Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Iron production in second millennium AD pastoralist contexts on the Laikipia Plateau, Kenya

Iron has played an important role within East African pastoralist societies for many hundreds of years, yet the means by which iron was produced or obtained by these communities has not been thoroughly documented. The bulk of our understanding is presently based on a limited number of ethnographic and artefact studies, which have tended to focus on the functional and symbolic nature of iron objects themselves. We argue that the research presented here provides the first opportunity to add to this narrow knowledge base by reconstructing the iron production technologies of pastoralist communities in Laikipia, Kenya, using an archaeometallurgical approach. Seven furnaces and one iron-production refuse area were excavated at two discrete workshop sites in Laikipia, central Kenya, that date to the second half of the second millennium AD. The recovered archaeometallurgical materials were analysed using optical microscopy, SEM-EDS and ED-XRF. These techniques revealed that the smelting technologies in question were complex and sophisticated and that they utilised titania-rich black sands and lime-rich charcoal. Whereas the technical approach and raw materials were found to be similar at both sites studied, there was striking stylistic variation in furnace design for no apparent functional reason, which might suggest nuanced differences in the socio-cultural affiliations of the smelters who worked at these sites. This paper explores some of the possible reasons for these differences. In particular, by integrating archaeological data with existing ethnographic and ethnohistoric research from the region, we discuss the technological choices of the smelters and what this might tell us about their identities, as well as considering how future research should best be targeted in order to develop a greater understanding of the organisation of production within pastoralist central Kenya.
Autonomic Failure, Depression and Anxiety in Parkinson's Disease

Background The study tested the hypothesis that subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD) have more autonomic complaints and more attenuation of autonomic reflexes than controls, and that both clusters of variables are related to the presence of anxiety and depression. Method Thirty-two subjects and 32 healthy controls matched by age and sex were prospectively compared on psychiatric, cognitive and autonomic tests. Results ‘Autonomic’ symptoms: were more frequent in PD patients than in healthy controls; were not related to age or changes in autonomic reflexes; were significantly associated with depression and anxiety (medication was not relevant to the association); and did not correlate with motor symptoms. Conclusions The diagnosis of anxiety and depression in some PD subjects is likely to be a behavioural phenocopy caused by autonomic failure. This explains why antidepressant medication is often unhelpful in PD subjects diagnosed as depressed.
Functional Analysis of the Core Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Packaging Signal in a Permissive Cell Line

ABSTRACT Packaging of type C retrovirus genomic RNAs into budding virions requires a highly specific interaction between the viral Gag precursor and unique cis-acting packaging signals on the full-length RNA genome, allowing the selection of this RNA species from among a pool of spliced viral RNAs and similar cellular RNAs. This process is thought to involve RNA secondary and tertiary structural motifs since there is little conservation of the primary sequence of this region between retroviruses. To confirm RNA secondary structures, which we and others have predicted for this region, disruptive, compensatory, and deletion mutations were introduced into proviral constructs, which were then assayed in a permissive cell line. Disruption of either of two predicted stem-loops was found to greatly reduce RNA encapsidation and replication, whereas compensatory mutations restoring base pairing to these stem-loops had a wild-type phenotype. A GGNGR motif was identified in the loops of three hairpins in this region. Results were consistent with the hypothesis that the process of efficient RNA encapsidation is linked to dimerization. Replication and encapsidation were shown to occur at a reduced rate in the absence of the previously described kissing hairpin motif.
Copper-diamond composite substrates for electronic components

