Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
S1 and S2 Heart Sound Recognition Using Deep Neural Networks

OBJECTIVE This study focuses on the first (S1) and second (S2) heart sound recognition based only on acoustic characteristics; the assumptions of the individual durations of S1 and S2 and time intervals of S1-S2 and S2-S1 are not involved in the recognition process. The main objective is to investigate whether reliable S1 and S2 recognition performance can still be attained under situations where the duration and interval information might not be accessible. METHODS A deep neural network (DNN) method is proposed for recognizing S1 and S2 heart sounds. In the proposed method, heart sound signals are first converted into a sequence of Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs). The K-means algorithm is applied to cluster MFCC features into two groups to refine their representation and discriminative capability. The refined features are then fed to a DNN classifier to perform S1 and S2 recognition. We conducted experiments using actual heart sound signals recorded using an electronic stethoscope. Precision, recall, F-measure, and accuracy are used as the evaluation metrics. RESULTS The proposed DNN-based method can achieve high precision, recall, and F-measure scores with more than 91% accuracy rate. CONCLUSION The DNN classifier provides higher evaluation scores compared with other well-known pattern classification methods. SIGNIFICANCE The proposed DNN-based method can achieve reliable S1 and S2 recognition performance based on acoustic characteristics without using an ECG reference or incorporating the assumptions of the individual durations of S1 and S2 and time intervals of S1-S2 and S2-S1.
Boldness and asymmetric contests: Role- and outcome-dependent effects of fighting in hermit crabs

Consistent between-individual differences in behavior have been demonstrated in an array of species from diverse taxa, and variation in boldness may be associated with variation in aggressiveness. However, little is known about how boldness is linked with the ability to win fights (resource holding potential) or about how the experience of fighting may alter subsequent boldness. Animal contests often involve role asymmetries, where the 2 opponents fight in different ways. Here, we investigate boldness before and after fighting in attacking and defending hermit crabs during contests over the ownership of gastropod shells. Although prefight boldness did not influence the chance of winning for attackers, successful defenders had longer startle responses (less bold) than those that gave up. Postfight changes in boldness also differed between roles. For defenders, there was a significant decline in consistency of startle responses after fighting, coupled with outcome-dependent plasticity in mean boldness. Furthermore, postfight boldness in defenders varied with the intensity of agonistic behavior inflicted on them by attackers. In contrast, boldness in attackers was stable across the before- and after-fighting situations. Links between internal state and agonistic behavior are known to vary between roles in asymmetric contests. It now appears that similar role-specific links are present between aggression and animal personality.
Iron- and Hepcidin-Independent Downregulation of the Iron Exporter Ferroportin in Macrophages during Salmonella Infection

Retention of iron in tissue macrophages via upregulation of hepcidin (HAMP) and downregulation of the iron exporter ferroportin (FPN) is thought to participate in the establishment of anemia of inflammation after infection. However, an upregulation of FPN has been proposed to limit macrophages iron access to intracellular pathogens. Therefore, we studied the iron homeostasis and in particular the regulation of FPN after infection with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in mice presenting tissue macrophages with high iron (AcB61), basal iron (A/J and wild-type mice), or low iron (Hamp knock out, Hamp−/−) levels. The presence of iron in AcB61 macrophages due to extravascular hemolysis and strong erythrophagocytosis activity favored the proliferation of Salmonella in the spleen and liver with a concomitant decrease of FPN protein expression. Despite systemic iron overload, no or slight increase in Salmonella burden was observed in Hamp−/− mice compared to controls. Importantly, FPN expression at both mRNA and protein levels was strongly decreased during Salmonella infection in Hamp−/− mice. The repression of Fpn mRNA was also observed in Salmonella-infected cultured macrophages. In addition, the downregulation of FPN was associated with decreased iron stores in both the liver and spleen in infected mice. Our findings show that during Salmonella infection, FPN is repressed through an iron and hepcidin-independent mechanism. Such regulation likely provides the cellular iron indispensable for the growth of Salmonella inside the macrophages.
Improving Accessing Efficiency of Cloud Storage Using De-Duplication and Feedback Schemes

