Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are Sore Throat Patients Who Hope for Antibiotics Actually Asking for Pain Relief?

PURPOSE Antibiotics are still overprescribed for self-limiting upper respiratory tract infections such as acute sore throat, and physicians mention patient’s desire for antibiotics as a driving force. We studied patients’ concerns when visiting their family physician for acute sore throat, more specifically the importance they attach to antibiotic treatment and pain relief. METHODS Family physicians in 6 peer groups in Belgium participated in an observational postvisit questionnaire survey. Patients aged 12 years and older making an office visit for acute sore throat were invited to indicate the importance of different reasons for the visit. RESULTS Sixty-eight family physicians provided data from 298 patients. The 3 most frequently endorsed reasons for visiting the physician were examination to establish the cause of the symptoms, pain relief, and information on the course of the disease. Hopes for an antibiotic ranked 11th of 13 items. Patients who considered antibiotics very/rather important valued pain relief significantly more than patients who considered them little/not important (P <.001). Patients who hoped for antibiotics felt more unwell (P <.001), had more faith in antibiotics to speed recovery (P <.001), and were less convinced that sore throat was a self-limiting disease (P <.012). A multivariate model, adjusted for age, sex, and educational status, showed that the desire for pain relief is a strong predictor of the hope to receive a prescription for antibiotics. CONCLUSION Our study suggests that patients with acute sore throat and who hope for antibiotics may in fact want treatment for pain. Trials are needed to test whether exploring patients’ expectations about pain management and offering adequate analgesia can assist physicians in managing sore throats without prescribing antibiotics.
An efficient framework for the conversion of fault trees to diagnostic Bayesian network models

Complex aerospace systems' cannot afford downtime to diagnose problems $the interruption of mission critical functions and prohibitive cost of lost business are unacceptable. Such systems are characterized by having many components and require a team of experts to diagnose problems after they occur or to assemble a knowledge database suitable for rapid model based diagnostics. In this paper we present an efficient and largely automated method for developing diagnostic Bayesian network models. The models are created by exploiting existing domain knowledge in the form of reliability fault trees and diagnostic observation lists. The algorithms for conversion of the trees and databases into Bayesian network models have been embedded in a C++ software tool and tested on examples of fault trees ranging from 10 to 800 nodes, which were developed for satellite systems
High-Q, tunable-gap MEMS variable capacitor actuated with an electrically floating plate

We proposed and developed a new MEMS variable capacitor that resembles the tunable-gap capacitor at first glance, but provides much better Q-factor thanks to reducing series resistance by the elimination of mechanical spring in the RF signal pathway using a new actuation method of moving electrically floating plate. The fabricated variable capacitor showed almost 200 % increment of Q- factor from the conventional tunable-gap capacitor. In addition, a variable capacitor array connected in parallel with four capacitors for larger capacitance was fabricated and measured. We achieved a tuning ratio of 41 % and (Q -factor of 34.9 at 5 GHz for the single capacitor and the tuning ratio of 29 % and (Q -factor of 39.8 at 1 GHz for the capacitor array.
Determination of side of cerebral dominance with amobarbital.

Every neurosurgeon is well aware of the great risk of a mistake in the identification of the hemisphere which controls speech, or dominant hemisphere. As it has been clearly stated by Dandy, "A surgeon is never justified in carrying out any formidable procedure involving the areas of the brain responsible for speech if any doubt remains as to the side of the speech control. " 2 Strangely enough, however, very little has been done about finding a way of clarifying such doubt. It is well known today that the widespread habit of basing the determination of the side of cerebral dominance on the side of "handedness" may give rise to unpleasant surprises. 4,13 Indeed, the only technique specifically elaborated for establishing the side of cerebral dominance seems to be that of Wada. 8 This author made the important observation that it is possible to interfere with the functional activity of only
Silicon modulator based on mechanically-active anti-reflection layer with 1 mbit/sec capability for fiber-in-the-loop applications

We present a micromechanical modulator for fiber-in-the-loop applications with projected optical bandwidths from 1.3 to 1.55 /spl mu/m and data rates of several Mbits/sec. The device behaves as a damped oscillator. We have made a device with a ringing frequency of 1.1 MHz and a damping time constant of 1 /spl mu/s. We indicate that with an appropriate linear filter the device could operate digitally with data rates of 1 Mbit/sec. <<ETX>>
Latent profiles of temperament and their relations to psychopathology and wellness.

