Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prospective associations between meth/amphetamine (speed) and MDMA (ecstasy) use and depressive symptoms in secondary school students

Background Research has raised significant concern regarding the affective consequences of synthetic drug use. However, little evidence from well-controlled longitudinal studies exists on these consequences. The aim of this study was to determine whether use of meth/amphetamine (speed) and ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) is independently predictive of subsequent depressive symptoms in adolescents. Methods A sample of 3880 adolescents from secondary schools in disadvantaged areas of Quebec, Canada, were followed over time (2003–2008). Logistic regression was used to test the association between meth/amphetamine and MDMA use in grade 10 (ages 15–16 years) and elevated depressive symptoms on an abridged Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale in grade 11, controlling for pre-existing individual and contextual characteristics. Results After adjustment, both MDMA use (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.6) and meth/amphetamine use (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.3) in grade 10 significantly increased the odds of elevated depressive symptoms in grade 11. These relationships did not vary by gender or pre-existing depressive symptoms. Increased risk was particularly observed in concurrent usage (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.9). Conclusions Adolescent use of meth/amphetamine and MDMA (particularly concurrent use) is independently associated with subsequent depressive symptoms. Further enquiry must determine whether these associations reflect drug-induced neurotoxicity and whether adolescence is a period of increased vulnerability to the hazards of synthetic drug exposure.
IANA Considerations and IETF Protocol and Documentation Usage for IEEE 802 Parameters

Some IETF protocols make use of Ethernet frame formats and IEEE 802 parameters. This document discusses several uses of such parameters in IETF protocols, specifies IANA considerations for assignment of points under the IANA OUI (Organizationally Unique Identifier), and provides some values for use in documentation. This document obsoletes RFC 5342.
Compensating for changes in heart muscle resting heat production in a microcalorimeter

The heat production of cardiac muscle, determined by calorimetry, can be used as a measure of cardiac metabolism. However, heat produced while a muscle is actively-shortening, thereby performing force-length work, comprises both active and basal metabolic processes. In this paper, we present a method for post-experimental processing of calorimetric measurements of muscle heat production, that uncovers and compensates for the measured basal heat rate during work. In this method, the relationships between muscle length, velocity of length change and muscle heat output are coupled with a simulation of the measurement instrument, providing a model-based estimate of change of measured basal heat while the muscle is performing work. We demonstrate the use of this technique in an experiment conducted on a working cardiac muscle sample. The ability to identify the various components of heat release in these muscles provides useful insight into their mechanical and energetic capabilities.
Mammogram Image Nucleus Segmentation and Classification using Convolution Neural Network Classifier

Breast Cancer is one of the dangerous diseases which lead in resulting deaths among women. This is due to the presence of cancerous cells that are produced in extra amount of proportion which can replace the neighboring non-cancerous cells or it can infect all over the body. As the breast cancer concerns women mostly at the age of 40, they are asked to attain the regular mammographic screening, since mammography is most reliable method for cancer detection at early stages. Mammogram is the most common method used for breast imaging. It helps in examine the presence of cancer at early stages and help in reducing the mortality rate by 25-30% in screened women. There occur many different types of breast cancer such as: mass, micro calcification clusters, architectural distortion and asymmetry breast tissue. This dissertation carries the masses problem and deals with its shape and texture feature for classification. Various type of techniques and methodologies are present in mammography which helps to find out the presence of cancer and also multiple ways to detect it in its early stage so that the patient affected by it could not lead to death. Mammography is the most common, safe and inexpensive methodology suggested whose standard image database could be used for training the learning machine. In this dissertation nucleus segmentation is used to find out the region of interest (ROI). The result of ROI is further used for extracting the valuable shape and textural features by using geometrical features, GLCM and GLDM for classifying the cancer through the machine learning approach i.e. CNN (Convolution neural networks). CNN remove the overlapping of features obtained after segmentation. Hence, CNN is used to evaluate the performance through defining accuracy, precision, and recall and also compare the results with existing logistic regression and neural network classification technique.
NLMS-Supported Decoding of High-Quality Speech for Burst Channels

