Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metabolic syndrome components in young health professionals; LATIN America METabolic Syndrome (LATINMETS) Mexico study.

INTRODUCTION metabolic syndrome (MS) components are independent risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, major causes of mortality in the world. OBJECTIVE to evaluate the frequency of MS components and its association with sociodemographic variables and physical activity among young health professionals at the University of Guadalajara. METHODS a cross-sectional study entitled LATIN America METabolic Syndrome Mexico (LATINMETS-Mex) was conducted. Weight, height, waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, glucose and HDL cholesterol were measured. Socio-demographic and physical activity data were surveyed. MS components were diagnosed based on the revised criteria of Alberti et al. (2009). Associations were assessed using logistic regression adjusted for age and sex. RESULTS a total of 316 volunteer subjects were analyzed (70.9% women, 83.8% ≤ 29 years). The frequency of MS was 7.0% and 55.5% of subjects presented one or more MS components (27.2% abdominal obesity, 26.6% low HDL cholesterol). After adjustment, abdominal obesity, high blood pressure and hypertriglyceridemia were positively associated with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2. High blood pressure and hypertriglyceridemia were negatively associated with being female while low HDL cholesterol was positively associated with this gender after adjustment. Abdominal obesity was the only component negatively associated with physical activity (300 to 600 minutes per week) after adjusting for age and sex. No association between MS and sociodemographic variables or physical activity was found. CONCLUSIONS half of the participants presented one or more metabolic syndrome components. Actions are required to reduce cardiometabolic risk in the study population considering the sociodemographic and lifestyle variables associated.
Modeling Repeated M Dwarf Flaring at an Earth-like Planet in the Habitable Zone: Atmospheric Effects for an Unmagnetized Planet

Abstract Understanding the impact of active M dwarf stars on the atmospheric equilibrium and surface conditions of a habitable zone Earth-like planet is key to assessing M dwarf planet habitability. Previous modeling of the impact of electromagnetic (EM) radiation and protons from a single large flare on an Earth-like atmosphere indicated that significant and long-term reductions in ozone were possible, but the atmosphere recovered. However, these stars more realistically exhibit frequent flaring with a distribution of different total energies and cadences. Here, we use a coupled 1D photochemical and radiative-convective model to investigate the effects of repeated flaring on the photochemistry and surface UV of an Earth-like planet unprotected by an intrinsic magnetic field. As input, we use time-resolved flare spectra obtained for the dM3 star AD Leonis, combined with flare occurrence frequencies and total energies (typically 1030.5 to 1034 erg) from the 4-year Kepler light curve for the dM4 flare star GJ1243, with varied proton event impact frequency. Our model results show that repeated EM-only flares have little effect on the ozone column depth but that multiple proton events can rapidly destroy the ozone column. Combining the realistic flare and proton event frequencies with nominal CME/SEP geometries, we find the ozone column for an Earth-like planet can be depleted by 94% in 10 years, with a downward trend that makes recovery unlikely and suggests further destruction. For more extreme stellar inputs, O3 depletion allows a constant ∼0.1–1 W m−2 of UVC at the planet's surface, which is likely detrimental to organic complexity. Our results suggest that active M dwarf hosts may comprehensively destroy ozone shields and subject the surface of magnetically unprotected Earth-like planets to long-term radiation that can damage complex organic structures. However, this does not preclude habitability, as a safe haven for life could still exist below an ocean surface.
Geometry-Based Multiple Camera Head Detection in Dense Crowds

This paper addresses the problem of head detection in crowded environments. Our detection is based entirely on the geometric consistency across cameras with overlapping fields of view, and no additional learning process is required. We propose a fully unsupervised method for inferring scene and camera geometry, in contrast to existing algorithms which require specific calibration procedures. Moreover, we avoid relying on the presence of body parts other than heads or on background subtraction, which have limited effectiveness under heavy clutter. We cast the head detection problem as a stereo MRF-based optimization of a dense pedestrian height map, and we introduce a constraint which aligns the height gradient according to the vertical vanishing point direction. We validate the method in an outdoor setting with varying pedestrian density levels. With only three views, our approach is able to detect simultaneously tens of heavily occluded pedestrians across a large, homogeneous area.
Influence of Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis on Radiographic Progression of Concomitant Interphalangeal Joint Osteoarthritis

Distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints are commonly considered to be unaffected by rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Despite synovitis and bone marrow edema being associated with radiographic progression in hand osteoarthritis (OA) and hand RA, radiographic courses differ substantially. This study was undertaken to analyze incidence and progression of radiographically evident DIP joint OA in RA patients, in relation to RA activity and patient characteristics.
Bandwidth-Enhanced, Compact, Near-Field Resonant Parasitic Filtennas With Sharp Out-of-Band Suppression

The designs, simulations, and measurements of a class of compact, bandwidth-enhanced filtennas are reported. Our design strategy is illustrated by separately designing a monopole and a bandpass filter to operate primarily in their respective fundamental modes. By combining these elements and manipulating the mutual coupling between them, an enhanced impedance bandwidth filtenna is realized. This strategy is applied to augment metamaterial-inspired near-field resonant parasitic antennas with filters. Simulations of these filtenna systems demonstrate that one can maintain stable radiation performance characteristics no matter how one arranges their component configurations, i.e., their relative positions and orientations. A selected filtenna design prototype was fabricated and tested. The good agreement between the simulated and measured results validates these design principles.
Reliability and Repeatability of the Speech Cue Profile.

Purpose Researchers have long noted speech recognition variability that is not explained by the pure-tone audiogram. Previous work (Souza, Wright, Blackburn, Tatman, & Gallun, 2015) demonstrated that a small number of listeners with sensorineural hearing loss utilized different types of acoustic cues to identify speechlike stimuli, specifically the extent to which the participant relied upon spectral (or temporal) information for identification. Consistent with recent calls for data rigor and reproducibility, the primary aims of this study were to replicate the pattern of cue use in a larger cohort and to verify stability of the cue profiles over time. Method Cue-use profiles were measured for adults with sensorineural hearing loss using a syllable identification task consisting of synthetic speechlike stimuli in which spectral and temporal dimensions were manipulated along continua. For the first set, a static spectral shape varied from alveolar to palatal, and a temporal envelope rise time varied from affricate to fricative. For the second set, formant transitions varied from labial to alveolar and a temporal envelope rise time varied from approximant to stop. A discriminant feature analysis was used to determine to what degree spectral and temporal information contributed to stimulus identification. A subset of participants completed a 2nd visit using the same stimuli and procedures. Results When spectral information was static, most participants were more influenced by spectral than by temporal information. When spectral information was dynamic, participants demonstrated a balanced distribution of cue-use patterns, with nearly equal numbers of individuals influenced by spectral or temporal cues. Individual cue profile was repeatable over a period of several months. Conclusion In combination with previously published data, these results indicate that listeners with sensorineural hearing loss are influenced by different cues to identify speechlike sounds and that those patterns are stable over time.
Multibiometric Authentication System Using Slap Fingerprints, Palm Dorsal Vein, and Hand Geometry

In this paper, a multibiometric system that fuses slap fingerprints, palm dorsal vein, and hand geometry for accurate person authentication is proposed. The proposed system simultaneously acquires slap images and infrared (IR) hand dorsal image from which slap fingerprints, palm dorsal veins, and IR hand geometry are extracted. Simultaneous acquisition reduces the acquisition time and helps to improve user acceptability. The slap segmentation is accomplished using the knowledge of the approximate finger location and hand type (either left or right) obtained from the simultaneously acquired IR hand dorsal image. Multibiometric fusion based on serial methodology has been proposed for consolidating the matching scores of slap fingerprints, palm dorsal vein, and IR hand geometry. It ensures better performance in terms of accuracy and time. Experimental results indicate that authentication using slap fingerprints can be improved by incorporating the knowledge from IR hand images. Further, it depicts that the fusion of slap fingerprint, palm dorsal vein, and IR hand geometry can help to achieve the best performance.
Spike Morphology Genes in Wheat Species (Triticum L.)

