Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The foreign born in the American healthcare workforce: Trends in this century's first decade B. LINDSAY LOWELL

This study describes the native and foreign born in US healthcare in the first decade of this century. Immigrant women are more likely than natives to be employed in long term care where they are most concentrated among professional practitioners and lesser skilled direct care workers. The foreign born are similar to natives in their average age, education and the dominance of women. They differ in being more likely to reside in metropolitan areas and in central cities. The foreign born earn more than natives and this appears to be both significant and inexplicable by way of differences in experience or education.
HLA-B*57 Micropolymorphism Shapes HLA Allele-Specific Epitope Immunogenicity, Selection Pressure, and HIV Immune Control

ABSTRACT The genetic polymorphism that has the greatest impact on immune control of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is expression of HLA-B*57. Understanding of the mechanism for this strong effect remains incomplete. HLA-B*57 alleles and the closely related HLA-B*5801 are often grouped together because of their similar peptide-binding motifs and HIV disease outcome associations. However, we show here that the apparently small differences between HLA-B*57 alleles, termed HLA-B*57 micropolymorphisms, have a significant impact on immune control of HIV. In a study cohort of >2,000 HIV C-clade-infected subjects from southern Africa, HLA-B*5703 is associated with a lower viral-load set point than HLA-B*5702 and HLA-B*5801 (medians, 5,980, 15,190, and 19,000 HIV copies/ml plasma; P = 0.24 and P = 0.0005). In order to better understand these observed differences in HLA-B*57/5801-mediated immune control of HIV, we undertook, in a study of >1,000 C-clade-infected subjects, a comprehensive analysis of the epitopes presented by these 3 alleles and of the selection pressure imposed on HIV by each response. In contrast to previous studies, we show that each of these three HLA alleles is characterized both by unique CD8+ T-cell specificities and by clear-cut differences in selection pressure imposed on the virus by those responses. These studies comprehensively define for the first time the CD8+ T-cell responses and immune selection pressures for which these protective alleles are responsible. These findings are consistent with HLA class I alleles mediating effective immune control of HIV through the number of p24 Gag-specific CD8+ T-cell responses generated that can drive significant selection pressure on the virus.
Ellobiopsids of the Genus Thalassomyces are Alveolates

Abstract Ellobiopsids are multinucleate protist parasites of aquatic crustaceans that possess a nutrient absorbing ‘root’ inside the host and reproductive structures that protrude through the carapace. Ellobiopsids have variously been affiliated with fungi, ‘colorless algae’, and dinoflagellates, although no morphological character has been identified that definitively allies them with any particular eukaryotic lineage. The arrangement of the trailing and circumferential flagella of the rarely observed bi-flagellated ‘zoospore’ is reminiscent of dinoflagellate flagellation, but a well-organized ‘dinokaryotic nucleus' has never been observed. Using small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequences from two species of Thalassomyces, phylogenetic analyses robustly place these ellobiopsid species among the alveolates (ciliates, apicomplexans, dinoflagellates and relatives) though without a clear affiliation to any established alveolate lineage. Our trees demonstrate that Thalassomyces fall within a dinoflagellate + apicomplexa + Perkinsidae + “marine alveolate group 1” clade, clustering most closely with dinoflagellates. However, the poor statistical support for branches within this region indicates that additional data will be needed to resolve relationships among these taxa.
Perception of Emotional Facial Expressions at Different Intensities in Early-Symptomatic Huntington’s Disease

Background: While there is abundant evidence that patients with Huntington’s disease (HD) have an impairment in the recognition of the emotional facial expression of disgust, previous studies have only examined emotion perception using full-blown facial expressions. Objective: The current study examines the perception of facial emotional expressions in HD at different levels of intensity to investigate whether more subtle deficits can be detected, possible also in other emotions. Method: We compared early symptomatic HD patients with healthy matched controls on emotion perception, presenting short video clips of a neutral face changing into one of the six basic emotions (happiness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust and sadness) with increasing intensity. Overall face perception ability as well as depressive symptoms were taken into account. Results: A specific impairment in recognizing the emotions disgust and anger was found, which was present even at low emotion intensities. Conclusion: These results extend previous findings and support the use of more sensitive emotion perception paradigms, which enable the detection of subtle neurobehavioral deficits even in the pre- and early symptomatic stages of the disease.
Myringoplasty by Homogenous Vein Graft

