Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The actin fold

X‐ray structure analysis of actin and of the NH2‐terminal domain of the heat‐shock cognate protein Hsc70 has revealed an unexpected extensive structural similarity between these two molecules. Despite the absence of significant similarity of their amino acid sequences, both proteins share the same core architecture and a common nucleotide binding site resembling the structure of hexokinase. All three are ATPases or kinases and bind ATP in association with Mg2+ or Ca2+. The common fold consists of two α/β domains, which are connected by a putative hinge with an ATP‐binding site situated between the domains. Each domain contains a five‐stranded β‐sheet of identical topology, which suggests that the molecules may have evolved by gene duplication. From a comparison of the three aligned structures, a fingerprint sequence of the adenine nucleotide binding pocket was derived, which predicted that members of the glycerol kinase family should also have a similar fold of their nucleotide binding domain. This was later confirmed when the X‐ray structure was published. Data base search with a refined consensus sequence has retrieved other sugar kinases, as well as the prokaryotic cell cycle proteins FtsA, MreB, and StbA, and two Escherichia coli phosphatases. These proteins are predicted to possess a structure similar to actin in the common core region. As exemplified for actin, Hsc70, and glycerol kinase, the diversity of biological function is provided by the polymorphism of the loops joining the β‐strands and helices in the core region and by inserted domains that show high variability. —Kabsch, W. , Holmes, K. C. The actin fold. FASEB J. 9, 167–174 (1995)
Ice cores record significant 1940s Antarctic warmth related to tropical climate variability

Although the 20th Century warming of global climate is well known, climate change in the high-latitude Southern Hemisphere (SH), especially in the first half of the century, remains poorly documented. We present a composite of water stable isotope data from high-resolution ice cores from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This record, representative of West Antarctic surface temperature, shows extreme positive anomalies in the 1936–45 decade that are significant in the context of the background 20th Century warming trend. We interpret these anomalies—previously undocumented in the high-latitude SH—as indicative of strong teleconnections in part driven by the major 1939–42 El Niño. These anomalies are coherent with tropical sea-surface temperature, mean SH air temperature, and North Pacific sea-level pressure, underscoring the sensitivity of West Antarctica's climate, and potentially its ice sheet, to large-scale changes in the global climate.
Critical Design Research and Information Technology: Searching for Empowering Design

Critical design arouses increasing interest in Human Computer Interaction (HCI). Critical Design is a relatively novel and a contentious design approach within this stream, while also other critical design approaches are emerging in HCI. Information systems research, then again, has been fascinated with critical research for decades and strongly integrated the critical lens into studies on systems development and use. However, critical information systems research is weak in the design practice -- very few studies actually involve design. We argue that combining the forces of these various critical traditions, an empowering approach to design can be developed. A categorization of critical design approaches is proposed and fascinating paths for future work are identified. Particularly we call for future developments on critical design research along two lines: expert-led critical design better integrating the tenets of the critical research tradition and user-led critical design truly advocating the empowerment of the power-weak.
Treatment decision plans matter in elderly patients with gastrointestinal cancer: suboptimal or optimal?

