Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Feasibility Study of C- and L-band SAR Time Series Data in Tracking Indonesian Plantation and Natural Forest Cover Changes

Tropical coverage by Envisat ASAR is sparse in space and time and has limited value for monitoring deforestation. The only available dual-polarized multitemporal dataset over Riau province, Indonesia (nine images in a single year), is used to distinguish and monitor tropical plantations and their dynamics and is compared with annual L-band PALSAR data and land cover maps derived from Landsat data. For the ASAR data, both VV and VH are important in discriminating different types of forest cover; whereas, at L-band, most of the relevant information is in the cross-polarized channel. The ASAR VV (but not the VH) backscatter from acacia plantations is strongly affected by whether the underlying soil is peat or nonpeat, which affects the separability of acacia from oil palm. Maximum likelihood classification of the C-band data gave overall accuracies of 86.2% and kappa coefficient of 0.78 by comparison with land cover maps derived from optical data. This was not improved by combining C- and L-band data. Classification of the C-band time series allows the rotation cycle of acacia plantations to be tracked. The available 4-year annual L-band time series shows potential for monitoring these dynamics, but the 1-year time spacing increases the risk of missing changes masked by the rapid growth of acacia.
Behavioural weight management for the primary careprovider

Primary care providers (PCPs) provide the majority of weight management care in clinical settings; however, they often lack the time or resources to apply strategies recommended in treatment guidelines. This review surveyed randomized clinical trials and prospective weight management studies from 1990 to present to identify evidence‐based behavioural strategies for weight management applicable to the PCP treatment environment. Data supported, time‐limited weight management strategies included self‐monitoring, portion control, sleep hygiene, restaurant eating and television viewing. The current review suggests that a number of behavioural strategies are available to enhance the effectiveness of PCPs weight management interventions. Increasing PCP awareness of these evidence‐based strategies may increase their attention to overweight and obesity concerns in clinical encounters and encourage more collaborative efforts with patients towards weight management goals.
Diagnosis of biofilm infections in cystic fibrosis patients

Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm lung infection in cystic fibrosis patients is the best described biofilm infection in medicine. The initial focus can be the paranasal sinuses and then follows repeated colonization and infection of the lungs by aspiration. The matrix of the biofilms is dominated by alginate and the pathogenesis of tissue damage is immune complex‐mediated chronic inflammation dominated by polymorphonuclear leukocytes and their products (DNA, oxygen radicals and proteases). The P. aeruginosa biofilm infection can be diagnosed by microscopy of lung tissue, sputum and mucus from the paranasal sinuses, where aggregates of the bacteria are found surrounded by the abundant alginate matrix. Specific PNA‐FISH probes can be used to identify P. aeruginosa and other pathogens in situ in the biofilms. Growth of mucoid colonies from the locations mentioned above is also diagnostic for biofilm infection. Rise of specific anti‐P. aeruginosa antibodies is likewise diagnostic, IgG in serum in case of lung infection, sIgA in saliva or nasal secretions in case of paranasal sinus infection. Similar approaches have been developed to diagnose chronic biofilm infections in cystic fibrosis caused by other pathogens e.g., Stenotrophomonas, Burkholderia multivorans, Achromobacter xylosoxidans and Mycobacterium abscessus complex.
The potential use of anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria for treating latex rubber sheet wastewater

