Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influenza vaccination in community-dwelling elderly: impact on mortality and influenza-associated morbidity.

BACKGROUND Influenza-related morbidity and mortality have been extensively studied with hospital and reimbursement data. However, little is known about the effectiveness of the annual vaccination programs in generally healthy community-dwelling elderly. The objective of our study was to investigate the effectiveness of influenza vaccination in community-dwelling elderly during the 1996 to 1997 influenza epidemic. METHODS We performed a population-based cohort study using the computerized Integrated Primary Care Information database in the Netherlands. Subjects who were 65 years and older in 1996 with a permanent status in a practice in the source population were considered eligible for study participation. Two cohorts were defined on the basis of vaccination status. We estimated and compared all-cause mortality, pneumonia, and clinical influenza infection rates between the cohorts. RESULTS Influenza vaccination was associated with a significant reduction of morbidity and mortality in vaccinated elderly (relative risk [RR], 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.60-0.87). Influenza infections decreased significantly in the vaccinated population (RR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.26-0.91). Mortality was reduced significantly in elderly with comorbidity (RR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.48-0.94). The risk reduction for pneumonia was nonsignificant (RR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.55-1.07) but was temporally related to the peak influenza activity. CONCLUSIONS In this study, influenza vaccination was associated with decreased mortality and influenza infections in community-dwelling elderly. Our results indicate that, in a season of mild influenza activity and good antigenic match between vaccine strains and circulating strains, influenza vaccination reduced mortality in the vaccinated population. Our data support an annual vaccination strategy for all community-dwelling elderly.
Battle of the Xs

have huge implications for the open software movement and the increasingly bitter IBM-Microsoft competition, The SCO Group Inc. (Lindon, Utah) has upped the ante in its lawsuit against IBM Corp. (Armonk, N.Y.). IBM stands accused, in a suit SCO originally filed in March, of adding Unix System V source code, which SCO believes it owns, to Linux, an open-source operating system that can be obtained free of charge. In an amended brief, filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, on 16 June, SCO raised the amount of requested damages to US $3 billion from $1 billion. It also asked for a permanent injunction requiring IBM to destroy all copies of Unix, including AIX, IBM’s flavor of Unix installed on many of the company’s products. IBM has denied all charges. In a curt press release issued 16 June, it accused SCO of attempting to create fear, uncertainty, and doubt among IBM’s customers and the open-source community. “IBM’s Unix license is irrevocable, perpetual and fully paid up,” the release said. At the heart of the dispute are IBM’s increasingly active support for Linux and Linux’s growing toehold in the segment of the server and workstation industry that runs on IA32 (Pentium) and IA64 (Itanium) microprocessors from Intel Corp. (Santa Clara, Calif.). Since SCO earns its bread and butter selling Unix to manufacturers of Intel-based servers and workstations, it feels threatened by Linux’s growing popularity. And it largely blames IBM for taking Linux from a PC operating system to one that can run on the enterprise-grade computers that store corporate records and databases and route intranet traffic. “IBM has engaged in a course of conduct that is intentionally and foreseeably calculated to undermine and/or destroy the economic value of Unix anywhere and everywhere in the world,” said SCO in the suit filed on 6 March.
Cooking and freezing may not protect against allergenic reactions to ingested Anisakis simplex antigens in humans

mentary techniques to exclude other lesions, such as amelanotic melanoma (Enzinger and Weiss 1995). The tumour cells were positive to the alpha-l-antitrypsin and the anti1-antichymotrypsin and negative to the S-100 protein. The two positive enzymes are present inconsistently within these lesions (Roholl and others 1985), possibly as a result of endocytosis. This supports the fact that this was not a histiocyte or macrophage tumour, but a special type of mesenchymal tumour, with differentiation toward fibroblasts, producing monocyte chemoattractants and macrophage differentiation factors (Takeya and Takahashi 1994). In conclusion, the mass observed in this puppy was classified as a storiform-pleomorphic type MFH, a subtype that occurs more often in dogs than cats, but which has never been previously reported in such a young animal.
ROS Stress Resets Circadian Clocks to Coordinate Pro-Survival Signals

