Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patternmaking for the underwired bra: New directions

Abstract This article considers the history of patternmaking, the evolution of flat patternmaking, and brassiere patternmaking. The literature related to patternmaking for the brassiere and the underwired brassiere is reviewed, and the author considers the secrecy currently surrounding the practice of patternmaking and the extent to which this has restricted the growth of innovative practice in this area. The effect this has had on the development, learning and teaching of patternmaking practice is reviewed, and the author presents and evaluates a new approach to bra patternmaking which marks a move away from traditional ‘copy’ methods to a single innovative approach which is practical and provides for further development of patternmaking practice in this area. This study tests the new approach against the traditional method, using industry professionals in both conditions at each of the key stages of patternmaking, cutting, sewing, and fitting. A subsequent double-blind comparison of the product and fitting revealed that experienced patternmakers and fitters were unable to distinguish which bra had been produced using the new method. Feedback from the industry professionals involved in the trial demonstrates a marked preference for the speed and simplicity of the new method.
Design methods for microelectromechanical bandpass filters

A design method for high-order electro-mechanical filters that makes use of the equivalence between lumped-parameters electrical and mechanical systems is presented. Conditions for existence of the equivalent mechanical system are derived, and electro-statical coupling of micro-mechanical resonators is introduced. The application to the simulation and design of a bandpass filter with finite transmission zeros implemented in a thick-layer epi-poly silicon micro-machining technology is shown.
Long noncoding RNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 12/microRNA-138-5p/nuclear factor I/B regulates neuronal apoptosis, inflammatory response, and oxidative stress in Parkinson’s disease

ABSTRACT Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that causes tremors, gait rigidity, and hypokinesia. We determined the effects of long noncoding RNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 12 (lncRNA SNHG12) on the development of PD. StarBase analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assay verified the interaction between lncRNA SNHG12 and microRNA-138-5p (miR-138-5p). The effects of suppressed lncRNA SNHG12 and increased miR-138-5p levels on mRNA were determined using quantitative real-time-PCR (qRT-PCR) in 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) treated SH-SY5Y cells. Increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, apoptosis, cleaved-Caspase3/Caspase3 ratio, inflammatory response, reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, decreased cell viability, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were observed in MPP+-stimulated SH-SY5Y cells. Transfection of the lncRNA SNHG12-plasmid reduced neuronal apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress in MPP+-stimulated SH-SY5Y cells that were rescued by adding the miR-138-5p mimic. These results showed that lncRNA SNHG12 could affect neuronal apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress in a PD cell model by regulating miR-138-5p expression. TargetScan and dual-luciferase reporter analysis suggested that miR-138-5p targeted nuclear factor I/B (NFIB). Furthermore, the expression level of NFIB was downregulated after MPP+ stimulation in SH-SY5Y cells. After transfecting with the miR-138-5p inhibitor, NFIB-siRNA, and co-transfecting and detecting NFIB mRNA and protein, we found that miR-138-5p negatively regulated NFIB expression. In conclusion, lncRNA SNHG12 could alleviate neuronal apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress in a PD cell model by regulating the miR-138-5p/NFIB axis, providing new therapeutic targets for patients with PD.
Functional foods as a formulation ingredients in beverages: technological advancements and constraints

ABSTRACT As a consequence of expanded science and technical research, the market perception of consumers has shifted from standard traditional to valuable foods, which are furthermore nutritional as well as healthier in today’s world. This food concept, precisely referred to as functional, focuses on including probiotics, which enhance immune system activity, cognitive response, and overall health. This review primarily focuses on functional foods as functional additives in beverages and other food items that can regulate the human immune system and avert any possibility of contracting the infection. Many safety concerns must be resolved during their administration. Functional foods must have an adequate amount of specific probiotic strain(s) during their use and storage, as good viability is needed for optimum functionality of the probiotic. Thus, when developing novel functional food-based formulations, choosing a strain with strong technological properties is crucial. The present review focused on probiotics as an active ingredient in different beverage formulations and the exerting mechanism of action and fate of probiotics in the human body. Moreover, a comprehensive overview of the regulative and safety issues of probiotics-based foods and beverages formulations. Graphical abstract
Design of low-voltage low-power pipeline ADCs using a single-phase scheme

The application of a single-phase scheme to low-voltage pipeline ADCs designed in standard CMOS technologies is described. In order to validate the theoretical findings and assess the performance of the proposed technique, a 10-bit 4 MS/s pipeline ADC was fully designed and simulated, first with all switches driven by a conventional six-phase clock generator, and after with only a single-phase scheme. Simulated results show the signal integrity and overall performance are preserved, pointing to the use of simpler low-voltage circuits and avoiding the complexity as well as the problems normally created by the use of non-overlapping clock generators.
Predictive control and resource management of a distributed coastal monitoring sensor network

