Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Momentary assessment of contextual influences on affective response during physical activity.

OBJECTIVE Higher positive and lower negative affective response during physical activity may reinforce motivation to engage in future activity. However, affective response during physical activity is typically examined under controlled laboratory conditions. This research used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine social and physical contextual influences on momentary affective response during physical activity in naturalistic settings. METHOD Participants included 116 adults (mean age = 40.3 years, 73% female) who completed 8 randomly prompted EMA surveys per day for 4 days across 3 semiannual waves. EMA surveys measured current activity level, social context, and physical context. Participants also rated their current positive and negative affect. Multilevel models assessed whether momentary physical activity level moderated differences in affective response across contexts controlling for day of the week, time of day, and activity intensity (measured by accelerometer). RESULTS The Activity Level × Alone interaction was significant for predicting positive affect (β = -0.302, SE = 0.133, p = .024). Greater positive affect during physical activity was reported when with other people (vs. alone). The Activity Level × Outdoors interaction was significant for predicting negative affect (β = -0.206, SE = 0.097, p = .034). Lower negative affect during physical activity was reported outdoors (vs. indoors). CONCLUSIONS Being with other people may enhance positive affective response during physical activity, and being outdoors may dampen negative affective response during physical activity.
A consensus genetic map of cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp.] and synteny based on EST-derived SNPs

Consensus genetic linkage maps provide a genomic framework for quantitative trait loci identification, map-based cloning, assessment of genetic diversity, association mapping, and applied breeding in marker-assisted selection schemes. Among “orphan crops” with limited genomic resources such as cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. ] (2n = 2x = 22), the use of transcript-derived SNPs in genetic maps provides opportunities for automated genotyping and estimation of genome structure based on synteny analysis. Here, we report the development and validation of a high-throughput EST-derived SNP assay for cowpea, its application in consensus map building, and determination of synteny to reference genomes. SNP mining from 183,118 ESTs sequenced from 17 cDNA libraries yielded ≈10,000 high-confidence SNPs from which an Illumina 1,536-SNP GoldenGate genotyping array was developed and applied to 741 recombinant inbred lines from six mapping populations. Approximately 90% of the SNPs were technically successful, providing 1,375 dependable markers. Of these, 928 were incorporated into a consensus genetic map spanning 680 cM with 11 linkage groups and an average marker distance of 0.73 cM. Comparison of this cowpea genetic map to reference legumes, soybean (Glycine max) and Medicago truncatula, revealed extensive macrosynteny encompassing 85 and 82%, respectively, of the cowpea map. Regions of soybean genome duplication were evident relative to the simpler diploid cowpea. Comparison with Arabidopsis revealed extensive genomic rearrangement with some conserved microsynteny. These results support evolutionary closeness between cowpea and soybean and identify regions for synteny-based functional genomics studies in legumes.
Monitoring Prevention Impact of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in Concentrated Epidemics With Program and Survey Data

Background The prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV program was introduced in Vietnam in 2005. Despite the scaling up of PMTCT programs, the rate of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Vietnam was estimated as high as 20% in 2013. Objective The objective of this study was to assess the outcomes of PMTCT and identified factors associated with mother-to-child transmission and infant survival using survey and program data in a high HIV burden province in Vietnam. Methods This community-based retrospective cohort study observed pregnant women diagnosed with HIV infection in Thai Nguyen province from October 2008 to December 2012. Data were collected through interviews using a structured questionnaire and through reviews of log books and medical charts in antenatal care and HIV clinics. Logistic regression and survival analysis were used to analyze data using Stata (StataCorp). Results A total of 172 pregnant women living with HIV were identified between 2008 and 2012. Most of these women had acquired the HIV infection from their husband (77/119, 64.7%). Significant improvement in the PMTCT program was documented, including reduction in late diagnosis of HIV for pregnant women from 62.5% in 2008 to 30% in 2012. Access to antiretrovirals (ARVs) improved, increasing from a rate of 18.2% (2008) to 70.0% (2011) for mothers and from 36.4% (2008) to 93.3% (2012) for infants. For infants, early diagnosis within 2 months of birth reached 66.7% in 2012 compared with 16.7% in 2009. Transmission rate reduced from 27.3% in 2008 to 6.7% in 2012. Late diagnosis was associated with increased risk for HIV transmission (odds ratio [OR] 14.7, 95% CI 1.8-121.4, P=.01), whereas ARV therapy for mother and infant in combination with infant formula feeding were associated with reduced risk for HIV transmission (OR 0.01, 95% CI 0.001-0.1; P<.001). Overall survival rate for HIV-exposed infants at 12 months was 97.7%. Conclusions A combination of program and survey data measured the impact of prevention of HIV transmission from mother-to-child interventions. Significant improvement in access to the interventions was documented in Thai Nguyen province. However, factors that increased the risk of HIV transmission, such as late diagnosis, remain to be addressed.
Secondary amyloidosis: a severe complication of ankylosing spondylitis. Two case-reports.

