Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electronic cigarettes and adolescents.

Question I see in my office an increased number of adolescents who use electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). Should I encourage adolescents to choose e-cigarettes over regular cigarettes if they decide to smoke? Are e-cigarettes less harmful and a potential smoking cessation method for adolescents? Answer While e-cigarettes do not have carcinogenic tobacco, most contain nicotine, which not only leads to addiction, but can also impair brain development and cognitive function in youth. Recent studies have also shown that adolescents who use e-cigarettes are more likely to begin smoking tobacco cigarettes. It is therefore essential that physicians explain to adolescents the risks and health concerns e-cigarettes present, and implement measures to prevent or cease e-cigarette use.
Organization and Function of the Blood–Brain Barrier in Drosophila

The function of a complex nervous system depends on an intricate interplay between neuronal and glial cell types. One of the many functions of glial cells is to provide an efficient insulation of the nervous system and thereby allowing a fine tuned homeostasis of ions and other small molecules. Here, we present a detailed cellular analysis of the glial cell complement constituting the blood–brain barrier in Drosophila. Using electron microscopic analysis and single cell-labeling experiments, we characterize different glial cell layers at the surface of the nervous system, the perineurial glial layer, the subperineurial glial layer, the wrapping glial cell layer, and a thick layer of extracellular matrix, the neural lamella. To test the functional roles of these sheaths we performed a series of dye penetration experiments in the nervous systems of wild-type and mutant embryos. Comparing the kinetics of uptake of different sized fluorescently labeled dyes in different mutants allowed to conclude that most of the barrier function is mediated by the septate junctions formed by the subperineurial cells, whereas the perineurial glial cell layer and the neural lamella contribute to barrier selectivity against much larger particles (i.e., the size of proteins). We further compare the requirements of different septate junction components for the integrity of the blood–brain barrier and provide evidence that two of the six Claudin-like proteins found in Drosophila are needed for normal blood–brain barrier function.
Improvement of the stand-alone DFIG performance feeding nonlinear and unbalanced loads using active and reactive power theory

This paper proposes new and simple control method for a stand-alone doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) connected to unbalanced and nonlinear loads. This type of load causes harmonic distortion in the stator current and voltage. To solve this problem, a novel control method is proposed in the load side converter (LSC). In this method, instantaneous active and reactive power theory in stationary [α-β] frame is used. Unlike other control strategies, which needs to extract and compensate each harmonic or unbalanced component individually, in this paper, all harmonics and unbalanced components are injected by LSC. Finally, stator voltage becomes sinusoidal with very fast dynamic response. The performance of the DFIG feeding nonlinear and unbalanced loads is evaluated for steady state and dynamic conditions, using MATLAB/Simulink.
Nutritional Requirements of Selenomonas ruminantium for Growth on Lactate, Glycerol, or Glucose

The nutritional requirements of Selenomonas ruminantium HD4 for growth on glucose, glycerol, or lactate were investigated to clarify the results of previous studies and to relate the nutrition of the organism to its physiology. The organism required l-aspartate, CO2, p-aminobenzoic acid, and biotin for growth on a lactate-salts medium that contained small amounts of dithiothreitol. Aspartate could be replaced by l-malate or fumarate but not by succinate or l-asparagine. Requirements for growth with glycerol as an energy source were similar, except that aspartate was not required. With glucose as the energy source, neither aspartate nor p-aminobenzoic acid was required, but a requirement for volatile fatty acids, which could be met by n-valerate, was observed. CO2 was required for growth on lactate or glycerol but not on glucose on complex media containing Trypticase and yeast extract. Sulfide could be used as the sole source of sulfur.
Low Body Mass Index in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Relationship With Pre- and Postsurgical Factors

