Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Energy-Aware Video Encoding for Image Quality Improvement in Battery-Operated Surveillance Camera

Growing needs for surveillance in locations without power lines necessitates the development of a surveillance camera with extremely low-power consumption and an assured stable operation until the time of expected run-out of available energy. This paper proposes an algorithm for scheduling of video encoding configurations in a battery-operated surveillance system to reduce the image distortion while assuring the sustained operation until the battery recharge/exchange. The optimal video encoding configuration is determined based on the amount of estimated remaining event duration (considering the uncertainty of events) and remaining battery charge (considering the rate-capacity and recovery effect). The proposed algorithm consists of two steps: design-time step and run-time step. In the design-time step, prediction of remaining event duration, called duration prediction, is performed considering the uncertainty of events and tradeoff between encoding power and image quality. During run-time, video encoding configuration is switched between intra-frame encoding and inter-frame encoding based on the duration prediction obtained in design-time step and the remaining battery charge measured in run-time step. Compared to the conventional method based on the most conservative duration prediction , experimental results show that the proposed method provides 2.24~3.78 dB improvement in the image quality (in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio in the H.264 encoding of four video sequences while satisfying the battery constraint.
Individual right whales call louder in increased environmental noise

The ability to modify vocalizations to compensate for environmental noise is critical for successful communication in a dynamic acoustic environment. Many marine species rely on sound for vital life functions including communication, navigation and feeding. The impacts of significant increases in ocean noise levels from human activities are a current area of concern for the conservation of marine mammals. Here, we document changes in calling behaviour by individual endangered North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in increased background noise. Right whales, like several bird and primate species, respond to periods of increased noise by increasing the amplitude of their calls. This behaviour may help maintain the communication range with conspecifics during periods of increased noise. These call modifications have implications for conservation efforts for right whales, affecting both the way whales use sound to communicate and our ability to detect them with passive acoustic monitoring systems.
Long telomeres and cancer risk among 95 568 individuals from the general population.

BACKGROUND Results regarding telomere length and cancer risk are conflicting. We tested the hypothesis that long telomeres are associated with increased risk of any cancer and specific cancer types in genetic and observational analyses. METHODS Individuals (N = 95 568) from the Copenhagen City Heart Study and the Copenhagen General Population Study had the telomere length-associated genotypes rs7726159 (TERT), rs1317082 (TERC), and rs2487999 (OBFC1) determined, and 65 176 had telomere length measured. A total of 10 895 individuals had had a cancer diagnosis. Endpoints were any cancer and 25 specific cancer types. We conducted Cox regression analyses and logistic regression analyses. The three genotypes were combined as an allele sum. RESULTS Telomere length increased 67 base-pairs [95% confidence interval (CI) 61-74] per allele. In logistic regression models, the per-allele odds ratio (OR) for cancer was 1.05 (95% CI 1.03-1.07) for the allele sum, 1.05 (1.02-1.09) for rs7726159, 1.05 (1.02-1.08) for rs1317082 and 1.07 (1.02-1.12) for rs2487999. In contrast, the hazard ratio for any cancer was 1.01 (1.00-1.01) per 200-base-pair increase in telomere length in multivariable adjusted observational analysis. In genetic analyses according to specific cancer types, the per-allele odds ratio was 1.19 (1.12-1.27) for melanoma and 1.14 (1.06-1.22) for lung cancer. CONCLUSIONS Genetic determinants of long telomeres are associated with increased cancer risk, particularly melanoma and lung cancer. This genetic predisposition to enhanced telomere maintenance may represent a survival advantage for pre-cancerous cells, allowing for multiple cell divisions leading to cancer development.
The ecology of tularaemia.

