Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aural Exostoses in the Human Skeletal Remains Excavated in Hokkido

Frequencies of the aural exostoses were examined in the crania of the recent Ainu and the remains of pre-Ainu periods in Hokkaido as well as the modern Japanese in Kanto district.Since slight excrescences or tumefactions, especially on the anterior wall, are too ambiguous to be objectively diagnosed, the minimum sizes for the diagnosis were defined on the anterior and the posterior walls respectively of the external auditory canal as shown in Fig. 1. Definition of such minimum criteria and exclusion of minute exostoses (traces) were justified by the high incidence in the crania with anterior trace exostoses of the foramen of HUSCHKE which was negatively correlated with the distinct exostosis. (See Fig. 5)The results were given in Table 2, 3, Fig. 2 and 3, and the conclusions could be summarized as follows.1) The sex difference in incidence was not significant in all groups examined. Especially in the Ainu and the pooled Jomon crania, the exostoses occurred in almost the same proportions to both sexes.2) In both the Japanese and the Ainu, the frequencies of the aural exostoses were very low, and the difference between them was not large enough to infer any racial peculiarity.3) Considerable differences in frequency were found among local groups of the Ainu and the pre-Ainu populations. This suggests that some local factor may play an important role in this condition.4) The frequency of the aural exostoses in the pooled Jomon crania was much higher than in the Ainu. Presumably some secular factor should also be considered.
On calcium channel antagonist poisoning: towards evidence-based decision making in poisoned patients.

Almost 500 years ago, Paracelsus already stated: ‘Sola dosis facit venenum’. This famous adage underlines a basic principle in the world of toxicology: every substance can be poisonous, as long as the dose is high enough. This fundamental rule still applies in modern times, reflected by the substantial burden of both accidental and intentional poisoning in the US. 1 Also in the Netherlands, an astonishing documented number of 33,700 patients were exposed to toxic substances in 2014, mostly pharmaceutical drugs (56%), followed by household cleaning substances (16%) and food, drinks and stimulants (7%). 2 In contrast to the current era of evidence-based medicine, many antidotes or treatment strategies in intoxicated patients are solely based on anecdotal reports, case series, animal studies and expert opinions. This is reflected by the absence of clear guidelines and further underlined by the findings of Duineveld and colleagues, 3 who demonstrated considerable variation in the care of intoxicated patients in Dutch hospitals. In a subsequent prospective study, two algorithms to predict the need for treatment in intoxicated patients were implemented in clinical practice, with promising results in terms of good sensitivity and better specificity than routine clinical care. 4 These findings underscore the need for evidence-based practical guidelines, in order to improve clinical care and maximise efficacy. In the current issue of the Journal, Rietjens and co-workers provide an in-depth overview of the treatment options in calcium channel antagonist (CCA) poisoning, and merge these recommendations into a practical algorithm. 5
Spin-wave nonreciprocity and magnonic band structure in a thin permalloy film induced by dynamical coupling with an array of Ni stripes

An efficient way for the control of spin wave propagation in a magnetic medium is the use of periodic patterns known as magnonic crystals (MCs). However, the fabrication of MCs especially bi-components, with periodicity on nanoscale, is a challenging task due to the requirement for sharp interfaces. An alternative method to circumvent this problem is to use homogeneous ferromagnetic film with modified periodically surrounding. The structure is also suitable for exploiting nonreciprocal properties of the surface spin waves. In this work, we demonstrate that the magnonic band structure forms in thin permalloy film due to dynamical magnetostatic coupling with Ni stripes near its surface. We show, that the band gap width can be systematically tuned by the changing interlayer thickness between film and stripes. We show also the effect of nonreciprocity, which is seen at the band gap edge shifted from the Brillouin zone boundary and also in nonreciprocal interaction of propagating spin waves in Py film with the standing spin waves in Ni stripes. Our findings open possibility for further investigation and exploitation of the nonreciprocity and band structure in magnonic devices.
Reliability Issues of SiC MOSFETs: A Technology for High-Temperature Environments

