Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardioversion of atrial fibrillation does not affect obstructive sleep apnea

Abstract Background: Sleep apnea is common in patients with atrial fibrillation, but the effect of the cardioversion of atrial fibrillation to sinus rhythm on central and obstructive apneas is mainly unknown. The primary aim of the study was to analyze the association between cardioversion of atrial fibrillation and sleep apneas, to investigate whether obstructive or central sleep apneas are reduced following cardioversion. A secondary objective was to study the effect on sleep quality. Methods: Twenty-three patients with atrial fibrillation were investigated using overnight polysomnography, including esophagus pressure monitoring and ECG, before and after the cardioversion of persistent atrial fibrillation. Results: Obstructive sleep apnea occurred in 17/23 patients (74%), and central sleep apnea in 6/23 patients (26%). Five patients had both obstructive and central sleep apnea. Sinus rhythm at follow-up was achieved in 16 patients. The obstructive apnea-hypopnea index, central apnea-hypopnea index, and the number of patients with obstructive or central sleep apnea did not differ before and after restoration of sinus rhythm. Sleep time, sleep efficiency, time in different sleep stages, and subjective daytime sleepiness were normal and unaffected by cardioversion. Conclusions: Both obstructive and central sleep apneas are highly prevalent in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation. Obstructive sleep apneas are unaffected by the cardioversion of atrial fibrillation to sinus rhythm. The sleep pattern is normal and unaffected by cardioversion in patients with atrial fibrillation. Clinical Trial Registration: Trial number NCT00429884.
Gesture Interaction with Rich TV Content in the Social Setting

The appearance of new immersive TV content has increased the interactive possibilities presented to the viewers. Increased interactivity is seen as a valuable feature in viewing richer television content, but new functionalities are limited by what can be done naturally and intuitively using available devices like remote controls. Therefore, new interaction techniques, such as visual gestures control systems, have appeared aiming to enhance the viewers’ viewing experience. In this work we begin uncovering the potential and challenges of gesture interaction with ultra high definition video for people watching TV together. As a first step we have done a study with a group of people interacting with such content using a gesture-based system in the home environment.
Effect of Minor Populations of NS5A and NS5B Resistance-Associated Variants on HCV Genotype-3 Response to Daclatasvir plus Sofosbuvir, with or without Ribavirin

Background Treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 3 (GT3) is a medical priority. All-oral treatment of HCV GT3 with daclatasvir (DCV) and sofosbuvir (SOF), with or without ribavirin (RBV), is recommended by several treatment guidelines. The impact of HCV minority populations at amino acid positions in NS5A and NS5B associated with drug resistance on response to DCV+SOF±RBV was assessed in SOF-naive and SOF-experienced HCV patients. Methods The presence of baseline NS5A or NS5B polymorphisms was assessed in 227 and 167 HCV-GT3-infected patients, respectively, from four clinical studies of DCV+SOF±RBV. Polymorphisms were identified at a sequencing detection threshold of ≥10%, and at ≥1% by next-generation sequencing (NGS) for a subset. Results No SOF resistance-associated polymorphisms were detected at baseline. Among 58 patients with prospective baseline sequencing data at ≥10% and ≥1%, detectable NS5A substitutions at A30 (A30K/R/S/T/V), S62 (S62A/F/K/L/T) or Y93H were 38% more prevalent at ≥1% compared with ≥10% (55% [32/58] versus 41% [24/58] of patients), although sustained virological response (SVR) in patients with these substitutions remained the same at both sequencing thresholds (88%). Only one additional Y93H was detected at ≥1%; the patient achieved SVR. In two virological failures with baseline Y93H, a minority S62L substitution at baseline was enriched from <20% to ≥95% at failure. Treatment-emergent minority populations (at A30, L31, P32, P58 and E92) observed by NGS in four virological failures became undetectable by week 24 post-treatment. Conclusions Sequencing at a depth of ≥10% appears to be sufficient to predict HCV GT3 response to DCV+SOF±RBV.
Monitoring and visualizing adaptation of autonomic systems at runtime

