Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health Behaviors as Conceptualized by Individuals Diagnosed with a Psychotic Disorder

The purpose of this study is to describe health behaviors as conceptualized by individuals diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. Data were collected by qualitative interviews (n = 20) and were analyzed using phenomenography. Mental well-being took priority over physical health and guided health behaviors. Social relations were significant, and when they proved insufficient, health care professionals were utilized as a substitute. Some relied on religion, complementary treatments, and folk beliefs for health. Interventions not dependent on mental well-being, and assisting individuals to participate in appropriate networks could have advantages. Interventions adapted to the individual's financial situation and cultural values are useful as issues related to these areas can obstruct implementation of health behaviors. Implementing the findings of this study in nursing research and education will prepare nurses to meet the varying health needs of different individuals.
Performance Study for Impact of Mobility Model and Position Update Interval in Geographic Routing

Geographic routing has attracted many researcers with no need for routing table to forward packet in mobile ad hoc networks. Previously, some literatures have mentioned how to improve the performance via simulation results. However, they didn't address the impact of various mobility models and beacon interval, which is used to maintain recent position information for nodes. In this paper, we introduce well-known geographic routing protocol called as GPSR and conduct simulation to identify the impact of these parameters. Even though GPSR shows acceptable performance in most cases, sometimes its performance becomes worse than what we expect.
Sparse cortical source localization using spatio-temporal atoms

This paper addresses the problem of sparse localization of cortical sources from scalp EEG recordings. Localization algorithms use propagation model under spatial and/or temporal constraints, but their performance highly depends on the data signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In this work we propose a dictionary based sparse localization method which uses a data driven spatio-temporal dictionary to reconstruct the measurements using Single Best Replacement (SBR) and Continuation Single Best Replacement (CSBR) algorithms. We tested and compared our methods with the well-known MUSIC and RAP-MUSIC algorithms on simulated realistic data. Tests were carried out for different noise levels. The results show that our method has a strong advantage over MUSIC-type methods in case of synchronized sources.
Partial discharge monitoring system for PD characteristics of typical defects in GIS using UHF method

GIS is now widely used in power system because of its compact structure, easy maintenance, and reliable operation. It is necessary to detect partial discharge (PD) in GIS because partial discharge (PD) causes deterioration of insulation and losses of power system. UHF method has great advantages of high sensitivity, strong anti-interference ability, the ability of locating PD sources, and recognizing the defect type. In this, the partial discharge monitoring system for GIS Based on UHF Method is introduced including both the hardware and software systems. A PD detection and diagnosis test system for GIS is also established based on the monitoring system above. The PD characteristics of two typical defects in GIS are researched, and the Phase Resolved Partial Discharge (PRPD) spectrograms are drawn after dealing with the PD Pulse Sequence of typical defects models, by which the type of defect could be identified.
Glomerulo‐tubular junction stenosis as a factor contributing to glomerular obsolescence in IgA nephropathy

Periglomerular fibrosis (PF) is an interstitial injury observed in various renal diseases. It is speculated that this lesion, by occluding the glomerulo‐tubular junction (GTJ) and causing atubular glomeruli, may result functionally in a reduction of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and may be a factor contributing to the progression of renal disease. In the present study, 340 renal biopsy specimens were analysed to determine whether or not there was nephron injury derived from such a mechanism, as well as direct glomerular injury, in IgA nephropathy (IgAN). The patients were divided into five groups according to the degree of glomerular sclerosis. The average age was lower in groups with milder sclerosis and serum creatinine (Cr) was elevated in groups with more severe sclerosis. Because the GTJ was assumed to disappear when an atubular glomerulus was formed, the ratio of the number of glomeruli with discernible GTJ to the total number of glomeruli was evaluated. As glomerular sclerosis progressed, discernible GTJ reduced significantly (p<0.001) and the degree of PF increased significantly (p<0.05). By serial section study in cases with pronounced PF, transitions between the stages of stenosis of the GTJ and atubular glomeruli were observed. It is speculated that the occlusion of the GTJ eventually hyalinizes the glomerulus; in such cases, glomerular obsolescence of the collapse type might be formed. On the other hand, obsolescence of the mesangial proliferative type might be formed in the hyalinization derived from direct glomerular injury. In this context, glomerular obsolescence of the collapse type was observed more frequently and was accompanied by more increased PF than obsolescence of the mesangial proliferative type (p<0.001). These results suggest that in addition to direct glomerular injury, nephron injury derived from interstitial damage of this type plays an important contributory role in the progression of IgAN. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Rasch validation of the Prosthetic Mobility Questionnaire: A new outcome measure for assessing mobility in people with lower limb amputation.

