Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Calcium Supplementation and Incident Kidney Stone Risk: A Systematic Review

Background: A report of a small increase in kidney stone risk in the calcium treatment arm of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) led to a reduction in U.S. calcium supplement sales. Objective: To reassess kidney stone risk in postmenopausal women using data accumulated in calcium supplement trials, bone active agent registration trials, and in unpublished WHI data available online; and to compare these estimates with formal published epidemiological studies of stone risk. Methods: Literature review of published studies relating calcium intake to stone risk; adverse event report data from pharmaceutical industrial trials designed to evaluate bone active agents. Results: Stone risk in postmenopausal women has increased substantially in the past 40 years, but absolute population incidence estimates vary widely from a low of about 70 incidents/100,000/yr for Olmsted County, MN, today, to a concurrent high of approximately 190/100,000/yr for the Nurses’ Health Study II. Reported WHI incidence rates are higher still, with values around 300/100,000/yr for various WHI subgroupings. The reasons for these discordances are unclear. Despite this uncertainty about background rate, most of the studies show no increase in stone risk with high calcium intake (from either diet or supplements). Contrariwise there is a substantial body of evidence, both from controlled trials and from observational studies, indicating that there is an inverse relationship between calcium intake and stone risk.
Lipid a from lipopolysaccharide recognition: Structure, dynamics and cooperativity by molecular dynamics simulations

Molecular dynamics simulations of Lipid A and its natural precursor Lipid IVA from E.coli have been carried out free in solution, bound to the myeliod differentiation protein 2 (MD2) and in the complex of MD2 with the toll like receptor 4 (TLR4). In addition, simulations of the ligand free MD2 and MD2‐TLR4 complex were performed. A structural and energetic characterization of the bound and unbound states of Lipid A/IVA was generated. As the crystal structures depict, the main driving force for MD2‐Lipid A/IVA are the hydrophobic interactions between the aliphatic tails and the MD2 cavity. The charged phosphate groups do strongly interact with positively charged residues, located at the surface of MD2. However, they are not essential for keeping the lipids in the cavity, indicating a more prominent role in binding recognition and ionic interactions with TLR4 at the MD2/TLR4 interface. Interestingly, in the absence of any ligand MD2 rapidly closes, blocking the binding cavity. The presence of TLR4, though changing the dynamics, was not able to impede the aforementioned closing event. We hypothesize that fluctuations of the H1 region are essential for this phenomenon, and it is plausible that an equilibrium between the open and closed states exists, although the lengths of our simulations are not sufficient to encompass the reversible process. The MD2/Lipid A‐TLR4 complex simulations show that the presence of the ligand energetically stabilizes the complex relative to the ligand‐free structures, indicating cooperativity in the binding process. © Proteins 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Immunophenotyping of Paucicellular Samples

Immunophenotyping of paucicellular samples may represent a diagnostic challenge in the flow cytometry (FC) laboratory routine, as the scarcity of cells limits the number of tests that can be performed. Specimens such as fine needle aspirates (FNA), human body fluids (BF), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), or ocular fluid (OF) sent for FC investigations in the case of suspicion of lymphoma, or for lymphoma monitoring, may contain very low numbers of cells. In these cases, it is mandatory to obtain the largest amount possible of useful information from a single tube. The basic protocol described in this unit provides a method that combines the use of multiple monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) with a Boolean gating strategy to identify and quantify the main lymphocyte populations, as well as to detect lymphomatous B cells or any aberrant T cell expression, if present, in paucicellular samples. Curr. Protoc. Cytom. 68:9.46. 1‐9.46. 14. © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
TrackThink: a tool for tracking a thought process on web search

This paper proposes a tool for tracking a thought process in web searching because we considered that user's browsing history potentially contains the transition information of a thought process of how to collect information efficiently. In fact, we have few opportunities to look back own browsing way. Even if we check the enormous browsing logs, it is hard to convert them into sharable knowledge. Therefore, our tool measure the dwell time, the amount of scrolling and page contents and transition between pages for evaluating the importance of each page. In addition, our tool provides an editing function to summarize a thought process based on the importance of each page.
Study of a Novel Isotropic Suspension Design for an Angular Gyroscope

