Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Willingness to Pay For Achieving Good Status Across Rivers in the Republic of Ireland

The Water Framework Directive mandates EU Member States to achieve good status across all surface waters. Derogations from this have to be proven based on infeasibility or disproportionate cost. This study explores public preference for water quality objectives and assesses willingness to pay (WTP) for achieving good status across all rivers in the Republic of Ireland using contingent valuation. Mean WTP for achieving full good status across rivers was estimated at €19 per respondent per annum. WTP was influenced by social class, subjective perceptions relating to household financial status, education, recreational use, environmental values and river basin district.
Nonspecific capillary proliferation and vasculopathy indicate skin hypoxia in erythromelalgia.

OBJECTIVE To report on the histopathologic findings of affected skin in consecutively collected biopsy specimens from 49 patients with erythromelalgia (EM). DESIGN Skin biopsy specimens were obtained from the foot arch and analyzed by light microscopy, immunofluorescence microscopy, and electron microscopy. SETTING Oslo University Hospital-Gaustad, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. PARTICIPANTS Thirty-one patients had primary EM, 17 patients had secondary EM, and 1 patient had erythromelalgic syndrome. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Evidence of microvascular abnormalities in skin biopsy specimens. RESULTS Light microscopy showed evidence of capillary proliferation in 10 of 31 patients with primary EM and in 1 of 17 patients with secondary EM. The biopsy specimen from the patient with erythromelalgic syndrome showed numerous capillary nests with endothelial cell defects and a slight perivascular inflammatory reaction. Among the 17 secondary EM cases, sparse perivascular lymphocyte infiltrations were observed in the biopsy specimens from 2 patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia and 1 patient with diabetes mellitus. Eleven patients also had signs of vasculopathy based on findings of immunodeposits of C3 and fibrin. Six of 30 patients with primary EM showed endothelial abnormalities on electron microscopy. All 3 investigations showed unremarkable biopsy results in 16 cases. CONCLUSIONS Histopathologic analysis is not useful as a routine diagnostic tool in EM because no morphological changes are specific to EM. The capillary proliferation and vasculopathy are assumed to be a consequence of intermittent skin hypoxia (vascular hypothesis of pathogenesis). Whether the proliferation is a consequence of EM or a pathogenic factor in the development of the disease is uncertain.
Asimadoline in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome

Importance of the field: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) represents one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders, with the diarrhea-predominant form (D-IBS) representing an area of high unmet medical need. One difficulty in identifying suitable treatments for IBS is that although there are animal models for the components of IBS, it is not clear whether animals are afflicted by the disease. In a recently completed Phase II study, the kappa-opioid agonist, asimadoline, was shown to be efficacious in a prospectively defined subgroup of D-IBS patients. This study confirmed a good safety profile for asimadoline. Areas covered in this review: The chemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and clinical safety and efficacy of asimadoline in relationship to IBS is reviewed. Papers were searched over the past 20 years using the PubMed database and key words ‘asimadoline’, ‘kappa-opioid agonist’ and ‘irritable bowel syndrome’. Abstracts were reviewed and appropriate full papers were then evaluated. What the reader will gain: The reader will gain an appreciation of kappa-opioid agonists as IBS treatments. Take home message: In a prospectively defined, clinically relevant patient subgroup, asimadoline shows efficacy in the treatment of D-IBS.
The importin α/β-specific inhibitor Ivermectin affects HIF-dependent hypoxia response pathways

Abstract Hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs) regulate hundreds of genes involved in cellular adaptation to reduced oxygen availability. HIFs consist of an O2-labile α-subunit (primarily HIF-1α and HIF-2α) and a constitutive HIF-1β subunit. In normoxia the HIF-α subunit is hydroxylated by members of a family of prolyl-4-hydroxylase domain (PHD) proteins, PHD1-3, resulting in recognition by von Hippel-Lindau protein, ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. In contrast, reduced oxygen availability inhibits PHD activity resulting in HIF-1α stabilisation and nuclear accumulation. Nuclear import of HIF-1α mainly depends on classical nuclear localisation signals (NLS) and involves importin α/β heterodimers. Recently, a specific inhibitor of nuclear import has been identified that inhibits importin α/β-dependent import with no effects on a range of other nuclear transport pathways involving members of the importin protein family. In this study we evaluated the physiological activity of this importin α/β-inhibitor (Ivermectin) in the hypoxia response pathway. Treatment with Ivermectin decreases binding activity of HIF-1α to the importin α/β-heterodimer. Moreover, HIF-1α nuclear localisation, nuclear HIF-1α protein levels, HIF-target gene expression, as well as HIF-transcriptional activity are reduced upon Ivermectin treatment. For the first time, we demonstrate the effect of specific importin α/β-inhibition on the hypoxic response on the molecular level.
Heterogeneity and concordance in locus‐specific differentiation and introgression between species of towhees

