Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Psychopathology in male and female intravenous drug users with and without HIV infection.

OBJECTIVE The authors report on results of systematic clinical assessment of psychopathology among HIV-positive and HIV-negative intravenous drug users. METHOD As part of a multidisciplinary baseline assessment, 147 male (85 HIV-positive and 62 HIV-negative) and 76 female (39 HIV-positive and 37 HIV-negative) intravenous drug users were evaluated with the Structural Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R and measures of psychiatric symptom severity, global functioning, and stress. RESULTS Prevalence of a diagnosis of current depression (26%) and severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms in both HIV-positive and HIV-negative subjects were greater than in the general community, but not greater than in other studies of intravenous drug users. HIV-positive men had a higher prevalence of depressive disorders than HIV-negative men (33% and 16%, respectively), although this pattern was not found among women (26% and 30%). Diagnosis of depressive disorders and severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms were associated with a symptom-based measure of HIV illness stage, but not with indices of immune functioning (CD4+ cell count and CD4+ cell percent). CONCLUSIONS Despite selective associations between HIV illness variables and depression, high rates of depression across HIV status in this cohort suggest that intravenous drug use and associated factors are more salient than HIV illness factors in understanding psychopathology in this population.
Predication of nonlinear heat transfer in a convective-radiative fin with temperature-dependent properties by the collocation spectral method

ABSTRACT The applicability of the collocation spectral method (CSM) for solving nonlinear heat transfer problems is demonstrated in a convective-radiative fin with temperature-dependent properties. In this method, the fin temperature distribution is approximated by Lagrange interpolation polynomials at spectral collocation points. The differential form of the energy equation is transformed to a matrix form of algebraic equations. The computational convergence of the CSM approximately follows an exponential decaying law; and thus, it is a very simple and effective approach for a rapid assessment of nonlinear physical problems. The effects of temperature-dependent properties such as thermal conductivity, surface emissivity, heat transfer coefficient, convection-conduction parameter, and radiation-conduction parameter on the fin temperature distribution and efficiency are discussed.
Monolithic Flexible-Grid 1 $\,\times\,$2 Wavelength-Selective Switch in Silicon Photonics

We describe in further detail a demonstration of a monolithic 1 × 2 silicon wavelength-selective switch in silicon photonics. The switching has a flexible grid with 32 pixels on a pitch of 100 GHz. It is extremely compact, being only 3.0 × 5.5 mm2, and it can potentially be mass-produced by a silicon foundry. It requires improvements in many characteristics, though, most notably insertion loss, resolution, and pixel count.
Effects of copper tripeptide on the growth and expression of growth factors by normal and irradiated fibroblasts.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of copper tripeptide (GHK-Cu) on the growth and autocrine production of basic fibroblast growth factor, transforming growth factor beta1, and vascular endothelial growth factor by normal and irradiated fibroblasts in a serum-free in vitro environment. METHODS Primary human dermal fibroblast cell lines were established after explantation from intraoperative specimens obtained from patients who had undergone radiation therapy for head and neck cancer. Normal and irradiated fibroblasts were propagated in serum- and growth factor-free media. Treatment groups were exposed to GHK-Cu (1 x 10(-9) mol/L). We measured cell counts and production of basic fibroblast growth factor, transforming growth factor beta1, and vascular endothelial growth factor. RESULTS Irradiated fibroblasts survived and replicated in serum-free media. The population-doubling times of normal and irradiated fibroblasts exposed to GHK-Cu were faster than those of nontreated controls. Irradiated fibroblasts treated with GHK-Cu doubled at a rate that approximated that of untreated controls, and produced significantly more basic fibroblast growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor than untreated controls early after GHK-Cu exposure. CONCLUSIONS Irradiated fibroblasts survive and replicate in serum-free media, establishing this model as ideal for evaluating growth factor production in vitro. Copper tripeptide accelerates the growth of normal and irradiated fibroblasts to the point where treated irradiated fibroblasts approximate the population-doubling time of normal controls. An early increase in basic fibroblast growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor production by GHK-Cu-treated irradiated fibroblasts may improve wound healing.
Analyse conjointe du signal sonore et de sa transcription pour l’identification nommée de locuteurs [Joint signal and transcription analysis for named speaker identification]

