Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A special needle for percutaneous vertebral angiography.

It is generally agreed that actual percutaneous needle puncture of the vertebral artery is fairly easy and can be carried out in most patients. However, it frequently proves difficult to maintain the distal end of the needle in the correct position. A very small displacement of the tip of the needle will cause the point to enter the internal or medial coats of the posterior wall of the artery. This may not be apparent to the operator while saline is being injected, but the injection of contrast medium, some of which may enter the wall of the vessel, will cause local spasm.
Do island plant populations really have lower genetic variation than mainland populations? Effects of selection and distribution range on genetic diversity estimates

Ecological and evolutionary studies largely assume that island populations display low levels of neutral genetic variation. However, this notion has only been formally tested in a few cases involving plant taxa, and the confounding effect of selection on genetic diversity (GD) estimates based on putatively neutral markers has typically been overlooked. Here, we generated nuclear microsatellite and plastid DNA sequence data in Periploca laevigata, a plant taxon with an island–mainland distribution area, to (i) investigate whether selection affects GD estimates of populations across contrasting habitats; and (ii) test the long‐standing idea that island populations have lower GD than their mainland counterparts. Plastid data showed that colonization of the Canary Islands promoted strong lineage divergence within P. laevigata, which was accompanied by selective sweeps at several nuclear microsatellite loci. Inclusion of loci affected by strong divergent selection produced a significant downward bias in the GD estimates of the mainland lineage, but such underestimates were substantial (>14%) only when more than one loci under selection were included in the computations. When loci affected by selection were removed, we did not find evidence that insular Periploca populations have less GD than their mainland counterparts. The analysis of data obtained from a comprehensive literature survey reinforced this result, as overall comparisons of GD estimates between island and mainland populations were not significant across plant taxa (N = 66), with the only exception of island endemics with narrow distributions. This study suggests that identification and removal of markers potentially affected by selection should be routinely implemented in estimates of GD, particularly if different lineages are compared. Furthermore, it provides compelling evidence that the expectation of low GD cannot be generalized to island plant populations.
A Multi-Recommenders System for Service Provisioning in Multi-Cloud Environment

Cloud service recommendation has become an important technique that helps users decide whether a service satisfies their requirements or not. However, the few existing recommendation systems are not suitable for real world environments and only deal with services hosted in a single cloud, which is simply unrealistic. In addition, a same service may be hosted on more than one cloud and, hence, may have different user ratings that depend on specific conditions of their cloud availability zones. This uncertainty regarding the real quality of the cloud service and users' satisfaction levels raises a question about how to trust the different users' ratings in order to recommend the adequate cloud service. Unlike existing solutions, the goal of this work is to propose a cooperative recommender system that aims to resolve two major issues: recommendation of cloud services in multiple clouds and recommendation under uncertainty of users' ratings. The proposed system will take advantage from a set of powerful techniques and paradigms in order to offer an overlay of cloud recommender entities that cooperate to deliver top-rated services to the user.
Complete Genome Sequence of Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens ZW3

ABSTRACT Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens ZW3 was isolated in Tibet, China, from kefir grain, a traditional dairy product that is known to provide many health benefits to humans. Here, we present the genome features of L. kefiranofaciens ZW3 and the identification of a gene cluster related to the synthesis of exopolysaccharide, an important constituent of the Tibetan kefir.
Comparison of oxygen uptake on-kinetic calculations in heart failure.

PURPOSE The analysis of oxygen (O(2)) uptake on-kinetics during steady-rate is gaining interest in the heart failure (HF) population. The rate change in O(2) at the initiation of exercise can be assessed via nonlinear regression time constant (TC) or an algebraic equation (mean response time [MRT]). These calculations are presumed to be interchangeable, but research supporting this claim is limited. This investigation compares and contrasts two of the more commonly used O(2) uptake on-kinetic calculations. METHOD Twenty-eight subjects diagnosed with compensated HF and 19 age, sex, and activity-matched controls underwent a symptom-limited exercise test and a steady-rate exercise session (6 min). Peak O(2) uptake, O(2) uptake at ventilatory threshold, the O(2) uptake TC (TC), and the O(2) uptake mean response time (MRT) were calculated for each subject. RESULTS O(2) uptake on-kinetics was significantly faster for the control group ( < 0.05) regardless of calculation method. There was a significant difference between the O(2) uptake TC and MRT for the HF group. All O(2) uptake on-kinetic calculations were significantly correlated with aerobic capacity. CONCLUSIONS O(2) uptake TC and MRT values may not be interchangeable in the HF population. All O(2) uptake on-kinetic calculations did produce a significant difference between experimental and control groups and correlated with indicators of aerobic capacity. The 10-s O(2) uptake on-kinetic calculations may be preferable secondary to expired gas fluctuations associated with breath-by-breath measures. Further work is, however, needed to determine which averaged O(2) uptake on-kinetic expression is optimal given the significant difference between TC and MRT. A mechanism for this difference may be the oscillatory ventilatory expired gas pattern demonstrated by some patients with HF.
Genome Dynamics of Hybrid Saccharomyces cerevisiae During Vegetative and Meiotic Divisions

