Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adjoint Tomography of the Southern California Crust

Crustal Details Revealed In seismic tomography, a large collection of data representing paths through Earth are inverted to provide an analysis of variation of density in which errors are minimized. Typically, the inversion starts with a simple layered model of the tomographic region. Tape et al. (p. 988) show how, starting with a three-dimensional model, based on synthetic seismograms, an improved iterative inversion approach can lead to a much more detailed view of a region. Using the rich data for Southern California, the model reveals details of the geologic history of the crust in this region. Analysis of seismic data using a more realistic crustal model reveals detailed variations in density beneath southern California. Using an inversion strategy based on adjoint methods, we developed a three-dimensional seismological model of the southern California crust. The resulting model involved 16 tomographic iterations, which required 6800 wavefield simulations and a total of 0.8 million central processing unit hours. The new crustal model reveals strong heterogeneity, including local changes of ±30% with respect to the initial three-dimensional model provided by the Southern California Earthquake Center. The model illuminates shallow features such as sedimentary basins and compositional contrasts across faults. It also reveals crustal features at depth that aid in the tectonic reconstruction of southern California, such as subduction-captured oceanic crustal fragments. The new model enables more realistic and accurate assessments of seismic hazard.
Prenatal exposure to perfluorooctanesulfonate in rat resulted in long‐lasting changes of expression of synapsins and synaptophysin

Both animal and human studies have demonstrated that exposure to chemical pollutants during critical developmental period causes adverse consequences later in life. In uterus, perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) exposure has been known to cause developmental neurotoxicity, such as increased motor activity, reduced habitation and impaired cognitive function. The possible mechanism of the impaired cognitive function induced by prenatal PFOS exposure was evaluated in this study. Pregnant Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were given 0.1, 0.6, and 2.0 mg kg−1 birth weight (bw) d−1 by gavage from gestation day (GD) 0 to GD20. Control received 0.5% Tween‐20 vehicle (4 ml kg−1 bw d−1). PFOS concentration in hippocampus of offspring was observed on postnatal day (PND) 0 and PND21. The ultrastructure of hippocampus and the gene expression of synaptic vesicle associated proteins in offspring hippocampus, which were important for the neurotransmitter release, were investigated. The transmission electron photomicrographs of the offspring hippocampus from PFOS‐treated maternal groups showed the ultrastructure of synapses was negatively affected. The offspring from PFOS‐treated maternal groups also differed significantly from controls with respect to the expression of synaptic vesicle associated proteins. The mRNA levels of synapsin1 (Syn1), synapsin2 (Syn2), and synaptophysin (Syp) were decreased in treated groups either on PND0 or on PND21. However, the mRNA level of synapsin3 (Syn3) decreased in 0.6‐ and 2.0‐mg kg−1 group on PND0, and showed no significant difference among control group and all treated groups on PND21. These results indicate that the impairment of cognitive function induced by PFOS may be attributed to the lower mRNA levels of synaptic vesicle associated proteins and the change of synaptic ultrastructure in hippocampus. Synapse, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An Alternative DNA Structure Is Necessary for Pilin Antigenic Variation in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Taking Shape DNA recombination mechanisms enable certain pathogens to modify the proteins on their outer surfaces by rearranging their genes and so avoid repeated detection by the immune system. Cahoon and Seifert (p. 764) have found that antigenic variation of a single genetic locus in the human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae is triggered by a specific cis-acting DNA element. This 16–base pair DNA sequence formed an unusual DNA structure in vitro; a guanine quartet (G4), which has been implicated in only a few other biological processes. The G4 forming sequence is required for processing the gene conversion reaction leading to antigenic variation. These findings have implications both for understanding mechanisms of DNA recombination and its role in microbial pathogenesis. A guanine quartet DNA structure regulates antigenic variation in Neisseria gonorrheae. Pathogens can use DNA recombination to promote antigenic variation (Av) of surface structures to avoid immune detection. We identified a cis-acting DNA sequence near the antigenically variable pilin locus of the human pathogen, Neisseria gonorrhoeae. This 16–base pair guanine (G)–rich sequence was required for pilin Av and formed a guanine quartet (G4) structure in vitro. Individual mutations that disrupted the structure also blocked pilin Av and prevented nicks required for recombination from occurring within the G4 region. A compound that binds and stabilizes G4 structures also inhibited pilin Av and prevented nicks from occurring on the G-rich strand. This site constitutes a recombination initiation sequence/structure that directs gene conversion to a specific chromosomal locus.
Obesity, abdominal obesity and migraine: A cross-sectional analysis of ELSA-Brasil baseline data