File distribution and storage in a cloud storage environment is usually handled by storage device providers or physical storage devices rented from third parties. Files can be integrated into useful resources that users are then able to access via centralized management and virtualization. Nevertheless, when the number of files continues to increase, the condition of every storage node cannot be guaranteed by the manager. High volumes of files will result in wasted hardware resources, increased control complexity of the data center, and a less efficient cloud storage system. Therefore, in order to reduce workloads due to duplicate files, we propose the index name servers (INS) to manage not only file storage, data de-duplication, optimized node selection, and server load balancing, but also file compression, chunk matching, real-time feedback control, IP information, and busy level index monitoring. To manage and optimize the storage nodes based on the client-side transmission status by our proposed INS, all nodes must elicit optimal performance and offer suitable resources to clients. In this way, not only can the performance of the storage system be improved, but the files can also be reasonably distributed, decreasing the workload of the storage nodes.
A family of distortion measures based upon projection operation for robust speech recognition

Consideration is given to the formulation of speech similarity measures, a fundamental component in recognizer designs, that are robust to the change of ambient conditions. The authors focus on the speech cepstrum derived from linear prediction coefficients (the LPC cepstrum). By using some common models for noisy speech, they show analytically that additive white noise reduces the norm (length) of the LPC cepstral vectors. Empirical observations on the parameter histograms not only confirm the analytical results through the use of noise models but further reveal that at a given (global) signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the norm reduction on cepstral vectors with larger norms is generally less than on vectors with smaller norms, and that lower order coefficients are more affected than higher order terms. In addition, it is found that the orientation (or direction) of the cepstral vector is less susceptible to noise perturbation than the vector norm. As a consequence of the above results, a family of distortion measures based on the projection between two cepstral vectors is proposed. The new measures have the same computational efficiency as the band-pass cepstral distortion measure. >
Drug use in adolescents in relation to social support and reactive and proactive aggressive behavior.

BACKGROUND Aggressive behavior in adolescents, along with drug use, has become one of the great issues in education in recent years, among other things, due to its relationship with school failure and delinquency. The purpose of this paper was to find out whether social support fulfils a basic role in decision-making on drug use and the behavior of adolescents. METHOD 822 high school students participated in the study (M = 14.84, SD = 0.87). Data were collected with the Peer Conflict Scale and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and an ad hoc questionnaire on drug use. RESULTS The results show that drug use is significantly related to reactive and proactive aggressive behavior. It was also observed that higher use is significantly related to perceived social support by the peer group, and less support by family. DISCUSSION It was shown that substance use is related to perceived social support by the adolescent’s peer group and to aggressive behavior. It is therefore necessary to intervene in both respects to avoid the presence of substance use in schools.
The effect of hospital biocide sodium dichloroisocyanurate on the viability and properties of Clostridium difficile spores

Clostridium difficile is the primary cause of healthcare‐associated diarrhoea globally and produces spores which are resistant to commonly used biocides and are able persist on contaminated surfaces for months. This study examined the effect of sublethal concentrations of the biocide sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC) on the viability of spores produced by 21 clinical isolates of C. difficile representing a range of PCR ribotypes. Spores exposed to 500 ppm NaDCC for 10 min exhibited between a 4–6 log10 reduction in viability which was independent of spore PCR ribotype. The effect of sublethal concentrations of biocide on the surface properties of exosporium positive and negative clinical isolates was determined using a spore adhesion to hydrocarbon (SATH) assay. These isolates differed markedly in their responses suggesting that exposure to biocide can have a profound effect on hydrophobicity and thus the ability of spores to adhere to surfaces. This raises the intriguing possibility that sublethal exposure to NaDCC could inadvertently promote the spread of the pathogen in healthcare facilities.
AHI: Efficient policy space set operations

