Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Real-time 3D visualization of the thoraco-abdominal surface during breathing with body movement and deformation extraction

Real-time 3D visualization of the breathing displacements can be a useful diagnostic tool in order to immediately observe the most active regions on the thoraco-abdominal surface. The developed method is capable of separating non-relevant torso movement and deformations from the deformations that are solely related to breathing. This makes it possible to visualize only the breathing displacements. The system is based on the structured laser triangulation principle, with simultaneous spatial and color data acquisition of the thoraco-abdominal region. Based on the tracking of the attached passive markers, the torso movement and deformation is compensated using rigid and non-rigid transformation models on the three-dimensional (3D) data. The total time of 3D data processing together with visualization equals 20 ms per cycle. In vitro verification of the rigid movement extraction was performed using the iterative closest point algorithm as a reference. Furthermore, a volumetric evaluation on a live subject was performed to establish the accuracy of the rigid and non-rigid model. The root mean square deviation between the measured and the reference volumes shows an error of ±0.08 dm3 for rigid movement extraction. Similarly, the error was calculated to be ±0.02 dm3 for torsional deformation extraction and ±0.11 dm3 for lateral bending deformation extraction. The results confirm that during the torso movement and deformation, the proposed method is sufficiently accurate to visualize only the displacements related to breathing. The method can be used, for example, during the breathing exercise on an indoor bicycle or a treadmill.
Fast architectures for FPGA-based implementation of RSA encryption algorithm

In this work, new structures that implement RSA cryptographic algorithm are presented. These structures are built upon a modified Montgomery modular multiplier, where the operations of multiplication and modular reductions are carried out in parallel rather than interleaved as in the traditional Montgomery multiplier. The global broadcast of data lines is avoided by interleaving two or more encryption/decryption operations onto the same structure, thus making the implementation systolic and scalable. The digit approach has been adopted in This work. This methodology is based on varying the digit size and the level of pipelining of the structures. This parameterised approach presents the designer with an efficient way of choosing the architecture that suits better his/her requirements in terms of speed and area usage, an issue of critical importance to the resources-limited FPGA chips. The results of implementation using FPGA have shown that the proposed RSA structures outperformed those structures built around the traditional Montgomery multiplier in terms of speed, thanks to avoiding global lines broadcast.
Megakaryocyte precursors, megakaryocytes and platelets express the HIV co‐receptor CXCR4 on their surface: determination of response to stromal‐derived factor‐1 by megakaryocytes and platelets

Thrombocytopenia is a late complication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The chemokine receptor CXCR4 has been shown to be a co‐receptor for lymphocyte‐tropic HIV‐1 strains. CXCR4 is also a natural receptor for the chemokine SDF‐1. We have previously shown that CXCR1 and CXCR2 are present on megakaryocytes and platelets. Although interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) and other chemokines that bind to these two receptors do not activate platelets, they are able to inhibit megakaryocytopoiesis, presumably through these receptors. We therefore examined whether CXCR4 is present on developing and mature megakaryocytes and on platelets. Reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) demonstrated the presence of CXCR4 message. Immature and mature αIIbβ3+ megakaryocytes, and platelets were also positive for CXCR4 by flow cytometric studies using a CXCR4‐specific antibody. We then tested whether SDF‐1 can affect the biology of these cells. CD34+ cells and immature αIIbβ3+ cells responded to SDF‐1 as indicated by Ca2+ mobilization and chemotaxis. However, mature megakaryocytes failed to demonstrate either of these responses, in spite of their continued ability to bind 125I‐SDF‐1. Further, SDF‐1 failed to inhibit megakaryocyte colony growth. Platelets bound 125I‐SDF‐1 with a KD similar to the affinity seen for CXCR4 on other cells, yet SDF‐1 did not aggregate washed platelets nor augment aggregation by low‐dose ADP or thrombin. SDF‐1 also failed to stimulate Ca2+ mobilization, granular release or expression of P‐selectin in platelets. Accordingly, although our studies demonstrate that CD34+ precursors, megakaryocytes and platelets all express CXCR4 and bind SDF‐1, biological effects were only demonstrable of SDF‐1 on CD34+ precursors. The potential biological implications of CXCR4 expression on maturing megakaryocytes and platelets in normal individuals and following HIV infection are discussed.
Dendritic cells primed with a chimeric plasmid containing HIV‐1‐gag associated with lysosomal‐associated protein‐1 (LAMP/gag) is a potential therapeutic vaccine against HIV