Background and aim: Most studies assessing the association between migraine and obesity have shown conflicting results. We aimed to evaluate the association between obesity and migraine in ELSA-Brasil, a cohort study of 15,105 individuals aged 35–74 years. Methods: We assessed migraine using a validated questionnaire based on International Headache Society criteria and anthropometric measurements using standard techniques. Migraine was categorized as daily and non-daily. World Health Organization criteria were used to categorize overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity (AbO). We performed a cross-sectional analysis using multivariate logistic regression models to study the association between migraine and obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2), compared to controls without migraine. Results: We found an association between daily migraine and obesity (odds ratio (OR) 1.86; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.12–3.09). Although the presence of AbO was not associated with migraine, interaction models showed that the association between obesity and daily migraine remained strong only in the absence of AbO diagnosis, notably in individuals aged 35–49 years. Discussion: In our large sample of individuals aged 35 years or older, obesity, but not AbO, was associated with daily migraine. AbO influenced the association between BMI and daily migraine in migraineurs aged 35–49 years.
Formation of the First Peptide Bond: The Structure of EF-P Bound to the 70S Ribosome

Protein Synthesis Initiation Complex The final step in the initiation phase of protein synthesis is the formation of the first peptide bond, which requires initiator transfer RNA (tRNA) to be bound at the ribosomal P site. Elongation factor P (EF-P) is a protein conserved in all eubacteria that stimulates this initial bond formation. Insight into how this is achieved comes from a structure of Thermus thermophilus 70S ribosome bound to EF-P, initiator tRNA, and a short piece of messenger RNA presented by Blaha et al. (p. 966). EF-P binds between the P and E sites and facilitates proper positioning of initiator tRNA in the P site. A similar mechanism is likely to apply to structurally homologous initiation factors in archea and eukarya. Elongation factor P binds to the ribosome so as to position the initiator transfer RNA for the first bond formation. Elongation factor P (EF-P) is an essential protein that stimulates the formation of the first peptide bond in protein synthesis. Here we report the crystal structure of EF-P bound to the Thermus thermophilus 70S ribosome along with the initiator transfer RNA N-formyl-methionyl-tRNAi (fMet-tRNAifMet) and a short piece of messenger RNA (mRNA) at a resolution of 3.5 angstroms. EF-P binds to a site located between the binding site for the peptidyl tRNA (P site) and the exiting tRNA (E site). It spans both ribosomal subunits with its amino-terminal domain positioned adjacent to the aminoacyl acceptor stem and its carboxyl-terminal domain positioned next to the anticodon stem-loop of the P site–bound initiator tRNA. Domain II of EF-P interacts with the ribosomal protein L1, which results in the largest movement of the L1 stalk that has been observed in the absence of ratcheting of the ribosomal subunits. EF-P facilitates the proper positioning of the fMet-tRNAifMet for the formation of the first peptide bond during translation initiation.
FALLING DROP METHOD FOR SPECIFIC GRAVITY