A total of 92 isolates of the purple non sulphur photosynthetic bacteria (PNSB) were isolated from 23 samples of wastewater obtained from rubber sheet manufacturing processes from various places of southern, Thailand. The isolate DK6 had the best potential for use in wastewater treatment as it can out-compete indigenous strains of PNSB when grown with them under conditions of microaerobic-light conditions. The isolate DK6 was identified as being most closely allied to Rhodopseudomonas blastica . The optimal pH and temperature for cell growth were between 6.5-7.5 and 30oC, respectively. Optimum growth of DK6 was obtained after supplementing the wastewater from a latex rubber sheet processing plant with 0.50% (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 and 1 mg/L nicotinic acid under conditions of microaerobic-light (3000 lux). Using these optimum conditions for growth, indigenous microorganisms reduced the initial chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the wastewater from 7,328 to 3371 mg/L a reduction of 54% and the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) (initial BOD 4967 mg/L) by 70%. Using the same conditions and either a pure culture of DK6 or a mixed culture (DK6 plus indigenous microorganisms) a reduction of 90% of both COD and BOD was achieved. Chemical analysis of the cultures after treatment of the enriched wastewater shows that the protein content of the pure DK6 was 65.2% of the dry weight, and in mixed culture the protein content was 66.7%. Hence, single cell protein (SCP) may be a possible bi- product of the treatment process.
Host-microbiota interactions in inflammatory bowel disease

The interaction of the host with its abundant intestinal microbiota is complex and engages most of the cells in the intestinal mucosa. The inflammatory bowel diseases appear to be disorders of the host immune response to the microbiota. This is supported by data from induced gene mutations in mice and more recently by the identification of gene variants in humans that result in IBD or IBD susceptibility. These genetic studies have provided insights into the cells and molecular pathways involved in the host-microbiota dialog. This review discusses the innate, adaptive, and regulatory immune response to the microbiota in the context of the mouse and human genes that are involved in maintaining intestinal homeostasis and preventing inflammation. These data continue to support the hypothesis that inflammatory bowel disease results from a dysregulated adaptive immune response, particularly a CD4 T-cell response, to the microbiota. The microbiota itself is an active participant in these homeostatic processes. The microbiota composition is perturbed during inflammation, resulting in a dysbiosis that may induce or perpetuate inflammation. However, host genotype and the environment have a major impact on the shape of such dysbiosis, as well as upon which members of the microbiota stimulate pathogenic immune responses.
Voter Discrimination in Democratic Elections

The study of voter discrimination is complicated by the possibility that voters spurn minority candidates due to unobserved candidate characteristics besides race. This paper exploits low-level statewide elections in which voters are plausibly ill-informed about candidates but can still infer race via the informational content in their names. Using nearly two decades of election results from the state of Texas, we find considerable evidence of minority disadvantage in democratic elections. Voter bias affects both vote share and the selection of minority candidates. JEL Codes: J15, D72, P47 ∗Corresponding email: kyung.park@wellesley.edu. We would like to thank Kristin Butcher, Kirabo Jackson, Robin McKnight, seminar participants at the University of Chicago (Harris), Wellesley College for helpful comments. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Wellesley College SSSRP. We thank Victoria Angelova and Adam Martonosi for providing excellent research assistance.
Immunotactoid Glomerulopathy and Cryoglobulinemic Nephropathy: Two Entities with Many Similarities. A Unified Conceptual Approach*

Abstract Immunotactoid glomerulopathy is a rare disorder that has been characterized at the ultrastructural level. Due to its rarity, there are few comprehensive studies relating to this disorder. Electron microscopy essentially characterizes this disease. The glomerular electron dense deposits which are typical of this condition consist of aggregates of highly organized microtubular structures of various diameters, but generally measuring 30–50 nm in width with a propensity to dispose themselves in parallel bundles intersecting in different planes. This study compares a large series of patients with cryoglobulinemic nephropathy with a series of patients with immunotactoid glomerulopathy to address whether there may be similarities that warrant considering these two entities part of a spectrum. This study reviews the clinicopathologic features of both entities and emphasizes ultrastructural findings that characterize them. Significant immunomorphologic overlap was found when these two disorders were compared in this study. There were also striking similarities in clinical presentation/behavior, laboratory findings and prognosis. Proteomic analysis has also demonstrated similar spectra for both entities. We postulate that immunotactoid glomerulopathy and cryoglobulinemic nephropathy are part of the spectrum of renal manifestations in patients with circulating cryoglobulins and renal disease.
Sexy Media Matter: Exposure to Sexual Content in Music, Movies, Television, and Magazines Predicts Black and White Adolescents' Sexual Behavior

