Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis on value of household contact survey in case detection of leprosy at a low endemic situation in China.

BACKGROUND Leprosy is at a low endemic situation in China, the value of house contact survey in case detection of leprosy becoming a dispute. AIMS To evaluate the value of household contact survey in the case detection of leprosy at a low endemic situation in China. METHODS A study was carried out using a designed questionnaire in a retrospective method to analyze the value of household contact survey in case detection in Southwest and East China. RESULTS A total of 2135 index leprosy patients were collected from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 2005 in six provinces of China. The number of index patients accounted for 22.0 and 14.1% of newly registered patients in the Southwest and East of China, respectively. The household contact survey (36.1%) and the skin clinic (62.0%) ranked first in methods of case detection in Southwest and East China, respectively. Within 5 years after primary leprosy patients were detected, 24.8 and 16.1% of the index patients in Southwest China and East China had been detected, respectively. CONCLUSION The authors conclude that at the time of a low leprosy endemic situation, the household contact survey is still a useful method for case detection in China.
Prevalence of non-specific health symptoms in South Australia

Non-specific health symptoms are commonly reported in communities exposed to environmental hazards. However these symptoms commonly occur in the general community as a result of lifestyle factors, illness such as cold and allergy, medical treatment, in addition to environmental and occupational exposures. This paper describes the prevalence of non-specific health symptoms in South Australia. A cross-sectional survey of 3016 persons aged 15 years and over across the State was undertaken. Stuffy nose was the most commonly reported symptoms, with a 2-week prevalence of 46%. Headaches, unusual tiredness, cough, sore throat and itchy eyes were each experienced by at least one in five persons in the previous 2-week period. Symptom reporting was greater among females compared with males and higher in younger age groups. These rates provide a useful reference for rates normally found in a community exposed to a broad range of personal, environmental and occupational factors that may lead to these symptoms.
FITTER - A Framework for Integrating Activity Tracking Technologies into Electric Recreation for Children and Adolescents

— Encouraging physical activity amongst children and adolescents is becoming an increasingly relevant issue in modern society. Studies have shown that involving children and adolescents in physical activity is essential for their physical, mental and social development. However, with technology playing an increasingly important role in reducing physical work it is becoming more critical to incorporate adequate physical activities into our lives. One way to overcome this problem is to harness technology so that it promotes physical activities, for example, by motivating children and adolescents to exercise more. This paper describes a promising solution to the question of how to increase levels of physical activity in children and adolescents by combining gaming technologies with exercise tracking goals. This research describes a framework called FITTER (Framework for Integrating activity Tracking Technologies for Electronic Recreation) that combines video game play with more traditional, non-computer physical activities.
Older adults' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation toward physical activity.

OBJECTIVES To examine how motives discriminate 3 physical activity levels of inactive, active, and sustained maintainers. METHODS Six hundred forty-five adults (M age = 63.8) completed stage-of-change and Exercise Motivations Inventory (EMI-2) scales. Exploratory factor analysis established psychometric properties of the EMI-2 suitable for older adults. RESULTS Six factors emerged in the EMI-2: health and fitness, social/emotional benefits, weight management, stress management, enjoyment, and appearance. Enjoyment contributed most to differentiating activity levels. Moderators of age and gender were delineated. CONCLUSIONS Intrinsic motivation and self-determined extrinsic motivation distinguish older adults' activity levels.
Non-invasive detection and quantification of acute myocardial infarction in rabbits using mono-[123I]iodohypericin microSPECT.

