Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Exercise Rehabilitation on Blood Pressure of Patients after Myocardial Infarction

Objectives: Supervised exercise cardiac rehabilitation programs have been suggested to all patients specially patients with post-myocardial infarction (MI) for many years. However, limited information is available on the usefulness of exercise rehabilitation programs in chronic MI. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of supervised exercise training on MI patients by measuring both physical and physiological factors. Methods: This was a semi-experimental randomized study. It included seventy two (35 cases, 37 controls) post-MI patients aged 40 to 67 years. They were randomly selected from those with MI based on WHO criteria who were referred to cardiac rehabilitation unit of Isfahan Shahid Chamran cardiovascular research center. After initial measurements including weight, height, functional capacity, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) in both resting and exercise states, patients were randomized into either the training group (n=35) or the control group (n =37). The training group had supervised aerobic training program, three times a week, with 60–70% of the maximal heart rate (HR) reserve for two months. After the training program was completed, all measurements were repeated in both groups. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures. Results: Patients in exercise group showed statistically significant improvement in resting HR (81.27±7.75 bpm vs. 74.17±10.11bpm, p≤0.001), resting SBP (125.92±9.30 mmHg vs. 123.54±6.82 mmHg, p≤0.01), SBP peak (150.22±7.12 mmHg vs. 133.54±6.82 mmHg, p≤0.001), HR peak (132.51±3.06 bpm vs. 142.00±3.14bpm, p≤0.001), and exercise capacity (8.49±1.18 METs vs. 9.42±1.19 METs, p≤0.01). Conclusions: The results from the study showed that a 2-month exercise rehabilitation program in post-MI patients is useful for improving both blood pressure and exercise capacity and should be encouraged more commonly.
Cellular types in acute leukaemia: diagnosis and significance

Two independent observers, one using haematological and the other histological methods, analysed material from 68 patients with acute leukaemia. A correct diagnosis of the cell type of leukaemia was made in 70% of cases by haematological methods, and in 83% of those cases histological examination gave the same result. In two-thirds of the haematologically equivocal cases histological examination provided a positive diagnosis. The finally undiagnosed cases amounted to 12% of the total. The types so diagnosed could not be correlated with any clinical features. Differentiation of the cell types in acute leukaemia showed that children with granulocytic types of acute leukaemia survived for shorter periods than those with other types but in adults the type of cell had no significance when related to survival. In adults the immediate prognosis for all cell types was relatively bad. The unfavourable prognosis attached to a high initial leucocyte count was confirmed.
Association between IL-33 Gene Polymorphisms (rs1929992, rs7044343) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in a Chinese Han Population

ABSTRACT Objective: Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is a member of the IL-1 family, and previous studies found the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the IL-33 gene was related to susceptibility to autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and Behcet’s disease. To date, no study has discussed the potential association between IL-33 gene polymorphisms and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: We conducted a case-control study including 371 SLE patients and 408 healthy controls to investigate the correlation between the SNPs of IL-33 gene (rs1929992, rs7044343) and SLE in a Chinese Han population. Results: There was significantly lower expression of allele G for rs1929992 in SLE patients than that in controls (G versus A, P = 0.012, OR = 1.310, 95% CI: 1.060–1.624 after adjustment with sex). Similarly, genotype GG was associated with the susceptibility to SLE as compared with the AA genotype (P = 0.017, OR = 1.714, 95% CI: 1.101–2.669 after adjustment with sex). We also found statistical significance in the dominant model (GG+GA versus AA, P = 0.017, OR = 1.481, 95% CI: 1.074–2.044 after adjustment with sex). However, we found no strong evidence for the association of IL-33 rs7044343 polymorphism with SLE. Moreover, association studies were performed on the relationship between the IL-33 gene polymorphisms and lupus nephritis as well as nine clinical features of SLE, but there was no significant association regarding the distribution of allele and genotype frequencies between SLE patients positive and negative for the presence of sub-phenotypes. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that IL-33 rs1929992 polymorphism may be a potential biomarker for susceptibility to SLE.
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma “masquerading” as Pott's disease in a 13-year old boy