OBJECTIVE. To assess over time whether exposure to sexual content in 4 mass media (television, movies, music, and magazines) used by early adolescents predicts sexual behavior in middle adolescence. METHODS. An in-home longitudinal survey of 1017 black and white adolescents from 14 middle schools in central North Carolina was conducted. Each teen was interviewed at baseline when he or she was 12 to 14 years old and again 2 years later using a computer-assisted self interview (audio computer-assisted self-interview) to ensure confidentiality. A new measure of each teen’s sexual media diet (SMD) was constructed by weighting the frequency of use of 4 media by the frequency of sexual content in each television show, movie, music album, and magazine the teen used regularly. RESULTS. White adolescents in the top quintile of sexual media diet when 12 to 14 years old were 2.2 times more likely to have had sexual intercourse when 14 to 16 years old than those who were in the lowest SMD quintile, even after a number of other relevant factors, including baseline sexual behavior, were introduced. The relationship was not statistically significant for black adolescents after controlling for other factors that were more predictive, including parental disapproval of teen sex and perceived permissive peer sexual norms. CONCLUSIONS. Exposure to sexual content in music, movies, television, and magazines accelerates white adolescents’ sexual activity and increases their risk of engaging in early sexual intercourse. Black teens appear more influenced by perceptions of their parents’ expectations and their friends’ sexual behavior than by what they see and hear in the media.
Uninsured status and out-of-pocket costs at midlife.

OBJECTIVE To investigate how baseline health insurance coverage affects subsequent out-of-pocket costs and utilization of health services over a two-year period. DATA SOURCE The first two waves of the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative survey of the noninstitutionalized population, ages 51 to 61 at baseline. Interviews were conducted in 1992 and 1994. Our sample consisted of 7,018 respondents who did not report public insurance as their sole source of coverage at baseline. STUDY DESIGN We compared self-reports of physician visits, hospitalizations, and out-of-pocket health care costs, measured as payments to physicians, hospitals, and nursing homes, by type of insurance coverage at the beginning of the period. We estimated multivariate models of costs and service use to control for individual health, demographic, and economic characteristics and employed instrumental variable techniques to account for the endogeneity of insurance coverage. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Controlling for personal characteristics and accounting for the endogeneity of insurance coverage, persons at midlife with job-related health benefits went on to spend only about $50 per year less in out-of-pocket payments for health services than persons who lacked health insurance at the beginning of the period. However, they spent about $650 more per year in insurance premiums than the uninsured. The uninsured used relatively few health services, except when they were seriously ill, in which case they were likely to acquire public insurance. CONCLUSIONS The medically uninsured appear to avoid substantial out-of-pocket health care costs by using relatively few health services when they are not seriously ill, and then relying upon health care safety nets when they experience medical problems. These results suggest that the main impact of non-insurance at midlife is not to place the locus of responsibility for costly health care upon individuals. Instead, it discourages routine care and transfers the costs of care for severe health events to other payers. Our findings on the high cost of employment-based coverage are consistent with evidence that the proportion of workers accepting health benefits from employers has been declining in recent years.
Shape of the retinal surface in emmetropia and myopia.

