Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reported expectations for nursing home placement among older adults and their role as risk factors for nursing home admissions.

PURPOSE Individual expectations among community-dwelling older adults and their subsequent effect on placement status have recently been considered. Previous studies, however, have been limited by eligibility and exclusion criteria, treating expectations as a continuous measure, omitting potential confounders, and ignoring Race x Gender interactions. DESIGN AND METHODS We used data on 6,242 Black or White self-respondents who were 70 years old or older when they were enrolled in the survey of Assets and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old. We modeled expectations for nursing home placement over the next 5 years, as well as actual placement status, by using multivariable multinomial and binomial logistic regression models. RESULTS Expectations are not normally distributed: 14% of the participants refused to answer, 51% estimated no chance, 10% indicated a 1% to 50% chance, 21% indicated an 11% to 50% chance and 4% indicated a 51% to 100% chance. Age, gender, education, social supports, and health status were associated with expectations, as well as an interaction effect for Black men. Age, social supports, health status, prior hospital or nursing home use, and expectations were associated with subsequent placement. IMPLICATIONS Black and White older adults' expectations for nursing home placement rationally reflect their individual risk profiles and are associated with subsequent placement status. The expectations question may facilitate the early identification of high-risk individuals for further evaluation.
Intrusion Detection Algorithm Based on Neighbor Information Against Sinkhole Attack in Wireless Sensor Networks

The work is supported by 'Natural Science Foundation of JiangSu Province of China, No. BK20131137', `Science and Technology Pillar Program (Social development) of Changzhou Science and Technology Bureau, No. CE20135052', 'the Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology's Internal Project, No. 2012RC0106', 'Jiangsu Province Ordinary University Graduate Innovation Project, No. CXZZ13_02'. Jaime Lloret's work has been partially supported by the 'Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion', through the 'Plan Nacional de I+D+i 2008-2011' in the 'Subprograma de Proyectos de Investigacion Fundamental', project TEC2011-27516.
Lack of Long-Lasting Hydrosalpinx in A/J Mice Correlates with Rapid but Transient Chlamydial Ascension and Neutrophil Recruitment in the Oviduct following Intravaginal Inoculation with Chlamydia muridarum

ABSTRACT Lower genital tract infection with Chlamydia trachomatis and C. muridarum can induce long-lasting hydrosalpinx in the upper genital tract of women and female mice, respectively. However, A/J mice were highly resistant to induction of long-lasting hydrosalpinx by C. muridarum. We further compared host inflammatory responses and chlamydial infection courses between the hydrosalpinx-resistant A/J mice and CBA/J mice known to be susceptible to hydrosalpinx induction. Both mouse strains developed robust pyosalpinx during the acute phase followed by hydrosalpinx during the chronic phase. However, the hydrosalpinges disappeared in A/J mice by day 60 after infection, suggesting that some early hydrosalpinges are reversible. Although the overall inflammatory responses were indistinguishable between CBA/J and A/J mice, we found significantly more neutrophils in oviduct lumen of A/J mice on days 7 and 10, which correlated with a rapid but transient oviduct invasion by C. muridarum with a peak infection on day 7. In contrast, CBA/J mice developed a delayed and extensive oviduct infection. These comparisons have revealed an important role of the interactions of oviduct infection with inflammatory responses in chlamydial induction of long-lasting hydrosalpinx, suggesting that a rapid but transient invasion of oviduct by chlamydial organisms can prevent the development of the long-lasting hydrosalpinges.
STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING MEMS SENSORS USING ELASTICITY-BASED BEAM VIBRATIONS Submitted

STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING MEMS SENSORS USING ELASTICITY-BASED BEAM VIBRATIONS The worsening problem of aging and deficient infrastructure in this nation and across the world has demonstrated the need for an improved system to monitor and maintain these structures. The field of structural health monitoring has grown in recent years to address this issue. The goal of this field is to continually monitor the condition of a structure to detect and mitigate damage that may occur. Many structural health monitoring methods have been developed and most of these require sensor systems to collect the necessary information to assess the current strength and integrity of a structure. The motivation for this thesis is a proposed new microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensor with applications in civil infrastructure sensing. The work required was to determine accurate estimates of the resonant frequencies for a fixed-fixed silicon bridge within the device so that further testing and development could proceed. Additional knowledge and information were essential, though, before these requested calculations could be performed confidently. First, a thorough review of current structural health monitoring concepts and methods was performed to better understand the field in which this device would be applied and what incentive existed to develop a new sensor. Second, an in-depth investigation of vibrational beam mechanics theories was completed to ensure the accuracy of the frequency results for the new MEMS sensor. This study analyzed the influence of three assumptions employed in the Euler-Bernoulli, Rayleigh, and Timoshenko beam theories by comparing their results to a three-dimensional, elasticity-based approximation for vibrational frequencies and mode shapes. The results of this study showed that all three theories are insufficient when a fixed support is involved, so the elasticity-based approximation was utilized to calculate the frequencies for the bridge component in the MEMS device. These results have been passed on to the developers so that the testing process could move forward in the hopes that the device could advance the field of structural health monitoring in the future.
Extent of digestion affects the success of amplifying human DNA from blood meals of Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae)

Abstract The success of distinguishing blood meal sources of Anopheles gambiae Giles through deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) profiling was investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification at the TC-11 and VWA human short tandem repeats (STR) loci. Blood meal size and locus had no significant effect on the success of amplifying human DNA from blood meals digested for 0, 8, 16, 24 and 32 h (P = 0.85 and 0.26 respectively). However, logistic regression found a significant negative relationship between time since ingestion and the success probability of obtaining positive PCR products among meals digested for between 8 and 32 h (P = 0.001). Approximately 80% of fresh blood meals were successfully profiled. After 8 h, the proportion of blood meals that could be successfully profiled decreased slowly with time after ingestion, dropping to below 50% after approximately 15 h. There was no significant difference in the success of amplifying human DNA from blood meals of mosquitoes killed at time 0 and 8 h after ingestion (P = 0.272).
Segmentation of branching vascular structures using adaptive subdivision surface fitting

This paper describes a novel method for segmentation and modeling of branching vessel structures in medical images using adaptive subdivision surfaces fitting. The method starts with a rough initial skeleton model of the vessel structure. A coarse triangular control mesh consisting of hexagonal rings and dedicated bifurcation elements is constructed from this skeleton. Special attention is paid to ensure a topological sound control mesh is created around the bifurcation areas. Then, a smooth tubular surface is obtained from this coarse mesh using a standard subdivision scheme. This subdivision surface is iteratively fitted to the image. During the fitting, the target update locations of the subdivision surface are obtained using a scanline search along the surface normals, finding the maximum gradient magnitude (of the imaging data). In addition to this surface fitting framework, we propose an adaptive mesh refinement scheme. In this step the coarse control mesh topology is updated based on the current segmentation result, enabling adaptation to varying vessel lumen diameters. This enhances the robustness and flexibility of the method and reduces the amount of prior knowledge needed to create the initial skeletal model. The method was applied to publicly available CTA data from the Carotid Bifurcation Algorithm Evaluation Framework resulting in an average dice index of 89.2% with the ground truth. Application of the method to the complex vascular structure of a coronary artery tree in CTA and to MRI images were performed to show the versatility and flexibility of the proposed framework.
Power Control and Interference Awareness Using Busy Bursts

