Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health literacy and nursing.

Nurses spend more time than any other health professional with patients. They are responsible for the delivery of a variety of patient care activities including the provision of health information. Health education is important for those we care for, however health literacy is a more comprehensive concept that considers the health knowledge and skills required for our patients to engage with our health care system and participate actively in their own health care.
Carbon budgets and energy transition pathways

Scenarios from integrated assessment models can provide insights into how carbon budgets relate to other policy-relevant indicators by including information on how fast and by how much emissions can be reduced. Such indicators include the peak year of global emissions, the decarbonisation rate and the deployment of low-carbon technology. Here, we show typical values for these indicators for different carbon budgets, using the recently compiled IPCC scenario database, and discuss how these vary as a function of non-CO2 forcing, energy use and policy delay. For carbon budgets of 2000 GtCO2 and less over the 2010–2100 period, supply of low carbon technologies needs to be scaled up massively from today’s levels, unless energy use is relatively low. For the subgroup of scenarios with a budget below 1000 GtCO2 (consistent with >66% chance of limiting global warming to below 2 °C relative to preindustrial levels), the 2050 contribution of low-carbon technologies is generally around 50%–75%, compared to less than 20% today (range refers to the 10–90th interval of available data).
An Extended Kalman Filtering Approach to Nonlinear Time-Delay Systems: Application to Chaotic Secure Communications

An observer design problem for a class of nonlinear time-delay systems subject to white Gaussian noise is studied. The problem addressed is the design of a full-state observer based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF), in which two terms are added to the Riccati differential equation. One of those makes the system robust to noise influences, and the other one is utilized for dealing with the delayed state. A Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional is used for giving sufficient conditions for local stability of the reconstruction error dynamics. A hybrid chaotic cryptosystem procedure based on the n-shift cipher is combined with synchronization based on the EKF for developing a secure communication system. A semiconductor laser with optical feedback is employed as a chaotic signal generator in which a full-state estimation via the EKF is achieved.
Problems with Methods used to Screen Estrogenic Chemicals by Yeast Two-Hybrid Assays

We developed a yeast two-hybrid assay using a human-type estrogen receptor (hERα) to screen test chemicals reporting weak estrogenic activity at high concentrations. As a result of exposure to several test chemicals, viable yeast cells showed a decrease in number compared with a control. It was shown that this phenomenon was due to fungicidal effects of the test chemicals within the yeast cell or to inhibition of yeast cell proliferation. Therefore, in performing a yeast two-hybrid assay, it is necessary to monitor yeast cell proliferation by methods such as the measurement of the number of viable cells, and it is necessary to screen test chemicals within a concentration range where these chemicals show neither fungicidal effects towards the yeast cell nor inhibition of yeast cell proliferation.
Dose‐dependent induction of apoptosis in human tumour cell lines by widely diverging stimuli

Abstract. Cell death may occur by either of two mechanisms: apoptosis or necrosis. Necrosis, the first type of cell death to be recognized, is an uncontrolled degenerative phenomenon invariably caused by noxious stimuli and is the result of irreversible failure of membrane function. Apoptosis, on the other hand, is a death process which involves a series of well‐organized events which require active cell participation, and is primarily caused by physiological stimuli. In the present study we show that cell death induced by a range of varied agents may take the form of either apoptosis or necrosis. Apoptotic cell death was found to occur at low levels of these agents, while at higher levels necrosis occurred. Hence, cells which are not killed directly, but merely injured by these agents, have the capacity to activate an internally programmed suicide death mechanism, whereas cells receiving greater injuries apparently do not. In addition, the presence of extracellular calcium was found to be necessary for the induction of apoptosis with all agents tested.
Identification of a serum-detectable metabolomic fingerprint potentially correlated with the presence of micrometastatic disease in early breast cancer patients at varying risks of disease relapse by traditional prognostic methods.