OBJECTIVE To test for empirically defined temperament phenotypes and to investigate their associations with psychopathology and wellness. METHOD The sample included 447 children (259 boys, 188 girls; mean age 11.0 years) recruited for a family study in the northeastern United States. Temperament was measured with the Juvenile Temperament and Character Inventory, and indicators of wellness and psychopathology were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist from both parents and the Teacher Report Form. Latent profiles analysis was performed with the resulting class membership serving as the dependent variables for multinomial regression analyses. RESULTS Latent profiles analysis identified three classes as the best fitting solution consisting of a moderate class that had average levels of all four traits, a steady class that had low novelty seeking and high persistence and a disengaged class that had higher novelty seeking and harm avoidance but lower reward dependence and persistence. Regressions demonstrated strong links between the steady class, higher functioning, and lower levels of psychopathology, whereas the disengaged class showed the opposite associations. These findings held across informants of psychopathology and wellness. CONCLUSIONS Profile analyses of temperament may be illuminative in identifying children with similar constellations of traits across many dimensions. Membership in these groups appears to be strongly related to both positive and negative outcomes.
Meiotic Nondisjunction of Chromosomes 1, 17, 18, X, and Y in Men More Than 80 Years of Age

Abstract In order to evaluate a possible paternal age effect, testicular sperm cells from three men aged 81, 82, and 83 yr were analyzed by two-color- and three-color-fluorescence in situ hybridization for disomy rates of chromosomes 1, 17, 18, X, and Y as well as for diploidy frequencies. A minimum of 1500 sperm cells per donor and probe was evaluated due to the low number of spermatozoa in the preparations. Diploidy and disomy frequencies were in the same range as found in men aged <30 yr, a slight increase only being noticed for XY nuclei.
Treatment With Pravastatin Attenuates Oxidative Stress and Protects Osteoblast Cell Viability From Indoxyl Sulfate

Chronic kidney disease has a high level of oxidative stress, a phenomenon that is induced, at least in part, by the accumulation of uremic toxins. Several reports have revealed that indoxyl sulfate, one of the uremic toxins, accelerates oxidative stress in chronic kidney disease. On the other hand, it is also well known that statins have pleiotropic effects; however, it still remains unclear whether statins suppress osteoblastic cell dysfunction or cytotoxicity induced by uremic toxins. To elucidate whether statins ameliorate osteoblast dysfunction induced by uremic toxins, we conducted an in vitro study using primary cultured osteoblastic cells from mouse calvariae. Indoxyl sulfate induced reactive oxygen species production and reduced cell viability in osteoblastic cells in a dose dependent manner. The addition of pravastatin suppressed reactive oxygen species production and ameliorated cell viability. These data suggest that pravastatin attenuates oxidative stress and protects osteoblastic cell viability from indoxyl sulfate.
Stetho-phone: Low-cost digital stethoscope for remote personalized healthcare

Proper healthcare is one of the fundamental needs of human beings. However, the doctor-to-patient ratio in developing and underdeveloped countries, especially in remote rural areas is quite low. A smart digital stethoscope, which can make preliminary health monitoring by itself and communicate with a doctor from remote areas can minimize such problem. Though there are several such devices from various medical equipment vendors, most of them are costly for our target community and lack wireless communication facilities with the doctors. Our research work aims at developing a smartphone-based personalized healthcare scheme at low cost by providing primary health monitoring focusing on cardiac activity and regularly tracking the condition and reporting to a doctor because almost one-third of all global deaths are attributed to cardiovascular diseases. A low-cost digital stethoscope chest piece was therefore developed from a conventional one using piezoelectric element which picks up body sounds and provides a corresponding electrical signal. The signal is then fed to a smartphone which evaluates the health condition based on the analysis of heart sounds using the acquired Phonocardiogram (PCG) signals. In order to improve the computational efficiency and accuracy, heart sound segmentation, probabilistic models such as hidden Markov model, application of the k-nearest neighbor algorithm to train the network for binary classification have been implemented. Based on the results analyzed, the proposed low-cost scheme shows great promise for preliminary screening of healthcare issues using heart sounds, especially in remote areas with scarce medical assistance available.
Evaluating the use of programming games for building early analytical thinking skills