OBJECTIVE To create a new outcome measure of mobility in people with lower limb amputation, based on a pool of 14 items assessing prosthetic mobility, comprising the 12-item Prosthesis Evaluation Questionnaire (Mobility Section) plus 2 new items. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS A total of 100 subjects (median age 58 years; 46 males; median body mass index 23.8) who had recently undergone lower limb amputation. METHODS Each patient completed the 14-item questionnaire twice: (i) at admission to the rehabilitation unit for prosthetic rehabilitation training; (ii) at 6-month follow-up after discharge. RESULTS After Rasch analysis, 2 items were deleted (one due to misfit, the other because showing large (> 0.30) positive correlation of residuals with two other items (local dependence). The remaining items fitted the Rasch model (internal construct validity), giving a new 12-item scale with a 5-level response format, the Prosthetic Mobility Questionnaire (PMQ), which demonstrated unidimensionality, lack of differential item functioning, and good reliability indices (person-separation reliability = 0.87; Cronbach's alpha 0.88). CONCLUSION Although further studies are needed to increase confidence in clinical use of the PMQ, this new questionnaire appears to be a promising, psychometrically-sound patient-reported outcome measure for assessment of mobility in subjects with lower limb amputation who use a prosthesis.
Cone beam computerized tomography: the effect of calibration of the Hounsfield unit number to electron density on dose calculation accuracy for adaptive radiation therapy

The availability of cone beam computerized tomography (CBCT) images at the time of treatment has opened possibilities for dose calculations representing the delivered dose for adaptive radiation therapy. A significant component in the accuracy of dose calculation is the calibration of the Hounsfield unit (HU) number to electron density (ED). The aim of this work is to assess the impact of HU to ED calibration phantom insert composition and phantom volume on dose calculation accuracy for CBCT. CBCT HU to ED calibration curves for different commercial phantoms were measured and compared. The effect of the scattering volume of the phantom on the HU to ED calibration was examined as a function of phantom length and radial diameter. The resulting calibration curves were used at the treatment planning system to calculate doses for geometrically simple phantoms and a pelvic anatomical phantom to compare against measured doses. Three-dimensional dose distributions for the pelvis phantom were calculated using the HU to ED curves and compared using Chi comparisons. The HU to ED calibration curves for the commercial phantoms diverge at densities greater than that of water, depending on the elemental composition of the phantom insert. The effect of adding scatter material longitudinally, increasing the phantom length from 5 cm to 26 cm, was found to be up to 260 HU numbers for the high-density insert. The change in the HU value, by increasing the diameter of the phantom from 18 to 40 cm, was found to be up to 1200 HU for the high-density insert. The effect of phantom diameter on the HU to ED curve can lead to dose differences for 6 MV and 18 MV x-rays under bone inhomogeneities of up to 20% in extreme cases. These results show significant dosimetric differences when using a calibration phantom with materials which are not tissue equivalent. More importantly, the amount of scattering material used with the HU to ED calibration phantom has a significant effect on the dosimetric accuracy, particularly in the radial direction.
Systemic availability and metabolism of colonic‐derived short‐chain fatty acids in healthy subjects: a stable isotope study

The short‐chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are bacterial metabolites produced during the colonic fermentation of undigested carbohydrates, such as dietary fibre and prebiotics, and can mediate the interaction between the diet, the microbiota and the host. We quantified the fraction of colonic administered SCFAs that could be recovered in the systemic circulation, the fraction that was excreted via the breath and urine, and the fraction that was used as a precursor for glucose, cholesterol and fatty acids. This information is essential for understanding the molecular mechanisms by which SCFAs beneficially affect physiological functions such as glucose and lipid metabolism and immune function.
Stabilization of costal cartilage graft warping using infrared laser irradiation in a porcine model.

OBJECTIVE To develop a method to rapidly stabilize the shape change process in peripheral slices of costal cartilage by using infrared laser irradiation in a porcine model. METHODS Forty peripheral porcine costal cartilage specimens (40 × 10 × 2 mm) were harvested. Thirty of these specimens were immediately irradiated with an Nd:YAG laser (λ = 1.32 μm; spot size, 2-mm diameter) using 1 of 3 exposure treatments: 6 W, 2 seconds, and 4 spots; 8 W, 3 seconds, and 4 spots; or 6 W, 2 seconds, and 8 spots. Ten control specimens were only immersed in 0.9% saline solution. Angle of curvature was measured from photographs taken at 0 minutes, immediately after irradiation, and at 30 minutes, 1 hour, 5 hours, and 24 hours. Infrared imaging was used to measure surface temperatures during irradiation. Cell viability after irradiation was determined using a live/dead assay in conjunction with fluorescent confocal microscopy. RESULTS Compared with the untreated controls, the irradiated grafts underwent accelerated shape change within the first 30 minutes to reach a stable geometry. Thereafter, irradiated grafts underwent little or no shape change, whereas the control group exhibited significant change in curvature from 30 minutes to 24 hours (P < .001). The average peak irradiated spot temperatures ranged from 76°C to 82°C. Cell viability measurements at the laser spot sites demonstrated a hemispherically shaped region of dead cells with a depth of 0.8 to 1.2 mm and a surface diameter of 1.9 to 2.7 mm. CONCLUSIONS Laser irradiation of peripheral costal cartilage slices provides an effective method for rapidly stabilizing acute shape change by accelerating the warping process. The temperature elevations necessary to achieve this are spatially limited and well within the limits of tolerable tissue injury.
Comparative genomic hybridization analysis of human sarcomas: II. Identification of novel amplicons at 6p and 17p in osteosarcomas

