Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stable isotope and calcareous nannofossil assemblage record of the late Paleocene and early Eocene (Cicogna section)

Abstract. We present records of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, CaCO3 content, and changes in calcareous nannofossil assemblages across an 81 m thick section of upper Paleocene–lower Eocene marine sedimentary rocks now exposed along the Cicogna Stream in northeast Italy. The studied stratigraphic section represents sediment accumulation in a bathyal hemipelagic setting from approximately 57.5 to 52.2 Ma, a multi-million-year time interval characterized by perturbations in the global carbon cycle and changes in calcareous nannofossil assemblages. The bulk carbonate δ13C profile for the Cicogna section, once placed on a common timescale, resembles that at several other locations across the world, and includes both a long-term drop in δ13C and multiple short-term carbon isotope excursions (CIEs). This precise correlation of widely separated δ13C records in marine sequences results from temporal changes in the carbon composition of the exogenic carbon cycle. However, diagenesis has likely modified the δ13C record at Cicogna, an interpretation supported by variations in bulk carbonate δ18O, which do not conform to expectations for a primary signal. The record of CaCO3 content reflects a combination of carbonate dilution and dissolution, as also inferred at other sites. Our detailed documentation and statistical analysis of calcareous nannofossil assemblages show major differences before, during and after the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Other CIEs in our lower Paleogene section do not exhibit such a distinctive change; instead, these events are sometimes characterized by variations restricted to a limited number of taxa and transient shifts in the relative abundance of primary assemblage components. Both long-lasting and short-lived modifications to calcareous nannofossil assemblages preferentially affected nannoliths or holococcoliths such as Discoaster, Fasciculithus, Rhomboaster/Tribrachiatus, Sphenolithus and Zygrhablithus, which underwent distinct variations in abundance as well as permanent evolutionary changes in terms of appearances and disappearances. By contrast, placoliths such as Coccolithus and Toweius, which represent the main component of the assemblages, were characterized by a gradual decline in abundance over time. Comparisons of detailed nannofossil assemblage records at the Cicogna section and at ODP Site 1262 support the idea that variations in the relative and absolute abundances, even some minor changes, were globally synchronous. An obvious link is through climate forcing and carbon cycling, although the linkages between variations in calcareous nannoplankton, changes in δ13C records and oceanography will need additional work.
Associations between dietary intake of folate and vitamins B-12 and B-6 and self-reported cognitive function and psychological well-being in Australian men and women in midlife.

OBJECTIVES To assess dietary intake status of folate and vitamins B-12 and B-6 in 1183 middle-aged men and women, and to examine associations between dietary intake of these vitamins and self-reported cognitive function and psychological well-being. METHODS A population-based sample of urban and rural South Australians completed questionnaires assessing demographics, background, health, and self-reported cognitive and memory functioning and psychological well-being. Usual dietary intake status was estimated using a retrospective, self-report, quantified food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS About 20% of both men and women had intakes of folate that were below the Recommended Daily Intake for Australia. Vitamins B-12 and B-6 were positively related to memory functioning in men, and moderate dietary intake of folate and B-6 was associated with better memory functioning in women. CONCLUSIONS Vitamin B-12 and B-6 intakes may be positively related to the memory performance of middle-aged men and intakes at around the RDI are associated with better memory functioning for women. The investigation of the dose-response effects of B vitamin supplementation on cognition and mood in middle-aged men and women using objective measures of cognition and accounting for the influence of confounding factors such age and education would be informative.
Effects of the Digital Game-Development Approach on Elementary School Students' Learning Motivation, Problem Solving, and Learning Achievement

