Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An investigation of rail crew fatigue and well-being

Occupational fatigue is a severe problem in the rail industry, potentially jeopardising train crew health and train safety. The aim of this thesis was to investigate fatigue, its risk factors, and the associations between fatigue, well-being outcomes, and performance among staff members in the rail industry by conducting a series of studies. It also aimed to develop a usable online fatigue measure to examine fatigue in a real-life setting. A large-scale questionnaire survey was conducted to examine the prevalence of fatigue, identify the risk factors related to fatigue, and investigate the associations between fatigue and well-being outcomes among railway staff in general. An online experiment was then run to investigate the effects of time of day and workload on fatigue and the association between subjective fatigue and objective performance, with a student sample. Finally, a questionnaire exploring the potential risk factors and greater details for fatigue among railway staff was conducted, followed by a diary study investigating the effects of workload and other risk factors in the prediction of fatigue, and the impact of fatigue on objective performance in work life, with a railway staff sample. The results of this thesis suggested that job demands, especially mental workload and overtime work were the main predictors of different types of fatigue among train crew, although the risk factors for fatigue appeared to differ between job roles. Job demands, shift-work and other negative work characteristics were shown to increase fatigue, while positive work and individual characteristics were shown to play a buffering role against it. The results also demonstrated that increased subjective fatigue contributed to sub-standard performance and poor well-being. In particular, fatigue was found to mediate the effects of risk factors on well-being outcomes. The study provided empirical support for potential organisational interventions to combat fatigue and improve staff members' well-being.
Device-Related Thrombus After Left Atrial Appendage Closure: Incidence, Predictors, and Outcomes

Background: In patients with atrial fibrillation, left atrial appendage closure with the Watchman device prevents thromboembolism from the left atrial appendage; however, thrombus may form on the left atrial face of the device, and then potentially embolize. Herein, we studied the incidence, predictors, and clinical outcome of device-related thrombus (DRT) using a large series of clinical trial cohorts of patients undergoing Watchman implantation. Methods: We studied the device arms of 4 prospective Food and Drug Administration trials: PROTECT-AF (Watchman Left Atrial Appendage System for Embolic Protection in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation) (n=463); PREVAIL (Evaluation of the Watchman LAA Closure Device in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Versus Long Term Warfarin Therapy) (n=269); CAP (Continued Access to PROTECT AF registry) (n=566); and CAP2 (Continued Access to PREVAIL registry) (n=578). Surveillance transesophageal echocardiographs were performed at 45 days and 12 months in all patients, and also at 6 months in the randomized control trials. We assessed both the incidence of DRT during these transesophageal echocardiographs (and other unscheduled transesophageal echocardiographs), and clinical outcomes of postprocedure stroke or systemic embolism (SSE) and adjusted for CHA2DS2-VASC and HAS-BLED scores. Results: Of 1739 patients who received an implant (7159 patient-years follow-up; CHA2DS2-VASc=4.0), DRT was seen in 65 patients (3.74%). The rates of SSE with and without DRT were 7.46 and 1.78 per 100 patient-years (adjusted rate ratio, 3.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.18–5.79; P<0.001), and ischemic SSE rates were 6.28 and 1.65 per 100 patient-years (adjusted rate ratio, 3.22; 95% CI, 1.90–5.45, P<0.001). On multivariable modeling analysis, the predictors of DRT were as follows: history of transient ischemic attack or stroke (odds ratio [OR], 2.31; 95% CI, 1.26–4.25; P=0.007), permanent atrial fibrillation (OR, 2.24; 95% CI, 1.19–4.20; P=0.012); vascular disease (OR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.08–3.91; P=0.028); left atrial appendage diameter (OR, 1.06 per mm increase; 95% CI, 1.01–1.12; P=0.019); left ventricular ejection fraction (OR, 0.96 per 1% increase; 95% CI, 0.94–0.99; P=0.009). DRT and SSE both occurred in 17 of 65 patients (26.2%). Of the 19 SSE events in these patients with DRT, 9 of 19 (47.4%) and 12 of 19 (63.2%) occurred within 1 and 6 months of DRT detection. Conversely, after left atrial appendage closure, most SSEs (123/142, 86.62%) occurred in patients without DRT. Conclusions: After left atrial appendage closure with Watchman, DRT (≈3.7%) is not frequent but, when present, is associated with a higher rate of stroke and systemic embolism.
The Effect of Fatigue and Instability on Postural Control Parameters in Standing Posture in Healthy Adults and Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain

