Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hypertonic Saline and Acute Wheezing in Preschool Children

BACKGROUND: Most acute wheezing episodes in preschool children are associated with rhinovirus. Rhinovirus decreases extracellular adenosine triphosphate levels, leading to airway surface liquid dehydration. This, along with submucosal edema, mucus plaques, and inflammation, causes failure of mucus clearance. These preschool children do not respond well to available treatments, even oral steroids. This calls for pro–mucus clearance and prohydration treatments such as hypertonic saline in wheezing preschool children. METHODS: Randomized, controlled, double-blind study. Forty-one children (mean age 31.9 ± 17.4 months, range 1–6 years) presented with wheezing to the emergency department were randomized after 1 albuterol inhalation to receive either 4 mL of hypertonic saline 5% (HS) (n = 16) or 4 mL of normal saline (NS) (n = 25), both with 0.5 mL albuterol, twice every 20 minutes in the emergency department and 4 times a day thereafter if hospitalized. The primary outcome measured was length of stay (LOS) and the secondary outcomes were admission rate (AR) and clinical severity score. RESULTS: The LOS was significantly shorter in the HS than in the NS group: median 2 days (range 0–6) versus 3 days (range 0–5) days (P = .027). The AR was significantly lower in the HS than the NS group: 62.2% versus 92%. Clinical severity score improved significantly in both groups but did not reach significance between them. CONCLUSIONS: Using HS inhalations significantly shortens LOS and lowers AR in preschool children presenting with an acute wheezing episode to the emergency department.
Salt Stress and Ethylene Antagonistically Regulate Nucleocytoplasmic Partitioning of COP1 to Control Seed Germination1[OPEN]

Salt stress and ethylene antagonistically regulate the nucleocytoplasmic partitioning of the COP1 E3 ligase, thereby suppressing seed germination. Seed germination, a critical stage initiating the life cycle of a plant, is severely affected by salt stress. However, the underlying mechanism of salt inhibition of seed germination (SSG) is unclear. Here, we report that the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENESIS1 (COP1) counteracts SSG. Genetic assays provide evidence that SSG in loss of function of the COP1 mutant was stronger than this in the wild type. A GUS-COP1 fusion was constitutively localized to the nucleus in radicle cells. Salt treatment caused COP1 to be retained in the cytosol, but the addition of ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate had the reverse effect on the translocation of COP1 to the nucleus, revealing that ethylene and salt exert opposite regulatory effects on the localization of COP1 in germinating seeds. However, loss of function of the ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE3 (EIN3) mutant impaired the ethylene-mediated rescue of the salt restriction of COP1 to the nucleus. Further research showed that the interaction between COP1 and LONG HYPOCOTYL5 (HY5) had a role in SSG. Correspondingly, SSG in loss of function of HY5 was suppressed. Biochemical detection showed that salt promoted the stabilization of HY5, whereas ethylene restricted its accumulation. Furthermore, salt treatment stimulated and ethylene suppressed transcription of ABA INSENSITIVE5 (ABI5), which was directly transcriptionally regulated by HY5. Together, our results reveal that salt stress and ethylene antagonistically regulate nucleocytoplasmic partitioning of COP1, thereby controlling Arabidopsis seed germination via the COP1-mediated down-regulation of HY5 and ABI5. These findings enhance our understanding of the stress response and have great potential for application in agricultural production.
LINGO-1 Regulates Oligodendrocyte Differentiation through the Cytoplasmic Gelsolin Signaling Pathway