For wireless transmission systems for high-quality digital speech signals a low end-to-end delay is desired. Furthermore, signals transmitted over wireless channels may suffer from error bursts which would lead to sustained periods of annoying artifacts if no appropriate error concealment strategies are employed. In this contribution we present a Bayesian approach to delayless soft-decision speech decoding for wireless burst channels which can be applied to, e. g. , wireless microphones. Besides channel reliability information we only exploit residual redundancy in the speech signal for the computation of prediction probabilities within a Bayesian framework. In contrast to existing (narrowband) speech error concealment techniques, we employ higher-order adaptive predictors in order to compute the prediction probabilities in this work. Simulations with representative speech data transmitted over burst channels demonstrate a notable increase in signal quality.
HandMATE: Wearable Robotic Hand Exoskeleton and Integrated Android App for At Home Stroke Rehabilitation

We have developed HandMATE (Hand Movement Assisting Therapy Exoskeleton); a wearable motorized hand exoskeleton for home-based movement therapy following stroke. Each finger and the thumb is powered by a linear actuator which provides flexion and extension assistance. Force sensitive resistors integrated into the design measure grasp and extension initiation force. An assistive therapy mode is based on an admittance control strategy. We evaluated our control system via subject and bench testing. Errors during a grip force tracking task while using the HandMATE were minimal (<1%) and comparable to unassisted healthy hand performance. We also outline a dedicated app we have developed for optimal use of HandMATE at home. The exoskeleton communicates wirelessly with an Android tablet which features guided exercises, therapeutic games and performance feedback. We surveyed 5 chronic stroke patients who used the HandMATE device to further evaluate our system, receiving positive feedback on the exoskeleton and integrated app.
Evaluation of the effectiveness of an Internet-based continuing education program on pharmacy-based minor ailment management: a randomized controlled clinical trial

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of an internet-based continuing education (CE) program on pharmacy-based minor ailment schemes (PMASs). A controlled randomized clinical trial was conducted in community pharmacies in Brazil. Community pharmacists (CPs) were enrolled in two groups: intervention (n = 61) and control (n = 60). CPs who were enrolled to the intervention group participated in an Internet-based CE program. CPs in the control group received no educational intervention. We evaluated participant perception, learning outcomes, and practice performance. Learner satisfaction with the CE program was high for every point evaluated (mean ± standard deviation = 4.2 ± 0.4). Posttest learner outcome scores and practice performance in the intervention group after the conclusion of the CE program significantly improved compared with pretest scores (p < 0.001) and were significantly better compared with the control group (p < 0.001). The present Internet-based CE program is a viable educational strategy for improving participant perception, learning outcomes, and practice performance in PMASs.
Decent Work in the Chinese Apparel Industry: Comparative Analysis of Blue-Collar and White-Collar Garment Workers

Addressing labor issues in the apparel industry is significantly important due to customers’ increasing awareness of poor working conditions and growing labor crises in apparel production locations worldwide. Decent work is a key element to achieving fair and harmonious employment, but is not always evident in global apparel production networks. This study examines the working conditions in China’s garment manufacturing industry, which employs more than 10 million workers. A survey was administered to 313 blue-collar workers and 228 white-collar workers on issues related to decent work, including workers’ concerns, satisfaction levels and attitudes towards decent work. Regression analysis showed that workers’ attitudes are significantly related to age, education level, service length and monthly wage. Gap analysis revealed poor understanding of decent work and low satisfaction with primary indicators of decent work. However, results suggest that workers increasingly value soft factors and the overall work experience, not only financial benefits. Cluster analysis identified four clusters of workers. This study contributes to understanding garment worker perceptions of decent work and provides implications for the operationalization of decent work in China’s garment manufacturing industry.
CMOS Technology Integrated Terahertz Rectifier

