Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Small Area Clustering of Cases of Pneumococcal Bacteremia

Background. While recent studies have identified the existence of neighborhood-level factors that influence the carriage of S. pneumoniae, no studies have extended this observation to determine whether substantial small area variation exists in the risk of pneumococcal disease. Methods. Data from population based surveillance for bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia in the five-county region surrounding Philadelphia was analyzed for the existence of geographic clustering of cases of pneumococcal bacteremia. Detection of case clusters was accomplished using a spatial analytic method and confirmed with a second, distinct method. Results. Over the period 2002-2004, there were 608 cases of pneumococcal bacteremia , of which 538 cases were geocoded. Case cluster analysis using both analytic methods demonstrated the existence of geographically distinct clusters within the region. The identification of clusters of pneumococcal disease was not explained by the racial or age distribution of the underlying population. Conclusions. Cases of pneumococcal bacteremia demonstrate geographic clustering not accounted for by the underlying density and race-age distribution of the population. The identification of neighborhood-level factors underlying this clustering may have important implications for efforts to control pneumococcal disease and other respiratory pathogens.
Negative Effect of Rapidly Resorbing Properties of Bioactive Glass-Ceramics as Bone Graft Substitute in a Rabbit Lumbar Fusion Model

Background Bioactive glass-ceramics have the ability to directly bind to bones and have been widely used as bone graft substitutes due to their high osteoconductivity and biocompatibility. CaO-SiO2-P2O5-B2O3 glass-ceramics are known to have good osteoconductivity and are used as bone graft extenders. Methods This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the resorbing properties of glass-ceramics in bone fusion after producing and analyzing three types of CaO-SiO2-P2O5-B2O3 glass-ceramics with high osteoconductivity that had enhanced resorption by having an increased B2O3 content. The three types of CaO-SiO2-P2O5-B2O3 glass-ceramics with B2O3 contents of 8.0, 9.0, and 9.5 weight % were designated and grouped as P20B80, P10B90, and P5B95, respectively. Glass-ceramic types were tested for fusion rates and bone formation by employing the lumbar 5-6 intertransverse process fusion model in 51 New Zealand male rabbits. Bioactivity was assessed by soaking in simulated body fluid (SBF). Results In vitro study results showed sufficient hydroxycarbonate apatite layer formation occurred for P20B80 in1 day, for P10B90 in 3 days, and for P5B95 in 5 days after soaking in SBF. For the rabbit lumbar spine posterolateral fusion model, the autograft group recorded a 100% fusion rate with levels significantly higher than those of P20B80 (29.4%), P10B90 (0%), and P5B95 (14.3%), with high resorbing properties. Resorbing property differences among the three glass-ceramic groups were not significant. Histological results showed new bone formation confirming osteoconductivity in all three types of glass-ceramics. Radiomorphometric results also confirmed the resorbing properties of the three glass-ceramic types. Conclusions The high resorbing properties and osteoconductivity of porous glass-ceramics can be advantageous as no glass-ceramics remain in the body. However, their relatively fast rate of resorption in the body negatively affects their role as an osteoconductive scaffold as glass-ceramics are resorbed before bony fusion.
Patient Characteristics, MRI Examination, and Dopaminergic Drug Response in Clinical Possible Parkinson's Disease

Patients with parkinsonism can be classified as clinical definite, probable, possible, or unlikely Parkinson's disease (PD). Possible PD includes patients with PD according to conventional diagnostic criteria and with at least a moderate response to dopamine agonists. However, these patients have clinical features that may reduce the probability for idiopathic PD. The objective of this study was to clinically characterize patients with possible disease in a prevalence study of PD and to indicate the frequency of idiopathic PD in this group of patients. The diagnostic re-evaluation was based on detailed MRI examinations and investigations of dopaminergic drug response after several years of treatment. In a community-based prevalence study in Norway, comprising 245 PD patients, we found 36 patients (15%) with clinical possible PD. The patients with possible disease had significant and clinically important differences in demographic and disease characteristics compared to patients with definite and probable PD. Possible PD patients were older at disease onset, more disabled, and had more neurobehavioral disorders. MRI examinations of 14 of the 36 patients with possible PD in the prevalence study revealed significant group effects compared to an age-matched control group, with reduced pars compacta width and increased cortical atrophy. In individual patients, signal attenuation consistent with vascular lesions of the basal ganglia contributed to diagnostic reclassification. Dopaminergic drug withdrawal revealed no response in 4 of 12 examined patients. Two of the remaining eight patients had a clear short-duration drug response. Six patients had only a varying degree of long-duration response. The re-evaluation of diagnosis indicates that probably less than half of the patients with clinical possible PD have idiopathic disease. Patients with atypical features and diagnosed as possible PD should thus be excluded from studies with a presumed high specificity for idiopathic PD.
On Integrating Ontologies with Relational Probabilistic Models

