Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ozone and Daily Mortality in Shanghai, China

Background Controversy remains regarding the relationship between ambient ozone and mortality worldwide. In mainland China, the largest developing country, there has been no prior study investigating the acute effect of O3 on death risk. Given the changes in types of air pollution from conventional coal combustion to the mixed coal combustion/motor vehicle emissions in China’s large cities, it is worthwhile to investigate the acute effect of O3 on mortality outcomes in the country. Objectives We conducted a time-series study to investigate the relation between O3 and daily mortality in Shanghai using 4 years of daily data (2001–2004). Methods We used the generalized additive model with penalized splines to analyze mortality, O3 pollution, and covariate data in warm and cold seasons. We considered daily counts of all-cause mortality and several cause-specific subcategories (respiratory and cardiovascular). We also examined these associations among several subpopulations based on age and sex. Results O3 was significantly associated with total and cardiovascular mortality in the cold season but not in the warm season. In the whole-year analysis, an increase of 10 μg/m3 of 2-day average (lag01) O3 corresponds to 0.45% [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.16–0.73%], 0.53% (95% CI, 0.10–0.96%), and 0.35% (95% CI, −0.40 to 1.09%) increase of total nonaccidental, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality, respectively. In the cold season, the estimates increased to 1.38% (95% CI, 0.68–2.07%), 1.53% (95% CI, 0.54–2.52%), and 0.95% (95% CI, −0.71 to 2.60%), respectively. In the warm season, we did not observe significant associations for both total and cause-specific mortality. The results were generally insensitive to model specifications such as lag structure of O3 concentrations and degree of freedom for time trend. Multipollutant models indicate that the effect of O3 was not confounded by particulate matter ≤ 10 μm in diameter (PM10) or by sulfur dioxide; however, after adding nitrogen dioxide into the model, the association of O3 with total and cardiovascular mortality became statistically insignificant. Conclusions O3 pollution has stronger health effects in the cold than in the warm season in Shanghai. Our analyses also strengthen the rationale for further limiting levels of O3 pollution in outdoor air in the city.
Variable Sample Rate Conversion Techniques for the Advanced Receiver

One of the primary challenges in the development of the Advanced Receiver is the ability to accommodate a wide variety of possible data rates, motivated by the desire to support different missions for the Deep Space Network (DSN) under different adverse conditions. To conform to fixed architectures such as the analog-todigital converter (ADC) used at the front end and tracking loops used subsequently, this requires that the sampling rate be varied entirely digitally after the ADC to accommodate the fixed parameters of the tracking loops. In this article, we present a series of methods to achieve variable sample rate conversion (SRC). Specifically, we focus on two sets of schemes to alter the sampling rate: coarse techniques to lower the bulk of the sampling rate near the desired amount while removing out-ofband artifacts due to noise and interference, and fine techniques used to accurately tailor the sampling rate to the exact desired value. Advantages and disadvantages of both sets of methods are investigated in terms of implementation complexities and performance metrics.
The prognostic value of B-type natriuretic peptide in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

BACKGROUND Brain (B-type) natriuretic peptide is a neurohormone synthesized predominantly in ventricular myocardium. Although the circulating level of this neurohormone has been shown to provide independent prognostic information in patients with transmural myocardial infarction, few data are available for patients with acute coronary syndromes in the absence of ST-segment elevation. METHODS We measured B-type natriuretic peptide in plasma specimens obtained a mean (+/-SD) of 40+/-20 hours after the onset of ischemic symptoms in 2525 patients from the Orbofiban in Patients with Unstable Coronary Syndromes-Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction 16 study. RESULTS The base-line level of B-type natriuretic peptide was correlated with the risk of death, heart failure, and myocardial infarction at 30 days and 10 months. The unadjusted rate of death increased in a stepwise fashion among patients in increasing quartiles of base-line B-type natriuretic peptide levels (P< 0.001). This association remained significant in subgroups of patients who had myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation (P=0.02), patients who had myocardial infarction without ST-segment elevation (P<0.001), and patients who had unstable angina (P<0.001). After adjustment for independent predictors of the long-term risk of death, the odds ratios for death at 10 months in the second, third, and fourth quartiles of B-type natriuretic peptide were 3.8 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.1 to 13.3), 4.0 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.2 to 13.7), and 5.8 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.7 to 19.7). The level of B-type natriuretic peptide was also associated with the risk of new or recurrent myocardial infarction (P=0.01) and new or worsening heart failure (P<0.001) at 10 months. CONCLUSIONS A single measurement of B-type natriuretic peptide, obtained in the first few days after the onset of ischemic symptoms, provides powerful information for use in risk stratification across the spectrum of acute coronary syndromes. This finding suggests that cardiac neurohormonal activation may be a unifying feature among patients at high risk for death after acute coronary syndromes.
Adipocytokines, Body Composition, and Fitness in Children

