Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhancing performance of asynchronous data traffic over the Bluetooth wireless ad-hoc network

Emerging technologies such as Bluetooth are expected to become a ubiquitous solution for providing short range, low power, low cost, pico-cellular wireless connectivity. Bluetooth is a master driven time division duplex (TDD) system that supports an asynchronous channel for data traffic as well as synchronous channels for voice traffic. Data applications running over Bluetooth such as http, ftp and real audio will need transport layer protocols such as TCP and UDP to send packets over the wireless links. In this paper we study several schemes designed to improve the performance of asynchronous data traffic over a Bluetooth piconet that supports multiple active slaves. We propose and compare a number of segmentation and reassembly policies and MAC scheduling algorithms with a view towards enhancing the performance of transport layer sessions. We investigate the effect of different FEC and ARQ schemes at the baseband level, using a two-state Markov channel model for the Bluetooth RF link. We also study how the presence of circuit-switched voice impacts the performance of data traffic.
Serum sialic acid concentration and cardiovascular mortality.

OBJECTIVE--To determine whether serum sialic acid concentration may be used to predict short and long term cardiovascular mortality. DESIGN--Prospective study on all men and women who had their serum sialic acid concentration measured as part of a general health survey in 1964 or in 1965. All were followed up for an average of 20.5 years. SETTING--Geographical part of the county of Värmland, Sweden. SUBJECTS--Residents in the area participating in a health check up in 1964-5 (27,065 men and 28,037 women), of whom 372 men (169 with incomplete data and 203 lost to follow up) and 345 women (143 and 202 respectively) were excluded; thus 26,693 men and 27,692 women entered the study. The study sample was restricted to subjects aged 40-74 during any of the 20 years' follow up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Serum sialic acid concentration, serum cholesterol concentration, diastolic blood pressure, body mass index at the general health survey visit; cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular deaths during three periods of follow up (0-6 years, 7-13 years, and 14-20 years), according to the Swedish mortality register, in subjects aged 45-74. RESULTS--Mean serum sialic acid concentration (mg/100 ml) was 68.8 (SD 8.0) for men and 69.2 (8.0) for women; the average concentration increasing with age in both sexes. A total of 5639 (21%) men and 3307 (12%) women died during the follow up period, in whom death in 3052 (54%) men and 1368 (41%) women was from cardiovascular causes. During short (0-6 years), medium (7-13 years), and long (14-20 years) term follow up the relative risk of death from cardiovascular disease increased with increasing serum sialic acid concentration. The relative risk (95% confidence interval) associated with the highest quartile of sialic acid concentration compared with the lowest quartile was 2.38 (2.01 to 2.83) in men and 2.62 (1.93 to 3.57) in women. Similar results were found for deaths from non-cardiovascular disease with relative risks of 1.50 (1.34 to 2.68) in men and 1.89 (1.57 to 2.28) in women, but these relative risks were significantly lower than those for deaths from cardiovascular disease (p less than 0.001 and p less than 0.005 respectively). In multivariate analysis of total mortality and of cardiovascular mortality with sialic acid concentration, serum cholesterol concentration, diastolic blood pressure, and body mass index as independent variables the impact of sialic acid concentration was virtually the same as in univariate analysis. CONCLUSION--Serum sialic acid concentration is a strong predictor of cardiovascular mortality. A possible explanation of these findings is that the serum sialic acid concentration may reflect the existence or the activity of an atherosclerotic process, and this may warrant further investigation.
Prevalence of Persistent Tinnitus and Dizziness in an Elderly Population in Southern Taiwan.

