Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Silicosis in Lymph Nodes: The Canary in the Miner?

Objectives: To investigate evidence that lymph node silicosis can precede parenchymal silicosis. Methods: The study population was comprised of 264 deceased male uranium miners for whom two or more of four pathologists agreed on the presence or absence of silicosis in lymph nodes and lung parenchyma. We had work histories and silica exposure estimates. Results: Twenty percent of the miners had lymph node silicosis only, 4% had parenchymal silicosis only, and 39% had both. Silica exposure was lower for miners with lymph node silicosis only than for those with both lymph node and parenchymal silicosis. Lymph node silicosis was associated with parenchymal silicosis after adjustment for silica exposure. Conclusions: Our results are consistent with silicosis potentially occurring in lymph nodes before the parenchyma. Lymph node damage could impair silica clearance and increase the risk for parenchymal silicosis.
Cost-effectiveness of edoxaban for the treatment of venous thromboembolism based on the Hokusai-VTE study

Abstract Objective: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is associated with almost 300,000 deaths per year in the United States. Novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) offer an alternative to warfarin-based therapy without monitoring requirements and with fewer drug and food interactions. Edoxaban, a direct Xa inhibitor, is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), based upon results of the Hokusai-VTE Phase 3 trial. The trial demonstrated that edoxaban administered once daily after initial treatment with heparin was non-inferior in reducing the risk of VTE recurrence and caused significantly less major and clinically relevant non-major (CRNM) bleeding compared to warfarin. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of edoxaban versus warfarin for the treatment of adults with VTE. Methods: A cost-effectiveness model was developed using patient-level data from the Hokusai-VTE trial, clinical event costs from real-world databases, and drug acquisition costs for warfarin of $0.36 and edoxaban of $9.24 per tablet. Results: From a U.S. health-care delivery system perspective, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was $22,057 per quality adjusted life year (QALY) gained. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that edoxaban had an ICER <$50,000 per QALY gained relative to warfarin in 67% of model simulations. The result was robust to variation in key model parameters including the cost and disutility of warfarin monitoring. Conclusion: Despite its higher drug acquisition cost, edoxaban is a cost-effective alternative to warfarin for the treatment of VTE.
The Multidimensional Nursing Generations Questionnaire: development, reliability, and validity assessments

PURPOSE To develop and perform reliability and validity assessments of the international Multidimensional Nursing Generations Questionnaire. BACKGROUND There are three generations of nurses in the European workforce. There is little research on the characteristics of these generations and the ways in which to manage them professionally, and no instrument has yet been developed to measure these aspects specifically. METHODS With results from previous studies, 69 nursing generations-oriented items were created in English, translated into Italian and Finnish, and pretested to form the basis of an instrument that was tested between September and October 2014 on a sample of Finnish and Italian nurses (n = 1302) using principal component analysis and Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS Fifty-four items and eight components (Cronbach's α range: 0.61-0.81) were identified in the instrument: (1) conflicts between generations; (2) patient safety view; (3) relationships between generations; (4) working as a multigenerational team; (5) orientation to change; (6) presenteeism and job propensity; (7) intention to leave, and (8) flexibility and availability. CONCLUSIONS The instrument showed acceptable preliminary psychometric properties and satisfactory internal consistency. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT The Multidimensional Nursing Generations Questionnaire is a useful tool to measure the characteristics of different generations of nurses and to develop management strategies tailored to those generations.
Key frames extraction in athletic video

In this paper, we present an effective framework for features extraction from an athletic sport sequence. We analyze both forward and backward motion vectors from MPEG 2 video sequences for camera movements detection. Features like the beginning and the end of the race and the type of competition are strictly connected to the camera motion. Our algorithm is able to extract the frame number of the investigated feature with very high accuracy.
Sushi barcoding in the UK: another kettle of fish

Although the spread of sushi restaurants in the European Union and United States is a relatively new phenomenon, they have rapidly become among the most popular food services globally. Recent studies indicate that they can be associated with very high levels (>70%) of fish species substitution. Based on indications that the European seafood retail sector may currently be under better control than its North American counterpart, here we investigated levels of seafood labelling accuracy in sushi bars and restaurants across England. We used the COI barcoding gene to screen samples of tuna, eel, and a variety of other products characterised by less visually distinctive ‘white flesh’. Moderate levels of substitution were found (10%), significantly lower than observed in North America, which lends support to the argument that public awareness, policy and governance of seafood labels is more effective in the European Union. Nevertheless, the results highlight that current labelling practice in UK restaurants lags behind the level of detail implemented in the retail sector, which hinders consumer choice, with potentially damaging economic, health and environmental consequences. Specifically, critically endangered species of tuna and eel continue to be sold without adequate information to consumers.
Are antidepressants equally effective in the long‐term treatment of major depressive disorder?