Mutation and recombination are the major sources of genetic diversity in all organisms. In the baker’s yeast, all mutation rate estimates are in homozygous background. We determined the extent of genetic change through mutation and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in a heterozygous Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome during successive vegetative and meiotic divisions. We measured genome-wide LOH and base mutation rates during vegetative and meiotic divisions in a hybrid (S288c/YJM789) S. cerevisiae strain. The S288c/YJM789 hybrid showed nearly complete reduction in heterozygosity within 31 generations of meioses and improved spore viability. LOH in the meiotic lines was driven primarily by the mating of spores within the tetrad. The S288c/YJM789 hybrid lines propagated vegetatively for the same duration as the meiotic lines, showed variable LOH (from 2 to 3% and up to 35%). Two of the vegetative lines with extensive LOH showed frequent and large internal LOH tracts that suggest a high frequency of recombination repair. These results suggest significant LOH can occur in the S288c/YJM789 hybrid during vegetative propagation presumably due to return to growth events. The average base substitution rates for the vegetative lines (1.82 × 10−10 per base per division) and the meiotic lines (1.22 × 10−10 per base per division) are the first genome-wide mutation rate estimates for a hybrid yeast. This study therefore provides a novel context for the analysis of mutation rates (especially in the context of detecting LOH during vegetative divisions), compared to previous mutation accumulation studies in yeast that used homozygous backgrounds.
Determinants of the use of wrist working splints in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To gain insight into the determinants of the use of wrist working splints among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS A qualitative descriptive study was performed among 18 patients with RA who recently received a fabric wrist working splint because of pain due to arthritis of the wrist. Patients were interviewed at home using semistructured in-depth interviews. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim and analyzed using the framework approach. RESULTS The majority of patients indicated that their splint use was dependent on the seriousness of the symptoms (pain, swelling, or tingling feelings) they perceived. Important reasons to wear the splint were reduction of symptoms, wrist support, and immobilization of the wrist. Important reasons to stop wearing the splint were reduced functional abilities using the splint and the performance of dirty or wet activities. CONCLUSION The reasons for patients to wear and not wear wrist working splints are related to intentional decisions of the patients, which are primarily based on perceived benefits and barriers of splint wearing. The results of this study have been used to develop educational and behavioral strategies to increase adherence to wearing wrist working splints.
Self‐directed learning in anatomy: incorporation of case‐based studies into a conventional medical curriculum

This paper reports an attempt to develop self‐directed learning skills in second‐year medical students by introducing case‐based projects into the gross anatomy course at a long‐established medical school. The programme and students’ responses to a questionnaire completed at the end of the year are presented. Information on the various resources used by students to find information is given. The performance of students in the case‐based components of the course has been evaluated and also in the more traditional end‐of‐year written examination. The data confirm that students have recognized that the projects were about obtaining a deeper understanding of the anatomy, and the programme appears to have promoted the use and study of library texts.
Pragmatic nihilism: how a Theory of Nothing can help health psychology progress

ABSTRACT Health psychology developed a plethora of theories to explain and change a wide variety of behaviours. Several attempts have been undertaken to build integrative theories, some even striving for a Theory of Everything. We argue against these efforts, arguing that instead a ‘pragmatic nihilism’ perspective may be more fruitful to understand and change health behaviours. The first tenet of pragmatic nihilism is that psychological variables are usefully considered as metaphors rather than referring to entities that exist in the mind. As a consequence, the second tenet emphasizes theories' definitions and guidelines for the operationalisation of those variables. The third tenet of pragmatic nihilism is that each operationalisation represents an intersection of a variety of dimensions, such as behavioural specificity and duration, and most importantly, psychological aggregation level. Any operationalisation thus represents a number of choices regarding these dimensions. Pragmatic nihilism has two implications. First, it provides a foundation that enables integrating theories in a more flexible and accurate manner than made possible by integrative theories. Second, it emphasizes the importance of operationalisations, underlining the importance of investing in the careful development of measurement instruments, thorough reporting of measurement instruments' specifics and performance, and full disclosure of the instruments themselves.
Divergent trophic responses to biogeographic and environmental gradients

M. G. Matias (mail.miguelmatias@gmail.com), C. L. Pereira and M. B. Araújo, InBio/CIBIO, Univ. of Évora, Largo dos Colegiais, PT-7000 Évora, Portugal. MGM also at: Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire, UK. MBA also at: Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natl Hist. Mus. of Denmark, Univ. of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, and: Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Madrid, Spain. – P. M. Raposeiro, V. Gonçalves, A. M. Cruz* and A. C. Costa, InBio/CIBIO, Univ. dos Açores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal.
Four-year follow-up of trastuzumab plus adjuvant chemotherapy for operable human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer: joint analysis of data from NCCTG N9831 and NSABP B-31.

