Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fossil snakes from the Neogene of Venezuela (Falcón state)

Synopsis The first fossil snakes from Venezuela are described from three different Formations: Colombophis cf. C. portai and Boinae indet. from the Middle Miocene Socorro Formation, Boinae indet. from the Late Miocene Urumaco Formation and Viperidae indet. from the Pleistocene gravels at Cucuruchu. Although the Socorro and Urumaco Formations Boinae cannot be unambiguously referred to any particular taxa, the Venezuelan record, combined with the fauna from La Venta in Colombia, demonstrate that Boinae had achieved much of its more Northern distributions by the middle‐late Miocene. The occurrence of a viperid in the Pleistocene gravels at Cucuruchu is consistent with a geologically young record of the lineage in South America.
The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2015/16: Other ion channels

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2015/16 provides concise overviews of the key properties of over 1750 human drug targets with their pharmacology, plus links to an open access knowledgebase of drug targets and their ligands ( www.guidetopharmacology.org ), which provides more detailed views of target and ligand properties. The full contents can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley. com/doi/10.1111/bph.13351/full . Other ion channels are one of the eight major pharmacological targets into which the Guide is divided, with the others being: G protein‐coupled receptors, ligand‐gated ion channels, voltage‐gated ion channels, nuclear hormone receptors, catalytic receptors, enzymes and transporters. These are presented with nomenclature guidance and summary information on the best available pharmacological tools, alongside key references and suggestions for further reading. The Concise Guide is published in landscape format in order to facilitate comparison of related targets. It is a condensed version of material contemporary to late 2015, which is presented in greater detail and constantly updated on the website www.guidetopharmacology. org , superseding data presented in the previous Guides to Receptors & Channels and the Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2013/14. It is produced in conjunction with NC‐IUPHAR and provides the official IUPHAR classification and nomenclature for human drug targets, where appropriate. It consolidates information previously curated and displayed separately in IUPHAR‐DB and GRAC and provides a permanent, citable, point‐in‐time record that will survive database updates.
Volume of Snowmelt Intercepted by Logging Roads

Snowmelt runoff into two 100-ft sections of logging road near the Montana-Idaho border was measured from 1965 to 1967. For two years, subsurface seepage from the road cut was measured with overland flow deflected by sheetmetal barriers. A prediction equation was developed to predict seepage flow for one section using the observed flow in the other section. In 1967, the overland flow barriers were removed from one section and the total runoff volume-seepage flow plus overland flows was measured. The predicted daily seepage flow volumes were estimated using the developed equation, and the daily amount of overland flow was estimated as the difference between the observed total runoff and the predicted seepage flow. Of the total daily runoff, 58% was seepage flow and 42% was overland flow. The average total flow volume which entered 100 ft of logging road was 0.29 acre-ft per day and the average peak discharge rate was 0.26 cfs.
Biased Parameter Estimation in LDA

Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) and other related topic models are increasingly popular tools for summarization, manifold discovery and other application in discrete data. However, LDA alone does not perform well in IR application. We alleviate it by biased parameter estimation, which makes the topics in LDA more independent than standard LDA. We introduced the background for the biased estimation at first. Then we detailed method for the bias estimation within LDA frame. We reported the result of the biased model in ad hoc IR experiment showing that the biased estimation outperforms the basic EM method. Finally, the influence of some model parameters was analysed briefly.
Alteration of Soil Rhizosphere Communities following Genetic Transformation of White Spruce