AIMS Mono-[(123)I]iodohypericin ([(123)I]MIH) has been reported to have high avidity for necrosis. In the present study, by using rabbit models of acute myocardial infarction, we explored the suitability of [(123)I]MIH micro single photon emission computed tomography (microSPECT) for non-invasive visualization of myocardial infarcts in comparison with [(13)N]ammonia micro positron emission tomography (microPET) imaging, postmortem histomorphometry, and [(123)I]MIH autoradiography. METHODS AND RESULTS Fourteen rabbits were divided into four groups. The left circumflex coronary artery was permanently occluded in group A (n = 3), reperfused by releasing the ligature after 15 min in group B (n = 3) or 90 min in group C (n = 6), or not occluded in group D (n = 2). Animals received [(13)N]ammonia microPET perfusion imaging 18 h after infarct induction followed by microSPECT imaging at 2-3.5, 9-11, and 22-24 h post injection (p.i.) of [(123)I]MIH. The cardiac images were assembled into polar maps for assessment of tracer uptake. Animals were sacrificed and the excised heart was sliced for autoradiography, triphenyl tetrazolium chloride, and haematoxylin-eosin staining. Using [(123)I]MIH microSPECT, infarcts were well delineated at 9 h p.i. Mean microSPECT infarct size was 38.8 and 32.7% of left ventricular area for groups A and C, respectively, whereas group B showed low uptake of [(123)I]MIH. Highest mean infarct/viable tissue activity ratio of 61/1 was obtained by autoradiography in group C animals at 24 h p.i. CONCLUSION The study indicates the suitability of [(123)I]MIH for in vivo visualization of myocardial infarcts.
Oscillatory behavior of beta-galactosidase enzyme activity in Escherichia coli during perturbed batch experiments.

The behaviour of a wild-type and mutant strain of Escherichia coli under batch aerobic conditions were studied. In these experiments the bacteria were initially grown with lactose as the sole carbon source. When exponential growth on lactose was achieved, the batch was perturbed with D-glucose. Periodic off-line samples were taken from the fermentor and analyzed for US -galactosidase enzyme activity, D-glucose, and lactose. Continuous on-line measurements of optical density of fermentation media were also made. Oscillations in the measured enzyme activity were observed. Oscillatory behavior of US -galactosidase enzyme in E. coli was previously reported by Knorre. In his study cells were grown in D-glucose, washed, and then grown on lactose. Oscillations were attributed to the varying enzyme synthesis rate. In the present study the cells were grown initally on lactose, thus assuring high synthesis rates of US -galactosidase from the start. The oscillations observed after perturbation with glucose are pronounced and appear to be the result of combined changes in the substrate transport system and enzyme activity in addition to possible changes in enzyme synthesis rate. 10 references.
Assessing DTI data quality using bootstrap analysis

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is an established method for characterizing and quantifying ultrastructural brain tissue properties. However, DTI‐derived variables are affected by various sources of signal uncertainty. The goal of this study was to establish an objective quality measure for DTI based on the nonparametric bootstrap methodology. The confidence intervals (CIs) of white matter (WM) fractional anisotropy (FA) and Clinear were determined by bootstrap analysis and submitted to histogram analysis. The effects of artificial noising and edge‐preserving smoothing, as well as enhanced and reduced motion were studied in healthy volunteers. Gender and age effects on data quality as potential confounds in group comparison studies were analyzed. Additional noising showed a detrimental effect on the mean, peak position, and height of the respective CIs at 10% of the original background noise. Inverse changes reflected data improvement induced by edge‐preserving smoothing. Motion‐dependent impairment was also well depicted by bootstrap‐derived parameters. Moreover, there was a significant gender effect, with females displaying less dispersion (attributable to elevated SNR). In conclusion, the bootstrap procedure is a useful tool for assessing DTI data quality. It is sensitive to both noise and motion effects, and may help to exclude confounding effects in group comparisons. Magn Reson Med 52:582–589, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Antibiotic Susceptibility and Molecular Analysis of Bacterial Pathogen Pasteurella Multocida Isolated from Cattle

