Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An FPGA Implementation of Pattern-Selective Pyramidal Image Fusion

The aim of image fusion is to combine multiple images (from one or more sensors) into a single composite image that retains all useful data without introducing artefacts. Pattern-selective techniques attempt to identify and extract whole features in the source images to use in the composite. These techniques usually rely on multiresolution image representations such as Gaussian pyramids, which are localised in both the spatial and spatial-frequency domains, since they enable identification of features at many scales simultaneously. This paper presents an FPGA implementation of pyramidal decomposition and subsequent fusion of dual video streams. This is the first reported instance of a hardware implementation of pattern-selective pyramidal image fusion. Use of FPGA technology has enabled a design that can fuse dual video streams (greyscale VGA, 30fps) in real-time, and provides approximately 100 times speedup over a 2.8GHz Pentium-4
Novel symmetry of non‐Einsteinian gravity in two dimensions

The integrability of R2‐gravity with torsion in two dimensions is traced to an ultralocal dynamical symmetry of constraints and momenta in Hamiltonian phase space. It may be interpreted as a quadratically deformed iso(2,1)‐algebra with the deformation consisting of the Casimir operators of the undeformed algebra. The locally conserved quantity encountered in the explicit solution is identified as an element of the center of this algebra. Specific contractions of the algebra are related to specific limits of the explicit solutions of this model.
Multiple Transportable Carbohydrates During Exercise: Current Limitations and Directions for Future Research

Abstract Wilson, PB. Multiple transportable carbohydrates during exercise: Current limitations and directions for future research. J Strength Cond Res 29(7): 2056–2070, 2015—The concept of multiple transportable carbohydrates (MTC) refers to a combination of saccharides that rely on distinct transporters for intestinal absorption. Ingestion of MTC during prolonged exercise has been purported to increase carbohydrate absorption efficiency, increase exogenous carbohydrate oxidation, reduce gastrointestinal (GI) distress, and improve athletic performance when carbohydrate intake is high (>50–60 g·h−1). Although reviews of MTC research have been published previously, a comprehensive literature evaluation underscoring methodological limitations has not been conducted to guide future work. Accordingly, this review outlined the plausible mechanisms of MTC and subsequently evaluated MTC research based on several factors, including participant characteristics, exercise modality, exercise task, treatment formulation, treatment blinding, and pre-exercise nutrition status. A total of 27 articles examining MTC during exercise were identified and reviewed. Overall, ingestion of MTC led to increased exogenous carbohydrate oxidation, reduced GI distress, and improved performance during cycling lasting ≥2.5 hours, particularly when carbohydrate was ingested at ≥1.2 g·min−1. Despite the apparent benefits, several limitations in the literature were apparent, including that only 3 studies used running, only 2 studies were conducted in the field, most participants were fasted, and women and adolescents were underrepresented. In addition, the majority of the studies fed carbohydrate at ≥1.2 g·min−1, which may have inflated levels of GI distress and exaggerated performance decrements with single-saccharide feedings. Based on these limitations, future MTC investigations should consider focusing on running, examining team-based sports, including women and adolescents, conducting experiments under field conditions, examining the modifying effects of pre-exercise nutrition, and using modest feeding protocols (1.0–1.2 g·min−1).
Escala de dificultades en regulación emocional (Ders): análisis factorial en una muestra colombiana / Difficulties in emotion regulation scale (Ders): factor analysis in a colombian sample

