Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interpretation of quality of life scores from the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire

The aim of the study was to obtain the general population norms for the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), a specific questionnaire for respiratory diseases. The IBERPOC project was a cross-sectional study of representative samples of the general population aged between 40–69 yrs. The study sample was composed of 862 individuals. All participants considered as “probable cases” of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (n=460) were eligible to complete the SGRQ and among the rest of the nonprobable COPD participants (n=3,571), 10 individuals from each defined age and sex group were eligible (n=402). Weights were applied to restore general population representativity of the sample. Mean forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) predicted was 89.4% (sd=16.5%; range: 16–131%). Chronbach's alpha coefficients were >0.7 in the symptoms, activity and impact scales, and >0.9 in the overall scale. Symptom scale score was significantly higher among males (11.6 versus 7.8; p<0.01) and activity scale score was significantly higher among females (12.2 versus 14.6; p=0.04). In a multiple linear regression model, respiratory diseases (asthma and COPD) and FEV1 % over pred showed the strongest association with the SGRQ total score. Smoking, sex, age and education were independently associated with the total SGRQ score. These results indicate that individuals from the general population presented some of the problems that are important when measuring health-related quality of life in respiratory patients, and provide St George's Respiratory Questionnaire norms, a useful method for interpreting the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire score in a given patient or study samples.
BIPHASIC SYSTEM FOR GROWING BACTERIA IN CONCENTRATED CULTURE

The concentration of masses of pathogenic bacteria can be simplified by growing them in a confined environment with diffusional access to a reservoir of nutrients. Culturing them on an agar or membrane surface accomplishes this; however, the total cell yield often is low, the cells probably are not physiologically uniform, and difficulty may occur in dislodging them. The concentration of cells or their products also may be obtained in a liquid medium by using a cellophane sac to separate the culture from a large nutrient supply (Hestrin et al., 1943; Gorelick et al., 1951; Vinet and Fredette, 1951). A combination of these principles led us 'to the idea of concentrating bacteria in a biphasic growth system that consists simply of a layer of solid nutrient medium overlaid with a small volume of nutrient broth. Hestrin et al. (1943) briefly mentioned the use of aqueous sucrose over a nutrient agar for the production of bacterial levansucrase, and W. C. Haynes stated in a personal communication that he has grown staphylococci in a liquid-solid system using charcoal agar. In this investigation of a biphasic growth system, we have obtained bacterial populations of up to 6 X 101.1 viable cells per ml, representing density increases of 2to 30-fold over broth controls, without sacrificing total yield.
Using ACO and rough set theory to feature selection

In this paper we propose a model to feature selection based on ant colony and rough set theory (RST). The objective is to find the reducts. RST offers the heuristic function to measure the quality of one feature subset. We have studied three variants of ant's algorithms and the influence of the parameters on the performance both in terms of quality of the results and the number of reducts found. Experimental results show this hybrid approach shows interesting advantages when compared with other heuristic methods.
Tibianna: A Learning-Based Search Engine with Query Refinement

While web search engine technology has improved over time, there is often a fundamental reliance on keyword matching for searches. What happens however, when the user does not know what keywords to use? This paper presents preliminary learning results of a prototype learning search engine that attempts to address this problem. Tibianna allows a user to manually rank a set of results based on their own relevancy function. Once a required number of results are ranked, the set is downloaded, processed and presented to support vector machines (SVMs) for learning. Once learned, Tibianna can actively reorder or discard search engine results based on the model it has learned. This provides a way of improving search results without requiring query refinement. Learning outcomes from experimental trials with Tibianna are presented, demonstrating the implications of using different preprocessing techniques and corpus sizes. Query refinement functions are also available to the user, which can enable exploration of query words via the WordNet database, and allows quick query refinement via a dynamic HTML interface.
NUMERICAL METHODS FOR ANALYSIS OF EM SCATTERING FROM AN ELECTRICALLY LARGE OCEAN SURFACE

