Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The first experience with a mini-rating scale for the assessment of sexual dysfunction and life-satisfaction in depressed patients in the practice

Even though many scales for the assessment of sexual dysfunction have been recently developed, most of them are suitable rather for the research purpose in clinical trials than to routine interviews in a daily, private practice. We report here the first experience with a simple, semi-quantitative scale for parallel assessment of sexual dysfunction and lifesatisfaction (considered to globally reflect the quality of life), which was tested in depressed patients treated in the psychiatric, private practice setting. A combined Sexual Dysfunction(SD-S) and Life-Satisfaction Scale (LS-S), was constructed based on previous interviews with patients. Both consisted of 4-items, assumed to represent core elements of sexual function and individual well-being. The scales were applied to depressed patients treated with any of the SSRIs or with moclobemide, a reversible and selective MAO-A inhibitor. These two treatments were selected for testing the scales because it is known that SSRIs can induce or exacerbate them and moclobemide does not seem to affect them. The selection of treatment modality in this study was, however, entirely at the discretion of the physician. The assessments were done during 3 visits (at baseline, after 2 months and after 4 months). The results of this exploratory trial, testing the applicability, acceptance and utility of a combined mini- SD-S- and LS-S- scale, in 62 depressed patients, showed that the scale: a) was simple to use and well accepted by physicians and patients, b) was a suitable instrument for the practicing physician to control the success of the treatment and c) was sensitively assessing the presence and severity of sexual dysfunction.
Understanding product lifecycle management in manufacturing industries

ix Kurzfassung . xi Part A – Research Summary . 1 Part B – Articles of the Dissertation . 11 Article #1 – Contribution A . 11 Article #2 – Contribution B . 25 Article #3 – Contribution C . 37 Article #4 – Contribution D . 55 Article #5 – Contribution E . 79 Article #6 – Contribution F . 91 List of Publications . xiii Curriculum Vitae . xvii
Implementation of automated fine‐granularity locking in a persistent programming language

To gain broader acceptance, Persistent Programming Languages (PPL) need a better integration of the transaction paradigm. Much like database systems, computations should all run in the context of a transaction; the transactional properties should be applied to all objects irrespective of their type and lifetime, and they must be enforced automatically via safe and efficient mechanisms. This requires lock managers that can cope with the requirement for automated locking in a PPL. This paper reports our design and implementation of such lock managers and the accompanying machinery that a PPL must incorporate to automate locking. Our innovative ingredients for an efficient lock management recipe are a close collaboration with the memory manager of the PPL and the sharing of lock data structures of equal value between locked objects. Sharing such lock values has numerous benefits: it makes the space consumption of locking negligible and independent of the number of locks, which frees transactions of any restriction on the volume of locks that they can use; it eliminates the need for expensive book‐keeping of locks by transactions; and it enables the use of both non‐blocking synchronization and memorization techniques for whole locking operations. These features combine to achieve fast lock acquisition for the non‐blocking cases (6 RISC instructions), and make releasing locks practically free. The impact of lock management techniques and automated locking strategy on the performance of a PPL are analysed based on measurements of various lock managers integrated into PJama, a JavaTM Virtual Machine (JVM) which provides orthogonal persistence. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A rapid fluorogenic palmitoyl-protein thioesterase assay: pre- and postnatal diagnosis of INCL.

A deficiency of palmitoyl-protein thioesterase (PPT) was recently shown to be the primary defect in infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (INCL). The available enzyme assays are complicated and impractical for diagnostic use. We have recently developed a new, fluorometric assay for PPT based on the sensitive fluorochrome 4-methylumbelliferone, requiring an overnight incubation to measure PPT. Now we have synthesized an analogue of this substrate which allows PPT determinations in 1 h. This improved PPT assay is simple, sensitive, and robust and will facilitate the definition of the full clinical spectrum associated with a deficiency of PPT. PPT activity was readily detectable in fibroblasts, leukocytes, amniotic fluid cells, chorionic villi, plasma, and cerebrospinal fluid from controls. PPT activity was profoundly deficient in these tissues and fluids from INCL patients. Similarly, a deficiency of PPT activity was demonstrated in patients with the variant juvenile NCL with GROD. These results show the feasibility of rapid pre- and postnatal diagnosis of INCL and its variants.
Amino acid sequence studies with Bence-Jones proteins.