Recent evidence suggests a role for adipose derived cytokines (adipocytokines) such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-6, and the recently discovered adiponectin in the mechanism of impaired glucose regulation and atherosclerosis in adults. However, the relationship between adipocytokines and body composition, fasting insulin, and fitness is virtually unknown children. Fasting blood sampling was performed in 30 healthy, predominately Hispanic- and Asian-American children (16 boys, mean age 12.7 ± 0.1 y old) from a lower socioeconomic area in Los Angeles. Adiposity was measured by dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA); and peak oxygen uptake using cycle ergometry. Adiponectin (mean 10.8 ± 0.8 μg/mL) was inversely correlated with body mass index (BMI, as percentile by age) (r = −0.48, p = 0.011) and fat mass (r = −0.43, p = 0.03). In contrast, TNF-α and IL-6 were both positively correlated with BMI and fat mass. Adiponectin was inversely correlated with fasting insulin (r = −0.52, p = 0.006), but no correlations were found for insulin and either TNF-α or IL-6. Adiponectin was correlated with HDL (r = 0.448, p = 0.019). Paradoxically, peak oxygen consumption (an indicator of fitness) was negatively correlated with adiponectin levels (r = −0.471, p = 0.013) and positively correlated with TNF-α (r = 0.560, p = 0.002). In children, adipocytokines are correlated with fat mass, insulin sensitivity, and cardiovascular risk factors in a manner that is qualitatively similar to relationships recently observed in adults. In more obese children, the mass of fat tissue may attenuate potentially positive effects of fitness on circulating levels of adiponectin and TNF-α. The novel data on adiponectin suggest that deleterious dysregulation of adipocytokines associated with obesity may occur relatively early in life.
Transcriptome Profiling of IL-17A Preactivated Mesenchymal Stem Cells: A Comparative Study to Unmodified and IFN-γ Modified Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Human mesenchymal stem cells pretreatment with IL-17A (MSC-17) potently enhances T cell immunosuppression but not their immunogenicity, in addition to avidly promoting the induction of suppressive regulatory T cells. The aim of this study was to identify potential mechanisms by which human MSC-17 mediate their superior immunomodulatory function. Untreated-MSC (UT-MSC), IFN-γ treated MSC (MSC-γ), and MSC-17 were assessed for their gene expression profile by microarray. Significantly regulated genes were identified for their biological functions (Database for Annotation, Visualisation and Integrated Discovery, DAVID). Microarray analyses identified 1278 differentially regulated genes between MSC-γ and UT-MSC and 67 genes between MSC-17 and UT-MSC. MSC-γ were enriched for genes involved in immune response, antigen processing and presentation, humoral response, and complement activation, consistent with increased MSC-γ immunogenicity. MSC-17 genes were associated with chemotaxis response, which may be involved in T cell recruitment for MSC-17 immunosuppression. MMP1, MMP13, and CXCL6 were highly and specifically expressed in MSC-17, which was further validated by real-time PCR. Thus, MMPs and chemokines may play a key role in mediating MSC-17 superior immunomodulatory function. MSC-17 represent a potential cellular therapy to suppress immunological T cell responses mediated by expression of an array of immunoregulatory molecules.
Sum-of-product architectures computing just right