Dysfunction of circadian clocks exacerbates various diseases, in part likely due to impaired stress resistance. It is unclear how circadian clock system responds toward critical stresses, to evoke life-protective adaptation. We identified a reactive oxygen species (ROS), H2O2 -responsive circadian pathway in mammals. Near-lethal doses of ROS-induced critical oxidative stress (cOS) at the branch point of life and death resets circadian clocks, synergistically evoking protective responses for cell survival. The cOS-triggered clock resetting and pro-survival responses are mediated by transcription factor, central clock-regulatory BMAL1 and heat shock stress-responsive (HSR) HSF1. Casein kinase II (CK2) –mediated phosphorylation regulates dimerization and function of BMAL1 and HSF1 to control the cOS-evoked responses. The core cOS-responsive transcriptome includes CK2-regulated crosstalk between the circadian, HSR, NF-kappa-B-mediated anti-apoptotic, and Nrf2-mediated anti-oxidant pathways. This novel circadian-adaptive signaling system likely plays fundamental protective roles in various ROS-inducible disorders, diseases, and death.
The influence of fixed rotational deformities of the femur on the patellofemoral contact pressures in human cadaver knees.

Patellofemoral contact pressures resulting from fixed rotational deformities of the femur were studied in human cadaver knees. The increase in the degree of fixed rotational deformities of the femur results in a nonlinear increase in patellofemoral contact pressures on the contralateral facets of the patella (i.e., external rotational deformity resulted in a contact pressure increase on the medial facet, and internal rotational deformity resulted in a contact pressure increase on the lateral facet of the patella). With the initial isometric tension of 200 N in the quadriceps tendon for 30 degrees, 60 degrees, 90 degrees, and 120 degrees knee flexion, the peak contact pressure showed no significant differences between the medial and lateral facets of the patella in its anatomic position. At 20 degrees of rotational deformity of the femur, only a slight increase was noted for the tension in the quadriceps tendon and the patellofemoral contact pressures on the contralateral facets of the patella. However, at 30 degrees rotational deformity of the femur, both the external and internal rotational deformity of the femur showed a significant increase in the tension of the quadriceps tendon and the patellofemoral contact pressures on contralateral facets of the patella. The greatest increase in patellofemoral contact pressures was observed at 30 degrees and 60 degrees knee flexion for both the external and internal rotational deformity of the femur. The external rotational deformity of the femur for all knee flexion angles showed significantly higher peak patellofemoral contact pressure increases on the medial facet of the patella as compared with the lateral patellofemoral contact pressure increase resulting from internal rotational deformity of the femur.
The Structure of the Young Star Cluster NGC 6231. II. Structure, Formation, and Fate

The young cluster NGC 6231 (stellar ages ∼2–7 Myr) is observed shortly after star formation activity has ceased. Using the catalog of 2148 probable cluster members obtained from Chandra, VVV, and optical surveys (Paper I), we examine the cluster’s spatial structure and dynamical state. The spatial distribution of stars is remarkably well fit by an isothermal sphere with moderate elongation, while other commonly used models like Plummer spheres, multivariate normal distributions, or power-law models are poor fits. The cluster has a core radius of 1.2 ± 0.1 pc and a central density of ∼200 stars pc−3. The distribution of stars is mildly mass segregated. However, there is no radial stratification of the stars by age. Although most of the stars belong to a single cluster, a small subcluster of stars is found superimposed on the main cluster, and there are clumpy non-isotropic distributions of stars outside ∼4 core radii. When the size, mass, and age of NGC 6231 are compared to other young star clusters and subclusters in nearby active star-forming regions, it lies at the high-mass end of the distribution but along the same trend line. This could result from similar formation processes, possibly hierarchical cluster assembly. We argue that NGC 6231 has expanded from its initial size but that it remains gravitationally bound.
A COMPARISON BETWEEN LITHIUM, PLACEBO AND A DIURETIC IN PREMENSTRUAL TENSION

