Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early postoperative changes in left ventricular chamber size, architecture, and function in aortic stenosis and aortic regurgitation and their relation to intraoperative changes in afterload: a prospective two-dimensional echocardiographic study.

We prospectively studied 16 patients with isolated aortic stenosis and eight with isolated aortic regurgitation undergoing aortic valve replacement, using two-dimensional echocardiography preoperatively, intraoperatively, and 41 +/- 7 days postoperatively to calculate the intraoperative change in afterload, quantify the postoperative changes in left ventricular chamber size, architecture, load and function, determine whether the postoperative left ventricular remodeling correlated with the intraoperative change in afterload in aortic stenosis and aortic regurgitation, and assess whether preoperative afterload excess precluded postoperative improvement in left ventricular function. Preoperative left ventricular mass, end-systolic meridional and circumferential wall stresses, ejection fraction, and stress-shortening relations in patients with aortic stenosis and aortic regurgitation were similar. However, our patients with aortic regurgitation had severe systolic dysfunction, with ejection fraction less than 55% in all but one patient, compared with only 10 of 16 patients with aortic stenosis. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume, mass/volume ratio, and chamber shape were significantly different in patients with aortic stenosis and aortic regurgitation (174 +/- 64 vs 294 +/- 140 ml, p less than .01; 1.81 +/- 0.63 vs 1.14 +/- 0.18, p less than .01; and 0.59 +/- 0.09 vs 0.69 +/- 0.09, p less than .05, respectively). Intraoperative end-systolic meridional and circumferential stresses fell significantly in patients with aortic stenosis but remained unchanged in those with aortic regurgitation. The changes in left ventricular volume and ejection fraction during early postoperative remodeling (6 weeks) correlated with the intraoperative change in afterload in patients with aortic stenosis. In contrast, there was no intraoperative change in afterload in patients with aortic regurgitation and no significant changes in left ventricular volume, architecture, or function at 6 weeks or at 6 months. The differences in left ventricular remodeling and changes in function between patients with aortic stenosis and aortic regurgitation in the early postoperative period most probably relates to the major difference in intraoperative reduction in afterload, although a contributory role may have been played by the preoperative left ventricular dysfunction in those with aortic regurgitation that was underestimated by measurement of ejection fraction.
The Use of like as a Marker of Reported Speech and Thought: A Case of Grammaticalization in Progress

It can be seen here that like functions much in the same way as the verb say does in introducing reported speech. In both these examples a form of the verb be followed by like alternates with say, and where be + like occurs, it appears paraphrasable by say with no apparent change in referential meaning. However, we will qualify this considerably in the course of our analysis, because in many, if not most cases, discourses introduced by be + like can also represent internal thought, as Butters (1982) noted. In (3), for example, it is not certain that the speaker actually SAID "no." Rather, the hearer is invited to infer that this is what the speaker was thinking or saying to himself as the girl approached.
Long‐Term Therapy With Omega‐3 Ameliorates Myonecrosis and Benefits Skeletal Muscle Regeneration in Mdx Mice

In Duchenne muscle dystrophy (DMD) and in the mdx mouse model of DMD, a lack of dystrophin leads to myonecrosis and cardiorespiratory failure. Several lines of evidence suggest a detrimental role of the inflammatory process in the dystrophic process. Previously, we demonstrated that short‐term therapy with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), at early stages of disease, ameliorated dystrophy progression in the mdx mouse. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of a long‐term therapy with omega‐3 later in dystrophy progression. Three‐month‐old mdx mice received omega‐3 (300 mg/kg) or vehicle by gavage for 5 months. The quadriceps and diaphragm muscles were removed and processed for histopathology and Western blot. Long‐term therapy with omega‐3 increased the regulatory protein MyoD and muscle regeneration and reduced markers of inflammation (TNF‐α and NF‐kB) in both muscles studied. The present study supports the long‐term use of omega‐3 at later stages of dystrophy as a promising option to be investigated in DMD clinical trials. Anat Rec, 298:1589–1596, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
[Intention to leave the nursing profession].

