Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Moderate Alcohol Consumption and Cognitive Functioning in a Zambian Population

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and cognitive functioning. Design: A cross-sectional study comprising a sample of 157 (48.5%) males and 167 (51.5%) females, with an age range of between 20 and 50 years. All the participants were conversant with the English language. Their educational range was between 5-19 years of schooling. Measures: The Zambia Neurobehavioural Test Battery was used to measure cognitive functioning. Self-reported alcohol consumption was obtained by means of the Chinese Substance Use Form. Results: Male moderate drinkers have performed better on the Stroop Colour and Word Test, t-score (M=52.78; SD=8.4) than the non-drinking males, (M=48; SD= 10.2). The drinking females however, seemed to perform less well (M= 47.36; SD= 8.2) when compared to the non-drinking females (M=50.68; SD= 9.2) in the area of Verbal Episodic Memory. Conclusion: The male participants seem to benefit from moderate alcohol consumption whereas a seemingly negative outcome in terms of cognitive functioning was observed in the female moderate alcohol consumers. It should be noted, however, that these differences observed though statistically significant are not clinically significant. Therefore, both the drinking and non-drinking groups with similar demographic characteristics are more or less expected to fall with the normal range of performance.
Chondroitin-4-sulfation negatively regulates axonal guidance and growth

Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) side chains endow extracellular matrix proteoglycans with diversity and complexity based upon the length, composition and charge distribution of the polysaccharide chain. Using cultured primary neurons, we show that specific sulfation in the GAG chains of chondroitin sulfate mediates neuronal guidance cues and axonal growth inhibition. Chondroitin-4-sulfate (CS-A), but not chondroitin-6-sulfate (CS-C), exhibits a strong negative guidance cue to mouse cerebellar granule neurons. Enzymatic and gene-based manipulations of 4-sulfation in the GAG side chains alter their ability to direct growing axons. Furthermore, 4-sulfated chondroitin sulfate GAG chains are rapidly and significantly increased in regions that do not support axonal regeneration proximal to spinal cord lesions in mice. Thus, our findings show that specific sulfation along the carbohydrate backbone carries instructions to regulate neuronal function.
Rhinoscleroma: A Rare Chronic Infectious Cause of Nasal Mass Lesions in the United States

Abstract Rhinoscleroma is a chronic, progressive, granulomatous infection of the upper airways due to Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis. It is endemic to certain regions of Africa, Southeast Asia, Mexico, Central and South America, and Central and Eastern Europe but is rarely seen in the United States. We report the case of a 33-year-old man who presented with a 6-month history of progressive bilateral nasal obstruction that was unresponsive to medical therapy. The patient underwent surgical excision with histologic findings diagnostic of rhinoscleroma. Herein, we present this uncommon case, review the clinical and diagnostic features of rhinoscleroma, and discuss potential clinical and histologic mimics.
Towards the ethnography of filmic places : video-based research and found footage filmmaking in the anthropological investigation of Mexican migrant event video

This thesis offers an ethnography, with both audiovisual and written components, of the virtual places brought into being through the creation and consumption of event videos in a transnational community. It is intended as a contribution to the development of conceptual and methodological frameworks, which will allow anthropological engagements with vernacular audiovisual media that take into account their phenomenological properties as mimetically active assemblages. In San Francisco Tetlanohcan, Mexico, young parents often leave their children behind as they cross the border illegally, heading north to look for work. Event videos, made by videographers at rite of passage ceremonies and sent to the USA, are an important aspect of migrant life. This research draws on thinking in philosophy and film studies to conceptualise these videos as agents in a process of ‘filmic emplacement’ as their production and consumption bring into being imagined places and selves. The project combines methodological approaches borrowed from sensory ethnography with video editing techniques inspired by avant-garde filmmaking, in a dynamic evocation and exploration of these filmic places. Close participation in the creation and consumption of event videos combined with the movement of alternative ‘video messages’ across the border, gave the researcher a sense of these places. Shared screenings of found footage sequences materialised and refined that understanding. By co-opting the aesthetics of popular television, event videos transform that which they depict, bringing into being collectively created and experienced imagined places. This coherent and constant virtual realm allows for the creation and maintenance of kinship and fictive kinship relationships, despite separations over space and time. The video 900,000 Frames Between Us produced as part of this thesis uses the juxtaposition of ontologically diverse images and sounds to provide an audiovisual evocation of this ‘filmic home’. In addition to contributing to the anthropological understanding of San Francisco, this thesis suggests ways in which visual anthropologists might engage with and understand the mediated experiences of others.
Earthquake forecasting model for Nepal to improve prevention

