Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An evaluation of a domiciliary respite service for younger people with dementia.

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES There is a lack of respite services designed specifically for younger people with dementia. There is also a dearth of studies on the evaluation of domiciliary respite services for carers of people with dementia in general. This paper reports on the evaluation of a domiciliary respite service for carers of younger people with dementia, in one area in Northern Ireland, provided by a local branch of the Alzheimer's Society. METHODS Using a qualitative approach, eight carers and their families were interviewed in their own homes about their views and expectations of the service, the benefits and problems they experienced, and other issues of relevance to them. RESULTS Overall, they reported great satisfaction with the service. The way they used, and benefited from, the service differed for individuals. Most of them, however, gained respite in the form of help with bathing and dressing the person with dementia. Carers reported that they did not engage in social or recreational activities during the period of respite. Instead they used the respite time to catch up with household chores and shopping. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS The benefits and concerns can only be understood from the perspectives of carers and in the context of their needs, values, beliefs and traditions. The insight gained can be used to inform future provision of services for this population.
Development of epoxy/BN composites with high thermal conductivity and sufficient dielectric breakdown strength part II-breakdown strength

The aim of this research is to find a way to achieve the epoxy composites with high thermal conductivity and acceptable dielectric breakdown (BD) strength. A value 12.3 W/m·K is the highest thermal conductivity obtained for epoxy composite in Part I. Dielectric breakdown performances such as short-time dielectric breakdown strength (BD strength), partial discharge (PD) resistance and BD time for composites were investigated in the Part II. In general, micro filler inclusion will increase thermal conductivity and decrease dielectric breakdown performance. Influencing factors are considered to be the orientation of filler, the content of void space, the content ratio in the case of co-mixing, the addition of nano filler, and filler surface modification. Twenty six kinds of composites were prepared in consideration of the above influencing factors. There are two options for most appropriate ones among the composites evaluated in the research. One is an epoxy/ conglomerated h-BN composite with co-loaded nano SiO2 and micro AIN filler. It has 12.3 W/m·K in thermal conductivity, 75.1 kVpeak/mm in BD strength and 260 % of BD time for neat epoxy. It is most suitable when low BD strength and high thermal conductivity is needed. The other one is an epoxy/ h-BN composite with co-loaded nano silica and AIN filler for requirement of very high BD strength but lower thermal conductivity. Optimum thermal conductivity is obtained if flaky h-BN filler is oriented in parallel to heat flow. Since it is difficult to realize full orientation, the use of conglomerated h-BN filler is a suitable option. Optimum BD performance is obtained if void space is reduced by certain methods such as co-dispersion of different size fillers and addition of nano filler.
Atopy among schoolchildren in northern and southern Sweden in relation to pet ownership and early life events

Studies have suggested a higher prevalence of asthma and allergies in northern, as compared to southern, Scandinavia. The aim of this study was to evaluate regional differences in atopy in relation to pet ownership and certain early life events among schoolchildren (n = 2108) aged 10–11 years from Linköping in southern Sweden and Östersund in northern Sweden. The parents completed a questionnaire, comprising questions on home environment, heredity, socio‐economic conditions, and the core questions on symptoms from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. The children were skin‐prick tested to eight common inhalant allergens. Information on maternal smoking habits, gestational age, and anthropometric measures were obtained from the Swedish Medical Birth Registry. The prevalence of atopic symptoms and sensitization to pollen were similar in Östersund and in Linköping. A higher prevalence of sensitization to animal dander among children in Östersund could be linked to a higher occurrence of pets in the community. Current cat ownership was related to less sensitivity to cat allergen but only in children with an atopic heredity. Ponderal index > 30 kg/m3 was related to an increased risk of atopic sensitization, both in Linköping (adjusted odds ratio 2.1; 95% confidence interval 1.1–4.0) and in Östersund (adjusted odds ratio 2.0; 95% confidence interval 1.1–3.5). Maternal smoking during pregnancy was related to an increased risk of atopic sensitization among children in Linköping, whereas current smoking was associated with a decreased risk of sensitization in Östersund. In conclusion, we demonstrated that a high occurrence of pets in the community was associated with sensitization, whereas atopic symptoms were essentially unaffected. This study has also suggested an association between body size at birth and atopic sensitization at 10–11 years of age.
Selecting Technologies for Assessment

