Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effective Management of ICD Patient Psychosocial Issues and Patient Critical Events

The clinical management of implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator (ICD) patients involves successful medical and psychosocial care to reduce mortality and morbidity. Desirable quality of life (QoL) and psychosocial outcomes for ICD patients are achievable for a majority of ICD patients. Patient critical events, such as ICD shocks or ICD recalls, may occur that can dramatically alter the course of patient adjustment if not properly managed. Continuing care strategies that attend to patient critical events as they emerge may improve the psychosocial adjustment and improve the return to optimal daily functioning for ICD patients. This paper reviews QoL and psychosocial outcomes for ICD patients, patient critical events, and clinical implications for patient care. Patient critical events discussed in this paper include perioperative education, ICD shock events, device recalls, and end of life. The clinical management strategies for each of these patient critical events are suggested including patient education, psychosocial information provision, activity prescriptions, recall planning, and shock planning.
Efficiency and linearity enhancements with envelope shaping control in dual-band envelope tracking GaAs PA

In this paper we present the efficiency and linearity trade-off of a dual band power amplifier (PA) for envelope tracking (ET) operation. The paper discusses the impact of envelope shaping i.e. the mapping of the drain modulated waveform to the RF output power, on system linearity and efficiency performance, for a given signal statistic. The technique was applied to a dual-band ET PA designed around a GaAs HEMT at 940 and 1940 MHz. Analytical treatment of the design technique along with characterization at device and system level are also presented in the paper.
Performance analysis of spectral and prosodic features and their fusion for emotion recognition in speech

In this paper, we study the performance of different prosody and spectral features of speech on an emotion detection task. In particular, a feature selection algorithm has been used to assess the relevancy of the different features. Gaussian mixtures models have been used to model the features extracted at the frame-level, while support vector machines (SVM) and k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) methods have been used to model the features extracted at the utterance level. We use a normalization approach (T-norm) to combine the scores from the different models. The results using the above approach are reported for the Berlin emotional database corpus and the task consisted of classifying the six emotions namely - anger, happiness, neutral, sadness, boredom and anxiety. We show that the use of feature selection algorithm improves the result, while in addition the fusion of GMM and SVM results in an overall accuracy of 75.4% for the above task.
Deterministic Independent Component Analysis

We study independent component analysis with noisy observations. We present, for the first time in the literature, consistent, polynomial-time algorithms to recover non-Gaussian source signals and the mixing matrix with a reconstruction error that vanishes at a 1/√T rate using T observations and scales only polynomially with the natural parameters of the problem. Our algorithms and analysis also extend to deterministic source signals whose empirical distributions are approximately independent.
Music boundary detection with multiple features

Music structural analysis tasks have an important position in the field of Music information retrieval which require an understanding of how humans process music internally, such as music indexing, music summarization, and similarity analysis. Many schemes have been proposed to analyze the structure of recorded music, however they usually use single feature to detect boundaries of songs and the results are not satisfactory. In this paper, we present a method which is based on novelty detection and combines multiple features to the task of music boundaries detection. We extract peaks of novelty function derived from various features as potential boundaries, then eliminate non-boundaries from potential boundaries derived from distinct feature sets. Three types of features, including intensity, timbre, and harmony are employed to represent the characteristics of a music clip. On our testing database composed of 175 entire songs, the best accuracy of boundary detection with tolerance ±3 seconds achieves up to 65.7%.
Intake of cruciferous vegetables is associated with reduced risk of ovarian cancer: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Epidemiological studies on the association between cruciferous vegetable (CV) consumption and the risk of ovarian cancer have demonstrated inconsistent results. We conducted a meta-analysis on CV consumption and ovarian cancer risk. METHODS The relevant studies were identified by searching the Medline (Pubmed), Embase and Web of Science databases. The references of related articles and reviews up to October 2013 were also screened. The pooled relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the highest versus the lowest CV consumption levels were calculated using a random-effects model. The heterogeneity and publication bias were also evaluated. RESULTS Eight studies (4 case-control studies and 4 cohort studies) were identified and included in this meta-analysis. When all studies were pooled together, there was a significantly inverse association between CV consumption and the risk of ovarian cancer (RR: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.81-0.99). No significant heterogeneity or publication bias was found. CONCLUSIONS The findings from this study suggest that the consumption of CVs may reduce the risk of ovarian cancer. Further investigations are needed to confirm the clinical effect of CVs on ovarian cancer.
Content-Based Image Search and Retrieval Using Relevance Feedback: the MUSE Project

