Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Difficult‐to‐Control Asthma and Obstructive Sleep Apnea

This study tested the hypothesis that asthma can promote obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) by looking at the prevalence of OSA among patients with difficult‐to‐control asthma receiving long‐term oral corticosteroid (CS) therapy and examined some possible etiological factors. The study design was a prospective cohort study and was conducted in the pulmonary outpatient clinic of a tertiary care center in Haifa, Israel. Twenty‐two consecutive patients with severe unstable asthma, 14 on continuous and 8 on bursts of oral CS, in addition to their standard therapy for a mean of 8.9 ± 3.3 years, underwent a night polysomnography in a sleep laboratory regardless of sleep complaints. A standard questionnaire was completed upon attending the sleep laboratory. The OSA was defined as respiratory disturbance index (RDI) of ≥ 5 and typical complaints. The correlation between RDI to asthma and morphometric parameters was tested. All but one patient had OSA [95.5% prevalence], with mean RDI of 17.7 ± 2.5. The RDI values were significantly higher in the continuous CS therapy subgroup (21.4 ± 3.4 vs. 11.1 ± 1.6, p < 0.05]. The study group had above normal neck circumferences and body mass index. The former increased by 12.1% ± 3.1% to 29.8% ± 1% during the oral CS therapy interval but had no significant effect on RDI as a covariant. This study showed an unexpectedly high prevalence of OSA among patients with unstable asthma receiving long‐term chronic or frequent burst of oral CS therapy. It may be assumed that prolonged and especially continuous oral CS therapy in asthma increases airway collapsibility.
A new method of measuring shoulder hand behind back movement: Reliability, values in symptomatic and asymptomatic people, effect of hand dominance, and side-to-side variability

ABSTRACT Shoulder hand behind back (HBB) range of motion (ROM) is a useful measure of impairment and treatment outcome. The purpose of this repeated measures study was to identify inter- and intra-rater reliability, of a new simplified method of measuring HBB ROM. Two experienced raters measured HBB ROM with a bubble inclinometer on 25 people (aged 42–75 years, 14 female) with unilateral shoulder dysfunction and 25 age- and gender-matched asymptomatic subjects on two different occasions. Statistical analysis included calculation of intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs), minimal detectable change (MDC), standard error of measurement (SEM), Pearson correlation coefficient (r), coefficient of determination (R2), and the lower bound score. Mean HBB ROM was 108.6° (SD = 16.3) and 23.9° (SD = 10.5) on the pain-free and symptomatic side, respectively. Both intra-rater and inter-rater reliability were high (ICC > 0.80). For asymptomatic people the SEM was at most 3° and MDC was 8° with a strong correlation between the dominant and nondominant sides (r > 0.72). The mean absolute values and lower bound scores were at most 10.2° and 26.0°, respectively. These results indicate that this new and novel method of measuring HBB ROM is accurate, has good inter- and intra-rater reliability, and provides normal values for between-limb ROM variability.
Improved Cardiac Risk Assessment With Noninvasive Measures of Coronary Flow Reserve

