Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Signage Interventions for Stair Climbing at Work: More than 700,000 Reasons for Caution

Increased stair climbing reduces cardiovascular disease risk. While signage interventions for workplace stair climbing offer a low-cost tool to improve population health, inconsistent effects of intervention occur. Pedestrian movement within the built environment has major effects on stair use, independent of any health initiative. This paper used pooled data from UK and Spanish workplaces to test the effects of signage interventions when pedestrian movement was controlled for in analyses. Automated counters measured stair and elevator usage at the ground floor throughout the working day. Signage interventions employed previously successful campaigns. In the UK, minute-by-minute stair/elevator choices measured effects of momentary pedestrian traffic at the choice-point (n = 426,605). In Spain, aggregated pedestrian traffic every 30 min measured effects for ‘busyness’ of the building (n = 293,300). Intervention effects on stair descent (3 of 4 analyses) were more frequent than effects on stair climbing, the behavior with proven health benefits (1 of 4 analyses). Any intervention effects were of small magnitude relative to the influence of pedestrian movement. Failure to control for pedestrian movement compromises any estimate for signage effectiveness. These pooled data provide limited evidence that signage interventions for stair climbing at work will enhance population health.
A multi‐GPU finite element computation and hybrid collision handling process framework for brain deformation simulation

This paper offers a fast multi‐graphics processing unit (GPU) parallel simulation framework to the problem of real‐time and nonlinear finite element computation of brain deformation. A load balancing strategy is proposed to ensure the efficient distribution of nonlinear finite element computation on multi‐GPU. A data storage structure is designed to minimize the amount of data transfer and make full use of the overlay technique of GPU to reduce the transferring latency between multi‐GPUs. We further present a fast central processing unit (CPU)–GPU parallel continuous collision detection and response method, which not only can deal with the collision between the brain and skull but also can handle the self‐collision of the brain. Our method can make full use of CPU and GPU to implement a parallel computation about deformation and collision detection. Our experimental results show that our method is able to handle a brain geometric model with high detail gyrus composed of more than 40,000 tetrahedron elements. This can facilitate the fidelity of the current virtual brain surgery simulator. We evaluate our approach qualitatively and quantitatively and compare it with related works.
Impact of family practice continuity of care on unplanned hospital use for people with serious mental illness

Abstract Objective To investigate whether continuity of care in family practice reduces unplanned hospital use for people with serious mental illness (SMI). Data Sources Linked administrative data on family practice and hospital utilization by people with SMI in England, 2007‐2014. Study Design This observational cohort study used discrete‐time survival analysis to investigate the relationship between continuity of care in family practice and unplanned hospital use: emergency department (ED) presentations, and unplanned admissions for SMI and ambulatory care‐sensitive conditions (ACSC). The analysis distinguishes between relational continuity and management/ informational continuity (as captured by care plans) and accounts for unobserved confounding by examining deviation from long‐term averages. Data Collection/Extraction Methods Individual‐level family practice administrative data linked to hospital administrative data. Principal Findings Higher relational continuity was associated with 8‐11 percent lower risk of ED presentation and 23‐27 percent lower risk of ACSC admissions. Care plans were associated with 29 percent lower risk of ED presentation, 39 percent lower risk of SMI admissions, and 32 percent lower risk of ACSC admissions. Conclusions Family practice continuity of care can reduce unplanned hospital use for physical and mental health of people with SMI.
A molecular sub-cluster of colon cancer cells with low VDR expression is sensitive to chemotherapy, BRAF inhibitors and PI3K-mTOR inhibitors treatment