Analytical thinking is a transversal skill that helps learners excel academically independently of theme area. It is on high demand in the world of work especially in innovation related sectors. It involves finding a viable solution to a problem by identifying goals, parameters, and resources available for deployment. These are strategy elements in game play. They further constitute good practices in programming. This work evaluates how serious games based on visual programming as a solution synthesis tool within exploration, inquiry, and collaboration can help learners build structured mindsets. It analyses how a visual programming environment that supports experimentation for building intuition on potential solutions to logical puzzles, and then encourages learners to synthesize a solution interactively, helps learners through gaming principles to build self-esteem on their problem solving ability, to develop algorithmic thinking capacity, and to stay engaged in learning
On using prosodic cues in automatic language identification

Presents an effort to explore the utility of prosodic information in language identification/discrimination (LID) tasks. We present our model and results from pair-wise LID tasks with English, Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin using multi-speaker elicited spontaneous speech and a selected set of prosodic parameters. These language represent four different types of languages, varying in pitch use and timing. Parameters were designed to capture pitch and amplitude contours on a syllable-by-syllable basis, and to be insensitive to overall amplitude, pitch and speaking rate. Results show that prosodic cues alone can distinguish between some language pairs with results comparable systems, indicating that prosodic parameters are highly useful in automatic LID. However the statistical relationships between a number of individual feature deduced from timing and pitch measurements are needed to begin to capture such complex perceptual events as rhythm. Strengths of individual prosodic paramaters and classes of parameters-primarily pitch, and secondarily duration and location-reflect differences between the four languages, mostly as expected based on the linguistic literature, suggesting that effective use of prosodic parameters is aided by a understanding of the relationships between physical measurements and perceived linguistic events.
Melusin Is a New Muscle-specific Interactor for β1Integrin Cytoplasmic Domain*

Here we describe the isolation and partial characterization of a new muscle-specific protein (Melusin) which interacts with the integrin cytoplasmic domain. The cDNA encoding Melusin was isolated in a two-hybrid screening of a rat neonatal heart library using β1A and β1D integrin cytoplasmic regions as baits. Melusin is a cysteine-rich cytoplasmic protein of 38 kDa, with a stretch of acidic amino acid residues at the extreme carboxyl-terminal end. In addition, putative binding sites for SH3 and SH2 domains are present in the amino-terminal half of the molecule. Chromosomic analysis showed that melusin gene maps at Xq12.1/13 in man and in the synthenic region X band D in mouse. Melusin is expressed in skeletal and cardiac muscles but not in smooth muscles or other tissues. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that Melusin is present in a costamere-like pattern consisting of two rows flanking α-actinin at Z line. Its expression is up-regulated duringin vitro differentiation of the C2C12 murine myogenic cell line, and it is regulated during in vivo skeletal muscle development. A fragment corresponding to the tail region of Melusin interacted strongly and specifically with β1 integrin cytoplasmic domain in a two-hybrid test, but the full-length protein did not. Because the tail region of Melusin contains an acidic amino acid stretch resembling high capacity and low affinity calcium binding domains, we tested the possibility that Ca2+ regulates Melusin-integrin association. In vitro binding experiments demonstrated that interaction of full-length Melusin with detergent-solubilized integrin heterodimers occurred only in absence of cations, suggesting that it can be regulated by intracellular signals affecting Ca2+ concentration.
Auto feature selection for object detection, can or can't?

