Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
OBSERVATIONS ON WATERFOWL CARCASSES DURING A BOTULISM EPIZOOTIC

Several features related to waterfowl carcasses were studied at Eyebrow Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada, during a botulism epizootic in the summer of 1989. Dummy carcasses, constructed by stretching duck skins over wooden forms, were used to assess the reaction of waterbirds to carcasses. There was no significant difference in the number of American coots, ducks, grebes, or total birds present when dummy carcasses were or were not present. Only one of 42 freshly-dead bird carcasses marked and observed twice each day was removed by a scavenger prior to the development of large maggots. Maggots developed in all carcasses and were visible externally a mean of 3.9 days after placement of the carcasses. The effectiveness of carcass collection and disposal operations was tested by marking carcasses on the day prior to two scheduled cleanups. Only 32% of marked carcasses were recovered. Large carcasses and carcasses on or near islands were recovered at a higher frequency than were small carcasses and carcasses not near islands, respectively.
Differential effect of transdermal estrogen plus progestagen replacement therapy on insulin metabolism in postmenopausal women: relation to their insulinemic secretion.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact on glucose and insulin metabolism of transdermal estrogen patches before and after the addition of cyclic dydrogesterone in postmenopausal women. DESIGN We studied 21 postmenopausal women seeking treatment for symptomatic menopause. All patients received transdermal 50 micrograms/day estradiol for 24 weeks. After 12 weeks of treatment, 10 mg/day dydrogesterone were added. METHODS During both regimens, insulin and C-peptide plasma concentrations were evaluated after an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT); insulin sensitivity was evaluated by a hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp technique. Insulin and C-peptide response to OGTT were expressed as area under the curve (AUC) and as incremental AUC; insulin sensitivity was expressed as mg/kg body weight. Fractional hepatic insulin extraction (FHIE) was estimated by the difference between the incremental AUC of the C-peptide and insulin divided by the incremental AUC of the C-peptide. Plasma hormone and lipid concentrations were assessed at baseline and at 12 and 24 weeks of treatment. RESULTS Nine patients proved to be hyperinsulinemic and 12 were normoinsulinemic. Transdermal estrogen treatment significantly decreased the insulin AUC (P < 0.05) and the insulin incremental AUC in hyperinsulinemic patients; addition of dydrogesterone further decreased both the AUC and incremental AUC of insulin. Estrogen alone and combined with dydrogesterone evoked a significant increase in C-peptide AUC in hyperinsulinemic (79.2%) and normoinsulinemic (113%) patients. The treatment increased the values for FHIE and insulin sensitivity in all patients (P < 0.04) and in the hyperinsulinemic group (P < 0.01), whereas it did not affect such parameters in normoinsulinemic patients. CONCLUSIONS Transdermal estrogen substitution alone and combined with cyclical dydrogesterone may ameliorate hyperinsulinemia in a selected population of postmenopausal women.
The Role of Earcons and Auditory Icons in the Usability of Avatar-Based E-Learning Interfaces

This paper describes an experimental study conducted to investigate non-speech sounds such as earcons and auditory icons when used alongside speaking avatars in e-learning interfaces. The usability aspects (effectiveness, memorability and user satisfaction) of the experimental e-learning interface were evaluated by a group of 24 users. The obtained results showed that earcons and auditory icons could be effective in communicating supportive information related to the learning material when presented by a full-body animated virtual lecturer in the interface of e-learning applications. Experimental results also revealed that these sounds were memorable by the users and satisfactory to them.
Evaluation of carbon flux in vegetative bay based on ecosystem production and CO 2 exchange driven by coastal autotrophs

Copyright © 2015 The Korean Society of Phycology 121 http://e-algae.kr pISSN: 1226-2617 eISSN: 2093-0860 Evaluation of carbon flux in vegetative bay based on ecosystem production and CO2 exchange driven by coastal autotrophs Ju-Hyoung Kim, Eun Ju Kang, Keunyong Kim, Hae Jin Jeong, Kitack Lee, Matthew S. Edwards, Myung Gil Park, Byeong-Gweon Lee and Kwang Young Kim* Faculty of Marine Applied Biosciences, Kunsan National University, Kunsan 573-701, Korea Department of Oceanography, College of Natural Sciences Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-747, Korea School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA
Aerobic fitness affects cardiovascular and catecholamine responses to stressors.