The wide-bandgap nature of silicon carbide (SiC) makes it an excellent candidate for applications where high temperature is required. The metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS)-controlled power devices are the most favorable structure; however, it is widely believed that silicon oxide on SiC is physically limited, particularly at high temperatures. Therefore, experimental measurements of long-term reliability of oxide at high temperatures are necessary. In this paper, time-dependent dielectric-breakdown measurements are performed on state-of-the-art 4H-SiC MOS capacitors and double-implanted MOS field-effect transistors (DMOSFET) with stress temperatures between 225°C and 375°C and stress electric fields between 6 and 10 MV/cm. The field-acceleration factor is around 1.5 dec/(MV/cm) for all of the temperatures. The thermal activation energy is found to be ~ 0.9 eV, independent of the electric field. The area dependence of Weibull slope is discussed and shown to be a possible indication that the oxide quality has not reached the intrinsic regime and further oxide-reliability improvements are possible. Since our reliability data contradict the widely accepted belief that silicon oxide on SiC is fundamentally limited by its smaller conduction-band offset compared with Si, a detailed discussion is provided to examine the arguments of the early predictions.
Bio-inspired BAT optimization algorithm for handwritten Arabic characters recognition

There are many difficulties facing a handwritten Arabic recognition system such as unlimited variation in human handwriting, similarities of distinct character shapes, interconnections of neighboring characters and their position in the word. This paper presents a handwritten Arabic character recognition system based on BA algorithm. BA algorithm is adopted to reduce the feature set size and to improve the accuracy rate. The proposed system is trained and tested by four well-known classifiers; Bayes Network (BN), artificial neural network (ANN), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), and Random forest (RF) with CENPARMI dataset. The proposed optimization algorithm obtained promising results in terms of classification accuracy as the proposed system is able to recognize 91.59 % of our test set correctly, as well as in terms of computational time reduction. BA algorithm is more efficient in most experiments when comparing with GA and PSO. When compared our results with other related works we find that our result is the highest among other published results.
Increased gallstone risk in humans conferred by common variant of hepatic ATP‐binding cassette transporter for cholesterol

Genomewide scans of inbred strains of mice have linked the genes encoding the hepatocanalicular cholesterol transporter ABCG5/G8 to gallstone formation. Five nonsynonymous coding single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the orthologous human genes are associated with differences in serum cholesterol and plant sterol levels. We now tested these ABCG5/G8 SNPs for linkage and association with gallstone susceptibility in humans. Prospectively, we collected data from 178 white individuals with gallbladder stones or history of cholecystectomy in 84 families and from 70 stone‐free controls, as confirmed by abdominal ultrasound. We performed nonparametric linkage (NPL) analysis of affected sib pairs (ASPs) and association tests of cases and controls. In ASPs, gallstones were strongly linked to the D19H variant of the ABCG8 gene (NPL score = 7.1; P = 4.6 × 10−13). The risk of gallstones in carriers of the 19H allele was significantly increased in randomly selected cases from the ASP cohort compared to the stone‐free controls (OR = 3.018; P = 0.017). Consistent with the mouse model, heterozygosity for the lithogenic ABCG8 allele was associated with gallstones in humans; 21.4% of gallstone patients carried the heterozygous D19H genotype, compared with 8.6% of controls (OR = 2.954; P = 0.026). Conclusion: The linkage and association studies identified the cholesterol transporter ABCG5/G8 as a genetic determinant of gallstone formation, or LITH gene, in humans. The function of this transporter and the results of the genetic study taken together indicate that in gallstone‐susceptible carriers of the ABCG8 19H allele, cholesterol cholelithiasis is secondary to increased hepatobiliary cholesterol secretion. (HEPATOLOGY 2007.)
Comparative evaluation of casting retention using the ITI solid abutment with six cements.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to test the retention of metal copings fabricated to fit on the one-groove, one flat-sided solid titanium abutment using six different cements. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ten hollow screw 3.8 mm ITI implants were mounted in acrylic resin blocks. A solid titanium abutment was placed on each implant and torqued at 35 Ncm. Prefabricated burn-out caps were placed on the titanium abutment and wax loops added to the occlusal surface to allow for subsequent retention testing. All plastic caps were embedded in phosphate-bonded investment and cast with noble alloy. Castings were inspected for surface irregularities using a stereomicroscope at 10x magnification. The six cements were: 1) eugenol-free zinc oxide (Temp Bond NE); 2) zinc-oxide eugenol (IRM); 3) zinc phosphate (Hy-Bond); 4) resin-modified glass ionomer (Protec Cem); 5) zinc polycarboxylate (Durelon) and 6) 10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate resin (Panavia 21). After cementation, implant-abutment-casting assemblies were stored for 24 h in 100% humidity. Samples were subjected to a pull-out test using an Instron universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. The load required to de-cement each coping was recorded and mean values for each group calculated. Means and standard deviations of loads at failure were analyzed using ANOVA and a Tukey studentized test. Statistical significance was set at P < or = 0.05. RESULTS The mean values (+/- SD) of loads in kilograms at failure (n = 10) for the various cements were as follows: Temp Bond 3.18 (+/- 1.1) (Tukey group D), IRM 9.25 (+/- 3.83) (Tukey group CD), HY-Bond 10.9 (+/- 6.52) (Tukey group C), Protec Cem 18.98 (+/- 6.23) (Tukey group B), Durelon 23.55 (+/- 4.29) (Tukey group B) and Panavia 21, 36.53 (+/- 8.1) (Tukey group A). Means with the same letter in the Tukey grouping are not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS The retention values of castings cemented to ITI solid abutments have not been reported in the literature. Within the limitations of this in vitro study, the results do not suggest that one cement type is better than another, but they do provide a ranking order of the cements in their ability to retain the castings. This ranking is somehow different than that obtained when the same cements are used on natural teeth. The material and surface characteristics of the implant abutment are likely responsible for this difference. Cement retention values obtained from studies that use teeth as abutments may be misleading when used in cement-retained implant-supported crowns. It is at the clinician's discretion to use a certain type of cement, based on the situation at hand.
[Diagnostic value of interleukin-27 in tuberculous pleural effusion].

