Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Heart Failure With a Better Ejection Fraction: Why Should We Care?

Consider the following clinical scenarios: (1) a 67-year-old man presents for follow-up of recent coronary bypass surgery. He had presented 6 months ago with heart failure, severe 3-vessel coronary disease, and a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of 30%. He has done well and remains asymptomatic on metoprolol succinate, lisinopril, eplerenone, and occasional furosemide. Repeat echocardiography notes his LVEF is now 55%. He wants to know how long he needs to continue these medications. (2) A 45-year-old woman with an idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy is seen for routine evaluation. Since her diagnosis, 8 months ago, she has done well on carvedilol, losartan, and spironolactone; she does not require other diuretics. Repeat echocardiography documents an improvement in LVEF from 15% to 60%. She wants to know what her prognosis is. What do you tell them? See Article by Florea et al Although the primacy of patient-relevant outcomes in the study of heart failure should not be displaced, it is virtually impossible to not be obsessed with the ejection fraction. Yet, it has well-known limitations: it changes over time, its measurement in clinical practice is not precise, and what is considered normal continues to evolve.1 However, for patients and providers, it is simple and intuitive; it integrates the relationship between more complex concepts of myocardial contractility, cardiac structure, and ventricular-arterial coupling. The LVEF determines how heart failure is categorized, which treatments are indicated, and what the prognosis may be. However, it is important to recognize that the prognostic power of LVEF lies in its physiological determinants; for example, it is ventricular-arterial coupling, LV size, and V that affect outcomes and not intrinsic contractility (eg, Ees) per se that is associated with outcomes.2 As a composite measurement, an improvement in LVEF generally indicates left ventricular reverse remodeling (LVRR), whether as …
Advances in Recovery of Novel Biocatalysts from Metagenomes

Metagenomics has accelerated the process of discovery of novel biocatalysts by enabling scientists to tap directly into the entire diversity of enzymes held within natural microbial populations. Their characterization has revealed a great deal of valuable information about enzymatic activity in terms of factors which influence their stability and activity under a wide range of conditions. Many of the biocatalysts have particular properties making them suitable for biotechnological applications. A diverse array of strategies has been developed to optimize each step of the process of generating and screening metagenomic libraries for novel biocatalysts. This review covers the diversity of metagenome-derived enzymes characterized to date, and the strategies currently being developed to optimize discovery of novel metagenomic biocatalysts.
Development and Validation of the Five-by-Five Resilience Scale

This article introduces a new measure of resilience and five related protective factors. The Five-by-Five Resilience Scale (5×5RS) is developed on the basis of theoretical and empirical considerations. Two samples (N = 475 and N = 613) are used to assess the factor structure, reliability, convergent validity, and criterion-related validity of the 5×5RS. Confirmatory factor analysis supports a bifactor model. The 5×5RS demonstrates adequate internal consistency as evidenced by Cronbach’s alpha and empirical reliability estimates. The 5×5RS correlates positively with the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), a commonly used measure of resilience. The 5×5RS exhibits similar criterion-related validity to the CD-RISC as evidenced by positive correlations with satisfaction with life, meaning in life, and secure attachment style as well as negative correlations with rumination and anxious or avoidant attachment styles. 5×5RS scores are positively correlated with healthy behaviors such as exercise and negatively correlated with sleep difficulty and symptomology of anxiety and depression. The 5×5RS incrementally explains variance in some criteria above and beyond the CD-RISC. Item responses are modeled using the graded response model. Information estimates demonstrate the ability of the 5×5RS to assess individuals within at least one standard deviation of the mean on relevant latent traits.
Single-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy versus mini-laparoscopic cholecystectomy: A randomized clinical trial study

