Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of the mini pediatric asthma quality of life questionnaire and identification of risk factors affecting quality of life among Lebanese children

ABSTRACT Background: Few studies used various scales to assess the QOL in Lebanon in general but none was specific to asthma. Our objective was to assess the asthma-related quality of life, using the mini Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ), in Lebanese asthmatic children, check its validity compared to the original version, and identify clinical and sociodemographic risk factors that might affect these children's QOL. Methods: This retrospective study included 300 children aged between 7–16 years (51.6% boys and 48.4% girls). To confirm the mini-PAQLQ questionnaire construct validity in the Lebanese population, an exploratory factor analysis was launched for the 13 items of the questionnaire, using the principal component analysis technique. Cronbach's alpha was recorded for reliability analysis. A multivariate analysis linear regression was carried out, taking the QOL score as the dependent variable. Results: The correlation coefficients for factors 1 (symptoms and emotions) and 2 (activities) were similar to that of the original scale. High Cronbach's alphas were found for factor 1 (0.914), factor 2 (0.888), and the full scale (0.921). Uncontrolled asthma, the child's respiratory problems before the age of 2 years, and the presence of pets at home significantly decreased the children's asthma-related quality of life (Beta = −1.541; Beta = −6.846, and Beta = −5.364, respectively). Conclusion: We were able to validate the mini-PAQLQ among the Lebanese population. The identification of risk factors, some of which are amenable to intervention, especially uncontrolled asthma, could lead to an improvement in the asthmatic children's QOL.
Improved Bootstrap Design for Frequency-Domain Signaling Transmission

In ATSC 3.0, a bootstrap is used to enable initial synchronization and carry transmission parameter signaling. The bootstrap consists of multiple orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols which enables variable signaling capacity. Signaling information is conveyed by applying cyclic shift in time-domain. However, the bootstrap suffers from performance loss in the channels of strong multipath and fast time-variation. In this paper, an improved bootstrap enabling separate design of synchronization part and signaling transmission part is proposed. Zero correlation zone sequence is employed in frequency-domain (FD) for signaling transmission by cyclically shifting the sequence in FD. At the receiver, a universal signaling decoding method regardless of the synchronization part design is presented. Besides, to eliminate the performance degradation introduced by non-linear distortion of channel transfer function, signaling validation and correction operations on the previous symbol are required. Numerical simulation indicates that the proposed design achieves better signaling transmission performance than current one in some corner cases.
Who Uses Mobile Phone Health Apps and Does Use Matter? A Secondary Data Analytics Approach

Background Mobile phone use and the adoption of healthy lifestyle software apps (“health apps”) are rapidly proliferating. There is limited information on the users of health apps in terms of their social demographic and health characteristics, intentions to change, and actual health behaviors. Objective The objectives of our study were to (1) to describe the sociodemographic characteristics associated with health app use in a recent US nationally representative sample; (2) to assess the attitudinal and behavioral predictors of the use of health apps for health promotion; and (3) to examine the association between the use of health-related apps and meeting the recommended guidelines for fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity. Methods Data on users of mobile devices and health apps were analyzed from the National Cancer Institute’s 2015 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), which was designed to provide nationally representative estimates for health information in the United States and is publicly available on the Internet. We used multivariable logistic regression models to assess sociodemographic predictors of mobile device and health app use and examine the associations between app use, intentions to change behavior, and actual behavioral change for fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity, and weight loss. Results From the 3677 total HINTS respondents, older individuals (45-64 years, odds ratio, OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.47-68; 65+ years, OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.14-0.24), males (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.66-0.94), and having degree (OR 2.83, 95% CI 2.18-3.70) or less than high school education (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.24-0.72) were all significantly associated with a reduced likelihood of having adopted health apps. Similarly, both age and education were significant variables for predicting whether a person had adopted a mobile device, especially if that person was a college graduate (OR 3.30). Individuals with apps were significantly more likely to report intentions to improve fruit (63.8% with apps vs 58.5% without apps, P=.01) and vegetable (74.9% vs 64.3%, P<.01) consumption, physical activity (83.0% vs 65.4%, P<.01), and weight loss (83.4% vs 71.8%, P<.01). Individuals with apps were also more likely to meet recommendations for physical activity compared with those without a device or health apps (56.2% with apps vs 47.8% without apps, P<.01). Conclusions The main users of health apps were individuals who were younger, had more education, reported excellent health, and had a higher income. Although differences persist for gender, age, and educational attainment, many individual sociodemographic factors are becoming less potent in influencing engagement with mobile devices and health app use. App use was associated with intentions to change diet and physical activity and meeting physical activity recommendations.
Factors Influencing Registered Nurses’ Decision to Activate an Adult Rapid Response Team in a Community Hospital

