Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Yield of contact tracing from pediatric tuberculosis index cases in Gaborone, Botswana.

SETTING Contact tracing using pediatric index cases has not been adequately investigated in high tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence settings. OBJECTIVE To determine the yield of contact tracing in household contacts of pediatric TB index cases in Botswana. DESIGN Index cases included all pediatric (age ≤ 13 years) TB admissions from January 2009 to December 2011 to Botswana's largest referral hospital. A contact tracing team identified cases, conducted home visits, symptom-screened contacts and referred those with ≥ 1 TB symptoms. The primary outcome was newly diagnosed TB in a contact. RESULTS From 163 pediatric index cases, 548 contacts were screened (median 3 contacts/case, interquartile range [IQR] 2-4). Of these, 49 (9%) were referred for positive symptoms on screening and 27/49 (55%) were evaluated for active TB. Twelve new TB cases were diagnosed (12/548, 2.2%); the median age was 31 years (IQR 23-38); 11 (92%) were smear-positive. Ten (83%) had known HIV status: 7 (70%) were HIV-positive. To find one new TB case, the number needed to contact trace (index cases/new cases) was 13.6, and the number needed to screen (contacts/new cases) was 46. CONCLUSION This yield of contact tracing using pediatric index cases is similar to the traditional adult index case approach. Improving the proportion of symptomatic contacts evaluated may increase yield.
Prevalence of Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Muscle Dysmorphia Among Entry-Level Military Personnel.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and muscle dysmorphia (MD) in enlisted U.S. military personnel; and secondarily, to determine supplement use and relationship with BDD and MD. METHODS A survey of advanced individual training of tri-service personnel at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, was performed combining the dysmorphia concern questionnaire, the MD symptom questionnaire, a supplement questionnaire, and demographic factors. RESULTS Of the 1,320 service members approached, 1,150 (87.1%) completed the survey. The majority of participants were male, 62.8% (n = 722) and Army soldiers 59.0% (n = 679). The prevalence rate of BDD was 13.0% in males and 21.7% in females. The prevalence of MD was 12.7% in males and 4.2% in females. There was a strong correlation between having BDD and using supplements to get thinner (odds ratio 5.1; 95% confidence interval 3.4-7.8; p < 0.001) and MD to get more muscular (odds ratio 5.4; 95% confidence interval 3.5-8.3; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Our study shows a higher than expected prevalence rate of BDD and MD in service members. This indicates a need for increased awareness of dysmorphias in mental health providers, primary care providers, and commanders and justifies further military specific BDD and MD research.
High-speed architecture for k-dimensional LFSR in H/W implementation

Proposal for a high-speed architecture of Linear Feedback Shift Registers (LFSR), related to the hardware implementation of pseudo-random Gold-sequence, is presented here. In high-speed communication systems, a scrambling of large coded bits is difficult to compute using a conventional LFSR architecture because the requested processing time for scrambling function is very increased in proportion to length of a data stream. In this paper, we investigate the use of VLSI technology to speed up scrambling block and propose a novel LFSR architecture by generalizing an analysis of the researched architecture. The analysis of the proposed LFSR architecture demonstrates that the proposed k-dimensional LFSR architecture is k times as fast as a conventional LFSR architecture and the used processing time for scrambling is enough to implement scramble function for high-speed applications such as LTE-Advanced.
Size-induced structural transitions in the Cu-O and Ce-O systems.

We have studied the effect of reducing the particle size on the crystal structures of copper oxide and cerium oxide. Below 25 nm, the cubic ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{2}$O is found to be more stable than the monoclinic CuO. This confirms an earlier conjecture that the ionic character of a solid tends to increase with a reduction in the particle size. As a result, high-symmetry crystal structures are more likely to be stable at smaller sizes. For cerium oxide, the bulk (cubic) ${\mathrm{CeO}}_{2}$ phase remains stable down to 4.8 nm and, as expected, does not undergo a transition to any of the other available structures with lower symmetry. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
The Effects of Interactions between Ozone and CO2 on the Chromosomes of Norway Spruce Root Meristems