OBJECTIVES Tinnitus and dizziness are common among the elderly. The conditions may increase depression, and patients may become susceptible to falls, thereby affecting the quality of life of the geriatric population. Investigating the prevalence of persistent tinnitus and chronic/recurrent dizziness in an elderly population and analyzing the association of certain comorbidities with tinnitus and dizziness in southern Taiwan were the main purposes of this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS This was a cross-sectional study performed in a metropolitan hospital. Hearing tests were conducted in a total of 597 volunteers aged ≥65 years involving 322 (53.9%) men and 275 (46.1%) women recruited in the study. The pure tone average (PTA) and hearing handicap (HH) score were calculated. Patients completed questionnaires regarding the history of hypertension and diabetes and symptoms of tinnitus and dizziness. The association of gender, age, PTA/HH, body mass index (BMI), hypertension, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome (MetS) with tinnitus and dizziness were analyzed. RESULTS The prevalence of persistent tinnitus and chronic/recurrent dizziness was 32.0% and 24.1%, respectively. Tinnitus or dizziness were not associated with age, BMI, hypertension, diabetes, and MetS but was associated with hearing impairment. Women and those with fasting glucose levels <100 mg/dL were more likely to experience dizziness. CONCLUSION Persistent tinnitus and dizziness were common in an elderly population in southern Taiwan. These findings may help develop strategies to promote the quality of life in the elderly population.
VBM Reveals Brain Volume Differences between Parkinson’s Disease and Essential Tremor Patients

Symptoms of essential tremor (ET) are similar to those of Parkinson’s disease (PD) during their initial stages. Presently, there are few stable biomarkers available on a neuroanatomical level for distinguishing between these two diseases. However, few investigations have directly compared the changes in brain volume and assessed the compensatory effects of a change in the parts of the brain associated with PD and with ET. To determine the compensatory and/or degenerative anatomical changes in the brains of PD and ET patients, the present study tested, via two voxel-based morphometry (VBM) approaches (Basic vs. DARTEL VBM processing), the anatomical brain images of 10 PD and 10 ET patients, as well as of 13 age-matched normal controls, obtained through a 3T magnetic resonance scanner. These findings indicate that PD and ET caused specific patterns of brain volume alterations in the brains examined. In addition, our observations also revealed compensatory effects, or self-reorganization, occurring in the thalamus and the middle temporal gyrus in the PD and ET patients, due perhaps in part to the enhanced thalamocortical sensorimotor interaction and the head-eye position readjustment, respectively, in these PD and ET patients. Such a distinction may lend itself to use as a biomarker for differentiating between these two diseases.
Prevalence of Foxp3 Positive T Regulatory Cells is Increased during Progression of Cutaneous Squamous Tumors

Purpose Forkhead box p3 (Foxp3) positive T regulatory cells (Tregs) have a functionally immunosuppressive property that prevents effector cells from acting against self in autoimmune diseases or a tumor. It is known that Tregs may be highly relevant in cancer progression. Dendritic cells (DCs) induce cutaneous immune response, however several studies have suggested that DCs are involved in immunosuppression. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of Tregs and DCs infiltration in cutaneous premalignant and malignant squamous lesions. Materials and Methods We evaluated Tregs and DCs in skin tissue samples obtained from 83 patients with actinic keratosis, Bowen's disease or squamous cell carcinoma by immunohistochemistry. Results The prevalence of Tregs and DCs was significantly higher in squamous cell carcinoma and Bowen's disease than in actinic keratosis. In addition, the number of DCs was closely correlated with the prevalence of Tregs, and DCs were also located in direct proximity to Tregs. Conclusion Tregs is related to cutaneous squamous tumor progression.
Ventromedial and dorsolateral prefrontal interactions underlie will to fight and die for a cause

Abstract Willingness to fight and die (WFD) has been developed as a measure to capture willingness to incur costly sacrifices for the sake of a greater cause in the context of entrenched conflict. WFD measures have been repeatedly used in field studies, including studies on the battlefield, although their neurofunctional correlates remain unexplored. Our aim was to identify the neural underpinnings of WFD, focusing on neural activity and interconnectivity of brain areas previously associated with value-based decision-making, such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). A sample of Pakistani participants supporting the Kashmiri cause was selected and invited to participate in an functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) paradigm where they were asked to convey their WFD for a series of values related to Islam and current politics. As predicted, higher compared to lower WFD was associated with increased ventromedial prefrontal activity and decreased dorsolateral activity, as well as lower connectivity between the vmPFC and the dlPFC. Our findings suggest that WFD more prominently relies on brain areas typically associated with subjective value (vmPFC) rather than integration of material costs (dlPFC) during decision-making, supporting the notion that decisions on costly sacrifices may not be mediated by cost-benefit computation.
Pilot study of markers for high-grade anal dysplasia in a southern cohort from the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS).

