Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of mobile smartphones app as a screening tool for environmental noise monitoring

ABSTRACT Noise is a global occupational and environmental health hazard with considerable social and physiological impact and, therefore, there is a need for regular measurements to boost monitoring and regulations of environmental noise levels in our communities. This necessitates a readily available, inexpensive, and easy to use noise measuring device. We aimed to test the sensitivity and validity of mobile “smart” phones for this purpose. This was a comparative analysis of a cross sectional study done between January 2014 and February 2015. Noise levels were measured simultaneously at different locations within Abuja Nigeria at day and night hours in real time environments. A sound level meter (SLM) (Extech407730 Digital Soundmeter, serial no.: 2310135, calibration no: 91037) and three smartphones (Samsung Galaxy note3, Nokia S, and Techno Phantom Z running on Android “Apps” Androidboy1) were used. Statistical calculations were done with Pearson correlation, T-test and Consistency within American National Standards Institute acceptable standard errors. Noise level readings for both daytime and night with the SLM and the mobile phones showed equivalent values. All noise level meters measured were <100dB. The daytime readings were nearly identical in six locations and the maximum difference in values between the SLM and Smartphone instruments was 3db, noted in two locations. Readings in dBA showed strong correlation (r = 0.9) within acceptable error limits for Type 2 SLM devices and no significant difference in the values (p = 0.12 & 0.58) for both day and night. Sensitivity of the instrument yielded 92.9%. The androidboy1 “app” performance in this study showed a good correlation and comparative high sensitivity to the Standard SLM (type 2 SLM device). However there is the need for further studies.
Organization of Cerebral Projections to Identified Cerebellar Zones in the Posterior Cerebellum of the Rat

The cerebrocerebellar connection makes use of two of the largest fiber tracts in the mammalian brain, i.e., the cerebral and medial cerebellar peduncles. Neuroanatomical approaches aimed to elucidate the organization of this important connection have been hindered by its multisynaptic nature, the complex organization of its components, and the dependency of conventional tracers on precisely placed injections. To overcome these problems, we used rabies virus (RV) as a retrograde transneuronal tracer. RV was injected simultaneously with cholera toxin β subunit (CTb) into selected areas of the cerebellar cortex of 18 male Wistar rats. A survival time of 48–50 h resulted in first- and second-order labeling of RV in combination with first-order labeling of CTb. The distribution of CTb-labeled neurons in the inferior olive established the zonal identity of the injection site. In this way, it was possible to examine the cortical distribution of neurons from which disynaptic cerebrocerebellar projections to specific cerebellar loci originate. The results show that this distribution covaries with the identity of the injected cerebellar lobule. More subtle changes were present when different zones of the same lobule were injected. The C1 zone of lobule VIII receives a more prominent projection from the somatosensory cortex compared with the C2/D zones. The laterally positioned D zones receive information from more rostral regions of the cerebral cortex. The vermis of lobule VII receives a prominent input from the retrosplenial and orbitofrontal cortices. Different injection sites also result in differences in laterality of the connections.
Transmitter Precoding-Aided Spatial Modulation for Secrecy Communications

Precoding-aided spatial modulation (PSM), which conveys information partially by the indices of receive antennas, has some advantages over conventional spatial modulation (SM) using the indices of transmit antennas. In PSM, the precoder may be optimized for different purposes. In this paper, we study the transmitter design in the PSM systems, which motivates to provide secrecy communications. Specifically, we consider a pair of communication terminals overheard by an eavesdropper. The precoder is optimized by jointly minimizing the power received by the eavesdropper and maximizing the power received by the desired terminal. Both the error performance and the ergodic secrecy rate achievable are studied when assuming communications over independent Rayleigh fading channels. Our studies show that positive secrecy rate and low-complexity detection can be attainable simultaneously for the desired receiver even when the eavesdropper employs more receive antennas than the desired receiver.
Mediating Effect of Self-esteem between Children's Perceived Parenting Style and Health Promoting Behavior of School-Aged Children