Background:One factor impacting patient outcomes in the acutely deteriorating patient is a delay by nursing staff to activate a rapid response team (RRT); however, a gap in knowledge exists concerning factors influencing activation of an RRT by nursing staff working in adult areas outside the medical-surgical and telemetry setting. Objectives:The purpose of this study was to examine beliefs and behaviors that influence registered nurses’ decision to activate an adult rapid response team in a community hospital that includes 3 specialties: medical-surgical and telemetry, peripartum, and psychiatric areas. Methods:One hundred sixty-three nurses were surveyed using a 17-item Likert-style instrument to assess registered nurses’ beliefs and attitudes on and barriers to utilizing an RRT. Results:The survey was analyzed yielding 3 factors: RRT barriers, RRT positive/intent to activate, and patient management beliefs. Barriers cited by other research to activate RRT including criticism by the team and perception that the RRT increases workload or reduces skills were not found to be influential considerations. A significant difference was found among the 3 specialty groups related to RRT positive/intent to activate (F2,159 = 6.09, P = .003) and patient management beliefs (F2,159 = 5.87, P = .003). A strong negative correlation was found between years of experience as an RN and RRT barriers (&rgr;161 = −0.250). Discussion:Organizations should examine RRT activation delays particularly in the area of calls to covering physicians prior to RRT activations. Differences between specialty groups highlight the need for education across specialties on the recognition of the acutely deteriorating patient. The findings indicate that the inexperienced nurse requires support from experienced colleagues and temporary adjustments to workload during situations of acute deterioration of a patient.
IClinfMRI Software for Integrating Functional MRI Techniques in Presurgical Mapping and Clinical Studies

Task-evoked and resting-state (rs) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques have been applied to the clinical management of neurological diseases, exemplified by presurgical localization of eloquent cortex, to assist neurosurgeons in maximizing resection while preserving brain functions. In addition, recent studies have recommended incorporating cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) imaging into clinical fMRI to evaluate the risk of lesion-induced neurovascular uncoupling (NVU). Although each of these imaging techniques possesses its own advantage for presurgical mapping, a specialized clinical software that integrates the three complementary techniques and promptly outputs the analyzed results to radiology and surgical navigation systems in a clinical format is still lacking. We developed the Integrated fMRI for Clinical Research (IClinfMRI) software to facilitate these needs. Beyond the independent processing of task-fMRI, rs-fMRI, and CVR mapping, IClinfMRI encompasses three unique functions: (1) supporting the interactive rs-fMRI mapping while visualizing task-fMRI results (or results from published meta-analysis) as a guidance map, (2) indicating/visualizing the NVU potential on analyzed fMRI maps, and (3) exporting these advanced mapping results in a Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) format that are ready to export to a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) and a surgical navigation system. In summary, IClinfMRI has the merits of efficiently translating and integrating state-of-the-art imaging techniques for presurgical functional mapping and clinical fMRI studies.
Learning and free energies for vector approximate message passing

Vector approximate message passing (VAMP) is a computationally simple approach to the recovery of a signal x from noisy linear measurements y = Ax + w. Like the AMP proposed by Donoho, Maleki, and Montanari in 2009, VAMP is characterized by a rigorous state evolution (SE) that holds under certain large random matrices and that matches the replica prediction of optimality. But while AMP's SE holds only for large i.i. d. sub-Gaussian A, VAMP's SE holds under the much larger class: right-rotationally invariant A. To run VAMP, however, one must specify the statistical parameters of the signal and noise. This work combines VAMP with Expectation-Maximization to yield an algorithm, EM-VAMP, that can jointly recover x while learning those statistical parameters. The fixed points of the proposed EM-VAMP algorithm are shown to be stationary points of a certain constrained free-energy, providing a variational interpretation of the algorithm. Numerical simulations show that EM-VAMP is robust to highly ill-conditioned A with performance nearly matching oracle-parameter VAMP.
The Diacetyl‐Exposed Human Airway Epithelial Secretome: New Insights into Flavoring‐Induced Airways Disease

