Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rorschach Comprehensive System Predictors of Biopsychological Distress in Patients with Chronic Disease

The Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) scores of D, Adj.D, m, and SumY are thought to indicate feelings associated with stressful experiences. In this study, 92 patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were assessed with the Rorschach CS, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for psychological distress, and standard biomedical measures for disease activity (DA) over a period of 6 months. Stress was defined as the combined assessment of the somatic (DA) and psychological (HADS) components by creating groups of patients with and without biopsychological distress. Using a cross-sectional study design, we could associate the CS variables of stress control (D, Adj.D, es, and SumY) and negative affect (DEPI) to poor somatic and psychological health status (effect size ranging from .37 to .49). Longitudinal, hierarchical regression analysis showed that baseline CS variables (particularly D < 0 and higher SumY) explained a significant amount (9%) of the disease activity aggravation, and .
SymbioticSphere: a biologically-inspired autonomic architecture for self-adaptive and self-healing server farms

This paper describes a biologically-inspired architecture, called SymbioticSphere, which allows large-scale server farms to autonomously adapt to dynamic environmental changes and survive partial system failures. SymbioticSphere follows biological principles such as decentralization, autonomy, natural selection, emergence and symbiosis to design server farms (application services and middleware platforms). Each application service and middleware platform is designed as a biological entity, analogous to an individual bee in a bee colony. Simulation results show that, like in biological systems, SymbioticSphere exhibits emergence of desirable system characteristics such as adaptability and survivability
Convex optimization formulation of density upper bound constraints in Markov chain synthesis

This paper introduces a new approach for the synthesis of Markov chains with density upper bound constraints. The proposed approach is based on a new mathematical result that formulates the density upper bound constraints, known also as safety constraints, as linear, and hence convex, inequality constraints. It is proved that the new convex constraints are equivalent, necessary and sufficient, to the density upper bound constraints, which is the main contribution. Next, this result enabled the formulation of the Markov chain synthesis problem as an Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) optimization problem with additional constraints on the steady state probability distribution, ergodicity, and state transitions. The LMI formulation presents an equivalent design formulation in the case of reversible Markov chains, that is, it is not conservative. When reversibility assumption is relaxed, the LMI condition is only sufficient due to the ergodicity constraint, i.e., it is conservative. Since LMI problems can be solved to global optimality in polynomial time by using interior point method (IPM) algorithms of convex optimization, the proposed LMI-based design approach is numerically tractable.
Robust Non-fragile Guaranteed Cost Control of Continuous-Time Piecewise-Affine Systems with Norm-Bounded Uncertainties

In this paper, the problem of designing robust non-fragile guaranteed cost state feedback controller for a class of continuous-time singular piecewise-affine systems is considered. Based on a singular piecewise Lyapunov function combined with S-procedure and some matrix inequality convexifying techniques, the robust non-fragile stabilization condition is established, and meanwhile, the condition of constructing non-fragile guaranteed cost state feedback controller is proposed. Under the multiplicative perturbation, the design method of robust non-fragile stabilization controller is given in terms of the feasible solutions of linear matrix inequalities. It is shown that the controller gains can be obtained by solving a family of LMIs parameterized by one or two scalar variables. Finally, numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design methods.
The hypervirulence of Agrobacterium tumefaciens A281 is encoded in a region of pTiBo542 outside of T-DNA

We used a binary-vector strategy to study the hypervirulence of Agrobacterium tumefaciens A281, an L,L-succinamopine strain. Strain A281 is hypervirulent on several solanaceous plants. We constructed plasmids (pCS65 and pCS277) carrying either the transferred DNA (T-DNA) or the remainder of the tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmid (pEHA101) from this strain and tested each of these constructs in trans with complementary regions from heterologous Ti plasmids. Hypervirulence on tobacco could be reconstructed in a bipartite strain with the L,L-succinamopine T-DNA and the vir region on separate plasmids. pEHA101 was able to complement octopine T-DNA to hypervirulence on tobacco and tomato plants. Nopaline T-DNA was complemented better on tomato plants by pEHA101 than it was by its own nopaline vir region, but not to hypervirulence. L,L-Succinamopine T-DNA could not be complemented to hypervirulence on tobacco and tomato plants with either heterologous vir region. From these results we suggest that the hypervirulence of strain A281 is due to non-T-DNA sequences on the Ti plasmid.
Clinical experience with insulin detemir, biphasic insulin aspart and insulin aspart in people with type 2 diabetes: Results from the Punjab cohort of the A1chieve study

