Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the induced fields using different coil configurations during deep transcranial magnetic stimulation

Stimulation of deeper brain structures by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) plays a role in the study of reward and motivation mechanisms, which may be beneficial in the treatment of several neurological and psychiatric disorders. However, electric field distributions induced in the brain by deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) are still unknown. In this paper, the double cone coil, H-coil and Halo-circular assembly (HCA) coil which have been proposed for dTMS have been numerically designed. The distributions of magnetic flux density, induced electric field in an anatomically based realistic head model by applying the dTMS coils were numerically calculated by the impedance method. Results were compared with that of standard figure-of-eight (Fo8) coil. Simulation results show that double cone, H- and HCA coils have significantly deep field penetration compared to the conventional Fo8 coil, at the expense of induced higher and wider spread electrical fields in superficial cortical regions. Double cone and HCA coils have better ability to stimulate deep brain subregions compared to that of the H-coil. In the mean time, both double cone and HCA coils increase risk for optical nerve excitation. Our results suggest although the dTMS coils offer new tool with potential for both research and clinical applications for psychiatric and neurological disorders associated with dysfunctions of deep brain regions, the selection of the most suitable coil settings for a specific clinical application should be based on a balanced evaluation between stimulation depth and focality.
OXA-58, a Novel Class D β-Lactamase Involved in Resistance to Carbapenems in Acinetobacter baumannii

ABSTRACT A carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strain was isolated in Toulouse, France, in 2003. Cloning and expression in Escherichia coli identified the carbapenem-hydrolyzing β-lactamase OXA-58, which is weakly related (less than 50% amino acid identity) to other oxacillinases. It hydrolyzed penicillins, oxacillin, and imipenem but not expanded-spectrum cephalosporins. The blaOXA-58 gene was located on a ca. 30-kb non-self-transferable plasmid. After electrotransformation in the A. baumannii CIP7010T reference strain, it conferred reduced susceptibility to carbapenems. The blaOXA-58 gene was bracketed by two novel ISAba3-like insertion elements. This study describes a newly characterized β-lactamase that may contribute to carbapenem resistance in A. baumannii.
Formation of Multilayered Photosynthetic Biofilms in an Alkaline Thermal Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

ABSTRACT In this study, glass rods suspended at the air-water interface in the runoff channel of Fairy Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, WY, were used as a substratum to promote the development of biofilms that resembled multilayered mat communities in the splash zone at the geyser's source. This approach enabled the establishment of the temporal relationship between the appearance of Cyanobacteria, which ultimately formed the outer green layer, and the development of a red underlayer containing Roseiflexus-like Chloroflexi. This is the first study to define time-dependent successional events involved in the development of differently colored layers within microbial mats associated with many thermal features in Yellowstone National Park. Initial (1-month) biofilms were localized below the air-water interface (60 to 70°C), and the majority of retrieved bacterial sequence types were similar to Synechococcus and Thermus isolates. Biofilms then shifted, becoming established at and above the air-water interface after 3 months. During winter sampling (6 to 8 months), distinct reddish orange microcolonies were observed, consistent with the appearance of Roseiflexus-like sequences and bacteriochlorophyll a pigment signatures. Additionally, populations of Cyanobacteria diversified to include both unicellular and filamentous cell and sequence types. Distinct green and red layers were observed at 13 months. Planctomycetes-like sequences were also retrieved in high abundance from final biofilm layers and winter samples. Finally, biomass associated with geyser vent water contained Roseiflexus-like sequence types, in addition to other high-abundance sequence types retrieved from biofilm samples, supporting the idea that geothermal water serves as an inoculum for these habitats.
Teacher Leaders as Change Agents

