Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Indications for Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Chronic Stable Angina: Review of the Evidence and Methodological Considerations

By 2000, more than 1 202 000 percutaneous and 519 000 surgical revascularization procedures were being performed annually in the United States.1 The 3 potential reasons to recommend myocardial revascularization are (1) to alleviate symptoms of myocardial ischemia, (2) to reduce the risks of future mortality, and (3) to treat or prevent morbidities such as myocardial infarction, arrhythmias, or heart failure. To minimize biases, this article focuses on data from prospective, randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) comparing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), stents, and medical therapy for chronic coronary artery disease (CAD). The data are interpreted in the context of a conceptual framework based on patient risk, methodological characteristics of the evidence, and the occurrence of clinically relevant end points. ### Mortality Of 7 RCTs conducted 2 decades ago, only 1 found a statistically significant difference in mortality between the medical and surgical groups. A trend toward lower mortality was noted in other trials. Meta-analysis of all 7 trials,2 totaling 2649 patients, demonstrated a reduction in mortality after CABG surgery, but this was not apparent for the first 3 years of follow-up (Figure 1). Thereafter, risk reductions were significant at 5, 7, and 10 years (relative risk [RR]=0.61, 0.68, and 0.83, respectively), although 40% of patients initially assigned to medical treatment subsequently underwent CABG surgery.2 Figure 1. Overall survival after random allocation to medical treatment or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). At 5, 7, and 10 years, 10.2%, 15.8%, and 26.4% of patients, respectively, assigned to CABG had died, compared with 15.8%, 21.7%, and 30.5% of their medically assigned counterparts. Risk reductions (RR) were significant at all 3 time points (RR=0.61, 0.68, 0.83). Reprinted from Yusuf et al2 by permission of Elsevier Science ( The Lancet . 1994;344:563–570). Reductions in the risk of death …
A Transactional Model for Long-Running Activities

March 1, 1991 Many computer-supported applications are of long duration and consist of multiple steps that are executed over possibly heterogeneous servers. Such activities have weaker atomicity requirements than transactions. Previously, we illustrated how to organize the execution of such activities using trig­ gers and transactions. In this paper, we describe an execution model in which activities may consist recursively of steps that may be subactivities or transactions. The model defines precisely the semantics of activities: com­ munication between steps and the failure semantics of activities including compensation and exception handling. The model also supports querying the status of activities. We also propose an implementation of the model using recoverable queues for reliably chaining the steps according to the se­ mantics of the model.
Monitoring Rice Agriculture in the Sacramento Valley, USA With Multitemporal PALSAR and MODIS Imagery

Rice agriculture is an important crop that influences land-atmosphere interactions and requires substantial resources for flood management. Multitemporal acquisition strategies provide an opportunity to improve rice mapping and monitoring of hydroperiod. The objectives of this study were to 1) delineate rice paddies with Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) fine-beam single/dual (FBS/D) mode measurements and 2) integrate multitemporal, ScanSAR Wide-Beam 1 (WB1)- and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)- observations for flood frequency mapping. Multitemporal and multiscale PALSAR and MODIS imagery were collected over the study region in the Sacramento Valley, California, USA. A decision-tree approach utilized multitemporal FBS (HH polarization) data to classify rice fields and WB1 measurements to assess paddy flood status. High temporal frequency MODIS products further characterized hydroperiod for each individual rice paddy using a relationship between the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and the Land Surface Water Index (LSWI). Validation found the PALSAR-derived rice paddy extent maps and hydroperiod products to possess very high overall accuracies (95% overall accuracy). Agreement between MODIS and PALSAR flood products was strong with agreement between 85-94% at four comparison dates. By using complementing products and the strengths of each instrument, image acquisition strategies and monitoring protocol can be enhanced. The results highlight how the integration of multitemporal PALSAR and MODIS can be used to generate valuable agro-ecological information products in an operational context.
The Prevalence and Clinical Features of Internal Disc Disruption in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain

Study Design This was a cross-sectional analytic study of patients with chronic low back pain. Objective To investigate whether the criteria for internal disc disruption, as adopted by the International Association for the Study of Pain, could be satisfied in patients with chronic low back pain and to test whether there were any conventional clinical features that could identify this condition. Summary of Background Data Internal disc disruption has been postulated as an important cause of low back pain. To diagnose this condition, the International Association for the Study of Pain taxonomy requires that pain be reproduced on provocation discography and that computed tomography discography reveal internal disc disruption, provided that as a control, stimulation of at least one other disc fails to reproduce pain. Methods Ninety-two consecutive patients with chronic low back pain and no history of previous lumbar surgery were studied. Each patient underwent a standard physical examination. Computed tomography discography was performed at a minimum of two levels. Results The diagnostic criteria for internal disc disruption were fully satisfied in 39% of patients, most commonly at L5-S1 and L4-L5. None of the clinical tests used could differentiate between those patients with internal disc disruption and other patients. Conclusions A diagnosis of internal disc disruption can be made in a significant proportion of patients with chronic low back pain, but no conventional clinical test can discriminate patients with internal disc disruption from patients with other conditions.
Myosin IXB gene region and gluten intolerance: linkage to coeliac disease and a putative dermatitis herpetiformis association

