Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hearing-aid use and long-term health outcomes: Hearing handicap, mental health, social engagement, cognitive function, physical health, and mortality

Abstract Objective: To clarify the impact of hearing aids on mental health, social engagement, cognitive function, and physical health outcomes in older adults with hearing impairment. Design: We assessed hearing handicap (hearing handicap inventory for the elderly; HHIE-S), cognition (mini mental state exam, trail making, auditory verbal learning, digit-symbol substitution, verbal fluency, incidence of cognitive impairment), physical health (SF-12 physical component, basic and instrumental activities of daily living, mortality), social engagement (hours per week spent in solitary activities), and mental health (SF-12 mental component) at baseline, five years prior to baseline, and five and 11 years after baseline. Study sample: Community-dwelling older adults with hearing impairment (N = 666) from the epidemiology of hearing loss study cohort. Results: There were no significant differences between hearing-aid users and non-users in cognitive, social engagement, or mental health outcomes at any time point. Aided HHIE-S was significantly better than unaided HHIE-S. At 11 years hearing-aid users had significantly better SF-12 physical health scores (46.2 versus 41.2; p = 0.03). There was no difference in incidence of cognitive impairment or mortality. Conclusion: There was no evidence that hearing aids promote cognitive function, mental health, or social engagement. Hearing aids may reduce hearing handicap and promote better physical health.
Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis Fibronectin Attachment Protein Facilitates M-Cell Targeting and Invasion through a Fibronectin Bridge with Host Integrins

ABSTRACT Efficient attachment and ingestion of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis by cultured epithelial cells requires the expression of a fibronectin (FN) attachment protein homologue (FAP-P) which mediates FN binding by M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis. Invasion of Peyer's patches by M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis occurs through M cells, which, unlike other intestinal epithelial cells, express integrins on their luminal faces. We sought to determine if the interaction between FAP-P of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis and soluble FN enabled targeting and invasion of M cells by M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis in vivo via these surface integrins. Wild-type and antisense FAP-P mutant M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis strains were injected alone or coinjected with blocking peptides or antibodies into murine gut loops, and immunofluorescence microscopy was performed to assess targeting and invasion of M cells by M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis. Nonopsonized M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis preferentially invaded M cells in murine gut loops. M-cell invasion was enhanced 2.6-fold when M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis was pretreated with FN. Invasion of M cells by the antisense FAP-P mutant of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis was reduced by 77 to 90% relative to that observed for the control strains. Peptides corresponding to the RGD and synergy site integrin recognition regions of FN blocked M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis invasion of M cells by 75 and 45%, respectively, whereas the connecting segment 1 peptide was noninhibitory. Antibodies against the α5, αV, β1, and β3 integrin subunits inhibited M-cell invasion by 52 to 73%. The results indicate that targeting and invasion of M cells by M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis in vivo is mediated primarily by the formation of an FN bridge formed between FAP-P of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis and integrins on M cells.
Modulation of voltage‐activated Ca currents by pain‐inducing agents in a dorsal root ganglion neuronal line, F‐11

Whole cell currents evoked by pain‐inducing agents—bradykinin (Bk), capsaicin (Cap), and reciniferatoxin (RTX), and their modulation of voltage‐activated Ca currents were examined in F‐11 cells using a patch electrode voltage clamp technique. Most F‐11 cells generated action potentials under current clamp if their membrane potentials were held sufficiently negative. Average peak inward Na current (INa) was 100 μA/cm2 and the INa was abolished by 10−6 M tetrodotoxin. At least two types of Ca currents could be clearly distinguished on the basis of voltage dependency and kinetics; a low threshold transient ICa(t) and a high threshold sustained ICa(I). In addition, another high threshold transient Ca current, presumably ICa(n), was observed. About 30% of the cells produced inward current for these pain‐inducing agents, when activated at the membrane holding potential of −70 mV. In some F‐11 cells, the amplitude of action potential was observed to increase during 10−6 M Cap‐induced depolarization. Both low and high threshold Ca currents were reduced by 10−6 M Bk in the majority of the cells. Similarly, both 10−6 M Cap and 10−9 M RTX reduced these Ca currents. However, a considerable number of cells showed an initial enhancement followed by reduction in the amplitude of these Ca currents. With higher concentrations of these ligands, all Ca currents were suppressed. Such modulation of voltage‐activated Ca currents by pain‐inducing agents occurred in both the presence and absence of apparent receptor‐activated current flows in the cells. In pertussis toxin (PTX)‐treated cells, the inhibitory modulation of Ca currents by pain‐inducing agents was suppressed. In contrast, in cholera toxin (CTX)‐treated cells, this inhibitory modulation appeared to be enhanced. These data indicate that the inhibitory modulation of Ca channel currents by Cap and RTX, similarly to that of Bk, involves a PTX‐sensitive inhibitory G protein (Gi). © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Using the active object model to implement multi-agent systems

