Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IRS-TR 03001: The Eect of Spectral Pointing-Induced Throughput Error on Data from the IRS

We have simulated the eect of spacecraft pointing on the fraction of ux from an astronomical source which will pass through a slit on the Infrared Spectrograph on SIRTF. We show that calibrating for throughput assuming that a source is always centered in the slit will result in errors of several per cent for a signican t fraction of observations using high accuracy peak-up (HP1). When using moderate accuracy peak-up (HP2), the relative throughput errors exceed 25% for a 5% of the observations with Short Low. These errors are generally more severe for the short-wavelength modules, and thus observations with these modules should use HP1 peak-up if spectrophotometric calibration is important.
Does anxiety-linked attentional bias to threatening information reflect bias in the setting of attentional goals, or bias in the execution of attentional goals?

ABSTRACT Heightened anxiety vulnerability is characterised by an attentional bias that favours the processing of negative information. However, this anxiety-linked attentional bias is amenable to two quite different explanations. One possibility is that it reflects anxiety-linked bias in the setting of attentional goals that favours setting the goal of attending towards negative information over the alternative goal of attending away from such information. Another possibility is that it reflects anxiety-linked bias in the execution of attentional goals that enhances the execution of the former attentional goal compared to the latter. The present study introduces a novel methodology designed to discriminate the validity of these competing hypotheses, by examining anxiety-linked attentional bias under two conditions. One condition left attentional goals unconstrained. The other condition imposed the attentional goal of either attending towards more negative or more benign emotional stimuli. The finding that anxiety-linked attentional bias was observed only under the former condition supported the hypothesis that anxiety is characterised by a bias favouring the setting attentional goals involving vigilance rather than avoidance of negative information, while giving no support to the hypothesis that anxiety is characterised by a bias reflecting enhanced execution of the former attentional goal compared to the latter.
Dependence of the radiation response of an in vitro tumor model on cell cycle effects.

Summary Multicellular “spheroids” of Chinese hamster V79 cells grown in suspension culture are morphologically similar to areas of some solid tumors. Single cells from spheroids were obtained by trypsinization and assayed for colony-forming ability after intact spheroids of different sizes were exposed to ionizing irradiation. The multicomponent survival curves thus obtained were shown to be the result of cells residing in three states of radiosensitivity: radiosensitive G 1 -like noncycling cells, more resistant asynchronously cycling cells, and highly radioresistant hypoxic internal noncycling cells. The influence of intercellular contact as cells progressed through the cell cycle was discussed with regard to radiotherapy.
EQUILIBRIUM AMONG HEMATOPORPHYRIN DERIVATIVE COMPONENTSs—II. EFFECT OF ESTERASE ACTIVITY

Abstract— Photofrin II is the hematoporphyrin‐derivative fraction enriched in covalently‐linked oligomers, characterized by a high degree of folding. Interaction with hydrophobic structures, such as biomolecules and cell structures, results in a modification of the equilibria among the different species, as a consequence of an unfolding effect exerted towards the electrostatic aggregates. The effect of esterase activity was evaluated, taking into account the nature suggested for the covalent linkage of the oligomers (ether and/or ester). The study was performed in Photofrin II aqueous solution by means of absorption and fluorescence spectral analysis. The results showed that the esterase is active only towards the unfold oligomers: that is, in Photofrin II solution supplemented with albumin. In these conditions, spectral analysis revealed the presence of a monomerization process, which is clearly evident during the first four hours of incubation. The monomerization effect induced by the enzyme was also proven by both equilibrium‐dialysis measurements and zinc ion complexation. Zinc ion complexes with high affinity for monomeric species, giving rise to a very distinct emission band at 580 nm. The amount of ester linkage shown in the oligomers through enzyme hydrolysis appeared to be less than might have been expected, owing to the inhibiting effect of the monomer produced on the enzyme. The results are a step toward clarifying the intracellular and intratissue turnover of the drug observed after administration.
Leukocyte telomere length and coronary artery calci fi cation in Palestinians

