Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Abstinence Self-Efficacy and Treatment Services on Physical Health-Related Behaviors and Problems Among Dually Diagnosed Patients

Objective: Physical health problems are pervasive among patients with co-occurring substance use and mental disorders. Yet, drug treatment programs often ignore tobacco use and its association with health. Abstinence self-efficacy has been associated with improved outcomes for co-occurring disorders, which in turn may also impact physical health. This study had the goal of assessing whether abstinence self-efficacy for drugs and alcohol and availability and use of services would influence tobacco use and other health-related outcomes among 351 individuals with co-occurring disorders in residential drug treatment. Methods: Structural models tested the impact of baseline abstinence self-efficacy and treatment service characteristics on 6-month outcomes of health problems, functional limitations, health perceptions, and cigarette and heavy alcohol use. Demographics and baseline values for outcome variables were included as covariates. Results: Correlations within time for poor health, cigarette use, and heavy alcohol use were substantial. A longer time in drug treatment was associated with less cigarette and heavy alcohol use at a 6-month follow-up. Baseline health problems were associated with more cigarette use and functional limitations at 6-months. Abstinence self-efficacy did not predict less cigarette use but predicted less heavy alcohol use and fewer functional limitations. Availability of specialized dual diagnosis groups and more on-site psychological services were not directly associated with outcomes but had an impact through indirect effects on more psychological service utilization which predicted better subjective health. Conclusions: Improving overall treatment retention and services utilization among patients with co-occurring disorders may generalize to improved health perceptions, but specific health promotion and smoking-cessation interventions are warranted to improve health outcomes.
Video news face retrieval based on Web image datasets

Automatic annotation of broadcasting news programs is a challenging task for multimedia press review. Usually in a video stream, the head of a person moves continuously and changes in facial expressions, lighting conditions, and camera motion produce significant distortions in the image appearance that can largely affect recognition performances. In this paper a system for automatic face identification in TV broadcasting programs is proposed. The proposed approach is based on a joint use of Scale Invariant Feature Transform descriptor and Eigenfaces-based approach. The algorithm has been tested on two national broadcasting channels. Experimental results show that the joint use of these two approaches improves the recognition rate.
Versatile LED Drivers for Various Electronic Ballasts by Variable Switched Capacitor

An LED driver compatible with various electronic ballasts that are currently commercially used is newly proposed, which adopts a variable switched capacitor by controlling the switching duty cycle for LED power regulation. The resonant frequency of an LC resonant tank of electronic ballasts can be changed, which makes the proposed LED driver versatile for electronic ballasts for various switching frequencies. In this way, the fluorescent lamp is replaced with an LED lamp, where the electronic ballast in the lighting infrastructure remains unchanged. The zero voltage switching is applied for the variable switched capacitor in the electronic ballast, operating at a frequency of 30-60 kHz. Neither an inductor nor a transformer is introduced in the proposed LED driver, which leads to compact size and high efficiency. Furthermore, no electrolytic capacitor is used, which is beneficial for the long lifetime of LED drivers. A prototype LED driver of 16 W was implemented and verified for the three types of electronic ballasts that are most popular in markets. The LED power was well regulated for a wide range of the source voltage variations between 180 and 270 V, and the power efficiencies of the proposed LED driver were 95.8%, 96.1%, and 94.1% for the instant start, rapid start, and programmed start types of the electronic ballasts, respectively.
Muscarinic activation of inwardly rectifying K+ conductance reduces EPSPs in rat hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells

1 To determine how acetylcholine (ACh) modulates the somatodendritic processing of EPSPs, we performed whole‐cell recordings from CA1 pyramidal cells of hippocampal slices and examined the effect of the cholinergic agonist, carbachol (CCh), on α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl isoxazole‐4‐propionate (AMPA) EPSPs, miniature EPSPs, and EPSP‐like waveforms evoked by brief dendritic glutamate pulses (glutamate‐evoked postsynaptic potentials, GPSPs). 2 Although CCh is known to enhance the intrinsic excitability of the neuron in several ways, activation of atropine‐sensitive (muscarinic) receptors on the apical dendrite or the soma of CA1 pyramidal cells consistently reduced the amplitude of EPSPs and GPSPs. 3 Cholinergic inhibition of evoked and simulated EPSP waveforms displayed considerable voltage dependence, with the amplitude of the postsynaptic potentials progressively declining with membrane hyperpolarization indicating the involvement of an inwardly rectifying current. 4 Extracellular Ba2+ (200 μm) and tertiapin (30 nm), a novel and selective blocker of G protein‐activated, inwardly rectifying K+ (GIRK) channels, completely blocked the effect of CCh on GPSP amplitude. 5 Muscarinic reduction of GPSPs was not sensitive to the M1 receptor‐preferring antagonist, pirenzepine, but was suppressed by the M2 receptor‐preferring antagonist, methoctramine, and by the allosteric M2 receptor antagonist, gallamine. 6 In voltage‐clamp recordings, CCh induced an ion current displaying inward rectification in the hyperpolarizing direction, which was identified as a GIRK current based on its sensitivity to low Ba2+ and tertiapin. Its pharmacological profile paralleled that of the cholinergic GPSP reduction. 7 We link the observed reduction of postsynaptic potentials to the cholinergic activation of a GIRK conductance, which serves to partially shunt excitatory synaptic input.
Cross-term Reduction Using Wigner Hough Transform and Back Estimation

