Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Voluntary changes in breathing pattern and N2 clearance from lungs.

Lung N2 clearance curves were recorded in three normal and two symptom-free asthmatic subjects at breathing rates of 10—60/min and tidal volumes of 350—1,950 ml. A change toward more uniform gas distribution at larger tidal volumes was found in one subject. Changes in breathing rate did not affect gas distribution demonstrably. The washout ventilation per liter lung volume (lung clearance index) did not show significant changes with either breathing rate or tidal volume except for an increase at tidal volumes of less than 450 ml. These findings agree with the assumption of a constant dead space volume at tidal volumes within the range studied. The results are of practical importance for the use of the lung clearance index as a measure of the effect of broncho-active substances on the lung ventilation in man. Submitted on April 28, 1961
Smartphones and Biometrics: Gait and Activity Recognition

From a technological perspective, biometric gait recognition can be categorized into three approaches: Machine Vision based, Floor Sensor based and Wearable Sensor based. This survey covers historical development and current state of the art in accelerometerbased gait analysis, a sub-category of wearable sensor based gait recognition. It gives an all-around literature study describing the major modules; experiments, data acquisition, data analysis and comparison of gait representations.
The tet(K) gene from Staphylococcus aureus mediates the transport of potassium in Escherichia coli

The tet(K) gene, encoding the tetracycline efflux protein from Staphylococcus aureus, mediates the transport of potassium in an Escherichia coli mutant defective in potassium uptake. Deletion mapping indicates that the first third of the tet(K) gene is sufficient to mediate potassium transport.
Rigid body analysis of the indeterminate grasp force in power grasps

The grasp force in power grasps is not necessarily determined uniquely by joint torques when Coulomb friction is assumed in the contact points between a grasped object and finger links. This paper analyzes the indeterminate grasp force with their rigid body models. This paper shows that contact sliding directions are constrained in power grasps. The frictional force acts only in the opposite direction of sliding. This characteristic of friction restricts the grasp force in power grasps although it is indeterminate in general. First the authors show an example to illustrate this restriction imposed on a grasp force. A special case where it is unique is shown.
[The value of sonography in the intensive care unit for the diagnosis of diaphragmatic paralysis].

PURPOSE To assess the value of bedside sonography in the detection of diaphragmatic paralysis in patients in the intensive care unit. METHODS In this study, 100 patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit after thoracic operations were evaluated. Sonography of each hemidiaphragm was performed with coronal scans at the mid-axillary line on both sides with the patient supine. Absent and paradoxical diaphragmatic movement was considered to be indicative of diaphragmatic paralysis. All patients underwent additional fluoroscopy within 5 days. RESULTS In 13 patients (13%) sonography revealed diaphragmatic paralysis. All these results were confirmed with fluoroscopy resulting in a sensitivity and specificity for sonography of 100%. CONCLUSION Bedside sonography of the diaphragm at the intensive care unit is a reliable tool for diagnosing diaphragmatic paralysis.
Internet‐delivered cognitive‐behaviour therapy for recent cancer survivors: a feasibility trial

An important subset of individuals experience clinical levels of anxiety and depression following cancer treatment [1]. Psychological treatments such as cognitivebehaviour therapy (CBT) result in large reductions in anxiety and depression among cancer patients and survivors [2]. Numerous barriers to treatment have been identified (e.g., cost, stigma and distance from providers), however, less than half of patients receive psychological treatment [3]. Internet-delivered CBT (ICBT) programs employ the same principles as face-to-face CBT but are administered via a computer and the internet. There is now a considerable body of research showing ICBT is efficacious for treating depression and anxiety [4], but most studies focus on single disorders and have not examined use with cancer survivors. Transdiagnostic treatments are designed to simultaneously treat symptoms of both depression and anxiety [5]. The potential of transdiagnostic ICBT for cancer survivors is considerable given the frequent co-morbidity of depression and anxiety and their association with poorer quality of life [6]. The present feasibility study explored an ICBT program for cancer survivors experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression. It was hypothesized that participants would report: (a) significant improvements in symptoms of depression, anxiety, quality of life, pain and fatigue and (b) high levels of satisfaction with the program.
Global-to-Local Design for Self-Organized Task Allocation in Swarms

