Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pain‐related catastrophizing in pain patients and people with pain in the general population

Catastrophizing is a defining factor in the pain experience and strongly contributes to the prediction of various aspects of health. Catastrophizing is not just present in pain patients, but may also be present in people with non‐clinical pain. The aim of the present study is to investigate levels of catastrophizing in pain patients and people with pain from the general population. Also, the relationship between catastrophizing and pain intensity, specialist consultation and use of pain medication is studied.
Abnormal epithelial homeostasis in the cornea of mice with a destrin deletion

Purpose Dstncorn1 mice lack normal destrin expression and develop corneal abnormality shortly after birth such as epithelial hyperplasia and total vascularization. Thus, the mice serve as a model for ocular surface disorders. To determine the nature of epithelial defects, we examined whether epithelial homeostasis is altered in these corneas. Methods Dstncorn1 mice were crossed with ubiquitous GFP mice to generate a double homozygous line, GFP-Dstncorn1, and cell movements were determined by whole-mount histology and in vivo time-lapse microscopy, tracking the change of epithelial GFP patterns. Rates of cell division and the presence of label-retaining cells (LRCs) were determined by systemic bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). Epithelial expression of keratins 8, 12, and 15, and MUC5AC were determined by whole-mount immunofluorescence. Results Epithelial cells in an adult GFP-Dstncorn1 cornea were generally immobile with no sign of directed movement for the entire life of the animal. These cells were not senescent because more than 70% of basal epithelial cells incorporated BrdU over a 24 h period. LRCs were widely distributed throughout a GFP-Dstncorn1 cornea. The epithelium of a GFP-Dstncorn1 cornea contained a mixed population of cells with a corneal and a conjunctival phenotype as judged by the expression of keratins and MUC5AC. Conclusions Epithelial cells of an adult GFP-Dstncorn1 cornea are generally stationary, mitotically active, and contain LRCs, indicating that the epithelium is self-sustained, which in turn suggests that epithelial stem cells are present within the cornea. Epithelial homeostasis of adult GFP-Dstncorn1 corneas is abnormal, mimicking that of a normal conjunctiva or a pathological, conjunctivalized cornea.
18F-FPRGD2 PET/CT Imaging of Integrin αvβ3 in Renal Carcinomas: Correlation with Histopathology

This study aimed to correlate 18F-FB-mini-PEG-E[c(RGDyK)](2) (18F-FPRGD2) uptake to integrin αvβ3 expression and angiogenesis in renal tumors. Methods: 18F-FPRGD2 PET/CT was performed on 27 patients before surgical resection (median 4 d) of a renal mass. The 18F-FPRGD2 uptake was compared with integrin αvβ3, CD31, CD105, and Ki-67 using immunohistochemistry; with placental growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1 and 2 using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; and with vascular endothelial growth factor A isoforms using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Overall, 18F-FPRGD2 uptake significantly correlated (P < 0.0001) with integrin αvβ3 expression in renal masses. However, it correlated only with integrin αvβ3-positive vessels in the group of papillary carcinomas whereas it correlated with integrin αvβ3 expression by tumor cells in the clear cell carcinoma group. Conclusion: 18F-FPRGD2 uptake reflects the expression of integrin αvβ3 in renal tumors but represents angiogenesis only when tumor cells do not express the integrin.
Adaptive Streaming Based on IEEE 802 . 11 Signal Quality

In order to transmit over wireless networks, streaming applications must provide adaptive strategies for problems such as mobility and handoffs. This work presents an algorithm for adaptive streaming over IEEE 802.11 networks that adapts the transmission in function of the perceived signal quality and, by doing this, improves the transmission efficiency and the network utilization.
Modular Transcriptional Activity Characterizes the Initiation and Progression of Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis1

Murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis is a well-established model that recapitulates many clinical and physiopathological aspects of multiple sclerosis (MS). An important conceptual development in the understanding of both experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and MS pathogenesis has been the compartmentalization of the mechanistic process into two distinct but overlapping and connected phases, inflammatory and neurodegenerative. However, the dynamics of CNS transcriptional changes that underlie the development and regression of the phenotype are not well understood. Our report presents the first high frequency longitudinal study looking at the earliest transcriptional changes in the CNS of NOD mice immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein 35–55 in CFA. Microarray-based gene expression profiling and histopathological analysis were performed from spinal cord samples obtained at 13 time points around the first clinical symptom (every other day until day 11 and every day onward until day 19 postimmunization). Advanced statistics and data-mining algorithms were used to identify expression signatures that correlated with disease stage and histological profiles. Discrete phases of neuroinflammation were accompanied by distinctive expression signatures, in which altered immune to neural gene expression ratios were observed. By using high frequency gene expression analysis we captured expression profiles that were characteristic of the transition from innate to adaptive immune response in this experimental paradigm between days 11 and 12 postimmunization. Our study demonstrates the utility of large-scale transcriptional studies and advanced data mining to decipher complex biological processes such as those involved in MS and other neurodegenerative disoders.
Ionizing Radiation and Kidney Cancer among Japanese Atomic Bomb Survivors