This paper presents some algorithms to reduce the cross-terms, which are unfortunate mathematical artifacts in the calculation of Wigner Ville Distribution (WVD) of a multi-component signal. The experiments are carried out for linear FM signals which have a line representation in the spectral domain. When the WVD of a multi-component signal is calculated, sometimes the cross-terms will show higher peaks compared to the main signal components. There have been many methods proposed to filter out these cross terms, so that the signal can be precisely represented in the time-frequency domain. In this paper, a method based on Hough Transform is used for the same purpose. A line in the time-frequency domain can be represented as a point in the Hough transformed domain. Once we identify the coordinates of this point in the transformed domain, we can estimate the properties of the line in the time-frequency domain which corresponds exactly to the actual signal components. This paper proposes a new idea of back estimation to filter out only the components corresponding to cross-terms from the time-frequency domain of WVD. This paper also briefs about the implementation of the algorithms in Matlab for different values of signal to noise ratios.
Deletion of a Single Allele of the Dkk1 Gene Leads to an Increase in Bone Formation and Bone Mass

Wnt/β‐catenin signaling has been proven to play a central role in bone biology. Unexpectedly, the Wnt antagonist Dkk2 is required for terminal osteoblast differentiation and mineralized matrix formation. We show that Dkk1, unlike Dkk2, negatively regulates osteoblast differentiation and bone formation.
Invasive fungal infection in chronic granulomatous disease: insights into pathogenesis and management

Purpose of review Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) remain a major cause of death in patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). We discuss the new insights into the pathogenesis, diagnosis, prevention, and management of invasive fungal infections in patients with CGD. Recent findings CGD has the highest prevalence of IFIs among the immunodeficiencies. Infections typically involve the lung, and the most commonly isolated pathogen is Aspergillus spp. However, IFIs due to rare opportunistic filamentous fungi are increasingly reported. Most IFIs are diagnosed on routine chest imaging, and serum markers such as galactomannan and 1,3-&bgr;-D-glucan are of limited value in CGD. Routine use of itraconazole for prophylaxis continues to be recommended, although posaconazole may be an alternative. Management of IFIs is typically centered on prolonged courses of antifungal therapy. Surgery may be required for complete resolution, especially in the setting of osteomyelitis or infections due to Aspergillus nidulans or other poorly responsive molds. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) cures CGD and may be appropriate in select patients with refractory IFIs. Summary Management of IFIs in CGD has significantly improved over the last decade. Earlier diagnosis of IFIs, accurate identification of pathogens, and development of reliable susceptibility testing are areas for future emphasis. HSCT is a promising therapy, even during refractory infections in CGD.
Analysis of pulse transmission system

This paper describes the jitter of output pulse front edge with input noise, modulation and demodulation noise, phase noise of local oscillators and channel noise for AM and FM pulse transmission systems. The analytical results show that the total jitter of system output pulse front edge includes three parts: input jitter, IF jitter and RF jitter, which can be regarded as the foundation of design for IF and RF components of pulse transmission systems.
Dendritic Cell Subtypes from Lymph Nodes and Blood Show Contrasted Gene Expression Programs upon Bluetongue Virus Infection

ABSTRACT Human and animal hemorrhagic viruses initially target dendritic cells (DCs). It has been proposed, but not documented, that both plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) and conventional DCs (cDCs) may participate in the cytokine storm encountered in these infections. In order to evaluate the contribution of DCs in hemorrhagic virus pathogenesis, we performed a genome-wide expression analysis during infection by Bluetongue virus (BTV), a double-stranded RNA virus that induces hemorrhagic fever in sheep and initially infects cDCs. Both pDCs and cDCs accumulated in regional lymph nodes and spleen during BTV infection. The gene response profiles were performed at the onset of the disease and markedly differed with the DC subtypes and their lymphoid organ location. An integrative knowledge-based analysis revealed that blood pDCs displayed a gene signature related to activation of systemic inflammation and permeability of vasculature. In contrast, the gene profile of pDCs and cDCs in lymph nodes was oriented to inhibition of inflammation, whereas spleen cDCs did not show a clear functional orientation. These analyses indicate that tissue location and DC subtype affect the functional gene expression program induced by BTV and suggest the involvement of blood pDCs in the inflammation and plasma leakage/hemorrhage during BTV infection in the real natural host of the virus. These findings open the avenue to target DCs for therapeutic interventions in viral hemorrhagic diseases.
The linear arboricity of some regular graphs

