Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Safety and acceptability of practice-nurse-managed care of depression in patients with diabetes or heart disease in the Australian TrueBlue study

Objectives To determine the safety and acceptability of the TrueBlue model of nurse-managed care in the primary healthcare setting. Design A mixed methods study involving clinical record audit, focus groups and nurse interviews as a companion study investigating the processes used in the TrueBlue randomised trial. Setting Australian general practices involved in the TrueBlue trial. Participants Five practice nurses and five general practitioners (GPs) who had experienced nurse-managed care planning following the TrueBlue model of collaborative care. Intervention The practice nurse acted as case manager, providing screening and protocol-management of depression and diabetes, coronary heart disease or both. Primary outcome measures Proportion of patients provided with stepped care when needed, identification and response to suicide risk and acceptability of the model to practice nurses and GPs. Results Almost half the patients received stepped care when indicated. All patients who indicated suicidal ideations were identified and action taken. Practice nurses and GPs acknowledged the advantages of the TrueBlue care-plan template and protocol-driven care, and the importance of peer support for the nurse in their enhanced role. Conclusions Practice nurses were able to identify, assess and manage mental-health risk in patients with diabetes or heart disease.
Chemotherapy and quality of life in NSCLC PS 2 patients

Introduction. Nearly 40% of patients with advanced NSCLC are in performance status (PS) 2. These patients have a shorter life expectancy than PS 0/1 patients and they are underrepresented in clinical trials. Data on how platinum-based combination chemotherapy affects Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) of patients with PS 2 are scarce and the treatment of this important group of patients is controversial. Methods. A national multicenter phase III study on platinum based chemotherapy to 432 advanced NSCLC patients included 123 patients with PS 2. To explore the treatment impact on HRQOL, the development of HRQOL during the first nine weeks were compared between PS 2 and PS 0/1 patients. We used the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-LC13 questionnaires. Standardized area under the curve for all HRQOL items, and HRQOL responses classified as better, stable or worse, were compared between the groups. Results. Whereas the demographic data at baseline were well balanced between the groups, the PS 2 patients had significantly worse function and more severe symptoms than the PS 0/1 patients. In response to combination chemotherapy, the PS 2 patients had a more profound improvement of global QOL, cognitive function, fatigue, dyspnea, sleeping problems and appetite loss in comparison to the PS 0/1 group. Conclusions. PS 2 NSCLC patients seem to achieve valuable HRQOL benefits from platinum-based combination therapy. Prospective clinical studies with predefined HRQOL outcomes in PS 2 patients are needed to confirm these findings.
Hierarchy in Pentose Sugar Metabolism in Clostridium acetobutylicum

ABSTRACT Bacterial metabolism of polysaccharides from plant detritus into acids and solvents is an essential component of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Understanding the underlying metabolic pathways can also contribute to improved production of biofuels. Using a metabolomics approach involving liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, we investigated the metabolism of mixtures of the cellulosic hexose sugar (glucose) and hemicellulosic pentose sugars (xylose and arabinose) in the anaerobic soil bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum. Simultaneous feeding of stable isotope-labeled glucose and unlabeled xylose or arabinose revealed that, as expected, glucose was preferentially used as the carbon source. Assimilated pentose sugars accumulated in pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) intermediates with minimal flux into glycolysis. Simultaneous feeding of xylose and arabinose revealed an unexpected hierarchy among the pentose sugars, with arabinose utilized preferentially over xylose. The phosphoketolase pathway (PKP) provides an alternative route of pentose catabolism in C. acetobutylicum that directly converts xylulose-5-phosphate into acetyl-phosphate and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, bypassing most of the PPP. When feeding the mixture of pentose sugars, the labeling patterns of lower glycolytic intermediates indicated more flux through the PKP than through the PPP and upper glycolysis, and this was confirmed by quantitative flux modeling. Consistent with direct acetyl-phosphate production from the PKP, growth on the pentose mixture resulted in enhanced acetate excretion. Taken collectively, these findings reveal two hierarchies in clostridial pentose metabolism: xylose is subordinate to arabinose, and the PPP is used less than the PKP.
Name independent routing for growth bounded networks

A weighted undirected network is Δ growth-bounded if the number of nodes at distance 2<i>r</i> around any given node is at most Δ times the number of nodes at distance <i>r</i> around the node. Given a weighted undirected network with arbitrary node names and ε > 0, we present a routing scheme that routes along paths of stretch 1+ε and uses with high probability only <i>O</i>(1/ε<sup>O (log Δ)</sup>log<sup>5</sup>n) bit routing tables per node.
Blind Source Separation of Convolutive Mixtures of Speech in Frequency Domain