Summary MULLER M. , GRILL D. & GUTTENBERGER H. 1994. The effects of interactions between ozone and CO2 on the chromosomes of Norway spruce root meristems. Phyton (Horn, Austria) 34 (2): 321-335, with 2 figures. - English with German summary. A Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karsten) test system was used to study the immediate and after effects of increased ozone or elevated CO2 or both, on root tip chromosomes. Five-year-old potted spruce trees were exposed in environmental chambers to elevated concentrations of ozone (0.1 cm3m~3) for the study of an immediate effect and to elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide (750 cm3irf3) and ozone (0.08 cm3m"3) as single variables or in combination and then transferred to a field for the observation of an after effect. Elevated ozone caused an increased number of chromosomal abnormalities directly after finishing the fumigation and also 21 months later. Elevated CO2 more likely induced a decrease rather than an increase in the number of chromosomal aberrations. The most common abnormalities were chromosome stickiness, in the form of connections, clumped metaphases and amorphous chromatin masses. An increased number of chromosomal aberrations especially chromosome stickiness reflects highly toxic effects, usually of an irreversible type leading to cell death.
Osteopontin deficiency protects against airway remodeling and hyperresponsiveness in chronic asthma.

RATIONALE Osteopontin (OPN) is a cytokine that is upregulated in epithelial cells and macrophages in the lungs of mice during chronic allergen challenge and airway remodeling and also in lungs of patients with asthma. However, it remains unclear whether OPN has an in vivo effect on lung remodeling in allergic asthma. Based on its ability to induce smooth muscle and fibroblast proliferation and migration we hypothesize that OPN regulates lung remodeling and also affects subsequent airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). OBJECTIVES Study the role of OPN in airway remodeling using OPN-knockout (KO) mice and a reversal approach administering recombinant mouse OPN (rOPN) in KO mice before challenge. METHODS A chronic allergen-challenge model of airway remodeling with OPN KO mice, KO mice treated with rOPN, and human bronchial smooth muscle were used. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS OPN deficiency protected mice against ova-induced AHR, which was associated with lower collagen and mucus production, gob-5 mRNA expression, submucosal cell area infiltration, and proliferation. Administration of rOPN to KO mice, just at the final five allergen challenges, exacerbated AHR and all the remodeling characteristics measured. In addition, rOPN increased the expression of IL-13 and pro-matrix metalloproteinase-9 in the lungs. Moreover, we demonstrated that rOPN induces proliferation of human BSM through binding to its alpha(v)beta3 integrin receptor and activation of PI3K/Akt downstream signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that OPN deficiency protects against remodeling and AHR. Thus our data reveal OPN as a novel therapeutic target for airway remodeling and associated AHR in chronic asthma.
Normal Mixture Garch(1,1): Applications to Exchange Rate Modelling

Some recent specifications for GARCH error processes explicitly assume a conditional variance that is generated by a mixture of normal components, albeit with some parameter restrictions. This paper analyses the general normal mixture GARCH(1,1) model which can capture time variation in both conditional skewness and kurtosis. A main focus of the paper is to provide evidence that, for modelling exchange rates, generalized two-component normal mixture GARCH(1,1) models perform better than those with three or more components, and better than symmetric and skewed Student's t-GARCH models. In addition to the extensive empirical results based on simulation and on historical data on three US dollar foreign exchange rates (British pound, euro and Japanese yen), we derive: expressions for the conditional and unconditional moments of all models; parameter conditions to ensure that the second and fourth conditional and unconditional moments are positive and finite; and analytic derivatives for the maximum likelihood estimation of the model parameters and standard errors of the estimates. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
What distinguish teams from social aggregates? A tool to assess the group development

This research uses the construct of group development (GD) to distinguish highly developed workgroups and teams from mere social ag- gregates. The aims were to develop a scale capable of measuring this basic emergent process and to study the scale's reliability and construct validity (content, factorial, convergent and criteria). Data concerning the GD, oth- er related processes (entitativity and group identification) and team outputs (group performance and team effectiveness) were gathered from four suc- cessive studies (4099 participants belonging to 521 workgroups in 13 or- ganizations). All the studies were carried out using a cross-sectional and correlational design. The results revealed an one-dimensional solution for the proposed measurement scale, which showed adequate reliability and validity. The scale is not only practical (quick and easy to apply) but also useful for group managers and leaders, since it provides them with a tool for determining the extent to which their groups are actually functioning as highly developed groups.
Turbulence in a Bose-Einstein condensate