In this study, the game-based development approach is proposed for improving the learning motivation, problem solving skills, and learning achievement of students. An experiment was conducted on a learning activity of an elementary school science course to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. A total of 59 sixth graders from two classes of the elementary school participated in the experiment. One class of 30 students was selected as the experimental group, and the other class of 29 students was the control group. From the experimental results, it was found that the proposed game development-based learning approach could effectively promote the students’ problem-solving skills. However, the students’ learning achievement and motivations were quite different from our expectations. A discussion of the experimental group interview data is provided and suggestions made.
Proactive Customer Education, Customer Retention, and Demand for Technology Support: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Do service provider efforts to educate customers influence customer outcomes? We analyze the outcome of a field experiment executed by a major public cloud infrastructure services provider in 2011. Out of 2,673 customers who adopted the service during the experiment, 366 received a service intervention: an engagement through which the provider offered initial guidance on how to use basic features of the service. Before execution, it was unclear if this proactive customer education would have positive or negative effects on customer retention and demand for technology support. We show the treatment reduces by half the number of customers who churn from the service during the first week. Further, treated customers ask 19.55% fewer questions during the first week of their tenure than the controls. Although the treatment’s effects decay within one week, we show that such proactive customer education can have significant economic benefits for the provider. In particular, we find that treated customers increase.
Soil compaction associated with cut-to-length and whole-tree harvesting of a coniferous forest

The degree and extent of soil compaction, which may reduce productivity of forest soils, is believed to vary by the type of harvesting system, and a field-based study was conducted to compare soil compaction from cut-to-length (CTL) and whole-tree (WT) harvesting operations. The CTL harvesting system used less area to transport logs to the land- ings than did the WT harvesting system (19%-20% vs. 24%-25%). At high soil moisture levels (25%-30%), both CTL and WT harvestings caused a significant increase of soil resistance to penetration (SRP) and bulk density (BD) in the track compared with the undisturbed area (p < 0.05). In the center of trails, however, only WT harvesting resulted in a signifi- cant increase of SRP and BD compared with the undisturbed area (p < 0.05). Slash covered 69% of the forwarding trail area in the CTL harvesting units; 37% was covered by heavy slash (40 kgm -2 ) while 32% was covered by light slash (7.3 kgm -2 ). Heavy slash was more effective in reducing soil compaction in the CTL units (p < 0.05). Prediction models were developed that can be used to estimate percent increases in SRP and BD over undisturbed areas for both CTL and WT harvesting systems.
Treatment of pituitary‐dependent Cushing's syndrome: long‐term results of unilateral adrenalectomy followed by external pituitary irradiation compared to transsphenoidal pituitary surgery

BACKGROUND The preferred treatment of Cushing's disease (CD) nowadays is transsphenoidal pituitary surgery (TPS). Prior to TPS, patients at the Leiden University Medical Centre were treated by unilateral adrenalectomy followed by external pituitary irradiation (UAPI). We report on long‐term results of both UAPl and TPS and compare remission, relapse rates, and complications.
Bilateral, Reversible, Selective Thalamic Involvement Demonstrated by Brain MR and Acute Severe Neurological Dysfunction with Favorable Outcome*

We report on two children who presented acute, severe, neurological dysfunction with bilateral, reversible, selective thalamic lesions demonstrated by brain MRI. In both children neurological symptoms appeared two weeks after a febrile respiratory illness. Clinical conditions worsened in a few days to a stuporous state and tetraplegia in one and to coma with decerebrate posturing in the other. Three weeks after the onset, both children improved and recovered within one month. During the acute phase, brain MRI showed in both children bilateral hyperintense areas on T2-weighted sequences limited to both thalamic regions. During the follow-up, repeated brain MRI showed complete disappearance of abnormalities in one patient and a small residual left thalamic lesion in the other. In both patients hematological routine exams were normal. Bacterial and viral studies of serum and CSF were negative. CSF findings showed elevated white blood cell count and protein levels, with no oligoclonal IgG bands. Urine and CSF organic acids by GC/MS and plasma as well as CSF amino acids were normal. We believe that the benign evolution of this disorder and CSF findings strongly suggest a postinfectious process of the central nervous system.
Effects of locally infused serotonin on canine forelimb weight and segmental vascular resistance.

