Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Link between the Hiatus in Global Warming and North American Drought

AbstractPortions of western North America have experienced prolonged drought over the last decade. This drought has occurred at the same time as the global warming hiatus—a decadal period with little increase in global mean surface temperature. Climate models and observational analyses are used to clarify the dual role of recent tropical Pacific changes in driving both the global warming hiatus and North American drought. When observed tropical Pacific wind stress anomalies are inserted into coupled models, the simulations produce persistent negative sea surface temperature anomalies in the eastern tropical Pacific, a hiatus in global warming, and drought over North America driven by SST-induced atmospheric circulation anomalies. In the simulations herein the tropical wind anomalies account for 92% of the simulated North American drought during the recent decade, with 8% from anthropogenic radiative forcing changes. This suggests that anthropogenic radiative forcing is not the dominant driver of the curre.
Hypoxia 2015 Sleep at high altitude : guesses and facts

Bloch KE, Buenzli JC, Latshang TD, Ulrich S. Sleep at high altitude: guesses and facts. J Appl Physiol 119: 1466–1480, 2015. First published July 30, 2015; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00448. 2015. —Lowlanders commonly report a poor sleep quality during the first few nights after arriving at high altitude. Polysomnographic studies reveal that reductions in slow wave sleep are the most consistent altitudeinduced changes in sleep structure identified by visual scoring. Quantitative spectral analyses of the sleep electroencephalogram have confirmed an altitude-related reduction in the low-frequency power (0.8-4.6 Hz). Although some studies suggest an increase in arousals from sleep at high altitude, this is not a consistent finding. Whether sleep instability at high altitude is triggered by periodic breathing or vice versa is still uncertain. Overnight changes in slow wave-derived encephalographic measures of neuronal synchronization in healthy subjects were less pronounced at moderately high (2,590 m) compared with low altitude (490 m), and this was associated with a decline in sleep-related memory consolidation. Correspondingly, exacerbation of breathing and sleep disturbances experienced by lowlanders with obstructive sleep apnea during a stay at 2,590 m was associated with poor performance in driving simulator tests. These findings suggest that altitude-related alterations in sleep may adversely affect daytime performance. Despite recent advances in our understanding of sleep at altitude, further research is required to better establish the role of gender and age in alterations of sleep at different altitudes, to determine the influence of acclimatization and of altituderelated illness, and to uncover the characteristics of sleep in highlanders that may serve as a study paradigm of sleep in patients exposed to chronic hypoxia due to cardiorespiratory disease.
Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effectiveness of Chlorhexidine Showers Before Elective Plastic Surgical Procedures

This randomized controlled trial was designed to assess the effect of preoperative chlorhexidine showers on skin colonization and postoperative infection rates associated with plastic surgical procedures involving the trunk. Chlorhexidine showers were effective in reducing skin colonization with coagulase-negative staphylococci and yeasts, but there was no difference in postoperative infection rates.
FAMILY, LAND AND THE VILLAGE COMMUNITY IN LATER MEDIEVAL ENGLAND

IT HAS BEEN ARGUED THAT IN THE PERIOD AFTER THE BLACK DEATH rural society underwent a number of structural changes as a result of the demographic decline and stagnation, the greater mobility of the population, the abundance of land and the high level of real wages. In her study of the inheritance customs in medieval England, Dr. Faith has observed that "the family claims to land were disregarded, or seldom pressed, and in place of the strict and elaborate arrangements which had previously governed the descent of land there came to be no laws but those of supply and demand". Similarly, Miss Harvey has noted that the family sense of inseparable association with a particular holding, which had been so marked a feature of rural society in the early middle ages, weakened, indeed in some places it more or less disappeared. Some historians, notably Professor Raftis and Dr. Dewindt, have claimed that the loosening of the ties between peasant famines and their holdings after the Black Death coincided with the weakening of communal bonds; "the old cohesive and deeply interpersonal and interdependent aspect of village life was fading, as private and independent interests and activities took precedence over those of groups". All these and similar observations have recently been mobilized by Dr. Macfarlane to support his original thesis that rural England in the middle ages was not populated by peasants but by individualistic farmers who, free from any familial and communal restraints, were able to pursue a quasi-capitalistic system of production. In this paper I will try to test the above-mentioned observations against the data available in the Halesowen court rolls. However, in order to find out the nature of the bonds between the peasant family and its land, between the villager and his neighbour, and how ties changed after the Black Death, it is useful to look first at these bonds during the pre-plague period.
Comparative Effects of Nitroprusside and Nitroglycerin on Platelet Aggregation in Patients with Heart Failure

