Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Portable out‐of‐hospital electrocardiography: A review of current technologies

Availability of portable and home‐based electrocardiography (ECG) is an important medical innovation, which has a potential to transform medical care. We performed this review to understand the current state of out‐of‐hospital portable ECG technologies with respect to their scope, ease of use, data transmission capabilities, and diagnostic accuracy.
Bioinformatics Applications Note Phylobayes 3: a Bayesian Software Package for Phylogenetic Reconstruction and Molecular Dating

Motivation: A variety of probabilistic models describing the evolution of DNA or protein sequences have been proposed for phylogenetic reconstruction or for molecular dating. However, there still lacks a common implementation allowing one to freely combine these independent features, so as to test their ability to jointly improve phylogenetic and dating accuracy. Results: We propose a software package, PhyloBayes 3, which can be used for conducting Bayesian phylogenetic reconstruction and molecular dating analyses, using a large variety of amino acid replacement and nucleotide substitution models, including empirical mixtures or non-parametric models, as well as alternative clock relaxation processes.
MICROSATELLITE DNA LOCI FOR GENETIC STUDIES OF CRANES

MicrosateIIites are short tandem arrays of simple DNA sequences (e.g., [AC]n, where n ~ 10), which are often highly polymorphic among individuals. These repetitive elements are rapidly becoming the molecular genetic marker of choice for genetic mapping, parentage analyses, and fundamental popUlation genetics. We have isolated more than 50 microsatellite loci from the whooping crane (Grus americana). The microsatellites cloned from whooping cranes are unusually short and infrequent in comparison to other birds and especially so in comparison to mammals or reptiles. However, at least 13 of the 20 primer pairs developed amplify polymorphic loci. Paternity for 2 individuals sharing the same mother and 5 potential fathers was established by investigating 6 polymorphic loci. Additionally, the primers developed yield amplicons of the expected size from other crane species with greater than 90% success. Therefore, the markers we have developed will be useful for addressing questions about the captive management, population structure, and phylogeography of all cranes, PROC. NORTH AM. CRANE WORKSHOP 7:36-45
The nurse's relationship-based perceptions of patient quality of life.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To explore patients' quality of life (QOL) as defined by RNs in adult and pediatric oncology settings and to examine, from the perspectives of clinical nurses, the knowledge that is needed to apply QOL research outcomes in clinical practice. DESIGN Qualitative research design using a focus group technique to explore the research questions. SETTING Three sites (i.e., a pediatric research center in western Tennessee and oncology nurses from a chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society [ONS] in Central Florida and another in upstate New York). SAMPLE 24 oncology nurses working with adult or pediatric patients or both. METHODS Oncology nurses were approached at work or through their local ONS chapters for a focus group discussion. FINDINGS 47 unique themes were reported by all five focus groups in response to three questions. The most frequently reported themes were (a) Using the Patient's Standard, (b) Nursing Strategies, (c) Differences Decrease QOL Care, (d) Maintaining Social Interests, (e) Insightful Relations With Patient, and (f) Nurse-Patient Communication. CONCLUSIONS Nurses' assessments of QOL primarily are based on their established relationships with their patients. From these relationships, nurses derive perceptions of patients' QOL and clinical direction for interventions to positively influence QOL. Based on these findings, the investigators developed a conceptual model of the nurses' relationship-based perceptions of patients' QOL. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING The current QOL measures have minimal importance to nurse clinicians. Because nurse clinicians rely on their relationships with patients to assess QOL, available tools should be made more clinically useful. Further research should be conducted using the new conceptual model, specifically to learn more about how nurses complete a QOL assessment within the context of the nurse-patient relationship.
Functional Inference in FunCat through the Combination of Hierarchical Ensembles with Data Fusion Methods

The multi-label hierarchical prediction of gene functions at genome and ontology-wide level is a central problem in bioinformatics, and raises challenging questions from a machine learning standpoint. In this context, multi-label hierarchical ensemble methods that take into account the hierarchical relationships between functional classes have been recently proposed. Various studies also showed that the integration of multiple sources of data is one of the key issues to significantly improve gene function prediction. We propose an integrated approach that combines local data fusion strategies with global hierarchical multi-label methods. The label unbalance typically occurring in gene functional classes is taken into account through the use of cost-sensitive techniques. Ontology-wide results with the yeast model organism, using the FunCat taxonomy, show the effectiveness of the proposed methodological approach.
Message Scheduling for the FlexRay Protocol: The Dynamic Segment