ABSTRACT The application of plant genetic manipulations to agriculture and forestry with the aim of alleviating insect damage through Bacillus thuringiensis transformation could lead to a significant reduction in the release of pesticides into the environment. However, many groups have come forward with very valid and important questions related to potentially adverse effects, and it is crucial to assess and better understand the impact that this technology might have on ecosystems. In this study, we analyzed rhizosphere soil samples collected from the first B. thuringiensis-transformed trees [with insertion of the CryIA(b) toxin-encoding gene] grown in Canada (Val-Cartier, QC, Canada) as part of an ecological impact assessment project. Using a robust amplified rRNA gene restriction analysis approach coupled with 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the rhizosphere-inhabiting microbial communities of white spruce (Picea glauca) genetically modified by biolistic insertion of the cryIA(b), uidA (beta-glucuronidase), and nptII genes were compared with the microbial communities associated with non-genetically modified counterparts and with trees in which only the genetic marker genes uidA and nptII have been inserted. Analysis of 1,728 rhizosphere bacterial clones (576 clones per treatment) using a Cramér-von Mises statistic analysis combined with a Monte Carlo comparison clearly indicated that there was a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) between the microbial communities inhabiting the rhizospheres of trees carrying the cryIA(b), uidA, and nptII transgenes, trees carrying only the uidA and nptII transgenes, and control trees. Clear rhizosphere microbial community alterations due to B. thuringiensis tree genetic modification have to our knowledge never been described previously and open the door to interesting questions related to B. thuringiensis genetic transformation and also to the impact of commonly used uidA and nptII genetic marker genes.
Perception of Space by Multiple Intrinsic Frames of Reference

It has been documented that when memorizing a physical space, the person's mental representation of that space is biased with distortion and segmentation. Two experiments reported here suggest that distortion and segmentation arise due to a hierarchical organization of the spatial representation. The spatial relations associated with salient landmarks are more strongly encoded and easier to recall than those associated with non-salient landmarks. In the presence of multiple salient landmarks, multiple intrinsic frames of reference are formed and spatial relations are anchored to each individual frame of reference. Multiple such representations may co-exist and interactively determine a person's spatial performance.
A general solution for groundwater flow in an estuarine's leaky aquifer system after considering aquifer anisotropy

This paper presents an analytical model for describing the tidal effects in a two‐dimensional leaky confined aquifer system in an estuarine delta where ocean and river meet. This system has an unconfined aquifer on top and a confined aquifer on the bottom with an aquitard in between the two. The unconfined and confined aquifers interact with each other through leakage. It was assumed that the aquitard storage was negligible and that the leakage was linearly proportional to the head difference between the unconfined and confined aquifers. This model's solution was based on the separation of variables method. Two existing solutions that deal with the head fluctuation in one‐dimensional or two‐dimensional leaky confined aquifers are shown as special cases in the present solution. Based on this new solution, the dynamic effect of the water table's fluctuations can be clearly explored, as well as the influence of leakage on the behaviour of fluctuations in groundwater levels in the leaky aquifer system. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Atlantoaxial dislocation in a child secondary to a displaced chondrum terminale. A case report.

A mong children, cervical spinal injuries are rare. When they do occur, younger children sustain more upper cervical injuries than older children do1,2. The spinal anatomy of children (i.e., a disproportionately large head, wedge-shaped vertebrae, and horizontally oriented facets) is different than that of adults and offers little resistance to the high shear forces that predominate in falls and/or motor-vehicle accidents1-5. Fig. 1 Lateral radiograph of the cervical spine, made on the day of injury, demonstrating atlantoaxial dislocation. The tip of the odontoid process is not ossified at birth. The chondrum terminale is a cartilaginous epiphysis at its apex. Fusion of the terminale to the rest of the dens, if it happens at all, does not take place until a child is between ten and thirteen years of age. This physis is a potential weak spot at the C1-C2 junction. The transverse ligament is the horizontal portion of the cruciate ligament and is the most important ligamentous structure of the C1-C2 complex of the occiput. It is the primary and most crucial stabilizing component of all of the ligaments of the atlantoaxial complex, confining the odontoid process within the articular notch on the anterior arch of C1 and preventing anterior subluxation of C1 on C2. The transverse ligament lies just below the physis of the chondrum terminale. The nonelastic nature of the transverse ligament and its proximity to the physis of the chondrum terminale makes this area a potential site for pediatric cervical spinal injury. The following case outlines our hypothesis for a mechanism of injury that, to our knowledge, has not been reported previously. The family of our patient was informed that data concerning the case would be submitted for publication. Fig. 2-A T2-weighted sagittal magnetic resonance imaging scan of the upper portion of the …
Gauze Versus Solid Skin Barrier for Tracheostomy Care: A Crossover Randomized Clinical Trial

