Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Associations between interleukin 17A and 17F polymorphisms and asthma susceptibility: A meta‐analysis

Owing to their role in inflammatory reactions and immunological responses as well as their chromosomal location, interleukin (IL) 17A and 17F are regarded as candidate causal genes associated with asthma. The aim of this study was to determine whether IL17 polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to asthma. We used the PubMed/Medline and Embase databases to search for studies reporting IL17 polymorphisms in patients with asthma and healthy controls. Meta‐analyses were conducted to determine the associations between IL17A rs8193036 (−737C/T), rs2275913 (−197G/A), rs3819024 (A/G), rs3748067 (C/T), and rs4711998 (A/G) and IL17F rs763780 (7488A/G), rs2397084 (T/C), rs1889570 (C/T), rs11465553 (G/A), and rs1266828 (T/C) polymorphisms and asthma susceptibility. A total of 20 studies were included in this meta‐analysis. Our results revealed the IL17A rs8193036 CC genotype was associated with asthma susceptibility (odds ratio [OR] = 1.490, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.027–2.161, p = .036). However, stratification by ethnicity indicated no association between this polymorphism and asthma in European and Asian subjects. Furthermore, no association was found between this polymorphism and asthma using the allele contrast, dominant or homozygous contrast models. No evidence of an association was found between any of the other IL17A and IL17F polymorphisms and asthma susceptibility in this meta‐analysis. This meta‐analysis showed that, among the studied polymorphisms, only the CC genotype of IL17A rs8193036 is associated with asthma susceptibility.
Elastic properties of langasite-type crystals determined by bulk and surface acoustic waves

We have determined the elastic constants of langasite-type crystals (La3Ga5SiO14, La3Ga5.5Nb0.5O14, and La3Ga5.5Ta0.5O14) from measurements of the sound velocity of acoustic waves. Starting with the elastic tensor determined from bulk acoustic waves, we optimized the data set by investigating the influence of the elastic tensor components on the angular dispersion of surface guided waves. This procedure is particularly useful for accurate determination of the nondiagonal elements of the elastic tensor. Phase velocity calculations based on the new set of constants show an increased agreement with experimental data compared to the data set derived from bulk waves and previously published material data.
Some aspects of dense fog in the Midwestern United States

Abstract To better understand dense fog events in the midwestern United States, a fog climatology was developed that examines the surface weather conditions at dense fog onset and during dense fog events, in relationship to fog duration. Surface airways hourly observations for the period 1948–96 were examined, focusing primarily on Peoria, Illinois, during the cold season (October–March). Temperature, winds, and visibility at dense fog onset did not prove to be useful in differentiating between short- (1–2 h) and long- (>5 h) duration dense fog events. However, it was found that once dense fog forms, it is more likely to persist if the horizontal visibility is 200 m (1/8 mi) or less and the ceiling height lowers to 30 m (100 ft) or less. Further, dense fog events at Peoria tend to last longer if they are widespread, that is, when many other midwestern surface airways hourly stations also report dense fog. When dense fog develops early in the night to the hours just after midnight, it is more likely to per.
Piecewise linear approximation for hereditary control problems

This paper presents finite-dimensional approximations for linear retarded functional differential equations by use of discontinuous piecewise linear functions. The approximation scheme is applied to optimal control problems, when a quadratic cost integral must be minimjzed subject to the controlled retarded system. It is shown that the approximate optimal feedback operators converge to the true ones both in the case where the cost integral ranges over a finite time interval, as well as in the case where it ranges over an infinite time interval. The arguments in the last case rely on the fact that the piecewise linear approximations to stable systems are stable in a uniform sense. This feature is established using a vector-component stability criterion in the state space $\mathbb{R}^n \times L^2 $ and the favorable eigenvalue behavior of the piecewise linear approximations.
Farnesol and phosphorylation of the transcriptional regulator Efg1 affect Candida albicans white-opaque switching rates