본 연구의 목적은 학령후기 아동이 지각한 부모의 양육태도, 아동의 자아존중감이 건강증진행위에 미치는 영향을 파악하고, 양육태도와 건강증진행위 관계에서 자아존중감의 매개효과를 확인하기 위함이다. 연구대 상은 초등학교 5, 6학년 학생 425명이었으며 SPSS 22.0 프로그램을 사용하여 t-test, 상관관계분석, 위계적 다중회귀분석을 실시하였다. 분석결과, 학령후기 아동이 지각한 부모의 양육태도가 수용적일수록, 자아존중 감이 높을수록, 건강증진행위 실천을 잘하는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 자아존중감은 아동이 지각한 부모의 양육태도와 건강증진행위 간의 관계에서, 매개 작용을 하여 건강증진행위 실천에 유의하게 영향을 주는 것 으로 나타났다. 그러므로 학령후기 아동을 대상으로 건강증진행위 교육 프로그램 적용 시, 부모의 양육태도 및 아동의 자아존중감을 사정하며, 부모가 수용적 양육태도를 갖도록 지지하여, 아동의 자아존중감을 증진 시키고, 건강증진행위 실천을 강화시키는 방안을 고려해야 한다.
Designing Neural Networks from Statistical Models: A New Approach to Data Exploration

We develop, in the context of discriminant analysis, a general approach to the design of neural architectures. It consists in building a neural net 'around' a statistical model family; larger networks, made up of such elementary networks, are then constructed. It is shown that, on the one hand, the statistical modeling approach provides a systematic way to obtaining good approximations in the neural network context, while, on the other, neural networks offer a powerful expansion to classical model families. A novel integrated approach emerges, which stresses both flexibility (contribution of neural nets) and interpretability (contribution of statistical modeling). A well known data set on birth weight is analyzed by this new approach. The results are rather promising and open the way to many potential applications.
High-Molecular-Weight and Total Adiponectin Levels and Incident Symptomatic Peripheral Artery Disease in Women: A Prospective Investigation

Background— Adiponectin is linked to reduced diabetes risk and may be antiatherogenic, yet clinical data show no consistent relationship with incident cardiovascular events, especially among women. To our knowledge, no prior prospective studies have evaluated adiponectin, including high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin, and incident peripheral artery disease (PAD). Methods and Results— We evaluated the relationship of total adiponectin, HMW adiponectin, and the HMW-to-total adiponectin ratio with incident symptomatic PAD in a prospective, nested case-control study conducted within the Women's Health Study (n=110 cases, n=230 controls, frequency matched in strata defined by 5-year age categories, smoking, fasting status, and follow-up time; median cohort follow-up=13.2 years). Baseline median levels of HMW and total adiponectin were significantly lower in women developing PAD than in those remaining event free (HMW: 3.3 versus 3.8 &mgr;g/mL, P=0.0005; total: 5.6 versus 7.4 &mgr;g/mL, P<0.0001). The ratio did not differ significantly between groups. Age-adjusted PAD odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) across tertiles were 1.0, 0.66 (0.39–1.13), and 0.40 (0.22–0.74) for HMW and 1.0, 0.74 (0.43–1.25), and 0.35 (0.18–0.65) for total adiponectin (Ptrend=0.004 and 0.001, respectively). Results were similar after adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, use of postmenopausal hormone therapy, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1, leptin, hemoglobin A1c, and fasting insulin (adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval for HMW: 1.0, 0.62 [0.29–1.34], 0.30 [0.12–0.74]; total: 1.0, 0.46 [0.22–1.00], 0.30 [0.12–0.76]; Ptrend=0.01 for both). Conclusions— Total and HMW adiponectin are inversely associated with incident PAD among initially healthy women. These prospective data support a protective role for this adipokine in peripheral atherosclerosis development.
Four structural risk factors identify most fibril-forming kappa light chains

