LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Localized amyloidosis of the epididymis: a previously unreported phenomenon

BACKGROUND
Localized amyloidosis has not been documented in the epididymis; we report this phenomenon for the first time.


CASE PRESENTATION
The first aim of this work is to report three cases of localized epididymal amyloidosis. Two cases were clinically detected as epididymal nodules, and a third after reviewing 120 epididymides obtained with neighbouring pathological processes. Amyloid deposits showed Congo red positivity, with yellow-green birefringence, and immunohistochemical expression for light chains kappa and lambda, transthyretin, amyloid P and cytokeratin AE1 AE3. No immunoreactivity for amyloid A was seen. Amyloid deposit location was intraluminal, with partial or total loss of the epididymal epithelium and subsequent passage to the interstitium, forming large masses. No amyloid deposits were observed around blood vessels. A secondary objective was to explore in normal epididymis the amyloid tested in epididymal amyloidosis. In normal epididymides, expression of amyloid P and transthyretin was detected in the apical surface of epithelial cells. Amyloid P also showed strong expression in spermatozoa.


CONCLUSION
We contribute the existence of localized epididymal amyloidosis, which presents a distinctive, initial intratubular location, where there is a unique proteome and where functional amyloids act during sperm maturation.
The role of sense of effort on self-selected cycling power output

PURPOSE
We explored the effects of the sense of effort and accompanying perceptions of peripheral discomfort on self-selected cycle power output under two different inspired O2 fractions.


METHODS
On separate days, eight trained males cycled for 5 min at a constant subjective effort (sense of effort of '3' on a modified Borg CR10 scale), immediately followed by five 4-s progressive submaximal (sense of effort of "4, 5, 6, 7, and 8"; 40 s between bouts) and two 4-s maximal (sense of effort of "10"; 3 min between bouts) bouts under normoxia (NM: fraction of inspired O2 [FiO2] 0.21) and hypoxia (HY: [FiO2] 0.13). Physiological (Heart Rate, arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) and quadriceps Root Mean Square (RMS) electromyographical activity) and perceptual responses (overall peripheral discomfort, difficulty breathing and limb discomfort) were recorded.


RESULTS
Power output and normalized quadriceps RMS activity were not different between conditions during any exercise bout (p > 0.05) and remained unchanged across time during the constant-effort cycling. SpO2 was lower, while heart rate and ratings of perceived difficulty breathing were higher under HY, compared to NM, at all time points (p < 0.05). During the constant-effort cycling, heart rate, overall perceived discomfort, difficulty breathing and limb discomfort increased with time (all p < 0.05). All variables (except SpO2) increased along with sense of effort during the brief progressive cycling bouts (all p < 0.05). During the two maximal cycling bouts, ratings of overall peripheral discomfort displayed an interaction between time and condition with ratings higher in the second bout under HY vs. NM conditions.


CONCLUSION
During self-selected, constant-effort and brief progressive, sub-maximal, and maximal cycling bouts, mechanical work is regulated in parallel to the sense of effort, independently from peripheral sensations of discomfort.
THE RIPPLE EFFECT : EMOTIONAL CONTAGION AND ITS INFLUENCE ON GROUP BEHAVIORi

