Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The sternum as an electrical shield

Introduction - The TASER® conducted electrical weapon (CEW) delivers electrical pulses that can temporarily incapacitate subjects. We analyzed the distribution of TASER CEW currents in tissues posterior to the sternum to understand the likelihood of triggering cardiac arrhythmias. We also assessed the electrical `shielding' effects of the sternum. Methods and Results - Finite element modeling (FEM) was used to approximate the current density and electric field strength in tissues around the sternum. We analyzed 2 CEW dart deployment scenarios: (a) both darts over the anterior aspect of the sternum; and (b) a CEW dart anterior to the sternum and the other over the abdomen. In both scenarios, the sternum provided significant attenuation of CEW currents. Particularly, both FEMs predicted that the residual electrical current or charge from CEWs would be insufficient to cause either cardiac capture or induction of ventricular fibrillation at locations where cardiac tissue would reside relative to the posterior aspect of the sternum. Conclusion - The sternum offers significant `shielding' effect and protects the tissues posterior to it against effects of electrical current flow from anteriorly-placed CEW electrodes.
Efficacy and safety of baclofen for alcohol dependence: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND Recent clinical trials and case-reports indicate that baclofen, a GABA(B) agonist, may have efficacy for alcohol dependence. Baclofen has been shown to enhance abstinence, to reduce drinking quantity, to reduce craving, and to reduce anxiety in alcohol-dependent individuals in 2 placebo-controlled trials in Italy. However, the clinical trial data with baclofen is limited. The purpose of the present study was to test the efficacy and tolerability of baclofen in alcohol dependence in the United States. METHODS The study was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study comparing 30 mg/d of baclofen to placebo over 12 weeks of treatment and utilizing 8 sessions of BRENDA, a low-intensity psychosocial intervention. One hundred and twenty-one subjects were screened to yield 80 randomized subjects (44 men) with randomization balanced for gender. Percent heavy drinking days was the primary outcome measure with other drinking outcomes, anxiety levels, and craving as secondary outcomes. Tolerability was examined. RESULTS Seventy-six percent of subjects completed the study. No difference by drug condition was seen in percentage of heavy drinking days where on-average rates were 25.5% (±23.6%) for placebo and 25.9% (±23.2%) for baclofen during treatment (t(73)=0.59, p=0.56). Similarly, no differences were seen by drug condition in percentage of days abstinent, time to first drink, or time to relapse to heavy drinking. Baclofen was associated with a significant reduction in state anxiety (F(1,73)= 5.39, p=0.02). Baclofen was well tolerated with only 2 individuals stopping baclofen because of adverse events. There were no serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS Baclofen, a GABA(B) agonist, represents a possible new pharmacotherapeutic approach to alcohol dependence. Despite encouraging preclinical data and prior positive clinical trials with baclofen in Italy, the current trial did not find evidence that baclofen is superior to placebo in the treatment of alcohol dependence. Additional clinical trial work is necessary to establish whether baclofen does or does not have therapeutic efficacy in alcohol dependence and, if it does, what factors are predictive of response.
The Effects of Denture Cleansing Solutions on the Retention of Attachments of Implant Supported Overdentures

Statement of the Problem Implant-retained overdenture can improve the stability of dentures and prevent bone loss. Overdenture-wearing patients need special hygiene care. Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of various denture cleansers on the retention of Dio orange O-rings. Method and Materials In this experimental study, 40 Dio orange O-rings were divided into 4 groups (10 O-rings each) and each group was soaked for equivalent of 6 months in the following solutions: 5.25% NaOCl (1:10 dilution), Corega cleanser tabs, Professional cleanser tabs and water (as the control group). After 6 months, O-rings were tested for 2inch/minutes of tensile force. The peak load-to-dislodgement was recorded. Data were imported to SPSS18 and were analyzed by One-Way ANOVA and Tukey HSD test (p≤ 0.05). Results Denture cleansing solutions have significant effects on the reduction of retentive value of O-rings (p≤ 0.001). Corega tabs caused the reduction of 15.7% (9.91±0.53 N) in the retentive value of O-rings and Professional tabs caused 15% (10.00±0.86 N). NaOCl caused significant decrease (48%) in retentive value of O-rings (6.10±0.91 N in comparison with the control group (11.76±1 N). Conclusion This in-vitro study demonstrated that the retention of O-rings was affected when soaked in cleansing solutions. NaOCl caused more reduction in retentive value compared to effervescent cleansers and would not be recommended for cleansing O-rings. These results should be interpreted clinically and the role of other factors in the retention of O-rings should be considered in order to recommend the best cleanser for O-ring overdentures.
On the Quality of the Initial Basin in Overspecified Neural Networks