Tularaemia, a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis McCoy, 1912, is reported from North America, Europe and northern parts of Asia, but not from the Southern Hemisphere. Two subspecies of F. tularensis are recognised: the highly virulent type A and the milder type B, with additional subdivisions reported. Tularaemia has been reported in more than 250 animal species including man, other mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, arthropods and protozoa. Type A is reported to have a terrestrial cycle with the main reservoirs being cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus spp.) and ticks. Type B is reported to have a mainly water-borne cycle with aquatic rodents as reservoirs, e.g. muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) and beaver (Castor canadensis) in North America, and ground voles (Arvicola terrestris) in the former Soviet Union. In Europe, tularaemia is most frequently seen in hares (Lepus spp.) although hares probably do not constitute a reservoir for the disease. Tularaemia is transmitted by direct contact with infected animals, through contaminated water or food, or by vectors such as mosquitoes or ticks. The disease normally occurs as an epidemic, both in man and in animals, depending on the types of reservoir involved and the means of transmission at different times of the year.
Spoken Word Recognition in Children With Cochlear Implants: A Five-Year Study on Speakers of a Tonal Language

Objectives: To study the effects of age at implantation and duration of implant use on the performance of spoken word recognition of pediatric cochlear implantees in a tonal language setting over a period of 5 years. Design: Sixty-four children, given implants between the ages 1:01 and 14:09 (years:months), were divided into three age groups. They were tested on open-set word recognition ability at seven time intervals from before surgery to 5 years after surgery. Analyses of variance with repeated measurements were used to examine the effect of their age at implantation and the duration of implant use. Results: Duration of implant experience was significant in spoken word recognition across the three age groups (p < 0.01). Children given implants below the age of 3 years caught up with the performance of the older children at 12 months after implantation. The difference in score reached statistical significance at 2 and at 3 years after surgery (p = 0.03, p = 0.00). Conclusions: The performance of Cantonese-speaking children was similar to that of English-speaking children in that better outcomes were associated with longer implant experience as well as when implantation occurred at a younger age. The children implanted before the age of 3 and who had an implant experience of more than 2 years outperformed the children who were given implants after the age of 6 and also sustained these higher scores throughout 5 years of postimplant testing.
Appetite regulatory hormones in women with anorexia nervosa: binge-eating/purging versus restricting type.

OBJECTIVE Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric illness characterized by low weight, disordered eating, and hallmark neuroendocrine dysfunction. Behavioral phenotypes are defined by predominant restriction or bingeing/purging; binge-eating/purging type anorexia nervosa is associated with poorer outcome. The pathophysiology underlying anorexia nervosa types is unknown, but altered hormones, known to be involved in eating behaviors, may play a role. METHOD To examine the role of anorexigenic hormones in anorexia nervosa subtypes, we examined serum levels of peptide YY (PYY; total and active [3-36] forms), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and leptin as primary outcomes in women with DSM-5 restricting type anorexia nervosa (n = 50), binge-eating/purging type anorexia nervosa (n = 25), and healthy controls (n = 22). In addition, women completed validated secondary outcome measures of eating disorder psychopathology (Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire) and depression and anxiety symptoms (Hamilton Rating Scales for Depression [HDRS] and Anxiety [HARS]). The study samples were collected from May 22, 2004, to February 7, 2012. RESULTS Mean PYY 3-36 and leptin levels were lower and BDNF levels higher in binge-eating/purging type anorexia nervosa than in restricting type anorexia nervosa (all P values < .05). After controlling for body mass index, differences in PYY and PYY 3-36 between anorexia nervosa types were significant (P < .05) and differences in BDNF were at the trend level (P < .10). PYY 3-36 was positively (r = 0.27, P = .02) and leptin was negatively (r = -0.51, P < .0001) associated with dietary restraint; BDNF was positively associated with frequency of purging (r = 0.21, P = .04); and leptin was negatively associated with frequency of bingeing (r = -0.29, P = .007) and purging (r = -0.31, P = .004). CONCLUSIONS Among women with anorexia nervosa, the anorexigenic hormones PYY, BDNF, and leptin are differentially regulated between the restricting and binge/purge types. Whether these hormone pathways play etiologic roles with regard to anorexia nervosa behavioral types or are compensatory merits further study.
Fair Algorithms for Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering

Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering (HAC) algorithms are extensively utilized in modern data science, and seek to partition the dataset into clusters while generating a hierarchical relationship between the data samples. HAC algorithms are employed in many applications, such as biology, natural language processing, and recommender systems. Thus, it is imperative to ensure that these algorithms are fair– even if the dataset contains biases against certain protected groups, the cluster outputs generated should not discriminate against samples from any of these groups. However, recent work in clustering fairness has mostly focused on center-based clustering algorithms, such as k-median and k-means clustering. In this paper, we propose fair algorithms for performing HAC that enforce fairness constraints 1) irrespective of the distance linkage criteria used, 2) generalize to any natural measures of clustering fairness for HAC, 3) work for multiple protected groups, and 4) have competitive running times to vanilla HAC. Through extensive experiments on multiple real-world UCI datasets, we show that our proposed algorithm finds fairer clusterings compared to vanilla HAC as well as the only other state-of-the-art fair HAC approach.
Release of luteinizing hormone and growth hormone after recovery from maximal exercise.

Pulsatile properties of luteinizing hormone (LH) and growth hormone (GH) release were evaluated in 19 eumenorrheic untrained females [mean age 31.1 +/- 1.1 yr, height 165.2 +/- 1.4 cm, weight 64.8 +/- 2.1 kg, peak oxygen uptake (Vo2) 41.6 +/- 1.4 (SE) ml.kg-1.min-1] during the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle (days 3-4 after the onset of menses). Each subject was studied during two consecutive menstrual cycles under each of two conditions in random order: 1) no formal exercise for 72 h (C) and 2) 12-24 h after two maximal exercise bouts (peak Vo2/lactate threshold treadmill evaluation and a 3,200-m time-trial run or a maximal Vo2 inclined treadmill test) performed on consecutive days (EX). Blood sampling was performed every 10 min for 12 h. LH and GH pulsatile parameters were identified and characterized by the Cluster pulse detection algorithm. No significant differences were noted in the number of peaks, peak amplitude, interpeak interval, peak increment, or 12-h integrated concentrations between C and EX for LH or GH. We conclude that maximal exercise protocols typically used for exercise evaluation do not have an effect on the pulsatile characteristics of LH or GH release in untrained women during the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle if 12-24 h of recovery are allowed before evaluation of the pulsatile secretion of gonadotropins or GH.
The effectiveness of the use of consumer health information technology in patients with heart failure: A meta-analysis and narrative review of randomized controlled trials

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine whether the use of consumer health information technologies (CHITs) has an impact on outcomes of patients in the self-management of heart failure (HF). Methods A literature search of six electronic databases was conducted to identify relevant reports of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for the analysis. Mortality, hospitalization and length of hospital stay were meta-analyzed and other patient outcomes were synthesized using a narrative approach. Results The literature search identified 50 studies, representing 43 RCTs, comparing the use of CHITs with usual care for HF patients. The meta-analysis showed that the use of CHITs reduced the risk of HF-caused mortality (relative risk (RR) = 0.70, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.54–0.91), p = 0.007), lowered the risk of HF-caused hospitalization (RR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.66–0.96), p = 0.020), and shortened HF-caused length of hospital stay (mean difference = –0.52, 95% CI: –0.77 to –0.27, p < 0.00), but not all-cause mortality, all-cause hospitalization or all-cause length of hospital stay, compared with usual care. The narrative synthesis indicated that only a small proportion of the trials reported positive effects of CHITs over usual care. Conclusions Evidence from RCTs presents mixed results on the impacts of CHITs for HF management. Further studies are required to assess whether and how CHITs would play a role in enhancing health care and patient outcomes and what specific CHIT features and functions are relevant to different HF treatment goals and self-care objectives.
A clinical neurophysiologic study of tropical spastic paraparesis

During a field study in the Seychelles Islands, 19 patients with tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP) were evaluated electrophysiologically. Methods of assessment included motor and sensory nerve conduction studies, electromyography, and analysis of the somatosensory evoked potentials after stimulation of the tibial and median nerves. The results showed that the most prominent feature of the disease, a spastic paraparesis, is accompanied by subclinical involvement of spinal sensory pathways and a comparatively minor peripheral sensorimotor polyneuropathy.
[The treatment of bladder lithiasis with laser].