Monitoring an autonomic system at runtime, which typically contains a large number of nodes operating in highly dynamic and open-ended environments, is very challenging for software architects. Solid software engineering methods and tools to support this process are therefore highly required. This paper proposes a novel monitoring and visualization framework for autonomic systems at runtime. Our approach is illustrated by an Eclipse plug-in for tracing the runtime awareness and adaptation capabilities using graph-like representation. A key benefit here is to provide feedback to the engineer about the behavior of the complex awareness mechanism used, thus helping the system evaluation process. We validate and assess our approach with a concrete application scenario from swarm robotics domain.
A Listwise Collaborative Filtering baesd on Temporal

The memory-based listwise collaborative filtering (ListCF) algorithm only generates the recommendation result by calculating the similarity between users, ignoring the influence of user interest changes over time on the recommendation results. To solve this problem, temporal weighting function defined by logistic function that can reflect the interest changes over time is introduced to user interest, then get the probability distribution of top-k permutation between users, finally calculating the similarity to find neighborhood users. Experiments on Movielens proved that the temporal characteristics can further improve the accuracy of recommendation.
Soil Microstructure Quantitative Analysis System and Its Application

The soil microstructure image processing technique is one of key techniques in quantitatively analyzing soil microstructure. It is analyzed that the quantitative research, developing of microstructure, deals with the deficiency of the non-confirming type parameter quantitative analysis function of soil microstructure image processing software, and have designed and developed the soil microstructure quantitative analytical system. Taking high terrace loess in Taiyuan as an example, through the quantitative microstructure analysis of the test samples corresponding to different compacting number, the paper discusses the regularities of microstructure development during the dynamic consolidation course. The application of the system is of important significance in the study of soil microstructure.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension and atrial arrhythmias: incidence, risk factors, and clinical impact

Atrial arrhythmia (AA) occurrence in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) may determine clinical deterioration and affect prognosis. In this study we assessed AA incidence in idiopathic (IPAH) and systemic sclerosis related PAH (SSc-PAH) and evaluated risk factors, management, and impact on mortality. We collected baseline data from consecutive IPAH or SSc-PAH patients prospectively enrolled in the Johns Hopkins Pulmonary Hypertension Registry between January 2000 and July 2016. During follow-up AA onset, treatment, and outcome were recorded. Among 317 patients (201 SSc-PAH, 116 IPAH), 42 developed AA (19 atrial fibrillation, 10 flutter-fibrillation, 9 atrial flutter, and 4 atrial ectopic tachycardia) with a 13.2% cumulative incidence. Most events were associated with hospitalization (90.5%). Electrical or pharmacological cardioversion was attempted in most cases. Patients with AA had higher right atrial pressure, pulmonary wedge pressure (P < 0.005), NT-proBNP (P < 0.05), and thyroid disease prevalence (P < 0.005). Higher mortality was observed in patients with AA, though not statistically significant (LogRank P = 0.323). Similar long-term mortality between IPAH with AA and SSc-PAH without AA was observed (LogRank P = 0.098). SSc-PAH with AA had the worst prognosis. In PAH patients AA occurrence is a matter of significant concern. Therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring sinus rhythm may represent an important goal.
Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Similarities and Dissimilarities in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Wine Strains Response to Nitrogen Availability

