Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of the suture/ligature training system WKS-2 designed to provide more detailed information of the task performance

Authors have proposed as a long-term goal, since 2004, the development of a patient robot which could serve for both training purposes as well as an evaluation tool of medical procedures. As a first approach, we have developed last year a suture and ligature training system named Waseda Kyotokagaku Suture No. 1 (WKS-1), which is composed by a commercial skin dummy with arrays of embedded sensors designed to acquire quantitative data of the task. The WKS-1 was designed to reproduce realistically the task conditions as well as providing objective assessment of the task performance. In particular, the proposed evaluation function considered the following performance indexes: time, displacement and force levels. By performing experiments with medical doctors and unskilled persons, we confirmed the effectiveness of WKS-1 to provide objective assessments of the task performance. However, the functionalities of WKS-1 were too restricted as few automatic procedures were implemented for the acquisition and processing of the collected data. Therefore; in this paper, we are presenting the Waseda Kyotokagaku Suture No. 2 (WKS-2). The WKS-2 has been designed to provide more detailed information of the task performance as well as improving its portability, connectivity, and usability. In addition, thanks to the design improvements on the WKS-2, we have proposed additional evaluation parameters to measure the quality of the suture (after the task has been completed). For this purpose, we proposed a image processing algorithm to automatically measure the width of sutures, the distance among them and the wound area. Preliminary experiments were carried out to verify its effectiveness.
Treating Depression and Compensatory Narcissistic Personality Style in a Man With Chronic Lyme Disease

The following case study illustrates a client-centered, cognitive-behavioral approach to the psychological treatment of Mr. M, a 41-year-old male diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, a mood disorder from Lyme disease, and narcissistic personality disorder. Mr. M's personality difficulties are conceptualized as representing compensatory narcissism, a strategic way of coping with feelings of insecurity. The goals of treatment included positively integrating Mr. M's chronic illness into his identity, decreasing depressive symptoms, and improving his interpersonal skills. Treatment was successful in decreasing both Mr. M's depressive symptoms and his narcissistic orientation to thinking and interacting with others.
Open innovation among university spin-off firms: what is in it for them, and what can cities do?

R&D and innovation increasingly take place in networks beyond the boundaries of a single firm with customers in a more important role than in previous times. This new innovation model has been labelled as open innovation. In studies on innovation, learning mechanisms have largely remained a black box, causing difficulty in assessing what the benefits of open innovation might be. This paper examines a particular category of high-tech firms, university spin-offs, and illustrates resources that are missing and the level of openness in learning networks to gain these resources. Spin-off firms from Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, are taken as a case study. Resource deficiency among these firms mainly concerns understanding and accessing the market, whereas the learning networks point to a negative impact of relatively closed networks (strong relationships, mainly local/regional orientation), thereby confirming the need for more open innovation. Next, the paper turns to an assessment of the potentials of certain types of open innovation to further enhance the growth of spin-off firms. The paper also identifies various new (or renewed) roles of city governments in promoting open innovation in a new scenario.
Dietary Intake of Trans Fatty Acids in Children Aged 4–5 in Spain: The INMA Cohort Study

Trans fatty acid (TFA) intake has been identified as a health hazard in adults, but data on preschool children are scarce. We analyzed the data from the Spanish INMA Project to determine the intake of total, industrial and natural TFA, their main sources and the associated socio-demographic and lifestyle factors in children aged 4–5 (n = 1793). TFA intake was estimated using a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire, and multiple linear regression was used to explore associated factors. The mean daily intakes of total, industrial and natural TFA were 1.36, 0.60, and 0.71 g/day, respectively. Ten percent of the children obtained >1% of their energy intake from TFA. The main sources of industrial TFA were fast food, white bread and processed baked goods. Milk, red and processed meat and processed baked goods were the main sources of natural TFA. Having parents from countries other than Spain was significantly associated with higher natural TFA (in mg/day) intake (β 45.5) and television viewing was significantly associated with higher industrial TFA intake (β 18.3). Higher fruits and vegetables intake was significantly associated with lower intakes of all TFAs, whereas higher sweetened beverages intake was significantly associated with lower total and natural TFA intake. Thus, total and industrial TFA intake was associated with less healthy food patterns and lifestyles in Spanish preschool children.
Depth-resolved particle associated microbial respiration in the northeast Atlantic