 The field of Content-Based Visual Information Retrieval (CBVIR) has experienced tremendous growth in the recent years and many research groups are currently working on solutions to the problem of finding a desired image or video clip in a huge archive without resorting to metadata. This paper describes the ongoing development of a CBVIR system for image search and retrieval with relevance feedback capabilities. Index Terms  Content-based image search and retrieval, Relevance feedback, Multimedia database systems, Digital image processing.
Special Topic: Plant Biology: Chromatin, Small Rna and Signaling Atggm2014, an Arabidopsis Gene Co-expression Network for Functional Studies

Gene co-expression networks provide an important tool for systems biology studies. Using microarray data from the ArrayEx-press database, we constructed an Arabidopsis gene co-expression network, termed AtGGM2014, based on the graphical Gaussian model, which contains 102,644 co-expression gene pairs among 18,068 genes. The network was grouped into 622 gene co-expression modules. These modules function in diverse housekeeping , cell cycle, development, hormone response, metabolism, and stress response pathways. We developed a tool to facilitate easy visualization of the expression patterns of these modules either in a tissue context or their regulation under different treatment conditions. The results indicate that at least six modules with tissue-specific expression pattern failed to record modular regulation under various stress conditions. This discrepancy could be best explained by the fact that experiments to study plant stress responses focused mainly on leaves and less on roots, and thus failed to recover specific regulation pattern in other tissues. Overall, the modular structures revealed by our network provide extensive information to generate testable hypotheses about diverse plant signaling pathways. AtGGM2014 offers a constructive tool for plant systems biology studies. Gene co-expression networks provide important tools for systems biology studies. Such networks, typically built for a species, connect gene pairs with similar expression patterns, as inferred from a sufficiently large collection of transcrip-tome data. Following a rule of " guilt by association " , genes with similar expression patterns are thought to typically function in a similar way or function in the same pathway. These networks can then be used to study transcriptome landscapes or the co-expression module organization of an organism that can inform on phenotypic distinctiveness [1–4]. A variety of approaches have been used to construct co-expression networks, employing different ways to measure the similarity of expression between genes. Most common is the relevance network that employs Pearson correlation coefficients (r) or mutual information for similarity measurement [5,6]. Also used is the Bayesian network model to infer dependency structures among genes [7]. Yet another approach is the graphical Gaussian model (GGM), which uses partial correlation to infer gene pairs with co-expression patterns [8,9]. This partial correlation is defined as the correlation that exists between two genes after removing the effects from other genes. Partial correlation surpasses Pearson correlation in gene network inference [9,10]. Several gene networks have been described for the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Mao et al. [2] have constructed a network with 6,206 genes, revealing …
Histogram equalization and specification for high-dimensional data visualization using RadViz

In our turbine performance assessment, we need to provide an effective visual analytics tool in handling high-dimensional datasets. We have employed RadViz in 2D exploratory data analysis. However, with the increase of dataset size and dimensionality, the clumping of projected data points towards the origin in RadViz causes low space utilization, which largely degenerates the visibility of the feature characteristics. In this study, to better evaluate the hidden patterns in the center region, we propose histogram-based techniques to manipulate the radial distribution of data points in RadViz. We present RadViz in the polar coordinate system for convenient radial operations. Based on this, we define the radial equalization method to automatically spread out the frequency and the radial specification method to shape the distribution based on the user's requirement. Furthermore, we utilize the information in high-dimensional space as histogram and reference point to design and control the radial distribution of RadViz. Computational experiments have been conducted on turbine performance simulation data. Our proposed techniques are shown advantageous in query result display and outlier detection with a set of high-dimensional datasets.
Evidence for an Alternative Glycolytic Pathway in Rapidly Proliferating Cells

