Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
QRS fragmentation is superior to QRS duration in predicting mortality in adults with tetralogy of Fallot

Background Although QRS duration >180 ms has prognostic value in adults with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), its sensitivity to predict mortality is low. Fragmented QRS complexes, a simple measurement on ECG, are related to myocardial fibrosis and dysfunction in patients with TOF. Our objective was to determine whether QRS fragmentation predicts major outcomes in TOF. Methods This multicentre study included adult patients with TOF from a prospective registry. Notches in the QRS complex in ≥2 contiguous leads on a 12-lead ECG, not related to bundle branch block, were defined as QRS fragmentation, which was classified as none, moderate (≤4 leads) or severe (≥5 leads). The primary and secondary outcomes were all-cause mortality and clinical ventricular arrhythmia, respectively. Results A total of 794 adult patients with TOF (median age 27 years, 55% male; 52% no QRS fragmentation, 32% moderate, 16% severe) were included. During long-term (median 10.4 years) follow-up, 46 (6%) patients died and 35 (4%) patients had ventricular arrhythmias. Overall, 10-year survival was 98% in patients without fragmented QRS complexes, 93% in patients with moderate QRS fragmentation and 81% in patients with severe QRS fragmentation. In multivariable Cox hazards regression analysis, extent of QRS fragmentation (HR: 2.24/class, 95% CI 1.48 to 3.40, p<0.001) remained independently predictive for mortality, whereas QRS duration was not predictive (p=0.85). The extent of QRS fragmentation was also independently predictive for ventricular arrhythmia (HR: 2.00/class, 95% CI 1.26 to 3.16, p=0.003). Conclusions The extent of QRS fragmentation is superior to QRS duration in predicting mortality in adult patients with TOF and may be used in risk stratification.
Factors associated with overestimation of asthma control: A cross-sectional study in Australia

ABSTRACT Objective: To investigate actual and perceived disease control in Australians with asthma, and identify factors associated with overestimation of asthma control. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of Australian adults with asthma, who were recruited via Facebook to complete an online survey. The survey included basic demographic questions, and validated tools assessing asthma knowledge, medication adherence, medicine beliefs, illness perception and asthma control. Items that measured symptoms and frequency of reliever medication use were compared to respondents' self-rating of their own asthma control. Predictors of overestimation of asthma control were determined using multivariate logistic regression. Results: Of 2971 survey responses, 1950 (65.6%) were complete and eligible for inclusion. Overestimation of control was apparent in 45.9% of respondents. Factors independently associated with overestimation of asthma control included education level (OR = 0.755, 95% CI: 0.612–0.931, P = 0.009), asthma knowledge (OR = 0.942, 95% CI: 0.892-0.994, P = 0.029), total asthma control, (OR = 0.842, 95% CI: 0.818-0.867, P < 0.001), agreement that most medications are addictive (OR = 1.144, 95% CI: 1.017–1.287, P = 0.025), and increased feelings of control over asthma (OR = 1.261, 95% CI: 1.191–1.335), P < 0.001). Conclusions: Overestimation of asthma control remains a significant issue in Australians with asthma. The study highlights the importance of encouraging patients to express their feelings about asthma control and beliefs about medicines, and to be more forthcoming with their asthma symptoms. This would help to reveal any discrepancies between perceived and actual asthma control.
A structural equation modelling of factors influencing student teachers' satisfaction with e-learning

The success factors of an e‐learning environment are different to those in a traditional learning environment. As institutions incorporate elements of e‐learning into their courses, many are looking at the factors that affect the performance of students as such findings are valuable to those institutions planning e‐learning strategies. In many studies, the focus have been on students' experiences with specific aspects of e‐learning courses, eg, interaction with an instructor, learning with a specific learning management system, or certain characteristics of a course (Alexander & Golja, 2007). However, little is known about the key factors that motivate users to participate in e‐learning (Paechter, Maier & Macher, 2010). Although e‐learning has many advantages, the essential condition of a successful system is that learners are satisfied with the system. Satisfaction is found to have a positive influence on motivation and is often used as a dependent variable in e‐learning research. When students derived satisfaction from e‐learning, they become highly motivated, leading to a more intensive engagement with the course materials. In an e‐learning environment, the factors that influence on users' satisfaction are typically grouped into six dimensions: student, teacher, course, technology, system design and environmental dimension (Chen & Bagakas, 2003).
Registration of Images With Varying Topology Using Embedded Maps