Study Design. Retrospective cohort study. Objective. To determine the association between low preoperative body mass index (BMI) and outcome of spinal fusion in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Summary of Background Data. Several studies report a lower weight and BMI in untreated subjects with AIS than nonscoliotic age-matched controls. However, very little is known about the clinical impact of low BMI on pre- or postsurgical parameters in this patient group. Methods. Seventy-seven eligible patients with AIS who underwent 1-stage posterior spinal fusion and correction at 2 tertiary centers (January 2010–April 2012) were included. Preoperative weight, corrected height, and BMI values were converted to z scores using the British 1990 growth reference data. Relationships between anthropometric indices and comorbidities, laboratory blood data, radiographical outcomes, length of hospital stay, and perioperative complications were examined, and the independent factors associated with low BMI (z score < −1) evaluated using binary logistic regression analysis. Results. In this AIS cohort (mean age, 15.04 yr; n = 72 females), 21 subjects (27.3%) had a low preoperative BMI; of these, 5 cases (6.5%) were considered severely thin. Lower BMI and weight z scores correlated with a greater percent correction of thoracic curves (rs = −0.287 and rs = −0.257, respectively, P < 0.05). In both the univariate and multivariate regression analysis, low BMI was significantly associated with preoperative asthma incidence (adjusted odds ratio 5.33, P = 0.023) and prolonged prothrombin time (adjusted odds ratio 4.53, P = 0.027), in addition to postoperative ileus development (adjusted odds ratio 11.96, P = 0.019). Preoperative Cobb angle, estimated intraoperative blood loss and length of hospital stay did not significantly differ between the BMI groups. Conclusion. Significantly increased preoperative coagulation abnormality and asthma incidence as well as a greater percent correction of thoracic curves were associated with low BMI in this series. It was also found that postoperative ileus was independently associated with low BMI. Level of Evidence: 3
Interpretation of the Tuberculin Skin Test in Bacille Calmette-Guérin Vaccinated and Nonvaccinated School Children

Background: Our objective was to conduct a prevalence survey of purified protein derivative (PPD) reactions among Lebanese healthy school children to identify those with tuberculosis or latent tuberculosis and to investigate the effect of bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine on the interpretation of PPD reactivity. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire, including demographic characteristics, time of prior BCG vaccine and number of doses, known household contact with tuberculosis as well as parents' characteristics and living conditions was administered. PPD testing was performed on all children in diverse Lebanese regions aged 3 to 19 years. Reactivity that measured <5 mm were considered negative induration, doubtful if between 5 and 9 mm and positive if 10 mm or above. Chest radiographs were obtained as part of the evaluation for children with positive induration. Results: Of 4895 children, 4271 entered into the final data analysis. A total of 3259 children (76.3%) did not develop a reaction to PPD (0 mm), 170 (4%) had 1 to <5 mm reading, 509 (11.9%) had 5 to 9 mm and 333 (7.8%) had ≥10 mm. Approximately 62% of the vaccinated children had received BCG vaccine in first year of life. Two hundred ninety (61.8%) of 469 children ≤5 were vaccinated and 179 (38.2%) were not. Only 22 of the youngest vaccinated had positive PPD. Twelve children were diagnosed with tuberculosis, a prevalence of 280 per 100,000. However, the prevalence of latent tuberculosis was 7.51%. Conclusion: Our prevalence of tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis is a sentinel indicator of continued transmission in the community. The data support the current recommendations that children who receive BCG can and should be tested with PPD for latent tuberculosis and tuberculosis.
A comparison of speech and mouse/keyboard GUI navigation

We compared two speaker-independent navigation systems (discrete and continuous) on eleven tasks, measuring accuracy, perceived performance, task time, and perceived system usability. Ten IBM and temporary help agency employees with GUI experience participated. Their ages ranged from 25 to 55 years. The participants completed eleven tasks on both systems using voice or keyboard, The participants began the set of tasks on a randomly-selected navigator, tilled out a questionnaire about the perceived system speedand accuracy, completed the same tasks using the keyboar~ then repeatedthe same procedure on a second system and keyboard. The voice navigator tasks took approximately twice as long as the keyboard tasks. Additionally, the survey results showed that participants’ acceptance of the system was quite sensitive to small changes in system response time. The slowest tasks were the ones with precise cursor or window movement. The fastest were ones only requiring brief commands. The results are discussed in terms of recommendations for designing speechinto GUIS,
Patterns of drug consumption in relation with the pathologies of elderly Mexican subjects resident in nursing homes.