To the Editor:— In recent years much interest has developed in the clinical applications of the falling drop method for specific gravity, the chief of which were first pointed out by us inThe Journal, Jan. 8, 1927, page 91. Their usefulness has been recognized in large measure because of the notable studies of shock by Dr. John Scudder. Clinical interest in the densiometric method has led to the appearance in the literature of a considerable number of so-called "improvements. " Modifications of the method, deriving from various sources, are leading to its abuse by the employment of procedures which detract from its sensitivity. Alluring suggestions, such as "elimination of standards and nomograms," militate against the accuracy of the method. Standard drops of pure potassium sulfate solutions are of constant composition and eliminate the vagaries due to the use of oils as the medium through which the drops fall. Vagaries occur
Increased risk of urinary calculi in patients with migraine: A nationwide cohort study

Objective Whether migraine is associated with urinary calculi is an unresolved issue, although topiramate, a migraine-preventive agent, is known to contribute to this complication. This study investigates the association between migraine and the risk of urinary calculi. Methods We identified a total of 147,399 patients aged ≥18 years with migraine diagnoses recorded in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database between 2005 and 2009. Each patient was randomly matched with one individual without headache using propensity scores. All participants were followed from the date of enrollment until urinary calculi development, death, or the end of 2010. Results The risk of urinary calculi was greater in the migraine than the control cohort (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR), 1.58; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.52–1.63; p < 0.001, irrespective of the influence of topiramate. The risk was higher in younger and female patients. The magnitude of the risk was proportional to the annual frequency of clinic visits for headache (≥6 vs. <3, aHR = 1.11; 95% CI, 1.04–1.17; p = 0.002), but did not differ between migraine patients with and without aura. Conclusions Our study showed migraine was associated with an increased risk of urinary calculi, independent of topiramate use. A higher frequency of clinic visits was associated with a greater risk.
Global Surface Wave Tomography Using Seismic Hum

Long-period surface waves from oceanic or atmospheric disturbances can be used for seismic mapping of the upper mantle. The development of global surface wave tomography using earthquakes has been crucial to exploration of the dynamic status of Earth’s deep. It is naturally believed that only large earthquakes can generate long-period seismic waves that penetrate deep enough into Earth for such exploration. The discovery of seismic hum, Earth’s background free oscillations, which are randomly generated by oceanic and/or atmospheric disturbances, now provides an alternative approach. We present results of global upper-mantle seismic tomography using seismic hum and without referring to earthquakes. At periods of 100 to 400 seconds, the phase-velocity anomalies of Rayleigh waves are measured by modeling the observed cross-correlation functions between every pair of stations from among 54 globally distributed seismic stations. The anomalies are then inverted to obtain the three-dimensional S-wave velocity structure in the upper mantle. Our technique provides a new means for exploring the three-dimensional structure of the interior of terrestrial planets with an atmosphere and/or oceans, particularly Mars.
Provider-initiated HIV/AIDS counselling and testing at healthcare facilities in Thailand: a cluster-randomisation trial

The World Health Organization and UNAIDS advocate that healthcare providers worldwide consider provider-initiated HIV counselling and testing for clients attending healthcare facilities. However, there is a lack of evidence needed to support policy decisions, concerning the effectiveness of such interventions in Thailand and other settings with large outbreaks of the HIV epidemic. As a result, a cluster-randomisation trial with pre-test and post-test design was conducted to assess the effectiveness of healthcare provider-initiated voluntary HIV counselling and testing compared with the current practice in which HIV testing is provided only upon the client's request. Sixteen district hospitals (clusters) with high and low HIV prevalence were randomly assigned to either use the new intervention or to continue with the current practice with a 1:1 allocation ratio. Patients aged between 13 and 64 years, receiving ambulatory care in the participating hospitals, were eligible. The main outcome measures were the acceptance rate of HIV testing and the HIV detection rate. During the first eight-week baseline period, there were no significant differences between the control and experimental clusters on the acceptance rate and HIV detection. However, after the eight-week intervention period, the acceptance rate and HIV detection rate in the experimental clusters was significantly higher than those of the control clusters. The results from the generalised estimating equations and multilevel modelling also confirmed the findings. Economic appraisal alongside this study suggested that the new intervention is very cost-effective under the Thai healthcare setting.
A Global Protein Kinase and Phosphatase Interaction Network in Yeast