BACKGROUND Prognostic tools in early breast cancer are inadequate. The evolving field of metabolomics may allow more accurate identification of patients with residual micrometastases. PATIENTS AND METHODS Forty-four early breast cancer patients with pre- and postoperative serum samples had metabolomic assessment by nuclear magnetic resonance. Fifty-one metastatic patients served as control. Differential clustering was identified and used to calculate individual early patient 'metabolomic risk', calculated as inverse distance of each early patient from the metastatic cluster barycenter. Metabolomic risk was compared with Adjuvantionline 10-year mortality assessment. RESULTS Innate serum metabolomic differences exist between early and metastatic patients. Preoperative patients were identified with 75% sensitivity, 69% specificity and 72% predictive accuracy. Comparison with Adjuvantionline revealed discordance. Of 21 patients assessed as high risk by Adjuvantionline, 10 (48%) and 6 (29%) were at high risk by metabolomics in pre- and postoperative settings, respectively. Of 23 low-risk patients by Adjuvantionline, 11 (48%) preoperative and 20 (87%) postoperative patients were at low risk by metabolomics. CONCLUSIONS This study identifies metabolomic discrimination between early and metastatic breast cancer. Micrometastatic disease may account for metabolomic misclassification of some early patients as metastatic. Metabolomics identifies more patients as low relapse risk compared with Adjuvantionline. Further exploration of this metabolomic fingerprint is warranted.
Adaptive spectrum access strategies in the context of spectrum fragmentation in cognitive radio networks

Because of the presence of incumbents in cognitive radio networks, the unused spectrum in the TV bands, popularly referred to as ‘white spaces’, are fragmented with the size of each fragment varying from one TV channel to several TV channels. What is more, because the secondary transmissions adjust their spectrum usage over time, white spaces become increasingly partitioned into a collection of discrete fragments, which decreases the spectral utilization. To improve throughputs, most of the prior researches focused on selecting the best transmission channel in the context of spectrum fragmentation but have rarely involved aggregating the fragmentation to a contiguous channel. In this paper, we present two adaptive spectrum access strategies, both of which not only select the best transmission channel but also efficiently solve the fragmentation problem. The first strategy involves one‐agile radios that build a transmission using single fragment of frequency, which partially remedy the fragmentation problem using higher‐layer solutions. The second strategy suppresses the impact of spectrum fragmentation successfully at the physical layer by combining k spectrum fragments to form a single transmission. The simulation results show that both of the strategies bring larger throughputs compared with the prior solutions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Nonlinear consensus via continuous, sampled, and aperiodic updates

We consider a first-order multi-agent system with nonlinear control protocols performing consensus. We first address the convergence properties of the continuous system. Then periodically sampled control inputs are treated, where we derive explicit upper bounds on the sampling interval to preserve global stability. Moreover, we design an aperiodic and event-triggered updating law to reduce the control efforts even further while ensuring the closed-loop stability and providing a strictly positive lower bound on the inter-execution time. Finally, the robustness of this approach with respect to additive disturbances is examined by applying ℒ2 gain analysis.
Control of nitrogenase synthesis in Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Summary: Sulphate-limited continuous cultures of Klebsiella pneumoniae showed a proportional repression of nitrogenase activity with increasing concentrations of ammonium ion in the influent medium. A fully repressed population had a 50 % greater bacterial density than a fully derepressed one. On derepression, synthesis of nitrogenase lagged for 90 min after exhaustion of NH4+ from the medium but was complete within one doubling time. Casamino acids did not decrease the pre-fixation lag obtained under sulphate-limited conditions in the chemostat. Longer lags were obtained when NH4+ was exhausted under N-limited conditions. Such lags were decreased by Casamino acids, yeast extract, or L-aspartate. Aspartate-N completely repressed nitrogenase under sulphate- or carbon-limited conditions but not under nitrogen limitation. In the initial stages of repression of nitrogenase synthesis by NH4+, apparent production of active enzyme continued for a short time in the absence of protein synthesis de novo; nitrogenase was then diluted out as the organisms multiplied. Repression by NH4+ was at the level of mRNA transcription according to studies with rifampicin and chloramphenicol. ‘Coding capacity’ for nitrogenase synthesis declined with a half-life of about 4.5 min following inhibition of RNA synthesis with rifampicin. NH4+ did not influence the decay rate but stimulated translation of such nitrogenase-specifying mRNA as had been initiated.
Conformation of the Dileucine‐Based Sorting Motif in HIV‐1 Nef Revealed by Intermolecular Domain Assembly

