Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION FROM SUBSURFACE TEMPERATURES

Temperature changes at the Earth's surface propagate downward into the subsurface and impart a thermal signature to the rocks. This signature can be measured in boreholes and then analyzed to reconstruct the surface temperature his- tory over the past several centuries. The ability to resolve surface temperature history from subsurface temperatures diminishes with time. Microclimatic effects associated with the topography and vegetation patterns at the site of a borehole, along with local anthropogenic perturbations associated with land use change, can obscure the regional climate change signal. Regional and global ensembles of boreholes reveal the broader patterns of temperature changes at the Earth's surface. The average surface tempera- ture of the continents has increased by about 1.0 K over the past 5 centuries; half of this increase has occurred in the twentieth century alone.
The SecA 2 Secretion Factor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Promotes Growth in Macrophages and Inhibits the Host Immune Response

The SecA2 Secretion Factor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Promotes Growth in Macrophages and Inhibits the Host Immune Response Sherry Kurtz, Karen P. McKinnon, Marschall S. Runge, Jenny P.-Y. Ting, and Miriam Braunstein* Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7290, and Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Determinantes do risco e implicações para a saúde nas práticas sexuais de homens que têm sexo com homens

O objectivo do presente trabalho e compreender que variaveis parecem estar implicadas na adopcao de um comportamento sexual de risco entre homens que tem sexo (HSH) com homens. Para tal, delineou-se uma investigacao com 338 HSH (independentemente de se identificaram ou nao como gays, bissexuais ou heterossexuais), tendo sido utilizados o Questionario Socio-demografico e o Questionario de Avaliacao dos Comportamentos e Emocoes Sexuais entre HSH, constituido por 39 itens de escolha multipla. Os dados foram submetidos a uma analise inferencial, o que permitiu compreender que os homens que tiveram uma primeira relacao sexual sem se protegeram foram tambem aqueles que tiveram exposicao a praticas sexuais coactivas, aqueles que praticam sempre sexo oral, aqueles que tem a expectativa de continuar a ter uma relacao sexual mesmo sem preservativo e os homens que adoptam papeis mais activos no acto sexual. As implicacoes dos resultados obtidos sao discutidas.
Detecting nested clusters of human alveolar echinococcosis

SUMMARY Recent changes in the epidemiology of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) in Eurasia have led to increasing concerns about the risk of human AE and the need for a thorough evaluation of the epidemiological situation. The aim of this study was to explore the use of a National Register to detect complex distribution patterns on several scales. The data were human AE cases from the FrancEchino register, diagnosed in France from 1982 to 2011. We used the Kulldorff spatial scan analysis to detect non-random locations of cases. We proposed an exploratory method that was based on the successive detection of nested clusters inside each of the statistically significant larger clusters. This method revealed at least 4 levels of disease clusters during the study period. The spatial variations of cluster location over time were also shown. We conclude that National Human AE registers, although not exempted from epidemiological biases, are currently the best way to achieve an accurate representation of human AE distribution on various scales. Finally, we confirm the multi-scale clustered distribution of human AE, and we hypothesize that our study may be a reasonable starting point from which to conduct additional research and explore the processes that underlie such distributions.
Biogenic Amines and Polyamines: Similar Biochemistry for Different Physiological Missions and Biomedical Applications

Biogenic amines are organic polycations derived from aromatic or cationic amino acids. All of them have one or more positive charges and a hydrophobic skeleton. Nature has evolved these molecules to play different physiological roles in mammals, but maintains similar patterns for their metabolic and intracellular handling. As deduced from this review, many questions still remain to be solved around their biochemistry and molecular biology, blocking our aims to control the relevant pathologies in which they are involved (cancer and immunological, neurological, and gastrointestinal diseases). Advances in this knowledge are dispersed among groups working on different biomedical areas. In these pages, we put together the most relevant information to remark how fruitful it can be to learn from Nature and to take advantage of the biochemical similarities (keyprotein structures and their regulation data on metabolic interplays and binding properties) to generate new hypothesis and develop different biomedical strategies based on biochemistry and molecular biology of these compounds.
Evaluating Ingenious Instruments for Fundamental Determinants of Long-Run Economic Growth and Development

The empirical literature on the determinants of cross-country differences in long-run development is characterized by the ingenious nature of many of the instruments used. However, scepticism remains about their ability to provide a valid basis for causal inference. This paper examines the extent to which explicit consideration of the statistical adequacy of the underlying reduced form (RF), which provides an embedding framework for the structural equations, can usefully complement economic theory as a basis for assessing instrument choice in the fundamental determinants literature. Diagnostic testing of RFs in influential studies reveals evidence of model misspecification, with parameter non-constancy and spatial dependence of the residuals almost ubiquitous. This feature, surprisingly not previously identified, potentially undermines inferences about the structural parameters, such as the quantitative and statistical significance of different fundamental determinants.
Mobility-supporting data management for location-based mobile systems: the special case of single category location repositories