STUDY OBJECTIVE To report two cases of amyloidosis secondary to ankylosing spondylitis. PATIENTS AND RESULTS Of the 47 ankylosing spondylitis patients who have received follow-up at our department over the last few years, two have developed AA amyloidosis. Both have extremely severe, long-standing joint disease, with virtually complete spinal ankylosis and destructive peripheral arthritis of the hips and wrists; one also has tarsal joint destruction. Renal dysfunction was the first manifestation of amyloidosis in both cases. One patient required chronic hemodialysis and developed peritonitis due to colonic perforation, probably at a site of amyloid deposition. CONCLUSIONS Secondary amyloidosis is a rare complication of ankylosing spondylitis that can cause severe renal and gastrointestinal complications. No treatment capable of clearing established amyloid deposits is available to date.
The Impact of Delay Announcements in Many-Server Queues with Abandonment

This is a supplement to the main paper, having the same title. In this work we develop methods to study the impact upon steady-state performance of delay announcements made to arriving customers in a many-server queue with customer abandonment. We assume that the queue is not visible to waiting customers, as in most customer contact centers, when contact is made by telephone, email or instant messaging. We propose simple robust announcement schemes: (i) the delay of the last served (DLS) customer and (ii) a flxed delay announcement (FDA) based on an appropriate long-run average delay. For any single-number delay announcement made immediately upon arrival, customers may balk or have new abandonment behavior as a function of the announced delay. We introduce a model of that customer response. To perform a rough-cut performance analysis, prior to detailed simulation, we introduce a ∞uid model, which provides an approximate and highly simplifled description for large systems in an overloaded regime. In the ∞uid model, all customers are faced with the same delay and consequently can be given the same delay announcement. That property motivates considering a second approximation scheme: an equilibrium flxed delay announcement in the stochastic model, which we compute approximately using an iterative numerical algorithm (INA). We show that these two approximate descriptions of aggregate performance are efiective by comparing to simulations. We simulate systems with state-dependent DLS announcements and we iterate over simulations using flxed delay announcements. Here we present additional material, supplementing the main paper.
Modeling superscalar processors via statistical simulation

Statistical simulation is a technique for fast performance evaluation of superscalar processors. First, intrinsic statistical information is collected from a single detailed simulation of a program. This information is then used to generate a synthetic instruction trace that is fed to a simple processor model, along with cache and branch prediction statistics. Because of the probabilistic nature of the simulation, it quickly converges to a performance rate. The simplicity and simulation speed make it useful for fast design space exploration; as such, it is a good complement to conventional detailed simulation. The accuracy of this technique is evaluated for different levels of modeling complexity. Both errors and convergence properties are studied in detail. A simple instruction model yields an average error of 8% compared with detailed simulation. A more detailed instruction model reduces the error to 5% but requires about three times as long to converge.
Statistical Keystroke Dynamics System on Mobile Devices for Experimental Data Collection and User Authentication

This paper presents a keystroke dynamics system for mobile devices that employs a statistical distance-to-median anomaly detector. The selected feature set combines the keystroke timing features of hold and latency and the touch screen features of pressure and finger area. The proposed system consists of two modules: training and testing. The aim of the system is to be a research tool to serve two purposes: (i) the generation of a model-independent dataset of keystroke data on mobile devices, for comparison of keystroke dynamics anomaly detectors, (ii) to be used in the evaluation of the authentication performance of the implemented distance-to-median anomaly detector. The system works in the Android environment on Nexus smartphones and tablets. The experimental work has generated a dataset of 2856 records from 56 subjects, 51 records per subject, where each record represents 71 feature elements resulting from the typing of a standard 10-character password. Statistical analysis of the collected dataset showed an equal-error-rate (EER) of 0.049 when using a different pass-mark per subject, and 0.054 when using a global pass-mark for all subjects. The EER results are much lower than previously published results using three distance-based verification models. Also, the false-acceptance-rate at 5% false-rejection-rate is 5.6%, which is much lower than previously published results, but it is still high and needs to be reduced. Evaluation of the testing (authentication) part of the system was carried out through test runs where a genuine user enters his user-id and password as a login attempt, and the resulting test vector of feature elements are matched against the stored template of the user. The login attempt is classified as genuine or impostor based on a preset pass-mark. Conclusions and suggestions for future work are presented.
Realization of a bone-inspired composite by means of a biomimetic approach

