Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distinguishing social and cultural features of cholera in urban and rural areas of Western Kenya: Implications for public health

Urban and rural areas have distinctive health problems, which require consideration. To examine sociocultural features of cholera and its community context, a semi-structured explanatory model interview based on vignettes depicting typical clinical features of cholera was used to interview 379 urban and rural respondents in Western Kenya. Findings included common and distinctive urban and rural ideas about cholera, and its prevention and treatment. The three most commonly perceived causes among urban and rural respondents collectively were drinking contaminated water, living in a dirty environment and lacking latrines. However, a dirty environment and flies were more prominently perceived causes among urban respondents. Rural respondents were less likely to identify additional symptoms and more likely to identify biomedically irrelevant perceived causes of cholera. Oral rehydration therapy was the most frequently reported home treatment. Health facilities were recommended unanimously at both sites. For prevention, rural respondents were more likely to suggest medicines, and urban respondents were more likely to suggest health education and clean food. Findings indicate community priority, demand for and potential effectiveness of enhanced efforts to control cholera in Western Kenya, and they suggest strategies that are particularly well suited for control of cholera in urban and rural areas.
Seascape analysis reveals regional gene flow patterns among populations of a marine planktonic diatom

We investigated the gene flow of the common marine diatom, Skeletonema marinoi, in Scandinavian waters and tested the null hypothesis of panmixia. Sediment samples were collected from the Danish Straits, Kattegat and Skagerrak. Individual strains were established from germinated resting stages. A total of 350 individuals were genotyped by eight microsatellite markers. Conventional F-statistics showed significant differentiation between the samples. We therefore investigated whether the genetic structure could be explained using genetic models based on isolation by distance (IBD) or by oceanographic connectivity. Patterns of oceanographic circulation are seasonally dependent and therefore we estimated how well local oceanographic connectivity explains gene flow month by month. We found no significant relationship between genetic differentiation and geographical distance. Instead, the genetic structure of this dominant marine primary producer is best explained by local oceanographic connectivity promoting gene flow in a primarily south to north direction throughout the year. Oceanographic data were consistent with the significant FST values between several pairs of samples. Because even a small amount of genetic exchange prevents the accumulation of genetic differences in F-statistics, we hypothesize that local retention at each sample site, possibly as resting stages, is an important component in explaining the observed genetic structure.
High Basal Protein Kinase A–Dependent Phosphorylation Drives Rhythmic Internal Ca2+ Store Oscillations and Spontaneous Beating of Cardiac Pacemaker Cells

Local, rhythmic, subsarcolemmal Ca2+ releases (LCRs) from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) during diastolic depolarization in sinoatrial nodal cells (SANC) occur even in the basal state and activate an inward Na+-Ca2+ exchanger current that affects spontaneous beating. Why SANC can generate spontaneous LCRs under basal conditions, whereas ventricular cells cannot, has not previously been explained. Here we show that a high basal cAMP level of isolated rabbit SANC and its attendant increase in protein kinase A (PKA)-dependent phosphorylation are obligatory for the occurrence of spontaneous, basal LCRs and for spontaneous beating. Gradations in basal PKA activity, indexed by gradations in phospholamban phosphorylation effected by a specific PKA inhibitory peptide were highly correlated with concomitant gradations in LCR spatiotemporal synchronization and phase, as well as beating rate. Higher levels of basal PKA inhibition abolish LCRs and spontaneous beating ceases. Stimulation of β-adrenergic receptors extends the range of PKA-dependent control of LCRs and beating rate beyond that in the basal state. The link between SR Ca2+ cycling and beating rate is also present in vivo, as the regulation of beating rate by local β-adrenergic receptor stimulation of the sinoatrial node in intact dogs is markedly blunted when SR Ca2+ cycling is disrupted by ryanodine. Thus, PKA-dependent phosphorylation of proteins that regulate cell Ca2+ balance and spontaneous SR Ca2+ cycling, ie, phospholamban and L-type Ca2+ channels (and likely others not measured in this study), controls the phase and size of LCRs and the resultant Na+-Ca2+ exchanger current and is crucial for both basal and reserve cardiac pacemaker function.
Robust adaptive simultaneous state and fault estimation for nonlinear systems: Application to an aerodynamical system

The paper is concerned with the task of robust adaptive fault estimation and an unknown input decoupling for nonlinear systems using a quadratic boundedness approach. In particular, the fault estimation strategy and decoupling of the unknown input is based on an unknown input observer. The above methods are used to describe a robust fault and state observer problem by a set of linear matrix inequalities, which are efficiently handled by freely available solvers. The proposed approach allows obtaining a feasible set of joint state and fault estimation errors. Based on this knowledge, the confidence intervals of the system state and actuator fault, which supports diagnostic decisions, are proposed. The final part of the paper presents an illustrative example concerning an aerodynamical twin-rotor system, which exhibits the performance of the proposed approach.
Long memory and ARFIMA modelling: The case of CPI inflation rate in Ghana

