Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Response of bacteria and meiofauna to iron oxide colloids in sediments of freshwater microcosms

The use of colloidal iron oxide (FeOx) in the bioremediation of groundwater contamination implies its increasing release into the environment and requires an assessment of its ecotoxicological risk. Therefore, microcosm experiments were carried out to investigate the impact of ferrihydrite colloids on the bacterial and meiofaunal communities of pristine freshwater sediments. The effects of ferrihydrite colloids were compared with those of ferrihydrite macroaggregates to discriminate between colloid‐specific and general FeOx impacts. The influence of ferrihydrite colloids on the toxicity of sediment‐bound fluoranthene was also considered. At high concentrations (496 mg Fe kg−1 sediment dry wt), ferrihydrite colloids had a significant, but transient impact on bacterial and meiofaunal communities. Although bacterial community composition specifically responded to ferrihydrite colloids, a more general FeOx effect was observed for meiofauna. Bacterial activity responded most sensitively (already at 55 mg Fe kg−1 dry wt) without the potential of recovery. Ferrihydrite colloids did not influence the toxicity of sediment‐bound fluoranthene. Significant correlations between bacterial activity and meiofaunal abundances were indicative of trophic interactions between bacteria and meiofauna and therefore of the contribution of indirect food web effects to the observed impacts. The results suggest that the application of ferrihydrite colloids for remediation purposes in the field poses no risk for benthic communities, given that, with the exception of generic bacterial activity, any negative effects on communities were reversible. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:2660–2669. © 2015 SETAC
The effect of various metals on Gyrodactylus salaris (Platyhelminthes, Monogenea) infections in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) parr (age 0+), infected by the ectoparasite Gyrodactylus salaris, were exposed to aqueous aluminium (Al), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn), at 4 different concentrations. There was a negative correlation between G. salaris infections and metal concentrations in both Zn- and Al-exposed salmon. In the Zn-experiment, all 4 concentrations tested caused a decrease in the G. salaris infections, while in the Al-experiment the G. salaris infection did not decline at the lowest concentration. The number of G. salaris increased continuously during the experiments in all control groups, and in all groups exposed to Cu, Fe and Mn. At the highest concentration, however, copper seemed to impair the growth of G. salaris infection. The results show that aqueous Al and Zn are environmental factors of importance controlling the distribution and abundance of the pathogen G. salaris. Other pollutants might also have an influence on the occurrence of G. salaris. Finally, the results demonstrate that aqueous Al and Zn have a stronger effect on the parasite than on the salmonid host, suggesting that both metals may be used as a pesticide to control ectoparasites such as G. salaris.
Effect of a Short Course of Prednisolone in Infants With Oxygen-Dependent Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this work was to determine whether oral prednisolone is effective in weaning infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, after 36 weeks' postmenstrual age, off supplemental oxygen and to identify factors associated with successful weaning. METHODS. Data were abstracted from a standardized prospectively collected database at the John Dempsey Hospital NICU. Logistic regression and receiver operating curve analyses were used. RESULTS. Of 385 infants, 131 (34%) received oral prednisolone and 254 (66%) did not. There was no significant difference in race, gender, birth weight, or gestational age between the groups receiving and not receiving oral prednisolone. Infants in the oral prednisolone group were more likely to have received previous dexamethasone therapy, had longer duration of mechanical ventilation, had longer length of hospital stay, and were more likely to be discharged from the hospital on oxygen. Of those in the oral prednisolone group, 63% responded to treatment. Pulmonary acuity score and Pco2 were the only parameters that remained significant on multiple logistic regression analyses. The oral prednisolone-responsive group had a lower pulmonary acuity score compared with the oral prednisolone-nonresponsive group. A pulmonary acuity score value of ≤0.5 had a sensitivity of 20% and specificity of 97.4%, with positive and negative predictive values of 94.1% and 42.1%, respectively. Capillary Pco2 values were significantly lower in the oral prednisolone-responsive group compared with the oral prednisolone-nonresponsive group. In predicting a successful response to oral prednisolone, a capillary Pco2 value of <48.5 mmHg had a sensitivity of 50% and specificity of 89.7%, with positive and negative predictive values of 89.1% and 51.8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS. Oral prednisolone therapy is effective in weaning off supplemental oxygen in a postterm infant with oxygen-dependent bronchopulmonary dysplasia who has a pulmonary acuity score of <0.5 and Pco2 of <48.5 mmHg. In addition, if a single course of prednisolone fails, there is no clear benefit of using multiple courses.
Seasonal Variation in Blood Pressure of Patients on Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis

Background: A seasonal variation in blood pressure (BP) has been observed in hemodialysis and renal transplant patients. However, this phenomenon in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients, whose hemodynamics are different from hemodialysis patients, has not been reported before. In addition, the contribution of extracellular water (ECW) in the seasonal variation in BP is not clear. Methods: All stable CAPD patients (n = 122) dialyzed in a single center from January 1, 2003 to December 12, 2004 were studied. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), weight and ECW (by bioimpedance analysis) were measured in every patient. Climatic data were obtained from the Beijing Weather Bureau. These data were pooled together and grouped according to the calendar month. Results: In general, an apparent seasonal variation in BP was observed in CAPD patients. BP began to decrease from spring and reached the lowest level in summer, then increased from autumn and reached its peak in winter. The seasonal variation in BP in male patients was similar to that in female patients, but in comparison to non-diabetic patients there was no apparent seasonal variation in the BP of diabetic patients. SBP and DBP negatively correlated with the average atmospheric temperature (r = –0.768, p < 0.001 and r = –0.764, p < 0.001, respectively). BP also negatively correlated with rainfall and humidity, but this correlation disappeared when temperature was controlled in partial correlation analysis. Weight and ECW fluctuated throughout the year but showed no seasonal variation. Conclusion: On the whole there was an apparent seasonal variation in blood pressure in CAPD patients. As opposed to non-diabetic patients, there was no apparent seasonal variation in BP in diabetic patients. The seasonal variation in BP was influenced more by temperature than rainfall and humidity, and the change in ECW was not seasonal, suggesting that other mechanisms such as total peripheral resistance might play a more important role in this phenomenon.
Estimation of CO2 emissions produced by commercial grills in Veracruz, Mexico

In some urban areas in Mexico, the use of firewood and charcoal as fuel for meat grills in commercial establishments, has proliferated due to economic and cultural factors. Although this activity satisfies diverse human necessities, it also generates waste that impacts the environment to local and global scales. Such is the case of CO2 emissions produced by biomass burning in grills, whose sources are not recognized in municipal inventories of greenhouse effect gases (GEG) of the State of Veracruz. A theoretical estimation was made based in a census of establishments and an emission parameter, in order to establish a baseline on the amount of gas emitted to the atmosphere by commercial grills in Boca Del Rio, Ver. It was concluded that 30 operating grills emit 134.56 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, equivalent to the annual combustion of 59,016.43 L of gasoline. Hence, these grills must be considered as micro-fixed sources of GEG, which influence local marine acidification and global climate change. It is recommended that it should be included in municipal, state, and national inventories for subsequent professionalization and regulation.
Hausdorff Distance Map Classification Using SVM

We investigate a new pattern recognition technique, based on support vector machines (SVM). Our objective is to find in database of images constituted from wooden graven, the impressions which represent the same stamps thus illustrating the same scene. In this research, the statistical classification technique that includes Hausdorff distance, similarity measures and SVM has been developed for automatic distance maps classification. These distance maps are constructed at each scale by the computation of the Hausdorff distance between two binary images through a sliding-window. The efficiency of the proposed procedure is demonstrated in terms of classification rates, robustness and computing time at multi-scale resolution
Astroturfing Detection in Social Media: Using Binary n-Gram Analysis for Authorship Attribution

Astroturfing is appearing in numerous contexts in social media, with individuals posting product reviews or political commentary under a number of different names, and is of concern because of the intended deception. An astroturfer works with the aim of making it seem that a large number of people hold the same opinion, promoting a consensus based on the astroturfer's intentions. It is generally done for commercial or political advantage, often by paid writers or ideologically-motivated writers. This paper brings the notion of authorship attribution to bear on the astroturfing problem, collecting quantities of data from public social media sites and analysing the putative individual authors to see if they appear to be the same person. The analysis comprises a binary n-gram method which was previously shown to be effective at accurately identifying authors on a training set from the same authors, while this paper shows how authors on different social media turn out to be the same author.
The Effectiveness of Psychoeducational Intervention on Managing Symptom Clusters in Patients With Cancer: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Managing symptom clusters instead of single symptoms could be more beneficial in cancer care. Psychoeducational intervention (PEI) has been highlighted as a promising symptom intervention, but the effect of PEI in the management of cancer symptom clusters remains unknown. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of PEI on managing symptom clusters in patients with cancer. Methods: Six databases were searched, together with hand searching, to identify eligible randomized controlled trials from the year 2001 to July 2014. Data selection, quality appraisal of studies, and data extraction were conducted independently by 2 reviewers. Data were synthesized by use of a systematic narrative approach, and meta-analysis was conducted when this was possible. Results: Four eligible studies involving 343 cancer patients were included in the review. The methodological quality of the studies was generally fair. Symptom clusters seemed to improve with the provision of PEI. Meta-analysis shows significant improvement in functional performance. Conclusions: The evidence that PEI could alleviate cancer symptom clusters is encouraging but inconclusive in this review. Future well-designed investigations testing some commonly used PEI such as progressive muscle relaxation and patient education on various types of cancer symptom clusters are warranted. Implications for Practice: This review suggests a promising role of PEI in managing cancer symptom clusters. Healthcare providers should increase their awareness of managing symptom clusters using PEI to yield more effective and efficient cancer care.
A practical MRI grading system for cervical foraminal stenosis based on oblique sagittal images.