BACKGROUND The NEXT Study (Nurses' Exit Study) was initiated in 10 European countries in order to shed light on nurses' working conditions and reasons of shortage. OBJECTIVES The study objective was to determine organisation and psychosocial conditions that lead to premature departure from the nursing profession. METHODS The questionnaire we used took into account aspects such as work history, work demands and organisation, career prospectives and individual resources. This article describes steps related to the construction and validation of the questionnaire and sampling methods. Preliminary results are also reported. Data analysis, performed in relation to the intention to leave the nursing profession, showed the distinctiveness of the situation in Italy compared to other European countries. RESULTS Conditions related to intention to leave are multifaceted, but they can be summarized as inadequacy of facilities to support the family needs of staff low level of trust in official structures, together with poor support by colleagues and superiors, work overload, and lack of independence at work--although the latter is foreseen in current legislation--and scant career and development possibilities. CONCLUSIONS These results confirm the existence of a difficult situation, although certain legislative changes are aimed at solving these problems.
GABAergic Circuits Control Spike-Timing-Dependent Plasticity

The spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP), a synaptic learning rule for encoding learning and memory, relies on relative timing of neuronal activity on either side of the synapse. GABAergic signaling has been shown to control neuronal excitability and consequently the spike timing, but whether GABAergic circuits rule the STDP remained unknown. Here we show that GABAergic signaling governs the polarity of STDP, because blockade of GABAA receptors was able to completely reverse the temporal order of plasticity at corticostriatal synapses in rats and mice. GABA controls the polarity of STDP in both striatopallidal and striatonigral output neurons. Biophysical simulations and experimental investigations suggest that GABA controls STDP polarity through depolarizing effects at distal dendrites of striatal output neurons by modifying the balance of two calcium sources, NMDARs and voltage-sensitive calcium channels. These findings establish a central role for GABAergic circuits in shaping STDP and suggest that GABA could operate as a Hebbian/anti-Hebbian switch.
Molecular and Epidemiological Characteristics of Norovirus Associated with Community-Based Sporadic Gastroenteritis Incidents and Norovirus Outbreaks in Victoria, Australia, 2002–2007

Objectives: The molecular and epidemiological features of community-based norovirus-associated sporadic gastroenteritis incidents (NASGIs) are poorly understood. This study examined these features and compared the findings with studies of community-based and institutional norovirus-associated gastroenteritis outbreaks (NAGOs). Methods: Fecal specimens from NASGIs and NAGOs that occurred in Victoria, Australia (2002–2007) were tested for norovirus by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction methodology. Norovirus genotype was determined by nucleotide sequence analysis. Results: 106 community-based NASGIs, 116 community-based NAGOs and 902 institutional NAGOs were identified. The mean age and gender ratio of individuals associated with community-based NASGIs and community-based NAGOs were similar but differed from that found for institutional NAGOs. Although GII.4 was the predominant genotype associated with all three incident types, the mix of genotypes was similar for community-based NASGIs and community-based NAGOs but that for institutional NAGOs was different. All three incident types had a similar seasonal periodicity due to the pronounced seasonal periodicity of GII.4 incidents. Conclusions: The molecular and epidemiological features of noroviruses associated with community-based NASGIs and community-based NAGOs are similar but are different from those found for institutional NAGOs.
Emotions Under the Skin Autonomic Reactivity to Emotional Pictures in Insecure Attachment