This paper presents the integration of power control and the busy burst (BB) technique for a TDD OFDMA (time division duplex orthogonal frequency division multiple access) system in an urban Manhattan grid type of environment. The objective is to combine power control with the BB protocol to develop a power efficient interference-avoidance technique. Previous work has demonstrated that the time multiplexed BB can be used to achieve interference aware medium access. It has also been demonstrated in other work that the implicit feedback mechanism of BB can be exploited to achieve Pareto optimal SINR-based (signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio) power con- trol. However, these two applications are not compatible - the former depends on fixed signal powers across users, while the latter makes use of variable signal power to achieve optimum power control. This paper proposes an amendment to the BB technique that allows the two approaches to co-exist by exploiting the frequency granularity of OFDMA to frequency multiplex two BBs - one with variable and one with fixed power. The resulting control protocol exhibits an eight-fold reduction at the 50th percentile of used energy with no additional overhead as compared to the single BB protocol.
Evolution pluri-millénaire à pluri-annuelle du prisme sédimentaire d'embouchure de la Seine : facteurs de contrôle naturels et d'origine anthropique

A l'embouchure de l'estuaire de la Seine, un prisme sedimentaire d'une vingtaine de metres d'epaisseur s'est mis en place au cours de la transgression holocene. L'etude des facteurs de controle de sa construction et de son evolution morphosedimentaire a ete menee selon deux approches : (1) a partir de donnees sismiques et de carottage pour etudier l'evolution a long terme (pluri? millenaire) ; (2) a partir de donnees cartographiques anciennes pour l'etude des evolutions a moyen et court terme (pluri-decennale a pluri-annuelle) depuis les deux derniers siecles. L'evolution a long terme du prisme (construction holocene) est controlee d'une part par la vitesse de remontee du niveau marin, d'autre part par la position initiale de l'incision majeure de la Seine. C'est a l'aplomb de celle-ci que le systeme d'embouchure reste actif tout le long de la construction, tandis que dans les secteurs adjacents, notamment au sud, le systeme se comble rapidement. L'evolution du prisme depuis deux siecles se caracterise par un comblement progressif comprenant trois stades. 1834-1875 : vaste systeme divagant ; 1875-1960 developpement des zones supratidales et comblement lateral du systeme interne ; 1960-2003 : comblement amont-aval du systeme par developpement et progression vers le domaine marin de deux barres sableuses longitudinales. Le controle des amenagements dans cette evolution est considere comme majeur et l'impact des facteurs naturels est extremement difficile a extraire. L'influence de cycles climatiques haute frequence comme la NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) est neanmoins sensible pour la periode la plus recente (depuis 1980), periode marquee par l'arret des amenagements.
CHROMA (demonstration abstract): a content-based image retrieval system

A number of current systems, such as QBIC [l], focus on the query-based strategies using similarity measures of image features. However, recent research [4] suggests that there is a need for the development of structured browsing and navigation methods to improve retrieval effectiveness. It may help users to construct a precise query while they only have a vague idea at the pre-search stage; and may help them to refine, narrow and reformulate the queries at the post-search stage.
Genomic aberrations of myeloproliferative and myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms in chronic phase and during disease progression

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) and myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN) may transform into secondary myelofibrosis (MF) or evolve into acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The genetic mechanisms underlying disease progression in MPN and MDS/MPN patients remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate sequential genomic aberrations identified by single nucleotide polymorphism array (SNP‐A)‐based karyotyping that can detect cryptic aberrations or copy neutral loss of heterozygosity (CN‐LOH) in the chronic phase and during disease progression of MPN and MDS/MPN patients.
Grey-box modeling of friction: An experimental case-study

Grey-box modeling covers the domain where we want to use a balanced amount of first principles and empiricism. The two generic grey-box models presented, i.e., a Neural Network model and a Polytopic model are capable of identifying friction characteristics that are left unexplained by first principles modeling. In an experimental case study, both grey-box models are applied to identify a rotating arm subjected to friction. An augmented state extended Kalman filter is used iteratively and off-line for the estimation of unknown parameters. For the studied example and defined black-box topologies, little difference is observed between the two models.
Subcellular localization of the “classic” S100 subunits in vestibular end organs of the rat