Electromagnetic scattering is considered from finite and electrically large perfectly conducting rough surfaces. Three solution approaches are considered. The first two are based on a multi-level fast-multipole algorithm (MLFMA) formulation. In one MLFMA approach the rough surface resides in free space and is terminated by a resistive taper. In the second MLFMA approach the rough surface is terminated in an infinite perfectly conducting halfspace, with a smooth taper employed between the rough surface and the infinite halfspace, thereby avoiding the need for a resistive taper. The first MLFMA formulation is based on a free-space electric-field integral equation analysis, and the second uses the halfspace Green's function and a combined-field integral equation. These two approaches, within the context of the MLFMA, allow consideration of electrically large surfaces, permitting comparison with high-frequency asymptotic solutions. The third method considered is a ray-based solution, with which even larger surfaces may be considered. Several numerical results are presented, with which the relative accuracy and computational efficiency of the approaches are compared. NUMERICAL METHOD A. Resistive Taper Oh and Sarabandi (1) developed a Taylor taper loading to suppress unwanted diffraction from surface truncation in the analysis of scattering from a rough surface. A power-law resistive loading was presented by Haupt and Liepa (2). In many examples the Taylor taper has proven superior (3), and therefore it is used in our implementation. The rough surface is artificially extended in all directions, and a resistive taper is utilized in the extended area. By using a resistive taper R(r), the original electric-field integral equation (EFIE) is modified as
Coactivator-Dependent Acetylation Stabilizes Members of the SREBP Family of Transcription Factors

ABSTRACT Members of the SREBP family of transcription factors control cholesterol and lipid homeostasis and play important roles during adipocyte differentiation. The transcriptional activity of SREBPs is dependent on the coactivators p300 and CBP. We now present evidence that SREBPs are acetylated by the intrinsic acetyltransferase activity of p300 and CBP. In SREBP1a, the acetylated lysine residue resides in the DNA-binding domain of the protein. Coexpression with p300 dramatically increases the expression of both SREBP1a and SREBP2, and this effect is dependent on the acetyltransferase activity of p300, indicating that acetylation of SREBPs regulates their stability. Indeed, acetylation or mutation of the acetylated lysine residue in SREBP1a stabilizes the protein. We demonstrate that the acetylated residue in SREBP1a is also targeted by ubiquitination and that acetylation inhibits this process. Thus, our studies define acetylation-dependent stabilization of transcription factors as a novel mechanism for coactivators to regulate gene expression.
Agresión y conducta antisocial en la adolescencia: una integración conceptual

espanolComprender el fenomeno de la violencia en ninos y adolescentes es una tarea compleja para investigadores y profesionales implicados en su prevencion y tratamiento. En este articulo se presenta un revision conceptual de la conducta antisocial, prestando especial enfasis en sus relaciones con otros conceptos tales como la criminalidad y la delincuencia juvenil. A partir de su revision, se ofrece una integracion conceptual de la denominada “conducta antisocial” de modo que nos permita comprender con mayor facilidad como las conductas problematicas pueden llegar a convertirse en graves problemas de conducta disocial por efecto de un serie de factores de riesgo a lo largo del desarrollo evolutivo del menor. EnglishUnderstanding the phenomenon of violence in children and teenagers is a complex subject for researchers and professionals implied in their prevention and treatment. In this paper a conceptual review of antisocial behavior is presented, emphasizing its relationships with other concepts such as crime and juvenile delinquency. From this review, this paper offers a conceptual integration of antisocial behavior to allows understanding how the problematic behaviors can become serious problems of antisocial behavior for the effect of a series of risk factors along the minor evolutionary development.
How selection shapes variation of the human major histocompatibility complex: a review

The nature of polymorphism and molecular sequence variation in the genes of the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) provides strong support for the idea that these genes are under selection. With the understanding that selection shapes MHC variation new questions have become the focus of study. What is the mode of selection that accounts for MHC polymorphism? Is variation maintained by pathogen pressure or by reproductive mechanisms? Discerning between these requires drawing on information from studies on association between HLA genes and infectious diseases, reproductive success and mating preferences relative to HLA genotypes, and theoretical studies that compare the outcomes of different selection regimes. The pattern that has emerged suggests that several types of selection are plausible for the maintenance of HLA polymorphism.
Decision support for criminal summary judg - ment

A liquid-fueled lamp comprising a liquid-impervious container, which is preferably a light-weight steel can of the type used to store foods, etc. A relatively small opening is provided in the top of the can, and a tube or some other structural member extends through the opening. The tube is preferably rigidly secured to the container, as by welding or brazing. A metal tube having a 1/4 inch diameter is suitable. A flame-positioning means, such as a "plug" of asbestos fibers, is mounted in the top of the tube. A wick for transferring fuel from within the container to the flame-positioning means is also provided. Preferably, the wick is made of a narrow piece of double-knit polyester material. The wick and the plug of asbestos fibers are mechanically held together by the tube, so that fuel drawn upward by the wick will saturate the asbestos plug. Typically, the wick will furnish more fuel to the asbestos plug than will be consumed by a flame. Hence, a fuel-drainage means is desirable for permitting the drainage of excess fuel back into the container. The fuel-drainage means may consist of a structural trap surrounding the tube, with an aperture located in the top of the container and within the structural trap. The preferred fuel for such a lamp is mineral oil, which heretofore has been primarily used as a laxative and lubricant, and as a carrier for cosmetics and insecticides, etc. Such oil as meets National Formulary (NF) or U.S. Pharmacopia (USP) specifications for mineral oil will burn with essentially no odor. Technical grade mineral oil will also burn in the lamp described herein, but it has a faint odor that might be objectionable to some persons. The lamp is particularly safe when it is fueled with mineral oil, because-unlike kerosene and other fuel oils-mineral oil is rather hard to burn.
A sub-pixel edge detection approach based on orthogonal moment

