Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and the Risk of Respiratory Problems in World Trade Center Responders: Longitudinal Test of a Pathway

Objective Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with high medical morbidity, but the nature of this association remains unclear. Among responders to the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster, PTSD is highly comorbid with lower respiratory symptoms (LRS), which cannot be explained by exposure alone. We sought to examine this association longitudinally to establish the direction of the effects and evaluate potential pathways to comorbidity. Methods 18,896 responders (8466 police and 10,430 nontraditional responders) participating in the WTC–Health Program were first evaluated between 2002 and 2010 and assessed again 2.5 years later. LRS were ascertained by medical staff, abnormal pulmonary function by spirometry, and probable WTC-related PTSD with a symptom inventory. Results In both groups of responders, initial PTSD (standardized regression coefficient: &bgr; = 0.20 and 0.23) and abnormal pulmonary function (&bgr; = 0.12 and 0.12) predicted LRS 2.5 years later after controlling for initial LRS and covariates. At follow-up, LRS onset was 2.0 times more likely and remission 1.8 times less likely in responders with initial PTSD than in responders without. Moreover, PTSD mediated, in part, the association between WTC exposures and development of LRS (p < .0001). Initial LRS and abnormal pulmonary function did not consistently predict PTSD onset. Conclusions These analyses provide further evidence that PTSD is a risk factor for respiratory symptoms and are consistent with evidence implicating physiological dysregulation associated with PTSD in the development of medical conditions. If these effects are verified experimentally, treatment of PTSD may prove helpful in managing physical and mental health of disaster responders.
DER EINFLUSS WASSERDICHTER, DAMPFDURCHLAESSIGER BESCHICHTUNGEN AUF DIE KORROSIONSGESCHWINDIGKEIT BEI KARBONATISIERTEM STAHLBETON

Um Korrosion der Bewehrung trotz Karbonatisierung des Betons zu vermeiden, muss der Wassergehalt im Beton auf einen unschaedlichen Wert abgesenkt werden. Ziel der Untersuchung war die Klaerung der Fragen: Wie weit kann und auf welche Werte muss der Wassergehalt im Beton durch Oberflaechenbehandlung abgesenkt werden und welche Nachweisverfahren sind geeignet? Es ergab sich, dass bei konstanten relativen Luftfeuchtigkeiten bis zu etwa 90 Prozent nur vernachlaessigbar kleine Korrosionsgeschwindigkeiten gemessen wurden. Andererseits zeigte es sich, dass eine Wasserbeaufschlagung auf die Betonoberflaeche zu einer mehrwoechigen Erhoehung der Korrosionsgeschwindigkeit fuehren kann. Keines der drei untersuchten Beschichtungssysteme brachte befriedigende Ergebnisse zur Vermeidung von Wasseraufnahme und damit Verhinderung der Bewehrungskorrosion. An Beschichtungen muessen hohe Anforderungen bezueglich der gewuenschten Wirksamkeit gestellt werden. Durch ausreichende Qualitaet der Betondeckung (Dicke und Dichtheit) muss bei nicht regengeschuetzten Aussenbauteilen verhindert werden, dass die Karbonatisierungstiefe die Bewehrung erreicht. Forschungsprojekt im Auftrag des Ministers fuer Bauen und Wohnen des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Duesseldorf.
ACCURACY EVALUATION OF A MOBILE MAPPING SYSTEM WITH ADVANCED STATISTICAL METHODS

Abstract. This paper discusses a methodology to evaluate the precision and the accuracy of a commercial Mobile Mapping System (MMS) with advanced statistical methods. So far, the metric potentialities of this emerging mapping technology have been studied in few papers, where generally the assumption that errors follow a normal distribution is made. In fact, this hypothesis should be carefully verified in advance, in order to test how well the Gaussian classic statistics can adapt to datasets that are usually affected by asymmetrical gross errors. The workflow adopted in this study relies on a Gaussian assessment, followed by an outlier filtering process. Finally, non-parametric statistical models are applied, in order to achieve a robust estimation of the error dispersion. Among the different MMSs available on the market, the latest solution provided by RIEGL is here tested, i.e. the VMX-450 Mobile Laser Scanning System. The test-area is the historic city centre of Trento (Italy), selected in order to assess the system performance in dealing with a challenging and historic urban scenario. Reference measures are derived from photogrammetric and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) surveys. All datasets show a large lack of symmetry that leads to the conclusion that the standard normal parameters are not adequate to assess this type of data. The use of non-normal statistics gives thus a more appropriate description of the data and yields results that meet the quoted a-priori errors.
Skin nerve phosphorylated α-synuclein deposits in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder

Objective: To test if phosphorylated α-synuclein (p-α-syn) deposits can be detected by means of skin biopsy in patients with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) as a potential early histopathologic marker of impending synucleinopathy. Methods: Proximal (cervical) and distal (legs) samples of skin biopsy were obtained from 12 patients with polysomnographically confirmed iRBD and 55 sex- and age-matched healthy controls (HC). P-α-syn deposits were assessed with a monoclonal antibody against p-α-syn at serine 129, disclosed by an immunofluorescence method. In addition, patients underwent an extensive workup in order to search for nonmotor symptoms and neuroimaging findings usually associated with impending neurodegeneration and to exclude subtle motor or cognitive signs. Results: P-α-syn deposits were detected in 9 (75%) out of 12 patients with iRBD and none of the HC. In iRBD, the sensitivity of the test was higher at the cervical site (67%) when compared to the leg site (58%). Conclusions: Our preliminary findings suggest that skin biopsy in patients with iRBD might be a safe and sensitive procedure to be further tested in order to detect p-α-syn deposits in the premotor stage of synucleinopathies. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class III evidence that p-α-syn skin deposits identify patients with iRBD.
Fresh-frozen bone blocks for horizontal ridge augmentation in the upper maxilla: 6-month outcomes of a randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE This randomized controlled trial compared fresh-frozen versus autologous bone blocks for maxillary horizontal ridge augmentation in patients with Cawood and Howell class IV atrophies. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-four patients were allocated to the autologous and fresh-frozen groups in a 1:1 ratio. Patients underwent computed tomography scans 1 week and 6 months after surgery for graft volume and density analysis. Doxycycline was administered at day 120 and day 150 to label new bone formation. Biopsy for histologic and histomorphometric analyses was performed at reentry for implant insertion, 6 months after grafting. RESULTS Fresh-frozen grafts had lower density than autologous bone. Autologous and fresh-frozen grafts lost, respectively, 25% and 52% of their initial volume (p = .0041). Histology revealed the presence of newly formed bone within both graft types, but clear signs of inflammation were present in fresh-frozen blocks. CONCLUSIONS According to these 6-month results, autologous bone blocks are preferable to fresh-frozen bone grafts.
Assessee and Assessor Experiences of Significant Events in Psychological Assessment Feedback

Although a growing body of scholarly work explores the unique utility and therapeutic uses of psychological assessment, less work has focused specifically on feedback, with few studies that have explored empirically the underlying processes that may describe the role of feedback in a successful assessment. The purpose of this project was to add to the discourse on this topic by engaging in an empirical study exploring assessee and assessor experiences of significant events in psychological assessment feedback. The methodology is qualitative and modeled after significant events research in the study of psychotherapy process. I analyze the accounts of 6 assessment clients and 6 assessment clinicians regarding key events in their experience of feedback.
Inactivation of the srtA Gene inStreptococcus gordonii Inhibits Cell Wall Anchoring of Surface Proteins and Decreases In Vitro and In Vivo Adhesion

ABSTRACT The srtA gene product, SrtA, has been shown to be required for cell wall anchoring of protein A as well as virulence in the pathogenic bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. There are five major mechanisms for displaying proteins at the surface of gram-positive bacteria (P. Cossart and R. Jonquieres, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97:5013–5015, 2000). However, since many of the known surface proteins of gram-positive bacteria are believed to be exported and anchored via the sortase pathway, it was of interest to determine ifsrtA plays a similar role in other gram-positive bacteria. To that end, the srtA gene in the human oral commensal organism Streptococcus gordonii was insertionally inactivated. The srtA mutant S. gordoniiexhibited a marked reduction in quantity of a specific anchored surface protein. Furthermore, the srtA mutant had reduced binding to immobilized human fibronectin and had a decreased ability to colonize the oral mucosa of mice. Taken together, these results suggest that the activity of SrtA plays an important role in the biology of nonpathogenic as well as pathogenic gram-positive cocci.
Urban Interactions

