Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Seasonal, Locality, and Habitat Variation in Assemblages of Carrion-Associated Diptera in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract Seasonal, spatial, and habitat responses of carrion-associated Diptera assemblages can provide valuable information about the presence or absence of species and their relative abundance, and thereby enhance understanding of their responses to environmental variables and how this may have an impact on forensic investigations. Three different nature reserves (localities) within the Municipality of Tshwane, South Africa, were selected to determine whether species assemblages of carrion-feeding flies differ between seasons, localities, and habitat types. A total of 59,511 adult Diptera, identified to 35 species in eight different families, were collected using modified Redtop hanging traps, baited with liver and fish, during four seasons in three different habitat types. Species assemblages differed temporally, with season being the main factor determining species diversity and not locality or habitat. However, savanna and human-disturbed habitats supported a higher abundance and species richness than grassland habitats. Areas adjacent to the localities, such as large urban expanses in Dinokeng or agricultural holdings in Rietvlei, led to an increase in the abundance and mean species richness of carrion-associated Diptera, and in increased numbers of pest or invasive species such as Chrysomya megacephala (F.). Despite this, the overall species assemblages present in human-disturbed areas were very similar to those recorded in natural habitats.
A SPIN-COLUMN PROCEDURE FOR ESTROGEN RECEPTOR EQUILIBRIUM AND COMPETITION BINDING ANALYSIS

ABSTRACT Estrogen receptors, members of the nuclear hormone receptor family, are not only able to bind their endogenous hormone, 17β-estradiol, but can also accommodate other naturally-occuring, non-steroidal molecules. Here, we describe a spin-column procedure to determine accurately equilibrium dissociation constants (Kds) and IC50 concentrations for estrogenic compounds. The human wild-type ERα was used to validate the protocol. We expressed the full-length ERα protein in an eukaryotic system to ensure all possible post-transcriptional modifications. The gel filtration-based assay revealed a temperature-dependent Kd shift for ERα. At physiological conditions (150 mM salt, 37°C) we determined the 17β-estradiol Kd for ERα to be 281 ± 13 pmol/L. Positive cooperativity was only apparent at low temperatures and diminished to zero at 37°C. In homologous competition binding experiments using 17β-estradiol, we observed fifty fold higher IC50 values than the respective Kd. This paper presents a reliable and sensitive protocol to generate saturation binding curves and heterologous competition curves to test estrogenic compounds.
National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 1992 Emergency Department Summary.

OBJECTIVE This report presents data on the provision and utilization of ambulatory medical care services in hospital emergency departments during 1992. Ambulatory medical care services are described in terms of patient, visit, and facility characteristics. Among these are the patient's reason for the visit, diagnostic and screening services ordered or provided, diagnosis, and medications provided or prescribed. Cause of injury data are presented for injury-related visits. METHODS Data presented in this report are from the 1992 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), a national survey of non-Federal, general and short-stay hospitals, conducted by the Division of Health Care Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This report reflects the survey's first year of data collection. A four-stage probability sample design was used, resulting in a sample of 524 non-Federal, general and short-stay hospitals. Ninety-two percent of eligible facilities participated in the survey. Hospital staff were asked to complete Patient Record forms for a systematic random sample of patient visits occurring during a randomly assigned 4-week reporting period, and 36,271 forms were completed by participating emergency departments. Diagnosis and cause of injury were coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). Reason for visit and medications were coded according to systems developed by the National Center for Health Statistics. RESULTS An estimated 89.8 million visits were made to the emergency departments of non-Federal, general and short-stay hospitals in the United States during 1992-357.1 visits per 1,000 persons. Persons 75 years of age and over had a higher visit rate than persons in five other age categories. White persons accounted for 78.5 percent of all visits. However, the visit rate for black persons was significantly higher than for white persons overall and for every age category except 65-74 years and 75 years and over. More than half of all visits were illness related and more than one-third were injury related. Stomach and abdominal pain and chest pain were the most frequently mentioned reasons for visiting the emergency department, accounting for about five million visits each, or 10.7 percent of the total. Accidental falls accounted for the largest share of injury-related visits (22.7 percent).
Benzodiazepines for neuroleptic-induced acute akathisia.