We present new developments of CMOS compatible direct conversion terahertz detector operating at room temperature. The rectenna consists of an integrated antenna, realized on the surface of the integrated circuit and connected to a nanometric metallic whisker at one of its edges. The rectifying device can be obtained introducing just minor modifications of the charge storage well in conventional CMOS active pixel image sensor devices, making the proposed solution easy to integrate with existing imaging systems. In the paper we present technological developments of the rectifier structure, realized with minor changes from a standard 0.15 µm technology node. We also present the study of a patch antenna which can be directly integrated on the chip.
Techniques for heavy ion microbeam analysis of FPGA SER sensitivty

Using the heavy-ion micro-probe facility at GSI in Darmstadt, individual heavy ions can be targeted at specific locations on a die. Circuits to measure SEUs in flip-flops and RAMs, SETs in combinatorial logic and glitches in PLLs were developed and tested. Detailed results for a study of the 130 nm ProASIC3L FPGA tested under Au (94 MeV/mg /cm2) and Ti (19 MeV/mg / cm2) ions are presented.
Accumulation of New Polypeptides in Ri T-DNA-Transformed Roots of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) during the Development of Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizae

Root-inducing transferred-DNA (Ri T-DNA)-transformed roots of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) were in vitro inoculated with surface-sterilized vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal leek root pieces. About 1 week after inoculation, the infection of the transformed root culture by the fungal endophyte was confirmed by photonic microscopy. Total proteins were extracted from the mycorrhizal roots and analyzed by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Control gels were run with proteins extracted from noninoculated roots mixed with purified intraradical vesicles and extraradical hyphae. Comparison of the resulting patterns revealed the presence of two polypeptides with estimated apparent masses of 24 and 39 kDa that were detected only in infected roots. Polypeptides with similar migration parameters were not detected in roots challenged with spore extracts, suggesting that the accumulation of the polypeptides was directly linked to root colonization by the fungus rather than to induction by fungus-derived elicitors.
German Multicenter Study Investigating 177Lu-PSMA-617 Radioligand Therapy in Advanced Prostate Cancer Patients

177Lu-labeled PSMA-617 is a promising new therapeutic agent for radioligand therapy (RLT) of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Initiated by the German Society of Nuclear Medicine, a retrospective multicenter data analysis was started in 2015 to evaluate efficacy and safety of 177Lu-PSMA-617 in a large cohort of patients. Methods: One hundred forty-five patients (median age, 73 y; range, 43–88 y) with mCRPC were treated with 177Lu-PSMA-617 in 12 therapy centers between February 2014 and July 2015 with 1–4 therapy cycles and an activity range of 2–8 GBq per cycle. Toxicity was categorized by the common toxicity criteria for adverse events (version 4.0) on the basis of serial blood tests and the attending physician’s report. The primary endpoint for efficacy was biochemical response as defined by a prostate-specific antigen decline ≥ 50% from baseline to at least 2 wk after the start of RLT. Results: A total of 248 therapy cycles were performed in 145 patients. Data for biochemical response in 99 patients as well as data for physician-reported and laboratory-based toxicity in 145 and 121 patients, respectively, were available. The median follow-up was 16 wk (range, 2–30 wk). Nineteen patients died during the observation period. Grade 3–4 hematotoxicity occurred in 18 patients: 10%, 4%, and 3% of the patients experienced anemia, thrombocytopenia, and leukopenia, respectively. Xerostomia occurred in 8%. The overall biochemical response rate was 45% after all therapy cycles, whereas 40% of patients already responded after a single cycle. Elevated alkaline phosphatase and the presence of visceral metastases were negative predictors and the total number of therapy cycles positive predictors of biochemical response. Conclusion: The present retrospective multicenter study of 177Lu-PSMA-617 RLT demonstrates favorable safety and high efficacy exceeding those of other third-line systemic therapies in mCRPC patients. Future phase II/III studies are warranted to elucidate the survival benefit of this new therapy in patients with mCRPC.
Triband High-Temperature Superconducting Bandpass Filters Using Multimode Resonators