Background: The A1chieve, a multicentric (28 countries), 24-week, non-interventional study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of insulin detemir, biphasic insulin aspart and insulin aspart in people with T2DM (n = 66,726) in routine clinical care across four continents. Materials and Methods: Data was collected at baseline, at 12 weeks and at 24 weeks. This short communication presents the results for patients enrolled from Punjab, India. Results: A total of 655 patients were enrolled in the study. Four different insulin analogue regimens were used in the study. Patients had started on or were switched to biphasic insulin aspart (n = 587), insulin detemir (n = 28), insulin aspart (n = 24), basal insulin plus insulin aspart (n = 13) and other insulin combinations (n = 3). At baseline glycaemic control was poor for both insulin naïve (mean HbA1c: 9.1%) and insulin user (mean HbA1c: 9.1%) groups. After 24 weeks of treatment, both the groups showed improvement in HbA1c (insulin naïve: −0.8%, insulin users: −1.0%). SADRs including major hypoglycaemic events or episodes did not occur in any of the study patients. Conclusion: Starting or switching to insulin analogues was associated with improvement in glycaemic control with a low rate of hypoglycaemia.
1α,25‐Dihydroxyvitamin D3 modulates human adipocyte metabolism via nongenomic action

We reported recently that suppression of the renal lα,25‐dihyroxyvitamin D3 (lα,25‐(OH)2‐D3) production in aP2‐agouti transgenic mice by increasing dietary calcium decreases adipocyte intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i), stimulates lipolysis, inhibits lipogenesis, and reduces adiposity. However, it was not clear whether this modulation of adipocyte metabolism by dietary calcium is a direct effect of inhibition of lα,25‐(OH)2‐D3‐induced [Ca2+]i. Accordingly, we have now evaluated the direct role of lα,25‐(OH)2‐D3. Human adipocytes exhibited a lα,25‐(OH)2‐D3 dose‐responsive (1–50 nM) increase in [Ca2+]i (P < 0.01). This action was mimicked by lα,25‐dihyroxylumisterol3 (lα,25‐(OH)2‐lumisterol3) (P < 0.001), a specific agonist for a putative membrane vitamin D receptor (mVDR), and completely prevented by lβ,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1β,25‐(OH)2‐D3), a specific antagonist for the mVDR. Similarly, lα,25‐(OH)2‐D3 (5 nM) caused 50%‐100% increases in adipocyte fatty acid synthase (FAS) expression and activity (P < 0.02), a 61% increase in glycerol‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity (P < 0.01), and an 80% inhibition of isoproterenol‐stimulated lipolysis (P < 0.001), whereas lβ,25‐(OH)2‐D3 completely blocked all these effects. Notably, lα,25‐(OH)2‐lumisterol3 exerted more potent effects in modulating adipocyte lipid metabolism, with 2.5‐ to 3.0‐fold increases in FAS expression and activity (P < 0.001) and a threefold increase in GPDH activity (P < 0.001). Also l α,25‐(OH)2‐lumisterol3 was approximately twice as potent in inhibiting basal lipolysis (P < 0.025), whereas lβ,25‐(OH)2‐D3 completely blocked all these effects. These data suggest that l α,25‐(OH)2‐D3 modulates adipocyte Ca2+ signaling and, consequently, exerts a coordinated control over lipogenesis and lipolysis. Thus, a direct inhibition of l α,25‐(OH)2‐D3‐induced [Ca2+]i may contribute to an anti‐obesity effect of dietary calcium, and the mVDR may represent an important target for obesity.
HIMAC: High Throughput MAC Layer Multicasting in Wireless Networks