It is well known that the premenstrual phase in most women is accompanied by varying degrees of psychic and/or somatic distress and premenstrual tension is characterized by anxiety, depression, irritability, headache or feeling of swelling. The number of admissions to psychiatric hospitals is reported to increase during the premenstrual phase (Kramp (1970)), and both psychotic and non-psychotic diseases are here represented. A very high percentage of alcoholic women started to drink during the premenstrual phase (Belfer et al. (1971)) and increased suicidal behavior has been reported during this period (Glass e t al. (1971)).
The effect of concussion history on cognitive-motor integration in elite hockey players

Aim: To observe the effects of concussion history on cognitive-motor integration in elite-level athletes. Methods: The study included 102 National Hockey League draft prospects (n = 51 concussion history [CH]; n = 51 no history [NC]). Participants completed two computer-based visuomotor tasks, one involved ‘standard’ visuomotor mapping and one involved ‘nonstandard’ mapping in which vision and action were decoupled. Results: We observed a significant effect of group on reaction time (CH slower) and accuracy (CH worse), but a group by condition interaction only for reaction time (p < 0.05). There were no other deficits found. We discussed these findings in comparison to our previous work with non-elite athletes. Conclusion: Previously concussed elite-level athletes may have lingering neurological deficits that are not detected using standard clinical assessments.
RELEASE OF ATRIAL NATRIURETIC PEPTIDE DURING HYPERTONIC SALINE INFUSION: THE IMPORTANCE OF POSTURE

It is well known that atrial distension is an important stimulus for atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) release, but conflicting evidence exists as to whether hyperosmolality also stimulates the release of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in man. As infusion of hypertonic saline causes an increase in both blood volume and plasma osmolality, we have employed this stimulus to investigate:
Biosynthesis of Ganglioside Mimics in Campylobacter jejuni OH4384

We have applied two strategies for the cloning of four genes responsible for the biosynthesis of the GT1a ganglioside mimic in the lipooligosaccharide (LOS) of a bacterial pathogen,Campylobacter jejuni OH4384, which has been associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome. We first cloned a gene encoding an α-2,3-sialyltransferase (cst-I) using an activity screening strategy. We then used nucleotide sequence information from the recently completed sequence from C. jejuni NCTC 11168 to amplify a region involved in LOS biosynthesis from C. jejuni OH4384. The LOS biosynthesis locus from C. jejuni OH4384 is 11.47 kilobase pairs and encodes 13 partial or complete open reading frames, while the corresponding locus in C. jejuni NCTC 11168 spans 13.49 kilobase pairs and contains 15 open reading frames, indicating a different organization between these two strains. Potential glycosyltransferase genes were cloned individually, expressed in Escherichia coli, and assayed using synthetic fluorescent oligosaccharides as acceptors. We identified genes encoding a β-1,4-N-acetylgalactosaminyl-transferase (cgtA), a β-1,3-galactosyltransferase (cgtB), and a bifunctional sialyltransferase (cst-II), which transfers sialic acid to O-3 of galactose and to O-8 of a sialic acid that is linked α-2,3- to a galactose. The linkage specificity of each identified glycosyltransferase was confirmed by NMR analysis at 600 MHz on nanomole amounts of model compounds synthesized in vitro. Using a gradient inverse broadband nano-NMR probe, sequence information could be obtained by detection of3J(C,H) correlations across the glycosidic bond. The role of cgtA and cst-II in the synthesis of the GT1a mimic in C. jejuni OH4384 were confirmed by comparing their sequence and activity with corresponding homologues in two relatedC. jejuni strains that express shorter ganglioside mimics in their LOS.
Analysis of Streamer Propagation for Electric Breakdown in Liquid/Bioliquid