Abstract. Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are tightly linked to the depth at which sinking particulate organic carbon (POC) is remineralised in the ocean. Rapid attenuation of downward POC flux typically occurs in the upper mesopelagic (top few hundred metres of the water column), with much slower loss rates deeper in the ocean. Currently, we lack understanding of the processes that drive POC attenuation, resulting in large uncertainties in the mesopelagic carbon budget. Attempts to balance the POC supply to the mesopelagic with respiration by zooplankton and microbes rarely succeed. Where a balance has been found, depth-resolved estimates reveal large compensating imbalances in the upper and lower mesopelagic. In particular, it has been suggested that respiration by free-living microbes and zooplankton in the upper mesopelagic are too low to explain the observed flux attenuation of POC within this layer. We test the hypothesis that particle-associated microbes contribute significantly to community respiration in the mesopelagic, measuring particle-associated microbial respiration of POC in the northeast Atlantic through shipboard measurements on individual marine snow aggregates collected at depth (36–500 m). We find very low rates of both absolute and carbon-specific particle-associated microbial respiration (
Brief Integrative Therapy Comes of Age: A Commentary.

I have always maintained that brief therapy is therapy only more so: it is human nature to try make every moment count when confronted with finiteness. While we all know that our lives are time-limited, so to speak, we most often live as if we were immortal until our attention is rudely drawn to matters being otherwise. Often traditional -read non-brief-therapy proceeds as if time did not exist. Brief therapy "pulls" for full engagement and mindfulness of time. There is no reason to hold back or bide one's time: the condensed course almost mandates that therapists be disciplined, pragmatic, nongrandiose and hard-working moment-to-moment. In graduate school, some supervisors, kindly seeking to re-assure neophytes, would say, "there's always next session. " The ethos of brief therapy is otherwise: " work as if there were no next session. "
Strain accumulation across the Carrizo segment of the San Andreas Fault, California : Impact of laterally varying crustal properties

[1] Major strike slip faults juxtapose geologically dissimilar terrain which may vary in mechanical properties, leading to an asymmetric pattern of strain accumulation. We present new GPS data on the Carrizo segment of the San Andreas Fault, separating the Salinian block southwest of the fault from Franciscan terrane northeast of the fault, to better quantify asymmetric strain accumulation. We also present a series of finite element models to investigate the possible role of variable elastic layer thickness and material properties of the upper crust. The geodetic data are well fit with a simple model comprising a weak upper crustal zone 10–25 km wide northeast of the fault. This model is also consistent with geologic data on the distribution of major rock types and corresponding laboratory data on their material properties, as well as paleoseismic, seismic and magnetotelluric data. Using this model, we estimate a “long-term” (average over several seismic cycles) slip rate for the San Andreas Fault of 36−1.5+2 mm/yr in agreement with the known Holocene rate within uncertainties, and a viscosity for the combined lower crust/upper mantle of 2–5 × 1019 Pa s.
Troponin T and B-Type Natriuretic Peptide After On-Pump Cardiac Surgery: Prognostic Impact on 12-Month Mortality and Major Cardiac Events After Adjustment for Postoperative Complications

Background— The independent predictive value of troponin T (TNT) after on-pump cardiac surgery was established in several studies. However, adjustment was limited to preoperative risk factors without considering perioperative complications. Data on the prognostic value of postoperative B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) are scarce. Our aim was to assess the independent value of TNT and BNP to predict 12-month outcome after cardiac surgery with adjustment for preoperative risk estimates and postoperative complications and to report risk stratification gains when considering the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) combined with postoperative biomarkers. Methods and Results— This prospective cohort study included consecutive patients undergoing on-pump cardiac surgery between 2007 and 2010. We evaluated postoperative TNT and BNP, the EuroSCORE, and postoperative complications as predictors of adverse events using Cox regression. The primary end point was death or major adverse cardiac events within 1 year after surgery. We calculated the net reclassification index of TNT and BNP in addition to the EuroSCORE. We enrolled 1559 patients, of whom 176 (11.3%) experienced an event. The adjusted hazard ratio of TNT >0.8 &mgr;g/L was 2.13 (95% confidence interval, 1.47–3.15) and of BNP >790 ng/L was 2.44 (95% confidence interval, 1.65–3.62). The net reclassification index of the addition of TNT and BNP to the EuroSCORE was 0.276 (95% confidence interval, 0.195–0.348). Conclusions— Postoperative TNT and BNP are strong predictors of 1-year events after on-pump cardiac surgery independent of preoperative risk factors and postoperative complications. Updating the preoperative EuroSCORE risk with postoperative TNT and BNP after surgery allows for improved prediction of 1-year death or major adverse cardiac events.
A Procedure for Checking Equality of Regular Expressions