We investigated teacher leadership in 18 middle schools in one district engaged in an initiative to scale up Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR). This mixed-methods analysis found variability in CSR teacher leadership, including the number of hours allotted for release time to support the initiative, the activities teacher leaders enacted, and the support they received. Although findings suggest that the full vision of teacher leadership was difficult to implement at scale, teacher leadership was used to leverage change at several sites. We present a case study of a school that demonstrated collective, shared ownership of both CSR and the teacher leadership model. This study highlights the complexity of defining the expectations and support for a district-funded teacher leader role and raises questions about the need and priorities for the role at every school.
Understanding the outcomes of a psycho-educational group intervention for caregivers of persons with dementia living at home: A process evaluation

This qualitative process evaluation study aimed to identify the primary processes of a psycho-educational group for caregivers of persons with dementia, in order to better understand intervention outcomes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 participants recruited from the experimental group of a randomised controlled trial. At pre-test, participants reported their expectations of the group. At post-test, they described their group experience, the most/least helpful aspects of the intervention, their most useful learning and their responses during a recent episode of disturbing behaviour by their relative. Results showed that the group delivered both educational and support processes. Support processes complemented educational processes. Participants learned coping strategies, with reframing playing a more important role than problem-solving or seeking social support. Daughters benefited more than spouses from educational processes. This study of group processes contributes to our understanding of the reported reduction in frequency of disturbing behaviours and of the change in caregivers’ behaviours.
The Decline of Autophagy Contributes to Proximal Tubular Dysfunction During Sepsis

ABSTRACT Severe sepsis associated with overproduction of tumor necrosis factor &agr; and reactive oxygen species leads to energy depletion and cellular damage. Both reactive oxygen species and damaged organelles induce autophagy for recycling nutrients to combat pathological stress. To study whether autophagy plays a beneficial role in the pathogenesis of renal failure during sepsis, rats were subjected to cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) or sham operation. Temporal relationship of autophagy and renal dysfunction were examined in vivo. The results showed that the level of lipidated microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3-II), a marker of autophagy, elevated transiently at 3 h but declined at 9 h until 18 h after CLP. Light chain 3 aggregation in renal tissue showed a similar trend to the change of LC3-II protein. High levels of blood urea nitrogen and creatinine as well as low tubular sodium reabsorption occurred at 18 h after CLP. The distribution of autophagy located primarily in angiotensin-converting enzyme–positive, which is concentrated in proximal tubule, but calbindin D28k (calcium-binding protein D28K, a marker of distal tubule)–negative cells in renal cortex. Therefore, NRK-52E (proximal tubule epithelial cell line) cells were used to further examine cell viability and DNA fragmentation after silencing or inducing autophagy. We found that knockdown of Atg7 (autophagy-related gene 7) exaggerates, whereas preincubation of rapamycin (an autophagy inducer) diminishes tumor necrosis factor &agr;–induced cell death. These results suggest that the decline of sepsis-induced autophagy contributes to the proximal tubular dysfunction, and maintenance of sufficient autophagy prevents cell death. These data open prospects for therapies that activate autophagy during sepsis.
Aging and Venous Thromboembolism Influence the Pharmacodynamics of the Anti-Factor Xa and Anti-thrombin Activities of a Low Molecular Weight Heparin (Nadroparin)

