Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Small-Area Estimation to Describe County-Level Disparities in Mammography

Introduction Breast cancer control efforts could benefit from estimating mammography prevalence at the substate level because studies have primarily analyzed health survey data at the national and state levels. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which geographic disparities exist in mammography use across counties in the contiguous United States. Methods We estimated county-level prevalence of recent mammography (past 2 years) for women aged 40 to 79 years by using synthetic regression, a small-area estimation method. The 2000 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 2000 Census, Area Resource File, and Food and Drug Administration mammography facility data were merged by BRFSS respondents' county of residence. We conducted separate analyses to produce county-level prevalence estimates for each race and age group. Results Mammography use varied geographically, and the magnitude of geographic disparities differed by race and age. Nonwhite women showed the lowest prevalence of mammography and widest range in county-level estimates. Women aged 40 to 49 had generally lower prevalence than other age groups, while women aged 65 to 79 showed the greatest variation in county-level mammography estimates. Conclusions Small-area estimation using BRFSS data is advantageous for surveillance of mammography use at the county level. This method allows documentation of geographic disparities and improves our understanding of the spatial distribution of mammography prevalence. Future interventions should consider this county-level geographic variation, targeting women in the neediest counties.
Luminescent Afterglow Behavior in the M2Si5N8: Eu Family (M = Ca, Sr, Ba)

Persistent luminescent materials are able to emit light for hours after being excited. The majority of persistent phosphors emit in the blue or green region of the visible spectrum. Orange- or red-emitting phosphors, strongly desired for emergency signage and medical imaging, are scarce. We prepared the nitrido-silicates Ca2Si5N8:Eu (orange), Sr2Si5N8:Eu (reddish), Ba2Si5N8:Eu (yellowish orange), and their rare-earth codoped variants (R = Nd, Dy, Sm, Tm) through a solid state reaction, and investigated their luminescence and afterglow properties. In this paper, we describe how the persistent luminescence is affected by the type of codopant and the choice and ratio of the starting products. All the materials exhibit some form of persistent luminescence, but for Sr2Si5N8:Eu,R this is very weak. In Ba2Si5N8:Eu the afterglow remains visible for about 400 s, and Ca2Si5N8:Eu,Tm shows the brightest and longest afterglow, lasting about 2,500 s. For optimal persistent luminescence, the dopant and codopant should be added in their fluoride form, in concentrations below 1 mol%. A Ca3N2 deficiency of about 5% triples the afterglow intensity. Our results show that Ba2Si5N8:Eu(,R) and Ca2Si5N8:Eu(,R) are promising persistent phosphors for applications requiring orange or red light.
Mycobacterial Gene cuvA Is Required for Optimal Nutrient Utilization and Virulence

ABSTRACT To persist and cause disease in the host, Mycobacterium tuberculosis must adapt to its environment during infection. Adaptations include changes in nutrient utilization and alterations in growth rate. M. tuberculosis Rv1422 is a conserved gene of unknown function that was found in a genetic screen to interact with the mce4 cholesterol uptake locus. The Rv1422 protein is phosphorylated by the M. tuberculosis Ser/Thr kinases PknA and PknB, which regulate cell growth and cell wall synthesis. Bacillus subtilis strains lacking the Rv1422 homologue yvcK grow poorly on several carbon sources, and yvcK is required for proper localization of peptidoglycan synthesis. Here we show that Mycobacterium smegmatis and M. tuberculosis strains lacking Rv1422 have growth defects in minimal medium containing limiting amounts of several different carbon sources. These strains also have morphological abnormalities, including shortened and bulging cells, suggesting a cell wall defect. In both mycobacterial species, the Rv1422 protein localizes uniquely to the growing cell pole, the site of peptidoglycan synthesis in mycobacteria. An M. tuberculosis ΔRv1422 strain is markedly attenuated for virulence in a mouse infection model, where it elicits decreased inflammation in the lungs and shows impaired bacterial persistence. These findings led us to name this gene cuvA (carbon utilization and virulence protein A) and to suggest a model in which deletion of cuvA leads to changes in nutrient uptake and/or metabolism that affect cell wall structure, morphology, and virulence. Its role in virulence suggests that CuvA may be a useful target for novel inhibitors of M. tuberculosis during infection.
A Flexible Data Warehousing Approach for One-Stop Querying on Heterogeneous Personal Information