A simple “mechanical” procedure is described for checking equality of regular expressions. The procedure, based on the work of A. Salomaa, uses derivatives of regular expressions and transition graphs. Given a regular expression <italic>R</italic>, a corresponding transition graph is constructed. It is used to generate a finite set of left-linear equations which characterize <italic>R</italic>. Two regular events <italic>R</italic> and <italic>S</italic> are equal if and only if each constant term in the set of left-linear equations formed for the pair (<italic>R S</italic>) is (φ φ) or (^ ^). The procedure does not involve any computations with or transformations of regular expressions and is especially appropriate for the use of a computer.
Life before the Clock: Modeling Circadian Evolution

A feedback loop that functions via transcription and translation is thought to be the mechanistic core of circadian rhythmicity. Numerous modeling efforts incorporate the identified components and their modifications to recreate the circadian clock in computer simulations. Several issues remain problematic, including the lack of precise quantitative kinetics and the likely existence of additional, as-yet-undiscovered components. Even without these complications, models and flow charts of the circadian system have reached high complexity. They attempt to reconcile all observations without violating current views and concepts. In this article, the authors consider the mechanisms that may have preceded the circadian system in evolution. Given that cellular metabolism and biochemistry were presumably already interconnected in cascading feedback reactions prior to the appendage of the transcription/translation feedback loop, a coordinated response to exogenous changes would be advantageous over unsystematic responses. The authors hypothesize that those mechanisms that allowed synchronization in spite of metabolic complexity form the basis for the evolution of circadian properties and are as fundamental to the circadian system as the transcriptional/translational feedback loop.
Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Chaenomeles sinensis Leaf Extracts on LPS-Stimulated RAW 264.7 Cells

The fruit of Chaenomeles sinensis has been traditionally used in ethnomedicine for the treatment of various human ailments, including pneumonia, bronchitis, and so on, but the pharmacological applications of the leaf part of the plant have not been studied. In this study, we evaluated the various radical scavenging activities and anti-inflammatory effects of different Chaenomeles sinensis leaf (CSL) extracts. The water extract showed a higher antioxidant and radical scavenging activities. However the ethanolic extracts showed higher NO scavenging activity than water extract, therefore the ethanolic extract of CSL was examined for anti-inflammatory effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. The 70% ethanol extract of CSL (CSLE) has higher anti-inflammatory activity and significantly inhibited the production of nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). In addition, CSLE suppressed LPS-stimulated inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and NO production, IL-1β and phospho-STAT1 expression. In this study, we investigated the effect of CSLE on the production of inflammatory mediators through the inhibition of the TRIF-dependent pathways. Furthermore, we evaluated the role of CSLE on LPS-induced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6. Our results suggest that CSLE attenuates the LPS-stimulated inflammatory responses in macrophages through regulating the key inflammatory mechanisms, providing scientific support for its traditional uses in treating various inflammatory diseases.
A Recursive Resource Allocation Algorithm for MIMO-OFDMA Systems in Multi-user Context

This paper presents a new resource allocation algorithm for downlink multi-user MIMO-OFDMA systems. The main objective is to maximize the total system capacity and to guarantee the fairness among users with a low complexity. The proposed algorithm is based on a recursive sub-carriers allocation procedure aiming to satisfy Quality of Service (QoS) requirements for each mobile user. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm performs well in terms of system capacity and fairness when the number of users in the cell is important closing to the practical case.
Resistance is futile? Exploring the potential of motivational interviewing

Resistance to change is a common theme in practice and can often appear counter-productive. Motivational interviewing is a counselling approach that views resistance as a normal response to the ambivalence experienced in relation to change. To date, it has been used more in the field of substance misuse where research evidence suggests that it is an effective approach when ambivalence is encountered, because of the focus placed on enhancing people's intrinsic motivation for change. Motivational interviewing is used in some health contexts in the UK, but to date it is not an approach that has been widely adopted in social work, although there have been some attempts to explore its potential (Forrester et al., 2007). This article aims to explore why this is so and to discuss its potential in a range of settings, highlighting its compatibility with social work values. It draws on my experience of using this approach as a social work practitioner working in the field of substance misuse and argues that motivational interviewing has a place in modern practice. However, it states that for this approach to be adopted successfully there needs to be a review of the importance of counselling skills and relationship-based approaches within social work, and how these are represented and promoted in the current managerialist agenda.
Isolation of a multifunctional protein with aminoimidazole ribonucleotide synthetase, glycinamide ribonucleotide synthetase, and glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase activities: characterization of aminoimidazole ribonucleotide synthetase.