This paper describes the analysis of a novel isotropic suspension designed for use in a Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) z-axis angular gyroscope. The suspension, consisting of six concentric interconnected rings rigidly attached to an anchored frame, supports a resonating proof mass whose line of oscillation precesses in the presence of rotation induced Coriolis force. The paper demonstrates that the studied suspension is robust to quadrature errors and minimizes structural energy losses. Using a strain energy method, a closed form solution for the effective stiffness is developed, which is confirmed using finite element modeling. A parametric analysis is used to verify the necessity of thick structural layers in the fabrication of the suspension in order to separate desirable and undesirable modes of vibration.
Influence of Antimicrobial Feed Additives on Broiler Commensal Posthatch Gut Microbiota Development and Performance

ABSTRACT The effects of avilamycin, zinc bacitracin, and flavophospholipol on broiler gut microbial community colonization and bird performance in the first 17 days posthatch were investigated. Significant differences in gut microbiota associated with gut section, dietary treatment, and age were identified by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), although no performance-related differences between dietary treatments were detected. Similar age-related shifts in the gut microbiota were identified regardless of diet but varied between the ilea and ceca. Interbird variabilities in ileal bacterial communities were reduced (3 to 7 days posthatch) in chicks fed with feed containing antimicrobial agents. Avilamycin and flavophospholipol had the most consistent effect on gut microbial communities. Operational taxonomic units (OTU) linked to changes in gut microbiota in birds on antimicrobial-supplemented diets were characterized and identified. Some OTUs could be identified to the species level; however, the majority could be only tentatively classified to the genus, family, order, or domain level. OTUs 140 to 146 (Lachnospiraceae), OTU 186/188 (Lactobacillus johnsonii), OTU 220 (Lachnospiraceae), OTUs 284 to 288 (unclassified bacterial spp. or Ruminococcaceae), OTU 296/298 (unclassified bacterium or Clostridiales), and OTU 480/482 (Oxalobacteraceae) were less prevalent in the guts of chicks fed antimicrobial-supplemented diets. OTU 178/180 (Lactobacillus crispatus), OTU 152 (Lactobacillus reuteri or unclassified Clostridiales), OTU 198/200 (Subdoligranulum spp.), and OTU 490/492 (unclassified bacterium or Enterobacteriaceae) were less prevalent in the gut of chicks raised on the antimicrobial-free diet. The identification of key bacterial species influenced by antimicrobial-supplemented feed immediately posthatch may assist in the formulation of diets that facilitate beneficial gut microbial colonization and, hence, the development of alternatives to current antimicrobial agents in feed for sustainable poultry production.
DTN-based vehicular cloud for post-disaster information sharing

We first propose a framework which utilizes vehicular delay tolerant network (DTN) to form a vehicular cloud in order to provide information exchange without communication infrastructure. The framework does not rely on cellular network and therefore provides an approach which is suitable for post-disaster communication where cellular network is unavailable or severely congested. The paper also proposes a protocol which is able to provide vehicle-to-cloud communication in frequently changing vehicular environment. The protocol takes into account the link throughput, additional signal coverage, connection time, and the probability to encounter a RSU for the forwarder selection by using a fuzzy logic-based approach. The protocol also employs a network coding approach to reduce the overhead while maintaining a high data delivery ratio. We use computer simulations to evaluate the proposed framework.
Monitoring using mobile technology: the case of dispensers for safe water

Since 2009, Dispensers for Safe Water (DSW) has collected thousands of community surveys, dispenser surveys, promoter surveys, installation forms, and chlorine delivery records to track and monitor the quality of service it provides to local communities in Kenya and Uganda. In late 2011, the program began the transition to electronic surveys on handheld mobile devices and the complex data management systems needed to support this technology. Mobile surveys have proven faster, cheaper, and more accurate than paper forms; they have also enabled increased innovation, iteration, and course correction through rapid feedback and analysis. However, challenges remain, including connecting daily field activities to higher-level analysis and aggregation of results in the cloud. To address this, DSW is working to build a system of dashboards and mobile applications to better enable the field team to access, edit, and operationalize the information collected.
Phase II study of a fixed dose-rate infusion of gemcitabine associated with uracil/tegafur in advanced carcinoma of the pancreas.

