Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Level and determinants of patient satisfaction with psychiatric out-patient services, Muscat, Oman

Abstract Recent advancements in biomedical care in Oman, a society in transition, has implied a move away from traditional methods of healing. Psychiatric services have now made their way into mainstream healthcare. However, along with the issue of social stigma, little information exists regarding satisfaction with psychiatric services in such under-researched populations. In order to lay the groundwork for an empirical approach to dispensing psychiatric services, this study aimed at measuring the level of service-related satisfaction and level of functioning among a systemic random sample of psychiatric outpatients. The second aim was to investigate the sociodemographic and clinical determinants of satisfaction across its various indices. This was a cross-sectional correlative study conducted over a 3-month period on 128 patients (18–60 years old) receiving treatment for at least six months from the psychiatric outpatient department at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital. Satisfaction was assessed by the previously well-validated Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire-18 (PSQ-18)---a self-reported measure covering domains of “general satisfaction,” “technical quality,” “interpersonal aspect,” “communication,” “financial aspect,” “time spent with the doctor,” and “accessibility and convenience. ” Participants ranked “financial aspect” as providing the highest level of satisfaction, followed by “interpersonal aspect,” while “technical quality” and “accessibility and convenience” were endorsed the least. Using linear regression analysis we found that diagnosis (schizophrenia), education, and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) were the main predictors of the various satisfaction/dissatisfaction domains. This was the first ever study to examine the level and determinants of satisfaction among attendees at a psychiatric outpatient unit within the Arabian Peninsula. The present study could lay solid groundwork for benchmarking and quality assurance in the future.
Identification of circular RNAs in porcine sperm and their relation to sperm motility

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are emerging as a novel class of noncoding RNAs which potential role as gene regulators is quickly gaining interest. Although circRNAs have been studied in several tissues and cell types across several animal species, the characterization of the circRNAome in ejaculated sperm remains unexplored. In this study, we profiled the sperm circRNA catalogue in 40 boar samples. A complex population of 1,598 circRNAs was shared in at least 30 samples. The predicted circRNAs presented in general low abundances and were highly tissue-specific. Circa 80% of the circRNAs identified in the boar sperm were reported as novel. We also constructed a circRNA-miRNA interaction network based on experimental and predictive microRNA (miRNA) binding sites. Moreover, we found significant correlation between the abundance of some circRNAs and sperm motility parameters and confirmed two of these correlations by RT-qPCR in 36 samples with extreme sperm quality. Our study provides a thorough characterization of a novel cell type for the circRNA encyclopedia collection and suggests that circRNAs are potential noninvasive biomarkers for male sperm quality and thus, might also hold potential to predict male fertility.
Mind Your Manners: Quality of Manner of Death Certification Among Medical Examiners and Coroners in Taiwan

To assess the quality of manner of death (MOD) certification among medical examiners/coroners (ME/Cs) in Taiwan, death certificates issued in 2002 for which the final MOD was suicide or undetermined were extracted for analysis. Indicators of the quality of MOD certification included (1) MOD not given by the ME/Cs; (2) MOD assigned by the ME/Cs was changed by the coder; (3) ratio between undetermined and suicide deaths (U/S ratio). There were 450 death certificates for which the ME/Cs did not assign the MOD in the original certificate. Three fifths (285/450) of them were issued by 4 ME/Cs. The same 4 ME/Cs also had extremely high U/S ratios (1.25–1.84) compared with the average (0.31). The overall quality of MOD certification among ME/Cs in Taiwan was fair; only a small number of ME/Cs had poor quality in MOD certification. The high U/S ratio among the 4 ME/Cs would certainly affect the suicide mortality rates of the counties the 4 ME/Cs were in charge of. Actions should be taken to improve the certification quality of these 4 ME/Cs.
Eurographics Symposium on Point-based Graphics (2006) Instant Points: Fast Rendering of Unprocessed Point Clouds