Group emotional contagion, the transfer of moods among people in a group, and its influence on work group dynamics was examined in a laboratory study of managerial decision making using multiple, convergent measures of mood, individual attitudes, behavior, and group-level dynamics. Using a 2 times 2 experimental design, with a trained confederate enacting mood conditions, the predicted effect of emotional contagion was found among group members, using both outside coders' ratings of participants' mood and participants' selfreported mood. No hypothesized differences in contagion effects due to the degree of pleasantness of the mood expressed and the energy level with which it was conveyed were found. There was a significant influence of emotional contagion on individual-level attitudes and group processes. As predicted, the positive emotional contagion group members experienced improved cooperation, decreased conflict, and increased perceived task performance. Theoretical implications and practical ramifications of emotional contagion in groups and organizations are discussed. Disciplines Human Resources Management | Organizational Behavior and Theory This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/mgmt_papers/72 THE RIPPLE EFFECT: EMOTIONAL CONTAGION AND ITS INFLUENCE ON GROUP BEHAVIOR SIGAL G. BARSADE School of Management Yale University Box 208200 New Haven, CT 06520-8200 Telephone: (203) 432-6159 Fax: (203) 432-9994 E-mail: sigal.barsade@yale.edu August 2001 Revise and Resubmit, ASQ; Comments Welcome i I would like to thank my mentor Barry Staw, Charles O’Reilly, JB, Ken Craik, Batia Wiesenfeld, Jennifer Chatman, J. Turners, John Nezlek, Keith Murnigan, Linda Johanson, and three anonymous ASQ reviewers who have helped lead to positive emotional and cognitive contagion.
On detecting pollution attacks in inter-session network coding

Dealing with pollution attacks in inter-session network coding is challenging due to the fact that sources, in addition to intermediate nodes, can be malicious. In this work, we first define precisely corrupted packets in inter-session pollution based on the commitment of the source packets. We then propose three detection schemes: one hash-based and two MAC-based schemes: InterMacCPK and SpaceMacPM. InterMacCPK is the first multi-source homomorphic MAC scheme that supports multiple keys. Both MAC schemes can replace traditional MACs, e.g., HMAC, in networks that employ inter-session coding. All three schemes provide in-network detection, are collusion-resistant, and have very low online bandwidth and computation overhead.
Java/DSM: A Platform for Heterogeneous Computing

In this paper we describe a system for programming heterogeneous computing environments based upon Java and software distributed shared memory (DSM). Compared with existing approaches for heterogeneous computing, our system transparently handles both the hardware differences and the distributed nature of the system. It is therefore much easier to program. Java is a good candidate for heterogeneous programming because of its portability. Java provides the remote method invocation (RMI) mechanism for distributed computing. However, our early experience with RMI showed that the programmer must expend significant effort on such problems as data replication and the optimization of the remote interface to improve communication efficiency. Furthermore, the need for reference marshaling is not completely eliminated by RMI’s effort to facilitate the sharing of linked structures between machines. A DSM system provides a shared memory abstraction over a group of physically distributed machines. It automatically handles data communication between machines and eliminates the need for the programmer to write message-passing code. A multithreaded Java program written for a single machine will require fewer changes to run on a Java/DSM combination than with RMI. We have been implementing a JDK-1.0.2 based parallel Java Virtual Machine on the TreadMarks DSM system. Our implementation includes a distributed garbage collector and supports the Java API with very few changes. In this paper we describe our motivation and the implementation, and report our early experience with programming under both RMI and DSM. 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Phase II study of the halichondrin B analog eribulin mesylate in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with an anthracycline, a taxane, and capecitabine.

PURPOSE
The activity and safety of eribulin mesylate (E7389), a nontaxane microtubule dynamics inhibitor with a novel mechanism of action, were evaluated in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with an anthracycline, taxane, and capecitabine.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
Eligible patients in this single-arm, open-label phase II study received eribulin mesylate (1.4 mg/m(2)) administered as a 2- to 5-minute intravenous infusion on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle. The primary end point was objective response rate (ORR) assessed by independent review.


RESULTS
Of 299 enrolled patients who had received a median of four prior chemotherapy regimens, 291 received eribulin (for a median of four cycles). Of these, 269 patients met key inclusion criteria for the primary efficacy analysis. The primary end point of ORR by independent review was 9.3% (95% CI, 6.1% to 13.4%; all partial responses [PRs]), the stable disease (SD) rate was 46.5%, and clinical benefit rate (complete response + PR + SD > or = 6 months) was 17.1%. The investigator-reported ORR was 14.1% (95% CI, 10.2% to 18.9%). Median duration of response was 4.1 months, and progression-free survival was 2.6 months. Median overall survival was 10.4 months. The most common treatment-related grade 3 or 4 toxicities were neutropenia (54%; febrile neutropenia, 5.5%), leukopenia (14%), and asthenia/fatigue (10%; no grade 4); grade 3 neuropathy occurred in 6.9% of patients (no grade 4).