This paper presents registration via embedded maps (REM), a deformable registration algorithm for images with varying topology. The algorithm represents 3-D images as 4-D manifolds in a Riemannian space (referred to as embedded maps). Registration is performed as a surface evolution matching one embedded map to another using a diffusion process. The approach differs from those existing in that it takes an a priori estimation of image regions where topological changes are present, for example lesions, and generates a dense vector field representing both the shape and intensity changes necessary to match the images. The algorithm outputs both a diffeomorphic deformation field and an intensity displacement which corrects the intensity difference caused by topological changes. Multiple sets of experiments are conducted on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with lesions from OASIS and ADNI datasets. These images are registered to either a brain template or images of healthy individuals. An exemplar case registering a template to an MRI with tumor is also given. The resulting deformation fields were compared with those obtained using diffeomorphic demons, where topological changes are not modeled. These sets of experiments demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed REM method for registration of brain MRI with severe topological differences.
Positive Selection and Expansion of Cytomegalovirus-specific CD4 and CD8 T Cells in Sealed Systems: Potential Applications for Adoptive Cellular Immunoreconstitution

Administration of pathogen-specific T-cell lines can reconstitute the cellular immune function of immunocompromised patients. Selection and expansion of specific T cells for reinfusion pose unique challenges owing to the fact that good manufacturing procedures must be implemented. Cytokine secretion-based methods can identify and select specific T cells. We showed here that it is possible to combine this method with procedures for cell handling performed in a sealed, unbreached system from start to end. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells, obtained from blood samples and processed in a sealed system, were stimulated in Teflon bags with a library of selected CD4 and CD8 peptides derived from the immunodominant cytomegalovirus protein pp65. The stimulated T cells were labeled with reagents for interferon-γ surface capture and selected on a magnetic column using a sealed system connected to the Teflon bags. Elution and final expansion were also performed with an unbreached protocol with preservation of sterility even if the steps were run on the bench top. Expanded cells exhibited the appropriate functions. The use of this unbreached procedure proves that safety of cellular products generated in a good manufacturing procedures facility can be further improved. Similar sealed protocols can also be applied for T-cell therapies directed against tumor antigens.
Understanding in distributed social-administrative network systems

Understanding is crucial for smart man-machine communication and therefore in the future of a well balanced information society. A pragmatic definition is given, valid for machines and humans. The solutions follow the developmental course in the history of philosophy and realize them based on the pattern concept of information science and the intelligent methods of frames, scripts, semantic nets and natural language understanding achievements. An extensive experiment using corpora of citizens claims indicate the feasibility and limits in application of current information technology and the emphasis of the elevated human role.
Functional Income Distribution in Portugal: The Role of Financialisation and Other Related Determinants

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the relationship between the labour income share and financialisation, as well as other related variables in Portugal from 1978 to 2012. We estimate an equation for the labour share that includes standard variables (technological progress, globalisation, education and business cycle) and variables to capture the effect of financialisation. We formulate the hypothesis that the financialisation process may lead to a rise in the inequality of functional income distribution through three channels: the change in the sectoral composition of the economy (due to both the increase in the weight of financial activity and the decrease in government activity), the diffusion of shareholder value governance practices and the weakening of trade unions. Our results show that the financialisation process has an indirect long-term effect on the labour share through its impact on government activity and trade union density. The paper also finds evidence supporting the traditional explanations for functional income distribution, namely globalisation, education and business cycle.
An ‘Age of Choice’ for External Development Finance? Evidence from Country Case Studies

The article presents findings from nine country case studies in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, mapping the expanding access of partner country governments to external development finance beyond official development assistance. The article analyzes governments’ priorities for the terms and conditions of development finance flows they would like to access. The analysis finds that (1) Chinese official finance is the largest component of external development finance flows beyond official development assistance (ODA) in the countries analyzed, far larger than global figures would suggest, (2) partner countries welcome more choice and more finance, (3) countries identify ownership, alignment with national priorities, speed of project delivery, portfolio diversification as key priorities, and (4) the rise of providers such as China has increased the potential bargaining power of recipient countries vis-a-vis more traditional donors. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
10 Gbit/s tributary channel exchange of 160 Gbit/ssignals using periodically poled lithium niobate.

We propose and demonstrate data exchange in both the wavelength and time domains at a fine granularity, i.e., low-speed tributary channel exchange of wavelength-division multiplexed high-speed optical time-division multiplexed signals. Using the parametric depletion effect of cascaded second-order nonlinear interactions in a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide, we experimentally implement 10 Gbit/s tributary channel exchange between two 160 Gbit/s signals with a power penalty of less than 4 dB at a bit-error rate of 10(-9). Moreover, taking into account the waveguide propagation loss, we derive analytical solutions to investigate the signal depletion (SD) and extinction ratio (ER) performance of the PPLN-based data exchange. The theoretical analyses indicate that low waveguide propagation loss benefits large achievable SD and ER.
The Grass Is Always Greener? Armed Group Side Switching in Civil Wars