Differentiation and maturation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) involve the assembly and disassembly of actin microfilaments. However, how actin dynamics are regulated during this process remains poorly understood. Leucine-rich repeat and Ig-like domain-containing Nogo receptor interacting protein 1 (LINGO-1) is a negative regulator of OPC differentiation. We discovered that anti-LINGO-1 antibody-promoted OPC differentiation was accompanied by upregulation of cytoplasmic gelsolin (cGSN), an abundant actin-severing protein involved in the depolymerization of actin filaments. Treating rat OPCs with cGSN siRNA reduced OPC differentiation, whereas overexpression of cGSN promoted OPC differentiation in vitro and remyelination in vivo. Furthermore, coexpression of cGSN and LINGO-1 blocked the inhibitory effect of LINGO-1. Our study demonstrates that cGSN works downstream of LINGO-1 signaling pathway, which enhances actin dynamics and is essential for OPC morphogenesis and differentiation. This finding may lead to novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Myelin loss and subsequent axon degeneration contributes to a variety of neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Understanding the regulation of myelination by oligodendrocytes is therefore critical for developing therapies for the treatment of MS. We previously demonstrated that leucine-rich repeat and Ig-like domain-containing Nogo receptor interacting protein 1 (LINGO-1) is a negative regulator of oligodendrocyte differentiation and that anti-LINGO-1 promotes remyelination in preclinical animal models for MS and in a phase II acute optic neuritis clinical trial (RENEW). The mechanism by which LINGO-1 regulates oligodendrocyte differentiation is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that LINGO-1 regulates oligodendrocyte differentiation and maturation through the cytoplasmic gelsolin signaling pathway, providing new drug targets for the treatment of demyelination diseases.
DNA typing and genetic mapping with trimeric and tetrameric tandem repeats.

Tandemly reiterated sequences represent a rich source of highly polymorphic markers for genetic linkage, mapping, and personal identification. Human trimeric and tetrameric short tandem repeats (STRs) were studied for informativeness, frequency, distribution, and suitability for DNA typing and genetic mapping. The STRs were highly polymorphic and inherited stably. A STR-based multiplex PCR for personal identification is described. It features fluorescent detection of amplified products on sequencing gels, specific allele identification, simultaneous detection of independent loci, and internal size standards. Variation in allele frequencies were explored for four U.S. populations. The three STR loci (chromosomes 4, 11, and X) used in the fluorescent multiplex PCR have a combined average individualization potential of 1/500 individuals. STR loci appear common, being found every 300-500 kb on the X chromosome. The combined frequency of polymorphic trimeric and tetrameric STRs could be as high as 1 locus/20 kb. The markers should be useful for genetic mapping, as they are sequence based, and can be multiplexed with the PCR. A method enabling rapid localization of STRs and determination of their flanking DNA sequences was developed, thus simplifying the identification of polymorphic STR loci. The ease by which STRs may be identified, as well as their genetic and physical mapping utility, give them the properties of useful sequence tagged sites (STSs) for the human genome initiative.
Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Ribosome-Inactivating Protein from Root Cultures of Pokeweed and Its Mechanism of Secretion from Roots 1

Ribosome-inactivating proteins are N-glycosidases that remove a specific adenine from the sarcin/ricin loop of the large rRNA, thus arresting protein synthesis at the translocation step. In the present study, a novel type I ribosome-inactivating protein, termed PAP-H, was purified from Agrobacterium rhizogenes-transformed hairy roots of pokeweed (Phytolacca americana). The protein was purified by anionand cation-exchange chromatography. PAP-H has a molecular mass of 29.5 kD as detected by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and its isoelectric point was determined to be 7.8. Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) ribosomes incubated with PAP-H released the 360-nucleotide diagnostic fragment from the 26S rRNA upon aniline treatment, an indication of its ribosome-inactivating activity. Using immunofluorescence microscopy, PAP-H was found to be located in the cell walls of hairy roots and root border cells. PAP-H was determined to be constitutively secreted as part of the root exudates, with its secretion enhanced by a mechanism mediated by ethylene induction. Purified PAP-H did not show in vitro antifungal activity against soil-borne fungi. In contrast, root exudates containing PAP-H as well as additional chitinase, -1,3-glucanase, and protease activities did inhibit the growth of soil-borne fungi. We found that PAP-H depurinates fungal ribosomes in vitro and in vivo, suggesting an additive mechanism that enables PAP-H to penetrate fungal cells.
Improved embedded parameter estimation for bit-interleaved coded modulation with iterative decoding

