Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PARTICULATE- AND GAS-PHASE COMPONENTS OF URBAN AIR POLLUTION AND DAILY MORTALITY IN EIGHT CANADIAN CITIES

Although some consensus has emerged among the scientific and regulatory communities that the urban ambient atmospheric mix of combustion related pollutants is a determinant of population health, the relative toxicity of the chemical and physical components of this complex mixture remains unclear. Daily mortality rates and concurrent data on sizefractionated particulate mass and gaseous pollutants were obtained in eight of Canada's largest cities from 1986 to 1996 inclusive in order to examine the relative toxicity of the components of the mixture of ambient air pollutants to which Canadians are exposed. Positive and statistically significant associations were observed between daily variations in both gas- and particulate-phase pollution and daily fluctuations in mortality rates. The association between air pollution and mortality could not be explained by temporalvariation in either mortality rates or weather factors. Fine particulate mass (less than 2.5 μm in average aerometric diameter) was a stronger predictor of mortality than coarse mass (between 2.5 and 10 μm). Size-fractionated particulate mass explained 28% of the total health effect of the mixture, with the remaining effects accounted for by the gases. Forty-seven elemental concentrations were obtained for the fine and coarse fraction using nondestructive x-ray fluorescence techniques. Sulfate concentrations were obtained by ion chromatography. Sulfate ion, iron, nickel, and zinc from the fine fraction were most strongly associated with mortality. The total effect of these four components was greater than that for fine mass alone, suggesting that the characteristics of the complex chemical mixture in the fine fraction maybe a better predictor of mortality than mass alone. However,the variation in the effects of the constituents of the fine fraction between cities was greater than the variation in the mass effect, implying that there are additional toxic components of fine particulate matter not examined in this study whose concentrations and effects vary between locations. One of these components, carbon, represents half the mass of fine particulate matter. We recommend that measurements of elemental and organiccarbon be undertaken in Canadian urban environments to examine their potential effects on human health.
The influence of hospitable design and service on patient responses

ABSTRACT A study of 216 respondents examined a medical center environment’s influence on patient responses. A stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) model was adapted to the theory that more hospitable healthcare servicescape elements will affect patients’ overall satisfaction with healthcare experience, loyalty intentions, and willingness to pay out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare services. Servicescape elements included atmospherics of the healthcare environment, service delivery by healthcare staff, physical design of the healthcare environment, and wayfinding. Results of structural equation modeling confirmed that the four servicescape elements – had a significant impact on patients’ overall satisfaction with the healthcare experience. Furthermore, overall satisfaction with the healthcare experience predicted patients’ loyalty intentions and willingness to pay out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare services. The study makes a significant contribution to the empirical modeling of patients’ behavioral responses to hospitable healthcare environments.
Evaluation of Four DNA Typing Techniques in Epidemiological Investigations of Bovine Tuberculosis

ABSTRACT DNA fingerprinting techniques were used to type 273 isolates ofMycobacterium bovis from Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, and Iran. The results of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis with DNA probes from IS6110, the direct repeat (DR), and the polymorphic GC-rich sequence (PGRS) were compared with those of a new PCR-based method called spacer oligonucleotide typing (spoligotyping) developed for the rapid typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (J. Kamerbeek et al., J. Clin. Microbiol. 35:907–914, 1997). Eighty-five percent of the isolates harbored a single copy of IS6110, and 81.5% of these carried IS6110 on the characteristic 1.9-kb restriction fragment. RFLP analysis with IS6110 identified 23 different types, RFLP analysis with the DR probe identified 35 types, RFLP analysis with the PGRS probe identified 77 types, and the spoligotyping method identified 35 types. By combining all results, 99 different strains could be identified. Isolate clusters were frequently associated within herds or were found between herds when epidemiological evidence confirmed animal movements. RFLP analysis with IS6110 was sufficiently sensitive for the typing of isolates with more than three copies of IS6110, but RFLP analysis with the PGRS probe was the most sensitive typing technique for strains with only a single copy of IS6110. Spoligotyping may have advantages for the rapid typing of M. bovis, but it needs to be made more sensitive.
Predicting the quality of contests on crowdsourcing-based software development platforms: student research abstract

