Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Labour assessment programs to delay admission to labour wards.

BACKGROUND The aim of labour assessment programs is to delay hospital admission until labour is in the active phase, and thereby to prevent unnecessary interventions in women who are not in established labour. OBJECTIVES The objective of this review was to assess the effects of labour assessment programs that aim to delay hospital admission until labour is in the active phase. SEARCH STRATEGY We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group trials register and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register. Date of last search: January 2001. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised trials which compare labour assessment programs with direct admission to labour wards. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Trial quality was assessed. MAIN RESULTS One study of 209 women was included. The trial was of excellent quality. Women who were randomised to the labour assessment unit spent less time in the labour ward (weighted mean difference -5.20 hours, 95% confidence interval -7.06, -3.34), were less likely to receive intrapartum oxytocics (odds ratio 0.45, 95% confidence interval 0.25 to 0.80) and analgesia (odds ratio 0.36, 95% confidence interval 0.16 to 0.78), than women who were admitted directly to the labour ward. Women in the labour assessment group reported higher levels of control during labour (weighted mean difference 16.00, 95% confidence interval 7.52 to 24.48). There is insufficient evidence to assess effects on rate of caesarean section and other important measures of maternal and neonatal outcome. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS Labour assessment programs, which aim to delay hospital admission until active labour, may benefit women with term pregnancies.
Spectroscopic study of blue compact galaxies. I. The spectra

Blue compact galaxies are compact objects that are dominated by intense star formation. Most of them have dramatically different properties compared to the Milky Way and many other nearby galaxies. Using the IRAS, Hi data, and optical spectra, we wanted to measure the current star formation rates, stellar components, metallicities, and star formation histories and evolution of a large blue compact galaxy sample. We anticipate that our study will be useful as a benchmark for studies of emission line galaxies at high redshift. In the first paper of this series, we describe the selection, spectroscopic observation, data reduction and calibration, and spectrophotometric accuracy of a sample of 97 luminous blue compact galaxies. We present a spectrophotometric atlas of rest-frame spectra, as well as tables of the recession velocities and the signal-to-noise ratios. The recession velocities of these galaxies are measured with an accuracy of δV < 67 km s - 1 . The average signal-to-noise ratio of sample spectra is ∼51. The spectral line strengths, equivalent widths and continuum fluxes are also measured for the same galaxies and will be analyzed in the next paper of this series. The atlas and tables of measurements will be made available electronically.
Evidence-Based Use of Neoadjuvant Taxane in Operable and Inoperable Breast Cancer

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC) is standard therapy for patients with locally advanced breast cancer and is increasingly used for early-stage operable disease. The aim of NC is a pathological complete response (pCR) in the breast and axillary lymph nodes, which is the best predictor of improved outcome and prolonged survival. The taxanes docetaxel and paclitaxel are potent agents in breast cancer management, with promising single-agent activity and acceptable tolerability in the neoadjuvant setting. In this review of the taxanes as NC for operable and inoperable breast cancer, we include all fully published Phase II-III studies enrolling ≥30 patients. Current evidence suggests that the sequential administration of taxane- and anthracycline-based therapy may be superior to concomitant administration. Indeed, until the recent Phase III Aberdeen study (n = 162), it was uncertain whether NC could prolong survival. In this study, sequential docetaxel after anthracycline-based NC significantly enhanced the clinical response rate and pathological complete response, and yielded a significant 3-year survival advantage, versus anthracycline-based NC alone. Recently, the Phase III National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) trial B27 trial (n = 2411) showed that sequential docetaxel after doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide significantly increased both clinical and pathological response rates for operable breast cancer, with the benefit evident in both estrogen receptor-positive and estrogen receptor-negative patients. This apparent superiority of a sequential anthracycline-taxane regimen is limited to docetaxel, with no similar Phase III trials of paclitaxel versus a non-taxane-based comparator having been conducted to date. In conclusion, current evidence supports the inclusion of a taxane in NC schedules for patients with large and locally advanced breast cancer.
Microwave modeling and characterization of metamaterials and uniaxial composites

A novel approach for the electromagnetic modeling and characterization of metamaterials and advanced composites in the microwave band is presented. The modeling approach is based on the concept of a properly defined unit cell, which is simulated and optimized for a particular structure using the full wave electromagnetic field simulator in order to obtain the reflection and transmission coefficients in the specified frequency band. The characterization involves the determination of the effective dielectric and magnetic properties of the test sample corresponding to the particular unit cell in terms of the scattering coefficients using the proposed method. The characterization is first carried out with the help of simulated data, and then a number of metamaterials and composite structures are fabricated. The scattering coefficients of these fabricated structures are measured with the help of a vector network analyzer by fitting them precisely into a section of X-band rectangular waveguide, and the effective dielectric and magnetic properties of these samples are determined from the measured scattering coefficients using the proposed method. A comparison is made between the simulated and the experimental results, and any difference between the actual and the determined values is properly analyzed.
Video Error Concealment Using a Computation-Efficient Low Saliency Prior

