Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Double‐balloon versus single‐balloon catheter for cervical ripening and labor induction: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

We searched Embase, PubMed and the Cochrane Library for randomized or quasi‐randomized controlled trials to compare the use of single‐balloon to double‐balloon catheters. The risk ratio (RR) or mean difference (MD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated using fixed‐effects or random‐effects models.
Nonverbal Communication, Music Therapy, and Autism: A Review of Literature and Case Example

ABSTRACT This article presents a review of nonverbal literature relating to therapy, music, autism, and music therapy. Included is a case study of a woman with autism who was nonverbal. The case highlights and analyzes behaviors contextually. Interpretations of communication through the music therapy, musical interactions, and the rapport that developed through the music therapy treatment process are provided.
Tracking the Diffusion of Named Entities

Existing studies of how information diffuses across social networks have thus far concentrated on analysing and recovering the spread of deterministic innovations such as URLs, hashtags, and group membership. However investigating how mentions of real-world entities appear and spread has yet to be explored, largely due to the computationally intractable nature of performing large-scale entity extraction. In this paper we present, to the best of our knowledge, one of the first pieces of work to closely examine the diffusion of named entities on social media, using Reddit as our case study platform. We first investigate how named entities can be accurately recognised and extracted from discussion posts. We then use these extracted entities to study the patterns of entity cascades and how the probability of a user adopting an entity (i.e. mentioning it) is associated with exposures to the entity. We put these pieces together by presenting a parallelised diffusion model that can forecast the probability of entity adoption, finding that the influence of adoption between users can be characterised by their prior interactions -- as opposed to whether the users propagated entity-adoptions beforehand. Our findings have important implications for researchers studying influence and language, and for community analysts who wish to understand entity-level influence dynamics.
Selection of Polygalacturonase-Secreting Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mutants from Saudi Arabia

The study was aimed at increasing the production of polygalacturonase (PG) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by the process of mutation. A high PG-secreting strain of S. crerevisiae was exposed to different doses of diethyl sulfate (DES) and surviving colonies were screened for PG activity by plate assay method. Survival rate and mutation frequency were recorded under different treatments. Many selections obtained in the study showed PG activity in excess of the starting strain and the wild type reference strain. PCR analysis of the mutants revealed unique markers in some of the selections which corroborated well with their respective PG activity. The study augments the relevance of mutagenesis for strain improvement in fungi for production of useful industrial enzymes.
A Case Study for Comparing Two Service Quality Measurement Approaches in the Context of Teaching in Higher Education

Abstract This study examines two alternative methods (SERVQUAL and SERVPREF), which are currently being used for measuring perceived service quality, with respect to their ability to explain variation in customers’ satisfaction. Following a theoretical discussion, a case study was conducted in the context of teaching in higher education. The statistical result shows that SERVPREF represents a better approach than SERVQUAL in explaining the variation of students’ satisfaction with overall quality of course delivery.
Cadmium Exposure and Cancer Mortality in a Prospective Cohort: The Strong Heart Study