Background— Impaired vasodilator function is an early manifestation of coronary artery disease and may precede angiographic stenosis. It is unknown whether noninvasive assessment of coronary vasodilator function in patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease carries incremental prognostic significance. Methods and Results— A total of 2783 consecutive patients referred for rest/stress positron emission tomography were followed up for a median of 1.4 years (interquartile range, 0.7–3.2 years). The extent and severity of perfusion abnormalities were quantified by visual evaluation of myocardial perfusion images. Rest and stress myocardial blood flows were calculated with factor analysis and a 2-compartment kinetic model and were used to compute coronary flow reserve (coronary flow reserve equals stress divided by rest myocardial blood flow). The primary end point was cardiac death. Overall 3-year cardiac mortality was 8.0%. The lowest tertile of coronary flow reserve (<1.5) was associated with a 5.6-fold increase in the risk of cardiac death (95% confidence interval, 2.5–12.4; P<0.0001) compared with the highest tertile. Incorporation of coronary flow reserve into cardiac death risk assessment models resulted in an increase in the c index from 0.82 (95% confidence interval, 0.78–0.86) to 0.84 (95% confidence interval, 0.80–0.87; P=0.02) and in a net reclassification improvement of 0.098 (95% confidence interval, 0.025–0.180). Addition of coronary flow reserve resulted in correct reclassification of 34.8% of intermediate-risk patients (net reclassification improvement=0.487; 95% confidence interval, 0.262–0.731). Corresponding improvements in risk assessment for mortality from any cause were also demonstrated. Conclusion— Noninvasive quantitative assessment of coronary vasodilator function with positron emission tomography is a powerful, independent predictor of cardiac mortality in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease and provides meaningful incremental risk stratification over clinical and gated myocardial perfusion imaging variables.
Psychoanalysis and religious experience

In this provocative book, W. W. Meissner, a Jesuit and psychoanalyst, attempts to bring about a rapprochement between psychoanalysis and religious thinking. Utilizing the resources of modern psychoanalytic insight, he examines Freud's views on religion, explores the dialectical relationship between psychoanalysis and religion, and applies more contemporary concepts in psychoanalysis to the understanding of religious experience. "Dr. Meissner has written a book which is consistently interesting, often challenging, and impressive for its wide range of scholarship in two fields not often combined in the same work.Dr. Meissner has done us a service in this scholarly work by demonstrating how two perspectives of the human condition have over the course of the last several decades come to similar conclusions. "-Otto F. Thaler, M.D., Journal of the American Academy of Religion "A rich and stimulating book addressing important issues that lie at the intersection of psychoanalysis and religion. "-Paul C. Vitz, Contemporary Psychology "Meissner has made a challenging useful contribution that will be pondered, applied, and debated. It will undoubtedly also achieve the goal of bringing about more understanding between analysts and theologians. "-Lowell Rubin, M.D., Newsletter, Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute
Active Snubber Circuit for Source Commutated Converters Utilizing the IGBT in the Linear Region

This paper describes a gate control method where an IGBT is controlled in its linear region by means of closed loop control in order to regulate the voltage slope during turn-on and to clamp the voltage of an anti-parallel diode in a source commutated converter. Controlling the voltage slope may be necessary in a high voltage converter to avoid emission of EMI or to avoid triggering oscillations which may cause insulation failure. Controlling the switching trajectory without influence from the device characteristics is important where series-connection is necessary to increase the overall blocking voltage. The control method has been verified by means of a prototype.
Vision-based adaptive grasping of a humanoid robot arm

This paper presents a motion planning and control design of a humanoid robot arm for vision-based grasping in an obstructed environment. A Kinect depth camera is utilized to recognize and find the target object in the environment and grasp it in real-time. First, gradient direction in a depth image is applied to segment environment into several planes. Then, speed up robust feature(SURF) is used to match features between segmented planes and locate the target object. This approach effectively speeds up the matching operation by decreasing the area to match in image planes. Moreover, this study proposes a design for safe operation of the robot arm in an unknown environment. Two safe indices are designed to improve the robustness in safe grasping in an obstructed environment. One index defines the degree of influence of obstacles to the manipulator. Another index classifies the workspace into three regions, namely safe, uncertainty and danger region. The robot employs these indices to move to safe regions by using a potential field for motion planning. Practical experiments show that the six degree- of-freedom robot arm can effectively avoid obstacles and complete the grasping task.
Aurkb/PP1-mediated resetting of Oct4 during the cell cycle determines the identity of embryonic stem cells

