Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sex reassignment: outcomes and predictors of treatment for adolescent and adult transsexuals

Background. We prospectively studied outcomes of sex reassignment, potential differences between subgroups of transsexuals, and predictors of treatment course and outcome. Method. Altogether 325 consecutive adolescent and adult applicants for sex reassignment participated: 222 started hormone treatment, 103 did not; 188 completed and 34 dropped out of treatment. Only data of the 162 adults were used to evaluate treatment. Results between subgroups were compared to determine post-operative differences. Adults and adolescents were included to study predictors of treatment course and outcome. Results were statistically analysed with logistic regression and multiple linear regression analyses. Results. After treatment the group was no longer gender dysphoric. The vast majority functioned quite well psychologically, socially and sexually. Two non-homosexual male-to-female transsexuals expressed regrets. Post-operatively, female-to-male and homosexual transsexuals functioned better in many respects than male-to-female and non-homosexual transsexuals. Eligibility for treatment was largely based upon gender dysphoria, psychological stability, and physical appearance. Male-to-female transsexuals with more psychopathology and cross-gender symptoms in childhood, yet less gender dysphoria at application, were more likely to drop out prematurely. Non-homosexual applicants with much psychopathology and body dissatisfaction reported the worst post-operative outcomes. Conclusions. The results substantiate previous conclusions that sex reassignment is effective. Still, clinicians need to be alert for non-homosexual male-to-females with unfavourable psychological functioning and physical appearance and inconsistent gender dysphoria reports, as these are risk factors for dropping out and poor post-operative results. If they are considered eligible, they may require additional therapeutic guidance during or even after treatment.
Observer design for a class of nonlinear delayed systems with unknown inputs and Markovian jump parameters

The problem of full-order observer design for a class of delayed nonlinear systems with unknown inputs and Markovian jumping parameters is considered. The design method is formulated as solving a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMI's). Extending the results of nonlinear observer design to Markovian jump systems with time-varying delays is the main advantages of this paper. The sufficient LMI conditions are dependent on both the upper and lower bounds of delay. The effectiveness of the proposed method is shown via an illustrative example.
On the structure of quantum permutation groups

The quantum permutation group of the set $X_n=\{1,. , n\}$ corresponds to the Hopf algebra $A_{aut}(X_n)$. This is an algebra constructed with generators and relations, known to be isomorphic to $\cc (S_n)$ for $n\leq 3$, and to be infinite dimensional for $n\geq 4$. In this paper we find an explicit representation of the algebra $A_{aut}(X_n)$, related to Clifford algebras. For $n=4$ the representation is faithful in the discrete quantum group sense.
Quotient Based Multiresolution Image Fusion of Thermal and Visual Images Using Daubechies Wavelet Transform for Human Face Recognition

This paper investigates the multiresolution level-1 and level-2 Quotient based Fusion of thermal and visual images. In the proposed system, the method-1 namely "Decompose then Quotient Fuse Level-1" and the method-2 namely "Decompose-Reconstruct then Quotient Fuse Level-2" both work on wavelet transformations of the visual and thermal face images. The wavelet transform is well-suited to manage different image resolution and allows the image decomposition in different kinds of coefficients, while preserving the image information without any loss. This approach is based on a definition of an illumination invariant signature image which enables an analytic generation of the image space with varying illumination. The quotient fused images are passed through Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for dimension reduction and then those images are classified using a multi-layer perceptron (MLP). The performances of both the methods have been evaluated using OTCBVS and IRIS databases. All the different classes have been tested separately, among them the maximum recognition result is 100%.
Depth-Reduction for Composites