Subjects of varying degrees of aerobic fitness were subjected to four laboratory stressors in a test of the hypothesis that aerobic fitness is associated with decreased responsiveness to stressors other than exercise. Blood pressure, heart rate, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and psychological responses to a film of industrial accidents (passive psychological stressor), the Stroop word color task (active psychological stressor), the cold pressor test (passive physical stressor), and running to exhaustion on a treadmill (active physical stressor) were measured. Baseline systolic blood pressure and relative diastolic responses to the film, Stroop task, and exercise were smaller in fit subjects over 40 than in less fit subjects of the same age group. Heart rates were lower in fit subjects at most times, except during and after maximal exercise. Norepinephrine was lower after 9 min of exercise in fit subjects, but was much higher at exhaustion, after these subjects had accomplished more work. Norepinephrine levels fell rapidly and were not different among groups 3 and 10 min after exercise. There was no preferential generalization of the “fitness effect” to the active psychological task.
Panic disorder.

INTRODUCTION Panic disorder occurs in up to 3% of the adult population at some time, and is associated with other psychiatric and personality disorders, and with drug and alcohol abuse. The risk of suicide and attempted suicide has been found to be higher in people with panic disorder than in people with other psychiatric illness, including depression. METHODS AND OUTCOMES We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of non-drug treatments for panic disorder? What are the effects of drug treatments for panic disorder? What are the effects of combined drug and psychological treatments for panic disorder? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to June 2007 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). RESULTS We found 36 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions. CONCLUSIONS In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: applied relaxation, benzodiazepines, breathing retraining, brief dynamic psychotherapy, buspirone, client-centred therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) (alone or plus drug treatments), cognitive restructuring, couple therapy, exposure (external or interoceptive), insight-orientated therapy, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), psychoeducation, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), self-help, and tricyclic antidepressants (imipramine).
Acoustic Scene Recognition with Deep Learning

Background. Sound complements visual inputs, and is an important modality for perceiving the environment. Increasingly, machines in various environments have the ability to hear, such as smartphones, autonomous robots, or security systems. This work applies state-of-the-art Deep Learning models that have revolutionized speech recognition to understanding general environmental sounds. Aim. This work aims to classify 15 common indoor and outdoor locations using environmental sounds. We compare both conventional and Deep Learning models for this task. Data. We use a dataset from the ongoing IEEE challenge on Detection and Classification of Acoustic Scenes and Events (DCASE). The dataset contains 15 diverse indoor and outdoor locations, such as buses, cafes, cars, city centers, forest paths, libraries, and trains, totaling 9.75 hours of audio recording. Methods. We extract features using signal processing techniques, such as mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC), various statistical functionals, and spectrograms. We extract 4 feature sets: MFCCs (60-dimensional), Smile983 (983-dimensional), Smile6k (6573-dimensional), and spectrograms (only for CNN-based models). On these features we apply 5 models: Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs), Support Vector Machines (SVMs), Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), Recurrent Deep Neural Networks (RDNNs), Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), and Recurrent Convolutional Neural Networks (RCNNs). Among them GMMs and SVMs are popular conventional models for this task, while RDNNs, CNNs, and RCNNs are, to our knowledge, the first application of these models in the context of environmental sound. Results. Our experiments show that model performance varies with features. With a small set of features (MFCCs and Smile983) temporal models (RNNs, RDNNs) outperform non-temporal models (GMMs, SVMs, DNNs). However, with large feature sets (Smile6k) DNNs outperform temporal models (RNNs and RDNNs) and achieve the best performance among all studied methods. The GMM with MFCC features, the baseline model provided by the DCASE contest, achieves 67.6% test accuracy, while the best performing model (a DNN with the Smile6k feature) reaches 80% test accuracy. RNNs and RDNNs generally have performance in the range of 68∼77%, while SVMs vary between 56∼73%. CNNs and RCNNs with spectrogram features lag in performance compared with other Deep Learning models, reaching 63∼64% accuracy. Conclusions. We find that Deep Learning models compare favorably to conventional models (GMMs and SVMs). No single model outperforms all other models across all feature sets, showing that model performance varies significantly with the feature representation. The fact that the best performing model is a non-temporal DNN is evidence that environmental sounds do not exhibit strong temporal dynamics. This is consistent with our day-to-day experience that environmental sounds tend to be random and unpredictable.
Symbiosis of a termite and a sclerotium-forming fungus: Sclerotia mimic termite eggs