Article history: Received on: 01/02/2013 Revised on: 19/02/2013 Accepted on: 15/03/2013 Available online: 27/04/2013 Pasteurella multocida is a Gram negative, non motile and coccobacillus bacterium. It has 5 strains i.e. A, B, D, E and F and 16 serotypes (1-16). In present study, we analyzed Pasteurella multocida B: 2 strains, responsible for Hemorrhagic Septicemia (HS) in cattle, on morphological/microbial, biochemical, molecular level and to check the antibiotic sensitivity of the Pasteurella multocida. Microbial analysis showed that while grown on Brain Heart Infusion agar plates and Blood Agar Base Medium, grayish lustrous colonies of Pasteurella multocida were observed. Gram staining showed that Pasteurella multocida are gram negative. Microscopic observations revealed it to be coccobacillus and it was nonmotile. Identification was conducted by conventional biochemical tests and percentage identification of Analytical Profile Index was 96 %. Antibiotic sensitivity with different antibiotics was checked by disk diffusion method and was found resistant to Augmentin, Amoxicillin and Aztreonam and was more susceptible to Ceftiofur. On molecular level its DNA was extracted and was run with marker having range from 0.5 – 10 kb. Its DNA was found heavier than 10 kb. It was concluded that accurate laboratory diagnosis of Pasteurella multocida depends on isolation and identification of suspected bacterial colonies by microscopy and biochemical tests. Molecular analysis is a successful tool for differentiation of strains in a variety of bacterial infections.
Physical phenomena governing the behaviour of wildfires : numerical simulation of crown fires in boreal forest

This paper deals with a presentation of the physical phenomena contributing to the behaviour of wildfires. The problem was formulated using a multiphase approach, including the set of balance equations governing the coupled system formed by the vegetation and the surrounding atmosphere in the vicinity of the fire front. Some numerical simulations carried out for a crown fire in boreal forest are compared to data collected during an experimental campaign conducted in the North West territories in Canada. Mots clefs: Combustion, Modélisation des feux en milieu naturel
The effects of herbal essential oils on the oviposition-deterrent and ovicidal activities of Aedes aegypti (Linn.), Anopheles dirus (Peyton and Harrison) and Culex quinquefasciatus (Say).

The effect of oviposition-deterrent and ovicidal of seven essential oils were evaluated towards three mosquito vectors, Aedes aegypti, Anopheles dirus and Culex quinquefasciatus. The oviposition activity index (OAI) values of six essential oils namely Cananga odorata, Cymbopogon citratus, Cymbopogon nardus, Eucalyptus citriodora, Ocimum basilicum and Syzygium aromaticum indicated that there were more deterrent than the control whereas Citrus sinensis oil acted as oviposition attractant. At higher concentration (10%) of Ca. odorata (ylang ylang flowers) showed high percent effective repellency (ER) against oviposition at 99.4% to Ae. aegypti, 97.1% to An. dirus and 100% to Cx. quinquefasciatus, respectively. The results showed that mean numbers of eggs were lower in treated than in untreated water. In addition, there was an inverse relationship between essential oil concentrations and ovicidal activity. As the concentration of essential oil increased from 1%, 5% and up to 10% conc. , the hatching rate decreased. The essential oil of Ca. odorata at 10% conc. gave minimum egg hatch of 10.4% (for Ae. aegypti), 0.8% (for An. dirus) and 1.1% (for Cx. quinquefasciatus) respectively. These results clearly revealed that the essential oil of Ca. odorata served as a potential oviposition-deterrent and ovicidal activity against Ae. aegypti, An. dirus and Cx. quinquefasciatus.
Normal and variant arterial supply of the liver and gallbladder

Abstract: The vascular supply of the liver and gallbladder is characterized by a striking degree of polymorphism. The occurrence of variants that differ from the usual pattern is both surprisingly common and unpredictable. Knowledge of this variable anatomy is particularly important during surgical interventions in which preoperative imaging studies are not available, such as in organ procurements. In this report we consider various anatomical arterial configurations, and describe an unusual variant.
Biochemical and genetic characteristics of atypical Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus strains isolated from humans in the United States