The maintenance or breakdown of reproductive isolation is an observable outcome of secondary contact between species. In cases where hybrids beyond the F1 are formed, the representation of each species' ancestry can vary dramatically among genomic regions. This genomic heterogeneity in ancestry and introgression can offer insight into evolutionary processes, particularly if introgression is compared in multiple hybrid zones. Similarly, considerable heterogeneity exists across the genome in the extent to which populations and species have diverged, reflecting the combined effects of different evolutionary processes on genetic variation. We studied hybridization across two hybrid zones of two phenotypically well‐differentiated bird species in Mexico (Pipilo maculatus and P. ocai), to investigate genomic heterogeneity in differentiation and introgression. Using genotyping‐by‐sequencing (GBS) and hierarchical Bayesian models, we genotyped 460 birds at over 41 000 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci. We identified loci exhibiting extreme introgression relative to the genome‐wide expectation using a Bayesian genomic cline model. We also estimated locus‐specific FST and identified loci with exceptionally high genetic divergence between the parental species. We found some concordance of locus‐specific introgression in the two independent hybrid zones (6–20% of extreme loci shared across zones), reflecting areas of the genome that experience similar gene flow when the species interact. Additionally, heterogeneity in introgression and divergence across the genome revealed another subset of loci under the influence of locally specific factors. These results are consistent with a history in which reproductive isolation has been influenced by a common set of loci in both hybrid zones, but where local environmental and stochastic factors also lead to genomic differentiation.
Featuring web communities based on word co-occurrence structure of communications: 736

Textual communication in message boards is analyzed for classifying Web communities. We present a communication-content based generalization of an existing business-oriented classification of Web communities, using KeyGraph, a method for visualizing the co-occurrence relations between words and word clusters in text. Here, the text in a message board is analyzed with KeyGraph, and the structure obtained is shown to reflect the essence of the content-flow. The relation of this content-flow with participants' interests is then formalized. Three structure-features of relations between participants and words, determining the type of the community, are shown to be computed and visualized: (1) centralization (2) context coherence and (3) creative decisions. This helps in surveying the essence of a community, e.g. whether the community creates useful knowledge, how easy it is to join the community, and whether/why the community is good for making commercial advertisement.
Self-reported estrogen use and newly incident urinary incontinence among postmenopausal community-dwelling women

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the relationship between self-reported estrogen use and newly incident urinary incontinence (UI) among community-dwelling postmenopausal women. MethodsThe study was a population-based longitudinal survey of postmenopausal women who did not report UI in 1993 and for whom complete data were available. Women were classified as having newly incident UI if they reported uncontrolled urine loss within 12 months of the 2004 interview. Condition-specific functional loss secondary to UI was assessed using questions on the participants’ inability to engage in certain activities because of UI. The duration of hormone therapy containing estrogen was obtained in 1993 using a structured questionnaire. ResultsAmong the 167 postmenopausal women who did not report UI in 1993, 47 (28.1%) reported newly incident UI, and 31 (18.6%) reported newly incident UI with condition-specific functional loss in 2004. Of the 167 postmenopausal women, 46 (27.5%) reported using hormone therapy containing estrogen ever, and 14 (8.3%) women reported using hormone therapy containing estrogen for 5 years or more in 1993. Estrogen use for 5 years or more was significantly associated with newly incident UI with condition-specific functional loss compared with estrogen use for less than 5 years or having no reported history of estrogen (adjusted relative odds, 3.97; 95% CI, 1.02-15.43) in multivariate models controlling for potentially influential characteristics. ConclusionsPostmenopausal community-dwelling women with a history of estrogen use for 5 years or more were more likely to report newly incident UI with condition-specific functional loss after 10 years of follow-up.
Radiation Sidelobe Reduction and Focus Properties of Reflector Antennas by Grating the Aperture Field via Nonperiodic Fresnel-Zone Plate Lens

The radiation characteristics of reflector antenna are investigated when its aperture field is grated by using a nonperiodic Fresnel-zone plate lens (FZPL). The focus of study intends to develop a theoretic foundation such that the radiating slot rings can be adjusted to reduce the sidelobes. In particular, the results of slot ring radiation may reduce to the radiation of a 1-D unequally spaced radiating sources. This reduction allows one to employ the conventional array theories of unequally spaced elements to determine the configuration of FZPL. Theoretic formulation as well as demonstrating examples is presented to validate the concept.
Zonal Merit-Order Effects of Wind Generation Development on Day-Ahead and Real-Time Electricity Market Prices in Texas

