Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of Wavelet Techniques in ECG Signal Processing: An Overview

ECG signals are non-stationary, pseudo periodic in nature and whose behavior changes with time. The proper processing of ECG signal and its accurate detection is very much essential since it determines the condition of the heart. The analysis of ECG signal requires the information both in time and frequency, for clinical diagnosis. Hence the wavelet transforms becomes handy for analyzing these types of the signals. In this paper we have given an overview of some wavelet techniques published in journals and conferences since 2005 onwards for processing the ECG and also we have compared the performance, advantages and limitations of these techniques.
Long-term follow-up of periarterial sympathectomy for chronic digital ischaemia

This study investigates long-term clinical results (> 10 years) of periarterial sympathectomy in chronic ischaemic digits compared with intermediate-term results (3 years). Periarterial sympathectomy via the palm and volar wrist was carried out on 11 hands of seven patients with digital ischaemia but no gangrene or severe ulceration. The aetiology of ischaemia was Buerger’s disease in four hands, collagen disease in three hands, and repetitive digital trauma in four hands. Subjective symptoms were evaluated at a mean follow-up period of 12 years. The efficacy of surgery was assessed objectively using thermography and plethysmography. Although five of seven patients continued on oral vasodilators and antiplatelet agents until the final follow-up, improvement of symptoms was maintained in all patients between intermediate- and long-term evaluations. Our results suggest that periarterial sympathectomy via the palm and wrist could prevent long-term aggravation of symptoms of chronic digital ischaemia when combined with adequate postoperative drug therapy.
The potential risk factors for atypical and anaplastic meningiomas: clinical series of 1,239 cases.

BACKGROUND Determining factors that could accurately predict pathological features of meningiomas before histological diagnosis would help surgeons to proper balance the risk of operation and the resection grade. The aim of this study was to explore the potential risk factors for atypical (WHO Grade II) and anaplastic (WHO Grade III) meningiomas. METHODS Records of 1,239 patients between January 2009 and January 2013 were included in this research. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry with Ki67 was analysed in 368 samples. RESULTS The Pearson's chi-square test showed an increased risk for male gender for atypical and anaplastic meningiomas (P < 0.001) and an increased risk for cerebral convexity for atypical and anaplastic meningiomas (P < 0.001). However, significant differences in the terms of falx/sagittal sinus and intraventricular were not found. Patients with a Ki67 index ≥ 5% were significantly more likely to have atypical and anaplastic meningiomas than those patients with a Ki67 index < 5% (P < 0.001). In addition, the percentage of patients with a Ki67 index ≥ 5% in cerebral convexity meningiomas was higher than in non-cerebral convexity location (P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that male gender, cerebral convexity are significant risk factors for atypical and anaplastic meningiomas.
Multiway Distributed Wireless Relay Network With Projected Binary Quantization

Wireless relay networking has been proposed as a solution to enable communication between disconnected users that otherwise are unable to reliably share information with one another due to distance or obstruction. Instead, a relay forwards a processed version of the data sent from one or more transmitters to one or more receivers. In this paper, we propose an energy efficient distributed relay networking structure where the spatial diversity of distributed multiple-input multiple-output systems is utilized. The distributed relay network consists of several single antenna relay nodes that are spatially distributed to receive transmissions from many users through an uplink. Each of the relay nodes performs a simple quantization operation to send a quantized version of the combination of the received signals through a downlink to a receiver (fusion center). Using the quantized signals broadcast by each relay node, we derive the maximum likelihood detector that can be implemented at each user to detect transmissions from other users. We also introduce suboptimal detectors that are less computationally complex than the maximum likelihood detector while having comparable performance. Analysis on the number of relay nodes required for the relay network to perform properly is also discussed. Our results are verified through simulations.
Cloning of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) Arginine Decarboxylase Gene and Its Expression during Fruit Ripening