MANY different methods, conservative and surgical, have been advocated for repair of tympanic perforations. Surgical techniques involve the use of many different graft materials, and no one surgeon can personally perform enough cases to evaluate all of the grafts which have been proposed (Storrs, 1966). The following report, based on 100 cases personally operated, concerns one surgeon's experience of several methods, and presents a further method, onlay graft of homogenous varicose vein, for which I feel there is a place. Homogenous varicose vein was first used in the ear by Nickel (1963) and later by King (1964), and these reports of its use, mainly in the healing of mastoid cavities, suggested it might be a successful material for tympanic repair. Suitable veins removed by the general surgeons are washed in normal saline, cut into lengths of 3-4 inches, and preserved in sterile normal saline by deep freezing until required.
How do Patients with Schizophrenia Perceive Relatives’ Levels of Expressed Emotions? A Brief Patient Rated Scale

Background : Patients’ perspective on relatives’ attitude and behaviour towards them (Expressed emotion—EE) may be an important addition to the current focus on relatives’ perspective only, as measured by Camberwell Family Interview (CFI) or other methods. Based on the theory of EE, we have designed a brief, three-item questionnaire completed by patients, named Felt Expressed Emotion Rating Scale (FEERS). FEERS measures the patient’s experience of criticism (Cri) and emotional over involvement (i.e. worry (Wo), and control (Con). Aims: To investigate the test-retest reliability of the FEERS and associations between the FEERS and the CFI and to which extent FEERS scores were modified by severity of psychotic symptoms, cognitive function, patient mood and amount of face-to-face contact with relatives. Methods : Forty-five patients with schizophrenia and related psychoses admitted to a psychiatric hospital and 67 relatives were included. Assessments included FEERS, CFI and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Results : FEERS-Cri test-retest intra-class correlation (ICC1,1) was 0.71 among patients with low total PANSS scores, low cognitive impairment (0.59) and depression (0.63). For low levels of cognitive impairment, the ICCs of the FEERS-Wo and the FEERS-Con were 0.62 and 0.83, respectively. The FEERS-Cri and FEERSHowWo correlated significantly with CFI-CC and CFI-positive comments, respectively. Among the relatives that the patient deemed “not at all critical” (low FEERS-Cri scores), 94% had low CFI-CC levels. Conclusions : The FEERS may be a brief, time-saving alternative for identifying relatives with low levels of criticism. However, illness severity, cognitive function and mood influence FEERS test-retest reliability and link to CFI.
Distribution and abundance of the edible orchids of the southern highlands of Tanzania

All orchids have showy flowers and many are therefore popular as exotic houseplants as well as contributing significantly to eco-tourism. A special attribute of some orchid genera is the production of edible tubers, an attribute that can contradict eco-tourism if harvesting is not done sustainably. Such is the case in the Southern Highlands where for example, Kitulo Plateau has been gazetted to be a National Park but where edible orchid harvesting is a serious conservation problem. Botanically, unsustainable harvesting can mean the loss of important germplasm even before some species are known to exist. A field survey was undertaken for three weeks in March 2002 in the Southern Regions of Tanzania (Iringa, Mbeya, Rukwa and Ruvuma) to study aspects of the extent of the distribution, diversity and density of edible orchids. Tools for identification included structured questionnaire, on-the-spot identification as well as using herbarium voucher samples and keys. Analytical tools included Shannons' diversity index and Canonical Community Ordination (CANOCO) and ANOVA in Microsoft Excel. A total of 13 edible species of orchids were documented during the survey all of them from the genera Habenaria, Disa and Satyrium. While Tandala and Molo hills had the highest species Diversity Index (over 1.2), Kitulo Plateau showed the greatest species density of over 200/30m2 quadrants. Local communities in Madaba in Ruvuma, Molo, and Mbisi in Rukwa regions used the orchids as vegetables and snacks in lieu of animal meat. The rest of the studied areas used orchids as a source of cash by selling to Zambian traders and or to their middlemen. More research is needed to monitor growth phases, reproductive/propagation studies as well as taxonomic and systematic studies preferably using molecular techniques to determine relationships amongst edible orchids and their non edible relatives. Tanzania Journal of Science Vol. 31 (1) 2005: pp. 45-54
One member of a gro‐ESL‐like chaperonin multigene family in Bradyrhizobium japonicum is co‐regulated with symbiotic nitrogen fixation genes.