This article describes criteria used by several organizations to select technologies for assessment and the factors that are common to most lists of criteria. It presents a framework or model (called TAPSS) that relates the most important factors. The model can be used to estimate the expected impact of an assessment on health and economic outcomes for a population. It incorporates information on such factors as the health and economic importance of the disease addressed by the technology, the expected impact of the technology on health and economic outcomes, variations in the technology's current use, and factors affecting the production and reception of an assessment. The article includes an example of an application of the method—screening for maple syrup urine disease.
GAL4 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae activates the lactose-galactose regulon of Kluyveromyces lactis and creates a new phenotype: glucose repression of the regulon

A Kluyveromyces lactis mutant defective in lac9 cannot induce beta-galactosidase or galactokinase activity and is unable to grow on lactose or galactose. When this strain was transformed with the GAL4 positive regulatory gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae it was able to grow on lactose or galactose as the sole carbon source. Transformants bearing GAL4 exhibited a 4.5-h generation time on galactose or lactose, versus 24 h for the nontransformed lac9 strain. A K. lactis lac9 strain bearing two integrated copies of GAL4 showed 3.5-fold induction of beta-galactosidase activity and 1.8-fold induction of galactokinase activity compared with 15.6-fold and 4.4-fold induction, respectively, for the LAC9 wild-type strain. In transformants bearing 10 integrated copies of GAL4, the induced level of beta-galactosidase was nearly as high as in the LAC9 wild-type strain. In addition to restoring lactose and galactose gene expression, GAL4 in K. lactis lac9 mutant cells conferred a new phenotype, severe glucose repression of lactose and galactose-inducible enzymes. Glucose repressed beta-galactosidase activity 35- to 74-fold and galactokinase activity 14- to 31-fold in GAL4 transformants, compared with the 2-fold glucose repression exhibited in the LAC9 wild-type strain. The S. cerevisiae MEL1 gene was repressed fourfold by glucose in LAC9 cells. In contrast, the MEL1 gene in a GAL4 lac9 strain was repressed 20-fold by glucose. These results indicate that the GAL4 and LAC9 proteins activate transcription in a similar manner. However, either the LAC9 or GAL4 gene or a product of these genes responds differently to glucose in K. lactis.
Influence of metal-layer thickness on the losses in fishnet metamaterial

The influence of metal-layer thickness on the left-handed performance of fishnet metamaterial is investigated. It is found that an appropriate thickness design of the metal layer is important for reducing losses and increasing the figure of merit. Low-loss and extraordinary transmission can be achieved for the fishnet metamaterial operating around 1.5 mum with the metal-layer thickness of about 90 nm, which is larger than the conventionally reported thickness of about two times of the skin depth.
ADWISE: Adaptive Window-Based Streaming Edge Partitioning for High-Speed Graph Processing

In recent years, the graph partitioning problem gained importance as a mandatory preprocessing step for distributed graph processing on very large graphs. Existing graph partitioning algorithms minimize partitioning latency by assigning individual graph edges to partitions in a streaming manner - at the cost of reduced partitioning quality. However, we argue that the mere minimization of partitioning latency is not the optimal design choice in terms of minimizing total graph analysis latency, i.e., the sum of partitioning and processing latency. Instead, for complex and long-running graph processing algorithms that run on very large graphs, it is beneficial to invest more time into graph partitioning to reach a higher partitioning quality - which drastically reduces graph processing latency. In this paper, we propose ADWISE, a novel window-based streaming partitioning algorithm that increases the partitioning quality by always choosing the best edge from a set of edges for assignment to a partition. In doing so, ADWISE controls the partitioning latency by adapting the window size dynamically at run-time. Our evaluations show that ADWISE can reach the sweet spot between graph partitioning latency and graph processing latency, reducing the total latency of partitioning plus processing by up to 23-47 percent compared to the state-of-the-art.
Cardiac surgical nurses' use of atrial electrograms to improve diagnosis of arrhythmia.