A novel model predictive control (MPC) technique is used as a general framework for resource management in sensor networks. The MPC formulation adapts the sensor network system parameters that impact the energy consumption rate (such as sensor sampling rates) to variations in the criticality of the phenomenon being monitored. This approach is illustrated using two examples. The first is based on a sensor network where the data is temporal in nature. The second is based on an coastal environment monitoring network where the data is spatiotemporal in nature and event criticality shows variation in both space and time. Simulation results from both these applications are presented that demonstrate the functioning of the proposed predictive controller in sensor network control.
Hand Therapy Patients’ Psychosocial Symptomology and Interests in Mindfulness: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Psychosocial sequelae are common for individuals with physical injuries to the upper extremity. However, psychosocially oriented interventions are not common in this occupational therapy practice area. Purpose: This study implemented an online survey of hand therapy patients’ psychological symptoms. Second, it explored patients’ interest in one psychosocially oriented intervention: mindfulness meditation. Methods: The design was a cross-sectional survey of 120 consecutively recruited hand therapy patients. Survey measures included functioning, psychosocial factors, and trait mindfulness. Findings: Anxiety was prevalent in this sample, and moderately correlated with trait mindfulness (r = −0.542, p < .001). While most participants (77%) indicated mindfulness meditation would be an acceptable intervention, women were 2.8 times as likely to be interested (p = .044). Implications: Psychosocially oriented interventions are indicated in hand therapy based on the prevalence of these symptoms. Further examination of using mindfulness meditation in hand therapy is warranted due to patient interest.
An analysis of social marketing practice: Factors associated with success

Abstract This paper aims to identify factors that contribute to the success of current social marketing practices. These factors include setting clear behavior change objectives and segmentation that informs communication and messaging strategies. Other factors include rigorous research (consumer research, formative research, literature review), pre-testing of interventions, developing a partnership approach, using planning methodologies/theories, and monitoring and evaluation. These success factors could be used for policymakers, governments, agencies and social marketers delivering interventions focussed on healthy lives and well-being. The examples given in this study illustrate how these factors can be achieved, providing a focus for discussion and emulation.
Tissue engineered skeletal muscle model of rheumatoid arthritis using human primary skeletal muscle cells

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease primarily targeting the joints. Autoreactive immune cells involved in RA affect other tissues, including skeletal muscle. Patients with RA experience diminished physical function, limited mobility, reduced muscle function, chronic pain, and increased mortality. To explore the impact of RA on skeletal muscle, we engineered electrically responsive, contractile human skeletal muscle constructs (myobundles) using primary skeletal muscle cells isolated from the vastus lateralis muscle of 11 RA patients (aged 57–74) and 10 aged healthy donors (aged 55–76), as well as from the hamstring muscle of six young healthy donors (less than 18 years of age) as a benchmark. Since all patients were receiving treatment for the disease, RA disease activity was mild. In 2D culture, RA myoblast purity, growth rate, and senescence were not statistically different than aged controls; however, RA myoblast purity showed greater variance compared to controls. Surprisingly, in 3D culture, contractile force production by RA myobundles was greater compared to aged controls. In support of this finding, assessment of RA myofiber maturation showed increased area of sarcomeric α‐actinin (SAA) expression over time compared to aged controls. Furthermore, a linear regression test indicated a positive correlation between SAA protein levels and tetanus force production in RA and controls. Our findings suggest that medications prescribed to RA patients may maintain—or even enhance—muscle function, and this effect is retained and observed in in vitro culture. Future studies regarding the effects of RA therapeutics on RA skeletal muscle, in vivo and in vitro, are warranted.
Game Plan, a Web-Based Intervention to Improve Adherence and Persistence to HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis and Reduce Heavy Drinking in Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men: Usability and User Experience Testing