Article history: Received: 12 June 2011 Accepted: 25 Aug 2011 Available online: 29 Dec 2011 Background: This study aims at analyzing the effect of fatigue and instability on postural control parameters in both healthy people and patients with the chronic nonspecific low-back pain. Materials and Methods: In this non-experimental case-control study, oscillations of center of pressure were statistically analyzed in 16 healthy people and 15 patients with the chronic nonspecific low back pain. The analysis was conducted through two stages: before and after fatigue and under both stable and unstable surfaces. Results: Under the pre-fatigue, stable condition, there was not any difference between the two groups. Both fatigue and unstable surface changed our variables (sway area, range, velocity, frequency and total power of the signal). All the changes in variables were significant in the low-back pain group; while changes in the healthy group only covered the time-domain variables. The effect of instability was higher than that of fatigue. Conclusion: The postural control system for patients with low-back pain before fatigue and under stable condition, revealed sufficient competence to provide postural stability and its function cannot be differentiated from that in healthy people. Meanwhile, different mechanisms were used by these patients to confront stability challenging factors and further neural activity was required to counteract such factors. Copyright © 2012 Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.
Mitochondrial Fragmentation in Aspergillus fumigatus as Early Marker of Granulocyte Killing Activity

The host's defense against invasive mold infections relies on diverse antimicrobial activities of innate immune cells. However, studying these mechanisms in vitro is complicated by the filamentous nature of such pathogens that typically form long, branched, multinucleated and compartmentalized hyphae. Here we describe a novel method that allows for the visualization and quantification of the antifungal killing activity exerted by human granulocytes against hyphae of the opportunistic pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. The approach relies on the distinct impact of fungal cell death on the morphology of mitochondria that were visualized with green fluorescent protein (GFP). We show that oxidative stress induces complete fragmentation of the tubular mitochondrial network which correlates with cell death of affected hyphae. Live cell microscopy revealed a similar and non-reversible disruption of the mitochondrial morphology followed by fading of fluorescence in Aspergillus hyphae that were killed by human granulocytes. Quantitative microscopic analysis of fixed samples was subsequently used to estimate the antifungal activity. By utilizing this assay, we demonstrate that lipopolysaccharides as well as human serum significantly increase the killing efficacy of the granulocytes. Our results demonstrate that evaluation of the mitochondrial morphology can be utilized to assess the fungicidal activity of granulocytes against A. fumigatus hyphae.
On the design of frequency-switching patterns for distributed data fusion over relay networks

Recent contributions have shown that, by switching frequency bands at intermediate relay nodes, enhanced diversity can be attained in two-user wireless frequency division relay networks at a minimum computational cost. This paper elaborates on the design of frequency-switching patterns for more involved relay scenarios. We conclude that in general, the optimum set of frequency-switching patterns is based on the subset of derangement permutations of {f1, . , fN}, i.e. of the N frequency bands utilized in the setup. In order to illustrate our approach, our work focuses on the particular distributed data fusion scenario where the data generated by an information source is simultaneously sensed by N nodes and broadcasted, through a relay network, to N remote destinations. Simulation results made for several scenarios verify that the proposed derangement-based relaying scheme outperforms other frequency-switching relay approaches in terms of end-to-end fused Bit Error Rate (BER).
Insight into Mg(BH4)2 with synchrotron X-ray diffraction: Structure revision, crystal chemistry, and anomalous thermal expansion

Pure Mg(BH4)2 has been characterized by single-crystal and powder synchrotron X-ray diffraction and by vibrational spectroscopies. The earlier reported P61 structure of the α-phase is revised in the space group P6122. Location of the H-atoms from powder data in the published P61 models posed the main problem for the identification of the correct symmetry: wrongly determined orientations of some BH4 groups hampered a successful detection of the true P6122 symmetry. Four nearly ideally tetrahedral BH 4 groups form a dodecahedral MgH8 coordination around each Mg atom, which can be described as a slightly distorted snub disphenoid, where two nearly planar BH2-Mg-H2B fragments are situated at ~90° dihedral angle. The H ⋯ H distances between two BH4 groups within the BH2-Mg-H2B fragments are among the shortest (2.18-2.28 A) in the structurally characterized metal borohydrides. α-Mg(BH4)2 contains an unoccupied void, accounting for 6.4% of space in the structure. It is large enough (37 A3) to accommodate a small molecule, such as H2O. The high-temperature β-phase is less dense by ~3% but contains no unoccupied voids. The α-phase transforms into the β-phase above 490 K; the latter is quenched (metastable) on cooling. The anomalous cell expansion of the β-phase down to 100 K may be related to the evolution of the free energy profile far from the phase transition temperature. © 2009 American Chemical Society.
Ouabain inhibits monocyte activation in vitro: prevention of the proinflammatory mCD14+/CD16+ subset appearance and cell-size progression