Objective: Shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is associated with higher incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and increased mortality. We examined the association of LTL with coronary artery calcification (CAC), which reflects the cumulative burden of coronary atherosclerosis, in an urban Arab sample of Palestinians, a population at high risk of CHD. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, a random sample of East Jerusalem residents, comprising 250 men aged 45e77 and women aged 55e76 and free of CHD or past stroke, was drawn from the Israel national population register. LTL was measured by Southern blots. CAC was determined by 16-slice multidetector helical CT scanning using Agatston scoring. We applied multivariable logistic modeling to examine the association between sex-specific tertiles of LTL and CAC (comparing scores >100 vs.<100, and the upper third vs. the lower 2 thirds), controlling for age, sex, education and coronary risk factors. Results: CAC, evident in 65% of men and 52% of women, was strongly associated with age (sex-adjusted Spearman’s rho 0.495). The multivariable-adjusted odds ratios for CAC >100 (found in 30% of men and 29% of women) were 2.92 (95% CI 1.28e6.68) and 2.29 (0.99e5.30) for the lower and mid-tertiles of LTL vs. the upper tertile, respectively (Ptrend 1⁄4 0.008). Findings were similar for CAC scores in the upper tertile (Ptrend 1⁄4 0.006), and persisted after the exclusion of patients with diabetes or receiving statins. Conclusions: Shorter LTL was associated with a greater prevalence of asymptomatic coronary atherosclerosis in an urban Arab population-based sample. Mechanisms underlying this association should be sought. 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-SA license. and Community Medicine, rem, Jerusalem 91120, Israel. Kark), dhnnc@hotmail.com m), ronits2@hadassah.org. il , vartaaboudi@hotmail.com ot), kimurama@umdnj.edu r Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-SA
Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci in Camellia nitidissima Chi (Theaceae).

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY Microsatellite markers were developed in Camellia nitidissima for further population genetic studies. • METHODS AND RESULTS Eight microsatellite markers were newly developed from C. nitidissima and 7 were transferred from other Camellia species. Two to 13 alleles per locus were identified for these microsatellites. Observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.040 to 0.909, and 0.184 to 0.916, respectively. Four loci showed a significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and five locus pairs displayed linkage disequilibrium. • CONCLUSIONS These microsatellite markers will be useful to assess the genetic variation and genetic structure of C. nitidissima.
The Orientation of the Local Interstellar Magnetic Field

The orientation of the local interstellar magnetic field introduces asymmetries in the heliosphere that affect the location of heliospheric radio emissions and the streaming direction of ions from the termination shock of the solar wind. We combined observations of radio emissions and energetic particle streaming with extensive three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic computer simulations of magnetic field draping over the heliopause to show that the plane of the local interstellar field is ∼60° to 90° from the galactic plane. This finding suggests that the field orientation in the Local Interstellar Cloud differs from that of a larger-scale interstellar magnetic field thought to parallel the galactic plane.
Finding the shortest path by use of neural networks

The authors present a method for finding the shortest trajectory in 2D space by neural networks. To solve effectively the trajectory planning problem with obstacles of arbitrary shape, they propose a neural network to transform the free space into a structured path network characterizing its topological property. The representative of each topological class is then optimized by a cellule network simulating a retraction minimizing the energy of the system. And the shortest one from different classes gives therefore the final solution. This method works well for obstacles of arbitrary shape; it is simulated and tested for 2D trajectory planning tasks, and the experimental results are satisfactory. <<ETX>>
Stability estimates of generalized geometric sums and their applications

The upper bounds of the uniform distance p (Σ v k=1 X k , Σ v k=1 X k ) between two sums of a random number v of independent random variables are given. The application of these bounds is illustrated by stability (continuity) estimating in models in queueing and risk theory.
Association of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and mitochondrial dysfunction in the hippocampus of scrapie‐infected mice