Programming robot swarms is hard because system requirements are formulated at the swarm level (i.e., globally) while control rules need to be coded at the individual robot level (i.e., locally). Connecting global to local levels or vice versa through mathematical modeling to predict the system behavior is generally assumed to be the grand challenge of swarm robotics. We propose to approach this problem by programming directly at the swarm level. Key to this solution is the use of heterogeneous swarms that combine appropriate subsets of agents whose hard-coded agent behaviors have known global effects. Our novel global-to-local design methodology allows to compose heterogeneous swarms for the example application of self-organized task allocation. We define a large but finite number of local agent controllers and focus on the global dynamics of behaviorally heterogeneous swarms. The user inputs the desired global task allocation for the swarm as a stationary probability distribution of agents allocated over tasks. We provide a generic method that implements the desired swarm behavior by mathematically deriving appropriate compositions of heterogeneous swarms that approximate these global user requirements. We investigate our methodology over several task allocation scenarios and validate our results with multiagent simulations. The proposed global-to-local design methodology is not limited to task allocation problems and can pave the way to formal approaches to design other swarm behaviors.
Frequent Loss of pRb2/p130 in Human Ovarian Carcinoma

Purpose: RB2/p130, a member of the retinoblastoma gene family, maps to human chromosome 16q12.2, a region in which deletions have been found in several human neoplasms including breast, prostatic, and ovarian carcinoma. We sought to evaluate pRb2/p130 protein expression and function in ovarian carcinoma. Experimental Design: pRb2/p130 expression was detected by immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses in 45 primary ovarian carcinoma samples. Results: Immunohistochemical analysis revealed loss or decrease of pRb2/p130 expression in 18 cases (40%). pRb2/p130 expression was mostly nuclear and inversely correlated to the tumor grade (P < 0.05). Western blot analysis correlated with immunohistochemical expression. Reverse transcription-PCR followed by Southern blot analysis was performed on a representative set of 20 ovarian carcinomas. RB2/p130 mRNA levels were consistent with protein expression. We found a significant increase in the percentage of G1-phase-arrested cells in CAOV3 and A2780 ovarian carcinoma cell lines after transduction with an adenovirus carrying the RB2/p130 gene (Ad-CMV-RB2/p130). Conclusions: These data indicate that loss or decrease of pRb2/p130 expression is a frequent event in ovarian carcinoma and is regulated mostly at the transcriptional level. Moreover, pRb2/p130 overexpression is able to arrest cell growth in ovarian carcinoma cells, suggesting the putative role of pRb2/p130 as a tumor suppressor in this malignancy.
Maintenance planning and execution of protection systems in substations in South Africa: A recent case study

The need to maintain and replace ageing equipment in South African national energy utility (ESKOM) and local municipalities has increased over the years. The country is currently experiencing power cuts from time to time inconveniencing factories and customers at large, as a result. This paper focuses only on the maintenance planning and execution of protection system of the utility distribution substations. Majority of these substations have equipment past their rated operational age. Due to lack of maintenance, their poor condition plays big role in overall power cuts. There is a new program by municipality for replacement of electromechanical relays with recent digital technology in all distribution substations. Technology in protection relays has evolved from mechanical relays to digital relays and then lately to microprocessor-based relays. This paper reviews new technology available to the utilities, its benefits and impacts in the overall system and discusses how these can replace the older relays in distribution substations in South Africa through maintenance planning and execution.
Bioactivity of human growth hormone in serum: validation of an in vitro bioassay.