Error concealment in packet-loss-corrupted streaming video is inherently an under-determined problem, as there are insufficient number of well-defined criteria to recover the missing blocks perfectly. When a Region-of-Interest (ROI) based unequal error protection (UEP) scheme is deployed during video streaming-i.e., more visually salient regions are strongly protected-a lost block is likely to be of low saliency in the original frame. In this paper, we propose to add a low-saliency prior to the error concealment problem as a regularization term. It serves two purposes. First, in ROI-based UEP video streaming, low-saliency prior provides the correct side information for the client to identify the correct replacement blocks for concealment. Second, in the event that a perfectly matched block cannot be unambiguously identified, the low-saliency prior reduces viewer's visual attention on the loss-stricken region, resulting in higher overall subjective quality. We study the effectiveness of a low-saliency prior in the context of a previously proposed RECAP error concealment system. RECAP transmits a low-resolution (LR) version of an image alongside the original high-resolution (HR) version, so that if blocks in the HR version are lost, the correctly-received LR version can serve as a template for matching of suitable replacement blocks from a previously correctly-decoded HR frame. We add a low-saliency prior to the block identification process, so that only replacement candidate blocks with good match and low saliency can be selected. Further, we develop a low-complexity convex approximation to the well known Itti-Koch-Niebur saliency model, which enables the low-saliency error concealment problem to be solved efficiently. Experimental results show that: i) PSNR of the error-concealed frames can be increased dramatically (up to 3.6 dB over the original RECAP), showing the effectiveness of a low-saliency prior in the under-determined error concealment problem; and ii) subjective quality of the repaired video using our proposal, as confirmed by an extensive user study, is better than the original RECAP.
Preparation, Biological Activities, and Potential Applications of Hen Egg-Derived Peptides: A Review

Food-derived peptides have been extensively studied for their benefits in humans. Hen eggs, characterized by high protein and digestibility, are an excellent source of food-derived bioactive peptides. This review summarizes the preparation methods, purification, and identification of hen egg-derived peptides (HEPs). The preparation methods mainly include enzymatic hydrolysis, microbial fermentation, and chemical synthesis. Genetic engineering is an emerging trend of HEP preparation. Then, we summarize the biological activities of HEPs, such as antioxidant activities, enzyme inhibitory activity, and antibacterial activity, of which the enzyme inhibitory activity is comprehensively summarized for the first time. The structure–activity relationship and underlying mechanism of the HEPs are further elucidated. Finally, the applications, future challenges, and opportunities of HEPs were mainly discussed in the food and non-food sectors. We focus on the potential applications of HEPs in intestinal health and assembly delivery and provide a reference for the further utilization and commercial development of HEPs.
Normally Off GaN Power MOSFET Grown on Sapphire Substrate With Highly Resistive Undoped Buffer Layer

A high-performance normally off GaN-based MOSFET was fabricated. The buffer layer of the MOSFET was grown by varying the growth temperature to control the size of nucleation sites which results in an extremely high buffer resistance (>; 10<sup>12</sup> Ω/sq). The fabricated small-area MOSFET exhibited excellent normally off device characteristics, such as a threshold voltage of 2 V, maximum drain current of 253 mA/mm, on-off current ratio of 5.5 × 10<sup>7</sup>, destructive breakdown voltage of 830 V, and leakage current of 0.7 μA/mm at a V<sub>DS</sub> of 600 V. The corresponding values of the large-area MOSFET with a multifinger pattern were 0.6 V, 6 A, 1.3 × 10<sup>7</sup>, 670 V, and 50 μA (0.28 μA/mm).
Influence of ocean tides on the general ocean circulation in the early Eocene

The early Eocene (∼56-50 million years ago) was characterized by higher surface temperatures and a reduced meridional temperature gradient, compared to present-day conditions. The origin of the decreased meridional temperature gradient is still subject to discussion and might be linked to tides. Tidal mixing could have enhanced the meridional heat transport and thereby decreased the meridional temperature gradient. We test this hypothesis by simultaneously modelling tidal dynamics and the general ocean circulation for the early Eocene in a new coupled atmosphere-ocean model setup. We find an interaction between tidal currents and the ocean general circulation that increases horizontal velocities in 25% of the deep ocean to more than 400% of its original value. The global meridional overturning circulation (GMOC) is strengthened thereby locally by 60-100%. However, the oceanic meridional heat transport is only increased by a maximum of 0.1PW (8%) and a mean of less than 0.018PW (5.1%), thus not decreasing the meridional temperature gradient considerably.
Social structure in migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)