Abstract. The present study examined physiological reactivity to emotional stimuli as a function of attachment style. Skin conductance responses (SCRs) and heart rate (HR) changes were simultaneously recorded while participants engaged in a visual attentional task. The task included positive, neutral, and negative emotional pictures, and required the identification of a target (neutral picture rotated 90° to the left or right), among a stream of pictures in which an emotional distracter (positive or negative) was presented. Participants additionally rated each of the emotional distracters for valence and arousal. Behavioral results on the attentional task showed that positive pictures facilitated overall target detection for all participants, compared to negative and neutral pictures, and that anxiously attached participants had significantly lower accuracy scores, relative to the other groups. Affective ratings indicated that positive pictures were rated as being more pleasant than negative ones, althoug.
Development and Preliminary Examination of the Psychometric Properties of the Behavior Problem Checklist

ABSTRACT Objective: Clinical settings require an efficient and informative approach to the assessment of caregiving situations to help providers decide how to focus interventions. Providers serving caregivers need to know about care recipients, who may not be available in the same clinical setting where the caregiver is being served, so checklists have been developed to elicit the caregivers’ perceptions of the problem (e.g., symptoms, functional challenges, and attributions for the problem). The purpose of this study was to conduct a preliminary test of reliability and validity of an assessment tool designed for use in clinical settings that serves caregivers of persons with physical illness as well as dementias.Methods: Informal family caregiver clients in a counseling program (N = 502) completed assessment questionnaires, including a new measure, the Behavior Problem Checklist, during intake, prior to intervention. The sample was divided into a development sample (N = 400) and a verification sample (N = 102) in order to examine the psychometric properties of the Behavior Problem Checklist.Results: The Behavior Problem Checklist exhibited item-total internal reliability, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity with another measure of behavior problems.Conclusions: The Behavior Problem Checklist appears to be a valid tool to assess problem behaviors. At its current level of development, it is deemed to be appropriate for use in research settings. With further study, the BPC may prove to be a useful clinical tool for use with caregivers to help identify care recipient problem areas that can assist providers with selection of interventions.
Motives for Posting and Liking on Social Media: Comparing Differences between Chinese and European Users

Social media have become a prominent way of communicating in the Web 2.0 age. Posting and liking are now parts of many people’s daily life. Young people, as the main force of social media users, develop their own habits and ways of using social media. In this research, 40 participants from China and European countries were interviewed to investigate their motives for posting and liking. According to their answers, there is a wide variety of both posting and liking motives. Using the four-sides communication model by Schulz von Thun as a starting point, all the motives were classified into main categories including referential, expressive, relational, appealing, information storage, psychological and other. The results show that Chinese and European behave differently in both posting and liking. Chinese have more expressive and appealing motives in posting, and more referential motives in liking. When comparing own motives with others’, there are differences in appealing and information storage motives of posting, but no significant differences were found in the motives of liking. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
Analysis of Expressed Genes of the Bacterium ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma Mali’ Highlights Key Features of Virulence and Metabolism

‘Candidatus Phytoplasma mali’ is a phytopathogenic bacterium of the family Acholeplasmataceae assigned to the class Mollicutes. This causative agent of the apple proliferation colonizes in Malus domestica the sieve tubes of the plant phloem resulting in a range of symptoms such as witches’- broom formation, reduced vigor and affecting size and quality of the crop. The disease is responsible for strong economical losses in Europe. Although the genome sequence of the pathogen is available, there is only limited information on expression of selected genes and metabolic key features that have not been examined on the transcriptomic or proteomic level so far. This situation is similar to many other phytoplasmas. In the work presented here, RNA-Seq and mass spectrometry shotgun techniques were applied on tissue samples from Nicotiana occidentalis infected by ‘Ca. P. mali’ strain AT providing insights into transcriptome and proteome of the pathogen. Data analysis highlights expression of 208 genes including 14 proteins located in the terminal inverted repeats of the linear chromosome. Beside a high portion of house keeping genes, the recently discussed chaperone GroES/GroEL is expressed. Furthermore, gene expression involved in formation of a type IVB and of the Sec-dependent secretion system was identified as well as the highly expressed putative pathogenicity–related SAP11-like effector protein. Metabolism of phytoplasmas depends on the uptake of spermidine/putescine, amino acids, co-factors, carbohydrates and in particular malate/citrate. The expression of these transporters was confirmed and the analysis of the carbohydrate cycle supports the suggested alternative energy-providing pathway for phytoplasmas releasing acetate and providing ATP. The phylogenetic analyses of malate dehydrogenase and acetate kinase in phytoplasmas show a closer relatedness to the Firmicutes in comparison to Mycoplasma species indicating an early divergence of the Acholeplasmataceae from the Mollicutes.
An Efficient Algorithm to Estimate Mixture Matrix in Blind Source Separation using Tensor Decomposition