Gene expression based consensus molecular subtypes (CMS) and non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) sub-clusters are robust colon cancer classification systems. Although, the molecular features are clear, colon cancer subgroups based interventions are limited. To address this problem, we analyze the CMS and NMF subgroup guided drug sensitivity in colon cancer cell lines. CMS3 subtype cells are sensitive to 5-Fluorouracil, while, CMS4 subtype cells are sensitive to cisplatin treatment. In NMF classification, a sub-cluster is specifically sensitive to chemotherapy, BRAF inhibitors, PI3K-mTOR inhibitors and NOTCH inhibitor treatment. This sub-cluster has low frequency of TP53, POLE, PIK3CA and BRAF mutation. Transcriptional analysis demonstrates low NOTCH signaling activity, low CDX2 and VDR expression in this sub-cluster. CDX2 and VDR are significantly associated with the sensitivity of chemotherapy, BRAF inhibitors and PI3K-mTOR inhibitors. Moreover, a positive correlation between VDR and CDX2 is identified. VDR and CDX2 mediated regulatory networks are constructed. At last, three or four sub-clusters classification is validated in colon cancer patients. Overall, our results suggest a molecular sub-cluster of colon cancer cells with low CDX2 and VDR expression is sensitive to chemotherapy, BRAF inhibitors and PI3K-mTOR inhibitors treatment and provide an example of translation of cancer classification to subgroup guided therapies.
Report of the AAPM Radiation Therapy Committee의 Task Group No.66에 의한 전산화 단층촬영 모의치료기의 정도 관리

목적 : 자체 제작한 Q.A tool을 이용하여 AAPM Task Group Report No.66 에서 제시하는 CT simulator의 Q.A 항목을 확인하여 보다 안전하고 정확한 CT-simulation 과정을 확보하기 위해 효율적이고 편리성을 갖춘 정도관리 과정을 제시하고자 한다. 대상 및 방법 : 본원에 CT simulator의 Q.A tool을 제작하여 Report of th.
Anticariogenic Potential of Korean Native Plant Extracts against Streptococcus mutans

Abstract Numerous chemically synthesized compounds are widely used in oral hygiene products. However, due to their potential risk, there is a need to improve the safety and quality of dental care by seeking alternative control agents such as those naturally found in plant materials. Here we assessed antibacterial potentials of extracts from 100 species of Korean native plants against Streptococcus mutans on cariogenesis. Among those, extracts from five plants (Arctii Fructus, Caryopteris incana, Aralia continentalis, Symplocarpus renifolius, and Lamium amplexicaule) showed a growth inhibition of S. mutans. The five extracts were further individually evaluated for their minimal inhibitory concentration and minimal bactericidal concentration. Interestingly, a synergistic antibacterial activity was observed with the combination of sodium fluoride and the plant extracts. To determine the anti-biofilm activity of plant extracts, S. mutans was treated with increasing concentrations of the extracts in the range from 1250 to 3750 µg/mL. When S. mutans was grown in the defined biofilm medium containing the individual extracts of 47 species, the biofilm amount markedly decreased compared to that of a negative control. Notably, the extract of S. renifolius significantly downregulated the gtf and spaP genes for synthesis of glucan and adhesive proteins in S. mutans, and L. amplexicaule decreased the expression of gtfD gene. Therefore, these results demonstrate that the five plant extracts modulate survival and pathogenesis of S. mutans by growth inhibition and downregulation of the gene(s) implicated in biofilm formation.
Análise eletromiográfica da marcha de idosos saudáveis e com Doença de Parkinson durante a simulação de travessia de rua

Cross the street is a daily action that requires planning and cognitive demand. Changes in the gait of healthy elderly subjects and with Parkinson's disease (PD) can make the street crossing a risk situation and cause accidents. The objective of this study was to analyze the crossing time and the level of activation of the vastus lateralis (VL), bíceps femoralis (BF), anterior tibialis (TA) and lateral gastrocnemius (GL) of 21 healthy elderly subjects (GIS) and 19 with PD (GIDP) during 3 street crossing situations: gait with comfortable speed (I), gait during simulated street crossing (II), and gait during simulated street crossing with reduced time (III). In GIS, the muscular activation of VL and BF was higher in condition II than in condition I, higher in condition III than in condition I and higher in condition III than in condition II; O f TA and GA was not different between conditions II and I, was higher in condition III than in condition I and higher in condition III than in condition II. In GIDP, the muscular activation level of all muscles was higher in condition II than in condition I, higher in condition III than in condition I and higher in condition III than in condition II. According to the difficulty of the task, both groups reduced the crossing time. There was an effect of gait condition on crossing time and muscle activity in the groups, and GIDP is more influenced by increase of gait velocity in TA and GL muscles compared to GIS.
Design and Fabrication of CMOS Microstructures to Locally Synthesize Carbon Nanotubes for Gas Sensing