Deep learning, in the form of artificial neural networks, has achieved remarkable practical success in recent years, for a variety of difficult machine learning applications. However, a theoretical explanation for this remains a major open problem, since training neural networks involves optimizing a highly non-convex objective function, and is known to be computationally hard in the worst case. In this work, we study the \emph{geometric} structure of the associated non-convex objective function, in the context of ReLU networks and starting from a random initialization of the network parameters. We identify some conditions under which it becomes more favorable to optimization, in the sense of (i) High probability of initializing at a point from which there is a monotonically decreasing path to a global minimum; and (ii) High probability of initializing at a basin (suitably defined) with a small minimal objective value. A common theme in our results is that such properties are more likely to hold for larger ("overspecified") networks, which accords with some recent empirical and theoretical observations.
Clinical performance of the Prostate Health Index (PHI) for the prediction of prostate cancer in obese men: data from the PROMEtheuS project, a multicentre European prospective study

To test serum prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) isoform [‐2]proPSA (p2PSA), p2PSA/free PSA (%p2PSA) and Prostate Health Index (PHI) accuracy in predicting prostate cancer in obese men and to test whether PHI is more accurate than PSA in predicting prostate cancer in obese patients.
Evidence for ontogenetically and morphologically distinct alternative reproductive tactics in the invasive Round Goby Neogobius melanostomus

Alternative reproductive tactics are characterized by the occurrence of discrete alternative morphs that differ in behavioural, morphological and physiological traits within the same sex. Although much effort has been made to describe the behaviour, morphology and physiology of such alternative morphs, less effort has been invested investigating how much overlap there is in the characteristics of such morphs in natural populations. We studied random population samples of the invasive Round Goby Neogobius melanostomus from five different localities in the river Rhine system in the Netherlands. We found two morphologically and physiologically distinct male morphs which likely represent alternative reproductive tactics. Almost all mature males under 9.35 cm total length had a gonadosomatic index > 3%, suggestive of a sneaker tactic, while nearly all males above 9.35 cm has a gonadosomatic index of < 3%, suggestive of a parental tactic. Cheek size and eye diameter alone were sufficient to distinguish the two morphs. Gonads had a different relationship with size in the two morphs, indicating separate growth trajectories. The gonad mass of sneaker morphs would be ca. 7.5 times as high as the gonad mass of parental morphs of the same total length after extrapolation. Few (9%) intermediates were found, suggesting that the expression of alternative reproductive tactics is determined before the first breeding season. This contrasts with studies on other goby species, which show evidence of plastic tactics that can be affected by social circumstances. We conclude that it is possible to distinguish two alternative male morphs in the Dutch Round Goby population using morphological measurements alone. Although behavioural observations are needed to provide conclusive evidence, the difference in GSI between these morphs indicates that these morphs reflect alternative reproductive tactics.
Psoriasis in elderly and non-elderly population: clinical and molecular features.