Background: Surgical technique using small-diameter instruments and single-incision laparoscopy are two new options for less invasive laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). In this study, we have compared mini-LC (MLC) with single-incision LC (SILC). Materials and Methods: This study is a randomized clinical trial conducted on the patients diagnosed with symptomatic cholelithiasis who underwent LC. Forty patients were randomized to two equal groups of MLC and SILC. They were compared in terms of demographic data, operation time, and surgical complications. Results: Baseline characteristics were similar in two groups. Operation time in MLC was significantly shorter than that in SILC (45.1 ± 69 min vs 63.75 ± 7.57 min, P-value < 0.001). Also, the total length of the wound in SILC group was shorter than that in MLC group (P-value < 0.003). Postoperative pain scores were similar in two groups. Hospital stay was shorter in MLC (1.2 ± 0.6 days vs 1.6 ± 0.8 days, P < 0.021). There was no difference in postoperative complications in two groups. Conclusion: MLC because of less operation time is preferred than SILC. Also, by subjective measures, it was a more comfortable method compared to SILC.
ATPase activity and its temperature compensation of the cyanobacterial clock protein KaiC

KaiA, KaiB and KaiC constitute the circadian clock machinery in cyanobacteria. KaiC is a homohexamer; its subunit contains duplicated halves, each with a set of ATPase motifs. Here, using highly purified KaiC preparations of the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP‐1 produced in Escherichia coli, we found that the N‐ and C‐terminal domains of KaiC had extremely weak ATPase activity. ATPase activity showed temperature compensation in wild‐type KaiC, but not in KaiCS431A/T432A, a mutant that lacks two phosphorylation sites. We concluded that KaiC phosphorylation is involved in the ATPase temperature‐compensation mechanism—which is probably critical to the stability of the circadian clock in cyanobacteria—and we hypothesized the following temperature‐compensation mechanism: (i) The C‐terminal phosphorylation sites of a KaiC hexamer subunit are phosphorylated by the C‐terminal domain of an adjacent KaiC subunit; (ii) the phosphorylation suppresses the ATPase activity of the C‐terminal domain; and (iii) the phosphorylated KaiC spontaneously dephosphorylates, resulting in the recover of ATPase activity.
Schistosome-Derived Molecules as Modulating Actors of the Immune System and Promising Candidates to Treat Autoimmune and Inflammatory Diseases

It is long known that some parasite infections are able to modulate specific pathways of host's metabolism and immune responses. This modulation is not only important in order to understand the host-pathogen interactions and to develop treatments against the parasites themselves but also important in the development of treatments against autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Throughout the life cycle of schistosomes the mammalian hosts are exposed to several biomolecules that are excreted/secreted from the parasite infective stage, named cercariae, from their tegument, present in adult and larval stages, and finally from their eggs. These molecules can induce the activation and modulation of innate and adaptive responses as well as enabling the evasion of the parasite from host defense mechanisms. Immunomodulatory effects of helminth infections and egg molecules are clear, as well as their ability to downregulate proinflammatory cytokines, upregulate anti-inflammatory cytokines, and drive a Th2 type of immune response. We believe that schistosomes can be used as a model to understand the potential applications of helminths and helminth-derived molecules against autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Comparative analysis of clicks and judgments for IR evaluation

Queries and click-through data taken from search engine transaction logs is an attractive alternative to traditional test collections, due to its volume and the direct relation to end-user querying. The overall aim of this paper is to answer the question: How does click-through data differ from explicit human relevance judgments in information retrieval evaluation? We compare a traditional test collection with manual judgments to transaction log based test collections---by using queries as topics and subsequent clicks as pseudo-relevance judgments for the clicked results. Specifically, we investigate the following two research questions: Firstly, are there significant differences between clicks and relevance judgments. Earlier research suggests that although clicks and explicit judgments show reasonable agreement, clicks are different from static absolute relevance judgments. Secondly, are there significant differences between system ranking based on clicks and based on relevance judgments? This is an open question, but earlier research suggests that comparative evaluation in terms of system ranking is remarkably robust.
Analytic Inversion of a Conical Radon Transform Arising in Application of Compton Cameras on the Cylinder

