Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
African-American race and antibodies to topoisomerase I are associated with increased severity of scleroderma lung disease.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To determine whether African-American race is independently associated with lung disease in scleroderma. DESIGN Retrospective review. SETTING University medical center in Baltimore. PATIENTS One hundred one patients with diffuse cutaneous scleroderma with available serum samples. MEASUREMENTS Patients underwent lung function testing as part of their routine clinical care. Percent predicted values adjusted for race were calculated for FVC, single-breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (Dco), and FEV1. Serum samples were assayed for the presence of antibodies to topoisomerase I and RNA polymerase II. RESULTS Scleroderma patients of African-American race had lower percent predicted values than white patients for FVC (p<0.002), Dco (p<0.0001), and FEV1 (p<0.0001). Antibodies to topoisomerase I but not antibodies to RNA polymerase II were also associated with lung function. African-American scleroderma patients were distinct from white patients in having younger age of onset and higher prevalence of antibodies to topoisomerase I. In multivariate analyses accounting for sex, age, smoking history, years of scleroderma symptoms, and RNA polymerase II antibody status, African-American race and topoisomerase I antibody status independently predicted lower lung function. CONCLUSION African-American race and antibodies to topoisomerase I are independent risk factors for scleroderma lung disease.
Breakdown Initiation Fields for Surface Flashover of Dielectric Materials Immersed in Transformer Oil

The applied electrical fields required to initiate surface flashover of different types of polymeric insulating material immersed in transformer oil have been investigated. Cylindrical samples of polypropylene, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, and Rexolite were tested. Average electrical fields up to ~700 kV/cm were applied to samples via a 10-stage, inverting Marx generator. The samples were held between two electrodes immersed in 20 litres of EOS Ltd. (UK) L10B transformer oil. The stage capacitance of the Marx is 80 nF, and the rise time is around 100 ns with the test cell load. The applied electrical field required to initiate surface flashover was found by firing the system with an increasing charging voltage until a breakdown occurred. Experiments were performed with plane-plane electrodes and two types of point-plane electrode gap. The first point-plane gap was achieved by deploying a high-voltage electrode with a 1-mm-diameter pin protruding perpendicular to the surface, and the second by a high-voltage electrode with a 25-mm-diameter collar centred on the surface. Of the materials tested, polypropylene showed the highest average peak applied fields to initiate the first surface flashover, varying from 325 kV/cm in non-uniform fields to 637 kV/cm in uniform fields.
The concurrent validity of the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT) substance use/abuse subscale in adolescent patients in an urban federally qualified health center

Background The Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT) substance use/abuse subscale has been validated with high school students, adolescents with criminal justice involvement, and adolescent substance use treatment samples using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-III-R and DSM-IV. This study examines the concurrent validity of the POSIT's standard 17-item substance use/abuse subscale and a revised, shorter 11-item version using DSM-5 substance use disorder diagnoses. Methods Adolescents (N = 525; 93% African American, 55% female) 12–17 years of age awaiting primary care appointments at a Federally Qualified Health Center in Baltimore, Maryland completed the 17-item POSIT substance use/abuse subscale and items from a modified World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview corresponding to DSM-5 alcohol use disorder (AUD) and cannabis use disorder (CUD). Receiver operating characteristic curves, sensitivities, and specificities were examined with DSM-5 AUD, CUD, and a diagnosis of either or both disorders for the standard and revised subscales using risk cutoffs of either 1 or 2 POSIT “yes” responses. Results For the 17-item subscale, sensitivities were generally high using either cutoff (range: 0.79–1.00), although a cutoff of 1 was superior (sensitivities were 1.00 for AUD, CUD, and for either disorder). Specificities were also high using either cutoff (range: 0.81–0.95) but were higher using a cutoff of 2. For the 11-item subscale, a cutoff of 1 yielded higher sensitivities than a cutoff of 2 (ranges for 1 and 2: 0.96–1.00 and 0.79–0.86, respectively). Specificities for this subscale were higher using a cutoff of 2 (ranges for 1 and 2: 0.82–0.89 and 0.89–0.96, respectively). Conclusions Findings suggest that the POSIT's substance use/abuse subscale is a potentially useful tool for screening adolescents in primary care for AUD or CUD using a cutoff of 1 or 2. The briefer, revised subscale may be preferable to the standard subscale in busy pediatric practices.
From Drug Screening to Target Deconvolution: a Target-Based Drug Discovery Pipeline Using Leishmania Casein Kinase 1 Isoform 2 To Identify Compounds with Antileishmanial Activity

