Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cognitive Therapy with Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder

Background People with obsessive–compulsive disorders (OCD) are widely treated with a combination of medication and behavioural techniques. The success rate is 50–85%, but both relapse and drop-out rates appear high. The use of cognitive therapy (CT) for the treatment of OCD has been suggested. The empirical evidence supporting the use of CT for OCD is examined. Method A manual and computer (Medline) literature search was performed. Results Fifteen empirical studies were found: ten non-controlled, and five controlled. Conclusions There are few controlled CT studies, and these show little evidence of improvement when CT is added to existing therapeutic techniques.
Cell-free synthesis of simian virus 40 T-antigens

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and tryptic peptide fingerprint analysis of the proteins made in a cell-free system derived from L-cells and immunoprecipitated with simian virus 40 (SV40) anti-T serum demonstrated that both SV40 large-T and small-T antigens are synthesized in vitro in response to mRNA isolated from productively infected CV1 CELLS. Sucrose density centrifugation in gradients containing 85% formamide showed that the mRNA's for both forms of T-antigen sediment at about 17.5S, with the mRNA for small-t sedimenting marginally, but reproducibly, ahead of the mRNA for large-T. Hybridization experiments using restriction endonuclease fragments Hae III-E and Hind II/III-B showed that all fractions active in the cell-free synthesis of both forms of T-antigen hybridized equally to both fragments. This suggests that the mRNA's for SV40 T-antigens are at least partly virus coded and that the bulk of the early SV40 mRNA contains sequence information from both ends of the early region. The data are consistent with the suggestion that the large-T mRNA is spliced. SV40 complementary RNA (the product of transcription of SV40 DNA using Escherichia coli RNA polymerase) was also translated in the L-cell system and gave two families of polypeptides which specifically immunoprecipitate with anti-T serum. One family (the small-t family) includes a polypeptide indistinguishable by gel electrophoresis and tryptic peptide fingerprinting from small-t isolated from cells. The other family (the 60K family) has a major component with molecular weight approximately 60,000 and includes other polypeptides with molecular weights ranging from approximately 14,000 to about 70,000. The 60K family has petides in common with large-T but not with small-T. Together, the peptides of the small-t and 60K families account for virtually all of the methionine peptides of SV40 large-T. We conclude from these results (i) that small-t is probably entirely, and large-T at least predominantly, virus coded; (ii) that the small-t and 60K families represent the translation products of two different portions of the early region of SV40 DNA (approximately 0.65 to 0.55 map units and 0.54 to 0.17 map units); and (iii) that although most, if not all, of the large-T and small-t peptides are present in the cell-free product, some feature of sequence arrangement of SV40 complementary RNA prevents the translation of full-length large-T and results instead in the synthesis of fragments. We suggest that the absence of a splice in the complementary RNA is responsible for this result.
A survey of the difficulties encountered during routine hygiene and health care by persons with special needs

Purpose. This study aims to evaluate the difficulty experienced during routine hygiene and healthcare in various domains by persons with special needs attending a dental clinic compared to controls. Method. Data were gathered from 98 patients (mean age 18 SD±10.9 years) and 27 control subjects (mean age 17.3 SD±10.6 years) using a 19-item questionnaire of difficulty. Results. Seven acts showed greater difficulty in the study group: cleaning teeth (OR = 15.34; 95% CI: 3.46 – 70.10), washing ears (OR = 7.58; 95% CI: 1.70 – 33.94), dental treatment (OR = 5.54; 95% CI: 2.23 – 13.80), ear examination (OR = 3.80; 95% CI: 1.22 – 11.86), dental examination (OR = 3.06; 95% CI: 1.27 – 7.42), blood tests (OR = 2.58; 95% CI: 1.08 – 6.16) and swallowing a tablet (OR = 2.06; 95% CI: 0.01 – 0.46). Patients treated under sedation expressed significantly greater difficulty without sedation for dental examination (OR = 3.04; 95% CI: 1.21 – 7.65) and dental treatment (OR = 3.87; 95% CI: 1.54 – 9.73). Conclusions. Difficulty encountered in the acceptance of routine hygiene and healthcare could be used as an indicator for the need for Special Care facilities for outpatient treatment. Educational, behavioural and pharmacological procedures that can improve these situations are discussed.
Vortex tube reconnection at Re = 104