Location-based mobile applications require timely generation of user-centric proximities from application-relevant repositories of business locations. The proximity generation requirement is poorly served by conventional query resolution methods which are prone to response time degradation as repositories experience growth. This article reports research on a location-aware method (LAM) specifically devised to resolve queries for rapid proximity generation. Three operational concerns performance, scalability, and manageability provide a basis on which a specific form of LAM, linkcell-based LAM, is examined. Previous evaluative work on linkcell-based LAM focused on multiple category repositories (MCRs) in which business locations are explicitly classified using a predefined set of business categories. The research reported here concerns single category repositories (SCRs), an important special case in which no predefined set of business categories is used. Results show how a reformulated location-aware method may be used to manage SCRs and suggest the means by which scalability is achieved and proximity generation performance is optimised.
The role of mononuclear-cell recruitment to the lungs in the development and expression of immunity to Schistosoma mansoni

SUMMARY The role of pulmonary cellular responses in the induction and expression of immunity to Schistosoma mansoni has been evaluated. From experiments in which mice were challenged at intervals after vaccination, we conclude that the resistance mechanism operating in the lungs develops between days 11 and 20. Injection of 51Cr-labelled splenocytes revealed that mononuclear cell recruitment to the lungs, stimulated by the arrival of attenuated schistosomula, intensified progressively between days 10 and 16 post-vaccination. The increased cellularity was reflected in a 19·5% augmentation in the wet-weight index (WW). The period of enhanced cell recruitment therefore coincided with the build-up of resistance. By day 22 post-vaccination infiltration had declined, whilst WW remained elevated. This indicates the persistence of recruited cells, which include schistosome-reactive T lymphocytes, in the lungs. We were unable to demonstrate augmented recruitment of 51Cr-labelled cells after challenge of vaccinated mice, but WW rose slightly, peaking on day 12. Although clearly of a lower order than the primary response, the secondary response was more rapid, implying the existence of immunological memory. These results accord with the concept that schistosome-reactive T lymphocytes recruited after vaccination ‘arm’ the lungs against the arrival of challenge parasites.
Omitting the dry period between lactations does not reduce subsequent milk production in goats

Summary Four goats were studied from the end of their second lactation. One mammary gland of each goat was dried off just prior to the start of the third gestation, whilst the other gland was milked throughout gestation, with no dry period. At the end of gestation the continuously milked gland was significantly smaller than the gland that had been allowed a dry period. However, this difference did not persist beyond parturition and there was no significant difference between the milk yields of the two glands in the next lactation, although the continuously milked gland tended to have the higher yield. At 18 weeks of lactation, mammary parenchyma weight and secretory cell number were significantly greater in the continuously milked gland, but mammary enzyme activities did not differ between the two glands.
Effect of a controlled-release chlorhexidine chip on clinical and microbiological parameters and prostaglandin E2 levels in gingival crevicular fluid.

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of a chlorhexidine chip on crevicular prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels and on the clinical and microbiological parameters of periodontitis when used as adjunctive therapy to scaling and root planing (SRP) in patients with chronic periodontitis. METHODS This randomized single-blind study was carried out in parallel design. The test group received SRP plus chlorhexidine chip, whereas the control group received SRP alone. Thirty-four subjects, aged 20 to 55 years, with chronic periodontitis were recruited. Clinical indices, microbiological samples, and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples were evaluated at baseline and after 1, 3, and 6 months. Microbiological samples were evaluated under a light microscope. GCF PGE2 levels were determined using radioimmunoassay. RESULTS Significant improvements could be found for all clinical variables in both groups over the study period. The mean changes in probing depth obtained by SRP plus chlorhexidine chip were greater than those obtained by the SRP alone group at 3 and 6 months. In the test group, there was also significant gain in clinical attachment level at 6 months. When data were combined from all groups, significant reductions in GCF PGE2 levels and number of microorganisms were noted at all time points. However, in the test group, reduction was greater at 6 months for crevicular PGE2 level and at 3 and 6 months for proportions of spirochetes. CONCLUSION Based on the findings of this study, the chlorhexidine chip reduced GCF PGE2 levels and had positive effects on clinical parameters and subgingival flora when used as adjunctive therapy to SRP in patients with chronic periodontitis.
Growth and Development of Competence in the Group H Streptococci