BACKGROUND Psoriasis management in elderly may be difficult, mainly due to comorbidities and concomitant medications. The aim of this study was to compare elderly and non-elderly psoriatic patients in relation to their demographic, clinical and molecular characteristics. METHODS A prospective observational study on 502 psoriatic patients attending our outpatient clinic was performed. We analyzed their demographical and clinical features, highlighting differences in comorbidities and treatment adverse events. Moreover, real-time PCR was used to analyze lesional skin expression of CCL-20, HBD-2, Hpt, IFN-α, IL-1β, IL-8, IL-23A, IL-33, IL-36γ, TGF-β, TNF-α, S100A7 and VEGF, in 15 adults and 15 elderly. RESULTS The two groups of patients differed for comorbidities and treatment profile. Particularly, non-elderly were treated more frequently with biologic drugs compared to elderly. However, elderly did not develop more metabolic, hepatic and/or renal abnormalities than younger patients. Serious adverse events were comparable between elderly and non-elderly. No difference in gene expression of the investigated mediators was found. CONCLUSIONS Our study did not show substantial clinical or molecular differences between elderly and non-elderly. Older patients should be treated with systemic drugs when required. Safety and tolerability profiles of biological drugs seemed at least comparable with those of traditional systemic ones.
PEAS

Numerous auto-scaling strategies have been proposed in the past few years for improving various Quality of Service (QoS) indicators of cloud applications, for example, response time and throughput, by adapting the amount of resources assigned to the application to meet the workload demand. However, the evaluation of a proposed auto-scaler is usually achieved through experiments under specific conditions and seldom includes extensive testing to account for uncertainties in the workloads and unexpected behaviors of the system. These tests by no means can provide guarantees about the behavior of the system in general conditions. In this article, we present a Performance Evaluation framework for Auto-Scaling (PEAS) strategies in the presence of uncertainties. The evaluation is formulated as a chance constrained optimization problem, which is solved using scenario theory. The adoption of such a technique allows one to give probabilistic guarantees of the obtainable performance. Six different auto-scaling strategies have been selected from the literature for extensive test evaluation and compared using the proposed framework. We build a discrete event simulator and parameterize it based on real experiments. Using the simulator, each auto-scaler’s performance is evaluated using 796 distinct real workload traces from projects hosted on the Wikimedia foundations’ servers, and their performance is compared using PEAS. The evaluation is carried out using different performance metrics, highlighting the flexibility of the framework, while providing probabilistic bounds on the evaluation and the performance of the algorithms. Our results highlight the problem of generalizing the conclusions of the original published studies and show that based on the evaluation criteria, a controller can be shown to be better than other controllers.
The Effects of Temperature and Innate Immunity on Transmission of Campylobacter jejuni (Campylobacterales: Campylobacteraceae) between Life Stages of Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae)

ABSTRACT The house fly (Musca domestica L.) is a well-established vector of human pathogens, including Campylobacter spp. , which can cause infection of broiler chicken flocks, and through contaminated broiler meat can cause outbreaks of campylobacteriosis in humans. We investigated whether Campylobacter jejuni (Jones) could be transferred between life stages of M. domestica (larvae-pupae-adults) and determined bacterial counts of C. jejuni at different time points after bacterial exposure. C. jejuni was transmitted from infected larvae to pupae, but not to the adult stage. Infected larvae maintained at 25°C had mean bacterial numbers of 6.5 ± 0.2 SE log10 (colony forming units [CFU]/g) that subsequently dropped to 3.6 ± 0.3 SE log10 (CFU/g) 8 h after infection. Pupae originating from infected larvae contained mean bacterial numbers of 5.3 ± 0.1 SE log10 (CFU/g), and these numbers dropped to 4.8 ± 0.1 SE log10 (CFU/g) 24 h after pupation. The decline in C. jejuni numbers during pupal development coincided with increased expression of antimicrobial peptides, including cecropin, diptericin, attacin, and defensin, in the larva-pupa transition stage and a later second peak in older pupae (4 or 48 h). Conversely, there was a reduced expression of the digestive enzyme, lysozyme, in pupae and adults compared with larvae.
Output Feedback Control of Discrete-Time Systems in Networked Environments