ABSTRACT Existing therapies for leishmaniases present significant limitations, such as toxic side effects, and are rendered inefficient by parasite resistance. It is of utmost importance to develop novel drugs targeting Leishmania that take these two limitations into consideration. We thus chose a target-based approach using an exoprotein kinase, Leishmania casein kinase 1.2 (LmCK1.2) that was recently shown to be essential for intracellular parasite survival and infectivity. We developed a four-step pipeline to identify novel selective antileishmanial compounds. In step 1, we screened 5,018 compounds from kinase-biased libraries with Leishmania and mammalian CK1 in order to identify hit compounds and assess their specificity. For step 2, we selected 88 compounds among those with the lowest 50% inhibitory concentration to test their biological activity on host-free parasites using a resazurin reduction assay and on intramacrophagic amastigotes using a high content phenotypic assay. Only 75 compounds showed antileishmanial activity and were retained for step 3 to evaluate their toxicity against mouse macrophages and human cell lines. The four compounds that displayed a selectivity index above 10 were then assessed for their affinity to LmCK1.2 using a target deconvolution strategy in step 4. Finally, we retained two compounds, PP2 and compound 42, for which LmCK1.2 seems to be the primary target. Using this four-step pipeline, we identify from several thousand molecules, two lead compounds with a selective antileishmanial activity.
Annealing temperature dependence of terahertz wave detection by low-temperature-grown-GaAs-based photoconductive antennas gated by 1560 nm optical pulses

We have studied THz detection performance of low-temperature-grown GaAs (LT-GaAs) photoconductive switches gated with 1560-nm-optical pulses. LT-GaAs is annealed in the range of 500-600degC. Although the sample annealed at 600degC is most sensitive at frequencies below 1 THz, that annealed at 550degC is superior to others at higher frequencies than 1 THz.
Toward a Typology of Student Social Media Users Based on Posting Behavior: Research Note

This exploratory article presents a typology of student social media users based on their posting behavior. Specifically, the typology categorizes students using a matrix with two dimensions: 1) posting content appropriateness, and 2) student privacy concerns. Current research documents that students often post content that is not appropriate for all audiences. Given that employers are increasingly using social media as part of background checks for job candidates, students with inappropriate content are at risk of poor hiring evaluations. This potential problem is especially serious for students who make their content available to everyone. Evidence suggests that even when students know the risks they are taking some still make inappropriate posts. This paradoxical behavior requires further study. The development of a typology of student social media user from a posting behavior perspective is a step toward further research of this phenomenon.
An Alternative View on Determinants of the Effective Tax Rate: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies

ABSTRACT This article proposes a new model for determining the effective tax rate (ETR), which incorporates the accounting-tax conformity theory and identifies ETR determinant variables to fit the Chinese taxation context. The results show that the ETR is statistically significantly associated with preferential tax rates, investment gains, nonoperating expenses, and provisions for impaired assets. The accounting-tax difference ETR determinant variables provide more consistent results than previous typical ETR determinants, such as size, return on assets, leverage, and capital intensity.
Dissociation of Brain Activity Related to Syntactic and Semantic Aspects of Language

In psycholinguistic research, there has been considerable interest in understanding the interactions of difFerent types of linguistic information during language processing. For example, does syntactic information interact with semantic or pragmatic information at an early stage of language processing, or only at later stages in order to resolve ambiguities of language? Developing reliable measures of language processes such as syntax and semantics is important to address many of these theoretical issues in psycholinguistics. In the present study, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from healthy young subjects while they read pairs of words presented one word at a time. The ERPs for the second word of each pair were compared as a function of whether the preceding word was or was not (1) semantically related (i.e., synonyms; semantic condition) or (2) grammatically correct (syntactic condition). In the semantic condition the ERPs obtained to words preceded by nonsemantically related words elicited an N400 component that was maximal over centroparietal scalp regions. In contrast, in the syntactic condition the ERPs obtained to words preceded by grammatically incorrect articles or pronouns yielded a negativity with a later onset, and a frontopolar, left hemisphere scalp maximum. This replicates our previous findings of a syntactic negativity in a word pair design that was performed in the German language. Further, the present data provide scalp distributional information, which suggests that the syntactic negativity represents brain processes that are dissociable from the centroparietal N400 component. Thus, these findings provide strong evidence for a separate negative polarity ERP component that indexes syntactic aspects of language processing.
Uterine carcinosarcomas (malignant mixed Mullerian tumors) are metaplastic carcinomas

Uterine carcinosarcomas (malignant mixed Mullerian tumors) have been traditionally regarded as a subtype of uterine sarcoma. Adjuvant oncological treatments have often been similar to those directed against high-grade uterine sarcomas such as leiomyosarcoma and undifferentiated uterine sarcoma. However, there is now convincing evidence that most uterine carcinosarcomas are monoclonal neoplasms and are in reality metaplastic carcinomas. Although aggressive, the behavior of uterine carcinosarcoma is more akin to that of high-grade endometrioid type endometrial adenocarcinoma and aggressive morphological subtypes of uterine carcinoma. The sarcomatous component is derived from the carcinomatous element which is the driving force. Although the designation carcinosarcoma is likely to remain, adjuvant treatments should probably be similar to those directed against aggressive high grade endometrial carcinomas. Prospective studies should be performed to ascertain whether such adjuvant therapies are more effective than traditional sarcoma based therapies in the treatment of these aggressive neoplasms.
What might not have been: an investigation of the nature of counterfactual thinking in survivors of trauma