Summary Venous thromboembolism may be efficiently treated by one single daily administration of a high dose of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). The present study investigates if the physiological deterioration of renal function associated with normal aging or the presence of an acute venous thromboembolism influences the pharmacodynamic pattern of the anti-factor Xa and anti-thrombin activities. Three groups of 12 subjects were investigated. The first 2 groups were composed of healthy volunteers differing by age (25 ± 4 and 65 ± 3 yrs) and creati-nine clearance (114 ± 15 and 62 ± 6 ml · min –1). The third group was composed of patients hospitalized for deep vein thrombosis, having a mean age of 65 ± 11 yrs and creatinine clearance of 76 ± 8 ml · min –1. Nadroparin was administered subcutaneously once daily at the dose of 180 anti-factor Xa IU.kg–1 for 6 to 10 days. Serial sampling on day 1 and on the last day of administration (day n) allowed the pharmacodynamic parameters of the anti-factor Xa and anti-thrombin activities to be compared at the begining and at the end of the treatment. The main findings were the following: (1) After repeated administration, a significant accumulation of the anti-factor Xa activity was observed in the healthy elderly and in the patients but not in the healthy young subjects (accumulation factor: 1.3). There was no evidence of accumulation of anti-thrombin activity; (2) There were significant correlations between the clearance of creatinine and the clearance of the anti-factor Xa activity but not with that of the anti-thrombin activity; (3) In the patients, the clearance of the anti-factor Xa and of the anti-thrombin activities were 1.4 and 2 times higher respectively than those calculated in the healthy elderly; (4) The mean ratio of the of anti-factor Xa and anti-thrombin clearances was close to 2 in the healthy subjects but equal to 5.4 in the patients. These results suggest that the mechanisms involved in the clearance of polysaccharide chains which support the anti-thrombin activity are different from those of the anti-factor Xa activity and that the enhanced binding properties of plasma proteins to unfractionated heparin reported in patients presenting an acute venous thromboembolism also exists for LMWH, predominantly for the anti-thrombin activity.
Developmental Aspects of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Findings in Children, Adolescents, and Adults

Although juvenile obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is increasingly recognized as a putative developmental subtype of the disorder, comparisons among children, adolescents, and adults with OCD have been lacking. We aimed to evaluate clinical correlates of OCD in three developmentally distinct groups. Subjects comprised children, adolescents, and adults meeting DSM-III-R and DSM-IV criteria for OCD referred to separate specialized OCD clinics. All subjects were systematically evaluated with structured diagnostic interviews and clinical assessments by OCD experts. Specific clinical correlates and symptom profiles were associated with the disorder in different age groups. These findings support a hypothesis of developmental discontinuity between juvenile and adult OCD and identify age specific correlates of the disorder across the life cycle. Further work is needed to validate whether juvenile-onset OCD represents a true developmental subtype of the disorder.
Multispectral Palm Image Fusion for Person Authentication Using Ant Colony Optimization

This paper presents an intra-modal fusion environment to integrate multiple raw palm images at low level. Fusion of palmprint instances is performed by wavelet transform and decomposition. To capture the palm characteristics, fused image is convolved with Gabor wavelet transform. The Gabor wavelet feature representation reflects very high dimensional space. To reduce the high dimensionality, ant colony optimization algorithm is applied to select relevant, distinctive and reduced feature set from Gabor responses. Finally, the reduced set of features is trained with support vector machines and accomplished user recognition tasks. For evaluation, CASIA multispectral palmprint database is used. The experimental results reveal that the system is found to be robust and encouraging while variations of classifiers are used. Also a comparative study is presented of the proposed system with a well-known method.
Nonresponse and Underreporting Errors Increase over the Data Collection Week Based on Paradata from the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey.

Background: Food acquisition diary surveys are important for studying food expenditures, factors affecting food acquisition decisions, and relations between these decisions with selected measures of health (e.g., body mass index, self-reported health). However, to our knowledge, no studies have evaluated the errors associated with these diary surveys, which can bias survey estimates and research findings. The use of paradata, which has been largely ignored in previous literature on diary surveys, could be useful for studying errors in these surveys.Objective: We used paradata to assess survey errors in the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS). Methods: To evaluate the patterns of nonresponse over the diary period, we fit a multinomial logistic regression model to data from this 1-wk diary survey. We also assessed factors influencing respondents' probability of reporting food acquisition events during the diary process by using logistic regression models. Finally, with the use of an ordinal regression model, we studied factors influencing respondents' perceived ease of participation in the survey.Results: As the diary period progressed, nonresponse increased, especially for those starting the survey on Friday (where the odds of a refusal increased by 12% with each fielding day). The odds of reporting food acquisition events also decreased by 6% with each additional fielding day. Similarly, the odds of reporting ≥1 food-away-from-home event (i.e., meals, snacks, and drinks obtained outside the home) decreased significantly over the fielding period. Male respondents, larger households, households that eat together less often, and households with frequent guests reported a significantly more difficult time getting household members to participate, as did non-English-speaking households and households currently experiencing difficult financial conditions.Conclusions: Nonresponse and underreporting of food acquisition events tended to increase in the FoodAPS as data collection proceeded. This analysis of paradata available in the FoodAPS revealed these errors and suggests methodologic improvements for future food acquisition surveys.
The Influence of Auxin and Ethylene on Chromatin-directed Ribonucleic Acid Synthesis in Soybean Hypocotyl.