Using comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), we have identified and mapped regions of DNA amplification in primary and metastatic osteosarcomas. Samples were obtained from four patients and ten independent xenografts. Sixty‐four percent of the tumors showed increased DNA‐sequence copy numbers, affecting 23 different chromosomal sites. Most of these regions were not previously associated with the development and/or progression of these tumors. Amplicons originating from 1q21–q23, 6p, 8q23‐qter, and 17p11‐p12 were observed most frequently. The 6p and 17p11–p12 amplicons seem to be specific for osteosarcomas, indicating that these regions may harbor genes relevant for the development of these tumors.
Transparent and flexible neural network structure for robot dynamics identification

In this paper, a novel architecture in multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network with flexible activation function and adaptive learning rate is presented for a data-driven identification of robot dynamics. It is assumed that the measurement of robot end-effector position, velocity and acceleration are available corrupted by Gaussian noise. Since some general property of robot dynamics are included in the proposed structure as well as optimization indices, this structure is envisaged having good performance in confronting with uncertainty in measurements. The main contribution of this paper is to propose a transparent neural network structure for identification of dynamic terms by introducing a gray-box identifier. Simulation results on 2-DOF serial manipulator reveal the accuracy of the method. Finally, experimental results on a laboratory-scaled twin rotor CE 150 helicopter indicate the applicability of the proposed method.
A Simple Proof for the Iteration Complexity of the Proximal Gradient Algorithm

We study the problem of minimizing the sum of a smooth strongly convex function and a non-smooth convex function. We consider solving this problem using the proximal gradient (PG) method, which at each iteration uses the proximal operator with respect to the non-smooth convex function at the intermediate iterate obtained using the gradient with respect to the smooth strongly convex function. We introduce a simple novel analysis and show that the PG algorithm attains a globally linear convergence rate provided that the step size is sufficiently small. Consequently, we obtain iteration complexity results for the PG method. We also extend our analysis to study an inexact proximal method, called the proximal incremental aggregated gradient method, and show that this method is globally convergent with a linear rate.
Non-hydrocarbons of significance in petroleum exploration: volatile fatty acids and non-hydrocarbon gases

Abstract Non-hydrocarbon gas species (CO2, N2, H2) are locally important in exploration for gas, and there is a growing body of evidence that acid water originating in shales materially affects the diagenesis of nearby sandstones. These gases have been studied by analysing the products of closed-vessel hydrous pyrolysis of known petroleum source rocks, and comparing the results with field observations. Alteration of petroleum source rocks at temperatures >250°C yields a significant amount of non-hydrocarbon components. Ethanoate and higher acid anions are liberated in substantial quantities; the yield appears to be related to the oxygen content of the sedimentary organic matter present. The non-hydrocarbon gases CO2, H2 and N2 are frequently the dominant gaseous products from hydrous pyrolysis: in the natural environment the same rock sequences at a higher maturity preferentially generate hydrocarbon gases—mainly methane. This discrepancy may be attributed to reaction and phase thermodynamic effects between laboratory and natural systems, behaviour that has important implications in the prediction of gas generation and composition in nature by source rock pyrolysis in the laboratory.
Geographical prevalence and risk factors for pterygium: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective Pterygium is considered to be a proliferative overgrowth of bulbar conjunctiva that can induce significant astigmatism and cause visual impairment; this is the first meta-analysis to investigate the pooled prevalence and risk factors for pterygium in the global world. Design A systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based studies. Setting International. Participants A total of 20 studies with 900 545 samples were included. Primary outcome measure The pooled prevalence and risk factors for pterygium. Results 20 studies were included. The pooled prevalence of pterygium was 10.2% (95% CI 6.3% to 16.1%). The pooled prevalence among men was higher than that among women (14.5% vs 13.6%). The proportion of participants with unilateral cases of pterygium was higher than that of participants with bilateral cases of pterygium. We found a trend that the higher pooled prevalence of pterygium was associated with increasing geographical latitude and age in the world. The pooled OR was 2.32 (95% CI 1.66 to 3.23) for the male gender and 1.76 (95% CI 1.55 to 2.00) for outdoor activity, respectively. Conclusions The pooled prevalence of pterygium was relatively high, especially for low latitude regions and the elderly. There were many modifiable risk factors associated with pterygium to which healthcare providers should pay more attention.
Increasing the Precision of Reconstructed 3D Model of Indoor Robot Environment by Elimination of Problematic Points