This paper studies social-tie formation when individuals care about the geographical location of other individuals. In our model, the intensity of social interactions can be chosen at the same time as friends. We characterize the equilibrium in terms of both social interactions and social capital (the value of social interactions offered by each agent) for a general distribution of individuals in the urban geographical space. We show that greater geographical dispersion decreases the incentives to socially interact. We also show that the equilibrium frequency of interactions is lower than the effcient one. Using a unique geo-coded dataset of friendship networks among adolescents in the United States, we estimate the model and validate that agents interact less than the social first best optimum. Our policy analysis suggests that, given the same cost, subsidizing social interactions yields a higher total welfare than subsidizing transportation costs.
First case of T-cell/histiocyte-rich-large B-cell lymphoma presenting with duodenal obstruction

Gastrointestinal tract is the most common site of extranodal non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Small bowel involvement accounts for 2030% of all gastrointestinal lymphomas. Among all intestinal lymphomas, the ileum is the most common involved area, with duodenal involvement only accounting for a small proportion. The most frequent histological type is diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). T-cell/ histiocyte-rich-large B-cell lymphoma (TCHRBCL) is an uncommon morphologic variant of B-cell lymphoma. Duodenal involvement of TCHRBCL has not been reported previously. We hereby report this first case of TCHRBCL of the duodenum. (Published: 16 December 2013) Citation: Libyan J Med 2013, 8 : 22955 - http://dx.doi. org/10.3402/ljm.v8i0. 22955
Stress and emotional valence effects on children's versus adolescents’ true and false memory

Despite considerable interest in understanding how stress influences memory accuracy and errors, particularly in children, methodological limitations have made it difficult to examine the effects of stress independent of the effects of the emotional valence of to-be-remembered information in developmental populations. In this study, we manipulated stress levels in 7–8- and 12–14-year-olds and then exposed them to negative, neutral, and positive word lists. Shortly afterward, we tested their recognition memory for the words and false memory for non-presented but related words. Adolescents in the high-stress condition were more accurate than those in the low-stress condition, while children's accuracy did not differ across stress conditions. Also, among adolescents, accuracy and errors were higher for the negative than positive words, while in children, word valence was unrelated to accuracy. Finally, increases in children's and adolescents’ cortisol responses, especially in the high-stress condition, were related to greater accuracy but not false memories and only for positive emotional words. Findings suggest that stress at encoding, as well as the emotional content of to-be-remembered information, may influence memory in different ways across development, highlighting the need for greater complexity in existing models of true and false memory formation.
What are the Key Components of Quality Perinatal and Pediatric End-of-Life Care? A Literature Review

LITERATURE REVIEW through developing or revising hospital policies and guidelines for care, and then disseminating the information throughout the hospital in comprehensive education sessions. Concurrently, a smaller group of health professionals has been charged with identifying ways to measure the effect of these changes on the quality of end-oflife care. This group decided that one component of measurement would be a survey of parents who had experienced the death of a child cared for by the health centre. The survey would ask parents to evaluate the care that was provided in terms of how well it met their needs and how well it followed the new guidelines developed by the institution, particularly in the area of bereavement follow-up. The IWK Health Centre serves a population of children, youth, and women from across the Maritimes. Death may occur in this population after a sudden illness, a chronic illness, trauma, or through perinatal loss (stillbirth). On average, there are 100 deaths per year. These deaths occur at the health centre, at home, or at home-hospital, but care was provided at some point during the child's illness by the IWK Health Centre. Women who experience a spontaneous abortion are generally cared for by a family physician or in the emergency room of other health centres, therefore this population was not included in the literature review. The following literature review is the first step in developing a survey that will ask parents to evaluate the quality of end-of-life care provided to their infant, child, or adolescent, as well as to the family as a whole.
Latex-Enhanced Turbidimetric Immunoassay for Everolimus in Whole Blood Using the Nanopia TDM Everolimus Assay With the JCA-BM6010 Automatic Analyzer

