Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Noise resistance of several top-scored heart beat detectors

Background: PhysioNet provides the MIT-BIH Noise Stress Test Database, which consists of only two different clean ECG recordings for which realistic noise signals were added to the ECG in different signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). For the evaluation of the noise resistance of multisignal heart beat detectors this dataset is not sufficient. Methods: Our stress test is based on 100 clean records from the training dataset (set-p) of the Phys-ioNet/CinC Challenge 2014. Each record is composed of a different number of several biosignals (ECG, respiration, blood pressure). Multi-signal heart beat detectors were able to identify the heart beats easily without a predictive loss. We added noise to the 10 minute records using the nst-function of the WFDB Toolbox with SNR ranging from 24 to −6 dB. Since noise was added only between the 5th and 7th and after the 9th minute, clear segments can serve as learning periods. Results: The evaluation of the noise resistance of several top-scored multi-signal heart beat detectors includes the algorithms by Pangerc et al., Johnson et al., Hoog Antink et al., de Cooman et al. and Vollmer. The noise resistance is expressed as sensitivity and positive predictivity in noisy segments of the beat detection at different SNR levels. The most resistant algorithms were published by Hoog Antink and Vollmer. We are able to observe the effect of signal quality based constraints in the algorithms by Pangerc, Johnson and Vollmer, which mitigates a further decrease in the positive predictive value.
Cross-Linked Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene) (PVDF-co-HFP) Gel Polymer Electrolyte for Flexible Li-Ion Battery Integrated with Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED)

Here, we fabricate poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene) (PVDF-co-HFP) by electrospinning for a gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) for use in flexible Li-ion batteries (LIBs). As a solvent, we use N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), which helps produce the cross-linked morphology of PVDF-co-HFP separator, owing to its low volatility. The cross-linked PVDF-co-HFP separator shows an uptake rate higher than that of a commercialized polypropylene (PP) separator. Moreover, the PVDF-co-HFP separator shows an ionic conductivity of 2.3 × 10−3 S/cm at room temperature, comparable with previously reported values. An LIB full-cell assembled with the PVDF-co-HFP-based GPE shows capacities higher than its counterpart with the commercialized PP separator, confirming that the cross-linked PVDF-co-HFP separator provides highly efficient ionic conducting pathways. In addition, we integrate a flexible LIB cell using the PVDF-co-HFP GPE with a flexible organic light emitting diode (OLED), demonstrating a fully flexible unit of LIB and OLED.
Considerations in the Diagnosis and Accelerated Return to Sport of a Professional Basketball Player With a Triceps Surae Injury: A Case Report.

Study Design Case report. Background Acute injuries of the triceps surae and Achilles tendon are common in sports. Rupture of the plantaris tendon can be challenging to diagnose. There is limited evidence detailing the diagnosis, rehabilitation, and accelerated return to sport of elite professional basketball players who have sustained calf injuries. Case Description A 25-year-old male professional basketball player sustained an injury to his calf during a professional basketball game. This case report details the presumptive diagnosis, graduated progression of intervention, and return to play of a professional athlete with a likely isolated plantaris tendon tear. Outcomes The patient returned to postseason competition 10 days post injury. Objective measures were tracked throughout rehabilitation and compared to baseline assessments. Before returning to play, the athlete showed improvements beyond the minimal clinically important difference for calf girth (2 cm) and numeric pain-rating scale score (4 points, 0-10 scale). Functional testing was conducted that included the Y Balance Test lower quarter and the Functional Movement Screen, with results that exceeded or returned the athlete to preseason levels. Discussion This report details the case of a professional basketball player who returned to competitive play in an accelerated time frame following injury to his calf. Diagnosing a plantaris tendon rupture can be challenging, and anatomical variations of this muscle should be considered. It was demonstrated in this case that physical therapy rehabilitation was helpful in making a treatment-based clinical diagnosis when imaging was unclear. Level of Evidence Therapy, level 5. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2018;48(5):388-397. Epub 6 Apr 2018. doi:10.2519/jospt.2018. 7192.
Cross Body Stretching for Internal Rotation Deficit.