In this paper, a simple multimode resonator (MMR) is proposed to design a compact triband high-temperature superconducting (HTS) bandpass filter (BPF). The MMR is constructed with three transmission line sections with different characteristic impedance, named asymmetric trisection stepped-impedance resonator (TSIR). Asymmetric TSIR can produce three controllable resonant modes, and its resonant characteristics are analyzed based on the transmission line theory. Meanwhile, some graphs for the relationship of size parameters and ratio of resonances are built for design conveniently. For demonstration, a second-order triband HTS BPF that centered at 1.5/3.5/5.8 GHz is well designed. The filters are fabricated on a 0.5-mm-thick MgO wafer with double-sided YBCO thin films and measured at the temperature of 77 K. Measured results agree well with the simulated ones and show that the insertion losses in all passbands are less than 0.16 dB, which exhibit superiority in midband insertion loss.
Power System Static State Estimation By the Levenberg-Marquardt Algorithm

This paper presents a modified version of the weighted least-square (WLS) estimator, using the Levenberg-Marquardt (L-M) algorithm for application to Ill-conditioned power systems. This algorithm essentially amounts to modifying the Gauss-Newton normal equations by adding a scalar to each element of the main diagonal of the information matrix. The L-M method reduces to either Gauss-Newton or Steepest Descent approach, according as the scalar tends to zero or infinity. Digital simulation results are presented on a structurally ill-conditioned (singular Jacobian) sample power system to illustrate the range of application of the method. It is found that the introduction of a scalar (Marquardt-Constant) achieves convergence to a solution in spite of the presence of ill-conditioning. In the event that this solution does not correspond to the true solution because of local singularities, the additional use of a Householder orthogonal transforma- tion leads to the true solution.
Easy Recommendation Based on Probability Model

Traditional collaborative filtering recommendation system suffers from some significant limitations, such as scalability and sparsity, which cause the speed and quality of recommendation system is unacceptable. To alleviate these problems, this paper proposes a novel algorithm based on probability model. Our algorithm can directly generate the preference prediction from database and at the same time has the ability to reflect the changes of users' interest incrementally. The effectiveness of the new algorithm is estimated by our experiments.
Surface current modelling of the skin effect

In this contribution, the skin effect for 2D on-chip interconnections is predicted using a new equivalent surface current concept. First, the features of the new approach are briefly outlined and the special case of conductors with rectangular cross-section is treated in more detail. Next, the behaviour of the equivalent surface current as a function of frequency is illustrated. Finally, the new method is used to determine inductance and resistance matrices of 2D on-chip interconnect examples with specifications taken from the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS).
Advanced Hodgkin disease (clinical stages IIIB and IV): Low relapse rate after brief chemotherapy followed by high‐dose total lymphoid irradiation

From January 1980 to September 1986, 50 patients with Hodgkin disease, clinical stages (CS) IIIB (26 cases) and IVB (24 cases) were treated by three cycles of mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (MOPP) chemotherapy, followed by high‐dose (40 Gy) (sub)total lymphoid irradiation, including the spleen. Ten patients (2 CS IIIB, 8 CS IVB) were in failure, and seven (4 CS IIIB, 3 CS IVB) died during their first complete remission (2 from treatment‐related complications, 1 from unknown cause, 4 from insufficient supportive care and/or a shortage of health supplies); three patients (CS IIIB) relapsed (2 alive in second complete remission, 1 deceased). After 7 years, actuarial survival and relapse‐free duration were, respectively, 64% for the 50 patients and 89% for the 40 patients in complete remission. Unfavourable outcome was observed in patients with pelvic nodal involvement. The low relapse rate (none in CS IVB) was the most striking result after brief chemotherapy followed by total lymphoid irradiation.
Enhancement of Muscle Activity by Electrical Stimulation in Cerebral Palsy: A Case—Control Study

