Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hepatitis C Virus RNA in Dried Serum Spotted onto Filter Paper Is Stable at Room Temperature

ABSTRACT To overcome the instability of viral RNA, we carried out hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA detection in dried serum spotted onto filter paper. The spotted serum samples were stored at room temperature and then processed for PCR assay at intervals of 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks. The results showed that serum HCV RNA is stable in a dried condition, as it was detectable in spotted serum samples stored for 4 weeks at room temperature. Furthermore, although the HCV RNA titer showed an ∼10-fold reduction in virus yield in dried serum stored at room temperature for 4 weeks, the PCR results of frozen serum samples and dried serum samples matched completely. This storage method facilitates transport and analysis by nucleic acid amplification techniques even when freezing conditions are not available.
Temperature and UV-B-insensitive performance in tadpoles of the ornate burrowing frog: an ephemeral pond specialist

Animals may overcome the challenges of temperature instability through behavioural and physiological mechanisms in response to short- and long-term temperature changes. When ectotherms face the challenge of large diel temperature fluctuations, one strategy may be to reduce the thermal sensitivity of key traits in order to maintain performance across the range of temperatures experienced. Additional stressors may limit the ability of animals to respond to these thermally challenging environments through changes to energy partitioning or interactive effects. Ornate burrowing frog (Platyplectrum ornatum) tadpoles develop in shallow ephemeral pools that experience high diel thermal variability (>20°C) and can be exposed to high levels of UV-B radiation. Here, we investigated how development in fluctuating versus stable temperature conditions in the presence of high or low UV-B radiation influences thermal tolerance and thermal sensitivity of performance traits of P. ornatum tadpoles. Tadpoles developed in either stable (24°C) or fluctuating temperatures (18–32°C) under high or low UV-B conditions. Tadpoles were tested for upper critical thermal limits, thermal dependence of resting metabolic rate and maximum burst swimming performance. We hypothesised that developmental responses to thermal fluctuations would increase thermal tolerance and reduce thermal dependence of physiological traits, and that trade-offs in the allocation of metabolic resources towards repairing UV-B-induced damage may limit the ability to maintain performance over the full range of temperatures experienced. We found that P. ornatum tadpoles were thermally insensitive for both burst swimming performance, across the range of temperatures tested, and resting metabolic rate at high temperatures independent of developmental conditions. Maintenance of performance led to a trade-off for growth under fluctuating temperatures and UV-B exposure. Temperature treatment and UV-B exposure had an interactive effect on upper critical thermal limits possibly due to the upregulation of the cellular stress response. Thermal independence of key traits may allow P. ornatum tadpoles to maintain performance in the thermal variability inherent in their environment.
Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli Exploits EspA Filaments for Attachment to Salad Leaves

ABSTRACT Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) strains are important food-borne pathogens that use a filamentous type III secretion system (fT3SS) for colonization of the gut epithelium. In this study we have shown that EHEC O157 and O26 strains use the fT3SS apparatus for attachment to leaves. Leaf attachment was independent of effector protein translocation.
Privacy-Preserving Physical-Layer-Assisted Charging Authorization Scheme for EV Dynamic Charging System

Dynamic charging system will enable moving electrical vehicles (EVs) to charge their batteries through magnetic induction by charging pads (CPs) placed on a portion of the roadbed. To realize such a system, the EVs need to communicate with the various parts of the system that include a bank, a charging service provider (CSP), road side units (RSUs), and CPs. In this paper, we propose a secure and privacy-preserving physicallayer-assisted scheme for dynamic charging systems to authenticate EVs and preserve the drivers’ location privacy. We develop an efficient hierarchical authentication scheme that addresses the scalability nature of the system. Efficient cryptosystems are used to authenticate the EVs to the bank, CSP, and RSUs, but our evaluations indicate that the contact time of fast moving EVs and the CPs is too short to exchange multiple messages and execute time-consuming operations. Therefore, we develop an efficient physical-layer-based authorization scheme that utilizes autocorrelation demodulation and hypothesis testing to enable the CPs to identify and charge the authorized EVs. Through extensive analysis, simulation, and practical experiments, we demonstrate that the proposed scheme is secure against the considered attacks and can achieve full anonymity of the drivers’ locations, fast authentication, and high authorization rate.
SOIL CARBON DIFFERENCES AMONG FOREST, AGRICULTURE, AND SECONDARY VEGETATION IN LOWER MONTANE ECUADOR

