Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards Zero-Configuration Indoor Localization Using Asynchronous Acoustic Beacons

Developing and deploying infrastructure-based indoor localization solutions face significant challenges in the need of specialized user devices, costly and elaborative installation, configuration and maintenance, and in some cases, low localization accuracy. In this work, we develop an acoustic indoor localization system that requires little configuration and can localize commercial off-the-shelf smart phone devices. The main novelty lies in the development of a Time-Difference-of-Arrival (TDoA)-based ranging algorithm that does not require clock synchronization among infrastructure nodes (called anchors) and utilizes passive target devices. Small-scale experiments using Android mobile phones as both anchor nodes and target devices demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed solution. The 95% quantile localization errors achieved are consistently less than 7.5cm using three models of Android smart phones from different vendors as target devices when the closest two anchors are 1 meter apart.
Onychomycosis in Children: A Brief Overview with Treatment Strategies

Abstract: Onychomycosis in children is uncommon. In those children that are affected, a family history of onychomycosis is not uncommon, giving importance to the examination of the entire family for fungal nail infections. In the United States, the newer oral antifungal agents itraconazole, fluconazole, and terbinafine, and the topical nail lacquers ciclopirox and amorolfine are not approved for this indication. More data are needed on the use of these antifungal agents for the treatment of onychomycosis in children.
Line-Start Permanent-Magnet Motors: Significant Improvements in Starting Torque, Synchronization, and Steady-State Performance

We present a new scheme to improve the starting torque and synchronization capability of line-start permanent-magnet motors based on pole changing winding. Pole changing at start-up neutralizes the magnetic influence of permanent magnets and, therefore, leads to the elimination of braking and pulsating torques, and enhances the starting torque. Our scheme also solves the synchronization problem. We used finite-element analysis to validate the scheme. The simulation results show that the method leads to a high starting torque, good synchronization, and excellent steady-state performance.
Instigative Aggression in Females

40 females suggested to partners (confederates) which shock intensity should be delivered to an opponent during a competitive task. Aggressiveness of the instigations was a function of cooperativeness of the partner, aggressiveness of the opponent, and winning and losing in the competition, but not of either instrumental value or E. Results were compared with data from male Ss. Only instrumental reward differentially affected behaviors of men and women.
Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis patients with abatacept and methotrexate significantly improved health-related quality of life.

OBJECTIVE This study examined the effect of abatacept, a costimulation modulator, on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Three hundred thirty-nine patients with RA on a background of methotrexate (MTX), who participated in a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, were randomized to abatacept 2 mg/kg, abatacept 10 mg/kg, or placebo. HRQOL was assessed at pretreatment, and at 3, 6, and 12 months posttreatment using the SF-36 Health Survey (SF-36). Changes in SF-36 scores from baseline to 12 months were compared across treatment and placebo groups to examine HRQOL benefits of abatacept. A link between American College of Rheumatology improvement and changes in SF-36 scores was established to demonstrate the association between HRQOL outcomes and clinical response. RESULTS After 12 months of treatment, patients randomized to abatacept 10 mg/kg showed significantly better HRQOL outcomes overall versus patients randomized to placebo (MANOVA F = 4.71, p < 0.001) or to abatacept 2 mg/kg (MANOVA F = 1.97, p = 0.05). Differences in SF-36 change scores between abatacept 10 mg/kg and placebo groups reached statistical significance on all 8 domain scales, the 2 summary measures, and the SF-36 utility index (SF-6D). Differences in SF-36 change scores between abatacept 10 mg/kg and abatacept 2 mg/kg reached statistical significance on 5 of the 8 domain scales, the physical summary measure, and the SF-6D. Improvement in HRQOL was highly related to clinical response. CONCLUSION Abatacept 10 mg/kg plus MTX demonstrated a stronger HRQOL response than placebo plus MTX. The abatacept 2 mg/kg arm showed a very weak and transient response.
Early Research on Human Genetics Using the Twin Method: Who Really Invented the Method?

Abstract The twin method consists of a formal comparison between the resemblance between identical (monozygotic, MZ) twins and the resemblance between fraternal (dizygotic, DZ) twins for some trait of interest. It was developed between 1900 and about 1940, as more accurate tools for diagnosis of zygosity and for statistically analyzing the resemblance between relatives were built. Its early use was in the demonstration that a trait was inherited or that part of the causation of a trait was genetical, but it has now evolved to the point that twin registries constitute an important resource for the identification of specific genes and their interactions both with other genes and with the internal and external environment. Who really invented the method is still an unsettled question, which this article explores.
Effects of climatic elements on Campylobacter-contaminated chicken products in Japan