SUMMARY This paper overviews a total solution for frequencydomain blind source separation (BSS) of convolutive mixtures of audio signals, especially speech. Frequency-domain BSS performs independent component analysis (ICA) in each frequency bin, and this is more efficient than time-domain BSS. We describe a sophisticated total solution for frequency-domain BSS, including permutation, scaling, circularity, and complex activation function solutions. Experimental results of 2 × 2, 3 × 3, 4 × 4, 6 × 8, and 2 × 2 (moving sources), (#sources × #microphones) in a room are promising.
Enhanced hardness and electrical properties of copper nanocomposites reinforced by functionalized MWCNTs

Functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)-reinforced copper (Cu) nanocomposites have been fabricated by the combination of ball milling and hot-press sintering methods. The functionalization was carried out in two levels under reflux condition. Characterization of the fabricated nanocomposites revealed that the functionalization plays an important role in enhancing the hardness and electrical properties of nanocomposites. Enhancements of up to ∼116% and ∼58% in microhardness compared to pure un-milled and milled Cu were observed by adding 1 wt. % functionalized MWCNTs. On the other hand, the electrical resistivity of nanocomposites increased by increasing MWCNT contents. It was found that improved control of the Cu and MWCNT interface also leads to enhance electrical properties. Based on the experiments, the results indicated that the amount of chemically bonded oxygen atoms affects the electrical resistivity of nanocomposites. Accordingly, the nanocomposite containing 1 wt. % MWCNTs with lower amount of functional groups has lower electrical resistivity.
Clopidogrel Improves Systemic Endothelial Nitric Oxide Bioavailability in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: Evidence for Antioxidant and Antiinflammatory Effects

Background—Platelet stimulation and activation are known not only as prerequisite of clot formation but are increasingly recognized as important contributors to inflammation and vascular injury. The present study in patients with symptomatic coronary disease investigated whether platelet adenosine diphosphate receptor blockade by clopidogrel exerts beneficial effects on endothelial nitric oxide bioavailability, oxidative stress, and/or inflammatory status. Methods and Results—One hundred three consecutive patients with symptomatic coronary disease and long-term aspirin therapy were studied. Endothelium-dependent and -independent vasodilation was determined measuring forearm blood flow (FBF)-responses to acetylcholine with and without NG-monomethyl-l-arginin (L-NMMA) and sodium nitroprusside, by using venous occlusion plethysmography. Patients were randomized to receive additional treatment with clopidogrel or placebo. Vascular function tests were repeated after 5 weeks and showed significant improvement of acetylcholine-induced vasodilatation and L-NMMA responses in the clopidogrel-added group (max. FBF from 9.8±0.3 to 14.7±0.4; L-NMMA-response from 3.7±0.1 to 6.8±0.3 mL/100 mL/min). In contrast, no significant changes were observed in the placebo group. Sodium nitroprusside–induced vasodilation was not changed in either group. Urinary excretion of 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α and plasma levels of hsCRP, sCD40L, and RANTES were reduced in patients on additional treatment with clopidogrel, but not in patients on placebo. Conclusions—Clopidogrel improves endothelial nitric oxide bioavailability and diminishes biomarkers of oxidant stress and inflammation in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease, suggesting that beyond inhibition of platelet aggregation, adenosine phosphate receptor blockade may also have promising vasoprotective effects.
Epstein-Barr Virus-Encoded LMP2A Induces an Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition and Increases the Number of Side Population Stem-like Cancer Cells in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

It has been recently reported that a side population of cells in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) displayed characteristics of stem-like cancer cells. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the modulation of such stem-like cell populations in NPC remain unclear. Epstein-Barr virus was the first identified human tumor virus to be associated with various malignancies, most notably NPC. LMP2A, the Epstein-Barr virus encoded latent protein, has been reported to play roles in oncogenic processes. We report by immunostaining in our current study that LMP2A is overexpressed in 57.6% of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma tumors sampled and is mainly localized at the tumor invasive front. We found also in NPC cells that the exogenous expression of LMP2A greatly increases their invasive/migratory ability, induces epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like cellular marker alterations, and stimulates stem cell side populations and the expression of stem cell markers. In addition, LMP2A enhances the transforming ability of cancer cells in both colony formation and soft agar assays, as well as the self-renewal ability of stem-like cancer cells in a spherical culture assay. Additionally, LMP2A increases the number of cancer initiating cells in a xenograft tumor formation assay. More importantly, the endogenous expression of LMP2A positively correlates with the expression of ABCG2 in NPC samples. Finally, we demonstrate that Akt inhibitor (V) greatly decreases the size of the stem cell side populations in LMP2A-expressing cells. Taken together, our data indicate that LMP2A induces EMT and stem-like cell self-renewal in NPC, suggesting a novel mechanism by which Epstein-Barr virus induces the initiation, metastasis and recurrence of NPC.
Linear Coupling: An Ultimate Unification of Gradient and Mirror Descent