In the lower montane region of northwestern Ecuador, forest clearing for sugar cane and pasture production occurs simultaneously with recolonization of secondary forest vegetation on abandoned agricultural lands. We estimated the loss of forest-derived soil C (light in '3C) and the accumulation of C from replicate sugar cane and pasture vegetation (heavy in '3C) using a stable C isotope technique. We also measured differences in the proportion of soil C derived from C3 and C4 plants across a land-use progression from agricultural fields through successional communities and undisturbed forest. Total soil C was 23 Mg/ha lower in the upper 30 cm following 50 yr of sugar cane production (24% decrease) compared to old-growth forest. The net change (-0.4 Mg.ha-'-yr-') in soil C consisted of 1.3 Mg/ha annual losses of original forest C and 0.9 Mg/ha annual gains of C from sugar cane. After 15 yr beneath pasture, soil C was 11 Mg/ha less in the upper 30 cm than beneath forest (12% decrease). During that period, 33% of the original forest C was lost, compared to 68% released during 50 yr of sugar cane cultivation. Rate of forest C loss, C4-C accumulation, and net soil C change differed little between two distinct pasture types. Setaria sphacelata pasture and a traditional mixed-species pasture both contained more total soil C and added C4-C more rapidly than sugar cane. Under second-growth forest, soil C increased by 1.9 Mg.ha-'. yr-', the result of a 3 Mg/ha annual increase in C3 carbon and a 1.1 Mg/ha annual loss of C4 carbon. The total soil C pool returned to preclearing levels within 20 yr. While widespread reforestation may be thwarted by high demands for land in northwestern Ecuador, agricultural land-use options exist that can contribute to increased soil C stocks.
Axiomatizing changing conceptions of the geometric continuuum II: Archimedes – Descartes –Tarski – Hilbert

In Part I of this paper [Bal16] we argued that the first-order systems HP5 and EG (defined below) are modest complete descriptive axiomatization of most (described more precisely below) of Euclidean geometry. In this paper we argue: 1) that Tarski’s first-order axiom set E is a modest complete descriptive axiomatization of Cartesian geometry; 2) that the theories EGπ,C,A and E π,C,A are modest complete descriptive axiomatizations of the extensions of these geometries obtained to include area and circumference of the circle; and 3) that Hilbert’s full second-order system in the Grundlagen is an immodest axiomatization of any of these geometries but a modest descriptive axiomatization the late 19th century conception of the real plane. In Part I [Bal16], we expounded the following historical description. Euclid founds his theory of area (of circles and polygons) on Eudoxus’ theory of proportion and thus (implicitly) on the axiom of Archimedes. Hilbert shows any ‘Hilbert plane’ interprets a field and recovers Euclid’s theory for polygons in a first-order theory. The Greeks and Descartes dealt only with geometric objects. The Greeks regarded multiplication as an operation from line segments to plane figures. Descartes interpreted it as an operation from line segments to line segments. In the late 19th century, multiplication becomes an operation on points (that is ‘numbers’ in the coordinatizing field). We built on Detlefsen’s notion of complete descriptive axiomatization and defined a modest complete descriptive axiomatization of a data set Σ ( of facts in the sense of Hilbert) to be a collection of sentences that imply all the sentences in Σ and ‘not too many more’. Of course, there will be further results proved about this topic. But if this ∗Research partially supported by Simons travel grant G5402.
Mini-review: Eosinophils, a Useful Diagnostic Clue in Surgical Neuropathology