Pluripotency transcription programs by core transcription factors (CTFs) might be reset during M/G1 transition to maintain the pluripotency of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). However, little is known about how CTFs are governed during cell cycle progression. Here, we demonstrate that the regulation of Oct4 by Aurora kinase b (Aurkb)/protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) during the cell cycle is important for resetting Oct4 to pluripotency and cell cycle genes in determining the identity of ESCs. Aurkb phosphorylates Oct4(S229) during G2/M phase, leading to the dissociation of Oct4 from chromatin, whereas PP1 binds Oct4 and dephosphorylates Oct4(S229) during M/G1 transition, which resets Oct4-driven transcription for pluripotency and the cell cycle. Aurkb phosphor-mimetic and PP1 binding-deficient mutations in Oct4 alter the cell cycle, effect the loss of pluripotency in ESCs, and decrease the efficiency of somatic cell reprogramming. Our findings provide evidence that the cell cycle is linked directly to pluripotency programs in ESCs. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.10877. 001
World Allergy Organization Guidelines for the Assessment and Management of Anaphylaxis

The illustrated World Allergy Organization (WAO) Anaphylaxis Guidelines were created in response to absence of global guidelines for anaphylaxis. Uniquely, before they were developed, lack of worldwide availability of essentials for the diagnosis and treatment of anaphylaxis was documented. They incorporate contributions from more than 100 allergy/immunology specialists on 6 continents. Recommendations are based on the best evidence available, supported by references published to the end of December 2010.The Guidelines review patient risk factors for severe or fatal anaphylaxis, co-factors that amplify anaphylaxis, and anaphylaxis in vulnerable patients, including pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and those with cardiovascular disease. They focus on the supreme importance of making a prompt clinical diagnosis and on the basic initial treatment that is urgently needed and should be possible even in a low resource environment. This involves having a written emergency protocol and rehearsing it regularly; then, as soon as anaphylaxis is diagnosed, promptly and simultaneously calling for help, injecting epinephrine (adrenaline) intramuscularly, and placing the patient on the back or in a position of comfort with the lower extremities elevated. When indicated, additional critically important steps include administering supplemental oxygen and maintaining the airway, establishing intravenous access and giving fluid resuscitation, and initiating cardiopulmonary resuscitation with continuous chest compressions. Vital signs and cardiorespiratory status should be monitored frequently and regularly (preferably, continuously). The Guidelines briefly review management of anaphylaxis refractory to basic initial treatment. They also emphasize preparation of the patient for self-treatment of anaphylaxis recurrences in the community, confirmation of anaphylaxis triggers, and prevention of recurrences through trigger avoidance and immunomodulation. Novel strategies for dissemination and implementation are summarized. A global agenda for anaphylaxis research is proposed.
Niacin decreases removal of high-density lipoprotein apolipoprotein A-I but not cholesterol ester by Hep G2 cells. Implication for reverse cholesterol transport.

Niacin (nicotinic acid) is the most potent clinically used agent for increasing plasma HDL and apolipoprotein (apo) A-I. The mechanism by which niacin increases apoA-I is not clearly understood. We have examined the effect of niacin on the hepatic production and removal of apoA-I using Hep G2 cells as an in vitro model. Incubation of Hep G2 cells with niacin resulted in increased accumulation of apoA-I in the medium in a dose-dependent manner. Incorporation of [3H]leucine and [35S]methionine into apoA-I and apoA-I mRNA expression was unchanged by niacin, suggesting that it did not affect apoA-I de novo synthesis. Uptake of radiolabeled HDL protein and HDL apoA-I by Hep G2 cells was significantly reduced to as much as 82.9 +/- 2.2% (P = .04) and 84.2 +/- 2.8% (P = .02), respectively, of the baseline with increasing concentrations of niacin (0 to 3.0 mmol/L). Specific 125I-HDL protein uptake measured with a 50-fold excess of unlabeled HDL was reduced to as much as 78.3 +/- 4.8% (P = .005) in niacin-treated cells. The uptake of labeled cholesterol esters in HDL was unaffected by niacin. Niacin also effected a similar decrease in HDL protein uptake, but not cholesterol esters, from apoA-I-containing HDL particles isolated by immunoaffinity. The conditioned medium obtained from Hep G2 cells incubated with niacin significantly (P = .002) increased cholesterol efflux from cultured human fibroblasts. These data indicate a novel mechanism whereby niacin selectively decreases hepatic removal of HDL apoA-I but not cholesterol esters, thereby increasing the capacity of retained apoA-I to augment reverse cholesterol transport.
Online Local Input Selection Through Evolving Heterogeneous Fuzzy Inference System