La Escala de Dificultades en la Regulacion Emocional (DERS, por sus siglas en ingles) es un instrumento disenado para medir la desregulacion emocional. El presente estudio busco identificar la consistencia de los factores incluidos en la DERS, y la relevancia de los items en cada uno de ellos. Los participantes fueron 251 estudiantes, 68% mujeres, de una universidad en Bogota-Colombia. En esta investigacion se evaluaron los componentes de la DERS: (a) no-aceptacion, (b) metas, (c) impulsividad, (d) estrategias, (e) consciencia, y (f) claridad. El Analisis Factorial mostro que los items de la DERS se reunian en dos factores principales en lugar de seis, y la reduccion de datos demostro que 15 de los 36 items originales contribuyeron significativamente a la varianza. Se recomienda incrementar las investigaciones en contextos de la salud, y con poblacion clinica y no clinica en Colombia para validar la DERS, y desarrollar un puntaje total de esta escala. Abstract The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale DERS) is an instrument designed to assess emotional dysregulation. The current study sought to identify the consistency of DERS factors, and items relevance for each one of them. Participants were 251 students, 68% female, from a university in Bogota-Colombia. This research assessed the DERS factors: (a) non-acceptance, (b) goals, (c) impulse, (d) strategies, (e) awareness, and (f) clarity. Factor Analysis found that the DERS items are gathered in two main factors rather than six, and data reduction demonstrated that only 15 of the 36 items in the original scale contributed significantly to factors variance. It is recommended extending the research to health contexts, and to clinical and non-clinical population in Colombia to validate the DERS and develop a total score for the scale.
Genetic lesions of the TRAF3 and MAP3K14 genes in classical Hodgkin lymphoma

Hodgkin and Reed/Sternberg (HRS) cells in classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) show constitutive activation of nuclear factor (NF)‐κB. Several genetic lesions contribute to this deregulated NF‐κB activity. Here, we analysed two further NF‐κB regulators for genetic lesions, the inhibitory factor TRAF3 and the key signalling component of the alternative NF‐κB pathway, MAP3K14 (NIK). Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array analysis of cHL cell lines revealed a uniparental disomy of the long arm of chromosome 14 associated with a biallelic deletion of TRAF3 located on this chromosome in cell line U‐HO1. Cloning of the deletion breakpoint showed a 123 371 bp deletion. No inactivating mutations of TRAF3 were found in six other cHL cell lines or in microdissected HRS cells from seven cHL. However, in primary cHL samples interphase cytogenetic analyses revealed signal patterns indicating monoallelic deletion of TRAF3 in 3/20 other cases. SNP array analysis revealed a gain of copy number for MAP3K14 in three cHL cell lines. Gains of MAP3K14 were detected in 5/16 cases of primary cHL. In conclusion, in rare instances, HRS cells harbour inactivating mutations of the TRAF3 gene and recurrently show gains of MAP3K14, indicating that more components of NF‐κB signalling show genetic lesions in HRS cells than previously known.
Platelet-Derived Growth Factor B Chain Is a Novel Target Gene of Cocaine-Mediated Notch1 Signaling: Implications for HIV-Associated Neurological Disorders

Neuroinflammation associated with HIV-1 infection is exacerbated in cocaine-abusing, HIV+ individuals. The underlying mechanisms are, in part, attributable to disruption of the blood–brain barrier modulated by cocaine via platelet-derived growth factor B chain (PDGF-B). Since Notch signaling plays a critical role in CNS homeostasis, we hypothesized that it may have a role in cocaine-mediated induction of PDGF-B. The goal of this study was to link Notch signaling with PDGF-B. Using Western blot analysis, we demonstrate the role of Notch1 signaling in cocaine-mediated induction of PDGF-B in human brain microvascular endothelial cells. Exposure of cells to the γ-secretase inhibitor-DAPT or silencing of Notch1 resulted in abrogation of cocaine-mediated induction of PDGF-B. Reciprocally, activation of the Notch1 receptor by exposing cells to the Notch ligand Jagged-1 resulted in upregulation of PDGF-B expression. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that cocaine-mediated activation of Notch1 signaling leading to targeted expression of PDGF-B involved activation of the downstream effector CSL. Functional implication of Notch1 signaling in regulating expression of the vascular permeant PDGF-B was confirmed in vitro using cell permeability assays. In vivo relevance was further corroborated in cocaine-treated mice that demonstrated increased permeability of the endothelial barrier as evidenced by Evans blue and sodium fluorescein extravasation. Specificity of Notch1 signaling in vivo was validated in mice exposed to DAPT, which failed to demonstrate barrier disruption following cocaine exposure. This is the first evidence of involvement of Notch1 activation in cocaine-mediated regulation of PDGF-B expression.
ffi cient Personal Supercomputing in Fortran 9 x on CPU-GPU Systems

