Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health-related quality of life among persons living with buruli ulcer in amasaman community, ga west district accra, ghana.

OBJECTIVES This cross-sectional study compared the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of individuals with Buruli ulcer (Focus group) and age-matched apparently healthy peers without the ulcer (Control group) living in Amasaman in the Ga West District, Ghana. Gender pattern in the Health-Related Quality of Life of the Focus group was also investigated. METHODOLOGY Participants comprised of consecutively recruited 84 Focus and 100 Control group subjects. Socio-demographics of all participants and the clinical profile of Focus group subjects were obtained. The Nottingham Health Profile Questionnaire was used to measure the quality of life. Data was analysed using Mann-Whitney U statistic at 0.05 alpha. RESULTS Focus group had significantly higher scores than Control in all the six (6) domains of the Nottingham Health Profile (p<0.05); no significant difference was observed in the total health score of females compared to males in both the Focus and Control groups (p>0.05). CONCLUSION The findings suggest that, Buruli Ulcer impact negatively on the Health-Related Quality of Life of the victims. Aside medical interventions, the quality of life as well as the socio-cultural and economic impacts of Buruli ulcer should be taken in cognizance while planning community-based rehabilitation programmes for those affected.
An ultra-low power wake up receiver with flip flops based address decoder

Energy Efficient Communication is one of the main requirements in the development of wireless sensor networks especially for event triggered applications. These applications present low data rate and the real time behavior is an issue. Duty cycling scheme is proposed where the node's transceiver is turned off and on regularly in order to listen to the radio channel for possible incoming communication during its on state. Nonetheless, such a paradigm performs poorly for scenarios of low or bursty traffic because of unnecessary activations of the radio transceiver. As an alternative technology, Wake up Radio (WuR) systems present a promising energy efficient network operation, where target devices are only activated in an on demand way by means of a special RF signal. The wakeup receiver is ultra low power receivers which is always on for a continuous idle listening of the channel. It detects the wakeup signal, identifies it, and if the wake up packet corresponds to the requirements, an interruption signal will be sent to the main transceiver to activate it. In this work, we present a novel wake up receiver operating in the 868 MHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) frequency band. The proposed wake up receiver consists of an RF front end circuit and a digital code detector for the identification. The RF front end circuit is implemented with passive elements and is triggered by radio energy to minimize power dissipation. It is simulated using Advanced Design Software (ADS) by Agilent. A prototype of the RF front end wakeup receiver is implemented into two layers PCB. Meanwhile, the code detector generates an interrupt signal to the main transceiver based on the received information. Thus, it enables the main transceiver to react to the events instantly. The code detector is based on logic flip flops. It is simulated using ISIS proteus. Detailed descriptions of each block and performance evaluation in term of power consumption and latency have being carried out.
Does Housing Vintage Matter? Exploring the Historic City Center of Amsterdam