Depuis quelques annees, le traitement de tres grandes collections de documents mul-timedias devient crucial pour certaines applications comme les systemes d'indexation ou de recherche documentaire. Mais ces collections ne peuvent etre traitees manuellement avec un cout raisonnable : seuls les systemes automatiques apportent une solution viable. Dans ce document , nous traiterons de l'extraction automatique de l'identite du locuteur (prenom et pa-tronyme) presente dans les enregistrements sonores. A partir des resultats d'un systeme de transcription enrichie, nous presentons une methode qui vise a extraire l'identite des locuteurs de la transcription et a l'assigner aux differents tours de parole. Le systeme a ete evalue sur des enregistrements radiophoniques provenant de la campagne d'evaluation ESTER 1 phase II.
Guided acoustic-wave Brillouin scattering.

La diffusion directe de la lumiere par les modes acoustiques guides thermiquement excites d'une fibre optique, produit de nombreuses raies etroites non predites par la theorie usuelle de la diffusion de Brillouin. Une detection heterodyne optique est utilisee pour resoudre le spectre de diffusion qui commence a environ 20 MHz et s'etend jusqu'a la limite de detection. Une theorie simple rend compte quantitativement des frequences, des polarisations, et des intensites des composants. La diffusion de la lumiere par ces modes constitue une source de bruit thermique
Outcome in 1,000 head injury hospital admissions: the Athens head trauma registry.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to establish a head trauma registry to (a) examine demographics, etiology, severity, clinical course, and outcome; (b) compare results with previous published series; (c) identify causes of bad outcomes; and (d) propose methods to improve therapy and prognosis. METHODS The following data were collected on 1,000 consecutive victims with head injury over 14 years of age admitted during a 4-year period: demographic characteristics, cause of injury, clinical variables, neuroimaging, therapy data, and outcome in 6 months. RESULTS Seventy-four percent were men, and mean age was 43 years. Seventy-one percent suffered injuries due to road crashes, 14% due to alcohol, and 2% due to substances. The secondary transfer rate was 49%. For severe injuries, the time intervals from incident to hospital and subsequently to neurosurgical unit were 35 minutes and 4 hours, respectively. In 65% and 72% of cases, there was no record of preresuscitation hypoxia or hypotension, respectively, whereas suspected or definite episodes of hypoxia and hypotension were 27% and 13%, respectively. Most cases were mild trauma (63%), the remaining were severe (26%) and moderate (11%) injuries. Severe systemic trauma coexisted in 18%. Cranial surgery rate was 19% and it increased to 39% in severe trauma. The 6-month overall good outcome was 71%, with lower rates in moderate (58%) and severe (24%) injuries. CONCLUSIONS The organization of Greece's first head injury registry offered an important preliminary core data concerning brain trauma etiology, management, and long-term outcome.
Antibacterial Substances in Japanese Green Tea Extract against Streptococcus mutans, a Cariogenic Bacterium

An extract of Japanese green tea, one of the most popular drinks in Japan, was an inhibitor of the growth of Streptococcus mutans, a bacterium responsible for causing dental caries. The analysis of the extract revealed that the main antibacterial components of the extract were several polyphenolic compounds, especially gallocatechin (GC), epigallocatechin (EGC), and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg). GC was the most active component and its minimum inhibitory concentration against the bacterium was around 250 μg per ml.
Signatures of local adaptation in candidate genes of oaks (Quercus spp.) with respect to present and future climatic conditions