Brown balls, of a similar size but different shape to termite eggs, were found frequently in the piles of eggs of the subterranean termite Reticulitermes speratus. rDNA analysis identified the ball as the sclerotia of the fungus, Fibularhizoctonia sp. nov, which is phylogenetically closest to decay fungi, Athelia spp. Laboratory observation showed that the workers gathered the eggs and the sclerotia indiscriminately, even if they were widely scattered in a Petri dish, and piled them up in a specific place for egg care. We compared the morphology of the eggs with that of sclerotia of Fibularhizoctonia spp. and Athelia spp. in relation to egg carrying behaviour, and found that the workers could only carry the Fibularhizoctonia spp. sclerotia whose diameters were similar to the short diameter of the eggs. We also conducted a bioassay using termite eggs and dummy eggs (glass beads and sea sand) of two diameter-classes, coated with or without the egg-derived chemicals. The workers recognized the eggs based on a combination of the size, shape, and chemical cues. All the results suggested that the sclerotia mimic the eggs both morphologically and chemically. Finally, we found that the workers suppressed germination of sclerotia, and termite egg survival increased in the presence of sclerotia only if they were tended by the workers. If the workers were removed experimentally, the sclerotia germinated and grew by exploiting termite eggs. These results suggest that the sclerotia protect termite eggs from putative pathogens.
Changes in Ricco’s Area with Background Luminance in the S-Cone Pathway

Purpose The area of complete spatial summation (Ricco’s area) for achromatic stimuli has previously been shown to decrease with increased background luminance. A popular hypothesis is that such a phenomenon reflects increased center-surround antagonism within the receptive field of the retinal ganglion cell. We wished to investigate if similar changes in Ricco’s area occur with blue background luminance for the S-cone pathway, guided by the knowledge that the retinal ganglion cells with S-cone input do not display S-cone–mediated center-surround antagonism (S+/S-). Methods Spatial summation functions were measured for four young healthy observers under S-cone pathway isolation by presenting blue test stimuli on a background consisting of intense fixed yellow (600 cd/m2) component in combination with a variable blue component (background range, 1.78 to 2.82 log S-Td). Ricco’s area was estimated by two-phase regression analysis. Results All subjects demonstrated a notable decrease in Ricco’s area with increasing blue background luminance. On average, Ricco’s area decreased in size by 0.39 log units per log unit increase in blue background luminance. Conclusions The change in Ricco’s area with the blue background component is not what one would initially expect given the known organization of S-cone–driven cells at the retinal level. Spatial reorganization by the suppressive surround of the receptive fields at a cortical level and a reduction in the contribution from S-cones with the lowest weights in the retinal receptive field periphery are among the possible mechanisms of the summation changes observed. These findings have implications for the design of clinical tests of the S-cone pathway.
Literature Survey on Recent Progress in Inter-Vehicle Communication Simulations

The vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) technology based on the approved IEEE 802.11p standard and the appendant inter-vehicle communication (IVC) has the potential to dramatically change the way transportation systems work. The fundamental idea is to change the individual behavior of each vehicle by exchanging information among traffic participants to realize a cooperative and more efficient transportation system. Certainly, the evaluation of such systems is a comprehensive and challenging task in a real world test bed, therefore, simulation frameworks are a key tool to analyze IVC. Several models are needed to emulate the real behavior of a VANET in all aspects as much realistically as necessary. The intention of this survey is to provide a comprehensive overview of publications concerning IVC simulations of the year 2013 and to see how IVC simulation has changed since 2009. Based on this analysis, we will answer the following questions: What simulation techniques are applied to IVC? Which aspects of IVS have been evaluated? What has changed within five years of IVC simulations? We also take a closer look at commonly used software tools and discuss their functionality and drawbacks. Finally, we present open questions concerning IVC simulations.
CLINICAL PERFORMANCE AND OPTIUM DBM

In a study by Cammisa, et al., “120 patients underwent posterolateral spine fusion with pedicle screw fixation and bone grafting. Iliac crest autograft was implanted on one side of the spine and a [glycerolcarrier DBM]/autograft composite was implanted on the contralateral side. ” In this study, “Nearly 70% of patients (81 of 120) provided complete 24-month radiographic studies. The bone graft mass was fused in 42 cases (52%) on the [glycerol-carrier DBM] side and in 44 cases (54%) on the autograft side. ” In conclusion, the authors state “[glycerol-carrier DBM] can extend a smaller quantity of autograft than is normally required to achieve a solid spinal arthrodesis. ”
ADOPTIE VAN MANAGEMENTINNOVATIE ALS EEN PROCES VAN STRATEGISCHE VERNIEUWING

Managementinnovatie is het vernieuwen van het managementmodel van een organisatie met de bedoeling om de organisatie te verbeteren. Het bedenken en implementeren van een radicaal managementmodel of managementpraktijk die nieuw is op het niveau van de hele wereld komt niet zo vaak voor. Het is veel vaker het geval dat een op het niveau van een organisatie een bestaand managementmodel uit een andere organisatie of branche wordt overgenomen, aangepast en geimplementeerd. In dit geval is er sprake van een adoptie van een managementinnovatie. Dit onderzoek beoogt een bijdrage te leveren aan de inzichten over hoe een managementinnovatie door een organisatie wordt geadopteerd. Hiervoor is vanuit het procesperspectief onderzocht hoe een adoptie van managementinnovatie procesmatig verloopt en hoe leiderschap, organisatiestructuur en cultuur en klimaat het adoptieproces van managementinnovatie binnen een organisatie beinvloeden.
On the Impact of Parametric Assumptions and Robust Alternatives for Longitudinal Data Analysis

Models for longitudinal data are employed in a wide range of behavioral, biomedical, psychosocial, and health‐care‐related research. One popular model for continuous response is the linear mixed‐effects model (LMM). Although simulations by recent studies show that LMM provides reliable estimates under departures from the normality assumption for complete data, the invariable occurrence of missing data in practical studies renders such robustness results less useful when applied to real study data. In this paper, we show by simulated studies that in the presence of missing data estimates of the fixed effect of LMM are biased under departures from normality. We discuss two robust alternatives, the weighted generalized estimating equations (WGEE) and the augmented WGEE (AWGEE), and compare their performances with LMM using real as well as simulated data. Our simulation results show that both WGEE and AWGEE provide valid inference for skewed non‐normal data when missing data follows the missing at random, the most popular missing data mechanism for real study data.
Rice Contains Two Disparate ent-Copalyl Diphosphate Synthases with Distinct Metabolic Functions1

