corpus cavernosum in aged rats

Abstract Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of pravastatin treatment on diminished corpus cavernosum (CC) function associated with aging. Methods: Male rats were divided into three groups as adult rats (12–14 weeks old), aged rats (72–80 weeks old) and aged rats given 10 mg/kg/d pravastatin in drinking water for six weeks. Blood pressure was measured by tail-cuff method. Total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglycerides and testosterone levels were estimated in blood. Changes in expression levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), phosphorylated eNOS (p-eNOS) (Ser-1177), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), NADPH oxidase subunit gp91phox, Rho A and Rho kinase (ROCK2) in CC were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Nitric oxide (NO)-mediated endothelium-dependent and neurogenic CC relaxation were evaluated by acetylcholine (ACh, 0.1 nM–100 µM) and electrical field stimulation (EFS; 30 V, 5 ms, 2–32 Hz), respectively. Results: In aged rats, NO-mediated, both endothelium-dependent and neurogenic CC relaxation, were significantly impaired as compared to adult rats. Besides, eNOS, p-eNOS and nNOS expressions decreased significantly in CC from aged rats, while gp91phox, RhoA and ROCK2 expressions increased significantly. The diminished relaxation in response to ACh or EFS as well as the changes in expression of these proteins in aged rats were significantly improved by pravastatin treatment. Conclusion: Pravastatin improves NO-mediated CC relaxations of aged rats probably by inhibiting NADPH oxidase/Rho kinase pathways, and this effect does not seem to be associated with lipid lowering effect of this drug.
Tissue-Specific Differences of p53 Inhibition by Mdm2 and Mdm4

ABSTRACT The function of the p53 tumor suppressor to inhibit proliferation or initiate apoptosis is often abrogated in tumor cells. Mdm2 and its homolog, Mdm4, are critical inhibitors of p53 that are often overexpressed in human tumors. In mice, loss of Mdm2 or Mdm4 leads to embryonic lethal phenotypes that are completely rescued by concomitant loss of p53. To examine the role of Mdm2 and Mdm4 in a temporal and tissue-specific manner and to determine the relationships of these inhibitors to each other, we generated conditional alleles. We deleted Mdm2 and Mdm4 in cardiomyocytes, since proliferation and apoptosis are important processes in heart development. Mice lacking Mdm2 in the heart were embryonic lethal and showed defects at the time recombination occurred. A critical number of cardiomyocytes were lost by embryonic day 13.5, resulting in heart failure. This phenotype was completely rescued by deletion of p53. Mice lacking Mdm4 in the heart were born at the correct ratio and appeared to be normal. Our studies provide the first direct evidence that Mdm2 can function in the absence of Mdm4 to regulate p53 activity in a tissue-specific manner. Moreover, Mdm4 cannot compensate for the loss of Mdm2 in heart development.
Social protection and the employment contract: the impact on work absence.

OBJECTIVE This study investigates the impact of temporary employment on all-cause sickness absence of one week or more with a focus on how this relationship is moderated by factors related to social protection (job tenure, union membership and firm size). PARTICIPANTS A sample of 5,307 individuals who experienced 9,574 distinct job episodes was drawn from a longitudinal Canadian labour market survey (2000-2004). METHODS Duration analysis was undertaken to model the time from the start of a job to the first sickness absence. Specifically, a proportional hazard model was estimated using a complementary log-log function for continuous time processes. RESULTS Findings showed that temporary employment was associated with a lower rate of sickness absence after controlling for tenure, prior health status, and several other individual and job characteristics. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that the lack of social protection in temporary jobs is a powerful determinant of absence taking, even in the case of serious health conditions that require an absence of one week or more.
STEREOTYPE THREAT, MEMORY AND AGING The Dynamic Effects of Age-Related Stereotype Threat on Explicit and Implicit Memory Performance in Older Adults

While an awareness of age-related changes in memory may help older adults gain insight into their own cognitive abilities, it may also have a negative impact on memory performance through a mechanism of stereotype threat (ST). The consequence of ST is under-performance in abilities related to the stereotype. Here, we examined the degree to which explicit and implicit memory were affected by ST across a wide age-range. We found that explicit memory was affected by ST, but only in an Early-Aging group (mean age 67.83), and not in a Later-Aging group (mean age 84.59). Implicit memory was not affected in either the Early or Later Aging group. These results demonstrate that ST for age-related memory decline affects memory processes requiring controlled retrieval while sparing item encoding. Furthermore, this form of ST appears to dissipate as aging progresses. These results have implications for understanding psychological development across the span of aging. was not an artifact due to the dichotomization of age, we also conducted a general linear model to test the interaction using Age as a continuous variable. The interaction between Age and Threat Condition significantly predicted the difference between explicit and implicit memory performance, t(67) = 2.60, p < 0.05. These findings indicate that the critical three-way interaction holds even when we treat age as a continuous variable.
Use of complementary and alternative therapies among active duty soldiers, military retirees, and family members at a military hospital.