We present an algorithm to display enormous unprocessed point clouds at interactive rates without requiring long postprocessing. The novelty here is that we do not make any assumptions about sampling density or availability of normal vectors for the points. This is very important because such information is available only after lengthy postprocessing of scanned datasets, whereas users want to interact with the dataset immediately. Instant Points is an out-of-core algorithm that makes use of nested octrees and an enhanced version of sequential point trees.
Investigation of the in-vitro loading on an artificial spinal disk prosthesis

Spinal diseases imposes considerable burden to both patients and society. In recent years, much surgical efforts have been made in advancing the treatment of neck and back pain. Of particular prominence is the increasing clinical acceptance and use of intervertebral artificial disk prosthesis for the treatment of discogenic back pain. Despite this increased use of such disks, their in-vivo monitoring remains rudimentary. In an effort to develop an intelligent artificial spinal disk where the in-vivo loading of the spine can by studied for the first time an experimental set up has been created in order to initially study the in-vitro loading on an artificial disc prosthesis. Eight strain gauges and two piezoresistive sensors were used and placed suitably in the artificial disk prosthesis. The results from the in-vitro loading showed linear relationship between loading and the outputs from the sensors with good repeatability and less hysteresis.
Implicit learning and exploitation of regularities involve hippocampal and prefrontal theta activity

Observers rapidly and seemingly automatically learn to predict where to expect relevant items when those items are repeatedly presented in the same spatial context. This form of statistical learning in visual search has been studied extensively using a paradigm known as contextual cueing. The neural mechanisms underlying the learning and exploiting of such regularities remain unclear. We sought to elucidate these by examining behaviour and recording neural activity using magneto-encephalography (MEG) while observers were implicitly acquiring and exploiting statistical regularities. Computational modelling of behavioural data suggested that after repeated exposures to a spatial context, participants’ behaviour was marked by an abrupt switch to an exploitation strategy of the learnt regularities. MEG recordings showed that the initial learning phase was associated with larger hippocampal theta band activity for repeated scenes, while the subsequent exploitation phase showed larger prefrontal theta band activity for these repeated scenes. Strikingly, the behavioural benefit of repeated exposures to certain scenes was inversely related to explicit awareness of such repeats, demonstrating the implicit nature of the expectations acquired. This elucidates how theta activity in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex underpins the implicit learning and exploitation of spatial statistical regularities to optimize visual search behaviour.
An audio-visual speech database and automatic measurements of visual speech

A database of video sequences of a male speaker uttering 269 Swedish sentences and 153 VCV-words has been recorded. Parts of the speaker’s face were marked to facilitate optical measurements. Algorithms to automatically determine the shape of the lips as well as areas and other visual features of the speaker’s face have been developed. The audio signal has been phonetically segmented and labelled. This material differs from most other audio-visual databases mainly in two aspects: firstly the recorded material contains naturally reduced and coarticulated continuously spoken sentences, and secondly, a specially constructed device provides the possibility to easily trace jaw movements.
I. Film: Using Electrospinning to Create Bioactive Films

With increasing competition between companies, they are increasingly striving to produce higher quality products and to improve their production processes, and the food industry is no different. In order to preserve food for longer, this type of company has dedicated its attention to intelligent packaging, capable of preserving food for longer and of acting as a sensor of the state of food. To develop a film capable of fulfilling the new ambitions of the companies various manufacturing processes have been studied. This document gives an overview of the electrospinning process, capable of producing nanofibres of biological materials. This document aims to serve as a study base for the I.film project through the study of the process that will provide the polymer film with the necessary biological characteristics.
Self-policing mobile ad hoc networks by reputation systems

Node misbehavior due to selfish or malicious reasons or faulty nodes can significantly degrade the performance of mobile ad hoc networks. To cope with misbehavior in such self-organized networks, nodes need to be able to automatically adapt their strategy to changing levels of cooperation. Existing approaches such as economic incentives or secure routing by cryptography alleviate some of the problems, but not all. We describe the use of a self-policing mechanism based on reputation to enable mobile ad hoc networks to keep functioning despite the presence of misbehaving nodes. The reputation system in all nodes makes them detect misbehavior locally by observation and use of second-hand information. Once a misbehaving node is detected it is automatically isolated from the network. We classify the features of such reputation systems and describe possible implementations of each of them. We explain in particular how it is possible to use second-hand information while mitigating contamination by spurious ratings.
WFST-Based Grapheme-to-Phoneme Conversion: Open Source tools for Alignment, Model-Building and Decoding