Glucose Metabolism Revisited Cancer cells are revved up to reproduce rapidly and typically consume glucose rapidly by glycolysis. Why then do cancer cells express an isoform of a rate-limiting enzyme in glycolysis, pyruvate kinase M2, which has decreased activity? Vander Heiden et al. (p. 1492) propose that consequent accumulation of phosphoenolpyruvate, with the help of an enzymatic activity that remains to be characterized, can lead to phosphate transfer to phosphoglycerate mutase, another glycolytic enzyme, providing the cell with a different way to make pyruvate. This may allow cancer cells to produce pyruvate without generating excess adenosine triphosphate, which can act through feedback to inhibit glycolyis. Characterization of cancer cell metabolism provides evidence for a previously uncharacterized metabolic pathway. Proliferating cells, including cancer cells, require altered metabolism to efficiently incorporate nutrients such as glucose into biomass. The M2 isoform of pyruvate kinase (PKM2) promotes the metabolism of glucose by aerobic glycolysis and contributes to anabolic metabolism. Paradoxically, decreased pyruvate kinase enzyme activity accompanies the expression of PKM2 in rapidly dividing cancer cells and tissues. We demonstrate that phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), the substrate for pyruvate kinase in cells, can act as a phosphate donor in mammalian cells because PEP participates in the phosphorylation of the glycolytic enzyme phosphoglycerate mutase (PGAM1) in PKM2-expressing cells. We used mass spectrometry to show that the phosphate from PEP is transferred to the catalytic histidine (His11) on human PGAM1. This reaction occurred at physiological concentrations of PEP and produced pyruvate in the absence of PKM2 activity. The presence of histidine-phosphorylated PGAM1 correlated with the expression of PKM2 in cancer cell lines and tumor tissues. Thus, decreased pyruvate kinase activity in PKM2-expressing cells allows PEP-dependent histidine phosphorylation of PGAM1 and may provide an alternate glycolytic pathway that decouples adenosine triphosphate production from PEP-mediated phosphotransfer, allowing for the high rate of glycolysis to support the anabolic metabolism observed in many proliferating cells.
Therapy-associated Solid Tumors

As survival after a diagnosis of cancer improves, characterization of the late sequelae of treatment becomes critical. The development of second malignant neoplasms represents one of the most serious side effects of treatment with radiation and chemotherapy. Although secondary leukemia was the first reported carcinogenic effect resulting from cancer treatment, solid tumors now comprise the largest second tumor burden in some populations of survivors. It should be recognized, however, that solid cancers do not necessarily represent an adverse effect of therapy, but may also reflect the operation of shared etiologic factors, host determinants, gene-environment interactions, and other influences. Quantification of second cancer risk is important in terms of patient management, enabling clinicians to make informed decisions with regard to optimal treatment of the initial cancer, balancing efficacy against acute and chronic sequelae. This article focuses on selected highlights and recent developments in treatment-associated solid malignancies, with emphasis on radiotherapy and chemotherapy in adults, and summarizes areas for future research. Although cancer therapy represents a double-edged sword, it should always be recognized that it is advances in treatment that are largely responsible for the tremendous improvement in patient survival. Thus, the benefit derived from many cancer therapies far outweighs any risk of developing a second cancer.
Progesterone Increases Susceptibility and Decreases Immune Responses to Genital Herpes Infection