Abstract The review examines the state of knowledge on genes that control the architectonics of wheat plant (spike morphology). It is shown that molecular genetic studies, which have been recently started, allow to find both the orthologous genes from relative species of wheat (barley, rye, etc.) and genes that were not previously used for breeding. Use of these genes for further breeding allows to produce modern wheat commercial cultivars.
The use of metal-catalyzed oxidation to suppress background staining caused by marker amplification reagents and the effects of this oxidation on the stability of antibody-antigen complexes in immunohistochemistry

ABSTRACT Marker amplification is a powerful technique for visualizing immunohistochemically deposited markers that otherwise would be invisible. Amplification usually is achieved with physical developers, which are solutions that contain a source of silver(I) plus a reducing agent. When the marker is present in extremely small quantities, prolonged incubation in the developer is required and unwanted background staining in the form of type III argyrophilia becomes problematic. Suppression of type III argyrophilia can be achieved by metal-catalyzed oxidation using the copper/H2O2 system, which normally is applied immediately prior to amplification. Because there is no reason, in principle, why metal-catalyzed oxidation should not be employed at earlier stages in the immunohistochemical staining procedure, we investigated whether earlier oxidation might confer any advantages over the traditional methodology. Immunocolloidal gold combined with two light insensitive physical developers was chosen as the model system, because visualization by light microscopy requires extended periods in the developers. Moreover, the system does not suffer from problems concerning endogenous enzyme- or non-enzyme-catalyzed marker deposition. Applying metal-catalyzed oxidation at each stage of the immunohistochemical procedure revealed that the technique could be employed successfully prior to staining, but not following the primary or secondary antibodies. In the latter cases, specific immunolocalization was lost entirely and only generalized nonspecific staining was seen. A limited investigation into the mechanism of metal-catalyzed oxidation of aldehyde fixed tissue sections suggested that it involved the formation of aldehyde groups. We suggest that the application of metal-catalyzed oxidation prior to immunohistochemical staining would have the advantages of both suppressing type III argyrophilia and inhibiting unwanted endogenous peroxidase activity. We also suggest that metal-catalyzed oxidation might reduce the affinity of tissue for other transition metals, such as copper, whose potential for improving marker amplification techniques has been demonstrated previously in dot-blot model systems.
Omega‐3 fatty acids decrease prostate cancer progression associated with an anti‐tumor immune response in eugonadal and castrated mice

Several lines of evidence suggest effects of dietary fat on prostate cancer (PCa) development and progression. Targeting omega (ω)‐3:ω6 fatty acids (FA) ratio could be beneficial against PCa by favorably modulating inflammation. Here, we studied the effects of ω3‐ and ω6‐enriched diets on prostate tumor growth and inflammatory response in androgen‐deprived and non‐deprived conditions.
Neurodivergent intersubjectivity: Distinctive features of how autistic people create shared understanding

Autistic people are neurologically divergent, yet approaches to studying autism are framed by neurotypical definitions of being social. Using the concept of intersubjectivity, which conceptualises a variety of ways of socially relating, we investigate distinctive features of how autistic people build social understanding. A total of 30 members of a charity supporting adults with autism were video-recorded during a social activity they enjoyed, namely collaborative video gaming. Mapping the coherence, affect and symmetry of each conversational turn revealed shifting patterns of intersubjectivity within each interaction. Focussing on clusters of consistent and fragmented turns led us to identify two features of neurodivergent intersubjectivity: a generous assumption of common ground that, when understood, led to rapid rapport, and, when not understood, resulted in potentially disruptive utterances; and a low demand for coordination that ameliorated many challenges associated with disruptive turns. Our findings suggest that neurodivergent intersubjectivity reveals potential for unconventional forms of social relating and that a within-interaction analysis is a viable methodology for exploring neurodivergent communication. Future research should examine the varieties of neurodivergent intersubjectivity, with associated problems and potentials, and how those forms of intersubjectivity can be enabled to flourish, particularly in autistic-to-neurotypical encounters.
Characterization of ExeM, an Extracellular Nuclease of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1

