Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increasing self-knowledge: Utilizing tele-coaching for patients with congestive heart failure

ABSTRACT The objective was to assess self-care knowledge changes with dually eligible Medicare and Medicaid patients diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF), who received a telecoaching protocol integrating symptom monitoring with face-to-face video chat with a social worker. We recruited 45 patients with CHF from a regional managed care organization. Sessions via a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant tablet-based platform focused on educational information designed to improve patient self-care. Social workers administered the 13-item Member Confidence Measure (MCM) at baseline and at a 30-day follow-up period. Scores were recorded to measure differences in patients’ understanding of CHF and related symptoms, their knowledge of the disease, and the behaviors necessary to prevent their symptoms from getting worse. Over the 30-day period, scores significantly (p < .01) increased on the total scale score and specific confidence measure subscales (symptom recognition, medication adherence, medical attention, healthy choices, and safety). Gender, race, and age were unrelated to these improvements. In addition, effect sizes for the sub-scales ranged from . 54 to 1.08; the effect size of the intervention as expressed by the total scale score was 1.12. Overall, patients increased knowledge over a 30-day period. Tele-coaching by social workers holds promise as a feasible model for health education for high-risk populations.
Peptide hydrolysis and the uptake of dipeptides by phytoplankton

Rates of peptide hydrolysis (using the fluorescent substrate, lucifer yellow anhydride‐labeled tetra‐alanine) and dipeptide uptake (using dually labeled, 15N and 13C, dialanine) were measured in phytoplankton cultures and in natural populations during algal blooms dominated by one or two taxa. During most sampling events, both peptide hydrolysis and dipeptide uptake were greatest in the size fraction containing the dominant phytoplankter, suggesting that phytoplankton contribute substantially to or may even dominate observed extracellular peptide hydrolysis and dipeptide uptake in the environment. These are the first data suggesting that dipeptides may be taken up directly by phytoplankton and this may represent a previously unaccounted‐for nitrogen source in aquatic systems. Like many other processes in phytoplankton, peptide hydrolysis appears sensitive to the diel light cycle and the nutrient environment, with rates varying depending on the dominant N source, but with no clear pattern. Uptake of dialanine, the dominant product of the hydrolysis of the peptide tetra‐alanine, also varied depending on the dominant taxa and the nutrient regime. Most of the time, it appeared that low production of dialanine by tetra‐alanine hydrolysis limited the uptake of the dipeptide. Close coupling between peptide hydrolysis and dipeptide uptake may also help explain the absence of correlations between rates of peptide hydrolysis and the concentration and composition of the free amino acid pool.
MEMS Energy Harvesting Powered Wireless Biometric Sensor

One of the main challenges in developing wireless biometric sensors is the requirement for integration of various systems into a very compact device. Such systems include sensing units, conditioning electronics, transmitters and power supplies. In this work, a novel system integration architecture is presented. A unique feature of this new architecture is that the sub-systems are selected and designed for direct output-to-input connection. An array of active pH sensors is used to transform a pH level to an electrical potential in the range of 0 - 2 Volts. This signal is amplified by an electrostatic energy harvester suitable for human motion operation. The amplified signal drives a custom LC transmitter specially designed to suit the harvester output. A system of notable simplicity is achieved and may serve as a demonstrator for other wireless sensors.
PAPaS: peer assisted publish and subscribe

The scalability of a content-based publish subscribe system typically depends on efficient subscription matching (brokering) and dissemination. As the number of subscribers increases, the matching and dissemination processes can increase bandwidth usage and overwhelm the server. Peer Assisted Publish and Subscribe (PAPaS) is a hybrid broker/P2P content-based publish and subscribe (pub/sub) system with varying event sizes. Publishers and subscribers share the burden through self-brokering and dissemination in P2P fashion. The practical implications inherent in combining pub/sub and P2P protocols are explored. Scalability analysis of the overall broker workloads and event distribution are demonstrated to show the benefits of PAPaS. Experimental results show that our approach is simple and highly effective at minimizing the brokering and event forwarding overhead as well as supporting the dynamicity of mobile clients in pub/sub middleware systems.
Primordial Germ Cell-Mediated Chimera Technology Produces Viable Pure-Line Houbara Bustard Offspring: Potential for Repopulating an Endangered Species

