Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combining the health belief model and social marketing to develop a community-level campaign about asthma for older adults

This conceptual paper provides a rationale for combining health behaviour theory with a social marketing framework in order to develop a community-level asthma campaign for adults aged 55 years and older. The prevalence of asthma in older adults in Australia is approximately 10%, higher than in many other countries, and asthma mortality increases with age. In addition, older adults’ perceptions of asthma causes and treatments are often inaccurate. Many older adults believe that asthma is a childhood disease and that the effects of the condition are relatively minor and would not impact on daily life. In order to address these misperceptions, it is useful to utilise the constructs of the Health Belief Model in conjunction with a framework for the development and implementation of a health promotion effort. The social marketing framework is directly aligned with the most successful methods of promoting health to older adults; tailoring health messages (promotion) to individuals and the community that they are living in, actively involving the older adults themselves to understand their health beliefs and behaviours, empowering individuals by reducing barriers to action (price), enabling individuals to take control of their health (product) through increased knowledge, and ensuring ease of access (place) to health messages and promotional activities. The segment of the population aged 55 years and over not only has a demonstrated need for asthma awareness but also has been largely ignored by past asthma awareness activities. To extend the efforts of previous health promotion efforts, a campaign must be developed, implemented and evaluated to specifically target older adults about asthma to address their low perceived susceptibility to, and severity of, the condition. This paper presents a conceptual framework for the application of the Health Belief Model and social marketing theory to influence the asthma perceptions of older adults. Disciplines Education | Social and Behavioral Sciences Publication Details Evers, U. , Jones, S. C. , Caputi, P. & Iverson, D. (2011). Combining the Health Belief Model and social marketing to develop a community-level campaign about asthma for older adults. Emerging Researchers in Ageing Conference, Sydney, Australia (ERA 2011 Proceedings pp. 117-125). This conference paper is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow. edu.au/sspapers/375
Noncontact Material Identification and Distance Measurement Using Effective Capacitance With CdS Cells

We propose a novel noncontact sensing method for material identification and for detection of the distance between the sensor and the surface of a material by using its electrical and optical properties. In the proposed method, capacitance between the terminals of a pair of CdS cells, called the effective capacitance, is measured, and several capacitance values are obtained by changing the emission strength of the light emitting diode, thus changing the resistance value of the CdS cells. From these values, it is possible to identify the materials and to detect the distance between the CdS cells and the material. In this paper, we compare four kinds of effective capacitance measurement methods using a pair of CdS cells and describe the proposed measurement method. In addition, this paper discusses the measurement accuracy of effective capacitance values in the proposed method and demonstrates its ability to identify six material samples-clear, white, and black acrylic, clear vinyl chloride, brown bakelite, and aluminum-and to detect the distance between the CdS cells and the material.
BER estimation for wireless links using BPSK/QPSK modulation

This paper introduces a method that computes an estimation of the bit error rate (BER) based on the RAKE receiver soft output only. For this method no knowledge is needed about the channel characteristics nor the precise external conditions. Simulations show that the mean error of the estimation is below 2%, with only a small variance. Also an estimation of the BER for a different spreading factor or a different number of RAKE finger can be made. Implementation issues for a practical use of the method are discussed.
Abnormal event detection in crowded scenes based on Structural Multi-scale Motion Interrelated Patterns

Detecting abnormal events in crowded scenes remains challenging due to the diversity of events defined by various applications. Among the many application situations, motion analysis for event representation is suited for crowded scenes. In this paper, we propose a novel abnormal event detection method via likelihood estimation of dynamic-texture motion representation, called Structural Multi-scale Motion Interrelated Patterns (SMMIP). SMMIP combines both original motion patterns and their structural spatio-temporal information, which effectively represents localized events by different resolutions of motion patterns. To model normal events, the Gaussian mixture model is trained with the observed normal events, then the likelihood estimation for testing events is computed to judge whether they are abnormal. Meanwhile, the proposed model can be learned online by updating the parameters incrementally. The proposed approach is evaluated on several publicly available datasets and outperforms several other methods proposed before, which is shown that the structural spatio-temporal information added in motion representation helps increasing the anomalies detection rate.
Boc modifies the holoprosencephaly spectrum of Cdo mutant mice

