Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mortality from undetermined causes of death in Russia and in selected countries

Deaths due to injuries and poisoning which experts cannot identify, such as homicide, suicide or accident, are registered in statistical databases as deaths due to an event of undetermined intent. The proportion of such deaths can indicate the quality of statistics on causes of death, above all of statistics on intentional self-harm and assaults. In Russia, the proportion of deaths due to events of undetermined intent among other external causes has been growing for almost four decades. Such a trend was observed in the past during periods of growing mortality from external causes. Yet the steady and long decline in mortality from external causes in Russia that began in 2003 has not stopped the trend. The displacement of other external causes continues, though mortality from events of undetermined intent has exceeded both suicide and homicide mortality, and its proportion has increased tenfold, reaching very high levels relative to those of other countries. In several studies done in Russia over the past decade, scholars have argued that such a high proportion essentially results from the manipulation of statistics on mortality from external causes, the so-called conversion of socially important causes of death to a latent form. The factors behind the persistent rise of the proportion of deaths due to events of undetermined intent (EUI) are analysed on the basis of a review of relevant research and long-term trends in mortality from external causes in Russia and selected developed countries. This makes it possible to expand the contextual framework of the discussion about the factors of the persistent growth of this “technical” indicator and about the hypothesis of the “natural” character of such dynamics.
Is Crying Beneficial?

Lay opinion and extensive survey data indicate that crying is a cathartic behavior that serves to relieve distress and reduce arousal. Yet laboratory data often indicate that crying exacerbates distress and increases autonomic arousal. In this article, we present a framework for explaining variations in the psychological effects of crying as a function of (a) how the effects of crying are measured, (b) conditions in the social environment, (c) personality traits of the crier, and (d) the affective state of the crier. Recognizing the heterogeneity of crying effects represents a step toward a more nuanced understanding of this behavior, including its implications for psychosocial adjustment.
CD28 of T lymphocytes associates with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase.

T lymphocyte activation requires recognition of antigen by the antigen specific TCR as well as second co-stimulatory signals. This recognition event results in the activation of non-TCR linked protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs). The mechanism of co-stimulation of T cells is unknown except for the involvement of PTKs. The T cell surface molecule CD28 is effective in delivering co-stimulatory signals and prevents T cell anergy by inducing T cell proliferation in TCR stimulated T cells, primarily due to an increase in IL-2 production. The mechanism by which CD28 mediates this effect is currently unknown. Some conventional receptor molecules possess intrinsic tyrosine kinase and as a consequence of cross-linking or ligand binding, phosphorylate numerous tyrosines within their cytoplasmic tail, leading these tyrosines to become 'activated' and bind cytoplasmic effector molecules possessing Src homology 2 domains which specifically recognize phosphorylated tyrosines. One such cytoplasmic effector molecule is the phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate kinase (PI3 kinase) which recognizes the motif phosphotyrosine-methione/valine-X-methionine (X being any amino acid) within the cytoplasmic tails of numerous receptor tyrosine kinases. As CD28 contains a copy of the PI3 kinase binding motif within its cytoplasmic tail, we investigated CD28 signaling and PI3 kinase activation. Here we demonstrate using the Jurkat cell line that CD28 becomes tyrosine phosphorylated following CD28 cross-linking and associates with PI3 kinase. Furthermore, a synthetic peptide representing the YM/VXM motif within the cytoplasmic tail of CD28 also interacts with PI3 kinase only when the tyrosine is phosphorylated. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Intrinsic regulation of hemoglobin expression by variable subunit interface strengths

The expression of the six types of human Hb subunits over time is currently considered to be regulated mainly by transcription factors that bind to upstream control regions of the gene (the ‘extrinsic’ component of regulation). Here, we describe how subunit pairing and further assembly to tetramers in the liganded state is influenced by the affinity of subunits for one another (the ‘intrinsic’ component of regulation). The adult Hb dimers have the strongest subunit interfaces and the embryonic Hbs the weakest, with fetal Hbs being of intermediate strength, corresponding to the temporal order of their expression. These variable subunit binding strengths and the attenuating effects of acetylation contribute to the differences with which these Hb types form functional O2‐binding tetramers consistent with gene switching.
Highly Endemic, Waterborne Toxoplasmosis in North Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