We obtain a new depth-reduction construction, which implies a super-exponential improvement in the depth lower bound separating NEXP from non-uniform ACC. In particular, we show that every circuit with AND, OR, NOT, and MODm gates, m ε Z+, of polynomial size and depth d can be reduced to a depth-2, SYM-AND, circuit of size 2(log n)O(d). This is an exponential size improvement over the traditional Yao-Beigel-Tarui, which has size blowup 2(log n)2O(d). Therefore, depth-reduction for composite m matches the size of the Allender-Hertrampf construction for primes from 1989. One immediate implication of depth reduction is an improvement of the depth from o(loglog n) to o(log n/loglog n), in Williams' program for ACC circuit lower bounds against NEXP. This is just short of O(log n/loglog n) and thus pushes William's program to the NC1 barrier, since NC1 is contained in ACC of depth O(log n/loglog n). A second, but non-immediate, implication regards the strengthening of the ACC lower bound in the Chattopadhyay-Santhanam interactive compression setting.
Corneal and Lenticular Components of Total Astigmatism in a Preschool Sample

Purpose. To examine the contribution of corneal and lenticular components to total astigmatism in preschool low and high astigmats to determine whether there was any compensation for high astigmatism by the lenticular component. Methods. Cycloplegic refractive and keratometric measures using the Retinomax K-Plus (Nikon Inc., Melville, NY) were conducted on 129 children (mean age, 51.1 ± 8.4 mo) in Oxford County, Canada. We divided the sample into high astigmats (total cylinder ≥1 D; mean, 1.38 ± 0.43 D; n = 29) and normal astigmats (total cylinder ≤ 0.75 D; mean, 0.22 ± 0.20 D; n = 100). Measures of total and corneal cylinder were transposed into J0 and J45 components, where positive and negative J0 values quantified with-the-rule (WTR) and against-the-rule astigmatisms, respectively, and J45 quantified oblique astigmatism. Results. WTR astigmatism was dominant in both the high and normal astigmatic group. J0 and J45 components of corneal astigmatism were highly correlated with total astigmatism in high astigmats, whereas only J0 was significantly correlated with total astigmatism in normal astigmats. Although the magnitude of total and corneal cylinder was significantly greater in high astigmats, overall lenticular cylinder was similar in both groups. However, the Fourier transforms showed high astigmats to have significantly lower lenticular J0 and higher lenticular J45 than the normal astigmats. Conclusions. Astigmatism in 3- to 5-year-old children is primarily corneal. In preschool children, the lens does not vary in response to high amounts of corneal WTR astigmatism, and in fact, it increases the oblique astigmatism component when the corneal component is high. In high astigmats, lenticular astigmatism contributes to both J0 and J45 components, whereas the corneal contribution is primarily J0.
Glucocorticoids Regulate TCR-Induced Elevation of CD4: Functional Implications1

CD4 serves as a coreceptor during Ag recognition by the TCR. This interaction results in a marked increase in the sensitivity of a T cell to Ag presented by MHC class II molecules. Here we report that activation of T cells either by plate-bound mAb (anti-TCR, anti-CD3) or soluble activators (staphylococcal enterotoxin A, Con A) is associated with an (up to 3-fold) increase in CD4 cell surface expression on CD25+ cells, which was maximal after 72–96 h. Incubation with the glucocorticoid hormone corticosterone (CORT) shifted the enhancement of CD4 expression to a point about 24 h earlier than that observed in control cultures. In parallel, the proliferative response of these CORT-treated cells was profoundly enhanced. An involvement of increased CD4 expression in this enhanced proliferative response was evidenced by the observation that T cell proliferation in CORT-treated cultures was much less sensitive to inhibition by an inhibitory, nondepleting anti-CD4 mAb than that in control cultures. TCR down-regulation was, however, not affected by CORT. Thus, based on this study and previous reports we propose that both TCR-mediated signals and glucocorticoids are important physiological regulators of CD4 expression. In addition, these findings may be of significance for the sensitivity of CD4+ cells to HIV infection upon T cell activation, as the efficacy of primary patient HIV entry depends on the level of surface CD4.
WISEglass: multi-purpose context-aware smart eyeglasses