As an emerging and promising approach, crowdsourcing-based software development becomes popular in many domains due to the participation of talented pool of developers in the contests, and to promote the ability of requesters (or customers) to choose the 'wining' solution with respect to their desire quality levels. However, due to lack of a central mechanism for team formation, continuity in the developer's work on consecutive tasks and risk of noise in submissions of a contest, requesters of a domain have quality concerns to adopt a crowdsourcing-based software development platform. In order to address this concern, we proposed a measure Quality of Contest (QoC) to analyze and predict the quality of a crowdsourcing-based platform through historical information on its completed tasks. We evaluate the capacity of QoC as assessor to predict the quality. Subsequently, we implement a crawler to mine the information of completed development tasks from the TopCoder platform of Tech Platform Inc (TPI) to empirically investigate the proposed measures. The promising results of QoC measure suggest the applicability of the proposed measure across the other crowdsourcing-based platforms.
Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1 Expression Predicts Osteosarcoma Patients’ Survival: A Meta-Analysis

Osteosarcoma, the most common primary bone malignancy, is characterized by easily relapsing and metastasizing. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) plays an essential role in tumorigenesis, affecting tumor metabolism, differentiation, angiogenesis, proliferation and metastasis, and has been found to be associated with survival in patients with osteosarcoma. The possible prognostic value of HIF-1 was investigated in many studies, but the results were inconsistent. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis to elucidate the correlation of HIF-1 expression, analyzed by immunohistochemistry in osteosarcoma tissues, with prognosis. The association degree was assessed by calculation of the hazard ratio (HR) and risk ratio (RR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Follow-up information was available for 486 patients from 7 studies. The results showed that high HIF-1 expression was associated with a worse prognosis when compared to low or undetectable HIF-1 expression, with an HR of 3.67 (95% CI 2.24-5.99; p<0.001) for overall survival (OS) and an RR of 3.72 (95% CI 2.26-6.13; p<0.001) for OS. The RR of 2.55 for disease-free survival (DFS) did not show any obvious relationship between a high level of HIF-1 and DFS (95% CI 0.95-6.87; p = 0.064). The stability of this result was tested by sensitivity analysis and no significant change was detected. This meta-analysis suggests that HIF-1 is an effective prognostic biomarker to predict OS in patients with osteosarcoma.
Genetic Vulnerability to Menthol Cigarette Preference in Women.

BACKGROUND Smokers may prefer menthol cigarettes to mask the bitter taste of nicotine. Variation in the taste receptor gene, TAS2R38, may contribute to preference for menthol cigarettes. AIMS To determine whether two common haplotypes of TAS2R38 (proline-alanine-valine [PAV] and alanine-valine-isoleucine [AVI]), which have been associated, respectively, with bitter taste or a lack of bitter taste produced by propylthiouracil, are associated with preference for menthol cigarettes. METHODS Data on smoking and blood for DNA extraction and genotyping were obtained from 323 pregnant non-Hispanic or Hispanic Caucasian smokers. We genotyped three TAS2R38 single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs713598, rs1726866, and rs10246939) and constructed haplotypes. We examined associations between menthol preference and the frequency and distribution of the AVI and PAV haplotypes among study participants. RESULTS Participants smoked an average of 16 cigarettes per day before pregnancy. The PAV and AVI haplotype frequencies were 48% and 45%, respectively. Non-Hispanic women were less likely than Hispanic women to smoke menthol cigarettes. As hypothesized, the frequency of the PAV haplotype was greater in menthol than non-menthol smokers in both non-Hispanics (54% vs. 30%; χ(2) = 13.04, P < . 001) and Hispanics (53% vs. 25%; χ(2) = 5.77, P = . 016). This effect persisted after controlling for potential confounders in multivariate logistic regression. Menthol smokers had a greater number of PAV haplotypes/individual than non-menthol smokers [non-Hispanics odds ratio (OR) = 3.02 (1.56-5.85); P = . 001; Hispanics OR = 3.60 (1.23-10.56); P = . 020]. CONCLUSIONS These preliminary data support the hypothesis that a genetic propensity to experience heightened bitter taste perception increases the preference for menthol cigarettes.
Financing the War on Drugs: The Impact of Law Enforcement Grants on Racial Disparities in Drug Arrests