Background The Houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata) is a wild seasonal breeding bird populating arid sandy semi-desert habitats in North Africa and the Middle East. Its population has declined drastically during the last two decades and it is classified as vulnerable. Captive breeding programmes have, hitherto, been unsuccessful in reviving population numbers and thus radical technological solutions are essential for the long term survival of this species. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of primordial germ cell-mediated chimera technology to produce viable Houbara bustard offspring. Methodology/Principal Findings Embryonic gonadal tissue was dissected from Houbara bustard embryos at eight days post-incubation. Subsequently, Houbara tissue containing gonadal primordial germ cells (gPGCs) was injected into White Leghorn chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) embryos, producing 83/138 surviving male chimeric embryos, of which 35 chimeric roosters reached sexual maturity after 5 months. The incorporation and differentiation of Houbara gPGCs in chimeric chicken testis were assessed by PCR with Houbara-specific primers and 31.3% (5/16) gonads collected from the injected chicken embryos showed the presence of donor Houbara cells. A total of 302 semen samples from 34 chimeric roosters were analyzed and eight were confirmed as germline chimeras. Semen samples from these eight roosters were used to artificially inseminate three female Houbara bustards. Subsequently, 45 Houbara eggs were obtained and incubated, two of which were fertile. One egg hatched as a male live born Houbara; the other was female but died before hatching. Genotyping confirmed that the male chick was a pure-line Houbara derived from a chimeric rooster. Conclusion This study demonstrates for the first time that Houbara gPGCs can migrate, differentiate and eventually give rise to functional sperm in the chimeric chicken testis. This approach may provide a promising tool for propagation and conservation of endangered avian species that cannot breed in captivity.
Optimization of low temperature bleaching of cotton using statistical modelling

Abstract Very high temperatures (e.g. ~98 °C) are mainly used to perform hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) bleaching of cotton fabrics in industrial practice. Such harsh conditions can lead to high fabric damages and high energy consumptions. In recent years, an extensive research is being done to reduce the temperature for industrial cotton bleaching process. Similar attempt has been made in the present work, where the synthesized polyamidoamine dendrimers have been used as a stabilizer in the place of sodium silicate. The low temperature bleaching was optimized using a statistical model. An optimized recipe was formulated based on the half factorial central composite design and numerical optimization solution by Design-Expert 6.0 software. The performance of the optimized sample was compared with the sample using traditional method of bleaching and achieved the lower bleaching temperature of 70–80 °C than the traditional bleaching temperature with fabric’s whiteness index comparable.
Liver Segmentation on CT and MR Using Laplacian Mesh Optimization

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to describe a semiautomated segmentation method for the liver and evaluate its performance on CT-scan and MR images. Methods: First, an approximate 3-D model of the liver is initialized from a few user-generated contours to globally outline the liver shape. The model is then automatically deformed by a Laplacian mesh optimization scheme until it precisely delineates the patient's liver. A correction tool was implemented to allow the user to improve the segmentation until satisfaction. Results: The proposed method was tested against 30 CT-scans from the SLIVER07 challenge repository and 20 MR studies from the Montreal University Hospital Center, covering a wide spectrum of liver morphologies and pathologies. The average volumetric overlap error was 5.1% for CT and 7.6% for MRI and the average segmentation time was 6 min. Conclusion: The obtained results show that the proposed method is efficient, reliable, and could effectively be used routinely in the clinical setting. Significance: The proposed approach can alleviate the cumbersome and tedious process of slice-wise segmentation required for precise hepatic volumetry, virtual surgery, and treatment planning.
Privacy-Aware Communication for Smartphones Using Vibration

We propose a novel communication method between smart devices using a built-in vibrator and accelerometer. The proposed approach is ideal for low-rate private communication and its communication medium is an object on which smart devices are placed, such as tables and desks. When more than two smart devices are placed on an object and one device wants to transmit a message to the other devices, the transmitting device generates a sequence of vibrations. The vibrations are propagated through the object on which devices are placed. The receiving devices analyze their accelerometer readings to decode incoming messages. Unlike radio-based wireless communication where eavesdropping of private communication is possible without the knowledge of the user, the proposed method can guarantee privacy as long as the object used for communication is secured. The proposed method is implemented on Android smart phones and comprehensive experiments are conducted to show its feasibility.
Overview of the H.264/AVC video coding standard