PURPOSE To describe the patterns of drugs consumed by the male and female elderly living in Mexican private and public nursing homes. METHODS Three hundred and fifty elderly participants from four nursing homes (2 private and 2 public) were selected for the six month study: 108 subjects were excluded; the remaining 242 were between 65 and 100 years old; 123 were females and 119 males. A complete clinical history was taken and clinical files were reviewed. RESULTS Of the 242 elderly studied, 193 took diverse medications and 28.5% were at risk of some type of drug interaction. The groups of drugs more frequently consumed were vitamins and anti-anemic medications, followed by cardiovascular drugs. Females consumed greater number of drugs. They also consumed more drugs simultaneously. CONCLUSIONS There is a need to monitor the elderly for their drugs pattern use.
Survival and Phosphate Solubilizing Ability of Bacillus megaterium in Liquid Inoculants under High Temperature and Desiccation Stress

Inoculation of phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms along with rock phosphate is known to enhance the available P from soil. The success of such solubilization is largely dependent on the ability of the inoculant strain to survive under adverse environmental conditions. In this context, liquid inoculants are gaining importance and are becoming popular with longer shelf-life. In the present investigation, a preliminary study was conducted to determine the survival of Bacillus megaterium in liquid formulations supplemented with osmo/cell-protectants under the influence of high temperature, desiccation stress and their subsequent influence on P-uptake by cowpea plants. Liquid inoculant-2 containing osmoprotectants viz., polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), high quantity of glycerol (12 ml L -1 ) and glucose supported higher viable population up to a storage period of four weeks at 48oC (log 10 10.62 CFU ml -1 ) and desiccation stress (log 10 10.04 CFU ml -1 ) as compared to liquid inoculant-1 containing osmoprotectants viz . , PVP, low quantity of glycerol (1 ml L -1 ), trehalose, arabinose and FeEDTA; and nutrient glucose broth without any osmoprotectants. Liquid inoculant-2 also enhanced the P-uptake of cowpea plants significantly.
Environmental Management Systems and Green Supply Chain Management: Complements for Sustainability?

Some researchers question the legitimacy of EMSs since organizations can claim to have one when in fact they make no attempt to reduce their environmental harms. In instances where EMSs enhance an organization's environmental performance, critics argue that improvements are likely to incur within the organization's operational boundaries rather than being extended throughout the supply chain. However, previous research suggests that the organizational capabilities required to adopt an EMS may facilitate GSCM implementation and the institutional pressures to adopt both management practices are similar. Consequently, EMS adopters may have a greater propensity to expand their focus beyond their organizational boundaries and utilize GSCM practices to minimize system-wide environmental impacts. This research illuminates the debate by empirically evaluating the relationship between EMS and GSCM practices.
A Novel Relation of Fatty Acid with Age-Related Macular Degeneration

To evaluate the relation between fatty acids and age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the fatty acid fractions within the red blood cell (RBC) membrane and plasma of 11 ARMD patients and 10 healthy individuals (controls) were determined and compared. RBC arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) exhibited significantly higher values in the ARMD patients than in the controls. RBC levels of palmitic, palmitoleic, oleic and linoleic acids, however, showed significantly higher values in the controls than in the ARMD patients. No significant variations were observed between the two groups in terms of plasma levels of AA, DHA, palmitic, palmitoleic, oleic and linoleic acids. Our findings indicate that polyunsaturated fatty acids, vulnerable to free radicals and reactive oxygen species, and easily peroxidized, may be related to ARMD induction.
Attenuation of very virulent infectious bursal disease virus and comparison of full sequences of virulent and attenuated strains