The authors discuss the implementation and run-time support for multi-agent systems (MAS). They start presenting MAS in the context of open distributed processing (ODP). Next, a model of a cognitive agent being currently developed at LIFIA is detailed. Taking this model as reference, the authors examine alternatives for supporting cognitive agents in distributed and heterogeneous environments. Finally, a distributed processing tool developed by the authors is presented. This tool follows the active object model and it is shown that active object and agent are strongly related concepts.
Hyperbolic location estimation of malicious nodes in mobile WiFi/802.11 networks

Hyperbolic position bounding (HPB) provides a mechanism to probabilistically delimit the location of a wireless network malicious insider to a candidate area. A large scale path loss model is used to construct a probable distance difference range between a rogue transmitter and a pair of trusted receivers. Hyperbolas are constructed at the minimum and maximum bounds of this range to delineate the position of a rogue with a given confidence level. We describe an outdoor experiment with a WiFi/802.11 network. Measured received signal strength (RSS) values, as well as path loss parameters obtained from signal propagation losses, are used by HPB to bound the location of a mobile transmitter within the WiFi/802.11 network with a degree of confidence. Experimental results are compared against prior simulation results and found to be consistent.
Lambda Interferon Inhibits Hepatitis B and C Virus Replication

ABSTRACT Lambda interferon (IFN-λ) induces an intracellular IFN-α/β-like antiviral response through a receptor complex distinct from the IFN-α/β receptor. We therefore determined the ability of IFN-λ to inhibit hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication. IFN-λ inhibits HBV replication in a differentiated murine hepatocyte cell line with kinetics and efficiency similar to IFN-α/β and does not require the expression of IFN-α/β or IFN-γ. Furthermore, IFN-λ blocked the replication of a subgenomic and a full-length genomic HCV replicon in human hepatocyte Huh7 cells. These results suggest the possibility that IFN-λ may be therapeutically useful in the treatment of chronic HBV or HCV infection.
Three Essays on the Quality of Marriage

In these essays I focus on issues that affect the quality of marriage. First, I analyze the effect of the Chilean divorce law on a woman’s decision of when to have the first child. Using survival analysis, I find that the divorce law has had a positive effect on the hazard for highly-educated women. This result suggests that highly-educated women may have waited to have the first child until they were able to afford the additional costs that a child may bring to a divorce process in case the couple decided to separate. In the second essay I analyze the relationship between domestic violence and marriage duration. Using a representative sample of Peru’s female population between 15 and 49 years old, I find that domestic violence may increase the hazard of divorce. Moreover, I find that the change in the hazard varies over time, increasing immediately after the first physical or sexual aggression from the husband, and decreasing afterwards. In the third essay I evaluate the role of domestic violence as a causal mechanism in the effect of civil conflict violence on a woman’s labor force participation. Using data on the civil conflict violence from Peru and assuming unconfoundedness, I find that the probability of working increased by 0.0454 (eight percent) for women who live in areas affected by the civil conflict and that about 27 percent of this increase is mediated by the woman’s exposure to domestic violence. Three Essays on the Quality of Marriage
Optimal synchrony state for maximal information transmission