OBJECTIVES The use of laser for endoscopic lithotripsy started in 1968 when Mulvaney tried a ruby laser without success; Later on, the CO2 laser and the Nd:YAG were tried. With the pulsed dye and alexandrite lasers energetic performances between 30 and 200 mJ are obtained, their capacity of fragmentation is not universal and is limited to small stones, generally ureteral stones, so that it has not been a therapeutic alternative for bladder lithiasis. The holmium laser generates energy pulses of 400-2500 mJ, it is able to fragment every type of stone. The objective of this work is to analyze the results of endoscopic bladder lithotripsy with holmium-YAG laser. METHODS In the period between 2006-2008 we treated 21 cases of bladder lithiasis, with a stone size between 1 and 4 cm in patients from 8-76 years, six women and 15 men, which correspond to: four cases of infantile lithiasis, 3 of uric acid, one case of cystine, seven cases of calcium oxalate and/or phosphate, five cases of bladder lithiasis growing around a double J catheter, and one case of lithiasis within on intravesical ureterocele. Treatment was performed with a 20W Dornier Medilas holmium-YAG equipment, applied using children/adult cystoscopes or 7-8.5 Ch ureteroscopes, both semirigid and flexible. Post operative control included KUB x-ray and ultrasound. We performed a study of lithogenic risk factors and stone fragments analysis. RESULTS The 21 cases described are all secondary or type II bladder lithiasis. In all cases the absence of residual lithiasis was checked with imaging studies and the lithogenic risk factors were corrected with medical or surgical procedures. CONCLUSIONS We consider that today bladder endoscopic lithotripsy with holmium laser is a therapeutic alternative. Despite there are multiple options for endoscopic treatment, transurethral lithotripsy with holmium laser offers good results with a low complication rate.
Intrathecal 2-Chloroprocaine for Lower Limb Outpatient Surgery: A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blind, Clinical Evaluation

We evaluated the dose-response relationship of 2-chloroprocaine for lower limb outpatient procedure in 45 ASA physical status I-II outpatients undergoing elective lower limb surgery under spinal anesthesia, with 30 mg (group Chlor-30, n = 15), 40 mg (group Chlor-40, n = 15), or 50 mg (group Chlor-50, n = 15) of 1% preservative free 2-chloroprocaine. Onset time was similar in the three groups. General anesthesia was never required to complete surgery. Intraoperative analgesic supplementation as a result of insufficient duration of spinal block was required in 5 patients of group Chlor-30 (35%) and 2 patients of group Chlor-40 (13%) (P = 0.014), with a median (range) time for supplementation request of 40 (30–60) min. Spinal block resolution and recovery of ambulation were faster in group Chlor-30 (60 [41–98] min and 85 [45–123] min) than in groups Chlor-40 (85 [46–141] min and 180 [72–281] min) and Chlor-50 (97 [60–169] min and 185 [90–355] min) (P = 0.001 and P = 0.003, respectively), with no differences in home discharge time (182 [120–267] min in group Chlor-30, 198 [123–271] min in group Chlor-40, and 203 [102–394] min in group Chlor-50; P = 0.155). No transient neurologic symptoms were reported at 24-h and 7-day follow-up. We conclude that although 40 and 50 mg of 2-chloroprocaine provide adequate spinal anesthesia for outpatient procedures lasting 45–60 min, 30 mg produces a spinal block of insufficient duration.
Preservation of quality of life by preradiotherapy stereotactic radiosurgery for unresectable glioblastoma multiforme.