Candida albicans is a normal member of the human microbiome and an opportunistic fungal pathogen. This species undergoes several morphological transitions, and here we consider white-opaque switching. In this switching program, C. albicans reversibly alternates between two cell types, named “white” and “opaque,” each of which is normally stable across thousands of cell divisions. Although switching under most conditions is stochastic and rare, certain environmental signals or genetic manipulations can dramatically increase the rate of switching. Here, we report the identification of two new inputs which affect white-to-opaque switching rates. The first, exposure to sub-micromolar concentrations of (E,E)-farnesol, reduces white-to-opaque switching by ten-fold or more. The second input, an inferred PKA phosphorylation of residue T208 on the transcriptional regulator Efg1, increases white-to-opaque switching ten-fold. Combining these and other environmental inputs results in a variety of different switching rates, indicating that a given rate represents the integration of multiple inputs.
On the Classical Limits of Quantum Statistical Distributions

In the classical mechanical limit in which quantum cells of volume (2πħ)2 are reduced to points in phase space, the Bose and Fermi distributions are shown to approach the Boltzmann distribution. This limit is a continuous limit and therefore does not alter the indistinguishability of bosons (fermions) which is defined in terms of a discontinuous permutation symmetry of the density operator and Hamiltonian for the system. This means that the classical particles which correspond to the identical boson (fermions) remain indistinguishable. In the same limit, the partition function for N identical bosons approaches (2πħ)−3N (N! )−1f. fd3r1d3p1…d3rNd3pN exp (–βH) Zc. The two factors, (2πħ)−3N and (N! )−1 which are often added in an ad hoc manner in many books on statistical mechanics, are thus derived from first principles. In the classical statistical limit in which the number density n and the reciprocal temperature β become small, the quantum statistical distributions also approach the Boltzmann distribution. This is shown by examining the chemical potential μ as a function of n and β. The classical approximation is valid if the thermal de Broglie wavelength is much shorter than the interparticle distance irrespective of any interparticle interaction.
Deformations of loop algebras and integrable systems: hierarchies of integrable equations

Using special quasigraded Lie algebras, that could be viewed as deformations of loop algebras, we obtain new hierarchies of integrable nonlinear equations admitting zero-curvature representations. In particular, we obtain integrable hierarchies that generalize the Heisenberg magnet, Landau–Lifshitz, and anisotropic chiral field hierarchies. We also obtain a new type of so(3) anisotropic chiral field equation along with its higher rank generalization.
Transcanal endoscopic management of isolated congenital middle ear malformations

Abstract Background A few studies have reported transcanal endoscopic management of isolated congenital middle ear malformations (CMEMs). Objective The purpose of this study is to describe our surgical experience in endoscopic ear surgery for isolated CMEMs and evaluate the surgical effect of hearing reconstruction. Methods From January 2017 to January 2022, a retrospective study was performed on 36 patients (37 ears) with isolated CMEMs who all underwent endoscopic surgery. Demographic data, high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings, intraoperative findings, surgical management and audiometric data were recorded. Results Anomalies were categorized according to the Teunissen and Cremers classification system: 8 ears were categorized as class I, 8 ears as class II, 19 ears as class III and 2 ears as class IV. The air conduction pure tone average (AC-PTA) of 37 cases was 61.5 ± 8.6 dB preoperatively and 29.6 ± 6.9 dB postoperatively (p < 0.001). The mean preoperative air-bone gap (ABG) significantly decreased from 43.1 ± 8.7 dB to 12.8 ± 5.5 dB postoperatively. 36 of 37 cases (97%) met the criteria for successful operation. Conclusion Isolated CMEMs are mainly manifested as aplasia of the stapes’ superstructure and dysplasia of the long process of the incus. Transcanal endoscopic surgery seems a safe technique for the management of isolated CMEMs.
Simplified Evaluation of Added Hydrodynamic Mass for Intake Towers