Background: Coeliac disease is caused by dietary gluten, which triggers chronic inflammation of the small intestine in genetically predisposed individuals. In one quarter of the patients the disease manifests in the skin as dermatitis herpetiformis. Recently, a novel candidate gene, myosin IXB on chromosome 19p13, was shown to be associated with coeliac disease in the Dutch and Spanish populations. The same gene has previously been associated with inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis risk, making myosin IXB a potential shared risk factor in these inflammatory disorders. Methods: In this study, previously reported myosin IXB variants were tested for genetic linkage and association with coeliac disease in 495 Hungarian and Finnish families and in an additional 270 patients and controls. Results and conclusion: The results show significant linkage (logarithm of odds (LOD) 3.76, p = 0.00002) to 19p13 which supports the presence of a genuine risk factor for coeliac disease in this locus. Myosin IXB variants were not associated with coeliac disease in this study; however, weak evidence of association with dermatitis herpetiformis was found. The association could not explain the strong linkage seen in both phenotypes, indicating that the role of other neighbouring genes in the region cannot be excluded. Therefore, more detailed genetic and functional studies are required to characterise the role of the myosin IXB gene in both coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis.
The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology the Organization of Conspecific Face Space in Nonhuman Primates

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Modeling safety and security interdependencies with BDMP (Boolean logic Driven Markov Processes)

Safety and security issues are increasingly converging on the same critical systems, leading to new situations in which these closely interdependent notions should now be considered together. Indeed, the related requirements, technical and organizational measures can have various interactions and side-effects ranging from mutual reinforcements to complete antagonisms. A better characterization of these interdependencies is needed to ensure a controlled level of risk for the systems concerned by such a convergence. This paper describes the state of the art on this open issue and presents a new approach based on BDMP (Boolean logic Driven Markov Processes), allowing graphical modeling and advanced characterization of safety and security interdependencies. A simple use-case is used through diverse modeling variants, illustrating the capabilities, the contributions but also the limits with respect to other works dealing with safety and security interdependencies. We believe the proposed approach constitutes an original and valuable tool which could find its place in the ongoing research aiming at tackling this open and challenging task.
N‐acetylaspartylglutamate activates cyclic AMP‐coupled metabotropic glutamate receptors in cerebellar astrocytes

N‐Acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) is the most prevalent peptide in the mammalian nervous system. NAAG meets the traditional criteria of a neurotransmitter, including localization in synaptic vesicles, depolarization‐induced release, low potency activation of some N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptors, and highly selective activation of a cAMP‐coupled metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) with potency approaching that of glutamate. The peptide is present in cultured cortical glia in high concentration and is hydrolyzed by cell surface peptidase activity. In the present work, we tested the hypothesis that NAAG selectively activates a subclass of metabotropic receptors on cultured rat cerebellar glia, primarily astrocytes. These glial cells express mRNA for mGluR subtypes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. We were not able to detect message for mGluR2 in these cells using the reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction. Cerebellar glia responded to NAAG, glutamate, and trans‐ACPD with a decrease in forskolin‐stimulated cAMP formation. AP4, an agonist of the group III receptors mGluR4, mGluR6, mGluR7, and mGluR8, had little or no effect on stimulated cAMP levels. Treatment with low micromolar NAAG significantly increased uptake of radioactive thymidine by cultured astrocytes through activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors. Antagonists of group II mGluRs prevented the decrease in cAMP and the increase in uptake of thymidine by NAAG. Cultured cerebellar astrocytes expressed 20 pmol NAAG per mg protein, a value that is at least 30‐fold lower than that expressed by mixed glial cultures prepared from mouse cortex. We conclude that cerebellar astrocytes respond to NAAG via the mGluR3 receptor and that the peptide may selectively activate this receptor subtype in astrocytes following release from neurons or glia. GLIA 24:172–179,1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Scaling Laws of Cognitive Ad Hoc Networks over General Primary Network Models