Abstract Understanding of the role of radiation as a cause of kidney cancer remains limited. The most common types of kidney cancer are renal cell carcinoma and renal pelvis carcinoma. It has been posited that these entities differ in their degree of radiogenicity. Recent analyses of cancer incidence and mortality in the Life Span Study (LSS) of Japanese atomic bomb survivors have examined associations between ionizing radiation and renal cell carcinoma, but these analyses have not reported results for cancer of the renal pelvis and ureters. This paper reports the results of analyses of kidney cancer incidence during the period 1958–1998 among 105,427 atomic bomb survivors. Poisson regression methods were used to derive estimates of associations between radiation dose (in sievert, Sv) and cancer of the renal parenchyma (n = 167), and cancer of the renal pelvis and ureter (n = 80). Heterogeneity by cancer site was tested by joint modeling of cancer risks. Radiation dose was positively associated with cancers of the renal pelvis and ureter [excess relative rate (ERR)/Sv = 1.65; 90% confidence interval (CI): 0.37, 3.78]. The magnitude of this association was larger than the estimated association between radiation dose and cancer of the renal parenchyma (ERR/Sv = 0.27; 90% CI = −0.19, 0.98). While the association between radiation and cancer of the renal parenchyma was of greater magnitude at ages <55 years (ERR/Sv = 2.82; 90% CI = 0.45, 8.89) than at older attained ages (ERR/Sv = −0.11; 90% CI = nd, 0.53), the association between radiation and cancers of the renal pelvis and ureter varied minimally across these categories of attained age. A test of heterogeneity of type-specific risks provides modest support for the conclusion that risks vary by kidney cancer site (LRT = 2.34, 1 d.f., P = 0.13). Since some studies of radiation-exposed populations examine these sites in aggregate, results were also derived for the combined category of cancer of the renal parenchyma, renal pelvis and ureters. Overall, there was a positive association between radiation and the combined category of cancer of the renal parenchyma, renal pelvis and ureters (ERR/Sv = 0.60, 90% CI: 0.09, 1.30). Updated follow-up of the LSS cohort provides substantial additional information on the association between radiation and cancer of the renal pelvis and ureter, a site not examined in recent reports on analyses of these data. The results are suggestive of differences between the different regions of the kidney in sensitivity to the carcinogenic effects of ionizing radiation.
Testosterone Replacement Therapy Prevents Alterations of Coronary Vascular Reactivity Caused by Hormone Deficiency Induced by Castration

The present study aimed to determine the effects of chronic treatment with different doses of testosterone on endothelium–dependent coronary vascular reactivity in male rats. Adult male rats were divided into four experimental groups: control (SHAM), castrated (CAST), castrated and immediately treated subcutaneously with a physiological dose (0.5 mg/kg/day, PHYSIO group) or supraphysiological dose (2.5 mg/kg/day, SUPRA group) of testosterone for 15 days. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was assessed at the end of treatment through tail plethysmography. After euthanasia, the heart was removed and coronary vascular reactivity was assessed using the Langendorff retrograde perfusion technique. A dose–response curve for bradykinin (BK) was constructed, followed by inhibition with 100 μM L-NAME, 2.8 μM indomethacin (INDO), L-NAME + INDO, or L-NAME + INDO + 0.75 μM clotrimazole (CLOT). We observed significant endothelium–dependent, BK–induced coronary vasodilation, which was abolished in the castrated group and restored in the PHYSIO and SUPRA groups. Furthermore, castration modulated the lipid and hormonal profiles and decreased body weight, and testosterone therapy restored all of these parameters. Our results revealed an increase in SBP in the SUPRA group. In addition, our data led us to conclude that physiological concentrations of testosterone may play a beneficial role in the cardiovascular system by maintaining an environment that is favourable for the activity of an endothelium–dependent vasodilator without increasing SBP.
Callaloo Nation