The decline in number and function of T cells is a hallmark of HIV infection, and preservation or restoration of HIV‐specific cellular immune response is a major goal of AIDS treatment. Dendritic cells (DCs) play a key role in the initiation and maintenance of the immune response, and their use as a vaccine vehicle is a promising strategy for enhancing vaccine efficacy. We evaluated the potential of DC‐mediated immunization with a DNA vaccine consisting of HIV‐1‐p55gag (gag, group‐specific antigen) associated to lysosomal associated protein (LAMP) sequence (LAMP/gag vaccine). Immunization of mice with mouse DCs transfected with LAMP/gag (Lg‐mDCs) stimulated more potent B‐ and T‐cell responses than naked DNA or DCs pulsed with inactivated HIV. Anti‐Gag antibody levels were sustained for at least 3 mo after immunization, and recall T‐cell responses were also strongly detected at this time point. Human DCs transfected with LAMP/gag (Lg‐hDCs) were also activated and able to stimulate greater T‐cell response than native gag‐transfected DCs. Coculture between Lg‐hDCs and T lymphocytes obtained from patients with HIV resulted in upregulation of CD38, CD69, HLA‐DR, and granzyme B by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and increased IFN‐γ and TNF‐α production. These results indicate that the use of LAMP/gag‐DC may be an efficient strategy for enhancing immune function in patients with HIV. —Lucas, C. G. D. O. , Matassoli, F. L. , Peçanha, L. M. T. , Santillo, B. T. , Oliveira, L. M. D. S. , Oshiro, T. M. , Marques, E. T. D. A. , Jr., Oxenius, A. , de Arruda, L. B. Dendritic cells primed with a chimeric plasmid containing HIV‐1‐gag associated with lysosomal‐associated protein‐1 (LAMP/gag) is a potential therapeutic vaccine against HIV. FASEB J. 30, 2970‐2984 (2016). www.fasebj. org
MICROFILARIAE IN GALÁPAGOS PENGUINS (SPHENISCUS MENDICULUS) AND FLIGHTLESS CORMORANTS (PHALACROCORAX HARRISI): GENETICS, MORPHOLOGY, AND PREVALENCE

Galápagos penguins (Spheniscus mendiculus) and flightless cormorants (Phalacrocorax harrisi) live in small, isolated populations on the westernmost islands of Isabela and Fernandina in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Between August 2003 and February 2005, 4 field trips, 2 in the cool, dry season (August 2003 and August 2004) and 2 in the hot, rainy season (March 2004 and February 2005), were undertaken; 298 Galápagos penguins and 380 cormorants were sampled for prevalence and intensity of hemoparasites. Microfilariae were found in both the penguins and the cormorants. Blood smears were negative for the presence of other species of hemoparasites. Overall prevalence of microfilariae across seasons was 42.0% in cormorants and 13.8% in the penguins. Intensity of infection was generally low (mean = 3.2–31.7 in 25 fields across seasons and species) with the exception of a few individuals with markedly high intensities of parasites (>300 in 25 fields in 1 cormorant). Prevalence of microfilariae increased significantly over the 4 sampling periods for cormorants, but not for penguins. Prevalences were significantly higher in cormorants than in penguins for 3 of the 4 collecting trips. Male penguins had higher prevalences than females; however, there were no gender differences in cormorants. No relation was detected between body mass and either presence or intensity of parasitism. Morphological characteristics of the microfilariae are also described and specimens from each host species were similar in all characters measured. DNA sequence data from the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene were consistent with the morphological evidence and together demonstrate that the penguins and cormorants are likely to be infected with the same species of microfilariae.
Gender differences in outpatients with anxiety disorders: the Leiden Routine Outcome Monitoring Study