Code-aided parameter estimation is considered for bit-interleaved coded modulation with iterative decoding (BICM-ID). The computational overhead caused by the estimation is minimized by embedding the parameter estimation into the iterative decoding. It is apparent that the performance of the estimation depends on the availability of accurate symbol a posteriori probabilities (SAPPs). Since the decoder computes bit a posteriori probabilities (BAPPs), the SAPPs are traditionally computed through a straightforward bit-to-symbol probability conversion. For advanced mappings which are optimized for BICM-ID, however, the latter method does not result in reliable SAPPs. Therefore, a new method is proposed and simulation results verify that the resulting iterative estimator-detector yields a close to perfectly synchronized performance.
‘Don’t blame the middle man’: an exploratory qualitative study to explore the experiences of translators breaking bad news

Background: Healthcare professionals find breaking bad news difficult and upsetting. Increasing cultural diversity has led to a greater number of patients whose first language differs to that of the healthcare provider, with more patients requiring a translator to facilitate communication. Hospitals often ask non-clinical translators to facilitate breaking bad news. We sought to explore the experiences of translators within a specialist oncology centre. Methods: Following ethical and governance approvals, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with five translators recruited from the specialist oncology centre. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. The data were analysed thematically, with major themes and subthemes identified. Setting: Outpatient setting of a regional cancer centre. Participants: Translators serving a regional cancer centre. Main outcome measures: Qualitative data identified through thematic analysis. Results: Major themes included the significant emotional impact of translating distressing information, the challenges of accurately conveying information in a culturally congruent format and the need for formal briefing, debriefing and support. Subthemes included feeling guilty for divulging distressing news, being the focus of patients’ distress or anger, and feeling in conflict with the patient or family and issues surrounding confidentiality. Translators also felt a strong sense of advocacy for the patients and found encounters with death and dying emotionally challenging. Conclusions: The increasing use of translators in the care of patients with advanced cancer is increasingly resulting in lay people being subject to similar emotional pressures faced by clinical staff, yet without the necessary formal training or support mechanisms that are recommended for clinicians. This exploratory study highlights the training and support needs of non-clinical staff as identifying a unique set of communication challenges faced by translators.
Smoking-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among Alaska Native people: a population-based study

Background Several studies have shown that Alaska Native people have higher smoking prevalence than non-Natives. However, no population-based studies have explored whether smoking-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours also differ among Alaska Native people and non-Natives. Objective We compared current smoking prevalence and smoking-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour of Alaska Native adults living in the state of Alaska with non-Natives. Methods We used Alaska Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data for 1996 to 2010 to compare smoking prevalence, consumption, and cessation- and second-hand smoke-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours among self-identified Alaska Native people and non-Natives. Results Current smoking prevalence was 41% (95% CI: 37.9%–44.4%) among Alaska Native people compared with 17.1% (95% CI: 15.9%–18.4%) among non-Natives. Among current every day smokers, Alaska Natives were much more likely to smoke less than 10 cigarettes per day (OR=5.0, 95% CI: 2.6–9.6) than non-Natives. Compared with non-Native smokers, Alaska Native smokers were as likely to have made a past year quit attempt (OR=1.4, 95% CI: 0.9–2.1), but the attempt was less likely to be successful (OR=0.5, 95% CI: 0.2–0.9). Among current smokers, Alaska Natives were more likely to believe second-hand smoke (SHS) was very harmful (OR=4.5, 95% CI: 2.8–7.2), to believe that smoking should not be allowed in indoor work areas (OR=1.9, 95% CI: 1.1–3.1) or in restaurants (OR=4.2, 95% CI: 2.5–6.9), to have a home smoking ban (OR=2.5, 95% CI: 1.6–3.9), and to have no home exposure to SHS in the past 30 days (OR=2.3, 95% CI: 1.5–3.6) than non-Natives. Conclusion Although a disparity in current smoking exists, Alaska Native people have smoking-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours that are encouraging for reducing the burden of smoking in this population. Programs should support efforts to promote cessation, prevent relapse, and establish smoke-free environments.
WeBrowse