A home is typically thought of as a bundle of land and structure. Land is supplied inelastically and is non-reproducible. Land values are therefore affected by a number of demand factors. Conceptually, structures are easily produced, and thus are supplied elastically. Under elastic supply, it is reasonable to assume that replacement cost should be equivalent to the value of the structure for new properties. Here, we examine how particular structure characteristics may introduce heterogeneity into these demand and supply relationships. In other words, how do structure vintages influence price dynamics. Older vintages are not easily reproducible leading to the value of an older vintage to potentially diverge from its replacement cost. To test our hypotheses, we employ a nonlinear model in a Bayesian structural timeseries approach that explicitly disentangles structure and land values to identify vintage effects separately from physical deterioration and land values. We find large differences in price dynamics between four distinct vintages of Amsterdam old city center apartments. Between 1999 - 2016, new construction had an average return of 1.7%, with a standard deviation of 2.4%. On the other hand, properties build in the 19th century had an average return of 3.6% with a standard deviation of 6.1%, during the same period.
Molecular Basis of Azithromycin-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms are extremely recalcitrant to antibiotic treatment. Treatment of cystic fibrosis patients with azithromycin (AZM) has shown promise. We used DNA microarrays to identify differentially expressed transcripts in developing P. aeruginosa biofilms exposed to 2 μg/ml AZM. We report that transcripts for multiple restriction-nodulation-cell division (RND) efflux pumps, known to be involved in planktonic antibiotic resistance, and transcripts involved in type III secretion were upregulated in the resistant biofilms that developed in the presence of AZM. Interestingly, the MexAB-OprM and MexCD-OprJ efflux pumps, but not type III secretion, appear to be integral to biofilm formation in the presence of AZM, as evidenced by the fact that a mutant deleted in both mexAB-oprM and mexCD-oprJ was unable to form a biofilm in the presence of AZM. A mutant deleted in type III secretion was still able to form biofilms in the presence of drug. Furthermore, single mexAB-oprM- and mexCD-oprJ-null mutants were able to form a biofilm in the presence of drug, indicating that either of the pumps can confer resistance to AZM during biofilm development. In contrast to planktonically grown cells, where no mexC expression was detectable regardless of the presence of AZM, biofilms exhibited induction of mexC expression from the outset of their formation, but only in the presence of AZM. mexA, which is constitutively expressed in planktonic cells, was uniformly expressed in biofilms regardless of the presence of AZM. These data indicate that the MexCD-OprJ pump acts as a biofilm-specific mechanism for AZM resistance.
40Ar-39Ar Dating of the Manson Impact Structure: A Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Crater Candidate

The mineralogy of shocked mineral and lithic grains in the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary claystone worldwide is most consistent with a bolide impact on a continent. Both the concentrations and sizes of these shocked grains are greatest in the western interior of North America. These data suggest that the Manson impact structure in north-central Iowa is a viable candidate for the K-T boundary impact event. Argon-40–argon-39 age spectrum dating of shocked microcline from the crystalline central uplift of the Manson impact structure indicates that there was severe argon-40 loss at 65.7 � 1.0 million years ago, an age that is indistinguishable from that of the K-T boundary, within the limits of analytical precision.
Likelihood-Free Inference of Population Structure and Local Adaptation in a Bayesian Hierarchical Model

We address the problem of finding evidence of natural selection from genetic data, accounting for the confounding effects of demographic history. In the absence of natural selection, gene genealogies should all be sampled from the same underlying distribution, often approximated by a coalescent model. Selection at a particular locus will lead to a modified genealogy, and this motivates a number of recent approaches for detecting the effects of natural selection in the genome as “outliers” under some models. The demographic history of a population affects the sampling distribution of genealogies, and therefore the observed genotypes and the classification of outliers. Since we cannot see genealogies directly, we have to infer them from the observed data under some model of mutation and demography. Thus the accuracy of an outlier-based approach depends to a greater or a lesser extent on the uncertainty about the demographic and mutational model. A natural modeling framework for this type of problem is provided by Bayesian hierarchical models, in which parameters, such as mutation rates and selection coefficients, are allowed to vary across loci. It has proved quite difficult computationally to implement fully probabilistic genealogical models with complex demographies, and this has motivated the development of approximations such as approximate Bayesian computation (ABC). In ABC the data are compressed into summary statistics, and computation of the likelihood function is replaced by simulation of data under the model. In a hierarchical setting one may be interested both in hyperparameters and parameters, and there may be very many of the latter—for example, in a genetic model, these may be parameters describing each of many loci or populations. This poses a problem for ABC in that one then requires summary statistics for each locus, which, if used naively, leads to a consequent difficulty in conditional density estimation. We develop a general method for applying ABC to Bayesian hierarchical models, and we apply it to detect microsatellite loci influenced by local selection. We demonstrate using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis that this approach has comparable performance to a full-likelihood method and outperforms it when mutation rates are variable across loci.
Hypocholesterolemic efficacy of royal jelly in healthy mild hypercholesterolemic adults

