Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TESTING FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS WITH DISTANT STAR CLUSTERS: ANALYSIS OF OBSERVATIONAL DATA ON PALOMAR 14,,

We use the distant outer halo globular cluster Palomar 14 as a test case for classical versus modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND). Previous theoretical calculations have shown that the line-of-sight velocity dispersion predicted by these theories can differ by up to a factor of 3 for such sparse, remote clusters like Pal 14. We determine the line-of-sight velocity dispersion of Palomar 14 by measuring radial velocities of 17 red giant cluster members obtained using the Very Large Telescope and Keck telescope. The systemic velocity of Palomar 14 is (72.28 ± 0.12) km s−1. The derived velocity dispersion of (0.38 ± 0.12) km s−1 of the 16 definite member stars is in agreement with the theoretical prediction for the classical Newtonian case according to Baumgardt et al. In order to exclude the possibility that a peculiar mass function might have influenced our measurements, we derived the cluster's main-sequence mass function down to 0.53 M☉ using archival images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. We found a mass function slope of α = 1.27 ± 0.44, which is, compared to the canonical mass function, a significantly shallower slope. The derived lower limit on the cluster's mass is higher than the theoretically predicted mass in the case of MOND. Our data are consistent with a central density of ρ0 = 0.1 M☉ pc−3. We need no dark matter in Palomar 14. If the cluster is on a circular orbit, our spectroscopic and photometric results argue against MOND, unless the cluster experienced significant mass loss.
Mobility-Aware Application Scheduling in Fog Computing

Fog computing provides a distributed infrastructure at the edges of the network, resulting in low-latency access and faster response to application requests when compared to centralized clouds. With this new level of computing capacity introduced between users and the data center-based clouds, new forms of resource allocation and management can be developed to take advantage of the Fog infrastructure. A wide range of applications with different requirements run on end-user devices, and with the popularity of cloud computing many of them rely on remote processing or storage. As clouds are primarily delivered through centralized data centers, such remote processing/storage usually takes place at a single location that hosts user applications and data. The distributed capacity provided by Fog computing allows execution and storage to be performed at different locations. The combination of distributed capacity, the range and types of user applications, and the mobility of smart devices require resource management and scheduling strategies that takes into account these factors altogether. We analyze the scheduling problem in Fog computing, focusing on how user mobility can influence application performance and how three different scheduling policies, namely concurrent, FCFS, and delay-priority, can be used to improve execution based on application characteristics.
006Efficacy of photochemotherapy and UVA-1 therapy in patients with morphea or lichen sclerosus

Morphea and lichen sclerosus are inflammatory skin diseases of unknown aetiology. Morphea can be subdivided into plaque morphea, linear morphea and disabling or generalized morphea. In most patients morphea leads to superficial or deep sclerosis of the skin. The characteristic features of lichen sclerosus which often affects the genital area are edema of upper dermis, inflammatory infiltration and hyalinisation to the dermis at advanced stages. Patients with morphea or lichen sclerosus suffer especially from scar formation and morphea may lead to severe disfigurement, contractures and reduction of quality of life. Skin sclerosis seems to be the result of vascular damage, T cell activation and altered connective tissue production. Various therapies have been reported for lichen sclerosus and morphea. Whereas the topical use of ultrapotent corticosteroids is well established for genital lichen sclerosus, immunosuppressive agents are normally not successful in resolving extragenital skin sclerosis. In a retrospective study we confirmed the efficacy of phototherapy in more than 50 patients with morphea. Fourty treatments with 30 J/cm2 UVA-1 or PUVA-bath photochemotherapy resulted in a significant improvement, reduced skin thickness, as determined by high frequency ultrasound and reconstitution of functional mobility of the skin and even the underlying fasciae. In lichen sclerosus phototherapy was successful only in some patients. Thus for lichen sclerosus the use of topical corticosteroids is the first choice therapy, while phototherapy using either PUVA-bath or medium dose UVA-1 are the most effective treatments for morphea.
Gastric vs Small Bowel Feeding in Critically Ill Neurologically Injured Patients: Results of a Multicenter Observational Study.