Recently, online input selection has gained an increasing attention in evolving fuzzy models. In this paper, we proposed a new evolving fuzzy system referred to as evolving heterogeneous fuzzy inference system (eHFIS), which can simultaneously perform local input selection and system identification in an evolving and integrative manner. The introduced eHFIS is structured by some fuzzy rules with different effective input variables. This was achieved through inclusion of some parameters (local input selectors) in the structure of the Takagi-Sugeno system. An online learning algorithm is proposed to identify the eHFIS, where 1) the premise parameter learning and rule evolution take place with the usage of an incremental and evolving clustering for partitioning the data space; 2) a local input selection strategy based on switching to a neighboring model is adopted, and then, all fuzzy rules with the same input structure form a new category; and 3) for each category, the parameters of linear models, in consequent parts, are updated by weighted recursive fuzzily weighted least-squares estimator. The performance of the proposed eHFIS is evaluated and compared through several simulations on hand made as well as real-life datasets.
High performance computing challenges for research and industrial simulation codes

Computing hardware, from mobile devices to supercomputer clusters, is undergoing a paradigm shift : with the advent of multicore CPUs and accelerators (GPUs, Intel Xeon Phi), parallelism is becoming hierarchical, ubiquitous, heterogeneous, and more and more complex. Performance critical applications need new programming models to exploit efﬁciently such architectures. Guided by Herb Sutter analysis ([1], [2]) we draw practical conclusions for the design of future simulation codes, and the optimization of legacy codes.
Association between placental pathology and neonatal outcome in preeclampsia: a large cohort study

Objective: To study associations between placental histopathology and neonatal outcome in preeclampsia (PE). Study design: The cohort consisted of 544 singleton pregnancies complicated by PE and managed at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden during 2000–2009. Evaluation of placental histopathology was made by one senior perinatal pathologist, blinded to outcome. Clinical outcome was obtained from prospectively collected medical registry data and medical records. Main outcome measures were intrauterine fetal death, smallness for gestational age, admission to neonatal unit, major neonatal morbidity (defined as presence of intraventricular hemorrhage ≥grade 3, retinopathy of prematurity ≥grade 3, necrotizing enterocolitis, cystic periventricular leucomalacia and/or severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia) and neonatal mortality. Logistic regression analyses including gestational age were performed. Results: Abnormal placental weight, both low (adjusted odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval] 5.2 [1.1–24], p = 0.03) and high (adjusted OR 1048 [21–51 663], p < 0.001) for gestational age, was associated with major neonatal morbidity in preterm infants. Accelerated villous maturation was less prevalent in intrauterine fetal death pregnancies (adjusted OR 0.18 [0.04–0.77], p = 0.02). Decidual arteriopathy increased the odds for admission to neonatal care (adjusted OR 2.7 [1.1–6.5], p = 0.03). Infarction involving ≥5% of the placenta was associated with intrauterine fetal death and small for gestational age infants (adjusted OR’s 75 [5.5–1011], p = 0.001 and 3.2 [1.7–5.9], p < 0.001; respectively). No relations between histological variables and neonatal mortality could be found. Conclusion: Placental pathology in PE reflects adverse perinatal events and deviant placental weight predicts adverse neonatal outcome in preeclamptic women delivering preterm. Placental investigation without delay can contribute to neonatal risk assessment.
On the performance of fractional multinomial response models for estimating Engel Curves