We prove that the linear arboricity of every 5-regular graph is 3. That is, the edges of any 5-regular graph are covered by three linear forests. We also determine the linear arboricity of 6-regular graphs and 8-regular graphs. These results improve the known upper bounds for the linear arboricity of graphs with given maximum degree.
Discovering Users' Participant Roles in Virtual Communities with the Help of Social Interaction Theories

In today’s electronic businesses, many companies apply virtual communities (VC) to support their electronic customer-relation management (e-CRM). Since participants play different roles on the activeness and success of a VC, it is valuable for companies to treat these participants differently. Considering the situation of large amount of VCs with great population of participant base, companies need some objective and effective methods to distinguish different roles of participants in a VC based on finite online observable behaviors. These roles do not simply mean posting more or less, but rather a compound summary of individual behaviors and social patterns. Integrating with knowledge in social interaction study, such as IPA (Interaction Process Analysis), we apply several quantitative methods, including classification algorithms, clustering algorithms and neural networks, to analyze participants’ roles and social influence in VCs. Results demonstrate how those methods can distinguish different groups of participants from individual behaviors and social patterns in VCs. This study also provides a new trial on how advanced information technologies can efficiently understand social factors in VCs with the help of social interaction theories
Deterministic network on chip for deploying real time applications on many-core processors

The adoption of multi- and many-core processors in avionic applications is still limited by certification concerns, mainly due to non-deterministic behavior. In this paper, we review requirements of avionic applications, and we identify some of the critical issues that they are going to face on many-core processors. We then propose a preliminary version of a network-on-chip architecture suitable for airworthiness certification, which combines quality-of-service and fault-tolerance.
Strategic biomonitoring initiatives: moving the science forward.

Biomonitoring programs in the United States and Europe demonstrate the vast array of data that are publicly available for the evaluation of exposure trends, identification of susceptible populations, detection of emerging chemical risks, the conduct of epidemiology studies, and evaluation of risk reduction strategies. To cultivate international discussion on these issues, the ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute convened a scientific session at its annual meeting in January 2006 on "Integration of Biomonitoring Exposure Data into the Risk Assessment Process. " This Forum paper presents perspectives from session speakers on the biomonitoring activities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Research Council Committee on Human Biomonitoring for Environmental Toxicants, the German Commission on Human Biomonitoring, and the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute Biomonitoring Technical Committee. Speakers noted that better estimates of biological concentrations of substances in the tissues of human populations can be combined with other exposure indices, as well as epidemiological and toxicologic data, to improve risk estimates. With this type of combined data, the potential also exists to define exposure levels at which hazard and risk are of minimal concern. Limitations in interpreting biomonitoring data were discussed, including the need for different criteria for applying biomonitoring data for exposure assessment, risk assessment, risk management, or disease prevention purposes. As efforts and resources are expended to improve the ability to apply biomonitoring exposure data in the risk assessment process, it is equally important to communicate the significance of such data to the public.
Case Management: Ongoing Evaluation of Patients' Needs in an Opioid Treatment Program

Purpose/objective Case management has been widely used in mental health and substance abuse services. There have been only a few studies that have examined the use of case management in opioid-treatment programs. In a project funded by the Centers of Substance Abuse Treatment, we looked at the use of case managers and specifically at the treatment needs of this unique population. Our case managers, with the aid of research assistants, surveyed the treatment needs of 189 patients entering an opioid-treatment program over a 3-year period. Patients completed the Needs Assessment Instrument at intake, 6 months, and 12 months. Primary practice setting(s) The use of case managers to assess the needs of opioid-dependent patients is applicable to substance abuse treatment setting especially in opioid-treatment programs that provide methadone or buprenorphine maintenance. Findings/conclusions The critical services most requested were vocational, employment, transportation, dental, emotional, and smoking cessation. There were changes over the 12-month follow-up period in the types and priority of services requested. Implication for case management practice The Needs Assessment Instrument is a useful tool for case mangers to assess treatment needs of patients and the overall clinic population. Once sufficient patients have been surveyed, the opioid-treatment program can plan needed services for the clinic. Specific social agencies can be contacted to provide key services. Service needs are not static and as patients improve they may need a different mix of services to support their continued abstinence.
14th Annual Meeting of the Safety Pharmacology Society: threading through scientific sessions for originality and novelty

