Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing Fatigue After Traumatic Brain Injury: An Evaluation of the Barroso Fatigue Scale

ObjectivesTo assess the suitability of the Barroso Fatigue Scale (BFS) for assessment of posttraumatic brain injury (post-TBI) fatigue. DesignAnalysis of self-report data. SettingCommunity. Participants183 individuals with TBI in California, and 233 individuals with TBI and a comparison group of 85 persons without brain injury in New York. InterventionsNone. ResultsBoth individuals with TBI and comparison participants reported high levels of fatigue on the Fatigue Severity Scale and the Fatigue Assessment Instrument, which can be scored from the BFS. Factor analysis of 40 BFS items resulted in 5 factors; because factors appeared to be based on both substantive issues and the format and location of the items, a BFS scoring algorithm was not pursued. The other 16 BFS items provided useful information in understanding post-TBI fatigue. ConclusionsThe BFS in its current format is not recommended for assessing fatigue as a multidimensional entity after TBI. It may have utility for the 3 widely known fatigue measures that can be derived from it, and it generates information on the circumstances of fatigue.
Manipulation of Lyophilization‐Induced Phase Separation: Implications For Pharmaceutical Proteins

Lyophilization, or freeze‐drying, of pharmaceutical proteins is often the only processing method that provides requisite long‐term product stability. Freezing and drying, however, can cause acute damage to proteins. To alleviate damage, formulations frequently include protein stabilizers (often polymers and/or sugars), as well as buffering salts and “inert” bulking agents. While great efforts are placed on developing a formulation and suitable lyophilization cycle, incompatibilities among components through freezing and drying have been almost completely ignored. We demonstrate that solutions of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and dextran, initially below critical concentrations for phase separation, do indeed experience a liquid−liquid phase separation induced by freeze concentration during the lyophilization cycle. The separation is shown to evolve with annealing at −7 °C and can be effectively inhibited simply by replacing NaCl with KCl in the formulation buffer. In addition, we show that phase separation causes unfolding of a model protein, recombinant hemoglobin, when freeze‐dried in the PEg/dextran system. When the phase separation is averted by switching to KCl, the protein structural damage is also avoided. Measurements of pH in the frozen solutions show that the structural damage is not a result of pH changes. We suggest that KCl forms a glass with rapid cooling which kinetically prevents the phase separation and thus the protein structural damage.
Herpes simplex virus type 1 ICP27 deletion mutants exhibit altered patterns of transcription and are DNA deficient

Infected cell polypeptide 27 (ICP27, alpha 27, IE63) is the 63-kilodalton product of an immediate-early gene of herpes simplex virus. Functional analysis of temperature-sensitive mutants in herpes simplex virus type 1 ICP27 demonstrated that this protein plays an essential role in virus replication (W. R. Sacks, C. C. Greene, D. P. Aschman, and P. A. Schaffer, J. Virol. 55:796-805, 1985). Because the temperature-sensitive forms of ICP27 induced by the mutants affected gene expression to differing degrees, these mutants were not suitable for establishing the ICP27 null phenotype. For this purpose we generated deletion mutants in ICP27--3dl1.2 and 5dl1.2--lacking the transcriptional start site as well as portions of the promoter and coding sequences of the gene. These mutants failed to specify ICP27-specific transcripts and proteins and were replication incompetent. The mutants induced the synthesis of greatly reduced levels of viral DNA (18% of wild-type levels) and were characterized by the overexpression of early proteins, reduced levels of gamma 1 proteins, and the absence of detectable gamma 2 proteins. The alterations in viral protein synthesis appeared to occur at the level of transcription. The phenotypic properties of the mutants were consistent with the results of transient expression assays demonstrating that ICP27 acts to down-regulate transcription of early genes and to further up-regulate transcription of late genes whose expression is induced by ICP0 and ICP4. Because ICP27 is not thought to be directly involved in viral DNA synthesis, it is likely that the reduced levels of viral DNA characteristic of deletion mutant-infected cells is a consequence of aberrant regulation of certain early genes whose products are involved in viral DNA synthesis and late genes whose products are required to stabilize viral DNA once synthesized. Taken together, these findings suggest an essential role for ICP27 in the modulation of early and late gene expression at the transcriptional level.
Implementierung von Maßnahmen zur Tabakentwöhnung im Krankenhaus