BACKGROUND The objectives of this study were to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of a fixed dose-rate infusion of gemcitabine associated with uracil/tegafur (UFT) in patients with advanced adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. PATIENTS AND METHODS Forty-three chemotherapy-naïve patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas were included in this phase II study. All of whom had a Karnofsky performance status >or=50 and bi-dimensionally measurable disease (either advanced non-resectable or metastatic); median age 59 years (range 39-77); male:female ratio 29:14. Eight patients (19%) had locally advanced disease and 35 (81%) distant metastases. Treatment consisted of gemcitabine 1200 mg/m(2) given as a 120-min infusion weekly for 3 consecutive weeks, plus oral UFT 400 mg/m(2)/day (in 2-3 doses per day) on days 1-21, cycles were given every 28 days. Measurements of efficacy included response rate, clinical benefit response, time to disease progression and overall survival. RESULTS A total of 192 cycles of chemotherapy were delivered with a median of four per patient. There were two complete responses (5%) and 12 partial responses (28%), producing an overall response rate of 33% [95% confidence interval (CI) 16% to 49%]. Thirteen patients (30%) had stable disease, whereas 16 (37%) had a progression. The median time to progression was 6 months and the median overall survival was 11 months. Twenty-five patients (64%, 95% CI 47% to 78%) experienced a clinical benefit response. Grade 3-4 WHO toxicities were: neutropenia in nine patients (21%); thrombocytopenia in four (9%); anaemia in five (12%); diarrhoea in four (9%); and asthenia in one (2%). CONCLUSIONS A fixed dose-rate infusion of gemcitabine associated with UFT was well tolerated and showed promising activity in patients with locally advanced or metastatic carcinoma of the pancreas. This is an appropriate palliative treatment in this setting.
A Primer on Tractable Incentive Contracts

This note is a brief, non-technical summary of a framework that delivers tractable incentive contracts in broad settings that require few restrictions on the utility function, cost function and noise distribution, and are achievable in discrete time. The framework was developed in Edmans and Gabaix (2011). The note also contains two specific applications to (i) a market equilibrium model of CEO assignment and compensation under heterogenous moral hazard and risk aversion, and (ii) a fully dynamic model of CEO compensation where the manager consumes in every period, may temporarily inflate earnings, and may undo the contract by privately saving.
Shape based automatic image comparison

El tema de esta tesis es el desarrollo de una nueva tecnica para la extraccion y reconocimiento de formas, La mayoria de las tecnicas utilizadas no son nuevas, sin embargo, el uso que se hace de ellas si lo es. Las formas de las imagenes se definen como elementos locales e invariantes por cambio de contraste, en particular, se trata de trozos de lineas de nivel. Estas lineas de nivel pueden extraerse de la imagen digital original o tras una interpolacion bilineal de sus niveles de gris. En ambos casos la propiedad de monotonia de los conjuntos de nivel permite la construccion de un arbol de inclusion de curvas. La siguiente etapa consiste en la suvizacion de las curvas extraidas. Un filtrado afin invariante, equivalente a la evolucion producida pour una EDP basada en la curvatura (AMSS), es aplicado a todas las curvas de la imagen. A partir de las curvas filtradas se extrae una informacion local (puntos de inflexion, bitangentes, etc), que permite la codificacion de trozos de curva con distintos grados de invariancia(rotacion-translacion, euclidea o afin). Un diccionario de codigos es creado entonces y, finalmente, la busqueda de un pedazo de curva en la imagen se reduce a la busqueda de una palabra-codigo en el diccionario.
Faith in Life

