Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among Male Adolescents in Baghdad

violent conflicts and war zones. Iraq is consistently exposed to large-scale traumatic events such as successive wars, economic sanction, sustainable organized violence, and terrorism. This unsafe situation negatively impacts on the psychosocial status of the whole Iraqi community, especially children and adolescents. Objective: To assess the prevalence of PTSD in a sample of adolescents in Baghdad, and to figure out the probable association between some socio-demographic characteristics and PTSD symptoms. Methods: A sample of 1858 male students, aged 13 to 19 years, was selected from 18 secondary schools for boys in Baghdad. The Arabic version of the International Neuropsychiatric Interview PTSD module ‘I’ (M.I.N.I) was adopted to assess the presence of PTSD symptoms. Results: Trauma experiences were reported by more than 55% of the sample surveyed and 17.1% reported symptoms of PTSD. Higher rates of PTSD occurred among adolescents aged l7-19 years (24.7%) and among those whose fathers were deceased and those who living with non-biological caregivers. Conclusion: The unsafe situation in Iraq has led to high trauma exposure and a high prevalence rate of PTSD among Male Adolescents in Baghdad. The study explored a number of factors that are associated with this increased rate. The data generated from this study may be of use to policy makers, people work in mental health care as well as practitioners in the field.
On the Application of the Answer Set Programming System DLV in Industry: a Report from the Field

Answer Set Programming (ASP) is a declarative logic programming paradigm developed in the area of logic programming and nonmonotonic reasoning. Nowadays, the formal properties of ASP are well-understood, and several eﬃcient ASP systems are available. Among them, DLV is one of the most relevant. DLV is the product of more than twelve years of research, and, notably, it is one of the ﬁrst ASP systems eﬀectively employed for developing applications at the industrial level. This paper presents some of the most valuable among such applications, and reports on the lessons we have learned on the ﬁeld using DLV as a powerful tool in industry.
A multiport power-flow controller for DC transmission grids

This paper proposes an m-port converter structure for high-voltage dc (HVDC) applications to facilitate power-flow routing between k controlled dc buses and m-k independent dc networks. Power-flow control is achieved via the injection of incremental dc voltages between the networks; thus, the converter structure is only rated for a fraction of the rated power and voltage of the connecting dc networks. Unlike previously proposed dc power-flow devices, these incremental dc voltages are generated without requiring power exchange with an external ac network. There are four variants of the structure, each offering unique advantages for deployment. These variants, and the modules that comprise them, are presented. A sample simulation case study is performed to demonstrate three-port bidirectional power-flow control between networks of similar voltage (495/500/505 kV). The proposed converter structure is shown to route power between the networks using modules with megavolt-ampere ratings of approximately 2% of the transmitted power. Thus, the proposed converter structure offers a highly cost-effective means of routing and controlling dc power flows within emerging HVDC grids.
Scanning transmission electron microscopy of biological structures

The design of the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) has been conceived to optimize its detection efficiency of the different elastic and inelastic signals resulting from the interaction of the high energy primary electrons with the specimen. Its potential use to visualize and measure biological objects was recognized from the first studies by Crewe and coworkers in the seventies. Later the real applications have not followed the initial hopes. The purpose of the present paper is to describe how the instrument has practically evolved and recently begun to demonstrate all its potentialities for quantitative electron microscopy of a wide range of biological specimens, from freeze‐dried isolated macromolecules to unstained cryosections. Emphasis will be put on the mass‐mapping, multi‐signal and elemental mapping modes which are unique features of the STEM instruments.
A 60-GHz low DC power self-injection coupling CMOS quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator with high quadrature accuracy

A 60-GHz high quadrature accuracy low dc power quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator (QVCO) using self-injection coupling (SIC) is proposed and demonstrated in 90 nm CMOS technology. By using SIC technique, this QVCO achieves low phase noise and good quadrature accuracy. Moreover, the amplitude/phase errors of the QVCO are fully characterized via a four-port vector network analyzer. The proposed 60-GHz QVCO exhibits a phase noise of -95 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset frequency, an amplitude error of 0.12 dB, and a phase errors of 1.2°. The dc power consumption is 13.3 mW with a supply voltage of 0.7 V. The chip size of the proposed QVCO is 0.75×0.6 mm2. This work has the lowest dc power consumption and the best figure-of-merits with high quadrature accuracy among the all reported millimeter-wave CMOS QVCOs.
WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region: A Systematic Review on Environmental Noise and Annoyance