Antibody light chains (LCs) comprise the most structurally diverse family of proteins involved in amyloidosis. Many antibody LCs incorporate structural features that impair their stability and solubility, leading to their assembly into fibrils and to their subsequent pathological deposition when produced in excess during multiple myeloma and primary amyloidosis. The particular amino acid variations in antibody LCs that account for fibril formation and amyloidogenesis have not been identified. This study focuses on amyloidogenesis within the Kl family of human LCs. Reanalysis of the current database of primary structures of proteins from more than 100 patients who produced Kl LCS, 37 of which were amyloidogenic, reveals apparent structural features that may contribute to amyloidosis. These features include loss of conserved residues or the gain of particular residues through mutation at sites involving a repertoire of approximately 20% of the amino acid positions in the light chain variable domain (VL). Moreover, 80% of all K1 amyloidogenic VLs are identifiable by the presence of at least one of three single-site substitutions or the acquisition of an N-linked glycosylation site through mutations. These findings suggest that it is feasible to predict fibril propensity by analysis of primary structure.
Resilient communication through multihoming for remote healthcare applications

Advancements in today's technologies make it possible to offer competitive home-based healthcare services using software routers based on open source software combined with Commodity-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) hardware. In this paper, we propose resilient communication through multihoming for remote healthcare applications. The solution is based on Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) for fast failure detection and a customized rerouting operation. We investigate the tradeoff between short reaction times for rerouting and low probability of false alarms. This is challenging to achieve under high traffic loads since the load affects the BFD session which is formed to monitor the bidirectional forwarding capabilities. We propose a simple mechanism that provides fast failover and meanwhile maintains a very low probability of generating false alarms and unwanted rerouting decisions. The mechanism is based on allocation of system resources for processing BFD control messages, and we demonstrate through empirical results that BFD then can be used in software routers to provide average failover times within 200 ms.
New vitamin D analogs as potential therapeutics in melanoma

Extensive evidence shows that the active form of vitamin D3 – 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 – plays an important role in cancer prevention, has tumorostatic activity and may potentially be used in therapy for melanoma. Vitamin D3 and its analogs (secosteroids) exert multiple effects on cancer cells, including inhibition of cell growth and induction of differentiation. Activity of secosteroids depends on multiple cellular factors, including expression of the vitamin D receptor. Despite its endogenous origin, the key drawback for the use of pharmacologically effective doses of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 is its hypercalcemic effect leading to profound toxicity. The solution may lie in properties of vitamin D3 analogs with modified side chains, which demonstrate low calcemic activity but conserve the anti-tumor properties. Noncalcemic vitamin D compounds were found to be potent in multiple studies that mandate further clinical testing. Finally, recent studies revealed alternative metabolic pathways for secosteroids and new targets in the cells, which opens up new therapeutic possibilities.
Intraneural Catheterization of the Sciatic Nerve In Humans: A Pilot Study

Background and Objectives: Imaging studies in humans have shown that intraneural injection of local anesthetic may be relatively frequent. The incidence of intraneural catheterization is unknown. We speculated that early neural blockade after the injection of a small dose of local anesthetic might be a common finding produced by unintended intraneural catheterization. We investigated the clinical effect of a small dose of local anesthetic injected through a stimulating sciatic catheter, and also the placement of the tip of the catheters by computed tomography (CT) scan. Methods: In this descriptive study, a dose of 3 to 5 mL of 1.5% mepivacaine was injected through a stimulating sciatic catheter in 45 patients undergoing hallux valgus repair. Patients with early neural blockade at the foot, within 5 minutes after injection, were suspected to have an intraneural placement of the catheter. A CT scan of the thighs was performed in 10 additional patients to assess catheter tip placement. Results: Nine of 45 patients had early neural blockade with the small dose of local anesthetic. Seven patients underwent surgery without further supplementation. There was a statistically significant lower intensity of stimulating current through the catheter in the group of patients with early neural blockade. Of 10 CT scans, 3 showed clear intraneural placement of the catheter. No postoperative sequelae were observed. Conclusions: Intraneural catheterization of the sciatic nerve may be a frequent finding and was not followed by nerve injury under the conditions of our small pilot study.
The lived experiences of individuals who have been technologically stalked by a past intimate: A hermeneutic phenomenological study through a Communication Privacy Manangement Theory lens