First-order methods play a central role in large-scale machine learning. Even though many variations exist, each suited to a particular problem, almost all such methods fundamentally rely on two types of algorithmic steps: gradient descent, which yields primal progress, and mirror descent, which yields dual progress. We observe that the performances of gradient and mirror descent are complementary, so that faster algorithms can be designed by LINEARLY COUPLING the two. We show how to reconstruct Nesterov's accelerated gradient methods using linear coupling, which gives a cleaner interpretation than Nesterov's original proofs. We also discuss the power of linear coupling by extending it to many other settings that Nesterov's methods cannot apply to.
Research on BDS pricing with variable structure of default correlation

The pricing of CDS has become a hot issue after the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis erupted. For BDS with different reference assets, it is important to define the default correlation between the assets. Using copula functions to describe the dependent structure between the assets has some advantages and becomes popular recently. In the paper, we develop a BDS pricing model using the copula function with variable structure to describe default correlation. Considering the influence of economy situation change on BDS pricing, we introduce the Markovian regime shift to default density and default correlation change along with economy situation and make comparison by Monte Carlo simulation. The study finds that the BDS price obtained from the model with variable structure is located between BDS prices from the model without variable structure under different initial conditions. As default density is directly proportional to BDS price and default correlation is inversely proportional to BDS price, the influence of economy situation change on BDS pricing results from the comprehensive effect of default density and default correlation. Generally speaking, the influence of default density will exceed that of default correlation, thus, the BDS price in times of prosperity is low than that in times of depression.
A study of point defects in CVD diamond using electron paramagnetic resonance and optical spectroscopy

This thesis reports research on the characterisation of the structure of point defects in chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamond. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) has been used as a tool to determine the constituent nuclei and symmetry of previously unreported EPR active defects. Optical spectroscopy has been employed to track defect concentrations and correlate optical features with EPR active defects. Multi-frequency EPR has been used to identify and characterise a previously unreported EPR signal arising from N2VH0: a vacancy bounded by two substitutional nitrogen atoms and two carbon atoms wherein a hydrogen is bonded along one of the two carbon atoms and the unpaired electron of the system is bonded along the second carbon. This defect exhibits C2v symmetry in both X- and Q-band EPR, suggesting that the hydrogen rapidly reorientates between the two equivalent carbon atoms resulting in a time averaged C2v symmetry. The effects of annealing CVD diamond have been investigated. It has been shown that N2VH0 is produced consistently upon annealing at 1800 °C and continues to increase in intensity up to 2200 °C. The charge transfer behaviour of the N2VH0 defect is reported and the local vibrational mode (LVM) doublet at 1375 and 1378 cm-1 has been correlated with the intensity of the N2VH0 EPR signal. A calibration coefficient for the concentration of N3VH0 as calculated from the integrated intensity of the 3107 cm-1 LVM is proposed and a nitrogen assay of six samples in the as-grown and post-treated states suggest that this is a reasonable estimate. The annealing behaviour of theWAR5 EPR centre has been investigated and found to match density functional theory (DFT) predictions for the binding energy of the OsV defect. It has been reported that the WAR5 signal can be increased in intensity upon the irradiation and annealing at 800 °C of CVD diamond grown from a C:H:O chemistry, further supporting the assignment of this signal to the OV0 defect. A new EPR signal is reported and characterised as arising from a substitutional oxygen adjacent to a vacancy wherein a hydrogen atom rapidly reorientates between the three available carbon dangling bonds (OsVH0). The effect of irradiation and annealing on as-grown and pre-annealed CVD diamond has been investigated. It is shown that the 3324 cm-1 LVM (arising from the Ns:H-C0 defect) can be introduced into CVD diamond upon irradiation and further increased in intensity by annealing at 600 °C. The increase in 3324 cm-1 intensity has been correlated with a loss of NVH allowing a calibration correlation for this centre to be determined. Further, the reintroduction of the VnH- defect has been reported in a diamond sample which has been annealed prior to additional irradiation and annealing treatments.
A Genetic-Fuzzy Algorithm to Discover Fuzzy Classification Rules for Mixed Attributes Datasets

Algorithms, being global search method, have been extensively applied for discovery of automated classification rules. Fuzzy Logic was integrated with genetic algorithms for discovery of Fuzzy Classification Rules (FCRs) which are more interpretable and cope better with pervasive uncertainty and vagueness in real world decision making situations. At one hand, most of the Genetic Algorithm approaches have been implemented for datasets with categorical attributes only, at the other Genetic-Fuzzy approaches have the limitation to deal only with continuous attributes. This paper proposes genetic-fuzzy approach for discovery of fuzzy decision rules from datasets containing both categorical as well as continuous attributes. The continuous attributes are normalized and fuzzified in pre- processing step. A novel match procedure is devised to take care of mixed attributes during the fitness computations of individual rules. A direct match is carried out for categorical attributes whereas a Mumdani style min-max method is employed for matching continuous attributes with the instances in the training dataset. The proposed approach is tested on various datasets containing purely continuous or purely categorical or a mix of both types of attributes. Appropriate encoding scheme, fitness function and genetic operators with the necessary constrained are designed. The results are compared with three other machine learning techniques and results are comparable in terms of predictive accuracy. Moreover, the rule sets discovered with the suggested approach are compact and more comprehensible. KeywordsMining, Genetic Algorithms, Fuzzy Classification Rules.
Repair-oriented relational schemas for multidimensional databases