During a 2-year period, 14 biochemically atypical Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus-like strains were received by the Campylobacter Reference Laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control. Sources of the isolates were blood, nine strains; stools, two strains; amniotic fluid, one strain; and abscesses, two strains. Atypical phenotypic characteristics exhibited by one or more strains were growth at 42 degrees C, 10 strains; no H2S by lead acetate paper, 3 strains; resistance to a 30-micrograms cephalothin disk, 2 strains; and nonmotility, 1 strain. By DNA-DNA hybridization, all 14 isolates and the type strain of C. fetus subsp. fetus (ATCC 27374) were 94 to 100% related in reassociation reactions at 50 degrees C, with 0.0 to 0.5% divergence, and were 86 to 100% related in reassociation reactions at 65 degrees C. Thus, all of these atypical strains were C. fetus subsp. fetus. MICs of 11 antimicrobial agents for these 14 strains were variable. All strains were susceptible to chloramphenicol, erythromycin, gentamicin, and tetracycline, and most were susceptible to ampicillin, clindamycin, and penicillin. Eleven strains were resistant to cephalothin (MIC greater than or equal to 16 micrograms/ml), nine were resistant to rifampin (MIC greater than or equal to 8 micrograms/ml), and all were resistant to nalidixic acid (MIC greater than 32 micrograms/ml) and vancomycin (MIC greater than 32 micrograms/ml). One can expect to see biochemical variability in C. fetus subsp. fetus strains and to encounter such strains from a variety of human sources, the most important of which appears to be blood.
Optogenetic Examination of Prefrontal-Amygdala Synaptic Development

A brain network comprising the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and amygdala plays important roles in developmentally regulated cognitive and emotional processes. However, very little is known about the maturation of mPFC-amygdala circuitry. We conducted anatomical tracing of mPFC projections and optogenetic interrogation of their synaptic connections with neurons in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) at neonatal to adult developmental stages in mice. Results indicate that mPFC-BLA projections exhibit delayed emergence relative to other mPFC pathways and establish synaptic transmission with BLA excitatory and inhibitory neurons in late infancy, events that coincide with a massive increase in overall synaptic drive. During subsequent adolescence, mPFC-BLA circuits are further modified by excitatory synaptic strengthening as well as a transient surge in feedforward inhibition. The latter was correlated with increased spontaneous inhibitory currents in excitatory neurons, suggesting that mPFC-BLA circuit maturation culminates in a period of exuberant GABAergic transmission. These findings establish a time course for the onset and refinement of mPFC-BLA transmission and point to potential sensitive periods in the development of this critical network. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Human mPFC-amygdala functional connectivity is developmentally regulated and figures prominently in numerous psychiatric disorders with a high incidence of adolescent onset. However, it remains unclear when synaptic connections between these structures emerge or how their properties change with age. Our work establishes developmental windows and cellular substrates for synapse maturation in this pathway involving both excitatory and inhibitory circuits. The engagement of these substrates by early life experience may support the ontogeny of fundamental behaviors but could also lead to inappropriate circuit refinement and psychopathology in adverse situations.
Construction of a high-resolution comparative gene map between swine chromosome region 6q11→q21 and human chromosome 19 q-arm by RH mapping of 51 genes

A comprehensive and comparative map was constructed for the porcine chromosome (SSC) 6q11→q21 region, where the gene(s) responsible for the maldevelopment of embryos are localized using swine populations of the National Institute of Animal Industry, Japan (NIAI). Since the chromosomal region corresponds to a region of human chromosome (HSA) 19q13.1→q13.3 based on bi-directional chromosome painting, primer pairs were designed from porcine cDNA sequences identified, on a sequence comparison basis, as being transcripts from genes orthologous to those in the HSA region. Fifty-one genes were successfully assigned to a swine radiation hybrid (RH) map with LOD scores greater than 6. ERF and PSMD8 genes were assigned to SSC4 and SSC1, respectively. The remaining 49 genes were assigned to SSC6, demonstrating that the synteny between the SSC6 and HSA19 chromosomal regions is essentially conserved, therefore confirming, the results of bi-directional chromosome painting. However, when examined precisely, rearrangements have apparently occurred within the region of conserved synteny. For the ERF and PSMD8 genes assigned to SSCs other than SSC6, additional mapping using somatic cell hybrid (SCH) panels was performed to confirm the results of RH-mapping.
Effects of growth stage and the season on the mineral concentrations in Cerastium holosteoides.