OBJECTIVE To explore the diagnostic value of interleukin-27 (IL-27) in tuberculous pleural effusion. METHODS A total of 76 patients of pleural effusion treated at Shandong Provincial Hospital from March 2013 to February 2014 in accordance with the natures of effusion fluid were divided into: (1) Tuberculosis group of tuberculous pleural effusion (n = 40), including 22 males and 18 females; aged 19 to 73 years; (2) Malignant group of malignant pleural effusion (n = 36), including 20 males and 16 females; aged 33 to 78 years old; including lung cancer (n = 28), lymphoma (n = 3), esophageal (n = 1) and uncertain primary tumor site (n = 4). The effusion and serum levels of IL-27 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the results analyzed. And the curve of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was employed to determine the diagnostic value of IL-27 in tuberculous pleural effusion. RESULTS The level of IL-27 was (1 402 ± 321) ng/L in tuberculous pleural effusion and it was significantly higher than those in malignant pleural effusion (556 ± 133) ng/L and sera (499 ± 88) ng/L (both P < 0.05). According to the ROC curve, the cut-off value of IL-27 was 838 ng/L in diagnosing tuberculous pleural effusion. And the rates of diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of IL-27 were 95.0%, 97.2% and 96.1% respectively. CONCLUSIONS Detection of pleural effusion IL-27 concentration is of great importance in the diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion. And it is worthy of wider clinical promotion.
Attitudes Toward Cancer Clinical Trial Participation in Young Adults with a History of Cancer and a Healthy College Student Sample: A Preliminary Investigation.