Arginine decarboxylase (ADC) is the first enzyme in one of the two pathways of putrescine biosynthesis in plants. The genes encoding ADC have previously been cloned from oat and Escherichia coli. Degenerate oligonucleotides corresponding to two conserved regions of ADC were used as primers in polymerase chain reaction amplification of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) genomic DNA, and a 1.05-kb fragment was obtained. This genomic DNA fragment encodes an open reading frame of 350 amino acids showing about 50% identity with the oat ADC protein. Using this fragment as a probe, we isolated several partial ADC cDNA clones from a tomato pericarp cDNA library. The 5[prime] end of the coding region was subsequently obtained from a genomic clone containing the entire ADC gene. The tomato ADC gene contains an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 502 amino acids and a predicted molecular mass of about 55 kD. The predicted amino acid sequence exhibits 47 and 38% identity with oat and E. coli ADCs, respectively. Gel blot hybridization experiments show that, in tomato, ADC is encoded by a single gene and is expressed as a transcript of approximately 2.2 kb in the fruit pericarp and leaf tissues. During fruit ripening the amount of ADC transcript appeared to peak at the breaker stage. No significant differences were seen when steady-state ADC mRNA levels were compared between normal versus long-keeping Alcobaca (alc) fruit, although alc fruit contain elevated putrescine levels and ADC activity at the ripe stage. The lack of correlation between ADC activity and steady-state mRNA levels in alc fruit suggests a translational and/or posttranslational regulation of ADC gene expression during tomato fruit ripening.
Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Activity of the Plant Extracts of Mimosa pudica L. Against Selected Microbes

Mimosa pudica L. is a creeping annual or perennial herb. It has been identified as Lajjalu in Ayurveda and has been found to have antiasthmatic, aphrodisiac, analgesic and antidepressant. In the present study the active phytocomponents of Mimosa pudica were revealed using phytochemical analysis. The antimicrobial activity of Mimosa was studied using well diffusion method. The activity was tested against Aspergillus fumigatus, Citrobacter divergens and Klebsiella pneumonia at different concentrations of 50, 100 and 200µg/disc and the results have been illustrated.
Search for ethnic, geographic, and other factors in the epidemiology of Down syndrome in South America: analysis of data from the ECLAMC project, 1967-1997.

We have analyzed data on 3,157 cases of Down syndrome (DS) from nine South American countries in consecutive series of hospital live births over a 30-year period, with particular emphasis on possible ethnic or geographic variations in maternal age-adjusted incidence. The data constitute the largest series of DS cases assembled to date from an area lacking advanced health care systems. Absolute incidence rates were estimated from total hospital live births; relative rates were estimated from matched case-control data using conditional logistic regression. Maternal age-adjusted rates were closely similar to those reported elsewhere, and showed little or no dependency on other factors investigated, including paternal age, birth order, ancestral origin, country of birth, maternal educational level, maternal ABO and Rhesus blood groups, interval to and outcome of mother's previous pregnancy, and parental consanguinity. The absence of an effect of high birth order was particularly notable because of the relatively large number of grand multipara resulting from high fertility in this population. The study adds to a body of evidence suggesting that maternal age-adjusted DS rates vary little across human populations, and are therefore unlikely to be greatly influenced by genetic or environmental factors that differ between them. An unusual finding was of a markedly lower sex ratio (98 males per 100 females) than has been reported in other DS samples.
Marked and unmarked: A choice between unequals in semiotic structure