We estimate the effectiveness of the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program, a grant program authorized under the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act to combat illicit drug abuse and to improve the criminal justice system, on racial bias in policing. Funds for the Byrne Grant program could be used for a variety of purposes to combat drug crimes, as well as violent and other drug related crimes. The event-study analysis suggests that implementation of this grant resulted in an increase in police hiring and an increase in arrests for drug trafficking. Post-treatment effect implies a 107 percent increase in white arrests for drug sales compared to a 44 percent increase for blacks 6 years after the first grant is received. However, due to historical racial differences in drug arrests, the substantial increase in white drug arrest still results in large racial disparities in drug arrests. This is supported by weighted least squares regression estimates that show, for every $100 increase in Byrne Grant funding, arrests for drug trafficking increased by roughly 22 per 100,000 white residents and by 101 arrests per 100,000 black residents. The results provide strong evidence that federal involvement in narcotic control and trafficking lead to an increase in drug arrests; disproportionally affecting blacks.
Literacy outcomes for students with speech impairment: long-term follow-up.

BACKGROUND Theoretical and empirical support now exists for the finding that many children with expressive phonological impairment experience problems in acquiring phonological awareness and early literacy skills. Few studies, however, have examined the long-term academic and literacy outcomes for this population, in particular as the students leave the final stages of primary school. AIMS The reported study forms the final stage of a longitudinal research project that tracked the phonological processing and literacy skills of a group of children with specific speech impairment from their first year at school (aged 5-6 years). The earlier data provided evidence of a relationship between speech impairment characterized by the presence of non-developmental error processes and weaker phonological awareness and literacy skills in the first 2-3 years at school. It was hypothesized that the effect of this relationship would continue to be apparent as the students completed the final stages of primary school. METHODS & PROCEDURES Fourteen of the original set of 36 students were available for reassessment of their phonological processing, reading and spelling skills at age 12-13 years. OUTCOMES & RESULTS Those children with an original classification of non-developmental speech errors performed significantly more poorly than those with an original classification of developmental errors on phonological awareness and reading comprehension measures. Reading accuracy and spelling scores also showing a similar trend. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide further evidence for the long-term impact of speech impairment. The follow-up data demonstrated ongoing difficulties for students who entered school with expressive speech impairment, particularly those whose speech errors were characterized by non-developmental error processes. The impact was apparent on tasks measuring phonological awareness, reading accuracy and spelling (skills that depend on good phonological processing skills and clear underlying phonological representations). Weaknesses in reading comprehension were also found. These findings have implications for the early identification of those at risk. In addition, intervention approaches for young children with expressive speech difficulties demonstrating these patterns of error should address weak underlying phonological representations and develop phonological awareness skills.
Prostacyclin and thromboxane changes predating clinical onset of preeclampsia: a multicenter prospective study.