This paper presents a flexible data warehousing approach which allows one-stop querying on entire personal information residing at heterogeneous data sources. Different from previous work that requires expensive and error-prone semantic integration, our approach aims to construct personal dataspaces for users. In our approach, personal data are uniformly represented in a single data model proposed in this paper, and stored in a data warehousing system based on a storage model corresponding to the data model. Then, users are enabled to easily retrieve all their personal information by using keywords or a semi-structured query language.
Distribution of Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF)-2 and FGF Receptor-1 Messenger RNA Expression and Protein Presence in the Mid-Trimester Human Fetus

Fibroblast growth factors (FGF) are known to have key roles in embryonic growth and morphogenesis, but their presence and contributions to fetal development are unclear. In particular, little information exists as to the relevance of FGF and their specific receptors to human fetal development. We studied the anatomical distribution of messenger RNA encoding FGF-2 and one of its high affinity receptors, FGFR1, using in situ hybridization in a variety of human fetal tissues in early second trimester. Corresponding protein distributions were determined by immunohistochemistry. Both FGF-2 and FGFR1 mRNA and proteins were found to be present in every organ and tissue examined, but with defined cellular localizations. In skeletal muscle, both FGF-2 and FGFR1 mRNA and peptides were present in differentiated fibers, and both co-localized to proliferating chondrocytes of the epiphyseal growth plate. FGF-2 and FGFR1 mRNA and peptides were also present within cardiac or gastrointestinal smooth muscle. Within the gastrointestinal tract FGF-2 mRNA and peptide were located in the submucosal tissue, whereas FGFR1 was expressed within the overlying mucosa. Similarly, in skin, FGF-2 was expressed within the dermis whereas FGFR1 mRNA and peptide were most apparent in the stratum germinativum of the epidermis. In kidney and lung, FGFR1 mRNA was located in the tubular and alveolar epithelia respectively, whereas FGF-2 was expressed in both epithelial and mesenchymal cell populations. Both growth factor and receptor were widespread in both neuroblasts and glioblasts in the cerebral cortex of the brain. Immunoreactivity for FGF-2 and FGFR1 was seen in all vascular endothelial cells of major vessels and capillaries. Within the skin, kidney, lung, and intestine FGF-2 immunoreactivity was found in basement membranes underlying epithelia, and was associated with the extracellular matrix and plasma membranes of many cell types. The results show that FGF-2 and one of its receptors are widely expressed anatomically in the mid-trimester human fetus.
Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus

It is about 35 years since Banting and Best discovered insulin, and, in spite of a vast amount of research, the exact mode of action of this hormone is still unknown. The structure of the insulin molecule has been brilliantly demonstrated by Sanger and his colleagues (Ryle et al., 1955), who showed that insulin is a protein with a molecular weight of 6,000 or multiples thereof. Each molecule consists of two polypeptide chains held together by -S-Slinkages derived from the amino-acid cystine. The A chain is made up of 21 amino-acid residues and the B chain of 30. It is convenient to consider first the actions of insulin and then the effects of such actions, as the former are
Estimated Impact of Emergency Medical Service Triage of Stroke Patients on Comprehensive Stroke Centers: An Urban Population-Based Study