Testing how populations are locally adapted and predicting their response to their future environment is of key importance in view of climate change. Landscape genomics is a powerful approach to investigate genes and environmental factors involved in local adaptation. In a pooled amplicon sequencing approach of 94 genes in 71 populations, we tested whether >3500 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the three most common oak species in Switzerland (Quercus petraea, Q. pubescens, Q. robur) show an association with abiotic factors related to local topography, historical climate and soil characteristics. In the analysis including all species, the most frequently associated environmental factors were those best describing the habitats of the species. In the species‐specific analyses, the most important environmental factors and associated SNPs greatly differed among species. However, we identified one SNP and seven genes that were associated with the same environmental factor across all species. We finally used regressions of allele frequencies of the most strongly associated SNPs along environmental gradients to predict the risk of nonadaptedness (RONA), which represents the average change in allele frequency at climate‐associated loci theoretically required to match future climatic conditions. RONA is considerable for some populations and species (up to 48% in single populations) and strongly differs among species. Given the long generation time of oaks, some of the required allele frequency changes might not be realistic to achieve based on standing genetic variation. Hence, future adaptedness requires gene flow or planting of individuals carrying beneficial alleles from habitats currently matching future climatic conditions.
Human Cytomegalovirus Escape from Immune Detection

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) has devised numerous means of escaping immune surveillance. The CMV genome encodes at least 4 genes involved in downregulating surface expression of HLA class I molecules. In addition, it sequesters CC chemokines, induces Fc receptors, interferes with induction of HLA class II antigens, and can inhibit natural killer cell activity. CMV can efficiently block the presentation of immediate early antigens, the first viral proteins to be produced. Together, these mechanisms probably contribute to the ability of CMV to persist in its host and may play a role in the immunopathology of CMV disease.
Parametric heuristic schemes for performance improvement in Frame Slotted Aloha based RFID systems

The performance of the Dynamic Frame Slotted Aloha (DFSA) based RFID Anti-Collision Algorithm depends on the dynamically controlled frame size with the contending tags. Many literatures exploit the tag estimation method and attempt to enhance the system performance by regulating the frame size equal to the estimated tags. Unless the contending tag population is exactly estimated and the frame size is optimally adjusted the system performance cannot be maximized. However, it is always a difficult task to precisely estimate the contending tags in RFID systems. Thus to maximize the system performance, we used a parametric heuristic approach and proposed two simple schemes, namely ID-FSA (Improvised Dynamic-FSA) and ERP-FSA (Exponential Random Partitioning-FSA) algorithms. Unlike other algorithms, ID-FSA algorithm adjusts the optimal frame length for estimated tag population and ERP-FSA adjusts the contending tag population in such a way that the applied static frame size becomes optimal. The performance of our parametric heuristic schemes reveals that there are some potential benefits that can be achieved by adjusting the tags equivalent to the optimal frame length, moreover, regulating the optimal frame length for estimated tags can maximize the system performance.
The Association between Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Metabolic Syndrome and Arterial Stiffness in Nondiabetic, Nonhypertensive Individuals

Objectives: To assess the relationship between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and arterial stiffness in nondiabetic, nonhypertensive individuals with and without metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods: Hepatic ultrasound and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) were investigated in 4,467 individuals. The subjects were classified into normal PWV and increased PWV (≥1,366 cm/s) groups, and divided into 2 groups (non-NAFLD vs. NAFLD groups) and 3 groups (non-, mild and moderate-to-severe NAFLD groups), respectively. Results: The overall prevalence of NAFLD was 37.3% and the NAFLD group had higher levels of baPWV (control vs. NAFLD, 1,363 ± 210.3 vs. 1,388 ± 235.9 cm/s, p < 0.001). On multivariate regression analysis, NAFLD was independently associated with increased baPWV (≥1,366 cm/s), irrespective of multiple covariates (OR 1.237 and 95% CI 1.050–1.458). Subgroup analyses revealed that there was a significant association between NAFLD and baPWV only in individuals without MetS (OR 1.267 and 95% CI 1.065–1.507). The multivariate linear regression models for the overall study population and for individuals without MetS also revealed a significant association between NAFLD and the absolute value of baPWV; however, the result for individuals with MetS did not. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the presence and the degree of NAFLD are associated with arterial stiffness in nonhypertensive, nondiabetic individuals, especially in those individuals without MetS.
On the max‐cut problem for a planar, cubic, triangle‐free graph, and the Chinese postman problem for a planar triangulation

