Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The 12-Item General Health Questionnaire as an Effective Mental Health Screening Tool for General Korean Adult Population

Objective The 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) has been used extensively in various settings across different cultures. This study was conducted to determine the thresholds associated with optimum sensitivity and specificity for the GHQ-12 in Korean adults. Methods Data was acquired from a sample of 6,510 Korean adults, ages 18 to 64 years old, who were selected from the 2005 Census (2,581 men and 3,929 women). Participants completed the GHQ-12 and the Korean Composite International Diagnostic Interview (K-CIDI). Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted. Results The mean GHQ-12 score for the total sample was 1.63 (SD 1.98). The internal consistency of the GHQ-12 was good (Cronbach's α=0.72). Results from the ROC curve indicated that the GHQ-12 yielded greater accuracy when identifying mood and anxiety disorders than when identifying all mental disorders as a whole. The optimal threshold of the GHQ-12 was either 1/2 or 2/3 point depending on the disorder, but was mainly 2/3. Conclusion The Korean version of the GHQ-12 could be used to screen for individuals at high risk of mental disorders, namely mood and anxiety disorders.
Effects of music as an adjunctive therapy on severity of symptoms in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: Randomized controlled trial

ABSTRACT Introduction: Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a critical mental disorder. Music listening is non-invasive, safe and harmless, well-tolerated, inexpensive, and has therapeutic advantages in a wide range of mental disorders. The impact of passive music listening as an adjunctive therapy on symptoms severity in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder was evaluated in this study. Methods: In a parallel posttest-study only randomized controlled trial, 36 patients (range 19 to 65 years) were randomly allocated to experimental group (n = 17) or control group (n = 19) in Duhok, Iraq in 2017. The experimental group received seven 50-minute relaxing music tracks to listen daily in addition to regular pharmacological treatment for a three-month period. The control group received regular treatment only. The severities of obsession, compulsion, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms were assessed using the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale symptom severity scale following study completion only. Results: The experimental group had significantly lower symptom severities than the control group in terms of obsessions and compulsions, and the overall obsessive-compulsive score, effect size: 0.77, 0.95, and 0.78,, and 95% CI: 6.29–9.43; CI: 6.22–9.43; and CI: 12.57–18.81, respectively. Discussion: The study showed that passive music listening as an adjunctive therapy to regular treatment is an effective method to reduce obsessions and compulsions severities in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Clinical Trial Registration Number in the local registry: 21082016–6 (21 August 2016).
The Nutritional Induction of COUP-TFII Gene Expression in Ventromedial Hypothalamic Neurons Is Mediated by the Melanocortin Pathway

Background The nuclear receptor chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor II (COUP-TFII) is an important coordinator of glucose homeostasis. We report, for the first time, a unique differential regulation of its expression by the nutritional status in the mouse hypothalamus compared to peripheral tissues. Methodology/Principal Findings Using hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps and insulinopenic mice, we show that insulin upregulates its expression in the hypothalamus. Immunofluorescence studies demonstrate that COUP-TFII gene expression is restricted to a subpopulation of ventromedial hypothalamic neurons expressing the melanocortin receptor. In GT1-7 hypothalamic cells, the MC4-R agonist MTII leads to a dose dependant increase of COUP-TFII gene expression secondarily to a local increase in cAMP concentrations. Transfection experiments, using a COUP-TFII promoter containing a functional cAMP responsive element, suggest a direct transcriptional activation by cAMP. Finally, we show that the fed state or intracerebroventricular injections of MTII in mice induce an increased hypothalamic COUP-TFII expression associated with a decreased hepatic and pancreatic COUP-TFII expression. Conclusions/Significance These observations strongly suggest that hypothalamic COUP-TFII gene expression could be a central integrator of insulin and melanocortin signaling pathway within the ventromedial hypothalamus. COUP-TFII could play a crucial role in brain integration of circulating signal of hunger and satiety involved in energy balance regulation.
Effects of visitation among allied health professionals.

OBJECTIVE Visitation is a method for external peer review. The goal is to improve the quality of patient care by giving feedback on quality of competence and performance of a professional during a practice visit. Feedback is offered as recommendations for improvement. This study aims to evaluate the effects of visitation and to determine which factors are related to the effectiveness of visitation. PARTICIPANTS Members of seven allied health professions in the Netherlands: dieticians, exercise therapists, physiotherapists, dental hygienists, occupational therapists, podiatrists, and radiology assistants. DESIGN Evaluation questionnaires were sent to 151 allied health professionals who had participated in visitation. The questions included all practice management aspects that had been assessed during the practice visit. The effects of visitation were studied at three levels: change in awareness of weak and strong aspects of competence and performance, intention to carry out recommendations, and actual improvements. RESULTS Results showed effects of visitation on all three levels. Respondents intended to carry out two-thirds of the recommendations. Visitation led to a better awareness of weak points on 36% of the aspects and better awareness of strong points on 53% of the aspects of practice management. Young respondents reported more changes in awareness than older respondents. Actual improvements were carried out on 33% of the aspects. CONCLUSIONS Visitation is an effective method to stimulate quality improvement in allied health professionals. Although changes in awareness more often occurred in younger respondents, actual improvements were made by all respondents.
An Experimental Model for the Verification of Dynamic Voltage-Scaling Scheduling Techniques on Embedded Systems ∗