Biomimetics, a design approach to create new structures inspired to natural smart systems, is widely used as an engineering method for the design of new materials. Indeed, in nature you can find many examples of smart structures, which can be easily copied. Id est, bone is an interesting material with a hierarchical organization, showing an optimal combination of mechanical properties, and characterized by a remarkable toughness, in spite of its brittle mineral components. Indeed, it is generally considered as a biomimetic model, that can be mimicked to build new bio-inspired materials. Here we present the design, realization and testing of a new composite material, which mimics the microstructure of human bone, by using a biomimetic approach. The bone-inspired composite is a synthetic composite made of glass and carbon fibers impregnated into an epoxy matrix, and showing an internal organization aimed at reproducing the main structural features, characteristic of the microstructure of cortical bone (i.e. osteons). We perform a complete characterization of this material, along with that of a classical laminate, designed to make a comparison. After testing the new material, we also propose new solutions to improve the initial design, based on the results of the experimental tests and on numerical simulations previously performed on bone nanocomposites models.
A Phase II Study with Lead‐In Safety Cohort of 5‐Fluorouracil, Oxaliplatin, and Lapatinib in Combination with Radiation Therapy as Neoadjuvant Treatment for Patients with Localized HER2‐Positive Esophagogastric Adenocarcinomas

Abstract Lessons Learned. Neoadjuvant 5‐fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and lapatinib in combination with radiation therapy is safe for neoadjuvant treatment for patients with localized human epidermal growth receptor 2‐positive esophagogastric adenocarcinoma. Evaluation of this drug combination in a larger patient pool would allow for more accurate analysis of its efficacy. Background. The optimal design of neoadjuvant chemoradiation for the treatment of localized esophagogastric cancers is the subject of much debate. In this nonrandomized trial, we evaluated neoadjuvant 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU), oxaliplatin, and lapatinib in combination with radiation therapy as neoadjuvant treatment for patients with localized human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2)‐positive esophagogastric adenocarcinomas. Methods. Patients received neoadjuvant 5‐FU (225 mg/m2 continuous intravenous infusion, days 1–42), oxaliplatin (85 mg/m2 intravenously [IV], days 1, 15, and 29), and lapatinib (six patients, 1,000 mg p.o., days 1–42; six patients, 750 mg p.o., days 1–42) plus radiation (1.8 Gy/day Monday through Friday for 50.4 Gy total). Following restaging, eligible patients underwent definitive resection, and pathologic response to neoadjuvant therapy was assessed. Planned enrollment was 42 patients. The primary endpoint was the pathologic complete response (pCR) rate. Results. Twelve patients (median age 64 years; 67% male) received a median of 5.6 weeks of treatment (range: 1.1–8.4). The pCR rate was 8%; four of the 12 patients underwent tumor resection and one patient had a pCR, with pathologic partial response in the remaining three. The most common lapatinib‐related adverse events included (all grades) nausea (67%) and diarrhea (58%), although these were all grade 1 or 2. Enrollment was halted due to low accrual. Conclusion. The treatment regimen was determined to be safe. The study was terminated early due to low accrual.
Growing up in a Bubble: Using Germ-Free Animals to Assess the Influence of the Gut Microbiota on Brain and Behavior

There is a growing recognition of the importance of the commensal intestinal microbiota in the development and later function of the central nervous system. Research using germ-free mice (mice raised without any exposure to microorganisms) has provided some of the most persuasive evidence for a role of these bacteria in gut-brain signalling. Key findings show that the microbiota is necessary for normal stress responsivity, anxiety-like behaviors, sociability, and cognition. Furthermore, the microbiota maintains central nervous system homeostasis by regulating immune function and blood brain barrier integrity. Studies have also found that the gut microbiota influences neurotransmitter, synaptic, and neurotrophic signalling systems and neurogenesis. The principle advantage of the germ-free mouse model is in proof-of-principle studies and that a complete microbiota or defined consortiums of bacteria can be introduced at various developmental time points. However, a germ-free upbringing can induce permanent neurodevelopmental deficits that may deem the model unsuitable for specific scientific queries that do not involve early-life microbial deficiency. As such, alternatives and complementary strategies to the germ-free model are warranted and include antibiotic treatment to create microbiota-deficient animals at distinct time points across the lifespan. Increasing our understanding of the impact of the gut microbiota on brain and behavior has the potential to inform novel management strategies for stress-related gastrointestinal and neuropsychiatric disorders.
Detection of Damage in Composite Materials by Thermo-Acoustic Emission Measurement