GH, in clinical practice, is determined by RIA, but RIA estimates may not accurately reflect serum GH bioactivity. The available measures of GH bioactivity lack either sensitivity, specificity, or a physiologically relevant end point. The objective of this research was to develop a physiologically relevant GH bioassay which would not only measure the bioactivity of purified GH preparations, but would also have sufficient sensitivity to measure GH bioactivity in human serum. The method consisted of incubating murine 3T3-F442A adipocytes in serum-free medium containing BSA, 14C-glucose, and increasing concentrations of GH or test materials for 24 h, followed by measurement of conversion of glucose to lipid. Interference by nonspecific serum factors was reduced by the addition of 10 micrograms/liter insulin, 25 nM dexamethasone, and 37 nM estradiol to the medium. In the presence of 10 micrograms/liter insulin, 50 micrograms/liter insulin-like growth factor-1 did not alter the ability of GH to suppress lipid accumulation. Epinephrine and glucagon could suppress lipid accumulation but only at concentrations greatly in excess of the physiological range in serum. Twenty two thousand dalton hGH produced dose-dependent suppression of lipid accumulation which was linear between 0.625 and 10 micrograms/liter (r = 0.926; P = 0.0001) with a half-maximal response of 3.0 +/- 0.2 micrograms/liter (n = six experiments). The intra- and interassay coefficients of variation were 7% and 19%, respectively. The assay was specific for GH since addition of human PRL produced suppression of lipid accumulation only at concentrations where contamination of the preparation by GH became a significant factor. ACTH also suppressed lipid accumulation but only at doses of 1000 micrograms/liter or greater. Human placental lactogen and hLH, hFSH, and hTSH did not cross-react with GH in this assay. Addition of human serum did not alter the slope of ED50 of the GH dose-response curve. Pools of serum from prepubertal and pubertal boys and girls, subjects treated with arginine or insulin, a diabetic girl, and a boy with gigantism who had a serum GH content of 80 micrograms/liter by RIA and 40 micrograms/liter by bioassay, produced dose response curves parallel to that of the GH standard curve. Serum from patients with hypopituitarism did not produce significant suppression of lipid accumulation in any assay. Recovery of 5 micrograms/liter GH added to human serum was 94%. Twenty thousand dalton GH also suppressed lipid accumulation in this assay, but was 2-fold less potent than 22,000 dalton GH. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Widespread recombinase expression using FLPeR (Flipper) mice

Summary: As conditional genetic strategies advance, the need for multiple site‐specific recombinase systems has emerged. To meet this need in part, we have targeted the constitutive ROSA26 locus to create a mouse strain with generalized expression of the enhanced version of the site‐specific recombinase FLP (FLPe). This strain is designated FLPeR (“flipper”). Using this strain, extensive target gene recombination can be achieved in most tissue types, including cells of the developing germ line. FLPeR mice therefore serve two important functions: as a source of many different FLPe‐expressing primary cell lines and as a deleter strain. Moreover, because the FLPeR mouse is a 129‐derived strain, a 129 genetic background can be preserved when crossed to most ES cell‐derived mice. This enables conditional genetic alterations to be maintained on a standard background, a feature important for obtaining reproducible results and genetically defined controls. genesis 28:106–110, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Proposal Techniques and Solutions for Addressing Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware is a form of extortion-based attack that locks the victim’s digital resources and requests money to release them. Although the concept of ransomware is not new (i.e., such attacks date back at least as far as the 1980s), this type of malware has recently experienced a resurgence in popularity. In fact, over the last few years, a number of high-profile ransomware attacks were reported. Very recently, WannaCry ransomware infected thousands of vulnerable machines around the world, and substantially disrupted critical services such as British healthcare system. Given the size and variety of threats we are facing today, having solutions to effectively detect and analyze unknown ransomware attacks seems necessary. In this thesis, we argue that it is possible to extend existing defense mechanisms, and protect user data from a large number of ransomware attacks with zero data loss. To support this claim, in the first part of the thesis, we perform an evolutionary-based analysis to understand the destructive behavior of ransomware attacks. We show that by monitoring the interaction of malicious processes with the operating system, it is possible to design practical defense mechanisms that could stop even very successful cryptographic ransomware attacks. In the second part, we propose a novel dynamic analysis system, called Unveil, that is designed to analyze ransomware attacks, and model their interactions. In the third and the last part, we propose an end-point framework, called Redemption, to protect user data from ransomware attacks. We present an operating system-independent design, and also provide implementation details which show that such lightweight solutions could be integrated into existing operating systems while achieving zero data loss in a large number of successful ransomware attacks.
Détermination des poids des codes de Reed-Muller généralisés