OBJECTIVE To propose a new and practical MRI grading method for cervical neural foraminal stenosis and to evaluate its reproducibility. METHODS We evaluated 50 patients (37 males and 13 females, mean age 49 years) who visited our institution and underwent oblique sagittal MRI of the cervical spine. A total of 300 foramina and corresponding nerve roots in 50 patients were qualitatively analysed from C4-5 to C6-7. We assessed the grade of cervical foraminal stenosis at the maximal narrowing point according to the new grading system based on T2 weighted oblique sagittal images. The incidence of each of the neural foraminal stenosis grades according to the cervical level was analysed by χ(2) tests. Intra- and interobserver agreements between two radiologists were analysed using kappa statistics. Kappa value interpretations were poor (κ<0.1), slight (0.1≤κ≤0.2), fair (0.2<κ≤0.4), moderate (0.4<κ≤0.6), substantial (0.6<κ≤0.8) and almost perfect (0.8<κ≤1.0). RESULTS Significant stenoses (Grades 2 and 3) were rarely found at the C4-5 level. The incidence of Grade 3 at the C5-6 level was higher than that at other levels, a difference that was statistically significant. The overall intra-observer agreement according to the cervical level was almost perfect. The agreement at each level was almost perfect, except for only substantial agreement at the right C6-7 by Reader 2. No statistically significant differences were seen according to the cervical level. Overall kappa values of interobserver agreement according to the cervical level were almost perfect. In addition, the agreement of each level was almost perfect. Overall intra- and interobserver agreement for the presence of foraminal stenosis (Grade 0 vs Grades 1, 2 and 3) and for significant stenosis (Grades 0 and 1 vs Grades 2 and 3) showed similar results and were almost perfect. However, only substantial agreement was seen in the right C6-7. CONCLUSION A new grading system for cervical foraminal stenosis based on oblique sagittal MRI provides reliable assessment and good reproducibility. This new grading system is a useful and easy method for the objective evaluation of cervical neural foraminal stenosis by radiologists and clinicians. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE The use of the new grading system for cervical foraminal stenosis based on oblique sagittal MRI can be a useful method for evaluating cervical neural foraminal stenosis.
CODA-R: a reconfigurable testbed for real-time parallel computation

Recently the emergence of reconfigurable Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) has given rise to a new form of computing engine using a dynamically changing architecture of processing elements. One major benefit of using FPGAs is that different architectural variations can easily be tested and evaluated on real applications. The other benefit is that some functions can be compiled and directly executed by hardware to shorten the total execution time. These benefits can also be applied to a real-time system. We have developed a prototype reconfigurable real-time parallel system CODA-R. Its key feature is that reconfigurable processing elements or units are connected by a priority-based real-time network. In this paper, we provide the technical justification for a reconfigurable real-time parallel architecture and the architecture of CODA-R and discuss them and also present some preliminary evaluation results.
Mortgage defaults, expectation-driven house prices and monetary policy

We contribute to the literature on dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models with housing collaterals by including shocks to house price expectations. We incorporate endogenous mortgage defaults which are rarely included in DSGE models with housing collaterals. We show that our theoretical model of mortgage default is consistent with empirical evidence. We use this particular DSGE setup to study the effects of variations in house price expectations on macroeconomic dynamics and their implications for monetary policy. Extensive model simulations show that an increase in expected future house prices leads to a decline in mortgage default rates as well as in interest rates on loans, whereas it leads to an increase in house prices, household debt, bank leverage ratios and economic activity. As opposed to previous studies we find that inflation is low during a house price boom. Finally, we demonstrate that although monetary policy that reacts to household credit growth improves the stability of the real economy and enhances financial stability, yet it jeopardizes price stability.
Growth Through Inter-sectoral Knowledge Linkages

The majority of innovations are developed by multi-sector firms. The knowledge needed to invent new products is more easily adapted from some sectors than from others. We study this network of knowledge linkages between sectors and its impact on firm innovation and aggregate growth. We first document a set of sectoral-level and firm-level observations on knowledge applicability and firms’ multi-sector patenting behaviour. We then develop a general equilibrium model of firm innovation in which inter-sectoral knowledge linkages determine the set of sectors a firm chooses to innovate in and how much R&D to invest in each sector. It captures how firms evolve in the technology space, accounts for cross-sector differences in R&D intensity, and describes an aggregate model of technological change. The model matches new observations as demonstrated by simulation. It also yields new insights regarding the mechanism through which sectoral fixed costs of R&D affect growth.
Balancing Market Versus Social Strategic Orientations in Socio-tech Ventures as Part of the Technology Innovation Adoption Process – Examples from the Global Healthcare Sector