A very virulent strain of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDVks) was isolated from the bursae of Fabricius of IBDV-affected broiler chickens. Following 43 serial passages in specific pathogen-free embryonated eggs, an attenuated strain was established (IBDVmb). Dosages of IBDVmb in the range 102 to 104 embryo infective dose of 50% were found to be safe and protective for commercial chicks. Chickens vaccinated with live vaccine containing IBDVmb responded with precipitating and type-specific neutralizing antibodies, and were immune to subsequent challenge with a very virulent IBDV. IBDVmb has been used as an attenuated vaccine throughout the world since 1993. A comparison of the full sequences of the virulent and attenuated strains (IBDVks and IBDVmb, respectively) revealed seven nucleotides that were different, four of them leading to changes in the amino-acid sequence. Comparison of the protein sequencse of these strains and published sequences of very virulent and attenuated phenotypes lead us to sugget that the novel difference responsible for virulence of the Israeli strains are: residue 272 (VP2, very conserved site) and residue 527 (VP4), both in segment A, and in segment B (VP1) residues 96 and 161 (both conserved). Our study strengthens the possibility that more than one protein is involved in IBDV attenuation. In all reports, including ours, virulence was reduced without affecting antigenicity of the neutralizing epitopes in VP2. This could have practical implications for attenuated-vaccine development.
Laterally Biased Quantum-Well Infrared Photodetectors Operating at Room Temperature With Low Dark Currents

The technology of quantum-well infrared photodetectors has been used to fabricate focal plane arrays as the active element of infrared cameras. These arrays must be cooled down to 77 K due to the large dark current that they exhibit at higher operating temperatures. Among the different alternatives proposed to overcome this drawback, the lateral conduction scheme has been successfully employed in quantum-dot and dot-in-a-well detectors to increase their operating temperature. In these devices, the photocurrent is collected by means of two lateral Ohmic contacts on each side of an undoped quantum well and is swept out via a lateral bias voltage. However, this lateral-carrier-transport scheme has not yet been applied to the mature technology of the GaAs/(Al,Ga)As quantum-well infrared photodetectors. We demonstrate two mechanisms to develop laterally biased quantum-well infrared photodetectors. The resulting devices exhibit high differential resistance as well as low dark current values and clear infrared absorption peaks at 300 K, in good agreement with the results of numerical simulations. This work demonstrates the viability of the laterally biased structures for future developments of room temperature focal plane arrays.
Two Forms of GO Type G Proteins: Identification and Distribution in Various Rat Tissues and Cloned Cells

Abstract: A Go type G protein distinct from the major species of Go was recently isolated from bovine brain and designated Go*. The cDNAs encoding two forms of mammalian Goα were also isolated and designated GoAα and GoBα. To recognize two forms of Go type G proteins, we raised antibodies in rabbits against two peptides with sequences found only in the respective proteins of murine GoAα (SNTYE‐DAAAYIQTQF) and GoBα (TEAVAHIQGQYESK). Purified anti‐GoAα antibodies reacted with the major species of Goα purified from bovine and rat brain, whereas anti‐GoBα antibodies reacted only with rat Go*α, but not with the major species of Goα or bovine Go*α. These results indicate that the major species of Goα is encoded by GoAα cDNA and Go*α is encoded by GoBα cDNA. Using these antibodies, the distribution of GoA and GoB was studied in various rat tissues and cloned cells. Both GoA and GoB were present in many tissues, but their distribution in peripheral tissues was distinct. GoAα seemed to associate mainly with neural tissues. On the other hand, relatively high concentrations of GoBα were present in the brain, pituitary gland, adipose tissue, lung, and testis. The concentrations of both GoA and GoB in the brain increased during ontogenic development, but the increase in GoB was observed at a later age. Both GoA and GoB were found in such cloned cells as PC 12, NG108‐15, C6, GA‐1, G8, and 3T3‐L1 cells. Treatment of PC 12 cells with nerve growth factor caused the extension of neuron‐like processes and the increase in the level of GoA, but not in the level of GoB.
DNA barcode through cytochrome b gene information of mtDNA in native chicken strains