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be grown locally on custom-designed CMOS microstructures to use them as a sensing material for manufacturing low-cost gas sensors, where CMOS readout circuits are directly integrated. Such a local CNT synthesis process using thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) requires temperatures near 900 °C, which is destructive for CMOS circuits. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure a high thermal gradient around the CNT growth structures to maintain CMOS-compatible temperature (below 300 °C) on the bulk part of the chip, where readout circuits are placed. This paper presents several promising designs of CNT growth microstructures and their thermomechanical analyses (by ANSYS Multiphysics software) to check the feasibility of local CNT synthesis in CMOS. Standard CMOS processes have several conductive interconnecting metal and polysilicon layers, both being suitable to serve as microheaters for local resistive heating to achieve the CNT growth temperature. Most of these microheaters need to be partially or fully suspended to produce the required thermal isolation for CMOS compatibility. Necessary CMOS post-processing steps to realize CNT growth structures are discussed. Layout designs of the microstructures, along with some of the microstructures fabricated in a standard AMS 350 nm CMOS process, are also presented in this paper.
Deep Meditations: Controlled navigation of latent space

We introduce a method which allows users to creatively explore and navigate the vast latent spaces of deep generative models. Specifically, our method enables users to discover and design trajectories in these high dimensional spaces, to construct stories, and produce time-based media such as videos—with meaningful control over narrative. Our goal is to encourage and aid the use of deep generative models as a medium for creative expression and story telling with meaningful human control. Our method is analogous to traditional video production pipelines in that we use a conventional non-linear video editor with proxy clips, and conform with arrays of latent space vectors.
An ecological framework of neophobia: from cells to organisms to populations

Neophobia is the fear of novel stimuli or situations. This phenotype has recently received much ecological attention, primarily in the context of decision making. Here, we explore neophobia across biological levels of organisation, first describing types of neophobia among animals and the underlying causes of neophobia, highlighting high levels of risk and uncertainty as key drivers. We place neophobia in the framework of Error Management Theory and Signal Detection Theory, showing how increases in overall risk and uncertainty can lead to costly non‐responses towards novel threats unless individuals lower their response threshold and become neophobic. We then discuss how neophobic behaviour translates into population and evolutionary consequences before introducing neophobia‐like processes at the cellular level, where some phenomena such as allergy and autoimmunity can parallel neophobic behaviour. Finally, we discuss neophobia attenuation, considering how a sudden change in the environment from dangerous to safe can lead to problematic over‐responses (i.e. the ‘maladaptive defensive carry‐over’ hypothesis), and discuss treatment methods for such over‐responses. We anticipate that bridging the concept of neophobia with a process‐centered perspective can facilitate a transfer of insight across organisational levels.
Nifedipine toxicity is exacerbated by acetyl l‐carnitine but alleviated by low‐dose ketamine in zebrafish in vivo