Abstract In the process of reconstructing the 3D environment from the point cloud acquired from 3D laser the main objective is to obtain the model that is as precise as possible. Reconstruction algorithms greatly rely on the input data precision. Unfortunately, the point clouds regularly contains points that are problematic for the reconstruction. They are mostly associated with the reflection of laser beams off the semi–transparent surfaces, e.g. windows. This paper proposes the method for eliminating such points based on K–means clustering in order to increase the accuracy of the reconstructed 3D model.
Theory and design of microwave filters [Book Review]

heory and Design of Microwave Filters by Ian Hunter gives a T good tutorial on lumped-element prototype synthesis, and an overview of its application to the design of several classes of microwave filters. The amount of material covered is ambitious, particularly in a book only a third the size of the classic tome by Matthaei, Young, and Jones, so the discussion is necessarily terse in many areas. In the last section of Chapter 1, Hunter explains his goal: to show the reader how to design filters with performance that “approaches the theoretical limits as closely as possible. ” Towards this end, Dr. Hunter devotes three of the seven major chapters in his book to the theory, design, and transformation of low-pass, lumped-element filter prototypes. These form the core of his filter-synthesis procedure. The remaining chapters cover TEM transmission-line filters, waveguide filters, ceramic-resonator filters, and filter-miniaturization techniques.
Adjunctive anakinra in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis despite methotrexate, or leflunomide, or cyclosporin-A monotherapy: a 48-week, comparative, prospective study.

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy and safety of anakinra (ANK) as an add-on therapy in RA patients with inadequate response to monotherapy with non-biological DMARDs. METHODS A 48-week comparative, prospective study of patients with active RA [mean 28-joint disease activity score (DAS28): 6.81], despite MTX (n = 48), or LEF (n = 42), or CSA (n = 38) treatment, in whom ANK (100 mg/daily SC) was given with corticosteroid cream topical application. RESULTS At 24 and 48 weeks the patient percentages meeting the ACR20 response criteria were 57 and 73%, respectively, 33 and 41% met ACR50, while 15 and 23% met ACR70. Significant improvements in number of swollen and tender joints, HAQ, pain, global disease assessment, CRP and haemoglobin from baseline to 24 and 48 weeks were evident. DAS28 decreased at 24 weeks (- 1.68; 95% CI - 1.46, - 1.90; P < 0.0001), as well as at study end (- 2.24; 95% CI - 2.01, - 2.47; P < 0.0001). Subgroup analysis revealed a significantly weaker response in terms of pain and DAS28 in patients treated with concomitant CSA. The most common ANK-related adverse event was injection-site reaction (29%), being less frequent in male patients, as well as in patients treated with CSA. There were 17 withdrawals, 6 of them due to inefficacy. No opportunistic infections or new safety signals were observed. CONCLUSION Considering the limitations of an open-label study, addition of ANK appears to be an effective and well-tolerated treatment option for many RA patients with inadequate responses to non-biologic DMARDs in clinical practice.
Wage subsidies, work incentives, and the reform of the Austrian welfare system

We analyze the employment and income effects of a needs-based minimum benefit system (“Bedarfsorientierte Mindestsicherung”) which has recently been introduced in Austria. The aim of this reform was to reduce poverty as well as to increase work incentives for recipients of social assistance. On the basis of a behavioral microsimulation model we show that this new system slightly increases employment but reduces incomes for the poorest households remaining unemployed. As an alternative, we analyze a budgetary neutral reform proposal which reduces financial incentives for marginal employment and provides a wage subsidy rewarding working longer hours. This alternative reform would yield larger positive employment effects, but more households would suffer from income losses. Overall, income inequality and poverty are affected little, however, both under the new social welfare system and the alternative reform proposal.
PNMBG: Point Neighborhood Merging with Border Grids

The special clustering algorithm is attractive for the task of grouping arbitrary shaped database into several proper classes. Up to now, a wide variety of clustering algorithms designed for this task have been proposed, the majority of these algorithms is density-based. But the effectivity and efficiency still is the great challenges for these algorithms as far as the clustering quality of such task is concerned. In this paper, we propose an arbitrary shaped clustering method with border grids (PNMBG), PNMBG is a crisp partition method. It groups objects to point neighborhoods first ly , and then iterati vely merges these point neighborhoods into clusters via grids , only bordering grids are considered during the merging stage. Experiments show that PNMBG has a good efficiency especially on the database with high dimension. In general, PNMBG outperforms DBSCAN in the term of efficiency and has an almost same effectivity with the later.