We studied the effects of nitroprusside and nitroglycerin on in vitro platelet aggregation responses to adenosine diphosphate and epinephrine in order to relate platelet aggregation effects to hemodynamic alterations in man. In heart failure patients, nitroprusside infusion (mean dose, 65 ± 12 μg/min) decreased systemic vascular resistance by 30|X%, as in vitro platelet aggregation and in vivo formation of aggregates declined significantly (p < 0.01). Nitroglycerin therapy (mean dose, 55 ± 7 μg/rnin) did not significantly alter systemic vascular resistance, as in vitro platelet aggregation or in vivo platelet aggregates were unaffected. In other experiments, the direct effects of varying doses of nitroprusside and nitroglycerin (0.01–100 μg/ml plasma) on platelet aggregation were evaluated. With nitroprusside, platelet aggregation decreased markedly at 0.01 μg/ml plasma concentration. A progressive decrease in platelet aggregation with increasing concentrations of nitroprusside was noticed. In contrast, nitroglycerin in therapeutic range did not affect platelet aggregation. However, higher concentrations (>1.0 μg/ml) of nitroglycerin resulted in lower platelet aggregation. These data suggest that antiplatelet aggregation effects of nitroprusside may be, in part, a mechanism of a decline in systemic vascular resistance in heart failure patients.
Bevacizumab treatment for subfoveal choroidal neovascularization from causes other than age-related macular degeneration.

OBJECTIVE To report the results of intravitreous bevacizumab (Avastin) treatment for choroidal neovascularization (CNV) from causes other than age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of eyes that received intravitreous bevacizumab, 1.25 mg, for subfoveal non-AMD CNV at a referral-based retinal practice. Repeated treatment with intravitreous bevacizumab occurred if there were signs of persistent or recurrent exudation. The main outcome measure was visual acuity (VA). RESULTS The study included 39 eyes of 36 patients with subfoveal CNV secondary to multifocal choroiditis (n = 12), angioid streaks (n = 11), myopic degeneration (n = 10), idiopathic disease (n = 4), or other disease (n = 2). The median baseline VA was 20/60 (logMAR, 0.48). The mean follow-up was 58.8 weeks, and the mean number of injections per eye was 3.4. After 3-month follow-up, the median VA was 20/30 (logMAR, 0.18) (P = .004 vs baseline). At last follow-up, the median VA was 20/40 (logMAR, 0.30). This remained an improvement compared with baseline (P < .02) but was worse than 3-month follow-up (P < .03). There was no correlation between underlying diagnosis and VA change during follow-up. CONCLUSION Subfoveal CNV secondary to non-AMD causes treated with intravitreous bevacizumab responded favorably and similarly, despite varying underlying etiologies.
Genetic Characterization Indicates that a Specific Subpopulation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Is Associated with Keratitis Infections

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common opportunistic bacterial pathogen that causes a variety of infections in humans. Populations of P. aeruginosa are dominated by common clones that can be isolated from diverse clinical and environmental sources. To determine whether specific clones are associated with corneal infection, we used a portable genotyping microarray system to analyze a set of 63 P. aeruginosa isolates from patients with corneal ulcers (keratitis). We then used population analysis to compare the keratitis isolates to a wider collection of P. aeruginosa from various nonocular sources. We identified various markers in a subpopulation of P. aeruginosa associated with keratitis that were in strong disequilibrium with the wider P. aeruginosa population, including oriC, exoU, katN, unmodified flagellin, and the carriage of common genomic islands. The genome sequencing of a keratitis isolate (39016; representing the dominant serotype O11), which was associated with a prolonged clinical healing time, revealed several genomic islands and prophages within the accessory genome. The PCR amplification screening of all 63 keratitis isolates, however, provided little evidence for the shared carriage of specific prophages or genomic islands between serotypes. P. aeruginosa twitching motility, due to type IV pili, is implicated in corneal virulence. We demonstrated that 46% of the O11 keratitis isolates, including 39016, carry a distinctive pilA, encoding the pilin of type IV pili. Thus, the keratitis isolates were associated with specific characteristics, indicating that a subpopulation of P. aeruginosa is adapted to cause corneal infection.
Microcirculatory Dysfunction Induced by Cigarette Smoking