Background and Purpose— The American Stroke Association recommends that Emergency Medical Service bypass acute stroke–ready hospital (ASRH)/primary stroke center (PSC) for comprehensive stroke centers (CSCs) when transporting appropriate stroke patients, if the additional travel time is ⩽15 minutes. However, data on additional transport time and the effect on hospital census remain unknown. Methods— Stroke patients ≥20 years old who were transported from home to an ASRH/PSC or CSC via Emergency Medical Service in 2010 were identified in the Greater Cincinnati area population of 1.3 million. Addresses of all patients’ residences and hospitals were geocoded, and estimated travel times were calculated. We estimated the mean differences between the travel time for patients taken to an ASRH/PSC and the theoretical time had they been transported directly to the region’s CSC. Results— Of 929 patients with geocoded addresses, 806 were transported via Emergency Medical Service directly to an ASRH/PSC. Mean additional travel time of direct transport to the CSC, compared with transport to an ASRH/PSC, was 7.9±6.8 minutes; 85% would have ⩽15 minutes added transport time. Triage of all stroke patients to the CSC would have added 727 patients to the CSC’s census in 2010. Limiting triage to the CSC to patients with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score of ≥10 within 6 hours of onset would have added 116 patients (2.2 per week) to the CSC’s annual census. Conclusions— Emergency Medical Service triage to CSCs based on stroke severity and symptom duration may be feasible. The impact on stroke systems of care and patient outcomes remains to be determined and requires prospective evaluation.
Multiphase interleaved converter for lithium battery active balancing

In this paper, a simple and flexible active balancing converter for lithium battery stack management is presented. Based on multiphase inverter legs connected at each lithium based battery potential, it is able to transfer energy from any cell(s) to any cell(s). A simple "natural" balancing control strategy is presented. Then, based on the high level of integration, an interleaved evolution of the converter is proposed for the downsizing of the passive components. Simulation and experimental results are provided to demonstrate the interest of the converter for active balancing of lithium based battery stacks.
A study on the efficiency of neutral crossover operators in genetic algorithms applied to the bin packing problem

This paper examines the influence of neutral crossover operators in a genetic algorithm (GA) applied to the one-dimensional bin packing problem. In the experimentation 16 benchmark instances have been used and the results obtained by three different GAs are compared with the ones obtained by an evolutionary algorithm (EA). The aim of this work is to determine whether an EA (with no crossover functions) can perform similarly to a GA.
A Region-Based Fuzzy Feature Matching Approach to Content-Based Image Retrieval

This paper proposes a fuzzy logic approach, UFM (unified feature matching), for region-based image retrieval. In our retrieval system, an image is represented by a set of segmented regions, each of which is characterized by a fuzzy feature (fuzzy set) reflecting color, texture, and shape properties. As a result, an image is associated with a family of fuzzy features corresponding to regions. Fuzzy features naturally characterize the gradual transition between regions (blurry boundaries) within an image and incorporate the segmentation-related uncertainties into the retrieval algorithm. The resemblance of two images is then defined as the overall similarity between two families of fuzzy features and quantified by a similarity measure, UFM measure, which integrates properties of all the regions in the images. Compared with similarity measures based on individual regions and on all regions with crisp-valued feature representations, the UFM measure greatly reduces the influence of inaccurate segmentation and provides a very intuitive quantification. The UFM has been implemented as a part of our experimental SIMPLIcity image retrieval system. The performance of the system is illustrated using examples from an image database of about 60,000 general-purpose images.
The influence of Chinese culture on family caregivers of stroke survivors: A qualitative study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To explore and describe the caregiving experiences of Chinese stroke caregivers. BACKGROUND Previous research has indicated that culture can have a significant impact on the stroke caregiving experience. Moreover, scant research exists on stroke caregivers' experience within the Chinese culture. DESIGN A qualitative descriptive design was used. METHODS In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 25 family caregivers of stroke survivors. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and analysed. Content analysis was also performed. FINDINGS Twenty-five family caregivers of stroke survivors were recruited for the study. On average, respondents were 66 years old (range 45-82 years). Of 25 interviewees, 76% were female, 64% were spouse-caregivers and 36% were children-caregivers. Three themes reflecting the influence of Chinese culture on stroke caregiving emerged from the interviews. (i) Caregiving role perception. Informants accepted caregiving for the sick family member as an expected part of life, a culturally prescribed obligation and an expression of reciprocal love. (ii) Coping strategies. Connecting with family resources and connecting with inner strength were frequently reported coping strategies. (iii) Self-sacrifice. Informants identified self-reliance and feeling of restraint in their utilisation or access of formal caregiving service. Chinese caregivers sacrifice themselves for the care recipients regardless of the hardships and the neglect of their own health. CONCLUSION Our findings provide a comprehensive and culturally sensitive perspective in understanding the experience of stroke caregivers in Chinese communities. Cultural and religious backgrounds were found to influence Chinese stroke caregivers' experience, coping strategies and self-sacrifice behaviour in idiosyncratic ways. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Research on the practice of culture can serve as a basis for the formulation of specific policies and effective interventions for supporting stroke caregivers of different cultural backgrounds.
A new testing method for XACML 3.0 policy based on ABAC and data flow