Purpose: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) aged 15-39 at diagnosis have very low cancer clinical trial accrual rates. To date, no studies have examined attitudes toward clinical trial participation in this age range to determine if certain individuals are less likely to enroll if offered participation. The current study assessed attitudes toward participation using the Cancer Treatment Subscale of the Attitudes toward Cancer Trials Scales. Methods: Data were collected from a sample of leukemia and lymphoma survivors (n=99) and a healthy college student sample (n=397). Following a principal components analysis, two subscales-Personal Barriers/Safety and Personal Benefits-were retained for analysis. Results: In the cancer survivor group, only 14 (13.3%) reported being offered participation in a cancer clinical trial, and only 8 of those 14 (7.6% of survivors) participated. Responses from leukemia and lymphoma survivors revealed no significant relationships between age, gender, race/ethnicity, clinical trial participation, insurance status, or social class with Personal Benefits or Personal Barriers/Safety. Healthy college females had more negative Personal Barriers/Safety attitudes compared to males after adjusting for race/ethnicity and social class (p=0.01), but no associations were present when examining Personal Benefits as an outcome. Conclusion: This preliminary investigation suggests that drivers of attitudes toward clinical trial participation in AYAs are not well understood and may impact cancer trial participation. Future work should focus on defining attitudes toward cancer clinical trials in the AYA population and developing interventions to increase awareness, knowledge, and positive attitudes toward participating in cancer research.
Endothelial dysfunction and inflammation in asymptomatic proteinuria.

BACKGROUND Proteinuria is associated with vascular risk and a systemic increase in vascular permeability. Endothelial dysfunction occurs early in atherosclerosis and modulates vascular permeability. Vascular risk and chronic inflammation are associated. This study investigates whether the increased vascular permeability in proteinuria reflects systemic endothelial dysfunction and chronic inflammation. METHODS Twenty-one patients with asymptomatic proteinuria (1.29 g/24 h; range 0.18 to 3.17) and 21 matched controls were studied. Microvascular endothelial function was assessed using acetylcholine iontophoresis. Maximum microvascular hyperemia (MMH) was assessed by flux response to local skin heating. Macrovascular endothelial function was assessed by flow-associated dilation (FAD) in the brachial artery using ultrasound. von Willebrand factor (vWF) was measured as a marker of endothelial activation. Low-grade inflammation was assessed by measurement of circulating C-reactive protein (CRP) values using a high sensitivity assay. RESULTS FAD was impaired in proteinuric subjects (AP) compared to controls [1.8 (0.2 to 5.3) AP vs. 3.8 (1.5 to 6.2) C %; P = 0.014]. There was no significant difference between groups in MMH or in the response to acetylcholine iontophoresis. The AP group had a higher CRP [4.0 (0.5 to 39.0) AP vs. 0.2 (0.1 to 21.3) C mg/L; P < 0.001] and tendency to higher vWF [101.5 (67.0 to 197.0) AP vs. 77.5 (45.0 to 185.0) C IU/dL; P = 0.046] compared to controls. In the AP, but not control, group there was an inverse correlation between CRP and microvascular function as determined by acetylcholine iontophoresis (r = -0.509; P = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS In AP subjects there is evidence of macrovascular endothelial dysfunction remote from the kidney and of low-grade inflammation that is associated with microvascular endothelial dysfunction.
Business Component Identification of Enterprise Information System: A hierarchical clustering method

Business Component Identification is recognized as one of the greatest important phase in the process of Component-Based Software Development (CBSD). This paper presents an approach to identify business components from domain business model. First a domain business model of enterprise information system is proposed, and it is the input of business components identification phase. To identify business components, a hierarchical clustering technique based on graph is proposed. This method proposed differs from traditional clustering technology, and it uses the edge strength to substitute for edge weight. In the process of business components identification, we consider cohesion, coupling, granularity and number of business components. To acquire high quality business components, we give the rule of evaluation of business components, which consider mainly non-functional factors such as capacity, cost, security etc. Finally, quality management subsystem is used as example to describe the method of business component identification.
Sources of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Sexually Transmitted Disease Information and Responses to Prevention Messages among Massachusetts Men Who Have Sex with Men