We numerically model turbulence in a trapped atomic Bose-Einstein condensate by solving the Gross-Pitaevskii nonlinear Schroedinger equation. We find that, after an initial growth, the vortex length decays approximately as t−1 where t is time, consistent with experiments in turbulent superfluid helium, and that the velocity components obey power-law statistics, again in agreement with observations in turbulent superfluid helium. We find the same statistics, which contrasts to the Gaussian statistics observed in ordinary classical turbulence, in a variety of quantum fluids in two and three dimensions (trapped condensates, homogeneous condensates, vortex points, vortex filaments). We argue that the non-Gaussianity arises from the singular nature of quantised vorticity.
[Trigemino-cardiac reflex in skull base surgery].

OBJECTIVE To explore the mechanism, clinical features, and prognosis of Trigemino-cardiac reflex (TCR) during skull base operations. METHODS A retrospective analysis was performed on 291 patients with skull base disease from Jan. 2009 to Oct. 2015 in Peking University First Hospital. By reviewing the patients' operative data and anaesthetic electrical record, and we picked out all the patients who suffered from TCR during the operation and analyzed their surgical procedures, clinical features, influence factors, and prognosis. TCR was defined as a drop in mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) and the heart rate (HR) of more than 20% to the baseline values before the stimulus and coinciding with the manipulation of the trigeminal nerve. RESULTS In all the 291 patients receiving skull base surgery, 9 patients suffering TCR for 19 times during the operation were found. These 9 cases included three acoustice schwannomas, one trigeminal schwannoma, one petroclival meningioma, one epidermoid cyst in cerebellopontine angle, one cavernous sinus cavernous hemangioma, one pituitary adenoma, and one trigeminal neuralgia. The trigger of TCR was related to manipulation, retraction, and stimulation of the trunk or branches of trigeminal nerve. The baseline heart rate was 62-119/min [mean (79.4±14.6) /min] and dropped about 29.0%-66.4% (mean 44.3%) to 22-60 /min [mean (44.2±9.6) /min] after TCR. The baseline mean arterial blood pressure was 75-103 mmHg [mean (87.5±7.8) mmHg] and dropped about 23.4%-47.2% (mean 37.3%) to 45-67 mmHg [mean (54.9±6.3) mmHg] after TCR. During the 19 times of TCR, heart rate and blood pressure could return to baseline in a short time while stopping manipulation (8 times), using atropine (8 times, dose 0.5-1.0 mg, mean 0.69 mg), using ephedrine hydrochloride (one time, 15 mg), using epinephrine (one time, 1 mg), and using dopamine (one time, 2 mg). TCR also could be triggered again by a second stimulation. There was no relative cardiologic complication or neurological deficit in the postoperative 24 hours. CONCLUSION TCR is a short neural reflex with a drop in blood pressure and heart rate coinciding with the manipulation of the trigeminal nerve in skull base surgery. Correct recognition, intensive observation, and essential management of TCR will lead to a good prognosis.
Surface Insulation Resistance of Conformally Coated Printed Circuit Boards Processed With No-Clean Flux

Printed circuit board (PCB) specimens containing three different IPC-B-25 test structures were exposed to temperature/humidity/bias conditions in order to evaluate the effects of conformal coating, conductor spacing, voltage bias, flux chemistry, and test environment on surface insulation resistance (SIR). Results indicate that conformal coatings improve reliability, provided that sources of contamination on the PCB and within the coating are minimized. The presence of fibrous contaminants within the coating represented a preferential medium for moisture adsorption and ion transport, leading to accelerated reduction of SIR. In the absence of contamination, PCBs with conformal coatings were found to be less susceptible to SIR degradation than uncoated PCBs, with silicone providing better protection than urethane, and acrylic providing the least protection of the three coating materials evaluated. Conductor spacing was observed to represent a factor in the electrochemical migration (ECM) process independent of electric field, indicating that updated test structures are required to predict reliability of today's high-density assemblies. The SIR failure rate with rosin-based no-clean flux was observed to be greater than that with aqueous-based no-clean flux. A higher failure rate was also observed for tests conducted at 40 degC/93% RH than for 85 degC/85% RH. Due to the more rapid evaporation of weak organic acids in the flux residues at higher temperatures, test results obtained at 85 degC/85% RH will not accurately predict reliability at lower temperatures for PCBs processed using no-clean flux. PCB specimens were exposed to temperature/humidity/bias conditions in order to evaluate the effects of conformal coating, conductor spacing, voltage bias, flux chemistry, and test environment on reduction of surface insulation resistance. Results indicate that, in the absence of contamination, conformal coatings improve reliability
The axon reaction of the goldfish mauthner cell and factors that influence its morphological variability