We present simulations of the long-time dynamics of two anti-parallel vortex tubes with and without initial axial flow, at Reynolds number Re = Γ/ν = 104. Simulations were performed in a periodic domain with a remeshed vortex method using 785 × 106 particles. We quantify the vortex dynamics of the primary vortex reconnection that leads to the formation of elliptical rings with axial flow and report for the first time a subsequent collision of these rings. In the absence of initial axial flow, a −5/3 slope of the energy spectrum is observed during the first reconnection of the tubes. The resulting elliptical vortex rings experience a coiling of their vortex lines imparting an axial flow inside their cores. These rings eventually collide, exhibiting a −7/3 slope of the energy spectrum. Studies of vortex reconnection with an initial axial flow exhibit also the −7/3 slope during the initial collision as well as in the subsequent collision of the ensuing elliptical vortex rings. We quantify the detailed vortex.
The JCMT Gould Belt Survey: SCUBA-2 observations of radiative feedback in NGC 1333

We present observations of NGC 1333 from SCUBA-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), observed as a JCMT Gould Belt Survey pilot project during the shared risk campaign when the first of four arrays was installed at each of 450 and 850 μm. Temperature maps are derived from 450 and 850 μm ratios under the assumption of constant dust opacity spectral index β = 1.8. Temperatures indicate that the dust in the northern (IRAS 6/8) region of NGC 1333 is hot, 20–40 K, due to heating by the B star SVS3, other young stars in the IR/optically visible cluster and embedded protostars. Other luminous protostars are also identified by temperature rises at the 17 arcsec resolution of the ratio maps (0.02 pc assuming a distance of 250 pc for Perseus). The extensive heating raises the possibility that the radiative feedback may lead to increased masses for the next generation of stars.
Personalized, Interactive Question Answering on the Web

Two of the current issues of Question Answering (QA) systems are the lack of personalization to the individual users' needs, and the lack of interactivity by which at the end of each Q/A session the context of interaction is lost. We address these issues by designing and implementing a model of personalized, interactive QA based on a User Modelling component and on a conversational interface. Our evaluation with respect to a baseline QA system yields encouraging results in both personalization and interactivity.
An investigation of waste glass-based geopolymers supplemented with alumina

An increased consideration of sustainability throughout society has resulted in a surge of research investigating sustainable alternatives to existing construction materials. A new binder system, called a geopolymer, is being investigated to supplement ordinary portland cement (OPC) concrete, which has come under scrutiny because of the CO2 emissions inherent in its production. Geopolymers are produced from the alkali activation of a powdered aluminosilicate source by an alkaline solution, which results in a dense three-dimensional matrix of tetrahedrally linked aluminosilicates. Geopolymers have shown great potential as a building construction material, offering similar mechanical and durability properties to OPC. Additionally, geopolymers have the added value of a considerably smaller carbon footprint than OPC. This research considered the compressive strength, microstructure and composition of geopolymers made from two types of waste glass with varying aluminum contents. Waste glass shows great potential for mainstream use in geopolymers due to its chemical and physical homogeneity as well as its high content of amorphous silica, which could eliminate the need for sodium silicate. However, the lack of aluminum is thought to negatively affect the mechanical performance and alkali stability of the geopolymer system.
The Quasi-Uniform Redundant Carrier Placement for UW-OFDM

Unique-word (UW) OFDM is a new multicarrier technique that was recently proposed in [1]. To construct the UW-OFDM signal, some carriers must be sacrificed to transmit redundant information -- these carriers are called the redundant carriers. It turns out that the average redundant energy needed strongly depends on the positions of the redundant carriers. In this paper, we look for the redundant carrier placement that minimizes the average redundant energy -- this needs an exhaustive search over all possible redundant carrier placements. Hence, the computational complexity to find the optimal redundant carrier distribution is very high. Therefore, we introduce a suboptimal redundant carrier placement -- the quasi-uniform (QU) distribution, that is based on the results of the exhaustive search, and determines the positions of the redundant carriers at no computational cost. We show in this paper that the redundant energy needed for the proposed QU distribution is very close to the theoretical minimum average redundant energy.
Practical Issues in Calculating the Sample Size for Prevalence Studies