Although largely solitary, humpback whales exhibit a number of behaviours where individuals co‐operate with one another, for example during bubble net feeding. Such cases could be due to reciprocal altruism brought on by exceptional circumstances, for example the presence of abundant shoaling fish. An alternative explanation is that these behaviours have evolved through kin selection. With little restriction to either communication or movement, diffuse groups of relatives could maintain some form of social organization without the need to travel in tight‐nit units. To try to distinguish between these hypotheses, we took advantage of the fact that migrating humpback whales often swim together in small groups. If kin selection is important in humpback whale biology, these groups should be enriched for relatives. Consequently, we analysed biopsy samples from 57 groups of humpback whales migrating off Eastern Australia in 1992. A total of 142 whales were screened for eight microsatellite markers. Mitochondrial DNA sequences (371 bp) were also used to verify and assist kinship identification. Our data add support to the notion that mothers travel with their offspring for the first year of the calf’s life. However, beyond the presence of mother‐calf/yearling pairs, no obvious relatedness pattern was found among whales sampled either in the same pod or on the same day. Levels of relatedness did not vary between migratory phases (towards or away from the breeding ground), nor between the two sexes considered either overall or in the north or south migrations separately. These findings suggest that, if any social organization does exist, it is formed transiently when needed rather than being a constant feature of the population, and hence is more likely based on reciprocal altruism than kin selection.
RGD-tethered Silk Substrate Stimulates the Differentiation of Human Tendon Cells

Tendon reconstruction surgery often requires healing of the tendon to bone. The development of a more rapid and strong interaction at the tendon to bone interface would be invaluable to patients having orthopaedic surgery. Therefore, our rationale was to modify sutures so that they would be anabolic for tendon to bone healing. It has been shown that silk stimulates bone formation in osteoblast cultures. In the current study, we tested the ability of silk and silk-RGD (arginine-glycine-aspartic acid) to stimulate human tenocyte adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. A 1.3-fold increase in tenocyte adhesion was found on silk-RGD compared with tissue culture plastic. By 72 hours, proliferation had increased on all substrates but was particularly enhanced on silk-RGD compared with the control. At 6 weeks, Northern blot analysis of decorin and Type I collagen mRNA levels showed a 2-3-fold increase in message levels on silk-RGD and silk compared with tissue culture plastic. The data suggest cultured human tenocytes adhere, proliferate, and differentiate on silk and silk-RGD substrates. A suture material, such as silk, decorated with RGD, may have the potential to facilitate tendon-bone healing with widespread applications in tendon reconstruction surgery.
Infrared Thermography Monitoring of Durum and Common Wheat for Adaptability Assessing and Yield Performance Prediction

Wheat is one of the most cultivated cereals thanks to both its nutritional value and its versatility to technological transformation. Nevertheless, the growth and yield of wheat, as well as of the other food crops, can be strongly limited by many abiotic and biotic stress factors. To face this need, new methodological approaches are required to optimize wheat cultivation from both a qualitative and quantitative point of view. In this context, crop analysis based on imaging techniques has become an important tool in agriculture. Thermography is an appealing method that represents an outstanding approach in crop monitoring, as it is well suited to the emerging needs of the precision agriculture management strategies. In this work, we performed an on-field infrared monitoring of several durum and common wheat varieties to evaluate their adaptability to the internal Mediterranean area chosen for cultivation. Two new indices based on the thermal data useful to estimate the agronomical response of wheat subjected to natural stress conditions during different phenological stages of growth have been introduced. The comparison with some productive parameters collected at harvest highlighted the correlation of the indices with the wheat yield (ranging between p < 0.001 and p < 0.05), providing interesting information for their early prediction.
Color harmonization

Harmonic colors are sets of colors that are aesthetically pleasing in terms of human visual perception. In this paper, we present a method that enhances the harmony among the colors of a given photograph or of a general image, while remaining faithful, as much as possible, to the original colors. Given a color image, our method finds the best harmonic scheme for the image colors. It then allows a graceful shifting of hue values so as to fit the harmonic scheme while considering spatial coherence among colors of neighboring pixels using an optimization technique. The results demonstrate that our method is capable of automatically enhancing the color "look-and-feel" of an ordinary image. In particular, we show the results of harmonizing the background image to accommodate the colors of a foreground image, or the foreground with respect to the background, in a cut-and-paste setting. Our color harmonization technique proves to be useful in adjusting the colors of an image composed of several parts taken from different sources.
Age-related similarities and differences in brain activity underlying reversal learning

