Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Magnetobiology: The kT Paradox and Possible Solutions

The article discusses the so-called ‘kT problem’ with its formulation, content, and consequences. The usual formulation of the problem points out the paradox of biological effects of weak low-frequency magnetic fields. At the same time, the formulation is based on several implicit assumptions. Analysis of these assumptions shows that they are not always justified. In particular, molecular targets of magnetic fields in biological tissues may operate under physical conditions that do not correspond to the aforementioned assumptions. Consequently, as it is, the kT problem may not be an argument against the existence of non thermal magnetobiological effects. Specific examples are discussed: magnetic nanoparticles found in many organisms, long-lived rotational states of some molecules within protein structures, spin magnetic moments in radical pairs, and magnetic moments of protons in liquid water.
Preregistered Replication of “Affective Flexibility: Evaluative Processing Goals Shape Amygdala Activity”

The human amygdala is sensitive to stimulus characteristics, and growing evidence suggests that it is also responsive to cognitive framing in the form of evaluative goals. To examine whether different evaluations of stimulus characteristics shape amygdala activation, we conducted a preregistered replication of Cunningham, Van Bavel, and Johnsen’s (2008) study demonstrating flexible mapping of amygdala activation to stimulus characteristics, depending on evaluative goals. Participants underwent functional MRI scanning while viewing famous names under three conditions: They were asked to report their overall attitude toward each name, their positive associations only, or their negative associations only. We observed an interaction between condition and rating type, identified as the effect of interest in Cunningham et al. (2008). Specifically, postscan positivity, but not negativity, ratings predicted left amygdala activation when participants were asked to evaluate positive, but not negative, associations with the names. These results provide convergent evidence that cognitive framing, in the form of evaluative goals, can significantly alter whether amygdala activation indexes positivity or negativity.
Cancer incidence in atomic bomb survivors. Part II: Solid tumors, 1958-1987.

This report presents, for the first time, comprehensive data on the incidence of solid cancer and risk estimates for A-bomb survivors in the extended Life Span Study (LSS-E85) cohort. Among 79,972 individuals, 8613 first primary solid cancers were diagnosed between 1958 and 1987. As part of the standard registration process of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki tumor registries, cancer cases occurring among members of the LSS-E85 cohort were identified using a computer linkage system supplemented by manual searches. Special efforts were made to ensure complete case ascertainment, data quality and data consistency in the two cities. For all sites combined, 75% of the cancers were verified histologically, 6% were diagnosed by direct observation, 8% were based on a clinical diagnosis, and 12.6% were ascertained by death certificate only. A standard set of analyses was carried out for each of the organs and organ systems considered. Depending on the cancer site, Dosimetry System 1986 (DS86) organ or kerma doses were used for computing risk estimates. Analyses were based on a general excess relative risk model (the background rate times one plus the excess relative risk). Analyses carried out for each site involved fitting the background model with no dose effect, a linear dose-response model with no effect modifiers, a linear-quadratic dose-response model with no effect modifiers, and a series of linear dose-response models that included each of the covariates (sex, age at exposure, time since exposure, attained age and city) individually as effect modifiers. Because the tumor registries ascertain cancers in the registry catchment areas only, an adjustment was made for the effects of migration. In agreement with prior LSS findings, a statistically significant excess risk for all solid cancers was demonstrated [excess relative risk at 1 Sv (ERR1Sv) = 0.63; excess absolute risk (EAR) per 10(4) person-year sievert (PY Sv) = 29.7]. For cancers of the stomach (ERR1SV = 0.32), colon (ERR1SV = 0.72), lung (ERR1SV = 0.95), breast (ERR1SV = 1.59), ovary (ERR1SV = 0.99), urinary bladder (ERR1SV = 1.02) and thyroid (ERR1SV = 1.15), significant radiation associations were observed. There was some indication of an increase in tumors of the neural tissue (excluding the brain) among persons exposed to the bombs before age 20. For the first time, radiation has been associated with liver (ERR1SV = 0.49) and nonmelanoma skin (ERR1SV = 1.0) cancer incidence in the LSS cohort. The present analysis also strengthened earlier findings, based on a smaller number of cases, of an effect of A-bomb radiation on salivary gland cancer. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Association between rmpA and magA genes and clinical syndromes caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND The association of the magA gene with the hypermucoviscosity phenotype relevant to the pathogenesis of Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess has been reported in Taiwan. Similarly, the rmpA gene, known as a positive regulator of extracapsular polysaccharide synthesis that confers a mucoid phenotype, may be another candidate gene causing hypermucoviscosity. However, the association of rmpA with K. pneumoniae clinical syndromes is unreported. We aimed to investigate the clinical correlation between rmpA and primary Klebsiella abscess, focusing on sites other than the liver. METHODS From July 2003 through December 2004, a total of 151 K. pneumoniae isolates recovered from 151 patients with bacteremia were collected from 2 large medical centers in southern Taiwan. Clinical data were collected from medical records. The genes rmpA and magA were amplified by polymerase chain reaction using specific primers. RESULTS The prevalences of hypermucoviscosity, rmpA, and magA were 38%, 48%, and 17%, respectively. As determined by statistical multivariate analysis, strains carrying rmpA were significantly associated with the hypermucoviscosity phenotype, and there was a significant correlation with purulent tissue infections, such as liver abscess and lung, neck, psoas muscle, or other focal abscess. CONCLUSION Our data support a statistical correlation between the rmpA gene and virulence in terms of abscess formation for these hypermucoviscous K. pneumoniae strains. Hypermucoviscosity associated with rmpA, together with a thorough physical examination, may be helpful as a guide to carry out appropriate diagnostic tests on patients with an initially unknown source of K. pneumoniae bacteremia, particularly when looking for the occurrence of an underlying abscess.
Persistence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains with decreased susceptibilities to ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1992 through 1993