In this paper, the authors propose a new data flow based unit testing method. The authors involved the coverage selection approach with a decision inheritance tree, which can achieve high structural coverage to design test cases. The authors evaluate the effectiveness of the methods and conducted two sets of tests by using a series of mutation operators. The evaluation results show that the new method can reach higher mutation scores.
Infragenicular Stent Implantation for Below-the-Knee Atherosclerotic Disease: Clinical Evidence from an International Collaborative Meta-Analysis on 640 Patients

Purpose: To report a systematic review of the literature published on the outcomes of stenting for below-the-knee disease in patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI). Methods: Potentially relevant studies of stent implantation in the infragenicular arteries in ≥5 patients with ≥1-month follow-up were systematically sought in BioMedCentral, ClinicalTrials.gov, The Cochrane Collaboration Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Google Scholar, and PubMed. Data were abstracted and pooled with a random-effect model to generate risk estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Interaction tests were performed to compare different stent types. A risk of bias assessment was conducted separately, as were appraisals for small study bias, statistical heterogeneity, and inconsistency. Results: Eighteen nonrandomized studies were retrieved comprising 640 patients. After a median follow-up of 12 months, binary in-stent restenosis occurred in 25.7% (95% CI 11.6% to 40.0%), primary patency in 78.9% (95% CI 71.8% to 86.0%), improvement in Rutherford class in 91.3% (95% CI 85.5% to 97.1%), target vessel revascularization in 10.1% (95% CI 6.2% to 13.9%), and limb salvage in 96.4% (95% CI 94.7% to 98.1%). Head-to-head comparisons showed that sirolimus-eluting stents were superior to balloon-expandable bare metal stents in preventing restenosis and increasing primary patency (both p<0.001); sirolimus-eluting stents were also better than paclitaxel-eluting stents in terms of primary patency (p<0.001) and repeat revascularizations (p=0.014). Conclusion: Percutaneous infragenicular stent implantation after failed or unsuccessful balloon angioplasty is associated with favorable clinical results in patients with CLI. Notwithstanding limitations of primary studies, sirolimus-eluting stents appear superior to bare metal and paclitaxel-eluting stents in terms of angiographic and/or clinical outcomes.
Surface topographies of glaucoma drainage devices and their influence on human tenon fibroblast adhesion.

PURPOSE This study was performed to investigate the surface topography of different glaucoma drainage devices and to determine the effects of surface roughness on cell adhesion of cultured human tenon fibroblasts. METHODS The surface topography of four widely used devices (Ahmed FP7 and Ahmed S-2; New World Medical, Inc., Rancho Cucamonga, CA; Baerveldt BG101-350; Advanced Medical Optics, Irvine, CA; and Molteno S1; Molteno Ophthalmic Ltd., Dunedin, New Zealand) was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, and roughness was quantified by white-light confocal microscopy. Cells were grown for 72 hours on the surfaces of implants affixed to standard culture dishes. The cells were labeled with a fluorescent dye and detected by confocal laser scanning microscopy, while simultaneously imaging the surface reflectance. Collagen adsorption was quantified immunologically by using fluorescent beads coupled to a secondary antibody. RESULTS The root-mean-square roughness was 1.5 +/- 0.1 microm (mean +/- SE) for the silicone Ahmed model FP7 and 1.3 +/- 0.1 microm for the Ahmed with polypropylene base plate Ahmed model S-2. The Baerveldt was substantially smoother, with a mean roughness of 0.1 +/- 0.01 microm. The Molteno was the smoothest of all devices (0.07 +/- 0.01 microm). Cell adhesion was most prevalent on base plates with higher surface roughness, markedly less pronounced on the smoother base plates, and independent of collagen adsorption. CONCLUSIONS The most frequently implanted glaucoma drainage devices are of markedly different surface topography. Surface roughness appears to correlate with tenon fibroblast adhesion in vitro and also with the rate of occurrence of postimplantation hypertensive phase and failure due to fibrous encapsulation. Surface roughness may thus play a role in triggering excessive fibrovascular reactions. Smoother base plate surfaces may enhance the success rates of these devices.
Cortical Num1p Interacts with the Dynein Intermediate Chain Pac11p and Cytoplasmic Microtubules in Budding Yeast