This review deals with the deleterious effects of cigarette smoking on the microcirculation, both in terms of morphological (i.e., vessel wall injury, capillary loss) and functional aspects. The latter concerns predominantly changes in tissue perfusion and its regulatory mechanisms (i.e., reactive hyperemia, sequestration of blood cells in the microcirculation). The mechanisms of action of cigarette smoking on the microcirculation include compromised endothelial‐dependent vasorelaxation, platelet aggregation, endothelial cell dysfunction, and the activation of circulating leukocytes. Through these mechanisms, cigarette smoking elicits the aggregation and adhesion of leukocytes and/or platelets to the microvascular endothelium in venules and arterioles, as assessed by intravital fluorescence microscopy in the hamster skinfold chamber model. This model has allowed us to learn more about the participation of reactive oxygen species, inflammatory mediators, and adhesion molecules in the orchestration of microcirculatory dysfunction after cigarette smoking. In the final part of this review, the clinical consequences of microcirculatory dysfunction are discussed and an outlook is offered on potential prophylactic interventions (i.e., antioxidant vitamins) aimed at abrogating the deleterious action of cigarette smoking on the microcirculation. Microcirculation (2000) 7, 367–384.
Democracy and economic growth: A survey of arguments and results

This paper surveys the literature on how democracy affects economic growth. The paper first presents descriptive statistics and brief case-descriptions to illustrate how democracy and dictatorship may affect growth. Thereafter, it evaluates five central arguments on democracy and growth, before surveying empirical studies on the relationship. Furthermore, the paper highlights critical methodological challenges, and draws implications for constructing valid models for empirical research on the topic. The review shows that there is still disagreement over whether democracy enhances growth or not. Nevertheless, in the light of more recent studies, using better methodological approaches and more data than previous studies, two trends are recognizable: first, the hypothesis that democracy reduces economic growth is refuted by recent studies; second, the hypothesis that democracy has no effect on growth, although still widespread in the academic community, seems less plausible today than it did 10 or 20 years ago. Several recent studies show that democracy has positive effects on growth, although these effects are ‘indirect’ in the sense that democracy affects growth through, for example, enhancing human capital or strengthening the protection of property rights.
Outdoor and indoor soccer: Injuries among youth players

The incidence of injuries among youth soccer players (under age 16) participating in indoor soccer was 4.5 times that of youth players in outdoor soccer when calculated per 100 hours of team play, and 6.1 times greater when calculated per 100 hours of player game participation. Injuries were few among players under age 10 in either game, and the number of injuries increased with age in the older players. Medical assist ance was required for 6.5% of the injuries among outdoor players and for 24.3% among indoor players. Overall, 66.6% of the injuries were the result of physical contact between players. No relationship was observed between the risk of injury and playing position, conduct of warm-up exercises, or the team having a licensed coach.
Gallstone recurrence after minimally-invasive cholecystolithotomy with gallbladder reservation: a follow-up of 720 cases.