ABSTRACT Depo-provera, a long-acting progestational formulation, is widely used to facilitate infection of sexually transmitted diseases in animal models. We have previously reported that hormone treatments change susceptibility and immune responses to genital tract infections. In this study we compared the changes in susceptibility of mice to genital herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) after Depo-provera or a saline suspension of progesterone (P-sal). We found that following Depo-provera-treatment, mice had prolonged diestrus that lasted more than 4 weeks. This coincided with a 100-fold increase in susceptibility to genital HSV-2 compared to that of untreated mice. Mice given P-sal were in diestrous stage for 4 to 6 days before returning to irregular reproductive cycles. When these mice were infected at diestrus they showed a 10-fold increase in susceptibility compared to that of normal, untreated mice. P-sal-treated mice infected at estrus were susceptible to HSV-2, depending on the infectious dose. Normal, untreated mice in estrus were not susceptible to HSV-2, even at a high infectious dose of 107 PFU. In addition to alterations in susceptibility, Depo-provera treatment had inhibitory effects on immune responses to HSV-2. Mice immunized with HSV-2 protein (gB) and treated with Depo-provera showed significant lowering of local HSV-2-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA in their vaginal washes. Mice immunized with an attenuated strain of HSV-2 2 weeks after Depo-provera treatment failed to develop protection when challenged intravaginally with wild-type HSV-2. In contrast, mice given progesterone and immunized at diestrus or estrus were completely protected from intravaginal challenge. These studies show that Depo-provera treatment changes susceptibility and local immune responses to genital HSV-2 infection. Animal models and vaccine strategies for sexually transmitted diseases need to consider the effect of hormone treatments on susceptibility and immune responses.
Drosophila miR-277 controls branched-chain amino acid catabolism and affects lifespan

Development, growth and adult survival are coordinated with available metabolic resources, ascertaining that the organism responds appropriately to environmental conditions. MicroRNAs are short (21–23 nt) regulatory RNAs that confer specificity on the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) to inhibit a given set of mRNA targets. We profiled changes in miRNA expression during adult life in Drosophila melanogaster and determined that miR-277 is downregulated during adult life. Molecular analysis revealed that this miRNA controls branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism and as a result it can modulate the activity of the TOR kinase, a central growth regulator, in cultured cells. Metabolite analysis in cultured cells as well as flies suggests that the mechanistic basis may be an accumulation of branched-chain α-keto-acids (BCKA), rather than BCAAs, thus avoiding potentially detrimental consequences of increased branched chain amino acid levels on e.g., translational fidelity. Constitutive miR-277 expression shortens lifespan and is synthetically lethal with reduced insulin signaling, indicating that metabolic control underlies this phenotype. Transgenic inhibition with a miRNA sponge construct also shortens lifespan, in particular on protein-rich food. Thus, optimal metabolic adaptation appears to require tuning of cellular BCAA catabolism by miR-277.
Breaching the diffusion barrier that compartmentalizes the transmembrane glycoprotein CE9 to the posterior-tail plasma membrane domain of the rat spermatozoon

CE9 is a posterior-tail domain-specific integral plasma membrane glycoprotein of the rat testicular spermatozoon. During epididymal maturation, CE9 undergoes endoproteolytic processing and then redistributes into the anterior-tail plasma membrane domain of the spermatozoon (Petruszak, J. A. M., C. L. Nehme, and J. R. Bartles. 1991. J. Cell. Biol. 114:917-927). We have determined the sequence of CE9 and found it to be a Type Ia transmembrane protein identical to the MRC OX-47 T-cell activation antigen, a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily predicted to have two immunoglobulin-related loops and three asparagine-linked glycans disposed extracellularly. Although encoded by a single gene and mRNA in the rat, the majority of spermatozoal CE9 is of smaller apparent molecular mass than its hepatocytic counterpart due to the under-utilization of sites for asparagine-linked glycosylation. By fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, CE9 was determined to be mobile within the posterior- tail plasma membrane domain of the living rat testicular spermatozoon, thus implying the existence of a regional barrier to lateral diffusion that is presumed to operate at the level of the annulus. Through the development of an in vitro system, the modification of this diffusion barrier to allow for the subsequent redistribution of CE9 into the anterior-tail domain was found to be a time-, temperature-, and energy- dependent process.
Loss of estrogen receptor β isoform expression and its correlation with aberrant DNA methylation of the 5′‐untranslated region in human epithelial ovarian carcinoma