This research focuses on developing a system that can retrieve objects from a large image database by exploring the different types of image features. We propose a global representation of object based on the combination of multiple features. After that, we design a novel method for generic object detecting in still images with automatic feature selection. Our method is simple, computationally efficient The main advantage of this method is that it can automatically choose features which are the most suitale for detecting one type of object. We present experimental results for detecting many visual categories including side view car, front view car, bike, motorbike, train, aero plane, horse, sheep, flower and tower. Results clearly demonstrate that the proposed method is robust and produces good detection accuracy rate.
Relationships between flavour, lipid composition and antioxidants in organic, free-range and conventional chicken breasts from modelling

Consumers expect organic, free-range and corn-fed chicken to be nutritionally wholesome and have premium flavour characters. Interrelationships between flavour, fatty acids and antioxidants of retailed breasts were explored using simple correlations and chemometrics. Saturated fatty acid C16:0, and n-6 polyunsaturated C20:4 and C22:4 contents were correlated with lipid oxidation products (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) and in partial least-squares regression (PLS1) with 32 high-resonance gas chromatography (flame ionization) flavour components (r2>0.90), and also linked (r2>0.80) to antioxidants (α-tocopherol, glutathione and catalase). A further 10 high-resonance gas chromatography nitrogen phosphorus detector flavour components were correlated (r2>0.85) with C18:3(n-3) content. Chicken character was correlated with C18:3(n-3), and C18:3(n-6) inversely with oily, off-flavour and lipid oxidation. Sweet, fruity and oily aromas were linked in PLS1 with 13 specific fatty acids (r2>0.6), and bland taste with total summed (six) fatty acid fractions (r2>0.81). Specific antioxidants were correlated with sweet, fruity and chicken aromas, and α-tocopherol inversely with lipid oxidation. PLS2 confirmed relationships between fatty acid composition, antioxidants and the subsets of 32 and 10 flavour components. Clear relationships were thus observed between lipid and antioxidant compositions and flavour in chicken breast meat.
The making of differences between fins and limbs

‘Evo‐devo’, an interdisciplinary field based on developmental biology, includes studies on the evolutionary processes leading to organ morphologies and functions. One fascinating theme in evo‐devo is how fish fins evolved into tetrapod limbs. Studies by many scientists, including geneticists, mathematical biologists, and paleontologists, have led to the idea that fins and limbs are homologous organs; now it is the job of developmental biologists to integrate these data into a reliable scenario for the mechanism of fin‐to‐limb evolution. Here, we describe the fin‐to‐limb transition based on key recent developmental studies from various research fields that describe mechanisms that may underlie the development of fins, limb‐like fins, and limbs.
A 130nm 1.1V 143MHz SRAM-like embedded DRAM COMPILER with Dual Asymmetric bit line Sensing Scheme and quiet unselected IO scheme

A SRAM-like embedded DRAM compiler with 0.13um technology was designed using two novel circuit schemes. Firstly, Dual Asymmetric bit line Sensing Scheme is proposed to implement VDD bit line pre-charge scheme without any reference cells and half charge generator. Therefore, we overcame the risk of failure caused by defects in reference cells and simplified embodying VDD bit line pre-charge scheme, enjoying privileges of VDD bit line pre-charge scheme such as fast sensing speed (tRC:7ns, tAC:6.7ns in this work) and stable sensing operation at low voltage and low temperature. Secondly, we propose circuit idea for quiet unselected IO lines. Unselected IO lines are not developed by bit line data during READ/WRITE operation. This scheme has advantage in the architecture with wide IO and various IO multiplexing options like a memory compiler.
Evaluation numerischer Methoden zur Berechnung von Synchrotronstrahlung am ersten Bunchkompressor des Freie-Elektronen-Lasers FLASH