Background. Data from the general population show higher prevalence of different anxiety disorders in women as compared with men. We analysed gender differences in a naturalistic sample of outpatients with anxiety disorders in a mental healthcare setting. Method. Routine outcome monitoring data were collected from 1333 patients (age: 18–65; 63.3% women) fulfilling Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV criteria of current anxiety disorder according to the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview between 2004 through 2006. Data included Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale, Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire (MASQ). Chi-squared test and t-test were used to compare women with men for variables with parametric distributions, and Mann–Whitney test for non-parametric distribution. Adjustments for potential confounders (age, level of education, ethnicity and comorbidites) were made by logistic regression models (for discrete variables) or analysis of covariance. Results. The female-to-male ratio (i.e., 844 women, 489 men) for any anxiety disorder was 1.73 : 1 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.63–1.83), with the strongest skewness for post-traumatic stress disorder (2.80 : 1) and the smallest one for social phobia (1.18 : 1). Compared with men, women reported more severe self-rating scores on the BSI (on average, the scores were 12.3% higher on 3 of 9 subscales: somatisation, interpersonal sensitivity and anxiety), SF-36 (self-reported generic health status was lower on 5 of 8 subscales: physical functioning, social functioning, physical problems, vitality and bodily pain) and MASQ (on average, the scores were 6.6% higher on 4 of 5 subscales: anxious arousal, general distress, general distress depression, general distress anxiety). On the contrary, no gender difference was found in the severity of anxiety symptoms measured by the Brief Anxiety Scale. Women were more likely to suffer from comorbid depression and bulimia nervosa, and less likely from substance abuse. Conclusions. In a treatment-seeking population the prevalence rate of anxiety disorders was 1.7 times higher in female compared with men. Female outpatients were more severely affected on self-rated but not on observer-rated scales.
Patient satisfaction with information on oral anticancer agent use

Adequate information on oral anticancer agent (OACA) use is an essential element of optimal cancer care. The present study aimed to get insight into the experiences of patients with information on OACA treatment and their characteristics regarding information dissatisfaction. Patients of four Dutch university hospitals using OACA participated in this observational study and completed the Satisfaction with Information about Medicines Scale (SIMS), EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire‐C30, Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, and Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire‐Specific. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine factors associated with dissatisfaction with information. Patients (n = 208) using capecitabine (35%), lenalidomide (15%), imatinib (14%), temozolomide (12%), sunitinib (11%), thalidomide (5%), dasatinib (4%), erlotinib (2%), and nilotinib (2%) participated. Information on the following SIMS‐items was inadequate: how OACA elicit their effect, how long it takes before treatment works, how to conclude that treatment is effective, the risk of side effects and its management, interference with sex life, drowsiness, interference with other medication and alcohol and what to do in case of a missed dose. Younger age, hematological malignancy, dyspnoea, positive perception of consequences of the cancer, low perception of treatment control, and indifferent attitude towards OACA were associated with dissatisfaction with information. In conclusion, a considerable number of patients would have appreciated receiving more information on specific issues relating to the consequences of OACA treatment such as the effects and side effects of OACA and the interference of treatment with various aspects of their daily life. Oncologists, hematologists, lung‐oncologists and pharmacists may reconsider the provision of information on OACA treatment.
Quantitative organization of the known protein x‐ray structures. I. Methods and short‐length‐scale results

