Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Climate Change Disequilibrium of Boreal Permafrost Peatlands Caused by Local Processes

Boreal forest and tundra are the biomes expected to experience the greatest warming during the course of the next century. The transient responses of boreal peatlands to climate change could be more complex than a simple large release of carbon and rapid migrations of vegetation and permafrost. Here we used alternative models to demonstrate that local processes typical of permafrost peatlands control carbon and vegetation dynamics in ways that strongly mediate effects of regional temperature gradients. Regional temperature affected stability and thaw rate. Thaw rate increased with mean annual temperature, and rates have accelerated within the last 50 yr. Local factors exerted a strong influence on stability, the levels of which were highest in three of the four temperature zones studied along the shaded south‐southwest edges of collapse scars. The presence of Sphagnum fuscum cover increased stability. In all zones, survey points with S. fuscum showed more than twice the stability of points with feather moss, lichen, or no vegetation. In a direct model comparison between regional and local control, local factors were more important. Our results suggest that local processes mediate the effects of regional climate, and an accurate representation of ecosystem dynamics benefits from both local and regional processes.
On the role of Librarian Agent in ontology-based Knowledge Management Systems

In this paper, we present an ontology-based approach for the improvement of searching in an information portal. The approach is based on incremental refinement of user's queries, according to the ambiguity of a query's interpretation. The so-called Librarian Agent plays the role of the human librarian in the traditional library - it uses information, about the domain vocabulary, the capacity of the knowledge repository and the behaviour of previous users in order to help users find the resources they are interested in. Moreover, the agent analyses the users' requests off-line and compares the users' interests with the capacity of the information repository, in order to find which new topics should be introduced or which topics users are no more interested in. We partially im plemented the approach in the Web Portal of our Institute and some initial evaluation results are shown.
Beliefs about medicines, doctor–patient relationship, and coping among European patients with cancer

Luigi Grassi*, Elena Meggiolaro, Maria Alejandra Berardi, Agustina Sirgo, Maria Cristina Colistro, Elisabeth Andritsch, Alessandra Montesi, Tatiana Bertelli, Clemens Farkas, Rosangela Caruso, Silvana Sabato, Sara Massarenti, Eva Juan Linarez and Maria Giulia Nanni Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Biomedical and Specialty Surgical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy University Hospital Psychiatry Unit, Program in Psycho-Oncology and Psychiatry in Palliative Care, University S. Anna Hospital and Health Authorities, Ferrara, Italy Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) S.r. l, Meldola, Forlì-Cesena, Italy Psycho-Oncology Unit, Oncology Department, University Hospital Sant Joan de Reus, Reus, Spain Istituto Oncologico Romagnolo (IOR), Forlì, Italy Psycho-Oncology Service, Clinical Department of Oncology, University Medical Center of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria Psycho-Oncology Unit, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain
Healing Effects of Platelet-Rich Plasma on Peripheral Nerve Injuries

Abstract Regeneration of peripheral nerve injuries (PNIs) has been a major challenging issue in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Inferior alveolar nerve and lingual nerve injuries are the major difficulties and complications of oral surgeries following dental implant placement, etc. The aim of this study was to systematically review the effects of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) on the regeneration of PNIs. Medline NCBI databases were searched for related articles up to and including May 2016. Being published in English papers, use of PRP in peripheral nerve regeneration, in vivo studies, and having histological evaluations was the inclusion criteria. Seventeen papers were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and categorized regarding PNIs types including cut or crushed injuries. The effects of using PRP only or in combination with cells on the functional recovery and histological assessments are discussed and compared with the other treatments such as autologous nerve graft, acellular nerve allograft, and synthetic nerve conduits. The authors also clarified the perspectives in the current field. Consequently, PRP demonstrated positive effects on healing of the nerve function as well histological improvements in cut nerve PNIs model; however, more studies in the field of crushed nerves are needed to arrive at an evidence-based conclusion.
Flower pollination algorithm based localization of wireless sensor network