With the fast industrial deployment of software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) technologies, network function policy enforcement in large scale virtualized networks becomes a key challenge for network management. Distributed policy enforcement heavily involves network policy space analysis, where set operations consume most of the computation. Based on spatial projection and bitmap indexing, a novel algorithm AHI (Atomic Hyper-Rectangle Indexing) is proposed for fast policy space set operations. Experiments with real datasets demonstrated that AHI improves set operation speed by two to three orders of magnitude and achieves the same least space cost, comparing to existing state-of-the-art algorithms r-BDD, wildcard expression, and PSA.
Regression: a bridge between analysis and simulation

careers-with the Civil Service, with the British Chamber of Shipping, with the London School of Economics, with the computer services company now known as Scicon and with the World Fertility Survey. I had the good fortune to work with him throughout his time with Scicon; and we wrote one paper together, jointly with David Mann, which was on finding optimum subsets in multiple linear regression. It is a just reflexion on our relative standings to note that this was one of Sir Maurice's minor,
The occurrence and course of skin symptoms on the hands among female cleaners

Skin symptoms on the hands were studied in questionnaire‐based studies conducted in 1989 and 1991 among female cleaners employed at Danish nursing homes, schools and offices. A total of 1166 participated in 1989, and 1011 of them participated in 1991. The average age was 45 years and the average of seniority was 10 years. 1/5 of the cleaners reported problems with cleaning agents, A total of 81% had wet hands more than 1/4 of their working hours. A total of 43% reported having at least 1 out of 4 skin symptoms during a 1‐year period. Among them, 70% reported improvement during weekends and holidays. A positive correlation was found between hours per week spent with wet hands and skin symptoms. During the 2‐year follow‐up period, the risk of developing skin symptoms was higher in the group that remained cleaners than in the group that left their cleaning jobs. Accordingly, the prognosis was better in the group that left their cleaning jobs compared to the group that remained cleaners. Retirement occurred more often among cleaners with skin symptoms than among the others. There is a future need to develop and implement new work organisation and cleaning methods to reduce the time spent with wet hands.
Woody plant richness does not influence invertebrate community reassembly trajectories in a tree diversity experiment.

Understanding the relationship between plant diversity and diversity at higher trophic levels is important from both conservation and restoration perspectives. Although there is strong evidence for bottom-up maintenance of biodiversity, this is based largely on studies of simplified grassland systems. Recently, studies in the TreeDivNet global network of tree diversity experiments have begun to test whether these findings are generalizable to more complex ecosystems, such as woodlands. We monitored invertebrate community reassembly over 5 yr of experimental woodland restoration at the TreeDivNet Ridgefield site in southwest Australia, testing the effects of woody plant species richness and herb-layer manipulation on invertebrate community structure and ant species composition. From 2010 to 2014, we sampled ground-dwelling invertebrates using pitfall traps in herbicide vs. no-herbicide subplots nested within each of 10 woody plant treatments varying in richness from zero (bare controls) to eight species, which produced a total of 211, 235 invertebrates, including 98, 979 ants belonging to 74 species. In mixed model analyses, the presence of woody plants was an important driver of faunal community reassembly (relative to bare control plots), but faunal responses to woody plant treatment combinations were idiosyncratic and unrelated to woody plant richness across treatments. We also found that a herbicide-induced reduction in herbaceous plant cover and richness had a positive effect on ant richness and caused more rapid convergence of invertebrate community composition toward the composition of a woodland reference site. These findings show that woody plant richness did not have direct positive effects on the diversity and community reassembly trajectories of higher trophic levels in our woodland system. From a management perspective, this suggests that even low-diversity restoration or carbon sequestration plantings can potentially lead to faunal reassembly outcomes that are comparable to more complex re-planting designs.
The relationship between quality of life and levels of hopelessness and depression in palliative care

