Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Autologous blood as a source of platelet gel for the effective and safe treatment of oral chronic graft‐versus‐host disease

Oral chronic graft‐versus‐host disease (cGvHD) impairs oral function and patients' quality of life. Some lesions are refractory to local and systemic immunosuppressive therapy, and new therapeutic modalities are required. The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy and safety of topical application of autologous platelet gel (PG) in patients with oral cGvHD.
The 3 November Tornadic Event during Sydney 2000: Storm Evolution and the Role of Low-Level Boundaries

Abstract Several severe thunderstorms, including a tornadic supercell, developed on the afternoon of 3 November 2000, during the Sydney 2000 Forecast Demonstration Project. Severe weather included three tornadoes, damaging wind gusts, hail to 7-cm diameter, and heavy rain causing flash flooding. A unique dataset was collected including data from two Doppler radars, a surface mesonet, enhanced upper-air profiling, storm photography, and a storm damage survey. Synoptic-scale forcing was weak and mesoscale factors were central to the development of severe weather. In particular, low-level boundaries such as gust fronts and the sea-breeze front played critical roles in the initiation and enhancement of storms, the motion of storms, and the generation of rotation at low levels. The complex and often subtle boundary interactions that led to the development of the tornadic supercell in this case highlight the need for advanced detection and prediction tools to improve the warning capacity for such events.
High Resolution Deterministic Prediction System (HRDPS) Simulations of Manitoba Lake Breezes

ABSTRACT The Effects of Lake Breezes On Weather–Manitoba (ELBOW-MB) field project, conducted around Lakes Manitoba and Winnipeg in July 2013, was the first in-depth field study of lake breezes in Manitoba, Canada. Using observational data collected during ELBOW-MB and output from the 2.5 km Canadian High Resolution Deterministic Prediction System (HRDPS), comparisons were made between HRDPS output and observational data to determine whether the HRDPS can simulate Manitoba lake breezes. The model comparisons considered various lake-breeze characteristics, such as depth, inland penetration distance, and initiation and dissipation time. In addition, cross-sections of lake-breeze circulations were analyzed. The results show that the HRDPS was able to correctly simulate lake breezes, or lack thereof, in 78% of cases on Lake Winnipeg and 68% of cases on Lake Manitoba. Modelled lake-breeze initiation and dissipation times were found to be too early in some cases and too late in others when compared with observations. Overall, it was found that the HRDPS was able to simulate most aspects of lake breezes, although inland penetration distance was one characteristic that the HRDPS was not able to simulate realistically.
Sleep Deprivation Alters Effort Discounting but not Delay Discounting of Monetary Rewards

Study Objectives: To determine whether sleep deprivation would affect the discounting of delayed rewards, of rewards entailing the expense of effort, or both. Design: We measured rates of two types of reward discounting under conditions of rested wakefulness (RW) and sleep deprivation (SD). Delay discounting was defined as the willingness to accept smaller monetary rewards sooner rather than larger monetary rewards later. Effort discounting was defined as the willingness to accept smaller rewards that require less effort to obtain (e.g., typing a small number of letter strings backward) over larger but more effortful rewards (e.g., typing more letter strings to receive the reward). The first two experiments used a crossover design in which one session was conducted after a normal night of sleep (RW), and the other after a night without sleep (SD). The first experiment evaluated only temporal discounting whereas the second evaluated temporal and effort discounting. In the second experiment, the discounting tasks were repeatedly administered prior to the state comparisons to minimize the effects of order and/or repeated testing. In a third experiment, participants were studied only once in a between-subject evaluation of discounting across states. Setting: The study took place in a research laboratory. Participants: Seventy-seven healthy young adult participants: 20 in Experiment 1, 27 in Experiment 2, and 30 in Experiment 3. Interventions: N/A. Measurements and Results: Sleep deprivation elicited increased effort discounting but did not affect delay discounting. Conclusions: The dissociable effects of sleep deprivation on two forms of discounting behavior suggest that they may have differing underlying neural mechanisms.
The miR165/166 Mediated Regulatory Module Plays Critical Roles in ABA Homeostasis and Response in Arabidopsis thaliana

The function of miR165/166 in plant growth and development has been extensively studied, however, its roles in abiotic stress responses remain largely unknown. Here, we report that reduction in the expression of miR165/166 conferred a drought and cold resistance phenotype and hypersensitivity to ABA during seed germination and post-germination seedling development. We further show that the ABA hypersensitive phenotype is associated with a changed transcript abundance of ABA-responsive genes and a higher expression level of ABI4, which can be directly regulated by a miR165/166 target. Additionally, we found that reduction in miR165/166 expression leads to elevated ABA levels, which occurs at least partially through the increased expression of BG1, a gene that is directly regulated by a miR165/166 target. Taken together, our results uncover a novel role for miR165/166 in the regulation of ABA and abiotic stress responses and control of ABA homeostasis.
Considerations for the design of safe and effective consumer health IT applications in the home