The application of high power density electronic components such as fast microprocessors and power semiconductors is often limited by an inability to maintain the device junctions below their maximum rated operating temperature. The junction temperature rise is determined by the thermal resistance from junction to the ambient thermal environment. Two of the largest contributions to this thermal resistance are the die attach interface and the package base. A decrease in these resistances can allow increased component packing density in MCMs, reduction of heat sink volume in tightly packed systems, enable the use of higher performance circuit components, and improve reliability. The substrate for a multichip module or device package is the primary thermal link between the junctions and the heat sink. Present high power multichip module and single chip package designs use substrate materials such as silicon nitride or copper tungsten that have thermal conductivity in the range of 200 W/m/spl middot/K. We have developed a copper-diamond composite material, named Dymalloy, with a thermal conductivity of 420 W/m/spl middot/K, better than copper, and an adjustable coefficient of thermal expansion, nominally 5.5 ppm//spl deg/C at 25/spl deg/C, compatible with silicon and gallium arsenide. Because of the matched coefficient of thermal expansion it is possible to use low thermal resistance hard die attach methods. Dymalloy is a composite material made using micron size Type I diamond powder that has a published thermal conductivity of 600 to 1000 W/m/spl middot/K in a metal matrix that has a thermal conductivity of 350 W/m/spl middot/K. Besides having exceptional thermal properties, the mechanical properties of this material also make it an attractive candidate as an electronic component substrate material.
Die Bundestagswahl 2002 : Erfolg in letzter Minute?

Bei der Bundestagswahl am 22. September 2002 erlebten die Parteien und Wahler den knappsten Wahlausgang seit der deutschen Wiedervereinigung. Erst nach einem wahren Hochrechnungs-Krimi stand um Mitternacht fest, dass Bundeskanzler Gerhard Schroder (SPD) und die Grunen die Wahl mit einer hauchdunnen Mehrheit gewonnen hatten. Bereits im Vorfeld der Bundestagswahl hatten sich beide Parteien dafur ausgesprochen,im Falle eines Wahlsiegs das rot-grune Regierungsbundnis fortzusetzen.
Prospective study of alcohol consumption and risk of dementia in older adults.

CONTEXT Alcohol consumption has been associated with complex changes in cerebral vasculature and structure in older adults. How alcohol consumption affects the incidence of dementia is less clear. OBJECTIVE To determine the prospective relationship of alcohol consumption and risk of dementia among older adults. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Nested case-control study of 373 cases with incident dementia and 373 controls who were among 5888 adults aged 65 years and older who participated in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a prospective, population-based cohort study in 4 US communities. The controls were frequency-matched on age, death before 1999, and their attendance of a 1998-1999 clinic. Participants in this study underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and cognitive testing between 1992 and 1994 and were followed up until 1999. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Odds of incident dementia, ascertained by detailed neurological and neuropsychological examinations according to average alcohol consumption, assessed by self-reported intake of beer, wine, and liquor at 2 visits prior to the date of the MRI. RESULTS Compared with abstention, the adjusted odds for dementia among those whose weekly alcohol consumption was less than 1 drink were 0.65 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41-1.02); 1 to 6 drinks, 0.46 (95% CI, 0.27-0.77); 7 to 13 drinks, 0.69 (95% CI, 0.37-1.31); and 14 or more drinks, 1.22 (95% CI, 0.60-2.49; P for quadratic term =.001). A trend toward greater odds of dementia associated with heavier alcohol consumption was most apparent among men and participants with an apolipoprotein E epsilon4 allele. We found generally similar relationships of alcohol use with Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia. CONCLUSIONS Compared with abstention, consumption of 1 to 6 drinks weekly is associated with a lower risk of incident dementia among older adults.
EXPLOITATION OF THE SAME TROPHIC LINK FAVORS CONVERGENCE OF LARVAL LIFE‐HISTORY STRATEGIES IN COMPLEX LIFE CYCLE HELMINTHS