Every 3‐connected planar, cubic, triangle‐free graph with n vertices has a bipartite subgraph with at least 29n/24 − 7/6 edges. The constant 29/24 improves the previously best known constant 6/5 which was considered best possible because of the graph of the dodecahedron. Examples show that the constant 29/24 = 1.2083… cannot be raised to more than 47/38 = 1.2368…. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 53: 261–269, 2006
An SVM Algorithm to Balance the Capacitor Voltages of the Three-Level NPC Active Power Filter

A requirement of the three-level neutral-point-clamped voltage source inverter, with or without a separately supporting dc link, is to maintain the balance of the two dc-link capacitor voltages. In this paper, balancing of the capacitor voltages for these two dc-link voltage source possibilities is analyzed and an algorithm is proposed to independently balance the capacitor voltages. The algorithm considers the average energy effect of each vector on capacitor voltage and the necessary optimal vector state sequence in each modulation cycle. The algorithm minimizes the voltage rating overheads of the hardware, reduces the voltage ripple, and attenuates the negative effects associated with dc-link voltage oscillations.
Co-Crystals: A Novel Approach to Modify Physicochemical Properties of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients

Crystal form can be crucial to the performance of a dosage form. This is especially true for compounds that have intrinsic barriers to drug delivery, such as low aqueous solubility, slow dissolution in gastrointestinal media, low permeability and first-pass metabolism. The nature of the physical form and formulation tends to exhibit the greatest effect on bioavailability parameters of water insoluble compounds that need to be given orally in high doses. An alternative approach available for the enhancement of drug solubility, dissolution and bioavailability is through the application of crystal engineering of co-crystals. The physicochemical properties of the active pharmaceutical ingredients and the bulk material properties can be modified, whilst maintaining the intrinsic activity of the drug molecule. This article covers the advantages of co-crystals over salts, solvates (hydrates), solid dispersions and polymorphs, mechanism of formation of co-crystals, methods of preparation of co-crystals and application of co-crystals to modify physicochemical characteristics of active pharmaceutical ingredients along with the case studies. The intellectual property implications of creating co-crystals are also highly relevant.
Carboxylic Acids in Wheat, Rye and Barley

Organic acids from wheat (Triticum aestivum), rye (Secale cereale), and barley (Hordeum vulgare, var. “Gerbel” and “Igri”) were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Two carboxylic acid fractions were obtained by chromatography on Sephadex LH 20: fraction A contained mainly aliphatic acids, fraction B contained mainly aromatic acids. The identified compounds (50 aliphatic and 32 aromatic acids) are listed in Tables I and II. Quantitative analysis was achieved by calibration of the gas chromatogram with authentic compounds or - if not available - with closely related compounds. The possibility to identify the origin of cereal food-stuff by analysis of the organic acids is discussed.
Analyzing information security culture: increased trust by an appropriate information security culture

Security culture encompasses all socio-cultural measures that support technical security measures, so that information security becomes a natural aspect in the daily activities of every employee. The cultural concept helps to increase trust between the different actors concerning information security within an organization. We start with the explanation of the "organizational culture concept," asking how it can be used to implement information security culture. To create, maintain and change security culture, certain measuring instruments are necessary. We discuss several ways and methods to analyze organizational culture. Furthermore, we ask to what extent they could be used in the context of security culture and what special problems might arise. Finally, the possible implementation is discussed in the context of an ongoing survey from which we present some results.
The TAO of MEKK.