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare gauze and a solid pectin-based skin barrier to evaluate clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness of care for tracheostomy wounds. METHODS: A randomized clinical trial with crossover design was conducted to compare gauze to a solid skin barrier for management of patients with tracheostomies. The main study outcomes were skin integrity, dressing change frequency, time required for dressing changes, product costs, and nurses' satisfaction. SETTING AND SUBJECTS: A convenience sample was recruited from 2 medical centers in Taiwan. Using permuted block randomization, patients undergoing tracheostomy were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 groups. One group received tracheostomy care with gauze for the first 6 days and a solid pectin-based skin barrier for the following 6 days. This regimen was reversed in the second group. RESULTS: Skin integrity was significantly better among patients managed with a solid skin barrier as compared to management with gauze (Z=−2.75, P= .006). No significant differences in dressing change frequency, time required for dressing changes, or product costs between the 2 groups were found. Nurses' satisfaction was significantly higher for the solid skin barrier as compared to gauze (Z=−2.31, P= .021, for group 1, and T=−1.97, P= .048, for group 2). CONCLUSIONS: The use of a solid skin barrier for tracheostomy care was associated with lower occurrences of impaired skin integrity and higher satisfaction among nurses when compared to gauze.
Social Capital and Knowledge Exchange in Hybrid Virtual Communities for Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: Preliminary Results

This study investigates knowledge exchange in a Hybrid Virtual Communities (HVC) for patients with multiple sclerosis, that is a group of people with shared interests who meet face-to-face to exchange information or provide emotional support, but also coordinate or share information in a “virtual” or online environment Using discourse analysis and semi-structured interviews, I examine a face-to-face Multiple Sclerosis aquatics group and their virtual interactions. The investigation entails analysis of six months of e-mail dialogues between members and nineteen semi-structured interviews. Using the theoretical foundation of social capital (Jacobs 1960), network capital (Wellman and Frank, 2001) and a social support framework created by Drentea and Moren-Cross (2005), communications are classified as community building, emotional support, and instrumental support. The present research helps to explain the process of building and maintaining social support and exchanging knowledge in a patient-centric HVC.
Geomorphology and Kinematic-Wave–Based Hydrograph Derivation

Geomorphology-based instantaneous unit hydrographs have been proposed by several engineers as a tool to produce runoff hydrographs from rainfall for ungauged watersheds. A difficulty in applying the geomorphology-based instantaneous unit hydrographs is the determination of travel time that is actually a hydraulic problem. In this paper, kinematic-wave theory is used to analytically determine the travel times for overland and channel flows in a stream-ordering subbasin system. The resultant instantaneous unit hydrograph is a function of the intensity of rainfall excess; hence the linearity restriction of the unit hydrograph theory is relaxed. In applying the instantaneous unit hydrographs for hydrograph simulation, the model deals with temporally nonuniform rainfall through convolution integration of the instantaneous unit hydrographs applied to the rainfall excess of varying intensities with time. The proposed model is tested by comparing the simulated and observed hydrographs of an example watershed for several rainstorms with good results. Sensitivity of surface runoff unit hydrographs to the model parameters is also investigated.
Ensemble regional and global climate prediction for the 1997/1998 winter