Many digital filters and signal-processing transforms can be expressed as a sum of products with constants (SPC). This paper addresses the automatic construction of low-precision, but high accuracy SPC architectures: these architectures are specified as last-bit accurate with respect to a mathematical definition. In other words, they behave as if the computation was performed with infinite accuracy, then rounded only once to the low-precision output format. This eases the task of porting double-precision code (e.g. Matlab) to low-precision hardware or FPGA. The paper further discusses the construction of the most efficient architectures obeying such a specification, introducing several architectural improvements to this purpose. This approach is demonstrated in a generic, open-source architecture generator tool built upon the FloPoCo framework. It is evaluated on Finite Impulse Response filters for the ZigBee protocol.
Prostate cancer-specific mortality after radical prostatectomy for patients treated in the prostate-specific antigen era.

PURPOSE The long-term risk of prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) after radical prostatectomy is poorly defined for patients treated in the era of widespread prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening. Models that predict the risk of PCSM are needed for patient counseling and clinical trial design. METHODS A multi-institutional cohort of 12,677 patients treated with radical prostatectomy between 1987 and 2005 was analyzed for the risk of PCSM. Patient clinical information and treatment outcome was modeled using Fine and Gray competing risk regression analysis to predict PCSM. RESULTS Fifteen-year PCSM and all-cause mortality were 12% and 38%, respectively. The estimated PCSM ranged from 5% to 38% for patients in the lowest and highest quartiles of predicted risk of PSA-defined recurrence, based on a popular nomogram. Biopsy Gleason grade, PSA, and year of surgery were associated with PCSM. A nomogram predicting the 15-year risk of PCSM was developed, and the externally validated concordance index was 0.82. Neither preoperative PSA velocity nor body mass index improved the model's accuracy. Only 4% of contemporary patients had a predicted 15-year PCSM of greater than 5%. CONCLUSION Few patients will die from prostate cancer within 15 years of radical prostatectomy, despite the presence of adverse clinical features. This favorable prognosis may be related to the effectiveness of radical prostatectomy (with or without secondary therapy) or the low lethality of screen-detected cancers. Given the limited ability to identify contemporary patients at substantially elevated risk of PCSM on the basis of clinical features alone, the need for novel markers specifically associated with the biology of lethal prostate cancer is evident.
Intensive vocabulary learning: a case study

This paper describes a single-subject study of vocabulary acquisition. The subject, an L1 English speaker, was required to learn 300 vocabulary items in Arabic at a rate of 15 new words a day over a period of 20 days. The learning period was followed by immediate and delayed tests of receptive and productive knowledge of target items. The immediate test results indicated knowledge of almost all the target items, but this acquisition was temporary, with evident attrition of both receptive and productive knowledge in subsequent test events. The paper considers factors which might affect the uptake and retention of items, and uses a matrix analysis to make long-term projections for vocabulary acquisition.
Ranking of alternatives with ordered weighted averaging operators

Multiattribute decision making is an important part of the decision process for both individual and group problems. We incorporate the fuzzy set theory and the basic nature of subjectivity due to ambiguity to achieve a flexible decision approach suitable for uncertain and fuzzy environments. Let us consider the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in which the labels are structured as fuzzy numbers. To obtain the scoring that corresponds to the best alternative or the ranking of the alternatives, we need to use a total order for the fuzzy numbers involved in the problem. In this article, we consider a definition of such a total order, which is based on two subjective aspects: the degree of optimism/pessimism reflected with the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operators. A numerical example is given to illustrate the approach. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Reliability analysis of defense plans against slow and fast cascading phenomena