We extend regular eyeglasses with multi-modal sensing and processing functions for context awareness. Our aim was to leverage eyeglasses as a platform to acquire and process context information according to the wearer's needs. The eyeglasses provide inertial motion, environmental light, and pulse sensors, data processing and wireless functionality, besides a rechargeable battery. We implemented prototypes of the smart eyeglasses and evaluated recognition performance in a study of daily activities with nine participants. The accuracy of recognising nine activity clusters from the smart eyeglasses motion sensors was 77% on average, confirming the benefit of smart eyeglasses for context-aware applications.
Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and cortisol in young women with primary fibromyalgia: the potential roles of depression, fatigue, and sleep disturbance in the occurrence of hypocortisolism

Objectives: To investigate abnormalities of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and cortisol concentrations in young women with primary fibromyalgia (FM); and to determine whether depression, fatigue, and sleep disturbance affect these hormones. Methods: Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinising hormone (LH), oestradiol, progesterone, prolactin, and cortisol concentrations in 63 women with FM were compared with those in 38 matched healthy controls; all subjects aged <35 years. The depression rate was assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and patients with high and low BDI scores were compared. Additionally, patients were divided according to sleep disturbance and fatigue and compared both with healthy controls and within the group. Results: No significant differences in FSH, LH, oestradiol, prolactin, and progesterone levels were found between patients with FM and controls, but cortisol levels were significantly lower in patients than in controls (p<0.05). Cortisol levels in patients with high BDI scores, fatigue, and sleep disturbance were significantly lower than in controls (p<0.05). Correlation between cortisol levels and number of tender points in all patients was significant (r = −0.32, p<0.05). Conclusion: Despite low cortisol concentrations in young women with FM, there is no abnormality in HPG axis hormones. Because fatigue, depression rate, sleep disturbance, and mean age of patients affect cortisol levels, these variables should be taken into account in future investigations.
Mycobacterial Esx-3 is required for mycobactin-mediated iron acquisition

The Esx secretion pathway is conserved across Gram-positive bacteria. Esx-1, the best-characterized system, is required for virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, although its precise function during infection remains unclear. Esx-3, a paralogous system present in all mycobacterial species, is required for growth in vitro. Here, we demonstrate that mycobacteria lacking Esx-3 are defective in acquiring iron. To compete for the limited iron available in the host and the environment, these organisms use mycobactin, high-affinity iron-binding molecules. In the absence of Esx-3, mycobacteria synthesize mycobactin but are unable to use the bound iron and are impaired severely for growth during macrophage infection. Mycobacteria thus require a specialized secretion system for acquiring iron from siderophores.
Cavity ring‐down optical spectrometer for absorption measurements using pulsed laser sources

We have developed a technique which allows optical absorption measurements to be made using a pulsed light source and offers a sensitivity significantly greater than that attained using stabilized continuous light sources. The technique is based upon the measurement of the rate of absorption rather than the magnitude of absorption of a light pulse confined within a closed optical cavity. The decay of the light intensity within the cavity is a simple exponential with loss components due to mirror loss, broadband scatter (Rayleigh, Mie), and molecular absorption. Narrowband absorption spectra are recorded by scanning the output of a pulsed laser (which is injected into the optical cavity) through an absorption resonance. We have demonstrated the sensitivity of this technique by measuring several bands in the very weak forbidden b1Σg−X3Σg transition in gaseous molecular oxygen. Absorption signals of less than 1 part in 106 can be detected.
Low Complexity Multiplication in a Finite Field Using Ring Representation

Elements of a finite field, GF(2/sup m/), are represented as elements in a ring in which multiplication is more time efficient. This leads to faster multipliers with a modest increase in the number of XOR and AND gates needed to construct the multiplier. Such multipliers are used in error control coding and cryptography. We consider rings modulo trinomials and 4-term polynomials. In each case, we show that our multiplier is faster than multipliers over elements in a finite field defined by irreducible pentanomials. These results are especially significant in the field of elliptic curve cryptography, where pentanomials are used to define finite fields. Finally, an efficient systolic implementation of a multiplier for elements in a ring defined by x/sup n/+x+1 is presented.
Evaluation of Myc E-Box Phylogenetic Footprints in Glycolytic Genes by Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Assays