PURPOSE Aging is an important risk factor for cancer. Molecular changes and defective immunity associated with aging result in increased susceptibility to many carcinogens of the gastrointestinal system (GIS). Comorbidities and changes in drug metabolism in elderly patients make the treatment of GIS cancers difficult. METHODS Between January 2009 and December 2012, a total of 790 patients diagnosed with GIS cancers were retrospectively evaluated. Among them, 357 patients aged ≥ 65 years constituted the study population in which the patient characteristics, disease location, TNM stage, ECOG PS, co-morbidities, chemotherapy regimens and overall survival (OS) were assessed. RESULTS The patient median age was 71 years (range 65-94). Cancer localizations were colorectal cancer (CRC), gastric cancer, and the pancreaticobiliary system (PBS) cancer in 178 (49.9%), 124 (34.7%), and 55 (15.4%) patients, respectively. A total of 260 (69%) patients underwent chemotherapy: 167 (64.3%) patients received optimal chemotherapy, and 93 (35.7%) suboptimal chemotherapy. The median OS was 47, 14, and 11 months in CRC, gastric, and PBS cancers, respectively. OS was better in the optimally-treated group than in the suboptimally-treated group among patients with all types of cancer. OS was 67 vs 19 months (p<0.001), 17 vs 8 months (p=0.004), and 12 vs 10 months (p=0.46) in CRC, gastric, and PBS cancers in the optimal and suboptimal chemotherapy groups, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that the disease stage in all cancer types and optimal chemotherapy in the CRC group were important predictors of survival (p<0.001 and p=0.021, respectively). CONCLUSION Cancer is usually in advanced stage at the time of diagnosis in these elderly patients and screening programs might improve outcomes in this age group. Patients with GIS cancers (especially CRC and gastric cancer) should be encouraged to receive optimal chemotherapy regimens.
Alteration Of Cyclic Adenosine 3’,5’-Monophosphate Signaling In Rat Testicular Cells After Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract Introduction: Earlier studies demonstrated that the effects of spinal cord injury (SCI) on spermatogenesis were associated with altered Sertoli cell responses to treatment with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and/or testosterone (T). Because of the importance of the cyclic adenosine 3’,5’-monophosphate (cAMP) signal pathway in hormonal actions on Sertoli cells and spermatogenesis, the purpose of this study was to determine whether cAMP signaling in testicular cells is altered after SCI. Methods: Rats with SCI were treated with FSH, T, or FSH + T for 7 or 14 days. Northern blot cDNA hybridization was used to measure testicular levels of Sertoli and germ cell-specific transcripts encoded by genes that contain cAMP responsive element (CRE) and/or steroid hormone responsive element (HRE). Cellular distribution of CRE modulator (CREM) was determined by immunohistochemistry. Results: Treatment of sham control rats with FSH or T + FSH for 2 weeks resulted in decreases in mRNAs for CREM and CRE binding protein (CREB). Concomitantly, levels of mRNA for Sertoli cell inhibin a and germ cell-specific protamine 1 (Pm- 1), transition protein 2 (TP-2), and lactate dehydrogenase C (LDHC) were all reduced. In contrast, identical FSH and/or T treatments resulted in increases in levels of CREM and CREB mRNAs in the testes of SCI rats; these effects were associated with similar changes in mRNAs for inhibin α, Pm- 1, TP-2, and LDHC. The effects of SCion CREM expression were corroborated by similar changes in its distribution in testicular cells. Conclusion: SCI is associated with changes in FSH and/or T regulation of cAMP/CRE and HRE signaling in testicular cells. These effects may mediate the effects of SCion spermatogenesis. } Spinal Cord Med. 2003;26:69–78
Anteroposterior patterning in the limb and digit specification: Contribution of mouse genetics

The limb has been a privileged object of investigation and reflection for scientists over the past two centuries and continues to provide a heuristic framework to analyze vertebrate development. Recently, accumulation of new data has significantly changed our view on the mechanisms of limb patterning, in particular along the anterior‐posterior axis. These data have led us to revisit the mode of action of the zone of polarizing activity. They shed light on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of patterning linked to the Shh‐Gli3 signaling pathway and give insights into the mechanism of activation of these cardinal factors, as well as the consequences of their activity. These new data are in good part the result of systematic Application of tools used in contemporary mouse molecular genetics. These have extended the power of mouse genetics by introducing mutational strategies that allow fine‐tuned modulation of gene expression, interchromosomal deletions and duplication. They have even made the mouse embryo amenable to cell lineage analysis that used to be the realm of chick embryos. In this review, we focus on the data acquired over the last five years from the analysis of mouse limb development and discuss new perspectives opened by these results. Developmental Dynamics 235:2337–2352, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Numerical relativity for D dimensional space-times: Head-on collisions of black holes and gravitational wave extraction