Background. Counterfactual thinking (CFT) refers to the process of reflecting on an event and changing aspects of it so as to alter the eventual outcome. Such thinking appears frequent in survivors of trauma (e.g. ‘If only I had stayed at home then I wouldn't have had the accident’), but has received little systematic empirical investigation. Four studies examined the nature of CFT in both trauma survivors and non-traumatized controls. Method. Participants generated CFT to their own trauma or to written scenarios. Results. Three key findings emerged. Firstly, trauma survivors overwhelmingly produced CFT that mutated aspects of their own behaviour during the traumatic event (self-referent CFT) and that improved the event's outcome (upward CFT; Studies 1 and 2). Secondly, self-referent CFT style in trauma survivors was generalized to non-autobiographical scenarios and was independent of how much control the protagonist in the scenarios had over the outcome. In contrast, never-traumatized controls tended to generate more self-referent CFT to scenarios where the protagonists had some control than to scenarios where the protagonist had little control (Study 3). Thirdly, this self-referent, upward CFT style of trauma survivors was not related to frequency of post-traumatic stress symptoms (Studies 1 and 3) or Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) caseness (Study 2). Conclusions. These results are interpreted in terms of a self-referent, upward CFT style that is normative following trauma for all survivors, regardless of levels of trauma-related distress, and that is applied to any negative events that are encountered.
Ropivacaine or 2% mepivacaine for lower limb peripheral nerve blocks. Study Group on Orthopedic Anesthesia of the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Intensive Care.

BACKGROUND Intra- and postoperative clinical properties of sciatic-femoral nerve block performed with either ropivacaine at different concentrations or mepivacaine have been evaluated in a multicenter, randomized, blinded study. METHODS Adult patients scheduled for foot and ankle surgery were randomized to receive combined sciatic-femoral nerve block with 225 mg of either 0.5% (n = 83), 0.75% (n = 87), or 1% (n = 86) ropivacaine, or with 500 mg of 2% mepivacaine (n = 84). A thigh tourniquet was used in all patients. Onset time, adequacy of surgical anesthesia, time to offset of nerve block, and time until first postoperative requirement for pain medication were evaluated by a blinded observer. RESULTS The adequacy of nerve block was similar in the four treatment groups (the ratios between adequate:inadequate: failed blocks were 74:9:0 with 0.5% ropivacaine, 74:13:0 with 0.75% ropivacaine, 78:8:0 with 1% ropivacaine, and 72:12:0 with 2% mepivacaine). The onset of the block was slower with 0.5% ropivacaine than with other anesthetic solutions (P < 0.001). Regardless of the concentration, ropivacaine produced a longer motor blockade (10.5+/-3.8 h, 10.3+/-4.3 h, and 10.2+/-5.1 h with 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1% ropivacaine, respectively) than with mepivacaine (4.3+/-2.6 h; P < 0.001). The duration of postoperative analgesia was shorter after mepivacaine (5.1+/-2.7 h) than after ropivacaine (12.2+/-4.1 h, 14.3+/-5 h, and 14.5+/-3.4 h, with 0.5%, 0.75%, or 1% ropivacaine, respectively; P < 0.001). Pain relief after 0.5% ropivacaine was 14% shorter than 0.75% or 1% ropivacaine (P < 0.05). During the first 24 h after surgery, 30-37% of patients receiving ropivacaine required no analgesics compared with 10% of those receiving mepivacaine (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that 0.75% ropivacaine is the most suitable choice of local anesthetic for combined sciatic-femoral nerve block, providing an onset similar to mepivacaine and prolonged postoperative analgesia.
Contact-Dependent Inhibition of Growth in Escherichia coli

Bacteria have developed mechanisms to communicate and compete with each other for limited environmental resources. We found that certain Escherichia coli, including uropathogenic strains, contained a bacterial growth-inhibition system that uses direct cell-to-cell contact. Inhibition was conditional, dependent upon the growth state of the inhibitory cell and the pili expression state of the target cell. Both a large cell-surface protein designated Contact-dependent inhibitor A (CdiA) and two-partner secretion family member CdiB were required for growth inhibition. The CdiAB system may function to regulate the growth of specific cells within a differentiated bacterial population.
FROM BEHAVIORAL FINANCE TO ECCLESIASTES FINANCE: THE PAIN OF GAIN AND THE GLORY OF AN INVESTMENT LOSS

