Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of FAS and FAS ligand polymorphisms with the susceptibility and severity of lumbar disc degeneration in Chinese Han population

Context: Apoptosis is involved in the mechanism of lumbar disc degeneration (LDD). Objective: We aim to determine whether the polymorphisms of FAS and FASL are associated with the presence and severity of LDD. Methods: A total of 348 patients with LDD and 215 healthy controls were genotyped. Results: Patients with LDD showed higher frequency of−1377GA and AA, as well as–844CT and TT genotypes than normal controls. These genotypes were found to be associated with the risk of higher grades of LDD. Conclusion: The polymorphisms of FAS and FASL may be associated with the presence and severity of LDD.
Assessing the Veracity of Methods for Extracting Place Semantics from Flickr Tags

The volume and potential value of user generated content (UGC) is ever growing. Multiply sourced, its value is greatly increased by the inclusion of metadata that adequately and accurately describes that content – particularly if such data are to be integrated with more formal data sets. Typically, digital photography is tagged with location and attribute information that variously describe the location, events or objects in the image. Often inconsistent and incomplete, these attributes reflect concepts at a range of geographic scales. From a spatial data integration perspective, the information relating to “place” is of primary interest. The challenge therefore is in selecting the most appropriate tags that best describe the geography of the image. This article presents a methodology based on an information retrieval technique that separates out “place related tags” from the remainder of the tags. Different scales of geography are identified by varying the size of the sampling area within which the imagery falls. This is applied in the context of urban environments, using Flickr imagery. Empirical analysis is then used to assess the correctness of the chosen tags (i.e. whether the tag correctly describes the geographic region in which the image was taken). Logistic regression and Bayesian inference are used to attach a probability value to each place tag. The high correlation values achieved indicate that this methodology can be used to automatically select place tags for any urban region and thus hierarchically structure UGC in order that it can be semantically integrated with other data sources.
The Brucella suis virB operon is induced intracellularly in macrophages

A type IV secretion system similar to the VirB system of the phytopathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens is essential for the intracellular survival and multiplication of the mammalian pathogen Brucella. Reverse transcriptase–PCR showed that the 12 genes encoding the Brucella suis VirB system form an operon. Semiquantitative measurements of virB mRNA levels by slot blotting showed that transcription of the virB operon, but not the flanking genes, is regulated by environmental factors in vitro. Flow cytometry used to measure green fluorescent protein expression from the virB promoter confirmed the data from slot blots. Fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis and fluorescence microscopy showed that the virB promoter is induced in macrophages within 3 h after infection. Induction only occurred once the bacteria were inside the cells, and phagosome acidification was shown to be the major signal inducing intracellular expression. Because phagosome acidification is essential for the intracellular multiplication of Brucella, we suggest that it is the signal that triggers the secretion of unknown effector molecules. These effector molecules play a role in the remodeling of the phagosome to create the unique intracellular compartment in which Brucella replicates.
Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Time-Varying Loadings in High-Dimensional Factor Models

In this paper, we develop a maximum likelihood estimator of time-varying loadings in high-dimensional factor models. We specify the loadings to evolve as stationary vector autoregressions (VAR) and show that consistent estimates of the loadings parameters can be obtained by a two-step maximum likelihood estimation procedure. In the first step, principal components are extracted from the data to form factor estimates. In the second step, the parameters of the loadings VARs are estimated as a set of univariate regression models with time-varying coefficients. We document the finite-sample properties of the maximum likelihood estimator through an extensive simulation study and illustrate the empirical relevance of the time-varying loadings structure using a large quarterly dataset for the US economy.
Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with the Zika virus outbreak in Brazil

ABSTRACT Zika virus (ZIKV) is now considered an emerging flavivirosis, with a first large outbreak registered in the Yap Islands in 2007. In 2013, a new outbreak was reported in the French Polynesia, with associated cases of neurological complications including Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). The incidence of GBS has increased in Brazil since 2015, what is speculated to be secondary to the ZIKV infection outbreak. The gold-standard test for detection of acute ZIKV infection is the polymerase-chain reaction technique, an essay largely unavailable in Brazil. The diagnosis of GBS is feasible even in resource-limited areas using the criteria proposed by the GBS Classification Group, which is based solely on clinical grounds. Further understanding on the relationship of ZIKV with neurological complications is a research urgency.
The timed up and go test for use on an inpatient orthopaedic rehabilitation ward.