Wireless sensor networks are highly valuable for many location - sensitive applications. Ordinarily, with the location of only a few sensors whose location is already known, localization algorithms work for estimation of remaining sensor positions. In this paper, Flower Pollination (FP) algorithm is used for WSN localization problem. The node's position calculated using FP algorithm is compared with the diverse variants of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. From the simulation results, it is concluded that the proposed FP algorithm has better localization accuracy and success rate of localized nodes than the PSO variants.
Hardware Design for the New Galaxy Random Search Motion Estimation Algorithm Focusing in HD Videos

This paper presents a new algorithm for motion estimation in high definition videos and it also proposes a hardware architecture to perform it. The algorithm uses a random search in the candidate blocks as strategy to avoid local minima falls and to increase the motion estimation quality . This algorithm is called Galaxy Random Search (GRS). Software evaluation shows that the GRS algorithm can achieve a PSNR gain of 1.82 dB in comparison to Diamond Search algorithm, when 1080p video sequences are considered. The proposed architecture was designed focusing on real time processing for HD 1080p videos. The preliminary results show that the proposed architecture might be able to process 1080p videos in real time (at 30 frames per second) with similar hardware costs than a Diamond Search architecture.
High expression of myoferlin is associated with poor outcome in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma patients and is inversely associated with HPV-status

Myoferlin (MYOF) is a member of ferlin family of membrane proteins that was originally discovered as a muscle specific protein. Recent studies have shown that myoferlin is also expressed in other cell types including endothelial cells and cancer cells. However, very little is known about the expression and biological role of myoferlin in head and neck cancer. In this study, we examined expression profile of myoferlin in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) and assessed its correlation with disease progression and patient outcome. In univariate analyses, nuclear MYOF was associated with poor overall survival (p<0.001) and these patients had 5.5 times increased hazard of death (95% Cl 3.4-8.8). Nuclear myoferlin expression was also directly associated with tumor recurrence (p<0.001), perineural invasion (p=0.008), extracapsular spread (p=0.009), higher T-stage (p=0.0015) and distant metastasis (p<0.001). In addition, nuclear MYOF expression was directly associated with IL-6 (p<0.001) and inversely with HPV status (p=0.0014). In a subgroup survival analysis, MYOF nuclear+/IL-6+ group had worst survival (84.6% mortality), whereas MYOF nuclear-/IL-6- had the best survival. Similarly, patients with HPV-negative/MYOF-positive tumors had worse survival compared to HPV-positive/MYOF-negative. Taken together, our results demonstrate for the first time that nuclear myoferlin expression independently predicts poor clinical outcome in OPSCC patients.
Microstructure Characterization and Mechanical Properties of Modified 9Cr Steel

The work describes the effect of heat treatment on microstructure, and mechanical behavior titanium and niobium modified 9% chromium steel. The initial cast and forged microstructures consist of martensitic structure. The martensitic structure changes with increasing tempering temperature. Fine precipitates are found during tempering at 700 °C. Precipitates are carbides of chromium, niobium, and titanium. The room temperature tensile behavior of the steel is strongly dependent on processing and subsequent heat treatment. The tensile properties (YS and UTS) increase with increasing tempering temperature from 700 to 750 °C. The tensile properties of the steel improve in case of rolling sample compared to forging sample due to texture formation. But tensile properties decrease with increasing tempering time from 1 to 5 h at a fixed temperature (700 °C). The high‐temperature tensile test result shows that YS and UTS decrease whereas ductility increases with increasing temperature. True stress also decreases with increasing temperature.
Brief report: Internal medicine residents’, attendings’, and nurses’ perceptions of the night float system