Summarizability in a multidimensional (MD) database refers to the correct reusability of pre-computed aggregate queries (or views) when computing higher-level aggregations or roll-ups. A dimension instance has this property if and only if it is strict and homogeneous. A dimension instance may fail to satisfy either of these two semantics conditions, and has to be repaired, restoring strictness and homogeneity. In this work, we take a relational approach to the problem of repairing dimension instances. A dimension repair is obtained by translating the dimension instance into a relational instance, repairing the latter using established techniques in the relational framework, and properly inverting the process. We show that the common relational star and snowflake schemas for MD databases are not the best choice for this process. Actually, for this purpose, we propose and formalize the path relational schema, which becomes the basis for obtaining dimensional repairs. The path schema turns out to have useful properties in general, as a basis for a relational representation and implementation of MD databases and data warehouses. It is also particularly suitable for restoring MD summarizability through relational repairs. We compare the dimension repairs so obtained with existing repair approaches for MD databases.
Influence of High-Pressure Coolant Assistance on the Machinability of the Titanium Alloy Ti555–3

The origin of this article is the quantification of productivity gains and the improvement in surface integrity seen for a recent titanium alloy that is seeing increasing use in the aeronautical industry. The Ti555–3 titanium alloy, which is starting to find greater application in the aeronautical field, exhibits certain difficulties in terms of machining. High Pressure Coolant (HPC) assisted turning consists of projecting a high pressure coolant jet between the chip and the tool. Comparisons are made between assisted turning using variable jet pressure and conventional turning (dry and classical lubrication). It is shown that it is possible to improve productivity by using HPC-assisted machining. The results highlight good chip fragmentation and a great improvement of tool life with HPC assistance. Surface integrity is also shown to be improved, through surface roughness parameters that decrease, and surface residual stresses that become more compressive. These effects have been attributed to the thermo-mechanical action of the coolant jet resulting in lower cutting forces, lower coefficient of friction and lower temperature in the cutting zone.
Coping with trial-to-trial variability of event related signals: A Bayesian inference approach

In electroneurophysiology, single-trial brain responses to a sensory stimulus or a motor act are commonly assumed to result from the linear superposition of a stereotypic event-related signal (e.g. the event-related potential or ERP) that is invariant across trials and some ongoing brain activity often referred to as noise. To extract the signal, one performs an ensemble average of the brain responses over many identical trials to attenuate the noise. To date, this simple signal-plus-noise (SPN) model has been the dominant approach in cognitive neuroscience. Mounting empirical evidence has shown that the assumptions underlying this model may be overly simplistic. More realistic models have been proposed that account for the trial-to-trial variability of the event-related signal as well as the possibility of multiple differentially varying components within a given ERP waveform. The variable-signal-plus-noise (VSPN) model, which has been demonstrated to provide the foundation for separation and characterization of multiple differentially varying components, has the potential to provide a rich source of information for questions related to neural functions that complement the SPN model. Thus, being able to estimate the amplitude and latency of each ERP component on a trial-by-trial basis provides a critical link between the perceived benefits of the VSPN model and its many concrete applications. In this paper we describe a Bayesian approach to deal with this issue and the resulting strategy is referred to as the differentially Variable Component Analysis (dVCA). We compare the performance of dVCA on simulated data with Independent Component Analysis (ICA) and analyze neurobiological recordings from monkeys performing cognitive tasks.
Influence of Interfacial Bond Strength on Fatigue Life and Thermo-Mechanical Behavior of a Particulate Composite: An Experimental Study

Experimental studies conducted on a particular cast acrylic composite demonstrate the significant influence of the interfacial bond strength between filler particles and the polymer matrix on the fatigue life, and mechanical properties. The composite studied in this project is composed of a ductile matrix, which is lightly cross-linked poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA) and hard, brittle alumina trihydrate (ATH) agglomerate particle filler. In the study, high, moderate, and low levels of interfacial adhesion between the matrix and the filler are investigated, while all the other material properties are kept constant. Monotonic tension and fatigue tests are conducted at different temperatures. Material degradation is presented in terms of elastic modulus degradation, load-drop parameter, and plastic strain range.