The ensemble global and regional forecasts for the 1997/1998 winter were made in October 1997. The forecasted sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in the tropical Pacific are obtained from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) coupled atmosphere-ocean model. Outside of the tropical Pacific the observed SSTs at the initial date are relaxed to the SST climatology with the e-folding time of 1 month. The global forecasts with the resolution of T62 are then downscaled using the NCEP regional spectral model (RSM) to enhance precipitation and temperature anomalies over the United States. The horizontal resolution of the RSM is 50km. The global forecasts over this warm El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) winter have high skill over the Pacific North American region. Overall, the RSM downscaling improves the surface temperature and precipitation forecasts over the United States. However, it is more difficult to predict precipitation over a small region with certainty, because the spread among the members in the ensemble increases with the increase of horizontal resolution. The 50-km RSM model is unable to forecast anomalies over high mountains and many centers of precipitation maxima along the California coast. The sensitivity test shows that to forecast basin scale precipitation, a regional model with 20 km or less is needed. Although the 20-km RSM forecasts tend to overestimate precipitation maxima, it provides a more realistic distribution of precipitation. It can distinguish rainfall belts over high mountains and the relative dryness over the valley.
CO2 transport at the air‐sea interface: Effect of coupling of heat and matter fluxes

Existing data on CO2 fluxes between air and sea have been calculated by assuming, incorrectly, that the thermodynamic driving force for the CO2 flux is provided solely by the CO2 partial pressure difference between the two phases. Because both heat and matter transfer occur under non-equilibrium conditions, with finite temperature and composition differences across the interface, a proper description of transport at the air-water interface requires the use of irreversible thermodynamics, according to which the heat and matter fluxes are coupled through the heat of solution of the gas. The present treatment shows that the driving force for CO2 transport due to the temperature difference across the interface is comparable with that arising from the partial pressure difference.
An Integrated Framework of Individual Acceptance of Agile Methodologies

Although systems development methodologies (SDM) are believed to help improve the software development process, the deployment of SDMs often encounters developers’ resistance. Agile methodologies, the latest batch of SDMs that are better in dealing with volatile business requirements, are likely to face the same problems since they require developers to drastically change their work habits and acquire new skills. Therefore, it is essential to identify the factors that could potentially influence individual developer’s acceptance of agile methodologies. This paper reviews the literature on the acceptance of SDMs and agile methodologies, which serves to assess current understanding in the acceptance of SDMs and agile methodologies. From this review, we identify a set of potential factors and develop a framework to guide future research in individual acceptance of agile methodologies.
Vestibulo-ocular arreflexia in families with spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (Machado-Joseph disease)

Objective: To identify the presence of vestibulo-ocular arreflexia in patients with Machado-Joseph disease (MJD), which can easily be diagnosed at the bedside. Methods: Seven patients with MJD from five unrelated families and 11 patients with sporadic or hereditary cerebellar ataxia other than MJD underwent a detailed neuro-otological and oculomotor examination. Six MJD and five non-MJD patients also underwent electro-oculographic recordings and caloric tests. Results: Gaze evoked nystagmus, smooth pursuit, and saccade abnormalities were found in both MJD and non-MJD patients. However, in all seven MJD patients but in none of the non-MJD patients, sudden passively induced head thrust to both sides elicited pathological corrective catch-up saccades, indicating bilateral loss of the horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex. This was further confirmed in six MJD patients who had absent vestibular response to both a standard caloric test and ice water ear irrigation. Nystagmus was induced by standard caloric irrigation in all non-MJD patients examined. There was no correlation between the loss of vestibular function and the severity of cerebellar impairment. Conclusions: The presence of vestibulo-ocular arreflexia, as measured by the head thrust test in a patient with dominant cerebellar ataxia, strongly suggests the diagnosis of MJD.
Safety and efficacy of a multi-electrode renal sympathetic denervation system in resistant hypertension: the EnligHTN I trial