SUMMARY Holoprosencephaly (HPE) is caused by a failure to form the midline of the forebrain and/or midface. It is one of the most common human birth defects, but clinical expression is extremely variable. HPE is associated with mutations in the sonic hedgehog (SHH) pathway. Mice lacking the Shh pathway regulator Cdo (also called Cdon) display HPE with strain-dependent penetrance and expressivity, implicating silent modifier genes as one cause of the variability. However, the identities of potential HPE modifiers of this type are unknown. We report here that whereas mice lacking the Cdo paralog Boc do not have HPE, Cdo;Boc double mutants on a largely Cdo-resistant genetic background have lobar HPE with strong craniofacial anomalies and defects in Shh target gene expression in the developing forebrain. Boc is therefore a silent HPE modifier gene in mice. Furthermore, Cdo and Boc have specific, selective roles in Shh signaling in mammals, because Cdo;Boc double-mutant mice do not display the most severe HPE phenotype seen in Shh-null mice, nor do they have major defects in digit patterning or development of vertebrae, which are also Shh-dependent processes. This is in contrast to reported observations in Drosophila, where genetic removal of the Cdo and Boc orthologs Ihog and Boi results in a complete loss of response to the hedgehog ligand. Therefore, there is evolutionary divergence between mammals and insects in the requirement of the hedgehog pathway for Cdo/Ihog family members, with mammalian development involving additional factors and/or distinct mechanisms at this level of pathway regulation.
The collagen receptor uPARAP/Endo180 in tissue degradation and cancer (Review)

The collagen receptor uPARAP/Endo180, the product of the MRC2 gene, is a central component in the collagen turnover process governed by various mesenchymal cells. Through the endocytosis of collagen or large collagen fragments, this recycling receptor serves to direct basement membrane collagen as well as interstitial collagen to lysosomal degradation. This capacity, shared only with the mannose receptor from the same protein family, endows uPARAP/Endo180 with a critical role in development and homeostasis, as well as in pathological disruptions of the extracellular matrix structure. Important pathological functions of uPARAP/Endo180 have been identified in various cancers and in several fibrotic conditions. With a particular focus on matrix turnover in cancer, this review presents the necessary background for understanding the function of uPARAP/Endo180 at the molecular and cellular level, followed by an in-depth survey of the available knowledge of the expression and role of this receptor in various types of cancer and other degenerative diseases.
DBaaS Cloud Capacity Planning - Accounting for Dynamic RDBMS System that Employ Clustering and Standby Architectures

There are several major attractions that Cloud Computing promises when dealing with computing environments, such as the ease with which databases can be provisioned, maintained and accounted for seamlessly. However, this efficiency panacea that company executives look for when managing their estates often brings further challenges. Databases are an integral part of any organisation and can be a source of bottlenecks when it comes to provisioning, managing and maintenance. Cloud computing certainly can address some of these concerns when Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) is employed. However, one major aspect prior to adopting DBaaS is Capacity Planning, with the aim of avoiding underestimation or over-estimation of the new resources required from the cloud architecture, with the aim of consolidating databases together or provisioning new databases into the new architecture that DBaaS clouds will provide. Capacity Planning has not evolved sufficiently to accommodate complex database systems that employ advanced features such as Clustered or Standby Databases that are required to satisfy enterprise SLAs. Being able to efficiently capacity plan an estate of databases accurately will allow executives to expedite cloud adoption quickly, allowing the enterprise to enjoy the benefits that cloud adoption brings. This paper investigates the extent to which the physical properties resulting from a workload, in terms of CPU, IO and memory, are preserved when the workload is run on different platforms. Experiments are reported that represent OLTP, OLAP and Data Mart workloads running on a range of architectures, specifically single instance, single instance with a standby, and clustered databases. c ©2017, Copyright is with the authors. Published in Proc. 20th International Conference on Extending Database Technology (EDBT), March 21-24, 2017 Venice, Italy: ISBN 978-3-89318-073-8, on OpenProceedings.org. Distribution of this paper is permitted under the terms of the Creative Commons license CC-by-nc-nd 4.0 This paper proposes and empirically evaluates an approach to capacity planing for complex database deployments.
Regulatory Effects of Hydrogen Sulfide on IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 Levels in the Plasma and Pulmonary Tissue of Rats with Acute Lung Injury

We examined the possible role of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the pathogenesis of oleic acid (OA)-induced acute lung injury (ALI) and its regulatory effects on the inflammatory response. Compared to control rats, the OA-treated rats had decreased partial pressure of oxygen in the arterial blood (PaO2) levels, an increased pulmonary wet/dry weight (W/D) ratio, increased index of quantitative assessment (IQA) score and increased frequency of polymorphonuclear (PMN) cells in the lung 2, 4 or 6 h after OA injection (0.1 ml/kg, intravenous injection). In addition, significantly increased IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 levels together with decreased H2S levels were observed in the plasma and lung tissue of OA-treated rats compared to controls. Administration of the H2S donor sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS, 56 μmol/L, intraperitoneal injection) into OA-treated rats increased the PaO2 level, reduced the lung W/D ratio and infiltration of PMN cells, and alleviated the degree of ALI (measured by the IQA score). In addition, NaHS decreased IL-6 and IL-8 levels but increased IL-10 levels in the plasma and lung tissues, suggesting that H2S may regulate the inflammatory response during ALI via regulation of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10. Thus, the down-regulation of endogenous H2S production might be involved in the pathogenesis of OA-induced ALI in rats.
Power Aware Simulation Framework for Wireless Sensor Networks and Nodes