Budding Yeast Kinome Revealed Covalent modification of proteins by phosphorylation is a primary means by which cells control the biochemical activities and functions of proteins. To better understand the full spectrum of cellular control mechanisms mediated by phosphorylation, Breitkreutz et al. (p. 1043; see the Perspective by Levy et al.) used mass spectrometry to identify proteins that interacted with the complete set of protein kinases from budding yeast and with other molecules, including phosphatases, which influence phosphorylation reactions. The results reveal a network of interacting protein kinases and phosphatases, and analysis of other interacting proteins suggests previously undiscovered roles for many of these enzymes. Phosphorylation reactions in budding yeast reveal the regulatory architecture of a fundamental cellular control system. The interactions of protein kinases and phosphatases with their regulatory subunits and substrates underpin cellular regulation. We identified a kinase and phosphatase interaction (KPI) network of 1844 interactions in budding yeast by mass spectrometric analysis of protein complexes. The KPI network contained many dense local regions of interactions that suggested new functions. Notably, the cell cycle phosphatase Cdc14 associated with multiple kinases that revealed roles for Cdc14 in mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling, the DNA damage response, and metabolism, whereas interactions of the target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) uncovered new effector kinases in nitrogen and carbon metabolism. An extensive backbone of kinase-kinase interactions cross-connects the proteome and may serve to coordinate diverse cellular responses.
Multimodal manual therapy vs. pharmacological care for management of tension type headache: A meta-analysis of randomized trials

Background Manual therapies are generally requested by patients with tension type headache. Objective To compare the efficacy of multimodal manual therapy vs. pharmacological care for the management of tension type headache pain by conducting a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Methods PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED, CINAHL, EBSCO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Collaboration Trials Register, PEDro and SCOPUS were searched from their inception until June 2014. All randomized controlled trials comparing any manual therapy vs. medication care for treating tension type headache adults were included. Data were extracted and methodological quality assessed independently by two reviewers. We pooled headache frequency as the main outcome and also intensity and duration. The weighted mean difference between manual therapy and pharmacological care was used to determine effect sizes. Results Five randomized controlled trials met our inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled analyses found that manual therapies were more effective than pharmacological care in reducing frequency (weighted mean difference –0.8036, 95% confidence interval –1.66 to –0.44; three trials), intensity (weighted mean difference –0.5974, 95% confidence interval –0.8875 to –0.3073; five trials) and duration (weighted mean difference –0.5558, 95% confidence interval –0.9124 to –0.1992; three trials) of the headache immediately after treatment. No differences were found at longer follow-up for headache intensity (weighted mean difference –0.3498, 95% confidence interval –1.106 to 0.407; three trials). Conclusion Manual therapies were associated with moderate effectiveness at short term, but similar effectiveness at longer follow-up for reducing headache frequency, intensity and duration in tension type headache than pharmacological medical drug care. However, due to the heterogeneity of the interventions, these results should be considered with caution at this stage.
Enterprise strength security on a JXTA P2P network