This correspondence paper addresses the problem of output feedback stabilization of control systems in networked environments with quality-of-service (QoS) constraints. The problem is investigated in discrete-time state space using Lyapunov's stability theory and the linear inequality matrix technique. A new discrete-time modeling approach is developed to describe a networked control system (NCS) with parameter uncertainties and nonideal network QoS. It integrates a network-induced delay, packet dropout, and other network behaviors into a unified framework. With this modeling, an improved stability condition, which is dependent on the lower and upper bounds of the equivalent network-induced delay, is established for the NCS with norm-bounded parameter uncertainties. It is further extended for the output feedback stabilization of the NCS with nonideal QoS. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the main results of the theoretical development.
Medically Intractable, Localization‐related Epilepsy with Normal MRI: Presurgical Evaluation and Surgical Outcome in 43 Patients

Summary: Purpose: High‐resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a crucial role in the presurgical evaluation of patients with medically refractory partial epilepsy. Although MRI detects a morphologic abnormality as the cause of the epilepsy in the majority of patients, some patients have a normal MRI. This study was undertaken to explore the hypothesis that in patients with normal MRI, invasive monitoring can lead to localization of the seizure‐onset zone and successful epilepsy surgery.
Communities of action: a cognitive and social approach to the design of CSCW systems

Most current theories about collective cognitive activities in limited groups apply to structurally closed co-operative situations Here we propose to work in the framework of intellectual transactions and communities of action theory with a view to describing and designing CSCW systems which can be used in more structurally open situations. First we compare this approach with other theories of collective cognition (such as those focusing on situated cognition and communities of practice, distributed cognition and coordination mechanisms). We then present the core concepts involved in defining communities of action, the duality of goals and forms of knowledge and the operational, strategic, integrative and relational categories of collective activity on which the OSIR model is based. We conclude by presenting as an example the application of the model to a research project designed to assist the setting up of a health network.
Unusual life style of giant chlorella viruses.

Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus (PBCV-1) is the prototype of a family of large, icosahedral, plaque-forming, dsDNA viruses that replicate in certain unicellular, eukaryotic chlorella-like green algae. Its 330-kb genome contains approximately 373 protein-encoding genes and 11 tRNA genes. The predicted gene products of approximately 50% of these genes resemble proteins of known function, including many that are unexpected for a virus, e.g., ornithine decarboxylase, hyaluronan synthase, GDP-D-mannose 4,6 dehydratase, and a potassium ion channel protein. In addition to their large genome size, the chlorella viruses have other features that distinguish them from most viruses. These features include: (a) The viruses encode multiple DNA methyltransferases and DNA site-specific endonucleases. (b) The viruses encode at least some, if not all, of the enzymes required to glycosylate their proteins. (c) PBCV-1 has at least three types of introns, a self-splicing intron in a transcription factor-like gene, a spliceosomal processed intron in its DNA polymerase gene, and a small intron in one of its tRNA genes. (d) Many chlorella virus-encoded proteins are either the smallest or among the smallest proteins of their class. (e) Accumulating evidence indicates that the chlorella viruses have a very long evolutionary history.
Modeling and Mapping Soil Moisture of Plateau Pasture Using RADARSAT-2 Imagery

Accurate soil moisture retrieval of a large area in high resolution is significant for plateau pasture. The object of this paper is to investigate the estimation of volumetric soil moisture in vegetated areas of plateau pasture using fully polarimetric C-band RADARSAT-2 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) images. Based on the water cloud model, Chen model, and Dubois model, we proposed two developed algorithms for soil moisture retrieval and validated their performance using experimental data. We eliminated the effect of vegetation cover by using the water cloud model and minimized the effect of soil surface roughness by solving the Dubois equations. Two experimental campaigns were conducted in the Qinghai Lake watershed, northeastern Tibetan Plateau in September 2012 and May 2013, respectively, with simultaneous satellite overpass. Compared with the developed Chen model, the predicted soil moisture given by the developed Dubois model agreed better with field measurements in terms of accuracy and stability. The RMSE, R2, and RPD value of the developed Dubois model were (5.4, 0.8, 1.6) and (3.05, 0.78, 1.74) for the two experiments, respectively. Validation results indicated that the developed Dubois model, needing a minimum of prior information, satisfied the requirement for soil moisture inversion in the study region.
Prevalence and predictors of sleep disturbance among liver diseases in long-term transplant survivors.