Precise structural studies with Bence-Jones proteins have assumed much greater significance following the suggestion by Edelman and Poulik' that they are polypeptide chains associated with the ey-globulins of patients with multiple myeloma and the confirmation of this suggestion by the findings2 that these myeloma globulins after reduction and alkylation give bands in starch gel electrophoresis which are at the same position as those given by the Bence-Jones protein (which has been similarly reduced and alkylated) from the same patient. This concept has been further strengthened by the findings of Edelman and Gally,3 Putnam,4 Schwartz and Edelman,5 and Mannik and Kunkel.6 It is now accepted that the Bence-Jones proteins correspond in most instances to the light chains of the myelorna protein from the same patient. The light chains are known7 to be important in antibody structure. Structural differences between different BenceJones proteins might not only reveal certain features responsible for antibody specificity but might also yield more detailed information concerning the genetic mechanism which determines the synthesis of light chains of antibodies. A study of the amino acid sequence of the Bence-Jones proteins from certain selected patients was therefore undertaken. The patients were selected on the basis of minimal heterogeneity with respect to preliminary chemical studies8 and the physical and immunological studies carried out in the laboratories of Dr. H. G. Kunkel and Dr. G. M. Edelman of this institute. The most favorable case (Roy) had been shown by Harboe, Osterland, Mannik, and Kunkel9 to be of the immunological type I (genetic type a+, b-, 1-). It was studied rather intensively from the standpoint of purity by a number of fractionation techniques including countercurrent distribution under dissociating conditions8 and the amino acid composition established with extensively fractionated material. While the initial purity studies were in progress, preliminary investigations were under way on the best conditions for enzymatic splitting. For this purpose, protein prepared by ammonium sulfate fractionation only was employed. These results are reported in the present paper. While confirmation by repetition on material purified by countercurrent distribution is planned, the fragmentation results thus far are entirely self-consistent and lead within the experimental error to the over-all analytical composition established on the highly fractionated protein. Materials and Methods. -The enzymes used were obtained from Worthington. The trypsin was pretreated.10 The digestions (protein: enzyme ratios of 100:1) were made at 380 on 1-1.5 gm of lyophylized protein which had been fully reduced with mercaptoethanol and alkylated with iodoacetic acid in 10 M urea according to the directions of Anfinsen and Haber. "1 In the case of
Accurate pedestrian detection using RGB-D camera

In this paper, we present an integrated method for Pedestrian Detection using RGB-D camera. It is clearly that depth channel of the image can provide an extra info. In this paper, depth image is used to construct background model in order to produce an image ROI, and color image makes a texture partition. We combined the 2 steps to generate a novel framework. Using this framework, we deal with detection by removing shadow and occlusion problems. Also an accurate contour is generated for classification. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.
Multi-Criteria Analyses of Urban Planning for City Expansion: A Case Study of Zamora, Spain

This study has established a methodology to determine the most environmentally suitable area for the expansion of Zamora (Spain) using geographic information system (GIS) technology. The objective was to develop a GIS-based methodology for the identification of urban peripheral areas that are suitable for the accommodation of new buildings and services, that are compliant with environmental criteria, and that guarantee an adequate quality of life for the future population such that extra construction costs are avoided. The methodological core is based on two multi-criteria analyses (MCAs): MCA-1 determines areas suitable for building—the most environmentally sustainable areas that do not present risks or discomforts to the population—by analyzing the restrictive factors; MCA-2 takes the sectors that received a favorable evaluation in MCA-1, determines which of those have a lower economic overhead for construction, and analyzes the different conditioning criteria related to their pre-existing infrastructures. Finally, the location of the sectors is determined by a decision factor that satisfies some strategic need of the municipality.
Identification of Cell Surface Immunoglobulin Markers by Protein A‐Containing Fluorescent Staphylococci