For the preliminary phase of design or safety evaluation of intake‐outlet towers, the hydrodynamic interaction effects can be most simply represented in earthquake response analysis by added hydrodynamic mass distributed over the height of the tower. A simplified procedure is developed to evaluate the added hydrodynamic mass for towers of arbitrary cross section, having two axes of symmetry and dimensions varying along the height. It is demonstrated that the added mass associated with surrounding (outside) water or inside water can be determined to a useful degree of accuracy without rigorous three‐dimensional analysis of the two fluid domains. Standard data are presented for convenient implementation of the simplified procedures developed in this paper.
Neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and body size in Australia’s capital cities: The contribution of obesogenic environments

Residents of socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods have higher rates of overweight and obesity and chronic disease than their counterparts from advantaged neighbourhoods. This study assessed whether associations between neighbourhood disadvantage and measured body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference, are accounted for by obesogenic environments (i.e., residential distance to the Central Business District [CBD], supermarket availability, access to walkable destinations). The study used 2017–18 National Health Survey data for working-aged adults (aged ≥18 years, n = 9,367) residing in 3,454 neighbourhoods across Australia’s state and territory capital cities. In five of eight cities (i.e., Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth) residents of disadvantaged neighbourhoods had significantly higher BMI and a larger waist circumference than residents of more advantaged areas. There was no association between neighbourhood disadvantage and body size in Hobart, Darwin, and Canberra. Associations between neighbourhood disadvantage and body size were partially explained by neighbourhood differences in distance to the CBD but not supermarket availability or walkable amenities. The results of this study point to the role of urban design and city planning as mechanisms for addressing social and economic inequities in Australia’s capital cities, and as solutions to this country’s overweight and obesity epidemic and associated rising rates of chronic disease.
Relationship Between the Number of Repetitions in Reserve and Lifting Velocity During the Prone Bench Pull Exercise: An Alternative Approach to Control Proximity-to-Failure

Abstract Pérez-Castilla, A, Miras-Moreno, S, Weakley, J, and García-Ramos, A. Relationship between the number of repetitions in reserve and lifting velocity during the prone bench pull exercise: an alternative approach to control proximity-to-failure. J Strength Cond Res 37(8): 1551–1558, 2023—This study aimed to explore the goodness-of-fit and accuracy of both general and individual relationships between the number of repetitions in reserve (RIR) and the repetition velocity during the Smith machine prone bench pull exercise. Fifteen male sports science students completed 3 sessions separated by 48–72 hours. The first session was used to determine the bench pull 1 repetition maximum (1RM). The second and third sessions were identical and consisted of 3 single sets (60, 70, and 80% 1RM) of repetitions to momentary muscular failure separated by 10 minutes during the Smith machine prone bench pull exercise. General (i.e., pooling together the data from the 15 subjects) and individual RIR-velocity relationships were constructed from the data collected in the second session by pooling the data from the 3 loads (multiple-loads) or specifically for each load (load-specific). The 4 RIR-velocity relationship models were ranked by their goodness-of-fit as follows: individualload-specific (r = 0.93) > individualmultiple-loads (r = 0.83) > generalmultiple-loads (r = 0.65) > generalload-specific (r = 0.61). The accuracy when predicting the RIR in the third session based on the RIR-velocity equations obtained in the second session was acceptable and comparable for the 4 RIR-velocity relationship models (absolute errors ≤2 RIR). However, the 4 RIR-velocity relationship models significantly underestimated the RIR for ≥1 RIR and overestimated the RIR for 0 RIR. These results suggest that the 4 RIR-velocity relationship models are equally effective to quantify proximity-to-failure during the Smith machine prone bench pull exercise.
On the theory of electromagnetic waves and instabilities in multi-species weakly ionized plasmas in external d.c. electric field