Markedness — the asymmetrical and hierarchical relationship between the two poles of any opposition — has been a central concept in both phonology and semantics (grammar) in linguistics since the 1930s, when it was first defined and utilized in a systematic way by Nikolaj Trubetzkoy and Roman Jakobson. Since that time it has found wide application both in linguistics and in other studies of semiotic systems, for example, Claude Levi-Strauss's work in anthropology. It has become increasingly clear, however, that the nature of markedness has been misunderstood by linguists and other semioticians alike and that in particular semioticians have based their understanding of markedness on the phonological model (and often a misunderstood phonological model, at that), while for most semiotic work, markedness in semantic (grammatical and lexical) systems proves to be the much more powerful and insightful analog. This is especially so since the semantic system is that area where oppositions obtain in the signatum while phonology is that area where oppositions obtain in the signans. Furthermore, the semantic system correlates the oppositions in the signatum with differences in form, while in phonology the oppositions in the signans are correlated only with 'differentiatedness' ( = otherness) in the signatum. (It is this difference that is the basis for 'double articulation'.) If we take the type of signatum as criterial, then we can say that phonology is that area based primarily on the 'differentiatedness' of the signatum, while semantics is that area based primarily on the 'significativeness' of the signatum, its association with a given conceptual category. Since most work in semiotic systems deals with significative domains, it would seem then to be a phonological (and perforce linguistic) contraband to apply notions such as 'differentiatedness' to domains that are properly 'significative'.
The Guts of Dietary Habits

Can dietary intervention change an individual's gut microbiome composition? There is a multimillion-dollar industry based on the concept that introducing beneficial bacteria into the human intestines will improve our health. The trillions of symbionts in the large intestine profoundly affect our metabolism and immunity. Accordingly, abnormal bacterial communities have been identified in several human diseases such as inflammatory bowel diseases (1–3), colon cancer (4, 5), irritable bowel syndrome (6), and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (7). The composition of microbial communities is generally stable within each individual. Past studies of the gut microbiota emphasized the huge impact of nutrition (8), which is likely to outweigh that of the host genotype (9). On page 105 of this issue. Wu et al. (10) further explore how dietary factors can influence the profile and stability of intestinal microbes.
Synthesis of Quinolinic Acid by 3‐Hydroxyanthranilic Acid Oxygenase in Rat Brain Tissue In Vitro

In mammalian peripheral organs, 3‐hydroxy‐anthranilic acid oxygenase (3HAO), catalyzing the conversion of 3‐hydroxyanthranilic acid to quinolinic acid, constitutes a link in the catabolic pathway of tryptophan to NAD. Because of the possible involvement of quinolinic acid in the initiation of neurodegenerative phenomena, we examined the presence and characteristics of 3HA0 in rat brain tissue. A simple and sensitive assay method, based on the use of [carboxy‐14C]3‐hydroxy‐anthranilic acid as a substrate, was developed and the enzymatic product, [14C]quinolinic acid, identified by chro‐matographic and biochemical means. Kinetic analysis of rat forebrain 3HAO revealed a Km of 3.6 ± 0.5 μM for 3‐hydroxyanthranilic acid and a Vmaxof 13.1± 9.5 pmol quinolinic acid/h/mg tissue. The enzyme showed pronounced selectivity for its substrate, since several substances structurally and metabolically related to 3‐hydroxyanthranilic acid caused <25% inhibition of activity at 500 μM. Both the Fe2+ dependency and the distinct subcellular distribution (soluble fraction) of brain 3HAO indicated a close resemblance to 3HAO from peripheral tissues. Examination of the regional distribution in the brain demonstrated a 10‐fold variation between the region of highest (olfactory bulb) and lowest (retina) 3HAO activity. The brain enzyme was present at the earliest age tested (7 days postnatum) and increased to 167% at 15 days before reaching adult levels. Enzyme activity was stable over extended periods of storage at — 80°C. Taken together, these data indicate that measurements of brain 3HA0 may yield significant information concerning a possible role of quinolinic acid in brain function and/or dysfunction.
Any need to revisit the male reproductive toxicity of lead?