SUMMARY Japanese weather data for areas that produced Campylobacter spp. -positive chicken products were compared with those for areas producing negative samples. Regarding samples produced during the period of rising temperature (spring and summer), the mean weekly air temperatures for Campylobacter-positive samples were higher than those for negative samples for the period of the week in which the samples were purchased (18·7°C vs. 13·1°C, P=0·006) to a 12-week lag (12 weeks before purchasing samples; 7·9°C vs. 3·4°C, P=0·009). Significant differences in weekly mean minimum humidity and sunshine duration per day were also observed for 1- and 2-week lag periods. We postulated that the high air temperature, high humidity and short duration of sunshine for the chicken-rearing period increased Campylobacter colonization in chickens during the period of rising temperature. Consequently, the number of Campylobacter-contaminated chicken products on the market in Japan may fluctuate because of the climatic conditions to which reared chickens are exposed.
The Topology of the Lcb1p Subunit of Yeast Serine Palmitoyltransferase*

The structural organization and topology of the Lcb1p subunit of yeast and mammalian serine palmitoyltransferases (SPT) were investigated. In the yeast protein, three membrane-spanning domains were identified by insertion of glycosylation and factor Xa cleavage sites at various positions. The first domain of the yeast protein, located between residues 50 and 84, was not required for the stability, membrane association, interaction with Lcb2p, or enzymatic activity. Deletion of the comparable domain of the mammalian protein SPTLC1 also had little effect on its function, demonstrating that this region is not required for membrane localization or heterodimerization with SPTLC2. The second and third membrane-spanning domains of yeast Lcb1p, located between residues 342 and 371 and residues 425 and 457, respectively, create a luminal loop of ∼60 residues. In contrast to the first membrane-spanning domain, the second and third membrane-spanning domains were both required for Lcb1p stability. In addition, mutations in the luminal loop destabilized the SPT heterodimer indicating that this region of the protein is important for SPT structure and function. Mutations in the extreme carboxyl-terminal region of Lcb1p also disrupted heterodimer formation. Taken together, these data suggest that in contrast to other members of the α-oxoamine synthases that are soluble homodimers, the Lcb1p and Lcb2p subunits of the SPT heterodimer may interact in the cytosol, as well as within the membrane and/or the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum.
Fatty Acids Analysis of Photosynthetic Sulfur Bacteria by Gas Chromatography

The fatty acid profile of bacteria has been extensively studied for taxonomic classification purposes, as bacteria in general contain particular and rare fatty acids, compared with animal and plant tissues (Purcaro et al., 2010). Lipids and fatty acid composition are quite useful for characterization of different species and groups of photosynthetic bacteria. Fatty acids can be identified by gas chromatography using standard methods (Imhoff & Caumette, 2004) because physical and chemical factors (e.g., illumination) influence bacterial fatty acid composition, culture conditions, and the culture media used for bacterial growth. Fatty acid analysis as a chemotaxonomic tool has been applied in heterotrophic bacteria, but its use in photosynthetic sulfur bacteria it is very limited. Actually, most studies on photosynthetic purple and green sulfur bacteria fatty acid composition have been done with relatively few genera and have often given information of the major fatty acids.
An RGD Motif Present in Cadherin 17 Induces Integrin Activation and Tumor Growth*

Background: The interaction between cadherin 17 and α2β1 integrin promotes cell adhesion and proliferation. Results: Cadherin 17 contains an RGD motif that constitutes the critical switch for integrin binding and activation. Conclusion: The cadherin RGD motif is a critical ligand for tumor growth and metastasis. Significance: Cadherin 17 is the first known integrin-ligand RGD-cadherin. Other RGD-cadherins might play important roles in cancer metastasis. Little is known about the mechanism of integrin activation by cadherin 17 (CDH17). Here we observed the presence of a tri-peptide motif, RGD, in domain 6 of the human CDH17 sequence and other cadherins such as cadherin 5 and cadherin 6. The use of CDH17 RAD mutants demonstrated a considerable decrease of proliferation and adhesion in RKO and KM12SM colon cancer cells. Furthermore, RGD peptides inhibited the adhesion of both cell lines to recombinant CDH17 domain 6. The RGD motif added exogenously to the cells provoked a change in β1 integrin to an active, high-affinity conformation and an increase in focal adhesion kinase and ERK1/2 activation. In vivo experiments with Swiss nude mice demonstrated that cancer cells expressing the CDH17 RAD mutant showed a considerable delay in tumor growth and liver homing. CDH17 RGD effects were also active in pancreatic cancer cells. Our results suggest that α2β1 integrin interacts with two different ligands, collagen IV and CDH17, using two different binding sites. In summary, the RGD binding motif constitutes a switch for integrin pathway activation and shows a novel capacity of CDH17 as an integrin ligand. This motif could be targeted to avoid metastatic dissemination in tumors overexpressing CDH17 and other RGD-containing cadherins.
Effect of Reversible Inhibition of Deoxyribonucleic Acid Synthesis on the Yeast Cell Cycle

