Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sino-MONICA Project: A Collaborative Study on Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Diseases in China, Part I: Morbidity and Mortality Monitoring

BackgroundThe Sino-MONICA project is a 7-year study monitoring trends and determinants of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in geographically defined populations in different parts of China. Methods and ResultsThe study is a community-based prospective disease surveillance that uses the methodology and criteria of the World Health Organization’s Monitoring Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (WHO MONICA) project, with slight modifications for local use. After a pilot study of 2 years (1985 through 1986), data collection started formally on January 1, 1987, and ended on December 31, 1993. The main results were as follows. By international standards, both the incidence and mortality rate of coronary heart disease in Chinese populations were low. The highest incidence was 108.7 of 100 000 (1987 to 1989), and the lowest was 3.3 of 100 000 for men 35 to 64 years of age, a 33-fold difference. Both the incidence and mortality rate of cerebrovascular disease were high. The highest incidence was 553.3 of 100 000 (1987 to 1989), and the lowest was 33.0 of 100 000 for men 35 to 64 years of age, a 17-fold difference. There were significant geographic variations in both CVD incidence and mortality rate, with higher rates in the north and lower rates in the south. During 1987 to 1993, increasing trends were found in CVD rates in some populations, whereas decreasing trends were found in others. The trends were not significant statistically in most cases. ConclusionsMonitoring CVD with international standardized methods in China is feasible and urgently needed in view of the rapid socioeconomic development and transition of disease patterns taking place in China. The results are of significance in combating CVD both at home and abroad.
Mastering Family Therapy: Journeys of Growth and Transformation

FOREWORD (Braulio Montalvo). PREFACE (Salvador Minuchin). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. PART I: FAMILIES AND FAMILY THERAPY. 1 Family Therapy: A Theoretical Dichotomy. 2 Family Particulars: All Families Are Different. 3 Family Universals: All Families Are Alike. 4 Family Therapies: Clinical Practice and Supervision. 5 Contemporary Trends: Whatever Happened to Family Therapy? 6 The Therapeutic Encounter. PART II: STORIES OF SUPERVISION. 7 Supervision of the Therapeutic Encounter. 8 The Feminist and the Hierarchical Teacher (Margaret Ann Meskill). 9 One Head, Many Hats (Hannah Levin). 10 The Poet and the Drummer (Adam Price). 11 "The Oedipal Son" Revisited (Gil Tunnell). 12 Into the Crucible (Israela Meyerstein). 13 Men and Dependency: The Treatment of a Same-Sex Couple (David E. Greenan). 14 The Shit-Painter (Wai-Yung Lee). 15 Filling the Empty Vessel: Andy Schauer's Story (Wai-Yung Lee). EPILOGUE (Salvador Minuchin). REFERENCES. INDEX.
Integrating Fire Suppression into a DEVS Cellular Forest Fire Spread Model

This paper deals with modeling and simulation of surface forest fire spread and suppression using the discrete event system specification (DEVS) cellspace approach. The event-based modeling approach allows for timely simulation-based predictions of forest fire spread and suppression in uniform and non-uniform environmental conditions. This paper proposes a conceptual model for a coupled forest cell model comprising of a forest cell agent atomic model and a forest cell atomic model. The forest cell agent atomic model will allow for modeling and simulation of more complex fire suppression strategies to control fire spread. The proposed basic model provides an advance toward developing a real-time or fast-as-can decision support simulation system for predicting forest fire spread and the effects of fire suppression attempts.
A two-pool model to describe the IVIM cerebral perfusion

