Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An exploration of pain experiences and their meaning in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

ABSTRACT Background: Pain is a common symptom in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which negatively influences quality of life and psychological well-being. However, our understanding of how those with COPD interpret the experience of pain is very limited. Objectives: To explore how individuals with moderate to severe COPD experience pain. Methods: Eight patients diagnosed with COPD who reported experiencing pain for greater than three months participated in in-depth interviews. Transcripts were subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: Five themes were identified: 1) pain complicates the clinical profile of COPD; 2) uncertainly of the pain experience: frustrations related to health care professionals’ explanation for their pain and the need to legitimize; 3) language and behavior of pain: portraying pain as frustrating and unpredictable; 4) psychological reactions toward pain: depression and fear-avoidance behavior; and 5) altered identity perception: reduced self-worth, guilt in not meeting the expectations of others. Conclusions: Patients report difficulty in explaining the persistence of pain. This fosters a need to legitimize their pain, which influences feelings of frustration and self-worth. An understanding of these responses will assist health care professionals in managing on-going pain in those with COPD.
Automatic Inter-image Homography Estimation from Person Detections

Inter-image homographies are essential for many differenttasks involving projective geometry. This paper proposesan adaptive correspondence estimation approach betweenperson detections in a planar scene not relying oncorrespondence features as it is the case in many otherRANSAC-based approaches. The result is a planar interimagehomography calculated from estimated point correspondences.The approach is self-configurable, adaptiveand provides robustness over time by exploiting temporaland geometric information. We demonstrate the manifoldapplicability of the proposed approach on a variety ofdatasets. Improved results compared to a common baselineapproach are shown and the influence of error sources suchas missed detections, false detections and non overlappingfield of views is investigated.
Synergistic effect of three benzopyrans isolated from Hypericum polyanthemum in U‐373 MG glioblastoma cell line

The antiproliferative activity of three benzopyrans isolated from the chloroform extract of the aerial parts of Hypericum polyanthemum was analysed in order to determine their effect on the growth and cell cycle in the U‐373 MG glioblastoma cell line. Compound 1 was less cytotoxic than compounds 2 and 3. A synergistic effect was noticed when the three benzopyrans were used simultaneously. The cytotoxicity noted could be related to an arrest in G2/M phase, leading to apoptosis in the U‐373 MG glioblastoma cell line. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Design of low cost cavity-backed microstrip patch arrays

Phased array antennas of microstrip patches enclosed in metallic cavities have attractive advantages in comparison with the conventional patch arrays on continuous substrates. They are however technologically more complex than the conventional patch array on continuous substrates. In order to have simpler structures that give rise to lower cost microstrip array configurations but maintaining the improved performance of patch arrays bounded by metallic walls, an alternative cavity-backed microstrip array arrangement is proposed. A versatile hybrid numerical analysis method is applied to investigate this configuration.
Autologous stem‐cell transplantation restores the functional properties of CD14+CD16+ monocytes in patients with myeloma and lymphoma