Twenty-five isolates of beta-lactamase-negative strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae exhibiting decreased susceptibilities to ciprofloxacin (MIC, > or = 0.125 microgram/ml) were isolated from men with uncomplicated gonococcal urethritis in Cleveland, Ohio, from January 1992 through June 1993. The strains belonged to three auxotype-serovar classes: Pro-IB-1 (2 isolates), Pro-IB-2 (21 isolates), and Pro-IB-3 (2 isolates). MICs for strains were in the intermediate or resistant categories for penicillin, the intermediate or susceptible categories for tetracycline (with the exception of one strain that had acquired the 25.2-MDa TetM-containing plasmid) and cefoxitin, and the susceptible categories for ceftriaxone and cefixime (MICs, < or = 0.25 microgram/ml) and spectinomycin (MIC, < or = 256 micrograms/ml). MICs for strains were also in the susceptible category for ofloxacin (MIC, 0.25 microgram/ml) and in categories higher than susceptible for ciprofloxacin (MICs, 0.125 to 0.25 microgram/ml) and ofloxacin (MIC, 0.5 microgram/ml). The diameters of zones of inhibition for these strains ranged from 31 to 39 mm for ciprofloxacin to 28 to 35 mm for ofloxacin. The persistence of these strains over an 18-month period supports the need for routine sentinel surveillance and monitoring of gonococcal isolates, particularly posttreatment isolates, for resistance to quinolones when these agents are used for the primary therapy of uncomplicated gonorrhea.
Has the California tobacco control program reduced smoking?