Higher dimensional black holes play an exciting role in fundamental physics, such as high energy physics. In this paper, we use the formalism and numerical code reported in [1] to study the head-on collision of two black holes. For this purpose we provide a detailed treatment of gravitational wave extraction in generic D dimensional space-times, which uses the Kodama-Ishibashi formalism. For the first time, we present the results of numerical simulations of the head-on collision in five space-time dimensions, together with the relevant physical quantities. We show that the total radiated energy, when two black holes collide from rest at infinity, is approximately (0.089 ± 0.006)% of the center of mass energy, slightly larger than the 0.055% obtained in the four-dimensional case, and that the ringdown signal at late time is in very good agreement with perturbative calculations.
Academic family health teams: Part 1: patient perceptions of core primary care domains.

OBJECTIVE To explore patients' perceptions of primary care (PC) in the early development of academic family health teams (aFHTs)--interprofessional PC teams delivering care where family medicine and other health professional learners are trained--focusing on the 4 core domains of PC. DESIGN Self-administered survey using the Primary Care Assessment Tool Adult Expanded Version (PCAT), which addresses 4 core domains of PC (first contact, continuity, comprehensiveness, and coordination). The PCAT uses a 4-point Likert scale (from definitely not to definitely) to capture patients' responses about the occurrence of components of care. SETTING Six aFHTs in Ontario. PARTICIPANTS Adult patients attending appointments and administrators at each of the aFHTs. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Mean PCAT domain scores, with a score of 3 chosen as the minimum expected level of care. Multivariate log binomial regression models were used to estimate the adjusted relative risks of PCAT score levels as functions of patient- and clinic-level characteristics. RESULTS The response rate was 47.3% (1026 of 2167). The mean age of respondents was 49.6 years, and most respondents were female (71.6%). The overall PC score (2.92) was just below the minimum expected care level. Scores for first contact (2.28 [accessibility]), coordination of information systems (2.67), and comprehensiveness of care (2.83 [service available] and 2.36 [service provided]) were below the minimum. Findings suggest some patient groups might not be optimally served by aFHTs, particularly recent immigrants. Characteristics of aFHTs, including a large number of physicians, were not associated with high performance on PC domains. Distributed practices across multiple sites were negatively associated with high performance for some domains. The presence of electronic medical records was not associated with improved performance on coordination of information systems. CONCLUSION Patients of these aFHTs rated several core domains of PC highly, but results indicate room for improvement in several domains, particularly first-contact accessibility. A future study will determine what changes were implemented in these aFHTs and if patient ratings have improved. This reflective process is essential to ensuring that aFHTs provide effective models of PC to learners of all disciplines.
The invisible patients : posttraumatic stress disorder in parents of individuals with cystic fibrosis

Background: Besides the growing acknowledgment of the relevance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to medical illness, there is no study in cystic fibrosis yet. Objective: To assess the prevalence of PTSD and the three clusters of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in parents of patients with cystic fibrosis. Methods: Parents of patients with cystic fibrosis (age range: 2 to 33 years) were drawn from the Cystic Fibrosis Association of the city of Rio de Janeiro. In this cross-sectional study, parents were asked to fulfill a questionnaire for social and demographic characteristics and were interviewed by means of the PTSD module of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Results: The sample was comprised 62 subjects (46 mothers and 16 fathers). Current prevalence for full PTSD was 6.5% and that for partial PTSD was 19.4%. Parents with and without PTSS differed significantly in two psychosocial aspects: the former reported more emotional problems (p = 0.001); and acknowledged more often the need for psychological or psychiatric interventions (p = 0.002) than the latter. However, only 6.3% of the parents with PTSS were in psychological/psychiatric treatment. Discussion: This preliminary study showed that the frequency of PTSD symptoms is fairly high among parents of patients with cystic fibrosis, and although these parents recognize they have emotional problems and need psychological/psychiatric treatment, their suffering remains “invisible” to the medical system, leading to underdiagnosis and undertreatment. Cabizuca M, et al. / Rev Psiq Clín. 2010;37(1):6-11 Key-words: Cystic fibrosis, parents, prevalence, posttraumatic stress disorder, posttraumatic stress symptoms.
Timing of Antiretroviral Therapy Initiation in Tuberculosis Patients With AIDS: A Decision Analysis