In Campos dos Goytacazes, northern Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, reports of uveitis consistent with toxoplasmosis led to a survey of the prevalence and risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infection in 1997–1999. The survey population was selected randomly from schools, randomly chosen communities, and an army battalion. Serum samples from 1,436 persons were tested. With results adjusted for age, 84% of the population in the lower socioeconomic group was seropositive, compared with 62% and 23% of the middle and upper socioeconomic groups, respectively (p<0.001). When multivariate analysis was performed, drinking unfiltered water was found to increase the risk of seropositivity for the lower socioeconomic (odds ratio [OR]: 3.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3 to 6.9) and middle socioeconomic (OR: 1.7, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.3) populations. We also found a high T. gondii seroprevalence in this Brazilian community. Drinking unfiltered water increased the risk of T. gondii seropositivity, indicating the potential importance of oocyst transmission in water in this region.
Dispersion of Filtered P Wave Duration by P Wave Signal‐Averaged ECG Mapping System:

Drug Efficacy and P‐SAECG Mapping System. Introduction: Although it is desirable to know drug efficacy before initiating antiarrhythmic therapy, there have been no methods for this evaluation. P wave signal‐averaged ECG (P‐SAECG) is useful to detect subtle changes in disturbance of atrial conduction. The purpose of this present study was to test whether P‐SAECG mapping system would give any information on the efficacy of disopyramide on the prevention of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF).
Requirements Interdependencies-Moulding the State of Research into a Research Agenda

Requirements relate to and affect each other, i.e. they are interdependent. This paper provides an overview of the current state of research on requirements interdependencies and formulates a research agenda for the area. The research agenda, which is based on a new classification drawn from the literature and intermediary results from an ongoing interview study, addresses a number of unresolved issues concerning the identification, documentation and use of requirements interdependencies in the software development process.
Transformation smoothing for speaker and environmental adaptation

Recently there has been much work done on how to transform HMMs, trained typically in a speaker-independent fashion on clean training data, to be more representative of data from a particular speaker or acoustic environment. These transforms are trained on a small amount of training data, so large numbers of components are required to share the same transform. Normally, each component is constrained to only use one transform. This paper examines how to optimally, in a maximum likelihood sense, assign components to transforms and allow each component , or component grouping, to make use of many transformations. The theory for obtaining both \weights" for each transform and transforms given a set of weights is given. The techniques are evaluated on both speaker and environmental adaptation tasks.
Advances in logistics performance in selected developing and developed countries

Global supply chains require all actors to work effectively to reduce time and cost and to improve the reliable and smooth flow of goods and services. Identifying the logistics service performance, in the countries along a supply chain, is of vital importance to a variety of different stakeholders, including transport operators, logistics service providers, users and, of course, national economies. Applying a comparative study method, using data from the logistics performance index (LPI) of 2007 and 2012, plus other sources, the current research assesses the logistics performance of selected (BRICS) developing and developed countries. The study finds that, over the period, some countries have progressed and others have not, against different indices of logistics performance, and thus different levels of progress have been achieved in different countries. The study recommends that certain country-specific actions are needed achieve in the less-well performing areas of logistics services.
The Determinants of Social Conflicts in Mining Production Areas

This paper evaluates the determinants of social conflicts in areas with mining production in Peru, using information at the district level of each social conflict and mining company between 2008 and 2015. We find that both socio-demographic and economic factors, which have not been used in the previous literature and which are distinctive to each district and mining company, impact significantly on the probability for a socio-environmental conflict to occur. Unlike previous works, we find that an increase in the international price of major minerals extracted in each mine does not have a significant effect in the probability of occurrence of social conflict in areas with mining production.
Aluminum Toxicity and Tolerance in Plants

Aluminum (Al) is the most abundant metal in the earth's crust, comprising about 7% of its mass. Since many plant species are sensitive to micromolar concentrations of Al, the potential for soils to be Al toxic is considerable. Fortunately, most of the Al is bound by ligands or occurs in other nonphytotoxic forms such as aluminosilicates and precipitates. However, solubilization of this Al is enhanced by low pH and Al toxicity is a major factor limiting plant production on acid soils. Soil acidification can develop naturally when basic cations are leached from soils, but it can be accelerated by some farming practices and by acid rain (Kennedy, 1986). Strategies to maintain production on these soils include the application of lime to raise the soil pH and the use of plants that are tolerant of acid soils. Although Al toxicity has been identified as a problem of acid soils for over 70 years, our knowledge about the primary sites of toxicity and the chain of events that finally affects plant growth remains largely speculative. In this paper we review recent progress that has been made in our understanding of Al toxicity and the mechanisms of Al tolerance in plants.
Relationship Between Gap-Junctional Conductance and Conduction Velocity in Mammalian Myocardium