Background: Everolimus is a novel proliferation signal inhibitor used in immunosuppressive therapies for the prevention of acute and chronic rejection. It is an immunosuppressant requiring routine monitoring in whole blood. We evaluated analytical performance of the Nanopia TDM Everolimus assay kit for the measurement of everolimus in whole blood. Methods: Whole blood samples from patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy with everolimus after heart transplantation were used, and everolimus concentrations were measured by liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometric detection and fluorescence polarization immunoassay and Nanopia TDM Everolimus assay. Results: The within-assay coefficient of variation was 4.0%–6.8% (n = 20) at everolimus concentrations of 4.4–15.7 ng/mL, whereas the day-to-day coefficient of variation ranged from 3.6% to 5.4% at everolimus concentrations of 4.8–15.9 ng/mL. The limit of quantitation was 1.5 ng/mL. Calibration curves were stable for at least 14 days. The presence of conjugated bilirubin, unconjugated bilirubin, lipemic material, rheumatoid factor, and variation of the hematocrit did not affect this assay system. There was a strong positive correlation between values obtained with the Nanopia TDM Everolimus assay kit and the results of liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometric detection (y = 0.960x + 0.312 ng/mL; r = 0.946; n = 91), as well as with data from the fluorescence polarization immunoassay (y = 0.966x − 0.440 ng/mL; r = 0.942; n = 91). Conclusions: The Nanopia TDM Everolimus assay showed good analytical performance. These results indicate that the Nanopia TDM Everolimus assay may be suitable for routine clinical use.
10-1-2011 Student perspective on electronic evaluation of teaching

Research indicates that administering university student evaluation of teaching electronically rather than via paper-based surveys increases the quality and timeliness of the feedback thereby making a stronger contribution to teaching and learning enhancement. The documented drawback of electronic student evaluation is the response rate, which is significantly lower than paper-based surveys. This study documents a pilot project whereby electronic student evaluation of teaching was administered for one semester in units of study in three of four of the University’s faculties. The outcomes confirmed similar studies’ results. Whereas most studies are written from the academic and/or administrator point of view, the unique contribution of this study, coauthored by a graduate student, is that students were asked to evaluate the evaluation through an online forum, focus groups, and through the student association. The feedback conveyed a clear and consistent message that students prefer electronic student evaluation of teaching because of enhanced anonymity and convenience and less time pressure. This article has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication in SLEID, an international journal of scholarship and research that supports emerging scholars and the development of evidence-based practice in education. © Copyright of articles is retained by authors. As an open access journal, articles are free to use, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.
Osteoblasts and MG-63 osteosarcoma cells behave differently when in contact with ProRoot MTA and White MTA.

AIM To test the hypothesis that MG-63 osteosarcoma cells and primary osteoblasts react differently to ProRoot trade mark MTA (mineral trioxide aggregate) and White MTA by: (i) investigating the attachment of primary osteoblasts and MG-63 osteosarcoma cells to ProRoot trade mark MTA and White MTA; and (ii) comparing the osteogenic behaviour of both cell lines in contact with these endodontic materials. METHODOLOGY Primary osteoblasts were harvested from foetal rat calvaria by sequential digestion and MG-63 osteosarcoma cells were purchased. Cells were exposed to ProRoot trade mark MTA and White MTA prepared according to the manufacturer's instructions. All samples and controls were prepared in quadruplicate. After 6, 9 and 13 days exposure to MTA, the cells were fixed and prepared for SEM examination. In addition, both the cell types were grown to confluence and exposed to beta-glycerophosphate and dexamethasone to assess mineralized nodule formation as a function of osteogenic behaviour. RESULTS The number of cells on the surface of the culture dish and on top of the materials increased in all samples throughout the 3 time periods, except for White MTA where no primary osteoblasts were visible on top of the material by the end of 13 days. After exposing cells to differentiation medium nodules were observed in cultures of primary osteoblasts, but not of MG-63 osteosarcoma cells. CONCLUSIONS Under the conditions of this study, whilst primary osteoblasts initially bound to White MTA, they did not survive on the surface by the end of 13 days. Primary osteoblasts formed mineralized nodules when exposed to differentiation medium, whilst MG-63 cells did not form nodules. As MG-63 cells do not behave osteogenically by forming mineralized nodules, and primary osteoblasts are more sensitive than MG-63 osteosarcoma cells to White MTA in cell culture, primary osteoblasts are more appropriate than MG-63 cells for testing endodontic materials in cell culture.
Contrast Response Functions with Wide-View Stimuli in the Human Visual Cortex