BACKGROUND The practice standard for electrocardiographic monitoring in hospitals recommends use of atrial electrograms after cardiac surgery to help diagnose cardiac arrhythmias. OBJECTIVES To determine whether use of atrial electrograms significantly improves nurses' ability to diagnose cardiac arrhythmias and to assess nurses' perceptions of the ease of obtaining and interpreting electrograms, the frequency of use of atrial electrograms, and the correlation between nurses' experience with the technique and arrhythmia scores. METHODS In total, 282 nurses completed a test consisting of 5 electrocardiographic rhythms for which use of atrial electrograms might improve interpretation. A standardized educational session on obtaining and interpreting atrial electrograms was given to 165 nurses who had not previously received such education. In a second test, the same rhythms were provided along with atrial electrograms to 261 nurses. Overall changes in total test scores and individual changes in interpreting rhythms were analyzed. Demographic information, perceptions of the ease of obtaining and interpreting atrial electrograms, and the frequency of use were collected. Correlation between scores on the second test and nurses' years of experience in interpreting atrial electrograms was determined. RESULTS Use of atrial electrograms significantly increased overall arrhythmia interpretation scores. Nurses rated obtaining atrial electrograms as easy and interpreting the findings as moderately easy. Despite this reported ease, 57.1% of nurses obtained atrial electrograms less than monthly and only 3.4% obtained them daily. Correlation between experience with atrial electrograms and arrhythmia test scores was not significant. CONCLUSIONS Nurses' use of atrial electrograms improves diagnoses of cardiac arrhythmias.
Religion and assisted and non-assisted suicide in Switzerland: National Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND In the 19th century, eminent French sociologist Emile Durkheim found suicide rates to be higher in the Protestant compared with the Catholic cantons of Switzerland. We examined religious affiliation and suicide in modern Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal. METHODS The 2000 census records of 1,722,456 (46.0%) Catholics, 1,565,452 (41.8%) Protestants and 454,397 (12.2%) individuals with no affiliation were linked to mortality records up to December 2005. The association between religious affiliation and suicide, with the Protestant faith serving as the reference category, was examined in Cox regression models. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were adjusted for age, marital status, education, type of household, language and degree of urbanization. RESULTS Suicide rates per 100,000 inhabitants were 19.7 in Catholics (1664 suicides), 28.5 in Protestants (2158 suicides) and 39.0 in those with no affiliation (882 suicides). Associations with religion were modified by age and gender (P < 0.0001). Compared with Protestant men aged 35-64 years, HRs (95% CI) for all suicides were 0.80 (0.73-0.88) in Catholic men and 1.09 (0.98-1.22) in men with no affiliation; and 0.60 (0.53-0.67) and 1.96 (1.69-2.27), respectively, in men aged 65-94 years. Corresponding HRs in women aged 35-64 years were 0.90 (0.80-1.03) and 1.46 (1.25-1.72); and 0.67 (0.59-0.77) and 2.63 (2.22-3.12) in women aged 65-94 years. The association was strongest for suicides by poisoning in the 65-94-year-old age group, the majority of which was assisted: HRs were 0.45 (0.35-0.59) for Catholic men and 3.01 (2.37-3.82) for men with no affiliation; 0.44 (0.36-0.55) for Catholic women and 3.14 (2.51-3.94) for women with no affiliation. CONCLUSIONS In Switzerland, the protective effect of a religious affiliation appears to be stronger in Catholics than in Protestants, stronger in older than in younger people, stronger in women than in men, and particularly strong for assisted suicides.
Analysis of overall level of evidence behind Infectious Diseases Society of America practice guidelines.