Why do armed groups switch sides during civil wars? Most theories of conflict assume that armed groups have a fixed alignment with the government throughout their entire life span, ignoring the fact that armed groups switch between fighting on behalf of and against the government. In this article, I propose a theoretical framework that integrates armed groups’ willingness to switch sides and their capacity to do so. Armed groups are motivated to switch sides if it contributes to maintaining or improving organizational objectives. I therefore expect armed groups to switch sides as the number of other armed groups with the same alignment increases and when the state is weak. I also argue that armed groups require the capacity to switch sides in order to overcome the internal coordination problem. I propose that non-state armed actors that are the product of prior splintering are more homogeneous and cohesive than other groups. Hence, they are in a better position to attempt to switch sides. I test the propositions using a novel data set, the History of Armed Actors Dataset, containing data on when and where armed groups have switched sides during civil wars between 1989 and 2007. The results reveal that both incentives and capacity influence side switching.
Enhanced PIELG: A Protein Interaction Extraction System using a Link Grammar Parser from biomedical abstracts

Due to the ever growing amount of publications about protein-protein interactions, information extraction from text is increasingly recognized as one of crucial technologies in bioinformatics. This paper investigates the effect of adding a new module - Complex Sentence Processor (CSP) - to the PIELG system. PIELG is a Protein Interaction Extraction System using a Link Grammar Parser from biomedical abstracts (PIELG). PIELG uses linkage given by the Link Grammar Parser to start a case based analysis of contents of various syntactic roles as well as their linguistically significant and meaningful combinations. The system uses phrasal-prepositional verbs patterns to overcome preposition combinations problems. The recall and precision are enhanced to 49.33 % and 65.16 % respectively. Experimental evaluations with two other state-of-the-art extraction systems indicate that enhanced PIELG system achieves better performance. The result shows that the performance is remarkably promising.
Skills Training of Health Workers in the Use of a Non Surgical Device (PrePex) for Adult Safe Male Circumcision

Background Safe Male Circumcision (SMC) is a proven approach for partial protection of men from acquisition of HIV infection. Several sub-Saharan African countries have a target to circumcise 80% of males aged 15 to 49. The use of devices such as PrePex would aid scaling up of SMC. Since most health workers would have no prior experience with use of devices, skills training is needed. This paper explores a skills transfer model at an urban site in Uganda. Objective To assess the practicability and feasibility of rapid short duration training for safe PrePex device use. Methods A prospective study, conducted over 8 weeks (August–October 2012) at International Hospital Kampala, an urban Kampala hospital, examining the performance of various health worker cadres after training in the use of a non-surgical device (PrePex). The prospective study obtained approval from the Makerere School of Medicine Research and Ethics Committee and the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology. If eligible, and after the subject signed the informed consent form, they were enrolled into the study. Results Ten health workers were successfully trained in use of PrePex during a 3 day non-residential on-the-job training course. After the first three days of training, the trained health workers performed 561 placements and 529 device removals successfully. Over all adverse events (AE) rates were below ≤2%; however, there were some differences in AE rates across the cadres trained but not significant (p>0.25 for moderate AEs). Conclusion Rapid training for safe use of the PrePex device is feasible for the range of health workers available for SMC in resource limited settings, but among those with past SMC experience.
Clonal differences in expression of 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3)-1alpha-hydroxylase, of 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3)-24-hydroxylase, and of the vitamin D receptor in human colon carcinoma cells: effects of epidermal growth factor and 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3).

Human colon carcinoma cells express 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3)-1alpha-hydroxylase (CYP27B1) and thus produce the vitamin D receptor (VDR) ligand 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (1,25-D3), which can be metabolized by 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3)-24-hydroxylase (CYP24). Expression of VDR, CYP27B1, and CYP24 determines the efficacy of the antimitotic action of 1,25-D3 and is distinctly related to the degree of differentiation of cancerous lesions. In the present study we addressed the question of whether the effects of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and of 1,25-D3 on VDR, CYP27B1, and CYP24 gene expression in human colon carcinoma cell lines also depend on the degree of cellular differentiation. We were able to show that slowly dividing, highly differentiated Caco-2/15 cells responded in a dose-dependent manner to both EGF and 1,25-D3 by up-regulation of VDR and CYP27B1 expression, whereas in highly proliferative, less differentiated cell lines, such as Caco-2/AQ and COGA-1A and -1E, negative regulation was observed. CYP24 mRNA was inducible in all clones by 1,25-D3 but not by EGF. From the observed clonal differences in the regulatory effects of EGF and 1,25-D3 on VDR and CYP27B1 gene expression we suggest that VDR-mediated growth inhibition by 1,25-D3 would be efficient only in highly differentiated carcinomas even when under mitogenic stimulation by EGF.
Geno‐ and phenotyping and immunogenicity of HNA‐3