The sample size calculation for a prevalence only needs a simple formula. However, there are a number of practical issues in selecting values for the parameters required in the formula. Several practical issues are addressed and appropriate recommendations are given. The paper also suggests the application of a software calculator that checks the normal approximation assumption and incorporates finite population correction in the sample size calculation.
Falls and comorbidity: The pathway to fractures

Aims: To compare nationwide time trends and mortality in hip and proximal humeral fractures; to explore associations between incidences of falls risk related comorbidities (FRICs) and incidence of fractures. Methods: The study is a retrospective cohort study using nationwide Danish administrative registries from 2000 through 2009. Individuals aged 65 years or older who experienced a hip or a proximal humeral fracture were included. Incidence of hip and of proximal humeral fractures, incidence of FRICs (ischemic heart disease, COPD, dementia, depression, diabetes, heart failure, osteoporosis, Parkinson’s disease and stroke) and incidence rate ratios (IRR) for fractures in patients with FRICs, and all-cause mortality up to 10 years after a hip or a proximal humeral fracture were analysed. Results: A total of 89,150 patients experienced hip fractures and 48,581 proximal humeral fractures. From 2000 through 2009, the incidence of hip fractures per 100,000 individuals declined by 198 (787 to 589, OR = 0.75, CI: 0.72–0.80) among males and by 483 (1758 to 1275, OR = 0.74, CI: 0.72–0.77) among females. Incidences of FRICs decreased. The absolute reduction in fractures was most pronounced for the age group above 75 years (2393 to 1884, OR = 0.81, CI: 0.78–0.83), but the relative reduction was more pronounced in the age group of 65–75 years old (496 to 342, OR = 0.70, CI: 0.66–0.74). IRRs for hip fractures and for proximal humeral fractures were significantly elevated in patients with FRICs. Conclusions: The results suggest that the overall reduction in fractures can be explained by reduction in falls related comorbidity.
Cause or Effect of Arteriogenesis: Compositional Alterations of Microparticles from CAD Patients Undergoing External Counterpulsation Therapy

Recently, a clinical study on patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) showed that external counterpulsation therapy (ECP) at high (300 mmHg) but not at low inflation pressure (80 mmHg) promoted coronary collateral growth, most likely due to shear stress-induced arteriogenesis. The exact molecular mechanisms behind shear stress-induced arteriogenesis are still obscure. We therefore characterized plasma levels of circulating microparticles (MPs) from these CAD patients because of their ambivalent nature as a known cardiovascular risk factor and as a promoter of neovascularization in the case of platelet-derived MPs. MPs positive for Annexin V and CD31CD41 were increased, albeit statistically significant (P<0.05, vs. baseline) only in patients receiving high inflation pressure ECP as determined by flow cytometry. MPs positive for CD62E, CD146, and CD14 were unaffected. In high, but not in low, inflation pressure treatment, change of CD31CD41 was inversely correlated to the change in collateral flow index (CFI), a measure for collateral growth. MPs from the high inflation pressure group had a more sustained pro-angiogenic effect than the ones from the low inflation pressure group, with the exception of one patient showing also an increased CFI after treatment. A total of 1005 proteins were identified by a label-free proteomics approach from MPs of three patients of each group applying stringent acceptance criteria. Based on semi-quantitative protein abundance measurements, MPs after ECP therapy contained more cellular proteins and increased CD31, corroborating the increase in MPs. Furthermore, we show that MP-associated factors of the innate immune system were decreased, many membrane-associated signaling proteins, and the known arteriogenesis stimulating protein transforming growth factor beta-1 were increased after ECP therapy. In conclusion, our data show that ECP therapy increases platelet-derived MPs in patients with CAD and that the change in protein cargo of MPs is likely in favor of a pro angiogenic/arteriogenic property. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00414297
Validation of automated latex von Willebrand factor activity assay in a new prospective study including post‐treatment patient samples

Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most prevalent inherited bleeding disorder. Diagnosis requires measurement of VWF–platelet binding function, for which VWF ristocetin cofactor activity (VWF:RCo) is the reference method. Recently, an automated latex particle‐enhanced immunoturbidimetric von Willebrand factor activity assay (VWF:Ab) has been validated showing superior characteristics. We further validate VWF:Ab in a prospective study including post‐treatment patient samples.
Effects of a Perindopril-Based Blood Pressure–Lowering Regimen on the Risk of Recurrent Stroke According to Stroke Subtype and Medical History: The PROGRESS Trial

Background and Purpose— The Perindopril Protection Against Recurrent Stroke Study (PROGRESS) showed that blood pressure lowering reduced stroke risk in patients with a history of cerebrovascular events. Here, we report the consistency of treatment effects across different stroke subtypes and among major clinical subgroups. Methods— PROGRESS was a randomized, double-blind trial among 6105 people with a prior history of cerebrovascular events. Participants were assigned to active treatment (perindopril for all participants and indapamide for those with neither an indication for nor a contraindication to a diuretic) or matching placebo(s). Results— During a mean of 3.9 years of follow-up, active treatment reduced the absolute rates of ischemic stroke from 10% to 8% (relative risk reduction [RRR], 24%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 10 to 35) and the absolute rates of intracerebral hemorrhage from 2% to 1% (RRR, 50%; 95% CI, 26 to 67). The relative risk of any stroke during follow-up was reduced by 26% (95% CI, 12 to 38) among patients whose baseline cerebrovascular event was an ischemic stroke and by 49% (95% CI, 18 to 68) among those whose baseline event was an intracerebral hemorrhage. There was no evidence that treatment effects were modified by other drug therapies (antiplatelet or other antihypertensive agents), residual neurological signs, atrial fibrillation, or the time since the last cerebrovascular event. Conclusions— Beneficial effects of a perindopril-based treatment regimen were observed for all stroke types and all major clinical subgroups studied. These data suggest that effective blood pressure–lowering therapy should be routinely considered for all patients with a history of cerebrovascular events.
Multi-object tracking using dominant sets

Multi-object tracking is an interesting but challenging task in the field of computer vision. Most previous works based on data association techniques merely take into account the relationship between detection responses in a locally limited temporal domain, which makes them inherently prone to identity switches and difficulties in handling long-term occlusions. In this study, a dominant set clustering based tracker is proposed, which formulates the tracking task as a problem of finding dominant sets in an auxiliary edge weighted graph. Unlike most techniques which are limited in temporal locality (i.e. few frames are considered), the authors utilised a pairwise relationships (in appearance and position) between different detections across the whole temporal span of the video for data association in a global manner. Meanwhile, temporal sliding window technique is utilised to find tracklets and perform further merging on them. The authors’ robust tracklet merging step renders the tracker to long term occlusions with more robustness. The authors present results on three different challenging datasets (i.e. PETS2009-S2L1, TUD-standemitte and ETH dataset (‘sunny day’ sequence)), and show significant improvements compared with several state-of-art methods.
Polymer-based electrospray chips for mass spectrometry

In this paper, we present our development of a MEMS chip with an overhanging polymer microcapillary 2.5 mm in length and with a 5 /spl mu/m/spl times/10 /spl mu/m orifice size at the tip. The fabricated chips have been successfully interfaced with a mass spectrometer (MS) to validate electrospray ionization (ESI) for biochemical analysis. The prediction of a reduction in Taylor cone size has also been observed with real time ESI fluid visualization from our chip. Built-in micro particle filters and centimeter long serpentine microchannels were fabricated on the chip with a low temperature process by using the Parylene polymer as a structural material, aluminum and photoresist as sacrificial layers, and bromine trifluoride (BrF/sub 3/) gas phase etching for final microcapillary releasing. The use of an overhanging polymer structure adds a new a level of mechanical robustness that was never achievable with other thin films. Functionality of our device was proven by consistent detection of myoglobin in a 200 nM solution at a flow rate of 35 nL/min and a voltage potential of 1.5 kV. This MS interface chip represents vital and significant improvements in MEMS process technology and MS functionality with respect to the silicon nitride (Si/sub x/N/sub y/) ESI nozzles previously reported.
Maternal and cord blood hormone levels in the United States and China and the intrauterine origin of breast cancer.