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund: Krankenhäusern kommt bei der Tabakentwöhnung (TE) eine Schlüsselrolle zu. Dennoch werden nur selten Interventionen zur TE angeboten trotz nachgewiesener Effektivität. Ziel der vorliegenden Untersuchung war es, Daten rauchender Patienten zu erheben, um eine zielgruppenspezifische Intervention im Krankenhaus zu entwickeln. Methodik und Patienten: Von Juli bis September 2009 wurde bei allen stationären Aufnahmen der Rauchstatus erhoben und durch Messung des CO-Hb validiert. Raucher, die zum ersten Mal stationär auf periphere Stationen aufgenommen wurden, erhielten ein umfangreiches Fragebogeninstrument. Ausschlusskriterien waren zu kurze Liegedauer und kognitive bzw. sprachliche Einschränkungen. Von den teilnehmenden Rauchern (TN) wurden zusätzlich klinische Daten erhoben. Ergebnisse: Die Raucherquote lag bei 25 %. Die Teilnahmequote der einschließbaren Patienten lag bei 89,4 %. Der Fragebogen fand bei Rauchern eine hohe Akzeptanz und lieferte eine Vielzahl von Informationen für die anschließende Beratung. Pro Tag kann in einer 80-Betten-Abteilung mit 3 – 4 Rauchern für eine Intervention gerechnet werden. Mindestens ein Kontakt ist während des Aufenthaltes möglich. Obwohl 75 % der TN bereits mindestens einen Aufhörversuch aufwiesen, hatten nur die Wenigsten Unterstützungsmaßnahmen in Anspruch genommen. Schlussfolgerungen: Spezifische Fragebögen sind zur Evaluation der Rauchanamnese in Akutkrankenhäusern geeignet und können eine bettseitige Raucherberatung wesentlich erleichtern. Um ihrer Schlüsselrolle bei der TE gerecht werden zu können, sollten mehr Krankenhäuser entsprechende Interventionen implementieren.
Reliability and Validity of the 4-Item Version of the Korean Perceived Stress Scale.

This study was designed to evaluate the reliability (internal consistency, reproducibility over time, and measurement precision) and validity (factorial, convergent, and concurrent validity) of the 4-item Korean Perceived Stress Scale in comparison to the 10-item Korean Perceived Stress Scale. Participants were 650 students from seven schools of nursing in South Korea. Measures included Korean versions of the Perceived Stress Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and a single-item quality-of-life measure. The 4-item Perceived Stress Scale had lower Cronbach alpha than the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (.65 vs. .80), but its item-total correlations (.35-.47) and split-half coefficient (.81) were comparable to the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (item-total correlations = .20-.56; split-half coefficient = .82). Reproducibility of the 4-item scale after a 1-week interval (r = .67, ICC absolute agreement = .64) was similar to the 10-item scale (r = .70, ICC absolute agreement = .65). The standard error of measurement was slightly higher in the 4-item scale. Scale constructs of the two were identical in exploratory factor analysis. The two scales were highly correlated (r = .93) and showed similar levels of concurrent validity with sleep quality and quality of life. In conclusion, the 4- and 10-item Korean Perceived Stress Scale are similar in psychometric qualities. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Impact of Intelligent Aiding for Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Schedule Management

