Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Condition-based replacement policy for a device using interval-censored inspection data

While traditional reliability models have focused on systems with binary states, recent research verifies that multistate degradation models are more appropriate structures to model degradation mechanisms, particularly for mechanical devices. This paper focuses on developing a condition-based replacement policy using online inspection data, which is one of the main problems in prognostic and health management of mechanical devices. This problem is addressed for a type of mechanical device with a multistate degradation process. In addition, one of the practical challenges in failure data analysis using inspection data called interval censoring is addressed. A control-limit policy is presented through a cost-based optimization model, which can be used to determine when to replace a degraded device. The application of the proposed model is demonstrated using a case study on a bearing shell's wear process.
Effect of Statin Therapy on Remnant Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels in Patients With Combined Hyperlipidemia

Clinical trials with statins have demonstrated significant reductions in cardiovascular events. Remnant lipoproteins are independent predictors of cardiovascular events. Because of the paucity of data on the effect of statins on remnant lipoproteins, we tested the effect of pravastatin, simvastatin, and atorvastatin on remnant lipoprotein cholesterol (RLP-C) levels in a randomized crossover study in patients with combined hyperlipidemia. After a 6-week diet phase, patients (n=22) were randomized to pravastatin (40 mg/d), simvastatin (20 mg/d), or atorvastatin (10 mg/d) for 6 weeks, with a 3-week washout between each drug. All 3 drugs significantly decreased total and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (P <0.001). Mean reduction in LDL cholesterol with pravastatin, simvastatin, and atorvastatin was 21%, 29%, and 32%, respectively. None of the drugs affected high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Median levels of triglycerides were significantly reduced with simvastatin (26%, P =0.001) and atorvastatin (24%, P =0.0001) but not with pravastatin (9%, P =0.18). Non–high density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased significantly with all 3 statins (20%, 29%, and 32% with pravastatin, simvastatin, and atorvastatin, respectively;P <0.001). Median RLP-C levels were significantly reduced with simvastatin (6%, P <0.05) and atorvastatin (25.9%, P <0.001) but not with pravastatin (2.9%, P =0.58). Thus, atorvastatin and simvastatin, in addition to reducing LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels, significantly reduced RLP-C levels. This could be another potential mechanism to explain their cardiovascular benefits.
Effects of Antenatal Steroid Therapy on Neurodevelopment in an IUGR Mouse Model

Background/Objective: To investigate the neurodevelopmental response in postnatal mice secondary to antenatal steroid treatment in association with maternal protein restriction. Methods: C57BL/6N pregnant mice (n = 24; 4 per treatment group) were administered control (C) or protein-restricted (PR) diets and subjected to daily subcutaneous injection stress during late gestation (E10–E17) with either 100 µl/kg of dexamethasone sodium phosphate in normosaline (C-D/S, PR-D/S) or normosaline alone (C-S, PR-S). Non-treatment groups were also included (C, PR). Brain samples of pups were collected on postnatal day 7 and analyzed by immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR. Results: Neonatal weights in the treatment groups were smaller than their counterparts in the C group, but there were no significant differences in brain size. Immunohistochemical evaluation of neuroglial cells revealed a pronounced effect of protein restriction on oligodendrocytes and oligodendrocyte precursor cells with distinct fetal responses to stress and dexamethasone. Further evaluation using quantitative RNA analysis showed significant activation of Galr1, Galr2, Igfbp-1, Igfbp-3, Igfbp-6, and Fgf2 by 1- to 2.5-fold in the PR-D/S group and by much higher increments, 1- to 10.5-fold, in the PR-S group. Conclusion: This preliminary investigation revealed the possible role of dexamethasone in further increasing vulnerability to cell damage in injury-prone neuroglial cells. The distribution of key glial markers and the overexpression of several neurotrophic factors depicted ongoing cellular adaptation.
A comparison of fecal occult-blood tests for colorectal-cancer screening.