This paper introduces a new open source, WFST-based toolkit for Grapheme-toPhoneme conversion. The toolkit is efficient, accurate and currently supports a range of features including EM sequence alignment and several decoding techniques novel in the context of G2P. Experimental results show that a combination RNNLM system outperforms all previous reported results on several standard G2P test sets. Preliminary experiments applying Lattice Minimum Bayes-Risk decoding to G2P conversion are also provided. The toolkit is implemented using OpenFst.
Mycophenolic Acid‐Mediated Suppression of Human CD4+ T Cells: More Than Mere Guanine Nucleotide Deprivation

Mycophenolic acid is the active ingredient of the immunosuppressant mycophenolate mofetil that is widely used in transplantation medicine and autoimmunity. Mycophenolic acid inhibits inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase, an enzyme involved in biosynthesis of guanine nucleotides required for lymphocyte clonal expansion. Here, we present novel insights into the mechanisms underlying mycophenolic acid‐mediated suppression of human CD4+ T cells. Upon CD3/CD28 stimulation, mycophenolic acid inhibited T cell IL‐17, IFN‐γ and TNF‐α production but not IL‐2 production. Phenotypic analysis showed that drug treatment enhanced the expression of negative co‐stimulators PD‐1, CTLA‐4 and the transcription factor FoxP3 and decreased the expression of positive co‐stimulators CD27 and CD28, whereas CD25 was unaffected. Mycophenolic acid‐treated cells were anergic, but not suppressive, and at the same time proved hyperblastoid with high metabolic activity. Moreover, a reduced Akt/mTOR and STAT5 signaling was observed. Interestingly, the co‐stimulatory molecule CD70 was uniquely and dose‐dependently upregulated on mycophenolic acid‐treated T cells and found to be directly linked to target enzyme inhibition. CD70 on mycophenolic acid‐treated cells proved functional: an anti‐CD70 agonist was found to restore both STAT5 and Akt/mTOR signaling and may thereby prevent apoptosis and promote survival. These novel insights may contribute to optimization of protocols for MPA‐based immunosuppressive regimens.
Can Deep Reinforcement Learning Improve Inventory Management? Performance on Dual Sourcing, Lost Sales and Multi-Echelon Problems

Problem definition: Is deep reinforcement learning (DRL) effective at solving inventory problems? Academic/practical relevance: Given that DRL has successfully been applied in computer games and robotics, supply chain researchers and companies are interested in its potential in inventory management. We provide a rigorous performance evaluation of DRL in three classic and intractable inventory problems: lost sales, dual sourcing, and multi-echelon inventory management. Methodology: We model each inventory problem as a Markov decision process and apply and tune the Asynchronous Advantage Actor-Critic (A3C) DRL algorithm for a variety of parameter settings. Results: We demonstrate that the A3C algorithm can match the performance of the state-of-the-art heuristics and other approximate dynamic programming methods. Although the initial tuning was computationally demanding and time demanding, only small changes to the tuning parameters were needed for the other studied problems. Managerial implications: Our study provides evidence that DRL can effectively solve stationary inventory problems. This is especially promising when problem-dependent heuristics are lacking. Yet, generating structural policy insight or designing specialized policies that are (ideally provably) near optimal remains desirable.
IL-10 gene promoter polymorphisms and leprosy in a Colombian population sample.