For Generalized Reed-Muller, GRM(q, d, n), codes, the determination of the second weight is still generally insolved, it is an open question of Cherdieu Rolland [1]. In order to answer this question, we study some maximal hypersurfaces and we compute the second weight of GRM(q, d, n) codes with the restriction that q > 2d. subjclass[2000]: 11T71, 14J70, 05B25 keywords hypersurfaces, weight, Reed-Muller codes
Problem Solving Genome : modeling students by their common patterns on problem solving

Parameterized exercises present an interesting opportunity and challenge for educational data mining. Since this kind of exercise can be repeated many times with different parameters, it is possible to examine student's problem solving behavior on a deeper level. Preliminary analysis exposed unexpected patterns such as repeated successful and failed attempts to solve the same problem. To understand these behaviors we propose the Problem Solving Genome analysis framework. We first characterize attempts in terms of correctness (correct/incorrect) and time (short/long) and use pattern mining techniques to extract attempts' patterns that we call problem solving genes. Then, we build profiles of students, called problem solving genome, based on the frequencies of these patterns. By analyzing the similarity of problem solving genes within students, we show that the problem solving genome reflects consistent student behavior, even across exercises of different complexity level. Surprisingly, we find that the students' genomes persist across different performance groups. A detailed look at the genes within clusters of students having similar genomes suggests that a particular set of patterns are responsible for the difference of performance among students. The results reveal considerable potential of using problem solving genome analysis to understand student behavior at the macroscopic level and suggest new directions for the user modelling and adaptation.
Cloning and Sequence Analysis of a cDNA of P450 17a-Hydroxylase/17,20-Lyase(CYP17) from Strongylocentrotus nudus

CYP17 (17&#945;-hydroxylase/17, 20-lyase) has been viewed as a critical enzyme for the biosynthesis of gonadal and adrenal steroids in vertebrates. According to a reported CYP17 gene of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus gene from NCBI, three pairs of primers were designed to clone CYP17 gene of Strongylocentrotus nudus,using RT-PCR. Three fragments were assembled into on contig of 1569bp, including full CDS of 1482bp encoding 493 amino acid residues. Sequence analysis indicated the two sea urchin CYP17 genes were mostly similar(97%) . But their amino acid identities were low compared with vertebrates. Cloning of this CYP17 gene would be necessary to characterize its function in development of gonads of sea urchin.
A medical student leadership course led to teamwork, advocacy, and mindfulness.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Many medical trainees seek work among underserved communities but may be unprepared to cope with the challenges. Relationship-centered qualities have been shown to promote physician resilience and prevent burnout. The UCLA-PRIME program aims to prepare medical students to work among vulnerable groups and begins with a 3-week leadership course. We describe this course and share lessons with those seeking to foster leadership, advocacy, and resiliency in our future physician workforce. METHODS Twenty students participated in our curriculum that emphasized five competencies: leadership, advocacy, teamwork, mindfulness, and self-care. Course activities complemented the students' work as they developed a community outreach project. They assessed and reflected on their leadership, relationship, and team behaviors, were coached to improve these, learned mindfulness meditation, and participated in community forums. Our evaluation assessed course quality, project completion, leadership, mindfulness, and team relational coordination. RESULTS Students were very satisfied with all aspects of the course. They designed a medical student elective addressing the health challenges of an incarcerated and formerly incarcerated population. While we found no change in leadership practices scores, students had high team relational coordination scores and improved mindfulness scores upon course completion. DISCUSSION Our course to develop medical students as resilient leaders, team members, and advocates for medically underserved groups consisted of a community-based service project, coupled with a facilitated relationship-centered curriculum. It promoted qualities in students that characterize effective and resilient physician leaders; they were more mindful, related to each other effectively, and coordinated their activities well with one another.
Does Depth of Anesthesia Influence Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction or Inflammatory Response Following Major ENT Surgery