BACKGROUND Clinical practice guidelines are developed to assist in patient care. Physicians may assume that following such guidelines means practicing evidence-based medicine. However, the quality of supporting literature can vary greatly. METHODS We analyzed the strength of recommendation and overall quality of evidence behind 41 Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) guidelines released between January 1994 and May 2010. Individual recommendations were classified based on their strength of recommendation (levels A through C) and quality of evidence (levels I through III). Guidelines not following this format were excluded from further analysis. Evolution of IDSA guidelines was assessed by comparing 5 recently updated guidelines with their earlier versions. RESULTS In the 41 analyzed guidelines, 4218 individual recommendations were found and tabulated. Fourteen percent of the recommendations were classified as level I, 31% as level II, and 55% as level III evidence. Among class A recommendations (good evidence for support), 23% were level I (≥1 randomized controlled trial) and 37% were based on expert opinion only (level III). Updated guidelines expanded the absolute number of individual recommendations substantially. However, few were due to a sizable increase in level I evidence; most additional recommendations had level II and III evidence. CONCLUSIONS More than half of the current recommendations of the IDSA are based on level III evidence only. Until more data from well-designed controlled clinical trials become available, physicians should remain cautious when using current guidelines as the sole source guiding patient care decisions.
The relative importance of genetic and environmental effects for the early stages of thyroid autoimmunity: a study of healthy Danish twins.

OBJECTIVE In euthyroid individuals, autoantibodies to thyroid peroxidase (TPOab) and thyroglobulin (Tgab) are regarded as early markers of thyroid autoimmunity. Family and twin studies suggest that development of thyroid autoantibodies in first-degree relatives of patients with autoimmune thyroid disease is under genetic influence. We aimed to estimate the relative importance of genetic and environmental effects for the presence of thyroid autoantibodies in euthyroid subjects. METHODS A representative sample of healthy twin pairs was identified through the Danish Twin Registry; 1372 individuals, divided into 283 monozygotic (MZ), 285 dizygotic same sex (DZ), and 118 opposite sex twin pairs were investigated. Serum TPOab and serum Tgab were measured. Proband-wise concordance and intraclass correlations were calculated, and quantitative genetic modelling was performed. RESULTS Probandwise concordance and intraclass correlations were consistently higher for MZ than for DZ twin pairs indicating genetic influence. Genetic components (with 95% confidence intervals) accounted for 73% (46-89%) of the liability of being thyroid antibody positive. Adjusting for covariates (age, TSH and others), the estimate for genetic influence on serum TPOab concentrations was 61% (49-70%) in males and 72% (64-79%) in females. For serum Tgab concentrations, the estimates were 39% (24-51%) and 75% (66-81%) respectively. CONCLUSIONS Early markers of thyroid autoimmunity appear to be under strong genetic influence. The analyses suggest that it is the same set of genes that operate in males and females. However, complex mechanisms such as dominance and/or epistasis may be involved.
Linear feedback control of a von Kármán street by cylinder rotation

This paper considers the problem of controlling a von Kármán vortex street (periodic shedding) behind a circular cylinder using cylinder rotation as the actuation. The approach is to linearize the Navier-Stokes equations about the desired (unstable) steady-state flow and design the control for the regulator problem using distributed parameter control theory. The Oseen equations are discretized using finite element methods and the resulting LQR control problem requires the solution to algebraic Riccati equations with very high rank. The feedback gains are computed using model reduction in a “control-then-reduce” framework. Model reduction is used to efficiently solve both Chandrasekhar and Lyapunov equations. The reduced Chandrasekhar equations are used to produce a stable initial guess for a Kleinman-Newton iteration. The high-rank Lyapunov equations associated with Kleinman-Newton iterations are solved by applying a novel model reduction strategy. This “control-then-reduce” methodology has a significant computational cost, but does not suffer many of the “reduce-then-control” setbacks, such as ensuring the unknown feedback functional gains are well represented in the reduced-basis. Numerical results for a 2-D cylinder wake problem at a Reynolds number of 100 demonstrate that this approach works when perturbations from the steady-state solution are small enough. When this feedback control is applied to a flow where vortex shedding has already occurred, the feedback control in the nonlinear problem stabilizes a nontrivial limit cycle. This limit cycle does have reduced lift forces and showcases the promise of the linear feedback control approach.
Simplified process solution for a 150µm bump pitch flip chip packaging using C40 ULK wafer