INTRODUCTION Polymorphisms in promoters of genes code for cytokines that affect transcription levels. Several have been associated with leprosy patients that have functional and clinical implications. OBJECTIVE Polymorphisms in the promoter of the IL10 gene of leprosy patients will be compared frequencies in normal population. MATERIALS AND METHODS SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphism) -1082 A/G (rs1800896), -819C/T (rs1800871), and -592A/C (rs1800872) were identified in 100 leprosy patients and in a control group of 100 volunteers from a leprosy endemic region of Colombia. RESULTS The genotypes C/C and C/T in the SNP -819 were associated together with leprosy (OR=4.34, p<0.001). Similarly, the genotypes C/C and C/A in the -592 SNP showed an association (OR=4.3, p<0.001). The haplotypes -819C-519C and -1082A-819C-592C showed significant association (OR=4.34, p<0.001 and OR=6.25, p<0.001) respectively. These haplotypes in homozygosis conditions were also associated with leprosy: -819C-519C/-819C-519C (OR=4.34, p<0.001), -1082A -819C-592C/-1082A -819C-592C (OR=1.90, p=0.04). The SNP -1082 was not associated with leprosy in this population. CONCLUSIONS The haplotypes associated with leprosy, -1082A-819C-592C/-1082A-819C-592C, have been reported as low producers of IL-10. Functionally, the low production of IL-10 may have immune response consequences and clinical implications. Additional haplotypes of IL-10 have been reported as markers for leprosy susceptibility or resistance in other ethnic populations. This suggests that differences in distribution of diverse IL-10 gene polymorphisms among ethnic groups may indicate important gene-disease associations.
Object-oriented land use cover classification of Landsat 8 OLI images in Sumatra

An object oriented approach was developed to derive land use/land cover classification maps over the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. The approach was developed to be used for Landsat 8 data over Sumatra. The accuracy assessment of the classified image used for development is about 90% while the test data yielded 80 %. The method will be applied to the data from Landsat 8 over the Sumatra to generate a 30 m resolution land cover classification map.
Score-consistent algebraic optimization of full-text search queries with GRAFT

We address two open problems involving algebraic execution of full-text search queries. First, we show how to correctly apply traditional database rewrite optimizations to full-text algebra plans with integrated scoring, and explain why existing techniques fail. Second, we show how our techniques are applied in a generic scoring framework that supports a wide class of scoring algorithms, including algorithms seen in the literature and user-defined scoring.
A High Gain Low Noise Figure Double Balanced Down Conversion Mixer for Band 1 of WiMedia System

Objective: To propose an improved double balanced down conversion mixer for band 1 of WiMedia system at RF frequency of 3.432 GHz and IF frequency of 264 MHz. Method/Analysis: The proposed mixer is based on the Gilbert cell architecture. It uses switch bias technique to improve the noise figure and resistive current injection technique to improve the conversion gain and linearity. A resonating inductor is used to cancel out the effects of parasitic capacitances. Moreover, T type impedance matching, LC impedance matching and output buffer are used at RF trans conductance stage, LO switching stage and load stage respectively for matching purpose. Mixer is simulated in 0.18 μm CMOS technology using keysight Advanced Design System (ADS) software. Findings: Simulation results show that mixer achieves maximum conversion gain of 8.057 dB, third order Input Intercept Point (IIP3) of -10.88 dBm, Double Sideband (DSB) noise figure of 3.515 dB and S11 of -22.926 dB at 1.8 V dc supply voltage. Novelty/Improvement: A high gain, low noise figure double balanced down conversion mixer with low value of input reflection coefficient and suitable linearity is proposed for band 1 of Wimedia system. *Author for correspondence
Increased amygdala activation to angry and contemptuous faces in generalized social phobia.