Abstract Context: Royal jelly (RJ) has been reported for its health promoting factors such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and lipid lowering activities. Objective: The present randomized, placebo-controlled study examines the hypolipidemic beneficial effect of RJ through evaluating anthropometric measurements, lipid profile and various hormone levels in mildly hypercholesterolemic participants. Materials and methods: Forty subjects with mild hypercholesterolemia (180–200 mg/dL) were randomly selected and divided into two groups as experimental or placebo, who requested to intake nine capsules (350 mg/capsule) of RJ or placebo/day, respectively, for three months with one month of follow-up without any supplementation. Results: No significant changes were noted in any of the anthropometric parameters like body weight, waist and body fat. The serum total cholesterol (TC; 207.05–183.15 mg/dL) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c; 126.44–120.31 mg/dL) levels were reduced significantly (p < 0.05) after administration of RJ. However, triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) levels were not considerably altered. Moreover, three months of RJ consumption significantly ameliorated (p < 0.05) the concentration of sex hormones like dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S; 1788.09–1992.31 ng/mL). Also, intake of RJ did not elicit any hepatic or renal damage. Discussion and conclusion: Intervention with RJ for three months considerably lowered the TC and LDL-c levels through improving the levels of DHEA-S and thus alleviates the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Myelin debris clearance during Wallerian degeneration in the goldfish visual system

We have examined the clearance of myelin debris from the visual pathways of the goldfish during Wallerian degeneration. Both the rate and pattern of myelin disappearance from the optic nerve and tract were determined using immunohistochemistry on frozen sections, as well as plastic sections and electron microscopy. Animals with and without regenerating optic axons were examined in order to determine whether the axons play a role in myelin clearance. We found that myelin is cleared at different rates along the visual paths. Thus, virtually all myelin debris is gone in the optic tract and distal optic nerve stump by 4 weeks after surgery, while in the cranial nerve segment, myelin clearance is still incomplete at 6 weeks postoperative. These temporal and spatial patterns of myelin clearance are the same in animals with and without regenerating axons, thus indicating that growing axons do not influence this process. Finally, ultrastructural observations revealed that both astrocytes and microglia participate in phagocytosing myelin debris in the optic nerve, while in the tract, the vast majority of debris is removed by microglia alone. These data are discussed with regard to possible mechanisms controlling the differential expression of myelin clearance. J. Neurosci. Res. 59:47–62, 2000 © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Vasopressinergic Neurocircuitry Regulating Social Attachment in a Monogamous Species

The prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) is a socially monogamous rodent species that forms a lasting connection between mates, known as a pair bond. The pair bond is primarily characterized by three distinct behaviors: partner preference, selective aggression, and biparental care of the young. The presence of these behaviors in the prairie vole and their absence in closely related non-monogamous species makes the prairie vole an important model of social relationships and facilitates the study of the neurobiological mechanisms of social affiliation and attachment. The nona-peptide arginine-vasopressin (AVP) is an important neuromodulator of social behavior and has been implicated in the regulation of the pair bond-related behaviors of the prairie vole, through activation of the AVP receptor subtype 1a (AVPR1a). Modulation of AVPR1a activity in different regions of the prairie vole brain impacts pair bond behavior, suggesting a role of AVP in neurocircuitry responsible for the regulation of social attachment. This review will discuss findings that have suggested the role of AVP in regulation of the pair bond-related behaviors of the prairie vole and the specific brain regions through which AVP acts to impact these unique behaviors.
Effects of consecutive days of exercise and recovery on muscle mechanical function.