AbstractBACKGROUND: Residency training programs use the night float system increasingly to meet the new resident work hour regulations. OBJECTIVE: To assess and compare residents’, attendings’, and nurses’ perceptions of the night float system. DESIGN: A survey study. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and seven residents, 48 attendings, and 69 nurses in a university-based multicenter internal medicine residency program. MEASUREMENTS: Perceived impact on patient care, resident training, and resident performance. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 75%. In general, more residents than both attendings and nurses had positive opinions regarding the night float system, particularly in relation to patient care. Only a small proportion of residents and attendings thought positively about the night float’s impact on training quality (29.9%; 18.2%), daily feedback (23.0%; 9.1%), and end of rotation evaluation (21.8%; 6.1%). Less than half of the nurses had positive perceptions of the night residents’ performance in terms of promptness (40.9%), physical availability (38.6%), familiarity with the patients’ cases, and management plans (15.9%), communication of management plans to nurses (36.4%), professional respect and trust (43.2%), and teamwork (45.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Residents had more positive perceptions than attendings and nurses. Nurses, in particular, had negative perceptions of resident performance in the setting of the night float system.
Urinary tract infection in Hemodialysis patients with renal failure

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common in dialysis patients, are associated with increased rate of complications, and may be difficult to diagnose due to often subclinical presentation.Objectives: To examine theprevalence of urinary tract infections in hemodialysis patients with renal failure, and to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of pyuria as a screening test in hemodialysis patients.Patients and Methods: A total of forty hemodialysis patients (27 males and 13 females) with renal failure were selected according to the study criteria. Clean-catch mid-stream urine specimens were obtained from study patients, their urinalysis and bacterial culture were performed according to standard techniques. Bacteriuria is defined as detection of  105 cfu/ml of a single microorganismin culture of urine specimens.Pyuria is defined as the presence of 10 neutrophils per high power field of voided mid-stream urine.Results: Urine from 25(62%) patients had no significant organism growth, whereasurine from 15(37%) patients grew  105 cfu/ml; 6 patients had been infected with E. coli, 5 patients with Klebsiella spp. , one patient with Acinetobacter, one patient with α-hemolytic Streptococci, one patient with coagulase negative Staphylococci, and one patient with Proteus spp. Fourteenout of 40 (35%) patients had pyuria and only 9 (64%) out of 14 patients had a positive urine culture for infection. The sensitivity and specificity of pyuria screening for UTI was 60% and 80%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values are 64% and 77%, respectively.Conclusions: The result of this study demonstrates that pyuria was a good marker for significant bacteriuria in these patients. Cultural techniques are needed for susceptibility testing of bacterial isolates to guide antimicrobial therapy. The antimicrobial susceptibility tests in this study revealed that Amikacin, Gentamicin, Ceftazidime, Cefoxitin, and Imipenem act well on isolated bacteria.
Exacerbation-related impairment of quality of life and work productivity in severe and very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Purpose Exacerbation-associated health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with severe and very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is ill-defined. This study describes patterns, HRQoL, and the work productivity impact of COPD-related moderate and SEV exacerbations in patients with SEV/VSEV COPD, focusing on the chronic bronchitis subtype. Patients and methods A US sample of SEV and VSEV COPD patients with recent moderate or SEV exacerbation was recruited. Along with the demographic and clinical data collected from medical records, patients reported on exacerbation frequency, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) (using the St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire for COPD [SGRQ-C] and the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions [EQ-5D]™ index), and work productivity and activity impairment (using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire – Specific Health Problem [WPAI-SHP]). The HRQoL-related impacts of exacerbation frequency, time since exacerbation, and last exacerbation severity were evaluated via linear regressions. Results A total of 314 patients (190 SEV/124 VSEV, mean age =68.0 years, 51% male, 28% current smokers) were included. In the previous 12 months, patients reported an average of 1.8 moderate exacerbations and 0.9 SEV exacerbations. Overall, 16% of patients were employed and reported a high percentage of overall work impairment (42.4% ± 31.1%). Activity impairment was positively associated with recent exacerbation severity (SEV 64.6% ± 26.8% versus moderate 55.6% ± 28.2%) (P=0.006). The HRQoL was significantly worse for SEV versus VSEV COPD (EQ-5D: 0.62 ± 0.23 versus 0.70 ± 0.17, respectively, and SGRQ-C: 70.1 ± 21.3 versus 61.1 ± 19.0, respectively) (P<0.001). Worse current HRQoL was reported by patients with a SEV versus moderate recent exacerbation (EQ-5D: 0.63 ± 0.21 versus 0.70 ± 0.20, respectively) (P=0.003); SGRQ-C: 70.3 ± 19.9 versus 61.7 ± 20.1, respectively (P<0.001). One additional exacerbation in the previous 12 months was associated with a 2.4-point SGRQ-C increase and a 0.02-point EQ-5D index decrease. Conclusion The severity and frequency of COPD-related moderate/SEV exacerbations in SEV and VSEV COPD patients were positively associated with poor HRQoL and work productivity and activity impairment.
Chitosan adhesive for laser tissue repair