We consider the problem of building relational probabilistic models with an underlying ontology that defines the classes and properties used in the model. Properties in the ontology form random variables when applied to individuals. When an individual is not in the domain of a property, the corresponding random variable is undefined. If we are uncertain about the types of individuals, we may be uncertain about whether random variables are defined. We discuss how to extend a recent result on reasoning with potentially undefined random variables to the relational case. Object properties may have classes of individuals as their ranges, giving rise to random variables whose ranges vary with populations. We identify and discuss some of the issues that arise when constructing relational probabilistic models using the vocabulary and constraints from an ontology, and we outline possible solutions to certain problems.
Substance-use in Childhood and Adolescence: A Brief Overview of Developmental Processes and their Clinical Implications.

OBJECTIVE The current paper aims to review findings from developmental research that are related to adolescent substance-use and are considered key for improving theory and developing effective prevention. METHOD A selective literature review of relevant developmental studies on adolescent substance-use was conducted. RESULTS Studies in epidemiology and developmental science focusing on developmental onset, developmental transitions, comorbidity among disorders, and endophenotypes have identified important trends, risk-factors for and consequences of adolescent substance-use, which have informed theoretical models of addiction. Furthermore, they have informed clinical practice by identifying childhood disorders and personality characteristics that can be targeted preventatively before substance-use problems have their onset. CONCLUSIONS Developmental research has contributed significantly to the understanding of aetiology and treatment of substance-use disorders. By targeting early liability factors rather than substance-use problems later in adolescence, interventions could reduce the adverse impact substance-use has on the developing brain as well as other associated harms.
Mechanosensitivity is mediated directly by the lipid membrane in TRAAK and TREK1 K+ channels

Significance Mechanical force opens mechanosensitive ion channels in the cellular membrane to produce electrical signals that underlie sensation of touch, hearing, and other mechanical stimuli. An unanswered question is: How are mechanical forces transmitted to eukaryotic mechanosensitive channels in the membrane? We show that two mechanosensitive ion channels in eukaryotes, TRAAK (K2P4.1) and TREK1 (K2P2.1), are directly opened by mechanical force through the lipid membrane in the absence of all other cellular components. This finding extends the “force-from-lipid” paradigm established in bacterial channels to TRAAK and TREK1, eukaryotic mechanosensors. Mechanosensitive ion channels underlie neuronal responses to physical forces in the sensation of touch, hearing, and other mechanical stimuli. The fundamental basis of force transduction in eukaryotic mechanosensitive ion channels is unknown. Are mechanical forces transmitted directly from membrane to channel as in prokaryotic mechanosensors or are they mediated through macromolecular tethers attached to the channel? Here we show in cells that the K+ channel TRAAK (K2P4.1) is responsive to mechanical forces similar to the ion channel Piezo1 and that mechanical activation of TRAAK can electrically counter Piezo1 activation. We then show that the biophysical origins of force transduction in TRAAK and TREK1 (K2P2.1) two-pore domain K+ (K2P) channels come from the lipid membrane, not from attached tethers. These findings extend the “force-from-lipid” principle established for prokaryotic mechanosensitive channels MscL and MscS to these eukaryotic mechanosensitive K+ channels.
Learned Use of Picture Cues by Bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) in a Delayed Matching Task

Picture-object correspondence provides an alternate method of investigating delayed matching by providing a cue (picture) which may be spontaneously perceived as similar but different from a corresponding target. Memory for, and corresponding choice of, a target corresponding to a cue could be facilitated by the use of a picture. Bumblebees have been found to both easily differentiate images from corresponding objects but also spontaneously perceive a similarity between the two. Herein, an approach was designed to test the possible use of picture cues to signal reward in a delayed matching task. Target choice preference corresponding to picture cues was tested among three bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) colonies using photograph cues (presented prior to target stimuli) corresponding to one of four target stimuli. Photograph cues were the only predictor of corresponding target reward, presented in stable locations. Rewarded and unrewarded tests show a choice preference significantly higher than chance for targets matching the cue. Results suggest that bumblebees can learn to use picture cues in a delayed matching task. Furthermore, experience, conditions of reward inconsistency and location, are discussed as possible contributing factors to learning in a delayed matching task.
Planning with Sharable Resource Constraints

When planning systems deal with realistic domains, they must cope with a large variety of constraints imposed by the environment such as temporal or resource constraints The robustness of the generated plan is a direct consequence of a correct handling of these constraints We argue that increasing the expressiveness of a representation can be achieved without fundamentally affecting the global efficiency of the search This paper presents a temporal planner, LxTeT, which integrates sharable resource management into the process of plan generation In LxTeT, planning operators are described as temporal structures of conditions, effects and sharable resource uses During the search, pending subgoals, protection threats and resource conflicts are detected by three flaw analysis modules The detection of sharable resource conflicts is performed thanks to an efficient clique-search algorithm on a possible intersection graph The control of the search is based on a least-commitment opportunistic strategy Our approach has been implemented, tested and shown to be satisfactory in various application domains.
Anesthetic state does not affect the map of the hand representation within area 3b somatosensory cortex in owl monkey