The elevation of nitric oxide (NO) within the central nervous system (CNS) is known to be associated with the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as HIV‐associated dementia (HAD), brain ischemia, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. NO is enzymatically formed by the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS). There are two forms of NOS, the constitutive and the inducible form. The constitutive form is present in endothelial cells (eNOS) and neurons (nNOS). The inducible form (iNOS) is expressed in various cell types including astroglia and microglia of the CNS. Using an animal model, we investigated the involvement of eNOS in the pathology of prion disease. We showed dramatic upregulation of eNOS immunoreactivity in reactive astroglial cells in the hippocampus in the prion disease animal model, scrapie in mice. Expression of eNOS was upregulated in cytosolic and mitochondrial fractions of whole brain. In the hippocampal region, eNOS was widely overexpressed in various components of the cell. We found that eNOS dramatically accumulated in hippocampal mitochondria and was particularly prevalent in structurally dysfunctional mitochondria. In association with the accumulation of eNOS in mitochondria, we showed that mitochondrial superoxide dismutase (Mn‐SOD or SOD2), cytochrome c, and ATP activity were downregulated both in whole brain and in the hippocampal region. These results indicate that eNOS plays a role in the development of dysfunctional mitochondria and this, in turn, could induce some of the histopathological changes seen in prion diseases. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Detection of amphotericin B-resistant Candida isolates in a broth-based system

Because of the limited ability of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards proposed M27P methodology to detect resistance to amphotericin B by Candida isolates, we sought to identify alternative media and pH conditions that could reliably identify resistant isolates. Antibiotic Medium 3 broth (also known as Penassay broth) buffered to pH 5 or pH 7 produced superior results and readily identified a series of resistant isolates.
Study of normal and pathological blood vessel morphogenesis in Flt1‐tdsRed BAC Tg mice

Blood vessel development and network patterning are controlled by several signaling molecules, including VEGF, FGF, TGF‐ß, and Ang‐1,2. Among these, the role of VEGF‐A signaling in vessel morphogenesis is best understood. The biological activity of VEGF‐A depends on its reaction with specific receptors Flt1 and Flk1. Roles of VEGF‐A signaling in endothelial cell proliferation, migration, survival, vascular permeability, and induction of tip cell filopodia have been reported. In this study, we have generated Flt1‐tdsRed BAC transgenic (Tg) mice to monitor Flt1 gene expression during vascular development. We show that tdsRed fluorescence is observed within blood vessels of adult mice and embryos, indicative of retinal angiogenesis and tumor angiogenesis. Flt1 expression recapitulated by Flt1‐tdsRed BAC Tg mice overlapped well with Flk1, while Flt1 was expressed more abundantly in endothelial cells of large blood vessels such as dorsal aorta and presumptive stalk cells in retina, providing a unique model to study blood vessel development. genesis 50:561–571, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Patient expectation is a strong predictor of severe nausea after chemotherapy

Patients may use their past experiences with nausea, as well as information about the incidence of nausea from chemotherapy that other patients have experienced, to form a prediction, or response expectancy, of nausea from their own upcoming chemotherapy. Mounting evidence suggests that these expectancies relating to nausea are significant predictors, and, likely, contributing factors to the development of treatment‐related nausea.
A Statistical Approach for Interval Forecasting of the Electricity Price

Electricity price forecasting is a difficult yet essential task for market participants in a deregulated electricity market. Rather than forecasting the value, market participants are sometimes more interested in forecasting the prediction interval of the electricity price. Forecasting the prediction interval is essential for estimating the uncertainty involved in the price and thus is highly useful for making generation bidding strategies and investment decisions. In this paper, a novel data mining-based approach is proposed to achieve two major objectives: 1) to accurately forecast the value of the electricity price series, which is widely accepted as a nonlinear time series; 2) to accurately estimate the prediction interval of the electricity price series. In the proposed approach, support vector machine (SVM) is employed to forecast the value of the price. To forecast the prediction interval, we construct a statistical model by introducing a heteroscedastic variance equation for the SVM. Maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is used to estimate model parameters. Results from the case studies on real-world price data prove that the proposed method is highly effective compared with existing methods such as GARCH models.
Feasibility of Identifying a Female Sex Worker Cohort at High Risk of HIV Infection in the Caribbean for HIV Vaccine Efficacy Trials: Longitudinal Results of HVTN 907