&NA; Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is an increasingly important lung disease characterized by fibroproliferative airway lesions and decrements in lung function. Occupational exposure to the artificial food flavoring ingredient diacetyl, commonly used to impart a buttery flavor to microwave popcorn, has been associated with BO development. In the occupational setting, diacetyl vapor is first encountered by the airway epithelium. To better understand the effects of diacetyl vapor on the airway epithelium, we used an unbiased proteomic approach to characterize both the apical and basolateral secretomes of air‐liquid interface cultures of primary human airway epithelial cells from four unique donors after exposure to an occupationally relevant concentration (˜1,100 ppm) of diacetyl vapor or phosphate‐buffered saline as a control on alternating days. Basolateral and apical supernatants collected 48 h after the third exposure were analyzed using one‐dimensional liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Paired t tests adjusted for multiple comparisons were used to assess differential expression between diacetyl and phosphate‐buffered saline exposure. Of the significantly differentially expressed proteins identified, 61 were unique to the apical secretome, 81 were unique to the basolateral secretome, and 11 were present in both. Pathway enrichment analysis using publicly available databases revealed that proteins associated with matrix remodeling, including degradation, assembly, and new matrix organization, were overrepresented in the data sets. Similarly, protein modifiers of epidermal growth factor receptor signaling were significantly altered. The ordered changes in protein expression suggest that the airway epithelial response to diacetyl may contribute to BO pathogenesis.
Exploring the Specific Needs of Persons with Multiple Sclerosis for mHealth Solutions for Physical Activity: Mixed-Methods Study

Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the world’s most common neurologic disorders, with symptoms such as fatigue, cognitive problems, and issues with mobility. Evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) helps people with MS reduce fatigue and improve quality of life. The use of mobile technologies for health has grown in recent years with little involvement from relevant stakeholders. User-centered design (UCD) is a design philosophy with the goal of creating solutions specific to the needs and tasks of the intended users. UCD involves stakeholders early and often in the design process. In a preliminary study, we assessed the landscape of commercially available MS mobile health (mHealth) apps; to our knowledge, no study has explored what persons with MS and their formal care providers think of mHealth solutions for PA. Objective The aim of this study was to (1) explore MS-specific needs for MS mHealth solutions for PA, (2) detect perceived obstacles and facilitators for mHealth solutions from persons with MS and health care professionals, and (3) understand the motivational aspects behind adoption of mHealth solutions for MS. Methods A mixed-methods design study was conducted in Kliniken Valens, Switzerland, a clinic specializing in neurological rehabilitation. We explored persons with MS and health care professionals who work with them separately. The study had a qualitative part comprising focus groups and interviews, and a quantitative part with standardized tools such as satisfaction with life scale and electronic health (eHealth) literacy. Results A total of 12 persons with relapsing-remitting MS and 12 health care professionals from different backgrounds participated in the study. Participants were well-educated with an even distribution between genders. Themes identified during analysis were MS-related barriers and facilitators, mHealth design considerations, and general motivational aspects. The insights generated were used to create MS personas for design purposes. Desired mHealth features were as follows: (1) activity tracking, (2) incentives for completing tasks and objectives, (3) customizable goal setting, (4) optional sociability, and (5) game-like attitude among others. Potential barriers to mHealth apps adoption were as follows: (1) rough on-boarding experiences, (2) lack of clear use benefits, and (3) disruption of the health care provider-patient relationship. Potential facilitators were identified: (1) endorsements from experts, (2) playfulness, and (3) tailored to specific persons with MS needs. A total of 4 MS personas were developed to provide designers and computer scientists means to help in the creation of future mHealth solutions for MS. Conclusions mHealth solutions for increasing PA in persons with MS hold promise. Allowing for realistic goal setting and positive feedback, while minimizing usability burdens, seems to be critical for the adoption of such apps. Fatigue management is especially important in this population; more attention should be brought to this area.
Comparative investigation of the structure and properties of ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) and poly(vinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene) thin films crystallized on substrates

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and copolymers of vinylidene fluoride and trifluoroethylene [P(VDF/TrFE)s] were deposited on silicon substrates, and their structure and properties were comparatively investigated. Compared to P(VDF/TrFE), which is the polymer material currently most dominant for ferroelectric thin-film devices applications, our β-phase PVDF homopolymer thin film demonstrated several advantages, such as higher dielectric breakdown strength, improved polarization fatigue endurance, and larger ferroelectric polarization at elevated temperatures with improved thermal stability. The reasons for the observed different characteristics between the PVDF and P(VDF/TrFE) thin films were analyzed on the basis of their different structures and morphologies. The results indicate that the low-cost β-phase PVDF homopolymer thin films have great potential as an alternative to P(VDF/TrFE) for ferroelectric and piezoelectric thin-film-device applications. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010
Towards human behavior recognition based on spatio temporal features and support vector machines

Security and surveillance are vital issues in today’s world. The recent acts of terrorism have highlighted the urgent need for efficient surveillance. There is indeed a need for an automated system for video surveillance which can detect identity and activity of person. In this article, we propose a new paradigm to recognize an aggressive human behavior such as boxing action. Our proposed system for human activity detection includes the use of a fusion between Spatio Temporal Interest Point (STIP) and Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HoG) features. The novel feature called Spatio Temporal Histogram Oriented Gradient (STHOG). To evaluate the robustness of our proposed paradigm with a local application of HoG technique on STIP points, we made experiments on KTH human action dataset based on Multi Class Support Vector Machines classification. The proposed scheme outperforms basic descriptors like HoG and STIP to achieve 82.26% us an accuracy value of classification rate.
Analysis of Azimuthal Variations Using Multi-Aperture Polarimetric Entropy with Circular SAR Images