BACKGROUND To evaluate gastric compared with small bowel feeding on nutrition and clinical outcomes in critically ill, neurologically injured patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS International, prospective observational studies involving 353 intensive care units (ICUs) were included. Eligible patients were critically ill, mechanically ventilated with neurological diagnoses who remained in the ICU and received enteral nutrition (EN) exclusively for at least 3 days. Sites provided data, including patient characteristics, nutrition practices, and 60-day outcomes. Patients receiving gastric or small bowel feeding were compared. Covariates including age, sex, body mass index, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score were used in the adjusted analyses. RESULTS Of the 1691 patients who met our inclusion criteria, 1407 (94.1%) received gastric feeding and 88 (5.9%) received small bowel feeding. Adequacy of calories from EN was highest in the gastric group (60.2% and 52.3%, respectively, unadjusted analysis; P = .001), but this was not significant in the adjusted model (P = .428). The likelihood of EN interruptions due to gastrointestinal (GI) complications was higher for the gastric group (19.6% vs 4.7%, unadjusted model; P = .015). There were no significant differences in the rate of discontinuation of mechanical ventilation (hazard ratio [HR], 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66-1.12; P = .270) or the rate of being discharged alive from the ICU (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.72-1.23; P = .641) and hospital (HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 0.87-1.55; P = .307) after adjusting for confounders. CONCLUSIONS Despite a higher likelihood of EN interruptions due to GI complications, gastric feeding may be associated with better nutrition adequacy, but neither route is associated with better clinical outcomes.
Childbirth expectations and experiences in Belgian and Dutch models of maternity care

Belgian and the Dutch societies show many similarities but differ with regard to the organisation of maternity care. The Dutch way of giving birth is well‐known for its high percentage of home births and its low medical intervention rate. In contrast, home births in Belgium are uncommon and the medical model is taken for granted. We expect that diverging models of maternity care give rise to different patterns of expectations and experiences. This quantitative comparative study took place in Belgian and Dutch hospitals and independent midwifery practices. Two questionnaires were completed by 611 women, one at 30 weeks of pregnancy and one within the first 2 weeks after childbirth, at home or in a hospital. Expectations about childbirth and the experience of childbirth have been assessed with the Wijma delivery expectancy/experience questionnaire enabling repeated measurement. A linear mixed model, with three fixed factors (time, country and place of birth), shows that expectations and experiences diverge. Dutch women have more negative expectations and experiences compared to Belgian women. Women who had a home birth had only slightly more optimistic expectations compared to women who had a hospital birth, but they rated their experiences as more positive.
Closed-loop manipulator control using quaternion feedback

Euler parameters, a form of normalized quaternions, are used to model the hand-orientation errors in resolved-rate and resolved-acceleration control of manipulators. The quaternion formulation simplifies the stability analysis of the orientation error dynamics. Two types of quaternion feedback have been considered. The first type uses only the vector portion of the quaternion error, while the second is based on a Euler rotation representation. The quaternion vector approach leads to a linear feedback control law for which the global asymptotic convergence of the orientation error is readily established. The Euler rotation approach also results in asymptotic error convergence in the large except for a singularity where the hand orientation differs from its desired orientation by a rotation of 180 degrees . >
Voltage controlled SAW velocity in GaAs/LiNbO/sub 3/-hybrids

The combination of the electronic properties of semiconductor heterojunctions and the acoustic properties of piezoelectric materials yields very promising surface acoustic wave (SAW) hybrid systems. Quasi-monolithical integration of thin GaAs/InGaAs/AlGaAs-quantum well structures on LiNbO/sub 3/ SAW devices is achieved using the epitaxial lift-off (ELO) technique. The conductivity of the two-dimensional electron system in the quantum well, which can be controlled via field effect, modifies the velocity of the SAW. Due to the high electromechanical coupling coefficient of LiNbO/sub 3/ a large phase shift can be obtained. As an example for this new class of voltage-tunable single chip SAW devices, a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is presented in which the output frequency can be tuned by an applied gate voltage.
Padrão respiratório e movimento toracoabdominal em indivíduos saudáveis: influência da idade e do sexo