There is growing interest in the psychological distress and quality of life of cancer patients. The aim of this study was to compare the responses of 102 advanced cancer patients on a quality of life scale (as measured by the SF12) with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), as well as the impact of depression and hopelessness on quality of life. Significant associations were found between gender (P=.027), performance status (P=.003), opioids (P=.002), depression (P<.0005), and hopelessness (P<.0005) with the SF12‐Mental Component Score (MCS). Gender (P=.07), metastasis (P=.001), opioids (P=.0005), and education (P=.045) correlated significantly with SF12‐Physical Component Score (PCS). In the prediction of MCS, the dimensions of age, hopelessness, gender, and performance status were statistically significantly high (P<.0005), explaining 48% of variance. For PCS, the predictor variables were education, metastasis, and opioids (25% of variance). Quality of life, in this patient population, was predicted by the level of hopelessness and patients' demographic and clinical characteristics. Depression and Anxiety. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Isobutylmethylxanthine fails to stimulate chloride secretion in cystic fibrosis airway epithelia.

It has been proposed that a combination of an activated adenylyl cyclase and a high concentration of a phosphodiesterase inhibitor (isobutylmethylxanthine [IBMX], 5 mM) stimulates Cl- secretion mediated by the heterologously expressed cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator protein carrying the most common cystic fibrosis (CF) mutation (delta F508). We tested whether Cl- secretion could be stimulated by this protocol in vitro and in vivo in CF airway epithelia expressing endogenous delta F508 CFTR protein. In cultured airway preparations, forskolin (a direct adenylyl cyclase activator) stimulated Cl- secretion in amiloride-pretreated normal (delta Isc = 7.1 +/- 1.7 microA.cm-2) but not CF tissues (delta Isc = -02 +/- 0.1 microA.cm-2). Unexpectedly, IBMX partially inhibited the forskolin-induced Cl- secretion in normal tissues; IBMX addition had no effect on CF tissues. Direct measurements of cell cAMP concentrations revealed that 0.1 mM IBMX and forskolin produced the maximum levels of cell cAMP levels attainable with this drug combination, and 5 mM IBMX was without further effect. The combination of forskolin (10(-5) M) and isoproterenol, an adenylyl cyclase activator (10(-5) M), produced approximately 3 times higher levels of cAMP than forskolin/IBMX but also did not induce Cl- secretion in CF tissues. Studies of Cl- secretion in vivo, assessed by the transepithelial electric potential difference (PD), showed that isoproterenol (10(-5) M) stimulated Cl- secretion (delta PD = -16.3 +/- 4.3 mV; n = 4) in nasal epithelia of normal subjects but not in CF patients homozygous for the delta F508 mutation (delta PD = -2.6 +/- 1.9 mV; n = 5). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Diffusion in compartmental systems. I. A comparison of an analytical model with simulations

This article examines the way in which microscopic tissue parameters affect the signal attenuation of diffusion‐weighted MR experiments. The influence of transmembrane water flux on the signal decay is emphasized using the Kärger equations, which are modified with respect to the cellular boundary restrictions for intra‐ and extracellular diffusion. This analytical approach is extensively compared to Monte‐Carlo simulations for a tissue model consisting of two compartments. It is shown that diffusion‐weighted MR methods provide a unique tool for estimation of the intracellular exchange time. Restrictions of applicability to in vivo data are examined. It is shown that the intracellular exchange time strongly depends on the size of a cell, leading to an apparent diffusion time dependence for in vivo data. Hence, an analytical model of a two‐compartment system with an averaged exchange time is inadequate for the interpretation of signal curves measured in vivo over large ranges of b‐values. Furthermore, differences of multiexponential signal curves, as obtained by different methods of diffusion weighting, can be explained by the influence of transmembrane water flux. Magn Reson Med 50:500–509, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Insights Into Mutagenesis Using Escherichia coli Chromosomal lacZ Strains That Enable Detection of a Wide Spectrum of Mutational Events