One of the limits of web content discovery tools, let them be recommender systems or content curation tools such as social rating, social bookmarking and other social media, is the scarcity of user input (e.g. rate, submit, share). This problem is even worse in the case of what we call communities of a place: people who study, live or work at the same place. Such people often share common interests but either do not know each other or fail to actively engage in submitting and relaying information. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of using the aggregated clicks of entire communities of users to passively emulate a content curation service a la Reddit. To this end, we prototype and deploy WeBrowse, a content curation service based on the processing of raw HTTP logs. Evaluation based on our deployments demonstrates feasibility at scale while respecting user privacy. The majority of WeBrowse's users welcome the quality of content it promotes.
Low-Pass Filter Property of Dynamic Output Feedback Passivation Controller

We present a state-space approach to design a passivity-based dynamic output feedback controller that achieves stabilization and set-point regulation. A frequency domain analysis is performed in order to test the performances of the low-order control law against measurement noise. It is shown that the proposed control law inherently has low-pass filter property as well as it can successfully replace the measurements of derivative terms in PD control laws. Motivated by the low-pass filter property a higher-order controller is also introduced to enhance the noise reduction property. The effectiveness of the proposed control law is illustrated by numerical simulations and experimental results with a rotary inverted pendulum
I segment lengths and thin filament periods in skeletal muscle fibers of the rhesus monkey and the human

The I segment length has been measured and the number of thin filament periods per I segment has been counted in electron micrographs of Rhesus monkey and human leg muscle fibers. The number of I segment periods in the monkey fiber (60) and in the human fiber (66) multiplied by axial periodicity (385 Å) in thin filaments of living fibers (Huxley and BROWN, '67) plus 1,000 Å allowed for Z line width in living fibers, provided a formula for calculation of I segment lengths in living fibers. The calculated I segment lengths are 2.41 μ for the monkey and 2.64 μ for the human fiber. The ratio of calculated I segment length over an assumed constant thick filament length (1.6 μ) among vertebrates is in close agreement with the ratio of measured I segment length over measured thick filament length in micrographs of frog, rat, monkey and human leg muscle fibers. The calculated I segment length in the frog (1.95 μ) is compared with that of the human (2.64 μ) to show the relation of I segment length to the length‐developed tension diagram and to the series elastic components of the skeletal muscle fiber.
Testing for Convergence: Evidence from Non-parametric Multimodality Tests

The convergence hypothesis in growth theory implies that the frequency of the density distribution of GDP in a cross-section of countries tends to approach unimodality as we move forward in time. The convergence theory in a cross-section of 119 countries is tested by means of bootstrap multimodality tests and non parametric density estimation techniques. By looking at the density distribution of GDP across countries in 1970, 1980 and 1989, increasing evidence for bimodality is found. The finding stands in contrast with the convergence prediction.
Low-order harmonics analysis and suppression method for 400Hz single-phase VSI

It is necessary to insert a dead-time in sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) voltage source inverter (VSI) to prevent a short circuit in the DC link. However, this will cause the dead-time effect, drop the fundamental voltage and introduce the 3rd, 5th and 7th low-order harmonics into the output voltage. Conventional dead-time compensation methods either average voltage based or inductor current feedback compensation cannot be adopted in the case of high inductor ripple current. Moreover, even with high-precision detection of the inductor current polarity, the conventional methods are still not suitable when unipolar frequency doubling SPWM method is adopted. Dead-time effect is different when different SPWM methods are used. In this paper, dead-time effect of unipolar frequency doubling SPWM is analyzed and a new approach for eliminating low-order harmonics is proposed. Simulation and experiment on a 400-Hz prototype both show satisfactory results and verify the validity of the analysis and the effectiveness of the proposed control method.
Dual-Band UHF-RFID/WLAN Circularly Polarized Antenna for Portable RFID Readers