BACKGROUND Neuroleptic-induced akathisia is one of the most common and distressing early-onset adverse effects of antipsychotic drugs, being associated with poor compliance with treatment, and thus, ultimately, to an increase risk of relapse. This review assesses the role of benzodiazepines in the pharmacological treatment of this problem. OBJECTIVES To determine the effects of benzodiazepines versus placebo for people with neuroleptic-induced acute akathisia. SEARCH STRATEGY Biological Abstracts (January 1982-March 1999), The Cochrane Library (Issue 3 1999), The Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Register (May 2001), EMBASE (January 1980-March 1999), LILACS (January 1982-March 1999), MEDLINE (January 1964-March 1999), PsycLIT (January 1974-March 1999), and SCISEARCH were searched. Further references were sought from published trials and their authors. SELECTION CRITERIA All randomised clinical trials comparing benzodiazepines with placebo for people with antipsychotic-induced acute akathisia. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two reviewers, working independently, selected, quality assessed and extracted data. These data were then analysed on an intention-to-treat basis. For homogeneous dichotomous data the fixed effects relative risk (RR), the 95% confidence intervals (CI) and, where appropriate, the number needed to treat (NNT) were calculated on an intention-to-treat basis. For continuous data, reviewers calculated weighted mean differences. MAIN RESULTS Two small (total N=27) randomised controlled trials were included. By seven to 14 days, there was a reduction in symptoms for those patients receiving clonazepam compared with placebo (2 RCTs, N=26, RR 0.09 CI 0.01 to 0.6, NNT 1.2 CI 0.9 to 1.5). No significant difference was found for adverse events (2 RCTs, N=26, RR 3.00 CI 0.2 to 62) or the need for anticholinergic medication (2 RCTs, N=26, RR 1.56 CI 0.9 to 2.7). No one left the two studies early. Data on mental, social and family outcomes could not be pooled and there was little or no data on user satisfaction, deaths, violence, criminal behaviour and costs. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS Over a short follow-up period, the use of benzodiazepines may reduce the symptoms of antipsychotic-induced acute akathisia. This review highlights the need for well designed, conducted and reported clinical trials to address the claims of open studies.
Functional outcome of patients with unstable pelvic ring fracture

The purpose of this study was to evaluate factors that correlated with unsatisfactory short- and long-term outcome in patients who sustained unstable pelvic ring fracture. The study subjects of this study were those of type B and C pelvic ring fractures (82 patients; mean age 54 years). Age, gender, associated injuries, fracture type, Injury Severity Score rating and treatment methods were assessed, and Majeed score for functional outcome and radiographic studies at 1 year after injury (short-term) and at final follow-up (long-term), with mean follow-up of 98 months were analyzed. Significant univariate factors (p < 0.05) were entered in a multivariate logistic regression model to determine the independent predictors of unsatisfactory functional outcome. Univariate analysis showed that fractures of the lower extremity, nerve damage, conservative treatment, and radiological outcome correlated with unsatisfactory short-term functional outcome, while female gender, brain injury, nerve damage, conservative treatment, fracture location at the posterior portion of pelvic ring, radiological outcome, and pure sacroiliac dislocation only for type C fracture correlated with unsatisfactory long-term outcome. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified fractures of the lower extremity (odds ratio (OR): 5.364), conservative treatment (OR: 13.690), and nerve damage (OR: 21.392) as determinants of unsatisfactory short-term functional outcome and nerve damage (OR: 66.926) and poor radiological results (OR: 33.944) as determinant of long-term functional outcome. In patients with unstable pelvic ring injury, fractures of the lower extremity, conservative therapy, and nerve damage influenced short-term functional outcome, while that nerve damage and the pelvic ring displacement over 20 mm negatively affected long-term outcome.
Bilateral Supernumerary Sternocleidomastoid Heads with Critical Narrowing of the Minor and Major Supraclavicular Fossae: Clinical and Surgical Implications