Eosinophils are one of the polymorphonuclear granulocytes derived from bone marrow stem cells, and they contain many small cytoplasmic granules that stain bright red with eosin or brick-red with Romanowsky staining. Eosinophilic infiltration is also present in various human central nervous system (CNS) diseases such as parasitic infection, transverse myelitis, vasculitis, Langerhans cell histiocytosis, glioblastoma and etc. Due to the morphologic and functional characteristics, the presence of eosinophils in certain lesions may provide useful diagnostic clues in the right clinical setting. Consideration of this finding may facilitate the diagnosis of CNS pathologic lesions, especially in a small specimen such as a stereotactic biopsy.
A New Porcelain Repair System with a Silane Coupler, Ferric Chloride, and Adhesive Opaque Resin

A new porcelain repair system was developed which uses a two-liquid primer, self-cured opaque resin, and light-cured composite. The primer consisted of two liquids. One component was 4% 3-trimethoxysilylpropyl methacrylate in methyl methacrylate, and the other component was 0.5% ferric chloride in ethanol. A self-curing opaque resin, 4-META/MMA-TBB opaque resin, was used as an adhesive to bind the porcelain and the composite. Adhesive opaque resin was applied on the roughened and primed porcelain. Light-cured composite was placed over the 4-META opaque layer. A shear test was performed for investigation of the strength and durability of the bonding. The result was that for all specimens after 20,000 thermocycles, fracture or crack propagation during the shear test occurred in the porcelain, rather than in the bond. This system may be used to repair fractured porcelain facings without removal of prostheses.
Effects of nonframework metal cations and phonon scattering mechanisms on the thermal transport properties of polycrystalline zeolite LTA films

We present a systematic study to investigate the effects of nonframework cations and the role of phonon scattering mechanisms on the thermal transport properties of zeolite LTA, via experiment and semiempirical lattice dynamics calculations. Our study is motivated by the increasing interest in accurate measurements and mechanistic understanding of the thermal transport properties of zeolite materials. The presence of a nanostructured pore network, extra-framework cations, and tunable framework structure and composition confer interesting thermophysical properties to these materials, making them a good model system to investigate thermal transport in complex materials. Continuous films of zeolite LTA with different nonframework cations (Na+, K+, and Ca+2) were synthesized and characterized. The thermal conductivity was measured using the three-omega method over a wide range of temperature (150–450 K). These are the first thermal conductivity measurements performed on bulk LTA, so they are more accurate tha.
The nature of difference : sciences of race in the United States from Jefferson to genomics

The Nature of Difference documents how distinctions between people have been generated in and by the life sciences. Through insightful commentaries and a wide-ranging selection of primary documents by the editors, it charts the shifting boundaries of science and race through more than two centuries of American history. The documents, primarily writings by authoritative, eminent scientists intended for their professional peers, show how various sciences of race have changed their object of study over time: from racial groups to types to populations to genomes and beyond. The book's thematic and synthetic approach reveals the profoundly diverse array of practices--countless acts of observation, quantification, and experimentation--that enabled the consequential categorizations we inherit. The documents--most reproduced in their entirety--range from dictionary definitions of race published between 1886 and 2005 to an exchange of letters between Benjamin Baneker and Thomas Jefferson; from Samuel Cartwright's 1851 "Report on the Diseases and Physical Peculiarities of the Negro Race" to a 1950 UNESCO declaration that race is a social myth; from a 1928 paper detailing the importance of the glands in shaping human nature to a 2005 report of the discovery of a genetic basis for skin color. Such documents, given context by the editors' introductions to each thematic chapter, provide scholars, journalists, and general readers with the rich historical background necessary for understanding contemporary developments in racial science. Evelynn M. Hammonds is Professor of the History of Science and Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. She is the author of Childhood's Deadly Scourge: The Campaign to Control Diphtheria in New York City, 1880-1930. Rebecca M. Herzig is Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies at Bates College and the author of Suffering for Science: Reason and Sacrifice in Modern America.
Yes-associated Protein and p53-binding Protein-2 Interact through Their WW and SH3 Domains*