Classically described as a potent inhibitor of the sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase enzyme, ouabain has been further shown to act as an effective immunomodulator in mammals. Recently, our group showed that this hormone downregulates membrane CD14 (mCD14) in human monocytes, though it is not known whether monocyte activation status could modify ouabain influence. Hence, we aimed to investigate ouabain effect during monocyte activation in vitro, analyzing mCD14, CD16 and CD69 expression in total monocytes after two periods of adhesion (2 hours and 24 hours) or in small and large monocyte subpopulations separately. Ouabain (100 nM) inhibited monocyte-size increase, characteristic of activation, only when added to cells immediately after 2 hours’ adhesion. Moreover, downregulation of both mCD14 and CD16 expression by ouabain was more effective in small monocytes and in cells after 2 hours’ adhesion. Since monocytes after 24 hours’ adhesion showed no lack of ouabain binding and no CD69 upregulation, it seems that ouabain is somehow incapable of triggering an appropriate cell-signaling induction once monocytes become activated. Furthermore, though p38 MAPK activation was crucial for the impairment in cell-size progression induced by ouabain, its inhibition did not alter ouabain-induced CD69 upregulation, suggesting that other molecules may participate in the response to this hormone by monocytes. Our data suggest that ouabain inhibits monocyte activation in vitro, preventing both cell-size increase and the appearance of the proinflammatory mCD14+/CD16+ subpopulation. Thus, the findings suggest that individuals suffering from disorders commonly associated with high ouabain plasma levels, like hypertension, may present defective monocyte activation under inflammation or infection.
Dominating Centrality Set: A New Measure on the Network Coverage of Influential Center Nodes

There is a list of traditional measures on the centrality of a network, but they may provide misleading suggestions when there are more than one center in a network. Even a sequential selection on the centers are performed, the revelation of a truly influential set of the center nodes is difficult to achieve due to the curse of double counting. In this work, we introduce a new measure on the network coverage of the influential set of center nodes via a new graph-theoretic tool called the dominating centrality set (DCS). To calculate the DCS efficiently, we derive the exact formulas for counting the number of cycles that contains a specific node. We demonstrate this method to the analysis of Amazon product network and the Web of Science citation network.
Binding of Human Single Chain Urokinase to Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells and Cloning of Hamster u-PAR

Summary The plasminogen activator, urokinase (u-PA), interacts with the u-PA receptor (u-PAR) which results in enhanced plasminogen activation on cell surfaces. The u-PAR is comprised of three homologous domains of ~90 amino acids, defined by the pattern of disulfide bonds. Domain 1 (amino acids 1-87) binds the ligand. Within this domain, Y57, and a site between residues 47 and 53, have been suggested as ligand contact points. Intradomain interactions also contribute to the interaction of u-PA and u-PAR. The interaction of u-PA with its receptor exhibits some species specifity. Previous studies have shown that human u-PA does not bind to the murine u-PAR and murine u-PA does not recognize human u-PAR. However, human u-PA does interact with bovine cells with high affinity. To further examine the interaction of the human ligand with the u-PAR of a different species, we characterized the binding of human 125I single chain u-PA (scu-PA) to hamster cells. Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells bound human scu-PA with high affinity and capacity (Kd = 1.13 ± 0.8 nM; B max = 5.45 ± 0.98 × 104 sites/cell). In ligand blotting with human 125I-scu-PA, major bands migrating with apparent Mr’s of 74, 49 and 38 kDa were observed. The cDNA of hamster u-PAR was cloned and a single 1.4 kb mRNA species identified in Northern blots of CHO cell RNA. For comparison, we also cloned u-PAR cDNA from human THP-1 cells. Our human sequence was identical to those published for U937 and endothelial cells. These sequences were aligned with the published sequences for the murine, bovine and rat u-PAR’s to obtain a consensus sequence for five species. The cysteine residues could be aligned for all species. Y57, which has been suggested as a ligand contact point was also conserved across species. In addition, 5 of the 7 amino acids between amino acids 47 and 53 were conserved in all species. Gly283, the most likely glycosylphosphatidyl inositol attachment site, was also conserved in all species. The conservation of these amino acid residues across all five species, attests to their importance in u-PAR function. In addition, the results of
Restoring environmental flow: buy-back costs and pollution- dilution as a compliance with water quality standards

An important challenge for policymakers worldwide is how to respond to increasing water demand while still assuring healthy ecosystems via ‘environmental flows’. In the case of Chile, increasing water demand and frequent water supply shortages are putting pressure on ecosystem water requirements. On the other hand, new environmental regulations are being implemented to improve the quality of several bodies of water. Consequently, there is a call for water policies that can properly tackle these complex issues. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the costs of a programme to buy back water rights to restore an environmental flow in the Maipo River, as well as assess the performance of ‘pollution-dilution’ as a measure to comply with water quality standards in the river’s basin. Results suggest that a programme that aims to buy back 440 l/s requires expending US$1.9 million, as a one-time expense. We also find that buying and leaving water flows in the river for the distinct purpose of pollution-dilution could be an efficient policy, albeit limited in impact, to reduce nutrient contamination costing about one-fifth of alternative measures to attain the same level of pollution reduction.
Cervical Cancer Screening among Underscreened and Unscreened Brazilian Women: Training Community Health Workers to be Agents of Change