STUDY DESIGN Single-group repeated-measures study. OBJECTIVE To examine the test-retest reliability of the timed up and go (TUG) test and its validity for measuring change and predicting length of stay (LOS) on an inpatient orthopaedic rehabilitation ward. BACKGROUND The TUG test is used to measure functional mobility of persons with musculoskeletal conditions but it has not been thoroughly tested for use in an inpatient orthopaedic rehabilitation ward. METHODS AND MEASURES The TUG test was administered to 142 patients on admission to an orthopaedic rehabilitation ward 7 to 10 days after admission and on discharge. To test reliability, 24 subjects had these tests repeated 1 day after admission, and the intraclass correlation (ICC) and standard error of measurement (SEM) were calculated. Change scores of the TUG test were evaluated against change scores in pain and function, and the rating of improvement of the patient and therapist. The standardized response mean (SRM) was also calculated. A regression analysis was performed to determine whether the admission TUG test score could predict LOS. RESULTS The ICC of the TUG test was 0.80 and the SEM was 10.2 seconds. The change in TUG test scores correlated with the changes in pain (r = 0.21, P<.01) and function (r = -0.23, P<.01), and resulted in an SRM of 0.89 for subjects rated as improved. The admission TUG test scores accounted for only 3.4% of the variance in inpatient LOS. CONCLUSION The TUG test is reliable and valid to assess group change of inpatients on an orthopaedic rehabilitation ward but is not a good predictor of LOS. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognosis, level 1b.
A randomised comparative study of 1064 nm Neodymium‐doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) laser and topical antifungal treatment of onychomycosis

Conventional treatments for onychomycosis include oral and topical antifungal agents. Although Nd:YAG laser has been reported to be effective, controlled studies combined or compared with conventional treatments are needed. To evaluate the efficacy of 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser for onychomycosis and compare outcomes with those of topical antifungal treatment and combination therapy. Patients were randomly divided into three groups: Laser (L); laser with topical antifungal therapy (L + T); and topical antifungal treatment (T). Laser treatment consisted of three or four sessions at 4 week intervals. Outcomes were assessed clinically and mycologically. In 217 nails of 56 patients, 76% in the L group and 71.8% in the L + T group experienced clinical responses, and 15.2% and 22.5%, respectively, were cured at 24 weeks. The clinical and cure rates of both groups were significantly greater than those of the T group. Six patients of the L group developed new infections, as did one patient in the L + T group and two patients in the T group. 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser shows clinically good responses in onychomycosis. Addition of topical antifungal agent did not appear to improve efficacy, but may have protected against new infection.
The Dynamics of Domestic Violence: Learning About the Match

We present a dynamic lifecycle model of women’s choices with respect to partnership status, labour supply and fertility when they cannot directly observe whether a given male partner is of a violent type or not. The model is estimated by the method of simulated moments using longitudinal data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. The results indicate that uncertainty about a partner’s abusive type creates incentives for women to delay fertility, reduce fertility overall, divorce more often and increase labour supply. We also study the impact of higher female wages, income support to single mothers, and subsidised childcare when the mother is working. While higher wages reduce women’s overall exposure to abuse, both income support and subsidised childcare largely fail to do so by encouraging early fertility. The latter two policies instead increase the incidence of abuse towards mothers and hence the abuse exposure for children.
Rapid and Simple Spectrophotometric Analysis of Labetalol Hydrochloride in Pharmaceutical , Urine and Blood Samples