OBJECTIVE To discuss the hazards of cholecystolithiasis recrudesce after cholecystolithotomy with gallbladder reservation; To provide a theoretical basis for reducing the recurrence rate of gallstone. PATIENTS AND METHODS The patients who were followed up for at least one year after minimally-invasive operation with gallbladder reservation because of cholecystolithiasis were selected. In this population, the patients with recurrence after surgery were as the case group, those patients with no recurrence after surgery were as the control group. Through collection of general data of selected cases, relevant information of Ultrasound Examinations of gallbladder and history data of the patients questionnaires were completed. Relevant factors of gallstone recurrence of patients, were observed through statistic analysis. Main factors go as follows: gender, age, nation, career, BMI, whether or not the patient had the history of chronic superficial gastritis, and regulation of gallbladder emptying function, family history, etc. The information of selected cases is complete. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS The main hazards of cholecystolithiasis recurrence were BMI, family history of gallstone disease, and emptying function of gallbladder.
Understanding medication and use of drug delivery device by asthmatic in Lagos.

BACKGROUND There are several internationally accepted guidelines for the management of asthma. OBJECTIVE To examine the utilization of these guidelines in the management of asthmatics as well as the use of inhaler devices among the asthmatics presenting for specialist assessment and treatment in Lagos, Nigeria. METHODS One hundred and six consecutive patients with physician-diagnosed asthma referred on account of poor control for specialist review participated in the study between April 2006 and March 2007. The setting was the Chest Clinic of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos. The patients aged between 13 and 64 years were interviewed about asthma control using previous hospitalization, frequency of night-time symptoms, and frequency of attendance at The Emergency Unit. Their knowledge of medications was assessed. Inhaler techniques were directly observed. RESULTS Fifty two (49.1%) had previous hospitalization for asthma. Fifty (47.2%) had weekly nighttime symptoms. Forty-eight (45.3%) had exacerbations requiring treatment at the emergency room in the week preceeding the interview. The metered dose inhaler was the commonest drug delivery device, in use by 72 (67.9%) of the patients. Thirty-two (30.2%) used diskus. Only 10 (10.6%) used nebulisers at any point. The inhaler technique was rated as good by thirty-four (47.2%) out of the seventy-two respondents and poor by thirty-eight (52.8%). Only thirty-four satisfactorily performed all steps. One hundred respondents (943%) skipped their medications. Majority of the asthmatics did not receive any health education about their condition. Possession of peak flow meter and use were low among the patients with only 22 (20.8%) having one. CONCLUSION Asthma control is poor among the patients in Lagos, Nigeria. Poor knowledge of disease, medication use and inhaler techniques contribute significantly to this problem.
Handwriting Recognition for Historical Documents

OCR of printed text is a well-developed technology that has steadily improved in accuracy and flexibility. Initially limited to interpretation of numerals printed with special fonts, current day OCR software can deal with a multitude of fonts, character sets, languages, and page attributes. For extremely clean and wellscanned documents, the resulting text may be good enough to use for direct display purposes. More commonly, the OCR is somewhat "dirty" (i.e., contains errors) but is still accurate enough to form the basis of a quite usable machine-searchable index. Accuracy rates of 99.5% and higher (at the character level) are achievable for good quality source documents.
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the thalamus in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and hippocampal sclerosis.