The human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV‐1) Nef protein is a pathogenicity factor required for effective progression to AIDS, which modulates host cell signaling pathways and T‐cell receptor internalization. We have determined the crystal structure of Nef, allele SF2, in complex with an engineered SH3 domain of human Hck showing unnaturally tight binding and inhibitory potential toward Nef. This complex provides the most complete Nef structure described today, and explains the structural basis of the high affinity of this interaction. Intriguingly, the 33‐residue C‐terminal flexible loop is resolved in the structure by its interactions with a highly conserved hydrophobic groove on the core domain of an adjacent Nef molecule. The loop mediates the interaction of Nef with the cellular adaptor protein machinery for the stimulated internalization of surface receptors. The endocytic dileucine‐based sorting motif is exposed at the tip of the acidic loop, giving the myristoylated Nef protein a distinctly dipolar character. The intermolecular domain assembly of Nef provides insights into a possible regulation mechanism for cargo trafficking.
PERKAM: Personalized Knowledge Awareness Map for Computer Supported Ubiquitous Learning

This paper introduces a ubiquitous computing environment in order to support the learners while doing tasks; this environment is called PERKAM (PERsonalized Knowledge Awareness Map). PERKAM allows the learners to share knowledge, interact, collaborate, and exchange individual experiences. It utilizes the RFID ubiquities technology to detect the learner’s environmental objects and location, then recommends the best matched educational materials and peer helpers in accordance with the detected objects and the current location. This environment provides the learner with Knowledge Awareness Map, which visualizes the space of the environmental objects that surround the learner, the educational materials space, and the peer helpers’ space. PERKAM system was implemented and an experiment was done in order to evaluate the system performance and the learner’s satisfaction. This paper illustrates the design, the implementation and the evaluation of this environment, and it focuses on Knowledge Awareness Map, which is personalized according to the learner’s current need and location.
A Hybrid Heuristic and Evolutionary Algorithm for Distribution Substation Planning

This paper presents an enhanced evolutionary algorithm to solve the static distribution substation planning problem within large distribution networks. It is based on a deterministic heuristic algorithm to find the approximate substation service areas for each substation and an expert selection strategy that increases the convergence chance to a global optimal solution. The introduced algorithm takes different electrical constraints such as voltage drops, power flow, radial flow constraints, and all prevalent cost indices into consideration. In addition, effects of unreliability within network feeders and substations are investigated on the obtained layouts. The developed method is applied to four benchmark test systems and an actual large-scale distribution system with about 140 000 customers, followed by a discussion on results.
Optimal scan for time-varying tomography. II. Efficient design and experimental validation

For pt.I see ibid., vol.4, no.5, p.642-53 (1995). In pt.I the authors presented a theoretical analysis of tomographic reconstruction of objects with spatially localized temporal variation, such as a thorax cross section with a beating heart. That analysis showed that by using an optimally scrambled angular sampling order, the scan rate required to avoid motion artifacts in the reconstructed images can be lowered as much as four times while preserving image quality. Here, the authors present a simple design procedure for the optimum choice of angular sampling pattern, which depends only on pre-specified geometric and spectral parameters and the desired spatial resolution. The resulting patterns have a simple congruential structure. Reconstruction is accomplished by interpolation to standard time-invariant scan format, followed by conventional reconstruction. The interpolation only requires linear shift-invariant separable filtering, at a negligible computational cost. Simulation results demonstrate the technique and validate the analysis for both bandlimited and approximately bandlimited objects.
Hitchhiking mapping: A population-based fine-mapping strategy for adaptive mutations in Drosophila melanogaster