The axon reaction of the goldfish Mauthner cell, elicited by spinal cord transection, included somatic swelling, nuclear eccentricity, chromatolysis, nuclear infolding, and a perinuclear buildup of basophilic material. The latter three changes were found most consistently and showed gradations which were ranked quantitatively.
Roles of Cytokines and Cell Cycle Regulating Substances in Proliferation of Cholesteatoma Epithelium

Objectives: It can be surmised that the cell cycle must be involved in cell proliferation of the epithelium of middle ear cholesteatoma. Thus a comparative study was conducted of the levels of expression of cyclin‐dependent kinase 2 (cdk2) and cyclin‐dependent kinase 4 (cdk4)—substances known to be involved in the cell cycle—in cholesteatoma epithelium and the normal epithelium of the bony region of the external ear canal. In addition, it has been reported that the expression of cytokines in the epithelium is accelerated in response to subepithelial inflammation. This suggests that an interaction between the epithelium and subepithelium, which is subject to paracrine regulation, is deeply involved in epithelial proliferation. Accordingly, attention was focused on interleukin−1α (IL‐1α) and keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), cytokines which are found in the subepithelium, and experiments were conducted to elucidate their effects on the expression of the substances known to be involved in the cell cycle. Methods: The expressions of cdk2 and cdk4 in the cholesteatoma epithelium and external ear canal epithelium were investigated by an immunohistochemical technique. In addition, cultured human keratinocytes were grown in medium containing IL‐1α or KGF at concentrations of 0, 20, and 100 ng/mL, and the differences in the expression of cdk2 and cdk4 were investigated and compared by Western blot analysis. Results: In the cholesteatoma epithelium specimens, cdk2 and cdk4 were observed to be expressed in the basal and parabasal layers and in the upper layer (prickle layer and granular layer). Their expression tended to be increased compared with their expression in the normal external ear canal epithelium, and this tendency was marked in subepithelial sites showing severe inflammation. In addition, exposure of cultured human keratinocytes to IL‐1α or KGF resulted in accelerated expression of both cdk2 and cdk4, and this was especially striking in the case of addition of KGF. Conclusion: It can be surmised that, in cholesteatoma, accelerated expression of IL‐1α and KGF by inflammatory cells at subepithelial sites of inflammation leads to upregulation of cdk2 and cdk4 in epithelial cells and to cell proliferation. It was concluded that this is at least one sequence of events involved in the mechanism causing epithelial proliferation in cholesteatoma.
Effects of alcohol consumption on iron metabolism in mice with hemochromatosis mutations.