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a well established clinical tool for functional imaging. A limitation of current SPECT systems is the use of mechanical collimation, where only a small fraction of the emitted photons is actually used for image reconstruction. This results in large noise level and finally in a limited spatial resolution. In order to decrease the noise level and to increase the imaging resolution, Compton cameras have been proposed as an alternative to mechanical collimators. Image reconstruction in SPECT with Compton cameras yields to the problem of recovering a marker distribution from integrals over conical surfaces. Due to this and other applications, such conical Radon transforms recently got significant attention. In the current paper we consider the case where the cones of integration have vertices on a circular cylinder and axis pointing to the symmetry axis of the cylinder. As main results we derive analytic reconstruction methods for the considered transform. We also investigate the V-line transform with vertices on a circle and symmetry axis orthogonal to the circle, which arises in the special case where the absorber distribution is located in a horizontal plane.
TECTONIC GEOMORPHOLOGY OF ESCARPMENTS: THE CASES OF KOMPOTADES AND ΝΕΑ ANCHIALOS FAULTS

Most active processes on the surface imply that tectonics and geomorphology converge in a way that landscape change may be used as a tectonic signal, given that erosion and weathering have been taken into account. We selected two faults, the Kompotades and the Nea Anchialos faults in the Sperchios and South Thessaly rift zones respectively, and we performed a morphometric analysis. This analysis comprises geomorphic indices that have been used successfully in studies of active tectonics, as the mountain front sinuosity index (Smf), stream gradient index (SL) and valley floor width to valley height ratio (Vf). At both studied mountain fronts, the Vf index ranged between 0,4 to 1,2, implying high uplift rates, while the Smf «1 index revealed relatively high tectonic activity, which decreases towards the west. On the other hand, the SL index though more sensitive to non-tectonic processes, (i.e. the rock resistance, stream length) is less indicative of tectonic activity. Based on the distribution of the geomorphic indices a two-fault strand model is suggested forming the mountain front in the two examples with the range-ward fault strand to be more appropriate for Kompotades fault and the basinward fault strand for Nea Anchialos fault.
Hétérogénéité individuelle, variabilité temporelle et structure spatiale comme sources de variation démographique chez les grands herbivores de montagne

Dans l’hemisphere Nord, les populations de grands herbivores ont connu ces dernieres decennies des modifications environnementales majeures, liees d’une part a l’augmentation importante de leur densite, et d’autre part aux changements globaux qui affectent leur habitat (notamment rechauffement climatique, modification des activites humaines, et fragmentation de l’habitat). Mieux comprendre comment ces especes vont adapter leurs strategies d’histoire de vie pour repondre a ces modifications est une question majeure de l’ecologie des populations, et une etape necessaire pour pouvoir adapter leur gestion aux enjeux environnementaux et societaux actuels. C’est dans ce contexte que nous avons etudie quelles etaient les sources de variation des tactiques de survie et de reproduction chez trois especes de grands herbivores de montagne (l’isard Rupicapra pyreneica, le chamois Rupicapra rupicapra, et le mouflon mediterraneen Ovis gmelini musimon × Ovis sp.). A partir de suivis longitudinaux par capture-marquage-recapture (CMR) nous nous sommes plus particulierement focalises sur le role de l’heterogeneite individuelle latente, de la variabilite climatique et de la structuration spatiale sur les parametres demographiques.Ce travail s’est appuye sur l’utilisation de modeles de melange et d’une combinaison innovante du robust-design et des modeles multi-evenements pour analyser des donnees demographiques collectees a differentes echelles spatio-temporelles. L’heterogeneite individuelle s’est averee etre une composante majeure de la demographie des 3 especes etudiees, avec l’identification chez le mouflon et l’isard de femelles aux performances reproductives contrastees, et l’existence chez le chamois de differences de survie entre individus liees a la qualite de l‘habitat occupe. Ces modeles ont aussi permis de reveler une augmentation de l’investissement reproducteur en fin de vie chez les femelles de mouflon au detriment de leur survie et d’etudier chez les femelles d’isard les differentes phases de l’effort reproducteur, de la gestation au sevrage, pour mettre en evidence que seule la lactation a un cout sur la reproduction suivante. Nos resultats ont egalement mis en exergue le role preponderant du climat hivernal et printanier sur les parametres demographiques des 3 especes, tout en confirmant que ces effets sont souvent specifiques a la population et au site etudies. Cette etude montre egalement que l’isard et le mouflon, bien que relativement comparables en termes de taille, de traits ecologiques, et de position phylogenetique, adoptent des strategies d’histoire de vie contrastees.Au final, nos resultats soulignent donc l’importance des etudes demographiques comparatives a plusieurs niveaux d’organisation (inter-especes, inter-population, intra-population), pour mieux comprendre le devenir des especes de grands herbivores face aux perturbations environnementales.
Evolving unipolar memristor spiking neural networks