This study was carried out to figure out the potentiality of a cytochrome b gene as a barcoding tool in discriminating native chicken strains and other Gallus gallus species. We performed PCR amplification using universal primer to amplify around 415 bp fragment of cytochrome b gene of mtDNA. The results revealed that all Saudi chicken strains were identical to each other but when compared with other species of Gallus the differences were exciting. The phylogenetic tree revealed that there were seven clusters represented for native strains and were clustered together especially in black strain and dark brown ones. The results have confirmed that using cytochrome b gene to discriminate between Saudi chicken strains and other species of G. gallus fowl was a very sufficient tool. Moreover, we can consider short fragment of cytochrome b gene of mtDNA as a universal DNA barcode region. It was a much more accurate and efficient tool to discriminate interspecies than intraspecies. We think it needs more studies to confirm this concept, and we have to apply that tool for many species of vertebrate and invertebrate as well.
Role of surface temperature in the precursor-mediated dissociative chemisorption of N2 on W(100).

L'augmentation de temperature peut inhiber la chimisorption de deux facons dynamiques: par variation du rapport de desorption et des vitesses de chimisorption ou par reduction de la probabilite de piegeage a l'etat precurseur. Analyse de ces hypotheses par des techniques de faisceau moleculaire pour la chimisorption de N 2 sur W
Modified Leucotomy Assessed Clinically, Physiologically and Psychologically at Six Weeks and Eighteen Months

After more than thirty years the operation of leucotomy still remains a controversial treatment, and its value is questioned by many. This scepticism, and the advent of new surgical techniques, have emphasized the need for careful appraisal of the results of psychosurgery. In a previous prospective study 40 patients were assessed six weeks after modified leucotomy, and 75 per cent of these patients were found to be clinically improved (Kelly, Walter and Sargant, 1966). They were less neurotic on the M.P.I. , had lower Taylor Manifest Anxiety scores and rated themselves as less anxious; a good clinical outcome was associated with diminution of physiological arousal as measured by forearm blood flow and heart rate. This group has now been followed-up and reassessed 18 months after operation, and a further group of 38 patients has been examined before, and again six weeks after, leucotomy. The data from the two groups have been combined to determine the immediate outcome for various diagnostic categories, and a multiple regression has been performed to elicit which of the pre-operative factors predict a favourable post-operative result.
Relationship between Writing Skills and Visual-Motor Control in Low-Vision Students

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between handwriting skills and visual motor control among students with low vision and to compare this with the performance of their normal sighted peers. 42 students with low vision and 26 normal sighted peers participated. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Motor Proficiency Test-Short Form (BOTMP–SF), Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test's writing subtest, and a legibility assessment were administered. Significant differences were found between groups for students' writing speed, legibility, and visual motor control. Visual motor control was correlated both writing speed and legibility. Students with low vision had poorer handwriting performance, with lower legibility and slower writing speed. Writing performance time was related to visual motor control in students with low vision.
Early IL-2 Production by Mouse Dendritic Cells Is the Result of Microbial-Induced Priming1

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional APCs able to initiate innate and adaptive immune responses against invading pathogens. Different properties such as the efficient Ag processing machinery, the high levels of expression of costimulatory molecules and peptide-MHC complexes, and the production of cytokines contribute in making DCs potent stimulators of naive T cell responses. Recently we have observed that DCs are able to produce IL-2 following bacterial stimulation, and we have demonstrated that this particular cytokine is a key molecule conferring to early bacterial activated DCs unique T cell priming capacity. In the present study we show that many different microbial stimuli, but not inflammatory cytokines, are able to stimulate DCs to produce IL-2, indicating that DCs can distinguish a cytokine-mediated inflammatory process from the actual presence of an infection. The capacity to produce IL-2 following a microbial stimuli encounter is a feature shared by diverse DC subtypes in vivo, such as CD8α+ and CD8α− splenic DCs and epidermal Langerhans cells. When early activated DCs interact with T cells, IL-2 produced by DCs is enriched at the site of cell-cell contact, confirming the importance of DCs-derived IL-2 in T cell activation.