Introduction Consumer health IT applications have the potential to improve quality, safety and efficiency of consumers' interactions with the healthcare system. Yet little attention has been paid to human factors and ergonomics in the design of consumer health IT, potentially limiting the ability of health IT to achieve these goals. This paper presents the results of an analysis of human factors and ergonomics issues encountered by five projects during the design and implementation of home-based consumer health IT applications. Methods Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-funded consumer health IT research projects, where patients used the IT applications in their homes, were reviewed. Project documents and discussions with project teams were analysed to identify human factors and ergonomic issues considered or addressed by project teams. The analysis focused on system design and design processes used as well as training, implementation and use of the IT intervention. Results A broad range of consumer health IT applications and diverse set of human factors and ergonomics issues were identified. The design and implementation processes used resulted in poor fit with some patients' healthcare tasks and the home environment and, in some cases, resulted in lack of use. Clinician interaction with patients and the information provided through health IT applications appeared to positively influence adoption and use. Conclusions Consumer health IT application design would benefit from the use of human factors and ergonomics design and evaluation methods. Considering the context in which home-based consumer health IT applications are used will likely affect the ability of these applications to positively impact the quality, safety and efficiency of patient care.
The Role of Logistics' Information and Communication Technologies in Promoting Competitive Advantages of the Firm

In the 21st century, with rapid growth of technology, economic society and life have changed significantly. Promoting competitive advantages has become the most important issue for firms in this rapidly changing and uncertain business environment. Many researches have pointed out that the adoption of technology is the most important tool for firms to maintain their competitive advantages. The survival of a firm in the knowledge-based economy depends on how they improve their technological capability. In this sense, firms should develop adequate methodologies, in order to adopt, in a successful way, new technologies in the logistics field, and also to integrate logistics into the corporate strategy for becoming even more competitive. A growing number of firms are under pressure from their partners to change their traditional management style, both operationally and organizationally, replacing them with integrated systems that help to increase the speed and fluidity of physical and information flows. In order to reach this kind of integration they are investing on new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This paper considers ICT as devices or infrastructures that make communication of business information among organizations more efficient. The present paper aims to highlight the importance of ICT on logistics and to understand the impact of ICT on the competitiveness of firms. In this paper, a conceptual model for the adoption of logistics ICT is presented, by taking into consideration four determinant factors—individual, organizational, technological/innovation, and environmental. The interaction established among the referred determinant factors may be identified through the computation of the predominant factor, by using a selected set of adequate indicators and a simple geometry methodology. These procedures may provide the identification of the sources of competitive advantages of firms that adopt logistics ICT. The logistics ICT analyzed in this paper are grouped into three types—the identification, the data communications, and the data acquisition technologies.
Treatment of canine cranial cruciate ligament disease

Summary Objective: To describe veterinarians’ treatment recommendations and decision-making factors for dogs with cranial cruciate ligament disease (CCLD). Methods: An online survey of American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS)-Diplomates (surgeon group) and primary care veterinarians (practitioner group) was performed. The survey included questions on treatment recommendations for common case scenarios (small or large breed dog with complete or partial CCLD), treatment decision factors, non-surgical treatment options, and actual treatment, if any, provided for a client-owned dog as well as one owned by their family or close friend. Results: The response rate was 42% for the surgeon group (n = 305/723) and four percent for the practitioner group (n = 1145/ 27,771). Extracapsular stabilization (ES) was the most common treatment recommendation for CCLD in small (9.1 kg) breed dogs amongst surgeons and practitioners. Tibial plateau levelling osteotomy (TPLO) was the most common treatment recommendation for CCLD in large (27.2 kg) breed dogs amongst both groups. The two most important treatment decision factors were dog size (78% of practitioners, 69% of surgeons) and activity level (63% of practitioners, 52% of surgeons). The most common treatment provided for a dog of their own or close relation in the surgeon group was TPLO (64%) followed by ES (15%), whereas in the practitioner group it was ES (38%) followed by TPLO (30%). Clinical significance: Extracapsular stabilization and TPLO are the most commonly employed surgical procedures in the surveyed population; dog size and activity level (but not age) are the major factors influencing treatment decisions.
Increased glia density in the caudate nucleus in williams syndrome: Implications for frontostriatal dysfunction in autism

Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder with a well‐described, known genetic etiology. In contrast to Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), WS has a unique phenotype characterized by global reductions in IQ and visuospatial ability, with relatively preserved language function, enhanced reactivity to social stimuli and music, and an unusual eagerness to interact socially with strangers. A duplication of the deleted region in WS has been implicated in a subset of ASD cases, defining a spectrum of genetic and behavioral variation at this locus defined by these opposite extremes in social behavior. The hypersociability characteristic of WS may be linked to abnormalities of frontostriatal circuitry that manifest as deficits in inhibitory control of behavior. Here, we examined the density of neurons and glia in associative and limbic territories of the striatum including the caudate, putamen, and nucleus accumbens regions in Nissl stained sections in five pairs of age, sex, and hemisphere‐matched WS and typically‐developing control (TD) subjects. In contrast to what is reported in ASD, no significant increase in overall neuron density was observed in this study. However, we found a significant increase in the density of glia in the dorsal caudate nucleus, and in the ratio of glia to neurons in the dorsal and medial caudate nucleus in WS, accompanied by a significant increase in density of oligodendrocytes in the medial caudate nucleus. These cellular abnormalities may underlie reduced frontostriatal activity observed in WS, with implications for understanding altered connectivity and function in ASD. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 78: 531–545, 2018
Learning Sensor Feedback Models from Demonstrations via Phase-Modulated Neural Networks

In order to robustly execute a task under environmental uncertainty, a robot needs to be able to reactively adapt to changes arising in its environment. The environment changes are usually reflected in deviation from expected sensory traces. These deviations in sensory traces can be used to drive the motion adaptation, and for this purpose, a feedback model is required. The feedback model maps the deviations in sensory traces to the motion plan adaptation. In this paper, we develop a general data-driven framework for learning a feedback model from demonstrations. We utilize a variant of a radial basis function network structure –with movement phases as kernel centers– which can generally be applied to represent any feedback models for movement primitives. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework, we test it on the task of scraping on a tilt board. In this task, we are learning a reactive policy in the form of orientation adaptation, based on deviations of tactile sensor traces. As a proof of concept of our method, we provide evaluations on an anthropomorphic robot.
Roadmap Roadmap on optical energy conversion

For decades, progress in the field of optical (including solar) energy conversion was dominated by advances in the conventional concentrating optics and materials design. In recent years, however, conceptual and technological breakthroughs in the fields of nanophotonics and plasmonics combined with a better understanding of the thermodynamics of the photon energyconversion processes reshaped the landscape of energy-conversion schemes and devices. Nanostructured devices and materials that make use of size quantization effects to manipulate photon density of states offer a way to overcome the conventional light absorption limits. Novel optical spectrum splitting and photon-recycling schemes reduce the entropy production in the optical energy-conversion platforms and boost their efficiencies. Optical design concepts are rapidly expanding into the infrared energy band, offering new approaches to harvest waste heat, to reduce the thermal emission losses, and to achieve noncontact radiative cooling of solar cells as well as of optical and electronic circuitries. Light–matter interaction enabled by nanophotonics and plasmonics underlie the performance of the thirdand fourth-generation energy-conversion devices, including upand down-conversion of photon energy, near-field radiative energy transfer, and hot electron generation and harvesting. Finally, the increased market penetration of alternative solar energy-conversion technologies amplifies the role of costdriven and environmental considerations. This roadmap on optical energy conversion provides a snapshot of the state of the art in optical energy conversion, remaining challenges, and most promising approaches to address these challenges. Leading experts authored 19 focused short sections of the roadmap where they share their vision on a specific aspect of this burgeoning research field. The roadmap opens up with a tutorial section, which introduces major concepts and terminology. It is our hope that the roadmap will serve as an important resource for the scientific community, new generations of researchers, funding agencies, industry experts, and investors.
Towards activity recognition in moving object trajectories from Twitter data

The knowledge about people daily activities is of great value for several application domains. On the one hand, the activity recognition in trajectories has not been deeply investigated. On the other hand, social media data such as tweets can be rich in information about where people go and what they do. We strongly believe that the integration of trajectory data and social media can reveal the activities performed by individuals in daily life. In this paper we propose a new method to infer moving object activities from their trajectories, using knowledge extracted from Twitter data. We evaluate the proposed approach with two datasets and show that it outperforms current works.
3 Where to ? A Brief Pointer to Relevant Work