Nitrogen levels in grape-juices are of major importance in winemaking ensuring adequate yeast growth and fermentation performance. Here we used a comparative transcriptome analysis to uncover wine yeasts responses to nitrogen availability during fermentation. Gene expression was assessed in three genetically and phenotypically divergent commercial wine strains (CEG, VL1 and QA23), under low (67 mg/L) and high nitrogen (670 mg/L) regimes, at three time points during fermentation (12h, 24h and 96h). Two-way ANOVA analysis of each fermentation condition led to the identification of genes whose expression was dependent on strain, fermentation stage and on the interaction of both factors. The high fermenter yeast strain QA23 was more clearly distinct from the other two strains, by differential expression of genes involved in flocculation, mitochondrial functions, energy generation and protein folding and stabilization. For all strains, higher transcriptional variability due to fermentation stage was seen in the high nitrogen fermentations. A positive correlation between maximum fermentation rate and the expression of genes involved in stress response was observed. The finding of common genes correlated with both fermentation activity and nitrogen up-take underlies the role of nitrogen on yeast fermentative fitness. The comparative analysis of genes differentially expressed between both fermentation conditions at 12h, where the main difference was the level of nitrogen available, showed the highest variability amongst strains revealing strain-specific responses. Nevertheless, we were able to identify a small set of genes whose expression profiles can quantitatively assess the common response of the yeast strains to varying nitrogen conditions. The use of three contrasting yeast strains in gene expression analysis prompts the identification of more reliable, accurate and reproducible biomarkers that will facilitate the diagnosis of deficiency of this nutrient in the grape-musts and the development of strategies to optimize yeast performance in industrial fermentations.
Poly(ethylene glycol acrylate)‐functionalized hydrogels for heparan sulfate oligosaccharide recognition

Heparan sulfates are complex polysaccharides belonging to the family of glycosaminoglycans that participate to the regulation of cell behavior and tissue homeostasis. The biological activities conferred to heparan sulfates are largely dependent on the content and positioning of the sulfate groups along their saccharidic units. At present, identification of particular sulfation patterns in biologically relevant heparan sulfate sequences remains challenging. Although several approaches for structure analysis exist, the complexity of heparan sulfates makes new and original approaches still required. Here, we used molecular imprinting technologies to prepare a library of polyethylene glycol acrylate functionalized hydrogels with the aim to investigate their applicability as specific recognizing systems for fondaparinux, a synthetic pentasaccharide analog to the antithrombin binding site of heparin. Adequate choice of the hydrogel composition and controlling rebinding conditions were important determinants for improving the sulfated oligosaccharide recognition specificity and selectivity. Our results suggest that molecular imprinting approaches could be a possibility for the specific recognition of biologically active sequences in heparan sulfates.
Visual similarity analysis in loop closure through data dimensionality reduction via diffusion maps

This paper describes loop closures detection, a significant problem in mobile robotics, using analysis of similarity between images in a low-dimensional mapping. We represent a set of images as a graph in high-dimensional space, where each node is represented by a dominant eigenvector of the correspondent image. To this graph, we apply Diffusion Maps by Coifman and Lafon [4], a graph-based spectral method to data dimensionality reduction. We determine visual similarity analysis and detect loop closure in lower dimension, without building a vocabulary of visual words. Our experiments show results of loop closures detection both in indoor and outdoor environments from images captured by an RGB camera as well as images captured using Google Street View.
Adaptive Accurate Indoor-Localization Using Passive RFID

In many pervasive applications like the intelligent bookshelves in libraries, it is essential to accurately locate the items to provide the location-based service, e.g., the average localization error should be smaller than 50 cm and the localization delay should be within several seconds. Conventional indoor-localization schemes cannot provide such accurate localization results. In this paper, we design an adaptive, accurate indoor-localization scheme using passive RFID systems. We propose two adaptive solutions, i.e., the adaptive power stepping and the adaptive calibration, which can adaptively adjust the critical parameters and leverage the feedbacks to improve the localization accuracy. The realistic experiment results indicate that, our adaptive localization scheme can achieve an accuracy of 31 cm within 2.6 seconds on average.
Notch1 regulates tongue cancer cells proliferation, apoptosis and invasion