Background: This paper describes a systematic review and meta-analyses on effects of environmental noise on annoyance. The noise sources include aircraft, road, and rail transportation noise as well as wind turbines and noise source combinations. Objectives: Update knowledge about effects of environmental noise on people living in the vicinity of noise sources. Methods: Eligible were published studies (2000–2014) providing comparable acoustical and social survey data including exposure-response functions between standard indicators of noise exposure and standard annoyance responses. The systematic literature search in 20 data bases resulted in 62 studies, of which 57 were used for quantitative meta-analyses. By means of questionnaires sent to the study authors, additional study data were obtained. Risk of bias was assessed by means of study characteristics for individual studies and by funnel plots to assess the risk of publication bias. Main Results: Tentative exposure-response relations for percent highly annoyed residents (%HA) in relation to noise levels for aircraft, road, rail, wind turbine and noise source combinations are presented as well as meta-analyses of correlations between noise levels and annoyance raw scores, and the OR for increase of %HA with increasing noise levels. Quality of evidence was assessed using the GRADE terminology. The evidence of exposure-response relations between noise levels and %HA is moderate (aircraft and railway) or low (road traffic and wind turbines). The evidence of correlations between noise levels and annoyance raw scores is high (aircraft and railway) or moderate (road traffic and wind turbines). The evidence of ORs representing the %HA increase by a certain noise level increase is moderate (aircraft noise), moderate/high (road and railway traffic), and low (wind turbines). Strengths and Limitations: The strength of the evidence is seen in the large total sample size encompassing the included studies (e.g., 18,947 participants in aircraft noise studies). Main limitations are due to the variance in the definition of noise levels and %HA. Interpretation: The increase of %HA in newer studies of aircraft, road and railway noise at comparable Lden levels of earlier studies point to the necessity of adjusting noise limit recommendations. Funding: The review was funded by WHO Europe.
Latent Discriminant Analysis with Representative Feature Discovery

Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) is a well-known method for dimension reduction and classification with focus on discriminative feature selection. However, how to discover discriminative as well as representative features in LDA model has not been explored. In this paper, we propose a latent Fisher discriminant model with representative feature discovery in an semi-supervised manner. Specifically, our model leverages advantages of both discriminative and generative models by generalizing LDA with data-driven prior over the latent variables. Thus, our method combines multi-class, latent variables and dimension reduction in an unified Bayesian framework. We test our method on MUSK and Corel datasets and yield competitive results compared to baselines. We also demonstrate its capacity on the challenging TRECVID MED11 dataset for semantic keyframe extraction and conduct a human-factors ranking-based experimental evaluation, which clearly demonstrates our proposed method consistently extracts more semantically meaningful keyframes than challenging baselines.
Coherence between Cellular Responses and in Vitro Splicing Inhibition for the Anti-tumor Drug Pladienolide B and Its Analogs*

Background: Pladienolide B is a complex natural product that potently inhibits pre-mRNA splicing. Results: The same molecular features of pladienolide B are required for the drug's effects on cell growth, morphology, and splicing. Conclusion: Simplified synthesis and modification of active pladienolide B is possible. Significance: Pladienolide B analogs can be used to study the relationship between splicing and cancer cell function. Pladienolide B (PB) is a potent cancer cell growth inhibitor that targets the SF3B1 subunit of the spliceosome. There is considerable interest in the compound as a potential chemotherapeutic, as well as a tool to study SF3B1 function in splicing and cancer development. The molecular structure of PB, a bacterial natural product, contains a 12-member macrolide ring with an extended epoxide-containing side chain. Using a novel concise enantioselective synthesis, we created a series of PB structural analogs and the structurally related compound herboxidiene. We show that two methyl groups in the PB side chain, as well as a feature of the macrolide ring shared with herboxidiene, are required for splicing inhibition in vitro. Unexpectedly, we find that the epoxy group contributes only modestly to PB potency and is not absolutely necessary for activity. The orientations of at least two chiral centers off the macrolide ring have no effect on PB activity. Importantly, the ability of analogs to inhibit splicing in vitro directly correlated with their effects in a series of cellular assays. Those effects likely arise from inhibition of some, but not all, endogenous splicing events in cells, as previously reported for the structurally distinct SF3B1 inhibitor spliceostatin A. Together, our data support the idea that the impact of PB on cells is derived from its ability to impair the function of SF3B1 in splicing and also demonstrate that simplification of the PB scaffold is feasible.
Compensation of the distortion in the secondary current caused by saturation and remanence in a CT