Background: Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic metal classified as a human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Objective: We evaluated the association of long-term Cd exposure, as measured in urine, with cancer mortality in American Indians from Arizona, Oklahoma, and North and South Dakota who participated in the Strong Heart Study during 1989–1991. Methods: The Strong Heart Study was a prospective cohort study of 3,792 men and women 45–74 years of age who were followed for up to 20 years. Baseline urinary Cd (U-Cd) was measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. We assessed cancer events by annual mortality surveillance. Results: The median (interquintile range) U-Cd concentration was 0.93 (0.55, 1.63) μg/g creatinine. After adjusting for sex, age, smoking status, cigarette pack-years, and body mass index, the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) comparing the 80th versus the 20th percentiles of U-Cd were 1.30 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.55) for total cancer, 2.27 (95% CI: 1.58, 3.27) for lung cancer, and 2.40 (95% CI: 1.39, 4.17) for pancreatic cancer mortality. For all smoking-related cancers combined, the corresponding HR was 1.56 (95% CI: 1.24, 1.96). Cd was not significantly associated with liver, esophagus and stomach, colon and rectum, breast, prostate, kidney, or lymphatic and hematopoietic cancer mortality. On the basis of mediation analysis, we estimated that the percentage of lung cancer deaths due to tobacco smoking that could be attributed to Cd exposure was 9.0% (95% CI: 2.8, 21.8). Conclusions: Low-to-moderate Cd exposure was prospectively associated with total cancer mortality and with mortality from cancers of the lung and pancreas. The implementation of population-based preventive measures to decrease Cd exposure could contribute to reducing the burden of cancer. Citation: García-Esquinas E, Pollan M, Tellez-Plaza M, Francesconi KA, Goessler W, Guallar E, Umans JG, Yeh J, Best LG, Navas-Acien A. 2014. Cadmium exposure and cancer mortality in a prospective cohort: the Strong Heart Study. Environ Health Perspect 122:363–370; http://dx.doi. org/10.1289/ehp.1306587
Cytotype Regulation by Telomeric P Elements in Drosophila melanogaster: Evidence for Involvement of an RNA Interference Gene

P elements inserted at the left telomere of the X chromosome evoke the P cytotype, a maternally inherited condition that regulates the P-element family in the Drosophila germline. This regulation is completely disrupted in stocks heterozygous for mutations in aubergine, a gene whose protein product is involved in RNA interference. However, cytotype is not disrupted in stocks heterozygous for mutations in two other RNAi genes, piwi and homeless (spindle-E), or in a stock heterozygous for a mutation in the chromatin protein gene Enhancer of zeste. aubergine mutations exert their effects in the female germline, where the P cytotype is normally established and through which it is maintained. These effects are transmitted maternally to offspring of both sexes independently of the mutations themselves. Lines derived from mutant aubergine stocks reestablish the P cytotype quickly, unlike lines derived from stocks heterozygous for a mutation in Suppressor of variegation 205, the gene that encodes the telomere-capping protein HP1. Cytotype regulation by telomeric P elements may be tied to a system that uses RNAi to regulate the activities of telomeric retrotransposons in Drosophila.
A Parametric Channel Model for Smart Antennas Incorporating Mobile Station Mobility

This paper presents a parameterized physical channel model for evaluating the performance of smart antenna systems. The channel model assumes a single antenna at the mobile station and a uniform linear array of omni-directional antenna elements at the base station. It incorporates parameters such as azimuth angle of arrival and departure, angle spread, power delay profiles and Doppler frequency, which have critical influence on the performance of smart antennas. A new feature of the channel model is a thorough framework for the incorporation of user mobility. The proposed model allows for efficient and accurate representation of smart antenna channel aspects, while maintaining low complexity for system level simulations
The convergence behavior of turbo equalization over an ISI channel characterized by a dynamic updated BSC

This paper proposes a simple and pragmatic method to effectively trace the convergence process of turbo equalization by means of a dynamic updated binary symmetric channel. The average entropy for both source and received symbol sets are computed based on the resulted extrinsic information by theoretical analysis and numerical simulations. The proposed approach provides a new insight for the convergence properties of the iterative turbo equalization. The results can be of useful in mitigating the ISI interference for bandwidth limited wire or wireless communications.
Prognostic Significance of Nuclear ING3 Expression in Human Cutaneous Melanoma