CONCLUSION
Eribulin demonstrated antitumor activity in extensively pretreated patients who had previously received an anthracycline, taxane, and capecitabine, with a manageable tolerability profile.
Neural network implementation for invers kinematic model of arm drawing robot

Nowadays, the research in robotics field is growing. One of the studies in robotics is the control method of the robotic arm movement. In this research, a 3 DOF arm drawing robot was built. An inverse kinematic models of the robot arm is made using artificial neural network method. Artificial neural network model was implemented in a GUI application. The ANN model can work in real-time to control arm robot movement to reach certain coordinates. Based on test results, the inverse kinematic models of the arm drawing robot had an error rate under 2%. It is of 0.16% for X coordinate and 0.46% for Y coordinate.
Dust exposure and impairment of lung function at a small iron foundry in a rapidly developing country.

OBJECTIVES
A cross sectional prospective study was carried out among iron foundry workers (exposed) and soft drink bottling and supply company workers (unexposed) to assess their occupational exposure to ambient respiratory dust in their work environment and its effect on their lung function profile.


PARTICIPANTS
Lung function was measured in 81 exposed and 113 unexposed workers. Personal respirable dust concentrations were measured for all the exposed and the unexposed workers. Information on respiratory signs and symptoms was also collected from the participants.


RESULTS
Among the exposed workers, midexpiratory flow (FEF25-75), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), peak expiratory flow (PEF), FEV1/FVC, and FEV1/VC ratios were significantly lower whereas the vital capacity (VC) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were non-significantly higher. Job at the iron foundry was a significant predictor of lung function. Exposure to high concentration of respirable dust at the iron foundry was also a significant predictor. Workers working in high exposure areas (general works, furnace, continuous casting areas, and fabrication workshop) had lower lung function values than workers in medium and low exposure areas. Smoking did not enhance the effects of exposure to dust on lung function.


CONCLUSIONS
Exposure to respirable dust was higher among the iron foundry workers; and among these, general, furnace, rolling mill, and fabrication workers had higher exposures to dust than did workers in continuous casting, the mechanical workshop, and the bottling plant. Job type and exposure to dust were significant predictors of lung function. Implementation of industrial hygiene and proper and efficient use of personal protection equipment while at work could help to protect the respiratory health of industrial workers.
Topological Analysis and Gaussian Decision Tree: Effective Representation and Classification of Biosignals of Small Sample Size

Goal: Bucking the trend of big data, in microdevice engineering, small sample size is common, especially when the device is still at the proof-of-concept stage. The small sample size, small interclass variation, and large intraclass variation, have brought biosignal analysis new challenges. Novel representation and classification approaches need to be developed to effectively recognize targets of interests with the absence of a large training set. Methods: Moving away from the traditional signal analysis in the spatiotemporal domain, we exploit the biosignal representation in the topological domain that would reveal the intrinsic structure of point clouds generated from the biosignal. Additionally, we propose a Gaussian-based decision tree (GDT), which can efficiently classify the biosignals even when the sample size is extremely small. Results: This study is motivated by the application of mastitis detection using low-voltage alternating current electrokinetics (ACEK) where five categories of bisignals need to be recognized with only two samples in each class. Experimental results demonstrate the robustness of the topological features as well as the advantage of GDT over some conventional classifiers in handling small dataset. Conclusion: Our method reduces the voltage of ACEK to a safe level and still yields high-fidelity results with a short assay time. Significance: This paper makes two distinctive contributions to the field of biosignal analysis, including performing signal processing in the topological domain and handling extremely small dataset. Currently, there have been no related works that can efficiently tackle the dilemma between avoiding electrochemical reaction and accelerating assay process using ACEK.
Mortality and morbidity patterns in under-five children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in Zambia: a five-year retrospective review of hospital-based records (2009–2013)

BACKGROUND
Severe acute malnutrition has continued to be growing problem in Sub Saharan Africa. We investigated the factors associated with morbidity and mortality of under-five children admitted and managed in hospital for severe acute malnutrition.