BACKGROUND Anal cancer rates have increased, particularly in HIV-positive (HIV+) women. We assessed factors associated with anal precancer in HIV+ and at-risk HIV-negative (ARHIVN) women from the Atlanta Women's Interagency HIV Study Cohort. METHODS All participants underwent high resolution anoscopy, anal cytology (AC) and had anal (AS) and cervical (CS) samples collected. Specimens were tested for 37 HPV types and for FAM19A4 and microRNA124-2 promoter methylation. Binary logistic regression and multivariate analysis were conducted with histologic anal high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (A-HSIL) as the dependent variable. RESULTS Seventy-five women enrolled: 52(69%) were HIV+ with three-fourths having undetectable viral load, 64(86%) were black, with mean age 49±8 years. Forty-nine (65%) AC samples were abnormal, and 38(51%) of AS were positive for at least one of 13 high-risk HPV (hrHPV) types. Thirteen (18%) anal biopsies identified A-HSIL. Hypermethylation of FAM19A4 and/or microRNA124-2 was found in 69 (95%) AS and 19(26%) CS. In multivariate analyses, the odds of having A-HSIL were over 6 times higher in women with anal hrHPV (aOR 6.08, 95% CI 1.27-29.18, p=0.02) and with positive cervical methylation (aOR 6.49, 95% CI 1.66-25.35, p=0.007), but not significantly higher in women with positive anal methylation. CONCLUSIONS Anal hrHPV and promoter hypermethylation in the cervix show promise as biomarkers for anal cancer screening in HIV+ and ARHIVN women. Greater understanding of gene silencing by promoter hypermethylation in anal carcinogenesis is needed.
Associations of gestational age and birth anthropometric indicators with brain white matter maturation in full‐term neonates

Newborn assessments, including gestational age (GA) and anthropometric measurements (birth weight, crown‐heel length, head circumference) are routinely performed in pediatric settings, being used as important indicators in assessing neonatal development. Close associations of these birth indicators with later cognitive abilities were also reported. However, specific associations of these indicators with white matter (WM) development during the neonatal period remain unclear, as well as the extent to which they influence WM maturation. To address this issue, 51 full‐term neonates (GA range, 37–42 weeks) with no abnormalities on MRI were retrospectively recruited. Specific correlations between birth indicators and WM maturation, quantified by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)‐metrics (fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, radial diffusivity), were identified by using DTI tract‐based spatial statistics and automated fiber‐tract quantification. Our findings suggest that (a) higher GA, birth weight, and crown‐heel length may indicate greater WM maturation in full‐term neonates, while head circumference presented weak correlation with WM maturation during early newborn period; (b) among the four indicators examined, GA was the one most associated with WM maturation. We believe that this study advances our knowledge of specific correlations between birth indicators and neonatal brain development and provides a valuable reference for future neonatal studies.
Biomimetic Collagen/Zn2+-Substituted Calcium Phosphate Composite Coatings on Titanium Substrates as Prospective Bioactive Layer for Implants: A Comparative Study Spin Coating vs. MAPLE