PURPOSE Trastuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). The clinical benefits of adjuvant trastuzumab have been demonstrated in interim analyses of four large trials. Initial data of the combined analysis of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) N9831 Intergroup trial and National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-31 trial were reported in 2005. Long-term follow-up results on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) have been awaited. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with HER2-positive operable breast cancer were randomly assigned to doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel with or without trastuzumab in the NCCTG N9831 and NSABP B-31 trials. The similar design of both trials allowed data from the control and trastuzumab-containing arms to be combined in a joint analysis. RESULTS At 3.9 years of median follow-up, there continues to be a highly statistically significant reduction in DFS event rate in favor of the trastuzumab-containing arm (P < .001). Similarly, there continues to be a statistically significant 39% reduction in death rate in favor of the trastuzumab-containing arm (P < .001). CONCLUSION These data demonstrate consistent DFS and OS advantages of adjuvant trastuzumab over time, with the longest follow-up reported to date. The clinical benefits continue to outweigh the risks of adverse effects.
Parameterized Families of Polynomials for Bounded Algebraic Curve and Surface Fitting

Interest in algebraic curves and surfaces of high degree as geometric models or shape descriptors for different model-based computer vision tasks has increased in recent years, and although their properties make them a natural choice for object recognition and positioning applications, algebraic curve and surface fitting algorithms often suffer from instability problems. One of the main reasons for these problems is that, while the data sets are always bounded, the resulting algebraic curves or surfaces are, in most cases, unbounded. In this paper, the authors propose to constrain the polynomials to a family with bounded zero sets, and use only members of this family in the fitting process. For every even number d the authors introduce a new parameterized family of polynomials of degree d whose level sets are always bounded, in particular, its zero sets. This family has the same number of degrees of freedom as a general polynomial of the same degree. Three methods for fitting members of this polynomial family to measured data points are introduced. Experimental results of fitting curves to sets of points in R/sup 2/ and surfaces to sets of points in R/sup 3/ are presented. >
Melatonin prevents oxidative stress‐induced cell death in hippocampal cells

The pineal hormone melatonin has been suggested to be a very effective antioxidant in the brain. Oxidative stress may play a role in certain neuropathological conditions and the hippocampus is an early target of neurodegeneration. Using cells of the clonal hippocampal cell line HT22 and organotypic hippocampal rat brain slice cultures, we investigated a possible protective role of melatonin against oxidative stress-induced hippocampal cell death. Glutamate alone induced oxidative apoptotic cell death in HT22 cells as detected with Hoechst staining and DNA fragmentation analysis. Preincubation with 1 mM melatonin protected HT22 cells against glutamate-induced cell death and protected organotypic hippocampal slices against H2O2-induced cell death. These findings suggest that this neurohormone may be useful in the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases.
Architecture-to-task optimization system (ATOS) for parallel multi-mode data-flow architectures on a base of a partially reconfigurable computing platform

This paper presents an approach of automated architecture synthesis for a wide class of parallel multi-mode data-flow embedded computing systems. This approach is based on the method of automated synthesis of multi-mode architectures. This method allows finding the best correspondence between a multi-mode data-flow application (task) and its parallel processing architecture. This method has been implemented in an architecture-to-task optimization system (ATOS) based on a partially reconfigurable computing platform (PRCP). It was estimated that ATOS could synthesize a complete architecture for an application presented in the form of a data-flow graph within a few seconds including emulation and performance measurements on the PRCP. The proposed approach can dramatically decrease the cost of the R&D design stage and time-to-market for a wide range of parallel multi-mode embedded computing systems.
Sensitivität, Spezifität, positiver und negativer Vorhersagewert

: What does it mean that a screening test has a sensitivity of 80 % and a specificity of 80 %? What conclusion can be drawn as to the probability of a patient tested positive having the target disorder? Is this probability dependent on the prevalence of the target disorder? These are the questions addressed in the present paper. The classical concepts of sensitivity and specificity are presented as well as the more modern and clinically relevant concepts of the predictive values of a positive and a negative test. The author employs different didactic methods such as 2 x 2 tables, graphical illustrations and natural frequencies for elaborating on these often intermixed concepts in a clear and easily understandable way.
Hemorrhagic pulmonary-renal syndrome. Report of three cases.

