Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis A and E viruses among rural populations of the Chaco region, south‐eastern Bolivia

Summary We conducted a cross‐sectional study to determine the seroprevalence of antibodies against hepatitis A and hepatitis E viruses (HAV and HEV) in the population of two rural areas, Camiri and Villa Montes, of the Chaco region, south‐eastern Bolivia. HAV antibodies were detected in 461 (94.1%) of 490 serum samples tested, not differing significantly between sexes and study areas. The HAV seropositivity rate (64.7%) was high even in the youngest age group (1–5 years). The prevalence of HEV was 7.3%, with no significant differences between sexes. The prevalence of HEV antibodies in the population of the Camiri area (10.4%) was significantly higher than in the Villa Montes area (4.4.%), possibly due to the better quality of drinking water in the Villa Montes area. In the population ≤ 30 years of age, the HEV seropositivity rate (4.4%) was significantly lower than in the ≥ 31 year‐old group. This is consistent with findings in other countries. This is the first report of the prevalence of HEV infection in Bolivia.
Strength and Power Qualities Are Highly Associated With Punching Impact in Elite Amateur Boxers

Abstract Loturco, I, Nakamura, FY, Artioli, GG, Kobal, R, Kitamura, K, Cal Abad, CC, Cruz, IF, Romano, F, Pereira, LA, and Franchini, E. Strength and power qualities are highly associated with punching impact in elite amateur boxers. J Strength Cond Res 30(1): 109–116, 2016—This study investigated the relationship between punching impact and selected strength and power variables in 15 amateur boxers from the Brazilian National Team (9 men and 6 women). Punching impact was assessed in the following conditions: 3 jabs starting from the standardized position, 3 crosses starting from the standardized position, 3 jabs starting from a self-selected position, and 3 crosses starting from a self-selected position. For punching tests, a force platform (1.02 × 0.76 m) covered by a body shield was mounted on the wall at a height of 1 m, perpendicular to the floor. The selected strength and power variables were vertical jump height (in squat jump and countermovement jump), mean propulsive power in the jump squat, bench press (BP), and bench throw, maximum isometric force in squat and BP, and rate of force development in the squat and BP. Sex and position main effects were observed, with higher impact for males compared with females (p ⩽ 0.05) and the self-selected distance resulting in higher impact in the jab technique compared with the fixed distance (p ⩽ 0.05). Finally, the correlations between strength/power variables and punching impact indices ranged between 0.67 and 0.85. Because of the strong associations between punching impact and strength/power variables (e.g., lower limb muscle power), this study provides important information for coaches to specifically design better training strategies to improve punching impact.
Oddities in Kirkpatrick, et al.'s Study of Children of Lesbian Mothers

Kirkpatrick, et al.'s 1976 study of what happened to 20 lesbians' children has received considerable attention, apparently later being matched with 20 heterosexuals' children. In 2004, Kirkpatrick generally acknowledged Schumm's caution that her findings are less impressive than are needed, yet, Kirkpatrick stated her “early findings have been reinforced” and that “no evidence of differences in the children grouped by the mother's sexual orientation” have been documented by subsequent research. Close examination of the data of these studies indicates that children from 13 lesbian mothers were compared with children from 13 divorced heterosexuals. Further, there are contradictions between the published reports regarding the nature of samples and various findings. Analysis of Kirkpatrick, et al.'s study suggests that children do less well when raised by homosexual parents.
Continuous Infusion of Ropivacaine for Pain Relief after Iliac Crest Bone Grafting for Shoulder Surgery