The objectives of this study were to compare the effects of low-intensity electrical stimulation of the quadriceps muscle in children with cerebral palsy in the following 2 modes: reconditioning by long-term training of the muscle versus real-time assist to the muscle during motion. To evaluate the force enhancement in the assist mode, we developed a method to dissociate the volitional and the induced components from the total electromyographic signal. The study group, including 5 children with cerebral palsy (mean age, 3.3 years; 0.4 SD), underwent 2 testing sessions: 1 before and 1 after 3-month training by electrical stimulation. Each session included 2 series of trials: 1 with electrical stimulation, as an orthotic assist, and 1 without electrical stimulation. The tests included flexion—extension movements of the knee at a self-selected pace. The results showed that, compared to before training, there was a significant increase in the average motion velocity and a decrease in motion jerk and in knee torque after training in both the electrical stimulation— assisted and —unassisted modes. Of special interest was the significant decrease in quadriceps—hamstrings cocontraction following training by electrical stimulation but not during electrical stimulation—assisted motion. The results obtained for the group with cerebral palsy were statistically different from those of the control group, but this difference decreased after long-term training by electrical stimulation. It was concluded that, in children with cerebral palsy, electrical stimulation is more beneficial in long-term training than when used as a real-time motion assist. Although muscle strength is not affected, more centrally controlled attributes such as cocontraction are improved.
Neural network-based face detection

We present a neural network-based face detection system. A retinally connected neural network examines small windows of an image and decides whether each window contains a face. The system arbitrates between multiple networks to improve performance over a single network. We use a bootstrap algorithm for training the networks, which adds false detections into the training set as training progresses. This eliminates the difficult task of manually selecting non-face training examples, which must be chosen to span the entire space of non-face images. Comparisons with other state-of-the-art face detection systems are presented; our system has better performance in terms of detection and false-positive rates.
HEPATOPROTECTIVE AND HEPATOTHERAPUTIC EFFECTS OF PROPOLIS AGAINST D- GALACTOSAMINE/LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE-INDUCED LIVER DAMAGE IN RATS Original Article

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential hepatoprotective and hepatotherapeutic activities of propolis against Dgalactosamine and lipopolysaccharide (D-GaIN/LPS)-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Methods: Hepatotoxicity was induced in rats by intra peritoneal injection of GalN (300 mg/kg) and LPS (30 μg/kg). In the hepatoprotection experiment, propolis was administered orally for 10 days before induction of hepatoxicity. In another experiment (hepatotherapy), propolis was dosed immediately after GalN/LPS injection. Results: Injection of GalN/LPS to rats induced hepatic damage that was manifested by a significant increase in the activities of aminotransferases, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase and levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and total bilirubin in serum. Liver homogenate of intoxicated animals had the lower content of reduced glutathione with increased levels of the hepatic malondialdehyde and caspase-3 enzyme. Histological data presented marked damage in liver sections of intoxicated rats. Oral dosing of propolis before or once immediately after intoxication reversed these altered parameters near to normal values. Conclusion: Liver apoptotic events such as DNA fragmentation and increased caspase-3 activity observed during intoxication were prevented by pre and post- propolis treatment. These results suggest that propolis could afford significant protection and therapy in alleviation of hepatotoxicity.
Malfunction detection monitoring the power supply current

The need of detecting susceptibilities at their onset is a fundamental issue if one wants to perform meaningful immunity tests on equipment and systems. Susceptibilities are often obscured by noise and in many cases it is difficult to discriminate situations of actual malfunction with the minimum risk of making detection errors. This paper tries to give an answer to this problem with a procedure commonly used in statistical signal processing theory. In this context a new method to detect malfunctions based upon the monitoring of the power supply current absorption is illustrated.