Background:Identifying cohorts of Caribbean women with HIV infection rates sufficient for inclusion in HIV vaccine efficacy trials has been challenging. HVTN 907 determined the feasibility of identifying and retaining a cohort of women at high risk for HIV acquisition by focusing recruitment on female sex workers (FSWs). Methods:HIV uninfected FSWs, residing in Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, who reported unprotected sex and met previously described more stringent site-specific eligibility criteria, were eligible. Behavioral risk assessment, HIV counseling and testing, and pregnancy testing were performed at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months. Results:Among 799 FSWs (264 from Dominican Republic, 334 from Haiti, and 201 from Puerto Rico), the median age was 26 years, with 54% having less than a high school education and 45% having a monthly household income of less than $US 100. Median number of male partners 6 months before screening was 200. Retention at 18 months was 93%. Twelve women became HIV infected, 9 from Haiti. The annualized HIV incidence was 1.07% (95% confidence interval: 0.55% to 1.87%). Pregnancy incidence was 22.5% (95% confidence interval: 21.9% to 29.5%). Statistically significant declines in risk behaviors occurred between screening and the 18-month visit assessment. Discussion:The HVTN 907 study identified a high-risk cohort of women with excellent retention for all 3 sites, despite major challenges especially in Haiti. These results show that a bridging study of a vaccine shown to be efficacious in other clade settings would be possible among FSWs in the region, particularly in Haiti.
An evaluation of potential interferences in a fluorimetric assay for the rapid detection of thermotolerant coliforms in sewage

C.M. DAVIES and S.C. APTE.2000. A 1‐h fluorimetric assay of β‐ d‐galactosidase activity was evaluated for determining thermotolerant coliforms (TTC) in sewage samples. Above TTC concentrations of 2·3 × 103 colony‐forming units (cfu) 100 ml−1, the assay response was related to TTC concentration. However, below this concentration, a large background signal was observed which was independent of TTC concentration. A separation scheme involving various filtration treatments and additions of a β‐ d‐galactosidase inhibitor was devised and used to quantify the sources of this anomalous assay response. The interferences encountered were largely due to the presence in sewage of non‐specific cell‐free enzymes or other cell‐free substances that were capable of hydrolysing the fluorogenic substrate. Despite this apparent limitation, the fluorimetric enzyme assay has potential as an ‘early warning’ indicator of treatment process failure and gross sewage contamination and leakage in situations where TTC concentrations exceed 2·3 × 103 cfu 100 ml−1
Convergence rate analysis of Tikhonov regularization for nonlinear ill-posed problems with noisy operators

We investigate convergence rates of Tikhonov regularization for nonlinear ill-posed problems when both the right-hand side and the operator are corrupted by noise. Two models of operator noise are considered, namely uniform noise bounds and pointwise noise bounds. We derive convergence rates for both noise models in Hilbert and in Banach spaces. These results extend existing results where the forward operator is mostly assumed to be linear.
How does a woman with Alzheimer’s disease make sense of becoming cared for?