METHODS
It was a retrospective quantitative review of hospital based records using patient files, ward death and discharge registers. It was conducted focussing on demographic, clinical and mortality data which was extracted on all children aged 0-60 months admitted to the University Teaching Hospital in Zambia from 2009 to 2013. Cox proportional Hazards regression was used to identify predictors of mortality and Kaplan Meier curves where used to predict the length of stay on the ward.


RESULTS
Overall (n = 9540) under-five children with severe acute malnutrition were admitted during the period under review, comprising 5148 (54%) males and 4386 (46%) females. Kwashiorkor was the most common type of severe acute malnutrition (62%) while diarrhoea and pneumonia were the most common co-morbidities. Overall mortality was at 46% with children with marasmus having the lowest survival rates on Kaplan Meier graphs. HIV infected children were 80% more likely to die compared to HIV uninfected children (HR = 1.8; 95%CI: 1.6-1.2). However, over time (2009-2013), admissions and mortality rates declined significantly (mortality 51% vs. 35%, P < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
We find evidence of declining mortality among the core morbid nutritional conditions, namely kwashiorkor, marasmus and marasmic-kwashiorkor among under-five children admitted at this hospital. The reasons for this are unclear or could be beyond the scope of this study. This decline in numbers could be either be associated with declining admissions or due to the interventions that have been implemented at community level to combat malnutrition such as provision of "Ready to Use therapeutic food" and prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV at health centre level. Strategies that enhance and expand growth monitoring interventions at community level to detect malnutrition early to reduce incidence of severe cases and mortality need to be strengthened.
No Cure for What Ails Us: The media-constructed disconnect between societal problems and possible solutions

I changed my surname from "Kensicki" to "Kenix." This article was published prior to my name change.
Leisure participation and health- related quality of life of community- dwelling elders in Hong Kong

Background. Activity theory stresses the positive linkage of activity and quality of life (QOL) in individuals. This study aimed to explore the association between leisure participation and health-related QOL (HrQOL) of community-dwelling elders in Hong Kong. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted over a 3-month period beginning August 2006. Persons aged 65 years or older were randomly selected from elderly health centres. Telephone interviews were then conducted by trained professionals. HrQOL was measured using Short Form-12 version 2. Subjects were asked about their participation in 18 types of leisure activities grouped in 4 categories, namely: recreational, cognitive, social, and productive. Frequency of such participation was measured on a 5-point scale. Its association with sociodemographic variables was examined using regression analysis. Results. 269 participants completed the interview (response rate=77%). The most common daily leisure activities were watching television (99%), listening to the radio/music (57%) and reading (57%). Cognitive and social activities were positively associated with the physical and mental domains of HrQOL. Higher levels of participation in cognitive activity were associated with better physical functioning (p<0.05, 95% CI=0.144 to 1.667), role physical (p<0.05, 95% CI=0.047 to 1.594) and mental health (p<0.05, 95% CI=0.001 to 0.937). Participation in social activity was associated with better physical functioning (p<0.05, 95% CI=0.211 to 1.918). On the contrary, participation in recreational activity was only marginally related to social functioning (p=0.055, 95% CI= -1.89 to 0.02), role emotion (p=0.059, 95% CI= -1.27 to 0.02), and mental health (p=0.053, 95% CI= -1.26 to 0.01). Participation in productive activity was negatively associated with general health (p<0.05, 95% CI= -1.569 to -0.049). Conclusion. From a primary care perspective, expanding the repertoire of leisure activities, in particular, cognitive and social activities, may contribute to better HrQOL for the elderly living in the community. Longitudinal studies are recommended to further examine the causal relationship of leisure participation and HrQOL.
Effects of lysine on ammonia formation, hydrogen ion, and potassium ion balance: a review and an hypothesis.