H.264/AVC is newest video coding standard of the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group. The main goals of the H.264/AVC standardization effort have been enhanced compression performance and provision of a "network-friendly" video representation addressing "conversational" (video telephony) and "nonconversational" (storage, broadcast, or streaming) applications. H.264/AVC has achieved a significant improvement in rate-distortion efficiency relative to existing standards. This article provides an overview of the technical features of H.264/AVC, describes profiles and applications for the standard, and outlines the history of the standardization process.
Clareamento externo para dentes com calcificação distrófica da polpa: relato de caso clínico

This paper presents an alternative for the treatment of teeth with dystrophic calcification of the pulp. Calcification is generally accompanied by chromatic alterations of the tooth. Traditionally, these alterations were treated with invasive restorative treatments like dental facets and crowns. External bleaching is an alternative that makes a conservative esthetic and biological solution possible, especially in cases in which it is difficult to gain access to the root canals system. This clinical case presents a patient with color alteration in the top left central incisor decurring from total dystrophic calcification of coronary and root pulp caused by a trauma. The treatment encompassed thirty days of home supervised bleaching by the use of a tray with carbamide peroxide gel at 16% plus two in-office bleaching sessions with hydrogen peroxide at 35% to solve the intense color saturation in the cervical portion of the tooth.
Deletion of P58IPK, the Cellular Inhibitor of the Protein Kinases PKR and PERK, Causes Bone Changes and Joint Degeneration in Mice

Objective: Protein kinase-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) and protein kinase R (PKR) are implicated in endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced arthritis and pro-inflammatory cytokine-mediated cartilage degradation in vitro, respectively. We determined whether knockout of the cellular inhibitor of PERK and PKR, P58IPK causes joint degeneration in vivo and whether these molecules are activated in human osteoarthritis (OA). Materials and Methods: Sections of knee joints from P58IPK-null and wild-type mice aged 12–13 and 23–25 months were stained with toluidine blue and scored for degeneration using the osteoarthritis research society international (OARSI) system. Bone changes were assessed by radiology and high-resolution micro-computed tomography of hind limbs. Sections from the medial tibial plateaus of two human knees, removed in total knee replacement surgery for OA, were immunolabelled for phosphorylated PERK and PKR and P58IPK. Results: Knockout mice exhibited narrower tibiae (p = 0.0031) and smaller epiphyses in tibiae (p = 0.0004) and femora (p = 0.0214). Older knockout mice had reduced total volume inside the femoral periosteal envelope (p = 0.023), reduced tibial (p = 0.03), and femoral (p = 0.0012) bone volumes (BV) and reduced femoral BV fraction (p = 0.025). Compared with wild-types, younger P58IPK-null mice had increased OARSI scores in medial femoral condyles (p = 0.035). Thirty four percent of null mice displayed severe joint degeneration with complete articular cartilage loss from the medial compartment and heterotopic chondro-osseous tissue in the medial joint capsule. Phosphorylated PERK and PKR were localized throughout human osteoarthritic tibial plateaus but, in particular, in areas exhibiting the most degeneration. There was limited expression of P58IPK. Conclusion: This study is the first to reveal a critical role for P58IPK in maintaining joint integrity in vivo, implicating the PKR and PERK stress signaling pathways in bony changes underlying the pathogenesis of joint degeneration.
In-silico prediction and observations of nuclear matrix attachment

The nuclear matrix is a functionally adaptive structural framework interior to the nuclear envelope. The nature and function of this nuclear organizer remains the subject of widespread discussion in the epigenetic literature. To draw this discussion together with a view to suggest a way forward we summarize the biochemical evidence for the modalities of DNA-matrix binding alongside the in-silico predictions. Concordance is exhibited at various, but not all levels. On the one hand, both the reiteration and sequence similarity of some elements of Matrix Attachment Regions suggest conservation. On the other hand, in-silico predictions suggest additional unique components. In bringing together biological and sequence evidence we conclude that binding may be hierarchical in nature, reflective of a biological role in replicating, transcribing and potentiating chromatin. Nuclear matrix binding may well be more complex than the widely accepted simple loop model.
Bitcoin Mining based Botnet Analysis

Bitcoin, a decentralized P2P currency in recent years has gained a tremendous attention due to its ability to create anonymous financial transactions. This leads to bitcoins being the choice of currency for users having privacy as a important issue. Bitcoin mining, a process resulting in the generation of new bitcoins, is performed by miner operators for reception of incentives in the form of Bitcoins. To increase the profit this has given rise to bitcoin mining through botnet also known as miner botnet. In this paper we discuss how bitcoin are generated and how botnet generate bitcoing.We further analyze the network flow of two botnets namely Neris and ZeroAccess and provide a DNS relation in identifying the botnet. We further propose a framework and a security algorithm to protect our system from being a part of botnet thus protecting our system form attacks such as spamming , non-availability, DDoS etc.
Silver nanoparticles toxicity against airborne strains of Staphylococcus spp.