Rice (Oryza sativa) produces ent-copalyl diphosphate for both gibberellin (GA) phytohormone and defensive phytoalexin biosynthesis, raising the question of how this initial biosynthetic step is carried out for these distinct metabolic processes. Here, a functional genomics approach has been utilized to identify two disparate ent-copalyl diphosphate synthases from rice (OsCPS1ent and OsCPS2ent). Notably, it was very recently demonstrated that only one of these (OsCPS1ent) normally operates in GA biosynthesis as mutations in this gene result in severely impaired growth. Evidence is presented here strongly indicating that the other (OsCPS2ent) is involved in related secondary metabolism producing defensive phytochemicals. In particular, under appropriate conditions, OsCPS2ent mRNA is specifically induced in leaves prior to production of the corresponding phytoalexins. Thus, transcriptional control of OsCPS2ent seems to be an important means of regulating defensive phytochemical biosynthesis. Finally, OsCPS1ent is significantly more similar to the likewise GA-specific gene An1/ZmCPS1ent in maize (Zea mays) than its class II terpene synthase paralogs involved in rice secondary metabolism. Hence, we speculate that this cross-species conservation by biosynthetic process reflects derivation of related secondary metabolism from the GA primary biosynthetic pathway prior to the early divergence between the separate lineages within the cereal/grass family (Poaceae) resulting in modern rice and maize.
Gr upSM Peptic Ulcer Disease : Descriptive Epidemiology , Risk Factors , Management and Prevention

Peptic ulcer is a break (like a sore) in the lining of the stomach or the upper part of the small intestine [1], with a diameter of at least 0.5 cm penetrating through the muscularis mucosa. It is typically a non-fatal disease that majorly represented by symptoms of epigastric pain typically relieved by food or alkali, often exhibit periodicity. Peptic ulcers or PUDs are generally categorized based on their anatomical origin as gastric or duodenal. Gastric ulcers are found along the lesser curvature of the stomach, and duodenal ulcers usually occur in the duodenal bulb, the area most exposed to gastric acid [2]. Helicobacter pylori had been thought as the main etiological factor for 90% duodenal and 80% gastric ulcers [3]. With recent decline in prevalence in H. pylori in western countries, PUDs, especially gastric ulcers Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) and Acetylsalicyclic Acid (ASA) [4-5]. In this part of the world, the incidence of duodenal ulcers is approximately four-fold higher than gastric ulcers; constratingly elsewhere, gastric ulcers are more common. Gastric ulcers predominantly arise in subjects over 40 years old whereas, Aejaz Habeeb, Santosh K Tiwari, Avinash Bardia, Shaswathi Khan, Sandeep Kumar Vishwakarma, Safwaan Habeeb and Aleem Ahmed Khan* Central Laboratory for Stem Cell Research & Translational Medicine, Deccan College of Medical Sciences, India *Corresponding author: Aleem Ahmed Khan, Scientist, Central Laboratory for Stem Cell Research & Translational Medicine, CLRD, Deccan College of Medical Sciences, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad 500 058, Andhra Pradesh, India. Tel: +91-40-24342954; Email: aleem_a_khan@ rediffmail.com
Acquired multidrug resistance in human K562/ADM cells is associated with enhanced autophagy

Abstract Autophagy, as a necessary process for survival in mammalian cells deprived of nutrients or growth factors, will be activated in many tumor cells while treated with chemotherapeutic drugs, but the role of autophagy in acquired multidrug resistance of human acute myelogenous leukemia to adriamycin-based chemotherapy remains to be clarified. Our aim was to address that question by surveying the autophagic activity in parental acute myelogenous leukemia cell line K562 and resistant sub cell line, K562/ADM, which were obtained by treating adriamycin with increasing concentrations. K562/ADM and K562 cells were exposed to PBS culture medium for 3 hours, then the stress-induced autophagy was measured. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR revealed the expression of LC3 mRNA was higher in K562/ADM than in K562 cells. LC3-II, as an autophagosomal marker, was more abundant in K562/ADM than in K562 cells measured by Western blotting. To determine the effect of 3-MA, a known specific inhibitor of autophagy, on overcoming acquired multidrug resistance induced by adriamycin, the MTT assay and flow cytometry were performed. We also found that 3-MA can enhance the growth inhibition and apoptotic effect of adriamycin in acquired resistant cells (K562/ADM). Collectively, our results provide evidence that the upregulation of autophagy plays a major role in multidrug resistance of K562/ADM cells induced by adriamycin.