ABSTRACT:In macroeconomic theory and economic policy, changes in the general price level or the rate of inflation plays an essential role. Hence, for example, one of the motives behind the adoption of Inflation Targeting policy (IT) by Ghana and the treaty espoused by the European Monetary Union, known as the Maastricht Treaty, was the convergence of inflation rates. On the other hand there is a controversy about which is the order of integration in the inflation rates, some authors arguing that this variable is stationary I(0) Whittle others saying it is nonstationary I(1). In this study we examine the CPI inflation rates of Ghana from a different perspective allowing for fractional degrees of differentiation. Thus, the methodology is based on long memory or long-range dependence processes, using fractional integration and employing techniques based on Whittle parametric and semiparametric methods and autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average (ARFIMA) models. Standard I(0)/I(1) methods were also employed. Our findings indicate that long memory exists in the CPI inflation rate of Ghana. After processing fractional differencing and determining the short memory components, the following two models, ARFIMA(3,0.427,1) and ARFIMA(2,0.499,1) were respectively specified to describe the pre and post introduction of IT policy in May 2007. Consequently, the CPI inflation rate of Ghana is fractionally integrated and mean reverting. Long memory in financial time series has important implications for the critical explanation of financial time series behaviour, as it could provide an opportunity to earn speculative profits in financial markets and cast disbelief on the correctness of the EMH. For instance, when price changes exhibit long memory or long-range dependence, asset pricing models based on the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) may overestimate or underestimate investment risk. Furthermore, the presence of long memory in inflation rates can provide vital information about the likely impact of shocks (e.g. demand/supply) on the economy with respect to time. The results obtained in this study would be very useful in setting up monetary policies or consolidating previous policies such as IT in order to enhance economic growth. Moreover, estimation of long memory in inflation rates can serve as an evaluation tool to assess the performance of monetary policy under different dispensations. Lastly, the presence of long memory can assist in identifying inflationary pressures in the economy.
Validity and Reproducibility of the Asthma Core International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Written Questionnaire Obtained by Telephone Survey

Objective. To assess the reproducibility and validity of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) asthma written questionnaire (IAWQ) for 6- to 7-year-old children administered to their parents/caregivers through a telephone interview. Methods. Our study included 100 children selected from three health units in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In total, 50 asthmatic and 50 non-asthmatic children were evaluated; all participants were required to own a household telephone line. Initially, telephone interviews were conducted with the parents/caregivers using the IAWQ. After 2 weeks, parents/caregivers were invited to complete the IAWQ under supervision provided by the researchers. After fifteen days, the telephone interviews were repeated. The reproducibility between the two telephone interviews was assessed using kappa (κ) coefficients; the construct validity was assessed by comparing the answers obtained in the initial telephone interview in both groups according to the clinical diagnosis of asthma performed by a specialist using sensitivity and specificity coefficients. Results. Overall, data from 75 children (39 asthmatics) were analyzed, as 25 patients were excluded from the study (11 did not answer phone calls and the responding parents/caregivers for 14 patients were not the same in all study phases). Perfect agreement was observed for the indicator “wheezing in the last 12 months” (κ = 1), while substantial agreement was observed for the “wheezing with exercise,” “speech limited by wheezing,” and “asthma ever” indicators (κ range, 0.7–0.8). The sensitivity and specificity for “wheezing within the last 12 months” were 64.1% (95% confidence interval (CI), 47.2–78.8) and 88.9% (95% CI, 73.9–96.9), respectively. For the “asthma ever” indicator, the sensitivity and specificity were 87.2% (95% CI, 77.6–95.7) and 100% (95% CI, 90.3–1), respectively. Questionnaire specificity was high for all asthma severity indicators. Conclusions. The IAWQ for children aged 6–7 years adapted for telephone interviews showed good reproducibility and adequate validity with an ability to distinguish between asthmatic and non-asthmatic participants. Thus, this method could be utilized in epidemiological studies on childhood asthma in locations where telephone lines are available.
Synergy in Polymicrobial Infections in a Mouse Model of Type 2 Diabetes