The estimation of mixing matrix is a key step to solve the problem of blind source separation. The existing algorithm can only estimate the matrix of well-determined, over-determined and under-determined in condition of sparse source. Scaling and permutation ambiguities lie in both factor matrix of tensor Canonical Decomposition and mixing matrix in blind source separation. With this property, the estimation of mixing matrix can be transformed into tensor Canonical Decomposition of observed signal’s statistic. The decomposition can be realized by the method of alternating least squares. The theoretical analysis and simulations show that the method proposed in this paper is an efficient algorithm to estimate well-determined, over-determined and under-determined mixing matrix.
High-speed Cineloop Ultrasound vs. Video Ultrasound Tongue Imaging: Comparison of Front and Back Lingual Gesture Location and Relative Timing

We compare two methods of acquiring ultrasound tongue images. A new system capable of recording directly from the cineloop image buffer at a high frame rate and which is more accurately synchronized with audio is compared with an optimised method of recording images via the NTSC video output of an ultrasound machine. As a focus for this comparison we gathered representative data on English /l from a single speaker, using a headset restraint system. Both systems performed well, but while the video system is at its limits, the cineloop system is inherently more accurate and offers greater opportunity for development.
Folate and vitamin B6 from diet and supplements in relation to risk of coronary heart disease among women.

CONTEXT Hyperhomocysteinemia is caused by genetic and lifestyle influences, including low intakes of folate and vitamin B6. However, prospective data relating intake of these vitamins to risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) are not available. OBJECTIVE To examine intakes of folate and vitamin B6 in relation to the incidence of nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) and fatal CHD. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING AND PATIENTS In 1980, a total of 80082 women from the Nurses' Health Study with no previous history of cardiovascular disease, cancer, hypercholesterolemia, or diabetes completed a detailed food frequency questionnaire from which we derived usual intake of folate and vitamin B6. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Nonfatal MI and fatal CHD confirmed by World Health Organization criteria. RESULTS During 14 years of follow-up, we documented 658 incident cases of nonfatal MI and 281 cases of fatal CHD. After controlling for cardiovascular risk factors, including smoking and hypertension and intake of alcohol, fiber, vitamin E, and saturated, polyunsaturated, and trans fat, the relative risks (RRs) of CHD between extreme quintiles were 0.69 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.55-0.87) for folate (median intake, 696 microg/d vs 158 microg/d) and 0.67 (95% CI, 0.53-0.85) for vitamin B6 (median intake, 4.6 mg/d vs 1.1 mg/d). Controlling for the same variables, the RR was 0.55 (95% CI, 0.41-0.74) among women in the highest quintile of both folate and vitamin B6 intake compared with the opposite extreme. Risk of CHD was reduced among women who regularly used multiple vitamins (RR=0.76; 95% CI, 0.65-0.90), the major source of folate and vitamin B6, and after excluding multiple vitamin users, among those with higher dietary intakes of folate and vitamin B6. In a subgroup analysis, compared with nondrinkers, the inverse association between a high-folate diet and CHD was strongest among women who consumed up to 1 alcoholic beverage per day (RR =0.69; 95% CI, 0.49-0.97) or more than 1 drink per day (RR=0.27; 95% CI, 0.13-0.58). CONCLUSION These results suggest that intake of folate and vitamin B6 above the current recommended dietary allowance may be important in the primary prevention of CHD among women.
Similarity induced group sparsity for non-negative matrix factorisation