Neuromorphic computing – brain-like computing in hardware – typically requires myriad complimentary metal oxide semiconductor spiking neurons interconnected by a dense mesh of nanoscale plastic synapses. Memristors are frequently cited as strong synapse candidates due to their statefulness and potential for low-power implementations. To date, plentiful research has focused on the bipolar memristor synapse, which is capable of incremental weight alterations and can provide adaptive self-organisation under a Hebbian learning scheme. In this paper, we consider the unipolar memristor synapse – a device capable of non-Hebbian switching between only two states (conductive and resistive) through application of a suitable input voltage – and discuss its suitability for neuromorphic systems. A self-adaptive evolutionary process is used to autonomously find highly fit network configurations. Experimentation on two robotics tasks shows that unipolar memristor networks evolve task-solving controllers faster than both bipolar memristor networks and networks containing constant non-plastic connections whilst performing at least comparably.
Aptamers: A Feasible Technology in Cancer Immunotherapy

Aptamers are single-chained RNA or DNA oligonucleotides (ODNs) with three-dimensional folding structures which allow them to bind to their targets with high specificity. Aptamers normally show affinities comparable to or higher than that of antibodies. They are chemically synthesized and therefore less expensive to manufacture and produce. A variety of aptamers described to date have been shown to be reliable in modulating immune responses against cancer by either blocking or activating immune receptors. Some of them have been conjugated to other molecules to target the immune system and reduce off-target side effects. Despite the success of first-line treatments against cancer, the elevated number of relapsing cases and the tremendous side effects shown by the commonly used agents hinder conventional treatments against cancer. The advantages provided by aptamers could enhance the therapeutic index of a given strategy and therefore enhance the antitumor effect. Here we recapitulate the provided benefits of aptamers with immunomodulatory activity described to date in cancer therapy and the benefits that aptamer-based immunotherapy could provide either alone or combined with first-line treatments in cancer therapy.
Sticky Prices Versus Monetary Frictions: An Estimation of Policy Trade-Offs

We develop a two-sector monetary model with a centralized and decentralized market. Activities in the centralized market resemble those in a standard New Keynesian economy with price rigidities. In the decentralized market agents engage in bilateral exchanges for which money is essential. The model is estimated and evaluated based on postwar U.S. data. We document its money demand properties and determine the optimal long-run inflation rate that trades off the New Keynesian distortion against the distortion caused by taxing money and hence transactions in the decentralized market. Target rates of -1% or less maximize the social welfare function we consider, which contrasts with results derived from a cashless New Keynesian model.
Routing as a Service

In Internet routing, there is a fundamental tussle between the end users who want control over the end-to-end paths and the Autonomous Systems (ASes) who want control over the flow of traffic through their infrastructure. To resolve this tussle and offer flexible routing control across multiple routing domains, we argue that customized route computation should be offered as a service by third-party providers. Outsourcing specialized route computation allows different path-selection mechanisms to coexist, and evolve over time.
MoviPill: improving medication compliance for elders using a mobile persuasive social game