The identification of genes contributing to the adaptation of local populations is of great biological interest. In an attempt to characterize functionally important differences among African and non-African Drosophila melanogaster populations, we surveyed neutral microsatellite variation in an 850-kb genomic sequence. Three genomic regions were identified that putatively bear an adaptive mutation associated with the habitat expansion of D. melanogaster. A further inspection of two regions by sequence analysis of multiple fragments confirmed the presence of a recent beneficial mutation in the non-African populations. Our study suggests that hitchhiking mapping is a universal approach for the identification of ecologically important mutations.
The structure and mechanical properties of collecting lymphatic vessels: an investigation using multimodal nonlinear microscopy

This study employed nonlinear microscopy on fresh, unstained and unfixed collecting lymphatic vessels to determine the wall structure and its relationships to the mechanical properties of the tissue. Fresh bovine mesenteric collecting lymphatic vessels were mounted in a vessel bath and imaged under different luminal pressures (0–30 cmH2O pressure head), and longitudinal tensions. The entire wall thickness was imaged, using two‐photon fluorescence to visualize elastin, second harmonic generation to image the collagen, and coherent anti‐Stokes Raman scattering to image the cell membrane. The adventitial fat cells were coupled to the wall within the elastin‐rich network of fibres. The medial smooth muscle cells were too densely packed to resolve the boundaries of individual cells in en face images, but in tissue sections their appearance was consistent with electron microscopic data. Two distinct populations of collagen fibre were revealed. Large fibre (15–25 μm diameter) bundles were present in the inner media and small fibres (2–5 μm diameter) were distributed throughout the wall. The responses to longitudinal tension and luminal pressure indicated that the larger fibres resist the longitudinal strain and the smaller oppose pressure forces. Individual elastin fibres were of uniform thickness (1–3 μm) and interwove amongst themselves and between the collagen fibres. The network was probably too sparse directly to support mechanical loads and we speculate that its main function is to maintain the organization of collagen bundles during recovery from contraction.
Picomolar affinity of 125I-SCH 23982 for D1 receptors in brain demonstrated with digital subtraction autoradiography

Iodinated SCH 23390, 125I-SCH 23982 (DuPont-NEN), was examined using quantitative autoradiography for its potency, selectivity, and anatomical and neuronal localization of binding to the dopamine D1 receptor in rat brain sections. 125I-SCH 23982 bound to D1 sites in the basal ganglia with very high affinity (Kd values of 55–125 pM), specificity (70–85% of binding was displaced by 5 microM cis- flupenthixol), and in a saturable manner (Bmax values of 65–176 fmol/mg protein). Specific 125I-SCH 23982 binding was displaced by the selective D1 antagonists SCH 23390 (IC50 = 90 pM) and cis-flupenthixol (IC50 = 200 pM) and the D1 agonist SKF 38393 (IC50 = 110 nM) but not by D2-selective ligands (I-sulpiride, LY 171555) or the S2 antagonist cinanserin. Compared with 3H-SCH 23390, the 5- to 10-fold greater affinity for the D1 site and 50-fold greater specific radioactivity of 125I-SCH 23982 makes it an excellent radioligand for labeling the D1 receptor. The concentrations of D1 sites were greatest in the medial substantia nigra and exceeded by over 50% the concentration of D1 sites in the lateral substantia nigra, caudoputamen, nucleus accumbens, olfactory tubercle, and entopeduncular nucleus. Lower concentrations of D1 sites were present in the internal capsule, dorsomedial frontal cortex, claustrum, and layer 6 of the neocortex. D1 sites were absent in the ventral tegmental area. Intrastriatal injections of the axon- sparing neurotoxin, quinolinic acid, depleted by 87% and by 46–58% the concentrations of displaceable D1 sites in the ipsilateral caudoputamen and medial and central pars reticulata of the substantia nigra, respectively. No D1 sites were lost in the lateral substantia nigra. Destruction of up to 94% of the mesostriatal dopaminergic projection with 6-hydroxydopamine did not reduce D1 binding nor, with one exception, increase striatal or nigral D1 receptor concentrations. 125I- SCH 23982 selectively labels D1 binding sites on striatonigral neurons with picomolar affinity, and these neurons contain the majority of D1 sites in rat brain.
Adolescent binge alcohol exposure alters hippocampal progenitor cell proliferation in rats: Effects on cell cycle kinetics