CONTEXT An imbalance in vasodilating (prostacyclin [PGI2]) and vasoconstricting (thromboxane A2 [TxA2]) eicosanoids may be important in preeclampsia, but prospective data from large studies needed to resolve this issue are lacking. Because most trials using aspirin to reduce TxA2 production have failed to prevent preeclampsia, it is critical to determine whether eicosanoid changes occur before the onset of clinical disease or are secondary to clinical manifestations of preeclampsia. OBJECTIVE To determine whether PGI2 or TxA2 changes occur before onset of clinical signs of preeclampsia. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Multicenter prospective study from 1992 to 1995 of subjects from the placebo arm of the Calcium for Preeclampsia Prevention Trial. Women who developed preeclampsia (n = 134) were compared with matched normotensive control women (n = 139). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Excretion of urinary metabolites of PGI2 (PGI-M) and TxA2 (Tx-M) as measured from timed urine collections obtained prospectively before 22 weeks', between 26 and 29 weeks', and at 36 weeks' gestation. RESULTS Women who developed preeclampsia had significantly lower PGI-M levels throughout pregnancy, even at 13 to 16 weeks' gestation (long before the onset of clinical disease); their gestational age-adjusted levels were 17% lower than those of controls (95% confidence interval [CI], 6%-27%; P=.005). The Tx-M levels of preeclamptic women were not significantly higher overall (9% higher than those of controls; 95% CI, -3% to 23%; P=.14). The ratio of Tx-M to PGI-M, used to express relative vasoconstricting vs vasodilating effects, was 24% higher (95% CI, 6%-45%) in preeclamptic women throughout pregnancy (P=.007). CONCLUSIONS Our results show that reduced PGI2 production, but not increased TxA2 production, occurs many months before clinical onset of preeclampsia. Aspirin trials may have failed because an increase in thromboxane production is not the initial anomaly. Future interventions should make correcting prostacyclin deficiency a major part of the strategy to balance the abnormal vasoconstrictor-vasodilator ratio present in preeclampsia.
Essential and non-essential elements in eight tissue types from subsistencehunted bowhead whale: Nutritional and toxicological assessment

Objectives. To assess essential/non-essential elements in bowhead whale. Study Design. Analyzes of tissues for key elements and comparing them to published food guidelines. Methods. Using national and international guidelines calculate percent (%) “Recommended Daily Allowance” of essential elements in 100 g portion of bowhead tissues. For non-essential elements, determine maximal tissue consumption based on average element concentrations and provisional tolerable weekly intake; and minimal risk level. Results. Liver and kidney are rich in essential/non-essential elements and have the greatest concentration of cadmium (Cd) among tissues studied, while mercury (Hg), lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) are relatively low. Kidney of bowhead whale is consumed in very limited amounts (limited tissue mass compared to muscle and maktak); liver is consumed rarely. Other tissues, except blubber, are excellent sources of many essential elements, without the abundance of liver and kidney Cd. Conclusions. Renal Cd concentrations are most restrictive for consumption on a tissue mass basis. Better understanding of Cd bioavailability, food processing, and actual consumption rates and patterns, are critical to providing improved guidance. Compared to store-bought meat, bowhead whale had comparable concentrations of elements in the tissues studied, with a few noted differences. The occasional blubber substitute, Crisco, was nearly devoid of trace element content. (Int J Circumpolar Health 2006:65(3):228–242. )
Contemporary evolution during invasion: evidence for differentiation, natural selection, and local adaptation

Biological invasions are ‘natural’ experiments that can improve our understanding of contemporary evolution. We evaluate evidence for population differentiation, natural selection and adaptive evolution of invading plants and animals at two nested spatial scales: (i) among introduced populations (ii) between native and introduced genotypes. Evolution during invasion is frequently inferred, but rarely confirmed as adaptive. In common garden studies, quantitative trait differentiation is only marginally lower (~3.5%) among introduced relative to native populations, despite genetic bottlenecks and shorter timescales (i.e. millennia vs. decades). However, differentiation between genotypes from the native vs. introduced range is less clear and confounded by nonrandom geographic sampling; simulations suggest this causes a high false‐positive discovery rate (>50%) in geographically structured populations. Selection differentials (¦s¦) are stronger in introduced than in native species, although selection gradients (¦β¦) are not, consistent with introduced species experiencing weaker genetic constraints. This could facilitate rapid adaptation, but evidence is limited. For example, rapid phenotypic evolution often manifests as geographical clines, but simulations demonstrate that nonadaptive trait clines can evolve frequently during colonization (~two‐thirds of simulations). Additionally, QST‐FST studies may often misrepresent the strength and form of natural selection acting during invasion. Instead, classic approaches in evolutionary ecology (e.g. selection analysis, reciprocal transplant, artificial selection) are necessary to determine the frequency of adaptive evolution during invasion and its influence on establishment, spread and impact of invasive species. These studies are rare but crucial for managing biological invasions in the context of global change.
Thulium-170-labeled microparticles for local radiotherapy: preliminary studies.