Background Encouraging consistent use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is essential for reducing HIV incidence, particularly among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM), and especially those who engage in heavy drinking. Although practice guidelines recommend providing adherence counseling to PrEP patients, clinics and providers may not have the resources or expertise to provide it. Internet-facilitated interventions have been shown to improve HIV prevention outcomes, including medication and care adherence. Game Plan is a website we created to help users make a tangible plan for reducing their HIV risk. We designed additional components of Game Plan to address key individual level barriers to PrEP use. Objective The aim of this mixed methods research is to test the usability and user experience of these components with intended users: GBM who drink heavily and are on PrEP. Methods In study 1 (usability), we completed a detailed individual interview in which participants (n=10) walked through a prototype of the website, thinking aloud as they did, and completed a follow-up interview and web-based survey afterward. Study 2 (user experience) involved providing participants (n=40) with a link to the prototype website to explore on their own and asking them to complete the same follow-up survey afterward. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze quantitative data. Results Users in both studies gave the website excellent ratings for usability, overall satisfaction, and quality, and most often described the site as informative, helpful, and supportive. Users also rated the site’s content and feel as respectful of them and their autonomy, empathetic, and they stated that it conveyed confidence in their ability to change. The study 1 interviews highlighted the importance of the website’s esthetics to the participants’ engagement with it and its credibility in prompting genuine reflection. Conclusions GBM who reported heavy drinking and used PrEP generally found a website focused on helping them to create a plan to use PrEP consistently to be helpful. Adopting user-centered design methods and attending to the esthetics of mobile health interventions are important steps toward encouraging engagement and reducing at-risk behaviors.
Repurposing of Trimetazidine for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A study in SOD1G93A mice

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons, progressive wasting and paralysis of voluntary muscles and is currently incurable. Although considered to be a pure motor neuron disease, increasing evidence indicates that the sole protection of motor neurons by a single targeted drug is not sufficient to improve the pathological phenotype. We therefore evaluated the therapeutic potential of the multi‐target drug used to treatment of coronary artery disease, trimetazidine, in SOD1G93A mice.
Long-term outcomes in ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients treated according to hospital visit time

Background/Aims Rapid percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the cornerstone of treatment for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, there have been conflicting results regarding the differences in clinical outcomes between on-hours and off-hours presentation in STEMI patients. We aimed to examine the difference in long-term outcomes between off-hours and on-hours PCI in patients with STEMI. Methods The characteristics and clinical outcomes of 5,364 STEMI patients between November 2011 and June 2015 from the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-National Institutes of Health (KAMIR-NIH) registry were analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups: the off-hours group (weekdays from 6:01 PM to 7:59 AM, weekends, and legal holidays) and the on-hours group (weekdays from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM). Major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) were defined as a composite of all-cause mortality, non-fatal myocardial infarction, any revascularization, cerebrovascular accident, and stent thrombosis. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of MACCEs, and all other clinical outcomes were analyzed. Results A total of 3,119 patients (58.1%) underwent primary PCI due to STEMI during off-hours and 2,245 patients (41.9%) during on-hours. At 36 months, the clinical outcomes of the off-hours group were similar to those of the on-hours group in both the unadjusted and propensity score weighting-adjusted analyses. Conclusions Our analysis revealed that the long-term outcomes in STEMI patients admitted to hospitals during off-hours were similar to outcomes of those admitted during on-hours.
Association of impulsivity, physical development, and mental health to perceptual-motor control after concussion in adolescents

ABSTRACT Sport-related concussion (SRC) can affect multiple domains including impairment in perceptual-motor control (PMC) in adolescents, potentially increasing subsequent injury risk. Research suggests that impulsivity, physical development, and mental health may be associated with PMC after SRC, but researchers have yet to examine this association. Adolescents (12–18y; n = 48) within 21 days of SRC were compared to 20 healthy adolescents with no concussion history using the Perception-Action Coupling Task (PACT), Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS), Pubertal Development Scale (PDS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Personal Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). All outcomes were entered as predictors in linear regression (LR) models to predict PACT outcomes (accuracy; initiation, movement, and reaction times). Concussed adolescents had lower PACT accuracy (p = 0.016), higher PHQ-9 (p = 0.029), total BIS (p = 0.004), attention impulsivity (p = 0.005), and cognitive instability impulsivity (p = 0.004). All four LRs were statistically significant (R2 = 0.18–0.38; p < 0.05), and included 1 + impulsivity domains as significant predictors (p < 0.05). Cognitive instability impulsivity appeared in 3/4 models of PACT outcomes. ADD/ADHD history, anxiety, and physical development ratings were also significant predictors of PACT outcomes. This study revealed associations between PMC and medical history, impulsivity, physical development and mental health in adolescents following SRC. Future studies should investigate the temporal relationship among these variables in this at-risk population. Highlights After SRC, adolescents had deficits in action boundary perception accuracy, while reporting higher depression symptoms and impulsivity, including attention and cognitive instability components. Certain domains of impulsivity were predictive of action boundary perception accuracy and each perception actualization measure in the concussed group. ADD/ADHD history, anxiety scores, and physical development ratings were also significant predictors of perceptual-motor accuracy and actualization time.
Advances in the Pharmacological Management of Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