We describe a simple method for detecting surface‐associated IgG on some human lymphoid cell lines and on mouse lymphocytes. using fluorescent Staphylococcus aureus (strain Cowan 1). The adherence of the fluorescent bacteria to cell surface‐located IgG is mediated by protein A (SpA) molecules on the bacterial cell wall. Inhibition of the adherence of bacteria by soluble SpA was used for quantitation of IgG on cell surface. The method has a good specificity and a high sensitivity and detects approximately 600 IgG molecules per cell.
Central airway mechanics and flow limitation in acquired tracheobronchomalacia.

BACKGROUND Acquired tracheobronchomalacia (TBM) can cause central airway collapse in patients with COPD and may worsen airflow obstruction and symptoms. It is usually not known whether central airway malacia contributes to airflow obstruction. This study was undertaken to quantify central airway collapsibility and relate it to expiratory flow limitation in patients with TBM. METHODS Eighty patients evaluated for acquired TBM and 4 healthy control subjects were studied with measurements of central airway narrowing derived from bronchoscopic videotapes and simultaneous pressure measurements in the trachea and esophagus. Tracheal narrowing was assessed by a shape index and plotted against the transtracheal pressure to measure collapsibility. Subsequently, airflow and transpulmonary pressure (PL) were measured to identify expiratory flow limitation during quiet breathing and to determine the critical PL required for maximum expiratory flow. RESULTS Tracheal collapsibility varied widely among patients. Some had profound tracheal narrowing during quiet breathing, and others showed substantial collapse only during forced exhalation. Of the patients, 15% were not flow limited during quiet breathing, 53% were flow limited throughout exhalation, and 30% were flow limited only during the latter part of the exhalation. Patients with flow limitation at rest showed greater tracheal narrowing than those without (p = 0.009), but the severity of expiratory flow limitation was not closely related to tracheal collapsibility. Twenty-three patients were flow limited during quiet exhalation at PLs that did not cause central airway collapse. CONCLUSIONS In TBM, central airway collapse is not closely related to airflow obstruction, and expiratory flow limitation at rest often occurs in peripheral airways without central airway collapse.
Analysis of Patient Flows Via Data Mining

The paper presents DoMiner, a data mining tool for the analysis of patient flows among public hospitals and care units. DoMiner is based on the theory of rough sets, and allows for the extraction of association rules from data base tables. The paper describes both the clustering and rule extraction algorithm of DoMiner, and illustrates an introductory analysis example.
Scribble participates in Hippo signaling and is required for normal zebrafish pronephros development

Spatial organization of cells and their appendages is controlled by the planar cell polarity pathway, a signaling cascade initiated by the protocadherin Fat in Drosophila. Vertebrates express 4 Fat molecules, Fat1–4. We found that depletion of Fat1 caused cyst formation in the zebrafish pronephros. Knockdown of the PDZ domain containing the adaptor protein Scribble intensified the cyst-promoting phenotype of Fat1 depletion, suggesting that Fat1 and Scribble act in overlapping signaling cascades during zebrafish pronephros development. Supporting the genetic interaction with Fat1, Scribble recognized the PDZ-binding site of Fat1. Depletion of Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1), a transcriptional co-activator inhibited by Hippo signaling, ameliorated the cyst formation in Fat1-deficient zebrafish, whereas Scribble inhibited the YAP1-induced cyst formation. Thus, reduced Hippo signaling and subsequent YAP1 disinhibition seem to play a role in the development of pronephric cysts after depletion of Fat1 or Scribble. We hypothesize that Hippo signaling is required for normal pronephros development in zebrafish and that Scribble is a candidate link between Fat and the Hippo signaling cascade in vertebrates.
Forces mécaniques au sein de l'endothélium