There is an urgent need of earthquake forecasting model for Nepal in this current scenario. It can be developed by the scientists of Nepal with the help of experienced international scientists. This will help the Nepalese to take timely and necessary precautions. We would argue that above all we need to use earthquake prediction knowledge to improve the disaster prepardness in local communities, service providers (hospitals, Non-Governmental Organizations, police, etc.), government policy-makers and international agencies. On the whole, both seismology and public health are most successful when focusing on prevention not on prediction per se. J Epidemiol. 2017;7(4); 700-701.
Restitution des profils de dégagement de chaleur latente par radiométrie hyperfréquence : application aux cyclones tropicaux

Les cyclones tropicaux, gigantesques machines thermiques redistribuent l'energie entre les regions chaude et froide du globe. Cette energie (chaleur latente) provient surtout des processus de condensation. La connaissance de la chaleur latente devrait ameliorer la prevision de l'evolution de ses systemes devastateurs detectables par satellite. TRMM lance en 1997, permet la restitution des contenus en hydrometeores grâce a des mesures couplees radar/radiometre (PR/TMI). Cette these porte sur la restitution de la chaleur latente. On a donc developpe un algorithme original de type bayesien utilisant des bases de donnees, construites a partir des mesures du PR. Cette methode, appliquee au cyclone Bret (1999) a ete validee par comparaison avec des resultats de mesures aeroportees et sol. On reproduit assez bien sur ce cas une structure energetique propre a differents stade de son evolution. Une etude statistique pourrait ainsi permettre un diagnostic de l'evolution.
APPLICATION OF GEOPHYSICAL METHODS TO DETERMINE BEDROCK CONDITIONS WITHIN A TUNNEL ALIGNMENT

The Upper Scioto West Interceptor Sewer is a 10-km long bedrock tunnel under construction in Columbus, Ohio. Tunneling progress was halted when the tunnel boring machine (TBM) encountered a clay-filled solution valley measuring approximately 75 m (240 ft) wide. A long and expensive delay followed while a vertical shaft was excavated ahead of the TBM, and a horizontal tunnel was hand dug through the soft material to reach the TBM. A geophysical survey was contracted to identify additional problem areas in advance of further tunneling. The survey included two conventional geophysical techniques, seismic refraction and microgravity, and a new technique named Forward Looking Seismic (FLS). Seismic refraction provided a profile of the bedrock surface along the tunnel alignment. Microgravity also detected bedrock valleys as well as low-density bedrock zones attributed to fracturing, solutioning, etc. The third method, FLS, was conducted as a preliminary test. The FLS test detected two geological features ahead of the TBM, a low-density bedrock zone and a clay-filled void. The low-density zone corresponded to an area where jet grouting was required to facilitate tunneling. An estimate of the location and orientation of the void was successfully made.
Recursive Programming

ously, and the available memory space is therefore used rather uneconomically. Furthermore—and this is a more serious objection—it is then impossible to call in a subroutine while one or more previous activations of the same subroutine have not yet come to an end, without losing the possibility of finishing them off properly later on. We intend to describe the principles of a program structure for which these two objections no longer hold. In the first place we sought a means of removing the second restriction, for this essentially restricts the admissable structure of the program; hence the name “Recursive Programming”. More efficient use of the memory as regards the internal working spaces of subroutines is a secondary con­ sequence not without significance. The solution can be applied under perfectly general conditions, e.g. in the structure of an object program to be delivered by an ALGOL 60 compiler. The fact that the proposed methods tend to be rather time consuming on an average present day computer, may give a hint in which direction future design might go. Recursive Programming
DUFF MOISTURE DYNAMICS IN BLACK SPRUCE FEATHER MOSS STANDS AND THEIR RELATION TO THE CANADIAN FOREST FIRE DANGER RATING SYSTEM

The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System’s Fire Weather Index (FWI) System models 3 levels of fuel moisture within the forest floor using simple environmental inputs. Wildland fire managers in interior Alaska have expressed concern that the FWI System does not take northern latitude factors such as long day lengths and permafrost into account. During the 1999 fire season destructive sampling methods were employed to monitor moisture content throughout the feather moss profile in 3 interior Alaska black spruce stands. Measured moisture contents were compared to the FWI System’s fuel moisture predictions. The FWI System followed general trends of the seasonal fuel moisture within the feather moss profile. However, the short-term response of the interior Alaska moss profile is more dynamic than the FWI System’s fuel moisture code predictions. Hydraulic properties that have been linked to bulk density may be the causative agent for the observed short-term discrepancy.
Metacarpal Cortical Area and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease

1 Research and Training Institute, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged, Boston, MA. 2 Division on Aging, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. 3 Clinical Epidemiology Research and Training Unit, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA. 4 Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA. 5 Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA. 6 Framingham Heart Study, Boston, MA, and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD. 7 AstraZeneca LP, Wilmington, DE. 8 Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Emory School of Medicine and Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA.
Continuous intrathecal baclofen infusion alleviates autonomic dysfunction in patients with severe supraspinal spasticity