BACKGROUND Breast cancer is less common in China than in the United States and perinatal characteristics predict breast cancer risk in the offspring. We determined levels of pregnancy hormones in Boston and Shanghai to identify those possibly involved in the intrauterine origin of breast cancer. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS We compared maternal and cord blood levels of estradiol, estriol, testosterone, progesterone, prolactin, insulin-like growth factors (IGF) 1 and 2, insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3, adiponectin and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) in 241 Caucasian and 295 Chinese women. RESULTS In both centers, hormone levels at the 16th were predictive of those at the 27th gestational week, but there was little correlation between maternal and cord blood levels. In cord blood, we found significantly (P < 0.01) higher levels of estradiol (44.2%), testosterone (54.5%), IGF-2 (22.7%) and strikingly SHBG (104.6%) in Shanghai women, whereas the opposite was true for IGF-1 (-36.8%). CONCLUSIONS Taking into account the current understanding of the plausible biological role of the examined endocrine factors, those likely to be involved in the intrauterine origin of breast cancer are SHBG and IGF-2, with higher cord blood levels among Chinese, and IGF-1, with higher cord blood levels among Caucasian women.
Modeling Virus Inactivation on Salad Crops Using Microbial Count Data

Microbial counts of the persistentBacteroides fragilis bacteriophage B40‐8 from a virus decay experiment conducted under glasshouse conditions were used to model the decay of viruses on wastewater‐irrigated lettuce and carrot crops. The modeling approach applied gave specific consideration to the discrete nature of microbial count data. The experimental counts were best fit by a negative binomial distribution indicating highly dispersed distribution of viruses on lettuce and carrot crops following irrigation with wastewater. In addition, there was evidence for biphasic inactivation of viruses, signifying the presence of a persistent subpopulation of viruses that decayed slowly, resulting in virus accumulation on the crop surface over subsequent irrigations. Maximum likelihood estimates of initial and persistent subpopulation inactivation rates were 2.48 day−1 and 0.51 day−1 for lettuces and 0.84 day−1 and 0.046 day−1 for carrots. Maximum likelihood estimates of the persistent virus subpopulation size were 0.12% and 2% for lettuce and carrots, respectively.
Wnt5a induces ROR1/ROR2 heterooligomerization to enhance leukemia chemotaxis and proliferation.

Evolutionarily conserved receptor tyrosine kinase–like orphan receptor-1 and -2 (ROR1/2) are considered distinct receptors for Wnt5a and are implicated in noncanonical Wnt signaling in organogenesis and cancer metastasis. We found that Wnt5a enhanced proliferation and migration of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells and that these effects were blocked by the humanized anti-ROR1 mAb cirmtuzumab (UC-961). Treatment of CLL cells with Wnt5a induced ROR1 to oligomerize with ROR2 and recruit guanine exchange factors (GEFs), which activated Rac1 and RhoA; siRNA-mediated silencing of either ROR1 or ROR2 or treatment with UC-961 inhibited these effects. Using the ROR1-deficient CLL cell line MEC1, we demonstrated that ectopic ROR1 expression induced ROR1/ROR2 heterooligomers, which recruited GEFs, and enhanced proliferation, cytokine-directed migration, and engraftment potential of MEC1 cells in immune-deficient mice. Notably, treatment with UC-961 inhibited engraftment of ROR1+ leukemia cells in immune-competent ROR1-transgenic mice. Molecular analysis revealed that the extracellular Kringle domain is required for ROR1/ROR2 heterooligomerization and the cysteine-rich domain or intracellular proline-rich domain is required for Wnt5a-induced recruitment of GEFs to ROR1/ROR2. This study identifies an interaction between ROR1 and ROR2 that is required for Wnt5a signaling that promotes leukemia chemotaxis and proliferation.