Background:The aim of the study was to compare the efficacy of either ropivacaine or placebo through an iliac crest (IC) catheter after Bankart repair with IC bone grafting. Methods:With approval of the local ethics committee and after written informed consent was obtained, 36 patients had an interscalene catheter placed preoperatively. Intraoperatively, the surgeon placed a catheter at the IC donor site. At the end of surgery, 30 ml ropivacaine, 0.5% (ropivacaine group), or 30 ml NaCl, 0.9% (placebo group), was administered. Ropivacaine, 0.2%, was started 6 h after the initial block through the interscalene catheter for 48 h (t48) in all patients. At t0, the patient received either 5 ml/h ropivacaine, 0.2% (ropivacaine group), or 5 ml/h NaCl, 0.9% (placebo group), for 48 h through the IC catheter. All patients received an intravenous morphine patient-controlled analgesia device. Pain scores at the shoulder and at the IC donor site were assessed at rest and during motion every 8 h for 48 h and after 3 months. Plasma concentrations of total and unbound ropivacaine, morphine consumption, and patient satisfaction were assessed. Results:At the IC donor site, pain was significantly lower in the ropivacaine group compared with the placebo group at rest and during motion at any time. Total and unbound plasma concentrations of ropivacaine were below the toxic threshold in both groups. Morphine consumption was significantly lower in the ropivacaine group after 24 and 48 h. Patient satisfaction was significantly higher in the ropivacaine group. At 3 months, pain at the IC during motion was significantly lower in the ropivacaine group. Conclusions:Continuous application of 0.2% ropivacaine through an IC catheter after Bankart repair with IC bone grafting is an effective method for pain relief for the first 48 h, with few adverse effects and high patient satisfaction. The benefit of this technique is still present after 3 months.
Ostertagia spp. in Lambs and Pregnant Ewes

It was confirmed that lambs born in the Central Tabelands area of New South Wales became infested with Ostertagia spp. to a potentially pathogenic level very early in their lives. By studying the faecal egg output of ewes in this area it was shown that a marked Ostertagia spp. egg count rise occurred in all lambing ewes at or closely associated with parturition. It was also shown that it was not likely that these ewes had themselves picked up many Ostertagia spp. larvae during the latter part of their pregnancy and that the parturient egg count rise mainly resulted from larvae ingested prior to, or early in, pregnancy.
A Compact Nanostructure Enhanced Heat Sink With Flow in a Rectangular Channel

This paper reports a compact nanostructure based heat sink. The system has an inlet and an outlet valve similar to a conventional heat sink. From the inlet valve, pressurized deionized-water is propelled into a rectangular channel (of dimensions 24mm×59mm×8mm). This rectangular channel houses a nanostructured plate, on which ∼600 nm long copper nanorod arrays with an average nanorod diameter of 150 nm are integrated to copper thin film coated on silicon wafer surface. Forced convective heat transfer characteristics of the nanostructured plate are investigated using the experimental setup and compared to the results from a flat plate of copper thin film deposited on silicon substrate. Nanorod arrays act as fins over the plate which enhances the heat transfer from the plate. Excess heat generating small devices are mimicked through a small heat generator placed below the nanostructured plate. Constant heat flux is provided through the heat generator. Thermocouples placed on the heater surface are utilized to gather the surface temperature data. Constant pressure drop across the heat sink and constant heat flux values are varied in order to obtain the correlation between heat removal rate and input power. Volumetric flow rate was measured as a function of the constant pressure drop. In this study, it was proved that nanostructured surfaces have the potential to be a useful in cooling of small and excessive heat generating devices such as MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) and microprocessors.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Shaped by uneven Pleistocene climate: mitochondrial phylogeographic pattern and population history of white wagtail Motacilla alba (Aves: Passeriformes)