BACKGROUND Hemoccult II, a widely used guaiac test for fecal occult blood, has a low sensitivity for detecting colorectal neoplasms in asymptomatic patients at average risk. In such patients, the performance characteristics of screening tests developed to improve on Hemoccult II are not known. METHODS A set of three fecal occult-blood tests--Hemoccult II; Hemoccult II Sensa, a more sensitive guaiac test; and HemeSelect, an immunochemical test for human hemoglobin--was mailed to all patients 50 years of age or older who were scheduled for personal health appraisals at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland, California. The performance of each test and of a combination test (HemeSelect to confirm positive Hemoccult II Sensa results) was evaluated by identifying screened patients who had colorectal neoplasma (carcinoma or a polyp > or = 1 cm in diameter) in the two years after screening. RESULTS Of the 10,702 eligible patients, 8104 (75.7 percent) had at least one interpretable sample and were screened on the basis of at least one test; 96 percent of these patients had complete two-year follow-up. The sensitivity of the tests for detecting carcinoma was lowest with Hemoccult II (37.1 percent; 95 percent confidence interval, 19.7 to 54.6 percent), intermediate with the combination test (65.6 percent; 95 percent confidence interval, 47.6 to 83.6 percent) and with HemeSelect (68.8 percent; 95 percent confidence interval, 51.1 to 86.4 percent), and highest with Hemoccult II Sensa (79.4 percent; 95 percent confidence interval, 64.3 to 94.5 percent). The specificity for detecting carcinoma was 86.7 percent with Hemoccult II Sensa, 94.4 percent with HemeSelect, 97.3 percent with the combination test, and 97.7 percent with Hemoccult II. HemeSelect and the combination test detected more colorectal carcinomas and polyps than Hemoccult II, with only slight increases in the number of colonoscopies needed. CONCLUSIONS HemeSelect and a combination test in which HemeSelect is used to confirm positive Hemoccult II Sensa results improve on Hemoccult II in screening patients for colorectal carcinoma.
Environmental persistence of porcine coronaviruses in feed and feed ingredients

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV), Porcine Delta Corona Virus (PDCoV), and Transmissible Gastroenteritis Virus (TGEV) are major threats to swine health and contaminated feed plays a role in virus transmission. The objective of our study was to characterize inactivation of PEDV, PDCoV, and TGEV in various feed ingredient matrices. Samples of complete feed, spray dried porcine plasma, meat meal, meat and bone meal, blood meal, corn, soybean meal, and corn dried distillers grains with solubles were weighed (5 g/sample) into scintillation vials and inoculated with 1 mL of PEDV, PDCoV, or TGEV. Samples were incubated at room temperature for up to 56 days. Aliquots were removed at various time points followed by preparing serial 10-fold dilutions and inoculating in cell cultures to determine the amount of surviving virus. Inactivation kinetics were determined using the Weibull model, which estimates a delta value indicating the time necessary to reduce virus concentration by 1 log. Delta values of various ingredients were compared and analyzed as to their nutrient composition. Soybean meal had the greatest delta value (7.50 days) for PEDV (P < 0.06) as compared with all other ingredients. High delta values (P < 0.001) were observed in soybean meal for PDCoV (42.04 days) and TGEV (42.00 days). There was a moderate correlation between moisture content and the delta value for PDCoV (r = 0.49, P = 0.01) and TGEV (r = 0.41, P = 0.02). There was also a moderate negative correlation between TGEV survival and ether extract content (r = -0.51, P = 0.01). In conclusion, these results indicate that the first log reduction of PDCoV and TGEV takes the greatest amount of time in soybean meal. In addition to this, moisture and ether content appear to be an important determinant of virus survival in feed ingredients.
Constrained maximum likelihood positioning for UWB based human motion tracking

In this paper, the problem of human motion tracking with ultra-wideband radio nodes is addressed. We provide a general maximum likelihood formulation of the positioning problem based on range measurements which can handle synchronous and asynchronous agents. Geometrical constraints on the node topology, which are imposed by the human body, are also taken into account. For a Gaussian ranging error model and the specific problem of arm motion tracking, we derive the maximum likelihood estimation rule and calculate an analytical expression for the unconstrained and constrained Cramér-Rao Lower Bound. With these results, we study analytically and via computer simulations under what circumstances the geometrical constraints lead to performance gains. It is found that the largest benefits are obtained in case of asynchronous agents and for certain arm positions. Intuitive reasons for this phenomenon are given. Finally, we verify these findings and evaluate the position location performance experimentally with range estimates obtained from measured ultra-wideband channel impulse responses including the impact of the human body.
pH-induced effects on median frequency and conduction velocity of the myoelectric signal.