OBJECT The authors conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the efficacy of Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) followed by radiotherapy for the treatment of unresectable glioblastomas multiforme (GBMs) on patient survival and quality of life. METHODS A total of 19 patients with unresectable GBMs located in eloquent areas of the brain were eligible for this study. Beginning in January 2002, 10 patients underwent GKS followed by fractionated radiotherapy. Nine patients who had undergone radiotherapy alone after biopsy-proven diagnosis served as the control group. The mean patient ages were 53 years and 56 years, respectively. Preoperative Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) scores were 80 (range 60-100) and 90 (range 50-100), respectively. The median margin dose for GKS was 12 Gy (9-16 Gy), and the total dose for radiotherapy was 60 Gy in 30 fractions. The mean follow-up duration was 7.2 months, the median patient survival time was 52 weeks (95% confidence interval [CI] 22-110.6 weeks) in the GKS group, and the median overall survival time was 28 weeks (95% CI 22.5-33.5 weeks) in the control group. The difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.0758). The estimated progression-free survival rate at 3 months was 75% in the GKS group and 45% in the control group (p = 0.082). The posttreatment KPS scores were either unchanged or improved in the GKS group, whereas it deteriorated by 20 or more points in six of nine patients of the control group (p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS Gamma Knife surgery prior to radiotherapy may be helpful in preserving patients' daily activities in the adjuvant management of unresectable GBM.
Visual Cues Contribute Differentially to Audiovisual Perception of Consonants and Vowels in Improving Recognition and Reducing Cognitive Demands in Listeners With Hearing Impairment Using Hearing Aids.

Purpose We sought to examine the contribution of visual cues in audiovisual identification of consonants and vowels-in terms of isolation points (the shortest time required for correct identification of a speech stimulus), accuracy, and cognitive demands-in listeners with hearing impairment using hearing aids. Method The study comprised 199 participants with hearing impairment (mean age = 61.1 years) with bilateral, symmetrical, mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss. Gated Swedish consonants and vowels were presented aurally and audiovisually to participants. Linear amplification was adjusted for each participant to assure audibility. The reading span test was used to measure participants' working memory capacity. Results Audiovisual presentation resulted in shortened isolation points and improved accuracy for consonants and vowels relative to auditory-only presentation. This benefit was more evident for consonants than vowels. In addition, correlations and subsequent analyses revealed that listeners with higher scores on the reading span test identified both consonants and vowels earlier in auditory-only presentation, but only vowels (not consonants) in audiovisual presentation. Conclusion Consonants and vowels differed in terms of the benefits afforded from their associative visual cues, as indicated by the degree of audiovisual benefit and reduction in cognitive demands linked to the identification of consonants and vowels presented audiovisually.
Break-Induced Loss of Heterozygosity in Fission Yeast: Dual Roles for Homologous Recombination in Promoting Translocations and Preventing De Novo Telomere Addition

ABSTRACT Loss of heterozygosity (LOH), a causal event in tumorigenesis, frequently encompasses multiple genetic loci and whole chromosome arms. However, the mechanisms leading to such extensive LOH are poorly understood. We investigated the mechanisms of DNA double-strand break (DSB)-induced extensive LOH by screening for auxotrophic marker loss ∼25 kb distal to an HO endonuclease break site within a nonessential minichromosome in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Extensive break-induced LOH was infrequent, resulting from large translocations through both allelic crossovers and break-induced replication. These events required the homologous recombination (HR) genes rad32+, rad50+, nbs1+, rhp51+, rad22+, rhp55+, rhp54+, and mus81+. Surprisingly, LOH was still observed in HR mutants, which resulted predominantly from de novo telomere addition at the break site. De novo telomere addition was most frequently observed in rad22Δ and rhp55Δ backgrounds, which disrupt HR following end resection. Further, levels of de novo telomere addition, while increased in ku70Δ rhp55Δ strains, were reduced in exo1Δ rhp55Δ and an rhp55Δ strain overexpressing rhp51. These findings support a model in which HR prevents de novo telomere addition at DSBs by competing for resected ends. Together, these results suggest that the mechanisms of break-induced LOH may be predicted from the functional status of the HR machinery.