Soybean seedlings treated with ethylene exhibited small increases in ribonucleic acid content in the elongating section of the hypocotyl. Chromatin isolated from the elongating section of ethylene-treated seedlings showed a 35 to 60% increase in the capacity for RNA synthesis. The ethylene-induced response was saturated at 1 microliter/liter of ethylene and was fully expressed after 3 hours. Auxin caused marked accumulation of RNA and DNA in the elongating and basal tissue of the hypocotyl. Chromatin isolated from these auxin-treated tissues showed an 8- to 10- fold increase in RNA synthetic capacity as measured in vitro. Ethylene added with auxin reduced the auxin enhancement of nucleic acid synthesis in the elongating and basal tissues. Both ethylene and auxin treatment of the seedlings inhibited nucleic acid accumulation and chromatin activity in the apical tissue. Ethylene did not appear to mediate the auxin effects on nucleic acid synthesis in soybean hypocotyl with the possible exception of inhibition in the apical tissue.The RNA which was synthesized by chromatin isolated from control and auxin- and ethylene-treated tissues was characterized by nearest neighbor analyses. The nearest neighbor frequencies of the RNA products synthesized by chromatin isolated from auxin- and ethylene-treated hypocotyl tissue were different from each other and different from the control RNA product.Seedlings treated in sealed containers exhibited growth, RNA, and DNA responses, especially to ethylene, different from those of seedlings treated in continuous flow containers.
An Examination of the Link between Urban Planning Policies and the High Cost of Housing and Labor

Past research has established positive empirical relation between city-level land use regulations and housing costs. One interpretation of these findings is that building restrictions raise the cost of producing housing. Alternatively, these price effects could reflect greater willingness to pay for quality urban design. Disentangling and identifying cost versus amenity factors empirically is an unresolved challenge. This paper presents an alternative to empirical tests, relying instead on the predictions of neoclassical urban theory. Simulations of an open city model demonstrate that theoretical predictions differ substantially from those obtained from empirical testing in two main ways. First, restrictions on land use and housing density influence the price level but not the elasticity of housing supply. Second, the effects of land use restrictions on average house prices are ambiguous and depend on the precise location of the planning restriction. Furthermore, the model generates direct estimates of effects on wages and demonstrates that transportation impediments are more consequential for housing prices than land use restrictions. This indicates a potentially fruitful path for future empirical work, and the possibility of omitted variable bias if transportation impediments are correlated with land use regulation.
The paradox of equipoise: the principle that drives and limits therapeutic discoveries in clinical research.