ABSTRACT Introduction Noninvasive mechanical ventilation is the main supportive measure used in patients with pediatric ARDS (PARDS), but adjunctive pharmacological therapies (corticosteroids, inhaled nitric oxide [iNO], surfactant replacement therapy and neuromuscular blocking drugs) are also used, although limited data exists to inform of this practice. Areas covered The authors review the current challenges in the pharmacological management of PARDS and highlight the few certainties currently available. Expert opinion Children with PARDS must not be treated as young adults with ARDS, essentially because children’s lungs differ substantially from those of adults and PARDS occurs in children differently than ARDS in adults. Pharmacological treatments available for PARDS are relatively few and, since there is great uncertainty about their effectiveness also because of the extreme heterogeneity of this syndrome, it is necessary to conduct large clinical trials using currently available definitions and considering recent pathobiological knowledge. The aim is to identify homogeneous subgroups or phenotypes of children with PARDS that may benefit from the specific pharmaceutical approach examined. It will be then necessary to link endotypes and outcomes to appropriately target therapies in future trials, but this will be possible only after it will be possible to identify the different PARDS endotypes.
Polyreactivity and polyspecificity in therapeutic antibody development: risk factors for failure in preclinical and clinical development campaigns

ABSTRACT Antibody-based drugs, which now represent the dominant biologic therapeutic modality, are used to modulate disparate signaling pathways across diverse disease indications. One fundamental premise that has driven this therapeutic antibody revolution is the belief that each monoclonal antibody exhibits exquisitely specific binding to a single-drug target. Herein, we review emerging evidence in antibody off-target binding and relate current key findings to the risk of failure in therapeutic development. We further summarize the current state of understanding of structural mechanisms underpining the different phenomena that may drive polyreactivity and polyspecificity, and highlight current thinking on how de-risking studies may be best implemented in the screening triage. We conclude with a summary of what we believe to be key observations in the field to date, and a call for the wider antibody research community to work together to build the tools needed to maximize our understanding in this nascent area.
Tartary buckwheat database (TBD): an integrative platform for gene analysis of and biological information on Tartary buckwheat

Rice, wheat, corn, and potatoes are four crops that provide a daily source of nutrition for humans, but there are many problems that have been found with these crops. First, they lack amino acids and minerals which are necessary for balanced nutrition, and they also are grown very widely and as monocultures, which increases the risk of the human food system being destroyed by climate change. Thus, by introducing coarse cereals with good characteristics, we can enrich human food resources, realize agricultural diversification, improve dietary structure, and mitigate risks. Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) is a widely cultivated edible and medicinal crop with unique nutritional and excellent economic value. It contains flavonoids, such as rutin and quercetin, which are not found in cereal crops. Rutin is a major flavonoid that can enhance blood flow and aid in the use of vitamin C and the production of collagen. In addition, such antioxidants have been shown to effectively reduce cholesterol levels, blood clots, and hypertension, particularly for the prevention of inflammatory liver injury (Middleton et al., 2000; Lee et al., 2013; Suzuki et al., 2014; Huang et al., 2016; Nishimura et al., 2016). Meanwhile, Tartary buckwheat can tolerate poor climate and acidic soils containing high amounts of aluminum, which is toxic to other crops (Wang et al., 2015). The self-pollination of Tartary buckwheat has resulted in a decrease in genomic heterozygosity, which is valuable for breeding and a stable production trait (Wang and Campbell, 2007). Therefore, Tartary buckwheat is an important minor crop, which is expected to become the target of many breeding efforts in the future.
Environmental drivers of breeding sites in blackfly species of medical and veterinary importance in eastern Spain

Geographical distribution and abundance of the pupae of six blackfly species of medical and veterinary concern were studied in eastern Spain according to three different sets of explanatory variables including in‐stream variables, both (i) abiotic (i.e., physicochemical) and (ii) biotic (i.e., richness and abundance of either taxonomically or ecologically close related taxa), as well as (iii) meteorological and landscape variables. The results showed specific habitat requirements for pupation in Simulium (Boophthora) erythrocephalum (De Geer, 1776) and Simulium (Wilhelmia) equinum (Linnaeus, 1758), two of the six species studied regarding elevation and temperature. While the rest of the species showed a certain degree of ecological overlap, co‐occurrence was in general low, which suggested that antagonistic biotic factors may be important in structuring blackfly assemblages. In effect, biotic predictors explained a high proportion (50%–70%) of the variability in the abundance of the pupae of the most generalist blackfly species, although further studies are needed to disentangle the sign of interspecific interactions. At the landscape level, S. (W.) equinum and S. (W.) pseudequinum Séguy, 1921 breeding habitats were associated with the presence of pig farms, and S. (Simulium) reptans (Linnaeus, 1758) and S. (B.) erythrocephalum with the presence of cattle.