To understand the role of the Yes-associated protein (YAP), binding partners of its WW1 domain were isolated by a yeast two-hybrid screen. One of the interacting proteins was identified as p53-binding protein-2 (p53BP-2). YAP and p53BP-2 interacted in vitro and in vivo using their WW1 and SH3 domains, respectively. The YAP WW1 domain bound to the YPPPPY motif of p53BP-2, whereas the p53BP-2 SH3 domain interacted with the VPMRLR sequence of YAP, which is different from other known SH3 domain-binding motifs. By mutagenesis, we showed that this unusual SH3 domain interaction was due to the presence of three consecutive tryptophans located within the βC strand of the SH3 domain. A point mutation within this triplet, W976R, restored the binding selectivity to the general consensus sequence for SH3 domains, the PXXP motif. A constitutively active form of c-Yes was observed to decrease the binding affinity between YAP and p53BP-2 using chloramphenicol acetyltransferase/enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, whereas the overexpression of c-Yes did not modify this interaction. Since overexpression of an activated form of c-Yes resulted in tyrosine phosphorylation of p53BP-2, we propose that the p53BP-2 phosphorylation, possibly in the WW1 domain-binding motif, might negatively regulate the YAP·p53BP-2 complex.
Plasticity of tonotopic maps in humans: influence of hearing loss, hearing aids and cochlear implants

Abstract Conclusion: This paper reviews psychoacoustical and electrophysiological evidence for reorganization of the human central auditory system in case of auditory deprivation and rehabilitation. Objective: To investigate the plasticity of cortical tonotopic maps in cochlear-damaged subjects. Methods: Frequency discrimination scores were analysed in subjects with high frequency hearing loss to test for potential perceptual correlates of auditory deprivation- and rehabilitation-induced plasticity. In cochlear implant patients, electrically evoked auditory cortical responses were obtained using EEG to study scalp potential maps. Results: Perceptual changes in frequency discrimination were observed at the lesion-edge frequency of steeply sloping hearing loss. Although these results are not direct proof of cortical plasticity, no peripheral phenomenon has been found to explain them. The reversal of such auditory deprivation-induced plasticity, a phenomenon that may be termed rehabilitation plasticity, can be studied in hearing-impaired subjects fitted with a hearing aid. Cochlear implant subjects provide another interesting model for studying rehabilitation plasticity in that even profound to total deafness is made partially reversible by cochlear implantation. We found that the auditory cortex of deaf subjects with at least 3 months of cochlear implant experience is organized in a way similar to the tonotopy described in normal-hearing subjects.
Migrants' perceptions of using interpreters in health care.

BACKGROUND The number of foreign-born people who do not share a common language has increased due to extensive international migration, which will increase in the future. There is limited knowledge about the users' perceptions of interpreters in health care. AIM To describe how individuals from former Yugoslavia, living in Sweden, perceived the use of interpreters in Swedish healthcare services. METHOD A phenomenographic approach was employed. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews during 2006-2007 with 17 people, aged 29-75 years, from former Yugoslavia, living in Sweden. FINDINGS Three descriptive categories were identified: (1) prerequisites for good interpretation situations; (2) the interpretation situation - aspects of satisfaction or dissatisfaction; and (3) measures to facilitate and improve the interpreter situation. The interpreter's competence, attitude, appearance and an appropriate environment are important prerequisites for interpretation. The interpreter was perceived as being a communication aid and a guide in the healthcare system in terms of information and practical issues, but also as a hindrance. A desirable professional interpreter was perceived as highly skilled in medical terminology and language, working in face-to-face interaction. CONCLUSION Using an interpreter was perceived as a hindrance, though also needed in communication with healthcare staff and as a guide in the healthcare system. Face-to-face interaction was preferred, with the interpreter as an aid to communication. As part of individual care planning it is important to use interpreters according to the patients' desires. Healthcare organizations and guidelines for interpreters need to be developed in order for patients to have easy access to highly skilled professional interpreters.
A geographically diverse set of isolates indicates two phylogenetic lineages within Stachybotrys chartarum