IntraVoxel Incoherent Motion (IVIM) is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique capable of measuring perfusion-related parameters. In this manuscript, we show that the mono-exponential model commonly used to process IVIM data might be challenged, especially at short diffusion times. Eleven rat datasets were acquired at 7T using a diffusion-weighted pulsed gradient spin echo sequence with b-values ranging from 7 to 2500 s/mm2 at three diffusion times. The IVIM signals, obtained by removing the diffusion component from the raw MR signal, were fitted to the standard mono-exponential model, a bi-exponential model and the Kennan model. The Akaike information criterion used to find the best model to fit the data demonstrates that, at short diffusion times, the bi-exponential IVIM model is most appropriate. The results obtained by comparing the experimental data to a dictionary of numerical simulations of the IVIM signal in microvascular networks support the hypothesis that such a bi-exponential behavior can be explained by considering the contribution of two vascular pools: capillaries and somewhat larger vessels.
Time Delay Neural Network with Fourier transform for multiple channel detection of Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials for Brain-Computer Interfaces

In BCI (Brain-Computer Interface) systems, brain signals must be processed to identify distinct activities that convey different mental states. For example, in BCIs that rely on Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEP) recognize EEG activity that reflects attention to a particular stimulus. In this paper, we propose a new technique for the classification of SSVEP-activity for non-invasive BCI. The proposed method is based on a Time Delay Neural Network that includes a Fourier transform in order to switch between the analysis of layers in the time domain to layers in the frequency domain. The first step allows the creation of different channels. The second step is dedicated to signal processing of these channels in the frequency domain. The last step is the classification. The presented results on offline processing correspond for electroencephalographic (EEG) signals obtained with 6 electrodes on 3 subjects. We compare our method on two time segments with the average combination method. These results outperform the average combination method and are promising for online processing.
Hierarchical Phosphorylation within the Ankyrin Repeat Domain Defines a Phosphoregulatory Loop That Regulates Notch Transcriptional Activity*

The Notch signal transduction pathway mediates important cellular functions through direct cell-to-cell contact. Deregulation of Notch activity can lead to an altered cell proliferation and has been linked to many human cancers. Casein kinase 2 (CK2), a ubiquitous kinase, regulates several cellular processes by phosphorylating proteins involved in signal transduction, gene expression, and protein synthesis. In this report we identify NotchICD as a novel target of phosphorylation by CK2. Using mapping and mutational studies, we identified serine 1901, located in the ankyrin domain of Notch, as the target amino acid. Interestingly, phosphorylation of serine 1901 by CK2 appears to generate a second phosphorylation site at threonine 1898. Furthermore, threonine 1898 phosphorylation only occurs when Notch forms a complex with Mastermind and CSL. Phosphorylation of both threonine 1898 and serine 1901 resulted in decreased binding of the Notch-Mastermind-CSL ternary complex to DNA and consequently lower transcriptional activity. These data indicate that the phosphorylation of serine 1901 and threonine 1898 negatively regulates Notch function by dissociating the complex from DNA. This study identifies a new component involved in regulation of NotchICD transcriptional activity, reinforcing the notion that a precise and tight regulation is required for this essential signaling pathway.
Multiagent POMDPs with asynchronous execution

The Multiagent POMDP (MPOMDP) framework provides well-known methods to model and solve fully communicative multiagent problems. However, the size of these models grows exponentially in the number of agents, and agents are required to act in synchrony. We show how these problems can be mitigated through an event-driven, asynchronous formulation of the MPOMDP dynamics. We can prove that the optimal value function in our framework is piecewise linear and convex, allowing us to extend a standard point-based solver to the event-driven setting. We also show how belief states can be updated at run-time in asynchronous domains. Our results show that asynchronous models scale better to larger domains than synchronous analogues, while retaining solution quality.
A 32 kDa protein—whose phosphorylation correlates with oncogenic Ras‐induced cell cycle arrest in activated Xenopus egg extracts—is identified as ribosomal protein S6