PURPOSE To determine and compare the shapes of the retinas of emmetropic and myopic eyes. METHODS Nonrotationally symmetrical ellipsoids were mathematically fitted to the retinal surfaces of 21 emmetropic and 66 myopic eyes (up to -12 D) of participants aged 18 to 36 years (mean, 25.5) using transverse axial and sagittal images derived from magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS The shapes of the ellipsoids varied considerably between subjects with similar refractive errors. The shapes were oblate (steepening toward the equator) in most of the emmetropic eyes (i.e., the axial dimensions of the ellipsoids were smaller than both the vertical and horizontal dimensions). As myopia increased, all ellipsoid dimensions increased with the axial dimension increasing more than the vertical dimension, which in turn increased more than the horizontal dimension (increases in approximate ratios 3:2:1). The relative difference in the increase of these dimensions meant that as the degree of myopia increased the retinal shape decreased in oblateness. However, few myopic eyes were prolate (flattening toward the equator). Independent of myopia, the ellipsoids were tilted about the vertical axis by 11 degrees +/- 13 degrees , and ellipsoid centers were decentered horizontally by 0.5 +/- 0.4 mm nasally and 0.2 +/- 0.5 mm inferiorly, relative to the fovea. CONCLUSIONS In general both emmetropic and myopic retinas are oblate in shape, although myopic eyes less so. This finding may be relevant to theories implicating the peripheral retina in the development of myopia.
Defining the molecular interface that connects the Fanconi anemia protein FANCM to the Bloom syndrome dissolvasome

The RMI subcomplex (RMI1/RMI2) functions with the BLM helicase and topoisomerase IIIα in a complex called the “dissolvasome,” which separates double-Holliday junction DNA structures that can arise during DNA repair. This activity suppresses potentially harmful sister chromatid exchange (SCE) events in wild-type cells but not in cells derived from Bloom syndrome patients with inactivating BLM mutations. The RMI subcomplex also associates with FANCM, a component of the Fanconi anemia (FA) core complex that is important for repair of stalled DNA replication forks. The RMI/FANCM interface appears to help coordinate dissolvasome and FA core complex activities, but its precise role remains poorly understood. Here, we define the structure of the RMI/FANCM interface and investigate its roles in coordinating cellular DNA-repair activities. The X-ray crystal structure of the RMI core complex bound to a well-conserved peptide from FANCM shows that FANCM binds to both RMI proteins through a hydrophobic “knobs-into-holes” packing arrangement. The RMI/FANCM interface is shown to be critical for interaction between the components of the dissolvasome and the FA core complex. FANCM variants that substitute alanine for key interface residues strongly destabilize the complex in solution and lead to increased SCE levels in cells that are similar to those observed in blm- or fancm-deficient cells. This study provides a molecular view of the RMI/FANCM complex and highlights a key interface utilized in coordinating the activities of two critical eukaryotic DNA-damage repair machines.
Modulation of ingested water absorption by Palestine sunbirds: evidence for adaptive regulation

SUMMARY Nectarivorous birds feed on dilute sugar solutions containing trace amounts of amino acids and electrolytes. To meet their high mass-specific energy demands they must often deal with exceptionally high proportionate water fluxes. Despite nectar intake rates that may reach more than five times body mass per day, hummingbirds appear to absorb all ingested water. Here, we report the results of experiments designed to examine the relationship between nectar intake and water turnover in nectar-feeding Palestine sunbirds (Nectarinia osea). Like hummingbirds, sunbirds ingested large amounts of water. At the lowest sucrose concentration (292 mmol l-1), food intake rates reached 2.2 times body mass. Fractional and total water turnover increased linearly with water ingestion, but the fraction of ingested water absorbed by sunbirds decreased from 100% to 36% with increasing water intake rate. Palestine sunbirds may therefore avoid absorbing, and thus having to eliminate, up to 64% of their ingested water load when feeding on dilute nectars. To our knowledge, this is the first documentation of regulation of water flux across the gastrointestinal tract to the body. Our data suggest that sunbirds regulate transepithelial water flux independently of sugar absorption. These intriguing results open the door to many questions about how water transport is regulated in the vertebrate gastrointestinal tract. We suggest that intestinal water and body water form two separate but interacting pools in nectar-feeding birds. Convergence in diet has led to the evolution of many similar traits in hummingbirds and sunbirds. The physiological traits of these two groups that allow the processing of a water and sugar diet, however, may be very different.
Amplification-Based Nucleic Acid Scanning Techniques to Assess Genetic Polymorphism in Candida