In conventional synthetic aperture radar (SAR), sensors with a fixed look angle are assumed, and the scattering properties are considered as invariant in the azimuth. In some new SAR modes such as wide-angle SAR and circular SAR (CSAR), the azimuthal angle of view is much larger. Anisotropic targets which have different physical shapes from different angles of view are difficult to interpret in the traditional observation model if variations remain unconsidered. Meanwhile, SAR polarimetry is a powerful tool to analyze and interpret targets’ scattering properties. Anisotropic targets can be precisely described with polarimetric signatures from different angles of view. In this paper, polarimetric data is separated into sub-apertures to provide polarimetric properties from different angles of view. A multi-aperture observation model which contains full polarimetric information from all angles of view is then established. Based on the multi-aperture observation model, multi-aperture polarimetric entropy (MAPE) is defined and is suggested as an extension of polarimetric entropy in multi-aperture situations. MAPE describes both targets’ polarimetric properties and variations across sub-apertures. Variations across the azimuth are analyzed and anisotropic and isotropic targets are identified by MAPE. MAPE can be used in many polarimetric wide angle and CSAR applications. Potential applications in target discrimination and classification are discussed. The effectiveness and advantages of MAPE are demonstrated with polarimetric CSAR data acquired from the Institute of Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences airborne CSAR system at P-band.
Processing of wood plastic composites: The influence of feeding method and polymer melt flow rate on particle degradation

Spruce wood particle (WP)/polypropylene (PP) compounds were prepared in an internal mixer using different rotor speeds. To analyze the effect of feeding method on particle degradation, WP and PP were either fed as dry-blend or WP was fed into the PP melt. To prevent melt freezing, pre-heated WP were used as comparison to cold WP. In addition, WPs were compounded with different grades of PP or high-density polyethylene (HDPE) to analyze the effect of polymer matrix melt flow rate (MFR) on particle degradation. Mixing behavior of compounds containing 30% and 70% (w/w) WP depended on feeding method, represented by a changing relation of final torque values. Feeding as dry-blend and using pre-heated particles led to stronger WP degradation. Degradation decreased with increasing polymer MFR. For PP compounds, particle degradation was stronger when containing 70% WP, for HDPE the difference due to WP content was only marginal. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43231.
Epibulbar osseous choristoma: a case report

We present a case of a 15-year-old girl with an epibulbar osseous choristoma. The patient presented with a 3×3 mm, whitish, firm subconjunctival mass in the superotemporal quadrant of her right eye with vascularization. She underwent excision biopsy of the mass under topical anesthesia. The pathologic sections were consistent with a well-circumscribed osseous tissue without atypia. Osseous choristoma is one of the rare types of ocular choristoma to be considered in the differential diagnosis of pediatric epibulbar tumors.
Effect of Different Computer-aided Design/Computer-aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) Materials and Thicknesses on the Fracture Resistance of Occlusal Veneers.

The aim was to evaluate, in vitro, the influence of different computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) materials (IPS e.max CAD, Vita Enamic, and Lava Ultimate) and thicknesses (0.6 mm and 1.5 mm) on the fracture resistance of occlusal veneers. Sixty human third molars were prepared to simulate advanced erosion of the occlusal surface, and the teeth were randomly divided into six experimental groups (n=10) according to the material and thickness used to build the veneers. Ten sound teeth formed the control group. The veneers were adhesively luted and submitted to mechanical cyclic loading (1 million cycles at 200-N load). The fracture resistance test was performed in a universal testing machine. The failures were classified as "reparable" and "irreparable. " According to two-way analysis of variance and the Tukey test, the interaction (material × thickness) was significant ( p=0.013). The highest fracture resistance was obtained for IPS e.max CAD at a 1.5-mm thickness (4995 N) and was significantly higher compared to the other experimental groups ( p<0.05). The lowest fracture resistance was obtained for Vita Enamic at 0.6 mm (2973 N), although this resistance was not significantly different from those for IPS e.max CAD at 0.6 mm (3067 N), Lava Ultimate at 0.6 mm (3384 N), Vita Enamic at 1.5 mm (3540 N), and Lava Ultimate at 1.5 mm (3584 N) ( p>0.05). The experimental groups did not differ significantly from the sound teeth (3991 N) ( p>0.05). The failures were predominantly repairable. The occlusal veneers of IPS e.max CAD, Vita Enamic, and Lava Ultimate, with thicknesses of 0.6 mm and 1.5 mm, obtained fracture resistances similar to those associated with sound teeth.