This case study explores the meaning one woman with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) gives to receiving assistance with instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) from her spouse. Improving the care of people living with AD is widely accepted as an important outcome in dementia services. Understanding how it feels for the person with AD to receive that care is essential to enhance their quality of life. Experiences identified using interpretative phenomenological analysis focus on a connection to past self and maintaining identity whilst also accepting change. The experience of ‘Sameness and Change’ identifies her feelings of discontinuity whilst ‘Goodness’ depicts her continued emotional expression of care presented in an attempt to remain someone of value within her family. These findings offer new insight and understanding to assist a woman’s transition from carer to becoming cared for.
Association of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program With Surgical Readmissions

Importance Readmissions after surgery lead to poor patient outcomes and increased costs. The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) penalizes hospitals with excess readmissions after specified medical and surgical discharges. Objective To evaluate the association of the HRRP with readmissions after major joint surgery (targeted) and procedures with historically high rates not under its purview (nontargeted). Design, Setting, and Participants In this population-based analysis using a 20% Medicare sample, a retrospective cohort study was performed of patients undergoing one of 5 major surgical procedures between January 1, 2006, and November 30, 2014. The study included 507 663 patients with targeted (total knee arthroplasty and total hip arthroplasty) and 164 472 patients with nontargeted (abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, colectomy, and lung resection) procedures performed at 2773 hospitals. Exposure Implementation of the HRRP policy. Main Outcomes and Measures Hospital-level 30-day risk-adjusted rates of readmission and observation stays were calculated using multivariable logistic regression models. Changes in these rates were analyzed for 3 distinct periods (prepolicy [January 1, 2006, to June 30, 2010], performance [July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2013], and penalty [July 1, 2013, to November 30, 2014]) corresponding to the HRRP implementation timeline for major joint surgery using interrupted time series. Results Among 672 135 Medicare beneficiaries 66 years or older treated at 2773 hospitals, readmissions for all procedures decreased significantly over the study period. Readmission rates after targeted procedures decreased faster during the performance period (slope, −0.060; 95% CI, −0.079 to −0.041) compared with the prepolicy period (slope, −0.012; 95% CI, −0.027 to 0.034) (P < .002). For the nontargeted procedures, readmission rates were decreasing during the prepolicy period (slope, −0.200; 95% CI, −0.240 to −0.160) but stabilized during the performance period (slope, 0.008; 95% CI, −0.049 to 0.066 (P < .001). The use of observation stays increased slightly, accounting for 11% of the decrease in readmissions. Conclusions and Relevance The HRRP effectively decreased readmissions for targeted procedures. There were no associated spillover effects for common nontargeted procedures. A better understanding of differences in the association of the policy with medical and surgical discharges will be necessary to further enhance its generalizability.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR REPLY TO : EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF MECHANICAL THROMBECTOMY IN OLDER ADULTS WITH ACUTE ISCHEMIC STROKE : TWO METHODOLOGICAL CONCERNS

To the Editor: We would like to answer the critical issues that Safiri and colleagues raised about the recent work of Sallustio and colleagues. Safiri and colleagues claimed that the effect of the variables in the multivariable analysis, constructed to evaluate potential outcome predictors in elderly adults with acute ischemic stroke treated with mechanical thrombectomy, was overestimated and that evidence of data bias was sparse. Variable selection is often a challenge and is often complicated by different statistical philosophies. Epidemiological statistics suggest that all clinically relevant variables should be include regardless of their statistical significance, but the decision to use such a model with all possible variables depends on the overall sample size and the number of candidate variables. In the case of an inadequate data set, it might be better to select variables based on results of univariate analyses. In the work of Sallustio and colleagues, data on individuals with acute ischemic stroke were collected from a prospective endovascular stroke registry, from which only 219 individuals were selected. The decision to choose variables for the regression model was based on statistical significance. The selection process was begun with a univariate analysis of each variable. Any variable with a significant univariate test was selected as a candidate for the multivariable analysis. We agree that, using this method, there is the possibility of overestimating the effect of each selected variable and that there is a sparse data bias also because of the small sample size, but to our knowledge, this is one of the largest single-center controlled studies of endovascular treatment in elderly adults with acute ischemic stroke. The results seem to suggest that endovascular treatment for acute ischemic stroke in elderly adults is safe and effective, but further studies in larger series are warranted to better measure the effect size of outcome predictors.