Mixing—whether referred to as mestizaje, callaloo, hybridity, creolization, or multiculturalism—is a foundational cultural trope in Caribbean and Latin American societies. Historically entwined with colonial, anticolonial, and democratic ideologies, ideas about mixing are powerful forces in the ways identities are interpreted and evaluated. As Aisha Khan shows in this ethnography, they reveal the tension that exists between identity as a source of equality and identity as an instrument through which social and cultural hierarchies are reinforced. Focusing on the Indian diaspora in the Caribbean, Khan examines this paradox as it is expressed in key dimensions of Hindu and Muslim cultural history and social relationships in southern Trinidad. In vivid detail, she describes how disempowered communities create livable conditions for themselves while participating in a broader culture that both celebrates and denies difference. Khan combines ethnographic research she conducted in Trinidad over the course of a decade with extensive archival research to explore how Hindu and Muslim Indo-Trinidadians interpret authority, generational tensions, and the transformations of Indian culture in the Caribbean through metaphors of mixing. She demonstrates how ambivalence about the desirability of a callaloo nation—a multicultural society—is manifest around practices and issues, including rituals, labor, intermarriage, and class mobility. Khan maintains that metaphors of mixing are pervasive and worth paying attention to: the assumptions and concerns they communicate are key to unraveling who Indo-Trinidadians imagine themselves to be and how identities such as race and religion shape and are shaped by the politics of multiculturalism.
Tree pruning for output coded ensembles

Output coding is a method of converting a multiclass problem into several binary subproblems and gives an ensemble of binary classifiers. Like other ensemble methods, its performance depends on the accuracy and diversity of base classifiers. If a decision tree is chosen as base classifier the issue of tree pruning needs to be addressed. In this paper we investigate the effect of six methods of pruning on ensembles of trees generated by error-correcting output code (ECOC). Our results show that error-based pruning outperforms on most datasets but it is better not to prune than to select a single pruning strategy for all datasets.
Relational Aggression and Peer Relations: Gender and Developmental Issues.

One of the strongest behavioral predictors of peer rejection in boys is physical aggression. Physical aggression in girls is much less common, and other behavioral predictors of rejection in girls have not been well documented. We investigated the relationship between three behaviors (physical aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behaviors) and three social outcomes (peer rejection, acceptance, and reciprocal friendships) in thirdand sixth-grade girls and boys. Significant gender differences in physical aggression and prosocial behaviors were found at both grade levels. Regression analyses demonstrated the gender-specific role of relational ag gression. Among girls, but not boys, relational aggression explained variance in rejection beyond that explained by overt aggression. We further found that most children, even the most aggressive, had at least one reciprocal friend.
A below-ground herbivore shapes root defensive chemistry in natural plant populations

Plants display extensive intraspecific variation in secondary metabolites. However, the selective forces shaping this diversity remain often unknown, especially below ground. Using Taraxacum officinale and its major native insect root herbivore Melolontha melolontha, we tested whether below-ground herbivores drive intraspecific variation in root secondary metabolites. We found that high M. melolontha infestation levels over recent decades are associated with high concentrations of major root latex secondary metabolites across 21 central European T. officinale field populations. By cultivating offspring of these populations, we show that both heritable variation and phenotypic plasticity contribute to the observed differences. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the production of the sesquiterpene lactone taraxinic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester (TA-G) is costly in the absence, but beneficial in the presence of M. melolontha, resulting in divergent selection of TA-G. Our results highlight the role of soil-dwelling insects for the evolution of plant defences in nature.
Electrical activation of endothelium evokes vasodilation and hyperpolarization along hamster feed arteries.

Endothelial cells are considered electrically unexcitable. However, endothelium-dependent vasodilators (e.g., acetylcholine) often evoke hyperpolarization. We hypothesized that electrical stimulation of endothelial cells could evoke hyperpolarization and vasodilation. Feed artery segments (resting diameter: 63 +/- 1 microm; length 3-4 mm) of the hamster retractor muscle were isolated and pressurized to 75 mmHg, and focal stimulation was performed via microelectrodes positioned across one end of the vessel. Stimulation at 16 Hz (30-50 V, 1-ms pulses, 5 s) evoked constriction (-20 +/- 2 microm) that spread along the entire vessel via perivascular sympathetic nerves, as shown by inhibition with tetrodotoxin, omega-conotoxin, or phentolamine. In contrast, stimulation with direct current (30 V, 5 s) evoked vasodilation (16 +/- 2 microm) and hyperpolarization (11 +/- 1 mV) of endothelial and smooth muscle cells that conducted along the entire vessel. Conducted responses were insensitive to preceding treatments, atropine, or N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine, yet were abolished by endothelial cell damage (with air). Injection of negative current (</=1.6 nA) into a single endothelial cell reproduced vasodilator responses along the entire vessel. We conclude that, independent of ligand-receptor interactions, endothelial cell hyperpolarization evokes vasodilation that is readily conducted along the vessel wall. Moreover, electrical events originating within a single endothelial cell can drive the relaxation of smooth muscle cells throughout the entire vessel.
The Evolution of the Immune Response