Efficient, scalable and robust multicasting support from the MAC layer is needed for meeting the demands of multicast based applications over WiFi and mesh networks. However, the IEEE 802.11 protocol has no specific mechanism for multicasting. It implements multicasting using broadcasting at the base transmission rate. We identify two fundamental reasons for performance limitations of this approach: (a) Channel-state indifference: irrespective of the current quality of the channel to the receivers, the transmission always uses the base transmission rate; (b) Demand ignorance: packets are transmitted by a node even if children in the multicast tree have received those packets by virtue of overhearing. We propose a solution for MAC layer multicasting called HIMAC that uses the following two mechanisms: unary channel feedback (UCF) and unary negative feedback (UNF) to respectively address the shortcomings of 802.11. Our study is supported by measurements in a testbed, and simulations. We observe that the end-to-end throughput of multicast sessions using MAODV can be increased by up to 74% while reducing the end-to-end latency by up to a factor of 56
Development of preschoolers' deontic reasoning

A total of 96 preschoolers' deontic reasoning was explored through 4 sets of pictures representing the protagonist's, Mom's and bilateral violation of a presetted agreement. Results showed significant developmental trends and perspective effects in preschoolers' deontic reasoning, that is, with age more children could detect mom's violation, while their detection of child protagonist's violation remains relatively lower and even showed a decrease during 4-5 year-old. In contrast, preschoolers tended to pay much more attention to the protagonist's violation and ignore mom's in bilateral violation situation. These results indicated the developing expansion of preschoolers' autonomy and their monitoring of the behavior of authorities, and implicated a possible parenting method in practice.
Pattern Recognition Society 3 D Camera Tracking in Unknown Environments by On-line Keypoint Learning

In this paper we present an efficient algorithm for camera tracking applicable for mobile devices. In particular, the work is motivated by the limited computational power and memory, precluding the use of existing methods for estimation of the 6-DoF pose of a mobile device (camera) relative to a previously unknown planar object. Similar to existing methods, we introduce a keypoint based approach. We establish a relationship between the object and its image by selecting keypoints on the object, preferably such with a distinctive appearance, and identifying their location within subsequent images. In contrast to existing works, we solve the problem of re-identifying such feature points by robustly learning their appearance with an on-line learning algorithm. We demonstrate the proposed algorithm, hence not limited to this application, in the context of AR. In particular, we give several qualitative and quantitative evaluations showing the benefits of the proposed approach.
Association between tumor necrosis factor alpha 308G/A polymorphism and increased proinflammatory cytokine release after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass in the Korean population.

OBJECTIVES The G-308A polymorphism of the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) gene has been suggested to be linked to high TNF promoter activity in in vitro studies. However, there have been some controversies in in vivo studies. This study investigated whether A allele at TNF-308 site is associated with (1) the changes in plasma cytokine levels during and after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and (2) an increased incidence of pulmonary morbidity after CPB. DESIGN Prospective and observational investigation. SETTING A university hospital, single institution. PARTICIPANTS Patients scheduled for cardiac surgery with CPB. INTERVENTION TNF genotype was determined by the real-time polymerase chain reaction method. IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay at the following time points: T1, before initiation of CPB; T2, 30 minutes of CPB; T3, 30 minutes after CPB; T4, 2 hours after CPB; and T5, 24 hours after CPB. The oxygen index, serum creatinine level, 24-hour blood loss, intubation time, and length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay were examined. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS The levels of TNF-alpha in group A (TNF-308GA/AA, n = 25) were higher at T3, T4, and T5 than group G (TNF-308GG, n = 225). The levels of IL-6 showed no statistical difference. The oxygenation index, serum creatinine level, 24-hour blood loss, intubation time, and length of ICU stay showed no statistical difference. CONCLUSIONS TNF G-308A polymorphism may be associated with excess TNF-alpha secretion in this study and may not be associated with excess IL-6 secretion and postoperative morbidity after CPB.
glmnetcr: An R Package for Ordinal Response Prediction in High-dimensional Data Settings