In a field trial carried out in the years 1998 and 1999 on Arrhenatheretum elatioris semi-natural mesotropic grassland, the effects of growth stage and the season on the mineral concentrations in Cerastium holosteoides were examined. Concentrations of most observed minerals (Na, P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn, and Cu) in C. holosteoides were decreasing with advancing maturity. The season significantly affected P and Mg concentrations, where values were significantly lower in summer, and Ca and Mn concentrations, where values were significantly higher in the summer than in spring. Differences in mineral concentrations between years were significant only at Mn and Zn.
The blood supply of the vermiform appendix in Nigerians.

There is no general agreement in the literature about the arterial blood supply of the vermiform appendix. Published papers and standard text-books contain differing statements about the number of arteries which supply this organ and also about the immediate derivation of these vessels (Table 1). Some authoritative sources such as Koster & Weintrob (1928), Bruce, Walmsley & Ross (1964), and Grant & Basmajian (1965) state that the appendix is supplied by only one artery; but other workers (Shah & Shah, 1946; and Wakeley, Harmer & Taylor, 1960) claim that it is supplied by more than one vessel. Little information is available in the literature about the distribution and pattern of branching of the appendicular arteries. In view of the discrepancies in the literature about the anatomy ofthe vascular supply of the appendix and the apparent rarity of appendicitis among Africans (Short, 1946; Kerr, 1957; Bailey & Love, 1965), this investigation was undertaken to determine the origin, patterns of branching and anastomoses of the appendicular arteries in Nigerians. Previous studies on the blood supply of the appendix were carried out either as part of routine dissections of injected cadavers or by the direct injection of dye into the main appendicular artery. With these methods of study there might be difficulty in defining clearly the exact origin of the main appendicular artery, and accessory vessels to the appendix might be missed. In this study, the arterial supply of the appendix was demonstrated by injecting a suspension of barium sulphate into the superior mesenteric artery, and the pattern of distribution was studied by radiological and histological examinations.
Measuring the value and impact of health sciences libraries: planning an update and replication of the Rochester Study.

In 2007, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM), Middle Atlantic Region (MAR), formed a planning group to explore the possibility of replicating a landmark study on the value of hospital libraries and their impact on clinical care, popularly known as “the Rochester Study” [1]. The Rochester study was among the first studies to relate information services provided by librarians to patient care outcomes, and it continues to be cited as evidence of the value of library services. The purpose of this paper is to update the library community on the progress of the proposed value of libraries study.
Structured discussion and early failure prediction in feature requests

Feature request management systems are popular tools for gathering and negotiating stakeholders' change requests during system evolution. While these frameworks encourage stakeholder participation in distributed software development, their lack of structure also raises challenges. We present a study of requirements defects and failures in large scale feature request management systems, which we build upon to propose and evaluate two distinct solutions for key challenges in feature requests. The discussion forums on which feature request management systems are based make it difficult for developers to understand stakeholders' real needs. We propose a tool-supported argumentation framework, DoArgue, that integrates into feature request management systems allowing stakeholders to annotate comments on whether a suggested feature should be implemented. DoArgue aims to help stakeholders provide input into requirements activity that is more effective and understandable to developers. A case study evaluation suggests that DoArgue encapsulates the key discussion concepts on implementing a feature, and requires little additional effort to use. Therefore it could be adopted to clarify the complexities of requirements discussions in distributed settings. Deciding how much upfront requirements analysis to perform on feature requests is another important challenge: too little may result in inadequate functionalities being developed, costly changes, and wasted development effort; too much is a waste of time and resources. We propose an automated tool-supported framework for predicting failures early in a feature request's life-cycle when a decision is made on whether to implement it. A cost-benefit model assesses the value of conducting additional requirements analysis on a body of feature requests predicted to fail. An evaluation on six large-scale projects shows that prediction models provide more value than the best baseline predictors for many failure types. This suggests that failure prediction during requirements elicitation is a promising approach for localising, guiding, and deciding how much requirements analysis to conduct.