Synthesis of biomimetic materials for implants and prostheses is a hot topic in nanobiotechnology strategies. Today the major approach of orthopaedic implants in hard tissue engineering is represented by titanium implants. A comparative study of hybrid thin coatings deposition was performed by spin coating and matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) onto titanium substrates. The Collagen-calcium phosphate (Coll-CaPs) combination was selected as the best option to mimic natural bone tissue. To accelerate the mineralization process, Zn2+ ions were inserted by substitution in CaPs. A superior thin film homogeneity was assessed by MAPLE, as shown by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microscopy. A decrease of P-O and amide absorbance bands was observed as a consequence of different Zn2+ amounts. A variety of structural modifications of the apatite layer are then generated, which influenced the confinement process towards the collagen template. The in-vitro Simulated Body Fluid (SBF) assay demonstrated the ability of Coll/Zn2+-CaPs coatings to stimulate the mineralization process as a result of synergic effects in the collagen-Zn2+ substituted apatite. For both deposition methods, the formation of droplets associated to the growth of CaPs particulates inside the collagen matrix was visualized. This supports the prospective behavior of MAPLE biomimetic coatings to induce mineralization, as an essential step of fast implant integration with vivid tissues.
A transmissible RNA pathway in honey bees

One of the characteristics of RNA interference (RNAi) is systemic spread of the silencing signal among cells and tissues throughout the organism. Systemic RNAi, initiated by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) ingestion, has been reported in diverse invertebrates, including honey bees, demonstrating environmental RNA uptake that undermines homologous gene expression. However, the question why any organism would take up RNA from the environment has remained largely unanswered. Here, we report on horizontal RNA flow among honey bees mediated by secretion and ingestion of worker and royal jelly diets. We show that ingested dsRNA spreads through the bee’s hemolymph associated with a protein complex. The systemic dsRNA is secreted with the jelly and delivered to larvae via ingestion. Furthermore, we demonstrate that transmission of jelly-secreted dsRNA to larvae is biologically active and triggers gene knockdown that lasts into adulthood. Finally, RNA extracted from worker and royal jellies harbor differential naturally occurring RNA populations. Some of these RNAs corresponded to honey bee protein coding genes, transposable elements, non-coding RNA as well as bacteria, fungi and viruses. These results reveal an inherent property of honey bees to share RNA among individuals and generations. Thus, our findings suggest a transmissible RNA pathway, playing a role in social immunity and epigenetic signaling between honey bees and potentially among other closely interacting organisms. SIGNIFICANCE Honey bees are eusocial insects, living in a colony that is often described as a superorganism. RNA mobility among cells of an organism has been documented in plants and animals. Here we show that RNA spreads further in honey bees, and is horizontally transferred between individuals and across generations. We found that honey bees share biologically active RNA through secretion and ingestion of worker and royal jellies. Such RNA initiates RNA interference, which is a known defense mechanism against viral infection. Furthermore, we characterized diverse RNA profiles of worker and royal jelly, including fragmented viral RNA. Our findings demonstrate a transmissible RNA pathway with potential roles in social immunity and epigenetic signaling among members of the hive.
Meta‐Analysis of Treatment for Primary Sjögren's Syndrome

The current focus of treatment in primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is symptom management. Since SS is an autoimmune disease with multisystem involvement, systemic immunosuppression may have a role in improving signs and symptoms and preventing progression. We undertook this review to assess the efficacy and safety of immunomodulation on primary SS from randomized clinical trials (RCTs).
Perceptions, Knowledge, and Use of Electronic Cigarettes: A Survey of Mental Health Patients

Abstract Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States. Smoking and mental illness are often comorbid, yet little is known about mental health patients’ perceptions, knowledge, and use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). ENDS may be a beneficial short-term intervention to help this group quit smoking. A survey was administered to a sample of patients at an adult outpatient mental health office (N = 109, 45% male, mean age 33). The majority of participants had tried ENDS. Most used ENDS to quit smoking, and believed it was less harmful than smoking. Participants had variable knowledge about ENDS, but few had asked providers for recommendations. They reported providers were not very knowledgeable about ENDS, and were not asking providers for recommendations. ENDS may help mental health patients who have been unable to quit tobacco, but should not be recommended outside of smoking cessation. This survey provides needed information about how ENDS are being used by mental health patients to help guide future recommendations by their healthcare providers when screening for tobacco use.
Discriminatively Trained Recurrent Neural Networks for Continuous Dimensional Emotion Recognition from Audio