The effects of serotonin on canine forelimb weight were studied to determine if intrarterial infusions of serotonin produce marked edema formation as do intra-arterial infusions of bradykinin and histamine. Changes in net fluid filtration were inferred from changes in forelimb lymph flow and small vein pressures whereas changes in protein permeability were inferred from changes in lymph protein concentration. Local infusions of both low (15 µg base/min) and high (150 µ base/min) concentrations of serotonin failed to promote measurable edema formation in the canine forelimb despite evidence for an increased net fluid filtration. Moreover, there was no evidence for a large pressure-independent increase in microvascular premeability to plasma proteins. The failure of significant edema to develop in the forelimb despite evidence for an increased net fluid filtration may be attributed to the effectiveness of lymphaties to immediately drain excess extravascular fluid. These findings contrast dramatically from those of locally administered bradykinin and histamine which cause a marked pressure-independent increase in microvascular premeability to plasma proteins and marked edema formation.
Gaze-Dependent Deviation in Pointing Induced by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Over the Human Posterior Parietal Cortex

Signals arising from the saccadic system influence the planning and generation of pointing movements, and the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) appears to play a vital role in that interaction. The authors demonstrate in the present study that during visual fixation, eye-position signals can dominate pointing responses when the activity in the PPC contralateral to the moving limb is disrupted with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). In particular, when presented with targets in peripheral vision, participants (N = 5) exposed to TMS over the PPC failed to show the normal pattern of responses in which pointing movements end up farther away from the goal target. Instead, they tended to point more toward the current point of visual fixation. Those results suggest that the PPC is involved in integrating eye-position and visual information to affect reaching in the contralateral arm.
Hemodynamic patterns of age-related changes in blood pressure. The Framingham Heart Study.

BACKGROUND We attempted to characterize age-related changes in blood pressure in both normotensive and untreated hypertensive subjects in a population-based cohort from the original Framingham Heart Study and to infer underlying hemodynamic mechanisms. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 2036 participants were divided into four groups according to their systolic blood pressure (SBP) at biennial examination 10, 11, or 12. After excluding subjects receiving antihypertensive drug therapy, up to 30 years of data on normotensive and untreated hypertensive subjects from biennial examinations 2 through 16 were used. Regressions of blood pressure versus age within individual subjects produced slope and curvature estimates that were compared with the use of ANOVA among the four SBP groups. There was a linear rise in SBP from age 30 through 84 years and concurrent increases in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP); after age 50 to 60 years, DBP declined, pulse pressure (PP) rose steeply, and MAP reached an asymptote. Neither the fall in DBP nor the rise in PP was influenced significantly by removal of subsequent deaths and subjects with nonfatal myocardial infarction or heart failure. Age-related linear increases in SBP, PP, and MAP, as well as the early rise and late fall in DBP, were greatest for subjects with the highest baseline SBP; this represents a divergent rather than parallel tracking pattern. CONCLUSIONS The late fall in DBP after age 60 years, associated with a continual rise in SBP, cannot be explained by "burned out" diastolic hypertension or by "selective survivorship" but is consistent with increased large artery stiffness. Higher SBP, left untreated, may accelerate large artery stiffness and thus perpetuate a vicious cycle.
What Influences Patients' Decisions When Choosing a Health Care Provider? Measuring Preferences of Patients with Knee Arthrosis, Chronic Depression, or Alzheimer's Disease, Using Discrete Choice Experiments.