The FlexRay communication protocol is expected to be the de facto standard for high-speed, in-vehicle communication. In this paper, we formally investigate the scheduling problem for the dynamic segment (DS) of FlexRay. We take the bounds on the generation times and the timing requirements of the signals into consideration to propose a reservation-based scheduling approach that preserves the flexible medium access of the DS. To obtain efficient schedules, we formulate a nonlinear integer programming problem (NIP) that minimizes the required duration of the DS. This NIP is then decomposed into two linear binary integer programming problems to facilitate the computation of feasible message schedules. An experimental study illustrates our message scheduling approach for the DS of FlexRay.
Three-dimensional vehicle pose estimation from two-dimensional monocular camera image for vehicle classification

In this paper, a new method is proposed to estimate the pose of a moving vehicle in a typical traffic scene. Pose determination is crucial in the process of fitting or matching an existing 3D model in the database with the captured moving object. In this work, pose estimation is determined by estimating the 3D position of the moving vehicle in world space and then computing the motion vector of the vehicle. The pose estimation is first initialized by loosely calibrating the camera viewport and the perspective distortion. The 3D position is then determined by computing the intersection of a ray trace of the vehicle's centroid obtained from the video image originating from the camera eye to the vehicle's motion plane, i.e. the ground. Once a motion vector is obtained, the 3D model is aligned to match the vehicle's pose. The computation is performed on a 3D graphics card. Results on real-world traffic scenes as well as synthetic data are presented and several issues are outlined.
Quartz Tuning‐Fork Based Carbon Nanotube Transfer into Quantum Device Geometries

With the objective of integrating single clean, as‐grown carbon nanotubes into complex circuits, we have developed a technique to grow nanotubes directly on commercially available quartz tuning forks using a high‐temperature chemical vapor deposition process. Multiple straight and aligned nanotubes bridge the >100 µm gap between the two tips. The nanotubes are then lowered onto contact electrodes, electronically characterized in situ, and subsequently cut loose from the tuning fork using a high current. First quantum transport measurements of the resulting devices at cryogenic temperatures display Coulomb blockade characteristics.
BRiEF : FREtmatrix – a MEthOD FOR siMULatiON aND aNaLysis OF FREt iN OLigOs

Biochemical strategies that use a combination of synthetic oligonucleotides, thermostable DNA polymerases and DNA ligases can produce large DNA constructs up to 1 megabase in length. Although these ambitious targets are feasible biochemically, comparable technologies for the chemical synthesis of long DNA strands lag far behind. The best available chemical approach is the solid-phase phosphoramidite method, which can be used to assemble DNA strands up to 150 bases in length. Beyond this point deficiencies in the chemistry make it difficult to produce pure DNA. A possible alternative approach to the chemical synthesis of large DNA strands is to join together synthetic oligonucleotides by chemical methods. Recently click ligation by the copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne (CuAAC) reaction has been shown to facilitate this process, and a biocompatible triazole linkage has been developed that mimics a normal phosphodiester group.1 This requires an oligonucleotide with a 5’-azide and another with a 3’-propargyl group. The two oligonucleotides can be joined together by splint mediated ligation to produce a triazole linkage at the ligation site (Figure 1, Page 2). Three or more oligonucleotides can be joined together by this methodology using internal difunctionalized oligonucleotides with 5’-azide and 3’-propargyl groups in the same strand. The alkyne and azide oligonucleotide strands can be prepared by standard protocols and, as it is chemical rather than enzymatic, the chemical ligation reaction is compatible with a wide range of other oligonucleotide modifications. Click ligation has been employed to synthesize DNA constructs up to 300 bases in length and, when the resulting triazole linkage is placed in a PCR template, various DNA polymerases correctly copy the entire base sequence.1 In vitro transcription through the modified linkage has also been successfully demonstrated.2 Cyclic DNA duplexes with potential therapeutic applications can be made using this methodology and have been shown to be substrates for rolling circle amplification.1 This modified triazole linkage has shown in vivo biocompatibility; an antibiotic resistance gene containing triazole linkages is functional in E. coli1 and a triazole-containing gene for a (non-essential) fluorescent protein has been expressed.3 A recent NMR study of a DNA duplex containing the triazole linkage has provided a rationale to explain the biocompatibility of this linkage.4 Click ligation in the RNA field has enabled the synthesis of an enzymatically active hammerhead ribozyme with the triazole linkage located at the substrate cleavage site.5 Possible applications of click ligation include assembly of long DNA or RNA strands incorporating unusual sugar or backbone modifications (including chimeric molecules), epigenetic modifications, fluorescent dyes and other reporter groups which might be unstable to enzymatic ligation conditions. In the RNA world, segmental labeling followed by the assembly of large chemically-modified RNA O O
Non-Linear Skeletal Fusion with Multiple Kinects for Unified Skeletal Animation Reconstruction