According to the 2006 Supplemental Victimization Survey, over half of the estimated 1.7 million technological stalking victims in the United States have had a previous intimate relationship with the aggressor (Baum et al., 2009). Despite growing evidence that this crime is growing in scope and severity, researchers know very little about this phenomenon. Therefore, this current hermeneutic phenomenological study examines the lived experiences of individuals who have been technologically stalked by a past intimate. A Communication Privacy Management Theory lens is used to investigate the participants’ narratives for privacy boundary modifications following relational dissolution, but prior to technological stalking, incidents of privacy violations during technological stalking, and reports coping mechanisms used following privacy boundary turbulence. The results indicate (a) victims report contextual factors, such as contact with the aggressor and abuses enacted during the intimate relationship, as key reasons for modifying privacy boundaries with their past partners, (b) aggressors use datatransmission devices in order to commit privacy violations (c) victims' attempts to cope with boundary turbulence are often frustrated by the aggressor, as well as by third parties.
Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial of the Value of Intraperitoneal Drainage After Pancreatic Resection

ObjectiveTo test the hypothesis that routine intraperitoneal drainage is not required after pancreatic resection. Summary Background DataThe use of surgically placed intraperitoneal drains has been considered routine after pancreatic resection. Recent studies have suggested that for other major upper abdominal resections, routine postoperative drainage is not required and may be associated with an increased complication rate. MethodsAfter informed consent, eligible patients with peripancreatic tumors were randomized during surgery either to have no drains placed or to have closed suction drainage placed in a standardized fashion after pancreatic resection. Clinical, pathologic, and surgical details were recorded. ResultsOne hundred seventy-nine patients were enrolled in the study, 90 women and 89 men. Mean age was 65.4 years (range 23–87). The pancreas was the tumor site in 142 (79%) patients, with the ampulla (n = 24), duodenum (n = 10), and distal common bile duct (n = 3) accounting for the remainder. A pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed in 139 patients and a distal pancreatectomy in 40 cases. Eighty-eight patients were randomized to have drains placed. Demographic, surgical, and pathologic details were similar between both groups. The overall 30-day death rate was 2% (n = 4). A postoperative complication occurred during the initial admission in 107 patients (59%). There was no significant difference in the number or type of complications between groups. In the drained group, 11 patients (12.5%) developed a pancreatic fistula. Patients with a drain were more likely to develop a significant intraabdominal abscess, collection, or fistula. ConclusionThis randomized prospective clinical trial failed to show a reduction in the number of deaths or complications with the addition of surgical intraperitoneal closed suction drainage after pancreatic resection. The data suggest that the presence of drains failed to reduce either the need for interventional radiologic drainage or surgical exploration for intraabdominal sepsis. Based on these results, closed suction drainage should not be considered mandatory or standard after pancreatic resection.
Helicobacter pylori with a Truncated Lipopolysaccharide O Chain Fails To Induce Gastritis in SCID Mice Injected with Splenocytes from Wild-Type C57BL/6J Mice