There is an increasing interest in new strategies to determine as well as assessment of drugs in medical and pharmaceutical sciences. Herein we describe a simple, rapid, sensitive, and selective spectrophotometric method for determination of labetalol (LBT) hydrochloride based on the oxidation of the drug with ferric ammonium sulphate that yields a green colored product. The increase in absorbance of colored product is measured at 535 nm. All experimental parameters affecting the development of color are investigated and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, Beer’s law is obeyed over the concentration range 10 200 μg/mL with molar absorptivity of 2.13 ×10 3 L mol -1 cm -1 . The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) of the proposed method are 2.71 and 8.22 μg/mL, respectively. The intra–day and inter–day precisions and accuracy of the proposed method are acceptable with low values of standard analytical error. The data are in agreement with values obtained by standard British Pharmacopeia (BP) method. The method is successfully applied to the determination of LBT in both pharmaceutical formulations and biological samples (e.g., human urine and plasma) in vitro.
The bureaucratic performance of development in colonial and post-colonial Tanzania

Abstract This article examines change and continuity in development measures concerning cassava in a poor Tanzanian region over a period of 80 years. It shows ambivalent and dubious ways of reasoning about the causes of and solutions to poverty related to these measures, and argues that the persistence of such problematic arguments is understandable if one considers their political usefulness. Local officials have always had to safeguard their own viability in the eyes of their superiors in the administration, as well as those of local audiences. For them, “development” has become a focus of political performances that serve to reinforce their legitimacy.
Categorical Perception of Sound Frequency by Crickets

Partitioning continuously varying stimuli into categories is a fundamental problem of perception. One solution to this problem, categorical perception, is known primarily from human speech, but also occurs in other modalities and in some mammals and birds. Categorical perception was tested in crickets by using two paradigms of human psychophysics, labeling and habituation-dishabituation. The results show that crickets divide sound frequency categorically between attractive (<16 kilohertz) and repulsive (>16 kilohertz) sounds. There is sharp discrimination between these categories but no discrimination between different frequencies of ultrasound. This demonstration of categorical perception in an invertebrate suggests that categorical perception may be a basic and widespread feature of sensory systems, from humans to invertebrates.
Designed Disulfide between N-terminal Domains of Lactose Repressor Disrupts Allosteric Linkage*

Substitution of Cys for Val at position 52 of thelac repressor was designed to permit disulfide bond formation between the two N-terminal DNA binding domains that comprise an operator DNA binding site. This position marks the closest approach of these domains based on the x-ray crystallographic structures of the homologous purine holorepressor-operator complex and lacrepressor-operator complex (Schumacher, M. A., Choi, K. Y., Zalkin, H., and Brennan, R. G. (1994) Science 266, 763–770; Lewis, M. , Chang, G. , Horton, N.C. , Kercher, M. A. , Pace, H. C. , Schumacher, M. A. , Brennan, R. G. , and Lu, P. (1996) Science 271, 1247–1254). The V52C mutation was generated by site-specific methods, and the mutant protein was purified and characterized. In the reduced form, V52C bound operator DNA with slightly increased affinity. Exposure to oxidizing conditions resulted in disulfide bond formation, and the oxidized protein bound operator DNA with ∼6-fold higher affinity than wild-type protein. Inducer binding for both oxidized and reduced forms of V52C was comparable to wild-type lac repressor. In the presence of inducer, the reduced protein exhibited wild-type, diminished DNA binding. In contrast, DNA binding for the oxidized form was unaffected by inducer, even at 1 mm. Thus, the formation of the designed disulfide between Cys52 side chains within each dimer renders the protein-operator complex unresponsive to sugar binding, presumably by disrupting the allosteric linkage between operator and inducer binding.
Low‐temperature magnetic properties of pelagic carbonates: Oxidation of biogenic magnetite and identification of magnetosome chains