Introduction: The Annual Meeting of the Safety Pharmacology (SP) Society is a yearly event designed to keep attendees abreast of how to best identify and mitigate organ function liabilities of candidate drugs selected for clinical assessment. Areas covered: Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) effects of candidate drugs in dogs/monkeys have satisfactory human translation. Mechanism-designed assays offer opportunities for innovative approaches to identify chemotherapeutic-induced peripheral neuropathy (PN). SP has a large array of methodologies to determine safety on eye functions. Video-tracking analysis of zebrafish swimming behavior accurately profiles drugs for high-level brain function liabilities. Available in vitro and in vivo assays can identify, and determine physiological and pharmacological mechanisms of, candidate drug-induced emesis. Ad hoc Working Groups have already finalized protocols for testing the comprehensive in vitro arrhythmia assay (CiPA), an innovative paradigm for assessing mechanisms conferring candidate drug proarrhythmic liabilities. Expert opinion: The good concordance of non-clinical and clinical Phase I BP and HR effects of candidate drugs support the use of dog/monkey models for clinical outcome. Drug liabilities (e.g., PN, nausea, vomiting, etc.) affecting non-vital organs/systems require the same degree of SP attention given to vital functions as they can dramatically reduce patient quality of life.
Normal variation of bone marrow B‐cell precursors according to age – reference ranges for studies in myelodysplastic syndromes in Brazil

Normal B lymphoid maturation occurs in bone marrow (BM) throughout life, but immature B‐cell progenitors (BCPs) are more numerous in children than in adults. To assess the normal values according to age became important as BCPs are decreased in myelodysplastic syndromes and have been considered an important diagnostic and prognostic feature in these clonal disorders.
Gaussian Processes Semantic Map Representation

In this paper, we develop a high-dimensional map building technique that incorporates raw pixelated semantic measurements into the map representation. The proposed technique uses Gaussian Processes (GPs) multi-class classification for map inference and is the natural extension of GP occupancy maps from binary to multi-class form. The technique exploits the continuous property of GPs and, as a result, the map can be inferred with any resolution. In addition, the proposed GP Semantic Map (GPSM) learns the structural and semantic correlation from measurements rather than resorting to assumptions, and can flexibly learn the spatial correlation as well as any additional non-spatial correlation between map points. We extend the OctoMap to Semantic OctoMap representation and compare with the GPSM mapping performance using NYU Depth V2 dataset. Evaluations of the proposed technique on multiple partially labeled RGBD scans and labels from noisy image segmentation show that the GP semantic map can handle sparse measurements, missing labels in the point cloud, as well as noise corrupted labels.
Operational manifestations of institutional dysfunction in post-apartheid South Africa

At the centre of the water law reform process initiated by the first democratic government of the Republic of South Africa (RSA) lay the challenge of transforming away from apartheid water injustices. Reform culminated in the promulgation of new legislation, regarded internationally as ambitious and forward-thinking legislation reflective of the broad aims of integrated water resource management. However, implementation of this legislation has been challenging. This paper analyses institutional dysfunction in water management in the Sundays River Valley Municipality (Eastern Cape Province, RSA). A transdisciplinary approach is taken in addressing the failure of national law and policy to enable the delivery of effective water services in post-apartheid RSA. A case study is used to explore interventions to promote effective water supply, locating these interventions and policies within the legislative structures and frameworks governing the water sector. We suggest that fine-grained institutional analysis together with learning from persistent iterative, adaptive practice, with principled goals intact, offers a pragmatic and achievable alternative to grand-scale policy change.
Unexpected low incidence of vertebral fractures in heart transplant recipients: analysis of bone turnover

Heart transplantation (HTX) is associated with a reduction in bone mineral density (BMD). Different markers of bone metabolism have been used, and the applied immunosuppressive regimens have also changed over time. This study was performed to re‐investigate bone metabolism in HTX recipients. Twenty‐five HTX recipients were compared with 25 HTX candidates in respect of biochemical parameters of bone metabolism, BMD, and the frequency of fractures for 1 year. Osteopenia or osteoporosis was observed in approximately two‐thirds of the HTX recipients. Nevertheless, only three (12%) HTX recipients developed a vertebral fracture within 1 year after transplantation; no peripheral fractures occurred. Compared with HTX candidates, HTX recipients had lower serum levels of osteocalcin, and higher serum levels of cross‐linked‐N‐telopeptide of type I collagen (NTX). In HTX recipients, osteocalcin initially reached a nadir, increased during the first 3 months, and decreased thereafter. Bone‐specific alkaline phosphatase initially increased and then decreased. Serum levels of NTX and parathyroid hormone remained high throughout the year. Despite a high bone turnover, an unexpectedly low rate of vertebral fractures was registered. Nevertheless, each fragility fracture is a serious complication and we need to take steps to prevent this complication.