Las variaciones anatomicas del musculo esternocleidomastoideo son poco frecuentes y se refieren a su origen, insercion, y numero de cabezas. Se presenta una rara variante del musculo esternocleidomastoideo con cabezas musculares aberrantes y supernumerarias bilateralmente en un cadaver. En el lado derecho del cuello, se observaron la cabeza esternomastoidea tipica del musculo esternocleidomastoideo, y tres cabezas claviculares aberrantes de origen, espesor y terminacion variable. En el lado izquierdo, se observaron dos cabezas esternomastoideas, la medial con su patron tipico, mientras que el lateral fue supernumeraria. La porcion cleidomastoidea del musculo esternocleidomastoideo izquierdo se fusiono con el segmento esternocleidomastoideo doble. Un musculo acintado similar procedentes del tercio medio de la clavicula e insercion en el proceso transverso de la vertebra C3 fue observado. Este se conoce como el musculo cleidocervical. En el lado derecho del cuello, el triangulo cervical posterior fue disminuido, la fosa supraclavicular menor fue considerablemente estrecha, mientras que en el lado izquierdo, se disminuyo ademas a un acortamiento bilateral del espacio fosa supraclavicular importante reducir al minimo necesario para el acceso quirurgico potencial. Estos hallazgos tienen una importancia destacada para los anestesistas en el posicionamiento de aguja guiada por ecografia en el bloqueo del plexo braquial, asi como en la cateterizacion de la vena subclavia o yugular externa, y en las intervenciones quirurgicas que afecta las estructuras situadas debajo del musculo esternocleidomastoideo.
Community mobility among older adults with reduced kidney function: a study of life-space.

BACKGROUND Life-Space Assessment captures community mobility and social participation and quantifies the distance, frequency, and independence obtained as an older adult moves through his or her environment. Reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is associated with decline in activities of daily living among older adults, but less is known about the association of eGFR with restrictions in mobility. STUDY DESIGN Prospective observational cohort study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS Community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Aging who had serum creatinine measured during a baseline in-home study visit and completed at least one telephone follow-up (N = 390). PREDICTOR eGFR ≥ 60, 45-59, and <45 mL/min/1.73 m(2). OUTCOME Life-space mobility trajectory. MEASUREMENTS Life-space mobility was evaluated by telephone every 6 months for up to 4.5 years using the previously validated Life-Space Assessment. Scores using this tool range from 0-120 (higher scores indicate greater mobility). RESULTS Mean age of the 390 participants was 77.6 ± 5.8 (SD) years, 41% were African American, 50.5% were women; 30.0% had eGFR of 45-59 mL/min/1.73 m(2), and 20.2% had eGFR < 45 mL/min/1.73 m(2). Age-, race-, and sex-adjusted mean baseline life-space mobility scores were 64.8(95% CI, 62.0-67.6), 63.8 (95% CI, 60.3-67.4), and 58.3 (95% CI, 53.8-62.7) among those with eGFR categories ≥ 60, 45-59, and <45 mL/min/1.73 m(2), respectively. Compared with those with eGFRs ≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2), a more rapid decline in life-space mobility was found among those with eGFRs < 45 mL/min/1.73 m(2), though this did not reach statistical significance (P=0.06); a similar effect was not seen among those with eGFRs of 45-59 mL/min/1.73 m(2) (P=0.3). LIMITATIONS Urinary albumin or longitudinal measures of eGFR were not available. CONCLUSIONS eGFR < 45 mL/min/1.73 m(2) was associated with a trend toward a more rapid decline in life-space mobility among community-dwelling older adults. Findings should be confirmed in a larger population.
On matrix partitioning, the Sherman-Morrison-Woodbury technique and the add-on method