We address herein the problem of delineating the relationships between the known protein structures. In order to study this problem, methods have been developed to represent arbitrarily sized fragments of biopolymer backbone, and to compare distributions of such fragments. These methods are applied to a classification of 123 structures representing the entire set of known x‐ray structures. The resulting data are analyzed (on the four‐Cα length scale) to determine both the large‐scale organization of the set of known structures (i.e., the relationships between large groups of structures, each comprised of proteins that are structurally related) and its local structure (i.e., the quantitative degree of similarity between any two specific structures). It is shown that the set of structures from a continuum of structural types, ranging from allhelical to all‐sheet/barrel proteins. It is further demonstrated that the density of protein structures is not uniform across this continuum, but rather that structures cluster in certain regions, separated by regions of lower population. The properties of the various regions of the structural space are determined. The existence is demonstrated of strong quantitative correlations between the contents of different types of four‐Cα fragments within protein structures, which imply significant constraints on the types of architecture that can occur in proteins. Analysis of the distribution of structures demonstrates some hitherto unsuspected similarities and suggests that, in some circumstances, neither structural similarity no sequence homology may be necessary conditions for evolutionary relationship between proteins. It is also suggested that these unsuspected similarities may imply similar folding mechanisms for structures of apparently different global architecture. Cases are also noted in which apparently similar structures may fold by different mechanisms. The connection between structure and dynamic properties is discussed, and a possible role of dynamics in the evolution of protein structures is suggested. The sensitivity of the methods presented herein to anomalies of structure refinement is demonstrated. It is suggested that present results provide a frame‐work for analyzing experimental results on structural similarity obtained using vibrational circular dichroism spectra, which are sensitive to local backbone structure.
Preferential transmission of the high activity allele of COMT in schizophrenia

Catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) metabolizes a variety of catecholamines such as dopamine, adrenaline and nor-adrenaline. It exists in common high and low activity forms. The low activity form is the result of an amino acid substitution (val-108-met) which reduces the thermostability of the enzyme [Lotta et al. (1994) Biochemistry, 34, 4202–4210]. We have genotyped this polymorphism in 178 trios consisting of Han Chinese schizophrenic subjects and their parents in order to test the hypothesis that the high activity allele is transmitted more often to affected subjects. The data were analysed using the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT), a robust method of detecting linkage in the presence of allelic associations. Of the 131 parents heterozygous at this locus, 80 transmitted the high activity allele (val-108) to affected offspring, while the remaining 51 transmitted the low activity allele (p = 0.005, one-tailed). Combining this result with that of a previous TDT study of the same polymorphism in familial schizophrenia [Kunugi et al. (1996) submitted] gives significant evidence for linkage disequilibrium (p = 0.0015). However, val-108 is frequent in the Han Chinese population, and in the present sample, 239 of the 350 non-transmitted parental alleles were val-108 (68%). It is therefore unlikely that val-108 allele of COMT has a major effect on susceptibility to schizophrenia. Our results suggest that either val-108 is a minor risk factor for schizophrenia, that the COMT gene has additional polymorphisms with greater effect on risk, or that this region of chromosome 22 contains a susceptibility gene which is in linkage disequilibrium with the COMT gene.
Mental health insurance claims among spouses of frequent business travellers

Objectives: Following up on two earlier publications showing increased psychological stress and psychosocial effects of travel on the business travellers this study investigated the health of spouses of business travellers. Methods: Medical claims of spouses of Washington DC World Bank staff participating in the medical insurance programme in 1997–8 were reviewed. Only the first of each diagnosis with the ninth revision of the international classification of diseases (ICD-9) recorded for each person was included in this analysis. The claims were grouped into 28 diagnostic categories and subcategories. Results: There were almost twice as many women as men among the 4630 identified spouses. Overall, male and female spouses of travellers filed claims for medical treatment at about a 16% higher rate than spouses of non-travellers. As hypothesised, a higher rate for psychological treatment was found in the spouses of international business travellers compared with non-travellers (men standardised rate ratios (RR)=1.55; women RR=1.37). For stress related psychological disorders the rates tripled for both female and male spouses of frequent travellers (≥ four missions/year) compared with those of non-travelling employees. An increased rate of claims among spouses of travellers versus non-travellers was also found for treatment for certain other diagnostic groups. Of these, diseases of the skin (men RR=2.93; women RR=1.41) and intestinal diseases (men RR=1.31; women RR=1.47) may have some association with the spouses' travel, whereas others, such as malignant neoplasms (men RR=1.97; women RR=0.79) are less likely to have such a relation. Conclusion: The previously identified pattern of increased psychological disorders among business travellers is mirrored among their spouses. This finding underscores the permeable boundary between family relations and working life which earlier studies suggested, and it emphasises the need for concern within institutions and strategies for prevention.
Quantification of the Modifications in the Dominant Frequency of Ventricular Fibrillation under Conditions of Ischemia and Reperfusion: An Experimental Study