Aims Catheter-based renal artery sympathetic denervation has emerged as a novel therapy for treatment of patients with drug-resistant hypertension. Initial studies were performed using a single electrode radiofrequency catheter, but recent advances in catheter design have allowed the development of multi-electrode systems that can deliver lesions with a pre-determined pattern. This study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the EnligHTN™ multi-electrode system. Methods and results We conducted the first-in-human, prospective, multi-centre, non-randomized study in 46 patients (67% male, mean age 60 years, and mean baseline office blood pressure 176/96 mmHg) with drug-resistant hypertension. The primary efficacy objective was change in office blood pressure from baseline to 6 months. Safety measures included all adverse events with a focus on the renal artery and other vascular complications and changes in renal function. Renal artery denervation, using the EnligHTN™ system significantly reduced the office blood pressure from baseline to 1, 3, and 6 months by −28/10, −27/10 and −26/10 mmHg, respectively (P < 0.0001). No acute renal artery injury or other serious vascular complications occurred. Small, non-clinically relevant, changes in average estimated glomerular filtration rate were reported from baseline (87 ± 19 mL/min/1.73 m2) to 6 months post-procedure (82 ± 20 mL/min/1.73 m2). Conclusion Renal sympathetic denervation, using the EnligHTN™ multi-electrode catheter results in a rapid and significant office blood pressure reduction that was sustained through 6 months. The EnligHTN™ system delivers a promising therapy for the treatment of drug-resistant hypertension.
Excess dietary iodine intake in long-term African refugees

Abstract Objective To assess the iodine status of long-term refugees dependent on international food aid and humanitarian assistance. Design A series of cross-sectional two-stage cluster or systematic random sample surveys which assessed urinary iodine excretion and the prevalence of visible goitre. Salt samples were also collected and tested for iodine content by titration. Setting Six refugee camps in East, North and Southern Africa. Subjects Male and female adolescents aged 10–19 years. Main results The median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) ranged from 254 to 1200 μg l−1 and in five of the camps exceeded the recommended maximum limit of 300 μg l−1, indicating excessive iodine intake. Visible goitre was assessed in four surveys where it ranged from 0.0 to 7.1%. The camp with the highest UIC also had the highest prevalence of visible goitre. The iodine concentrations in 11 salt samples from three camps were measured by titration and six of these exceeded the production-level concentration of 20 to 40 ppm recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), but were all less than 100 ppm. Conclusions Excessive consumption of iodine is occurring in most of the surveyed populations. Urgent revision of the level of salt iodisation is required to meet current WHO recommendations. However, the full cause of excessive iodine excretion remains unknown and further investigation is required urgently to identify the cause, assess any health impact and identify remedial action.
Effects of Potyvirus Effective Population Size in Inoculated Leaves on Viral Accumulation and the Onset of Symptoms

ABSTRACT Effective population size (Ne ) is a key parameter for understanding evolutionary processes, but it is generally not considered in epidemiological studies or in studying infections of individual hosts. Whether Ne has an effect on the onset of symptoms and viral accumulation in Tobacco etch virus (TEV) infection of Nicotiana tabacum plants is considered here. Using mixtures of TEV variants carrying fluorescent markers, the dose dependence of Ne was confirmed, and the inoculation procedure was found to be the main source of variation in these experiments. Whereas the onset of symptoms was independent of Ne , there was less and more variable accumulation at 6 days postinoculation for small Ne values (Ne < 5). The observed variation in accumulation was not heritable, however, suggesting that this variation was not due to the fixation of deleterious mutations in the small founder populations. On the other hand, virus-induced fluorescence and accumulation in the inoculated leaf were strongly Ne dependent. Systemic accumulation was independent of Ne , although removal of the inoculated leaf led to a small reduction in systemic accumulation for small Ne values. For whole plants, Ne -dependent effects on accumulation were no longer observed at 9 days postinoculation. Therefore, the effects of Ne on accumulation are due mainly to limited expansion in the inoculated leaf and are transient. In this system, Ne -dependent effects will be strongest at low doses and early in infection. We conclude that Ne can have implications for epidemiology and infection at the individual host level, beyond determining the rate of mixed-genotype infection.