Posterior shoulder tightness and internal rotation deficit at the glenohumeral joint occur often in athletes who participate in throwing sports, racquet and crosse sports, or swimming (1Y3). This tightness and decreased internal rotation motion may contribute to shoulder impingement pain through elevation of subacromial contact pressure at the greatest external rotation (4). This deficit can be corrected through passive and active stretching methods performed by a therapist or self-administered by the patient. Among the stretching techniques is the easy-to-perform cross body stretch (CBS). The newest systematically reviewed evidence indicates that the CBS immediately, and over the short-term, effectively reduces the rotation deficit and shoulder tightness compared to other common methods (2,5,6). The Figure demonstrates this stretching technique. The CBS is a fast-acting, low, or nocost effective option to help treat glenohumeral internal rotation deficit.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy with Basal Hypertrophy and outflow obstruction in a patient with bowel ischemia

Basal septal hypertrophy is a rare and unique anatomical finding associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). It is also described as a sigmoid hypertrophy and is linked with aging and chronic hypertension. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a transient cardiomyopathy that occurs during periods of high physical or emotional stress. Its occurrence with HCM is relatively common; however, this presentation occurs more often with the classic asymmetrical septal hypertrophy or the apical variant. This case demonstrates its coexistence with isolated sigmoid hypertrophy in an elderly, hypertensive female with severe ischemic bowel disease.
The Escherichia coli Starvation GenecstC Is Involved in Amino Acid Catabolism

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli strains mutant in the starvation genecstC grow normally in a mineral salts medium but are impaired in utilizing amino acids as nitrogen sources. They are also compromised in starvation survival, where amino acid catabolism is important. The cstC gene encodes a 406-amino-acid protein that closely resembles the E. coli ArgD protein, which is involved in arginine biosynthesis. We postulate that CstC is a counterpart of ArgD in an amino acid catabolic pathway. ThecstC upstream region contains several regulatory consensus sequences. Both ςS and ς54 promoters are probably involved in cstC transcription and appear to compete with each other, presumably to match cstCexpression to the cellular amino acid catabolic needs.
Laryngomalacia presenting as severe uncontrolled asthma

Congenital laryngomalacia is the most common cause of stridor in infants and usually resolves without therapy by 12–18 months of age. However, a recent study found that laryngomalacia may leave structural and functional traces with increased risk of later respiratory symptoms, suggesting that late‐onset laryngomalacia may represent long‐term consequences of milder or even undiagnosed forms. Unusual cases demonstrated that inspiratory stridor developed subsequent to upper respiratory tract infections. The lack of airway hyperresponsiveness in adulthood also raised questions regarding the diagnosis of childhood asthma. Laryngomalacia should be distinguished from severe asthma.
Quantum interpolation for high-resolution sensing

Significance Nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging enabled by quantum sensors is a promising path toward the outstanding goal of determining the structure of single biomolecules at room temperature. We develop a technique, which we name “quantum interpolation,” to improve the frequency resolution of these quantum sensors far beyond limitations set by the experimental controlling apparatus. The method relies on quantum interference to achieve high-fidelity interpolation of the quantum dynamics between hardware-allowed time samplings, thus allowing high-resolution sensing. We demonstrate over two orders of magnitude resolution gains, and discuss applications of our work to high-resolution nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging. Recent advances in engineering and control of nanoscale quantum sensors have opened new paradigms in precision metrology. Unfortunately, hardware restrictions often limit the sensor performance. In nanoscale magnetic resonance probes, for instance, finite sampling times greatly limit the achievable sensitivity and spectral resolution. Here we introduce a technique for coherent quantum interpolation that can overcome these problems. Using a quantum sensor associated with the nitrogen vacancy center in diamond, we experimentally demonstrate that quantum interpolation can achieve spectroscopy of classical magnetic fields and individual quantum spins with orders of magnitude finer frequency resolution than conventionally possible. Not only is quantum interpolation an enabling technique to extract structural and chemical information from single biomolecules, but it can be directly applied to other quantum systems for superresolution quantum spectroscopy.
Connexin 43 in the development and progression of breast cancer: What's the connection? (Review)