H+ accumulation at the sarcolemma is believed to play a key role in determining the electrophysiological correlates of fatigue. This paper describes an in vitro method to externally manipulate muscle pH while measuring the resultant effect on surface-detected median frequency (MDF) and conduction velocity (CV) parameters. Hamster muscle diaphragm strips (n = 8) were isolated with the phrenic nerve intact and placed in an oxygenated Krebs bath (26 degrees C). The muscle was clamped to a noncompliant load cell to measure isometric contractile tension. Tetanic contraction was developed via 40-Hz supermaximal stimulation of the phrenic nerve. Differential signals were recorded from three electromyogram (EMG) detection surfaces for computation of CV (via the phase shift in the EMG signals) and MDF. Repeated trials were conducted at bath pHs of 7.4, 7.0, and 6.6. Bath pH was altered by aerating predetermined concentrations of O2 and CO2 into the bath. Decreases in bath pH resulted in decreases in both initial MDF and initial CV. The differences in initial MDF and initial CV were significant (P less than 0.001) for each of the bath pH conditions. In general, the change in bath pH resulted in an equal percent change in initial MDF and initial CV. This suggests that the change in bath pH caused a decrease in CV without significantly altering the fundamental shape of the M wave. In contrast, the EMG was altered differently during stimulated contractions. During stimulation, the rate of decay of CV was 65% of the rate of decay of MDF. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Temporal Dynamic Graph LSTM for Action-Driven Video Object Detection

In this paper, we investigate a weakly-supervised object detection framework. Most existing frameworks focus on using static images to learn object detectors. However, these detectors often fail to generalize to videos because of the existing domain shift. Therefore, we investigate learning these detectors directly from boring videos of daily activities. Instead of using bounding boxes, we explore the use of action descriptions as supervision since they are relatively easy to gather. A common issue, however, is that objects of interest that are not involved in human actions are often absent in global action descriptions known as “missing label”. To tackle this problem, we propose a novel temporal dynamic graph Long Short-Term Memory network (TDGraph LSTM). TD-Graph LSTM enables global temporal reasoning by constructing a dynamic graph that is based on temporal correlations of object proposals and spans the entire video. The missing label issue for each individual frame can thus be significantly alleviated by transferring knowledge across correlated objects proposals in the whole video. Extensive evaluations on a large-scale daily-life action dataset (i.e., Charades) demonstrates the superiority of our proposed method. We also release object bounding-box annotations for more than 5,000 frames in Charades. We believe this annotated data can also benefit other research on video-based object recognition in the future.
Anti‐Metastatic Effect of Dehydrocorydaline on H1299 Non‐Small Cell Lung Carcinoma Cells via Inhibition of Matrix Metalloproteinases and B Cell Lymphoma 2