The development of a blackout can be typically divided in two stages: slow cascading and fast cascading events. The role of the human operator and of the fast automatic actions varies depending on the speed of the blackout process. This paper first provides a breakdown of a blackout in different stages based on the speed of the outage propagation. This helps identify the importance of the system operator and automatic actions in each blackout stage. Next, a reliability assessment framework is presented for assessing the impact of operators' ineffective response during the early stages of an electrical disturbance. In addition, a method based on Markov modeling and fault tree analysis is proposed for evaluating the reliability of System Integrity Protection Schemes (SIPS), which are usually installed to provide protection against fast dynamic events.
Edgeworth-Expanded Gaussian Mixture Density Modeling

Instead of increasing the order of the Edgeworth expansion of a single gaussian kernel, we suggest using mixtures of Edgeworth-expanded gaussian kernels of moderate order. We introduce a simple closed-form solution for estimating the kernel parameters based on weighted moment matching. Furthermore, we formulate the extension to the multivariate case, which is not always feasible with algebraic density approximation procedures.
Comparison of pulse rate variability indices estimated from pressure signal and photoplethysmogram

In this research, we proposed a method to estimate the time- and frequency-domain indices of pulse rate variability by using pulse waveforms separated from pressure signals measured during sleep. The pulse waveform is extracted from pressure signals based on wavelet transform, and heart beats are detected by an adaptive pulse template method. Through an evaluation based on 13 healthy subjects' pressure and photoplethysmography signals measured simultaneously during sleep, we found that the time- and frequency-domain indices of pulse rate variability estimated from pressure signals have a high correlation with those estimated from photoplethysmography signals. It suggests that pressure signals may serve as a convenient and low-cost tool to estimate pulse rate variability during sleep.
Regulation of hly Expression inListeria monocytogenes by Carbon Sources and pH Occurs through Separate Mechanisms Mediated by PrfA

ABSTRACT Expression of the PrfA-controlled virulence gene hly(encoding the pore-forming cytolysin listeriolysin) is under negative regulation by readily metabolized carbon sources in Listeria monocytogenes. However, the hyperhemolytic strain NCTC 7973 exhibits deregulated hly expression in the presence of repressing sugars, raising the possibility that a defect in carbon source regulation is responsible for its anomalous behavior. We show here that the activity of a second glucose-repressed enzyme, α-glucosidase, is 10-fold higher in NCTC 7973 than in 10403S. Usinghly-gus fusions, we show that the prfA allele from NCTC 7973 causes deregulated hly-gus expression in the presence of sugars in either the wild-type or the NCTC 7973 background, while the 10403S prfA allele restores carbon source regulation. However, the prfA genotype does not affect the regulation of α-glucosidase activity by repressing sugars. Of the two mutational differences in PrfA, only a Gly145Ser change is important for regulation of hly-gus. Therefore, NCTC 7973 and 10403S have genetic differences in at least two loci: one in prfAthat affects carbon source regulation of virulence genes and another in an unidentified gene(s) that up-regulates α-glucosidase activity. We also show that the decrease in pH associated with utilization of sugars negatively regulates hly-gus expression, although sugars can affect hly-gus expression by another mechanism that is independent of pH.
Expression of Foxb1 Reveals Two Strategies for the Formation of Nuclei in the Developing Ventral Diencephalon

Fork head b1 (Foxb1; also called Fkh5, HFH-e5.1, Mf3) is a winged helix transcription factor gene whose widespread early expression in the developing neural tube is soon restricted to the ventral and caudal diencephalon. During diencephalic neurogenesis, Foxb1 is expressed in one patch of neuroepithelium comprising a large mammillary portion and a smaller tuberal portion. The labeled cells coming from this patch contribute to nuclear formation by means of two different strategies: (1) caudally, the young neurons aggregate and settle immediately, giving rise to the nuclei of the mammillary body; (2) rostrally, the young neurons separate from the neuroepithelium forming a trail of cells which spans the mantle layer mediolaterally and which will give rise to two separate cell groups (the dorsal premammillary and part of the lateral hypothalamic area). Our results show the elaborate, regionalized histogenetic mechanisms necessary for the differentiation of the caudal diencephalon; moreover, they suggest that specifically labeled populations, arising from specifically labeled neuroepithelial patches and giving place to specific brain nuclei could be a common mechanism to build complex, nonlaminar regions of the forebrain.
Religion and spirituality among patients with localized prostate cancer