5-Aminoimidazole ribonucleotide (AIR) synthetase, glycinamide ribonucleotide (GAR) synthetase, and GAR transformylase activities from chicken liver exist on a single polypeptide of Mr 110,000 [Daubner, C. S. , Schrimsher, J. L. , Schendel, F. J., Young, M. , Henikoff, S. , Patterson, D. , Stubbe, J., & Benkovic, S. J. (1985) Biochemistry 24, 7059-7062]. Details of copurification of these three activities through four chromatographic steps are reported. The ratios of these activities remain constant throughout the purification. AIR synthetase has an absolute requirement for K+ for activity and under these conditions has apparent molecular weights of 330,000, determined by Sephadex G-200 chromatography, and 133,000, determined by sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation. Incubation of 18O-labeled formylglycinamidine ribonucleotide (FGAM) with AIR synthetase results in stoichiometric production of AIR, ADP, and [18O]Pi. NMR spectra of beta-FGAM and beta-AIR are reported.
An SAR image registration method based on pyramid model

SAR images have been used extensively for various targets recognition, targets detection and change detection, and image registration is the critical and basic technology of the above applications, the result of which directly affects the effect of subsequent processing. Traditional image registration methods are mainly designed for optical images which exhibit different characteristics from SAR images due to disparate imaging sensors, so most methods are not suitable for SAR images. In addition, there are many problems in the most existing methods, such as large computational complexity, difficult in automatic registration and engineering implementation. To overcome these shortcomings, a new method for image registration in non-homologous SAR images is proposed in this paper based on the FFT frequency phase coherent method. The proposed method utilizes multi-look technology to obtain different resolution images of reference images and registration images, then takes advantage of the phase coherent to deal with these multi-scale images respectively, getting the registration point. Multi-scale processing can improve the speed of the algorithm. The FFT phase coherent method can ensure the engineering implementation of the algorithm easily, but there are some common problems in this method, such as the matching fuzziness and threshold determination, and the corresponding solution methods are also proposed in this paper. Experiments are conducted over some images in the actual engineering and the results show that the proposed method can obtain registration points effectively and precisely.
A 20-Year Follow-Up of a Population Study-Based COPD Cohort-Report from the Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden Studies

Mortality and other long-term outcomes of COPD from epidemiological studies of cohorts based on the general population are still rare. In contrast, data from follow-ups of patients from hospitals and general practices are more common and demonstrate often a 5-year mortality of about 50% and even higher. The aim was to study 20-year outcomes, mainly mortality, in a COPD cohort derived from a population study. The Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden (OLIN) Study's first postal survey was performed in 1985, and 5698 subjects (86%) responded. A stratified sample of symptomatic subjects and controls was invited to clinical examinations including lung function tests in 1986, 1506 (91%) of the invited participated and 266 subjects fulfilled the GOLD criteria of COPD. All alive and possible to trace had participated at least at two follow-up examinations. Of the 266 subjects with COPD 46% were still alive after 20 years. The proportion of survived among subjects with severe and very severe COPD at entry was 19%. Death was significantly related to age, male sex, disease severity and concomitant ischemic heart disease or cardiac failure at entry. Socioeconomic status (manual workers) was significant in the univariate analysis, but failed to reach statistical significance in the multivariate model. The annual decline in FEV1 among survivors was low to normal. Long-term follow-ups of subjects with COPD derived from population studies provide data reflecting the course of COPD in society better than follow-ups of hospital recruited patients, who represent the top of the iceberg. Surprisingly many with severe COPD were still alive after 20 years.
An Online Unsupervised Structural Plasticity Algorithm for Spiking Neural Networks

In this paper, we propose a novel winner-take-all (WTA) architecture employing neurons with nonlinear dendrites and an online unsupervised structural plasticity rule for training it. Furthermore, to aid hardware implementations, our network employs only binary synapses. The proposed learning rule is inspired by spike-timing-dependent plasticity but differs for each dendrite based on its activation level. It trains the WTA network through formation and elimination of connections between inputs and synapses. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed network and learning rule, we employ it to solve two-class, four-class, and six-class classification of random Poisson spike time inputs. The results indicate that by proper tuning of the inhibitory time constant of the WTA, a tradeoff between specificity and sensitivity of the network can be achieved. We use the inhibitory time constant to set the number of subpatterns per pattern we want to detect. We show that while the percentages of successful trials are 92%, 88%, and 82% for two-class, four-class, and six-class classification when no pattern subdivisions are made, it increases to 100% when each pattern is subdivided into 5 or 10 subpatterns. However, the former scenario of no pattern subdivision is more jitter resilient than the later ones.