Abstract Socio-tech ventures – entrepreneurial firms that aim to create social value by employing technological innovation as part of their key value proposition – are a rapidly growing category of organizations. They occupy a place of intersection between technology ventures and social enterprises and present an important and emerging area of research. Socio-tech ventures face the challenge of balancing social and market strategic orientations similar to social enterprises. However, their simultaneous status as technology ventures is likely to further complicate this balancing act and remains an unexplored dynamic in the extant literature. Strategic orientation is an important consideration since it impacts the activities and resource allocations of a venture that can influence its performance. Drawing from the technology innovation and technological and social entrepreneurship literature, this paper addresses this gap by developing a conceptual model and propositions, with examples from the global health sector, about factors related to the technology adoption process that can influence the social-market strategic orientation balance of socio-tech ventures. This model considers the influence of the tenure and innovation stance of venture founders/managers, the complexity and trialability of the technological innovation, the legal structure of the venture, and interconnectedness within the social networks.
The host response to herpes simplex virus infection

Purpose of review Infection with herpes simplex virus remains a significant cause of disease. The host immune system plays an important role in containing viral replication, and there has been considerable progress in defining which components of immunity are key to the resolution of infection. Nevertheless, effective immunoprophylaxis or immunotherapy has not yet been achieved. Recent findings Recent work has focused on understanding the early events leading to the herpes simplex virus-specific immune response, in particular on the role of antigen-presenting dendritic cells. Herpes simplex virus has evolved a number of ways of interfering with antigen presentation by dendritic cells, thus presumably impeding or delaying the host immune response. Nevertheless, herpes simplex virus triggers strong cellular and humoral immunity. The ability of dendritic cells to take up dead or dying infected cells and cross-present them to cognate T cells may be the key to resolving this apparent paradox. Interaction between dendritic cell subsets, and particularly the virus-induced release of type I interferons may be essential to drive efficient antigen cross-presentation and subsequent T-cell activation. Summary A greater understanding of the importance of dendritic cells in driving viral immunity, and of the ligands that activate these cells and the cytokines they secrete, has provided novel vaccination strategies. The delivery of immunomodulatory genes together with viral antigens, for example by DNA vaccination, may harness the full potential of dendritic cells, and achieve the goal of effective immunological control of herpes simplex virus.
Physiological responses to ferrate (VI) stress in Microcystis aeruginosa

Potassium ferrate (VI) has been considered to be an environmentally friendly oxidant. In this paper, a research on the physiological and biochemical changes of the ferrate (VI)'s acting on Microcystis aeruginosa FACHB-905, a common kind in algal bloom, has been performed. Under the action of ferrate (VI), chlorophyll-a content, the photosynthetic oxygen evolution rate, maximum electron transport rate (ETRm) and maximum photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) of Microcystis aeruginosa were significantly decreased, while MC-LR, an extracellular toxin of Microcystis aeruginosa increased. Malonaldehyde (MDA) is oxidatively stressed by low concentration of ferrate (VI). With the increasing concentration of ferrate (VI), MDA content increases, and the activity of SOD and CAT also shows a significant rise. After the treatment of low concentration ferrate (VI), GST activity decreased rapidly, while with the further increasing of ferrate (VI), GST activity increased gradually. This shows that ferrate (VI) produces oxidative stress on Microcystis aeruginosa. The mechanism is that ferrate (VI) inhibits the activity of microcystin photosynthetic PS II system, which leads to the damage to photosynthesis. The accumulation of excessive intracellular free radicals can further lead to the lipid peroxidation of membrane, increasing the membrane permeability, finally causes the death of Microcystis aeruginosa.
Participation and Praxis: A Study of How Participatory Budgeting Deepens Democracy by Institutionalizing Critical Consciousness

Government policies are predicated by certain interests. In a democratic society, these interests are assumed to be those of the people, perhaps as expressed through an elected representative. However, the pervasive influence of elites in conjunction with the decreased competent use of established democratic institutions on the part of the public, point to the need for new institutions and new ways of conceptualizing public interest. This paper posits that participatory budgeting presents such an institution in facilitating a more accurate conception of public interest by empowering an openly accessible, deliberative space. Participatory budgeting has made an impact in some Brazilian cities since 1989, and has been experimented with more recently in Canada, and the United States. Using Paulo Freire’s conception of praxis, this paper explores if these processes are a viable and sustainable method for redefining public interest in the eyes of policymakers and the public alike.