CONTEXT Comprehensive community-wide tobacco control programs are considered appropriate public health approaches to reduce population smoking prevalence. OBJECTIVE To examine trends in smoking behavior before, during, and after the California Tobacco Control Program. DESIGN Per capita cigarette consumption data (1983-1997) were derived from tobacco industry sales figures. Adult (> or =18 years) smoking prevalence data were obtained from the National Health Interview Surveys (1978-1994), the California Tobacco Surveys (1990-1996), the Current Population Surveys (1992-1996), and the California Behavioral Risk Factor Survey and its supplement (1991-1997). Trends were compared before and after introduction of the program, with the period after the program being divided into 2 parts (early, 1989-1993; late, 1994-1996). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Change in cigarette consumption and smoking prevalence in California compared with the rest of the United States. RESULTS Per capita cigarette consumption declined 52% faster in California in the early period than previously (from 9.7 packs per person per month at the beginning of the program to 6.5 packs per person per month in 1993), and the decline was significantly greater in California than in the rest of the United States (P<.001). In the late period, the decline in California slowed to 28% of the early program so that in 1996 an average of 6.0 packs per person per month were consumed. No decline occurred in the rest of the United States, and in 1996, 10.5 packs per person per month were consumed. Smoking prevalence showed a similar pattern, but in the late period, there was no significant decline in prevalence in either California or the rest of the United States. In 1996, smoking prevalence was 18.0% in California and 22.4% in the rest of the United States. CONCLUSIONS The initial effect of the program to reduce smoking in California did not persist. Possible reasons include reduced program funding, increased tobacco industry expenditures for advertising and promotion, and industry pricing and political activities. The question remains how the public health community can modify the program to regain its original momentum.
Reflections on the implementation of governance structures for early-stage clinical innovation.

OBJECTIVES This paper seeks to further explore the question of how best to monitor and govern innovative clinical procedures in their earliest phase of development. We examine the potential value of proposed governance frameworks, such as the IDEAL model, and examine the functioning of a novel procedures review committee. METHODS The paper draws upon 20 qualitative, semi-structured interviews. Nine interviews were conducted with members of a committee that was established as a means of governing innovative procedures within a large National Health Service Foundation Trust hospital in the UK. Eleven interviews were conducted with health providers involved with the development of a variety of novel clinical procedures. RESULTS Prominent themes from the data include the potential willingness of clinicians to engage with regulatory frameworks for innovative procedures, existing ways in which clinicians and others attempt to ensure patient's safety and manage uncertainty in the context of novel procedures, views on the potential benefits and drawbacks of engaging with a review committee for novel procedures, and the pragmatic considerations and potential unintended consequences that are entailed in the implementation of regulatory requirements for the monitoring of innovative procedures. CONCLUSIONS The views of committee members and clinical innovators help us to understand the practical issues of implementing governance structures for novel clinical procedures. The data illustrate those factors that must be taken into account if governance is to support innovation rather than act as an inhibiting factor in the development of new clinical procedures.
L'arachide en Afrique tropicale

Cet ouvrage rassemble les connaissances et l'experience acquises par les chercheurs du CIRAD en contact permanent avec les agriculteurs africains et en cooperation avec les partenaires des institutions impliquees dans la recherche arachidiere. L'ensemble de la filiere est abordee : la culture de la plante, son environnement, les techniques culturales, les itineraires techniques, la protection des cultures, la production, les produits transformes
Single Photon Emission Computerised Tomography in Chronic Alcoholism

Background We examined the functional and structural cerebral changes in chronic alcoholics, analysing their association with personality features and alcohol drinking habits. Method Forty patients with alcohol dependency, including 15 with antisocial personality disorder (ASP) as defined in DSM–III–R and 10 age and sex matched healthy controls were studied after termination of withdrawal symptoms, using high resolution single photon emission tomography (SPECT), cranial computerised tomography (CT) and brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP). Results We found significant reductions in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) measurements of alcoholic patients. Low flow in frontal regions encountered in 67.5% of the patients was associated with the duration of alcohol consumption, while no such relation existed with the amount of daily intake. Patients with ASP exhibited more marked frontal hypoperfusion. Significant brain atrophy detected by CT was present in 40% of the patients and did not correlate with frontal hypoperfusion. Conclusions Patients with ASP are more sensitive to toxic effects of alcohol. Alternatively chronic alcoholism leads to frontal lobe dysfunction recognised as ASP in the clinical setting.
Marine biodiversity and the chessboard of life