ABSTRACT Human diabetics frequently suffer delayed wound healing, increased susceptibility to localized and systemic infections, and limb amputations as a consequence of the disease. Lower-limb infections in diabetic patients are most often polymicrobial, involving mixtures of aerobic, facultative anaerobic, and anaerobic bacteria. The purpose of this study is to determine if these organisms contribute to synergy in polymicrobial infections by using diabetic mice as an in vivo model. The model was the obese diabetic mouse strain BKS.Cg-m +/+ Leprdb/J, a model of human type 2 diabetes. Young (5- to 6-week-old) prediabetic mice and aged (23- to 24-week-old) diabetic mice were compared. The mice were injected subcutaneously with mixed cultures containing Escherichia coli, Bacteroides fragilis, and Clostridium perfringens. Progression of the infection (usually abscess formation) was monitored by examining mice for bacterial populations and numbers of white blood cells at 1, 8, and 22 days postinfection. Synergy in the mixed infections was defined as a statistically significant increase in the number of bacteria at the site of injection when coinfected with a second bacterium, compared to when the bacterium was inoculated alone. E. coli provided strong synergy to B. fragilis but not to C. perfringens. C. perfringens and B. fragilis provided moderate synergy to each other but only in young mice. B. fragilis was anergistic (antagonistic) to E. coli in coinfections in young mice at 22 days postinfection. When age-matched nondiabetic mice (C57BLKS/J) were used as controls, the diabetic mice exhibited 5 to 35 times the number of CFU as did the nondiabetic mice, indicating that diabetes was a significant factor in the severity of the polymicrobial infections.
VOTING ONESELF INTO A CRISIS

We suggest that voters' lack of recognition of complex economic links may give rise to economic policies that eventually lead to a crisis. We consider a two-sector economy in which a majoritarian political process determines governmental regulation in one sector: a minimum nominal wage. If voters recognize general equilibrium feedbacks, workers favoring market-clearing wages will form a majority across sectors. If voters take into account only direct effects in the regulated sector, not only workers that enjoy minimum wages but also workers in the other sector are willing to vote for wage rises in each period. The reason is that they expect higher real wages for themselves, too. The political process leads to constantly rising unemployment and tax rates. The resulting crisis may trigger new insights into economic relationships on the part of the voters and may reverse bad times.
Seeing the forest for the trees: statistical phylogeography in a changing world.

Bonan GB. 2008. Forests and climate change: forcings, feedbacks, and the climate benefits of forests. Science 320: 1444–1449. Dolman AJ, van der Werf GR, van der Molen MK, Ganssen G, Erisman JW, Strengers B. 2010. A carbon cycle science update since IPCC AR4. Ambio 39: 402–412. Hättenschwiler S, Coq S, Barantal S, Handa IT. 2011. Leaf traits and decomposition in tropical rainforests: revisiting some commonly held views and towards a new hypothesis. New Phytologist 189: 950–965. Meir P, Woodward FI. 2010. Amazonian rain forests and drought: response and vulnerability. New Phytologist 187: 553–557. Prentice IC, Harrison SP, Bartlein PJ. 2011. Global vegetation and terrestrial carbon cycle changes after the last ice age. New Phytologist 189: 988–998. Ruiz-Jaen MC, Potvin C. 2011. Can we predict carbon stocks in tropical ecosystems from tree diversity? Comparing species and functional diversity in a plantation and a natural forest. New Phytologist 189: 978–987. Salinas N, Malhi Y, Meir P, Silman M, Roman Cuesta R, Huaman J, Salinas D, Huaman V, Gibaja A, Mamani M et al. 2011. The sensitivity of tropical leaf litter decomposition to temperature: results from a large-scale leaf translocation experiment along an elevation gradient in Peruvian forests. New Phytologist 189: 967–977.
ARMS2 is a constituent of the extracellular matrix providing a link between familial and sporadic age-related macular degenerations.

PURPOSE SNPs in chromosomal region 10q26 harboring PLEKHA1, ARMS2, and Htra1 showed the strongest association with age-related macular degeneration. Recent evidence suggests that in patients homozygous for the risk allele, the lack of synthesis of the poorly characterized ARMS2 is causative of this disorder. The present study was undertaken to gain an understanding of the genuine (patho)physiological role of this protein. METHODS ARMS2-interacting proteins were identified by using a yeast two-hybrid system and validated by coprecipitation. Immunofluorescence was applied to reveal the localization of ARMS2 in transfected cells and in human eyes. Western blot analyses were performed on extra- and intracellular fractions of ARMS2-expressing cells to demonstrate the secretion of ARMS2. RESULTS Contrary to previous reports, this study showed that ARMS2 is a secreted protein that binds several matrix proteins. Notably, ARMS2 directly interacts with fibulin-6 (hemicentin-1). Mutations in the fibulin-6 gene have been demonstrated to cause familial AMD. ARMS2 also interacts with further extracellular proteins, several of which have been implicated in macular dystrophies. Although ARMS2 apparently lacks any classic targeting sequence, it is translocated to the endoplasmic reticulum in cultured cells before secretion. ARMS2 is mostly confined to choroid pillars in human eyes, representing a part of extracellular matrix and corresponding to the principal sites of drusen formation. CONCLUSIONS The pivotal role of the extracellular matrix in the progression of AMD is underlined by the abnormal deposition of extracellular debris in the macula, observed frequently in affected individuals. The results have shown that ARMS2 may be necessary for proper matrix function.
Prediction of Mammalian microRNA binding sites using Random Forests