There is increasing interest in designing systems such that the current many-to-one ratio of operators to unmanned vehicles (UVs) can be inverted. Instead of lower-level tasks performed by today’s UV teams, the sole operator would focus on high-level supervisory control tasks. A key challenge in the design of such single-operator systems will be the need to minimize periods of excessive workload that arise when critical tasks for several UVs occur simultaneously. Thus some kind of decision support is needed that facilitates an operator’s ability to evaluate different action alternatives for managing a multiple UV mission schedule in real-time. This paper describes two decision support experiments that attempted to provide UAV operators with multivariate scheduling assistance, with mixed results. Those automated decision support tools that provided more local, as opposed to global, visual recommendations produced superior performance, suggesting that meta-information displays could saturate operators and reduce performance.
Altered Responses to Homeostatic Cytokines in Patients with Idiopathic CD4 Lymphocytopenia

Idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia (ICL) is a rare immune deficiency characterized by a protracted CD4+ T cell loss of unknown etiology and by the occurrence of opportunistic infections similar to those seen in AIDS. We investigated whether a defect in responses to cytokines that control CD4+ T cell homeostasis could play a role in ICL. Immunophenotype and signaling responses to interleukin-7 (IL-7), IL-2, and thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) were analyzed by flow cytometry in CD4+ T cells from 15 ICL patients and 15 healthy blood donors. The induction of phospho-STAT5 after IL-7 stimulation was decreased in memory CD4+ T cells of some ICL patients, which correlated with a decreased expression of the IL-7Rα receptor chain (R = 0.74, p<0.005) and with lower CD4+ T cell counts (R = 0.69, p<0.005). IL-2 responses were also impaired, both in the Treg and conventional memory subsets. Decreased IL-2 responses correlated with decreased IL-7 responses (R = 0.75, p<0.005), pointing to combined defects that may significantly perturb CD4+ T cell homeostasis in a subset of ICL patients. Unexpectedly, responses to the IL-7-related cytokine TSLP were increased in ICL patients, while they remained barely detectable in healthy controls. TSLP responses correlated inversely with IL-7 responses (R = −0.41; p<0.05), suggesting a cross-regulation between the two cytokine systems. In conclusion, IL-7 and IL-2 signaling are impaired in ICL, which may account for the loss of CD4+ T cell homeostasis. Increased TSLP responses point to a compensatory homeostatic mechanism that may mitigate defects in γc cytokine responses.
Quantum–classical transitions in complex networks

The inherent properties of specific physical systems can be used as metaphors for investigation of the behavior of complex networks. This insight has already been put into practice in previous work, e.g., studying the network evolution in terms of phase transitions of quantum gases or representing distances among nodes as if they were particle energies. This paper shows that the emergence of different structures in complex networks, such as the scale-free and the winner-takes-all networks, can be represented in terms of a quantum–classical transition for quantum gases. In particular, we propose a model of fermionic networks that allows us to investigate the network evolution and its dependence on the system temperature. Simulations, performed in accordance with the cited model, clearly highlight the separation between classical random and winner-takes-all networks, in full correspondence with the separation between classical and quantum regions for quantum gases. We deem this model useful for the analysis of synthetic and real complex networks.
Prevalence, Morphology, and Prognosis of Human Papillomavirus in Tonsillar Cancer

Objectives: We sought to identify the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma, and to examine the relationship of HPV to prognosis and tumor morphology. Methods: We performed in situ hybridization for HPV and retrospective clinical outcome analysis. Results: Of the 48 patients with tonsillar carcinoma, in situ hybridization identified 35% as HPV-positive tumors. Age-matched controls had no evidence of HPV. There was no significant difference between HPV-positive and HPV-negative patients regarding age (p = 0.34), tobacco consumption (p = 0.59), alcohol consumption (p = 0.91), or treatment method (p = 0.39). Forty-four patients were eligible for outcome analysis. The overall rate of recurrence in this population was 25%, and the disease-specific survival rate was 84%. There was no significant difference between the two groups either in the incidence of recurrence (p = 0.14) or in the disease-specific survival rate (p = 0.19). HPV-associated tumors developed from the tonsillar crypts significantly more frequently than did HPV-negative tumors (p = 0.01). Conclusions: As previously described, HPV is significantly associated with squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil; however, HPV status in our series did not correlate with clinical outcome. Morphologically, we found that HPV-positive tumors had their origin in the tonsillar crypts, whereas HPV-negative tumors arose from the surface epithelium.
Visual and clinical analysis of Bac-T-Screen urine screen results