This paper presents a simplified flip chip front-of-line process flow by means of eliminating de-flux and plasma processes as well as replacing the solder on pad (SOP) on solder mask defined (SMD) substrate design for a 150µm bump pitch flip chip packaging using C40 ULK (ultra low-K) wafer. Wafer sawing was performed with the combination of laser grooving and mechanical diamond blade dicing to prevent metal peeling problems which cannot be addressed by standard blade dicing process alone. In order to prevent the adherence of debris on the wafer active surface and the bumps during laser grooving, a water soluble protective coating material was coated on the wafer prior to laser grooving. An optimization was done in order to ensure that the bumps are fully covered and protected with the coating material. After the wafer preparation, three different front-of-line process approaches were conducted. The first approach is the standard flow which is the typical flip chip process involving flip chip attach, solder bump reflow, de-flux, prebake, plasma and underfill processes using a SOP on SMD substrate design and a clean type flux material. The second approach is a simplification of the standard flow in which the de-flux and plasma processes were removed. This approach uses a non-solder mask defined (NSMD) substrate design with organic solderability preservative (OSP) bump pad finishing in combination with a non-clean type flux material. Third approach, an alternate flow, is similar to the first and second approaches but utilizes Cu Pillar bumps in combination with SOP on SMD substrate and a clean type flux material, and with a NSMD with OSP substrate and a non-clean type flux respectively. The three (3) different approaches were evaluated and compared by assessing process risks of bump cracks/voids, non-wetting bumps and underfill voids through die shear test, cross-section, scanning acoustic microscopy (C-SAM) inspections. Moisture sensitivity level 3 (MSL3), 50x thermal cycle (TC 50x) and 20x reflow were conducted to assess package level reliability. Processibility and reliability results showed positive and comparable results for all the three approaches and demonstrated that a simplified solution can be achieved by using a NSMD substrate design with OSP and a non-clean type flux material.
Phenotypic drift of metastatic and cell‐surface properties of mammary adenocarcinoma cell clones during growth in vitro

We have examined cell clones obtained from a 13762 mammary adenocarcinoma tumor and its spontaneous lung metastasis for phenotypic stability during serial culture passage in vitro. Two clones that varied markedly in their metastatic properties were chosen for further examination. One of these clones (MTC) obtained from the parental transplanted tumor initially failed to metastasize within 23 days post‐injection s.c. but gained the ability to form spontaneous pulmonary metastases after several serial passages in vitro. Another clone (MTLn3) derived from a spontaneous lung metastasis was initially highly metastatic after short‐term culture, but lost the potential to form large numbers of spontaneous lung metastases with long‐term culture. In contrast to MTA, clone MTLn3 displayed lymph‐node metastasis, and the frequency of lymph‐node involvement increased when late‐passage cultures of MTLn3 cells were assayed in vivo. Both clones from late‐passage cultures produced larger tumor sizes at the primary (mammary fat pad) injection sites compared to early passage cells. The morphologies of MTC cells changed with serial tissue culture passage, while the morphologies of MTLn3 cells did not change. The display of fibronectin on MTC cells by immunofluorescence did not change with culture passage; fibronectin was not detected in cultures of clone MTLn3. Fibronectin was also found on MTC cells by cell surface labelling using lactoperoxidase‐catalyzed iodination‐sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis‐autoradio‐graphy. lodination of fibronectin on MTC cells did not vary with culture passage, and as in immunofluorescence experiments it was not detected on MTLn3 cells. There was a decrease in exposure of certain cell surface proteins on MTC cells with culture passage, but we did not detect modifications with this procedure that correlated with culture passage of MTLn3 cells. We conclude that prolonged culture in vitro can result in modifications of metastatic and cell‐surface properties of tumor cell clones.