Purpose: The novel tumor-suppressor ING3 has been shown to modulate transcription, cell cycle control, and apoptosis. Our previous study showed that ING3 promotes UV-induced apoptosis via the Fas/caspase-8–dependent pathway in melanoma cells. To investigate the putative role of ING3 in the development of melanoma, we examined the expression of ING3 in melanocytic lesions at different stages and analyzed the correlation between ING3 expression and clinicopathologic variables and patient survival. Experimental Design: Using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry, we evaluated nuclear and cytoplasmic ING3 staining in 58 dysplastic nevi, 114 primary melanomas, and 50 metastatic melanomas. Results: Nuclear ING3 expression was remarkably reduced in malignant melanomas compared with dysplastic nevi (P < 0.001), which was significantly correlated with the increased ING3 level in cytoplasm (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the reduced nuclear ING3 expression was significantly correlated with a poorer disease-specific 5-year survival of patients with primary melanoma, especially for the high-risk melanomas (thickness ≥2.0 mm) with the survival rate reducing from 93% for patients with strong nuclear ING3 staining in their tumor biopsies to 44% for those with negative-to-moderate nuclear ING3 staining (P = 0.004). Strikingly, our multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that reduced nuclear ING3 expression is an independent prognostic factor to predict patient outcome in primary melanomas (P = 0.038). Conclusions: Our data indicate that ING3 may be an important marker for human melanoma progression and prognosis as well as a potential therapeutic target.
The Psychology of Environmentally Sustainable Behavior: Fitting Together Pieces of the Puzzle

This paper considers the main features of four general psychological approaches to the analysis of environmentally sustainable behavior (rational–economic, social dilemmas, attitude–behavior models, and applied behavioral analysis), and focuses on the problems inherent in applying each approach to this issue. It also details the utility of a holistic Social–Ecological Framework that I believe is useful for analyzing environmentally sustainable behavior. This approach draws on concepts from ecological psychology such as Gibson's (1979) notion of “affordances,” and shows how such a method can account for and help us understand the limitations of traditional psychological approaches to environmentally sustainable behavior, and provides a general guiding framework for the formulation of environmental policy decisions and intervention programs.
The Estimation of Blur Based on Image Information

Blind image deconvolution is required in many applications of microscopy imaging, remote sensing, and astronomical imaging. The primary difficulty with blind image restoration is insufficient information. We propose a novel algorithm in the estimation of blur based on convex optimization theory and image information. How to extract the information from image is discussed in this paper. Finally, the non-blind image restoration is introduced and good performance is observed in the experiments.
Transceiver optimization for block-based multiple access through ISI channels

In this paper, we describe a formulation of the minimum mean square error (MMSE) joint transmitter-receiver design problem for block-based multiple access communication over intersymbol interference (ISI) channels. Since the direct formulation of this problem turns out to be nonconvex, we develop various alternative convex formulations using techniques of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) and second-order cone programming (SOCP). In particular, we show that the optimal MMSE transceiver design problem can be reformulated as a semidefinite program (SDP), which can be solved using highly efficient interior point methods. When the channel matrices are diagonal (as in cyclic prefixed multicarrier systems), we show that the optimal MMSE transceivers can be obtained by subcarrier allocation and optimal power loading to each subcarrier for all the users. Moreover, the optimal subcarrier allocation and power-loading can be computed fairly simply (in polynomial time) by the relative ratios of the magnitudes of the subchannel gains corresponding to all subcarriers. We also prove that any two users can share no more than one subcarrier in the optimal MMSE transceivers. By exploiting this property, we design an efficient strongly polynomial time algorithm for the determination of optimal powerloading and subcarrier allocation in the two-user case.
Sea urchin tube feet: unique structures that allow a cytological and molecular approach to the study of actin and its gene expression