We study the capacity scaling laws for the cognitive network that consists of the primary hybrid network (PhN) and secondary ad hoc network (SaN). PhN is further comprised of an ad hoc network and a base station-based (BS-based) network. SaN and PhN are overlapping in the same deployment region, operate on the same spectrum, but are independent with each other in terms of communication requirements. The primary users (PUs), i.e., the ad hoc nodes in PhN, have the priority to access the spectrum. The secondary users (SUs), i.e., the ad hoc nodes in SaN, are equipped with cognitive radios, and have the functionalities to sense the idle spectrum and obtain the necessary information of primary nodes in PhN. We assume that PhN adopts one out of three classical types of strategies, i.e., pure ad hoc strategy, BS-based strategy, and hybrid strategy. We aim to directly derive multicast capacity for SaN to unify the unicast and broadcast capacities under two basic principles: 1) The throughput for PhN cannot be undermined in order sense due to the presence of SaN. 2) The protocol adopted by PhN does not alter in the interest of SaN, anyway. Depending on which type of strategy is adopted in PhN, we design the optimal-throughput strategy for SaN. We show that there exists a threshold of the density of SUs according to the density of PUs beyond which it can be proven that: 1) when PhN adopts the pure ad hoc strategy or hybrid strategy, SaN can achieve the multicast capacity of the same order as it is stand-alone; 2) when PhN adopts the BS-based strategy, SaN can asymptotically achieve the multicast capacity of the same order as if PhN were absent, if some specific conditions in terms of relations among the numbers of SUs, PUs, the destinations of each multicast session in SaN, and BSs in PhN hold.
Rates and Genomic Consequences of Spontaneous Mutational Events in Drosophila melanogaster

Because spontaneous mutation is the source of all genetic diversity, measuring mutation rates can reveal how natural selection drives patterns of variation within and between species. We sequenced eight genomes produced by a mutation-accumulation experiment in Drosophila melanogaster. Our analysis reveals that point mutation and small indel rates vary significantly between the two different genetic backgrounds examined. We also find evidence that ∼2% of mutational events affect multiple closely spaced nucleotides. Unlike previous similar experiments, we were able to estimate genome-wide rates of large deletions and tandem duplications. These results suggest that, at least in inbred lines like those examined here, mutational pressures may result in net growth rather than contraction of the Drosophila genome. By comparing our mutation rate estimates to polymorphism data, we are able to estimate the fraction of new mutations that are eliminated by purifying selection. These results suggest that ∼99% of duplications and deletions are deleterious—making them 10 times more likely to be removed by selection than nonsynonymous mutations. Our results illuminate not only the rates of new small- and large-scale mutations, but also the selective forces that they encounter once they arise.
The efficacy of resistance training in hypoxia to enhance strength and muscle growth: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Recent studies have reported that resistance training in hypoxia (RTH) may augment muscle size and strength development. However, consensus on the effects of RTH via systematic review and meta-analysis is not yet available. This work aimed to systematically review studies which have investigated using RTH versus normoxic resistance training (NRT) to improve muscular size and strength, and to perform a meta-analysis to determine the effect of RTH on these adaptive parameters. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library from database inception until 17 June 2017 for original articles assessing the effects of RTH on muscle size and strength versus NRT. The effects on outcomes were expressed as standardized mean differences (SMD). Nine studies (158 participants) reported on the effects of RTH versus NRT for muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) (n = 4) or strength (n = 6). RTH significantly increased CSA (SMD = 0.70, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.05, 1.35; p = . 04) and strength (SMD = 1.88; 95% CI = 1.20, 2.56; p < .00001). However, RTH did not produce significant change in CSA (SMD = 0.24, 95% CI −0.19, 0.68, p = .27) or strength (SMD = 0.20; 95% CI = −0.27, 0.78; p = .23) when compared to NRT. Although RTH improved muscle size and strength, this protocol did not provide significant benefit over resistance training in normoxia. Nevertheless, this paper identified marked differences in methodologies for implementing RTH, and future research using standardized protocols is therefore warranted.
Spectral Magnitude Speech Steganography

This paper presents a speech-hiding framework that exploits spectral properties of the Fourier magnitude and phase of digital speech signals for the purpose of hiding secret speech messages inside other speech signals for secure transmissions over unsecured networks. The technique used exploits low-pass spectral properties of the speech magnitude spectrum to embed a secret speech signal in the low-amplitude-high-frequency regions of the host speech signal&apos;s spectral magnitude. Experimental evaluations on real male and female voice segments show that our technique is capable of hiding one speech message inside another host speech segment to produce a stego speech segment that is indistinguishable from the original host speech
Lazy Susan: dumb waiting as proof of work