Bacterial extracellular nucleases have multiple functions in processes as diverse as nutrient acquisition, natural transformation, biofilm formation, or defense against neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Here we explored the properties of ExeM in Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, an extracellular nuclease, which is widely conserved among species of Shewanella, Vibrio, Aeromonas, and others. In S. oneidensis, ExeM is crucial for normal biofilm formation. In vitro activity measurements on heterologously produced ExeM revealed that this enzyme is a sugar-unspecific endonuclease, which requires Ca2+ and Mg2+/Mn2+ as co-factors for full activity. ExeM was almost exclusively localized to the cytoplasmic membrane fraction, even when a putative C-terminal membrane anchor was deleted. In contrast, ExeM was not detected in medium supernatants. Based on the results we hypothesize that ExeM predominantly interacts with DNA in close proximity to the cell, e.g., to promote biofilm formation and defense against NETs, or to control uptake of DNA.
ECAP growth function to increasing pulse amplitude or pulse duration demonstrates large inter-animal variability that is reflected in auditory cortex of the guinea pig

Despite remarkable advances made to ameliorate how cochlear implants process the acoustic environment, many improvements can still be made. One of most fundamental questions concerns a strategy to simulate an increase in sound intensity. Psychoacoustic studies indicated that acting on either the current, or the duration of the stimulating pulses leads to perception of changes in how loud the sound is. The present study compared the growth function of electrically evoked Compound Action Potentials (eCAP) of the 8th nerve using these two strategies to increase electrical charges (and potentially to increase the sound intensity). Both with chronically (experiment 1) or acutely (experiment 2) implanted guinea pigs, only a few differences were observed between the mean eCAP amplitude growth functions obtained with the two strategies. However, both in chronic and acute experiments, many animals showed larger increases of eCAP amplitude with current increase, whereas some animals showed larger of eCAP amplitude with duration increase, and other animals show no difference between either approaches. This indicates that the parameters allowing the largest increase in eCAP amplitude considerably differ between subjects. In addition, there was a significant correlation between the strength of neuronal firing rate in auditory cortex and the effect of these two strategies on the eCAP amplitude. This suggests that pre-selecting only one strategy for recruiting auditory nerve fibers in a given subject might not be appropriate for all human subjects.
Fault Detection and Classification of a Transmission Line Using Discrete Wavelet Transform & Artificial Neural Network

This paper gives an analyzing study on fault detection and classification in a long transmission line which is series compensated using artificial neural network and wavelet transform. The proposed scheme makes use of one cycle pre fault and one cycle post fault samples of the three phase current signals to find the ground current signal. Daubechies is used as the mother wavelet while using the discrete wavelet transform technique.The differential energy, based on discrete wavelet transform is applied to feed a system, designed for the classification of all eleven fault types. Finally, the optimal features which are the energies obtained from discrete wavelet transform of the current signals selected are fed to neural networks for the purpose of fault classification. The reliability of the suggested technique is experienced in a 735-kV, 50 Hz power systems under altered operating settings using MATLAB . The fault was detected and classified using discrete wavelet transform as well as artificial neural network. The results indicate that the proposed scheme can correctly classify every possible fault with large variations in system conditions.
Semantic Classification of 3D Point Clouds with Multiscale Spherical Neighborhoods