Of 337 urine specimens evaluated, 75 of the 113 that showed positive readings on the Bac-T-Screen urine-screening instrument were found by subsequent semiquantitative culture to yield either less than 10,000 CFU of mixed bacteria per ml or no growth (less than 100 CFU/ml by our criteria). We tried to determine what factors contributed to the positive Bac-T-Screen results by examining the 75 Bac-T-Screen-positive urine specimens with three visual methods: Gram staining, hemacytometer chamber counting, and filtering through a 5.0-microns-pore-size nitrocellulose filter with subsequent microscopic examination of the stained filter. Somatic cells and other particles present in those urine specimens that yielded positive readings by the Bac-T-Screen included epithelial cells in 43%, crystals and amorphous material in 33%, and leukocytes in 17% of the specimens. There was no relationship between the numbers of particles seen in urine and the magnitude of the relative absorbance reading obtained with the Bac-T-Screen. A retrospective chart review was conducted for patients with positive Bac-T-Screen results and negative cultures. Of the 75 patients, 6 were thought to have urinary tract infections on the basis of clinical criteria; the majority of the remaining 69 patients had clinical histories revealing systemic or urogenital conditions consistent with shedding of particles in the urine. A positive reading by the Bac-T-Screen system seemed to be related to the presence of somatic cells and other particles in urine; bacteriuria was not always detectable in these cases.
Beneficial Associations of Physical Activity With 2-h but Not Fasting Blood Glucose in Australian Adults

OBJECTIVE—We examined the associations of physical activity with fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and with 2-h postload plasma glucose (2-h PG) in men and women with low, moderate, and high waist circumference. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—The Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) study provided data on a population-based cross-sectional sample of 4,108 men and 5,106 women aged ≥25 years without known diabetes or health conditions that could affect physical activity. FPG and 2-h PG were obtained from an oral glucose tolerance test. Self-reported physical activity level was defined according to the current public health guidelines as active (≥150 min/week across five or more sessions) or inactive (<150 min/week and/or less than five sessions). Sex-specific quintiles of physical activity time were used to ascertain dose response. RESULTS—Being physically active and total physical activity time were independently and negatively associated with 2-h PG. When physical activity level was considered within each waist circumference category, 2-h PG was significantly lower in active high–waist circumference women (β −0.30 [95% CI −0.59 to −0.01], P = 0.044) and active low–waist circumference men (β −0.25 [−0.49 to −0.02], P = 0.036) compared with their inactive counterparts. Considered across physical activity and waist circumference categories, 2-h PG levels were not significantly different between active moderate–waist circumference participants and active low–waist circumference participants. Associations between physical activity and FPG were nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS—There are important differences between 2-h PG and FPG related to physical activity. It appears that 2-h PG is more sensitive to the beneficial effects of physical activity, and these benefits occur across the waist circumference spectrum.
Keypoints from symmetries by wave propagation

The paper conjectures and demonstrates that repeatable key points based on salient symmetries at different scales can be detected by a novel analysis grounded on the wave equation rather than the heat equation underlying traditional Gaussian scale-space theory. While the image structures found by most state-of-the-art detectors, such as blobs and corners, occur typically on planar highly textured surfaces, salient symmetries are widespread in diverse kinds of images, including those related to untextured objects, which are hardly dealt with by current feature-based recognition pipelines. We provide experimental results on standard datasets and also contribute with a new dataset focused on untextured objects. Based on the positive experimental results, we hope to foster further research on the promising topic of scale invariant analysis through the wave equation.
Review on Challenges and Limitations for Algae-Based Wastewater Treatment