Thema der Arbeit ist die numerische Simulation von elektromagnetischen Feldern fur einen Teil des Freie-Elektronen-Lasers FLASH am DESY in Hamburg. Im ersten Bunchkompressor des Linearbeschleunigers durchlaufen die durch Dipolmagnete abgelenkten Elektronenpakete eine U-formige Metallkammer, wobei Synchrotronstrahlung entsteht. Das Spektrum der aus der Kammer abgestrahlten elektromagnetischen Wellen wird in der Praxis verwendet, um Ruckschlusse auf die Ladungsverteilung der Elektronenpakete zu ziehen. Ziel der Arbeit ist es, die abgestrahlten Felder und das Spektrum uber einen weiten Wellenlangenbereich auf numerischem Wege mittels diskretisierender und optischer Methoden zu berechnen. Schwerpunkt bildet hierbei die systematische Untersuchung der Anwendbarkeit der Methode der finiten Integration (FIT) und der geometrischen Beugungstheorie (UTD), welche fur solche Probleme bisher noch nicht untersucht wurde. Damit ist es erstmals moglich, den Einfluss der seitlichen Kammerwande auf das Strahlungsspektrum zu untersuchen, was die Hauptmotivation fur die Arbeit darstellte. Generelle Herausforderungen bei der Simulation sind der sehr weite Wellenlangenbereich uber drei Dekaden, die im Vergleich zur Kammergrose kleinen Wellenlangen, die komplizierte Kammerstruktur und die sehr speziellen Eigenschaften von Synchrotronstrahlungsquellen. Zentrales Ergebnis der Arbeit ist, dass keine der vorgestellten Methoden fur sich in der Lage ist, das Spektrum uber den gesamten Wellenlangenbereich zu berechnen. Erst durch Kombination der verschiedenen Verfahren ergibt sich das gewunschte Ergebnis. Bestatigt werden die Simulationsergebnisse durch eine gute Ubereinstimmung mit bei DESY durchgefuhrten Messungen. Weiterhin wurden im Laufe der Arbeit Probleme bei den Messungen und ein unerwunscht starker Einfluss der transversalen Bunchverteilung auf das Strahlungsspektrum erkannt.
Relationship Between Periodontal Disease and Serum Factors in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis

Background: Chronic renal disease is a common condition with several recognized risk factors. Periodontal disease is a recently suggested risk factor for renal disease. We aimed to assess the relationship between periodontal disease and several serum factors in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 57 patients undergoing hemodialysis. Periodontal examination was done by measuring the mean Pocket Depth (PD), Silness-Löe Plaque Index (PI), Ainamo and Bay Bleeding On Probing (BOP), Löe and Silness Gingival Index (GI) and Clinical Attachment Loss (CAL). Serum levels of albumin, calcium, phosphorus, hemoglobin, ferritin and creatinine were measured via a routine blood test. Cystatin C was separately measured. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, chi square test and Mann Whitney test (alpha=0.05). Results: 37 men and 20 women were evaluated. Of these, 26.3% had periodontitis and 73.7% had gingivitis. Serum level of albumin (P=0.02) and ferritin (P=0.043) in patients with periodontitis was significantly higher than that in patients with gingivitis. The serum level of creatinine (P=0.02), cystatin C (P=0.013), calcium (P=0.046) and phosphorus (P=0.037) had a significant correlation with severity of periodontitis and increase in CAL. Conclusion: Increase in the serum levels of albumin and ferritin was related to the progression of gingivitis to periodontitis. Also, the serum levels of creatinine, cystatin C, calcium and phosphorus increased with an increase in CAL.
Relationships among activities of extracellular enzyme production and virulence against Helicoverpa armigera in Beauveria bassiana

Extracellular enzymes produced by Beauveria bassiana, are believed to play a key role in cuticle hydrolysis. Enzyme production and pathogenicity has been found to be positively correlated. Twenty‐eight isolates of B. bassiana, collected from different geographical regions and host ranges were characterized by in vitro extracellular enzyme production and SDS–PAGE techniques for discerning biochemical basis for virulence among the different isolates. In vitro analysis of extracellular enzymes like protease, amylase, caseinase, chitinase and lipase was undertaken in an attempt to understand their relevance to virulence of the isolates. The different isolates of B. bassiana were evaluated for virulence to the second instar larvae of Helicoverpa armigera in laboratory bioassays. SDS–PAGE of total intracellular soluble proteins was also studied in order to understand affinities among the different isolates of B. bassiana. The relationship between enzyme production and pathogenicity and vice versa was nearly 50%. There was a 50% relationship associated with original insect host, pathogenicity and enzyme production. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)