The availability of graphics-processors based compute devices and multi-core host architectures with larger memories on both means that it is possible to run relatively large scientific computing problems on “personal” machines. For wide adoption by scientists and to achieve an increase in their productivity these architectures must be relatively easy to use in the languages scientists use (among which are Matlab and Fortran-9x), without having to retranslate their thinking and algorithms into graphics methaphors. At the same time, to actually achieve good performance, developers must be aware of issues such as the relatively large cost for device-host communications, the preference for certain numbers of threads and block sizes, etc. Using NVIDIA’s CUDA architecture on 8800GTX GPUs hosted in a multicore Wintel host, we develop a set of wrappers that allow use of the architecture in conventional Fortran-9x with OMP. Example applications in magnetohydrodynamics and radial-basis-function interpolation were translated to the architecture and showed significant speed-ups by factors of approximately 25 and 15 times respectively over the performance on a single Intel QX6700 CPU processor, demonstrating the power of our approach.
Profiles of meaning and search for meaning among prisoners

Meaning in life and searching for meaning are central in how people organize their lives and deal with various challenges during them. Studies on meaning and the search for meaning among prisoners are virtually nonexistent. Based on the presence of meaning in their lives and on their search for meaning, we discovered four different profiles in a sample of 365 prisoners: High Presence High Search, High Presence Low Search, Low Presence High Search, and Low Presence Low Search. Compared to prisoners with low meaning profiles, those whose profiles were marked by higher levels of meaning displayed less distress, more positive world assumptions, and higher levels of self-worth. They also show more empathy for others. Older prisoners and prisoners who were sexually abused during childhood were more represented in the profile that was marked by extremely low levels of meaning and low levels of search for meaning.
What elderly cancer patients want to know? Differences among elderly and young patients

The aims of our study were: (1) to evaluate the information needs of Italian elderly cancer patients (age ⩾65 years), (2) to compare them with those of young patients (age 18–40 years). Between June 2004 and February 2005 we asked 122 elderly (mean age 72 years) and 52 young (mean age 33 years) cancer patients naïve for treatment to fill in two self‐administered questionnaires exploring their needs for information and their psychological distress. The needs for information of elderly patients differed significantly from those of the young patients (p<0.0001); on contrast, both groups showed a similar psychological distress and the same reasons for seeking further information. Our results demonstrate that, more frequently than expected, Italian elderly cancer patients do not want complete information on their disease. Assessing to what extent elderly patients require information is essential for giving them tailored information. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Determinants of cardiorespiratory fitness at 3, 6 and 12 months poststroke

Purpose: To better delineate intervention programs, knowledge of the factors that are associated with physical fitness in stroke survivors is crucial. This study aimed to predict cardiorespiratory fitness based on standardized measures along the several dimensions of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) model at several time intervals in the first year after stroke. Methods: Forty patients were assessed at 3, 6 and 12 months poststroke. A symptom-limited graded cycle ergometer test was used to assess cardiorespiratory fitness. Outcome variables were VO2 peak and the Oxygen Uptake Efficiency Slope (OUES). Impairments, activity limitations, participation restrictions, personal and environmental factors were assessed to determine predictive factors. Results: Explained variance at 3, 6 and 12 months poststroke was 39%, 55% and 91% for VO2 peak and 55%, 63% and 79% for OUES. A strong association between knee muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness was found at each measurement time, explaining up to 72 % of the variance in fitness. At 12 months poststroke, functional mobility, body mass index (BMI) and emotional status also contributed to explain variance. Conclusions: Knee muscle strength was found to be a very strong predictor of cardiorespiratory fitness during the first year after stroke and functional mobility became important at 12 months poststroke. Implications for Rehabilitation Knee muscle strength was found to be a very strong predictor of cardiorespiratory fitness during the first year after stroke and functional mobility became important at 12 months post-stroke. Cardiorespiratory endurance training should be implemented with strength-developing exercises of both lower limbs, with emphasis on the weaker paretic side.
Extracellular pH signals affect rat vascular tone by rapid transduction into intracellular pH changes.