The CD14+CD16+ monocytes appear to be important to immune defense against infection, as these cells are very potent with respect to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production, phagocytosis, and antigen presentation. Myeloablative high‐dose chemotherapy (HDT) and subsequent autologous stem‐cell transplantation (ASCT) are being used increasingly for therapy of hematological malignancies, but the pronounced immunosuppression renders the patients prone to infection. To determine the functional properties of CD14+CD16+ monocytes under these conditions, 15 patients with lymphoma or myeloma were examined. Before HDT, the ratio of CD14+CD16+ cells to the population of the classical CD14++ monocytes was 0.28 ± 0.12; this ratio changed during the course of HDT and ASCT in favor of the CD14+CD16+ monocytes to a maximum of 12.4 ± 7.8 (P<0.001) on day 3.5 ± 1.6 after transplanation (Tx) and returned to 0.11 ± 0.07 (P<0.001) after engraftment on day 11.3 ± 2.2. Although the absolute number of classical CD14++ monocytes declined to less than 1/μl at the nadir, the number of CD14+CD16+monocytes fell from 29.7 ± 9.8/μl to 4.5 ± 3.0/μl at the nadir and increased to 13.8 ± 9.8/μl at the day of discharge from the hospital. Flow cytometric analysis of phagocytosis of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)‐labeled Escherichia coli showed that 30 ± 10% CD14+CD16+ monocytes of patients were FITC‐positive before Tx, and at engrafment, the percentage of FITC‐positive cells had doubled to 60 ± 6% (healthy controls, 41±7%). When determining generation of reactive oxygen species after E. coli ingestion, the CD14+CD16+ monocytes showed a decreased response before Tx (32±12% positve cells), which increased to 53 ± 24% after ASCT. The median fluorescence intensity of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)‐DR expression on the CD14+CD16+ monocytes increased from 11 ± 6 before Tx to 17 ± 11 after Tx, and the production of TNF after lipopolysaccharide showed no remarkable difference (46±13 vs. 49±14 channels). At the same time, expression of TNF and of HLA‐DR showed a dramatic decrease in the CD14++ monocytes. Taken together after stem‐cell Tx, the function of the CD14++ monocytes is impaired, and the functional properties of CD14+CD16+ monocytes recover, indicating that these cells may be important for defense against infections post‐ASCT.
A preliminary study of dietary aluminium intake and risk of Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND epidemiological studies of Alzheimer's disease and aluminium intake have focused on aluminium in drinking water. There have been no studies investigating the relation between the disease and the consumption of foods containing large amounts of aluminium additives. OBJECTIVES to conduct a pilot study to determine whether dietary intake of aluminium additives differs in individuals with and without Alzheimer's disease. DESIGN matched case-control study. Controls were matched to cases on age, gender and date of admission to the centre. SETTING Syracuse, New York, USA. SUBJECTS 46 participants comprising 23 matched sets. METHODS residents of the Loretto Geriatric Center with and without newly-diagnosed Alzheimer's disease were selected. Next-of-kin were asked to complete information on the resident's medical history, lifestyle behaviour and dietary intake before admission to the centre. An expanded form of the Health Habits and History Questionnaire was used to determine dietary intake. Consumption of foods containing elevated levels of aluminium additives was compared between cases and controls. RESULTS the crude odds ratio for daily intake of foods containing high levels of aluminium was 2.0 and, when adjusted for covariates, was 8.6 (P=0.19). Intake of pancakes, waffles, biscuits, muffins, cornbread and/or corn tortillas differed significantly (P=0.025) between cases and controls. Adjusted odds ratios were also elevated for grain product desserts, American cheese, chocolate pudding or beverages, salt and chewing gum. However, the odds ratio was not elevated for tea consumption. CONCLUSION past consumption of foods containing large amounts of aluminium additives differed between people with Alzheimer's disease and controls, suggesting that dietary intake of aluminium may affect the risk of developing this disease. Larger studies are warranted to corroborate or refute these preliminary findings.
Compact Load Network for GaN-HEMT Doherty Power Amplifier IC Using Left-Handed and Right-Handed Transmission Lines

This letter presents a compact load network for Doherty power amplifier (DPA) integrated circuits (ICs) using <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\pi }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-type left-handed (LH) and right-handed (RH) transmission lines (TLs) based on lumped components. The quarter-wave impedance transformers based on the LH TLs and a compensation method for the internal shunt capacitance using a shunt inductor were adopted for the impedance matching networks. The <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\pi }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-type LH and RH TLs for the matching networks and a combining network can be further simplified by merging adjacent shunt components. In order to verify the proposed load network, a 2.6-GHz DPA IC was designed and fabricated using a 0.4-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mu }\text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> gallium nitride high-electron-mobility transistor process for small-cell base stations. The overall size of the chip is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.7\times 1.8$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mm<sup>2</sup> and the chip was mounted on a quad flat no-leads package. For a long term evolution signal with a signal bandwidth of 10 MHz and a peak-to-average power ratio of 6.5 dB, a high drain efficiency of 52.2% was obtained at an average output power of 34.0 dBm.
Image classification using adapted codebook