Background—Gap junction resistivity, Rj, has been proposed as a key determinant of conduction velocity (CV). However, studies in connexin-gene knockout mice demonstrated significant CV slowing only with near-complete connexin deletion, and these findings led to the concept of a significant redundancy of myocardial gap junctions. We challenged this prevailing concept and addressed the hypothesis that there is a continuous relationship between Rj and CV, each independently measured in human and guinea-pig myocardium. Methods and Results—Rj and CV were directly measured by oil-gap impedance and microelectrode techniques in human left ventricular myocardium from patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and in guinea-pig atrial and ventricular myocardium before and during pharmacological uncoupling with 20-µmol/L carbenoxolone. There was a continuous relationship between Rj and CV in human and guinea-pig myocardium, pre- and post-carbenoxolone (r2=0.946; P<0.01). In guinea-pig left ventricle, left atrium, and right atrium, carbenoxolone increased Rj by 28±9%, 26±16%, and 25±14% and slowed CV by 17±3%, 23±8%, and 11±4% respectively (all P<0.05 versus control). As a clinically accessible measure of local microscopic myocardial conduction slowing in vivo in the intact human heart, carbenoxolone prolonged electrogram duration in the right atrium (39.7±4.2 to 42.3±4.3 ms; P=0.01) and right ventricle (48.1±2.5 to 53.3±5.3 ms; P<0.01). Conclusions—There is a continuous relationship between Rj and CV that is consistent between cardiac chambers and across species, indicating that naturally occurring variations in cellular coupling can account for variations in CV, and that the concept that there is massive redundancy of coupling is not tenable.
Combined action observation and imagery facilitates corticospinal excitability

Observation and imagery of movement both activate similar brain regions to those involved in movement execution. As such, both are recommended as techniques for aiding the recovery of motor function following stroke. Traditionally, action observation and movement imagery (MI) have been considered as independent intervention techniques. Researchers have however begun to consider the possibility of combining the two techniques into a single intervention strategy. This study investigated the effect of combined action observation and MI on corticospinal excitability, in comparison to either observation or imagery alone. Single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was delivered to the hand representation of the left motor cortex during combined action observation and MI, passive observation (PO), or MI of right index finger abduction-adduction movements or control conditions. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscles of the right hand. The combined action observation and MI condition produced MEPs of larger amplitude than were obtained during PO and control conditions. This effect was only present in the FDI muscle, indicating the facilitation of corticospinal excitability during the combined condition was specific to the muscles involved in the observed/imagined task. These findings have implications for stroke rehabilitation, where combined action observation and MI interventions may prove to be more effective than observation or imagery alone.
Effects of biodiesel made from swine and chicken fat residues on carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxide emissions

ABSTRACT The effects of two alternative sources of animal fat-derived biodiesel feedstock on CO2, CO, NOx tailpipe emissions as well as fuel consumption were investigated. Biodiesel blends were produced from chicken and swine fat waste (FW-1) or floating fat (FW-2) collected from slaughterhouse wastewater treatment processes. Tests were conducted in an unmodified stationary diesel engine operating under idling conditions in attempt to simulate slow traffic in urban areas. Significant reductions in CO (up to 47% for B100; FW-2) and NOx (up to 20% for B5; FW-2 or B100; FW-1) were attained when using biodiesel fuels at the expense of 5% increase in fuel consumption. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to elucidate possible associations among gas (CO2, CO, and NOx) emissions, cetane number and iodine index with different sources of feedstock typically employed in the biodiesel industry. NOx, cetane number and iodine index were inversely proportional to CO2 and biodiesel concentration. High NOx emissions were reported from high iodine index biodiesel derived especially from forestry, fishery and some agriculture feedstocks, while the biodiesel derived from animal sources consistently presented lower iodine index mitigating NOx emissions. The obtained results point out the applicability of biodiesel fuels derived from fat-rich residues originated from animal production on mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. The information may encourage practitioners from biodiesel industry whilst contributing towards development of sustainable animal production. Implications: Emissions from motor vehicles can contribute considerably to the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The use of biodiesel to replace or augment diesel can not only decrease our dependency on fossil fuels but also help decrease air pollution. Thus, different sources of feedstocks are constantly being explored for affordable biodiesel production. However, the amount of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and/or nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions can vary largely depending on type of feedstock used to produce biodiesel. In this work, the authors demonstrated animal fat feasibility in replacing petrodiesel with less impact regarding greenhouse gas emissions than other sources.
Toward realistic soft-tissue modeling in medical simulation