Actin is the major extractable protein component from the tube feet of four different species of sea urchin: Arbacia punctulata, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, and Diadema setosum. Actin made up as much as 60% of the total Coomassie Blue-staining material after SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and densitometer analysis. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis resolved two, and possible three, species of actin for each sea urchin of which the dominant component was analogous to the beta form in vertebrates. In a cell-free system from rabbit reticulocytes, total RNA from tube feet stimulated the synthesis of one protein that represented 80% of the total methionine incorporation, migrated with the properties characteristic of actin in a two-dimensional gel system, and on proteolysis yielded fragments identical to purified rabbit actin. The mRNAs from the tube feet of two divergent species of sea urchin, Arbacia punctulata and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, synthesized actins differing by less than 0.02 pH unit for each isospecies 90% of the DNA copied from tube foot RNA by reverse transcriptase represented a highly abundant sequence class judged by copy DNA(cDNA)-RNA excess hybridization. At least two-thirds of this class represented a low- complexity component, with a Rot1/2 about three times that expected for actin messenger RNA. The remarkable degree of conservation of the actin protein is reflected in concomitant conservation of the protein-coding nucleotide sequences of the messenger RNA, which has allowed the use of a cDNA probe to isolate actin sequences from a human phage library.
Transcriptional activation of short interspersed elements by DNA‐damaging agents

Short interspersed elements (SINEs), typified by the human Alu repeat, are RNA polymerase III (pol III)‐transcribed sequences that replicate within the genome through an RNA intermediate. Replication of SINEs has been extensive in mammalian evolution: an estimated 5% of the human genome consists of Alu repeats. The mechanisms regulating transcription, reverse transcription, and reinsertion of SINE elements in genomic DNA are poorly understood. Here we report that expression of murine SINE transcripts of both the B1 and B2 classes is strongly upregulated after prolonged exposure to cisplatin, etoposide, or gamma radiation. A similar induction of Alu transcripts in human cells occurs under these conditions. This induction is not due to a general upregulation of pol III activity in either species. Genotoxic treatment of murine cells containing an exogenous human Alu element induced Alu transcription. Concomitant with the increased expression of SINEs, an increase in cellular reverse transcriptase was observed after exposure to these same DNA‐damaging agents. These findings suggest that genomic damage may be an important activator of SINEs, and that SINE mobility may contribute to secondary malignancy after exposure to DNA‐damaging chemotherapy. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An assessment model for large project courses

Larger project courses, such as capstone projects, are essential in a modern computing curriculum. Assessing such projects is, however, extremely challenging. There are various aspects and tradeoffs of assessments that can affect the quality of a project course. Individual assessments can give fair grading of individuals, but may loose focus of the project as a group activity. Extensive teacher involvement is necessary for objective assessment, but may affect the way students are working. Continuous feedback to students can enhance learning, but may be hard to combine with fair assessment. Most previous work is focusing on some specific assessment aspect, whereas we in this paper present an assessment model that consists of a collection of assessment activities, each covering different aspects. We have applied, developed, and improved these activities during a six-year period and evaluated their usefulness by performing a questionnaire-based survey.
Genetic Analysis of Quantitative Traits in Highly Ascertained Samples: Total Serum IgE in Families with Asthma

The objective of this study was to compare the effect of an approximate ascertainment correction using proband phenotypes with heuristic corrections based on sample trait means and on published “standard” population values. Data were from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Asthma, which comprises 225 families ascertained through sib pairs affected with asthma. In variance component linkage analysis of IgE no lod scores greater than 3.0 were observed, either with or without several attempted corrections for ascertainment. The ascertained nature of the sample may have compromised the power to detect linkage to a quantitative trait (IgE) associated with the focal phenotype (asthma). © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Respiratory sinus arrhythmia: time domain characterization using autoregressive moving average analysis.