Tremendous theoretical research efforts have been made in the past decade to address the stringent real-time constraints and soaring power consumption challenges in embedded systems. However, the experimental work that can validate and evaluate the applicability and effectiveness of these theoretical results is very limited, largely due to the lengthy and challenging process in the design and development of the experiment infrastructure. In this paper, we present a general experimental model using Linux and a commercial off-the-shelf embedded platform as a provingground for real-time scheduling algorithms with a specific focus on techniques that take advantage of the dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) capabilities of modern processors. With this model, system designers have the capability to plug in arbitrary real-time schedulers easily into the kernel and run real-time tasks at the user level applying the desired scheduling techniques. Three well-known priority-driven real-time scheduling algorithms are implemented to study the capability and potential of this model.
Object-based Storage

This literature survey is the only work so far where the overall progress in object based storage technology has been analyzed, following its standardization. It also illustrates how the trends of recent research fit into the broad scope of the object based storage environment, thus bringing out the current status of the technology, while simultaneously providing a reality check for the concept. A special feature of this survey is an attempted comparison of existing object based file systems, mainly from a design perspective. Abstract Object-based storage is a new technology which provides intelligence at the storage device. The object storage device (OSD) interface has recently been standardized. The main characteristic of an OSD is " intelligent data layout ". Its advantages include scalability, security, reliability, performance and ease of management. This literature survey looks at the capabilities of object-based storage, and explores how it improves data sharing, security, and device intelligence. It analyzes various aspects of object based storage such as file system design, application based optimizations and so on, in order to understand the advantages of this upcoming storage technology. Many of the ideas presented in this survey suggest extensions to the OSD interface to enhance performance, security, quality of service and so on. Hence the interface is still evolving. 1. Introduction The evolution and stability of current storage interfaces (SCSI and ATA/IDE) has allowed continual advances in both storage devices and applications, without frequent changes to the standards. However, since the interface ultimately determines the functionality supported by the devices, current interfaces are holding system designers back. Storage technology has progressed to the point that a change in the device interface is needed. Object-based storage [1] is an emerging technology designed to address this problem. The OSD (object storage device) interface has recently been standardized (as the ANSI T10 Object-based Storage Devices Standard). The main characteristic of an OSD is " intelligent data layout ". A storage object is a logical collection of bytes on a storage device, with well-known methods for access, attributes describing characteristics of the data, and security policies that prevent unauthorized access. Unlike blocks, objects are of variable size and can be used to store entire data structures, such as files, database tables, medical images, or multimedia. Objects can be regarded as the convergence of two technologies: files and blocks. Files provide user applications with a higher-level storage abstraction that enables secure data sharing …
Biochemical targets in filarial worms for selective antifilarial drug design

Filarial nematodes infect more than 150 million people worldwide and are responsible for diseases including elephantiasis, river blindness and tropical pulmonary eosinophilia. Antifilarial agents that can kill all the stages in the life cycle of causative filariae have yet to be developed. Very little effort has been made towards rational drug design, employing knowledge gained from studies of the biochemistry and physiology of filarial worms and of their interactions with their specific vertebrate hosts. In this review, we highlight the research and development of rational antifilarial agents and we discuss the pitfalls since the discovery of diethylcarbamazine, the only drug of choice for controlling filariasis, despite its adverse side effects.
Integrating Representation Learning and Temporal Difference Learning: A Matrix Factorization Approach

Reinforcement learning is a general formalism for sequential decision-making, with recent algorithm development focusing on function approximation to handle large state spaces and high-dimensional, high-velocity (sensor) data. The success of function approximators, however, hinges on the quality of the data representation. In this work, we explore representation learning within least-squares temporal difference learning (LSTD), with a focus on making the assumptions on the representation explicit and making the learning problem amenable to principled optimization techniques. We reformulate LSTD as a least-squares loss plus concave regularizer, facilitating the addition of a regularized matrix factorization objective to specify the desired class of representations. The resulting joint optimization over the representation and value function parameters enables us to take advantages of recent advances in unsupervised learning and presents a general yet simple formalism for learning representations in reinforcement learning.
Just : Data requirements Data requirements of reverse-engineering algorithms