Receptive fields defined for small clusters of neurons within the middle cortical layers of area 3b differed little in size or in the skin locations represented among: (a) alert, (b) nitrous oxide‐anesthetized, (c) deep sodium pentobarbital‐anesthetized, and (d) ketamine‐anesthetized owl monkeys. Repeated recordings from nearly identical cortical loci yielded nearly identical multiunit receptive fields under different conditions of anesthesia.
Temperature Measurement Technologies and Their Application in the Research of Fuel Cells

Fuel cells have attracted extensive attention throughout the world in recent years for their high efficiency and high environmental compatibility. Temperature plays a key role in achieving high performance of fuel cells because it deeply influences the activity of catalyst, dehydration of solid polymer membrane, mass transfer and heat management of fuel cells. The temperature distribution has close relationship with current density distribution and lifetime of fuel cells because the uniformity of temperature distribution is a quite important problem for fuel cells. In this paper, a review of temperature measurement technologies that can be used to measure temperature distribution of fuel cells was presented. The measurement of cathode exterior surface temperature fields of a hydrogen proton exchange membrane fuel cell under various operational conditions was conducted by using the technology of infrared thermal imaging. The proton exchange membrane fuel cell structure was designed for uniformity of input heat. A NEC TH5102 thermo tracer was applied to measure the cathode exterior surface temperature distributions of the cell with 5cm2 active area. The experimental results showed that the infrared thermal imaging is an effective method to measure the exterior temperature fields of the PEMFC. The cathode temperature distributions of the cell varied with cell temperatures and flow rates.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
The role of progesterone in menstrual migraine

CLINICAL OBSERVATION SUGGESTS that changes in circulating levels of sex hormones have an important influence on migraine in some women. Migraine often recurs with predictable regularity during or just before menstruation. Pregnancy brings partial or complete remission of migraine in up to 80% of sufferers,l although migraine is occasionally exacerbated by pregnancy, particularly during the first trimester.2 The association between migraine and the taking of synthetic estrogen-progestogen hormone combinations for ovulation inhibition has been reported by several workers3-5 and provides further evidence of the importance of hormonal factors in the etiology of migraine. The tendency for migraine to recur regularly around the time of menstruation suggests that migraine may be precipitated by the natural withdrawal of either estrogens or progesterone or of both. Alternatively, it has been suggested that menstrual migraine may be caused by an abnormality of the estrogen to progesterone ratio in the direction of excess estrogen.6 Investigation of these hypotheses clearly depends upon the precise quantitative measurement of plasma levels of estrogens and progesterone, but this has been hampered by the minute concentrations of these hormones in plasma and the need for frequent blood sampling. These difficulties have been overcome by the introduction of the principle of competitive protein binding and its application to the measurement of steroid hormones.7 It is now possible to measure progesterone accurately using as little as 0.5 ml. of plasma, and estradiol may be measured in plasma volumes of 2 to 5 ml. Since these volumes of plasma are small, it is possible to measure plasma levels of both progesterone and estradiol throughout the menstrual cycle. In the first part of this study, progesterone levels were determined daily throughout the menstrual cycle in a group of women subject to regular menstrual migraine and in a group of nonmigrainous women serving as controls. The aims were to establish the relationship of menstrual migraine to plasma progesterone variations and to determine whether there was any significant difference in plasma progesterone levels between the two groups. Progesterone was then administered to women suffering from menstrual migraine to prevent the decline in plasma progesterone which normally occurs before menstruation. By artificially maintaining high levels of progesterone during the premenstrual and menstrual phases of the cycle, it was possible to study the effect of progesterone alone upon women subject to menstrual migraine.
Mutation and the evolution of recombination

Under the classical view, selection depends more or less directly on mutation: standing genetic variance is maintained by a balance between selection and mutation, and adaptation is fuelled by new favourable mutations. Recombination is favoured if it breaks negative associations among selected alleles, which interfere with adaptation. Such associations may be generated by negative epistasis, or by random drift (leading to the Hill–Robertson effect). Both deterministic and stochastic explanations depend primarily on the genomic mutation rate, U. This may be large enough to explain high recombination rates in some organisms, but seems unlikely to be so in general. Random drift is a more general source of negative linkage disequilibria, and can cause selection for recombination even in large populations, through the chance loss of new favourable mutations. The rate of species-wide substitutions is much too low to drive this mechanism, but local fluctuations in selection, combined with gene flow, may suffice. These arguments are illustrated by comparing the interaction between good and bad mutations at unlinked loci under the infinitesimal model.
Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Ancient Canids Suggest a European Origin of Domestic Dogs