BACKGROUND Progress in clinical medicine relies on the willingness of patients to take part in experimental clinical trials, particularly randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Before agreeing to enroll in clinical trials, patients require guarantees that they will not knowingly be harmed and will have the best possible chances of receiving the most favorable treatments. This guarantee is provided by the acknowledgment of uncertainty (equipoise), which removes ethical dilemmas and makes it easier for patients to enroll in clinical trials. METHODS Since the design of clinical trials is mostly affected by clinical equipoise, the "clinical equipoise hypothesis" has been postulated. If the uncertainty requirement holds, this means that investigators cannot predict what they are going to discover in any individual trial that they undertake. In some instances, new treatments will be superior to standard treatments, while in others, standard treatments will be superior to experimental treatments, and in still others, no difference will be detected between new and standard treatments. It is hypothesized that there must be a relationship between the overall pattern of treatment successes and the uncertainties that RCTs are designed to address. RESULTS An analysis of published trials shows that the results cannot be predicted at the level of individual trials. However, the results also indicate that the overall pattern of discovery of treatment success across a series of trials is predictable and is consistent with clinical equipoise hypothesis. The analysis shows that we can discover no more than 25% to 50% of successful treatments when they are tested in RCTs. The analysis also indicates that this discovery rate is optimal in helping to preserve the clinical trial system; a high discovery rate (eg, a 90% to 100% probability of success) is neither feasible nor desirable since under these circumstances, neither the patient nor the researcher has an interest in randomization. This in turn would halt the RCT system as we know it. CONCLUSIONS The "principle or law of clinical discovery" described herein predicts the efficiency of the current system of RCTs at generating discoveries of new treatments. The principle is derived from the requirement for uncertainty or equipoise as a precondition for RCTs, the precept that paradoxically drives discoveries of new treatments while limiting the proportion and rate of new therapeutic discoveries.
Faculty Professional Development and Its Impact on Teaching Strategies in Saudi Arabia

This qualitative study explores a group of male and female faculty members (n = 85), drawn from diverse academic disciplines, who participated in a two-day Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) workshop held at a university in Saudi Arabia. Shortly after participating in this two-day workshop, the faculty members were surveyed to obtain data about their experience. Three months later, a random sample of these individuals progressed to an in-depth follow-up interview in order to determine whether they had fulfilled their participation objectives. The degree of planned and enacted HOTS workshops, the analysis of post-workshop abilities, and the level of knowledge of and ability in HOTS are topics that have not yet been explored in the professional faculty development literature. Ideally, the assessment of the impact on the professional development of faculty members should measure the effect of learning in terms of their ability to implement what they have learned. The results show that 89% of the faculty members were initially enthusiastic about applying the knowledge and skills acquired through the workshop but that what they had learned started to diminish and to be set aside within the first three months. This was largely because the faculty members became heavily focused on routine activities including lecturing.
Human liver microsomal enflurane defluorination catalyzed by cytochrome P-450 2E1.

The volatile anesthetic agent enflurane undergoes oxidative metabolism in human liver, yielding both inorganic and organic fluoride metabolites. Numerous studies conducted in animals indicate that the enzyme cytochrome P-450 2E1 is a major catalyst for the defluorination reaction. However, the P-450 enzyme catalyzing enflurane metabolism in humans has not been identified. Therefore, experiments were conducted to determine whether hepatic P-450 2E1 is a catalyst for the reaction in humans, and whether other constitutive or inducible isoforms might also be involved. Purified human liver P-450 2E1, reconstituted with cytochrome b5 and P-450 reductase, catalyzed enflurane defluorination at a rate of 9.3 nmol F-/nmol P-450/30 min, in contrast to a mean liver microsomal rate of 2.0 nmol F-/nmol P-450/30 min. The microsomal rate of defluorination for individual human livers correlated significantly with the microsomal content of P-450 2E1 protein (r = 0.92), the rate of p-nitrophenol hydroxylation (r = 0.86), and the rate of chlorzoxazone 6-hydroxylation (r = 0.90). In addition, specific anti-P-450 2E1 IgG, at a concentration of 10 mg IgG/nmol P-450 inhibited the microsomal reaction by 80%. Finally, a series of P-450 isoform-specific chemical inhibitors of oxidative metabolism--furafylline (1A2), sulfaphenazole (2C9/10), quinidine (2D6), troleandomycin (3A3/4), and diethyldithiocarbamate (2E1)--were screened for their ability to block human microsomal enflurane defluorination. Only diethyldithiocarbamate, a mechanism-based inhibitor of P-450 2E1, inhibited the reaction; this occurred to a degree comparable to the effect of anti-P-450 2E1 antibody. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)