Academic and practitioner’s literature has a plethora of evidence that active investment management is futile economically and underperforming financially, - more preponderant for large, blue chips. For smaller capitalization companies, purchased at discount there is an attractive, sustainable return promise, a long-term outperformance. We introduce a terminology that encapsulates this capitulation against this apparently overwhelming forces of tangible underperformance of active investment, inefficient asset allocation and high risk - low return portfolios, the era of Ecclesiastes Finance. Investors loathe to make decisions for fear of loss and discount all negative subtle announcement of the fragility of our gains and futility of our investment arrogance. And ignoring them can lead investors to make less fortunate financial decisions that can affect portfolio for decades. Investing with an Ecclesiastes attitude - the fragility of human condition in context of financial affairs - temporary gains and losses are less significant when framed in a larger perspective.
SALOME as a Platform for Magneto-Mechanical Simulation

The design of superconducting magnets for accelerator and detector components dedicated to the future of high energy physics requires detailed analysis of their mechanical behavior, in particular under magnetic and/or thermal solicitations. Numerical simulation is more and more used to optimize these components and to improve their performances in constrained environments. In this context, the numerical modeling process may require to operate several computing codes, which involves the implementation of spatial discretization (meshes) that are not always compatible together. This situation raises the problem of data transfer and of possible dispersion of simulation parameters. Moreover, the numerical modeling process is not always formalized, and it can be difficult to iterate in the case of parametric studies. This paper describes the implementation of magneto-mechanical numerical processes into the SALOME open source platform. SALOME is a numerical framework which offers interoperability between Computer-Aided Design (CAD) modeling and Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) simulation software. It makes the implementation of coupling between computing codes (computation schemes) accessible. This simulation platform also provides a generic and efficient user interface, and is as well fully scriptable in Python language. On the basis of the design of the SMC dipole magnet, the authors will describe the various modules of the platform (geometry, mesh, supervision and visualization), and present the status of the developments in progress. It will be pointed out what can be gained for magnet designers in terms of process formalization and transfer of know-how, and what is the level of complexity for the development of a dedicated software tool.
The Unpleasant Events Schedule: a scale for the measurement of aversive events.

This paper reports reliability and validity data on the Unpleasant Events Schedule (UES), a 320-item scale that assesses stressful life events. The UES assesses both the frequency and aversiveness of events within a 1-month time frame. Rational, empirical, and factorial scales were derived from the UES. Of these, nine scales were retained that were mutually independent, demonstrated good internal reliability, and tapped various dimensions of clinical interest. A short 53-item form of the UES also was developed. The UES correlated moderately (r = .37) with depression. A discriminant analysis revealed that the UES contributed significantly above and beyond scores on the PES (MacPhillamy & Lewinsohn, 1982) to the proportion of variance in discriminating depressed from nondepressed subjects.
Nuclear size, shape, and density in endometrial carcinoma: relationship to survival at over 5 years of follow‐up. Does analyzing only cells occupying the G0–G1 peak add useful information?

ObjectiveThe authors, using image analysis, previously demonstrated nuclear size and summed optical density to be independent prognostic indicators of recurrence in patients with endometrial carcinoma. The same tumors were analyzed by studying the optical features in the G0–G1 peak to see if this changed the values found as well as their importance as prognostic features at greater than 5 years of follow-up. MethodsTumors from 74 consecutive patients, surgically treated, with endometrial cancer, were evaluated. Survival, depth of invasion, lymphvascular space invasion, FIGO stage, grade, histology were analyzed. DNA index, progesterone receptor status, as well as nuclear size (NUSZ), shape (NUSH), and summed optical density (NUSD) were evaluated. NUSZ, NUSH, and NUSD were quantified using image analysis. ResultsFifteen patients died from disease during the observation period of the study. Mean follow-up was 82 months with a median of 84 months. Forty-nine patients had stage I cancers, five stage II, 17 stage III, and three stage IV. NUSZ and NUSD were all significantly different between the original (entire cell cycle) and the re-measured (G0G1 only) values (both P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed both the original (P = 0.0001) and G0G1-only (P = 0.046) NUSZ and the original (P = 0.0002) and G0G1-only (P = 0.018) NUSD to be independent prognosticators of survival. ConclusionImage analysis is able to quantify cellular and nuclear parameters not otherwise quantifiable. NUSD and NUSZ correlated with traditional prognostic indicators, were demonstrated independent predictors of survival at over 5 years of follow-up. Although the re-measured NUSZ and NUSD from only the G0–G1 peak were significantly different from the original NUSZ and NUSD, they were not as valuable as prognostic factors. Nuclear size and summed optical density measured from the entire cell cycle are independent prognostic indicators of survival at greater than 5 years of follow-up. Measuring nuclear morphometric features in the G0–G1 peak only does not add any new prognostic information.