Summary form only given. When one begins to think about security and P2P networks, and in particular, ad-hoc P2P networks with no real centralization, there are potentially billions of peer nodes, all possibly vulnerable to attack in a multitude of ways: Impersonation attacks and thus identity theft by unauthorized or falsely authorized parties; Invasion of privacy and all that that carries with it; Loss of data integrity; We imagine the equivalent of antimatter, a complete negation of the fundamental principles of security, or the antisecure net. Those among us with a strong interest in the secure net, and making P2P not only an accepted but preferred way of both doing business in the enterprise as well as protecting the personal privacy of the innocent users of P2P software require a toolbox with sockets, and a socket wrench that is capable of applying the torque that is appropriate to each scenario we wish to secure. It is easy enough for each peer node to be its own certificate authority, create its own root and service certificates, distribute the root certificate out-of-band or in some cases inband, different sockets for different scenarios, and then use transport layer security to insure two way authorization and privacy. Another socket that can be used by small communities of peers to assure that the public keys that they distribute can be trusted with some degree of certainty based on the reputation of the signers. Finally, without actually using a recognized CA, one can apply even more torque to tighten the security on a P2P network. Select one or more well protected and trusted systems, and give to them certificate-granting authority. These systems are unlike standard CAs in the sense that they are peers in the P2P Network. To acquire a certificate the peer must be authorized perhaps by using an LDAP directory with a recognized protected password. Here, the CA can also use a secure connection to a corporate LDAP service to authorize requesting peers. In the end, each of the above scenarios, each socket in our mythical toolbox, is a not so mythical. This is how Project JXTA approaches security, and what we will discuss in this keynote presentation.
Granulocyte colony stimulating factor neuroprotective effects on spinal motoneurons after ventral root avulsion

G‐CSF is a glycoprotein commonly used to treat neutropenia. Recent studies have shown that the G‐CSF receptor (G‐CSF‐R) is expressed by neurons in the central nervous system (CNS), and neuroprotective effects of G‐CSF have been observed. In this study, the influence of G‐CSF treatment on the glial reactivity and synaptic plasticity of spinal motoneurons in rats subjected to ventral root avulsion (VRA) was investigated. Lewis rats (7 weeks old) were subjected to unilateral VRA and divided into two groups: G‐CSF and placebo treated. The drug treated animals were injected subcutaneously with 200 μg/kg/day of G‐CSF for 5 days post lesion. The placebo group received saline buffer. After 2 weeks, both groups were sacrificed and their lumbar intumescences processed for transmission electron microscopy (TEM), motoneuron counting, and immunohistochemistry with antibodies against GFAP, Iba‐1, and synaptophysin. Furthermore, in vitro analysis was carried out, using newborn cortical derived astrocytes. The results indicated increased neuronal survival in the G‐CSF treated group coupled with synaptic preservation. TEM analyses revealed an improved preservation of the synaptic covering in treated animals. Additionally, the drug treated group showed an increase in astroglial reactivity both in vivo and in vitro. The astrocytes also presented an increased cell proliferation rate when compared with the controls after 3 days of culturing. In conclusion, the present results suggest that G‐CSF has an influence on the stability of presynaptic terminals in the spinal cord as well as on the astroglial reaction, indicating a possible neuroprotective action. Synapse, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Peripheral nerve field stimulation for trigeminal neuralgia, trigeminal neuropathic pain, and persistent idiopathic facial pain

Objective Peripheral nerve field stimulation (PNFS) is a promising modality for treatment of intractable facial pain. However, evidence is sparse. We are therefore presenting our experience with this technique in a small patient cohort. Methods Records of 10 patients (five men, five women) with intractable facial pain who underwent implantation of one or several subcutaneous electrodes for trigeminal nerve field stimulation were retrospectively analyzed. Patients’ data, including pain location, etiology, duration, previous treatments, long-term effects and complications, were evaluated. Results Four patients suffered from recurrent classical trigeminal neuralgia, one had classical trigeminal neuralgia and was medically unfit for microvascular decompression. Two patients suffered from trigeminal neuropathy attributed to multiple sclerosis, one from post-herpetic neuropathy, one from trigeminal neuropathy following radiation therapy and one from persistent idiopathic facial pain. Average patient age was 74.2 years (range 57–87), and average symptom duration was 10.6 years (range 2–17). Eight patients proceeded to implantation after successful trial. Average follow-up after implantation was 11.3 months (range 5–28). Using the visual analog scale, average pain intensity was 9.3 (range 7–10) preoperatively and 0.75 (range 0–3) postoperatively. Six patients reported absence of pain with stimulation; two had only slight constant pain without attacks. Conclusion PNFS may be an effective treatment for refractory facial pain and yields high patient satisfaction.