We present a new method for reconstructing a unified skeletal animation with multiple Kinects over 360 degrees using a non-linear skeletal fusion function. Using the skeletal data from multiple Kinects, we use dynamic programming to find the global optimal solution that selects the joints from each camera to create a unified skeleton at each frame such that it results in the correct pose. The unified skeletal reconstruction is constrained by a number of terms that take into account the orientation of the joints, bone lengths, and the temporal smoothness of the joint’s motion. We quantitatively validate the goodness of the unified skeleton using two evaluation methods, and also perform qualitative and quantitative comparisons with the sate-of-the-art methods in skeletal reconstruction. The output of our method is a 360-degree plausible unified skeletal animation that would not be possible with a single Kinect due to occlusions, tracking failures, and field of view constraints.
RNA interference of caveolin-1 via lentiviral vector inhibits growth of hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma FaDu cells In Vitro and In Vivo.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of caveolin-1 (CAV1) on the growth of hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HSCC) FaDu cells in vitro and in vivo. METHODS A CAV1-RNAi-lentivirus construct was transfected into FaDu cells and expression of caveolin-1 was tested by RT-PCR and western blotting analysis. Cell apoptosis was analyzed by transferase-medisated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Tumor inhibition effects were investigated by injecting rCAV1-RNAi-lentivirus construct into tumors created with FaDu cells in the HSCC mouse model, with the empty-vector lentivirus as a control. CAV1 expression in xenografts was tested by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS RT-PCR and western blot analysis demonstrated successful construction of the CAV1-RNAi-lentivirus construct producing small hairpin RNA. The average weights and volumes of tumor in mice treated with CAV1-RNAi-lentivirus were lower than in mice with control treatment (P < 0.05). RT-PCR revealed weak positive expression of CAV1 in CAV1-construct-treated xenografts and immunohistochemistry confirmed lower CAV1 expression than in controls. (P < 0.05). In addition, downregulation of CAV1 increased cell apoptosis in vitro. CONCLUSION The growth of HSCCs could be inhibited by recombinant CAV1-RNAi-lentivirus in vitro and in vivo.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging Predictors of Episodic Memory Decline in Healthy Elders at Genetic Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract Objectives: White matter (WM) integrity within the mesial temporal lobe (MTL) is important for episodic memory (EM) functioning. The current study investigated the ability of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in MTL WM tracts to predict 3-year changes in EM performance in healthy elders at disproportionately higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods: Fifty-one cognitively intact elders (52% with family history (FH) of dementia and 33% possessing an Apolipoprotein E ε4 allelle) were administered the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) at study entry and at 3-year follow-up. DTI scanning, conducted at study entry, examined fractional anisotropy and mean, radial and axial diffusion within three MTL WM tracts: uncinate fasciculus (UNC), cingulate-hippocampal (CHG), and fornix-stria terminalis (FxS). Correlations were performed between residualized change scores computed from RAVLT trials 1–5, immediate recall, and delayed recall scores and baseline DTI measures; MTL gray matter (GM) and WM volumes; demographics; and AD genetic and metabolic risk factors. Results: Higher MTL mean and axial diffusivity at baseline significantly predicted 3-year changes in EM, whereas baseline MTL GM and WM volumes, FH, and metabolic risk factors did not. Both ε4 status and DTI correlated with change in immediate recall. Conclusions: Longitudinal EM changes in cognitively intact, healthy elders can be predicted by disruption of the MTL WM microstructure. These results are derived from a sample with a disproportionately higher genetic risk for AD, suggesting that the observed WM disruption in MTL pathways may be related to early neuropathological changes associated with the preclinical stage of AD. (JINS, 2016, 22, 1005–1015)
ACR–SAR–SPR PRACTICE PARAMETER FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE (MR) ENTEROGRAPHY

This document is an educational tool designed to assist practitioners in providing appropriate radiologic care for patients. Practice Parameters and Technical Standards are not inflexible rules or requirements of practice and are not intended, nor should they be used, to establish a legal standard of care1. For these reasons and those set forth below, the American College of Radiology and our collaborating medical specialty societies caution against the use of these documents in litigation in which the clinical decisions of a practitioner are called into question.
Multi-View RGB-D Video Analysis and Fusion for 360 Degrees Unified Motion Reconstruction

We present a new method for capturing human motion over 360 degrees by the fusion of multi-view RGB-D video data from Kinect sensors. Our method is able to reconstruct the unified human motion from fused RGB-D and skeletal data over 360 degrees and create a unified skeletal animation. We make use of all three streams: RGB, depth and skeleton, along with the joint tracking confidence state from Microsoft Kinect SDK to find the correctly oriented skeletons and merge them together to get a uniform measurement of human motion resulting in a unified skeletal animation. We quantitatively validate the goodness of the unified motion using two evaluation techniques. Our method is easy to implement and provides a simple solution of measuring and reconstructing a 360 degree plausible unified human motion that would not be possible to capture with a single Kinect due to tracking failures, self-occlusions, limited field of view and subject orientation.
Characterization of the Influence of Moisture Content on the Morphological Features of Single Wheat Kernels Using Machine Vision