Medication compliance is a critical component in the success of any medical treatment. However, only 50% of patients correctly adhere to their prescription regimens. Mobile and ubiquitous technologies have been proposed to tackle this challenge, mainly in the form of memory aid solutions that remind patients to take their pills. However, most of these methods do not engage patients in shifting their behavior towards better compliance. In this paper, we propose and evaluate a mobile phone-based game called MoviPill that persuades patients to be more adherent to their medication prescription by means of social competition. In a 6-week user study conducted with 18 elders, the use of MoviPill improved both their compliance to take the daily medication and also the accuracy of the drug intake time according to the prescribed time. Moreover, the improvement in the latter increased from 43% to 56% when we considered only participants that had any interest in games, which reveals the importance of applying persuasive techniques in a personalized manner. We conclude with a set of implications for the design of persuasive mobile solutions in this domain.
Analysis of the hygroscopic and volatile properties of ammonium sulphate seeded and unseeded SOA particles

Abstract. The volatile and hygroscopic properties of ammonium sulphate seeded and unseeded secondary organic aerosol (SOA) derived from the photo-oxidation of atmospherically relevant concentrations of α-pinene were studied. The seed particles were electrospray generated ammonium sulphate ((NH4) 2 SO 4 ) having diameters of approximately 33 nm with a quasi-mono-disperse size distribution (geometric standard deviation σ g =1.3). The volatile and hygroscopic properties of both seeded and unseeded SOA were simultaneously measured with a VH-TDMA (volatility – hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer). VH-TDMA measurements of unseeded SOA show a decrease in the hygroscopic growth (HGF) factor for increased volatilisation temperatures such that the more volatile compounds appear to be more hygroscopic. This is opposite to the expected preferential evaporation of more volatile but less hygroscopic material, but could also be due to enhanced oligomerisation occurring at the higher temperature in the thermodenuder. In addition, HGF measurements of seeded SOA were measured as a function of time at two relative humidities, below (RH 75%) and above (RH 85%) the deliquescence relative humidity (DRH) of the pure ammonium sulphate seeds. As these measurements were conducted during the onset phase of photo-oxidation, during particle growth, they enabled us to find the dependence of the HGF as a function of the volume fraction of the SOA coating. HGF's measured at RH of 85% showed a continuous decrease as the SOA coating thickness increased. The measured growth factors show good agreements with ZSR predictions indicating that, at these RH values, there are only minor solute-solute interactions. At 75% RH, as the SOA fraction increased, a rapid increase in the HGF was observed indicating that an increasing fraction of the (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 is subject to a phase transition, going into solution, with an increasing volume fraction of SOA. To our knowledge this is the first time that SOA derived from photo-oxidised α-pinene has been shown to affect the equilibrium water content of inorganic aerosols below their DRH. For SOA volume fractions above ~0.3 the measured growth factor followed roughly parallel to the ZSR prediction based on fully dissolved (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 although with a small difference that was just larger than the error estimate. Both incomplete dissolution and negative solute-solute interactions could be responsible for the lower HGF observed compared to the ZSR predictions.
Wind turbine pitch optimization

We consider a static wind model for a three-bladed, horizontal-axis, pitch-controlled wind turbine. When placed in a wind field, the turbine experiences several mechanical loads, which generate power but also create structural fatigue. We address the problem of finding blade pitch profiles for maximizing power production while simultaneously minimizing fatigue loads. In this paper, we show how this problem can be approximately solved using convex optimization. When there is full knowledge of the wind field, numerical simulations show that force and torque RMS variation can be reduced by over 96% compared to any constant pitch profile while sacrificing at most 7% of the maximum attainable output power. Using iterative learning, we show that very similar performance can be achieved by using only load measurements, with no knowledge of the wind field or wind turbine model.