OBJECTIVE To survey soldiers, retirees, and spouses about their use and interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies. METHODS We used an anonymous, self-administered survey. RESULTS Of 291 completed surveys, 81% used one or more CAM therapy. The most commonly used were massage and herbal/food supplements. The most common reasons were pain, stress, and anxiety. In addition, 69% wanted CAM therapies offered at the medical treatment facility (MTF), whereas 24% would pay for the services, and 44% were undecided. CONCLUSION A high percentage of soldiers, retirees, and dependents are using CAM therapies and most would prefer that they be made available at the MTF. The implications of such high CAM usage within the military suggests a need for nurses and providers to become educated in CAM therapies to better assist patients in making appropriate choices between two very different forms of medical treatment options and for consideration to provide these services within the MTF.
Acoustic analysis of normal Saudi adult voices.

OBJECTIVE To determine the acoustic differences between Saudi adult male and female voices, and to compare the acoustic variables of the Multidimensional Voice Program (MDVP) obtained from North American adults to a group of Saudi males and females. METHODS A cross-sectional survey of normal adult male and female voices was conducted at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between March 2007 and December 2008. Ninety-five Saudi subjects sustained the vowel /a/ 6 times, and the steady state portion of 3 samples was analyzed and compared with the samples of the KayPentax normative voice database. RESULTS Significant differences were found between Saudi and North American KayPentax database groups. In the male subjects, 15 of 33 MDVP variables, and 10 of 33 variables in the female subjects were found to be significantly different from the KayPentax database. CONCLUSION We conclude that the acoustical differences may reflect laryngeal anatomical or tissue differences between the Saudi and the KayPentax database.
A Study on Chinese EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Usage in Writing

Vocabulary acquisition is one of the hottest research fields in English learning, which has aroused researchers’ great attention in recent years. However, their focus is on vocabulary size, vocabulary learning strategies and receptive lexical ability, seldom to productive lexical ability. Writing is an important productive ability for EFL learners, and a myriad of writing researches show that inappropriate vocabulary use leads to inferior writing quality. Therefore, research on learners’ vocabulary proficiency, especially their vocabulary in English writing is quite profound. 66 subjects from a comprehensive university participating in this study, finished one composition for analyzing their vocabulary usage, i.e. lexical richness which includes lexical sophistication and lexical variation. All the data and writing papers were analyzed with RANGE and SPSS 17.0. The findings of the present study demonstrated that the subjects relied more on the first 1000 word level to express their meanings in productive tasks and the lexical sophistication and lexical variation are not high. Subjects with different writing ability have differences in vocabulary usage, but the two groups only have significant difference in lexical variation and not in lexical sophistication. The present study enriches the research on vocabulary acquisition in SLA and provides helpful implications for vocabulary teaching and learning to improve learners’ vocabulary productive ability.
Individual differences in parental care and behaviour profile in the convict cichlid: a correlation study

We examined whether individual differences in patterns of parental care relate to individual differences in situations involving novelty, risk and aggression in the convict cichlid, Cichlasoma (Archocentrus) nigrofasciatum. Individual differences in situations of novelty and risk could be summarized along two axes: Freezing versus Activity and Activity-Inspection versus Freezing. However, these factors were not independent and formed a single higher-order dimension of general activity. Parental locomotor activity was negatively correlated with the Freezing versus Activity factor in females. Males that did little brood provisioning tended to be less active in the presence of a novel fish. Individuals that spent more time near their offspring at late brood stages were less inhibited in behavioural tests. Furthermore, extreme assortative mating by body size was found (r(S)=0.91). The cichlids also spawned assortatively by the factor Freezing versus Activity and by the general activity factor (r(S)>/=0.49), but not by the factor Activity- Inspection versus Freezing or by aggressiveness. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.