BACKGROUND Alcoholic liver disease is associated with increased hepatic iron accumulation. The liver-derived peptide hepcidin is the central regulator of iron homeostasis and recent animal studies have demonstrated that exposure to alcohol reduces hepcidin expression. This down-regulation of hepcidin in vivo implies that disturbed iron sensing may contribute to the hepatosiderosis seen in alcoholic liver disease. Alcohol intake is also a major factor in expression of the hemochromatosis phenotype in patients homozygous for the C282Y mutation of the HFE gene. METHODS To assess the effect of alcohol in mice with iron overload, alcohol was administered to mice with disrupted Hfe and IL-6 genes and Tfr2 mutant mice and their respective 129x1/SvJ, C57BL/6J, and AKR/J wild-type congenic strains. Iron absorption, serum iron levels, and hepcidin expression levels were then measured in these mice compared with water-treated control mice. RESULTS Alcohol was shown to have a strain-specific effect in 129x1/SvJ mice, with treated 129x1/SvJ mice showing a significant increase in iron absorption, serum iron levels, and a corresponding decrease in hepcidin expression. C57BL/6J and AKR/J strain mice showed no effect from alcohol treatment. 129x1/SvJ mice heterozygous or homozygous for the Hfe knockout had a diminished response to alcohol. All 3 strains were shown to have high blood alcohol levels. CONCLUSIONS The effect of alcohol on iron homeostasis is dependent on the genetic background in mice. In an alcohol-susceptible strain, mutation of the Hfe gene diminished the response of the measured iron indices to alcohol treatment. This indicates that either maximal suppression of hepcidin levels had already occurred as a result of the Hfe mutation or that Hfe was a component of the pathway utilized by EtOH in suppressing hepcidin production and increasing iron absorption.
Disease progression in sporadic inclusion body myositis: Observations in 78 patients

Article abstract Functional decline for each decade at symptom onset and need for cane, walker, or wheelchair were assessed in 78 biopsy-proved patients with sporadic inclusion body myositis. Patients with disease onset between 40 and 59 years used a walker after 10.2 ± 5.8 years, whereas those with disease onset between 60 and 79 years used a walker after 5.7 ± 5.0 years (p = 0.05). Because patients progress faster to disability when symptoms begin after the age of 60, age at disease onset may define patient subsets for stratification in clinical trials.
132-Gb/s 4:1 multiplexer in 0.13-/spl mu/m SiGe-bipolar technology

A -3.3-V half-rate clock 4:1 multiplexer implemented in a 210-GHz f/sub T/ 0.13-/spl mu/m SiGe-bipolar technology and operating up to 132 Gb/s is reported. Among many design challenges, the control of on-chop clock distribution was critical to achieve such a high data rate. At 100 Gb/s, the chip operates reliably down to -3.0-V supply voltage and up to 100/spl deg/C chip temperature. The circuit consumes 1.45 W from a -3.3-V supply voltage and exhibits less than 340-fs RMS jitter on the output data.
Regulation of tenascin expression in bone

Tenascins regulate cell interaction with the surrounding pericellular matrix. Within bone, tenascins C and W influence osteoblast adhesion and differentiation, although little is known about the regulation of tenascin expression. In this study we examined the effect of osteogenic differentiation, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and Wnt growth factors, and mechanical loading on tenascin expression in osteogenic cells. Osteogenic differentiation increased tenascin C (TnC), and decreased tenascin W (TnW), expression. Both growth factors and mechanical loading increased both TnC and TnW expression, albeit via distinct signaling mechanisms. Both BMP‐2 and Wnt5a induction of tenascin expression were mediated by MAP kinases. These data establish a role for BMP, Wnts, and mechanical loading in the regulation of tenascin expression in osteoblasts. J. Cell. Biochem. 112: 3354–3363, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
An update on direct genotoxicity as a molecular mechanism of ochratoxin a carcinogenicity.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a naturally occurring chlorophenolic fungal toxin that contaminates a wide range of food products and poses a cancer threat to humans. The mechanism of action (MOA) for OTA renal carcinogenicity is a controversial issue. In 2005, direct genotoxicity (covalent DNA adduct formation) was proposed as a MOA for OTA-mediated carcinogenicity [ Manderville , R. A. ( 2005 ) Chem. Res. Toxicol. 18 , 1091 - 1097 ]. At that time, inconsistent results had been published on OTA genotoxicity/mutagenicity, and conclusive evidence for OTA-mediated DNA adduction had been lacking. In this update, published data from the past 6-7 years are presented that provide new hypotheses for the MOA of OTA-mediated carcinogenicity. While direct genotoxicity remains a controversial issue for OTA, new findings from the Umemura and Nohmi laboratories provide definitive results for the mutagenicity of OTA in the target tissue (outer medulla) of male rat kidney that rules out oxidative DNA damage. These findings, coupled with our own efforts that provide new structural evidence for DNA adduction by OTA, has strengthened the argument for involvement of direct genotoxicity in OTA-mediated renal carcinogenesis. This MOA should be taken into consideration for OTA human risk assessment.