Though Dehydrocorydaline, an alkaloid isolated from Corydalis turtschaninovii tuber, was known to have anti‐coronary artery disease, anti‐inflammatory, apoptotic, anti‐allergic, anti‐acetylcholinesterase, and antitumor effects, the underlying anti‐metastatic mechanism of Dehydrocorydalin was never elucidated in lung cancer cells so far. Thus, in the present study, the anti‐metastatic effect of Dehydrocorydaline was examined in non‐small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cells, mainly targeting matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and B cell lymphoma‐2 (Bcl‐2) signaling. Here, Dehydrocorydaline exerted weak cytotoxicity and attenuated the protein expression of Bcl‐2 and activated Bax in a concentration‐dependent manner in NSCLC cells, such as A549, H460, H1299, and H596 cells. Also, Dehydrocorydaline suppressed the migration of H1299 cells by wound healing assay and transwell migration assay. Consistently, Dehydrocorydaline attenuated mRNA and protein levels of MMP7 and MMP9 as metastasis biomarkers in H1299 cells by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Of note, Bcl‐2 overexpression reduced the cytotoxic and anti‐metastatic effects of Dehydrocorydaline on pCDNA‐Bcl‐2 transfected H1299 cells. Overall, our findings provide scientific evidence that Dehydrocorydaline exerts anti‐metastatic potential via suppression of MMPs and Bcl‐2 signaling in NSCLC cells. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Do People Put Their Money Where Their Votes Are? The Case of Lottery Tickets

In political markets people vote with their ballots, whereas in economic markets they vote with their dollars. In this paper we seek to determine how voting and purchasing behavior are interrelated when voters must first approve the sale of a good (i.e., establish a legal market) before purchases can be made. This question is particularly interesting because it focuses on a fundamental assumption underlying basic voting models-that there is a link running from economic characteristics to political behavior, and presumably back to economic decisions. Using voting data from a Kansas constitutional referendum to establish a state-owned and operated lottery and subsequent sales data from the lottery, we investigate whether the determinants of voting and purchasing behavior are the same, or at least in some sense consistent; the extent to which voting preferences reflect purchasing preferences; and whether voter preferences represent those of nonvoters. '
The fidelity of the cortical retinotopic map in human amblyopia

To delineate the fidelity of the functional cortical organization in humans with amblyopia, we undertook an investigation into how spatial information is mapped across the visual cortex in amblyopic observers. We assessed whether the boundaries of the visual areas controlled by the amblyopic and fellow fixing eye are in the same position, the fidelity of the retinotopic map within different cortical areas and the average receptive field size in different visual areas. The functional organization of the visual cortex was reconstructed using a fMRI phase‐encoded retinotopic mapping analysis. This method sequentially stimulates each point in the visual field along the axes of a polar‐coordinate system, thereby reconstructing the representation of the visual field on the cortex. We found that the cortical areas were very similar in normals and amblyopes, with only small differences in boundary positions of different visual areas between fixing and fellow amblyopic eye activation. Within these corresponding visual areas, we did find anomalies in retinotopy in some but not all amblyopes that were not simply a consequence of the poorer functional responses and affected central and peripheral field regions. Only a small increase in the average (or collective) receptive field size was found for full‐field representation in amblyopes and none at all for central field representation. The former may simply be a consequence of the poorer functional responses.
Early mobilization of patients who have had a hip or knee joint replacement reduces length of stay in hospital: a systematic review

Objective: To systematically review the effect of early mobilization after hip or knee joint replacement surgery on length of stay in an acute hospital. Methods: Randomized controlled trials were selected from electronic databases based on inclusion criterion requiring an experimental group mobilizing (sitting out of bed/walking) earlier than a comparison group post joint replacement surgery of the hip or knee in an acute hospital. Clinically homogeneous data were analyzed with meta-analysis. Results: Five randomized controlled trials (totaling 622 participants) were included for review. A meta-analysis of 5 trials found a reduced length of stay of 1.8 days (95% confidence interval 1.1 to 2.6) in favor of the experimental group. In 4 of the 5 trials the experimental group first sat out of bed within 24 hours post operatively. In 4 of the 5 trials the experimental group first walked within 48 hours post operatively. Individual trials reported benefits in range of motion, muscle strength and health-related quality of life in favor of the experimental group. There were no differences in discharge destinations, incidence of negative outcomes or adverse events attributable to early mobilization when compared to the comparison groups. Conclusion: Early mobilization post hip or knee joint replacement surgery can result in a reduced length of stay of about 1.8 days. Trials that reported these positive results showed that early mobilization can be achieved within 24 hours of operation. This positive gain was achieved without an increase in negative outcomes.
Towards a dynamic task allocation scheme for highly-reliable adaptive distributed embedded systems