Calcium channel blocker (CCB) poisoning is a common and sometimes life‐threatening emergency. Our previous studies have shown that acetyl l‐carnitine (ALCAR) prevents cardiotoxicity and developmental toxicity induced by verapamil, a CCB used to treat patients with hypertension. Here, we tested whether toxicities of nifedipine, a dihydropyridine CCB used to treat hypertension, can also be mitigated by co‐treatment with ALCAR. In the zebrafish embryos at three different developmental stages, nifedipine induced developmental toxicity with pericardial sac edema in a dose‐dependent manner, which were surprisingly exacerbated with ALCAR co‐treatment. Even with low‐dose nifedipine (5 μm), when the pericardial sac looked normal, ALCAR co‐treatment showed pericardial sac edema. We hypothesized that toxicity by nifedipine, a vasodilator, may be prevented by ketamine, a known vasoconstrictor. Nifedipine toxicity in the embryos was effectively prevented by co‐treatment with low (subanesthetic) doses (25‐100 μm added to the water) of ketamine, although a high dose of ketamine (2 mm added to the water) partially prevented the toxicity.As expected of a CCB, nifedipine either in the presence or absence of ketamine‐reduced metabolic reactive oxygen species (ROS), a downstream product of calcium signaling, in the rapidly developing digestive system. However, nifedipine induced ROS in the trunk region that showed significantly stunted growth indicating that the tissues under stress potentially produced pathologic ROS. To the best of our knowledge, these studies for the first time show that nifedipine and the dietary supplement ALCAR together induce adverse effects while providing evidence on the therapeutic efficacy of subanesthetic doses of ketamine against nifedipine toxicity in vivo.
Aztreonam and Vancomycin for Initial Treatment of Febrile Neutropenia in Penicillin-Allergic Patients During Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Most patients who undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation develop neutropenic fever and are at high risk for developing potentially life-threatening infections. β-lactam antibiotics remain the cornerstone for initial empiric treatment of neutropenic fever. In cancer patients with allergy or intolerance to β-lactams, guidelines recommend using aztreonam with vancomycin (AV) for neutropenic fever treatment. To date, the efficacy of AV for the treatment of neutropenic fever during stem cell transplantation is unknown. A retrospective study was conducted to identify hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients who were initially treated with concomitant AV for neutropenic fever between 2007 and 2013. Febrile neutropenia was classified as neutropenia with unexplained fever, neutropenic fever with a local source of infection, or neutropenic fever with a microbiologically documented infection. Seventy-six patients were identified who received AV as initial treatment for neutropenic fever over the study period. Responses to AV for neutropenia with unexplained fever (n = 41), febrile neutropenia with local site of infection (n = 11 [pneumonia = 9, other = 2]), and neutropenic fever with microbiologically documented infection (n = 34) were 75%, 55% (45% pneumonia), and 46% respectively. Infection-related mortality was 5%. Aztreonam with vancomycin was effective in treating neutropenia with unexplained fever. For patients with neutropenic fever and local source or microbiologically documented infection, alternative antibiotic treatments should be considered.
Carbapenem-sparing strategy: carbapenemase, treatment, and stewardship.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW describing the current role of carbapenems and carbapenem-sparing strategies in the setting of antimicrobial stewardship programs. RECENT FINDINGS sparing carbapenems with other drugs appears to be an interesting perspective for a variety of reasons in the current context of the multidrug-resistant (MDR) pandemic. Specific algorithms should also be precisely investigated to define better how to spare carbapenems within empiric and targeted regimens, with combination treatment or monotherapies, aiming at the best use of the new drugs and improving de-escalation as soon as possible for most of the patients. SUMMARY stewardship programs may be useful in reducing probable misuse and overuse of antibiotics, which has probably contributed to the emergence of carbapenem-resistant bacteria worldwide. The proposal of carbapenem-sparing strategies has then generated substantial scientific debate and, overall, the concept of sparing these drugs is well advocated together with judicious use of novel drugs, appropriate measures of infection control and prevention as well as in stewardship programs to curb the spread of MDR and XDR-strains in healthcare facilities.
A Hybrid Intelligent Algorithm Based on the Method to Realize the Vehicle Tracking System

Aiming at the problem in accident vehicle tracking system and the flaws of low detection precision and slow speed in the traditional algorithm designed a vehicle that based on hybrid intelligent algorithm. First getting moving objects by using frame differential method and picking up accurate target image by using differential background image, then abstracting the light stream of the target and marking object the area of interested to overcome the problem of empty, duplicate detection and illumination influence, reduce the time complexity to improve the reliability of target tracking and reduce the test time. According to the result of the experiment, compared with the traditional algorithms, the system can quickly and accurately track the vehicle, with strong validity and practicality.
Bio-Mediated Synthesis and Characterisation of Silver Nanocarrier, and Its Potent Anticancer Action