Abstract Lymphomas are malignant neoplasms of the lymphoid lineage. They are broadly classified as either Hodgkin disease or as non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Burkitt′s lymphoma, a variety of NHL, is significantly most common in sub-Saharan Africa, where it accounts for approximately one half of childhood cancers. Lymphoblastic lymphoma is less common. A case of paravertebral high grade non-Hodgkin′s lymphoma (lymphoblastic lymphoma) "masquerading" as Pott′s disease in a 13-year-old child is reported. The present report was informed by the unusual presentation of this case and the intent of increasing the index of diagnostic suspicion. A brief appraisal is provided of the clinical parameters, management strategies and challenges. AT was a 13-year boy that presented on account of a slowly evolving and progressively increasing hunch on the back and inability to walk over 4 and 8 months duration, respectively. There was subsequent inability to control defecation and urination. There was no history of cough. He and his twin brother lived with their paternal grandfather who had chronic cough with associated weight loss. The grandfather died shortly before the child′s admission. The child had no BCG immunization. The essential findings on examination were in keeping with lower motor neurons (LMN) paralysis of the lower limbs. The upper limbs appeared normal. There was loss of cutaneous sensation from the umbilicus (T10) downward. There was a firm, (rather tense), non-tender non-pulsatile, smooth swelling over the mid-third of the back (T6-L1) the mass had no differential warmth. It measures about 20×12 cm. Chest radiograph showed no active focal lung lesion, but the thoraco-lumbar spine showed a vertebral planner at L1 and a wedged collapse of T11-T12 vertebrae. There was sclerosis of the end plates of all the vertebral bodies with associated reduction in the bone density. He had an excision biopsy on the 90th day on admission, following which his clinical state rapidly deteriorated. He died within 48 h post surgery. This report aims at raising the local index of clinical suspicion by highlighting the reality of rarities, even in the presence of inadequate diagnostic facilities!
The Association of Cytomegalovirus Sero‐Pairing with Outcomes and Costs Following Cadaveric Renal Transplantation Prior to the Introduction of Oral Ganciclovir CMV Prophylaxis

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an important cause of morbidity, mortality and cost in cadaveric renal transplantation. This study was designed to document the clinical and economic outcomes associated with donor and recipient CMV sero‐pairing. Data were drawn from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) on 17 001 cadaveric renal transplant recipients transplanted between 1995 and 1997 with recorded donor and recipient CMV sero‐status. In multivariate analysis, CMV‐seropositive recipients were associated with a significantly higher incidence of delayed graft function, a lower incidence of graft loss, and lower costs than CMV‐seronegative recipients. CMV‐seropositive compared to seronegative donors were associated with significantly higher incidence of CMV disease, graft loss, and higher costs when transplanted into CMV‐seronegative recipients. However, CMV‐seronegative donors into seropositive recipients had no significant association with outcome beyond a higher incidence of CMV disease compared to CMV‐seronegative donor and recipient pairs. The outcomes associated with CMV‐seropositive donors and seronegative recipients call for tailored management strategies which may include avoidance of such mismatching, antiviral therapy, immunization, or modified immunosuppression.
Expectations and Arms Races

Recent empirical studies of arms races have produced two puzzling results. First, for several important arms races, particularly the U.S. -USSR case, there appears to be no interaction. Arms acquisition appears to be driven only by internal factors. Second, in several cases, nations appear to be responding to the current military expenditures of their opponent. This statistical result presents interpretation problems since nations do not know the current defense expenditure of their opponent at the time that they make their own military expenditure decision. A number of interpretations for these results have been provided. They include inappropriate model specification, inappropriate operationalization of military threat, and error-ridden military expenditure data. Nevertheless, the results persist and conflict with our more substantive and intuitive understanding of arms processes. A process based upon expectations of current arms expenditures of the opponent is developed to deal with this puzzle. In this paper several alternative expectation mechanisms are formulated and tested for a number of contemporary arms races.
A Shared e-Decision Support Portal for Pediatric Asthma