We studied the phylogeography and population history of the white wagtail Motacilla alba , which has a vast breeding range, covering areas with diff erent Pleistocene climatic histories. Th e mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit II gene (ND2) and Control Region (CR) were analyzed for 273 individuals from 45 localities. Our data comprised all nine subspecies of white wagtail. Four primary clades were inferred (M, N, SW and SE), with indications of M. grandis being nested within M. alba . Th e oldest split was between two haplotypes from the endemic Moroccan M. a. subpersonata (clade M) and the others, at 0.63 – 0.96 Mya; other divergences were at 0.31 – 0.38 Mya. Th e entire diff erentiation falls within the part of the Pleistocene characterized by Milankovitch cycles of large amplitudes and durations. Clade N was distributed across the northern Palearctic; clade SW in southwestern Asia plus the British Isles and was predicted by Ecological niche models (ENMs) to occur also in central and south Europe; and clade SE was distributed in central and east Asia. Th e deep divergence within M. a. subpersonata may refl ect retention of ancestral haplotypes. Regional diff erences in historical climates have had diff erent impacts on diff erent populations: clade N expanded after the last glacial maximum (LGM), whereas milder Pleistocene climate of east Asia allowed clade SE a longer expansion time (since MIS 5); clade SW expanded over a similarly long time as clade SE, which is untypical for European species. ENMs supported these conclusions in that the northern part of the Eurasian continent was unsuitable during the LGM, whereas southern parts remained suitable. Th e recent divergences and poor structure in the mitochondrial tree contrasts strongly with the pronounced, well defi ned phenotypical diff erentiation, indicating extremely fast plumage divergence.
Systemic Blockade of TNF-α does not Improve Insulin Resistance in Humans

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine whether long-term modulation of inflammatory activity by tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α inhibitors has some influence on insulin resistance (IR). 16 active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients without CV risk factors treated with anti-TNF-α agents were included in this study. RA activity by disease activity score 28, IR by HOMA2-IR, body composition by impedance analysis, physical activity by accelerometry, abdominal fat distribution by magnetic resonance imaging, and serum level of key adipokines by ELISA were measured at baseline and during a 1-year follow-up period. Patient body mass index increased significantly (26.94±3.88 vs. 28.06±4.57 kg/m2, p=0.02) after 1 year of treatment. Body composition, in terms of fat and fat-free mass, remained unchanged except for a significant elevation in body cell mass (25.50±4.60 vs. 26.60±3.17 kg, p=0.02). Basal levels of IR in the RA patients included in this study were significantly higher than healthy controls (1.6±0.8 vs. 1.11±0.56, p=0.011) but did not change during the follow-up. Nor did basal concentrations of adiponectin, visfatin, leptin, ghrelin, resistin, and apelin in response to anti-TNF-α treatment; only retinol-binding protein 4, showed a significant increase (51.7±32.7 vs. 64.9±28.4 μg/ml, p=0.03) at the end of the study. IR, adiposity distribution, and serum levels of most adipokines are not significantly affected by long-term inhibition of TNF-α in RA patients. Our data suggest that although systemic blockade of TNF-α exerts an anticachectic effect in RA patients, it does not seem to play a major role in IR.
First‐ and second‐shell metal binding residues in human proteins are disproportionately associated with disease‐related SNPs

Protein structure serves as a key determinant for revealing the molecular basis of human disease. Metal ions are among the most frequently bound heterogroups in proteins affecting structure and function. We analyzed the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with human disease and metal binding sites in proteins on a database scale, using structural models and predictive tools. A match was identified for 586 disease‐associated SNPs (dSNPs) located at 135 predicted metal binding sites and associated with 126 diverse diseases. For 104 diseases, a metal is known to bind at the predicted site in the homologue; for 22, the analysis gives a first indication for metal involvement in the disease. As second‐shell residues play an important part in metal ion binding, our analysis included protein space up to 4.5 Å from metal binding sites. The ratio of disease‐associated versus nondisease‐associated SNPs (dSNP/ndSNP) for first‐shell residues is 7.4 and for second‐shell residues, 3.1. In addition, over 13% of all dSNPs were found to be associated with first‐ and second‐shell residues, although these residues occupy only about 3% of protein space. These results show a disproportionate association of dSNPs and metal binding sites over a wide variety of diseases. Hum Mutat 32:1309–1318, 2011. ©2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Modulated Metasurface Antennas for Space: Synthesis, Analysis and Realizations

This paper presents design and analysis methods for planar antennas based on modulated metasurfaces (MTSs). These antennas operate on an interaction between a cylindrical surface-wave (SW) excited by an isotropic TM radiator, and an MTS having a spatially modulated equivalent impedance. The MTS is realized by using sub-wavelength patches printed on a grounded slab, thus resulting in a structure with light weight and compact volume. Both features are appealing characteristics for space applications. This paper introduces for the first time an impedance-based amplitude synthesis of the aperture field distribution and shows several new examples of antennas for space applications obtained in recent research projects financed by the European Space Agency.
Sensitivity analysis for Bayesian hierarchical models