A Syndrome of repeated episodes of pulmonary hemorrhage followed by severe renal disease progressing to renal failure and death is being described with increasing frequency. Variously recorded as Goodpasture's syndrome,1 lung purpura with nephritis2 and hemorrhage and interstitial pneumonitis with nephritis,3 it has most recently been characterized as hemorrhagic pulmonary-renal syndrome.4 That this condition represents a distinct clinical and pathological entity appears well documented.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 However, the relation of the pulmonary lesion to pulmonary hemosiderosis is not yet established. Since this condition is as yet poorly appreciated clinically, we wish to present our experiences with 3 such patients. Case Reports Case .
Characterising the SCUBA-2 superconducting bolometer arrays

SCUBA-2 is a state of the art 10,000 pixel submillimeter camera installed and being commissioned at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) providing wide-field simultaneous imaging at wavelengths of 450 and 850 microns. At each wavelength there are four 32 by 40 sub-arrays of superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers, each packaged with inline SQUID multiplexed readout and amplifier. In this paper we present the results of characterising individual 1280 bolometer science grade sub-arrays, both in a dedicated 50mk dilution refrigerator test facility and in the instrument installed at the JCMT.
Correlates of the Echocardiographic Waves of the Mitral Valve in Normal Subjects of Various Ages

A cardiographic study was performed on 71 subjects including 14 children, 42 young and middle‐aged adults, and 15 old persons without evidence of heart disease. The echocardiogram of the mitral valve was recorded in the A mode by an analog method and was compared with the electrocardiogram, phonocardiogram, apex cardiogram, and carotid and jugular tracings, simultaneously obtained. The intervals between the various waves recorded by these methods were measured and the results were compared with those reported in the literature. A comparison of the duration of the intervals in the various age groups showed statistically significant differences. In particular, the intervals between the second heart sound and the peak of the E‐wave and the E‐F interval in the echogram were longer in adults than in children and also longer in old persons than in younger adults. This important age difference should always be taken into account before attributing any echocardiographic deviations to disease.
The NH(2)-terminal region of Streptococcus pyogenes M5 protein confers protection against degradation by proteases and enhances mucosal colonization of mice.

BACKGROUND The NH(2)-terminal sequence of the M protein from group A streptococci defines the serotype of the organism and contains epitopes that evoke bactericidal antibodies. METHODS To identify additional roles for this region of the M protein, we constructed a mutant of M5 group A streptococci expressing an M protein with a deletion of amino acid residues 3-22 (DeltaNH(2)). RESULTS M5 streptococci and the DeltaNH(2) mutant were resistant to phagocytosis and were similarly virulent in mice. However, DeltaNH(2) was significantly less hydrophobic, contained less lipoteichoic acid on its surface, and demonstrated reduced adherence to epithelial cells. These differences were abolished when organisms were grown in the presence of protease inhibitors. Treatment with cysteine proteases or with human saliva resulted in the release of M protein from the DeltaNH(2) mutant at a significantly greater rate than observed with the wild-type M5 strain. Compared with the parent strain, the DeltaNH(2) strain also showed a significant reduction in its ability to colonize the upper respiratory mucosa of mice. CONCLUSIONS The NH(2) terminus of M5 protein has an important role in protecting the surface protein from proteolytic cleavage, thus preserving its function as an anchor for lipoteichoic acid, which is a primary mediator of adherence to epithelial cells and colonization.
Dengue and chikungunya: modelling the expansion of mosquito-borne viruses into naïve populations

SUMMARY With the recent global spread of a number of mosquito-borne viruses, there is an urgent need to understand the factors that contribute to the ability of viruses to expand into naïve populations. Using dengue and chikungunya viruses as case studies, we detail the necessary components of the expansion process: presence of the mosquito vector; introduction of the virus; and suitable conditions for local transmission. For each component we review the existing modelling approaches that have been used to understand recent emergence events or to assess the risk of future expansions. We identify gaps in our knowledge that are related to each of the distinct aspects of the human-mosquito transmission cycle: mosquito ecology; human–mosquito contact; mosquito–virus interactions; and human–virus interactions. Bridging these gaps poses challenges to both modellers and empiricists, but only through further integration of models and data will we improve our ability to better understand, and ultimately control, several infectious diseases that exert a significant burden on human health.
The Fast m-Transform: A Fast Computation of Cross-Correlations with Binary m-Sequences

An algorithm is presented for the fast computation of the m-transform, a Hadamard transform intimately related to cross-correlation of analog signals with binary m-sequences. It is shown that m-transforms are in the same Hadamard equivalence class as Walsh–Hadamard transforms and can, thus, becomputed by means of the Fast Walsh Transform (FWT) algorithm, preceded and followed by a permutation. The FWT is performed in place in the original data array, while the permutations are executed during loading and reading of this array. Real-time generation of the array addresses for loading and reading adds little to execution time of the FWT. The implementation described here lends itself particularly well to applications in linear and nonlinear systems analysis.