There is an increasing interest in the study of direct plasma generated in liquid/ bioliquid as it fi nds more applications in both industry and academic research. For all the applications, it is important to get a better understanding of the key physical mechanisms of the breakdown process. In the present paper, streamer propagation during an electric breakdown process of dielectric liquid was analyzed quantitatively using two different mechanisms based on electrostatic expansion and local heating. It was proposed that at the early stage of the streamer propagation, the electrostatic force due to the charging of a liquid-gas interface under a high electric fi eld might be the major driving force for fi lament growth. Over a submicrosecond time scale, the local heating might dominate the streamer propagation process, and the growth of the fi lament could be caused by the continuous evaporation of liquid at the tip of the streamer. Analysis of linear instabilities that lead to the bushlike growth of the streamers was carried out. Both classic Rayleigh-Taylor instability and electric fi eld–induced instability were identifi ed. It was shown that with an increasing applied voltage, the electrostatic instability was enhanced, whereas the Rayleigh instability was suppressed.
Memory-Aware DVFS for CMP Systems

High-performance processors are becoming increasingly power bound with technology scaling. Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) has emerged as an efficient method of reducing power consumption by lowering the operating voltage and frequency of a processor. We propose a multicore memory-aware DVFS scheme based on VSV, a uniprocessor DVFS algorithm that throttles a core based on L2 cache misses. The key observation is that during L2 misses, there may be periods during which the processor pipeline is stalled, waiting for data. These stalls offer an excellent opportunity for power savings with DVFS. Care must be taken, however, to be sure that the pipeline is actually stalled during an L2 miss and that the processor has sufficient work to complete when transitioning out of low-power mode. Using SPEC2K benchmarks, we evaluate both single-core and multicore VSV over a range of DVFS transition latencies: 12ns, 100ns, and 8. 9μs which are representative of different voltage regulator configurations. We show that fast-switching, onchip voltage regulators for DVFS are necessary to see benefits using the energy delay squared ( ED ) metric. However, if low latencies–on the order of 12ns–are indeed possible, we show power benefits of 28%, performance costs of 35%, and ED improvements of 28% for a quadcore CMP. Increasing the latency to 100ns shows power savings of 45% at 45% performance loss, and additionally a ED degradation of 28%, though this is the result of poor prediction of instruction-level parallelism–8. 9μs latencies proved to be entirely infeasible.
X-ray-emitting active galactic nuclei from z = 0.6 to 1.3 in the intermediate- and high-density environments of the ORELSE survey

We studied active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity in 12 large-scale structures (LSSs) in the Observations of Redshift Evolution in Large-Scale Environments (ORELSE) survey, at 0.65 < z < 1.28, using a combination of Chandra observations, optical and NIR imaging and spectroscopy. We located a total of 61 AGNs that were successfully matched to optical counterparts in the LSSs. We found that AGN populations across our sample had more recently had starburst events compared to the overall galaxy populations. We find no relation between AGN activity and location within the LSSs, suggesting triggering mechanisms that depend on global environment are at most sub-dominant. To focus on differences between our AGNs, we grouped them into four sub-samples based on the spectral properties of their parents LSSs. We found one of the sub-samples, SG0023 & SC1604, stood out from the others. AGNs in this sample were disproportionately luminous. These AGNs had the most recent starburst events, in contrast to their parent populations. Additionally, both the AGNs and the overall galaxy population in SG0023 & SC1604 had the largest fraction of close kinematic pairs, which indicates a higher rate of galaxy mergers and interactions. These results suggest that major mergers are driving AGN activity in SG0023 & SC1604, while other processes are likely triggering less luminous AGNs in the rest of our sample. Additionally, minor mergers are unlikely to play a significant role, since the same conditions that lead to more major mergers should also lead to more minor mergers, which is not observed in SG0023 & SC1604.
Antibodies to the Envelope Glycoprotein of Human T Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Robustly Activate Cell-Mediated Cytotoxic Responses and Directly Neutralize Viral Infectivity at Multiple Steps of the Entry Process