This paper uses a regression-based approach to explore the impact of wind generation development on wholesale electricity prices in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market. We find that wind generation development has a greater effect on real-time market (RTM) prices than day-ahead market (DAM) prices. Higher wind generation forecast errors tend to reduce the RTM prices, chiefly because unanticipated increases in wind generation reduce the real-time net loads to be served by fossil fuel power plants. Improving ERCOT’s load and wind generation forecast accuracy tends to make the DAM and RTM prices converge, thus enhancing ERCOT’s market trading efficiency. Finally, the estimated merit-order effects are greatest in the ERCOT zones where the wind generation capacity locally resides.
Optical coding of fusion genes using multicolor quantum dots for prostate cancer diagnosis

Recent studies have found that prostate cancer expresses abnormal genetic markers including multiple types of TMPRSS2–ERG fusion genes. The expression level of different TMPRSS2–ERG fusion genes is correlated to pathologic variables of aggressive prostate cancer and disease progression. State-of-the-art methods for detection of TMPRSS2–ERG fusion genes include reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with a detection limit of 1 fmol at urinary condition. RT-PCR is time consuming, costly, and inapplicable for multiplexing. Ability to identify multiple fusion genes in a single sample has become important for diagnostic and clinical purposes. There is a need for a sensitive diagnostic test to detect multiple TMPRSS2–ERG fusion genes for an early diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer. Here, we propose to develop an assay for prostate cancer diagnosis using oligonucleotide-functionalized quantum dot and magnetic microparticle for optical detection of rearranged TMPRSS2–ERG fusion genes at a low concentration in urine. We found that our assay was able to identify three different types of fusion gene with a wide detection range and detection limit of 1 fmol (almost the same level of the RT-PCR result reported). Here, we show detection of multiple TMPRSS2–ERG fusion genes using color-coded oligonucleotides in cell lysate and urine.
Methods for the Analysis of Auditory Processing in the Brain

Abstract: Understanding song perception and singing behavior in birds requires the study of auditory processing of complex sounds throughout the avian brain. We can divide the basics of auditory perception into two general processes: (1) encoding, the process whereby sound is transformed into neural activity and (2) decoding, the process whereby patterns of neural activity take on perceptual meaning and therefore guide behavioral responses to sounds. In birdsong research, most studies have focused on the decoding process: What are the responses of the specialized auditory neurons in the song control system? and What do they mean for the bird? Recently, new techniques addressing both encoding and decoding have been developed for use in songbirds. Here, we first describe some powerful methods for analyzing what acoustical aspects of complex sounds like songs are encoded by auditory processing neurons in songbird brain. These methods include the estimation and analysis of spectro‐temporal receptive fields (STRFs) for auditory neurons. Then we discuss the decoding methods that have been used to understand how songbird neurons may discriminate among different songs and other sounds based on mean spike‐count rates.
Health Equity, Population Health, and Climate Change Adaptation in Ontario, Canada

Climate change holds the potential to exacerbate existing health inequalities, yet understanding how practitioners conceive health equity and health equality has received little attention in the scholarly literature. This contribution utilizes in-depth interviews with public health practitioners from health units across Ontario, Canada to characterize understandings of equity in relation to on-going climate change adaptation work. Perceptions of health equity and associated public health practices are described before discussing the resulting implications for how and why practitioners take up the equity agenda in relation to climate change. In doing so, this work problematizes existing public health tools and competencies and signals the emergence of new practices capable of simultaneously promoting adaptive capacity to climate change and reducing health inequity in Ontario.
High Gamma Ray Tolerance for 4H-SiC Bipolar Circuits

A high gamma radiation hardness of 4H-SiC circuits is performed. The OR NOR circuits are based on emitter coupled logic (ECL), using integrated bipolar NPN transistors. Gain degradation in individual bipolar junction transistors (BJT) is minimal up to a dose of 38 Mrad (SiO2), but for the dose of 332 Mrad (SiO2) a degradation of 52% is observed. The SiC BJTs show higher radiation hardness than existing Si-technology and high stability under temperature stress. It is proposed that the oxide charge-dominated recombination is the key base current recombination mechanism contributing to gain degradation. An improvement in the gain is seen after annealing at 400 °C for 1800 s due to the possible annealing of some of the oxide defects contributing to the oxide charge.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the cerebellum.