ABSTRACT Prediction of gene regulatory sequences using phylogenetic footprinting has advanced considerably but lacks experimental validation. Here, we report whether transcription factor binding sites predicted by dot plotting or web-based Trafac analysis could be validated by chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. MYC overexpression enhances glycolysis without hypoxia and hence may contribute to altered tumor metabolism. Because the full spectrum of glycolytic genes directly regulated by Myc is not known, we chose Myc as a model transcription factor to determine whether it binds target glycolytic genes that have conserved canonical Myc binding sites or E boxes (5′-CACGTG-3′). Conserved canonical E boxes in ENO1, HK2, and LDHA occur in 31- to 111-bp islands with high interspecies sequence identity (>65%). Trafac analysis revealed another region in ENO1 that corresponds to a murine region with a noncanonical E box. Myc bound all these conserved regions well in the human P493-6 B lymphocytes. We also determined whether Myc could bind nonconserved canonical E boxes found in the remaining human glycolytic genes. Myc bound PFKM, but it did not significantly bind GPI, PGK1, and PKM2. Binding to BPGM, PGAM2, and PKLR was not detected. Both GAPD and TPI1 do not have conserved E boxes but are induced and bound by Myc through regions with noncanonical E boxes. Our results indicate that Myc binds well to conserved canonical E boxes, but not nonconserved E boxes. However, the binding of Myc to unpredicted genomic regions with noncanonical E boxes reveals a limitation of phylogenetic footprinting. In aggregate, these observations indicate that Myc is an important regulator of glycolytic genes, suggesting that MYC plays a key role in a switch to glycolytic metabolism during cell proliferation or tumorigenesis.
Which Words Are Hard to Recognize? Prosodic, Lexical, and Disfluency Factors that Increase ASR Error Rates

Many factors are thought to increase the chances of misrecognizing a word in ASR, including low frequency, nearby disfluencies, short duration, and being at the start of a turn. However, few of these factors have been formally examined. This paper analyzes a variety of lexical, prosodic, and disfluency factors to determine which are likely to increase ASR error rates. Findings include the following. (1) For disfluencies, effects depend on the type of disfluency: errors increase by up to 15% (absolute) for words near fragments, but decrease by up to 7.2% (absolute) for words near repetitions. This decrease seems to be due to longer word duration. (2) For prosodic features, there are more errors for words with extreme values than words with typical values. (3) Although our results are based on output from a system with speaker adaptation, speaker differences are a major factor influencing error rates, and the effects of features such as frequency, pitch, and intensity may vary between speakers.
Effects of computerized clinical decision support systems on practitioner performance and patient outcomes: a systematic review.

ContextDevelopers of health care software have attributed improvements in patient care to these applications. As with any health care intervention, such claims require confirmation in clinical trials.ObjectivesTo review controlled trials assessing the effects of computerized clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) and to identify study characteristics predicting benefit.Data SourcesWe updated our earlier reviews by searching the MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Inspec, and ISI databases and consulting reference lists through September 2004. Authors of 64 primary studies confirmed data or provided additional information.Study SelectionWe included randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials that evaluated the effect of a CDSS compared with care provided without a CDSS on practitioner performance or patient outcomes.Data ExtractionTeams of 2 reviewers independently abstracted data on methods, setting, CDSS and patient characteristics, and outcomes.Data SynthesisOne hundred studies met our inclusion criteria. The number and methodologic quality of studies improved over time. The CDSS improved practitioner performance in 62 (64%) of the 97 studies assessing this outcome, including 4 (40%) of 10 diagnostic systems, 16 (76%) of 21 reminder systems, 23 (62%) of 37 disease management systems, and 19 (66%) of 29 drug-dosing or prescribing systems. Fifty-two trials assessed 1 or more patient outcomes, of which 7 trials (13%) reported improvements. Improved practitioner performance was associated with CDSSs that automatically prompted users compared with requiring users to activate the system (success in 73% of trials vs 47%; P = .02) and studies in which the authors also developed the CDSS software compared with studies in which the authors were not the developers (74% success vs 28%; respectively, P = .001). ConclusionsMany CDSSs improve practitioner performance. To date, the effects on patient outcomes remain understudied and, when studied, inconsistent.
[Control of hypertension in elderly patients admitted in internal medicine].