Infection of human cells by human T cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is mediated by the viral envelope glycoproteins. The gp46 surface glycoprotein binds to cell surface receptors, including heparan sulfate proteoglycans, neuropilin 1, and glucose transporter 1, allowing the transmembrane glycoprotein to initiate fusion of the viral and cellular membranes. The envelope glycoproteins are recognized by neutralizing Abs and CTL following a protective immune response, and therefore, represent attractive components for a HTLV-1 vaccine. To begin to explore the immunological properties of potential envelope-based subunit vaccine candidates, we have used a soluble recombinant surface glycoprotein (gp46, SU) fused to the Fc region of human IgG (sRgp46-Fc) as an immunogen to vaccinate mice. The recombinant SU protein is highly immunogenic and induces high titer Ab responses, facilitating selection of hybridomas that secrete mAbs targeting SU. Many of these mAbs recognize envelope displayed on the surface of HTLV-1–infected cells and virions and several of the mAbs robustly antagonize envelope-mediated membrane fusion and neutralize pseudovirus infectivity. The most potently neutralizing mAbs recognize the N-terminal receptor-binding domain of SU, though there is considerable variation in neutralizing proficiency of the receptor-binding domain-targeted mAbs. By contrast, Abs targeting the C-terminal domain of SU tend to lack robust neutralizing activity. Importantly, we find that both neutralizing and poorly neutralizing Abs strongly stimulate neutrophil-mediated cytotoxic responses to HTLV-1–infected cells. Our data demonstrate that recombinant forms of SU possess immunological features that are of significant utility to subunit vaccine design.
A Composite Image Encryption Scheme Using AES and Chaotic Series

This paper presents a composite scheme for image encryption. In the temporal domain, chaotic series acts as a key for the AES (Advanced Encryption Standards) encryption. It is used to generate and administer AES key while preserving its other nice features. In the spatial domain, we present a new method of deriving a space transform matrix with chaotic series. In both domains, the chaos series is generated by the logistic equation, whose parameter is modulated by another logistic equation with a different initial value. Therefore, short period effect is avoided in the solution sequence of the chaotic system. Finally our experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method. Also, there is no damage caused to the decrypted image.
Persistent, recurrent, and acquired infection of the root canal system

Apical periodontitis is an inflammatory process in the periradicular tissues caused by microorganisms in the necrotic root canal. Accordingly, to achieve healing of apical periodontitis, the main goal of the treatment must be elimination of the infection and prevention of re-infection. As shown by recent epidemiological studies in several countries around the world, post-treatment endodontic disease is a far too common finding. To understand the reasons for survival of resistant bacteria in the filled root canal, it is important to know in detail the interaction between treatment procedures and the root canal flora in primary apical periodontitis. Therefore, in the first half of this review, the focus is placed on control of infection in primary apical periodontitis. This is followed by a detailed description of the resistant root canal microflora and a discussion about the present and future strategies to eliminate even the most resistant microbes in post-treatment disease.
Agricultural Productivity Differences across Countries

Recent studies argue that cross-country labor productivity differences are much larger in agriculture than in the aggregate. We reexamine the agricultural productivity data underlying this conclusion using new evidence from disaggregate sources. We find that for the world's staple grains—maize, rice, and wheat—cross-country differences in the quantity of grain produced per worker are enormous according to both micro- and macrosources. Our findings validate the idea that understanding agricultural productivity is at the heart of understanding world income inequality.
The resolution of target range by echolocating bats.

Using simultaneous discrimination procedures the acuity of resolution of differences in target range has been determined on four species of echolocating bats (Eptesicus fuscus, Phyllostomus hastatus, Pteronotus suapurensis, and Rhinolophus ferrumequinum). All can discriminate range differences as small as 1 to 3 cm and, for the first three species, the acuity of range resolution appears to be independent of absolute range, at least at short distances. In Eptesicus range discrimination mediated in terms of the arrival times of echoes returning from different targets. Comparisons between discrimination performance and autocorrelation functions of echolocation sounds used in the discriminations suggest that these bats possess some neural equivalent of a matched‐filter, ideal sonar receiver which functionally cross‐correlates a replica of the outgoing signal with the returning echo to detect the echo and determine its arrival time. Eptesicus and Phyllostomus both use the entire FM signal for target ranging. P.