Commentary on the paper by Shiau et al ( Occup Environ Med , November 2004)* The toxicity of lead has been known for millennia and has served as a template for toxicology studies.1 According to some 45 000 measurements in European industrial settings spanning smelters, battery manufacturing, and foundries, the average concentration of lead in blood steadily declined from 68 μg/dl in 1970 to 35 μg/dl in 1995.2 In parallel with this development the introduction of non-leaded gasoline in the late 1970s was followed by a dramatic decline in body burden of lead in the general population.3 However, unlike many other metals such as zinc, chromium, manganese, copper, and iron, lead has no known essential effects for living organisms, and current exposure levels are still high compared to pre-industrial populations. Therefore it is important to continue to control lead exposure and to unravel effects of the low and very low doses of the metal. Lead has long been known to be toxic to male fertility. Several studies in rats and other rodents indicate that blood lead concentrations above 30–40 μg/dl are associated with impairment of spermatogenesis and reduced concentrations of androgens—although some rat species and strains seem quite resistant.4 The latter could be due to differences in tissue distribution. Contrary to findings in …
Children, coping, and the stress of illness: a synthesis of the research.

PURPOSE To synthesize and critique the current research on coping strategies used by children who are ill, to identify gaps in the research base, and to provide direction for practice, future research, and theory development. POPULATION 32 research articles on coping strategies used by children with chronic or acute illness. CONCLUSIONS Children's repertoire of coping strategies is the same during health and illness, although the frequency or effectiveness of some of the strategies is often different. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Much more in-depth descriptive and longitudinal research is needed, particularly how, when, and why coping strategies are learned, retained, and later discarded. Research is needed to examine the relationship between coping and health outcomes, and on the effectiveness of nursing interventions designed to influence children's coping behavior.
Children’s future parasocial relationships with media characters: the age of intelligent characters

Abstract Children experience emotionally tinged parasocial relationships with their favorite media characters across a constantly changing media landscape. On the frontier of this landscape are intelligent agents: digital companions that can socially interact with and educate children. We discuss how research on parasocial relationships with media characters can influence the design of intelligent “characters” for children. We discuss the components of parasocial relationships—including attachment, character personification, and social realism—and how these may play a role in developing intelligent characters as effective educational tools. We also examine the development and dissolution of parasocial relationships, and how these factors can inform intelligent character design. Educational and social implications for these technologies as teaching tools are also discussed.
Testing strains of Clostridium perfringens type A isolated from diarrhoeic piglets for the presence of the enterotoxin gene

A diarrhoeic syndrome in piglets has been linked to Clostridium perfringens type A because this organism has been isolated in large numbers from all cases. The strains isolated from these cases and strains isolated from healthy piglets were screened for the enterotoxin gene of C perfringens by DNA-hybridisation. Using two different synthetic DNA-probes, none of the strains isolated from diseased pigs was positive in this reaction, indicating that the enterotoxin of C perfringens is not involved in the syndrome.
Employee representation and partnership in the non-union sector: a paradox of intention?

Non-union forms of employee representation have become increasingly prominent in UK workplaces in the last 15 years. In addition, partnership working has been encouraged by New Labour, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the Confederation of British Industry and the TUC as a route to higher commitment and higher individual and organisational performance. These trends have been further encouraged by recent European Union legislation. This article seeks to examine the implied linkages between non-union employee representative mechanisms and partnership working and their influence on the effectiveness of employee voice as a conduit of high performance. The article is based on a case study organisation from within the UK finance sector, and data are drawn from semistructured interviews with managers and staff and a survey of employee attitudes. The article concludes that employers’ attempts to utilise a non-union partnership framework for organisational gain are severely constrained by structural limitations on effective employee voice.
VO2max Measured with a Self-selected Work Rate Protocol on an Automated Treadmill.