An adaptive distributed embedded system is able to automatize some processes at the same time it modifies its behaviour autonomously and dynamically in response to changing operating conditions. To support adaptivity it is necessary that the underlying Distributed Embedded System (DES) is able to dynamically change the assignment of the processing and network resources. In this regard, the DFT4FTT project aims at providing a complete DES that can support applications with real-time, reliability and adaptivity requirements. This paper describes the first steps towards the design of the task allocation scheme used in the DFT4FTT architecture, responsible for dynamically distributing the workload among the nodes of the DES, taking into account the changes in the environment and in the system itself. This allocation scheme not only provides flexibility from a functional point of view, but also from a fault tolerance point of view. Moreover, its modular design makes it possible to tune the desired level of autonomy in the adaptivity, from a simple support for application reconfiguration to a complete automatic reconfiguration assisted with machine learning algorithms.
Endothelial dysfunction links erectile dysfunction to heart disease

Erectile dysfunction (ED) and coronary artery disease (CAD) overlap in risk factors, aetiology and clinical outcomes. It has become clear that ED is an important marker of vascular disease throughout the arterial tree – including CAD, stroke and diabetes. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated a close association between ED and vascular disease. The shared aetiological factor is endothelial dysfunction. The fact that ED tends to precede the onset of symptoms of other vascular diseases – because blood vessels in the penis are narrower in diameter than elsewhere in the body so blood flow is restricted sooner by atherosclerosis – means that it can be used as a ‘window’ on vascular health. There is growing evidence that patients presenting with ED should be investigated for cardiovascular disease (CVD), including diabetes, even if they have no symptoms. Early detection could facilitate prompt intervention and a reduction in long‐term complications. Treatments that reduce endothelial dysfunction offer the potential of improving the functioning of the entire vascular system, improving outcomes in CVD and diabetes, as well as providing effective treatment for ED.
Clinical spectrum of levodopa‐induced complications

The first years of Parkinson disease (PD) treatment are marked by good and sustained responses to dopaminergic therapy. With disease progression and longer exposure to levodopa (l‐dopa), patients develop a range of l‐dopa–induced complications that include motor and non‐motor symptoms. Motor complications include motor fluctuations, characterized by periods of reduced benefit from the medication, and l‐dopa–induced dyskinesia, characterized by emergence of hyperkinetic involuntary movements. Dyskinesia can occur at peak effect of l‐dopa, at the beginning and end of dose, or between doses. These motor complications are often associated with fluctuations in non‐motor symptoms, particularly fluctuations in neuropsychiatric, autonomic, and sensory symptoms. Recognizing such complications and understanding their relationship with the timing of l‐dopa doses is essential for adequate diagnosis and management. © 2014 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
Are strict vegetarians protected against prostate cancer?

BACKGROUND According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer accounts for ∼27% of all incident cancer cases among men and is the second most common (noncutaneous) cancer among men. The relation between diet and prostate cancer is still unclear. Because people do not consume individual foods but rather foods in combination, the assessment of dietary patterns may offer valuable information when determining associations between diet and prostate cancer risk. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the association between dietary patterns (nonvegetarian, lacto-ovo-vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian, vegan, and semi-vegetarian) and prostate cancer incidence among 26,346 male participants of the Adventist Health Study-2. DESIGN In this prospective cohort study, cancer cases were identified by matching to cancer registries. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was performed to estimate HRs by using age as the time variable. RESULTS In total, 1079 incident prostate cancer cases were identified. Around 8% of the study population reported adherence to the vegan diet. Vegan diets showed a statistically significant protective association with prostate cancer risk (HR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.49, 0.85). After stratifying by race, the statistically significant association with a vegan diet remained only for the whites (HR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.46, 0.86), but the multivariate HR for black vegans showed a similar but nonsignificant point estimate (HR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.41, 1.18). CONCLUSION Vegan diets may confer a lower risk of prostate cancer. This lower estimated risk is seen in both white and black vegan subjects, although in the latter, the CI is wider and includes the null.