Oncogenic Ras induces cell‐cycle arrest in mammalian cells and in fertilized Xenopus eggs. How oncogenic Ras induces cell‐cycle arrest remains unclear. We previously showed that oncogenic Ras induces cell‐cycle arrest in activated Xenopus egg extracts (cycling extracts) and that the induced cell‐cycle arrest correlates with hyperphosphorylation of a 32 kDa protein. However, the identity of the 32 kDa protein was not known. By using a sucrose density‐gradient centrifugation, Triton X‐100–acetic acid–urea (TAU)‐gel electrophoresis, composite agarose‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (CAPAGE), SDS–PAGE, and partial tryptic peptide sequence analysis, the 32 kDa protein has now been identified as S6, a 40S subunit ribosomal protein. Hence, our results indicate that the oncogenic Ras‐induced cell‐cycle arrest is correlated with hyperphosphorylation of S6, suggesting that phosphorylation of S6 plays an important role in the induced cell‐cycle arrest. It has been shown that conditional deletion of gene encoding S6 in mammalian cells prevents proliferation, demonstrating the importance of S6 in cell proliferation. The exact role S6 plays in cell proliferation is unclear. However, phosphorylation of S6 has been implicated in the regulation of protein synthesis. Thus, our results are consistent with the concept that oncogenic Ras induces S6 phosphorylation to influence protein synthesis, thereby contributing to the cell‐cycle arrest. In addition, our results also demonstrate that composite agarose‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is suitable for the separation of large molecular complexes. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Empowerment in parents of school-aged children with and without developmental disabilities.

BACKGROUND Despite the widespread use of the term 'empowerment' in clinical literature to describe both a desirable process and the outcome of service delivery, the term remains more of a theoretical than practical construct. This study examined the factors that contribute to empowerment in parents of school-aged children with and without developmental disabilities (DD) using the Double ABCX model of family adaptation contrasted with the linear ACBX model. METHODS Parents of children with (n = 100, 97% mothers) and without (n = 100, 98% mothers) DD completed questionnaires relating to child behaviour problems, parent stress and well-being, and formal and informal support. Structural equation modelling was used RESULTS Parents of children with DD reported more child behaviour problems, more stress, less well-being and more social support than parents of children without DD. Structural equation modelling supported the ACBX model for both groups. A linear relationship was found in which parent well-being and resources mediated the relationship between the stressor (child behaviour problems) and the outcome (empowerment). CONCLUSIONS The results of the current study support Hastings and Taunt's assertion in 2002, in that empowerment was adequately explained using a traditional model of family functioning. The significant prediction offered by the parent's resources points to the need to deliver services in a manner that is more family-centred. In the education system, this means providing parents with clear messages regarding the schools goals, clarifying the parent's rights and responsibilities, including the parent in planning and decision making, respecting their knowledge as caregivers and supporting their hopes for their child.
Practical aspects and experiences Parallel sparse Cholesky factorization on a shared memory multiprocessor

Zhang, G. and H.C. EIman, Parallel sparse Cholesky factorization on a shared memory multiprocessor, Parallel Computing 18 (1992) 1009-1022. Parallel implementations of Cholesky factorization for sparse symmetric positive definite matrices are considered on a shared memory multiprocessor computer. Two column-oriented schemes, known as the column-Cholesky algorithm and the fan-in algorithm, along with enhancements of each, are implemented and discussed. High parallel efficiency of the column-Cholesky algorithm and its enhancement is demonstrated for test problems. A detailed investigation of the performance of the fan-in algorithm and its enhancement, the compute-ahead fan-in algorithm, is made to study the effects of overhead associated with the fan-in based schemes.
Dopaminergic Signaling in the Cochlea: Receptor Expression Patterns and Deletion Phenotypes