Evidence exists that sex steroids such as estrogens affect epithelial ovarian cancer. The expression profiles of the estrogen receptors (ER) and ERβ in particular have not been fully described. Therefore, in our present study, we examined the methylation status of the promoters 0K and 0N, and the expression of ERβ isoforms in human epithelial ovarian carcinoma. We then correlated methylation status with ER expression status. Twelve ovarian carcinoma cell lines, six primary cultures of ovarian surface epithelial cells (OSE), and 64 cases of ovarian carcinoma tissues were examined. Bisulfite sequencing and quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction were used to evaluate methylation status and expression of ERβ isoforms. The relative abundance of exon 0N, ERβ1, ERβ2, and ERβ4 mRNA was significantly lower in ovarian cancer cell lines and tissues than in their corresponding normal counterparts. However, ERβ5 mRNA level was relatively higher in the cancers, in clear cell adenocarcinoma in particular, than in the normal ovary. Bisulfite sequencing analysis demonstrated that the two promoters of the ERβ gene exhibited distinct methylation patterns. Promoter 0N was unmethylated in OSE, rarely methylated in normal ovarian tissues, and extensively methylated in ovarian cancer cell lines and tissues (11/15 cell lines and 18/32 cancer tissues were extensively methylated). The promoter 0K was, however, unmethylated in both normal and malignant ovarian cells and tissues. A significant correlation between promoter 0N hypermethylation and the loss of exon 0N, ERβ1, ERβ2, and ERβ4 mRNA expression was detected in ovarian carcinoma cells and tissues. Treatment of ovarian carcinoma cells with 5‐aza‐2′ deoxycytidine resulted in reexpression of the ERβ gene. The results of our present study suggest that ERβ is inactivated mainly through aberrant DNA methylation. This process may play an important role in the pathogenesis of epithelial ovarian cancer. (Cancer Sci 2008; 99: 2365–2372)
Affective evaluation and cognitive structure of respiratory sensations in healthy individuals.

OBJECTIVE Dyspnea is defined as an uncomfortable awareness of the need to breathe. Verbal report of dyspnea can be a valuable source of diagnostic information. However, little is known about the cognitive representation of respiratory sensations and about their affective evaluation in individuals not suffering from respiratory disease. Such knowledge would be important in evaluating the comparability of respiratory sensation report between healthy controls and patient groups. METHOD Five hundred and eighty-two healthy individuals rated 20 descriptors of respiratory sensation with regard to frequency, valence, and situational incidence. Ratings were analysed on the level of subgroups of items found with cluster analysis and Multidimensional Scaling (MDS). RESULTS Not all respiratory sensations commonly subsumed under dyspnea are perceived to be uncomfortable by healthy individuals. Two higher-order clusters were found, interpreted as (1) compensation of dyspnea and (2) breathing deficiencies. Breathing deficiencies were unknown by approximately 50% of participants and rated to be less frequent and more uncomfortable than compensation of dyspnea. Furthermore, three dimensions of respiratory sensations were found using MDS interpreted as (1) fit between need for air and actual breathing, (2) effort, and (3) attempt of voluntary control. CONCLUSION The extent to which respiratory sensation ratings can be compared between patients and healthy individuals is limited. Latent dimensions of dyspnea might be less affected by differences in interpretation and evaluation of language descriptors of dyspnea and could help to assess comparability of sensation report between groups with different experiential background regarding breathlessness.