Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neural respiratory drive in healthy subjects and in COPD

The aim of the present study was to use the diaphragm electromyogram (EMGdi) to compare levels of neural respiratory drive (NRD) in a cohort of healthy subjects and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, and to investigate the relationship between NRD and pulmonary function in COPD. EMGdi was recorded at rest and normalised to peak EMGdi recorded during maximum inspiratory manoeuvres (EMGdi % max) in 100 healthy subjects and 30 patients with COPD, using a multipair oesophageal electrode. EMGdi was normalised to the amplitude of the diaphragm compound muscle action potential (CMAPdi,MS) in 64 healthy subjects. The mean±sd EMGdi % max was 9.0±3.4% in healthy subjects and 27.9±9.9% in COPD patients, and correlated with percentage predicted forced expiratory volume in one second, vital capacity and inspiratory capacity in patients. EMGdi % max was higher in healthy subjects aged 51–80 yrs than in those aged 18–50 yrs (11.4±3.4 versus 8.2±2.9%, respectively). Observations in the healthy group were similar when peak EMGdi or CMAPdi,MS were used to normalise EMGdi. Levels of neural respiratory drive were higher in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients than healthy subjects, and related to disease severity. Diaphragm compound muscle action potential could be used to normalise diaphragm electromyogram if volitional inspiratory manoeuvres could not be performed, allowing translation of the technique to critically ill and ventilated patients.
Sex Differences in General Knowledge: Meta-Analysis and New Data on the Contribution of School-Related Moderators among High-School Students

Research from various countries consistently reported an advantage of boys over girls in general knowledge and was also suggestive of some overall trends regarding specific domains of general knowledge that were speculated to stem from biologically differentiated interests. However, results were heterogeneous and, as of yet, had not been evaluated meta-analytically. Moreover, previous research drew on overly homogeneous high-school or undergraduate samples whose representativeness appears problematic; mostly, likely moderators, such as school type, student age or parental education, were also not directly investigated or controlled for. We provide a meta-analytical aggregation of available results regarding sex differences in general knowledge and present new data, investigating the psychometric properties of the General Knowledge Test (GKT), on which previous research primarily relied, and explored sex differences in a large and heterogeneous Austrian high-school student sample (N = 1088). The aggregated sex effect in general knowledge was of medium size in previous research, but differences in specific domains were heterogeneous across countries and only modest at best. Large sex differences in our data could be explained to a large part by school-related moderators (school type, school, student age, parental education) and selection processes. Boys had a remaining advantage over girls that was only small in size and that was consistent with the magnitude of sex differences in general intelligence. Analysis of the GKT yielded no evidence of biologically differentiated interests, but of a specific interest in the humanities among girls. In conclusion, previous research likely overestimated sex differences in general knowledge.
A partitioning-based divisive clustering technique for maximizing the modularity

We present a new graph clustering algorithm aimed at obtaining clusterings of high modularity. The algorithm pursues a divisive clustering approach and uses established graph partitioning algorithms and techniques to compute recursive bipartitions of the input as well as to refine clusters. Experimental evaluation shows that the modularity scores obtained compare favorably to many previous approaches. In the majority of test cases, the algorithm outperformed the best known alternatives. In particular, among 13 problem instances common in the literature, the proposed algorithm improves the best known modularity in 9 cases.
Evaluation of static properties for component-based architectures

Early assessment of the compositional properties of component compositions is one of the hottest issues in component-based architecting. We describe a method for evaluating the static properties of an architecture, given the features of its constituents. The estimation framework is based on composition rules and the specification of the static properties of the components by means of a reflection interface. Two evaluation approaches, exhaustive and selective, provide a flexible trade-off between the estimation effort and the necessary precision. The method was successfully applied to the Koala component model for estimating the static memory consumption.
Human Umbilical Cord Blood-Derived CD34+ Cells Reverse Osteoporosis in NOD/SCID Mice by Altering Osteoblastic and Osteoclastic Activities