The ability to update associative memory is an important aspect of episodic memory and a critical skill for social adaptation. Previous research with younger adults suggests that emotional arousal alters brain mechanisms underlying memory updating; however, it is unclear whether this applies to older adults. Given that the ability to update associative information declines with age, it is important to understand how emotion modulates the brain processes underlying memory updating in older adults. The current study investigated this question using reversal learning tasks, where younger and older participants (age ranges 19–35 and 61–78, respectively) learn a stimulus–outcome association and then update their response when contingencies change. We found that younger and older adults showed similar patterns of activation in the frontopolar OFC and the amygdala during emotional reversal learning. In contrast, when reversal learning did not involve emotion, older adults showed greater parietal cortex activity than did younger adults. Thus, younger and older adults show more similarities in brain activity during memory updating involving emotional stimuli than during memory updating not involving emotional stimuli.
Vectorial release of poliovirus from polarized human intestinal epithelial cells

Polarized epithelial cells represent the primary barrier to virus infection of the host, which must also be traversed prior to virus dissemination from the infected organism. Although there is considerable information available concerning the release of enveloped viruses from such cells, relatively little is known about the processes involved in the dissemination of nonenveloped viruses. We have used two polarized epithelial cell lines, Vero C1008 (African green monkey kidney epithelial cells) and Caco-2 (human intestinal epithelial cells), infected with poliovirus and investigated the process of virus release. Release of poliovirus was observed to occur almost exclusively from the apical cell surface in Caco-2 cells, whereas infected Vero C1008 cells exhibited nondirectional release. Structures consistent with the vectorial transport of virus contained within vesicles or viral aggregates were observed by electron microscopy. Treatment with monensin or ammonium chloride partially inhibited virus release from Caco-2 cells. No significant cell lysis was observed at the times postinfection when extracellular virus was initially detected, and transepithelial resistance and vital dye uptake measurements showed only a moderate decrease. Brefeldin A was found to significantly and specifically inhibit poliovirus biosynthetic processes by an as yet uncharacterized mechanism. The vectorial release of poliovirus from the apical (or luminal) surface of human intestinal epithelial cells has significant implications for viral pathogenesis in the human gut.
Medical student preferences for self‐directed study resources in gross anatomy

Gross anatomy instruction in medical curricula involve a range of resources and activities including dissection, prosected specimens, anatomical models, radiological images, surface anatomy, textbooks, atlases, and computer‐assisted learning (CAL). These resources and activities are underpinned by the expectation that students will actively engage in self‐directed study (SDS) to enhance their knowledge and understanding of anatomy. To gain insight into preclinical versus clinical medical students' preferences for SDS resources for learning gross anatomy, and whether these vary on demographic characteristics and attitudes toward anatomy, students were surveyed at two Australian medical schools, one undergraduate‐entry and the other graduate‐entry. Lecture/tutorial/practical notes were ranked first by 33% of 156 respondents (mean rank ± SD, 2.48 ± 1.38), textbooks by 26% (2.62 ± 1.35), atlases 20% (2.80 ± 1.44), videos 10% (4.34 ± 1.68), software 5% (4.78 ± 1.50), and websites 4% (4.24 ± 1.34). Among CAL resources, Wikipedia was ranked highest. The most important factor in selecting CAL resources was cost (ranked first by 46%), followed by self‐assessment, ease of use, alignment with curriculum, and excellent graphics (each 6–9%). Compared with preclinical students, clinical students ranked software and Acland's Video Atlas of Human Anatomy higher and felt radiological images were more important in selecting CAL resources. Along with other studies reporting on the quality, features, and impact on learning of CAL resources, the diversity of students' preferences and opinions on usefulness and ease of use reported here can help guide faculty in selecting and recommending a range of CAL and other resources to their students to support their self‐directed study. Anat Sci Educ 9: 150–160. © 2015 American Association of Anatomists.
The Effect of Cochinchina momordica Seed Extract on Gastric Acid Secretion and Morphologic Change in Aged Rat Stomach

Background/Aims Cochinchina momordica seed extract (SK-MS10) has a gastric protective effect. We aimed to assess the effect of SK-MS10 on gastric acid secretion with morphologic changes in the aged rat. Methods Acid secretions were evaluated in the male F344 rats of four different ages (6-, 31-, 74-week, and 2-year). The 31-week-old rats were divided to three groups and continuously administered chow containing vehicle, SK-MS10 and lansoprazole, respectively. At the age of 74 weeks and 2 years, basal and stimulated acid was measured and the expression of mRNA and protein of H+-K+-ATPase were determined. The area of connective tissue of lamina propria was measured. Results Basal and stimulated gastric acid significantly decreased and connective tissue of lamina propria increased with age. The expression of mRNA and protein of H+-K+-ATPase significantly decreased with age. However, 74-week-old rats in the SK-MS10 group had higher stimulated gastric acid secretion than those in the vehicle and lansoprazole groups. In 2-year-old rats of SK-MS10 group, there was no increase of connective tissue. Conclusions As SK-MS10 kept the capacity of acid secretion as well as connective tissue area to comparable to young rats, it might valuable to perform further research regarding mechanism of SK-MS10 as an antiaging agent in the stomach.