This report is concerned with the structural characterization and genetic regulation of new bacterial groES and groEL chaperonin genes, and presents two novelties. The first is the discovery that the nitrogen fixing soybean root nodule bacterium, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, unlike all other prokaryotes investigated so far, possesses a multigene family consisting of five very similar, though not identical, groESL‐like genes. The second novelty relates to the finding that these five homologues are expressed to different degrees and, in particular, that one family member (namely groESL3) is induced by a mechanism that does not involve the well‐known heat shock response. By contrast, the groESL3 genes are co‐regulated together with symbiotic nitrogen fixation genes, in that they are activated by the nitrogen fixation regulatory protein NifA at low oxygen conditions and transcribed from a −24/−12 promoter by the sigma 54 RNA polymerase. Two other members of the groESL gene family are apparently expressed constitutively at different levels, and yet another one is strongly induced by high temperature. As an attractive hypothesis it follows that B. japonicum may modulate its cellular contents of GroES‐ and GroEL‐like chaperonins in response to specific environmental conditions and physiological needs.
What are the Risks Associated with Formula Feeding ? A Re-Analysis and Review

Background: Most infant feeding studies present infant formula use as ‘‘standard’’ practice, supporting perceptions of formula feeding as normative and hindering translation of current research into counseling messages supportive of exclusive breastfeeding. To promote optimal counseling, and to challenge researchers to use exclusive breastfeeding as the standard, we have reviewed the scientific literature on exclusive breastfeeding and converted reported odds ratios to allow discussion of the ‘‘risks’’ of any formula use. Methods: Studies indexed in PubMed that investigated the association between exclusive breastfeeding and otitis media, asthma, types 1 and 2 diabetes, atopic dermatitis, and infant hospitalization secondary to lower respiratory tract diseases were reviewed. Findings were reconstructed with exclusive breastfeeding as the standard, and levels of significance calculated. Results: When exclusive breastfeeding is set as the normative standard, the re-calculated odds ratios communicate the risks of any formula use. For example, any formula use in the first 6 months is significantly associated with increased incidence of otitis media (OR: 1.78, 95% CI: 1.19, 2.70 and OR: 4.55, 95% CI: 1.64, 12.50 in the available studies; pooled OR for any formula in the first 3 mo: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.40, 2.78). Only shorter durations of exclusive breastfeeding are available to use as standards for calculating the effect of ‘‘any formula use’’ for type 1 diabetes, asthma, atopic dermatitis, and hospitalization secondary to lower respiratory tract infections. Conclusions: Exclusive breastfeeding is an optimal practice, compared with which other infant feeding practices carry risks. Further studies on the influence of presenting exclusive breastfeeding as the standard in research studies and counseling messages are recommended. (BIRTH 37:1 March 2010)
An improved Pareto distribution for modelling the fault data of open source software

In the modern society, software plays a very important role in many application systems. Consequently, the main goal of project managers and software engineers is to deliver reliable software within very limited resource, time and budget during the software development life cycle. Presently, it is widely recognized that open source software (OSS) has developed as a new (and novel) form of both personal and aggregation production. In the past, some research has shown that the traditional Pareto distribution (PD) and the Weibull distribution models can be used to describe the distribution of software faults of OSS. However, there could be a negative value for the cumulative probability of the traditional PD model in some cases. In this paper, based on our past studies, a modified Pareto‐based distribution model, called the single‐change‐point 2‐parameter generalized PD (SCP‐2GPD) model is proposed. The method of choosing an appropriate change‐point is presented and illustrated. Some mathematical properties of the proposed model are also discussed. Experiments are conducted using several real OSS data, and evaluation results show that our proposed SCP‐2GPD model depicts the real‐life situation of the software development life cycle more faithfully and accurately. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Simplified modeling of RR(ring resonator) using magnetization with broader negative permeability bandwidth