Strand misalignments at DNA repeats during replication are implicated in mutational hotspots. To study these events, we have generated strains carrying mutations in the Escherichia coli chromosomal lacZ gene that revert via deletion of a short duplicated sequence or by template switching within imperfect inverted repeat (quasipalindrome, QP) sequences. Using these strains, we demonstrate that mutation of the distal repeat of a quasipalindrome, with respect to replication fork movement, is about 10-fold higher than the proximal repeat, consistent with more common template switching on the leading strand. The leading strand bias was lost in the absence of exonucleases I and VII, suggesting that it results from more efficient suppression of template switching by 3′ exonucleases targeted to the lagging strand. The loss of 3′ exonucleases has no effect on strand misalignment at direct repeats to produce deletion. To compare these events to other mutations, we have reengineered reporters (designed by Cupples and Miller 1989) that detect specific base substitutions or frameshifts in lacZ with the reverting lacZ locus on the chromosome rather than an F′ element. This set allows rapid screening of potential mutagens, environmental conditions, or genetic loci for effects on a broad set of mutational events. We found that hydroxyurea (HU), which depletes dNTP pools, slightly elevated templated mutations at inverted repeats but had no effect on deletions, simple frameshifts, or base substitutions. Mutations in nucleotide diphosphate kinase, ndk, significantly elevated simple mutations but had little effect on the templated class. Zebularine, a cytosine analog, elevated all classes.
Myeloid dendritic cells of patients with chronic HCV infection induce proliferation of regulatory T lymphocytes.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Dendritic cells (DCs) initiate and sustain an efficient T-lymphocyte response. Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with inefficient T-cell functions that fail to eradicate the virus, so defects in DC function might be involved in HCV pathogenesis. This study analyzed the activities of myeloid DCs and distinct CD4(+) T-cell populations in samples collected from patients with HCV. METHODS The abilities of primary BDCA1(+) or monocyte-derived DCs from HCV patients (HCV-DC) to stimulate CD4(+), CD4(+)CD25(-), or different ratios of CD4(+)CD25(+)/CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells were evaluated in mixed lymphocyte reactions. T-cell proliferation and phenotype were evaluated by flow cytometry; cytokine production was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and marker expression by polymerase chain reaction analyses. RESULTS HCV-DCs were poor activators of CD4(+) T cells; this defect was reversed by addition of interleukin-2, neutralization of interleukin-10, or elimination of CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells. HCV-DC stimulated proliferation of regulatory T cells (Tregs; CD4(+)CD25(+)FoxP3(+)), which limit proliferation of HCV-specific T lymphocytes. We observed an increased frequency of CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells in peripheral blood of HCV patients and that HCV-DC overexpressed a number of alternative costimulatory molecules, including PD-L1. Finally, HCV-DC stimulated expansion rather than de novo induction of FoxP3(+) Tregs. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate a role for myeloid DC in expansion of Tregs to promote chronic infection of patients with HCV.
Determination of breath gas composition of lung cancer patients using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with monolithic material sorptive extraction.

A gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric method with monolithic material sorptive extraction (MMSE) pretreatment was developed to determine the breath gas composition in lung cancer patients. MonoTrap silica monolithic and hybrid adsorbent was selected as the extraction medium during MMSE, given its strong capacity to extract volatile organic compounds (VOC) from exhaled gas. Under the appropriate conditions, high extraction efficiency was achieved. Using the selected ion-monitoring mode, the limit of detection (signal-to-noise ratio 3) for the benzene series was 0.012-2.172 ng L(-1) . The limit of quantitation (signal-to-noise ratio, 10) was 0.042-7.24 ng L(-1) . The linearity range of the method was 4-400 ng L(-1) . Average recovery of the benzene series at lower concentrations was 65-74% (20 ng L(-1) ). The relative standard deviation of benzene series contents determined within the linear range of detection was <10% of the mean level determined. Our proposed method is simple, rapid and sensitive, and can be competently applied to determine the breath gas composition of lung cancer patients.