Non-negative matrix factorisations are used in several branches of signal processing and data analysis for separation and classification. Sparsity constraints are commonly set on the model to promote discovery of a small number of dominant patterns. In group sparse models, atoms considered to belong to a consistent group are permitted to activate together, while activations across groups are suppressed, reducing the number of simultaneously active sources or other structures. Whereas most group sparse models require explicit division of atoms into separate groups without addressing their mutual relations, we propose a constraint that permits dynamic relationships between atoms or groups, based on any defined distance measure. The resulting solutions promote approximation with components considered similar to each other. Evaluation results are shown for speech enhancement and noise robust speech and speaker recognition.
Extracorporeal bypass using a centrifugal pump during resection of malignant liver tumors.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Total hepatic vascular exclusion (THVE) during extracorporeal bypass is used for hepatic resection in patients with malignant liver tumors. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of hepatectomy during total hepatic vascular exclusion using a centrifugal pump (Bio-pump). METHODOLOGY Fourteen patients with malignant liver tumors who underwent hepatectomy during total hepatic vascular exclusion using the Bio-pump were studied retrospectively. RESULTS In 3 of 14 patients, insufficient hepatic vascular exclusion was achieved. Six patients underwent tumor resection during total hepatic vascular exclusion, without extracorporeal bypass. In the remaining 5 patients, flow exclusion averaging 1500 ml was achieved with the Bio-pump, and hepatectomy was performed during the procedure. In these 5 patients, the mean operative time and blood loss were 11 hours 38 minutes and 6850 +/- 2451 ml. The Bio-pump bypass time, the excluded blood flow and the mean blood pressure were 82 minutes, 1650 ml and 108/53 mmHg, respectively. The arterial ketone body ratio (AKBR) decreased from a pre-operative value of 1.85-0.32 during total hepatic vascular exclusion. CONCLUSIONS Total hepatic vascular exclusion was useful for hepatectomy in patients with tumor invasion into the hepatic vein and inferior vena cava, or tumor thrombus in the inferior vena cava and right atrium. However, this technique did not decrease blood loss or improve outcome in patients undergoing hepatectomy.
Power Converter Schemes for Small Scale Wind Energy Conversion Systems - Review, a Systematic Classification Based on Isolation Transformer and Generator Side Rectifier

Permanent magnet synchronous generators used in small scale wind generating systems connected to the grid employ various types of power electronic converters. This paper reviews and gives a systematic classification of many power converter topologies available in the literature based on the electrical isolation between the generator and the grid. Emphasis is given on the type of rectifier used on the generator side. Most of the available converters use line-frequency transformer isolation and it is shown that they can be classified into three types. Based on the available high-frequency transformer isolated ac-dc converters, we have classified them into five schemes suitable for wind energy conversion system applications that can reduce the size, cost and improve the overall performance of such converters. In particular, two single stage soft-switched ac-dc converters have been discussed.
Field Theory of Electromagnetic Brain Activity.

The brain is considered as a complex, physical, and open system that exhibits spatiotemporal behavior at various time and length scales. A necessary condition for this pattern forming character of the brain is a nonlinear dynamics and a spatial interconnection of its elements, the neurons. The functional behavior of the brain is encoded in these spatiotemporal structures and can, at least partly, be extracted from the dynamics of the macroscopic quantities measured by the EEG and MEG. According to synergetics [1], this extraction contains all the relevant information about the spatiotemporal behavior of the brain and has, in general, a small number of degrees of freedom. This idea has been formalized to the order parameter conceptbased on circular causality: The order parameters are determined and created by the cooperation of microscopic quantities, but at the same time the order parameters govern the behavior of the whole system. Based on this approach phenomenological models were set up in the past for different experiments in order to find evolution equations that describe the experimentally observed macroscopic dynamics [2].