Few studies have compared simultaneously different antidepressants in long‐term treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). Long‐term prevention of recurrences should be the main goal of MDD treatment. The purpose of this study was to compare antidepressants of different pharmacological classes in terms of retention in treatment (no discontinuation for recurrences, hospitalizations, side effects).
Healthcare providers' attitudes toward persons with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE This study compared the attitudes of mental health and primary care providers toward persons with schizophrenia at 5 Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities. METHOD This study utilized a cross-sectional anonymous survey, including clinical vignettes describing identical patient scenarios for a hypothetical patient with and without schizophrenia, to examine the differences in attitudes of primary care and mental health providers. The survey was distributed in 3 waves from August 2011 to April 2012. Participants included 351 VA providers from 5 VA medical centers, including 205 mental health providers (psychiatrists, psychologists, and mental health nurses) and 146 primary care providers (nurses and physicians). Providers' attitudes were assessed on 3 domains, including social distance, stereotyping, and attribution of mental illness. RESULTS Primary care providers had significantly more negative attitudes toward the vignette patient with schizophrenia compared with the patient without schizophrenia on 2 of 3 attitude measures (stereotyping and attribution of mental illness); however, this difference was not observed for mental health providers on the 2 measures. Conclusions and Implication for Practice: Primary care providers' negative attitudes toward individuals with schizophrenia represent a potential target for interventions to reduce disparities in care for individuals with schizophrenia.
Development and validation of an app-based cell counter for use in the clinical laboratory setting

Introduction: For decades cellular differentials have been generated exclusively on analog tabletop cell counters. With the advent of tablet computers, digital cell counters - in the form of mobile applications ("apps") - now represent an alternative to analog devices. However, app-based counters have not been widely adopted by clinical laboratories, perhaps owing to a presumed decrease in count accuracy related to the lack of tactile feedback inherent in a touchscreen interface. We herein provide the first systematic evidence that digital cell counters function similarly to standard tabletop units. Methods: We developed an app-based cell counter optimized for use in the clinical laboratory setting. Paired counts of 188 peripheral blood smears and 62 bone marrow aspirate smears were performed using our app-based counter and a standard analog device. Differences between paired data sets were analyzed using the correlation coefficient, Student′s t-test for paired samples and Bland-Altman plots. Results: All counts showed excellent agreement across all users and touch screen devices. With the exception of peripheral blood basophils (r = 0.684), differentials generated for the measured cell categories within the paired data sets were highly correlated (all r ≥ 0.899). Results of paired t-tests did not reach statistical significance for any cell type (all P > 0.05), and Bland-Altman plots showed a narrow spread of the difference about the mean without evidence of significant outliers. Conclusions: Our analysis suggests that no systematic differences exist between cellular differentials obtained via app-based or tabletop counters and that agreement between these two methods is excellent.
Running head: SEMANTIC COHERENCE AND DISTRIBUTIONAL LEARNING 1 Semantic coherence facilitates distributional learning of word meaning

Computational models have shown that purely statistical knowledge about words’ linguistic contexts is sufﬁcient to learn many properties of words, including grammatical category and meaning. For example, a learner might infer that “postman” and “mailman” have similar meanings because they have quantitatively similar patterns of association with other words (e.g., both “postman” and “mailman” tend to occur with words like “deliver”, “truck”, “package”). Are people able to leverage distributional statistics in this way in the service of learning about the meanings of words? Results from prior artiﬁcial language learning experiments suggest that the answer may be no. However, experiments in this paradigm expose participants to entirely novel words, whereas real language learners encounter input that contains some known words that are semantically organized. In three experiments, we show that (1) the presence of familiar semantic reference points facilitates distributional learning of meaning and (2) this effect crucially depends both on the presence of known words and the adherence of these known words to some semantic organization.
A comparison between the friction and piezoelectric synchronized switch dampers for blisks

In this work, we explore the feasibility of applying the synchronized switch damping on negative capacitor damper to integrally bladed disks (blisks) by comparing its damping performance with that of the friction ring with the same added mass. Both dampers are coupled to the disk of the blisk. Namely, the friction ring is in contact with the underside of the wheel and the piezoelectric materials for synchronized switch damping on negative capacitor are bonded on the disk as well. The lumped parameter models are used for the blisk and dampers, and the multi-harmonic balance method is employed to obtain the steady-state response under engine-order excitations. The vibration-reduction performance of the dampers are compared with respect to the excitation level, the engine order, and multi-mode. This leads to a discussion concerning the parameter design for the synchronized switch damping on negative capacitor damper to achieve a comparable single-mode damping as the friction ring. We show that the synchronized switch damping on negative capacitor damper has a better performance for multiple modes and at a wider range of excitation level. These results indicate that the synchronized switch damping on negative capacitor damping can be a promising solution for the vibration reduction of blisks where the spatial and spectral distributions of the excitation are rich.
Highly sensitive Raman gain coefficient measurement by detecting spontaneous Raman scattering power for distributed Raman amplification systems