In biological systems, microRNAs involve in the regulation of their target genes by degrading the targeted binding mRNAs or by repressing the corresponding protein products. MicroRNAs are shown to play important roles in numerous biological processes, such as disease formation, especially in cancer. Predicting the target binding site of microRNA can help to identify the novel miroRNA target genes. Either microRNAs or its target genes can be recognized as biomarkers for diagnosis of diseases, prediction of prognosis, or even therapy decision. In this study, first we apply support vector machines (SVMs), neural networks and decision tree-based approaches to select a set of useful features, which represent important characteristics for the determination of the interaction between microRNA and its target binding mRNA sequence. Next, these selected features are used in two classifiers, SVM and Random Forests, to perform prediction of microRNA target sites. The features that are selected by Random Forests itself exhibit the best performance for predicting the binding site of microRNA. Its prediction accuracy can reach about 75%.
The Effects of Border Violence on U.S.-Mexican Cattle Trade

Due to local violence in Mexico and the continuation of safety concerns along the border region, some ports of entry for Mexican cattle imports into the U.S. have been closed. When a port of entry is closed, the USDA establishes temporary facilities for contingency livestock inspection to maintain the flow of trade across the US-Mexico border. The purpose of this research is to identify the border closures’ impact on the trade flows between Mexico and the United States and between different ports of entry from January 2009 to September 2014. The observed bilateral trade flows between two countries could be explained well using statistical methods involving variables as the length of border closures, geographical locations, the US cattle prices relative to Mexican prices, seasonal patterns in the US cattle imports from Mexico, the combined result of drought, and feed costs. Through the use of a regression in Stata software, a series of economic explanatory variables, and a dummy variable for port of entry openings and closure the study attempts to measure how much of impact a closed port of entry has on the nearby ports of entry.
How to Accomplish the Assistive Technology Service Delivery Process for Adults in Order to Obtain the Best Outcomes - A Literature Review

In order to gain knowledge about which methods in the assistive technology service delivery process or parts hereof that result in positive outcomes, a literature review was accomplished. 20 publications were included. Some evidence was found that user involvement in the service delivery process and training in assistive device use had a positive impact on outcomes. Also professionals' higher assistive device expertise seems to result in better outcomes. More research within the field is needed, especially studies that compare the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of specific methods applying controlled study designs.
Effect of short- and long-term beta-adrenergic blockade on lipolysis during fasting in humans.

Stable isotope tracers and indirect calorimetry were used to evaluate the importance of beta-adrenergic stimulation of lipolysis and triglyceride-fatty acid cycling during fasting in healthy human volunteers. Each subject was studied after 12 and 84 h of fasting both with and without propranolol infusion (protocol 1) and when oral propranolol treatment was given throughout fasting (protocol 2). In protocol 1, the rates of appearance of glycerol and palmitic acid increased from 3.04 +/- 0.19 and 1.78 +/- 0.17 mumol.kg lean body mass-1.min-1, respectively, after 12 h of fasting to 5.28 +/- 0.31 and 3.47 +/- 0.15 mumol.kg lean body mass-1.min-1, respectively, after 84 h of fasting (P less than 0.005). The rate of triglyceride-fatty acid cycling increased from 97 +/- 8 to 169 +/- 5 mumol/min (P less than 0.005). Intravenous propranolol infusion decreased the rate of lipolysis after both 12 and 84 h of fasting, but the magnitude of the antilipolytic effect was much greater after 84 h (P less than 0.005). In protocol 2, the rate of lipolysis and triglyceride-fatty acid cycling was still increased by fasting despite beta-adrenergic blockade with oral propranolol. This study demonstrates that beta-adrenergic stimulation contributes to the mobilization of fat during fasting. However, other mechanism(s) can increase lipolysis and triglyceride-fatty acid cycling when beta-adrenergic receptors are continuously blocked.
Hypomethylation of PRAME is responsible for its aberrant overexpression in human malignancies

The preferentially expressed antigen of melanoma (PRAME) is expressed at high levels in large fractions of human malignancies, e.g., acute myeloid leukemia. Therefore, PRAME is an important marker for diagnosis of various malignant diseases and a relevant parameter for monitoring minimal residual disease. It is supposed to be involved in tumorigenic processes. Because of these important aspects we investigated its transcriptional regulation in detail. Most relevant was a detailed DNA methylation analysis of the PRAME 5′ region by genomic sequencing in correlation with PRAME expression in various human patient samples and cell lines. In combination with DNA‐truncation/transfection experiments with respect to DNA methylation, we show that changes in the methylation pattern in defined parts of the regulatory regions of PRAME are sufficient for its upregulation in cells usually not expressing the gene. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.