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to explore the toxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized by chemical reduction method assessment with regard to airborne strains of Staphylococcus spp. The first step of the experiment was the preparation of silver nanoparticle suspension. The suspension was obtained by a fast and simple chemical method involving the reduction of silver ions through a reducing factor in the presence of the suitable stabilizer required to prevent the aggregation. In the second stage, varied instrumental techniques were used for the analysis and characterization of the obtained nanostructures. Third, the bacteria of the Staphylococcus genus were isolated from the air under stable conditions with 47 sports and recreational horses, relatively. Next, isolated strains were identified using biochemical and spectrophotometric methods. The final step was the evaluation of the Staphylococcus genus sensitivity to nanosilver using the disk diffusion test. It has been proven that prepared silver nanoparticles exhibit strong antibacterial properties. The minimum inhibitory concentration for tested isolates was 30 μg/mL. It has been found that the sensitivity of Staphylococcus spp. isolated from six identified species differs considerably. The size distribution of bacterial growth inhibition zones indicates that resistance to various nanosilver concentrations is an individual strain feature, and has no connection with belonging to a specific species.
Coexistence Between Wi-Fi and LTE on Unlicensed Spectrum: A Human-Centric Approach

In recent years, there has been great interest from the cellular service providers to use the unlicensed spectrum for their service offerings. On the other hand, existing unlicensed users in these bands (e.g., Wi-Fi in the 5-GHz band) have serious concern that such coexistence will jeopardize their service quality. Although there are some proposals on how to achieve coexistence, they are driven by the service providers and as such there remain many issues and skepticism. In this paper, we take a novel human-centric approach to understand coexistence between Wi-Fi and LTE by focusing on human satisfaction. Through mathematical modeling, problem formulation, and extensive simulations studies, we show that in terms of maximizing total human satisfaction function, there does not appear to be any advantage with the coexistence of unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi and LTE under static partitioning of unlicensed spectrum. This finding serves as a powerful counter argument to some LTE service providers’ proposal to share the unlicensed spectrum with Wi-Fi through static partitioning. On the other hand, we find that there is a significant improvement in human satisfaction in coexistence between Wi-Fi and LTE under adaptive spectrum partitioning. Since adaptive spectrum partitioning may require a user to change its service provider whenever there is a change among the users, we propose a practical (semi-adaptive) algorithm for implementation without affecting existing users’ service providers. Through performance evaluation, we show that the proposed semi-adaptive algorithm is highly competitive.
Multiple Researcher Roles in Video-Reflexive Ethnography

Hospital-based video-reflexive ethnography (VRE) is a collaborative visual methodology used by researchers and/or health professionals to understand, interpret, and optimize health professionals’ work practices and patients’ experiences. For more than a decade, the VRE methodology has spread throughout (research) institutions and hospitals internationally, and VRE has evolved and broadened. Different ways of doing VRE have implications for the role of the researcher. A thorough examination of the consequences for the researcher’s position is the central focus of this article. We outline three typical styles of researcher engagement with VRE: clinalyst, affect-as-method, and planned obsolescence. We argue that by examining these different styles of doing VRE research, academic researchers can then critically review and carefully choose which styles of VRE research best meet the needs of their research questions, their field relationships, their disciplinary background, and the expectations of their clinical research collaborators.
Penalized feature selection and classification in bioinformatics

In bioinformatics studies, supervised classification with high-dimensional input variables is frequently encountered. Examples routinely arise in genomic, epigenetic and proteomic studies. Feature selection can be employed along with classifier construction to avoid over-fitting, to generate more reliable classifier and to provide more insights into the underlying causal relationships. In this article, we provide a review of several recently developed penalized feature selection and classification techniques--which belong to the family of embedded feature selection methods--for bioinformatics studies with high-dimensional input. Classification objective functions, penalty functions and computational algorithms are discussed. Our goal is to make interested researchers aware of these feature selection and classification methods that are applicable to high-dimensional bioinformatics data.