OBJECTIVE: To describe the breathing pattern and thoracoabdominal motion of healthy individuals, taking age and sex into consideration. METHODS: The study included 104 individuals aged 20 to 39, 40 to 59, and 60 to 80 years (41 males and 63 females), with normal body mass index and spirometric values. Participants were evaluated at rest in the supine position, by means of respiratory inductive plethysmography. The following variables were measured: tidal volume (Vt), respiratory frequency (f), minute ventilation (VE), inspiratory duty cycle (Ti/Ttot), mean inspiratory flow (Vt/Ti), rib cage motion (%RC), inspiratory phase relation (PhRIB), expiratory phase relation (PhREB), and phase angle (PhaseAng). Comparisons between the age groups were performed using one-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis H, while comparisons between the sexes were performed using Student's t test or the Mann-Whitney U test, depending on the data distribution; p<0.05 was taken to be significant. RESULTS: Comparison between the sexes showed that, in the age groups 20 to 39 and 60 to 80 years, women presented significantly lower values for Vt, VE, and Ti/Ttot than men, and there was no significant difference in the age group 40 to 59 years. Comparisons between the age groups showed that participants aged 60 to 80 presented significantly greater PhRIB and PhaseAng than participants aged 20 to 39 years, without significant differences in the breathing pattern. CONCLUSION: The data suggest that breathing pattern is influenced by sex whereas thoracoabdominal motion is influenced by age.
Deep Learning for Consumer Devices and Services: Pushing the limits for machine learning, artificial intelligence, and computer vision.

In the last few years, we have witnessed an exponential growth in research activity into the advanced training of convolutional neural networks (CNNs), a field that has become known as deep learning. This has been triggered by a combination of the availability of significantly larger data sets, thanks in part to a corresponding growth in big data, and the arrival of new graphics-processing-unit (GPU)-based hardware that enables these large data sets to be processed in reasonable timescales. Suddenly, a wide variety of long-standing problems in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and computer vision have seen significant improvements, often sufficient to break through long-standing performance barriers. Across multiple fields, these achievements have inspired the development of improved tools and methodologies leading to even broader applicability of deep learning. The new generation of smart assistants, such as Alexa, Hello Google, and others, have their roots and learning algorithms tied to deep learning. In this article, we review the current state of deep learning, explain what it is, why it has managed to improve on the long-standing techniques of conventional neural networks, and, most importantly, how you can get started with adopting deep learning into your own research activities to solve both new and old problems and build better, smarter consumer devices and services.
Small element array algorithm for correcting phase aberration using near-field signal redundancy. I. Principles

A near-field, signal-redundancy algorithm for measuring phase-aberration profiles has been proposed previously. It is designed for arrays with a relatively large element size for which relatively narrow beams are transmitted and received. The algorithm measures the aberration profile by cross-correlating signals collected with the same midpoint position between transmitter and receiver, termed common midpoint signals, after a dynamic near-field delay correction. In this paper, a near-field signal-redundancy algorithm for small element arrays is proposed. In this algorithm, subarrays are formed of adjacent groups of elements to narrow the beams used to collect common midpoint signals and steer the beam direction, so that angle-dependent, phase-aberration profiles can be measured. There are several methods that could be used to implement the dynamic near-field delay correction on common midpoint signals collected with subarrays. In this paper, the similarity between common midpoint signals collected with these methods is also analyzed and compared using a so-called corresponding-signal concept. This analysis should be valid for general target distributions in the near field and wide-band signals.
Validation of Bedside Ultrasound of Muscle Layer Thickness of the Quadriceps in the Critically Ill Patient (VALIDUM Study): A Prospective Multicenter Study