This paper describes an R package, glmnetcr, that provides a function for tting a penalized continuation ratio model when interest lies in predicting an ordinal response. The function, glmnet.cr uses the coordinate descent tting algorithm as implemented in glmnet and described by (Friedman, Hastie, and Tibshirani 2010). Methods for extracting all estimated coecients, extracting non-zero coecient estimates, obtaining the predicted class, and obtaining the class-specic tted probabilities have been implemented. Additionally, generic methods from glmnet including print and plot can be applied to a glmnet.cr object.
Egfr/Ras pathway mediates interactions between peripodial and disc proper cells in Drosophila wing discs

All imaginal discs in Drosophila are made up of a layer of columnar epithelium or the disc proper and a layer of squamous epithelium called the peripodial membrane. Although the developmental and molecular events in columnar epithelium or the disc proper are well understood, the peripodial membrane has gained attention only recently. Using the technique of lineage tracing, we show that peripodial and disc proper cells arise from a common set of precursors cells in the embryo, and that these cells diverge in the early larval stages. However, peripodial and disc proper cells maintain a spatial relationship even after the separation of their lineages. The peripodial membrane plays a significant role during the regional subdivision of the wing disc into presumptive wing, notum and hinge. The Egfr/Ras pathway mediates this function of the peripodial membrane. These results on signaling between squamous and columnar epithelia are particularly significant in the context of in vitro studies using human cell lines that suggest a role for the Egfr/Ras pathway in metastasis and tumour progression.
SAR Interferometric Point Target analysis and application to the monitoring of land subsidence in the Venice Lagoon

417 In the Interferometric Point Target Analysis (IPTA) point-like targets that remain phase coherent over time are identified in a sequence of satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images and used to estimate the progressive deformation ofthe terrain with millimetric accuracy. Building upon conventional interferometric SAR techniques, IPT A overcomes atrnospheric delay anomalies and tempora! and geometrie decorrelation by exploring the tempora! and spatial characteristics of radar interferometric signatures collected from point targets widely available over urban areas but that can be also found scattered outside cities and villages. In this contribution the application of IPT A to the monitoring of land' subsidence in the urban and littoral environments of the Venice Lagoon is described. The results achieved using ali the available ERS SAR images acquired between 1992 and 2000 are very significant due to the achieved target spatial and tempora! coverage.
Mechanical thrombolysis and stenting in acute ischemic stroke.

Acute ischemic stroke is one of the major sources of morbidity and mortality in the industrialized countries. The lifetime risk of stroke is estimated to be 1 in 5 for middle-aged women and 1 in 6 for men according to the Framingham Study.1 Outcome depends on the length of time between onset of symptoms and revascularization, the recanalization rate, and on whether or not intracranial hemorrhage occurs.2 A meta-analysis of 52 studies on thrombolysis outcome in 2066 patients showed that the chance of an independent life after stroke increases 4.4 times for patients with successful recanalization compared with patients without recanalization; mortality rate decreases 4-fold.2 Intravenously administered tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA) and local intra-arterial thrombolysis (IAT) have both been shown to improve patient outcome. However, the time window for treatment and the recanalization rate of both approaches are limited,3–5 and the application of thrombolytic drugs increases the risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH). 6 The success of recanalization, furthermore, depends on the occlusion site; proximal occlusions of large vessels such as the internal carotid artery have a poor recanalization rate after either IV tPA or IAT.4,5 Recent studies have examined whether mechanical recanalization techniques can accelerate the process of recanalization, increase the recanalization rate, and even expand the window of opportunity. This article describes the evolution of the different mechanical thrombolysis and stenting techniques and their working principles for endovascular vessel recanalization and reviews the data on the outcome after acute stroke treatment. The various techniques and approaches for mechanical thrombolysis (MT) can be divided into 3 categories: thrombus disruption, immediate flow restoration with self-expandable stents, and thrombectomy. According to Pro-Urokinase for Acute Cerebral Thromboembolism-2 (PROACT II), IAT consists of local application of the fibrinolytic drug at the proximal surface …
Does mere exposure enhance positive evaluation, independent of stimulus recognition? A replication study in Japan and the USA1