Prior sensitivity examination plays an important role in applied Bayesian analyses. This is especially true for Bayesian hierarchical models, where interpretability of the parameters within deeper layers in the hierarchy becomes challenging. In addition, lack of information together with identifiability issues may imply that the prior distributions for such models have an undesired influence on the posterior inference. Despite its relevance, informal approaches to prior sensitivity analysis are currently used. They require repetitive re-runs of the model with ad-hoc modified base prior parameter values. Other formal approaches to prior sensitivity analysis suffer from a lack of popularity in practice, mainly due to their high computational cost and absence of software implementation. We propose a novel formal approach to prior sensitivity analysis which is fast and accurate. It quantifies sensitivity without the need for a model re-run. We develop a ready-to-use priorSens package in R for routine prior sensitivity investigation by R-INLA. Throughout a series of examples we show how our approach can be used to detect high prior sensitivities of some parameters as well as identifiability issues in possibly over-parametrized Bayesian hierarchical models.
Transient mania with hypersexuality after surgery for high frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson's disease

Among 30 Parkinson's disease patients who received high frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus, 5 developed remarkable disorders of mood or sexual behavior after the implant. We describe 2 men who developed mania and hypersexuality a few days after the implant that lasted for some months and then gradually disappeared spontaneously. © 2002 Movement Disorder Society
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Induces a Dual Regulation of Bcl-2, Resulting in Persistent Infection of CD4+ T- or Monocytic Cell Lines

ABSTRACT This work aims at characterizing the interplay between human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and the antiapoptotic cellular protein Bcl-2 responsible for a persistent infection in lymphoblastoid T (J.Jhan) or monocytic (U937) cells. We report that the kinetics of Bcl-2 protein level during the establishment of a chronic infection is biphasic, characterized by a transient decrease followed by restoration to the initial level. The extent and duration of this transient decrease were inversely correlated with the basal level of Bcl-2 as shown by kinetics of Bcl-2 levels in J.Jhan or U937 clones exhibiting different levels of Bcl-2. Using these clones, we also showed that Bcl-2 downregulates HIV-1 replication. Therefore, the cells overexpressing Bcl-2 are characterized by a low viral burden which, in turn, has little effect on the level of this protein. The observed bipasic kinetics is the result of a dual regulation of Bcl-2 induced by HIV-1 infection itself: an upregulation at the transcriptional level of the bcl-2 gene concomitant with a downregulation at the protein level. Convergent data suggest that this downregulation is caused by the oxidative stress induced by the infection itself as shown by the associated modulations of glutathione and thioredoxin levels and by the prevention of these dysregulations byN-acetylcysteine. Altogether, these data indicate that infection first results in a decrease of Bcl-2, permitting an initial boost of replication. Then, as the synthesis at the transcriptional level proceeds, the replication is negatively controlled by Bcl-2 to reach a balance characterized by low virus production and a level of Bcl-2 compatible with cell survival. We suggest that the basal level of Bcl-2, together with infection-inducible transcription factors able to activate bcl-2 gene transcription, is a critical cellular determinant in the tendency toward an acute or a persistent infection.
A vaccinia virus DNase preparation which cross-links superhelical DNA