Current-transformer (CT) saturation may cause the maloperation of a protection relay. This is particularly onerous when the remanent flux in the core of the CT adds to the flux change caused by the fault. The CT is forced into deep saturation and the waveshape of the secondary current is severely distorted. An algorithm for compensating the distortion in the secondary current caused by saturation and remanence in a CT is described in this paper. A second-difference function detects when the CT first starts to saturate. At this instant, the negative value of the second-difference function corresponds to the magnetizing current which, in conjunction with the magnetization curve, is used to estimate the core flux. This is then used as an initial value to calculate how the flux changes during the fault. The magnetizing current is estimated by inserting the estimated core flux into the magnetization curve and added to the secondary current; the result, the compensated secondary current, is equal to the secondary referred primary current. Various test results indicate that the proposed algorithm can accurately compensate a severely distorted secondary current and is not affected by remanence. The paper concludes by describing the hardware implementation of the algorithm on a prototype compensation unit based on a digital signal processor.
Real-Time Genome Sequencing of Resistant Bacteria Provides Precision Infection Control in an Institutional Setting

ABSTRACT The increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria is a serious global challenge. Here, we studied prospectively whether bacterial whole-genome sequencing (WGS) for real-time MDR surveillance is technical feasible, returns actionable results, and is cost-beneficial. WGS was applied to all MDR isolates of four species (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA], vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, MDR Escherichia coli, and MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa) at the University Hospital Muenster, Muenster, Germany, a tertiary care hospital with 1,450 beds, during two 6-month intervals. Turnaround times (TAT) were measured, and total costs for sequencing per isolate were calculated. After cancelling prior policies of preemptive isolation of patients harboring certain Gram-negative MDR bacteria in risk areas, the second interval was conducted. During interval I, 645 bacterial isolates were sequenced. From culture, TATs ranged from 4.4 to 5.3 days, and costs were €202.49 per isolate. During interval II, 550 bacterial isolates were sequenced. Hospital-wide transmission rates of the two most common species (MRSA and MDR E. coli) were low during interval I (5.8% and 2.3%, respectively) and interval II (4.3% and 5.0%, respectively). Cancellation of isolation of patients infected with non-pan-resistant MDR E. coli in risk wards did not increase transmission. Comparing sequencing costs with avoided costs mostly due to fewer blocked beds during interval II, we saved in excess of €200,000. Real-time microbial WGS in our institution was feasible, produced precise actionable results, helped us to monitor transmission rates that remained low following a modification in isolation procedures, and ultimately saved costs.
Single-Pixel Phase-Corrected Fiber Bundle Endomicroscopy With Lensless Focussing Capability

In this paper, a novel single-pixel method for coherent imaging through an endoscopic fiber bundle is presented. The use of a single-pixel detector allows greater sensitivity over a wider range of wavelengths, which could have significant applications in an endoscopic fluorescence microscopy. First, the principle of lensless focussing at the distal end of a coherent fiber bundle is simulated to examine the impact of pixelation at microscopic scales. Next, an experimental optical correlator system using spatial light modulators is presented. A simple contrast imaging method of characterizing and compensating phase aberrations introduced by fiber bundles is described. Experimental results are then presented showing that our phase compensation method enables characterization of the optical phase profile of individual fiberlets. After applying this correction, early results demonstrating the ability of the system to electronically adjust the focal plane at the distal end of the fiber bundle are presented. The structural similarity index between the simulated image and the experimental focus-adjusted image increases noticeably when the phase correction is applied and the retrieved image is visually recognizable. Strategies to improve image quality are discussed.
Down Regulation of miR-34a and miR-143 May Indirectly Inhibit p53 in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: a Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND Aberrant microRNA expression has been associated with the pathogenesis of a variety of human malignancies including oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). In this study, we examined primary oral SCCs for the expression of 6 candidate miRNAs, of which five (miR-34a, miR-143, miR-373, miR-380-5p, and miR- 504) regulate the tumor suppressor TP53 and one (miR-99a) is involved in AKT/mTOR signaling. MATERIALS AND METHODS Tumor tissues (punch biopsies) were collected from 52 oral cancer patients and as a control, 8 independent adjacent normal tissue samples were also obtained. After RNA isolation, we assessed the mature miRNA levels of the 6 selected candidates against RNU44 and RNU48 as endogenous controls, using specific TaqMan miRNA assays. RESULTS miR-34a, miR-99a, miR-143 and miR-380-5p were significantly down-regulated in tumors compared to controls. Moreover, high levels of miR-34a were associated with alcohol consumption while those of miR-99a and miR-143 were associated with advanced tumor size. No significant difference was observed in the levels of miR-504 between the tumors and controls whereas miR-373 was below the detection level in all but two tumor samples. CONCLUSIONS Low levels of miR-380-5p and miR-504 that directly target the 3'UTR of TP53 suggest that p53 may not be repressed by these two miRNAs in OSCC. On the other hand, low levels of miR-34a or miR-143 may relieve MDM4 and SIRT1 or MDM2 respectively, which will sequester p53 indicating an indirect mode of p53 suppression in oral tumors.
Conservation and Variation in Human and Common Chimpanzee CD94 and NKG2 Genes1