BACKGROUND Generalized social phobia (GSP) is characterized by fear of social interactions and sensitivity to disapproval by others. Given the established role of the amygdala as part of a distributed neural system for the processing of emotional cues, we hypothesized that subjects with GSP would exhibit greater amygdala activation in response to harsh (angry, fearful, and contemptous) vs accepting (happy) facial emotional expressions compared with healthy control subjects (HCs). METHODS Fifteen subjects with DSM-IV GSP and 15 age-, sex-, handedness-, and education-matched HCs, free of psychotropic medication for at least 12 weeks, viewed 60 color photographs from a standardized set of human facial stimuli, during which the task was to identify the sex of the person in the photograph. Data were collected across 3 functional (echo-planar) runs using a Siemens 1.5-T magnet, and analyzed using Analysis of Functional Neuroimaging software (Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee). RESULTS In the left allocortex (including the amygdala, uncus, and parahippocampal gyrus), subjects with GSP produced a significantly greater percent blood oxygen level-dependent signal change than did HCs for contemptous compared with happy faces (GSP: 0.72% vs HC: -0.01%; F(1,29) = 9.56, P =. 004, Cohen d = 1.15) and for angry compared with happy faces (GSP: 0.45% vs HC: -0.09%; F(1,29) = 6.78, P =. 02, Cohen d = 1.00). Subjects with GSP and HCs did not produce a statistically different percent signal change for fearful or nonexpressive faces compared with the happy faces in this region. CONCLUSIONS These findings are consistent with a role for differential amygdala (and associated limbic) functioning in GSP. The pronounced response to contemptuous and angry facial expressions suggests that the amygdala in GSP may be particularly active in the processing of disorder-salient stimuli.
Nasal peak inspiratory flow at altitude

The present study investigated whether there are changes in nasal peak inspiratory flow (NPIF) during hypobaric hypoxia under controlled environmental conditions. During operation Everest III (COMEX '97), eight subjects ascended to a simulated altitude of 8,848 m in a hypobaric chamber. NPIF was recorded at simulated altitudes of 0 m, 5,000 m and 8,000 m. Oral peak inspiratory and expiratory flow (OPIF, OPEF) were also measured. Ambient air temperature and humidity were controlled. NPIF increased by a mean±sd of 16±12% from sea level to 8,000 m, whereas OPIF increased by 47±14%. NPIF rose by 0.085±0.03 L·s−1 per kilometre of ascent (p<0.05), significantly less than the rise in OPIF and OPEF of 0.35±0.10 and 0.33±0.04 L·s−1 per kilometre (p<0.0005). Nasal peak inspiratory flow rises with ascent to altitude. The rise in nasal peak inspiratory flow with altitude was far less than oral peak inspiratory flow and less than the predicted rise according to changes in air density. This suggests flow limitation at the nose, and occurs under controlled environmental conditions, refuting the hypothesis that nasal blockage at altitude is due to the inhalation of cold, dry air. Further work is needed to determine if nasal blockage limits activity at altitude.
Multiple antitumor effects of picropodophyllin in colon carcinoma cell lines: Clinical implications

Although colorectal cancer can be successfully treated by conventional strategies such as chemo/radiotherapy and surgery, a substantial number of cases, in particular those with liver metastases, remain incurable. Therefore, novel treatment approaches are warranted. The IGF-1R and its ligands, mainly IGF-1 and IGF-2, have been suggested to play pivotal roles in proliferation, survival and migration of adenocarcinoma cells of the colon/rectum. Therefore, interference with IGF-1R-mediated signaling may represent a therapeutic option for this malignancy. In this study, semi-quantitative RT-PCR analyses of 48 paired, colorectal cancer patient samples showed significant overexpression of tumor IGF-1R and IGF-2 mRNA. There was also an overexpression of MMP-7, which was significantly correlated with histopathological parameters. Based on these findings, the effect of the IGF-1R-inhibitory cyclolignan picropodophyllin (PPP) was assessed in the four colon carcinoma cell lines HT-29, HCT-116, DLD-1 and CaCO-2. PPP strongly and dose-dependently inhibited proliferation and migration in all cell lines. However, when exposed to 0.5 μM PPP, only HT-29 showed a net decrease of viable cells as compared with the cell number at the beginning of the experiment, a finding that coincided with decreased expression/phosphorylation of IGF-1R, AKT and ERK. This cell line also exhibited PPP-induced downregulation of MMP-7 and MMP-9. Similar to the DLD-1 and HCT-116 cell lines, HT-29 also showed substantial cell detachment in response to PPP. Although a net reduction of cells by PPP seems to require a synchronized downregulation of IGF-1R, AKT and ERK1/2, part of the antitumor effect may be explained by other, possibly IGF-1R-unrelated mechanism(s). Such a multitude of inhibitory effects of PPP in colon cancer cells together with its low toxicity in vivo makes it a promising drug candidate in the treatment of this disease.