A compact, low-profile, two-port dual-band circularly polarized (CP) antenna for portable RFID readers is presented. The radiating element for the UHF-RFID band (902-928 MHz) has been realized through a circular array of four inverted-F meandered monopoles, where the array elements are excited with a 90 ° phase offset (sequential rotation feeding technique) through a microstrip feeding network. In order to also provide the portable reader with a wireless web access, a miniaturized CP patch has been added for the WLAN IEEE 802.11b,g radio link, by exploiting the available space between the four array elements, without increasing the overall antenna volume. The meandered monopoles and the patch are both etched on the same layer of an FR4 substrate, so getting a significant antenna compactness (60 mm×60 mm×7 mm). The patch loading effect on the monopoles can be compensated by adjusting the meandered monopole length. Reflection coefficient, port isolation, axial ratio and radiation patterns are evaluated by numerical simulations and compared with measurements on an antenna prototype.
Auditory, graphical and haptic contact cues for a reach, grasp, and place task in an augmented environment

An experiment was conducted to investigate how performance of a reach, grasp and place task was influenced by added auditory and graphical cues. The cues were presented at points in the task, specifically when making contact for grasping or placing the object, and were presented in single or in combined modalities. Haptic feedback was present always during physical interaction with the object. The auditory and graphical cues provided enhanced feedback about making contact between hand and object and between object and table. Also, the task was performed with or without vision of hand. Movements were slower without vision of hand. Providing auditory cues clearly facilitated performance, while graphical contact cues had no additional effect. Implications are discussed for various uses of auditory displays in virtual environments.
Drawings in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning - Empirical and Technical Results

Self-constructed external representations are thought to be beneficial in teaching and learning, especially when embedded in peer interactions, and can positively affect the course and type of reasoning, for example by providing grounding for explanations and self-explanations, by helping to disambiguate students' mental models of phenomena, or by increasing and sharing the task focus. This paper reports on the results of research efforts investigating which conditions are advantageous in collaborative drawing activities in computer-supported learning scenarios for young students. We describe the design, technical implementation and empirical results of a study with 94 primary school students working on a collaborative drawing task in various conditions that include adaptive prompting and scripted activities. Results showed, partially in line with our expectations, that adaptive prompting as well as scripting positively affected students' learning outcomes and discourse quality. Students in both supported conditions more often critically reviewed the work of their partner and integrated ideas from their partner in their own reasoning.
An Abandoned/Removed Objects Detection Algorithm and Its Evaluation on PETS Datasets

In this paper, a new method for a robust and efficient analysis of video sequences is presented; it allows the extraction of foreground objects and the classification of static foreground regions as abandoned or removed objects (ghosts). As a first step, the moving regions in the scene are detected by subtracting to the current frame a background model continuously adapted. Then, a shadow removing algorithm is used to extract the real shape of detected objects. Finally, moving objects are classified as abandoned or removed by matching the boundaries of static foreground regions. The method was successfully tested on both real image sequences acquired in our laboratory and some sequences from the PETS 2006 Datasets.
A Design of the Bilateral Microwave Transistor Amplifier in the CCITL System

A design of the bilateral microwave transistor amplifier in the conjugately characteristic-impedance transmission line (CCITL) system using the T-chart is reported. The variations of source and load reflection coefficients with the angle phi that is the argument of the CCITL characteristic impedances are computed using the characteristic conductance (CC) approach under simultaneous conjugate match conditions. The resulting maximum transducer power gain GT,max is constant with respect to the argument phi. Finally, input and output matching networks are implemented using reciprocal CCITL single-stub shunt tuners