Background: In critically ill patients, muscle atrophy is associated with long-term disability and mortality. Bedside ultrasound may quantify muscle mass, but it has not been validated in the intensive care unit (ICU). Here, we compared ultrasound-based quadriceps muscle layer thickness (QMLT) with precise quantifications of computed tomography (CT)–based muscle cross-sectional area (CSA). Methods: Patients ≥18 years old with abdominal CT scans performed for clinical reasons were recruited from 9 ICUs for an ultrasound assessment of the quadriceps. CT scans of the third lumbar vertebra, performed <24 hours before or <72 hours after ICU admission, were analyzed for CSA. Low muscularity was defined as 170 cm2 for men and 110 cm2 for women. The ultrasound probe was maximally compressed against the skin and QMLT was measured on 2 sites of each quadriceps <72 hours of the CT scan. Results: Mean CT-derived muscle CSA was 109 ± 25 cm2 for women and 168 ± 37 cm2 for men, where 58% of patients exhibited low muscularity; only 2.7% patients were underweight according to body mass index. QMLT was positively correlated with CT CSA (r = 0.45, P < .001). Based on logistic regression to predict low muscularity, QMLT independently generated a concordance index (c) of 0.67 (P < .002), which increased to 0.77 (P < .001) when age, sex, body mass index, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and admission type (surgical vs medical) were added. Conclusions: Our results suggest that QMLT alone with our current protocol may not accurately identify patients with low muscle mass.
4D cone beam CT via spatiotemporal tensor framelet.

PURPOSE On-board 4D cone beam CT (4DCBCT) offers respiratory phase-resolved volumetric imaging, and improves the accuracy of target localization in image guided radiation therapy. However, the clinical utility of this technique has been greatly impeded by its degraded image quality, prolonged imaging time, and increased imaging dose. The purpose of this letter is to develop a novel iterative 4DCBCT reconstruction method for improved image quality, increased imaging speed, and reduced imaging dose. METHODS The essence of this work is to introduce the spatiotemporal tensor framelet (STF), a high-dimensional tensor generalization of the 1D framelet for 4DCBCT, to effectively take into account of highly correlated and redundant features of the patient anatomy during respiration, in a multilevel fashion with multibasis sparsifying transform. The STF-based algorithm is implemented on a GPU platform for improved computational efficiency. To evaluate the method, 4DCBCT full-fan scans were acquired within 30 s, with a gantry rotation of 200°; STF is also compared with a state-of-art reconstruction method via spatiotemporal total variation regularization. RESULTS Both the simulation and experimental results demonstrate that STF-based reconstruction achieved superior image quality. The reconstruction of 20 respiratory phases took less than 10 min on an NVIDIA Tesla C2070 GPU card. The STF codes are available at https://sites.google. com/site/spatiotemporaltensorframelet. CONCLUSIONS By effectively utilizing the spatiotemporal coherence of the patient anatomy among different respiratory phases in a multilevel fashion with multibasis sparsifying transform, the proposed STF method potentially enables fast and low-dose 4DCBCT with improved image quality.
Couples' Coping After Stroke—A Pilot Intervention Study

Purpose: This mixed‐methods pilot study examined the impact of a psychoeducational intervention (PEI) to expand coping skills and identify themes for focused nursing strategies to assist poststroke couples. Design: Outcome variables, including dyadic coping, quality of life, depression, and self‐care self‐efficacy, were measured in experimental and control groups initially and after PEI was created with experimental couples in six home sessions. Method: Repeated measures analysis of variance compared control (n = 5 stroke survivors; n = 5 spouses) and experimental groups' (n = 5 stroke survivors; n = 5 spouses) on outcomes. Findings: Significant increase occurred in experimental group stroke survivors in coping by oneself and quality of life; depressive symptoms decreased. Significant increase in positive dyadic coping occurred for experimental group spouses. PEI intervention generated a major theme. Conclusions: Nurse‐initiated cognitive coping intervention was supported by experimental group's elements. Clinical Relevance: Nurses may use psychoeducational techniques to motivate stroke couples.
Compact, broadly tunable, mid-IR source for the spectroscopic investigation of molecular reference lines in the 27- to 33-THz range