18.5S and 7S immunoglobulins were purified from sera of horned sharks immunized with Brucella abortus. Both preparations had antibody activity, which was abolished more readily by reduction with dithiothreitol than with cysteine. Chromatography on Sephadex G-100 columns, in 6 M guanidine-HCl, disclosed that partial reduction with dithiothreitol cleaved all interchain bonds, whereas cysteine mainly affected the inter-subunit disulfide linkages of the 18.5S antibody molecules. Although high reactivity of sulfhydryl groups toward reducing agents was found in these immunoglobulins, the non-covalent bonds linking their chains appeared more resistant to dissociation than those of mammalian IgM. These studies suggest that in the immunoglobulins of elasmobranchs, the interchain disulfide bridges are of greater importance for stabilization of the antibody-combining sites than they are in the immunoglobulins of more recent evolutionary stages.
Ecology of Vibrio mimicus in aquatic environments

An environmental study was done to examine the prevalence of Vibrio mimicus in some aquatic environments of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and of Okayama, Japan. Water samples from Dhaka environments and water and plankton samples from Okayama environments were quantitatively as well as qualitatively analyzed throughout the seasons for V. mimicus. The organism was isolated from Bangladesh environments throughout the year, whereas it was not isolated in Okayama when the water temperature fell below 10 degrees C. Samples with as many as 9.0 x 10(2) CFU of V. mimicus per 100 ml of water in Dhaka and 1.5 x 10(4) CFU of V. mimicus per 100 ml of water in Okayama were detected during the study period. V. mimicus was not found in any environment with an average salinity of 10% or more. Brackish environments with an average salinity of 4% were observed to be the optimal natural condition for the pathogen. Using the API 20E system with the conventional test methods, we observed variations in biochemical properties within the V. mimicus species. This study reveals the inefficacy of the API 20E system to identify a significant percentage of V. mimicus. Therefore, in addition to the API 20E system, a salt tolerance test and a string test are recommended for identification of this species. Susceptibility testing of strains isolated from Okayama environments showed higher resistance to ampicillin and susceptibility to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole when compared with environmental isolates of V. mimicus from Bangladesh.
High-Efficiency c-Si Solar Cells Passivated With ALD and PECVD Aluminum Oxide

Ultrathin (7 nm) atomic layer deposited Al2O3 layers and high-deposition-rate plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited AlOx layers have been applied and characterized as rear-surface passivation for high-efficiency silicon solar cells. The excellent efficiency values (up to 21.3%-21.5%) demonstrate that both aluminum oxide deposition processes have a very high potential comparable to the reference cells with SiO2 passivation. The high voltages ( 680 mV), the excellent long-wavelength quantum efficiency, and the high short-circuit currents of these cells (~40 mA/ cm2) are a proof for the low rear-surface recombination velocity and excellent internal rear-surface reflection.
Pairwise Matching through Max-Weight Bipartite Belief Propagation

Feature matching is a key problem in computer vision and pattern recognition. One way to encode the essential interdependence between potential feature matches is to cast the problem as inference in a graphical model, though recently alternatives such as spectral methods, or approaches based on the convex-concave procedure have achieved the state-of-the-art. Here we revisit the use of graphical models for feature matching, and propose a belief propagation scheme which exhibits the following advantages: (1) we explicitly enforce one-to-one matching constraints, (2) we offer a tighter relaxation of the original cost function than previous graphical-model-based approaches, and (3) our sub-problems decompose into max-weight bipartite matching, which can be solved efficiently, leading to orders-of-magnitude reductions in execution time. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm produces results superior to those of the current state-of-the-art.
The impact of implementation process on the perception of enterprise resource planning success

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the implementation process on the ERP’s success in the post-adoption stage, measured as system’s acceptance, reliability and utility perceived by users, inside the organizations. Design/methodology/approach – The authors adopted a multiple case study research design. The data collected, provided by IT managers and 120 key-users from four companies, has been used to investigate the impact of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation phases on selected constructs of the Task-Technology Fit (TTF) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The empirical evidences highlight a direct relation between the effectiveness of the implementation phases and the ERP’s success. Findings – The research results emphasize the importance of the quality of the software, but especially the importance of the implementation phases’ management, which require technical and managerial ability of the team made up of people from the system integrator and the.
MPBLAST : improved BLAST performance with multiplexed queries

UNLABELLED We have developed a program, MPBLAST, that increases the throughput of batch BLASTN searches by multiplexing (concatenating) query sequences and thereby reducing the number of actual database searches performed. Throughput was observed to increase in reciprocal proportion to the component sequence length. For sequencing read-sized queries of 500 bp, an order of magnitude speed-up was seen. AVAILABILITY Free (see http://blast.wustl.edu) CONTACT [ikorf, gish]@watson.wustl. edu