Background Osteoporosis is a bone disorder associated with loss of bone mineral density and micro architecture. A balance of osteoblasts and osteoclasts activities maintains bone homeostasis. Increased bone loss due to increased osteoclast and decreased osteoblast activities is considered as an underlying cause of osteoporosis. Methods and Findings The cures for osteoporosis are limited, consequently the potential of CD34+ cell therapies is currently being considered. We developed a nanofiber-based expansion technology to obtain adequate numbers of CD34+ cells isolated from human umbilical cord blood, for therapeutic applications. Herein, we show that CD34+ cells could be differentiated into osteoblastic lineage, in vitro. Systemically delivered CD34+ cells home to the bone marrow and significantly improve bone deposition, bone mineral density and bone micro-architecture in osteoporotic mice. The elevated levels of osteocalcin, IL-10, GM-CSF, and decreased levels of MCP-1 in serum parallel the improvements in bone micro-architecture. Furthermore, CD34+ cells improved osteoblast activity and concurrently impaired osteoclast differentiation, maturation and functionality. Conclusions These findings demonstrate a novel approach utilizing nanofiber-expanded CD34+ cells as a therapeutic application for the treatment of osteoporosis.
Generating Attack Scenarios for Attack Intention Recognition

Attack intention recognition is the process of inferring an attacker's intention from the observed attack behaviors, which is based on some attack scenario. The common methods of modeling attack scenario are attack tree and attack graph, but these methods are not suitable for attack intention recognition. In this paper, we focus on the method of generating attack scenarios. We propose a novel model of attack scenario for attack intention recognition. Then the generating algorithm is given to generate attack scenario. We demonstrate the validity of this method with an experimental network at last.
Infectious causes of childhood disability: results from a pilot study in rural Bangladesh.

PURPOSE To identify the contribution of infectious aetiologies to major childhood disabilities in Bangladesh. METHODS Active community-based survey was conducted for severe childhood disability using the Key Informants Method between September 2011 and March 2012 in a rural sub-district of Bangladesh. RESULTS We screened 1069 children and identified 859 with severe disabilities. The mean age of the disabled children was 8.5 year and 42.9% were girls. The major forms of impairments/conditions were cerebral palsy (n = 324, 37.7%), hearing impairment (n = 201, 23.4%), physical impairment (n = 147, 17.1%), visual impairment (n = 49, 5.7%), cerebral palsy with epilepsy (n = 39, 4.5%) and epilepsy (n = 41, 4.7%). Congenital rubella syndrome was identified in 1.1% (n = 9). 7.1% disabilities resulted from clinically confirmed infections, and another 10.8% originated from probable infections; thus a total of 17.9% disabilities were related to an infectious origin. CONCLUSIONS Infectious diseases appear to be one of the major causes of severe childhood disability in rural Bangladesh.
A Meta-analysis of the Efficacy of Laser Phototherapy on Pain Relief

ObjectiveLaser phototherapy has been widely used to relieve pain for more than 30 years, but its efficacy remains controversial. To ascertain the overall effect of phototherapy on pain, we aggregated the literature and subjected the studies to statistical meta-analysis. MethodsRelevant original studies were gathered from every available source and coded. Articles that met preestablished inclusion criteria were subjected to statistical meta-analysis, using Cohen's d statistic to determine treatment effect sizes. ResultsFifty-two effect sizes were computed from the 22 articles that met the inclusion criteria. The resulting overall mean effect size was highly significant; d=+0.84 (95% confidence interval=0.44-1.23). The effect size remained significant even when a high outlying d value was conservatively excluded from the analysis; d=+0.66 (95% confidence interval=0.46-0.86). The fail-safe number associated with the overall treatment effect, that is, the number of additional studies in which phototherapy has negative or no effect on pain needed to negate the overall large effect size of +0.84, was 348. DiscussionThese findings warrant the conclusion that laser phototherapy effectively relieves pain of various etiologies; making it a valuable addition to contemporary pain management armamentarium.
Facial Reactions to Emotional Facial Expressions: Affect or Cognition?