In HIV-infected tuberculosis patients with <200 CD4+ lymphocytes/mm3, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) improves survival but can be complicated by immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) and drug toxicity. We conducted a decision analysis in hypothetical cohorts of 1000 patients in which HAART was initiated during the first 2 months of tuberculosis therapy (early) or during months 2 through 6 of tuberculosis therapy (deferred) or was withheld until after tuberculosis therapy (no HAART). Outcomes assessed were 1-year mortality and the combined outcome of 1-year mortality, new AIDS-defining illness, severe IRIS, and severe drug toxicity. There were 33, 48, and 147 deaths and 497, 501, and 501 combined outcome events in the early HAART, deferred HAART, and no-HAART groups, respectively; most events were drug toxicity in the early and deferred groups and HIV-related mortality or AIDS-defining illness in the no-HAART group. In a 2-way sensitivity analysis of mortality, early HAART was favored, even with the highest reported rates of IRIS (70%) and severe drug toxicity (56%). Deferred HAART was favored over early HAART only if the IRIS-related mortality rate in the early group exceeded 4.6%. These results support early initiation of HAART in patients with AIDS, except when IRIS-related mortality rates are high.
Risk for late-life re-injury, dementia and death among individuals with traumatic brain injury: a population-based study

Objectives To determine the association of self-reported traumatic brain injury (TBI) with loss of consciousness (LOC) with late-life re-injury, dementia diagnosis and mortality. Design Ongoing longitudinal population-based prospective cohort study. Setting Seattle-area integrated health system. Participants 4225 dementia-free individuals age 65 and older were randomly selected and enrolled between 1994 and 2010. Participants were seen every 2 years, with mean (range) follow-up of 7.4 (0–16) years. 606 (14%) participants reported a lifetime history of TBI with LOC at enrolment. 3466 participants provided information regarding lifetime history of TBI and completed at least one follow-up visit. Main outcome measures Self-reported TBI with LOC after study entry, incident all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD), and all-cause mortality. Results There were 25 567 person-years of follow-up. History of TBI with LOC reported at study enrolment was associated with increased risk for TBI with LOC during follow-up, with adjusted HRs ranging from 2.54 (95% CI 1.42 to 4.52) for those reporting first injury before age 25 to 3.79 (95% CI 1.89 to 7.61) for those with first injury after age 55. History of TBI with LOC was not associated with elevated risk for developing dementia or AD. There was no association between baseline history of TBI with LOC and mortality, though TBI with LOC since the previous study visit (‘recent TBI’) was associated with increased mortality (HR 2.12, 95% CI 1.62 to 2.78). Conclusions Individuals aged 65 or older who reported a history of TBI with LOC at any time in their lives were at elevated risk of subsequent re-injury. Recent TBI with LOC sustained in older adulthood was associated with increased risk for mortality. Findings support the need for close clinical monitoring of older adults who sustain a TBI with LOC.
Analysing the effect of tangibile user interfaces on spatial memory

Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) allow for effective and easy interaction with digital information by encapsulating them into a physical form. Especially in combination with interactive surfaces, TUIs have been studied in a variety of forms and application cases. By taking advantage of the human abilities to grasp and manipulate they ease collaboration and learning. In this paper we study the effects of TUIs on spatial memory. In our study we compare participants' performance of recalling positions of buildings that they priorly placed on an interactive tabletop either using a TUI or a touch-based GUI. While 83,3% of the participants reported in their self assessment that they performed better in recalling the positions when using the GUI our results show that participants were on an average 24.5% more accurate when using the TUI.
Non-coherent single wavelength 56Gbps 640km transmission over DCF-free SSMF link by using direct-detection DMT

Single wavelength 56Gbps transmission in 640km dispersion-unmanaged link is successfully realized by using direct-detection discrete multi-tone (DMT) modulation method. A single polarization IQ modulator is used to do chromatic dispersion pre-compensation and generate single sideband (SSB) DMT signal. Just one PIN is used to detect the received signal to reduce the cost. More than 3000ps/nm chromatic dispersion tolerance is achieved in 320km link.
HLA and immune response.