We report on the improvement of a tunable, high resolution, diode laser-based, difference-frequency spectrometer using an AgGaS/sub 2/ nonlinear crystal. We use a type-II cut crystal as a part of the improvement compared with a type-I cut, which was used in our preliminary setup. The two tunable laser-diodes are operating near /spl lambda//sub 3/=778 nm (pump) and /spl lambda//sub 2/=842 nm (signal) with a sub-100-kHz linewidth. The high resolution spectrometer is being developed as an alternative to CO/sub 2/ laser spectrometers in the 9- to Il-/spl mu/m range. Using a dual-arm cavity to enhance the two radiation powers, and with 35 mW in front of the 778-nm arm and 100 mW in front of the 842 nm arm, about 70 nW of the tunable 10-/spl mu/m radiation are generated. This power level is enough to investigate the linear absorption spectroscopy of SF/sub 6/. Doppler-limited spectra over 2 GHz, are recorded, showing the wide continuous tunability of the spectrometer.
Global Leadership Conversation: Addressing Malnutrition.

On January 19, 2016, I had the distinct pleasure of moderating a Global Leadership Conversation convened by A.S. P.E. N. that focused on malnutrition, with invited participants spanning 6 continents and 30 some countries. Presentations were made by representatives from A.S. P.E. N. (Ainsley Malone), ESPEN (Tommy Cederholm), FELANPE (M. Isabel T. D. Correia), and PENSA (Ryoji Fukushima). They were asked to address 2 questions:
Supporting factors and barriers in implementing kangaroo mother care in Indonesia

Background Kangaroo mother care (KMC) was introduced to Indonesia in the 1990s. Since then, KMC has not been widely implemented and has not received national policy support. Objective The objectives of this case study were to implement KMC by an intervention that would ultimately benefit ten hospitals in Java, Indonesia, as well as identify supporting factors and barriers to KMC implementation. Methods An intervention with four phases was conducted in ten hospitals. Two teaching hospitals were supported to serve as training centers, six hospitals were supported to implement KMC and two other hospitals were supported to strengthen existing KMC practices. The four phases were comprised of a baseline assessment, a five-day training workshop, two supervisory visits to each hospital, and an end-line assessment. Results A total of 344 low birth weight infants received KMC during the intervention period. Good progress with regards to implementation was observed in most hospitals between the first and second supervisory visits. Supporting factors for KMC were the following: support received from hospital management, positive attitudes ofhealthcare providers, patients, families and communities, as well as the availability of resources. The most common challenges were record keeping and data collection, human resources and staff issues, infrastructure and budgets, discharge and follow-up, as well as family issues. Challenges related to the family were the inability of the mother or family to visit the infant frequently to provide KMC, and the affordability of hospital user fees for the infant to stay in the hospital for a sufficient period of rime. Conclusion KM C appeared to be well accepted in most hospitals. For an intervention to have maximum impact, it is important to integrate services and maintain a complex network of communication systems. [Paediatr lndones. 2012;52:43-50).
Selection Signatures in Worldwide Sheep Populations

The diversity of populations in domestic species offers great opportunities to study genome response to selection. The recently published Sheep HapMap dataset is a great example of characterization of the world wide genetic diversity in sheep. In this study, we re-analyzed the Sheep HapMap dataset to identify selection signatures in worldwide sheep populations. Compared to previous analyses, we made use of statistical methods that (i) take account of the hierarchical structure of sheep populations, (ii) make use of linkage disequilibrium information and (iii) focus specifically on either recent or older selection signatures. We show that this allows pinpointing several new selection signatures in the sheep genome and distinguishing those related to modern breeding objectives and to earlier post-domestication constraints. The newly identified regions, together with the ones previously identified, reveal the extensive genome response to selection on morphology, color and adaptation to new environments.