This work investigated the roles of spontaneous synchronized rhythmic oscillations in information processing in a globally coupled neural network. We found that in the encoding of input aperiodic signals, there exists a range of optimal synchronous states in the network, where the information transmission rate and coding efficiency of the network are maximized. Our results indicate that it is not the weaker or stronger but an appropriate synchronous state may be of more functional significance in sensory encoding.
Priming Neural Circuits to Modulate Spinal Reflex Excitability

While priming is most often thought of as a strategy for modulating neural excitability to facilitate voluntary motor control, priming stimulation can also be utilized to target spinal reflex excitability. In this application, priming can be used to modulate the involuntary motor output that often follows central nervous system injury. Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) often experience spasticity, for which antispasmodic medications are the most common treatment. Physical therapeutic/electroceutic interventions offer an alternative treatment for spasticity, without the deleterious side effects that can accompany pharmacological interventions. While studies of physical therapeutic/electroceutic interventions have been published, a systematic comparison of these approaches has not been performed. The purpose of this study was to compare four non-pharmacological interventions to a sham-control intervention to assess their efficacy for spasticity reduction. Participants were individuals (n = 10) with chronic SCI (≥1 year) who exhibited stretch-induced quadriceps spasticity. Spasticity was quantified using the pendulum test before and at two time points after (immediate, 45 min delayed) each of four different physical therapeutic/electroceutic interventions, plus a sham-control intervention. Interventions included stretching, cyclic passive movement (CPM), transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tcSCS), and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). The sham-control intervention consisted of a brief ramp-up and ramp-down of knee and ankle stimulation while reclined with legs extended. The order of interventions was randomized, and each was tested on a separate day with at least 48 h between sessions. Compared to the sham-control intervention, stretching, CPM, and tcSCS were associated with a significantly greater reduction in spasticity immediately after treatment. While the immediate effect was largest for stretching, the reduction persisted for 45 min only for the CPM and tcSCS interventions. tDCS had no immediate or delayed effects on spasticity when compared to sham-control. Interestingly, the sham-control intervention was associated with significant within-session increases in spasticity, indicating that spasticity increases with immobility. These findings suggest that stretching, CPM, and tcSCS are viable non-pharmacological alternatives for reducing spasticity, and that CPM and tcSCS have prolonged effects. Given that the observed effects were from a single-session intervention, future studies should determine the most efficacious dosing and timing strategies.
High prevalence of multiple paternity within fruits in natural populations of Silene latifolia, as revealed by microsatellite DNA analysis

Data on multiple paternity within broods has been gathered in several animal species, and comparable data in plants would be of great importance to understand the evolution of reproductive traits in a common framework. In this study, we first isolated and characterized six microsatellite loci from the dioecious plant Silene latifolia (Caryophyllaceae). The polymorphism of the loci was assessed in 60 individual females from four different populations. Two of the investigated loci showed a pattern of inheritance consistent with X‐linkage. These microsatellite loci were highly polymorphic and therefore useful tools for parentage analysis. We then used four of the markers to determine paternity within naturally pollinated fruits in four European populations. This study revealed widespread multiple paternity in all populations investigated. The minimum number of fathers per fruit varied from one to nine, with population means ranging from 3.4 to 4.9. The number of fathers per fruit was not significantly correlated with offspring sex ratios. High prevalence of multiple paternity within fruits strongly suggest that pollen competition is likely to occur in this species. This may substantially impact male reproductive success and possibly contribute to increase female and offspring fitness, either through postpollination selection or increased genetic diversity. Wide variation in outcrossing rates may be an overlooked aspect of plant mating systems.
Cross datasets vegetation detection with spatial prior and local context