Bag of visual words model deriving from text categorization has recently appeared promising for object and image classification, this method always need to deal with large database. This paper proposed an efficient clustering algorithm to obtain universal codebook and adapted codebook, our combination of k-means and agglomerative clustering gives significant improvement in time efficiency while maintaining the same performance of image classification. We also use the adapted codebook to improve image classification performance, an image is presented by a set of histograms - one per class, each histogram describes whether the image is best modeled by the universal codebook or the corresponding adapted class codebook. The experiment result on Caltech-256 shows the combined universal codebook and adapted class codebook representation outperforms those approaches which use the universal codebook only.
SEROPREVALENCE OF TOXOPLASMA GONDII INFECTION AMONG PATIENTS ADMITTED TO AL-ZAHRA HOSPITAL, ISFAHAN, IRAN.

BACKGROUND Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection is one of the most common parasitic infections among humans and other warm-blooded animals worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate toxoplasmosis status in patients admitted to Al-Zahra hospital, Isfahan, Iran. METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2012 to January 2015. During this period, 716 patients referred to AI-Zahra hospital in Isfahan city, Iran, were studied to investigate the IgG and IgM antibodies against T. gondii using ELISA kit. The data were analysed by Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. In addition, the relation of data with age and sex were also examined. RESULTS Among 716 patients, 21 patients (2.9%) had positive IgM and 288 patients (40.2%) had positive IgG titer against T. gondii. Data analysis by Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests revealed that there was no significant relationship between IgG titer and age (p > 0.05). Additionally, there was no relationship between IgM titer and age (p > 0.05). The data showed that there was no relationship between IgG and IgM antibody titer and sex (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION The prevalence of toxoplasmosis in Isfahan inhabitants seems fairly high but it can be concluded that the rate of seropositive patient is moderate comparing to other regions of country. Accordingly, the authors propose that all sensitive patients have to be tested for T. gondii antibody in order to prevent the consequences of disease.
Paradoxical Increase in Mortality and Rupture of Intracranial Aneurysms in Microsomal Prostaglandin E2 Synthase Type 1-Deficient Mice: Attenuation by Aspirin.

BACKGROUND Inflammation plays an important role in formation and rupture of intracranial aneurysms. Expression of microsomal prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) synthase type 1 (mPGES-1) is increased in the wall of intracranial aneurysms in humans. PGE2, a by-product of mPGES-1, is associated with inflammation and cerebrovascular dysfunction. OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that deletion of mPGES-1 decreases the formation and rupture of intracranial aneurysms in a murine model. METHODS Intracranial aneurysms were induced in wild-type and mPGES-1 knockout (mPGES-1 KO) mice by using a combination of deoxycorticosterone acetate-salt-induced hypertension and intracranial injection of elastase in the basal cistern. Prevalence of aneurysms, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and mortality were assessed. We also tested the effects of administration of aspirin (6 mg/kg/d) by gavage and PGE2 (1 mg/kg/d) by subcutaneous infusion. RESULTS Systolic blood pressure and prevalence of aneurysm were similar in wild-type and mPGES-1 KO mice. However, mortality and the prevalence of subarachnoid hemorrhage were markedly increased in mPGES-1 KO mice (P < .05). Bone marrow reconstitution studies suggest that mPGES-1 derived from leukocytes does not appear to increase rupture of intracranial aneurysms. Aspirin, but not PGE2, attenuated the increased mortality in mPGES-1 KO mice (P < .05). CONCLUSION Vascular mPGES-1 plays a protective role in blood vessels and attenuates rupture of cerebral aneurysms. In contrast to effects on abdominal aneurysms, mPGES-1 deficiency is associated with an increase in rupture of cerebral aneurysms and mortality, which are attenuated by low-dose aspirin.
Business innovation and waste management sustainability: the case of door-to-door collection