BACKGROUND Patients with cirrhosis are known to experience sleep disturbance, which negatively impacts health-related quality of life. OBJECTIVE To assess the prevalence and predictors of sleep disturbance before and after liver transplantation (LT). METHODS Both pre- and post-LT patients were administered the Basic Nordic Sleep Questionnaire. The primary outcome was overall sleep satisfaction; the secondary outcomes were sleep latency and sleep duration. RESULTS Eighty-three patients participated pre-LT and 273 post-LT. Overall, participants having completed both pre- and post-LT questionnaires reported satisfactory sleep 61% of the time before LT and 65% of the time after LT. However, on review of all questionnaires, patients with alcoholic liver disease (ETOH) experienced dramatically less sleep disturbance (OR 0.13 [95% CI 0.03 to 0.60]) post-LT, whereas those with hepatitis C remained without improvement (OR 0.90 [95% CI [0.38 to 2.15]). On logistic regression, patients with ETOH had statistically less sleep satisfaction pre-LT (OR 5.8 [95% CI 1.0 to 40.5]) and significantly better sleep satisfaction post-LT (OR 0.50 [95% CI 0.20 to 1.00]) compared with those with hepatitis C. In addition, both ETOH and other conditions had significantly better sleep latency than hepatitis C patients. CONCLUSIONS Sleep parameters for patients who undergo LT for hepatitis C do not improve following LT as much as they do in patients transplanted for ETOH. Following LT, patients transplanted for ETOH are significantly more satisfied with their sleep than those transplanted for hepatitis C. Physicians should address and manage sleep quality after LT, so as to ultimately improve quality of life.
The effects of chlordane exposure during pre- and postnatal periods at environmentally relevant levels on sex steroid-mediated behaviors and functions in the rat.

Technical chlordane is a mixture of four main isomers (i.e., heptachlor, cis-chlordane, trans-chlordane, and trans-non-achlor) found in meat and dairy products as well as in indoor air of houses treated for termites. These isomers are metabolized to more potent epoxides (heptachlor epoxide and oxychlordane) which accumulate in lipid compartments of tissues and have been shown to reduce chloride influx through GABAA receptor complex channels and to alter steroid levels. However, considering the almost universal human exposure and the potential for accumulation of these agents, very little is known about how chronic, low-level exposures during development affect adult behavior and steroid-mediated processes. Time-pregnant Sprague-Dawley dams (Day 4 of gestation through Day 21 of lactation) and offspring (Day 22 of age through Day 80) were exposed to three levels of technical chlordane (100, 500, or 5000 ng/g) on a daily schedule. The low-exposure level generated heptachlor epoxide and oxychlordane plasma levels in the dam (Day 20) and in the offspring (Day 80) representative of those found in the U.S. populace. Chlordane-dosed offspring exhibited sex- and dose-dependent effects on testosterone levels, behavioral tests, and body weight conducted between postnatal Days 77 and 85. Chlordane-dosed females, but not males, had significant decreases in testosterone levels, significant improvements in spatial abilities (i.e., decreases in Cincinnati maze errors, navigation times, and failures to escape), and significant increases in body weight and in auditory startle-evoked responses. In two other tests, only males were used. These chlordane-dosed males showed significant increases in male-typical mating behaviors and decreases in 36Cl- uptake into brain microsacs. For all behavioral and body weight measurements, dose-response effects were observed for the 100 and 500 ng/g dosed groups. However, the 5000 ng/g dose group responses were closer to those of control values. These results suggest that these cyclodienes masculinize sexually dimorphic functions and behaviors by mimicking sex steroids and/or changing their levels.