INTRODUCTION The cerebellum is a very complex structure with many motor/non-motor functions and direct and indirect connections with almost the entire central nervous system. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive electrophysiological method for studying, diagnosing, and treating disorders of the nervous system. The aim of the present review is to summarise the research and potential clinical uses of cerebellar TMS. METHODS PubMed literature search using the key words "cerebellum TMS". RESULTS TMS of the cerebellum is used in two types of protocols. The first type involves the separate stimulation of the cerebellum while tracking its clinical or electrophysiological influence on motor and non-motor functions. The second involves stimulation of the cerebellum as a conditioning stimulus before stimulating the motor cortex, to monitor the electrophysiological impact of cerebellar stimulation on the motor cortex. Most studies are performed on small groups of healthy volunteers; isolated studies are performed on patients with neurological disorders (spinocerebellar ataxia, migraine, dystonia, Miller Fisher syndrome). It has been shown that cerebellar TMS is able to influence motor systems, memory, and perception of time, and there is evidence of its electrophysiological effects in the frontal cortex. CONCLUSION Published studies suggest that cerebellar TMS is currently only important in research. There is not yet any clear or reliable evidence of the therapeutic effects of cerebellar TMS. However, its use as a treatment method can be anticipated.
What are cancer survivors' needs and how well are they being met?

PURPOSE This study sought to identify the needs and unmet needs of the growing number of adult cancer survivors. METHODS Vermont survivor advocates partnered with academic researchers to create a survivor registry and conduct a cross-sectional survey of cancer-related needs and unmet needs of adult survivors. The mailed survey addressed 53 specific needs in 5 domains based on prior research, contributions from the research partners, and pilot testing. Results were summarized by computing proportions who reported having needs met or unmet. RESULTS Survey participants included 1668 of 2005 individuals invited from the survivor registry (83%); 65.7% were ages 60 or older and 61.9% were women. These participants had received their diagnosis 2 to 16 years earlier; 77.5% had been diagnosed ≥5 years previously; 30.2% had at least one unmet need in the emotional, social, and spiritual (E) domain; just 14.4% had at least one unmet need in the economic and legal domain. The most commonly identified individual unmet needs were in the E and the information (I) domains and included “help reducing stress” (14.8% of all respondents) and “information about possible after effects of treatment” (14.4%). CONCLUSIONS Most needs of these longerterm survivors were met, but substantial proportions of survivors identified unmet needs. Unmet needs such as information about late and long-term adverse effects of treatment could be met within clinical care with a cancer survivor care plan, but some survivors may require referral to services focused on stress and coping.
Effects of Head Restraint and Seat Redesign on Neck Injury Risk in Rear-End Crashes

Automobile insurance claims were examined to determine the rates of neck injuries in rear-end crashes for vehicles with and without redesigned head restraints, redesigned seats, or both. Results indicate that the improved geometric fit of head restraints observed in many newer vehicle models are reducing the risk of whiplash injury substantially among female drivers (about 37% in the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable), but have very little effect among male drivers. New seat designs, such as active head restraints that move upward and closer to drivers' heads during a rear impact, give added benefit, producing about a 43% reduction in whiplash injury claims (55% reduction among female drivers). Estimated effects of Volvo's Whiplash Injury Prevention System and Toyota's Whiplash Injury Lessening design were based on smaller samples and were not statistically significant.
Use of primary-side information to perform online estimation of the secondary-side information and mutual inductance in wireless inductive link

It is well-known that the power transfer efficiency of wireless inductive link depends on factors including the mutual inductance between the primary and secondary coils, quality factors of the coils, and resonant tank components. It is thus advantageous to have the real-time information about the aforesaid factors, in order to determine the optimal operating frequency and monitor the load condition. This paper will present a technique that utilizes the primary-side electrical quantities to perform real-time estimation of the mutual inductance, value of the secondary-side resonant capacitor, and electrical quantities on the secondary side. The technique can be applied to three scenarios: 1) with unknown value of the secondary-side resonant capacitor and known secondary-side voltage, 2) with known value of the secondary-side resonant capacitor and unknown secondary-side voltage, and 3) unknown value of the secondary-side resonant capacitor and unknown secondary-side voltage. Detailed mathematical treatment will be given. An experimental prototype using planar transformer has been built and evaluated on a test bed. This technique is also implemented as a control scheme of a cascaded converter to regulate the output power. Experimental results are found to be in close agreement with the theoretical predictions.
A Community-Based Participatory Research Approach to Developing the Harvest for Healthy Kids Curriculum

Background: A diet rich in fruits and vegetables is associated with reduced risk of diet-related chronic diseases. However, fewer than half of children in the United States consume the recommended amount. Objectives: This article describes the community-based participatory research (CBPR) process used to develop the Harvest for Healthy Kids curriculum. Methods: Harvest for Healthy Kids is a intervention research project designed to increase access to and intake of fruits and vegetables among preschoolers enrolled in Head Start. The curriculum is composed of eight kits, each focusing on a different fruit or vegetable. Results: The Harvest for Healthy Kids curriculum was developed through an iterative process in which Head Start teachers were highly involved. The final product reflects the teachers’ experiences using the curriculum and their suggestions for improving. Conclusions: The CBPR process used to develop the Harvest for Healthy Kids curriculum led to a product that is grounded in theory and practice.