Switching from one host to the next is a critical life‐history transition in parasites with complex life cycles. Growth and mortality rates are thought to influence the optimal time and size at transmission, but these rates are difficult to measure in parasites. The parasite life cycle, in particular the trophic link along which transmission occurs, may be a reasonable proxy for these rates, leading to the hypothesis that life cycle should shape life‐history strategy. We compiled data on the size and age at infectivity for trophically transmitted helminths (i.e., acanthocephalans, cestodes, and nematodes), and then categorized species into trophic links (e.g., planktonic crustaceans to fish, insects to terrestrial vertebrates, etc.). Comparative analyses that explicitly included stabilizing selection within trophic links fit the data significantly better than random walk models, indicating that parasites with different life cycles have different optimal times/sizes for host switching. The major helminth groups have often independently evolved similar life cycles, and we show that this has frequently led to convergent and/or parallel evolution of size and age at infectivity. This suggests that for particular life cycles there are universal optimal transmission strategies, applicable to widely divergent taxa, although the cases of parallelism might indicate that lineage‐specific constraints sometimes prevent evolution to a single adaptive peak.
A study of dipolar interactions and dynamic processes of water molecules in tendon by 1H and 2H homonuclear and heteronuclear multiple-quantum-filtered NMR spectroscopy.

The effect of proton exchange on the measurement of 1H-1H, 1H-2H, and 2H-2H residual dipolar interactions in water molecules in bovine Achilles tendons was investigated using double-quantum-filtered (DQF) NMR and new pulse sequences based on heteronuclear and homonuclear multiple-quantum filtering (MQF). Derivation of theoretical expressions for these techniques allowed evaluation of the 1H-1H and 1H-2H residual dipolar interactions and the proton exchange rate at a temperature of 24 degrees C and above, where no dipolar splitting is evident. The values obtained for these parameters at 24 degrees C were 300 and 50 Hz and 3000 s-1, respectively. The results for the residual dipolar interactions were verified by repeating the above measurements at a temperature of 1.5 degrees C, where the spectra of the H2O molecules were well resolved, so that the 1H-1H dipolar interaction could be determined directly from the observed splitting. Analysis of the MQF experiments at 1.5 degrees C, where the proton exchange was in the intermediate regime for the 1H-2H dipolar interaction, confirmed the result obtained at 24 degrees C for this interaction. A strong dependence of the intensities of the MQF signals on the proton exchange rate, in the intermediate and the fast exchange regimes, was observed and theoretically interpreted. This leads to the conclusion that the MQF techniques are mostly useful for tissues where the residual dipolar interaction is not significantly smaller than the proton exchange rate. Dependence of the relaxation times and signal intensities of the MQF experiments on the orientation of the tendon with respect to the magnetic field was observed and analyzed. One of the results of the theoretical analysis is that, in the fast exchange regime, the signal decay rates in the MQF experiments as well as in the spin echo or CPMG pulse sequences (T2) depend on the orientation as the square of the second-rank Legendre polynomial.
Fast speaker independent large vocabulary continuous speech recognition

To build useful applications based on large vocabulary continuous speech recognition systems, such systems have to run in real time on common platforms. However, with most research focused on further reducing the recognition error rates, the topic of speed has been neglected in the development of speech recognition algorithms. I will present a speaker independent system that has been designed for fast speech recognition using vocabularies up to 65,000 words. Using the approaches presented in this thesis, this recognizer can now run in real time, 200 times faster than the original evaluation system. Important progress was made on the following topics: Tradeo s: a better understanding of the tradeo s between the computational e ort and the accuracy of the acoustic modeling provides a foundation to methodically develop faster algorithms. Algorithms: a number of new or improved algorithms were introduced and analyzed in this work, such as: Lookaheads: Lookaheads provide early estimates of acoustic and language model scores to the recognition process. These estimates can be used to restrict the search space at low risk. Generalized-BBI: the cross codebook bucket box intersection algorithm reduces the e ort for the observation probability computation, especially when used in speech recognition systems with very large continuous hidden Markov models. Frame Skipping: for many sections of the recorded speech, not all operations have to be performed for all frames provided by the preprocessing. The recognizer presented here is derived from existing evaluation systems. No specialized small recognizer had to be trained in order to get real time performance. Therefore, the new algorithms can also help to reduce the cycle time in developing new evaluation systems. All algorithms have been developed and tested on a state-of-the-art dictation system for the North-American-Business-News (NAB) Task. By testing on other databases, robustness with respect to new microphones and foreign accents has been veri ed. It was also shown that the new algorithms can be ported to a variety of tasks such as a Japanese dictation system and the automatic transcription of spontaneously spoken German scheduling dialogues.
produc-Investigation of mechanisms involved in regulation of progesterone catabolism using an overfed versus underfed ewe–lamb model 1