Discovery of a potent drug nanocarrier is crucial for cancer therapy in which drugs often face challenges in penetrating efficiently into solid tumours. Here, biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using a waste material, Garcinia mangostana (GM) fruit peel extract is demonstrated. The best condition for AgNPs synthesis was with 0.5 g of peel extract, 7.5 mM silver nitrate at 45 °C, ~pH 4 for 16 h. The synthesized AgNPs were spherical and 32.7 ± 5.7 nm in size. To test its efficiency to be used as drug carrier, plant-based drug, protocatechuic acid (PCA) was used as a test drug. AgNPs loaded with PCA (AgPCA) resulted in 80% of inhibition at 15.6 µg/mL as compared to AgNPs which only killed 5% of HCT116 colorectal cells at same concentration. The IC50 of AgNPs and AgPCA for HCT116 were 40.2 and 10.7 µg/mL, respectively. At 15.6 µg/mL, AgPCA was not toxic to the tested colon normal cells, CCD112. Ag-based drug carrier could also potentially reduce the toxicity of loaded drug as the IC50 of PCA alone (148.1 µg/mL) was higher than IC50 of AgPCA (10.7 µg/mL) against HCT116. Further, 24-h treatment of 15.6 µg/mL AgPCA resulted in loss of membrane potential in the mitochondria of HCT116 cells and increased level of reaction oxygen species (ROS). These could be the cellular killing mechanisms of AgPCA. Collectively, our findings show the synergistic anticancer activity of AgNPs and PCA, and its potential to be used as a potent anticancer drug nanocarrier.
Indoor Positioning on Disparate Commercial Smartphones Using Wi-Fi Access Points Coverage Area

The applications of location-based services require precise location information of a user both indoors and outdoors. Global positioning system’s reduced accuracy for indoor environments necessitated the initiation of Indoor Positioning Systems (IPSs). However, the development of an IPS which can determine the user’s position with heterogeneous smartphones in the same fashion is a challenging problem. The performance of Wi-Fi fingerprinting-based IPSs is degraded by many factors including shadowing, absorption, and interference caused by obstacles, human mobility, and body loss. Moreover, the use of various smartphones and different orientations of the very same smartphone can limit its positioning accuracy as well. As Wi-Fi fingerprinting is based on Received Signal Strength (RSS) vector, it is prone to dynamic intrinsic limitations of radio propagation, including changes over time, and far away locations having similar RSS vector. This article presents a Wi-Fi fingerprinting approach that exploits Wi-Fi Access Points (APs) coverage area and does not utilize the RSS vector. Using the concepts of APs coverage area uniqueness and coverage area overlap, the proposed approach calculates the user’s current position with the help of APs’ intersection area. The experimental results demonstrate that the device dependency can be mitigated by making the fingerprinting database with the proposed approach. The experiments performed at a public place proves that positioning accuracy can also be increased because the proposed approach performs well in dynamic environments with human mobility. The impact of human body loss is studied as well.
SEAweb: the small RNA Expression Atlas web application

Abstract We present the Small RNA Expression Atlas (SEAweb), a web application that allows for the interactive querying, visualization and analysis of known and novel small RNAs across 10 organisms. It contains sRNA and pathogen expression information for over 4200 published samples with standardized search terms and ontologies. In addition, SEAweb allows for the interactive visualization and re-analysis of 879 differential expression and 514 classification comparisons. SEAweb's user model enables sRNA researchers to compare and re-analyze user-specific and published datasets, highlighting common and distinct sRNA expression patterns. We provide evidence for SEAweb's fidelity by (i) generating a set of 591 tissue specific miRNAs across 29 tissues, (ii) finding known and novel bacterial and viral infections across diseases and (iii) determining a Parkinson's disease-specific blood biomarker signature using novel data. We believe that SEAweb's simple semantic search interface, the flexible interactive reports and the user model with rich analysis capabilities will enable researchers to better understand the potential function and diagnostic value of sRNAs or pathogens across tissues, diseases and organisms.