The constrained resources of sensor nodes limit analytical techniques and cost-time factors limit test beds to study wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Consequently, simulation becomes an essential tool to evaluate such systems.We present the power aware wireless sensors (PAWiS) simulation framework that supports design and simulation of wireless sensor networks and nodes. The framework emphasizes power consumption capturing and hence the identification of inefficiencies in various hardware and software modules of the systems. These modules include all layers of the communication system, the targeted class of application itself, the power supply and energy management, the central processing unit (CPU), and the sensor-actuator interface. The modular design makes it possible to simulate heterogeneous systems. PAWiS is an OMNeT++ based discrete event simulator written in C++. It captures the node internals (modules) as well as the node surroundings (network, environment) and provides specific features critical to WSNs like capturing power consumption at various levels of granularity, support for mobility, and environmental dynamics as well as the simulation of timing effects. A module library with standardized interfaces and a power analysis tool have been developed to support the design and analysis of simulation models. The performance of the PAWiS simulator is comparable with other simulation environments.
Extension of stochastic dominance theory to random variables

In this paper, we develop some stochastic dominance theorems for the location and scale family and linear combinations of random variables and for risk lovers as well as risk averters that extend results in Hadar and Russell (1971) and Tesfatsion (1976). The results are discussed and applied to decision-making.
The spontaneous appearance of hair cell‐like cells in the mammalian cochlea following aminoglycoside ototoxicity

YOUNG rats (in vivo) and cochleas from neonatal rats (in vitro) were treated with ototoxic antibiotics. Scanning electron microscope observations of the cicatricial epithelium of the former outer hair cell region revealed cells with a tuft of microvilli at their apical surface that could contain actin filaments, as observed by phalloidin staining. The apical organization of these hair cell-like cells was reminiscent of fetal hair cells topped with a bundle of microvilli. During both in vivo and in vitro observations, and despite the use of several growth factors in vitro, these hair cell-like cells did not differentiate into mature sensory cells. These hair cell- like cells might represent an attempt by the former sensory epithelium to regenerate.
P-glycoprotein A Gene Expression in Glucantime-Resistant and Sensitive Leishmania major (MRHO/IR/75/ER)

Background Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by different species of Leishmania parasites with a wide range of clinical manifestations. Antimonial compounds such as meglumine antimoniate (glucantime) are the first line drugs for the treatment of leishmaniasis. However, according to reports of the drug resistance of parasites, the efficacy of antimonial compounds is low. The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) proteins are present in all organisms and mediate the transport of vital elements through biological membranes. One of the important mechanisms of resistance in Leishmania parasites is the overexpression of ABC efflux pumps. P-glycoprotein A (pgpA) is a related gene for ABC transporter in Leishmania species. The aim of this study was to compare the pgpA expression in laboratory-induced resistant L. major (MRHO/IR/75/ER) and sensitive parasites. Methods RNA extraction of promastigotes of sensitive and resistant clones was performed and total RNA was reverse transcribed. The real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to assess RNA expression profiles and the expression levels were calculated using 2-ΔCt method. Results The mean expression level of pgpA mRNA was 2.70 ± 0.51 in in sensitive Leishmania clone and 6.08 ± 1.50 in resistant Leishmania clone (P = 0.021). Conclusion The expression of pgpA gene in resistant strains of L. major was almost fivefold higher than those in susceptible strains. Therefore, this can be used in field isolates, i.e. overexpression of the gene can prove resistance in wild type field isolates.
Asymptotically-Optimal, Fast-Decodable, Full-Diversity STBCs