Connexin 43 is a prominent gap junction protein within normal human breast tissue. Thus far, there have been a number of research studies performed to determine the function of connexin 43 in breast tumor formation and progression. Within primary tumors, research suggests that the level of connexin 43 expression in breast tumors is altered when compared to normal human breast tissue. While some reports indicate that connexin 43 levels decrease, other evidence suggests that connexin 43 levels are increased and protein localization shifts from the plasma membrane to the cytoplasm. In either case, the prevailing theory is that breast tumor cells have reduced gap junction intercellular communication within primary tumors. The current consensus appears to be that the loss of connexin 43 gap junction intercellular communication is an early event in malignancy, with the possibility of gap junction restoration in the event of metastasis. However, additional evidence is needed to support the latter claim. The purpose of this report is to review the connexin 43 literature that describes studies using human tissue samples, in order to evaluate the function of connexin 43 protein in normal human breast tissue as well as the role of connexin 43 in human breast tumor formation and metastatic progression.
The Deterrent Effects of Prison: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

The Collective Clemency Bill passed by the Italian Parliament in July 2006 represents a natural experiment to analyze the behavioral response of individuals to an exogenous manipulation of prison sentences. On the basis of a unique data set on the postrelease behavior of former inmates, we find that 1 month less time served in prison commuted into 1 month more in expected sentence for future crimes reduces the probability of recidivism by 0.16 percentage points. From this result we estimate an elasticity of average recidivism with respect to the expected punishment equal to −0.74 for a 7‐month period.
Wired and Wireless Links to Bridge Networks: Seamlessly Connecting Radio and Optical Technologies for 5G Networks

As fifth-generation (5G) technology is expected to offer super-broadband mobile services with new features such as low latency for critical applications and low-power operation for Internet of Things (IoT) applications, it will use wireless interfaces for small or spot cells with a new RF resource, the high band (frequencies above 6 GHz), in addition to the low band (below 6 GHz) on macro and small cells coexisting with conventional mobile technologies [1]-[4]. Another feature of 5G wireless interfaces is more precise control of radio waves in space division through the use of multi-antenna technologies, such as massive multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) or beamforming [5].
Increased Primary Cilia in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Primary cilia are solitary, non-motile, axonemal microtubule-based antenna-like organelles that project from the plasma membrane of most mammalian cells and are implicated in transducing hedgehog signals during development. It was recently proposed that aberrant SHH signaling may be implicated in the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). However, the distribution and role of primary cilia in IPF remains unclear. Here, we clearly observed the primary cilia in alveolar epithelial cells, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells of human normal lung tissue. Then, we investigated the distribution of primary cilia in human IPF tissue samples using immunofluorescence. Tissues from six IPF cases showed an increase in the number of primary cilia in alveolar cells and fibroblasts. In addition, we observed an increase in ciliogenesis related genes such as IFT20 and IFT88 in IPF. Since major components of the SHH signaling pathway are known to be localized in primary cilia, we quantified the mRNA expression of the SHH signaling components using qRT-PCR in both IPF and control lung. mRNA levels of SHH, the coreceptor SMO, and the transcription factors GLI1 and GLI2 were upregulated in IPF compared with control. Furthermore, the nuclear localization of GLI1 was observed mainly in alveolar epithelia and fibroblasts. In addition, we showed that defective KIF3A-mediated ciliary loss in human type II alveolar epithelial cell lines leads to disruption of SHH signaling. These results indicate that a significant increase in the number of primary cilia in IPF contributes to the upregulation of SHH signals.
Assessment of spatial heterogeneity of ventricular repolarization after quinidine in healthy subjects