Purpose of the paper : The paper analyses the relationship between innovative kerbside recycling programs and the costs and profits of firms entrusted with waste collection. In particular, the paper disaggregates the effects of implementing and operating the green collection scheme and especially the increasingly popular door-to-door system. Methodology : It uses a panel of around 70 Italian firms specialized in waste management to estimate a short-run cost-profit function system, where recycling rates depend on the adopted collection schemes. The empirical model is framed within the triple-bottom-line paradigm, based on interconnections between environmental, economic and social sustainability. Findings : Results show that costs increase following the implementation of environmentally friendly programs while they decrease when recycling rates increase, possibly due to savings from the disposal side. Notable increases in profit level emerge just after the implementation of greener collection techniques as a result of enhanced mark-ups. The interpretation of this effect invokes a process of social legitimacy of the firms as theorized in the context of the institutional theory. Research limits : The paper might be improved by considering a more detailed analysis of the issue of vertical integration, concerning in particular the direct management of incinerators and landfills. Practical implications : The paper contributes to understanding the balance between costs and profitability when advanced recycling programs are put in place, especially for budget-constrained municipalities. Originality of the paper : The paper analyses and provides interpretation to the unexplored nexus between recycling programs and firm profits.
Species-specific rDNA transcription is due to promoter-specific binding factors

RNA polymerase I transcription factors were purified from HeLa and mouse L cell extracts by phosphocellulose chromatography. Three fractions from each species were found to be required for transcription. One of these fractions, virtually devoid of RNA polymerase I activity, was found to form a stable preinitiation complex with small DNA fragments containing promoter sequences from the homologous but not the heterologous species. These species-specific DNA-binding factors can explain nucleolar dominance in vivo in mouse-human hybrid somatic cells and species specificity in cell-free, RNA polymerase I-dependent transcription systems. The evolution of species-specific transcriptional control signals may be the natural outcome of a special relationship that exists between the RNA polymerase I transcription machinery and the multigene family coding for rRNA.
μ-biomimetic flow-sensors—introducing light-guiding PDMS structures into MEMS

In the area of biomimetics, engineers use inspiration from natural systems to develop technical devices, such as sensors. One example is the lateral line system of fish. It is a mechanoreceptive system consisting of up to several thousand individual sensors called neuromasts, which enable fish to sense prey, predators, or conspecifics. So far, the small size and high sensitivity of the lateral line is unmatched by man-made sensor devices. Here, we describe an artificial lateral line system based on an optical detection principle. We developed artificial canal neuromasts using MEMS technology including thick film techniques. In this work, we describe the MEMS fabrication and characterize a sensor prototype. Our sensor consists of a silicon chip, a housing, and an electronic circuit. We demonstrate the functionality of our &mgr; ? > -biomimetic flow sensor by analyzing its response to constant water flow and flow fluctuations. Furthermore, we discuss the sensor robustness and sensitivity of our sensor and its suitability for industrial and medical applications. In sum, our sensor can be used for many tasks, e.g. for monitoring fluid flow in medical applications, for detecting leakages in tap water systems or for air and gas flow measurements. Finally, our flow sensor can even be used to improve current knowledge about the functional significance of the fish lateral line.
Are clinical laboratories prepared for accurate testing of 25-hydroxy vitamin D?

Vitamin D deficiency is an important concern, but assays for serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25-OH-D),1 the accepted marker for vitamin D nutritional status, are not standardized. A quick search of Medline yielded 6014 citations on vitamin D deficiency, 51 of which were published in the first 6 mo of 2007 (1). Recognition that vitamin D deficiency may be more prevalent in most patient populations than earlier assumed has resulted in an unexpected and marked increase in the volume of testing for 25-OH-D in clinical laboratories (1). Historically, not many tests in the clinical laboratories have increased at the rate of 80% to 90% per year, as is the case for 25-OH-D in our reference laboratory. Several million 25-OH-D tests are likely to be performed this year in the US by various reference and local hospital laboratories, raising questions about the adequacy of the methods used to make these measurements. Various methods are available for measuring circulating concentrations of 25-OH-D (until …
POSTER: Design Space Exploration for Performance Optimization of Deep Neural Networks on Shared Memory Accelerators