Pharmacological studies suggest that dopamine release from lateral olivocochlear efferent neurons suppresses spontaneous and sound-evoked activity in cochlear nerve fibers and helps control noise-induced excitotoxicity; however, the literature on cochlear expression and localization of dopamine receptors is contradictory. To better characterize cochlear dopaminergic signaling, we studied receptor localization using immunohistochemistry or reverse transcriptase PCR and assessed histopathology, cochlear responses and olivocochlear function in mice with targeted deletion of each of the five receptor subtypes. In normal ears, D1, D2, and D5 receptors were detected in microdissected immature (postnatal days 10–13) spiral ganglion cells and outer hair cells but not inner hair cells. D4 was detected in spiral ganglion cells only. In whole cochlea samples from adults, transcripts for D1, D2, D4, and D5 were present, whereas D3 mRNA was never detected. D1 and D2 immunolabeling was localized to cochlear nerve fibers, near the first nodes of Ranvier (D2) and in the inner spiral bundle region (D1 and D2) where presynaptic olivocochlear terminals are found. No other receptor labeling was consistent. Cochlear function was normal in D3, D4, and D5 knock-outs. D1 and D2 knock-outs showed slight, but significant enhancement and suppression, respectively, of cochlear responses, both in the neural output [auditory brainstem response (ABR) wave 1] and in outer hair cell function [distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs)]. Vulnerability to acoustic injury was significantly increased in D2, D4 and D5 lines: D1 could not be tested, and no differences were seen in D3 mutants, consistent with a lack of receptor expression. The increased vulnerability in D2 knock-outs was seen in DPOAEs, suggesting a role for dopamine in the outer hair cell area. In D4 and D5 knock-outs, the increased noise vulnerability was seen only in ABRs, consistent with a role for dopaminergic signaling in minimizing neural damage.
Reliable Repair Mechanisms with Low Connection Cost for Code Based Distributed Storage Systems

Erasure codes are applied in distributed storage systems for fault-tolerance with lower storage overhead than replications. Later, decentralized erasure codes are proposed for decentralized or loosely-organized storage systems. Repair mechanisms aim at maintaining redundancy over time such that stored data are still retrievable. Two recent repair mechanisms, Noop and Coop, are designed for decentralized erasure code based distributed storage system to minimize connection cost in theoretical manner. We propose a generalized repair framework, which includes Noop and Coop as two extreme cases. We then investigate trade-off between connection cost and data retrievability from an experimental aspect in our repair framework. Our results show that a reasonable data retrievability is achievable with constant connection cost, which is less than previously analytical values. These results are valuable references for a system manager to build a reliable storage system with low connection cost.
Efficient removal of phenol from water using Fe2O3 semiconductor catalyst under UV laser irradiation

Efficient removal of phenol was carried out using laser induced photocatalyis process in the presence of Fe2O3 semiconductor catalysts, and under UV laser irradiation. Parametric dependence of the removal process was investigated carefully by variation of laser irradiation time, laser energy, and concentration of the catalysts. pH measurements were also carried out to understand the photocatalytic process for removal of phenol. Maximum phenol removal achieved in this process was more than 90% during 1 hour of laser irradiation. This is considered highly efficient as compared to conventional setups using lamps. Reaction kinetics for the removal of phenol was also studied, and a reaction rate of 0.017 min− 1 was estimated, following first order kinetics.
Cost-Volume Relationship for Flows Through a Disordered Network

In a network where the cost of flow across an edge is nonlinear in the volume of flow, and where sources and destinations are uniform, one can consider the relationship between total volume of flow through the network and the minimum cost of any flow with given volume. Under a simple probability model (locally tree-like directed network, independent cost–volume functions for different edges) we show how to compute the minimum cost in the infinite-size limit. The argument uses a probabilistic reformulation of the cavity method from statistical physics and is not rigorous as presented here. The methodology seems potentially useful for many problems concerning flows on this class of random networks. Making arguments rigorous is a challenging open problem.
Trans-umbilical laparo-endoscopic single-site donor nephrectomy without the use of a single-port access device

The patient is placed in a conventional 45o lateral position as for multiport laparoscopic donor nephrectomy. The upper and lower edges of the skin incision are marked 1 cm above and below the umbilicus. The umbilicus is then everted and a 4.5cm long vertical trans-umbilical incision is made. The rectus fascia is laterally dissected underneath the skin fl aps. Pneumoperitoneum is established using a Verees needle inserted through the rectus fascia in the midline. Three separate vertically aligned ports (one 10-mm and two 5-mm ports) are inserted through this single incision. A 46-cm long, 450 (bariatric) laparoscope (Karl Storz) is used through the 10-mm camera port. A fascial closure (port closure) needle is inserted intra-abdominally through the left subcostal region. A plastic needle cap is inserted into the abdomen through one of the 10-mm ports and fed into the port closure needle. This assembly is used to provide traction to the kidney and adjacent organs. The descending colon is mobilized along the white line of Toldt exposing the ureter and the gonadal vein packet. This is dissected off the psoas and lifted up to and exposing the renal vein. Subsequently, the adrenal vein is dissected, ligated and divided. The renal upper pole is freed from the adrenal gland and other posterior abdominal wall structures. The renal artery is exposed after ligating and dividing the lumbar vein. The kidney is mobilized completely all around exposing the psoas muscle. The gonadal vein and ureter are divided at the pelvic brim.
Compressed Wideband Spectrum Sensing with Partially Known Occupancy Status by Weighted l1 Minimization