Les dysfonctionnements vasculaires ou les blessures induites par l'âge, le tabac, les traumatismes ou une hyperlipidemie font partie de la myriade de facteurs de risques qui contribuent a la pathogenese de nombreuses maladies cardiovasculaires. Un objectif important de la biologie vasculaire est de comprendre les processus cellulaires qui favorisent ou protegent contre ces maladies vasculaires. Cette pathogenese est etroitement associee avec le dysfonctionnement de la paroi interne des vaisseaux sanguins. Cette paroi est constituee par une monocouche de cellules endotheliales qui forment l'endothelium vasculaire. La reparation de l'endothelium implique le remodelage des adhesions focales (AF) et des jonctions adherentes (JA). Des modifications dans la composition proteique de ces structures adhesives generent des forces qui sont a la base du remodelage et de la reparation de l'endothelium. Dans la litterature, les forces cellulaires sont etudiees sur des cellules isolees, des doublets de cellules ou des ilots de cellules en croissance mais les forces mecaniques qui s'exercent au sein d'un tissu doivent encore etre caracterisees. Dans cette these, nous utilisons la Microscopie a Traction de Force (TFM) sur des substrats en polyacrylamide pour etudier l'equilibre mecanique entre les jonctions intercellulaires et les adhesions cellule/substrat. Nous analysons dans quel mesure la TFM peut etre utilisee pour etudier des monocouches cellulaires et presentons une nouvelle approche pour extraire les forces contractiles exercees par un tissu endotheliale. Finalement, nous utilisons cette methode pour caracteriser les forces transmises par les cellules a leur substrat et les forces contractiles pour une monocouche endotheliale. Cette methode fournit un outil interessant pour etudier la contribution de certaines proteines des jonctions adherentes sur les forces transmises au sein de l'endothelium.
New ZnO@Cardanol Porphyrin Composite Nanomaterials with Enhanced Photocatalytic Capability under Solar Light Irradiation

This work describes the synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic activity of new composite nanomaterials based on ZnO nanostructures impregnated by lipophlilic porphyrins derived from cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL). The obtained nanomaterials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and steady-state photoluminescence spectra (PL). The results confirm nanostructures showing average diameter of 55 nm and an improved absorption in the visible region. Further, the FTIR analysis proved the existence of non-covalent interactions between the porphyrin molecules and ZnO. The photocatalytic activity of prepared photocatalysts was investigated by degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation and natural sunlight. It was demonstrated that the photocatalytic activity increases in the presence of the porphyrins and, also, depends on the irradiation source. The development of composite photocatalysts based on porphyrins derived from CNSL provides an alternative approach to eliminate efficiently toxic wastes from water under ambient conditions.
Mitigating active shooter impact: Analysis for policy options based on agent/computer-based modeling.

UNLABELLED Active shooting violence at confined settings, such as educational institutions, poses serious security concerns to public safety. In studying the effects of active shooter scenarios, the common denominator associated with all events, regardless of reason/intent for shooter motives, or type of weapons used, was the location chosen and time expended between the beginning of the event and its culmination. This in turn directly correlates to number of casualties incurred in any given event. The longer the event protracts, the more casualties are incurred until law enforcement or another barrier can react and culminate the situation. OBJECTIVE Using AnyLogic technology, devise modeling scenarios to test multiple hypotheses against free-agent modeling simulation to determine the best method to reduce casualties associated with active shooter scenarios. DESIGN, SETTING, SUBJECTS Test four possible scenarios of responding to active shooter in a public school setting using agent-based computer modeling techniques-scenario 1: basic scenario where no access control or any type of security is used within the school; scenario 2, scenario assumes that concealed carry individual(s) (5-10 percent of the work force) are present in the school; scenario 3, scenario assumes that the school has assigned resource officer; scenario 4, scenario assumes that the school has assigned resource officer and concealed carry individual(s) (5-10 percent) present in the school. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURED Statistical data from modeling scenarios indicating which tested hypothesis resulted in fewer casualties and quicker culmination of event. RESULTS The use of AnyLogic proved the initial hypothesis that a decrease on response time to an active shooter scenario directly reduced victim casualties. CONCLUSIONS Modeling tests show statistically significant fewer casualties in scenarios where on scene armed responders such as resource officers and concealed carry personnel were present.
Collateral Knowledge: Legal Reasoning in the Global Financial Markets