Evidence is assembled that lysine acts as an intracellular hydrogen ion acceptor, causing increased ammonia formation and increased potassium excretion in certain disease states. It is suggested that other intracellular dibasic amino acids may have the same effects.
Short- and long-term follow-up of intensive care unit patients after sedation with isoflurane and midazolam--a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE
To compare memories from the intensive care unit (ICU) and short- and long-term psychological morbidity in patients after sedation with intravenous midazolam or inhaled isoflurane.


DESIGN
Prospective long-term follow-up after randomized controlled trial.


SETTING
General ICU at Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Stockholm.


PATIENTS
Forty patients in need of sedation during ventilator treatment.


INTERVENTIONS
Patients were randomized to receive isoflurane or midazolam for goal-directed sedation until extubation or for a maximum of 96 hrs.


MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
For short-term follow-up, doctors', nurses', and physiotherapists' notes from the 4 days following exposure to the study drugs were reviewed for words indicating adequate or pathologic cognitive and psychological recovery. For long-term follow-up, all 6-month survivors received questionnaires including the ICU Memory Tool (ICU-MT), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Impact of Event Scale (IES), and Well-Being Index. Additionally, several screening questions for previous posttraumatic stress symptoms were included. In the short term follow-up, no significant differences were found between groups. In the long-term follow-up, a trend toward fewer hallucinations/delusions after isoflurane sedation than after midazolam (two of ten isoflurane patients vs. five of seven midazolam patients) was found (p = .06). None of the five solely isoflurane-sedated patients reported hallucinations/delusions from the ICU. There was no difference in groups in long-term psychological morbidity as measured with HADS and IES. Memories of negative feelings in the ICU (ICU-MT) were associated with high HADS and IES scores (Fisher's exact test, p = .02 and p = .01, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Sedation of ICU patients with isoflurane may result in fewer delusional memories or hallucinations from the ICU compared with more commonly used intravenous sedation. Memories of negative feelings from the ICU were associated with symptoms of depression or anxiety or symptoms indicating posttraumatic stress disorder. Further study of memory and cognitive/psychological recovery after prolonged isoflurane sedation beyond 96 hrs is warranted.
Development and Alignment of a Domain-Specific Ontology for Question Answering

With the appearance of Semantic Web technologies, it becomes possible to develop novel, sophisticated question answering systems, where ontologies are usually used as the core knowledge component. In the EU-funded project, QALL-ME, a domain-specific ontology was developed and applied for question answering in the domain of tourism, along with the assistance of two upper ontologies for concept expansion and reasoning. This paper focuses on the development of the QALL-ME ontology in the tourism domain and its alignment with the upper ontologies – WordNet and SUMO. The design of the ontology is presented in the paper, and a semi-automatic alignment procedure is described with some alignment results given as well. Furthermore, the aligned ontology was used to semantically annotate original data obtained from the tourism web sites and natural language questions. The storage schema of the annotated data and the data access method for retrieving answers from the annotated data are also reported in the paper.
Efficiency Optimization of Induction Motor Using a Fuzzy Logic Based Optimum Flux Search Controller

Induction motors are, without any doubt, the most used in industry. Motor drive efficiency optimization is important for two reasons: economic saving and reduction of environmental pollution. In this paper, advantages of using fuzzy logic in steady-state efficiency optimization for induction motor drives are described. Experimental results of a fuzzy logic based optimum flux search controller are presented. There are so many speed control techniques available, like scalar control, vector control, sensor less control etc. Due to coupling effect, the scalar control has inferior performance and vector control is a method of speed control in which both magnitude and phase angle of current can be controlled. In vector control, the presence of speed sensor at shaft decreases the reliability and ruggedness. For transient states, a new original idea is introduced: a fuzzy logic based controller, actuating as a supervisor, is proposed to work with reduced flux levels during transients to optimize efficiency also in dynamic mode. Two different rule tables are designed, for torque transitions and for reference speed changes. With this controller, efficiency can be improved in transients, and also search controller convergence speed is increased. In my work efficiency optimization of induction motor using fuzzy logic controller was carried out using Matlab.