Most of today's medical simulation systems are based on geometric representations of anatomical structures that take no account of their physical nature. Representing physical phenomena and, more specifically, the realistic modeling of soft tissue will not only improve current medical simulation systems but will considerably enlarge the set of applications and the credibility of medical simulation, from neurosurgery planning to laparoscopic-surgery simulation. To achieve realistic tissue deformation, it is necessary to combine deformation accuracy with computer efficiency. On the one hand, biomechanics has studied complex mathematical models and produced a large amount of experimental data for accurately representing the deformation of soft tissue. On the other hand, computer graphics has proposed many algorithms for the real-time computation of deformable bodies, often at the cost of ignoring the physics principles. The author surveys existing models of deformation in medical simulation and analyze the impediments to combining computer-graphics representations with biomechanical models. In particular, the different geometric representations of deformable tissue are compared in relation to the tasks of real-time deformation, tissue cutting, and force-feedback interaction. Last, the author inspects the potential of medical simulation under the development of this key technology.
Constitutive Law for Earthquake Production Based on Rate‐and‐State Friction: Theory and Application of Interacting Sources

The constitutive relationship of Dieterich (1994, https://doi.org/10.1029/93JB02581) for earthquake production has been applied widely to earthquake triggering. The Dieterich theory achieves mathematical simplicity and thus lends itself to practical applications through a number of simplifying assumptions. Perhaps the most suspect and criticized assumption is that seismic sources do not interact. Here I provide an extension of the constitutive framework, using the modified formulation of Heimisson and Segall (2018, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB015656) which accounts for source interactions. Moreover, I explore ways to account for earthquake magnitudes and highlight potential directions for future research. I identify conditions under which the constitutive relationship with interactions reduces to the noninteracting Dieterich theory, revealing that an interacting population may be modeled as an equivalent noninteracting population. This result may partly explain the success of the Dieterich theory in spite of assuming no interactions. These special conditions reveal that if the magnitude distribution (e.g., the b value) is altered by a stress perturbation, then the Dieterich model may either underpredict or overpredict the seismicity rate. Furthermore, the interaction model grants insight into the physical interpretation of the background seismicity rate, which is frequently considered to be a declustered rate. However, the results suggest that interactions do not change the total cumulative number of events over a long time span (t ≫ ta). Finally, I apply the interaction theory to fault slip models, aftershock diffusion, and secondary triggering as illustrative examples.
Microfilaremia and antibody responses in CBA/H and CBA/N mice following injection of microfilariae of Brugia malayi.

leave the surface at an angle that was slightly larger than their arrival angle. The reverse was true for arrival angles larger than 14.7? In either case, the variance in departure angles was quite large. No evidence was seen of attraction toward solid surfaces so that it seems likely that observations of affinity for margins (Chernin and Dunavan, 1962, loc. cit.) may have been due to surface configuration as these authors had suggested. As a result, miracidia in natural surroundings may not be expected to be concentrated around all solid surfaces.
Electric Vehicles Integrated with Renewable Energy Sources for Sustainable Mobility

Across the globe, governments have been tackling the concerning problem of air-pollut- ing emissions by committing significant resources to improving air quality. Achieving the goal of air purification will require that both the private and public sectors invest in clean energy technology. It will also need a transition from conventional houses to smart houses and from conventional vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs). It will be necessary to integrate renewable energy sources (RESs) such as solar photovoltaics, wind energy systems and diverse varieties of bioenergies. In addition, there are opportunities for decarbonisation within the transportation sector itself. Paradoxically, it appears that the same transpor tation sector might also present an opportunity for a speedy decarbonisation. Statistics indicate that transportation is responsible for 14% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emis sions. However, there are numerous options for viable clean technology, including the plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). There are indeed many technologies and strategies, which reduce transportation emissions such as public transportation, vehicle light weighing, start-stop trains, improved engine technology, fuel substitution and production improve ment, hydrogen, power-to-gas, and natural gas heavy fleets. This work concentrates on EV adoption integrated with RES. Specifically, this chapter examines the feasibility of sig nificantly reducing GHG emissions by integrating EVs with RESs for sustainable mobility.
Comparing the climate effect of emissions of short- and long-lived climate agents

Multi-gas climate agreements require a metric by which emissions of gases with different lifetimes and radiative properties can be placed on a common scale. The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change uses the global warming potential (GWP) as such a metric. The GWP has attracted particular criticism as being inappropriate in the context of climate policy which seeks to restrict warming below a given target, because it gives equal weight to emissions irrespective of the target and the proximity to the target. The use of an alternative metric, the time-dependent global temperature change potential (GTP), is examined for its suitability and the prospects for it including very short-lived species. It retains the transparency and relative ease of use, which are attractive features of the GWP, but explicitly includes a dependence on the target of climate policy. The weighting of emissions using the GTP is found to be significantly dependent on the scenarios of future emissions and the sensitivity of the climate system. This may indicate that the use of any GTP-based weighting in future policymaking would necessitate regular revisions, as the global-mean temperature moves towards a specified target.