Objective: To examine: (1) daily religious and spiritual experiences among localized prostate cancer patients as compared to a national age and race-matched male sample; (2) cognitive-affective and clinical predictors of prostate cancer diagnosis-related increases in religiosity and spirituality; (3) short-term impact of daily religious and spiritual experiences on cancer recurrence worry. Methods: Analyses of data from a longitudinal questionnaire study among patients (N = 254) diagnosed with localized prostate cancer and data from a random sample (N = 238) of respondents to the national General Social Survey. Results: Compared to the national sample, prostate cancer patients reported higher levels of daily spiritual experiences. Patients with higher worry about prostate cancer and elevated levels of prostate-related symptoms around diagnosis were more likely to report a diagnosis-related increase in religiosity and spirituality. Positive benefits (reduced recurrence worry) of religious coping/practices were restricted to those patients with higher versus lower level of postdiagnosis increase in religiosity; patients not reporting postdiagnosis increases in religion who are not engaging in religious coping/practice adjusted equally well. Results suggest that the development of religious/spiritual interventions is premature. Significance of results: This is the first prospective study to report on the prevalence and influence of daily spiritual and religious experiences among prostate cancer patients.
Sirolimus effects on cancer incidence after kidney transplantation: a meta-analysis

Sirolimus, an immunosuppressant option for kidney transplant recipients, may reduce cancer risk by interrupting the mammalian target of rapamycin pathway. However, studies of sirolimus and cancer incidence in kidney recipients have not been definitive, and have had limited ability to examine specific cancer types. The literature was systematically reviewed to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies of kidney recipients that compared sirolimus users to sirolimus nonusers. Meta‐analytic methods were used to obtain pooled estimates of the association between sirolimus use and incidence of total cancer and specific cancer types. Estimates were stratified by study type (RCT vs. observational) and use of cyclosporine (an immunosuppressant that affects DNA repair). Twenty RCTs and two observational studies were eligible for meta‐analysis, including 39,039 kidney recipients overall. Sirolimus use was associated with lower overall cancer incidence (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.56–0.90), driven by a reduction in incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC, IRR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.32–0.76). The protective effect of sirolimus on NMSC risk was most notable in studies comparing sirolimus against cyclosporine (IRR = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.04–0.84). After excluding NMSCs, there was no overall association between sirolimus and incidence of other cancers (IRR = 1.06, 95% CI = 0.69–1.63). However, sirolimus use had associations with lower kidney cancer incidence (IRR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.20–0.81), and higher prostate cancer incidence (IRR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.17–2.91). Among kidney recipients, sirolimus users have lower NMSC risk, which may be partly due to removal of cyclosporine. Sirolimus may also reduce kidney cancer risk but did not appear protective for other cancers, and it may actually increase prostate cancer risk.
Establishing observer reliability in the context of dance performance assessment.

In the context of dance education, either as part of physical education or on its own, the assessment of dance performance is used as a benchmark of the students’ progress. Although reliability is a critical feature of this process, the majority of research projects are restricted in the lining up of reliability statistical indexes without giving guidelines for its establishment through sound training of the judges. The aim of the present paper is the presentation of the major issues and procedures of the judges’ training and reliability in a research project assessing the performance of Greek traditional dancers. The research project was conducted with the voluntary participation of four university dance students of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Athens, Greece, who were first video-recorded, and then observed and assessed by two judges during the performance of the dance “karsilamas Aise”. The methodological design included special training sessions of the judges regarding the functional definitions of the assessment categories and criteria (Hawkins, 1982), as well as the ways of observation and recording (Kazdin, 1977; Reid, 1982). The results proved that the actual training of observers whose task is to employ and apply recording techniques in dance is of major importance in the development of valid and reliable assessment instruments.