The growing prominence and computational challenges imposed by Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) has fueled the design of specialized accelerator architectures and associated dataflows to improve their implementation efficiency. Each of these solutions serve as a datapoint on the throughput vs. energy trade-offs for a given DNN and a set of architectural constraints. In this paper, we set out to explore whether it is possible to systematically explore the design space so as to estimate a given DNN's (both inference and training) performance on an shared memory architecture specification using a variety of data-flows. To this end, we have developed a framework, DEEPMATRIX, which given a description of a DNN and a hardware architecture, automatically identifies how the computations of the DNN's layers need to partitioned and mapped on to the architecture such that the overall performance is maximized, while meeting the constraints imposed by the hardware (processing power, memory capacity, bandwidth etc.) We demonstrate DEEPMATRIX's effectiveness for the VGG DNN benchmark, showing the trade-offs and sensitivity of utilization based on different architecture constraints.
Pacemaking in rabbit isolated sino‐atrial node cells during Cs+ block of the hyperpolarization‐activated current if.

1. Experiments have been carried out using the whole‐cell patch clamp technique to investigate how the spontaneous pacemaker activity of rabbit isolated sino‐atrial (SA) node cells is affected by the block of the hyperpolarization‐activated current if by 1 and 2 mM‐caesium. 2. Two millimolar caesium reduced the amount of if activated at ‐90 mV to less than 10% of the control value. In the pacemaking range of SA node cells, if was often completely blocked by this concentration of Cs+. 3. Two millimolar caesium slowed but did not arrest spontaneous pacemaking in isolated SA node cells. In freely beating non‐patched cells, 2 mM‐CsCl caused a 30% reduction in rate of beating, indicating that in all cells observed if was normally contributing to pacemaking. 4. No increase in instantaneous inward current was seen in response to hyperpolarizing voltage clamp pulses from a holding potential of ‐40 mV when 1 or 2 mM‐CsCl was applied to SA node cells. These concentrations of Cs+ do not therefore induce an ‘extra’ inward current. 5. Neither the inward calcium current (iCa) nor the outward potassium current (iK) showed changes which could be attributed to Cs+ application. 6. Since spontaneous pacemaking continues during Cs+ block of if while other membrane currents show no Cs(+)‐induced changes which could account for this, these experiments provide strong, though indirect, evidence for the presence in SA node of a time‐independent background current, ib, which will contribute to a mode of pacemaking controlled by the decay of potassium conductance (gK). The nature of this inward current has yet to be clarified. 7. The results strongly suggest that the hyperpolarization‐activated current if normally makes an important contribution to the pacemaker depolarization of all SA node cells.
The fecal microbiota composition of boar Duroc, Yorkshire, Landrace and Hampshire pigs

Objective To investigate the effect of host genetics on gut microbial diversity, we performed a structural survey of the fecal microbiota of four purebred boar pig lines: Duroc, Landrace, Hampshire, and Yorkshire. Methods The V3–V4 regions of the 16S rRNA genes were amplified and sequenced. Results A total of 783 operational taxonomic units were shared by all breeds, whereas others were breed-specific. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes dominated the majority of the fecal microbiota; Clostridia, Bacilli, and Bacteroidia were the major classes. Nine predominant genera were observed in all breeds and eight of them can produce short-chain fatty acids. Some bacteria can secrete cellulase to aid fiber digestion by the host. Butyric, isobutyric, valeric, and isovaleric acid levels were highest in Landrace pigs, whereas acetic and propionic acid were highest in the Hampshire breed. Heatmap was used to revealed breed-specific bacteria. Principal coordinate analysis of fecal bacteria revealed that the Landrace and Yorkshire breeds had high similarity and were clearly separated from the Duroc and Hampshire breeds. Conclusion Overall, this study is the first time to compare the fecal microbiomes of four breeds of boar pig by high-throughput sequencing and to use Spearman’s rank correlation to analyze competition and cooperation among the core bacteria.