Annelise Riles’s Collateral Knowledge: Legal Reasoning in the Global Financial Markets is a fascinating book that deserves a wide readership in STS. As an anthropologist, Riles takes us close to the work of global finance, not, as is often the case, by focusing on the action of stock trading or high-level policy discussions but by concentrating on back-office efforts to keep financial transactions on track. From an ethnographic location within the offices of the Bank of Japan, she demonstrates the centrality of mundane backstage efforts to make the finance machine work. She also shows the mutual entanglements between such work and high-level legal, economic, and political theorizing. There are several reasons that this book is highly relevant for theEASTS readership. Empirically, along with Hirokazu Miyazaki’s Arbitraging Japan (2012), it offers one of the most nuanced analyses available within the blossoming field of social studies of finance. It adds to this literature by emphasizing the importance of legal reasoning and the complicated relations between global finance and private and public law. Regionally, the study is based in Japan and thus offers a counterpoint to the heavilyWesterncentric emphasis of most available STS studies of finance. At the same time, it poses questions concerning the analytical usefulness of area demarcations such as East Asia or Europe, in a “global” context. Politically, the book offers suggestions for how to create a more sustainable set of finance practices, an issue of huge importance in these days of market instability. Finally, the book is valuable as an analytical intervention in ongoing STS discussions.
Contribution de l'homogénéisation à l'étude de la filtration d'un gaz en milieu déformable à double porosité : application à l'étude du système gaz-charbon

L'objet de cette etude est de determiner, par la methode des developpements asymptotiques, des modeles mathematiques macroscopiques decrivant l'ecoulement d'un fluide compressible dans un milieu poreux a double porosite. Les limites des modeles classiques sont definies pour le cas particulier d'un milieu a double conductivite et une correction simple, elargissant leur domaine de validite, est proposee. Une adaptation de la methode des developpements asymptotiques pour le cas des milieux a double porosite est ensuite mise au point. Elle s'appuie sur l'existence de trois longueurs caracteristiques introduites par la geometrie du milieu. Alors que les methodes classiques considerent que le fluide est faiblement compressible, cette methode est appliquee ici pour etudier la filtration d'un fluide tres compressible dans un milieu poreux fracture. Le cas d'une matrice rigide, puis celui d'une matrice deformable, sont successivement envisages. Il s'avere que les comportements macroscopiques obtenus dependent des ordres de grandeur relatifs des rapports d'echelles. L'une des descriptions obtenues pour une matrice rigide est fortement non-lineaire et comporte des effets de memoire. L'etude pour une matrice deformable met en evidence la necessite de considerer separement les phenomenes de compressibilite du fluide et de deformabilite de la matrice. En guise d'application, l'etude du systeme gaz-charbon est alors envisagee, dans le but de contribuer a la prevention d'un phenomene dynamique se produisant dans les mines de charbon: le coup de poussier. Une description detaillee des differents processus qui se developpent au sein d'un milieu gaz-charbon, notamment le phenomene de sorption et ses consequences, est presentee et se fonde sur de nombreux resultats experimentaux. Enfin, en se basant sur l'etude theorique precedente, un modele de filtration avec adsorption d'un gaz dans un milieu poreux fracture rigide est propose
Hybrid vehicle positioning and tracking using mobile phones

Due to the pervasive deployments of mobile communication technologies, vehicle positioning and tracking by locating the driver's mobile phones has become feasible. However, no single positioning method can provide decent tradeoff between accuracy and coverage. To address this issue, we propose a Kalman filter-based hybrid method which can track the mobile phones traveling on-board vehicles. The proposed method combines coordinates collected by assisted global positioning system (A-GPS) mobile phones and location estimates calculated from observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) measurements. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of this hybrid scheme in a simulated vehicular scenario.