In this paper, we propose a vision-based approach for roadside vegetation detection by superpixel matching with local context. Unlike previous detection methods which seek help from additional sensors such as lidar, our algorithm only requires an off-the-shelf camera. The proposed method contains two stages. In the first stage, a superpixel database is constructed by segmenting training images into superpixels, and each superpixel patch is represented with multiple features. After that, the appearance information of vegetation or non-vegetation is encoded in the superpixel database. In the second stage, vegetation detection in each testing image is achieved by superpixel matching. The test image is segmented into superpixels and the (vegetation) label cost of each superpixel is derived by comparing with the k-nearest neighbors in the superpixel database. Furthermore, we incorporate the local context information through the feedback to refine superpixel matching. Taking this context information into account, Markov Random Field (MRF) is utilized to further improve the classification accuracy. Besides, considering the stable layout of road scene images, we utilize spatial priors of road scene to guide vegetation classification. Experiments on real-world datasets demonstrate the promise of our method.
Clinical and molecular features of uterine sarcomas

INTRODUCAO: Sarcomas uterinos constituem forma rara de neoplasia maligna, composta por cerca de 3% de todos os tumores malignos do utero, o que representa menos de 1% de todas as neoplasias ginecologicas. Baixa taxa de cura muitas vezes ocorre devido a metastases a distância, geralmente para os pulmoes. Agressividade, altas taxas de recorrencia local, metastases a distância e prognostico desfavoravel com sobrevida global de dois anos em menos de 50% sao caracteristicas comuns aos sarcomas uterinos. Apesar da baixa prevalencia, estes tumores sao de grande interesse devido as suas multiplas caracteristicas morfologicas e clinicas. OBJETIVO: Este artigo focaliza aspectos gerais dos sarcomas uterinos, etiologia, prognostico, tratamento e metodos moleculares utilizados em seu estudo. METODOLOGIA: Esta revisao foi realizada utilizando o banco de dados Pubmed para pesquisar artigos publicados que continham as palavras-chaves: sarcoma uterino, caracteristicas moleculares, fatores prognosticos. RESULTADOS: Pouco se sabe sobre a etiologia dos sarcomas uterinos. Alguns estudos tem demonstrado a associacao entre eventos geneticos que envolvem mutacoes em genes do ciclo celular e apoptose e epigenetica em sarcomas ginecologicos. Estudos anteriores mostraram que as translocacoes cromossomicas foram identificadas, resultando em genes de fusao que sao constitutivos e podem envolver a ativacao de fatores de transcricao. Os avancos nas tecnicas moleculares tem melhorado as possibilidades diagnosticas e permitiu uma melhor compreensao de diversas patologias. CONCLUSOES: Ha varios fatores que dificultam o estudo de sarcomas, pois trata-se de tumores raros e nao se sabe a origem celular de cada um de seus tipos histologicos. Assim, o estudo molecular dos fenomenos envolvidos no desenvolvimento dos diferentes tipos de câncer levou a novas estrategias utilizadas no diagnostico e no tratamento destes tumores.
Multivariate Exponential Smoothing for Forecasting Tourism Arrivals to Australia and New Zealand

In this paper we propose a new set of multivariate stochastic models that capture time varying seasonality within the vector innovations structural time series (VISTS) framework. These models encapsulate exponential smoothing methods in a multivariate setting. The models considered are the local level, local trend and damped trend VISTS models with an additive multivariate seasonal component. We evaluate their performances for forecasting international tourist arrivals from eleven source countries to Australia and New Zealand.
A Tale of Self-Monitoring, Social Capital, and Social Media

We examined whether individual self-monitoring differences predict what type of relationships people have on Facebook. In the offline world, high self-monitors have large heterogeneous social networks made up of weak emotional ties, whereas low self-monitors have small homogenous social networks made up of strong emotional ties. In our study, we defined online relationships in terms of bridging and bonding social capital. Bridging social capital refers to large heterogeneous social networks made up of weak emotional ties. People maintain these relationships for social benefits. Bonding social capital refers to small homogeneous social networks made up of strong emotional ties. People maintain these relationships for emotional benefits. We predicted high self-monitors will have more bridging than bonding social capital on Facebook; low self-monitors will have more bonding than bridging social capital on Facebook. We believed attitudes about using Facebook would moderate these relationships. We used Snyder‟s Self-Monitoring Scale, Williams‟ Online Social Capital Scales, and Facebook Intensity Scale to assess our variables of interest. We found support for our hypotheses. For high self-monitors, greater importance placed on Facebook usage predicted increases in bridging social capital on Facebook; for low self-monitors, greater importance placed on Facebook usage predicted increases in bonding social capital on Facebook.
Circulating Prostate Cells Found in Men with Benign Prostate Disease Are P504S Negative: Clinical Implications