We describe the user-centered development of an electronic medical record–based portal, “MyAsthma,” designed to facilitate shared decision making in pediatric asthma. Interviews and focus groups with 7 parents of children with asthma and 51 clinical team members elicited 2 overarching requirements: that the portal should support sustained communication and ensure patient safety. Parents and clinicians prioritized features including collecting parent and child concerns and goals; symptom, side effect, and medication adherence tracking with decision support; and accessible educational materials. Iterative usability testing refined the system. MyAsthma provides a model for using technology to foster shared decision making in ambulatory care settings.
Estimate human-force from sEMG signals for a lower-limb rehabilitation robot

This paper presents an application of artificial neural network (ANN) to estimate human forces from Electromyogram (sEMG) signals. There are plenty of algorithms that are used to obtain the optimal ANN setting. The accuracy of ANN model is highly dependent on the network parameter settings and the accuracy of target data. However, in the majority of previous studies the force data, which are collected from the force sensors or dynamiters, used as target data in the train phase. Whereas the force sensors only measured the contact force, while the EMG signals are included of contact force and limb's dynamics. Therefore, in this paper, we present the new model to estimate the force from sEMG signals. In this method, the sum of the limb's dynamics and the contact force is used as target data in the train phase. To determine the limb's dynamics, the patient's body and rehabilitation robot are modeled in the OpenSIM. The results indicated that presented model can estimate the human force from sEMG signals precisely.
The mechanical determinants of energetic cost in backward running

Backward running elicits a 30% higher metabolic cost then forward running [4]. Prior research suggests that the greater metabolic cost of backward running results from generating muscle force at a faster rate due to using a faster stride frequency [7]. However, backward running may be energetically more costly as a result of using a more flexed limb posture and thus, a reduction in leg extensor muscle mechanical advantage during the stance phase [3].
The renal medullary endothelin system in control of sodium and water excretion and systemic blood pressure

Purpose of reviewEndothelin-1 is a multifunctional peptide that is produced by the kidney and may regulate a variety of renal functions. This review discusses recent developments in understanding the role of the medullary endothelin-1 system in regulating renal salt and water excretion and systemic blood pressure. Recent findingsThe renal medulla is the major site of endothelin-1 synthesis and receptor expression in the kidney. Endothelin-1 in vitro can inhibit sodium or water transport in the collecting duct and thick ascending limb through autocrine pathways. Endothelin-1 also can increase medullary blood flow. These effects of endothelin-1 are partially mediated by nitric oxide and cyclooxygenase metabolites which are produced by most medullary cells. Mice with collecting duct-specific knockout of the endothelin-1 gene have impaired sodium excretion in response to sodium loading and have hypertension which worsens with high salt intake. The mice also have heightened sensitivity to vasopressin and decreased ability to excrete an acute water load. Mice with collecting duct-specific endothelin A receptor knockout have normal blood pressure and sodium excretion, but have reduced vasopressin responsiveness. Medullary endothelin-1 content is reduced in many forms of experimental hypertension. SummaryMedullary endothelin-1 regulates renal sodium and water transport and medullary blood flow. In particular, the medullary collecting duct is important in this process, but the medullary endothelin system involves complex interactions, through autocrine and paracrine pathways, between most cell types in the region. Medullary endothelin-1 is fundamentally important in physiologic regulation of renal sodium and water excretion and maintenance of normal systemic blood pressure.
LabVIEW to CCS Link for Automating Digital Signal & Image Processing Applications