In this manuscript, using a novel wide-view visual presentation system that we developed for vision research and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we studied contrast response functions in regions of the brain that are central and peripheral to the entire set of visual areas (V1, V2, V3, V3A, MT+), regions that have not been all investigated in previous vision research. Under the stimulus conditions which were 0–20 deg, 20–40 deg, and 40–60 deg eccentricity black-and-white checkerboard patterns, we measured the blood oxygenation level-dependent fMRI contrast response at five contrast levels (6, 12, 24, 48, and 96%) in the visual areas. On the basis of these data, the central and pericentral visual areas had low-contrast gain, whereas the peripheral visual areas had high-contrast gain. In addition, our results showed that the signals fundamentally shift during visual processing through posterior visual cortical areas (V1, V2, and V3) to superior visual cortical areas (V3A and MT+).
A blind source separation method for chemical sensor arrays based on a second order mixing model

In this paper we propose a blind source separation method to process the data acquired by an array of ion-selective electrodes in order to measure the ionic activity of different ions in an aqueous solution. While this problem has already been studied in the past, the method presented differs from the ones previously analyzed by approximating the mixing function by a second-degree polynomial, and using a method based on the differential of the mutual information to adjust the parameter values. Experimental results, both with synthetic and real data, suggest that the algorithm proposed is more accurate than the other models in the literature.
Mapping Smallholder Wheat Yields and Sowing Dates Using Micro-Satellite Data

Remote sensing offers a low-cost method for developing spatially continuous crop production statistics across large areas and through time. Nevertheless, it has been difficult to characterize the production of individual smallholder farms, given that the land-holding size in most areas of South Asia (<2 ha) is smaller than the spatial resolution of most freely available satellite imagery, like Landsat and MODIS. In addition, existing methods to map yield require field-level data to develop and parameterize predictive algorithms that translate satellite vegetation indices to yield, yet these data are costly or difficult to obtain in many smallholder systems. To overcome these challenges, this study explores two issues. First, we employ new high spatial (2 m) and temporal (bi-weekly) resolution micro-satellite SkySat data to map sowing dates and yields of smallholder wheat fields in Bihar, India in the 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 growing seasons. Second, we compare how well we predict sowing date and yield when using ground data, like crop cuts and self-reports, versus using crop models, which require no on-the-ground data, to develop and parameterize prediction models. Overall, sow dates were predicted well (R2 = 0.41 in 2014–2015 and R2 = 0.62 in 2015–2016), particularly when using models that were parameterized using self-report sow dates collected close to the time of planting and when using imagery that spanned the entire growing season. We were also able to map yields fairly well (R2 = 0.27 in 2014–2015 and R2 = 0.33 in 2015–2016), with crop cut parameterized models resulting in the highest accuracies. While less accurate, we were able to capture the large range in sow dates and yields across farms when using models parameterized with crop model data and these estimates were able to detect known relationships between management factors (e.g., sow date, fertilizer, and irrigation) and yield. While these results are specific to our study site in India, it is likely that the methods employed and the lessons learned are applicable to smallholder systems more generally across the globe. This is of particular interest given that similar high spatio-temporal resolution micro-satellite data will become increasingly available in the coming years.