Dog Domestication The precise details of the domestication and origins of domestic dogs are unclear. Thalmann et al. (p. 871; see the cover) analyzed complete mitochondrial genomes from present-day dogs and wolves, as well as 18 fossil canids dating from 1000 to 36,000 years ago from the Old and New Worlds. The data suggest that an ancient, now extinct, central European population of wolves was directly ancestral to domestic dogs. Furthermore, several ancient dogs may represent failed domestication events. Ancient DNA suggests that dog domestication was complex and likely originated in Europe. The geographic and temporal origins of the domestic dog remain controversial, as genetic data suggest a domestication process in East Asia beginning 15,000 years ago, whereas the oldest doglike fossils are found in Europe and Siberia and date to >30,000 years ago. We analyzed the mitochondrial genomes of 18 prehistoric canids from Eurasia and the New World, along with a comprehensive panel of modern dogs and wolves. The mitochondrial genomes of all modern dogs are phylogenetically most closely related to either ancient or modern canids of Europe. Molecular dating suggests an onset of domestication there 18,800 to 32,100 years ago. These findings imply that domestic dogs are the culmination of a process that initiated with European hunter-gatherers and the canids with whom they interacted.
Modulation of Calcium Channel Function by Phosphorylation in Guinea Pig Ventricular Cells and Phospholipid Bilayer Membranes

L-type calcium channel activity of some excitable cells is markedly enhanced by β-adrenergic agents. The enzymatic cascade underlying this important modulatory effect has been studied with patchclamp techniques in single dialyzed ventricular cells from guinea pig heart. The steps between the binding of agonist to the β-receptor and the increase in calcium influx can be summarized as follows: Agonist binding to β-receptor ± adenylate cyclase ± ± cAMP ± ± cA-kinase ± ± protein phosphorylatlon ± altered calcium channel properties ± Ica ± A basal phosphorylation reaction seems not to be a prerequisite for calcium channel function. By combining molecular and functional approaches, the purified dihydropyridine-receptor complex from rabbit skeletal muscle transverse-tubules can be reconstituted in phospholipid bilayer membranes to form a functional 20-pS calcium channel that retains the principal regulatory, biochemical, and pharmacologic properties of membrane-bound L-type calcium channels. (Circulation Research 1987;61(suppl I):I-17-I-23)
Fossil evidence on evolution of inner ear cochlea in Jurassic mammals

The coiled cochlea is a key evolutionary innovation of modern therian mammals. We report that the Late Jurassic mammal Dryolestes, a relative to modern therians, has derived bony characteristics of therian-like innervation, but its uncoiled cochlear canal is less derived than the coiled cochlea of modern therians. This suggests a therian-like innervation evolved before the fully coiled cochlea in phylogeny. The embryogenesis of the cochlear nerve and ganglion in the inner ear of mice is now known to be patterned by neurogenic genes, which we hypothesize to have influenced the formation of the auditory nerve and its ganglion in Jurassic therian evolution, as shown by their osteological correlates in Dryolestes, and by the similar base-to-apex progression in morphogenesis of the ganglion in mice, and in transformation of its canal in phylogeny. The cochlear innervation in Dryolestes is the precursory condition in the curve-to-coil transformation of the cochlea in mammalian phylogeny. This provides the timing of the evolution, and where along the phylogeny the morphogenetic genes were co-opted into patterning the cochlear innervation, and the full coiling of the cochlea in modern therians.
Measuring the packing density to lower the cement content in concrete

Geometrically based particle packing models can help to predict the water demand of concrete, and thus the material properties. In this paper it is described how centrifugal consolidation can be used to determine the packing density of powders. The method is assessed based on experimental data, calculations and polarization and fluorescence microscopy of the samples. Results show that an average maximum packing density can be measured, which depends on the initial water powder ratio, the use of superplasticizer, the mixing procedure of the paste and the applied compaction energy. Viscosity measurements show the influence of the particle packing density on water demand and how concrete mixtures can be designed to lower the cement content in concrete.
Finding Structure in Heterogeneous Networks

Complex networks play a key role in the evolution of communities and individual decisions community members make. These networks are becoming increasingly heterogeneous, linking many dierent types of entities. Network analysis and community detection algorithms, however, usually reduce complex networks to homogeneous networks composed of entities of a single type. In the process, they conate relations between dierent entity types and loose important structural information. In this paper we describe a generalization of the modularity-based community detection algorithm and apply it to complex, heterogeneous networks. First, we redene network connectivity in terms of inuence, measured by the number of paths of any length that exist between two nodes. We dene inuence-based modu