: We propose a highly sensitive method that can safely measure the Raman gain coef ﬁ cient spectrum by detecting the spontaneous Raman scattering emitted from the transmission ﬁ ber pumped by a single-polar-ization laser-diode light source in distributed Raman ampli ﬁ cation systems. With the proposed method, we have successfully obtained an accurate Raman gain coef ﬁ cient spectrum with a signi ﬁ cantly low pump power of ∼ 0.35 mW at a small Raman gain of 0.01 dB.
A fuzzy reinforcement learning algorithm using a predictor for pursuit-evasion games

In a pursuit-evasion game, the pursuer learning its strategy by any learning algorithm usually captures the evader when the environment of the game is similar to the environment that the pursuer was trained on. However, the trained pursuer may not be able to capture the evader if the environment of the pursuit-evasion game is different from the training environment. In this paper, we propose a fuzzy reinforcement learning algorithm so that the ability of the pursuer to capture the evader, in a pursuit-evasion game, will increase even when the environment of the game is different from the training environment. The proposed algorithm predicts the future position of the evader using a Kalman filter and then tunes the fuzzy logic controller (FLC) of the pursuer so that the pursuer moves directly to the expected position of the evader, where the capture of the evader will occur. The proposed algorithm is called the Kalman filter fuzzy actor critic learning (KFFACL) algorithm. The proposed KFFACL algorithm is applied to pursuitevasion games that have environments different from the training environment. Simulation results show that the proposed KFFACL algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art fuzzy reinforcement learning algorithms in terms of the ability of the pursuer to capture the evader and the capture time.
Diversity of bacterial communities on the facial skin of different age-group Thai males

Background Skin microbiome varies from person to person due to a combination of various factors, including age, biogeography, sex, cosmetics and genetics. Many skin disorders appear to be related to the resident microflora, yet databases of facial skin microbiome of many biogeographies, including Thai, are limited. Methods Metagenomics derived B-RISA and 16S rRNA gene sequencing was utilized to identify the culture-independent bacterial diversity on Thai male faces (cheek and forehead areas). Skin samples were categorized (grouped) into (i) normal (teenage.hea) and (ii) acne-prone (teenage.acn) young adults, and normal (iii) middle-aged (middle.hea) and (iv) elderly (elderly.hea) adults. Results The 16S rRNA gene sequencing was successful as the sequencing depth had an estimated >98% genus coverage of the true community. The major diversity was found between the young and elderly adults in both cheek and forehead areas, followed by that between normal and acne young adults. Detection of representative characteristics indicated that bacteria from the order Rhizobiales, genera Sphingomonas and Pseudoalteromonas, distinguished the elderly.hea microbiota, along the clinical features of wrinkles and pores. Prediction of the metabolic potential revealed reduced metabolic pathways involved in replication and repair, nucleotide metabolism and genetic translation in the elderly.hea compared with that in the teenage.hea. For young adults, some unique compositions such as abundance of Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis, with a minor diversity between normal and acne skins, were detected. The metabolic potentials of the acne vs. normal young adults showed that teenage.acn was low in many cellular processes (e.g., cell motility and environmental adaptation), but high in carbohydrate metabolism, which could support acne growth. Moreover, comparison with the age-matched males from the US (Boulder, Colorado) to gain insight into the diversity across national biogeography, revealed differences in the distribution pattern of species, although common bacteria were present in both biogeographical samples. Furthermore, B-RISA served as a crosscheck result to the 16S rRNA gene sequencing (i.e., differences between teenage and elderly microbiota). Conclusions This study revealed and compared the microbial diversity on different aged Thai male faces, and included analyses for representing the bacterial flora, the clinical skin characteristics, and comparison with the US age-matched. The results represent the first skin microbiota of Thai males, and helps the design of a large-scale skin microbiome study of Thais. The findings of the diversity among ages, skin type and national biogeography supported the importance of these traits in the skin microbiome and in developing a safe and sustainable treatment for acne and aging skin diseases.
Chondrocyte-Specific Regulatory Activity of Runx2 Is Essential for Survival and Skeletal Development