The characteristics of ventricular fibrillatory signals vary as a function of the time elapsed from the onset of arrhythmia and the maneuvers used to maintain coronary perfusion. The dominant frequency (FrD) of the power spectrum of ventricular fibrillation (VF) is known to decrease after interrupting coronary perfusion, though the corresponding recovery process upon reestablishing coronary flow has not been quantified to date. With the aim of investigating the recovery of the FrD during reperfusion after a brief ischemic, period, 11 isolated and perfused rabbit heart preparations were used to analyze the signals obtained with three unipolar epicardial electrodes (E1‐E3) and a bipolar electrode immersed in the thermostatizfid organ bath (E4), following the electrical induction of VF. Recordings were made under conditions of maintained coronary perfusion (5 min), upon interrupting perfusion (15 mini, and after reperfusion (5 min), FrD was determined using Welch's method. The variations in FrD were quantified during both ischemia and reperfusion, based on an exponential model AFrD = A exp (‐t/C). During ischemia ΔFrD is the difference between FrD and the minimum value, while t is the time elapsed from the interruption of coronary perfusion. During reperfusion ΔFrD is the difference between the maximum value and FrD, while t is the time elapsed from the restoration of perfusion, A is one of the constants of the model, and C is the time constant. FrD exhibited respective initial values of 16.20 ± 1.67, 16.03 ± 1.38, and 16.03 ± 1.80 Hz in the epicardial leads, and 15.09 ±1.07 Hz in the bipolar lead within the bath. No significant variations were observed during maintained coronary perfusion. The fit of the FrD variations to the model during ischemia and reperfusion proved significant in nine experiments. The mean time constants C obtained on fitting to the model during ischemia were as follows: El =294.4 ± 75.6, E2 = 225.7 ± 48.5, E3 = 327.4 ± 79.7, and E4 = 298.7 ± 43.9 seconds. The mean values of C obtained during reperfusion, and the significance of the differences with respect to the ischemic period were: El = 57.5 ± 8.4 (P ± 0.01), E2 = 64.5 ± 11.2 (P0.01), E3 = 80.7 ± 13.3 (P < 0.01), and E4 = 74.9 ± 13.6 (P < 0.0001). The time course variations of the FrD of the VF power spectrum fit an exponential model during ischemia and reperfusion. The time constants of the model during reperfusion after a brief ischemic period are significantly shorter than those obtained during ischemia.
Combining Reservoir Computing and Variational Inference for Efficient One-Class Learning on Dynamical Systems

Usually, time series acquired from some measurement in a dynamical system are the main source of information about its internal structure and complex behavior. In this situation, trying to predict a future state or to classify internal features in the system becomes a challenging task that requires adequate conceptual and computational tools as well as appropriate datasets. A specially difficult case can be found in the problems framed under one-class learning. In an attempt to sidestep this issue, we present a machine learning methodology based in Reservoir Computing and Variational Inference. In our setting, the dynamical system generating the time series is modeled by an Echo State Network (ESN), and the parameters of the ESN are defined by an expressive probability distribution which is represented as a Variational Autoencoder. As a proof of its applicability, we show some results obtained in the context of condition-based maintenance in rotating machinery, where vibration signals can be measured from the system, our goal is fault detection in helical gearboxes under realistic operating conditions. The results show that our model is able, after trained only with healthy conditions, to discriminate successfully between healthy and faulty conditions.