Data sets used in reverse-engineering of biochemical networks contain usually relatively few high-dimensional data points, which makes the problem in general vastly underdetermined. It is therefore important to estimate the probability that a given algorithm will return a model of acceptable quality when run on a data set of small size but high dimension. We propose a mathematical framework for investigating such questions. We then demonstrate that without assuming any prior biological knowledge, in general no theoretical distinction between the performance of different algorithms can be made. We also give an example of how expected algorithm performance can in principle be altered by utilizing certain features of the data collection protocol. We conclude with some examples of theorems that were proven within the proposed framework.
Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase Activated Protein Kinase 2 Regulates Actin Polymerization and Vascular Leak in Ventilator Associated Lung Injury

Mechanical ventilation, a fundamental therapy for acute lung injury, worsens pulmonary vascular permeability by exacting mechanical stress on various components of the respiratory system causing ventilator associated lung injury. We postulated that MK2 activation via p38 MAP kinase induced HSP25 phosphorylation, in response to mechanical stress, leading to actin stress fiber formation and endothelial barrier dysfunction. We sought to determine the role of p38 MAP kinase and its downstream effector MK2 on HSP25 phosphorylation and actin stress fiber formation in ventilator associated lung injury. Wild type and MK2−/− mice received mechanical ventilation with high (20 ml/kg) or low (7 ml/kg) tidal volumes up to 4 hrs, after which lungs were harvested for immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting and lung permeability assays. High tidal volume mechanical ventilation resulted in significant phosphorylation of p38 MAP kinase, MK2, HSP25, actin polymerization, and an increase in pulmonary vascular permeability in wild type mice as compared to spontaneous breathing or low tidal volume mechanical ventilation. However, pretreatment of wild type mice with specific p38 MAP kinase or MK2 inhibitors abrogated HSP25 phosphorylation and actin polymerization, and protected against increased lung permeability. Finally, MK2−/− mice were unable to phosphorylate HSP25 or increase actin polymerization from baseline, and were resistant to increases in lung permeability in response to HVT MV. Our results suggest that p38 MAP kinase and its downstream effector MK2 mediate lung permeability in ventilator associated lung injury by regulating HSP25 phosphorylation and actin cytoskeletal remodeling.
Effect of telithromycin and azithromycin on nasopharyngeal bacterial flora in patients with acute maxillary sinusitis.

OBJECTIVE To explore the efficacy of the ketolide telithromycin compared with azithromycin in eradicating S pneumoniae from the nasopharynx of adults with acute maxillary sinusitis. The growing resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae to penicillin and macrolides brought about the development of a new class of antibiotics-the ketolides-that are effective against resistant pneumococci. SETTING Otolaryngology clinic. PATIENTS One-hundred five patients with acute maxillary sinusitis. INTERVENTIONS Nasopharyngeal cultures were obtained before therapy and 10 to 12 days after initiation of treatment. Fifty-nine patients were treated with 500 mg of azithromycin daily for 3 days and 46 were treated with 800 mg of telithromycin daily for 5 days. RESULTS Sixty-seven potential pathogens were recovered prior to initiation of therapy in 57 patients, 32 treated with telithromycin and 25 treated with azithromycin: S pneumoniae (31 isolates), Haemophilus influenzae (non-type b) (13), Staphylococcus aureus (8), Streptococcus pyogenes (8), and Moraxella catarrhalis (7). The distribution of the pathogens was similar in both groups. The number of S pneumoniae isolates in the azithromycin group was reduced following treatment from 14 to 8 (43% reduction), and 5 of these 8 isolates were resistant to azithromycin. In contrast, the number of S pneumoniae isolates in the telithromycin group was reduced following treatment from 17 to 1 (94% reduction) (P < .01). This isolate was susceptible to azithromycin and telithromycin. No differences were noted in the eradication rate of all of the other potential pathogens, which were all susceptible to both azithromycin and telithromycin. Development of resistance to the antimicrobial agents used (defined as increase in the minimal inhibitory concentration by at least 2 tubes) was found only in 5 isolates (4 S pneumoniae and 1 H influenzae) recovered only from patients who received azithromycin (P < .05). CONCLUSION These data illustrate the superiority of telithromycin to azithromycin in the eradication of S pneumoniae from the nasopharynx.
Evolution, Learning, and Culture: Computational Metaphors for Adaptive Algorithms