The purpose of this paper is to present the Lab VIEW to CCS Link which is a developed from scratch toolkit. It provides the user with the opportunity to design and implement in a fast and easy way, interfaces with Lab VIEW 7.1 or later, for digital signal and image processing applications on DSPs. The interfaces (Vis) created with Lab VIEW to CCS Link can setup and control Code Composer Studio v3.1 or later and exchange data with more than one DSPs. In order to demonstrate the LabVIEW to CCS Link capabilities, the implementation of two typical applications on signal and image processing are also presented. Due to the great convenience this toolkit offers, it can be used for educational purposes as well.
Evaluation of Conditional Value-at-Risk Models

We evaluate predictive performance of a selection of conditional and unconditional Value-at-Risk (VaR) models. Byltering various time varying volatility models we predict risk forecasts and compare them with that of unconditional VaR models. We consider VaR models based on ARCH models, historical simulation, Monte Carlo, non- parametric quantile regressions, and extreme value theory (EVT). In addition, we also apply these methods to the standardized residuals to compute what is often called as conditional VaR (CVaR). The return series are standardized using various conditional variance models such as GARCH, FIGARCH, EGARCH models. We apply these meth- ods to the foreign exchange and stock markets of several countries that su®ered recent ¯nancial crisis, and compare their performances in terms of various evaluation criteria using the tests of White (2000) and Hansen (2001).
Characterization of non-destructive inspection data from composite structure defects

In this paper, the processing and characterization of aircraft defect signal data have been explored and studied. The signal data was collected using the nondestructive ultrasonic inspection technique, Pitch/Catch swept method. Defects of different size and depths were studied and signal processing techniques were used to identify features that provide the most distinction among the defects. The discussion in this paper is only limited to the parts of the classification process that pertain to data collection, pre-processing, and feature extraction.
Employment Status and Health in Spain Before and After the Great Recession

This article analyzes the relationship between employment status (ES), on one hand, and self-rated health and psychological distress, on the other, in the context of the Great Recession beginning in 2008. For this purpose, it is necessary to move beyond the employment/unemployment dichotomy characteristics of previous theories and research concerning the relationship between the labor market, recession, and health. The authors use data from the Spanish National Health Surveys in 2006 (n = 15,128), before the crisis, and in 2012 (n = 11,124), when its consequences had taken effect. The results of the regression analysis indicate a structural change in the relationship between ES and health. Health inequality patterns changed during the crisis, with increased deterioration in the health of unemployed, especially the long-term unemployed, and self-employed workers. Health inequalities were reduced for temporary workers. The results support the idea that the structure of the association between ES and health varies according to the economic cycle. The association between recession, ES, and health would be directly related to the specific characteristics of the economic and employment contexts under study. In the Spanish case, labor market segmentation processes based on numerical flexibility—a key feature of the Mediterranean Variety of Capitalism—may explain the results obtained.
Temperature Effects on the Electrical Characteristics of BJTs and MOSFETs

The aim of the present paper is to shed further light on studying the temperature effects on the static (I-V) and dynamic (C-V) characteristics of bipolar junction- and metal oxide field effect - transistors. In this concern, several parameters were plotted at different temperature levels. The experimental results showed that, for the bipolar junction transistor 2SC2120, a noticeable increase in the collector current and the current gain from 0.198 A and 0.14 up-to 0.25 A and 0.24 by increasing the temperature from 25oC and 135oC, respectively. Considering the threshold voltage, its value was shown to be decreased from 0.62 Volt to 0.42 Volt within the same temperature range. In addition, from the traced dynamic characteristics of the same BJT, the diffusion capacitance of the emitter-base junction, as an example, increased from 10.11 nF up-to 45.09 nF by increasing the temperature up-to 135 oC. On the other hand, for metal oxide field effect transistor 2N6660, the static characteristics showed that a noticeable decrease in the drain current and the forward trans-conductance from 1.2A and 5.0 Ω-1 down-to 0.79 A and 1.9 Ω-1, respectively, due to temperature increasing from 25 oC up-to 135 oC. While the threshold voltage was hold constant. Finally, the reverse capacitance of the gate-drain junction was shown to be increases from 41.48 pF up-to 47.31 pF within the same range of temperature.
Synthesis and Biological Activities of 4-Chloroindole-3-acetic Acid and Its Esters