To assess polymorphism and variation in human and chimpanzee NK complex genes, we determined the coding-region sequences for CD94 and NKG2A, C, D, E, and F from several human (Homo sapiens) donors and common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). CD94 is highly conserved, while the NKG2 genes exhibit some polymorphism. For all the genes, alternative mRNA splicing variants were frequent among the clones obtained by RT-PCR. Alternative splicing acts similarly in human and chimpanzee to produce the CD94B variant from the CD94 gene and the NKG2B variant from the NKG2A gene. Whereas single chimpanzee orthologs for CD94, NKG2A, NKG2E, and NKG2F were identified, two chimpanzee paralogs of the human NKG2C gene were defined. The chimpanzee Pt-NKG2CI gene encodes a protein similar to human NKG2C, whereas in the chimpanzee Pt-NKG2CII gene the translation frame changes near the beginning of the carbohydrate recognition domain, causing premature termination. Analysis of a panel of chimpanzee NK cell clones showed that Pt-NKG2CI and Pt-NKG2CII are independently and clonally expressed. Pt-NKG2CI and Pt-NKG2CII are equally diverged from human NKG2C, indicating that they arose by gene duplication subsequent to the divergence of chimpanzee and human ancestors. Genomic DNA from 80 individuals representing six primate species were typed for the presence of CD94 and NKG2. Each species gave distinctive typing patterns, with NKG2A and CD94 being most conserved. Seven different NK complex genotypes within the panel of 48 common chimpanzees were due to differences in Pt-NKG2C and Pt-NKG2D genes.
Evaluating and excluding swap errors in analogue report.

When observers retrieve simple visual features from working memory, two kinds of error are typically confounded in their recall. First, responses reflect noise or variability within the feature dimension they were asked to report. Second, responses are corrupted by ``swap errors'', in which a different item from the memory set is reported in place of the one that was probed. Independent evaluation of these error sources is vital for understanding the structure of internal representations and, in particular, how binding information is maintained. However, previous methods for disentangling these errors have been critically dependent on assumptions about the noise distribution, which is a priori unknown. Here I address this question with novel non-parametric methods, which estimate swap frequency and feature variability with the minimum of prior assumptions, and without a fitting procedure. The results indicate that swap errors are considerably more prevalent than previously appreciated (accounting for more than a third of responses at set size 8). These methods also identify which items are swapped in for targets: when the target item is cued by location, the items in closest spatial proximity are most likely to be incorrectly reported, thus implicating noise in the probe feature dimension as a source of swap errors. Finally I show how swap errors can be excluded from the raw histogram of observer responses to uncover the true distribution of error in the reported feature dimension. I will discuss the implications of these results for neural models of working memory storage. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.
Finding conflicting statements in the biomedical literature

The main archive of life sciences literature currently contains more than 18,000,000 references, and it is virtually impossible for any human to stay up-to-date with this large number of papers, even in a specific sub-domain.Not every fact that is reported in the literature is novel and distinct. Scientists report repeat experiments, or refer to previous findings. Given the large number of publications, it is not surprising that information on certain topics is repeated over a number of publications. From consensus to contradiction, there are all shades of agreement between the claimed facts in the literature, and considering the volume of the corpus, conflicting findings are not unlikely. Finding such claims is particularly interesting for scientists, as they can present opportunities for knowledge consolidation and future investigations.In this thesis we present a method to extract and contextualise statements about molecular events as expressed in the biomedical literature, and to find those that potentially conflict each other. The approach uses a system that detects event negations and speculation, and combines those with contextual features (e.g. type of event, species, and anatomical location) to build a representational model for establishing relations between different biological events, including relations concerning conflicts. In the detection of negations and speculations, rich lexical, syntactic, and semantic features have been exploited, including the syntactic command relation.Different parts of the proposed method have been evaluated in a context of the BioNLP 09 challenge. The average F-measures for event negation and speculation detection were 63% (with precision of 88%) and 48% (with precision of 64%) respectively. An analysis of a set of 50 extracted event pairs identified as potentially conflicting revealed that 32 of them showed some degree of conflict (64%); 10 event pairs (20%) needed a more complex biological interpretation to decide whether there was a conflict.We also provide an open source integrated text mining framework for extracting events and their context on a large-scale basis using a pipeline of tools that are available or have been developed as part of this research, along with 72,314 potentially conflicting molecular event pairs that have been generated by mining the entire body of accessible biomedical literature.We conclude that, whilst automated conflict mining would need more comprehensive context extraction, it is feasible to provide a support environment for biologists to browse potential conflicting statements and facilitate data and knowledge consolidation.