The moment method matrix is compared with the add-on technique for the analysis of scattering from large planar structures. It is shown that the two formulations yield the same results, provided that the physical model, the basis and testing functions, and the truncation and discretization criteria are the same. The differences lie in the numerical routes taken to arrive at those results. The numerical advantages of the add-on technique are clearly shown. Consideration is also given to the Sherman-Morrison-Woodbury technique, which has been used for adapting existing moment method codes, within their limitations, to account for changes in the configuration. It is noted, however, for the case where the changes are additions of segments to the original structure, as in the present case, that this scheme coincides with the matrix partitioning scheme discussed here and that it provides no further advantage. <<ETX>>
Activation of Transcription Factor SAF Involves Its Phosphorylation by Protein Kinase C*

The transcription factor serum amyloid A (SAA)-activating factor (SAF), a family of zinc finger proteins, plays a significant role in the induced expression of the SAA gene. Activity of SAF is regulated by a phosphorylation event involving serine/threonine protein kinase (Ray, A., Schatten, H., and Ray, B. K. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 4300–4308; Ray, A. , and Ray, B. K. (1998) Mol. Cell. Biol. 18, 7327–7335). However, the identity of the protein kinase has so far remained unknown. Induction of SAA by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, a known agonist of protein kinase C (PKC), suggested a potential role of the PKC signaling pathway in the activation process. The DNA binding activity of endogenous SAF was increased by agonists of PKC. In vitro phosphorylation of SAF-1 by PKC-β markedly increased its DNA binding ability. Consistent with these findings, treatment of cells with activators of PKC or overexpression of PKC-βII in transfected cells increased expression of an SAF-regulated promoter. Further analysis with a GAL4 reporter system indicated that PKC-mediated phosphorylation mostly increases the DNA binding activity of SAF-1. Together these data indicated that the PKC signaling pathway plays a major role in controlling expression of SAF-regulated genes by increasing the interaction between promoter DNA and phosphorylated SAF.
The Plant Cell Wall Polysaccharide Rhamnogalacturonan II Self-assembles into a Covalently Cross-linked Dimer*

The location of the 1:2 borate-diol ester cross-link in the dimer of the plant cell wall polysaccharide rhamnogalacturonan II (RG-II) has been determined. The ester cross-links the apiofuranosyl residue of the 2-O-methyl-d-xylose-containing side chains in each of the subunits of the dimer. The apiofuranosyl residue in each of the two aceric acid-containing side chains is not esterified. The site of borate esterification is identical in naturally occurring and inin vitro synthesized dimer. Pb2+, La3+, and Ca2+ increase dimer formationin vitro in a concentration- and pH-dependent manner. Pb2+ is the most effective cation. The dimer accounts for 55% of the RG-II when the monomer (0.5 mm) is treated for 5 min at pH 3.5 with boric acid (1 mm) and Pb2+ (0.5 mm); at pH 5 the rate of conversion is somewhat slower. Hg2+ does not increase the rate of dimer formation. A cation’s charge density and its ability to form a coordination complex with RG-II, in addition to steric factors, may regulate the rate and stability of dimer formation in vitro. Our data provide evidence that the structure of RG-II itself determines which apiofuranosyl residues are esterified with borate and that in the presence of boric acid and certain cations, two RG-II monomers self-assemble to form a dimer.
Electromagnetic shielding effectiveness with multi-layered waveguide-below-cutoff array for improved air flow

The efficiency of proposed multi — layered waveguide-below-cutoff array (WBCA) is demonstrated with respect to air flow and shielding effectiveness (SE) in duct. By comparing to the conventional unit rectangular WBCA, the entrance and exit air velocities of the multi-layered WBCA are improved at most 11 % and 32 %, respectively, when the inlet velocity of duct is 1 m/s. Also, it is confirmed that the SE increases from 70 dB to 125 dB in the increase with the number of layers from 2 to 64 at 1 GHz, which is similar to the unit rectangular WBCA. Therefore, such a multi-layered WBCA can improve the air flow while it compensates for the SE by increasing the number of layers. In addition, the result of proposed modified SE equation well corresponds to the full-wave simulation results.
Performance Analysis of Adaptive Modulation for Cognitive Radios with Opportunistic Access