When spatial heterogeneity of ventricular repolarization (SHVR) increases, vulnerability to ventricular arrhythmias, including lethal ones, has also been observed to increase. Drug-induced multi-ion-channel blocks may increase SHVR. Aim of this study is to non-invasively assess whether quinidine, a strong hERG potassium channel blocker with weaker effects on calcium and late sodium currents, increases SHVR. We analyzed data from 21 healthy subjects that received both the drug and a placebo and underwent to 12 leads Holter monitoring. From the recording, three 10-s ECGs were extracted at each of 16 predefined time-points. SHVR was assessed by the V-index, which evaluates the standard deviation of the repolarization times from multi-lead ECG recordings. At any time point, a value of V-index was computed for each of the three 10s ECGs and averaged if the difference in the mean RR of the 10s ECGs was lower than 50 ms. The V-index did not change after the placebo (V-index pre-dose = 29.2 ± 9.9 ms vs. V-indexpost-dose1h = 26.7 ± 10.3, ns), whereas, after quinidine, it significantly increased one hour post-dose (V-index pre-dose = 29.5 ± 10.2 ms vs. V-indexpost-dose1h = 46.5 ± 33.8 ms, p = 0.01). Quinidine had its maximum effect on the V-index 2.5 h after dose (V-index post-dose2.5h =53.6 ± 39.6 ms).
Adaptive Neural-Network-Based Active Control of Regenerative Chatter in Micromilling

In this paper, an active control approach using two piezoelectric actuators (PZTAs) and an adaptive controller is investigated for suppressing the two-DOF regenerative chatter in micromilling. The PZTAs are utilized as active control elements to provide force compensation for chatter suppression. First, the dynamical model of micromilling process is demonstrated. Then, an adaptive controller is developed by employing neural networks to approximate the unknown dynamics of the cutting system and the unknown bounding functions related to the time-delayed tool vibrations, and applying the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional to aid in treating the time-delayed effect of the regenerative mechanism of chatter. By employing the developed control approach, the tool vibrations in two directions vertical to each other are successfully suppressed. Finally, simulations are presented to validate the effectiveness of the developed control approach.Note to Practitioners—The work presented here was motivated by an industrial problem of micromilling. In micromilling, chatter, known as self-excited vibrations, is one of the critical issues as it gives rise to a lot of production problems, deteriorating the machined surface finish, decreasing the machining efficiency, and has an adverse effect on tool wear and tool life. There has been tremendous work done on the investigation of chatter mechanism and chatter suppression. Appropriate upfront designs of the machine tool, fixturing, spindle, choosing appropriate tool geometric angle, and spindle speed control are the means for suppressing chatter occurrence. Recently, with the advent of piezoelectric devices, more and more attention is attracted to the application of piezoelectric actuators (PZTAs) for micromilling systems. PZTAs have the prominent characteristic of fast expansions with small response time. With an electrical voltage applied, the PZTA can expand and reach its nominal displacement on the order of microseconds and a pushing or pulling force can be excited with large accelerations, so that the position of the milling tool can be maneuvered to suppress the chatter effect. In this paper, we attempt to control the unstable regenerative chatter in micromilling by employing two PZTAs as active control elements with the developed adaptive controller, where the uncertainties of the dynamics of cutting are approximated by neural networks. The time-delayed effect of chatter is addressed by the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional. The stability proof of the closed-loop system, the convergence analysis, and the simulations indicate the developed control approach is sensible. In the future work, we shall focus on the hysteresis effect of the PZTAs and the implementation of the developed theoretical work to a practical system.
Comparison And Assessment Of Two EmissionInventories For The Madrid Region