This is the first book to consider John Dewey's early philosophy on its own terms and to explicate its key ideas. It does so through the fullest treatment to date of his youthful masterwork, the Psychology. This fuller treatment reveals that the received view, which sees Dewey's early philosophy as unimportant in its own right, is deeply mistaken. In fact, Dewey's early philosophy amounts to an important new form of idealism. More specifically, Dewey's idealism contains a new logic of rupture, which allows us to achieve four things: A focus on discontinuity that challenges all naturalistic views, including Dewey's own later view; A space of critical resistance to events that is at the same time the source of ideals; A faith in the development of ideals that challenges pessimists like Schopenhauer and Nietzsche; and A non-traditional reading of Hegel that invites comparison with cutting-edge Continental philosophers, such as Adorno, Derrida, and Zizek, and even goes beyond them in its systematic approach;In making these discoveries, the author forges a new link between American and European philosophy, showing how they share similar insights and concerns. He also provides an original assessment of Dewey's relationship to his teacher, George Sylvester Morris, and to other important thinkers of the day, giving us a fresh picture of John Dewey, the man and the philosopher, in the early years of his career. Readers will find a wide range of topics discussed, from Dewey's early reflections on Kant and Hegel to the nature of beauty, courage, sympathy, hatred, love, and even death and despair. This is a book for anyone interested in the thought of John Dewey, American pragmatism, Continental Philosophy, or a new idealism appearing on the scene.
Use of learned dictionaries in tomographic reconstruction

We study the use and impact of a dictionary in a tomographic reconstruction setup. First, we build two different dictionaries: one using a set of bases functions (Discrete Cosine Transform), and the other that is learned using patches extracted from training images, similar to the image that we would like to reconstruct. We use K-SVD as the learning algorithm. These dictionaries being local, we convert them to global dictionaries, ready to be applied on whole images, by generating all possible shifts of each atom across the image. During the reconstruction, we minimize the reconstruction error by performing a gradient descent on the image representation in the dictionary space. Our experiments show promising results, allowing to eliminate standard artifacts in the tomographic reconstruction, and to reduce the number of measurements required for the inversion. However, the quality of the results depends on the convergence of the learning process, and on the parameters of the dictionaries (number of atoms, convergence criterion, atom size, etc.). The exact influence of each of these remains to be studied.
A meta-analytic review of the distribution of practice effect: Now you see it, now you don't.

The present review examined the relationship between conditions of massed practice and spaced practice with respect to task performance. A meta-analysis of 63 studies with 112 effect sizes yielded an overall mean weighted effect size of 0.46, indicating that individuals in spaced practice conditions performed significantly higher than those in massed practice conditions. Subsequent analyses, however, suggested that the nature of the task- being practiced, the intertrial time interval, and the interaction between these two variables significantly moderated the relationship between practice conditions and performance. In addition,, significantly higher effect sizes were found in studies with low methodological rigor as compared with those studies higher in rigor. Directions for future research and applications of the findings are discussed.
Prevalence of urinary incontinence and intention to seek treatment in the elderly.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common, distressing, and often disabling condition in the elderly. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence and clinical characteristics of UI among elderly individuals living at home and to explore their perceptions of UI and intention to seek medical care. METHODS A total of 504 elderly subjects aged 65 and older residing in Tungkang town (located in the southwestern part of Taiwan) were randomly sampled and surveyed face to face by registered nurses. The prevalence, clinical types, and perceptions of UI, and intention to seek treatment, were compared with chi-square statistics across various sociodemographic characteristics. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with UI experience and intention to seek treatment. RESULTS About 22% of respondents reported that they had experienced involuntary loss of urine in daily life. Women, people who were overweight, and those who were aged 70 years or older were at higher risk of UI. While women were more likely to suffer from stress incontinence, men were at higher risk of urge incontinence. Women, illiterate individuals, and those who perceived UI as a normal part of the aging process showed low intention to seek treatment for UI. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggest that public awareness programs about UI and promotion of available treatment options are necessary to increase the intention to seek treatment among the elderly. Culturally sensitive programs should be designed, particularly for female and illiterate elderly, to provide incentives to seek medical care. The increasing availability of various treatment modalities coupled with education to correct commonly held misconceptions about UI might enable more elderly individuals to receive treatment for this common condition.
A hybrid device for electrical impedance tomography and bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy measurement