4-Chloroindole-3-acetic acid (4-Cl-IAA) and its esters were synthesized from 2-chloro-6-nitrotoluene as the starting material. The biological activities of 4-Cl-IAA and its esters were determined by four bioassays. Except for the tert-butyl ester, 4-Cl-IAA and its esters had stronger elongation activity toward Avena coleoptiles than had indole-3-acetic acid. The biological activities of the methyl, ethyl and allyl esters were as strong as the activity of the free acid. All the esters, except for the tert-butyl, inhibited Chinese cabbage hypocotyl growth more than the free acid did, and all the esters induced severe swelling and formation of numerous lateral roots in black gram seedlings even at a low concentration. Furthermore, adventitious root formation was strongly promoted in Serissa japonica cuttings by all the esters. The root formation-promoting activities of the ethyl and allyl esters were about three times the value for indole-3-butyric acid which is used to promote and accelerate root formation in plant cuttings.
Operational experiences for maritime homeland security operations

As global communities learn to operate within a world of tensions, there is an increased need to redefine security measures and develop more advanced methods of defense. Increasing measures are being taken to ensure underwater soft targets are controlled and secure to eliminate limitless destruction. Terrorist organizations now have the ability to develop, procure and deploy mines and/or underwater, improvised explosive devices. Technology such as unmanned underwater systems, situational awareness and sensor fusion software, and diver-held search systems are enabling change detection operations and diver detection; while ship hull inspection systems have been operationally demonstrated to mitigate against attacks on soft targets.
Treatment of new onset type 1 diabetes with teplizumab: successes and pitfalls in development

Introduction: Type 1 diabetes is an organ-specific autoimmune disease, characterized by selective destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells by T-cell-mediated inflammation. Beginning with studies of cyclosporin A in the 1980s, but with more activity in the past decade, there have been a number of clinical trials to test whether immunotherapies can arrest the decline in C-peptide, which is associated with progression of type 1 diabetes leading to the metabolic instability that characterizes the disease. One of the most promising agents, teplizumab, is an FcR-nonbinding anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody that has been tested in Phase II – III clinical trials and was shown to preserve the C-peptide levels and reduce the need for exogenous insulin. Areas covered: In this review, we discuss the recent update on clinical data obtained from trials of teplizumab in type 1 diabetes, the drug’s postulated mechanism of action and the identification of responders to therapy. We highlight the results of recent trials as well as the lessons that have been learned from the clinical trials involving selection of end points and the inclusion of diverse study populations. Expert opinion: Teplizumab has been shown to preserve β cell function in patients; however, it does not represent a ‘cure’ for patients, and its efficacy does entail a significant advance in arresting the progression of the disease toward complete insulin deficiency and reliance on exogenous insulin.
CONSUMIDORES, ONLINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION Y RECLAMACIONES DE PEQUEÑA CUANTÍA CONSUMERS, ONLINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND SMALL CLAIMS

The use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in the field of consumer claims has a long history both at the EU and in Spain. Indeed, the ADR including mediation are considered as a basic tool to ensure consumer access to justice in fast and inexpensive processes that comes to a solution in conflicts that otherwise would very unlikely access the Courts. Therefore, this paper aims to highlight the basic lines of the regulation of electronic conflict resolution tools in consumer affairs focusing on the effectiveness of consumer protection within and outside the digital market (e -confidence ) part 1 ; the creation of a European platform for online dispute resolution that, however , is not an ODR ( part 2 ); and to analyze the suitability of the ODR systems in terms of the amount of the conflict, including decisions on minimum amount and the system accessibility.