Emission inventories are databases that aim to describe the polluting activities that occur across a certain geographic domain. According to the spatial scale, the availability of information will vary as well as the applied assumptions, which will strongly influence its quality, accuracy and representativeness. This study compared and contrasted two emission inventories describing the Greater Madrid Region (GMR) under an air quality simulation approach. The chosen inventories were the National Emissions Inventory (NEI) and the Regional Emissions Inventory of the Greater Madrid Region (REI). Both of them were used to feed air quality simulations with the CMAQ modelling system, and the results were compared with observations from the air quality monitoring network in the modelled domain. Through the application of statistical tools, the analysis of emissions at domain and cell level, it was observed that the National Inventory showed better results for describing on–road traffic activities and agriculture, SNAP07 and SNAP10. The accurate description of activities, the good characterization of the vehicle fleet and the correct use of traffic emission factors were the main causes of such a good correlation. On the other hand, the Regional Inventory showed better descriptions for non–industrial combustion (SNAP02) and industrial activities (SNAP03). It incorporated realistic emission factors, a reasonable fuel mix and it drew upon local information sources to describe these activities, while NEI relied on surrogation and national datasets which leaded to a poorer representation. Off–road transportation (SNAP08) was similarly described by both inventories, while the rest of the SNAP activities showed a marginal contribution to the overall emissions.
Functional genetic variants of glutathione S-transferase protect against serum ascorbic acid deficiency.

BACKGROUND Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are detoxifying enzymes that contribute to the glutathione-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) antioxidant cycle. OBJECTIVE The objective was to determine whether GST genotypes modify the association between dietary vitamin C and serum ascorbic acid. DESIGN Nonsmoking men and women (n = 905) between 20 and 29 y of age were participants in the Toronto Nutrigenomics and Health Study. Overnight fasting blood samples were collected to determine serum ascorbic acid concentrations by HPLC and to genotype for deletion polymorphisms in GSTM1 and GSTT1 and an Ile105Val substitution in GSTP1. A 196-item food-frequency questionnaire was used to estimate vitamin C intake. RESULTS A gene-diet interaction on serum ascorbic acid was observed for GSTM1 (P = 0.04) and GSTT1 (P = 0.01) but not for GSTP1 (P = 0.83). The odds ratio (95% CI) for serum ascorbic acid deficiency (<11 micromol/L) was 3.20 (1.88, 5.44) for subjects who did not meet the Recommended Dietary Allowance of vitamin C compared with those who did. The corresponding odds ratios (95% CIs) were 2.17 (1.10, 4.28) and 12.28 (4.26, 33.42), respectively, for individuals with the GSTT1*1/*1 +*1/*0 (functional) and GSTT1*0/*0 (null) genotypes and 2.29 (0.96, 5.45) and 4.03 (2.01, 8.09), respectively, for the GSTM1*1/*1+GSTM1*1/*0 and GSTM1*0/*0 genotypes. CONCLUSIONS The recommended intake of vitamin C protects against serum ascorbic acid deficiency, regardless of genotype. Individuals with GST null genotypes had an increased risk of deficiency if they did not meet the Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin C, which suggests that the GST enzymes protect against serum ascorbic acid deficiency when dietary vitamin C is insufficient.
In Vivo FRET Imaging Revealed a Regulatory Role of RanGTP in Kinetochore-Microtubule Attachments via Aurora B Kinase

Under the fluctuating circumstances provided by the innate dynamics of microtubules and opposing tensions resulted from microtubule-associated motors, it is vital to ensure stable kinetochore-microtubule attachments for accurate segregation. However, a comprehensive understanding of how this regulation is mechanistically achieved remains elusive. Using our newly designed live cell FRET time-lapse imaging, we found that post-metaphase RanGTP is crucial in the maintenance of stable kinetochore-microtubule attachments by regulating Aurora B kinase via the NES-bearing Mst1. More importantly, our study demonstrates that by ensuring stable alignment of metaphase chromosomes prior to segregation, RanGTP is indispensible in governing the genomic integrity and the fidelity of cell cycle progression. Our findings suggest an additional role of RanGTP beyond its known function in mitotic spindle assembly during the prometaphase-metaphase transition.