The performance of adaptive modulation for cognitive radio with opportunistic access is analyzed by considering the effects of spectrum sensing and primary user traffic for Nakagami-$m$ fading channels. Both the adaptive continuous rate scheme and the adaptive discrete rate scheme are considered. Numerical results show that spectrum sensing and primary user traffic cause considerable degradation to the bit error rate performance of adaptive modulation in a cognitive radio system with opportunistic access to the licensed channel. They also show that primary user traffic does not affect the link spectral efficiency performance of adaptive modulation, while the spectrum sensing degrades the link spectral efficiency performance.
Germinal Center Function in the Spleen during Simian HIV Infection in Rhesus Monkeys1

Infection with HIV-1, SIV, or simian HIV is associated with abnormalities in the number, size, and structure of germinal centers (GCs). To determine whether these histopathologic abnormalities are associated with abnormalities in Ab development, we analyzed nucleotide sequences of Igs from splenic GCs of simian HIV-infected macaques. Virus-specific GCs were identified in frozen splenic tissue sections by inverse immunohistochemistry using rHIV-1 gp120 as a probe. B cells from envelope-specific GCs were isolated from these sections using laser capture microdissection. Their Igs were amplified from cDNA using nested PCR, then cloned and sequenced. Nucleotide sequences were recovered from nine multimember clonal lineages. Within each lineage, sequences had similar V-D-J or V-J junctions but differed by somatic mutations distributed throughout the variable domain. The clones were highly mutated, similar to that previously reported for HIV-1-specific human IgG Abs. The average clone had 37 mutations in the V region, for a frequency of 0.11 mutations/base. The mutational pattern was strikingly nonrandom, with somatic mutations occurring preferentially at RGYW/WRCY hotspots. Transition mutations were favored over transversions, with C→T and G→A replacements together accounting for almost one-third of all mutations. Analysis of replacement and silent mutations in the framework and CDRs suggests that the Igs were subjected to affinity selection. These data demonstrate that the process of Ab maturation is not seriously disrupted in GCs during the early stages of immunodeficiency virus infection, and that Env-specific Igs developing in GCs are subject to extensive somatic mutation and profound selection pressures.
Ammonia Emissions from a U.S. Broiler House—Comparison of Concurrent Measurements Using Three Different Technologies

Abstract There is a need for robust and accurate techniques for the measurement of ammonia (NH3) and other atmospheric pollutant emissions from poultry production facilities. Reasonable estimates of NH3 emission rate (ER) from poultry facilities are needed to guide discussions about the industry’s impact on local and regional air quality. The design of these facilities features numerous emission points and results in emission characteristics of relatively low concentrations and exhaust flow rates that vary diurnally, seasonally, and with bird age over a considerable range. These factors combine to render conventional emissions monitoring approaches difficult to apply. Access to these facilities is also often restricted for biosecurity reasons. The three objectives of this study were (1) to compare three methods for measuring exhaust NH3 concentrations and thus ERs, (2) to compare ventilation rates using in situ measured fan characteristics versus using manufacturer sourced fan curves, and (3) to examine limitations of the alternative measurement technologies. In this study, two open-path monitoring systems operating outside of the buildings were compared with a portable monitoring system sampling upstream of a primary exhaust fan. The position of the open-path systems relative to the exhaust fans, measurement strategy adopted, and weather conditions significantly influenced the quality of data collected when compared with the internally located, portable monitoring system. Calculation of exhaust airflow from the facility had a large effect on calculated emissions and assuming that the installed fans performed as per published performance characteristics potentially overestimated emissions by 13.6–26.8%. The open-path measurement systems showed promise for being able to obtain ER measurements with minimal access to the house, although the availability of individual fan characteristics markedly improved the calculated ER accuracy. However, substantial operator skill and experience and favorable weather conditions were required to obtain good quality results.