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of depth of anesthesia on POCD after major ENT surgery and to assess changes in postoperative inflammatory markers in patients undergoing major ENT surgery. Thirty two patients aged 40 to 94 yrs, scheduled for surgery under general anesthesia were randomly assigned to one of two groups. In group A (AEP group) depth of anesthesia (DOA) was measured with auditory evoked potential (AEP). In the control group (group C) DOA was monitored according to clinical signs. Cognitive function was evaluated using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) and Cognitive Failure Questionnaire (CFQ). Inflammatory markers were measured before and after anesthesia. Perioperative requirements for desflurane and fentanyl were significantly lower in group A. On the first postoperative day MMSE changes indicating POCD were noted in 1 patient in group A and 7 patients in group C (P<0.03). One month follow up did not show any difference between the groups regarding POCD. Our study indicates that AEP-guided anesthesia allows dose reduction of anesthetic agents including opioids leading to better cardiovascular stability and less early POCD. Anesthesia depth did not influence the inflammatory response to surgery.
Dissection of Thrombospondin-4 Domains Involved in Intracellular Adaptive Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Responsive Signaling

ABSTRACT Thrombospondins are a family of stress-inducible secreted glycoproteins that underlie tissue remodeling. We recently reported that thrombospondin-4 (Thbs4) has a critical intracellular function, regulating the adaptive endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathway through activating transcription factor 6α (Atf6α). In the present study, we dissected the domains of Thbs4 that mediate interactions with ER proteins, such as BiP (Grp78) and Atf6α, and the domains mediating activation of the ER stress response. Functionally, Thbs4 localized to the ER and post-ER vesicles and was actively secreted from cardiomyocytes, as were the type III repeat (T3R) and TSP-C domains, while the LamG domain localized to the Golgi apparatus. We also mutated the major calcium-binding motifs within the T3R domain of full-length Thbs4, causing ER retention and secretion blockade. The T3R and TSP-C domains as well as wild-type Thbs4 and the calcium-binding mutant interacted with Atf6α, induced an adaptive ER stress response, and caused expansion of intracellular vesicles. In contrast, overexpression of a related secreted oligomeric glycoprotein, Nell2, which lacks only the T3R and TSP-C domains, did not cause these effects. Finally, deletion of Atf6α abrogated Thbs4-induced vesicular expansion. Taken together, these data identify the critical intracellular functional domains of Thbs4, which was formerly thought to have only extracellular functions.
Rethinking the Concept of Psychosis and the Link Between Autism and Schizophrenia

Prior experiences and delusion content The Italian pilot study by Catone and colleagues (2) in this issue focuses on the relationship between stressful experiences and delusion content in adolescents with psychotic disorders. The authors hypothesize that a biographic continuity or “thematic link” can develop between the themes of previous life experiences and the content of a patient’s delusions. They examine the relationship between the prior experiences and delusions of a sample of 16 patients experiencing their first psychotic episodes. The researchers expected to find a statistically significant association between past experiences and psychotic symptom content, and they did discover a significant association between humiliating experiences and persecutory delusions. The authors suggest that the thematic link concept may provide clinicians with a greater awareness of the patient’s thoughts and emotions and that addressing past experiences and linking them to emerging or consolidated delusions may make experiences like bullying less frightening for the patient.