This paper considers the problem of compressed wideband spectrum sensing in wideband cognitive radio when partial occupancy status is known. While performing wideband spectrum sensing, incomplete prior information on the occupancy status may be obtained from coexisting narrowband detectors, collaborative sensing nodes or remote database. In this paper, we present a new optimization model in order to incorporate this prior information and then propose a particular weighting strategy in the reconstruction algorithm based on weighted l1 minimization to solve it. Numerical simulation results demonstrate that the use of partially known occupancy status leads to an improvement in detection performance and the proposed approach exploits such prior information effectively. As incorrect prior information is unavoidable in practical situation, cases in which the prior information is non-ideal are also investigated via simulations
Discrete Stochastic Models for Compliance Analysis Based on an AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) Study

Compliance is the extent to which a patient follows the prescribed regimen. Here we investigate the statistical properties of two popular measures of compliance – percentage of compliant days and percentage of doses taken. We use a stationary Markov chain to model the dependence structure of successive data points for each subject. We illustrate our model using discrete compliance data collected from an AIDS Clinical Trial Group study (ACTG 398). We check the model assumptions and evaluate the small sample as well as large sample properties of our estimators. We show that ignoring the within‐subject dependence will usually underestimate the standard errors of the estimates of these compliance measures. Our model allows the application of meta‐analytic approaches to assess the variation across subjects in these compliance indices and changes in them due to intervention. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Differential Feedback of Channel Gram Matrices for Block Diagonalized Multiuser MIMO Systems

This paper proposes a differential quantization strategy to be used in the feedback link of a multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) multiuser broadcast communication system. This strategy is based on an algorithm presented for single user MIMO, and is applied to broadcast systems where the transmitter design is based on block diagonalization, i.e., the transmissions are optimized so as not to produce multiuser interference at the receive terminals, which are using more than one antenna each. The algorithm is applied to the channel Gram matrices exploiting geodesic curves and the intrinsic geometry of positive definite Hermitian matrices. Furthermore, the differential nature of the algorithm exploits the correlation in time present in real channels. Simulation results in the paper show that the proposed algorithm outperforms other techniques based on the direct quantization of the channel matrix.
Draft Genome Sequences of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O103:H2 Strains Isolated from Feces of Feedlot Cattle

ABSTRACT The enterohemorrhagic pathotype represents a minor proportion of the Escherichia coli O103 strains shed in the feces of cattle. We report here the genome sequences of 43 strains of enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) O103:H2 isolated from feedlot cattle feces. The genomic analysis will provide information on the genetic diversity and virulence potential of bovine EHEC O103.
Flickr group recommendation using content interest and social information

Social networks have been an important part of human's life. Online photo sharing websites like Flickr allow users to experience others' lifestyles by browsing photos. To gather users who have the same interests, the websites allow users to build their own interest groups and invite other users to join in. A commonly adopted recommendation in social networks such as Sina Microblog uses the social information of users. However, it performs poorly for inactive users. In this paper, we propose a group recommendation scheme by using both the content interest and social information of users. We use tag information, which is not only from users' photos but also from their favorite photos, to study the content interests of users and use the user-based collaborative filtering for recommendation. The trust-aware collaborative filtering is adopted to study the social information of users for recommendation. Finally, we combine the user-based collaborative filtering and trust-aware collaborative filtering to obtain a promising result on a real-world Flickr dataset.