ABSTRACT Engel curves are often estimated within a linear, or at least approximately linear, system of equations. However, Engel curves are required to lie on or within the unit interval, while summing to unity. These restrictions are not easily accommodated within a linear system. Therefore, we apply the fractional multinomial logit model in our estimation of expenditure shares, because it more readily accommodates these theoretical restrictions. Within our estimation subsample from the South African Income and Expenditure Survey, we find that accounting for these restrictions within the fractional multinomial logit model provides a better fit to the data than does the standard linear system.
Conditional Press Influence in Politics

Chapter 1 Table of Contents Chapter 2 1 Introduction Chapter 3 2 Understanding Media Influence in Politics Chapter 4 3 The Theory of Conditional Media Influence Chapter 5 4 Economic News Chapter 6 5 Foreign Conflicts News Chapter 7 6 Supreme Court News Chapter 8 7 Conclusion Chapter 9 Notes Chapter 10 References
Conflict-Free Coloring for Rectangle Ranges Using O(n.382) Colors

Given a set of points P⊆ℝ2, a conflict-free coloring of P w.r. t. rectangle ranges is an assignment of colors to points of P, such that each nonempty axis-parallel rectangle T in the plane contains a point whose color is distinct from all other points in P∩T. This notion has been the subject of recent interest and is motivated by frequency assignment in wireless cellular networks: one naturally would like to minimize the number of frequencies (colors) assigned to base stations (points) such that within any range (for instance, rectangle), there is no interference. We show that any set of n points in ℝ2 can be conflict-free colored with \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$O(n^{\beta^{*}+o(1)})$\end{document} colors in expected polynomial time, where \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$\beta^{*}=\frac{3-\sqrt{5}}{2} < 0.382$\end{document}.
Approximative Query Techniques for Agents with Heterogeneous Ontologies and Perceptive Capabilities

In this paper, we propose a framework that provides software and robotic agents with the ability to ask approximate questions to each other in the context of heterogeneous ontologies and heterogeneous perceptive capabilities. The framework combines the use of logic-based techniques with ideas from approximate reasoning. Initial queries by an agent are transformed into approximate queries using weakest sufficient and strongest necessary conditions on the query and are interpreted as lower and upper approximations on the query. Once the base communication ability is provided, the framework is extended to situations where there is not only a mismatch between agent ontologies, but the agents have varying ability to perceive their environments. This will affect each agent's ability to ask and interpret results of queries. Limitations on perceptive capability are formalized using the idea of tolerance spaces.
Asymptotic consensus without self-confidence

This paper studies asymptotic consensus in systems in which agents do not necessarily have self-confidence, i.e., may disregard their own value during execution of the update rule. We show that the prevalent hypothesis of self-confidence in many convergence results can be replaced by the existence of aperiodic cores. These are stable aperiodic subgraphs, which allow to virtually store information about an agent's value distributedly in the network. Our results are applicable to systems with message delays and memory loss.
Improved Feature-Selection Method Considering the Imbalance Problem in Text Categorization

The filtering feature-selection algorithm is a kind of important approach to dimensionality reduction in the field of the text categorization. Most of filtering feature-selection algorithms evaluate the significance of a feature for category based on balanced dataset and do not consider the imbalance factor of dataset. In this paper, a new scheme was proposed, which can weaken the adverse effect caused by the imbalance factor in the corpus. We evaluated the improved versions of nine well-known feature-selection methods (Information Gain, Chi statistic, Document Frequency, Orthogonal Centroid Feature Selection, DIA association factor, Comprehensive Measurement Feature Selection, Deviation from Poisson Feature Selection, improved Gini index, and Mutual Information) using naïve Bayes and support vector machines on three benchmark document collections (20-Newsgroups, Reuters-21578, and WebKB). The experimental results show that the improved scheme can significantly enhance the performance of the feature-selection methods.