Cloning and characterization of MEKK1 in 1993 revealed that in addition to Raf there were other pathways activated by extracellular stimuli that were responsible for ERK activation. Since then, three additional MEKK family members have been cloned adding even further diversity to the regulation of MAPK pathways. The MEKK family members are regulated by a diverse array of extracellular stimuli ranging from growth factors to DNA damaging stimuli and so are important for the cell to sense exposure to various environmental stimuli. One important aspect of MEKK biology is that they can potentially serve in more than one pathway. Regulation of MEKK family members often involves LMWG proteins, phosphorylation and subcellular localization. With regard to at least MEKK1, serine/threonine kinases such as NIK, GLK and HPK1 appear also to be important for regulation. Of the MEKK family members, the biological role of MEKK1 is best characterized and studies have shown that MEKK1 is important in mediating survival vs. apoptosis, possibly via its ability to regulate transcription factors, the expression of death receptors and their ligands. The biological roles of MEKK2, 3 and 4 are under investigation and undoubtedly homologous deletion of these MEKK family members will be invaluable at determining the biological functions of these MEKKs. At present, the MEKK family members are characterized as localized sensors that control cell responses at the level of gene expression, metabolism and the cytoskeleton
Simulation of Forced Expiration in a Biophysical Model, With Homogeneous and Clustered Bronchoconstriction.

One limitation of forced spirometry is that it integrates the contribution of the complex and dynamic behavior of all of the airways and tissue of the lung into a single exhaling unit, hence, it is not clear how spirometric measures are affected by local changes to the airways or tissue such as the presence of "ventilation defects. " Here, we adapt a wave-speed limitation model to a spatially distributed and anatomically based airway tree that is embedded within a deformable parenchyma, to simulate forced expiration in 1 s (FEV1). This provides a model that can be used to assess the consequence of imposed constrictions on FEV1. We first show how the model can be parameterized to represent imaging and forced spirometry data from nonasthmatic healthy young adults. We then compare the effect of homogeneous and clustered bronchoconstriction on FEV1 in six subject-specific models (three male and three female). The model highlights potential sources of normal subject variability in response to agonist challenge, including the interaction between sites of airway constriction and sites of flow limitation at baseline. The results support earlier studies which proposed that the significant constriction of nondefect airways must be present in order to match to clinical measurements of lung function.
Feasibility Study of Making Patterned Optical Devices Based on Microfibers for Optical Interconnect Applications

Microfibers would provide an advantage of smaller roughness compared with the waveguides made by utilizing semiconductor processes. For optical interconnect applications, the concept of patterning optical devices based on such microfibers is proposed and tested. Microrings are made as an illustration by first patterning grooves on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates, and then micro/nano optical wires are placed into the grooves by micromanipulation. After being sealed by PDMS for optical characterization, the microrings properly show the resonance spectra. With such a patterning technique, the feasibility of using microfiber-based optical devices for the optical interconnect is confirmed.
Meeting the continuing education needs of rural nurses in role transition.

BACKGROUND The community health center (CHC) model of care delivery is gaining acceptance throughout Canada's newly created rural health regions. The resulting change in nursing functions presents a challenge to regional health authorities to ensure the attainment and maintenance of practice competencies. METHOD This qualitative study examined strategies used in selected parts of Canada to prepare and support rural diploma-prepared nurses for role transition from acute care into CHCs. RESULTS In light of CHC nurses' increased degree of autonomy, skill level, and focus on community wellness, the findings indicate a need for additional educational preparation and supportive strategies for transitioning nurses. CONCLUSION Regions should educate the public and staff about the principles of primary health care, population health, and factors that determine health to help stakeholders understand their community, the current gaps in service delivery, and the role of CHC nurses. Key players at the provincial level should work together to address competency issues and continuing education needs of nurses in career transition.