Characteristic acoustic emission behavior was observed when a composite was subject to a thermal cycle (thermo-acoustic emission). A lot of emission was observed in the ther mal cycle for a composite which had damage induced by mechanical loading. On the other hand, the emission was hardly observed for a sound composite in the thermal cycle. The occurrence of the emission was restricted only to the composite with damage. Further more, the emission activity depended on the degree of the damage. The emission is con sidered to be generated due to the friction of the crack faces by the thermal loading. The thermo-acoustic emission measurement is considered to be anticipated as nondestructive evaluation for composite materials.
VIPS: a Vision-based Page Segmentation Algorithm

A new web content structure analysis based on visual representation is proposed in this paper. Many web applications such as information retrieval, information extraction and automatic page adaptation can benefit from this structure. This paper presents an automatic top-down, tag-tree independent approach to detect web content structure. It simulates how a user understands web layout structure based on his visual perception. Comparing to other existing techniques such as DOM tree, our approach is independent to the HTML documentation representation. Our method can work well even when the HTML structure is quite different from the visual layout structure. Several experiments show the effectiveness of our method.
In vitro and In silico studies on inhibitory effects of curcumin on multi drug resistance associated protein (MRP1) in retinoblastoma cells

Multi Drug Resistance (MDR) is one of the major causes of chemotherapy failure in human malignancies. Curcumin, the active constituent of Curcuma longa is a proven anticancer agent potentially modulating the expression and function of these MDR proteins. In this study, we attempted to test curcumin for its potential to inhibit the expression and function of multidrug resistance associated protein 1 (MRP1) in retinoblastoma (RB) cell lines through western blot, RT-PCR and functional assays. In silico analysis were also performed to understand the molecular interactions conferred by curucmin on MRP1 in RB cells. Western blot and RTPCR analysis did not show any correlation of MRP1 expression with increase in concentration of curcumin. However, inhibitory effect of curcumin on MRP1 function was observed as a decrease in the efflux of fluorescent substrate. Moreover, Curcumin did not affect 8-azido-ATP-biotin binding to MRP1 and it also showed inhibition of ATP-hydrolysis stimulated by quercetin, which is indicative of curcumin's interaction with the substrate binding site of MRP1. Furthermore, homology modelling and docking simulation studies of MRP1 also provided deeper insights into the molecular interactions, thereby inferring the potential binding mode of curcumin into the substrate binding site of MRP1.
A fast and # exible multiresolution snake with a de " nite termination criterion

This paper describes a fast process of parametric snake evolution with a multiresolution strategy. Conventional parametric evolution method relies on matrix inversion throughout the iteration intermittently, in contrast the proposed method relaxes the matrix inversion which is costly and time consuming in cases where the resulting snake is #exible. The proposed method also eliminates the input of snake rigidity parameters when the snake is #exible. Also, a robust and de"nite termination criterion for both conventional and proposed methods is demonstrated in this paper. 2001 Pattern Recognition Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Presence of fetal RNA in maternal plasma.

The discovery of fetal DNA in maternal plasma (1) has opened up a new horizon on prenatal molecular diagnosis. Many groups have since shown that fetal genetic traits, such as RhD status and inherited genetic diseases, can be determined from fetal DNA in maternal plasma (2)(3)(4)(5). However, it is not known whether fetal RNA is also present in maternal plasma. Here, using a two-step reverse transcription (RT)-PCR assay, we demonstrate the presence of fetal-derived, male-specific mRNA in plasma of pregnant women carrying male fetuses. Pregnant women attending the Prenatal Diagnosis Unit at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong were recruited with informed consent. The study was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee. Women early and late in their pregnancies (n = 21 and 37, respectively) were recruited in this study. The mean gestational ages of the subjects in early and late pregnancies were 16 weeks (range, 11–19 weeks) and 33 weeks (range, 26–40 weeks), respectively. All early-pregnancy samples were obtained before any invasive procedure. On the other hand, late-pregnancy samples were collected either from women who had invasive procedures in early pregnancy (n = 21) or from women who did not have any prenatal invasive procedure (n = 16). All plasma samples were harvested within 30 min from EDTA-blood samples as described previously (1). Total RNA from plasma samples was isolated with the Trizol LS Reagent (Life Technologies) as instructed …
Goal-oriented error-estimation for S-parameter computations

Accurate and efficient goal-oriented error estimates for adaptive finite-element computations of scattering parameters are presented. The estimates are derived using dual problems and computed using special hierarchical basis functions, tailored to agree with the Ne/spl acute/de/spl acute/lec interpolant. The method is tested on a two-dimensional waveguide cavity resonator with several reentrant corners. When uniform mesh refinement is used, the convergence rate is limited to h/sup 4/3/, independently of the element order due to singularities. However, with adaptive h-refinement guided by the presented error estimates, the convergence rate is increased to h/sup 2p/ for elements of (complete or incomplete) order p/spl les/3, even in the presence of singularities. Further, the accuracy of the scattering parameters can be increased significantly by adding the estimated errors to the computed results.