This study investigated whether observers’ facial reactions to the emotional facial expressions of others represent an affective or a cognitive response to these emotional expressions. Three hypotheses were contrasted: (1) facial reactions to emotional facial expressions are due to mimicry as part of an affective empathic reaction; (2) facial reactions to emotional facial expressions
Long-Term, Randomized Comparison of Balloon Angioplasty and Surgery for Native Coarctation of the Aorta in Childhood

Background—The purpose of this study was to compare the long-term outcomes of children randomized to surgery or balloon angioplasty (BA) for native coarctation (CoA). A prior randomized, short-term comparison of BA and surgery for native CoA in 36 children demonstrated equivalent relief of obstruction. The risk of aneurysm formation and possibly restenosis was higher among patients treated with BA. Methods and Results—Blood pressure, residual aortic obstruction, and exercise performance were evaluated. Need for repeat intervention was reviewed. Aortic arch anatomy was assessed with magnetic resonance angiography. For subjects who were not available to return for evaluation, the most recent clinical record was utilized. Among the 36 subjects initially randomized, 21 returned for evaluation (11 BA, 10 surgery). The average time since initial intervention to evaluation for all subjects was 10.6±4.7 years for BA subjects and 11.3±3.7 years for surgical subjects. Resting blood pressure, CoA gradient, exercise performance, MRI analysis of the aortic arch, and need for repeat interventions were not different for the 2 treatment strategies. There was a higher incidence of aneurysm formation (35% versus 0%) and a greater difference in blood pressure between the right and left legs with exercise among BA subjects. Some aneurysms developed late, first being detected more than 5 years after the initial intervention. Only 50% of BA subjects remained free of both aneurysm formation and repeat intervention compared with 87.5% of surgical subjects (P=0.03). Conclusions—BA for the treatment of childhood CoA is associated with a higher incidence of aneurysm formation and iliofemoral artery injury than surgery. These differences should be considered when undertaking treatment for native CoA during childhood.
Between Two Brands: A Goal Fluency Account of Brand Evaluation

The authors present the results of two studies that show how consumers' evaluations of an advertised product can be influenced by the compatibility or conflict between the regulatory goals (promotion or prevention) addressed by the product and prior advertising of related products. Participants across both studies were exposed sequentially to the advertising of two products (prime and target), and they demonstrated a regulatory goal fluency effect in their evaluations of the target brand. When the regulatory goal serviced by the target matched (conflicted with) the regulatory goal serviced by the prime, participants indicated higher (lower) purchase intent (Experiment 1) and more favorable evaluations of the target brand (Experiment 2). These effects were not accounted for by differences in participants' involvement or affective state across the conditions. Instead, mediation analyses show that participants' ease of processing the target advertisement underlies the effect of goal compatibility on brand evaluation.
On the performance interference cancellation in uplink cooperative wireless networks

The interference cancellation (IC) techniques are studied for cooperative networks with the interference source if the destination and relay are disturbed by the co-channel interference (CCI). In order to solve such interference problem, the beamforming technique with the appropriate weight estimation for array antenna at the destination. We can also control the transmitted power at the interference source, and maintain nearly the diversity gain compare with the existing decode and forward protocol. The system performance can be enhanced by adopting the power control strategy at the interference source by channel quality criterion and signal combining techniques. The maximum ratio combining (MRC) and the cooperative maximum ration combining (C-MRC) are used to combine the received signals arrived at the destination to achieve the minimum probability of error based on the experimental results from simulations. The results show proposed IC C-MRC systems had the lower probability of error than MRC because effect from the weighted of received signal from the relay.
Gene expression pattern Xenopus frizzled-5 : a frizzled family member expressed exclusively in the neural retina of the developing eye