The open nature of Internet services has been of great value to users, enabling dramatic innovation and evolution of services. However, this openness permits many abuses of open-access Internet services such as web, email, and DNS. To counteract such abuses, a number of so called proof-of-work schemes have been proposed. They aim to prevent or limit such abuses by demanding potential clients of the service to prove that they have carried out some amount of work before they will be served. In this paper we show that existing resource-based schemes have several problems, and instead propose latency-based proof-of-work as a solution. We describe centralised and distributed variants, introducing the problem class of non-parallelisable shared secrets in the process. We also discuss application of this technique at the network layer as a way to prevent Internet distributed denial-of-service attacks.
In vitro and in vivo reconstitution of the cadherin–catenin–actin complex from Caenorhabditis elegans

The ternary complex of cadherin, β-catenin, and α-catenin regulates actin-dependent cell–cell adhesion. α-Catenin can bind β-catenin and F-actin, but in mammals α-catenin either binds β-catenin as a monomer or F-actin as a homodimer. It is not known if this conformational regulation of α-catenin is evolutionarily conserved. The Caenorhabditis elegans α-catenin homolog HMP-1 is essential for actin-dependent epidermal enclosure and embryo elongation. Here we show that HMP-1 is a monomer with a functional C-terminal F-actin binding domain. However, neither full-length HMP-1 nor a ternary complex of HMP-1–HMP-2(β-catenin)–HMR-1(cadherin) bind F-actin in vitro, suggesting that HMP-1 is auto-inhibited. Truncation of either the F-actin or HMP-2 binding domain of HMP-1 disrupts C. elegans development, indicating that HMP-1 must be able to bind F-actin and HMP-2 to function in vivo. Our study defines evolutionarily conserved properties of α-catenin and suggests that multiple mechanisms regulate α-catenin binding to F-actin.
Endoplasmic reticulum stress in the pathogenesis of hypertension

What is the topic of this review? This review highlights the emerging role of disruptions in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) function, namely ER stress, as a contributor to hypertension. What advances does it highlight? This review presents an integrative view of ER stress in cardiovascular control systems, including systems within the brain, kidney and peripheral vasculature, as related to development of hypertension.
Ingestional and transgenerational effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident on the pale grass blue butterfly

One important public concern in Japan is the potential health effects on animals and humans that live in the Tohoku-Kanto districts associated with the ingestion of foods contaminated with artificial radionuclides from the collapsed Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. Additionally, transgenerational or heritable effects of radiation exposure are also important public concerns because these effects could cause long-term changes in animal and human populations. Here, we concisely review our findings and implications related to the ingestional and transgenerational effects of radiation exposure on the pale grass blue butterfly, Zizeeria maha, which coexists with humans. The butterfly larval ingestion of contaminated leaves found in areas of human habitation, even at low doses, resulted in morphological abnormalities and death for some individuals, whereas other individuals were not affected, at least morphologically. This variable sensitivity serves as a basis for the adaptive evolution of radiation resistance. The distribution of abnormality and mortality rates from low to high doses fits well with a Weibull function model or a power function model. The offspring generated by morphologically normal individuals that consumed contaminated leaves exhibited high mortality rates when fed contaminated leaves; importantly, low mortality rates were restored when they were fed non-contaminated leaves. Our field monitoring over 3 years (2011–2013) indicated that abnormality and mortality rates peaked primarily in the fall of 2011 and decreased afterwards to normal levels. These findings indicate high impacts of early exposure and transgenerationally accumulated radiation effects over a specific period; however, the population regained normality relatively quickly after ∼15 generations within 3 years.
Cis- and trans-membrane interactions of synaptotagmin-1

In neurotransmission synaptotagmin-1 tethers synaptic vesicles to the presynaptic plasma membrane by binding to acidic membrane lipids and SNAREs and promotes rapid SNARE-mediated fusion upon Ca2+ triggering. However, recent studies suggested that upon membrane contact synaptotagmin may not only bind in trans to the target membrane but also in cis to its own membrane. Using a sensitive membrane tethering assay we have now dissected the structural requirements and concentration ranges for Ca2+-dependent and -independent cis-binding and trans-tethering in the presence and absence of acidic phospholipids and SNAREs. Using variants of membrane-anchored synaptotagmin in which the Ca2+-binding sites in the C2 domains and a basic cluster involved in membrane binding were disrupted we show that Ca2+-dependent cis-binding prevents trans-interactions if the cis-membrane contains 12–20% anionic phospholipids. Similarly, no trans-interactions were observable using soluble C2AB-domain fragments at comparable concentrations. At saturating concentrations, however, tethering was observed with soluble C2AB domains, probably due to crowding on the vesicle surface and competition for binding sites. We conclude that trans-interactions of synaptotagmin considered to be essential for its function are controlled by a delicate balance between cis- and trans-binding, which may play an important modulatory role in synaptic transmission.