In his seminal book The Inmates are Running the Asylum: Why High-Tech Products Drive Us Crazy And How To Restore The Sanity [2004, Sams Indianapolis, IN, USA], Alan Cooper argues that a major reason why software is often poorly designed (from a user perspective) is that programmers are in charge of design decisions, rather than interaction designers. As a result, programmers design software for themselves, rather than for their target audience; a phenomenon he refers to as the ‘inmates running the asylum’. This paper argues that explainable AI risks a similar fate. While the reemergence of explainable AI is positive, this paper argues most of us as AI researchers are building explanatory agents for ourselves, rather than for the intended users. But explainable AI is more likely to succeed if researchers and practitioners understand, adopt, implement, and improve models from the vast and valuable bodies of research in philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science; and if evaluation of these models is focused more on people than on technology. From a light scan of literature, we demonstrate that there is considerable scope to infuse more results from the social and behavioural sciences into explainable AI, and present some key results from these fields that are relevant to explainable AI.
Clinical and Radiographic Evaluation Periodontal Intrabony Defects Treated With Guided Tissue Regeneration. A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND The aim of this clinical and radiographic study was to evaluate the effect of guided tissue regeneration using a bioabsorbable barrier in the treatment of intrabony defects in humans. METHODS Intrabony osseous defects (2 or 3 walls) around mandibular canines and premolars were treated in 10 systemically healthy patients with ages ranging from 35 to 56 years. Prior to the surgical phase, patients were enrolled in a strict maintenance program including oral hygiene instructions and scaling and root planing (presurgical PI and GI <10%). Patients were seen for professional prophylaxis during the duration of the study. Clinical measurements were performed with an electronic probe at baseline and at reentry 8 months following surgical therapy. Measurements included clinical attachment levels (CAL), gingival margin levels (GML), probing depths (PD), bone defect levels (BDL), and alveolar crest level (ACL). A split mouth design was used. Quadrants were randomly assigned for treatment by GTR (experimental) or open flap debridement alone control). Standardized radiographs were taken at baseline and at reentry. Digital images were analyzed by subtraction to assess changes in area (A) and optical density (OD). Data were evaluated using paired t test. RESULTS Statistically significant differences were found in both groups when comparing baseline and post-treatment values for CAL, GML, PD, and BDL (P <0.01). Greater reductions in BDL and gain in A and OD were observed in the GTR group when compared to control (P <0.01). Both therapies were effective in improving the clinical parameters assessed. CONCLUSION Clinical and radiographic findings from this study demonstrated more bone fill in sites treated with GTR. J Periodontol 2002;73:353-359.
Do People With Chronic Pain Judge Their Sleep Differently? A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT People with chronic pain often report sleep of “poor quality. ” However, it is unclear what defines sleep quality and whether their sleep quality judgment is influenced by factors other than sleep. We purposively interviewed 17 participants with and without chronic pain and thematically analyzed their interview transcripts. Four salient criteria for judging sleep quality were (a) memories of night-time sleep disruptions, (b) feelings on waking and cognitive functioning during the day, (c) ability to engage in daytime physical and social activity, and (d) changes in physical symptoms (and pain intensity among participants with chronic pain). Sleep quality judgment is complex and involves retrospective decision making influenced by not only memories of the night but also how we feel and what we do during the day.
Antimicrobial Sensitivity, Biochemical Characteristics and Biotyping of Staphylococcus saprophyticus: An Impact of Biofield Energy Treatment

Staphylococcus saprophyticus (S. saprophyticus) is a frequent cause of urinary tract infection in the young women. The current study was designed to analyze the effect of biofield energy treatment on S. saprophyticus for evaluation of its antibiogram profile, biochemical reactions pattern and biotyping characteristics. Two sets of ATCC samples were taken in this experiment and denoted as A and B. Sample A was revived and divided into two parts Group (Gr.I) (control) and Gr.II (revived); likewise, sample B was labeled as Gr.III (lyophilized). Gr. II and III were given with Mr. Trivedi’s biofield energy treatment. The control and treated groups of S. saprophyticus cells were tested with respect to antimicrobial susceptibility, biochemical reactions pattern and biotype number using MicroScan Walk-Away® system. The 50% out of twenty-eight tested antimicrobials showed significant alteration in susceptibility and 36.67% out of thirty antimicrobials showed an alteration in minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of S. saprophyticus in revived treated cells (Gr. II, day 10), while no alteration was found in lyophilized treated cells (Gr. III, day 10) as compared to the control. It was also observed that overall 14.81%, out of twenty-seven biochemical reactions were altered in the revived treated group with respect to the control. Moreover, biotype number was changed in Gr. II, on day 5 (246076) and in Gr. III, on day 10 (242066), while organism along-with biotype number was also changed in Gr. II, on day 10 (342066, Staphylococcus hominis subsp. novobiosepticus) as compared to the control (242076, S. saprophyticus). The result suggested that biofield treatment has the significant impact on S. saprophyticus in revived treated cells with respect to the antimicrobial susceptibility, MIC, biochemical reactions pattern and biotype.