Introduction. Developments in immunological and quantitative real-time PCR-based analysis have enabled the detection, enumeration, and characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). It is assumed that the detection of CTCs is associated with cancer, based on the finding that CTCs can be detected in all major cancer and not in healthy subjects or those with benign disease. Methods and Patients. Consecutive men, with suspicion of prostate cancer, had blood samples taken before prostate biopsy; mononuclear cells were obtained using differential gel centrifugation and CPCs detecting using anti-PSA immunocytochemistry. Positive samples underwent further classification with anti-P504S. Results. 329 men underwent prostate biopsy; of these men 83 underwent a second biopsy and 44 a third one. Of those with a biopsy negative for cancer, 19/226 (8.4%) had CPCs PSA (+) P504S (−) detected at first biopsy, 6/74 (8.1%) at second biopsy, and 5/33 (15.2%) at third biopsy. Men with cancer-positive biopsies did not have PSA (+) P504S (−) CPCs detected. These benign cells were associated with chronic prostatitis. Conclusions. Patients with chronic prostatitis may have circulating prostate cells detected in blood, which do not express the enzyme P504S and should be thought of as benign in nature.
Voltage balancing method for IGBTs connected in series

This paper presents a new method to balance the voltages of the series connected IGBTs. This method can be realized only by adding simple circuits to the gate drive system of the IGBTs, and its effect of balancing the IGBT's collector-Emitter voltages during the switching transients is remarkable. Principal of this strategy and experimental results with series connected two IGBTs are described firstly. After that, further experimental results are set forth, which are switching tests with four 2.5 kV flat-packaged IGBTs connected in series. Through the switching tests, superior characteristics of the proposed method have been confirmed.
75-kd sirtuin 1 blocks tumor necrosis factor α-mediated apoptosis in human osteoarthritic chondrocytes.

OBJECTIVE Sirtuin 1 (SirT1) has been implicated in the regulation of human cartilage homeostasis and chondrocyte survival. Exposing human osteoarthritic (OA) chondrocytes to tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) generates a stable and enzymatically inactive 75-kd form of SirT1 (75SirT1) via cathepsin B-mediated cleavage. Because 75SirT1 is resistant to further degradation, we hypothesized that it has a distinct role in OA, and the present study was undertaken to identify this role. METHODS The presence of cathepsin B and 75SirT in OA and normal human chondrocytes was analyzed. Confocal imaging of SirT1 was used to monitor its subcellular trafficking following TNFα stimulation. Coimmunofluorescence staining for cathepsin B, mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit IV, and lysosome-associated membrane protein 1 together with SirT1 was performed. Human chondrocytes were tested for apoptosis by fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis and immunoblotting for caspases 3 and 8. Human chondrocyte mitochondrial extracts were obtained and analyzed for 75SirT1-cytochrome c association. RESULTS Confocal imaging and immunoblot analyses following TNFα challenge of human chondrocytes demonstrated that 75SirT1 was exported to the cytoplasm and colocalized with the mitochondrial membrane. Consistent with this, immunoprecipitation and immunoblot analyses revealed that 75SirT1 is enriched in mitochondrial extracts and associates with cytochrome c following TNFα stimulation. Preventing nuclear export of 75SirT1 or reducing levels of full-length SirT1 and 75SirT1 augmented chondrocyte apoptosis in the presence of TNFα. Levels of cathepsin B and 75SirT1 were elevated in OA versus normal chondrocytes. Additional analyses showed that human chondrocytes exposed to OA-derived synovial fluid generated the 75SirT1 fragment. CONCLUSION These data suggest that 75SirT1 promotes chondrocyte survival following exposure to proinflammatory cytokines.