Abstract Microalgae biomass production is recognized as a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to currently used approaches to tertiary wastewater treatment. However, such limitations, as algae biomass separation from water, process efficiency in cold climate and the algae biomass ability to reduce micropollutant content in wastewater hamper this method from full-scale use. This review discusses the identified drawbacks and offers possible improvements and modifications for wastewater phycobioremediation.
Prevalence and characteristics of myopic retinopathy in a rural Chinese adult population: the Handan Eye Study.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence, characteristics, and risk factors for myopic retinopathy in a rural population in Northern China. METHODS The Handan Eye Study is a population-based study of eye disease in rural Chinese individuals 30 years or older. Eligible residents underwent a detailed ophthalmic examination including standardized visual acuity tests and retinal photography after pupil dilation. Myopic retinopathy was defined to include signs of staphyloma, lacquer cracks, Fuchs spot, and myopic chorioretinal atrophy. RESULTS Of the 6830 participants, 6603 (96.7%) had gradable photographs in at least 1 eye for assessment of myopic retinopathy. The mean (SD) age was 51.9 (11.8) years. Myopic retinopathy was observed in 60 participants (84 eyes), a person-specific prevalence of 0.9% (95% confidence interval, 0.7%-1.1%). Twenty-four (40.0%) had bilateral disease. Higher myopic retinopathy prevalence was associated with older age (P < .001) and increasing myopic spherical equivalent refractive error (P < .001). Mean (SD) spherical equivalent refraction was -12.3 (6.1) diopters for eyes with myopic retinopathy compared with -1.6 (1.6) diopters in myopic eyes without myopic retinopathy (P < .001). Bilateral blindness or low vision as defined by best-corrected visual acuity was present in 14 participants (24.6%) with myopic retinopathy. Staphyloma was the most frequent myopic retinopathy sign (86.9%), followed by chorioretinal atrophy (56.0%), lacquer cracks (36.9%), and Fuchs spot (14.3%). CONCLUSIONS Myopic retinopathy was detected in 0.9% of rural Chinese individuals 30 years or older. The prevalence of myopic retinopathy was lower than that in the Beijing Eye Study but was similar to white individuals of similar age in the Australian Blue Mountains Eye Study.
Unhealthy Landscapes: Policy Recommendations on Land Use Change and Infectious Disease Emergence

Anthropogenic land use changes drive a range of infectious disease outbreaks and emergence events and modify the transmission of endemic infections. These drivers include agricultural encroachment, deforestation, road construction, dam building, irrigation, wetland modification, mining, the concentration or expansion of urban environments, coastal zone degradation, and other activities. These changes in turn cause a cascade of factors that exacerbate infectious disease emergence, such as forest fragmentation, disease introduction, pollution, poverty, and human migration. The Working Group on Land Use Change and Disease Emergence grew out of a special colloquium that convened international experts in infectious diseases, ecology, and environmental health to assess the current state of knowledge and to develop recommendations for addressing these environmental health challenges. The group established a systems model approach and priority lists of infectious diseases affected by ecologic degradation. Policy-relevant levels of the model include specific health risk factors, landscape or habitat change, and institutional (economic and behavioral) levels. The group recommended creating Centers of Excellence in Ecology and Health Research and Training, based at regional universities and/or research institutes with close links to the surrounding communities. The centers’ objectives would be 3-fold: a) to provide information to local communities about the links between environmental change and public health; b) to facilitate fully interdisciplinary research from a variety of natural, social, and health sciences and train professionals who can conduct interdisciplinary research; and c) to engage in science-based communication and assessment for policy making toward sustainable health and ecosystems.
Mechanical Interlocking of Titanium and Steel Using Friction Stir Forming

This study presents a novel method for mechanically interlocking dissimilar alloys of pure titanium with steel through using the principles of friction stir forming (FSF) technique. In present study, titanium plate is placed on top of a steel sheet containing a screwed hole. FSF is conducted on top of the titanium alloy, which produces sufficient heat to plasticize the alloy. This results in a flow of titanium into the screw hole in the steel, due to the plastic deformation, thereby mechanically interlocking titanium with the steel. The mechanical properties of the developed interlock are investigated through tensile and hardness tests and microstructural observation.