In this work, the ring resonator (RR), the original form of the split ring resonator (SRR), is simply modeled using the concept of magnetization and one convenient expression for its effective permeability is presented. An equivalent circuit for the ring resonator is also provided with closed-form expressions for all circuit elements. A method of achieving a wider negative permeability by decreasing the Q value is provided. The ring resonator with its resonant frequency of 13.56 MHz was designed and its characteristics were examined in terms of S-parameters, effective permeability, loss rate, bandwidth, etc. The theoretical, circuit-, and EM-simulated results are shown to be in an excellent agreement.
The Impact of Middle Age on the Viability of Patients with Nonmalignant and Malignant Diseases

Deep myelosuppression, an officially sanctioned effect of non-selective cytotoxic cancer therapy, would be expected to be incompatible with mounting of a powerful host defense against spontaneous malignancy. To explore this theoretical difficulty, we used middle age as a natural model of a temporary decline in lymphocytopoiesis, caused by physiological thymus involution. The impact of middle age on the levels of death from nonmalignant and malignant diseases was analyzed retrospectively, using population health data from Europe (the European Network of Economic Policy Research Institutes, 1995); the UK (Statistics Team at the Cancer Research UK, and the Office for National Statistics cancer survival rates for 2007-2010), and the USA (National Center for Health Statistics, 1987-2007; National Vital Statistics System, 1999-2010; National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results [SEER], 1992-2010). The rate of death and survival used to check whether the vectors of middle age-specific changes of these parameters are opposite or coincident in cancer patients and those with certain non-malignant somatic diseases. According the temporary trend on a middle- age portion of plot, the curves were graded negative or positive (+ = viability is not change or goes up; - = viability goes down). Comparisons of aggregate data showed that middle age exerted opposite effects on the health of those with cancer and non-malignant diseases. In middle age, serious health conditions, such as some cancers, are easier to treat, but the overall quality of life is reduced by various morbidities, especially infections. The comparing of the impact of middle age on the viability of patients with nonmalignant and malignant diseases in alternative terms of immunity or morphogenesis leads to recognition of trophic contribution of thymus into tumor development. By analogy, we assume that use of cytotoxic therapy can exert indirect benefit, thus compromising hemato- lymphocytopoiesis.
Generalizing Holographic Superconductors

We consider a family of holographically dual models of superconductivity to test the robustness of holographic superconductor models in general. Following the treatment of Hartnoll et al. and Albrecht et al., we introduce the basic holographic model and then develop a family of similar models by varying a parameter in the spacetime metric of the holographic theory. We then calculate several observables and compare with actual superconductor observables. This helps determine whether these holographic models actually explain superconductivity or if the agreement between the theories and experiment is a coincidence.
Fetal Pancreas Transplantation for Reversal of Streptozotocin-induced Diabetes in Rats

Streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats was completely reversed by transplantation of syngeneic fetal pancreases placed beneath the kidney capsule. To accomplish complete reversal of diabetes, four or more pancreases were necessary; three resulted in partial reversal, and two produced a slight but significant effect in some recipients. Removal of the transplants resulted in the prompt return of diabetes. The islets of Langerhans in the transplants functioned homeostatically; this was indicated by regular normal blood glucose values, in addition to normal findings in blood IRI response and glucose disappearance rate after glucose injection. Disappearance of exocrine elements, with only ducts and fibrous tissue remaining, resulted in a pure endocrine organ. The advantages of this technic, such as ease of accessibility for placement, observation, and removal, are of great importance for possible application to humans.
Kinaesthetic Sensitivity to Passive Movements and its Relationship to Motor Development and Motor Control