Hydroxyurea (HU) preferentially inhibited deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) replication and division in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Growth, ribonucleic acid synthesis, and protein synthesis were less sensitive to this drug. Upon addition of HU, cells underwent one cycle of budding and the nuclei migrated into the necks between the mother cells and buds. Neither the nucleus nor the cells divided. Removal of HU allowed immediate resumption of DNA synthesis. Nuclear division, budding, and cell division occurred 1.5, 2, and 4 hr, respectively, after HU was removed. If protein synthesis was blocked at the time HU was removed, budding and cell division did not occur. These results were interpreted to indicate that HU prevents accumulation of the potential to initiate a new cell cycle.
Patterns and Correlates of Intimate Partner Violence to Women Living With HIV/AIDS in Osogbo, Southwest Nigeria

We assessed the prevalence and correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV) to women living with HIV/AIDS in an antiretroviral clinic in Nigeria. Three hundred sixty respondents were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Sixty percent were married, of which 24% had disclosed HIV status to their partner. About a quarter (23.6%) had experienced IPV since HIV diagnosis. Types of violence experienced were physical violence (17%), emotional violence (21%), and sexual violence (2%). Predictors of IPV included having a younger aged partner, disclosing status, and partner’s alcohol use (p = .001). Suggestions to prevent IPV include increasing public awareness and family counseling.
[A bibliometric overview of traditional Chinese medicine research in Medline].

OBJECTIVE To analyze the publication activity in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and learn more about the development and perspective of TCM as well as its subfields. METHODS TCM-related publications (from 1964 to 2008) indexed in Medline were analyzed, including publication number and proportion of TCM papers, TCM clinical research papers, papers in TCM subfields such as Chinese medicine, Chinese herbs and acupuncture. We also analyzed the journals in which they got published. RESULTS A total of 34 528 TCM-related papers were indexed in Medline from 1964 to 2008. The number and proportion of publication in Medline were increased steadily. TCM articles have changed towards clinical-oriented research, especially in complementary therapies and acupuncture subfields. Before 1973 the popular content of TCM articles was acupuncture, but at present it changed to Chinese herbs. TCM papers were found in core clinical journals, specialized complementary journals and non-core journals, the last one was the majority. CONCLUSION The publication activity of TCM literature increased rapidly since 1970s. TCM attracts more and more attentions and researchers. The safety and efficacy of TCM have been tried to identify by conducting modern scientific researches.
Cross-linguistic expression of contrastive accent: Clinical assessment in Spanish and English

Well-documented Romance-Germanic differences in the use of accent in speech to convey information-structure and focus cause problems for the assessment of prosodic skills in populations with clinical disorders. The strategies for assessing the ability to use lexical and contrastive accent in English and Spanish are reviewed, and studies in the expression of contrastive accent in Spanish- and English-speaking typically-developing children are described. These studies used similar tasks requiring pre-final contrastive accent. Results were, however, strikingly different (English > Spanish). Using the same tasks, studies of English-speaking individuals with autism and Williams syndrome showed marked difficulty with the expression of contrastive stress, but the use of such tasks with Spanish speakers may merely reflect cross-linguistic differences. This study presents the methodology and results of these tasks, and suggests alternative methods of assessing the ability to discern and use contrastive accents in Spanish.
Adaptation of Streptococcus mutans and Enterococcus hirae to acid stress in continuous culture

Streptococcus mutans GS-5 and IB1600 adapted to growth in acidic environments in continuous culture at slow (generation time = 8.3 h) or fast (generation time = 2.4 h) rates of growth in complex medium with a restricted glucose supply. The extent of adaptation was indicated by changes in minimum pH values attained by harvested cells suspended in dense suspensions with excess glucose and by increased levels of ATPase activity assayed in permeabilized cells. Also, adapted cells better withstood potentially lethal acidification. Cells harvested from cultures growing at pH values close to 5 reduced suspension pH to lower values than cells from cultures maintained at pH 7. Cells from pH 6 cultures were intermediate. The IB1600 strain had a higher level of constitutive acid resistance than the GS-5 strain and also was better able to adapt to growth in acidified media. Both had less adaptive capacity than Enterococcus hirae ATCC 9790. Adaptation occurred rapidly, mainly within a single generation in continuous culture, while deadaptation occurred more slowly over multiple generations. The capacity of S. mutans to adapt to acid conditions is likely to be important in the ecology of dental plaque and also for the cariogenicity of the organism.
ANCOVA versus change from baseline: more power in randomized studies, more bias in nonrandomized studies [corrected].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE For inferring a treatment effect from the difference between a treated and untreated group on a quantitative outcome measured before and after treatment, current methods are analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) of the outcome with the baseline as covariate, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) of change from baseline. This article compares both methods on power and bias, for randomized and nonrandomized studies. METHODS The methods are compared by writing both as a regression model and as a repeated measures model, and are applied to a nonrandomized study of preventing depression. RESULTS In randomized studies both methods are unbiased, but ANCOVA has more power. If treatment assignment is based on the baseline, only ANCOVA is unbiased. In nonrandomized studies with preexisting groups differing at baseline, the two methods cannot both be unbiased, and may contradict each other. In the study of depression, ANCOVA suggests absence, but ANOVA of change suggests presence, of a treatment effect. The methods differ because ANCOVA assumes absence of a baseline difference. CONCLUSION In randomized studies and studies with treatment assignment depending on the baseline, ANCOVA must be used. In nonrandomized studies of preexisting groups, ANOVA of change seems less biased than ANCOVA, but two control groups and two baseline measurements are recommended.
Role of testicular tissue telomerase assay for the prediction of the presence of testicular spermatozoa in azoospermic men with varicoceles, pre‐ and post‐varicocelectomy