The objective of this study was to quantify changes in morphological features of kernels of western Canadian wheat classes caused by moisture increase using a machine vision system. One hundred single wheat kernels for each of eight western Canadian wheat classes were successively conditioned from 12% to 20% (wet basis) moisture contents using potassium hydroxide (KOH) concentrations which regulated relative humidity. A digital camera of 7.4× 7.4-µm pixel resolution with an inter-line transfer charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensor was used to acquire images of single kernels. A machine vision algorithm developed at the Canadian Wheat Board Centre for Grain Storage Research, University of Manitoba, was implemented to extract seven morphological features (area, perimeter, major axis length, minor axis length, maximum radius, minimum radius, and mean radius) from the wheat kernel images. All the seven features of Canada Western Red Spring, Canada Western Amber Durum, Canada Prairie Spring White, Canada Prairie Spring Red, Canada Western Extra Strong, Canada Western Red Winter, Canada Western Hard White Spring, and Canada Western Soft White Spring wheat kernels were significantly (a = 0.05) different as the moisture content increased from 12% to 20%. All seven features showed a linearly increasing trend with an increase in moisture content.
Battlefield trauma care then and now: A decade of Tactical Combat Casualty Care

Abstract : Maughon reported in 1970 that 193 of a cohort of 2,600 casualties that were killed in action in Vietnam died of isolated extremity hemorrhage. The percentage of fatalities that resulted from exsanguination from extremity wounds was 7.9%; this was the leading cause of preventable death among US military casualties in the Vietnam War. Maughon commented at the time that little progress had been made in battlefield trauma care in the last 100 years. A sobering postscript to Maughon s observations in 1970 is found in the preventable death analyses done by Holcomb et al.2 and Kelly et al.3 in the current conflicts. Holcomb et al. found a 15% incidence of potentially preventable fatalities in his article that reviewed all Special Operations deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan from the initiation of hostilities until November 2004. He found that 25% (3 of 12) fatalities with potentially survivable injuries might have been saved by the simple application of a tourniquet. The larger causes of death analysis by Kelly et al. studied 982 fatalities from the first 5 years of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. He documented that 77 of 232 potentially preventable deaths from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner records resulted from failure to use a tourniquet; exsanguination from isolated extremity wounds thus caused 7.8% of the combat-related deaths reported in the article of Kelly et al. The failure to make progress in addressing the leading cause of preventable deaths on the battlefield in the 30 years between the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars, despite the ready availability of the requisite technology, dramatically underscores Maughon s point about the lack of progress in battlefield trauma care.
An unsupervised fuzzy ensemble algorithmic scheme for gene expression data analysis

Background: In recent years unsupervised ensemble clustering methods have been successfully applied to DNA microarray data analysis to improve the accuracy and the reliability of clustering results. Nevertheless, a major problem is represented by the fact that classes of functionally correlated examples (e.g. subclasses of diseases characterized at bio-molecular level) are not in general clearly separable, and in many cases the same gene may belong to different functional classes (e.g. may participate to different biological processes). Results: We propose an ensemble clustering algorithm scheme, based on a fuzzy approach, that directly permit to deal with overlapping classes or with genes or samples that may belong to more clusters at the same time. From our algorithmic scheme several fuzzy ensemble clustering algorithms may be derived, according to the way the multiple clusterings are combined and the consensus clustering is generated. We test some of the proposed ensemble algorithms with two DNA microarray data sets available on the web, comparing the results with other single and ensemble clustering methods. Conclusions: Our proposed fuzzy ensemble approach may be applied to discover classes of co-expressed genes or subclasses of functionally related examples, and in principle it may be
Characterisation of 96 mutations in 128 unrelated severe haemophilia A patients from France

Summary Direct sequencing of the coding region of factor VIII (F8) gene was used to determine the mutations responsible for severe haemophilia A (FVIII<1%) in 128 unrelated haemophiliacs A, negative for intron 22 and intron 1 inversions. A mutation was found in 122/128 patients (95%). Ninety-six distinct mutations were identified in this cohort, 62 of these are novel. They consisted of deletions (7 large and 24 small deletions), insertions (n=9), associations of insertion/deletion (n=2), association of deletion/substitution (n=1), and single nucleotide substitutions (53 point mutations consisting of 31 missense, 20 nonsense, and 2 splicing mutations). Twenty-two patients had developed inhibitors, and among this subgroup 3 large deletions, 6 frameshift, 9 nonsense and 4 missense mutations were detected. For6 patients, among which one developed an anti-FVIII inhibitor, no mutations were detected in the coding and splicing regions of factor VIII gene. Different approaches of molecular modelling were performed in addition to familial linkage analysis to determine the pathophysiological responsibility of these novel missense mutations.