Electromagnetic modes with the electric vector of the wave lying in the plane defined by the wave vector and the external d.c. electric field are studied theoretically in weakly ionized plasmas with several sorts of ions. The corresponding instability criteria are also given. The analysis is based on kinetic equations with BGK model collision integrais for the one-particle distribution functions of the charged constituents (electrons and all sorts of ions). The linear theory of perturbation is applied. Special attention is given to the long-wave domain (modal wavelengths much larger than the electron mean free path): it is in this domain that the instabilities are found to set in first as the electron drift is gradually increased. The increments of these instabilities are, however, smaller than in the short-wave domain which was mainly studied before. Apart from the modes which exist in weakly ionized plasmas with only one ion species, and which re-appear in the case studied here with somewhat altered characteristics, a new slow mode, specifie for multi-species weakly ionized plasmas, is found. Its phase velocity is below the electron thermal velocity, and its existence, as well as the conditions of excitation of the corresponding instability, depend on the plasma composition and non-isothermality (viz. the ratio Te/Ti). In some situations, two such modes are possible. The analysis of the instabilities is completed by a brief description of two (sometimes three) branches of ion acoustic instability, specific for the multi-species plasmas and propagating strictly along the direction of the external electric field.
The prevalence of drug driving and being caught for a drug driving offense among community-recruited people who use methamphetamine in metropolitan and rural Victoria, Australia

Abstract Objective To examine the prevalence, frequency and characteristics of drug driving and being caught for a drug driving offense and their key correlates among people who used methamphetamine in rural and metropolitan areas of Victoria, Australia. Methods Cross-sectional analysis of a sample of 744 people who used methamphetamine. Outcomes included self-reported drug driving (driving within three hours of consuming drugs, yes/no) and having been caught for a drug driving offense (yes/no). Sociodemographic (including rurality) and drug use variables were included in multivariable analyses. Results Of the 511 participants who reported driving in the six months prior to the survey, 407 (80%) reported drug driving (driving within three hours of taking an illicit drug). Most drug drivers (92.6%) reported taking methamphetamine (in combination with other drugs (59.5%) or in isolation (33.2%)) before driving. Most reported drug driving daily (31%) or weekly (25%), with passengers often (31%) or sometimes (28%). Most reported believing their driving was not at all impaired (49%), or only slightly impaired (32%) when preceded by drug taking. Multivariable analysis revealed that drug driving was not associated with rurality, nor with other socio-demographic characteristics. However, participants residing outside metropolitan areas were more likely to report having been caught previously for a drug driving offense (Adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.18–3.16). Conclusions The majority of people within this cohort of people who used methamphetamine reported drug driving. An enhanced focus on public health campaigns and strategies to prevent drug driving is needed.
Production of biofuels from C1 ‐gases with Clostridium and related bacteria—Recent advances

Clostridium spp. are suitable for the bioconversion of C1‐gases (e.g., CO2, CO and syngas) into different bioproducts. These products can be used as biofuels and are reviewed here, focusing on ethanol, butanol and hexanol, mainly. The production of higher alcohols (e.g., butanol and hexanol) has hardly been reviewed. Parameters affecting the optimization of the bioconversion process and bioreactor performance are addressed as well as the pathways involved in these bioconversions. New aspects, such as mixotrophy and sugar versus gas fermentation, are also reviewed. In addition, Clostridia can also produce higher alcohols from the integration of the Wood‐Ljungdahl pathway and the reverse ß‐oxidation pathway, which has also not yet been comprehensively reviewed. In the latter process, the acetogen uses the reducing power of CO/syngas to reduce C4 or C6 fatty acids, previously produced by a chain elongating microorganism (commonly Clostridium kluyveri), into the corresponding bioalcohol.
Efficacy and accuracy of faecal sampling by a digital rectal examination for faecal immunochemical testing