Continuous dimensional emotion recognition from audio is a sequential regression problem, where the goal is to maximize correlation between sequences of regression outputs and continuous-valued emotion contours, while minimizing the average deviation. As in other domains, deep neural networks trained on simple acoustic features achieve good performance on this task. Yet, the usual squared error objective functions for neural network training do not fully take into account the above-named goal. Hence, in this paper we introduce a technique for the discriminative training of deep neural networks using the concordance correlation coefficient as cost function, which unites both correlation and mean squared error in a single differentiable function. Results on the MediaEval 2013 and AV+EC 2015 Challenge data sets show that the proposed method can significantly improve the evaluation criteria compared to standard mean squared error training, both in the music and speech domains.
Parkinson Disease

Often the first symptom of Parkinson disease is trembling or shaking (tremor) of a limb, especially when the body is at rest. Typically, the tremor begins on one side of the body, usually in one hand. Tremors can also affect the arms, legs, feet, and face. Other characteristic symptoms of Parkinson disease include rigidity or stiffness of the limbs and torso, slow movement (bradykinesia) or an inability to move (akinesia), and impaired balance and coordination (postural instability). These symptoms worsen slowly over time.
Botulinum toxin for simple motor tics

Objective: To determine the effect of injections of botulinum toxin on simple motor tics. Background: Case series with unblinded assessments have reported improvement in tic frequency and associated urge with botulinum toxin. Methods: Patients with suitable simple motor tics were randomized to receive botulinum toxin and placebo in a double blind, crossover design. All outcomes compared week 2 to baseline measurements. The primary outcome measure was the number of treated tics per minute on a videotape segment. Secondary outcome measures were number of untreated tics per minute, the Shapiro Tourette Syndrome Severity Scale score, a numerical assessment of the urge to perform the treated tic (0 to 4), the premonitory sensation associated with the treated tic (0 to 4), and the patient’s global impression of change. Results: Eighteen patients completed the study. The median relative change in treated tics per minute with botulinum toxin was −0.39 (or a 39% reduction) versus 0.058 (or a 5.8% increase) with placebo (net effect −0.37, p = 0.0007). The average change in urge scores (score range 0 to 4) was −0.46 in the treatment phase and +0.49 in the placebo phase (net effect 0.94, p = 0.02). Other secondary outcome measures were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: Botulinum toxin reduced treated tic frequency and the urge associated with the treated tic. Despite these changes, patients did not report an overall benefit from the treatment. Careful consideration of the contribution of the target tic to the patient’s disability is needed before making treatment decisions. Additional material related to this article can be found on the Neurology Web site. Go to www.neurology. org and scroll down the Table of Contents for the March 13 issue to find the title link for this article.
The efficiency of online cognitive-behavioral therapy for postpartum depressive symptomatology: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT Postpartum depression (PD) is a frequently occurring disorder that affects the cognitive, emotional and social development of a mother after childbirth. Online cognitive-behavioral therapy (OCBT) is used as therapy for PD symptomatology, but no clear evidence is available about its effectiveness. The goal of this meta-analysis was to identify, synthesize and analyze the empiric studies regarding the OCBT effectiveness for PD. A search for indexed articles and unpublished theses between 2000 and 2017 was made in Google Scholar, Proquest, ScienceDirect, APA PsycNet, Cochrane, SpringerLink, Medline, PubMed and Dissertations Abstract International. Six studies were selected based on the following eligibility criteria: (1) papers published in English, (2) papers about PD, (3) papers that empirically investigated the effectiveness of OCBT for PD, and (4) papers comparing an experimental group with a control group. Exclusion criteria included investigations of PD for: (1) mothers diagnosed with another severe disorder and (2) mothers with deceased children and (3) women with an age below 18 years old. This meta-analytic study identified a moderate significant size-effect (d = – 0.54, 95% CI [−0.716; −0.423]) of the OCBTs in reducing PD, and practical implications and limitations are discussed.