Edge detection with sub pixel accuracy is a vital step of vision measurement technology. In this paper, a novel sub-pixel edge detecting algorithm based on orthogonal moment is proposed. The proposed approach locates the edge points with different method for different edges. For the ideal edges, it uses the orthogonal moment based method, and for the blurred edges, the centroid based method is used. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method prevails in robustness and high precision compared with traditional method.
Lon Protease Quality Control of Presecretory Proteins in Escherichia coli and Its Dependence on the SecB and DnaJ (Hsp40) Chaperones*

Various environmental insults result in irreversible damage to proteins and protein complexes. To cope, cells have evolved dedicated protein quality control mechanisms involving molecular chaperones and proteases. Here, we provide both genetic and biochemical evidence that the Lon protease and the SecB and DnaJ/Hsp40 chaperones are involved in the quality control of presecretory proteins in Escherichia coli. We showed that mutations in the lon gene alleviate the cold-sensitive phenotype of a secB mutant. Such suppression was not observed with either clpP or clpQ protease mutants. In comparison to the respective single mutants, the double secB lon mutant strongly accumulates aggregates of SecB substrates at physiological temperatures, suggesting that the chaperone and the protease share substrates. These observations were extended in vitro by showing that the main substrates identified in secB lon aggregates, namely proOmpF and proOmpC, are highly sensitive to specific degradation by Lon. In contrast, both substrates are significantly protected from Lon degradation by SecB. Interestingly, the chaperone DnaJ by itself protects substrates better from Lon degradation than SecB or the complete DnaK/DnaJ/GrpE chaperone machinery. In agreement with this finding, a DnaJ mutant protein that does not functionally interact in vivo with DnaK efficiently suppresses the SecB cold-sensitive phenotype, highlighting the role of DnaJ in assisting presecretory proteins. Taken together, our data suggest that when the Sec secretion pathway is compromised, a pool of presecretory proteins is transiently maintained in a translocation-competent state and, thus, protected from Lon degradation by either the SecB or DnaJ chaperones.
Comparative Analysis of Multiple Musical Performances

A technique for comparing numerous performances of an identical selection of music is described. The basic methodology is to split a one-dimensional sequence into all possible sequential sub-sequences, perform some operation on these sequences, and then display a summary of the results as a two-dimensional plot; the horizontal axis being time and the vertical axis being sub-sequence length (longer lengths on top by convention). Most types of timewise data extracted from performances can be compared with this technique, although the current focus is on beat-level information for tempo and dynamics as well as commixtures of the two. The primary operation used on each sub-sequence is correlation between a reference performance and analogous segments of other performances, then selecting the best correlated performances for the summary display. The result is a useful navigational aid for coping with large numbers of performances of the same piece of music and for searching for possible influence between performances.
Left Ventricular Assist Device as Destination for Patients Undergoing Intravenous Inotropic Therapy: A Subset Analysis From REMATCH (Randomized Evaluation of Mechanical Assistance in Treatment of Chronic Heart Failure)

Background—Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have improved survival in patients with end-stage heart failure. Compared with previous trials, the Randomized Evaluation of Mechanical Assistance in Treatment of Chronic Heart Failure (REMATCH) trial enrolled patients with more advanced heart failure and high prevalence of intravenous inotropic therapy. This study analyzes, on a post hoc basis, outcomes in patients undergoing inotropic infusions at randomization. Methods and Results—Of 129 patients randomized, 91 were receiving intravenous inotropic therapy at randomization to LVAD or optimal medical management (OMM). Mean systolic pressure was 100 versus 107 mm Hg in those not receiving inotropes, serum sodium was 134 versus 137 mEq/L, and left ventricular ejection fraction was 17% for both groups. LVADs improved survival throughout follow-up for patients undergoing baseline inotropic infusions (P=0.0014); for the LVAD group versus the OMM group, respectively, 6-month survival was 60% versus 39%, 1-year survival rates were 49% versus 24%, and 2-year survival rates were 28% versus 11%. For 38 patients not undergoing inotropic infusions, 6-month survival was 61% for those with LVADs and 67% for those with OMM, whereas 1-year rates were 57% and 40%, respectively (P=0.55). Quality-of-life scores for survivors improved. Median days out of hospital for patients on inotropic therapy at randomization were 255 with LVAD and 105 with OMM. Conclusions—Despite severe compromise, patients undergoing inotropic infusions at randomization derived major LVAD survival benefit with improved quality of life. Patients not undergoing inotropic infusions had higher survival rates both with and without LVAD, but differences did not reach significance. Future studies should prespecify analyses of inotropic and other therapies to determine how disease severity and parallel medical treatment influence the benefits offered by mechanical circulatory support.
An Energy Efficient MAC Approach for Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks

Several MAC protocols have been proposed for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). These include T-MAC , D- MAC and the more commonly utilized SMAC. In this paper, we propose a new MAC layer approach to support mobility in WSNs. The proposed technique utilizes an adaptive frame size approach to overcome the effect of frame losses caused by the Doppler shifts under mobile scenarios. An Extended Kalman Filter is used to predict the frame size for each transmission, which also directly enhances the energy efficiency of the system. Our results show that based on the adaptive frame size predictor and its comparison with the SMAC protocol, the proposed technique can improve overall system performance and deliver enhanced energy efficiency of 24% under mobility. The current implementation of ns-2 does not take into consideration the packet error rate. As another contribution of our work, we have developed a physical layer model for ns-2, which processes the received frame based not only on the fading characteristics of the signal but also the SNR and relative velocity between the nodes. To characterize a more accurate wireless sensor networks' physical layer, we have modeled the Mica-2 sensors in MATLAB and implemented the model in ns-2 for simulations.
Solicited and Unsolicited Credit Ratings: A Global Perspective

They conducted a global study of the long-term issuer ratings of nonfinancial firms from Standard and Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) for the period 1998â€“2003. Specifically, they focused on the solicited versus unsolicited ratings and sample-selection bias in the analysis. Unlike the literature, they adopted an improved method using Wooldridgeâ€™s instrumental-variable approach to mitigate the concern of specification errors in Heckmanâ€™s model. They found that the probability of seeking a long-term issuer rating is positively related to the size and profitability of the firm, and negatively related to the growth opportunities and debt levels of the firm. The credit rating is positively related to the sovereign rating, size, and profitability of the issuer, and negatively related to the debt ratio of the issuer. Consistent with the literature, they found sample-selection bias in credit ratings. Their findings suggest that the firms with solicited ratings seem to be more profitable, more liquid, and have lower leverage than the issuers with unsolicited ratings. After controlling for sample-selection bias and some key financial ratios, they found that unsolicited firms, on average, seem to have lower long-term issuer ratings. [ADBI Working Paper 244]
mRNA fusion constructs serve in a general cell-based assay to profile oligonucleotide activity.

A cellular assay has been developed to allow measurement of the inhibitory activity of large numbers of oligonucleotides at the protein level. The assay is centred on an mRNA fusion transcript construct comprising of a full-length reporter gene with a target region of interest inserted into the 3'-untranslated region. Luciferase and fluorescent reporter genes were used in the constructs. The insert can be from multiple sources (uncharacterised ESTs, partial or full-length genes, genes from alternate species, etc.). Large numbers of oligonucleotides were screened for antisense activity against a number of such constructs bearing different reporters, in different cell lines and the inhibitory profiles obtained were compared with those observed through screening the oligonucleotides against the corresponding endogenous genes assayed at the mRNA level. A high degree of similarity in the profiles was obtained indicating that the fusion constructs are suitable surrogates for the endogenous messages for characterisation of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs). Furthermore, the results support the hypothesis that the secondary structure of mRNAs are divided into domains, the nature of which is determined by primary nucleotide sequence. Oligonucleotides whose activity is dependent on the local structure of their target mRNAs (e.g. ASOs, short interfering RNAs) can be characterised via such fusion RNA constructs.
Novel WSN-based residential energy management scheme in smart grid

Smart grid integrates the latest advances in information and communication technologies to contribute to a more reliable and efficient electricity system. By realizing the two-way communication between the utility and the smart meters in the houses, smart grid enables a time-of-use tariff to reduce peak load through incenting residents to adopt a more efficient usage of domestic appliances. In this paper, the candidate communication techniques and the classification of appliances are discussed. Then we proposed a WSN-Based Residential Energy Management Scheme which wirelessly connects non-urgent appliances to the smart meter through the wireless sensor networks. The structure components and the algorithm shows that the scheme can response to the resident's command with the economically suggestion, and help them shift their non-urgent appliances to the off-peak hours. Therefore, the high peak load is alleviated, the green-house gas emission is reduced, furthermore, through the two-way communication, the utility is able to decide the optimal generation plan to satisfy resident demands, and the total utility cost can be reduced.