Opportunistic pathogen Candida causes common fungal infections that manifest both superficially and systemically, especially in compromised patients. Although C. albicans is by far the main etiological agent of candidosis, the frequency of isolation of other non-albicans species such as C. glabrata and C. krusei is increasing at an alarming rate. Therefore, the epidemiology, pathogenicity, and diagnosis of infections due to these organisms are of great importance. Of a variety of genotyping methods utilized for strain delineation of these Candida species, amplification-based techniques such as randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), restriction digestion-mediated PCR (RFLP-PCR), and single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) and microsatellite PCR (interrepeat PCR, IR-PCR) are the most popular and widely used. In the last decade or so these techniques have helped unravel the clinical epidemiological features of pathogenicity, diversity, microevolution, and natural heterozygosity in Candida species. Here we review in detail the basic principles of RAPD, the nature of the primer and factors influencing its selection, and the limitations of RAPD assays as well as analysis and interpretation of banding profiles generated using the software programs. In addition, the principles of other RAPD-based amplification techniques (AFLP, RFLP-PCR, SSCP, and IR-PCR) and their application in molecular epidemiologic studies of Candida species in particular and other fungi in general are also reviewed. It is concluded that these methods have wide applicability in genotyping fungi, although they differ greatly in their resolution and have advantages and drawbacks depending on the task in question.
In vivo antioxidant activity of Pinus koraiensis nut oil obtained by optimised supercritical carbon dioxide extraction

In this study, an orthogonal array design OA9 (34) was employed to optimise the conditions of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction of Pinus koraiensis nut oil. The effects of pressure, temperature and extraction time on the oil yield were investigated. Next, the fatty acid composition of the oil was examined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The in vivo antioxidant activity of the oil was determined by estimating the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in rats fed with a high-fat diet. The results showed that extraction pressure and time were the main variables that influenced the oil yields. The optimal conditions with which to obtain highest yield of oil were determined to be 5760.83 psi, 50°C and 3.0 h (extraction yield was 458.5 g kg−1); nine compounds, constituting about 99.98% of the total oil, were identified. The most abundant polyunsaturated fatty acids identified in the oil, linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid, constituted 41.79% and 15.62% of the oil, respectively. Moreover, the results on their antioxidant activities showed that the oil could improve the activities of SOD, GSH-Px and T-AOC, and reduce the content of MDA significantly, in the serum. These results indicate that P. koraiensis nut oil obtained by SC-CO2 extraction had excellent antioxidant activities.
Cutaneous Electrical Stimulation Treatment in Unresolved Facial Nerve Paralysis: An Exploratory Study

Hyvärinen A, Tarkka IM, Mervaala E, Pääkkönen A, Valtonen H, Nuutinen J: Cutaneous electrical stimulation treatment in unresolved facial nerve paralysis. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2008;87:992–997. Objective:The purpose of this study was to assess clinical and neurophysiological changes after 6 mos of transcutaneous electrical stimulation in patients with unresolved facial nerve paralysis. Design:A pilot case series of 10 consecutive patients with chronic facial nerve paralysis either of idiopathic origin or because of herpes zoster oticus participated in this open study. All patients received below sensory threshold transcutaneous electrical stimulation for 6 mos for their facial nerve paralysis. The intervention consisted of gradually increasing the duration of electrical stimulation of three sites on the affected area for up to 6 hrs/day. Assessments of the facial nerve function were performed using the House-Brackmann clinical scale and neurophysiological measurements of compound motor action potential distal latencies on the affected and nonaffected sides. Patients were tested before and after the intervention. Results:A significant improvement was observed in the facial nerve upper branch compound motor action potential distal latency on the affected side in all patients. An improvement of one grade in House-Brackmann scale was observed and some patients also reported subjective improvement. Conclusions:Transcutaneous electrical stimulation treatment may have a positive effect on unresolved facial nerve paralysis. This study illustrates a possibly effective treatment option for patients with the chronic facial paresis with no other expectations of recovery.