Background. Laser tissue repair usually relies on haemoderivate solders, based on serum albumin. These solders have intrinsic limitations that impair their widespread use, such as limited repair strength, high solubility, brittleness and viral transmission. Furthermore, the solder activation temperature (65-70 °C) can induce significant damage to tissue. In this study, a new laser-activated biomaterial for tissue repair was developed and tested in vitro and in vivo to overcome some of the shortcomings of traditional solders. Materials and Methods. Flexible and insoluble strips of chitosan adhesive (surface area ~34 mm2, thickness ~20 μm) were developed and bonded on sheep intestine with a laser fluence and irradiance of 52 ± 2 J/cm2 and ~15 W/cm2 respectively. The temperature between tissue and adhesive was measured using small thermocouples. The strength of repaired tissue was tested by a calibrated tensiometer. The adhesive was also bonded in vivo to the sciatic nerve of rats to assess the thermal damage induced by the laser (fluence = 65 ± 11 J/cm2, irradiance = 15 W/cm2) four days post-operatively. Results. Chitosan adhesives successfully repaired intestine tissue, achieving a repair strength of 0.50 ± 0.15 N (shear stress = 14.7 ± 4.7 KPa, n=30) at a temperature of 60-65 °C. The laser caused demyelination of axons at the operated site; nevertheless, the myelinated axons retained their normal morphology proximally and distally.
Continuous-time controllers for stabilizing periodic orbits of hybrid systems: Application to an underactuated 3D bipedal robot

This paper presents a systematic approach to exponentially stabilize periodic orbits in nonlinear systems with impulse effects, a special class of hybrid systems. Stabilization is achieved with a time invariant continuous-time controller. The presented method assumes a parametrized family of continuous-time controllers has been designed so that (1) a periodic orbit is induced, and (2) the orbit itself is invariant under the choice of parameters in the controllers. By investigating the properties of the Poincaré return map, a sensitivity analysis is presented that translates the stabilization problem into a set of Bilinear Matrix Inequalities (BMIs). A BMI optimization problem is set up to select the parameters of the continuous-time controller to achieve exponential stability. We illustrate the power of the approach by finding new stabilizing solutions for periodic orbits of an underactuated 3D bipedal robot.
Epidemiology of Major Eye Diseases Leading to Blindness in Europe: A Literature Review

The objective of this work was to study the epidemiology of major eye diseases leading to blindness in Europe through a systematic literature review. The literature search was performed using the Medline database (PubMed), with MeSH and free text search terms. Inclusion criteria for the studies were: (a) performed on a healthy population of Caucasian origin aged between 50 and 75 years; (b) diagnosed by ophthalmological examination in accordance with the International Classification of Diseases 10; (c) contained a detailed description of the sampling and diagnostic procedures and data resources; (d) sample size >500, and (e) published between 1990 and 2008. The results of 57 studies on the prevalence and incidence of age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are reported, providing an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of these diseases in Europe from an epidemiological perspective.
Forest conversion to poplar plantation in a Lombardy floodplain (Italy): effects on soil organic carbon stock