Binge alcohol exposure in adolescent rats potently inhibits adult hippocampal neurogenesis by altering neural progenitor cell (NPC) proliferation and survival; however, it is not clear whether alcohol results in an increase or decrease in net proliferation. Thus, the effects of alcohol on hippocampal NPC cell cycle phase distribution and kinetics were assessed in an adolescent rat model of an alcohol use disorder. Cell cycle distribution was measured using a combination of markers (Ki‐67, bromodeoxyuridine incorporation, and phosphohistone H3) to determine the proportion of NPCs within G1, S, and G2/M phases of the cell cycle. Cell cycle kinetics were calculated using a cumulative bromodeoxyuridine injection protocol to determine the effect of alcohol on cell cycle length and S‐phase duration. Binge alcohol exposure reduced the proportion of NPCs in S‐phase, but had no effect on G1 or G2/M phases, indicating that alcohol specifically targets S‐phase of the cell cycle. Cell cycle kinetics studies revealed that alcohol reduced NPC cell cycle duration by 36% and shortened S‐phase by 62%, suggesting that binge alcohol exposure accelerates progression through the cell cycle. This effect would be expected to increase NPC proliferation, which was supported by a slight, but significant increase in the number of Sox‐2+ NPCs residing in the hippocampal subgranular zone following binge alcohol exposure. These studies suggest the mechanism of alcohol inhibition of neurogenesis and also reveal the earliest evidence of the compensatory neurogenesis reaction that has been observed a week after binge alcohol exposure. J. Comp. Neurol. 519:2697–2710, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Randomized Trial of Ultrasound Image–based Skin Surface Marking versus Real-time Ultrasound-guided Internal Jugular Vein Catheterization in Infants

Background:Ultrasound-guided central venous catheterization has been recommended to increase the procedural success rate and enhance patient safety. However, few studies have examined the potential advantages of one ultrasound technique with another, specifically in small infants. Methods:The authors randomly assigned 60 neonates and infants weighing less than 7.5 kg to an ultrasound-guided skin-marking method (n = 27) versus real-time ultrasound-assisted internal jugular venous catheterization (n = 33). The times to successful puncture of the internal jugular vein and to catheterization were measured. Attempts at needle punctures for successful catheterization were counted. Procedural complications were recorded. Results:In the real-time group, compared with the skin- marking group, venous puncture was completed faster (P = 0.03), the time required to catheterize was shorter (P < 0.01), and fewer needle passes were needed. Specifically, fewer than three attempts at puncture were made in 100% of patients in the real-time group, versus 74% of patients in the skin-marking group (P < 0.01). A hematoma and an arterial puncture occurred in one patient each in the skin-marking group. Conclusions:The real-time ultrasound guidance method could enhance procedural efficacy and safety of internal jugular catheterization in neonates and infants.
Minimum cross-entropy estimation with inaccurate side information

Given a prior estimate of a probability, q, and a constraint /spl Sigma/p/sub i/x/sub i/=a, one well-known way of estimating p is to minimize the cross-entropy I(p; q) subject to the constraint. A modification to this method is proposed for use when the value a is only approximately known. The modification is based on the penalty function method in constrained optimization. It has an interpretation in differential geometry methods in statistics and it sometimes gives a maximum-likelihood estimate.
Heterogeneous Information Exchange and Organizational Hubs

This chapter addresses the topic of knowledge discovery in heterogeneous environments. It begins with an overview of the knowledge-discovery process. Because of the importance of using clean, consistent data in the knowledgediscovery process, the chapter focuses on the problems of data integration and cleansing by presenting a framework of semantic conflicts identification and an algorithm for their resolution. The chapter then describes the various datamining tasks that can be performed on the cleansed data, such as association rules, sequential patterns, classification and clustering. It also discusses datamining models and algorithms, such as those related to neural networks, rule induction, decision trees, K-nearest neighbors, and genetic algorithms. The chapter concludes with a summary.