PURPOSE The use of graded maximal exercise tests for measuring maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) is common practice in both cardiopulmonary rehabilitation settings and in sports medicine research. Recent alterations of common testing protocols to allow for self-selected work rates (SPV) have elicited V˙O2max values similar to or higher than more traditional style protocols (TP). Research is lacking in the delivery of the SPV protocol using a treadmill modality. The purpose of the study was to examine the validity of an SPV using an automated treadmill for measuring cardiorespiratory fitness. METHODS Thirteen experienced endurance runners completed three maximal exercise tests on a treadmill. Oxygen consumption was measured using a computerized system and averaged more than 30-s time periods. SPV was completed using an automated treadmill that consisted of a sonar range finder, microcontroller, and customized computer software. Subject deviations from the middle of the treadmill belt resulted in rapid, graded increases or decreases in speed. TP was completed on the same treadmill without the use of the automated software. A verification phase protocol (VP) was used to verify if VO2 was maximal. RESULTS Peak work rate achieved during SPV was significantly greater than that achieved during TP by 1.2 METs; P < 0.05, d = 0.564. Oxygen consumption was significantly greater in TP (64.9 ± 8.2 mL·kg·min) than SPV (63.4 ± 7.8 mL·kg·min); P < 0.005, d = 0.195. CONCLUSION An automated treadmill allowed for the completion of SPV similar to what has been reported for cycling. SPV with an automated treadmill did not provide a higher VO2max than TP despite higher work rates.
Fatty acid, cholesterol and fat-soluble vitamin composition of wild and captive freshwater crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus)

The proximate analysis (dry matter, protein, fat and ash), cholesterol, fatty acid and fat-soluble vitamin compositions of the tail muscle of wild caught and captive crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus) were investigated. Captive crayfish contained higher moisture and fat content than wild crayfish. In contrast, wild crayfish contained a higher level of crude protein, ash and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), particularly eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) than captive crayfish. Arachidonic acid (C20:4 n-6) was the major n-6 PUFA in wild A. leptodactylus, and linoleic acid (C18:2 n-6) was the major n-6 PUFA in captive A. leptodactylus. The percentages of total saturated fatty acids (SFA), PUFA, and n-3/n-6 ratio were higher in wild crayfish and total monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were lower. Although differences existed between wild and captive crayfish in vitamins A (p < 0.001), δ-Tocopherol (p < 0.001), α-Tocopherol acetate (p < 0.05), no differences were found in vitamins D2, D3, α- Tocopherol and K (p > 0.05). The differences may be originated from the diet provided to captive crayfish. Since wild A. leptodactylus contained higher n-3/n-6 ratio than captive A. leptodactylus, crayfish farms can potentially produce a better quality of crayfish meat by increasing the PUFA n-3 (especially DHA and EPA) in the diets of A. leptodactylus.
Cathodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Over Left Temporoparietal Area for Treatment-Refractory Delusions and Auditory Hallucinations in Schizophrenia: A Case Study.

To the Editor: A significant proportion of patients with schizophrenia have persistent delusions and hallucinations despite adequate pharmacotherapy, which has led to search for novel treatment modalities. Among others, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is promising because of its low cost, portability, and ease of use. It was observed that tDCS-induced aftereffects developed if the stimulation lasted at least 3 minutes, and further prolongation of stimulation duration proportionally increased aftereffect duration. Also, depending on the direction of current flow, the increase or decrease in excitability could be induced after tDCS stimulation which persisted for several minutes after the end of the stimulation. Furthermore, it has been shown using functional magnetic resonance imaging that cathodal tDCS lowered cortical activation, whereas anodal stimulation tended to raise activation. Based on this, cathodal tDCS over left temporoparietal cortex has been found to be helpful for auditory hallucinations in several case reports and 1 small RCT in patients with schizophrenia; the reported effect size for the treatment was large (Cohen's d, 1.58). There is evidence to suggest that left temporoparietal areas relevant for processing of auditory stimulus are overactive in those experiencing auditory hallucinations, and suppression of these areas with cathodal tDCS through neuronal hyperpolarization could explain the treatment effect. Therefore, we studied the effect of cathodal tDCS over left temporoparietal cortex for treatment-refractory delusions and auditory hallucinations in a patient with schizophrenia.