OBJECTIVE To investigate what influences patients' health care decisions and what the implications are for the provision of information on the quality of health care providers to patients. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING Dutch patient samples between November 2006 and February 2007. STUDY DESIGN Discrete choice experiments were conducted in three patient groups to explore what influences choice for health care providers. DATA COLLECTION Data were obtained from 616 patients with knee arthrosis, 368 patients with chronic depression, and 421 representatives of patients with Alzheimer's disease. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The three patients groups chose health care providers on a different basis. The most valued attributes were effectiveness and safety (knee arthrosis); continuity of care and relationship with the therapist (chronic depression); and expertise (Alzheimer's disease). Preferences differed between subgroups, mainly in relation to patients' choice profiles, severity of disease, and some background characteristics. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that there is substantial room for (quality) information about health care providers in patients' decision processes. This information should be tailor-made, targeting specific patient segments, because different actors and factors play a part in their search and selection process.
Effect of aspirin on protein binding and tissue disposition of oligonucleotide phosphorothioate in rats.

Pharmacokinetic studies of phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides (PS-oligonucleotides) in animals show that following intravenous administration, PS-oligonucleotide clears out rapidly from the plasma and is distributed to majority of the organs. PS-oligonucleotides are bound to plasma proteins extensively. This study was aimed to determine the effect of aspirin, a commonly used drug, on pharmacokinetics of PS-oligonucleotides. In the present study, PS-oligonucleotide was administered to rats that had received aspirin by gavage. Pharmacokinetic study shows that if PS-oligonucleotide was administered following aspirin administration in rats, a) plasma pharmacokinetic parameters (t1/2alpha? , t1/2beta, AUC, etc.) had lower values, b) tissue disposition was different, and c) rate and route of elimination was affected in animals compared to rats receiving PS-oligonucleotide alone. This finding suggests that pharmacokinetics of PS-oligonucleotides can be affected with certain class of drugs, which may have direct impact on biological activity and safety.
Association between geographic atrophy progression and reticular pseudodrusen in eyes with dry age-related macular degeneration.

PURPOSE To evaluate geographic atrophy (GA) progression in eyes with dry AMD and to determine factors related to GA expansion, notably reticular pseudodrusen (RPD), also known as subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDD) or reticular macular disease (RMD). METHODS This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with dry AMD who were diagnosed with GA in at least one eye and were imaged with sequential fundus autofluorescence (FAF) and/or near infrared reflectance (NIR-R) imaging. Images were analyzed for the presence of GA within the macular region. Geographic atrophy progression was measured in the fields of a modified Wisconsin grid and spatially correlated with RPD. Factors also evaluated for association with GA progression included initial GA size and pattern. RESULTS The study sample included 126 eyes of 92 patients, with an average follow up of 20.4 months (SD = 11.7). At baseline, 93.6% of eyes had RPD, and the average GA area was 2.8 mm(2) (SD = 2.9). The average GA progression rate was 0.8 mm(2)/y (SD = 0.6), with a statistically significant difference between the unilobular and multilobular phenotype groups (0.3 mm(2)/y vs. 0.9 mm(2)/y, P = 0.02). Patients in the lower 50th percentile of initial GA area had a lower progression rate than patients in the upper 50th percentile (0.6 mm(2)/y vs. 1.1 mm(2)/y, P < 0.001). Geographic atrophy progression was more frequent in fields with RPD than in those without RPD (74.2% vs. 41.7%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The high correlation between the presence of RPD (also known as SDD or RMD) and the presence of GA, and the expansion of GA into areas with these lesions suggest that they are an early manifestation of the process leading to GA.
The racialization of Muslim veils: A philosophical analysis

This article goes behind stereotypes of Muslim veiling to ask after the representational structure underlying these images. I examine the public debate leading to the 2004 French law banning conspicuous religious signs in schools and French colonial attitudes to veiling in Algeria, in conjunction with discourses on the veil that have arisen in other western contexts. My argument is that western perceptions and representations of veiled Muslim women are not simply about Muslim women themselves. Rather than representing Muslim women, these images fulfill a different function: they provide the negative mirror in which western constructions of identity and gender can be positively reflected. It is by means of the projection of gender oppression onto Islam, and its naturalization to the bodies of veiled women, that such mirroring takes place. This constitutes, I argue, a form of racialization. Drawing on the work of Fanon, Merleau-Ponty and Alcoff, I offer a phenomenological analysis of this racializing vision. What is at stake is a form of cultural racism that functions in the guise of anti-sexist and feminist liberatory discourse, at once posing a dilemma to feminists and concealing its racializing logic.
The Prevalence of Autoantibodies and Lupus Anticoagulant in Healthy Pregnant Women