Coordinated activities of multiple mesenchymal cell types contribute to the development of the mammalian skeleton formed through endochondral ossification. Synthesis of a cartilage template by chondrocytes is an obligatory step for the generation of skeletal elements during endochondral ossification. Gene ablation studies have established that Runx2 is an essential transcription factor for bone formation and the differentiation of skeletal cells. However, global gene deletion has failed to discern the tissue- and cell type-specific roles of Runx2. We generated floxed mice to elucidate the Runx2 regulatory control distinctive to cartilage tissue during bone development. Exon 8 of the Runx2 gene was selectively deleted in developing chondrocytes by utilizing Col2a-Cre mice. Cell- and tissue-specific gene recombination was confirmed by β-gal activity in R26R mice. The chondrocyte-specific loss of Runx2 caused failure of endochondral ossification, impaired craniofacial development, dwarfism, and perinatal lethality. Radiographic imaging and histochemical approaches were used to characterize the skeletal phenotype. We conclude that regulatory control of Runx2 in chondrocytes is essential for endochondral ossification, and it is independent of the role of Runx2 in osteoblasts.
CTL Model Update: Semantics, Computations and Implementation

Minimal change is a fundamental principle for modeling system dynamics. In this paper, we study the issue of minimal change for Computational Tree Logic (CTL) model update. We first propose five primitive operations which capture the basic update of the CTL model, and then define the minimal change criteria for CTL model update based on these primitive operations. We provide essential semantic and computational characterizations for our CTL model update approach. We develop a formal algorithm to implement this update that employs the underlying minimal change principle. We also present a CTL model update example using the well known microwave oven scenario.
A Unified Scheme for Fast EZW Coding Algorithm

1 Supported by Jiangxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. 991810). Abstract—Embedded Image Coding Using Zerotrees of Wavelet Coefficients (EZW) is a common and efficient image encoding algorithm. Many authors have improved it, but they aren’t able to completely reduce redundant search, they have not fully improved the coding speed. So Shapiro advanced zerotree map technique to eliminate redundant search in 1996. A typical example using zerotree map is Mow-Song Ng’s EZW coding system. But in Mow-Song Ng’s algorithm, the coefficient-nodes in dominant list and subordinate list have to contain more information, reducing the coding speed. Thus, this paper propounds a unified scheme for fast EZW encoding algorithm and decoding algorithm, it encodes or decodes on an ordered linear list and its coefficient-nodes contain less information, improving the encoding or decoding speed to a certain degree. Many EZW encoding algorithms using different scan order, including MowSong Ng’s algorithm, can be transformed into this unified scheme. Keywords—Embedded Image Coding Using Zerotrees of Wavelet Coefficients (EZW); encoding; decoding; unified scheme
Structural design and physical characteristics of modified ring-spun yarns intended for e-textiles: A comparative study

E-textiles based on yarn-based sensors have been a topic of intense research. In our previous paper, a straightforward way for fabricating tri-component elastic-conductive composite yarns (t-ECCYs) with a unique architecture applicable to yarn-based sensors was proposed using a modified ring-spinning frame. Herein, a comparative analysis of the physical characteristics of t-ECCY, bi-component elastic composite yarn (b-ECY), bi-component conductive composite yarn (b-CCY), and single rayon yarn (s-RY) are presented, in detail, in terms of tensile behavior, elastic recovery, electrical resistance, unevenness, and hairiness. In particular, a systematic study of the tensile and conductive properties of yarns appropriate for e-textiles, that is, t-ECCY and b-CCY, are highlighted. In addition, a non-invasive structure verification technique is conducted to identify the dispositions of constituents inside the yarn. It is found that the t-ECCY exhibits a remarkable improvement over the other yarns, having robust tensile properties, super elasticity, stable electrical durability, lower unevenness, and hairiness. A simple tensile model has been proposed to predict the t-ECCY’s tensile strength, and the substantial improvement in the tensile properties of t-ECCY compared with the b-CCY can be associated with the distinctive yarn structure. The stretch-deformation mechanism of coils in the t-ECCY is, initially, separation of adjacent surfaces of coils and gradual unwinding till free. Benefiting from its superior conductivity and elasticity after single/cyclic stretch tests as well as other properties, the t-ECCY itself can serve as a sensing element, which could be a highly valuable use for specific purposes in smart textiles.
Hyper sensitive plasmonic optical system for pollutant detection

The detection of micro pollutants by new innovative systems is one of the important issues of our society. This study is dedicated to innovative pollutant sensors exploiting the interaction properties between light and original nanostructured materials, in order to create a real jump in performance in terms of detection limit, quantification and sensitivity. The detection of our pesticide is based on the variation of the optical properties of the materials used in the presence of the molecule to be detected. We propose two ways of investigation that are (i) the Surface Plasmon Resonance detection (SPR) in Kretschmann configuration and (2) the use of an original functionalized nano structured organization based on the use of functionalized gold nanoparticles.