Fourier-based techniques are mathematically noncausal and are therefore limited in their application to feedback-containing systems, such as the cardiovascular system. In this study, a mathematically causal time domain technique, autoregressive moving average (ARMA) analysis, was used to parameterize the relations of respiration and arterial blood pressure to heart rate in eight humans before and during total cardiac autonomic blockade. Impulse-response curves thus generated showed the relation of respiration to heart rate to be characterized by an immediate increase in heart rate of 9.1 +/- 1.8 beats.min-1.l-1, followed by a transient mild decrease in heart rate to -1.2 +/- 0.5 beats.min-1.l-1 below baseline. The relation of blood pressure to heart rate was characterized by a slower decrease in heart rate of -0.5 +/- 0.1 beats.min-1.mmHg-1, followed by a gradual return to baseline. Both of these relations nearly disappeared after autonomic blockade, indicating autonomic mediation. Maximum values obtained from the respiration to heart rate impulse responses were also well correlated with frequency domain measures of high-frequency "vagal" heart rate control (r = 0.88). ARMA analysis may be useful as a time domain representation of autonomic heart rate control for cardiovascular modeling.
[(E)-N′-(5-Chloro-2-oxidobenzylidene-κO)-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzohydrazidato-κ2 N′,O](pyridine-κN)copper(II)

In the title compound, [Cu(C17H15ClN2O5)(C5H5N)], the CuII atom is coordinated by one N atom and two O atoms from an anionic salicylaldehyde benzoylhydrazone ligand and one pyridine N atom in a distorted square-planar geometry. The bonds displays the usual elongation with mean Cu—O and Cu—N bond lengths of 1.926 and 1.976 Å, respectively. The pyridine ring makes dihedral angles of 26.12 (13) and 11.08 (12)°, respectively, with the trimethoxyphenyl and phenolate rings, which make a dihedral angle of 16.05 (12)° with one another.
Vibrotactile Feedback for Enhanced Control of Urban Search and Rescue Robots

This paper describes a method of enhancing feedback for Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) robot operators through the use of a wearable vibrotactile display. The display provides vibrotactile feedback corresponding to sensor data collected by the robot. A USAR robot may be equipped with a variety of sensors including proximity, temperature, motion, and many others. The system described here is intended to enable a series of empirical studies aimed at evaluating this use of vibrotactile display.
Complementary humanoid behavior shaping using corrective demonstration

A humanoid robot can perform a task through a policy mapping from its sensed state to the appropriate task actions. We assume that a hand-coded controller can capture such a mapping only for the basic cases of the given task. As the complexity of the situation increases, the harder it becomes to refine the controller, and such refinements are often tedious and error prone. Based on the fact that a human can detect the failures of a robot executing the hand-coded controller, in this paper we present a corrective learning from demonstration approach to improve the robot performance. Corrections are captured as new state action pairs, and during the autonomous humanoid robot execution, the controller is replaced by the demonstration corrections when the new state is found to be similar to the corrected state. We focus on the Aldebaran Nao humanoid robot and a concrete complex ball dribbling task in an environment with obstacles. We present experimental results showing an improvement in the humanoid task performance when the corrective demonstration is used in addition to the basic hand-coded controller.
An algorithm to identify rheumatoid arthritis in primary care: a Clinical Practice Research Datalink study

Objective Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a multisystem, inflammatory disorder associated with increased levels of morbidity and mortality. While much research into the condition is conducted in the secondary care setting, routinely collected primary care databases provide an important source of research data. This study aimed to update an algorithm to define RA that was previously developed and validated in the General Practice Research Database (GPRD). Methods The original algorithm consisted of two criteria. Individuals meeting at least one were considered to have RA. Criterion 1: ≥1 RA Read code and a disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) without an alternative indication. Criterion 2: ≥2 RA Read codes, with at least one ‘strong’ code and no alternative diagnoses. Lists of codes for consultations and prescriptions were obtained from the authors of the original algorithm where these were available, or compiled based on the original description and clinical knowledge. 4161 people with a first Read code for RA between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2012 were selected from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD, successor to the GPRD), and the criteria applied. Results Code lists were updated for the introduction of new Read codes and biological DMARDs. 3577/4161 (86%) of people met the updated algorithm for RA, compared to 61% in the original development study. 62.8% of people fulfilled both Criterion 1 and Criterion 2. Conclusions Those wishing to define RA in the CPRD, should consider using this updated algorithm, rather than a single RA code, if they wish to identify only those who are most likely to have RA.