To the Editor. — We read with interest the article by Weissman et al that reports an association of HLA-DR3, DR4, and DR7 with nonresponsiveness to recombinant hepatitis B vaccine. 1 These same HLA-DR antigens have an increased prevalence of celiac disease, a disorder in which an immune response to dietary gliadin seems to underlie the intestinal damage. HLA-DR3 and DR7 have in common a frequent association with the allele DQ2. It now seems that the "primary" association with celiac disease may be that of HLA-DQ2. 2-5 It would be interesting to see if the nonresponders with HLA-DR3 and DR7 in the study by Weissman et al also have HLA-DQ2. In the case of celiac disease, a collaborative study by the Ninth Histocompatibility Workshop found that in a group of patients with celiac disease who lacked either DR3 or DR7, some had DQ2 in the absence of DR3 or DR7, while
Identité et noms de personne à Bois-Vert (Québec)

55 RESUME/SUMMARY Identite et noms de personne a Bois-Vert (Quebec) Apres avoir examine les contributions theoriques des psychanalystes, des linguistes et des anthropologues a la question de l'identite conferee a une personne a travers les noms qu'elle recoit, qu'elle porte ou qu'elle donne, l'auteure offre ici une vue d'ensemble d'un systeme nominal quebecois a partir d'une recente etude de terrain effectuee en 1982 dans un village saguenayeen. C'est en analysant chaque categorie de nom, comme le suggerait Zonabend en 1980 pour les etudes onomastiques europeennes, que l'anthropologue apporte des indications sur les patronyme et matronyme, sur le choix des prenoms et sur l'attribution des surnoms, pour proposer en conclusion des hypotheses sur le pouvoir des femmes et des cures dans la transmission d'une certaine forme d'identite collective villageoise.
Uncorrected refractive error in the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka

Background: The 2004 tsunami focused unprecedented international aid and resources on Sri Lanka. Among other responses, a program delivered by volunteer optometrists enabled many local people to access eye examinations and spectacles for the first time. The data collected from the eye‐care delivery program during 2005 are summarised in this report, as an evidence base for planning future eye‐care interventions in these provinces or similar areas.
Markov random fields for square and hexagonal textures

Computer vision on lattices based on hexagonal pixels is considered to be advantageous due to the consistent connectivity within the lattice. This leads to more sensible definitions for neighbourhoods and positive benefits when processing curved structures. This work concentrates on the autobinomial Markov random field model for texture generation and examines the benefits of using a hexagonal lattice. The results showed that the range of textures produced is similar in both square and hexagonal images. In the case of hexagonal images however, there are definite advantages in replication of textures with symmetries along 60/spl deg/ axes. Furthermore, a first order hexagonal model combines the features of the first and second order square model. This provides similar performance with fewer parameters.
HIV infection among persons who inject drugs: ending old epidemics and addressing new outbreaks.

Des Jarlais et al. [1] highlight how HIV transmission among persons who inject drugs (PWID) has decreased considerably since the implementation of harmreduction policies. They provide a stimulating reflection on how to end old HIV epidemics and address new outbreaks in PWID [1]. Focusing on New York, Vancouver and France, their analysis shows how localized epidemics can still spread, even in countries where HIV seroprevalence has noticeably declined. However, some of the French data used are not suitable to reliably document the epidemic’s current dynamic, and more recent data are available.