Pelagic marine carbonates provide important records of past environmental change. We carried out detailed low‐temperature magnetic measurements on biogenic magnetite‐bearing sediments from the Southern Ocean (Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Holes 738B, 738C, 689D, and 690C) and on samples containing whole magnetotactic bacteria cells. We document a range of low‐temperature magnetic properties, including reversible humped low‐temperature cycling (LTC) curves. Different degrees of magnetite oxidation are considered to be responsible for the observed variable shapes of LTC curves. A dipole spring mechanism in magnetosome chains is introduced to explain reversible LTC curves. This dipole spring mechanism is proposed to result from the uniaxial anisotropy that originates from the chain arrangement of biogenic magnetite, similar to published results for uniaxial stable single domain (SD) particles. The dipole spring mechanism reversibly restores the remanence during warming in LTC measurements. This supports a previous idea that remanence of magnetosome chains is completely reversible during LTC experiments. We suggest that this magnetic fingerprint is a diagnostic indicator for intact magnetosome chains, although the presence of isolated uniaxial stable SD particles and magnetically interacting particles can complicate this test. Magnetic measurements through the Eocene section of ODP Hole 738B reveal an interval with distinct magnetic properties that we interpret to originate from less oxidized biogenic magnetite and enrichment of a biogenic “hard” component. Co‐occurrence of these two magnetic fingerprints during the late Eocene in the Southern Ocean indicates less oxic conditions, probably due to increased oceanic primary productivity and organic carbon burial.
Solitary plasmacytoma of the hyoid bone

Solitary plasmacytoma of bone (SPB) is a plasma cell neoplasm occurring in red marrow areas. It is an uncommon plasma cell tumor that constitutes less than 10% of all plasma cell tumors. 1 The hyoid bone is an atypical localization for SPB, with 1 case previously reported by Goel et al. 2 We present the radiologic and the clinical findings of a case with solitary plasmacytoma of the hyoid bone and review the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of the tumor.
Isolated growth cones stimulate proliferation of cultured Schwann cells

A growth cone‐enriched fraction was prepared from 3–4 day rat cerebra. Examination of the growth cone fraction by electron microscopy revealed numerous structures circular in appearance that contain a number of features common to neuronal growth cones in vivo. The isolated growth cones stimulated a dose‐dependent incorporation of [3H]‐thymidine into cultured Schwann cells in a manner similar to that observed with an axolemma‐enriched fraction prepared from adult rat brainstem. The mitogenic activities of both the growth cone fraction and axolemma‐enriched fraction were decreased 50% and 20%, respectively, by treatment with heparitinase I. The mitogen for Schwann cells present in the isolated growth cones appears to be similar to that found in axolemma‐enriched fractions prepared from adult rats.
Cultural Traits and Immigration: Hostility and Suicidality in Chinese Canadian Students

Suicidality has been related to inwardly directed aggression. We compared convenience samples of 89 Canadian students of Chinese origin (CC) and 81 Canadian students from other backgrounds on measures of suicidality, hostility and aggression. The Chinese Canadian group reported higher levels of suicidality and hostility than the group of other Canadians. However, aggressive behaviors directed toward self or others were less frequent among Chinese Canadians. No differences were found between men and women. The results are interpreted by invoking the influence of Chinese culture on emotional restraint, particularly as regards aggressiveness.
Formation of proteolytic activity in continuous culture of Sphaerophorus necrophorus.

A continuous cultivation technique has been developed for the determination of the optimal conditions for formation of proteolytic activity by Sphaerophorous necrophorus. The proteo-lytic activity was cell-bound and could be released by sonic treatment. The maximal bacterial yield (3.5 mg/ml dry weight) was achieved at a dilution rate of 0.19 hr-1, pH 6.8 and a temperature of 35°C. The proteolytic activity was also maximal under these conditions. An increase in the tryptone concentration from 15 to 25 g/l stimulated protease formation without influencing the cell yield. The formation of proteolytic activity was inhibited by glucose.
Complication rates for carotid endarterectomy. A call to action.