BACKGROUND: Alloantibodies directed against the human neutrophil alloantigen (HNA)‐3a are frequently implicated in severe and fatal transfusion‐related acute lung injury (TRALI). The HNA‐3a/3b system results from a single‐nucleotide exchange (461G>A; Arg154Gln) in the choline transporter‐like protein 2 gene. Genotyping may allow identification of blood donors at risk to develop HNA‐3a antibodies.
Signaling pathways in early cardiac development

Cardiomyocyte differentiation is a complex multistep process requiring the proper temporal and spatial integration of multiple signaling pathways. Previous embryological and genetic studies have identified a number of signaling pathways that are critical to mediate the initial formation of the mesoderm and its allocation to the cardiomyocyte lineage. It has become clear that some of these signaling networks work autonomously, in differentiating myocardial cells whereas others work non‐autonomously, in neighboring tissues, to regulate cardiac differentiation indirectly. Here, we provide an overview of three signaling networks that mediate cardiomyocyte specification and review recent insights into their specific roles in heart development. In addition, we demonstrate how systems level, ‘omic approaches’ and other high‐throughput techniques such as small molecules screens are beginning to impact our understanding of cardiomyocyte specification and, to identify novel signaling pathways involved in this process. In particular, it now seems clear that at least one chemokine receptor CXCR4 is an important marker for cardiomyocyte progenitors and may play a functional role in their differentiation. Finally, we discuss some gaps in our current understanding of early lineage selection that could be addressed by various types of omic analysis. WIREs Syst Biol Med 2011 3 191–205 DOI: 10.1002/wsbm.112
The chaos analysis of long memory process in artificial stock markets consist of multi-agents

We consider realistic settings of an artificial market from the viewpoint of a long memory process. With the aim of analyzing the mechanism of stock price change, we construct an artificial stock market composed of multiple agents whose investment strategies are represented by tree-shaped programs. The market is optimized using genetic programming so that the change of its stock price resembles that of a "real" stock market statistically. In order to perform an efficient optimization and analyze agents' behavior easily, we use ADG - automatically defined groups proposed previously. We show experimentally that complex changes in a real market appear in the proposed artificial market.
Adaptive repetitive controller for a three-phase Dynamic Voltage Restorer

Voltage sags and swells, voltage harmonics and voltage imbalances in power systems may affect sensitive loads causing production interruption or equipment damage. Now-a-days series voltage compensation using power electronics devices is a promising solution for these problems and the design, control and application of this type of devices have drawn much attention in the literature. Comprehensive controllers for Dynamic Voltage Restores (DVR's) have already been proposed to tackle all those problems simultaneously, although several aspects need closer attention. This paper addresses several implementation issues for a discrete algorithm to control a three phase DVR. The controller is divided into a main one and an auxiliary one. The former is based on a state-feedback controller to achieve a fast transient response when voltage sags occur. The latter uses a repetitive controller to improve steady-state reference tracking and disturbance rejection in order to tackle harmonic and imbalance problems. This paper focuses on the repetitive-controller part. Firstly, a new method to improve the repetitive controller performance with small frequency deviations in the grid is presented. Secondly, the classical repetitive controller is modified so that the response to non-periodic disturbances is improved. Finally, the main contributions of the paper are illustrated by simulation using a test system built with SIMULINK and its PowerSim toolbox.
IMAC/TiO2 enrich for peptide modifications other than phosphorylation: Implications for chromatographic choice and database searching in phosphoproteomics

Protein regulation by reversible phosphorylation is fundamental in nature, and large‐scale phosphoproteomic analyses are becoming routine in proteomics laboratories. These analyses utilise phosphopeptide separation and enrichment techniques linked to LC‐MS/MS. Herein, we report that IMAC and TiO2 also enrich for non‐phosphorylated modified peptides such as acetylated, deamidated and carbamylated peptides. Urea and digestion conditions commonly used in phosphoproteomic workflows are the likely sources of the induced modifications (deamidation and carbamylation) and can easily modify phosphopeptides. Including these variable modifications in database searches increased the total number of identified phosphopeptides by 15%. We also show that strong cation exchange fractionation provides poor resolution of phosphopeptides and actually enriches these alternatively modified peptides. By switching to reverse‐phase chromatography, we show a significant improvement in the number of identified phosphopeptides. We recommend that the users of phosphopeptide enrichment strategies avoid using urea as a denaturant and that careful consideration is given to chromatographic conditions and the types of variable modifications used in database searches. Thus, the capacity of IMAC and TiO2 to enrich phosphopeptides bearing modifications other than phosphorylation is a previously unappreciated property of these chromatographies with practical implications for the field of phosphoproteomics.