Effects of forest conversion to poplar plantation on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks were investigated by sampling paired plots in an alluvial area of the Ticino River in Northern Italy. According to land registers and historical aerial photographs, the two sites were part of a larger area of a 200 yr old natural forest that was partly converted to poplar plantation in 1973. The soil sampling of three layers down to a depth of 100 cm was performed at 90 and 70 points in the natural forest (NF) and in the nearby poplar plantation (PP) respectively. The substitution of the natural forest with the poplar plantation strongly modified soil C stock down to a depth of 55 cm, although the management practices at PP were not intensive. After calculation of equivalent soil masses and of SOC stocks in individual texture classes, the comparison of C stocks showed an overall decrease in SOC of 5.7 kg m 2 or 40 % in consequence of 37 years of poplar cultivation. Our case study provides further evidence that (i) spatial heterogeneity of SOC is an important feature in paired plot studies requiring a careful sampling strategy and high enough number of samples; (ii) land use changes through tillage are creating a more homogeneous spatial structure of soil prop- erties and may require the application of dedicated spatial statistics to tackle eventual problems of pseudo-replicates and auto-correlation; (iii) short rotation forests are not prop- erly represented in current reporting schemes for changes of SOC after land use change and may better be considered as cropland.
Relationship between Divergent Thinking and Intelligence: An Empirical Study of the Threshold Hypothesis with Chinese Children

The threshold hypothesis is a classical and notable explanation for the relationship between creativity and intelligence. However, few empirical examinations of this theory exist, and the results are inconsistent. To test this hypothesis, this study investigated the relationship between divergent thinking (DT) and intelligence with a sample of 568 Chinese children aged between 11 and 13 years old using testing and questionnaire methods. The study focused on the breakpoint of intelligence and the moderation effect of openness on the relationship between intelligence and DT. The findings were as follows: (1) a breakpoint at the intelligence quotient (IQ) of 109.20 when investigating the relationship between either DT fluency or DT flexibility and intelligence. Another breakpoint was detected at the IQ of 116.80 concerning the correlation between originality and intelligence. The breakpoint of the relation between the composite score of creativity and intelligence occurred at the IQ of 110.10. (2) Openness to experience had a moderating effect on the correlation between the indicators of creativity and intelligence under the breakpoint. Above this point, however, the effect was not significant. The results suggested a relationship between DT and intelligence among Chinese children, which conforms to the threshold hypothesis. Besides, it remains necessary to explore the personality factors accounting for individual differences in the relationship between DT and intelligence.
Stem Cell-Based Neuroprotective and Neurorestorative Strategies

Stem cells, a special subset of cells derived from embryo or adult tissues, are known to present the characteristics of self-renewal, multiple lineages of differentiation, high plastic capability, and long-term maintenance. Recent reports have further suggested that neural stem cells (NSCs) derived from the adult hippocampal and subventricular regions possess the utilizing potential to develop the transplantation strategies and to screen the candidate agents for neurogenesis, neuroprotection, and neuroplasticity in neurodegenerative diseases. In this article, we review the roles of NSCs and other stem cells in neuroprotective and neurorestorative therapies for neurological and psychiatric diseases. We show the evidences that NSCs play the key roles involved in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative disorders, including depression, stroke and Parkinson’s disease. Moreover, the potential and possible utilities of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), reprogramming from adult fibroblasts with ectopic expression of four embryonic genes, are also reviewed and further discussed. An understanding of the biophysiology of stem cells could help us elucidate the pathogenicity and develop new treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. In contrast to cell transplantation therapies, the application of stem cells can further provide a platform for drug discovery and small molecular testing, including Chinese herbal medicines. In addition, the high-throughput stem cell-based systems can be used to elucidate the mechanisms of neuroprotective candidates in translation medical research for neurodegenerative diseases.