The growth and development of competence by group H streptococci, strain Challis, were compared in synthetic, semisynthetic, and complex media with respect to the cultural conditions required, time of onset and persistence of competence and transformation efficiency. Provided that cultural conditions were strictly controlled in the synthetic system, transformation frequencies of 1% or above were routinely observed. The initial pH must be between 7.3 and 7.6, and the addition of freshly prepared bicarbonate ion was required. Furthermore, competence was sensitive to the degree of initial agitation of the culture. There was no evidence that “step-down” or “unbalanced” growth conditions were required. Competence could be provoked in the incompetent strain Wicky, growing in complex or semisynthetic media, by the addition of heat-killed or filtered cultures of strain Challis prepared during the competent period of growth in synthetic medium.
Exposure to pets, and the association with hay fever, asthma, and atopic sensitization in rural children

Background: An increasing number of studies report pet exposure to be associated with lower risk of asthma and allergies. This ‘protective pet effect’ has been suggested to result from a modified T‐helper (Th)2‐cell response, or because of increased microbial load in homes where pets are kept. We examined the associations between pet contact and the occurrence of asthma and allergies in children of the rural Allergy and Endotoxin (ALEX) population, taking farm animal contact, endotoxin and cat allergen levels in mattress dust into account.
The Role of Fluorine Substitution in Biphenyl Methylene Imidazole‐Type CYP17 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Prostate Carcinoma

It has been established that the growth of most prostate carcinomas depends on androgen stimulation. The inhibition of cytochrome P450‐17 (CYP17) to block androgen biosynthesis is therefore regarded as a promising approach to therapy. Based on our previously identified lead compound Ref 1, a series of fluorine‐substituted biphenyl methylene imidazoles were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as CYP17 inhibitors to elucidate the influence of fluorine on in vitro and in vivo activity. It was found that meta‐fluoro substitution at the C ring improved activity, whereas ortho substitution decreased potency. Docking studies performed with our human CYP17 homology model suggest the presence of multipolar interactions between fluorine and Arg109, Lys231, His235, and Glu305. As expected, introduction of fluorine also prolonged the half‐life in plasma. The SARs obtained confirm the reliability of the protein model; compound 9 (IC50=131 nM) was identified as a strong CYP17 inhibitor, showing potent activity in rat, high bioavailability, and a long plasma half‐life: 12.8 h.
The management of the levodopa psychoses.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is frequently associated with psychiatric problems. Depression generally responds to antidepressant medications or to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The nondepressive psychoses generally require a reduction in parkinsonian medications, or possibly a "drug holiday. " In patients whose psychosis fails to respond to a reduction in medication or who cannot tolerate the worsening parkinsonism, an antipsychotic drug should be added. Clozapine is probably the drug of choice, with low potency neuroleptics being second-line options.
Brain‐surface Oxygen Tension and Cerebral Cortical Blood Flow during Hemorrhagic and Drug‐induced Hypotension in the Cat

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is higher during drug-induced hypotension than during hypotension resulting from hemorrhage and, among the hypotensive drugs, CBF may be higher during nitroprusside (SNP) than during trimethaphan (TMP) administration. Increased perfusion of the brain does not guarantee better tissue oxygen supply, since perfusion of the capillary microcirculation may be inhomogeneous. In such a situation, minute areas of ischemia may exist while CBF values are normal. In this study, regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured in circles of parietal cortex approximately 1.5 cm in diameter in the cat. In addition, oxygen tension values (PB02) were measured in minute areas of cortical surface by use of 15-μm platinum oxygen electrodes. Control measurements were made during light anesthesia; blood pressure (BP) was then decreased to 30–35 torr by hemorrhage, TMP, or SNP. In the animals rendered hypotensive with TMP or SNP, a beta blocker, practolol, was also administered. It was found that rCBF was higher with SNP (68 ml/100 g/min) than with TMP (45 ml/100 g/min). PB02 values showed a marked hypoxic shift during hemorrhagic hypotension, but no shift from control during SNP-induced hypotension. The PB02 pattern with TMP was intermediate between the SNP and hemorrhage patterns. PB02 were less than 10 torr in 25 per cent of cortical areas examined during hemorrhage, 12 and 7 per cent of areas examined during TMP-induced hypotension (two studies) and only 1 per cent of areas examined during SNP-induced hypotension. These results agree with those of others in showing higher rCBF during SNP-induced than during TMP-induced hypotension. The PB02 values showed that the well-maintained cerebral perfusion during SNP administration was associated with homogeneous perfusion of the microcirculation. Therefore, brain tissue oxygen availability is greater during SNP-induced than during either TMP-induced or hemorrhagic hypotension.
The Value of Basic Science in Clinical Diagnosis

Background The role of basic science knowledge in clinical diagnosis is unclear. There has been no experimental demonstration of its value in helping students recall and organize clinical information. This study examines how causal knowledge may lead to better recall and diagnostic skill over time. Method Undergraduate medical students learned either four neurological or rheumatic disorders. One group learned a basic science explanation for the symptoms. The other learned epidemiological information. Both were then tested with the same set of clinical cases immediately after learning and one week later. Results On immediate test, there was no difference in accuracy (70% for both groups). However, one week later, performance in the epidemiology group dropped to 51%; the basic science group only dropped to 62%. Conclusions Basic science knowledge relating causal knowledge to disease symptoms can improve diagnostic accuracy after a delay.
Ethical Issues in Ageing and Biography