1. Changes in extracellular pH (pHo) are known to produce large effects on vascular tone, but the mechanisms involved are not understood. As changes in intracellular pH (pHi) can also affect vascular tone, we have investigated the effects of changing pHo upon both pHi and tone. 2. Strips of rat mesenteric resistance vessels were loaded with the pH‐sensitive fluorophore SNARF 1; thus tension and pHi could be simultaneously measured as pHo was altered. 3. Whenever pHo was altered there was a corresponding alteration of pHi. Furthermore, when pHo was changed the pHi change was more rapid than that reported to occur in other cells. The time to half‐peak intracellular response was 38 +/‐ 4 s (n = 11). The induced pHi change was also less attenuated than in many other cells studied. Thus a ratio of 0.73 was obtained for the change in pHi per unit pHo change (n = 7). 4. An increase in pHi produced by an increase in pHo was accompanied by an increase in tension in the vascular strips. In other experiments pHi was increased at constant pHo by the addition of the weak base trimethylamine (40 mM). This also elevated tension in the strips. Conversely when pHo was changed while pHi was held at resting values, no change in vascular tone occurred. 5. It is concluded that the effects of pHo on vascular tone are due to the induced change in intracellular pH, and that the vascular smooth muscle cell is functionally well adapted to respond to changes in tissue pH, thereby allowing blood flow to a tissue to be rapidly altered to meet changing needs.
Factors Influencing the Accuracy of Home Blood Pressure Measurement

Background. Hypertension is a common disorder, affecting approximately 50 million Americans. Because many people have this disorder and its sequela, it is important not only to detect hypertension but also to monitor adequacy of control. Over the past few years, blood pressure monitoring devices (BPMDs) have become available for individuals to measure their blood pressure (BP) in the convenience of their home. These instruments are touted as being accurate. Methods. We conducted a study with volunteers who use BPMDs to see how they are used and to assess their accuracy. A BP reading was considered accurate if the differences between the volunteers' and technicians' systolic and diastolic readings were both 10 mm Hg or less. Results. Of 91 patients, 31 (34%) obtained inaccurate readings. The inaccuracy could not be attributed to the type of the instrument, the cost of the instrument, the educational level of the user, or the age of the instrument. Conclusions. This study shows, despite other studies purporting accuracy, that a significant number of inaccurate readings are obtained by patients using BPMDs. Supervision of their use needs to be incorporated into the physician follow-up to ensure that there is a reasonable correlation between values obtained using the mercury sphygmomanometer and the BPMD.
Beyond black and white: race/ethnicity and health status among older adults.

OBJECTIVES This study examined physical and mental health, health symptoms, sensory and functional limitations, risk factors, and multimorbidity among older Medicare managed care members to assess disparities associated with race/ethnicity. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS We used data on 236,289 older adults from 208 Medicare plans who completed the 2012 Medicare Health Outcomes Survey to compare 14 health indicators across non-Hispanic whites, blacks, American Indians/Alaskan Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders, multiracial individuals, and Hispanics. Logistic regression models that clustered on the plan estimated the risk of indicators of adverse health and functional status. RESULTS Even after controlling for key patient sociodemographic factors, race/ethnicity was significantly associated with most adverse health indicators. Except for Asians, all racial/ethnic minority groups were significantly more likely than whites to report poor mental health status, presence of most health symptoms, sensory limitations, and activities-of-daily-living disability. Important differences were observed across racial and ethnic groups. CONCLUSIONS Despite some exceptions, elders of racial/ethnic minority background are generally at higher risk than non-Hispanic whites for a broad range of adverse health and functional outcomes that are not routinely assessed. Limitations include bias related to self-reported data and respondent recall. Future research should consider ethnic subgroup variations; employing newer techniques to improve estimates for smaller groups; and prioritizing and identifying opportunities for care improvement of diverse enrollee groups by considering specific needs. To improve the health status of the elderly, service delivery targeting the needs of specific population groups, coupled with culturally appropriate care for racial/ ethnic minorities, should also be considered.
Management of Labour in Primigravida with Who Modified Partograph