PURPOSE To investigate the effects of three consecutive days of prolonged exercise on muscle mechanical function, 12 volunteers (.VO(2peak) = 44.8 +/- 2.0 mL.kg(-1). min(-1), mean +/- SE) cycled at approximately 60% . VO(2peak) until fatigue. METHODS Quadriceps muscle function was assessed before and after exercise on day 1 (E1) and day 3 (E3) and during three consecutive days of recovery (R1, R2, R3), using both voluntary and electrically induced contractions at various stimulation frequencies. RESULTS Exercise on E1 and E3 resulted in a 40% (120 +/- 12 vs 72 +/- 10 N) and 35% (117 +/- 14 vs 78 +/- 8 N) deficit (P < 0.05) in force at 10 Hz, respectively, which remained depressed (P < 0.05) by 32-34% during R1-R3. At 100 Hz, force, although not altered by exercise at E1 or E3, was decreased (P < 0.05) by 12-16% during recovery. The maximal rate of relaxation (-dF/dtmax) at 10 Hz was reduced (P < 0.05) by 38% on E1, by 32% on E3, and remained depressed by 38% through R3. At 100 Hz, -dF/dtmax was only depressed (P < 0.05) during recovery. Maximal rate of force development (+dF/dtmax) at 10 Hz was reduced (P < 0.05) by exercise, but not in recovery. Maximal voluntary contraction force was depressed (P < 0.05) with exercise at both E1 and E3 and remained depressed (P < 0.05) throughout recovery. The reduction (P < 0.05) in motor unit activation assessed with the interpolated twitch technique, observed during recovery, suggests that part of the incomplete recovery (weakness) is central in origin. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate that three consecutive days of prolonged exercise result in a weakness that persists for at least 3 d, compromising force during both voluntary and induced contractions.
[Studies on recurrence of cerebral aneurysm after operation].

It seems to be well established that the direct surgical treatment of intracranial aneurysm such as clipping, trapping and wrapping the aneurysm. These operations have brought about excellent results but are not perfect because recurrent aneurysm and rebleeding of aneurysm have been reported shortly after the operation. However, it is very rare that subarachnoid hemorrhage arising from recurrent aneurysm long time after the operation, authors have experienced 3 cases of recurrent aneurysm in the same region long after the surgery. Two cases were readmitted to our hospital following repeat episode of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Carotid angiogram showed a new small aneurysm locating about the same place where previously operated aneurysm was situated. One of them showed development of new aneurysm at the anterior communicating after 4 years artery the neck clipping, the other one was recurrent aneurysm 9 years after the neck clipping of aneurysm at the anterior communicating artery. Two cases were treated by reclipping and got well. It has been reported in the articles that 20 cases of recurrent aneurysm were located about the same place where previously clipping aneurysm was performed. Causes of such recurrence of already clipped aneurysm could be divided into two groups. First group was considered that the treatment was unsatisfactory, because the clip had been improperly placed. The other group was considered as mechanical failure of aneurysmal clip that resulted in "slipped out," or "broken clip", and local fragility of the arterial wall adjacent to clip edge. Last case had a giant pseudoaneurysm. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Temporal proteomic profiling of Chlamydia trachomatis–infected HeLa‐229 human cervical epithelial cells

Chlamydia trachomatis is the leading causative agent of bacterial sexually transmitted infections worldwide which can lead to female pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility. A greater understanding of host response during chlamydial infection is essential to design intervention technique to reduce the increasing incidence rate of genital chlamydial infection. In this study, we investigated proteome changes in epithelial cells during C. trachomatis infection by using an isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) labeling technique coupled with a liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS3) analysis. C. trachomatis (serovar D, MOI 1)–infected HeLa‐229 human cervical carcinoma epithelial cells (at 2, 4 and 8 h) showed profound modifications of proteome profile which involved 606 host proteins. MGST1, SUGP2 and ATXN10 were among the top in the list of the differentially upregulated protein. Through pathway analysis, we suggested the involvement of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in host cells upon C. trachomatis infection. Network analysis underscored the participation of DNA repair mechanism during C. trachomatis infection. In summary, intense modifications of proteome profile in C. trachomatis–infected HeLa‐229 cells indicate complex host‐pathogen interactions at early phase of chlamydial infection.
Failure Analysis and Improvement for High Power Single-Phase Module