The efficacy of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) for selected patients with high-grade stenosis of the extracranial carotid artery has now been established through a series of randomized, controlled trials.1 2 3 4 5 6 The reduction in stroke risk afforded by this prophylactic procedure is highly dependent on perioperative complication rates.7 Combined stroke and death rates much exceeding 3% for patients with asymptomatic stenosis and 6% for patients with symptomatic stenosis would eliminate the benefit in stroke reduction gained through the operation.8 A systematic review of the risks of stroke and death due to CEA based on 25 studies published since 1980 estimated 30-day complication rates of 3.35% for asymptomatic stenosis and 5.18% for symptomatic stenosis (including mortality rates of 1.3% and 1.8%, respectively). 9 This review included studies based on a variety of methodologies. A companion review based on 51 studies of complication rates for patients undergoing CEA for symptomatic carotid stenosis found that the risk of surgery varied systematically with the methods and authorship of the report.10 The risk of stroke and/or death was highest in studies in which the patient was assessed by a neurologist after surgery (7.7%) and lowest in studies with a single author affiliated with a surgery department (2.3%). On the basis of data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey reflecting the years 1971 through 1982, it was estimated that …
Structural and optical study of yttrium oxide co-doped with bismuth and zinc prepared by sol-gel method

Bismuth and zinc co-doped Y 2 O 3 samples are synthesized by sol-gel method using ammonium hydroxide as a precipitating agent. Structural analysis is done by XRD, SEM- EDAX and the optical properties are analysed by FTIR, UV-Vis absorption studies and photoluminescence (PL) studies. UV-Vis absorption studies show absorption only around 340 nm whereas PL shows peaks around 401 nm, 680 nm and 1020 nm forY 2 O 3 co-doped with bismuth and zinc . The PL spectrum shows emission in violet region (401 nm) due to zinc dopant and red and NIR region (680 nm and 1020 nm) due to the bismuth dopant. This is a new material which can effectively work as an efficient and cheap red phosphor.
Transcriptomic profiling explains racial disparities in pterygium patients treated with doxycycline.

PURPOSE To understand the differential responses to doxycycline between Caucasian and Hispanic patients observed in a previous clinical trial. METHODS Primary cultures were established using pterygia excised from male Caucasian (n = 3) and Hispanic (n = 6) patients. The response of these cells to doxycycline was tested in a toxicity assay. In addition, a complete transcriptome was obtained from the nine samples, and the results were analyzed using false discovery rate statistics. Results were confirmed by quantitative RT (qRT)-PCR and Western blotting for a limited set of genes. RESULTS Caucasian pterygium cells underwent apoptosis upon exposure to doxycycline, whereas Hispanic cells survived the treatment. Transcriptomic analysis showed profound differences between cells of both ethnicities, even before treatment, implicating important cellular pathways such as the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation chain, the proteasome, and the components of the extracellular matrix. Following exposure to doxycycline, there was a significant increase in proapoptotic proteins, regulators of the cell cycle, and components of the mitochondrial membrane in Caucasian cells but not in their Hispanic counterparts. There was a good correlation between data obtained by ultrasequencing and those generated by qRT-PCR or Western blotting. CONCLUSIONS The lack of response to doxycycline observed in Hispanic pterygium patients in a previous clinical trial can be explained by the genetic protection afforded to the cells in this ethnic background against apoptosis and cell death. New therapeutic options must be devised for these patients.
A Temperature and Supply Voltage Independent CMOS Voltage Reference Circuit

A pure CMOS threshold-voltage reference (V TR ) circuit achieves temperature (T) coefficient of 5 μV/°C (T = -60 ∼ +100°C) and supply voltage (V DD ) sensitivity of 0.1 mV/V (V DD = 3 ∼ 5V). A combination of subthreshold current, linear current and saturation current in n-MOSFETs provides a small voltage and temperature dependence. Three different regions in I-V characteristics of MOSFETs generate a constant V TR based on threshold voltage at 0 K. A feedback scheme from the reference output to gates of n-MOSFETs extremely stabilizes the output. The circuit consists of only 17 MOSFETs and its simple scheme saves the die area, which is 0.18 mm 2 in the TEG (Test Element Group) chip fabricated by 1.2 μm n-well CMOS process.