Abstract:Background: Despite the availability of cervical cancer screening programs in Brazil, some women do not participate in these programs owing to structural and/or interpersonal/intrapersonal barriers, resulting in high cervical cancer incidence and mortality. Integrating community health workers (CHWs) into the delivery of cervical cancer screening interventions is potentially a feasible strategy to address these barriers.Objectives: This study aimed to implement and evaluate a CHW training to deliver a brief intervention to promote cervical cancer screening among underscreened and unscreened women in Brazil.Methods: The curriculum addressed cervical cancer and screening, behavioral intervention strategies, and protection of human subjects in research. Pretest and post-test questionnaires assessed changes in CHW objective and perceived knowledge as well as perceived skills and confidence (N = 15). Results: There was a significant increase in objective and perceived knowledge about cervical cancer, behavior change strategies, and protection of human subjects in research between pretest and post-test, but not in self-perception about skills and confidence to motivate women to engage in cervical cancer screening.Conclusions: Improvements in CHW knowledge about cervical cancer screening and behavior change represents a step forward toward successful interventions, but adaptations are needed to boost their self-confidence and perceived skills with regard to their ability to promote behavior change at the community level.
A review on overlapping community detection methodologies

Community Detection is a prominent task in social network analysis. Community detection helps us to determine users with common interests or to find a set of similar people based on point of interest. The community detection is useful in many applications such as: recommendation systems, viral marketing, stock market prediction, influential user identification, finding domain expert and many more. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on recent methodologies for overlapping community detection that are based on various factors viz: topological features, accuracy, density, centrality, betweenness, computational speed, modularity and Normalized Mutual Information (NMI). The detailed description of the challenges being addressed by various researchers is presented. The comparative analysis of overlapping community detection methods is also reported.
Essays on Unemployment Insurance

Can the potential availability of unemployment insurance (UI) affect the behavior of employed workers and the duration of their employment spells? After discussing few straightforward reasons why UI may affect employment duration, I apply a regression kink design (RKD) to address this question using linked employer-employee data from the Brazilian labor market. Exploiting the UI schedule, I find that potential benefit level significantly affects the duration of employment spells. This effect is local to low skilled workers and, surprisingly, indicates that a 1\% increase in unemployment benefits increases job duration by around 0.3\%. Such result is driven by the fact that higher UI decreases the probability of job quits, which are not covered by UI in Brazil. These estimates are robust to permutation tests and a number of falsification tests. I develop a reduced-form welfare formula to assess the economic relevance of this result. Based on that, I show that the positive effect on employment duration implies in a higher optimal benefit level. Moreover, the formula shows that the elasticity of employment duration impacts welfare just with the same weight as the well-known elasticity of unemployment duration to benefit level.
The Functional Anatomy of the Superficial Fat Compartments of the Face: A Detailed Imaging Study

Background: The superficial (subcutaneous) facial fat compartments contribute to the signs of facial aging, but a comprehensive anatomical description of their location and their functional behavior during the application of soft-tissue fillers remains elusive. Methods: The authors investigated 30 fresh frozen cephalic specimens from 13 male and 17 female Caucasian body donors (age, 78.3 ± 14.2 years; body mass index, 23.1 ± 5.3 kg/m2). Upright-position, contrast-enhanced computed tomographic scanning, and additional magnetic resonance imaging were performed. Three-dimensional reconstruction–based measures were conducted to evaluate the position of the applied contrast agent in each compartment separately. Successive anatomical dissections were performed to confirm the imaging findings. Results: Positive correlations were detected between the amounts of injected material and the inferior displacement for the superficial nasolabial (rp = 0.92, p = 0.003), middle cheek (rp = 0.70, p = 0.05), and jowl (rp = 0.92, p = 0.03) compartments but not for the medial cheek (rp = 0.20, p = 0.75), lateral cheek (rp = 0.15, p = 0.75), or the superior (rp = −0.32, p = 0.41) or inferior superficial temporal compartment (rp = −0.52, p = 0.29). Conclusion: This study confirms the presence of distinct subcutaneous fat compartments and provides evidence for an individual behavior when soft-tissue fillers are applied: inferior displacement of the superficial nasolabial, middle cheek, and jowl compartments, in contrast to an increase in volume without displacement (i.e., an increase in projection) of the medial cheek, lateral cheek, and both superficial temporal compartments.