Abstract The increasing use of biographical materials in research and intervention in the field of ageing gives rise to significant ethical issues. In this inquiry, four of these issues are explicated. First, the notion of informed consent is explored in relation to selected contexts of research and intervention in ageing and biography. Second, the issues of autonomy and competence are considered from the point of view of identifying contexts where biography is a prerequisite for ethically responsive action. The third ethical issue concerns respecting the groundrules of various biographical approaches. Finally, the notions of authenticity and truth in lifestories are explored in an attempt to clarify the limitations and expectations of ageing and biography. The discussion of these ethical issues proceeds on the basis of an argument that indicates the fundamental importance of biographical ageing or the stories we are.
Perceived color and its dependence on focal, surrounding, and preceding stimulus variables.

Alternative formal definitions of perceived color are examined. Both alternative formulations treat the responses evoked by stimulation of a focal test area, but in one case the influence of surrounding stimulation on the primary test area is taken into consideration, whereas this influence is ignored in the other formulation. The consequences of these alternative formulations for predictions of equivalent stimuli and for predictions of color appearance under different circumstances are discussed.Sensory scaling experiments are reported which yield direct quantitative estimates of the hue, saturation, and brightness attributes of perceived color, and of the dependence of these attributes on variations in focal, surrounding, and preceding stimulation. The relation of some of these dependencies to opponent neural induction mechanisms postulated by the opponent-colors theory is discussed.
Could cryopreserved human semen samples be stored at -80°C?

Objective To evaluate storage time effects in cryopreserved human semen samples, kept in the freezer at a controlled temperature of -80°C, on sperm viability after thawing. Methods We used 20 semen samples. Each sample was cryopreserved in 10 fingers, which were divided into five groups: one group was kept in cryogenic canisters throughout the experiment(control), and four groups were kept in a VIP Ultra Low MDF-U76V- PE freezer, with the temperature set at -80°C, for 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours, respectively. After the exposure time, the samples were stored in cryogenic canisters after being thawed. The analyzed parameters were: motility, vitality and mitochondrial activity. Results After thawing, we noticed decreased sperm motility, vitality and mitochondrial activity, when comparing the tested groups with the control group, as well as a progressive reduction in the analyzed parameters between the times evaluated. Conclusions Cryopreservation of semen samples at -80°C is potentially harmful to sperm viability, causing damage when submitted to longer exposure times.
Predictors of Readiness to Quit Among a Diverse Sample of Sexual Minority Male Smokers

Introduction: Readiness to quit smoking - a pattern of attitudes, intentions, and behaviors that reflect a likelihood of engaging in cessation activities—is a useful heuristic for understanding smoking disparities based on sexual orientation. This study examined demographic, tobacco-use patterns, psychosocial and cognitive factors associated with readiness to quit among gay and bisexual male smokers. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted as part of a larger Tobacco Elimination and Control Collaboration (Q-TECC) initiative in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Readiness to quit was measured by a composite score created from four variables (motivation to quit, importance of quitting, plan to quit, and confidence in quitting) (alpha=.87, M=3.42, SD=.96, range 1-5). Results: The sexual minority smokers in the sample ( N=208; M=33 years) were racially/ethnically diverse. Latino men had significantly lower levels of readiness to quit compared to African American and White men. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed to explore the relative contributions of sociodemographic, tobacco-use patterns, psychosocial and cognitive factors on Readiness to Quit. In the final model, the following variables were associated with readiness to quit scores: Latino ethnicity, fewer quit attempts, positive expectancies for the beneficial effects of smoking, and lower perceived importance of smoking as an important LGBT health issue. None of the psychosocial factors were associated with readiness to quit. Discussion: Readiness to quit scores were largely predicted by modifiable attitudes, behaviors, and expectancies. Study findings have implications for improving outreach and awareness and for the development of effective treatment approaches.
High school students' perceptions of nursing as a career: a pilot study.

A pilot survey of 300 high school junior students was implemented to elicit their perceptions of nursing and to explore the relationship between the experience of having a nursing role model and the decision to consider nursing as a career. The results indicated that the majority of students in the sample were aware of the caring and helping aspects of nursing, but there seemed to be a lack of knowledge about expanded roles and opportunities for advancement. High school students had significantly different mean opinion scores according to their sex (F = 17.03, p less than 0001) and the decision to consider nursing as a career (F = 10.00, p less than 002). There appeared to be a significant relationship between the experience of having a nurse role model and consideration of nursing as a career option (chi 2 = 8.23, p less than .0041). These findings have important implications for recruitment of young people into the nursing profession.