Stachybotrys chartarum is a black mitosporic fungus capable of dense colonization of cellulose-based build - ing materials such as drywall. The presence of S. chartarum in indoor environments has been reported as linked to a variety of alleged environment-related illnesses including infant acute idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage, although there continues to be insufficient (especially exposure) data to support such associations. We investigated genetic variation among 52 morphologically and geographically diverse, indoor and outdoor isolates of S. chartarum sensu lato using molecular markers based on β-tubulin, calmodulin, elongation factor-1 alpha, and trichodiene synthase genes, as well as the internal transcribed spacer region of nuclear ribosomal DNA. Gene genealogies proved concordant in dividing all isolates into two strongly supported clades. The majority of the variable sites separating these lineages were fixed within each of these clades, and there was no evidence of recombination between genotypes. The results of this study therefore provide strong support for the recognition of two phylogenetic species within S. chartarum sensu lato, and further demonstrate the limitations of morphological characters in delineating monophyletic taxa among morphologi- cally simple fungi.
Detection of fetomaternal haemorrhage using the microcolumn agglutination test * *

1Department of Immunohaematology, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education, Warsaw Head of Department: Jadwiga Fabijańska-Mitek, PhD, Associate Professor 2II Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education, Warsaw Head of Department: Romuald Dębski, MD, PhD, Associate Professor 3Regional Blood Donation and Therapy Centre in Warsaw Head of the Centre: Dariusz Piotrowski, MD
Targeting of sebaceous glands to treat acne by micro‐insulated needles with radio frequency in a rabbit ear model

Many studies have investigated the application of micro‐insulated needles with radio frequency (RF) to treat acne in humans; however, the use of a micro‐insulated needle RF applicator has not yet been studied in an animal model. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a micro‐insulated needle RF applicator in a rabbit ear acne (REA) model.
The genetic epidemiology of leprosy in a Brazilian population.

Data on leprosy patients have been obtained from the Dispensary of Leprosy of Campinas, São Paulo, where records on practically all cases of leprosy in the Campinas area during the period 1960-70 are filed. The whole sample comprises 10,886 individuals, distributed among 1,568 families. Complex segregation analysis was utilized to determine the nature of the genetic factors that may operate on leprosy and its subtypes. The results suggest the presence of a recessive major gene controlling susceptibility to leprosy per se, with frequency of approximately . 05, although there are deviations from the expected Mendelian segregation proportions. Possible etiologic heterogeneity was examined by considering two subtypes separately: for lepromatous leprosy and tuberculoid leprosy there are suggestions for a segregating major effect; however, Mendelian transmission could not be demonstrated in either case. Therefore, there is no evidence to suggest unique genetic determinants for leprosy subtypes.
The Correct Height of School Furniture

Pupils were photographed by automatic camera during a four-hour examination. All of them were bent far over their tables in an unacceptable manner. An experiment was conducted to determine what height the pupils themselves preferred. Without exception, they preferred to sit much higher, which automatically placed them in a sitting position with a straight back. Revised design of furniture corrected the posture problem. It was concluded that the table should be at least half the person's height (80-90 cm for older pupils) and that the chair should be at least one-third the person's height (50-60 cm for older pupils). The seat should be capable of sloping forward 10-15 deg, and the forward sliding tendency counteracted by a small, fixed cushion. The tabletop should slope backward 10-15 deg.
Spatially Sparse, Temporally Smooth MEG Via Vector $\ell_{0}$

In this paper, we describe a new method for solving the magnetoencephalography inverse problem: temporal vector ℓ0-penalized least squares (TV-L0LS). The method calculates maximally sparse current dipole magnitudes and directions via spatial ℓ0 regularization on a cortically-distributed source grid, while constraining the solution to be smooth with respect to time. We demonstrate the utility of this method on real and simulated data by comparison to existing methods.