Aim A digital rectal examination (DRE) during routine assessment for patients with abdominal symptoms provides an opportunity to obtain faeces from the glove for faecal immunochemical testing (FIT). Here, we compared sampling via DRE to the standard faecal sampling by patients. Method Patients were recruited to a prospective observational cohort study between July 2019 and March 2020. Patients provided a sample for the FOB Gold Wide® which was compared to a further sample taken at clinic via DRE. Clinicians reported whether they obtained a ‘good’ sample filling all the grooves, a ‘poor’ sample filling some of the grooves or no faecal sample. Cohen’s kappa was used to compare percentage agreement around a negative threshold of <10 μg haemoglobin/g of faeces. Sensitivity for serious bowel disease (SBD) was calculated. Results Of 596 patients who underwent attempted DRE sampling, there were 258 (43.3%) ‘good’ samples, 117 (19.6%) ‘poor’ samples and 221 (37.1%) with no sample to wipe in the grooves. Cohen’s kappa dropped from 0.70 to 0.30 for the ‘good’ and ‘poor’ samples, respectively. Of those with DRE samples and definitive diagnostic outcomes, the sensitivity for SBD dropped significantly from 76.0% to 41.7% between ‘good’ and ‘poor’ samples, respectively (p = 0.041). Conclusions A ‘good’ sample obtained by DRE provides comparable results to samples obtained by patients. This creates potential benefit in speed and ease of testing for patients. However, not all DRE sampling attempts are successful, and the clinician must be satisfied that enough faeces is obtained to wipe adequately into all grooves.
Standardized item selection for alternate computerized versions of Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test(-based) word lists

ABSTRACT Introduction Despite an increasing need for new Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT)-based word lists in computerized testing, no criteria or standardized procedures exist for its development. To lay a foundation for future development of new and alternate computerized RAVLT(-based) word lists, we present cross-lingual word criteria, developed new lists using the criteria and evaluated performance on the lists using online assessment. Method Based on psycholinguistic literature, we identified relevant word selection criteria. To validate the criteria, we developed two new American-English word lists and one new Dutch list, and administered the RAVLT using visual presentation of the new or original list in an online American (n = 248) and Dutch sample (n = 246) of healthy people. We compared performance of the new and original word lists on trial scores and serial position effects using Bayesian correlations and analyses of variance. Additionally, we compared proportions of correct responses per item, corrected for serial position. Results We identified 13 relevant word selection criteria. The criteria led to two new highly comparable American-English word lists with lower trial scores compared to the original American-English list, indicating that the criteria helped to develop parallel lists with fewer associations between items. The new Dutch word list showed similar trial scores, serial position effects, and proportions of correct responses per item corrected for serial position compared to the original Dutch version. Conclusions The systematic use of word selection criteria can facilitate development of new parallel word lists, including in new language areas. Future studies should evaluate the use of the word criteria for the other sections of the RAVLT (such as delayed recall and recognition), performance using original test modalities (auditory presentation and recall of words) as well as performance in clinical samples.
Effects of Different Parts of the Rose Flower on the Development, Fecundity, and Life Parameters of Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

Simple Summary The western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a major pest of vegetables and flower crops worldwide, and different parts of rose flowers can provide different nutrients to thrips, which may have different nutritional effects on F. occidentalis. In this study, experiments were performed to investigate the influence of rose petals, rose flowers, and 10% honey solution + kidney bean pods on the individual life-history traits and on the population growth of F. occidentalis. Abstract Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) is an important horticultural pest that causes serious damage to rose plants, which is one of its preferred foods. In this study, rose petals, rose flowers, and 10% honey solution + kidney bean pods were chosen as foods to assess their influence on the growth, development and fecundity of F. occidentalis. The results showed that developmental time of immature F. occidentalis with the following trend: rose flowers <10% honey solution + kidney bean pods < rose petals < kidney bean pods. The longevities of both female and male adults were lowest when feeding on the rose petals and were highest when feeding on rose flowers. The fecundity was in the following order: rose flowers >10% honey solution + kidney bean pods > rose petals > kidney bean pods. The net reproductive rate (R0), intrinsic rate of increase (r), and finite rate of increase (λ) of F. occidentalis feeding on rose petals and kidney bean pods were lower than those feeding on rose flowers and 10% honey solution + kidney bean pods. The development, longevity, fecundity, and parameters have significantly changed since F1 generation after feeding with the three food types. The results indicated that different parts of rose flowers had a significant effect on the development of thrips, and nectar and pollen had a positive effect on thrips population increase and reproduction.