Num1p, a cortical 313-kD protein, controls cytoplasmic microtubule (cMT) functions and nuclear migration through the bud neck in anaphase cells. A green fluorescent protein (GFP)-Num1p fusion protein localizes at the bud tip and the distal mother pole of living cells, apparently forming cMT capture sites at late anaphase. In addition, galactose-induced GFP-Num1p is seen at the bud neck and in lateral regions of the mother cortex. The bud tip location of Num1p depends on Bni1p but does not require Kar9p, Dyn1p, or cMTs, whereas cMT contacts with polar Num1p dots are reduced in cells lacking Dyn1p. Num1p associates with the dynein intermediate chain Pac11p in the presence of Dyn1p, and with the α-tubulin Tub3p, as shown by coimmune precipitation of tagged proteins. Num1p also forms a complex with Bni1p and Kar9p, although Num1p is not required for Bni1p- and Kar9p-dependent nuclear migration to the bud neck in preanaphase cells. Our data suggest that Num1p controls nuclear migration during late anaphase by forming dynein-interacting cortical cMT capture sites at both cellular poles. In addition, Num1p may transiently cooperate with an associated Bni1p–Kar9p complex at the bud tip of early anaphase cells.
Exploiting Gene Regulatory Networks for Robust Wireless Sensor Networking

Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs) represent the interactions of genes in living organisms, which have evolved over millions of years to provide a near-optimal structure for rapid adaptation to the environment. On the other hand, robustness in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is a critical factor that largely depends on their topology and how quickly the network can recover from node and link failures. This article proposes a novel approach to design robust WSNs by exploiting GRNs. Specifically, we build bio-inspired WSNs based on the topology of GRNs. Our approach embeds the physical communication graph of the WSN into the GRN graph under the optimization criterion of minimizing the interference between different nodes. Furthermore, we propose an algorithm to identify data collection points (i.e., sinks) and improve robustness by maximizing the expansion of the network. Through an analytical evaluation, we show that our bio-inspired graph embedding approach leads to robust WSNs which preserve the structural properties of GRNs.
SIMULTANEOUS METHODS OF IMAGE REGISTRATION AND SUPER-RESOLUTION USING ANALYTICAL COMBINATIONAL JACOBIAN MATRIX

In this paper we propose two simultaneous image registration (IR) and super-resolution (SR) methods using a novel approach in calculating the Jacobian matrix. SR is the process of fusing several low resolution (LR) images to reconstruct a high resolution (HR) image; however, as an inverse problem, it consists of three principal operations of warping, blurring and down-sampling that should be applied sequentially to the desired HR image to produce the existing LR images. Unlike the previous methods, we neither calculate the Jacobian matrix numerically nor derive it by treating the three principal operations separately. We develop a new approach to derive the Jacobian matrix analytically from the combination of the three principal operations. In this approach, a Gaussian kernel (as it is more realistic in a wide range of applications) is considered for blurring, which can be adaptively resized for each LR image. The main intended method is established by applying the aforementioned ideas to the joint methods, a class of simultaneous iterative methods in which the incremental values for both registration parameters and HR image are obtained by solving one linear system of equations per iteration. Our second proposed method is formed by applying these ideas to the alternating minimization (AM) methods, a class of simultaneous iterative methods in which the incremental values of registration parameters are obtained after calculating the HR image at each iteration. The results show that our proposed joint and AM methods are superior to the recently proposed methods such as Tian's joint and Hardie's AM methods respectively.