ABSTRACT Objectives: Notch1 regulates tumor biology in a complex, context-dependent manner. The roles of Notch1 in tongue cancer are still controversial. The aim of this study is to investigate the roles of Notch1 in tongue cancer. Materials and Methods: The expression of Notch1 was tested between tongue cancer and normal samples by using immunohistochemistry. Tongue cancer cells were transfected with siRNA or plasmid, respectively. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion ability were tested in appropriate ways. The subcutaneous tumor model was established to observe the tumor growth. Results: Notch1 was upregulated in tongue carcinoma tissues and the expression of Notch1 was related with tumor stage and differentiation. Overexpression of Notch1 could increase tongue cancer cells proliferation, invasion and migration. But inhibited the expression of Notch1 could decrease cells proliferation, invasion and migration and promote cell apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: Our results prove that the oncogenic role of Notch1 in tongue cancer and provide the direction of targeted therapy of tongue cancer.
A Low-Complexity Intra-Field Restoring Method for Interlaced Image

In this paper, a low-complexity intra-field restoring method for interlaced image is presented. We employ an edge detector to recognize the edge direction of each processing position, and observing the pixel correlation and edge information. To reduce the computational complexity, we use intra-field de-interlacing method. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that our design achieved excellent performance in quantitative evaluation and visual quality than other image restoring techniques. The proposed algorithm has a simple computation structure. Therefore, it is suitable for real-time hardware implementation.
SVM-based QoE estimation model for video streaming service over wireless networks

In this paper, we propose a quality of experience (QoE) estimation model for HTTP video streaming service over wireless networks. In the proposed model, the comprehensive QoE influence factors are grouped into two types, namely the objectivity-aware parameters and the psychology-aware parameters. The considered factors include video content features, the encoding parameters, the network transmission metrics, and the playout buffer parameters. Moreover, we use support vector machine (SVM) to estimate the integrated QoE with the comprehensive parameters, which achieves a tradeoff between the learning ability and the computational complexity of the QoE estimation model. Simulation results show that the proposed SVM-based QoE estimation model performs well in terms of high Pearson correlation coefficient, low root mean square error, and low computational complexity.
Analysis of drop test using a one-legged robot toward parachute landing by a humanoid robot

Discussions on how to perform tasks at disaster sites are actively conducted, but there is little debate on important issues such as how to deliver robots to disaster sites. To drop a humanoid robot with a parachute from an airplane is one of the promising ways of delivering robots. In this paper, the behavior of falling during parachute landing is modeled with an inverted pendulum model and the validity of the model is verified by the drop tests with a small single-legged robot. In addition, it was found that when the robot was dropped with a half-sitting posture, the impact acceleration is reduced. Based on this result, a parachute landing fall motion is designed and is succeeded in reducing the impact acceleration to 41%.
Large pragmatic randomised controlled trials in peri‐operative decision making: are they really the gold standard?

It is well recognised that evidencebased peri-operative care influences postoperative outcomes [1, 2]. However, evidence assessing the effects of individual peri-operative interventions on postoperative outcomes remains controversial, most likely due to inadequate sample size of many individual randomised controlled trials (RCT). Although metaanalyses and network meta-analyses of RCTs are commonly performed to compensate for the limited sample size of individual studies, their conclusions may sometimes be debatable [3, 4]. Therefore, the evidence generated from a large pragmatic RCT (> 1000 patients) may be superior to that from a systematic review and meta-analysis of smaller trials [5] and allow an evidence-based approach to clinical decision making [4, 6]. Most researchers recommend that large RCTs are carried out using a pragmatic study design, because tightly controlled trials (i.e. those with strict inclusion and exclusion criteria to reduce variability) may not have generalisability. The majority of large pragmatic RCTs assessing peri-operative interventions are multi-centre and international, so that the information yielded is generalisable to a broader patient population [6], assuming that the conclusions may be applied in realworld patient care. In fact, recent guidelines on peri-operative cardiac risk assessment and management for patients who undergo non-cardiac surgery are broadly based on the conclusions of several pragmatic studies [7]. Although pragmatic study design may be compelling for evaluating interventions related to medical management (i.e. non-surgical care), peri-operative care is different. Therefore, the interventions need critical appraisal before their conclusions are implemented in day-to-day clinical practice. Herein, we discuss the potential problems of large pragmatic RCTs assessing peri-operative interventions and attempts to provide an improved approach to developing evidence that would guide clinical practice.
Validation of a standard field test method in four countries to assess the toxicity of residues in dung of cattle treated with veterinary medical products