The failure mechanism of the single-phase power module for three-phase converter applications with high output power is investigated. It illustrates that the higher current density on the near-terminal side of the power device, along with the abreast bonding that induces thermal coupling at the second footprints of bond wires, together result in the failure of the power device in the module. Then, an improved bonding method by redistributing the bond wires is proposed to solve the reliability problem. The bond wires are staggerly soldered on the surface of the device, avoiding the second footprints from listing in a line to reduce the thermal accumulation. The simulation performed by TCAD ANSYS shows that the junction temperature (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathbf{T}}_{\mathbf{j}} $ </tex-math></inline-formula>) can be effectively decreased through this way. A practical experiment is also carried out to verify the availability of the optimized bonding method, which demonstrates that the improved method can decrease the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathbf{T}}_{\mathbf{j}} $ </tex-math></inline-formula> of the device by 17 °C under 65A operating current.
The Direct Effects of Lightning on Aircraft

Protection of aircraft against the physical-damage effects and fuel-vapor ignition hazards of lightning has long been a concern of aircraft designers. These hazards are now referred to as the "direct effects" and include the damage that may occur at the lightning-attachment spots on the aircraft, as well as the possibility of electrical sparking that may occur within fuel tanks. As aircraft design have changed, new methods to protect the aircraft against these effects have had to be developed. This need is expecially true with respect to structures made of fiber-reinforced plastics and other non metallic materials, which are often more vulnerable to damage than conventional aluminum structures. In this paper, we review the potential hazards, protection methods and some of the test techniques available for design verification.
Intra‐arterial chemotherapy using an implantable infusion pump and liver irradiation for the treatment of hepatic metastases

Liver metastases are a common cause of death in colon carcinoma. The dual blood supply of the liver permits regional perfusion while hepatic catabolism of 5‐fluorouracil (FU), floxuridine (FUdR) permit higher drug exposures than systemic (IV) administration. We have studied the effect of continuous intraarterial chemotherapy (FU: 5–10 mg/kg/day and FUdR: 0.2 mg/kg/day) and whole liver irradiation (1000 rad every 4 weeks, total dose of 3000 rad) for metastatic colon carcinoma to liver. Eighteen patients with metastases to liver only are reported using this combination therapy. Seven patients had percutaneous placement of a catheter via the brachial artery, two had operative placement of a catheter via the gastroduodenal artery, all of which were connected to the Cormed infusor system, nine had operative placement of the Infusaid implantable pump with catheter placement into the hepatic artery via the gastroduodenal artery. The median survival for the entire group was 241 days. In those patients whose liver function tests (bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase) were less than two times normal, the median survival was 770 days. The median survival of the patients with greater than two times normal LFT's was 178 days. Two patients died of complications of the treatment. One who developed irreversible radiation hepatitis but at autopsy had only two areas of microscopic tumor foci in the liver and another who had received only 15 days of infusion and 1000 rad to liver. This patient developed irreversible chemical enteritis secondary to chemotherapy infusion into the superior mesenteric artery. Three patients have undergone abdominal reexploration and one at autopsy, who were found to have no gross evidence of tumor in the liver despite previous pathologic confirmation. It appears that some patients with minimal tumor burdens can have sterilization of their tumors. There were three cases of reversible liver function abnormalities. Complications associated with conventional intra‐arterial chemotherapy (artery thrombosis, catheter sepsis and dislodgement, pump infusion variation and pump failure) were not seen with the Infusaid delivery system. The pump is refilled every 2–3 weeks via percutaneous puncture. All therapy was given on an outpatient basis. Pump acceptance and tolerance was 100%. Intra‐arterial chemotherapy can now be accomplished without the morbidity associated with it in the past. The combination of chemotherapy and liver irradiation may offer improved survival in selected patients.