Abstract: In order to examine whether the mere exposure effect, the finding that exposure to a stimulus enhances a positive evaluation of it, occurs in Japan as well as in the USA, a test was carried out using a novel auditory stimulus. Japanese and American people were asked to listen to repeatedly presented Tagalog (the native Filipino language) utterances. They were then asked to estimate their liking for each utterance and whether they recognized it as one presented during the first exposure stage. The mere exposure effect was found in both cultures. Further, it resulted from only exposure frequency, not recognition. Implications for preference and the role of culture are discussed.
Do People's Presence More Than Their Presents Makes Children Happy?

58 women and 29 men in college indicated what made them happy during childhood. The most frequent source of happiness for 89% involved doing relatively simple things with a specific person or persons. Toys or activities involving toys were mentioned by only 39%. The frequent adult assumption that toys or extraordinary events lead to happiness needs to be reevaluated and simple social interactions explored.
Activity of and Resistance to Moxifloxacin in Staphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT Moxifloxacin has enhanced potency against Staphylococcus aureus, lower propensity to select for resistant mutants, and higher bactericidal activity against highly resistant strains than ciprofloxacin. Despite similar activity against purified S. aureus topoisomerase IV and DNA gyrase, it selects for topoisomerase IV mutants, making topoisomerase IV the preferred target in vivo.
Mechanisms of relapse for colorectal cancer: Implications for intraperitoneal chemotherapy

Colorectal cancer recurrence may be conceptualized as resulting from two entirely different mechanisms. First, metastases through endothelial‐lined channels occur to both lymphatic and hematogenous routes. The cancers that disseminate in this fashion are metastatically inefficient. This dissemination occurs before the surgical resection of the primary cancer. Second, full thickness penetration of cancer through the bowel wall or, more frequently, intraperitoneal tumor emboli caused by the trauma of surgery result in implantation recurrence. This is seen at the resection site and on peritoneal surfaces. For the most part, this dissemination occurs at the time of surgical resection of the primary cancer. By changing the route (intraperitoneal vs. systemic) and timing (early postoperative vs. adjuvant) of chemotherapy administration this second mechanism of surgical treatment failure may be prevented. Phase II and pharmacologic studies suggest that improved survival and quality of life may occur with optimal use of early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy.
Assisted ventilation in COPD – association between previous hospitalizations and mortality

Background In general, previous studies have shown an association between prior exacerbations and mortality in COPD, but this association has not been demonstrated in the subpopulation of patients in need of assisted ventilation. We examined whether previous hospitalizations were independently associated with mortality among patients with COPD ventilated for the first time. Patients and methods In the Danish National Patient Registry, we established a cohort of patients with COPD ventilated for the first time from 2003 to 2011 and previously medicated for obstructive airway diseases. We assessed the number of hospitalizations for COPD in the preceding year, age, sex, comorbidity, mode of ventilation, survival to discharge, and days to death beyond discharge. Results The cohort consisted of 6,656 patients of whom 66% had not been hospitalized for COPD in the previous year, 18% once, 8% twice, and 9% thrice or more. In-hospital mortality was 45%, and of the patients alive at discharge, 11% died within a month and 39% within a year. In multivariate models, adjusted for age, sex, mode of ventilation, and comorbidity, odds ratios for in-hospital death were 1.26 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11–1.44), 1.43 (95% CI: 1.19–1.72), and 1.56 (95% CI: 1.30–1.87) with one, two, and three or more hospitalizations, respectively. Hazard ratios for death after discharge from hospital were 1.32 (95% CI: 1.19–1.46), 1.76 (95% CI: 1.52–2.02), and 2.07 (95% CI: 1.80–2.38) with one, two, and three or more hospitalizations, respectively. Conclusion Preceding hospitalizations for COPD are associated with in-hospital mortality and after discharge in the subpopulation of patients with COPD with acute exacerbation treated with assisted ventilation for the first time.