S100 proteins are acidic low molecular weight members of a family of calcium-binding proteins that were originally identified in the nervous system [1,2], S100 proteins have since been localized to several neuronal and non-neuronal cells, including adrenal chromaffin cells and skeletal muscle cells, in addition to glial cells and neurons [3]. The two “classic” S100 proteins were given the designation α and β. Since, these two S100 proteins tended to form homoor heterodimers with each other; they were described as “subunits” of S100. Related to their apparent function, these proteins have been reported to be closely associated with cytoskeletal proteins [3]. These “classical” S100 proteins exist in three dimeric forms (S100a [αα], S100ao [αβ] and S100b [ββ]). To fit in with the current nomenclature for S100 proteins, the α subunit is referred to as S100A1 and the β subunit is now designated S100B [4]. Since their initial identification, several other S100-related proteins with high degrees of structural homology to the S100A1 and/or S100B have been identified and are included as members of the S100 family [3,4]. A large group of S100 proteins that have similarities to S100A1 are clustered on the 1q21 loci of chromosome 1 in the human [5,6] and were named according to their spatial placement on this loci. Ridenger et al. [6] have also identified a similar distribution of many of the S100 proteins on mouse chromosome 3. The gene for S100B is located on human chromosome 21 [7]. The relationship of S100 to human brain disorders is supported by the finding that there is an increase in the level of S100B in the amniotic fluid in trisomy-21 fetuses [8], the number of glial cells expressing S100B is increased in patients with trisomy 21 (Down’s syndrome) [9,10] as well as in patients with certain forms of Alzheimer’s disease [11,12] associated with similar genetic defects on chromosome 21. Most of the S100 proteins identified on human chromosome 1 have been named using S100A plus a number to identify its location on chromosome 1 (e.g., S100A1, S100A2, etc.). Some examples of these other S100 proteins include S100A2 identified in the lungs, kidney [4] and cartilage [13], S100A4, A6 and A10 in fibroblasts [14], and S100A7-A10 in epithelial cells [15,16]. Although the apparent typical location of S100 proteins is either plasma membrane-bound or cytoplasmic, the S100A6 protein has been localized with annexin II to the nuclear envelope of smooth muscle cells [17]. S100A6 has also been reported to be associated with subpopulation of neurons and glial cells [18].
Phase I Trial of Intravenous Cisplatin-Topotecan Chemotherapy for Three Consecutive Days in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors: Parallel Topotecan Escalation in Two Fixed Platinum Dosing Schemes

Purpose: We performed a phase I study of two fixed dosing schemes of cisplatin, a DNA cross-linker, with intravenous escalating topotecan, a DNA-topoisomerase I inhibitor. Experimental Design: 40 patients with advanced solid tumors received intravenous cisplatin at a fixed dose of either 25 mg/m2 (schedule A) or 20 mg/m2 (schedule B) daily for 3 days with standard hydration. Topotecan escalation proceeded in 0.75, 0.90, 1.0, 1.15 mg/m2 cohorts in schedule A and 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 mg/m2 cohorts in schedule B, administered intravenously at the end of cisplatin infusion daily for 3 days, repeated every 3 weeks. Dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) consisted of protracted grade IV neutropenia, febrile neutropenia, grade IV thrombocytopenia and any grade III/IV non-hematological toxicity. Epoetin and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor support was allowed on severe myeloablation. Endpoints were the identification of maximal tolerated dose (MTD), DLT and other toxicity. Results: The MTD was reached in cohort 25/1.15 mg/m2 in schedule A and 20/1.2 mg/m2 in schedule B. All DLT seen consisted of three episodes of febrile neutropenia and two of grade IV thrombocytopenia in schedule A, with three episodes of febrile neutropenia and one of protracted neutropenia in schedule B. Myelosuppression was substantial in all cohorts despite granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and epoetin support, peaked on the third week of treatment and resulted in administration of chemotherapy at a median of every 4 weeks. Non-hematologic toxicity was mild. The response rate was 51% with seven complete responses occurring in patients with ovarian cancer, small cell and non-small cell lung cancer and cancer of unknown primary. The recommended dose was 20/ 1.1 mg/m2 for cisplatin and topotecan on schedule B, as the number of responses and administered topotecan dose were higher in schedule B recommended dose with lower cisplatin dose, minimizing problems of nephrotoxicity and vomiting. Conclusions: The schedule B daily cisplatin-topotecan × 3 combination with secondary cytokine support is associated with promising activity and schedule convenience. However, substantial myelosuppression undermines its applicability in the palliative setting, stressing the need for less toxic regimens.
Crystallization and X-ray diffraction analysis of native and selenomethionine-substituted PhyH-DI from Bacillus sp. HJB17.