Purpose. Sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates have continued to increase among men who have sex with men (MSM). The present study used qualitative methods to assess sources of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/STD information and responses to HIV/STD prevention messages among MSM. This was done to understand how to design more effective media campaigns on HIV/STD prevention and testing for this population. Design. One-on-one semistructured, qualitative interviews and a brief demographic written survey were conducted. Setting. A Massachusetts community-based organization specializing in HIV/AIDS healthcare. Participants. A novel, modified, respondent-driven sampling method was used to recruit a diverse sample of 50 Massachusetts MSM between January and April 2005; qualitative interviews were conducted until redundancy in responses was achieved. Method. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. NVIVO software was used to organize transcripts, identify themes, and report frequency of responses. Results. Respondents reported having derived information on sexual health from multiple media sources. Direct outreach, gay- and HIV-centered organizations, print and broadcast media, public transportation ads, and the Internet held the greatest potential for dissemination. Primary care providers were also frequently seen as trusted sources of HIV/STD prevention information. Ideas for content often included having “people just like you” in ads. Conclusion. Health messages that focus on getting tested for HIV and STDs, practicing safe sex, and incorporating straightforward and accurate information on prevention may be the most acceptable to MSM. Providers should be proactive in disseminating information about HIV/STD prevention.
Identification and characterization of a novel 2,3‐butanediol dehydrogenase/acetoin reductase from Corynebacterium crenatum SYPA5‐5

Acetoin and 2,3‐butanediol are widely used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The enzyme, 2,3‐butanediol dehydrogenase/acetoin reductase (2,3‐BDH/AR), plays a significant role in the microbial production of acetoin and 2,3‐butanediol by catalysing a reversible reaction between acetoin and 2,3‐butanediol. To date, a 2,3‐BDH has not been characterized from Corynebacterium crenatum. 2,3‐BDH was cloned from Coryne. crenatum SYPA5‐5 and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21. Sequence analysis suggested that the 2,3‐BDH from Coryne. crenatum SYPA5‐5 belongs to the short‐chain dehydrogenase/reductase superfamily. Its maximum specific activity was obtained at 35°C, however, it became very unstable when the temperature was above 35°C. Its optimal pH was 4·0 for reduction reaction and 10·0 for oxidation reaction. The 2,3‐BDH activity was increased to some extent by Ca2+, Mg2+, Zn2+ and Mn2+ ions. In particular, Ca2+ induced about 1·5‐fold increase. The value of kcat/Km for diacetyl and acetoin are higher than for 2,3‐butanediol indicating that 2,3‐BDH can easily reduce diacetyl or acetoin to 2,3‐butanediol under lower pH conditions. The characteristics of 2,3‐BDH from Coryne. crenatum SYPA5‐5 will give guide to further studies for the production of acetoin and 2,3‐butanediol with engineered Coryne. crenatum SYPA5‐5.
Generation of cytotoxic T cell responses directed to human leucocyte antigen Class I restricted epitopes from the Aspergillus f16 allergen

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a major cause of infection‐related mortality in patients with haematological malignancies, especially in recipients of haematopoietic stem cell transplants. We have prepared overlapping pentadecapeptides (11‐aa overlap with previous peptide) spanning the entire 427‐aa coding region of the Aspergillus allergen, Asp f16 shown previously in mice to induce Th1‐type cell responses in vivo and in humans to induce proliferative and cytotoxic CD4+ T cell responses. Mature dendritic cells (DC) pulsed with a complete pool of peptides were used to generate T cell lines. Two lines from HLA‐B*3501+ donors were found to be strongly cytotoxic to autologous Asp f16‐peptide pool‐ and Aspergillus culture extract‐pulsed targets after 4–5 weekly primings. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) culture supernatant killed Aspergillus conidia, and cells directly killed Aspergillus hyphae. Cytotoxic activity and interferon (IFN)‐γ production were mediated exclusively by CD8+ T cells in response to pool‐pulsed targets. Interleukin (IL)‐4 production was not detected. CTL activity was restricted by HLA‐B*3501 and based on peptide prediction programmes was most probably directed to YFKYTAAAL (YFK), LPLCSAQTW (LPL) and GTRFPQTPM (GTR) in one donor, while only LPL was recognized by CTL from the second donor. Pool‐pulsed B*3503+ BLCL but not B*3502+ or B*3508+ BLCL presented peptide to donor no. 1. B*3503+ BLCL presented YFK and to a lesser extent GTR, but not peptide LPL. Our data show that in addition to our previously identified Class II restricted peptide response, DC pulsed with a pentadecapeptide pool from Asp f16 are capable of inducing polyclonal, HLA‐Class I‐restricted, Aspergillus‐specific T cells that may be capable of conferring immunity to IA.