Abnormal autoantibodies have recently been implicated in pregnancy wastage. The normal autoantibody profile of pregnancy has so far, however, not been established. We investigated the effect of pregnancy on autoantibody production prospectively and longitudinally. Forty-three healthy pregnant women were compared with 50 nonpregnant healthy controls matched for age, race, and various obstetric and medical indices. All sera were tested for total immunoglobulin (Ig) levels; IgG, IgM, and IgA isotypes of autoantibodies to six phospholipids; total histone and four histone subtractions; and four polynucleotides. Plasma samples were evaluated for the presence of lupus anticoagulant. Total IgG decreased significantly in pregnant patients. The majority of autoantibody levels in pregnant women were within normal nonpregnant ranges. Only a few autoantibodies were increased in early pregnancy, including IgG antiphosphatidylinositol and H 2B, IgM antiphosphatidylinositol and phosphatidic acid, and IgA antiphosphatidylinositol and H 4. Most autoantibodies, although increased at term, were still within the normal nonpregnant range. Normalizing the data for expanded plasma volume did not significantly alter these results. Adjustment regression analysis excluded age, race, and various medical and obstetric indicators as confounding variables for autoantibody levels. The expected and observed prevalence of positive autoantibody levels in pregnant women was not significantly different from that of nonpregnant controls. None of the pregnant women demonstrated positive lupus anticoagulant. We conclude that in normal pregnancy between 16 weeks' gestation and term, autoantibody levels are largely within the normal range. Alterations occur, if at all, at the time of delivery.
Impact of polypharmacy on antiretroviral prescription in people living with HIV

Objectives To evaluate the relationship between polypharmacy and ART, delivered as conventional multi-tablet three-drug regimens, single-tablet regimens or less-drug regimens (simplified mono or dual regimens). Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of electronic data from the prospective Modena HIV Metabolic Clinic Cohort Study. We included the last clinical observation for each patient from January 2006 to December 2015. Polypharmacy was defined as the use of five or more medications (excluding ART). Multi-morbidity was classified as the presence of two or more non-infectious comorbidities. Factors associated with different ART regimens were analysed using multivariable multinomial logistic regression analyses with multi-tablet three-drug regimens as the reference. Results A total of 2944 patients (33.7% females) were included in the analysis. Multinomial logistic regression analysis identified polypharmacy to be negatively associated with single-tablet regimens [relative risk reduction (RRR) = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.28–0.81] independently from frailty (RRR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.59–0.78), after correction for age, gender, HIV infection duration, current and nadir CD4 and calendar year. This association was not found comparing multi-tablet three-drug regimens and less-drug regimens. Conclusions Single-tablet regimens are less likely to be prescribed in patients with polypharmacy. Single-tablet regimens are perceived to be less flexible in patients with multi-morbidity and at higher risk of drug–drug interaction.
A 1.8- V High-Precision Compensated CMOS Bandgap Reference

A high-precision temperature-compensated ompensated CMOS bandgap reference is proposed and simulated using tsmc 0.18-μm process. The bandgap reference can be operated from a supply voltage as low as 1.8-V. The proposed circuit generates an output reference voltage of 615.1 mV with a variation of ±0.7 mV over a temperature range from 0 to 70°C. The output reference voltage exhibits ± 1mV supply variation from the mean value when the supply changes from 1.6-V to 2.4-V. The power supply rejection ratio is greater than 35 dB for frequency below 10 kHz. The presented bandgap reference occupies only 0.1 mm2 layout area after trimming.