Potential interactions between connectionist learning syst ems and algorithms modeled aft er evolutionary adapt ation are becoming of increasing interest . In a recent short and elegant paper Hinton and Nowlan extend a version of Holland's genetic algorithm (GA) t o consider ways in which the evolution of species and th e learning of individu als might in teract [17]. Their mod el is valuable both becaus e it provides insight into potenti al interactions between th e natu ral processes of evolution and learning and as a potential bridge between the arti ficial questions of efficient and effective machine learning using t he GA and connectioni st networks. Thi s pa per begins by describing the GA and Hinto n and Nowlan's simulati on . We then an alyze their model, use thi s analysis to explai n its nontrivial dynamical behavio rs, and consider the sensitivity of the simulation to several key parameters. Our next step is t o in terpose a thi rd adapt ive system culture between the learning of individuals and the evolut ion of pop ulations . Culture accumulates the "wisdom" of individuals' learning beyond the lifetime of any one indi vidual but adapts more responsively than the pace of evolut ion allows. We describe a series of exper iments in which the most minimal notion of culture has been ad ded to the Hinton and Nowlan mod el, and we use, this experience to comment on the functional value of cult ure, and similarities between an d interac tions among these three classes of adaptive systems.
Clustering and Correlates of Multiple Health Behaviours in 9–10 Year Old Children

Background Sleep, physical activity, screen time and dietary behaviours influence health during childhood, but few studies have looked at all of these behaviours simultaneously and previous research has relied predominantly on self- or proxy-reports of physical activity and food frequency questionnaires for the assessment of diet. Purpose To assess the prevalence and clustering of health behaviours and examine the socio-demographic characteristics of children that fail to meet multiple health behaviour guidelines. Methods Data are from the Sport, Physical activity and Eating behaviour: Environmental Determinants in Young people (SPEEDY) study. Participants (n = 1472, 42.9% male) were dichotomized based on whether or not they met public health guidelines for accelerometer-assessed physical activity, diet-diary assessed fruit/vegetable intake and fat/non-milk extrinsic sugar (NMES) intake, and self-reported screen time and sleep duration. Behavioural clustering was assessed using an observed over expected ratio (O/E). Socio-demographic characteristics of participants that failed to meet multiple health behaviour guidelines were examined using ordinal logistic regression. Data were analysed in 2013. Results 83.3% of children failed to meet guidelines for two or more health behaviours. The O/E ratio for two behavioural combinations significantly exceeded 1, both of which featured high screen time, insufficient fruit/vegetable consumption and excessive fat/NMES intake. Children who were older (Proportional odds ratio (95% confidence interval): 1.69 (1.21,2.37)) and those that attended a school with a physical activity or diet-related policy (1.28 (1.01,1.62)) were more likely to have a poor health behaviour profile. Girls (0.80 (0.64,0.99)), participants with siblings (0.76 (0.61,0.94)) and those with more highly educated parents (0.73 (0.56,0.94)) were less likely to have a poor health behaviour profile. Conclusions A substantial proportion of children failed to meet guidelines for multiple health behaviours and there was evidence of clustering of screen viewing and unhealthy dietary behaviours. Sub-groups at greatest risk may be targeted for intervention.
Kinect sensor based real-time robot path planning using hand gesture and clap sound

Many indoor applications such as cleaning, object recognition etc. are replaced by a robot. For indoor applications if we could control the path of the robot using gesture and clap sounds. In this composition, this work proposes and implements an advanced method to control mobile robot in real-time using short adjustment of clap sound and hand gesture commands from Microsoft Kinect sensor linked to a laptop/PC and mobile robot is connected via RF link. The commercial hardware is predicated on Microcontroller code. To avoid unnecessary motion of the robot by distinguishing the motion by distinctive persons this work utilize clap sound to actuate the gesture tracking mode to move the robot and deactivate the gesture tracking mode after last ceasing the robot. For moving the wireless robot the controls are presented using the hand gestures from Kinect sensor, we have used 5 hand gestures (STOP, FORWARD, RIGHT, LEFT and REVERSE). The clap sound signal and control signals to generate different gestures are developed using MATLAB program. These signals are then passed to the robot to move it in the designated directions.
Learning as Acquisition and Learning as Interaction

System Dynamics (SD) is an experimental, quantitative approach for designing structures of social systems and policies that are compatible with a social system’s growth and stability objectives. The experimental model approach for the design of large scale systems is the key for learning about human organizations. Before elaborating on the types of learning environments that can be designed on the basis of SD models, this article presents a social systems theory, distinguishing classical and autopoietic systems theory. Two generic models are presented, which reflect both theoretical points of view and constitute different types of learning environments. The author summarizes epistemological views on learning and growth of knowledge in the context of learning as acquisition and learning as interaction. Subsequently, by building on the actor approach of social systems, learners are embedded in learning environments. They should learn to deal with the duality of structure of social systems, that is, learn to produce and self-reproduce structures as a context for action. Finally, these views are linked to three simulation modes and to participative design of learning environments.