This paper introduces a new definition of multiscale neighborhoods in 3D point clouds. This definition, based on spherical neighborhoods and proportional subsampling, allows the computation of features with a consistent geometrical meaning, which is not the case when using k-nearest neighbors. With an appropriate learning strategy, the proposed features can be used in a random forest to classify 3D points. In this semantic classification task, we show that our multiscale features outperform state-of-the-art features using the same experimental conditions. Furthermore, their classification power competes with more elaborate classification approaches including Deep Learning methods.
Classic and Adaptive AUTOSAR in MILS terms

: AUTOSAR (AUTomotive Open System ARchitecture) supports modular software development for automotive software. MILS (Multiple Independent Levels of Safety and Security) also is also inspired from modular systems such as integrated modular avionics. There are differences though: automotive electronic control units are under much more cost pressure than their avionics counterparts, and Classic AUTOSAR was targeting rather simple systems, with an initial focus on runnables that are compiled together, and we will highlight the difference as well as the evolution of AUTOSAR Adaptive that is much closer to the avionic model. On the other hand, AUTOSAR has a very good standardization momentum, resulting in hundreds of available documents, whereas the smaller MILS community has been less effusive. We map the AUTOSAR standards to MILS, to learn about (1) how well MILS systems can be used for AUTOSAR and vice-versa and (2) what other aspects the communities could mutually learn from.
Association of Preoperative Antiviral Treatment With Incidences of Microvascular Invasion and Early Tumor Recurrence in Hepatitis B Virus–Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Importance A reduced incidence of microvascular invasion (MVI) in hepatitis B virus (HBV)–related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may be associated with a decreased risk of early tumor recurrence and better survival after partial hepatectomy. Objective To examine the association of preoperative antiviral treatment (AVT) with the incidences of MVI and posthepatectomy early tumor recurrence in HBV-related HCC. Design, Setting, and Participants Data on a cohort of 2362 patients who underwent R0 resection for HBV-related HCC between January 2008 and April 2010 at the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China, were reviewed. The median (interquartile range) postoperative follow-up was 44.8 (22.8-59.3) months. Data were analyzed from June 2016 to October 2017. Interventions Preoperative AVT and partial hepatectomy. Main Outcomes and Measures Overall survival and time to recurrence after surgery were calculated and compared using the Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test, and Cox regression analysis. Independent risk factors of MVI presence were assessed by logistic regression analysis. Results Among 2362 included patients, 1999 (84.6%) were men, and the median (interquartile range) age was 50.6 (43.1-57.3) years. A total of 2036 patients (86.2%) did not receive any preoperative AVT, while 326 (13.8%) received ongoing AVT more than 90 days before surgery. In the non-AVT group, compared with a preoperative HBV DNA level of less than 2000 IU/mL, a preoperative HBV DNA level of 2000 IU/mL or greater was associated with an increased risk of MVI (odds ratio [OR], 1.399; 95% CI, 1.151-1.701). Compared with the non-AVT group, patients receiving AVT had a lower incidence of MVI (38.7% [126 of 326] vs 48.6% [989 of 2036]; P = .001) and reduced risk of MVI (OR, 0.758; 95% CI, 0.575-0.998). A complete response to AVT was an independent protective factor of MVI (OR, 0.690; 95% CI, 0.500-0.952). Accordingly, preoperative AVT was associated with decreased 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year recurrences vs non-AVT (14.2%, 24.6%, and 38.5%, respectively, vs 23.4%, 37.1%, and 52.3%; P < .001); AVT was protective of early tumor recurrence (hazard ratio, 0.732; 95% CI, 0.605-0.886). In addition, patients in the non-AVT group were more likely to have multiple intrahepatic recurrences (49.1% [549 of 1119] vs 36.2% [54 of 149]; P = .003) and recurrences involving multiple hepatic segments compared with patients receiving AVT. Conclusions and Relevance A high preoperative HBV DNA level was an independent risk factor of MVI. Antiviral treatment administered more than 90 days before surgery was associated with reduced incidences of MVI and early tumor recurrence after partial hepatectomy for HBV-related HCC.