Multiple DNA-dependent enzyme activities have been detected in highly purified preparations of a single-strand-specific nuclease from vaccinia virus. These enzyme preparations were extensively purified and characterized by using superhelical DNAs as substrates. In particular, the nuclease activity was monitored by the extent of conversion of supercoiled closed duplex DNA (DNA I) to nicked circular DNA (DNA II), which could subsequently be converted to duplex linear DNA (DNA III) by prolonged incubation with the enzyme. DNA species which were not substrates for the enzyme included relaxed closed duplex DNA, DNA II which had been prepared by nuclease S1 treatment or by photochemical nicking of DNA I, and DNA III. With plasmid pSM1 DNA as substrate, the extent of cleavage of DNA I to DNA II was found to increase with superhelix density above a threshold value of about -0.06. The linear reaction products were examined by gel electrophoresis after restriction enzyme digestion of the DNAs from plasmids pSM1 and pBR322 and of the viral DNAs from bacteriophage phi X174 (replicative form) and simian virus 40, and the map coordinate locations of the scissions were determined. These products were further examined by electron microscopy and by gel electrophoresis under denaturing conditions. Electron micrographs taken under partially denaturing conditions revealed molecules with terminal loops or hairpins such as would result from the introduction of cross-links at the cutting sites. These species exhibited snapback renaturation. The denaturing gel electrophoresis experiments revealed the appearance of new bands at locations consistent with terminal cross-linking. With pSM1 and pBR322 DNAs, this band was shown to contain DNA that was approximately twice the length of a linear single strand. The terminal regions of the cross-linked linear duplex reaction products were sensitive to nuclease S1 but insensitive to proteinase K, suggesting that the structure is a hairpin loop not maintained by a protein linker. A similar structure is found in mature vaccinia virus DNA.
Theory, Lattice Structure and Design of Unequal Length Linear Phase Perfect Reconstruction Filter Banks with More Flexible Length Profile

This paper presents the structure and design of a class of linear phase perfect reconstruction FIR filter banks with unequal filter lengths. The motivation for design of such filter banks comes from image coding in order to simultaneously reduce the annoying blocking and ringing artifacts by long filters and short filters, respectively. First, the existence conditions are derived for such filter banks, which shows that the number of long filters can be arbitrary in some cases unlike earlier works which limit it to even number. Then, the proposed design methods structurally enforce the unequal length property along with linear phase and perfect reconstruction properties by lattice structures. Finally, several design examples are presented to confirm the validity of the approach and to compare the performance of different filter banks
Redistribution of Voteshares

We detail a model of compositional data for reallocating voteshares under counterfactual scenarios. This builds on a system of models Aitchison (1986), Katz and King (1999) and Honaker, Katz and King (2001), that are used when the inference can be seen as a missing data problem with auxiliary information about bounds. By investigating a series of undervoting problems in 2006 with electronic voting, where unexpectedly large numbers of voters did not vote because of ballot technology problems, we are able to test this model in a series of similar races. Because we also have collected individual level “ballot image” data, this gives us a number of reasonably comparable applied settings to judge the average performance of these compositional models and measure the information loss from using aggregated voting returns.
Molecular Genotyping of a Large, Multicentric Collection of Tubercle Bacilli Indicates Geographical Partitioning of Strain Variation and Has Implications for Global Epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

ABSTRACT Tuberculosis continues to be a major killer disease, despite an all-out effort launched against it in the postgenomic era. We describe here the population structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, as revealed by a chromosome-wide scan of fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphisms (FAFLPs), for more than 1,100 independent isolates from 11 different countries. The bacterial strains were genotyped based on a total of 136 ± 1 different FAFLP markers at the genome sequence interface, with details on IS6110 profiles, drug resistance status, clinicopathological observations, and host status integrated into the analysis process. The strains were found to cluster with possible geographic affinities, including the parameters of host species type, IS6110 profile, and drug susceptibility status. Of the five most commonly amplified fragment sets (or amplitypes), type A predominated in strains of mixed origin, deposited in The Netherlands; type B was exclusively observed for Indian isolates; type C was found mainly in strains from Peru and Australia; and types D and E predominated in European strains from France and Italy. The amplitypes were independent of certain large sequence polymorphisms representing two important deletions, TbD1 and Rd9. It appears that M. tuberculosis has a high genomic diversity with a possible geographic evolution. This may have occurred due to specific genomic deletions and synonymous substitutions selected rigorously against host defenses and environmental stresses on an evolutionary timescale. The genotypic data reported here are additionally significant for genotype-phenotype correlations and for determining whether pathogen diversity is a reflection f the host population diversity.