Species richness is greater in places where the number of potential niches is high. Consequently, the niche may be fundamental for understanding the arrangement of life and especially, the establishment and maintenance of the well-known Latitudinal Biodiversity Gradient (LBG). However, not all potential niches may be occupied fully in a habitat, as measured by niche vacancy/saturation. Here, we theoretically reconstruct oceanic biodiversity and analyse modeled and observed data together to examine patterns in niche saturation (i.e. the ratio between observed and theoretical biodiversity of a given taxon) for several taxonomic groups. Our results led us to hypothesize that the arrangement of marine life is constrained by the distribution of the maximal number of species’ niches available, which represents a fundamental mathematical limit to the number of species that can co-exist locally. We liken this arrangement to a type of chessboard where each square on the board is a geographic area, itself comprising a distinct number of sub-squares (species’ niches). Each sub-square on the chessboard can accept a unique species of a given ecological guild, whose occurrence is determined by speciation/extinction. Because of the interaction between the thermal niche and changes in temperature, our study shows that the chessboard has more sub-squares at mid-latitudes and we suggest that many clades should exhibit a LBG because their probability of emergence should be higher in the tropics where more niches are available. Our work reveals that each taxonomic group has its own unique chessboard and that global niche saturation increases when organismal complexity decreases. As a result, the mathematical influence of the chessboard is likely to be more prominent for taxonomic groups with low (e.g. plankton) than great (e.g. mammals) biocomplexity. Our study therefore reveals the complex interplay between a fundamental mathematical constraint on biodiversity resulting from the interaction between the species’ ecological niche and fluctuations in the environmental regime (here, temperature), which has a predictable component and a stochastic-like biological influence (diversification rates, origination and clade age) that may alter or blur the former.
Analysis and improvement on the uniformity of sheet resistance of nickel silicide

Furnace anneal for the first anneal dramatically improves the uniformity of the sheet resistance of nickel silicide at small area. The main cause of the deterioration in the uniformity of the sheet resistance is not the crystalline state or the implanted impurities but the size of the pattern which nickel silicide is formed at.
Assessment of job stress dimensions based on the job demands-control model of employees of telecommunication and electric power companies in japan: reliability and validity of the japanese version of the job content questionnaire

To investigate the reliability and validity of 4 selected scales from the Japanese version of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ, Karasek, 1985)—decision latitude, psychological demand, supervisor support, and coworker support—a survey was conducted on a total of 626 employees of telephone and electric companies in Japan. The survey questionnaire was composed of 22 items. Data from 472 male and 108 female respondents were analyzed. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the four JCQ scales ranged from . 61 to . 89 for men and from . 65 to . 87 for women. Scree plots based on factor analyses of scale items indicated that one major factor explained 30% to 75% of each scale variance in men and women. Factor structures of the 22 items for men and women were consistent with those theoretically expected, Distributions of the decision latitude scores among occupations for men and women were similar to those in the U.S. national samples; the scores significantly and positively correlated with occupational class. It is suggested that the JCQ scales are reliable and valid instruments for assessing job stressors in a Japanese working population.
Throughput, energy and overhead of multicast device‐to‐device communications with network‐coded cooperation

Cooperation strategies in mobile networks typically rely in short‐range technologies, like LTE‐A device‐to‐device communications, for data exchange between devices forming mobile clouds. These communications provide a better device experience because the clouds offload the network. Nevertheless, this assumes that the throughput gains and energy savings in multicasting are much larger between devices than the base station to the receivers. However, current mobile networks suffer from many different issues varying the performance in data rates, which calls into question these assumptions. Therefore, a first objective of this work is to assess the operating regions where employing cooperation results in higher throughput and/or energy savings. We consider multicast scenarios with network‐coded mechanisms employing random linear network coding (RLNC). However, although RLNC is good for low amount of transmissions in multicast, it has an inherent overhead from extreme high or low field‐related caveats. Thus, as a second objective, we review and propose the application of new network codes that posses low overhead for multicasting, by having a short representation and low dependence probability. We provide an analytical framework with numerical results showing (i) gains of several fold can be attained even if the in‐device data rates are moderately larger (2×) than the cellular link data rate and (ii) that is feasible to attain less than 3% total mean overhead with the proposed codes. This is fairly lower than what can be achieved with RLNC schemes in most of the considered cases and achieving at least 1.5 − 2× gains. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Activity of Anandamide at Vanilloid VR1 Receptors Requires Facilitated Transport across the Cell Membrane and Is Limited by Intracellular Metabolism*