Continuous intrathecal baclofen infusion (CIBI) is a widely accepted therapy for the treatment of severe spinal spasticity. There is increasing evidence that CIBI has similar effects on patients with supraspinal spasticity resulting from either hypoxic or traumatic brain injury.1 A proportion of patients with supraspinal spasticity present with additional autonomic dysfunction. These dysfunctions are often unresponsive to conventional antiadrenergic medication. Patients may present with severe arterial hypertension, tachycardia, hyperhidrosis, hypersalivation, and bronchial hypersecretion. Mortality is mainly influenced by these symptoms. In addition to antiadrenergic medication sedatives and analgesics are often required. During intensive care treatment such medication often leads to a prolongation of artificial ventilation and delayed rehabilitation. During rehabilitation autonomic instability additionally interferes with physiotherapeutic activity. In the follow up of patients with severe supraspinal spasticity we noted the positive influence of intrathecal baclofen infusion on autonomic instability.1 Study of the literature did not disclose similar findings. So far, it had not yet been pointed out that CIBI has a positive influence on symptoms originating from severe hypoxic or traumatic brain damage. Eighteen patients with severe tetraspasticity from either hypoxic or traumatic brain injury were …
Expression of Concern Expression of Concern on ( Testosterone Replacement Modulates Cardiac Metabolic Remodeling after Myocardial Infarction by Upregulating PPAR α ) PPAR

PPAR Research would like to express concern with the article titled “Testosterone Replacement Modulates Cardiac Metabolic Remodeling a erMyocardial Infarction by Upregulating PPARα” [1] published in PPAR Research in June 2016 due to flaws found in the quality of the article. eEditorial Board believed that the experimental design is not solid enough as the control groups are missing. ey thought that it is confusing that most of the data sets are labeled with n=3 in the legends which is extremely low for animal experiments. In addition, the board found that the authors described each group number in the methods which is not n=3 but slightly higher. ere is no explanation why not all animals were included in all analyses and how a selection of data sets was performed. In some data sets, the authors use n=6 but some animal data sets are missing. e authors explained that, in theMaterials andMethods, additional normal rats that underwent the same procedure without LDA occlusion were used as the control group. Moreover, the number of animals which were alive a er the myocardial infarction was mentioned in the Materials and Methods and the number of animals in figure legendswas less than that in theMaterials andMethods as the remaining alive rats were divided into several parts for different experiments. ey added that, during echocardiographic measurement, two rats of Cas group died from anesthesia, so they took four rats from different groups to evaluate cardiac indexes. A er echocardiographic studies, the rats were immediately executed in addition to collecting blood and heart samples. e minimum number of different groups was 6 (8 S-Cas, 6 Cas, 7 Cas+T, and 6 Cas+T+F). Accordingly, they measured ATP content and sexual hormones of six rats. ree rats were performed by histological analysis, and the other three were performed by western blotting and real-time PCR. e Editorial Board was concerned about the death of several animals which should be clearly defined by the authors as they should state why the n was 3-6 when each treatment is mentioned with an n = 8. Moreover, the board found that the statistical analysis was not done properly and they recommended repeating the study to increase the sample size.
Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2011–2014