A test of kinaesthetic sensitivity to passive movements of the upper limbs was constructed consisting of two tasks: position and movement discrimination, and movement pattern perception and memory. 475 subjects ranging in age from five years to adult were tested and developmental trends were established. The test was found to be a useful tool in measuring the kinaesthetic sensitivity of normal subjects, as well as of intellectually and physically handicapped children. Results for right and left arms did not differ in the test of kinaesthetic perception and memory. Kinaesthetic sensitivity was found to be correlated with everyday motor functions involving fine manual control, as well as with co‐ordinated gross body movements.
Propagation of postsynaptic currents and potentials via gap junctions in GABAergic networks of the rat hippocampus

The integration of synaptic signalling in the mammalian hippocampus underlies higher cognitive functions such as learning and memory. We have studied the gap junction‐mediated cell‐to‐cell and network propagation of GABAA receptor‐mediated events in stratum lacunosum moleculare interneurons of the rat hippocampus. Propagated events were identified both in voltage‐ and current‐clamp configurations. After blockade of ionotropic excitatory synaptic transmission, voltage‐clamp recordings with chloride‐loaded electrodes (predicted GABAA receptor reversal potential: 0 mV) at −15 mV revealed the unexpected presence of spontaneous events of opposite polarities. Inward events were larger and kinetically faster when compared to outward currents. Both types of events were blocked by gabazine, but only outward currents were significantly affected by the gap junction blocker carbenoxolone, indicating that outward events originated in electrically coupled neurons. These results were in agreement with computational modelling showing that propagated events were modulated in size and shape by their relative distance to the gap junction site. Paired recordings from electrically coupled interneurons performed with high‐ and low‐chloride pipettes (predicted GABAA receptor reversal potentials: 0 mV and −80 mV, respectively) directly demonstrated that depolarizing postsynaptic events could propagate to the cell recorded with the low‐chloride solution. Cell‐to‐cell propagation was abolished by carbenoxolone, and was not observed in uncoupled pairs. Application of 4‐aminopyridine on slices resulted in spontaneous network activation of interneurons, which was driven by excitatory GABAA receptor‐mediated input. Population activity was greatly depressed by carbenoxolone, suggesting that propagation of depolarizing synaptic GABAergic potentials may be a critical determinant of interneuronal synchronous bursting in the hippocampus.
FT-IR Spectroscopy Study in Early Diagnosis of Skin Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM Mid-infrared spectroscopy (4000-500 cm-1) was used to analyze the spectral changes and differences of the characteristic absorption bands of the skin components due to cancer development for early clinical diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Human biopsies from basal cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, and nevus were used, while normal skin tissue served as a control. RESULTS The high quality of Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra showed that upon cancer development the intensity of the absorption band at approximately 3062 cm-1 was increased, indicating that most of the proteins had the configuration of amide B and the β-sheet protein structure predominated. The stretching vibration bands of vCH2 in the region 2950-2850 cm-1 were increased in melanoma and nevus, while were less pronounced in basal cell carcinoma due to the increased lipophilic environment. In addition, the intensity of a new band at 1744 cm-1, which is assigned to aldehyde, was increased in melanoma and nevus and appeared as a shoulder in the spectra of normal skin. The absorption band of amide I at 1650 cm-1 was split into two bands, at 1650 cm-1 and 1633 cm-1, due to the presence of both α-helix and random coil protein conformations for melanoma and nevus. This was confirmed from the amide II band at 1550 cm-1, which shifted to lower frequencies at 1536 cm-1 and 1540 cm-1 for basal cell carcinoma and melanoma, respectively, indicating a damage of the native structure of proteins. The bands at 841 and 815 cm-1, which are assigned to B-DNA and Z-DNA, respectively, indicated that only the bands of the cancerous Z-DNA form are pronounced in melanoma, while in BCC both the characteristic bands of B-DNA and Z-DNA forms are found. CONCLUSION It is proposed that the bands described above could be used as "diagnostic marker" bands for DNA forms, in the diagnosis of skin cancer.