For a family/sequence of Space-Time Block Codes (STBCs) $\mathcal{C}_1,\mathcal{C}_2,\dots$, with increasing number of transmit antennas $N_i$, with rates $R_i$ complex symbols per channel use (cspcu), $i=1,2,\dots$, the \emph{asymptotic normalized rate} is defined as $\lim_{i \to \infty}{\frac{R_i}{N_i}}. $ A family of STBCs is said to be \emph{asymptotically-good} if the asymptotic normalized rate is non-zero, i.e., when the rate scales as a non-zero fraction of the number of transmit antennas, and the family of STBCs is said to be \emph{asymptotically-optimal} if the asymptotic normalized rate is $1$, which is the maximum possible value. In this paper, we construct a new class of full-diversity STBCs that have the least maximum-likelihood (ML) decoding complexity among all known codes for any number of transmit antennas $N>1$ and rates $R>1$ cspcu. For a large set of $\left(R,N\right)$ pairs, the new codes have lower ML decoding complexity than the codes already available in the literature. Among the new codes, the class of full-rate codes ($R=N$) are asymptotically-optimal and fast-decodable, and for $N>5$ have lower ML decoding complexity than all other families of asymptotically-optimal, fast-decodable, full-diversity STBCs available in the literature. The construction of the new STBCs is facilitated by the following further contributions of this paper: (i) Construction of a new class of asymptotically-good, full-diversity multigroup ML decodable codes, that not only includes STBCs for a larger set of antennas, but also either matches in rate or contains as a proper subset all other high-rate or asymptotically-good, delay-optimal, multigroup ML decodable codes available in the literature. (ii) Construction of a new class of fast-group-decodable codes (codes that combine the low ML decoding complexity properties of multigroup ML decodable codes and fast-decodable codes) for all even number of transmit antennas and rates $1 < R \leq 5/4. $ (iii) Given a design with full-rank linear dispersion matrices, we show that a full-diversity STBC can be constructed from this design by encoding the real symbols independently using only regular PAM constellations.
A GARLIC EXTRACT PROTECTS FROM ULTRAVIOLET B (280–320 nm) RADIATION‐INDUCED SUPPRESSION OF CONTACT HYPERSENSITIVITY

Abstract Lyophilized aged garlic extract has been incorporated at concentrations of 0.1%, 1% and 4% by weight into semipurified powdered diets and fed to hairless mice. Under moderate UVB exposure conditions resulting in 58% suppression of the systemic contact hypersensitivity response in control‐fed mice, a dose‐responsive protection was observed in the garlic‐fed mice; contact hypersensitivity in the UVB‐exposed mice fed 4% garlic extract was suppressed by only 19%. If the UVB exposure was replaced by topical application of one of a series of lotions containing increasing concentrations of cis‐urocanic acid, a dose‐responsive suppression of contact hypersensitivity was demonstrated in control‐fed mice (urocanic acid at 25, 50, 100 and 200 μg per mouse resulting in 22–46% suppression). Mice fed a diet containing 1% aged garlic extract were partially protected from cis‐urocanic acid‐induced suppression of contact hypersensitivity, with greater protection from the lower concentrations of urocanic acid. Mice fed a diet containing 4% aged garlic extract were protected from all concentrations of urocanic acid. The results indicate that aged garlic extract contains ingredient(s) that protect from UVB‐induced suppression of contact hypersensitivity and suggest that the mechanism of protection is by antagonism of the cis‐urocanic acid mediation of this form of immunosuppression.
Regulation of Ca2+ Sparks by Ca2+ and Mg2+ in Mammalian and Amphibian Muscle. An RyR Isoform-specific Role in Excitation–Contraction Coupling?

Ca2+ and Mg2+ are important mediators and regulators of intracellular Ca2+ signaling in muscle. The effects of changes of cytosolic [Ca2+] or [Mg2+] on elementary Ca2+ release events were determined, as functions of concentration and time, in single fast-twitch permeabilized fibers of rat and frog. Ca2+ sparks were identified and their parameters measured in confocal images of fluo-4 fluorescence. Solutions with different [Ca2+] or [Mg2+] were rapidly exchanged while imaging. Faster and spatially homogeneous changes of [Ca2+] (reaching peaks >100 μM) were achieved by photolysing Ca NP-EGTA with laser flashes. In both species, incrementing cytosolic [Ca2+] caused a steady, nearly proportional increase in spark frequency, reversible upon [Ca2+] reduction. A greater change in spark frequency, usually transient, followed sudden increases in [Ca2+] after a lag of 100 ms or more. The nonlinearity, lag, and other features of this delayed effect suggest that it requires increase of [Ca2+] inside the SR. In the frog only, increases in cytosolic [Ca2+] often resulted, after a lag, in sparks that propagated transversally. An increase in [Mg2+] caused a fall of spark frequency, but with striking species differences. In the rat, but not the frog, sparks were observed at 4–40 mM [Mg2+]. Reducing [Mg2+] below 2 mM, which should enable the RyR channel's activation (CICR) site to bind Ca2+, caused progressive increase in spark frequency in the frog, but had no effect in the rat. Spark propagation and enhancement by sub-mM Mg2+ are hallmarks of CICR. Their absence in the rat suggests that CICR requires RyR3 para-junctional clusters, present only in the frog. The observed frequency of sparks corresponds to a channel open probability of 10−7 in the frog or 10−8 in the rat. Together with the failure of photorelease to induce activation directly, this indicates a basal inhibition of channels in situ. It is proposed that relief of this inhibition could be the mechanism by which increased SR load increases spark frequency.