OBJECTIVES To investigate hypertension control in elderly patients. To identify the cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular diseases associated with poor control of hypertension. To evaluate the pharmacologic treatment needed for the good control of hypertension. To analyse the existence of date in the medical history to evaluate the cardiovascular risk. METHODS A cross-sectional study of elderly hypertensive patients intaked between 1 to January 2002 to 31 December 2002 in a Internal Medicine Service. Blood pressure was measured in the standard manner. Blood pressure control was regarded as optimum if pressure averaged less than 140/90 mmHg or, in diabetics, less than 130/80 mmHg. RESULTS The study included 484 hypertensive patients. In the hypertensive patients, both systolic and diastolic blood pressures were well controlled in 53.9% of patients, systolic blood pressure alone in 2,1% and diastolic blood pressure alone in 30.8%. The isolated systolic arterial hypertension prevalence is bigger in the group with poor control, p < 0.001. The 77% of hypertensive patients associated other cardiovascular risk factor, and the 69% associated any cardiovascular disease. The 64% of hypertensive patients needed pharmacologic treatment. CONCLUSIONS Arterial blood pressure control was optimum in only one out of two hypertensive patients. Diabetes is the most influential variable in poor control. The diuretics are the active ingredients more used in the hypertension therapeutic.
A novel framework for logic verification in a synthesis environment

A new methodology for formal logic verification of combinational circuits is presented. Specifically, a structural (logic network) approach is used, based on indirect implications derived by recursive learning. It is shown that implications can be used to capture similarity between designs. This is extended to formulate a hybrid approach, this structural (logic network) information is used to reduce the complexity of a subsequent functional method based on OBDDs. We demonstrate that OBDD-based verification can take great advantage of structural preprocessing in a synthesis environment where many small operations are performed that modify the circuit. The experimental results show that an effective combination can be achieved between memory efficient structural methods and powerful functional methods.
Association between divergence and interspersed repeats in mammalian noncoding genomic DNA

The amount of noncoding genomic DNA sequence that aligns between human and mouse varies substantially in different regions of their genomes, and the amount of repetitive DNA also varies. In this report, we show that divergence in noncoding nonrepetitive DNA is strongly correlated with the amount of repetitive DNA in a region. We investigated aligned DNA in four large genomic regions with finished human sequence and almost or completely finished mouse sequence. These regions, totaling 5.89 Mb of DNA, are on different chromosomes and vary in their base composition. An analysis based on sliding windows of 10 kb shows that the fraction of aligned noncoding nonrepetitive DNA and the fraction of repetitive DNA are negatively correlated, both at the level of an entire region and locally within it. This conclusion is strongly supported by a randomization study, in which repetitive elements are removed and randomly relocated along the sequences. Thus, regions of noncoding genomic DNA that accumulated fewer point mutations since the primate–rodent divergence also suffered fewer retrotransposition events. These results indicate that some regions of the genome are more “flexible” over the time scale of mammalian evolution, being able to accommodate many point mutations and insertions, whereas other regions are more “rigid” and accumulate fewer changes. Stronger conservation is generally interpreted as indicating more extensive or more important function. The evidence presented here of correlated variation in the rates of different evolutionary processes across noncoding DNA must be considered in assessing such conservation for evidence of selection.