Registration of veterinary medical products includes the provision that field tests may be required to assess potential nontarget effects associated with the excretion of product residues in dung of treated livestock (phase II, tier B testing). However, regulatory agencies provide no guidance on the format of these tests. In the present study, the authors report on the development of a standardized field test method designed to serve as a tier B test. Dung was collected from cattle before and up to 2 mo after treatment with a topical application of a test compound (ivermectin). Pats formed of dung from the different treatments were placed concurrently in the field to be colonized by insects. The abundance, richness, and diversity of insects developing from egg to adult in these pats were compared across treatments using analysis of variance tests. Regression analyses were used to regress abundance, richness, and diversity against residue concentrations in each treatment. Results of the regression were used to estimate mean lethal concentration (LC50) values. The robustness of the method and the repeatability of its findings were assessed concurrently in 4 countries (Canada, France, Switzerland, and The Netherlands) in climatically diverse ecoregions. Results were generally consistent across countries, and support the method's formal adoption by the European Union to assess the effects of veterinary medical product residues on the composition and diversity of insects in dung of treated livestock. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1934–1946. © 2015 Crown in the right of Canada. Published by Wiley Periodicals Inc., on behalf of SETAC.
Isolation and genomic characterization of Novimethylophilus kurashikiensis gen. nov. sp. nov., a new lanthanide‐dependent methylotrophic species of Methylophilaceae

Recently, it has been found that two types of methanol dehydrogenases (MDHs) exist in Gram-negative bacterial methylotrophs, calcium-dependent MxaFI-MDH and lanthanide-dependent XoxF-MDH and the latter is more widespread in bacterial genomes. We aimed to isolate and characterize lanthanide-dependent methylotrophs. The growth of strain La2-4T on methanol, which was isolated from rice rhizosphere soil, was strictly lanthanide dependent. Its 16S rRNA gene sequence showed only 93.4% identity to that of Methylophilus luteus MimT , and the name Novimethylophilus kurashikiensis gen. nov. sp. nov. is proposed. Its draft genome (ca. 3.69 Mbp, G + C content 56.1 mol%) encodes 3579 putative CDSs and 84 tRNAs. The genome harbors five xoxFs but no mxaFI. XoxF4 was the major MDH in the cells grown on methanol and methylamine, evidenced by protein identification and quantitative PCR analysis. Methylamine dehydrogenase gene was absent in the La2-4T genome, while genes for the glutamate-mediated methylamine utilization pathway were detected. The genome also harbors those for the tetrahydromethanopterin and ribulose monophosphate pathways. Additionally, as known species, isolates of Burkholderia ambifaria, Cupriavidus necator and Dyadobacter endophyticus exhibited lanthanide dependent growth on methanol. Thus, lanthanide can be used as an essential growth factor for methylotrophic bacteria that do not harbor MxaFI-MDH.
Positive effects of neurofeedback on autism symptoms correlate with brain activation during imitation and observation

Autism has been characterized by atypical task‐related brain activation and functional connections, coinciding with deficits in sociocommunicative abilities. However, evidence of the brain's experience‐dependent plasticity suggests that abnormal activity patterns may be reversed with treatment. In particular, neurofeedback training (NFT), an intervention based on operant conditioning resulting in self‐regulation of brain electrical oscillations, has shown increasing promise in addressing abnormalities in brain function and behavior. We examined the effects of ≥ 20 h of sensorimotor mu‐rhythm‐based NFT in children with high‐functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a matched control group of typically developing children (ages 8–17). During a functional magnetic resonance imaging imitation and observation task, the ASD group showed increased activation in regions of the human mirror neuron system following the NFT, as part of a significant interaction between group (ASD vs. controls) and training (pre‐ vs. post‐training). These changes were positively correlated with behavioral improvements in the ASD participants, indicating that mu‐rhythm NFT may be beneficial to individuals with ASD.