Partograph is an inexpensive tool that serves as an "early warning system" and can assist in early decision making on transfer, augmentation, and termination of labour. The main objectives of the study were to compare length of labour, need of oxytocin augmentation, delivery outcome between two groups, neonatal outcome monitored by APGAR Score and incidence of maternal complications. This was a randomized, prospective, comparative study. Primigarvida, aged 19-28 years, with single live foetus in vertex presentation without any medical and obstetrical complications who have crossed 37 weeks of gestation ,but not post term pregnancies have been included in the study. Results were compared between 500 cases, by using WHO modified partogram (Study group) and 500 cases (control group) by monitoring labour without any partogram. Spontaneous vaginal delivery rate had been significantly increased in study group (p<0.0001), need of labour augmentation with oxytocin found to be reduced in study group. Rate of caesarean section was less in study group. Duration of labour has been significantly shortened in study group (p<0.0001). Fetal outcome was better in study group, monitored with APGAR Score at 1minute and APGAR Score at 5 minute. There was no significant difference in maternal mortality and morbidity found between the two groups. Therefore, WHO modified Partograph is easier to use and is a better option for midwives in primary health care centre and tertiary care centre if attached with referral slip, to take an appropriate decision at its earliest.
Development of sanofi pasteur tetravalent dengue vaccine

The sanofi pasteur tetravalent dengue vaccine candidate is composed of 4 recombinant live attenuated vaccines based on a yellow fever vaccine 17D (YFV 17D) backbone, each expressing the prM and envelope genes of one of the four dengue virus serotypes. Pre-clinical studies have demonstrated that the TV dengue vaccine is genetically and phenotypically stable, non-hepatotropic, less neurovirulent than YFV 17D and does not infect mosquitoes by the oral route. In vitro and in vivo preclinical studies also showed that the TV dengue vaccine induced controlled stimulation in human dendritic cells, and significant immune responses in monkeys. TV dengue vaccine reactogenicity, viraemia induction and antibody responses were investigated in three Phase I trials in the USA, the Philippines and Mexico, in a two or three-dose regimen over a 12 month period. Results showed that the majority of adverse events were mild to moderate and transient in nature. Viraemia was transient and low, and was not increased after initial dengue TV administration, even in the case of incomplete responses. Seropositivity [≥ 10 in a PRNT 50 assay] was 100% for all four serotypes in flavivirus-naive adults injected with 3 doses of TV dengue vaccine in the USA. Similarly, seropositivity was 88–100% following three administrations in flavivirus-naive Mexican children aged 2–5 years. Furthermore, the proportion of seropositive subjects increased with each dengue TV injection in the Philippines where baseline flavivirus immunity was high. Responses were also monitored at the cellular level in humans, and their level and nature were in good agreement with the observed safety and the immunogenicity of the vaccine. Finally, the challenges inherent to the development of such TV dengue vaccines will also be discussed in the last part of this review. In conclusion, preclinical and clinical results support the favorable immunogenicity and short-term safety of the dengue TV vaccine. An extensive clinical development program for dengue TV is underway including completion of the enrollment of 4000 4-11 years old children in an efficacy trial in Thailand, in an area of high dengue incidence. Assuming continued successful outcomes, initial submissions to regulatory authorities are envisaged within a 5-year period.