We have isolated a new Wnt receptor frizzled family member from Xenopus laevis, Xenopus frizzled-5 (Xfz5), a likely ortholog of human frizzled-5. Based on Northern and whole-mount in situ hybridization data, Xfz5 is ®rst detected at the late neurula stage in retinal primordia. Throughout the tailbud stage Xfz5 is expressed exclusively in the neural retina within the optic vesicles. During tadpole stage Xfz5 expression becomes restricted to the ciliary marginal zone. This highly restrictive expression pattern makes Xfz5 an excellent marker for neural retinal tissue. q 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Enhancement of Myocardial Regeneration Through Genetic Engineering of Cardiac Progenitor Cells Expressing Pim-1 Kinase

Background— Despite numerous studies demonstrating the efficacy of cellular adoptive transfer for therapeutic myocardial regeneration, problems remain for donated cells with regard to survival, persistence, engraftment, and long-term benefits. This study redresses these concerns by enhancing the regenerative potential of adoptively transferred cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) via genetic engineering to overexpress Pim-1, a cardioprotective kinase that enhances cell survival and proliferation. Methods and Results— Intramyocardial injections of CPCs overexpressing Pim-1 were given to infarcted female mice. Animals were monitored over 4, 12, and 32 weeks to assess cardiac function and engraftment of Pim-1 CPCs with echocardiography, in vivo hemodynamics, and confocal imagery. CPCs overexpressing Pim-1 showed increased proliferation and expression of markers consistent with cardiogenic lineage commitment after dexamethasone exposure in vitro. Animals that received CPCs overexpressing Pim-1 also produced greater levels of cellular engraftment, persistence, and functional improvement relative to control CPCs up to 32 weeks after delivery. Salutary effects include reduction of infarct size, greater number of c-kit+ cells, and increased vasculature in the damaged region. Conclusions— Myocardial repair is significantly enhanced by genetic engineering of CPCs with Pim-1 kinase. Ex vivo gene delivery to enhance cellular survival, proliferation, and regeneration may overcome current limitations of stem cell–based therapeutic approaches.
HTTP adaptive streaming scheme for multi-server environments

HTTP Adaptive Streaming (HAS) has become increasingly more popular. However, the research about HTTP adaptive streaming for multi-server environments is limited. Compared with traditional single-server environments, HAS for multi-server environments is able to offer expanded bandwidth, link diversity, and reliability. However, it is a challenging issue to support the seamless playback in multi-server environments due to their diversity of bandwidths. To solve this problem, we propose a partial segment based HAS scheme for multi-server environments. The proposed scheme provides seamless video streaming by adaptively controlling the size of the partial segment. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme adaptively transmits the multimedia content in multi-server environments.
Exploiting an event-based system to develop a distributed e-commerce infrastructure

In the last few years the event-based paradigm has been largely studied and considered as a promising approach to develop the communication infrastructure of distributed systems. It is particularly interesting when easy reconfiguration and decoupling among components is required. In fact, it allows events to be propagated in a way that is completely hidden to the component that has generated them as well as to the receivers. As a consequence, a component can operate in the system without being aware of the existence of other components. Also, it is always possible to plug a component in and out of the architecture without affecting the other components directly. These two effects guarantee a high compositionality and reconfigurability of a software architecture. In the context of this paper we report our experience in exploiting the event-based paradigm to develop an e-commerce platform called OPELIX.
Body mass index and asthma in the military population of the northwestern United States.