The endogenous ligand of CB1cannabinoid receptors, anandamide, is also a full agonist at vanilloid VR1 receptors for capsaicin and resiniferatoxin, thereby causing an increase in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration in human VR1-overexpressing (hVR1-HEK) cells. Two selective inhibitors of anandamide facilitated transport into cells, VDM11 and VDM13, and two inhibitors of anandamide enzymatic hydrolysis, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and methylarachidonoyl fluorophosphonate, inhibited and enhanced, respectively, the VR1-mediated effect of anandamide, but not of resiniferatoxin or capsaicin. The nitric oxide donor, sodium nitroprusside, known to stimulate anandamide transport, enhanced anandamide effect on the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration. Accordingly, hVR1-HEK cells contain an anandamide membrane transporter inhibited by VDM11 and VDM13 and activated by sodium nitroprusside, and an anandamide hydrolase activity sensitive to phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and methylarachidonoyl fluorophosphonate, and a fatty acid amide hydrolase transcript. These findings suggest the following. (i) Anandamide activates VR1 receptors by acting at an intracellular site. (ii) Degradation by fatty acid amide hydrolase limits anandamide activity on VR1; and (iii) the anandamide membrane transporter inhibitors can be used to distinguish between CB1 or VR1 receptor-mediated actions of anandamide. By contrast, the CB1 receptor antagonist SR141716A inhibited also the VR1-mediated effect of anandamide and capsaicin on cytosolic Ca2+ concentration, although at concentrations higher than those required for CB1 antagonism.
Identification of cellulolytic thermophiles based on 16S rDNA gene amplification analysis

Thermophiles are microorganisms that inhabit at extremely high temperature environment. Thermoenzymes from thermophilic microorganisms are heat-stable, able to withstand denaturants of extremely acidic and alkaline conditions, and thus, have a considerable potential for many industrial applications. The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize cellulolytic thermophiles. Five isolates of cellulase producing thermophiles namely M7K1T55C3, M7K1T55C4, M7K2T55C1, M8K1T55C1 and M8K1T55C2 were isolated previously from Dusun Tua Hot Spring, Selangor, Malaysia. The pH of the hot springs within the area was recorded to be slightly alkaline with temperature ranging from 55 ˚C to 70 ˚C. Two media were used to inoculate these samples, which were general enrichment medium, and selective medium that contains carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) sodium salt as their carbon source. Colonies with white abundant growth, irregular margin and glossy smooth were obtained from both samples. These isolates were subjected to gene amplification by PCR using a pair of universal primer to obtain their 16S rDNA gene. Obtained gene was sequenced and analyzed using bioinformatics tools. The isolate of M7K2T55C1 was found to be from the genus Brevibacillus, spore-forming type, aerobic, rod shaped and capable of producing cellulase. Meanwhile, isolates M7K1T55C3, M7KIT55C4, M8K1T55C1 and M8K1T55C2 were found to be from the genus Aneurinibacillus. It is also capable of producing cellulase. Sequence alignment done through BLASTn, shows that isolate M7K1T55C1 had the highest homology with Brevibacillus bonstelensis with a 99% score. Meanwhile, isolates M7K2T55C2, M7K1T55CP, M8K1T55C3 and M8K2T55C4 shared the highest homology with Aneurinibacillus thermophilus with 99% score.