: Alterations in progesterone (P4) catabolism due to high feed intake underlie some effects of nutrition on reproduction. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that high feed intake could potentially increase P4 catabolism, likely due to increased liver blood flow. However, there could also be an oppos ing action due to increased circulating insulin, which has been shown to inhibit hepatic expression of key enzymes involved in P4 catabolism. To test which effect would have the greatest impact on circulating P4 during a 1- and 2 -mo time frame, we used a noncyclic ewe model. The plane of nutrition was controlled, and effects on circulating insulin, P4 catabolism in response to exogenous P4, and steady state mRNA for key hepatic enzymes were evaluated. Twenty-four F 1 Dorper 4 or 8 in spite of dramatically elevated insulin. Therefore, high energy/ feed intake primarily increased P4 catabolism with no evidence for offsetting effects due to insulin-induced changes in hepatic P4 metabolizing enzymes.
Clinical vs. sonographic estimate of birth weight in term parturients. A randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE To determine the relative accuracy of clinical and sonographic birth weight estimation among term parturients (> or = 37 weeks) and to assess the performance of the two techniques in identifying newborns with weights of < 2,500 g vs. > or = 2,500 g or < 2,500 g vs. at least 4,000 g. STUDY DESIGN The sample size for this randomized clinical trial was based on the assumption that 50% of clinical predictions are within 10% of birth weight. Thus, 700 parturients were necessary to show a difference of 10% with sonographic estimates (alpha = .05, beta = .02). Inclusion criteria were singletons with a reliable gestational age of > or = 37 weeks, admitted for delivery and with no known fetal anomalies. Physicians who were unaware of previous sonographic estimates obtained the estimates. Student t and chi 2 tests were used; relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to compare the two techniques' ability to differentiate between abnormal (birth weight < 2,500 g and > 4,000 g) and normal (2,500-3,999 g). P < . 05 was considered significant. RESULTS Over 30 months, 758 term parturients were recruited; of them, 391 had clinical estimates and 367, sonographic. The two groups were similar in gestational age, prepregnancy and intrapartum body mass index, station of the presenting part, actual birth weight and frequency of newborns with weights < 2,500 g or > or = 4,000 g. Predictions based on clinical examination were significantly more likely to be within 10% of actual weight (58%) than those derived from ultrasound examination (32%; P < .0001; RR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.43, 1.69). The areas under the ROC curves indicated that both techniques had a similar ability to differentiate normally and abnormally grown fetuses (P > .05). CONCLUSION Among term parturients, clinical estimates had significantly higher accuracy than ones derived sonographically.
Management of cardiac metastasis from renal carcinoma 11 years after radical nephrectomy

We read with great interest the report by Kasama and colleagues, which highlighted the late outcome of cardiac metastasis from colorectal carcinoma. Similarly, we report the unusual clinical case of a 48-year-old woman hospitalized for thoracic pain, who had developed renal cell carcinoma (RCC), Furhman grade 2, with no renal vein or lymph node invasion, treated 11 years previously by radical nephrectomy. No coronary artery lesion was found on angiography, however a vascular mass from the left distal anterior descending artery was observed (Figure 1). Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a 31-mm lesion involving the apex of the right ventricle with extensive neovascularization (Figure 2). Surgical management of unique metastasis has been reported to improve overall survival by 60% over 5 years in cystic RCC. Therefore, we decided to perform radical surgical resection by sternotomy using extracorporeal circulation (Figure 3). Histological analysis confirmed cystic RCC metastasis with positive surgical margins. In 43% of patients, metastasis appears during the first year after radical nephrectomy, particularly in cases of renal vein invasion. Cardiac cystic RCC metastasis is rarely reported in the literature, and is synchronous in the majority of cases. Recently, a clinical benefit of antiangiogenic treatment in metastatic cystic RCC has been demonstrated, with an improvement in progression-free survival of 12 months. However, in the presence of positive margins, as observed in our patient, currently, the adjuvant use of this type of treatment still remains under clinical trial evaluation. In conclusion, our case is of particular interest, not only due to the localization and unusual delay of the cardiac metastasis, but also for the surgical and medical oncological management. Asian Cardiovascular & Thoracic Annals 2014, Vol. 22(8) 1013–1014 The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0218492314548433 aan.sagepub.com
Male Behavior Toward Reproductive Responsibilities in Sikkim