Tobacco use and addiction most often begin during youth and young adulthood. Youth use of tobacco in any form is unsafe. To determine the prevalence and trends of current (past 30-day) use of nine tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, e-cigarettes, hookahs, tobacco pipes, snus, dissolvable tobacco, and bidis) among U.S. middle (grades 6-8) and high school (grades 9-12) students, CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) analyzed data from the 2011-2014 National Youth Tobacco Surveys (NYTS). In 2014, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product among middle (3.9%) and high (13.4%) school students. Between 2011 and 2014, statistically significant increases were observed among these students for current use of both e-cigarettes and hookahs (p<0.05), while decreases were observed for current use of more traditional products, such as cigarettes and cigars, resulting in no change in overall tobacco use. Consequently, 4.6 million middle and high school students continue to be exposed to harmful tobacco product constituents, including nicotine. Nicotine exposure during adolescence, a critical window for brain development, might have lasting adverse consequences for brain development, causes addiction, and might lead to sustained tobacco use. For this reason, comprehensive and sustained strategies are needed to prevent and reduce the use of all tobacco products among youths in the United States.
Utility of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists for prevention of chemotherapy-induced ovarian damage in premenopausal women with breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Premature ovarian failure and infertility following chemotherapy are major concerns for premenopausal women with breast cancer. A potential ovarian function preservation strategy is administration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists during adjuvant chemotherapy; however, studies of the clinical efficacy of GnRH agonists to protect chemotherapy-induced ovarian damage have shown mixed results. Objective: This meta-analysis study was designed to estimate the efficacy of GnRH agonists administered concurrently with chemotherapy to prevent chemotherapy-induced ovarian damage in premenopausal women with breast cancer. Methods: Electronic literature databases (PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library databases searching, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Web of Science, and the Wanfang Data) were searched for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published until September 2015. Only RCTs that examined the effect of GnRH agonists for chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure in premenopausal women with breast cancer were selected. The rate of spontaneous resumption of menses and spontaneous pregnancy were collected. All data were analyzed by RevMan 5.3 (Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, Denmark) and Stata 12.0 (StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA). Results: Eleven RCTs with a total of 1,062 participants (GnRH agonists administered concurrently with chemotherapy, n = 541; chemotherapy alone, n = 521) were included in the meta-analysis. A significantly greater number of women treated with GnRH agonist experienced spontaneous resumption of menses after the adjuvant chemotherapy, yielding a pooled odds ratio of 2.57 (versus chemotherapy alone, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.65, 4.01; P , 0.0001). A subgroup analysis showed that addition of GnRH agonists significantly improved the resumption of menses rate in patients who were hormone-insensitive. However, the two treatment groups experienced similar spontaneous pregnancy (odds ratio = 0.177; 95% CI = 0.92, 1.40; P = 0.09). Conclusion: GnRH agonists cotreatment with chemotherapy in premenopausal women with breast cancer plays a beneficial role in resumption of ovarian function, with a higher rate of resumption of menses. However, treatment with GnRH agonists does not appear to exhibit its protective effects in fertility.
Understanding Mixed Sequence DNA Recognition by Novel Designed Compounds: The Kinetic and Thermodynamic Behavior of Azabenzimidazole Diamidines

Sequence-specific recognition of DNA by small organic molecules offers a potentially effective approach for the external regulation of gene expression and is an important goal in cell biochemistry. Rational design of compounds from established modules can potentially yield compounds that bind strongly and selectively with specific DNA sequences. An initial approach is to start with common A·T bp recognition molecules and build in G·C recognition units. Here we report on the DNA interaction of a synthetic compound that specifically binds to a G·C bp in the minor groove of DNA by using an azabenzimidazole moiety. The detailed interactions were evaluated with biosensor-surface plasmon resonance (SPR), isothermal calorimetric (ITC), and mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) methods. The compound, DB2277, binds with single G·C bp containing sequences with sub-nanomolar potency and displays slow dissociation kinetics and high selectivity. A detailed thermodynamic and kinetic study at different experimental salt concentrations and temperatures shows that the binding free energy is salt concentration dependent but essentially temperature independent under our experimental conditions, and binding enthalpy is temperature dependent but salt concentration independent. The results show that in the proper compound structural context novel heterocyclic cations can be designed to strongly recognize complex DNA sequences.
Global Ocean Tides. Part II. The Semidiurnal Principal Lunar Tide (M2), Atlas of Tidal Charts and Maps.

Abstract : In Part I (Schwiderski, 1978a) of this report, a unique hydrodynamical interpolation technique was introduced, extensively tested, and evaluated in order to compute partial global ocean tides in great detail and with a high degree of accuracy. This novel method has been applied to construct the diurnal principal solar (P1) ocean tide with a relative accuracy of better than 5 cm anywhere in the open oceans. The resulting tidal amplitudes and phases are tabulated on a 1 deg X 1 deg grid system in an atlas of 42 deg X 71 deg overlapping charts covering the whole oceanic globe. A corresponding atlas of global corange and cotidal maps is included to provide the reader with a quick general overview of the major tidal phenomena. The specifying hydrodynamical parameters of the model are listed along with quoted sources of empirical tide data, and significant tidal features are explained and discussed. As expected, since the periods of the diurnal tides P1 (24.07h) and K1 (23.93 h) differ by only 0.14 h, these two tides resemble very closely each other (compare Part IV). Significant differences occur only in regions of rapid tidal variations. Of course, P1 resembles also the diurnal 01 tide but to a visibly lesser degree (see Part V). (Author)
Multivariate Spatial IV Regression

<pre>In this paper, a Multivariate Spatial Regression model with Endogenous Variables </pre><pre>is proposed. In order to deal with <span>endogeneity</span> and spatial dependence, </pre><pre>the instrumental variables (IV) methodology and an autoregressive spatial structure, </pre><pre>frequently used in econometric applications, are implemented. A Bayesian inference </pre><pre>procedure based on simulation schemes designed to obtain samples from the </pre><pre>posterior distribution of model parameters is developed. Finally, the methodology </pre><pre>is illustrated through an application to the impact of broadband access on the </pre><pre>economic sectors. </pre>