BACKGROUND Patients with asthma commonly have other medical problems such as obesity, but it is unclear if obesity independently relates to asthma occurrence. OBJECTIVE To examine the association between asthma and obesity. METHODS We studied enrollees aged 17 to 96 years in region 11 of TRICARE, a military managed health care program encompassing Washington, Oregon, and northern Idaho, using an enrollment questionnaire from January 1997 to December 1998. We performed case-control analyses on 2788 asthma cases and 39 637 controls. From these cases and controls, we selected a random sample of 1000 asthma cases and 1000 controls, linking them to a computerized military health record system to verify if medications indicated for asthma therapy were prescribed. After excluding cases not prescribed bronchodilator medications and excluding controls prescribed bronchodilator medications or steroids, we used logistic regression to estimate associations among asthma, body mass index, and demographic, lifestyle, and comorbid risk factors in 386 verified cases and 744 verified controls. RESULTS Increasing body mass index, younger age, female sex, non-active duty beneficiary status, and arthritis were significant independent predictors of asthma prevalence in both our larger analysis and our verified substudy, whereas stomach ulcer, depression, hypertension, and white race are also independent predictors of asthma prevalence in our larger analysis. CONCLUSIONS Increasing body mass index is a key factor predicting prevalence of asthma and, if determined to be etiologically related to asthma incidence, is a potentially modifiable risk factor for asthma.
Analysis of the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms of interleukin-23 receptor (IL-23R) and inflammatory bowel disease in a Chinese Han cohort

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic, complex genetic disease with rapidly increasing prevalence in China. The interactions of genetic, environmental, and microbial factors contribute to the development of IBD, however, the precise etiologies of IBD are not well understood yet. Interleukin-23 receptor (IL-23R) encodes a subunit of receptor for IL-23, which is an important proinflammatory cytokine. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of IL-23R gene and IBD in Chinese Han population. We genotyped three nonsynonymous IL-23R SNPs with amino acid changes (rs11209026, p.Arg381Gln; rs41313262 p.Val362Ile and rs11465797 p.Thr175Asn) in 198 patients with IBD (124 UC and 74 CD) and 100 healthy controls. The prevalence of the A allele in IL-23R Arg381Gln of CD appeared less than controls, but it was not statistically significant (2.70% vs. 6.00%, p > 0.05). There was no statistical difference between UC and controls (5.65% vs. 6.00%, p = 0.91). The p.Val362Ile variant was present in 2.42% of UC patients, in 2.70% of CD patients, which was similar in the control (2.00%). There was no statistical difference among these three groups. We did not detect Thr175Asn (rs11465797 c.524 C>A) in all the three groups. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that the p.Val362Ile and Arg381Gln were not associated with susceptibility to IBD in Chinese Han population.
COMPARISON OF MODELING AND EXPERIMENTS OF LAMB WAVES AS APPLIED TO STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING

This paper explores the effectiveness of the Finite Element Method (FEM) to model wave propagation in a two dimensional (2D) structure. In particular, the capabilities of the FEM to model permanently attached piezoelectric transmitters and receivers are illustrated. The validity of the FEM results is examined by comparing times and amplitudes of direct S0 and A0 arrivals to those obtained from experimental measurements on a plate. Recommendations are made as how to best use FEM simulations to expediently represent real sensors.
Effects of Total Sleep Deprivation on Mood States of Normal Adults

Objectives: The object of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of sleep deprivation on mood states of normal adults using a subjective scale and an objective scale, minimizing the effect of other factors other than that of sleep deprivation. Methods: Seventy volunteers were first participated in this sleep deprivation schedule, and 36 of them completed this experiment. The subjects and the control group members were all in their early 20's (mean vs ) and in good health. A log was checked by these subjects from a week before the laboratory study started. Drugs, alcohol and beverages containing any caffeine had been prohibited for a week before and during sleep deprivation periods. The study was performed only in summer to control other factors like sunlight, temperature and moisture. Before this experiment, the subjects had slept adequately for a week at least. On day 1 of the experiment the subjects got up at 6 a.m. and stayed in a sleep laboratory without sunlight or external noises. They could only go about their daily routines. They were forbidden to have a nap and be drowsy. GVA (Global Vigor and Affect) and MADRS (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale) were checked 11 times. The data was analysed focusing on the changing mood states. Results: The mood during sleep deprivation became worse as the sleep deprivation time progressed. Especially 20 hours (, ) and 40 hours (, ) after sleep deprivation, there were significant changes compared to the control group ( vs , p