ABSTRACT The goal of this study was to determine whether Helicobacter pylori lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O-chain polysaccharide contributes to gastritis in a mouse model. C57BL/6J or C57BL/6-Prkdcscid (severe combined immunodeficient [SCID]) mice were inoculated with H. pylori strain SS1 or SS1::0826kan, in which a β-1,4-galactosyltransferase (HP0826), an LPS biosynthetic enzyme, had been disrupted. H. pylori strain SS1::0826kan expresses truncated LPS lacking O chain. Recipient SCID mice were given C57BL/6J splenocytes by intraperitoneal injection. Bacterial colonization, gastric lesions (gastritis, neutrophilic infiltration, and gastric epithelial metaplasia), cellular (delayed-type hypersensitivity) and humoral immune responses to H. pylori sonicate, and gastric gamma interferon (IFN-γ) mRNA expression were quantified. Recipient SCID mice colonized by H. pylori strain SS1 developed extensive gastritis with loss of normal fundic gland morphology. In contrast, gastric mucosa of recipient SCID mice colonized by H. pylori strain SS1::0826kan was not statistically distinguishable from that of uninfected recipient mice. Delayed-type hypersensitivity and humoral immune responses were detected in infected mice inoculated with wild-type SS1, but not with SS1::0826kan. IFN-γ transcription was lower in mice infected with SS1::0826kan than in mice infected with SS1. In this model of rapidly progressive gastritis due to H. pylori, the O chain contributed to the extent of gastritis and to the host immune response. These data support a role for H. pylori LPS O chain in direct induction of the host immune response leading to gastritis and gastric damage and are in contrast to protein antigens, such as urease and cag products which do not contribute to gastritis in mice.
Screening for Cognitive Impairment in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Objective. We examined the association between responses on a screening questionnaire and objective performance on a computer-administered test of cognitive abilities in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods. The Cognitive Symptom Inventory (CSI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales (HADS) questionnaires were compared in patients with SLE or rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM) was used to evaluate cognitive performance in patients with SLE. Efficiency of performance was measured by “throughput” (number of correct responses per minute) and “inverse efficiency” (response speed/proportion of correct responses). Linear regression was applied to log-transformed CSI scores to examine their associations with ANAM scores and other factors. Results. Patients with SLE (n = 68) or RA (n = 33) were similar in age, sex, ethnicity, and education status (p > 0.05). Patients with SLE had higher total CSI scores (33.6 ± 10.5 vs 29.4 ± 6.8, respectively; p = 0.041) and attention/concentration subscale CSI scores (15.7 ± 5.3 vs 13.3 ± 3.4; p = 0.016) compared to patients with RA. In patients with SLE there was a positive association between CSI scores and neuropsychiatric (NP) events at the time of testing (p = 0.0006), HADS anxiety (p < 0.0001), and depression (p < 0.0001) scores. After adjustment for age, education, disease duration, and NP events at the time of testing, there was no significant association (p > 0.05) between ANAM and CSI scores in patients with SLE. The results were similar using either “throughput” or “inverse efficiency” or the number of impaired ANAM subscales after adjustment for simple reaction time. Conclusion. The CSI self-report questionnaire of cognitive symptoms does not reliably screen for efficiency of cognitive processing in patients with SLE. Rather, cognitive complaints reported in the CSI are influenced by the presence of anxiety and depression.
Modelling self-pollution of globular clusters from AGB stars

A self-consistent model of the chemical evolution of the globular cluster NGC 6752 is presented to test a popular theory that observed abundance anomalies are due to ``internal pollution'' from intermediate mass asymptotic giant branch stars. We simulated the chemical evolution of the intracluster medium under the assumption that the products of Type II SNe are completely expelled from the globular cluster, whereas material ejected from stars with m < 7 M_sun is retained, due to their weak stellar winds. By tracing the chemical evolution of the intracluster gas, we tested an internal pollution scenario in which the Na- and Al-enhanced ejecta from intermediate mass stars is either accreted onto the surfaces of other stars, or goes toward forming new stars. The observed spread in Na and Al was reproduced, but not the O-Na and Mg-Al anticorrelations. In particular, neither O nor Mg are sufficiently depleted to account for the observations. We predict that the Mg content of Na-rich cluster stars should be overwhelmingly dominated by the 25,26Mg isotopes, whereas the latest data shows only a mild 26Mg enhancement and no correlation with 25Mg. Furthermore, stars bearing the imprint of intermediate mass stellar ejecta are predicted to be strongly enhanced in both C and N, in conflict with the empirical data. We find that while standard AGB stellar models do show the hot H burning that seems required to explain the observations, this is accompanied by He burning, producing primary C, N, Mg and Na (via HBB) which do not match the observations. (Abridged)
Blood Gas Détérminations on Premature Infants

In premature infants détérminations of the CO2 tension, O2 tension, plasma CO2 content and pH of cutaneous blood samples were carried out. In the present publication are reported the results obtained on 12 premature infants suffering from early neonatal dyspnea (the hyaline membrane syndrome). Seven of these patients died, and in 6 of the cases the autopsy revealed hyaline membranes in the lungs.