We proposed a hybrid device, which is capable of measuring either bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy (BIS) or electrical impedance tomography (EIT) based on the Magnitude Ratio and Phase Difference Detection method. Frequency range available for measuring is from 1 kHz to 1 MHz. The device is based on The Freescale Tower system module with S08MM Freescale microcontroller. The proposed device is divided into two modules. One of them includes measurement chain, the second one contains four multiplexers, which connect always four electrodes to the circuit from total amount of sixteen electrodes. Both modules are connected via Tower elevator modules. While measuring impedance the systematic error occured, so we used the Quadratic Interpolation Self-calibration algorithm for calculation of the measured impedance. Calibration was applied on the absolute value of impedance. Calibration on the phase shift has not been done yet, since both input signals to GPD are highly disturbed with the noise, although they pass through a low-pass filter with cut-off frequency of 1 MHz. The superposed noise confuses GPD, so it cannot give the correct results. The relative error of impedance measurement after calibration ranges from -4.52 % to 5.98 % with mean value of -0.02 %.
Perfectly Complementary Relay Design for Digital Logic Applications

A dual-ended (¿seesaw¿) relay design is proposed for ultralow-power digital logic applications. Fabricated seesaw relays demonstrate a perfectly complementary switching behavior that is symmetric about V DD/2, with extremely steep switching behavior (< 0.1 mV/dec) and low on -state resistance (< 1 k¿). The perfectly complementary and symmetric operation provides for maximum operating voltage margin and minimal crowbar current, as evidenced by an abrupt inverter voltage transfer characteristic.
The long and winding road of enterprise architecture implementation in the Finnish public sector

Penttinen, Katja The long and winding road of enterprise architecture implementation in the Finnish public sector Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2018, 72 pp. (JYU Dissertations ISSN 2489-9003; 48) ISBN 978-951-39-7630-9 (PDF) This thesis examines the implementation of enterprise architecture (EA) in the Finnish public sector. EA is a systematic approach for analysing, visualising, developing and governing the functions and structures of organisations. It describes how organisations businesses, information and systems function as a whole. Research and practice have shown the implementation of EA is challenging and slow to advance. Finland provides a prolific area for research since the use of EA is mandatory in public sector, which is rare amongst countries taking a whole-of-government EA approach. In order to research EA as a method for systemic change, a suitable theoretical framing was necessary. The context, content and process (CCP) model was chosen because it was developed for researching organisational change and acknowledges the substantial, temporal and contextual nature of change. In this study, a longitudinal case is described using the CCP model and the results are presented within modified CCP model that includes stakeholders. The data was collected at various time points during 2007-2017, using different methods, and analysed with a mixed methods approach. The results of the articles included in this thesis are combined as challenges of EA. A retroductive analysis was conducted to recognise the mechanisms of change influencing the Finnish EA implementation. The mechanisms are divided into supportive and unsupportive. Supportive mechanisms were common language, co-operation and co-creation. Unsupportive mechanisms were unclear goals, tight structures and fragmentation, lack of resources and support, and resistance. The results contribute to existing knowledge on implementing EA in the public sector by offering longitudinal empirical evidence that can be used by governments around the world in their whole-of-government EA efforts. Improving current understanding of the complexity and mechanisms of EA implementation in the public sector provides new insights for both research and practice for the benefit of future EA adoption.