The present article describes the preparation, characterization, and biological evaluation of Thulium-170 ((170)Tm) [T1/2 = 128.4 days; Eβmax = 968 keV; Eγ = 84 keV (3.26%)] labeled tin oxide microparticles for its possible use in radiation synovectomy (RSV) of medium-sized joints. (170)Tm was produced by irradiation of natural thulium oxide target. 170Tm-labeled microparticles were synthesized with high yield and radionuclidic purity (> 99%) along with excellent in vitro stability by following a simple process. Particle sizes and morphology of the radiolabeled particles were examined by light microscope, dynamic light scattering, and transmission electron microscope and found to be of stable spherical morphology within the range of 1.4-3.2 μm. The preparation was injected into the knee joints of healthy Beagle dogs intraarticularly for biological studies. Serial whole-body and regional images were taken by single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT) and SPECT-CT cameras up to 9 months postadministration, which showed very low leakage (< 8% of I.D.) of the instilled particles. The majority of leaked radiocolloid particles were found in inguinal lymph nodes during the 9 months of follow-up. All the animals tolerated the treatment well; the compound did not show any possible radiotoxicological effect. These preliminary studies showed that 170Tm-labeled microparticles could be a promising nontoxic and effective radiopharmaceutical for RSV applications or later local antitumor therapy.
Optimized Rear-Electrode Grating Structures in Organic Solar Cells

Design parameters for gratings at the rear electrode in organic solar cells were investigated using finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations. By incorporating the full device layer structure, we find that the total optical absorption in the active region of the cell is influenced by the interplay between the localized surface plasmon modes at the grating and the Fabry-Perot modes of the multilayer structure and by total internal reflection of diffracted light at the ITO/glass interface. Absorption enhancements of up to 30% compared with planar structures are found with comparable enhancements for silver and for aluminium electrodes. The tolerance of the enhancements to grating geometry and to polymer layer thickness was found to be high, with implications for the fabrication of practical devices.
EVALUATION OF HEMATOLOGIC STATUS IN PATIENTS WITH RECURRENT APHTHOUS STOMATITIS IN AN IRANIAN POPULATION

1. Department of Oral Medicine, Genetics of Non Communicable Disease Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran 2. Department of Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran 3. Department of Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran 4. Department of General Pathology, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran 5. Dentist
Three-dimensional study of human dental fissure enamel by synchrotron X-ray microtomography.

The three-dimensional morphology of human tooth fissures and the quantification of mineral distribution in fissure enamel are pertinent to the development and diagnosis of caries. Synchrotron X-ray microtomography was used to measure linear attenuation coefficients (at 25 keV) at high spatial resolution with a volume-imaging element (cubic voxel) of 4.9x4.9x4. 9 microm3 in a block from a human premolar that included part of a stained fissure. From the linear attenuation coefficient, the mineral concentration, expressed as gHAp cm-3 (where HAp is stoichiometric hydroxyapatite), was calculated. The mean mineral concentration in bulk enamel was 2.84 gHAp cm-3. Well-defined regions (1.5-2.6 gHAp cm-3), extending up to approximately 130 microm from the base of some narrower lengths of the fissure and up to approximately 50 microm deep from the fissure surface, were attributed to hypomineralization. Other regions of low mineral concentration, some (1.4-2.3 gHAp cm-3) lying within the expected course of the fissure base and some (2.2-2.7 gHAp cm-3) deep to the pit, were also considered to be of developmental origin. However, a diffuse distribution of low mineral concentrations (2.2-2.7 gHAp cm-3) in the pit walls was attributed primarily to demineralization from caries. The fissure contained heterogeneous material (<or=0.5 gHAp cm-3) exhibiting partial mineralization.