Background: Failure to assess the impact of men's perceptions on reproductive health decisions has weakened reproductive health care programmes. Objectives: We evaluated husbands’ knowledge and practices with regard to the use of conventional contraceptives as manifested through reproductive health and sexual decisions. Materials and Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in a rural setting of Sang PHC and Pakyong PHC area in Sikkim, India. Five hundred and ninety-six currently married men whose names were included in the eligible couple registers were selected by multistage random sampling. Information regarding knowledge and practice of contraceptive use was obtained from the participants by interview. Results: Out of the 596 male participants, the majority (55.87%) opined that they were in favor of using a contraceptive method after one child. Most participants (55.54%) said that their main source of information on contraceptive methods were the government health staff, while 24.84% acknowledged that most of their information came from the mass media. Eighty-two percent reported currently using some kind of the contraceptive method. Condom was used as a temporary method by only 16.27% of the responders, with the permanent method of vasectomy being opted for by only 4.87%. The method most widely used by their partners was the oral contraceptive pill (43.41%), followed by tubectomy (15.77%) and IUD (4.19%). Conclusions: This research found that awareness and prevalence of contraceptive use among married men in a rural community in the East District of Sikkim were quite high. Nevertheless, female contraceptive methods continue to be the dominant method used in the community. Researchers and health care providers often ignore the sociodemographic significance of men and their role in the acceptance of contraceptive practices in the community.
High Mountain Disease in Cattle

High mountain disease (HMD) is also known as brisket disease, high altitude disease, dropsy or big brisket to the rancher and is a common condition in cattle raised on ranches at high altitudes (>5,000ft) in Colorado and its surrounding states. Although the proportion of oxygen in the air is the same at all altitudes, the atmospheric pressure is not. This means that as altitude increases the oxygen content in the air decreases. The reduced amount of oxygen present in the air at high altitude means less oxygen reaches the lungs and pulmonary artery. This causes the pulmonary artery to constrict, becoming narrower, making it harder for the heart to pump the same amount of blood through the lungs (similar to a partially blocked hose pipe). The constrictive response of the pulmonary blood vessels to low oxygen levels common to all mammals is a means of distributing blood away from poorly oxygenated areas within the lung to areas that are better oxygenated. However, there are three main reasons why cattle are particularly susceptible to low oxygen levels: i. The contractive shunting response in cattle is more exaggerated than other species. ii. The design of the bovine lung does not allow free passage of air between neighboring regions. iii. Cattle have small lung-size to body-weight ratios.
Double-Input PWM DC/DC Converter for High-/Low-Voltage Sources

A novel double-input pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) dc/dc converter for high-/low-voltage sources is proposed in this paper. With a PWM control scheme, the proposed double-input dc/dc converter can draw power from two different voltage sources simultaneously or individually. The operation modes and the steady-state analysis of the proposed double-input dc/dc converter are introduced in detail. The PWM control scheme for the power flow balancing is also presented. By using a single passive lossless soft-switching cell, switching losses of all power switches can be reduced significantly. Finally, experimental measurements are demonstrated to verify the performance of the proposed converter