PURPOSE to investigate potential neuronal dysfunction within the thalamus in patients suffering from mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE/HS). METHODS we examined twenty epileptic patients suffering from mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (17 females, 3 males) and twenty sex- and age-matched healthy controls. H MR spectroscopic imaging (SI) was performed over the right and left thalamus in all patients and controls. In addition both hippocampi were investigated by the H MR spectroscopic single voxel (SV) technique in both groups. RESULTS statistical analysis of compared data in both groups demonstrated that the total thalamic NAA level was significantly decreased in patients with MTLE/HS as compared to healthy controls. Detailed analysis revealed a statistically significant reduction of NAA, NAA/Cr and NAA/(Cr+Cho) ratios in the thalamus ipsilateral to hippocampus affected with hippocampal sclerosis in patients compared to controls, while no significant changes were observed in the thalamus contralateral to sclerotic hippocampus. A comparison of values in ipsilateral and contralateral thalami in patients showed statistically significant difference with lower values of NAA and both ratios in the ipsilateral thalamus. Previously reported reduced hippocampal concentration of NAA, NAA/Cr and NAA/(Cr+Cho) ratios on the side of hippocampal sclerosis compared with contralateral hippocampus in patients and both hippocampi in controls was confirmed. CONCLUSIONS the present MRS data clearly indicate neuronal dysfunction within the thalamus ipsilateral to the sclerotic hippocampus of patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. In agreement with other recent functional and structural neuroimagings our results confirm the role of the ipsilateral thalamus in the medial temporal/limbic epileptic network.
Quo Vadis 2010? – Carpe Diem: Challenges and Opportunities in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in infants and children remains a public health problem of enormous magnitude. It is a complex and heterogeneous condition that presents many diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic challenges. A number of investigative teams are studying pediatric TBI both in experimental models and in clinical studies at the bedside. This review builds on work presented in a prior supplement to Developmental Neuroscience that was published in 2006, and addresses several active areas of research on this topic, including (1) the application of novel imaging methods, (2) the use of serum and/or CSF biomarkers of injury, (3) advances in neuromonitoring, (4) the development and testing of novel therapies, (5) developments in modeling pediatric TBI, (6) the consideration of a new approach to classification of pediatric TBI, and (7) assessing the potential impact of the development of pediatric and neonatal neurocritical care services on the management and outcome of pediatric TBI.
Association between Plasma Angiopoietin-Like Protein 3 and Arterial Wall Thickness in Healthy Subjects

Background: Angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) is a liver-derived plasma protein that modulates plasma triglyceride clearance, angiogenesis and atherosclerosis in experimental models. So far, no study has examined its role in atherosclerosis in human subjects. We evaluated the possible association between plasma ANGPTL3 level and carotid artery intima-media thickness (CA-IMT) and femoral artery intima-media thickness (FA-IMT) in healthy human subjects. Methods: The subjects were 381 healthy volunteers. Plasma ANGPTL3 was determined by a specific ELISA. CA-IMT and FA-IMT were measured by high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography. Results: The plasma ANGPTL3 level was 764 ± 291 ng/ml (mean ± SD). CA-IMT showed a significant positive correlation with plasma ANGPTL3 and other classical risk factors such as age, blood pressure, and plasma glucose and lipid levels. The positive association between ANGPTL3 and CA-IMT remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, smoking, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, plasma glucose, insulin resistance index, triglyceride, and high-density and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. ANGPTL3 also showed a positive association with FA-IMT independent of these factors. Conclusions: These results demonstrate for the first time that ANGPTL3 is closely associated with arterial wall thickness in human subjects.
Un análisis de las relaciones entre funciones ejecutivas, lenguaje y habilidades matemáticas

El objetivo de este trabajo fue explorar la relacion existente entre un conjunto de variables cognitivo-linguisticas, como son la conciencia fonologica, la competencia lectora y matematica, y las funciones ejecutivas en las etapas iniciales de escolarizacion. Tanto las variables cognitivas como las linguisticas analizadas tienen una alta dependencia de las funciones ejecutivas que permiten la planificacion y supervision intencional del comportamiento. Dos de los procesos mas importantes implicados son los que nuclean el modelo de Miyake. Determinar la influencia que estos procesos de arriba-abajo tienen sobre el rendimiento cognitivo-linguistico puede ser un objetivo interesante desde el punto de vista de la evaluacion de las dificultades de aprendizaje en la escuela. Con la finalidad de hacer un estudio exploratorio se seleccionaron 16 ninos y ninas 2o de Educacion Primaria de un colegio publico con edades comprendidas entre los 7 y 8 anos. Los datos sobre conciencia fonologica y competencia lectora fueron obtenidos a traves del LOLEVA, los relacionados con las Funciones ejecutivas se obtuvieron a traves del CHEXI cubierto por el profesorado, y el indice de competencia matematica (ICM) se obtuvo a traves del TEMA-3. Los resultados muestran que tanto las medidas cognitivas, como las linguisticas tienen una alta correlacion con las funciones ejecutivas evaluadas, pero no en todas las tareas ni con el mismo peso. De igual modo, entre las medidas de los dominios linguistico y matematico parecen existir relaciones claramente significativas, posiblemente mediadas por su dependencia basica de las funciones ejecutivas.