Phytases are phosphatases that hydrolyze phytates to less phosphorylated myo-inositol derivatives and inorganic phosphate. β-Propeller phytases, which are very diverse phytases with improved thermostability that are active at neutral and alkaline pH and have absolute substrate specificity, are ideal substitutes for other commercial phytases. PhyH-DI, a β-propeller phytase from Bacillus sp. HJB17, was found to act synergistically with other single-domain phytases and can increase their efficiency in the hydrolysis of phytate. Crystals of native and selenomethionine-substituted PhyH-DI were obtained using the vapour-diffusion method in a condition consisting of 0.2 M sodium chloride, 0.1 M Tris pH 8.5, 25%(w/v) PEG 3350 at 289 K. X-ray diffraction data were collected to 3.00 and 2.70 Å resolution, respectively, at 100 K. Native PhyH-DI crystals belonged to space group C121, with unit-cell parameters a = 156.84, b = 45.54, c = 97.64 Å, α = 90.00, β = 125.86, γ = 90.00°. The asymmetric unit contained two molecules of PhyH-DI, with a corresponding Matthews coefficient of 2.17 Å3 Da-1 and a solvent content of 43.26%. Crystals of selenomethionine-substituted PhyH-DI belonged to space group C2221, with unit-cell parameters a = 94.71, b = 97.03, c = 69.16 Å, α = β = γ = 90.00°. The asymmetric unit contained one molecule of the protein, with a corresponding Matthews coefficient of 2.44 Å3 Da-1 and a solvent content of 49.64%. Initial phases for PhyH-DI were obtained from SeMet SAD data sets. These data will be useful for further studies of the structure-function relationship of PhyH-DI.
Analysis of Umbilical Artery Flow Parameters during Fetal Variable Decelerations Using Computerized Doppler Waveforms

Umbilical artery velocity waves were obtained by Doppler ultrasonography before, during, and after 20 episodes of fetal heart rate (FHR) variable decelerations (VD) during the active stage of labor in 8 women. During 50% of the VD periods, the umbilical artery resistance flow parameters increased significantly (p < 0.01). The increase in resistance preceded the decrease in FHR in six episodes (30%) of VD (AR-VD group; arterial resistance VD) and did not precede the change in FHR in another ten episodes (50%) of VD (VR-VD group; venous resistance VD). In the AR-VD group the FHR accelerations occurred before the decelerations in only 1 case (17%), while in the VR-VD group FHR accelerations preceded the decelerations in 8 out of the 10 episodes (80%). Using these Doppler studies, it may be possible to differentiate between two groups of VD: AR-VD – which are caused by umbilical artery occlusion and thus preceded by a measurable increase in umbilical artery resistance – and VR-VD – which are not preceded by a measurable increase in umbilical artery resistance and may be caused by fetal hypoxia.
Curvature-induced configuration transition in confined nematic liquid crystals.

Stable nematic director fields of liquid crystals confined to cylindrical cavities which enforce homogeneous concentric anchoring depend on the competition between azimuthal and polar molecular anchoring strenghs and the surface elastic constant K 24 . Deuterium nuclear-magnetic-resonance line shapes of such systems reveal a structural transition from an escaped-twisted to a newly discovered planar-bipolar configurations as the curvature is varied. This observation allows for the first determinations of the polar and azimuthal anchoring energies and K 24 by a single experimental method