Summary. We evaluated the reproductive potential of frozen/thawed testicular spermatozoa of azoospermic men with left varicocele. The role of testicular tissue telomerase assay (TTA) in the prediction of the presence of testicular spermatozoa pre‐ and post‐varicocelectomy was investigated, as well. Therapeutic testicular biopsy and TTA were performed in 82 nonobstructed azoospermic (NOA) men with varicoceles. Testicular spermatozoa were found in 33 men and processed for cryopreservation. Oocytes were later recovered from the spouses of the latter azoospermic men with varicoceles and injected with frozen/thawed testicular spermatozoa. Among the 49 men who were negative for testicular spermatozoa, 22 men underwent subsequently subinguinal microsurgical varicocelectomy. A total of 198 mature oocytes were successfully injected and 101 were normally fertilized and subsequently cleaved. Transfer of these 101 embryos in 26 women resulted in nine full‐term pregnancies. Thirteen healthy babies were delivered. A cut‐off value of TTA of 39 TPG U μg−1 protein had an overall diagnostic accuracy equal to 90.2% to predict the presence of testicular spermatozoa pre‐varicocelectomy. Within the group of men who were negative for testicular spermatozoa a cut‐off value of TTA equal to 28 TPG U μg−1 protein (pre‐varicocelectomy) had a 84.2 % diagnostic accuracy to recognize the men who would become positive for either ejaculated or testicular spermatozoa post‐varicocelectomy. Testicular spermatozoa can be found in 40% of NOA men with left varicocele. Ooplasmic injections with frozen/thawed testicular spermatozoa have a role in the therapeutic management of non‐obstructive azoospermia associated with varicocele. Pre‐varicocelectomy, a TTA cut‐off value equal to 39 TPG U μg−1 protein has a 90.2% diagnostic accuracy to indicate the men positive/negative for testicular spermatozoa. In addition, pre‐varicocelectomy, a cut‐off value equal to 28 TPG U μg−1 protein has a 84.2% diagnostic accuracy to identify those men with varicoceles without testicular spermatozoa, who will become positive/negative for spermatozoa (either ejaculated or testicular) post‐varicocelectomy.
Prospective neuropsychological assessment of nondemented patients with biopsy proven senile plaques

Senile plaques are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease but also occur as an age-related change in some neurologically normal individuals at autopsy. The significance of these ``incidental'' senile plaques, with regard to the development of dementia, is unknown and cannot be assessed by postmortem studies. Patients with biopsy proven senile plaques offer an important opportunity for prospective followup. We identified senile plaques in temporal lobectomy specimens, removed in the surgical treatment of intractable epilepsy, from 11 patients. Review of preoperative neuropsychological test results showed no suggestion of dementia in any of the patients with senile plaques and no significant difference compared with controls. Postoperative followup ranged from 2 to 7 years (mean, 3.7 yr). There was no evidence of generalized cognitive deterioration in any of the study patients. These findings indicate that an abundance of senile plaques may be present without associated dementia and without cognitive deterioration for at least several years. NEUROLOGY 1996,46 425-429
Stenting for Small Coronary Vessels : A

Stents were initially used to manage or prevent acute vessel closure after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). The first direct randomized comparison with respect to restenosis showed the superiority of stenting to PTCA for de novo lesions situated in native vessels 3 mm or larger (1,2). In these trials, stenting was associated with a 25% to 30% reduction of restenosis as compared to PTCA (1,2). This represented the first of a series of battles won by stenting regarding restenosis. Trials that followed showed better results after stenting than after PTCA for bypass graft lesions (3), lesions situated in the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery (4), restenotic lesions (5), chronic occlusions (6) and in patients with acute myocardial infarction (7). Accordingly, stent placement was unanimously indicated for the treatment of de novo or restenotic lesions situated in large vessels ( 3 mm in size).